Top Business & Market Headlines Today — BL Morning Report, July 21, 2026

Govt reaches out to CJP amid raging protest; JP Nadda holds talks with 2-member team The Centre has initiated talks with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) amid escalating protests in New Delhi. A two-member delegation of the outfit met Union Health Minister JP Nadda after protesters attempted to march towards Parliament. According to the party, Nadda assured the delegation that he would discuss their demands with the government leadership, including their call for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities. India’s core sector growth rises to five-month high of 5% in June India’s core infrastructure sector expanded 5 per cent in June, marking its strongest growth in five months. The growth was led by higher production of cement, electricity and iron ore. The latest data has been released under a revised index with 2022-23 as the new base year, while iron ore has been added to the basket of core industries, taking the total number of sectors to nine. No plan to remove LTCG tax on equity investments, Finance Ministry tells Parliament The Finance Ministry has clarified in Parliament that there is currently no proposal to abolish long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equity investments for domestic investors. The clarification follows the government’s recent move to exempt certain foreign portfolio investors from LTCG tax on investments in government securities, a measure aimed at boosting foreign inflows and supporting the rupee. TN CM Vijay’s swan song ‘Jana Nayagan’ to hit screens July 23 amid record bookings Jana Nayagan, the final film of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay before entering full-time politics, is set for a worldwide release on July 23. The film will reportedly be screened across nearly 8,000 screens globally, with over 3,500 shows planned in Tamil Nadu. Strong advance bookings have already signalled massive audience anticipation for the release. (Research and VO: Siddharth Mathew Cherian)