New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (EC) has rejected the demands of the opposition regarding Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) on Wednesday.

The issue to change the protocol for counting was discussed by the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora at his meeting with election commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra.

The government is planning to merge state-run Punjab National Bank with two other PSU banks — Oriental Bank of Commerce, Andhra Bank and Allahabad Bank after the new administration is in place following the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Reuters reported citing unidentified sources. This is in a bid to keep 5-6 larger banks in the country, which the ruling Narendra Modi-government has been advocating for some time.

YES Bank, which has exposures to Anil Ambani's Reliance group and Essel group companies, has started making provisions for loans given to both entities. The provisioning began after rating agencies downgraded debt instruments of both groups.

YES Bank has an exposure of Rs 13,000 crore to Reliance group entities and another Rs 3,300 crore to Essel group companies, according to analysts.

Reliance Industries has toppled state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become the country’s biggest company by revenue.

In 2018-19, Reliance has reported a turnover of Rs 6.23 lakh crore. In comparison, IOC posted a turnover of Rs 6.17 lakh crore for the fiscal, according to regulatory filings by the two companies.

The benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 150 points in early trade on Wednesday, led by gains in oil and gas, banking and IT stocks, ahead of the general election results.

The 30-share index was trading 157.51 points, or 0.40%, higher at 39,127.31. In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty rose 30.90 points, or 0.26%, to 11,740. In the previous session, the Sensex ended 382.87 points, or 0.97%, lower at 38,969.80, and the Nifty plunged 119.15 points, or 1.01%, to 11,709.10.

India’s antitrust regulator is looking into allegations that Maruti Suzuki, the country’s biggest car maker, resorted to anti-competitive practices by controlling how its dealers discounted cars, three people aware of the matter said.

Maruti sold 1.73 million passenger vehicles in the year to March and has nearly 3,000 dealers in the country.

GMR Group is setting up a business park in Hyderabad to be developed by GMR Hyderabad Aerotropolis, a subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport. The area covered by the business park is one million square foot where six business complexes would be developed. The project will be financed through debt and internal accruals of Rs 350 crore. It will be developed in two phases. The first phase comprises four towers, of which one is ready for occupancy.

Hyundai Motor India on Tuesday launched a sub-4 metre sports utility vehicle, Venue, which will be in direct competition with Maruti Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza, Mahindra’s XUV300 and Tata Nexon. Dubbed India’s first connected car, the Venue falls in a segment where the industry’s monthly sales are around 35,000 units.

While the average monthly sales of Maruti’s Vitara Brezza is around 14,000 units, Hyundai’s Creta, which is slightly higher priced, sells nearly 10,000.

Larsen & Toubro’s standalone market capitalisation will touch Rs 3 lakh crore and its revenue will reach Rs 2 lakh crore in five years as strategic initiatives like L&T NxT have helped in making giant strides, group chairman A M Naik said. The recently launched L&T-NxT initiative is a technology platform that focuses on artificial intelligence, internet of things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, geospatial solutions as well as cybersecurity.

Hearing a bunch of petitions against the March 8 order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approving ArcelorMittal’s Rs 42,000-crore resolution plan for the debt-ridden Essar Steel, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday reserved its order. The two-member bench, headed by Chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya, has heard all parties, including the erstwhile promoters of Essar Steel and a host of operational creditors over the period.

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