Month: January 2021

Power demand hits all-time high on Saturday, indicating economic revival

wayne January 31, 2021


Power demand touched an all-time high of 189.64 GW on Saturday, Power Secretary S N Sahai has said.


“Power demand galloping. All India demand: 1,89,644 MW (189.64 GW) at 10.39 hrs today (January 30) crossed the previous highest all India demand of 1,88,452 MW (188.45 GW) on 28th January,” Sahai has tweeted.



Last week, Power Minister R K Singh had exuded confidence that power demand will cross 200 GW mark soon.


On Friday last, Singh had tweeted, “The power demand and supply surged to a new high of 1,88,452 MW at 9:42 am on 28th January 2021. The rate at which we are going, we shall cross 2,00,000 MW very soon.”

In another tweet on the same day, he had said, “Southern region touched the highest ever peak demand of 53,214 MW on January 28, 2021, at 9:49 am”.


On January 20, power demand had touched a record high of 187.3 GW.


All-India power demand had touched a record high of 182.89 GW on December 30 last year.


According to data from the power ministry, the peak power demand met (the highest supply

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IDFC First Bank posts Rs 130 crore net profit in December quarter

wayne January 31, 2021


IDFC First Bank on Saturday reported a net profit of Rs 130 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2020.


The bank, which came into existence recently after the merger of IDFC Bank and Capital First, had reported a net loss of Rs 1,639 crore for October-December period of 2019-20.



Total income during the quarter rose to Rs 4,711.72 crore from Rs 4,679.14 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, the bank said in a regulatory filing.


The bank’s asset quality improved as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans reduced to 1.33 per cent of the gross advances as of December 31, 2020 as against 2.83 per cent by the same period a year ago.


Similarly, the net NPAs improved to 0.33 per cent from 1.23 per cent in the third quarter of previous fiscal.


The collections are improving strongly every month since July 2020 and has already reached 98 per cent of pre-COVID collections, IDFC First Bank CEO V Vaidyanathan said.


“Basis our experience in collections, a swiftly improving economy, and our provisioning policies we feel the

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Using equity release to fund your retirement 

wayne January 31, 2021

Funding your retirement is not as easy as it used to be. With workplace pensions on the brink and some of the worst in years, and the increasing living costs in the UK, it can be hard for senior citizens to afford a quality lifestyle.

In comes as no surprise that many pensioners will consider using equity release as a way to extract money from their homes, something that is a £3 billion industry in the UK each year. We investigate below.

How Equity Release Works

Equity release allows homeowners over 55 to release equity and income that is tied up in their home. After paying off most of their mortgage, you can receive up to 35% of the property’s value in one lump sum and tax free. Equity release providers are able to recover their funds by having a stake in your property so that they can claim their share when you die and they gain by the increase in the property’s value over time. (Source: Access Equity Release)

To be eligible, you must have paid off a significant amount of your first mortgage, be over 55 years of age and your house is worth a certain minimum amount

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Revival of animal spirits with 11% growth rate in FY22: CEA Subramanian

wayne January 30, 2021


Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian on Saturday said the country would witness revival of ‘animal spirits’ of private enterprises with the economy staging a ‘V-shaped’ 11 per cent growth in the next fiscal year beginning April.


The Economic Survey 2020-21 presented in Parliament on Friday expects the growth rate to rebound sharply from an estimated record contraction of 7.7 per cent in the current financial year on account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.



“I think next year with an 11 per cent growth rate, that is anticipated. Private sector moves in when they see opportunities,” Subramanian said when asked about the revival of ‘animal spirits’ in private investment.


The expression ‘animal spirits’ was coined by celebrated economist John Maynard Keynes to refer to investors’ confidence in taking action in terms of investment.


Subramanian, the lead author of the Economic Survey, also made a case for strong counter-cyclical measures to encourage private investment.


Observing that there are business cycles in the economy and there are peaks and troughs, he said, when the economy is doing really well, private sector is also doing very

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Glass takes startup role

wayne January 30, 2021

Former West Coast Eagles captain Darren Glass has been appointed general manager at Complete Home Filtration, which was named startup of the year in 2020 at Business News’s RISE awards.…

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