LIVE: UP govt's affidavit in SC on Hathras case a white lie, says Congress

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the state government should not cover up the issue and present facts before the public.

6:00 PM

Farmers protesting on busy road in Sirsa evicted, Yogendra Yadav detained

Swaraj India party president Yogendra Yadav and nearly 100 farmers were taken into preventive custody in Haryana's Sirsa on Wednesday after a group of agriculturists agitating against the Centre's new farm laws were evicted by the police from their dharna site on a busy road.

Besides Yadav, Haryana Kisan Manch chief Prahalad Singh was also taken into preventive custody and detained, Sirsa DSP Kuldeep Singh said.

Singh said that farmers were holding dharna on a busy highway in Sirsa where the administration had not given them the permission. Read on...

5:45 PM

Govt grants pricing, marketing leeway to gas producers, allows e-bidding

The government on Wednesday came out with a new model of granting marketing and pricing freedom for natural gas producers in India, with the Union Cabinet clearing a standardised e-bidding process for price discovery from new production areas and high-pressure and high-temperature areas.

Through the new platform, market players and consumers will discover the prices for new production areas that obtained clearance under the government's field development plan after February 2019. "Gas produced from high-pressure and high-temperature areas, coal-bed methane blocks, North East region and new discoveries will be getting this marketing freedom. This will be a major step towards ease of doing business measures taken by the government," said Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of petroleum and natural gas. Read more...

5:31 PM

Google faces antitrust case in India over abuse in smart TVs market: Report

Alphabet Inc's Google is facing a new antitrust case in India in which the US tech giant is alleged to have abused its Android operating system's position in the smart television market, a source and two lawyers involved in the case told Reuters.

The case is Google's fourth major antitrust challenge in India, one of its key markets where it is currently facing public criticism from local startups for enforcing certain policies and company charges they contend hurt their growth.

It also comes as Google faces new antitrust challenges in the United States, and a potential antitrust probe in China that is set to look into how it allegedly uses its dominance of its Android mobile operating system to stifle competition. Google has denied any wrongdoing.

5:20 PM

States' market borrowings jump 55% to Rs 3.75 trillion so far this fiscal

The states' market borrowings have jumped 55 per cent to Rs 3.75 trillion so far this fiscal, or 75 per cent of the budgeted amount, with 17 of them raising an additional Rs 22,350 crore from the latest auction of state development loans held on Tuesday.

Rising expenses and falling revenue, including the Centre's inability to pay the GST dues, have been leading states into a debt trap after the pandemic scuppered their finances since the beginning of the fiscal.

The latest debt raising is Rs 1,200 crore more than the notified amount as Maharashtra and Jharkhand accepted an additional Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 200 crore, respectively.

5:04 PM

Trump admin imposes new curbs on H-1B visas to protect US workers ahead of presidential election

The Trump administration has announced new restrictions on H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme which it said is aimed at protecting American workers, restoring integrity and to better guarantee that H-1B petitions are approved only for qualified beneficiaries and petitioners, a move which will affect thousands of Indian IT professionals.

The interim final rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday, ahead of the US presidential election on November 3, will narrow the definition of "specialty occupation" as Congress intended by closing the overbroad definition that allowed companies to game the system.

It will also require companies to make "real" offers to "real employees," by closing loopholes and preventing the displacement of the American workers. And finally, the new rules would enhance the department's ability to enforce compliance through worksite inspections and monitor compliance before, during and after an H1-B petition is approved.

4:47 PM

Won't splurge stimulus money, infra spending to be key: Sanjeev Sanyal

Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal said on Wednesday that the government would be mindful about splurging money in the next round of stimulus that will aim at asset creation in a bid to boost demand in the economy.

 

“We are a fiscally-conservative government as we typically tend to stick to the fiscal trajectory…Our debt-to-GDP ratio is much lower than many countries and there is a case for allowing it to go up to inflate demand. But we will not spend blindly. We will be careful as to what we spend on,” Sanyal said while speaking at the 115th Annual Session of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. Read more...

4:31 PM

4:16 PM

Japan attaches importance to its strategic relations with India: FM Motegi

Underscoring that Japan attaches importance to its strategic relations with India, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Wednesday said he intends to continue working with India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to further elevate the Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership.

Motegi made these remarks during the 13th Japan India Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue. The meeting between Jaishankar and Motegi went on for over an hour, during which they discussed a wide range of issues including politics and security as well as the economy and economic cooperation, according to a statement by the Japanese foreign ministry. Read on...

4:02 PM

CPCB writes to Kejriwal govt for urgent action on major polluting sources

Expressing concern over the menace of air pollution in Delhi during winters, the central pollution watchdog has asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to take immediate action on major pollution sources like construction and demolition activities and open garbage dumping.

Listing out a series of tasks to be accomplished across Delhi, the Central Pollution Control Board asked in a letter to the Delhi government on Tuesday to take early action on dumping of mixed municipal solid waste at three dump sites in Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla.

"It is observed that construction and demolition activities and open dumping of waste/garbage continue to be the major concern in most of the areas and therefore, special efforts are needed to curb these activities, the CPCB said.

3:39 PM

Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna

French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer A. Doudna have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a method of genome editing known as CRISPR.

The recipients were announced Wednesday in Stockholm by Goran Hansson, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Read on...

3:29 PM

After today's cabinet nod, the East-West Metro Corridor project would be completed within the next 14-15 months: Piyush Goyal

3:28 PM

This East-West Metro Corridor will help in reducing travel time and will also help in connecting suburban transit systems in Kolkata: Piyush Goyal

3:26 PM

Phoolbagan station has been innaugurated on October 4. This completes an important allignment of the East-West corridor: Piyush Goyal

3:26 PM

The Cabinet has given its nod for the 16.6 km long East-West corridor metro project: Piyush Goyal

3:20 PM

If only affilate company of producing comapny participates in bidding process, there will be re-bidding: Dharmendra Pradhan