Top headlines: Govt expands stimulus, Moody's raises India GDP forecast

Govt expands stimulus to 15% of economy, aims to create jobs and help firms

India increased stimulus measures to rescue companies and save jobs in an economy clobbered by a sudden lockdown in March to stem the coronavirus pandemic. The additional stimulus steps amount to about Rs 9 trillion ($120 billion), taking the nation’s total virus relief to almost Rs 30 trillion , or 15% of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in New Delhi Thursday. That equals the total spending envisaged in the government’s budget for the year to March. Read More...

Moody's raises India's 2020 GDP forecast to -8.9% as Covid cases drop

Moody's on Thursday raised India's GDP forecast for the calendar year 2020 upwards to -8.9 per cent contraction from -9.6 per cent contraction forecast earlier. Similarly, India's GDP forecast for the calendar year 2021 has been revised upwards to 8.6 per cent from 8.1 per cent projected earlier. The report released by Moody's Investors Service attributed the reason behind better growth to the falling of coronavirus cases in the country. Read More...

TCS acquires Pramerica Technology Services from Prudential Financial

India’s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. agreed to acquire Pramerica Technology Services from insurance giant Prudential Financial Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, helping the insurer cut costs to counter low interest rates and the coronavirus fallout. TCS and the Newark, N.J.-based life insurer signed the agreement for the Letterkenny, Ireland-based tech-services business Wednesday, with a few details still being worked out, said the person, asking not to be identified because the deal isn’t public. No cash will change hands and TCS will take on more than 1,500 Pramerica employees. Read More...

Serum to have 200 mn doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine ready by Jan

Pune's Serum Institute of India (SII) will have 200 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine for the coronavirus ready by January, ramping up its capacity to make 100 million doses of the inoculation monthly.. Sources said the company has recruited over 1,600 participants in India for phase 3 trials of Covishield (the AstraZeneca vaccine candidate). All participants have received the first shot of the vaccine and by the end of November, the second shot would be completed. Data analysis would begin after the second shot, sources said. Read More...

Time to buy gold this Dhanteras? Analysts see price hitting Rs 67,000/10gm

The insatiable appetite for gold of Indian consumers peppered with economic uncertainty over the years has seen the yellow metal beat return from the equity markets over the last decade. From around Rs 20,000 per 10 gram around Dhanteras – a day considered auspicious for buying gold and gold jewellery – in October 2010, gold prices have surged a staggering 159 per cent since then to Rs 53,610 per 10 gram on Thursday on the occasion of Dhanteras, data show. Read More...