Business highlights

Following are the top business stories at 1900 hours: DEL26 BIZ-LD PM-PIPELINE PM's energy roadmap: More than double natural gas share, diversify energy sources New Delhi: Enunciating his energy roadmap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the share of natural gas in India's energy basket will be more than doubled, energy sources diversified and the nation will be connected with one gas pipeline grid to help bring affordable fuel to people and industry. DEL55 BIZ-LD STOCKS Sensex, Nifty scale fresh peaks; financials, IT stocks shine Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex defied gravity for the 10th straight session to close at a fresh lifetime high on Tuesday as robust buying in financial and IT stocks offset lacklustre global cues.

DEL66 BIZ-LD RUPEE Rupee skids 15 paise to 73.17 against US dollar Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 15 paise to settle at 73.17 against the US dollar on Tuesday, in tandem with most Asian currencies as fresh lockdowns in Europe and rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sapped risk appetite. DCM22 BIZ-VACCINE-SII-BHARAT BIOTECH Serum, Bharat Biotech to work together to develop, supply COVID-19 vaccines New Delhi: Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said they will work together to develop, manufacture and supply the COVID-19 vaccines in India and globally.

DCM50 BIZ-DEALS-REPORT Inbound M&As fall 7% to USD 73.6 bn in 2020: Report Mumbai: Despite Reliance Group closing a slew of equity divestments in its telecom and retail arms to the tune of USD 23 billion in 2020, the overall inbound M&As failed to notch up the 2019 tally with the value falling 7 per cent to USD 73.6 billion last year, according to a report. DCM48 BIZ-BIRA 91-JAPAN Bira 91 to be launched in Japan before Tokyo Olympics New Delhi: Homegrown beer brand Bira 91, in which Japan's beer maker Kirin Holdings is investing USD 30 million (about 219 crore), would be launched in the Japanese market before the Tokyo Olympics this year, the founder and CEO of the company said.

DCM47 BIZ-GANGULY-ADVT Fortune cooking oil advt featuring Ganguly taken off air temporarily New Delhi: Fortune cooking oil has temporarily halted television commercials featuring former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly following a mild heart attack he suffered. DCM43 BIZ-BSE-LD MCAP BSE-listed cos' market valuation zooms to record high of Rs 192.87 lakh cr New Delhi: Total market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE zoomed to a record high of Rs 192.87 lakh crore on Tuesday helped by continuous rally in the equity market.

DCM42 BIZ-AMAZON-ARBITRATION Michael Hwang joins arbitration tribunal looking into Amazon-Future dispute: Sources New Delhi: Singaporean barrister Michael Hwang has joined the three-member arbitration tribunal at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) that is looking into the Amazon and Future Group dispute over the latter's Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Industries, according to sources. DCM40 BIZ-APEDA-HALAL APEDA removes word 'Halal' from meat export manual New Delhi: Agri export body APEDA has removed the word 'Halal' from its Red Meat Manual and clarified that for the purpose of export, the animals are slaughtered according to the requirement of the meat importing country or buyer, a move welcomed by the right-wing groups.

DCM38 BIZ-ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS-RANKING Jharkhand's Ramgarh tops Niti Aayog aspirational districts ranking in November New Delhi: Ramgarh in Jharkhand has topped the list of aspirational districts ranked by the government think tank Niti Aayog in November 2020. DCM28 BIZ-FINMIN-REPORT Approval of COVID vaccine lends strength to optimism on health, eco fronts: FinMin report New Delhi: Approval of the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine provides strength to the optimism on health and economic fronts, the Finance Ministry said in its monthly economic report.

DCM25 BIZ-TOLL-COLLECTION-FASTAG Toll collection through FASTag in Dec increases by over Rs 200 cr to Rs 2,304 cr New Delhi: Toll collection in December 2020 through FASTags reached Rs 2,303.79 crore in December 2020, recording an increase of Rs 201 crore over the preceding month, the NHAI said on Tuesday. DCM21 BIZ-BIYANI-AMAZON Amazon was fully aware of talks with RIL for sale of retail assets: Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani New Delhi: Future Group Founder and CEO Kishore Biyani on Tuesday said Amazon was fully aware of his group's talks with Reliance Industries for the sale of retail assets that followed the US giant offering no concrete help to tide over the cash crisis.

DCM19 BIZ-MUTUAL FUND-ASSET Mutual funds asset base rises 7.6 pc to Rs 29.71 lakh cr in Dec qtr New Delhi: Mutual funds' asset base rose by 7.6 per cent to 29.71 lakh crore in the quarter ended December, mainly on account of the rally in equity markets..