Actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday said his party was willing to join hands with like-minded parties who are against corruption and focused on making Tamil Nadu a progressive state.

"The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) is ready to join hands with those parties, who dream to make Tamil Nadu a progressive State and also corruption-free," Haasan told reporters at nearby Pollachi after inaugurating the party office there.

Finnish telecommunication giant Nokia on Tuesday announced its plans to cut jobs, media reported.

Nokia gave 350 as a layoff target in Finland, and said the figures in France and Germany would be higher, but did not specify.

India will not share the limited supply of Iranian crude allowed under a U.S. waiver from sanctions with private refiners, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That is a departure from the earlier practice of splitting exempted volumes.

The government has asked its four state refiners led by Indian Oil Corp. to share the entire 9 millions barrels of Iranian oil available every month under a 180-day waiver from U.S. sanctions, the people said, asking not to be identified.

Shares of Indiabulls Integrated have locked in the upper circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 332 apiece on the BSE after the company announced that Indiabulls Life Insurance Company got the preliminary nod from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

“The Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, ‘Indiabulls Life Insurance Company Limited’ has received regulatory R1 acceptance from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for its proposed life insurance business,” Indiabulls Integrated Services said in a regulatory filing.

The rupee opened 1 paisa lower at 71.06 against US dollar on Wednesday. In the previous session, the domestic unit declined 13 paise to close at one-month low of 71.05 amid strengthening greenback and surging crude oil prices.

It was the third straight session of loss for the rupee. The domestic currency on Monday plunged by 43 paise to close at nearly one-month low of 70.92 against the US dollar.

India’s oil demand growth in 2018 rebounded from the slowest pace in four years as the country recovered from the shock of a cash ban and the roll out of a national sales tax.

The nation’s consumption of petroleum products rose 4.1 percent to about 210 million tons, the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell said Friday. Growth improved from the preceding year’s 2.7 percent expansion, the slowest pace since 2013, as consumption was severely affected by a cash ban that crippled economic activity.

While Air India's passenger count rose by only 4 per cent in the December 2018 quarter, its revenue from passengers increased by 20 per cent on the back of better aircraft utilisation, said a senior official of the company.

"Due to better and efficient utilisation of aircraft fleet, the passenger revenue increased from Rs 4,615 crore in third quarter of 2017-18 to Rs 5,538 crore in third quarter of 2018-19," the official said.

YES Bank, India's fourth largest private sector bank, on Saturday said it has appointed Brahm Dutt as non-executive part-time chairman to the board.

In a statement, Yes Bank said, "Vide its letter dated January 11, 2019, the Reserve Bank of India, pursuant to the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949...has approved his (Dutt's) appointment as part-time chairman of Yes Bank's board up till July 4, 2020, as Mr Dutt attains the age of 70 years."

The global solar sector witnessed a total corporate funding and merger and acquisitions activity worth USD 9.7 billion in 2018, a 24 per cent drop compared to the year-ago period, according to a report. Mercom Capital Group said the total M&A and global corporate fundings, including venture capital (VC), debt financing and public market financing stood at USD 9.7 billion, a 24 per cent drop compared with the USD 12.8 billion raised in 2017.

Surrendering early gains, benchmark Sensex on Friday dropped 96 points to end at 36,009.84 as investors booked profits even as global equities rose.

The 30-share index opened on a strong note at 36,191.87, but failed to hold on its gains and settled 96.66 points, or 0.27 per cent, lower at 36,009.84. Intra-day, the gauge swung between 36,214.26 and 35,840.60.

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