Page 6 - Private Sector

Space regulator IN-SPACe release plans for 30 launches over next 14 months

India's space regulator IN-SPACe on Thursday said about 30 space launches, including seven by private startups Skyroot and Agnikul, are scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2023-24 and the next fiscal. The Integrated Launch Manifesto for space launches announced by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) include seven launches related to the Gaganyaan mission, two launches each of ISRO's newest rocket the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and the warhorse PSLV developed by an industry consortium. Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos is scheduled to launch its first 3-D printed rocket Agnibaan-SOrTeD for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year. The maiden flight of the Agnibaan rocket will be a sub-orbital mission. The other launches this fiscal year include that of GSLV-F14 to put the INSAT-3DS satellite in orbit to augment weather forecasting, disaster management, and related meteorological services. The third development flight of SSLV is also ...

Private sector space players seek govt relief on FDI and GST exemption

Data from the Indian Space Association (ISPA) reveals that, as of November-end 2023, Indian start-ups had attracted $124 million in funding, compared to $120 million in 2022

PFRDA asks lenders to shore up private sector subscribers under NPS

The chairman said the decline seen in e-NPS (voluntary accounts) was responsible for the slow pace of enrolments this year

Bulls have tired legs, look for fresh triggers; indices end in the red

Equity benchmarks decline amid profit-booking, Red Sea tensions

Federal Bank's advances increase 18% to Rs 2.02 trillion in Q3 FY24

On a segmental basis, the bank said that as per its internal classification, its retail credit book grew by 20 per cent year-on-year, and its wholesale credit book grew by 17 per cent

MoS Finance urges pvt banks to push govt's financial inclusion programmes

Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad on Thursday urged private sector banks to push various financial inclusion programmes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. Karad chaired a review meeting on the progress and performance of financial inclusion schemes, including preparedness under the PM Vishwakarma Scheme, with senior management of private sector banks here. During the meeting, he reviewed the progress of various financial inclusion (FI) schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Stand Up India and PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi). He also reviewed the progress of opening brick-and-mortar branches of banks in unbanked villages with a population of more than 3,000 people. Appreciating the efforts, he ..

HDFC Life Q2 net profit up 15.5% to Rs 376.77 crore; VNB margins moderate

For the April-Sep period, net profit increased 15 per cent year-on-year to Rs 792 crore on the back of a healthy back book surplus

Funding green growth

Private sector will need to increase investment

Space programme must remain as publicly funded, managed: Congress

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said Chandrayaan-3 is a public system's success and the country's space programme must always be publicly funded, managed and executed. Ramesh, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, made the statement on X'(formerly Twitter) as the members of the panel visited ISRO headquarters here. "India's space programme over the past 60 years has been a publicly funded, managed and executed endeavour and it must remain that way," the Rajya Sabha member said. "Chandrayaan-3 is a public system's success whatever the hype may be around startups and unicorns," he said. The panel, on a five-day visit to Bengaluru, Bandipur, Kabini and Mysuru congratulated ISRO Chairman S Somanath and his entire team for the success of India's third lunar venture, and the launch of the Aditya L-1 mission. Ramesh said the committee members had a "very educative interaction with its (ISRO's) enginee

Private sector must cover 90% of climate investment in Ems, says IMF

The IMF said phasing out coal is necessary to reach climate goals, though it is challenging as many EMDEs highly depend on coal

Private sector desperate to take migrants despite negative narrative: UN

The new head of the UN's migration agency said on Monday that the private sector is desperate for their countries to take in migrants to mop up labour shortages, especially in the West endeavouring to steer a narrative away from reticence and suspicion about migrants in many parts of the world. Amy Pope, the first woman to head the International Organisation for Migration, sought to play up the economic benefits of migration for rich nations with aging populations and declining workforces in the face of build-the-wall rhetoric in the United States to block migrants from Latin America and right-wing movements in Europe that want to keep foreigners out. We hear from ... the private sector globally, but especially in Europe and in North America, that they are desperate for migration in order to meet their own labour market needs and in order to continue to fuel innovation within their own companies, Pope, who is American, told reporters. She said the evidence was fairly overwhelming

New private projects decline 79% in second quarter, shows CMIE data

The government's new project announcements, which typically include roads and other public infrastructure, are down 72.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 0.4 trillion in September 2023

Are private sector executives better than bureaucrats for regulators' job?

Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan said it is better if the person's expertise is considered than whether he/she is a bureaucrat or a private sector executive

Private bank headcount closes in on public sector bank tally: RBI data

While total employees working with PSBs are falling over the years, the number of those in officer's grade has risen from 386,000 at the end of March, 2020, to 397,000 in March, 2023

As credit growth outpaces deposits, banks may increase interest on FD

Bank deposits have gone up by 6.6 per cent to reach Rs 149.2 trillion during the April-August 2023 period, whereas the credit growth for the same period was 9.1 per cent

Cabinet approves viability gap funding for battery storage system

The VGF scheme for BESS projects was first announced in the Union Budget 2023

Here's how private sector companies contributed to Chandrayaan-3 mission

A number of private companies have contributed to the development of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft which successfully landed near the south pole of the Moon on Wednesday evening. Here is a list of the firms and their contribution: ** Tata Consulting Engineers Limited (TCE) engineered unique and indigenously built critical systems and sub-systems custom-built for the successful launch of space missions. TCE engineered the solid propellant plant, the vehicle assembly building and the mobile launch pedestal. ** Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has supplied various components for India's lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3. The company revealed that components such as the "middle segment and nozzle bucket flange" were manufactured at its facility in Powai, while the ground and flight umbilical plates were produced at its aerospace manufacturing facility in Coimbatore. ** Walchandnagar Industries manufactured components of the lunar mission vehicle, the first-stage booster and "flex nozzle control

Private manufacturing majors may give super-critical thermal plants a miss

This includes distancing themselves from the new and emerging super-critical technology

India considers allowing private companies to develop nuclear plants

State-run NTPC Ltd., the country's largest power producer, has emerged as a nuclear champion, betting big on SMRs as they're quicker to build and easier to adjust to grid requirements

India's digital public infra centred around public interest: Meta's Clegg

India's digital public infrastructure plays on key aspects of scale and technology being centred around public interest, and is a "marvellous model" for what others can do as citizenship becomes a digitalised phenomenon globally, Nick Clegg, President Global Affairs of Meta, said on Wednesday. Clegg spoke of how Meta and its apps like WhatsApp have leveraged various layers of India's digital public utilities including health (during COVID vaccination certificate downloads) and payments, and added, "We are at the moment working with commerce layer ONDC to see what more we can do and to make sure card payments and merchant payments are facilitated". He said that when it comes to DPI (digital public infrastructure) construct, it is India's scale and public interest philosophy of the country "that has been so novel", he said. "...I think what is so clever about construction of DPI is tech itself...it is the scale and this very important philosophy highlighted of not having government r