Manojit Saha, Business Standard

Stories by Manojit Saha, Business Standard

The curious case of $1-billion SBI loan to debt ridden-Sri Lanka

The curious case of $1-billion SBI loan to debt ridden-Sri Lanka

Rediff.com   31 May 2022

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on March 17 had announced that State Bank of India (SBI) would extend a term loan of $1 billion to Sri Lanka, fully guaranteed by the Indian government, and this was part of India's financial aid to the troubled island nation. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was quoted saying by news agency PTI that the loan would be used for importing food, medicines, and other essential items. "India has always stood with the people of Sri Lanka and we will continue to extend all possible support at this juncture.

MPC members argued for front-loading rate hikes in view of inflation

MPC members argued for front-loading rate hikes in view of inflation

Rediff.com   26 May 2022

Most members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) argued for front-loading interest rate hikes in view of rapidly rising inflation during the off-cycle monetary policy review earlier this month - the minutes of the meeting published on Wednesday showed. In early May, the rate setting committee met unscheduled and unanimously decided to hike the repo rate by 40 bps. This was the first repo rate hike in four years, and an inter-meeting hike in more than a decade.

Prices of food items continue to rise in May, says RBI report

Prices of food items continue to rise in May, says RBI report

Rediff.com   18 May 2022

Prices of food items like cereals, pulses, and edible oils rose or remained steady in May, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report said, indicating there could be another higher inflation print. However, it observed that the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC's) surprise move to increase interest rates bodes well for its credibility. The RBI's monthly State of the Economy report, released on Tuesday, citing high frequency food price data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for the period May 1-12, said the increase in the prices of cereals was primarily because of the surge in wheat prices.

Covid cases are being detected by accident

Covid cases are being detected by accident

Rediff.com   30 Apr 2022

'A patient visits for any other treatment, but a routine Covid test finds him to be positive.' 'Not only are they, but their whole family is also coming out to be positive.'

Majority of Future group's secured creditors reject Reliance deal

Majority of Future group's secured creditors reject Reliance deal

Rediff.com   23 Apr 2022

Shareholders of the six listed Future Group companies voted on Wednesday. Bankers said all the large lenders had rejected the proposal.

What acquisition of Citi's retail biz means for Axis Bank

What acquisition of Citi's retail biz means for Axis Bank

Rediff.com   12 Apr 2022

Axis Bank's acquisition of Citibank's consumer finance business for Rs 12,325 crore - the second biggest deal in the Indian banking sector - is seen as a good deal at a good price. The acquisition enables Axis Bank to close the gap with competition in some key segments such as credit cards. At the same time, there are some key issues that are crucial for the deal's success, apart from the fact that it will take some time for Axis to reap the full harvest of its investment.

RBI won't buy or sell dollars till rupee falls below 75

RBI won't buy or sell dollars till rupee falls below 75

Rediff.com   28 Mar 2022

After selling dollars for the past few months, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take a hands-off approach before its annual account closing by not trying to prop up the rupee as geopolitical tensions show signs of stabilising with global crude oil prices easing from its $140 peak. The central bank was a net buyer of dollars between April and September, and then turned a net seller in the following months, the data released by the RBI showed. The RBI continued to be a net buyer of $36.6 billion in this fiscal year - between April and January. In 2020-21, it purchased $68 billion on a net basis.

HDFC Bank plans digital launches in 2-3 qtrs

HDFC Bank plans digital launches in 2-3 qtrs

Rediff.com   23 Mar 2022

With the banking regulator lifting restrictions on HDFC Bank's digital initiatives, the largest private sector lender is now girding up to launch a clutch of customer-facing applications (apps), which will act as stepping stones in its journey to morph into a technology (tech)-led bank from a conventional one. Following repeated outages in its digital offerings, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had barred HDFC Bank from issuing new credit cards in December 2020 and prevented it from going ahead with its digital launches. The embargo on issuing credit cards was lifted in August 2021 and the ban on digital launches was lifted last week.

'Paytm's business will continue'

'Paytm's business will continue'

Rediff.com   23 Mar 2022

'We now understand things that we have to correct.'

Ukraine crisis: Russian oil companies offer big discounts to India

Ukraine crisis: Russian oil companies offer big discounts to India

Rediff.com   15 Mar 2022

As stringent sanctions imposed by the European Union and US are crippling business and trade, desperate Russian oil companies are offering huge discounts to India, provided a payment mechanism to bypass the SWIFT ban is quickly approved by the government. According to sources familiar with the development, Russian oil firms are offering 25-27 per cent discount to the dated Brent crude prices. State-run Rosneft is one the biggest oil companies that supply crude to India.

'Wise to invest in quality large-cap and mid-cap stocks'

'Wise to invest in quality large-cap and mid-cap stocks'

Rediff.com   7 Mar 2022

'Earning expectations remain strong.'

80D Limit Available? Opt For Health Check-up

80D Limit Available? Opt For Health Check-up

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2022

You can avail of tax deduction on expenses incurred on preventive health check-ups. This provision is beneficial to younger people who don't exhaust their Section 80D limit with their health insurance premium.

RBI to suck out $5 billion liquidity from the system ahead of LIC IPO

RBI to suck out $5 billion liquidity from the system ahead of LIC IPO

Rediff.com   22 Feb 2022

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a dollar-rupee two-year sell-buy swap auction for $5 billion on March 8, which will suck out rupee liquidity from the system. The swap will be in the nature of a simple sell/buy foreign exchange from the RBI side, in which a bank will buy US dollars from the central bank and simultaneously agree to sell the same amount of US dollars at the end of the swap period. "With a view to elongating the maturity profile of its forward book and smoothen the receivables relating to forward assets, it has been decided to undertake sell/buy swap auction of $5 billion on March 8, 2022," the RBI said in a statement. The auction cut-off will be based on the premium amount in paisa terms up to two decimal points.

Banks' bottom line improves as bad loans continue to fall

Banks' bottom line improves as bad loans continue to fall

Rediff.com   16 Feb 2022

Commercial banks in the country continued with their improving asset quality trend in the October-December 2021 quarter with slippages remaining under control coupled with healthy recoveries and upgradation of asset classification. The 28-listed banks reported improvement in bottom line with net profits rising 64.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 21.5 per cent sequentially. This is mostly on account of a fall in provisions and contingencies.

Private banks seeing jump in number of online frauds

Private banks seeing jump in number of online frauds

Rediff.com   6 Jan 2022

The total amount of fraud reported by banks showed a drop in 2020-21 - for the first time in eight years - though there is an emerging trend of private sector banks reporting a larger number of frauds related to card and internet banking. According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India, commercial banks reported Rs 1.38 trillion of frauds in 2020-21, as compared to Rs 1.85 trillion in the previous year. The first half of the current fiscal year saw banks reporting frauds worth Rs 36,342 crore.

Covaxin safe for children: Bharat Biotech

Covaxin safe for children: Bharat Biotech

Rediff.com   31 Dec 2021

Bharat Biotech is targeting to manufacture one billion doses of its intra-nasal vaccine in 2022 which is under clinical trials now.

'Antibodies induced by Covishield and Covaxin gradually increase and decrease'

'Antibodies induced by Covishield and Covaxin gradually increase and decrease'

Rediff.com   28 Dec 2021

'Antibodies remain in the blood for at least seven to nine months.'

Banks want time for card tokenisation

Banks want time for card tokenisation

Rediff.com   20 Dec 2021

Tokenisation is the process of replacing debit and credit card numbers with a set of characters or tokens.

Why did Paytm stock drop by 8%?

Why did Paytm stock drop by 8%?

Rediff.com   16 Dec 2021

After dropping to a low of Rs 1,298 apiece, the stock finished at Rs 1,380, its lowest level since November 22, the second day of listing.