ITC has a leading score on the environment, social and governance front across most Indian fast moving consumer goods and global tobacco firms, said Jefferies in a note. The brokerage has a buy rating on ITC with a target price of Rs 265. ITC is rated AA by MSCI on ESG, the highest among global tobacco players and better than most Indian FMCG companies.

Heritage Foods has sold its entire holding representing over 3% stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail for around Rs 132 crore in the open market to mainly repay its long term loans. "The company has disposed off its entire holdings/investment of 1,78,47,420 equity shares held in Future Retail. These shares were sold through stock exchange in the open market in various tranches.

ShareChat, a social media platform in Indic languages, on Wednesday said it has appointed Ajit Varghese as its Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, Varghese will be pivotal in expanding and strengthening the platform's revenue efforts, and building a robust monetisation approach with a strategic content partnership. Varghese will report into Farid Ahsan, COO and co-founder at ShareChat.

India may approve some coronavirus vaccines over the next few weeks and an estimated 300 million people would be innoculated in the first tranche. More than 154,000 healthcare workers had been identified to help conduct the vaccination drive and the country had enough cold chain capacity to innoculate the first 30 million people, federal health secretary Bhushan said.

5paisa.com has partnered with Vested Finance to provide 'zero commission' investing in the US markets for all their customers. 5paisa.com is the fastest among Indian brokers to reach 1 million customer base. Vested Finance is a US Securities and Exchange Commission Registered Investment Adviser. Their online platform enables investors from India to invest in US stocks and ETFs.

Aurobindo Pharma said it has received final approval from the US health regulator for generic of Precedex injection, used for sedation of patients. The company has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Dexmedetomidine Hydrochloride in 0.9 per cent sodium chloride injection, 200 µg/50 mL and 400 µg/100 mL single-dose flexible containers.

Sebi exempted Sameer Gehlaut IBH Trust from making open offer following its proposed acquisition of shares in Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. Sebi noted that objective of the proposed acquisition is to achieve efficient succession planning as well as for holding the controlling interest in Indiabulls Housing Finance in one entity rather than spreading the holding amongst different individuals.

Prakash Pipes Limited on December 07, 2020, has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) Company Prakash Technopack Private Limited (PTPL) which is registered with the Registrar of Companies, Punjab and Chandigarh. The cost of acquisition was Rs1 lakh with the company acquiring 10,000 equity shares of Rs10/- each. Prakash Technopack belongs to Plastic Products related Industry.

Burger King India, whose shares are trading at a 75 per cent premium in the grey market, is likely to finalise the basis of share allotment today. The IPO, which was sold between December 2 and 4 in the Rs 59-60 price band, was subscribed a whopping 156.65 times. Analysts were upbeat on the issue, as they feel the issue had left enough on the table for investors.

Kavita Nair has quit Vi. She was the Chief Digital Transformation & Brand Officer at Vodafone Idea (Vi). In another major development, the telco has elevated its Director (Marketing) Avneesh Khosla to the position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), filling a position which was vacant for over two years. Nair held the position of Chief Digital Transformation & Brand Officer since August 2018.

Vodafone Idea received the highest call quality user ratings for the month of November, according to latest data shared by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The data shows that Idea secured the top spot when it comes to voice quality across service providers with Vodafone not far behind. Vodafone Idea, which rebranded to Vi recently, collectively outperformed Airtel, BSNL, and Jio.

Himadri Speciality Chemical Limited clarified on Tuesday that the company is not launching lithium battery-powered cycles as suggested by some media reports. “This is in reference to various media articles stating ‘Himadri Group to launch of lithium battery-powered cycles in Bengal.’ Any investment committed to the launch of the aforementioned product will not be funded or provided by the company.

Fitch Ratings revises India's GDP forecast to (-)9.4% for the current financial year, compared to a contraction of 10.5% which was projected previously. The rating agency in its Global Economic Outlook - December 2020, said that the Covid-19 recession has inflicted severe economic scarring and the country needs to repair balance sheets and increase caution about long-term planning.

The central government on Tuesday remained non-committal on its decision whether to challenge an international tribunal’s award in the Vodafone tax case under the India-Netherlands BIPA. Without making any statement on whether the Indian government would challenge the arbitral award, additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma asked the Delhi High Court to defer the proceedings indefinitely.

Bharat Biotech to initiate Phase-1 trials of intranasal vaccines for COVID-19 next month, said Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of the vaccine maker. He also said Bharat Biotech is setting up two more facilities for vaccine manufacturing. Since intramuscular vaccines require two-dose injections, a country like India needs 2.6 billion syringes and needles which may add up to pollution.