Author

Press Trust of India

417

Articles

Nomura projects terminal repo rate of 5.75% following Oct, Dec hikes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to raise rates by 25 basis points in both October and December policy review meetings, reaching a terminal rate of 5.75 per cent, according to Japanese brokerage Nomura. The terminal rate represents the maximum or minimum target rate expected within a tightening or easing cycle, respectively. The likelihood of interest rate hikes is expected to decline starting in February 2027, driven by anticipated weaker consumer spending and a softer inflation outlook for the coming year. "The RBI hikes by 25 basis points in each of October and December to a terminal rate of 5.75 per cent, though there is some risk of a one-and-done hike. "We see the probability of rate hikes diminishing from February 2027 onwards, because of a potential consumption slowdown and a lower year-ahead inflation outlook," global financial services group Nomura said in a report on Tuesday. On inflation, Nomura expects cyclical pressures from food and energy prices to push up

Read Article

I-T dept extends corporate tax audit, ITR filing deadlines by three weeks

The Income Tax Department on Monday extended by 21 days the due date for ITR filing and submission of audit report by corporates for assessment year 2026-27. Accordingly, corporates will now have to file income tax return for AY'27 by November 21, instead of October 31. Similarly, the due date for tax audit report submission has been extended from September 30 to October 21. In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the due dates for both the compliances have been extended. Tax practitioners have been demanding an extension of the corporate statutory audit report and ITR filing deadline from September 30 citing compressed audit window following the August 31 deadline for filing ITR in non-audit cases. Nangia & Co LLP Senior Partner Amit Agarwal, said the extension shows that the CBDT has taken cognisance of the genuine challenges being faced by taxpayers and tax professionals during the current compliance cycle. "The additional 21 days will provide much-needed

Read Article

Rupee falls 20 paise to 95.95 against US dollar during early trade

The rupee depreciated 20 paise to 95.95 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, as the greenback strengthened further and foreign fund outflows continued unabated amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. Forex traders said elevated global crude oil prices put further pressure on the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.89 against the American currency and lost further ground to touch 95.95 against the American currency, registering a loss of 20 paise from its previous closing level. On Friday, the rupee appreciated 24 paise to close at 95.75 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, traded at 101.11, up 0.15 per cent. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading higher by 2.31 per cent at USD 106.81 per barrel in futures trade. "Despite the Brent oil for November series being higher due to US President Donald Trump rejecting the peace pro

Read Article

SC to hear plea against MDR on UPI merchant payments above ₹2,000 on Monday

The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a plea challenging the Centre's decision to impose a Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on specified UPI person-to-merchant transactions of over Rs 2,000. Ending nearly six years of fully free UPI payments, the government has introduced a 0.4 per cent fee on transfers worth over Rs 2,000 made to merchants through the UPI platform from October 15 while explicitly ring-fencing everyday person-to-person transactions and small payments from any charge. The MDR will be capped at Rs 300 for payments of Rs 75,000 and above. Essential and thin-margin sectors -- railways, telecom, insurance, fuel and agricultural inputs -- will pay a flat MDR of Rs 5 per transaction above Rs 2,000. Payments into mutual funds, securities and through stockbrokers and dealers will attract 0.02 per cent MDR, also capped at Rs 300. Person-to-person (P2P) transfers -- which make up 37 per cent of UPI's transaction volume and 70 per cent of its transaction value -- will continue to

Read Article

India needs 5-year policy to make precision cancer care affordable: Expert

India needs a five-year policy agenda to make advanced genomic testing and targeted cancer therapies accessible to lower-income patients, leading oncologist Dr Bhawna Sirohi said on Saturday. Speaking to PTI, Sirohi noted that precision oncology has the potential to transform cancer treatment, but high costs, limited access to advanced genomic testing and expensive drugs remain major challenges in the country. Sirohi, consultant medical oncologist and medical director at Vedanta Medical Research Foundation-BALCO Medical Centre, Raipur, is the only cancer specialist from India on a new Lancet Oncology Commission on precision cancer, launched at the World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong on Friday. The cancer specialist stated that unlike conventional chemotherapy, which can affect both cancerous and normal cells, precision treatment seeks to identify a specific target or biomarker on cancer cells and match it with an appropriate drug. Precision oncology allows doctors to identify the ..

Read Article

UPI MDR decision purely professional, no external pressure: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has rejected as "absolutely baseless" allegations by the Opposition that the decision to levy a 0.4 per cent Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on specified UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 was taken under external pressure, saying it was a professional decision by the payment ecosystem. Talking to PTI, Sitharaman said the decision was completely professional, and it was taken jointly by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), payment banks and merchant banks, and not imposed by the government. She rubbished the Opposition's allegations that the government had yielded to foreign pressure, saying the MDR was not a tax and would not accrue to the government. "Absolutely baseless. And I totally deny it," she said when asked about Opposition allegations that the decision on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) MDR was taken under external pressure, particularly from the US. The Finance Minister said the Opposition was "searching for issues" and makin

Read Article

Central govt disburses ₹36,754 crore under PLI schemes as on June 30

The government has disbursed Rs 36, 754 crore to beneficiary companies under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes as on June 30 this year, the commerce and industry ministry said on Friday. The government launched the PLI schemes in 2020 for 14 key sectors, with an approved outlay of Rs 1.91 lakh crore, to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities, attract investment, promote exports, generate employment, and reduce import dependence. "As on June 30, 2026, the PLI Schemes have resulted in actual investment of Rs 2.58 lakh crore, against which production/sales of Rs 23.79 lakh crore and exports of Rs 15.53 lakh crore have been recorded. These Schemes have led to the employment generation of over 14.57 lakh (direct and indirect) along with Rs 36,754 crore of cumulative incentives disbursed so far," the DPIIT said. It also said that the pharmaceuticals sector has recorded cumulative sales of over Rs 3.64 lakh crore under the scheme. The scheme has also enabled the domestic .

Read Article

IIT Delhi develops India's first indigenous micro Graphics Processing Unit

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi have designed country's first working, demonstrable indigenous micro Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), in a significant development that can reduce import dependence to a large extent, officials said on Thursday. According to officials, GPUs are widely used in modern hardware, including in AI and Machine Learning engines. Currently, all GPUs are imported. This is the first working, demonstrable indigenously designed micro-GPU from India, they said. The micro-GPU architecture developed by IIT Delhi researchers will enable indigenous graphics and display-processing systems for embedded applications. The researchers at the institute's Electrical Engineering department have demonstrated programmable graphics rendering using a custom floating point GPU engine implemented entirely in Register Transfer Language (RTL) and mapped to a Spartan-7 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platform. "The hardware architecture is a scalable

Read Article

Rupee falls 11 paise to 95.84 against US dollar during early trade

The rupee stayed weak, sliding 11 paise to 95.84 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, as geopolitical uncertainties led to a sharp surge in crude oil prices and pushed US bond yields as well as the greenback higher. Forex traders said the inflow of foreign capital failed to support the local currency due to the selling pressure in the domestic equity market and a strengthening American currency. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.84 against the American currency and stayed under pressure, registering a loss of 11 paise from its previous closing level. The rupee ended Wednesday's session 11 paise lower at 95.73 against the US dollar, a day after appreciating 16 paise. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, traded at 100.87, up 0.06 per cent. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading lower by 0.97 per cent but remained elevated at USD 102.08 per barrel compare

Read Article

AI doom fears overstated, global pause unrealistic: Zoho's Sridhar Vembu

Predictions that artificial intelligence could lead to catastrophic outcomes are overstated, and a global pause in AI development is unlikely, Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu said on Wednesday, while urging India to keep its strategic options open and invest heavily in foundational R&D across sectors. Vembu said India should pursue an independent approach to AI, building on partnerships without becoming locked into the emerging technology rivalry between the United States and China. "We must be friends with everybody, enemies with nobody and keep our options open," Vembu, Chief Scientist and Co-founder, Zoho, said in an interview with PTI. Vembu argued that any big tech company genuinely wanting to slow AI development is free to do so on its own; nothing stops one player from pacing itself without demanding the whole industry follow, he pointed out. Vembu was skeptical of calls by AI labs for an industry-wide pause, which, as per him, appeared to be less about safety and more a bid .

Read Article