No ATM to be replenished with cash after 9 pm from next year

20/08/2018
new delhi: No ATM will be replenished with cash after 9 pm in cities and 6 pm in rural areas from next year even as two armed guards will accompany crisp notes in transit as per a new directive issued by the Home Ministry. The deadline for putting money in the ATMs located in Naxal-hit areas is 4 pm while private cash handling agencies must collect money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles. In a notification, the Home Ministry said the new...

Vedanta to invest $2.3 bn to up oil and gas reserve base by 375 mn barrels

20/08/2018
Hyderabad: Vedanta Limited has said it will be investing $2.3 billion towards capex on its oil and gas activities in the 'near-term' to increase the reserve base by around 375 million barrels. According to its latest annual report, Vedanta aims to increase production from the current 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 300,000 boepd over the next few years. "In the near-term, we are investing gross capex of $2.3 billion to increase our resource and reserve base by around 375 million ...

CEA working on optimised power system cost for 2030

20/08/2018
Kolkata: The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has undertaken a study to ascertain the cheapest power mix in 2030, its Chairman Pankaj Batra said. "We are working on what should be the 'Ideal System Cost' in 2030 and a report is expected in a month's time," Batra told PTI. The report will try to find out the cheapest power mix with grid stability in 2030, and would give a direction to the power sector developers, he said. The outcome of the study will also act as components to the regulato...

FPIs pump in Rs 75 bn in Aug so far as crude oil prices show improvement

20/08/2018
new delhi: Foreign investors have pumped in over Rs 75 bn into the Indian capital markets so far this month on better corporate earnings coupled with improvement in crude oil prices. The latest inflow comes following a net infusion of over Rs 23 bn in the capital markets, both equity and debt, last month. Prior to that, overseas investors had pulled out over Rs 610 bn during April-June. According to the latest depository data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped in Rs 24 bn into equitie...

Sarovar Hotels to open 15 properties by 2019-end

20/08/2018
new delhi: Hospitality chain Sarovar Hotels will open 15 hotels across the country and overseas by the end of 2019 as part of its expansion plans, a top company official said. The hospitality firm has close to 80 hotels in over 50 cities, at present. "We will be opening 15 hotels by 2019-end. Of these, two hotels in Africa, one each in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and Lusaka in Zambia will be opened by the end of 2018," Sarovar Hotels Pvt Ltd Managing Director Ajay Bakaya told PTI. In India th...

As cyberthreats rise, Sebi to expand scope of security initiatives for MIIs

20/08/2018
new delhi: Regulator Sebi is planning to broaden the scope of cybersecurity initiatives for the market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) and look into the operational modalities of their implementation in order to deal with the cyber challenges. Enhancement of cybersecurity has been one of the priorities of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) during the financial year 2017-18. "Taking cognizance of the threat posed by technological developments in the Indian capital markets and...

L&T proposes first-ever buyback, size could be up to Rs 123 billion

20/08/2018
new delhi: Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said its board would consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares next week. If approved, this would be the first-ever buyback by the firm. "The board of directors will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares at its meeting on Thursday," L&T said in a notice to stock exchanges on Saturday. The company is holding its annual general meeting on Thursday. If approved, L&T will join companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (...

Ranganath’s departure irreplaceable loss for Infosys at a critical juncture: Murthy

20/08/2018
new delhi: Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy today said the exit of the company's CFO M D Ranganath is an "irreplaceable loss" for the IT services firm at a "critical juncture". Describing him as "one of the best CFOs" in India and a "rare individual", Murthy said in a statement that Ranganath understood all important stakeholders, including clients, delivery teams, employee aspirations, finance, investors, governance, the law, as also "the role of an ethical business in building a better...

Toyota ordered to pay family $242 million for defect in car seat

20/08/2018
Bloomberg: A Texas jury hit Toyota with a $242 million verdict after finding that defects in the front seats of a 2002 Lexus ES300 caused serious injuries to a Dallas family’s two young children during a rear-end collision in 2016. The jury in state court in Dallas awarded $144 million in punitive damages after finding Toyota Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Sales were grossly negligent in the matter, according to court papers. The jury found that the front seats were unreasonably dangerous and th...

DoT blacklists bank guarantees issued by Standard Chartered Bank

20/08/2018
new delhi: The telecom department has blacklisted bank guarantees issued by Standard Chartered after the bank failed to invoke one that was issued for Aircel Group. In a strongly worded office memorandum sent to all telecom operators and concerned officers, the DoT (department of telecom) has directed entities that they should not accept bank guarantee (BG) from Standard Chartered Bank, including renewals. “Standard Chartered Bank has failed to invoke a BG issued by them on behalf of Aircel G...

UIDAI announces phased rollout of face authentication with telcos from September 15

19/08/2018
new delhi: Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI has finally announced a phased rollout of face recognition feature as an additional mode of authentication, starting with telecom service providers from September 15. The Authority had earlier planned to roll out face recognition feature from July 1, a target that was later pushed to August 1. It has also proposed a monetary disincentive for telcos found slipping on the prescribed targets from mid next month. For authentication agencies other than teleco...

India’s economy actually touched the magical 10% mark in 2006-07, says report

19/08/2018
new delhi: Achieving a double-digit growth rate has been a long-cherished goal for the Indian economy. If the current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) series, which has 2011-12 as its base year, were to be extended backwards, the Indian economy may have actually achieved this feat in 2006-07, with annual growth of Gross Value Added (GVA) at factor cost reaching 10.08%. To be sure, these figures are not from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the official source of GDP statistics in India. There...

SBI Life eyes 25% growth in FY19, leans on Ulip, pure protection products

19/08/2018
Chennai: SBI Life Insurance, a JV between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardiff S. A., is targeting to grow its new business premium (NBP) by 25 per cent in 2018-19. The growth will be driven by Ulip and pure protection products. Speaking to Business Standard after inaugurating the company's new regional office in Chennai, Sanjeev Nautiyal, managing director and CEO, SBI Life Insurance, said that individual new business premium grew 30 per cent in fiscal 2018 to touch Rs 84.1 billion fr...

Infosys CFO Ranganath steps down, will continue till November 16

19/08/2018
Mumbai: M D Ranganth, the Chief Financial Officer of information technology firm Infosys Ltd, has put in his papers after an 18-year stint in the company. Infosys on Saturday said its board had accepted his resignation. Ranganth had been appointed as the CFO of India's second-biggest software services exporter in 2015. Ranganath, popularly called Ranga, will continue in his current position as chief financial officer till November 16, 2018, Infosys said in a filing with the BSE. In tendering ...

Uber quarterly loss jumps as it invests in ‘big bets’

19/08/2018
San Francisco: Uber has disclosed that its quarterly loss jumped despite taking in more money, as it invested in scooters and other “big bets”. The San Francisco-based smartphone ride star reported it lost $891 million on net revenue of $2.8 billion, while overall bookings rose to $12 billion. “We had another great quarter, continuing to grow at an impressive rate for a business of our scale,” said Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi. He added that Uber is investing in “big bets” includi...

Demonetisation, GST led to decline in MSME credit: RBI study

19/08/2018
MUMBAI: A study conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has found that the controversial note-ban imposed in November 2016 has led to further decline in the already falling credit to the MSME sector, while GST roll-out has not made any significant positive impact on overall credit to the sector but has deeply dented their exports. The credit disbursal to the MSME sector has, however, recovered a tad since the lows of 2017 to reach the mid-2015 level, notes an RBI report called the Mint St...

Life insurance players clocking strong growth in protection policies

19/08/2018
new delhi: The June quarter (Q1) results of HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Max Financial Services and SBI Life indicate these four major listed life insurance players are focusing on protection products, which provides impetus to their profitability. From a stock perspective, too, analysts see gains for most of these companies. Life insurers’ profitability is measured in terms of value of new business (VNB) margin, which is VNB as a percentage of the present value of futur...

Tesla’s board is on the lookout for senior talent, but not so much a COO

19/08/2018
Bloomberg: Tesla Inc.’s board of directors is on the lookout for senior talent though it’s not actively searching for a chief operating officer, a person familiar with the board’s thinking said. Questions have arisen about Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s well being, judgment and ability to juggle multiple companies in the wake of his Aug. 7 tweet that he was “considering taking the company private at $420 a share. Funding secured.” In an interview with the New York Times, a tearful Musk ad...

India’s palm oil imports likely to hit six-year low, say experts

19/08/2018
Mumbai: India's palm oil imports are likely to fall 15 per cent in 2017-18 from the year before to their lowest in six years, hit by a hike in import taxes, a weaker rupee and tighter credit for would-be buyers, a senior industry official told Reuters. Reduced purchases by the world's top importer of the oil, where it is widely used to fry foods such as samosas or bhajis, could pile more pressure on benchmark international futures that are already trading near their lowest in three years. "Lo...

Solar irrigation pumps can help India reach 38% of its green energy target

19/08/2018
Bhubaneswar: A switch from conventional diesel- and electric-powered irrigation pumps to solar-powered ones can help the country achieve 38 per cent of its envisaged 175 Gw renewable energy target by 2022. The shift to solar-powered irrigation pumps can also save enormous sums of money and generate additional income for farmers, says a report by the US-based Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The IEEFA report, titled 'India: Vast Potential in Solar-Powered Irrigation...

GDP likely to grow at a healthy 7.5% in first quarter, say economists

18/08/2018
new delhi: India's economy is expected to grow at a healthy 7.5 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018-19 (FY19), lower than a seven-quarter high of 7.7 per cent in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017-18 (FY18), economists have said. Economic activity is expected to get a fillip from strong manufacturing activity and higher agricultural growth. Gross domestic product (GDP) had dipped to a low of 5.6 per cent in Q1 of FY18, due to initial problems with introduction of the goods and services tax...

National Payments Corporation of India launches upgraded version of Unified Payments Interface

18/08/2018
new delhi: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) 2.0, with features such as overdraft facility, one-time mandate, invoice and signed QR, said a press release issued by NPCI. The service was launched by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel along with other senior officials from NPCI and the banking industry. Until now UPI could be linked only to savings bank accounts. In the new version, it can be linked to current accounts ...

Usha Martin aims to sell its steel business by FY19 to pare debt

18/08/2018
Kolkata: Usha Martin hopes to sell its steel business within the end of this financial year despite the arm posting a rebound in both revenue and profitability in the first quarter of FY19. The company recently appointed a committee of independent directors to recommend proposals from interested buyers. Sources said at least five companies have evinced interest to buy the steel assets. The company, which also makes wire ropes, posted 18.40 per cent increase in revenue at Rs 10.48 billion and...

Sensex settles 284 points higher as banks, FMCG stocks rally

18/08/2018
new delhi: The benchmark indices settled higher on Friday taking cues from their Asian peers. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 37,948, up 284 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 11,471, up 86 points. Among key stocks, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major ITC rose over 2 per cent to end at Rs 313 levels on the BSE. The stock hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 315 earlier today. ICICI Bank and State Bank of India also ended higher in a range of 1.8 to 3.0 per cent on the BSE. Among ...

Isuzu plans to make India export hub

18/08/2018
Tokyo: Japanese automobile maker Isuzu plans to make India as its exporting hub and expects its sales in the country to grow around 60% this year on the back of a strong demand for pick-up trucks in smaller cities and towns. The company, which has been operating in India for around five years, has been able to scale up its sales to about 5,000 units per year. Ken Takashima, deputy managing director, Isuzu Motors India, told DNA Money that the company intends to scale up the sales fast in the c...

Tencent’s troubles go deeper than a pause on games

18/08/2018
Bloomberg: Investors and analysts who thinkthat all Tencent Holdings Ltd. needs is for Beijing to restart the approval of new gamesmay be missing the bigger picture. Troubles at the Chinese internet giant started late last year, well before the regulatoryfoot-dragging on the monetisation of PUBG Mobile that culminated in a halt on licenses for the games. Fourth-quarter numbersshowed quite clearly that Tencent had joined the ranks of internet mortals. Beyond revenue trailingestimates, user gro...

Prime Venture to increase focus on start-ups working in logistics, SaaS

18/08/2018
Bengaluru: Venture capital firm Prime Venture Partners is planning to increase its focus on start-ups working in logistics and SaaS (Software as a Service) space, apart from edutech and health segments. The Bengaluru-based firm, which has closed nine fintech deals of its total portfolio of 20, remains bullish on financial services space which is undergoing digitisation. “Our theme is usually if the sector is getting digitised and whether the firm has a compelling use case. In this regard, apa...

Sudan wants ONGC Videsh to withdraw arbitration over oil payment dues

18/08/2018
new delhi: Sudan wants India`s ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) to withdraw arbitration proceedings against the African nation as it is making efforts to mitigate default on payment of dues, OVL said in a statement on Friday. OVL, the foreign acquisition unit of Oil and Natural Gas Corp`s (ONGC), filed an arbitration claim earlier this year against the government of Sudan in a London court seeking to recover dues pending for years from a project hit by the breakaway of South Sudan in 2011. Earlier this ...

Elon Musk says he worked 120 hrs a week past year, calls it ‘excruciating’

18/08/2018
New York: Electric car maker Tesla's CEO Elon Musk admitted to The New York Times that stress is taking a heavy toll on him personally in what he calls an "excruciating" year. The newspaper said Musk alternated between laughter and tears during the interview in which he said he was working up to 120 hours a week and sometimes takes Ambien to get to sleep. "This past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career," he said. "It was excruciating." The interview published on Fr...

FSSAI sets up panel to review red-labelling draft amid stakeholder concern

18/08/2018
new delhi: The government has put on hold the draft that proposes red-labelling of packaged food products containing high levels of fat, sugar and salt, FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said on Friday. In April, food safety regulator FSSAI had come out with the draft of Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2018 that proposed mandatory red-label marking on such packaged food products. "Our pre-draft was ready and sent to the Health Ministry. Since there were concerns expr...

Hero MotoCorp drives into used two-wheeler business with ‘Hero Sure’ brand

17/08/2018
new delhi: Hero MotoCorp, the country’s biggest two-wheeler maker, has made an entry into the used two-wheeler business to offer buyers an option to exchange their old motorcycle or scooter while purchasing a new Hero product. The Pawan Munjal promoted firm had exited this segment due to taxation related issues several years ago. The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) last year made the company re-look at this business. The company has, as a pilot, rolled out the used-vehicle facil...

Comfortable forex reserves to deal with undue Re volatility: Jaitley

17/08/2018
new delhi: A day after the rupee plunged to record low, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said India has comfortable foreign exchange reserves to deal with any undue volatility in the currency market and developments are being closely monitored. The Indian currency yesterday crashed to a life-time low of 70.09 on concerns over Turkey's economic woes that have impacted various emerging markets, even as the US dollar gained strength against other currencies. Recent developments relating to Turkey hav...

India’s tobacco exports rise 7% to Rs 1,447.80 cr in Apr-Jun

17/08/2018
new delhi: India has exported tobacco worth Rs 1,447.80 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal, an increase of 7 per cent since last year, mainly to Europe and South East Asia, according to the Tobacco Board. In volume terms, the export of both tobacco and its products rose by 2.65 per cent to 53,213 tonnes during the April-June quarter of the 2018-19 fiscal. In the year-ago period, the country had exported 51,802 tonnes valuing Rs 1,352 crore. Much of the exports were in unmanufac...

Indices slip as financials weigh; Rupee hits new low of 70.3/$

17/08/2018
new delhi: The benchmark indices settled lower on Thursday led by a fall in the financial stocks after the rupee hit a record low of 70.32 per dollar. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 37,664, down 188 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 11,385, down 50 points. HDFC, HDFC Bank, Vedanta, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries (RIL) were among the major losers in the S&P BSE Sensex. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Metal index was among top loser of the day, falling 2.27 per cent due to fa...

India’s oil import bill ‘likely to jump by $26 bn’ due to record rupee fall

17/08/2018
new delhi: India's crude oil import bill is likely to jump by about $26 billion in 2018-19 as rupee dropping to a record low has made buying of oil from overseas costlier, government officials said today. Besides, the rupee hitting a record low of 70.32 to a US dollar in the opening deal today will also lead to a hike in the retail selling price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG). India, which imports over 80 per cent of its oil needs, spent $87.7 billion (Rs 5.65 trillion) on importing ...

Reliance halts gasoline shipments from Jamnagar site causing fuel margins to spike

17/08/2018
Singapore: Reliance Industries has declared force majeure on gasoline exports from its Jamnagar site, four people familiar with the matter said, causing the profit margin from producing the fuel to jump to its highest since September. The force majeure follows an unspecified issue at a gasoline-producing fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) unit in its export-oriented refinery, two of the people said. That plant can process more than 5,00,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and is located in Jamna...

WPIL, Roto Pumps zoom 20% on robust Q1 result

17/08/2018
Mumbai: Shares of WPIL and Roto Pumps are locked in upper circuit of 20% each on the BSE after these companies reported a robust set of numbers for the quarter ended June 2018 (Q1FY19). WPIL has zoomed of 20% at Rs 873, also its 52-week high on the BSE, after the company reported a more than four-fold jump in net profit at Rs 242 million in June quarter (Q1FY19). It had a profit of Rs 53 million in the same quarter last fiscal. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 476 million in the enti...

Yet to receive notification from Madras HC on Sterlite Copper plant petition: Vedanta

17/08/2018
new delhi: Vedanta on Thursday said it is yet to receive notification from the Madras High Court on the latter issuing notice to the group's Sterlite Copper plant on a petition seeking Rs 750 crore compensation and asserted that it will evaluate further course of action upon study of the same. "This is with reference to your email... Regarding a news item titled 'Madras HC issues notice to Vedanta's Sterlite on plea for Rs 7.5 bn relief'," the company informed the BSE. In this regard, it said...

Railways launches Digital Screens to spread awareness about Indian railways heritage

17/08/2018
new delhi: The Ministry of Railway has launched digital screens to spread awareness among public about the heritage of Indian Railways. Railway ministry made operational the digital screens at 22 stations as an innovative low cost solution on a pilot basis. “The project aims at showcasing the legacy of Indian Railways through one to two minute-long movie clips on digital LED screens at the entrance gate of railway stations and also at different comfort areas,” an official release said. The sh...

Banking sector outlook to stay negative till capital positions improve: Fitch

14/08/2018
Mumbai: The outlook for the country's banking sector is likely to remain negative until its capital position strengthens in proportion to the bad loans and weak financial performances, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating agency said the USD 151-billion stock of bad loans remains a risk for the sector's weak income base, which is vulnerable to ageing provisions and slower non-performing loans (NPLs) resolution. "Outlook on the Indian banking sector is likely to remain negative until the ban...

Is China printing Indian currency notes?

14/08/2018
new delhi: China is printing massive amount of foreign currency notes including India, as per a report in an international Chinese media. The South China Morning Post has reported that there has been a recent surge in printing of notes in money production plants across the country. Quoting multiple sources in the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, the report said that these plants were “running at near full capacity to meet an unusually high quota set by the government this yea...

Tesla’s slow disclosure raises governance, social media concerns

14/08/2018
new delhi: Tesla Inc’s handling of Chief Executive Elon Musk’s proposal to take the carmaker private and its failure to promptly file a formal disclosure has raised governance concerns and sparked questions about how companies use social media. Musk stunned investors last Tuesday by announcing on Twitter that he was considering taking Tesla private in a potential $72 billion transaction and that “funding” had been “secured.” Tesla’s shares closed up 11 percent before retrenching after the Wal...

Sebi comes out with list of 1,677 defaulters

14/08/2018
new delhi: As many as 1,677 entities, including individuals, failed to pay penalties imposed by Sebi till the end of May, according to the regulator. The list of defaulters as on May 31, 2018 "for non-payment of penalty imposed by Sebi through orders passed up to December 31, 2017" has been published on the regulator's website today. The defaulters include individuals as well as companies that failed to pay fines for various offences related to the securities market. While certain dues are as...

Reliance Jio GigaFiber with GigaTV may cost Rs 500 a month; launch in Nov

14/08/2018
new delhi: Reliance Jio, the telecommunication service provider promoted by Mukesh Ambani, is gearing up to foray into the home broadband segment with the launch of Jio GigaFiber fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) internet service, which was announced at Reliance Industries' 41st Annual General Meeting. The pre-registrations for the service would begin from August 15 on Jio.com and My Jio app. However, the service is not expected to launch before the last quarter of this month. At the RIL AGM, Ambani ...

IOC bets big on city gas projects, plans to invest Rs 200 bn in 5-8 yrs

14/08/2018
new delhi: Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest oil company, plans to invest Rs 200 billion in city gas distribution projects in next 5-8 years as it bets big on gas business to complement its traditional oil refining and marketing business, its chairman Sanjiv Singh said on Monday. The firm, which owns a third of India's oil refining capacity and has 44 per cent market share of fuel business, sees compressed natural gas (CNG) replacing some of the petrol and diesel consumed in vehicles...

Iran counters US oil sanction with discount offer, India may benefit

14/08/2018
Tehran: Iran is selling oil and gas at a discount to Asian customers as it prepares for the return of US sanctions, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday. The “informed source” in Iran’s oil ministry did not give details of the discount, but sought to downplay the move as common industry practice. “Discount is part of the nature of the global markets being offered by all oil exporters,” the source told IRNA. Bloomberg reported on Friday that the state-run National Iranian Oil Company was...

Too much milk is hurting India’s already distressed dairy industry

14/08/2018
new delhi: Livestock farmers dumping gallons of fresh milk on the streets to protest falling milk prices have become all too familiar a scene a sign that even the lucrative dairy sector is battling a crisis confronted by the rest of agriculture. Plunging raw milk prices have angered farmers already hit by lower crop prices. Milk faces the same crisis as several other commodities a domestic glut and declining exports that have contributed to agricultural distress, on top of the vagaries of weat...

Rupee hits record low of 69.62 against dollar, mild RBI intervention seen

14/08/2018
Mumbai: The rupee on Monday touched an all-time low of 69.62 per dollar in early trade, tracking broader weakness in other emerging market currencies on concerns of a spill-over from a crisis-hit Turkey. The Reserve Bank of India was seen intervening to stem a sharp fall in the rupee, two dealers said. “The RBI was there to curtail the volatility in early trade, but not in a big way,” said a senior dealer at a foreign bank. The rupee reversed marginally from its record lows to trade at 69.53...

Samsung may suspend operations at China mobile phone plant: Report

14/08/2018
SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is considering suspending operations at one of its mobile phone manufacturing plants in China due to slumping sales and rising labour costs, the Electronic Times reported on Monday. Samsung might stop producing mobile phones this year at Tianjin Samsung Telecom Technology, located in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, the South Korean newspaper said, describing the move under consideration as a potential withdrawal. The world’s biggest smartphone maker said...