BSE Sensex crosses the 60,000 mark
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Sensex crosses 60,000 mark for first time
India's benchmark equity index BSE Sensex crossed the 60,000 mark for the first time on Friday with tech stocks in the lead. The major gainers included Infosys, TCS, and HDFC Bank.
The stock markets benchmark gained for five straight weeks. Analysts attributed this gain to diminishing fears of a possible third COVID-19 wave due to a quick-moving vaccination campaign, according to a Reuters report.
China's central bank cracks down on crypto
China on Friday made all cryptocurrency transactions and mining in the country illegal, tightening its regulations, delivering a major blow to the crypto market.
The virtual currency exchange, virtual currency trading, token issuance financing, and virtual currency derivative transactions are all illegal financial activities and strictly prohibited, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website.
Ten departments, including the PBOC, issued a notice to root out mining of digital assets to “prevent and dispose of the risks of hype in virtual currency transactions.”
Amazon Prime bundles video apps in India
Amazon launched eight video-streaming services, including Discovery+, Lionsgate Play, DocuBay, Eros Now, MUBI, Hoichoi, ManoramaMAX, and ShortsTV – each accessible with respective add-on subscriptions on Friday.
The Prime Video channels will allow Prime members the option of add-on subscriptions of popular OTT services, and stream their content on the Amazon Prime Video app and website in India. The customers would have to pay only for the service they choose.
A single charger for electronic devices
The European Union proposed a bloc-wide common charging standard for smartphones and other electronic devices. USB-C will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers, and hand-held video game consoles.
“With our proposal, European consumers will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics – an important step to increase convenience and reduce waste,” said Thierry Breton, who heads the European Commission for internal market.
Edited by Kunal Talgeri
