HDFC Bank, which is set to overtake India's largest private sector bank ICICI in branch network by merging Centurion Bank of Punjab with itself, is now keen to expand overseas to tap the non-resident Indian market. "We have applied for licences in Bahrain and Hong Kong. We have a representative office in Dubai, while CBoP has one in Canada," HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri said.
India has a huge untapped population which doesn't have facilities for financial aid and insurance, and it is perhaps plausible to look at the option of having niche players catering to smaller sectors akin to non-banks and microfinance institutions in lending, said Rakesh Joshi, member (Finance & Investment), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit, Joshi said, "Today, most of our insurance companies operate at a national level. There is arguably a case for having differentiated operations, which cater to niche sectors the same way we have non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and microfinance institutions in lending." "The capital requirement for niche players may not be as large as those having national ambitions. "Enabling these niche players, which require lower capital, will enhance the penetration in areas which hitherto had not seen traction from large players," he said.
The silver lining for India's presidency is likely to be the support by almost all G20 countries to its proposal to include the African Union as a permanent member of the bloc that has emerged as perhaps the most influential multilateral forum after the United Nations.
SoftBank-based e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal has deferred its Rs 1,250 crore IPO, joining the list of startups that have decided to shelve their initial public offering (IPO) plans this year. Snapdeal, which competes with Amazon and Flipkart, filed a request this week with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to withdraw its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) amid a sell-off in tech stocks worldwide. "Considering the prevailing market conditions, the company has decided to withdraw the DRHP. The company may reconsider an IPO in the future, depending on its need for growth capital and market conditions," a Snapdeal spokesperson said.
A day ahead of a crucial G20 meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday evening hosted a welcome dinner for the foreign ministers attending the deliberations but the reception was missed by his counterparts from the US, China, Germany and France.
The RBI refuses to classify a cryptocurrency as an asset since it doesn't have future cash flow and its value is always fluctuating because of speculation. There is also no consumer protection, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay, and hence the e-rupee trial run.
Bank dismisses mis-selling charges, says lawsuit filed after it initiated legal recovery action over loan default
Foreign ministers of G20 major economies will meet in the national capital on March 1 and 2 to deliberate on pressing global challenges amid escalating confrontation between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict that entered the second year this week.
It will help customers raise the eligible amount by up to 20 per cent and increase the tenure by up to seven years.
'Russia was hit with sanctions yesterday, but these are not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil. Only through solidarity and determination can this be achieved'
The Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) living in the US, UK, Canada and Singapore can now avail the benefit of a lesser tax deduction on their Non-Resident fixed deposit with ICICI Bank, a top bank official said in Mumbai. The NRO FD Plus offers the benefit of concessional rate of tax deducted at source (TDS) under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) of India with these countries, ICICI Bank General Manager and Head NRI Services Manish Mishra said.
Overseas education consultant NNS Chandra offers you advice on how to pick the right international education.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) will invest nearly $4.4 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) in India by 2030 and support more than 48,000 jobs externally through a new regional service launched on Tuesday, said the on-demand Cloud computing company. AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) is the company's second infrastructure region in India, six years after it opened its first Cloud region in Mumbai in 2016. The Hyderabad region will give customers access to AWS technologies for data analytics, security, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Pablo Carreno Busta rallied from a set down to defeat Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Montreal to claim the biggest title of his career at the Canadian Masters on Sunday.
Go-getter, ambitious, dynamic, workaholic are some of the adjectives that officials who worked closely with B V R Subrahmanyam use to describe him.
Russians are not only facing 'fuel and sustainment' problems but are showing signs that they are running out of food, the official claimed, adding that the Ukrainian 'resistance' also could be a possible reason for the stall.
Indian banks have the potential to go global, says ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar.
Russia and the US are the major partners in the ISS programme, which also includes Canada, Japan and several European nations like France, Italy and Spain.
'There are many things we need to work on.' 'At the heart of it is, one, the extent of inequality, which is not good for democracy and nation; two, a structural decline on how a country ought to function, how people should be held accountable, whose role is what.'
Around half the value of the mark-downs is due to the Japanese currency's appreciation against other currencies.
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, as well as Britain's Asia-focused Standard Chartered said they would try to support London's financial sector
The ruble has recouped most of its losses and become the top-performing currency globally. It continues to gain and is up 60 per cent against the US dollar from its lows in the first week of March. The ruble appreciated to 83 to the dollar intraday on Tuesday against a record low of 139 on March 7.
Even as the Group of Seven (G7) price cap on Russian crude oil enters into force as of December 5, India has been assured it will continue to receive the existing deep discounts on Russian oil, for the time being, informed officials. "We have been assured by our Russian partners of uninterrupted crude supplies at the existing rates for the time being. "There were a lot of reports of changes in (India's) buying patterns after the global price cap took hold.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday refused to speculate on whether the G20 foreign ministers' meeting would be able to come out with a joint communique against the backdrop of widening differences between the West and Russia on the Ukraine conflict.
By driving a hard bargain with Russia in procuring crude oil at the lowest price possible, India is furthering the policy of G7 and Washington is "comfortable" with New Delhi over its approach in addressing issues relating to energy security, a top Biden administration official said.
Her last Grand Slam triumph came in 2017 and she has not won a WTA title since lifting the ASB Classic in Auckland at the start of the 2020 season.
India witnessed a 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in total household wealth last year, at $14,225 billion, according to the Global Wealth Report 2022 by Credit Suisse. The report also forecasts the number of millionaires in the country to more than double from 796,000 in 2021 to 1.6 million in 2026. According to the report, which is based on data for the wealth holdings of 5.3 billion adults across nearly 200 countries, global household wealth rose 9.8 per cent in 2021 to $463.6 trillion, driven by widespread gains in share prices and a favourable environment created by central bank policies in 2020 to lower interest rates but at the cost of inflationary pressure.
The first stop on Serena Williams' farewell tour came to a quick end as she fell to Belinda Bencic in second-round action at the Canadian Open on Wednesday a day after announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.
Will G20 showcase an India that is inclusive, culturally rich, diverse and tolerant, asks Ramesh Menon.
Walmart-owned Flipkart on Thursday said the company is in compliance with Indian laws, including FDI regulations, and will cooperate with the Enforcement Directorate on the notice sent to the e-commerce major. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a show cause notice of Rs 10,600 crore to Flipkart and its promoters for alleged violation of the foreign exchange law, official sources said on Thursday. When contacted, Flipkart said it is in compliance with Indian laws and regulations, including FDI regulations.
Shipments from Russia rose nearly 33 per cent to $1.1 billion in March from $831.17 million in the previous month, which was when the country mounted aggression on Ukraine and faced sanctions from Western nations, the data accessed by Business Standard shows. Growth in imports was largely on account of oil, people aware of the matter said. The Department of Commerce is learnt to have written to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), seeking details of imports, including the payment mechanism, which India has not made public.
The RBI has shelved its plan for polymer notes more than a decade after it invited interest from global manufacturers for one billion pieces of Rs 10 denomination polymer banknotes, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
From the peak of $3.67 trillion in January, India's market cap has eroded by $676 billion amid rising bond yields and a record-breaking sell-off by overseas investors.
Telecom service operator Airtel on Thursday urged the government not to charge high fees for allotting 5G spectrum, saying a faster roll out of the next-generation telecommunication network can have more benefits than collecting revenue in upfront cost. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises which runs the country's second largest telco, said that there are a variety of applications across sectors ranging from healthcare to video interactions, which will make 5G a technology to be introduced as soon as possible. "5G is important and that's why we keep on requesting the government to make the 5G as an enabler for hundreds of things that we develop in the country, to keep the spectrum at affordable pricing, to not load the industry too much," Mittal said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave.
Aseem Chhabra highlights 10 films that moved him, films that may show up in theatres near you.
India's exports may have touched an all-time high of $422 billion in 2021-22 but recession in key western markets and geo-political crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war are expected to impact the growth of the country's outbound shipments in 2023. All the global trade promoting factors like political stability, movement of goods, adequate availability of containers and shipping lines, demand, stable currency and smooth banking systems are in disarray. Adding to the woes, COVID cases have again started rising in countries like China, Japan, South Korea and the US.
The government is planning to extend the electronic modes of tax payment to its own payments platform, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), credit cards of banks, or even a mobile wallet like Paytm.
'Imagine for a soldier -- first you conquer territory after fighting a fierce battle, suffer casualties and then you are ordered to come back to your side of the International Border in India.'
Nick Kyrgios's nine-match winning streak ended in the Canadian Masters semi-finals on Friday when eighth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz blasted his way to a 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1 victory.
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