Higher pension for the elderly, what Indians googled most this year, and more top news

The news professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation on today's stories in the comments.

The Supreme Court has asked the government to increase the pension for senior citizens and set up at least one old-age home in each district. Currently, those aged 60-79 receive ?200 per month from the Centre while those over 80 get ?500. The amount is supplemented with contributions from the state governments. The Centre’s payouts were decided in 2007, when the scheme was launched, and have not been revised since. India had 104 million senior citizens in 2011, and the number is projected to increase to 143 million by 2021 and 173 million by 2026.

What, according to you, would be a sufficient pension amount, keeping in the mind the prices of goods and services? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

It’s official: Indians are a sports-crazy lot. Citing Google data, Quartz reports the top three searches in India in 2018 were all sports events – “FIFA World Cup 2018”, “Live score”, and “IPL 2018”. In terms of “What is…” searches, trending news like “Section 377” (decriminalization of gay sex) and the “me too campaign” topped the list, besides the “kiki challenge” and the “nipah virus”. Malayalam actress Priya Prakash Varrier, who became an internet sensation with her 'wink song', dethroned Sunny Leone to become the most searched personality of the year, ahead of celebrities like Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan.

Binny Bansal has incorporated xto10x Technologies, which will offer technology tools, learning and consultancy to startups in the Series B-C funding stage. Economic Times reports that the Flipkart co-founder has partnered with former colleague and McKinsey consultant Saikiran Krishnamurthy for the Bengaluru-based venture, which aims to create “a new-age consulting model” for Indian startups. The company, still at the concept stage, is looking to hire a team by next month. Bansal, who is still a board member at Flipkart, resigned from operational duties at the company last month.

Groundwater will become chargeable from June 1 next year, BusinessLine reports. The government has decided to levy a water conservation fee of ?1-100 per cubic metre, applicable to all industrial units, business establishments and infrastructure projects including residential complexes and office buildings. But farmers, individual households and armed forces will be exempted. India accounts for nearly 25% of global groundwater extraction at 260 cubic km per year. The country is among the most water-stressed in the world, with just 1,100 cubic metres of freshwater available per person.

The Interpol has issued a red corner notice against Mehul Choksi in the ?13,000 crore PNB fraud. That means the fugitive diamond merchant can now be detained by any of the 192 member countries of Interpol. The international arrest warrant will also step up pressure on Antigua, where Choksi obtained citizenship last year, to extradite him to India. The Centre had approached the Antiguan government seeking his extradition, but the diamantaire moved a local court requesting an end to the process.

Vivo will spend ?4,000 crore to set up its second manufacturing unit in India. For this purpose, the Chinese smartphone maker has acquired 169 acres of land near its existing facility in Uttar Pradesh. The new plant, which will double the company’s annual production capacity to 50 million units, will generate 5,000 jobs in the first phase, a statement said. More than 120 mobile phone manufacturing units have come up in India over the past four years, creating nearly 450,000 jobs, according to the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association.

Idea of the Day: When starting a new business, be careful about taking on more liabilities prematurely, says Lisa Unwin, founder of She's Back.

“I’ve just seen a fabulous business, run by two amazing, energetic, committed women, go to the wall because they ran up too many debts before the cash came in. I believe the term is overtrading. Don’t do it.”

— Abhigyan Chand and Mandar M Bakre/Share this using #DailyRundown

Thursday's Rundown saw several members voice their opinion on the Delhi High Court's move to ban the online sale of medicines. Top Commenter Sarabjeet Matharu made some succinct points about how online scores over offline when it comes to preventing abuse. Join the conversation here.