Employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) continued their strike for the 15th day on Thursday over the demand for merger of the cash-strapped corporation with the state government, despite an appeal from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to cooperate with the government in its effort to resolve their issues.

All 250 bus depots of the MSRTC remained shut for the second consecutive day, an official said.

Centre has provided 1,20,08,58,170 vaccine doses to states and union territories so far, through free of cost channel, and through the direct state procurement category, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

According to an official release, 16,74,03,871 balance and unutilized COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered.

Stating that growth impulses and the fast-moving economic indicators are strong, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday exuded confidence in the economy clipping at the projected 9.5 per cent growth this fiscal.

Crediting the many measures taken by the government and the RBI for the faster-than-expected recovery so far, Das said the fiscal and taxation reforms especially have played key role in driving growth and reviving confidence.

Ten gram of 24-carat gold on Thursday is selling at Rs 48,250, increasing by Rs 260 since yesterday. Ten gram of 22-carat gold is selling at Rs 47,250, increasing by Rs 260, according to goodreturns.in.

The price of gold differs across the nation owing to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges. A kilogram of silver is selling unchanged at Rs 64,700, dropping by Rs 100.

Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals dipped 5 per cent to Rs 757 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Thursday after the company's consolidated profit declined 49 per cent year on year (YoY) at Rs 169 crore in September quarter (Q2FY22), due to lower revenue. The pharmaceutical company had posted profit of Rs 333 crore in the year-ago quarter.

At 10:45 am, the stock was trading 3.4 per cent lower at Rs 766.20, as compared to a 0.87 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. It had hit a 52-week low of Rs 720.80 on August 23, 2020.

Shares of Bharat Bijlee hit an over 13-year high at Rs 1,950, on rallying 7 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market. The stock was trading at its highest level since June 2008. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.71 per cent at 59,922 points at 10:11 am.

In past two weeks, Bharat Bijlee has outperformed the market by zooming after its power systems business reported a robust performance for the quarter ended September 2021 (Q2FY22).

Shares of Narayana Hrudayalaya hit a new high of Rs 620, surging 13 per cent on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 99.4 crore in September quarter (Q2FY22), on the back of healthy operational performance. The company, a leading healthcare service provider in India, had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 3.4 crore in Q2FY21.

Indian operations staged a decent recovery during the quarter gone by, after the significant impact was observed in Q1FY22, as the effects of the second wave of the pandemic subsiding.

The depression over Bay of Bengal will cross the coast between north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh this evening and the city would witness "strong" winds up to 45 km, the weather office here said on Thursday.

Districts in northern Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Kancheepuram and Villpuram are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, S Balachandran said, even as the city and its suburbs received sharp showers all through the night.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 251.3 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.07 million and vaccinations soared to over 7.34 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number number of vaccine doses administered stood at 251,348,332, 5,071,757 and 7,347,735,847, respectively.

India is set to open up its sovereign bond market to individual buyers on Friday as it seeks to widen the investor base to fund the government’s massive borrowing programme.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the so-called ‘RBI Retail Direct Scheme’ for investors on Friday, the Reserve Bank of India said.

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