Top 10 business news today: HDFC official arrested in BoB case, Flipkart sale, Google Nexus 5X, 6P launched, Airtel offers freebies, more

Bank of Baroda laundering case: HDFC official among 4 arrested by ED
New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) Four persons, including an HDFC bank employee, were today arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) under money laundering charges in the Rs 6,000 crore suspicious remittances case at a Bank of Baroda (BoB) branch in the national capital. Calling it a case of trade-based money laundering, where accused traders evade custom duties and taxes to generate slush funds, the agency arrested Kamal Kalra, working with the foreign exchange division of HDFC bank, Chandan Bhatia, Gurucharan Singh Dhawan and Sanjay Aggarwal after marathon questioning at its office here. Emails sent to HDFC bank for its reaction did not elicit a response.

Flipkart sells 1 mn products in first 10 hrs of festive sale
Ecommerce marketplace Flipkart today said it sold 10 lakh products in the first 10 hours of the 'Big Billion Days' festive sale, with 6 million visits from across the nation and 25 items sold per second. Footwear, men's clothing and accessories have been the top selling categories during this fashion sale so far, with men's product categories witnessing a huge spike in demand as compared to other fashion categories, it added. "We have sold 1 million units already and expect to do a higher number by the end of today's fashion sale. We have had 1.6 million app installs in the last two days," Mukesh Bansal, head of e-commerce platform, Flipkart said.

Google launches Nexus 5X, 6P starting at Rs 31,900
Google India launched the latest range of its Nexus phones in partnership with LG and Huawei starting at Rs 31,900. The devices, which run on the latest version of Android Marshmallow 6.0, are likely to be available in the market starting early November. LG expects to sell about one lakh Nexus devices this festive season while Huawei did not give exact number but said it has got about 20,000 to 30,000 units orders from its partners.

Airtel offers freebies worth Rs 15,000 with iPhone 6s, 6s Plus
Bharti Airtel today said it will be offering the latest iPhones starting October 16 wherein customers can save up to Rs 15,000 on their monthly bill over a period of 12 months. The company in a statement said "... it will offer iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, beginning Friday, October 16 through 235 of its retail stores across the country." It added that 57 of its retail stores will stay open all night so customers can be among the first in India to get their hands on the new devices. Bharti Airtel said it is offering free 4G data over 12 months, saving customers Rs 15,000 on their monthly bill for the iPhones. Vodafone too has said it will offer the latest iPhone 6S and 6S Plus from October 16 with freebies worth Rs 8,885.

India in Goldilocks period; FY16 GDP likely at 7.6%: Nomura
India is in a Goldilocks period of low inflation coupled with gradual recovery and the country is expected clock a GDP growth rate of 7.6 per cent this fiscal year, says a report. According to Japanese financial services major Nomura, despite slowing external demand, the domestic growth cycle is improving. As per official figures, India's industrial output rose to nearly three-year high of 6.4 per cent in August on improvement in manufacturing and capital goods while retail inflation rose to 4.41 per cent in September.

Wholesale onion prices fall below Rs 30/kg at Lasalgaon
Wholesale prices of onion fell below Rs 30 per kg at the Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, Asia's biggest onion market, following curbs on exports and fear of action against hoarding. According to the data maintained by Nasik-based National Horticultural and Research Foundation (NHRDF), wholesale onion prices today declined to Rs 28.50 per kg at Lasalgaon from the peak Rs 57 per kg in August. The wholesale prices of onion at Lasalgaon are expected to be in the range of Rs 20-30 per kg in the coming days.

Ola launches social ride-sharing feature
Taxi aggregator Ola today launched a new 'Share' feature on its app that will allow its users in the city to share rides, making their travel cheaper. The carpooling feature, which is still in the beta phase and will be rolled out to select users in Bengaluru, will be made available across 5 cities over the next three months. The service will be available for an introductory flat fare of Rs 50, Ola said in a statement. "Ola has introduced the concept of social groups on its app. With groups, colleagues from a workplace and friends from a college can come together to share rides amongst themselves.

Google tops list of world's best work places
Google has topped the list of world's best companies to work for, grabbing the numero uno position for the third straight year, while software developer SAS Institute and manufacturing firm W L Gore were ranked second and third respectively. The annual 'World's Best Multinational Workplaces List' ranks the top 25 global companies to work for. Rounding out the top five on the list are data storage specialist NetApp and mobile communications provider Telefonica. EMC Corporation has been ranked sixth, followed by software giant Microsoft at seventh position in the list compiled by research and consulting firm 'Great Place to Work Institute'. No Indian company however, made it to the coveted list. Others in the top ten include, BBVA (8th), Monsanto (9th) and American Express (10th) place.

TCS net profit jumps 16% to Rs 6,085 cr
Country's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has reported, as per IFRS, a net profit for Q2 stood at Rs 6,055.20 crore whereas revenues was Rs 27,165.50 crore. The Mumbai-based firm had reported a profit of Rs 5,244.28 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing. The company's total income from operations for the quarter rose 14.06 per cent to Rs 27,165.48 crore as against Rs 23,816.48 crore last year. The figures are in Indian GAAP.