GST Council could see rare vote as borrowing plan divides states

• Twenty-two states have decided to borrow to tide over the current shortfall in Goods and Services Tax (GST) receipts
• This will give the federal tax body, the GST Council, enough voting strength, along with the central government, to decide on the thorny issue of states’ GST compensation

Passage of farm bills draws fresh political fault lines

• The problem between the two sides started after opposition parties gathered around deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh
• It further aggravated after the Bills were passed as protest by opposition continued and 12 parties came together to give a notice of no-confidence against Harivansh

PSBs overtake private peers to gain biz in 2020

PSBs have lost business to private sector banks over the years, with the latter giving out an increasing amount of loans. However, this has been reversed during 2020, with PSBs making a comeback when it comes to loans. Mint looks at the reasons.

Google says cashbacks, vouchers don’t violate Play Store policies

• The Indian fintech unicorn had written a blog post earlier today, where it said that the Paytm Cricket League campaign didn’t violate the Play Store policies
• The company also insinuated that Google isn’t applying the same policies to its own Google Pay app

Covid-19: Hong Kong suspends Air India operations for a fortnight till 3 Oct

• This is the second time that the national carrier's operations to Hong Kong have been suspended
• Last week, Dubai's civil aviation authorities suspended the operations of Air India's no-frill subsidiary Air India Express for a fortnight from 18 September to 2 October

International flights: Eligibility rules for travelling to US, UK, Canada

• Air transport bubbles are temporary arrangements between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended
• India currently has air transport bubbles with 13 countries, while more such agreements are on the pipeline

'Such conduct not expected in healthy democracy': Rajnath on Oppn ruckus in RS

• Even if Opposition was not convinced, does it allow them to be violent, attack the Chair, asks the Union Minister
• Attempts are being made to mislead the farmers on the basis of rumours. What happened is against the decorum of House, he says

Finance ministry expects India’s nominal GDP to grow 19% in FY22

• The finance ministry has not put out any GDP estimates for the current financial year even as most forecasters have projected a double-digit contraction in GDP for FY21. Moody's has projected an 11.5% contraction for this fiscal

RS passes two farm bills amid protests; PM says watershed moment for agriculture

• Opposition parties had said the Bills will hurt open procurement at MSP, promotes corporatisation of the farm sector, attacks the federal structure on the grounds that both agriculture and markets were state subjects

Resumption of customs duty on open cells will put pressure on TV industry: CEAMA

The move to reimpose a 5% import duty on open cell panels, a key component used in the manufacturing of television sets, will add pressure on the TV industry and impact prices of TV sets sold in India

Paytm hits back at Google, terms its brief ban from Play Store as ‘arm-twisting’

Paytm also reiterated that its delisting from the Play Store was owing to its new cashback feature, which it launched to users on Friday morning

The wind has caught the sails of broader markets, but beware of choppiness

After the change in rules regarding multi-cap fund allocations, investors have piled up on small caps in the hope that fund managers will give them an exit. But most fund houses are more likely to change the mandate of multi-cap funds rather than invest in small caps

Delhi Assembly panel issues fresh notice to Facebook India VP

'Any defiance to the subsequent notice for appearance will be deemed to be an act of breach of constitutionally guaranteed privileges of the Committee,' says the panel

IPL's Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings: 8 mn paid viewers on Disney+Hotstar

• With the coronavirus pandemic delaying the T20 tournament to the second half of the year, IPL is being held in empty stadiums in the United Arab Emirates which, experts said, is expected to drive digital and television viewership

Key component for TV manufacturing to attract 5% import duty from 1 Oct

• Open cell panels are a key component for television manufacturing
• As part of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' the govt is keen to expand domestic production capacity for open cell panels

GST compensation: 21 states in favour of option 1, no takers yet for option 2

21 states, mostly ruled by BJP or parties which have supported it on various issues, have opted to borrow ₹97,000 crore to meet the GST revenue shortfall in the current fiscal

'Somewhere we made mistakes': Shiv Sena on Centre's handling of migrant crisis

'After announcement of nationwide lockdown, Mumbai streets saw probably more people than post-Partition but Centre didn't start trains,' says Sena's Arvind Sawant

'Neither managed Covid well nor kept economy afloat': Tharoor hits out at Centre

'We have the worst of both worlds. GDP for the first time in 41 years will actually shrink, our employment crisis has become even worse than before,' says the Congress MP in Lok Sabha

TikTok owner ByteDance seeking $60 billion valuation in US deal

• Under the current proposal, there will be five seats on the board of TikTok Global
• Walmart’s Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon will become a director, the retailer said in a statement

Unlock 4: Amid rising Covid-19 cases, fresh restrictions imposed in these cities

• Raipur administration has announced to impose lockdown from 9 pm on September 21 till September 28 midnight
• Section 144 has been extended in Mumbai till 30 September in the wake of rising coronavirus cases

Will the new ‘freedom to trade’ Act benefit farmers?

• The haste with which the bills were passed shows the lack of confidence of the government to open this up to debate and scrutiny. It knew that delving into the details would have shown the bills to be anti-farmer, say farmer groups

Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally crosses 12 lakh-mark with over 20,000 new cases

• The death toll mounts to 32,671 as 455 succumb to infection
• So far, 8,84,341 patients have recovered in the state

Rlys to run 40 clone trains from tomorrow: Details on routes, stoppages, timings

• The clone trains will run primarily as 3-AC trains with fewer halts, higher speeds and a departure time before the parent train
• The advance reservation period for these trains will be 10 days and the booking opened at 8 am on September 19

'We are here to serve farmers,' says PM Modi after two farm bills get RS assent

• Through his tweets, Modi also reiterates that system of MSP will remain. He also added that government procurement will continue
• 'Our agriculture sector is in desperate need of latest technology that assists the industrious farmers,' Modi adds

Clone trains will arrive at destinations 2-3 hrs before parent trains: Official

• The Railways has introduced these 20 pairs of trains on high demand routes with most trains between Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
• The advance reservation period for these trains will be 10 days and the booking opened at 8 am on September 19

ICMR is actively exploring saliva-based test for Covid-19: Vardhan

• Union Health Minister dispels doubts raised over failure of one Covid-19 vaccine in clinical trials, says trials are continuing only after expert committee's reappraisal
• No significant mutation in SARS-CoV-2 in India, says Vardhan

Godrej Fund Management to raise $500 million office fund from global investors

• Godrej’s new fund comes at a time when India’s commercial office market has been hit due to the pandemic, but continues to attract long-term investor interest

Procurement at MSP will continue, clarifies Tomar as RS passes farm bills

• Mandis will not stop functioning. Under the new system, farmers will have the option to sell their produce at other places in addition to the mandis, says govt
• The farmer will have full power in the contract to fix a sale price of his choice for the produce. They will receive payment within maximum 3 days, says govt

Strong foundation for Atmanirbhar Agriculture: Rajnath on RS passing farm bills

• The Defence Minister also says that he is thankful to the prime minister for his vision to 'unleash the true potential of India’s agriculture'
• The farm bills were passed by voice vote in the Upper House today

Covid-19: India’s total recoveries cross 43 lakh; over 94,000 in last 24 hours

• Five states are contributing to 60% of total active cases, 52% of new cases and 60% of new recoveries reported in India, says govt
• India has tested a record 12 lakh samples for coronavirus in the last 24 hours

TCS sets up 11 coronavirus isolation centres for employees, their dependents

• TCS has collaborated with various entities to provide medical and hospitality support at these centres that have around 20-50 beds.

Donald Trump backs Oracle deal, allowing TikTok to continue to operate in US

• US shareholders are expected to control 53% of TikTok Global, a person briefed on the matter said, while Chinese investors will hold 36%
• Oracle said it will take a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global

WHO endorses protocol for coronavirus herbal medicine trials

• Covid-19 has raised the issue of using traditional medicines to battle contemporary diseases
• The endorsement clearly encouraged testing with criteria similar to those used for molecules developed by labs in Asia, Europe or the Americas

India's coronavirus case tally crosses 54-lakh mark with 92,605 cases in a day

• With the latest spike, the count of covid-19 cases stands at 54,00,620 of which, there are a total of 10,10,824 active cases while 43,03,044 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated, the Union health ministry said

CAMS IPO opens tomorrow: Key things to know before you invest

• The lot size of CAMS IPO, one of the biggest public issues of recent times, is 12
• The price band of CAMS share sale has been fixed at ₹1,229-1,230 per share

Anand Mahindra gifts tractor to Bihar man who carved 3 km-long canal in 30 years

• On receiving the tractor, Laungi Bhuiyan said that he never dreamt of getting one. 'I am very happy today'
• Anand Mahindra thinks Laungi Bhuiyan's canal is no less impressive than Taj Mahal