City Kolkata Financial News

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will be handed over to state government-run NRS Medical College and Hospital here on Friday for research work, a CPI(M) official. The body of Bhattacharjee, wrapped with the CPI(M)'s red flag, was taken out of his frugal two-room residence at Palm Avenue in south Kolkata on way to mortuary Peace World on Thursday. Earlier, Governor C V Ananda Bose, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose, CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim visited the Bhattacharjee residence. Bhattacharjee's wife Mira, in tears, walked along with the hearse carrying the mortal remains along with party leaders and hundreds of admirers cutting across political lines and members of the general public, before boarding a car.

Bengaluru a 'Metro' status. Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, explained on Tuesday that under Rule 2A of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, a distinction is maintained between the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Chennai, and other places concerning special allowance for residential accommodation under section 10(13A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The four designated metropolitan cities have a 50 per cent salary consideration for computing exemption limits, while other cities, including Bengaluru, have a 40 per cent limit, a Bangalore Mirror report stated.

Waqf Act, 1995, aiming to curb the unbridled powers of Waqf Boards, powers that were further enhanced by a 2013 amendment. This move is intended to bring transparency and accountability in the regulation and monitoring of over 8.7 lakh properties controlled by state boards across India and to address issues of corruption. Here’s a comprehensive look at what Waqf comprises and the challenges in managing these assets.

integrated check posts along the Indo-Bangladesh border following turmoil in neighbouring Bangladesh. The land custom stations at Golakganj and Mankachar in Assam were to be upgraded to integrated check posts while Sabroom land port, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March, was to start from August 14, on the eve of India's Independence Day, said officials. «Some land custom stations were selected for being developed as integrated check posts by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2021,» said officials, adding that both Mankachar and Golakganj are in Dhubri division of Assam. «Sabroom is the third land port after Agartala and Srimantapur in Tripura. It provides the northeastern region direct access to the Chittagong sea port in Bangladesh, which is 75 km away compared to the Kolkata/Haldia Port that is 1,700 km away,» they said.

interest rates have stayed steady since the end of 2023, showed Knight Frank India’s Affordability Index. Among key cities, Ahmedabad has emerged as the most affordable housing market with an Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) to income ratio of 21% for an average household. Following closely are Pune and Kolkata, each with an EMI to income ratio of 24%. Mumbai was the only city that remained marginally higher than the threshold at 51%. “Stable affordability is essential to sustaining homebuyer demand and sales momentum, which, in turn, acts as a key economic driver for the country. As income levels rise and economic growth strengthens, end-users’ financial confidence is significantly bolstered, encouraging them to make longer-term financial commitments toward asset creation,” said Shishir Baijal, CMD, Knight Frank India.

residential sales across India’s top seven cities are expected to witness double digit growth in 2024-25. The area sold in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai is likely to increase 10-12% to 785-800 million sq ft in the current financial year, on a high base of 2023-24, said ratings agency ICRA. Despite the moderation in the sales growth rate, the overall sales velocity, collections, and inventory position are estimated to remain healthy in 2024-25. The launches are expected to rise 12% on-year to 767 million sq ft in the current financial year, on an aggregate basis across the top seven cities, supported by decadal low inventory, comfortable years-to-sell (YTS, calculated as unsold inventory/sales in last 12 months) and healthy demand.

The minimum bid is for 90 shares, with additional bids in multiples of 90 shares thereafter.

IndiGo cancelled scheduled flights to and from Dhaka with immediate effect on Monday due to the emerging situation in the wake of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigning amid unprecedented anti-government protests. A Vistara official said it operated the flight from Mumbai on Monday and the situation is being monitored for operations to Dhaka on Tuesday. While Air India operates two daily flights from Delhi to Dhaka, Vistara flies daily flights from Mumbai and three weekly services from Delhi to the Bangladesh capital. IndiGo has flights to Dhaka from the national capital, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The number of flights that are operated by the airline could not be immediately ascertained.

Ur, possibly the oldest board game in the world, discovered in a 4,400-year-old royal tomb in Mesopotamia in the 1930s. Mukherjee has a replica he got from the British Museum in London. “It’s a fairly simple two-person game but the rules were discovered much later," he says.

White-collar hiring activity grew to 2877 points in July 2024, registering a 12% YoYincrease vs July 2023 and an 11% MoM sequential increase compared to June 2024, the latest edition the Naukri JobSpeak Index has revealed. Most sectors reported healthy double-digit growths, with Pharma/Biotech (26%), FMCG (26%), Real Estate (23%), and AI/ML (47%) leading the pack. However, some of the uptick could be attributed to an impacted base of July’23, which saw an atypical dip in Index value on account of the IT sector’s woes, a statement from the company said. The Pharma/Biotech sector recorded a substantial 26% YoY increase, with Baroda (61%) and Hyderabad (39%) driving the surge. Key roles within Pharma like Sales & Business Development and Procurement & Supply Chain saw a 42% rise in hiring. Similarly, hiring in FMCG sector grew by 26%, led by Bangalore (52%) and Kolkata (43%), with Marketing and Communication roles in FMCG experiencing a 57% increase. The Real Estate sector also demonstrated a strong 23% growth in hiring, largely influenced by Delhi-NCR (+51%) and Hyderabad (+28%).

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) reported a 47% increase in quarterly consolidated net profit on Thursday, boosted by a one-time income from divesting a stake in a container terminal subsidiary. Net profit for the June quarter stood at ₹3,113 crore compared with ₹2,115 crore a year ago, the company said, adding that it completed the sale of a 49% equity stake in Adani Ennore Container Terminal, realising a gain of ₹603.27 crore.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said 97.92 per cent of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes have returned to the banking system, and only Rs 7,409 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 was announced, has declined to Rs 7,409 crore at the close of business on July 31, 2024. «Thus, 97.92 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned,» the central bank said in a statement.

Dubai gold odyssey for Indian shoppers, say Indian jewellers, who also operate stores in the UAE.

Coal India Ltd is advancing 119 projects with a capacity of 896 million tonne per year and a sanctioned capital of Rs 1,33,576 crore, the world's largest miner said. These projects, which are at various stages of implementation, are part of CIL's «proactive strategy» to increase production capacity and meet future coal demands, the company said in its latest annual report.

This monsoon, take a hot chocolate walk in the rain Gitika Saikia, a curator of North East Indian food, grew up with similar experiences in the neighbouring state of Assam. She recalls the first day of planting—orhawri—spent in her father’s village of Nigam in Dibrugarh district, which would be followed by a feast in the paddy fields. The fish from the fields or the adjacent ponds would be wrapped up in large colocasia leaves, and taken home to be fried to golden perfection.

Union home ministry has restored the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) licence of the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), said people familiar with the matter.

Air India Express, a subsidiary of Tata owned Air India on Thursday announced that it has expanded its network to Tripura. It will introduce daily direct flights connecting Agartala to Guwahati, Delhi and Kolkata from September 1, said the airline in a press release. Tripura will be the airline’s 46th destination.

capital markets regulator SEBI to float an initial public offering (IPO). The size of the proposed IPO would be around Rs 850 crore, sources said.

Air India Express continued its network expansion, connecting Bengaluru to Abu Dhabi with its first direct international service from India's IT capital on Tuesday, officials said. With over 200 weekly flights, Bengaluru is the largest station for Air India Express, they said. In a statement, the airline said, «With the launch of the Bengaluru-Abu Dhabi flight, guests from cities such as Ayodhya, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune, Ranchi, Varanasi, and Visakhapatnam now have the option to connect conveniently to Abu Dhabi through one-stop itineraries via Bengaluru.» Air India Express operates direct flights connecting Abu Dhabi to Bengaluru, Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, and Tiruchirappalli and connects 17 Indian cities to Abu Dhabi via convenient one-stop itineraries, it added.

₹58,900 crore. This is made up of ₹26,000 crore for the construction of highways and a 2-lane bridge on the river Ganga at Buxar, ₹21,400 crore for power projects, including a new 2400 MW power plant at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district, and another ₹11,500 crore in special financial assistance for flood management, Similarly, for Andhra Pradesh, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced special financial support of ₹15,000 crore for a new capital city, fulfilling commitments made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.

Trinamool MLAs will be administered oath on Tuesday in the West Bengal Assembly, Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay said on Monday.