Business
Air Canada strike: Government ends flight attendants’ walkout, services to resume but cancellations linger – Times of India
Air Canada will restart flights on Sunday evening after the Canadian government intervened to end a strike by its 10,000 flight attendants that left more than 100,000 travellers stranded during the peak summer season.The airline, Canada’s largest, said it will take several days before operations return to normal and warned that some flights would remain cancelled over the next seven to 10 days until schedules stabilise.Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu ordered attendants back to work less than 12 hours after they walked off the job at 1 a.m. on Saturday, citing the broader economic impact, AP reported. “Now is not the time to take risks with the economy,” Hajdu said, pointing to the unprecedented tariffs the US has imposed on Canada. The dispute has been referred to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which extended the current collective agreement until a new one is decided by arbitration.The walkout had paralysed operations of the carrier, which runs nearly 700 flights daily. The shutdown was affecting about 130,000 passengers a day. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said Air Canada had cancelled 671 flights by Saturday afternoon, following 199 cancellations on Friday. Another 96 flights scheduled for Sunday were already suspended.The union had rejected Air Canada’s earlier request for government-directed arbitration, escalating the conflict. The government previously forced two major railroads into arbitration during a strike last year, a move unions challenged in court, arguing it weakened labour’s bargaining power. In this case, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce welcomed Ottawa’s intervention, and the Business Council of Canada had also urged binding arbitration.Hajdu stressed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is “not anti-union,” but added it was clear both sides were at an impasse.Air Canada announced that passengers affected by cancellations would be eligible for full refunds through its website or mobile app. It also promised to arrange alternative travel with other Canadian and foreign airlines “where possible,” but cautioned that immediate rebooking could not be guaranteed as flights on other carriers were already full during the busy summer season.The airline and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have been negotiating for nearly eight months without success. Pay remains the most contentious issue. Air Canada said its latest proposal offered a 38% increase in overall compensation, including benefits and pensions, over four years, a package that “would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.”The union disagreed, arguing that the proposed 8% raise in the first year fell short of addressing inflation and raised concerns about the unpaid work flight attendants perform when aircraft are not in the air.
Business
Reliance Industries AGM 2025 Live Updates: Mukesh Ambani Set To Address 44 Lakh RIL Shareholders Shortly
Reliance AGM 2025 Live Updates: Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is set to hold its 48th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today at 2:00 pm through video conferencing (VC) and other audio-visual means (OAVM). Investors will keenly watch RIL Chairman & Managing Director Mukesh Ambani’s live speech for announcements that could shape the company’s next phase of growth across its digital, retail, and energy businesses.
The event will be livestreamed across digital platforms, including YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, and JioEvents. The streaming will start at 2:00 pm.
(Disclaimer: Network18 and TV18 – the companies that operate news18.com – are controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.)
Vehicle breakdown specialist RAC has revealed stronger revenues and profits after it saw member numbers grow to 15 million.
The breakdown, insurance and maintenance firm reported that revenues grew by 8% to £411 million over the first half of 2025, putting it “on track” for another year of growth.
It said this included growth across each of its three main divisions.
The 128-year-old business said it is “confident” about its outlook for the rest of the year and for the longer term.
This came after membership numbers grew to 15 million from 14.1 million a year earlier.
RAC also reported that group earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation, grew by 12% to £152 million over the half-year.
The roadside assistant giant is owned by CVC Capital Partners, the Singaporean sovereign investment fund GIC and Silver Lake Partners.
Sky News reported in July that the firm’s owners were preparing to offload the business in a potential sale or stock market float, which could value the RAC at about £5 billion.
Dave Hobday, chief executive of the RAC, said: “2025 is set to be our 14th year of consecutive growth and I am delighted with our strong first-half performance and the continued progress we have made towards our vision to be the UK’s number one for driving services.
“Through our three complementary offerings: breakdown; insurance; and service, maintenance & repair; UK motorists are increasingly choosing us as their one-stop-shop at every stage of their driving journey.
“During the half-year period, we welcomed 500,000 new breakdown members and 10,000 motor insurance members, while our expanding team of mobile mechanics delivered more than double the number of repair and maintenance jobs.
“At the same time, our ongoing investment in AI, digital, and data accelerated performance across the board.”
Business
Vikran Engineering IPO Last Day: Issue Gets 6.9x Subscription So Far, Should You Apply? Check GMP
Last Updated:
Vikran Engineering GMP Today: Its grey market premium currently stands at 12.37%, indicating mild listing gains for investors.
Vikran Engineering IPO GMP.
Vikran Engineering IPO GMP: The initial public offering of Vikran Engineering Ltd, an infrastructure EPC company, is going to be closed today, Friday, August 29. The price of the Rs 772-crore IPO has been fixed in the range of Rs 92 to Rs 97 per share. Till 10:40 am on the final day of bidding on Friday, the issue received a 6.89x subscription, garnering bids for 38,38,61,976 shares as against the 5,57,11,341 shares on offer.
The retail and NII participation stood at 6.47x and 15.76x, respectively. The QIB category was subscribed by 0.97x.
The IPO’s grey market premium on Friday stood at 12.37%, indicating mild listing gains for investors.
Vikran Engineering IPO Key Dates
The IPO will remain open for public subscription between August 26, 2025, and August 29, 2025. The share allotment will likely be finalised on September 1, and the company is expected to be listed on both BSE and NSE on September 3.
Vikran Engineering IPO Price And Lot Size
The price of the IPO has been fixed in the range of Rs 92 to Rs 97 per share.
For investors, the minimum lot size for the IPO is 148. It means investors will have to apply for a minimum of 148 shares or in multiple thereof. So, retail investors require a minimum capital of Rs 14,356 to apply for the IPO.
Vikran Engineering IPO GMP Today
According to market observers, unlisted shares of Vikran Engineering Ltd are currently trading at Rs 109 against the upper IPO price of Rs 97. It means a grey market premium or GMP of Rs 12, which is 12.37% over its issue price, indicating a mild listing gains.
The GMP is based on market sentiments and keeps changing. ‘Grey market premium’ indicates investors’ readiness to pay more than the issue price.
Vikran Engineering IPO: Should You Apply?
Market experts are largely optimistic about the prospects of Vikran Engineering’s public issue. Giving a positive outlook, Anshul Jain, head of research at Lakshmishree Investment, said that Vikran Engineering’s strong execution track record with government and PSU clients, coupled with its experienced management team and exposure to a high-growth sector, make it well-placed for scalability.
Jain recommended a ‘Subscribe’ rating for long-term investors.
Shivani Nyati, head of wealth at Swastika Investmart, said the company is among the fastest-growing Indian EPC players, with a revenue CAGR of 32.17%. She highlighted its consistent growth in revenue and profitability, along with a strong order book of over Rs 2,442 crore as of June 30, 2025.
She said the IPO is fairly priced, and investors may look at it both for listing gains and long-term potential.
Brokerages including BP Equities, Arihant Capital Markets, Adroit Financial Services, AUM Capital, and Canara Bank Securities have also given a ‘subscribe’ call on the issue.
Vikran Engineering IPO: More Details
The IPO is a mix of fresh issue of shares of about Rs 721 crore and an offer-for-sale portion worth Rs 51 crore by the promoter.
The Mumbai-based company intends to utilise proceeds from the fresh issue to the tune of Rs 541 crore for funding working capital requirements and the rest for general corporate purposes.
Vikran Engineering provides end-to-end services from conceptualisation, design, supply, installation, testing, and commissioning on a turnkey basis.
As of June 30, 2025, the company completed 45 projects across 14 states with a total executed contract value of Rs 1,920 crore. It has 44 ongoing projects across 16 states, aggregating orders worth Rs 5,120 crore.
Vikran Engineering’s revenue from operations increased 16.53 per cent to Rs 916 crore in FY25 from Rs 786 crore in the previous financial year, and profit after tax rose 4 per cent to Rs 78 crore in FY25 from Rs 75 crore in FY24.
Pantomath Capital Advisors and Systematix Corporate Services are the book-running lead managers, while Bigshare Services is the registrar of the issue.
The company’s shares will be listed on the BSE and the NSE.
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h…Read More
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h… Read More
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