Top headlines: Govt, Twitter get SC notice, Chanda Kochhar granted bail

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Budget 2021 aimed at sustainable economic growth in medium term: FM in RS

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said in Rajya Sabha that Budget 2021 is "an instrument for Aatmanirbhar Bharat" and that it is aimed "at maintaining sustainable economic growth in medium term". While replying to a debate on Budget in Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said, "Budget 2021 clearly draws on the experience, the administrative capacities and also exposure that the PM had during his long elected tenure - both as CM of Gujarat and as PM of this country." Stimulus provision in Budget 2021, which was presented on Febuary 1, is for economic revival, reforms taken during coronavirus pandemic to revive growth, informed the union minister. Read more

Franklin Templeton: SC upholds validity of e-voting for winding up 6 MFs

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the validity of e-voting process for winding up of six mutual fund schemes of Franklin Templeton, and said disbursal of funds to unit holders will continue. A bench of justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, while rejecting the opposition by some unit holders to the e-voting process, said disbursal of funds has to be done as per the earlier order of the apex court. The top court had on February 2 ordered that Rs 9,122 crore be disbursed within three weeks to the unit holders of Franklin Templeton's six mutual fund schemes which are proposed to be wound up. Read more

Mumbai court grants bail to Chanda Kochhar, asks her not to leave country

A secial PMLA court in Mumbai on Friday granted bail to former MD & CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar on a bond of Rs 5 lakh and asked her not to leave the country without the permission of the court. Kochhar appeared before the court on Friday in connection with the ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case. The special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) had on January 30 summoned Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot and other accused in the case after taking cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) charge sheet. Read more

Govt, Twitter get SC notice on plea for mechanism to regulate hate content

The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and Twitter India on a plea seeking a mechanism for regulating content and advertisements spreading hatred through fake news and instigative messages via bogus accounts. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Centre and Twitter Communication India Pvt Ltd on the plea filed by one Vinit Goenka, which said there are hundreds of fake Twitter handles and bogus Facebook accounts in the name of eminent people and high dignitaries. Read more

Bumble's 31-year-old CEO Wolfe Herd becomes a rare female billionaire

A company catering to women and led by women has made its 31-year-old female founder a billionaire. Bumble Inc., the owner of the dating app where women make the first move, sold shares in its upcoming trading debut at $43, valuing Chief Executive Officer Whitney Wolfe Herd’s stake at more than $900 million and lifting her overall fortune above $1 billion. The listing caps a saga that’s both inspiration and cautionary tale for women tech founders. Wolfe Herd capitalized on an underserved market and built a multibillion-dollar company that was in a sense born from one of the most vexing obstacles to women entrepreneurs: sexual harassment. Read more