Economy

In May this year, the government announced a National Policy on Biofuels, which laid out the path towards increasing the country’s ethanol and biodiesel production. One of the stated benefits of biofuels was the impact this would have on the practice of burning crop waste in preparation for the next …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday attend the fourth edition of the NITI Lecture Series focussed on “leveraging artificial intelligence for inclusive growth”, according to an official statement. The keynote address will be delivered by Jensen Huang, president and co-founder of U.S.-based technology firm NVIDIA Corporation. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/pm-to-attend-niti-lecture-series-on-ai/article25282186.ece

Pulls and pressuresWorkers pull a line from a cargo ship as it prepares to berth at a port in Qingdao in China’s eastern Shandong province. China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in nine years in the third quarter, as a campaign to tackle mounting debt and trade frictions with …

Women in Rajasthan villages harness solar power with expert training from Barefoot College in Ajmer Sita Devi, 55, from Barmer is getting ready to go to the residential Barefoot College in the small village of Tilonia in Ajmer district of Rajasthan. She is one of the 17 women from far-flung …

Violent flares from the host star may make planets orbiting it uninhabitable by affecting their atmospheres, scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have found. Hubble is observing such stars through a large programme called HAZMAT — Habitable Zones and M dwarf Activity across Time, NASA said in a statement. “M …

The government is likely to appoint a new chief economic advisor (CEA) in the next one or two months, sources said. A search committee appointed by the finance ministry is expected to finalise the list of suitable candidates soon and appointment is likely in 1-2 months, they said further. The …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed the move to have an independent Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) as envisaged by the draft proposal for amendments to the Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007. In a dissenting note to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for finalisation of amendments, the RBI said, “There …

Supported by strong performance by its petrochemicals, retail and Jio businesses, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) reported 17.4% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs. 9,516 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2018, as compared to Rs. 8,109 crore for the same period last year. During the period, the …

A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Centre and the city government to act on starvation deaths, especially of children, in various parts of the country, including the national capital. The plea, moved by a lawyer, said that starvation deaths and malnutrition …

Kuligod in Karnataka’s Belagavi district is the country’s best developed village, but more than a third of the gram panchayats ranked in the top 10 are in Andhra Pradesh, according to the findings of an ongoing Rural Development Ministry survey. With multiple panchayats assigned the same score – and thus …

The Centre has increased the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes by 0.4 percentage points to 8% for the October-December quarter. The rate is in line with that for Public Provident Fund. The interest rate on GPF was 7.6% for the July-September quarter of …

India has emerged as the fastest growing low-cost carrier (LCC) market in the world by recording the largest increase (an additional 15.6 million) in departure seats in the first nine months of this year, aviation consulting and research firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said. Indian has also reinforced …

The imposition of safeguard duty by the government on imported photovoltaic modules and rupee depreciation are estimated to increase the capital cost of solar power projects by 20-25%, according to ICRA. In a report on the wind and solar sectors, ICRA said while bidding activity has remained strong, several key …

The Reserve Bank of India has released the guidelines for interoperability between prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as wallets and cards that will effectively allow users of popular payment wallets such as Paytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik, PhonePe and PayZapp, among others, to transfer money from one wallet to another. In a …

If you crave for a pint of beer at the end of a hard day, brace yourself: climate change is poised to make your favourite drink more scarce and pricey. Heatwaves and droughts will periodically cause sharp declines in barley yields, a crucial ingredient in most beer, according to a …

Kreditech has been licensed by the RBI to operate as an NBFC with the first-of-its-kind licence in the Indian financial history for digital lending business and app-based financing, the Germany-based company said in a release on Monday. Kreditech’s product suite for India will offer individualised direct-to-consumer loans as well as …

IndusInd Bank Ltd. reported a lower than expected net profit of Rs. 920.25 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2018 as compared with Rs. 880.10 crore in the year-earlier period on account of one-off prudential contingency provision of Rs. 275 crore. According to analysts the Rs. 275 crore …

Wholesale inflation accelerated to 5.13% in September, driven in large part by quickening inflation in the primary articles segment and stabilising food prices, according to official data released on Monday. Growth in the Wholesale Price Index quickened in September from 4.53% in August. Inflation in the primary articles category stood …

Infrastructure Leasing and & Financial Services (IL&FS), which is in the midst of a huge liquidity crisis, has got a one-month relief from proceedings filed against the company by banks and other creditors as the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed all such proceedings against the company and …

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Monday said the work on the second phase of implementing the Bharat Net project was on track. The Bharat Net project aims to bring broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country. “We have completed approximately 50% of the project… the work has …