Modi govt keen to hand out up to Rs 4,000 to farmers before polls

India's fiscal slippage for two consecutive years credit negative, says Moody's

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday said fiscal slippage from the budgeted targets for the past two consecutive years from tax cuts and spending ahead of the general election is credit negative for India. In the light of budget measures, the government announced a slippage from its original fiscal deficit targets to 3.4 per cent of the GDP. Lack of a formal capital support plan for the public sector banks (PSBs) was also credit negative

Crazy Rich Asians maker partners with Netflix to create Nirbhaya-inspired web series

Billionaire mining tycoon Robert Friedland, who ventured into the movie business and recently co-financed the hit romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, is coming up with new movies and web series for India. The Ivanhoe Mines founder revealed about his India investment plan during the World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos, Switzerland. He said his company had partnered with Netflix to launch a Nirbhaya-inspired series 'Delhi Crime'.

Will Vijay Mallya be extradited before or after general elections?

Bringing fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya to India before the upcoming General Elections can prove to be a big boost to the Modi-led BJP's poll campaign. However, Mallya's extradition is not likely to happen anytime soon, let alone the General Elections.  Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's extradition to India was approved by the UK Home Secretary two years after the government sent in the request to the British High Commission in Delhi. However, judiciary constraints will delay the entire process.

Modi govt keen to hand out up to Rs 4,000 to farmers before polls

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), the Modi government's new programme promising Rs 6,000 per year in three instalments to small and marginal farmer families, is key to the ruling party's upcoming election campaign. The government has earmarked Rs 20,000 crore in the current year's budget itself for this programme and, as Business Today reported yesterday, the first instalment of Rs 2,000 is slated to reach the farmers' bank accounts before March 31. But the latest buzz is that the Centre may even push out the second instalment before the polls.

Is PUBG a menace? Delhi child rights panel says game negatively impacts kids

Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has issued an advisory against games like PUBG, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto and Pokemon Go. All these games have received a lot of flak in India recently owing to their violent and sexual content. DCPCR has also requested the directorate of education (DoE) to ask schools to spread awareness about the ill-effects of online gaming.

WhatsApp introduces facial recognition, touch ID for iPhones

Social media platform WhatsApp Tuesday said it has added facial recognition and touch ID features for iPhone users to enhance data privacy and security. This feature is available on iPhone 5s or later models and on iOS 9 and above. To enable the iPhone feature in WhatsApp, users can make changes in the app's settings section

Safeguarding citizens' rights on social media: Par panel summons Twitter officials

The parliamentary panel on information technology has summoned Twitter officials over the issue of safeguarding citizens' rights on social media platforms, its head Anurag Thakur said yesterday. The panel has also called representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to appear before it during its meeting scheduled for February 11. The social media giant has been summoned days after the members of Youth for Social Media Democracy, a right wing group, protested outside its office alleging that Twitter has acquired an "anti-right-wing attitude" and has been blocking their accounts.

Now, read magazines, newspapers at discount while travelling on trains as railways inks new pact

Commuters travelling on trains will now be able to read magazines and newspapers from across the world at a discount on IRCTC's ticket booking website as railways has tied up with Magzter, a leading digital newsstand. Under the partnership, commuters can get unlimited access to more than 5,000 best-selling magazines and select newspapers on their phones and tablets at an exclusive offer.