City Ahmedabad Financial News

Sebi employees on Thursday gathered around the headquarters of the markets regulator in Mumbai and staged a silent protest demanding the withdrawal of Wednesday's statement blaming «external forces» for the protest and also sought the resignation of their boss Madhabi Puri Buch. After The Economic Times reported that Sebi officials made an unprecedented complaint to the finance ministry last month and accused the top leadership of fostering a toxic work culture, the regulator issued a press release on Wednesday evening saying that HRA (house rent allowance) issues of staff are being misguided by external elements to target credibility of Sebi and its leadership.

Ganesh Chaturthi, one of the most significant Hindu festivals, will be observed on Saturday, September 7, 2024. The festival, celebrated with great fervor across India, marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the deity of wisdom and prosperity. Devotees engage in various rituals, including Puja and offering Bhog, to seek the blessings of Lord Ganesha for a prosperous and obstacle-free life.

Bharatiya Janata Party aims to enrol 2 crore primary members in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a senior leader said on Tuesday. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president CR Paatil renewed their party membership at an event in Ahmedabad as part of the party's nationwide membership drive. The Gujarat BJP unit launched an enrollment drive, a day after PM Modi asked BJP members in Delhi to expand the party during the membership program in a way that a maximum number of its women candidates are elected to Lok Sabha and assemblies when 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures comes into force. Paatil, also the union Jal Shakti minister, stressed that the Central leadership had not set any specific target for Gujarat. «However, the state unit will aim to enrol at least 2 crore members and secure top position among other states».

IIM-Ahmedabad's one-year MBA programme for executives (PGPX) faced challenges this year amid a global slowdown, with the highest maximum earning potential (MEP) offered at Rs 54.8 lakh per annum, marking a six-year low. The highest-ever MEP of Rs 1.08 crore was recorded last year, while the average highest MEP from 2018 to 2022 was Rs 70.56 lakh. In addition, the median MEP increased from Rs 33 lakh in 2023 to Rs 35 lakh in 2024. Out of 147 students, 126 opted for placements, and 121 accepted offers, leaving five unplaced. This is the second instance since the pandemic year 2020 where five students did not secure their desired offers. Three students pursued entrepreneurship, and two joined their family businesses. A total of 105 recruiters participated, with 67 being first-time recruiters. The placement data was shared through the Indian Placement Reporting Standards (IPRS) report for IIM-A's PGPX programme.

Navya Naveli Nanda, the granddaughter of Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, is making headlines for her recent admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. Navya has enrolled in the Blended Post Graduate Programme (BPGP) for an MBA, a specialized two-year course tailored for working professionals and entrepreneurs. Beyond her academic pursuits, Navya is a stakeholder in her father's company and a dedicated advocate for women's rights. She is the founder of Project Naveli, a non-profit organization focused on gender equality in India, emphasizing key areas such as education, healthcare, and financial independence for women.

Modi on Monday shared a nostalgic reflection on the BJP’s rise from its humble origins at the launch of the BJP's 'Sadasyata Abhiyan' 2024 in Delhi. Speaking with deep emotion, Modi reminisced about the early days of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and the relentless spirit of its workers. “When I was not in politics, at the time of Jana Sangh, our workers used to paint 'diya' (symbol of Jana Sangh) on walls with enthusiasm,” Modi recounted. “Leaders of several political parties used to mock us, saying that one cannot reach the corridors of power by painting 'diyas' on walls. We are those who painted 'lotus' on walls with such confidence that we knew, one day the 'lotus' painted on walls would be painted on the hearts of the people.” Modi highlighted the scorn faced by the party during its early years. “Some people have been making fun of us. When we had just two members in Parliament, we were mocked. Some people's character is such that they believe belittling others makes them appear significant,” PM Modi said.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said 97.96 per cent of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes have returned to the banking system, and only Rs 7,261 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public. On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation. The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes was announced, has declined to Rs 7,261 crore at the close of business on August 30, 2024, the RBI said. «Thus, 97.96 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned,» it said in a statement.

cyclone «Asna,» a deep depression over the Arabian Sea, causing heavy rains in Gujarat, is likely to move West-Northwest over the Northeast Arabian sea and away from the Indian Coast during the next 24 hours. Additionally, the IMD stated that the deep depression has been moving at a speed of 14 km per hour with a latitude of 23.6° N and a longitude of 66.4°E, 250 km West of Naliya in Gujarat, 160 km South-South West of Karachi in Pakistan, and 350 km East- Southeast of Pasni in Pakistan. Earlier on Friday, IMD scientist Ramashray Yadav said that Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar would receive light to moderate rains.

Driven by rapid urbanisation, mushrooming of shopping malls and surge in spending, tier II-III towns have seen a significant increase in manpower demand, said Yeshab Giri, chief commercial officer, operational talent solutions, at Randstad India, a talent management company. Cities such as Jaipur, Indore, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Vadodara, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Chandigarh and Vizag are witnessing 25-30% more demand than the previous festive season, he said. «Currently, ecommerce and logistics firms in tier II-III cities are hiring approximately 65% of the overall talent,» said Lohit Bhatia, president, workforce management, at Quess Corp. Metros and other tier I cities traditionally see a greater spurt in festive demand, he said.

Mumbai: The all-India House Price Index (HPI) moderated to 3.3 per cent in the June quarter of 2024-25 from 5.1 per cent in the year-ago period, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday. The RBI releases HPI-based on transaction-level data received from the registration authorities in 10 major cities. The cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai. «All-India HPI increased by 3.3 per cent (y-o-y) in Q1:2024-25 as compared to 4.1 per cent growth in the previous quarter and 5.1 per cent a year ago; annual HPI growth varied widely across the cities — ranging from a high of 8.9 per cent (Kolkata) to a low of (-)1.7 per cent (Delhi),» the central bank said.

Jay Shah’s election as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Banerjee wrote, “Congratulations, Union Home Minister!!! Your son has not become a politician, but has become the ICC Chairman — a post much much more important than most politicians'!!! Your son has indeed become very very powerful and I congratulate you on his this most elevated achievement indeed! Kudos!!”

Residential housing prices in the Delhi-National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) jumped by 30% year-on-year during the April-June quarter of 2024, the highest among the top eight cities in India, according to the report. In the Delhi-NCR region, the average housing prices jumped 69% in Dwarka Expressway during the quarter under review. Meanwhile, the average housing prices soared 45% year-on-year in Greater Noida during Q2 2024, according to the report. «Both these markets saw select marquee projects by leading developers during the quarter within luxury and ultra-luxury segments,» the report said. Bengaluru came second in the list as the housing prices jumped by 28% year-on-year in the southern city, as per the report. In Bengaluru, «the Periphery & Outer East micro markets witnessed the highest price rise at 42% year-on-year. Ongoing Metro extensions and upcoming suburban rail projects are likely to further boost residential activity, especially in Inner East and Periphery and Outer North micro-markets,» the report added. «1BHK apartments continued to see healthy demand, with their prices rising at 44% year-on-year followed by 4BHK configuration at 29% year-on-year rise,» the report said.

₹90,000 crore. To put that in perspective Vijay Mallya, who was accused of fraud and money laundering, owes Indian banks ₹9,000 crore. Another high-profile accused Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal owes about ₹7,000 crore to various banks.

India's flexible inflation targeting has been a useful tool to deal with unexpected shocks of various kinds, said Jayanth Varma, the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) consistent dissenter who attended his last meeting as an external member in August. Since his first meeting at the Reserve Bank of India's rate-setting panel four years ago, Varma's view on interest rates and monetary policy stance has diverged from the consensus opinion. At a time of accommodative monetary policy after the pandemic outbreak, Varma had argued for normalizing the policy stance.

Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) has dropped a tax demand of about ₹3,000 crore for 2017-18 against 18 foreign shipping companies operating in the country, people familiar with the matter said. The move brings cheer to foreign shipping lines, such as Maersk, Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd and Hapag Lloyd Mediterranean Shipping, who were facing notices for non-payment of goods and services tax (GST) on import of services from July 2017 onwards. The tax demand was dropped after the shipping companies gave a joint undertaking that there was no import of services in 2017-18, the people said.

ISRO on Friday threw open its scientific data gathered from the Chandrayaan-3 mission for researchers across the world for analyses to mark the first anniversary of India landing a spacecraft on the Moon. The space agency has granted access to over 55 gigabytes of data from the five payloads — three on the Vikram lander and two on the Pragyan rover — that created history on August 23 last year by making a soft landing near the unexplored south pole region of the Moon. «This data is not going to be confined with those scientists who have created those instruments, but it will be made available to all the researchers of the country and the world for furthering the outcome of this,» ISRO Chairman S Somanath said at the National Space Day celebrations here. The Chandrayaan-3 data sets are available on Policy-based data Retieval, Analytics, Dissemination and Notification System (PRADAN) portal of the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) — www.pradan.issdc.gov.in.

Indian Railways is gearing up to introduce the Vande Bharat Metro in Gujarat, marking a significant milestone in the nation's public transportation. This metro service, which is the first of its kind in India, will operate between Vadodara and Ahmedabad, with trial runs set to begin in the near future. JK Jayant, Chief Spokesperson of Western Railway, confirmed that the trials are scheduled to commence within the coming days, focusing on enhancing connectivity and efficiency, especially following recent upgrades to the railway route between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Accel has invested $9 million in Uppercase, nearly doubling the new-age luggage maker’s valuation after the investment to $60 million. The investment is earmarked for fuelling the brand’s expansion through new retail stores domestically as well as in Europe and the Middle East by next year, cofounder and managing director Sudip Ghose told ET. ET had reported on May 31 about Accel, an early investor in Flipkart, having discussions to invest in Uppercase, underscoring investor interest in new-age consumer retail brands.

Gujarat Police, undertook searches in multiple states on Monday as part of a money-laundering probe linked to alleged unauthorised streaming of ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 matches by a «betting» website. The federal agency said in a statement that 20 premises in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru (Karnataka), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) were covered by its officials and those from the Ahmedabad cyber police department in the case against the «magicwin» web portal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case, filed under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from an Ahmedabad police FIR, which stated that a website — magicwin.games — had unauthorisedly hosted, streamed and broadcast matches during the world cup. The broadcast rights for the tournament were given to Star India Private Limited by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the ED said.

Healthcare services in Gujarat were affected as doctors from government and private hospitals took to the streets on Saturday amid the 24-hour nationwide protest over the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at a Kolkata medical college. Doctors stayed away from the outpatient departments (OPDs) and did not conduct elective surgeries in several hospitals across the state as part of a strike call given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Gujarat Junior Doctors' Association. Doctors held protest gatherings and took out rallies, shouting slogans demanding justice for the woman doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. Dr Mona Desai, a former president of the IMA's Ahmedabad chapter, led a delegation of protesting doctors and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in the state capital Gandhinagar.

‘I am bored’ need not make parents recoil in horror Take, for instance, the Arthshila centres, run by the Takshila Foundation, which is helmed by the father-daughter duo of Sanjiv Kumar and Setika Singh. Envisaged as an immersive platform for artistic expression and creative experiences for people of all age groups, Arthshila has centres in Ahmedabad and Santiniketan, launched in 2021 and 2022, respectively, besides one other in Delhi, which was launched in January. These are open spaces, with curated programmes across disciplines, that hope to democratise art.