The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) is all set to make and security a key election issue in the upcoming polls in three states. The first glimpse of the plan was visible in Jind, Haryana, where party president Amit Shah had gone to launch the election campaign of the BJP in the state. In the course of the public meeting, Shah categorically stated that the abrogation of Article 370 had not happened for 70years but the Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had done it within 75days of returning to power at the Centre. Assembly elections may be held in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand later this year. This is not the first time that the BJP has made national integration and security a major election issue. During the 2019 general elections as well, party leaders had focussed on talking about the ai

Sembcorp Industries, the Singapore-based energy and urban development company, has made an equity infusion of Rs 521 crore (S$101.6 million) into its Indian arm, Sembcorp Energy India Ltd. The funds will be used to expand its renewable energy portfolio in India, according to the company's officials. Sembcorp Industries reported its half-yearly earnings for January-June 2019 with net profit at S$191 million, up from S$159 million in 1H2018, on improved performance from the energy business. Profitability in India continued to improve with net profit growing by 46% from the year-ago period to S$35 million (Rs 179.56 crore). Also, Sembcorp India has announced the commissioning of 200 megawatts in the first phase of its Solar Energy Corp. of India 2 and Solar Energy Corp. of India 3 wind power projects in Bhuj, Guj

The Union Government liberalized rules that would allow Indian companies to raise share capital without diluting the voting rights of all existing shareholders. The move is expected to help promoters retain control when they raise capital from new investors. The changes are expected to benefit India Inc., startups, which will be able to attract more capital, but without ceding control. The Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules of 2014 allowed the issue of shares with differential voting rights, subject to riders the business should have distributable profits for the previous three years, and the capital raised through shares with differential voting rights must not exceed 26% of the post-issue capital. Differential voting rights also allow investors to take a substantial stake in a company and be a finan

President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited AIIMS on Friday to enquire about the health condition of former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley which is said to be critical. The President visited the hospital around noon, while Shah and Adityanath visited AIIMS around 11.15 pm. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey were present during their visits. Jaitley, 66, is admitted at the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU). He is critical and a multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising his treatment. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health condition since August 10. Jaitley was admitted on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.

Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBH) shares fell nearly 10%, after rating agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded the mortgage lender's corporate family rating to 'Ba2' from 'Ba1'. The credit rating agency also changed its outlook to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’. The downgrade reflects renewed pressure on the cost and availability of funds for Indiabulls Housing Finance and certain other finance companies in the country. This presents a more challenging external environment than Moody's had anticipated, Moody's Investors Service further said. The outlook has been changed to negative to reflect the possibility that the tight funding conditions may persist for some time, which could further pressure other aspects of IBH's credit profile, such as profitability and asset quality. On the National Stock Exchange

Crude oil prices rose more than 1%  after two days of declines, buoyed after data showing an increase in retail sales in the United States helped dampen concerns about a recession in the world's biggest economy. In July, US retail sales rose 0.7% as consumers bought a range of goods even as they cut back on motor vehicle purchases, according to data that came a day after a key part of the US Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since June 2007, prompting a sell-off in stocks and crude oil. Saudi Arabia is committed to do whatever it takes to keep the market balanced next year, said officially. But the efforts of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have been outweighed by worries about the global economy amid the US-China trade dispute and uncertainty over Brexit, as well as r

According to the head of the South Asian nation’s payments network, India’s rapidly expanding market for digital payments is poised to get more crowded as the country races to catch China to squeezing out the use of cash, which means Indians will continue to face bewildering array of payments apps provided by Facebook Inc., Google, Amazon.com Inc. and many other apps, in contrast to China where two home-grown technology giants dominate the market. The Unified Payments Interface managed by NPCI allows any firm to use an infrastructure linking all the nation’s banks to create new digital payments services quickly and cheaply. It was created three years ago as part of a drive to reduce the use of cash and bring more Indians into the financial system. However, Facebook’s WhatsApp payment service remains in

Kotak Mahindra Bank has revised interest rates on fixed deposits (FDs) days after RBI reduced repo rate earlier this month. Kotak Mahindra Bank's new FD rates with effect from 9 August 2019. Other private-sector lenders such as Axis Bank and ICICI Bank also revised interest rates effective from 10th and 14th August respectively. Kotak Mahindra Bank offers an interest rate ranging from 3.50% to 6.90% for FDs maturing in 7 days to 10 years. The bank has reduced interest rates on FDs across all tenures in the range of 10 to 40 basis points. For FDs maturing in 7 to 45 days, Kotak Mahindra Bank has kept the rate unchanged, offering interest rate between 3% and 5%. After the latest revision, Kotak Mahindra Bank is offering 5.25% interest on FDs between 46-90 days. For 91 to 120 days, the interest rate is 5.75%. Kot