Guaranteed plans from life insurers could give better returns than FD

• Most life insurance products follow exempt-exempt-exempt (EEE) taxation. It means, there is tax benefit available on investment, there is no tax on accrual and when product matures.

Sebi’s relaxed IPO norms for startups may prompt more exits

• Sebi has also proposed that stipulation for triggering open offers under the takeover norms should be relaxed to a higher threshold of 49% from existing 25%, considering that the higher threshold will give investors a better opportunity to get the right exit

Bull run or flat returns in 2021? ICICI Securities' top 19 stock picks for 2021

'The bull market environment prevailing in CY21 could take Nifty50 to 14,900 levels. However, if market bullishness reverts to average sentiment, the base case fundamental value is ~13,500, which indicates flat returns for CY21.'

Vodafone Idea net loses 2.7 million subscribers in October

• India’s active wireless subscriber base also increased by 2.5 million to nearly 961 million
• Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has a 35% market share of wireless subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 29% and Vodafone Idea at 25%

Karnataka govt revises night curfew timings; to come into effect from tomorrow

• During the night curfew, special rituals for Christmas Midnight Mass can be held without interruption on the night of 24 Dec, the state government said
• It had also said those travelling to the state from foreign countries must have COVID certificate and the test should have been done only 72 hours before

Twenty years ago Nissan squeezed suppliers, now it needs their help

When Carlos Ghosn arrived at Nissan in 1999, suppliers took the brunt of cost-cutting that helped revive the automaker. Two decades later, his successors are trying for another turnaround

Antony Waste Handling Cell’s Rs300 crore IPO subscribed 15 times on final day

• The IPO followed the mad rush of investors for the last two public offerings, those of Mrs Bectors Food Specialities Ltd and Burger King India Ltd, which were subscribed 199 and 157 times respectively

Infosys share hits new high, analysts see further upside

Anad Rathi has a buy call on Infosys with a target price of ₹1,385.

UTI Small Cap Fund gets 86,000 applications, garners ₹920 cr during NFO period

• The scheme re-opened for subscription and redemption for an ongoing basis from 23 December, the fund house said
• UTI Small Cap Fund will endeavour to invest in companies that have scalable business models and are run by seasoned management

New rules for DTH operators: Longer license period, sharing platforms allowed

• The license for the DTH service providers will be issued for 20 years instead of current norm of 10 years
• DTH operators, willing to share DTH platform and transport stream of TV channels, will be allowed

Honda Civic, Honda CR-V will no longer be available in India. Here's why

The cars are still listed on the official website of the company. However, that may change once the stocks get exhausted

RBI cautions against unauthorised lending apps

• On 24 June, RBI had said banks and non-bank financiers, irrespective of whether they lend through their own digital lending platform or through an outsourced entity, must adhere to fair practices guidelines in letter and spirit

Cabinet approves ₹59,000 crore Post Matric Scholarship for 4 crore SC students

• The central government will spend 60% of the programme which is estimated at ₹35,534
• The rest will be provided by the state government

Noida international airport region sees ₹7,617 crore investments amid Covid-19

• From April till December, 911 plots were allotted to companies along the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway
• The investments have also led to the creation of 1.91 lakh jobs in the region

FDI growth story to 'go well' in 2021 too

With relaxed FDI norms, defence production will be among the areas that will be looked at for fresh overseas investments in the months ahead while easing compliance burden of businesses will be a priority area

India slips to bottom of EM rungs for the second time in six months

• India’s economic activity still appears weak compared to peers, shows the November edition of Mint’s Emerging Markets Tracker

WhatsApp rival Telegram to launch 'pay-for' services in 2021

• 'If we monetize large public one-to-many channels via the Ad Platform, the owners of these channels will receive free traffic in proportion to their size,' said founder Pavel Durov
• Durov also mentioned that all the features that are currently free will stay free

India to study arbitration case award in Cairn Energy

• 'After such consultations, the government will consider all options and take a decision on further course of action, including legal remedies before appropriate fora,' Centre said in a statement
• Cairn Energy asked India to pay funds withheld along with interest to the Scottish oil explorer for seizing dividend, tax refund, and sale of shares to partly recover the dues

Covid-19 impact: Honda Cars India stops production in Greater Noida plant

All Head Office functions, India R&D Centre and Spare Parts operations (including warehouse) for Automobile, Two Wheeler and Power Product business will continue to operate from Greater Noida

Mid cap stocks to outshine in 2021, say analysts. Here are the top picks

The Nifty is expected to remain in a structural bull phase with upside target of 16,200 that is implied by the three year’s consolidation breakout (12200-8000), says ICICI Securities.

IndiGo recovering from aviation ‘carnage’ and may rehire

IndiGo, which has some 730 Airbus SE A320neo planes on order, laid off about 10% of its workforce due to the pandemic-driven slowdown

West Bengal: Class 10, 12 board exams to take place in June, says education min

• The class 10 (Madhyamik) exams will be held first and the class 12 (Ucchya Madhyamik) examinations after that, West Bengal's education minister said
• The exams are usually held between February and March every year

Govt to release next deposits of PM-KISAN on 25 December amid farmers' protest

• The govt will transfer more than ₹18,000 crores to over 9 crores beneficiary farmer families on 25 December
• Under the PM-KISAN, a financial support of ₹6,000 per year is provided to all registered farmers across the country in three equal installments

Karnataka imposes night curfew starting today

The night curfew in Karnataka will remain in place till January 2

Edelweiss NCDs offer up to 9.95%, should you subscribe?

• The issue will run from 23rd December to 15th Jan 2021, with an option of early closure. Care Ratings has rated the offering CARE A+; with stable outlook and Brickwork Ratings India Private has rated it as BWR AA-/Stable.

Soon e-NPS subscribers can exit from the scheme through offline Aadhaar process

• For e-NPS Subscribers whose corpus is more than ₹10 lakh as well as for the subscribers who are associated with POPs (Points of Presence), an online platform has recently been enabled.

Cairn Energy wins arbitration in tax dispute with India: Report

• Cairn Energy’s victory will be a second loss for India in an international arbitration
• An international arbitration tribunal ruled that India’s tax claim of $1.2 billion rupees in past taxes was not a valid demand, people with knowledge of the matter said

Xiaomi’s market value tops $100 billion, reaching 2018 IPO goal

The firm’s stock rallied as much as 9.1% Wednesday to a new record in Hong Kong, making it the 13th stock in the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index to have a market capitalization above $100 billion

India records $80 billion of M&A and private equity deals in 2020: Report

• M&A accounted for over 50% of the total deal value this year, while private equity (PE) activity kept pace with last year, recording investments worth $38.2 billion.

Biryani and healthy meals top Swiggy’s annual food trends

• Swiggy also ferried over 6 lakh cakes this year as people celebrated their 'lockdown' birthdays
• India’s lockdown weighed heavy on its restaurants that worked under severe restrictions and even shuttered temporarily

How hunger came back to haunt India

• With data showing a worrying rise in child undernutrition, urgent action is required. Where are the gaps?
• Getting ICDS services running immediately should be top priority, along with a resumption in school meals. Since malls and cinema halls have reopened, anganwadis should too

Antony Waste IPO's grey market premium slide down

The three-day issue closes today, on 23rd December. Price range for the offer has been fixed at ₹313-315 per share.

Billionaires fight it out for India’s retail crown

• The battle over Future Retail is just the beginning for Ambani and Bezos

How prepared is India to tackle new strain?

• There is no evidence the new variant is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality, say WHO experts

Maharashtra allows opening of amusement parks, indoor entertainment activities

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 3,106 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 19,02,458, the state health department said.