UltraTech Cement's announcement that it would snap up a controlling stake in India Cements may only be a sign of more to come. In the wake of one of the country's most expensive deals in recent times, cement majors may slug it out to add smaller firms from the region to their portfolio. UltraTech's buy is the latest in the four deals the southern market has seen in less than a year, with Adani Cement being the other buyer.
India should encourage the second coming of SAARC with climate change as an urgent agenda and keeping Indian security concerns in mind as the subtext, suggest Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
The reason why private banks will play the deposit pricing game strategically is the weakening of banks' deposits base given the competition from MFs and insurance companies due to tax-savings schemes.
The experts issued a joint statement in New Delhi, expressing concerns over the shortage of nurses in the country.
There is an upward trend in the recovery rate which was recorded at 62.42 per cent on Friday.
Customers who possess gold jewellery but are either being denied a personal loan or are being asked for a high interest rate due to their poor credit profile may consider a gold loan.
Overall market reaction to the Budget was neutral. Investors absorbed the changes to the tax rates (positive for salaried class) and capital gains taxes (CGTs, negative due to the removal of indexation and increases. Other proposals largely pertain to supporting rural development, buybacks taxed as dividends, Custom duty changes that impact multiple sectors, higher outlays for clean energy, etc. There's some moderation in the growth of capex outlay across defence, fer
Chief executive officers (CEOs) across sectors have expressed intentions to expand capacities, expecting the government's target to invest a record Rs 11.11 trillion on infrastructure development will act as a catalyst for a jump in consumer demand. "With the government planning a capex of Rs 11.11 trillion, private sector investment will come in a big way. Companies will be preparing for it right from today," H M Bangur, chairman of Shree Cement, told Business Standard. For the past few years, the investment scene in India has been dominated by government capital expenditures; private investments in the manufacturing sector have remained muted.
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector has underperformed the Nifty over the past year as its 20 per cent return is trumped by 29 per cent of the benchmark index. The FMCG index saw a 2.2 per cent drop in the last session, while the Nifty lost 1 per cent. FMCG is seen as a defensive segment. The demand for staples like personal care products, groceries and snacks tend to be stable. FMCG companies are consistent dividend-payers.
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
Since last month, the realty (down 23%), auto (down 16%) and finance (down 14%) indices have underperformed the market by falling over 13%, as against 8% decline in the benchmark indices
'If an individual makes significant financial investments, she should stick to the old regime.' 'If the individual prefers straightforward computation without any tax benefits, the new regime would be suitable.'
'They think quick fixes like internship in the private sector will help. 'In fact, internships have been going on for the last one decade.' 'In 2014-2015 itself, we had a ministry of skill development. None of the programmes have yielded results, still they are continuing with such schemes under some other name.' 'We don't see any seriousness on the part of the government to attack the problem of unemployment.'
'The USA crossed 50,000 deaths in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. India took 156 days to reach this national figure'
Inspired from a real life incident, this is the story of how Aarti buckled herself up after her divorce and rebuilt her financial life.
'In the new coalition government, India's reform agenda may prioritise job creation and factor market reforms.'
rediffGURU Ramalingam Kalirajan answers your personal finance queries.
Use this window to lock into bank FDs; unless govt cuts small savings rates, banks may not cut deposit rates
The June quarter is usually considered as a seasonally strong period for the IT sector.
Even as cement companies continue to announce ambitious expansion plans, analysts turn cautious over the sector as incremental supply is expected to coincide with a weak demand growth period, and other headwinds of higher fuel costs, weak monsoons and general elections. In August, JSW Cement said it will take its current 19 million tonnes (MT) capacity to 60 MT in the next five years. The country's top producers have massive expansion plans underway - UltraTech Cement targeting 200 MT, Adani Cement aiming for 140 MT and Dalmia Cement planning for 110-130 MT.
Gambhir's return to the KKR camp as a mentor this year turned things around as the Kolkata-based franchise moved to the top of the table
Had you invested Rs 10,000 each in JSW Steel, Titan Company and Bajaj Finance 20 years ago, when they were just penny stocks (trading below Rs 10), you would have become a millionaire by now.
Indian seniors face loneliness in their sunset years. And many companies have kicked in to provide various kinds of options for India's elderly. The elderly can now pay and enjoy a variety of services in the comfort of their own homes
Five to 10 per cent of the active Covid cases this time so far needed hospitalisation but the situation is dynamic and may change rapidly, the Centre said on Monday and asked states to keep a watch on cases under home isolation and in hospitals.
Australia bring an ageing squad and a few players short of fitness to the T20 World Cup but will have the same easygoing confidence
'Thirty per cent of the world's deaths in young people, due to heart disease, are encountered by people in India.'
The number of recoveries has surged to 14,80,884 with 53,879 coronavirus patients having recuperated and discharged in 24-hours, the highest in a day so far.
The climate for 'doing business' remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before, points out Debashis Basu.
The dawn of a new era had begun under Sourav Ganguly's aggressive leadership. With Ganguly and Coach John Wright at the helm India had transitioned into a force to be reckoned with.
'If somebody drinks heavily or has obesity and diabetes, the first step is to see a physician for assessing if they have liver disease.' 'And, if so, how much damage has been done to their liver.'
Through Manorathangal, M T Vasudevan Nair makes himself available to a whole new generation of uninitiated viewers, who can familiarise themselves with his rich body of work and hope to learn a thing or two about life in all its messy grandeur and flawed imperfections, notes Arjun Menon.
The average ticket size of retail health insurance in India has increased by nearly 48 per cent over 6 years due to elevated medical inflation and increased demand for higher coverage policies among policyholders. According to data by online insurance broker PolicyBazaar, the average ticket size of retail health insurance in India has increased to Rs 26,533 so far in FY24, up 48.22 per cent from Rs 17,900 in FY19.
Dhanush deserves credit for imagining a visually rich, edgy action thriller which is enhanced by a fascinating background score from A R Rahman, observes Divya Nair.
'As these segments are growing at 25 per cent for the last three years, credit quality has been extremely good.'
Seeking to assuage pilot shortage concerns, Akasa Air's chief executive Vinay Dube on Friday said the carrier has sufficient pilots and flyers should not expect any flight cancellations. "We have plenty of pilots. We have given numbers like 700 in the past. "I don't think this is something from an Akasa perspective people need to worry about because we have got this plan in place where we have pilots not just for our current set of aircraft but we have got pilots for the foreseeable future in terms of growth," Dube told PTI at the sidelines of a CII event.
Invest intelligently to beat inflation, so that you won't have to pay a price for every paisa earned.
'The die is cast. The wave is for her.' 'We will win this. The numbers are going to be higher than people are saying.' 'It is going to be more closer to Obama's numbers than Biden's numbers.'
From 2.82 per cent over a month earlier, India's COVID-19 case fatality rate declined to 2.72 per cent on July 10 and has further reduced to 2.49 per cent presently.
'For me, if I want to buy a house to stay, I don't care about indexation because I don't want to sell that house.' 'The only thing that matters to me as a buyer is that the home price should be within my reach.' 'Any market, when speculators and investors go out, it will benefit the middle class.'
'Everyone wants that doctors should fight from the frontlines of the pandemic, but there's no reaction from the government when they fall ill or even die because of it.'
