Based on the sources provided, here is the full article referenced as LOSING GLITTER on the front page, which appears on page 10 under a expanded headline.
Platinum, palladium lose glitter, but may gain by the end of third quarter
THE DECIDING FACTOR. Prices may rebound, but may drop another 10% if the war in West Asia continues.
Subramani Ra Mancombu Chennai
After a sizzling start to the year, platinum and palladium have dropped by 19 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, this year. However, both precious metals are likely to gain by the end of the third quarter this year, analysts said.
“Platinum and palladium prices will return to levels above $2,000 an ounce (oz) and $1,500/oz, respectively, by the end of Q3 2026. However, if talks (between the US and Iran) break down and the conflict escalates further, platinum and palladium could decline by another 10 per cent this year on fears of a global recession,” said research agency BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.
At the moment, the BMI macro team predicts a 45 per cent probability of the Iran war escalating further.
Bank of America said the rally in the platinum group of metals (platinum and palladium) had lost steam since late January, largely tracking moves on gold. Further, ongoing macro headwinds from the conflict in West Asia add downside risk to the demand for industrial metals.
BULLISH FOR Q4
“That said, we remain bullish on gold into 4Q, which we expect will draw investors back into the PGM market and add upward pressure to prices,” Bank of America said.
Currently, platinum is quoted near a six-month low of $1,668/oz, and palladium is ruling near an 8-month low of $1,263.5 an ounce. Both metals have lost steam after gold peaked at $5,608 an ounce on January 19.
The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said the platinum deficit this year is forecast at 297,000 oz. “Further above-ground stocks have depleted to just under three months’ worth of cover to meet global demand projected by the end of 2026,” it said.
Bank of America forecast a shifting demand in PGM markets, as platinum is expected to see a small deficit this year while palladium is forecast to see a small surplus.
PRICE FORECAST
“We forecast platinum and palladium prices to average $2,000/oz and $1,500/oz, respectively, in 2026,” said BMI.
Bank of America expects platinum prices to average around $3,000 oz by the fourth quarter of 2026 and through the first half of 2027. Palladium prices are forecast to average around $2,200 an ounce in the last three months of the year.
BMI said the sentiment in the PGM market is being dampened by concerns of inflation, a stronger dollar and diminished hopes of US Fed rate cuts. “Our economists have lowered their 2026 global growth forecast to 2.4 per cent, down from 2.8 per cent before the US-Iran conflict began, while increasing their global inflation forecast to 4.1 per cent from 3.1 per cent previously,” the research agency said.
Based on the sources provided, here is the full article referenced as INDUSTRIAL DIP on the front page, which appears on page 3 under an expanded headline.
Growth of eight core industries dips to seven-month low of 0.5% in May
MARKET SENTIMENT. Experts feel this will have an impact on the overall industrial growth print.
Our Bureau New Delhi
With five sub-sectors recording de-growth, growth of the eight core industries slipped to 0.5 per cent in May against 1.8 per cent in April, the government reported on Monday. This is the lowest in seven months. Experts feel this will have an impact on the overall industrial growth print, data for which will be out on June 29.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries measures the combined and individual production performance of eight core industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity.
The eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). During the month under consideration, the production of steel, cement and electricity recorded growth, while that of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and fertilizers was in negative territory, data showed.
DEMAND FACTOR
Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at Bank of Baroda, feels the lower growth number on a low base can be attributed more to the decline in production from the petro-based sector. Crude oil, natural gas and refinery products registered a decline in production.
This could be attributed more to higher imports of crude and the softening of prices in the international market. In the case of natural gas, with supply chains being addressed, domestic production tended to fall. Lower exports of petro products also contributed to the decline in production.
Coal registered negative growth as companies focused on managing inventory in a more efficient manner and cut down on production. Fertilizer production was down due to pressure on input supplies (gas) even as imports increased.
Steel and cement continued to grow at a steady rate, mainly due to higher infra-activity in the areas of roads and housing besides railways. Electricity production grew 8.7 per cent due to higher demand coming from households due to extreme heat conditions. Renewables contributed to this growth as coal-based generation took a secondary role.
“We may expect IIP growth of 1-1.5 per cent for May,” Sabnavis said.
According to Rahul Agrawal, Principal Economist at ICRA, refinery products witnessed the sharpest decline in 42 months, partly reflecting the fallout of the West Asia crisis.
Based on the sources provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "India seeks US tariff safeguards, market edge over trade rivals."
India seeks US tariff safeguards, market edge over trade rivals
Amiti Sen New Delhi
TRADE BARGAIN
- India wants trade deal to provide better US market access than rivals like Bangladesh and Vietnam
- The US may use 18% tariff, which was proposed in February, as the negotiating benchmark
- New Delhi likely to await clarity on USTR’s Section 301 probes before finalising
- Visit of USTR Jamieson Greer on June 23-24 to advance trade talks amid Section 301 probe concerns
India is unlikely to be rushed into a trade deal with the US and is expected to prioritise securing safeguards against future unilateral US tariff actions and also better market access than competitors, such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, during US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s two-day visit to New Delhi, beginning Tuesday, sources said.
The US, on the other hand, is expected to anchor the negotiations around the 18 per cent additional tariff on Indian goods proposed in the interim trade deal framework agreed to in February, even though the broader 25 per cent reciprocal tariff regime on which the proposal was based was later struck down by a US court.
BALANCED DEAL
“New Delhi may also prefer to wait for greater clarity on the Section 301 proceedings being pursued by the USTR against India, which could themselves face legal challenge. It would definitely insist on firm commitments on advantage over rivals and a guarantee of no future penal measures,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.
Trade experts argue that India should avoid rushing into an agreement and instead seek a balanced deal that provides long-term stability for industry.
“The proposed trade pact is increasingly neither balanced nor stable. Washington wants India to make permanent commitments on market access for agriculture, energy, defence equipment, aircraft, digital services and advanced technologies, and purchases of up to $500 billion of American goods over five years, limiting digital regulations and aligning more closely with US economic and security objectives,” said Ajay Srivastava of the Global Trade Research Initiative.
In return, the principal US concession was a reduction in the reciprocal tariff from 25 per cent to 18 per cent, he said, adding that the offer lost its legal basis after the court ruling against the reciprocal tariff regime.
According to Srivastava, Washington is now seeking to regain the same bargaining leverage through Section 301 tariffs. For India, this could mean that tariffs under the two ongoing Section 301 investigations would be capped at 18 per cent if New Delhi signs the pact.
“What’s the hurry? Section 301 tariffs, too, could face legal challenges. India must see how the situation evolves,” said Biswajit Dhar, former JNU professor.
Based on the sources provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "Online shopping sees higher spends, orders in Jan-May period: Admitad."
Online shopping sees higher spends, orders in Jan-May period: Admitad
CLICKBAIT. Fashion led online orders with a share of 24%, followed by home goods at 21% and electronics at 16%
Our Bureau New Delhi
India’s e-commerce market is not just witnessing a higher number of orders, but also a growing number of spends. Continuing with strong growth momentum, online order growth was pegged at 16 per cent year-on-year and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) grew by 18 per cent in the first five months of 2026, as per an analysis by Admitad, a partner marketing platform.
“The average order value increased from $32 to $35. Moreover, there was a rise in the number of purchases made via mobile phones from 45 per cent to 49 per cent. Hence, almost half of all the orders on Indian online stores are made via a mobile phone,” it added.
MARKETPLACE DOMINANCE
More than 71 per cent of all transactions in India were done through marketplaces, indicating the growing significance of multi-seller marketplaces as the favoured platform of choice for consumers.
In terms of categories, fashion led the online orders with a share of 24 per cent, followed by home goods at 21 per cent and electronics at 16 per cent. Meanwhile, beauty & self-care and toys & hobbies accounted for 7 per cent, automobiles, parts & accessories 5 per cent, and sports & entertainment’s share was about 4 per cent.
GROWTH SECTORS
While the travel category has been gaining ground, the online services sub-category—including online education, ticket services, and mobile services—accounted for more than 7 per cent of total purchases.
“Three sectors have been the most successful so far in the first five months of 2026 in terms of year-over-year gains," Admitad stated. The biggest increase was observed in mobile services, where sales rose by 35 per cent due to increasing smartphone usage and mobile-first internet access. Furniture and home furnishings increased by 19 per cent, while online sales of electronics grew by 18 per cent.
CONTENT INFLUENCE
Online articles, videos, reviews, and comparative analysis accounted for more than 20 per cent of total online purchases. Additionally, over 11 per cent of customers made their buying decisions after being influenced by content creators or social media communities.
Based on the sources provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "Persistence of gender wage gaps."
Persistence of gender wage gaps
Even after improving over the decade, women’s labour income in South Asia amounts to only around 22-23 per cent of that of men, a truly shocking figure. Despite slight improvement, women’s incomes from work are still only one-fifth those of men in South Asia.
CP Chandrashekhar, Jayati Ghosh MACROSCAN
One of the widely remarked features of the world economy — and most countries within it — has been the decline of labour income shares in national income since the 1980s. This has often been seen as a consequence of globalization, a process which effectively increased the supply of the “global” labour force, even as technological change led to reductions in the labour intensity of much work, especially in some rapidly expanding sectors of frontline manufacturing and services.
Over the past decade, however, this decline appears to have decelerated as labour income shares have remained largely stable. It should be noted that labour income shares are conceptually different from wage shares, as they include the imputed returns from labour of self-employed workers. In much of the world, particularly in low and middle income countries, self-employed workers account for anywhere between one-third to more than a half of the work force, so this can be an important difference.
The relative stability of labour incomes shares of national income over the past decade is evident across the world as a whole, as well as across country groupings according to per capita income. It should be noted that this represents stability after decline, so that the declines of the previous three decades have not been reversed. A striking feature is the very wide variation across such country groupings, with the labour income shares noticeably lower as countries go down the per capita income scale.
MARGINAL IMPROVEMENT
Indeed, for Low Income Countries (LICs) the labour income share is as low as around 38 per cent, compared to around 55 per cent for High Income Countries (HICs). Interestingly, labour shares appear to have improved slightly for Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs), from 52 to 55 per cent, much higher than for Upper Middle Income Countries (UMICs) at just below 50 per cent. It could be that the incomes attributed to self-employed workers (who are more prevalent in LMICs) may have played a role in this.
The gender gaps in labour income also show similarly divergent patterns across levels of per capita income. There appears to have been a very slight reduction in this gap for the whole world, with LMICs and LICs showing the most reduction. Yet these gaps are still very large: women workers get only around 52 per cent of what male workers earn on average for the world as a whole, and even in HICs only 61 per cent. Interestingly, the gender gap is even higher for LMICs than for LICs, with women in LMICs receiving less than 30 per cent of what men receive for their work. (Of course, this ignores the unpaid work largely performed by women — if this were to be included, the gender labour income gaps would be very much worse).
It is worth considering how South Asia (which is dominated by India because of the sheer size of the population and workforce) compares with other LMICs. Data suggests that labour shares of national income have been higher in South Asia than in other LMICs. Furthermore, both have increased since 2015, although the increases were mainly until 2020, after which labour share of income has largely remained at the same level of around 57 per cent.
The gender gap in labour incomes has improved for both South Asia and for LMICs taken together, but South Asia has a larger gender gap in labour remuneration than other LMICs. Even after improving over the decade, women’s labour income in South Asia amounts to only around 22-23 per cent of that of men. India dominates the data for South Asia because of its much greater proportion of both population and work force.
WORK SEGREGATION
One important reason for this is occupational segregation: women tend to be clustered in and more prevalent in lower paid occupations. These include not only some services but also “elementary occupations” typically requiring less training or education. But there is also significant variation in gender gaps in remuneration across types of activity.
Gender wage gaps have varied but generally been low and in some years even negative for the top range of employees, which includes managers and legislators. But very few women workers are included in this group. The other group that has relatively low gender wage gaps is clerical support workers.
Indeed, it is interesting that while some gender gaps could be justified on the grounds of greater physical requirements, such as in some elementary occupations and specific agricultural tasks, there is really no justification for large gaps in other occupations, such as service and sales workers or craft and related trades. This clearly indicates the deep-seated and pervasive gender discrimination evident in labour markets in India. This is obviously unjustified, but it does serve an important purpose: enabling the accumulation process in India and other South Asian countries to further exploit workers through gendered patterns of labour market segmentation.
Based on the source provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "India in talks to sell BrahMos missile to UAE."
India in talks to sell BrahMos missile to UAE
Reuters New Delhi
The government is in talks with the UAE to sell some of its flagship defence systems, including the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, four Indian sources said, as the Gulf nation steps up arms procurement following the war in West Asia.
The discussions, which have not been previously reported, include the potential sale of India’s air defence system Akashteer, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
“UAE has shown interest for a number of our weapon systems including BrahMos and Akashteer. The talks between India and UAE are at initial stages and are progressing fast,” said a third comment.
BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia, is among the world’s fastest cruise missiles and can be launched from land, sea and air platforms, while Akashteer is a fully automated air defence system developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd and the Indian Army.
The UAE is considering buying defence equipment from India and other sources after the Gulf nation was heavily attacked by Iran during the war.
Based on the source provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "Monsoon nears Mumbai as Bay system holds the key to wider revival."
Monsoon nears Mumbai as Bay system holds the key to wider revival
Vinson Kurian Thiruvananthapuram
After a fortnight-long pause, the monsoon has resumed its advance, reaching Alibag, less than 100 km south of Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. The conditions are becoming increasingly favourable for its arrival over Mumbai within the next couple of days. The renewed advance is expected to carry seasonal rain deeper into Maharashtra, the remaining parts of Telangana and Odisha, and further into Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, marking the beginning of a broader wet spell across East and Central India.
KEY PHASE
The revival comes as the Arabian Sea branch regains strength and a potentially crucial low-pressure area begins to take shape over the Bay of Bengal. Together, they could trigger a significant phase of monsoon advance since onset, bringing relief to deficit-hit regions and improving rainfall distribution across large parts of the country. Roughening seas have prompted fishermen’s warnings on both coasts. The increasing churning over the Bay is also seen as a precursor to the formation of the crucial ‘low’.
Two atmospheric features are now under close watch. The first is the seasonal monsoon trough stretching from Rajasthan to Bihar through Uttar Pradesh. The second is an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the north and adjoining central Bay. Meteorologists believe the two could reinforce each other, creating an atmospheric corridor that channels moisture-laden winds from the Bay deep into Central and North-West India.
EL NINO WATCH
Much hinges on whether the Bay spawns the expected ‘low’. If it does, it could anchor a monsoon revival and sustain rain activity beyond the near term. Several weather models point to a ‘low’ formation with some even hinting at a successor system. Yet, the outlook warrants caution, with a strengthening El Nino casting a long shadow from the equatorial Pacific.
Based on the source provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "‘Breakdown in interim US-Iran peace agreement may reignite material risks’."
‘Breakdown in interim US-Iran peace agreement may reignite material risks’
Our Bureau Mumbai
Any breakdown in the interim US-Iran peace agreement may reignite material risks, including heightened inflationary expectations, disruptions to critical energy infrastructure, delays in investment spending, food security concerns, adverse financial stability outlook and structurally lower growth, cautioned RBI officials in the central bank’s monthly bulletin.
IMPACT ON OUTLOOK
The uncertainties could have an impact on the outlook through international trade, cost pressures, capital flows and commodity prices, they said. They noted that the global economic landscape remains fragile despite some respite gained through the interim US-Iran peace agreement.
“The Indian economy entered this turbulence with much better fundamentals relative to many other countries to sustain the shock. India maintained a consistently high growth, anchored inflation expectations, sustained fiscal consolidation, manageable current account balance and foreign exchange buffers over the previous few years, which adds to its strength vis-à-vis similar other events in the past,” said the officials in the State of the Economy article published in the bulletin.
They cautioned that an adverse south-west monsoon, if it materialises, may weigh on the domestic growth-inflation outlook.
BUFFER STOCKS
The authors observed that high-frequency indicators during the first two months suggest sustained economic momentum in 2026-27. “Domestic demand conditions remained resilient, supported by urban demand... Record buffer stocks of rice and wheat are likely to provide cushion against any adverse impact of El Niño,” they said.
In May, the all-India unemployment rate measured by current weekly status witnessed an increase driven by rural areas, while the urban unemployment rate declined, per the bulletin. The demand for work under MGNREGS continued to decline for the eleventh consecutive month.
GDP ESTIMATES
The Indian economy displayed strength in terms of the provisional GDP estimates (7.7 per cent) for 2025-26. GDP growth during Q4 2025-26 remained robust at 7.8 per cent, driven by private consumption and fixed investment, according to the bulletin.
ON INFLATION
The RBI officials noted that despite a pick-up in May, CPI-inflation remained anchored. CPI headline inflation inched up sequentially to 3.9 per cent (y-o-y) in May 2026 from 3.5 per cent in the preceding month, driven by broad-based increases in all three categories—food & beverages, fuel, and core components.
Based on the source provided, here is the reproduction of the article titled "IT companies see increase in average learning hours per employee in FY26."
IT companies see increase in average learning hours per employee in FY26
EMBRACING CHANGE. Firms ramp up training in response to the growing integration of artificial intelligence
Rohan Das Chennai
As they increasingly adapt to working with artificial intelligence (AI), Indian IT employees are clocking in more training hours. Major Indian IT service firms reported a significant uptick in average learning hours per employee in FY26, as indicated by data from company annual reports. Speaking to businessline, analysts and corporate learning companies suggested that the increase was driven by companies moving beyond mere GenAI literacy to training workers who can design, manage, coordinate and collaborate with AI agents.
BIG SURGE
TCS, the largest IT employer in India, saw average learning hours go up by over 25 per cent in FY26, with employees logging in 120 hours against 96 hours in the preceding fiscal. For Infosys, the increase was even more pronounced, with average learning hours going up by 58 per cent to 113 hours. Similarly, LTI Mindtree saw an increase of 31 per cent at 312 hours.
BUCKING TREND
Wipro, meanwhile, bucked the trend, reporting a slight degrowth in learning hours from 83 hours in FY25 to 79 hours in FY26.
Amit Goyal, Managing Director, Project Management Institute — South Asia, said he believes that beyond just teaching employees how to use AI tools, a significant share of learning and development investments are focused on building the broader capabilities required to generate business value from AI at scale. “Organisations are investing not only in developing AI users but also in building AI-enabled teams. The strongest outcomes come from practical application, continuous experimentation and the integration of AI into day-to-day workflows,” he said.
Ravi Kumar Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO, AlmaBetter, suggested that about 35-50 per cent of workplace training and skilling programmes are driven directly by AI, with the strongest demand for competencies such as MLOps, data engineering, cloud-native engineering and full-stack AI engineers.
LEARN-AND-DEPLOY
Meanwhile, AI has also transformed corporate training from click-next mandatory video modules to “learn-and-deploy” models, where training is tightly coupled with on-the-job assignments.
Sandeep Joshi, VP, Head of Delivery India, EPAM Systems India, suggested that the focus today is not only on accumulating training hours. He said that at EPAM Systems India, the company had established an AI maturity baseline, where daily active AI usage and agentic adoption metrics are reviewed weekly at the business-unit level.
DECISION-MAKING
“We focus on how consistently AI is embedded into delivery and decision-making, not just how many courses employees complete,” he said.
Biswajeet Mahapatra, Principal Analyst, Forrester, echoed this, suggesting that organisations should move beyond activity metrics and track readiness through business-aligned metrics like time to competency, productivity improvement and error reduction, which better reflect whether training is translating into meaningful workplace impact.
Skills boost
| Company | FY26 | FY25 | y-o-y change (in %) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCS | 120 | 96.4 | 24 |
| Infosys | 113 | 71.0 | 58 |
| Wipro | 79 | 83.0 | -5.2 |
| LTI Mindtree | 312 | 238.0 | 31 |
Average learning hours per employee
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