NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18 (IANS): Sugar production rose nearly 31 per cent to 142.70 lakh tonne in the three and a half months of the current sugar season (SS) 2020-21 (October-September) as compared to the last year as per the data released by the apex industry body, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) on Monday. As per the industry body, 487 sugar mills in operation across the country as on January 15, 2021 have produced 142.70 lakh tonne of sugar, as compared to 108.94 lakh tonne p

MUMBAI, JANUARY 18 (IANS): Shares of HDFC Bank surged to a record high on Monday on the back of strong earnings reported for the October-November quarter. Its shares on the BSE touched an all-time high of Rs 1,503 per share. The bank's stock price, however, is off highs now, and around 12.20 p.m., the scrip was trading Rs 1,483.40, higher by Rs 17.05 or 1.16 per cent from its previous close. On Saturday, the lending major reported an 18.1 per cent increase in standalone net p

Bengaluru, January 18 (IANS): Flipkart on Monday introduced SuperCoin Pay where customers will be able to pay up to 100 per cent of their bill value across more than 5,000 partner stores (online and offline) using only SuperCoins. SuperCoin Pay will enable customers to pay their bills at the partner stores using the SuperCoins they have earned on Flipkart. The company said that all benefits can be accessed by simply scanning a QR code at the partner store using the Flipkart app.

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): OPPO India on Monday said that it is aiming to launch more than six 5G-enabled devices in India this year, as 5G-ready and Internet of Things (IoT) product categories become important for smartphone players in the country. OPPO has set up its first 5G innovation lab in India for the overseas market that will further support the company in developing core 5G technologies and elevating global 5G experience. "In 2021, we will carry on this growth l

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): Petrol and diesel prices rose again by 25 paisa per litre each on Monday after oil marketing companies decided to break their three days pause on price revision in wake enlarging under recovery on sale of the two petroleum products. The increase in pump price of petrol and diesel came on a day when global oil prices have a glimpse of softening with crude falling below $55 a barrel after almost a week of hovering above that range. With Monday's in

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): The avian flu outbreak in India could pare poultry sales by a third this month, but if the history of upward price correction after every avian flu outbreak is any indication, the industry will bounce back in quick time with profitability intact for the full fiscal, rating agency Crisil said on Monday. The outcome is based on an analysis of 87 Crisil rated poultry companies, which comprise 30 per cent of the industry's revenue. Avian flu has been

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 (IANS): The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has announced that it will launch a nationwide movement against the present Goods and Services Tax (GST) system which it claims has become "extremely complicated" because of several "arbitrary" amendments. According to CAIT, the GST has become a hurdle in the smooth retail trade because of the complexities and arbitrariness of its provisions. In a statement on Sunday, the traders'

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 (IANS): Bank credit to manufacturing sector has remained muted in the current financial year amid the pandemic, while few sectors, including construction and trade, have witnessed resilient flows. According to the Financial Stability Report of the Reserve Bank of India for January, credit growth in the manufacturing sector in October 2020 contracted by 2 per cent, while that in construction witnessed a growth of 5.1 per cent and credit to trade, hotels and rest

Chandigarh, January 17 (IANS): In a well-coordinated operation against Goods and Services Tax (GST) scamsters, Haryana Police on Sunday said it busted four major gangs related to issuing or registration of bogus firms involved in fake invoice bills scam which defrauded the government exchequer to the tune of over Rs 464.12 crore. The nexus of the fraudsters was active not only in Haryana but across the country. The crackdown on GST fake invoice scam has also led to the recovery o

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 (IANS): Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on Sunday after oil marketing companies decided to wait and watch the global oil price movement before taking the next course of action. Accordingly, in the national capital, petrol continued to be sold at the new record high level of Rs 84.70 a litre while diesel prices remained at Rs 74.88 per litre. Across the country as well pump price of petrol and diesel remained static on Sunday. Auto fuel price r

New Delhi, January 17 (IANS): Majority of the senior citizens of the country believe that current state of the economy is among the biggest issues that India needs to address immediately. The other top concern is unemployment, showed a survey by Antara, a Max Group entity. Further, fear of coronavirus infection and social isolation were the two big concerns for seniors during the lockdown, it said. More than half of seniors in the survey said that India has done its best to ha

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 (IANS): The CBI has nabbed a senior railway engineering service officer of 1985 batch along with two others in an alleged bribery case of Rs 1 crore, sources said on Sunday. A CBI source told IANS, "The arrested railway officer has been identified as Mahendra Singh Chauhan and the amount has been recovered." The source said that Chauhan allegedly demanded the bribe to favour a private company connected to the North East Frontier Railway which is headq

New Delhi, January 16 (IANS): Budget airline IndiGo has added Leh to its network and will start its daily Delhi-Leh flights with effect from February 22. In a statement, the airline said that bookings are now open for the route. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo said: "We are pleased to begin expansion of our domestic network beyond the pre-covid levels. This will also be our first destination amongst the seven regional stations we announced recently.

New York, January 15 (IANS): Most firms in India and other developing countries are family owned and often shun outside managers and that is why even successful businesses fail to grow in such countries, a new study suggests. The study shows that the lack of managerial delegation factors significantly into why businesses in India tend to stay small and this has wider implications on the country's economy, constraining innovation, economic growth and per capita income. "O

New Delhi, January 15 (IANS): Even as the coronavirus pandemic halted most of the mail, express and passenger trains from operating across the country, the Indian Railways kept on providing fuel to the Khadi artisans by placing a purchase order worth Rs 49 crore with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), officials said on Friday. A KVIC official privy to the development told IANS, "Khadi activities received a major push during 2020 that largely remained affected d

MUMBAI, JANUARY 15 (IANS): In another crackdown, Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax (GST) sleuths arrested a businessmen in connection with an alleged Rs 31 crore GST fraud, a statement said on Friday. According to a GST statement, accused Anuj Gupta, who has five registered firms, including two in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, was nabbed from Vile Parle. He was produced before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate which sent him to 14 days judicial custody

Hong Kong, January 15 (AP): The U.S. government has blacklisted Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. and China's third-largest national oil company for alleged military links, heaping pressure on Beijing in President Donald Trumps last week in office. The Department of Defense added nine companies to its list of Chinese firms with military links, including Xiaomi and state-owned plane manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac). U.S. investors will have to divest

Washington, January 15 (PTI): Snapdeal, one of India's largest e-commerce platforms, along with four Indian shopping complexes, two of them in New Delhi alone, have figured in the latest 2020 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative. The four Indian markets that have found mention in the list are Heera Panna in Mumbai, Kidderpore in Kolkata and Palika Bazaar and Tank Road in Delhi. Aizawl's Millennium Ce

Mumbai, January 15 (PTI): The rupee snapped its three-session winning streak and settled for the day 3 paise lower at 73.07 (provisional) against the American currency on Friday, tracking weaker Asian peers and heavy selloffs in domestic equities. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 73.07 and hit an intra-day high of 72.99 and a low of 73.15. It finally finished at 73.07, lower by 3 paise over its last close. On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 73.04 against t

HYDERABAD, JANUARY 15 (IANS): Air India's first non-stop flight on the Hyderabad-Chicago route arrived from the US city at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Friday. A few hours later, the first flight from the city to Chicago departed. Flight AI-108 landed at 01.00 hours with 237 passengers and 16 crew. The same aircraft - a Boeing 777LR - took off from Hyderabad to Chicago with 226 passengers and 16 crew around 12.50 hours amid much fanfare. Senior officials of