The stock of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India's largest company by market capitalisation, has slipped by 23 per cent from its highest level in July this year.

If the stock fails to rise 5 per cent in the remaining five trading sessions this calendar year, the company will not only record its longest monthly losing streak since the Covid-19 markets' slump but also give negative returns for the first time in the last 10 years.

According to stock exchange data, RIL's market cap declined by about Rs 5 lakh crore from its peak of Rs 21.50 lakh crore in July to Rs 16.5 lakh crore.

In a significant year for the Indian startup ecosystem, 13 new-age companies launched their initial public offerings (IPOs), as startups cumulatively raised more than Rs 29,200 crore from the stock market.

When it comes to IPOs, the figure stood at 10 in 2021, six in 2022 and six in 2023.

This year, 13 startups cumulatively raised Rs 29,247 crore from the cash market. Out of this, the fresh issue was nearly Rs 14,672 crore and Rs 14,574 crore Offer for Sale (OFS).

In an IPO, the money raised under the fresh issue goes directly to the company. At the same time, the money raised under OFS goes directly to the investors and promoters of the company.

Among 13 startup IPOs, 10 were mainboard and 3 were SME IPOs.

At least 12 tin-shed shops were gutted in a fire at a local market in Amarkantak town in Madhya Pradesh's Anuppur district on Tuesday, after which a firefighting vehicle was vandalised for delayed arrival.

The fire broke out in a shop and quickly spread to other eateries in the queue. Shop owners, workers and locals tried to control the blaze by pouring water.

Meanwhile, the Fire Department was also alerted and the firefighters rushed to the spot to put out the blaze.

However, the owners of the gutted shops created a ruckus alleging that the firefighting team reached the spot late.

The shop owners misbehaved with the firefighting team who ran out for their safety.

A video of the incident surfaced on social media, showing the vandalised firefighting vehicle. Having learned about the incident, local area police reached the spot and initiated action against the miscreants.

The year 2024 has been a historic one for the Indian stock market. Corporates raised bumper funds from investors through initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on public offers (FPOs), qualified institutional placements (QIPs) and rights issues, and set several new records.

In 2024, domestic companies raised Rs 1.64 lakh crore through 90 IPOs.

During this period, shares worth Rs 1.39 lakh crore were sold to institutional investors. This is the highest figure ever for raising capital through public issues.

In 2021, companies raised the highest amount of Rs 1.18 lakh crore through IPOs. During this period, shares worth Rs 41,997 crore were sold by the companies to institutional investors.

The domestic air passenger traffic in India is expected to clock 6.1 per cent growth at 144.9 lakh in the month of November, compared to 136.6 lakh in October, a report showed on Tuesday.

Further, November witnessed a year-on-year growth of 13.8 per cent in comparison to 127.4 lakh in November 2023 and higher by 11.9 per cent than pre-Covid levels of 129.5 lakh in November 2019, according to estimates by credit rating agency ICRA.

For the eight months this fiscal (April-November), domestic air passenger traffic was 1074.9 lakh, with a YoY growth of 6.7 per cent and 12.3 per cent higher than the pre-Covid level of 957 lakh in the first eight months in FY2020.

Moreover, in the first seven months this fiscal (FY25), the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 190.3 lakh with a YoY growth of 15.9 per cent, and higher than the pre-Covid level of 131 lakh by 45.4 per cent, the report mentioned.

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it recorded the highest net wireless subscriber additions in October, adding 1.93 million mobile subscribers during the month, thus reflecting steady growth amid a shifting telecom landscape.

The company said it remains committed to supporting India’s digital growth and providing robust connectivity solutions.

As per latest Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, the telecom service provider added 1,928,263 wireless users in October, marking a significant milestone.

On the other hand, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea reported subscriber losses of 3.76 million and 1.98 million, respectively.

State-run BSNL added 501,224 users while MTNL saw a marginal decline of 2,273 users in October.

The office market in India saw a robust 14 per cent growth (year-on-year) in 2024, with leasing activity across the top six cities reaching 66.4 million square feet, according to a report on Tuesday.

Bengaluru led the Grade A office space demand, with highest-ever leasing volume of 21.7 million square feet, marking an impressive 40 per cent growth, according to a Colliers report.

Demand scale-up was also evident in Hyderabad and Mumbai. With 12.5 and 10.0 million square feet of leasing activity respectively, both cities witnessed double-digit annual office space demand for the first time in 2024.

Delhi-NCR too witnessed healthy space uptake and Grade A demand almost touched 10 million square feet mark in 2024.

Ampere's losses also surged nearly 11 times to Rs 215 crore last fiscal, from Rs 20 crore in FY23.

If the company's non-operative (one-time cost) of Rs 477 crore is included, then the company suffered a massive loss of Rs 693 crore in FY24, as per its financials with the Registrar of Companies (ROC).

The reason for the decline in the company's income was drop in its scooter sales.

Ampere also offers three-wheeler electric vehicles along with electric scooters. Electric scooters accounted for 70 per cent of the company's sales in FY24.

The company's income from EV scooters fell 59 per cent to Rs 432 crore. However, sales of electric three-wheelers grew 2.5 times year-on-year to Rs 178 crore.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, India's largest telecom operator, has seen a decline of nearly 1.65 crore subscribers over the past four months.

Reliance Jio lost 37.6 lakh mobile subscribers in October, 79 lakh in September 2024, 40 lakh in August 2024 and over 7.58 lakh in July 2024.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, India's second-largest telecom company, Airtel, gained nearly 24 lakh subscribers in October, after losing more than 14.3 lakh subscribers in September.

Airtel lost 24 lakh subscribers in August 2024 and 16 lakh subscribers in July 2024. Vodafone Idea lost more than 19 lakh mobile subscribers in October, compared to a decline of 15.5 lakh in September.

The decline in the subscriber base for the private telecom player can be attributed to the tariff hike by the companies in mid-2024, which came into effect in July.

As smartphones remain integral to people’s daily lives, 59 per cent of the respondents plan to purchase a Gen AI-enabled smartphone within the next year, with the trend being strongest in the US, followed by Germany and France, a global survey showed on Monday.

GenAI was familiar to 32 per cent of the respondents in a survey conducted by Counterpoint Research across seven countries, namely USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, and Japan.

As per the results, GenAI awareness was highest in North America (72 per cent) and lowest in Japan (7 per cent).

“GenAI has quickly gained traction due to its accessibility and versatility across personal, professional, and educational applications. Everyday tasks, such as writing assistance, document editing, and research have been made simpler, proving it is an invaluable tool for users,” said Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint.