๐ฎ๐ณ ์ธ๋ ยท "ALONE" ยท ์ด 29๊ฑด
ํํฐ ๋ณด๊ธฐํ์ฌ ์ง์
50.0
0 = ๋ถ์ ์ฐ์ธ
50 = ์ค๋ฆฝ
100 = ๊ธ์ ์ฐ์ธ
์ต๊ทผ 7์ผ ๊ธฐ์ค 5,695๊ฑด์ ๋ถ์ํ ๊ฒฐ๊ณผ, ๋ด์ค ์ฌ๋ฆฌ์ง์๋ 50.0(๊ท ํ)์ ๋๋ค. ๊ธ์ 0๊ฑด(0.0%)ยท์ค๋ฆฝ 5,695๊ฑด(100.0%)ยท๋ถ์ 0๊ฑด(0.0%)์ด๋ฉฐ, ์ค๋ฆฝ ๋น์ค์ด ๋๋ ทํ๊ฒ ๋์ต๋๋ค. ์ฑํฅ ์ง์๋ ์ข ํฉ 0.0(์ค๋ ๊ท ํ)์ ๋๋ค.
The victim, who lived alone in her flat, was found dead with a severe head injury, with both her wrists slit and bruises on her face and body.
The victim, identified as Devosmita Paul, an assistant professor at Shivaji College, was living alone in the flat in Vasundhara Enclave.
Mumbai: It is India's fourth biggest company by revenue, but the managing director of precious metals trader Rajesh Exports (REL) apparently doesn't know how and from where it gets the biggest chunk of the revenue, show the findings of a regulatory investigation.In its investigation report, the Securities and Exchange Board of India observed allegedly unscrupulous activities by REL's promoters, such as accounting irregularities and siphoning off of company funds into personal accounts, and also pointed out lapses by its auditors. The regulator said the company and its auditors were non-cooperative."The acts of REL constitute a deliberate device, scheme and artifice to mislead and defraud investors dealing in the shares of REL by portraying an inflated and misleading picture of its operational scale, revenue and financial health," Sebi observed in its report.The company, eponymously named after its chairman Rajesh Mehta, is accused of committing an elaborate financial fraud that includes dressing-up of revenues of โน15.15 lakh crore over the years, personal gold trades covered up as corporate sales and phoney gold mine investments of โน1,035 crore, according to the interim report.REL denied the charges of misdeeds. In a press release Thursday, the company said the revenues stated in its financials were correct and that the confusion arose because of a mix-up between Ebitda and revenue numbers at Swiss refiner Valcambi SA, an indirect subsidiary.Sebi has not made any adverse observation with regard to earnings, the company said, claiming that the regulator has only observed suspicion with regard to revenues which was primarily because of confusion over the Valcambi numbers.Numbers don't add upIn fiscal 2025, REL reported consolidated revenue of โน4.23 lakh crore against a profit after tax of just โน95 crore, translating into a net margin of barely 0.02%. The year before, on โน2.8 lakh crore revenue, profit was โน336 crore.Experts who have studied the Sebi report and the company's annual reports say the numbers did not add up. The business appeared to be operating at margins that were not merely thin but structurally negligible, they said."It looks like a case of pass-through accounting. There is no value creation. It was 'flow of gold' being booked as revenue," said a leading auditor on the condition of anonymity.Sebi, which began the investigations in March 2024 following a shareholder complaint about suspected accounting malpractices, said it found that about 97-99% of REL's consolidated revenues were attributed to its overseas subsidiaries, principally Valcambi. But Valcambi's own accounts, audited by KPMG SA, recorded only processing fees that were about โน3,027 crore across five years.Valcambi refined gold on behalf of clients and never took ownership of the precious metal or recognised the value of gold as revenue in its books. Yet, Global Gold Refineries AG (GGR), the parent of Valcambi that had no independent operating business, recorded gross revenues running into hundreds of crores by including the gross value of gold that actually belonged to others, according to the Sebi report.Rajesh Exports, which owns GGR through a Singapore subsidiary, used those unaudited figures in its financial statements, significantly bumping up the company's revenue, it said.In its press release, REL said: "The core observation in the order is with regard to the misreporting of the revenues. This has emerged primarily due to confusion because Sebi has considered the Ebitda of Valcambi instead of revenue hence it has stated that there is a difference of about 97% in the revenue.""There is no reason for any listed entity to inflate revenue and maintain the earnings, this will only reduce the margins of the company, which would be adverse to the company," it said.Senior management in the darkThe senior management of REL told regulators that most of them were in the dark about the company's overseas operations and only the promoter, Rajesh Mehta, dealt with those activities."Valcambi SA does not have any gold mine on its own," managing director Suresh Gowda was quoted in the Sebi order as saying. "It refines the raw gold purchased by it from various entities, whose names I do not recollect, as these things are exclusively handled by Rajesh Mehta, chairman of REL. I have never interacted nor involved with any subsidiary/step-down subsidiary of REL, as these were exclusively taken care of by Rajesh Mehta," he told the investigators, as per the order.According to the report, REL booked โน11,487 crore in sales between 2021-22 and 2023-24 to Affluence Shares and Stocks, a broker that made up to 66% of the company's standalone revenue for that period. But Affluence, in formal depositions to the regulator, said it had not done any business with REL.Following the transaction trail, the investigators found out that the transactions were personal gold derivative trades executed by promoter Mehta using his own brokerage account and then recorded in the company's books as corporate sales, the order said.The investigators also found that Mehta used corporate funds. As per the Sebi observations, bank records show REL transferred โน338.90 crore directly into Mehta's personal accounts between April 2020 and September 2025.Unlike in the case of Nirav Modi or Gitanjali Gems, who are accused of bank fraud, Rajesh Exports doesn't appear to have borrowed big from banks or through sale of bonds, according to regulatory filings.The company's market cap was just over โน3,000 crore, as per Thursday's closing share price. LIC (10.8%) and Bridge India Fund (8.46%) are its major institutional shareholders."It is striking that, even at a peak market capitalisation of โน25,000 crore, the company did not hold any analyst calls, a basic expectation for a listed company of that scale," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of InGovern Research Services, a corporate governance advisory firm.The regulator in 2024 hired BDO India Services to investigate. But the forensic audit faced problems at almost every stage of the investigation. It was denied access to ERP systems and was not provided a complete journal dump, preventing independent verification of transactions recorded in the books, according to the regulatory report.And the company declined to share subsidiary-level records with the investigator, citing Swiss data protection laws, limiting auditors largely to reviewing financial statements prepared by the management itself rather than underlying evidence, it said.What's also come under the scanner was the conduct of statutory auditors for the last few years: CA PV Ramana Reddy, the proprietor at PV Ramana Reddy & Co, and CA PL Venkatadri, partner at BSD & Co.The company's FY24 and FY25 annual reports, filed with the stock exchanges, carry an unqualified opinion from BSD & Co, which concluded that the financial statements presented a "true and fair view" in line with Indian Accounting Standards.The company's FY24 Directors' Report noted that the statutory and secretarial auditors had made no qualifications, reservations or adverse remarks.The Sebi report said for over five months, the auditors sat on the regulator's request for missing documents and statements.Emails sent to both audit firms did not elicit any response.REL closed 5% lower at โน103.92 Thursday on the NSE. The shares are down from their peak of โน1,028.40 on February 6, 2023.
Devosmita Paul was an Assistant Professor at Shivaji College.
Until now, the scheme largely covered families with at least two members. Under the revised guidelines, individuals living independently can enroll and avail of cashless benefits.
The intensified crackdown has reportedly led to the seizure of 2.65 kg of MDMA, 51.47 kg of ganja and other narcotic substances in Kozhikode city alone
For most investors, the focus is often on finding the right stock, entering at the right valuation, and identifying the next multibagger. Far fewer spend time understanding what may be the more difficult aspect of investingโknowing when to sell.Speaking at the ET Alpha Wealth Summit on Thursday on "The Art of the Exit," Rajiv Thakkar, CIO and Director at PPFAS Asset Management said that successful investing is not just about buying well but also about staying invested long enough for compounding to work. In fact, before discussing reasons to sell, he spent considerable time explaining why investors should avoid selling in the first place.According to Thakkar, one of the biggest mistakes investors make is selling because a stock has not moved for a few months.Also Read | ET Alpha Wealth Summit: Future alpha may emerge from neglected markets and asset classes, says Kalpen Parekh Investors often spend significant effort researching a company, understanding management quality, assessing industry prospects and evaluating valuations. Yet after purchasing the stock, many lose patience if prices remain stagnant for six months or a year.https://youtube.com/shorts/RiLj-X02NNE?feature=share"Investments are meant for wealth creation, not entertainment," he said, cautioning against treating investing like a source of excitement or constant action.Another common trigger for unnecessary selling is reacting to news flow. Markets are constantly bombarded with informationโwars, elections, crude oil fluctuations, interest-rate decisions, capital flows and economic data. Investors who react to every headline often end up making poor decisions.To illustrate this, Thakkar recounted the story of an investor who received advance information about the severity of the Covid outbreak in early 2020. Acting on that information, the investor sold his technology stocks before the market crash. While the prediction turned out to be accurate, fear prevented him from re-entering the market, and he ultimately missed one of the strongest rallies in technology stocks.The lesson, according to Thakkar, is that even correct information does not necessarily translate into successful investment outcomes. Thakkar was particularly critical of the concept of "profit booking."Investors often feel compelled to sell simply because a stock has appreciated significantly. However, he argued that wealth is created by allowing successful investments to compound rather than by repeatedly locking in gains.Frequent buying and selling may benefit brokers, exchanges and tax authorities, but it often works against long-term investors. Hyperactivity in portfolios can destroy wealth by interrupting compounding and increasing costs.Similarly, investors should avoid selling because another stock appears more attractive. This "buyer's remorse" mindset frequently causes investors to abandon good businesses prematurely in pursuit of seemingly better opportunities."If you manage to find a genuinely good business with strong management, a large opportunity set and reasonable valuations, the best course of action is often to simply stay invested," he said.Thakkar emphasised that investors in taxable jurisdictions such as India should maintain low portfolio turnover whenever possible. Unlike institutional structures such as mutual funds or investors in tax-free jurisdictions, individual investors face taxes and transaction costs every time they trade. Excessive churn can significantly reduce long-term returns.For wealthy investors, family offices and HNIs, the ability to remain invested and minimise unnecessary transactions often becomes a major source of compounding advantage.Also Read | ET Alpha Wealth Summit: India could unlock a $5 trillion export opportunity through FTAs, says Saurabh Mukherjea While most reasons for selling are flawed, Thakkar identified several situations where exiting an investment becomes necessary. The most obvious reason is the need for capital. If an investor requires money for a business opportunity, acquisition or personal objective, selling investments may be entirely justified. More importantly, investors must be willing to acknowledge mistakes.If an investment thesis turns out to be wrong because of flawed analysis, poor due diligence or changing circumstances, the best course is often to exit quickly rather than averaging down endlessly.According to Thakkar, investors who recognise mistakes early frequently outperform those who identify good opportunities but refuse to sell losing positions. Capital trapped in poor investments cannot be deployed into better opportunities. Fraud, naturally, represents an immediate reason to exit.One of the more challenging selling decisions arises when industries face structural disruption. Questions such as whether newspapers can survive the internet, whether thermal power can coexist with renewable energy or whether traditional automobile manufacturers can adapt to electric vehicles rarely have straightforward answers.Thakkar suggested that investors should not react impulsively but should continuously evaluate incoming evidence. Investment decisions should be driven by facts rather than sentiment. If the underlying business continues to deteriorate because of technological or structural change, investors must eventually acknowledge reality and exit.At the same time, distinguishing genuine disruption from temporary noise remains critical. Exceptional businesses are not immune to becoming overvalued. Thakkar pointed to situations where valuations become so excessive that future growth is already fully reflected in stock prices. In such cases, taking profits, paying taxes and reallocating capital may be sensible.He also noted that investors may sell a reasonably valued investment if a significantly superior opportunity emerges elsewhere.During the question-and-answer session, investors raised concerns about stocks that stop performing despite sound fundamentals. Examples such as Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel and even silver investments highlighted a common dilemma: should investors exit after years of gains and subsequent consolidation?Also Read | MF Tracker: Can ICICI Prudential Multicap Fund sustain its strong track record in a volatile market? Thakkar's response was that even excellent businesses can spend years moving sideways. Companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Bharat Electronics have all gone through extended periods of stagnant share-price performance despite remaining fundamentally strong businesses.Investors should therefore distinguish between stock-price performance and business performance. As long as the underlying business continues to execute well, temporary market stagnation alone is not a sufficient reason to sell.For investors worried about selling too early, Thakkar recommended a phased approach. Instead of attempting to identify exact market tops, investors can gradually reduce exposure over time. For instance, if a stock appears significantly overvalued, an investor might sell a portion every month rather than exiting entirely in one transaction.This systematic approach helps manage the emotional difficulty of selling while reducing the risk of poor timing. Another important consideration is position sizing. Addressing a question about highly successful investments such as Nvidia, Thakkar noted that even outstanding businesses can become disproportionately large components of a portfolio.When a single stock grows from a small allocation into a dominant position, investors face a different riskโwealth preservation rather than wealth creation. His solution is gradual trimming. Investors can periodically reduce oversized positions to maintain comfortable portfolio weightings while still participating in future upside.This approach may not maximise returns, but it significantly reduces the risk of catastrophic losses and helps investors sleep better during periods of volatility.Thakkar concluded by stressing the importance of diversification and long-term investing. Most individuals create wealth through a single business, profession or sector. Their financial portfolios should therefore diversify away from that concentration rather than amplify it.Whether through mutual funds, retirement vehicles such as NPS, EPF and PPF, or diversified portfolios, investors should focus on owning inflation-protected assets for long periods. "The lower the churn in a portfolio, the greater the opportunity for compounding," he said.Ultimately, successful investing is not about perfectly timing every entry and exit. It is about avoiding unnecessary activity, admitting mistakes quickly, remaining patient with good businesses and ensuring that no single investment becomes large enough to threaten long-term financial stability.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)If you have any mutual fund queries, message on ET Mutual Funds on Facebook/Twitter. We will get it answered by our panel of experts. Do share your questions on ETMFqueries@timesinternet.in alongwith your age, risk profile, and Twitter handle.
The Indian rupee is trading around Rs. 95-96 to the dollar in late May 2026, setting fresh record lows. Markets are openly discussing the Rs. 100 threshold. The rupee has weakened in almost every year since 2014 and has lost approximately half its value against the dollar over that period. The end of this currency depreciation is not in sight. The factors that would stop it are not yet visible.The government is acting. State run oil companies have implemented four fuel price hikes in ten days as of May 25, taking petrol in Delhi past Rs. 102 per litre. This is the right and necessary response to the energy cost reality created by the Iran war. Crucially, the Modi government has also done its part on the macroeconomic front, consistently and aggressively reducing the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP to maintain structural stability.Yet, the currency pressure persists. The energy price impact has not yet fully reached Indian consumers and supply chains. It is coming.Uday Kotak said it plainly at the CII Annual Business Summit on May 12: "Be ready for tough times rather than waiting for the shock to hit us." He was right.Also read | Manufactured monopoly: How industrial policy is structuring monopolies in IndiaThis is not a time to panic. But it is a time to act. The leaders who move now will have options. Those who wait will not.The Overriding Factor: The Psychology of the PlayersWhy is the currency declining despite strong domestic fiscal discipline? Because exchange rates are not driven by mathematical models alone. The currency decline is highly affectedโand acceleratedโby the psychology of all players engaged in this endeavor.Currency movements are deeply behavioral. When a currency visualizes a downward trend, psychology shifts from calculation to self-protection and speculation. Every player in the ecosystem operates under this psychological weight:Corporate CFOs and Treasurers: Instead of hedging normally, they rush to cover future dollar liabilities early, hoarding hard currency and inadvertently worsening the scarcity.Foreign Investors: They begin to judge their returns not by the quality of Indian business operations, but by the eroding value of the conversion rate.Importers and Exporters: Importers advance their payments to avoid paying more tomorrow; exporters delay converting their dollar earnings back into rupees, waiting for a "better" rate. This collective psychology creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.Investors, CFOs, and FDI decision makers extrapolate what is happening now into the future. When they see a currency that has lost approximately half its value since 2014 with no clear floor in sight, their psychological pivot alters market realities.Also read | India tightens checks on overseas flows as currency pressure mounts, sources sayThe cascading timeline of Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) equity behavior perfectly mirrors this psychological shift from rational evaluation to systemic risk aversion:2024 (The Calculation Phase): Rupee averages Rs. 83-84. FPI flows remain positive (+$12 billion) as investors trade on strong domestic corporate earnings.2025 (The Self-Protection Phase): Rupee slides past Rs. 89. Collective psychology shifts to risk mitigation. FPIs withdraw a record $18.4 billion from Indian equitiesโthe largest annual equity outflow on record.Early 2026 (The Capitulation Phase): Rupee breaks past Rs. 95. Sentiment turns into an outright exit strategy. In the first four months of 2026 alone, outflows have already reached $19.1 billion, completely bypassing the entire previous year's record loss in a fraction of the time.FDI agreements are being signed, but capital is delayed because players are psychologically hesitant to deploy funds into a depreciating asset.The Trap of Hard Currency Debt: A Broken Business Model There is a highly significant and dangerous phenomenon unfolding in India today that requires immediate exposure. For years, a specific class of Indian corporates adopted a regular strategy of borrowing heavily in hard currency (External Commercial Borrowings, or ECBs). Lured by low nominal global interest rates, several of these companies over borrowed, treating cheap dollar debt as a permanent structural advantage.Today, that strategy has become a trap. The compounding effect of a depreciating rupee, skyrocketing hedging costs, and brutal refinancing realities is fundamentally breaking their business models.Consider the mechanics of this crisis:The Hedging Penalty: Leaving dollar debt unhedged is now corporate roulette. However, buying hedges at current rupee levels has become structurally prohibitive. The cost of protection completely wipes out any interest rate advantage.The Refinancing Wall: Billions in foreign debt are coming due. These over-borrowed companies must now refinance their liabilities at a time when the rupee value has materially deteriorated. They are effectively forced to borrow far more rupees just to pay back the same amount of original dollars.The Crushing Cost of Rupee Capital: As these companies try to pivot back to domestic lenders, they face a severe escalation in their rupee cost of capital.The Growth Verdict: When your cost of capital spikes and your cash flows are consumed by servicing legacy dollar debt, future growth stops. Capital expenditure (CapEx) plans are being frozen. These companies can no longer invest in innovation, capacity, or market expansion. Their business model shifts overnight from aggressive value creation to basic survival. Boards must realize that this is not a temporary treasury headache; it is a structural threat to the companyโs future viability.India's forex reserves stand at approximately 10 to 11 months of import cover. Substantial, but being actively deployed to defend the currency. Some imports are non-negotiable: oil, critical inputs, components. These will now cost more. That cost passes through every supply chain.Six Actions for Business Leaders1. Protect your cash and liquidity first. This is the most immediate priority. Map your cash position today. Identify every source of liquidity across the next twelve months. Stress-test it at Rs. 100 and beyond. Which receivables are at risk? Which credit lines are rupee-denominated and which are not? Companies that run into a cash crisis during a currency depreciation cycle lose their options entirely. The CFO must own this analysis and present it to the board within days, not weeks.2. Act now on your foreign currency borrowings, hedging, and refinancing. Do not assume the rupee will recover to Rs. 80. Analyse your full foreign currency exposure across the next three years: every loan, every refinancing date, every hedging contract, every procurement price denominated in foreign currency. Hard currency loans now face refinancing at rupee values that have materially deteriorated. Model every scenario at Rs. 100 and beyond. Your CFO, treasury, and procurement team must be aligned on one instruction: do not run into a liquidity crisis. This analysis must happen now, not at the next quarterly review.3. Build a war room. Most companies have begun thinking about war rooms for supply chain disruptions. Expand the mandate. Currency exposure belongs in the same room. Which of your costs are dollar or euro denominated? Which of your revenues are rupee denominated? Where is the mismatch? What is your break-even exchange rate? If you do not have clear answers today, you are exposed. The war room is not a committee. It is a real-time decision environment with live data, a clear owner, and the authority to act.4. Use the currency depreciation advantage: double your export salesforce. A weaker rupee makes Indian exports more competitive. This window will not stay open indefinitely. Double the salesforce in your export markets now. Use this period to upgrade quality, improve service delivery, and build customer relationships that will last beyond the currency advantage. Indian exporters who invest in capability during this period will emerge stronger regardless of what the rupee does next. Those who simply ride the price advantage without building the underlying business will lose when conditions change.5. Watch your stock and your sector. Banks and financial institutions should already be on high alert. Companies with large foreign currency exposure will see pressure on their financials. Some stock prices are already reflecting this. Go through your sector company by company. Identify who is most exposed. If you are an investor or a lender, this analysis is not optional. The combination of currency depreciation, rising oil prices, and FPI outflows creates a compounding pressure that will surface in earnings before it surfaces in headlines.6. Cut costs aggressively. AI will help. There has never been more urgency to reduce costs than now. And there has never been a better tool to do it. AI can cut most operational costs by as much as 30% across functions: procurement, finance, customer service, logistics, and compliance. McKinsey data confirms companies adopting AI and automation reduce operational costs by 20 to 30 percent. This is not a future opportunity. It is a present imperative. Every rupee of cost removed through AI is a rupee that does not need to be recovered through revenue in a deteriorating currency environment. Start now with your highest-cost functions.The CFO as CaptainCurrency risk is a cash flow risk. Every function that touches foreign currencyโprocurement, treasury, sales, capex planningโ must now report into a single coordinating authority. That authority is the CFO. This is not about hierarchy. It is about clarity. In a currency crisis, fragmented decision-making is as dangerous as wrong decision making. One captain. One consolidated view. Weekly reviews minimum.The Bigger PictureThis currency depreciation is a structural signal, not a cyclical one. India's economy must move from a cheap labour advantage to genuine global value creation.The companies that will survive and thrive are those building products and services that command premium prices in global markets. The rupee's weakness is a reminder that competing on cost alone has limits.The recently concluded trade agreements are a genuine opportunity. Execute them with full force. Build the export pipelines. Add the sales capacity.The businesses that move now, with discipline and clarity, will manage market psychology, navigate the debt trap, and define the next chapter of Indian industry.The shock is coming. Prepare before it arrives.Ram Charan is the author of Chinaโs 90% model. It is restricting Indiaโs industrial progress. Former Director of Hindalco and Muyuan (China).
Africa and southeast Asia alone account for nearly three-quarters of all cases
The incident led to widespread protests, with demonstrators demanding justice for the victim and criticising remarks by Punjab police officials that were widely seen as blaming her for the attack. Protesters were calling for the sacking of lead police investigator Omar Sheikh, who had blamed the victim for the incident, saying that "our society does not permit women to be out late at night alone".
India is overhauling its organ donation framework to include Donation after Circulatory Death, allowing organs to be harvested after the heart stopsโnot just the brain. This could expand the donor pool for the 70,000-plus patients waiting for kidneys alone.
TVK poses a different challenge for Annamalai: it rapidly fixes mistakes, and Vijay, unlike DMK leaders, is yet to be burdened by charges of corruption or dynasty politics
The IMD does not declare the onset of the monsoon based on rainfall alone. Instead, three key atmospheric conditions must occur simultaneously over Kerala and adjoining regions
China is pitching itself as the global fulcrum for the next phase of artificial intelligence and a legion of robotics companies is lining up initial public offerings to test investor appetite.Unitree Robotics, one of the most recognizable names in the industry after its robots practicing martial arts made headlines, on Monday received approval for a listing in Shanghai. Its IPO will serve as an early test for what could be a broader wave of offerings. Hong Kong alone has at least 46 robotics-related companies in the pipeline, more than 10% of applicants, according to a report. Companies that have filed IPO applications include Leju Robotics and Deep Robotics. โChinese humanoids are one step closer to IPOs, igniting market interest on humanoids in the second half of 2026,โ Sheng Zhong, head of China industrials research at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a note. โFunds from most of the Chinese humanoidsโ IPOs will go toward R&D, especially robot models.โ The deep pipeline of robotics IPOs mirrors the fast rise of Chinaโs AI ecosystem, where an array of listings whipped up an investor frenzy in the past six months. It also aligns with Beijingโs push to shift high-tech industries from innovation to large-scale deployment. China is rushing to set the pace of funding, industrialization and ultimately leadership in what Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang calls โphysical AI.โ Shares of OneRobotics (Shenzhen) Co. jumped as much as 18% in Hong Kong on Tuesday, while component maker Leader Harmonious Drive Systems Co. gained as much as 11% on the mainland. 131456136โThis is the decade of the robot โ and it belongs to China,โ Barclays analysts, including Zornitsa Todorova, wrote in a note last month. โThis leadership reflects a decade-long, state-guided push.โThe firm says Chinaโs robotics roll-out is already unmatched, accounting for 50% of global industrial robots and 85% of humanoids in 2025. Backed by coordinated industrial policy and tight supply-chain control, humanoids could reach about 3.8% of the nationโs labor capacity by 2035, it estimates. Unitree got a nice shoutout from Nvidiaโs Huang on Monday, when he showcased his companyโs endeavors in robotic AI. The two companies have partnered to build humanoid โreferenceโ machines, featuring five-fingered hands and built-in chips to replace cumbersome โFrankenrobotsโ in research labs.Some investors remain more cautious, though, when looking at the companiesโ fundamentals. Many robotics firms are expected to burn cash for years and concerns are mounting that valuations could run ahead of earnings.A gauge of humanoid robot stocks has fallen about 13% this year, after registering a 47% gain in 2025. ChinaAMC CSI Robot ETF, a major exchange-traded fund tracking robot-related stocks, has seen net fund outflows for most of this year. Valuations were also elevated, with the sector trading at about 40 times forward earnings, compared with about 14 times for the CSI 300 Index, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.โInvestors trading at such elevated valuations are typically not driven by long-term fundamentals, but rather by the pursuit of short-term price gains,โ said Shen Meng, a director at Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co. โIt indicates that sentiment is driven more by market dynamics than by conviction or long-term vision.โThe state-run China Securities Journal also struck a cautious tone in an editorial published Tuesday, warning that pre-IPO valuations may outpace fundamentals, with many firms still unprofitable, raising the risk of a sharp correction if growth or commercialization disappoints. Still, prospective issuers can look at the performance of China tech IPOs this year, with many listings thousands of times oversubscribed and producing big gains on their debuts. Two of those companies, AI model developers Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Co. and MiniMax Group Inc. last month gained inclusion in the Hang Seng Tech Index after massive rallies since their January listings. For investors, the robotics companies can also offer a way to benefit from the rapid expansion of a cutting edge industry, said Zhou Nan, founder and investment director of Shenzhen Long Hui Fund Management Co.โWith continued advances in AI, the robotics sector is poised for substantial long-term growth,โ Zhou said. โRobotics is expected to become a key driver of enterprise value, and progressively complement or replace human labor across a wide range of use cases.โ
Michael Jordan emphasizes that talent alone does not guarantee success; teamwork and strategic thinking are crucial for winning championships. His insights apply to various fields, reinforcing the importance of collaboration, humility, and shared goals over personal recognition.
Shares of Asian Paints rallied as much as 4% to their dayโs high of Rs 2,778 on the BSE on Monday after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,172 crore for the fourth quarter of FY26, marking a 69% year-on-year increase from Rs 692 crore posted in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations during the January-March quarter rose 11% to Rs 9,228.46 crore, compared with Rs 8,349.59 crore reported a year earlier.During the quarter under review, total income increased by more than 11% year-on-year to Rs 9,418 crore. Total expenses rose at a slower pace, increasing nearly 8% to Rs 7,829.17 crore.EBITDA for the quarter rose 24.4% year-on-year to Rs 1,787 crore from Rs 1,436.2 crore in the corresponding period last year. EBITDA margin expanded by more than 200 basis points to 19.3%, compared with 17.2% a year earlier. For the full financial year ended March 31, 2026, Asian Paints reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4,325.35 crore, up 18% from Rs 3,667.23 crore recorded in the previous financial year. Annual revenue from operations rose around 5% year-on-year to Rs 35,583.54 crore in FY26.Asian Paints shares: Buy, sell or hold?Nomura raised its target price to Rs 3,600 (35% upside) while maintaining a Buy rating, highlighting that the company not only retained but improved its guidance despite cumulative price hikes of around 13.5% year-to-date, including 10.5% implemented in April-May and a further 3% increase announced to dealers. The brokerage noted that management's decision to maintain volume growth guidance of 8-10% signals confidence in a strong demand environment. It also pointed to improved product mix guidance of -3% to -4%, compared with the earlier expectation of -5% to -6%, driven by a greater push towards premium and luxury paints, implying high-teens sales growth in FY27. The brokerage also maintained its operating margin guidance of 18-20% despite raw material inflation and competitive pressures. Nomura believes there is a high probability of crude oil prices moderating from current levels over the next six months, which could further support margins.Motilal Oswal maintained its Neutral rating on Asian Paints with a target price of Rs 2,750, implying a modest upside of up to 3%. The brokerage raised its FY27 and FY28 earnings estimates by 3%-4%, citing better-than-expected revenue performance. However, it cautioned that the uncertain geopolitical environment and persistent inflationary pressures could continue to weigh on overall demand. Management has guided for high single-digit volume growth in FY27 despite significant price hikes, supported by a favourable base, more painting days due to El Niรฑo conditions and an extended festive season. The brokerage expects standalone EBITDA margins of 19.1% and 19.5% for FY27 and FY28, respectively, while consolidated margins are projected at 18.2% and 18.6%. It also noted that paint demand has remained subdued over the past two years, and recent price increases could delay a broader demand recovery. To counter competitive pressures, Asian Paints continues to focus on product innovation, strengthening brand salience, regionalisation and execution.JM Financial upgraded Asian Paints to Add with a target price of Rs 2,815, implying an upside of 5.4%. The brokerage believes the company's FY27 revenue outlook remains encouraging, supported by management's volume growth guidance of 8-10%. Combined with double-digit price increases, including hikes of around 10.4% already implemented and an additional 2-4% announced from June, along with a lower adverse mix impact of 3-4%, this is expected to drive mid-teen sales growth in FY27. JM Financial noted that demand trends remained stable during April and May, while management remains optimistic about business momentum in the second and third quarters of FY27, aided by a longer festive season. Also read: PSU bank stocks vs private banks in FY27: The valuation trap you need to avoidThe brokerage also highlighted that management has reiterated its EBITDA margin guidance of 18-20% despite significant raw material inflation, supported by price hikes, sourcing efficiencies, an improved product mix and calibrated spending. However, the company expects competitive intensity in the paints sector to remain elevated. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Mumbai: The share of bank term deposits earning less than 7% rose to 61.8% in fiscal 2025-26 from 27.3% a year earlier, signalling a repricing of liabilities following cumulative policy rate cuts of 125 basis points since February 2025, Reserve Bank of India data showed. Deposits with a tenure of up to one year fell to 8.8% from 16.7% over the same period, as depositors shifted towards longer maturities in search of better returns, the data showed.Deposits with a maturity of one to three years rose to 69.8% at end-March 2026 from 50.4% in March 2022, suggesting depositors increasingly locked in funds for medium tenures amid evolving rate expectations.The data also pointed to broader structural shifts in deposit composition, with the share of term deposits in overall deposits rising to 61.6% in March 2026 from 55.2% in March 2022, while the proportion of savings deposits declined to 28.7% from 34.6% in the same period.131431518Deposit growth accelerated to 11.5% year-on-year at end-March 2026 from 10.6% a year earlier, with public sector banks accounting for 50.8% of incremental deposits and private banks contributing 38.6%.Households remained the largest contributors, accounting for 59.3% of total deposits, even as the share of non-financial entities and financial corporations edged up, indicating gradual diversification in deposit sources.Large-value deposits continued to dominate, with term deposits of โน1 crore and above accounting for 46.3% of the total. Deposits of โน5 crore and above alone made up 34.8%, while deposits of up to โน5 lakh accounted for 17.8%.The share of senior citizens in deposits stood at 20% and has remained broadly stable over the past four years, the central bank data showed.
For Gujarat Titans, this was supposed to be Ahmedabad's night.Instead, it became an Ahmeda-bad evening for Shubman Gill's men.Also Read: RCB win IPL for 2 straight years, but this player has created a hat-trick of winsOn a stage draped in blue, in front of a crowd willing the home side towards a second IPL crown, Royal Challengers Bengaluru once again arrived like champions who no longer carry the burden of history. They carried certainty. They carried belief. And, as they have so often over the last two seasons, they carried Virat Kohli.Chasing a modest but tricky 156, RCB were never reckless. They were relentless. Kohli, the grandmaster of the chase and the heartbeat of this franchise, produced yet another knockout innings, crafting a half-century that sucked the anxiety out of the contest and the hope out of Gujarat's defence. It was not his most explosive knock. It did not need to be. It was a classic Kohli pursuit โ measured, intelligent and utterly inevitable.The numbers will show another fifty. The final will remember much more than that.For a franchise that spent nearly two decades being cricket's great unfinished story, this felt like the final confirmation that last year's title was not an emotional one-off. This is now a team that understands how to win the biggest games. Two titles in two years is not a breakthrough. It is the beginning of a legacy.Yet Gujarat refused to make it easy.After being restricted to 155, a total that always felt 20 runs short on a placid Ahmedabad surface, the Titans fought with the stubbornness that has defined much of their short IPL history. Rashid Khan, magnificent as ever, dragged the contest deeper than it deserved to go. His spell was a reminder that class survives even when the scoreboard does not cooperate. Every wicket he took briefly reignited belief. Every dot ball lifted the noise levels.Also Read: Rohit, Dhoni, Hardik: When IPL's biggest names couldn't deliver this seasonAnd then there was Rajat Patidar โ the quiet captain who has turned Royal Challengers Bengaluru from cricketโs great underachievers into a title machine.A year after leading RCB to their long-awaited maiden IPL crown, Patidar is set to script history again, becoming only the third captain after MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to guide a franchise to back-to-back IPL titles. If last season was about breaking an 18-year curse, this one has been about building a champion's mentality.Patidarโs numbers do not scream for attention, but his captaincy has. RCB topped the league stage, steamrolled Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1, and entered the final carrying the assurance of a side that no longer panics under pressure. The 31-year-old has fostered a dressing-room culture built on clarity and calm, repeatedly insisting throughout the season that every game was โjust another matchโ despite the mounting expectations around a title defence.His fingerprints were all over the campaign. Whether it was trusting Josh Hazlewood in crunch overs, backing Krunal Pandya's experience on spin-friendly surfaces, or ensuring Virat Kohli could play the anchor's role without the burden of forcing the pace, Patidar's tactical calls consistently landed. Most importantly, Patidar has managed something few RCB leaders before him could: he has made the franchise feel bigger than its baggage. For years, RCB were defined by near-misses, heartbreaks and dependence on individual brillianceBut Gujarat's bowlers were left carrying a burden that should never have been theirs alone.The real disappointment lay with the batting.Too many starts disappeared. Too many big names drifted through the final without leaving a mark. At no point did the innings gather the momentum expected from a side stacked with stroke-makers and match-winners. The scoreboard moved, but never surged. The pressure remained, and RCB's attack, led by the discipline of Josh Hazlewood and the control of Krunal Pandya, squeezed relentlessly.By the halfway mark, the script already felt familiar.RCB had been the better side for most of the season. They entered the final as favourites. They played like favourites. And when the moment arrived to finish the job, they handed the chase to the one man who has spent nearly two decades making impossible pursuits look routine.Kohli has worn many labels across his career โ superstar, run machine, icon, leader.On nights like these, one title fits best- King Kohli.And with another IPL trophy glistening under the Ahmedabad lights, his kingdom just got bigger
New Delhi: Restaurants, fashion and beauty retailers, and multi-brand outlets in malls are raking it in as heatwave conditions, school holidays, and lesser travel combine to drive customers indoors into air-conditioned retail outlets and eating joints."Our restaurants have waiting periods stretching to hours at key locations like Mall of India in Delhi NCR even on weekdays. We have over 15 outlets across key malls in India, and the mall business is higher than last year. Our sales would be up by around 15-20% for outlets in malls compared to last year," said Saurabh Khanijo, managing director of Kylin chain of restaurants.Also read: After Zudio boom, Trent still has a long runway for growth: Noel TataPushpa Bector, group executive director at DLF Retail, said revenues for DLF malls should be up by around 10-11% for April and May compared to last year. โPeople are not travelling as much this summer,โ said Bector. โBecause of adverse weather conditions, disposable incomes are going into malls, and per capita spending seems to have gone up. We should be doing considerably well all the way till August. Categories such as F&B, beauty and fashion are doing well,โ she added.The average time a family spends at the mall has increased since the start of summer vacations, said Ravinder Choudhary, vice president of Vegas & Unity Group that operates half a dozen malls in Delhi and Punjab.โWe have also created activity zones in the malls that we operate. That crowd then spends time shopping and eating out as well. Food and entertainment zones are doing extremely well while there is a stable growth in fashion brands,โ he added.Cafรฉ Delhi Heights, which operates around 44 outlets across malls in India, is seeing a 10% uptick in sales over last year.For standalone outlets in local markets and high street areas, restaurateurs are running offers like extended happy hours to lure more crowds.Also read: The 9 pm rule inside Indiaโs predictable summer shopping pattern"Extreme weather is increasingly becoming a factor in consumer decision-making. During periods of intense heat, air-conditioned malls gain a natural advantage as they offer a complete ecosystem of shopping, dining and entertainment in a comfortable environment,โ said Shriram PM Monga, co-founder, SRED, a retail advisory firm.Monga said that it was not merely a seasonal spike in footfalls but a shift in โdwell-time economics.โโBased on what we are observing across our portfolio, mall footfalls increase by 15โ25% during peak holiday and high-temperature periods, resulting in stronger sales for F&B and lifestyle brands,โ he said. โAs Indian cities continue to urbanise and temperatures grow more extreme, well-planned retail destinations are poised for sustained demand. The consumption story inside organised retail is only getting stronger."
While Nihal and his S8UL teammate Aravindh Chithambaram have both successfully qualified for the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 Chess main event, Nihal stands alone as India's premier direct invitee for the country-based ENC tournament, where he will represent Team India Esports.