China will release funds to local govts more quickly to boost economy
China will speed up the release of special funds to local governments to support the economy, Vice- Finance Minister Xu Hongcai told reporters on Wednesday.
The government has said it would set up special transfer payments of 2 trillion yuan ($289.72 billion) from special treasury bonds and an increased budget deficit to local governments.
“The implementation of specific policies and measures will have a positive impact on investment, consumption as well as imports and exports,” Xu told a briefing.
Of the 2 trillion yuan, 1.7 trillion yuan will be allocated to local governments after deducting 300 billion yuan for supporting tax and fee cuts this year, Xu said.
2:06 AM
Covid-19: Japan govt signals push to re-open economy, boost stimulus
Japan wants to avert another state of emergency and needs to consider more stimulus to revive the economy, the government’s top spokesman said, signalling Tokyo’s resolve to focus on re-opening businesses hammered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also dismissed speculation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may step down for health reasons, saying Abe’s comments on Monday that he would continue to do his best in his job “explains it all”.
Suga - widely seen as one of the main contenders to succeed Abe - said he had no intention of pursuing the post, even if urged to do so by associates. He said he “never thought about” taking on the position.
12:40 AM
Apple privacy changes will muck up online advertisementss, says Facebook
Facebook is pushing back on new Apple privacy rules for its mobile devices — and putting app developers in the middle.
Apple will soon require apps to ask users for permission to collect data on what devices they are using and to let ads follow them around on the internet.
The social network said Wednesday that those rules could reduce what apps can earn by advertising through Facebook's audience network.
Facebook said it expects “less impact" on its own advertising revenue than on the ad-supported businesses that rely on its audience network to promote their apps. Read more
12:27 AM
Tata Sons to outline group's digital strategy at AGM on Thursday
The shareholders of Tata Sons — the unlisted holding company of Tata Group — will get a glimpse of the group’s digital strategy on Thursday during the company’s annual general meeting (AGM).
The e-AGM comes at a time when the group is facing significant challenges in each of its businesses, barring its software exporter firm, Tata Consultancy Services.
Two of the group’s businesses in Europe — Tata Steel Europe and Jaguar Land Rover — were disrupted due to the pandemic. Both group companies had to shut down plants and furlough workers. Both companies were in talks to take a bailout from the UK government. Read more
9:59 PM
Congress constitutes 5-member committee to discuss stand on key ordinances
8:59 PM
Latest News LIVE: Police issues an alert in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir
8:47 PM
Russia's Rosatom to make N-fuel for India's VVER-1000 reactors
Russia's integrated nuclear power player Rosatom will make uranium-plutonium REMIX fuel matrix for India's VVER-1000 reactors, the company said. According to Rosatom, the remix fuel will be made at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) -- part of TVEL Fuel Company, a group company.
The shop floor of SCC will be modernised and the Investment Committee of Rosatom has accorded the sanction. India has two functional VVER-1000 reactors and two more under construction at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Two more VVER-1000 units -- 5 and 6 -- will also come up at Kudankulam, according to a PTI report.
8:41 PM
NIA arrests four more persons in Kerala gold smuggling case: PTI
8:35 PM
TRAI issues showcause notice to Vodafone Idea on priority plan; says offer 'misleading'
Telecom regulator TRAI has slapped a showcause notice on Vodafone Idea Ltd over its pay-more-for-priority treatment mobile plan, saying the tariff offer "lacks transparency", is "misleading" and not in compliance with regulatory framework.
TRAI had been probing the Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL's) priority plan. The watchdog has issued an elaborate 17-page notice to the telco asking it to explain by August 31, "as to why appropriate action should not be initiated against it for violating the extant regulatory framework by its RedX tariff plan...".
"The RedX Tariff offer lacks transparency and is misleading and not in compliance with regulatory principles of tariff assessment contained under Telecom Tariff Order, 1999 as amended from time to time," TRAI has said in the showcause notice seen by PTI.
8:32 PM
Sonia Gandhi musters seven CMs' support against Centre over NEET, JEE exams
Days after the charge by some members of the Congress that the party needed a more active leadership, interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi got seven opposition chief ministers on one platform to together accuse the Centre of being insensitive to the concerns of state governments. The chief ministers are likely to file a review petition against the Supreme Court order that NEET and JEE must be held as scheduled, while noting that the centre had failed to do so and was not bothered about the health crisis holding such examinations could cause. The examinations are due in September. The chief ministers also lambasted the centre for withholding GST compensation.
What the chief ministers said is as significant as the orientation of the parties they represented. Congress-ruled states like Punjab, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan were naturally present, but in what was a political coup, Gandhi managed to rope in West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee. READ MORE...
8:14 PM
Cops rescued three families from a flash flood in Ujh river of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir
8:02 PM
CCI approves Carlyle Group's stake acquisition in Airtel's data centre business
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday said it has approved acquisition of compulsorily convertible preference shares and equity shares in Airtel's data centre business, Nxtra Data, by Carlyle Group's Comfort Investments II. The Carlyle Group in July said it will acquire about 25 per cent stake in Nxtra Data Ltd for USD 235 million (about Rs 1,780 crore), news agency PTI reported.
This will peg the enterprise valuation of Nxtra Data at USD 1.2 billion, which is over Rs 9,084 crore.
On completion of the deal, Carlyle will hold about 25 per cent stake in the business, with Airtel continuing to hold the remaining stake of about 75 per cent.
7:56 PM
GST Council meet in offing; states' revenue shortfall, compensation to be discussed
The GST Council meeting on Thursday is likely to be a stormy affair as opposition-ruled states unite to pressure the Centre to give them the promised compensation for loss of revenue arising from the implementation of GST, according to a PTI report. The 41st meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, to be held via video conferencing, has just one agenda for discussion -- making up for shortfall in states' revenues, sources said.
The options being explored are market borrowing, raising cess rate or increasing the number of items for levy of compensation cess. Discussion on correction in inverted duty on certain goods like textiles and footwear is also likely, they said. The COVID-19 crisis has further compounded the state's fiscal problems.
7:51 PM
Roof collapsed in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district; no casualties reported
7:34 PM
Latest News LIVE: Court sends JNU student to 4-days police custody in UAPA case
A Delhi court Wednesday sent JNU student Sharjeel Imam, arrested under the stringent anti terror law -- Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, to four days police custody in a case related to communal violence in north east Delhi in February. Imam, arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police on Tuesday, was produced on Wednesday before the court through video conferencing.
Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat allowed the custodial interrogation of Imam. Delhi Police had sought his custody for five days.
As thousands of students wait for the Supreme Court's final verdict on UGC Exam guidelines 2020, the apex court was expected to pronounce its verdict on the petitions filed against University Grants Commission guidelines (UGC Exam guidelines 2020) today. However, the matter is not listed in the SC cause list for today. Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava has confirmed the same in a tweet. On July 6, the UGC had issued a set of revised guidelines in which it was mandatory to conduct undergraduate and postgraduate final year examinations of all colleges/universities by the end of September.
Meanwhile, Chief Ministers belonging to various opposition parties on Wednesday got together and discussed the issue of GST compensation to states, with Congress President Sonia Gandhi saying the Centre's refusal to reimburse the states was nothing short of betrayal of the people by the Modi government.
On students' problems and the issue of exams arising out of the pandemic situation, she said it is being dealt with uncaringly by the Centre. Mamata Banerjee urges all chief ministers to together move the Supreme Court for postponing the NEET and JEE exams as students are not prepared.
 "Latest News LIVE: NIA arrests four more in Kerala gold smuggling case")
