Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday in a lighter vein said twice he became deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and on both occasions, wanted the home portfolio, but "seniors" in his party thought if he gets the key ministry, he would not listen to them.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly made the comments during a meeting of the NCP's Pune unit where a functionary remarked that when the party becomes part of a government in the future, he (Pawar) should become home minister.

India's Byju's has paid 19 billion rupees ($234 million) to Blackstone Inc, settling its dues owed to the private-equity firm as part of a $950 million deal to buy Aakash Educational, a source directly involved with the deal said on Friday.

The payment made on Thursday was for a stake of about 38% owned by Blackstone in the learning center chain that Byju's acquired in April 2021.

Exide Industries, an automotive and industrial battery maker, is eyeing to invest Rs 6,000 crore in the next 8-10 years to set up a 12 gigawatt-hour lithium-ion cell manufacturing unit in Karnataka. The first phase with a capacity of 6 gigawatt-hour is expected to be completed in 27-30 months, a report by BusinessLine(BL) stated.

“We are a debt-free company and have sufficient reserves. So we will look at internal accruals (to fund the project) and some bridge loan facilities from banks as and when required,” Subir Chakraborty, MD and CEO, Exide.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is facing difficulties in finalising deals for 5G equipment as vendors are asking the telco to clear previous dues first. The deals for 5G equipment supplies and tower tenancies have also hit a roadblock with vendors demanding advance payments, a report in Economic Times (ET) added.

"Equipment vendors have been asking the telco to clear their 4G dues and have also asked for advanced payments for 5G radio procurement," a person aware of the matter was quoted as saying in the ET report.

The Uttar Pradesh government, through its investment promotion agency Invest UP, has been successful in attracting beverages industrial units in Gorakhpur, Amethi, Prayagraj and Chitrakoot.

Varun Beverages Ltd, all India franchisee of PepsiCo, has been allotted land in these districts through fast-track mode for setting up their units for producing carbonated soft drinks, fruit pulp or juice-based drinks.

Tata Steel’s board has approved merging six subsidiaries and an associate company into it, seeking to consolidate the metals and mining business and simplify the holding structure.

The decision on Thursday is for listed companies Tata Steel Long Products, The Tinplate Company of India Limited, Tata Metaliks, and TRF, said a press statement.

Despite concerns around inflation and discretionary spending, customers are looking forward to shopping this festive season. 83 per cent of the respondents surveyed indicated a willingness to buy this festive season, according to consulting firm Redseer's recent survey. This optimism is not just limited to consumers, but sellers are also expecting higher increases in sales.

The positive sentiments are driven by demand for fashion, mobiles, electronics and large appliances.

Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses Pvt Ltd said it achieved gross merchandise value of Rs 5718 crore for the year ended March 31, 2022, recording a six-fold growth over the year-ago period. The digital manufacturing firm said this was aided by solid company fundamentals and a well-executed business diversification strategy.

The Company's operating revenue grew six-fold to Rs 4961 crore from Rs 835 crore in 2020-21.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday targeted Uddhav Thackeray for "betraying" the Hindutva ideology, even as he declared himself as the true torchbearer of the ideals of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

Addressing a Shiv Sena function here, Shinde alleged that it was Uddhav Thackeray who betrayed the Hindutva ideology propounded by Balasaheb Thackeray by joining hands with arch-rivals Congress and NCP.

As many as 106 activists of the Popular Front of India were arrested on Thursday in early morning raids by multi-agencies led by the National Investigation Agency, covering around 11 states, for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country, officials said.

The maximum number of arrests were made in Kerala (22) followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka (20 each), Andhra Pradesh (5), Assam (9), Delhi (3), Madhya Pradesh (4), Puducherry (3), Tamil Nadu (10), Uttar Pradesh (8) and Rajasthan (2).

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.