MUMBAI: State Bank of India has directed five associate banks to clean up their books as a prelude to the proposed merger — the move that has led to Rs 2,018 crore combined losses of associate banks in the first quarter ending June this year.

Senior officials from the State Bank group told ET that the associate banks were told to align the classification of loans with the parent bank, even if it requires them to take a hit on bottomline.

MUMBAI: Rising for the third straight session, the NSE Nifty closed at an over 15-month high of 8,711.35 and the BSE Sensex jumped over 104 points to 28,182.57 on firm global cues coupled with optimistic buying by investors ahead of the RBI policy meet tomorrow.

Sentiment remained upbeat throughout the day on account of positive Asian cues and a higher opening in the European stock markets, tracking record closing on the US bourses on Friday on the back of strong jobs data.

Mumbai, Aug 9 (PTI): Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, citing upside risks to the central bank's inflation target for March 2017, on Tuesday left all key rates and ratios unchanged at his last policy review meeting, as was widely expected.

But he stressed that the RBI continues to be accommodative.

Global software major Microsoft on Monday invited Indian developers to use its machine learning and data platforms for building digital products and solutions to transform businesses and drive inclusive growth.

“Our ambition is to democratise access to new technologies so that software developers can build, innovate and transform the world with them,” said Microsoft data group Vice President Joseph Sirosh at a conference on machine learning and data sciences here.

India's Independence Day is just around the corner. And it's the time when retailers, e-commerce websites and airline companies announce hefty holiday discounts to cash in on the festive mood.

With I-Day only six days away, in the aviation sector, so far SpiceJet and Air India have announced discounted fares.

Idea Cellular has fallen to its 52-week low of Rs 96.55, down 6% on the BSE in early morning trade, after the company reported weak set of earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17).

Idea Cellular, India's third largest mobile operator by subscribers, on Monday posted a 74% year-on-year (YoY) decline in the consolidated profit after tax to Rs 220 crore in Q1FY17, compared with Rs 855 crore in the same period a year ago. Net sales grew 7.9% YoY to Rs 9,484 crore.

State-owned ONGC shelled out Rs 18,787 crore in excess subsidy over 3 years as it 'over- reported' crude oil production by 12%, which also resulted in extra payment of peformance related pay to its executives, government auditor CAG said on Monday.

In a report tabled in Parliament, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said ONGC 'over-reported' its crude oil production by 12% through inclusion of items like condensate in the output.

NEW DELHI: As many as 112 projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are running late on account of factors like delays in land acquisition and regulatory hurdles, Parliament was informed on Monday.

"One hundred and twelve projects of NHAI are delayed beyond the scheduled date of completion. These include projects currently under implementation also," Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Mansukh Lal Mandaviya told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Quetta, Pakistan, Aug 8 (Reuters): A suicide bomber killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more in Pakistan on Monday, in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta, according to officials in the capital of the violence-plagued southwestern province of Baluchistan.

The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, crowded into the emergency department to accompany the body of a prominent lawyer, who had been shot and killed in the city earlier in the day, Faridullah, a journalist who was among the wounded, told Reuters.

Mumbai: The markets regulator has written to the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry to ease regulations for alternative investment funds (AIFs), in line with the suggestions of a committee headed by Infosys Ltd co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, two persons familiar with the development said.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) wants a relaxation of the stringent norms of safe harbour for offshore fund managers, parity of taxation on AIFs with equity investments and exempting the funds from paying withholding tax, one of the two persons said.

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