Top headlines: Farmer survey on agri laws; CPSEs told to spend 75% of capex

Business Standard brings you the top headlines of the day

FM asks 14 CPSEs to spend 75% of Rs 1.15 trillion capex by December end

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked officials to ensure that 14 state-owned companies spend 75 per cent of their capital outlay for the year by the end of December. This is because the government looks to maintain the pace of capital and infrastructure projects in a bid to soften the economic blow from the pandemic. Read more here.

Centre asks at least eight state-run companies to consider buybacks: Report

India has asked at least eight state-run companies to consider share buybacks in the fiscal year that runs through March 2021, two government officials said, as New Delhi scours for ways of raising funds to rein in its fiscal deficit. The firms asked include miner Coal India , power utility NTPC , minerals producer NMDC and Engineers India Ltd , said one of the sources, who sought anonymity as the discussions are private. Read more here.

Kerala HC Dismisses Govt's Plea Against Trivandrum Airport Lease To Adani

The Kerala government suffered a big setback on Monday after the High Court dismissed their plea against Centre's move to lease out the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Adani Enterprises. In its plea, the Kerala government has said the decision to lease out the airport for 50 years under the PPP model to Adani was not a proper deal. Read more here.

Majority of farmers not in favour of recently passed farm laws: Survey

With the Centre having planned an expanded outreach programme on the three agriculture laws passed recently in Parliament, a new survey has found more than half the farmers are not in favour of the laws, but a sizeable number of those opposed to the laws (about 36 per cent) are against them without knowing their full contents. Read more here.

Army apprehends Chinese soldier who strayed across LAC; to be returned

A Corporal of Chinese People's Liberation Army was apprehended in the Demchok sector of Eastern Ladakh on Monday after he had strayed across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army said. The Chinese soldier has been identified as Wang Ya Long and he has been provided with required medical assistance including oxygen, food and warm clothes, it said. Read more here.