Mumbai, May 25 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that standard products cannot serve non-standard businesses as the minister urged the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to redesign lending models according to the unique business cycles of MSMEs and startups.Addressing an event here, the Finance Minister said SIDBI’s role must expand beyond that of a lender to becoming a market maker and risk-sharing partner for India’s MSME ecosystem.“SIDBI’s …

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has unveiled an indigenous ethanol-based cooking stove technology that he said can produce cooking flames at a lower cost than commercial LPG cylinders, while also announcing a Rs 40-crore initiative to promote scientific temperament among young Indians.Speaking at an event in Nagpur, Gadkari said the new technology uses a blend of ethanol and water to generate flames suitable for cooking purposes.“By mixing …

Mumbai, May 25 (IANS) Shares of Info Edge India — the parent company of Naukri.com — plunged over 5 per cent in early trade on Monday and hit a fresh 52-week low as analysts remained cautious on the near-term growth outlook.The BSE 100 stock touched an intraday low and a new 52-week low of Rs 909.20, down 5.4 per cent from the previous close during early trade on the BSE. Info Edge shares were among the top losers on the Nifty Midcap 50 index during the session.“Traded on new 52-week low val…

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Multinational IT, ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services) and ER&D (Engineering Research and Development) operations in India have added nearly 1.7 million jobs to the country’s job market since FY20, taking total sectoral employment to around 4.2 million, a report said on Monday.The report from Bengaluru-based consultancy Wizmatic said exports from the centres could rise to around $164 billion in FY26 from $153 million in FY25.Global capability centres (GCCs)…

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Economist and former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said there is no need to panic if the rupee touches the Rs 100-per-dollar mark, asserting that the Indian currency could recover over time once global uncertainty eases.Speaking to NDTV Profit, Panagariya said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should allow the exchange rate to adjust naturally instead of excessively intervening in the currency market to defend a psychological level.“Don’t panic at Rs 1…

Mumbai, May 25 (IANS) Gold and silver prices traded higher on Monday, rising up to nearly 2 per cent, supported by a weaker US dollar and softer crude oil prices as investors assessed prospects of progress in US-Iran peace negotiations.On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures (June 5) were trading 0.36 per cent or Rs 566 higher at Rs 1,59,245 at 10:48 am.The yellow metal touched an intraday high of Rs 1,59,500, up 0.51 per cent or Rs 821 from the previous close of Rs 1,58,679. It reco…

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), S. Krishnan, has said that artificial intelligence (AI) presents India with a transformative opportunity to enhance productivity, improve governance and financial inclusion, and expand access to key sectors such as healthcare, education and manufacturing, the ministry said in an official statement on Monday.According to the ministry, during the addressing of the ‘Governance Summit 2026: Inclus…

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) US-based technology firm Microsoft has begun scaling back access to Anthropic’s Claude Code among its employees and is redirecting engineers towards GitHub Copilot CLI as surging AI usage drives up enterprise computing costs, according to multiple reports.Reports said the technology company had earlier expanded access to Claude Code across thousands of employees, including developers, project managers and designers, to encourage experimentation with AI-assisted coding …

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) Global crude oil prices tumbled to their lowest levels in two weeks on Monday amid optimism over a possible breakthrough in negotiations between the US and Iran, easing fears of prolonged supply disruptions in West Asia.International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 6 per cent to trade below the $100-per-barrel mark. Similarly, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined more than 6 per cent to $90.33 during early trade. Both benchmarks touched their weakest levels sin…

Mumbai, May 25 (IANS) Domestic equity markets traded higher on Monday after crude oil prices slipped below the $100-per-barrel mark for the first time in over two weeks amid hopes of a possible agreement to end the US-Iran conflict, with benchmark indices rising over 1 per cent each in early trade.Sensex jumped as much as 874 points or 1.15 per cent to touch an intraday high of 76,289 in morning trade, while Nifty climbed 264 points or 1.11 per cent to 23,983.Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto l…