A look at the headlines in the sector right now:

  1. Essential medicines to become costlier from April 1: The government controls the prices of 875 drugs that are on the National List of Essential Medicines.
  2. Energy shares and firm global cues boost Indian markets: Sensex ended 64.48 points up, while Nifty remained above the 9,000 mark.  
  3. Google hands over its latest OS Android O to developers, but details remain speculative: Although there is no official release date yet, the new software is likely to bring better battery life and more control over notifications for users.
  4. Instagram says it has hit the 1 million advertisers milestone: The Facebook-owned platform focused on promoting business-specific profiles in the past year, said Vice President James Quarles.
  5. Finance ministry calls bank chiefs to discuss ways to drain surplus cash, says report: The implementation of a new facility called“standing deposit” will be discussed at Friday’s meeting.
  6. Centre clears Rs 1,000 crore ‘fund of funds for start-ups’: The Small Industries Development Bank of India will manage the initiative, officials said. 
  7. Verizon, AT&T have suspended their advertisements from Google over ‘offensive videos’: The companies have joined several other brands in pulling out after their digital ads appeared next to ‘extremist content’.