LIVE: Punjab farmers announce 'rail roko' agitation from Sept 24 to 26

China claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in the Eastern Sector of the India-China boundary in Arunachal, Rajnath Singh informed the parliament. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

3:41 AM

Fed weighs extending bank dividend cap; restarts stress test

The Federal Reserve, which just started a second round of Wall Street stress tests, is considering extending the unprecedented constraints on dividend payments and share buybacks it imposed on the biggest US banks.
 

The Fed said in a statement Thursday that it will decide in the next two weeks whether to prolong the limits, which are scheduled to lapse at the end of the third quarter. Any extension through the end of the year would likely disappoint banks, as JPMorgan Chase & Co. has already indicated it might resume buybacks in the fourth quarter if allowed to by regulators.
 

The caps, announced in June, restrict banks from increasing investor payouts above second-quarter levels and ban all buybacks. The regulator -- under intense pressure from lawmakers who said banks shouldn’t be paying dividends during a pandemic -- said at the time that an analysis showed potential risks to lenders if capital distributions continued unabated.
 

The Fed also released two hypothetical stress situations Thursday that Wall Street banks will be tested against -- scenarios that share some similarities with the economic damage triggered by the coronavirus. Lenders’ recent balance sheets, which already reflected some pandemic effects, will be evaluated.
 

3:37 AM

Govt deviates from norm, asks House to regularise 2-year-old expenditure

In an unusual departure from norms, the central government has asked for regularising more than two-year-old expenditure from Parliament.

 

The sum is Rs 1.87 trillion but there is no financial implication. It only demonstrates the sluggishness at the Centre in finalising its accounts, which means the states have to depend on older data to make their point about revenue and expenditure mismatch.

 

On Monday the finance ministry tabled in Parliament a note on regularising differences in borrowing figures in respect of state government debt for 2016-17, along with the first set of the supplementary budget for the year 2020-21. Read more

9:10 PM

Target to increase number of Janaushadhi Kendras to 10,500 by 2025: Gowda

Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda said that the government has set a target to increase the number of Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK) to 10,500 by the end of March 2025, according to release by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

 

The ministry said that the number of stores has increased to 6,606 as on September 15.

8:57 PM

Maharashtra attracts highest FDI in India, an attractive option for investors: Thackeray

8:49 PM

Punjab: Farmers' body announces 'rail roko' agitation from Sept 24 to 26

A farmers' body on Thursday decided to intensify their stir against the Centre's three farm-related Bills, announcing to stop trains in Punjab from September 24 to 26. We have decided to hold a 'rail roko' agitation from September 24 to 26 in the state against the farm bills, said Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher.

 

Different farmer organisations in Punjab have already given a call for a bandh on September 25 in protest against the Bills.

 

Farmers have expressed apprehensions that the legislations will pave a way for dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system and they will be at the mercy of big corporates.

8:36 PM

BharatNet's Phase 2 completion timeline to be extended due to Covid: Dhotre

The timeline for the second phase of BharatNet project, earlier slated to be completed by August 2021, will now be extended as its pace was affected by the lockdown and movement curbs imposed by various governments due to Covid-19, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

 

As on September 1, 2020, close to 23,133 Gram Panchayats (including block headquarters) have been made service ready, and 1.47 lakh km of optical fibre cable has been laid under BharatNet phase-2, Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. Read more

8:28 PM

Minimum support price mechanism for farmers will continue, says Tomar

Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism for farmers will continue and that the mechanism will not be impacted by two proposed legislations.

 

Moving The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020' Bills in Lok Sabha, Tomar said the bills are aimed at making farming profitable.

8:19 PM

Deepak Kochhar withdraws from Delhi HC plea seeking Covid treatment at private hospital

Deepak Kochhar, the husband of former ICICI Bank chairperson Chanda Kochhar on Thursday withdrew from the Delhi High Court a petition seeking Covid-19 treatment at a private hospital with the liberty to approach a Mumbai court due to jurisdiction issue in the matter.

 

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, counsel for Deepak Kochhar, apprised the court that the applicant has tested positive for Covid-19 and shifted to NCI Jhajjar in Haryana.

8:09 PM

NSA Ajit Doval attends BRICS meet

8:04 PM

Army Chief MM Naravane visits Chinar Corps to review operational preparedness

8:01 PM

Govt permits up to 74% FDI under automatic route in defence sector

The government has permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) of up to 74 per cent under automatic route in the defence sector with a view to attracting overseas investors, according to a press note issued by the DPIIT on Thursday. However, foreign investments in the defence sector would be subject to scrutiny on the grounds of national security and the government reserves the right to review any foreign investment in the sector that affects or may affect national security, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said in the note.

 

As per the current FDI policy, 100 per cent overseas investments are permitted in the defence industry -- 49 per cent under the automatic route, while beyond that government approval was required.

7:37 PM

Maharashtra buses to operate with full passenger capacity

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will operate all the buses with 100 per cent passenger capacity instead of the present 50 per cent from Friday, a top official said.

 

Currently MSRTC buses are being run at half the passenger capacity in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

"The state government has allowed us to run the buses with 100 per cent passenger-carrying capacity instead of 50 per cent," said Shekhar Channe, vice chairman and managing director of the corporation, on Thursday.

7:29 PM

A win-win situation for Railways and investors: NITI Aayog CEO on private trains

In a first, private entities will source and operate modern technology trains for undertaking passenger business using Indian Railways' infrastructure, Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog CEO said while speaking on the Public-Private Partnership in passenger train operations.

 

"This creates a win-win situation for Indian Railways as well as investors, by tapping into the potential of huge unmet demand in the passenger business. The private sector investment we are looking at is about Rs 30,000 crores," said Kant while addressing a press briefing.

 

"We are looking at 109 Origin Destination pairs, divided into 12 clusters requiring 151 trains. They are being taken up for transparent competitive bidding and some most attractive routes, based on huge unmet demand, will be put out to run premium passenger services," he added.

7:20 PM

1.46 million stranded Indians repatriated till now: MEA

Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that as many as 1.46 mn Indians who were stranded due to Covid-19 restrictions have been repatriated so far under the Vande Bharat Mission.

 

Addressing a weekly briefing on Thursday, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that the Ministry is expecting another 1,20,000 people to be repatriated.

 

"As on September 16, 1.46 mn Indians have been repatriated through different modes from 21 countries reaching 22 airports across India and repatriating an estimated 82,000 people," said Srivastava.

7:09 PM

India's electronic component imports for 2019-20 stand at Rs 1.15 trn: Dhotre

The country imported electronic components worth Rs 1.15 trn in 2019-20, out of which, 37 per cent came from China, Minister of State for Communications and Electronics and IT Sanjay Dhotre said on Thursday. The data was shared by the minister on the impact on the electronics sector due to shutting down of factories in China.

 

"As per data available from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the total electronic component imports in the country in FY 2019-20 was Rs 1,15,558 crore, out of which the import from China was Rs 42,983 crore, which amounts to about 37 per cent," Dhotre said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.