Top headlines: Economic recovery 'fragile', China opposes TikTok deal

Here are the top headlines of the day

Sashidhar Jagdishan to succeed Aditya Puri as HDFC Bank CEO

Sashidhar Jagdishan will be the new CEO of HDFC Bank to replace the private lender’s long-serving leader Aditya Puri. Jagdishan, 55 and group head and change agent at the Bank, will take over when Puri retires in October. Jagdishan was one of three candidates shortlisted for approval by the Reserve Bank of India. Jagdishan's name was approved last night and HDFC Bank will make formal announcement soon, sources said. He joined the Bank in the 1996 and heads finance, human resources, and other departments. Read more

Economic recovery fragile due to Covid-19, lockdowns: FinMin report

India’s economic recovery remains "fragile" due to rising number of coronavirus cases and states "intermittently" ordering lockdowns to contain the disease, said the Finance Ministry on Tuesday. It said that recovery is linked to how Covid-19 infections evolve across states. “India’s top 12 growth driving states account for 85 per cent of the Covid-19 case load, with 40 per cent of confirmed cases concentrated in the top two growth drivers i.e. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu,” the report said. Read more

India blocks firms from China, other neighbours in commercial coal auction

India will restrict its neighbours from joining commercial coal auctions, said the government as New Delhi and Beijing negotiate to end a border standoff in eastern Ladakh. The coal ministry issued on Monday a press note citing an amendment made to the FDI Policy in April that restricted entry of countries with which India shares its borders. Read more

BlackRock, three others buy $1.4 billion of Bandhan Bank shares

BlackRock Inc. and Singapore’s GIC Pte. bought shares in Bandhan Bank Ltd. as the main shareholder of India’s most profitable bank sold Rs 106 billion ($1.4 billion) of its stake to meet the regulator’s ownership rules.Temasek Holdings Pte and SBI Mutual Fund also bought shares, the bank’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said in an interview on Monday. GIC got the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to raise its stake in the lender to 10 per cent from 4.9 per cent, he said. Read more

China won't allow a TikTok 'smash and grab' by US, state media warns
Chinese government will not accept an acquisition of TikTok’s US operations by Microsoft Corp and may take action against Washington if a sale is forced, the Beijing-backed China Daily said in its Tuesday editorial. It’s Beijing’s strongest defense so far of ByteDance Ltd and its viral video phenom, which President Donald Trump threatened to ban unless a deal is struck by September 15 to sell TikTok’s US business to Microsoft or another US entity. Read more