Top headlines: Airtel acquires Rs 18k-cr spectrum; Feb exports dip 0.25%

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Airtel acquires airwaves worth Rs 18,699 cr

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has acquired radiowaves worth Rs 18,699 crore in the latest spectrum auction. The telco has acquired 355.45 MHz spectrum across Sub GHz, mid band and 2300 MHz bands, giving it "most formidable" spectrum holding in the country, Airtel said in a statement. All of the spectrum will enable Airtel to deliver 5G services in future, it added. Read more

Exports dip 0.25% in February

India's exports marginally declined 0.25 per cent to USD 27.67 billion in February while imports grew by 6.98 per cent to $40.55 billion during the month. The trade deficit widened to $12.88 billion in February as compared to $10.16 billion in the year-ago period. The exports during April-February 2020-21 period stood at $255.92 billion. Read more

India adds 40 billionaires in pandemic year: Report

Forty Indians entered the billionaires' club in the pandemic-stricken 2020 to take the number of those in the coveted list to 177 people, a report said on Tuesday. Mukesh Ambani continued to be the wealthiest Indian with a networth of $83 billion. The head of Reliance Industries witnessed a 24 per cent jump in fortunes and climbed up one spot to be the eighth richest globally, as per the Hurun Global Rich List. Read more

Jack Ma loses title as China's richest man

Alibaba and Ant Group founder Jack Ma has lost the title of China's richest man, a list published on Tuesday showed, as his peers prospered while his empire was put under heavy scrutiny by Chinese regulators. Ma and his family had held the top spot for China's richest in the Hurun Global Rich List in 2020 and 2019 but now trail in fourth place behind bottled water maker Nongfu Spring's Zhong Shanshan, Tencent Holding's Pony Ma and e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo's Collin Huang, the latest list showed. His fall out of the top three comes "after China's regulators reined in Ant Group and Alibaba on anti-trust issues," the Hurun report said. Read more

TMC's vote bank politics endangered national security: Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday lambasted his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee for allegedly pursuing appeasement politics and endangering national security by allowing illegal immigrants into the state for vote bank politics. He promised that cow smuggling will be stopped within a day if the BJP is voted to power in the state. "Appeasement politics for the sake of vote bank has endangered the security of not only West Bengal but also of the country. The TMC government has a problem with refugees getting citizenship but has no issue with illegal immigrants coming to the state," Adityanath said. Read more