Markets regulator Sebi on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 17.55 crore on 22 entities for round tripping of funds through fictitious transactions and siphoning off proceeds from the initial share sale of Brooks Laboratories Ltd (BLL).

In a 38-page order, the watchdog said the practices adopted by the 22 entities are "serious in nature which have the cascading adverse effect towards the investors/ shareholders" and have inflicted a fraud on them.

Infosys said its board would meet on August 19 to discuss and take a call on the share buyback plan as the company received Sebi's approval for the same.

“We would like to inform you pursuant to Regulation 29 (1)(b) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, that the Board of Directors of Infosys Ltd will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares of the company at its meeting to be held on August 19, 2017,” said the IT services firm in a filing to the BSE. Infosys said it would inform the outcomes of the board meeting to the exchanges.

The GMR Group, which owns a 220 MW gas based power plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada, will sell its barge-mounted power plant to a buyer for $63 million. According to a regulatory filing, the infrastructure major has said that GMR Energy Ltd (GEL) will enter into a definitive agreement with the buyer soon. The filing, however, did not reveal the buyer’s name. “GEL has entered into a memorandum of undertaking with an external party for sale of its 220 mw gas based power plant for a consideration of $6.3 crore and is in the process of entering into a definitive agreement and conclude the sale,” the filing said.

Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today. “Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027),” he said after the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand under the previous excise regime used to get 10-year exemption, he said.

Amid rising concerns over adverse effect of the 'Blue Whale Challenge', the Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar on Wednesday said that the online game can make people do anything.

The Chief Justice made the remark while hearing a case where he drew an analogy to the Blue Whale game.

On Wednesday, the equity benchmarks- Sensex and Nifty rallied heavily on back of strong global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 321.86 points to close on 31,770.89 while the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 103.15 points to end trading on 9,897.30. Both the indices gained more than a per cent uring the day.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is set to cut the interconnection usage charge (IUC) levied by telecom companies, according to a 13 August report in The Times of India. Trai chairman R.S. Sharma has said IUC recommendations will be framed by the end of the month, suggesting a final decision is yet to be taken.

But if IUC is indeed cut, it will be a double whammy of sorts for large incumbents.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is aiming to double its oil production in the next five to six years, revealed Dinesh K. Sarraf, Chairman and Managing Director, while addressing a gathering during the Independence Day celebrations here. In the past three years, despite oil prices tumbling to record lows, there has been a sustained production through incremental inputs, and new investment decisions that were taken ensured sustained volumes and financial growth. “Share of gas in India’s energy basket is set to increase from 6.5 per cent to 15 per cent. The government is focussed on making our economy gas-based”, said Saraf. Talking about the ONGC’s plans, Sarraf said many of the new projects are gas-based.

The two IT majors TCS and Infosys are on the radar of Sandip Bhatia, Head – India Equities, Macquarie Capital Securities. In conversation with ET Now, the expert said that the investors should look to buying these stocks from the IT space on dips. The year hasn’t been great for the these two majors, as both of them have underperformed the equity benchmark Sensex by a huge margin. While TCS has returned a paltry 4.39% in the year, Infosys has given negative returns of 2.8% since January this year. According to Bhatia, the markets are still offering buying opportunities at every dip.

Markets regulator Sebi has given nod for extension of Samir Shah’s tenure as NCDEX CEO and MD for six months even as advertisement has been issued by the commodity bourse for selection of a new candidate. Shah was appointed in 2013 as per the regulatory framework of erstwhile Forward Markets Commission (FMC) for three years till 2016. Later, his tenure was extended for an year till August 20, 2017. “The Sebi has extended the tenure for only six months and not two years because the regulator wanted the Board to ratify my appointment through a transparent Sebi-approved selection process,” Shah told PTI.

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