Successful disinvestment of BPCL, CONCOR to lay path for more stake sales: Garg

• 2019-20 will be an eventful year witnessing some extra-ordinarily positive events and a few misses, Garg said in a blog
• Garg also pointed out that another extremely positive outcome for the government was the receipt of extra-ordinarily large surplus transfer from the RBI

Need a ride? Just ask the pilot

Goa’s motorcycle pilot system may be on its way out but it can still be counted on for quick and safe transport

Opinion | Delhi under NSA? Why?

• India has had mass protests and sporadic bouts of tumult after it amended its citizenship law in a manner widely seen as discriminatory

Palladium tops $2,500 an ounce in biggest one-day surge since 2008

• Spot palladium jumped as much as 9.7% to an all-time high of $2,539.14 an ounce
• Palladium is trading at more than twice the price of platinum, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd

Kashmir, Ladakh shiver at sub-zero temperature, union ministers' flight diverted

• Kashmir Valley and the Union Territory of Ladakh reeled under sub-zero night temperatures after the recent snowfall
• Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.4 degree Celsius

₹3,390 crore at stake for debt mutual funds in Vodafone Idea’s AGR blow

• Franklin Templeton has taken write-down on its exposure to Vodafone Idea
• The probability of any relief measures being offered by the government appears low, analysts said

Mumbai shopping malls, restaurants to remain open 24X7 from end of this month

• The long-pending proposal to keep all restaurants, malls, multiplexes, shopping plazas open 24x7 was given the green signal late on Thursday by Environment & Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray

Boeing 737 MAX: Company finds 'new minor' software glitch in grounded aircraft

• Boeing said in a statement: We are making necessary updates and working with the FAA on submission of this change
• Fitch Ratings downgraded Boeing’s debt rating

Morgan Stanley starts cost-cutting plan with CEO, slashes Gorman's salary by 7%

• The step-down in pay for the CEO will probably have a knock-on effect for the rest of its senior management
• The bank this week reported a massive surge in bond-trading revenue for the fourth quarter

Bengaluru beats Mumbai to get the highest home loan, personal loan in India

• People in Bengaluru are walking away with the highest home loan and personal loan
• On an average, women are borrowing more than men in terms of ticket size

Which company just hit $1 trillion market cap? Google it.

• Alphabet is up nearly 17% over the last three months, outpacing a broader rally in the S&P 500 index
• Alphabet joins Apple, Amazon and Microsoft as the only US firms to hit $1 trillion in market value

Delhi placed under National Security Act for 3 months amid CAA protests

• The Act allows police to detain a person for months if it feels that he/she is a threat to national security
• In August 2019, the NSA was extended to Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370

Amazon will create 1 million jobs by 2025 in India, says Jeff Bezos

• Bezos met top businessmen, including Mukesh Ambani, Narayana Murthy and Kishore Biyani on Friday
• Day after saying investment not a favour for India, Goyal tempers criticism

Statue of Unity will create ₹1 lakh crore economic ecosystem: Piyush Goyal

• Piyush Goyal announced that high-speed shuttle trains will operate between Vadodara and Kevadiya stations
• PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the gigantic statue of Vallabhbhai Patel, the country's first home minister, here on October 31, 2018

Three US airports to check passengers from China for a deadly virus

• China has now reported 45 cases linked to the virus, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told
• The CDC will deploy 100 additional staff to the three airports, with incoming passengers asked to fill out a questionnaire and submit to a temperature check

Petrol, diesel prices cut for the third consecutive day today. Know the rates

• Fuel prices dropped for the third consecutive day today across all major cities in India
• The retail prices of fuel are dependent on the global crude prices and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate

Buying gold? New hallmarking rules explained in 5 points

• Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal
• There are charges that has to be paid to get the jewellery hallmarked

Aadhaar update: Use mAadhaar app to avail these services. Check list here

• The new mAadhaar app provides a host of services
• mAadhaar app is available for both Android and Apple users

Indian passport holders do not need prior visa to travel in these 58 countries

• Planning a foreign holiday? Find out which countries an Indian passport holder can travel without a prior visa
• Visa-free access makes travelling cheaper and more convenient

Govt launches website for ready-to-move-in flats: 10 things to know

• India's first e-commerce housing portal, HousingForAll.com will be opened for homebuyers from February 14
• Through this portal, lowest priced inventory will be made available by builders

Bank account opening: Shoot your video with PAN card for KYC at home

• RBI has now allowed banks to open new accounts using video-based KYC
• You will be required to display your PAN card in the video recording

China’s Great Wall Motors to acquire GM’s Talegaon plant

• Great Wall is said to have earmarked ₹1,500-2,000 crore to establish the brand in India
• GM’s sales arm Chevrolet Sales India Pvt. Ltd will continue to operate as an independent entity

SBI cuts recurring deposit (RD) rates. Latest RD rates here

• SBI RD has terms ranging from 1 year to 10 years
• SBI also slashed the FD rates on long-term deposits

WhatsApp features: How to backup and restore your chats

• If you don't want to miss out on your important WhatsApp messages and media, you must backup your chats
• Here's how to backup and restore your chats on your smartphones

These Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia phones to get Android 10 OS update

• The Android 10 update started rolling out for Pixel users first
• The update comes with a number of exciting and fresh features

2012 Delhi gangrape convicts to be hanged on 1 Feb at 6 am

• The mercy plea by Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts, was rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday
• While death warrants had earlier been issued for 22 January, the filing of curative petitions and the mercy petition had stalled the process of execution

Strong US housing data, earnings drive Wall Street to new highs

• US housing starts race to 13-year high in December
• Schlumberger rises after Q4 earnings beat; indexes up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.16%

GST revenue target for January-February raised to to ₹1.15 lakh crore

The decision in this regard was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey held on Friday, sources said

Jeff Bezos meets industry powerhouses, concludes 3-day India visit

• Among those who met included Reliance Industries chairman and richest Indian Mukesh Ambani
• Among others were Infosys' Salil Parekh, HSBC's Surendra Rosha and Ola's Bhavish Agarwal

China posts weakest growth in 29 years as US trade war bites

• China’s growth slowed to 6.1% last year, from 6.6% in 2018, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed
• The new GDP data comes a day after China and the US signed a long-awaited phase one deal

After Kerala, Punjab assembly passes resolution against CAA

• The move is significant as it highlights the opposition’s attempt to use state legislatures and the judiciary to challenge the controversial law
• Amarinder Singh says CAA should be repealed in India’s interest

Jack Dorsey asks Elon Musk how to fix Twitter

• Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey asked Tesla CEO Musk how he would fix the social network
• Elon Musk has almost 31 million followers on Twitter

Airtel stock hits new high on duopoly hopes; investors should note risks too

• With insurmountable liabilities and promoters unwilling to pump-in fresh equity, analysts fear Vodafone Idea may fall far behind competition
• Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd, meanwhile, touched a 52-week high on Friday; the stock has gained by about 39% since the SC ruling in end-October

Delhi Police bust fake Thailand airline 'Yo Air' job racket; one arrested

• The arrested person was identified as Sanket Jha, resident of Kandiwala, Mumbai
• A woman named Shipra Singh from Noida reported that she came to know through the social media page regarding an interview for Cabin Crew in 'Yo Air'

Google introduces online coding course 'Python' to train workers

• The program includes a final project where learners will use their new skills to solve a problem they might encounter in a job
• 'Python is now the most in-demand programming language,' said Natalie Van Kleef Conley Product Lead, Grow with Google

Sebi puts in place guidelines for listed REIT, InvIT on rights issue

• Sebi called for disclosure of objects of the issue, financial details in the offer document by such investment instruments
• Sebi said the issuer will have to disclose objects of the issue, related-party transactions, valuation, financial details, review of credit rating and grievance redressal mechanism in the placement document

Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express flagged off. Know route, timing, fare, features

• India's second Tejas Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express has started its journey
• The commercial run of the newly launched Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express will start from Saturday

All S-400 air defence missiles to be delivered to India by 2025: Russia

• The S-400, an upgraded version of the S-300, had previously only been available to the Russian defence forces

WhatsApp ads soon? Facebook abandons controversial plan, says report

• WhatsApp in recent months disbanded a team that had been established to find the best ways to integrate ads into the service
• 'The team's work was then deleted from WhatsApp's code,' the report added