India News

As demand slowdown hurts, makers of Lux, Lifebuoy, Santoor soaps cut prices

In wake of weak demand and tough competition, FMGC major HUL slashed prices of Dove, Lux, and Lifebuoy soaps, financial daily Livemint reported. The move is aimed at winning over consumers and passing on the benefits of cheaper input costs. Wipro Consumer Care, the maker of Santoor soap, also cut the price of the soap to stay in the game. Earlier this year, Santoor became the first soap brand from an Indian FMCG company to touch annual sales of Rs 2,000 crore.

RBI balance sheet must be strong, says Bimal Jalan committee report

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) balance sheet should be strong enough to support banks if there is a need to recapitalise them during a financial crisis, said the report of the committee to review the economic capital framework (ECF) of the central bank.

India, with one the lowest sovereign ratings, and not having a reserve currency to boot, should not think that risky actions by the government would still be as safe as advanced economies, said the panel headed by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan.

Japan orders evacuation of 240,000 people over flood, landslide fears

Japanese authorities on Wednesday issued a rare evacuation order for 240,000 people in the country's southwest over flood and landslide fears, as officials confirmed a man was killed in heavy rains.

The evacuation orders came after the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level alert for several parts of the northern Kyushu region.

Rupee opens 4 paise lower at 71.52 against US dollar

The rupee on Wednesday opened 4 paise lower at 71.52 against the US dollar amid rise in crude oil prices. The domestic unit on Tuesday spurted by 54 paise, its biggest single-day gain in more than five months, to close at a one-week high of 71.48 against the US dollar, boosted by positive sentiment over the fiscal situation.

IRCTC's Tejas train fares to be 50% less than flights on same routes; no concession, quota

NEW DELHI : Fares of two Tejas Express trains to be run by railway subsidiary IRCTC will be 50% less than that of flights on same routes, sources said Tuesday.

The Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation (IRCTC), the railways' tourism and catering arm, has been given the "flexibility" to fix the fares of the Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central Tejas Express as a test case ahead of railways' plans to rope in private players in the running of certain trains.

Irdai sets up single point of contact for regulatory sandbox

New Delhi: Insurance regulator Irdai has set up a single point contact for its regulatory sandbox (RS) initiative, wherein financial technology firms can seek permission to experiment with innovative approaches for the growth of the sector.

Regulatory sandbox (RS) usually refers to live testing of new products or services in a controlled/test regulatory environment for which regulators may (or may not) permit certain relaxations for the limited purpose of the testing.

SBI says doesn’t need capital from government

The State Bank Tuesday said it is well-capitalised and that it may not require any fresh funds from the government this financial year. On Friday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced an immediate infusion of Rs 70,000 crore into state-run banks to boost liquidity and their lending capacity by Rs 5 trillion.

The government had planned a staggered infusion earlier, but the rising tide of bad news on the economy forced its hand to open the purse-strings earlier. “For SBI, we are not looking at any recapitalisation right now as we are well-capitalised as we have been able to raise from markets.