Business Standard - February 06, 2025

In this issue

February 06, 2025

India Open to Revive US Trade Deal Talks During PM's Visit

Inter-departmental meetings being held to identify key trade proposals

2 mins

Altman, Vaishnaw talk collab as AI race hots up

India second-largest OpenAI market

3 mins

Ananya Birla forays into beauty, cosmetics mkt

Ananya Birla (pictured), daughter of billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, on Wednesday announced an entry into the fast-growing beauty and cosmetics space with the launch of a new venture.

1 min

Zomato hires two chiefs of staff from 18,000 applicants

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said on Wednesday that they received over 18,000 applications, with 30 candidates offered various positions.

1 min

Happiest Minds set to create GenAI unit

Happiest Minds Technologies, a mid-tier IT services firm, reported a 16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in its profit after tax (PAT) for the third quarter of the current financial year (FY25) at ₹50 crore due to higher finance costs.

1 min

BlackRock to Hire 1,200 in India to Spur AI Capabilities

BlackRock plans to hire nearly 1,200 people to expand two support hubs in India and build out its artificial intelligence capabilities in the country, according to people familiar with the matter.

1 min

Kia evaded ₹1,350 crore in taxes: Govt

Automaker says it has made a detailed response to substantiate its stand

1 min

Companies Turn to MFs to Help Finance Acquisitions

Trend is expected to grow as firms explore alternative debt sources

2 mins

Telcos: High-band spectrum not enough for 5G, mid-band needed

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)'s decision to open up several 5G high-band or millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum will not compensate for the lack of 5G spectrum in mid-bands (1-6 GHz), telco officials said.

1 min

'Bengal means business': India Inc bets big

Ambani, Jindal, Goenka announce plans; CM Mamata Banerjee woos investors to 'smartest' and 'safest' state

3 mins

Trump may be interested in seeing Indian firms signing US LNG contracts

ANNE-SOPHIE CORBEAU is a global research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry and is the author of many publications on gas, LNG markets, Asia, China, India and Africa. Corbeau, in an email interview with S Dinakar, spoke about US President Donald Trump's energy policy and its likely impact on India. Edited excerpts:

3 mins

Rate cut hopes push ₹ to fresh low of 87.46

This comes despite a falling dollar index

2 mins

Services sector growth slows to over 2-year low

Growth in India's dominant services sector in January slumped to the slowest in more than two years as demand softened but remained strong and led to a substantial rate of hiring, said a private survey on Wednesday.

1 min

Our goal is to become a listed entity

Following its Q3 earnings, Axis Max Life Insurance said its board approved a roadmap that envisages the listing of Axis Max Life through the merger of Max Financial Services into Axis Max Life. PRASHANT TRIPATHY, MD&CEO, Axis Max Life Insurance, in a conversation with Subrata Panda and Aathira Varier, spoke about the listing plan and discussed the company's performance. Edited excerpts:

3 mins

K Balasubramanian to be Citi India CEO

K Balasubramanian will be the new Citi India CEO subject to approval from Reserve Bank of India, with current India CEO Ashu Khullar set to become co-head of global asset managers (GAM) of the New York headquartered lender.

1 min

NCR Reports 2 Suspected Cases of GBS

Two more cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a rare nerve disorder, were reported in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), sources said.

1 min

IDBI Bank may raise non-callable deposit rates

If the proposed liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) norms were to come into effect from April 1, private sector lender IDBI Bank may look at raising interest rates on non-callable deposits by 10-25 basis points, said a senior executive.

1 min

Secy group to review asset monetisation progress today

Ahead of a formal rollout of the second edition of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP 2.0), valued at ₹10 trillion, the Core Group of Secretaries on Asset Monetisation (CGAM), chaired by Cabinet secretary TV Somanathan, will meet on Thursday to discuss the final progress of the first phase of the NMP.

1 min

Trump Calls for Nuclear 'Peace' Deal with Iran

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he's willing to immediately start working on a new nuclear deal with Iran that allows the country to \"peacefully grow and prosper,\" seemingly softening his stance on the Islamic Republic.

1 min

Uber's gross bookings up 18% to $44.2 billion

Uber Technologies Inc reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and operating income, overshadowing steady bookings growth.

1 min

Alphabet Misses Revenue Estimates

Google parent Alphabet Inc posted fourth-quarter revenue that missed analysts' expectations as growth in its cloud business slowed. The shares fell more than 8 percent.

1 min

AAP inside out

The first edition of this book appeared in 2018. Between then and now, Mayank Gandhi, an activist dedicated to social transformation, justice and equity has exited power politics, preferring to watch from the sidelines, the rise (or decline, depending on your persuasion) of a movement he helped create that became a caricature of itself, then a political party and then a monstrous leviathan.

4 mins

'Owning' Gaza

Mr Trump's plan defies international law

2 mins

Wait and watch

Global uncertainty demands caution on monetary policy

2 mins

MFs tap into FoFs for debt fund alternatives

Fund houses add arbitrage to existing debt FoFs for tax advantage

2 mins

Two-Thirds of Sectoral Indices Still Trading at Premium to 10-Yr Averages

Despite the benchmark indices falling over 10 per cent from their highs, two-thirds of sectoral indices still trade at a premium to their 10-year average price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples, according to a report by domestic brokerage Motilal Oswal.

1 min

Mkts close in red ahead of RBI policy meet

Taking a breather after recent rally, stock markets closed lower on Wednesday as investors turned cautious ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision later this week and trade war concerns.

1 min

Clearing charges still a bone of contention between NSE, BSE

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE are yet to find some common ground on the disagreement over the clearing and settlement charges which has stretched for more than a year.

1 min

Tata Power Stock Likely to See Gains After Robust Q3

Tata Power's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the October-December quarter (Q3) of FY25 was up 38 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) but slightly below consensus.

2 mins

Zomato, Jio Fin May Enter Nifty 50 in March

Zomato and Jio Financial Services may find a place in the benchmark index Nifty 50 in the upcoming rejig in March, believes Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.

1 min

Invest if you have risk appetite and 7-year horizon

About three-fourth of taxpayers filed their income-tax returns for 2023-24 under the new regime.

2 mins

BARREL OF TROUBLE

Trump's tariffs on his major trading partners and India's 2025-26 Budget jeopardise the country's growing demand for fuel and put oil company finances under strain

5 mins

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