Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in US in the early hours of Thursday, February 13 (IST), as part of the second leg of his two-nation tour. He will be meeting US President Donald Trump during his visit.The Indian diaspora in Washington, D.C welcomed the PM after he landed.

During his two-day visit, the Prime Minister will meet the new US President Donald Trump to hold bilateral talks in both restricted and delegation-level formats. The two leaders are likely to discuss key trade and strategic interests, focusing on reducing the trade deficit, reducing import tariffs, strengthening defence ties, and boosting energy cooperation.

Shares of state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd have lost 37% of their value over the last seven months. But the Dalal Street has a consensus target price of ₹5340 per piece, implying a 50% upside from the current market price.

The stock of defence PSU major ended Wednesday’s (February 12) session at ₹3594.15 on the NSE, down 1.5% from previous day close. The stock has given 14% of its value in 2025 so far, after consistently outperforming in the last five years through 2024.The state-owned defence major on February 12 reported 14% jump in consolidated net profit at ₹1,440 crore for the quarter ended December 2024, driven by sustained demand for its aircraft from the defence ministry. It reported a consolidated net profit of ₹1,261 crore in the year-ago period. The defence PSU’s revenue from operations surged 15% to ₹6957 crore during the quarter.

US President Donald Trump committed Wednesday to announcing “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries, saying he could sign an order for them within a day, a move that could open new fronts in a trade war.

During election campaigning, Trump had promised: “An eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.” Analysts expect reciprocal duties involve hiking tariff rates on US imports to match the rate that exporting countries charge on American products.Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said that he could sign an order for reciprocal duties later in the day, or on Thursday morning. Analysts have warned that such levies could bring a broad tariff hike to emerging market economies like India and Thailand.

The proposed Income Tax Bill 2025 will be tabled in Parliament on Thursday (February 13). The bill aims to replace the Income Tax Act of 1961 with a more structured and simplified version of tax law. It has already been circulated among Parliament members and may take effect from April 1, 2026, once passed.

Structural overhaul and simplification | The new bill restructures tax law by reducing the number of chapters from 51 to 23. However, the number of sections has increased from 298 to 536. The word count has also been cut by half from the existing 5.20 lakh words, making it concise and easier to interpret.

India should consider zero tariffs on semiconductor manufacturing if it wants to become a significant player in global supply chains, says John Neuffer, President and CEO of the US Semiconductor Industry Association.In an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18, Neuffer emphasised that while India is on the right trajectory in growing its chip-manufacturing footprint, it is important to have a lower tariff and more conducive trade policy. “US is already getting zero tariff treatment from chip supply chain partners around the world but not from India”, he said. He added that more investments in skilling people — not just in design but actual chip manufacturing — would pay off in the long run.

Google I/O 2025: Google has officially announced the dates for its annual developer conference, I/O 2025, scheduled to take place from Tuesday, May 20, to Wednesday, May 21.

The event will return to the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, kicking off with a keynote by CEO Sundar Pichai at 10 am PT (10.30 pm IST).This year’s I/O promises a deep dive into Google’s latest products, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence, Android 16, and advancements in web and cloud technologies.

Google has also teased updates on its Gemini AI models, the Gemma open model, Google AI Studio, and NotebookLM.In a new format twist, Google will livestream developer product keynotes from Shoreline across both days, followed by breakout sessions, workshops, demos, and networking opportunities.

Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has launched a new platform, ‘MITRA’ (Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant), to help investors trace their unclaimed or inactive mutual fund folios.

Over the years, many investors have lost track of their investments, particularly those made in physical form with minimal KYC requirements. In some cases, mutual fund folios do not appear in a unit holder’s consolidated account statement due to missing details such as PAN, email ID, or a valid address.Since inactive accounts are vulnerable to fraudulent redemptions, SEBI has directed Registrar and Transfer Agents (RTAs) like CAMS and KFin Technologies to collaborate with Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to launch the ‘MITRA’ platform.

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The West Bengal government has announced a 4% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state employees and pensioners. The hike, effective from April 1, 2025, was revealed in the state budget presented by Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Wednesday (February 12).

Dearness allowance is a cost-of-living adjustment provided to government employees and pensioners. It helps them cope with inflation and rising prices.DA is calculated as a percentage of basic salary or pension and revised periodically.

An AI startup company from Coimbatore has done what most startups only dream of doing. The company, named Kovai.co, has given a bonus of ₹ 14 crore to its 140 employees.

Kovai.co is named after the city of Coimbatore. This startup provides business-to-business software solutions (SaaS) and was started by Saravanakumar in 2011. Today, this company is providing its services to big corporations like BBC, Boeing and Shell.Its founder, 48-year-old Saravanakumar, belongs to Coimbatore but had moved to London 25 years ago. Saravanakumar said that he was an ordinary IT employee for 10 years, but when he saw a void in the market, he decided to start his own company in his hometown.

A new report by Crisil Market Intelligence and Oister Global has revealed that Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) investing in private markets have consistently generated superior returns compared to public market equivalents, demonstrating their strong investment potential even during periods of robust public market performance.AIFs have grown 86 times between 2014 and 2024, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 31.5% over the past five years, according to the report. “The IRR of 21.5% for the aggregate AIF benchmark significantly outperforms the listed market even today. This makes a compelling case for investors considering this asset class,” Sandeep Sinha, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Oister Global, told CNBC-TV18.

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