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Washington: US Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick on ​Tuesday sought to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein, alleging he "barely had ⁠anything to do with" the convicted sex offender amid calls for his resignation over new revelations about ties between them. The U.S. Justice Department in January published millions of new files related to Epstein, including emails ‌that showed ‌Lutnick apparently visited Epstein's private island for lunch years after he claimed to have cut off ties. Lutnick now faces ‌calls from both sides of the aisle to resign. Lutnick pushed back in a Senate hearing, saying the two men had exchanged only about 10 emails and met three times over 14 years and that a lunch with Epstein only took place because Lutnick was on a boat ​near his island, adding that his family was present."I did ​not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with ‌that person," he ‍told a Senate Committee under questioning from Democratic Senator Chris Van ‍Hollen.Lutnick is just one of a host of powerful men ‌in politics, business and entertainment, including U.S. President Donald Trump himself, who are under fire for their ties with Epstein, in a reflection of the elite circles Epstein inhabited.Lutnick is also in the hot seat over apparent contradictions between the documents and his prior remarks about Epstein, who lived next door to the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO in New York at the time.Lutnick previously claimed he vowed never to "be ‍in a room" with Epstein following a 2005 incident in which the financier showed Lutnick a massage table at his townhouse and made a sexually ‍suggestive comment. But the ⁠emails showed, in addition ⁠to the 2012 lunch, that in November 2015, Epstein's assistant forwarded him an invitation from Lutnick to a fundraiser at his financial firm for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton."I know and my wife knows that I have done absolutely nothing wrong in any possible regard," Lutnick said at the hearing.The hearing comes a day after Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions at a deposition before the U.S. House's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Monday, according to lawmakers, drawing criticism from both Republican and Democratic members of the committee.

New Delhi: India climbed five places to the 91st position out of 182 countries and territories on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025 released on Tuesday. India's score has gone up by one point since previous year while its rank has improved from the 96th position, according to the global NGO Transparency International's latest CPI. There has been a slow growth in anti-corruption progress in Asia Pacific as many countries witnessed public anger in the previous year, the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog's report said."The 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that corruption remains a serious threat in every part of the world, although there are limited signs of progress. "Leaders must act to tackle abuses of power and the wider factors driving this decline, such as the roll-back of democratic checks and balances, and attacks on independent civil society," the report said."Anti-government protests in many parts of the world show that people are fed up with unaccountable leadership and are demanding reform," it added. The CPI ranks 182 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The report also listed India among countries "dangerous for journalists reporting on corruption". "When journalists are attacked or killed for investigating corruption, power cannot be held to account effectively and corruption tends to worsen. Since 2012, in non-conflict zones worldwide, 829 journalists have been murdered. "Over 90 per cent of these killings happened in countries with a CPI score lower than 50, including in Brazil (35), India (39), Mexico (27), Pakistan (28) and Iraq (28), which are particularly dangerous for journalists reporting on corruption," it noted. "While 31 countries have significantly reduced their corruption levels since 2012, the rest are failing to tackle the problem - they have stayed stagnant or got worse during the same period. "The global average has fallen to a new low of 42, while more than two-thirds of countries score below 50. And people are paying the price, as corruption leads to under-funded hospitals, unbuilt flood defences and blights the hopes and dreams of young people," it said. Denmark retained its position at the top of the index, scoring 89 points, ahead of Finland and Singapore. At the other end of the scale were South Sudan and Somalia, both registering nine points, followed by Venezuela. The leading three nations saw no change, while South Sudan's one-point gain brought it level with Somalia. While the US has been ranked at the 29th spot, the UK bagged the 20th spot."We are seeing a concerning picture of long-term decline in leadership to tackle corruption. Even established democracies, like the US, the UK and New Zealand, are experiencing a drop in performance. The absence of bold leadership is leading to weaker standards and enforcement, lowering ambition on anti-corruption efforts around the world."At the same time, many states are increasing restrictions on civic space. By making it hard or dangerous for citizens, NGOs and journalists to challenge abuses of power, they are reducing transparency and accountability. This allows corruption to flourish," the report said.

The government will sell 3% stake representing over 10.44 crore shares in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) via an offer for sale (OFS). The PSU has set the floor price at Rs 254 per share.The government has also retained an oversubscription option to sell an additional 6.96 crore shares, equivalent to 2% equity, which would take the total potential divestment to 17.41 crore shares, or 5% of the company’s equity capital, if fully exercised.The shares will be sold through a separate, designated OFS window on the BSE and NSE.The OFS will take place during trading hours on Wednesday, commencing at 9:15 am and will close at 3:30 pm.At the given floor price, the government will raise Rs 2,653 crore on divestment of 3% equity while the amount will go up to Rs 4,422 crore if the oversubscription option is exercised.BHEL shares today ended at Rs 275.90m gaining Rs 1.25 or 0.46% over the previous closing price. BHEL reported a sharp turnaround in its December-quarter performance, with net profit more than tripling on the back of higher execution and operating leverage. The state-owned engineering major posted a net profit of Rs 382 crore for the third quarter ended December 2025, compared with Rs 125 crore in the same period last year, marking a 206% year-on-year jump.Revenue from operations rose 16% YoY to Rs 8,473 crore from Rs 7,277 crore a year earlier, reflecting improved project execution and a stronger order pipeline. Total income for the quarter, including other income, stood at Rs 8,700 crore, up from Rs 7,393 crore in the year-ago period. On the cost side, total expenses rose to Rs 8,188 crore from Rs 7,224 crore in the year-ago quarter. The cost of materials and services increased to Rs 6,059 crore, while employee benefit expenses edged up marginally to Rs 1,531 crore. Finance costs declined sequentially to Rs 182 crore from Rs 195 crore in the September quarter, which provided additional support to profitability.

The net inflow in silver ETFs soared 139% in January to Rs 9,463 crore compared to an inflow of Rs 3,962 crore in December 2025. The precious metal ETFs had an AUM of Rs 1.16 lakh crore in January 2026 compared to Rs 72,652 crore in December 2025 seeing a growth of 61% on monthly basis.These ETFs witnessed a surge in inflows despite volatility in prices seen in January. Despite volatile market, silver ETFs delivered returns upto 52.28% in the first month of the current calendar year.Also Read | Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund increases stake in ITC, TCS and 14 others, trims exposure to Coal India and MCXTata Silver ETF offered the highest return of 52.28% in January, followed by Axis Silver ETF which gained 46.09% in the same time frame. Zerodha Silver ETF gave 45.52% in January.Nippon India Silver ETF, the largest fund in the category based on the assets managed, posted a return of 44.45%.Umesh Sharma, CIO-Debt, The Wealth Company Mutual Fund said the growth in gold ETFs and multi asset allocation funds gained investors’ interest with gold ETFs posting record inflows driven by superior one year performance of gold and silver relative to major asset classes.Akhil Chaturvedi, Executive Director and Chief Business Officer, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company said Highlight with no surprise have been flows in Gold and Silver ETFs and Index Funds with record flows of Rs 24,000 crore.What happened in JanuaryIn January 2026, precious metals rose sharply due to global uncertainty, changing currency trends, and growing demand for safe assets which led to investors buying precious metals as protection against market risks, pushing prices to very high levels.Despite a hefty correction in the last two trading sessions of the month, silver surged nearly 19%. Silver reached very high levels, close to record prices in January. On January 29, silver futures scaled fresh lifetime highs on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), silver surged past the Rs 4 lakh mark for the first time.Silver emerged better than gold in the starting month of the current calendar year because it benefits both as a precious metal and from industrial demand, which added to the buying pressure.Also Read | Confused which fund to buy? Radhika Gupta lists five key checkpoints every investor should know before investingHowever, towards the end of the month, things changed quickly. Once prices became very high, many investors started selling to book profits. This caused a sudden fall in prices. On January 30, silver delivered a stunning reversal on the MCX, plunging up to 27% — or Rs 1,07,968 — in a single day, marking its worst-ever crash and dragging prices back below the Rs 3 lakh mark, just a day after the metal had surged to a record high of Rs 4 lakh.The fall on January 31, silver delivered a stunning reversal on MCX, plunging up to 25% — or Rs 92,000 — in a single day, marking its worst crash in 15 years and dragging prices back below the Rs 3 lakh mark, just a day after the metal had soared to a record high of Rs 4 lakh.AMFI tallyAt present there are 17 schemes in the category and there are nearly 47.84 lakh folios in this category. No new scheme in the category was launched in January.