- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are news in brief related to Indian economy and business for Friday, October 7, 2022:
RN Ravi, governor of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, has approved an ordinance to ban online rummy and poker games with stakes in the state, Moneycontrol reported. The move comes a week after the state cabinet, led by chief minister MK Stalin, had passed an ordinance to ban the games in the state, calling them “online games of chance”. The ordinance, however, doesn’t specifically mention other game formats and applies only to games where transfer of money is involved. Any person offering these services will face jail up to three years or a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, or both. Meanwhile, those playing these games with money shall face up to three months in prison or a fine of up to Rs 5,000 or both.
Panacea Biotec Ltd founder and chairman Soshil Kumar Jain died on Friday. According to a regulatory filing by the company, Jain (89), who had been admitted to the Medanta Hospital for the last 10 days, suffered a cardiac arrest on Friday afternoon, PTI reported. Informing BSE about his demise, Panacea Biotec said, “Soshil Kumar Jain’s sudden and unexpected passing away will be an irreparable loss to the company.” The directors and employees convey deep sympathy, sorrow and condolences to his bereaved family members, it added. The patriarch of promoter family of Panacea Biotec Ltd, Jain had founded the company in 1984 as Panacea Drugs Pvt Ltd, and when the company was publicly listed on Indian stock exchanges in September 1995, its name changed to Panacea Biotec Ltd.
The Indian rupee dropped to a record low versus the dollar on Friday, on concerns over the pace of Federal Reserve rate hikes and that US rates were likely to remain high for longer, Reuters reported. The rupee finished at 82.32 per US dollar, down from 81.88 in the previous session. The rupee opened at 82.20 and reached a record low of 82.4250 in the session. The Reserve Bank of India likely intervened yet again to slow the pace of rupee’s decline, three traders told Reuters. The rupee has declined 1.2 per cent this week, notching its fourth weekly loss.
India’s forex reserves dropped by $4.854 billion (£4.335 billion) to $532.664 billion (£475.7 billion) as on September 30, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday, PTI reported. The reserves, which have been dipping as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments, had declined by over $8.134 billion (£7.26 billion) to $537.518 billion (£480 billion) in the previous reporting week. In October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion (£576 billion). The drop in the reserves for the week ended September 30 was on account of a dip in the Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI on Friday. The FCAs dropped by $4.406 billion (£3.93 billion) to $472.807 billion (£422.2 billion) during the reporting week, the apex bank said.
India’s defence public sector undertakings (PSUs) have completed the indigenisation of 72 items before their original timelines, the defence ministry said on Friday, ANI reported. Putting Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) on fast track, 72 items out of a total of 214 items mentioned in 1st and 2nd Positive Indiginisation List (PIL) have been indigenised by defence PSUs well before their original indigenisation timelines of December 2023, December 2024 and December 2025, the ministry said in a statement. The remaining 142 items are being indigenised within the timeline of December 2022. Some of the main sub-systems/ Line Replacement Units (LRUs) indigenised include, Magazine Fire Fighting System for Ships, Steering Gear System and Fin Stabilisers with Control for Frigates, Pressurised containers for Akash Missiles, KOE charge for Konkurs Missiles and Electric Motor, Decontamination set and Prism optical instrument for Battle Tanks, it said.
Tata Power, one of India’s largest integrated utilities, on Friday announced plans to expand its business footprint in Rajasthan by developing upto 8,000 megawatt (MW) of utility scale projects, 1,000 MW of solar rooftop and 1,50,000 solar pumps in next five years in the state, ANI reported. The firm’s commitment comes while it participated in the ongoing ‘Invest Rajasthan Summit-2022’ here as it wants to expand its presence in the state to generate clean energy through solar power along with its fully-owned subsidiary Tata Power Solar. As per the company’s plan, its expansion projects will generate employment for more than 6,000-8,000 people in the next five years. Presently, the company employs more than 4,500 people in the state.
India’s largest two wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp on Friday forayed into the electric vehicle segment with the introduction of its first electric scooter VIDA V1 priced at ₹1.45 lakh (ex-showroom) (£1,582), PTI reported. The company has introduced two trims of the scooter – VIDA V1 Plus and VIDA V1 Pro – tagged at ₹1.45 lakh and ₹1.59 lakh (£1,734), respectively. The VIDA V1 Plus comes with a range of 143 kilometres (kms), while the VIDA V1 Pro comes with an enhanced range of 165 kms on a single charge. The company will commence sales of the electric scooter in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur before scaling up to the new locations.
