Crude oil opens new vistas in India-US relationship

18/08/2017
Washington: The first shipment of American crude oil is likely to reach India in the last week of September, opening new vistas in the Indo-US ties. With this India, the world's third-largest oil importer, joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan and China to buy American crude after production cuts by OPEC drove up prices of Middle East heavy-sour crude, or grades with a high sulphur content. "New breakthroughs! oil shipments frm US to India has started," the Indian Embassy in Washingto...

Infosys to consider proposal for share buyback

18/08/2017
Bengaluru: Infosys, India's second-biggest software services exporter, has said it will consider a proposal for buyback of its equity shares at its meeting to be held on August 19. The announcement comes close on the heels of the completion of a Rs 16,000 crore share buyback by rival Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). "We would like to inform you pursuant to Regulation 29 (1)(b) of the Sebi (Listing Obligations and Discourse Requirements) Regulations, 2015, that the board of directors of Infosy...

Growth, inflation to trend higher in next 6-12 months: Report

18/08/2017
NEW DELHI: Economic growth and inflation are expected to trend higher in the next 6-12 months and the Reserve Bank is likely to stay on a prolonged pause, says a Nomura report. According to the Japanese financial services major, the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) minutes suggest low inflation and growth concerns led to policy easing earlier this month, and going ahead the RBI is expected to stay on hold. Most MPC members voted for a rate cut in August owing to low inflation momentum and sign...

Air India sale process to be completed before year-end

18/08/2017
New Delhi: The government plans to wrap up the disinvestment in state-run carrier Air India before end of the year and the preference is veering towards a "domestic buyer" for the debt-laden airline. The Union Cabinet gave an in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment in Air India in June and a panel of ministers headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley is now devising the strategy for executing the sale. "We will complete the process before the year-end. There is no choice but to priva...

India may become 1st nation using LED for all lights by 2019: Piyush Goyal

18/08/2017
New Delhi: Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India will probably be the first country in the world to use LEDs for all lighting needs by 2019, which would help the nation save over Rs 40,000 crore a year. State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) today inked pacts with oil marketing companies IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum for selling its LED bulbs, tubelights and fans at over 54,500 petrol pumps. "This effort will help us ... India will probably be the ...

India emerged as strong power, but a long way to go: US experts

18/08/2017
Washington: As India celebrated its 70th Independence Day, the country has emerged as a strong world power but still has "a long way to go", top American experts feel. Amid a debate on whether India has 'succeeded or failed', Alyssa Ayers, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at top American think-tank Council on Foreign Relations, said India's economy has given it "greater global heft, and is powering the expansion and modernisation of the country's military capabilities." But In...

Tata Sons to scrap all dealings with Cyrus Mistry’s group

18/08/2017
MUMBAI: The board of Tata Sons under N Chandrasekaran has ordered its group companies to scrap all business dealings with Cyrus and Shapoor Mistry's SP Group, putting at risk transactions worth hundreds of crores of rupees. The move is a significant step towards terminating all ties with the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and indicates that the battle between the two groups, which was ignited when Cyrus Mistry was sacked as Tata Sons chairman in October last year, is showing no signs of coming to an...

Hyundai Motor to launch electric vehicle with 500 km range after 2021

18/08/2017
Seoul: Hyundai Motor Co said on Thursday it will launch a long-range electric vehicle with a driving range of 500 km (311 miles) per charge after 2021, seeking to address investor concerns that it is lagging rivals in the green car race. The automaker and affiliate Kia Motors Corp, which together rank fifth in global vehicle sales, also said they are planning 31 eco-friendly models by 2020, up from a previously flagged 28. The new additions include three plug-in hybrid vehicles, which come on ...

Most professionals in India curious about new opportunities

17/08/2017
Mumbai: Most professionals in India (91 percent) like hearing about new opportunities and mostly higher compensation lures them into switching to new job, according to a LinkedIn report. "Ninety-one percent of Indian professionals are interested in hearing about job opportunities. This trend continues from last year wherein 90 percent Indian professionals expressed that they are interested in hearing about new jobs," LinkedIn's report - 'Inside the Mind of Today?s Candidates' has revealed. Th...

High GST may taper leasing industry growth

17/08/2017
Kolkata: The estimated Rs 5500 crore capital good leasing sector growing at 15-20 per cent may get tapered due to high Goods and Services Tax (GST) along with few other issues. "The GST rate of 28 per cent is high for the leasing industry when compared to the earlier five to 15 per cent tax burden. Higher GST rates lead to requirement of higher working capital at any point of time. This results in increasing the cost of leasing an equipment," Finance Industry Development Council director gener...

India may become the first country to roll-out TB treatment

17/08/2017
NEW DELHI: India could potentially become the first country to roll-out a treatment for tuberculosis (TB), for the rest of the world. According to a first of its kind agreement signed on Wednesday, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and US-based drug company Johnson & Johnson will work together to accelerate discovery and approval of innovative new treatments for tuberculosis . Under the memorandum of understanding, scientists from Johnson & Johnson will work closely with res...

Wilful defaulters owe Rs 92K cr to PSU banks

17/08/2017
New Delhi: Public sector banks have reported 20 per cent jump in the outstanding loans by nearly 9,000 wilful defaulters who collectively owed to lenders more than 92,000 crore at the end of March this year. The outstanding loans by wilful defaulters rose to Rs 92,376 crore at the end of financial year 2016-17, as against Rs 76,685 crore at the end of March 2016, registering a jump of 20.4 per cent. At the same time, there has been close to 10 per cent increase in number of wilful defaulters ...

Sebi steps up surveillance on money laundering activities

17/08/2017
NEW DELHI: Cracking down on misuse of stock market for money laundering, regulator Sebi said it has stepped up "focused inspection" of suspected brokers and other entities leading to action against hundreds of them. The capital markets watchdog has also enhanced its cooperation with other regulators and agencies in India as well as abroad for investigations. Giving details of the trend in investigation cases in its latest annual report, Sebi said there was a significant increase in the number...

Reliance Jio 4G feature phone users to get part refund before 3 years

17/08/2017
New Delhi: A month after Reliance Jio announced a new 4G-enabled feature phone at a fully refundable one-time payment of Rs 1,500, a financial daily has reported that customers will get part of the refund much before the lock in period. Addressing the annual meeting of shareholders of RIL, the parent of Jio, Chairman Mukesh Ambani had last month said that the handset, named JioPhone, will have "an effective price of Rs 0" as buyers will be able to get the device for a one-time refundable secur...

Govt stake in EIL down to 54.17%, corners Rs 659 crore buyback

17/08/2017
New Delhi: The government shareholding in Engineers India Ltd has fallen to 54.17 percent after it sold some shares under the company's buyback programme. It had 57.02 percent in EIL prior the launch of the Rs 658.80 crore share buyback on July 25. The 4.19 crore share buyback plan at Rs 157 a piece closed on August 7. In a regulatory filing, EIL said the government cornered 99.96 percent of the buyback programme. EIL said it has bought 4.19 crore equity shares and extinguished them. This ha...

CPI, WPI inflation to rise further in coming months: Morgan

17/08/2017
New Delhi: Retail and wholesale inflation accelerated in July and the uptrend is likely to continue in the coming months, limiting the space for further monetary easing, says a Morgan Stanley report. According to the global financial services major, both CPI and WPI inflation have troughed in June and are expected to rise further in the coming months. The wholesale inflation rose sharply to 1.88 percent in July from 0.90 percent in June 2017, mainly on account of turnaround in prices of food ...

GST Council flooded with requests to slash tax rates

15/08/2017
New Delhi: From helmets to granite slabs, hybrid cars to namkeen, the GST Council is flooded with requests for tweaking tax rates on a variety of commodities. The Council, the highest policy making body on Goods and Services Tax (GST), has received requests for changes in tax rates on as many as 133 different products from an array of stakeholders, official sources said. India moved to a GST regime on July 1 after the Council fixed over 1,200 products in four tax slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per...

Sensex surges 235 pts as geo-political tensions ease

15/08/2017
Mumbai: Stocks on Monday rose for the first time in six days, with the benchmark Sensex rebounding over 235 points to end at 31,449 as investors took comfort from the fact that tensions between the US and North Korea showed some signs of easing. Chinese president, for his part, urged both countries to restrain from activities that would raise geopolitical temperature. The surge in stocks came even as industrial production entered the negative territory in June. The 30-share Sensex after open...

BSNL Independence Day offer: Now get benefits of voice calls, SMS and combo vouchers while roaming

15/08/2017
New Delhi: State-owned BSNL has now decided to allow the benefit of Voice/SMS, Special Tariff Voucher (STV) and Combo Vouchers in national roaming on the occasion of 71st independence day on PAN India basis with effect from 15 August’ 2017 in the area where BSNL operates. BSNL was the first operator to provide free national roaming on 15th June 2015. The offer is beneficial to those who frequently travel including our jawans and journalists. Presently if you for any STV, the benefit is availab...

Reliance Jio Phone bookings open; Know the procedure, delivery date, documents required

15/08/2017
New Delhi: Finally, time has arrived! Bookings for free Jio Phone have started. Although the official booking will start on August 24 (both offline and online), certain retailers have already begun taking pre-orders. You can be one of those lucky few who can stand ahead of millions in this race only if you have a near-by retailer taking pre-orders. Reportedly, security deposit of Rs 1,500 only needs to be paid at hour of picking up the Jio Phone. There is no requirement of paying the entire am...

WPI inflation rises 1st time in 5 months to 1.88% in July

15/08/2017
New Delhi: Wholesale inflation rose sharply to 1.88 per cent in July first rise in five months as some food articles turned dearer even as the industry pitched for cut in interest rates citing weak industrial activity. Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) was 0.90 per cent in June 2017 and 0.63 per cent in July 2016. The doubling in the rate of inflation in July, the first month of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout, was mainly on account of turnaround in prices of food ar...

Aamby Valley auction process begins at Rs37k cr reserve price

15/08/2017
Mumbai: A Supreme Court ordered auction process began today for Aamby Valley resort town of embattled Sahara group at a reserve price of Rs 37,392 crore. The official liquidator of the Bombay High Court published an auction notice today inviting prospective bidders for the integrated hill city township spread over 6,761.6 acres near Lonavala, located between Mumbai and Pune. A Mauritius-based investor, Royale Partners Investment Fund, last week said it has offered to invest USD 1.67 billion (...

RBI rejects lenders' plea to extend deadline for stake sale in GMR power plant

15/08/2017
Hyderabad: GMR Infrastructure Limited said that RBI has declined to extend the deadline to lenders of GMR Rajahmundry Energy Limited for the sale of their 55 per cent stake in a gas-based power project in Andhra Pradesh. A consortium of lenders led by IDBI Bank had put on sale 55 per cent of their stake in GMR Rajahmundry Energy, which they acquired last year as part of conversion of debt into equity. GMRL operates a 768 MW natural gas based power plant at Rajahmundry in the coastal region of...

C’wealth Bank boss to retire amid laundering claims

15/08/2017
Sydney: The chief executive of Australia's biggest bank, the Commonwealth, will retire, the company said today, amid pressure from regulators over alleged breaches of laws on money laundering and terrorism financing. The bank's chairwoman Catherine Livingstone said in a statement to the stock exchange that Ian Narev "will retire by the end of the 2018 financial year". Narev faced calls to step down last week after the financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC launched a civil action against the b...

NPA resolution to spur credit expansion, growth: Panagariya

14/08/2017
New Delhi: Resolution of bad loans in the banking system is on 'right track' and will 'open the door' to rapid credit expansion and growth, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said. Terming the non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans problem as a 'legacy issue', he said that even after three years of the NDA government taking charge, it has not gone away. "Now we are on absolutely right track. Once we solve the NPAs issue, it will open up also the door to faster credit expansion....

Indian economic cycle entering strongest phase: Report

14/08/2017
New Delhi: The Indian economy is at the cusp of entering its strongest growth phase and a full blown bull market is yet to play out with the wide-based Nifty expected to touch 11,500 in 2018, says a report. An economy enters the strongest phase of growth when stocks, bonds and commodities all rally together. "We believe that India is at the cusp of entering this phase and full blown bull market is yet to play out," Edelweiss Investment Research said in a note. According to Edelweiss Investme...

Tesla not opening base at JNPT SEZ: Gadkari

14/08/2017
Mumbai: Iconic electric car maker Tesla is unlikely to open its base at the proposed JNPT SEZ, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has indicated. Speaking at an event here, he said: "My department is concentrating on alternate fuels particularly on electricity" and the work is also being carried out on ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel and CNG. When asked if the Elon Musk-promoted, the US-based Tesla is coming to the proposed SEZ at JNPT which is the country's largest container port, Gadkari r...

Pepe Jeans India to open 20 own stores by FY18’

14/08/2017
Kolkata: Denim and casual wear major Pepe Jeans has decided to open around 50 own stores to strengthen its retailing footprint in India and 20 of which would be opened this fiscal. "We have four own stores and will open 20 more in the current fiscal. The number will be gradually scaled up in the coming years. We already have permission for around 50 own single brand stores," Pepe Jeans India Managing Director Kavindra Mishra told PTI. The company wants to take advantage of the liberalised pol...

Bollywood, builders & brokers: More ‘shell-shocks’ in store

14/08/2017
New Delhi: A 'black money bonhomie' has come under the scanner involving builders, brokers and Bollywood entities as a multi-agency probe gets underway to pierce the corporate veil of hundreds of suspected shell companies. Sebi has begun shooting off show-cause notices to 331 listed entities, suspected to have acted as 'shell companies' for those with illicit funds, while action has also begun against more than 100 unlisted entities that could have traded in stocks with laundered money, top re...

Hero MotoCorp lines up 3 new scooter models to take on Honda

14/08/2017
New Delhi: Two-wheeler market leader Hero MotoCorp plans to launch three new scooter models by next fiscal as part of strategy to enhance its leadership position as erstwhile partner Honda challenges its number one spot. The company plans to launch a new 125 cc scooter in the fourth quarter of the ongoing fiscal, while two more new models will hit the market in 2018-19, according to people in the know of the development. Besides, the company is working to enhance its product portfolio in the ...

Rising trend among urban Indians - mixing biz & leisure travel

14/08/2017
Mumbai: With more and more Indian professionals travelling on business purpose, a report has revealed that these trips are being extended for leisure, a trend which is slowly blurring the lines between business and leisure travel. About 38 per cent of the total respondents took one to three business trips, out of which 29 per cent had extended at least one of their trips for personal travel, according to FCM 'Bleisure Report, India'. "Business travel has always been restricted and policy dri...

Trai website to soon display telcos tariff plans: Sharma

14/08/2017
New Delhi: Telecom subscribers will be able to soon check tariff plans of different operators on the regulator's website, improving transparency over rates, Trai Chairman RS Sharma has said. Going further, Trai is mulling allowing 'export' or use of that data to enable people to build tariff-comparison apps and products, just as one sees for insurance or airline fares. The regulator has recently asked all operators to start filing their tariffs in electronic form along with physical submission...

Sensex, Nifty snap 5-week winning streak on profit-booking

13/08/2017
Mumbai: Stocks: Both the S&P BSE benchmark Sensex and NSE 50-share Nifty snapped their 5-week winning streak by tumbling 1,112 points and 356 points respectively due to profit-booking from investors in view of global tension amidst foreign capital outflows. Anupam Singhi, COO, William O'Neil India said," Trading restrictions announced by SEBI on 331 entities suspected to be shell companies affected the sentiment". There was no respite for the market, as North Korea's warning on a possible mis...

Facebook tries to enter China incognito

13/08/2017
Beijing: In a bid to explore the high-potential Chinese online market, Facebook has authorised the release of a new app here that does not carry its name. The app called "Colorful Balloons" is a photo-sharing app that shares the look, function and feel of Facebook`s Moments app. The app, which is designed to collate photos from a smartphone`s photo albums and then share them, was released by a local company called Youge Internet Technology, which is registered to an address in eastern Beijing...

Paswan seeks onion MEP at USD 450/tonne to check price rise

13/08/2017
New Delhi: Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday asked the commerce ministry to fix export floor price of onion at USD 450 a tonne and remove export sops to curb shipments and boost local supply, even as he blamed hoarders for spike in onion prices. Retail onion prices have soared up to Rs 50 per kg in major cities in view of tight supplies during monsoon season. "There is sufficient availability of onion in the market. Hoarders and middlemen are responsible for price rise of onion," Paswa...

Mauritius fund offers $1.67 billion fund for Sahara’s Aamby Valley

13/08/2017
New Delhi: A Mauritius-based investor, Royale Partners Investment Fund, on Friday said it has offered to invest USD 1.67 billion (over Rs 10,700 crore) in embattled Sahara group's Aamby Valley project. The investment offer, proposed as a debt arrangement, comes at a time when the Supreme Court has ordered auction of the Aamby Valley resort town between Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra. Sahara group pegs the market valuation of this project at over Rs 1 lakh crore. Royale Partners Investment Fund...

Cash holdings slip 20 per cent, tax payers grow 45 per cent on demonetisation

13/08/2017
New Delhi: There has been a 20 per cent decline in cumulative cash holding by companies and individuals post demonetisation while the number of taxpayers has increased 45 per cent since then, the Economic Survey has said, pointing to positives from the withdrawal of high-denomination banknotes in November last year. "The holding of cash is about Rs 3.5 lakh crore less than what might have been the case had predemonetisation trends prevailed," said the Economic Survey 2016-17 Volume 2 that fina...

India raises vegetable oil import taxes to protect farmers

13/08/2017
New Delhi: India, the world`s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, has raised import taxes on crude and refined edible oils to protect local oilseed farmers from cheaper imports from top suppliers Malaysia and Indonesia. The increases were shown in an order uploaded on a government website late on Friday. New Delhi doubled the import tax on crude palm oils to 15 percent and raised the import tax on refined palm oils to 25 percent, increasing the differential in duty by 10 percentage points to enc...

Data war: Compare plans of various telecom operators Vs Reliance Jio’s latest tariff

13/08/2017
New Delhi: Reliance Jio last month announced new tariff plans to replace its current dirt-cheap rates, offering lesser validity and data on a revamped Rs 309 plan and dishing out a bumper 84GB for Rs 399. The new plans were announced as Jio's Dhan Dhana Dhan offer -- launched on April 11 -- reached the maximum allowed 90-day period on July 9. The previous offer of 1 GB data per day for Rs 309 (valid for 84 days on first recharge) has now been replaced by an offer of 1GB data daily for only 56...

Achieving high end of 6.75-7.5% growth difficult: Survey

12/08/2017
New Delhi: Achieving the high end of the 6.75-7.5 percent growth projected previously will be difficult due to appreciation of rupee, farm loan waivers and transitionary challenges from implementing GST, the Economic Survey said on Friday. Tabled in the Lok Sabha today, the Survey, however, notices a rekindled optimism on structural reforms in Indian economy. Various factors such as launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), positive impacts of demonetisation, decision in principle to privat...

Govt has not written off single rupee of corporate loans: FM

12/08/2017
New Delhi: Union Minister Arun Jaitley today asserted that not even a single rupee of loans taken by the corporates has been written off by the government and asked the Opposition to first get the facts before talking about it. He told the Lok Sabha that writing off a loan was a commercial decision of banks and added that there has been no scheme of farm loan waiver by the Centre since 2014. Not even one rupee of the corporates has been written off by the government, he said during Question H...

Genuine case for India’s ratings upgrade: Report

12/08/2017
New Delhi: There is a "genuine case" for rating agencies to consider giving an upgrade to India's sovereign rating following positive changes that have taken place in the country since 2013, says a report. According to Deutsche Bank research report, India was among the 'fragile five' economies in 2013, but a lot has changed since then. The report compared India and Indonesia's macro improvement in the past 4-5 years to ascertain whether there is a genuine case for India to deserve a ratings u...

PF account to be transferred automatically when you change job

12/08/2017
New Delhi: If you plan to change your job next month, you will not have to worry on the Provident Fund aspect. From September, the Provident Fund of your current organisation will be automatically transferred to the next office that you join, as per a report in the Times of India. Quoting chief provident fund commissioner V P Joy said, “Now we have made Aadhaar compulsory for enrolment. We don't want accounts to be closed. The PF account is the permanent account. The worker can retain the sam...

Policy stability important to nurture industry: Maruti Suzuki

12/08/2017
New Delhi: The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India has said policy stability and predictability are important to nurture industry ecosystem as business environment is becoming more and more uncertain. While the "fast changing regulations have also created a dynamic business environment", Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said, "the auto industry is a policy sensitive one, and a change in regulation can have far reaching impact on our growth or direction of technology an...

HAL, Fairfax keen to reopen old airport

12/08/2017
Bengaluru: Canadian billionnaire Prem Watsa-owned Fairfax Group, along with HAL, is gearing up for starting domestic flights from the old airport. Fairfax, which recently became the single largest stakeholder in Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), and HAL have initiated a dialogue in this regard. Other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Director General of Civil Aviation and the Karnataka government are also involved in this initiati...

TRAI defends data privacy paper; says consumer interest vital

12/08/2017
New Delhi: Defending the move of issuing a discussion paper on data privacy and ownership, TRAI chief R S Sharma has said the regulator raised the "right questions" to protect the legitimate interest of telecom consumers, and is mandated to do so. Brushing off the criticism, the TRAI chief sought to allay industry's fears on overregulation and jurisdiction, saying people should not presume the outcome or "cry foul" at this stage when the consultation has just about started. He hoped the consu...

Infosys board open to give NRN a formal role

12/08/2017
Bengaluru: Fuelling the speculation of return of N R Narayana Murthy, Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan said the board is open to give him a formal role if the latter wishes it. Venkatesan, who assumed charge as co-chairman in April this year, told a television channel that while the company’s founders and the board “vigorously agree” on most things, there are a couple of issues on which they have a different perspective, something that he hopes to resolve by dialogue. He also ruled out mak...