Day: February 7, 2021

Working with RBI to execute bank privatisation announced in Budget: FM

wayne February 7, 2021


Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the government will work with the Reserve Bank for execution of the bank privatisation plan announced in the budget.


Speaking to reporters in the financial capital, Sitharaman also said that the government has no plan to form any bank investment company to house the government stakes in banks.



In the union budget presented last week, Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two banks as part of its disinvestment plan. Bank unions have opposed the move.


“The details are being worked out. I have made the announcement but we are working together with the RBI,” she said, when asked about the proposal.


She, however, declined to comment on any specific details about which will be the candidate chosen for privatisation.


“We will let you know when the government is ready to announce,” she answered when asked about the details.


On the bad bank, Sitharaman said thegovernment may have to give some guarantee for the National Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC), but stressed that this is a solution which has come from the banks itself and will also be

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Engineering firm BHEL reports a loss of Rs 217 crore for Dec quarter

wayne February 7, 2021


State-run engineering firm BHEL on Saturday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 217.86 crore for the October-December quarter due to lower revenues.


The consolidated net profit of the firm was Rs 161.81 crore in the quarter ended on December 31, 2019, a BSE filing stated.



Total income of the company dipped to Rs 4,532.39 crore in the quarter from Rs 5,827.74 crore in the same period a year ago.


About the impact of pandemic, the company said, “During the quarter, the group operations recovered as compared to Q2/20-21 (second quarter this fiscal), but pre-COVID level of operations are yet to be achieved.


“Based on its assessment of business/economic conditions as on date, the company expects to recover the carrying value of its assets.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the

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Cuba Authorizes Private Activity In Majority Of Sectors

wayne February 7, 2021

Cuba announced Saturday that private activity will be authorized in most sectors, a major reform in the communist country where the state and its companies dominate economic activity.

The measure, which was unveiled last August by Labor Minister Marta Elena Feito, was approved Friday during a meeting of the Council of Ministers, according to the daily Granma, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party.

Until now, private activity — which has been authorized in Cuba since 2010 but whose real boom dates back to the historic warming of ties between Cuba and the United States, initiated at the end of 2014 under Barack Obama — was limited to a list of sectors set by the state.

“The previous list of 127 (authorized) activities has been eliminated,” the labor minister said.

From now on, a list will determine the sectors reserved for the state, which will be a minority: “Of the more than 2,000 activities in which private work is allowed… only 124 will be limited, partially or totally,” Feito said, without giving further details, though they are expected to include industries considered strategic to the state, include media, health and defense.





A man looks at a painting of late

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