Top headlines: Health infra on test, INS Vikrant closer to commissioning

Reliance joins top league of PE players with bold bets. More in today's top headlines

India's hospital infrastructure could likely come under stress in the coming weeks if the coronavirus surge continues. More on that in today's top headlines

Hospital infrastructure faces Covid-19 test

India’s hospital infrastructure may be put to test again if the rate of infection rises during the Omicron-led third Covid wave sweeping through the country. So far, the rate of hospitalisation remains low, at 1.5 to 2 per cent — less that two out of 100 people with Covid currently require to be hospitalised. Read more

Insurance cover likely for traders under national policy

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will soon start public consultation for a national retail trade policy, which is likely to include an insurance scheme aimed at providing financial protection against losses caused by theft, accidents or natural calamities.

The policy will also spell out ways to give traders access to low-cost finance, promote digital inclusion, and create necessary infrastructure to support them, a senior government official told Business Standard. Read more

Reliance joins top league of PE players with bold bets

Reliance has spent $5.7 billion on acquisitions and investments across various sectors over the past four years, the latest being its acquisition last week of a majority stake in the luxury hotel Mandarin Oriental in New York for $98.2 million and a 25.8 per cent stake in Dunzo, a hyperlocal delivery platform, for $200 million.

Its investments would have hit $9 billion if its deal to acquire Future Group’s retail business, which is mired in a legal battle for control with Amazon, had been cleared. Read more

YES Bank may offer Dish TV stake to Tata Sky and Bharti Airtel

YES Bank, the largest shareholder in Dish TV India with a 25.6 per cent stake that it acquired by way of loan recovery, is planning to sell its holding in the satellite TV broadcaster to Tata Sky and Bharti Airtel. Other institutional investors, who jointly own 45 per cent in Dish TV, are also keen to sell their stake, according to banking sources.

Talks with both Tata Sky and Airtel are underway and a final decision is expected soon, the sources said. Read more

INS Vikrant sea trials take it one step closer to its commissioning

After hosting two successive high profile visits – by President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu – within a span of less than two weeks, India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier (IAC-1), INS Vikrant, is heading out to sea for its third set of sea trials. The carrier was built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

In her first sea trials last August, INS Vikrant established the smooth functioning of its propulsion system, navigational suite and basic aircraft carrier operations. Read more