-The Hindu The approved methodology for auction of coal mines / blocks for sale will prioritise on transparency and ease of doing business. The Centre opened up commercial coal mining for the private sector on February 20. About 70% of power generated in India uses coal. Domestic coal has been able to meet only 75% of our annual coal demand. * What is the significance of the move? The government has termed it the...

-PTI Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today ruled out privatisation of public sector banks as a response to the Rs 11,400-crore fraud hitting Punjab National Bank, saying the move may not be politically acceptable. Speaking at an event, he said a lot of people have started talking of privatisation in the aftermath of the PNB fraud. “This (privatisation) involves a large political consensus. Also, that involves an amendment to the law (Banking Regulation...

-The Hindu Business Line Good kharif crop, govt thrust on agri and rural segments boost sector’s Q3 performance Chennai: Encouraged by the continuing momentum in sales, the tractor industry hopes to end the current fiscal with highest-ever domestic volumes close to 6.8 lakh units. The industry’s previous highest domestic number was in 2013-14 when domestic sales stood at 6.34 lakh units. Tractor companies and industry analysts project a growth rate of 17-18 per cent...

-Livemint.com Mumbai: Currency in circulation in India stood at Rs17.78 trillion as on 16 February, reaching 98.94% of the pre demonetisation level, according to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). On 4 November 2016, the latest data released by the central bank before high-value banknotes were invalidated on 8 November, the currency with the public was Rs17.97 trillion. Subsequently, it dropped to a low of Rs8.98 trillion...

-Livemint.com Centre is soon going to issue a revised set of guidelines to address current challenges faced by the crop insurance scheme, says Ashish Bhutani, joint secretary at the agriculture ministry New Delhi: The prime minister’s flagship crop insurance scheme, which has seen an impressive rise in coverage and sum assured since its launch in 2016, is facing a number of challenges that are delaying claim settlements for farmers, a senior agriculture...