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Ford is gearing up 2021 to be the year that it takes on Tesla. And as a part of this, the company is also gearing up to take on Tesla in areas where it has been traditionally weak. Darren Palmer, one of the original members of the Edison team at Ford which helped drive the first all-electric vehicle and who now is the head of all development for Ford and Lincoln’s battery vehicles has thrown shade at the quality control issues. In an interview with the Autoblog, he said electric car owners have to compromise and accept some “flaws”.

The Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday gave nod to an ordinance on the bill against religious conversion through fraudulent means, including those for the sake of marriage, that stipulates a jail term of up to 10 years for violators. The ordinance on the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2020, has been sent to state Governor Anandiben Patel for approval, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra told reporters. “Several ordinances including Freedom of Religion Ordinance were approved in the virtual cabinet meeting headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday,” he said.

Eufy has announced a Bluetooth enabled ‘Smart Weighing Scale C1′ in India that has 12 types of health measurements such as weight, body fat, BMI, water, BMR, visceral fat, body fat mass, lean body mass, bone mass, muscle mass, and muscle. The weighing scale from Eufy (a sub-brand of Anker) is aimed to help users track fitness, monitor health, and achieve health and fitness goals. It will be available for purchase in the country starting January 2021. As per the company, the Eufy Smart Weighing Scale C1 is designed to motivate users to keep going and staying fit. Smart Weighing Scale C1 price, availibilty Smart Weighing Scale C1 is priced at Rs. 1,699. It will be available for purchase in India from January 2021 via Flipkart and retail stores. The weighing scale will be offered in black and white finish. It comes with 15 months warranty. Smart Weighing Scale C1 features The weighing scale can store up to 100 readings, as per the company. It can be connected via Bluetooth to the Eufy Hom

Flipkart Mobile’s Year End Sale brings notable discounts to smartphones such as Poco X3, iPhone XR, iPhone SE (2020), Moto G9, Motorola Razr (2019), and Tecno Spark Power 2 Air, among others. There are also additional exchange discounts on models including Samsung Galaxy F41, Mi 10T, and Vivo V20 Pro. The three-day sale that started today will last until Thursday, December 31. Flipkart has partnered with ICICI Bank to offer a 10 percent instant discount. Customers can also avail no-cost EMI options. Flipkart sale discounts on mobile phones Flipkart has created a dedicated microsite to detail discount offers under Mobile’s Year End Sale. The microsite shows that Poco X3 ₹ 15,999 that was launched at a starting price of Rs. 16,999 for the 6GB + 64GB storage option is available at an initial price of Rs. 15,999 . The 6GB + 128GB storage variant and 8GB + 128GB storage option of the phone are also available at Rs. 16,999 and Rs. 18,999 over the existing Rs. 18,499 and Rs. 19,999 pric

Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group from 1991 until his retirement on December 28, 2012, turned 83 on Monday. Mr Tata was born in 1937 in Bombay, now Mumbai. From December 29, 2012, Mr Tata has made the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals and Tata Steel. Mr Tata was the chairman of the major Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices and during his tenure, the group’s revenues grew by leaps and bounds, totalling over $ 100 billion in 2011-12. He is the chairman of the Tata Trusts that are among India’s oldest, non-sectarian philanthropic organisations that work in several areas of community development. He is the Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and also serves on the board of trustees of Cornell University and the Uni

By Rahul Avasthy. Rahul Avasthy is a renowned expert in digital transformation and customer experience. He is based out of Chicago, United States of America working for a multinational Fortune 150 company. Rahul specializes in complex problem-solving via design thinking, service design methodologies, and actively speaks on digital transformation. It’s important to note that ‘Digital Transformation’ brings an irreversible change.In future, predictive digital interventions, notpills, will be the first line of defence and digital experiences would evolve from channel silos to open ecosystems. Today, when the entire world is getting connected, interacting and converging through the internet, it becomes critical for all businesses to deploy technology and create easy to use experiences to harness this scenario. Thus, driving home, the point that how crucial it is to irreversibly transform via use of digital technology in the current business & social scenario. ‘Digital transformation’ e

Alibaba shares slumped 9 per cent to their lowest since June on Monday, as the firm’s upsized $10-billion buyback programme failed to ease concerns about a regulatory crackdown on co-founder Jack Ma ‘s e-commerce and financial empire. A sharp selloff over two sessions has knocked almost $116 billion off the tech giant’s Hong Kong-listed shares. The downward spiral intensified when Chinese regulators announced on Thursday the launch of an antitrust investigation into Alibaba and said they would summon its Ant Group affiliate to meet. Alibaba’s US shares sank more than 15 per cent during the day. “The antitrust investigation into Alibaba has yet to specify the penalties, which is worrying investors a lot,” said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer of Beijing Yunyi Asset, adding a probe outcome could “greatly change” the company valuations. Putting investors more on edge was news over the weekend that China’s central bank had asked Ant to shake up its lending and other consumer finance

Domestic share markets registered new record highs on Tuesday tracking gains across global markets, as hopes that a US COVID-19 relief package would be expanded and a Brexit trade deal supported investor risk appetite. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose 360.8 points, or 0.76 per cent, to an all-time high of 47,714.55 during the session, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark added 94.40 points, or 0.68 per cent, to an all-time high of 13,967.60. Broad-based gains, led by banking and financial services shares, pushed the markets higher. The Sensex ended 259.33 points, or 0.55 per cent, higher at 47,613.08 and the Nifty settled at 13,932.60, up 59.40 points, or 0.43 per cent, from its previous close.  IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HCL Technologies, closing between 1.92 per cent and 5.72 per cent higher, were the top percentage gainers in the Nifty basket of 50 shares.  Hindalco, Nestle, Coal India, Tata Motors and NTPC, ending 1.44-2.08 per cent each, were the wo

Suryoday Small Finance Bank has received the go-ahead from the markets regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) to float its initial public offering (IPO). The small lender’s shares are likely to be listed on both, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, joining its listed peers Ujjivan SFB, AU Small Finance Bank and Equitas SFB. The IPO will comprise of a fresh issue of 1,15,95,000 shares and an offer for sale of up to 84,66,796 shares by the existing shareholders, according to the draft papers filed with SEBI. International Financial Corporation (IFC), Gaja Capital, HDFC Holdings, IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company, DWM (International) Mauritius and and Americorp Ventures will offer shares through the offer for sale route. The bank had filed its IPO preliminary papers in October.

The country’s first high-speed bullet train project may get entirely commissioned for operations at once. Recently, Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman of Railway Board, while addressing media via video-conferencing said that Indian Railways is making efforts that the entire bullet train project is commissioned end-to-end, at once. He added that railway authorities want to commission the bullet train project together in both Gujarat and Maharashtra and have planned accordingly. Additionally, the Maharashtra government has assured to make more than 80 per cent of land available for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project in the next four months. The Railway Board Chairman stated that the authorities are also preparing if they can run the bullet train till Vapi (Gujarat) in the first phase if there is a delay in land acquisition in Maharashtra. Once operational, the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed bullet train will operate at speed of 320 km per hour, passing through Gujarat, Maharasht

Insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), on Monday pitched standard guidelines for travel insurance with the objective of ensuring uniformity and definition about coverage, exclusions and terms of coverage for domestic as well as international travel. The new guidelines hope to make travel insurance popular with travellers. The guidance will make available a standard travel insurance product with common coverage and policy wordings across the industry, Irdai said while issuing an exposure draft on “Guidelines on Standard Travel Insurance Policy.” The exposure draft, on which the Irdai has solicited comments from the stakeholders by January 6, 2021, includes standard terms and conditions, customer information sheet and use and file format. The draft spells out the coverage and exclusions under domestic and overseas travel insurance. The insurance company will pay as compensation to the legal heirs/nominee the amount stated as sum insured

The rupee surged by seven paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, December 29, to settle at 73.42 (provisional), amid positive domestic equities and weak American currency. This was the fourth straight session of the domestic unit’s gain against the dollar. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 73.42 against the dollar and registered an intra-day high of 73.34. It witnessed a low of 73.44. In the opening session, the rupee rose by 11 paise at 73.38 against the dollar keeping on track with stronger Asian peers. The domestic unit finally closed at 73.42 against the greenback, registering a rise of seven paise over its previous close. On Monday, December 28, the rupee had settled at 73.49 against the American currency. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.32 per cent to 90.04. According to traders, the sustained foreign fund inflows also supported the rupee. ”RBI was present at 73.50 yest

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes rose for fifth session in a row on Tuesday and closed at record highs led by gains in banking and financial services shares. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening wherein the Sensex rose as much as 360 points to hit record high of 47,714.55 and Nifty 50 index advanced 95 points to hit an all-time high of 13,967.60. HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys and Axis Bank were top movers in the Sensex. The Sensex rose 259 points to close at record high of 47,613.08 and Nifty 50 index advanced 59 points to close at an all-time high of 13,932.60. Gush of liquidity by foreign investors is lifting the benchmarks to new highs on a daily basis, analysts said. In Monday’s trading session, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹ 1,589 crore. So far this calendar year, FIIs have purchased Indian equities worth $22.21 billion while they have been net sellers in debt markets to the tune of $14 billion, data from NSDL showed. Six of 11

Belarus on Tuesday began a vaccination drive against coronavirus using the Sputnik V jab, becoming the first country outside Russia to use the vaccine developed by Moscow. Belarus, with a population of around 9.5 million people, has registered more than 188,000 cases of coronavirus infections and nearly 1,400 deaths. “Today the first vaccine shipment has arrived in Belarus,” said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) which financed Sputnik V. RDIF spokesman Arseny Palagin did not say how many doses had been sent to Belarus. Belarus Health Minister Dmitry Pinevich said health workers and teachers would be among the first Belarusians to be inoculated. “We thank Russia for active mutual work and strategic cooperation to solve this issue,” Pinevich was quoted as saying in the joint statement.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said the city is prepared to deal with the new mutant strain of coronavirus if need be. Concerns about the mutant strain from the UK — said to be 70 per cent more infectious than the existing strain — has spiked after the Centre announced this morning that six people returning from the UK have tested positive for it. Mumbai — which suffered the worst from Covid — had announced night curfew last week. Pointing to ups and downs faced by the national capital since the Covid outbreak reached in January, Mr Kejriwal said there have been three waves of coronavirus in Delhi. “At one point, 8,500 corona cases were coming to Delhi every day, which was the highest in the world. But the Delhi people controlled the corona,” the Chief Minister said. In September-October, when the numbers inn Delhi had peaked, the Centre had announced a series of measures for the national capital, which included making arrangements for more beds and flying in doctors and pa

Patent filings from Honda reveal that pre-chamber ignition system could be used on a production motorcycle for the first time. The patent images show how the system uses a small chamber that allows the spark plug to ignite the air-fuel mixture before it makes its way to the combustion chamber. The pre-chamber is separated from the combustion chamber by a series of small holes, and these are designed to split the flame front into smaller explosive jets. This feature allows the engine to use a leaner mixture that generates less harmful emissions. Honda’s system will help engines meet tightening future emissions regulations. The pre-chamber technology is now standard on most Formula One engines, but this technology has not been used on motorcycles so far. There are two types of systems in use, active and passive pre-chamber ignition systems. The system used by Honda is an active pre-chamber system and uses a spark plug and fuel injector. Another fuel injector is located on the side of the

Barring the approval of a coronavirus vaccine, a two-day mock drill of the vaccination process held in four states shows India is ready to start inoculating its people at the forefront of its war against COVID-19. “All the four participating states are satisfied with systems put in place for COVID-19 vaccination process,” the Health Ministry said in a statement issued on Tuesday – last day of the dry-run when Joint Secretary (Public Health) also reviewed field feedback from day 1 through video conferencing with state and district programme officers. “All states expressed satisfaction in terms of the operational approach and use of IT platform to ensure transparency and effective monitoring of vaccination processes expected to cover a large number of people across the country,” the Ministry said. However, the states have given “additional suggestions on IT platform… for further enhancement of Co-WIN” app that identifies beneficiaries. “Detailed insights and feedback obtained will help e

The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile has expressed gratitude to United States President Donald Trump for signing a new Tibet policy. On Sunday, Mr Trump signed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 to modify and re-authorise various programmes and provisions related to Tibet. The bill reaffirms the right of Tibetans to choose a successor to the Dalai Lama and calls for establishing an American consulate in the country. In a statement issued by the Dharamshala-based Tibetan Parliament in exile, its Speaker Pema Jungney said, “This act officially endorses that recognition of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is the sole authority of the great XIV Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people with no interference from the Chinese government (People’s Republic of China).”

Actor Rajinikanth, who finally appeared ready to launch his political party with a “now or never” announcement earlier this month, has now decided to opt for the latter course, citing health concerns. “With extreme sadness I say that I can’t enter politics. I alone know the pain I went through while announcing this decision,” he said in a statement today — two days after his discharge from hospital where he was admitted over the weekend with blood pressure fluctuations. “Without entering electoral politics, I will serve the people. This decision of mine will disappoint my fans and people but please forgive me,” read the statement of the actor, who set up the Rajini Makkal Mandram two years ago with a promise to practice “spiritual politics”. “My hospitalisation was a warning given by God. My campaign will impact health amid the pandemic,” he added, explaining the reason for his decision. The 70-year-old’s debut in politics has been anticipated by fans for nearly 25 years but despite we

Motorola is reportedly working on a flagship smartphone that will be powered by the newly launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC. A Lenovo executive shared a picture on Weibo showing a retail box of Motorola’s upcoming phone, along with a caption that hints at a Q1 2021 launch. The executive also reportedly mentioned that Motorola will be offering users many interesting features on the company’s new premium offering. Lenovo executive Chen Jin took to Weibo to share a photo of a retail package box of a Motorola phone, hinting that the smartphone will soon be launched in China. The smartphone is speculated to be powered by the Snapdragon 888 SoC and is expected to have a high refresh rate AMOLED panel, support for fast charging and reverse wireless charging, and an under-display fingerprint scanner, as per a report by 91Mobiles. No other details are available yet on the upcoming Motorola smartphone. The company hasn’t officially confirmed a Snapdragon 888-powered smartphone, either. So

Gauahar Khan lit up Instagram on Monday with an adorable picture of herself and her husband Zaid Darbar. The couple got married last week in Mumbai . A few days after their nikah, the actress treated her fans to super cute photos of herself and Zaid and the first picture from her post is just wow. In the photos, Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar can be seen wearing matching outfits with ‘Hubby’ and ‘Wifey’ inscribed on them, respectively. In the first photo, the actress can be seen blushing and covering her face with her hand while posing with her husband. Gauahar just captioned her post with a heart icon. Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar got married on December 25 in Mumbai. The couple had a nikah on Friday afternoon, followed by a grand reception . For her wedding, the actress wore an ivory-hued Sharara from the shelves of designer Saira Shakira while for the reception, she chose a red and gold Manish Malhotra lehenga . “Ever thine, ever mine, ever ours. #GaZa forever. My dream couldn’t be

A new breakthrough could help reduced the carbon footprint of air travel, with the aim to bring emissions by jets to net zero. A team of researchers from Oxford University has successfully managed to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into jet fuel, though as of now the experiment was performed at a very small scale. As concerns about climate change keep mounting by the day, scientists have been looking into converting CO2 into sustainable, synthetic hydrocarbons fuels for transportation purposes for a few years now. As of now, this reverse engineering has only been experimented in the lab but could be a game-changer when introduced on a larger scale – making air travel carbon neutral. The team of researchers have discovered a way to use low-cost iron catalysts to convert CO2 in the atmosphere (or directly from emissions of factories) into synthetic jet fuel. The scientists first prepare the Fe-Mn-K (iron-manganese-potassium) catalyst by the organic combustion method (OCM). This catalyst then

Famed Apple watcher Ming Chi-Kuo of TF Securities has written a note to investors stating that the Apple Car may not come to life till 2027. Kuo who is world-renowned as one of the foremost analysts in the world focussed on Apple’s launches wrote the note in wake of a dubious report that stated that the Apple Car could come as soon as 2021. His report also comes at a time when Reuters has claimed that the Project Titan based vehicle could come by 2024 and will be based on a mono-cell battery architecture.  According to Kuo, the report by the DigiTimes which claims a 2021 launch is utterly false while even the Reuters report is highly optimistic as he believes that the launch will not happen before 2025.  He has told investors to not invest in Apple stock in a knee-jerk reaction to these reports. He cites that the lack of supplier or specification and uncertainty around Apple’s competitiveness for EV and self-driving vehicles could be a major pain point in an early launch. 

Stating that the delay in approval for Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine – being mass produced by his company – was not worrying, Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Adar Poonawalla said the inoculant is likely to get a go-ahead in the United Kingdom “by end of this December or by early January”. “Then we may get an approval in India too. We are not concerned about the delay,” the SII Chief Executive Officer said at the unveiling of India’s first indigenously developed pneumonia vaccine on Monday. “All trial data on Covishield has been submitted for India and UK. We must respect the learned evaluators. Nobody wants to risk safety. We must give a few more days,” the Chief Executive Officer of SII – world’s largest drug maker by volume – said a week after he urged the government in India to “indemnify manufacturers against lawsuits” . Mr Poonawalla was answering a question on whether he is concerned about the delay in approval from UK regulator for Covishield, which had run into controve

28 MLAs elected in the recent bypolls in Madhya Pradesh were administered the oath as members of the Assembly on Monday by protem speaker Rameshwar Sharma, a government official said. They were supposed to take oath on the first day of the winter session of the Assembly which was scheduled to begin on Monday. However, after the session was postponed due to some Assembly staffers and MLAs testing positive for coronavirus, the oath ceremony was held in the office of the speaker, he said. Those who took oath were BJP legislators Pradyumn Singh Tomar, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Brajendra Singh Yadav, Bisahulal Singh, Dr Prabhuram Choudhary, Rajwardhan Singh Dattigaon, Hardeep Singh Dang, OPS Bhadoria and Tulsiram Silawat. Their party colleagues Raksha Santram Sironia, Govind Singh Rajput, Pradyumn Singh Lodhi, Sumitra Devi Kasdekar, Kamlesh Jatav, Suresh Dhakad Rathkheda, Jajpal Singh Jajji, Manoj Narayan Singh Choudhary, Narayan Patel and Subedar Singh Sikarwar also took oath.

The Centre today said the COVID-19 restrictions on various activities will stay, noting that while there has been a continuous decline in active cases in India, there is a need for surveillance, containment and caution due to a surge globally and the emergence of a new variant of the virus in the UK. In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said it has issued fresh guidelines for surveillance with regard to COVID-19 that will remain in force till January 31, as it asked the states and union territories to keep a strict vigil to prevent any rise in cases during the New Year celebrations and the winter season. It also asked the states and UTs to actively support central authorities in the preparations for an expected vaccination drive. “While there has been a continuous decline in the active and new COVID-19 cases, there is a need to maintain surveillance, containment and caution, keeping in view the surge in cases globally, and the emergence of a new variant of the virus in th

Xiaomi Mi 11 has now been officially unveiled as the company’s newest flagship phone — weeks after being a part of the rumour mill. The Mi 11 is also the first smartphone to debut with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC that was unveiled earlier this month and is expected to power a list of premium phones early next year. Apart from the top-notch processing through the latest Snapdragon SoC, the Mi 11 is also claimed to feature Xiaomi’s most advanced display. Made of an E4 light emitting material, the display of the Mi-series phone features curved edges on all four sides and comes with 2K resolution. The Mi 11 also comes with triple rear cameras, with a 108-megapixel primary sensor. Xiaomi Mi 11 price, availability details Xiaomi Mi 11 price has been set at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 45,000) for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant, while the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage model carries a price tag of CNY 4,299 (roughly Rs. 48,300) and the top-of-the-line 12GB RAM + 256GB storage option is priced

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that his government has undertaken historic reforms in the farm sector to boost agriculture and strengthen farmers. Flagging off the 100th “Kisan Rail” from Sangola in Maharashtra to Shalimar in West Bengal via video-conferencing, PM Modi said his government’s policies are clear and intentions transparent in reforming the agriculture sector. It will continue to work to strengthen farmers and agri sector with full force and dedication, he said. His remarks came amid continuing protests by a section of farmers against the Centre’s three farm reform laws. PM Modi did not directly refer to these laws on Monday, but he has often asserted that they are in the interests of farmers and accused opposition parties of misleading them. The ”Kisan Rail”, a service started by his government, will help small and marginal farmers, who are over 80 per cent of the peasantry, in supplying their produce to far-off markets, the prime minister said, adding tha

US President Donald Trump has signed into law the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative that among other things paves the way for establishing an educational forum between America and India to study the work and legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Written by civil rights icon John Lewis, who died early this year, and co-sponsored by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, the new law authorises USD one million a year through fiscal 2025 for the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative. It also authorises USD 2 million for just FY 2021 for the Gandhi-King Global Academy, and USD30 million for 2021 for the US-India Gandhi-King Development Foundation. The new law also authorises the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a US-India development foundation that would leverage the Indian private sector to address development priorities in India. The development foundation would receive USD 15 million per year from 2022 through 2025 — but

Shares of electronic products maker Dixon Technologies rose as much as 7.07 per cent to hit an intraday high of ₹ 13,622 on the BSE after it informed stock exchanges that its subsidiary Padget Electronics has signed an agreement with Motorola Mobility LLC for making smartphones. The smartphones will be manufactured at its manufacturing facility on Noida, the company added. “With nearly a century of existence in the market, the legacy and standing of Motorola is unparalleled. To partner with them gives us immense pride as one has to tick each and every box to be on their Board. We are honored to be associated with Motorola brand and we aspire to take forward their legacy of high quality, commitment, ethics and trust,” said Atul B. Lall, vice chairman & managing director, Dixon Technologies. “Dixon’s wholly owned subsidiary Padget Electronics is one of the few Companies who recently received PLI scheme approval from Government of India. We, at Dixon, are committed to Government’s vis

Domestic share markets scaled new peaks on Monday tracking gains in Asian equities, as investors remained optimistic about COVID-19 vaccines and US President Donald Trump’s approval of a pandemic relief package aided risk sentiment globally. The S&P BSE Sensex index jumped 433.18 points, or 0.92 per cent, to an all-time high of 47,406.72 during the session, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark gained 136.05 points, or 0.99 per cent, to an all-time high of 13,885.30 during the session. Gains across most sectors — led by banking, financial services, automobile and metal shares — backed the upmove in the markets. The Sensex ended 380.21 points, or 0.81 per cent, higher at 47,353.75 while the Nifty settled at 13,873.20, up 123.95 points, or 0.90 per cent, from its previous close — both record closing highs.  Forty one stocks in the Nifty basket of 50 shares finished higher for the day. JSW Steel, Tata Motors, State Bank of India (SBI), Titan and HDFC Life, ending between 3.20 per cen

China’s central bank disclosed on Sunday it had asked the country’s payments giant Ant Group to shake up its lending and other consumer finance operations, the latest blow to its billionaire founder and controlling shareholder Jack Ma. The announcement came more than a month after Chinese regulators abruptly suspended Ant’s blockbuster $37 billion initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and only days after the country’s antitrust authorities said they had launched a probe into Ma’s e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding. Chinese regulators and Communist Party officials have set about reining in Ma’s sprawling financial empire after he publicly criticized the country’s regulatory system in October for stifling innovation. Regulators have urged Ant to rectify financial regulatory violations, including in its credit, insurance and wealth management businesses, and overhaul its credit rating business to protect personal information, People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Vice Gove

German luxury carmaker BMW is planning to step up its production of electric vehicles, Chief Executive Oliver Zipse told German daily Augsburger Allgemeine. “We are significantly increasing the number of electric vehicles. Between 2021 and 2023, we will build a quarter of a million more electric cars than originally planned,” Zipse told the newspaper’s Monday edition according to a pre-released version. BMW wants roughly every fifth car it sells to be powered by an electric engine by 2023, Zipse said, compared to about 8 per cent this year. The manager also reiterated his call to speed up the expansion of charging infrastructure.

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes rose for fourth session in a row on Monday and closed at all-time highs on the back of a broad-based buying interest. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening and maintained the up move led by gains in HDFC Bank, HDFC, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro. The Sensex rose as much as 433 points to hit an all-time high of 47,406.72 and Nifty 50 index climbed as much as 136 points to hit record high of 13,885.30. US President Donald Trump’s approval of a pandemic relief package aided risk sentiment globally. The Sensex rose 380 points to close at record high of 47,353.75 and Nifty 50 index climbed 124 points to settle at an all-time high of 13,873.20. Global shares rose on Monday after US President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion spending package and as investors continued to celebrate a last-minute trade deal clinched between Britain and the European Union. By backing down from his earlier threat to block the bipartisan bill, Presi

Several states on Monday began a trial run of Covid-19 vaccine delivery systems, with health officials checking everything from technology platforms to the storage infrastructure that will be needed to inoculate millions of its citizens. India aims to deliver 600 million coronavirus shots in the next six to eight months starting in January, with emergency use approval for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine expected within a few days. The country’s drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), is also considering similar approvals for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and another indigenously developed by India’s Bharat Biotech. “The exercise is basically a mock drill for our healthcare workers on how to run the whole vaccination process and system,” Jaiprakash Shivahare, the commissioner for health in Gujarat, told Reuters. Pfizer requires a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius and experts have raised questions that India’s existing cold storage facilities do not match these condi

HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private sector lender, currently offers 5.50 per cent interest on fixed deposit account below ₹ 5 crore with tenure of 5 years 1 day – 10 years, according to HDFC Bank website https://www.hdfcbank.com. The bank offers additional 0.50 per cent interest across tenors to senior citizens. The maturity period for fixed deposits offered by the HDFC Bank starts from seven days and go on for 10 years. HDFC Bank revised its interest rates on fixed deposits with effect from November 13, 2020. This year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate – or the key interest rate at which it lends money to banks – by a total of 115 basis points since February, on top of 135 basis points last year. This has also forced banks to lower their FD rates.

Here is a list of bank holidays falling in the month of January 2021. New Year’s Day: January 1 New Year’s Celebration: January 2 Makar Sankranti/Pongal/Maghe Sankranti: January 14 Thiruvalluvar Day/Magh Bihu and Tusu Puja: January 15 Uzhavar Thirunal: January 16 Birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: January 23 Imoinu Iratpa: January 25 Republic Day/Gaan-Ngai: January 26 Holidays of the mentioned days will be observed in various regions according to the state declared holidays, however for the gazetted holidays, banks will be closed all over the country.

Amazon has said that it’s working on adding Marathi language support on its e-commerce platform after a controversy erupted over demands of adding support for the language for customers in Maharashtra. Amazon in a tweet said that the work to launch “Marathi shopping experience” had already begun and that it will also introduce seller registration in the language soon. The e-commerce giant has also said it will continue to add more languages to enhance the customer and seller experience on the platform. Amazon has also shared a screenshot with the tweet to suggest that the Marathi language support would soon go live on its platform. The demand to add the support on was raised by Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) that wrote an open letter to Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos asking for it. The MNS had also threatened agitation against Amazon if the language was not added on the app and website for customers in Maharashtra. “We have no intentions of getting into a legal tu

Apple appears to have started rolling out its reduced App Store commission for some developers. Last month, the Cupertino company announced the App Store Small Business Programme to cut its App Store commission from the existing 30 percent to 15 percent. The programme was planned to be available on January 1, 2021. However, some developers have now reported on social media that the reduced commission rate is now live for their App Store Connect accounts. The initiative is notably not meant for all Apple developers and is limited to the ones who earn up to $1 million (roughly Rs. 7.4 crores) in annual sales per year from all their apps. As spotted by Apple Insider, developers including Jacob Gorban of Winnipeg-based software firm Apparent Software have started reporting a 15-percent dip in Apple’s App Store commission. Some other developers have also reported an identical change. “The change in rate of proceeds to 15 percent seems to be active already,” tweeted Rajkot-based developer

Anupam Rasayan, a specialty chemical company based in Surat, has filed preliminary papers viz. draft red herring prospectus with the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise ₹ 760 crore through the primary market. The company will reserve a portion of the IPO for its employees and may also consider a discount for eligible staff, the company said in the draft red herring prospectus, adding that the issue proceeds will be used mainly to repay debt. The company produces specialty chemicals for the agrochemical, personal care, and pharmaceutical sectors. Its clients include Syngenta Asia Pacific, Sumitomo Chemical Company and UPL. Anupam Rasayan started operations in the year 1984. It has six multi-purpose manufacturing facilities in Gujarat, with a combined capacity of around 23,396 metric tonne.

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India rolled out cashback offers on multiple models. Along with SP 125, Hornet 2.0, Activa 6G and the CD 110 Dream, the company is now offering cashback of ₹ 5,000 on the Grazia 125 scooter. Customers need to finance the purchase with a credit or a debit card from one of the company’s partner banks which are ICICI, Federal Bank, Standard Chartered, Bank of Baroda and Yes Bank. Interested customers can avail the benefits of the offer while booking the two-wheeler online as well.

As Salman Khan celebrates his 55th birthday today , Bollywood stars have bombarded social media with greetings for the actor. While some celebs have co-starred with him, others are self-confessed fans of the actor. Salman Khan’s co-stars Kareena Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and many others have posted throwback pictures of the birthday boy on their respective social media profiles. Kareena Kapoor, who has worked with Salman Khan in super hit films such as Bodyguard, Kyon Ki, Main Aur Mrs Khanna, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and has also featured in the song Fevikol Se from Salman’s film Dabangg 2 , shared a greyscale throwback picture of the actor from his early days in the film industry and she wrote: “Happy Birthday Bajrangi Bhaijaan . Forever Superstar.”

The Oxford coronavirus vaccine will “protect 95 per cent of patients” and is “as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna” alternatives, Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, told British daily The Sunday Times , adding scientists had figured out a “winning formula to get efficacy up there with everybody else”. However, AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharma giant, has yet to release data confirming these claims. Interim results of Phase III trials released last month showed a 70 per cent efficacy rate as the average of two dosing regimens. One of these regimens – a half dose followed by a full dose – showed 90 per cent efficacy, while Pfizer’s data showed 95 per cent and Moderna’s 94.5 per cent. Mr Soriot also said the vaccine, which is likely to be cleared this week by the British health regulator, “should be” effective against an aggressive mutant strain of the virus first detected in London and southeast England in September. The Oxford vaccine, which will be mass-produced in In

The Central government has once again extended the validity of all vehicle-related documents in order to avoid crowding and the possible spread of COVID-19. All those driving licences, registration certificates, and permits which were set to expire may now be used till March 31, 2021, according to a directory issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to various State and Union Territory administrations.   “Taking into consideration the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19, it is further advised that the validity of all of the above referred documents may be treated to be valid till 31st March 2021. This covers all documents whose validity has expired since 1st Feb, 2020 or would expire by 31st March 2021,” the directory says. “This will help out citizens in availing transport related services, while maintaining social distancing,” it says.

Tesla’s entry in India has been foreshadowed for more than half a decade. Elon Musk himself said this numerous times, including earlier this year. But now a report by ET AUTO claims that Tesla is preparing to officially enter India as soon as next month, January 2021. It states that Tesla will open pre-bookings for the Model 3 and then start deliveries for the car by June or the end of Q1 2021-2022. “According to sources privy to the matter, the world’s most valued automobile corporation by market cap has sealed plans to resume bookings next month and start delivery by the end of the first quarter of 2021-22,” said the report. In October Musk had tweeted that Tesla will launch in India in 2021. Tesla has also explored opening an R&D centre and a battery manufacturing facility in the country. The company has had plans to enter India since 2016 when it began pre-bookings for the Model 3.

Madhya Pradesh School Education Department has announced that all the government schools situated within 15 km of radius from each other will be merged. As part of the CM Rise school initiative by the state government, all the government schools built within the said radius will be merged and rebuilt into bigger schools hosting classes upto senior secondary. The new schools are proposed to be built with modern facilities including smart classrooms, providing exposure to students in form of excursion, inter-school activities and helping the students to build a professional career. Teachers and students who are currently associated with the individual schools will be appointed and enrolled under the same school. The objective of the CM Rise school initiative is to help impart education to state school students at par with the central educational boards including Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE). The plan will be implemented

Actor Parineeti Chopra will be reuniting with her The Girl On The Train director Ribhu Dasgupta for an action-thriller in which she will play the role of an undercover agent. The yet-untitled film revolves around a covert rescue operation of Indian agents, led by Parineeti Chopra as protagonist. “It is not (set in) an India-Pakistan backdrop. The film has Parineeti as a covert agent, she is leading the operation. The film is also about her personal journey and her revenge,” a source close to the film’s team told PTI. According to the insider, the film’s ensemble cast also features Rajit Kapur, Kay Kay Menon, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Hardy Sandhu, among others. The project, scheduled to go on floors in March, is produced by Reliance Entertainment. The makers are in the process of scouting locations and getting permissions to shoot amid the coronavirus pandemic. Parineeti Chopra, 32, and Ribhu Dasgupta, known for directing Te3n and Netflix series Bard of Blood , are currently awaiting

Russia’s president Vladimir Putin will receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state TV channel on Sunday. “He said he will be vaccinated, he made this decision and was waiting until all formalities are completed,” the spokesman was quoted as saying to Rossiya 1 TV Channel on its website. Russia launched a voluntary vaccination programme with the Russia-made Sputnik V vaccine earlier in December, starting with the most vulnerable groups in Moscow. People over the age of 60 may begin to apply for shots on Monday, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his website on Sunday, the day after the Russian health ministry said the vaccine was approved for use by elderly people after a separate trial. 68-year-old Putin said earlier that the Russian vaccine was effective and safe and he saw no reason not to be vaccinated adding that he was waiting until it became available.

New York State Health officials said on Saturday they are investigating a Brooklyn-based healthcare provider on suspicion it violated state guidelines for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. ParCare Community Health Network “may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public – contrary to the state’s plan to administer it first to frontline healthcare workers, as well as nursing home residents and staffers,” state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement. “We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in criminal investigation into this matter,” he added. ParCare Community could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Oxford coronavirus vaccine will “protect 95 per cent of patients” and is “as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna” alternatives, Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, told British daily The Sunday Times , adding scientists had figured out a “winning formula to get efficacy up there with everybody else”. However, AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharma giant, has yet to release data confirming these claims. Interim results of Phase III trials released last month showed a 70 per cent efficacy rate as the average of two dosing regimens. One of these regimens – a half dose followed by a full dose – showed 90 per cent efficacy, while Pfizer’s data showed 95 per cent and Moderna’s 94.5 per cent. Mr Soriot also said the vaccine, which is likely to be cleared this week by the British health regulator, “should be” effective against an aggressive mutant strain of the virus first detected in London and southeast England in September. The Oxford vaccine, which will be mass-produced in In

Ramchandra Prasad Singh, a member of the Rajya Sabha, has been chosen by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to lead his party, the Janata Dal United. The decision was formally taken at the party’s national executive today but, sources say, Mr Kumar had communicated his wish to appoint him as the JDU chief to senior leaders a few days ago. By handing over the party to his close confidante, Mr Kumar has made himself unavailable to ally BJP, whom he holds responsible for reducing his party’s seat tally to 43 by propping up Chirag Paswan’s LJP in the recently concluded Bihar assembly election, sources say. Mr Singh will look after the party’s affairs, including its dealings with the BJP. The decision shows that all is not well in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in which the BJP has been playing the role of a dominant partner since the state polls. RCP Singh, a former Indian Administrative Service officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is known to be close to Nitish Kumar. He belongs to

A high-level Chinese delegation led by a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party arrived in Kathmandu today to “take stock” of Nepal’s political situation after the dissolution of Parliament and subsequent split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party, according to a media report. Although no specific details about the agenda of the visit are available, the four-member delegation, led by Vice Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guo Yezhou, will hold high-level talks during its stay in Kathmandu, My Republica newspaper reported, citing senior NCP leaders. Quoting a diplomatic source, it said the visit is aimed at “taking stock of Nepal’s evolving political situation after the dissolution of the House of Representatives and subsequent split in the ruling Nepal Communist Party amid already-deepened intra-party rift”. Nepal plunged into a political crisis last Sunday after embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leaning

With apprehensions being raised in social and print media about the requirement of a mandatory cash payment of at least one per cent of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) liability, the Finance Ministry on Saturday clarified that it will affect less than half of the total assesses. On the recommendations of the GST Law Committee, the Finance Ministry has mandated this rule to curb the menace of fake invoicing and fake firms/devious fly-by-night operators who avail and pass on input tax credit (ITC) wrongfully, said a government source. Some apprehensions have been raised in social and print media that the measure of the requirement of the mandatory cash payment will adversely affect small businesses and will increase their working capital requirement, said sources in the Revenue Department. “However, the misconceptions about the measure taken are unfounded and will not affect genuine taxpayers.” Using data analytics, officials mentioned that out of the total GST base of 1.2 crore taxpaye

Rajasthan has become the sixth state in the country to undertake and successfully complete the ease of doing business reform stipulated by the Department of Expenditure of Ministry of Finance, and has become eligible for additional borrowing of ₹ 2,731 crore, through open market borrowings. In a recent statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, Rajasthan has now joined the five other states namely, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana, which have completed the reforms. Hence, upon completion of reforms facilitating the ease of doing business, the six states have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs.19,459 crore. The ease of doing business is a significant indicator of the investment-friendly business climate in the country. The improvements in the ease of doing business will enable faster future growth of the state economy. In May 2020, the government had decided to link the grant of additional borrowing permissions to the states which co

Russia on Saturday approved its main COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, for use by people over the age of 60, Russian news agencies cited the health ministry as saying. People over 60 have thus far been excluded from Russia’s national inoculation programme, as the shot was tested on this age group separately.

With apprehensions being raised in social and print media about the requirement of a mandatory cash payment of at least one per cent of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) liability, the Finance Ministry on Saturday clarified that it will affect less than half of the total assesses. On the recommendations of the GST Law Committee, the Finance Ministry has mandated this rule to curb the menace of fake invoicing and fake firms/devious fly-by-night operators who avail and pass on input tax credit (ITC) wrongfully, said a government source. Some apprehensions have been raised in social and print media that the measure of the requirement of the mandatory cash payment will adversely affect small businesses and will increase their working capital requirement, said sources in the Revenue Department. “However, the misconceptions about the measure taken are unfounded and will not affect genuine taxpayers.” Using data analytics, officials mentioned that out of the total GST base of 1.2 crore taxpaye

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the Indian aviation sector in 2020 and major airlines facing losses and challenging times laid-off employees, sent them on leave without pay, or cut their salaries. The government also had to extend the deadline for submitting bids for Air India five times during the year. When the pandemic started spreading across the country, all scheduled international flights and domestic passenger flights were suspended from March 23 and March 25, respectively. Scheduled domestic flights were restarted in a limited manner from May 25. The effect of this disruption can be gauged by the loss figures of India’s two largest airlines. IndiGo incurred net losses of ₹ 2,884 crore and ₹ 1,194 crore in Q1 and Q2 of this fiscal respectively. SpiceJet posted net losses of ₹ 600 crore and ₹ 112 crore in Q1 and Q2, respectively. The government, meanwhile, permitted special international passenger flights under Vande Bharat Mission since May and air bubble arrangeme

Rajasthan has become the sixth state in the country to undertake and successfully complete the ease of doing business reform stipulated by the Department of Expenditure of Ministry of Finance, and has become eligible for additional borrowing of ₹ 2,731 crore, through open market borrowings. In a recent statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, Rajasthan has now joined the five other states namely, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana, which have completed the reforms. Hence, upon completion of reforms facilitating the ease of doing business, the six states have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs.19,459 crore. The ease of doing business is a significant indicator of the investment-friendly business climate in the country. The improvements in the ease of doing business will enable faster future growth of the state economy. In May 2020, the government had decided to link the grant of additional borrowing permissions to the states which co

Unaccounted income of ₹ 100 crore has been detected after the income tax department raided three “leading” contractors of Northeast India based in Assam early this week, the CBDT said on Saturday. The search and survey action was initiated on December 22 at fourteen locations in Guwahati, Silapathar and Pathsala in Assam and in Delhi. “Cash of ₹ 2.95 crore has been seized. Overall, undisclosed income to the tune of approximately ₹ 100 crore has been unearthed so far during the search and survey operation,” the Board said in a statement without sharing the identities of those raided. It added that “jewellery of ₹ 9.79 lakh has been seized and the sources of acquisition of some other jewellery worth ₹ 2 crore is under verification.” The Central Board of Direct Taxes frames policy for the I-T department. The entities covered are “leading contractors of Northeast and one group is also involved in the hospitality business,” it said. “The main allegation against the three groups is that they

Millions of Americans saw their jobless benefits expire on Saturday after US President Donald Trump refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, protesting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on December 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Trump’s signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then. After months of wrangling, Republicans and Democrats agreed to the package last weekend, with the support of the White House. Trump, who hands over power to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, did not obj

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Sivan on Saturday said the space agency was developing “green propulsion” for its ambitious human space flight mission, ‘Gaganyaan’. He also said it may be adopted for use in every stage of a rocket. He was speaking at the 16th convocation of SRM Institute of Science and Technology. Mr Sivan, also the Secretary, Department of Space, advised the new graduates to take up “calculated risk” in their life as it may safeguard them from “absolute failure”. “As India continues to focus on economic growth, it needs to ensure that environmental damage is limited by adopting green technologies. ISRO has made space grade lithium-ion batteries and this technology is useful for mass adoption of electric vehicle”, he noted. On the green propellant, Mr Sivan said, “Even in the rocket propulsion, ISRO is developing green propulsion for its human space flight mission. In future, all the propulsion stages may adopt green propulsion,” he said. According to ISR

We already know that KTM India is working on the updated RC range of motorcycles. And, previously we saw a test mule of the next-gen RC 200 doing rounds on the roads. Now the latest spy image of the 2021 KTM RC 200 has leaked online, suggesting the company has started rolling off the motorcycle from the production line at Bajaj ‘s plant in Chakan. The next-gen RC 200 is expected to be launched in the Indian market very soon. Based on the newly leaked image, the bike will get a significant overhaul in terms of design and features. The soon-to-be-launched KTM RC 200 comes fitted with a new headlight cluster that is inspired by KTM’s RC8 superbike. The outgoing model gets twin-beam projector headlamps that have been replaced with a traditional-looking halogen headlamp. On the latest iteration, the company has shifted the mirror-mounted LED turn indicators onto the fairing. The motorcycle gets bigger, thinner and perforated disc brakes upfront with less committed riding posture compared