After PM Modi's attack, Congress dares BJP to probe allegations against Vadra

Under a plan that imposes anti-pollution measures when air quality drops below a certain level, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) also ordered some brick kilns to close and the burning of rubbish to stop.

21:16 BankBazaar.com, an online marketplace for financial products, today said it has raised USD 30 million funding, led by credit rating agency, Experian.

The company will use the proceeds of the funding to expand its operations in India and overseas markets, strengthen workforce and platform.

20:38 HC upholds charges against Tytler, Verma in corruption case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld the charges framed by a trial court against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler and controversial businessman Abhishek Verma in a corruption case.

The high court dismissed the petitions of Tytler and Verma, an alleged arms dealer, challenging the trial court's order putting them on trial in the case for allegedly using a forged letter, typed on the letter head of the then Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken and addressed to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009.

20:25 'Chinese economy has gained strong momentum for growth' 

China has full confidence in the positive long-term outlook and sound growth of its economy despite the global slowdown, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) said today.

The economy has strong momentum for steady progress and growth, and major international institutions have revised up their growth forecasts for China, Tuo Zhen, spokesperson for the 19th Congress CPC told media here.

The once-in-a-five-years Congress will open in Beijing tomorrow and conclude on October 24. Besides endorsing a second term for President Xi Jinping it is expected to elect a new set of officials. — PTI

20:15 North Korea currently 'not interested in diplomacy' with the US 

North Korea will be interested in negotiating with the US only after its missiles are capable of reaching mainland US. As per a report by the CNN, an official from Pyongyang made it clear that the North Korean regime will be interested in using the diplomatic option only after achieving an offensive capability.

Catch up with the live updates in the rising US-North Korea tensions.

North Korea currently 'not interested in diplomacy' with the US 

North Korea will be interested in negotiating with the US only after its missiles are capable of reaching mainland US. As per a report by the CNN, an official from Pyongyang made it clear that the North Korean regime will be interested in using the diplomatic option only after achieving an offensive capability.

Catch up with the live updates in the rising US-North Korea tensions.

19:37 Amit Shah slams Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan over political violence

BJP President Amit Shah today hit out at Kerala's CPI(M)-led LDF over the political violence in the state, asking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan if he was prepared to take moral responsiblity for the "killing of 13 innocent BJP/RSS workers."

Addressing party workers at the Puthrikandam maidan here on the conclusion of the party's 15-day 'Jan Raksha' Yatra in the state, Shah alleged that the 13 workers were killed after the present government came to power in May last year.

"I am asking the Kerala chief minister, whether he is prepared to take moral responsiblity for the killing of 13 BJP/RSS workers in the state after the LDF government came to power. CM saheb, if you want to fight us, let us fight in terms of development and ideology," he said. — PTI report

19:15 Kerala HC reinstates ban on Sreesanth

A division bench of Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the appeal made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) against Indian pacer S Sreesanth. BCCI had appealed against the earlier single bench verdict of the court that had lifted the life ban on the bowler in August.

The division bench of Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh ruled that the high court cannot conduct a judicial review on the life ban imposed by the BCCI, upholding the appeal. Full report here.

19:05 Facing allegations of "links" with fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra today put out a philosophical message. "Good Morning, I am capable, I am strong. If I believe in myself, I can turn my dreams into a plan, and my plan into my reality," says a quote on his Facebook post along with his
photograph and a few horses running by a sea. — PTI report.

19:00 After PM Modi's attack, Congress dares BJP to probe allegations against Vadra

After the BJP's attack, the Congress today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should get "any investigation" done into any allegations against Robert Vadra, son-in-law of party chief Sonia Gandhi, to find out if there was any "wrong doing".

Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said Vadra has been going through "witch-hunting" for the last 41 months. He was talking to reporters here on a claim in a media report that Vadra had "links" with fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

"As far as any allegations against Robert Vadra are concerned, we will only say, Modiji has been in power for 41 months. They have a government in Haryana and Rajasthan, and by all means, conduct any investigation that you choose, and come to a conclusion through a free and fair process of law of any wrong doing," Surjewala said.

18:20 RBI order banks to immediately pay interest under gold monetisation scheme 

The Reserve Bank today asked banks to "immediately" pay interest due on the gold deposited by individuals and institutions under the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) launched in 2015.

In a notification, the RBI said reimbursement of payments made by banks, relating to Medium and Long Term Government Deposit (MLTGD), will be made by its Central Account Section (CAS), Nagpur.

"Accordingly, banks are advised to pay immediately the interest amount already due to the depositors and to take note that, in future, payment of interest to the depositors is to be made on the due dates," said the notification.

18:00 Dhanteras buying fails to lift gold

Gold failed to sparkle on auspicious 'Dhanteras' as prices drifted lower by Rs 245 to Rs 29,615 per 10 grams at the bullion market here today despite token buying by jewellers and retailers amid weak global cues. Silver too dropped on speculative profit-booking after its recent rally on the back of reduced industrial buying. Standard gold (99.5 per cent purity) declined by Rs 245 to close at Rs 29,615 per 10 grams from Monday's closing level of Rs 29,860.

17:30 Taj Mahal made by blood and sweat of Bharat Mata's sons, says Adityanath

The Taj Mahal was made by the blood and sweat of "Bharat Mata's sons" and its protection was the responsibility of the Uttar Pradesh government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Tuesday. Announcing that he would visit Agra next week to review tourism schemes, Adityanath said the Taj Mahal is a historical monument regardless of the emperor who had built it.

"It is immaterial as to who and how the Taj Mahal was built... It was made by the sweat and blood of Bharat Mata's sons," Adityanath said in Gorakhpur.

"It is famous the world over for its architecture... it is a historical monument and its protection and further development for tourism is the responsibility of the government," he added.

Adityanath's comments come a day after his colleague, BJP MLA Sangeet Som, questioned the Taj Mahal's place in India's heritage and said history would be rewritten to erase Mughal emperors from it.

17:15  Axis Bank Q2 profit at Rs 432.4 cr, asset quality worsens

Private sector lender Axis Bank’s September quarter net profit was reported at Rs 432.4 crore, but asset quality registered a sharp worsening.

The net interest income (NII) was reported at Rs 4,540 crore, while provisions soared to Rs 3,140 crore. Asset quality, however, worsened during the quarter as net NPAs surged to 3.12 percent against 2.3 percent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, gross NPAs were reported at 5.9 percent against 5.03 percent. Full report here.

17:10 Wipro Q2 profit up 5.5%, constant currency revenue grows 0.3%; Q3 guidance disappoints

India's third-largest software firm Wipro said its consolidated net profit increased 5.5 percent sequentially to Rs 2,191.7 crore for quarter ended September 2017. The growth was driven by fall in total expenses, lower finance cost and higher other income. Profit for the quarter ended June 2017 stood at Rs 2,076.5 crore.

“We surpassed the milestone of USD 2 billion in quarterly revenues for IT Services on the back of rigorous execution of our strategy," Abidali Z Neemuchwala, Chief Executive Officer, Wipro said. Full report here.

16:54 Uber's European policy chief Christopher Burghardt has quit to join the electric vehicle charging network company Chargepoint, the latest senior figure to leave the taxi app, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Earlier this month, Uber's top boss in Britain also quit the Silicon Valley company, which was told last month by London's transport regulator (TfL) that its licence to operate in the British capital would not be renewed. It is appealing that decision.

16:44 Cracking the whip, Sebi today barred Sanghi Plantations and its five directors from the capital markets for illegally garnering money from the public in the name of "teak plantation" scheme. Besides, these entities have been directed to refund, within three months, the investors’ money that the firm had raised through illegal collective investment schemes (CIS).

16:40 The government is working towards setting up an Ayurveda hospital in each district of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today and asserted that time had come for a "health revolution" under the aegis of the traditional medicine system. "The AYUSH ministry is working swiftly in this direction, and in more than three years, more than 65 Ayush hospitals have been developed," Modi said.

16:20 Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg today said the temporary disruptive effect of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is over as the manufacturing sector recorded positive growth of 3.1 per cent in August.

16:12 Bajaj Auto Ltd, India's fourth biggest automaker by market capitalisation, on Tuesday reported a 1 percent fall in quarterly profit, in line with analysts' expectations. Net profit for the quarter ended Sept. 30 came in at 11.12 billion rupees (USD 171.33 million), compared with 11.23 billion rupees last year. Total revenue from operations for the quarter rose about 2 percent to 65.66 billion rupees.

14:52 Former Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy favoured doing away with voter ID card and said Aadhaar can be the sole identity proof for voting, reports PTI. At present, the Election Commission allows a number of documents, including passport, as identity proof in the absence of voter ID card. "Today, we are having too many cards leading to so many complications. Don't introduce too many complications in the system. Time has come we should think of only one card, whatever be the card," Krishnamurthy said.

14:46 It is time that authorities in Europe and the other rich parts of the world take the fight against financial bubbles “more seriously” or risk facing another financial crisis, the vice-president of the European Central Bank told Reuters. “Monetary policy, even when recalibrated, will continue to keep a very accommodative stance,” Vitor Constancio said. “This implies that, in the present configuration of risks, Europe and all other advanced economies will have to take a macro prudential policy much more seriously or they will face the risk of other financial crises that monetary policy cannot prevent.”

14:40 Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continued to lose sheen as an investment class as investors pulled out Rs 388 crore from these instruments in April-September 2017, reports PTI. Trading in gold ETF segment has been tepid during the last four financial years. It witnessed outflows of Rs 775 crore in 2016-17, Rs 903 crore in 2015-16, Rs 1,475 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 2,293 crore in 2013-14. On the other hand, equity and equity-linked saving scheme (ELSS) saw an infusion of more than Rs 80,000 crore during the first six months (April-September) of the current financial year. This included an investment of close to Rs 19,000 crore in the last month alone.

14:37 Vodafone India's enterprise arm Vodafone Business Services (VBS) has teamed up with HP India and KPMG in India to offer 'GST Ready Solutions' for business, reports PTI. The "integrated" GST solution is in form of a suite of offerings that include hardware, GST e-filing and accounting software and connectivity, aimed at facilitating a smooth transition for Small and Medium Enterprises, start-ups and Small Offices Home Offices, to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

14:21 British inflation rose to its highest level in more than five years in September, according to official data that could make the Bank of England more likely to raise interest rates next month. Consumer prices last month were 3% higher than a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday, matching economists’ average expectation in a Reuters poll and marking the fastest rise since April 2012. Rising inflation - driven largely by the pound’s fall since last year’s Brexit vote - has squeezed household incomes this year, causing broader economic growth to slow, as wages have failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

14:19 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) will soon take a call on methodology for allocation of coal blocks for commercial mining. The comments come amid some of the power producers facing low coal stocks at their plants. "The CCEA note (on methodology of commercial coal mining) is ready. I think in the next one week or 10 days it should come in the Cabinet," Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar told PTI.

14:18 The CEO of a business venture run by Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda has been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted following the conviction of the sect's head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case on August 25, reports PTI. Also, a Bathinda-based woman and her son were arrested on Monday for allegedly providing shelter to the sect head's adopted daughter Honeypreet Insan when she was evading arrest, the police said. CP Arora, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MSG All India Trading International Pvt, was arrested from Panchkula by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Haryana Police on Monday, Panchkula Police Commissioner AS Chawla said.

14:16 HT Media reported an over two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 66.22 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, mainly on account of lower expenses. The media firm had posted a net profit of Rs 30.93 crore during the same period previous fiscal. The company's net sales during the quarter under review however decline 6.9% to Rs 560.63 crore as against Rs 602.23 crore in the year-ago period.

14:14 Private sector ICICI Lombard General Insurance reported a 19.3% increase in net profit at Rs 204.04 crore for the quarter ended September. A subsidiary of ICICI Bank, the general insurance firm had earned a profit of Rs 170.95 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Total income also rose to Rs 2,098.05 crore for the quarter, from Rs 1,948.31 crore in the year-ago period. During the quarter, the company's gross premium written rose to Rs 3,234.19 crore as compared to Rs 2,752.66 crore in the year-ago period.

14:11 Britain wants more say over deals in its military and technology sectors, as the government tries to prevent homegrown companies in sensitive industries from falling into foreign hands, reports Reuters. The proposals, announced on Tuesday as part of a broader consultation on potential changes to takeover rules, mark a shift for a country which has traditionally been one of the most open to foreign buyout deals. The proposals include lowering the turnover threshold at which the government can scrutinise deals to companies with annual revenues of at least GBP 1 million from GBP 70 million previously. The proposed changes would apply to companies in the military sector and those involved in the design of computer chips and quantum technology.

14:08 There was more focus on showing off than providing basic facilities and security to train passengers, the Shiv Sena said while commenting on the Tejas Express food poisoning issue. The party's comments come two days after 26 people on the Mumbai-bound Tejas Express from Goa fell due to suspected food poisoning after eating breakfast on the premium train. The BJP ally told PTI that the railways, which has seen a slew of mishaps in the last few weeks, was playing with the lives of people.

"There is more focus on showing off than providing basic facilities and security to passengers. Travelling by rail amounts to putting one's life at risk. Every year, 20,000-25,000 lives are lost due to rail-related incidents. Questions like old infrastructure, old foot overbridges, old signalling system have been pending (resolution) for years," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece `Saamana'. Passengers have been regularly complaining about unhygienic food served on trains. The situation now is such that they don't even bother to complain, the Marathi daily said.

14:03 The charm of fetching a job overseas is waning in India as political uncertainty abroad has spurred highly skilled Indian talent to stay at home to look for employment, reports PTI. As per a recent data released today by global job site Indeed, there has been a 38% decrease in Indians looking to move to the US and 42% decrease in Indians eyeing for the UK in the last year.

The report noted that the prospect of Brexit is likely to have deterred Indian job seekers looking for an opportunity in the UK as countries such as Germany and Ireland have seen an increase in Indians actively looking for jobs. The decrease in the number of Indians looking to move abroad also extends to the Gulf, as evidenced by the 21% decrease in searches to the UAE.

Meanwhile, job search to India has seen an uptick with a 25% rise in people from the UK. The trend is even more pronounced for the Asia Pacific region, with a 170% increase in interest in moving to India.

14:00 Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he will take legal steps to secure a copy of the judicial commission report on the 2013 multi-crore solar scam, which had rocked the state under the previous Congress-led UDF government headed by him, reports PTI. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's stand that a copy of the Justice G Sivarajan Commission report cannot be given before it was tabled in the state assembly was "unfortunate", Chandy said. The report was necessary to "factually evaluate" the commission's findings and government decision based on it, he added.

13:57 US President Donald Trump has challenged former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run against him in the 2020 presidential elections, reports PTI. Trump registered a shocking win over Clinton, who was the Democratic candidate, in the 2016 presidential elections. Clinton in recent months have been attributing external factors for her defeat, whereas Trump claimed that she was a weak candidate. "I hope Hillary runs. Is she going to run? I hope. Hillary, please run again. Go ahead," Trump said. He stated that there were a number of reasons for the defeat of Clinton in the presidential elections. "There are a lot of reasons she didn't win, including the fact that she was not good at what she did," Trump said.

13:47 Amid the ongoing war of words between the Congress and the BJP leaders ahead of Assembly elections in Gujarat, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said something to lighten the moods of warring politicians, reports The Financial Express. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched one of his most scathing attacks on Congress party, saying the latter considers Gujarat and Gujarati’s as an “eyesore”. Despite Modi’s scathing attack, Tharoor tweeted to Modi, “My son has just married a Gujarati, @narendramodi ji. We have nothing but love for your state & its people.”

13:26 Activist investor RBR Capital Advisors has launched a campaign to break up Credit Suisse after building up a small stake in Switzerland’s second biggest lender. A spokesman for the Swiss hedge fund told Reuters on Tuesday it has been talking to the management of the bank which it wants to separate into three different parts. RBR, which is led by Rudolf Bohli, wants to divide Credit Suisse into an investment bank, an asset management group and a wealth manager accommodating the Zurich-based bank’s retail and business banking operations. The strategy, which will be outlined at an investment conference later this week, could see the revival of the old First Boston brand, the name of the US investment bank it took control of in 1988.

13:25 Greece and the International Monetary Fund agree that the next bailout review of the country’s fiscal and reform progress must be concluded fast, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters. European Union and IMF inspectors are expected in Athens next week to start talks on Greece’s bailout progress. Disagreements between Athens, the European Union and the Washington-based IMF over the country’s fiscal targets and the size of debt relief it needs helped delay the conclusion of a previous bailout review, which dragged on for months hurting economic activity.

13:22 European shares inched higher in early deals on Tuesday, supported by solid earning updates including from food group Danone and education group Pearson Credit Suisse was also in the spotlight with its shares rising 1.6% on reports that activist investor RBR Capital has launched a campaign to break up the Swiss investment bank after building up a small stake in it. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1%, staying close to the four month highs hit in the previous session. UK's FTSE however fell 0.1% before inflation data and a testimony by BoE Governor Mark Carney later in the day, while Spain's IBEX also slipped as worries over the crisis in Catalonia persisted.

13:21 Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto's second quarter profit fell 0.6% to Rs 1,193.58 crore compared with Rs 1,200.72 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations grew 2% to Rs 6,566.4 crore compared with Rs 6,432.3 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

13:07 WPI inflation is expected to moderate further in the coming months, and is likely to average 2.8% YoY in 2018 from 3.1% in 2017, says a Nomura report. According to the Japanese financial services major, a moderation in WPI inflation in the coming months is likely owing to falling vegetable prices and favourable base effects, reports PTI.

13:01 Non-banking financial company MAS Financial Services will make its stock market debut on Wednesday after having concluded its initial share sale offer last week. The Rs 460-crore initial public offer (IPO) was over-subscribed 128 times from October 6-10. The company had fixed the price band at Rs 456-459 per share for the IPO. MAS Financial is a Gujarat-headquartered NBFC with more than two decades of business operations. Net proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised towards augmenting its capital base to meet future requirements.

13:00 Maruti Suzuki India said the all-new version of its compact sedan Dzire has crossed one lakh unit sales milestone in just five-and-a-half months of launch. The third generation Dzire was launched in May 2017 and has become the fastest to clock one lakh unit sales mark, the company said in a statement.

12:54 Aurobindo Pharma has received final approval from the US health regulator to manufacture Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed-release capsules, used in treatment of frequent heartburn, in the US market. The approved product is therapeutically equivalent generic version of AstraZeneca's Nexium 24HR capsules. The company said the product will be launched immediately. Quoting IRI database, Aurobindo Pharma said the approved product has an approximate annual sales of $300 million. This is the 127th Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA), including 23 tentative approvals, to be approved out of Unit VII formulation facility in Hyderabad, used for manufacturing oral products.

12:48 Reliance Industries and its partner BP of the UK will invest about $1.5 billion to bring to production six satellite gas discoveries in the flagging KG-D6 block by 2022, reports PTI. RIL-BP combine on Monday submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) a field development plan for what are known as satellite and other satellite fields, sources said. They plan to develop four deepsea satellite gas finds, named D-2, 6, 19 and 22, together with two other nearby finds, D-29 and D30, in the Krishna Godavari basin block. In all, 5-6 gas producing wells will be drilled and tied to production facilities, they said adding peak output may be in the range of 10 to 12 million standard cubic meters per day.

11:54 The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has a compliance rate with their output cut pledges of about 86%, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told Reuters. “Their compliance is about 86%, higher than in the past... whether or not they will continue with this plan in November it’s up to them,” he said, adding: “If they do so, we may see, sometime next year, a rebalancing of the markets, as we still see a significant amount of stock in the markets which is higher than historical averages.”

11:52 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched gold options trading on the leading commodity bourse MCX and said this is one of the steps towards formalising trade in the yellow metal. Options are derivatives which give a buyer the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specific price on or before a certain date. "This marks a very important evolution in trading of yellow metal itself. It hedges all risks by giving them (traders) the option of futures," Jaitley said after launching the options trade on the auspicious day of Dhanteras today.

11:48 India's foreign reserves, which touched a record $402.5 billion in September, are high enough to cushion the country against external vulnerabilities, the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) said. The import cover (on total reserves minus gold) is better than what is seen during the 2013 taper tantrum, said DBS in its report on Indian economy.

11:46 Porinju Veliyath of Equity Intelligence India has stock-picking tips for investors in Samvat 2074. He advises investors to look at specific companies or stocks that are at an ‘inflection point’ and have potential for a turnaround. “It involves common sense, wisdom, knowledge and learning mentality. A humble approach to the market with this mentality will create more wealth,” he told CNBC-TV18.

11:34 Over one lakh employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) have gone on an indefinite strike demanding a hike in salary, causing hardships to thousands of long-distance passengers planning to travel to their hometowns for Diwali, reports PTI. To overcome the disruption caused by the strike, which started from Tuesday early morning, the transport department of the Maharashtra government has issued a notification to allow private vehicles, including school buses, to ferry passengers.

The state-run corporation termed the strike, which has hit the Diwali travel of thousands of passengers, as "illegal". "Our 1.02 lakh staffers have stopped plying ST buses from Tuesday early morning demanding implementation of the 7^th Pay Commission and an interim hike of 25 per cent till the pay panel's recommendations are implemented. The government agreed to give only a part of interim hike which is not acceptable to us," Sandeep Shinde, president of the Maharashtra ST Workers' Union, said. "If our demands are met, we are ready to end our strike right now," Shinde said.

11:25 Employers are beginning to use Aadhaar to verify their potential employees, a move that could see the weeklong verification process reducing to less than 15 minutes, and hiring costs falling dramatically, reports The Times of India. It is also helping make the process paperless — no need to provide documents that show, say, the proof of residence. One of the country's largest private sector employers, contract staffing firm Quess, has onboarded more than 30,000 employees — blue collar and white collar — using Aadhaar verification over the past four months. Quess employs 2.1 lakh people, and supplies them to companies that need them.

11:14 A proposed amendment to the four-year-old Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) aims to bring non-scheduled drugs under price control by changing the price setting method, a move that pharmaceutical companies say will be detrimental to the industry's growth and kill competition, reports The Economic Times. The proposal by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) suggests scrapping the current method of fixing the ceiling price of drugs on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) by adopting the simple average of brands having market share of over 1% and instead taking the simple average of all brands and generics.

11:05 The government plans to regulate the sale of medicines through online pharmacies, a proposal that is opposed by chemists on the grounds that online sales are illegal and easy availability of drugs can lead to their misuse, reports Mint. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the regulator for pharmaceuticals and medical devices in India, and the Health Ministry have initiated discussions to frame a policy that will facilitate access to quality medicines and encourage more entrepreneurs to sell medicines online. While as many as 50 online pharmacy start-ups sell medicines over the internet in India, the government’s proposal to regulate the market will give a stamp of official approval and remove uncertainties surrounding the legality of such sales.

10:54 Getting investment in the infrastructure sector and bankruptcy reforms are the two issues which are on the top of the government's agenda, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg told PTI.

10:49 Four months after the Maharashtra announced a loan waiver of Rs 34,022 crore for farmers, the state government is set to begin the disbursement of the amount from Wednesday, reports Hindustan Times. “Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will hand over the certificate of being loan-free to 25 farmers from various districts in Mumbai. Guardian ministers in various districts will soon hand over similar certificates in their districts,” said Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh.

While the state had announced that 89 lakh farmers could benefit from the loan waiver, 77.29 lakh farmers from 56.59 lakh families applied for the benefit. The number of beneficiaries further reduced as government employees from Class A to C, income tax payers, former and incumbent office bearers of the civic and local bodies applied for the waiver. Nearly 2.41 lakh applicants, who have not provided their Aadhaar number, are likely to be declared ineligible.

10:41 The Centre is considering an incentive package of over Rs 16,000 crore to boost exports in view of “sluggish domestic demand and competition in export markets’’, reports The Hindu Business Line. Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, in a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, has made a case for early decisions on key issues affecting exports — such as inadequate incentives and lack of credit — to formulate a meaningful mid-term review of the foreign trade policy (FTP). A number of critical export promotion measures, which would involve an additional outgo of over ₹16,000 crore, have been placed by Prabhu before Jaitley for consideration and early decision-making, a government official said.

10:35 Jammu & Kashmir is poised to be the first state to bring petrol, electricity, liquor and real estate under the state Goods & Services Tax (GST) regime, reports Mint. A formal decision is likely to be part of the state’s budget for 2017-18, scheduled for presentation in the first week of January. Not only will the state’s decision revive the debate over extending the purview of GST to all sectors, including petroleum, alcohol and real estate, it may also serve as a template for other states. Since these items are not part of the GST framework, the state will not have to share the revenues even while it avails of the efficiency associated with this piece of indirect tax reform.

10:30 The Karnataka BJP has filed a complaint with the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing him of "illegally denotifying" land resulting in a loss of Rs 300 crore to the Bengaluru Development Authority, reports PTI. The complaint on Monday, came days after the party's OBC Morcha chief BJ Puttaswamy accused Siddaramaiah of illegally denotifying land. In his complaint, NR Ramesh, a former member of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the city civic body, has named Siddaramaiah and senior government officials, and accused them of causing Rs 300 crore loss to the Bengaluru Development Authority.

10:24 Even as the market sets fresh milestones, international brokerage CLSA sees it trading flat over the next few months. “The demand and supply for equities is not very attractive right now. While we have a huge surfeit of equities coming in, there is no support from foreign institutions. This situation is unlikely to improve in the short-term,” Mahesh Nandurkar, CLSA’s India Strategist, told CNBC-TV18.

However, it is not all gloomy for him from a 12-month standpoint. In fact, he is quite optimistic as his earnings forecast look bright going forward. “Though Q2 may not provide big positive surprises. December and the subsequent few quarters are likely to benefit from low base effect. In fact, you could see earnings grow by 15-20% over the next 3-4 quarters post the December quarter.” Like other Market Masters, he too does not see the negative impact of GST stretching beyond the September quarter.

Nandurkar continues to remain bullish on the housing theme as “property is now becoming affordable for investors in the middle and low-end of market, which is 85% of housing transactions”.

09:51 Malaysia said on Tuesday it has received proposals from three companies offering to continue the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which has been missing since 2014, but no decision has been made yet, reports Reuters. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong said proposals were received from US-based seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity, Dutch firm Fugro and an unidentified Malaysian company. “We won’t be deciding anything now on whether we are embarking on a new search or not,” Liow said. MH370 vanished three years ago somewhere in the southern Indian ocean en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people aboard.

09:31 The Centre on Monday signalled its intent to bring domestic workers within the purview of a formal policy, entitling them to a minimum wage and social security benefits normally extended to formal workers, reports Mint. Not only will it accelerate formalisation of the economy, it could potentially benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, especially in urban areas which have large pools of domestic workers.

The Labour Ministry put out the broad contours of the policy for public discussion. The four key takeaways are recognition of these people as “workers”; guaranteeing them a minimum wage; permitting unionisation; and devising a dispute resolution mechanism. The aim is to “explicitly and effectively expand the scope of applicable legislations, policies and schemes to grant domestic workers rights that are enshrined in laws for other category of workers, including minimum wage, equal remunerations etc”, the Labour Ministry said in a circular.

09:20 A three-member committee appointed by the railways to probe the incident of suspected food poisoning in the Tejas Express on Sunday has given a clean chit to railway authorities, saying the "quality of food served in the train to passengers was satisfactory," reports The Times of India. Twenty-six passengers on the Goa-Mumbai train were admitted to a hospital in Chiplun after they complained of nausea and vomiting, reportedly due to food poisoning after they had had breakfast onboard. A total of 230 passengers on the Karmali-CST train had been served breakfast.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which manages the catering and on-board services, suspended two officials but had not ruled out the possibility of passengers having consumed outside food. The railways formed a committee comprising the senior divisional commercial manager, Central Railway, assistant general manager, IRCTC, and assistant commercial manager, CSMT, CR, to probe the matter.

IRCTC in a statement said, "The committee has concluded that the food served on Te jas Express was of satisfactory quality. Also, feedback about quality of food from other passengers was taken and almost all passengers gave satisfactory feedback. All food samples were collected and (it was) observed that they were all within their expiry (date)." IRCTC PRO Siddhartha Singh said, "This is the finding of the probe committee. We are now waiting for lab reports of food samples from the train." (Picture courtesy: CNN-News18)

08:48 To know what to expect in the market watch video here

08:41 Noted investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said everything that could go wrong for the pharmaceutical space has already gone wrong. “There has been too much pessimism about the US generics market and pricing. The latter in the US market has hit a bottom. Amazon is going to sell medicines, which I think this is a positive. So, Indian pharma will now have one more buyer. Just because Amazon is going to sell medicines, doesn't mean prices will crash. That is why I feel that that the worst with respect to the pharma space is behind us,” he told CNBC-TV18.

However, he was quick to caution that rebound in the pharma space will depend on individual companies as very few companies have the capital and the capability to invest in generics. Jhunjhunwala feels real money is to be made in complex generics now.

08:22 The United States is not ruling out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea, Deputy Secretary of State John J Sullivan told Reuters on Tuesday. “We eventually don’t rule out the possibility of direct talks,” Sullivan said after a briefing with his Japanese counterpart, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama.

08:16 In a presentation with bankers, five bidders put in non-binding bids for Jaiprakash Power Ventures, sources told Moneycontrol. “This was the first meeting and it was an expression of interest.” Brookfield Asset Management, India Power Corporation, Resurgent Power, a joint venture between Tata Power and ICICI Ventures, JSW Energy in partnership with Piramal and Bain Capital assets have bid for about 35% equity stake in Jaiprakash Power’s assets, sources said.

08:10 Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told CNBC-TV18 that the government can't make sense out of the GST revenue collections right now. After more than 100 days since the rollout of the Goods & Services Tax, he said we may have to wait for 4-5 months to get a clearer picture on the trend.

08:02 India would prefer selling state-owned Air India to a domestic buyer, a government source told Reuters on Monday, as it finalises the privatisation process. Earlier this year the government said it would sell its stake in the loss-making airline but it has yet to decide what to do with the carrier’s debt burden of $8.5 billion. The government is mulling selling the airline’s various businesses - which include ground-handling, domestic operations and international flights - in parts, the source said.

07:52 British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker agreed over dinner in Brussels on Monday that the pace of negotiations over Britain’s departure from the European Union should be stepped up, reports Reuters. A joint statement described a “constructive and friendly” two-hour meeting, during which they “reviewed the progress made in the Article 50 negotiations so far and agreed that these efforts should accelerate over the months to come”.

07:51 Euro zone’s trade surplus shrank in August as the stronger euro fuelled an import boom that was only partly offset by a rise in exports, reports Reuters. Although the euro has depreciated against the dollar from a 2017 peak in early September, it is still up more than 12% this year. Cheaper imports have complicated European Central Bank’s plans to raise inflation in the euro zone.

The European statistics office Eurostat said the 19-country currency bloc’s surplus in goods trade dropped to EUR 16.1 billion euros in August from EUR 23.2 billion in July. It was also lower than in August 2016 when it stood at EUR 17.5 billion. The lower surplus was caused by a surge in imports from countries outside the euro zone, which grew 8.6% on the year, according to seasonally unadjusted data.

07:47 Confidence among Japanese manufacturers rebounded in October to match a peak last seen in mid-2007, a Reuters poll found, further evidence that the economic recovery is gathering momentum helped by a weak yen and strong overseas demand. The monthly poll followed an October 2 Bank of Japan survey that showed big manufacturers were the most optimistic about the business outlook in a decade.

The survey results are an encouraging sign for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead of an October 22 lower house election as he hopes to convince voters his reflationary policies are helping to sustain a private sector-led recovery. The Reuters Tankan service-sector sentiment index slipped from the previous month’s two-year high but remained relatively high.

07:44 US President Donald Trump on Monday declared Obamacare “dead” and “gone,” but urged Republicans and Democrats in Congress to craft a short-term fix of healthcare markets under the seven-year-old law that critics say he has effectively sabotaged, reports Reuters.

07:42 Gold prices were steady early on Tuesday, after dipping below $1,300 an ounce in the previous session, as the dollar held firm on strong US Treasury yields.

07:42 Crude prices rose 1% on Monday as Iraqi forces entered the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, seizing territory from Kurdish fighters and briefly cutting some crude output from OPEC’s second-largest producer.

07:39 Markets in Europe closed mixed as investors monitored the latest in political news coming out of Spain and the UK. Spanish stocks were once again under pressure as political uncertainty drags on.

07:38 Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz Chief Economic Advisor, discusses where to find value as US stocks hit new highs. To watch video, click here

07:30 All three major US stock index rose to record closing highs on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average less than 50 points below 23,000, ahead of a long list of earnings this week and as financial shares recovered from last week’s losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85.24 points, or 0.37%, to close at 22,956.96, the S&P 500 gained 4.47 points, or 0.18%, to 2,557.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.20 points, or 0.28%, to 6,624.01. All three hit record closing highs, adding to recent records.

07:29 Gains in stock markets extended to Asia after fresh Wall Street records. Most Asian markets trade higher as commodities held onto most overnight gains made on the back of better-than-expected China producer prices. The SGX Nifty indicates a subdued start for Dalal Street.

07:20 North Korea warned countries at the United Nations on Monday in a statement: don’t join the United States in military action against the Asian state and you will be safe from retaliation, reports Reuters. The caution was contained in a copy of North Korean Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong’s prepared remarks for a discussion on nuclear weapons by a UN General Assembly committee. However, Kim did not read that section out loud.

“As long as one does not take part in the US military actions against the DPRK (North Korea), we have no intention to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any other country,” according to Kim’s prepared remarks. “The entire US mainland is within our firing range and if the US dares to invade our sacred territory even an inch it will not escape our severe punishment in any part of the globe,” the statement read.

07:15 North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador has warned that the situation on the Korean peninsula “has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment”, reports AP. Kim In-ryong told the UN general assembly’s disarmament committee that North Korea is the only country in the world that has been subjected to “such an extreme and direct nuclear threat” from the United States since the 1970s and said the country has the right to possess nuclear weapons in self-defence. He pointed to large-scale military exercises every year using “nuclear assets” and said what is more dangerous is what he called a US plan to stage a “secret operation aimed at the removal of our supreme leadership”.