LIVE: 8 union ministers to hold virtual rallies about farm laws in Punjab

1:40 AM

BPCL considers raising engine oil market share to 13-14% by March

1:31 AM

Singapore Air’s A380 Restaurant Tickets Sold in 30 Minutes

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said all seats on its Airbus SE A380 jetliner pop-up restaurants were reserved within 30 minutes of bookings opening Monday.

 

With flights largely grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore Airlines is trying novel ways to raise money, including using two of the superjumbos parked at Changi Airport as temporary eateries.

 

A meal in a suite costs S$642 ($474), while seats in business class are going for S$321, dropping to S$96.30 for premium economy and S$53.50 for economy. Customers can also pay with frequent-flyer miles.

11:11 PM

Indian Navy scraps tender to procure four Landing Platform Docks at Rs 20,000 crore

10:39 PM

GST Council meet ends without reaching consensus on compensating states

The stalemate over compensating states for the shortfall in GST collections continued on Monday with a meeting of the GST Council ending without reaching any consensus.

 

The panel, which is the highest decision-making body on indirect taxes, for the second time in a week failed to reach a consensus on the Centre's proposal of states borrowing against future GST collections to make up for the shortfall.

 

This was the third meeting in a row that discussed compensation shortfall without a decision.

10:39 PM

BJP delegation thanks Hardeep Singh Puri for approving allotment of land for Ravidas temple

9:02 PM

Jio becomes first telco to cross 400 million subscribers mark: Trai

Reliance Jio has become the first mobile service provider to cross 400 million customers mark in India with net addition of over 3.5 million subscribers in July, according to data released by telecom regulator Trai on Monday.

The overall telecom subscriber base increased marginally to 116.4 crore in July from 116 crore in June.

Mobile phone connections in the country increased to 114.4 crore in July from 114 crore in June, with urban and rural connections standing at 61.9 crore and 52.1 crore respectively, according to the monthly subscribers report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Fixed-line connections after several years increased marginally to 1,98,20,419, with private telecom operators led by Jio taking the lead.

8:35 PM

Farm laws: Eight Union ministers to hold virtual rallies in Punjab

Eight Union ministers will hold virtual rallies over eight days in Punjab from Tuesday to "address apprehensions of farmers amid widespread protests against the Centre's farm laws.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri; Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat; and Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani will be among the BJP leaders holding the rallies.

Others are Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary; Minister of state for Finance Anurag Thakur; Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Sanjeev Balyan; Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash; and Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh.

To address apprehensions of farmers, eight Union ministers will hold virtual rallies, said Subhash Sharma, Punjab BJP unit organising secretary in a statement.

8:17 PM

Instead of turban issue in WB, BJP should at farm law affected-Sikhs: Cong

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday said when lakhs of Sikhs in Punjab are facing an uncertain future because of farm laws passed by the BJP-led central government, while the saffron party is crying foul over an alleged incident of pulling off of the turban of a Sikh by the police during a protest rally here.

Chowdhury said that the Congress has a lot of complaints against the police in West Bengal, but he does not believe that the force indulges in communalism or dividing people on the basis of caste and creed.

The BJP has alleged that the police have shown disrespect to the Sikh community by allegedly pulling off the turban of Balwinder Singh, a private security officer of a party leader, while arresting him for carrying a firearm during a protest march to the state secretariat on October 8.

The state government has said that his turban came off during a scuffle with the police.

7:49 PM

Govt buys nearly 4.3 million tonne kharif paddy at MSP in last 16 days

About 4.3 million tonne of kharif paddy worth Rs 8,033 crore was purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) from 357,000 farmers in the last 16 days, the food ministry said on Monday.

Paddy procurement commenced in Punjab and Haryana from September 26 due to early arrival of the crop, while in other states it began from October 1.

More than 80 per cent of the country's paddy crop is grown in the kharif season. The government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies undertakes procurement of paddy at MSP.

"Paddy procurement in the 2020-21 kharif marketing season is going on smoothly in the procuring states with purchase of about 42.55 lakh tonne of paddy up to October 11 from over 357,000 farmers with MSP value of Rs 8,032.62 crore," the ministry said in a statement.

7:10 PM

Industrial production contracts 8% in August; manufacturing, mining weigh

Industrial production declined by 8 per cent in August, mainly due to lower output of manufacturing, mining and power generation sectors, official data showed on Monday.

According to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data, manufacturing sector production registered a decline of 8.6 per cent, while the output of mining and power segments fell 9.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

The IIP had contracted by 1.4 per cent in August 2019.

" It may not be appropriate to compare the IIP in the post pandemic months with the IIP for months preceding the COVID 19 pandemic," the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said in a statement.

"With the gradual relaxation of restrictions, there has been a relative improvement in the economic activities by varying degrees as well as in data reporting," it added.

6:51 PM

AAI to invest Rs 650 crore to build greenfield airport in Arunachal

The state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken a Rs 650 crore project to develop a greenfield airport at Hollongi, near Arunachal Pradesh's capital Itanagar, officials said on Monday.

The Hollongi airport, 15 kms from Itanagar, will be the third airport in Arunachal Pradesh and would be completed by November 2022.

The state's other two existing airports are Tezu airport in Lohit district and Pasighat airport in East Siang district.

AAI officials said that with an area of 4100 sq meters, th

6:09 PM

Retail inflation rises to 7.34% in September over higher food prices

Retail inflation rose to 7.34 per cent in September, mainly on account of higher food prices, according to government data.

The inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 6.69 per cent in August. It was 3.99 per cent in September last year.

The rate of price rise in the food basket was 10.68 per cent in September compared to 9.05 per cent in August, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday.

6:03 PM

Telecom ARPU poised for 'structural uptrend' via tariff hike, high data usage post Covid-19: Report

Telecom industry Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is expected to see a 'structural uptrend' through a mix of tariff hikes, either regulator or market driven, as well as higher data usage post-Covid-19, a report said on Monday.

The note by JM Financial titled 'A tale of supremacy, defence and survival' said with consolidation of India's telecom industry largely complete, the wireless industry's revenue is expected to double to about Rs 2,60,000 crore by 2024-25 as ARPU hike looks "inevitable".

"...we expect the wireless industry's revenue to double to Rs 2,600 billion by FY25... as an ARPU hike looks inevitable given the industry's future investment needs requires an ARPU of Rs 230-250 by FY25... for a pre-tax RoCE (return on capital employed) of 12-15 per cent to justify capex; and to avoid a duopoly market VIL needs APRU of at least Rs 190-200 by FY23 to survive," said the report.

Fibre-to-the-home and enterprise connectivity businesses, which are still at a nascent stage, could emerge as the new growth engines, it added.

5:47 PM

Markets close in green for 8th day; pare early gains as FM sops fail to cheer investors

Equity benchmarks pared early gains but managed to end modestly higher on Monday after the finance minister announced fresh stimulus measures to revive festive demand and boost the economy.

After rallying nearly 400 points in the morning, the 30-share BSE Sensex buckled under selling pressure in afternoon trade, before ending 84.31 points or 0.21 per cent higher at 40,593.80.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 16.75 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 11,930.95.

Both the key indices have extended their winning streak to eight sessions.

5:16 PM

No change in govt's borrowing programme for current fiscal: DEA Secy

The government on Monday said there will be no change in the borrowing programme for the current fiscal, even as it announced steps to stimulate consumer demand during the festival season.

The government in May had increased its market borrowing programme for the current financial year by more than 50 per cent to Rs 12 trillion to meet the increased spending due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of its efforts to stimulate the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to spur demand and ramp up capital expenditure.

5:01 PM

Number of passengers flying in single day increases to over 178,000

The total number of passengers flying in a single day increased to 1,78,431 on October 11, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday.

The Minister, in a tweet, said that airports across the country received a footfall of 356,000.

"Domestic Operations on 11th October 2020. 1,78,431 passengers on 1,515 flights. Total movements 3,024. Footfall at airports 3,56,127," Puri tweeted.

Puri had earlier said that around two lakh domestic air passengers will be flying every day by the end of October and added that the figure is expected to reach three lakhs between Diwali and the end of the year.

4:49 PM

Karnataka reshuffle: Sudhakar replaces Sriramulu as new Health Minister

Karnataka Minister B Sriramulu was divested of the Health and Family Welfare portfolio by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday in a Cabinet reshuffle amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The portfolio was allocated to Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar.

Significantly, Yediyurappa also took back the Backward Classes Welfare department from Sriramulu, retaining it with himself, in the minor reshuffle.

He entrusted Sriramulu with the key Social Welfare department, hitherto handled by Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol in addition to the Public Works department.

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala issued an official notification reallocating the portfolios on the advice of the Chief Minister.

4:31 PM

52,000 voters opt for postal ballot in Phase 1 of Bihar polls: Election Commission

More than 52,000 voters, who are either senior citizens above 80 years of age or are people with disabilities, have opted for postal ballot in the first phase of Bihar elections to be held on October 28, the Election Commission said on Monday.

Booth Level Officers (BLO) in 71 constituencies spread across 16 districts of the state had approached over four lakh voters of the two categories. More than fifty two thousand such electors have opted to vote through postal ballots in phase one of polls, the EC said in a statement.

The remaining electors have preferred to visit the polling booth to cast vote.

4:22 PM

SC seeks Centre's reply on pleas challenging constitutionality of farm laws

The Supreme Court Monday sought the Centre's response on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the newly enacted three contentious farm laws.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, in a hearing conducted via video conferencing, issued notice to the central government and sought its reply within four weeks.

The bench expressed surprised on seeing a battery of law officers, including Attorney General K K Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing in the matter even before the issuance of the notice.

"AG, SG, ASG all appear in a matter where there is no cause of action...This in common parlance is called an 'overkill'," it said.

Venugopal told the court that the Centre would be filing a consolidated reply to the petitions.

4:04 PM

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal joins Punjab AAP's protest, seeks rollback of new farm laws

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday participated in a protest organised here by the Punjab unit of Aam Aadmi Party and demanded a complete rollback of the three recently enacted central farm laws.

 

Addressing his party workers from Punjab at the Jantar Mantar agitation, Kejriwal said the AAP has a very clear stance on the farm laws.

 

"We want a complete rollback of the three laws. It is non-negotiable," he asserted,

3:51 PM

Ladakh standoff: India, China hold 7th round of high-level military talks

India and China on Monday held the seventh round of high-level military talks with a sole agenda of finalising a roadmap for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh.

 

As the border standoff entered the sixth month, an early resolution to the row appears dim.

3:34 PM

Americans Paul Milgrom, Robert Wilson win 2020 Nobel prize in economics

Americans Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson have won the Nobel Prize in economics for “improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.”

 

The winners were announced Monday in Stockholm by Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Read more...

3:27 PM

CBSE class 10 compartment exam results declared, over 56% students pass

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the result for class 10 compartment examination on Monday with over 56 per cent of the registered candidates passing the exam.

 

According to officials, a total of 1.57 candidates had registered for the exam and of them, 1.49 candidates appeared for the exam.

 

"A total of 82,903 candidates have cleared the exam taking the pass percentage to 56.55 per cent," a senior board official said.

3:12 PM

Hiring activities improve by 24% in Sept compared to month-ago: Report

With life returning to normalcy gradually, hiring activities grew 24 per cent in September as compared to the previous month mostly driven by pharmaceuticals and education sectors, according to a report.

At 1,755 job postings, there was an improvement of 24 per cent in hiring activities last month compared to August with 1,413 listings, according to the Naukri JobSpeak Index for September 2020.

The Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly index that calculates and records hiring activities based on the job listings on Naukri.com website month-on-month.

2:53 PM

Massive power outage leaves trains stuck on tracks in Mumbai; services resume partially

Train services came to a halt, homes and businesses were without electricity and people sweltered in humid heat as a grid failure resulted in massive power outages across Mumbai Monday morning.

As the day progressed, power restorations efforts began on war footing. Trains have started to resume operations, beginning with CR's Harbour Line. The trains are carrying only essential services workers at present, which helped minimise the passenger inconvenience.

Railway services across city on the Western Railway and Central Railway came to a grinding halt at 1005 hrs as a result of the power outage, with both the networks blaming power cut from Tata Power (their power supplier) for it.

State's Power Minister Nitin Raut said the trouble emanated from Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL) facilities during a planned maintenance work.

2:49 PM

Collapse of global tax talks could cost $100 billion, OECD says

The global economy could shed more than 1% of output if international talks to rewrite cross-border tax rules break down and trigger a trade war, the OECD said on Monday, after countries agreed to keep up negotiating to mid-2021.

Nearly 140 countries agreed on Friday to extend talks after the pandemic outbreak and U.S. hesitation before the presidential election squashed hopes of reaching a deal this year.

2:10 PM

Mumbai power outage: Vodafone Idea media interaction postponed

Vodafone Idea's media briefing, which was scheduled to be held in Mumbai on Monday afternoon, has been postponed after a massive power outage in the megapolis, a source said.

The 'select media interaction' with senior officials from Vodafone Idea and IBM India was earlier slated for Monday afternoon, but was postponed by the organisers due to power outage in Mumbai, the source said.

12:24 PM

Mumbai power outage LIVE: Power supply restored in some parts of South Mumbai, Khargar and Fort area

12:19 PM

Power trips in Mumbai: Financial capital, adjoining areas face rare outage

The power outage has brought the city’s suburban rail network to a temporary halt. Executives for the stock exchanges confirmed operations remain unaffected. Read on...

12:15 PM

Mumbai power outage LIVE: BMC commissioner tells hospitals to get enough diesel to maintain emergency power for 8 hours

BMC commissioner tells hospitals to get enough diesel to maintain emergency power for 8 hours. All payment and settlement systems are working normally, reports TOI.