New Delhi-based public sector lender Punjab National Bank is planning to rationalise its branch network by shutting down or relocating up to 300 loss-making branches over the next 12 months.

Sunil Mehta, managing director and chief executive, said turning loss-making branches into profit-making units by tweaking the business strategy was priority.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday called demonetisation a “watershed moment in the history of Indian economy”. He quoted data extensively to make a case for the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on November 8 last year to put 86 per cent of currency out of circulation.

In a blog and at a press conference later at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here, Jaitley said the note ban had achieved its objectives of reducing the cash component in the economy, widening the tax net, exposing unaccounted wealth and reducing anonymity of cash.

Axis Bank hit a 52-week high of Rs 550, up 4% on the BSE in early morning trade, after the private sector lender said the board will meet on Friday, 10th November 2017 to consider fund raising plans.

“A meeting of the board of directors of Axis Bank will be held on Friday, 10th November 2017 at Mumbai, to inter-alia, consider raising of funds by issue of equity / equity linked securities through permissible mode at an appropriate time,” Axis Bank said in an exchange filing.

Leading industry body Assocham would take a 17-member delegation to St Petersburg in Russia to boost trade and technology tie-ups between the two countries. The visit, supported by the MSME ministry, would take place between November 13 and 19 and is an initiative to support Indian business connect with global companies for technology, trade and partnership, director (east) of Assocham Perminder Jeet Kaur said in a statement. The event would include an exhibition, B2B & B2G meetings and panel discussions.

Sensex and Nifty lost up to 1%, ended down after the slump in the shares of Reliance Industries, Lupin and State Bank of India. However, domestic stock markets hit the fresh record highs in the early afternoon trade. The sell-off in the stocks of heavyweight companies such as Lupin, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, RIL, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma led the indices into the red. Indian stock markets are weighing on the mixed sentiments about Q2 corporate earnings. BSE Sensex lost 360.43 points or 1.07% to finish at 33,370.76 points while NSE Nifty washed off 101.65 points or 0.97% to end at 10,350.15 points.

Private sector ICICI Bank today said its board has approved a proposal to sell part-stake in fully-owned broking business subsidiary ICICI Securities through an initial public offer (IPO).

It, however, did not mention the size of the stake it wants to divest.

Mumbai | Bengaluru: Former Infosys executives BG Srinivas and Ashok Vemuri are the frontrunners to be the IT company's chief executive, even as the firm explores creating a deputy CEO role to ensure management continuity, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The Bengaluru-headquartered company is not having an easy time picking a new leader after former CEO Vishal Sikka resigned in August following a bruising battle with founder NR Narayana Murthy over corporate governance issues. Cofounder Nandan Nilekani returned to the company as non-executive chairman to steady operations.

Kolkata, Nov 7 () The state-owned power equipment major, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is aiming at doubling the non-power revenue by 2022 and the projects will be executed on a turnkey basis.

The areas like municipal water, Ganga mission, solar, aerospace, defense and metro and high speed rail projects have been identified as growth drivers. "Currently, our non-power business is 20 per cent and we are aiming at doubling it to 40 per cent by 2022," BHEL Director Amitabh Mathur told . "Unless, we take turnkey projects like we do in power, topline will not be high," he said.

Calcutta: Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, a Coal India subsidiary, will examine the showcause notices carrying penalty worth Rs 20,169 crore issued by the Odisha government for violating mining plans, environmental norms and other regulations.

The respective deputy directors of the mines in the Talcher, Rourkela and Sambalpur circles have issued 24 notices on October 31, 2017, to the project officers of different mining projects of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. The subsidiary received these notices on November 1, 2017.

New Delhi: Just a month before business tycoon Vijay Mallya’s extradition hearings are set to begin in London’s Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court, India and the UK held talks to close loopholes in the immigration and extradition process on Monday.

Indian minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju and the UK’s minister of state for immigration Brandon Lewis headed the two delegations at the talks.

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