Top headlines: Yes Bank gets $1.2 bn binding offer, IOC Q2 net slumps 83%

From Yes Bank getting $1.2-bn binding offer from investors to Cognizant's Sept quarter results, here are the top news stories that made headlines today

Yes Bank gets $1.2-bn binding offer from global investor

Private lender YES Bank on Thursday said it has received a binding offer from a global investor for an investment of $1.2 billion through fresh issuance of equity shares. The bank, last month, had said that it had received strong interest from multiple foreign as well as domestic private equity and strategic investors for capital raising, and remains firmly on course to raising growth capital subject to the necessary approvals.

Apr-Sept fiscal deficit 92.6% of FY20 estimate

India's fiscal deficit in the six months through September stood at Rs 6.52 trillion, or 92.6% of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year, government data showed on Thursday. Net tax receipts in the first half of the current fiscal year ending in March 2020 were Rs 6.07 trillion, while total expenditure was Rs 14.89 trillion, the data showed.

IOC Q2FY20 net profit slumps 83%

Indian Oil Corp Ltd, the country's top refiner, posted a near 82.7 per cent fall in second quarter profit on Thursday, missing estimates by a huge margin. Net profit for state-owned IOC came in at Rs 563. crore in the quarter ended September 30, compared with Rs 3247 crore a year earlier, IOC said.

Cognizant to cut 12,000 jobs
 

IT major Cognizant on Thursday posted 4.1 per cent increase in net profit to $497 million for September 2019 quarter, and said it will slash up to 7,000 jobs in the next few months as part of a cost reduction programme. The US-based company, which has a significant portion of its workforce based in India, had posted a net profit of $477 million in the year-ago period. It has also raised its annual revenue growth outlook to 4.6-4.9 per cent for 2019. 

AGR verdict: Reliance Jio says telcos have sufficient capacity to pay dues

Strongly opposing a bailout of telecom companies at taxpayers' expense, Reliance Jio on Thursday wrote to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying firms that have been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay past statutory dues have "sufficient" financial capacity to clear their liabilities. It also slammed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for writing ex-parte to the government on the financial distress in the sector.

Israeli spyware used to spy on Indian journos, activists: Whatsapp confirms

In a startling revelation, WhatsApp has confirmed that at least two dozen journalists, academicians, Dalit and human rights activists, in India have been targeted for surveillance for a two week period until May 2019. The hackers allegedly used an Israeli technology, Pegasus developed by Israeli firm, NSO to conduct cyberespionage. WhatsApp contacted the users and alerted them that their phones had been under surveillance.
 

Rajan responds to FM's comment

Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, who faced a stinging attack from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presiding over the "worst phase" of the Indian banking sector, on Thursday reminded her that two-third of his tenure as the head of the central bank was under the BJP government. Rajan, who was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from September 5, 2013 to September 2016, said during his term a clean up of the banking sector that was "clogging" with bad loans had begun and the job remains unfinished.
 

Pak violated Vienna convention in Jadhav case: ICJ Prez to UNGA 

Pakistan violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention in the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, International Court of Justice (ICJ) President Judge Abduylqawi Yusuf told the UN General Assembly.