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A pair of pistols made for Tipu Sultan and an intricate painting of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were among the starring lots that helped set a new auction record for Sotheby's in London this week. The Arts of the Islamic World and India' sale on Wednesday fetched a combined total of over 10 million pounds, with both historic Indian auction lots outshining their guide price estimates considerably. The 18th century Mysore ruler's silver-mounted flintlock pistols, made especially for the Tiger of Mysore, sold to a private collector for almost 14 times the estimate for 1.1 million pounds. The painting of the 19th century founder of the Sikh Empire, depicting Maharaja Ranjit Singh in procession through a bazaar by artist Bishan Singh set a new record for Sikh art as it was acquired by an institution for 952,500 pounds. This wonderfully detailed processional scene depicts Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh leader, riding his elephant through a bazaar in Lahore, reads the Sotheby's catalogue ...
Markets regulator Sebi has proposed a new framework for the Closing Auction Session (CAS) in the equity cash market, starting with highly liquid derivative stocks to determine the closing prices of shares. The proposal, if implemented, is expected to reduce volatility, improve fairness, and make it easier for large and passive investors to execute trades. In its consultation paper, Sebi proposed that CAS would be applied in a phased manner, beginning with stocks available in the derivatives segment-- those with sufficient liquidity--and later extended to all stocks based on experience gained. A closing auction session is a short trading period held at the end of the day to determine the final price of a security. The regulator proposed that session will be held separately for 20 minutes, from 3:15 pm to 3:35 pm, unlike an earlier proposal that suggested conducting it after market hours, between 3:30 pm and 3:45 pm. The session would be divided into four phases --reference price .
For sale: A 54-pound (25-kilogramme) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth. Sotheby's in New York will be auctioning what's known as NWA 16788 on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale that also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that's more than 6 feet tall and nearly 11 feet long. According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike before travelling 140 million miles to Earth, where it crashed into the Sahara. A meteorite hunter found it in Niger in November 2023, Sotheby's says. The red, brown and gray hunk is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches. This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever
Sketched out on an air sickness bag, the first Birkin bag that gave birth to fashion's must-have accessory sold for a record 7 million euros (about $8.2 million) at auction in Paris on Thursday. The huge amount which drew gasps and applause from the audience crushed what auctioneer Sotheby's had said was the previous record for a handbag. That was $513,040, for a White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Retourne Kelly 28. Now, the original Birkin bag, named after the actor, singer and fashion icon that Herms created it for the late Jane Birkin is in a new league of its own. The bidding started at 1 million euros ($1.17 million) and quickly became stratospheric. The Paris fashion house exclusively commissioned the bag for the London-born star in 1984 branding it with her initials J.B. on the front flap, below the lock and delivered the finished one-of-a-kind bag to her the following year, the auction house said. The subsequent commercialized version of Birkin's bag went on
Online auctions for 730 FM radio channels in 234 cities across the country are scheduled to start later this month, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju said on Thursday. Addressing the Broadcasting Engineering Society Expo here, Jaju said over 20 top companies from across the country have participated in bids that were invited for the auction under the Private FM Radio Phase III policy. "There are a lot of gains being made now in terms of the private FM radio. The auctions for private FM radio are slated to start this month," Jaju said. "I am sure that it will get good participation from many of the players," he said. In August last year, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal to conduct the third batch of e-auctions for 730 channels in 234 new cities with an estimated reserve price of Rs 784.87 crore, under the Private FM Radio Phase III policy. In October last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting invited ...
A Parliamentary panel has recommended that airwaves sold to companies should clearly identify their end use to avoid situations like the one that had led to CAG's critical remarks in the past about Reliance Jio making undue gains from BWA spectrum auction. The Standing Committee on Communications and IT, in its report, recommended that greater clarity be built into spectrum auction documents including clearly spelling out scope of usage of airwaves with robust mechanisms built to also ensure its efficient utilisation, as it cited CAG report of 2015 on how "deficiencies" in past BWA auction had led to an undue advantage of Rs 3,367 crore for Reliance Jio Infocomm (previously Infotel). Drawing attention to the said report, the committee further recommended that migration pricing for operators should be aligned with current market rates to prevent financial advantages that are not justifiable. "A robust mechanism for monitoring the progress of service rollouts should also be put in ...
Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday launched nation's first-ever auction of Exploration Licences (ELs) for 13 exploration blocks for critical minerals. Reddy launched the ELs in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in Dona Paula near here, a major reform aimed to unlock India's untapped critical and deep-seated mineral resources. The licenses are for the exploration blocks for minerals like REE (rare earth elements), zinc, diamond, copper, PGE (platinum group minerals) and others. The programme also featured a roadshow on the 5th Tranche of Critical Mineral Blocks and the launch of AI Hackathon 2025, a Mineral Exploration Hackathon focused on Mineral Targeting using AI (Artificial Intelligence). Addressing the gathering, Union minister Reddy said that in the last 10 years, India's mining sector has achieved many milestones and emerged as one of the fastest and most dynamic sectors of the country. Today marks another milestone in the industry, he ..