Tamil Nadu state government has decided to give 2.6cr ration cardholders in the state a Rs 2,500 cash in wake of Pongal festival. From January 4, 2021, the amount will be distributed to every ration cardholder, so that they can celebrate the festival with joy. The government will also give ration cardholders 1 kg of rice, sugar, raisins, cashew, cardamom, a cloth bag and a cane under this package.

Alibaba Group Holding’s U.S.-listed shares witnessed the biggest ever fall after China on Thursday announced that it would launch a probe into the company's alleged monopolistic practices. The stock fell 13% in its biggest one-day drop on record. The decline took Alibaba to its lowest level since July, and the stock is now down 30% from an October peak.

In an advance New Year's gift to people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to flag off the country''s first ever fully-automated driverless train service on the Magenta Line of Delhi Metro on December 28, the DMRC said on Thursday. The commercial operation of these new-generation trains, set to be a major technological feat, will begin after the event, a senior Delhi Metro official said.

Central Bank of India will exit housing finance JV by selling its entire stake of over 64% to Centrum Housing Finance for Rs 160cr. "This is to inform that the bank has entered into a binding agreement to divest its entire equity stake of 64.40% i.e. 1,61,00,000 shares of face value of Rs 10 each in CBHFL to Centrum Housing Finance, subject to approvals from regulatory authorities." the bank said.

Bajaj Auto expects sales of high-end motorcycles to grow faster than other motorcycles and its investment of Rs 650 crore in a new plant near its existing manufacturing facility in Chakan is aimed at building capability to take advantage of this potential growth. For Bajaj, the super premium-end bikes include Dominar, KTM, and models that would come from the company''s alliance with Triumph.

Amazon Seller Services, the India online marketplace unit of e-tail giant Amazon, saw its losses widening to Rs 5,849.2 crore for 2019-20 fiscal from the previous year as expenses grew over 25%. Amazon Seller Services had recorded a net loss of Rs 5,685.4 crore in FY19. Its revenue, however, grew 43% to Rs 10,847.6 crore in FY20 from Rs 7,593.5 crore in FY19.

More than 600,000 people in the United Kingdom received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine since inoculations began in the country earlier this month, the British government said on Thursday. "The government has today published figures which show the number of people who have received the vaccine between 8 December and 20 December in the UK is 616,933."

The promoter company of Vedanta on Thursday acquired 11.85cr shares worth ₹1,782cr through a bulk deal on the BSE at an average price of ₹159.96 and 7.35 crore shares worth ₹1,177cr at ₹159.91 a share on the NSE, making the total deals size ₹2,959cr. Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Holdings Mauritius said that it plans to buy 18.5cr shares or 4.98% of shareholding at a price between ₹150.45 and ₹160.

The government’s plan to privatize Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) is unlikely to be completed by the end of the fiscal year because of the time required to get regulatory clearances for the transaction. It has to go to the Competition Commission of India, which will take some time. Since it is a listed company, the winner has to make an open offer, which will also take time.

Mrs Bectors more than doubled on market debut on Thursday capping a string of robust initial share sales this year despite the ongoing pandemic. The stock closed at ₹594.20, a whopping 106.31% premium over its issue price of ₹288, after opening at ₹500 on the NSE. This was the last stock market listing for 2020 and also one of three initial public offerings (IPO) to double on debut.

All segments of trading will be close on the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange on December 25 on account of the Christmas holiday. Wholesale commodity markets, including metal and bullion, will also remain shut, while the trading activity will not be seen in the forex and commodity futures markets too.

MUMBAI: The Nifty could move toward a new high of 13,924 if it breaks and sustains above the record high of 13,777.50, having come within kissing distance of it intraday on Thursday, derivative data show. Some analysts are not ruling out a dip before the market makes a tryst with a new high. Nifty’s range next week based on the 13,700 call and put value is 13,476-13,924.

NIIT Ltd said its Board has approved an up to Rs 237-crore buyback proposal at Rs 240 per equity share. "...the Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on December 24, 2020, has inter-alia approved a proposal for buyback of up to 9,875,000 fully paid-up equity shares of the company...for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 2,370,000,000," a regulatory filing said.

The promoter group of Prime Focus Ltd on Thursday said that they have entered into an agreement with Credit Suisse to acquire a 33.12% stake in the company at a price of Rs44.15 per share aggregating to Rs463 crore. This transaction will in turn trigger an open offer by the promoters to acquire another 26% stake in the company from public shareholders at the same price of Rs44.15 apiece.

Reliance Industries Ltd entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 50% shares held by IMG Singapore Pte. Ltd in IMG-Reliance Ltd, for a cash consideration not exceeding ₹52.08cr. IMG Singapore Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMG, holds 50% of the share capital of IMG-R. Post completion of the acquisition, IMG-R will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, and become rebranded.