India’s government is holding up Facebook Inc.’s plans for a nationwide launch of its WhatsApp payments service over concerns about how users’ data will be stored and other issues, according to people familiar with the matter.

The country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, or MEITY, has asked WhatsApp and its partner banks to supply more details about the payments system, said ministry officials, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Thursday reported a 12% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise in standalone net profit for the quarter ended June at Rs 1,025 crore on the back of healthy net interest income (NII) and improved asset quality. NII, or the difference between interest earned and interest expended by a bank, rose 15% to Rs 2,583 crore for the quarter.

The government has exempted state-owned explorer ONGC from the twin obligations of buying back its own shares and issuing bonus shares in the current fiscal, a move that would help the upstream hydrocarbon to not cut back on its capex plan of Rs 32,000 crore for the year.

Hyundai India, which turns 20 this year, is looking to ride on nostalgia to reconnect with consumers. From the launch of ‘family car’ Santro in 1998 that redefined the compact hatchback segment with its tallboy design, to its current portfolio of vehicles, the OEM is looking to transition from a mass brand to a modern, premium one.

BENGALURU: Infosys chief executive Salil Parekh cannot join a rival company for six months if he decides to leave the IT services firm.

Infosys has handed him an employment contract with strict and detailed terms, after facing flak over what critics called an overly generous agreement with his predecessor, Vishal Sikka, who had left the company after an ugly public spat with its founders.

Demand is back in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment for IT services, but this time, the pattern is different. While traditionally, majority of the large deals in the BSFI space were in areas such as migration of legacy processes to core banking implementation, the newer deals are more front-end with more focus on consumer experience. This is being led by newer technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data & analytics and block chain.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given an in-principle nod to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for acquiring a majority stake in IDBI Bank, sources said.

The government-owned insurance behemoth had sought the banking regulator’s nod before it had approached the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) for seeking regulatory approvals, a senior government official said.

Telecom regulator Trai has notified new rules to check pesky calls and messages, rejecting claims of operators that they have to bear additional costs to set up infrastructure. In fact, the regulator has said that compliance costs will come down drastically as the operators can outsource the work to establish, operate and maintain the infrastructure to digital ledger or blockchain providers.

In a bid to lure more customers and curb the onslaught by Reliance Jio, BSNL has now introduced a new recharge plan for its prepaid customers. The new BSNL STV 19 is suited for the users who make calls more than accessing data services. The BSNL STV 19 worth Rs 19 offers calls at slashed tariffs for a validity of 54 days.

Volvo Cars , whose Chinese parent Geely is considering an IPO of the Swedish carmaker, said it was on track for another sales record despite rising trade tensions, after second-quarter profit rose on strong demand for its SUVs.

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