Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Wednesday said it has joined hands with Indian Bank to facilitate easy finance for customers.

As part of the partnership, the company's customers can avail the loan benefits in over 5,700 plus branches of Indian Bank at metro, urban, semi-urban and rural locations.

Reliance and Viacom18 on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems -- a platform of James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar -- to form one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India.

Bodhi Tree Systems is leading a fund raise with a consortium of investors to invest Rs 13,500 crore in Viacom18, to jointly build India's leading entertainment platform and pioneer the Indian media landscape's transformation to a "streaming-first" approach.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is launching the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in the history of the Indian capital market at about Rs 21,000 crore. The share sale, which opens on May 4, will make the insurer the fifth-largest listed company in the country with a market capitalisation of Rs 6.02 trillion, assuming the upper price band of Rs 949 a share. LIC has fixed the price band at Rs 902-949 per share for the IPO.

LIC will also become the fourth most valuable insurer globally — after Ping An Insurance of China, AIA Group, and China Life — and the fifth largest in terms of gross written premium.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle to the involvement of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol of Ukraine, said a UN spokesman.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a tete-a-tete in Moscow with Putin, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman, in a release of the meeting, on Tuesday.

Amid the ongoing economic crisis, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday said he will not step down from his post.

He made these remarks during the meeting with the members of provincial councils and local government representatives at Temple Trees (the PM's official residence).

Rajapaksa said that he believes the problems arising in the island nation now can be resolved in a short time, according to Colombo Page.

The price of 10 gram of 24-carat gold on Wednesday dropped by Rs 580 to trade at Rs 52,860, while silver (per kg) became Rs 250 cheaper to trade at Rs 65,450.

The price of 10 gram of 24-carat gold in Bengaluru and Hyderabad is on par with the price of 24-carat gold in Mumbai and Delhi i.e. Rs 52,860, while 22-carat gold is selling at Rs 48,450.

The surge in oil prices due to the Ukrainian war has pushed up inflation in India, which needs monetary tightening and measures to address structural weaknesses to improve growth potential, said a senior IMF official.

According to estimates, the country's economy is likely to grow at 8.2 per cent in 2022-23, down 0.8 per percentage points, said Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, Acting Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department.

IT industry body Nasscom has appointed Krishnan Ramanujam, a senior executive at Tata Consultancy Services, as its Chairperson for 2022-23.

Krishnan was the Vice Chairperson of the body. He succeeds Accenture's Senior Managing Director in India Rekha M Menon, who had served as the Chairperson for 2021-22.

German sports car manufacturer Porsche said on Tuesday its sales in India grew 22 per cent to 188 units in the first quarter of the current calendar year, recording its best Q1 performance since 2013.

The brand's SUV range comprising Cayenne and Macan continue their success in India and remain the most sold models in the range, the company said in a statement.

Australia expects to sign a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CE­PA) with India by the year-end, which will include a deal on digital trade that it said will further facilitate bilateral trade.

“Australia will also seek improved access for service suppliers, and modern investor protections to increase investor confidence and drive investment, with appropriate safeguards for governments’ rights to regulate. An agreement co­uld facilitate digital trade by including modern and forward-looking rules which support the use of digital tools to enable trade,” according to the Australian government’s India Economic Strategy to 2035 update.

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