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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 r...

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 Architect...

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 s...

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...

Tata Motors shares raced ahead more than 4 per cent on the BSE after the auto major reported a recovery in Jaguar Land Rover sales in the December quarter. The shares touched an intra-day high of ₹ 229.50, up 4.2 per cent on the BSE on the back of the news development. At 9:30 am, the shares of Tata Motors were trading off their intra-day highs at ₹ 225.70, up 2.5 per cent, on the BSE. Jaguar Land Rover’s retail sales for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 stood at 128,469 vehicles, 13.1 per cent higher than 113,569 vehicles sold in the preceding quarter, Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. The sales were, however, down 9.0 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The first batch of Covishield, the Serum Institute of India’s coronavirus vaccine, left Pune early this morning, four days ahead of the nationwide inoculation drive against COVID-19. Amid tight security, three temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute gates with their precious cargo shortly before 5 am. The trucks carried 478 boxes of the vaccines, each box weighing 32 kg, news agency PTI reported quoting an unnamed official. A ”puja” was performed before the vehicles left the facility for the Pune airport. From the airport, the vaccines are being dispatched to 13 cities. “Ready get set go! Stand by India! The vaccine to kill the disease is being loaded into the aircraft for distribution all over the country now,” Pune airport tweeted. The vaccines will be flown from Pune in nine commercial flights, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “Today, Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo Airl...

A two-word app recommendation from Elon Musk has turned into a massive rally in the shares of a tiny medical device company in another case of mistaken identity. “Use Signal,” the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer wrote on Twitter on Jan. 7, apparently referring to the encrypted messaging service. By the end of the day, Signal Advance Inc. shares had surged more than sixfold. That was enough to push Signal Advance’s rally more than 5,100% in three trading days giving it a market valuation of $390 million. Despite reports about the confusion on Friday, the stock has continued to rally. Shares of the Rosharon, Texas-based company surged as much as 885% on Monday before paring the gains. “We strongly recommend people do their due diligence and always invest with care,” the company’s chief executive officer, Dr. Chris Hymel, said when reached by phone on Monday. Signal Advance doesn’t have an association with Musk or the Signal app, he said. Signal...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the valedictory function of the second National Youth Parliament Festival on January 12 via video conferencing. The selected candidates in the youth parliaments held at state and district levels will take part in the national event. The first three winners will get the opportunity to express their views before the Prime Minister. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ”Nishank”, among others, will also be present on the occasion. The objective of the National Youth Parliament Festival (NYPF) is to hear the voice of youth between 18 and 25 years of age, who are allowed to vote and will join various careers in coming years, including public services. The National Youth Parliament Festival is based on the idea given by the Prime Minister in his ”Mann Ki Baat” address on December 31, 2017. Taking inspiration from the idea, the first NYPF was organised from January 12 to February 27, 2019, wit...

National Youth Day is celebrated every year on January 12 to recognise and honour the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. This year, the higher education regulatory body, University Grants Commission, has also asked the universities and colleges to celebrate the National Youth Day and take inspiration from his ideals and commemorate his works. Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863 at Kolkata. National Youth Day is celebrated across the nation at schools and colleges, with several programmes including speeches, music, youth conventions, seminars, Yoga Asanas, presentations, competitions in essay-writing, recitations and sports every year. However, this year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and most educational institutions being shut, the celebrations will be different. In a letter addressed to the Vice Chancellors and principals, UGC has asked institutes to organize different events, adhering to the COVID-19 restrictions. UGC has asked colleges, universities to organize onlin...

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ held a high-level meeting with top officials of the Education Ministry at his residence here on Monday to review the progress made regarding the implementation of New Education Policy 2020. Officials said that during the hour-long meeting, the Education Minister reviewed the progress made regarding the implementation of NEP 2020. An official told ANI that the meeting discussed the goal in NEP 2020 to universalize education from pre-school to secondary level. “The minister reviewed the progress made in the implementation of NEP in the situation created by COVID -19. Due to the pandemic, the NEP could not progress as expected. With the situation starting to get normal and the possibility of educational institutions opening gradually, the ministry is making all efforts to speed up the implementation of the policy,” the official added. The Union Cabinet in July last year approved the new Education Policy which has s...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon youngsters to attend ‘Prarambh’, the Startup India international summit on January 15 and 16, saying it seeks to bring together top minds from industry, academia, investment, banking and finance besides young start up leaders. He also shared his LinkedIn post in which he noted that virtual interactions have become the new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic and said a big advantage of this is that people can be a part of programmes sitting at home. “With most events being held virtually, it has given a great opportunity for youngsters to be a part of many interesting domestic & global forums. One such opportunity is coming up in the form of Prarambh on 15-16 Jan. I urge our youth to be a part of it,” Modi tweeted on Monday. Being indoors for the most of 2020 meant everyone had to alter their work styles, the prime minister noted and said work from home is in, so is greater adapting to technology. “For me, it ...

Air India’s longest direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with an all-woman cockpit crew successfully landed in the southern city on Monday. The national carrier had said on Saturday that this flight would be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by any Indian airline and the total flight time on this route would be of more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that day. The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours. “In a moment to cherish and celebrate, women professionals of Indian civil aviation create history,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said on Twitter. “Heartiest Congratulations to Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware & Capt Shivani for flying over North Pole to land in Bengaluru from San Francisco, he stated. Flight AI176 departed from San Francisco in the USA at around 8.30 pm (local time)...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Monday that Indian banks’ total gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) may rise to 14.8 per cent under a severe stress scenario by September 2021 compared with 7.5 per cent in the year-ago period. This highlights the need for proactive building up of adequate capital to withstand possible asset quality deterioration, RBI said in its Financial Stability Report (FSR). “Macro stress tests incorporating the first advance estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2020-21 released on January 7, 2021 indicate that the GNPA ratio of all SCBs may increase from 7.5 per cent in September 2020 to 13.5 per cent by September 2021 under the baseline scenario; the ratio may escalate to 14.8 per cent under a severe stress scenario,” the financial report said. The central bank further stated that in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, policy actions were geared towards restoring normal functioning and mitigating stress. The focus is now b...

India’s central bank warned that an expected doubling of bad loans and soaring financial markets in the nation’s weakened economy threaten financial stability. The non-performing asset ratio is forecast to rise to 13.5% by the end of September from 7.5% a year ago, the Reserve Bank of India said in its semiannual Financial Stability Report published Monday. If the number holds through the fiscal year ending March 2022, it would be the worst since 1999. “Domestically, corporate funding has been cushioned by policy measures and the loan moratorium announced in the face of the pandemic, but stresses would be visible with a lag,” the Reserve Bank said. “This has implications for the banking sector as corporate and banking sector vulnerabilities are interlinked.” Like their global peers, Indian lenders have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, which triggered an unprecedented economic slump hurting borrowers’ ability to repay debts. Banks came ...

The Supreme Court Monday pulled up the Centre for its handling of the farmers protest against the new farm laws saying it is ?extremely disappointed? with the way negotiations between them were going and it will constitute a committee headed by a former Chief Justice of India to resolve the impasse Indicating amply that it may go to the extent of staying the implementation of the contentious farm laws, the apex court refused to grant extra time to the Centre to explore the possibility of amicable solution saying it has already granted the government a ?long rope? ?We have given you long rope, Mr Attorney General, please don’t lecture us on patience,? a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that the top court has made ?harsh observations? regarding handling of the situation by the government. ?That was the most innocuous factual thing for us to say,? the bench said The ...

Britain said on Sunday it has helped raise $1 billion (818 million euros) from global donors towards the drive to help “vulnerable countries” access coronavirus vaccines, by match-funding contributions. The UK said, in addition, it has committed 548 million pounds to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), after matching with 1 pound every $4 pledged by other donors. Canada, Japan and Germany are among the countries to make contributions that it matched, helping the AMC raise more than $1.7 billion in total so far. The fund will allow for the distribution of one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to 92 developing countries this year, according to Britain’s Foreign Office. “We’ll only be safe from this virus, when we’re all safe — which is why we’re focused on a global solution to a global problem,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement. The announcement came as Britain marks the 75th anniversary of the first meeting of th...

A former US defense secretary has called on President-elect Joe Biden to reform the system that gives sole control of the nation’s nuclear arsenal to the president, calling it “outdated, unnecessary and extremely dangerous.” The call from William Perry came the same day US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with the nation’s top military leader about ensuring that an “unhinged” President Donald Trump not be able to launch a nuclear attack in his final days in office. “Once in office, Biden should announce he would share authority to use nuclear weapons with a select group in Congress,” said Perry, who served under President Bill Clinton. He was writing in Politico magazine with Tom Collina of the Ploughshares Fund, which advocates for stronger nuclear controls. They said Biden, who takes office January 20, should also declare that the United States will never start a nuclear war and would use the bomb only in retaliation. The piece argues th...