Four pay channels likely to go ‘free to air’ from today

Four pay channels — Star Utsav, Zee Anmol, Colors Rishtey and Sony Pal — are likely to go ‘free to air’ for two months from today. These channels had earlier been put in a ‘promotional scheme’ while remaining pay channels, with their prices slashed from Rs 1-2/month to Rs 0. This was intended to increase […]

CORONAVIRUS: Kerala to allow online sales of liquor

With a 21-day lockdown on people movement coming into place overnight, the Kerala government has taken an in-principle decision to allow the sale of liquor via the Internet. A decision in this respect was taken at today’s meeting of the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, according to local media reports. Liquor […]

COVID-19: Youtube, Hotstar, Netflix etc to stop HD streaming

Several video-on-demand services in India, including Youtube, Hotstar, Tiktok, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Zee5, have decided to suspend the streaming of high-definition content as long as the Coronavirus lockdown is in place. They will continue to offer HD content on wired broadband, such as fiber and copper networks. The move is to prevent the […]

Center wants states to include e-commerce, IT-BPO in essential services

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has requested all state governments to include IT and BPO employees, as well as e-commerce, in their list of essential services. Several state governments, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, have announced strict curbs on the movement of people and the functioning of shops […]

COVID-19: Kerala likely to increase liquor outlets to prevent crowding

Kerala Government may radically expand the number of liquor outlets in the state by tomorrow to prevent crowding at the existing outlets. Kerala State Beverages Corporation, along with Kerala State Co-operatives Consumers’ Federation, has a legal monopoly over the retailing of liquor in Kerala. However, with only around 300 outlets to serve a population of […]

Indian companies shut factories, issue profit warnings

A large number of manufacturing companies in India have informed that they are shutting down their plants in accordance to the government’s action plan to combat Coronavirus COVID 19, with some warning that this will impact earnings. “The domestic industry is being impacted in unprecedented ways with increasing levels of uncertainty,” said Polycab Industries, one […]

CORONAVIRUS: Superstar Mohanlal calls for magical clapping

Malayalam Superstar Mohanlal expressed frustration at the high number of people who are refusing to heed government’s instructions on combating Coronavirus, and compared community clapping to magic that can destroy bacteria and viruses. “It won’t do to just say that we are not used to [such restrictions],” Mohanlal said in an interview with Malayalam channel […]

Center refuses to intervene in blocking of Andhra news channels

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar today refused to intervene in the alleged blocking of news channels critical of the state government of Andhra Pradesh. The unofficial ban on two news Telugu news channels — TV5 and ABN Andhra Jyothi — in the coastal state, allegedly for being critical of the YSRCP government — has […]

Japan-based Kubota takes strategic stake in Escorts

Escorts Ltd, one of India’s oldest motor and equipment makers, said Japan-based Kubota Corporation, one of the top tractor makers in the world, will take a 10% stake in the Indian company for Rs 1,042 cr. The partnership, which will go beyond equity participation, will “integrate and deepen their relationship towards achieving their mutual ambition […]

Godrej Properties buys 44-acre Faridabad plot from BPTP

Mumbai-based real estate developer Godrej Properties said it has acquired 43.61 hectares of land in Faridabad from real estate major BPTP for development. Financial details of the transaction were not announced. The plot will be home to Godrej Properties’ first development in Faridabad — a residential project with 95,000 square meters, or 1 million square […]

COVID-19: Stock Markets will ‘wait and watch’ for 1 week

Stock markets extended their losses on today, with the Nifty 50 falling by around 2.5% to 8,967. Among the biggest drags were ICICI Bank, which fell nearly 9%, indicating that large, foreign portfolio investors are exiting their long positions in the market. With this, the Nifty 50 index is now down 27.5% from its all-time […]

Stock markets likely to find near-term bottom on Tuesday

Stock market indices, including India’s Sensex and Nifty 50, are likely to find their short-term bottom today, after a savage correction on Monday in both the Indian markets as well as US markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered another massive setback on Monday, dropping by a massive 13% to 20,188. With this, 30-stock US […]

BHEL to supply electric buses for Gorakhpur airport

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, India’s largest electrical equipment maker, said it has won a contract to supply electric buses for the Gorakhpur airport. A new airport for the Uttar Pradesh city, spread over 300 acres, will be set up on the Gorakhpur-Varanasi highway. At present, there is a small airport at Gorakhpur which is serviced […]

MARKET CORRECTION: Good time to invest?

Major Indian stock market indices fell by 8-9% today in the biggest single-day fall since the global financial crisis of 2008. The Sensex fell 2,919 points (8.2%), while the Nifty 50 fell 868 points (8.3%) — by far the biggest single-day points correction in the history of these two indices. GOOD TIME TO INVEST? The […]

SpiceJet down 20%, Ajay Singh reassures investors

Ajay Singh, the entrepreneur who founded and currently heads budget airline SpiceJet, reassured investors and other stakeholders after his company’s stock fell 20% today as part of a broader market correction. Shares of SpiceJet were down Rs 12.05 at Rs 48.30 at close on the National Stock Exchange today. Shares of rival and market leader […]