MUMBAI, JULY 19 (IANS): HDFC Bank has received shareholders' approval to raise up to Rs 50,000 crore through bonds.   The approval was given at the 26th Annual General Meeting of the bank concluded on Saturday.   "Approval of shareholders was obtained for issue of Unsecured Perpetual Debt Instruments (part of Additional Tier I capital), Tier II Capital Bonds and Long Term Bonds (financing of infrastructure and affordable housing) on a private placement ba

NEW DELHI, JULY 19 (IANS): In just nine months, the faceless assessment system of the Income Tax Department has turned into a game-changer in the area of direct taxation, empowered taxpayers and altered the facets and perception of tax administration.   Since the launch on October 7, 2019 and implementation of the first phase, the new system has provided for income-tax assessment in electronic mode, where "taxpayers need not have face-to-face meeting with the tax office

NEW DELHI, JULY 19 (IANS): A day after diesel prices were increased to extend the price gap vis-a-vis petrol in Delhi, oil marketing companies on Sunday decided to keep the pump prices of the two petroleum products unchanged.   Accordingly, diesel continues to be priced at Rs 81.52 per litre in the national capital, while petrol maintained steady levels at Rs 80.43 a litre.   Oil companies had raised diesel prices by 17 paisa on Saturday while keeping petrol price

New Delhi, July 18 (IANS): Leading e-commerce giant Amazon.in on Saturday announced Apple Days offering deals and offers on latest iPhone 11 series, Apple Watch, MacBook and more until July 25.   Potential customers can get iPhone 11 series for Rs 62,900. One can also avail an additional discount of Rs 4,000 on iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max using HDFC Bank Debit and Credit Cards.   Meanwhile, iPhone 8 plus will be available for Rs 41,500.   During

Bengaluru, July 18 (IANS): The tech-savvy Karnataka government has set up 112 charging stations in the city for electric vehicles (EV) and to encourage citizens switch over from fuel-based cars, an official said on Saturday.   "Of the 112 stations, 12 are DC (direct current) fast charging points and 100 are AC (alternate current) points for EVs, including scooters, autos and cars," an official of the state-run Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Ltd (Bescom) utili

NEW DELHI, JULY 17 (IANS): To shore-up market share, airline major IndiGo has launched an offer whereby passengers will be able to book two seats for a single passenger.   The offer '6E double seat' is available on IndiGo's website for both passengers as well as travel agents.   "The 6E double seat option will not be available through travel portals, IndiGo call centre, airport counters or after making the original single seat booking," the a

NEW DELHI, JULY 17 (IANS): Industry body Assocham on Friday announced the launch of a national health and wellness awareness programme "Illness to Wellness" to promote healthy living and preventive health through holistic measures.   Supported by the hygiene brand 'Savlon', the programme started with a webinar on the topic "Illness to Wellness - The Yoga Way" which was attended by health and yoga experts and industry leaders to deliberate on how Y

New Delhi, Juky 17 (IANS): Realme has announced today that a model of Realme X2 will go on sale via Flipkart and Realme India site at 8 pm on July 21. Realme X2, which was launched in the country in December last year, gets a new model with 256GB storage and 8GB RAM in India. The new model adds up to the existing three models. However, Realme has not announced the price of the new model.   Recently, the company launched a model of Realme 6 with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage

Brussels, July 17 (IANS): European Union (EU) leaders will meet on Friday in their first face-to-face summit since the coronavirus pandemic, with low expectations of a deal on a 750 billion- euro ($855 billion) post-COVID-19 stimulus package.   The Brussels meeting is due to continue on Saturday but EU leaders may need longer to reach a deal, the BBC reported.   While French President Emmanuel Macron described the outcome of the meeting as a "moment of truth&

San Francisco, July 17 (IANS): Slamming the Donald Trump administration for the way it has handled the Covid-19 pandemic, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the US response to the disease has been less effective when compared to even many developing countries.   "Every other developed country in the world, almost every other country has had relatively smaller numbers of new infections. We are now facing a record number of new infections every day...," Zucke

NEW DELHI, JULY 17 (IANS): Following the lodging of an FIR against Volkswagen, Audi and officials in Noida for installing cheat devices, the company said its vehicles are compliant with applicable norms.   In a statement, Audi India said, "Audi India has not received any concern from Mr. Aniljit Singh. We will look into the matter as and when it is escalated to us. We wish to clarify that all VW group vehicles in India are compliant with applicable norms and the matter

NEW DELHI, JULY 16 (IANS): Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that no other option is left with Air India but to go in for privatisation.   Replying to a question during a press briefing on civil aviation issues, the minister said that the airline cannot depend on state funding to survive.   He cited that due to the Covid-19-induced economic turbulance the Centre might not be in a position to support the airline as massive financial resour

NEW DELHI, JULY 16 (IANS): India's largest power generation company, NTPC has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), acting through National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIFL), to explore opportunities for investments in areas like renewable energy, power distribution, among other areas of mutual interest in India.   With this MoU, NTPC and NIIF aim to collaborate to further help the visio

NEW DELHI, JULY 16 (IANS): Similar to Alibaba and Tencent which created tech-based ecosystems in China, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is best positioned to create a similar ecosystem in India, according to BofA Securities.   It said that RIL is best positioned to create tech eco-system in India. "Similar to Alibaba and Tencent which created tech-based ecosystems in China, we find RIL best positioned to create a similar ecosystem in India," it added.  

NEW DELHI, JULY 16 (IANS): Expanding its popular Galaxy M series, Samsung on Thursday launched a new budget smartphone Galaxy M01s for Rs 9,999 in India.   The phone comes with a 6.2-inch Infinity-V display. It is powered by MediaTek Helio P22, Octa Core ( 2Ghz, 1.5Ghz) processor paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, an expandable storage of up to 512GB via a Micro-SD card.   The smartphone is available across Samsung's offline retail stores, Sam

NEW DELHI, JULY 15 (IANS): The contraction in India's exports narrowed down further in June, as merchandise exports stood at $21.91 billion.   Accordingly, the contraction caused by Covid-19 pandemic narrowed down to ( -) 12.41 per cent in June on a year-on-year basis from a (-) 36 per cent fall reported for May.   On a YoY basis, the country's exports fell during the month under review to $21.91 billion from $25.01 billion reported for the corresponding p

MUMBAI, JULY 15 (IANS): Reliance Industries' (RIL) foray into the digital commerce business is expected to be a major driver for the stocks of the company, a report by Kotak Institutional Equities said.   It noted that RIL's leadership in connectivity and retail businesses and recent strategic partnership with Facebook will enable it to further expand its presence in India's digital ecosystem, which can create significant value in the long run.   "

NEW DELHI, JULY 15 (IANS): Even as the privatisation process drags on, national carrier Air India has instituted a scheme whereby employees can opt to take 'leave without pay ranging from six months to up to five years.   Additionally, the airline's management will also have the option to send any employee on leave.   An Air India staff notice, which was reviewed by IANS, read: "The Board of Directors in its 102nd meeting held on July 7, 2020 has appr

NEW DELHI, JULY 15 (IANS): Curtailed mobility of people due to the Covid-19 pandemic is expected to shrink India's domestic air passenger traffic by 40-45 per cent in FY21, rating agency Crisil said on Wednesday.   Similarly, India's air passenger traffic in the international sector is expected to plunge by 60-65 per cent, Crisil Research said in a report.   "The demand destruction can be gauged from the fact that even after resumption of domestic air

NEW DELHI, JULY 15 (IANS): Automobile manufacturer Honda Cars India on Wednesday launched the 5th generation of sedan City in India.   The 5th generation of sedan has been launched in both petrol and diesel powered variants.   Accordingly, the petrol manual variant comes at a starting price of Rs 10.89 lakh, while that of CVT automatic is Rs 12.19 lakh and the diesel manual is Rs 12.39 lakh (Ex showroom Delhi).   "The all-new Honda City has been in