News highlights of the day: BJP says Cambridge Analytica's footprints seen in Congress's Gujarat campaign

The BJP stepped up its attack on Rahul Gandhi over his party's alleged links with Cambridge Analytica, saying its "footprints" were visible in the opposition party's campaign in Gujarat and suggested that it had a role in the Congress chief's use of the term "Gabbar Singh Tax".

The data analytics firm is known for its "aggressive and fake news" campaign, party leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, suggesting that it had a role in Gandhi's social media campaign and the Congress' "poisonous" electioneering in Gujarat.

He also accused Gandhi of doing politics on dead bodies, after the Congress chief criticised the government over the killing of 39 Indians in Iraq. Addressing a press conference, Prasad said it was the Congress which disrupted proceedings in Lok Sabha when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had sought to make a statement on the deaths of these Indians. (PTI)

21:34 India issues another Note Verbale to Pak; asks it to ensure safety of staff at Islamabad mission

In yet another diplomatic note, India asked Pakistan on Thursday to ensure safety and security of its officials working at the Indian mission in Islamabad, saying they continue to face "harassment" and "intimidation", official sources said.

In its 16th 'Note Verbale' to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, the Indian High Commission specifically mentioned three incidents of harassment of senior officials, they said. India has conveyed to Islamabad that safety and security of the Indian High Commission, its officers, staff members and their families is the responsibility of the Pakistan government, the sources said.

On the incidents mentioned in the 'Note Verbale', they said the vehicle of the deputy high commissioner, while going to an embassy within the diplomatic enclave for a meeting, was aggressively followed by two people in a car. (PTI)

20:51 US slaps sanctions on French chemical weapons expert for IS

The Trump administration is imposing sanctions on a French chemical weapons expert accused of making and using such munitions for the Islamic State group in Syria. The State Department on Thursday identified Joe Asperman as a "specially designated global terrorist."

The listing comes with penalties including the freezing of any assets he may have in US jurisdictions and bars Americans from any transactions with him. The designation applies to foreigners who have committed or pose a risk of committing terrorist acts that threaten U.S. national interests. The statement says the move aims to deny Asperman the resources he needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks. (PTI)

20:34 Railways launch ambitious mission to map its assets, to use satellite imagery

The Railways has launched an ambitious mission to map its assets using satellite imagery, and the work is expected to be completed by the end of this year. According to a statement issued by the Railways, the assets mapped will be subsequently used to develop Railways GIS portal and the exercise will also help the national transporter identify encroachments on its properties.

Indian Railways have a large number of assets, including land assets, that need to be effectively monitored, managed and maintained. As railway operations have wide spatial coverage, mapping of its assets can be helpful better management, the statement said.

With this portal, land plans of Indian Railways will be available for viewing overlaid on satellite imagery.  Satellite imagery is being taken from Bhuvan Platform of ISRO, it said. (PTI)

20:00 Uber drivers call off strike after talks with MNS transport wing

Drivers of app-based cab service Uber on Thursday called off their four-day-old strike, the transport wing of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which spearheaded the stir, said.

A similar strike by drivers of Ola, another popular ride-hailing app, was called off yesterday. Claiming "victory" for the "owner-operators" of Uber cabs in Mumbai and other places, the MNS, in a statement here this evening, said the Uber management, during their talks with the police and the wing's representatives earlier in the day, has given a written commitment on meeting the various demands.

These include a relook at drivers blacklisted by the taxi aggregator and putting up stickers in Marathi on Uber cabs, the statement said. (PTI)

19:46 100 percent Aadhaar authentication success is not possible: Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO UIDAI

In a presentation Aadhaar in the Supreme Court, UIDAI chief Ajay Bhushan Pandey admitted that 100 percent Aadhaar authentication success is not possible, due to variable factors like connectivity, malfunctioning machines etc., reported The Quint.

Pandey was making the case that Aadhaar is completely secure and that there are 13 modes of authentication, including 10 fingers (fingerprint scanning), 2 eyes (iris scanning) and lastly the One Time Password (OTP). He mentioned that the security behind Aadhaar identification has a 2048-bit encryption system which is not easy to crack.

STQC-verified machines in enrollment centres and secure QR-code in every Aadhaar card were highlighted by the UIDAI chief.

19:15 Kumar Mangalam Birla to be Chairman of merged Vodafone-Idea entity

Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group announced on Thursday the new leadership team of the soon-to-be-merged entity that will have Kumar Mangalam Birla as the non-executive Chairman.

Announcing the top deck for the merged entity, a regulatory filing by Idea Cellular said that Balesh Sharma (currently Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone India) will be the CEO. He will be responsible for the combined business strategy and its execution as well as driving integration.

"The existing leadership teams of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India will continue to manage their separate businesses and be accountable for each company's operational performance until the merger becomes effective," Idea Cellular said. (PTI)

19:04 Maharashtra to seek Rs 3,373 crore from Centre for relief to farmers

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil on Thursday said the state government was going to demand a Rs 3,373 crore package from the Centre to provide relief to farmers whose crops were destroyed by the pink bollworm and jumping bug (called 'tudtudya' in Maharashtra).

Speaking in the Assembly, Patil said the farmers who have suffered more than 33 percent crop loss due to these pests would get relief under the package. The proposal will be sent to the Centre soon, he said, adding that an earlier proposal of a Rs 2,200 crore relief package was scrapped. (PTI)

18:53 Maldives lifts state of emergency with dissidents locked up

Maldives President Abdulla Yameen lifted a 45-day state of emergency on Thursday, a day after senior political opponents were locked up indefinitely for allegedly trying to topple him last month.

Yameen chose not to extend the draconian laws he had invoked on February 5 following a Supreme Court ruling that threatened to lead to his impeachment. "Though there still exists a diminished threat to national security... in an effort to promote normalcy, the president has decided to lift the state of emergency," Yameen's office said in a statement.

He initially declared the state of emergency for 15 days after the country's top court ordered him to free high-profile dissidents from jail. It was later extended for another 30 days, deepening the political crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago of 340,000 Sunni Muslims. (PTI)

18:29 BCCI gives Grade 'B' retainership contract to Mohammad Shami
India cricketer Mohammed Shami will recieve the the Grade ‘B’ annual retainership contract from the BCCI, according to a release from the cricket board.
"The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had requested Mr Neeraj Kumar, former Police Commissioner of Delhi and Head of BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit, to investigate the allegations against Mohd. Shami insofar as they pertain to the provisions of the BCCI Anti-Corruption Code," the BCCI release said.
"Mr Neeraj Kumar has submitted his confidential report to the CoA. Based on the conclusions in the said report, the CoA is of the view that no further actions/ proceedings under the BCCI anti-corruption code are warranted in the matter," it added.
Shami's contract was earlier put on hold in wake of the controversial news of his wife alleging domestic violence and adultery, as first reported by Cricketnext.

17:20 Govt paves way for tax-free gratuity of up to Rs 20 Lakh
Parliament today passed Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill 2017 paving the way for doubling the limit of tax free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh and empowering the government to fix the ceiling of the retirement benefit through an executive order.
The Rajya Sabha passed the bill, which was approved by the Lok Sabha last week, on March 15.Besides enabling the central government to fix the ceiling of tax free gratuity, the bill will also  empower it to fix the period of maternity leave through executive order.
It also notifies the period of maternity leave as part of continuous service and proposes to empower the central government to notify the gratuity ceiling from time to time without amending the law.

17:51 Govt to raise gas price to highest level in 2 years
The government may raise domestic natural gas price next week to its highest level in two years, a move that will translate into higher CNG price and increase cost of electricity and urea production.
Price paid to most of natural gas produced from domestic fields is likely to be hiked to USD 3.06 per million British thermal unit from April 1, from current USD 2.89, sources privy to the development said.
Natural gas prices are set every six months based on average rates in gas-surplus nations like the US, Russia and Canada.
India imports half of its gas which costs more than double the domestic rate.

17:35 Britain says Facebook must go further in data scandal
scandal
Britain's culture minister said today that Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's plan to fix problems at the world's biggest social media network did not go far enough.
A scandal erupted last weekend when a whistleblower revealed that British data consultant Cambridge Analytica (CA) had created psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users via a personality prediction app.
Matt Hancock, Britain's minister for culture and digital, said it should not be down to companies such as Facebook to set their own rules on data privacy.
"Zuckerberg has apologised and said that they are going to make some changes, but frankly I don't think those changes go far enough," he told BBC radio.
The scandal has wiped out around $60 billion (48 billion euros) of Facebook's market value since Monday, Bloomberg news reported.

16:17 Facebook enhancing security features ahead of polls in India, Brazil, says Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook is enhancing its security features to ensure the integrity of upcoming key elections in countries like India on its platform, as the social media giant faced flak over a major data breach scandal by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, reports PTI.

16:08 The Unique Identification Authority of India CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey made a powerpoint presentation in the Supreme Court, and fielded questions from the judges on the potential misuse in enrolment and authentication process of Aadhaar.

16:06 IRB Infra bags Rs 3,400cr road project from NHAI in UP
IRB Infrastructure Developers has bagged a Rs 3,400-crore road project from the NHAI in Uttar Pradesh to be developed on build, operate and transfer basis. The scope of the work includes six laning of the 99.86 km stretch on Hapur Bypass, from Hapur to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, it said in a statement.

15:59 Market closes lower after Fed rate hike
The market closes lower amid volatility after the Fed rate hike, with the Sensex losing 130 points. Banks, oil marketing companies dragged the market lower while Reliance Industries, ONGC and Tata Motors lent support. Midcaps underperformed frontliners, with the Nifty Midcap index falling nearly a percent while all sectoral indices end in the red barring metals. Among stocks, Nalco ended up 6% on higher alumina prices while HCC lost 17% on reports that Lavasa could be headed for bankruptcy.

15:51 Parliament passes payment of gratuity bill
Parliament passed a key bill that will empower the government to fix the amount of tax free gratuity and the period of maternity leave with an executive order. The Rajya Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill without discussion. The bill moved by Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar was passed by a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had given its approval to the important bill last week. The legislation will enable the government to enhance the ceiling of tax free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh from the existing Rs 10 lakh for employees falling under the Payment of Gratuity Act.

15:39 Isro plans to build lunar structures
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is examining how to build habitations on the moon, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office that looks after the Department of Space, told the Lok Sabha. “Various options are being studied about the requirements and complexities of habitats,” he stated. India’s declaration - just ahead of a planned lunar mission - comes at a time when governments are looking at the moon for the first time in years.

15:31 Rivals need to close data capacity gap with Jio: Kotak Inst Eq
Incumbent telecom companies like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular need to speed up efforts to close the gap with Reliance Jio on data capacity levels, signalling a higher level of capital spends for coming 2-3 years, Kotak Institutional Equities said in a report.

Its analysis using the BTS (base transceiver station) count of Jio and incumbents, and number crunching showed that the newcomer has "62% share of the combined data capacity of these operators". "Bharti Airtel, with around 21% share of the composite capacity is ahead of Idea and Vodafone's combined 17%...Even as we do not think incumbents need to match Jio on data capacity anytime soon, we do believe they need to accelerate their efforts in closing the gap," the report said.

15:19 BrahMos supersonic cruise missile successfully test fired
India today successfully test fired the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile with an indigenous seeker at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan, reports PTI. The seeker, developed by Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad, in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories, determines the accuracy of a missile and is a closely guarded secret.

Mastering it is a significant milestone in missile technology and would reduce import dependence. Earlier, the critical seeker technology came from Russia. The test firing assumes significance as it comes three months after the Brahmos cruise missile was successfully test fired for the first time from the Indian Air Force's frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI combat jet.

14:54 Last date of bidding for 55 oil and gas blocks extended
The government pushed back by a month the last date of bidding for a record number of oil and gas blocks to May 2, reports PTI. Bidding in the auction of 55 exploration blocks on offer for prospecting of oil and as under the open acreage licensing policy was to originally close on April 3.

14:44 Sebi plans to amend norms for cos undergoing insolvency proceedings
Market regulator Sebi plans to bring in additional disclosure requirements for listed corporates going through the insolvency resolution process as well as amend norms pertaining to minimum public shareholding norms and other provisions for such entities, reports PTI.

14:22 BlackBerry to provide software for Jaguar Land Rover EVs
BlackBerry and Tata Motors’ Jaguar Land Rover have reached a licensing agreement to use the Canadian company’s software in the luxury car brand’s next-generation electric vehicles, reports Reuters. BlackBerry will provide its infotainment and security software to JLR, in the Canadian firm’s latest licensing deal for its autonomous-driving technology after similar agreements with Qualcomm, Baidu and Aptiv.

14:10 Think-tank lists five biggest geopolitical risks for the rest of 2018
Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council said that four of the five biggest threats to the global political system this year are directly related to President Donald Trump's administration, reports CNBC. Those possible shocks, according to Fred Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council, include:
1) "A US presidency being scrutinised by an intensifying investigation into potential collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential election and undergoing unprecedented leadership turnover."
2) "Potential trade wars following the Trump administration's imposition of new aluminium and steel tariffs, which could be exacerbated by additional trade measures against China, in particular those related to intellectual property theft."
3) "Dealing with an emboldened Vladimir Putin in Russia."
4) "Preparing for a historic US-North Korea summit, taking place as early as May, which could greatly reduce or heighten the risk of war on the Korean peninsula."
5) "Growing tensions with Iran, as Trump's May deadline to decide whether to leave the nuclear deal draws closer."

13:58 Maldives has revoked State of Emergency after a period of 45 days.

13:27 Max Financial to raise Rs 5,000cr to fund growth of life insurance arm
Max Financial Services approved raising of Rs 5,000 crore in one or more tranches to fuel the growth of its subsidiary Max Life Insurance.

13:21 Dalmia Bharat, UltraTech remain keen on Binani despite 'fraud'
The takeover war for Binani Cement between Dalmia Bharat group and UltraTech Cement show no signs of easing as both the bidders remain unperturbed despite the revelation of alleged fraud on the stressed asset. Both remain fully committed to the acquisition, reports PTI. The Resolution professional Vijaykumar V Iyer has moved the National Company Law Tribunal, alleging suspect and fraudulent transactions in Binani carried out by an independent forensic auditor.

13:11 No violation in Rs 7,266cr bid for Binani Cement under IBC, says UltraTech
UltraTech Cement said it has not violated the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in offering a Rs 7,266 crore bid to acquire debt ridden Binani Cement (BCL), which was already set to be sold to the Dalmia Bharat group by its creditors, reports PTI. The Aditya Birla group firm had announced its plans to acquire BCL by providing Rs 7,266 crore to its parent company Binani Industries against bid of Rs 6,350 crore along with 20% equity in BCL by Rajputana Properties, a part of Dalmia Bharat group, approved by the resolution professional.

12:59 UBS sees India's external finances at risk despite high reserves
India’s record foreign exchange reserves somewhat mask the country’s vulnerability on its external finances. That’s the takeaway from a note by UBS Group’s India economist Tanvee Gupta Jain. Foreign exchange reserves at $421 billion cover 81% of external debt as of September 2017 and less than 11 months of imports.

That’s down from 138% of debt before the global financial crisis and 14.4 months of imports in the FY08, respectively, according to the UBS note. “India remains vulnerable in its external position and risks are rising on the margin,” Jain said. “There is no room for complacency and we think policy makers should keep a close watch on monitoring this risk.”

Jain said that when the Federal Reserve indicated tapering in mid-2013, India had the highest outflow from the debt market, to the tune of $8.6 billion, even though equity flow remained positive. “This time, we believe India is in a relatively better position compared with other emerging markets, since fundamentals are stronger now,” she said.

Excl: Ayushman Bharat scheme likely to cap premium at Rs 2,000 per family
The Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission is likely to have a ceiling of Rs 2,000 on the annual premium per family under which Rs 5 lakh health insurance will be provided, reports Moneycontrol News’ M Saraswathy. While this scheme is completely free for the families, the premium share between Centre and States will be 60-40%.

“A regular insurance policy of Rs 5 lakh will cost between Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,000, and excludes all pre-existing diseases. However, since this policy will include all existent ailments as well and a cap of Rs 2,000 is likely, it would be fair to say that the policy has been subsidised to quite an extent,” a senior insurance official said.

12:39 EU unveils new tax plans that could hit US tech giants
The European Union unveiled new plans to make big tech companies pay more taxes in a move that would, if endorsed, hit online US firms like Google and Facebook, reports AP. Insisting that digital companies must pay their fair share, the European Commission said that EU member countries should be able to tax firms that make profits on their territory even if they aren't physically present.

The plan also includes an interim measure that would allow countries to tax at a rate of 3% companies with total annual revenue of EUR750 million and revenues in Europe of EUR50 million. The European Commission estimates that up to 150 companies could be affected, around half of them from the US.

12:31 Qatar Airways denies report on bidding for Air India
Qatar Airways denied reports that it was in talks to bid for Air India, even as the government is on the verge of announcing the modalities for the sale of the ailing national carrier. Media reports had suggested the airline along with another airline may bid for Air India in a consortium.

12:21 Indian Oil may invest $3.5bn to expand capacity
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is planning to invest as much as $3.5 billion in FY19, or about a fifth more than the previous year, to expand and upgrade its refineries and boost its marketing network, sources told Bloomberg. The company plans to use internal resources for the capital expenditure and has no plans to raise loans or issue bonds, sources said.

12:10 Sun Pharma's specialty psoriasis drug Ilumya gets USFDA nod
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has received approval from the US drug regulator for its much awaited psoriasis drug Ilumya, reports Moneycontrol News' Viswanath Pilla. The Ilumya approval is a major breakthrough for the company as it fights to reverse declining US sales and stay a step ahead of generic rivals. Though the company has not disclosed details such as timing of the launch or its peak sales potential, analysts expect Sun Pharma to launch the drug in next three months with a peak sale potential of $300 million.

Exclusive: M&M to overhaul its engine line-up as BS-VI norms inch closerMahindra & Mahindra has called for a full engine overhaul ahead of the implementation of BS-VI norms in 2020. The Mumbai-based company is readying 5-6 new petrol and diesel engines, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. This is critical as M&M hopes to recover lost market share in the UV segment.

11:31 SC directs RCom to maintain status quo with regards to Rs 25K cr asset sale
The Supreme Court has directed Reliance Communications (RCom) to maintain status quo with respect to its Rs 25,000 crore assets sale, reports CNBC-TV18. The court will hear on April 5 a plea by State Bank of India (SBI) and RCom with regards to lifting its stay on the assets sale. Earlier too, the Bombay High Court had upheld a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order staying RCom’s asset sale.

11:22 Tesla shareholders approve CEO Musk's $2.6bn compensation plan
Shareholders of electric car company Tesla approved a compensation package potentially worth $2.6 billion for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, though by a lower margin than what US CEOs typically receive on pay votes, reports Reuters. The compensation award includes no salary or cash bonus for the Silicon Valley billionaire, but sets rewards based on Tesla’s market value rising to as much as $650 billion over the next 10 years.

Exclusive: Triumph to rethink India plan on import duty hike
British premium motorcycle brand Triumph said it is forced to rethink its India plans after pleas to the Finance Ministry to reconsider the customs duty hike failed to draw a positive response, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. Triumph’s Country Managing Director Vimal Sumbly said it is unfair that those manufacturers who import from Thailand - and these players do not have any manufacturing operations in India - are benefitting the most since they are taxed at 10%, which is the lowest level.

10:04 ICICI Securities raise Rs 1,717cr from anchor investors
Ahead of its initial public offer today, ICICI Securities raised Rs 1,717 crore from as many as 58 anchor investors. The brokerage firm, part of ICICI group, has decided to allot shares at a price of Rs 520 apiece ‑ the upper end of the price band ‑ to anchor investors, including Temasek, Nomura, Fidelity, Blackrock and Fairfax. According to a regulatory filing, the company has finalised allocation of little over 3.3 crore shares to 58 anchor investors.

09:58 Air India group divestment to kick off with EoI of parent airline plus low-cost arm
The divestment of Air India group, the largest strategic sale of an Indian public sector company, will happen in phases as the government gets ready to kick off the exercise with that of the parent airline along with Air India Charters, one of its five arms, reports Moneycontrol News’ Dhirendra Tripathi.

Divestment process of the parent and its subsidiaries will all have a separate expression of interest (EoI) each and will not be bunched, an official said. Air India Charters operates low-cost flights between Kerala and West Asia under the brand name Air India Express. It won’t be merged with its parent company, but the two will be sold as one unit to a single buyer, the official stated.

09:45 Things could turn bad for India's eco in 2018, says Credit Suisse
India has emerged as one of the Asian economies most vulnerable in an environment of rising interest rates in the US, according to Credit Suisse. Higher interest rates stateside could trigger capital outflows from emerging economies as investors search for better yields in the US, reports CNBC. "In the last 12, 15 months, India has seen a lot of inflows into the bond, as well as the equity market. That means that the potential reversal if there's a shock is also quite high," Santitarn Sathirathai, the bank's head of emerging Asia economics, said.

09:40 Numetal, ArcelorMittal bids for Essar Steel rejected
Bids by Numetal and ArcelorMittal for Essar Steel have been rejected by the lenders after failing to clear the eligibility test. The decision was taken at a meeting on Wednesday between the resolution professional and Essar Steel's Committee of Creditors, which consists of the lenders. "Both have been declared ineligible for the bid and a fresh round of bidding has been called. The second round of bids will have to be submitted mostly by April 2," sources said.

08:50 Centre okays launch of National Health Protection scheme
The Centre on Wednesday gave its nod for the launch of Ayushman Bharat or the National Health Protection Mission, which will provide a coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family per year and benefit more than 10 crore families belonging to the poor and vulnerable sections of the society, reports PTI.

08:44 CBI registers FIR in Rs 824cr loan fraud by Kanishk Gold
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case of alleged loan fraud of Rs 824.15 crore committed by Chennai-based Kanishk Gold on a consortium of 14 banks led by State Bank of India, reports PTI. The agency has booked the company, its promoter Director Bhoopesh Kumar Jain, Director Neeta Jain, Tejraj Achha, Ajay Kumar Jain and Sumit Kedia besides unidentified public servants.

08:38 US Congress unveils $1.3 trillion spending bill as shutdown looms
Republican and Democratic leaders in the US Congress late on Wednesday unveiled a $1.3 trillion bill to fund the government through September, which includes an additional $80 billion in national defence spending but fails to fund some of President Donald Trump’s immigration initiatives, reports Reuters. If passed by the House of Representatives and Senate by a Friday midnight deadline, it would avert the shutdown of many federal agencies and programs beginning this weekend, when existing funds expire.

08:24 Zuckerberg says Facebook made mistakes on user data, vows curbs
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said his company made mistakes in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developers’ access to such information. In his first public comments since the scandal erupted at the weekend, he said in a post on Facebook that the company "made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it." He did not elaborate on what the mistakes were, but he said the social network plans to conduct an investigation of apps on its platform, restrict developer access to data, and give members a tool that lets them more easily disable access to their Facebook data.

08:14 Sebi mulls overhaul of algo trading rules
Capital markets regulator Sebi is looking at a number of measures to strengthen algo trading framework, by mandating exchanges to offer shared co-location facilities and providing some services for free, reports PTI. The proposed move is expected to be discussed later this month by Sebi's board, along with a number of important matters including amendments to rules on angel funds, mutual funds, buyback of shares, takeovers, registrars and bankers to issues, suspension and revocation of trading and distribution of cash benefits by listed companies.

07:50 China raises short-term interest rates, following Fed's move
China’s central bank raised short-term market interest rates for the first time this year, hours after the Federal Reserve Bank lifted US benchmark rates, reports Reuters. The People’s Bank of China increased rates on reverse repurchase agreements, or reverse repos, used for open market operations by 5 bps. The seven-day reverse repo rate was raised to 2.55% from 2.5%. It however left unchanged its benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates.

07:42 US Fed raises interest rates by 25bps, forecasts two more hikes for 2018
The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 bps to 1.5-1.75% and forecast at least two more hikes for 2018. In its first policy meeting under new Fed chief Jerome Powell, the US central bank indicated that inflation should finally move higher after years below its 2% target and that the economy had recently gained momentum, reports Reuters.

07:17 Govt drops plan to raise wheat import duty indicating output deficit
The Centre has dropped a plan to double a wheat import tax to 40%, sources told Reuters, in a sign it expects imports to make up for a shortfall in domestic production for the third year in a row.