Ashok Leyland (ALL) hit a new high of Rs 145, up 2.5%, extending its previous day’s 1% gain on the BSE in otherwise subdued market. Hinduja Group flagship ALL has outperformed the market by gaining 8% in past one month, as compared to 3.6% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The company’s net profit jumped almost three-fold to Rs 4.49 billion in Q3 from Rs 1.61 billion in the same period a year earlier, overtaking analysts’ estimates of Rs 4 billion.

MUMBAI: The RBI has penalised SBI Rs 40 lakh for not complying with its directions on detection and impounding of counterfeit notes. The RBI said it found deficiencies on SBI’s part in regulatory compliance with counterfeit note norms. The action is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers, the RBI added.

Snapping their six-day losing streak, stocks staged a strong comeback in early trade , with the BSE Sensex rebounding by 274 points and the Nifty recapturing the 10,200-mark on fresh buying by domestic institutional investors.

Asian markets were also trading in the green, boosted by easing fears of a global trade war as the White House signalled it would water down plans for contentious metal tariffs.

The stock of India’s second-largest private sector lender ICICI Bank recouped losses in the early trades on Thursday surging over 2% after a six-day rout including the two-day of sharp declines after SFIO probe. Shares of ICICI Bank topped the BSE Sensex on Thursday and contributed the most to the index gains, providing the major boost.

Laying emphasis on keeping pace with the highly-dynamic nature of the digital world, Trai chairman RS Sharma on Wednesday said regulations and policies of the government must also be dynamic so as to cater to constantly changing needs of digital domain.

“A lot is changing in the digital world and policies need to change with it, so as to handle issues that arise with this change.

While the government’s structural reforms augur well for the long term, much would depend on a supportive macro environment and adaptiveness of businesses to the changes, SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, Larsen & Toubro, tells Shubhra Tandon. Excerpts:

The year 2017 saw some significant reforms, the most important being GST. This also caused some disruptions to business. How do you view business activity now and what is your outlook for 2018?

The new 2018 TVS Apache RTR 160 will be launched in India on 14th March. The company has already started sending out invites for the launch event. Though the invite does not mention the exact name of the motorcycle, we believe that the upcoming bike will be the new RTR 160. At the launch of TVS Apache RR 310, the company had announced that the next launch under the Apache line up will be the updated Apache RTR 160.

The pummeling of bank stocks isn’t bad news for all banks. Kotak Mahindra Bank bucked the trend on Wednesday, with the stock ending in the green. In fact, the shares of the private lender advanced in three sessions of the last six when the Bank Nifty gave up over 6% of its value.

The private lender, which boasts higher market capitalisation than its gross advances, surpassed ICICI Bank in market value last week.

President of India Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday wished the "sheet-anchor of society" on the occassion of International Women's Day.

"On International Women's Day, greetings to women in India and across our planet," the President tweeted.

Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors Ltd. had just about 200 women on the shop floor three years ago. Now, it has 10 times that number and is looking to hire more.

In socially conservative India, that may be a tall order. Better educated women from wealthier families aren’t encouraged to work and it’s usually when a man’s salary falls short that women seek jobs.

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