Top headlines: Booster to be same as first 2 doses, govt cuts capex by 41%

Federal Reserve may need to hike rates faster, reduce balance sheet quickly. More on that in today's top headlines

Precautionary dose, the name used for booster Covid-19 shots, will remain the same as the first two vaccine shots, the health ministry announced on Wednesday. This rules out a combination strategy for now. Read more on that in today's top headlines

Booster vax to be same as first two doses

The booster dose, which the Centre is calling precautionary dose, will have to be the same as the first two Covid19 vaccine jabs, the health ministry announced on Wednesday ruling out a combination strategy for now. The drive for the third vaccine dose will take off on January 10, starting with healthcare and frontline workers as well as people over 60 years of age with comorbidities. Read more

Foxconn crisis marks Apple's many challenges in India

Can India build mini-cities to support a large workforce dominated by young women who work in massive factories that are being built to churn out mobile devices and electronic products for global markets? That’s a reality Apple Inc and its vendors are confronting in their bid to meet commitments under the government’s ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices. Read more

Govt cuts capital expenditure by 41% in Oct, Nov

The Centre’s capital expenditure (capex) declined for the second consecutive month in November, when it fell by more than half, year-on-year (YoY). It was down 24.11 per cent in October.

This comes despite Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman nudging ministries and departments to spend more on this front. It may affect economic growth in the third quarter of the current fiscal year Read more

Federal Reserve may need to hike rates faster, reduce balance sheet quickly

Federal Reserve officials said last month that the U.S. labor market was "very tight" and might need the U.S. central bank not just to raise interest rates sooner than expected but also reduce its overall asset holdings to tame high inflation, according to minutes of their Dec. 14-15 policy meeting. Read more

Xiaomi evaded Rs 653 crore in customs duty: DRI

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi’s India unit evaded customs duty worth Rs 653 crore by suppressing and undervaluing royalty and licence fee paid to overseas affiliates and partners, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said on Wednesday.

Based on intelligence that Xiaomi India was evading customs duty by way of undervaluation, the DRI had initiated an investigation against the company and its contract manufacturers. Read more