Regaining the lost sheen, sales of gold jewellery and coins are set to touch pre-COVID levels in volume terms on the auspicious Dhanteras as easing pandemic concerns and pent up demand saw consumers flocking to stores to buy the precious metal. Increased footfall at stores and brisk sales online as well as relatively softer gold prices compared to record Rs 57,000 per 10 grams level in August spurred increased buying, especially light weight offerings, on Tuesday. Dhanteras is considered to be auspicious for buying precious metals and other valuable items.
As many as 3,691 centrally-protected monuments and archaeological sites maintained by the ASI were shut from March 17 in view of the coronavirus crisis.
"I am very happy and proud of his achievements. I am yet to speak to him. I think he must be sleeping as it's still night in the United States," she said.
'The fiscal pressure will be there, but the intent of the government behind this move is to spur demand and growth.'
The bank is using readily available satellite images from ISRO and NASA for the purpose, and plans to scale up to 63,000 villages in the next three months.
BSNL is providing telecom services in remote parts of the country and maintaining 17,000 to 18,000 exchanges, incurring Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore losses every year. Otherwise, these villages will be cut off.
As rescue operations are underway, witnesses recount the horror the structure come crashing down.
Vigourous gymming by an 18 year old post-lockdown led to a medical condition that caused malfunctioning of his kidneys.
According to research firm IDC, a slowdown in smartphone shipments began showing up as early as late February, though companies insist that the March quarter was fine, albeit on a low base.
'Those who win indulge in shooting, looting, throwing bombs and burning houses.'
HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri on Wednesday said the lender's business is returning to pre-COVID-19 levels and full normalcy is expected to be restored soon.
The Rs 20,000 crore is in addition to Rs 10,000 crore support announced earlier by the housing sector regulator NHB.
India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in a Super 10 Group 2 match to record their first win in the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 55 to guide India home in their chase of 119.
The agency also carried out searches at 15 locations spread across Delhi; West Bengal's Kolkata, Siliguri and Murshidabad; Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, Punjab's Amritsar and Chhattisgarh's Raipur, they said.
The 70 launches were made in the first half of the financial year alone and were mostly focused on hygiene, health & wellness, naturals and convenience, which were in high demand as Covid -19 raged across the world.
All eyes were as India as it celebrated its 69h Republic Day on Friday with the 10 ASEAN leaders as chief guests. The mood was upbeat across the country. Rediff.com brings you glimpses of the celebrations.
'For around five hours the storm, reportedly the strongest one ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, that mother of many a deathly vortex, shook Kolkata like a toddler playing with a rattling toy,' observes Debashish Chatterjee.
Its total income (consolidated) rose to Rs 79,302.72 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 74,948.51 crore in the year-ago period
The bank's gross non-performing assets rose to 10.69 per cent of total advances at the end of June, against 9.97 per cent a year ago.
The department for promotion of industry and internal trade has asked the telecom department and State-owned BSNL to put on hold the tender for setting up 4G network, valued at Rs 9,000 crore, after allegations emerged that the tender favoured foreign companies. The tender was floated by BSNL in March under the new management for setting up the 4G network.
The main factor boosting production was a sustained rise in new work inflows.
Total revenue came in at Rs 20,422 crore for the September quarter, which was 6.2 per cent lower than Rs 21,777 crore notched in the year-ago period.
In his every first international innings he was run out for 0. He will end his career as one of the most feared batsmen in international cricket.
The sentiment in the real estate industry turned optimistic during October-December 2020 and the outlook for the next six months is positive on the back of revival in demand for both residential and office properties, according to a survey by Knight Frank India-FICCI-Naredco. The 27th edition of 'Real Estate Sentiment Index Q4 2020 survey' of developers, banks, financial institutions and private equity players operating in the sector was released on Monday in a video-conference. As per the report, the 'Current Sentiments Score', for the first time in 2020, entered the optimistic zone at 54 points in Q4 (October-December) 2020, a significant jump of 14 points over the previous quarter.
India's fuel demand in May slumped to its lowest in nine months as restrictions to curb the second wave of COVID infections stalled mobility and muted economic activity. Fuel demand fell 1.5 per cent to 15.1 million tonnes despite the low base of May 2020 and was down 11.3 per cent when compared to the previous month, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry. India was under one of the world's strictest lockdowns in May last year, which brought all mobility and economic activity to a grinding halt.
A collection of oddball, amazing moments from the world!
Spiralling prices pinched the pocket of consumer as edible oil, fuel and many other commodities turned dearer this year amid pandemic-induced disruptions but the inflationary pressure is anticipated to ease, though marginally, in the coming months. As consumers, at retail as well as wholesale levels, are willy-nilly learning to live with the new normal of curbs to contain the spread of coronavirus infections, experts are of the view that elevated inflation is likely to stay longer. After dealing with the devastating blows from the second COVID wave, especially during the April-June period, the economy is well on the revival path but the emergence of Omicron might unsettle the recovery trajectory in the short term.
The new rates, effective Wednesday, is the third reduction by SBI in this financial year having cut the rates by 5 bps each in April and May, while its home loan rates has come down by 20 bps during this period.
The BCCI letter did not make a specific reference to Pakistan, which has been accused of harbouring terrorists by India.
SBI said revision of saving bank rate will enable the bank to maintain MCLR based lending rate at existing rates.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had told Parliament in November that Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies owe the government as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues.
SBI is expected to mop up almost $202 million via the share sale.
Online booking of tickets will be encouraged but box office will be open for single-screen theatres.
A court in New Delhi on Wednesday pulled up the police for 'apparent absurdity' in clubbing a man's complaint about alleged burning down of his house during the north-east Delhi riots last year with another one and later arresting him in the same matter -- making him both a complainant and the accused.
In this winter of discontent, in every procession, in every demonstration, in every protest -- from Jawaharlal Nehru University to Jamia to Shaheen Bagh to the streets of Mumbai -- the front rows have been occupied by women. It's been weeks since women have been sitting in protest across the country against the newly-introduced Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. The protests are a nerve centre of unwavering voices against what has been perceived as a discriminatory law. The women -- some housewives, some students with hijabs covering their hair, and others in full-length burqa robes -- are rallying against the 'Man' in what could also be perceived as a revolution for the 'weaker sex' in India.
Every year Indians consume about 22 million tonnes of lentils
Any shift in investor sentiment may result in speculators fleeing the gold market, driving its price down sharply, quickly. One significant risk for gold is a near-term reversal in the dollar, which recently fell to a two-year low.
His 24-run cameo against Pakistan was worth its weight in gold and Yuvraj Singh said that his "focus was on right things" while batting in front of the vociferous capacity crowd at the Eden Gardens.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday said it has reduced its marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR) by up to 15 basis points across various tenures, effective March 10. The bank has reduced its one-year MCLR by 10 basis points to 7.75 per cent from the earlier 7.85 per cent, SBI said.
Here's a recap of moments captured in India in the last week.