Business highlights

DCM36 BIZ-AIRTEL-AGR Disappointed with SC dismissing AGR review plea; may file curative petition: Airtel New Delhi: With the Supreme Court dismissing its review petition on AGR dues, telecom company Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it is disappointed, and evaluating options to file a curative petition in the matter.

DCM27 BIZ-IDBI BANK-PCA IDBI to meet RBI this week; seeks to exit PCA framework Mumbai: LIC-owned IDBI Bank, currently under prompt corrective action since May 2017, is expected to hold meeting with the RBI this week to seek removal of operational restrictions, according to sources.

DEL73 BIZ-LD RUPEE Rupee drops by 11 paise to 70.93 on dollar demand Mumbai: The rupee fell by 11 paise to close at 70.93 against the US dollar on Thursday due to strengthening crude oil prices and dollar demand from importers.

DCM33 BIZ-AGRI-GROWTH Farm sector growth may reach 3.1% in this fiscal: NITI Aayog member New Delhi: Farm sector growth is likely to be higher at 3.1 per cent in the current fiscal compared with 2.9 per cent in 2018-19, government think-tank NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said on Thursday.

DEL62 BIZ-LD STOCKS Sensex, Nifty fail to hold life highs; ticked higher at close Mumbai: Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Thursday eked out gains but retreated from record highs touched in early trade as optimism over US-China trade deal short-lived after investors weighed macroeconomic issues like higher bank NPAs and a spike in retail inflation.

DCM39 BIZ-GOLD-HALLMARKING Govt notifies mandatory gold hallmarking; WGC welcomes move New Delhi: The government has notified the mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts, which will come into force from January 15, 2021.

DCM26 BIZ-CUSTOMS DUTY Govt considering hike in customs duty on toys, certain paper, footwear products in Budget New Delhi: The government may increase customs duty on several products like paper, footwear, rubber items and toys in the forthcoming Budget with a view to promote 'Make in India' and boost manufacturing growth, sources said.

DEL76 BIZ-GOYAL-AMAZON Amazon not doing favour by investing USD 1 bn dollar: Goyal New Delhi: A day after the world's richest person Jeff Bezos announced fresh USD 1 billion investment in India, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said his firm Amazon was not doing a favour to the country by the investments and questioned how the online retailing major could incur such "big" losses but for its predatory pricing.