Having reported an operating profit of Rs 105 crore for 2015-16 fiscal, Air India is expected to post an improved operating profit margin this year as well, even as liquidity constraints continue to impact the smooth performance of the national carrier, the government said on Tuesday.

Air India, over the years and especially since the implementation of the turnaround plan, has been constantly improving its operational as well as financial performance, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

State-run engineering major BHEL today posted a net profit of Rs 93.54 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2016, on the back of higher income from power segment. The company had reported a net loss of Rs 1,084.96 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Total income increased to Rs 6,461.22 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, from Rs 5,498.07 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, BHEL said in a BSE filing.

The Icc Women's World Cup Qualifiers 2017 begins on Tuesday, February 7. Eight teams, India, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Thailand, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Scotland, and Papua New Guinea will compete to lift the trophy on February 21. But four of these teams will gain a seat to be part of eight-team ICC Women's World Cup 2017 and the ICC Women's Championship.

Telecom major Vodafone has appointed professional services firms Deloitte and EY to carry out due diligence for the proposed merger of its India business with Idea Cellular, ET Now reported citing unidentified sources. Both the companies have set up the teams for due diligence and expect to complete it in next three-four weeks, ET Now said.

Earlier last week, India’s second-largest telecommunication services provider Vodafone confirmed it is in talks for an all-share merger with the third-largest operator Idea Cellular, in the first consolidation move in the Indian telecom industry reeling under the pressure of intense competition from Reliance Jio’s free service offers.

State-owned BSNL has reduced duration of its landline to landline local call by one minute on same network and also hiked the charge by 20 per cent.

The duration (pulse) of each local call from BSNL landline to BSNL landline has been reduced from three minutes to two minutes, a BSNL spokesman said here today.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will address the boards of the Reserve Bank and markets regulator Sebi on February 11 and discuss various financial sector reforms announced in the Union Budget 2017-18. The customary post-Budget address of the Finance Minister before the boards of the two regulators comes against the backdrop of the government pegging fiscal deficit at 3.2 per cent of GDP for the financial year ending March 2018. The minister would address the board of Sebi and RBI in Delhi on February 11, sources said.

Automobile company shares tumbled on Tuesday, dragging the broader markets down, and giving up part of the post-budget gains.

India’s largest commercial vehicles maker Tata Motors led the losses, falling as much as 2.3% to the day’s lows of Rs 513.25. The S&P BSE Auto index fell 0.93% to 22,079.74 points, with all but one of its constituents in red.

Shares of Jaiprakash Associates were trading strong after its lender ICICI Bank said the debt to the company could soon be concluded as its planned sale of cement units was moving well.

“A large case that one could talk about is the Jaiprakash Associates’ cement assets sale to Ultratech. That is moving well in terms of regulatory approvals,” ICICI Bank’s MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar told CNBC TV18 in an interview.

NEW DELHI: Indian Oil Corp may go to court if the Odisha government carries out its threat to withdraw tax incentive to its Paradip refinery, in a confrontation that could dent the state’s credibility as an investment destination.

Odisha issued a notice to IOC last month, saying the economic environment had “drastically changed in favour of Indian Oil Corp” so that a fiscal incentive for Paradip refinery has become “unnecessary and unjustified”.

Weak global cues and eyes on the Indian central bank's move in the last monetary policy of the fiscal kept the markets subdued in early trade on Tuesday.

The BSE Sensex was over 45 points down in early trade. However, at 0949hours, it had recovered slightly and was trading at 28,412.27, down 27.01 points or 0.09% from previous close. The National Stock Exchange Nifty was down 13.60 points or 0.15% at 8,787.45 from previous close.

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