Author: Finance Khabar

Tel Aviv: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said on Wednesday it has been selected by Israel’s Ministry of Finance to transform its banking sector by building a service bureau that will serve as a shared, plug-and-play, digital banking operations platform. The initiative is seen as a bid to boost competition in the financial services sector, spark greater innovation and enhance customer experience by democratising access to banking in Israel by making financial services accessible to the consumer. “It will serve as an online financial superstore through which an ecosystem of providers of services and products, such as insurance and credit cards,…

Mumbai:The heavy civil infrastructure business of L&T Construction has secured two contracts to build a regional rapid transit system (RRTS) infrastructure from the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in Uttar Pradesh. The scope of the project is to execute a new, dedicated, high-speed, high-capacity rail system in the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Corridor. L&T describes a significant project with a value ranging between Rs 1,000 crore to 2,500 crore. RRTS is distinct from metro transit systems as it caters to passengers travelling relatively longer distances with fewer stops and at a higher speed. The design speed for the project is 180 kmph…

JPMorgan Chase just disclosed that rising job losses effectively wiped out most of its profit in the first quarter and things may get far worse, the bank’s finance chief warned. The bank said early Tuesday that it added a whopping $6.8 billion to reserves for loan losses in the quarter, meaning that it expects a surge in defaults across its sprawling retail and commercial lending operations. But that increase, the largest JPMorgan has taken since the financial crisis, was based on an assumption that U.S. unemployment would be around “10%-plus” in the second quarter, CFO Jennifer Piepszak told reporters during…

Sanofi and GSK have entered an agreement to jointly create a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next year. The companies plan to start clinical trials in the second half of 2020 and make it available by the second half of 2021. “As the world faces this unprecedented global health crisis, it is clear that no one company can go it alone,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in an announcement Tuesday. “That is why Sanofi is continuing to complement its expertise and resources with our peers, such as GSK, with the goal to create and supply sufficient quantities of vaccines…

Global sales of PCs in the first quarter suffered a sharp slump, according to preliminary findings from two industry research firms, as supply chains were hit by the coronavirus outbreak. According to Gartner, 51.6 million PC units were shipped in the first three months of the year, down 12.3% from the previous year. It marks the biggest fall in shipments since 2013, and follows three consecutive quarters of growth for the market. “The single most significant influencing factor for PC shipment decline was the coronavirus outbreak, which resulted in disruptions to both the supply and demand of PCs,” said Mikako…

New Delhi: Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD of Viacom18, a subsidiary of Network18, has put it in his papers after 8 years at the helm. Vats will serve his last day at Viacom18 on April 15, 2020. In the interim, Viacom18’s leadership team will continue to manage their respective verticals under the leadership of Rahul Joshi, managing director of the Network18 Group. “I have had the privilege of working with some of the best minds in M&E industry to chart the growth story of Viacom18. We have together built one of the most admired media companies of brilliant storytellers…

Mumbai: Diversified conglomerate Godrej Industries on Tuesday announced the appointment of Monaz Noble as Non-Executive Independent Director for five years. Her tenure will begin on May 1. The strength of the board of directors will increase to 12 directors of which six will be independent directors. Noble is the Chief Financial Officer at Novartis Global Service Centre in Hyderabad and Novartis Business Services in India. She is on the board of Novartis India Ltd as Non-Executive Director and as an Independent Director on the board of IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Ltd. Prior to Novartis, Noble was with Cadbury India…

Mumbai: Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company on Tuesday announced the launch of an open-ended scheme tracking US’s S&P 500 Index. The fund will provide an opportunity to invest in one of the world’s most popular indices. It will provide Indian investors exposure to the performance of leading 500 companies listed in the United States. The S&P 500 Index is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap US equities and covers about 80 per cent of the available market. The S&P 500 Index is the world’s largest index with a track record of 63 years, making it one of…

New Delhi: As part of its ongoing initiatives towards COVID-19 relief efforts, Hero MotoCorp is donating 60 first-responder mobile ambulances to authorities. “These unique and utilitarian mobile ambulances will be useful for reaching out to patients in rural and remote areas and comfortably moving them to the nearest hospitals,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. These ambulances have been custom-built as an accessory to be fitted on Hero MotoCorp motorcycles, with an engine capacity of 150cc and above. The ambulance accessories include sleeping arrangement with essential medical equipment such as a first-aid kit, oxygen cylinder, fire extinguisher and…

Singapore: Moody’s Investors Service has taken rating actions on three Indian non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). Hero FinCorp’s local and foreign currency Baa3 issuer rating is placed under review for downgrade. India Infoline Finance’s Ba3 corporate family rating, (P) Ba3 foreign and local currency senior secured MTN programme ratings and Ba3 senior unsecured debt rating are placed under review for downgrade. Muthoot Finance’s Ba2 CFR is affirmed and its outlook changed to negative from stable. Moody’s said the rapid and widening spread of the coronavirus outbreak, deteriorating global economic outlook, volatile oil prices and asset price declines are creating a severe…

Mumbai: ICICI Group said on Tuesday it has committed Rs 100 crore to support the country in its fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. Of this, the group pledged to contribute Rs 80 crore to the PM Cares Fund and Rs 20 crore to state governments and local authorities in their efforts to battle the pandemic. The sum of Rs 100 crore is being contributed by ICICI Bank and all its subsidiaries.”The outbreak of COVID-19 has thrown an unprecedented challenge to the nation and its citizens. It demands us to stand together and fight the challenge,” said ICICI Bank President Sandeep…

6.1 lakh units impacted in top 7 cities Mumbai: The COVID-19 pandemic is all set to derail the growth momentum of affordable housing in 2020, according to a new report by property brokerage firm Anarock. This will be one of the worst-affected segments. Nearly 6.1 lakh affordable units were under construction across the top seven cities until the lockdown was announced. This is over 39 per cent of the total 15.62 lakh under-construction units in the top seven cities — the higher share of all budget categories. While the report estimates overall unsold housing inventory to shrink annually by one…

New Delhi: Due to lower food prices, retail inflation in March was down to 5.91% from the previous month. This information has been revealed on Monday from government data. Consumer price index (CPI) -based retail inflation stood at 6.58% in February, compared to 2.86% in March 2019. According to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), food inflation in March 2020 stood at 8.76%, lower than the 10.81% in its previous month. Inflation in cereals and products registered a slight increase in March and was 5.30% compared to 5.23% in February. At the same time, the inflation rate for…

New Delhi: Mutual funds investing in fixed-income securities have withdrawn Rs 1.95 lakh crore from such securities in March, while they pulled out Rs 28,000 last month as well. Withdrawals were seen in most categories investing in fixed-income securities and debt funds. However, short-term securities managed to maintain a positive flow for the time being. According to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMPHI), mutual funds investing in fixed income securities have withdrawn Rs 1.95 lakh crore from such securities in March, compared to a withdrawal of about Rs 28,000 crore in February. However, an investment of Rs 1.09…

Manila: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday tripled the size of its response to novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to 20 billion dollars and approved measures to streamline its operations for quicker and more flexible delivery of assistance. The package expands ADB’s 6.5 billion dollars initial response announced on March 18, adding 13.5 billion dollars in resources to help ADB’s developing member countries counter the severe macroeconomic and health impacts caused by COVID-19. The 20 billion dollar package includes about 2.5 billion dollars in concessional and grant resources. “This pandemic threatens to severely set back economic, social, and development…

Kuala Lumpur : The number of flights operated by Asia Pacific airlines in April first week declined by 93 per cent compared to normal levels of traffic established at the beginning of 2020 amid border closures, shutdowns and lockdowns, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) said on Monday. It appealed to governments for support by granting the necessary flexibility on relaxing slot constraints, curfews on operating hours as well as by expediting approvals and exempting crew from quarantine requirements where necessary. AAPA Director General Subhas Menon said the current COVID-19 crisis is taking an enormous toll on Asian economies…

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices closed nearly 1.5 per cent lower on Monday amid fall in global markets due to rise in crude oil prices and worries over the likely extension of COVID-19 lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Tuesday at 10 am. The 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus ends tomorrow and Modi is likely to talk about its possible extension. At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 470 points or 1.51 per cent at 30,690 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 118 points or 1.3 per cent…

Ahmedabad: Phoenix Business Advisory has provided a detailed understanding of the plethora of advantages for India’s business community in Australia. According to their recent study on business migration, 12,000 millionaires have migrated to Australia since 2018 compared to the USA which registered 10,000 and Canada at 4,000. Another important point to be considered is the fact that an average Australian has become significantly wealthier compared to an average US citizen. The total wealth in Australia has grown by 83 per cent compared to 20 per cent growth in the US in the last decade. As many as 10,000 high-net-worth individuals,…

New Delhi: Max Life Insurance and Yes Bank on Monday announced a five-year extension of their strategic bancassurance relationship, reaffirming their commitment to invest in building a digitally-enabled ecosystem that will provide a seamless experience for customers in their financial planning and protection journey. Building on the 15-year partnership, both companies said they remain committed to offering customers a broad range of need-based products and services, deploying technology across the customer value chain to further enhance efficiencies and leveraging existing ecosystems to facilitate superior experiences for their customers. Over the years, Max Life-Yes Bank relationship has sold about 2.8 lakh…

Mumbai: The water and effluent treatment business of L&T Construction has secured three engineering procurement construction (EPC) water management orders from the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation. The contracts are for design, build, operate, maintain and transfer of water supply systems in Hubballi-Dharwada, Kalaburagi and Belagavi cities for cost-effective and sustainable up-scaling to a continuous pressurised water supply. The projects are largely funded by the World Bank, the company said in a statement on Monday. The projects aim to achieve target non-revenue water by reducing losses through the development of suitable water infrastructure and utility improvements. The projects…