Top headlines: RBI buys record gold, ISRO satellite mission fails

Business Standard brings you the top headlines of the day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asks India Inc to enhance its risk-taking appetite after the government scraps retrospective tax. India's billion-dollar gaming industry seeks clarity on valuation, taxation.

Here are the top headlines of the day:

Up to India Inc to take risks now as my govt has ushered bold reforms: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government had taken a host of bold economic decisions such as scrapping retrospective tax and initiating farm and labour reforms, and called upon India Inc to enhance its risk-taking appetite to take advantage of them. Read more...

Satellite mission 'couldn't be accomplished': ISRO

A mission to launch an Earth observation satellite to help India monitor natural disasters has failed, said the country’s space agency Thursday morning hours after declaring a successful rocket blastoff. EOS-03 was ISRO’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) second launch this year after it placed in space Brazil's earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites in February. Read more

RBI buys record gold this year: At 700 tonnes, reserves up 27% in 2 years

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased its gold purchases, as part of its foreign exchange (forex) reserves. In the first half (H1) of calendar year 2021 (CY21), the addition of gold to India’s forex reserves has been the highest — on a half-yearly basis —at 29 tonnes. Now, the RBI’s gold holding — as a proportion of its forex reserves — has for the first time crossed 700 tonnes. Read more...

Options volume hits record high; forms 97% of F&O contracts traded in FY22

Trading in the options segment of the exchanges has touched a record high this year, led by factors such as the entry of new individual traders amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an uptick in margins in the futures segment, increased activity from algo traders, and the weekly expiry cycle. The number of contracts traded in the options segment in FY22 so far makes up over 97 per cent of the total futures and options (F&O) contracts, with action largely concentrated in the Nifty and Bank Nifty index options. Read more...

Billion-dollar online gaming industry seeks clarity on valuation, taxation

India is the fifth largest market for online gaming, a billion-dollar industry that could double to $2 billion in the country by 2023. However, perception of online gaming hasn’t always been favourable and policies, too, have at times worked against the sector. Read more...