Business

Chinese cultural and tourism companies are moving to gain a strong foothold in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, betting that the 11-city cluster will drive a new round of growth in the sectors with its preferential policies and massive market scale. Online travel agency Ctrip said it is working with some Bay Area city governments on developing tourism products and enhancing the quality of local tourism. For example, it is studying with Zhuhai's Hengqin New Area the possibility of launching a "City Pass", a kind of prepaid ticket booklet with which tourists can visit sites in Zhuhai and the neighboring city of Macao. Ctrip is also cooperating with Guangzhou's Nansha district on an offline tourist consultation center. The online travel services provider said it will be responsible for operation, marketing and staff training of the facility, which is expected to come into service this year. "The cultural and tourism guidelines issued by the government in late ... » Learn More about Businesses say the Bay Area is a sure bet

India's services activity expanded at the fastest rate in a year during February, while employment fell further and companies noted the sharpest rise in overall expenses, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose from 52.8 in January to 55.3 in February, pointing to the sharpest rate of expansion in output in a year amid improved demand and more favourable market conditions. The index was above the critical 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the fifth month in a row during February as the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines led to an improvement in business confidence towards growth prospects. While, new work intakes expanded for the fifth straight month, panellists continued to indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions curbed international demand for their services. "New export orders declined for the twelfth month running, albeit at the weakest rate since last March," the survey noted. ... » Learn More about India’s services sector expands at fastest rate in a year in Feb; employment falls further: Survey

The discount should be equal to interest rates on savings bank account deposit of State Bank of India. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/ Rediff.com Soon, you can pay your insurance renewal premium in advance and get a discount. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued draft guidelines to the life insurance companies proposing to allow these companies to offer discounts for renewal premium collected in advance. “It has been decided to permit life insurers to offer discounts on renewal premiums paid in advance subject to conditions,” the draft norms said. According to the draft circular, the discount should be equal to interest rates on savings bank account deposit of State Bank of India (SBI) as of April 1 of each financial year plus an addition of at least 100 bps. This should be applicable for all advance premium during the entire financial year. Currently, SBI offers 2.7% interest rate on savings account deposits. ... » Learn More about Pay life insurance premium in advance and get a discount

Actor Deepan Murali has been posting photos of his vegetable ‘harvest’ with fresh looking beans, tomato, brinjal, cheera and even cabbage, among several other things. And interestingly, he grows all this in ‘How Old Are You?’ style on his first floor terrace at his rented house. “I have about 250 vegetable pots and about 150 pots of indoor plants,” says the enthusiastic gardener, who is set to start a nursery business in his native Thiruvananthapuram. While the actor was an avid gardener since childhood, he started dedicating time to it again for his daughter, who is now about 18 months old. “I am quite strict about my daughter’s diet and decided to start growing the vegetables that we need for the home. We barely buy anything from outside now,” he says. Deepan almost single-handedly created his ‘vegetable patch’, with a little help from his wife and her family in getting the mud to the first floor. He makes his potting mixture with a slurry of manure, neem and kitchen ... » Learn More about Deepan Murali: I get very tanned, but my vegetable harvest makes it worth it

Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov plans to start making its AK-203 assault rifle in India this year and wants to attract a wider audience with a hi-tech shotgun, chief executive Dmitry Tarasov said. Named after the designer of the AK-47 assault rifle that has been used for decades in wars around the world, Kalashnikov has been seeking new business and markets after being hit by U.S. and EU sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. It is targeting a 60% increase in annual revenue to more than 50 billion roubles ($675.33 million) by 2025, Tarasov told Reuters. Featuring a built-in computer, the Ultima shotgun envisages Wi-FI and bluetooth connectivity and can synchronise with smartphones. Also central to Kalashnikov’s growth plans is India, where it aims to produce 6.7 lakh AK-203 rifles in the next decade together with the Indian Defence Ministry. ... » Learn More about Russia’s Kalashnikov may make AK-203 rifle in India

The ED case follows the police complaint for alleged criminal conspiracy and defrauding investors. Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (MF), which shut its six schemes in April 2020, is facing the heat from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). According to sources, while the ED has registered a money-laundering case against the fund house and eight others, the market regulator has issued a show-cause notice and summons to the company and its key personnel who redeemed their investments days or weeks before the closure announcement. “Sebi has started adjudication proceedings into alleged breach of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (FUTP) regulations after an audit finding revealed that several individuals and entities linked to the fund house redeemed their holdings in excess of Rs 50 crore. "Some of the officials will appear before Sebi over the next few weeks,” said a source. An email sent to Sebi didn’t elicit any ... » Learn More about ED slaps money laundering case on Franklin MF

Mutual funds aspirants have the option of snapping up smaller AMCs or applying for a new licence. Illustration: Dominic Xavier/ Rediff.com The Securities and Exchange Board of India's decision to relax the profitability criteria for sponsors could pave the way for digital disruption in the Rs 30 trillion mutual fund industry. Market players say the move will entice technology-oriented firms to set up assets management companies (AMCs), which could create a paradigm shift by popularising concepts such as quant funds, robo advisory, and smart exchange-traded funds (ETFs.) The Sebi board on December 16 said entities without a 3-year profitability track record can act as MF sponsors, provided they bring double the net worth at Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion). The move followed lobbying by start-ups which don't necessarily have such a track record. At present, the domestic industry has 45 players with combined assets under management (AUM) of around Rs 30 ... » Learn More about Mutual funds set for digital disruption

Mired in corruption, politics and with a history of suicides by its hapless depositors, PMC Bank's revival is a challenge very different from Yes Bank and LVB, both for the regulator and the rescuer, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay. Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters The clock is ticking. After Yes Bank Ltd and Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd (LVB), all eyes are on Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank. The scam-hit co-operative bank is evaluating three bids it has received for its revival. The February 1984 born PMC Bank is a multistate urban co-operative bank. Unlike Yes Bank and LVB, where the revival plans were kept under the wraps and announced with electric speed after freezing their businesses, the last lap of PMC Bank's revival has started only now while a moratorium was clamped on it many months ago. On September 23, 2019, the Reserve Bank of India superseded the bank's board of directors, appointed an administrator and capped deposit withdrawal at Rs ... » Learn More about Will PMC Bank find salvation?

Yes Bank has taken over the headquarters of Anil Ambani's group in suburban Santacruz in Mumbai for failure to repay dues worth Rs 2,892 crore. Photograph: Prashant Waydande / Reuters. The private sector lender has also taken possession of two flats in South Mumbai for the non-payment of dues by Reliance Infrastructure, according to a notice published by Yes Bank in a newspaper on Wednesday. Nearly all the major companies in Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) were operating out of the Santacruz office called 'Reliance Centre'. However, in the last few years, the fortunes of the group have gone south with the companies meeting various fates, including bankruptcies and stake sales. Yes Bank said it had sought to recover dues of Rs 2,892.44 crore from Reliance Infrastructure on May 6 and took possession of the three properties on July 22 after a failure to repay even after 60 days of the notice. It cautioned the general public not to deal with the properties, ... » Learn More about Yes Bank takes over Anil Ambani’s hq in Mumbai

'Public sector banks are like an extended arm of the government.' Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/ Rediff.com Tamal Bandyopadhyay has been writing on the crisis in India's banking sector for many years. At a time when it has come to a point that the government was forced to announce an unprecedented recapitalisation plan of Rs 2.1 trillion for public sector banks, Bandyopadhyay is releasing his new book on the subject. His new book From Lehman to Demonetisation -- A Decade of Disruptions, Reforms and Misadventures is a collection of his columns published over almost a decade since 2008, when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and chronicles the Indian banking sector's journey to its nadir post the "trans-Atlantic" economic meltdown nine years ago. Bandyopadhyay, below , tells Rediff.com 's Utkarsh Mishra why India's public sector banks are in crisis. The first of a two-part interview: To what extent will the recapitalisation plan help distressed public ... » Learn More about ‘Public sector banks fear being hounded by the 3Cs’