Top headlines: Budget 2021, WhatsApp pay, purchase of vaccine, and more

Here are the top business headlines on Friday

State govts worry as Centre plans to trim schemes in upcoming Budget

As fiscal constraints and the need to allocate funds for Covid vaccination are pushing the Union government to rationalise and even discontinue some of the centrally sponsored as well as central sector schemes in the Budget-making process, Opposition states have raised concern over such a move. Read more

8 predictions by Amazon CTO on how tech will change our lives next year

As vice president and chief technology officer of Amazon.com, Werner Vogels is responsible for shaping the world’s largest online retailer’s long-term technology vision and lead some of the cutting-edge innovations in the work in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, drones and robotics. Read More

Trusted or not? DoT allows Huawei to test telecom gear; official moved out

Just when the government was finalising the national security directive for the telecom sector, the Department of Telecom­munications got caught in an unusual tangle over Chinese vendors. Read More

WhatsApp Pay is easy to use, but take a few extra security measures

WhatsApp can now be used to make and receive payment, through the Payments feature designed on the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI’s) Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Read More

Barely a week before the deadline, IBC resumption hangs in balance

Barely a week left for the expiry of the suspension of bankruptcy proceedings against companies, the government is still undecided whether to extend the suspension further or not because “arguments on both sides are strong”, a senior government official told Business Standard. Read More

State governments may use bank guarantees to buy Covid-19 vaccines

The Centre has advised the state governments to explore using bank guarantees to finance the cost of buying Covid-19 vaccines. Read More

Airtel, Jio, Vodafone have to fork out Rs 44,000 cr for 4G spectrum auction

The forthcoming spectrum auction will be focused on spectrum renewals for the three major operators — Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea — which could cost them a combined total of Rs 44,000 crore, which is equivalent to the adjusted gross revenues of telcos in the quarter of June 2020. Read More