Top headlines: Govt preps Pawan Hans sale, Serum faces Covid vaccine glut

The government will finalise the sale of state-owned helicopter service provider Pawan Hans this week. More on that story in our top headlines this hour.

Covering stories from Boris Johnson's India visit to Reliance Industries buying 15 mn barrels of Russian oil, here are our top headlines this evening: 

Govt to finalise Pawan Hans sale Saturday, JSW among bidders: Report

India will finalize the sale of state-owned helicopter service provider Pawan Hans Ltd. this week and has received bids from companies including JSW Steel Ltd. and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., according to people with the knowledge of the matter. Read more

Serum Institute halts Covid vaccine production amid global supply glut

Serum Institute of India Ltd., the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and a key supplier of Covid-19 inoculations to developing countries, has stopped making fresh batches of shots after its stockpile grew to 200 million doses amid a global supply glut. Read more

India, UK to deepen defence ties, seal free-trade agreement 'before Diwali'

In the backdrop of the rapid geopolitical turmoil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Friday agreed on a new and expanded India-UK defence partnership and vowed to seal an ambitious free trade agreement by the end of the year. Read more

Reliance buys 15 mn barrels of Russian oil amid Ukraine war: Report

Reliance Industries Ltd , operator of the world's biggest oil refining complex, has ordered at least 15 million barrels of Russian oil since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, trade sources said. Read more

Will the RBI's efforts to tame inflation, manage growth fail? UBS thinks so

UBS has downgraded India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for fiscal 2022-23 (FY23) to 7 per cent from the earlier forecast of 7.7 per cent. Beyond FY23, they expect the GDP growth to settle at a trend rate of 6 per cent and see inflation remaining above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) comfort level for a few more quarters. Read more