The Indian stock market on Tuesday traded in a narrow range amid mixed signals from global markets.

Despite fluctuations, the benchmark indices ended the day with only marginal losses.

The Sensex touched a low of 75,531 during intra-day trade but managed to recover slightly, closing 29 points lower at 75,967.

Similarly, the Nifty 50 fluctuated between 22,801 and 22,992 before settling at 22,945, down just 14 points from its previous close.

India's most valuable private sector companies in the 2024 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 have a cumulative value of $3.8 trillion (Rs 324 lakh crore, up 40 per cent), which is higher than the GDP of India and the combined GDPs of the UAE, Indonesia, and Spain, according to the report released on Tuesday.

These 500 companies recorded a 20 per cent increase in their workforce during 2024, adding nearly 1.4 million new jobs and expanding to a total of 8.4 million employees. They now employ around 16 per cent of India's total workforce, highlighting their significant role in national employment, the report states.

In terms of market dominance, the Tata Group holds the crown while the Adani Group has strengthened its grip. Tata Group has retained its leading position with 15 companies, contributing 10 per cent of the total cumulative value in the 2024 Burgundy Private Hurun India 500. Adani Group expanded its presence by adding one more company, bringing its total to 9 companies this year, the report states.

An eight-member team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reportedly from Delhi on Tuesday launched a raid at the residence of senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi here in connection with a high-profile bribery case involving officials of Bridge and Roof Co. (India) Limited, a Central government PSU under the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

Speaking to media persons, the bureaucrat claimed innocence in the case and also alleged that CBI officers were harassing him and his family members.

“I want to clarify that a few work orders have been given to Bridge and Roof Co. (India) Limited following the approval of the state government. The file related to the project remained with me for a few hours only after it came to my notice,” said Sethi.

Ahead of the much-awaiting clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy on Sunday, pacer Haris Rauf said that he is ready to face legendary batter Virat Kohli in the encounter, who smashed famous consecutive sixes against him in the 2022 T20 World Cup at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Kohli's unbeaten 82 in that match steered India to an iconic victory and his dual sixes off Rauf also heaped him a plethora of praise on social media and from former cricketers.

Recalling that moment, Rauf said that Kohli never teased him for hitting those sixes in his over and added that the former India captain is a world-class player who can take charge on any bowler in the world.

"Never, Kohli never said a word about those sixes and all the talk on social media is rubbish. Everyone praises Kohli for his batting and he is a world-class player. I always have fun bonding with him," Rauf told Telecom Asia Sport.

Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday it has decided to cancel 3 trillion won ($2.01 billion) worth of treasury stocks as part of its buyback plan to enhance shareholder value.

Around 50.1 million common stocks and 6.9 million preferred shares will be retired, according to the company in a regulatory filing.

Samsung Electronics said the cancellation follows the decision made at a board meeting in November to repurchase its own shares worth a combined 10 trillion won over the ensuing year, reports Yonhap news agency.

As a first step, it said it was planning to buy back 3 trillion won of shares within three months and cancel all of them.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has strongly criticised the Centre for appointing Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in a late-night decision.

Kumar, a retired IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, replaces Rajiv Kumar following his retirement.

LoP Gandhi questioned the urgency of the appointment, pointing out that the composition of the selection committee is under judicial review.

B2B e-commerce platform Udaan is facing serious financial challenges despite securing fresh funds as the company’s revenue remained almost flat in FY24.

Its valuation also dropped sharply by 59.3 per cent to $1.3 billion, down from its peak of $3.2 billion, according to its financials.

This decline comes even as Udaan managed to cut its losses by 19.4 per cent over the year.

Udaan’s gross merchandise value (GMV) in FY24 saw only a 1.7 per cent growth, at Rs 5,706.6 crore from Rs 5,609.3 crore in the previous fiscal. This is a major setback for the company, as its GMV was much higher at Rs 9,900 crore in FY22.

A new international study has for the first time identified unique subpopulations of fat cells.

Researchers from Israel's Ben Gurion University (BGU) noted that the study could pave the way for personalised medicine in obesity, news agency reported.

The study, part of the international Human Cell Atlas project, mapped fat cell populations in various human fat tissues, focusing on subcutaneous and visceral fat.

Using technologies mapping RNA molecules, the team attached unique "barcodes" to RNA from individual cells, allowing them to identify distinct cell types within fat tissue.

India's GDP is expected to grow at 6.6 per cent in the October-December period of 2024-25, which is slower than the corresponding figure of 8.6 per cent for the same quarter of 2023-24, but remains robust with support from agriculture, government spending, and services, according to a Bank of Baroda report released on Tuesday.

The increase in the government's capital expenditure (capex) is a major driver of economic stability while the financial sector and rural demand show resilience, the report points out.

It states that the government’s capital expenditure has increased significantly to 47.7 per cent in Q3FY25 (up from 24.4 per cent in Q3FY24) which has led to an increase in construction activity in sectors such as highways, ports and railways resulting in more jobs and incomes being created in the economy.

The incidence of acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) and influenza has been rising in Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the country's Ministry of Health said and added that it has initiated monitoring of children's attendance in schools.

From February 10 to 16 as many as 10,796 cases of ARVI and 73 cases of influenza were reported, marking a 3 per cent increase compared to the previous week. Approximately 4.4 per cent of those infected required hospitalisation.

The report indicated that since mid-December 2024, the flu season has been characterised by the presence of Influenza A/H1N1/2009, Influenza B, and COVID-19.

To effectively implement anti-epidemic measures and prevent outbreaks, the health ministry has initiated monitoring of children's attendance in schools, news agency reported.