The central government on Wednesday approved a subsidy of Rs 3,500 crore to sugar mills for the export of around six million tonnes (MT) in the ongoing 2020-21 marketing season that started in October.

It also cleared pending export subsidy of around Rs 5,360 crore, which will be passed on directly into the bank accounts of farmers through an escrow account in a week’s time.

Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was increased by Rs 50 per cylinder, the second hike in rate this month following firming of international prices. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was raised by a steep 6.3 per cent. Non-subsidised LPG price was increased to Rs 694 per 14.2-kg cylinder from Rs 644 earlier.

This is the second increase in rate this month. On December 1, price was hiked by a similar Rs 50 per cylinder.

COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), was well tolerated in all dose groups with no serious or adverse events, the initial reports of phase 1 clinical trial showed.

The vaccine-induced robust binding and neutralising antibody responses which were comparable to those observed in the convalescent serum collected from patients who had recovered from COVID-19, according to the findings which have appeared on medRxiv, a preprint server showed, according to a PTI report.

All India Trinamool Congress veteran Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday submitted his resignation as an MLA from the West Bengal Assembly. Now Adhikari has written a letter to West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, citing fear that he and his associate followers can be implicated in criminal cases out of political motivation and vendetta.

Hours after resignation, the rebel TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari held a closed-door meeting with disgruntled party leaders, including East Burdwan MP Sunil Mandal and Asansol civic body chief Jitendra Tiwari.

A 65-year-old farmer committed suicide at the Singhu border, the protest site for agitating farmers, on Wednesday. This happened as the farmers' agitation against the new farm laws has entered the 21st day.

The deceased has been identified as Baba Ram Singh of Singhra village in Nissing area of Haryana's Karnal district. He had recently joined the farmers' protests.

To aid the poor and vulnerable reeling under the COVID-19 crisis, India on Wednesday signed a pact with the World Bank worth $400 million.

This is the second operation in a programmatic series of two as the first operation of Dollar 750 million was approved in May 2020. The $400 million credit has been extended by World Bank's concessionary lending arm International Development Association (IDA).

The ongoing cold wave condition in the National Capital will continue for the next two days as per the Weather Department. The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted both 'cold day' and 'cold wave' in Delhi on Thursday and Friday.

The minimum temperature was three notches below normal. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 19 degrees Celsius, it said predicting 'cold day' conditions at a few places.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina will hold a virtual summit on Thursday and hold comprehensive discussions on the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship, including further strengthening cooperation in the post COVID-19 era.

The summit will be held a day after Vijay Divas, which marks India`s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh have continued to maintain regular exchanges at the highest level with Bangladesh Prime Minister paying an official visit to India in October 2019.

Despite the stellar run in calendar year 2020 (CY20), gold remains an attractive investment for 2021 with prices likely to inch up further in the new year, say analysts. Investors, they believe, will be better off staying put in the yellow metal for now.

According to World Gold Council (WGC) data, gold prices hit a high of $2,067 per ounce (oz) in August 2020 as investors flocked to the yellow metal as a safe-haven investment in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic that brought global economic activity to a standstill. Accommodative policies of the most central banks world over also meant money continued to flow to this asset class.

Shares of Punjab National Bank (PNB) slipped 8 per cent to Rs 37.25 on the BSE on Wednesday, falling 10 per cent in the past two trading days after the bank announced the opening of qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue on Tuesday. However, the share price of the state-owned lender has fallen below the QIP floor price of Rs 37.35 per share.

In the past month, the stock has run up strongly, rallying nearly 40 per cent till Monday. At 09:44 am, the stock was trading 6 per cent lower at Rs 38.15, as compared to 0.71 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The counter has seen huge trading volumes, with a combined 87 million equity shares were changing hands on the NSE and BSE.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.