Several incidents have taken place in various parts of the country where masked robbers have looted jewellery shops
| Photo Credit:
Ranjeet Kumar

In a bid to curb thefts, jewellers in Bihar have decided not to sell ornaments to customers entering shops with their faces covered, a traders’ association said on Wednesday.

The state unit of the All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation (AIJGF) has asked its members not to display and sell jewellery items to those who visit the outlets wearing face masks.

Talking to reporters here, AIJGF Bihar unit president Ashok Kumar Verma said, “We have decided not to sell items to customers who enter with their faces covered. We will not display and sell jewellery items to women wearing ‘hijab’, or anyone with a face mask”.

The decision was taken for “security reasons and for the safety of jewellers and customers”, he said.

Several incidents have taken place in various parts of the country where masked robbers have looted jewellery shops.

“If customers enter jewellery shops with their faces covered, we can’t identify them. The move will also help the police ascertain the identity of customers through CCTV footage in case of any theft,” Verma said.

Masked criminals looted ornaments worth Rs 25 crore from an outlet in Bhojpur district in March last year, while a jewellery shop was robbed in Siwan in November.

Published on January 7, 2026

Russia’s cumulative earnings from exporting fossil fuels since the war in Ukraine (February 24, 2022) surpassed $1 trillion at the beginning of the 2026 calendar year. China and the European Union (EU) accounted for more than half the share, followed by India.

According to data from the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Russia’s earnings from the export of crude oil, natural gas and coal hit €1 trillion, or roughly $1.17 trillion at the current exchange rate, between February 24, 2022 and January 3, 2026. 

Oil (including crude oil and oil products) and fossil gas (either pipelined gas or LNG shipments) represent the vast majority of this revenue, it added.

China was the largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels worth around $343.76 billion, accounting for around 29.38 per cent of the total. Almost $246 billion was spent on oil purchases, followed by around $50 billion for coal and $47.50 on procuring liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The EU was Russia’s second largest fossil fuel trading partner accounting for around 21.81 per cent, or around $255.21 billion, with $123.23 billion spent on procuring oil, $126.54 billion (LNG) and $4.10 billion (coal).

Together these two accounted for more than 51 per cent of Russia’s fossil fuel export earnings.

India, which is Russia’s largest seaborne crude oil buyer, purchased fossil fuels worth more than $190 billion, accounting for around 16.26 per cent of Russia’s cumulative earnings. 

The world’s third largest energy consumer procured crude oil worth over $168 billion between February 24, 2022 and January 3, 2026. It also purchased coal worth over $21 billion during the same period.

“The trade flourishes because of Russia’s ability to expand markets for its oil, grow its ageing, dangerous shadow fleet, and funnel large volumes of unsanctioned gas to Ukraine’s allies in the EU. EU imports consist of one fifth of this one trillion. Russian gas is the major share of it,” CREA emphasised. 

Russian oil has also continued to flow into the EU, mainly to Hungary and Slovakia. President Trump’s exemption for Hungary means that €1 billion will continue to flow into the Kremlin war chest, it added.

“Sanctioning countries also continue to boost Russian revenues by allowing products refined from Russian crude to continue entering their shores. Over 500 ‘shadow’ tankers continue to carry Russian oil globally, often transiting key checkpoints and straits while not having any known and recognised insurance,” the think tank pointed out.

Last month, CREA said that state-run refiners increased Russian crude oil purchases in November 2025, which comes as Urals crude is discounted heavily following the US sanctions. 

Discount on Urals increased by 4 per cent in November 2025 averaging $6.66 per barrel below Brent, compared to October ($4.92) and September ($5.13). The average Urals price fell 6 per cent m-o-m to $55 per barrel (November 2025), remaining above the new price cap of $47.6, it added.

Published on January 7, 2026

Cash logistics-focused CMS Info Systems on Wednesday said it has bagged a ₹1,000-crore deal from SBI to look after 5,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) for the bank.

It is a 10-year contract starting January 1, which includes managed services, improving cash efficiency, and delivering higher ATM uptime to benefit millions of bank customers, an official statement said.

The CMS statement said this is first such direct large PSU bank cash outsourcing contract covering machines across the country.

Chief Business Officer for CMS Anush Raghavan said the contract will deliver an incremental revenue growth of ₹500 crore.

“This long-term contract will provide stability and high-quality services to millions of consumers with seamless self-service banking,” he added.

A large part of India’s ATM channel was disrupted in 2025, he said, adding that CMS helped stabilise ATM operations for many banks.

The CMS Info Systems scrip was trading 4.13 per cent up at ₹355.80 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday morning, against a 0.09 per cent correction on the benchmark.

Published on January 7, 2026

India imported about $6.4 billion of refined silver in 2024, 21.4 per cent of global trade, making it the world’s largest consumer of finished silver rather than a processor.
| Photo Credit:
Olivier Le Moal

Silver is not just a precious metal but a key industrial and energy transition input, and India should focus on processing it by securing long-term overseas mining supplies, boosting domestic refining and recycling, reducing reliance on imported finished silver, and diversifying import sources, GTRI said.

It said China is the world’s dominant processor of silver.

Beijing is importing around $5.6 billion of silver ores and concentrates out of a global total of USD 6.3 billion. It refines this metal domestically and exports higher-value silver embedded in electronics, medical devices, and solar panels.

India, by contrast, imported about $6.4 billion of refined silver in 2024, 21.4 per cent of global trade, making it the world’s largest consumer of finished silver rather than a processor.

“India must learn to process silver from the ore stage for domestic value addition,” Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) Founder Ajay Srivastava said.

In FY25, India exported just $478.4 million of silver products while importing $4.83 billion, underscoring its deep import dependence.

That dependence surged in 2025. Imports jumped to $2.7 billion in October alone, up 529 per cent year-on-year, followed by $1.1 billion in November, a 126 per cent increase.

Cumulatively, imports reached $8.5 billion during January-November 2025 and are estimated at $9.2 billion for the full year, about 44 per cent higher than in 2024. During April-October 2025, India imported $5.94 billion worth of silver.

“India should recognise silver as a critical industrial and energy-transition metal, not merely a precious commodity, and integrate it into its minerals and clean-energy strategy,” he said.

He added that this will require securing long-term supply through overseas mining partnerships and encouraging domestic refining and recycling capacity to reduce dependence on imported finished silver, and diversifying import sources beyond a few trading hubs.

“In a fragmenting global order, securing silver is becoming as important as securing energy. India’s policy framework must reflect that shift,” Srivastava said.

He also said unlike gold, silver supply chains remain far less transparent — a vulnerability that is becoming strategic as competition intensifies.

Import diversification is important as China has tightened export controls, shifting silver exports to a licence-based system from January 1, 2026.

Under the new rules, only approved firms can export silver, and each shipment requires government authorisation, replacing the older quota regime.

While this is not an outright export ban, it has heightened global supply concerns and injected new volatility into prices — especially given China’s central role in silver processing, he said.

With limited new mining capacity and rapidly expanding technological uses, silver is increasingly viewed as a metal tied directly to future industrial and energy dominance.

At present, 55-60 per cent of global silver demand is industrial, driven by electronics, solar power, electric vehicles, defence equipment, and medical technologies.

Further, he said the role of silver in green energy is particularly transformative as it is a critical input in solar photovoltaic cells, where it is used as a conductive paste to improve efficiency.

Solar energy already accounts for roughly 15 per cent of global silver demand, and that the share is rising rapidly as renewable capacity expands.

In medicine and healthcare, silver’s antibacterial properties are used in wound dressings, medical-device coatings, catheters, surgical instruments, water purification systems, and pharmaceutical compounds.

The metal remains central to jewellery, silverware, and coins, especially in countries like India where cultural demand is deeply embedded.

But its strategic importance now comes overwhelmingly from industry. Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal, making it indispensable for electronics, circuit boards, connectors, batteries, and automotive systems.

Over the past two decades, trade in silver ores and concentrates expanded from just $0.1 billion in 2000 to $6.27 billion in 2024.

Trade in refined silver has grown even faster. Global commerce in silver bars, ingots, rods, wires, powders, and bullion jumped from $4.06 billion in 2000 to $31.42 billion in 2024.

Published on January 7, 2026