India ranked 96 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2024 as its overall score dropped a point to 38, according to a Transparency International report released.
The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, uses a scale of zero to 100,
where "zero" is highly corrupt and "100" is very clean.
In 2024, India's overall score was 38 while it was 39 in 2023 and 40 in 2022. India's rank in 2023 was 93.
Among India's neighbours, Pakistan (135) and Sri Lanka (121) grappled with their respective low rankings, while Bangladesh's ranking stood further down at 149. China ranked 76.
Denmark topped the list of being the least-corrupt nation, followed by Finland and Singapore.
The 2024 CPI showed that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but a change for the better is happening in many countries.
Research has also revealed that corruption is a major threat to climate action.
It hinders progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable effects of global heating.
While 32 countries have significantly reduced their corruption levels since 2012, there is still a huge amount of work to be done as 148 countries have stayed stagnant or gotten worse during the same period.
As per the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI), 2023 India moved up to 22nd Rank in the Global Ranking in International Shipments category and the Overall 38th Rank in Logistics Performance Index score. Indian Ports have registered quantum improvement in “Turn Around Time”. Global comparison of Indian Ports on “Turn Around Time” parameter,
as published in World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) Report-2023, acknowledges Indian Ports “Turn Around Time” as 0.9 days which is better than USA (1.5 days), Australia (1.7 days), Belgium (1.3 days), Canada (2.0 days), Germany (1.3 days), UAE (1.1 days), Singapore (1.0 days), Russian Federation (1.8 days), Malaysia (1.0 days), Ireland (1.2 days),
Indonesia (1.1 days), New Zealand (1.1 days) and South Africa (2.8 days).
GMIS 2023 attracted investment commitment of Rs.10 lakh crore. This includes signing of 360 MoUs, with an investment commitment of Rs.8.35 lakh crore (including international collaborations), and the announcement of additional investible projects worth Rs.1.68 lakh crore.
Decentro, a leading fintech infrastructure platform, has launched India’s first fully compliant, self-hosted CKYC (Central KYC) solution, enabling financial institutions to seamlessly transition to the new CERSAI compliance framework. This innovation eliminates third-party dependencies, allowing banks, NBFCs, and
insurers to onboard customers faster while ensuring regulatory adherence.
Additionally, the Union Budget 2025 has emphasized AI-driven KYC reforms, reinforcing the need for a secure, transparent, and centralized CKYC system. The evolving CKYC landscape presents challenges such as compliance risks, operational disruptions,
and significant time and cost implications for institutions lacking the necessary infrastructure.
Rohit Taneja, Co-Founder & CEO of Decentro.
India's retail inflation likely eased to 4.6 percent in January 2025 from 5.22 percent in December, as food price increases slowed. This marks a decline of 91 basis points in headline inflation compared to the previous month, making it the lowest year-on-year inflation since August 2024.
Meanwhile, India’s industrial output growth declined to 3.2 percent year-on-year,
in December 2024, compared to 5.2 per cent in November.
The decline in inflation is a positive development for Indian households, which allocate a significant portion of their income to food. With food prices easing, disposable incomes may experience some relief.
The easing inflation is also expected to be welcomed by the RBI, which recently cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent in an effort to support economic growth.
Food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), recorded 6.02 percent in January 2025, making it the lowest level since August 2024. Food inflation in December 2024 was 8.39 per cent.
Union Mutual Fund has launched two new funds that will invest in gold “at a time when investors are looking for diversified solutions”, said the company.
Union Gold ETF and Union Gold ETF Fund of Fund opened for subscriptions and will continue till February 24, with a minimum investment requirement of Rs 1,000.
Gold plays a key role in portfolio diversification due to its low correlation with other asset classes and potential as a hedge against inflation. Central banks globally are major buyers of gold, further supporting its demand and price.
The schemes offer key benefits, including cost-effective exposure to gold without concerns related to making charges or storage.
The units are backed by gold of specified purity and can be easily bought, sold, or redeemed like any other open-ended mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF). There is no risk of theft, as the gold is held in demat form (ETF) or as fund units (FoF), it said.
The investment objective of the schemes is to generate returns corresponding to the domestic prices of physical gold before expenses, by investing in physical gold, subject to tracking error. There is no assurance that the objective will be achieved, said the company.
Scheme type: Open ended
Scheme category: Other Scheme - Gold ETF.
Benchmark: The benchmark for the schemes is the domestic price of physical gold.
People can invest a minimum of Rs 1,000 and in multiples of Re 1 thereafter during the NFO period.
Scheme carries an exit load of 1 per cent if units are redeemed within one year.
Angel One Asset Management Company has introduced two new fund offerings (NFOs) that will offer investors “comprehensive market exposure” in largecap, midcap, smallcap, and micro-cap stocks, said the fund house.
Angel One Nifty Total Market ETF and Angel One Nifty Total Market Index Fund are open till February 21. Both cover 750 stocks collectively representing 93 percent,
of total market capitalisation and belonging to 22 sectors. As passively managed funds, they seek to replicate the performance of the Nifty Total Market Total Return Index (TRI), offering a cost-effective and efficient investment strategy, said the company in a press statement.
Ten months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on Kotak Mahindra Bank on onboarding new customers via its online and mobile banking channels, as well as the issuance of fresh credit cards, the central bank said that it has lifted all such restrictions, as it was satisfied with submissions and the remedial measures undertaken by the bank.
In April last year (2024), the RBI placed restrictions on the bank as it failed to plug gaps in its information technology (IT) systems, which resulted in frequent outages in the bank’s core banking system and online channels in the preceding two years, inconveniencing customers.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has released new guidelines for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, outlining the automatic acceptance or rejection of chargebacks based on Transaction Credit Confirmation (TCC) and returns.
The new policy will take effect from February 15, according to a circular by NPCI.
A chargeback is the reversal of a completed UPI transaction due to disputes, fraud or technical error. It is initiated by the payer's bank, and if successful, the transaction amount is returned to the payer.
Key highlights of the new mechanism-:
The auto acceptance/rejection functionality will be implemented in the UPI Dispute Resolution System (URCS) from February 15.
This process will be applicable only for bulk upload options and Unified Dispute Resolution Interface (UDIR) and will not impact front-end dispute resolution options.
Beneficiary banks will now have an opportunity to reconcile transactions efficiently before chargebacks are deemed accepted.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and the country’s space agency have jointly developed a semiconductor chip that can be used for diverse purposes and marks indigenisation efforts in advanced technology.
IIT Madras and Inertial Systems Unit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in Thiruvananthapuram worked together on the chip,
that was manufactured in a semiconductor laboratory in Chandigarh. It was packaged at Tata Advanced Systems, Karnataka, showcasing a “major step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat in addressing computing needs for space and other sectors”, said a statement.
The IRIS (Indigenous RISCV Controller for Space Applications) chip was developed based on a Shakti processor baseline.
It can be used in diverse domains, from the Internet of Things and computing systems for strategic needs. The chip is part of efforts to indigenise semiconductors Isro uses for its applications, command and control systems, and other critical functions.
Isro’s Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) in Thiruvananthapuram and IIT Madras collaborated to define the specifications of the chip and design it. The configuration was arrived at addressing the common functional and computing requirements of existing sensors and systems used in Isro missions. Fault-tolerant internal memories were interfaced with the SHAKTI core,
enhancing the reliability of the design.
The chip’s motherboard was manufactured by PCB Power in Gujarat; it was assembled and mounted by Syrma SGS in Chennai and the was software developed by IIT Madras.
ISRO Chairman- V Narayanan.
In its resolution 77/243, the General Assembly decided to declare 12 February the International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism, in order to raise awareness of the threats linked to violent extremism, as and when conducive to terrorism, and to enhance international cooperation in this regard.
The General Assembly emphasized in this context the primary responsibility of Member States and their respective national institutions in countering terrorism, and underlined the important role of intergovernmental organizations, civil society, academia, religious leaders and media in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism.
