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WASHINGTON: A U.S. judge in Pennsylvania on Friday blocked a U.S. Commerce Department order set to take effect on Nov. 12 that would have effectively barred Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok from operating in the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone enjoined the Commerce Department from barring data hosting within the United States for TikTok, content delivery services and other technical transactions. In her ruling, Beetlestone said the order would "have the effect of shutting down, within the United States, a platform for expressive activity used by approximately 700 million individuals globally. Over 100 million of these TikTok users are within the United States, and at least 50 million of these U.S. users use the app on a daily basis." The Commerce Department, which did not immediately comment on Friday, has acknowledged the restrictions would "significantly reduce the functionality and usability of the app in the United States" ...

Any directive communication, be it the traffic signal or the warning on a packet of cigarettes, is based on a logic. To what extent it is observed and followed by the intended audience is a different question.For mutual fund schemes, the concept of riskometer, with the arrow pointing to a certain risk level portrayed like the speedometer on a car dashboard, has been there for some time. The risk level shown on the meter, as of now, is somewhat subjective, and is decided by the AMC as per the scheme objectives. We are set for a significant improvement on how the needle is set by the AMC, as per the Sebi Circular dated October 5, 2020. This circular will come into effective from January 1, 2021.What does it say?·“Based on the scheme characteristics, mutual funds shall assign risk level for schemes at the time of launch of scheme/new fund offer.” That means this remains the same as earlier.·“The underlying securities of a scheme shall be assigned a value for each of the parameters based o...

Mr Market reacted negatively to the news of a second wave of virus infections in the European countries, leading to a second lockdown in Germany and France, and uncertainties over next week’s US elections, leading the bulls to liquidate long positions. Investor sentiment has turned neutral to negative for the near term, after the non-stop rally seen since March. Next week will be crucial, as the market is expected to witness a rise in volatility due to the US presidential elections.Back home, the government is trying to revive the economy in bits and pieces. However, the bigger goals of strategic disinvestment to fund a pandemic-induced deficit seems to have gone haywire. PSU companies are, therefore, now deploying the age-old tool of share buyback to return some money back to their shareholders, including the major beneficiary, the government. This should go down well with domestic investors, who can also grab this chance to exit and preferably raise current liquidity buffers. In a wa...

NEW DELHI: In an advisory to states on setting up coordination committees for distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, the health ministry has said introduction of the shots will span over a year with multiple groups being included sequentially, starting from health care workers, while also asking governments to be vigilant about disinformation on social media.“In all likelihood, the Covid-19 vaccine introduction will span over a year with multiple groups being included sequentially starting from healthcare workers (HCWs). Therefore, it is important to create strong advisory and coordination mechanism at state and district levels to guide the process of Covid-19 vaccine introduction while ensuring minimal disruption of other routine health care services including immunisation,” the Centre has said.The government has also stressed early tracking of social media to dispel rumours which could impact community acceptance of coronavirus inoculation. “It is anticipated that initially the supply...

Mumbai/Kolkata: Vodafone Idea (Vi) said its plans to raise as much as 25,000 crore are getting a positive response and are set to conclude in two to three months.“We are in discussions with several interested parties to raise funds through the debt and equity routes. The interest levels have been very good and the ongoing discussions are progressing well… we hope to conclude the fund-raise in two to three months at most… We are very optimistic on this score,” managing director Ravinder Takkar said on a post-earnings call with analysts on Friday.ET had reported that Vi has reached out to credit funds such as Oak Hill Advisors, Marathon Asset Management, Spectrum Asset Management, Anchorage Capital and Providence Investment Management as well as private equity firms such as Blackstone and asset reconstruction companies for raising the funds that will be used to expand networks and pay adjusted gross revenue dues.Takkar said Vi won’t shy away from increasing the currently “unsustainable” ...

India and the US began a journey in 1998, with the first conversation between Jaswant Singh and Strobe Talbott. This week, the two countries signed off on Book 1 of that journey, when India signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA), the last of the ‘foundational agreements’ which seals defence interoperability between the two sides, and brings us all out of the closet.The fact that India managed to close this deal with the US a week before they elect another president is significant in and of itself. For those hyperventilating about doing it in the dying days of the Trump administration, they fail to read the moment. India has had a good run with President Donald Trump and it was important to rack up this foreign policy achievement for both sides. At a time of a tense standoff with China, a well-oiled India-US interoperability is critical.In an interview to this paper, foreign minister S Jaishankar had warned China should not view India through the US lens. In a sense,...

ET Intelligence Group: Reliance Industries (RIL) is not only India’s most valuable company or the biggest by standard financial metrics, but it also has the largest weighting on the index and has led the stock market’s rebound since March. September just reinforced those leadership credentials.So, earnings growth projections at the telecoms-to-retail conglomerate will likely be raised after a quicker-than-expected sequential recovery across revenue streams — both consumer-facing and B2B.Consumer-facing businesses now make up about half of RIL’s operating profit, surging from about a third a year ago. This explains the stock’s re-rating – and premium valuations for an energy giant in transformation.To be sure, the near-term performance of RIL will be supported by earnings upgrade in the consumer business, but wide outperformance will hinge on earnings recovery at its traditional oil-to-chemicals businesses. Before the earnings, the Bloomberg consensus target price on RIL implied 7% upsi...