Business
‘Gold and Silver for medium to long term as investment’

With uncertainties in the world – economics and geopolitics – investors having medium to long term outlook can have gold and silver in their portfolio, said Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
A 20 per cent allocation to gold exchange traded funds (ETF) in an investment portfolio during Diwali is ideal, said Quantum AMC.
Geopolitics, Central banks action and inflationary concerns are themes that are not only driving precious metals, but also triggering volatility in other asset classes, said Motilal Oswal in a report.
The US Federal Reserve is rushing to raise interest rates at an aggressive pace with an objective to tame inflation.
On the other hand, geo-political tensions between Russia-Ukraine and other economies continue to increase distress in the economy.
All this is raising questions regarding pace of global growth, institutions like IMF have also lowered their projections on the same.
Pointing out India as one of the largest consumers of gold and silver, Motilal Oswal said there has been a lot of development especially on the domestic front which are supporting prices.
“Government initiatives like, setting up GIFT city, signing an FTA (free trade agreement) between UAE and India, (implies that about 200 tonnes of gold will be imported from UAE at 1 per cent tariff rate quota-TRQ) and changes in import duty,” the company said.
This year macro factors will have an upper hand over the move in metal prices, as tighter monetary policy scenario is not a great phase for non-yielding asset gold, the report said.
The gold price trend is caught between the tussle of bulls and bears.
Extreme negatives do trigger bargain buying for gold and so it is important for medium to long term investors to see a broader picture, Motilal Oswal said.
Except for a few dips, the overall trend for gold has remained positive, and the returns also are quite decent, the company added.
The company has suggested accumulation of gold at Rs 46,800-Rs 47,500 with a medium term target of Rs 53,000 and a long term target of Rs 58,000 with an expected upside of 8-17 per cent.
In the case of silver, Motilal Oswal said the accumulation zone will be Rs 53,500-Rs 54,000 with a medium term target of Rs 64,500 and a long term target of Rs 73,000 with an expected upside of 13-28 per cent.
According to Quantum AMC, the correction in the gold prices from the peak has made the metal affordable this festive season.
“To make the most of the correction, we recommend investing in efficient products such as gold ETFs (exchange traded funds) to maximize the benefits,” Quantum AMC said.
Owning physical gold comes with additional costs such as making charges, retail premiums, storage concerns, and lower buyback value.
On its part, Emkay Global Financial Services in a report said the current weakness in gold may continue till there is more concrete information on the state of the economy in the major economies, especially against the background of an aggressive central bank trade-off unfavourable to growth and promoting stability.
Generally, gold is considered as a hedge against inflation but this time around it does not seem so.
Business
Indian Railways Introduces Discounted ‘Round Trip Package’ To Ease Festive Season Travel

New Delhi: To avoid rush by ensuring hassle-free ticket booking experience during the upcoming peak festive seasons, the Ministry of Railways on Saturday said that it has decided to formulate a ‘Round Trip Package’ on discounted fare and rebates benefit.
The move will facilitate passengers and redistribute the peak traffic for a larger range during peak festival seasons and ensure both sides utilisation of trains, including special trains.
“It has been decided to formulate an experimental scheme named as Round Trip Package for festival rush on discounted fare,” the Railways Ministry stated.
According to the ministry, the scheme will be applicable for those passengers who choose their return journey during the prescribed period.
Under this scheme, rebates shall be applicable when booked for both the onward and return journey for the same set of passengers.
Passenger details of the return journey will be the same as those of the onward journey. Passengers can book their tickets from August 14 for the advance reservation period (ARP) date of October 13.
“An onward ticket shall be booked first for the train start date between 13th October 2025 and 26th October 2025, and subsequently return journey ticket shall be booked by using the connecting journey feature for the train start date between 17th November and 1st December 2025,” the Ministry stated.
However, advance reservation period will not be applicable for booking of return journey.
Other conditions to avail the benefits of the railway’s new special scheme are the booking shall be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions, total rebates of 20 per cent shall be granted on base fare of return journey only, booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same O-D pair for both onward and return journey.
According to Railways, no refund of fare shall be permissible for the tickets booked under this scheme.
This scheme shall be allowed for all classes and in all trains, including special trains (Trains on demand), except trains having Flexi fare.
In addition, no modification will be allowed on these tickets in either of the journeys, and there will be no discounts, Rail travel coupons, Voucher-based bookings, or Passes be admissible during return journey booking on concessional fare.
Passenger can book their ticket via both online and offline modes; however, both onward and return journey tickets must be booked using the same mode (online or offline).
Business
Sensex crosses 81,000 Mark, Nifty Jumps 157 Points On Strong Metal & Auto Stocks

Mumbai: The Indian stock market ended Monday on a strong note, with the BSE Sensex rising 418.81 points (0.52%) to close at 81,018.72, crossing the key 81,000 mark. During the day, it touched a high of 81,093.19. The NSE Nifty also surged by 157.40 points (0.64%) to end at 24,722.75, after hitting an intraday high of 24,734.65.
Top gainers and losers
Among major gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel, BEL, Adani Ports, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Trent, M&M, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and L&T.
On the flip side, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Hindustan Unilever ended the session with losses.
Why the market rallied
The market’s rally was mainly driven by strong performances in the metal and auto sectors. According to experts, a weakening US dollar, strong auto sales, and positive Q1 results from key companies helped boost investor confidence.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said,
“Consumption-driven companies are showing recovery in volume demand. Also, weak US job data may lead to interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.”
Global cues positive
Asian markets mostly ended in the green with Hong Kong, South Korea, and China posting gains. However, Japan’s Nikkei closed in red.
European markets were trading positively, while US markets had ended lower on Friday.
Oil prices also slipped, with Brent crude falling 1.15% to USD 68.87 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,366.40 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.
Business
India Lost ₹22,842 Crore To Cybercriminals & Fraudsters In 2024: DataLEADS

India lost Rs 22,842 crore to cybercriminals and fraudsters in 2024, DataLEADS, a Delhi-based media and tech company, said in its report on widespread digital financial frauds in the country. The amount stolen by digital criminals and fraudsters last year was nearly three times more than the Rs 7,465 crore in 2023 and almost 10 times more than the Rs 2,306 in 2022, DataLEADS said in ‘Contours of Cybercrime: Persistent and Emerging Risk of Online Financial Frauds and Deepfakes in India.
Prediction For Cyber-Crime Frauds
The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, I4C, a federal agency that liaises between state and central law enforcement, predicts Indians will lose over Rs 1.2 lakh crore this year. The number of cybercrime complaints has spiked similarly; nearly twenty lakh were reported in 2024, up from around 15.6 lakh the year before and ten times more than were logged in 2019.
The surge in the number of cybercrime complaints and the volume of money lost points to one inescapable conclusion – India’s digital crooks are getting smarter and more efficient, and, in a country with a staggering nearly 290 lakh unemployed people, their ranks are increasing.
Bank-related frauds have increased dramatically; the Reserve Bank of India reported a nearly eightfold jump in the first half of FY 2025/26 compared to the same period last year. And the amount of money lost was staggering – Rs 2,623 crore to Rs 21,367 crore. Private sector banks accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all such incidents. But it was customers in public sector banks who were worst-hit; they lost Rs 25,667 crore in all.
Why have these numbers jumped so much over the past three years?
Because of the increased use of digital payment modes – i.e., smartphone-enabled services like Paytm and PhonePe – and the sharing and processing of financial details online – via (what many believe are encrypted and fail-safe) messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.
Federal data says there were over 190 lakh UPI, or unified payment interface, transactions in June 2025 alone, and these were worth a combined Rs 24.03 lakh crore. Digital payments’ value has grown from roughly Rs 162 crore in 2013 to Rs 18,120.82 crore in January 2025, and India accounts for nearly half of all such payments worldwide.
COVID-19
Much of this increase can be attributed to the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns.
During COVID-19, the government pushed for a switch to UPI apps like Paytm to ensure social distancing and minimise contact with currency notes, via which the virus could be transmitted.
Digital Payment Tools In Rural Areas
The government also reasoned that digital payment tools would ensure greater penetration of financial services, particularly in rural areas. By 2019, India already had 440 million smartphone users and data rates were among the cheapest in the world – 1 GB cost Rs 200, or less than $3.
Insurance sector scams were also common. These included life, health, vehicle, and general, and are becoming an increasingly lucrative option for cybercriminals, particularly as insurance companies urge customers to opt for app-based services.
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