Mumbai Apr 18 PTI The rupee declined 6 paise to close at 7625 provisional against the US dollar on Monday tracking the strength of the greenback overseas and elevated crude oil prices At the interbank foreign exchange market the rupee opened lower at 7641 against the American currency and finally settled for the day at 7625 down 6 paise over its previous close During the trading session the rupee witnessed an intra-day high of 7620 and a low of 7643 On Wednesday the rupee had dipped 4 paise to close at 7619 against the US dollar The forex market was closed on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti and on Friday on account of Good Friday Meanwhile the dollar index which gauges the greenbacks strength against a basket of six currencies was trading 020 per cent higher at 10070 Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 018 per cent to USD 11150 per barrel The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 117219 points or 201 per cent lower at 5716674 while the broader NSE Nifty fell 30200 points or 173 per cent to 1717365 Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 206104 crore according to stock exchange data PTI DRR ABM ABM

New Delhi Feb 28 PTI Gold prices rose by Rs 429 to Rs 50577 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday due to inflation worries after Western countries ramped up sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine according to HDFC Securities The yellow metal had closed at Rs 50148 per 10 grams in the previous trade Silver also zoomed by Rs 775 to Rs 65557 per kg on industrial demand from Rs 64812 per kg earlier Gold prices rose in line with gains in COMEX gold Gold prices traded higher on inflation worries after Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia including exclusion from SWIFT transaction system said Tapan Patel Senior Analyst Commodities HDFC Securities The US bond yields declined to 190 per cent boosting buying in gold The escalation in the Ukraine crisis may support gold prices for short term Gold prices may remain volatile reacting to the development on Russia-Ukraine talks on Monday Patel said PTI MR ABM ABM

New Delhi Feb 26 PTI The Union Cabinet on Saturday permitted up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment FDI under automatic route in IPO-bound LIC with an aim to facilitate disinvestment of the countrys largest insurer sources said The decision in this regard was taken by the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi PTI RR DP ANZ ABM ABM

Mumbai Feb 25 PTI The rupee appreciated by 27 paise to close at 7533 against the US dollar on Friday in line with regional currencies following a retreat in crude oil prices and a rebound in domestic equities At the interbank forex market the local unit opened at 7531 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 7518 and a low of 7546 The rupee finally ended at 7533 registering a gain of 27 paise over its previous close On Thursday the rupee had tanked 99 paise to close at 7560 against the US dollar as riskier assets took a hit after Russia launched military operations against Ukraine Meanwhile European Union leaders are putting up a united front and have agreed on a second package of economic and financial sanctions against Russia The dollar index which measures the greenbacks strength against a basket of six currencies inched up 001 per cent to 9714 Brent crude futures the global oil benchmark was trading 107 per cent higher at USD 10014 per barrel Calmness returned to forex markets as participants assessed the fallout of Russias invasion of Ukraine and focused shifted back to Federal Reserve Weaker-than-expected US sanctions on Russia supported market sentiment said Dilip Parmar Research Analyst HDFC Securities Rupee in line with regional currencies gained following a retreat in crude oil prices from an eight-year high along with rebound in domestic equities However the bias for spot USD-INR remains bullish as long as it holds 7480 while on the higher side 7575 becomes the biggest hurdle Parmar said On the domestic equity market front the BSE Sensex ended 132861 points or 244 per cent higher at 5585852 while the broader NSE Nifty surged 41045 points or 253 per cent to 1665840 Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 644824 crore as per stock exchange data On Friday volatility remained low as market participants remained on the sidelines and waited for more clarity on the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine From the US focus will be on the core PCE index number and a higher number could support the dollar at lower levels We expect the USD-INR Spot to trade sideways with a positive bias and quote in the range of 7540 and 7605 said Gaurang Somaiya Forex and Bullion Analyst Motilal Oswal Financial Services According to Sriram Iyer Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities the rupee appreciated against the US dollar tracking the strength of regional currencies and equities On a weekly basis the rupee has depreciated 67 paise against the American currency as oil prices spiked following Russias invasion of Ukraine The Rupee also took cues from weak domestic equities which fell for the third consecutive week due to continuous selling pressure from foreign investors Iyer noted PTI DRR DRR ABM ABM

New Delhi Feb 25 PTI Fortum Charge Drive India on Friday said it has partnered with BSES Yamuna Power Ltd to launch a first-of-its-kind pilot project on load balancing in India The pilot project will focus on serving intelligent distribution of available load among chargers and Electric Vehicles EVs a statement said Fortum Charge Drive India Pvt Ltd a leading Nordic Electric Vehicle EV charging service provider in agreement with BSES Yamuna Power Ltd BYPL a leading power distribution company has launched Indias first of its kind pilot project on load balancing it stated The pilot project will focus on managing charging by balancing dynamic demand from EVs with static load input from BYPL in the smart chargers provided by Fortum Charge Drive The tenure of the pilot project is one year As part of the agreement a total of three chargers five charging points will be deployed in Mayur Vihar Extension Phase I New Delhi built and operated by Fortum CD India It was inaugurated by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission DERC Chairperson Justice Shabihul Hasnain Shastri and DERC Member A K Ambasht Awadhesh Jha Executive Director Fortum Charge Drive India said We are happy to collaborate with BSES Yamuna Power Limited on the countrys first of its kind load balancing pilot project to shave the power demand during peak hours The current Indian manufactured EV chargers do not have smart load balancing capability Hence identification of right charger and procurement was undertaken in the initial six months from the date of signing the agreement the statement said This smart managed EV charging station which can charge five e-vehicles simultaneously is co-located at BYPLs 11 kV Sub Station building in Mayur Vihar Extension Phase I Depending on the response more such smart EV charging stations will be rolled out in south west east and central Delhi The EV chargers at the outlet are being integrated with a mobile application that enables consumers to locate pre-book an appointment and even pay at the charging station PTI KKS KKS ABM ABM

New Delhi Jan 31 PTI The farm sector has been resilient to the COVID-19 shock and is estimated to grow at 39 per cent this fiscal the Economic Survey said on Monday while suggesting to the government to give priority to crop diversification allied farm sectors and alternative fertilisers like Nano urea The Economic Survey 2021-22 also pitched for increasing agriculture research and development RD and organic farming besides use of new technologies like drones The performance of the agriculture and the allied sector has been resilient to the COVID-19 shock Growth in allied sectors including livestock dairying and fisheries has been the major drivers of overall growth in the sector the Survey said The agriculture sector has experienced buoyant growth in the past two years It is estimated to grow at 39 per cent during 2021-22 from 36 per cent in the previous fiscal it added Stating that the allied agri-sectors are steadily emerging to be high growth segments the Survey said Increasing importance of allied sectors including animal husbandry dairying and fisheries in growth and income of the farmers indicates that focus needs to shift more towards harnessing the potential of allied activities The latest Situation Assessment Survey SAS has also found that the allied sectors have been stable sources of income across groups of agricultural households accounting for about 15 per cent of their average monthly income According to the SAS report 2021 the average monthly income per agricultural household as per paid out expenses approach works out to be Rs 10218 compared to Rs 6426 as per the last SAS Report of 2014 With increasing fragmentation of holdings the Survey said there is also a need to improve productivity of small and marginal farmers through development and implementation of small holding farm technologies Urging the government to focus on crop diversification the Survey said the existing cropping pattern is skewed towards cultivation of sugarcane paddy and wheat which has led to depletion of fresh groundwater resources at an alarming rate in many parts of the country However crop diversification can be used as a tool to promote sustainable agriculture reduction in import dependence and higher incomes for the farmers Crop diversification towards oilseeds pulses and horticulture needs to be given priority by addressing the core issues of irrigation investment credit and markets in their cultivation it said While the government has adopted the use of minimum support price MSP as a signal to encourage crop diversification there is also a need for coordinated action from the state governments to facilitate the shift to high value and less water consuming crops to enable realisation of the objective of doubling farmers income in a sustainable way it added On RD in agriculture and allied sectors the Survey said it can play a major role in realisation of sustainable agriculture practice that efficiently meets the objectives of nutritional security and improvement in farm income Research shows that every rupee spent on agricultural research and development yields better returns compared to returns on money spent on subsidies or other expenditure on inputs it said The increase in agriculture RD therefore may improve productivity in the crop and allied sectors it added That apart the Survey said there is a need to explore options and promote use of alternative fertilisers such as Nano urea and organic fertilisers which protect the soil which are more productive and contribute to higher nutrient use efficiency Focus should be on use of new technology including drones and AI-based decision support systems reduction in use of chemical fertilizers and use of low-cost organic inputs and supporting start-ups for innovations it added PTI LUX LUX ABM ABM

Mumbai Jan 28 PTI The BSE gauge Sensex dived nearly 900 points from the days peak to finish Fridays highly volatile session 77 points lower at 57200 triggered by a late sell-off mainly in banking and auto shares Starting off on a high note the 30-share index soared to trade briefly above the key 58000-level in afternoon trade before plunging to a low of 5711928 After fighting bouts of volatility towards the fag-end of the session the index finally closed 7671 points or 013 per cent lower at 5720023 Likewise the NSE Nifty too swung between gains and losses before ending 820 points or 005 per cent down at 1710195 The Sensex was pulled lower mainly by Maruti Tech Mahindra PowerGrid ICICI Bank Axis Bank and SBI -- which suffered losses to the tune of 3 per cent Vinod Nair Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said After the decent opening post yesterdays weak closing domestic bourses again staged a quick sell-off tracking weak European trend Policy tightening by the US Fed and rising geopolitical tensions in Ukraine coloured global sentiments The broad market ended mixed considering IT realty and mid and smallcaps rebounded after continuous heavy-selling this week he added Elsewhere in Asia bourses saw mixed trading pattern as barring Japan and Korea all logged losses Meanwhile international oil benchmark Brent crude eased 042 per cent to USD 8970 per barrel Foreign institutional investors FIIs remained net sellers in the capital markets offloading shares worth Rs 626675 crore on Thursday as per official exchange data PTI MKJ MKJ ABM ABM

Jammu Jan 20 PTI Asserting that expenditure efficiencies in the system have vastly improved due to a series of financial reforms Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on Thursday said there has been a 12-fold increase in works completed in the current financial year over the previous years average in the union territory Mehta also hailed the improvement in current years revenue collections despite the ongoing pandemic and stated that a strong and consistent revenue performance and a positive outlook for future will underpin equally strong capex growth this fiscal and beyond In the past on an average 2000 works would be completed Now as on today 11508 works have already been completed and by the time the current financial year comes to a close around 25000 works are expected to be completed This represents 12 times increase over the previous years average he said He made this observation while reviewing the functioning of the finance department Additional Chief Secretary finance department Atal Dulloo and other senior officers of the department were present at the review The chief secretary said the expenditure efficiencies in the system have vastly improved due to the recent introduction of a series of financial reforms Mehta further said the capital expenditure capex performance has to be further improved to maximise the gains of fiscal reforms so as to create a virtuous cycle of the growth in Jammu and Kashmir that feeds on itself and continues to grow Giving details Dulloo said that out of 44245 projects and works taken up during 2021-22 under district capex 42102 works have been accorded administrative approval out of which 40248 works have been tendered As many as 28523 works out of the tendered works have been allotted and presently under execution The department informed that out of 28523 works under execution around 25000 are expected to be completed during this fiscal year Dulloo said out of 2357 works sanctioned under languishing projects 1192 works have been completed so far at a cost of Rs 198377 crore He further said the expenditure performance of various departments is being monitored and wherever necessary instructions are being issued to increase the spending so that the annual capex targets are met by the department Highlighting the importance of monitoring the regular inflows from the Centre the Chief Secretary said the department must work closely with the departments for seeking more funds from the union government Mehta laid emphasis on ensuring real time audit of the departments through e-audit and said instead of auditing account books on ex-post basis the department needs to do so on ex-ante basis so that deviations from norms are checked before they happen Stating that Panchayati Raj Institutions PRIs are the top focus of the government the Chief Secretary said the developmental spending in rural areas needs to be ramped up with the close support of the representatives of the local self government for better infrastructure development PTI AB ABM ABM

Mumbai Dec 24 PTI The countrys foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 160 million to stand at USD 635667 billion in the week to December 17 RBI data showed on Friday In the previous week ended December 10 the reserves had decreased by USD 77 million to USD 635828 billion It touched a lifetime high of USD 642453 billion in the week ended September 3 2021 During the reporting week ended December 17 the dip in the forex kitty was on account of a decline in foreign currency assets FCAsa major component of the overall reserves FCAs tumbled by USD 645 million to USD 572216 billion weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India RBI showed Expressed in dollar terms the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves Gold reserves rose by USD 475 million to USD 39183 billion in the reporting week The special drawing rights SDRs with the International Monetary Fund IMF remained unchanged at USD 19089 billion The countrys reserve position with the IMF increased by USD 9 million to USD 5179 billion in the reporting week as per the data PTI HV ABM ABM

Mumbai Dec 23 PTI The rupee on Thursday extended its gains and jumped 30 paise to close at 7524 provisional against the US dollar amid a positive trend in domestic equities At the interbank forex market the local unit opened at 7543 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 7522 and a low of 7544 On Wednesday the rupee had appreciated by 5 paise to close at 7554 against the US dollar Meanwhile the dollar index which measures the greenbacks strength against the basket of six currencies rose 003 per cent to 9610 Brent crude futures the global oil benchmark fell 020 per cent to USD 7514 per barrel Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 82726 crore as per stock exchange data On the domestic equity market front the BSE Sensex ended 38472 points or 068 per cent higher at 5731528 while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 11715 points or 069 per cent to 1707260 PTI DRR DRR ABM ABM