NEW DELHI: The impact of pre-GST revamp pause in sale of several products, such as automobiles and white goods, and the lower rates rolled out from Sept 22 slowed down the growth in gross GST receipts but the mop up remained close to the Rs 2 lakh crore-level, data for October showed. Official numbers released on Saturday showed GST collections in Oct for transactions in Sept totalled 1.96 lakh crore, an increase of 4.6% compared to Rs 1.87 lakh crore in October last year.This was the slowest pace of increase this fiscal. In Aug and Sept, GST collection rose 6.5% to Rs 1.86 lakh crore and at 9.1% to Rs 1.89 lakh crore. Gross domestic revenue grew 2% to Rs 1.45 lakh crore, while tax from imports rose nearly 13% to Rs 50,884 crore in October. The data showed GST refunds rose 39.6% year-on-year in Oct to Rs 26,934 crore.In Sept, GST Council had unveiled reforms to GST rate structure, which led to a sharp reduction in rates on a raft of items, bringing relief to consumers, and the latest data showed apprehensions of decline in collections have been negated.The rate cuts, effective September 22, have revived consumption demand, and experts said GST revenues for Nov are likely to show a sharp rebound.“Despite massive rate cuts effective from September 22, a slight increase in domestic GST collection is very encouraging and shows that demand is steadily increasing,” said Pratik Jain, Partner at consulting firm Price Waterhouse & Co LLP.“Consistent increase in GST refunds (domestic as well as exports) shows confidence of tax administration that GST collections would show positive trend in future as well. Next month’s data would have the full impact of GST cuts and would be keenly awaited,” added Jain.On the back of a fillip provided by a reduction in GST on 375 items, consumers had flocked to stores and car dealerships resulting in highest Navratri sales in over a decade, government officials had earlier said, citing industry data.“The GST collections, while aligning with immediate expectations, reflect a muted momentum in Sept primarily due to rate rationalisation effect in the majority part of the Sept month and the deferred consumer spending ahead of the upcoming festive season. This anticipated lag is likely to be compensated by more robust numbers in the next month, driven by seasonal buoyancy,” said Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner at EY India. “The impressive, high percentage growth in collections from states and UTs like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Ladakh is a tangible indicator of holistic economic development across India,” he said.

New Delhi: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has opened up about the company’s recent layoffs, which affected around 14,000 employees. Contrary to popular belief, he said the decision wasn’t about cutting costs or the rise of artificial intelligence. Instead, Jassy pointed to a deeper reason behind the move — company culture. “The announcement that we made a few days ago was not really financially driven, and it’s not even really AI-driven, not right now at least,” he said, as quoted by Business Insider. “It really — it’s culture.”

A Cultural Reset at Amazon

Andy Jassy’s comments reflect Amazon’s ongoing push to reshape its internal culture. As reported by Business Insider, he has been focused on raising performance standards, tightening discipline, and cutting down on unnecessary bureaucracy to make the company more efficient and agile.

During the earnings call, Jassy acknowledged that Amazon’s rapid expansion over the years had added “a lot more layers,” which ended up slowing down how decisions are made. He emphasised that the company now needs to “operate leaner and move faster,” particularly as artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries worldwide.

“Sometimes, without realizing it, you can weaken the ownership of the people that you have who are doing the actual work,” Jassy said. “And it can lead to slowing you down.” In a blog post on October 28, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, also confirmed that the company is “making organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates.”

“While this will include reducing in some areas and hiring in others, it will mean an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles,” she said. This marks Amazon’s largest round of layoffs since 2022, when about 27,000 employees were let go. Interestingly, Jassy’s recent comments contrast with what other Amazon executives have previously said about the reasons behind the job cuts.

The decision also reflects a broader trend across Big Tech. Giants like Google and Microsoft are undergoing what many call the “Great Flattening” — cutting down layers of management to speed up decision-making and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.

New Delhi: State-owned Bank of Baroda reported a mixed performance in Q2FY26, with an 8 per cent YoY decline in the net profit to Rs 4,809 crore, despite revenue growth and improved asset quality. 

The net profit dipped 8.2 per cent YoY from Rs 5,238 in Q2 FY25, while it inched up 5.9 per cent on a quarterly basis. The H1FY26 net profit stood at Rs 9,351 crore, the bank said, adding that the operating profit for the quarter was Rs 7,576 crore, while for the half year it was Rs 15,812 crore.

Meanwhile, during the quarter, net interest income rose to Rs 11,954 crore for the quarter, a 4.5 per cent rise quarter-on-quarter and reached Rs 23,388 crore for the first half of FY26. Operating expenses reached Rs 7,893 crore for the quarter, up 7.7 per cent YoY. Asset quality improved as gross non-performing assets decreased by 34 basis points YoY to 2.16 per cent.

Bank’s Net NPA also reduced by 3 bps YoY and stood at 0.57 per cent in Q2FY26. “Global Net Interest Margin (NIM) for Q2FY26 improves by 5 bps sequentially and stood at 2.96 per cent, while it was at 2.93 per cent for H1FY26,” the statement said.

Domestic Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 3.10 per cent for the quarter, with an improvement of 4 bps QoQ. Bank’s organic retail advances grew by 17.6 per cent, driven by strong growth across segments such as mortgage loans (19.8 per cent), auto loans (17.7 per cent), home loans (16.5 per cent), education loans (14 per cent), and personal loans (18.6 per cent).

On a year-to-date basis and a monthly basis, the stock has gained 15.27 per cent and 7.11 per cent, respectively.