Inside HDFC Bank’s old-new playbook

Incoming CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan inherits a bank in fine fettle. Where will he take it from here?

Users can now appeal on content removal to Facebook’s Supreme Court

Facebook itself will also be submitting a 'limited' number of cases to the Board and has said that its word will be final in all content removal takedowns

India's new visa rules: Who is allowed and who is not in 10 points

• As India eased visa and travel restrictions imposed due to Covid, the Home Ministry said that OCI card holders and foreign nationals can visit India for any purpose, except on tourist and electronic visas

Next round of stimulus should focus on infrastructure: NITI Aayog VC

• NITI Aayog is in favour of infrastructure projects being the focus of the next round of stimulus measures rather than helicopter money
• Kumar cited railway station redevelopment as one example of short gestation infrastructure project which can get off the ground quickly

Covaxin update: Bharat Biotech gets nod from DCGI panel for Phase III trials

• The panel added that the recommendation is after assessing data from Phase I & II as well as animal challenge study
• Bharat Biotech is currently conducting Phase II human trials of Covaxin after receiving approval from the DCGI

Playing a second innings in business

From risk-taking to building resilience and making quick decisions, athletes share how their sports skills prepared them for a career in entrepreneurship

Covid politics takes centre stage as parties promise free vaccines

BJP vows to give free vaccines in Bihar poll manifesto, Tamil Nadu CM follows suit with similar promise

A PF account earns interest in event of no fresh contribution

The rule has since been modified, and now interest is earned in the account even if there is no contribution

Delhi govt's festive bonus: Employees can opt for cash equivalent of LTC

• 'Keeping in mind the hardship of the employees due to the COVID pandemic and lockdown, the government took the decision, Delhi government said in a statement
• An amount of ₹10,000 will be paid to the employees as advance, under the initiative

Mint Lite | International flights, Ex-Google CEO, festive cheers

Stories, views, opinions and talking points that matter, from around the world

Food delivery volumes spike in small cities due to reverse migration

Bengaluru-based food delivery firm Swiggy, due to reverse migration, has seen volumes and gross merchandise value (GMV)

L&T Finance Holdings Ltd Q2 net profit up 52% to ₹265.12 crore

• Total income rose 3.28% to ₹3508.91 crores during the period ended September 30
• L&T Finance Holdings saw a significant up-take in rural and infrastructure finance, led by a revival in the economy, leading to significant MoM improvement in collections

'Nothing beats a lungi below a jacket': Anand Mahindra's WFH fashion advice

'Nothing beats a Lungi below a jacket. Far more stylish and far less awkward in case you stand up accidentally, wrote Anand Mahindra while sharing the cover picture

Delhi's air quality in 'very poor' category, to deteriorate in next 2 days

• According to the CPCB, Delhi's AQI was in 'poor' category on Thursday morning at 254 and it deteriorated to 'very poor' at 302 by evening
• The share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 level was nine per cent on Thursday, SAFAR said

SBI Card Q2 gives a shock on asset quality even as spends revive fast

• The company set aside ₹862 crore as provisions, resulting in a 46% drop in its Sep quarter profit
• While management said most stress was due to moratorium, analysts see high provisioning in FY21

India has conducted 10 crores covid-19 tests so far: ICMR

• The country has conducted last five crores sample testing in only 45 days
• The total recovered cases currently are close to 69 lakhs

Govt fixes calculation ceiling for non-productivity linked bonus at ₹7,000

• Employees of Central para-military forces and armed forces would be eligible for this ad-hoc bonus
• The Cabinet had on Wednesday decided to give ₹3,737 crore bonus to 30.67 lakh central government employees to encourage spending during the festive season and add to demand in the economy

Burger King files for IPO, looks to raise ₹542 crore via fresh issue of shares

• The company plans to have about 700 restaurants, including sub-franchised outlets by December 31, 2026
• Investment banks Kotak Mahindra Capital, CLSA India, Edelweiss Financial Services and JM Financial have been appointed to advise the company on the IPO

Expansion of premium bike portfolio held up margins in Q2: Bajaj Auto

• Bajaj Auto’s Ebidta margins grew from 16.9% in Q2FY20 to 18.2% for the September quarter
• Bajaj Auto’s domestic three-wheeler volumes stood at 23,392 units, crashing 78% YoY

Covid-19: Modi govt has set aside ₹50,000 crore for vaccination, says report

• Govt estimates an all-in cost of about $6-$7 per person in the nation of 1.3 billion, according to sources
• The biggest challenge for India will be building up cold-chain logistics to distribute vaccines across India in a short period of time, said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

US elections 2020: One way Trump is doing better than expected

• Trump could be on track to win a higher percentage of African-American votes than any Republican candidate since Bob Dole
• Trump signed a landmark sentencing reform bill that led to the release of thousands of non-violent offenders

Class 10, 12 board exams should be discontinued after NEP roll out: Sisodia

Sisodia said that any change through NEP would be possible only if we are ready for paradigm shift in our education system, piecemeal approach won't help to achieve NEP goals

Serum Institute joins Merck, IAVI to develop antibodies against coronavirus

• As per a joint statement by IAVI and Serum Institute, the two monoclonal antibodies were co-invented by IAVI and Scripps Research as an innovative intervention to curb the pandemic
• Under IAVI’s agreement with Merck and SII, the partners will conduct an accelerated, integrated program of preclinical and clinical research to evaluate the antibodies for treatment of Covid

Goldman Sachs fined $350 million in Hong Kong over 1MDB

The regulator added that Goldman had accepted the SFC's findings, leading to an early resolution of the disciplinary action

Home loan rates at all-time low. Latest offers by SBI, Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank

• Kotak Mahindra Bank reduced interest rates on home loans by further 10 bps
• The excitement in the residential real estate sector is palpable this festival season, says Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and Proptiger.com

Covid-19 reinfections are real. Should you be worried?

• A wave of fresh outbreaks is causing a spike in new cases worldwide, before any rash of second bouts
• Reinfections may happen if our immune systems don't consistently mount a strong or durable reaction to the virus

Bajaj Auto’s Sep earnings highlight a much smoother post-pandemic ride

Analysts are expecting sales of two-wheelers to pick up in the festive season, with exports driving growth

Maradona's spectacular 1986 goal still inspires debate on Bank of England policy

• In a speech in 2005, then Bank of England governor Mervyn King cited a spectacular goal by Diego Maradona to show how a central bank can reach its aim by simply guiding expectations

WhatsApp will soon allow customers to buy products directly from Business chats

While WhatsApp already charges businesses for sending notification messages to customers, the new services allow the platform a new revenue making opportunity

Amazon Fire TV stick may soon get a hands free feature

The user will need to pair an external Amazon Alexa device the Fire TV to enable the feature

Wall Street banks see rare payday bonanza in India despite pandemic

• India saw $16.8 billion of M&As in its technology, media, and telecoms sector between January and mid-October
• U.S. and European banks received 41.9% of the total investment banking fees earned in India

Will provide Covid vaccine free of cost once ready: Tamil Nadu CM

• The Tami Nadu government's decision came ahead of next year’s Assembly elections on 7 October
• Earlier today, FM Sitharaman also announced that the BJP's vision document included the promise of free of cost Covid vaccination for the people of Bihar while releasing the party's manifesto for the state polls

Govt may shift chunk of FY21 subsidy burden to next fiscal

• The Centre often rolls over subsidy bill to the next financial year to keep fiscal deficit in check. In FY19, the finance ministry had deferred payment of food subsidy bill of over ₹69,000 crore to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of GDP

COVID vaccine may be ready by year-end, expects govt. A look at vaccine journey

• At present, three vaccine candidates — Covaxin, ZyCoV-D and Covishield — are at different phases of trial in India
• The regulator granted permission to Dr Reddy's Laboratories for conducting phase II clinical trials of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V

Bihar Dy CM Sushil Kumar Modi tests positive for Covid, admitted at AIIMS Patna

• The deputy chief minister posted on Twitter all the parameters are normal and that he was suffering from mild fever for the last two days
• He also mentioned that he would be back for campaigning soon

11.58 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees to get bonus equal to 78-day wages

• Payment of 78 days’ Productivity Linked Bonus to Railway employees has been estimated to be ₹2081.68 crore
• The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is ₹17,951 for 78 days, the ministry states