News brief: Big stories of the day

India's GDP zooms to 8.2% in June quarter, highest in two years

India's economy reached an impressive 8.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2018-19, reports said on Friday. The growth rate has reached a two-year high with the latest performance. 

Trump readies to ramp up trade war with China, may slap tariffs on $200 billion more imports

US President Donald Trump is prepared to quickly ramp up a trade war with China and has told aides he is ready to impose tariffs on $200 billion more in Chinese imports as soon as a public comment period on the plan ends next week, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Idea Cellular, Vodafone complete merger, create country's largest telecom operator

Idea Cellular Ltd and Vodafone Plc completed the merger of their operations on Friday, creating the country's largest telecom operator by subscribers and revenue after the entry of a new player sparked a bitter price war.

Amid N Korea, China threats, Japan pushes for record defence budget 

With threats from China and North Korea looming overhead, Japan's defence ministry on Friday made its biggest-ever budget request in a bid to bolster-up its defence system. 

Rupee slumps 26 paise to close at historic low of 71 level

The rupee today slumped by 26 paise breach the historic low of 71 level for the first time against the US currency due to firming crude oil prices and strong month-end demand from oil importers.