FPI sell-off intensifies: Big investors face the heat

23/10/2018
Mumbai: The sell-off by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the Indian capital market has intensified with outflows crossing the Rs 100,000 crore mark since April, raising concerns over the weakening domestic economic indicators and adverse external factors. Adding to the worries, the sell-off in money market instrument amid liquidity crunch and the IL&FS defaults have hit the investment plans of mutual funds big investors in both debt and equity. In October alone, FPIs have pulled out Rs ...

Gold futures decline Rs 52 on profit-booking

23/10/2018
new delhi: Gold prices fell by Rs 52 to Rs 31,685 per 10 grams in futures trade on Monday as participants went for profit-booking at prevailing levels amid a weak trend overseas. In futures trade at the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in November shed Rs 52, or 0.16 per cent, at Rs 31,685 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 485 lots. Similarly, the yellow metal for delivery in December eased Rs 45, or 0.14 per cent, to Rs 31,860 per 10 grams in a modest volume of 232 lots. Anal...

With an ambitious timeline, Uber eyes 2021 for food delivery drones launch

23/10/2018
new delhi: Uber Technologies Inc. envisions taking to the skies with a fleet of food-delivery drones in as little as three years, an ambitious timeline for a ride-hailing company that would face numerous technical challenges and regulatory hurdles. The San Francisco company is seeking an operations executive who can help make delivery drones functional as soon as next year and commercially operational in multiple markets by 2021, according to a job posting that appeared on Uber’s website. App-...

Southeast Asia has an investment boom, thanks to the US-China trade war

23/10/2018
Bloomberg: Southeast Asia is seeing a boom in foreign direct investment as the intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China prompts companies to shift production to the region. Vietnam saw manufacturing inflows jump 18 per cent in the first nine months of 2018, driven by investments including a $1.2 billion polypropylene production project by South Korea’s Hyosung Corp., according to a Maybank Kim Eng Research Pte. note on Monday. In January through July, Thailand’s net FDI rose 53 per c...

IEA chief Birol not worried about Saudi oil supply cuts over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death

23/10/2018
new delhi: International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said on Monday he is not worried Saudi Arabia will cut oil supply in response to any potential sanctions over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but urged common sense as political developments may impact energy markets. “There are many geopolitical, non-energy related issues, which could also have further impact on the oil markets,” Birol told Reuters, when asked about concerns in oil markets over whether Saudi Arabia, the...

Bank credit growth registers 4-year high in August at 12.2%

23/10/2018
new delhi: The overall credit outstanding of scheduled commercial banks on a year-on-year (YoY) basis jumped to over 4-year high of 12.2 per cent in August, 2018, even as the manufacturing sector continues to suffer from slow demand for bank credit. The rise was primarily led by demand from the services sector, personal loans and uptick in credit demand from the infrastructure sector. The uptick in credit demand has been visible since the beginning of November, 2017, when it clawed back to o...

Petrol, diesel prices further dips in Delhi and Mumbai

23/10/2018
NEW DELHI /MUMBAI: Fuel prices witnessed a further price cut on Monday morning. After a decrease of Rs 0.30, petrol was being sold for Rs 81.44 per litre in Delhi and Rs 86.91 per litre in Mumbai. Diesel price stood at Rs 74.92 per litre after a cut of 27 paisa. In Mumbai, diesel price stood at Rs 78.54 per litre following a decrease of 28 paisa. In Chennai, petrol price stood at Rs 84.64 and diesel Rs 79.22. In Kolkata, petrol was being sold at Rs 83.29 while diesel at Rs 76.77. The downturn...

ArcelorMittal inches closer to winning bankrupt Essar bid; agrees to clear its dues

23/10/2018
new delhi: Lenders for Essar Steel India Ltd., the biggest steel mill on the block under India’s new bankruptcy law, have selected ArcelorMittal as the preferred bidder for the asset, bringing the world’s largest steel maker a step closer to gaining a foothold in India’s growing market for the alloy. Arcelor, controlled by billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, will now begin final negotiations with creditors, the Luxembourg-based producer said in a statement. The move by lenders comes after Arcelor on W...

Tata Sons shores up stake in Tata Motors to 34.2% as UK biz faces headwinds

23/10/2018
Mumbai: Tata Sons has increased its stake in Tata Motors at a time when its market capitalisation is eroding and valuations dipping amid uncertainties facing Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), its UK subsidiary. At the end of the quarter ended September, the Tata Group holding company increased its stake in the flagship firm to 34.2 per cent from 33.3 per cent in June, according to the latest shareholding data shared by the company. The shareholding of Tata Industries, another group holding company, was...

Goa global investors’ meet with focus on start-ups in Dec: Prabhu

22/10/2018
Panaji: Global investors will meet in Goa in December to help finance the start-up community in the state, Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said Sunday. He said the Centre was thinking of making Goa as the start-up and logistics hub to create more jobs and that it will also promote agricultural export from the coastal state. "One of the problems faced by start-ups is finance. We have called all global players who are into financing. This event, to be held on December 7, will bring in glo...

Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal to share dais at India Mobile Congress

22/10/2018
New Delhi: Heads of the country's top telecom firms will be seen sharing dais during the India Mobile Congress from October 25-27, where these telcos are expected to discuss critical issues facing the industry. According to the event schedule, Reliance Jio Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal are going to be part of the inaugural session on October 25. Vodafone Idea Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla is also expected to join the session. "Promoters of all three telecom op...

Mapmy India expects 30% revenue growth this fiscal on account of new products

22/10/2018
New Delhi: Home-grown digital mapping firm MapmyIndia is looking at a 30 per cent growth in its revenue at around Rs 250 crore this fiscal on account of new integrated maps and other product offerings coupled with a large number of business requests, a top company official said. "We have now integrating maps, analytics, navigation ad tracking into single application. It is available for free for users to download. If we get one million download in the next six months we will achieve our object...

JSW Steel emerges as preferred bidder for iron ore mine in Karnataka

22/10/2018
New Delhi: JSW Steel has emerged as the preferred bidder for an iron ore mine in Karnataka, which went under the hammer last month, according to an official document. The cumulative revenue from the block over the period of 50 years is Rs 1,705.39 crore with an additional contribution of Rs 1,449.58 crore through auction, the document added. While the notice inviting tender (NIT) for the block was January 30 and auction took place on September 4, it said. Beside this block, four more iron ore ...

Huawei to announce foldable phone next year, ‘technology is ready’

22/10/2018
New Delhi: Huawei plans to become the first company to launch a foldable phone. Gene Jiao, Huawei’s President of Consumer Group, Middle East & Africa, told indianexpress.com that “it’s (foldable device) not a trend, it is a reality”, suggesting such a smartphone can be expected as early as next year. Jiao did not divulge features and specifications of Huawei’s foldable device, but is confident there will be a market for such a phone. However, he is also sure that such a device won’t replace th...

Centre notifies special courts for benami transaction cases

22/10/2018
New Delhi: The central government has notified Sessions courts in 34 states and Union Territories, which will act as special courts for trial of offences under the benami transaction law. The court (s) of Session in the states and UT were notified after consultation with Chief Justices of respective High Courts under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (45 of 1988) for the trial of offences punishable under the provisions of the Act, said a notification of Finance Ministry...

Air cargo industry must grow 12.9% annually to achieve aviation policy target: Report

22/10/2018
New Delhi: India's cargo industry needs to grow at about 12.9 per cent every year to achieve the National Civil Aviation Policy vision of reaching 10 million tonnes (MT) cargo volume by 2027, says a report. "There is an urgent need to uplift Indian cargo market to achieve the overall vision of the aviation ministry," observed the joint study by Assocham and consultancy firm Auctus Advisors. The report suggested implementing a rating system for cargo terminals in-line with ASQ (Airport Service ...

FinMin extends deadline for filing Sept GST returns to Oct 2

22/10/2018
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry Sunday extended the deadline for filing summary sales return GSTR-3B for the month of September by five days to October 25. With this extension, businesses which wish to claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) benefit for July 2017-March 2018 period can do so till October 25. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under the Finance Ministry, said trade and industry had expressed apprehension relating to October 20 due date for claiming ITC under GST for J...

You can buy and sell bitcoins at this ATM in Bangalore

21/10/2018
BENGALURU: In February, when the finance ministry banned banks and regular financial institutions from being part of the bitcoin network, Indians could no longer buy and sell bitcoins, unless they had an overseas account or an overseas relative or friend who could transact on their behalf. Now, to help users overcome this challenge, cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin has launched an ATM or a kiosk, as the company prefers to call it for Indians to buy and sell bitcoins. The first of these has been...

Gold remains up on festive buying, positive global leads

21/10/2018
New Delhi: Gold prices rose by Rs 220 to Rs 32,270 per 10 grams as upward trend continued unabated for the fourth straight week, backed by persistent buying by local jewellers to meet festive season demand coupled with positive global cues. Silver after moving both ways on alternate bouts of buying and selling, managed to end higher by Rs 200 to Rs 39,600 per kg. Traders attributed the sustained rise in gold prices to increased buying by local jewellers, driven by ongoing festive season and a ...

ED puts lens on Air India-Indian Airlines merger, plane purchase during UPA

21/10/2018
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has started investigating money laundering charges in the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines and the purchase of 111 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus during the UPA government’s tenure. The Rs 70,000 crore purchase of aircraft from Boeing and Airbus is being probed by the CBI, which had registered a case in May last year after the Supreme Court directed the agency to investigate the charges alleged in a PIL. The national carrier went into a massive d...

Apple Oct 30 event to iPhone XR, Watch Series 4 in India: Why next week could be big for Apple

21/10/2018
New Delhi: Apple’s upcoming event is on October 30, where it will likely announce its new iPad Pro models as well as Mac computers. The coming week could be big for the Cupertino-based company in more ways than one given Watch Series 4 sale has started in India, while the affordable iPhone XR will go on sale in the country starting October 26. At the event on October 30, Apple is expected to announce two new iPad Pro models with bezel-less display as well as Face ID. A new version of Apple Penc...

Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2S review: Affordable, but still cleans your room

21/10/2018
New Delhi: I bought a Mi Air Purifier two Diwalis ago when I became really concerned about indoor air quality with a five-year-old in the house. My rented house has old iron windows and it can’t keep out anything, certainly not dust or even smaller pollutants. But I was not sure I should buy an air purifier, most of which cost over Rs 25,000 at that time. That’s when I went for the Mi Air Purifier which as the most affordable option. I have not regretted it one bit and the air purifier has been...

OnePlus 6T global launch rescheduled for Oct 29 to avoid clash with Apple event

21/10/2018
New Delhi: OnePlus 6T global launch has been rescheduled by the company in order to avoid clash with Apple’s iPad Pro and Mac event on October 30. OnePlus 6T will now make its official debut in New York City at 11 AM ET a day before, which is October 29. OnePlus 6T India launch date remain unchanged, which is October 30 at 8:30 PM in New Delhi. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau took to the company’s forum to make the announcement. Prior to this, both Apple and OnePlus events were scheduled for October 30 i...

HDFC Bank’s net profit rises 21% in Q2

21/10/2018
NEW DELHI: HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 20.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs 5,005.70 crore for September quarter, largely in line with a Rs 5,015 crore estimate that analysts had projected in an ET Now poll. The private lender had reported Rs 4,151 crore profit for the corresponding quarter last year. Net interest income (NII), which is the difference between the interest income a bank earns from its lending activities and the interest it pays to depositors, grew 20...

Xiaomi could launch Redmi Note 6 Pro in India on November 1

21/10/2018
New Delhi: Xiaomi could be hosting a smartphone launch event in India soon. According to an invite leak, Xiaomi could be launching the Redmi Note 6 Pro smartphone in India. The media invite as reported by GizBot, teases the launch of Xiaomi’s new “Flagship Camera killer”. The invite further reads “2 is better than 1” which could be hinting on the number of cameras on the smartphone. The smartphone launch will take place at an event in New Delhi. If the invite is to be believed, the smartphone...

ICICI Lombard Q2 net profit surges 44% to Rs 293 crore

21/10/2018
New Delhi: ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company on Saturday reported a jump of 43.6 per cent in net profit to Rs 293 crore for the second quarter ended September this fiscal. The company's net profit in the corresponding July-September quarter of 2017-18 was at Rs 204 crore. The gross direct premium income (GDPI) of the company increased to Rs 3,530 crore in the September quarter, registering a growth of 11.3 per cent over Rs 3,173 crore in the same period previous fiscal, ICICI Lombard sai...

India imposes anti-dumping duty on certain steel products from China

20/10/2018
New Delhi: India has imposed anti-dumping duties of up to USD 185.51 per tonne for five years on certain varieties of Chinese steel to guard domestic players from cheap imports from the neighbouring country. The revenue department imposed the duty based on recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), according to a government notification. JSW Steel Ltd, Sunflag Iron & Steel Co, Usha Martin, Gerdau Steel India, Vardhman Special Steels and Jayaswal Neco Industries Ltd h...

Fuel prices dip further, petrol in Delhi settles at Rs 82.38, diesel nears Rs 80 in Mumbai

20/10/2018
New Delhi: The prices of both petrol and diesel across the country witnessed another dip on Friday, in relief to consumers. The petrol price in the national capital settled at Rs 82.38 per litre, a decrease of 24 paise and that in Mumbai was Rs 87.84 per litre also a cut by 24 paise. The diesel price mark was Rs 75.48 per litre, a decrease of 10 paise in Delhi and for Mumbai, the price was Rs 79.13 per litre, a decrease by 11 paise. In the two other metro cities, the same cut was seen. In K...

Reliance Industries to buy controlling stake in Hathway Cable and DEN networks

20/10/2018
New Delhi: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has announced strategic investment in and partnership with Den Networks Limited and Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited RIL announced primary investment of Rs 2,045 crore through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations and secondary purchase of Rs 245 crore from the existing promoters for a 66 percent stake in Den Networks Limited and primary investment of Rs 2,940 crore through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations for a 51.3 percent stake ...

Advertisers sue Facebook over wrong video viewership numbers

20/10/2018
New Delhi: A lawsuit against Facebook in the US has rebubbled this week, accusing the social media platform of knowingly over-reporting numbers about video viewership on its platform. In 2016, Facebook admitted to miscalculating to advertisers the average time that users were watching videos on the website. At the time, petitioners filed a lawsuit in California courts, and this week, after reviewing 80,000 pages of internal Facebook records, they have added a complaint arguing that the company...

Govt likely to appoint new Chief Economic Advisor in next couple of months

20/10/2018
New Delhi: The government is likely to appoint a new chief economic advisor (CEA) in the next one or two months, sources said. A search committee appointed by the finance ministry is expected to finalise the list of suitable candidates soon and appointment is likely in 1-2 months, they said further. The government on June 30 invited applications for the appointment of CEA on deputation basis after Arvind Subramanian quit the office ahead of completion of his term. The finance ministry has app...

NBFCs fall; DHFL, Indiabulls Housing, PNB Housing tank over 40% in a month

20/10/2018
New Delhi: Shares of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including housing finance companies (HFCs) and select private banks, are trading under pressure for the second straight day. Among stocks, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), Indiabulls Housing Finance and PNB Housing Finance slipped over 10% on Friday on concerns of overall credit growth due to the liquidity crisis. In the past one month, DHFL, Indiabulls Ventures, Indiabulls Housing, PNB Housing, Repco Home Finance and Edel...

RBI announces more steps to increase credit flow to NBFCs

20/10/2018
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank announced more measures to increase liquidity flows to the non-banking financial companies. The RBI permitted banks to use government securities equal to their incremental outstanding credit to NBFCs, over and above their outstanding credit to them as on October 19, to be used to meet liquidity coverage ratio requirements. The move will help provide liquidity to housing finance companies (HFCs) and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) which have come under pressure f...

Former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya joins board of RIL

20/10/2018
New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has appointed former State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya as an independent director of the company. “The board of directors has appointed Bhattacharya as an Additional Director of the company, designated as an independent director. Bhattacharya is appointed for a period of five years commencing from October 17, 2018, subject to approval of the shareholders,” the firm said in an exchange filing. Bhattacharya has 40 years of experien...

The $41 billion wealth gap that divides India’s richest brothers

20/10/2018
New Delhi: Over the past year, the fortunes of the two brothers at the helm of India’s wealthiest dynasty have grown apart to more than $40 billion apart. Elder sibling Mukesh Ambani, 61, toppled China’s Jack Ma as Asia’s richest man, after driving a telecommunications revolution in India that propelled his petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. into the $100 billion club. His personal fortune has swelled to $43.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, $5.2 billi...

Oil companies cut petrol, diesel prices

19/10/2018
new delhi: Petrol and diesel prices Thursday were reduced for the first time in over two months because of a drop in the cost of production, according to state-owned oil firms. Petrol price was cut by 21 paise per litre and diesel by 11 paise, a price notification issued by state retailers said. This is the first price cut arising from a drop in international oil prices. The rates were reduced by a minimum Rs 2.50 per litre across the country on October 5, when the government cut excise duty...

Reliance Industries invests in personal transport systems developer Skytran Inc

19/10/2018
MUMBAI: Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Friday announced that it has acquired a 12.7 percent stake in US-based SkyTran Inc, a company that is developing technology in the field of Personal Rapid Transit Systems. RIL announced that it had made the strategic investment in SkyTran to the tune of 12.7 percent of shareholding on a fully diluted basis. The investment was part of SkyTran's recently concluded pref...

Tata Group eye stake in Jet Airways

19/10/2018
new delhi: Tata Group has held preliminary talks for a stake purchase in Jet Airways, which would give struggling Mumbai-based airline a lifeline. However, the discussions have not made much headway with management control of Jet being a sticking point, it is learnt. Jet Airways is facing a cash crunch, resulting in salary delays and grounding of planes. It has been looking to raise funds through stake sale in its loyalty programme and fresh issue of shares in the company. Discussions have b...

Singh brothers defrauded Fortis Healthcare of Rs 4 billion, must pay it back: Sebi

19/10/2018
new delhi: Stock market regulator Sebi has determined the former owners of the India’s second-largest hospital chain defrauded the company of Rs 4 billion ($54.3 million) and ordered that they return it. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said on Wednesday it will continue to investigate the alleged fraud at Fortis Healthcare Ltd. to determine the role other parties may have played. In the meantime, it has given the founders and former majority owners Malvinder and Shivinder Sin...

GST quarterly returns: Composition scheme dealers need not file purchase details

19/10/2018
new delhi: The Finance Ministry clarified that composition dealers under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime need not file details of purchases made from their vendors at the time of filing quarterly return GSTR-4. In a clarification, the ministry said there have been doubts regarding the manner of filing the quarterly return by composition dealers in Form GSTR-4 in the absence of auto-population of the details of inward supplies received from registered suppliers. “It has been brought to...

SIM cards issued through Aadhaar will not be disconnected, re-verification of mobile subscribers’ KYC details to be optional: Government

19/10/2018
new delhi: The Government will not push for re-verification of mobile service customers and it will be done only if a customer opts to replace Aadhaar records with any alternate identity or address proof, the Department of Telecom (DoT) and Unique Identity Authority of India said in a joint statement Thursday. The joint statement said, the Supreme Court has prohibited the issue of new SIM cards through Aadhaar eKYC authentication process and there is no direction to deactivate the old mobile p...

US could remove India from currency monitoring list

19/10/2018
Washington: The US could remove India from its currency monitoring list of major trading partners, the Treasury department has said, citing certain developments and steps being taken by New Delhi which address some of its major concerns. India for the first time was placed by the US in its currency monitoring list of countries with potentially questionable foreign exchange policies in April along with five other countries – China, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland. The Department of...

OYO forays into Indonesia; targets 30 hotels, 1,000 plus rooms in 3 cities

19/10/2018
new delhi: Hospitality firm OYO Thursday said it has forayed into Indonesia and also confirmed an investment of over $100 million in the country as part of its expansion in Southeast Asia. Starting operations with over 30 exclusive hotels and more than 1,000 rooms in three cities - Jakarta, Surabaya and Palembang, the company is ready to offer benefits of its hospitality experience to asset owners, property investors and travellers to Indonesia, OYO said in a statement. The company will be wo...

Nikkei falls on hawkish Federal minutes, weaker exports hammer machinery firms

19/10/2018
Tokyo: Japan’s Nikkei fell on Thursday in choppy trade, as hawkish minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting knocked global sentiment and a surprise decline in exports hit machinery makers. The Nikkei share average dropped 0.5 per cent to 22,720.88 at the midday break, after opening a tad higher. The index has fallen around 7 per cent since its 27-year peak hit on October 2, as concerns around rising debt yields and worries about the slowing Chinese economy gripped equity mark...

Gold rises by Rs 195 on festive demand

19/10/2018
new delhi: Gold prices rose by Rs 195 to Rs 32,225 per 10 grams Thursday on increased buying by local jewellers to meet festive season demand. Silver followed suit and recovered by Rs 20 to Rs 39,500 per kg due to increased offtake from industrial units and coin makers. Traders attributed the rise in gold prices to increased buying by local jewellers, driven by ongoing festive season. Besides, weakness in the rupee, making imports costlier, also fuelled the upward trend in gold prices. Price...

India’s steel demand expected to move back to higher growth track: Worldsteel

17/10/2018
new delhi: India's steel demand is expected to move back to a higher growth track as the country recovers from "twin shocks of demonetisation and GST implementation", global industry body World Steel Association (worldsteel) said Tuesday. In its October 2018 Short Range Outlook, worldsteel said it projects global steel demand at 1,657.9 million tonne (MT) in 2018, an increase of 3.9 per cent over 2017. The demand for steel in the developed world remains healthy, while in the developing countr...

Oil prices rise on signs Iranian oil exports are falling further in October

17/10/2018
Seoul: Oil prices rose on Tuesday on signs Iranian oil exports this month have fallen from September ahead of US sanctions against Tehran that are set to start in November. International benchmark Brent crude for December delivery rose 27 cents, or 0.33 percent, to $81.05 per barrel by 0325 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up 12 cents at $71.90 a barrel. Iran has exported 1.33 million barrels per day (bpd) to countries including India, China and Turkey in the f...

Indian tycoon Ajay Piramal weighs $1 billion contract pharma sale

17/10/2018
new delhi: Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal is considering a sale of his contract pharmaceutical operations, which could fetch around $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. The tycoon’s Piramal Enterprises Ltd. is working with advisers to gauge interest in the business, known as Piramal Pharma Solutions, according to the people. It has sent out preliminary marketing materials to potential buyers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Sh...

Govt hikes General Provident Fund interest rate to 8% for Oct-Dec quarter

17/10/2018
new delhi: The government has increased the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes by 0.4 percentage points to 8 per cent for the October-December quarter. The rate is in line with that for Public Provident Fund. The interest rate on GPF was 7.6 per cent for the July-September quarter of 2018-19. "... during the year 2018-2019, accumulations at the credit of subscribers to the General Provident Fund and other similar funds shall carry interest at the rate...

Fuel price hike: Diesel crosses Rs 80 mark in Chennai, petrol nears Rs 89 in Mumbai

17/10/2018
new delhi: Petrol and diesel prices surged up again on Tuesday. At Rs 80.04, diesel price stood the highest in Chennai among the four metros. Diesel prices also observed an upward surge in Delhi and Mumbai. In Mumbai, diesel price stood at Rs 79.35 per litre after an increase of 24 paise. In the national capital, the fuel was being sold for Rs 75.69 per litre, after a hike of Rs 0.23. Both Delhi and Mumbai witnessed a hike of 11 paisa in petrol price. In the national capital, the petrol pri...

80% industry players comply with RBI’s data localisation directive: Sources

17/10/2018
new delhi: As many as 80 per cent players in the payment industry, including Amazon, Paytm and WhatsApp, have complied with the norms for local storage of data, with RBI's deadline coming to close on Monday, sources said. However, they said some debit/credit companies are yet to comply with data storage norms and have reportedly sought more time. The Reserve Bank is not contemplating review of its notification on data localisation norms, the sources said. In April, the central bank had given...

Emission-free electric cars may have large carbon footprint, thanks to the batteries

17/10/2018
new delhi: Beneath the hoods of millions of the clean electric cars rolling onto the world’s roads in the next few years will be a dirty battery. Every major carmaker has plans for electric vehicles to cut greenhouse gas emissions, yet their manufacturers are, by and large, making lithium-ion batteries in places with some of the most polluting grids in the world. By 2021, capacity will exist to build batteries for more than 10 million cars running on 60 kilowatt-hour packs, according todataof...

Volkswagen CEO says German carmakers have only 50% chance of staying ahead

17/10/2018
Frankfurt: Germany’s carmakers only have a 50 per cent chance of surviving as leading players in the auto industry unless they transform to meet new regulations and adapt their supply chains, Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday. The need to produce batteries and electric cars, rather than combustion engines, and the emergence of new geopolitical threats, is forcing automakers to accelerate deep-seated reforms which pose an existential threat to some players, he said. “Fro...

Amazon likely to buy 7-8% stake in Future Retail: Report

17/10/2018
new delhi: Amazon.com Inc is likely to buy an at least 7 percent to 8 percent stake in India`s Future Retail Ltd through an investment arm, CNBC-TV 18 reported, citing sources. The potential cash-and-stock deal, which is in its final stages, could be worth 25 billion rupees ($338 million) and is likely to be signed in the next two weeks, the channel said. Earlier this year, media reports said Amazon was in talks to buy a 10 percent stake in Future Retail, competing with tech giant Google and ...

Motilal Oswal PE to invest Rs 2 bn in auto parts maker Happy Forgings

17/10/2018
new delhi: The private equity (PE) arm of financial services conglomerate Motilal Oswal will invest Rs 2 bn for a significant minority stake in Ludhiana-based auto parts maker Happy Forgings Ltd, a report in livemint.com said. Motilal Oswal is investing in the company through its third and latest private equity fund, India Business Excellence Fund. This is the first private equity investment in Happy Forgings. Happy Forgings will use the funds to accelerate growth and expand into new products...