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5:09 PM

Kerala to get monsoon rains by May 27: IMD

Southwest monsoon, considered the lifeline of India's agri-based economy, is likely to bring first showers to Kerala by May 27, earlier than the normal onset date, the weather office announced on Friday.

 

The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala is June 1.

 

This year, the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala is likely to be earlier than the normal date of onset. The monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be on May 27 with a model error of four days, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

4:35 PM

Govt fixes LIC issue price at Rs 949 a share; policyholders, retail investors get discount

Govt fixes LIC issue price at Rs 949 a share; policyholders, retail investors get discount

 

The government has fixed the issue price of LIC shares at Rs 949 apiece, the upper end of the IPO price band, ahead of the listing of the country's largest insurer on May 17.

 

However, LIC policyholders and retail investors have got the shares at a price of Rs 889 and Rs 904 a piece, respectively.

 

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) closed on May 9 and shares were allocated to bidders on May 12. The government sold over 22.13 crore shares or 3.5 per cent stake in LIC through the IPO at a price band of Rs 902-949 a share.

 

The retail investors and eligible employees of LIC were offered a discount of Rs 45 per equity share over the issue price, while policyholders got a discount of Rs 60 per share.

 

As per the prospectus filed by LIC on May 12, the offer price of the share sale has been fixed at Rs 949 per equity share.

4:27 PM

Tesla puts India entry plan on hold after deadlock on tariffs: Report

Tesla Inc has put on hold plans to sell electric cars in India, abandoned a search for showroom space and reassigned some of its domestic team after failing to secure lower import taxes, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

 

The decision caps more than a year of deadlocked talks with government representatives as Tesla sought to first test demand by selling electric vehicles (EVs) imported from production hubs in the United States and China, at lower tariffs.

 

But the Indian government is pushing Tesla to commit to manufacturing locally before it will lower tariffs, which can run as high as 100% on imported vehicles.

 

Tesla had set itself a deadline of Feb. 1, the day India unveils its budget and announces tax changes, to see if its lobbying brought a result, the sources with knowledge of the company's plan told Reuters.

4:22 PM

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed dies

UAE President and ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan passed away on Friday, local reports quoting the Ministry of Presidential Affairs said.

 

"The Ministry of Presidential Affairs condoles the people of the UAE, the Arab and Islamic nation and the world over the demise of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE, a WAM statement read.

 

Sheikh Khalifa served as the President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi since November 3, 2004.

4:04 PM

Elon Musk says Twitter deal 'temporarily on hold'

Elon Musk said on Friday his $44-billion deal for Twitter Inc was temporarily on hold, citing pending details on spam and fake accounts.

 

"Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users," Musk said in a tweet.

 

The company had earlier this month estimated that false or spam accounts represented fewer than 5% of its monetizable daily active users during the first quarter.

 

3:45 PM

Spain announces temporary cap on gas price for power plants

Spain's government on Friday announced a temporary cap on the reference price of gas used by power plants, in a move the energy minister said would immediately reduce costs for more than a third of private individuals and 70% of industry, Reuters reported. European countries are struggling to manage surging gas and power prices, pushed higher by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and to mitigate their impact on consumers' spending power.

3:43 PM

Europe faces shortfall of key gasoline input

The market for naphtha, a key component in the production of gasoline, is about to get tighter in Europe -- bad news for motorists already contending with soaring prices for the fuel. Exports of the product from Russia, the world’s top supplier, have shriveled to a multiyear low as countries and companies shun the nation’s oil following its invasion of Ukraine. Naphtha is used to make goods from fuel to plastics, and seasonal demand is about to kick into higher gear, Bloomberg reported. 

 

1:51 PM

Army officer posted in Port Blair booked by CBI for bribery

The CBI has booked an Army officer posted at Port Blair for alleged corruption and bribery from different private suppliers in connivance with field officers in procurement of ration and other material for department, canteen and stores, officials said Friday. It is alleged that Lt Col Abhishek Chandra, the then SSO (Contract and Victualling) had demanded bribes from different suppliers during 2018, they said. The action comes after the Government gave sanction to the CBI to proceed with the probe against the officer.

1:34 PM

Police use batons, tear gas to quell protest over killing of Kashmiri Pandit employee at govt office

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday resorted to baton charge and firing of tear gas shells to disperse Kashmiri Pandit community members marching towards Srinagar airport to protest the killing of Rahut Bhat by terrorists in Budgam a day back, officials said.

 

The protesters first assembled at the Sheikhpora area of Budgam district, in central Kashmir, and then tried to proceed towards the airport but were stopped by a posse of police personnel, they said. The protesters were requested to disperse but they refused to budge and insisted on marching ahead, following which the police used batons and fired some tear smoke shells, the officials said.

1:24 PM

Amit Shah to address public meeting in Telangana on Saturday

Top BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting here on Saturday to mark the culmination of the second phase of party Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar's 'padayatra'. Shah would visit the forensic science laboratory at Ramanthapur in the city on Saturday before attending the rally, BJP sources said.

 

The public meeting would be held Saturday evening at Tukkuguda on city outskirts. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, who inspected the venue of the meeting on Friday, expressed confidence that BJP would come to power in the state.

1:24 PM

Anti-encroachment drive at civic stadium in Mangolpuri, other areas

North and South Delhi Municipal Corporation authorities on Friday initiated anti-encroachment drives in various parts of the city, including at a civic stadium at Mangolpuri which had been illegally occupied by a few people who had also "brought in cattle inside its premises," a senior official said.

 

The property comes under the education department of the NDMC, another official said.

 

"Action was underway in Mangolpuri at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium, where the inner area was encroached upon by few people and cattle had been brought in inside its premises," the senior official said.

11:19 AM

Any person who is holding a post for 5 yrs should have to step down: Congress' Ajay Maken

There's almost complete unanimity among panel members on the proposal that to ensure that party leaders don't give tickets to their kin or relatives without any work in the party, at least 5 years of prior work in the party will be required. Any person who is holding a post for 5 years should have to step down, and there should be a cooling period of at least 3 years for that person to come back on the same post. For more than 5 years a person should not be on the same post: Ajay Maken, Cong on party organisation

 

10:41 AM

Delhi HC issues notice to CBI on plea seeking probe in use of black money in TSR auto finance business

Delhi HC issues notice to CBI on plea seeking probe in use of black money in alleged illegal, unauthorised TSR auto finance business

10:14 AM

India reports 2,841 new coronavirus cases, 9 fatalities in 24 hours

With 2,841 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 43,116,254, while the active cases dipped to 18,604, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Friday.

 

The death toll climbed to 524,190 with 9 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

 

The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the health ministry said.

 

A decrease of 463 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

 

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.58 per cent and weekly positivity rate was 0.69 per cent, according to the health ministry.

 

9:19 AM

Nithari case update

An appeal has been filed in the Allahabad High Court against the decision of the CBI court in the Nithari case of Noida. The appeal is filed against the death sentence of accused Surinder Koli, Maninder Pandher. The hearing will be held on May 27.