LIVE updates: India, France to expand cooperation in Indian Ocean Region

Bombay HC is hearing a plea which alleges that a media trial is being carried out by news channels under the garb of investigative journalism in Sushant's death case. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

The Indian Army has put barbed wires as obstacles at heights under its control at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) bordering Ladakh, signalling to the Chinese that they cannot enter its territory. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has made multiple attempts to take over Indian-held positions, sources said.
 

“This has been done to discourage them from coming close to areas we are occupying. The message is loud and clear, don't come into our area,” the official said.
 

Meanwhile, the first batch of five Rafale fighter jets were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force today in Ambala air base, at a time when India is engaged in an escalating border row with China in eastern Ladakh.
 

A galaxy of dignitaries including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, his French counterpart Florence Parly, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar will attend the ceremony.

In another news, services on the Delhi Metro's Red, Violet and Green lines are set to resume today.
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will digitally launch the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) today and also inaugurate the e-Gopala App, a comprehensive breed improvement marketplace and information portal for direct use by farmers.

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

3:18 AM

New hiring at RIL starts tapering, standalone employee count declines

Reliance Industries (RIL) crossed the $200-billion mark in Thursday’s trade. Though the growth in its market capitalisation (m-cap) came with an impressive rise in direct employment in an earlier phase, this might now taper off.

 

The firm’s m-cap stood at Rs 15.4 trillion as of Thursday’s close, which was 94 per cent higher than the Rs 7.96 trillion m-cap reported on September 10, 2018. However, at the stand-alone level, the number of RIL employees has, in fact, been declining for the past two years. Read more

3:17 AM

Reverie: Startup that helps firms connect with users in Indian languages

Almost every consumer-facing internet company is now pulling out all stops in acquiring capability to engage with its users and customers in vernacular languages.

 

This, in fact, is something this former Intel engineer had visualised more than a decade ago when he started his own entrepreneurial journey, quitting a cushy job at global chipmaker Intel in 2006. It was no surprise when Reliance decided to acquire majority stake in Reverie Language Technologies, which was co-founded by Arvind Pani. Read more

3:16 AM

Will take legal action against UK if it violates Withdrawal Agreement: EU

The European Union (EU) is ready to take legal action against the United Kingdom (UK) if the latter violates the letter or spirit of the Withdrawal Agreement it signed in January to begin exiting the EU. The UK has been given time until the end of this month to either abandon or suitably revise plans to introduce an Internal Market Bill in the British parliament to effectively renege on some of its obligations. Read more

9:10 PM

Union Bank of India to reduce MCLR by up to 5 bps across tenors

The Union Bank of India will reduce the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by up to 5 basis points across tenors. The reduced MCLR would come into effect on Friday. This is the 15th consecutive rate cut announced by it since July 2019, the bank said in a statement.

 

The MCLR, the minimum lending rate below which a bank is not permitted to lend, is an internal reference rate for banks to determine the interest they can levy on loans.

8:55 PM

IRDAI allows insurers to obtain policy holders' consent through OTP

Regulator IRDAI has permitted health and general insurers to obtain consent of prospective policy holders through a duly validated One Time Password (OTP), thus dispensing with the practice of getting wet signature in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The regulator has also exempted the insurers from mandatorily sending hard copy of the document to policy holders. However, the policies will have to be sent through electronic mode on the registered e-mail.

8:48 PM

Overall jobs growth rate slips to 3.5% in FY20: Report

Reflecting the overall stress in the economy, the employment growth rate declined to 3.5 per cent in FY20 from 3.8 per cent in the previous fiscal year, but the total number of jobs increased to 5 million from 4.83 million , says a report.

 

In FY20, 17 million new jobs were added, while the net addition was 1..6 million in FY19, shows a CARE Ratings report.

 

But in FY20, as many as 321 companies reduced their headcounts by 11.3 million compared to 272 companies doing so by 11.8 million in the previous year.

 

In FY20, top 10 companies added 14.1 million to their headcounts of which four each were in IT and banks and two in the NBFC space.

8:43 PM

India, France decide to expand cooperation in Indian Ocean Region

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart Florence Parly on Thursday held extensive talks during which they vowed to step up cooperation in the Indian Ocean, a region which is witnessing rising Chinese military posturing.

 

PTI reported that Singh also apprised Parly on India's four-month-long border row with China in eastern Ladakh.

 

Official sources said the two sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on contemporary regional and global security issues of mutual interest.

 

The two ministers emphasised the need to work closely keeping in view the joint strategic vision of India-France cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, the sources said.

8:35 PM

Yes Bank repays entire Rs 50,000 cr SLF dues to RBI

Yes Bank has fully repaid the Rs 50,000 crore provided by RBI as a special liquidity facility (SLF) amid the crisis faced by the lender earlier this year, its Chairman Sunil Mehta said on Thursday.

 

He further said FY21 will be a year of transition for the bank, which has just come out of an unprecedented Rs 10,000 crore bailout led by SBI after setbacks received under the founding team.

8:26 PM

30% of Maharashtra population are Marathas, can't be compared to marginalized sections: SC

Maratha community comprises 30 per cent of the population in Maharashtra and it cannot be compared to marginalized sections of the society, the Supreme Court has said as it stayed the implementation of 2018 state law granting reservation to them in education and jobs.

 

The top court said it is of the prima facie opinion that Maharashtra government did not show any extraordinary situation for providing reservations to Marathas in excess of 50 per cent cap fixed by the apex court in its 1992 verdict also known as the 'Mandal verdict'.

8:20 PM

Preparations underway at Kolkata Metro stations ahead of reopening

8:15 PM

India takes on Chair of RIC process, says S Jaishankar

8:05 PM

Online fantasy sports' tax payout increased 2.6 times in FY20: IndiaTech

Tax payments from online fantasy sports platforms in the country increased 2.6 times in FY20 to about Rs 445 crore, according to a whitepaper released by non-profit IndiaTech on Thursday. It also said only 20 per cent subscribers pay to play the various games on these platforms.

 

Moreover, 98 per cent of the paid users have either won or lost less than Rs 10,000 net on a platform in the past three-four years.

8:04 PM

1.37 mn Indians returned from abroad under Vande Bharat Mission: MEA

7:55 PM

Watch: Partitioning in Parliament ahead of Monsoon Session

7:40 PM

States may cut FY21 capex by Rs 3 trillion due to GST shortfall: Icra

States may have to significantly cut their expenditure by as much as Rs 3.4 lakh crore in the current fiscal if they are not paid full compensation relating to Goods and Services Tax (GST), investment information agency ICRA has said.

 

"The fiscal deficit of states may rise up to 4.25 to 5.52 per cent of gross state domestic product in FY21, curtailing their capital spending by Rs 1 lakh crore to 3.4 lakh crore, considering shortfalls in GST and central tax devolution (CTD)," it said in an update on state government finances.