Top headlines: Oct vehicle retail sales, telcos' tariff hike, and more

Here are the top news stories that made headlines today

Passenger vehicle October retail sales up 11% on festive demand: Report

According to automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), retail sales of passenger vehicles in October increased 11 per cent to 2,48,036 units against the same period last year, driven by festive demand during the month. Passenger vehicles (PV) sales stood at 2,23,498 units in October 2018. Two-wheeler sales increased 5 per cent to 13,34,941 units last month as compared with 12,70,261 units in the year-ago period.

Reliance Industries logs fresh all-time high, hits Rs 9.5 trillion m-cap

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Tuesday became the first Indian company to cross the market capitalisation of Rs 9.50 trillion after the company's stock rallied over 3 per cent intra-day to hit a fresh all-time high of Rs 1,508.45 on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel hits 52-wk high, Voda Idea up 20% on decision to hike tariffs

Stocks of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea surged in today's early morning trade after the two firms announced they will hike tariffs, starting December 1. While Airtel's shares climbed 5 per cent to Rs 430.80 apiece to log a fresh 52-week high, Vodafone Idea zoomed 20 per cent to Rs 5.35 on the BSE. The telcos, however, did not provide any guidance on the amount of the hike or the subscriber segments to be impacted by the move.

Indian Railways prunes Board by 25%, cuts down strength from 200 to 150

The Indian Railways has pruned the Railway Board by 25 per cent, cutting down its strength from 200 to 150 by transferring director-level officials and above to zones in a long pending move to enhance efficiency. The transfer orders of these 50 officials were issued on Monday, sources said. "This is part of the PM's vision of less bureaucracy. Less government maximum governance. These officials have gone where their work will be most effectively utilised, " a senior official said.

Over 77,000 BSNL employees opt for voluntary retirement offer: official

Over 77,000 employees of state-owned BSNL have opted for the recently launched VRS so far. Nearly one lakh BSNL employees are eligible for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) out of its total staff strength of about 1.50 lakh. The effective date of voluntary retirement under the present scheme is January 31, 2020. A BSNL official said that the number of employees who have opted for the VRS till now has crossed 77,000.

Reliance Capital Pension's registration under NPS cancelled: PFRDA

The registration of Reliance Capital Pension Fund under the government's National Pension Scheme (NPS) has been cancelled following a request by the company, sector regulator PFRDA said in a notice. With this, the pension fund is no longer available for subscription under NPS, said the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA). Earlier this year, the company had surrendered its NPS licence.

ICRA downgrades Peninsula Land's debentures to 'C', cites debt servicing

Rating agency ICRA has downgraded debentures of Peninsula Land Ltd. (PLL), from “BB” to “C”, citing irregularities in debt servicing and poor liquidity. The Ashok Piramal Group company faces high refinancing risk because of its debt repayment obligations (excluding collection-linked payments) aggregating to Rs 1,167 crore in the next twelve months, ICRA said.

ICRA cuts Karvy Broking's credit rating to 'non-cooperating category'

Rating agency ICRA has downgraded Karvy Stock Broking Ltd and Karvy Data Management Services ltd (KDML), citing insufficient information regarding the companies’ performance. ICRA said the management hasn’t given information it sought, as it moved the companies to 'Non-Cooperating Category'.

DIAL gets green nod for Rs 1,310-cr commercial building project in Aerocity
 

The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), a GMR-led consortium, has received green nod from the Environment Ministry for the development of two commercial buildings in Aerocity at an investment of about Rs 1,310 crore, according to an official document. The nodal ministry has given the environment clearance (EC) to DIAL's two proposed projects with some conditions after taking into account the recommendation of its expert committee.