Provident Financial News

By Rae Wee

LIC), the country's biggest institutional holder of marketable securities, is officially an anchor investor for an upcoming bond sale by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Nabard), marking the first such occurrence in India's corporate debt market. Investment documents seen by ET showed that LIC is the anchor investor for the ₹5,000-crore infrastructure bond sale by Nabard on December 20. Besides the base, the issuer also has a green shoe option of ₹5,000 crore.

Federal Reserve's hints of rate cuts in 2024 and a plunge in US bond yields have paved the way for Indian sovereign bond yields to ease, although a sustained drop in borrowing costs would hinge on how the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) manages liquidity amid its battle against inflation. Easing sovereign bond yields make it cheaper for companies to raise money through bonds, as corporate borrowing costs are benchmarked to the rate of interest that the government pays to raise funds through debt. Since the US Federal Open Market Committee's policy statement on December 13, yield on the 10-year benchmark Indian government bond has dropped by 10 basis points (bps) to close at 7.16% on Friday. The Fed left interest rates unchanged while a majority of its officials signalled lower interest rates in 2024.

MUMBAI : Gamezop, the global provider of plug-and-play content solutions for apps and websites, is set to expand its offerings into three new domains—news, astrology and cricket—to help digital publishers monetize and boost user engagement. Part of Advergame Technologies, which also earlier launched the quiz service Quizop, the company is now launching three new products—Newszop, Astrozop, and Criczop—and has already licensed content from content developers. Newszop will be a plug-and-play solution that can be integrated into apps and websites as a news centre.

Monster Hunter Now Happy Hunting New Year events, providing insight into the release date, featured monsters and more. Pink Rathian Event: Release Date, Duration

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 features a diverse range of NPCs scattered across the landscape, each serving a unique purpose. This guide provides straightforward details on their locations for easy navigation.

Einstein and the Bomb" is set to premiere on Netflix on February 19, 2024. The historical docu-drama, directed by Anthony Philipson and produced by BBC Studios, delves into the life of Albert Einstein and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

(Reuters) — Global grains merchant Archer-Daniels-Midland said on Monday it will acquire Revela Foods, a Wisconsin-based developer and manufacturer of dairy flavor ingredients and solutions, to bolster the company's flavors portfolio.

Reliance Jio, country's biggest telecom operator, however had disagreed and told government that an auction is the right approach, similar to 5G spectrum distribution in India. Foreign satellite service providers could offer voice and data services and compete with traditional telecom players, and so there must be an auction to achieve a level playing field, Reliance had argued.

NEW DELHI : The fourteenth round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the UK will start in January 2024, the ministry of commerce and industry said in an official statement on Monday. According to the government, India-UK free trade agreement talks completed 13 rounds of negotiations that took place from 18 September to 15 December. Negotiators of both the parties – India and UK – discussed complex issues, including goods, services, and investment, in person as well as virtually.

US Federal Reserve said that it expects the federal funds rate to be at 4.6% by end 2024 and lower thereafter, down from the earlier forecast of 5.1%. The federal funds rate is the rate at which banks in the US lend money to each other on an overnight basis. The rate currently stands at 5.25-5.5%.

Sweat equity shares: These are shares issued at discount or for consideration other than cash to employees or directors of the company as reward for their hard work or for their value addition in the progress of the company. The shares thus provided will be taxable as a perquisite in the hands of employees in the previous year in which shares or securities are allotted or transferred to the employee. Valuation of these shares, however, will vary for quoted and unquoted shares.

₹6999 to ₹1,00,000 per annum. Simultaneously, the company is also working on expanding in South East Asia and has launched operations in Malaysia this year.

(Reuters) -The U.S. state of Tennessee has sued BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) alleging the world's largest asset manager breached consumer protection laws by making «misleading» statements about its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment strategies.

(Reuters) -New York-listed e-commerce giant Coupang plans to buy Farfetch (NYSE:FTCH) Holdings in a deal that will provide the struggling online luxury fashion retailer with $500 million in capital to stay in operation, the companies said in a joint statement.

Snowden Lane Partners has marked the opening of its 15th office across the U.S. with a second location in Florida.

By Jonathan Saul

Arweave founder Sam Williams has taken to X to allege storage solution company Irys has plans to fork his decentralized information storage firm.

GFO-X is preparing for the launch of a digital asset derivatives marketplace for institutional investors. In May, the firm secured an agreement with London Stock Exchange clearing house LCH for secure settlement via its new, segregated central counterparty clearing service, LCH DigitalAssetClear.Corentine Poilvet-Clédière, CEO, LCH SA says: “LCH SA is excited to be working with GFO-X, together with the industry, to provide a regulated marketplace for bitcoin index futures and options as we look to expand our services to become a truly international clearing house.

Parliament Security Breach: A total of 92 Members of Parliament has been suspended for the remainder of the ongoing Winter Session, scheduled to end on 22 December. Ruckus in Parliament ensued after the 13 December Parliament security breach incident, with Opposition MPs seeking a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. On Monday, in a a rather unprecedented move, 78 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament within a day, marking the highest number of suspensions from Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

IPL auction 2024: The mini-auction of the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to be conducted on Tuesday in Dubai at the Coca-Cola Arena. In total 333 players will go under the hammer and the teams will spend around ₹250 crore to fill the 77 available slots in their team. The IPL auction 2024 is expected to witness some intense bidding war and the performances of players in the ICC World Cup 2023 will surely be accounted for.