Raw jute crisis: traders urged to liquidate stocks as government considers time bound regulatory intervention to ensure supply The IJMA reported traders are withholding 25-30 lakh bales, pushing prices to Rs 13,000/quintal and threatening mills and workers; it asked that trader stock limits be reduced to zero by March 31 and that all stocks be compulsorily liquidated to operating mills or tendered to the Jute Corporation of India to restore supply. The ministry indicated openness to extraordinary, time bound regulatory intervention, urgent review of raw jute seed exports, and strict action against speculators to ensure jute bag availability for RMS 2026-27.
IIT Bombay-WashU Joint Executive MBA launches 11th cohort: 18 month global EMBA focusing on applied leadership and international immersion. The IIT Bombay-Washington University Joint Executive MBA Program's 11th cohort begins an 18 month, jointly delivered executive education course emphasizing global faculty engagement, international immersion, a rigorous applied curriculum, and development of strategic, interdisciplinary leadership skills for experienced executives across diverse industries.
Crypto presale promotions include explicit risk disclosures and liability exclusions; not investment advice, seek independent financial advice. The publication markets three cryptocurrency presales with staged pricing, token bonuses, and high return claims while containing an explicit risk disclosure: content is general market commentary and not investment advice; cryptocurrency trading carries high risk and may not suit all investors; readers should seek independent financial advice. Publishers disclaim liability for any loss or damage from reliance on the information, state the content is published as received and not edited, and note that distributing parties assume no editorial responsibility under the press release arrangement.
NUDGE campaign uses data-driven prompts to encourage taxpayer compliance before penalties are imposed and may be adopted across government. The Income-Tax Department's NUDGE initiative is a technology-enabled, non-intrusive data-driven prompting mechanism that notifies taxpayers of identified compliance gaps and encourages voluntary correction and payment before initiation of penal proceedings, operating under the seven-element SAKSHAM framework to guide assessing officers' use of reporting-entity data for improved taxpayer communication.
DeepSnitch AI presale raised $1.5M, using five AI agents for risk scoring, contract audits, and predictive sentiment tools. DeepSnitch AI raised $1.50M at a $0.03906 presale and uses five specialized AI agents within a central intelligence layer to provide retail utilities - risk scoring, contract audits, whale tracking, breakout spotting, and predictive sentiment/FUD detection - supported by a native LLM for instant contract analysis; ai.com's retail autonomous agent launch and stated data segregation, encryption, and permission controls are cited as parallel catalysts for mainstream adoption.
Indian Ocean naval cooperation convenes chiefs to advance non-binding maritime security cooperation and capacity building. The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium convenes senior naval leaders in a non-binding framework to promote dialogue, trust-building, interoperability, capacity building, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and to shape collective approaches to maritime security, resilience, and responsible ocean governance.
Japan's agenda shifts to bolster defence, lift weapons export limits, tighten immigration rules, and alter family and tax policies. The government proposes revising security and defence law to expand military capability, lift weapons export restrictions, create a national intelligence agency, enact an anti-espionage statute, and raise defence spending to 2% of GDP; it also advances stricter legal conditions on permanent residency and naturalisation and enforcement against unpaid taxes and social insurance by foreign workers.
Income tax: CBDT invites stakeholder inputs on proposed Rules and Forms via e filing portal to improve rules and reduce burden. CBDT has opened a public consultation on the proposed Income-tax Rules and Forms implementing the Income-tax Act, 2025 (effective 1 April 2026), posting drafts online for stakeholder review and submission. Inputs must be confined to four categories-Simplification of Language; Reduction of Litigation; Reduction of Compliance Burden; Identification of Redundant/Obsolete Rules and Forms-and must cite the specific rule, sub rule, or form number. A dedicated e filing portal utility (OTP-validated) has been activated for submissions.
Book 'Made in India' chronicles Desh Bandhu Gupta, Lupin and India's rise as a global pharmaceutical supplier. A biographical and industry account chronicles Desh Bandhu Gupta's rise from modest origins to found Lupin, highlighting entrepreneurship, institutional resilience amid financial and operational crises, the complementary role of family and community programs, and India's emergence as a major global supplier of medicines and vaccines-supported by manufacturing scale, FDA approved facilities, and policy-enabled export competitiveness.
Domicile certificate applications surge amid electoral roll revision; centralised verification and issuance expedited to assist voters missing from draft rolls. A surge in domicile certificate applications tied to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls prompted KMC to centralise applications at borough offices, route requests through headquarters for scrutiny, forward documentation to the sector collector for police verification, and obtain final approval from a WBCS rank officer before issuing certificates, with guidance on required documents such as Aadhaar and rent receipts.
Ahmedabad University launches Institute of Manufacturing and Economy to boost industry-academia collaboration and manufacturing innovation. Ahmedabad University announced the Institute of Manufacturing and Economy to promote integrated responses to productivity, technology adoption, workforce readiness, supply chain coordination and research translation in manufacturing. The Institute will pursue applied research, postgraduate and executive education, SME clinics, startup support, and policy and competitiveness reporting, leveraging university laboratories, prototyping facilities, incubation platforms and computing infrastructure to collaborate with industry and government and strengthen industry-academia collaboration.
Lok Sabha adjourned after a standoff over Rahul Gandhi's demand to speak before the Budget debate. Lok Sabha was adjourned after a standoff over whether the Leader of the Opposition should be allowed to speak before the Union Budget debate. The Chair declined to permit a prior LoP intervention, citing no notice or agreement, and government representatives disputed any arrangement. The impasse, following earlier adjournments that day, occurred amid prior disruptions including the LoP being disallowed from quoting an unpublished memoir and the Motion of Thanks proceeding without the Prime Minister's customary reply.
Competition Commission of India reforms enable faster M&A approvals, global turnover based penalties and AI competition safeguards for antitrust cases. Reforms adopt global turnover based penalty calculation implemented via detailed penalty guidelines; reduce merger review timelines from 210 to 150 days; introduce a settlement and commitment framework and a Green Channel route for deemed approval; and the Commission's AI market study identifies concentration, lock in, algorithmic collusion and self preferencing risks, recommending self audits, transparency, advocacy, policy support and inter regulatory cooperation.
AI music therapy for cancer patients offers patented adaptive pain relief with clinical validation and investor backing. Mindful Gurukul's Skitii is a patented AI-driven music therapy medical device that combines proprietary algorithms and continuous biometric monitoring to deliver adaptive therapeutic music; clinical validation reported significant pain reduction, Indian patents secured with international PCT filings, CDSCO Class B approval in progress, DPIIT recognition, and Rs. 4 crore committed by a US angel investor to support global scale and integration into oncology care.
Markets rally as India-US trade deal optimism and PSU bank buying lift Sensex to 84,065.75; FIIs net buyers. Equity benchmarks rose as India-US trade deal optimism and strong public sector bank buying lifted the Sensex to 84,065.75 and the Nifty to 25,867.30. FIIs purchased equities worth Rs 1,950.77 crore, with gains concentrated in consumer durables, realty, cement, capital goods and consumer discretionary sectors while some large-cap IT and private banks underperformed.
KRAFTON records KRW 3.3266 trillion annual revenue and plans franchise expansion, AI innovation, and M&A. KRAFTON's consolidated FY2025 results under K-IFRS show annual revenue of KRW 3.3266 trillion and operating profit of KRW 1.0544 trillion, with Q4 revenue KRW 919.7 billion and a KRW 81.6 billion one-time labor welfare expense reducing quarterly operating profit. PC delivered KRW 1.1846 trillion and mobile KRW 1.7407 trillion; other revenue rose due to ADK and Neptune consolidation. The company plans 2026 growth through scaling Franchise IPs, AI-led production and live services, targeted M&A, strategic investments, 2PP, and a 15-project first-party pipeline.
HDFC Life and Muthoot FinCorp partner to distribute life insurance via branches and digital channels to expand coverage. HDFC Life and Muthoot FinCorp have formed a distribution partnership to offer HDFC Life's group and individual life insurance products, including protection and long-term savings solutions, via Muthoot FinCorp's branch network and digital platform, leveraging HDFC Life's product and risk expertise and digitally integrated sales processes to expand insurance access and financial inclusion in semi-urban and rural markets.
JK Cement Bikaner grinding unit: 2 MTPA capacity, INR 500 crore investment, construction Feb 2026, production March 2027. JK Cement has commenced Bhoomi Poojan for a 2 MTPA grinding unit in Bikaner on 100 acres along the Jaipur-Bikaner highway, with an approximate INR 500 crore investment. Construction is to begin February 2026 and commercial production is projected by March 2027. The facility is intended to shorten distribution lead times across Rajasthan, enable 24-hour deliveries to most locations, deepen the company's market presence, and generate direct and indirect employment while fostering ancillary industry development.
India-US interim trade framework cuts tariffs and includes $500bn purchase intentions, coinciding with rupee volatility and market moves. The interim trade framework will see the US reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from roughly 50%, while India will eliminate or lower import duties on US industrial goods and a broad range of American food and agricultural products; India also expressed intent to purchase USD 500 billion of specified US goods over five years. The announcement coincided with rupee volatility, which settled at 90.74 per USD, amid equity gains, foreign inflows and a rise in forex reserves to USD 723.774 billion.
Investment scam victims protest over Rs 1,200 crore fraud, demand probe, restitution and asset seizure transparency. Three accused associated with Trade with Jazz were arrested after an alleged scheme promising 4% monthly returns defrauded about 11,000 investors of roughly Rs 1,200 crore; authorities have invoked depositor protection and criminal provisions, while protesters demand an expedited probe, restitution and point to minimal asset seizures of about Rs 12 lakh.
Draft Income-tax Rules, 2026 set new valuation, notification, electronic filing and compliance procedures for tax administration.
Draft Income-tax Rules, 2026 operationalise the Income-tax Act, 2025 by consolidating and simplifying subordinate provisions, introducing standardised smart forms and electronic furnishing, and prescribing substantive and procedural rules covering dividend arrangements, stock-exchange recognition, fair market value methodologies for assets and indirect transfers, income determination for non-residents, thresholds for significant economic presence, valuation and transfer-pricing procedures, perquisites valuation, depreciation rates, notification and approval processes for specified businesses and research approvals, and timelines and audit/reporting obligations tied to returns.
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