Serum Institute of India (SII) may apply for ‘marketing authorisation’ for Covishield, the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19. The unique move would allow the company to sell the vaccine commercially. Pune-based SII might apply for marketing authorisation of the jab to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) by the end of April.

YES Bank, during its Q4 business update, said that the bank's Loans & Advances came at Rs 172,850 cr as of March 31, 2021, posting a 0.8% growth in YoY terms against Rs 171,443 crore as of March 31, 2020, and a 1.8% growth in QoQ basis from Rs 169,721 on December 31, 2020. The bank's deposits grew 54.7% to Rs 162,947 crore as compared to Rs 105,364 crore on a yearly basis.

Anish Shah, MD and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra stated that the conglomerate could look at applying for a banking licence. "We feel that from a governance standpoint, we will meet all the criteria that are laid out for us," he told The Economic Times. However, the conglomerate has not yet decided whether it will acquire a state-run bank or a private bank, he told the paper.

Zydus Cadila applied for approval for an additional indication with the DCGI for the use of Pegylated Interferon Alpha 2b in the treatment of COVID-19. The drugmaker said that its Phase III clinical trials with Pegylated Interferon Alpha 2b has shown promising results in treating COVID-19. 91.15% of patients treated with PegIFN were RT PCR negative by day 7 as compared to 78.90% on the SOC arm.

LG Electronics, on Monday, announced it will wind down its loss-making mobile division - a move that is set to make it the first major smartphone brand to completely withdraw from the market. Its decision to pull out will leave its 10% share in North America, where it is the No. 3 brand, to be gobbled up by smartphone titans Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

The National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Mumbai bench dissolved an application asking to conclude the transfer agreement of a project by beleaguered developer Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL). HDIL had executed an agreement to transfer the project, HDIL Majestic Tower, in Mumbai’s Nahur suburb before the initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against it.

SBI revealed on its website that its home loan rates will start from 6.95%, effective April 1. Last month, the country’s largest lender had announced a special offer valid till March 31, wherein home loans were available starting from 6.7%. This indicates that the best rate for home loans has increased by 25 basis points (100bps = 1 percentage point).

Godrej Consumer Products started a go-to-market (GTM) mission to increase its overall distribution footprint to 1.5 million direct coverage outlets, from 1.2 million, and enhance indirect coverage to 7 million from 6 million in 2-3 years. The objective is to achieve a vision of growing consistently in “strong double-digits over 3-4 years”, the company’s CEO (India & Saarc) Sunil Kataria said.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has decided not to develop sedans, hatchbacks and smaller SUVs, while looks to have an all-new brand of premium, electric SUVs under its Italian subsidiary Pininfarina, which could be priced up to Rs 40 lakh, new MD & CEO Anish Shah has said. Electrics would be the biggest focus area for the company, which would invest over Rs 3,000 crore in the short term.

Total SE must continue to produce gas in Myanmar and pay taxes to the military junta to protect staff from forced labour and maintain electricity supplies, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said. Amid calls not to provide funds to the military, which ousted Myanmar’s parliament on Feb. 1, Total is scrapping plans to develop gas off the west coast and halting its gas well drilling campaign.

Samsung Electronics likely saw a 45% jump in profit for January-March on robust sales of smartphones, TVs and home appliances, though chip division earnings are seen tumbling after a storm suspended production at its U.S. plant. Operating profit for the South Korean tech giant in the quarter is expected to have climbed to 9.3 trillion won ($8.2 billion).

Consumer goods companies have put their teams on hyperalert to ensure unhindered functioning of supply chains, distribution of goods and manufacturing – all to mitigate unexpected and sudden disruptions as states opt for localised shutdowns and curfews amid a second Covid wave. They are moving to a more decentralised and localised approach to minimise disruption on the supply of key raw materials.

Delta Air Lines cancelled about 100 flights on Sunday due to staff shortages, and it opened up middle seats a month earlier than expected in order to carry more passengers. The airline revealed over 1 million passengers have flown through U.S. airports for each of the last 20 days. This is the highest number since the coronavirus pandemic began last year.

Indian firms that lend against gold are reducing tenures and asking for more collateral to protect against the plunge in prices of the precious metal. Market leader Muthoot Finance has been offering discounts on interest rates and other incentives to borrowers who chose to repay monthly or more frequently. Rival Muthoottu Mini Financiers is mostly lending for 90 days now versus 270 previously.

Tapping into the mutual strengths of India, Israel and the UAE could propel the trilateral trade between the countries to a high of USD 110 billion by 2030, top diplomats commented. The statements were made at an event organised by the International Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce (IFIICC) on Sunday to discuss the ongoing business collaboration.