Facebook India on Friday announced a new programme called the Small Business Loans Initiative, in partnership with online lending platform Indifi, to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) that advertise on Facebook to get quick access to credit through independent lending partners.

India is the first country where Facebook is rolling out this programme. It is open to businesses registered across 200 towns and cities of India.

USA’s Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has sought the Indian drug regulator’s permission to test its Covid-19 vaccine on the 12 to 17 age group, joining a clutch of other firms seeking to inoculate children against a disease that has killed 433,589 people in the country.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) hit a new 52-week high of Rs 2,549.50 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Friday as investors turned to defensive stocks from the FMCG space in a weak market. The stock of the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company was trading higher for the seventh straight day. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.67 per cent at 55,251 points at 10:40 am.

The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 2,531.50, touched on June 22, 2021, and was trading at its highest level since April 2020. It had hit an all-time high of Rs 2,614 on April 8, 2020.

Shares of Mindtree hit a new record high of Rs 3,393, in an otherwise a weak market, after they rallied 6 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Friday. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.41 per cent at 55,403 points at 09:36 am.

In the past six months, the market price of Mindtree has appreciated 101 per cent as compared to a 9 per cent rise in the benchmark index. Over three months, it has soared 62 per cent as against a 12 per cent rally in the Sensex.

Low-cost airline SpiceJet has been granted relief from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which has asked the GST department to consider and pass an order on the airline’s plea of paying the tax dues in instalments.

GST authorities issued a notice in late July, asking SpiceJet to pay tax liabilities of Rs 80.6 crore and furnish details of movable and immovable properties, warning that they would initiate recovery proceedings if the payment was not made.

Managed office space provider Smartworks has leased a 5.6 lakh sq ft area in Pune, and invested around Rs 150 crore to set up a new centre as part of its strategy to expand the business amid rising demand for flexible workspaces.

Real estate consultant JLL India helped Smartworks in taking this large office space on lease in a premium commercial property 'M-AGILE' at Baner in Pune.

Apple has delayed return to office until at least January 2022, as the US witnesses a surge in cases of the delta variant of Covid-19.

The iPhone maker said the employees would get a month's notice before they rejoin work in-person, reports The Verge, citing an internal email.

GMR Group is currently investing Rs 20,000 crore to expand the existing airports and developing new aerodromes, GM Rao, Chairman of the infra major has said.

Airport Development and Construction: GMR Group has set benchmarks for development of world class Airport infrastructure... Your company is currently investing approximately Rs 20,000 crore to expand the existing Airports and develop new Airports, he said in the group's latest annual report.

One of the promoters of scam-hit Karvy Group, was arrested here on Thursday on charges of defaulting a bank loan, police said.

C Parthasarathy was arrested for defaulting on a loan taken from the IndusIndbank in 2019 and diverting the fund to other bank accounts, Avinash Mohanty, Joint Commissioner of Police, (Detective Department) said adding there are two similar cases against him filed by HDFC bank.

The COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and AstraZeneca are less effective against the Delta variant of coronavirus compared to the Alpha variant, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Oxford.

The researchers, however, noted that with Delta, Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and Oxford-AstraZeneca preventive, known as Covishield in India, still offer good protection against new infections.

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