Latest news with #CNBCTV18
Business Recorder
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
India's SBI approves raising 200bn Indian rupees via bonds in fiscal year 2026
State Bank of India, the country's largest lender by assets, approved raising of up to 200 billion Indian rupees ($2.33 billion) through bonds on Wednesday. The lender said it will raise funds via issuance of Basel III compliant bonds to domestic investors during fiscal year 2026. State Bank of India to plan $2.9bn share sale as soon as next week Earlier in the day, news channel CNBC TV18 reported, citing sources, that SBI was also set to launch its 250 billion rupees share sale via qualified institutional placement on Wednesday. Shares of the lender were up 1.7%.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
India's central bank expects full-year inflation to be below 3.7%, governor tells CNBC TV-18
July 15 (Reuters) - India's central bank expects inflation for the full year to be below 3.7%, governor Sanjay Malhotra told CNBC TV-18 on Tuesday, adding that the monetary policy committee will look at the inflation outlook, and not just current data, while deciding on further rate moves. India's annual retail inflation slowed to a more than six-year low of 2.10% in June, on the back of easing food prices, data on Monday showed. The inflation print is near the lower range of the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance band, and could pave the way for another rate cut in the second half of the year, economists told Reuters on Monday. Malhotra said on Tuesday that the central bank is reviewing bank ownership rules.
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
RBI Governor Says Rate Moves to Hinge on Growth, Inflation Mix
India's central bank will consider cutting interest rates further if inflation falls below its projection or growth comes under pressure in Asia's third largest economy, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Tuesday. 'The MPC will always factor in the evolving situation, the outlook, and therefore then take a call what the economy really needs,' Malhotra said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.
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First Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Why deterrence remains India's best strategy against China
Deterrence works when the adversary believes that any aggression—even limited—will be met with swift, smart, and unrelenting retaliation. To achieve this, India must ensure that its forward-deployed forces are not just present but primed read more Advertisement In geopolitics, sometimes the best move is to deny your opponent a winning one. File image/CNBC TV18 The India–Pakistan confrontation following the Pahalgam terror attack was a moment of unprecedented escalation. Pakistan, brazen in its support for terrorism, responded to India's calibrated Operation Sindoor with indiscriminate aggression, even if that meant targeting civilian sites. Overnight, India's defence posture was put to the test. In response, the Indian state acted with precision and resolve, delivering a firm, proportionate strike that reminded Pakistan of the costs of adventurism. But beyond the tactical success, the episode reinforced a larger lesson: that military readiness must be a constant—even in times of perceived calm, the fog of escalation can descend within hours. A stable regional order is never a guarantee against kinetic action. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD To quote External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, 'It's imperative that a contemporary and informed assessment of capabilities is made.' The recent encounter with Pakistan only reaffirms that assumption—that our adversaries will abide by rules of engagement—is not just naïve, but dangerous, especially as stakes mount. And one must not be surprised by such an act either. We need not look far for precedent. The epic, Mahabharata, provides striking examples of how 'well-laid rules' of combat are bent, broken, or cast aside to seek unintended benefits on both sides. Perhaps most telling is how Krishna engineered the killing of Jayadratha, employing strategic deception. He created an artificial sunset—prompting the Kaurava camp to relax their guard—only for Arjuna to launch his fatal arrow when Jayadratha emerged. Bhishma was brought down when a woman warrior, Shikhandi, was used as a tactical shield. Even after the war had ended, Dronacharya's son, Ashwatthama, slaughtered the Pandavas' sleeping sons under the cover of midnight. Rules, in war, are often only as strong as the desperation to violate them. This wisdom holds just as true in modern geopolitics—perhaps most strikingly in how China approaches the use of force. Beijing is unlikely to seek a full-scale war to seize territory outright; instead, its military posture is designed around calibrated coercion. And just like in the epic, the damage they cause isn't merely tactical—it's moral and strategic. The Political Logic of a Limited War Unlike 1962, a modern-day India-China war is unlikely to be about territorial aggrandisement. Chinese incursions—actual or threatened—are more plausibly tools of political coercion, designed to impose costs, alter India's strategic behaviour, or extract concessions. In such a scenario, the ability to militarily endure and function under pressure is as decisive as battlefield outcomes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India faces operational challenges in mobility, communications, and force agility that could constrain its effectiveness in a high-intensity conflict along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), especially under conditions of electronic and kinetic disruption. When units are forced to operate autonomously not by design but by system failure, the cost is not just tactical—it is strategic. Experts believe this is precisely the risk China would seek to exploit—short, sharp engagements that don't aim for territorial gain but for psychological and political advantage. This is why a limited war scenario must be central to India's defence thinking. Not because China seeks a war, but because it may see utility in calibrated military pressure if India appears brittle. Ironically, a limited war benefits the weaker power, not the stronger. For China, even a stalemate could be seen as a reputational loss. That is why China, too, has reasons to avoid escalation—but only if deterrence is credible. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Risk of Operational Collapse At the operational level, India faces the acute risk in the face of a concerted Chinese campaign involving electronic warfare, precision strikes, and infrastructure denial. If lines of communication—already narrow and weather-dependent—are severed or jammed, Indian subunits may become isolated, resulting in limited mobility, both on land and in airlift capacity, further constraining rapid reinforcement. And this, ultimately, is the strategic risk. This is the scenario China might seek: not conquest, but coercion through degradation. (Note: This is just an assertion). According to a defence expert on India-China, 'India builds for mass, but modern threats—especially from China—require agility, survivability, and responsive enablers.' However, it lacks the enabling capabilities (like airlift, C4ISR, and logistics) needed to remain effective in fast-moving, limited conflicts—especially at high altitude. In a protracted conflict, this could be decisive. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is likely to combine electronic warfare (EW) and kinetic strikes to degrade, if not deny, Indian C4ISR capabilities. Once degraded, Indian forces risk being thrown into an operational environment where command and control becomes fragmented, mobility is constrained, and units are forced to fight in isolation—not by design, but by default. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Building a Nimble and Combat-Effective Force India must pivot from a strategy of attrition to a strategy of agility. In high-altitude conflict, success won't come from size alone, but from adaptability under stress. A force that can bend without breaking is a force that can buy time, space, and leverage. This is not to say India will fold. Indian soldiers, as history has shown, will fight even in degraded conditions—both at the subunit and national level. The likelihood of political collapse due to casualties remains low. However, the danger lies not in India's will to fight, but in its ability to fight effectively. The strategic risk, then, is cumulative. China might aim to degrade India's operational capacity to the point that New Delhi loses political leverage, not territory. The goal isn't necessarily for India to win a limited war—but to make sure it can withstand one. The longer India can sustain a coherent and resilient defence posture under pressure, the less attractive coercive war becomes for China. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Yet, India's ability to offset operational risk is hampered by structural constraints. Defence spending as a percentage of GDP has steadily declined, even as the strategic environment has worsened—well below the 2.5 per cent experts deem necessary to address threats from China and Pakistan. Capacity shortfalls—whether in war stocks, communications infrastructure, or high-altitude mobility—continue to limit resilience. Roads and airlift capacity beyond Leh remain scarce. Enablers are sparse. And if these vulnerabilities are not addressed, India risks losing not just operational cohesion but strategic credibility. The Political Dividend of Strategic Preparedness Ultimately, this is about more than battlefield calculus. It's about protecting India's political agency. When Indian forces remain effective under pressure, they do more than fight—they buy the political leadership time, options, and strategic autonomy. That is the true value of deterrence: it shields not just territory but sovereignty itself. This is the heart of the matter: India must invest not in maximalist power projection but in minimal viable deterrence. It must be able to hold its ground—not indefinitely, but long enough to make coercion fail. Long enough to retain bargaining power. Long enough to deny China the quick, political gains it might hope to secure through a limited war. In this environment, India's best strategy is not reactive defence but credible deterrence. Deterrence works when the adversary believes that any aggression—even limited—will be met with swift, smart, and unrelenting retaliation. To achieve this, India must ensure that its forward-deployed forces are not just present but primed. Survivability, speed, and synergy must become the defining metrics of readiness. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India needs not just military reforms but political investments in deterrence. To recalibrate India's deterrence posture along the LAC, reforms must prioritise agility over accumulation. This means shifting away from a legacy force designed for deep, conventional campaigns towards leaner units with high mobility, integrated command systems, and greater autonomy in degraded conditions. China is a civilisational adversary that reveres dissimulation as statecraft. As Sinologist Shyam Saran has observed, deception, ambiguity, and trickery are not merely tactical tools but celebrated virtues in popular Chinese thinking—immortalised in the Three Kingdoms epic and enshrined in the Thirty-Six Stratagems of the Book of Qi. Wars today are not always about who wins more land but about who loses less control. To deter such an adversary, India must move beyond reactive strength to proactive imagination. In a world where technology fragments the battlefield and tempo outruns deliberation, the strength of a nation lies in its ability to absorb shocks without political collapse. In geopolitics, sometimes the best move is to deny your opponent a winning one. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Shreyash Sharma is a columnist and research scholar. He holds a degree in Economics & International Relations from City University of Hong expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Mint
12-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
IRDAI pulls up 8 top insurers over health portfolio lapses, may take coercive action — Report
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has started the process to issue show cause notices to as many as eight insurance companies after allegedly finding lapses in their health insurance portfolios, a report said. As per the report by CNBC TV18 on Friday citing sources, the eight companies that were are being sent show cause notices by the IRDAI include — Niva Bupa Health Insurance, Star Health & Allied Insurance, Care Health Insurance, ManipalCigna Health Insurance, along with New India Assurance, Tata AIG General Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, and HDFC ERGO General Insurance. Livemint could not independently verify the authenticity of the report. This article will be updated if IRDAI releases a statement. According to the report, IRDAI flagged multiple violations committed by the insurers with regard to the implementation of its Health Insurance Master Circular, issued in May 2024. The circular outlines strict norms for claim settlement time, cashless approvals, and customer information disclosures. Other violations include — unnecessary deductions from payouts of claims, improper rejection of claims and delayed claim settlement exceeding prescribed timeline. The IRDAI had last month found major lapses in health insurance claim processes of these insurers after it conducted inspections, the CNBC TV18 report says. In its board meeting next week, the IRDAI is reportedly going to formally discuss issuing the show cause notices to the companies. If the insurers remain non-compliant following the evaluation of their responses, the regulatory body may take coercive actions, including financial penalties or directions to refund amounts (with interest) to affected policyholders, according to the report. The IRDAI's plan comes simultaneously with the Centre's plans to bring its existing health insurance claims portal under the finance ministry and insurance regulator to curb overcharging by healthcare providers, which was reported by Reuters earlier. New India Assurance and ICICI Lombard have acknowledged the action by IRDAI, saying that these were part of routine regulatory supervision to strengthen compliance of operations. They also emphasised that they had taken up all necessary corrective measures, including simplifying overly detailed Customer Information Sheets and reinforcing Claims Review Committee membership rules. Other insurers have not yet issued a response.
