Newsmakers: Amazon festive sale, Volkswagen recalls Polo and more

Flipkart vs Amazon: The battle is on from October 13-17
Amazon India has announced a 'Great Indian Festive Sale' to take on its rival Flipkart's 'Big Billion Day Sale', which will take place from 13-17 October. However, unlike the Flipkart sale, Amazon's is not an app-only event but will be available on desktops as well as mobile sites. App users will have an advantage, though, as the e-tailer will announce app-only deals on October 16-17.

HSBC says India needs bold reforms to achieve true potential
India is in the midst of a gradual recovery and expected to clock a growth of 7.6 per cent during the fiscal, but to meet its true potential, reforms, especially in land and labour will need to be bolder, says an HSBC report. The main determinant of medium-term high and sustainable economic growth is meaningful reforms and so far they have been gradual and 'project-specific', the global financial services firm said.

FM for automatic info exchange to tackle black money
Keen to put in place a system to prevent international tax evasion and avoidance, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has made a strong pitch for countries to implement Common Reporting Standards on automatic exchange of information. Jaitley in his intervention during the 49th Annual Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting in Lima welcomed the efforts of OECD in areas of BEPS project and automatic exchange of information which have important implications for Commonwealth nations.

ICICI Bank introduces electronic cardless transaction on Visa
ICICI Bank has launched a service enabling customers to make electronic payments from their smartphones at physical stores, e-commerce portals, radio taxis and utility billers, among others, without swiping a debit card. The service is based on 'mVisa', a new mobile payment solution from Visa. ICICI Bank, country's largest private bank, is the first bank globally to launch a mobile app based on 'mVisa' solution for consumers and merchants.

Volkswagen recalls 389 units of Polo model in India
German auto firm Volkswagen has recalled 389 units of its best selling premium hatchback Polo in India, manufactured in September this year, to rectify faulty handbrake. The company 's quality assurance department has determined that under certain conditions, the handbrake mechanism would lose effectiveness, it added.