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1:57 AM

Amazon third-quarter net sales beat estimates as more people shop online

1:57 AM

Twitter beats revenue expectations but misses on user growth

1:56 AM

Facebook quarterly revenue beats estimates, rises to $21.47 billion

1:56 AM

Asteroid samples tucked into capsule for return to Earth

A NASA spacecraft more than 200 million miles away has tucked asteroid samples into a capsule for return to Earth, after losing some of its precious loot.

 

Flight controllers moved up the crucial operation after some of the collected rubble spilled into space last week.

 

The Osiris-Rex spacecraft gathered pebbles and other pieces of asteroid Bennu on October 20, briefly touching the surface with its robot arm and sucking up whatever was there.

 

So much was collected an estimated hundreds of grams' worth that rocks got wedged in the rim of the container and jammed it open, allowing some samples to escape.

1:45 AM

IMF blames resurgent coronavirus for UK growth downgrades

The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its growth forecasts for the British economy for this year and next, following an acceleration in the number of coronavirus infections over the past couple of weeks.

 

In its annual assessment of the British economy published Thursday, the Washington D.C.-based body lowered the forecasts it made just two weeks ago.

 

Instead of shrinking by 9.8 per cent this year, the Fund now expects the British economy to contract by 10.4 per cent.

1:35 AM

India dealt China border crisis with firmness, maturity: Foreign Secy

India has dealt with the "worst crisis" in decades along its border with China with "firmness and maturity" despite facing the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday.

 

In an address at a leading think-tank in Paris, Shringla mentioned two recent terrorist incidents in France, one of which he said had its origins in Pakistan, noting that the civilised world needs to act with firmness to address the threat of terrorism.

 

Shringla said India and France face similar non-traditional security threats in the form of radicalism and terrorism, and the fight today is not against specific communities or individuals but against a "radical politico-religious ideology".

1:23 AM

Exxon to cut 14,000 jobs as coronavirus pandemic dents oil demand

12:49 AM

Why is corporate America distancing itself from Trump ahead of election

To put it in terms a Twitter-happy US president would understand, it has been more subtweet than tweetstorm. 

In recent days, leading US industry associations, chief executives, investors and business school professors have issued oblique rebukes of Donald Trump’s suggestions that he may not abide by the results of next week’s election if he does not like them. Most have been carefully worded but, as with any artfully indirect social media post, their meaning has been unmistakable. 

Most notably, several of the US’s biggest industry groups joined forces on Tuesday on a statement as striking as it was anodyne

11:25 PM

Can carry only 25 per cent commuters in Mumbai with distancing: Railways

A day after the Maharashtra government proposed that general public be allowed to travel on Mumbai locals, the railway authorities said only a little over 25 per cent of the normal number of commuters can be carried while following social distancing.

 

In normal -- pre-Covid-- times, 8 million people traveled daily by Mumbai suburban local trains.

 

The Western Railway said in a letter to the state on Thursday that it can transport a maximum of 960,000 commuters even if it operated all 1,367 suburban services, while the Central Railway said only 1.2 million passengers can be ferried even if it operated all 1,776 services.

11:14 PM

MEA was issuing million passports per month before Covid-19: V Muraleedharan

10:56 PM

Exxon to cut 1,900 US jobs as oil industry struggles

Exxon Mobil is slashing 1,900 jobs from its US workforce as the pandemic continues to sap demand for fuel.

 

The Irving, Texas-based oil giant said the reductions will be both voluntary and involuntary and will largely come from its management offices in Houston. The company had about 75,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2019.

 

The oil industry has been struggling all year after prices fell well below what producers need to break even.

10:49 PM

Army decides to recommend CBI probe into a number of construction projects

The Army has decided to recommend a CBI probe into a number of cases of alleged irregularities in certain housing projects involving private contractors and Military Engineer Services, government sources said on Thursday.

 

They said the Army has already approached the premier probe agency to investigate the alleged irregularities in implementation of a housing project in Meerut.

 

Probe into the Army Married Accommodation Project (MAP) in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut is being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after finding widespread irregularities and financial bunglings in its implementation, the sources said.

10:43 PM

Shipping Ministry issues draft 'Coastal Shipping Bill, 2020' for public consultation

The Shipping Ministry on Thursday said it has issued draft 'Coastal Shipping Bill, 2020' for public consultation, in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for augmenting people's participation and transparency in the governance.

 

As the shipping sector grows and evolves in the country, a need was felt to have a separate legislation on coastal shipping, which is an integral part of transport chain, and recognize the policy priorities of the sector to meet the demands of the Indian shipping industry, the ministry said in a statement.

 

"The Ministry of Shipping has drafted a Coastal Shipping Bill, 2020 in lieu of part XIV of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958," it added.

10:42 PM

Delhi University VC's suspension 'delayed action', Centre allowed varsity to be mismanaged: Manish Sisodia

10:37 PM

Non-food bank credit growth decelerated to 5.8 per cent in September

10:29 PM

Blue Dart Express sees 3-fold jump in net profit to Rs 41 crore for September quarter

10:20 PM

Onion traders to get three days' time before enforcement of stock limits: Govt

10:19 PM

Engaged with US for ensuring increasing predictability in visa regime: MEA

India on Thursday said it engaged with the US for ensuring increasing predictability in the visa regime, noting that people-to-people relationship is an important foundation of the special relationship between the two countries.

 

The remarks on the issue by External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava came when asked to comment on Washington's move to scrap the computerised lottery system to select H-1B visas.

 

The H-1B visa, most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

10:13 PM

First batch of 8-10 Indians out of 33 stuck in Somalia to return home soon: MEA

10:08 PM

Coca-Cola India net falls 2 per cent to Rs 619.4 crore in 2019-20

Beverages major Coca-Cola India witnessed around 2 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit to Rs 619.43 crore for the financial year 2019-20, according to data provided by business intelligence platform Tofler.

 

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 632.26 crore in 2018-19, Tofler said.

 

However, its total income was up 18.16 per cent to Rs 2,812.07 crore during 2019-20, the platform said. The firm had reported a total income of Rs 2,379.78 crore in 2018-19.

 

Coca-Cola India's revenue from operations rose 2,741.54 crore in 2019-20, up 18.63 per cent during 2019-20 as compared with Rs 2,310.92 crore a year ago.

10:07 PM

KKR launches platform to acquire renewable energy assets in India

Global investment firm KKR on Thursday announced the launch of Virescent Infrastructure, a newly created platform to acquire renewable energy assets in India.

 

Virescent would expand its diversified portfolio of operational renewable energy assets,facilitated by investments predominantly made through KKR's infrastructure fund, it said in a statement.

 

The newly created platform would identify investment opportunities that have stable cash flows stemming from long-term contracts with state and central government counterparties across India.

 

Currently, Virescent owns 317 MW of solar assets located in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

10:01 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 2,652 new cases, taking tally to 719,403, toll rises to 11,053 with 35 more fatalities; active case count 24,886

9:52 PM

3 BJP workers killed In terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam: NDTV

9:32 PM

People expect tech to tell mood of colleague, improve taste of food by 2030: Report

A large number of employees expect that technology will enable people to sense the mood of their colleagues, improve the taste of canteen food and other senses by 2030, according to a report released by Ericsson on Thursday.

 

The Ericsson IndustryLab report, based on a survey that covered around 13.3 crore employees across 16 countries including India, found that nearly 6 in 10 foresee a permanent increase in online meetings.

 

"During this Covid-19 isolation, people everywhere are rediscovering the importance of smells and flavours and the sheer physicality of the locations they normally do business at.

 

"The pandemic has created a tipping point for what white-collar workers expect of the future digital office," Ericsson Consumer and IndustryLab Head (Research Agenda) Michael Bjorn said in the report.

9:31 PM

AIADMK govt takes executive route to implement 7.5 per cent quota in medical courses

9:15 PM

EC bribery case: SC extends interim bail of middleman after he tests Covid positive

9:15 PM

IndiGo posts quarterly loss on pandemic hit

Interglobe Aviation Ltd, which runs India's largest airline IndiGo, reported a quarterly loss on Thursday as pandemic-related travel restrictions continued to dent its operations.

 

The global aviation industry has been among the worst hit by the pandemic and related travel restrictions.

 

The airline said it expects third-quarter average seat kilometers (ASKs) to be around 60 per cent of its ASKs for the same quarter a year earlier.

 

"We are slowly but surely stair-stepping our way back to normal capacity," Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta said in a statement.

 

"Once we are back at 100% capacity, we will have lower unit costs, a stronger product, more efficient fleet and a robust network," he said.

9:14 PM

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot exudes confidence that Congress will win all six municipal corporations of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota

8:54 PM

Supreme Court to hear all pleas against IBC's personal insolvency provisions

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the transfer, to itself, of all petitions pending before various High Courts against the provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) with regard to personal insolvency, according to an IANS report. A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi passed the order on the petition of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Article 139 (A) read with Article 142 of the Constitution, seeking transfer of the writ petitions filed before High Courts to the apex court.

 

"The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is at a nascent stage and it is better that the interpretation of the provisions of the Code is taken up by this court to avoid any confusion, and to authoritatively settle the law," the bench said.

 

By a notification dated November 15, 2019, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in exercise of its power conferred under Section 1(3) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 brought into force the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 insofar as they related to 'personal guarantors to corporate debtors' with effect from December 1, 2019.

 

Writ petitions were filed in the Delhi High Court and other High Courts challenging this notification and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority for Insolvency Resolution Process of Personal Guarantors to Corporate Debtors) Rules, 2019.

8:38 PM

Tamil Nadu govt to provide 7.5% reservation in medical colleges to students from govt schools who cleared NEET