The country’s second-largest private-sector lender, HDFC Bank, has reduced the interest rate on one-year fixed deposits by 25 basis points (bps) to 7%, lower than the 7.05% offered by the State Bank of India (SBI) on deposits of the same tenure. SBI had effected a 10-basis point cut on its one-year deposits, effective October 24, to push the rate down to a six-year low.

HDFC Bank has also slashed rates on its two-year and three-year fixed deposits by 25 bps each to 7%. SBI pays interest at the rate of 7% and 6.5% on its two- and three-year deposits, respectively.

The share price of real estate companies crashed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchanges on Wednesday a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the eradication of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes from the system effective November 8 midnight in a swift move to clamp down on black money in the system and against terror financing.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed stock exchanges to look into the disclosures made by listed Tata group companies, particularly Tata Motors and Tata Steel to ensure compliance with the listing regulations.

The move comes following Cyrus Mistry's allegations about losses incurred by the Tata group due to various projects like Nano car, European steel business and Mundra power project.

The demonetising of the existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will be a tough task for the banks to handle in the short-term as people will be queuing up to exchange the notes.

However, top bankers are unfazed by the decision. Top bankers said they would work round the clock to ensure that customers do not suffer and the situation is handled smoothly. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of country’s largest lender State Bank of India said demonetisation of high value notes won’t be a problem as the bank has done it before.

A dedicated Android app by Microsoft, to click selfies will now make you look better without any extra effort. The Microsoft Selfie app is designed to consider lighting, gender, age and skin tone to determine the extent of enhancement needed to make the picture look better naturally with just one click. However, this app by the tech giant is not a new thing, as it had been unveiled on Apple devices quite some time back. Microsoft Selfie app is now available for Android phones in the Google Play Store.

State-owned banking and financial services company Bank of Baroda today announced the appointment of Ratnesh Kumar as the new Managing Director and CEO of BOB Capital Markets Ltd., its 100 percent owned investment banking subsidiary. Ratnesh Kumar, who started his career in the Indian capital markets and financial services sector in 1993 holds a Masters degree in Management from FMS, University of Delhi and M.Sc. (Hons) in Physics and B.E. (Hons) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS, Pilani.

The alarming post-Diwali pollution is likely to take a toll on the entire National Capital region (NCR), crippling sectors like tourism, transport, automobile and real estate, according to a report.

“While it may be difficult to hazard a figure of economic loss, since the exact period of dangerous levels of pollutants would depend on the weather conditions along with administrative measures, there is no doubt that several billions of dollars of fresh investment and GDP loss would occur,” Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

Markets gained momentum in late trade to end higher on Tuesday after the recent developments indicate that Hillary Clinton is most likely to emerge victorious in the US presidential elections.

The outcome of United States presidential elections of 2016, which will be held today, will have a bearing on global stocks. Presidential election will be held between Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. The results are expected on the next day of elections.

US auto major Ford on Tuesday announced the setting up of its new research and development centre at a cost of Rs 1,300 crore.

Ford's Executive Chairman Bill Ford made an official announcement regarding the investment plan in Chennai.

Ashok Leyland Limited has reported a 71 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 294.41 crore during the September quarter in the current financial year as against Rs 172.20 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company, which had reported an impairment loss of Rs 157 crore in the second quarter of 2015 owing to its investments in joint ventures and subsidiaries, did not report any such loss during in the same period this year.

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