A look at the headlines in this sector right now:

  1. As GST Council begins meeting, Centre affirms rollout of the tax regime by April 2017: The Union and state governments have so far failed to reach a consensus on issues such as tax rates and the levy of cesses.
  2. Facebook reports $2.37 billion profit on earnings of $7.01 billion in third quarter: Mobile now comprises 84% of the social media company’s advertising revenue, up from 78% during the same period last year.
  3. New food security programme will cost $21 billion annually, says minister Ram Vilas Paswan: The government said beneficiaries are entitled to wheat at Rs 2 per kilo and rice at Rs 3 per kilo. 
  4. Twitter's managing director for India, Southeast Asia and MENA Parminder Singh resigns from post: His decision to quit after a three-year stint follows Twitter India's chief Rishi Jaitly's resignation.  
  5. Country is facing "jobless growth", says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: The managing director of Biocon Limited said India needed visionary policies to boost employment opportunities. 
  6. Government decides to levy Rs 1,922 crore service tax on energy firms: Companies like ONGC and Cairn currently pay 9.09% of the amount they realise in the production of oil and gas.
  7. Ratan Tata gets loyalists to fill vacant posts till new chairperson is appointed, say reports: Prasad Menon has reportedly been appointed to lead the operations of the $103-billion group and S Padmanabhan will be the new human resources chief.