Top headlines: LIC may have to be revalued, Russia-Ukraine to hold talks

RBI has publicly expressed strong reservations against permitting cryptocurrencies

The Life Insurance Corporaiton may get its valuation reworked for its Initial Public Offer (IPO) if the listing gets pushed beyong May 2022. Russia and Ukraine may hold fourth round of peace talks today through online mode. Walk through these headlines in our morning newswrap.

LIC may need to be revalued if the listing is pushed beyond May

The government may have to rework the valuation of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for its initial public offering (IPO) if the listing is pushed beyond May, an official said. The current embedded value of LIC, pegged at Rs 5.4 trillion as of September 30 and for the six-month period ended September, will have to be re-evaluated if the issue is pushed beyond May 12, as approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Read more

Russia, Ukraine to hold fourth round of peace talks today

Russia, Ukraine will hold the fourth round of peace talks today, said an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The talks will be held online as Zelenskyy's aide, Mykhailo Podolyak said, "A large number of issues require constant attention. On Monday, March 14, a negotiating session will be held to sum up the preliminary results..." Waves of Russian missiles pounded a military training base near Ukraine’s western border with NATO member Poland, killing 35 people, Ukrainian authorities said Sunday. The strike followed Russian threats to target foreign weapon shipments that are helping Ukrainian fighters defend their country against Russia's grinding assault. Read more

Finance ministry working on consultation paper to deal with cryptoassets

The finance ministry is working on a consultation paper to devise a domestic regulatory framework on how to deal with cryptoassets and may invite public comments on it in six months’ time. “At present, we are engaged in consultation with institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and the Financial Stability Board (FSB). While a global consensus on the issue may take time, we are working on a consultation paper on cryptoassets to formulate our own views on the matter. Read more

Apple likely to start iPhone 13 production at Foxconn plant from April

Seven months after it was launched in India, Apple is expected to start manufacturing the iPhone 13 at the Foxconn plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai from April, according to sources. The phones will be for both the domestic and export market. The production of the iPhone 13 in the Chennai plant was meant to start from January but had to be postponed after Apple suspended production following protests in December by women wor­kers about food poisoning. Read more

BJP faces anti-incumbency, three-pronged contests in HP and Gujarat

The chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur, must be an anxious man. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost every by-election it contested — the Mandi parliamentary seat, and the Assembly constituencies of Arki, Fatehpur and Jubbal-Kotkhai — just a few months ago (October 2021) on his watch. All the by-elections were caused because of the death of sitting candidates. Read more