India's industrial growth, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), edged up to 3 per cent in March this year after slowing to 2.9 per cent in February, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Monday.

The data showed that the manufacturing sector, which provides quality jobs for the country’s young graduates passing out of the country’s universities and engineering institutes, recorded a 3 per cent growth in March compared to the same month last year.

The power sector output grew by a more robust 6.3 per cent growth during the month while the mining sector proved to be a laggard with a mere 0.4 per cent growth in March.

Within the manufacturing sector, 13 out of 23 industry groups have recorded a positive growth in March this year compared to the same month of the previous year. The top three positive contributors for the month are – "Manufacture of basic metals" (6.9 per cent), "Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers" (10.3 per cent) and "Manufacture of electrical equipment" (15.7 per cent), according to the official statement.

India’s job market is surging ahead with renewed momentum in 2025, with applications from women for enterprise roles seeing a 92 per cent surge, a new report said on Monday.

The report based on the first quarter of this year by jobs and professional networking platform Apna, witnessed a record-breaking 1.81 crore job applications -- a 30 per cent increase from the previous year. This reflects India’s growing economic optimism and digital hiring boom across sectors.

Women’s participation in the workforce soared, with over 62 lakh applications -- a 23 per cent year-on-year jump.

This growth was most pronounced in Tier 2 and 3 cities such as Chandigarh, Indore, and Jamshedpur, driven by flexible work options, gender-inclusive hiring, and expanded opportunities in sectors like BPO, finance, and HR, the report said.

Freshers also powered India’s employment engine, contributing over 66 lakh applications -- a 46 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase. With companies increasingly recruiting from beyond metro cities, emerging talent hubs like Rajkot, Warangal, and Meerut are now part of the mainstream hiring narrative.

Having a conversation with Axar Patel is like talking to one of your best friends instead of the captain of a cricket team, stated Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Jake Fraser-McGurk. Axar has made a bright start to his life as DC skipper, with the side now in second place in the points table, via six out of eight wins.

Fraser-McGurk has been out of DC’s playing eleven after a tough run of form and recalled how talking to Axar gave him some comfort. Axar is just one of those players who leads everyone, and everyone follows him, I guess. He's an amazing talent, and the way he plays just makes everyone really proud to be at Delhi Capitals.”

“He's so calm and relaxed at any point in time. We saw during that Super Over a few games back, he was very relaxed and very calm, like he's done it a thousand times, but I'm not sure how many times he's done it. We love playing under Axar, and we think he's one of the best players in our team that we can follow, and he can be a leader.”

Private lender IDFC FIRST Bank on Saturday posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 295.6 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY25, nearly 60 per cent decline compared to Rs 731.9 crore reported in the same period in FY24.

For the full financial year FY25, net profit stood at Rs 1,490 crore, down almost 50 per cent from Rs 2,942 crore (year-on-year), as per its stock exchange filing.

Net Interest Income (NII) grew 9.8 per cent YOY from Rs. 4,469 crore in Q4 FY24 to Rs. 4,907 crore in Q4 FY25. For FY25, the growth of NII was 17.3 per cent on YoY basis.

According to the bank, core operating income grew 8.7 per cent from Rs 6,079 crore in Q4 FY24 to Rs. 6,609 crore in Q4 FY25. For FY25, the growth of operating income was 16.7 per cent on YoY basis.

Customer deposits increased 25.2 per cent from Rs 1,93,753 crore as of March 31, 2024 to Rs 2,42,543 crore as of March 31, 2025.

Autotech platform CARS24 has laid off nearly 200 employees across various functions, as part of a restructuring exercise to meet long-term goals.

The e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles said this is a “tough moment”.

“Over the past few weeks, we have had to make the difficult decision to part ways with around 200 of our teammates across various functions. Every person impacted gave this company their time, energy, and belief. That matters deeply, and we are genuinely grateful,” said Vikram Chopra, co-founder and CEO of Cars24, in a blog post.

He denied this decision as an exercise to reduce costs but “about aligning the team and structure with our long-term goals, and correcting where we’ve lost focus.”

Cars24 offers a wide range of services, including buying and selling of pre-owned cars, financing, insurance, driver-on-demand and more.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited (MOFSL) on Friday reported a net loss of Rs 63.2 crore for the quarter ending March 2025, marking its first quarterly loss in five years.

In comparison, the company had posted a strong profit of Rs 724 crore in the same period last year.

The main reason behind this sharp fall was a significant hit on fair value changes, the company said in its stock exchange filings.

According to its filings, MOFSL recorded a net loss of Rs 430 crore due to fair value changes during the quarter, as against a net gain of Rs 424 crore in the March 2024 quarter.

The company’s total revenue from operations also saw a big drop, falling 44 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,190 crore.

The government has notified the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) (Procedure) Rules which make it online filing of applications mandatory, provide for hybrid hearings and listing of cases on an urgent basis steps that will make the adjudication process simpler for businesses.

The notification states that the rules come into effect from April 24, 2025, and the GSTAT portal has already gone live.

The move marks a major step in streamlining tax litigation under the GST regime. Under the new rules, all appeals and applications must be filed digitally via the official GSTAT portal.

The framework, laid out in 15 chapters, covers procedures from the admission of appeals to hearings and final orders. The Tribunal will allow hybrid hearings -- either in person or through video conferencing -- as approved by the Tribunal President.

Boult Audio, the bootstrapped consumer electronics brand, has reported a 37 per cent drop in its net profit to Rs 2.5 crore for the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), compared to Rs 4 crore in FY23.

The Delhi-based company, which designs and manufactures wireless earbuds, headphones, smartwatches, and speakers, saw its revenue from operations increase to Rs 697 crore in FY24 from Rs 498 crore in the previous fiscal, as per its financials.

Boult also made Rs 5 crore from non-operating revenue, bringing its total revenue to Rs 702 crore.

However, the rising expenses, particularly in materials, advertising, and post-supply discounts, outpaced the revenue growth.

Boult’s cost of material consumed surged by 25 per cent to Rs 402 crore, making up nearly 58 per cent of its total expenses.

More than 70 per cent of Indians are seeking generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools to boost their productivity as well as communication skills, a new report said on Friday.

The report by Google and Kantar, based on a survey of over 8,000 people across 18 cities, analysed Gen AI adoption, potential, and impact among people in India. It underlined the massive headroom for Gen-AI adoption in India, and people's desire to use such tools to excel in life.

The report found that while AI excitement is high, it's still early days for adoption: 60 per cent aren't familiar with AI, and only 31 per cent have tried any Generative AI tool.

At the same time, it also showed a strong, innate desire among Indians to improve and excel, with the majority seeking to boost productivity (72 per cent), enhance creativity (77 per cent), and communicate more effectively (73 per cent) in their daily lives.