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Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and a leading industry group have joined hands for manufacturing and supply of indigenous marine-grade aluminium to the country's public and private shipyards for the construction of ships, the defence ministry said on Friday. In a statement, it said ICG and Hindalco Industries inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here on Thursday. The MoU is for the manufacturing and supply of indigenous marine-grade aluminium to Indian public and private shipyards for the construction of ships. «It will also provide benefits such as quarterly pricing, priority in supplies and turnover discount,» the statement added.

dust storm hit major parts of Delhi-NCR on Friday which resulted in power outage in the region. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, «Duststorm/ thunderstorm with rain (followed by rain) and gusty winds with speed of 50-70 Km/h would occur over and adjoining areas of entire Delhi and NCR (Loni Dehat, Hindon AF Station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chhapraula, Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad»

Naveen Patnaik does not become the chief minister of Odisha for the sixth time in a row after the assembly elections. Pandian, a close aide of Patnaik, challenged union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to announce that the BJP leader would also take political 'sanyas' if the saffron party failed to come to power in the state. Pradhan is the face of the BJP in Odisha. «You (BJP) say that there is BJP wave and wave for a change in Odisha, but I strongly say that if the chief minister (Patnaik) does not become the CM again, I will take sanyas from politics,» Pandian said while addressing a rally at Brajrajnagar in Jharsuguda district.

solar storm headed toward Earth could produce northern lights in the U.S. and potentially disrupt communications this weekend. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geometric storm watch — the first in nearly 20 years. The watch starts Friday and lasts all weekend.

TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday vowed to repeal the AP Land Titling Act of the YSRCP government, alleging that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would take away people's lands through the law. The opposition leader made the allegation at Undi in West Godavari district during a public meeting. «Be wary of the Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act as it is yet another tactic employed by Reddy to take away the lands of the people,» he cautioned. The Jagan Mohan Reddy led government passed the Act in 2022 to streamline land records, resolve disputes and provide permanent titles. According to Naidu, instead of giving original documents of the land, the Act will mandate producing only a photocopy of the transaction, alleging that the lands will go under the latter's control. Vowing to revoke the Act as soon as he comes to power, the TDP supremo alleged that the CM went to the extent of printing his image on land passbooks instead of the official emblem of the state.

WASHINGTON: U.S. consumer sentiment fell sharply in May to the lowest level in six months as Americans cited stubbornly high inflation and interest rates, as well as fears that unemployment could rise. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index, released Friday in a preliminary version, dropped to 67.4 this month from a final reading of 77.2 in April. That is still about 14% higher than a year ago. Consumers' outlook has generally been gloomy since the pandemic and particularly after inflation first spiked in 2021.

Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd on Friday reported a 26.9 per cent growth in its consolidated profit after tax at Rs 1,143.75 crore for the March 2024 quarter, the company said. The city-based company, part of the diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group, had registered net profits of Rs 900.77 crore during the corresponding period of last year. For the year ending March 31, 2024, the consolidated net profits grew by 37 per cent to Rs 3,850.56 crore, from Rs 2,809.62 crore registered a year ago.

Zerodha's Nithin Kamath on Friday said the market regulator's new proposal to make direct payout of securities, including shares, to clients accounts will simplify the depository operations of stock brokers. Recently, Sebi, in a consultation paper that is out for public comments, proposed mandatory direct payout of securities to demat accounts — a move that is aimed at ensuring that securities of the clients are not vulnerable to misuse.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed R. Lakshmi Kanth Rao as the new Executive Director with effect from May 10. He will take charge over Deposit lnsurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, Right to lnformation Act (FAA), and Department of Communication, the central bank said.

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Friday as investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve officials to get more clarity on the US monetary policy path, after economic data this week supported bets of interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.8 points, or 0.20%, at the open to 39466.52. The S&P 500 rose 11.4 points, or 0.22%, at the open to 5225.49, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 42.8 points, or 0.26%, to 16389.024 at the opening bell.

India's Industrial Production (IIP) growth rate slowed to 4.9 per cent in March as against 5.7 per cent in February, revealed the data provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday. The previous high of IIP was recorded at 11.9 per cent in October 2023, which slowed to 2.5 per cent in November, 4.2 per cent in December and 4.1 per cent in January 2024. The cumulative growth rate for the period of April-March 2023-24 over the corresponding period of the previous year stood at 5.8 per cent.

JSW Energy Ltd.(up 7.41%), Indo Tech Transformers Ltd.(up 5.00%), NTPC Ltd.(up 2.74%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.(up 2.57%), Inox Wind Energy Ltd.(up 2.49%), Transformers & Rectifiers(India)Ltd.(up 2.40%), NLC India Ltd.(up 2.12%), Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd.(up 2.04%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.(up 1.97%) and Jyoti Structures Ltd.(up 1.89%) stood among the top gainers.

Opposition leaders on Friday welcomed the interim bail given to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Supreme Court, saying the «fight to save democracy» will now be with more intensity. Congress leader Pawan Khera hoped former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren also gets due justice. «We welcome the intervention by the Supreme Court in granting bail to Arvind Kejriwal...We also hope that the prime minister gets enough time after June 4, when he becomes the former prime minister of India, to introspect sitting in Sabarmati Ashram the kind of politics he has indulged in,» he said. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also welcomed the Supreme Court order, saying «I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections.»

Delhi court on Friday ordered framing of sexual harassment charges against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh in a case lodged against him by female wrestlers. The court said that it has found sufficient material to frame charges against Brij Bhushan for harassment of five female wrestlers. The court said, «Charges were framed against Brij Bhushan under sections 354 and 354A in respect of each victim.»

ISRO has successfully conducted a long-duration test of its PS4 engine, re-designed for production using cutting-edge additive manufacturing (AM) techniques — also known in common parlance as 3D printing — and crafted in Indian industry, the space agency said on Friday. The new engine, now a single piece, saves 97 per cent of raw materials and reduces production time by 60 per cent, ISRO said. ISRO achieved the major milestone with the successful hot testing of a liquid rocket engine manufactured through AM technology for a duration of 665 seconds on May 9, a release from the space agency said. The engine used is the PS4 engine of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) upper stage. The PS4 engine manufactured in the conventional machining and welding route has been in use for the fourth stage of PSLV which has a thrust of 7.33 kN in vacuum condition. The same engine is also used in the Reaction Control System (RCS) of the first stage (PS1) of PSLV, the release said.

Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed a fresh charge sheet in Delhi excise policy case. The probing agency has named BRS leader K Kavitha as an accused in the matter, news agency PTI has reported citing officials. On March 15, Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was apprehended by the federal agency at her residence in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. As per PTI report, a prosecution complaint has been lodged under sections 45 and 44(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) before a designated court.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to transfer approximately Rs 1 lakh crore to the government IN FY25 according to a report by Union Bank of India. The report said that RBI is anticipated to maintain a robust dividend payout for the fiscal year 2025 (FY25). This projection represents a slight increase from Rs 874 billion transferred in the previous fiscal year. «The government has budgeted the FY25 dividend for RBI and PSU banks & financial institutions at Rs 1020bn, vis-a-vis Rs 1044 bn in FY24. In our view, a positive surprise is likely, similar to last year when initial budget estimate for overall dividend was only Rs 480 bn» said the report.

The NSE Nifty index closed 97.71 points up at 22055.2, while BSE Sensex ended up 260.3 points at 72664.47.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) CEO Akshaya Moondra has told the company’s customers that its recently concluded Rs 18,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) was subscribed 7 times and is a significant milestone that reflected the trust and confidence of investors in the telco’s brand. “We are ready for a new chapter of growth and innovation that is empowered by our state-of-the-art network, advanced technology and unwavering commitment towards customer satisfaction,” Moondra wrote in a letter to customers Friday. He added that Vi’s upcoming investments would focus on both expansion of its 4G services and rollout of 5G with the latest technology, ensuring the telco continues to deliver the service quality that customers expect.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel’s net worth has improved sharply since the last spectrum auction in August 2022 even as Vodafone Idea’s negative net worth widened amidst its continuing financial struggles. In the upcoming auction, scheduled to start on June 6, the three private telecom players will be competing for Rs 96,317.65 crore worth of 5G airwaves. As per details submitted by the companies to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Reliance Jio’s net worth at the end of March 31, 2023, stood at Rs 2,15,992 crore. In the last auction, the wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms, had a net worth of Rs 1,97,790 crore. Similarly, Airtel’s net worth has risen to Rs 86,260 crore as on December 31, 2023, from Rs 75,886 crore in the last auction.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Friday hailed the Supreme Court's decision granting interim bail to her husband as a "victory of democracy" and said the relief is the result of prayers and blessings of millions of people. In a major relief to Kejriwal, the Supreme Court granted him bail till June 1 to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Elections in Delhi will be held in the sixth phase on May 25. The AAP is contesting in four of the seven seats as part of a seat-sharing arrangement with INDIA bloc partner Congress. Arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, Kejriwal will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2. June 1 is the last day of the seven-phase elections. The votes will be counted on June 4.