Page 1160 - Business Finance

Congress accuses BJP of receiving donations from shell firms, demands probe

The Congress on Wednesday accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of receiving donations from shell firms and looking the other way when the promoters of these firms allegedly indulged in "corruption".

LIC Housing Finance Q3 standalone net profit up 26%

LIC Housing Finance on Wednesday reported an increase of 26 per cent in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

I am utterly disappointed, hurt, shocked, says Chanda Kochhar after her termination as ICICI Bank CEO-MD

Chanda Kochhar, who was on Wednesday sacked as CEO and MD of ICICI Bank nearly four months after her resignation from the key posts, has said that she is "utterly disappointed, hurt and shocked by the decision" of the Board of Directors of the bank. "I am utterly disappointed, hurt and shocked by the decision. I have not been given a copy of the report. I reiterate that none of the credit decisions at the bank are unilateral," she said in a statement issued on Wednesday night. "ICICI is an institution with established robust processes and systems which involve committee based collective decision making with several professionals of high caliber participating in the decision making. Hence, the organisation design and structure obviate the possibility of a conflict of interest," Kochhar said."I have served ICICI for the last 34 years with all my dedication and hard work. I have never shied away from taking tough decisions whenever required to be taken in the best interest of the

Over 10 flights cancelled as Jet grounds 4 aircraft

Over 10 flights of financially troubled Jet Airways were cancelled on Wednesday a day after four aircraft were grounded.

Credit decision not taken unilaterally: Kochhar

Beleaguered former ICICI Bank Chief Executive Chanda Kochhar on Wednesday said that none of the credit decisions at the bank were unilateral.

ArcelorMittal's bid to buy stake in Bosnian iron ore mine rejected

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal's application to bid for the Bosnian government's stake in the Ljubija iron ore mine has been rejected over procedural issues, prompting the world's largest steelmaker to warn of risks to the future of mining in the area.

PIM document for divestment of AI's subsidiary by next week: Official

The Central government is expected to issue the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for the divestment of national passenger carrier Air India's ground handling subsidiary by next week.

Nasdaq bids $771 million for Oslo Bors in Euronext challenge

OSLO (Reuters) - Nasdaq Inc on Wednesday made a rival bid for Oslo Bors VPS, setting up a takeover battle with Euronext for the 200-year-old Norwegian stock market operator.

Srikrishna panel indicts Kochhar; ICICI Bank to stop unpaid retirement benefits, recover bonuses

An independent enquiry panel Wednesday indicted former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar for violating regulations, with the bank deciding to stop all her unpaid retirement benefits and recover bonuses paid since 2009, an embarrassment for the lender which had given the once high-flying banker a clean chit in the Videocon loan case last year. Hours after the ICICI Bank disclosed the findings of the Justice B N Srikrishna-led panel as well as the move to consider her resignation as "Termination for Cause", Kochhar said she was "disappointed, hurt and shocked" by the decision. Kochhar, also the first woman to head a bank in India when she took over as ICICI Bank CEO in 2009, said she served the ICICI group for 34 long years "with all my dedication and hard work" and the bank's latest decision has caused her "immense hurt and pain". The latest development comes days after the CBI filed an FIR naming Kochhar and others in the alleged quid pro quo in extending Rs 3,250-crore loan to Videocon

Fed set to hold rates steady as it navigates data blind spots

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the six weeks since a confident U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in response to a "strong" U.S. economy, consumer confidence dropped, wholesale prices weakened, financial markets wobbled and home sales fell.

Gail India sells U.S. LNG cargoes

LONDON (Reuters) - India's state-owned gas distribution company Gail has flooded the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market this month with offers to sell cargoes from the U.S. Gulf due to a shortage of tankers available to ferry to fuel to India.

Oil gains 3 percent on tighter U.S. supply, Venezuela sanctions

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose nearly 3 percent on Wednesday, boosted by U.S. government data that showed signs of tightening supply, as investors remained concerned about supply disruptions following U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.

J.P. Morgan sees Fed leaving $1 trillion in bank reserves

NEW YORK (Reuters) - J.P. Morgan on Wednesday raised its estimate on the amount of excess reserves that the U.S. Federal Reserve would leave in the U.S. banking system to $1 trillion, double what it had previously projected.

Kamal Nath smells Rs 3,000-cr scam in farm debt, orders inquiry

A fortnight after launching Rs 50,000 crore farm debt waiver scheme named as 'Jai Kishan Rin Maafi Yojana' in the state, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday claimed over Rs 3,000 crore farm debt scam had come to light during the process of his new scheme for the welfare of farmers.

Actively engaged with aircraft lessors; providing updates to DGCA: Jet Airways

Jet Airways is actively engaged with all its aircraft lessors and are being updated about efforts to improve liquidity, the airline said Wednesday amid flight cancellations due to grounding of aircraft. The crisis-hit carrier also said that it was providing "periodic and requisite updates to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)". Flight cancellations were necessitated due to a scheduled termination of an aircraft lease and to carry out an engine normalisation exercise, it noted. "The company is actively engaged with all its aircraft lessors and has been regularly providing updates on the efforts undertaken by the company to improve its liquidity," a Jet Airways spokesperson said in a statement. According to the airline, the aircraft, temporarily grounded for the engine normalisation exercise, are therefore expected to rejoin the scheduled operations on February 1. "Owing to flight cancellations arising out of these temporary groundings, the company is making all efforts to

'Srikrishna panel report on Kochhar brings a closure to ICICI Bank's travails'

The Srikrishna Committee report on former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar provides conclusive outcome to re-examine its processes and strengthen them - especially those related to conflict of interest, a proxy advisory firm said. An independent enquiry conducted by retired Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna has indicted Kochhar, who had led the bank for nearly a decade, for violating various regulations, following which the lender decided to stop all unpaid retirement benefits and also recover bonuses paid to her since 2009. The conclusions of the report were definitive -- Chanda Kocchar had violated ICICI Bank's conflict of interest policy and failed in her fiduciary responsibility, advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services said in a statement, adding that as a consequence, the report asked for a clawback of her bonuses and stock options from April 2009. These developments have been a distraction for the lender in what has clearly been a particularly challenging year for ..

Cabinet nod for postal life insurance unit likely in 15 days: Minister

The Union Cabinet is likely to approve the setting up of a strategic business unit of postal life insurance within the next 15 days, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday.

Fin Comm forms committee to resolve Rs 31,000 crore Punjab's food account

The 15thFinance Commission Wednesday announced the formation of a committee to find ways to settle the food account of Rs 31,000 crore, which the Congress government inherited from previous SAD-BJP regime. "We have decided to constitute a committee headed by finance commission member Ramesh Chand to look into food legacy account issue within six weeks, with representatives of government of Punjab, Food Corporation of India and Ministry of Finance to look into all options which are available within the constitutional mandate," said Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh while addressing media Wednesday. Punjab has been consistently seeking the resolution of food account of Rs 31,000 crore from the Centre. The food account,which the erstwhile SAD-BJP government had taken over in 2017, just before assembly election results, arose because of the mismatch between cash credit availed for procuring wheat and paddy and the foodgrain stocks in the account books of the state procurement agencies

AT&T's wireless customer growth slows, revenue misses estimates

(Reuters) - AT&T Inc reported slower wireless customer growth and larger declines in its pay-TV business than Wall Street expected, sending its shares down 4 percent on Wednesday.

China's Huawei excluded from Czech tax tender after security warning

PRAGUE (Reuters) - China's Huawei has been excluded from a Czech tender to build a tax portal after the country's cyber watchdog warned of possible security threats posed by the telecoms supplier, documents showed on Wednesday.