Assurant Financial News

Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the «devastating plight» of MGNREGS workers in West Bengal and urged his government to facilitate the release of central funds to the state for clearing their pending wages. In his letter to Modi, Gandhi said that during his recent visit to West Bengal as part of the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra, a delegation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers from the Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity apprised him of the issues faced by them. Flagging the «devastating plight» of MGNREGS workers in West Bengal and their relentless fight for justice, he said, «Lakhs of our brothers and sisters have been denied work and wages under MGNREGS due to the stoppage of central funds to West Bengal since March, 2022.» «I was informed that many workers have not been paid for work completed in 2021 due to shortfall in funds,» the former Congress chief said in his letter to Modi dated February 10.

Gadkari on Monday said electric bus will be started by laying electric cable on the Delhi-Mumbai Express National Highway and the distance from Delhi to Jaipur will be covered in two hours and its fare will be 30 per cent less than a diesel bus. Addressing the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of 17 road projects with an investment of more than Rs 2,500 crore in Udaipur to accelerate Mewar's development, Gadkari said, «I believe that from Bandikui to Jaipur for Rs 1,370 crore, we are constructing a 67-kilometer four-lane expressway.» «This work will be completed by November 2024 and after that, I assure you that the journey from Delhi to Jaipur will be within two hours,» he added. Gadkari said the Delhi-Mumbai express highway is the first in Asia and the second in the world on which we have built an animal overpass so that animals do not have to cross the road.

PTI report. “Blockades were erected at many places in West Tripura district.

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, said, “By focusing on three tried and tested pillars of Liquidity, Quality, and Momentum (LQM), this is a first-of-its-kind multi-factor product in the smallcap segment, which will seek to track a robust portfolio of select 100 smallcap stocks from Nifty Smallcap 250 Index, with an endeavour for potentially lower drawdowns. At current market valuations, the investor may invest in a lumpsum manner or through a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP), but with a long-term investment horizon." The investment objective of the scheme is to generate returns, before expenses, that are commensurate with the performance of the Nifty Smallcap 250 Momentum Quality 100 Total Return Index, subject to tracking error.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday broke her silence on Sandeshkhali violence and said those responsible have been put behind the bars. Banerjee's remark came on a day when Governor CV Ananda Bose cut short his Kerala trip and visited the area in North 24 Parganas to assess and review the law and order situation there. «Anyone can go to Sandeshkhali. We have no issues with that. We have already sent the state women commission team there. They returned and submitted a report. Those who have instigated violence have been arrested. The situation is being monitored closely and necessary steps are being taken,» she said while speaking to reporters at Dumurjala stadium in Howrah district. Governor Bose described the Sandeshkhali situation as «ghastly» that left him «shocked and shattered». He assured the women, who tied rakhis on his wrist, of full support to get justice.

Shirdi, which could result in a surge in ridership as a result. This announcement was made during his participation in the inauguration of the refurbished Mela Bus terminus of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in Nashik. Originally, the Nashik-Pune semi-high-speed rail project intended to traverse Nashik-Sangamner-Pune, spanning a distance of 235 km, with an estimated cost of Rs 16,000 crore. The Nashik-Pune semi-high-speed rail project is being implemented by Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, a joint venture between the Government of Maharashtra and the Ministry of Railways. The alteration in the route to include Shirdi adds an additional 30 km to the Nashik-Pune route. Fadnavis explained that discussions with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed that the initial route would escalate project costs substantially due to extensive tunneling requirements, a challenge alleviated by the new route.

Mutual Funds vs bank deposits: A change in how consumers view money, shifting from saving to investing, is tightening the availability of funds in banks. The shift from saving to investing among consumers is reducing the amount of available money in banks, as more people are choosing mutual funds over traditional savings accounts. Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar, explained that this change in consumer behavior is tightening liquidity in banks. 

Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They offer a convenient and secure way to invest in gold without physically owning it. Investors pay the issue price in cash and bonds will be redeemed in cash upon maturity. The Reserve Bank of India issues these bonds on behalf of the government.

India, eight veterans of the Indian Navy who were sentenced to death in Qatar, were released by Doha on Monday. The capital punishment was commuted to an extended prison term earlier following diplomatic intervention by New Delhi. Amid desperate pleas by the anxious kin of the Navy veterans to secure their release and safe passage back to their homeland, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had assured that it would mobilise all diplomatic channels and arrange legal assistance to bring them back.

Indian real estate takes a stride towards transparency and continues to attract global investments; the adoption of title insurance emerges as a pivotal step in safeguarding interests of stakeholders including homebuyers as well as institutional investors. Its usage is also witnessing gradual rise across key property markets in India. However, certain challenges including limited awareness and a fragmented regulatory landscape continue to hinder the widespread adoption. What is Title Insurance? Title insurance is a specialised form of indemnity insurance designed to protect real estate owners and lenders against financial losses stemming from defects in the title or ownership of a property. These defects could include undisclosed liens, encumbrances, errors in public records, or even fraudulent claims on the property's ownership.

Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, has received support from merchants, and it assured them of continuity of services without any disruption, the company said in a blog on Sunday.The blog post came amid the recent crisis around Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), an associate company of Paytm, which has been barred by the RBI from accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags and other instruments after February 29.Withdrawal or utilisation of balances by its customers from their accounts, including savings bank accounts, current accounts, prepaid instruments, FASTags, and National Common Mobility Cards, are to be permitted without any restrictions up to their available balance.

Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai — will arrive in Chandigarh on February 12 to hold talks with a deputation of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. The meeting will be held at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 here, a day before the farmers' proposed 'Delhi Chalo' march. Pandher also shared the letter inviting them to hold the talks in Chandigarh.

Tipra Indigenous Students Federation (TISF) is planning a blockade of National Highway-8 and rail routes for an indefinite period from Monday. TISF is the student wing of the Opposition Tipra Motha Party (TMP). The blockade is part of the students’ protest against the Tripura Board of Secondary Education’s (TBSE) decision not to allow tribal students appearing for ‘Kokborak’ language to write answers in the Roman script. Kokborak is the language of Borok people who are geographically known as Tripuris.

In August, Ali Bongo, then-president of the Central African nation of Gabon, made a startling revelation to a top White House aide: During a meeting at his presidential palace, Bongo admitted he had secretly promised Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Beijing could station military forces on Gabon’s Atlantic Ocean coast. Alarmed, U.S. principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer urged Bongo to retract the offer, according to an American national security official.

Amit Shah on Saturday said that the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, will be notified and implemented before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. «CAA is an Act of the country, it will be definitely be notified. It will be notified before the polls. CAA will be implemented by the polls, and there should be no confusion around it,» Shah said speaking at the ET Now-Global Business summit here in the national capital. «CAA was a promise of the Congress government. When the country was divided and the minorities were persecuted in those countries, Congress had assured the refugees that they were welcome in India and they will be provided with Indian citizenship. Now they are backtracking,» Shah said.

The first suit, filed in October, charged Genesis and its former CEO Soichiro Moro, its parent company, DCG, and DCG’s CEO Barry Silbert with defrauding investors and the public by trying to conceal more than $1.1 billion in losses, which were borne by investors. The suit has been amended after more DCG investors came forward claiming they had been misled about the safety of their investments, says AG James. “After months of false promises, we pulled the curtain back and revealed that DCG was lying to investors and defrauding them out of billions,” says Attorney General James. “The fraud and deceit were so expansive that many additional people have come forward to report similar harm.” The suit relates to a failed partnership between Gemini and DCG unit Genesis on the former's Earn interest-bearing product.

Champai Soren on Friday hit out at the BJP for allegedly conspiring to destabilise the Hemant Soren-led JMM government ever since it came to power in 2019. Criticising the BJP for lacking substantial issues to present to the public, he claimed that they resorted to foul tactics to undermine the government's stability. The CM emphasised that the mandate of the people was in favour of Hemant Soren, who initiated various welfare measures despite the economic slowdown due to the pandemic. «People's mandate was in favour of Hemant Soren, who formed a popular government and started delivering the goods even though economic activities came to a standstill for two years because of the pandemic,» the chief minister said after disbursing the first set of installments of the Abua Awas (housing) Yojana to beneficiaries here.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance recently launched an inclusive scheme that enables policyholders to access assured early income. The latest offering, Bajaj Allianz Life Assured Wealth Goal Platinum, provides guaranteed payouts from the commencement of the second policy year.

—Name withheld on request

SGB's new tranche opens next week: Sovereign Gold Bond Series 2023-24 Series IV will open for subscription next week. SGB Scheme 2023-24 Series 4' will be open from 12 Feb'24 to 16 Feb'24 for 5 days. Investing in SGB is a safe way to invest in gold instruments that are backed by the government.

Sovereign Gold Bond (SGBs) are substitutes for holding physical gold and are government securities denominated in grams of gold. The investors must pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity. SGB is issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of Government of India. Latest SGB tranche opens on Monday: 6 ways to invest in Sovereign Gold Bonds The SGB Series 2023-24 Series IV will open for subscription on February 12, 2024 and will close for subscriptions on February 16, 2024.