Ahead of the merger with parent State Bank of India (SBI), associate banks have started rolling out voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) for their employees with a very short deadline.

The VRS rolled out by the State Bank of Patiala has asked the employees to accept the offer within 15 days, between March 22 and April 5. A further seven days, till April 12, has been given to withdraw the application. An employee of the bank said the timeline given was too short.

The US government's restrictions on carriage of electronic items, laptops, and iPads from 10 airports in West Asia (Middle East) and North Africa will benefit Air India and European airlines. Going by the directive, all US-bound passengers originating or transiting through airports like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Doha will have to carry these devices in checked luggage only.

The move augurs well for India. At present, Air India flies non-stop from Delhi and Mumbai to New York, Newark, Chicago, and San Francisco. It flies one-stop to Newark via London and plans to launch a non-stop service between Delhi-Washington from July.

TVS Motor has bagged a patent for its antilock brake system (ABS) for motorcycles. The new system helps to overcome the problems, defects and drawbacks encountered in the previous models. The company is currently using the ABS technology in its high-end motorcycle TVS Apache, in collaboration with German component manufacturer Continental Corporation.

The company says that the presence of ABS in a motorcycle prevents locking of the front and rear wheels by automatically regulating the braking force acting on the front and rear wheels at the time of braking operation.

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Tuesday launched a plan that will provide 2GB data per day for Rs 339 per month.

"To compete with Jio and other private players, we have introduced the cheapest plan with a rental value of Rs 339 per month. Under this plan, the consumer will get 2GB per day," said Sanjiv Tyagi, General Manager, BSNL.

Three days after setting stiff time-bound targets for listing of profitable central PSUs, the government on Monday initiated steps to divest up to 25% in the initial public offerings (IPOs) of three railways undertakings — IRCTC, IRFC and IRCON.

The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) has invited applications from merchant bankers to manage the IPOs in 2017-18. Though DIPAM did not specify how much stake the Centre would dilute in these IPOs, sources told FE that it could be up to 25% each depending on valuations.

Microsoft Corp and Adobe Systems Inc are joining to make their respective sales and marketing software products more potent competitors to Salesforce.com Inc and Oracle Corp offerings, the two firms said Monday. On the eve of San Jose, California-based Adobe’s annual user conference, the company said that it will work with Microsoft to create a shared data format between Adobe’s marketing software suite, which the company is re-naming its Experience Cloud, and Microsoft’s sales software, called Dynamics, allowing the software systems to work together seamlessly.

NEW DELHI: Indian oil and gas companies are likely use their improved cash flows from market-linked fuel prices to expand their asset base and enhance operational quality, S&P Global Ratings said today.

They are expected to step up investments in upgrading refineries to meet cleaner fuel standards, improve yields and create flexible refinery configurations in product pipeline and gas infrastructure capacities, it said.

The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by almost 57 points in early trade today on the back of gains in FMCG, capital goods, PSU, power, auto and IT sector stocks amid positive Asian cues.

After falling 130.25 points in the previous session on profit-booking, the 30-share Sensex was trading in positive zone with a gain of 56.92 points, or 0.19%, to 29,575.66.

India is home to world's fourth highest number of billionaires with Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani leading the club of more than 100 super rich Indians, according to a new list released by Forbes magazine.

The Forbes list of the 'World's Billionaires' 2017 consists of 2,043 of the richest people in the world who have a combined net worth of $7.67 trillion, a record 18-per cent increase over the past year.

The BJP on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's suggestion of an out-of-court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, and said aggrieved parties should keep in mind its "sensitivity" while discussing the matter.

"The Supreme Court has called for an out-of-court settlement between the aggrieved parties. The parties should resolve the issue amicably by talking to each other.

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