Economy

India better in staff engagement: study The presence of automation in the workplace is making work environments “more human,” according to a global study released on Monday. Firms that invest in robotic process automation or Artificial Intelligence (AI) are witnessing higher performance returns, especially if they also invest in people, …

Century Plyboards (India) Ltd. (CPIL) is looking to cut costs and boost profitability by harnessing solar power at its units. It has already set up a one MW power plant at Chennai and is planning to add 4 MW across its various plants. Sajjan Bhajanka, chairman, CPIL, said in a …

Firm’s total water purifier capacity to cross 10 lakh units Kent RO Systems, a healthcare products firm, is planning to set up a second manufacturing plant at Noida at an investment of more than Rs. 150 crore. The facility will be ready in 4-5 years. “Our next expansion would happen …

It will not help recover NPAs: unions The government’s ambitious plan to merge three public sector banks — Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank — could take at least one year to complete, banking industry officials said. The proposal to merge these banks, seen as long overdue, is …

Petition also seeks to empower State governments to take decisions on prohibition of these deadly poisons The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea seeking ban on nearly 85 pesticides that are being used in India on the grounds that they pose health hazard. A Bench of Justices …

In response to the report titled ‘Maneka Gandhi bypassed, nutrition norms cleared’ (September 09, 2018), the Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued the following clarification: “The finalisation of Supplementary Nutrition Guidelines is still under the consideration and no final decision has been taken yet. There is no difference …

The Centre on Monday proposed the amalgamation of state-owned Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank to create India’s third-largest bank. The decision was taken at the meeting of a ministerial panel, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, which oversees merger proposals of state-owned banks. The other members of …

State-owned Union Bank of India has decided to quit the Antwerp diamond hub in Belgium as the branch did not generate expected business, a senior bank official said. The Finance Ministry had advised all the public sector banks to review their overseas business and close branches that are not profitable …

‘External sources key to fall in rupee’ The measures announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday to address widening current account deficit and attract inflows to stabilise the currency may not yield result immediately and the rupee could be under further pressure. The steps were primarily aimed at easing …

Spending on elections, other populist measures to blame, says ICRA Funding of farm loan waivers, poll-related spending and other populist measures are likely to ensure that States are set to miss their fiscal consolidation targets budgeted at the beginning of the year, says a report. “Given the factors such as …

India’s ‘Diamond City’ offers a lesson for the country’s ever-expanding cities on water management and the optimal use of water, which is rapidly becoming a scarce resource. Surat’s civic body is setting up state-of-the-art sewage treatment plants (STPs) to ensure every drop of waste water is treated and reused for …

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have set the stage to possibly sniff out in about a minute early-stage lung cancer from exhaled breath. A two-member team led by Chandramouli Subramaniam from the institute’s Department of Chemistry has developed a platform that detects volatile organic compounds such …

From an average of about 18 days in the lab, the longevity of C. elegans, the popular model organism for ageing research, increased 40–60% when researchers used a mutant that lacked the function of a particular gene (flr-4) and fed them a specific bacterial diet — E. coli strain H. …

Nearly 37 lakh women have received cash incentives under the Centre’s maternity benefits programme since the launch of Matru Vandana Saptah last year, a release from the Ministry of Women and Child Development said. The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) offers pregnant women and lactating mothers Rs. 5,000 as …

This week Election Commission officials assessed the poll preparedness of Telangana after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the Assembly and sought a fresh election months ahead of schedule. Riding on populist measures — the government has announced more than 450 schemes in four years — Mr. Rao decided to …

The prices of petrol and diesel on Saturday touched a new high, with Mumbai recording the highest among the four big metros. Petrol cost Rs. 89.01 a litre in Mumbai and diesel Rs. 78.07, according to the daily price notification issued by state-owned oil marketing companies. In Delhi, the price …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Swachhata Hi Seva” (“cleanliness is service”) campaign on Saturday, and took up a broom to clean a school named after Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar. Union Ministers and BJP leaders and workers participated in similar exercises across the country. In a nearly two-hour video interaction …

The prices of petrol and diesel on Saturday touched a new high, with Mumbai recording the highest among the four big metros. Petrol cost Rs. 89.01 a litre in Mumbai and diesel Rs. 78.07, according to the daily price notification issued by state-owned oil marketing companies. In Delhi, the price …

U.S.-based campaign for Telangana ‘dials-a-village’ for ideas, hosts Facebook chat With the political battle heating up in Telangana in the run-up to the Assembly poll, a group of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) based in the United States has taken it upon itself to come up with a ‘People’s Manifesto’ through public …

For every 10 seats available under the government’s low-cost flying scheme, as many as seven were grabbed by passengers since its launch last year, according to data accessed under the RTI (Right to Information) Act. Seat occupancy, also known as passenger load factor, is an indicator of demand on a …