Business
Official Taliban websites go offline
Taliban websites that delivered the victorious insurgents official messages to Afghans and the world at large in five languages went offline abruptly Friday, indicating an effort to try to squelch them. It is not immediately clear, though, why the sites in the Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, English and Dari languages...
Johnson & Johnson seeks approval of its single-dose Covid vaccine
Global healthcare major Johnson & Johnson on Friday said it has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India. Earlier on Monday, the company had said that it remained committed to bringing its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to India and looks forward to ongoing discussions...
IT Act amended to end retrospective tax demand
: The Union government on Thursday amended the Income Tax Act to end controversial retrospective tax demand. The move came after back-to-back setbacks in Cairn energy and Vodafone Group tax dispute cases. An Ordinance was introduced in Lok Sabha to scrap the dreaded retrospective changes made in Finance Act,...
Microsoft in talks to buy stake in OYO
New Delhi, Jul 30: Microsoft is in advanced stages of discussions to pick up a stake in OYO that would value the hospitality firm at about USD 9 billion (around Rs 67,000 crore), according to sources. While the deal size is not known, sources close to the development said...
Depositors to get money in 90 days if bank under moratorium
To provide relief to depositors in stressed banks, Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the amendments in Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961, (DICGC Act). The aim is to minimise the hurdles faced by depositors of banks like the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, Yes Bank and...
FM says no plan to print currency to tide over Covid crisis
The impact of the second wave of Covid on the economy is expected to be muted given the localised containment measures and rapid upscaling of the vaccination drive, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has told Parliament. She has denied any plan to print currency to tide over the Covid crisis,...
RBI says near-term economic prospects bright
A gradual decline in India’s second wave of COVID-19 infections and an aggressive vaccination push have brightened the near-term prospects for the economy, the Reserve Bank of India said in its July bulletin, released on Thursday. The RBI said there had been a rise in mobility indicators and attendance...
Centre releases Rs 75,000 crore to states as GST compensation
The government on Thursday said it has released Rs 75,000 crore to the states and Union Territories to compensate them for the shortfall in GST revenue. The GST Council in its meeting on May 28 had decided that the central government would borrow Rs 1.59 lakh crore and release...
RBI bars Mastercard from acquiring new customers
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday barred Mastercard Asia Pacific from onboarding new credit, debit and prepaid card customers with effect from July 22 as it failed to comply with data storage norms. The supervisory action will not impact existing customers of Mastercard, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said....
Punjab Govt waives Rs 590 cr loans to labourers, farmers
The Punjab government on Wednesday announced waiver of Rs 590 crore worth of loans under the farm debt waiver scheme for labourers and the landless farming community. The cheques would be issued at a state-level function on August 20, said an official spokesperson after a meeting held on Tuesday....
Ministry says economy showing signs of revival from second wave
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry on Friday said the economy has started showing signs of revival from the impact of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on the back of targeted fiscal relief, monetary policy and a rapid vaccination drive. The broad-based economic relief package, extended to mitigate...
SC rejects plea for moratorium on bank NPAs
‘fit case’. The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the plea seeking the moratorium on the declaration of accounts as NPA till June 23, it announced. The court said that it is a matter of policy and that it does not see it as a ‘fit case’ for intervention. In...
Special drive to expand PM crop cover to more farmers
In a major farmer outreach, the government on Thursday launched a special drive to enrol more cultivators under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). A week-long drive, starting July 1, will cover all notified areas under the kharif 2021 season with special focus on 75 aspirational districts where...
Food ration eligibility criteria to be changed soon
The Department of Food and Public Distribution is all set to make changes in the eligibility standards for people who take ration from government ration shops across the country. The department which works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has held several rounds of meetings...
National cyber security strategy soon
The government will release a new cybersecurity strategy this year, National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen (Retd) Rajesh Pant said at an event organised by Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI). He said the strategy would holistically cover the entire ecosystem of cyber space in India. The government is...
Petrol prices touch all-time high
Petrol, diesel prices in the country have been kept unchanged on Saturday. At present, petrol and diesel are retailing at an all-time high in India. On July 2, the petrol price was increased by 33 to 37 paise across the nation by state-run oil companies. The fuel prices in the...
Special GST Council meet to discuss compensation-related issues
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said a special session of the GST Council will be held soon to discuss all compensation-related issues. She also said that the flow of COVID-19 vaccination across the country will be well managed and all states will be taken care of. “…I...
SBI report justifies under-reporting of Covid deaths as not new
Amid the debate over underreporting of COVID fatalities, economists at SBI on Wednesday said that shortfall in reporting deaths is not a new phenomenon in India. One of the prime reasons for the underreporting is because many of the demises happen without any medical attention and hence, ramping up...
