In an apparent move to fight the influence of "fake news" in Britain's June 8 general election, Facebook has launched a new feature called "Perspectives" to help users compare the stances of major political parties on key issues.

The location-sensitive feature will appear as a prompt beneath articles linked to the election and will allow users to read each party's position on key issues such as housing, the economy and foreign affairs, BT.com reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet on Thursday for an annual summit the highlight of which is expected to be the signing of an agreement to build the last two units of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant with Moscow's help.

The two countries are also expected to sign a number of other agreements in wide-ranging sectors, including in science and technology, railways, cultural exchanges and other business areas between private parties also, in addition to a "vision statement" that the two leaders will release.

Country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has reported a 15 per cent jump in domestic sales of passenger vehicles (cars, utility vehicles and vans) in May. The company sold a total of 130,248 units in the domestic market against 113,162 units in same month last year.

Most segments of the products at Maruti reported strong growth. The utility vehicle segment jumped 66 per cent to 22,608 units while mini segment (Alto and WagonR) grew 18 per cent to 39,089 vehicles.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday proposed new norms to regulate index providers, entities who design and develop benchmark indices such as the Sensex and Nifty. The index operators, which include subsidiaries of stock exchanges and independent entities such as S&P, currently do not come under Sebi’s direct regulatory purview.

The proposed norms include a code of conduct for index operators, while mandating more disclosures and greater transparency when including or excluding a stock from the indices.

Microsoft on Wednesday showcased an innovative Windows Mixed Reality headsets designed with the help from partners like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo at the information and communication technology (ICT) show ‘Computex 2017’. Available later this year, these affordable headsets will utilise the Windows Mixed Reality platform to enable new video, entertainment, social and productivity experiences.

State-run miner Coal India has rechristened its sales and marketing wing as ‘Marketing and Sales’ department in order to give more stress on marketing of the fossil fuel. “The ‘Sales & Marketing’ wing of CIL and subsidiaries is renamed as ‘Marketing & Sales’ department,” an official said.

The board of directors which met this month had advised that the ‘Sales & Marketing’ department of Coal India Ltd (CIL) should be renamed as ‘Marketing & Sales Department’, the official said.

Markets regulators Sebi today said it has formulated a scheme to spread awareness about commodities derivatives among farmers, manufacturers and cooperative groups. Under the scheme, eligible entities interested in conducting commodities awareness programmes can approach Sebi for recognition and these entities can impart education in the field of commodity derivatives on topics such as forward or futures contracts, hedging and risks, among others.

ST PETERSBURG: State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and its partners are in talks to buy 49 per cent stake in Russia's Vankor cluster oilfields to consolidate their presence in the energy-rich Arctic region.

IOC, Oil India Ltd and Bharat PetroResources Ltd (a unit of Bharat Petroleum Ltd or BPCL) is looking at buying a stake in Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye and Lodochnoye fields -- collectively known as Vankor Cluster, sources privy to the development said.

The BSE Sensex hit a fresh record high of 31,233 by surging over 74 points, and NSE Nifty touched fresh lifetime high of 9,638 in early trade on Wednesday on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors.

Rising for the fifth straight day, the 30-share index rose by 74.28 points, or 0.23%, to hit a new peak of 31,233.68.

At least 40 people were killed or wounded in a powerful blast in Kabul's diplomatic quarter on Wednesday, an interior ministry spokesman said.

The blast rocked Kabul's high-security diplomatic area where the Indian embassy is located but all staffers at the Indian mission were said to be safe.

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