Page 21 - Singapore

Poonawalla Fincorp sells controlling stake in housing fin arm for Rs 3K cr

Poonawalla Fincorp Wednesday said it has completed the sale of a controlling stake in its housing finance arm Poonawalla Housing Finance to Perseus, a Singapore-based entity affiliated to private equity major TPG Global, for Rs 3,004 crore. The Cyrus Poonawalla Group, more known for its vaccine-making business under the Serum Institute, in a statement said the financial consideration of Rs 3,004 crore is excluding the tax outgoes. With this sale, Poonawalla Housing Finance will cease to be a subsidiary of Poonawalla Fincorp, and Perseus will be holding a controlling stake. Poonawalla Fincorp did not quantify how much remaining holding it will be having. Poonawallah Fincorp managing director Abhay Bhutada said the sale gives them ample growth capital that will help it remain focused on growth-focused consumer and MSME finance.

Cost of expat pay packages jumps in Singapore, drops in Hong Kong

Total pay and benefits packages for average expat middle managers in Singapore rose to $258,762, mainly due to higher rental costs

ISRO to launch PSLV-C56 with seven Singaporean satellites, full update here

ISRO has announced the launch of PSLV-C56 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Sriharikota at 6:30 am on July 30 that will carry Singapore's DS-SAR satellite with 6 co-passenger satellites

India to launch 7 Singapore satellites from Isro's spaceport on July 30

India would launch PSLV-C56 carrying DS-SAR satellite from Singapore, along with six co-passengers, from the first launchpad of the ISRO's Sriharikota spaceport at 6.30 am on July 30. The DS-SAR satellite is developed under a partnership between Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) (representing the Government of Singapore) and ST Engineering. Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore. ST Engineering will use it for multi-modal and higher responsiveness imagery and geospatial services for their commercial customers. DS-SAR carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). This allows the DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day and night coverage, and capable of imaging at one metre resolution at full polarimetry. The NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a central public sector undertaking under the Department of Space,

Temasek Holdings seeks strategic partners to deploy $5 bn a year in India

The state investor is planning to hire another four to five investment professionals, bringing its India team to more than 20 people, Temasek India head Ravi Lambah said

Singapore anti-corruption body questions Indian-origin minister: Report

Singapore's Indian-origin Transport Minister S Iswaran was questioned for around 10 hours by the authorities in connection to an investigation into a case of corruption, according to local media reports. Iswaran, 61, arrived at the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) building at Lengkok Bahru in Redhill estate at about 10.50 am on Tuesday and left at 8.48 pm in an SUV, according to a report by TODAY newspaper. The minister, who has taken a leave of absence from his official duties, entered the compound alone. Iswaran and Hotel Property Limited Managing Director Ong Beng Seng were arrested on July 11, the anti-graft body said last week, adding that the two were assisting with investigations. The agency did not give details on the nature of the probe. Both were released on bail, and their passports were impounded as part of their bail conditions. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong instructed Iswaran to take a leave of absence until the investigation was completed, the Prime ..

Singapore passport world's most powerful, replacing Japan: Henley Index

The US, which once topped the ranking nearly a decade ago, slid two places to eighth place

Quadria Capital to invest up to $155 mn in Maxivision Eye Hospital

Maxivision offers eye care services to over five million patients in 42 centres across six states in southern and western India

$7.5 bn SGX-traded futures has tepid start after shifting to India

The average number of open contracts for NSE International Exchange's key product GIFT Nifty was 32,934 in the week to July 7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg

SIAC directs Pratt & Whitney to give Go First five engines a month

However, in May, Go First said that Pratt & Whitney were unable to dispatch any serviceable spare engines

India, Singapore extend MoU to co-operate on public administration till '28

The MoU aims at strengthening the partnership between the two countries through various forms of cooperation between both countries' public service

Singapore central bank reports largest net loss of $22.8 bn in FY23

Singapore's central bank has recorded its largest net loss of SGD 30.8 billion (USD 22.8 billion) in the 2022-2023 financial year mainly due to its aggressive monetary policy tightening to bring down inflation, its Managing Director Ravi Menon said on Wednesday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also raised its end-2023 forecast for core inflation to 2.5 to 3 per cent, up from an estimate of around 2.5 per cent made in April. The MAS recorded its largest net loss of SGD 30.8 billion (USD 22.8 billion) in the 2022-2023 financial year mainly due to its aggressive monetary policy tightening to bring down inflation, which paved the way for a broad appreciation of the Singapore dollar against other currencies, including US dollar, euro and yen. As MAS' financial results are reported in the Sing dollar, it saw significant negative currency translation effects of about SGD 21.4 billion, or 70 per cent of the annual net loss, Menon said. The loss widened significantly as compared t

Birth rate in Singapore falls to record low, only 35,605 babies in 2022

Singapore's birth rate hit a record low in 2022 with only 35,605 babies born in that year when the country also registered the highest number of deaths annually since 1960, according to media reports on Tuesday. Official figures released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) showed a 7.9 per cent drop in the number of live births. The drop was from 38,672 in 2021 to 35,605 in 2022. There were 26,891 deaths in 2022, a 10.7 per cent increase compared with the 24,292 recorded in 2021 in the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths. This was the highest number of total yearly deaths since 1960, reported Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao. The report also stated that women are progressively getting older before they start having children, with the median age of first-time mothers rising to 31.9 years in 2022 from 30.6 in 2018. There was minimal change in the median ages of mothers who gave birth to their second and subsequent children during the same period. The numb

How Singapore leaped ahead of competitors after the Covid-19 pandemic

The other cities in the study according to rank are New York in fourth, followed by London, Tokyo, Sydney, Johannesburg, Paris and San Francisco

Singapore's Instarem sees huge inflow of diaspora remittances into India

Singapore-headquartered Instarem sees huge inbound flow of remittances into India, citing the World Bank projection that money sent home by the Indian diaspora will reach USD 100 billion a year in the coming year or so, up from USD 82 billion received last year. India is a huge inbound market for us, and we have big operations in Mumbai, which is our main technology and product centre, Yogesh Sangle, Global Head of Instarem, told PTI on Wednesday on the increase in monies sent home regularly by the Indian diaspora. Instarem has also grown its offices in Bangalore and Chennai, to leverage the talent in India, said Sangle who pointed out that the estimated USD 82 billion received in India in 2022 was the largest remittance flow in the world. The app-based remittance company is setting up operations in Japan to serve Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Consumers, and has recently launched a SME-support product in Indonesia. COVID-19 had created an opportunity to service the ...

Grab slashes 1,000 jobs in biggest round of job cuts since pandemic

Grab CEO Anthony Tan said that the layoffs were not a "shortcut to profitability"

Mumbai 18th most expensive city for luxury living: Julius Baer Index

According to the Index, Asia has the maximum number of costly cities for luxury living

Singapore ranked the most expensive city in the world for luxury living

Asia remained the most costly region for luxury living for the fourth straight year

Singapore to deploy more police robots in the absence of manpower

After over five years of small-scale trials, Singapore will now progressively deploy more police robots across the city-state

Setting sights on intl students, IITs, IIMs make plans for foreign campuses

IIT Madras is in active discussions to set up a campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and IIM Nagpur is planning to set up a campus in Singapore