Introduction

Alibaba's US shares climbed as much as 15 percent after the company announced a plan to separate its $255 billion empire into divisions that will raise funds individually and eventually explore IPOs. Back home, essential and life-saving medicines are set to get more expensive from the financial year that starts in April. The central government has approved a 12.12 percent hike in the prices of essential drugs which are regulated under the drug price control order. In corporate news, the board of directors of Vedanta has approved the fifth interim dividend of 20.5 rupees per share this time around.