The article titled "India-US trade talks progress, pact timeline remains elusive" by Amiti Sen, found on page 3 of the source, reports on the latest round of negotiations between the two nations:
India-US trade talks progress, pact timeline remains elusive
IMPASSE. Uncertainty on US tariffs, need to guard sensitive sectors slowing negotiations
Amiti Sen
New Delhi
Two days of intense negotiations between US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal ended on Wednesday without a break-through on a long-pending interim bilateral trade agreement (BTA). Both sides reported "substantial progress" but refrained from indicating when an agreement would be finalised.
Persistent disagreement and uncertainty over the US tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium, and the ongoing Section 301 investigation into digital services taxes involving India, as well as the need to safeguard sensitive sectors like agriculture, and address unresolved market access issues, were cited as reasons for needing more time for the negotiations.
HIGHLY FLUID
"The situation on the US tariffs is highly fluid and India needs greater clarity on how the ongoing Section 301 probe will impact its exports and its competing countries, and whether any resulting measure would be legally sustainable. It can make meaningful commitments only when there is a clearer picture of the trade backdrop," a source closely involved in the negotiations said.
In a statement, the Commerce Ministry said both ministers highlighted the progress made in the negotiations over the last year and welcomed the "momentum and energy" in the bilateral technical and ministerial level talks.
"The two leaders conducted a comprehensive review of the ongoing bilateral trade discussions, emphasizing enhanced market access, digital trade, supply chain resilience, and cooperation in strategic sectors," the statement said.
The Ministry added that discussions focused on potential ways to conclude an interim agreement and provide a concrete milestone towards a comprehensive FTA, but stopped short of providing a timeline.
Goyal, too, offered no indication of a final conclusion. "President Trump and I are working towards having an amazing relationship. We've had a very positive discussion over many years, but last week, they met at G7 at Borgo Egnazia, Italy, and they agreed to take the relationship to the next level, which includes the trade deal. We are looking at and discussing every aspect of the relationship," he said in a video message.
ONE-WAY PACT
Ajay Srivastava of GTRI said that when US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said on May 30 that the deal was "99 per cent ready", expectations were high. "Yet, the BTA negotiations remain stuck because the foundation of the original bargain, as defined in the India-US joint statement of February 25, has collapsed," Srivastava said.
He said that after the US Supreme Court invalidated the reciprocal tariffs, the proposed BTA increasingly looks like a one-way market access agreement rather than a balanced trade pact.
Trade expert Abhijit Das said the delay could give the government more time to assess its commitments in agriculture. "This might provide an opportunity to modify the negotiating approach on agricultural issues in light of concerns raised by farmers across the country," he said.
The article titled "Markets rebound as global uncertainty eases, RBI calms rate hike concerns" appears on page 3 of the source . Here is the full text of the article:
Markets rebound as global uncertainty eases, RBI calms rate hike concerns
WAIT AND WATCH Premature to talk about a rate hike: RBI Governor
Our Bureau
Mumbai
The equity markets staged a smart recovery on the back of positive signals, including falling crude oil prices and the RBI dousing the fear of a rate hike .
Bellwether BSE Sensex gained 790 points to 76,591, while the Nifty-50 rose 198 points at 23,222 on Wednesday as the RBI statement gave hope that the lower interest rate regime to support corporate earnings will continue .
RATE HIKES
In an interview to a private channel, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said it was premature to discuss rate hikes . "If it was so certain that we are going to hike in the coming months, then we would have changed the stance from 'neutral' to 'pro-strictive' right?" he said . "We don't want to do that. We did not want to do that. We are in a wait and watch mode," he added .
Prakash Balushi, Joint CEO, HDFC Capital, said the easing of crude oil prices following the US-Iran peace breakthrough, coupled with the prospect of an India-US trade agreement and non-aggressive rate outlook, created a favourable backdrop for risk assets . "While near-term volatility cannot be ruled out, particularly given the elevated global valuations and evolving macro data, the key takeaway is that India's structural growth story remains intact" .
Ankur Punj, MD and Business Head at Equirus Wealth, said the markets rebounded sharply despite mixed global cues, as investors cheered the news of several stranded ships passing through the strait of Hormuz, which was reflected in a sharp fall in the crude oil prices . The recovery was led by heavy buying in banking and IT stocks, even as most broader indices ended in the red, indicating the underlying sentiment remains cautious, he added .
Domestic institutions on Wednesday were net buyers for ₹3,637 crore while FPIs were net sellers for ₹1,843 crore .
G-SECS RALLY
Government securities rallied and the yield of the new 10-year benchmark (6.84 per cent GS 2036) softened 3 basis points to close at 6.78 per cent against the previous close of 6.81 per cent . Yield and price of a bond move in opposite directions .
PRESSURE ON GOLD
Gold prices remained under pressure, falling another ₹2,000 to ₹1,44,500, while US COMEX Gold dropped below $4,000 an ounce, before recovering to $4,055, down $180 in 4 sessions . Crude oil prices fell below $75 per barrel as tankers resumed transit through the Strait of Hormuz .
The article titled "MSMEs: Time to step up" by Alok Mittal is located on page 5 (Think.BL) of the source. Here is the full text:
MSMEs: Time to step up
Scaling up MSMEs is vital for global competitiveness
Alok Mittal
India’s MSMEs have long been defined by their resilience. The next phase of their growth must be about scale. According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, MSMEs are a cornerstone of India’s economy. They contribute 30.1 per cent to GDP, accounting for 45.3 per cent of manufacturing output and generating 35.4 per cent of total exports. With over 7.47 crore MSMEs employing over 12.8 crore people, the sector is India’s largest source of livelihood after agriculture.
Yet, despite their scale and importance, too few enterprises grow from the micro and small businesses to sustainable, mid-sized companies. India’s next challenge is to change that.
Scaling is vital. While the country has millions of micro enterprises, relatively few transition to becoming small businesses that create quality jobs, strengthen exports and drive productivity.
Many enterprises struggle to scale because they don't always realise their full potential. Their growth is often constrained by lack of access to advisory services, mentorship, and formalisation pathways and digital adoption. The role of digitisation, in particular, deserves greater attention. Access to timely and affordable finance often determines whether an enterprise can fulfill larger orders, navigate complex payment cycles and scale operations.
The objective should not simply be to create more MSMEs, but to enable more MSMEs to become enduring institutions.
DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
India’s public digital infrastructure has transformed identity and payments. The next opportunity lies in extending this to the broader realms of commerce and credit. Platforms like ONDC and OCEN will democratise access to finance, invoicing and bringing greater transparency. But as the architecture of innovation in diverse and supply chains more global, the digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly evident.
Better financing deserves mention. While access to supply chain financing has gained momentum, expanding access to working capital remains a challenge. As enterprises manage cash flows, better access to financing is sustainability. Specialized B2B ecosystems can further reduce friction and improve efficiency, complimenting brandless digital infrastructure and enabling businesses to transact and grow more seamlessly.
The next chapter of India’s digital infrastructure story must focus on making markets easier, easing stronger marketing linkages and broadening access to global markets.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to become a force multiplier for small businesses. From inventory management and forecasting to customer engagement and compliance, AI can help improve productivity without requiring large-scale investments.
The real opportunity lies in making these capabilities affordable and accessible beyond India’s top-tier cities. India’s growth story will remain incomplete if productivity gains remain concentrated among a few.
Women-owned enterprises represent one of India’s biggest untapped growth opportunities. According to government data, women account for over one-third of the MSMEs registered on the Udyam platform. Yet, access to capital, networks and markets remains uneven.
Expanding their participation is an economic imperative that can strengthen employment and wealth creation. A broader and more inclusive entrepreneurial base will ultimately make India’s growth story more resilient.
As global supply chains continue to diversify, India has an opportunity to emerge as a stronger manufacturing and export hub. According to the RBI, MSMEs account for an estimated 45 per cent of global manufacturing value added and 1.8 per cent of global merchandise exports, highlighting the significant headroom available to deepen its participation in global value chains.
For India’s MSME story, the next decade must be about scale.
The writer is Co-founder and CEO of Indifi Technologies.
The article titled "Europe heat wave strains power supply" by Eva Brendel is located on page 5 (Think.BL) of the source. Here is the full text of the article:
Europe heat wave strains power supply
Eva Brendel
Frankfurt
Europe's electricity system is under mounting pressure from an intense heat wave, with extreme swings in power prices as surging temperatures drive up demand and curb output.
In France, several nuclear reactors are unable to operate at full capacity, while wind power generation is weak across much of Europe as the high pressure system stills air currents. In addition, solar generation is struggling to meet the surge in demand. Meanwhile, sweltering households and businesses are ramping up the use of air conditioning, pushing prices to multi-year seasonal highs.
Average electricity prices in Germany and the UK this month are on track for their highest levels since the 2022 energy crisis. In France, the cost of power for next month has risen since June average since 2023, according to EEX data. High power prices do not necessarily indicate lack of supply. Rather, they signal that the power system is becoming tighter and give an incentive to bring more expensive sources of electricity online.
In France and Germany, costlier fossil fuel power plants have been playing a larger role since the heat wave hit in mid-June. This is increasingly driving evening price spikes as cooling demand rises and solar generation fades. In the UK, grid operator National Energy System Operator issued a rare summer electricity margin notice for Wednesday evening, warning of a potential supply shortfall of 1.4 gigawatts and asking generators to make any additional capacity available.
In France, several nuclear reactors are not operating at full capacity because warmer river water limits their ability to cool the units before the waterways' ecosystems are harmed. Separately, the heat wave's high-pressure plant has also reduced output at hydropower plants as water temperatures in the Aire river, operator Aspo said. Small outages have been reported at Germany's Niehl 3 gas-fired power plant, which has reduced output. It's possible that other gas-fired units are facing similar constraints, as high outdoor temperatures can force such plants to reduce output during the hottest hours of the day, said Sabrina Kernbichler, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd.
The article titled "Aditya Birla group buys Canadian BPO firm" is found on page 5 (Think.BL) under the section "TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY", which looks back at news from June 25, 2006 . Here is the text:
Aditya Birla group buys Canadian BPO firm
June 25, 2006
The Aditya Birla group on Sunday announced it had acquired BPO company Minacs for $125 million, making it a leading player in the segment. In a brochure, the Toronto-based firm Aditya Birla group said it will buy the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed firm .
The article titled "Salcomp of Finland to set up plant near Chennai" is a retrospective news item found on page 5 (Think.BL) of the sources, originally published on June 25, 2006. Here is the text:
Salcomp of Finland to set up plant near Chennai
June 25, 2006
Salcomp of Finland, a leading manufacturer of mobile phone chargers, will invest about ₹35 crore in a plant at Sriperumbudur, about 45 km west of Chennai. The plant will also supply to its suppliers' and build an in-house manufacturing facility for this, the Finnish company's management said.
The article titled "Mukesh, Anil groups strike different notes" is a retrospective news item found on page 5 (Think.BL) of the source, originally published on June 25, 2006. Here is the text:
Mukesh, Anil groups strike different notes
June 25, 2006
The fresh spat between Mukesh and Anil Ambani groups is now starting to manifest in the development of Special Economic Zones and are testing the non-compete agreement of January 2006. While Mukesh group has sought to develop the SEZs under the "Ambani" brand name, the Anil Ambani group has claimed that the brand is owned by "Reliance" universally, as shared by the Anil Ambani group.
The article titled "Meta expands teen safety features across 3 platforms" is located on page 14 of the sources. Here is the full text:
Meta expands teen safety features across 3 platforms
Meta has rolled out a range of safety features for teens across its apps, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.
The updates include enhanced parental supervision tools. The tools enable parents to see how much time their children are spending on the platforms and globally joins the latest parental control and safety features.
Meta is also expanding its AI-based age-assurance systems to additional regions. This technology analyzes details across a user's profiles, such as their friends and interactions, to determine whether an account may belong to someone below the minimum age requirement. The age-detection technology will be expanded to additional services, including the Meta Horizon virtual reality platform and Facebook Groups.
Furthermore, the company will begin notifying parents when their children's participation status in a group changes. This is aimed at helping parents stay informed and involved with their child's online activities. The updates are being rolled out in the US, Canada, UK, and India, with plans for a broader global rollout.
The article titled "Market makers seek FinMin relief from RBI's tight lending norms" is located on page 15 of the source. Here is the full text of the article:
Market makers seek FinMin relief from RBI's tight lending norms
MAJOR IMPEDIMENT. Want to distinguish liquidity providers from proprietary traders to gain bank funding
Akshata Gorde
Mumbai
The Commodity Participants Association of India (CPAI) has urged the Finance Ministry to support a regulatory framework that clearly distinguishes liquidity providers (market makers) and provide interim relief ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) revised bank-finance framework for intermediaries.
The new RBI framework prohibits banks from providing equity trading to be routed entirely by such equivalent collateral, which has affected several recognised market makers because they lack a regulatory relief.
CPAI said liquidity providers, despite carrying out a similar function, are currently treated on par with proprietary traders as they are not registered with SEBI under the SBEB framework. In its representation, the association said liquidity providers add liquidity into the ecosystem, narrow bid-ask spreads, and aid price discovery.
Since their positions are largely hedged, they carry significantly lower risk than proprietary traders, who often take directional bets on market movements.
RISK METRIC
To help banks distinguish the two, CPAI proposed using SPAN margin utilisation as an objective risk metric. It suggested that entities with SPAN utilisation below 50 per cent of their total margins should be treated as performing a market-making function for bank credit purposes. Since the data is already available with clearing corporations, the metric can be monitored without further assessments by banks.
The association said it has already approached SEBI and the industry body ISBI with this proposal and has also initiated discussions with the RBI. However, as any regulatory change could take time, CPAI is seeking an arrangement to ensure liquidity providers continue to have access to bank funding after the revised norms come into force.
CPAI has also proposed measures to incentivise the Electronic Gold Receipt (EGR) segment. In its representation, the association suggested a time-bound capital gains tax exemption on any capital gains if gold is converted into an EGR, provided the receipt is held for at least three years. It has also recommended allowing lending against EGRs.
These recommendations, it said, are intended to facilitate the conversion of physical gold into a paperless digital format, similar to the treatment for transactions on the exchange-traded fund (ETF) track. Tax and capital gains tax amounts to double taxation.
The article titled "142 districts prone to paddy, maize yield loss" by Prabhudatta Mishra is located on page 18 (Commodities.Agri.Business) of the source. Here is the full text:
142 districts prone to paddy, maize yield loss
EL NINO IMPACT. 36 sorghum and millet districts susceptible
Prabhudatta Mishra
New Delhi
The Union government’s assessment of districts vulnerable to a decline in crop yield this year is based on a historical analysis by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) of crop losses during previous El Nino years.
ICAR has identified districts that had recorded a significant yield loss during the drought-bearing El Nino in 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2023, creating a district-level vulnerability map for key rainfed crops.
The exercise flagged 77 districts in paddy, 65 in maize, while both the 36 sorghum and millet districts were noted as particularly susceptible to rain-deficiency associated with El Nino conditions.
Identification of these districts forms the basis of the government's strategy for the current monsoon season. States have been advised to implement crop-specific contingency plans and targeted interventions to minimise potential impacts of any significant rainfall deficit, the source said.
The mapping suggests that the impact could be driven not only by rainfall amount but also by its timing, drawn from the agricultural impact of previous El Nino episodes, particularly in major food-producing States.
'2024 NOT COMPARABLE'
Official sources said these conditions are critical to understand the impact of monsoon as the rainfall deficit was 19 per cent in 2002, 13 per cent in 2004 and 23 per cent in 2009. In either of these years since 2002, the impact on monsoon was not as drastic as other factors.
The Kharif season food-grains (rice, nutrimaze, cereals and pulses) production dipped by over 20 per cent in 2002, and about 10 per cent in 2004, and over 22 per cent in 2009, and by 1.2 per cent in 2023.
Besides, the spatial distribution of rainfall needs to be monitored to see how it spreads out this year, which may not be the same as in earlier instances of El Nino where the intensity in Odisha was lower as compared to most other districts this year.
According to the ICAR’s assessment for 2024, the situation may remain particularly critical during the early stages and often lead to severe yield reductions. In such situations, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) will recommend applying life-saving irrigation, wherever possible, along with foliar nutrition applications, and prioritisation of short-duration crop varieties. Severely affected areas may need to be harvested as fodder.
SENSITISING STAKEHOLDERS
Official sources said that ICAR's district level Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) will continue to sensitise stakeholders on the potential impacts of El Nino and appropriate adaptation strategies, including contingency plans for managing mid-season and terminal droughts.
So far, it has held the first round of meetings with the major rice growers in Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Punjab, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.
The article titled "Mumbai deluge signals wet spell ahead" is located on page 18 (Commodities.Agri.Business) of the source. Here is the full text:
Mumbai deluge signals wet spell ahead
Vinson Kurian
Thiruvananthapuram
A delayed monsoon finally made an emphatic entrance over Mumbai and its surrounding areas, with heavy rain falling across Wednesday and through into Wednesday night. The downpour, which flooded roads and disrupted normal life overnight, may be the only beginning of a wet spell that is expected to persist through the week into the next.
CENTRAL INDIA GAINS
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicates that the current wet phase over West India could persist into next week with additional central and western parts of the country benefiting from the monsoon potentially on the back of another low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal. The intense rain through Tuesday bore the hallmark of El Nino’s influence by disrupting the normal flow of moisture from sea; it often produces erratic rainfall patterns marked by extended dry spells followed by sudden, high-impact cloudbursts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted an intense spell of rainfall activity over northwest and adjoining central India for the next five days.
For West India, however, the deluge could hardly have come a better time. Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra had faced a significant rain crisis after a sluggish monsoon answer. The intense rain will help replenish reservoirs and bring relief to the parched farming heartland in Central India.
HEALTHY ADVANCE
Rain activity is expected to remain active across West India. Fairly widespread to widespread rain is likely over Konkan and Goa during next six days, while Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada are likely to see expected rainfall in West India.
Fairly widespread to widespread rain with isolated heavy to very heavy rain is also expected to see scattered to fairly widespread rain during the period.
The monsoon’s healthy advance over Central India is expected to continue. Isolated heavy rain is forecast over Vidarbha on Thursday and again during the week-end. Chhattisgarh may see witness enhanced rainfall for the rest of the week starting Friday. East and West Madhya Pradesh are likely to receive scattered to fairly widespread rain over the next six days.
Thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds are expected in parts of Central India. West Madhya Pradesh may experience such activity from Friday. Parts of Gujarat, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha are likely to see such conditions for the next six days.
