India Financial News

Paramount Global’s sale of its 13.01% stake in Viacom18 to Reliance Industries (RIL) has provided the company with an opportunity to exit the Indian joint venture (JV) with an attractive return on investment, a top company executive said. Paramount fully exited Viacom18 last month after selling its remaining 13.01% stake to RIL for ₹4,286 crore ($517 million). The company will continue to licence its content to Viacom18. Its Paramount+ streaming service is available on Viacom18’s JioCinema as a content block under the premium subscription tier. Viacom18 will continue to operate TV channels under Paramount-owned brands like MTV, Vh1 and Nickelodeon.

Ajay Devgn top the list of celebrity-endorsed ads that are airing during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a cumulative 19% share of the TV ad volumes during the first 37 matches, according to data from TAM Sports. Among sports celebrities, Virender Sehwag tops the list with a 7.5% share of the ad volumes, followed by Hardik Pandya with a 7.4% share. In IPL 2023, Aamir Khan dominated the ad volumes for celebrity-endorsed commercials on TV, while Virat Kohli was the top sports celebrity.

China, India and religious affinities, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday as he appealed for cohesion in his last major speech before stepping down from the leadership of the prosperous city-state in two weeks. «Social cohesion is important and race, language, and religion are traditional fault lines that will never go away for Singapore. While huge efforts have been made to build a shared Singaporean identity, the nation will always be subject to external forces that pull different segments of its population in different directions,» Lee said as he delivered the keynote address at the May Day Rally. «We cannot disavow our diverse ethnic roots and religious affinities — Chinese Singaporeans with China, Indian Singaporeans with their various ancestral homes in India, Malay Singaporeans with the rest of our region, and with the global Muslim Ummah,» Lee said impressing on the citizens of prosperous island state nestled in the heart of Southeast Asia.

As per a Times of India news report, “The need to reclassify KYCs under various categories arose after it was found that KYCs of many investors were still not updated with PAN and Aadhar, and the linkages were missing. Several of these KYCs were done using documents like utility bills (electricity, telephone), bank account statements etc., which are no longer accepted as valid documents for KYC compliance by Sebi.” The report further said, “Of nearly 11 crore investors, about 7.9 crore or 73% have valid KYC. KYCs of about 1.6 crore investors are under the registered category, who now have limited access to investing, while 12% of the total can’t operate their demat accounts and MF folios.”

Equity mutual funds have offered an average return of 2.54% in the month of April, an analysis by ETMutualFunds showed. There were around 488 equity schemes in the market. HDFC Defence Fund, the topper in the list, gave 12.56% return in April. JM Midcap Fund gave 9% return in the last month. SBI PSU Fund and DSP Natural Res & New Energy Fund gave 8.53% and 8.39% returns respectively. Franklin India Smaller Cos Fund offered 7.04% return in the said period. Mirae Asset NYSE FANG+ETF FoF gave 6.75% in the last month.

Hyderabad Lok Sabha, Madhavi Latha slammed AIMIM and Congress, alleging that they have been winning polls by «spreading hate and terrorising people». «I am surprised that Rahul Gandhi, whose team morphs videos and tries to bluff people, whose party comes into coalition with unknown understandings with parties like AIMIM who give speeches filled with hatred, he cannot talk about peace and bringing unity in the nation,» said Madhavi Latha told ANI. When asked about Asaduddin Owaisi's statement, Madhavi Latha said, «I would only want to say that AIMIM, like Congress, has only been winning the seat by spreading hate and by terrorising people who honestly want to vote… They take control of polling stations and cast bogus votes. History tells, us that if in the history of elections in India, if someone got 110% of the votes, it was the AIMIM… Where are the extra 10 % coming from?»

Kirti Azad sought to poke holes in the BJP's Hindu nationalism plank, saying if the saffron party persists in using the «Hindu Khatre mein» (Hindus in danger) narrative despite being in power for ten years, it raises doubts about the party's necessity to return to power. The former BJP MP-turned-TMC nominee from West Bengal's Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, also said the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was a «ploy to communalise the polls» since the saffron camp «lacks an impressive report card to present before the masses». In an interview with PTI, Azad highlighted India's diversity and argued against the feasibility of implementing UCC in such a varied cultural landscape while stressing that history belies BJP's claims of Hindu insecurity under previous regimes. «During the Mughal rule, Hindus were not under threat; they were not in peril during British rule; even under multiple governments post-Independence, Hindus never faced any perceived danger. So how come Hindus are suddenly in danger when a Hindu nationalist party is in power for the last 10 years?» he argued.

₹4,837.69 crore in Q4FY24 as against ₹8,063.39 in the previous quarter. IOC’s revenue from operations for the quarter declined 1.4% to ₹2.19 lakh crore from ₹2.23 lakh crore, QoQ. The refiner’s EBITDA fell 33% QoQ to ₹10,435 crore, missing consensus estimates by 33%.

Pakistan's fighter Shahzaib Rindh shared a heartfelt message for the people of the two nations at a Karate Combat event in Dubai. Rindh won the event by defeating India's Rana Singh. However, what followed after his victory has been winning hearts on social media.

Lok Sabha constituency, declared that he would not allow reservations for Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs to be allocated to Muslims based on religion. He emphasised, "As long as Modi is alive, I will not let reservations of Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs be given to Muslims based on religion." PM Modi pointed out that when the Congress won a significant number of MPs and MLAs in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2004 and 2009, it extended reservation benefits to Muslims under the Backward Classes (BC) category.

IPL 2024 match on April 30, when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) batter Ayush Badoni was ruled run-out despite his bat being inside the crease. The third umpire’s decision went in Mumbai Indians’ favour because the LSG player’s bat was in the air. It was the first ball of the 19th over, bowled by Hardik Pandya.

Dividend-paying stock: Coal India shares are one of the dividend-paying stocks in the Indian stock market. The dividend declared by this PSU stock in FY24 is ₹24.50 ( ₹4, ₹15.25, and ₹5.25). Coal India share price finished on 31st March 2023 at ₹213.65 apiece on the NSE.

India’s rapid economic growth and increasingly complex social and public challenges underscore the need for robust public-policy education. However, public policy programmes fall short of adequately preparing the next generation of policymakers, civil servants and engaged citizens. Traditionally, public policy education in India has been confined to post-graduate degree programmes, often offered in isolation from the real-world complexities that policymakers face.

₹3,000, taken through the company’s app. The seizure of devices during a raid on Finsara’s office is said to have revealed a scandal of sexual shaming in wide deployment as a threat. The police claim that links with 1,577 cases across the country have been traced, involving loans of almost ₹5 crore.

Sameer Prajapati, Greater Kailash - 2, Delhi, India The Nifty MidSmall Healthcare Index is a specialised index that offers investors a snapshot of the midcap and smallcap segments of India's burgeoning healthcare sector. This index is meticulously designed to track the performance of companies that are considered mid-sized or small-sized in terms of market capitalization, providing a unique perspective on a vital part of the economy. The index is composed of up to 30 stocks, selected based on their free-float market capitalization.

stocks gave up early gains in a sharp selloff in the last hour of trading. The Nifty hit an all-time high during the trading session but could not sustain the bullish momentum with traders cutting their bets ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday. India's stock market will be shut on Wednesday for Maharashtra Day. NSE's Nifty closed at 22,604.85 on Tuesday, down 38.55 points, or 0.17%, after making a fresh lifetime high of 22,783.35 during the day. BSE's Sensex declined 188.5 points, or 0.25%, to end at 74,482.78. The index's Tuesday high of 75,111.39 was 13 points short of its all-time high. Both indices had risen as much as 0.6% during the session.

Kotak Mahindra Bank’s joint managing director, KVS Manian, resigned today (April 30) and is said to be taking up an offer from Federal Bank as MD CEO, said people with knowledge of the matter. The bank informed the stock exchange late Tuesday evening that Manian has stepped down from his position to pursue other opportunities in the financial services sector. Manian, who spent 29 years with the bank, has resigned with immediate effect. Manian had to confirm to Federal Bank by May 21 whether or not he would accept the offer, people cited above said.

Sensex ended 188.50 points, or 0.25%, lower at 74,482.78, while the Nifty 50 settled 38.55 points, or 0.17%, lower at 22,604.85. Investors now watch out for the US Federal Reserve meeting outcome for further clues on interest rate cuts. The Indian stock market is closed on Wednesday, May 1, on account of Maharashtra Day.

Worries of deepfakes spreading misinformation predate Indian elections. Those who feared no escape from them may have turned out prescient.

State Holiday for May Day / Maharashtra Day and Labour Day: Today, May 1, is commemorated as Maharashtra Day in honour of the establishment of the state in India. Also known as Maharashtra Din, it marks the anniversary of May 1, 1960, when Maharashtra was officially formed following the reorganisation of states based on language. May 1st is also recognised as Labour Day, dedicated to acknowledging the contributions of workers and the labour movement.

Share market holidays 2024: Amid celebrations of Maharashtra Day in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, some sections of the Indian stock market investors and observers might get confused about whether Dalal Street will remain open today or not. For such people, it is advisable to log in to the official BSE website and check the stock market holidays 2024 list. There one can find the full list of share market holidays 2024.