Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said bitcoins has not posed any systemic risk so far, however, the cryptocurrency cannot be ignored and a government panel is looking into it. “There has to be a process or law, only then can you take action,” Tyagi told reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry conference in Mumbai. Tyagi said there should not be any regulatory oversights on blockchain technology, saying this is a useful technology and should be encouraged. Blockchain technology is used to deal with bitcoins and other crypto currencies.

Since several uncertainties, especially on the fiscal and external fronts, persist it is important to be vigilant, RBI governor Urjit Patel said at the meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC). He added that the recent upturn in crude oil prices has emerged as a cause of concern. “Hence, I vote for status quo in the policy rate, while maintaining the stance as neutral; this allows us the flexibility to respond appropriately to incoming data,” Patel said, according to the minutes of the MPC, which voted 5-1 to keep the policy rates unchanged at 6%. Patel said that inflation expectations of households 0for both three-month ahead and one-year ahead periods in the latest round of the central bank’s survey moved up.

ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, two of the country’s largest private sector lenders, on Wednesday revised interest rates on their bulk deposits. ICICI Bank increased rates on deposits of between Rs 1 crore and Rs 100 crore, maturing between one year and 389 days by 10 basis points (bps) to 6.6%. On the other hand, the rate on deposits larger than Rs 100 crore and maturing between one year and 389 days was reduced to 6.6% from 6.75% earlier. Both moves reverse rate actions taken by the bank on Saturday.

Key indices on Wednesday closed lower shutting down their record highs as investors and traders booked profit cashing in on the market rally.

The Sensex hit a fresh all-time high of 33,956 intra day in early trade breaching the earlier record level of 33,465. While Sensex fell 59 points to 33,777, Nifty was down 19 points to 10,444. Market breadth is positive with 1,587 stocks closing higher against 1,120 ending lower on BSE.

The stock price of Reliance Communications (RCom) shot up by over 32.14 per cent to close at Rs 17.10 on Wednesday, possibly triggered by a joint lenders’ forum meeting scheduled for Thursday. The forum is expected to discuss the bids it has received for sale of the company’s assets.

Buoyed by the stock movement, RCom’s market capitalisation touched Rs 4,558 crore.

The second-largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, would be raising up to Rs 24,000 crore in equity, its board approved on Wednesday.

If the entire amount is raised, it would be the biggest fundraising exercise by any Indian company ever. Coal India had raised Rs 22,613 crore through offer for sale in January 2015. Around that time, in February, HDFC Bank itself had raised Rs 9,840 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Wednesday presented a roadmap for the complete shift towards electric vehicle regime by 2047.

SIAM, which has suggested that forty per cent of all new vehicle sales in the country should be electric vehicles by 2030, noted that all new vehicle sales for intra-city public transport fleets should be electric by 2030.

Bank of India said on Wednesday that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated ‘prompt corrective action’ (PCA) against the lender over high bad loans.

High net non-performing assets (NPA), insufficient common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital and negative return on assets (ROA) for two consecutive years has prompted the action, the bank said in a statement.

NEW DELHI: India and China will hold the next round of border talks here on Friday, the first after the 73-day-long military standoff between the two countries in Doklam in summer months.

Issuing a brief statement on Wednesday, the external affairs ministry said at the invitation of Ajit Doval, the National Security Adviser and the Special Representative on the boundary question, Yang Jiechi, State Councillor and China's Special Representative on the issue will visit India on December 22 to hold the 20th SR-level meeting.

India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and China’s Dalian city have signed an agreement to set up a platform for partnership between Indian and Chinese IT companies. The move will help Indian IT software companies enter Dalian, a cyber city in China’s northeast province Liaoning where over a dozen of Indian firms such as Infosys, TCS, HCL and others are already present. Under the agreement signed on Tuesday evening, Indian companies will get “preferential” entry into the Chinese market. “Today, the lines between hardware and software are merging very fast.

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