New Delhi: In an attempt to boost domestic cooking gas consumption under the marque Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), or Ujjwala scheme, state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Friday announced deferment of loan recovery up to six refills.

Under the Ujjwala scheme—a key welfare programme of the centre for poor women—many availing an equated monthly instalment (EMI) facility for meeting the cost of stove and first refills were paying market price for refills till the loan repayment was made.

Mumbai: Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE’s Nifty 50 plunged to five-month lows on Friday as jittery investors rushed to sell shares on heightened fears of a trade war after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on up to $50 billion of Chinese imports. The sharp sell-off in Indian markets was part of the global meltdown, as global risk aversion intensified.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is analysing 120 shell companies in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud allegedly committed by jewellery designer Nirav Modi, the government said today.

The state-owned PNB has been defrauded of over $2 billion by fraudulent use of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) allegedly by Nirav Modi and his associates.

A power surplus state till recently, Gujarat may witness a scorcher of a summer, with private power producers —Adani and Essar — discontinuing supply on account of paucity of coal. The situation forces the state to meet demand by procuring expensive power from energy exchanges and other sources. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) has invited bids for procurement of 2,000 MW of power for April, May and June to meet rising demand.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has ended insider trading proceedings against Kokila Dhirubhai Ambani, promoter in three companies of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.

Sebi in 2014 had alleged inadequate disclosure by Kokila Ambani relating to holding of shares in some companies, including Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications and Reliance Power.

Public sector oil marketing company BPCL was the sole qualified bidder for Nagarjuna Oil Corporation (NOC), under IBC. The committee of creditors appointed by the NCLT met on Friday in Chennai to consider the bids of BPCL, a Maharatna PSU, and Citax Ventures, UK, promoted by S G Srinivas, who earlier as the promoter of Netoil, failed to bring in funds to revive NOC .

The Finance Ministry today said that there is no proposal for merger of four public sector banks, including Canara Bank, and Dena Bank.

"Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, Vijay Bank and Dena Bank have apprised that they have not made presentations about their merger or consolidation to the Ministry of Finance," Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

NHAI has awarded two projects worth Rs 13.95 billion in Karnataka to Ashoka Concessions and Dilip Buildcon for widening of stretches of NH 4A, an official statement said today.

The four-laning of Belgaum-Khanapur Section of about 30 km has been awarded to Ashoka Concessions on Hybrid Annuity Mode at a cost of Rs 8.92 billion, it said.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday pared all the morning losses and closed one-week stronger against US dollar post US President Donald Trump decided to slap tariffs on China.

The home currency ended at 65.01 a dollar, up 0.16% from its Thursday’s close of 65.11. The rupee opened at 65.18 a dollar and touched a high and a low of 64.98 and 65.20, respectively.

New Delhi: State-run power equipment maker BHEL on Friday entered into a technology transfer agreement with Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for the manufacturing of space-grade lithium-ion cells of various capacities.

BHEL will utilise technology developed by Isro at its Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a BHEL statement said.

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