Business News at 10:00 am on 12th July, 2024

Let’s begin…Global brokerage firm Jefferies has maintained its ‘Buy’ rating on Reliance Industries, setting a target price of Rs 3,580 per share. This target implies a potential upside of 13% from the stock’s closing levels on Wednesday, making it the third highest price target for Reliance Industries on the street. Jefferies foresees the potential listing of Reliance Jio by Calendar Year 2025 at a valuation of $112 billion, suggesting a 7-15% upside for Reliance Industries. Recent tariff adjustments by Jio indicate a strategic focus on monetization and gaining market share in subscribers. The initial public offering (IPO) of Reliance Jio may involve only minority shareholders selling their stakes. The Mukesh Ambani-owned conglomerate could consider spinning off Jio.

Next up, Travel time from south Mumbai to the city’s suburbs will now see a reduction as the 3.5-km stretch of the Coastal Road’s north-bound carriageway was opened for vehicles at 7 am today, civic officials have said. The stretch runs from Haji Ali to Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road in Worli and is a part of the about 12-kilometre Mumbai Coastal Road Project. Commuters had been facing severe traffic between Haji Ali and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, however, with this stretch this issue will be addressed, the BMC said. Vehicles will be able to access the carriageway from Monday to Friday between 7 am and 11 pm, the BMC said in a release.

Moving on, After Apple, Microsoft ditched the observer seat on the board of OpenAI, less than eight months after securing the non-voting seat. Microsoft seems to believe that it was not necessary after the AI start-up’s governance had improved significantly in the past eight months. As reported by the Financial Times, earlier Microsoft was planning to join OpenAI’s non-profit board, but now it will no longer join the board. The decision is expected to come amidst scrutiny from U.S. and UK regulators over the extent of Microsoft’s control over the AI startup. The Verge reported that OpenAI confirmed that Microsoft has given up its seat in a statement.

In other news, East Central Railway is gearing up its route for monsoon and has implemented sensor-equipped alert devices across 57 railway bridges within its jurisdiction to monitor river water levels. The monitoring system, integrated with advanced technology, promptly notifies officials if river water levels exceed safety thresholds. The development comes amid persistent rainfall in Bihar over the past 24 hours, major rivers such as Kosi, Mahananda, Bagmati, Gandak, Kamla Balan, and Kamla are experiencing rising water levels. Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) of East Central Railway said the mobile phones of concerned railway officials have been linked to the system. The alert signals are sent automatically to the linked mobile phones.

Up next, Traffic on the Badrinath National Highway came to a standstill on Thursday due to heavy debris falling from the hill onto the road in Bhanerpani, Joshimath, ANI reported. Just a day before, a landslide near the Patal Ganga Langsi tunnel had already blocked the road. Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana shared with ANI, quote, Badrinath Highway 07 is currently blocked because of heavy debris falling from the hill onto the road in Bhanerpani, Joshimath’, end quote. Despite this, pedestrians can still navigate through Joshimath. Teams from the BRO and the district administration are hard at work trying to clear the road for vehicles. The past few days have seen heavy rains in Uttarakhand, leading to multiple landslides in the hills.

In another development, A Saudi Airlines plane caught fire while landing at Peshawar Airport in Pakistan on Thursday. Local reports say that as many as 10 flyers were injured. However, there are no reports of casualties and everyone has been evacuated safely. reports say that the landing gear of the plane caught fire during the landing. Alert staff at the runway activated all the emergency protocols. A report by Pakistan’s ‘The Dawn’ said the passengers and the crew of the Saudi plane were rescued after they disembarked from the plane by emergency slide. The Bacha Khan International staff said that there were 276 passengers and 21 crew members on the Riyadh flight. The Dawn report quoting Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Saifullah said that the alert air traffic controllers noticed the sparks coming from the landing gear of the aircraft.

Lastly, The benchmark equity indices closed the trading session on a flat note on July 11. The BSE Sensex fell 27 points or 0.03% to finish the day’s trading at 79,897.34, while the NSE Nifty 50 closed 8.50 points or 0.03% lower at 24,315.95. Bank Nifty closed in the green, 81 points or 0.16% higher at 52,271. Nifty Midcap 100 closed 227 points or 0.40% higher at 57,148.25. The share price of State Bank of India marginally gained to intra-day highs of Rs 858.30 on the NSE following successful fundraising by the country’s largest lender.