Newsmakers: Govt announces 98 smart cities and more

Govt announces 98 smart cities:  The Centre on Thursday announced the names of 98 cities selected for the Modi government's flagship smart cities project but Mumbai, Bengaluru and Patna don't figure in the list. While Jammu and Kashmir has to nominate one city, UP has got slots for 13 cities to be proposed as smart city based on the urban population and number of notified cities.

Govt okays bids for onion import: The government, under pressure to check retail onion prices that have shot up to Rs 80 per kg across the country, on Thursday approved bids for import of 1,000 tonnes of onion at Rs 45 per kg and has decided to buy more from overseas markets to boost domestic supply. It has also asked state-owned MMTC to float a fresh tender for import of 10,000 tonnes on Friday.

RBI says uncertain monsoon a risk to inflation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said uncertainty in the progress and distribution of monsoon, a key factor in performance of the farm sector, continues to be a risk for both growth as well as the inflation outlook.

WTO rules against India: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled against India in a dispute with the United States over its solar power programme. An unnamed official from the commerce ministry said the country planned to appeal against the decision, made after the United States complained about domestic content requirements in a programme aimed at easing chronic energy shortages in India.

Flight tickets may cost more: Fliers may have to shell out more with the government mulling to impose a two per cent cess on air tickets as part of the new civil aviation policy, which is in the advanced stage of finalisation.