BQuick On Jan. 19: Top 10 Stories In Under 5 Minutes

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

1. Who Should Avoid Getting Covid-19 Vaccines

Serum Institute of India Ltd. and Bharat Biotech International Ltd., the two vaccine makers whose Covid-19 shots are currently approved for emergency use, have released fact sheets advising people on who should avoid taking the vaccines. At least 7 people have been hospitalised in India after being vaccinated.

2. RBI’s Forex Policy: Governor Das Sends Out Smoke Signals

Over the weekend, Shaktikanta Das spoke of the need for emerging markets to build up forex reserve buffers. Markets and analysts paid close attention to the message. The smoke signals emanating from those comments may alter the debate on adequacy of reserves while also turning expectations on the currency, writes Ira Dugal.

3. Nifty Rebounds; Crude Surges

Indian equity benchmarks staged a comeback on Tuesday, recovering most of the losses from the previous two trading sessions. The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 index both ended 1.7% higher.

Brent crude prices climbed above the $55 per barrel mark as the International Energy Agency cut its demand outlook for the rest of the year.

Related Coverage

• India Cements’ shares gain after Damani brothers raise stake.

• Mindtree stock climbs to near record high as analysts upgrade target.

• Here’s Pramod Gubbi’s advice to investors drawn in by the rally.

4. IRFC IPO Fully Subscribed On Day 2

Retail investors continue to lap up shares of Indian Railways Finance Corp., a dedicated market borrowing arm of the Indian Railways. The issue was subscribed 1.22 times as of 5 p.m.

5. Supreme Court Upholds Insolvency Law Changes

The apex court upheld a change in the nation’s insolvency law that requires at least 100 homebuyers or 10% of the buyers in a housing project to get together to initiate bankruptcy case against a builder.

6. Arbitration Law: Supreme Court Removes Another Thorn

The Supreme Court has held that an unstamped commercial contract doesn't invalidate the arbitration clause in it. That’s a change of position by the top court from two previous cases where it took a contrary view. The difference in opinion, now, will be settled by a constitution bench.

7. ‘No Surprises’: Citi India On Q3 Earnings

Much of the sharp sequential recovery expected for India Inc.’s earnings has already been factored in by market participants, according to Citi Research. Rather than earnings surprises, this quarter will be one to focus on the commentary and outlook.

8. Microfinance Firms Brace For Assam Pain

Assam has seen a drop in collection efficiency of lenders amid talks of a loan waiver by political parties and a new microfinance bill being approved by the state, adding to concerns of worsening asset quality in the industry.

9. India Asks WhatsApp To Withdraw Privacy Policy Update

The Indian government has asked WhatsApp to withdraw changes to its privacy policy saying they are neither fair nor acceptable. The IT ministry has written a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp raising concerns about the proposed changes.

10. A Day Of Records For Indian Men’s Cricket Team

The Indian men’s cricket team beat Australia in a test match to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. This was the first time India won back-to-back tours in Australia. But there were many more records broken.