Top Headlines: SBI, LIC set to see new faces, worst yr for rupee since 2013

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SBI, LIC among key govt-run financial institutions set to see new faces

Major state-run financial-sector players like the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), and the largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), are likely to see a change of the guard at the top in 2023. The first quarter of calendar 2023 will see new faces heading four large public-sector banks — Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, and Bank of India. Read more..

Stock markets maintain winning streak for seventh consecutive year

India’s benchmark indices were surprisingly resilient in 2022 — a year that witnessed high inflation, rising interest rates, sporadic Covid outbreaks, and a bloody war in Europe. The Sensex and the Nifty50 ended the year with gains of 4.4 and 4.3 per cent, respectively – the first single-digit returns in four years. However, even these meagre returns were enough to make India one of the best-performing markets in the world, as most of its peers were deep in the red. Read more...

IIT Madras testing plan for hyperloop parallel to Chennai-Bengaluru route

Hyperloop technology is still in nascent stages, but an initiative by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, and funded by the Railways, may help India take a lead. A hyperloop — conceptualised by billionaire Elon Musk — uses magnets to levitate pods inside an airless tube, creating conditions in which the pods can shuttle people, and freight, at 1,000 kmph. Plans are being drawn up for a cargo hyperloop parallel to either the Chennai-Bengaluru railway line, highways connecting the cities, or a line between Chennai and Puducherry. Read more...

Syrup deaths in Uzbekistan: Pharmexcil suspends Marion Biotech's membership

In the wake of the controversy surrounding Noida-based Marion Biotech about its medicine for cough and cold allegedly being linked to the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan, the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) on Friday suspended the membership of the company with immediate effect. The company will thus be ineligible for incentives under the Market Access Initiative Scheme. Read more:..

Worst year for rupee since 2013 despite surpassing Turkish lira, UK pound

The rupee depreciated over 10 per cent in 2022 against the dollar — its worst performance since 2013 — the year of taper tantrum. The Indian unit, however, fared better than some other global currencies like Turkish Lira and British Pound. The pressure on rupee prompted the Reserve Bank of India to aggressively intervene in the foreign exchange market, resulting in foreign reserves declining $70 billion in 2022 — the worst decline at least in the past 22 years. Read more...