Deccan Chronicle

Kuwait stocks drop with Emir in hospital

- FILIPE PACHECO, FIONA MACDONALD & FARAH ELBAHRAWY

Bank employee unions have again raised their demand for a five-day working week, as they are at high risk of contractin­g the coronaviru­s. The Indian Banks' Associatio­n in January had rejected the unions' proposal for a five-day week but offered a 19 per cent pay hike to employees. The All-India Bank Employees Associatio­n and the All-India State Bank Officers Federation said a five-day week is the need of the hour.

The consolidat­ed turnover of the Amul brand of products exceeded Rs 52,000 crore in 2019-20, the Gujarat Cooper-ative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) said. It aims to achieve a group turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore by

2024-25. "The group turnover of GCMMF and its constituen­t member unions, representi­ng consolidat­ed turn-over of all products sold under Amul brand is exceeding Rs 52,000 crore or

$7 billion,” it said.

Kuwait's main equity index led losses in the Middle East after the country's ruler was hospitalis­ed over the weekend and S&P Global Ratings downgraded the prospects for the economy.

The Premier Market index of the biggest and most liquid shares in Kuwait fell as much as 3.2 per cent shortly after the opening but later trimmed the losses.

The 91-year-old emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, underwent "successful surgery" on Sunday after being admitted to a hospital, the state news agency KUNA reported. Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah will temporaril­y assume some of the emir's constituti­onal functions and duties as the country tries to resume economic activity after introducin­g curbs to prevent the spread of the coronaviru­s.

In addition, S&P lowered its outlook for the country's sovereign rating to negative from stable, citing the impact of oil-production cuts amidst the pandemic. The ratings company expects the government deficit to widen to almost 40 per cent of gross domestic product this year compared with about 10 per cent in 2019.

The change in outlook "is an automatic result of low liquidity in state reserves," finance minister Barak Al-Sheetan said in a statement. "The executive and legislativ­e powers are now working on finding solutions for this challenge."

Mumbai, July 19: HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri has emerged as the highest paid banker among the top lenders for FY 2019-20, with a 38 per cent jump in salary and prerequisi­tes to Rs 18.92 crore. Puri earned an additional Rs 161.56 crore by exercising stock options during the year, the bank's annual report said.

The banker, who is set to retire in October this year on attaining the age of 70, had earned Rs 42.20 crore by exercising stock options in 2018-19.

Its group head and "change agent" Sashidhar Jagdishan, who is reported to be among the selected candidates to succeed Puri, earned a salary of Rs 2.91 crore in FY20, as per the annual report.

ICICI Bank's managing director and chief executive Sandeep Bakhshi's gross earnings stood at Rs

6.31 crore in his first full year as the head of the lender, the bank's annual report said.

Bakhshi, who took over in October 2018, had earned Rs 4.90 crore in

FY19 as a part-year's payment, as per the lender's annual report.

Axis Bank's MD & CEO Amitabh Chaudhry was paid Rs 6.01 crore for FY20 as against Rs 1.27 crore for the last three months of FY19. The third largest private sector lender's head of retail, Pralay Mondal, who resigned recently citing unspecifie­d compulsion­s, earned a remunerati­on of Rs 1.83 crore in FY20. The former HDFC Bank and Yes Bank executive is headed to join south-based CSB Bank.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's MD Uday Kotak, who owns 26 per cent in the lender, saw a reduction in his salary. He earned a gross salary of Rs 2.97 crore, which is a 18 per cent less tahn the year-ago period's Rs 3.52 crore.

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