City New Delhi Financial News

New Delhi: Nearly 112,000 farmers are expected to receive licences for poppy cultivation in the 2023-24 crop year as part of the new licensing policy, the finance ministry said on Thursday. Poppy cultivation is strictly regulated and licences are granted by the government every year for producing the key raw material for pharmaceuticals. Poppy is grown in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

NEW DELHI : French beauty products giant L’Oréal plans to double its India business over three to five years, growing at twice the pace of the local personal care market, expecting higher disposable incomes to spur demand for hair colours, skin care creams and fragrances. L’Oréal, which entered India in 1994, sells a range of beauty, personal care and coloured cosmetic products under brands such as Garnier, Maybelline New York, L’Oréal Paris and Kiehl’s. Garnier, its mass market brand for hair colours, shampoos and skin care products, is the company’s largest brand in the country.

NEW DELHI : Rajinikanth’s Tamil film Jailer, which continues to draw audiences to cinemas, has already premiered on Amazon Prime Video within a month of theatrical release. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi’s Telugu film Bhola Shankar, released in mid-August, too, will stream on Netflix this week. Trade experts say the negotiating power of multiplexes hasn’t worked with southern filmmakers who sign lucrative deals with OTT platforms to de-risk their films before release and then stick to them, even if the film finds takers at the box office.

NEW DELHI : The ministry of information and broadcasting is considering introducing a new bill to regulate broadcasting services, including over-the-top (OTT) apps and direct-to-home services, two people aware of the development said. The bill, currently in its initial stages, is likely to be taken up only after the general elections next year. It will focus on the regulation of OTT services that are engaged in broadcasting, while the one-to-one or direct messaging OTTs will be taken up for regulation in the Indian Telecommunications Bill.

NEW DELHI : The Union health ministry has proposed sweeping changes to its drug licensing programme, aiming for uniformity across India to boost drug safety, after cough syrups made in the country were allegedly linked to the deaths of children overseas, two people familiar with the development said. The proposal also follows a government expert panel emphasizing the need for uniform implementation of documentation and dossier-based approval processes for drugs manufactured in the country to ensure consistent quality and safety.

NEW DELHI : EbixCash Ltd, payment services company that plans to go public, is yet to disclose in its draft share sale documents an adverse arbitration order passed by a Singapore court in June that could cost it ₹100-200 crore. The firm, a unit of Nasdaq-listed Ebix Inc., received the markets regulator’s approval for a ₹6,000 crore IPO in April. EbixCash purchased gift card provider ITZCash in 2017 and rebranded it to Ebix Payment Services (EPS), which now forms a big chunk of its business.

NEW DELHI : The department of food and public distribution will seek an exemption for sugar from mandatory 20% jute bag packaging starting next month. Sugar millers and factory owners wrote to the textile secretary last month, saying though jute bags were good for packaging grains, they were not ideal for sugar. Jute bags, being porous do not protect sugar from moisture, a senior government official aware of the matter said.The relaxation will also be sought on the grounds of the costs involved and operational challenges.

New Delhi: All smartphones will have to support NavIC by the end of 2025, minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said after Apple successfully supported the indigenous navigation system in some of the new iPhone 15 models. 5G smartphones would have to support NavIC, short for Navigation with Indian Constellation, by 1 January 2025, and other phones by December 2025, the minister said.

New Delhi: In view of Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the Union minister of state (health) Bharati Pravin Pawar reviewed the steps taken by the Centre and the state governments to contain the spread of the virus. She visited the ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune to discuss the matter with the scientists who are closely monitoring the situation. The Central government has deputed a high-level team from NIV with mobile units equipped with BSL-3 laboratories to Kerala’s Kozhikode to conduct on-ground testing.

NEW DELHI : The Sensex scaled a record high of 67771.05 on Thursday, breaching its earlier peak of 67619.17 seen in July as markets continued their northward journey despite volatility on F&O expiry day. The Nifty too scaled a fresh high of 20167.65 before closing at a record high of 20103.10 up 0.16%. Sensex ended the day at 67519 with slight gains of 0.08% amidst weak global cues.

NEW DELHI : The central government is planning a “graded" transition regarding compliance with rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, an official of the plans said. Under this approach, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will get longer time frames to comply, while larger corporations will get less. “We may do this at graded levels, where the vast majority of Big Tech, as well as companies, can transition quicker.

NEW DELHI : As online travel agency Yatra Online Ltd’s IPO will open for subscriptions this Friday, its co-founder and CEO, Dhruv Shringi, in an exclusive conversation with Mint, said there are strong tailwinds behind the business, and this is the right time to list. The company plans to use ₹150 crore from the IPO proceeds for strategic investments, acquisitions, and inorganic growth, while ₹392 crore could be used for investments in customer acquisition and retention, technology, and organic growth initiatives. The company’s IPO will be priced at ₹135-142 per share.

NEW DELHI : The government is set to push for a better Logistics Performance Index (LPI) with plans to brief the World Bank about recent reforms and measures taken to improve logistics efficiency through schemes such as PM Gati Shaki, an official said on Thursday. Special secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Sumita Dawra said there was a need for greater emphasis on an objective methodology for LPI scoring whereas the World Bank’s methodology was based on perception surveys. India aims to break into the top 25 countries in the index ranking by 2030.

NEW DELHI : Japan is looking to revive a dialogue with India focused on Indo-Pacific issues by the end of this year, according to persons aware of the matter. This dialogue, which was last held some years ago, is expected to take in topics ranging from economic security and China’s military expansionism to Indo-Japanese cooperation with third countries in the region. The move to revive this dialogue comes amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific in recent months.

G20 presidency has been a resounding success. With 112 outcomes and documents, India's presidency more than doubled the substantive work done under other presidencies.

G20 summit in New Delhi, which accepted the African Union as a full-fledged group member in a historic decision, pushed this agenda forward. In Paris, we asked for a world where poverty is eliminated, the health of our planet is preserved and vulnerable countries are better equipped to face the crises that arise from climate change and conflicts. To meet these goals, we must leverage all sources of finance and remain united.

New Delhi: Toy retailer Hamleys, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., has inaugurated its first retail store in Italy with franchisee Giochi Preziosi S.P.A (GP), a prominent player in the European country’s toy manufacturing and distribution industry.. Under the terms of the franchise agreement, GP has secured the exclusive rights to operate Hamleys stores throughout Italy, Reliance Brands Ltd. (RBL), that acquired the British toy retailer in 2019, said in a statement on Thursday Hamleys has made its debut in Italy with a store in Milan at the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

India-Japan Cyber Dialogue held in Tokyo, discussed important areas of bilateral cyber cooperation and reviewed the progress achieved in the areas of cybersecurity and information and communication technologies including 5G technology, an official statement said. The Indian delegation was led by Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary (Cyber Diplomacy Division) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), while the Japanese side was led by Ishizuki Hideo, Ambassador in-charge of Cyber Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan. «Both sides exchanged views on latest developments in cyber domain and mutual cooperation at the United Nations and other multilateral and regional fora, including under the Quad framework,» the MEA statement said. It said both the delegations underscored the importance of capacity building in ensuring secure cyberspace and agreed to cooperate in this aspect. The Indian delegation comprised senior officials from MEA, ministries of home affairs, defence, and electronics and information technology, National Security Council Secretariat, Department of Telecommunications, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and Embassy of India in Tokyo. The Japanese delegation included senior officials from National Centre of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), MOFA and other departments concerned. India invited the Japanese delegation for the sixth India-Japan Cyber Dialogue in New Delhi next year.

By Nikunj Ohri

Tata Motors, India's biggest electric carmaker, is testing its electric vehicles in some global markets where it could look at a potential launch if the experiment succeeds, its managing director told Reuters. The tests are in early stages and based on how the cars perform, Tata may need to make some changes to the product before it can finalise and develop a «go to market» strategy, Shailesh Chandra said in an interview. «It is about which markets I should be in, with what products and with what kind of distribution strategy. We are assessing some markets, running our cars, discussing with business partners,» he said. Chandra said it was too early to discuss details of the export markets and there would be more clarity next year. Tata also plans to roll out new car dealerships over coming quarters in some Indian cities that will exclusively sell EVs as sales of its clean cars gain momentum and it lines up faster launches of new electric models, Chandra said. Sales of EVs globally have been growing as tighter emission regulations push carmakers to increase the share of electric cars in their portfolio.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is looking to tap overseas markets, particularly the US, to promote locally developed and manufactured fifth generation, or 5G, radio network gear on the backdrop of Centre’s ambition to 'make in India for the world' to overcome supply chain disruptions. “The N78 5G radios designed by Tejas Networks may be qualified for all greenfield and brownfield 5G opportunities that present themselves to the company globally including that in the US,” TCS chief operating officer NG Subramaniam told ETTelecom. Developed by Saankhya Labs, the N78 radio, compatible with 3300 MHz spectrum band, is being currently manufactured by Bengaluru-based Tejas Networks, which acquired the telecom startup early last year. In 2021, Tata Sons acquired homegrown telecom gear maker Tejas Networks.