India’s Congress Party will lead an alliance of political parties that will form the next government after it emerged the surprise victor in the country’s national elections in early May. Voters shunned the previous regime led by the Bharatiya Janata Party whose economic reforms appear to have left a large majority of rural Indians unmoved.
Manmohan Singh, the former finance minister, will be the new prime minister after Congress party president Sonia Gandhi turned the job down.

India’s securities went from third to first world in record time. But is T+1 a step too far, asks Kala Rao.

Mervyn Davies, group chief executive of Standard Chartered, shares his vision of Asia with The Banker.

Kala Rao reports on India’s timid yet nevertheless genuine attempts to overhaul its pension system – and on the global players licking their lips in anticipation.

Foreign investors are bullish on India’s banks and ICICI especially. By Kala Rao and Stephen Timewell in Mumbai.

After a long-term presence in India, HSBC has surprised everyone by buying into the local banking sector in an apparent strategic shift, writes Kala Rao in Mumbai.

Kalo Rao in Mumbai reports on the latest and most difficult phase of banking reform facing the Indian government.