LIVE updates: 'Centre monitoring situation', says BJP on Adani stock rout

The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements. Stay tuned for the latest updates.

5:25 PM

Delhi govt seeks Rs 927 crore from Centre for G20 summit preparations

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday wrote a letter to the Centre seeking a grant of Rs 927 crore to take up special development work for the G20 summit in the national capital.

 

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Sisodia said it will not be easy for the Delhi government to spend an extra Rs 927 crore from its limited resources for the G20 summit preparations.

 

Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, also said the Delhi government will extend full cooperation to the Centre for successfully hosting the G20 summit. He asked the Centre to give the Delhi government Rs 927 crore for special preparations ahead of the summit.

5:10 PM

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on two-day Gujarat visit from Sunday

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be on a two-day visit of Gujarat from Sunday and will participate in programmes of the Self-Empowered Women's Association (SEWA) founded by social worker and Gandhian Ela Bhatt who passed away in November last year.

 

She will pay tribute to Bhatt in Ahmedabad and interact with SEWA members at its office in the city on Sunday, while on Monday Clinton will visit Dhrangadhra in Surendranagar district to interact with salt pan workers as part of SEWA's rural initiative, its programme coordinator Rashmi Bedi said.

4:43 PM

BMC presents Rs 52,619-cr budget, 14.5% higher than last year; crosses Rs 50,000 cr-mark

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the richest civic body in the country, on Saturday presented Rs 52,619.07 crore budget for the year 2023-24, with the budgetary estimates crossing the Rs 50,000 crore-mark for the first time.

 

The budgetary estimates this time are 14.52 per cent more than the 2022-23 amount of Rs 45,949 crore. The BMC administration presented the budget to municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, who was appointed as the civic body's administrator by the state government in March last year after the five-year term of corporators ended.

"The budget estimates for the financial year 2023-24 are proposed at Rs 52,619.07 crore, which exceeds the budget estimates of 2022-23, that is Rs 45,949.21 crore, by 14.52 per cent," the budget document said. This is for the first time after 1985 that the administration of the richest municipal body in the country presented the budget to an administrator.

4:39 PM

110,000 more users affected in 'LG Uplus' data breach

LG Uplus said that last month's data breach affected a total of 290,000 users, about 110,000 more than initially suspected. On January 10, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier disclosed that personal data of 180,000 customers, including their names, birth dates and phone numbers, had been breached.

 

The company said on its website it found personal data of about 110,000 more customers, who had terminated their subscriptions, was also compromised, reports yonhap news agency.

 

It had been storing the data under the e-commerce consumer protection law.

4:33 PM

Close to 100,000 tech employees lost jobs in Jan alone globally

In what could be touted as the worst month ever for tech workers, close to 1 lakh of them lost jobs in the month of January globally, dominated by companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and others. It means that more than 3,300 tech employees lost jobs daily on an average by more than 288 companies worldwide.

 

Barring Apple, every other Big Tech firm has slashed jobs, led by Amazon with 18,000 job cuts, followed by Google with 12,000 and Microsoft 10,000 job cuts in January.

 

Salesforce (7,000), IBM (3,900) and SAP (3,000) were other tech companies that announced layoffs last month. In 2022, over 1,000 companies laid off 154,336 workers, as per the data by layoffs tracking site Layoffs.fyi. So in total, more than 2.5 lakh tech employees have lost jobs in 2022 and now.

4:26 PM

Rs 7,000 cr proposed budgetary allocation for eCourts project phase 3: CJI

The proposed allocation of Rs 7,000 crore in the 2023-24 budget for phase three of the eCourts Project will enhance judicial institutions and efficiency while ensuring courts reach every citizen, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said Saturday.

 

Addressing the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of the Supreme Court, he said that during the COVID-19 pandemic period, the top court adopted video conferencing of court proceedings to reach out to the people. READ HERE

4:17 PM

Reliance Jio launches True 5G services in Haridwar

Reliance Jio on Saturday said it has launched its True 5G services in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

 

With this, the telecom company has extended its True 5G network to 226 cities in the country.

 

Haridwar is the second city in the state after Dehradun to get Jio True 5G services, a Reliance Jio press release said.

 

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "It is a matter of great pleasure that the 5G services by Jio network, which started from Dehradun in Uttarakhand, has been extended to Haridwar".

 

With the beginning of this service, not only the people of Haridwar but also the pilgrims visiting the holy city from the country and abroad, including the pilgrims coming on Char Dham yatra in the near future will benefit, he said.

4:16 PM

BJP leader and actor Mithun Chakraborty holds roadshow in the Majlishpur constituency of Tripura

4:01 PM

Next e-auction of FCI wheat under OMSS to bulk consumers to be held on Feb 15: Govt

The next e-auction for the sale of FCI wheat to bulk consumers like flour millers under the open market sale scheme (OMSS) will be held on February 15, the Food Ministry said on Saturday.

 

State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been mandated to sell 25 lakh tonnes of wheat from its buffer stock to bulk consumers under the OMSS in order to contain rising prices of wheat and wheat products in the country.

 

The first sale of wheat through e-auction was held on February 1-2. About 9.2 lakh tonnes of wheat was sold from FCI depots in 23 states. The plan was to hold a weekly e-auction every Wednesday.

 

However in a statement, the Food Ministry said: "The second sale of wheat through e-auction will be held throughout the country on 15th February on Wednesday."

3:58 PM

For tribals, 740 Eklavya Model schools will be established and 38,000 teachers will be recruited: Amit Shah

3:54 PM

Lupin arm recalls 5,720 skin treatment cream tubes in US

Drug maker Lupin is recalling 5,720 tubes of a cream used in the treatment of various skin conditions, such as dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis, from the US market due to a manufacturing issue, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

 

As per the latest Enforcement Report by the US health regulator, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc, a US-based arm of the Mumbai-based drug maker, is recalling Clobetasol propionate Cream, a steroid to reduce inflammation, redness and itchiness of the skin and prevent further irritation of the skin.

 

The affected lot has been manufactured at the company's Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh and marketed in the US market by Baltimore-based Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc.

3:53 PM

Adani Enterprises shelves $122 million bond plan

Adani Enterprises Ltd has shelved a plan to raise as much as 10 billion Indian rupees ($121.65 million), Bloomberg News reported on Saturday.

 

The flagship firm of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's empire had planned the public note issuance for January, working with Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd, AK Capital, JM Financial, and Trust Capital, but activity has now stopped, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

 

Adani Enterprises called off its $2.5 billion share sale in a dramatic reversal on Wednesday this week, after a rout sparked by a U.S. short-seller's criticisms wiped billions more off the value of the Indian tycoon's stocks.

3:42 PM

PM Modi to inaugurate HAL's helicopter factory in Karnataka on Monday

In yet another step towards 'Aatmanirbharta' in defence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Karnataka, will dedicate a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)'s helicopter factory to the nation at Tumakuru on February 6 (Monday).

 

The facility of which the foundation stone was laid by PM Modi in 2016, is a dedicated new greenfield helicopter factory and it which will enhance the capacity and ecosystem to build helicopters, officials said. READ MORE

3:18 PM

India's macro fundamentals not affected by Adani's FPO withdrawal: FM

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India's macro fundamentals and economic image are not affected by the Adani Group's withdrawal of its Rs 20,000 crore FPO.

In the last two days alone, USD 8 billion in forex came in, the finance minister said during a post-Budget press conference.

"...our macro economic fundamentals or our economy's image, none of which has been affected. Yes, FPOs (follow-on public offers) come in, and FIIs get out," Sitharaman told reporters here.

She said the regulators will do their job on the Adani issue. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has the wherewithal to ensure the stability of markets.

2:59 PM

Ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP to work to strengthen position in 'weak booths' in Himachal

With an eye on the 2024 general elections, the Himachal Pradesh BJP will take steps to strengthen its position in "weak booths" in the state's four Lok Sabha constituencies and apprise voters of the development work undertaken by the party-led government at the Centre.

The decision was taken at a marathon meeting of the core committee of the Himachal Pradesh BJP in Una on Friday night. The meeting was chaired by state BJP chief Suresh Kashyap, a party spokesperson said on Saturday.

BJP's national vice president Saudan Singh and other top leaders also attended the meeting.