ICICI Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, sinking over 10 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Maruti. Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were the gainers in the BSE index. NSE Nifty suffered a heavy loss of 566.40 points, or 5.74 per cent, to settle at 9,293.50.

The deal, as well as some other strategic and financial investments in works, will help Ambani cut debt at RIL.

The leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is on a point of law of general public importance, which according to experts is a very high threshold that is not often met.

Ola and Uber said they have resumed services in areas within orange and green zones, and have introduced requirements like wearing masks to ensure safety of riders and driver partners.

The development comes after a recent notification from the Union home ministry, which has permitted companies to resume manufacturing operations and reopening of shops in red, green and orange zones with certain riders.

'MFs acted as reckless lenders and not as prudent investors.' 'Clearly, how debt funds are being run is a systemic issue,' warns Debashis Basu.

With vaccines of some firms already in animal trial phase, developers say that if all goes well, India could have a vaccine by next year. The move comes at a time when Chinese research firms are entering phase II of clinical trials in a global race to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

In four to five days production in the Baddi hub would touch 60-70 per cent of its capacity. As of now around 243 units are operational there. All the big pharmaceutical plants, including multinationals like Abbott, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Zydus Cadila, and Wockhardt, are operational.

Apart from this, employers may be allowed to deduct EPF contributions only on the basic pay of up to Rs 15,000, even if the employees' basic pay is above this ceiling. While on one hand this will allow companies to lower their wage bills, employees can also get a higher salary in hand.

The commerce ministry has recommended the continuation of anti-dumping duty on a Chinese chemical used in food and pharma industry with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports. In a notification, the ministry's investigation arm, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), has said there is a "positive" evidence of likelihood of dumping of Sodium Citrate and injury to the domestic industry if the existing anti-dumping duty were to be removed.

The Wadia group, which, owns low-cost airline GoAir also drew comparison with other western economies which have provided financial assistance to their airlines for payment of salary and restructuring their operations.

The department for promotion of industry and internal trade has asked the telecom department and State-owned BSNL to put on hold the tender for setting up 4G network, valued at Rs 9,000 crore, after allegations emerged that the tender favoured foreign companies. The tender was floated by BSNL in March under the new management for setting up the 4G network.

SBI was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank. M and M, PowerGrid, ONGC and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers. NSE Nifty fell 87.90 points or 0.95 per cent to close at 9,205.60.

Though exports to Hong Kong, a major destination for India's polished diamonds, have resumed, the industry is currently sitting on an inventory worth around $2.3 billion.

Temperature screening will be done by CISF with automated thermal cameras at all terminal entry points with provision of social distancing markers. Automatic hand sanitizer dispensers at terminal entry points have also been placed, sources said.

The rate of unemployment was the highest in the urban areas, which constitute the most number of red zones due to the COVID-19 cases, at 29.22 per cent, as against 26.69 per cent for the rural areas.

The order, which set aside the August 9 ruling of a single-judge bench, prevented the group entities from publishing the voting results of the last AGM. However, the firms will now be able to execute decisions taken at the AGM last year. People in the know said the Birlas would appeal against the order in a higher court.

The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index stood at 5.4 in April, an extreme decline from 49.3 in March, and indicative of the most severe contraction in services output since records began in December 2005. As per the IHS Markit India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.

Researches reveal that many firms that employ H-1B workers directly, including some of the biggest names in the technology industry such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Qualcomm, Salesforce and Uber, pay a large share of their H-1B workers at one of the two lowest wage levels, Level 1 or Level 2.

'Banks are being encouraged to lend instead of parking their resources with the RBI and earn risk-free interest income,' points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.

No change in retail prices as oil marketing firms to absorb increase

Companies across the sector are restructuring payrolls of crew, cutting allowances, and extending leave without pay duration as they realise they will have more aircraft and employees compared to customers.