On the International Day of Safety & Health at Work, the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) reiterated its commitment to upholding the utmost safety standards for workers and operators involved in seed treatments, production, and distribution. The executive director of FSII assured policymakers and other stakeholders of the organisation's compliance with world-class safety protocols.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday, where the official pledged that China would remain consistently open to foreign companies. Musk arrived in China earlier on the same day for his second visit in less than a year to the world's largest electric car market.

Jagdish Mitra, the former head of Tech Mahindra's business in India, has established an AI startup with an initial proposed investment ranging from Rs 65-80 crore. Operations for the startup are expected to begin within the next three months. We will start going to customers in 8-12 months. Initially, we will invest USD 8-10 million, Mitra told PTI.

Indian Railways is gearing up to commence trial runs of short-distance Vande Metro trains in July, alongside the launch of the sleeper version of Vande Bharat next month. The Vande Metro trains are slated to operate on routes spanning 100-250 kilometers, while the Vande Bharat Sleeper trains will be designated for routes exceeding 1,000 kilometers. Officials indicate that the Vande Metro trains will establish connections across approximately 124 cities.

Republic First Bank in PA, NJ, NY, seized by FDIC. Acquired by Fulton Bank. $667M cost, 1st US bank failure in 2022. Steven Mnuchin group injects $1B into New York community Bancorp.

China implements austerity measures like budget cuts and frugality campaigns to address economic challenges, redirect resources, and curb unnecessary spending. However, critics question the effectiveness of these measures in resolving long-term economic issues.

The Reserve Bank of India has updated its guidelines for web aggregators of loans to ensure that consumers get a fair and transparent deal. The RBI has also clarified guidelines on loss default guarantees that can be provided by fintechs to lenders on personal loans they distribute.

The Madras HC has asked RBI to carry out a valuation of shares and assets of DBS Bank India and Lakshmi Vilas Bank as on the date before their amalgamation in Nov 2020. RBI has been asked to take a fresh decision on reduction of the value of shares and writing off the tier-2 bonds, based on the fresh valuation, within four months.

RBI has outlined the eligibility criteria for small finance banks (SFBs) to become a universal bank. This transition will enable them to provide loans to larger businesses and offer the full range of financial services and banking products.

In a significant merger in the healthcare sector, wholesale pharma distribution company Keimed has merged with Apollo Health Co Limited (AHL), a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (AHEL). This takes the combined enterprise value of the two entities to Rs 22,481 crore. While Keimed is owned by the Apollo promoter's family, omni-channel healthcare platform AHL will leverage on the former's vast network.

The US Trade Representative has called India among the most challenging major economies on enforcement and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and retained it on Priority Watch along with China, Indonesia, Russia, Chile, and Venezuela. These countries will be the subject of particularly intense bilateral engagement during the coming year, USTR said in a report.

Maruti Suzuki on Friday reported its highest quarterly net profit as growing share of SUVs fueled its sales while ease in commodity prices helped margins. Consolidated net profit in Jan-March (Q4 of FY24) soared 48% to Rs 3,878 crore when compared with Rs 2,624 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said.

The Times of India has won big at International News Media Association (INMA) 2024, bagging six awards for its campaigns which blended ideas with creativity to spread awareness about issues affecting peoples daily lives, such as traffic safety and alternatives to single-use plastic. The INMA competition, which evaluates news media companies across two segments of national brands and regional brands, attracted 771 entries from 245 news media brands in 43 countries.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the initiation of insolvency resolution proceedings against Essel Homes and Primcomm Media Distribution Ventures after Gnex Realtech defaulted on repayment of loans of nearly Rs 261 crore to Indiabulls Housing Finance. Essel Homes and Primcomm were the co-borrowers, and NCLT has appointed Ravi Prakash Ganti as the interim resolution professional (IRP).

RBI's restrictions on Kotak Mahindra Bank impact new customer onboarding and credit card issuance, with uncertainties for existing customers. The ban's duration depends on an external audit and corrective measures satisfaction, potentially lasting six to twelve months.

Google's parent company Alphabet announced its inaugural dividend and a $70 billion stock repurchase, resulting in the stock price soaring by almost 16% after the market closed. The dividend amount per share will be 20 cents. Alphabet is returning capital while spending billions of dollars on data centres to compete with rivals on generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Individuals whose PAN became inoperative due to non-linkage faced higher tax deduction at source (TDS) or tax collection at source rates. For example, the TDS on house rent allowance for individuals with inoperative PANs increased to 20%.

Nestle India's net profit rose by 27% to Rs 934 crore in the March quarter, driven by strong growth across its product portfolio amidst challenges from food inflation and volatile commodity prices.

Stock market today: BSE Sensex and Nifty50, the Indian equity benchmark indices, opened in green on Friday marking another day of positive run for Dalal Street. While BSE Sensex opened 100 points up, Nifty50 was above 22,600.

Axis Bank overtook Kotak Mahindra Bank on Thursday to become India's third most valued private lender after a rout in the latter's stock. Kotak Bank's stock opened deep in the red on Thursday a day after RBI restricted the lender from onboarding customers digitally and issuing credit cards, citing repeated failures to fix serious deficiencies in its IT system.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, admitted to violating US anti-money-laundering and sanctions regulations in the previous year. As a result, the company was fined $4.3 billion and agreed to be supervised by authorities. The company's CEO, known as CZ, also acknowledged his role in the anti-money-laundering failures and resigned from his position.

Tech Mahindra's fourth-quarter revenue fell below estimates due to weak performance in the communications and media segment. The company reported a decline in consolidated revenue and net profit, influenced by macroeconomic factors like inflation and geopolitical risks.

Swiggy, a Bengaluru-based company, approved for IPO to raise funds. Major investors include Prosus and SoftBank. Co-founders own stakes. Revenue rises by 45%, net loss up by 15%. Majety appointed CEO, Reddy Head of Innovation.

Paul Dietrich anticipates a 44% S&P 500 plunge, advises asset shifts to bonds and gold for client protection during market downturns, drawing on past crashes and echoing concerns from Wall Street figures.

Bank holidays on April 26, 2024, for Lok Sabha Election 2024. RBI classifies holidays; online banking services usable. Karnataka High Court declares public holidays for election days. Second phase details for Assam, Bihar included.

India's information technology companies are seeing a surge in contractual hiring, indicating improvements in the demand environment for IT services providers. The uptick in contractual hiring follows a period of subdued demand and layoffs in the sector.

Honeywell's hydrocracking technology enables SAF production with reduced carbon intensity. The company's innovations align with aviation industry standards and contribute to the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions from international aviation by 2050.

RBI restricts Paytm Payments Bank from receiving money post-March 15, 2024. Users must switch from '@paytm' UPI handles to new ones like '@ptsbi' for SBI. Paytm integrates with major banks under NPCI's approval.

Stock market today: BSE Sensex and Nifty50, the Indian equity benchmark indices, opened in red on Thursday. BSE Sensex dipped 200 points and Nifty50 was near 22,300 levels.