New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked Infosys and its Chairman Nandan Nilekani to fix technical glitches being encountered on the income tax department's new e-filing website, after users flooded her Twitter timeline with complaints. Infosys was in 2019 awarded a contract to develop the next-generation income tax filing system to reduce processing time for returns from 63 days to one day and expedite refunds. The portal went live last e

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8 (IANS): Given the nature of the B.1.617.2 SARS-COV2 strain prevalent in India, which per the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India is transmitting via droplets, aerosol or air transmission up to 30 feet as well as via surface transmission, work from home and spending more time at home will be a reality for 2021, as per a survey by Local Circles. Many consumers and households have realized the same and want to get a set up such that they can func

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8 (IANS): In a bid to support small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs, e-commerce enabler Shopmatic has announced zero hosting charges for anyone signing up between June 3 and August 31, 2021. As part of its "Inspiring Entrepreneurship Programme' merchants will be able to use the entire Shopmatic platform for setting up their ecommerce presence without paying any sign-up charges. They will have to pay a nominal fee of 3 per cent per transaction when

New Delhi, June 7 (PTI): Industries cannot operate without prior environment clearance (EC), the National Green Tribunal has said while holding that the State has no power to exempt the requirement. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the State cannot allow the units to function without EC on payment of compensation. We thus hold that without prior EC the units cannot be allowed to operate. The State has no power to exempt the requirement of prior EC

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS): India is among top three countries in Asia which experienced highest cost of DNS (domain name system) attacks in 2021 to date, as nearly 90 per cent of organisations globally experienced DNS attacks, with the average cost of each attack around $950,000, a new report showed on Monday. Asia recorded an increase of 15 per cent in average cost of a DNS attack, incurring a cost of $908,140, up from $792,840 the previous year. Countries which saw significant i

NEW DELHI, JUNE 7 (IANS): As the nation tries to fight the second wave of the pandemic, which has brought with it a record number of infections and fatalities, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted a quick survey to assess the impact of the current situation on industry. The survey, which was conducted across 34 sectors, revealed that 73 per cent of the respondents were struggling with the rising cost of raw materials as restrictions in many parts of the country have im

San Francisco, June 7 (IANS): After announcing that Tesla will hold an event for the first Model S Plaid deliveries last week, its CEO Elon Musk on Monday said the new electric car will not arrive at all. The electric car-maker has been teasing its Model S Plaid since 2019, and Musk said late last month that delivery for the vehicle would be delayed to June 10 as its needs one more week of tuning. Now, Musk said in a tweet: "Plaid+ is canceled. No need, as Plaid is just

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS): Fuel price rise in the country continued on Monday with oil marketing companies (OMCs) increasing the the pump rate of both petrol and diesel for the second consecutive day. Accordingly, the retail prices of petrol and diesel increased by 28 paise and 27 paise per litre to Rs 95.31 and Rs 86.22 per litre respectively in Delhi on Monday. In the city of Mumbai, where petrol prices crossed Rs 100 mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price r

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS):Luxury motorcycle brand Ducati on Monday announced the launch of the much-awaited Ducati Panigale V4 and Diavel 1260, expanding its BS6 range in India. With the launch of these new models, Ducati has already delivered on 8 of the 12 bike launches promised for India in 2021. Commenting on the launch, Bipul Chandra, Managing Director of Ducati India said, "We set out with an aggressive BS6 bike launch plan for 2021 and I am delighted that we have been

Bengaluru, June 7 (IANS): Flipkart on Monday launched a contactless, QR-code based payment facility for all its pay-on-delivery shipments. Consumers who earlier opted for cash on delivery can now use this facility, scan the QR code attached to their purchase and make a digital payment for their order through any UPI app at the time of delivery, the company said in a statement. "While the pandemic has urged several consumers to make a shift to online shopping, some trust defi

CHENNAI, JUNE 6 (IANS): Mixed views were expressed by various experts on the impact of the new wage code on the pay packets and the retirement benefits of employees/workers. They also said it is "myopic" to term social security as a cost to the company. One view is that the companies may rejig the salary structure in such a way that there will not be any additional outgo, which, in turn, may reduce the monthly take home pay. The other view is that there will not be a

New Delhi, June 6 (IANS): Petrol and diesel prices increased across the four metros on Sunday, with petrol price in the national capital crossing the Rs 95-per-litre mark. In Delhi, the fuel was sold for Rs 95.03 a litre, up from Rs 94.76 on Saturday. Price of petrol in Mumbai crossed the Rs 101-a-litre mark at Rs 101.25 per litre. In Chennai and Kolkata, the fuel was sold for Rs 96.47, Rs 95.02, respectively, higher than the levels on Saturday. Similarly, diesel prices als

MUMBAI, JUNE 6 (IANS): Kotak Mahindra Group (Kotak) on Sunday announced the introduction of a Pandemic Benevolent Policy for its employees. Under the policy, family members or nominee of deceased employees, who lost their life after April 1, 2020, and subsequent cases up to March 31, 2022, will receive full monthly fixed salary (cost to company) for two years beginning June 2021, said a statement from the bank. Further, this policy is applicable to families or nominee of all dece

New Delhi, June 5 (IANS): Fuel price rise in the country went for a pause as oil marketing companies (OMCs) kept the pump rates of petrol and diesel unchanged on Saturday after increasing it on the previous day. Accordingly, the pump prices of petrol and diesel remain at Rs 94.76 and Rs 85.66 per litre respectively in Delhi on Saturday. In the city of Mumbai, where petrol prices crossed the Rs 100 mark for the first time ever last Saturday, the fuel price remains at new high of R

New Delhi, June 5 (IANS): The resurgence of Covid-19 will adversely impact the occupancy rates of India's hotel industry for another two-three months, ratings agency ICRA said. The pandemic's second wave has plunged the sequential occupancy rates of the industry. Accordingly, the occupancy rate had sequentially dipped from 45 per cent in March 2021 to 32-34 per cent in April 2021 and further to about 25-27 per cent in May 2021. The occupancy rate had fallen to lows of

Washington, June 5 (IANS): US President Joe Biden on Friday rejected a new Republican infrastructure counteroffer, but will continue talks with Republicans next week. During a phone call with the president Friday, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican negotiator, proposed a new offer to increase about $50 billion in spending across a number of infrastructure programs, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. "The President expressed his gratitude

MUMBAI, JUNE 4 (IANS): The on-tap liquidity window of contact-intensive sectors including travel and tourism, hotels, parlours and event organisers, announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will be operational from Monday. The facility will be open till March 31, 2022, said an RBI statement. In its statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies on Friday, the central bank announced to open a separate liquidity window of Rs 15,000 crore with tenors of up to three years at

New Delhi, June 4 (PTI): The railways is working in mission mode to become the largest Green Railways in the world and is moving towards becoming a 'net zero carbon emitter' before 2030, the national transporter said on Friday. In a statement on the eve of World Environment Day, the railways said that the network's electrification, which is environment friendly and reduces pollution, has increased nearly ten times since 2014. "The Indian Railways (IR) is wor

New Delhi, June 4 (IANS): Last month the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had surprised many by announcing huge surplus transfer of Rs 99,122 crore to Centre for nine months ended March 31, 2021. Now it has justified the transfer suggesting that it was made possible due to lower risk capital provisioning by the central bank this year as it balance sheet size shrunk by a fourth. Addressing media persons about the MPC decisions after the statement of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the Ce

Mumbai, June 4 (IANS): In a move to support small and medium businesses in their credit requirements, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced a special liquidity facility of Rs 16,000 crore for Small Industries Development Bank of India(SIDBI). This comes over and above the Rs 15,000 crore liquidity support announced in April. This facility is expected support the MSMEs amid the current Covid crisis and the lockdowns across states. "In order to meet MSMEs' short