BW Online Bureau Premji Invest, the private equity fund promoted by Wipro's billionaire Chairman, Azim Premji, has invested in Mumbai-based Hygienic Research Institute, hair colour makers of Vasmol and Streax products. A statement issued by the Mumbai-based institute did not share any details pertaining to the investment but it is understood that the PE firm has picked up a minority stake in it for around $35 million. Hygienic Research Institute, a company with more than five decades of experience in the field of cosmetic industry; owns a variety of hair colour products which span across diverse formats - powder, creams and henna. Its leading brands are Super Vasmol 33 & Streax. Apart from hair colour, the company also makes hair oil, skincare products, shampoo and shaving cream. It has a presence across 1.5 million retail outlets, 1,000 modern trade outlets and another 15,000 salons, catering to both direct consumers and professionals. It completion include Godrej Consumer Products and French cosmetics and beauty company L'Oreal, among others. The funds raised will help the company expand its operations in terms of marketing and foray into newer segments within hair care. The country's Rs 2,970-crore colourants market grew by 20 percent last year. Premji Invest, promoted by Azim Premji, manages over $2 billion Its investments include Flipkart, Snapdeal, National Stock Exchange, among others.
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Axis Bank Ltd, India's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a 19 per cent increase in second-quarter profit, in line with estimates, while its bad loans remained stable. Net profit rose to Rs 1,916 crore ($295 million) for the three months to September 30 from Rs 1,611 crore a year earlier, the Mumbai-based bank said in a statement. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 1,920 crore, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans were little changed from the previous quarter at 1.38 per cent.(Reuters)
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Make sure the free health check-up doesn’t get lapsed in your health insurance policy. Sunil Dhawan writes With increasingly hectic lifestyle, the constant pressure of work is taking its toll on the healths of all professionals including the salaried-class as well as business people.The good thing is many of us have taken all this in our strides. With hard work, the need and the desire to be fit and healthy too is catching up. Wellness programmes and early morning gym and yoga sessions are becoming more common. But, along with a healthy routine, a careful examination of one’s body is equally important. As is commonly said, prevention is always better than cure and a regular health check-up has its own advantages. The right time to go for a health check-up is when there is no visible sign of ailments. A close examination could reveal something that can become malignant in future. Many illnesses could be cured before they become serious. Most decent hospitals in your neighborhood would have different packages for health check-ups. These would, however, be at a cost. Health check-ups can be free of cost if you already hold a health insurance policy from a general or standalone health insurer. Almost all insurers offer free health check-up to policyholders after 2 or in some cases, after 4 years. To be eligible for free checkups, a block of four years has to be claim-free. Further, the benefit here too is capped. Even if it’s a family floater plan, one gets health checkup up to 1 per cent of the sum insured. In case, the package cost of hospital is more, you may have to pay the difference. In case of a family floater, only one member can claim it. Even if one member has claimed on a FF plan, the benefit becomes invalid. The process differs across insurers. Some have empanelled hospitals where the policyholder can undergo the check-ups while with some, one may undergo tests in any hospital which offers preventive health check-up packages. If the hospital is not on the empaneled list, the cost has to be initially borne by the policyholder and subsequently will be reimbursed by the insurer. Not all insurers may allow check-ups at non- empaneled hospitals, so confirm beforehand. Health check up is a renewal incentive and to this benefit, the member may have to go to the insurer’s network hospital only. So, get a fix on the process by calling up your insurer before you undergo these tests. If you haven’t reached the block-year condition or already made a claim on your health policy, there’s another help at hand. Under section 80D, maximum deduction allowed is Rs 25,000 a year, while it’s Rs 30,000 for seniors. Within this limit, preventive check-ups get a benefit of up to Rs 5,000. The benefit amount is within Rs 25,000 or Rs 30,000 and not in addition to it. Considering so many options, the reason to not go for a health check-up shouldn’t be there. Its time you get a preventive checkup done for early signs that your body might be sending you.
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Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor H. R. Khan said on Tuesday the central bank was considering new measures in debt markets, including working on a trading platform for repos and corporate bonds and looking at building bond indexes.Khan's comments, at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), come as the central bank has unveiled new debt initiatives this year, including the introduction of a 40-year bond and raising debt investment limits for foreign investors.(Reuters)
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At the time of renewal, for quoting a low premium, the insured declared value (IDV) of the car may be kept deliberately low by distributors. Sunil Dhawan explains what to take note of At times, there could be big difference in the premium on your car insurance policy. If different agents, brokers and insurance aggregators are providing varied quotes, its time to take notice. Your car insurance policy covers two risks – risk associated with own damage (OD) and secondly the third-party risk. While the third-party tariff is mandated by law, the OD risk premium depends on the Insured's Declared Value (IDV). Therefore, when you get your car insured for the first time or at the time of renewal, IDV plays an important role. In a vehicle's insurance policy, the sum for which the vehicle is insured is called IDV. The IDV of the vehicle is the sum insured for which the car gets insured and it forms the basis of settlement for all purposes such as if the vehicle is stolen or is damaged beyond repair in an accident. Initially, when the car is bought, the IDV is determined based on the manufacturer's listed selling price of the brand and model of the vehicle. For this, the price listed by the car's manufacturer at the time of issuing the policy, or the time of renewing it, is considered. Over the years, especially during renewals, the price is adjusted based on depreciation of the vehicle. During renewals, one may get the car insured for a low IDV, thus bringing the premium lower. However, in doing so, one is exposed to high risk. Get insurance on a full IDV as this is the amount that the insurer would pay if your car got completely damaged or stolen. At times, insurers and their agents too quote a lower premium but at a lower IDV. So, ask for the exact IDV and insure for full IDV. When you buy a policy directly from the company, the chances of getting a wrong IDV are negligible. IDV is based on the age of your vehicle, its engine capacity and location of the car. But when you buy the cover from an agent or a broker, it is advisable that you cross check the IDV, either through a renewal receipt from the insurer, or online by filling in the required details.
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The CVC has asked RBI and Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to red flag multiple transactions of smaller amounts from a single account and ensure compliance of KYC norms to check fraudulent forex transactions in the wake of alleged Rs 6,100 crore foreign remittance scam through Bank of Baroda, a top official said on Friday (23 October). "We have written to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to say that if smaller forex transactions of less than one lakh dollars are being made than it should come to your notice," Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin told reporters here. He said similar communication has been sent to IBA chief, saying there may be "attempts to camouflage generation of alerts by sending small amount of money through multiple transactions of foreign exchange abroad. We have told RBI and IBA that they should tell banks to red flag transactions of smaller amount from one account." At present, an alert is generated only when foreign exchange (forex) remittance is over one lakh dollars. "IBA has also been asked to tell all member banks that they follow Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money laundering (AML) guidelines so as to check reoccurence of such (Bank of Baroda case) incidents," he said. On the recent forex scam in which about Rs 6,100 crore were remitted to Hong Kong allegedly misusing Bank of Baroda, Bhasin said Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been asked to look into the matter and if these were not genuine transactions then they should work on repatriation of the money. Bhasin said as soon as the BoB incident was reported to the Central Vigilance Commission, requests for probe was made to the CBI and ED. "Commission personally spoke to CBI and ED Directors. Very next day of the CVC's communication, Bank of Baroda's Ashok Vihar branch was raided by the CBI. They also conducted raids at 59 places and arrests were made. Today also investigation in the case is going on 24x7 basis," he said. The bank has not lost any money, said Bhasin, former Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Bank. The transactions were made in about a period of about 14 months and 90 per cent of them were through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, in which transactions are settled on real-time, he said. "Wherever loopholes are found, they are being plugged," the Vigilance Commissioner claimed. Both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED are probing transactions of Rs 6,100 crore to Hong Kong from a Bank of Baroda's Ashok Vihar branch here. The huge transaction is believed to be trade-based money laundering as the amount was transferred in the garb of payments for imports, that never took place. As per CBI probe so far, Rs 6,100 crore were transferred through nearly 8,000 transactions done between July, 2014 and July, this year. The Commission has sought a report from BoB and CBI in this regard. (PTI)
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Singapore's biggest lender DBS Group Holdingsand South African banking group FirstRand are in separate talks to buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's India unit, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Financial details of the transaction were not immediately clear, though one of the people said the deal could fetch about $200 million. An Indian private sector lender is also likely to bid for the unit, another source directly involved in the process said, declining to give details. The sources declined to be named as the talks are not yet public. RBS, 73 percent owned by the British government, said in February it would shrink its banking operations, pulling out of about 25 countries including India to help it refocus on lending in Britain. The India business of RBS comprises corporate banking, trade finance and cash management. DBS, FirstRand and RBS declined to comment. (Reuters)
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Gold loan lender firm Manappuram Finance launched its “online gold loans” facility for its customer. A customer is required to make an initial visit to a Manappuram Finance branch for appraisal of his gold ornaments and handover of custody against a receipt bearing full particulars of the pledged ornaments.Manappuram Finance will arrange for its secure storage in its vaults, similar to the locker facility offered by Banks. Customers will additionally get insurance cover for the full value of the ornaments. A credit limit of up to 75 per cent of the market value of the pledged gold ornaments will be sanctioned as Online Gold loan. This amount can be withdrawn by the customer from anywhere in the world 24x7 using a smart phone, computer, or other internet enabled devices.V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance, said that with technology redefining every aspect of life, Manappuram is determined to retain its position in the vanguard of technology and innovation in gold loans.He announced that Manappuram is planning to follow up online gold loans with the launch of its pre-sanctioned Gold loan Cards, similar to debit cards, which can be used to withdraw money from ATM machines.Earlier, Meera Haridas (General Manager – Marketing) introduced the online gold loan product to customers who had gathered at the company’s Valapad Head Office as part of a customer meet. Other senior executives who spoke on the occasion were B. N. Raveendra Babu (Executive Director) and Senior Vice Presidents Dr Sumitha Nandan Jayasankar and Sooraj Nandan.(BW Online Bureau)
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