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FSIB, the headhunter for directors of state-owned banks and financial institutions, on Monday recommended Ashok Chandra for the position of Managing Director (MD) and CEO of Punjab National Bank (PNB). He is currently the Executive Director of Canara Bank. He will replace Atul Kumar Goel who retires in December. The Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) interviewed 16 candidates for the position of MD & CEO of PNB, FSIB said in a statement.

Ambuja Cements will be open to exploring further acquisitions on its journey to 140 million tonne of production capacity, even after the Adani-group owned company has made two major buyouts in the last few months. “With a net worth of almost Rs 60,000 crore and being debt-free, we have enough opportunities for expansion, both organic and inorganic,” chief financial officer Vinod Bahety said. “You can understand the strength that the balance sheet has,” he told analysts on a call post the company’s quarterly earnings. The country’s second-largest producer of cement saw its consolidated profit more than halve on year in the September quarter to Rs 473 crore. Revenue from operations rose a little more than 1% to Rs 7,516 crore and were at an all-time high. The growth in revenues, though, was lower than the volume growth during the quarter.

Merlin Group, Kolkata's largest real estate developer, is currently executing projects worth Rs 20,000 crore, which are expected to double its annual revenue over the next 7-8 years, a senior official said on Monday. The announcement coincided with the unveiling of the company's new brand identity. «We have been growing steadily year on year for the past 40 years. The group is currently developing 40 million square feet that is projected to yield a total sales of Rs 20,000 crore in the coming 7-8 years,» Merlin Group managing director Saket Mohta said. The current annual revenue of Merlin Group is about Rs 1500 crore, he stated.

Nomura on Monday said the Indian economy has entered a phase of "cyclical growth slowdown" and the Reserve Bank's estimate of 7.2 per cent GDP expansion is «overly optimistic». The brokerage said it sees «rising downside risks» to its GDP growth estimates of 6.7 per cent in the ongoing FY25 and 6.8 per cent in FY26. «We believe India's economy has entered a cyclical growth slowdown. Coincident and leading growth indicators point to a further moderation in GDP growth and the RBI's forecast of 7.2 per cent for FY25 is overly optimistic,» the brokerage said in a note. The RBI maintained its FY25 growth estimate at 7.2 per cent earlier this month, even as some watchers have been coming out with lower numbers.

residential supply post-pandemic, becoming the third-largest market in Gurugram after Dwarka Expressway and New Gurgaon, according to the data by Square Yards. This growth is driven by improved infrastructure and increased developer activity. The total new supply in Sohna since 2020 has already surpassed the cumulative supply of the previous decade (2010–2020), signalling an inventory with an average age of less than four years. The market is dominated by 2BHK units, accounting for 65% of supply, followed by 3BHK units at 26%.

Sarbananda Sonowal visited the Pandu Port Complex to review the ongoing construction activities including the Northeast India’s First Ship Repair Facility as well as the Elevated Road corridor. The Union Minister also met with the senior officials of the Ministry as well as the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the nodal agency for the development of waterways in the country, to assess the progress of various projects being developed along the river Brahmaputra (National Waterways 2) with an investment of Rs 645 crores. Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Waterways have always been the lifeline for the people along the river. Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, this important aspect of our civilization became a focal point of renewed attempt at finding sustainable solutions for economic development and prosperity.

NTPC Green Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC. The company, which filed its draft prospectus in September, plans to raise Rs 10,000 crore through the IPO. The IPO is entirely a fresh issue of equity shares. The offer also includes a reservation for a subscription by eligible employees and a discount is being offered to eligible employees bidding in the employee reservation portion.

Ericsson expects its next phase of growth in India will be driven by network densification due to the rising data consumption appetite of end users in the country, a senior company official has said. Ericsson's managing director for India and head of networks for market area South East Asia, Oceania and India, Nitin Bansal told PTI that there is significant potential for growth in fixed wireless access in India, and it will soon surpass the number of deployments in the US. «The next phase of growth is focused on meeting increasing traffic requirements, primarily through network densification to enhance network utilisation. Network densification will occur due to increased network utilisation,» he said. Ericsson estimates that the data traffic in India will grow from 29 GB per smartphone user per month to 68 GB per smartphone user per month by 2029.

Shaktikanta Das, the Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on October 26, received award for A+ grade in Central Bank Report Cards 2024, for the second consecutive year. The award, presented by Global Finance in Washington D.C., USA, recognised RBI Governor's excellent performance and effective leadership in steering India's apex bank through complex economic challenges. In a social media post on X, RBI posted, «Governor @DasShaktikanta received the award for A+ grade in Central Bank Report Cards 2024, for the second consecutive year. Presented by Global Finance at an event held today in Washington DC, USA.»

Aaron Judge was voted player of the year and the American League’s outstanding player for the second time by fellow major leaguers in the annual Players Choice Awards of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was voted the National League’s outstanding player, the union said Saturday. Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs, hitting .322. He also won both awards in 2022. Ohtani became the first player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases, batting .310 with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 steals. He was voted the AL's outstanding player in 2021 and 2023 when he was with the Los Angeles Angels and won the overall player of the year in 2021.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma stated that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will award a compensation to two parties claiming same plots of land; so that the construction work of a four-lane highway between Vairengte and Sairang can begin adding that this is the first compensation of such its kind in the history of India. Lalduhoma while talking to media persons said that during his week-long tour of New Delhi, he participated in a review meeting on highways led by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari. The Chief Minister stated that he later met Gadkari and apprised the Minister that the construction of a four-lane highway between Vairengte and Sairang cannot be started as forest clearance could not be obtained; and added that though the Supreme Court had directed the Chief Secretary to find an alternative solution to the problem, the claim of the land by both the forest department and the land owners has credibility with both parties accurate in their claim.

Nirma detergent. Karsanbhai Patel, an Indian billionaire businessman hailing from Gujarat, founded Nirma. Patel was born in Gujarat's Ruppur in 1945 in a financially constrained family but his spirit driven by determination and the relentless pursuit of excellence, helped him carve a niche foe himself in business.

US elections 2024 to begin. Meanwhile, a latest poll tracking has now awarded Kamala Harris a big lead over her Republican opponent Donald Trump.

A jury in Nevada has delivered a $5.2 billion award in the latest large-sum civil lawsuit against a former Las Vegas-based bottled water company found responsible for causing liver damage in customers in 2021

World's Best School Prizes 2024. Ryan International School in Delhi, CM RISE School Vinoba in Ratlam, and Kalvi International Public School in Madurai were each honored with awards. CM RISE School Vinoba received the prize in the Innovation category. Ryan International School won the Environmental Action category. Kalvi International Public School received the Community Choice Award after securing the most public votes among 50 shortlisted schools. The awards are presented by T4 Education, a London-based organization, in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, and the Lemann Foundation. Jill Huntley from Accenture praised the winners, saying, “Your innovative solutions will inspire countless others across the world to take the action necessary to safeguard the future of our planet.”

Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a glittering 16-year career during which she became an inspiration for beating abject poverty and conservative views at a small town in Haryana where her father worked as a cart-puller. The-29-year-old will sign off as one of India's most decorated hockey players after leading the women's team to its best-ever finish at the Olympics — a fourth place at the Tokyo Games in 2021. «It's been an outstanding journey. I never thought I will play for so long for India. I have seen a lot of poverty from childhood but focus was always to do something, represent the country,» she told reporters here. A clinical forward, who made her international debut in 2008 as a 14-year-old in the Olympic qualifiers that year, Rani scored 205 goals in her 254 outings for India.

Ashok Leyland on Thursday announced that its electric mobility arm OHM Global Mobility has bagged an order for 500 12-m ultra-low floor electric buses from the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai. Further, another subsidiary of the commercial vehicle manufacturer, Switch Mobility, will supply EiV12 model buses to OHM, who in turn shall operate and maintain the buses over a period of 12 years, as per the contract awarded by MTC. This announcement comes days after the Hinduja Group's flagship company began delivery of electric trucks to Chennai-based Billion Electric Mobility (Member of Group BillionE), marking the company's growing focus on electric mobility. Ashok Leyland had bagged a contract to supply 180 electric trucks to Group BillionE which would be operated in the Chennai-Bengaluru, Chennai-Vijayawada routes.

Click here to register for the awards. With that thought, the Economictimes.com is back with ET MSME Awards 2024. This will be the fifth edition of the series. The winners of the ET MSME Awards will be announced at the Grand Finale in New Delhi in February 2025. This awards will honour the exceptional MSMEs in the country who are at the top of their game. Twenty-two exemplary MSMES, belonging to both manufacturing and services, will be felicitated and recognised for their business acumen and contribution to the Indian economy. With a goal of fostering a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and celebrating the resilience, innovation and achievements of the enterprises, ET invites MSMEs from across India to submit their applications and compete for this prestigious recognition.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Centre has put its grand highway expansion plan spanning decades on the backburner, shifting its preference to short-term projects that can be approved and rolled out quicker, two people aware of the change said. The complexities of long-duration projects prompted the Union road ministry to stop pursuing its Vision 2047 blueprint, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Ahmedabad-based Montecarlo Ltd, an engineering procurement and construction company, is exploring the sale of nine road assets in a deal expected to have an enterprise value of around $360 million (about ₹3,025 crore), said two people aware of the development. These nine road assets, or projects, fall under the so-called hybrid annuity model, which is considered attractive due to its risk-mitigation qualities.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Go First, the grounded airline entangled in bankruptcy proceedings, is seeking permission for a foreign funding lifeline to pursue a high-stakes arbitration case against Pratt & Whitney. If granted, the move would mark an unprecedented shift in India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), potentially reshaping how distressed companies fund litigation.