Restaurants, pubs, malls and retailers in India are once again staring into a dark abyss as more metros go into lockdowns, The Times of India reported. Many restaurants shut down last year after the painful two-and-a-half months of lockdown. More are expected to now follow suit, unable to bear losses for a second year on the trot. Restaurants across the country had seen sales pick up since opening before the festive season, and by December, footfalls were robust with weekends reporting near full capacity.

Give Asia's central bankers their credit. By taking swift and determined action, they have kept financial systems on an even keel during the pandemic, and their policies have cushioned the economic blow, Nikkei Asia reported. As the emergency begins to pass, however, there is a risk that overly loose monetary policy will breed distortions. If left unheeded, these could eventually trigger another crisis: a bursting asset bubble. Central bankers will need to reach deeper into their tool kit to maintain the right balance between supporting the recovery and avoiding calamity later on.

Toyota Motor Corp. will acquire Lyft Inc.’s self-driving technology unit for $550 million, as the Japanese firm steps up its automation ambitions with the newly created Woven Planet division, Reuters reported. The acquisition of Level 5 automation will also provide Toyota access to the U.S. ride-hailing firm's more than 300 employees of the essentially complete autonomy technology. For Lyft, the deal will allow it to become profitable sooner and takes away the burden and risk of developing a costly technology that has yet to enter the mainstream.

The Chinese government has said that it would raise the mandatory retirement age, which is currently 60 for men, the New York Times reported. China said last month that it would “gradually delay the legal retirement age” over the next five years, in an attempt to address one of the country’s most pressing issues. Its rapidly aging population means a shrinking labor force. State pension funds are at risk of running out. And China has some of the lowest retirement ages in the world: 50 for blue-collar female workers, 55 for white-collar female workers, and 60 for most men.

A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) was back for a High Court hearing in London on Friday in pursuit of a bankruptcy order against embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, as they attempt recovery of debt from loans paid out to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Outlook India rep

The Australian government helped businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic last year by temporarily suspending some business directors' duties relating to insolvency risks. However, directors' obligations have reverted to the standard insolvency liability regulations this year, Insurance Business Magazine reported.

An Australian state planner has approved the expansion of a metallurgical coal mine in New South Wales run by a unit of cash-strapped industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, Reuters reported.

Creditors of Greensill Capital Pty, the Australian parent of the collapsed British supply chain financier, voted on Thursday to liquidate the company, its administrator said, triggering deeper investigations into the conduct of its directors, Reuters reported. Grant Thornton (GT), the liquidator appointed for the Australian parent and its operating companies in Britain, said the majority of 26 creditors owed A$4.6 billion ($3.6 billion) by the collapsed financier voted for liquidation.