Top headlines: Suraksha gets Jaypee Infra; US births see biggest decline

Business Standard brings you top news of the evening

9 months after lockdowns, US births see biggest decline since 1973

Nine months after the declaration of a national emergency due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. births fell by 8% in a month.

The December drop marked an acceleration in declines in the second part of the year. For the full year, the number of babies born in the country fell 4% to about 3.6 million, the largest decline since 1973, according to a Wednesday report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. READ MORE.

Suraksha group beats NBCC India in close race to buy Jaypee Infratech

The race for Jaypee Infratech ended in a photo finish, with 98.66 per cent of the Committee of Creditors voting in favour of Suraksha group's resolution plan while the resolution plan of Suraksha's rival, NBCC India, received 98.54 per cent of the CoC votes.

Both plans were put for voting separately and the narrow results between the two plans is leading to speculation that NBCC India may move the court again. All banks voted in favour of both plans. READ MORE.

Have redoubled efforts to fix problem of tech outages: HDFC Bank CEO

The country’s largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, has set its eyes on becoming a technology-led powerhouse by investing heavily in scaling up its tech infrastructure after it faced repeated outages during the past few years on its digital banking front.

In its annual report for 2020-21, the bank said its vision is to build a technology-led Bank. “We are doing this by leveraging our strengths and building for the future”, it said. READ MORE. 

Jamsetji Tata tops global list of top 10 philanthropists from last 100 yrs

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, has topped the EdelGive Hurun Philanthropists of the Century. The report pegs the current value of his donation – mainly to education and healthcare – at $102.4 billion with the start of his key endowments way back in 1892.

Tata is the only Indian in the top 10 list. The other Indian among the top 50 is Azim Premji, former chairman of Wipro, who is ranked 12th. READ MORE.