Business Highlights

Following are the top business stories at 1905 hours: DCM18 BIZ-LD OLA-LAYOFF Ola to layoff 1,400 staff as COVID-19 pandemic hits revenues New Delhi: Cab aggregator Ola is laying off 1,400 staff from rides, financial services and food business as revenues declined by 95 per cent in the last two months due to coronavirus pandemic, a note by CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said. DCM65 BIZ-FIN COMM-HEALTH 15th FinComm to meet its high level group on health sector on Thursday New Delhi:The 15th Finance Commission will hold a virtual meeting with its high level group on the health sector on Thursday to discuss requirements of increased resources and manpower in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

DEL70 BIZ-LD STOCKS Sensex builds on gains, jumps 622 pts; Nifty reclaims 9k-mark Mumbai: Benchmark indices marched higher for the second straight day on Wednesday as robust gains in market heavyweights HDFC twins and RIL offset lacklustre global cues. DEL44 BIZ-CAB-SENIOR CITIZENS Govt extends 'Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana' by 3 yrs till Mar 2023 New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday extended the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), a social security scheme for senior citizens, for three years till March, 2023. DEL88 BIZ-LD RUPEE Rupee drops 14 paise to 75.80 on trade worries, coronavirus scare Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 14 paise to close at 75.80 against the US dollar on Wednesday as headwinds due to US-China trade tiff and worries over the second wave of coronavirus infection weighed on investor sentiment.

DCM53 CAB-LD-COAL-COMMERCIAL-MINING Govt approves methodology for auction of mines for commercial mining;sale of coal on revenue sharing New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved a methodology for the auction of coal blocks for commercial mining on revenue sharing basis and increasing the tenure of coking coal linkage. DCM45 CAB-FISHERY-SCHEME Cabinet approves Rs 20,050cr scheme for fisheries sector New Delhi:The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a scheme to bring about a blue revolution through sustainable and responsible development of the fisheries sector with a total estimated investment of Rs 20,050 crore in the next five years.

DCM57 CAB-FOOD PROCESSING Cabinet approves Rs 10,000 crore scheme to support micro food processing units New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday gave approval for a new central scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for providing credit-linked subsidy to 2 lakh micro food processing units across the country. DCM61 CAB-NBFC-CREDIT SCHEME Govt eases norms of partial credit guarantee scheme to help NBFCs, HFCs New Delhi: The Cabinet on Wednesday relaxed the norms of the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme and extended its time period in order to widen the coverage to include a larger number of NBFCs, HFCs and micro finance institutions.

DCM4 BIZ-ECO PACKAGE-MARATHE Stimulus package fails to involve banks as frontline warriors in economic revival: Satish Marathe Mumbai: The stimulus package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman "fails to involve" banks in the economic revival process, a member of the Reserve Bank of India's central board said on Wednesday. DCM46 BIZ-TCS-COVID OPPORTUNITIES TCS well-positioned to weather this storm, take advantage of opportunities in downturn: Chandra New Delhi:The next few months will be difficult for enterprises globally but Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is well positioned to weather the storms and take advantage of opportunities that come up during the downturn, TCS Chairman N Chandrasekaran has said.

DCM35 BIZ-FRANKLIN TEMPLETON-KOTAK Franklin Templeton appoints Kotak Mahindra Bank to assist in monetising assets of 6 wind-up schemes New Delhi: Franklin Templeton Trustee Services has appointed Kotak Mahindra Bank to work together with Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) to assist the trustees in monetising portfolios of the six schemes that are being wound up. DCM64 BIZ-PROTEST-BMS Tremendous response for protest against labour law changes: BMS New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) said the call for a day-long protest in 14 states on Wednesday against host of issues, particularly unilateral changes in labour laws, evoked massive participation across the country.

DCM31 BIZ-NCDEX-AGRI-INDEX NCDEX to launch India's first agri-futures index on May 26 New Delhi: Leading agri-commodity bourse NCDEX on Wednesday said it will launch the country's first agri-futures index, NCDEX AGRIDEX, on May 26..