Hong Kong prohibited the sale of Indian spice brands, MDH Pvt and Everest Food Products Pvt, following the detection of carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide in multiple spice blends, according to a report in the Hindustan Times (HT).

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said that there was presence of ethylene oxide in MDH Group's madras curry powder, sambhar masala powder, and curry powder, the HT report said.

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a plea requesting the release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on “extraordinary interim bail” for all criminal cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the state until the completion of his tenure.

The court emphasised that nobody is above the law or the Constitution of India, affirming that Kejriwal is in custody as per court orders.

Shares of Vodafone Idea were down 6.1 per cent at Rs 12.13 on the BSE in Monday’s intraday trade amid heavy volumes. The drop in the stock prices came amidst the last day of subscription for its follow on public offering (FPO).

Vodafone Idea's Rs 18,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) opened for subscription on Thursday, April 18. The three-day FPO will close today. The FPO price band was set at Rs 10 to Rs 11 per share with the minimum lot size for an application being 1,298 shares.

Following an impressive Q4FY24 performance, HDFC Bank announced an ex-gratia payment of around Rs 1,500 crore to its staff. The bank’s decision came as a gesture of appreciation for the employees’ dedication during the merger with HDFC Ltd as well as address attrition, said Sashidhar Jagdishan, the managing director & chief executive of the largest private sector lender.

The lender, which announced its January-March earnings on Saturday, reported a 37.1 per cent growth in net profit, boosted by a one-time gain from selling a majority stake in HDFC Credila – an education loan company.

Voting in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 started early morning on Friday. The first phase will see 102 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats go to polls in 17 states and four Union Territories (UTs).

Social networking service Instagram launched a new feature aimed at encouraging voters to participate in the elections. Upon opening the app, Instagram gives an alert on top which says, "Voting in India’s Lok Sabha elections starts today, April 19."

The Supreme Court on Friday asked yoga guru Ramdev to implead the complainants, who have lodged cases against him over his alleged remarks against the use of allopathic medicines during the Covid pandemic, as party in his plea seeking stay of criminal proceedings.

The Patna and Raipur chapters of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have lodged complaints in 2021 alleging Ramdev's remarks were likely to cause prejudice to Covid control mechanism and may dissuade people from availing proper treatment.

Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) were down by 4.2 per cent at Rs 560.20 intraday on Friday.

Similarly, other oil and marketing companies (OMCs) such as Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) slumped 4.1 per cent each at Rs 162.20 and Rs 457, respectively in intraday deals.

Cryptocurrencies fell heavily and bitcoin broke below $60,000 on Friday in a rush out of risky assets following reports of an Israeli missile strike on Iran.

Bitcoin slid more than 5.5 per cent to $59,961 in the Asia session as the US dollar rose broadly. Ether fell by a similar margin, dropping below the $3,000 barrier to $2,895.

Israeli missiles targeted a site in Iran in response to a recent drone and missile attack launched by Iran, reportedly in retaliation against an alleged Israeli airstrike on Iranian embassy in Syria, according to a report in ABC News.

ABC News reported on the unfolding situation, amid fears that the clash between Israel and Iran might escalate into a wider regional conflict.

IT major Infosys, on Thursday, reported a consolidated net profit increase of 30 per cent to Rs 7,969 crore for the quarter of January-March in the financial year 2024 (Q4FY24), compared to Rs 6,128 crore reported during the same period last year.

The consolidated revenue went up 1.3 per cent to Rs 37,923 crore, compared to Rs 37,441 crore reported during Q4FY23.

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