NEW DELHI: German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz today reported best ever sales in India for the first nine months this year with 11,869 units, up 19.6 per cent from the year-ago period, retaining the top slot in the luxury segment.

The company had sold 9,924 units in the January- September period of 2016.

The government has made Aadhaar card mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra. Current subscribers can provide their unique Aadhaar id till December 31. Ministry of Finance has issued four separate Gazette notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for opening all post office deposit accounts, Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra deposits.

Sensex surged over 130 points in the opening session on Friday, as oil and banking shares took the middle stage.

The broader NSE Nifty also reclaimed the 9,900-mark. Expectations built up that today's meeting of the GST Council may provide some relief to exporters and SMEs in terms of faster refunds and compliance.

DLF promoter Kushal Pal Singh is the richest among Indian real estate moguls, followed by Mangal Prabhat Lodha of Lodha Group, who also is Bharatiya Janata Party's Member of Legislative Assembly in Maharashtra.

While Singh has a wealth of Rs 23,460 crore, Mumbai-based Lodha has a fortune of Rs 18,610 crore, according to GROHE Hurun India real estate rich list released on Thursday.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued a notice to Madhya Pradesh government over the allegations of police atrocity against a group of farmers returning from a protest in Tikamgarh.

The Congress party has alleged that the farmers were detained, stripped and beaten up by the police. They were returning from a protest for declaring Tikamgarh as a drought-hit district.

At least five personnel were killed and one was injured after the Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper Mi-17 V5 crashed near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday Morning.

The incident took place near Tawang at around 6:00 am during a training sortie. The Mi-17 V5 helicopter was on an Air Maintenance mission.

To clean its books the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is selling portfolio of 24 non-performing assets (NPAs) to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) and finance companies. The total outstanding for 24 accounts is about Rs 3,554 crore, according to a document prepared for sale transactions.

The top accounts include Jai Balaji Industries (Rs 873 crore), MSP Metalics (Rs 554 crore) and Shiva Textfab Ltd (Rs 531 crore).

Korean automobile major Hyundai, the second-biggest carmaker in the country, is planning to bring its captive finance arm, Hyundai Capital, to India. It is learnt that the entry might happen in 2018 calendar year, before Hyundai’s another brand, Kia, begins sales in the market.

Hyundai Capital would offer financing to dealers on vehicle inventory and to individual buyers at the retail level. A feasibility study has been initiated to evaluate its business prospects in India, Hyundai’s third-biggest market globally.

The government may sell flagship carrier Air India this fiscal itself if it finds a suitable buyer, according to official sources.

The government, they said, also expects to meet its disinvestment target as there are a number of companies in the pipeline.

The corporate governance panel of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has recommended more checks and balances on royalty and brand payments, related-party transactions and sharing of information between management and entities not part of the board.

Among the key recommendations by the committee is one on the aspect of exchange of price-sensitive information between companies and a promoter no longer a part of the board or management.

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