Top 12 finance news of the day, August 12, 2020
In raids against Chinese individuals, web of bank employees, chartered accounts under scanner
20 premises of Chinese entities were searched in Delhi, Gurugram and Ghaziabad by the Income Tax department. Incriminating documents relating to hawala transactions and money laundering were found. A Chinese individual with a fake passport allegedly representing multiple Chinese firms in India was held. Read more
Markets trade lower after 4 straight days of gains
Benchmark indices opened the lower, after 4 straight days of gains, with most Asian markets also subdued, after overnight Wall Street gave-up gains and closed lower. Most of Asia was trading weak, with stocks in Mainland China lower, while the Hong Kong's Hang Sang dropped nearly 1 per cent in trade. Read more
Railways suspends regular passenger services indefinitely; special trains to run
The Indian Railways has suspended all passenger train services till further notice, nonetheless 230 special trains will remain operational. "This is to bring to the notice of all concerned that as decided and informed earlier as well, regular passenger and suburban train services will continue to remain suspended till further notice," said a statement from the Railways. Read more
GDP contraction in 1QFY21 expected at 18 to 20 per cent
Broking firm, Motilal Oswal expects GDP to contract 18 to 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2020-21. The brokerage firm believes that the decline in the IIP, which was released on Tuesday, was much lower than expected. Read more
10 women leaders in the tech industry you probably haven't heard of
All of us have heard of Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos and Satya Nadella, who head some of the world’s leading tech companies Facebook, Google, Amazon and Microsoft respectively. But often names of women who hold the position of CEOs, CFOs and other leading roles in tech companies does not carry the same recall value. Read more
23 players including Bombardier, Alstom attend meeting on running private trains: Railways
New Delhi, Aug 12 (PT) As many as 23 firms including Bombardier, Alstom, Siemens and GMR have shown interest in running private trains in the country and attended a pre-application meeting Wednesday as a first step, the Railways said. Other companies that attended the meeting on running private trains in 12 clusters included BEML, IRCTC, BHEL, CAF, Medha Group, Sterlite, Bharat Forge, JKB infrastructure and Titagarh Wagons Limited, it said.` Read more
SBI pension seva: 4 easy steps to register and it’s benefits
The State Bank of India (SBI) has unveiled a dedicated pensionseva.sbi website for the Indian pensioners. This online platform would allow all SBI savings account holders who have pension accounts with India's leading commercial bank to reap the well-being. India's largest pension-paying bank, SBI is servicing approximately 54 lakhs pensioners throughout the nation. Read more
Now you can use Aadhaar-linked Post Office Savings account for govt subsidies
In its circular dated 11 August 2020, the Department of Posts has said that account holders of post office savings account are eligible to receive direct benefit transfer (DBT) of government subsidies, if eligible. Read more
The rise and fall of ex-McDonald’s boss Steve Easterbrook
In 2006, with McDonald’s facing a growing chorus of criticism about the evils of fast food, one of the company’s rising stars, an executive named Steve Easterbrook, urged people not to “equate [the company] with society’s ills”. Read more
PM Modi to launch "Transparent Taxation" platform on 13 Aug
In a statement on Wednesday, the Prime Minister's Office said that PM Narendra Modi will launch the platform for "Transparent Taxation - Honoring the Honest" via video conferencing on 13 August. Describing the various initiatives taken by the CBDT (central board of direct taxes), the statement said that the platform to be launched will carry forward the various direct tax reforms already made. Read more
UK officially in recession for first time in 11 years
The UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record between April and June as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession. The economy shrank 20.4% compared with the first three months of the year. Household spending plunged as shops were ordered to close, while factory and construction output also fell. Read more
Gold prices plunge to Rs. 50,500/10gm; silver tumbles to Rs. 62400/kg
Gold and silver prices in India on August 12, 2020 extended their previous day's exorbitant losses. October gold futures on the MCX traded down by 2.46% or Rs. 1277 at Rs. 50652 per 10 gm. In line, silver futures also tumbled by a huge 6.7% or Rs. 4484 to Rs. 62450 per kg. In the previous week, gold prices in India scaled to more than Rs. 56000 while silver neared Rs. 78000. Read more
This FMCG stock could be the next Titan
The stock of Tata Consumer Products could be the next Titan in the making, brokerage firm Geojit has said. "Tata Consumer as a stock that we believe is an emerging full-fledged FMCG company as it wants to expand its product range in the coming few years. Tata group chairman has gone on record saying that Tata Consumer will undertake all initiatives in the FMCG space from the Tata group. Read more