The Indian benchmark indices ended lower on Tuesday as investors awaited the release of July inflation data from both domestic and the US sources amid tariff concerns.

Indian Railways is providing free Wi-Fi facilities at 6,115 railway stations across the country, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

The free Wi-Fi service at railway stations is part of the government’s Digital India Programme, aimed at bridging the urban-rural digital gap.

“Almost all railway stations across Indian Railways have 4G/5G coverage provided by the Telecom Service Providers. These networks are also being utilised by passengers for data connectivity, resulting in an enhanced passenger experience. Besides the above, free Wi-Fi services have also been provided at 6,115 railway stations," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question.

At these stations, passengers can watch HD videos, download entertainment content, and perform office work via free Wi-Fi. To access the Wi-Fi service, passengers have to switch on the Wi-Fi mode on their smartphone and connect to 'RailWire' Wi-Fi. They have to enter their cell number for an SMS OTP and start accessing Wi-Fi.

India has recorded the fastest large-country poverty reductions in modern history, enabling more than 269 million people to escape extreme deprivation between 2011-12 and 2022-23 on the back of sustained economic growth, robust welfare systems, and the strategic use of technology, according to an India Narrative article.

India’s extreme poverty rate fell from 27.1 per cent to just 5.3 per cent during this period, and projections indicate that by 2025, the national extreme poverty rate could drop to 4-4.5 per cent, nearing complete eradication.

The rural transformation has been especially striking -- poverty fell from 18.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent -- reflecting both agricultural reforms and rural welfare schemes. Urban poverty declined from 10.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent, showcasing urban employment growth and better-targeted social protection.

The new Income Tax Bill, 2025, passed by the Lok Sabha, clarifies that late-return filers are eligible for refunds on excess taxes deducted in a financial year.

Analysts said on Tuesday that the bill was missing the proposal to eliminate the requirement for small taxpayers to file returns just to claim tax refunds.

The new I-T Bill kept section 433 intact, which required that ‘every claim for refund under this part shall be made by furnishing a return as per section 263’. So, effectively, the law still requires a return of income to claim a refund, with no alternative methods allowed.

Taxpayers who file late or revised returns after the due date will still be eligible for refunds, the new bill suggested.

The Indian benchmark indices opened flat on Tuesday amid mixed global cues after the US and China extended their trade truce overnight for another 90 days.

The BSE Sensex advanced 0.10 per cent or 80 points to 80,684 points. The Nifty 50 inched up to 24,612 advancing 0.11 per cent.

Broader market indices also saw buying activity, with the BSE SmallCap adding 0.39 per cent and the BSE MidCap climbing 0.06 per cent.

On the sectoral front, Nifty IT gained 0.79 per cent and Nifty Metal adavanced 0.60 per cent. The majority of other indices were mixed, showing modest gains and losses in the range of 0.10 to 0.40 per cent.

The Indian equity market on Monday ended with around 1 per cent gains amid FII buying, bouncing back from the last trading session's correction.

The return of FIIs, positive earnings of PSU banks in Q1 and buying in the broader market fueled the bullish sentiment. The robust mutual fund inflow data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) also boosted the market momentum in the last trading hours.

Sensex settled at 80.604.08, up 746.29 points or 0.93 per cent. The 30-share index started the session flat at 79,885.36 against last session's closing of 79,857.79. Later, the index experienced an overall heavy buying amid the return of FIIs and robust Mutual Fund Inflow data for July. The Index touched an intraday high at 80,636.05.

Equity-oriented mutual funds saw net inflows of Rs 42,702 crore in the month of July, up 81 per cent from Rs 23,587 crore in June, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data showed on Monday.

By the end of July, the mutual fund industry's net assets under management (AUM) increased to Rs 75.36 lakh crore. The AUM stood at Rs 74.40 lakh crore in June and Rs 72.19 lakh crore in May, according to monthly data released by AMFI.

Equity funds have seen positive flows for 53 consecutive months, with July inflows being broad-based across most categories. Record monthly inflows were driven by new fund offerings (NFOs), which raised Rs 30,416 crore – the highest NFO collection ever.

Smallcap schemes led the inflows with Rs 6,484 crore added to AUM in July, up from Rs 4,024 crore in June, marking a 61 per cent increase.

The life insurance industry reported “satisfactory” business growth with 10 per cent retail annual premium equivalent (APE) growth in July 2025, a report said on Monday.

The private life insurance companies grew 14 per cent and LIC's retail APE grew at a flat 0.4 per cent, according to a report from Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.

The annual premium equivalent is the total value of regular or recurring premiums plus 10 per cent of new single premiums written in the period.

The government’s financial inclusion schemes -- from Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) to MUDRA and the quintessential UPI-based digital payments -- are shifting India’s growth story from being metro-centric to truly national, according to a report on Monday.

According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Economic growth cannot only be restricted to a few cities and a few citizens. Development has to be all-round and all-inclusive.”

“In practice, that inclusivity has been driven not just by rhetoric, but by the deliberate weaving of policy, technology, and community outreach into an unprecedented net of access," according to the report in India Narrative.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the premature redemption price for two tranches of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) due on August 11, 2025.

The 2019-20 Series IX (issued in February 2020) and the 2020-21 Series V (issued in August 2020) can be prematurely redeemed at Rs 10,070 per gram. SGBs have an eight-year maturity, but investors can opt for premature redemption from the fifth year onwards.

Investors in the February 2020 SGB tranche achieved a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent. The August 2020 tranche delivered a 13.5 percent CAGR to investors over five years.

These returns are in addition to 2.5 per cent annual interest paid semi-annually, which increases the effective yield.

The returns from these tranches mirror gold’s returns over the last five years. In February 2020, when RBI released the 2019-20 Series IX tranche, the gold was priced at Rs 4,070 per gram, just before the pandemic spurred a flight to safe-haven assets.