In a strong re-election pitch to the business community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised a collateral-free loan of up to Rs 50 lakhs, Rs 10-lakh accidental insurance to GST-registered entities, credit card facility for traders, a pension scheme for small shopkeepers and a new retail policy.

Over 600 businessmen are expected to participate in the second annual "Passage to Prosperity: India-Afghanistan International Trade and Investment Show' in Mumbai from September 12-15, officials said here on Thursday.

In a double-barrel attack, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday called demonetization a scam intended to benefit "15-20 crony capitalist friends" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of lying in the Rafale deal. Gandhi, who addressed a hurriedly called press conference at the AICC headquarters, alleged that demonetization was a deliberate attack on the people aimed at helping the richest Indians and the most corrupt people to convert their black money into white. Latching on to the RBI report of Wednesday that said that 99.3 per cent of demonetized money had come back into the system, he questioned the rationale behind the decision to cancel all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes suddenly in November 2016.

As small and medium businesses (SMBs) and start-ups in India begin to embrace Cloud for their digital transformation, global tech major Oracle is witnessing growth at an unprecedented pace among them in the country, says a senior company executive.

Driven by rising incomes and steady growth, consumption patterns of e-commerce, mobile data, entertainment and consumer goods will see an uptick in India. World-class infrastructure is needed to enable these rising levels of consumption.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Shanghai to conclude his three-day visit to China. After signing 24 agreements on $10 billion in Beijing, all eyes will be on another deal of same whopping amount in Shanghai.