Economy

Area sown to rice increased by 37.70 percent to 34.73 lakh hectare so far in the kharif (summer) season of the 2020-21 crop year, according to Agriculture Ministry data released on Friday.

Now Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, is collaborating with another Hyderabad-based integrated pharmaceutical company, LAXAI Life Sciences, to develop and manufacture APIs and drug intermediates. The initiative may help in reducing the dependency of the Indian pharmaceutical sector on Chinese imports of these ingredients.

WhatsApp’s payment business will comply with all local rules mandated by the banking regulator for payment companies by May, the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform has told the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), ET has learnt from people familiar with the development.

State Bank of India’s (SBI) mCASH is a simple and quick way to claim funds sent by SBI customers through OnlineSBI or SBI Yono. This facility allows SBI customers having Internet Banking facility to transfer funds to a third party without beneficiary registration, either through mobile number or email-ID of the beneficiary

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India is taking several measures to facilitate the farmers and farming activities at field level during the lockdown period. The updated status of activities is given below:

Coal India Limited (CIL) will produce 710 million tonnes (MT) of coal and company’s coal offtake target will also remain at 710 MT for this fiscal. Union Minister of Coal and Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi set these targets for the state-run company while reviewing its performance through video conference on 22nd April 2020.

Unlike lithium-ion batteries, Faradion’s sodium-ion batteries have enhanced thermal stability and safety. Further, they can be safely transported and maintained at zero volts.