National Handloom Day 2026: From Alia Bhatt to Samantha Ruth Prabhu; Actresses who celebrated India's textile heritage as brides

The Royals enter the Doctor Who universe: King Charles and Queen Camilla beam into Commonwealth Games in TARDIS

Unitree Robotics targets $9 billion valuation in landmark IPO backed by DeepSeek and Tencent

India names 27 sites in Arunachal Pradesh

Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata OTT: When will Kangana Ranaut's film stream online?

How many soldiers operate one S-400 battery?

Shakib Al Hasan ready to return to Bangladesh—under one condition

‘Fake news’: MEA rejects report claiming India sought defence pact with Israel after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey deal

Rockstar to unveil GTA 6 extended look ahead of November launch

Russia forms Ukrainian Volunteer Spetsnaz Brigade to fight Ukraine

Drug-resistant fungus that hides in hair and enters bloodstream reported in 23 US states

Technology transfer deal boosts India's defence manufacturing ambitions

Border row erupts in Europe after Ceuta crossings, Spain imposes border controls on Italy

Morale plummets on USS Abraham Lincoln: Are US sailors reaching a breaking point? | GRAVITAS

'Security can't be bought with Pakistan, Turkey deal': Iran tells Saudi Arabia

Baba Vanga's 2026 prophecy: 2 predictions 'already came true', 3 terrifying ones remain. Details inside

Colombia’s new president Abelardo de la Espriella vows to ‘defeat narco-terrorists’, signals hardline shift

New Friday OTT releases (August 7, 2026): Operation Safed Sagar, Vadhandhi, Main Vaapis Aaunga- 6 movies and TV shows on Netflix, Prime Video and more

Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth scripts history as Indian Air Force gets its first woman ‘Top Gun’ pilot

RSS says Gen Z protests reflect genuine distress

Trump says Iranian school bombing photos could be AI-generated - 'I don’t think...'

IAF officer held for sharing sensitive information in 'honey trap' case, booked under Official Secrets Act

Stray Kids under scrutiny? Fans react to Grammy submission silence after BTS boycott

Why the Su-30MKI doesn't need external fuel tanks to fly vast distances

Jugal Hansraj reunites with Shekhar Kapur after 40 years for Masoom: The Next Generation

New speed limits, automatic challans: Big traffic change coming to Delhi-Meerut Expressway. All you need to know

India officially names 27 places in Arunachal to counter China's renaming claims

Trump calls White House ballroom ruling a 'national disgrace' as court says Congress approval needed

US sanctions Iran’s crypto network after Strait of Hormuz attacks, offers $15m bounty for intel on IRGC finance

Why the Su-30MKI is one of the heaviest fighters ever built

Uttarakhand young innovator builds India's own flying vehicle, conducts first test flight: WATCH

Chilling video shows students take cover as teen opens fire at Thai school

Reese Witherspoon's father hospitalised after poolside incident in Nashville: Report

China&rsquo;s Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group announced plans on Tuesday to merge as markets struggle with a glut caused by Chinese overcapacity. 
 
Baosteel Group, China&rsquo;s second-largest steelmaker, will issue new stock to existing shareholders of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group to absorb the other company, the state-owned companies said in separate statements to the Shanghai bourse. 
 
According to China Business News, the merger will form a new firm called China Baowu Iron and Steel Group. 
 
It added the state asset watchdog had already okayed the plan and submitted it to the State Council, China&#39;s cabinet, for final approval.&nbsp; 
 
The two firms rank fifth and 11th respectively in world production capacity.&nbsp; 
 
Chinese steel demand has slumped as economic growth slows and the global steel industry is assailed by overcapacity. The crisis has seen manufacturers in Asia, Europe and the US suffer huge losses and led to political rows and accusations of dumping. 
 
Shanghai-based Baosteel&#39;s net profit plummeted 83 percent to 1.0 billion Yuan ($150 million) last year, while Wuhan Steel lost 7.5 billion Yuan, compared with a 1.3 billion Yuan net profit in 2014. 
 
An analyst said the merger between Baosteel and WISG was &ldquo;merely the beginning&rdquo; of more such moves in China&rsquo;s steel industry. 
 
&ldquo;Restructuring in China&rsquo;s steel industry is the trend and it&#39;s an unstoppable one,&rdquo; Chen Bingkun, an analyst at Minmetals and Jingyi Futures, told AFP. 
 
Analysts said the mergers would help China deal with overcapacity that has long plagued manufacturers. 
 
&ldquo;China is now trying to cut down its steel production through policy. And restructuring of the industry is a second way to help. Once the merged giants form a monopoly in the market, it will start to control production,&rdquo; said Minmetals&rsquo;s Chen. 
 
&ldquo;The result of this restructuring is to integrate China&rsquo;s steel industry and pave the way for China to export its steel capacity.&rdquo; 
 
However, another analyst said the merger would not give Chinese mills an edge over global competitors like ArcelorMittal and US Steel. 
 
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think these mergers will be able to change the current market status of the world&rsquo;s steel industry,&rdquo; Qin Jiawei, the Hangzhou-based analyst with Xinhu Futures, told AFP, adding that high-end markets would still be dominated by foreign companies. 
 
&ldquo;China&rsquo;s high-end steel products don&rsquo;t have the competitiveness in the international markets. It&rsquo;s not the size of the company that counts. You can&rsquo;t change the global steel market by just adding them up.&rdquo; 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

China is trying to overhaul its steel industry by using mergers and restructuring to cut chronic overproduction

China’s Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group announced plans on Tuesday to merge as markets struggle with a glut caused by Chinese overcapacity. Baosteel Group, China’s second-largest steelmaker, will issue new stock to existing shareholders of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group to absorb the other company, the state-owned companies said in separate statements to the Shanghai bourse. According to China Business News, the merger will form a new firm called China Baowu Iron and Steel Group. It added the state asset watchdog had already okayed the plan and submitted it to the State Council, China's cabinet, for final approval. The two firms rank fifth and 11th respectively in world production capacity. Chinese steel demand has slumped as economic growth slows and the global steel industry is assailed by overcapacity. The crisis has seen manufacturers in Asia, Europe and the US suffer huge losses and led to political rows and accusations of dumping. Shanghai-based Baosteel's net profit plummeted 83 percent to 1.0 billion Yuan ($150 million) last year, while Wuhan Steel lost 7.5 billion Yuan, compared with a 1.3 billion Yuan net profit in 2014. An analyst said the merger between Baosteel and WISG was “merely the beginning” of more such moves in China’s steel industry. “Restructuring in China’s steel industry is the trend and it's an unstoppable one,” Chen Bingkun, an analyst at Minmetals and Jingyi Futures, told AFP. Analysts said the mergers would help China deal with overcapacity that has long plagued manufacturers. “China is now trying to cut down its steel production through policy. And restructuring of the industry is a second way to help. Once the merged giants form a monopoly in the market, it will start to control production,” said Minmetals’s Chen. “The result of this restructuring is to integrate China’s steel industry and pave the way for China to export its steel capacity.” However, another analyst said the merger would not give Chinese mills an edge over global competitors like ArcelorMittal and US Steel. “I don’t think these mergers will be able to change the current market status of the world’s steel industry,” Qin Jiawei, the Hangzhou-based analyst with Xinhu Futures, told AFP, adding that high-end markets would still be dominated by foreign companies. “China’s high-end steel products don’t have the competitiveness in the international markets. It’s not the size of the company that counts. You can’t change the global steel market by just adding them up.” (WION with inputs from AFP)

Two top China steelmakers announce merger to combat glut

Search giant Alphabet Inc (GOOGLE.O) could face a bill of more than $400 million in Indonesia for avoiding tax payments for five years, a senior tax offficial told Reuters today. 
 
The amount charged will be for 2015 alone, the official added.&nbsp; 
 
Tax office&rsquo;s investigators, who visited Google&rsquo;s local office in Indonesia on Monday, believe that Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 per cent of total income and value-added taxes last year.&nbsp; 
 
Most of the revenue generated in the country is booked at Google&#39;s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore.&nbsp;The case was escalated into a criminal one when when the company refused to be audited in June, &nbsp;Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office&#39;s special cases branch, said. 
 
&quot;Google&#39;s argument is that they just did tax planning,&quot; Haniv said. &quot;Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning - to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything - is not legal, he said. 
 
He also said that Google&rsquo;s tax bill could round up to &nbsp;5.5 trillion rupiah ($418 million). He, however, declined to provide an estimate for the five-year period. 
 
Google Indonesia simply reiterated the statement saying it will continue to cooperate with the local authorities and insisted that it has paid all the taxes.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

The search giant has avoided tax payments for five years, paying less than 0.1% of total income and value-added taxes last year

Search giant Alphabet Inc (GOOGLE.O) could face a bill of more than $400 million in Indonesia for avoiding tax payments for five years, a senior tax offficial told Reuters today. The amount charged will be for 2015 alone, the official added. Tax office’s investigators, who visited Google’s local office in Indonesia on Monday, believe that Google Indonesia paid less than 0.1 per cent of total income and value-added taxes last year. Most of the revenue generated in the country is booked at Google's Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. The case was escalated into a criminal one when when the company refused to be audited in June, Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office's special cases branch, said. "Google's argument is that they just did tax planning," Haniv said. "Tax planning is legal, but aggressive tax planning - to the extent that the country where the revenue is made does not get anything - is not legal, he said. He also said that Google’s tax bill could round up to 5.5 trillion rupiah ($418 million). He, however, declined to provide an estimate for the five-year period. Google Indonesia simply reiterated the statement saying it will continue to cooperate with the local authorities and insisted that it has paid all the taxes. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Google Indonesia may face $400 million tax bill as Indonesia starts probe

Oil prices went up today by almost 2 per cent after Venezuela said OPEC and non-OPEC producers were close to reaching an output stabilising deal.&nbsp; 
 
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a deal could be announced this month to stabilise oil markets which has been under pressure due to surplus and a price collapse over the past two years., international news agency Reuters reported.&nbsp; 
 
Brent crude futures were at $46.59 per barrel, up 82 Cents or 1.8 per cent at 0301 GMT. While US crude was up 88 cents or 2 per cent at $43.91 a barrel. 
 
Ric Spooner, CMC Markets&#39; chief market analyst said that the rise in oil prices is a reaction to Venezuelan comments about producers reaching a possible output agreement.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;(Libya) unable to get their first ship loaded is a reminder that it may be difficult for Libya to increase production,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
The loading of the first oil cargo from Ras Lanuf was stopped due to the clashes in Libya, raising fears of a new conflict over Libya&#39;s oil resources. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters) 
 
 
&nbsp;

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a deal could be announced this month to stabilise oil markets

Oil prices went up today by almost 2 per cent after Venezuela said OPEC and non-OPEC producers were close to reaching an output stabilising deal. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a deal could be announced this month to stabilise oil markets which has been under pressure due to surplus and a price collapse over the past two years., international news agency Reuters reported. Brent crude futures were at $46.59 per barrel, up 82 Cents or 1.8 per cent at 0301 GMT. While US crude was up 88 cents or 2 per cent at $43.91 a barrel. Ric Spooner, CMC Markets' chief market analyst said that the rise in oil prices is a reaction to Venezuelan comments about producers reaching a possible output agreement. "(Libya) unable to get their first ship loaded is a reminder that it may be difficult for Libya to increase production," he added. The loading of the first oil cargo from Ras Lanuf was stopped due to the clashes in Libya, raising fears of a new conflict over Libya's oil resources. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Oil prices rise as Venezuela sees output deal

Future Group, an Indian private conglomerate,&nbsp;is in talks to buy Heritage Foods, counted among one of the largest private sector dairy enterprises in Southern India, local media reported today.&nbsp; 
 
The Heritage Group that owns Heritage Foods was founded by N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of southern Indian Andhra Pradesh state.&nbsp; 
 
Heritage Foods&#39; shares rose over 6 per cent on reports of an expected sale of its retail arm, media reports said. &nbsp;However, Heritage Foods and Future Group remained unavailable for comments.&nbsp; 
 
Heritage Foods has three divisions, retail, dairy and agri and produce dairy, bakery items. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters) 
 
 
&nbsp;

Heritage Foods has three divisions, retail, dairy and agri and produce dairy, bakery items

Future Group, an Indian private conglomerate, is in talks to buy Heritage Foods, counted among one of the largest private sector dairy enterprises in Southern India, local media reported today. The Heritage Group that owns Heritage Foods was founded by N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of southern Indian Andhra Pradesh state. Heritage Foods' shares rose over 6 per cent on reports of an expected sale of its retail arm, media reports said. However, Heritage Foods and Future Group remained unavailable for comments. Heritage Foods has three divisions, retail, dairy and agri and produce dairy, bakery items. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Indian retailer Future Group to buy Heritage Foods

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has supported attempts to stabilise the global oil market and raise prices, the Iranian oil ministry&#39;s SHANA news agency reported.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Instability and falling oil prices are harmful to all countries, especially oil producers,&quot; SHANA quoted Rouhani as saying. 
 
&quot;Tehran welcomes any move aimed at market stability and improvement of oil prices based on justice, fairness and fair quota of all the oil producers,&quot; the president said, referring to a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Algeria next week, SHANA said. 
 
Rouhani, who is in Venezuela for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, was holding talks with the Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, SHANA reported.&nbsp; 
 
Tehran had earlier refused to join a previous attempt this year by OPEC and non-members such as Russia to stabilise production, and talks collapsed in April. 
 
Iran is OPEC&#39;s third-largest producer and has been boosting its oil output after the lifting of Western sanctions in January. 
 
OPEC members are set to meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria on September &nbsp;26-28. with Non-OPEC producer Russia also attending. 
 
OPEC might revive talks on freezing oil production levels when it meets non-OPEC nations in Algeria, Reuters reported. 
 
Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to cooperate in oil markets earlier this month, saying they could limit future output. 
 
The OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo, however, appeared to play down suggestions of a major agreement by saying the Algiers meeting would be an informal meeting for consultations and not for decision making, Algerian state news agency APS reported on Saturday. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Tehran had earlier refused to join OPEC and non-members like Russia in their attempt to stabilise oil production levels

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has supported attempts to stabilise the global oil market and raise prices, the Iranian oil ministry's SHANA news agency reported. "Instability and falling oil prices are harmful to all countries, especially oil producers," SHANA quoted Rouhani as saying. "Tehran welcomes any move aimed at market stability and improvement of oil prices based on justice, fairness and fair quota of all the oil producers," the president said, referring to a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Algeria next week, SHANA said. Rouhani, who is in Venezuela for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, was holding talks with the Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, SHANA reported. Tehran had earlier refused to join a previous attempt this year by OPEC and non-members such as Russia to stabilise production, and talks collapsed in April. Iran is OPEC's third-largest producer and has been boosting its oil output after the lifting of Western sanctions in January. OPEC members are set to meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria on September 26-28. with Non-OPEC producer Russia also attending. OPEC might revive talks on freezing oil production levels when it meets non-OPEC nations in Algeria, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to cooperate in oil markets earlier this month, saying they could limit future output. The OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo, however, appeared to play down suggestions of a major agreement by saying the Algiers meeting would be an informal meeting for consultations and not for decision making, Algerian state news agency APS reported on Saturday. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Iran backs calibration of global oil market

Audi&#39;s head of development, Stefan Knirsch, will be suspended this week for his involvement in the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Bild am Sonntag reported.&nbsp; 
 
Audi is owned by Volkswagen.&nbsp; 
 
Knirsch knew about the use of cheat software fitted to some of Audi&#39;s, Porsche&#39;s, and VW&#39;s 3.0 litre diesel engines but gave a false promise under oath, investigations by international law firm Jones Day revealed, the German paper said today.&nbsp; 
 
Audi has admitted that its 3.0 litre V6 diesel engine was fitted with the cheat software to dupe emission tests.&nbsp; 
 
The scandal hit last year when US authorities accused VW of installing the device in order to make its cars seem less polluting, reported AFP.&nbsp; 
 
The auto company has confessed that 11 million disesel cars across the world had been fitted with the device, inlcluding cars by other VW companies like Audi, Skoda, and Seat.&nbsp; 
 
The cars were recalled and customers in the US were offered a buy-back and compensation. No such compromise was made for the European market.&nbsp; 
 
Nearly a year later, Volkswagen is still coping with ongoing litigation.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

Stefan Knirsch knew about the use of emissions-control software in VW's 3.0 litre diesel engines but gave a false promise under oath

Audi's head of development, Stefan Knirsch, will be suspended this week for his involvement in the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Bild am Sonntag reported. Audi is owned by Volkswagen. Knirsch knew about the use of cheat software fitted to some of Audi's, Porsche's, and VW's 3.0 litre diesel engines but gave a false promise under oath, investigations by international law firm Jones Day revealed, the German paper said today. Audi has admitted that its 3.0 litre V6 diesel engine was fitted with the cheat software to dupe emission tests. The scandal hit last year when US authorities accused VW of installing the device in order to make its cars seem less polluting, reported AFP. The auto company has confessed that 11 million disesel cars across the world had been fitted with the device, inlcluding cars by other VW companies like Audi, Skoda, and Seat. The cars were recalled and customers in the US were offered a buy-back and compensation. No such compromise was made for the European market. Nearly a year later, Volkswagen is still coping with ongoing litigation. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Audi R&D head to be suspended over VW emissions scandal: Bild am Sonntag

Argentina&#39;s ministry of finance has said that International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists will be arriving in the country on Monday to &quot;gather information and exchange opinions with government officials, members of the private sector and members of Congress and civil organisations.&quot; 
 
IMF will resume its Article IV missions in Argentina after a 10-year hiatus. During this mission, IMF is likely to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the country, AFP reported today.&nbsp; 
 
The checkups were stopped during former president Nestor Kirchner&#39;s tenure.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Article IV represents a new step for Argentina in its international reintegration,&quot; said the ministry. 
 
Relations were strained after the country&#39;s default on $100 billion in debt in 2001, but ties were further affected when IMF censured Buenos Aires in 2013 for not meeting an IMF requirement that members must provide reliable, basic economic statistics. 
 
The move marks a repairing of relations, brought by economic policy changes of President Mauricio Macri, who moved to repay defaulted debt and implement market-friendly reforms. 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP) 
 
 
&nbsp;

According to Argentina's ministry of finance, Article IV represents a new step for the country in its international reintegration

Argentina's ministry of finance has said that International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists will be arriving in the country on Monday to "gather information and exchange opinions with government officials, members of the private sector and members of Congress and civil organisations." IMF will resume its Article IV missions in Argentina after a 10-year hiatus. During this mission, IMF is likely to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the country, AFP reported today. The checkups were stopped during former president Nestor Kirchner's tenure. "Article IV represents a new step for Argentina in its international reintegration," said the ministry. Relations were strained after the country's default on $100 billion in debt in 2001, but ties were further affected when IMF censured Buenos Aires in 2013 for not meeting an IMF requirement that members must provide reliable, basic economic statistics. The move marks a repairing of relations, brought by economic policy changes of President Mauricio Macri, who moved to repay defaulted debt and implement market-friendly reforms. (WION with inputs from AFP)

IMF to resume Article IV missions in Argentina after 10-year hiatus

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), a law enforcement and an economic intelligence agency working as a part of India&#39;s ministry of finance, has attached over Rs 91 crore kept in a Singapore bank in connection with a Mumbai-based City Limousine chit fund case. 
 
Sayed M Masood, chairman of the chitfund, is being investigated for floating illegal ponzi schemes by promising extraordinary returns.&nbsp;The amount has been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Indian news agency PTI reported today.&nbsp; 
 
The ED, in a joint collaboration&nbsp;with their counterparts in Singapore, carried the operation out and attached Rs 91.3 crore in foreign currency in Singapore bank accounts&quot;. The total seizure of assets now amounts to Rs 385 crore, the news agency said.&nbsp; 
 
In 2015, the agency had attached Rs 166 crore in Singapore and Rs 6 crore in a Swiss bank account in 2012, including a few other attachments.&nbsp; 
 
According to PTI, the law enforcement agency suspects that Ms City Limousines (India) Limited and Ms City Realcom Limited, its chairman and other directors of the companies have cheated thousands of investors across the country,&nbsp; 
 
(WION)

The total seizure of assets now amounts to Rs 385 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), a law enforcement and an economic intelligence agency working as a part of India's ministry of finance, has attached over Rs 91 crore kept in a Singapore bank in connection with a Mumbai-based City Limousine chit fund case. Sayed M Masood, chairman of the chitfund, is being investigated for floating illegal ponzi schemes by promising extraordinary returns. The amount has been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Indian news agency PTI reported today. The ED, in a joint collaboration with their counterparts in Singapore, carried the operation out and attached Rs 91.3 crore in foreign currency in Singapore bank accounts". The total seizure of assets now amounts to Rs 385 crore, the news agency said. In 2015, the agency had attached Rs 166 crore in Singapore and Rs 6 crore in a Swiss bank account in 2012, including a few other attachments. According to PTI, the law enforcement agency suspects that Ms City Limousines (India) Limited and Ms City Realcom Limited, its chairman and other directors of the companies have cheated thousands of investors across the country, (WION)

Indian regulatory body attaches Rs 91 crore to Singapore bank in Mumbai ponzi case

Indian Railways recently announced the introduction of dynamic pricing (DP) on trains, such as the Rajdhani Express, Duronto and Shatabdi with the fares increasing by 10 per cent after every 10 per cent berths being sold, but a cap of maximum 50 per cent hike has been placed on the original fare. Across segments of the population, DP has been painted as evil and designed to hurt travelers. Dynamic pricing, most famously introduced by the American Airlines (AA) in 1988, is being scrutinised by the whole nation. AA estimated the benefit to be around $1.4 billion over three years (at 1990s prices) and expected a steady state contribution of over $500 million through the implementation. This has given rise to a completely new area of research and application in Revenue Management (RM). The field finds wide usage and adoption in many industries, including airlines, railways and hotels amongst others. &nbsp;

Fundamentals of dynamic pricing 
Humans love certainty. All of our efforts go into trying to convert uncertain situations into certain ones. And we Indians love prices that are not only certain but also low! But in the real world, certainty is a myth. Businesses operate under huge uncertainties.&nbsp;

The cost of inputs, the nature of demand and the cost of servicing the demand are all exposed to uncertainties. Any change in any of these parameters severely affects the cost of satisfying the demand. Especially in hospitality and transportation (or logistical) businesses. This is primarily due to the &ldquo;perishable&rdquo; nature of the products that they sell.&nbsp;

Perishability: In this context, we use the term perishable to refer to its shelf life. An airline cannot sell a seat once the flight takes off. A hotel that has an empty room for a day cannot go back in time and sell the room. The revenue foregone due to this perishable nature is detrimental to the ranking of the firm. It would do well to remember that the additional cost incurred by the firm on selling the seat or selling the room at a low price is way less than the additional revenue it would have earned from it.&nbsp;

So, the logical question comes up. If that&rsquo;s the case, why increase prices? Just sell it at any price more than the cost of providing the service.

Yes, that is what DP is actually meant to achieve. In times of low demand, the system tries to increase occupancy by selling seats or rooms at lower prices (obviously above the floor price) to reduce the losses. The losses are made up by charging a premium in situations of high demand.

The popular assumption is DP is time-based, that is, if a ticket is bought closer to the departure time, the price of the ticket would necessarily be higher. But true DP models are not. They are purely demand based.

How does dynamic pricing work?&nbsp; 
The primary objective of such a model is to maximise load factors or occupancy factors for the trains while maximising revenue.&nbsp; Occupancy or load factors are a widely used metric in the hospitality and logistics industry. DP algorithms work to ensure higher load factors via pricing differentiation. This is done by rewarding customers with certain travel plans and extracting a rent from customers with uncertain travel plans. However, this rent extraction is only possible if there is high demand.

DP categorises the resources available into categories or buckets. For ease of understanding, let us consider just three buckets; low fare (deep discount), regular fare and premium fare. All these three buckets are for service at the same class level, providing the same facilities.&nbsp;

The first bucket sells resources at low fares (40-50 per cent of the actual fare) to achieve high occupancy. But to keep the service viable, a minimum occupancy factor is needed; think of it like the minimum customers that a hotel must have to sustain itself. However, these discounts come with a caveat. These fares are non-refundable because the service provider is selling you at a cheaper fare to ensure occupancy levels. In case you back out, the occupancy level of the service goes down and the firm needs to reduce its losses.&nbsp;

If you don&rsquo;t want to take up this offer from the service provider, you can choose to pay the regular fare with the regular refund restrictions. Once the first bucket is full, no more low fares are on offer. Once the second bucket is full, even the regular fares are exhausted. Only premium fares are available.&nbsp;

Generally, premium fare bucket differs from the other buckets in the sense that there is no fixed fare. For example, given high demand, the 10th person who buys a ticket would be paying more than the 9th person who bought the ticket. The sale of this ticket indicates the existence of heavy demand. I am sure you remember how touts earlier sold train tickets priced originally at Rs. 500 for&nbsp;Rs. 3000? It was informal DP at work.&nbsp;

The really good DP algorithms have a few additional features:

&nbsp;Dynamic bucket sizes: Based on historical data and expected demand, buckets sizes are not static. This means that the same fare bucket would have different number of seats available at different times of the year.

Migration between buckets: Based on factors, such as current booking trends&nbsp;compared to historical data, closeness to departure time, seats can shift between buckets. For example, if the time is close to departure and a large number of seats in the premium bucket are unsold, these seats would be shifted towards regular fare bucket or even the low fare bucket. Hence, it is possible to get low fare seats even minutes before departure due to low demand.

Number of buckets: Based on the levels of price discrimination that the service wants to offer, it can have more buckets. This helps to gain better revenues for the service provider.

&nbsp;Price discrimination within bucket: Seats getting booked quickly within a bucket implies high demand. The same price discrimination system applied in the premium category can be applied within other buckets as well. So the first ticket sold in the low fare bucket would be quite cheap as compared to the last seat in the same bucket.

How is it different in the Indian Railways? 
Firstly, there is no additional advantage for a traveler with a certain plan. Regular fares are same as low fares, the traveler gets no discount. The argument given for&nbsp;this is, regular fares are already below par. But these fares are refundable. So from the perspective of the IR, is this helpful in guaranteeing occupancy?&nbsp; No.&nbsp;

What&rsquo;s the flip side? Rationalisation of demand is very much needed to meet supply-demand mismatch. Because refunds are nearly full and overbooking is rampant. Trains with waitlisted tickets sometimes have occupancy as low as 60 per cent. Revoking the Ticket Deposit Receipt, submitted in case of inability to undertake the journey, to obtain a refund has been a logical&nbsp;step in this direction.&nbsp;

Secondly, the DP model of IR occurs in flat and established discrete steps:&nbsp;10 per cent increment after 10 per cent seats gets full. This happens irrespective of the rate of demand and&nbsp;is totally contrary to the underlying principles of DP.

Thirdly, there is no true dynamism in the prices. Prices can move only up and not down. Here, they make an assumption of demand being greater than supply at all times. While this may be true for regular fares during normal periods, this may not hold true for premium fares. There is a high chance of seats going unoccupied in such cases, defeating the primary purpose of dynamic pricing.&nbsp;

There is no migration between regular and premium fares according to demand. A fixed quota of seats is earmarked. There are several possible reasons behind this policy, such as:

Bureaucratic approach: A mindset entrenched in certainty that believes in&nbsp;fixed quotas mean fixed prices. This is what happens when a business is viewed as a government department. This is highly harmful to businesses operating in an uncertain environment. Fixing important parameters leave seats unsold. Bureaucrats don&rsquo;t answer for unsold seats and unrealised revenue. Additionally, the unsold seats are used to appease the unauthorised &ldquo;stakeholders&rdquo;.

&nbsp;Citizens&#39; approach: We have taken Indian Railways for granted. Anything that departs from the traditional way of operations is taken as taking away some fundamental right.&nbsp;

What the Indian Railways should do? 
The first step is to introduce non-refundable deep discount fares. Announce this move, but do not disclose the number of seats in this bucket. Airlines do not disclose their pricing structure. Even Air India doesn&rsquo;t.

People from the lower-middle class who travel long distances for vacations (infrequent travel) will be hugely benefited. This is because their travel plans are mostly certain and they can take advantage of the deep discount fares. Adding the no refund clause also reduces bogus bookings by touts.&nbsp;

It is necessary to introduce partially refundable discount fares. Refund rules have to be stringent than regular fare class, but lenient when compared to deep discount fares.&nbsp;

IR has to introduce dynamic bucket allocation. They have to adopt the dynamic pricing model in its entirety and not piecemeal. It needs to be introduced across all express trains, in all classes, not for a few months, but for a whole year.&nbsp;

All quota need to be removed. If needed, coupons or vouchers have to be introduced. Every quota is a leakage that needs to be plugged.&nbsp;

The first two steps help in covering up occupancy issues and appeasing the masses. The next two steps help in garnering the revenue needed for future investments.&nbsp;

Yes, of course, we must ask Indian Railways to cut costs and manage itself more efficiently. But that&rsquo;s a different topic, needing&nbsp;a different article.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The demand based dynamic pricing system converts uncertain situations into certain ones

Indian Railways recently announced the introduction of dynamic pricing (DP) on trains, such as the Rajdhani Express, Duronto and Shatabdi with the fares increasing by 10 per cent after every 10 per cent berths being sold, but a cap of maximum 50 per cent hike has been placed on the original fare. Across segments of the population, DP has been painted as evil and designed to hurt travelers. Dynamic pricing, most famously introduced by the American Airlines (AA) in 1988, is being scrutinised by the whole nation. AA estimated the benefit to be around $1.4 billion over three years (at 1990s prices) and expected a steady state contribution of over $500 million through the implementation. This has given rise to a completely new area of research and application in Revenue Management (RM). The field finds wide usage and adoption in many industries, including airlines, railways and hotels amongst others. Fundamentals of dynamic pricing Humans love certainty. All of our efforts go into trying to convert uncertain situations into certain ones. And we Indians love prices that are not only certain but also low! But in the real world, certainty is a myth. Businesses operate under huge uncertainties. The cost of inputs, the nature of demand and the cost of servicing the demand are all exposed to uncertainties. Any change in any of these parameters severely affects the cost of satisfying the demand. Especially in hospitality and transportation (or logistical) businesses. This is primarily due to the “perishable” nature of the products that they sell. Perishability: In this context, we use the term perishable to refer to its shelf life. An airline cannot sell a seat once the flight takes off. A hotel that has an empty room for a day cannot go back in time and sell the room. The revenue foregone due to this perishable nature is detrimental to the ranking of the firm. It would do well to remember that the additional cost incurred by the firm on selling the seat or selling the room at a low price is way less than the additional revenue it would have earned from it. So, the logical question comes up. If that’s the case, why increase prices? Just sell it at any price more than the cost of providing the service. Yes, that is what DP is actually meant to achieve. In times of low demand, the system tries to increase occupancy by selling seats or rooms at lower prices (obviously above the floor price) to reduce the losses. The losses are made up by charging a premium in situations of high demand. The popular assumption is DP is time-based, that is, if a ticket is bought closer to the departure time, the price of the ticket would necessarily be higher. But true DP models are not. They are purely demand based. How does dynamic pricing work? The primary objective of such a model is to maximise load factors or occupancy factors for the trains while maximising revenue. Occupancy or load factors are a widely used metric in the hospitality and logistics industry. DP algorithms work to ensure higher load factors via pricing differentiation. This is done by rewarding customers with certain travel plans and extracting a rent from customers with uncertain travel plans. However, this rent extraction is only possible if there is high demand. DP categorises the resources available into categories or buckets. For ease of understanding, let us consider just three buckets; low fare (deep discount), regular fare and premium fare. All these three buckets are for service at the same class level, providing the same facilities. The first bucket sells resources at low fares (40-50 per cent of the actual fare) to achieve high occupancy. But to keep the service viable, a minimum occupancy factor is needed; think of it like the minimum customers that a hotel must have to sustain itself. However, these discounts come with a caveat. These fares are non-refundable because the service provider is selling you at a cheaper fare to ensure occupancy levels. In case you back out, the occupancy level of the service goes down and the firm needs to reduce its losses. If you don’t want to take up this offer from the service provider, you can choose to pay the regular fare with the regular refund restrictions. Once the first bucket is full, no more low fares are on offer. Once the second bucket is full, even the regular fares are exhausted. Only premium fares are available. Generally, premium fare bucket differs from the other buckets in the sense that there is no fixed fare. For example, given high demand, the 10th person who buys a ticket would be paying more than the 9th person who bought the ticket. The sale of this ticket indicates the existence of heavy demand. I am sure you remember how touts earlier sold train tickets priced originally at Rs. 500 for Rs. 3000? It was informal DP at work. The really good DP algorithms have a few additional features: Dynamic bucket sizes: Based on historical data and expected demand, buckets sizes are not static. This means that the same fare bucket would have different number of seats available at different times of the year. Migration between buckets: Based on factors, such as current booking trends compared to historical data, closeness to departure time, seats can shift between buckets. For example, if the time is close to departure and a large number of seats in the premium bucket are unsold, these seats would be shifted towards regular fare bucket or even the low fare bucket. Hence, it is possible to get low fare seats even minutes before departure due to low demand. Number of buckets: Based on the levels of price discrimination that the service wants to offer, it can have more buckets. This helps to gain better revenues for the service provider. Price discrimination within bucket: Seats getting booked quickly within a bucket implies high demand. The same price discrimination system applied in the premium category can be applied within other buckets as well. So the first ticket sold in the low fare bucket would be quite cheap as compared to the last seat in the same bucket. How is it different in the Indian Railways? Firstly, there is no additional advantage for a traveler with a certain plan. Regular fares are same as low fares, the traveler gets no discount. The argument given for this is, regular fares are already below par. But these fares are refundable. So from the perspective of the IR, is this helpful in guaranteeing occupancy? No. What’s the flip side? Rationalisation of demand is very much needed to meet supply-demand mismatch. Because refunds are nearly full and overbooking is rampant. Trains with waitlisted tickets sometimes have occupancy as low as 60 per cent. Revoking the Ticket Deposit Receipt, submitted in case of inability to undertake the journey, to obtain a refund has been a logical step in this direction. Secondly, the DP model of IR occurs in flat and established discrete steps: 10 per cent increment after 10 per cent seats gets full. This happens irrespective of the rate of demand and is totally contrary to the underlying principles of DP. Thirdly, there is no true dynamism in the prices. Prices can move only up and not down. Here, they make an assumption of demand being greater than supply at all times. While this may be true for regular fares during normal periods, this may not hold true for premium fares. There is a high chance of seats going unoccupied in such cases, defeating the primary purpose of dynamic pricing. There is no migration between regular and premium fares according to demand. A fixed quota of seats is earmarked. There are several possible reasons behind this policy, such as: Bureaucratic approach: A mindset entrenched in certainty that believes in fixed quotas mean fixed prices. This is what happens when a business is viewed as a government department. This is highly harmful to businesses operating in an uncertain environment. Fixing important parameters leave seats unsold. Bureaucrats don’t answer for unsold seats and unrealised revenue. Additionally, the unsold seats are used to appease the unauthorised “stakeholders”. Citizens' approach: We have taken Indian Railways for granted. Anything that departs from the traditional way of operations is taken as taking away some fundamental right. What the Indian Railways should do? The first step is to introduce non-refundable deep discount fares. Announce this move, but do not disclose the number of seats in this bucket. Airlines do not disclose their pricing structure. Even Air India doesn’t. People from the lower-middle class who travel long distances for vacations (infrequent travel) will be hugely benefited. This is because their travel plans are mostly certain and they can take advantage of the deep discount fares. Adding the no refund clause also reduces bogus bookings by touts. It is necessary to introduce partially refundable discount fares. Refund rules have to be stringent than regular fare class, but lenient when compared to deep discount fares. IR has to introduce dynamic bucket allocation. They have to adopt the dynamic pricing model in its entirety and not piecemeal. It needs to be introduced across all express trains, in all classes, not for a few months, but for a whole year. All quota need to be removed. If needed, coupons or vouchers have to be introduced. Every quota is a leakage that needs to be plugged. The first two steps help in covering up occupancy issues and appeasing the masses. The next two steps help in garnering the revenue needed for future investments. Yes, of course, we must ask Indian Railways to cut costs and manage itself more efficiently. But that’s a different topic, needing a different article.

Dynamic pricing: Indian Railways cope with the uncertainties of business

DC's new bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran have finally kicked off the new DC Universe with the trailer launch of Creature Commandos, the animated supervillain series.&nbsp;

On Saturday, James along with the entire crew of the show took the stage at New York Comic Com to launch the trailer of the upcoming show.&nbsp;

Talking at the event, Gunn talked about the new projects that are currently in the production including the new Superman film.&nbsp;

He said that the series [Creature Commandos] will be “its own thing''.

''Every single project out of DC Studios is going to be its own thing. We want this to be very different from what Superman is going to be when that comes out,” he said while mentioning Lanterns and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.&nbsp;

He added, “It’s a connected universe but we’re not imposing any overall aesthetic.”&nbsp;

At the event, Gunn and Safran launched the trailer of the animated series, which is based on DC characters and a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans, as per Deadline.&nbsp;

The team of monsters include Dr Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Weasel (Sean Gunn), The Bride (Indira Varma), Frankenstein (David Harbour), Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), G.I. Robot (also Gunn) and Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo).&nbsp;

The logline for the series shares, “CREATURE COMMANDOS tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option.“

Creature Commandos is set to premiere on Dec. 5 on Max.

Piaggio has received several thousand bookings already, including more than 1,000 bookings through the?e-commerce site Paytm

DC's new bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran have finally kicked off the new DC Universe with the trailer launch of Creature Commandos, the animated supervillain series. On Saturday, James along with the entire crew of the show took the stage at New York Comic Com to launch the trailer of the upcoming show. Talking at the event, Gunn talked about the new projects that are currently in the production including the new Superman film. He said that the series [Creature Commandos] will be “its own thing''. ''Every single project out of DC Studios is going to be its own thing. We want this to be very different from what Superman is going to be when that comes out,” he said while mentioning Lanterns and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. He added, “It’s a connected universe but we’re not imposing any overall aesthetic.” At the event, Gunn and Safran launched the trailer of the animated series, which is based on DC characters and a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans, as per Deadline. The team of monsters include Dr Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Weasel (Sean Gunn), The Bride (Indira Varma), Frankenstein (David Harbour), Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), G.I. Robot (also Gunn) and Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo). The logline for the series shares, “CREATURE COMMANDOS tracks a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. When all else fails… they’re your last, worst option.“ Creature Commandos is set to premiere on Dec. 5 on Max.

Indian vehicle manufacturer Piaggio rolls out crossover bike Aprilia, will introduce more variants

Indian non-banking financial company Hero FinCorp has raised Rs 1,002 crores from private equity firms, ChrysCapital, Credit Suisse, and parent Hero Group to expand its portfolio to retail and corporate customers over the next 12-18 months.&nbsp; 
 
ChrysCapital has invested Rs 570 crore, Hero Group Rs 300 crore and Credit Suisse of Rs 132 crore to support the expansion.&nbsp; 
 
Post investment, ChrysCapital will have 11 per cent stake in Hero FinCorp while Credit Suisse will hold around 2.5 per cent stake in the non-banking financial company.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The financial services market in India particularly the NBFCs (Non-Banking financial Companies) have witnessed steep growth in recent times and it still remains largely under-penetrated,&quot; Hero group chairman Pawan Munjal told PTI. 
 
Munjal said that company would want to focus on growing the current business and will not be looking at the banking licence going ahead. 
 
&quot;It surely is part of our vision to go into the banking system, but not now,&quot; he added. 
 
Hero FinCorp joint managing director and chief executive officer Abhimanyu Munjal said the company plans to grow its asset book size to from the current Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 35,000 crore by 2020. 
 
Hero FinCorp plans to enter into segments like home loans, used two-wheeler loans and plans to introduce disruptive financial technologies into its business.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from PTI)

Private equity firms ChrysCapital, Credit Suisse and parent Hero Group have made investments to fuel expansion over the next 12-18 months

Indian non-banking financial company Hero FinCorp has raised Rs 1,002 crores from private equity firms, ChrysCapital, Credit Suisse, and parent Hero Group to expand its portfolio to retail and corporate customers over the next 12-18 months. ChrysCapital has invested Rs 570 crore, Hero Group Rs 300 crore and Credit Suisse of Rs 132 crore to support the expansion. Post investment, ChrysCapital will have 11 per cent stake in Hero FinCorp while Credit Suisse will hold around 2.5 per cent stake in the non-banking financial company. "The financial services market in India particularly the NBFCs (Non-Banking financial Companies) have witnessed steep growth in recent times and it still remains largely under-penetrated," Hero group chairman Pawan Munjal told PTI. Munjal said that company would want to focus on growing the current business and will not be looking at the banking licence going ahead. "It surely is part of our vision to go into the banking system, but not now," he added. Hero FinCorp joint managing director and chief executive officer Abhimanyu Munjal said the company plans to grow its asset book size to from the current Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 35,000 crore by 2020. Hero FinCorp plans to enter into segments like home loans, used two-wheeler loans and plans to introduce disruptive financial technologies into its business. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Indian financial company Hero FinCorps raises Rs 1,002 crore to expand portfolio

The first customers worldwide to get their hands on the new Apple iPhone 7 in China and Australia cheered as they left stores on Friday. 
 
But unlike previous years, the crowds of enthusiasts and overnight campers were smaller. Some customers complained after the iPhone 7 plus and models with the new jet-black colour sold out. 
 
In part, online pre-ordering has made queues unnecessary for all but diehard fans, and in Chinese stores, only those who had ordered in advance were queuing to collect. 
 
But online interest in the new phone has also been muted compared to past launches, as cheaper local brands amp up their features, design, and marketing in China. 
 
Wu Ting, a 28-year-old from Nanjing, was surprised to find herself first in line at a downtown Apple store in Shanghai on Friday, a holiday in China. 
 
&quot;I found last year that there were crowds of people, but this year almost no-one. I came an hour early thinking I&#39;d have to wait a long time before getting seen,&quot; Wu said. 
 
Sales in China will be the acid test for Apple&#39;s year ahead: the success of the iPhone 6 in China drove sales last year, while the slower-burn 6S contributed to Apple&#39;s first global revenue drop in over a decade earlier this year. 
 
Apple&#39;s market share in China has fallen to around 7.8 percent, placing it fifth behind local rivals Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo. 
 
Apple has been slower to adapt, consumers and analysts say: the new iPhone has few major changes to win over fickle shoppers and the firm&#39;s marketing has been generic. 
 
&quot;From Steve Jobs to Tim Cook, Apple has never had any marketing strategy tailor-made for China,&quot; said Zhou Zhanggui, a Beijing-based strategic consultant. 
 
&quot;Apple risks losing out more if it does not better cater to local demands in its marketing as well as product design.&quot; 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

In China, crowds of enthusiasts and overnight campers were smaller than in past years as cheaper local brands amp up their features

The first customers worldwide to get their hands on the new Apple iPhone 7 in China and Australia cheered as they left stores on Friday. But unlike previous years, the crowds of enthusiasts and overnight campers were smaller. Some customers complained after the iPhone 7 plus and models with the new jet-black colour sold out. In part, online pre-ordering has made queues unnecessary for all but diehard fans, and in Chinese stores, only those who had ordered in advance were queuing to collect. But online interest in the new phone has also been muted compared to past launches, as cheaper local brands amp up their features, design, and marketing in China. Wu Ting, a 28-year-old from Nanjing, was surprised to find herself first in line at a downtown Apple store in Shanghai on Friday, a holiday in China. "I found last year that there were crowds of people, but this year almost no-one. I came an hour early thinking I'd have to wait a long time before getting seen," Wu said. Sales in China will be the acid test for Apple's year ahead: the success of the iPhone 6 in China drove sales last year, while the slower-burn 6S contributed to Apple's first global revenue drop in over a decade earlier this year. Apple's market share in China has fallen to around 7.8 percent, placing it fifth behind local rivals Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo. Apple has been slower to adapt, consumers and analysts say: the new iPhone has few major changes to win over fickle shoppers and the firm's marketing has been generic. "From Steve Jobs to Tim Cook, Apple has never had any marketing strategy tailor-made for China," said Zhou Zhanggui, a Beijing-based strategic consultant. "Apple risks losing out more if it does not better cater to local demands in its marketing as well as product design." (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Fans cheer, but Asia gives iPhone 7 subdued welcome

US stocks were lower on Friday afternoon as the possibility of a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank weighed on financial stocks, especially on the big Wall Street banks. 
 
The settlement proposal, made during negotiations between the US Department of Justice and Deutsche Bank over claims that the German bank mis-sold mortgage-backed securities, was larger than expected. 
 
Deutsche Bank&#39;s US-listed shares were down 9.4 per cent. Dow components Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan fell 0.9 per cent each. 
 
The S&amp;P 500 financial index dropped 0.74 per cent, dragging down the benchmark index the most. The KBW Bank index fell 0.90 per cent, putting it on track for its second straight week of decline. 
 
Traders have all but ruled out the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its meeting that starts next Tuesday. Investors will instead look for clues on when the central bank will eventually pull the trigger. 
 
At 12:25 a.m. ET (1625 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 63.62 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 18,148.86. 
 
The S&amp;P 500 was down 8.16 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 2,139.1. 
 
The Nasdaq Composite was down 6.49 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,243.20. 
 
The technology index dropped 0.52 per cent, pulled down by Apple&#39;s a 0.8 per cent decline and Oracle&#39;s 4.1 per cent drop following a weak quarterly profit. 
 
Helping limit losses was Intel&#39;s 2.5 per cent gain after the chipmaker raised its third-quarter revenue forecast. 
 
The CBOE Market Volatility index Wall Street&#39;s &quot;fear gauge&quot;, reversed course and was down 0.43 per cent despite the expiry of futures and options on stocks and indexes, or quadruple witching. 
 
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,989 to 911. On the Nasdaq, 1,492 issues fell and 1,245 advanced. 
 
The S&amp;P 500 index showed five new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and 35 new lows. 
 
(Reuters)

US stocks were lower on Friday afternoon as the possibility of a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank weighed on financial stocks

US stocks were lower on Friday afternoon as the possibility of a $14 billion fine against Deutsche Bank weighed on financial stocks, especially on the big Wall Street banks. The settlement proposal, made during negotiations between the US Department of Justice and Deutsche Bank over claims that the German bank mis-sold mortgage-backed securities, was larger than expected. Deutsche Bank's US-listed shares were down 9.4 per cent. Dow components Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan fell 0.9 per cent each. The S&P 500 financial index dropped 0.74 per cent, dragging down the benchmark index the most. The KBW Bank index fell 0.90 per cent, putting it on track for its second straight week of decline. Traders have all but ruled out the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its meeting that starts next Tuesday. Investors will instead look for clues on when the central bank will eventually pull the trigger. At 12:25 a.m. ET (1625 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 63.62 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 18,148.86. The S&P 500 was down 8.16 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 2,139.1. The Nasdaq Composite was down 6.49 points, or 0.12 percent, at 5,243.20. The technology index dropped 0.52 per cent, pulled down by Apple's a 0.8 per cent decline and Oracle's 4.1 per cent drop following a weak quarterly profit. Helping limit losses was Intel's 2.5 per cent gain after the chipmaker raised its third-quarter revenue forecast. The CBOE Market Volatility index Wall Street's "fear gauge", reversed course and was down 0.43 per cent despite the expiry of futures and options on stocks and indexes, or quadruple witching. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,989 to 911. On the Nasdaq, 1,492 issues fell and 1,245 advanced. The S&P 500 index showed five new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 55 new highs and 35 new lows. (Reuters)

Wall Street hit as Deutsche Bank fine risk triggers bank rout

Samsung has decided&nbsp;to replace or refund about 1 million Galaxy Note 7 in the United States, after a flurry of reports of battery explosions. 
 
The recall is a costly proposition for the Korean tech giant that was banking on the Galaxy Note 7 to take on rivals like Apple.&nbsp; 
 
Samsung has received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the United States, including 26 cases of burns and 55 cases of property damage, the company said as it announced the recall in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 
 
The new Note 7 replacement devices will be available at most retail locations in the United States no later than September 21, Samsung announced on Thursday.&nbsp; 
 
Earlier this month, Samsung said it would recall all Note 7 smartphones equipped with batteries it found to be fire-prone and halted their sales in 10 markets, denting a revival of the firm&#39;s mobile business. 
 
The CPSC said on Thursday that consumers should immediately power down and stop using the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices. 
 
The county&#39;s &nbsp;aviation authority had issued orders of switching off Note 7 devices onboard. 
 
Around 2.5 million of the premium devices worldwide need to be recalled, Samsung said. According to analysts, the &nbsp;recall could cost Samsung nearly $5 billion in lost revenue this year. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Analysts say the Note 7 recall will cost Samsung $5 billion in lost revenue this year

Samsung has decided to replace or refund about 1 million Galaxy Note 7 in the United States, after a flurry of reports of battery explosions. The recall is a costly proposition for the Korean tech giant that was banking on the Galaxy Note 7 to take on rivals like Apple. Samsung has received 92 reports of batteries overheating in the United States, including 26 cases of burns and 55 cases of property damage, the company said as it announced the recall in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The new Note 7 replacement devices will be available at most retail locations in the United States no later than September 21, Samsung announced on Thursday. Earlier this month, Samsung said it would recall all Note 7 smartphones equipped with batteries it found to be fire-prone and halted their sales in 10 markets, denting a revival of the firm's mobile business. The CPSC said on Thursday that consumers should immediately power down and stop using the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices. The county's aviation authority had issued orders of switching off Note 7 devices onboard. Around 2.5 million of the premium devices worldwide need to be recalled, Samsung said. According to analysts, the recall could cost Samsung nearly $5 billion in lost revenue this year. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Samsung to replace or refund 1 million Galaxy Note 7 devices in US

India&#39;s largest casting maker Hinduja Foundries has given a go-ahead to its merger with commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland subject to regulatory and shareholder approval of both the companies 
 
&quot;At the meeting held today, the Board of Directors of the company unanimously approved the proposal of amalgamating Hinduja Foundries Ltd, a Hinduja Group company with Ashok Leyland subject to various regulatory and shareholders approval of both the companies,&quot; an official statement said, according to Indian news agency PTI.&nbsp; 
 
One hundred equity shares of Rs 10 each of Hinduja Foundries Ltd will get 40 shares at Rs 1 each fully paid of Ashok Leyland Ltd., the board approved the exchange ratio on the amalgamation. 
 
&quot;One thousand 2008 series GDRs of Hinduja Foundries Ltd will get 133 equity shares of Rs 1 each fully paid of Ashok Leyland,&quot; a company statement said.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from PTI)

The amalgamation with the commercial vehicle maker will be subjected to regulatory and shareholder approval of both the companies

India's largest casting maker Hinduja Foundries has given a go-ahead to its merger with commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland subject to regulatory and shareholder approval of both the companies "At the meeting held today, the Board of Directors of the company unanimously approved the proposal of amalgamating Hinduja Foundries Ltd, a Hinduja Group company with Ashok Leyland subject to various regulatory and shareholders approval of both the companies," an official statement said, according to Indian news agency PTI. One hundred equity shares of Rs 10 each of Hinduja Foundries Ltd will get 40 shares at Rs 1 each fully paid of Ashok Leyland Ltd., the board approved the exchange ratio on the amalgamation. "One thousand 2008 series GDRs of Hinduja Foundries Ltd will get 133 equity shares of Rs 1 each fully paid of Ashok Leyland," a company statement said. (WION with inputs from PTI)

India's largest casting maker Hinduja Foundries approves merger with Ashok Leyland

India&#39;s Reliance Communications and Aircel announced a merger of their telecom businesses on Wednesday. 
 
The companies will each own 50 per cent of the merged carrier, the two sides said in a joint statement. The merger will create the nation&#39;s third-biggest mobile phone network operator in terms of subscribers, Reuters reported. The new entity will operate under a new brand name; the new name has not yet been announced. 
 
&quot;The RCOM-Aircel combination will create a strong operator clearly ranked amongst India&#39;s top four telcos by customer base and revenues,&quot; the statement said. 
 
RCOM controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani is currently the fourth-largest mobile carrier by subscribers. The deal will help cut Reliance Communication&#39;s debt by 200 billion rupees ($3 billion), or more than 40 per cent of its total debt. &nbsp;Aircel, owned by Malaysia&#39;s Maxis Communications Bhd, ranks sixth in the market and will see its debt fall by about 40 billion rupees. 
 
The combined business will have a debt of about 280 billion rupees. 
 
&quot;It is just another way of surviving,&quot; Jigar Shah, chief executive at Maybank Kimeng Securities India, said to Reuters. &quot;They can become better only if the two partners bring further cash into the business and they buy a reasonable amount of 4G spectrum.&quot; 
 
With more than 190 million customers after the merger, it will overtake Idea Cellular Ltd in terms of subscription numbers. 
 
Reliance&#39;s new 4G telecom venture by the Anil&#39;s elder sibling Mukesh Ambani has further intensified the competition. Reliance Jio offers free voice calls for life and vastly cheaper data plans compared to the leading Airtel and Vodafone networks. 
 
The companies had started the negotiations for the deal in December last year. 
 
($1 = 66.8061 Indian rupees) 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

The new entity will become the third largest mobile carrier in the country, after Airtel and Vodafone

India's Reliance Communications and Aircel announced a merger of their telecom businesses on Wednesday. The companies will each own 50 per cent of the merged carrier, the two sides said in a joint statement. The merger will create the nation's third-biggest mobile phone network operator in terms of subscribers, Reuters reported. The new entity will operate under a new brand name; the new name has not yet been announced. "The RCOM-Aircel combination will create a strong operator clearly ranked amongst India's top four telcos by customer base and revenues," the statement said. RCOM controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani is currently the fourth-largest mobile carrier by subscribers. The deal will help cut Reliance Communication's debt by 200 billion rupees ($3 billion), or more than 40 per cent of its total debt. Aircel, owned by Malaysia's Maxis Communications Bhd, ranks sixth in the market and will see its debt fall by about 40 billion rupees. The combined business will have a debt of about 280 billion rupees. "It is just another way of surviving," Jigar Shah, chief executive at Maybank Kimeng Securities India, said to Reuters. "They can become better only if the two partners bring further cash into the business and they buy a reasonable amount of 4G spectrum." With more than 190 million customers after the merger, it will overtake Idea Cellular Ltd in terms of subscription numbers. Reliance's new 4G telecom venture by the Anil's elder sibling Mukesh Ambani has further intensified the competition. Reliance Jio offers free voice calls for life and vastly cheaper data plans compared to the leading Airtel and Vodafone networks. The companies had started the negotiations for the deal in December last year. ($1 = 66.8061 Indian rupees) (WION with inputs from agencies)

Reliance Comm, Aircel to merge businesses as India telecom consolidation gathers pace

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim effectively won a second five-year term after nominations closed on Wednesday with no other candidates proposed. &nbsp; 
 
The World Bank executive board said in a statement that it expected the selection process to be completed at the Annual Meetings from October 7-9.&nbsp; 
 
Like in 2012, Kim&#39;s nomination, which was backed by the major shareholders of the bank, including the United States, France, Germany and China, was criticised for the lack of transparency in the selection process and not keeping it open for everyone.&nbsp; 
 
Ever since its inception during World War 2, the 56-year-old leader of the global development bank has always been an American chosen by Washington. The only time an American candidate has ever been challenged was in 2012 when Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala faced-off with Kim for the presidency. 
 
Originally a Korean-American medical doctor, Kim has steered the World bank on programs to reduce extreme poverty.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

Kim earned the backing of the major stakeholders of the bank including the US, France, Germany and China

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim effectively won a second five-year term after nominations closed on Wednesday with no other candidates proposed. The World Bank executive board said in a statement that it expected the selection process to be completed at the Annual Meetings from October 7-9. Like in 2012, Kim's nomination, which was backed by the major shareholders of the bank, including the United States, France, Germany and China, was criticised for the lack of transparency in the selection process and not keeping it open for everyone. Ever since its inception during World War 2, the 56-year-old leader of the global development bank has always been an American chosen by Washington. The only time an American candidate has ever been challenged was in 2012 when Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala faced-off with Kim for the presidency. Originally a Korean-American medical doctor, Kim has steered the World bank on programs to reduce extreme poverty. (WION with inputs from AFP)

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim nominated for second term

US agriculture company Monsanto agreed to a takeover from Bayer with a USD 128 per share offer, Reuters reported on Wednesday. 
 
The companies have agreed on a break-up fee of USD 2 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The deal is expected to be closed by the end of 2017, the source said. 
 
The new offer would value Monsanto at USD 56.5 billion. 
 
Bayer chief executive Werner Baumann first made his bid for Monsanto four months ago. The German pharmaceutical and chemical group had initially offered USD 122 per share in May. Monsanto rejected the offer as &quot;incomplete and financially inadequate&quot;. 
 
The merger of the two would create a new global leader in agrochemical businesses. 
 
As part of its latest proposal, Bayer is also offering to double, to USD 3 billion, the compensation it would have to pay to Monsanto if the deal is stopped by competition regulators, Rheinische Post said. 
 
&ldquo;We see the Bayer-Monsanto deal as close to an end,&rdquo; analysts at Germany&rsquo;s DZ Bank wrote in a note Wednesday morning, The Wall Street Journal reported. &ldquo;We don&#39;t like the transaction because we think that Bayer is overpaying significantly,&rdquo; the analysts said. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

Bayer chief executive had made his first bid for Monsanto, which will now be valued at $56.5 billion, four months ago

US agriculture company Monsanto agreed to a takeover from Bayer with a USD 128 per share offer, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The companies have agreed on a break-up fee of USD 2 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The deal is expected to be closed by the end of 2017, the source said. The new offer would value Monsanto at USD 56.5 billion. Bayer chief executive Werner Baumann first made his bid for Monsanto four months ago. The German pharmaceutical and chemical group had initially offered USD 122 per share in May. Monsanto rejected the offer as "incomplete and financially inadequate". The merger of the two would create a new global leader in agrochemical businesses. As part of its latest proposal, Bayer is also offering to double, to USD 3 billion, the compensation it would have to pay to Monsanto if the deal is stopped by competition regulators, Rheinische Post said. “We see the Bayer-Monsanto deal as close to an end,” analysts at Germany’s DZ Bank wrote in a note Wednesday morning, The Wall Street Journal reported. “We don't like the transaction because we think that Bayer is overpaying significantly,” the analysts said. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Bayer takes over Monsanto with a $128 per share offer: Sources

Apple&#39;s stock hit a 2016 high on Wednesday, with its market value peaking above $600 billion for the first time since April as Wall Street bet the technology company&#39;s newest iPhone would help shore up falling sales. 
 
Fuelled by US wireless carriers&#39; reports of strong early orders for the iPhone 7 as well as arch-rival Samsung Electronics&#39; widely publicised recall of potentially exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, shares of Apple rose as much as 4.7 per cent to $113.03 for a gain of 10 per cent in the past three days. 
 
Its market capitalisation reached nearly $607 billion, compared to $535 billion for Alphabet and $440 billion for Microsoft. 
 
After sinking to a two-year low in July that had portfolio managers describing Apple as a value stock and no longer a growth play, shares of the world&#39;s most valuable listed company have since rebounded 25 per cent. 
 
On Tuesday, Sprint said pre-orders for the iPhone 7 were up nearly four times compared to last year&#39;s iPhone. T-Mobile said pre-orders rose nearly four times compared with its next most popular iPhone. 
 
Potentially adding to the demand for Apple&#39;s products, China&#39;s quality watchdog said on Wednesday that Samsung would recall 1,858 of its Galaxy Note 7 phones due to its fire-prone batteries, expanding the list of countries where the devices have been recalled. 
 
&quot;With the carriers telling Samsung owners that Samsung wants you to take your phone back into the store, well, people are going to look elsewhere,&quot; said Longbow Research analyst Shawn Harrison. 
 
Specific details about sales of the new iPhone are scarce after Apple announced last week it would not release weekend sales data, saying the number was more a reflection of supply than demand. 
 
Also up on Wednesday were companies supplying chips and other technology for iPhones: Cirrus Logic rallied 4.3 per cent, Skyworks Solutions gained 3.8 per cent and Jabil Circuit added 2.8 per cent. 
 
With US consumers less eager than in the past to replace their devices, global smartphone shipments are likely to grow less than 2 per cent in 2016, compared to 10 per cent last year, according to market research firm IDC. 
 
Revenue for Apple&#39;s fiscal year ending this month is likely to fall 8 per cent and then grow 4 per cent next year, according to the average estimate of analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters. 
 
(Reuters)

Its market value peaked above $600 billion for the first time since April, 2016

Apple's stock hit a 2016 high on Wednesday, with its market value peaking above $600 billion for the first time since April as Wall Street bet the technology company's newest iPhone would help shore up falling sales. Fuelled by US wireless carriers' reports of strong early orders for the iPhone 7 as well as arch-rival Samsung Electronics' widely publicised recall of potentially exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, shares of Apple rose as much as 4.7 per cent to $113.03 for a gain of 10 per cent in the past three days. Its market capitalisation reached nearly $607 billion, compared to $535 billion for Alphabet and $440 billion for Microsoft. After sinking to a two-year low in July that had portfolio managers describing Apple as a value stock and no longer a growth play, shares of the world's most valuable listed company have since rebounded 25 per cent. On Tuesday, Sprint said pre-orders for the iPhone 7 were up nearly four times compared to last year's iPhone. T-Mobile said pre-orders rose nearly four times compared with its next most popular iPhone. Potentially adding to the demand for Apple's products, China's quality watchdog said on Wednesday that Samsung would recall 1,858 of its Galaxy Note 7 phones due to its fire-prone batteries, expanding the list of countries where the devices have been recalled. "With the carriers telling Samsung owners that Samsung wants you to take your phone back into the store, well, people are going to look elsewhere," said Longbow Research analyst Shawn Harrison. Specific details about sales of the new iPhone are scarce after Apple announced last week it would not release weekend sales data, saying the number was more a reflection of supply than demand. Also up on Wednesday were companies supplying chips and other technology for iPhones: Cirrus Logic rallied 4.3 per cent, Skyworks Solutions gained 3.8 per cent and Jabil Circuit added 2.8 per cent. With US consumers less eager than in the past to replace their devices, global smartphone shipments are likely to grow less than 2 per cent in 2016, compared to 10 per cent last year, according to market research firm IDC. Revenue for Apple's fiscal year ending this month is likely to fall 8 per cent and then grow 4 per cent next year, according to the average estimate of analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters. (Reuters)

iPhone optimism blasts Apple stock to 2016 high

Indian consumer inflation fell to a five-month low in August helped by smaller rises in food prices, raising hopes of an interest rate cut next month when the central bank&#39;s new governor presents his first policy review.&nbsp; 
 
Raghuram Rajan, whose tenure as governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ended on September 4, left interest rates unchanged last month. 
 
&quot;The scope of 25 basis points cut in the October policy meet seems to be on the cards,&quot; said Shakti Satapathy, an analyst at AK Capital Services in western Mumbai city.&nbsp; 
 
Annual consumer price inflation eased to 5.05 per cent in August on the back of slower rises in food prices, government data showed on Monday. 
 
The fall in food inflation and the fuel index dragged down the overall numbers to within the comfort zone of the central bank, which has targeted 5.0 per cent inflation by March 2017. 
 
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected annual retail inflation to come in at 5.5 per cent last month, compared with 6.07 per cent in July. 
 
Food inflation was 5.91 per cent last month, slower than 8.35 per cent recorded in July as prices of pulses, a major staple for India&#39;s 1.3 billion population, declined in August. 
 
Separate data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation showed annual growth in industrial output contracted 2.4 per cent in July from a year earlier, mainly dragged down by lower production of capital goods and consumer non-durables. 
 
In Asia, China&#39;s annual consumer inflation slowed to 1.3 per cent in August, while Indonesia&#39;s pace slowed to a near seven-year low of 2.8 per cent. 
 
Space for easing?&nbsp; 
 
Many analysts expect inflation to ease further, offering new central bank chief Urjit Patel room to cut the policy rate at the meeting on October 4. 
 
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a challenge to achieve economic growth of around 8 per cent to create jobs for millions of unemployed youth, and industry has long sought lower interest rates. 
 
Annual economic growth in Asia&#39;s third-largest economy slowed to 7.1 per cent in April-June from 7.9 per cent the previous quarter, putting Modi&#39;s target further out of reach. 
 
But some analysts said the RBI may hold off until the end of the year when the inflation picture becomes clearer. 
 
&quot;There is a high probability of a rate cut in December but certainly not in October in my opinion,&quot; said Rupa Rege Nitsure, group chief economist at L&amp;T Finance Holdings in Mumbai. 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp; 
 
 
&nbsp;

In August, the annual consumer inflation eased to 5.05 per cent due to slow rise in food prices

Indian consumer inflation fell to a five-month low in August helped by smaller rises in food prices, raising hopes of an interest rate cut next month when the central bank's new governor presents his first policy review. Raghuram Rajan, whose tenure as governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ended on September 4, left interest rates unchanged last month. "The scope of 25 basis points cut in the October policy meet seems to be on the cards," said Shakti Satapathy, an analyst at AK Capital Services in western Mumbai city. Annual consumer price inflation eased to 5.05 per cent in August on the back of slower rises in food prices, government data showed on Monday. The fall in food inflation and the fuel index dragged down the overall numbers to within the comfort zone of the central bank, which has targeted 5.0 per cent inflation by March 2017. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected annual retail inflation to come in at 5.5 per cent last month, compared with 6.07 per cent in July. Food inflation was 5.91 per cent last month, slower than 8.35 per cent recorded in July as prices of pulses, a major staple for India's 1.3 billion population, declined in August. Separate data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation showed annual growth in industrial output contracted 2.4 per cent in July from a year earlier, mainly dragged down by lower production of capital goods and consumer non-durables. In Asia, China's annual consumer inflation slowed to 1.3 per cent in August, while Indonesia's pace slowed to a near seven-year low of 2.8 per cent. Space for easing? Many analysts expect inflation to ease further, offering new central bank chief Urjit Patel room to cut the policy rate at the meeting on October 4. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a challenge to achieve economic growth of around 8 per cent to create jobs for millions of unemployed youth, and industry has long sought lower interest rates. Annual economic growth in Asia's third-largest economy slowed to 7.1 per cent in April-June from 7.9 per cent the previous quarter, putting Modi's target further out of reach. But some analysts said the RBI may hold off until the end of the year when the inflation picture becomes clearer. "There is a high probability of a rate cut in December but certainly not in October in my opinion," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, group chief economist at L&T Finance Holdings in Mumbai. (Reuters)

India's August retail inflation at five-month low, raises hopes of rate cut

German industrial gas maker Linde on Tuesday announced the immediate departure of its chief financial officer, Georg Denoke, a day after his opposition to a potential $60 billion merger with US rival Praxair was identified as a major stumbling block to the failed talks. 
 
Linde shares closed up more than 4.6 per cent on news of Denoke&#39;s dismissal. 
 
&quot;Georg Denoke will leave the management board of Linde AG, effective today,&quot; the firm said in a statement.&nbsp; 
 
His duties as CFO will be handled by Linde&#39;s head of group treasury, Sven Schneider, until a successor is appointed, it added. 
 
Linde said the tie-up talks with Praxair had been halted after &quot;discussions about details, specifically about governance aspects, did not result in a mutual understanding&quot;. 
 
Sources on both sides had earlier told Bloomberg News that Denoke was opposed to the deal and had worked &quot;behind the scenes&quot; to get worker representatives on the board to back his position. 
 
Denoke joined Linde in 2004 and was appointed its finance chief in 2006. 
 
Linde also announced that its chief executive officer Wolfgang Buechele had decided not to stay on for another term after his contract ends in April 2017, citing his disappointment over the botched merger talks. 
 
&quot;My decisions at the top of our company have always been guided by the credo to further develop Linde as a successful, competitive, and strong global company,&quot; he said in the statement. 
 
&quot;I was personally disappointed that I could not reach the goal of creating the number one globally.&quot; 
 
A merger between Linde and Praxair could have allowed the German firm to overtake historic French rival Air Liquide as the largest industrial gas supplier, with combined annual revenues of more than $30 billion. 
 
But a Linde-Praxair tie-up would also have been subject to close regulatory scrutiny, as the number of large players in the market would have shrunk to three. 
 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

The firm said his duties as CFO will be handled by Linde's head of group treasury, Sven Schneider, until a successor is appointed

German industrial gas maker Linde on Tuesday announced the immediate departure of its chief financial officer, Georg Denoke, a day after his opposition to a potential $60 billion merger with US rival Praxair was identified as a major stumbling block to the failed talks. Linde shares closed up more than 4.6 per cent on news of Denoke's dismissal. "Georg Denoke will leave the management board of Linde AG, effective today," the firm said in a statement. His duties as CFO will be handled by Linde's head of group treasury, Sven Schneider, until a successor is appointed, it added. Linde said the tie-up talks with Praxair had been halted after "discussions about details, specifically about governance aspects, did not result in a mutual understanding". Sources on both sides had earlier told Bloomberg News that Denoke was opposed to the deal and had worked "behind the scenes" to get worker representatives on the board to back his position. Denoke joined Linde in 2004 and was appointed its finance chief in 2006. Linde also announced that its chief executive officer Wolfgang Buechele had decided not to stay on for another term after his contract ends in April 2017, citing his disappointment over the botched merger talks. "My decisions at the top of our company have always been guided by the credo to further develop Linde as a successful, competitive, and strong global company," he said in the statement. "I was personally disappointed that I could not reach the goal of creating the number one globally." A merger between Linde and Praxair could have allowed the German firm to overtake historic French rival Air Liquide as the largest industrial gas supplier, with combined annual revenues of more than $30 billion. But a Linde-Praxair tie-up would also have been subject to close regulatory scrutiny, as the number of large players in the market would have shrunk to three. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Linde dismisses CFO Denoke a day after failed merger talks with Praxair

As a part of its festive offer to woo the customers&nbsp;during Navratri, the nine-day Hindu festival to worship the deity Durga, half of the Domino&#39;s outlets &nbsp;in India will offer only vegetarian pizzas.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Consumption of non-vegetarian food reduces significantly during this time. This move is an acknowledgement that though we are a global brand, we are conscious about consumer needs. It&#39;s about making a statement to consumers,&quot; Domino&#39;s Pizza India president Dev Amritesh was quoted as saying by The Economic Times.&nbsp; 
 
The latest offer comes at a time when the Indian arm of the US pizza giant is attempting to recover from its slowest sales growth in two years.&nbsp; 
 
Food outlets and Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) usually see a drop in sales during the Navratri period when many Indians, particularly Hindus, abstain from eating&nbsp;meat, garlic, onions and processed foods. 
 
Select Domino&#39;s&nbsp;outlets will not use these ingredients for their pizzas during this period, instead using pizza bases made of &nbsp;water chestnut flour, saabudana crispies and dumplings and cheese and sauces with only rock salt.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Pizza being a very versatile product, we have been able to create this menu,&quot; Amritesh said.&nbsp; 
 
With a 30 per cent&nbsp;market share, Domino&#39;s leads the list of quick service restaurants in India followed by McDonald&#39;s, KFC and Subway, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) reported this year.&nbsp; 
 
It also has the largest market share &nbsp;of 70 per cent&nbsp;in the organised pizza market in the country.

(WION) 
 
 
&nbsp;

Food outlets in India usually see a drop in sales during the Navratri period when many Indians abstain from meat, garlic, onions and processed foods

As a part of its festive offer to woo the customers during Navratri, the nine-day Hindu festival to worship the deity Durga, half of the Domino's outlets in India will offer only vegetarian pizzas. "Consumption of non-vegetarian food reduces significantly during this time. This move is an acknowledgement that though we are a global brand, we are conscious about consumer needs. It's about making a statement to consumers," Domino's Pizza India president Dev Amritesh was quoted as saying by The Economic Times. The latest offer comes at a time when the Indian arm of the US pizza giant is attempting to recover from its slowest sales growth in two years. Food outlets and Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) usually see a drop in sales during the Navratri period when many Indians, particularly Hindus, abstain from eating meat, garlic, onions and processed foods. Select Domino's outlets will not use these ingredients for their pizzas during this period, instead using pizza bases made of water chestnut flour, saabudana crispies and dumplings and cheese and sauces with only rock salt. "Pizza being a very versatile product, we have been able to create this menu," Amritesh said. With a 30 per cent market share, Domino's leads the list of quick service restaurants in India followed by McDonald's, KFC and Subway, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) reported this year. It also has the largest market share of 70 per cent in the organised pizza market in the country. (WION)

500 Domino's outlets in India to offer only veg pizzas during nine-day Hindu festival

The International Energy Agency on Tuesday warned that the global oil glut looks set to go on at least six months longer than previously anticipated.&nbsp; 
 
The IEA said the glut was due to linger owing to slowdown in demand and constant rise in supply. 
 
The oil glut has hurt producers but it means cheaper pump prices for consumers at least through the first half of next year.&nbsp; 
 
The Paris-based organisation had earlier seen the oil oversupply disappearing in the latter part of 2016. 
 
In its monthly report, the IEA said the timing of the world oil market&#39;s return to balance is &quot;the big question.&quot; It added that the current prices - above $45 - would suggest supply falling and strong demand growth. 
 
The IEA&#39;s latest comments follow a surprisingly bearish outlook from OPEC on Monday. Crude prices were down 47 cents at $47.85 a barrel. 
 
The trend may fuel speculation of a possible production freeze being agreed between OPEC and non-OPEC member Russia at a meeting in Algeria later this month. 
 
Analyst Olivier Jakob, of Switzerland-based Petromatrix, said OPEC was &quot;trapped&quot; as non-OPEC supply had been able to adapt to lower prices better than expected. 
 
&quot;The IEA data is also suggesting that an OPEC &#39;freeze&#39; will not be enough to rebalance the market in 2017,&quot; he said in a note to investors. 
 
China and India, which had been key drivers recently of demand growth, are &quot;wobbling&quot;, it said, while a slowdown in the US and economic concerns in developing countries have also contributed to the surprise development. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

The IEA has cut its projections for global oil demand for 2017; oversupply threatens production freeze

The International Energy Agency on Tuesday warned that the global oil glut looks set to go on at least six months longer than previously anticipated. The IEA said the glut was due to linger owing to slowdown in demand and constant rise in supply. The oil glut has hurt producers but it means cheaper pump prices for consumers at least through the first half of next year. The Paris-based organisation had earlier seen the oil oversupply disappearing in the latter part of 2016. In its monthly report, the IEA said the timing of the world oil market's return to balance is "the big question." It added that the current prices - above $45 - would suggest supply falling and strong demand growth. The IEA's latest comments follow a surprisingly bearish outlook from OPEC on Monday. Crude prices were down 47 cents at $47.85 a barrel. The trend may fuel speculation of a possible production freeze being agreed between OPEC and non-OPEC member Russia at a meeting in Algeria later this month. Analyst Olivier Jakob, of Switzerland-based Petromatrix, said OPEC was "trapped" as non-OPEC supply had been able to adapt to lower prices better than expected. "The IEA data is also suggesting that an OPEC 'freeze' will not be enough to rebalance the market in 2017," he said in a note to investors. China and India, which had been key drivers recently of demand growth, are "wobbling", it said, while a slowdown in the US and economic concerns in developing countries have also contributed to the surprise development. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Global oil glut to continue until mid-2017: International Energy Agency

Britain is one of the most unequal developed countries where the gap between the rich and the poor has 
increased and the richest 10% own more than half of the country&#39;s wealth, the Guardian reported quoting a survey by Oxfam.&nbsp; 
 
The survey says it is this &quot;distrust and disconnection with political processes&quot; that led many people to vote for a change and opt out of the European Union &quot;in the hope that it would improve their economic position.&quot; 
 
The top 1% own just less than a quarter of the country&#39;s total wealth while the poorest 20% share just &nbsp;0.8% of the wealth between them. The combined wealth of the richest 1% is more than 20 times that of the poorest fifth, the report stated using data from investment bank Credit Suisse. 
 
As per The Guardian, the report states, &ldquo;The UK is one of the most unequal developed countries in the world. Three decades of high-level inequality have had a profound impact, leading many people to believe that they have little stake in society and to feel locked out of politics and economic opportunity. 
 
The anti-poverty charity has called on the Theresa May-led government to bridge the gap between the &quot;have&quot; and the &quot;have nots&quot;. 
 
The Guardian attributes this inequality to the rise in property prices in the last 20 years and substantive retirement wages for the wealthy with no such benefits for the poor. 
 
The Oxfam paper called for an overhaul of the tax system so the richest members of society including major corporations paid their fair share of tax. It also called for curbs on excessive pay, extra funding for skills training and greater worker representation on boards.

(WION) 
 
&nbsp;

An Oxfam survey states it is this "distrust and disconnection with political processes" that led many people to vote for a change and opt out of the EU

Britain is one of the most unequal developed countries where the gap between the rich and the poor has increased and the richest 10% own more than half of the country's wealth, the Guardian reported quoting a survey by Oxfam. The survey says it is this "distrust and disconnection with political processes" that led many people to vote for a change and opt out of the European Union "in the hope that it would improve their economic position." The top 1% own just less than a quarter of the country's total wealth while the poorest 20% share just 0.8% of the wealth between them. The combined wealth of the richest 1% is more than 20 times that of the poorest fifth, the report stated using data from investment bank Credit Suisse. As per The Guardian, the report states, “The UK is one of the most unequal developed countries in the world. Three decades of high-level inequality have had a profound impact, leading many people to believe that they have little stake in society and to feel locked out of politics and economic opportunity. The anti-poverty charity has called on the Theresa May-led government to bridge the gap between the "have" and the "have nots". The Guardian attributes this inequality to the rise in property prices in the last 20 years and substantive retirement wages for the wealthy with no such benefits for the poor. The Oxfam paper called for an overhaul of the tax system so the richest members of society including major corporations paid their fair share of tax. It also called for curbs on excessive pay, extra funding for skills training and greater worker representation on boards. (WION)

10% of Britons own more than half the country's wealth: Survey

Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), a state-owned bank, today launched up to 8.1 billion Dollars in an Initial&nbsp;Public Offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. 
 
&nbsp;The deal was majorly covered by cornerstone investors, IFR a Reuters publication reported. 
 
A term sheet of the transaction revealed that the bank is offering 12.1 billion new shares ranging HK$4.68 to HK$5.18 each. 
 
A conglomerate of six investors including, CSIC Investment One Limited, Shanghai International Port Group, Victory Global Group and State Grid agreed to buy $5.86 billion worth of shares or 72 per cent of the IPO. 
 
This will put it near 77 per cent cornerstone&nbsp; 
 
That would put it near the record 77 percent cornerstone piece for the 810 million Dollar listing of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co Ltd. 
 
Once the shares start trading, large investments by cornerstone investors will hurt liquidity for IPOs, as for at least six months the stock will be locked up. 
&nbsp; 
The cornerstone money can also pressure the stock as the expiration of the lock-up period comes closer. 
 
On September 20, IPO is slated to be priced and its debut set for September 28, on Hong Kong stock exchange. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters)

PSBC bank is offering 12.1 billion new shares ranging HK$4.68 to HK$5.18 to each cornerstone investor

Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), a state-owned bank, today launched up to 8.1 billion Dollars in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. The deal was majorly covered by cornerstone investors, IFR a Reuters publication reported. A term sheet of the transaction revealed that the bank is offering 12.1 billion new shares ranging HK$4.68 to HK$5.18 each. A conglomerate of six investors including, CSIC Investment One Limited, Shanghai International Port Group, Victory Global Group and State Grid agreed to buy $5.86 billion worth of shares or 72 per cent of the IPO. This will put it near 77 per cent cornerstone That would put it near the record 77 percent cornerstone piece for the 810 million Dollar listing of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co Ltd. Once the shares start trading, large investments by cornerstone investors will hurt liquidity for IPOs, as for at least six months the stock will be locked up. The cornerstone money can also pressure the stock as the expiration of the lock-up period comes closer. On September 20, IPO is slated to be priced and its debut set for September 28, on Hong Kong stock exchange. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

China Postal Savings Bank launches 8.1 billion Dollars Initial Public Offering

Amazon and Pandora are reportedly planning to launch new versions of their streaming music services in the next few weeks, the New York Times reported on Sunday. Both companies are reportedly close to finalising deals with record companies and music publishers that will allow them to offer the new services. 
 
Pandora reportedly plans to launch a full-fledged on-demand platform by Christmas which will compete with rivals such as Spotify and Apple Inc. Possible additions could be skipping more songs or storing several hours of playlists. Prices are expected to double to $10 from the current $5-per-month. The announcement could be made this week, the paper reported. 
 
Amazon, meanwhile, is expected to reveal a platform with a large catalog of music for $10 per month or about half that amount for customers using its Echo voice-activated speakers. 
 
Neither of the companies has confirmed the news so far. 
 
(WION with inputs from Reuters) 
 
&nbsp;

Expanded playlists are likely to be a key feature in both the companies' new products.

Amazon and Pandora are reportedly planning to launch new versions of their streaming music services in the next few weeks, the New York Times reported on Sunday. Both companies are reportedly close to finalising deals with record companies and music publishers that will allow them to offer the new services. Pandora reportedly plans to launch a full-fledged on-demand platform by Christmas which will compete with rivals such as Spotify and Apple Inc. Possible additions could be skipping more songs or storing several hours of playlists. Prices are expected to double to $10 from the current $5-per-month. The announcement could be made this week, the paper reported. Amazon, meanwhile, is expected to reveal a platform with a large catalog of music for $10 per month or about half that amount for customers using its Echo voice-activated speakers. Neither of the companies has confirmed the news so far. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Amazon and Pandora to launch new music streaming services: Report