BQuick On Jan. 12: Top 10 Stories In Under 5 Minutes

Here’s a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.

1. CPI Inflation Falls Sharply In December

India’s consumer price inflation fell to 4.59% in December from 6.93% in November, mainly due to a crash in vegetable prices. At the current level, inflation is back within the Monetary Policy Committee’s target range of 4 (+/-2)% for the first time since March 2020.

2. India’s Industrial Output Contracts

The index of industrial production contracted 1.9% in November, the first fall since September, as the impact of inventory build-up and festive demand waned.

3. Supreme Court Puts Farm Laws On Hold, But Farmers To Continue Protests

India’s top court today ordered to suspend the implementation of the three contentious farm laws and set up a committee to resolve the stalemate between the government and protesting farmers. However, the farmer groups said protests will continue till the laws are repealed.

4. New Labour Codes: Government May ‘Grandfather’ Gratuity Outgo

When new labour codes kick in from April 1, the way companies structure salaries will change. This may lead to higher basic pay and dearness allowance, which is used for computing deductions like provident fund and gratuity. That had given rise to concerns for higher costs for companies. Now the government may fix that.

5. Sensex 500 Points Shy Of 50,000

Indian equities continued their record-breaking run despite a volatile trading session due to a rebound in banking stocks. Both the S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.5% higher.

Related Coverage

• Why UBS recommends a buy on city gas distributors.

• Thyrocare stock gains on business revival optimism.

• Sunteck Realty stock trades near 52-week high.

• Stock market correction likely in February-March, says Renaissance Investment.

6. Tata Eyes Archean’s Industrial Salt Unit

Tata Chemicals is in advanced talks to acquire the industrial salt unit of Archean Group which could value the business at about Rs 450 crore, Bloomberg reported citing people with knowledge of the matter.

7. HUL, Godrej Consumer Hike Soap Prices

India's leading soap makers have hiked prices for the second time in a year citing increasing raw material costs.

8. Zydus Cadila’s Covid-19 Vaccine Hopes

Cadila Healthcare Ltd. is working on developing an indigenous coronavirus vaccine and could supply up to 1.5 crore doses this year if things go well. The firm’s vaccine candidate is about to start the final stage human trials and is recruiting 30,000 volunteers.

9. A Mid Year Fiscal Reset? Why Not, Says Indira Rajaraman

The Covid-19 crisis threw the government’s budget plans for last year into disarray. For the coming year too, such uncertainty is likely to persist. To tackle that, economist Indira Rajaraman suggests that the projections made in the Union Budget should be subjected to a mid-year review.

10. Honda Has A Best Selling Sedan. That’s A Problem.

For years now, the Honda City has been a sign of upward mobility for aspirational Indians. The car’s popularity helped the Japanese automaker grow in India. Then it started to lose momentum.