Top headlines: NTPC to cut stake in RE arm; DDMA urged to ease Covid norms

Business Standard brings you the top headlines on Wednesday

NTPC to cut stake in renewable energy arm, hunt for strategic investors

India’s largest power generating company, the state-owned NTPC Limited will reduce its stake in its newly formed renewable energy (RE) arm as it plans to list it in the coming financial year. NTPC-Renewable Energy ltd (NREL) was incorporated in October 2020 and will spearhead the company’s plan to construct 60 Gw of renewable energy projects in this decade.

Senior executives said NTPC will commence “global roadshows” in the coming months to look for a strategic investor in NREL. Read more

Traders in Delhi request DDMA to amend Covid restrictions under GRAP

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), an umbrella body of different trade unions in Delhi, urged the DDMA on Wednesday to amend the restrictions under the GRAP for COVID-19 and consider two other indicators as well -- the number of fresh cases of the infection and that of the oxygen beds occupied -- before announcing any colour-coded alert.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has sounded a "yellow" alert under its Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) after the Covid positivity rate in the national capital was recorded above 0.5 per cent for two consecutive days. Read more

Apple puts India iPhone maker Foxconn on probation for labour violations

Apple Inc. put Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in southern India on probation following worker protests and an investigation that revealed substandard living conditions.

Foxconn, which uses the facility to assemble iPhones among other gadgets, apologized for the lapses in health standards and pledged to revamp its management and operations in the country. Read more

India may see Covid surge within days, says Cambridge University's tracker

India may see a spurt in the Covid-19 growth rate within days and head into an intense but short-lived virus wave as the highly-infectious omicron variant moves through the crowded nation of almost 1.4 billion.

“It is likely that India will see a period of explosive growth in daily cases and that the intense growth phase will be relatively short,” Paul Kattuman, professor at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge which has developed a Covid-19 India tracker, wrote in an email. Read more