San Francisco, June 2

Sheryl Sandberg, the No. 2 executive at Facebook owner Meta, who helped turn its business from startup to digital advertising empire while also taking blame for some of its biggest missteps, is stepping down.

Sandberg has served as chief operating officer (COO) at the social media giant for 14 years. She joined from Google in 2008, four years before Facebook went public.

She has led Facebook advertising business and was responsible for nurturing it from its infancy into an over $100 billion-a-year powerhouse. — AP

Mumbai, June 2

Equity indices found firmer ground on Thursday after a two-day decline, buoyed by a rally in market heavyweight Reliance Industries and easing crude oil prices.

Overcoming a wobbly start, the Sensex rose 436.94 points to end at 55,818.11. Similarly, the Nifty surged 105.25 points to 16,628. Reliance stole the show by vaulting 3.51%, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys.

New Delhi, June 2

India's merchandise exports rose by 15.46% to $37.29 billion in May on account of healthy performance by sectors like petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to $23.33 billion during the month, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.

Imports during the month too grew by 56.14% to $60.62 billion. The trade deficit in May 2021 stood at $6.53 billion.

"India's merchandise export in April-May 2022-23 was $77.08 billion with an increase of 22.26% over $63.05 billion in April-May 2021-22," it said.

Petroleum and crude oil imports during May 2022 surged by 91.6% to $18.14 billion. Coal, coke and briquettes imports jumped to $5.33 billion, as against $2 billion in May 2021.

Gold imports increased to $5.82 billion during the month under review, from $677 million in May 2021.

Chandigarh, June 2

The Punjab Government has mandated Markfed to procure moong dal at MSP of Rs 7,275 per quintal as per the guidelines issued by Government of India.

Ramvir Singh, MD, Markfed, said the Central government has allowed the state to implement the Price Support Scheme for the procurement of moong during 2022 season. Markfed has opened 38 procurement centres for the same.

New Delhi: Reliance Brands Ltd will acquire a 40% stake in Italy-based Plastic Legno's toy manufacturing business in India to strengthen its toy production in the country. Plastic Legno SPA is owned by the Sunino Group that boasts over 25 years of toy output experience in Europe. PTI

ChandigarhConsumer Price Index for Industrial Workers up 1.7

The All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for April increased by 1.7 points and stood at 127.7. On 1-month percentage change, it increased by 1.35% with respect to previous month. TNS

New DelhiMortgage lender HDFC hikes lending rate by 5 bps

HDFC Ltd on Wednesday announced an increase in its benchmark lending rate by 5 basis points (bps), a move that will make loans dearer for both existing and new borrowers.

New Delhi, May 31

Shares of LIC on Tuesday declined over 3% after the company posted a 17% decline in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended in March 2022. The stock declined 3.05% to settle at Rs 811.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At the NSE, it fell by 3.21% to end at Rs 810.85.

New Delhi, May 31

Fiscal deficit for 2021-22 improved to 6.71% of the GDP over the revised Budget Estimate of 6.9% on account of higher tax mop-up.

Bbeats Estimates

Unveiling the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for 2020-21, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said the fiscal deficit in the absolute terms was Rs 15,86,537 crore (provisional). The Finance Ministry in February had estimated the deficit at Rs 15,91,089 crore or 6.9% of GDP.

The tax receipts during the fiscal were at Rs 18.2 lakh crore as against the revised estimates (RE) of Rs 17.65 lakh crore. The total expenditure too was higher at Rs 37.94 lakh crore against the RE of Rs 37.7 lakh crore. The CGA further said the revenue deficit at the end of the fiscal was 4.37% for fiscal 2021-22.

New Delhi, May 31

Eight infrastructure sectors grew by 8.4% in April against 62.6% expansion in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Tuesday. The output of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity had expanded by 4.9% in March 2022. The core sector had witnessed an exceptionally high growth rate of 62.6% in April 2021 mainly due to the low base effect.

New Delhi, May 31

Eight infrastructure sectors grew by 8.4% in April against 62.6% expansion in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Tuesday. The output of eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity had expanded by 4.9% in March 2022. The core sector had witnessed an exceptionally high growth rate of 62.6% in April 2021 mainly due to the low base effect.

New Delhi, May 30

Tata Motors on Monday announced the signing of a tripartite pact with Ford and the Gujarat government to acquire the American auto major's vehicle manufacturing plant at Sanand.

An MoU was signed between Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd — a subsidiary of Tata Motors — and Ford India Pvt Ltd (FIPL) with the Gujarat government for the potential acquisition of FIPL's Sanand facility, including land, buildings, vehicle manufacturing plant, machinery and equipment, Tata Motors said.

The MoU also includes the transfer of all eligible employees of FIPL Sanand's vehicle manufacturing operations.

New Delhi, May 30

The aviation regulator DGCA has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on SpiceJet for training its Boeing 737 Max aircraft's pilots on a faulty simulator as it could have adversely impacted flight safety, sources said on Monday.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last month barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating the Max aircraft after finding them not properly trained.

After barring the pilots, the regulator had issued a show-cause notice to the airline, sources told PTI.

The response sent by the airline was not found satisfactory, they mentioned.

"The training being imparted by the airline could have adversely affected flight safety and hence was nullified," one of the sources stated.

Therefore, the DGCA has imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on SpiceJet for using a faulty simulator to train their Max aircraft's pilots, sources mentioned.

New Delhi, May 27

Edible oil major Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 25% decline in its standalone net profit to Rs 234.33 crore for the March 2022 quarter, mainly due to higher tax expenses.

Total income rose to Rs 6,676.19 crore in the fourth quarter from Rs 4,859.5 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal. Net profit increased to Rs 806.3 crore in 2021-22 from Rs 680.77 crore a year ago. The company also announced a dividend of Rs 5 per share.