The Indian rupee appreciated 4 paise to 73.25 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, tracking a positive trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 73.26 against the dollar, then inched higher to 73.25, up 4 paise over its previous close.

The two power units in Gujarat using imported coal -- Tata UMPP and Adani Mundra -- might have a chance at revival as the Centre opens up merchant power sale for them in the middle of domestic coal supply shortages.

The two units have been in a constant tussle with five states to which they sell power over the compensation due to higher imported coal prices.

As thermal power generation units across the country grapple with coal shortage, India's largest power generator NTPC is looking at several methods to augment supply to states. It is also relying on gas-run units to improve power supply in the middle of a coal shortage.

NTPC, however, added sta­tes were not scheduling po­wer from gas-based stations but were drawing from the grid. Gas-run power units sell power at higher rates than coal, hydro and renewable energy units as most rely on imported gas.

The current happenings in Afghanistan have raised new security questions, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Monday, asserting the Central government is alert and capable of dealing with any situation.

He also said no anti-national force should be allowed to encourage terrorism from across the border by taking advantage of the developments in Afghanistan.

India saw a single-day rise of 42,909 new COVID-19 infections, which took the total tally of cases to 3,27,37,939, while active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,38,210 with 380 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

Walmart-backed payment firm PhonePe on Monday said it has received a broking licence from the insurance regulator, which will enable it to distribute insurance products from all insurance companies in the country.

In a statement, the company said, the new broking licence will allow it to start offering personalised product recommendations to its more than 300 million users, and offer a much more diverse portfolio of insurance products for Indian consumers.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said it will hike prices across models from next month amid rising input costs.

In a regulatory filing, the company said, over the past year the cost of company's vehicles continue to be adversely impacted due to increase in various input costs.

PayU Finance, a digital lending player backed by Prosus Ventures, has seen its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) segment double in a year and touch a consumer base of 3 million. The firm, which has seen its lending business touch 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels, is now aiming to provide full-stack financial services to its customers.

Prashanth Ranganathan, chief executive officer (CEO), PayU Finance, believes that in the next five years, the company will be able to create a loan book of $1.5 billion — combined between LazyPay and PaySense, making it one of the largest digital lenders in the country.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said that if the crops sown by the farmers in the state during the ongoing kharif season get destroyed due to drought-like conditions, then they would be given a financial assistance of Rs 9,000 per acre.

Shortage of rainfall has given rise to drought-like conditions in several areas (of Chhattisgarh). The state government stands with farmers in this time of crisis, an official statement quoted the chief minister as saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated shooter Avani Lekhara for clinching a gold medal in Tokyo Paralympics and said that it was possible due to her industrious nature and passion for shooting.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister wrote, "Phenomenal performance @AvaniLekhara! Congratulations on winning a hard-earned and well-deserved Gold, made possible due to your industrious nature and passion towards shooting.

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