Economy

India has declared that it will provide five lakh (500,000) free e-tourist visas to launch inbound travel, and the country is now opening up for international travel in a calibrated manner, according to a government release.

The previous record high was of 90,000 employees in 2018-19, which was shattered in the first half of FY22 as they hired 110,000 employees. This has led to increased salaries due to which margins may be impacted in the next few quarters. Jefferies expects highest margin decline of Wipro and HCL Tech in the third quarter of FY 22.

Microgravity, an Indian-based gaming company, has been selected by the London Mayor’s Office to establish an augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) gaming arena in the city.

To push digital transactions in rural and semi-urban areas, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday issued a framework allowing offline payments up to Rs 200 per transaction, subject to an overall limit of Rs 2,000.

In all, 39 MoUs were signed on Monday as part of the upcoming 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS). These included proposals to set up the country’s first lithium refinery and a research centre for nano satellites. The MoUs also comprise initial pacts signed by educational institutions for research and training.

UJALA was successful in lowering the retail price of LED lights from Rs 300-350 (US$ 4.03- 4.7) to Rs 70-80 (US$ 0.9- 1) per bulb. The programme not only made affordable energy available to everyone, but it also saved a lot of energy. As of present, energy savings total 47,778 million kWh per year. 9565 MW of peak demand has been avoided, resulting in a saving of 3,86 crore tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Alka Mittal has become the first woman to head India’s largest exploration and production company, ONGC, and second woman in the country to helm an oil company after Nishi Vasudeva, who had made history in March 2014 after taking over the reins of oil refiner-fuel retailer Hindustan Petroleum.