Uber Technologies Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp have rolled out ride booking via the messenger service in India, a first for the U. S. ride-hailing giant and an expansion of WhatsApp’s capabilities in the country.

The partnership allows access to Uber’s mobility services by sending a message to a WhatsApp chatbot, serving the northern city of Lucknow to start and expanding to more locations in the near future, Uber said in a statement.

Shares of Vodafone Idea (VIL) were trading higher for the second straight day, up 6 per cent at Rs 13.40 on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade, and have rallied as much as 21 per cent in past two days on the back of heavy volumes. The stock of telecom services provider was quoting near to its 52-week high level of Rs 13.80 touched on January 15, 2021.

In the past two weeks, the stock has surged 34 per cent after the company increased its prepaid tariff by 20-25 per cent from November 25, 2021.

With 9,765 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,46,06,541, while the active cases increased to 99,763, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 4,69,724 with 477 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The country saw 645 events of heavy rainfall and 168 of very heavy rainfall in November, the highest in the month in five years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.

It recorded 11 extremely heavy rainfall (more than 204.5 mm) events in the month, equalling the number reported last year.

Shares of JMC Projects (India) (JMC) soared 17 per cent to Rs 106.80 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade after the company announced that it has secured new domestic orders worth of Rs 1,795 crore.

At 09:29 am, the stock was trading 14 per cent higher at Rs 104 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.29-per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Trading volumes on the counter jumped five-fold with a combined 880,000 shares having changed hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report. It had hit a 52-week high of Rs 130 on July 30, 2021.

The price of a commercial LPG cylinder (19 kilograms) has been hiked by Rs 100 a piece to take it to Rs 2,101 from December 1. This is the highest price at which a commercial LPG cylinder is being sold in the national capital, toppling the previous high of Rs 2,013.50 a piece in January 2014.

Prices have been hiked acr­oss the country in a similar proportion. On a per kg-basis, commercial LPG is now being sold at Rs 111 a kg in Delhi.

Pfizer Inc said on Wednesday it had started the real-time submission of its application seeking Health Canada's approval of its oral COVID-19 antiviral drug candidate.

The pill, PF-07321332, is designed to block a key enzyme needed for the coronavirus to multiply.

The move comes after the Canadian government announced on Tuesday that it was in advanced talks with Pfizer and Merck & Co Inc regarding a purchase agreement for their COVID-19 antiviral drugs.

Reliance Power (RPower) has defaulted on payment of interest worth Rs 1.17 crore to DBS Bank India and Rs 44 lakh to IDBI Bank. It failed to pay up interest on October 30, 2021. The firm, part of the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance group, in filing with BSE, said it has term loans and working capital arrangements with three lenders — YES Bank, IDBI Bank and DBS. Its stock closed 1.41 per cent lower at Rs 12.6 per share on the BSE.

About exposure of YES Bank, there is a ‘standstill’ applicable till December 26, 2021. IDBI Bank extended working capital facility and total principal amount is Rs 42 crore.

Farm machinery and construction equipment major Escorts Ltd on Wednesday reported a 30 per cent decline in total tractor sales at 7,116 units in November 2021.

The company had sold 10,165 units in the same month last year, Escorts said in a regulatory filing.

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in the run up to its initial public offering, has asked its policyholders to update their PAN, so that they can participate in the proposed public offer.

As per the proposed plan, up to 10 per cent of the LIC IPO issue size would be reserved for policyholders.

"In order to participate in any such public offering, policyholders will need to ensure that their PAN details are updated in the Corporation's records.

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