IT services major Wipro has bagged a $143 million 5-year outsourcing deal from Levi Strauss as the US-based denim apparel maker looks to cut 500 jobs in a restructuring exercise.

The restructuring, first announced in March 2014, is expected to generate net annualised cost savings of $175-200 million for Levi Strauss once fully implemented.

The doctor who conducted 83 sterilisation surgeries at the government-organised family planning camp in Pendhari area of Bilaspur, has been arrested from Chhattisgarh’s Balodabajar district.

R.K.Gupta had allegedly conducted 83 surgeries in five hours on November 8, 2014 after which, within a few hours, 12 women died and more than 60 had to be admitted to the hospital.

Oil India has dipped 3.5% to Rs 576, extending its previous day’s 2% fall on National Stock Exchange (NSE), after reporting a 33% decline in net profit at Rs 608 crore for the quarter ended September as a historic downslide in crude oil price impacted realizations. The state-owned petroleum explorer had profit of Rs 904 crore during the same quarter last fiscal.

Analysts on an average had expected net profit of Rs 861 crore for the quarter.

Markets recovered from day lows as strength in Infosys, L&T and Sun Pharma managed to cap losses in HDFC twins, TCS and Bharti Airtel. At 1045 hrs, the Sensex was down 185 points at 27,994 and the Nifty was down 13 points at 8,370.

However, the broader markets gave off their morning gains and turned flat with a positive bias. The midcap index was up 0.2% while the smallcap index was near yesterday's close.

Banking operations such as cheque clearances, cash withdrawals and deposits at public sector bank branches across the country were affected on Wednesday, as employee unions went on a nationwide strike to press for a wage revision.

The strike had no impact on private sector banks. Services at ATMs of all the banks were normal, barring a few cases where the machines ran out of cash.

Taking the war on rising non-performing assets (NPAs) and wilful defaulters a step further the markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is likely to amend its regulations on restrictions on wilful defaulters.

Sources said by way of an amendment to the Sebi Act, 1992, borrowers with a wilful defaulter tag will be barred from raising funds from the market for three years. The changes will be announced in the Sebi board meeting on November 19.

Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government on Wednesday won the trust vote in Maharashtra assembly. The confidence motion was passed by voice-vote. Whereas, Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde accorded the status of Leader of Opposition by the Speaker.

However, Congress and Shiv Sena accused the speaker of being biased towards BJP and demanded that the government should prove majority again.

Markets started the day in green with the benchmark indices up 0.2% each in opening deals. The ones leading the opening gains were L&T, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and ONGC.

At 0919 hrs, the Sensex was up 58 points at 28,067 and the Nifty added 12 points to trade at 8,395.

The government has sought a report from the Coal Controller on delay in mining by NTPC from a Jharkhand mine which was alloted to the PSU about a decade ago.

The Coal Ministry has asked the Controller to inquire into non-mining of coal by NTPC on the basis of a complaint received from Bhu Visthapit Jagran Samiti, an association of villagers of Pakri Barwadih in Jharkhand.

IT services major Cognizant has acquired enterprise mobility, web and cloud solutions firm, Odecee, for an undisclosed amount.

"This acquisition further strengthens Cognizant's digital business transformation expertise and expands its portfolio of tools and services to help clients create digital enterprises that capitalise on new business models, drive innovative products and services, enhance workforce productivity, and improve customer experience," Cognizant said in a statement.

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