A federal judge has certified two shareholder class actions accusing Facebook Inc of hiding concerns about its growth forecasts prior to the social media company’s May 2012 initial public offering.

US District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan said retail and institutional investors who claimed to lose money from buying Facebook shares at inflated prices in connection with the $16 billion IPO may pursue their respective claims as groups.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday weakened marginally against the US dollar in thin holiday trade, tracking losses in most Asian currencies.

At 2.20pm, the rupee was trading at 66.45 a dollar, down 0.1% from its previous close of 66.40. The local currency opened at 66.44 and touched a low of 66.47 a dollar, a level last seen on 18 December.

Mumbai: India’s market regulator will in a few days release detailed rules under which investors are deemed fit to buy shares in exchanges, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman U.K. Sinha said on Wednesday.

Sinha was speaking on the sidelines of a conference organized by Bandhan Bank on the inauguration of its 600th branch in India.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty snapped a two-day winning streak on Wednesday on the back of unwinding of long positions ahead of the derivatives expiry, coupled with profit bookings. Sensex closed 119.45 points down at 25960.03, while Nifty settled 32.70 points down at 7,896.25.

Depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. The rupee was trading lower by 4 paise to 66.43 against the dollar at the time of equity markets closing at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased month-end demand for the US currency from importers.

Stepping up its 'name and shame' campaign, the Income Tax department on Wednesday made public a third list of 18 tax defaulters including gold and diamond traders whose dues totalled around Rs 1,150 crore.

The IT department's public notice containing the names of the 18 defaulters who have either gone untraceable or have inadequate assets to pay is the third such list this year after names of 49 defaulters with a tax liability of over Rs 2,000 crore were earlier released in two instalments.

Rocket Internet-backed online food ordering service Foodpanda's India unit has laid off over 300 people, joining rivals Zomato, Swiggy and TinyOwl in scaling down its business in the country to curb cash burn.

The downsizing, which was confirmed by Foodpanda India CEO Saurabh Kochhar, will see the company losing close to 15 per cent of its staff from across business segments. The layoffs will be restricted only to Foodpanda's Indian business.

We maintain ‘hold’ on Idea Cellular with a target price of R150 per share. While Idea’s 4G launch will strengthen its high-speed data offering, the coverage is not only thin but also in circles where 4G device penetration is low. We would hence wait to see the company’s pricing strategy for major cities where device penetration is better. Hence, we remain cautious.

In the new Air India offer announced today by the government-run airline, two special schemes enable passengers to ring in the New Year 2016 in style – these are ‘New Year Special’ and ‘Lucky First’.

Under the New Year Special offer, passengers will get an all-inclusive one-way fare of Rs 5,016 for travel between the metros on flights departing between 8 pm on December 31, and 8 am on January 1, the national carrier said in a statement.

Markets have turned range bound and are hovering near the flat line amid thin volumes.

By 11:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading lower by 6 points at 26,075 and Nifty50 was flat at 7,929.

Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd. (GVFL) has received SEBI approval for its eighth fund, looking at raising $37.9 million from financial institutions and expects to close at around $19-20 million by March 2016. The firm has received commitments from institutions like LIC, SIDBI, Bank of Baroda etc.

As per a DealStreetAsia report, the fund is targeting a final close by December 2016 and it will start investing in startups with a ticket size of nearly $750,000-4 million per deal. It plans to invest in Series A and seed stage rounds in Indian technology-enabled segments like edtech, fintech, electronics, communication, healthcare, hyperlocal delivery, logistics, agritech and Internet of Things.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.