No case of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus has been detected in India yet, a senior government official said on Monday.
South Africa will remain on the lowest 'level 1' of its five-level lockdown strategy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic despite the global panic around the detection of the Omicron variant in the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced .
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
After a long hiatus of more than 20 months, the government had on November 26 announced the resumption of scheduled international commercial flights from December 15.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement urged world leaders not to implement 'knee-jerk' policy decisions in response to the detection of the Omicron variant.
America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said that the new COVID-19 Omicron variant is in 'fluid motion' in South Africa and the US scientists are in 'very active' communication with their colleagues in that country to test the strain, get facts and find out whether or not it evades the antibodies.
The UK on Saturday detected two cases of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, according to health secretary Sajid Javid as he added four more African countries to Britain's travel red list.
The Centre had on Thursday asked all states and union territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, where the B.1.1.529 variant has been detected.
Ministry of health and family welfare adds Hong Kong and Israel to the list of countries from where travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival in India, including post-arrival testing considering the detection of new COVID variant 'Omicron' in South Africa.
To avoid season pricing, keep a close eye on the calendar and begin planning travel at least 60 to 90 days in advance keeping tentative dates in mind.
Travellers from these 99 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Russia, which have been listed under 'Category A', have to submit a self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal (newdelhiairport.in) before the scheduled travel, apart from uploading a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report, according to the revised Guidelines for International Arrivals released by the Union health ministry on November 11.
A fresh political war of words erupted on Tuesday over the Rafale issue as the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress leadership of corruption citing claims of a French media report on 'commissions' being paid during the United Progressive Alliance rule and said the Indian National Congress should be renamed 'I Need Commission' party.
Paytm's Rs 18,300-crore IPO -- India's largest public issue to date -- was subscribed only 18 per cent on the first day of bidding on Monday.
Hectic fundraising through IPOs will continue next week, with three firms -- One97 Communications, owner of Paytm; Sapphire Foods India, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut outlets; and Latent View Analytics -- are set to launch their initial share-sales to collectively mop up about Rs 21,000 crore. This comes after five companies successfully concluded their public offerings (IPOs) this week. Those five firms are - FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which runs online marketplace for beauty and wellness products Nykaa; Fino Payments Bank; Policybazaar parent entity PB Fintech; decorative aesthetics supplier SJS Enterprises; and microcrystalline cellulose maker Sigachi Industries.
Digital firm One97 Communications, which operates under Paytm brand name, on Thursday said its IPO will open on November 8 for subscription in the price band of Rs 2,080-2,150 apiece, which implies that the firm's valuation stands at Rs 1.44 lakh crore-Rs 1.48 lakh crore. The initial public offer (IPO) subscription will close on November 10.
With India set to open up its border for international tourists, the government has decided on 'reciprocal treatment' to the applicants under new visa conditions. The visa facilitation will depend on the applicant's home country's policy for the Indian tourists.
Zee Entertainment last week witnessed shareholder activism that saw an open call for the ouster of promoters and the incumbent management led by Punit Goenka. Besides, Dish TV also faced a similar call earlier this month. The trouble at Zee Entertainment can be gauged from the fact that this is a unique company wherein the promoters own just 3.99 per cent, but fully control the firm.
Remarks from Indian External Affairs are significant as it comes after China slammed Quad and said the formation of "exclusive cliques" targeting other countries runs counter to the trend of the times and is "doomed to fail".
These seven countries are South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Mu -- also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 -- was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been 'sporadic reports' of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the United Nations health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday.
When a person gets an infection even after being vaccinated against it, it is called a breakthrough case.
A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which cause COVID-19, has been detected in South Africa and many other countries globally which could be more transmissible and evade protection provided by vaccines, according to study.
Kovind, who is on his first visit to Ayodhya after the landmark 2019 Supreme Court verdict paved the way for the construction of the temple, also offered prayers at the Hanumangarhi shrine, about 2 km away.
The report claims that the military experts who have analysed the evidence collected by its Investigative Unit say an airstrip under construction in Agalega will almost certainly be used for maritime patrol missions by the Indian Navy.
The combativeness reflects her insistence not to meekly acquiesce to what has been going on in Raisina Hill for years or decades, observes Kartikeya Tanna.
The government on Tuesday confirmed that a French court has ordered the freezing of certain Indian assets in Paris on a petition by Britain's Cairn Energy, which is seeking to recover $1.72 billion from New Delhi after winning an arbitration against retro tax. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha said the government has filed an appeal against an international arbitration tribunal overturning levy of Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes on Cairn Energy. "Yes sir, an order has been passed by a French Court freezing certain Indian government properties in the case pertaining to Cairn Energy," he said.
The proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day on Tuesday amid continuous protests by opposition members over the Pegasus snooping row and farm laws, as they demanded that discussions be taken up on the issues in the House.
Markets regulator Sebi and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) are probing some Adani Group companies for alleged non-compliance with rules, the government told Lok Sabha on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question said accounts of three of the six Mauritius-based funds, that have invested most of their money in Adani Group firms, were frozen in 2016 over the issuance of Global Depository Receipt (GDR) by certain listed firms. No freeze was ordered for their holding in other firms.
Digital payments and financial services firm Paytm has filed a draft red herring prospectus for its proposed Rs 16,600-crore initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
Weeks after confusion over three Mauritius-based funds whipsawing shares of Adani group firms, billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday said that "twisted narrative" seems to imply that companies have regulatory powers over their shareholders and can compel disclosures. Shares of port-to-energy group nosedived last month after reports that accounts of three of the six Mauritius-based funds that have invested most of their money in Adani group firms had been frozen by the national share depository. The three funds owned about $6 billion of shares across the conglomerate.
Britain's Cairn Energy has secured a French court order to seize 20 Indian govt properties to recover arbitration award, it is learnt.
A significant 69% respondents indicated keen interest to travel in 2021 post ease in restrictions with 18% ready to travel immediately post unlock and 51% within 3-6 months.
Foreign direct investment into India increased by 60 per cent to $4.44 billion in April as against $2.77 billion in the same month last year, government data showed on Wednesday. Total FDI, including equity, re-invested earnings and capital, rose 38 per cent to $6.24 billion in April this year, as against $4.53 billion in April 2020, as per the data. "During April, 2021 FDI equity inflows amounting to $4.44 billion were reported in the country which is an increase of 60 per cent over the FDI equity inflow of April, 2020 ($2.77 billion)," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
The clarification by the National Securities Depository (NSDL) - which is tasked with monitoring foreign portfolio investor (FPI) investment in domestic stocks - that the accounts of top investors in Adani group stocks remain 'active' has helped prevent a $500-million selloff of shares. Analysts said a freeze of the FPI accounts, as reported by some media outlets, could have prompted global index providers to cut weighting of four Adani group companies from their global indices. Brian Freitas, an analyst at independent research provider Smartkarma, said if the FPI accounts were indeed frozen, FTSE and MSCI would have reduced weighting of Adani group companies at the next rebalance, since it would have meant that the large part of the free float was not tradeable.
'Reenaji said they would be giving Rs 1.5 lakh to everyone, as the budget was very low.' 'So I blurted out, "Madam, do lakh toh hone chahiye".'
Though India's airlines are certainly bleeding, they haven't yet faced the ignominy of shutting down.
Shares of the six listed Adani group stocks tumbled for the fourth day on Thursday, resulting in Rs 1.59 trillion market cap loss this week. Adani Power, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission hit their 5 per cent lower trading limit for a fourth straight day.
Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other financial institutions, jumped to 2.55 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 20,700 crore) in 2020 on a sharp surge in holdings via securities and similar instruments, though customer deposits fell, annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed on Thursday. The increase in aggregate funds of Indian clients with Swiss banks, from 899 million Swiss francs (Rs 6,625 crore) at the end of 2019, reverses a two-year declining trend and has taken the figure to the highest level in 13 years. It stood at a record high of nearly 6.5 billion Swiss francs in 2006, after which it has been mostly on a downward path, except for a few years including in 2011, 2013 and 2017, as per the Swiss National Bank (SNB) data.
The US replaced Mauritius as the second largest source of foreign direct investment into India during 2020-21 with inflows of $13.82 billion, according to government data. Singapore remained the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country for the third consecutive fiscal at $17.41 billion. During the last financial year, India attracted $5.64 billion in FDI from Mauritius, according to the data by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
Foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country grew 19 per cent to $59.64 billion during 2020-21 on account of measures taken by the government on the fronts of policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business, the commerce and industry ministry said on Monday. Total FDI, including equity, re-invested earnings and capital, rose 10 per cent to the "highest ever" of $81.72 billion during 2020-21 as against $74.39 billion in 2019-20. "FDI equity inflow grew by 19 per cent in 2020-21 ($59.64 billion), compared to 2019-20 ($49.98 billion)," the ministry said in a statement. In terms of top investor countries, Singapore is at the top with 29 per cent share.
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