New Delhi: Life Insurance Corporation's board board approved acquisition of up to 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank by the insurance major, Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg said on Monday.

Now the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will approach markets regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India).

Insurance regulator Irdai has already given its approval to the insurer for the stake purchase.

Mr Garg said the board, which met here, approved LIC buying up to 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank.

LIC stake buy will help the debt-ridden state-owned bank get a capital support of Rs. 10,000 crore- Rs. 13,000 crore.

The International Monetary Fund today projected a growth rate of 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019 for India as against 6.7% in 2017, making it the fastest growing country among major economies.

However, the latest growth rate projection for India is slightly less -- 0.1% in 2018 and 0.3% in 2019 than its April projections.

India's growth rate is expected to rise from 6.7% in 2017 to 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019, as drags from the currency exchange initiative and the introduction of the goods and services tax fade, said the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) update.

The projection is 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points lower for 2018 and 2019, respectively, than in the April WEO, reflecting negative effects of higher oil prices on domestic demand and faster than-anticipated monetary policy tightening due to higher expected inflation, it said.

Despite this slight downgrade in its projections, India continues to outperform China, IMF's WEO update figures reflect. Growth in China is projected to moderate from 6.9% in 2017 to 6.6% in 2018 and 6.4% in 2019, as regulatory tightening of the financial sector takes hold and external demand softens, the report said.

Facebook has said that it will not remove fake news from its platform because it does not violate its community standards. Instead, it says posts that it deems to be fake news will be "demoted" in the news feed.

The social network is currently running an advertising campaign in Britain that declares "fake news is not our friend". But it said publishers often had "very different points of view" and removing fabricated posts would be "contrary to the basic principles of free speech", the BBC reported on 13 July.

Facebook has been scrutinised for its role in spreading fake news after evidence emerged that Russia tried to influence US voters using the social network.

The company on 11 July held an event in New York where it sought to convince journalists it was tackling the problem.

"We created Facebook to be a place where different people can have a voice," John Hegeman from Facebook said while responding to CNN.

"We allow people to post it as a form of expression, but we're not going to show it at the top of News Feed," a Facebook spokeswoman told CNN.

The site had done a trial displaying a red warning icon next to articles that fact checkers had identified as false, but later said it found this approach had "entrenched deeply held beliefs".

• France win World Cup for second time, after winning in 1998

• Deschamps third person to win the World Cup as both player & manager

• Mandzukic own goal, Griezmann pen (after VAR review), Pogba and Mbappe for France

• Perisic and Mandzukic (from Lloris error) for Croatia

• Modric named best player, Mbappe best young player, Courtois best goalkeeper

Novak Djokovic raced to a fourth Wimbledon title and 13th career Grand Slam crown on Sunday when he defeated a battling but exhausted Kevin Anderson 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).

World number 21 Djokovic added the 2018 title to his wins in 2011, 2014 and 2015 as he became the lowest-ranked champion since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.

It also took his Slam total to within one of Pete Sampras and just four behind the 17 of Rafael Nadal who he defeated in the semi-finals.

India has become the vice-chair (regional head) of the Asia Pacific region of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) for a period of two years to June, 2020, the finance ministry said today. The organisation has divided its membership into six regions. Each of the regions is represented by an elected vice-chairperson to the WCO council.

"India is a wealth of experience in promoting security and facilitation of cross border trade," it said.

To mark the assumption of vice chair, an event is being organised tomorrow here by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in partnership with industry body CII.

It will witness participation of customs delegates from 33 countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, customs officers from different ports in India.

WCO represents 182 customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98 per cent of world trade.

Angelique Kerber beats seven-time champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-3 to win her maiden Wimbledon title. It is the third Grand Slam title of Kerber's career, adding to her Australian and U.S. Open triumphs in 2016.

Kerber made just five unforced errors compared to Williams' 24 as the German reversed the result of the 2016 final.

Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin a two-day tour of eastern Uttar Pradesh starting Saturday, visiting his parliamentary constituency Varanasi and laying the foundation stone in Azamgarh for the 340-km Purvanchal Expressway.

The expressway will connect several important and historical towns of eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur with the state capital Lucknow.

The PM will also inaugurate other development projects and address rallies in Varanasi, Azamgarh and Mirzapur during the tour, his second visit to the politically crucial state in a week. He was in Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi on Monday, launching a Samsung mobile phone factory with South Korean president Moon Jae-in. 

In his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, PM Modi will dedicate projects estimated to be worth over Rs 900 crore for the development of Kashi.

NEW DELHI: The government will soon amend telecom licences to incorporate rules on net neutrality, which will include a bar on blocking or slowing down of content, while allowing fast lanes only for ‘critical’ services and keeping ‘content delivery networks’ out of their ambit.

The Telecom Commission (TC), the highest decision-making body in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), accepted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendations of November 2017 in total on Wednesday, underscoring India’s stance supporting an open internet. Supporters of net neutrality welcomed the move while telcos said it could stifle innovation.