businessfortnight

GAIL India shares soared more than 5 per cent on the BSE in a subdued market on the news that the country’s largest gas distribution company will on Friday consider buyback of shares. The shares touched an intra-day high of ₹ 143.50, up 5.7 per cent in early trading on the back of the announcement and at 10:20 am, the shares were trading at ₹ 141.50, up 3.94 per cent, on the BSE. The board will meet on January 15 to consider share buyback as also payment of interim dividend for the fiscal year ending March 2021, Gail India said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, but did not give any details.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fallibility of the health infrastructure in the country and has served as a reminder that currently, India’s healthcare spending is at 1.29 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This is much lower as compared to peer nations in the OECD and BRICS countries. According to the industry body, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the government must increase its investment in health, to at least 2.5-3 per cent of GDP by the year 2025 to ensure affordable healthcare.  Healthcare needs to be accompanied by digital infrastructural support such as data storage, management, processing, and security systems. In order to build a robust technology framework for healthcare, the government must consider creating the ‘Medical Innovation Fund’ for supporting companies with the capital to promote digital healthcare infrastructure. Similarly, firms should be incentivized to undertake research and development in healthcare technology and local manufacturing

Awide array of sleek and stylish room heaters equipped with the best-in-class technology and features to help you stay cosy this season 12 th January, 2021, New Delhi: It’s that time of the year again when the biting cold seems to breach every layer of clothing you may have on, and the only thing that will come to your rescue is the warmth that the room heater emanates cocooning you in its cozy comfort.Thanks to product advancements, today there is a wide range of room heaters that keep us shielded from the freezing cold and make us comfortable at our homes andoffices. Given the wide variety of choice, buying a room heater can be confusing, so here a lowdown on some of Usha International’s best-selling room heaters. The room heating solutions from Usha International, one of India’s most trusted brands, are handyappliances that can be moved from one place to another without making much effort and ensure an even spread of warmth. Well known to heat up the room quickly and quietly, Usha

China’s search engine giant Baidu Inc said on Monday it will set up a company to partner with car maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to make smart electric vehicles (EV), the latest move by a tech company in the fast-evolving sector. Baidu, which has been developing autonomous driving technology and Internet connectivity infrastructure, said the new EV company will count on Baidu’s intelligent driving capabilities and Geely’s car manufacturing expertise. Geely will also be a strategic investor in the new company, which will be an independent subsidiary of Baidu, Baidu said in the statement. Reuters reported Baidu’s plan to form a smart EV company with the help of Geely last week. Sources told Reuters Baidu would hold a majority stake and absolute voting power in the new firm and that Geely would have a minority stake. Geely said in a separate statement on Monday the collaboration will be based on Geely’s EV-focused platform, Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA). Baidu’s move comes

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes opened lower in trade on Tuesday on the back of weakness in banking and financial services shares after the Reserve Bank of India warned that the banks may see bad loans double despite signs of an improvement in the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, weakness in other Asian markets also added to somber investor sentiment on Dalal Street. The Sensex fell as much as 187 points to hit an intraday low of 49,082.04 and Nifty declined as much as 52 points to hit low of 14,484.75. As of 9:23 am, the Sensex was down 105 points at 49,164.22 and Nifty declined 24 points to 14,460. Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Private Bank index’s 0.6 per cent decline after RBI’s warning on rising bad loans. The gross non-performing assets of banks may increase from 7.5 per cent in September 2020 to 14.8 per cent under a severe stress scenario. Even under a baseline scenario it

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower in trade on Tuesday as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. The Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty was down 16 points at 14,480. Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street declines as political turmoil in Washington and rising coronavirus cases worldwide weighed on sentiment. Political uncertainty dominated trading as House Democrats introduced a resolution to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting insurrection following a violent attack on the Capitol last week. Several big tech giants, including Twitter Inc, Amazon.com Inc , Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc and Apple Inc, have taken actions against Trump and his network of supporters, as concerns mounted over the risk of continued violence. Investors also kept an eye on the continued spread of the coronavirus globally as cases surpassed 90 million on Monday, according to a Reuter