businessfortnight

The Reserve Bank of India will keep rates on hold until early next year in a delicate balancing act between curbing high inflation and lifting the economy from its worst recession on record, a Reuters poll of economists showed. August inflation, at 6.69 per cent, held above the top end of the RBI’s medium-term target range of 2-6 per cent for the fifth consecutive month amid supply disruptions, while coronavirus infections spread in India at the fastest pace anywhere in the world. The central bank held its main repo rate at 4.0 per cent at its meeting last month and said it would keep policy accommodative to support an economy which nosedived 23.9 per cent last quarter, the weakest performance on record. All 66 respondents expected no change at the September 29-October 1 meeting and the consensus showed rates would remain on hold in December, according to the poll which was conducted over the last few days. That compared with a quarter-point cut in the fourth quarter predicted a m...

Domestic share markets soared more than 2 per cent on Friday, bouncing back from their longest losing streak since February. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose 803.37 points – or 2.20 per cent – to 37,356.97 at the strongest level of the day, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 11,039.50, up 233.95 points – or 2.17 per cent – from its previous close. Strong buying interest in IT stocks pushed the markets higher, however selling pressure in financial counters after the government extended the suspension of bankruptcy filings capped the upside. The Sensex ended 786.84 points – or 2.15 per cent – higher at 37,340.44 and the Nifty settled at 11,050.25, up 244.70  points – or 2.26 per cent – from its previous close.  Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank and Larsen & Toubro, closing between 4.44 per cent and 6.60 per cent higher, led gains in the Nifty basket of 50 shares. O...

Samsung Galaxy A72 will be the company’s first smartphone with a five camera setup, as per a report. The phone will reportedly will be released in the first half of 2021. The penta-camera setup won’t be debuted on a Samsung flagship phone, but instead on Galaxy A72, a phone that is expected to be priced in the mid segment. The Galaxy A72 will be the successor to the Galaxy 71 that was released earlier this year. South Korean publication The Elec reports that the Galaxy A72 will have a penta-camera setup, citing industry sources. The report said that the setup will feature a 64-megapixel megapixel primary shooter, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera with optical 3x zoom, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. Samsung Galaxy A72 will also have a 32-megapixel selfie camera in the front, as per the report. Additionally, the report says that the Galaxy A52 will launch alongside the Galaxy A72. This smartphone will feature qua...

More than 85,000 new Covid cases were reported across India in the past 24 hours, government data showed on Saturday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the country past the 59 lakh-mark. Over 1,000 deaths were also recorded in the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of deaths recorded since the pandemic began past 93,000. The number of recoveries reported in the past 24 hours is around 93,000 as well, taking the total number of people who have fought off the virus past 48 lakh. Around 13.4 lakh Covid tests were also conducted in the past 24 hours. India is the second worst-affected country by the Covid pandemic, second only to the United States in the total number of active cases. India has recorded 59,03,932 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in China’s Wuhan in December last year. Of these, 93,379 are deaths linked to the virus and 9,60,969 are active cases. In the past 24 hours 85,362 new cases and 1,089 deaths were recorded. The national daily positiv...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to deliver a virtual address at the annual UN General Assembly today. PM Modi’s speech is scheduled to happen at 6:30 pm. While the Prime Minister will speak on wide-ranging issues from sustainable development to global peacekeeping efforts, his speech will also focus on the key issues of climate change and terrorism, sources have said. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s UN General Assembly is being held virtually, as almost all world leaders are delivering their speeches in a pre-recorded video format. The annual UN General Assembly debate is held at the United Nations office in New York. 2020 marks the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which was started in 1945, after the end of World War II. Prime Minister Modi’s office tweeted last evening, confirming his scheduled speech for today. PM Modi is scheduled as the first speaker before noon, and his speech will be aired at 9 am local time (New York)...

A single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response against the novel coronavirus in an early-to-mid stage clinical trial, according to interim results published on Friday. The vaccine, called Ad26.COV2.S, was equally well-tolerated at two different doses, the results showed. A single shot, versus a rival two-dose approach being tested by Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc , could simplify distribution of the vaccine. However, it is unclear whether elderly people, one of the populations most at risk from the virus, will be protected to the same degree as younger people with the J&J vaccine. The trial in close to 1,000 healthy adults, which is backed by the U.S. government, began after the J&J vaccine was found in July to offer strong protection in a single dose to monkeys. Based on the current results, J&J on Wednesday kicked off a final 60,000-person trial, which could pave the way for an application for regulatory approval...

Actor Deepika Padukone is being questioned in a widening drugs probe linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput death investigation. She arrived for questioning this morning at the Evelyn Guest House in Mumbai’s Colaba, where the Narcotics Control Bureau’s Special Investigation Team has set up a base. Actor Shraddha Kapoor, who was issued summons by the anti-drugs agency along with Deepika Padukone and Sara Ali Khan, has arrived at the NCB’s Ballard Estate office, where actor Sara Ali Khan is also likely to be questioned today. Ms Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash, who was questioned on Friday, has also reached the NCB office for questioning for the second day today. Ms Prakash’s questioning went on for much longer than actor Rakul Preet Singh’s, which lasted four hours, sources said. The NCB questioned Rakul Preet Singh and Karishma Prakash about the contents of WhatsApp chat which allegedly indicated marijuana was bought for consumption. The escalating pr...