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‘Exhili-Rating’ For India: How S&P Upgrade Strengthens Negotiating Power In Trade Talks
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The agency has raised India’s long-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-‘, and its short-term ratings to ‘A-2’ from ‘A-3’
This is seen as a significant acknowledgement of India’s growth story, especially given the cynicism within the Congress and Rahul Gandhi endorsing American President Donald Trump’s comment that India was a dead economy.
Representational image
The mood is upbeat with the S&P rating system upgrading India. They have raised India’s long-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings to “BBB” from “BBB-“, and its short-term ratings to “A-2″ from “A-3″. The outlook on the long-term rating is stable. This is seen as a significant acknowledgement of India’s growth story, especially given the cynicism within the Congress and Rahul Gandhi endorsing American President Donald Trump’s comment that India was a dead economy.
The global ratings agency stated, “The stable outlook reflects our view that continued policy stability and high infrastructure investment will support India’s long-term growth prospects. That, along with cautious fiscal and monetary policy that moderates the government’s elevated debt and interest burden, will underpin the rating over the next 24 months.”
This is significant considering the uncertainty over the Indian market and trade, given the face-off between India and the US. There is concern that high tariffs could impact India’s economy. However, the agency acknowledged these apprehensions and said, “Though the U.S. is India’s largest trading partner, we do not expect the 50% tariffs (if imposed) to pose a material drag on growth. India’s exports to the U.S. constitute about 2% of GDP. Factoring in sectoral exemptions on pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics, the exposure of Indian exports subjected to tariffs is lower at 1.2% of GDP. Though this may eventually result in a one-off hit to growth, we envisage the overall impact to be marginal and will not derail India’s long-term growth prospects.”
The Indian government has been appreciated for its political stability. The agency mentioned that with the BJP having a majority in Parliament, the formulation of laws and schemes becomes easier. It has predicted a GDP growth of about 6.5%. Many government schemes and initiatives by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, like Jan Dhan, push to MSMEs, Ayushman Bharat, to name a few, have helped the economy.
Additionally, the commerce ministry has released data showing that this quarter alone, trade has increased in many critical sectors like gems, mechanical goods, and auto parts. While there is concern about trade ties between the US and India, the ministry remains hopeful. The ministry stated, “Commerce ministry—negotiations with US are ongoing… talks are on… BTA talks are engaged… the US is an important trade partner for us just as we are for them.”
These ratings are also important as India is poised to sign several bilateral trade agreements with other countries. A good rating will give India more power to negotiate.
Pallavi Ghosh has covered politics and Parliament for 15 years, and has reported extensively on Congress, UPA-I and UPA-II, and has now included the Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog in her reportage. She has als…Read More
Pallavi Ghosh has covered politics and Parliament for 15 years, and has reported extensively on Congress, UPA-I and UPA-II, and has now included the Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog in her reportage. She has als… Read More
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Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon speaks during an interview at the Economic Club of Washington in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 30, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Goldman Sachs is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings before the opening bell Thursday.
Here’s what Wall Street expects:
- Earnings: $11.67 per share, according to LSEG
- Revenue: $13.79 billion, according to LSEG
- Trading revenue: Fixed income of $2.93 billion, equities of $3.70 billion, per StreetAccount
- Investing banking fees: $2.58 billion, per StreetAccount
Goldman Sachs is set up to be a beneficiary of several trends in the fourth quarter.
Trading desks across Wall Street have benefited in the last year as President Donald Trump’s policies have roiled markets for bonds, currencies, commodities and stocks.
For instance, rival JPMorgan Chase topped expectations for fourth-quarter results on equities and fixed income trading revenue that exceeded the StreetAccount estimate by a combined $460 million.
Global investment banking revenue in the quarter was 12% higher than a year ago, according to Dealogic, which should provide a boost to Goldman’s advisory business.
The firm’s asset and wealth management division should also see gains as stock market levels remained buoyant in the quarter.
Finally, the bank said last week that its deal to offload its Apple Card business to JPMorgan would result in a 46-cents-per-share boost to quarterly results.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
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X decision came after facing outrage over the misuse of Grok, where the AI Chatbot was found to be complying with user requests to digitally undress images of real people.
Elon Musk’s Grok can no longer undress images of real people on X. (Representative Image)
Amid the rising concerns over the sexualised AI deepfakes in countries including the UK and US, Elon Musk’s Grok artificial intelligence chatbot will no longer edit “images of real people in revealing clothing” on X, the company confirmed Wednesday evening.
The company’s decision came after facing global outrage over the misuse of Grok, where the AI Chatbot was found to be complying with user requests to digitally undress images of adults and, in some cases, children.
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis. This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers,” X wrote via its Safety team account.
Within the last week xAi, which owns both Grok and X, restricted image generation for Grok on X to paying X premium subscribers
CNN reported that it has been observed that in the last few days, Grok’s X account had modified how it responded in general to users’ image generation requests, even for those subscribed to X premium.
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United States of America (USA)
January 15, 2026, 08:34 IST
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Elon Musk’s AI model Grok will no longer be able to edit photos of real people to show them in revealing clothing, after widespread concern over sexualised AI deepfakes in countries including the UK and US.
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis.
“This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers,” reads an announcement on X, which operates the Grok AI tool.
The change was announced hours after California’s top prosecutor said the state was probing the spread of sexualised AI deepfakes, including of children, generated by the AI model.
The update expands measures that stop all users, including paid subscribers, editing images of real people in revealing outfits.
X, formerly known as Twitter, also reiterated in a statement on Wednesday that only paid users will be able to edit images using Grok on its platform.
This will add an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that those who try and abuse Grok to violate the law or X’s policies are held accountable, it said.
Users who try to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear and similar clothing using Grok will be stopped from doing so according to the laws of their jurisdiction, X’s statement said.
In a statement on Wednesday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said: “This material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet.”
Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to the chatbot over the images and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned X could lose the “right to self regulate” amid outrage over the AI images.
Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, said on Monday that it would investigate whether X had failed to comply with UK law over the sexual images.
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