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5:39 PM

Cabinet nod to programme for maintaining, improving 736 dams

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a project to ensure maintenance and improvement of 736 dams in 19 states in the next 10 years.

 

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat told reporters at a cabinet briefing here that the dam rehabilitation and improvement programme phases two and three will be completed under a 10-year plan at a total cost of Rs 10,211 crore.

 

Providing details, he said the first phase of the programme was launched in 2012. It ended in 2020 under which 223 dams in seven states were included. Eighty per cent of the amount under the plan will be funded by the World Bank and another organisation.

5:28 PM

Output of eight core sector industries contracts 0.8% in Sept: Govt data

5:21 PM

Latest news LIVE: Govt likely to extend Air India bid deadline to Dec 14

The government is likely to extend the deadline to bid for Air India till December 14and also give flexibility to a potential investor to decide on the humongous debt with the national carrier, a source said. The deadline to bid for buying out Air Indiaends on October 30.

 

The flexibility to potential investors on the quantum of the Rs 60,074 crore debt that they want to absorb will replace the current condition of the buyer taking over more than a third of the debt and transferring the rest to a special purpose vehicle.

 

The source said the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) has cleared the extension of deadline to December 14to give time to potential investors to raise queries on the changes being made in the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM). READ ON...

5:14 PM

Pakistan's Federal Minister says 'Pulwama' was a great achievement under Imran Khan's leadership

4:54 PM

Cabinet hikes ethanol price, mandates jute packaging for all food grains

The Union Cabinet on Thursday raised the price of ethanol for doping in petrol by 5-8 per cent, I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar said. The move will help farmers get remunerative price while also cutting down oil imports, he said. As much as 10 per cent ethanol is doped in petrol. The move also checks pollution as ethanol is environment-friendly, the minister added.

 

In order to help the jute industry, the government also decided that 100 per cent food grains and 20 per cent sugar will be mandatorily packaged in jute bags.

 

A decision to extend the norms for mandatory packaging in jute materials was taken by the Union Cabinet, Javadekar said while briefing reporters about the meeting. READ ON...

4:51 PM

Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) deferred to January 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

4:47 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India conducts 10 million Covid-19 tests in last nine days, says Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday informed that the country has conducted about one crore tests to diagnose coronavirus in the last nine days. The government mentioned that on average, nearly 11 lakh COVID-19 tests were being performed every day for the past six weeks.

 

"India has demonstrated a consistent rise in the COVID-19 testing infrastructure since Jan 2020. With 10,75,760 covid tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have crossed 10.65 crores (10,65,63,440). Nearly 11 lakh tests have been conducted daily on an average during the past six weeks," said the Health Ministry in a statement adding that the country is capable of doing 15 lakh tests every day now.

 

According to the Central Government, the cumulative positivity rate has been falling progressively as testing has increased and it has touched 7.54 per cent as of October 29. At least crore tests were conducted in the last nine days and the daily positivity rate stands at 4.64 per cent.

4:30 PM

Expressing grief, PM Modi recalls 45 year-long association with Keshubhai Patel

4:23 PM

Sensex, Nifty fall on weak earnings, coronavirus-led global pessimism

Indian shares ended lower on Thursday as results from carmaker Maruti and engineering firm Larsen and Toubro fell short of expectations, with new lockdowns in Europe's biggest economies also hitting sentiment, news agency Reuters reported. Ahead of the October derivatives expiry, the Nifty closed down 0.5% at 11,670.8 and the Sensex ended 0.43% lower at 39,749.85.

 

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) fell as much as 5.78%, dragging down the Nifty infrastructure index as much as 1.27%, after the industrial conglomerate reported a quarterly loss from continuing operations on a standalone basis on Wednesday.

 

India's biggest carmaker by market share Maruti Suzuki shed as much as 2.8% after the company's profit missed estimates, though car sales rose during the quarter. The stock marked its sharpest intraday drop since Sept. 24.

 

4:14 PM

Rupee slumps 23 paise, settles below 74/USD level

The rupee continued its downward journey on Thursday, sliding another 23 paise to settle at 74.10 against the US dollar, tracking weak domestic equities and strong American currency amid global risk aversion.

 

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened weak at 74.02 against the greenback, then lost further ground and finally closed at 74.10 against the American currency, showing a fall of 23 paise over its previous close.

 

On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated by 16 paise to settle at more than one-month low of 73.87 against the US currency. The local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.94 and a low of 74.16 against the greenback.

4:02 PM

Latest news LIVE: Cabinet approves 100% mandatory packaging of food grains

In order to help the jute industry, the government on Thursday decided that 100 per cent food grains and 20 per cent sugar will be mandatorily packaged in jute bags.

 

A decision to extend the norms for mandatory packaging in jute materials was taken by the Union Cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said while briefing reporters about the meeting.

 

The decision, he said, will benefit about 4 lakh workers engaged in the jute sector along with thousands of farmers. Jute is primarily grown in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh.

3:58 PM

Centre introduces new law through ordinance, which comes into force with immediate effect, to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR

3:56 PM

SC stays Uttarakhand HC's order for CBI probe against Chief Minister

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed an order of the Uttarakhand High Court directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to register an FIR against Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on basis of allegations levelled against him.

 

A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, issued notice to the CBI and two journalists, FIR against whom was quashed by the High Court returnable within four weeks.

 

Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Trivendra Singh Rawat, submitted that the Chief Minister was not a party to this case even and the Uttarakhand High Court's single-judge bench had ordered a CBI probe without hearing his side.

3:42 PM

Cabinet approves 100% mandatory packaging of food grains, 20% of sugar in jute bags: Prakash Javadekar

3:37 PM

Bank of Baroda back in the black in Q2, reports net profit of Rs 1,679 crore

State-owned Bank of Baroda on Thursday reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,678.6 crore for July-September quarter (Q2FY21) on the back of lower provisons. In the previous quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY21), the lender had incurred a loss worth Rs 864.26 crore. On a yearly basis, PAT grew 128 per cent from Rs 736.6 crore.

 

On a consolidated basis, profit was Rs 1,771.22 crore for Q2FY21, as against a net loss of Rs 678.71 crore in the June quarter. In the year-ago period, however, consolidated net profit stood at Rs 853.41 crore.

 

The numbers beat Street expectations by a huge margin. Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, for instance, had pegged the net profit at Rs 139.4 crore, while those at Phillip Capital had expected the PAT to stand at Rs 541.7 crore. READ ON...