Equities begin new year with positive ring

Agencies

January 1, 2021

Mumbai, Jan 1: Equity benchmark indices began the first trading session of year 2021 on a positive note with the possibility of touching new heights.

The stocks have surged since November on record inflows from foreign institutional investors, progress on Covid-19 vaccines globally and signs of a nascent economic recovery in the country.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 148 points or 0.31 per cent at 47,899 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 39 points or 0.28 per cent to 14,020.

Except for Nifty pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green zone with Nifty PSU bank moving up by 1.6 per cent, auto and IT by 0.5 per cent, and FMCG by 0.3 per cent.

Among stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra gained by 2.1 per cent to Rs 736.05 per share while Tata Motors was up by 0.6 per cent to Rs 184.95.

The others which gained marginally were UPL, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Britannia and Larsen & Toubro.

However, those in the negative terrain were Sun Pharma, Hindalco, SBI Life, Titan, GAIL, NTPC and Power Grid Corporation.

Meanwhile, US markets ended higher a day earlier after the release of better-than-expected macroeconomic data and optimism on the Covid-19 vaccine front.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Taliban appoints Ikramuddin Kamil as acting consul in Mumbai as India-Afghan ties improve

News Network

November 12,2024

The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported.

It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

"He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said.

The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said

Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said.

He is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India, the report added.

Kamil's appointment comes days after the external affairs ministry's point-person for Afghanistan held talks with the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in Kabul.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also posted on X about Kamil's appointment.

The appointment of Kamil is seen as part of efforts to facilitate consular services to the Afghan population in Mumbai.

There has been almost negligible presence of diplomatic staff at the Afghan missions in India.

Most of the diplomats appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government have already left India.

In May, Zakia Wardak, the seniormost Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at the Mumbai airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore from Dubai.

Wardak had taken charge as the acting ambassador of Afghanistan to New Delhi late last year, after working as the Afghan consul general in Mumbai for more than two years.

She took charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi last November, after the mission helmed by then ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its closure.

Mamundzay, who was an appointee of the Ghani government, had moved to the United Kingdom.

Comments