If reports are to be believed, a proposal is brewing in the corridors of North Block to merge the UTI Mutual Fund with the fund arm of one of its shareholders and country’s largest bank State Bank of India. The ill-conceived proposal could not have been more ill-timed.

It comes at a time when UTI is looking to consolidate under a new chief after being headless for a few years. The market conditions have improved dramatically and this could have helped the fund house, which still has the best mix of funds, be it the asset type (equity vs debt) and the geographical spread, to surge forward.

In a move that will boost fee income for banks, the finance ministry has agreed to a long pending proposal of lenders for paying commission for transactions for direct benefit transfer. This will make account opening by the lenders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme viable.

Earlier, a task force headed by Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the UIDAI recommended a commission of 3.14 per cent to be paid for all DBTs handled by banks and business correspondents. However, provision for the expenditure was not made in previous budgets.

Promoters and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have reduced their stake in information technology (IT) major Infosys during the third quarter (Oct-Dec) of the current fiscal.

Total promoter holding in Infosys has declined by nearly 300 basis points to 13.8% at the end of the third quarter from 15.92% in the second quarter ended September 30, 2014. FIIs shareholding in the software giant has decreased by 109 basis points to 41.58% from 42.67% in past three months.

Shareholders of Kotak Mahindra Bank today gave their approval to merge Bengaluru-based ING Vyaya Bank with itself.

At an extraordinary general meeting, shareholders of the Mumbai-based private bank approved the merger proposal. The exchange ratio has been fixed at 725 shares of Kotak with 1, 000 shares of ING Vysya.

The national capital on Wednesday reported the first swine flu death of the year with a 42-year-old woman from Uttam Nagar succumbing to the H1N1 virus at a private hospital here.

The woman had died yesterday evening while undergoing treatment at a private hospital but her death was reported today, said Charan Singh, Additional Director in-charge of Public Health, Health department.

Subdued demand growth last year notwithstanding, car companies are ready with their offerings to begin the new year on a fresh note, with at least three crucial launches lined up this month.

Mumbai-based Tata Motors, which has finally found its footing in the car market after the launch of a compact sedan few months ago, is eager to unleash its second model Bolt (a hatchback). Bolt will be launched on January 22.

Shares of Ashok Leyland were trading higher by 3% to Rs 62, its new high on BSE, on back of heavy volumes.

Till 0937 hours, a combined 11.91 million shares have already changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE.

Infosys Technologies, the country’s second largest information technology (IT) services company, might lower its revenue growth forecast (‘guidance’) for 2014-15 when it details the earnings for the October-December 2014 quarter (Q3 of FY15) on Friday.

Persistent cross-currency headwinds, coupled with seasonal weakness, are seen to be weighing on the performance. The Bengaluru-based company had earlier pegged revenue growth for FY15 at seven to nine per cent.

Benchmark shares indices extended losses in late morning trade as heavy selling by foreign funds weighed on market sentiment.

At 11:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 152 points at 26,835 and the 50-share Nifty was down 40 points at 8,087.

After crying foul over its social service obligations for years, including running un-economical lines, Indian Railways is trying to develop its new social face under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

Rail minister Suresh Prabhu is working on a plan to utilize unused infrastructure at 8,000 railway stations across the country to impart skill development training for unemployed youth, particularly in rural and far-flung areas.

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