PAM Financial News

Lending to the services sector slowed to 15.2 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September 2024 from 21.6 percent a year ago, primarily due to lower growth in credit to ‘non-banking financial companies’, the RBI said. Retail loan growth moderated to 16.4 percent (y-o-y) in September 2024 as compared with 18.2 percent a year ago, largely due to decline in growth in ‘other personal loans’, ‘vehicle loans’ and ‘credit card outstanding, the central bank said. However, ‘housing’ – the largest constituent of this segment – recorded accelerated growth.

Centrum Group is likely to finalise the sale of its housing finance subsidiary by the end of this fiscal, with the odds evenly distributed between the possibility of a 100% sale and part monetisation. The group is in talks with five-six investors and the discussions have now boiled down to the valuation of the company, people aware of the matter said. According to market sources, Centrum is looking for a valuation of around Rs 1,300 crore for the housing finance subsidiary, which is a little below the current market cap of Centrum Capital, the operating holding company of the group.

Elon Musk, has bought a compound in Austin, Texas which costs $35 million and it consists of three homes, standing within walking distance from one to another. According to New York Post, the main residence is a mansion of 14,400 square foot and it is made taking the inspiration from Tuscan villas accompanying a six-bedroom house directly.

Daylight saving time (DST) affects approximately 400 million individuals across North America and is currently a focal point of discussion regarding its necessity. This biannual ritual of adjusting clocks forward in spring and back in autumn has been a staple in American, Canadian, and Cuban culture for over a century. However, recent legislative efforts and changing public opinions are prompting a reevaluation of its significance in today's world.

retained players ahead of the mega auction. The rules for this year were tweaked by the BCCI with franchises allowed up to six retentions, which can include a maximum of five capped players and two uncapped players. However, retaining six players will come with a price of Rs 79 crore, which will leave only Rs 41 crore in the auction as the total purse for each team is Rs 120 crore. Further, the teams can use Right to Match (RTM) cards if with a number of RTMs equal to six minus the number of direct retentions. For example, if a team retains three players, it will have three RTMs available.

Korean Peninsula, after Pyongyang said it had test-fired one of its most powerful missiles to boost its nuclear deterrent. The launch was North Korea's first weapons test since being accused of sending soldiers to Russia. South Korea's military said its «initial judgement» was that the projectile may have been a «new solid-propelled long-range ballistic missile».

mega auction, declaring the battlefield open. Rishabh Pant and Delhi Capitals are expected to part ways, presenting a chance for Royal Challengers Bengaluru to fill in the wicketkeeper-batsman vacuum in the team after Dinesh Karthik’s exit. Moreover, Shreyas Iyer, the 2024 IPL winning skipper is also expected to be dropped by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), further adding the thrill to the marquee auction. KL Rahul was the third skipper to have parted ways as Lucknow Super Giants eye a cracking season.

Ben Stokes, England Test captain, has said his house was burgled this month while he his wife and two children were present and he was in Pakistan for the tour. Stokes was playing in the second Test at Multan when the burglary took place. Ben Stokes revealed that a group of masked men burgled his house and thankfully his wife, Clare, and his kids, Layton and Libby sustained no harm. The harrowing experience of home invasion occurred earlier this month on 17 October. Stokes said the “experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state”. During the crime, some of Stokes’ most valuable belongings were stolen, for which he has posted an 'appeal for help' to the public and cops, hoping to retrieve some of the items he holds closest.

Laxmi Puja. It is believed that during this time, Goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, emerged from the milky ocean when gods and demons were churning it. To seek her blessings, people perform various rituals to honor the Goddess. The ritual is dedicated to Goddess Laxmi, who symbolizes wealth, success, and good fortune. It is believed that performing this puja brings prosperity and luck for the coming year.

Diwali 2024, Meta AI is offering users a fun, customizable way to send festive greetings through WhatsApp AI-generated stickers. Diwali, celebrated on October 31 this year according to the Drik Panchang, symbolizes the victory of good over evil, commemorated by Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya. This year, many people away from home are taking advantage of AI features to send unique, personalized greetings to loved ones.

Microsoft and Meta are stepping up spending to build out AI data centers in a rush to meet vast demand, but Wall Street is hungry for a quicker payday on the billions invested. Microsoft and Meta both said on Wednesday their capital expenses were growing due to their AI investments. Alphabet, too, reported on Tuesday that these expenditures would remain elevated. Amazon, which is set to report results on Thursday, is likely to echo these forecasts.

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that its operating profits soared 277 percent on-year to $6.6 billion, but missed expectations as it struggled to leverage demand for chips used in artificial intelligence servers. The world's largest memory chip maker posted an operating profit of 9.18 trillion won ($6.6 billion) «largely due to one-off costs». It also warned in a statement that «the strength of the Korean won against the US dollar resulted in a negative impact on company-wide operating profit».

Tim Walz has been standing rock solid beside Kamala Harris ever since she joined the Presidential elections but it looks like he may end up losing his own home state, Minnesota, and there could be a multitude of reasons for that. Meanwhile, A Minnesota Post survey has now revealed that the fears are right, and Walz and Harris can indeed lose out on Minnesota, that could prove to be of strategic importance for Donald Trump and JD Vance.

power usage effectiveness (PUE) requirement as an eligibility criterion in its Rs 10,000-crore graphics processing unit (GPU) tender under the IndiaAI Mission, following industry pushback. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also extended the deadline for submitting bids to November 28 from November 12, according to a corrigendum issued on Wednesday. The deletion of the PUE clause will give a sense of relief to data centres that were finding it difficult to meet the requirement.

Country Delight has raised Rs 200 crore in venture debt from Alteria Capital. The new funds will be used to fuel the company’s expansion, increase capacity, and drive brand marketing efforts, the Gurugram-based company said in a statement. «As we scale our operations and prepare for our initial public offering (IPO) journey, it is important for us to use various capital sources to improve financial efficiency and also set us up for the next phase of growth,» said Chakradhar Gade, the chief executive officer of Country Delight.

Tamil Nadu’s Ranipet district, famed for being a hub for power loom weaving. But the small town, which is barely a hundred kilometres from state capital Chennai, is now poised to emerge as a nodal destination for global automobile manufacturing. In September, Tata Motors broke ground for its Rs 9,000 crore greenfield factory designed to produce cars for local and overseas markets for Tata Motors and JLR. The ambitious project is expected to create over 5,000 employment opportunities--both direct and indirect--and drive significant skill-building in the local community. Panapakkam has a population of around 11,536 as per 2011 census with residents primarily engaged in agriculture and weaving. The town is known as the production centre for power loom lungis, the sarong-like wrap favoured as everyday wear by multitudes of south Indian men.

Sebi) has proposed that asset management companies must deploy funds collected through new fund offers (NFOs) within 30 days from the date of allotment of units. In exceptional cases, if the fund house is not able to deploy the funds within this timeframe then it should give the reasons in writing to the investment committee. The committee may extend the timeline by 30 days, while also making recommendations on how to ensure deployment within this timeframe and monitoring it.

payments pie, have drastically cut down on these spends. PhonePe, Paytm, Amazon Pay and Cred have all cut down on their overall marketing spends and have reduced the incentives for their customers, data from the last two years show. Walmart-backed PhonePe, for example, spent only Rs 15 crore on customer incentives in the financial year 2024, down from Rs 950 crore in FY2019, according to its annual report.

Jeff Bezos defended the Washington Post’s decision of not endorsing a single US Presidential candidate just ahead of the US Presidential Elections scheduled to be held on November 5 while he asserted that political endorsements eventually creates a perception of bias. According to New York Post, in an op-ed which was recently published, Jeff Bezos described the move as a principal decision which eventually reflects the commitment of the newspaper towards independence. New York Post reported that Jeff Bezos also made an argument that endorsements do not really influence undecided voters and emphasized on the need for media credibility acknowledging the fact that public trust in journalism has eventually declined. Also Read: On Call: New police drama’s release date, where to watch, plot, cast and characters

Prime Video announces the release date for On Call, a police drama series featuring Troian Bellisario and Brandon Larracuente. The series will premiere on January 9, with all episodes streaming in over 240 countries.

Kamala Harris' latest strategies in the last phase of the election campaign in the United States, is arguably not going well with US voters. Apparently calling Donald Trump a 'fascist' is not cutting through with voters and Harris has now been warned to refrain from adapting such strategies as it may not look good in terms of the candidates' overall outlook.