After over four months of uncertainty, troubled microfinance institution (MFI) Spandana Sphoorty Financial (SSFL) is looking for stability and growth with full-time chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO) coming on board over the weekend.

The MFI, backed by private equity fund Kedaara Capital, experienced a jolt in November 2021 after Padmaja Reddy, founder and managing director (MD), quit abruptly.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery added 1.72 US dollars, or 1.7 per cent, to settle at 104.70 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery increased 1.29 dollars, or 1.2 per cent, to close at 107.93 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, as traders weighed supply risks.

"The news from Russia and Ukraine with respect to the peace talks no longer sounded nearly as optimistic as it did before, which has doubtless prompted the market to reassess the situation," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Friday in a note.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday rejected the request filed by the Football Union of Russia (FUR) to stay, for the duration of the CAS proceedings, the execution of the FIFA Council's decision to suspend all Russian teams and clubs from participation in its competitions until further notice.

Accordingly, the Challenged Decision remains in force and all Russian teams and clubs continue to be suspended from participation in FIFA competitions.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday cautioned that inflation will rise further and urged the government to act now to protect the people of the country.

Asserting that inflation is a tax on all Indians, Gandhi said record price rise had crushed the poor and the middle class even before the Russia-Ukraine war began.

India's COVID-19 tally increased to 4,30,06,080 on Saturday with 2,075 fresh infections, while the active cases declined further to 27,802, according to Union health ministry data.

The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 5,16,352 with 71 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The price of ten gram of 24-carat gold on Saturday increased by Rs 10 to trade at Rs 51,770, while the price of 1 kg of silver remained unchanged at Rs 69,000.

The price of ten gram of 22-carat gold remained unchanged and the yellow metal is trading at Rs 47,450.

In his first visit to India after assuming office and also amid the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his two-day stay in New Delhi will take part in the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit, besides holding bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi.

The India-Japan Annual Summit had last taken place in Tokyo in October 2018.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 467.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.07 million and vaccinations to over 10.77 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 467,671,421 and 6,070,281, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,772,862,375.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda are among the list of invitees scheduled to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, said sources.

According to sources, Yogi Adityanath, who led his party to a thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh, is likely to take oath as Chief Minister of the state for the second tenure on March 25.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said the situation in Ukraine and its implications for the Indo-Pacific will figure in his virtual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 21.

Morrison said ways to deepen bilateral trade and investment ties and harness new economic opportunities to support mutual economic recovery and growth will also be discussed at the summit.

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