LIVE: India took various steps to offset Covid impact, FM tells World Bank

The finance ministry on Friday kicked off the exercise to prepare the annual Budget for 2021-22 amid the urgency to push economic growth hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for LIVE updates:

The finance ministry on Friday kicked off the exercise to prepare the annual Budget for 2021-22 amid the urgency to push economic growth hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The upcoming Budget will be crucial for the country as it will have to deal with impact of pandemic which has affected all segments of the economy, including revenue collection, disinvestment, expenditure, exports and food prices.

The economy is projected to contract by a massive 10.3 per cent this year, according to an IMF forecast. Even the Reserve Bank of India expects the economy to shrink by 9.5 per cent in the current financial year.

Eighteen months after it was grounded, Jet Airways is all set for a comeback. Lenders to Jet have begun voting to choose its new owner. So far, two banks have voted on the resolution plans and the process is expected to continue till the end of the day.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said some states were likely to approach the Supreme Court against the Centre's two borrowing options for GST compensation, and Kerala would take a final decision on the matter today at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
 

Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple will open for a 5-day puja from today.

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

2:00 AM

Two, including 12-year-old boy, killed in fire incident in Kolkata

1:58 AM

Dow advances, S&P ekes out gain with vaccine timeline in focus

The S&P 500 posted a nominal gain on Friday as further clarity regarding the timeline for the development of a coronavirus vaccine and much better-than-expected retail sales data and brought buyers back to the market.

 

The Dow also joined the S&P in positive territory, both indexes snapping a three-day losing streak driven by halted vaccine trials and continued wrangling in Washington over a new pandemic relief package. But the Nasdaq ended the session lower.

 

Even so, they all posted gains on the week.

 

Pfizer Inc announced it could apply for US authorization for the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with German partner BioNTech in November. Pfizer's stock gained 3.8 per cent.

 

"The two highest-level market movers are the vaccine timeline and stimulus optimism," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky. "Sometimes the market gets a reality check that even if we get a vaccine early next year that's an incredibly aggressive and optimistic timeline."

1:29 AM

1,062 candidates file papers for 2nd phase of Bihar polling

A total of 1,062 candidates have filed their nomination papers till Friday, the last date for doing so in 94 assembly seats going to the polls in Bihar in the second phase on November 3, the EC sources said.

 

Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Sanjay Kumar Singh said that scrutiny of the papers will be held on Saturday and the last date of withdrawal of nominations for the second phase is October 19.

 

Singh said that 63 papers have been filed so far for 78 seats where election will be held in the third and final phase on November 7.

 

The filing of nominations for the third phase began on October 13 and will end on October 20.

1:18 AM

Saudi Arabia foreign minister sees path toward ending rift with Qatar

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister signaled progress may be underway toward resolving the three-year-old rift with its neighbor Qatar, following a meeting in Washington with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.

 

“We continue to be willing to engage with our Qatari brothers, and we hope that they are as committed to that engagement,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in a virtual discussion hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Thursday. “But we do need to address the legitimate security concerns of the quartet, and I think there is a path toward that” with a solution “in the relatively near future.”

 

The rift in relations started in June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt abruptly severed diplomatic, trade and transport ties with Qatar, saying its government supported militant groups and had meddled in their internal affairs for years. Qatar has vehemently denied those claims. In June, Kuwait, a mediator between Qatar and its quartet of Gulf Arab neighbors, said there was progress toward resolving the standoff. Yet the crisis continues.

1:11 AM

Hulu sidelined in Disney’s global streaming ambitions; Star wins

Toward the end of 2019, Hulu delivered a proposal to Walt Disney, its controlling shareholder, outlining a strategy to expand the popular streaming service outside the US. After watching rivals Netflix and Amazon set up shop all over the globe, Hulu executives had spent the past couple of years drafting a plan to catch up.

 

At first, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger and Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy expressed support and pledged to present the plan at a board meeting in January 2020, according to people familiar with the matter. But, ultimately, that didn’t happen. Instead, Disney announced in August that it will create a new general entertainment service outside the US under the umbrella of Star, the company’s Indian media subsidiary.

12:48 AM

US retail sales blow expectations in September as dark clouds loom

US retail sales accelerated in September, rounding out a strong quarter of economic activity, but the recovery from the COVID-19 recession is at a crossroads as government money runs out and companies continue to layoff workers.

 

New coronavirus cases are also surging across the country, which could lead to restrictions on businesses like restaurants, gyms and bars, and undercut consumer spending. The economy is already shifting into lower gear. Other data on Friday showed an unexpected drop in output at factories last month.

 

"Although sales growth is strong, it will slow through the rest of this year and into next year," said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "The slowing will be even larger if Congress does not pass another stimulus bill. Unemployment remains pervasive throughout the US economy."

 

Retail sales jumped 1.9 per cent last month as consumers bought motor vehicles and clothing, dined out and splashed out on hobbies. That followed an unrevised 0.6 per cent increase in August.

12:46 AM

Oil dips on coronavirus resurgence, fears of more supply

Oil prices edged lower on Friday, dragged down by concerns that a spike in Covid-19 cases in the United States and Europe will continue to drag on demand in two of the world's biggest fuel-consuming regions.

 

OPEC+, a grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and ally producers including Russia, fear a prolonged second wave of the pandemic and a jump in Libyan output could push the oil market into surplus next year, according to a confidential document seen by Reuters, a much gloomier outlook than just a month ago.

 

Brent crude futures were down fell 24 cents to $42.92 a barrel by 1:31 p.m. EDT (1731 GMT), and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 14 cents to $40.82 a barrel.

 

Brent was set to rise 0.2 per cent for the week, while WTI was on track to gain 0.6 per cent.

12:39 AM

White House rejects Putin response to US arms control offer

The Trump administration on Friday rejected as a non-starter Russia's stance that a key nuclear arms control treaty be extended without imposing a broader, short-term freeze on US and Russian nuclear weapons.

 

In a written statement, Robert O'Brien, the national security adviser to President Donald Trump, said the United States had proposed an extension of the New START treaty for one year, in exchange for Russia and the United States capping all nuclear warheads during that period.

11:40 PM

Rahul Gandhi to visit his constituency Wayanad for two days from 19th October.

11:33 PM

Kolkata Port Trust to get fresh logo to go with new name

The Kolkata Port Trust, now rechristened as the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, will on Saturday unveil a fresh logo which will go with the new name, officials said.

 

The new logo will be unveiled at the closing ceremony of the 150-year celebrations of the port.

11:30 PM

Wall Street inches higher on Pfizer vaccine update, upbeat consumer data

Wall Street bounced back on Friday after three straight days of losses, following a positive update from Pfizer on development of its COVID-19 vaccine and on data that showed stronger-than-expected retail sales growth last month.

 

The drugmaker's shares firmed 2.6% as it expects to provide safety data and file for authorization of the vaccine it is developing with Germany's BioNTech SE, as soon as a safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November.

 

BioNTech's US-listed shares jumped 3.2 per cent.

 

Latest data showed U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in September, though recovery from the recession is at a crossroads as government money runs out and companies continue to layoff workers.

11:28 PM

Noida's air quality 'very poor'; roads sprinkled with water, cleaned by machines to check pollution

11:09 PM

A millennials love affair: China's second-hand luxury goods market booms

China's love for luxury is spilling over into the once shunned second-hand goods sector, with online stores surfing a wave of pent-up demand from shoppers, led by millennials, who have been forced into belt-tightening by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The rapid proliferation over recent years of second-hand luxury sales online platforms have helped fuel an expansion of the market, similar to those of US online luxury reseller The RealReal Inc or Europe's Vestiaire Collective.

 

"Our income recorded a surge this year during the pandemic as offline stores are mostly closed," said Xu Wei, founder of Plum, a second-hand luxury products company in Beijing which is especially popular with millennial women from China's lower tier cities.

 

Chinese consumers have traditionally shunned second-hand goods, though that has undergone a shift over the past decade or so led by younger, more environmentally conscious consumers looking for affordable high-end goods.

11:06 PM

Thai police crack down on protesters; PM refuses to resign

Riot police in Thailand cracked down on thousands of student-led protesters who rallied Friday in the capital in defiance of a strict state of emergency, while the prime minister rejected calls for his resignation.

 

The protesters gathered in torrential monsoon rains to push their demands, including that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha leave office, the constitution be amended and the nation's monarchy undergo reform.

 

It was the second day they defied an order not to gather, imposed after some demonstrators heckled a royal motorcade, an unprecedented development in Thailand, where the monarchy is normally held in reverence.

 

Police used water cannons and charged at the crowd, scattering protesters, onlookers and reporters. Journalists who were hit by the water said it caused a stinging sensation and was dyed blue, to mark protesters for possible later arrest.

10:35 PM

With salaries pending, some doctors unable to repay loans, some struggle to fund children education

Maruti Sinha, a gynecologists at British-era Kasturba Hospital here says her son has qualified for a prestigious medical course, but she is not sure if she would be able to support his higher education under this strenuous circumstance.

 

Hit by unpaid salaries, doctors at North Corporation-run Hindu Rao Hospital, Kasturba Hospital and Rajen Babu Tuberculosis Hospital say they are now battling financial and mental stress.

 

Sinha is a senior doctor at 450-bed Kasturba Hospital, which started as Victoria Zenana Hospital, and participated briefly at a joint protest organised by resident doctors of the three facilities at Jantar Mantar on Friday.

 

"We doctors don't want to go on strike, she told PTI. It is always the last resort.

 

I am a permanent doctor and our association, the MCDA (Municipal Corporation Doctors' Association) had given a call for an indefinite strike from Monday if our demands are not met. At least the resident doctors got salary for July, we haven't got anything, and it is due for the last three months," she said.