Top headlines: Sebi on insider trading, pvt investment in space research

Business Standard brings to you top stories of the day which made it to the headlines

1. Private firms can build own rockets as govt opens up sector: Isro chief

Private companies can build their own rockets or satellites after the government opened up space research for commercial use, said Isro Chairman K Sivan on Thursday. The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the formation of a new organisation, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), seeking to open up space infrastructure to the private sector. Read on...

2. Sebi board approves amendments to prohibition of insider trading rules

The board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) met on Thursday in Mumbai via video conferencing. The Sebi board decided to amend the prohibition of insider trading rules. The board also approved temporary relaxation of regulations relating to raising of capital from securities market. Read on...

3. Pompeo declares Reliance Jio 'clean' for spurning Huawei telecom gear

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declared Reliance Jio a "clean" network for not using the Chinese company Huawei's equipment, keeping it safe from Beijing's intelligence intrusions. Listing Jio among the "world's leading" telecom operators, Pompeo said on Wednesday that it was one of the "Clean Telcos" for spurning Huawei, which he called a part of the "Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infrastructure." Read on... 
 

4. Diesel crosses Rs 80-mark in Delhi for first time; petrol up by 16 paise

Price of diesel has crossed Rs 80 mark for the first time in Delhi. On Thursday, the price of diesel in the city was reported to be Rs 80.02 a litre, up 14 paise, while that of petrol increased by 16 paise to Rs 79.92 a litre. The price of diesel continued to be higher in the city for a second straight day on Thursday. Read more...

5. HUL to rebrand Fair & Lovely as spotlight shifts to fairness creams

The country's largest consumer goods company, Hindustan Unilever, (HUL) on Thursday said it would rebrand Fair & Lovely, its Rs 2,000-crore fairness cream, as the spotlight shifts on the category, following the global #BlackLivesMatter movement. On Monday, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would exit the fairness cream category in India and the Middle East as protests have grown over the issue of gender discrimination and stereotyping, following the death of George Floyd in the US. Read more...

6. Covid-19: IIT-Bombay scraps face-to-face lectures, goes online next sem

Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay will go completely online next semester and not call students for face to face lectures in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, its director said on Thursday. The decision, the first by any IIT, followed deliberations that went on till late night Wednesday. Read on...

7. Former Grab employees' start-up Nextbillionai raises $7 mn in funding

AI-driven solutions start-up Nextbillionai has raised $7 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Falcon Edge Capital. The company will use the funds to scale up hiring and launch new AI-enabled products. The company--founded by former Grab executives Ajay Bulusu, Gaurav Bubna and Shaolin Zheng about three months ago--has launched an AI-driven mapping solution that customises APIs based on the size of the vehicles. Read more...

8. Will take action against sale of Patanjali Covid-19 drug in Rajasthan: Govt

Amid the ongoing controversy over Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's company Patanjali Ayurveda introducing "cure" for coronavirus infection, Rajasthan government on Wednesday clarified that this drug cannot be not used as a medicine in the state without the permission of the Ministry of AYUSH. Read on...