Apex industry body ASSOCHAM has mooted a proposal to the Union Government to constitute an appropriate authority either at the Central or state level to fix the ceiling on road freight rates and breaking local monopolies.

“Transporters charge exorbitant rates for movement of iron ore and other raw materials from mines and ports to steel plants, besides they also prevent free competition through their dominating presence in local areas,” said ASSOCHAM highlighting the double whammy being faced by the domestic steel sector.

The rupee edged higher by 2 paise to 66.69 against the US dollar at the forex market in early trade today on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters.

Besides, the dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas supported the rupee but early losses in the domestic equity market restricted gains, dealers said.

NEW DELHI: In a setback to energy firms like ONGC and Cairn India, the government will from this fiscal levy service tax of about Rs 1,922 crore on royalties they pay to the exchequer on oil and gas they produce.

Companies currently pay 9.09 per cent of the price they realise on oil and gas produced from onland or onshore fields and 16.67 per cent on the same from offshore areas.

MUMBAI: The country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has ignited a home loan rate war by slashing interest rates by 15 bps. Woman borrowers will now be able to avail loans at 9.15% while other borrowers will have to pay interest rate of 9.20%. The revised rates are applicable for home loans up to Rs 75 lakh. On October 28, ICICI Bank has cut its MCLR by 10 bps bringing its one year MCLR down to 8.95%.

MUMBAI: Private sector lender Yes Bank has launched “Yes Mobile 2.0” its new mobile banking app with multiple new features and extensive support for banking transactions on Apple and Android based SmartWatches. The app is compatible with all mobile devices including Android tablets and Apple iPads in addition to smartphones and wearables.

With multiple added functionalities and a customisable interface Yes Mobile 2.0 will replace the older Yes Mobile application that was being used by bank customers.

Payments company Mobikwik has partnered with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, to make e-payments for taktal bookings easier and faster.

A statement from Mobikwik said, "Instantaneous payments with MobiKwik will help tatkal online in managing the load of over a thousand ticket bookings per minute. The service will also help users to ensure that their bookings don't get rejected due to payment delays.

Czech auto company Skoda, part of the Volkswagen Group, on Thursday introduced a refreshed variant of its compact sedan Rapid at Rs 8.27 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) onwards. Rapid competes with models like Honda City, Maruti Suzuki’s Ciaz and Hyundai Verna.

Beginning at Rs 8.27 lakh, the petrol run Rapid comes in three variants, priced up to Rs 11.36 lakh. The diesel powered vehicle is priced between Rs 9.48 lakh to Rs 12.67 lakh.

Microsoft Corp launched a messaging system for businesses, Microsoft Teams, on Wednesday, putting it in direct competition with fast-growing startup Slack and Facebook Inc's Workplace product.

The new software will be part of Microsoft's Office 365 services, a cloud-based software suite that has more than 85 million monthly active commercial users.

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex on Wednesday tumbled over 349 points to close at 27,527.22 on weakening global cues after the latest poll suggested that Republican candidate Donald Trump was slightly ahead of market favourite and his Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton in the US Presidential polls.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty broke below the 8,600-mark level to close at an over three-month lows. Investors are also waiting the US Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision later today.

Following its launch on September 5, and after spending Rs 1.5 lakh crore, Chairman and Managing Director of the Reliance Industries Limited have revealed plans of spending another Rs 1 lakh crore on the Reliance Jio in the next four years for the better expansion of the network. Although, most of the calls in the network are dropped due to PoI and MNP issues, the telecom network which already had added 16 million customers within a month of its launch, have plans of adding at least 100 million customers by the end of a year.

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