Times Top News

Times Top News

EAM Jaishankar, Canadian FM Anand discuss West Asia crisis on G7 sidelines

EAM Jaishankar, Canadian FM Anand discuss West Asia crisis on G7 sidelines

by | Mar 27, 2026 | Business


External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar meets Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand on the sidelines of G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, at Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay, on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
ANI

The West Asia crisis and its consequences figured prominently during a conversation between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand on the margins of a G7 meeting in France.

Jaishankar arrived here on Thursday for the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

On its sidelines, he met Anand, and the two followed up “on the partnership our Prime Ministers advanced during our visit to India earlier this year,” the Canadian Foreign Minister said in an X post.

They also discussed “trade, the situation in the Middle East, and key areas where we can deepen cooperation, including critical minerals, agriculture, and education,” she said.

At the two-day G7 meeting, Jaishankar will discuss the West Asia crisis with a focus on coordinating efforts to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains open for international shipping.

The narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), and global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran virtually blocked it.

The G7 meeting, being held at Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay on March 26–27, came at the invitation of Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noel Barrot.

The Group of 7 (G7) brings together seven of the world’s most advanced economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The European Union is also a member of the bloc.

Besides India, France has invited Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Brazil.

The G7 serves as the forum of choice for its members to discuss and coordinate action in response to major economic, financial and geopolitical challenges on the global stage.

Published on March 27, 2026



Source link

NHB launches Gruh Sugam portal focusing on defence, paramilitary, govt personnel

NHB launches Gruh Sugam portal focusing on defence, paramilitary, govt personnel

by | Mar 27, 2026 | Business


The Gruh Sugam portal will facilitate increased home ownership through improved access to housing loans, strengthening the mission of promoting affordable and sustainable housing finance, NHB said.

National Housing Bank (NHB), the apex agency established by the government to promote a cost-effective housing finance system, has launched the Gruh Sugam Portal.

The portal enables defence/government personnel to avail home loans with ease from the location of their posting, NHB said in a statement on Thursday.

This portal will accelerate digital lending adoption and financial inclusion, it said.

It will facilitate increased home ownership through improved access to housing loans, strengthening the mission of promoting affordable and sustainable housing finance, it said.

Defence personnel, members of paramilitary forces, government employees (state and central) can apply for housing loans digitally through their respective administrative units, and there is no need to visit the banks and financial institutions for loan approvals and processing, it said.

The portal enables registration by the government entity for accessing the facilities of the portal, it said, adding that the employees register their request for a housing loan with minimal data, which is then relayed to the registered lending institutions.

The lending institutions will provide their best offer, which can be compared and accepted by the loan applicant, it said.

This will improve ease of accessing home loan facility, especially by the defence/paramilitary forces from remote locations, thereby increasing affordable home ownership in the country, it added.

Published on March 27, 2026



Source link

Fino Payments Bank CEO Rishi Gupta gets bail; bank says operations unaffected

Fino Payments Bank CEO Rishi Gupta gets bail; bank says operations unaffected

by | Mar 27, 2026 | Business


Rishi Gupta, MD and CEO of Fino Payments Bank, has been granted bail by a special court in Hyderabad in connection with an ongoing investigation involving program managers linked to multiple banks.

The Special Judge for Economic Offences, Nampally, Hyderabad, on Thursday granted bail to Rishi Gupta, MD & CEO, Fino Payments Bank (FPB).

The aforementioned case pertains to an ongoing investigation into certain program managers associated with multiple banks, including the Bank, and does not relate to the Bank’s GST compliance, FPB said in a regulatory filing.

Further, the Bank said it will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities. Gupta has been in judicial custody since late last month.

Operations remain stable, bank assures stakeholders

FPB said its operations remain stable and uninterrupted, and it will continue to serve its customers and stakeholders in the normal course of business.

“The Bank shall continue to engage constructively with regulators and stakeholders and shall make appropriate disclosures in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements,” per the filing.

Ketan Merchant, Chief Financial Officer, FPB, in a statement issued on February 28, 2026, said: “…The Bank and its MD & CEO Rishi Gupta have nothing to do with the actions of the programme managers.”

Role of program managers explained

Shailesh Pandey, Chief Business Officer, FPB, in an analyst call, noted that the program manager is a payment service provider whose primary role is to identify merchants in the market and refer them to the bank for onboarding and end-to-end UPI payment services.

“The program managers fundamentally have multiple relationships where they provide different services to these merchants who require payment services, whether it is, you know, debit cards, credit cards, including UPI transactions. They integrate with multiple banks and Fino is also one of the banks with them, and we basically work with them for UPI collect services,” he said.

Interim CEO appointed amid developments

On March 06, 2026, FPB, in a regulatory filing, said its Board has approved the appointment of Ketan Merchant as Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Bank for carrying out the duties of MD&CEO as per provisions of Section 10B(9) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The aforementioned appointment was for a period not exceeding 4 months with effect from the date of approval of the Reserve Bank of India.

Special review initiated on GST compliance

The Bank has appointed a special consultant to conduct a special review of GST compliance and other aspects, as per the approved scope of work, based on the Audit Committee’s recommendation.

Published on March 27, 2026



Source link

Whistle-blower complaints rise across private banks in FY25

Whistle-blower complaints rise across private banks in FY25

by | Mar 26, 2026 | Business


As per RBI and SEBI requirements, banks are expected to have a well-defined whistleblower policy hosted on their site and must put in place vigilance mechanisms to give employees access to senior management and confidentiality

Whistleblower complaints across India’s private banks recorded a broad increase in FY25 with most major players including Yes Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank reporting higher cases in the fiscal compared to FY24. HDFC Bank was the only bank among the top-tier players to report a dip in such complaints.

A businessline analysis of annual reports of listed private banks shows that only eight out of 23 banks reported whistleblower complaints separately, and seven out of the eight saw number of complaints increase in FY25, highlighting either improved internal reporting systems or rising governance concerns.

Axis Bank reported a significant jump to 673 complaints in FY25, up from 494 in FY24 and 395 in FY23. ICICI Bank also recorded a notable rise, with complaints climbing to 195 from 123 a year earlier. Interestingly, HDFC Bank, which is currently in the eye of the storm, saw number of complaints fall by 37 per cent on-year in FY25.

As per RBI and SEBI requirements, banks are expected to have a well-defined whistleblower policy hosted on their site and must put in place vigilance mechanisms to give employees access to senior management and confidentiality. However SEBI’s BRSR (Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting) does not require specific identification of such complaints and they get included under broader employee complaints.

Experts say higher whistleblower complaints may indicate a healthy, transparent culture or can also point to underlying governance lapses, in the absence of sufficient disclosures of the nature of complaints.

‘Risky and unrewarding’

Ramesh K Vaidyanathan, Managing Partner at BTG Advaya, said that as a concept, whistleblower complaints could relate to fraud, governance lapses and other unethical conduct. “Overall, compliance requirements exist, but real protection is minimal, making whistleblowing risky and unrewarding. Further, there is no uniform mandate to publicly disclose the number of whistleblower complaints in annual reports.”

Rupinder Malik, Partner, JSA Advocates and Solicitors, says the challenge lies in execution with issues around how complaints are triaged at the initial stage and whether matters are escalated appropriately. “There is a stronger regulatory and governance push now towards making these mechanisms more credible and trusted especially through clearer anti-retaliation safeguards, audit trails, and periodic reviews of how complaints are actually handled on the ground,” Malik added.

Separately, data from primeinfobase.com showed that total complaints from employees (excluding those relating to sexual harassment) fell by 30 per cent in FY25 across the 38 listed banks (public and private). This includes grievances of all kinds including those of governance.

Published on March 27, 2026



Source link

India’s tech spending expected to grow 13.4% in 2026; among highest in APAC: Report

India’s tech spending expected to grow 13.4% in 2026; among highest in APAC: Report

by | Mar 26, 2026 | Business


Total spending on technology will grow by 9.3 per cent
| Photo Credit:
ipopba

India’s tech spending will grow at 13.4 per cent in 2026, down slightly from 13.7 per cent in 2025, according to Forrester’s Asia Pacific Tech Market Forecast, 2026 To 2030.

As Asia Pacific’s fastest-growing market, India is being propelled by rapid cloud adoption and data localisation rules that are driving onshore infrastructure investment. Software investment is also rising as vendors embed AI capabilities into renewal pricing, while domestic enterprise demand continues to be the primary driver of India’s double-digit tech spending growth.

Forrester estimates that the APAC region will spend over $437 billion on acquiring new technology between 2025 and 2030. Total spending on technology will grow by 9.3 per cent, driven by investments in software, services, communications equipment and tech outsourcing, but cost pressures, regulatory fragmentation, tariffs, energy shocks, uneven regional growth, and talent shortages will reduce the real impact of that investment.

Across Asia Pacific, computer equipment will see the strongest growth at 13.7 per cent, boosted by hyperscalers’ investments in AI-optimized data centres and higher hardware prices tied to global component shortages. Software spending will grow 10.7 per cent, with adoption of agentic AI accelerating and vendors incorporating AI-enhanced capabilities into renewal pricing.

“India’s double‑digit technology spending growth is being propelled by a combination of cloud acceleration, regulatory clarity, and strong domestic demand,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Vice President and Research Director at Forrester. “With data localisation shaping infrastructure strategies and enterprises expanding AI‑ready platforms, the priority now is to digitise processes beyond core systems and build scalable data foundations. CIOs that balance compliance requirements with investments in automation and AI‑enabled capabilities will be best positioned to capture this next phase of growth.”

Tech spending is projected to grow 8.6 per cent in Australia, 10.7 per cent in China, and 6 per cent in Singapore in 2026. Across Southeast Asia, growth is expected at 12.5 per cent in Indonesia, 9.5 per cent in Malaysia, 12.3 per cent in the Philippines, 6.8 per cent in Thailand, and 15.4 per cent in Vietnam.

“Asia Pacific’s technology spending momentum remains strong, but the headline growth numbers mask a more complex reality,” said Frederic Giron, VP and Senior Research Director at Forrester.

“CIOs across the region are grappling with software inflation, hardware volatility, and increasing regulatory divergence that directly impact modernisation plans. The conflict in the Middle East adds a new macro headwind — sustained energy cost inflation will compress GDP growth across oil-dependent countries in Asia. The CIOs in those markets should expect IT budgets to come under pressure if the conflict lengthens. To navigate this environment, leaders must shift to highly targeted investments — prioritising automation, AI-enhanced platforms, and modernisation initiatives that deliver measurable productivity gains,” he added.

Published on March 26, 2026



Source link

YouTube
Instagram
WhatsApp