Ahead of the Budget, gems and jewellery industry has sought a reduction in import duty on gold to 6% and on cut and polished diamonds to 2.5% to revive the sector. "The high duty of 12.5% on gold coupled with the goods and services tax has made buying jewellery very costly, affecting consumer demand. After the Budget last year, we have met the finance minister several times and we are positive that the government will look into the industry plight and reduce the customs duty to 6%," All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) Chairman Anantha Padmanabantold media. Saying that liquidity is a major area of concern, he said, the government should take steps to ensure that banks lend to jewellers. "Banks are staying away from lending to jewellers due to recent incidents of fraud and bankruptcy in the sector. T

Microsoft has officially announced the launch of the first ‘stable’ version of its new Edge Chromium browser for both the Mac and Windows platforms. Microsoft is initially targeting Edge at enterprise users of Windows and macOS, but consumers will be able to manually download and install it, The Verge reported on Wednesday. Those running Windows 7, 8.1, or 10, or macOS who want to get the new Microsoft Edge can download it from the Microsoft website. Edge for Mac has been designed to be similar to the Edge experience on Windows and Mac users who want use Edge, the browser is available cross-platform can be downloaded on Mac, Windows, and iOS devices with the Edge iOS app. Microsoft will slowly push this new version of Edge to Windows 10 users via Windows Update, over the next few months and the rollout will h

India is all set for the launch of its high-powered communication satellite, GSAT-30 onboard a European launch vehicle from French Guiana, early on Friday. The launch is scheduled at 2:35 am on Friday, when the Ariane-5 rocket would lift off from the European Spaceport in Kourou, France. It will be the 24th Indian satellite to be launched by the Ariane rocket of Arianespace, which is the commercial arm of the European Space Agency (ESA) and India's long term partner in various satellite launches. It would be the first Indian satellite to be injected into space this year and would strengthen India's telecommunication services for the next 15 years. The satellite developed by scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) would replace the ageing INSAT 4A-spacecraft, launched in 2005 which is used by c

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned AirAsia chief executive officer (CEO) Tony Fernandes on 20 January in an ongoing probe against the airline. Summons have been issued to the entire top brass of the airline, both past and present, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The action against Fernandes comes more than a year after both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched their respective probes in alleged financial irregularities and criminal misconduct when the airline was lobbying to obtain its licence for its Indian operations. In May 2018, the ED had filed a case of money laundering against AirAsia officials and others for allegedly trying to manipulate government policies through corrupt means to get an international licence for its Indian venture  AirAsia India L

Yes Bank has acquired around 30 per cent in a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power pursuant to invocation of pledged shares. Equity share of Yes Bank has acquired 12,73,21,500 having a nominal value of Rs 10 each constituting around 29.97 per cent of the post issue paid-up share capital of Rose Supply Company Ltd (RPSCL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power Ltd, the bank said. Shares have been acquired pursuant to invocation of the pledge of shares to RPSCL subsequent to default and breach of terms of credit facilities sanctioned by YES Bank to Reliance Power Ltd,’ also added. On September 1, 1994 incorporated RPSCL is engaged in the business of power generation. The Rosa Thermal plant (1,200 MW) at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, owned by the RPSCL generated 4,341 million units for March 31, 2019.

Indian government has planned to offers subsidized loan to mobile handset manufacturers in a bid to attract suppliers of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Company to open factories in India, the government said. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology given the proposals which include offering interest subsidy on local borrowing by manufacturer, which may part of the federal budget to be unveiled on 1 February, also said. It also includes setting up of industrial zones equipped with taxation and customs clearance, along with infrastructures such as roads, power and water supply, it added. PM Narendra Modi’s government brings down a jobless rate which is highest in 45 years, wants to attract overseas component makers and help to boost the share of manufacturing in Asia third-largest economy to a quart

In the fake NSC scam four persons have arrested from different parts of the city for their alleged involvement in duping a nationalised bank of Rs 40 lakh using forged documents, police said. The four accused named Prasanta Kumar Mondal, Naba Kumar Mithia, Pradip Chakraborty and Koushik Roychowdhury from different parts of the city late Monday night for allegedly duping a nationalised bank in the southern part of the city's Shakespeare Sarani area, they said. Police started probing based on the complaint lodged by the regional manager of the bank last July at the Shakespeare Sarani police station. The accused had produced 60 National Savings Certificates (NSC), each having a value of Rs one lakh, to the bank and obtained a term loan of Rs 18 lakh and another overdraft account of Rs 22 lakh, a senior officer o

Jeff Bezos  CEO of Amazon was arrived in India on Tuesday, according to twitter. As thousands of small traders across 300 cities planned protest, claiming the firm is distorting the local retail market. Many of the e-commerce magnate, who is on a three-day visit, will attend a company event in New Delhi and is also likely to meet senior government officials, media reported. Ashok Kumar Gupta Antitrust Cheif of India said big e-commerce companies in India should not offer deep discounts which can potentially hurt and small scale brick and mortar retailers in India. Hundreds and thousands of small brick and mortar retailers, led by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), have planned a countrywide protest against the company. Also, CAIT has accused Amazon and Walmart owned Flipkart of violating India's for