Jakarta: Scores of people were killed when a powerful quake and tsunami struck central Indonesia, an AFP photographer at the scene said on Saturday, as rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region.

Photographs from Palu, home to around 350,000 on the coast of Sulawesi island, showed partially covered bodies on the ground near the shore, the morning after tsunami waves as high as 1.5 metres (five feet) slammed into the city.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court, in a historic verdict on Friday, allowed the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. Till now, women in the 10-50 age group were denied entry on the ground that they were of menstruating age. The court paved the way for their worship at par with men.

A U.S. trade judge on Friday declined to block the importation of Apple Inc iPhones with chips from Intel Corp, handing a major defeat to Qualcomm Inc in its high-stakes legal dispute with the iPhone maker.

A U.S. International Trade Commission judge said Apple’s phones infringed one Qualcomm patent related to power management technology, but denied the chipmaker’s request for a ban on the import of some iPhones into the United States.

National passenger carrier Air India will deploy its Boeing 747 “Jumbo” aircraft to meet the rising passenger traffic from October 16 to 21.

According to Air India, it will operate the 747 aircraft on Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi and Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi routes.

India’s largest lender State Bank of India is currently reviewing its exposures to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and this review is expected to be completed within the next fortnight, a senior bank official said on Friday.

This review process assumes significance as IL&FS, a major infrastructure financing and construction company, has sent shock waves through the country’s NBFC sector when it defaulted on some of its debt obligations in recent weeks.

Beleaguered IL&FS can raise up to Rs 700 billion by selling its assets, the Life Insurance Corporation of India Chairman V K Sharma said in New Delhi on Friday. LIC was open to raising stake in the company by participating in its rights issue, he added.

Rana Kapoor, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) at Yes Bank, reiterated his commitment to the bank and its stakeholders on Friday. In a series of tweets, Kapoor said his YES Bank shares were invaluable. He said he would never sell his shares, even after he demits office as the private lender’s MD and CEO.

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) will retain the capital’s iconic luxury hotel Taj Mahal (popularly known as Taj Mansingh after the road on which it is located) for another thirty-three years. The Tata Group company, which operates a chain of luxury hotels under the Taj brand, emerged winner in an e-auction conducted by NDMC, the city’s civic body. IHCL outbid ITC, the only other bidder for the hotel on Friday.

Larsen & Toubro Friday announced that its construction arm has secured orders worth Rs 14.77 billion.

The company has bagged orders worth Rs 11.57 billion from the Public Health Engineering Department, Rajasthan for the execution of drinking water supply projects in Pali, Dungarpur and Banswara districts of the state, it said in a statement.

Apollo Hospitals, India's largest hospital chain, on Friday informed stock exchanges that its shareholders had approved its plan to raise Rs 5 billion via issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The issue was taken up for discussion at the company’s 37th annual general meeting on Thursday.

The Prathap Reddy-led company had last month reported a strong 70.86 per cent year-on-year net profit growth during the quarter ended June 30 to Rs 601.6 million.

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