Top headlines: Govt announces Rs 73k cr stimulus, power returns to Mumbai

From Nirmala Sitharaman announcing schemes worth Rs 73,000 cr to boost consumer demand to FB appointing Sunil Abraham for tech policy, Business Standard brings you top headlines of the day

Govt trains guns on boosting consumer & capital demand with Rs 73K cr push

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced the government's two-pronged move to boost capital expenditure and stimulate consumer demand. In order to bolster the economy, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the finance minister announced steps like advance part-payment of allowances to central government employees for spending during the festival season and a 50-year interest-free loan to states. The initiatives are estimated to cost Rs 73,000 crore. Read More...

Mumbai returns to normal after worst power outage in decades

Power supply was restored in most parts of India’s financial capital after its worst blackout in decades disrupted transport networks and briefly hit trading volume in bond markets. Mumbai, home to India’s biggest stock exchanges, financial regulators and the central bank, witnessed a power failure at around 10 am local time. Power tripping -- or an overload in the circuit that forces the system to shut down automatically -- was the reason for the grid’s collapse, according to local power utility Tata Power. Read More...

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...

FB appoints Sunil Abraham to shape its stance on tech policy in India

Facebook said it has appointed Sunil Abraham as the Public Policy, Director for Data and Emerging Tech to lead and shape the social media giant’s stance on tech policy issues in India. Reporting into the Public Policy Director, Abraham will be responsible for building partnerships and engagements with key stakeholders in the public policy area of data privacy, consumer protection, and AI-led innovation for new products and services. Read More...

Manipur, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh emerge as the new stock trading hubs

While Mumbai maybe called as the financial capital of India and the city that hosts the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the registered users who trade in equities has grown at a rapid pace in lesser known cities. According to BSE data, Manipur saw the steepest rise in client base in the past one year. At 33,901 registered clients as on October 12, 2020, the registered client base grew a massive 183 per cent YoY. Telangana (152 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (90 per cent), Mizoram (86 per cent) and Lakshadweep (up 73 per cent) are the other cities that saw the sharpest rise in the registered client base over the past year, BSE data show. Read More...