Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma has reached a definitive agreement to sell its US subsidiary Natrol LLC to private equity firm New Mountain Capital and its affiliate Jarrow Formulas in an all-cash transaction valued at $550 mn (about Rs 4,048 crore). This would make Aurobindo a zero-debt company and also help it repay loans, analysts said.

The deal, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close by January.

Riding on a shopping surge in smaller towns and cities, Flipkart Group emerged as overall leader during the week-long festive sales, accounting for 68 per cent of the total sales as the country saw a massive 55 per cent (year-on-year) growth with $4.1 billion (nearly Rs 29,000 crore) goods being sold across ecommerce platforms.

This figure was $2.7 billion for the seven-day festive sales period last year.

In a major reform brought by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Centre has entitled male employees of the government to Child Care Leave (CCL).

Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced the move taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government while briefing about some of the major reforms brought by DoPT.

A massive number of people have already voted in Texas since early voting started on October 13, leading experts to predict that the state could reach overall turnout levels unseen so far this century.

Over seven million people have already voted in the state of Texas ahead of next week's general election, a figure that accounts for nearly 43 per cent of all registered voters in the state.

The Centre has come out with a clarification in regards to a statement made by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval at an ashram in Rishikesh yesterday (October 24). The clarification states that Ajit Doval was not talking in the context of the India-China standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh but was speaking purely in a civilisational and spiritual context.

Several media houses had projected Doval's statement at the ashram as a remark on China.

Gold prices today fell to Rs 52,890 from Rs 54,100 per 10 gm yesterday, while silver was trending at Rs 62,500 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery prices vary across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

YES Bank lacked a culture of cost control, and under the new management, the lender is targeting to reduce operational expenses (opex) by 20 per cent in FY21 by rationalising branches and ATMs, giving up unwanted leased spaces, and renegotiating rents, Chief Executive and Managing Director Prashant Kumar has said. The city-based lender is experiencing delays in loan recovery efforts as big defaulters are approaching courts, Kumar told PTI.

Reliance Industries is rolling back salary cuts for employees of its hydrocarbons division, and is also giving out performance bonus that had been deferred after business was hit by the lockdown.
The firm is also offering an advance 30 per cent of the variable pay from the next year’s salary to its employees, as a goodwill gesture for working during the pandemic, said two people familiar with the matter.

Kotak Mahindra Bank is exploring a takeover of smaller rival IndusInd Bank, people with knowledge of the matter said, a move that would create the nation’s eighth-largest financial firm by assets.

Uday Kotak, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Kotak Mahindra, is looking at the possibility of an all-stock acquisition, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.

With the first phase of Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 scheduled for October 28, the campaigning for the high-decibel polls will conclude on Monday evening.

To convince voters, several key leaders including BJP national president JP Nadda, JD(U) supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Minister Smriti Irani, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan will hold election rallies on Monday (October 26), in favour of their party and allies candidates.

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