Top headlines: India FY21 GDP hits 4-decade low; core sector output rises

Business Standard brings you the top news of the day

Indian economy grew before Covid 2nd wave struck; contracts 7.3% in FY21

India's economy contracted by less-than-expected 7.3 per cent in the fiscal year ended March 2021 after growth rate picked up in the fourth quarter, just before the world's worst outbreak of coronavirus infections hit the country.

This is the first full-year contraction in the Indian economy in the last four decades since 1979-80, when GDP had shrunk by 5.2 per cent.

The gross domestic product (GDP) in Asia's third-largest economy grew by 1.6 per cent in the January-March period, up from 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter when India began pulling out of a steep pandemic-induced recession in the earlier six months. READ HERE

Central Vista: Puri hits out at opposition, former bureaucrats, says false narrative being created 

Slamming the opposition, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said a false narrative is being created over the Central Vista redevelopment plan and asserted that it is not a "vanity project", but a necessity.

Hitting out at 60 former bureaucrats over their open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the project, Puri said, "They are not educated fools, but they are a disgrace to the country." READ HERE.

Magma Fincorp gets new top mgmt; Adar Poonawalla chairman, Vijay Deshwal CEO

The Poonawala Group on Monday announced a new management structure for Magma Fincorp, which it had taken over for Rs 3,456 crore, appointing a new chairman, managing director, and a chief executive.

The Adar Poonawalla-controlled Rising Sun Holdings, the financial services arm of the group known globally for its vaccines, had completed the acquisition of the city-based non-bank lender earlier this month. READ HERE.

Eight core sectors' output skyrockets by 56.1 pc in April

The output of eight core sectors jumped by 56.1 per cent in April mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity, official data released on Monday showed.

The eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 37.9 per cent in April 2020 due to lockdown restrictions imposed to control the spread of coronavirus infection. In March this year, the eight sectors had recorded a growth rate of 11.4 per cent. READ HERE.

RBI asks banks not to refer to its 2018 circular on virtual currencies

RBI on Monday asked banks, NBFCs and payment system providers not to refer to its earlier virtual currencies-related circular, that was issued in April 2018 and later aside by the Supreme Court, in their communications to customers.

The latest directive comes against the backdrop of some banks and regulated entities citing the circular and cautioning customers against dealing in virtual currencies. READ HERE.