Archives May 2026

New Delhi, May 7 (BNP): The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) has generated around 36.33 lakh employment opportunities across the country, reinforcing its role as a key driver of grassroots entrepreneurship and livelihood creation, according to an official statement.

Implemented through the Khadi and Village Industries Commission under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the scheme supports the setting up of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by providing credit-linked subsidies to aspiring entrepreneurs.

During the 15th Finance Commission cycle (2021–22 to 2025–26), the scheme utilised its entire approved allocation of ₹13,554.42 crore and facilitated the establishment of over 4.03 lakh micro-enterprises, slightly surpassing its target.

Officials said this performance reflects both strong demand for entrepreneurship support and effective implementation on the ground.

A major highlight of the programme is its focus on inclusion and social equity. Women account for nearly 40% of total beneficiaries, while around 45% of subsidy support has gone to women-led enterprises, encouraging greater participation in business creation.

In addition, about 54% of beneficiaries belong to SC, ST, and OBC communities, underscoring the scheme’s wide social outreach. Nearly 80% of the supported enterprises are located in rural areas, helping boost local employment and promote balanced regional development.

Overall, officials said PMEGP continues to play a crucial role in expanding self-employment opportunities, strengthening small businesses, and supporting India’s broader goal of entrepreneurship-led and inclusive economic growth.

New Delhi, May 7 (BNP): School enrollment in government institutions has declined to 49.24% in the 2024–25 academic year, while the private education sector continues to expand rapidly, according to concerns highlighted by NITI Aayog.

The findings point to a steady shift in student preference toward private schools, reflecting changing perceptions around quality of education, infrastructure, and learning outcomes. The trend indicates that private institutions are gaining a larger share of new enrollments compared to government schools.

According to the assessment, the decline in government school enrollment raises important concerns for the public education system, particularly in terms of equity and access. Since government schools play a crucial role in providing affordable education, especially in rural and lower-income segments, a continued drop in enrollment could widen educational disparities.

The report notes that the rapid growth of private schooling is reshaping India’s education landscape, with increased household spending on education and rising demand for alternative learning environments.

It further suggests that improving infrastructure, teacher availability, and learning outcomes in government schools will be critical to reversing the trend and restoring confidence in public education.

Overall, the data highlights a structural shift in India’s schooling system, where the balance between public and private education is gradually evolving, raising policy-level concerns about long-term accessibility and inclusiveness in the education sector.

New Delhi, May 7 (BNP): India’s technology spending is witnessing a strong upswing, driven primarily by rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and large-scale data modernisation across industries, according to a recent industry report.

The report notes that enterprises are increasingly prioritising investments in AI-powered tools, cloud infrastructure, and advanced data systems as they shift away from legacy IT setups toward more agile, scalable digital architectures.

A key driver of this trend is the growing need for real-time insights and automation. AI is helping businesses streamline operations, improve decision-making speed, and enhance customer experience through predictive analytics and intelligent process automation.

At the same time, data modernisation is emerging as a foundational requirement for digital transformation. Companies are upgrading fragmented legacy systems into unified, cloud-based data platforms that allow faster processing, better data governance, and improved integration across business functions.

According to the report, this dual shift is enabling organisations to build more resilient and efficient digital ecosystems. It is also helping enterprises across banking, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and public services adopt more data-driven and technology-led operating models.

The transformation is expected to generate significant demand for cloud services, AI solutions, and cybersecurity frameworks, while also expanding opportunities for technology providers and startups in the digital infrastructure space.

Industry experts say this trend is not just increasing IT budgets but fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate, compete, and innovate in India’s fast-evolving digital economy.

Overall, the report suggests that AI and data modernisation are becoming central pillars of India’s technology growth story, laying the foundation for the next phase of enterprise digital transformation.

Mumbai, May 7: Arnya Real Estate Fund Advisors announced the appointment of Piyush Thakkar as the Director – Investments. In this role, he will be a part of senior leadership team of Arnya. His appointment underscores Arnya’s continued focus on strengthening its leadership team and scaling its investment platform in line with its long-term growth ambitions.

Piyush Thakkar is a Chartered Accountant with over two decades of experience across real estate credit, structured finance, and risk management. He specializes in structuring asset-backed investments with a strong emphasis on downside protection, capital preservation, and delivering consistent risk-adjusted returns. Over the course of his career, Piyush has spent more than 20 years with Kotak Mahindra Bank and its group entities, where he worked closely with developers, sponsors, and institutional investors. Prior to joining Arnya, he was a Founding Member at Ionic Wealth & Asset Management (Angel One Group), where he built and led the debt investment platform across multiple strategies. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla University.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Sharad Mittal, Founder & CEO, Arnya Real Estate Fund Advisors said, “We are delighted to welcome Piyush Thakkar as Director – Investments at Arnya Real Estate Fund Advisors. His nearly two decades of deep expertise across real estate credit, structured finance and risk management come at a pivotal time for us. Piyush brings a sharp investment lens and disciplined execution approach that will help us scale our platform, explore high-quality opportunities and strengthen our portfolio. His appointment marks a significant step in our growth journey, as we strengthen our leadership bench, deepen our investment capabilities, and further solidify Arnya’s position as a preferred partner in the real estate investment ecosystem.”

On this occasion, Piyush Thakkar said, “I am excited to take on the role of Director – Investments at Arnya Real Estate Fund Advisors and contribute to its ambitious growth journey. Backed by a strong and driven team, I look forward to sharpening our investment strategy, unlocking potential opportunities, and delivering consistent, long-term value. Together, we aim to raise the bar for performance, innovation, and excellence across the real estate investment landscape.”

Patna, May 7 (BNP): In a major political development in Bihar, several leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)] and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies took oath as ministers during the expansion of the Samrat Choudhary-led cabinet in Patna on Thursday.

The swearing-in ceremony, held at the historic Gandhi Maidan, witnessed the induction of several prominent leaders, including Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar, marking his formal entry into ministerial politics. The development has drawn significant attention in Bihar’s political circles, with many viewing it as the beginning of a new political chapter for the Kumar family.

Among those who took oath were Vijay Kumar Sinha, Shrawon Kumar, Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, Leshi Singh, Ram Kripal Yadav, Nitish Mishra, Ashok Choudhary and several other NDA leaders. Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) administered the oath of office to the newly inducted ministers.

The cabinet expansion comes amid significant political changes in Bihar following Nitish Kumar’s move to the Rajya Sabha and the formation of the new NDA government under Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. According to reports, the BJP secured the highest number of ministerial berths, while JD(U) also received substantial representation in the expanded cabinet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and several senior NDA leaders attended the ceremony, underlining the political importance of the cabinet reshuffle.

Political observers believe the inclusion of Nishant Kumar reflects the NDA’s strategy to blend experienced leadership with a younger generation ahead of future electoral battles in the state. The newly expanded cabinet is expected to focus on governance, development initiatives and strengthening coordination among alliance partners.

The portfolios of the newly inducted ministers are likely to be announced soon.

Urban LinkX delivers up to 5x faster connections in lab tests, with 2x to 4x faster speeds in real-world testing. Protocol Control lets users select their VPN protocol directly from the app.

DELAWARE, USA, May 7: Urban VPN, one of the largest free VPN services globally, today launches Urban LinkX & Protocol Control. Urban LinkX is an in-house developed VPN protocol built on a WireGuard foundation, delivering approximately 5x faster connections in lab tests compared with Urban VPN’s previous protocol stack. Real-world testing on Android in the United States shows 2x faster mean download speeds and 4x faster mean upload speeds. Protocol Control is a new in-app feature that lets users select which protocol to use, with Urban LinkX as the default and the previous protocol stack available as an option for specific use cases.

Urban LinkX is now active on 394 of Urban VPN’s 692 servers globally, currently available to Urban VPN’s premium users on Android and iOS, with macOS and Windows scheduled for May 2026. Following the Windows rollout, Urban LinkX will be available to all Urban VPN users.

Urban LinkX operates in three stages. When the user taps Connect, the client selects a server from the available pool based on weights, requests an Urban LinkX configuration from the backend, and establishes the connection, automatically falling back to the next available server if the connection fails. If a connection fails for some technical reason (switching from Wifi to 4/5G) the app seamlessly reconnects to the same or a different server as needed to maintain a smooth user experience. When the connection ends, the client unregisters its session, with the backend automatically cleaning up any session not closed by the client within a few minutes as a safety net.

In internal testing comparing Urban LinkX with Urban VPN’s previous protocol stack, lab tests showed approximately 5x faster connections, while real-world testing on Android with U.S. servers showed 2x faster mean download speeds and 4x faster mean upload speeds. Urban LinkX is engineered to deliver improved connection stability through more resilient tunnels with faster reconnection and better handling of intermittent networks. Its lightweight protocol design reduces CPU and memory consumption on both servers and clients, while key-based authentication and a smaller codebase support simpler configuration, faster troubleshooting, and faster deployment as new server locations can be added quickly using simple key pairs. State-of-the-art cryptography by default reduces the risk of misconfiguration, and seamless roaming maintains connections across IP address changes, including transitions between Wi-Fi and mobile data.

Urban LinkX delivers strong performance in scenarios such as streaming services in regions where single-protocol traffic is filtered, competitive online gaming with mid-session network changes, and travel scenarios switching between hotel Wi-Fi, mobile data, and home networks.

Protocol Control is a new in-app feature that gives users direct choice over which protocol their VPN connection uses. Urban LinkX is the default for most use cases. Users can switch to Urban VPN’s previous protocol stack from the app interface when their specific connection conditions call for it. The selection is made in the app, with no manual reconfiguration required.

Urban LinkX is currently active for 100 percent of premium users on Android by default, and 33 percent of premium users on iOS, with iOS ramping to 100 percent by Thursday, May 7, 2026. macOS is targeting mid-May 2026, and Windows is targeting late May 2026. Urban VPN operates 692 servers in 88 countries globally and has surpassed 100 million downloads since launch.

New Delhi, May 7 (BNP): Thailand’s evolving strategic and economic orientation is likely to create new opportunities for deeper economic engagement with India, according to a recent analysis by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

The report notes that Thailand is gradually recalibrating its external partnerships and economic priorities in response to shifting global geopolitics and changing supply chain dynamics. This transition is expected to open space for stronger regional cooperation, particularly with fast-growing economies like India.

As Bangkok looks to diversify trade links and strengthen its position in global value chains, the study highlights potential areas of collaboration for Indian businesses, including manufacturing, digital services, infrastructure development, and emerging technology sectors.

The ORF analysis suggests that this shift could also support broader regional economic integration, especially within the ASEAN framework, by encouraging more diversified and resilient trade relationships across Asia.

It further observes that ongoing global supply chain reconfiguration is prompting countries in the region to reduce dependence on a narrow set of markets, creating momentum for more balanced and flexible economic partnerships.

Within this context, India is seen as a key partner for Thailand due to its expanding industrial base, large consumer market, and growing capabilities in digital and services-led sectors. The report indicates that deeper cooperation could help enhance investment flows, improve connectivity, and foster greater technological collaboration between the two economies.

Overall, the ORF assessment underscores that Thailand’s strategic recalibration presents a timely window for India to strengthen its economic presence in Southeast Asia and play a more active role in shaping the region’s evolving growth architecture.

New fäm Properties analysis of more than 1.1 million Dubai Land Department transactions shows clear shift away from short-term investors

Dubai, UAE, May 07: Dubai homeowners are now holding their properties for as long as Londoners and New Yorkers, according to a new study of more than 1.1 million transactions spanning the last 16 years.

It underlines how the city’s real estate sector has evolved to stand alongside the world’s most mature markets, no longer driven by short-term investors.

The analysis of Dubai Land Department transaction data by fäm Properties covers 687,406 primary market transactions between 2012 and 2025, and 425,083 resale market transactions between 2009 and 2025.

Of those, 480,604 primary market homes and 259,615 resale market properties remain with the original buyer, adding up to 740,219 residential properties purchased since 2012 that have never been resold. That represents 69.9% of primary market purchases and 61.1% of resale market transactions over the period.

“Buyers focused on flipping properties have been replaced by owners committed to staying in Dubai and holding on to them,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties. “That’s what a market looks like when it matures.”

“Until now, much of the conversation about Dubai’s residential holding behaviour was built around a 2013 framework, but we’ve moved on from there. A buyer who purchased in Dubai in 2014 and is still holding their property today is behaving exactly like the median homeowner in New York or London.”

The new data shows a consistent and strengthening pattern across both market segments. Among primary market buyers, 42% of those who purchased in 2014 are still holding their property eleven years later, rising to 53% among 2017 buyers after eight years and 61% among those who bought in 2022 after three years.

The resale market tells a similar story, with 38% of 2014 buyers still in ownership after eleven years, 53% of 2017 buyers after eight years, and 65% of those who purchased in 2022 still holding after three years.

Those figures mirror ownership patterns in the US, where the typical homeowner now stays for between 11 and 12 years, according to 2025 data from Redfin and the National Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, in the UK, only around 4% of homes change hands in any given year, implying the majority of owners hold for well over a decade.

The new data analysis is drawn from DXBinteract, the market intelligence platform developed by fäm Properties in partnership with the Dubai Land Department records. All figures reflect ownership status as at the end of April 2026.

Al Msaddi links the change in ownership behaviour with a series of structural developments in Dubai’s residential market. The Golden Visa programme, introduced in 2019 and expanded in 2022, established a direct link between property ownership and long-term residency, while regulatory reforms strengthened protections for buyers purchasing off-plan.

While the timing of the Golden Visa rollout and the impact of Covid-19 influenced a slight dip in retention rates, these have risen with each successive group of buyers since 2020.

Significant infrastructure investment over the same period, including new metro connections and the development of major new residential districts such as Dubai South, Dubai Creek Harbour and Dubai Islands, has also extended the range of locations where buyers are willing to commit for the long term.

Primary market – share of buyers still holding, by year of purchase

Resale market – share of buyers still holding, by year of purchase