The Hindu National
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โINDIA janbandhanโ united, 23 parties have confirmed participation: Congress
The INDIA bloc is set to deliberate on the future course of action with an eye on the 2029 general elections
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The INDIA bloc is set to deliberate on the future course of action with an eye on the 2029 general elections
A Russian drone struck a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Ukraine's Chornobyl exclusion zone, officials reported. While authorities confirmed radiation levels remained normal, President Zelenskyy condemned the attack as a deliberate act of recklessness targeting critical infrastructure. This incident adds to a pattern of Russian actions endangering nuclear safety, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of systemic nuclear blackmail.
For three years after winning the National Award in 2011, the genial actor had stayed away from silver screen due to poor health. Yet he remained alive in public memory, thanks largely to memes that liberally drew on his image and witty dialogues, giving them a sharp satirical edge
Lady Gaga's body is a living testament to her life's journey, with each tattoo narrating profound personal experiences. From her first treble clef to tributes for David Bowie and John Lennon, these markings chronicle love, survival, and artistic passion. Her left side, a deliberate choice, holds these stories, a permanent diary etched in ink.
Can the search for a hotel room lead to a business idea? It did, for Alok Mishra.In 2014, during a trip with his wife, Mishra needed a hotel room for six hours as he did not want to drive late at night. But he was asked to pay for a full day and subjected to a series of intrusive questions despite being marriedโand was finally refused a room. โThat got me thinking that there might be travellers like me who need rooms only for a few hours but have to pay for an entire day. Later, while working in the US, I came across pay-for-use concepts and felt that India needed a more flexible, customer-friendly model,โ he says.That experience led to the launch of Bag2Bag in 2019, an online platform for booking hotels, service apartments, homestays and other accommodations, with a focus on hourly stays.The business started gaining momentum around 2021. Bag2Bagโs hourly-stay revenue has risen from roughly Rs 50 lakh in 2021 to Rs 5-6 crore today. The company has served more than 1 lakh customers, lists over 10,000 properties across India and offers hourly stays at 6,000-7,000 of them. The service is available in more than 50 cities, though Bengaluru and Mumbai remain its strongest markets.Also read | The safe keepers: Inside India's booming locker economyโPeople now understand that this is a practical solution rather than a niche service. One of our biggest achievements has been to help normalise the category. Earlier, hourly stays were often associated with couples seeking privacy,โ he says. โWe deliberately broadened the use case by allowing family bookings, including travellers with children. We wanted people to see hourly stays for what they really areโ a convenient accommodation option.โHOUR OF NEED That convenience is growing as online hotel booking platforms that allow short stays are on the rise. Alongside Bag2Bag, there is Noida-based Brevistay, Bengaluruheadquartered MiStay, Mumbaiโs Hourly Rooms and Qwiksta, all specialising in micro stays. Larger travel platforms like MakeMyTrip, Agoda and Goibibo have also introduced hourly booking options.Like Bag2Bag, Brevistay was born out of a travel inconvenience. In 2016, cofounders Prateek Singh, Aditya Naithani, Shubham Agarwal, Avnish Kumar and Nikhil Pathak arrived in Manali at 5 am only to find that hotels would not allow early check-ins without charging for an extra night. The friends went on to cofound the travel tech startup Brevistay, which raised Rs 3 crore in 2023 and today reports revenue of about Rs 18 crore. It has 15 lakh registered users, 4 lakh monthly active users and around 11,000 listed hotels, including brands such as Ginger, Ramada and Blue Motel.LONG JOURNEY Getting there, however, was not easy.Pathak, cofounder and chief technology officer of Brevistay, says, โThe challenge in this segment is not customers but hotels. In 2016, many hoteliers would simply bang the phone on us. Some agreed in principle but didnโt want their properties listed publicly and preferred bookings to come through offline calls. It took us nearly two years before we started seeing meaningful traction and recurring bookings,โ says Pathak.The same resistance greeted MiStay when it launched in 2016. Starting with a pilot in Delhi, MiStay has since expanded to more than 100 cities. Shwetha Sameernath, general manager, business and growth, MiStay, says, โWhen we launched, scepticism was high. Most hotels were uncomfortable with the model, concerned about guest quality and operational challenges. Over time, that changed as hotels began seeing it as a revenue opportunity.โMiStay tackled resistance through education and curation. The company worked to show hoteliers that short stays served a broad and legitimate market of business travellers, transit passengers and day-use guests. It also selectively onboarded premium hotel brands, helping build credibility for the category. โWhen hotels see actual customer segments across varied, legitimate use cases, it builds their confidence that the model wonโt compromise their brand,โ says Sameernath, adding that the concept is now largely normalised.Also read | Major change in buyer behaviour as e-scooters race deeper into BharatPathak says the customer has evolved as well. Brevistay continues to market actively to couples, but he argues that the category should no longer be viewed through that lens. โThereโs nothing illegal happening. In fact, thereโs no law that prevents consenting adults from booking a hotel room. The issue was perception, not legality. What eventually changed minds was revenue,โ he says. โOnce hotels realised they could sell the same room multiple times in a day and generate seven or eight bookings instead of one, the business case became impossible to ignore.โThe use cases have expanded too. Back in 2017, couples accounted for nearly 90% of Brevistayโs bookings. Today, that figure is down to 50-60%. Business travellers, transit passengers, tourists looking to freshen up between journeys, students travelling for exams and people attending interviews or meetings have all emerged as important customer segments.Hotels, meanwhile, have had to adapt operationally. Mishra says the biggest challenge is that traditional hotel system was never designed for flexible check-ins and check-outs. Bag2Bag addressed this by developing its own software platform for partner hotels. โOnce they realised they could monetise idle inventory and generate additional revenue from rooms that would otherwise remain empty, adoption became much easier,โ he says.REVENUE CHECKS IN For Sameernath, the turning point was the entry of premium hotel brands. โToday, acceptance has grown across the ecosystem. Channel managers and property management systems are evolving to support slot-based bookings, and customers increasingly treat hourly booking as the natural way to reserve a room for less than a day,โ she says.Also read | Indian tourists go viral for all wrong reasons. Here's how not to become the next horror storyMishra has observed another interesting shift. Reliability and brand trust are becoming increasingly important. โWhether itโs a three-star or a five-star property, even if a branded hotel costs 20-25% more, customers prefer it because they know what theyโre getting,โ he says. The economics are compelling for hotels too. Sameernath points out that average hotel occupancy in India is under 65%, while daytime occupancy can fall to as low as 30% as guests check out in the morning and new arrivals come in much later. Platforms like MiStay help hotels monetise those idle hours by attracting guests who would never have booked a full-day room. โFor hotels near airports or railway stations, the upside is even greater. A room priced at Rs 8,000 for a full night could earn Rs 3,500-4,000 for a daytime slot and another Rs 6,000 for the nightโgenerating `10,000-plus from the same room in a single day,โ she says.CHANGING PERCEPTION MiStay today works with brands like IHG, Pride, Ramada, The Park, Radisson and Novotel IHG, while Brevistay is in discussions with Hyatt. Sameernath says that on the demand side, once customers experience flexible booking, they donโt go back. Their repeat rate reflects this, as 48% of MiStayโs monthly business comes from repeat guests โThe pay-per-use model in hospitality is the same transformation that happened in transport. You no longer book a cab for a full day; you pay for the distance. Hotels are heading the same way,โ she says.Pathak believes the next wave of growth will be driven by younger travellers. โTheyโre vocal about spending time with their partners and donโt carry the hesitation earlier generations did. In metros, the industry has largely moved beyond the old perceptions, and hourly stays are increasingly viewed as a convenience product rather than something unusual.โThe customer, it seems, has reached the destination. The hospitality industry needs to arrive.ChallengesPersistent social stigmaTrust and safety concernsBranded hotels worried about perceptionComplexities in managing multiple check-ins and check-outsLack of awareness among travellersOpportunitiesRise in domestic travel and frequent short tripsGrowth of bleisure (business + leisure) travelYounger consumers demanding flexibilityTech platforms making discovery and booking seamlessHotels looking to monetise vacant rooms
For three years after winning the National Award in 2011, the genial actor had stayed away from silver screen due to poor health. Yet he remained alive in public memory, thanks largely to memes that liberally drew on his image and witty dialogues, giving them a sharp satirical edge
Police are investigating the murder of Delhi University professor Debosmita Paul, with her estranged husband claiming an alibi in Pune. Investigators are probing revenge and contract killing angles, reviewing CCTV footage showing two unidentified men entering the residential complex. Four individuals, including a masked duo, remain unidentified as the probe intensifies.
The police can arrest the accused; they can also take action against him according to the law; but they cannot deliberately defame the accused in the name of arrest; observes Calcutta High Court
The court stressed that while the Constitution guarantees personal liberty, including the right to travel abroad, โsuch right cannot be viewed in isolationโ.
Motorists found deliberately altering, concealing or forging registration numbers could face criminal cases, says Hyderabad City Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar
The rupee appreciated 50 paise to 95.24 against the US dollar on Friday after the RBI liberalised norms for FPI investment in government securities. Forex traders said the announcements in the RBI policy boosted investor sentiments after the apex bank asserted that the country's forex reserves provide sufficient buffer against external shocks. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.72, then touched 95.24 in intraday trade, registering a rise of 50 paise from its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee rose 2 paise to settle at 95.74 against the US dollar. The Reserve Bank on Friday expectedly kept interest rates unchanged for the second time in a row as it weighed the impact of rising energy prices and supply disruptions caused by the West Asia crisis. Announcing the second bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to retain short-term lending rate or repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance. Moreover, the RBI raised limit for investments by Non-Resident Indians, Overseas Citizens of India in equity instruments. Malhotra also said that the central bank's policy on exchange rate remains unchanged and it does not target any specific rate/band for the rupee. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.40, higher by 0.01 per cent. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 0.36 per cent at USD 95.37 per barrel in futures trade. On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 142.06 points or 0.19 per cent to 74,217.95, while the Nifty was down 38.75 points or 0.17 per cent at 23,377.80. Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,447.06 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data. Meanwhile, RBI has lowered GDP growth projection to 6.6 per cent from 6.9 per cent earlier for the current fiscal and raised CPI inflation projection to 5.1 per cent for FY27, higher from earlier estimate of 4.6 per cent. PTI
Lavkesh Bajaj, believed to be around 60 and a resident of Saket in South Delhi, maintained a deliberately low profile.
Jairam Ramesh accused the Centre of pursuing what he termed a policy of โContinuing, Calibrated Capitulation to Chinaโ
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.
Former Industries Minister says document deals with KSRTC, KSEB, and KWA based on its profit and loss figures, instead of viewing them as essential services.
South Korea has expanded eligibility for its Top-Tier Visa to include professors and researchers in science and technology, as the country seeks to attract world-class talent and strengthen its research capabilities. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on May 31 that the visa programme, previously limited to employees of companies in advanced industries, will now be open to academics and researchers from June. The announcement is part of South Korea's broader strategy to recruit highly skilled professionals from overseas and boost innovation in science and technology. Universities, research institutes to benefit Under the revised framework, universities, government-funded research institutes and corporate laboratories hiring outstanding foreign researchers will be able to sponsor candidates for the Top-Tier Visa. Applicants will undergo a recommendation process led by the Ministry of Science and ICT, followed by screening by the Ministry of Justice. To qualify, candidates must meet specific criteria related to professional achievements, including awards, research publications, technology commercialisation accomplishments and research experience. Authorities said individuals considered to have exceptional potential may also be included in the candidate pool through a separate review process.131152865 Goal to attract 2,000 experts by 2030 The South Korean government has set a target of attracting 2,000 high-calibre science and technology professionals from abroad by 2030. Visa holders will receive priority support services designed to help them settle in the country, from arrival through long-term integration. The government believes the expanded programme will help address growing competition for global talent and strengthen South Korea's position as a research and innovation hub. Boost for research sector Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho said the policy changes are expected to help attract leading international talent and enhance the capabilities of research institutions."These policy improvements are expected to help attract top talent in science and technology from abroad and boost the research capabilities of think tanks," Jung said.
As geopolitical headwinds make it tougher for equity investors to make money, Dalal Streetโs top voice Nilesh Shah, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, told a gathering of HNI investors at the ET Alpha Wealth Summit on Thursday that there are four specific investment structures which deserve a place in most portfolios right now.Shahโs first recommendation was the Special Investment Fund, or SIF, a structure that marks a meaningful shift in what is available to Indian investors. Shah noted that the mutual fund industry has, until now, been a long-only business but the SIF changes that. These are long-short, absolute return-oriented funds, designed to generate returns regardless of market direction rather than simply riding the equity tide.The second vehicle Shah flagged is performing credit AIFs. His reasoning was grounded in a simple supply-demand observation that for corporate settlements today, capital is not available from banks, mutual funds, or insurance companies.As institutional lenders have stepped back, borrowers are plenty and lenders very few. Amid this imbalance, Shah said the need is real and returns are attractive. Performing credit AIFs, which lend into this gap, are positioned to benefit directly from the scarcity of competing capital.https://youtube.com/shorts/Xa4AcXFg8hA?feature=shareThe third idea was REITs, and here Shah introduced a timing element. Over the last three years, REITs have delivered index-level returns of around 13.5%. But with interest rates rising, he suggested that the next six to nine months may present an opportunity to enter at better prices. Rising rates typically compress REIT valuations in the near term, and Shah framed any such correction as a potential entry point rather than a risk to avoid. Beyond the return potential, he positioned REITs as a portfolio diversification tool as the asset class behaves differently from equities and fixed income, and that is still underrepresented in most Indian investor portfolios.The fourth recommendation addressed global diversification but came with an important caveat. Mutual fund industry limits for overseas investment are currently full, which means the conventional route for Indian investors to access global markets through domestic mutual funds is closed. Shah pointed to Gift City as the workaround. Structures domiciled there allow investment under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, and in his view, these Gift City-based LRS products are the practical path for investors who want global exposure while the mutual fund window remains shut.Across all four โ the SIF, performing credit AIFs, REITs, and Gift City products โ Shah's underlying argument was the same: in a volatile period, the portfolio needs instruments that can generate positive returns through means other than a rising equity market.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
It is not democracy which has failed the TMC, it is the TMC which has failed democracy in West Bengal
Kuku Technologies Ltd, which operates vernacular audio platform Kuku FM and short-video streaming app Kuku TV, has filed confidential draft papers with Sebi for an IPO to raise up to Rs 3,000 crore, according to sources. The company is planning to raise between Rs 2,500-Rs 3,500 crore and is targeting a valuation of up to Rs 15,000 crore (about USD 1.8 billion) through the proposed public issue, people familiar with the development said on Thursday. The initial public offering (IPO), expected in the later part of this financial year, will comprise a mix of fresh issue of shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) by existing investors. Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised for strengthening technology and AI infrastructure, content creation and expansion into new geographies. When contacted, Kuku Technologies declined to comment on the proposed offering. Kuku's revenue surged nearly seven-fold to more than Rs 1,400 crore in FY26 from about Rs 240 crore in the previous fiscal, while the company remained close to achieving operational break-even. The company has leveraged artificial intelligence tools to accelerate content production, improve content recommendations and reduce customer acquisition costs. Founded in 2018 by IIT alumni Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Kumar and Vikas Goyal, Kuku has built a portfolio spanning audio content, microdrama entertainment and edutainment. Its latest offering, Kuku TV, launched in late 2024, focuses on micro dramas -- short-form mobile-first video series with episodes typically lasting two to three minutes. The platform is currently releasing over 150 original shows every month and has crossed 200 million downloads. Industry estimates suggest that India's Hindi and vernacular micro-drama segment is expanding at around 60 per cent annually, driven by rising smartphone penetration and increasing consumption of short-form video content. Across its platforms, including Kuku FM, Kuku TV and Guru, the company has over 10 million active paying subscribers and more than 400 million cumulative downloads. Its content library comprises over 60,000 hours of programming across seven to eight Indian languages. The company has also initiated plans to expand into overseas markets, including the United States. Kuku has raised more than USD 150 million from investors such as Fundamentum Partnership, Krafton, Vertex Ventures, Granite Asia, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Paramark Ventures, India Quotient and 3one4 Capital. Former India cricket captain MS Dhoni is also among its investors. Kotak Mahindra Capital, Jefferies, JM Financial and Axis Capital are acting as the book-running lead managers to the issue.
Newsrooms can moderate and calibrate, algorithms chase engagement: Kalli Purie on AI