Air India on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft by way of a finance lease transaction with HSBC through the GIFT City. This is also the first wide body aircraft to be leased through the GIFT City, the country's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). In a release, the airline said the transaction was facilitated by its wholly-owned subsidiary AI Fleet Services Ltd (AIFS) and is also the first financing transaction from the orders for 470 aircraft that were made earlier this year.
The Karnataka government on Wednesday put the reservation bill for Kannadigas in private firms on hold amid fierce criticism from business leaders and tech tycoons.
Capital markets are becoming more prominent in India's growth story, with an expanding share in capital formation and investment landscape on the back of technology, innovation and digitisation, according to the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday. Further, Indian markets are resilient to global geo-political and economic shocks, it added. "Despite heightened geo-political risks, rising interest rates and volatile commodity prices, Indian capital markets have been one of the best performing among emerging markets in FY24," the Economic Survey said.
Indian fintechs and associated entities are hoping that the Union Budget 2024 will provide a boost and empower firms to extend their reach beyond Tier-II regions, with an emphasis on supporting enterprises led by women. The fintech industry, which has witnessed regulatory reforms over the last year, expects the Budget, scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, will further encourage financial inclusion, empower micro-small-medium enterprises (MSMEs) with lending solutions, and push for upskilling initiatives for the country's young workforce.
The size of Reserve Bank's balance sheet increased by 11.08 per cent to Rs 70.47 lakh crore as on March 2024, leading to the highest-ever dividend payout to the government, according to the central bank's annual report. In actual terms, the increase was Rs 7,02,946.97 crore over Rs 63.45 lakh crore as on March 2023.
With the last quarter of 2023-24 (FY24) expected to have been soft owing to lower discretionary spend and macro uncertainty, many are hoping FY25 will be a year of recovery for the information-technology (IT) industry. The fourth quarter, January-March, is considered soft, and will continue to see the headwinds the sector has been facing. And the sector has entered the new financial year on a weak footing. Analysts are expecting Tier-I firms to report sequential growth of -1 per cent to 1.5 per cent and midcap players' growth may range between 0.7 per cent and 4 per cent.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Internet giant Google is investing $10 billion in India's digitisation fund, its CEO Sundar Pichai has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a step that will recognise India's leadership on fintech and will support small and large businesses in India, the US and around the world. Pichai met Prime Minister Modi in Washington on Friday and also announced the opening of Google's global fintech operation centre in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. "It was an honour to meet Prime Minister Modi during the historic visit to the US. We shared with the Prime Minister that Google is investing $10 billion in India's digitisation fund," Pichai said.
More and more women are making their presence felt in jobs related to sciences, technology, and engineering across organisations.
'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
Modi said New Delhi has emphasised on dialogue and diplomacy along with restraint to deal with the situation arising out of the Hamas-Israel conflict.
We have the workforce, now we need to ensure that we take full advantage of game-changing technologies and geopolitical openings, suggests Jayant Sinha, chairman, Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance.
Of the additional expenditure Rs 32,120 crore (Rs 321.2 billion) under the first batch of supplementary, Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) has been earmarked for equity infusion in Air India as part of the turnaround plan and restructuring package.
In 2024 so far, 20 startups have already visited the campus with 80 placements.
The change has been made through a memorandum issued by the ministry of finance. Government officials are required to travel by government-owned AI, which from October 1 has started offering concessions to officials in the form of 'supersaver' bookets.
Madhabi Puri Buch, the first female chairperson of Sebi, doesn't plan to rest on her laurels in her third and final year in office and has set out an ambitious goal, such as moving towards a same-day and instantaneous settlement cycle for the secondary market.
In a recent note, the global brokerage firm said India now commands a weight of 19 per cent in the above-mentioned portfolio as compared to 18.2 per cent in September 2023. India, it said, is a large liquid market and remains a counter-weight to North Asia if a slowdown in the West occurs and China's recovery disappoints.
Transactions were allegedly not reported correctly in the tax returns for FY20.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
With just a month left in this financial year, electric two-wheeler sales, so far, are at just 62 per cent of the ambitious target of 1 million units set for 2022-23 by the NITI Aayog. According to VAHAN data, compiled by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), 620,006 units of electric two-wheelers were sold across the country in FY23 until February 21. Though the industry may miss the 1-million target, sales in FY23 are already up 146 per cent from 249,621 units sold in FY22.
Missing the deadline for filing Income Tax returns can lead to consequences.
Electronics major Samsung has received orders for around 1.4 lakh units of its premium smartphone Galaxy S23 worth a total of Rs 1,400 crore on the first day of its pre-booking for the device, a senior company official has claimed. Samsung India, Senior Vice President for Mobile Business, Raju Pullan told PTI that the pre-booking for Samsung Galaxy S23 is almost twofold compared to the previous version of the smartphone Galaxy S22. "We have clocked almost 1.4 lakh units as pre-book in the first 24 hours and this is almost two times of Galaxy S22.
In his opening remarks at the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Modi also said that some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policy and the grouping must not hesitate to criticise them.
Fund managers often find themselves selling bonds at prices below their fair value to meet redemption demands. Investors are the ultimate losers in this. CDMDF aims to remedy this by stepping in and purchasing securities at their fair value in such times.
The story of Sahara India Pariwar founder Subrata Roy, who died in Mumbai on November 14 aged 75, is the stuff of movies - of a spectacular rise and an equally spectacular fall. Born in Araria, Bihar, Roy was 30 when he set up Sahara in 1978. He started with a capital of about Rs 2,000, a peon, a clerk and his father's Lambretta scooter in Gorakhpur, eastern Uttar Pradesh, writes Tamal Bandyopadhyay in his 2014 book, Sahara: The Untold Story. Sahara was not his first venture.
Siva Prasad Nanduri, chief business officer, TeamLease Digital, outlines the skills that will help you get a job in 2023.
While the government is working on final contours for a strategic divestment of its stake in loss-making Air India, the airline is ready with plans to fly to more overseas destinations.
NITI Aayog had been asking for Rs 7,500 crore for three years to set up an AI framework.
'India has the potential to do a lot more to take advantage of the time today where we stand to gain, geopolitically and in terms of market attractiveness.'
The income-tax department may make a permanent account number (PAN) mandatory for cryptocurrency investors, in line with the demat account rules for stock market transactions, according to two people privy to the discussion. At present, disclosure of crypto holdings and related gains is voluntary. If tax authorities go ahead with the PAN mandate, crypto exchanges will have to furnish a statement of financial transactions (SFT) before the income-tax department.
According to reports, by last year, the company has helped its customers save 15 per cent on costs -- around 5-6 per cent on fuel and 15 per cent on fleet utilisation through digital measures.
Air India's general manager (finance), who should be in the thick of company's financial matters, does not have information about pay and perks of the company's top bosses.
The issue of equity infusion in Air India will be taken up by the Cabinet shortly and a cabinet note will be prepared in two weeks.
The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil) will be able to save more than 30 per cent on its interest payment per year, as the finance ministry recently agreed to furnish sovereign guarantees on loans raised by the company which runs Air India.
AI, IoT, 3D printing, drones, data storage, quantum computing etc are all re-writing world economic order, the FM said.
"The GoM on the civil aviation sector, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is meeting tomorrow as the government has broadly agreed to support Air India in its restructuring process," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
The government is ready to support Air India, but wants the airline to improve its performance.
The survey covered 1,210 IT executives and technology professionals from North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India. In India, 202 respondents from businesses with more than 500 employees across 18 industry verticals completed the survey. Overall, 89 per cent of the respondents said implementing a work-from-home policy had increased security challenges for their organisations. The risk posed by shadow IT was especially high, with 89 per cent of companies having no control over the software that employees purchase and install on their devices.
The loans are backed by a government guarantee.
Move after the North Eastern Council failed to make viability payments to the carrier.