There is good cheer for investors as we enter the weekend, with Iran announcing that the Strait of Hormuz is now “completely open” for commercial shipping for the remaining period of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. As Moneycontrol reports, the move signals a calibrated easing of restrictions amid a fragile ceasefire in the region.
Ashwin Mohan has two M&A exclusives today. First, private equity giant KKR has relaunched the sale of a controlling stake in waste management company Re Sustainability, seeking a valuation of more than $2 billion. Formerly known as Ramky Enviro Engineers, KKR had bought the company seven years ago. Second, Ashwin also reports that Brookfield India REIT has upsized its QIP to Rs 2,600 crore from an initial Rs 2,000 crore plan amid higher demand from investors.
Liberalised FDI norms are luring back big names. After exiting its joint venture with HDFC in 2007, US insurer Chubb is now considering a comeback, drawn by the government’s 100% FDI policy and a more mature insurance market, Malvika Sundareshan reports. Plans are still in the early stages, and it is not yet clear whether Chubb is considering a standalone operation or partnering with others.
When the West Asia crisis was at its peak in late March and early April, the finance ministry conducted scenario-based stress tests to assess the potential impacts on oil prices, inflation, and the fiscal deficit, reports Adrija Chatterjee. The ministry ran scenarios assuming that oil would cost as much as $120 a barrel. However, since a fragile ceasefire was announced, oil has dropped to below $100 a barrel.
Alongside contingency planning, the government’s focus is also on building resilience. The central government has started the process of building a 2,500 km LPG pipeline worth Rs 12,500 crore, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. The pipeline will eliminate the need to move cooking fuel in bulk. The government is weighing ethanol as an alternative cooking fuel for commercial applications, as LPG supply disruptions expose vulnerabilities in India’s import-dependent energy mix, reports Meghna Mittal.
Women may be inching closer to the one-third mark in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, but, as Ishaan Gera shows, only a handful of professions, such as teaching and nursing, have crossed that threshold in practice. Women still lag much behind in corporate leadership, policing, and legal professions.
And finally, even as Dhurandhar has generated Rs 3,000 crore in box-office collections, surpassing Baahubali and Pushpa to become India’s biggest film franchise, Mariam Farooqui flags a growing fatigue among Hindi film audiences. Despite more than 20 franchise films releasing in 2025, their contribution dropped, indicating that audiences were no longer showing up simply for familiarity.
