The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing at least six high-value loans sanctioned to firms between 2009 and 2011 when Chanda Kochhar was the chief executive officer and managing director at ICICI Bank. The probe agency suspects there have been kickbacks or illegal gratification for extending these loans.

The enforcement agency, interrogating Kochhar for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, said she had been cooperating in the investigation. However, she was not clear about certain transactions, it said.

Microsoft has come up with a new cool feature to its Excel Android app. The feature allows Excel users to convert data on a printed sheet to an editable table in the app just by clicking a photo.

The feature, which is initially available for Microsoft 365 users, will soon be rolled out to iOS.

Market benchmark Sensex on Friday rose over 196 points to end at 36,064 and also posted its second straight weekly gains amid signs of easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

The key BSE index also snapped its three-session losing run after the March derivatives series got off to a strong start coupled with uninterrupted foreign fund inflows.

GST collections in February dropped to Rs 97,247 crore from Rs 1.02 lakh crore in the previous month, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

However, compliance improved and the number of sales return or GSTR-3B filed for the month of January up to February 28, 2019 stood at 73.48 lakh. This is higher than 73.3 lakh returns filed in January.

Wagah: After a suspenseful wait lasting hours, Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman finally returned home Friday night from his nearly three-day captivity in Pakistan, a major step towards defusing a near-war situation triggered by India’s retaliation over Pakistan’s continued support for terrorism.

Amazon.com Inc plans to open dozens of grocery stores across the United States as it looks to expand in the food business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Amazon is also exploring a strategy of strengthening its new supermarket brand by purchasing regional grocery chains that operate at least a dozen stores, according to the report.

Consumer sector saw some pick-up in competitive intensity with P&G getting aggressive though not alarming yet. Raw material basket is comfortable, but a sudden rise in crude and copra prices needs to be watched against. Except for Britannia that talked about slowdown in the month of December, other FMCG companies didn’t highlight any slowdown though were cautious on commentary near-term with upcoming elections. ITC, APNT, NEST, DABUR and JUBI are our sector Buys.

Global investment firm The Carlyle Group on Friday bought 9% stake in SBI Life Insurance from BNP Paribas Cardif for `4,635 crore. According to the bulk deal on BSE, group firm CA Emerald Investments purchased 9 crore shares at `515 per share, at a discount from the market price. The stock price of SBI Life on Friday closed at `612.25 gaining 5.47%.

Continuing the muted demand trend, sales of passenger vehicles in February for market leader Maruti Suzuki grew by marginal 0.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) at 1,36,912 units.

While passenger vehicles sales in the April-June quarter had clocked a 20% y-o-y growth, the trend has reversed since then. Post the September quarter results, Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava had pointed out that the festive season was a dull one.

The government Friday appointed former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia as chairman of state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB).

Bank of Baroda is set to become the third largest lender of the country after amalgamation with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank effective April 1.

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