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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the appeal filed by Chanda Kochhar against the Bombay High Court order which had dismissed her plea against being removed as the managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank.“Sorry, we are not inclined to interfere with the high court order,” a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.“This falls within the realm of private bank and employee,” the apex court said.The bench was hearing Kochhar's appeal against the March 5 order of the high court which had dismissed the plea against termination of her services as managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank while noting that the dispute arises from a contract of personal service.

New Delhi: Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland on Tuesday reported 5 per cent increase in total commercial vehicle sales at 10,659 units in November. The company had sold 10,175 units in the same month last year, Ashok Leyland said in a regulatory filing. Domestic sales increased 4 per cent to 9,727 units as against 9,377 units in November 2019, it added. Total heavy and medium commercial vehicle sales were down 14 per cent at 5,114 units as compared to 5,966 units in the year-ago month, the company said. Light commercial vehicles sales were, however, up by 32 per cent at 5,545 units as compared to 4,209 units in November last year, the filing added.

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd may discontinue its premium Galaxy Note phone next year, sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that would reflect the sharp drop in demand for high-end smartphones due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Galaxy Note, known for its large screen and a stylus for note-taking, is one of two Samsung premium phone series - the other being the more compact Galaxy S which draws in consumers with its state-of-the-art parts. At present, the South Korean tech giant does not have plans to develop a new version of the Galaxy Note for 2021, three sources said, declining to be identified as the plans were not public. Instead, the Galaxy S series' top model, the S21, will have a stylus and the next version of Samsung's foldable phone will be compatible with a stylus, which will be sold separately, one of the sources said. A second source said company development efforts that normally would have been directed to the Note would now be channelled into it...

MUMBAI: How often do you come across a PSU that is performing consistently well on the bourses? This city gas distributor, the country’s largest, is in no mood to slow down, and is the only state-run company whose stock has been ruling at record high levels.The company is Gujarat Gas.Stellar quarterly earnings, a booster to its key market in Morbi, a ceramic hub, as huge anti-dumping duty levied on Chinese ceramics by many countries, including the US, has further boosted the prospects of this stock.The stock has risen 42 per cent so far this year, and scaled a record high of Rs 345 on Wednesday. It is the second-best performing PSU stock so far this year, after Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which is up 45 per cent for the year to date.This performance compares with the BSE PSU Index, which has eroded 24.3 per cent value in the same period, while BSE Sensex has risen 6.2 per cent.The stock price of Gujarat Gas has doubled in last three years, and 209 per cent ...

Wendy’s Co. has struck a deal with India’s Rebel Foods to open about 250 so-called cloud kitchens across the country, one of the most ambitious efforts yet to serve customers through delivery rather than the traditional fast-food stores as the industry adapts to the coronavirus pandemic.The US. company is experimenting with a new format as the Covid-19 outbreak makes many consumers unwilling or unable to visit traditional stores. Cloud kitchens, which derive their name from cloud computing, are remote facilities without seating or cashiers that prepare food exclusively for delivery.Wendy’s, with nine brick-and-mortar outlets in India, said it believes its cloud kitchen alliance is the largest yet in the industry. Rebel Foods, backed by Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is the world’s largest cloud-kitchen operator with more than 300 locations.“India is one of our high-growth, high-potential markets,” Abigail Pringle, Wendy’s chief development officer, speaking via video con...

NEW DELHI: Drug firm Aurobindo Pharma on Tuesday said it has completed the sale of Natrol LLC, a wholly-owned unit of its US-based subsidiary, to private equity firm New Mountain Capital. In October this year, the company had announced that it had inked a pact to divest Natrol LLC to private equity firm New Mountain Capital for USD 550 million. "The aforesaid transaction has been completed on November 30, 2020," Aurobindo Pharma said in a regulatory filing. Aurobindo Pharma had acquired Natrol in December 2014. Natrol's annual sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2020, stood at around USD 157 million. Earlier, Aurobindo Pharma Managing Director N Govindarajan had said that proceeds from Natrol's divestiture will be used to reduce debt and other new strategic initiatives.

NEW DELHI: Drug major Glenmark Pharma on Tuesday said it has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for Axitinib tablets, used in the treatment of kidney cancer.The tentatively approved product is the generic version of Inlyta tablets of PF Prism CV.Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc, USA has received tentative approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for Axitinib tablets in the strength of 1 mg and 5 mg, the company said in a regulatory filing.Quoting IQVIA sales data for the 12 months ending October 2020, Glenmark Pharma said the Inlyta Tablets, 1 mg and 5 mg market achieved annual sales of approximately USD 518.8 million.Glenmark's current portfolio consists of 166 products authorised for distribution in the US market and 45 ANDA's pending approval with the USFDA.

India's manufacturing recovery faltered in November as coronavirus fears weighed on demand and output, prompting firms to cut jobs for the eighth month in a row, a survey showed.Asia's third-largest economy and the second most affected country by the pandemic contracted 7.5% in the July-September quarter, compared to a record 23.9% slump in the previous quarter amid some signs of a recovery in manufacturing, official data showed on Friday.But the Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index , compiled by IHS Markit, declined to 56.3 in November from October's more than a decade high of 58.9, although it is well above the 50-level separating growth from contraction for a fourth month.Sub indexes tracking overall demand and output indicated robust growth but rates of expansion were the weakest in three months."Although the softening of rates of expansion seen in the latest month does not represent a major setback, since these are down from over decade highs in Oct...

New Delhi: Farm equipment manufacturer Escorts Agri Machinery on Tuesday reported a 33 per cent rise in tractor sales to 10,165 units for November 2020. The company had sold 7,642 tractor units in November last year. Domestic tractor sales increased 30.9 per cent to 9,662 units, against 7,379 sold in November 2019. "The dealer and depot stocks continue to be low. Stock correction in the coming months would continue to push the industry upwards, supported by healthy water reservoir levels and a good harvest," Escorts Agri Machinery said in a regulatory filing. The company said the supply chain is still volatile but should improve going forward. "We have taken a price increase this month to pass on the inflation in the commodity prices," the company added. Tractor export in November 2020 stood at 503 units, against 263 in the same month last year.Untitled Carousel 79491447 79504500

MUMBAI: Specialisation, which has been driving growth for consumer goods, is now showing a marked increase for one of the most mundane products in the market — toothpaste. Need-based offerings are showing a sharp uptick. These include addressing tooth sensitivity, whitening or with herbal and ‘natural’ flavours.As a result, the market is fast moving from generic all-in-one toothpastes to more need-based offerings such as whitening, mint & herbal flavours, and those that address sensitivity. This is in line with global trends where specialty toothpastes are being developed, while some have been repositioned in the beauty/lifestyle category.Toothpaste, with a market size of around Rs 10,000 crore, is one of the most highly penetrated products and is growing at 2-3%. A case in point for specialisation is the sensitivity category, growing five to six times faster than the overall oral health category. 79501786Tapping this potential, GSK Consumer Healthcare is expanding its flagship bra...

NEW DELHI: The arbitration award to Vodafone by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the long-standing tax dispute was recently discussed at the highest level of the government as the deadline to appeal against the verdict approaches.While there is a strong view within the administration that the award should be challenged at the Singapore-based appellate tribunal, no final decision has been taken yet, said people familiar with the development.The issue was discussed at a recent meeting where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present. The government has time till December-end to appeal against the award and another meeting is likely to be held soon to finalise a response, said these people.A final call on the issue would be taken after examining all pros and cons, including the legal ramifications and impact on investment sentiment.Some experts are of the view that India should not appeal against the arbitration award as it would send a positive signal to foreign inve...

New Delhi: Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson want India to include their existing manufacturing-related investments in the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme, which was recently announced by the government for telecom and networking products. The scheme is expected to support and incentivise exports from India, similar to the plan which has kicked off for the mobile handset industry. The European telecom gear vendors also want India to focus on bringing the component ecosystem under the new scheme, which aims at giving sops of nearly Rs 12,200 crore. “Cost levels in India productions are a little higher than other countries, so I really welcome this kind of a policy which is coming up to provide incentives for local manufacturers because that really helps the Indian economy,” Sanjay Malik, the India market head for Nokia told ET. “The whole policy framework is known at a very high level... We are also awaiting details. but there’s only one appeal from my side that it (scheme...

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea (Vi) is expected to lose 50-70 million subscribers in the next 12 months after haemorrhaging 155 million subscribers in the last nine quarters, Fitch Ratings said, adding that Reliance Jio Infocomm could net more than half of Vi’s subscriber losses, with Bharti Airtel bagging the rest. “We expect Bharti and Jio to increase their combined revenue market share to 80% (it was around 74% by September) in the next 12-18 months,” Fitch Ratings said on Monday. In the second quarter, Airtel added 14 million subscribers — double that of Jio's seven million. Vodafone Idea is rapidly losing market share given its weak balance sheet and limited financial flexibility. Fitch said Vodafone Idea's plan to raise about $3.4 billion through a mix of equity and debt is unlikely to restore its competitive position and reverse subscriber losses, as it would still be insufficient capex. 79498837 Vodafone Idea has so far paid about $1.1 billion of its total $8.9 billion dues r...

Mumbai: Indian savers rarely have had to brood over eroding values of their fixed deposits unlike their Western counterparts. While interest rates in India have not been cut to the near-zero levels as in the advanced economies, the Reserve Bank of India’s latest experiment with negative real interest rates, in an attempt to jumpstart the economy, is forcing squirrels out of their burrows. Result: They are dipping their toes into shares that have hitherto been ignored by the markets — and even out-of-favour residential properties.Real rate is the return that a security earns over inflation. Currently, the safest banks offer around 5% for one-year fixed deposits, while the consumer inflation in October was at 7.6%. So, the current real rate of return — before taxes — is -2.6%, which essentially means inflation is eating away at the value of savings. Effectively, negative real rates punish cash hoarders.So how are savers reacting? The concept of real rates is alien to most small-time save...

Mumbai: Leading Indian carmakers are spreading the cheer of an unexpectedly strong revival in demand during the August-October festive season among employees by doling out increments after several gloomy months for the industry triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.Utility vehicle and tractor major Mahindra & Mahindra is handing out increments to employees effective December. Normally the company announces its increments on August 1 but it was deferred this time due to the pandemic and consequent uncertainties.“With a reasonable amount of normalcy restored, we’ve decided to go ahead with annual increase now,” said Rajeshwar Tripathi, CHRO at M&M. “Our increments will be effective December onwards and will not be backdated,” he added.Other market leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, Royal Enfield, TVS Motors, Hyundai, Kia and MG Motors have also been handing out annual increments to employees over October and November.Maruti Suzuki announced salary increments across cadres in...

Mumbai: High net worth individuals (HNIs), ultra-HNIs and even informed retail investors have lapped up trades that offer annualised returns of between 15 per cent and 54 per cent by buying futures contracts and simultaneously selling underlying shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank, MRF, Bajaj Finance and Shriram Transport Finance Company that have seen heavy cash-based buying recently due to MSCI inflows running into billions of dollars.Termed reverse arbitrage, the trades exploit spot-futures mispricing due to supply-demand factors like the recent MSCI rebalancing-induced heavy cash buying, or corporate actions that lead to heavy futures selling due to anticipated fall in cash market shares. The trades in the current context offer risk-free monthly spreads or returns of 1.2-3.6 per cent. On an annualised basis, the returns gross 15-16 per cent and 54 per cent in one case. Kotak Mahindra Bank December 31 futures last traded at a Rs 23.3 a share discount (1.24 per cent monthly spread) to the ...

S&P Global Ratings on Monday retained its forecast of 9 per cent contraction in the Indian economy for the current fiscal, saying even though there are now upside risks to growth but it will wait for more signs that COVID infections have stabilised or fallen.S&P, in its report on Asia Pacific, projected the Indian economy to grow at 10 per cent in the next fiscal."We retain our growth forecast of negative 9 per cent in fiscal 2020-2021 and 10 per cent in fiscal 2021-2022. While there are now upside risks to growth due to a faster recovery in population mobility and household spending, the pandemic is not fully under control."We will wait for more signs that infections have stabilised or fallen, together with high-frequency activity data for the fiscal year third quarter, before changing our forecasts," S&P said.According to the official data released last week, Indian economy recovered faster than expected in the September quarter as a pick-up in manufacturin...

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: US information technology company Cohesity is likely to emerge as the top paymaster this year at the Indian Institutes of Technology, where final placements in virtual mode start on December 1.Officials from leading campuses told ET that the San Jose-based company will offer salaries of $200,000 (Rs 1.48 crore) per annum on a cost-to-company basis to the selected students for US roles, which is the highest package for the Class of 2021 so far.According to IIT placement team members, Cohesity will offer a gross salary of $120,000 per annum, while variable components and stock options account for roughly $80,000.“The offer packages have been shared with the respective placement cells and they are very competitive,” Apurv Gupta, chief technology officer of Cohesity, said in an email response to ET, without mentioning figures. The company will visit the IITs at Bombay, Kanpur, Madras, Delhi, Kharagpur, Roorkee and BHU (Varanasi) to hire software engineers and research en...

Officials from leading campuses told ET that the San Jose-based company will offer salaries of $200,000 (Rs 1.48 crore) per annum on a cost-to-company basis to the selected students for US roles, which is the highest package for the Class of 2021 so far.

New Delhi: Moody's Investors Service on Monday said the bank capital will moderately fall in emerging Asia over the next two years, with India seeing larger capital decline without further infusion. In a report, Moody's said the uncertain trajectory of asset quality is one of the biggest threats for emerging market banks, as operating conditions remain challenging amid the current COVID pandemic. The 2021 outlook for banks in emerging markets is negative, while the outlook for insurers is stable, it said. "In the Asia Pacific region, banks' rising nonperforming loans and insurers' volatile investment portfolios are in focus. Capital will moderately fall in emerging Asia over the next two years, and banks in India and Sri Lanka will post larger capital declines without public or private injections," Moody's said. It said non-performing loans (NPLs) will rise most for banks in India and Thailand because of the greater shock to their economies and historicall...

A new book maps the trail-blazing story of the brand, the company and most of all, the individuals who have made Royal Enfield what it is now -- a premium homegrown consumer brand for the global markets. The book, "Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield", is written by journalist Amrit Raj. Beside spilling the beans on the "behind-the-scenes takeover dramas" and the "bare-knuckled battle" to create the iconic brand, it is also the story of the clash of the old guard with the new leading to dramatic changes in the business. "New brands inspire the kind of devotion that an Enfield does. Its distinctive look and feel, the sound of its engine and the image that it creates of its rider have all contributed to putting the brand on the kind of pedestal that others could only dream of.. The book takes you to the heart of the Royal Enfield story," said Raj. From the beginning of the brand's journey in India in the early 1950s, the Enfield bikes have...

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel's Africa arm and telecom gear maker Nokia on Monday announced a three-year deal to modernise network in Nairobi with high-speed 4G, and deploy 5G-ready equipment. The deployment of 5G-ready network started in June and will cover hundreds of sites, the statement said. It will include upgrading existing 2G, 3G and 4G radio access network (RAN) coverage in urban, semi-urban, highways, tourist spots and central business districts in Nairobi and the rest of Kenya, it added. Nokia's network infrastructure will also offer Airtel Kenya the option to smoothly transition to 5G when necessary. The upgraded network will deliver enhanced connectivity to customers of Airtel Kenya and access to new, high-speed data services. Airtel Kenya CEO P D Sarma said in the statement said, "We are in the midst of rolling out our network to enhance coverage along with modernisation of our data network that will help us deliver improved, high-speed data services to our custom...

MUMBAI: Singapore's DBS Group said on Monday it had completed its takeover of distressed Lakshmi Vilas Bank, helping it shift from a largely digital presence in India to having hundreds of branches. The 94-year old Chennai-based private bank was folded into DBS's Indian subsidiary at the request of the Reserve Bank of India which cited a serious deterioration in its finances. Southeast Asia's largest lender, which will pump in 25 billion rupees ($338 million) into its India unit, until recently had just over 30 branches in India but has now added more than 550 and 900-plus ATMs. Rebranding of LVB branches has begun and ATM screens have also been reconfigured to reflect DBS's logo, according to a source familiar with the matter who added the exercise is likely to be completed within a week. The source declined to be identified as the information was not public. DBS India did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on the rebranding. DBS confirmed it will con...

Mumbai: Attractive valuations for the Burger King’s initial public offer (IPO) has pushed up the grey market premium for the stock to nearly 56 per cent two days before the offer opens on Wednesday.The Rs 810 crore offer would comprise of Rs 450 crore of fresh issue and offer for sale of up to 6 crore equity shares by promoter QSR Asia and would be sold in Rs 59-60 price range. At the upper price band, the OFS is valued at Rs 360 crore. Also, the company raised Rs 92 crore as pre-IPO placement from Amansa Investments in November.Dealers in the grey market said the stock was being traded at a premium of Rs 30-34, which translates to nearly 56 per cent premium to the offer price.“The IPO is seeing good traction in the unlisted market. Basically, investors are comparing it with Jubilant FoodWorks, and the valuations are cheap in comparison,” said Dinesh Gupta, co-founder of Unlisted Zone.Angel Broking pointed Burger King’s peer Jubilant Foodworks is currently trading at 8.7 EV/sales on FY...

Like the final placement this year which would be held virtually, even the internship drive was completely held online for the first time.

New Delhi: Housing sales in 2020 is likely to rebounded to more than 50% of the overall sales clocked in 2019, according to property consultants Anarock.Anarock sold 1805 homes in September-October period, an 78% increase from previous year when the firm sold1,016 homes across top 9 cities in India and Dubai.According to Anarock, despite COVID-19, organic buyer demand boosted sales amidst ongoing festive offers and discounts, government incentives (particularly stamp duty cut in Maharashtra) & prevailing low home loan rates.“Our sales in these two months saw a 78% y-o-y jump over the same period in 2019. Much can be attributed to the multiple schemes and offers available across cities this year – particularly the limited-period stamp duty cuts in Maharashtra,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. “In many cities, these incentives add up to an overall financial benefit of 5-15% of the property cost. The rock-bottom home loan interest rates have also played a role...

As uncertainty over the performances of actively managed equity schemes lingers, there is merit in allocating a portion of your portfolio to low-cost passive equity products, like index funds and ETFs. These funds mimic the returns of the indices. Usually the number of gaining stocks shrink when markets are at all-time highs.Financial advisors say funds actively managed by managers tend to struggle in such times.In the past two years, various fund houses have introduced index funds and ETFs that bet on various indices and asset classes. ET takes a look at four equity index funds recommended by financial advisors. Tata Index NiftyExpense Ration: 0.05 per cent (Direct plan)Assets Under Management: Rs 70 croresTop 5 holdings: Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, TCSA plain vanilla Nifty index fund, with the lowest expense ratio. Financial planners feel this is one of the best starting point for investors beginning their equity journey. It works well for someone wanting market ex...

ET Intelligence Group: Stocks of city gas distribution (CGD) companies could be accorded a premium price-earnings multiple compared to their average since the downstream gas regulator’s fresh rules to allow new players would not translate into heightened competition as initially feared by investors. CGD companies such as Indraprastha Gas and Mahanagar Gas saw their stocks rise 10-14 per cent last Friday after the Petroleum and Natural Regulatory Board (PNGRB) announced its policy on open access — a rule for the usage of gas infrastructure facility of incumbent players by a new entrant — which removed the overhang on stocks for the past one-and-a-half years.Under the new policy, third party open access has been allowed for new CNG stations after the date of notification while the existing facilities operated by dealers and franchisees of authorised CGD companies (including oil marketing companies) have been kept out of its ambit. It even bars OMCs from putting up their own dispenser uni...

Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have received 182 pre-placement offers (PPOs) this year as compared to 170 PPOs in the last placement season. Companies take students as interns for a brief time lasting over a month following which they make job offers also called PPOs to these students. At IITs, students receive job offers as part of PPOs and direct recruitment by companies also called the final placements. The Phase I of campus placements is scheduled to commence on 1st December 2020 for the academic year 2020-21. Like the final placement this year which would be held virtually, even the internship drive was completely held online for the first time. “The sustained increase in the number of PPOs this year is a clear reflection of the academic quality of IIT Madras and its students. I am optimistic that we would be able to carry forward this momentum and our students would obtain the best possible job offers in Phase-1 placements," said professor CS Sha...

The Trump administration has introduced via a ‘temporary final rule’ a visa-bond pilot program where applications from certain countries travelling to the US for business or as tourists will have to furnish a bond, it's denomination can be as high as $ 15,000.However, as the overstay rate for Indians travelling on B1/B2 visas (business and tourist visas) is not high, Indians are excluded from having to furnish such a bond under the pilot program. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, nearly 12.26 lakh Indians who had visited US on these two visas were expected to depart, or in other words the authorised period of their visa tenure expired within this fiscal year. Only 13,203 overstayed which resulted in India’s overstay rate of 1.08% - much below the 10% which the Trump administration is focussed on targeting.The temporary final rule was published on November 24 and the pilot program will come into effect, 30 days post that, which is by end December. It will apply to nat...

MUMBAI: As organizations reassess their overall office space requirements and look for workplace flexibility in the wake of the pandemic, activity in the co-working offices segment is likely to gather further momentum in the next year as operators will reposition themselves and continue to drive the commercial real estate market of the country.Leasing by co-working operators is expected to increase 42% on-year in 2021 to 4.9 million sq ft with shared offices likely to gain greater significance in the post-Covid world, showed a Savills India study.Co-working players are expected to close the year 2020 with leasing of around 3.4 million sq ft, accounting for 11% share of the total office leasing market. Although the overall leasing activity is expected to reduce significantly in 2020 as compared to 2019, it is expected to increase steadily over the next two years. The share of co-working space take-up in overall office leasing activity is poised to rebound to a 15% share in 2021, similar...

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Employers’ Association has written to the state government asking it to take stern action against employees who have resorted to protests outside the Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) manufacturing facility at Bidadi, 40 km off Bengaluru.In a letter to chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar, association president BC Prabhakar has expressed concerns over the possibility of the strike spreading to other industries as well. “We request you to take immediate steps to declare curfew around the premises of TKM, Bidadi, and take stringent action including arrest of troublemakers and also bar them from entering the Bidadi area,” the letter said.Unless timely steps are taken, there is a possibility of such employee unfair practices spreading to other industries. This will permanently damage the investment climate in Karnataka, the association stated as the protests at the facility has entered the third week.While the company has declared a lockout for the second time, some employe...

MUMBAI: Retail investors can now subscribe to initial public offers (IPOs) through Paytm Money. Digital financial services platform announced on Monday that it has enabled investors to instantly apply for all the IPOs via UPI ID, linked to their bank accounts to quickly complete the IPO application process. The company is leveraging the convenience of UPI infrastructure to offer a faster turnaround time reduced to 3-4 days for completion of the entire process.This launch will benefit retail investors with wealth creation opportunities, as they will be able to seamlessly apply and join the growth story of rapidly expanding companies, said Paytm. The company has made the process of IPO application completely digital & simple for retail investors across the country to apply for IPOs. It will continue to innovate and add new tech-savvy features for enhanced user experience.The platform offers an interface to make changes, cancel or reapply the bidding application within the IPO window....

By Niall FergusonIn “Shuggie Bain,” Douglas Stuart’s award-winning and harrowing depiction of alcoholism, sectarianism and deprivation in post-industrial Scotland, money is always scarce and often dirty. Deserted by her second husband and unable to hold down a job, Shuggie’s mother, Agnes, relies on her twice-a-week child benefit to feed her children — or her booze habit. As the latter nearly always wins, she and Shuggie are regularly reduced to desperate expedients to fend off starvation: Extracting coins from electricity and television meters, pawning their few valuable possessions, and ultimately selling their bodies for brutal sexual favors. Stuart vividly captures the miseries of a Glasgow of greasy coins and filthy banknotes. After one of many wretched copulations in the back of a taxi, one of Agnes’s lovers inadvertently showers her with coins from his pocket. Shuggie’s father briefly reappears at one point, handing his son two 20-pence pieces from his taxi’s change dispenser by...

Sachin Chaturvedi wears many hats. He is the director general of think tank RIS and is also on the RBI's central board. He was also part of the internal working group (IWG) set up by the RBI to revisit bank licensing norms. In an interview with TOI, he explains the thinking behind the recommendations. Excerpts:A lot of attention is currently focused on the entry of the corporate sector into banking. Did you expect this kind of a reaction?The reactions are on two or three different planes. One is focusing on the entry of large corporate houses. There are quite a few reactions that are welcoming the new scope for capital infusion in the banking sector, they are welcoming the efforts on enriched regulatory architecture and they are also trying to bring out the fact that the report has not just covered the architecture for universal banks but also the mechanisms needed for differentiated banks like small finance banks and payments banks. There is a need for a mix of institutional archi...

MUMBAI: India Inc has quietly progressed on the gender diversity front in spite of the pandemic. Engineering firm ABB, Hindustan Zinc (HZL), Sun Life Asia Service Center (ASC) and leading direct selling FMCG major Amway have improved upon their gender diversity numbers significantly this year through proactive hiring of women candidates.Zurich-based ABB, which underwent a transformation from a power and manufacturing company to a technology and automation company two years ago, has seen its diversity numbers increase to 14% in October this year from 9% in 2018. A traditional set-up in manufacturing can make it extremely challenging for women to consider this segment as a career option. ABB India CHRO Raman Kumar Singh said it’s challenging to fill up positions with a woman candidate due to a smaller pool of women in manufacturing. “A big inflection point for us was to bring a shift in thinking. Once we have communicated that a certain role can be done by a woman, we seek more time to l...

BENGALURU: With Jan Dhan accounts and the government’s direct benefit transfers (DBT), ATM usage has gone up in rural areas. This is most clearly seen by the trend of increased usage of ‘white-label operators’ ATMs, which are used only in rural and remote parts of the country. From just 2 per cent of total ATM transactions in India in 2014, these white-label ATMs now make up 12 per cent of total transactions.ATM players say that the main reason for this is that over seven years, the number of debit cards in India has doubled to 86 crore as of September 2020. And of those cards, 35 per cent (30 crore) are RuPay ones issued to PM Jan Dhan Yojana accounts. 79482864“We are seeing rural demand growing despite the pandemic. One of the reasons is that the rural economy has not been as severely impacted as the urban one with the lockdown,” says K Srinivas, CEO, BTI Payments, a white-label ATM operator. The government’s assistance to BPL workers during the pandemic is also held to have helped i...