The Indian pharma sector's December quarter revenue is estimated to remain flat, while profits are likely to slip owing to decline in US businesses and a sharp appreciation in rupee, says a report.

According to an Edelweiss Securities report, though the October-December quarter was action packed, earnings are likely to remain muted.

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering has secured a Rs 14.83 billion offshore contract from ONGC.

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro, has signed an offshore contract for the 'Bassein Development 3 Well Platform and Pipeline Project' with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) valued at approximately Rs 14.83 billion, Larsen and Toubro stated in a BSE filing on Friday.

The State Bank of India may reduce its minimum balance requirement to Rs 1,000 from the current Rs 3,000 balance in metros, according to a report in the Economic Times.

The largest Indian bank suffered a huge backlash last week when finance ministry data revealed that it netted a windfall of Rs 17.72 billion, more than its second-quarter profit, from customers for non-maintenance of monthly average balance in savings accounts in eight months of 2017-18.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with top economists of the country on January 10.

This meeting is a usual practice before budget, and was conducted in 2017 as well.

Modi had also called for a similar meeting in December 2017, where the impact of demonetisation was discussed.

India’s second largest telecom operator Vodafone has announced a partnership with mobile handset manufacturer Samsung to offer cashback offers on a select range of 4G devices.

Vodafone subscribers can avail cashback of Rs 1,500 on the purchase of Galaxy J2 Pro, Galaxy J7 Nxt or Galaxy J7 Max devices. The cash back will be credited to their Vodafone M-Pesa wallets.

A total of 16 FIRs have been registered by the Mumbai Police, relating to statewide bandh that was called yesterday by the Dalit groups against the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

The Police said that they detained more than 300 miscreants in this regard.

Tata Steel, NMDC, Oil India, Jain Irrigation Systems, Jet Airways and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) are among 36 stocks from the S&P BSE 500 index that hit their respective 52-week highs on BSE.

Of these 36 stocks, around 21 recorded new highs in intra-day trade. These include Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Sun TV Network, Hindalco Industries, APL Apollo Tubes, Bajaj Electricals, Rain Industries and Sterlite Technologies

Facebook is running a small test to let users post their Instagram Storiesdirectly to WhatsApp Status.

The new feature will let users post decorated photos, videos and GIFs on WhatsApp which will disappear after 24 hours.

An Instagram Story posted as a WhatsApp Status also becomes encrypted like the rest of WhatsApp, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by over 123 points in early trade on Thursday, halting its three- session falling streak on fresh spell of buying in recent losers amid positive Asian cues.

The 30-share index rebounded by 123.37 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 33,916.75. The gauge had lost 263.45 points in the previous three sessions.

India’s central bank will soon issue a new Rs 10 note in chocolate brown colour. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already printed 1 billion pieces of the new note, Livemint reported quoting sources. Further, the new note will bear the picture of Konark Sun Temple.

The design received the go-ahead from the government last week, said the two of the people cited earlier. Earlier in 2005, the central bank had changed the design of the old Rs 10 note. In August-17, RBI had introduced the new Rs 200 and Rs 50 notes under the Mahatma Gandhi series. The move is aimed at achieving RBI’s aim to promote a less-cash economy.

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