Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg and said the friendship between the two countries is deep-rooted.

The meeting between the two leaders comes after their informal meet in the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi, Russia in May.

The government is planning to sell up to 10 per cent stake each in real estate firms HUDCO and NBCC as also 3 per cent in NTPC through an offer for sale (OFS), which could fetch about Rs 59 billion to the exchequer.

The finance ministry will soon float Request for Proposals (RFP) to appoint merchant bankers for managing the stake sale of HUDCO and NBCC, a source said.

Islamabad, July 26 (Reuters): Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan inched closer to power on Thursday after a general election that has been marred by long delays in ballot counting and claims of rigging by opponents.

With nearly half the votes counted from Wednesday's election, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, was in a commanding lead.

Private sector lender Yes Bank's first quarter net profit rose 30 per cent on the back of rise in interest and other income as asset quality fell.

The bank's net profit rose to Rs 12.6 billion in the quarter ended June, compared with Rs 9.65 billion in the year-ago quarter. The bank's net interest income, or the interest earned minus interest expended, rose 22 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 22.19 billion.

American carmaker Ford, which tasted success in India with its EcoSport sports utility vehicle (SUV), plans to have an SUV dominated future line up for the local market. EcoSport accounts for almost 40 per cent of the cumulative one million units sold by the car maker in India till date. More than half of its future launches could be SUVs.

The government today gave final approval to the mega merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular which will create the country’s largest mobile operator with 35 percent market share with around 430 million subscribers. The move comes just days after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore ‘under protest’ to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for merging their mobile business.

Mumbai: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is understood to have sought the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to extend the timing of derivatives trading till almost midnight.

In May, the market regulator had extended the trading time in equity derivatives till 11.55pm and it had said that the revised timings will be effective from October 1. Currently, trading is allowed from 9.15am till 3.30pm.

India and the US are likely to sign the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), a bilateral pact between the two countries for secure military communications, during the inaugural ‘2+2’ meeting in New Delhi in the first week of September. Official sources told The Indian Express that the government had made up its mind to sign the agreement which had been pending for nearly 15 years now.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) on Wednesday reported a net profit of `155.6 crore, up 92.6% year-on year (y-o-y), for the three months to June.

The profits come off a low base and were below analysts’ estimates. The company recorded a revenue of Rs 5,790 crore, up 8%, in Q1FY19. Earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was `288 crore while the Ebitda margin was 4.9%.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Wednesday said it is recalling around 1,300 units of its popular Swift and Dzire models for an airbag-related fault.

The company said 566 new Swift units and 713 new Dzire units, manufactured between May 7 and July 5, 2018, will be checked for issues in the airbag controller unit.

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