Page 1850 - Business Finance
Brexit turmoil hammers pound as challenges mount
The pound fell sharply Thursday as a string of British government resignations appeared to put Prime Minister Theresa May and her draft Brexit deal in serious jeopardy, dealers said. The UK currency was pummelled as four ministers, including Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, quit in protest against the EU exit deal which was mauled by all sides in Parliament. Prime Minister May held firm, telling the house it was the best deal on offer, but it looked increasingly likely she could soon face a leadership challenge after leading Brexiteer MP Jacob Rees-Mogg formally called for a vote of no confidence. The pound plunged more than 1.5 percent against the dollar to a one-month low at $1.2777 and was trading around $1.28 in mid-afternoon. It fell by about the same amount against the euro. "The performance of the pound seems to perfectly reflect the mood in parliament and everywhere else right now. Even the weather is grey and gloomy," Oanda analyst Craig Erlam told AFP. "This departure (of ...
Dell sweetens VMware tracking stock offer with higher price, board seat
(Reuters) - Dell Technologies on Thursday raised its offer to buy back shares tied to its interest in software maker VMware to $120 per share, sweetening the deal for shareholders with an additional $5 billion in cash.
India ER&D market to grow to USD 42 bn by FY22: Report
India's engineering and R&D (ER&D) sector is set to grow to USD 42 billion by FY2022, helped by increasing focus on new-age technologies like Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, IT industry body Nasscom said Thursday. The global ER&D spends continue to be on an upward trajectory and are projected to touch USD 2 trillion by 2022, as per a report by Nasscom, Strategy& and PWC titled 'Impact of Digital on ER&D'. Of this, 38 per cent is estimated to be contributed by the top 1,000 corporate entities. "There are six major trends that have been identified that are currently driving digital ER&D across multiple sectors globally. These are Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Advanced Robotics, Mobile Applications and Digital Reality," it said. Indian service providers and Global In-house Centres (GICs) are stepping up the value ladder in capturing global ...
Gurumurthy makes case for calibration of RBI's reserves
Ahead of next week's crucial board meeting of RBI, the central bank's independent director and RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy Thursday made a case for calibration of its massive Rs 9.6 lakh crore reserves, saying no central bank in the world maintains such high levels of surplus. Gurumurthy, who was appointed to the board of RBI a few months back, said the capital adequacy ratio prescribed in India is 1 per cent higher than the global Basel norms. He also pitched for easing lending norms for small and medium enterprises, which account for 50 per cent of the country's GDP. In his first public comments since the spat between the RBI and the Finance Ministry over a range of issues came out in the open, Gurumurthy said the stand-off "is not a happy thing at all". The RBI's board meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday where the issues raised by the government, including easing of PCA norms, cutting size of reserves and enhancing credit to MSMEs, are likely to come up for ...
Rajasthan exports reach Rs 46,500cr in 2017-18
Exports of goods and services from Rajasthan rose to Rs 46,500 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 36,000 crore in 2015-16 to, a top state official said Thursday. Additional Chief Secretary (Industries), Rajeeva Swarup said that Rajasthan has experienced an exponential growth in local manufacturing and there has been a rapid improvement in the regulatory environment of business operations. He said that the share of industries in the state's economy presently stands at 27 per cent, registering an overall growth of 9 per cent in the last five years. Delivering a keynote address, special secretary and member (Customs), CBIC, Pranab Kumar Das said that the initiatives of the CBIC have resulted in paperless export and import clearances as well as digital customs. India has jumped 66 places in trading across borders and 23 places in Ease of Doing Business on the back of these efforts, he outlined.
India, US, Japan, Australia discuss cooperation in Indo-Pacific
Officials of the quad, revived last year comprising India, the US, Japan, and Australia that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, met in Singapore on Thursday on the sidelines of this year's East Asia Summit.
Punjab imposes surcharges on motor vehicle registration, transportation vehicles
Customers in Punjab will have to pay more for cars, motorcycles and other vehicles with the state government imposing 1 per cent social security surcharge on the value of motor vehicles. Besides, the state government also levied 10 per cent surcharge on freight charged for transportation of goods, a senior official said here on Thursday. Both the surcharges are expected to garner revenue of about Rs 300 crore per annum, official further said. Official said 1 per cent surcharge has been imposed on the registration of motor vehicles and it will lead to collection of about Rs 200 crore of revenue. Ten per cent surcharge has been imposed on the transportation vehicles wherein tax will be levied on the freight charged for transportation of goods, official further said adding that it would generate Rs 100 crore of revenue. The surcharges which have been introduced are intended to create a social security fund so as to fund social welfare schemes like old age pension and health insurance ...
NDTV completes sale of Special Occasion to Wedding Junction
Broadcasting firm NDTV said on Thursday it has completed sale of its subsidiary, Special Occasions Limited, to Wedding Junction Private Limited (WJPL). Following this, Special Occasions Ltd (SOL) has ceased to be a subsidiary of the company, NDTV said in a regulatory filing. "... the aforementioned stake sale by the company and Convergence to WJPL has been completed and consequently, SOL has ceased to be a subsidiary of the Company with effect from November 14, 2018," it said. On July 18, 2018, NDTV had informed that about approval of the Board of Directors of the company to sell entire equity stake held by it and NDTV Convergence, a subsidiary of the Company, in SOL to WJPL.
Odisha govt announces new Biotechnology Policy
Odisha government Thursday announced a new Biotechnology Policy 2018 to attract investments in the sector at the concluding day of the Make in Odisha Conclave here. Announcing the new policy, Odisha's Science and Technology Minister B N Patra said "We will will provide our full support for the development of this sector by forming Public Private Partnership, bio-incubation centres and bi-tech finishing schools." The development of the biotech sector in Odisha will be based on three key pillars - innovation, entrepreneurship and investment, the minister said. "We will collaborate with various international organisations to provide cutting edge technology in the bio-tech sector in order to provide innovation, fellowship, grant, etc," Patra said adding that the the policy was prepared after a wide range of discussion and inputs from various industries and stake holders. As per the policy, all biotechnology units shall be allotted land at a concessional rate as per the ...
Bharat Road Network Jul-Sep net profit falls over 43 pc
Infrastructure firm Bharat Road Network Limited (BRNL) reported more than 43 per cent fall in its standalone net profit at Rs 4.43 crore during the quarter ended September 30, 2018. The company had clocked Rs 7.86 crore net profit during the same quarter a year ago, BRNL said in a BSE filing. However, during the July-September 2018, its total income rose to Rs 21.45 crore from Rs 14.61 crore in the year-ago-quarter. In a statement, BRNL Managing Director Bajrang Kumar Choudhary said, "The operational assets in our portfolio continue to demonstrate a strong operating performance with steady improvement in traffic and robust increase in toll revenue despite a temporary slump due to Kerala floods affected revenue streams from our Kerala project, Guruvayoor Infrastructure Private Limited." BRNL is a road BOT (build operate and transfer) company focused on development, implementation, operation and maintenance of roads and highways projects. It is involved in the development, operation and
Gold rises to one-week high on Brexit deal logjam
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold scaled a near one-week peak on Thursday as investors sought cover from market turmoil after Britain's long-awaited draft agreement to leave the European Union was thrown into chaos, helping the metal hold its ground against a rising dollar.
Glonal Markets: Sterling dives on Brexit uncertainty, world stocks down for sixth day
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sterling tumbled on Thursday and a gauge of global stocks declined for a sixth straight session as political developments in Britain rippled through currency, bond and equity markets.
Jet Airways shares soar on reports deal with Tata is close
BENGALURU (Reuters) - Shares in India's Jet Airways Ltd jumped 25 percent on Thursday following media reports that the debt-laden airline was nearing a rescue deal with Indian conglomerate Tata Sons Ltd.
UK retail sales slow to six-month low, shoppers delay buying winter clothing
British retail sales growth unexpectedly slowed to a six-month low last month, as shoppers held off winter clothing purchases due to mild weather and cut back on other goods after a heavy-spending summer.
U.S. retail sales rebound on autos, building materials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales rebounded sharply in October as purchases of motor vehicles and building materials surged, likely driven by recovery efforts in areas devastated by Hurricane Florence.
Kenya looks for Indian investments on strategic areas
In a bid to boost jobs creation and achieve food security along with providing homes and low cost healthcare, Kenya is keen on Indian investments in the four strategic areas of manufacturing, agriculture, housing, healthcare sector, an envoy said here on Thursday.
Infosys names insider Jayesh Sanghrajka as interim CFO
Global software major Infosys on Thursday appointed its executive Vice-President Jayesh Sanghrajka as interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with effect from Saturday in place of outgoing CFO M.D. Ranganath.
Wall Street hit by weak earnings, Brexit concerns
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as a batch of weak earnings and Brexit-related concerns sparked a sixth day of selling, with high-growth stocks such as Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc taking a hit.
Classic Legends launches 'Jawa' bikes starting Rs 1.55 lakh
In a bid to revive the Jawa brand of motorcycles in India, Classic Legends, a subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra, on Thursday launched two bikes "Jawa" and "Jawa Forty Two".
SIAM to organise 2nd edition of Indo-Bangla Automotive Show in Dhaka
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Thursday said it will jointly organise the second edition of the Indo-Bangla Automotive Show with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) in Dhaka.