Bharti Airtel reports 22 per cent rise in Q2 revenue: Report

Bharti Airtel Ltd , India's No.2 telecom carrier by subscribers, reported a near 22% rise in second-quarter revenue on Monday, helped by 4G subscriber additions. The company's consolidated revenue from operations was 345.27 billion Indian rupees ($4.17 billion) for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with 283.26 billion rupees a year ago. Analysts, on average, were expecting revenue of 339.21 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

UBS-Credit Suisse merger anticipated to cause over 30,000 jobs loss

Credit Suisse and UBS could cut up to 36,000 jobs worldwide in the wake of their $3.3bn merger, according to reports. The deal was hastily arranged by the Swiss government in March to prevent a financial meltdown following the collapse of banks in the US. Management is reportedly considering cutting between 20% and 30% of the workforce, meaning between 25,000 and 36,000 jobs, with up to 11,000 jobs potentially being cut in Switzerland alone.

Businesses can revoke GST registration cancellation by June 30th

Indian businesses whose GST registrations were cancelled for non-filing of returns are now allowed to apply for revocation of the cancellation by June 30, after paying due taxes, interest and penalty. The finance ministry has made amendments in the Central GST act specifying that businesses whose registration have been cancelled on or before December 31, 2022, and who have failed to apply for revocation of cancellation within the specified period can do so by June 30, 2023.

Union Bank opens ‘Special Rupee Vostro’ account in Malaysia: All you need to know

India's Union Bank of India has opened a "Special Rupee Vostro" account in Malaysia, enabling transactions between the two countries in rupees. The move comes after the Reserve Bank of India allowed the settlement of India's international trade in rupee. The accounts keep the foreign bank's holdings in the Indian counterpart in rupees, allowing Indian traders to pay foreign traders in their own currency. Previously, trade between India and Malaysia was settled in Malaysian ringgit. The total trade between the two countries was $19.4bn in the fiscal year 2021-22.

Mahila Samman Savings Certificate 2023: Know steps to invest, other key features

India's Ministry of Finance has released a notification for the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate-2023 scheme, a one-time small savings plan for girls and women. The scheme, which will be available in over 1.59 lakh post offices across the country, offers a fixed interest rate of 7.5% over a 24-month tenure, from April 2023 to March 2025. Women and girls can invest in the scheme through state-owned banks beginning April 1, 2023, with a maximum deposit of INR2 lakh ($2,700). The taxing structure of the scheme has not yet been determined.

India extends restrictions on petrol, diesel exports to ensure domestic availability

India has extended restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline to ensure the availability of refined fuels for the domestic market. The curbs were imposed through the end of the financial year on Friday and the extension may discourage some Indian refiners, mainly private companies, from buying Russian fuel for re-exports to countries including those in Europe that have stopped purchases of refined products from Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Adani Ports acquires Karaikal Port for ₹1,485 crore

Indian port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has purchased Karaikal Port from the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process for $200m. The all-weather deep-water port, located in Puducherry in southern India, has five operational berths and a cargo handling capacity of 21.5 million metric tonnes. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone CEO Karan Adani said the company planned to double the port's capacity over the next five years and add a container terminal. The purchase brings the company's portfolio to 14 ports in India.

At 8.7 billion, UPI records highest-ever transactions in March

India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed a record 8.7 billion transactions in March, a year-on-year increase of 60%, according to the National Payments Corporation of India. The value of the transactions, which were worth INR14.05tn ($188.5bn), was up 46% YoY. UPI, launched in 2016, has become India's most popular payment system, with close to 30 crore payments daily. It can potentially handle one billion transactions a day, according to the Reserve Bank of India's governor.

Petrol, diesel prices on April 2: Check rates in your city

Petrol and diesel prices in India have remained unchanged for the 10th consecutive month since May 2022. Petrol costs INR106.31 ($1.43) per litre in Mumbai and INR106.03 per litre in Kolkata, while diesel costs INR94.27 per litre in Mumbai and INR92.76 per litre in Kolkata. The prices vary according to local taxes, VAT and freight charges, and are set daily by oil marketing companies. The price of commercial LPG cylinders fell by INR91.50 on Saturday.

In cost-cutting drive, Google to eliminate several perks for employees

Google is to reduce employee perks in a cost-cutting drive, according to a memo from the company's CFO Ruth Porar. The memo, sent to employees on 31 March, revealed that micro kitchens, which offer free snacks and drinks, would be shut down, while some cafes would close on days with low footfall, in order to reduce waste. Fitness classes will be rescheduled and spending on laptops cut. Google recently laid off 3,000 staff.

High GST collection reveals robustness of Indian economy

India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection hit a record high of over INR1.6tn ($22bn) in March 2023, closing the 2022-23 financial year with a total gross collection of over INR18tn, a 22% YoY increase. GST revenues remained robust throughout the year, except for May and June 2021, as the Indian economy recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sustained buoyancy of the tax on consumption for 12 consecutive months highlights the resilience of the Indian economy and the maturity of the new indirect tax regime that was launched in July 2017.

India’s unemployment rate rises to 7.8 per cent in March, says report

The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.8% in March, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The figure marks a three-month high and follows a peak of 8.3% in December 2022. In February 2023, the rate was 7.45%. The rate was highest in Haryana at 26.8%, followed by Rajasthan at 26.4% and Jammu and Kashmir at 23.1%. The lowest rates were recorded in Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh at 0.8%, Gujarat at 1.8%, and Karnataka, Meghalaya and Odisha at 2.6% each.

GST collection rises 13% to ₹1.60 lakh crore in March: Report

India's GST collection grew 13% to INR1.6tn ($21.4bn) in March, marking the second highest monthly figure since the indirect tax regime was introduced. The gross GST revenue collected for the full 2022-23 fiscal year stands at INR18.1tn, a 22% increase from the previous year, with the average gross monthly collection for the year standing at INR1.5tn. Revenue from import of goods was 8% higher in March, while revenue from domestic transactions, including import of services, was up 14% compared with the same month last year.

Day after layoffs, Unacademy announces 25% pay cut for founders, top leaders: Report

Indian edtech company Unacademy's top leadership will take a permanent pay cut of up to 25%, according to co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal. The move comes a day after the SoftBank-backed firm laid off 380 employees and decided to retain just 30% of competitive programming platform CodeChef. Munjal reportedly said in an internal memo that the cuts would be "proportionate to the salary and performance of the leaders, and will stay in place till next year". The company has also cut staff numbers by 12% in the past year.

Trade settlement between India, Malaysia now possible in Indian Rupee

India and Malaysia can now use the Indian rupee to settle trade, along with other currencies, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed settlement of international trade in Indian currency. The India International Bank of Malaysia (IIBM) has opened a special Rupee Vostro account through its corresponding bank in India, Union Bank of India, to facilitate trade payments in domestic currency.

Elon Musk seeks dismissal of $258 billion ‘fanciful’ Dogecoin lawsuit

Elon Musk has asked a judge to throw out a $258bn racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support Dogecoin, calling the lawsuit "a fanciful work of fiction". Lawyers for Musk and Tesla said that the investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and that his statements were too vague to support a fraud claim. The investors' lawyer said he was "more confident than ever" that the case would be successful.