New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) The ratio of gross non-performing assets in gold loans to the outstanding gold loans for scheduled commercial banks has increased marginally from 0.2 per cent in March 2023 to 0.22 per cent in March 2025, while for upper- and middle-layer NBFCs, it has increased from 1.21 per cent to 2.14 per cent over the same period, the Parliament was informed on Monday.Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply to a question by the Leader of the Opposition in …

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Online marketplace Amazon India on Monday announced that it has created over 1.5 lakh seasonal work opportunities in the country due to the increased demand in the festive season.”These include direct and indirect work opportunities in 400+ cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Cochin, Coimbatore, Indore, Raipur, etc.”Job opportunities were created for thousands of women associates and over 2000 PWDs (differently abled people), and the compan…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) To weed out fake and bogus GST registrations, tax authorities arrested 50 people in FY 2024-25 and 67 people in FY 2023-24, the Parliament was informed on Monday.Two special drives against fake Input Tax Credit and fake registrations were launched during the financial year 2023-24 and 2024-25 in coordination between the state and Central GST administrations, Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.The tax author…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) The labour force participation rate (LFPR) in India, which is the indicator of employment, rose to 54.9 per cent among persons of age 15 years and above in July as compared to 54.2 per cent during June, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Monday.The worker participation rate (WPR), another indicator of employment, among persons of age 15 years and above increased to 54.4 per cent in rural areas during July this year from the corresponding figure o…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII) has improved consistently over the last 10 years, the government informed the Parliament on Monday.In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Planning, shared that “India was ranked 81 in 2015, which has improved to 39 as of 2024”.The GII rank attempts to measure a country’s performance by using data for more than 70 indicators, each of …

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) The Indian stock market ended the session in green on Monday after heavy buying in auto, banking and consumer durable stocks, amid the positive sentiment around upcoming GST reforms.Sensex closed at 81,273.75, up 676.09 points or 0.84 per cent. The 30-share index opened the session with a huge gap-up at 81,315.79 against last session’s closing of 80,597.66. Buoyed by overall buying post the GST reform announcement, the index touched an intraday high at 81,765.77.Nifty settl…

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Union Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday lauded Indian startup Mindgrove Technologies for designing secure Internet of Things (IoT) chips, saying chipsets with our own IP is an important objective in the journey towards ‘Viksit Bharat’.The minister encouraged new startups by sharing Mindgrove’s story of securing funding through the government’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) component, which reimburses up to 50 per cent of eligible expenses for Indian firms …

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Gold smuggling into India witnessed a marked decline in FY25, with customs authorities seizing 2,600.40 kg of the yellow metal across 3,005 cases, the Parliament was informed on Monday.This is a sharp fall compared to the previous year, when 6,599 cases were registered and nearly 5,000 kg of gold was seized, Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.The latest figures highlight a reversal of the steep upward tr…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Public sector banks (PSBs) raised Rs 1,53,978 crore in the form of both equity and bonds during the last three financial years, the Parliament was informed on Monday.Total amount of capital raised by PSBs in the form of both equity and bonds during three financial years (FY2022-23 to FY 2024-25) amounts to Rs 1,53,978 crore (Rs 44,942 crore in FY2022-23, Rs 57,380 crore in FY 2023-24, and Rs 51,656 crore in FY 2024-25), Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, sa…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) After witnessing explosive growth in 2022 and 2023, the smartwatch market in India is now consolidating, primarily due to saturation in the entry-level segment, a report showed on Monday.Despite declining volumes, average selling prices (ASPs) increased by 5.1 per cent (on-year), rising from $20.6 to $21.7 in the April-June quarter (Q2 2025), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).Smart Glasses shipments surged to 50,000 units in Q2 2025 from 4,000 a year …