Top headlines: Jhunjhunwala rejigs portfolio; H-1B visa norms get tougher

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India sets aside Rs 50,000 crore for Covid-19 vaccination: Report

India’s government has set aside about Rs 50,000 crore ($7 billion) to vaccinate the world’s most populous nation after China against the coronavirus, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration estimates an all-in cost of about $6-$7 per person in the nation of 1.3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private. Read more here.
 

Jhunjhunwala rejigs portfolio in Q2; ups stake in Lupin, Tata Motors

Stocks of pharmaceutical and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies found favour with ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala in the July – September 2020 quarter of the current fiscal (Q2FY21). The duo bought additional shares in pharmaceutical companies Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences, along with Agro Tech Foods and NCC during Q2FY21, as per shareholding pattern filed by 28 companies till October 21, 2020. Read more here.
 

Despite Covid, Indian adults see wealth rise 0.7% in H1-20: Credit Suisse

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic that brought life to a near standstill earlier in 2020 and severely dented the India’s economy with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting 23.9 per cent in the April – June 2020 quarter (Q1FY21), the Global Wealth Report 2020 by Credit Suisse released Thursday suggests the wealth per adult in India rose to 0.7 per cent to $17,420 at end-June 2020 from $17,300 at the end of calendar year 2019. Read more here.
 

US makes it more difficult to get H-1B visas; many Indians may be hit

The State Department has proposed not to issue temporary business visas for H-1B speciality occupations which allowed several companies to send their technology professionals for a short stay to complete jobs on site in the US, a move which could affect hundreds of Indians. Read more here.
 

Bajaj Auto Q2 PAT dips 22% YoY at Rs 1,194 crore; margin expands

Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto on Thursday reported consolidated net profit of Rs 1,193.7 crore for the July-September quarter of FY21 (Q2FY21), down 21.6 per cent, from a profit of Rs 1,523.7 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, however, the profit surged 202 per cent from Rs 395.51 crore posted in the June quarter of FY21. The company's revenue fell 7.15 per cent YoY to Rs 7,155.86 crore, as against Rs 7,707.32 crore in Q1FY20. Read more here.