Page 3744 - Business Finance
Bank strike: Banking work paralysed in Odisha
Banking services across Odisha was today affected as employees of different nationalised banks joined the nationwide two-day strike to press for different demands including rise in their salary. Bank unions claimed total response across Odisha to the strike. "We are opposed to hike of only two per cent in wage revision by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and demand improvement in service conditions. The wage revision is due since November 1 last year," said State Bank of India Officers Association general secretary Sambit Mishra. The bank employees went on the strike as the Indian Banks Association (IBA) offered them a nominal wage revision, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), affiliate of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) said in a statement. UFBU is the umbrella body of nine bank unions.
Dutch Queen Maxima calls for efforts to up bank account usage
Queen Maxima of The Netherlands, the UN Secretary General's special advocate for inclusive finance, today said India needs to do more to increase use of bank accounts and bridge gender gap. "Even though the figures of access have been very, very good, 48 per cent of the (Jan Dhan) accounts are not being used," Queen Maxima told reporters here today. She said the rollout of the ambitious scheme, which has ensured that 80 per cent of Indians now have bank accounts and has got women to open bank accounts as well, has not led to usage among the women. "The more digital we get, the more divide we have," she said, adding that rural poor and farmers also seem to be left out when going through the usage data. She said there are "low hanging fruit" in the digitisation journey like farmers and labourers who need to be shifted away from using cash. Queen Maxima said despite having a mobile phone and bank account, 50 million farmers get their agri income in cash, 70 million people ..
Focus on getting more Indians to shop online, taking local sellers global: Amazon
E-commerce giant Amazon today said its efforts in the Indian market are focussed on bringing 100 million new users to shop online and helping small and medium businesses scale up and even go global. Amazon, which is completing five years of operations in India, competes aggressively with home-grown player Flipkart in the burgeoning Indian e-commerce market. It has over three lakh sellers on its marketplace platform in India. "Our vision remains that we want to transform how India buys. Customers care about access to selection at great value and convenience. Going ahead, I feel very confident that we will be able to do three things -- we will enable the next 100 million Indians to essentially find, discover and aspire with us..." Amazon India head Amit Agarwal told PTI. He added that the company's efforts are also directed towards strengthening its 'Prime' offering and helping Indian SMEs become global brands. Agarwal said the company has been investing in areas like skilling SMEs to ..
Odisha approves 5 proposals worth over Rs 1508 cr
Odisha government today approved five investment proposals worth over Rs 1508 crore which will help create employment opportunities for 2155 people, a senior official said. The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) accorded approval to IOCL to set up a polyester products manufacturing unit of 324 KTPA capacity at the textiles park in Bhadrak district at an investment of Rs 975.10 crore, state industries secretary Sanjeev Chopra said. It will be a joint venture with Haldia-based MCPI Private Limited and create direct and indirect employment for 185 people. The project will act as an anchor and help in supplying feedstock or raw material to the downstream technical textile industries which will come up in the textiles park. It will provide employment to more than 100,000 persons in the long run, he said. The governments nod to the projects came at meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary A P Padhi. The proposal by a leading aluminium ...
Day 1: Nationwide bank strike hits services
Banking operations in the country were hit today as 10 lakh employees, primarily from PSU banks, went on 2-day strike to protest against a "meagre" 2 per cent salary hike offered by Indian Banks Association (IBA) -- the management body. The strike, also supported by employees of some old generation private sector banks and foreign banks, will continue tomorrow. Operations at the new-generation private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank were however almost normal, barring few activities including cheque clearance. According to official estimates, just about 25 per cent of the total branches were functioning. However, about 80 per cent of ATMs were dispensing cash till the close of the banking hours. There were reports of disruption in banking operations in various states. The impact of strike in certain states like Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand was more severe compared to other states. Nearly 10 lakh employees, working in various branches of 21 public sector banks, .
France's Macron to meet with Canada PM Trudeau before G7
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau in Ottawa before the G7 summit next week, Trudeau's office announced today. Trudeau is hosting the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States at the June 8-9 summit in La Malbaie, Quebec. On June 6, he will meet with Macron "to discuss ways to work even more closely together on global issues, including strengthening multilateralism, advancing progressive trade, and defending and promoting our shared democratic heritage," his office said in a statement. This will include taking stock of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which Trudeau said "is already creating economic growth and good, middle class jobs for people on both sides of the Atlantic." The pair also will review matters to be discussed at the summit: gender equality, combating climate change, promoting economic growth for all and advancing peace and security.
NMDC inks pact with Australia's CSIRO
State-run NMDC has inked a research pact with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for beneficiation of low-grade iron ore using energy-efficient dry processing techniques. The agreement was signed by Narendra Kumar Nanda, Director (Technical), NMDC Ltd, and Keith Vining, Group Leader, CSIRO in the presence of N Baijendra Kumar, CMD, NMDC Ltd on Monday, NMDC said in a statement today. "NMDC signed a research agreement with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Australia for research collaboration in the field of complex iron ore processing by energy efficient dry processing techniques," the company said in the statement. A one-day workshop on 'Processing of Complex Goethitic Iron ores' was also organised at the NMDC's Research and Development (R&D) Centre in Hyderabad yesterday, it said. "The workshop covered various technical aspects ranging from iron ore characterisation, geometallurgy, beneficiation and .
Berger Paints posts Q4 net profit at Rs 106 cr
Berger Paints today reported consolidated net profit at Rs 106.21 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2018. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 105.50 crore during the January-March quarter a year ago, Berger Paints said in a BSE filing. Its total income stood at Rs 1,310.47 crore during the quarter under review. It was Rs 1,254.42 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Berger Paints' total expenses stood at Rs 1,136.47 crore. Meanwhile, the company informed that its results were not comparable due to implementation of GST from July 1, 2017. For the entire 2017-18, Berger Paints had a net profit of Rs 460.83 crore. It posted a net profit of Rs 473.66 crore in 2016-17. Its total income stood at Rs 5,327.99 crore as against Rs 5,104.99 crore in 2016-17. Shares of Berger Paints today settled at Rs 300.65 on BSE, up 0.80 per cent from their previous close.
China will cut import tariffs on consumer goods
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will cut import tariffs on a range of consumer items including apparel, cosmetics, home appliances, and fitness products starting from July 1, the state council, or cabinet, said on Wednesday.
RBS finance chief in surprise exit ahead of British stake sale
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland's finance chief quit unexpectedly on Wednesday and cast doubt on the timing of a possible sale of some of the British government's controlling stake.
ONGC Q4 net up 37 pc at Rs 5,915 cr
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today reported its highest profit in 17 quarters after net profit in three-months to March 31, 2018 jumped 37 per cent on back of higher oil prices. Net profit in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 at Rs 5,915.12 crore, or Rs 4.61 a share, was higher than Rs 4,340.18 crore net in the same period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement. The company realised USD 66.71 for every barrel of crude oil it produced from nominated fields, up from USD 54.91 a barrel it got in January-March 2017. Gas price realisation was also up 15.6 per cent at USD 2.89 per million British thermal unit. ONGC's oil production declined 3 per cent at 6.2 million tonnes in the quarter. For the full 2017-18 fiscal, net profit was up 11.4 per cent at Rs 19,945 crore. Turnover in the fourth quarter rose 5 per cent to Rs 27,703.54 crore. The company made 12 oil and gas discoveries in the year, half of them were on land. Out of the six onland discoveries, two were .
Weak rupee, rising gas cost to up urea subsidy deficit: Report
Depreciation of rupee and rising gas costs is likely to increase the urea subsidy shortfall to Rs 9,000 crore this financial year, a report said today. Urea players have been witnessing rising gas costs, which coupled with the depreciation of rupees against the US dollar will result in higher cost of production, rating agency Icra said in its report. The increased cost of production for urea is a pass-through to the government in the form of subsidy and will lead to a rise in the urea subsidy in FY19, it added. "With the recent currency depreciation, domestic fertiliser industry is expected to face headwinds as it is highly import dependent," said K Ravichandran, senior vice-president and group head, corporate ratings, Icra. He said the goverment's urea subsidy bill for FY19 is expected to reach around Rs 54,000 crore, against budgetary allocation of Rs 45,000 crore, driven by rising gas costs and currency depreciation. However, Ravichandran said, energy efficient urea ..
Bhubaneswar to have second airport: Civil Aviation Ministry
Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar is set to get a second airport to reduce congestion at the existing one, the Civil Aviation Ministry today said. The airport registered a growth of 39.4 per cent in 2017-18 fiscal, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the country. "Identification of a suitable land to build a second airport near Khurda on then outskirts of Bhubaneswar has been initiated. The set-up process will be fast tracked. The new airport will reduce air traffic congestion while improving passenger convenience," the ministry tweeted. Earlier this month, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had urged Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu to set up a new airport on the outskirts of the city as the existing airport was nearing saturation. "The airport, which was started in 1962, is near saturation and faces severe space and runway-related constraints. There is, thus, an urgent need to set up a new airport at Bhubaneswar given the tremendous growth potential ..
Andersen Global ties up wth Nangia Advisors for India foray
US-based financial advisory firm Andersen Global today announced a tie-up with business advisory firm Nangia Advisors LLP. "Andersen Global is proud to announce its presence in India with the addition of Nangia Advisors LLP, a tax practice firm with locations in New Delhi, Mumbai, Noida, Gurgaon and Dehradun," the global firm said in a statement. Nangia Advisors LLP becomes a collaborating firm of Andersen Global with over 250 professionals and nearly 38 years of experience, kick-starting Andersen's expansion into India, it added. Established in 2013 by US member firm Andersen Tax LLC, Andersen Global now has over 2,500 professionals worldwide and a presence in over 103 locations through its member firms and collaborations. "India's economy is one of the largest in the world, so our growth here is part of a larger strategy to increase our footprint in the region. Best-in-class, integrity and independence remain our priorities, and we will continue to expand our team in India with this
Royal Enfield launches special edition of Classic 500 Pegasus
Niche bikemaker Royal Enfield, which today launched the special edition of Classic 500 Pegasus motorcycle in the country, said its upcoming technology centre in Chennai is likely to be functional by the end of this year. The bike will be priced at Rs 2.49 lakh. The Eicher Motors-controlled firm had in 2015 announced plans to set up two technology centres - one each in Chennai and the UK - as part of its long-term growth strategy. "Our new technical centre in Chennai will he opened by this year end," Shaji Koshy, head of India business at Royal Enfield said at the launch. The company will put 250 units of Classic Pegasus on sale on July 10 exclusively on the Royal Enfield website, Shaji said. The bikemaker is focusing on international markets as part of its strategy to expand the mid-sized motorcycle segment (250-750cc) across the globe. It last month announced a capex of Rs 800 crore for the current financial year. The investment would go towards various activities, ...
'Words with Friends' maker Zynga buys Gram Games for $250 million
(Reuters) - Zynga Inc has bought mobile gaming startup Gram Games for $250 million to boost its portfolio of franchise-based titles, it said on Wednesday.
Independent auditors raise doubts on survival of L&T Shipbuilding
Despite the promise of 'Make in India' and the rhetoric of defence modernisation, the fortunes of India's ship building industry continue to sink, with more and more companies slipping into the red.
Satin Creditcare posts Q4 net profit of Rs 44 cr
Micro-finance player Satin Creditcare today reported consolidated net profit of Rs 44.1 crore for the March quarter of last fiscal on higher volumes and lower operating expenses. It had reported a net loss of Rs 43 crore in the January-March period of the preceding fiscal, 2016-17. The revenues during the fourth quarter of 2017-18 grew by 66.4 per cent from a year ago to Rs 291.60 crore, as against Rs 175.22 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing. For the entire 2017-18, however, there was net loss of Rs 2.69 crore against, a net profit of Rs 24.87 crore in 2016-17. Income for last fiscal was up at Rs 1,031.42 crore, from Rs 801.47 crore in 2016-17. "...we have swiftly recovered from the impact of demonetisation and had returned to profitability in second quarter of 2017-18. "We have further built on that momentum with our profit after tax doubling as compared to last quarter," said H P Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of Satin Creditcare Ltd. He added: "With our ...
Odisha approves five investment proposals of Rs 1,508 cr
The Odisha government on Wednesday approved five investment proposals worth Rs 1,508 crore which will create employment opportunities for 2,155 people.
DGCA gave it clean chit in February 2017, says AirAsia
Allegations concerning indirect foreign control of AirAsia India Ltd (AAIL) allegedly in violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board norms have been fully investigated by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the aviation regulator had given it clean chit in November 2017, the company said on Wednesday.