LIVE: 'NSA Doval monitoring border situation; issue to be resolved soon'

India and China have pulled back troops by at least 1 kilometer in the tense Galwan river valley in eastern Ladakh. Stay tuned with Business Standard for latest news of today

11:36 PM

US military to stand with India in conflict with China, indicates WH official

The US military "will continue to stand strong in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, a top White House official said on Monday, after the US Navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea to boost its presence in the region.

 

"The message is clear. We're not going to stand by and let China or anyone else take the reins in terms of being the most powerful, dominant force, whether it's in that region or over here, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News.

 

And the message is clear. Our military might stands strong and will continue to stand strong, whether it's in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, Meadows said in response to a question.

 

He was told that India banned Chinese apps because Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops last month that asked what's mission of the two aircraft carriers - the Ronald Reagan and the Nimitz - and what's America's mission.

11:35 PM

Diplomacy has adapted to new situation in wake of Covid-19 pandemic and has gone strongly digital: Foreign Secretary

11:20 PM

Suzlon loss widens in March quarter

Suzlon Energy on Monday posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.22 crore for the March quarter mainly due to lower revenues and high finance cost.

 

The consolidated net loss of the company was Rs294.64 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, 2019, a regulatory filing said.

 

Total income from operations of the company declined to Rs 658.89 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 1,450.47crore in the year-ago quarter.

 

The consolidated net loss of the company in 2019-20 was Rs 2,691.84 crore as against Rs 1,537.19 crore in 2018-19.

11:13 PM

Diplomacy has gone strongly digital, India at forefront: Foreign Secy

Diplomacy has gone strongly digital, adapting to the situation arisen due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and India has been at the forefront of it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi turning challenge into opportunity to start global conversations using virtual platforms, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday.

 

Speaking at a webinar organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on 'Implementing the Vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat', Shringla said Covid-19 has disrupted diplomatic calendars causing almost all international meetings and summits to be cancelled.

 

"While face-to-face meetings with counterparts have traditionally been considered essential to resolve complicated issues or conduct difficult negotiations, diplomatic engagement cannot be allowed to stop in their absence," he said.

 

A crisis of this magnitude has required a coordinated global response, making sustained communication between countries all the more essential, Shringla said.

 

The increase in tensions in different parts of the world, including on the Line of Actual Control between India and China, have only emphasised the criticality of continued communication, he said.

11:02 PM

Wipro's new CEO asks employees to lead growth in industry

IT services major Wipro's new CEO and managing director Thierry Delaporte, who took charge on Monday, called upon employees to strive for improvement in all spheres and aim to lead in industry growth.

 

"Despite the immediate challenges, I have no doubt that we will emerge stronger. We must strive for improvement in all spheres and aim to achieve industry leading growth," Delaporte said in his first email addressed to Wiproites.

 

"We must build an inclusive and sustainable future in the best interests of all our stakeholders. I am counting on your support," he said.

 

Stating that this is a defining period for IT industry and Wipro, the new CEO said disruption has always been a part of business.

 

"Yes, today, our normal lives have been upended. The challenges are new. But I know that Wipro, with a history of 75 years, has overcome many challenges with tenacity and resilience," he said.

11:01 PM

Gujarat has become 'epicentre of Chinese investment in India': Congress

10:50 PM

Indian app Trell records 10 million downloads since Chinese app block

Local lifestyle app Trell on Monday claimed to have recorded over 1.2 crore downloads within five days of the government blocking 59 Chinese apps.

 

The company co-founder Pulkit Agarwal said that the app registered 5 times growth in daily active users and touching 2 crore monthly active users in last two days.

 

"The lifestyle community-commerce platform is breaking all the records by witnessing 12 million downloads in just 5 days, just after the bold decision made by Indian Govt to promote Atmanirbhar Bharat," the company said in a statement.

 

It claimed to have received 5 lakh uploads in a single day with 2.2 lakh new content creators.

10:49 PM

Final-year examinations in universities will be conducted by September-end

Final-year examinations in universities will have to be conducted by September-end, the HRD Ministry announced on Monday, deferring the schedule from July in view of a spike in Covid-19 cases.

 

However, students unable to appear in final-year exams in September will get another chance and universities will conduct special exams "as and when feasible", according to a revised guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

 

The decision by the HRD Ministry came following a nod from the Ministry of Home Affairs to conduct the exams as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

 

The announcement has put to rest speculations that the exams for final-year students may be cancelled in view of the COVID-19 situation.

10:45 PM

With a view toward Iran, Israel launches spy satellite

Israel said it successfully launched a new spy satellite into space on Monday as its leaders hinted it was behind a massive fire at an Iranian nuclear site last week potentially ratcheting up a long-running covert war.

 

If Israel was responsible for the fire at the heavily fortified Natanz facility, it would mark another in a series of daring strikes against Iran's nuclear programme attributed to Israel, while also risking Iranian retaliation on either Israeli or Western targets.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the launch of the new Ofek 16 satellite, the latest addition to a fleet deployed over the past two decades.

10:42 PM

Moderate showers in Mumbai; above average rains in city so far

After witnessing a spell of heavy rainfall over the past three days, Mumbai and neighbouring Thane received moderate rains on Monday, but the IMD predicted showers will continue in the night in the region.

 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in a statement, also said that significant reduction in rainfall is expected over the west coast during the next two days.

 

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Thane-Belapur Industries Association observatory recorded 34 mm rainfall between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm on Monday, the IMD said.

 

The Santacruz weather bureau (in Mumbais suburbs) recorded 5.2 mm rainfall, while the Colaba weather station, representative of the island city, reported 1.2 mm rainfall.

10:31 PM

PNB board to consider fundraising plan on Jul 9

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Monday said its board will consider a proposal to raise capital through a mix of both equity and debt on July 9.

 

Besides, the board will clear opening balance sheet of the amalgamated bank as on April 1, which is post amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into PNB, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

 

The board will consider proposal for raising capital through issue of Basel-III-compliant tier-1 bonds, tier-2 bonds and equity shares by way of private placement, qualified institutions placement, follow-on public offering, rights issue or any other mode or through a combination, it said.

 

Following the board approval, the resolution will be put for the shareholders' nod, it added.

10:28 PM

Vistara in talks with planemakers, lessors to delay taking delivery of some aircraft

Indian airline Vistara is in talks with planemakers and leasing companies to delay taking delivery of some aircraft, the carrier's chief strategy officer said on Monday, as Covid-19 hits demand for air travel.

 

Vistara, owned by India's Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines , placed an order for 13 A320-neo family aircraft from Airbus SE in 2018 and said it would take another 37 Airbus planes from leasing companies - all due for delivery between 2019 and 2023.

 

It also has six Boeing Co 787-9 Dreamliner widebody planes on order, primarily for international flights, due to be delivered in 2020 and 2021.

 

Delivery of some planes have already been pushed back due to logistics issues and production delays at the planemakers, as countries went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Vinod Kannan, chief strategy officer at Vistara told reporters.

10:20 PM

Green shoots of economic revival have emerged: Finmin report

The government on Monday said green shoots have emerged and will grow further on the back of a conducive policy environment, nudging the coronavirus-hit economy to move on the path of recovery and growth.

 

India's growth has been forecast at (-) 4.5 per cent in 2020, a 6.4 percentage points downward revision compared to the April 2020 forecast as per the World Economic Outlook (June 2020) report of the the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

Given the immense uncertainty associated with infection and macroeconomic recession curves of countries across the world, the IMF has revised downward global growth to () 4.9 per cent in 2020, 1.9 percentage points lower than its April 2020 forecast, the Macroeconomic Report for June released by the Economic Affairs Department said.

 

However, the report said, "early green shoots of economic revival have emerged in May and June with real activity indicators like electricity and fuel consumption, inter and intra-state movement of goods, retail financial transactions witnessing pick up."

10:14 PM

India is engaging with China through diplomatic and military channels: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla

10:01 PM

CBI books Chennai-based firm, its directors for cheating SBI of over Rs 88 crore

9:45 PM

Adani Electricity Mumbai says resolved 96 per cent of power bill complaints

9:45 PM

Saudi, Russian suspects on UK's new global sanctions list

A new UK-only post-Brexit global sanctions list released on Monday includes 20 suspected killers of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi and 25 Russian nationals among 49 people designated for action such as travel bans and asset freezes.

 

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the House of Commons that the new ground-breaking global regime means the UK has new powers to stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the country, channelling money through UK banks, or profiting from the UK economy.

 

"Today we're designating 49 people and organisations for responsibility in some of the worst human rights abuses in recent memory, said Raab.

 

This is a demonstration of Global Britain's commitment to acting as a force for good in the world, he said.

9:44 PM

Wall Street gains on strong US services sector data

Wall Street's major indexes climbed on Monday as data showing unexpected growth in the US services sector last month and optimism over China's economic revival helped investors look past a surge in new cases of Covid-19 at home. Read on...

9:28 PM

NSA Ajit Doval monitoring border situation: Report

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is monitoring the India and China border situation continuously with the Indian Army and the standoff between the troops of two countries is expected to be resolved amicably soon, government sources said.

 

The Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question-- Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi--- had a 'frank and in-depth exchange' during a telephone conversation on Sunday during which they agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

 

The government sources said that Doval talked to Chinese counterpart make the Chinese agree to begin the process of disengagement.

8:59 PM

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani thanked PM Modi for Covid-19 assistance and providing regional leadership

8:53 PM

India is engaging with China through diplomatic and military channels: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla

8:43 PM

MHA permits conduct of examinations by universities and institutions during Unlock period

8:42 PM

Latest News LIVE update: Sebi orders to disgorge Rs 2.3 crore in insider trading case

Markets regulator Sebi on Monday asked Fourth Dimension Solutions Managing Director Amalendu Mukherjee to disgorge an amount worth over Rs 2.3 crore for insider trading in the scrip of Ricoh India Ltd, according to a PTI report.

 

The amount has to be paid along with 12 per cent interest within 45 days, the regulator said in its final order. In addition, Mukherjee has been restrained from accessing securities markets for a period of seven years, Sebi said in its order. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had conducted an investigation between August 2014 and November 2015 in the scrip of Ricoh India.

 

During the probe, it was found that Mukherjee, while in possession of UPSI (unpublished price-sensitive information) was involved in manipulating the buy and sale orders in the shares of Ricoh as the authorised person on behalf of Fourth Dimension Solutions Ltd (FDSL) and made ill-gotten gains out of it.

8:35 PM

IOC, ONGC implementing projects worth Rs 3.57 trn to boost economy: Govt

Oil PSUs such as IOC and ONGC are implementing about Rs 3.57 trillion worth of projects across the entire hydrocarbon value chain that will further enhance energy accessibility, create jobs and boost the economy, the Petroleum Ministry said on Monday.

 

In Twitter posts, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said out of Rs 3.57 trillion being spenton 859 projects, over Rs 60,000 crore will be invested during fiscal 2020-21.

 

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other senior officials of the ministry "reviewed the ongoing oil and gas projects started by PSUs since the resumption of economic activities from April 20, 2020". READ MORE...

8:26 PM

India engaging with China through diplomatic, military channels: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla

India is engaging with China through diplomatic and military channels, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday, asserting that if there is no communication with that country, then the Sino-India border situation would be much worse, news agency PTI reported.

 

He made the remarks while talking about diplomacy in times of the COVID-19 pandemic at a webinar organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Shringla said that diplomacy is looking at a very changed scenario in terms of how statecraft and relations between countries work in the wake of the pandemic.

 

"Countries do need to communicate. You cannot stop communications because otherwise the other alternative is greater frictions, tensions and problems, and probably conflict also," he said.

 

"For example the increased tension on our border with China. I mean, if there is no communication with that country then we would have a much worse situation, but yesterday our National Security Adviser (Ajit Doval) spoke to his counterpart. Earlier our Foreign Minister (S Jaishankar) had spoken to the foreign minister of China," he said.

 

There are other diplomatic and military channels that India is engaging in, he said.

 

"So we are talking to them and if you stop talking then you can imagine what the consequences (would be). So diplomacy has adapted to this new situation and gone strongly digital," Shringla said during the webinar titled 'Implementing the vision of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat'.

8:17 PM

India's coal imports decline 29.7% to 48.84 MT in April-June of FY21

The country's coal imports registered a drop of 29.7 per cent to 48.84 million tonnes (MT) in the April-June period of the ongoing financial year, according to industry data.

 

India had imported 69.54 MT of coal in the April-June period of 2019-20, according to provisional compilation by mjunction, a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL, is a B2B e-commerce company that also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

 

The drop in imports assumes significance in the wake of government mandating state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) to replace at least 100 million tonne (MT) of imports with domestically-produced coal in 2020-21. The country's coal imports also dropped 22.5 per cent to 15.22 MT last month, against 19.64 MT of coal imported in June last fiscal, it said. READ MORE...

8:10 PM

Airtel customers paying over Rs 499/month to get preference on network

Bharti Airtel on Monday said it will givepreference to platinum mobile customers, who pay Rs 499 and above per month for post paid connection, on its 4G network. The platinum customers will get better 4G speed on Bharti Airtel network compared to other customers, news agency PTI reported.

 

"Airtel has deployed advanced technologies that give its Platinum mobile customers preference on the network. As a result all Platinum customers will experience faster 4G speeds.As part of the Airtel Thanks program, all postpaid mobile customers on Rs 499 and above plans are designated as Platinum," the company said in a statement.

 

In addition, Airtel Platinum customers will get "red carpet customer care" with preferential service at call centres and retail stores.

8:08 PM

Maharashtra Covid-19 tally rises to 2,11,987 with 5,368 fresh cases; 204 new deaths take toll to 9,206

8:04 PM

India reviewing around 50 investment proposals from Chinese firms: Report

The government is reviewing around 50 investment proposals involving Chinese companies under a new screening policy, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

 

Under new rules announced by India in April, all investments by entities based in neighbouring countries need to be approved by the Indian government, whether for new or additional funding. China is the biggest of these investors and the rules drew criticism from Chinese investors and Beijing, which called the policy discriminatory.

 

The new investment rules were aimed at curbing opportunistic takeovers during the coronavirus outbreak. However, industry executives say a deterioration in bilateral relations since a clash along the countries' contested border last month, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, could further delay approvals. READ MORE...

7:55 PM

Bharti Airtel, VIL mobile revenues to fall in Q1 due to lockdown: Report

Wireless revenues of telecom companies Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) are expected to fall during the first quarter of current fiscal on account of the nationwide lockdown, according to a report by Emkay Global.

 

The lockdown, imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic, led to delayed recharges, fewer subscriber additions, and absence of international roaming revenues for telcos, news agency PTI reported.

 

"Wireless revenues for Bharti and VIL shall fall in Q1FY21 due to the nationwide lockdown, which resulted in delayed recharges by low ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) prepaid subscribers on account of the reverse labour migration and impact on income levels, minimal subscriber additions, SIM consolidation, and absence of international roaming revenues," Emkay Global said in its sector update.

 

APRU is expected to decline sequentially in Q1 of 2020-21 after healthy growth in the preceding quarter (Q4FY20), it added.