The Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) has issued revised instructions to the officers for processing GST registration applications, that will reduce compliance burden on taxpayers and facilitate rule-based transparency, it was announced on Friday.

Several grievances have been received by the CBIC), Department of Revenue, regarding difficulties being faced by applicants during the GST registration process, mainly on account of queries raised by officers on the grounds of seeking additional documents.

To resolve these grievances and to smoothen GST registration process, CBIC has issued new instructions.

“Officers have been instructed to strictly adhere to the prescribed list of documents provided in registration application form. Requisite documents in specific cases to be uploaded with registration application form have also been delineated in the instructions,” according to the Ministry of Finance.

Astrophysicists from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have successfully detected and measured the properties of an intermedia black hole (IMBH).

IMBH which has remained elusive is found in a faint galaxy called NGC 4395 about 4.3 million light-years away from Earth.

Using the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) -- India's largest optical telescope --, the team found that gas clouds orbit the black hole at a distance of 125 light-minutes (around 2.25 billion kilometre) with a velocity dispersion of 545 km per second.

Fitch Ratings on Thursday projected India's GDP growth at 6.4 per cent for FY26 amid global uncertainties, while retaining the projections for the next financial year (FY27) unchanged at 6.3 per cent.

For India, the global ratings agency reduced GDP growth estimates for both the 2024-25 fiscal year and the current 2025-26 fiscal year by 10 basis points to 6.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively, amid fears of a global trade war.

The growth forecast for the 2026-27 fiscal year remains at 6.3 per cent, according to Fitch.

Indian stock markets ended sharply higher on Thursday, extending their winning run for the fourth straight session as strong buying in banking shares helped the domestic indices clocked a robust performance.

The Sensex, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary on April 17, opened slightly lower at 76,968 and dropped to the day's low of 76,666 in early trade. However, the index soon bounced back strongly and touched an intra-day high of 78,617 -- a jump of 1,951 points from the low.

By the end of the session, the Sensex closed with a strong gain of 1,509 points, or 1.96 per cent, at 78,553.

The Nifty index also witnessed a sharp rebound. After touching an intra-day low of 23,299, the Nifty surged to a high of 23,872. It eventually closed the day 414 points higher at 23,852, up 1.8 per cent.

India is expected to remain the fastest growing major economy with a 6.5 per cent growth rate in 2025 while global growth is seen as marking a shift towards a recessionary path with the international trading system facing its most serious challenge since the Second World War, according to the latest UNCTAD report.

India has been listed among the countries that are propelling growth with higher government expenditure and monetary policy stimulus in the report titled 'Trade and Development Foresights 2025 - Under pressure: Uncertainty reshapes global economic prospects'.

The report projected China's growth rate at 4.4 per cent, while the US economy is expected to grow at 1 per cent. The growth for the European Union has also been projected at 1 per cent, although France, Germany and Italy are all expected to record below 1 per cent growth. Similarly, Japan's economic growth rate is expected to come down to a mere 0.5 per cent.

After three consecutive days of gains, the domestic benchmark indices opened in red on Thursday amid weak global cues, as selling was seen in the IT and auto sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.27 am, Sensex was trading 338.13 points or 0.44 per cent down at 76,706.16 while the Nifty declined 120.75 points or 0.52 per cent at 23,316.45

Nifty Bank was up 62.25 points or 0.12 per cent at 53,180.00. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 52,300.65 after declining 44.90 points or 0.09 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,347.85 after declining 1.40 points or 0.01 per cent.

According to market watchers, after a negative opening, Nifty can find support at 23,300 followed by 23,200 and 23,000. On the higher side, 23,500 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 23,600 and 23,800.

The Indian stock markets on Wednesday continued their upward journey for the third straight trading session, with strong buying seen in financial stocks, especially private banks and some oil and gas shares.

The Sensex opened 262 points higher at 76,996 but slipped into the red to a low of 76,544 amid weak global cues as US-China trade tensions escalated. It later rebounded, rising 556 points from the day's low to a high of 77,110, and ended the session at 77,044, up 309 points or 0.4 per cent.

With this, the Sensex has gained 3,197 points in the last three trading sessions.

The Nifty also showed similar movement. It touched a low of 23,273 before recovering to a high of 23,452. The index ended the day near its high, at 23,433, gaining 104.60 points or 0.45 per cent. In the last three days, the Nifty has risen by 1,038 points.

The pilot and co-pilot of a helicopter that was allegedly damaged during former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's visit to Sri Sathya Sai district last week appeared before police on Wednesday.

In response to the notices served by the police, Pilot Anil Kumar and co-pilot S. Jain appeared before the Deputy Superintendent of Police and Circle Inspector at C. K. Palli police station.

Elaborate security arrangements were made around the police station during their questioning.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Jagan Mohan Reddy had reached Papireddypalli village by helicopter on April 8 to console the family of a leader, allegedly murdered by the cadres of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The YSRCP workers broke through the barricades at the helipad to reach close to the helicopter, and in the commotion, the chopper's windshield was reportedly damaged.

The RBI has already embarked on a rate cutting cycle, and a report by HSBC Global Research said on Wednesday that it expects a 25bp rate cut in each of the June and August policy meetings, taking the repo rate down to 5.5 per cent this fiscal (FY26).

Furthermore, it also expects easy liquidity conditions to persist and help in the transmission of rate cuts.

The CPI inflation in March came in at 3.3 per cent, lower than the market expectation of 3.5 per cent.

Food prices remained in deflation for the third month, down 0.7 per cent on-month, led by falling vegetable, pulses and egg, fish and meat prices.

The sequential momentum in cereal and milk prices was benign, while that of sugar and fruits was high.

A Crisil report on Wednesday projected India's CPI inflation to average 4.3 per cent this fiscal (FY26) -- with food, fuel and core inflation at 4.6 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively.

This fiscal, “we expect food inflation to remain under control given the healthy rabi sowing, soft global food prices and the expected above-normal monsoon,” said the report.

The high base of last year will provide a downward (statistical) push to food inflation. The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast an above-normal monsoon for this fiscal, which should benefit the kharif crop.

“We expect non-food inflation to remain in the comfort zone with expectations of benign global commodity prices,” said the Crisil report.