Sushant Singh Rajput's case politicised to malign Mumbai Police: Shiv Sena. The Shiv Sena on Thursday claimed the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death was politicised to "malign" the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government.
If the FIR registered in Patna was right, then if other "characters" in the case who hail from other states file an FIR in West Bengal, will the Kolkata Police get power to investigate it? The Shiv Sena asked. The Mumbai Police's probe in the case was in the final stages when it was stopped and handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on recommendation of the Bihar government, the ruling party in Maharashtra said. It is surprising that even though the court found nothing wrong in the Mumbai Police's probe, the case has been handed over to the CBI, the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"Several criminal cases in Bihar were investigated by the CBI. The apex court said the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. World Bank sees higher GDP fall in India than 3.2% it projected for FY21. The World Bank on Wednesday said it was likely to project a steeper contraction in India’s economy than the 3.2 per cent it had forecast for the current financial year, given the rising number of Covid-19 cases and the resultant regional lockdowns.
Asia to import record LPG in 2020 amid uptick demand for protective gear. Asia will likely import record volumes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in 2020 as firms snap up the fuel to make petrochemicals used in protective gear against the coronavirus, while households under lockdown ramped up purchases for cooking.
The region will buy some 67-69.5 million tonnes of the gas from abroad this year, surpassing last year's record, analysts from consultancy firms IHS Markit, FGE and Wood Mackenzie said. That would represent a 1-3% increase on 2019 import volumes. Strong Asian demand could weigh on supplies in coming months just as Europe is likely to step up purchases of the fuel for heating in winter, an industry source in Singapore said. While supply was hit by a cut in commodity production in the second quarter, output has recovered some ground since then. Centre raises sugarcane FRP by Rs 10 a quintal for 2020-21 season. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to increase the minimum price sugar mills pay to sugarcane growers, also known as Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), by Rs 10 per quintal to Rs 285 for the next marketing year starting October 2020, according to an official statement.
The FRP is linked to a basic recovery rate of 10 per cent. The recovery rate is the amount of sugar that sugarcane fetches and higher the quantum of sugar derived from the cane, greater the price it fetches in the market. In respect of sugar mills that have a recovery of more than 10 per cent, the FRP will be increased by Rs 2.85 for every 0.1 per cent increase in recovery above 10 per cent, the food ministry clarified.
In the same manner, FRP will be reduced by Rs 2.85 for every 0.1 per cent decline in recovery below 10 per cent. But, this will be limited only upto 9.5 per cent. For those sugar mills, which have a recovery of less than 9.5 percent for the 2020-21 season, the FRP has been fixed at Rs 270.75 per quintal. Fixed broadband, digital investments must for sustained growth: Trai chief. Deployment of innovative and contact-free processes across verticles in the post-COVID-19 era, thrust on fixed broadband, fibre-to-home and in-building solutions, proliferation of WiFi hotspots, and massive investments into digital infrastructure will enable India to reap full benefits of digital technologies, Trai Chairman R S Sharma said on Wednesday.
Sharma's policy prescription also included utilising cable TV infrastructure for providing broadband, VSAT links for backhaul connectivity, leveraging 5G, use of high-capacity E-band and V-band for backhaul, as well as promotion of cloud services, data centres and video conferencing applications. Speaking at an event organised by the Broadband India Forum (BIF), Sharma said applications developed must have the ability to positively impact lives of people, contribute to employment, increase productivity, open markets, improve skills and living standards of the common man. National Payments Corp to take UPI, Rupay global through new subsidiary.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is taking its business beyond Indian shores through its subsidiary NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL).
It wants to take its products UPI and RuPay Card global and assist other countries in establishing a ‘real time payment system’ or a ‘domestic card scheme’. The primary focus of the subsidiary would be the internationalisation of RuPay and UPI, along with a some other NPCI offerings. Several nations have displayed an inclination towards establishing a ‘real time payment system’ or ‘domestic card scheme’ inspired by the exemplary innovations by NPCI in the country, the NPCI said in a statement. Commerce Min reviews extension of anti-dumping duty on Chinese products.
The commerce ministry has initiated a review to see whether there is a need for continuation of existing anti-dumping duty imposed on the import of certain auto components from China.
Local company Bharat Forge Ltd has lodged a complaint with the ministry's investigation arm the Directorate General of Trade Remedies for the review of the duties on imports of front axle beam and steering knuckles, used in heavy and medium commercial vehicles, from China. West Bengal govt may reduce 30 % tax on liquor amid declining sales. The West Bengal government may reduce the 30 per cent tax on liquor amid a drastic fall in sales since it was levied, when wine shops reopened after the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, industry sources said on Wednesday.
An ad valorem tax (according to value) may be levied on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and foreign liquor to boost sales, they said. The new prices of liquor came into effect from Apri 9. Several industry bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), had urged the state governent to bring down the tax rate. DGGI unearths pan-India invoice racket involving transactions of Rs 434 cr. A pan-India fake invoice racket involving transactions of about Rs 434 crore by 23 firms has been busted by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Nagpur, an official release said on Wednesday.
Rs 78.13 crore of fraudulent input tax credit was availed by those involved in the racket, it said. Simultaneous searches were conducted by the officers of DGGI, Nagpur Zonal Unit at number of places in the city, which led to further searches at Jalandhar, Sonepat and New Delhi, it said. Probe revealed that 23 firms across India, from Tamil Nadu to New Delhi, were involved in issuance of fake invoices to get fraudulent 'Input Tax Credit' without supply of any goods, it said. These firms engaged only in paper transactions of goods, ranging from iron and steel products, insulated wires, plastic articles to copper/aluminum waste.
No actual movement of goods took place, the release said. Will be interesting to see how govt completes airport leasing: Law firm. Even as the government has approved the proposal for leasing out of three Airports Authority of India (AAI)-run airports, what is to be seen is how effectively and efficiently would it be able to complete the process especially during the coronavirus pandemic, a Delhi-based law firm has said.
On Wednesday, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the government has given its go-ahead to lease out Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Jaipur airports through public-private partnership (PPP). "After the success of Delhi and Mumbai airports, what needs to be seen for the future airports privatisation is how effectively and efficiently would the government be able to complete the process especially during the pandemic," said Poonam Verma, partner, J Sagar Associates, said. Initiating a process and not finishing it add to the uncertainty for the successful bidder, which should be avoided, Verma added. Faceless assessment: CBDT chief meets I-T officers to dispel concerns. In a bid to dispel concerns over the new faceless assessment scheme, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody has met income tax field units to appraise them of the new scheme and explained the nitty-gritty of its implementation.
A source said that in a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Mody explained the faceless assessment and taxpayers' charter and detailed the reallocation and reorganisation aspects of the department's manpower. "He elucidated that it was being done within the existing manpower preferably at the existing locations and sought to dispel all kind of misgivings and misapprehensions which may have been reflecting on the minds of the officials of the department with regard to the national launch of the faceless assessment scheme," according to the source. The unions felt that if the scheme was thoughtlessly implemented, it would lead to "displacement of manpower from one station to another".
RBI's first Monetary Policy Committee bows out with CPI above target. The Reserve Bank of India’s first Monetary Policy Committee completes its four-year term with a mixed record. While the six-member panel managed to keep inflation within the 2% to 6% target band for most of that time, it ends the period with consumer-price growth well above that range. The MPC held its last policy meeting under its current term on Aug. 4-6, and the minutes published Thursday may offer insights into the outlook for prices amid economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The committee will now be overhauled with three new external members expected to join by October and possibly changes to its targeting framework being introduced sometime next year.
If inflation exceeds the upper limit of the target band for three consecutive quarters, the RBI Act requires Governor Shaktikanta Das to write a letter to the government to explain why the MPC failed to meet its goal. Price Stability. Apple Inc removes 47,000 apps from Chinese App Store, says report. Apple has removed at least 47,000 apps from its App Store in China to comply with the new policy from the state regulators. According to a report in The Information, China may be closing the loopholes exploited by Apple in previous years, "starting with the recent removal of thousands of apps from the Chinese App Store".
"The technology giant operates the App Store and many other services without government licenses and local partners in China. That has left it vulnerable to regulatory risk in China as Trump attacks TikTok and WeChat in the US," the report said on Tuesday. The US administration's action against the Chinese behemoths like ByteDance (TikTok) and Tencent (WeChat) has fueld a new war between the two nations. The Donald Trump administration has also tightened restrictions on Chinese conglomerate Huawei. Last month, Apple removed at least 4,500 games from China's App Store under the pressure from the Chinese government to comply with its Internet policies. Cancer cases may rise to 1.57 mn from 1.39 mn in next 5 years: ICMR report. The number of cancer cases in India is estimated to be 1.39 million this year and may increase to 1.57 million by 2025, according to a report released by the ICMR and the Bengaluru-based National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the estimates presented in the National Cancer Registry Programme Report, 2020, are based on information collected from 28 Population Based Cancer Registries. Additionally, 58 hospital-based cancer registries provided data, it said. According to the statement, tobacco-related cancer is estimated to contribute 370,000 cases which is 27.1 per cent of the total cancer burden in 2020. "Among women, breast cancer is estimated to contribute 200,000 (14.8 per cent) and cervix cancer is estimated to contribute 0.75 lakh (5.4 per cent), whereas for both men and women, cancers of the gastrointestinal tract is estimated to contribute 270,000 (19.7 per cent) of the total cancer burden," it said. Claims will be collected from rioters for property damage: UP CM Adityanath.
Uttar Pradesh will not accept anarchy, and claims will be collected from rioters and miscreants for damaging public or private property, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday. This comes after the Chief Minister approved the constitution of the property damage claims tribunal in Lucknow and Meerut as per the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Public and Private Property Damage Recovery Rules 2020.
"Uttar Pradesh does not accept anarchy. Damage claims will be recovered from those rioters, miscreants who damaged public or private property. Alert and Safe Uttar Pradesh," the Chief Minister tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi). Earlier, according to the Chief Ministers' Office (CMO), UP claim applications from Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot Dham, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Devi Patan Prayagraj, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Basti and Vindhyachal Dham divisions will be accepted in the Lucknow tribunal.
The state government had promulgated an ordinance for the recovery of damages. Rahul targets govt, says 20 mn jobs lost in last 4 months amid Covid-19. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that around 20 million people lost their jobs in the last four months amid the coronavirus pandemic and asserted that the "truth about unemployment" cannot be hidden from the country. Citing a media report, he said in a tweet in Hindi, "In the last 4 months, around 20 million people have lost their jobs. IPL title rights: BCCI likely to ask Dream11 to revisit bids for 2021, 2022. Pranab Mukherjee's health declines, develops lung infection: Army Hospital.
The health condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee has declined as he has developed a lung infection, the Army's Research and Referral Hospital said on Wednesday. Eight arrested in Andamans and Nicobar for fishing in Jarawa reserved area. Eight fishermen were arrested. IMD predicts heavy to very heavy rain in Konkan, central Maharashtra. Flyers test Covid positive; Hong Kong bans Air India flights till Aug-end. An SUV-sized asteroid just made the closest fly-by of Earth on record. Near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, pass by our home planet all the time.
Mauritius arrests captain of Japanese ship that caused oil spill. Mauritius has arrested the captain of a Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground off its coast, causing a devastating oil spill in one of the world’s most pristine maritime environments, police said on Tuesday. The MV Wakashio struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on July 25 and began spilling oil on Aug. 6, prompting the government to announce a state of environmental emergency.
Govt jobs in Madhya Pradesh only for local residents: Shivraj Singh Chouhan. IBM rolls out Power10 chip for data centres; taps Samsung for manufacturing. International Business Machines Corp announced on Monday a new processor chip for data centers that it says will be able to handle three times the workload of its predecessor. The IBM-designed Power10 chip will be manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and is meant for use by businesses inside data centers, IBM said. Delhi HC directs DU to begin final year physical exams from Sept 14. Sebi to meet stock brokers' body to discuss new rules on margin collection. Parliament monsoon session may begin from first week of September. Facebook employee files police complaint after report on content practices. India-Japan summit likely next month, to focus on boosting trade ties.
President nod to name change of HRD Ministry as Ministry of Education. What a 38-year-old turmeric scandal says about India's business environment. Indian national held at border for crossing illegally into US from Canada. Trump elevated ties with India in ways not seen before: White House. Is digital ID system, Aadhaar, a tech solution for socio-economic problem? SC refuses to direct Centre to transfer funds from PM Cares to NDRF. Solicitor General lauds PM's 'responsive' leadership during Covid-19 crisis.
Parliamentary panel plans to summon Facebook in hate-speech case. Anti-Pollution Drive Foundation seeks review of new environmental policy. Rajnath Singh approves NCC expansion in 173 border, coastal districts. 4G mobile Internet services restored in two districts in J-K on trial basis. Tamil Nadu govt to allow reopening Liquor outlets in Chennai from Tuesday. UK launches £3 mn innovation challenge in India to tackle Covid-19 pandemic. We prohibit hate speech that incites violence: Facebook's reply to BJP. Nepal, India hold high-level virtual talks amidst ongoing border row. First Mediterranean cruise sets sail after virus tests from Italty. Will SC verdict on coparcenary lead to more disputes among biz families? China grants country's 1st Covid-19 vaccine patent to domestic firm: Report.
Covid has accelerated need to adopt digital tools in real estate: Reports. Google makes it easier to find live TV, adds sport shows in Search. Govt modifies e-assessment scheme after PM unveils Taxpayers' Charter. RBI's payout unlikely to plug the huge govt revenue hole created by Covid. NGT slams MoEF for delay in norms for emission from railway engines. Health, privacy, Covid-19 driving paradigm shift in consumer behaviour: EY. Tropical Storm Josephine formed in Atlantic Ocean; no warnings in effect. Multilayered security, distancing norms in place for 74th Independence Day. Unscheduled transit flights can't land for specific hours in Delhi on I-Day. NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter recharges its batteries in flight. Flight restrictions imposed at Delhi airport on Independence Day. Indians can fly with visa to UK, US, Canada, UAE under air bubble agreement.
Facebook could face up to $500 billion in fines in new lawsuit: Report. India announces $500 million assistance for mega infra project in Maldives. No coercive steps against DIAL for Rs 2,600 cr tax demand: Delhi HC to DCB. NGT directs Delhi govt to enforce noise pollution norms, forms committee. Legal heirs not bound to inform I-T dept about assessee's death, rules HC. NASA spacecraft completes final practice before asteroid sample collection. Study reveals why SARS coronavirus impacts patients differently. Covid-19 pandemic threatens peace and risks new conflicts: UN chief. How rolling out Russia's Covid-19 vaccine without proper test can backfire. Trump admin relaxes rules for some H-1B visas, allows spouses to travel. Why India must raise health budget to tackle impending climate disasters.
Zydus Cadila launches India's 'cheapest' remdesivir at Rs 2,800 per vial. PM Modi to unveil friendly measures for honest taxpayers ahead of I-Day. Tencent Holdings second-quarter profit beats as games outperform. Over million Indians returned home under Vande Bharat Mission: MEA. Facebook removes 7 mn posts for sharing false information on Covid-19. Confidence of professionals on steady rise as lockdown eases: Survey. First batch of Covid-19 vaccine out within 2 weeks: Russian Health Minister. Goa tops in number of coronavirus tests per million: Health Minister. WHO in contact with Russia on new Covid-19 vaccine: Spokesman. 3 dead in Bengaluru, 110 arrested for rioting over Facebook post. Covid-19 impact: 50% of global youth depressed, 17% out of jobs, says ILO. With no human pyramids, Covid-19 casts shadow on 'Dahi Handi' celebrations. How to know if your e-shopping habit is a problem and what to do if it is. World's 1st 5G augmented reality glasses to arrive in South Korea for $590.
Indian nationals carrying valid visa can travel to UAE: Indian Ambassador. Pilot Deepak Sathe cremated; Maharashtra govt accords state funeral. Ex-president Pranab Mukherjee critical, on ventilator support post surgery. PM Modi interacts with chief ministers of 10 states over Covid-19 situation. 4G to be restored on trial basis in one district each of J&K: Centre to SC. NEP's idea to make board exams easy won't address rote learning: Sisodia. Logistics, media professionals most anxious about returning to work: Survey.
Tamil Nadu asks Centre for special Rs 9,000 crore grant to combat Covid-19. Gargling with mouthwash might lower spread of coronavirus: Study. Media consumption by working professionals during lockdown up 25%: Study. Expert committee on Covid-19 vaccine administration to meet on Wednesday. Twitter is working on new module for 'retweet with comment' feature: Report. Delhi to Mumbai, police scramble to save man's 'suicide on Facebook' Tricolour sales dip as schools, colleges remain closed due to Covid-19. Second attempt to shut damaged Oil India's gas well in Assam fails.