The present economic crisis is worse than 2008 recession: Goldman Sachs

19/10/2019
Mumbai: The consumption slump, a major challenge afflicting the economy, cannot be attributed to the NBFC crisis as it predates the first default by infra lender IL&FS, says a brokerage, which has also slashed growth forecast to 6 percent with a downward bias. Many people attribute the deepening slowdown in consumption to the NBFC crisis that began in September 2018 when IL&FS went belly up following which consumption financing--a forte of shadow banks, stopped with a chill in disbursements by...

RIL hits Rs.9 trillion market cap, a first for an Indian company

19/10/2019
MUMBAI: The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has become the first Indian company to cross Rs.9 trillion market capitalization after its shares rose nearly 2% in Friday trading session to hit Rs.1,423. The shares have surged nearly 26% since January. Investors await its September quarter earnings due later today. India's benchmark Sensex Index rose 0.5% or 200 points to hit 39,252 points. The company is expected to report strong earnings in the September quarter on the back of r...

Prices of tomato linked food items may spike 5-10% following crop loss

19/10/2019
Lucknow: Tomato prices in the domestic market have started to cool from the highs it reached after massive crop loss due to floods and heavy rainfall in major producing states. However, the impact of squeezed supply is likely to impact the prices of food items in its value chain. Apart from being used in raw form for cooking vegetables, tomato is processed to make ketchup, sauce, puree etc. Market players expect their prices to increase 5-10 per cent owing to short supply and higher procuremen...

Flouting of FDI norms by multi brand retailers will invite strict action: Piyush Goyal

19/10/2019
Mumbai: Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that strict action will be taken against multi-brand retailers found violating FDI norms set for the e-commerce companies by the central government. “The Central government has formed clear guidelines for e-commerce. It has made clear that if anyone makes e-commerce a means for multi-brand retail, stringent action will be taken against them,” he said during a presser on Thursday. He continued, “According to the spirit of the law, in multiband retail, F...

Sensex rallies for 6th day, rises 246 pts

19/10/2019
Mumbai: Domestic equity market extended its gains for the sixth straight session on Friday, with the benchmark Sensex rising 246 points on sustained buying across sectors. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 246.32 points, or 0.63 per cent, higher at 39,298.38. It hit an intra-day high of 39,361.06 and a low of 38,963.60. The broader NSE Nifty too spurted 75.50 points, or 0.65 per cent, to settle at 11,661.85. Yes Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 8.44 per cent, followed by...

India rice prices hit multi-month lows as buyers defer purchases

19/10/2019
Bengaluru: Demand for rice from top exporter India was subdued as buyers delayed purchases despite a dip in prices to four-month lows this week, while restricted supply kept rates for the Vietnamese variety at their highest in two months. Prices for India’s 5 percent broken parboiled variety fell to $365-$370 per tonne from $368-$372 a week ago. “Asian and African buyers are not in a hurry. They are postponing buying anticipating a further fall in prices,” said an exporter based at Kakinada i...

Oil companies defer snapping fuel supplies to Air India

19/10/2019
NEW DELHI: State-owned oil companies on Friday decided to defer snapping fuel supplies to Air India after the national carrier promised to adhere to the schedule of clearing past outstanding dues, officials said. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) had on October 5 written to Air India that they will stop supplying aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to its aircraft at six major airports from October 18 if it didn't honour its payment commitm...

Brexit deal brings relief for JLR-Tata Motors but too early to rejoice

19/10/2019
Mumbai: The Brexit deal euphoria that ignited Tata Motors Ltd’s stock seems to have ebbed. Shares of the global auto giant eased by 2% on Friday, shedding a part of the 13% gain clocked the previous day. To be sure, the news brings a huge relief for investors when investors were fearful of a “no-deal Brexit". A “no-deal Brexit" would imply uncertainty on customs duties when goods are moved between the United Kingdom and countries in the European Union (EU). It would have put Jaguar Land Rover ...

Aspiring unicorns get a leg up from firms in India’s budding startup ecosystem

19/10/2019
BENGALURU : Two years ago, Vikas Sethia, co-founder of distribution logistics platform Udaan Logisure, conceived of a petroleum transportation service in collaboration with Reliance Petroleum, a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). What took shape was the outcome of the 2017 summer cohort of JioGenNext, a startup accelerator backed by RIL. Not only did RIL guide Logisure by alerting them to all the “logistics challenges they face" but it “also made us a part of their initiatives to optimize ...

Why disinvestment can break the shackles around BHEL

19/10/2019
Mumbai: Under the spotlight of disinvestment, power equipment producer BHEL Ltd may be just beginning to lighten up. The stock surged 27.5% in trade today to Rs.56.8, which takes the market value of the company to about Rs.19,800 crore. This should fetch the government decent sums if a significant chunk is divested. Nevertheless, risks to growth look skewed on the downside in its thermal power business. Hence, BHEL has been expanding into new sectors such as E-mobility, EV-charging, transporta...

India ‘democracy-loving, capitalist-respecting’: FM to foreign investors

18/10/2019
Washington: Investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy loving and capitalist respecting environment, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. She also assured international investors at an interaction session at the IMF's headquarters that the government was continuously working to bring reforms. "It (India) is one of the fastest growing (economies) even today. It has the best skilled manpower and a government that is continuously doing what is ...

Auto sales slump drags fortunes of auto parts makers downhill

18/10/2019
NEW DELHI: A variety of issues domestic and global are challenging growth prospects of auto component makers. From the risk of a demand slowdown in automobiles that started about a year ago, the component industry’s problems are steadily compounding, with trade tensions across international markets and a broad-based slowdown in the parent auto industry across markets. On the back of a weak first quarter, analysts have forecast a dismal Q2 FY20 performance for the sector. Domestic sales of lea...

Satya Nadella got 66% raise, took home $42.9 million for fiscal year 2019

18/10/2019
San Francisco: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned $42.9 million in total compensation for the fiscal year 2019 66 per cent raise from the prior fiscal year, the company has announced. Nadella received a $1 million base salary jump and an increase in stocks. “Nadella’s strategic leadership, including his efforts to strengthen trust with customers, drive for a company-wide culture change, and successful entry and expansion into new technologies and markets,” Microsoft’s independent directors sa...

Govt to bring back FRDI Bill, may hike insurance cover of customers

18/10/2019
NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has started work on reviving the contentious Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, a year after the proposed law for ushering insolvency of financial institutions was withdrawn by the Union government. “The Department of Economic Affairs is redrafting the FRDI Bill and will soon circulate it for inter-ministerial consultation,” said a top finance ministry official. Another finance ministry official said the government would be ironing out issu...

Blue Star eyes to expand retail footprint

18/10/2019
Chennai: Air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star Ltd said it plans to expand retail footprint to 250 stores by end of the current financial year. Blue Star under the next phase of growth aims to accelerate growth by penetrating deeper into the length and breadth of the country. The company, by leveraging its brand salience, intends to garner a mass appeal cutting across geographies, an official said. Blue Star currently has 200 exclusive brand stores in the country and ...

Rs 75,000-crore minimum alternate tax credit dilemma grips India Inc

18/10/2019
Mumbai: Vast swathes of Corporate India may not be in a hurry to shift to the new corporation tax regime. Ninety-nine companies, which also include some unlisted ones, have more than Rs 100 crore each of minimum alternate tax (MAT) credit on their books, cumulatively adding up to Rs 75,000 crore. Of these, 15 heavyweights such as NTPC, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, and TCS have MAT credit in excess of Rs 1,000 crore each. “By utilising MAT credit, many companies will be able to ...

Subsidy helps India traders sell sugar to Iran: Report

18/10/2019
Mumbai: Indian mills are aggressively selling old season sugar to Iran after New Delhi announced a subsidy to help cash-strapped mills export a surplus, five traders said, as Tehran strives to secure food supplies under US sanctions. Exports from the world’s biggest sugar producer could put pressure on global prices but will help India reduce its inventories that have driven down domestic prices. Trading houses have contracted to export to Iran about 350,000 tonnes of sugar for shipments land...

Sell our assets to pay off PMC Bank’s dues, Wadhawans write to RBI, agencies

18/10/2019
Mumbai: Promoters of real estate group HDIL, Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, who are the prime accused in the PMC Bank scam, have requested the RBI and investigation agencies to sell off their assets, including a yacht, a Rolls Royce and an aircraft, to pay off the bank's dues. The Wadhawans, who were remanded in judicial custody by a court here on Wednesday, in a letter to the Enforcement Directorate, the Union finance ministry and the RBI, requested that they be allowed to sell off 18 of their a...

Sale of durable products yet to pick up beyond major urban conglomerates

18/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Midway into the festive season, sale of consumer durables is yet to pick up across the country. Makers of popular household products like refrigerators, television sets, and washing machines who see a spurt in sales during the weeks spread between Onum and Diwali, are witnessing subdued sales as consumers beyond major metros stay away from purchasing large-ticket items. While the end of the current festival season is less than a fortnight, most large-scale manufacturers are yet to r...

Havells introduces STADx, a smart range of switchgear devices

18/10/2019
Hyderabad: Consumer electrical goods maker Havells India announced the launch of STADx, a smart range of switchgear. The technologically advanced range with miniature circuit breaker (MCB) and Distribution Board (DB) provides multiple functionalities like circuit indicator and positive contact indication, Havells India President Saurabh Goel, said at a press conference here. "To address the needs of consumers for smart solutions, we have introduced the new switchgear range based on communicat...

Manmohan regime left ‘nasty stink of corruption’ in public banking: FM Sitharaman

17/10/2019
New York: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has accused former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of leaving behind "a nasty stink of corruption" in the public banking sector, which suffered its "worst phase" under him and former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan. During Rajan`s tenure "loans were given just based on phone calls from crony leaders and public sector banks in India till today are depending on government equity infusion to get out of that mire," she said on Tuesday during a lectu...

Gold edges higher on Brexit jitters, risk-on mood limits gains

17/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday after shedding nearly 1% in the previous session, as some optimism about Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union ebbed, while a risk-on sentiment capped the bullion’s gains. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $1,484.10 per ounce as of 0427 GMT. U.S. gold futures were 0.3% higher at $1,487.90 per ounce. “There are some uncertainties since there is a lot to go through on Brexit. For instance even if both EU and UK negotiators agree on terms it s...

Bajaj Chetak makes a comeback in electric avatar, to be available from Jan

17/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Bajaj Auto Ltd, India's second largest motorcycle manufacturer, on Wednesday announced its second innings in the scooter segment, almost after a decade's gap, with the launch of its electric scooter Chetak. The Pune-based company did not reveal the price of the product and will announce it before beginning dispatches. Bajaj stopped manufacturing traditional scooters around 2009 in order to focus on motorcycles. The new Chetak will be available in two variants and offer a range of 8...

Tata won’t sell Jaguar Land Rover, open to adding partners: Chandrasekaran

17/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Tata Sons, the Indian conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover, said it is open to finding partners for the automaker but isn’t planning on selling the embattled unit. “We’re not going to sell,” said Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company in an expansive business empire that includes Tata Motors Ltd. “Auto is a core business for us. From revenue terms, auto is our largest company.” Tata Motors bought the maker of the Jaguar XE sedan and Land Rover Disco...

Beyond Q2 net profit fall, SBI Life gives more bang for buck

17/10/2019
Mumbai: Investors seldom like it when the business they invest in fail to show profit growth. So what explains the fact that SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd’s stock gained over 4% in morning trade today despite the insurer reporting a 48% year-on-year fall in net profit for the September quarter? There are a handful of reasons. First off, if an insurance company is not making profits, it means it is getting more business. For insurance companies, costs of acquiring business are upfront while pay-of...

India retains fastest-growing rank: IMF

17/10/2019
New York: In the gloomy global economic picture painted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India retains its rank as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, tying with China, with a projected growth rate of 6.1 per cent for the current fiscal year, despite an almost one per cent cut in the forecast. However, the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on Tuesday projected India’s economy to pick up and grow by 7 per cent in the 2020 fiscal year. The WEO cut India’s growth rate b...

Google launches Pixel buds, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL with improved camera, motion sense support

17/10/2019
NEW DELHI: The internet giant Google announced a new lineup of hardware, along with the annual refresh of its Pixel line of smartphones. At its annual hardware launch event - Made by Google - on Tuesday, the internet search giant launched its wireless earphones which are called the Google Pixel Buds. With the launch of these truly wireless earbuds, Google has joined Apple, Microsoft and others in the quest to kill headphone cables entirely. Google’s newly-launched wireless headphones are G...

ICRA downgrades rating outlook for one third of its wind, solar portfolio

17/10/2019
Mumbai: Rating agency ICRA has downgraded the rating outlook for nearly one-third of the wind, solar power rated portfolio, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. The downgraded rating accounts for 20 per cent of the rated wind and solar portfolio, which is at 1.9 gig watt (GW). Rating outlook for another 10 per cent of such capacity has also been revised. “Given the headwinds faced by the wind and solar energy power segments coupled with a gradual deterioration in the liquidity profile...

India’s tech renaissance: PhonePe, Paytm could be the next TCS, Infosys

17/10/2019
NEW DELHI: India’s largest startup is ready to birth its own unicorn. That’d be unusual anywhere, but that it’s happening in India offers some hope for the country’s long-awaited tech renaissance. This is also great news for Walmart. The US retail behemoth paid $16 billion for 77 per cent of Indian e-commerce company Flipkart Group in May last year. That deal included payments unit PhonePe an early pioneer in the digital-wallet business which Flipkart had acquired two years earlier. Now Walma...

Sensex rises for 4th straight session, up 93 pts

17/10/2019
Mumbai: Rising for the fourth straight session, equity benchmark BSE Sensex advanced 93 points on Wednesday, driven by finance and energy stocks amid mixed global cues. After swinging 250 points in a volatile session, the 30-share Sensex ended 92.90 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 38,598.99. It hit an intra-day high of 38,666.38 and a low of 38,416.67. The broader NSE Nifty rose 35.70 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 11,464. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bajaj Finance, ONG...

Oil Cos say Air India not honouring Rs 100 cr/month payment promise

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: State-owned oil companies on Tuesday accused Air India of not honouring its commitment to pay Rs 100 crore every month to clear overdue ATF outstanding of over Rs 5,000 crore and will be forced to snap supplies at major airports from Friday if no solution is offered. "Air India had back in June and again in September agreed to pay the three oil marketing companies Rs 100 crore every month to clear past ATF dues. But unfortunately it hasn't met its commitment," said Sandeep Kumar Gup...

Flipkart ups ante against Amazon; to set up unit for food retail in India

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: E-commerce giant Flipkart on Tuesday said it is setting up a new local entity - Flipkart Farmermart - that will focus on food retail in India, as it looks to take on arch-rival Amazon in the segment. According to sources, Flipkart is expected to invest about Rs 2,000 crore initially in the business and pump in more funds as required as it scales up supply chain, storage and logistics. "In line with the Government of India's FDI policy, which allows 100 per cent foreign direct inves...

India does not have any trade dispute with US: Goyal

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said India does not have any trade disputes with the US, and there is huge bilateral trade potential. Speaking at the India Energy Forum, he said, "We don't have any dispute with the US. There are differences with the US which are there in any bilateral relation." Talking about these differences he also said that a little uncertainty in any relation is also good for having healthy bilateral relations. He was of the view that there is huge ...

Sensex spurts 292 pts; auto, metal stocks drive rally

16/10/2019
Mumbai: Extending its gains for the third consecutive session, market benchmark BSE Sensex rallied about 292 points on Tuesday driven by gains mainly in auto, metal and banking stocks. After soaring 421 points during the day, the 30-share Sensex ended 291.62 points, or 0.76 per cent, higher at 38,506.09. It hit an intra-day high of 38,635.19 and a low of 38,238.27. The broader NSE Nifty too rose 87.15 points, or 0.77 per cent, to settle at 11,428.30. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Ve...

India to chart is own course of energy transition: Pradhan

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: India will chart its own course of energy transition in a responsible manner even as it is said to be a key driver of global energy demand in coming decades, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday. As the world battles alarming rates of carbon emission threatening the environment?, countries around the globe face pressure to reduce hydrocarbon use and switch to greener sources such as renewable power and electric vehicles. Speaking at a ministerial dialogue at India Energy ...

Trai’s IUC review will punish efficient telcos, reward defaulters: Jio

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Terming TRAI's review of call connect charges "retrograde", Reliance Jio has said the regulator's consultation paper is neither warranted nor sustainable and that retention of such charges will harm subscribers and punish efficient operators. Jio alleged that any deferment of sunset clause for inter-operator termination charges will end up rewarding "designed defaulters" who have deliberately stayed away from new and efficient technologies. Jio has shot off a letter to TRAI saying ...

Higher food prices lift retail inflation to 14-month high

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: India’s retail inflation sharply accelerated in September to a 14-month high at 3.99%, almost touching the central bank’s medium-term target of 4%, as food inflation nearly doubled to 5.1%. The high retail inflation could limit the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) ability to further cut policy rates. Data separately released by the industry department on Monday, however, showed that wholesale price inflation decelerated to a three-year low at 0.33% in September compared with 1.08% a ...

Wipro Q2 net profit jumps 35.1% YoY to Rs 2,552.6 crore

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: Wipro on Tuesday posted a 35.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in its net profit at Rs 2,552.6 crore for the second quarter of the financial year 2019-20 (FY20). On sequential basis, the figures grew 6.9 per cent. "Revenue growth in constant currency (CC) terms is 1.1 per cent while the YoY growth on Constant Currency basis (after adjusting Q2’19 revenues for the impact of divestment of our Workday & Cornerstone business) is 3.8 per cent," the press release said. Gross revenue for...

Warehousing space saw investments of Rs 3,500 cr since GST rollout: CBRE

16/10/2019
NEW DELHI: The industrial and logistic segment has attracted $500 million (about Rs 3,500 crore) investment since 2017, as demand for quality warehousing space is growing rapidly post the implementation of GST, property consultant CBRE said on Tuesday. In its report, the consultant highlighted that several policies (both proposed and implemented), along with the grant of infrastructure status to the logistics sector, led to more than $500 million being invested in acquiring industrial and logi...

Nirmala Sitharaman meets PSU banks, assures of ‘enough liquidity’ in system

15/10/2019
new delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said public-sector banks have sufficient liquidity. The minister also said efforts are being made to ensure that due payments are released to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by large corporates. After a review meeting with heads of public-sector banks (PSBs), Sitharaman, at a press conference, said banks have been asked to provide bill discounting facility to MSMEs against payments due from large corporates. Accord...

Reliance to swap diesel for Venezuelan crude oil

15/10/2019
new delhi: Reliance Industries will pay for Venezuelan crude oil via exports of diesel in a barter arrangement as it resumed taking supplies from the US sanctions-hit Latin American nation after a gap of four months. Although US oil sanctions imposed on Venezuela in January 2019 have no direct secondary component, oil companies such as Reliance Industries (RIL) that have a significant US presence have curtailed their commercial ties with the Opec nation. Reliance had in March capped oil purch...

Need enabling regulatory environment in telecom sector: Kumar Mangalam Birla

15/10/2019
NEW DELHI:The telecom sector needs an enabling regulatory environment as the growth of the sector is key to the digital transformation of the Indian economy, industry leader Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Monday. Birla is the chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd India’s largest telecom operator by subscriber base. “We seek an enabling regulatory environment so that we can make the necessary investment in this sector...we look forward to working with the government to take the leap for the next wave of...

Wholesale inflation dips to 0.33 percent in September

15/10/2019
new delhi: Lower prices of key transportation fuels along with those of manufactured products eased India`s annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices to 0.33 percent in September from 1.08 percent in August. Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the Wholesale Price Index data furnished by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed a decelerating trend as inflation had risen to 5.22 percent during the corresponding period of 2018. "Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far...

HAL workers begin indefinite strike

15/10/2019
Bengaluru: The workers of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited across its nine units in the country, began an indefinite strike on Monday, pressing various demands including wage revision. All India HAL Trade Unions Coordination Committee (AIHALTUCC) had on Sunday announced the indefinite strike after talks with the management ended in failure. "We are observing strike in all nine units of HAL all over India. More than 10,000 employees here are on strike and as a result work has come to a standstill,...

Dharmendra Pradhan nudges Finance Minister to include ATF, natural gas in GST

15/10/2019
new delhi: Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday made a vehement appeal to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for bringing jet fuel and natural gas under the ambit of GST to reduce multiplicity of taxes and improve business climate. When GST was introduced on July 1, 2017 amalgamating over a dozen central and state levies, five commodities - crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) - were kept out of its purview given the revenue dependence of state governme...

PMC Bank scam:Police custody of 3 accused extended till Oct 16

15/10/2019
Mumbai: A Mumbai court on Monday extended till October 16 the police custody of two top officials of HDIL and Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank's former chairman in connection with the multi-crore scam at the bank. Terming it as a case of "white collar terrorism", hundreds of depositors protested outside the court, demanding that their money be returned at the earliest and strict action be taken against the accused. The three accused - Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd's (HDI...

Commercial vehicle sales declined 23% in the first half of FY20: SIAM

15/10/2019
Chennai: India's commercial vehicle (CV) sales in the domestic market declined 23 per cent on a year-on-year basis while production fell 27 per cent during the first half of the current financial year, in continuation with the demand slowdown that has dragged down the industry in several past months. The trend continued in September as the production of CVs slipped to 4,09,153 units from 5,59,514 units a year ago, data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) shows. Domestic sa...

Walmart boosts local MSME sourcing ahead of Diwali, shuns plastic packaging

15/10/2019
Lucknow: US-based retail biggie Walmart has bolstered the local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) procurement ahead of Diwali, a senior company official said here today. The local MSME sourcing is to cater both Diwali gifting options and staple consumer and food items. “We are getting good ‘Diwali’ response as we expand our basket of locally-sourced goods in Uttar Pradesh and other states, especially for Diwali gifting,” Walmart India vice president (Operations North) Vijeet Singh Sh...

NCLAT stays sale of Bhushan Power to Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel

15/10/2019
new delhi: Mumbai: A National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) bench on Monday stayed the sale of stressed steel maker Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) through the insolvency and bankruptcy process to Sajjan Jindal's JSW Steel. The NCLAT also asked the Enforcement Directorate to release the assets of Bhushan Power worth around Rs.4,025 crore, which the government agency had attached in a case relating to bank fraud, on Saturday, reported Bloomberg. JSW Steel had in September moved NCL...

World Bank cuts India’s growth projection to 6 per cent

14/10/2019
new delhi: After a broad-based deceleration in the initial quarters of this fiscal year, India's growth rate is projected to fall to 6 per cent, the World Bank said on Sunday. In 2018-19, the growth rate of the country stood at 6.9 per cent. However, the bank in its latest edition of the South Asia Economic Focus said the country was expected to gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in 2021 and 7.2 per cent in 2022 as it assumed that the monetary stance would remain accommodative, given benign pr...

FPIs pull out over Rs 6,200 cr in Oct so far

14/10/2019
new delhi: Foreign portfolio investors withdrew over Rs 6,200 crore from Indian capital markets in the first two weeks of October, as global recession fears and trade war concerns weighed on sentiments. Foreign investors pulled out a net amount of Rs 4,955.2 crore from the equities and Rs 1,261.9 from the debt segment, taking the total net withdrawal to Rs 6,217.1 crore during October 1-11, as per latest depositories data. Overseas investors were net buyers in the preceding month and had infu...

Government readies next round of measures to boost economy

14/10/2019
new delhi: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and top officials of the finance ministry are working on administrative measures and incentive packages to boost the sluggish economy as the government is “deeply” concerned about the steep fall in key economic parameters besides dwindling revenue collections, three officials aware of the developments have said. The PMO and the North Block have been conducting a series of meetings with central and state government officials to boost revenue generati...

IMF calls for connecting dots between sustainable finance and financial stability

14/10/2019
Washington: Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can have a material impact on the performance of firms and stability of a financial system more broadly, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). That is why more and more investors are looking at issues and factors beyond traditional financial analysis when directing their money. These issues include unsafe working conditions, use of child or forced labour and environmental impact on protected areas. Sustainable finance ...

California walnut growers hope US-India trade deal will reduce tariffs

14/10/2019
Tiburon (US): California walnut growers are hopeful that the US and India will soon strike a trade deal that will reduce the retaliatory tariffs imposed by New Delhi on American walnuts, a top industry official said. India imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US products, including walnuts, almonds and apples from June 5, after the Trump administration revoked its preferential trade privileges. California Walnut Commission's (CWC) Senior Marketing Director, International, Pamela Graviet said tha...

Consumer offers at peak, will go down post October: Maruti Suzuki

14/10/2019
new delhi: Consumer offers on cars during the festive season have reached a peak and it will go down going forward as keeping discounts at such high levels is unsustainable, a senior Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) official has said. The company, which is offering cash discounts and extended warranties on various models, witnessed its sales jump by 18-20% last month as compared with July and August. "We clearly tried to revive the market but we cannot have high level of promotions at all the time, t...

Consumer offers at peak, will go down post October: Maruti Suzuki

14/10/2019

14/10/2019
new delhi: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which recently concluded its Rs 645-crore initial public offering, will make its stock market debut on today. The shares will be listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). “Effective from Monday, October 14, 2019, the equity shares of IRCTC Ltd shall be listed and admitted to dealings on the exchange in the list of ‘B ‘ Group of Securities,” BSE said in a circular. The IPO, which was open for subscription betwee...

Visa, Mastercard shun Facebook’s Libra digital currency plan

13/10/2019
New York: Visa and Mastercard announced their departure from Facebook’s Libra project, a major setback to the social network’s plan for a worldwide digital currency. Along with the two payment giants, several other large companies have said they’re exiting Libra. Payment processing company Stripe is stepping back, as well as e-commerce company eBay. PayPal was the first of Libra’s big partners to leave, announcing last week it would no longer be involved. Facebook has faced substantial criti...

Nirmala Sitharaman seeks help of experts to mend GST ‘flaws’

13/10/2019
Pune: Conceding that GST may have some flaws in its present form, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked tax professionals not to condemn it and sought their help to improve the system instead. The minister was replying to concerns raised by taxation industry professionals here, who said the industry was “cursing” the government over how the GST was implemented. Billed as the biggest reform in indirect taxation, the goods & services tax, which does away with a host of levies from the feder...

RBI fixes cooperative banks’ daily reporting system post PMC collapse

13/10/2019
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has changed the daily reporting system at cooperative banks after the collapse of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank following the unearthing of over Rs 4,000 crore fraud there. In a circular addressed to chief executives of all cooperative banks, the RBI has asked them to replace the existing system of email-based reporting at the branches to a web-based central system. This will make use of RBI’s Central Information System for Banking Infrastructure (CI...

Downward spiral: Industrial output shrinks by 1.1%; at nearly 7-year low

13/10/2019
new delhi: Industrial output crashed to an 81-month low in August, reducing by 1.1 per cent after a contraction in manufacturing output and a deepening slowdown in capital goods production pulled down growth. Falling by the highest margin since November 2012, the index of industrial production (IIP) is now expected to remain muted this fiscal year. “The IIP is likely to show an erratic, low-growth trend. The policy measures announced by the government after the first quarter GDP growth of 5 pe...

Boeing splits CEO, chairman role amid MAX crisis

13/10/2019
New York: Boeing unveiled a shift to its leadership structure on Friday as it manages the 737 MAX crisis, announcing that Dennis Muilenburg will remain chief executive but step down as chairman. The company said splitting the roles would allow Muilenburg to focus full time on running the company "as it works to return the 737 MAX safely to service" while ensuring full support to customers sharpening Boeing's focus on safety. "This decision is the latest of several actions by the board of dire...

Companies welcome US-China trade truce, warn disputes remain

13/10/2019
Beijing: Companies have welcomed a US-Chinese trade truce as a possible step toward breaking a deadlock in a 15-month-old tariff war, while economists caution there was little progress toward settling core disputes including technology that threaten global growth. President Donald Trump said Washington will suspend a tariff hike planned for Tuesday on USD 250 billion of Chinese goods. In exchange, Trump said China agreed to buy as much as USD 50 billion of American farm goods. Details of othe...

New registration norms by Saudi add to Morbi tile cluster’s woes

13/10/2019
Ahmedabad: Woes for the Morbi-based ceramic tile manufacturing cluster of Gujarat, one of the largest in the country, are far from over. If the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order earlier this year to move from fossil fuel-based manufacturing process to carbon friendly fuel impacted its working capital amidst sluggish economy, now international developments have affected the tile manufacturing and exporting cluster in Morbi. A fortnight ago, the Saudi Arabian government changed technical requ...

Festive offer: Star to Zee TV, broadcasters cut a-la-carte channel prices

13/10/2019
new delhi: Three leading Indian broadcasters Walt Disney-run Star TV channels, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and Viacom 18-run Colors have slashed prices for popular à la carte channels by 37 per cent to up to 90 per cent for a limited period in the ongoing festive season. They reduced the monthly charges, even as most of them agreed that the decision will likely lead to a loss in subscription revenues. The move by these broadcasters came close on the heels of the Telecom Regulatory Authority...

Odisha govt allows merchant miners to stash minerals in stock yards

13/10/2019
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has provisioned for intermediate storage of minerals like iron ore, manganese ore and chromite ore produced by merchant miners. Like end-use industries, the merchant miners have also got permission from the state steel & mines department to stash ore in storage depots or stockyards. The merchant miners will be granted storage licenses valid is till March 31, 2022. The facility of storage licenses has been provided to the non-captive or merchant miners keeping...

GoAir invites bids from Airbus and Boeing for planes, plans expansion

13/10/2019
new delhi: GoAir has invited bids from Airbus and Boeing for 20 wide body and 200 narrow body planes as it prepares for the next phase of growth. GoAir has been slow in expansion in comparison to its peers but has grown rapidly in the past two years. It has doubled its fleet to 53 Airbus aircraft and now operates over 325 flights daily. The airline is evaluating various growth plans as it looks to widen its footprint. GoAir invited bids from Airbus and Boeing a month ago, it is learnt. “GoAi...