Top headlines: Banks lending, deposit rate bottomed out; UK clears vaccine

From UK approving Pfizer vaccine for public rollout to plans afoot for creating vaccine supply chain, here are top headlines this morning

Bank lending, deposit rates have bottomed out: SBI chief Dinesh Khara

Bank lending rates “have actually bottomed”, and will remain at these levels for a while till the economy recovers, Dinesh Kumar Khara, chairman of the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), told Business Standard in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. Khara said SBI and other banks in the country were aware that the economy required softer rates to continue. “We are very mindful of supporting growth at this point of time.” Read More

UK approves Pfizer, becomes the first country to roll out Covid-19 vaccine

Britain will be the first country in the West to roll out a Covid-19 vaccine, beating the United States and Europe in a race to control the pandemic that has left close to 1.5 million dead globally. UK’s drug authority—Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)--on Wednesday granted an emergency licence to the antidote developed by American pharma major Pfizer along with Germany’s BioNTech, inspiring confidence in people and economies around the world after a year of extreme pain and losses. Read More

60 companies submit bids for Reliance Capital's asset monetisation

The sale of Reliance Capital’s (RCap’s) assets by Indian banks has received overwhelming response with eight companies – including Oaktree, JC Flowers and six asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) – submitting EoIs (expressions of interest) for the entire company. Blackstone, KKR, and Bain Capital, among others, are in the race for its general insurance arm, and Bandhan Bank, Bain, and Dabur Investments have shown interest for RCap’s 51 per cent stake in the life insurance business. Read More

Leading honey brands fail adulteration test by foreign lab, says CSE

Some of the country's top honey brands, including Dabur, Patanjali, and Emami, have failed an adulteration test carried out by a foreign laboratory, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Wednesday, bringing into focus the issue of contamination of honey, which is widely used as an immunity booster in India. Among big brands, only Marico's Saffola Honey cleared all the tests, pointing to the level of adulteration among popular honey labels, the CSE said. Smaller brands, on the other hand, failed laboratory tests for both Indian and foreign standards, the organisation based in New Delhi said. Read More

Mittal Jr ups his reputation as VC investor as firm invests $500 mn so far

In the last one month, Shravin Mittal has invested in follow-up funding rounds in six portfolio companies where he has already made bets as a venture capital investor. This includes used-car online marketplace Cars24, which has just raised $200 million for a round E funding, catapulting it into India’s unicorn club. Mittal’s VC company was the lead investor when the platform raised around $100 million in the previous round. Read More

Ranking on Dow Jones indices could raise investment appeal, say analysts

A high ranking on Dow Jones indices or perhaps even an entry into one of its world indices could make companies’ more attractive to institutional investors going ahead, say analysts. However, the contingent liability of the firms would also play a key role. Recently, a slew of domestic metal and infrastructure companies featured in the Dow Jones indices paving the way for stronger recognition in the global market. Read More

Pfizer vaccine not coming to India soon as trials yet to be conducted

While the UK government has cleared Pfizer-BioNTech's mRNA vaccine for use in public, the same is unlikely to be available anytime soon in India. For one, US giant Pfizer’s India arm has not yet applied for conducting clinical trials here, according to sources, and secondly, the vaccine has stringent temperature requirements (-75 degree Celsius), which make it unviable for cold-chain logistics in India. Read More

SpiceJet partners cold-chain solution firms for Covid-19 vaccine transport

SpiceJet has tied up with cold-chain solution providers as it prepares to transport Covid-19 vaccines. The airline's fleet comprises both passenger and cargo aircraft, which includes five Boeing 737 and 3 Bombardier Q 400 freighters. It is also leasing wide-body A340 planes, which have allowed it to expand its reach. Read More