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https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/coronavirus-driven-debt-crisis-threatens-poor-countries-already-at-risk-says-un-report-5134351.html
As governments struggle to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, billions of people living in countries teetering on the brink of economic collapse are being further threatened by a looming debt crisis, according to a UN report. In its report, the UN-led Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development explores the steps that governments must take to avert debt overload and address the economic and financial havoc caused by the pandemic. "The global community was already falling behind in efforts to end poverty, take climate action and reduce inequalities," UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said. "We have one chance to build back better together for people and for the planet." With recommendations based on joint research and analysis from more than 60 UN agencies and international institutions, the 2020 Financing for Sustainable Development Report outlines measures to address the impact of the unfolding global recession and financial turmoil – particularly in the world's poorest countries. The COVID-19 crisis has shaken global financial markets with heavy losses and intense volatility that has prompted investors to move around USD 90 billion out of emerging markets – the largest outflow ever recorded. Particularly alarming for many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is the prospect of a new debt crisis. To mitigate this, 2020 Financing for Sustainable Development calls, among other things, suspending debt payments from LDCs and other low-income countries; strengthening the global financial safety net; and reversing the decline in official development assistance. “We are far from having a global package to help the developing world to create the conditions both to suppress the disease and to address the dramatic consequences in their populations,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during the recent launch of his report on the Socioeconomic Impact of the COVID-19. “What is needed is a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response amounting to at least 10 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product,” he added. Beyond the immediate crisis response, the coronavirus pandemic should prompt the implementation of long-overdue measures to reset the world on a sustainable development path and make the global economy more resilient to future shocks. To do this, the report recommends accelerating investment in resilient infrastructure; strengthening social protections; enhancing regulatory frameworks; and strengthen the international financial safety net and framework for debt sustainability. While highlighting gaps, new challenges and risks, the current crisis also provides a timely example of the potential of digital technologies. As lockdowns and physical distancing have become the norm, digital communication tools have helped keep people connected and provided online platforms for children to continue their education. But many workers in the so-called “gig economy”, dominated by service sector start-ups, are poorly protected against income losses in a recession. 2020 Financing for Sustainable Development addresses these gaps and other opportunities and challenges of digital finance. “Only a collective response, inspired by shared responsibility and solidarity, will suffice to address the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Chair of the Task Force that issued the report Liu Zhenmin said. “Governments, development partners, the private sector and other stakeholders must work together to combat COVID-19 and support every effort to address its social and economic impacts,” he said.
the report outlines measures to address the impact of the unfolding global recession and financial turmoil. it calls for suspending debt payments from low-income countries and strengthening the global financial safety net. the report also calls for a new debt crisis. it also calls for a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response. the report is based on research and analysis from more than 60 UN agencies and international institutions.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/are-psu-banks-on-the-brink-of-turnaround-maybe-some-are/articleshow/64328644.cms
Others The domestic equity market had a roller-coaster ride this week with the dollar and crude oil hitting higher levels and taking the market lower. However, when crude oil relented, the market bounced back immediately. The change from bearish to bullish sentiment overnight was a little surprising to all. SBI , the country’s biggest lender reported its second straight quarterly loss of Rs 7,718 crore on account of surging provisions for bad loans and erosion in profitability from its core lending and securities trade business. The bellwether of the Indian economy did not meet the Street expectations; but the stock bounced back post results.This shows there was huge pessimism among investors and traders and SBI bounce post earning suggests the worst may be over at least for the interim period.There is very little room left for the stock to go down further in the short term. Also, the management commentary that the worst is over for the bank instills confidence that the coming financial year would be one of hope, as there are chances of recovery of Rs 78,000 crore from the cases in the first two lists of companies referred to NCLT.However, on further analysis it looks like smaller PSU banks such as Allahabad Bank PNB and a few others would recover a much higher amount in terms of percentage of their market cap from IBC resolutions compared with that of SBI.Sugar prices prone to highest cyclicality are facing an existential crisis. Sugar prices have plunged 30-40 per cent, creating a dent in operating margins of companies, which are unable to pay farmers. But is this, the turning point for the mills is that the government is willing to help the battered industry by revisiting the fair and remunerative prices offered. If the government indeed passes protective measures for sugar mills, stock prices are going to bounce, given that internationally sugar prices have moved up 10 per cent, giving higher realisations to exporters.The market has bounced back from the oversold levels, and more such bounces are likely to happen after which Nifty is again expected to start its downward journey to touch lower support levels. Midcaps and smallcaps are expected to bounce more vigorously, as they had corrected more sharply in percentage terms. Traders should buy-on-dips at current weekly low with stop losses. Overall, the market is expected to remain volatile, so stop losses have to be little wider.The domestic equity market can expect some volatility on account of expiry and earnings from a couple of companies such as NTPC Oil India and Aurobindo Pharma , among others. Key sectors to watch out for would be oil and gas, IT and cement. With rising uncertainty on the global front, the market is not in a hurry to begin a northbound journey. Investors can hold on to their investments and look to pick quality stocks to build long-term portfolios. Buy on dips should be the strategy.The Nifty50 closed the week by a marginal 0.08 per cent higher at 10,605.
domestic equity market had a roller-coaster ride this week with the dollar and crude oil hitting higher levels and taking the market lower. but when crude oil relented, the market bounced back immediately. SBI reported its second straight quarterly loss of Rs 7,718 crore on account of surging provisions for bad loans. the bank's bounce post earning suggests the worst may be over at least for the interim period.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/coronavirus-sends-germany-into-recession-to-last-to-mid-year/1929164/
Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany plunged into recession in March, with the slump sparked by the coronavirus pandemic likely to last until the middle of the year, the economy ministry said Wednesday. “Falling global demand, interruption of supply chains, changes in consumers’ behaviour and uncertainty among investors” had all made themselves felt in the export giant, the ministry said. The economic blow from the virus fell just as Germany was beginning to recover from a 2019 marked by the impact of trade wars and Brexit fears. Industry in particular had seen rises in new orders and activity as 2020 got underway, the ministry noted. But “given the massive demand and supply shock at home and abroad from the coronavirus pandemic, economic developments reversed course” for manufacturers, it said. At home, Germany has been in progressively tighter lockdown since mid-March, with Chancellor Angela Merkel set to discuss with state premiers Wednesday whether to extend restrictions beyond the present April 19 cutoff date. “Even if the first protective measures can be loosened somewhat (after April), growth will remain very muted and only revive bit by bit,” the economy ministry forecast. To cushion some of the blow, Berlin has passed a rescue package totalling 1.1 trillion euros, ranging from guarantees for bank lending to business to a state fund that could buy up stakes in stricken companies if necessary. The federal government also eased access to a scheme that tops up workers’ wages if their employer slashes hours. The BA federal labour agency said some 725,000 companies had applied for the assistance, adding that the number of workers affected will likely be “significantly” above the 1.4 million helped in the 2008-9 financial crisis. Berlin estimates that around 2.1 million workers will have to fall back on the support.
the economic blow from the virus fell just as Germany was beginning to recover from a 2019 marked by the impact of trade wars and Brexit fears. industry in particular had seen rises in new orders and activity as 2020 got underway. but 'given the massive demand and supply shock at home and abroad from the coronavirus pandemic, economic developments reversed course'
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/commodities/half-the-trucks-parked-workless-fuel-demand-may-slump-to-5-year-low-diesel-outlook-bleak/2066791/
India’s oil-product demand is set to slump to a five-year low this financial year, with a bleak outlook for diesel consumption as the nation’s truck operators idle vehicles and consider cutting the size of their fleets. About half of India’s trucks are parked up without work and the nation’s biggest operator is shunning new purchases and may downsize after demand crashed due to the pandemic. The workhorses of industry that haul goods all over the country are the biggest consumers of diesel, the most used transport fuel in India and a useful proxy for its economic health. The drag on diesel along with the plunge in jet fuel demand is set to weigh on India’s rebound from the coronavirus. Overall oil-product consumption including transport fuels in the financial year through March 2021 will be around 90% of last year, according to oil refinery executives. That would be the lowest level since 2016. Demand rebounded to about 70% to 80% of pre-virus levels after an initial nationwide lockdown was eased in June. It’s expected to climb to around 90% in the three months through March 2021, according to Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Refineries Director Vinod S. Shenoy. India’s truckers are facing multiples headwinds that are crimping diesel consumption and overall oil demand. Localized lockdowns after a flare-up in infections is slowing economic activity, while tax hikes on the industrial fuel over the past few years have eroded the transport companies’ profits. Idled Trucks “High diesel costs and forced lockdowns have indeed devastated the transport sector and the economy,” said Naveen Kumar Gupta, secretary general of the All India Motors Transport Congress, which represents almost 10 million truckers. “There is a remote chance of its revival in the current financial year,” he said, adding that about 50% of the country’s truck fleet is idle. Gasoline will be the fuel that comes closest to making a complete recovery as people stick to driving their own cars to avoid crowded buses and trains, according to the refinery executives who asked not to be named because they’re not authorized to speak to the media. The slowdown this year has decimated purchases of new trucks and buses, with sales by Tata Motors Ltd. through April to June at a 10th of what it sold in the same period last year. Sales by Ashok Leyland Ltd. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. slumped more than 90% in the four months through July. VRL Logistics Ltd. won’t be purchasing new vehicles and may scrap about 700 of its fleet of 5,000 trucks to rein in costs, Chief Financial Officer Sunil Nalavadi said earlier this month. The nation’s biggest trucker is current operating at about 75% capacity. More than a third of its customers are small- and medium-sized firms, which have been hit hardest by the economic slump. “We expect that 2020 will be a lost year for earnings growth,” VRL Chairman Vijay Sankeshwar said in the company’s annual report.
oil-product demand set to slump to a five-year low this financial year. about half of india's trucks are parked up without work. fuel is the most used transport fuel in india. fuel is set to be the fuel that comes closest to making a complete recovery. fuel is set to be the fuel that comes closest to making a complete recovery.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/indias-fiscal-deficit-may-shoot-to-6-2-of-gdp-in-fy21-fitch-solutions/1915914/
India’s fiscal deficit in 2020-21 may shoot up to 6.2 per cent of the GDP from 3.5 per cent government estimate as a fallout of the Covid-19 economic stimulus package, Fitch Solutions said on Wednesday. With businesses disrupted due to the lockdown and its ripple effects, revenue will come under “heavy pressure” and may force the government to look towards additional borrowing and/or a higher central bank dividend to fund its expenditure, it said. “At Fitch Solutions, we are revising our forecast for India’s FY2020/21 (April-March) central government fiscal deficit to widen to 6.2 per cent of GDP, from 3.8 per cent of GDP previously (estimated by Fitch Solutions), which reflects our view that the government will miss its initial target of 3.5 per cent by a wider margin,” the agency said. Underpinning the revised forecast are weaker revenue collection as a result of a sharp virus-driven downturn in economic activity and higher expenditures aimed at softening Covid-19’s economic shock. Stating that weak economic activity will likely see revenue collection contract in 2020-21, Fitch Solutions said receipts may contract by 1 per cent from a growth of 11.8 per cent previously. “We have revised our FY2020/21 real GDP growth forecast to 4.6 per cent, from 5.4 per cent previously, to reflect our view for growth to weaken further from our estimate of 4.9 per cent in FY2019/20 due to both economic disruptions due to domestic movement restrictions and weak global demand,” it said. The government declared a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning March 25. “The rushed implementation of the lockdown which gave its citizens only a few hours to prepare has reportedly caused many rural migrants in the cities to be left without food and shelter, prompting them to return to their villages, either on the last remaining carriers or on foot.” The mass migration of such workers raises a significant risk of a larger Covid-19 outbreak across the country, it said, adding the rural areas reportedly have fewer coronavirus cases versus the cities as of end-March and the perceived safety of the rural areas has given another reason for the migrant workers to return home. “As such, we see virus-led economic disruptions extending for several quarters, which will weigh heavily on personal and corporate income tax collections for the year,” it said. At the same time, expenditures are expected to surge as the government responds to the Covid-19 crisis both on an economic and social front over 2020-21. “We forecast expenditures to rise by 22.2 per cent despite lower revenue collection,” it said. “Faced with a humanitarian crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, we believe that the central government will have no choice but to increase their spending, over and above what they have planned for in 2020-21 Union Budget and the Rs 1.7 lakh crore (0.8 per cent of GDP) fiscal stimulus package it released on March 26.” The package included cash handouts, free food for the poor, medical insurance for medical staff, and a temporary regulatory amendment for employees of small companies to dip into their pension fund to fund their expenditures in the meantime. Fitch Solutions said the Rs 1.7 lakh crore fiscal stimulus is “inadequate to provide support the economy of India’s size amid a likely global recession”. “In contrast, countries such as Singapore and the US have already announced stimulus packages worth 11 per cent and 10 per cent of GDP, respectively, and still are prepared to do more if necessary,” it said. “As such, we expect additional stimulus packages to be announced by the Indian central government over the coming months, and have accordingly factored this into our deficit forecast revision.”
government's fiscal deficit in 2020-21 may shoot up to 6.2 per cent of GDP. this is a fallout of the covid-19 economic stimulus package, it said. underpinning the revised forecast are weaker revenue collection. the government declared a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning march 25. it said rural migrants in the cities were left without food and shelter.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/us-european-leaders-weigh-reopening-risks-without-a-vaccine-5280711.html
On a weekend when many pandemic-weary people emerged from weeks of lockdown, leaders in the U.S. and Europe weighed the risks and rewards of lifting COVID-19 restrictions knowing that a vaccine could take years to develop. In separate stark warnings, two major European leaders bluntly told their citizens that the world needs to adapt to living with the coronavirus and cannot wait to be saved by a vaccine. “We are confronting this risk, and we need to accept it, otherwise we would never be able to relaunch,” Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said, acceding to a push by regional leaders to allow restaurants, bars and beach facilities to open Monday, weeks ahead of an earlier timetable. The warnings from Conte and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came as governments worldwide and many U.S. states struggled with restarting economies blindsided by the pandemic. In the U.S., images of crowded bars, beaches and boardwalks suggested some weren’t heeding warnings to safely enjoy reopened spaces while limiting the risks of spreading infection. Britain’s Johnson, who was hospitalized last month with a serious bout of COVID-19, speculated Sunday that a vaccine may not be developed at all, despite the huge global effort to produce one. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show “There remains a very long way to go, and I must be frank that a vaccine might not come to fruition,” Johnson wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. President Donald Trump, by contrast, promised Americans a speedy return to normalcy that sounded far more optimistic than most experts say is realistic. “We’re looking at vaccines, we’re looking at cures and we are very, very far down the line,” he said while calling into a charity golf tournament broadcast Sunday broadcast on NBC. “I think that’s not going to be in the very distant future. But even before that, I think we’ll be back to normal.” Trump said events would likely resume with small crowds — if any — but hopes that, by the time the Masters Tournament is played in November, the crowds can return. Health experts, however, say the world could be months, if not years, away from having a vaccine available to everyone, and they have warned that easing restrictions too quickly could cause the virus to rebound. With 36 million newly unemployed in the U.S. alone, economic pressures are building even as authorities acknowledge that reopening risks setting off new waves of infections and deaths. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed optimism Sunday that the U.S. economy could begin to recover in the second half of the year, assuming there isn’t a second wave. But he suggested that a full recovery won’t likely be possible before the arrival of a vaccine. In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Powell said that, once the outbreak has been contained, the economy should be able to rebound “substantially,” while warning it would take much longer for the economy to regain its health than it took for it to collapse. The coronavirus has infected over 4.7 million people and killed more than 315,000 worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University that experts say under counts the true toll of the pandemic. The U.S. has reported over 89,000 dead and Europe has seen at least 160,000 deaths. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death. Some experts noted recent infection surges in Texas, including a 1,800-case jump Saturday, with Amarillo identified as a growing hot spot. Texas officials said increased testing was playing a big role — the more you look for something, the more you find it. Many are watching hospitalizations and death rates in the weeks ahead to see exactly what the new Texas numbers really mean. But Texas was one of the earliest states to allow stores and restaurants to reopen, and Dr. Michael Saag at the University of Alabama at Birmingham called Texas “a warning shot” for states to closely watch any surges in cases and have plans to swiftly take steps to stop them. “No one knows for sure exactly the right way forward, and what I think we’re witnessing is a giant national experiment,” said Saag, an infectious diseases researcher. In the U.S., many states have lifted stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, allowing some types of businesses to reopen. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, told CNN on Sunday that he was concerned to see images of a crowded bar in Columbus, on the first day that outdoor dining establishments were allowed to reopen. “We made the decision to start opening up Ohio, and about 90% of our economy is back open, because we thought it was a huge risk not to open,” he said. “But we also know it’s a huge risk in opening.” The Isle of Palms, one of South Carolina’s most popular beaches, saw a rush of visitors this weekend— with Mayor Jimmy Carroll calling Saturday the busiest day he has seen in his more than 60 years there. But police said almost everyone on the beach and in the ocean was staying a safe distance apart. Houses of worship are beginning to look ahead to resumption of in-person services, with some eyeing that shift this month. But the challenges are steeper in states with ongoing public health restrictions. In Elgin, Illinois, Northwest Bible Baptist Church had sought to welcome back worshipers on Sunday, preparing to scan people’s temperatures and purchasing protective equipment. But that was postponed after local authorities raised questions. The church’s preparations were “more than what they’d had to do if they were at Home Depot or Lowe’s or Walmart,” said Jeremy Dys, a counsel at First Liberty Institute, the legal nonprofit representing Northwest Bible Baptist. “Somehow people going to church are incapable, it’s insinuated, of safely gathering.” Underscoring the tradeoffs involved in resuming such gatherings, officials in California’s Butte County announced Friday that a congregant had tested positive for the virus after attending a Mother’s Day church event that drew more than 180 people. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested that early predictions were overblown. On Monday, Florida restaurants will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity, as can retail shops, museums and libraries. Paula Walborsky, a 74-year-old retired attorney in Tallahassee, Florida, has resisted the temptation to get her hair done and turned down dinner invitations from close friends. But when one of her city’s public swimming pools reopened by appointment, she decided to test the waters. “I was so excited to be back in the water, and it just felt wonderful,” Walborsky said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo got tested for the coronavirus on live television Sunday. Any New Yorkers experiencing flu-like symptoms or those returning to work can now get tested, Cuomo said. “We’re all talking about what is the spread of the virus when you increase economic activity. Well, how do you know what the spread of the virus is? Testing, testing, testing,” he said.
leaders in the u.s. and european countries weigh the risks of lifting COVID-19 restrictions. the european union warns that a vaccine could take years to develop. the u.s. and many european countries are struggling with restarting economies blindsided by the pandemic. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/borrowing-spike-not-to-deter-huge-public-capex-slippage-analysts/1964384/
Despite the hikes in borrowing by the Centre and states, the big revenue hole will imply that they will still have combined ‘uncovered (revenue) loss’ of Rs 7.56 lakh crore in FY21, SBI EcoWrap has estimated. This, in turn, could debilitate general government capital expenditure. The researchers warned that states’ capital expenditure in FY21 might turn out to be half the budgeted level of Rs 8.8 lakh crore. They also noted that the Centre’s budgeted capex for the current fiscal year might be equivalent to its uncovered loss of Rs 4.36 lakh crore, implying a huge potential cut in its capex too. FE has recently reported state governments have applied brakes on capital expenditure in the second half of FY20. An analysis by FE of the finances of 14 state governments showed that their capex declined marginally in April-February of FY20 compared with about 20% growth in such expenditure in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Given that only 58% of the FY20 capex target of Rs 3.6 lakh crore was achieved in the first eleven months, these states must have witnessed huge capex slippage for the whole of the year. Going by SBI research, what the states are going to witness is a unprecedented deep fall in capex that started somewhere in the middle of last fiscal and through FY21. Public capex has been a key driver of economic activities in the past few years in the absence of strong private support. In recent years, the ratio of public capex has been roughly in the 5:5.5:3.5 ratio among the CPSEs, states (budget) and the Centre (Budget). The SBI researchers also highlighted that out of Rs 4.28 lakh crore extra borrowing limit for states, only up to Rs 3.13 lakh crore (73%) might be actually utilised by the state governments in FY21. Based on an analysis of 20 states, SBI chief economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh said only eight of them are in a position to fulfil all the reform conditions stipulated by the Centre and avail of the extra borrowing limit of 2% of gross state domestic product. “We find some of the states like West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh need to fulfil the conditional ties to avail of the borrowings,” Ghosh said. “For instance, West Bengal and Odisha have not adopted the UDAY programme, so they can’t benefit entirely,” he said. Analysts say the increase in borrowing limit is unlikely to require amendment in the FRBM Act for individual states. This, because the Act also permits ‘exceeding annual fiscal deficit target due to ground or grounds of national security, act of war, national calamity, collapse of agriculture severely affecting farm output and incomes, structural reforms in the economy with unanticipated fiscal implications, decline in real output growth of a quarter by at least three per cent points below its average of the previous four quarters”. Pronab Sen, noted economist and former chief statistician, told FE the Centre shouldn’t have applied conditions for granting a one-time relaxation on the borrowing limit, that too, for just a year and for a specific crisis. “The bigger, richer states can tap the window fully by complying with the reform measures, but what about the relatively poor ones,” he asked. “States collectively may have already lost revenue of just under 1% of the GDP (close to `2 lakh crore) and they will lose more later. So about 1.5% of the extra borrowing limit, in any case, will essentially go towards meeting the revenue loss. The additional 0.5%, which is a small amount, can then be utilised to tackle the pandemic. And they have to take care of other issues, including the one involving migrant labourers,” Sen said. He added that the Centre, too, had raised its own borrowing target, without pegging it to any reform condition. Even states’ human resources are stretched, given the social distancing norms. Imposing reform measures at a time when they are at the forefront of battling the Covid-19 crisis isn’t a good step, some analysts said. Whether states use this extra borrowing window or not, is their choice, but giving that choice to them is critical, they added. “The time-frame is limited, so one can’t expect everything (all borrowings) in a year in these unprecedented times when the focus is on pure survival,” SBI’s Ghosh said. Most difficult reforms could be the rolling out direct benefit transfer (DBT) for electricity subsidy to farmers and households. Some states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab are in the process of rolling out power subsidy directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries, instead of routing it through power discoms, whose finances have worsened due to non-release of their dues by respective state governments. “States should pay the farmer the cost of electricity and let farmer pay to discoms so that we know that subsidy actually goes to farmers,” expenditure secretary TV Somanathan said on a news channel. “Many states say that there are leakages and this will help reduce these leakages… Power theft can’t be shown by states as free supply to farmers,” Somanathan said.
researchers warn that states' capital expenditure in FY21 might turn out to be half the budgeted level of Rs 8.8 lakh crore. they also noted that the Centre's budgeted capex for the current fiscal year might be equivalent to its uncovered loss of Rs 4.36 lakh crore. a huge potential cut in capex could also be triggered by the big revenue hole.
Negative
https://www.livemint.com/Politics/vXCcM9XRiiRiJ2uZ9tnuiJ/China-warns-of-retaliation-if-US-slaps-new-tariffs.html
Beijing: China will be forced to retaliate if the United States implements any new tariff measures, China’s commerce ministry warned on Thursday, as the world’s two biggest economies remain locked in an intensifying trade war. Global markets were on edge after US President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports. “If the United States, regardless of opposition, adopts any new tariff measures, China will be forced to roll out necessary retaliatory measures," ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a regular news conference. China will closely monitor the impact from any fresh tariffs and adopt strong measures to help Chinese or foreign firms operating in China to overcome difficulties, said Gao. The Trump administration is ready to move ahead with a next round of tariffs after a public comment period ends at midnight in Washington on Thursday, but the timing is uncertain, people familiar with the administration’s plans told Reuters. The new duties will start to hit consumer products directly, including furniture, lighting products, tires, bicycles and car seats for babies. China and the United States have already slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on $50 billion of each other’s goods, spooking financial markets in recent months as investors and policy makers worried the bitter trade war could derail global growth. Trump is demanding Beijing improve market access and intellectual property protections for U.S. companies, cut industrial subsidies and slash a $375 billion trade gap. Markets fear any fresh US duties on Chinese imports will mark a major escalation in the trade dispute between the world’s two economic giants, potentially causing significant drag on global business investment, trade and growth. In August, China unveiled a proposed list of retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of US goods ranging from liquefied natural gas to certain types of aircraft, in response to the US measures. Trump said on Wednesday that the United States was not yet ready to come to an agreement over trade disputes with China but he said talks would continue. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. Topics
global markets were on edge after US president Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. the new duties will start to hit consumer products directly, including furniture, lighting products, tires, bicycles and car seats for babies. the new duties will start to hit consumer products directly, including furniture, lighting products, tires, bicycles and car seats for babies.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/sp-rating-affirmation-gives-only-breathing-space-to-indian-policymakers-5387631.html
The risk of a second successive sovereign rating downgrade in a week has gone away for the moment. At least that’s the sense one gets with global rating agency Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings on Wednesday affirming India’s 'BBB-' long-term and 'A-3' short-term unsolicited foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings. The agency said the outlook on the long-term rating is stable. The ratings, S&P said, reflects India’s above-average real GDP growth, sound external profile, and evolving monetary settings. But this gives only a temporary relief for Indian policymakers for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, this is a relief. Why is this important to India? Just around a week ago, another global rating agency, Moody’s, had announced a downgrade to India’s sovereign ratings to ‘Baa3’ from ‘Baa2’ citing a range of risks to the Indian economy. The risks highlighted include slow policy implementation, probability of a prolonged slowdown, significant deterioration in government’s fiscal position, and more worryingly, the high risk of bad loans in the financial sector on account of a fast-slowing economy. Although Moody’s was merely aligning the rating view to that of other agencies, there were speculations that a rating downgrade could follow from other rating agencies. This fear has disappeared for now since S&P has decided to stick to the BBB- rating. A second successive downgrade in a week could have had catastrophic effect on the already down investor sentiments, would have weighed on stock markets eroding massive investor wealth and would have certainly added pressure on the policymakers who are desperately trying to address the chaotic economic conditions severely impacted by the onslaught of COVID-19 and its continuing ripple effects across all segments of the economy. The government, walking a thin line on fiscal management, has been unsuccessful so far to give confidence to the stakeholders offering a fitting fiscal stimulus. It has so far managed to ask banks to launch various loan schemes while the direct spending to boost demand has been a disappointing minuscule one percent of the GDP. As mentioned above, Moody’s downgrade wasn’t a big negative for the markets and the financial sector since this was only a reversal of its earlier rate action. In 2017, the agency had upgraded India’s rating in 2017 approving this government’s reform policies. Hence, by downgrading now, the agency was only reversing this rating action after its assessment probably went wrong on reforms. The reform juggernaut has slowed in Asia’s third-largest economy since then except for a corporate tax cut. Investors didn’t overreact with Moody’s rating action since this was essentially going back to the stance of other raters. Even though S&P has left the sovereign rating untouched, it has raised important warning signals to Indian policymakers. What are those? Firstly, "the stable outlook reflects our expectation that India's economy will recover following the containment of COVID-19 pandemic and the country will maintain its sound net external position," S&P said while affirming India's rating at 'BBB-' and maintaining a stable outlook. Secondly, the agency’s stable outlook of India also assumes that the government's fiscal deficit will recede markedly following a multi-year high in fiscal year 2021, it added. In other words, the Indian economy is not yet out of the danger zone of a sovereign rating downgrade if the government fails to act in getting the economy back to the growth orbit at the earliest and rein in the fiscal deficit. S&P rating call is a major wake-up call.
the agency said the outlook on the long-term rating is stable. but this gives only a temporary relief for Indian policymakers. just around a week ago, another global rating agency, Moody’s, had announced a downgrade to India’s sovereign ratings to ‘Baa3’ from ‘Baa2’. the risks highlighted include slow policy implementation, probability of a prolonged slowdown, significant deterioration in government’s fiscal position, and more worryingly, the high risk of bad loans
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/costly-money-firms-may-pay-more-as-govt-borrows-at-6-5/1924126/
The government on Thursday paid a high 6.5299% to mop up 10-year money in a sign companies may need to fork out more for their borrowings. The rate was higher than the yield on the benchmark which closed the day’s session at 6.49%, five basis points higher than Wednesday’s close and an over two-month high. The rising risk-free rate threatens to drive up borrowing costs for companies many of whom are already finding it hard to borrow at affordable rates. Investors in the bond markets have been nervous as they anticipate the government’s borrowings for 2020-21 will be higher than planned given it might announce a fiscal stimulus to help fight the slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The yield on the benchmark has jumped some 35 basis points in four sessions to Thursday. Banks are now the main investors in the bond markets given mutual funds are faced with redemptions and insurers may see premium inflows slowing. Ananth Narayan, professor-finance at SPJIMR, told FE the combined deficit for FY21 would be far higher than budgeted and that this fear explained the rising yields. “Both the SDL and G-sec auctions this week suffered from this excess supply in a market that has been operationally constricted quite severely by the Covid-19 situation. Eventually, the RBI will have to come in, buy bonds, and bridge the gap between supply and demand,” Narayan said. Thursday also saw banks borrowing Rs 25,000 crore via three-year targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO); the funds, which need to be used to buy corporate paper, are raised at close to the repo rate of 4.40%. Siddharth Shah, head, treasury at STCI Primary Dealer, said the auction had sailed through given the extent of fiscal worries and the large size of Rs 10,000 crore for the 10-year paper. “The 10-year bond was expected to see support at 6.50% unless some negative news hits the market. The two uncertainties right now are how much further stimulus will the government announce and whether the RBI will absorb any of the potential additional borrowing by the government,” Shah said. Of the three securities, the bonds maturing in 2022 received bids worth over six times the notified amount of Rs 3,000 crore. The cut-off yield for the paper stood at 5.09%. The 40-year bonds maturing in 2060 as well as the 10-year benchmark bonds received bids worth more than twice their notified amounts with their respective cut-off yields at 7.19% and 6.5299%.The RBI said the greenshoe option was exercised in the paper maturing in 2022 where a further Rs 2,000 crore was accepted over and above the notified amount of Rs 3,000 crore. For the bonds maturing in 2060, only Rs 4,000 crore was accepted against the notified amount of Rs 6,000 crore.
government paid 6.5299% to mop up 10-year money in sign companies may need to fork out more for their borrowings. the rising risk-free rate threatens to drive up borrowing costs for companies many of whom are already finding it hard to borrow at affordable rates. investors in the bond markets have been nervous as they anticipate the government’s borrowings for 2020-21 will be higher than planned.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/economic-recovery-will-be-a-game-change-for-midcap-and-smallcap-stocks-kunj-bansal/articleshow/73065471.cms
Auto no longer best play on India's consumption story: Sameer Narayan "Not only in 2019, if we look at its last three, four, five years or even longer, the whole banking sector pack including SBI has been a consistent underperformer and that is why probably as an investment, it lags behind but offers a very good trading bet." Stick with market leaders, don’t bet on their poor cousins: Basant Maheshwari Ready to bet on Maruti, M&M for next couple of years: Hemang Jani, Sharekhan There is a difference between the push and actual expenditure by the government and the benefit drawn out by the listed companies, says Kunj Bansal, Partner & CIO, Sarthi Group in an interview with ETNOW. In Video: Why Kunj Bansal is avoiding infra stocks despite govt push Digital payments platform Razorpay plans to move its parent firm to India through a cross-country merger that may entail a tax payment of $250-300 million in the US, where it is currently domiciled, according to multiple people aware of discussions. Indians have become the largest real estate investors in the Dubai property market, playing a pivotal role in shaping the city’s real estate market. The Income Tax (I-T) Department is investigating the Indian units of Apple, Google and Amazon over possible non-payment of tax. In connection with a probe that began in 2021, the authorities have sought detailed explanations from the tech behemoths on their transfer pricing (TP) practices, according to people aware of the matter. Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news stock tips and expert advice on ETMarkets . Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. Top Trending Stocks: Sensex Today Live
the income tax (I-T) department is investigating the Indian units of Apple, Google and Amazon over possible non-payment of tax. the govt is reportedly considering a cross-country merger that could entail a tax payment of $250-300 million in the us. the govt is also considering a merger between a chinese company and a u.s. company.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/2020-emissions-precedent-setting-or-bucking-the-trend/articleshow/79986949.cms
PARIS: For a few moments in late April of 2020, oil -- normally the lifeblood of the world economy -- became more expensive to store than to pay someone to take it away.Crude oil's wildly fluctuating futures prices reflected the impact of the coronavirus pandemic , with record falls in greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel demand making 2020 an unexpectedly good year for the climate.The United Nations and the Global Carbon Project both said this month that planet-warming carbon pollution was set to fall seven percent this year, the largest single-year drop in history.As pressure mounts on governments to match action to their promises to slash emissions, such a historic drop is welcome even if it only came about due to the pandemic.It puts 2020 roughly in line with what the UN says is needed to keep the Paris climate deal goal of limiting warming to 1.5C within reach.But with distribution of several Covid-19 vaccines ramping up in 2021, enabling an anticipated global economic rebound, will 2020 be the start of an annual downward emissions trend, or just a momentary blip?"I am afraid that if governments do not take major new policies we may well see that the decline we are experiencing in emissions this year will rebound," Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told AFP."If governments do not put clean energy policies in their economic recovery packages we will go back to where we were before the pandemic."Birol pointed to China, the world's largest polluter, which he said was an "important test run" for how other nations power their Covid-19 recovery."We all know China was the first country to have the coronavirus, the first where there was a lockdown and where the economy declined," he said."But China is also the first country where the economy rebounded and as of today Chinese emissions are higher than levels before the crisis."The UN in its annual Emissions Gap report said last week that 2020's dip in emissions would have only a "negligible impact" on long-term warming without a profound shift towards green energy.It said emissions hit a record high in 2019 of 59.1 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent -- a whopping 2.6 percent higher than the year before.Yet the countries that pollute the most have prioritised sectors heavily reliant on fossil fuels in their stimulus packages.In October, a study by manufacturer Wartsila and Energy Policy Tracker found that G20 nations had earmarked $145 billion for clean energy solutions as part of their recovery funding.This compared with $216 billion that had been pledged for fossil energy, the analysis showed.The UN said this month that production of oil, gas and coal needed to fall 6 percent annually through 2030 to stay on a 1.5-C course.Its Production Gap assessment showed however that countries plan to increase fossil fuel production 2 percent per year this decade.This is despite record low costs for renewable energy technology such as solar and wind.Kingsmill Bond, energy strategist at the market watchdog Carbon Tracker, said he was confident that 2019 would turn out to have been the peak in emissions, as industry wakes up to the new economics of power.He said the "cyclical shock" of Covid-19 had brought forward a downwards trend in carbon pollution which was set to happen anyway, pandemic or not."Global coal demand peaked in 2013. Fossil fuels going into electricity peaked in 2018, even before the crisis. It's been happening all the while," Bond told AFP.He said renewables could now accommodate all global energy demand growth -- roughly 6 exajoules per year -- meaning that fossil fuel demand should peak "by definition".To square the circle between the needed six-percent annual cut in fossil production and countries' two-percent growth plans, Bond pointed to a fundamental economic principle: supply and demand."The supply is continuing to churn because the incumbents haven't realised what's going on -- there's just not going to be demand for it," he said."Imagine you're the Canadian government. You can subsidise production of oil as much as you like, but if the Chinese don't buy it, tough."Subsidies -- in the form of financial support, tax breaks and underwriting -- remain a significant impediment to greening the economy.IEA chief Birol said the G20 currently spends a total of over $300 billion in "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies."Fossil fuels today enjoy a significant amount of subsidies from governments, mainly in emerging economies, which creates unfair competition for clean energy sources, distorts the markets and leads to inefficient use of energy," he said.As well as an unprecedented drop in emissions, 2020 saw numerous large emitters -- including China and Japan -- commit to achieving carbon neutrality for the first time.Climate Action Tracker has calculated that countries' current net-zero plans, if enacted, could limit warming to 2.1C -- not Paris-compliant, but better than the current course of more than 3C of heating by 2100.Corinne Le Quere, a climatologist and co-chair of the Global Carbon Project, said she expected emissions to rebound in 2021 and to plateau in the years to follow.She said 2019 could be the peak-emissions year "in an optimistic scenario, but not in the most realistic scenario"."We will either see a plateau or growth in emissions for some years before green investments" begin to pay off, said Le Quere.And although emissions tumbled in 2020, the climate responds to greenhouse gas levels already in the atmosphere.The Global Monitoring Laboratory at the Mauna Loa Observatory on December 8th measured CO2 concentrations at 412.87 parts per million -- 0.36 percent higher than the same day last year."It's like water in a bathtub," said Le Quere."For the last 100 years we have had the tap open and the water running, increasing the volume of CO2 in the atmosphere."In 2020, we turned the tap down a little, but the water level continues to rise."
iea chief: if governments don't take major new policies we may see decline in emissions. if governments don't put clean energy policies in economic recovery packages, we will go back to where we were before pandemic. iea chief: "if governments do not put clean energy policies in their economic recovery packages we will go back to where we were before the crisis"
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/infra-work-worth-rs-50000-cr-to-begin-this-fiscal-kerala-fm-2527345.html
The CPI(M) led LDF government in Kerala has lined up Rs 50,000 crore worth infrastructure work for the current fiscal to revive the economy, badly hit by demonetisation and implementation of GST, State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said today. Of this amount, administrative sanction had already been accorded to works worth Rs 20,000 crore and approval for the remaining would also be given soon, he said. Stating that Kerala as well as the nation was in the grip of a fiscal crisis after the note ban and implementation of GST, Isaac claimed this state government initiative was one of the biggest packages ever announced in the country. He said the fiscal problem faced by the state would not affect the proposed investments. Isaac was replying to a calling attention in the assembly on the need to solve the fiscal crisis faced by many sectors in Kerala due to demonetisation and GST implementation. Rejecting the opposition UDF's charge that the state government has not taken any steps to rejuvenate the economy, he announced that Rs 50,000 crore worth infrastructure work had been lined up for this fiscal. "Actual work for these projects will start this year itself", he said, adding this would definitely give a fillip to the state's financial status. Isaac said the setback the state had due to GST was expected to be over in the coming days. Demonetisation had badly affected the co-operative sector in the state, he said and alleged that the Centre attempted to 'destroy' the sector under the cover of the note ban. As LDF was committed to safeguard this sector, the process of setting up the Kerala Bank was on, he said. The government plans to set up the bank by merging district Co-operative banks with state Co-operative banks. The three-tie society would become a two-tier system with the formation of Kerala Bank, he said.
the state government has lined up Rs 50,000 crore worth of infrastructure work. the state is badly hit by demonetisation and implementation of GST. the state is in the grip of a fiscal crisis after the note ban and implementation of GST. the state government has already sanctioned works worth Rs 20,000 crore. the remaining works will also be approved soon, state finance minister says.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/no-yes-bank-says-rahul-accuses-government-of-destroying-economy/articleshow/74507983.cms
No Yes Bank. Modi and his ideas have destroyed India’s economy. #NoBank — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) 1583476220000 NEW DELHI: "No Yes Bank ," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday, taking a dig at the BJP-led government over the moratorium placed on Yes Bank, and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "ideas" had destroyed the country's economy."No Yes Bank. Modi and his ideas have destroyed India's economy," the former Congress chief said in a tweet.Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium on Thursday, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capping deposit withdrawals at the bank at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.The bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance, make any investment, incur any liability or agree to disburse any payment during the period.For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, a former chief financial officer of the State Bank of India (SBI).
Rahul Gandhi: "modi and his ideas have destroyed the country's economy" yes bank placed under a moratorium on deposit withdrawals on Thursday. the bank will not be able to grant or renew any loan or advance. the bank will be led by a former chief financial officer of the state bank of india. a former chief financial officer of the state bank of india (SBI) will oversee Yes Bank.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/cpse-closure-plans-stuck-only-two-tiny-firms-have-wound-up-since-2014/1443936/
While the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is beginning to impart momentum to the way industrial sickness is resolved without the assets in question losing much value, a scheme announced by the NDA government in September 2016 would have complemented this process by fast-tracking the closure of perennially sick central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). However, it has managed to complete the winding up of only two of the 19 sick CPSEs that have been approved for closure since it came to power in 2014. In the case of another about 10 such CPSEs recommended for closure by the Niti Aayog, the government is yet to take a call, while its ‘revival plan’ for the mammoth Air India, which is deep in the red, carries little conviction. The under-achievement in liquidating terminally sick CPSEs is being ascribed to stay orders put by courts (mostly on petitions filed by workers’ unions and banks), delays in disposal of lands and other immovable assets and non-payment of statutory dues like salaries and taxes. READ ALSO: Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal books $21 million ride in Ola While two relatively small companies — Indian Oil —CREDA Biofuels and CREDA-HPCL Biofuels — are the ones that completed the closure formalities, many large loss-making firms that are a drain on the exchequer, including Hindustan Photo Films, HMT Watches, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (IDPL) and Tungabhadra Steel Products, are still awaiting closure. The CPSE sickness has been a intractable issue for many years, with its deleterious impact on government finances and the erosion of capital assets created. There were 188 government companies and corporations with accumulated losses of Rs 1,23,194 crore as on March 31, 2017. Of these, the net worth of 71 companies had been completely eroded by their accumulated losses. In FY18, there were 71 loss-making CPSEs which posted combined losses of Rs 31,261 crore, up 14% y-o-y. READ ALSO: Bajaj Finance slapped with Rs 1 crore penalty by RBI; here’s why During the tenure of the NDA government, nearly 3,000 acres of land belonging to 19 units were disposed of with the CPSEs either returning the land to the respective state governments or selling the immovable asset to public or private agencies. Of the remaining 4,000-acre land in their possession, a sizeable chunk will be used for the affordable housing projects of the Centre, while the balance land parcels are entangled in disputes over titles and other records and are mostly under litigation. So far, about 6,000-odd staff of these entities have taken VRS or they have been retrenched. In many cases, employees have gone to the court against VRS conditions and have obtained stay orders on the closure process. In some cases, lenders too have got stay on the process as their dues have not been cleared. READ ALSO: CPI inflation falls to 18-month low; declines to 2.19% in December The name of a company can’t be struck of the registrar of companies if statutory dues are not settled. For example, in the case of HMT Watches, which got the Cabinet approval for closure in 2016, 813 employees were relieved on VRS while 2 were terminated. However, 146 employees at its facility in Ranibagh (Uttarakhand) did not opt for VRS and challenged the decision in the high court, which granted a stay. However, the company’s land and buildings in Bengaluru and Tumkur were sold to Isro and some to Gail. Similarly, in HMT Tractor case, 850 out of its 1,000-odd employees opted for VRS. But, 150 workmen did not avail of VRS and moved the court and the closure has to wait till the case is adjudicated. READ ALSO: Reality check: 10% quota for economically weaker section, but govt job vacancies shrinking, shows DoPT data “The government is literally struggling to close down the sick CPSEs which are a drag on the exchequer,” an official said. The Cabinet approved closure of Ooty-based Hindustan Photo Films in October 2004. But the process had remained stuck for 13 years owing to a litigation over VRS terms. The Madras High Court finally resolved the matter related to the compensation to some employees in 2017. Even though it has virtually no operations for years, Hindustan Photo Films continues to be one of the top loss-making CPSEs with annual losses of about Rs 3,000 crore each for the past several years due to unpaid liabilities including loans. It made a loss of Rs 2,917 crore in FY18.
only two of 19 CPSEs approved for closure since it came to power in 2014. under-achievement in liquidating terminally sick CPSEs is being ascribed to stay orders put by courts. 71 loss-making CPSEs posted combined losses of Rs 31,261 crore. despite this, the government is yet to take a call on the'revival plan' for the mammoth air india.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/these-quality-midcap-stocks-show-promise/articleshow/62897453.cms
The Sensex has declined 4.63 per cent since February 1, erasing almost all gains of 2018 on account of a mix of the turmoil in global bond market, long-term capital gains tax, widening fiscal deficit and likely inflationary pressures due to MSP hikes. Shares of many companies, considered to be high- quality because of strong financial ratios, too have corrected between 5 per cent and 15 per cent since the beginning of February.In the BSE 200 index, there are 15 mid-cap stocks( market capitalisation below Rs 30,000 crore) with debt to equity ratio of less than 1 and those that have consistently maintained return on capital employed (RoCE) of over 15 per cent in each of the last five years. They have also generated free cash-flow for at least three out of the past five years.These include Exide Industries Kajaria Ceramics , Castrol India and Ajanta Pharma among others. According to Bloomberg consensus estimates, these stocks can give a return between 17 per cent and 20 per cent in one year. “In our view, the current fall and any further correction in the near term should be viewed as a window of opportunity to enhance allocation to quality stocks, especially those that have underperformed relative to the markets,” said Ravi Sundar Muthukrishnan, head - institutional equity research at Elara Securities.“Quality stocks are those with high and consistent RoCE and operating spreads, low variability and less accrual accounting induced operating margin, free cash flow positive, low leverage and high earnings visibility”, he added.
Sensex has declined 4.63 per cent since february 1, erasing almost all gains of 2018. shares of many companies, considered to be high- quality because of strong financial ratios, too have corrected between 5 per cent and 15 per cent since the beginning of february. in the BSE 200 index, there are 15 mid-cap stocks with debt to equity ratio of less than 1 and those that have consistently maintained return on capital employed (RoCE) of over 15 per cent in each of the last five years
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/coronavirus-crisis-as-outbreaks-flatten-in-places-japan-india-see-more-covid-19-cases/1923522/
Coronavirus infections are spiking in Japan and creating hot spots in India’s congested cities just as the US and some of the hardest-hit European countries are considering when to start easing restrictions that have helped curb their outbreaks of the disease. Japan reported more than 500 new cases for the first time Thursday, a worrisome rise since it has the world’s oldest population and COVID-19 can be especially serious in the elderly. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency, but not a lockdown, in Tokyo and six other prefectures earlier this week. Companies in the world’s third-largest economy have been slow to embrace working from home, and many commuters were on Tokyo’s streets as usual. India, whose 1.3 billion people are under a lockdown until next week, has sealed dozens of hot spots in and around the capital, and will supply residents with food and medicine while not allowing them to leave. The number of confirmed cases exceeds 5,000, with 166 deaths, according to India’s Health Ministry. Meanwhile, deaths, hospitalizations and new infections have been leveling off in places like Italy and Spain, which together have more than 30,000 deaths. Even New York has seen encouraging signs amid the gloom. At the same time, politicians and health officials warn that the crisis is far from over and a catastrophic second wave could hit if countries let down their guard too soon. We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing, New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. But it’s not a time to be complacent. It’s not a time to do anything different than we’ve been doing. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has climbed to about 1.5 million worldwide, with nearly 90,000 deaths, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are almost certainly much higher, because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and concealment by some governments. The US has by far the most confirmed cases, with over 430,000 people infected. New York state on Wednesday recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, for an overall death toll of almost 6,300, more than 40% of the U.S. total of around 15,000. The bad news is actually terrible, Cuomo said. Still, the governor said hospitalizations are decreasing and many of those now dying fell ill in the outbreak’s earlier stages. In a sign of how much the virus has affected air travel, the number of Americans getting on airplanes sank to a level not seen since the 1950s, the dawn of the jet age. The Transportation Security Administration screened fewer than 100,000 people on Tuesday, a drop of 95% from a year ago. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was improving and sitting up in bed, authorities said, after he had spent a second night in intensive care due to COVID-19 symptoms. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious-diseases expert, said the Trump administration has been working on plans to eventually reopen the country amid evidence that social distancing is working to stop the virus’s spread. But he said it’s not time to scale back such measures: Keep your foot on the accelerator because this is what is going to get us through this, he said at Wednesday’s White House briefing.
the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has climbed to about 1.5 million worldwide, with nearly 90,000 deaths. the number of deaths is up by more than 40% from the u.s., with over 430,000 people infected. the u.s. has the most confirmed cases, with over 430,000 people infected. the u.s. has the most confirmed cases, with over 430,000 people infected.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/sensex-nifty-gain-5-after-3-day-trading-holiday-check-whats-driving-this-rally-on-d-street-today/1920990/
After a three-day trading holiday, headline indices Sensex and Nifty started the week with a uptick of nearly 5 per cent on Tuesday mirroring the gains in the global markets. S&P BSE Sensex was trading 1,325 points or 4.80 per cent to 28,961, while the broader Nifty 50 index was ruling at 8,446, up 363 points or 4.5 per cent higher. “Traders should continue with the “sell on rise” approach and prefer trading through options strategies. At the same time, investors should keep their shopping list handy and utilise further correction to accumulate fundamentally sound counters in a staggered manner. We believe the market trend will continue to remain challenging until the fresh cases start to decline,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said. IndusInd Bank gains 18%: As many as 29 stocks out of 30 Sensex stocks were trading green today, with IndusInd Bank as the top gainer, up 18 per cent to Rs 370, followed by M&M, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma. While Bajaj Finance was the only loser on the pack, down 2.64 per cent. All sectoral indices trade higher: All the Nifty sectoral indices were trading higher today with Nifty Private Bank index leading the gains, up 6.68 per cent driven by IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. Similarly, Nifty IT index was up 5.26 per cent with HCL Tech, Infosys and TCS as the top index gainers. Global markets: Asian stocks climbed tracking gains on Wall Street on signs of a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths. Nikkei futures opened lower but were 2.3% above the cash close. The yen eased 0.01% as traders awaited more details on the government’s stimulus package. US stocks rocketed higher on Monday, with each of the major indexes rallying at least 7%, after a fall in the daily death toll in New York, fueled optimism a leveling off of the pandemic was on the horizon, Reuters reported. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,627.46 points, or 7.73%, to 22,679.99, the S&P 500 gained 175.03 points, or 7.03%, to 2,663.68 and the Nasdaq Composite added 540.16 points, or 7.33%, to 7,913.24. Gold prices touch record high- Gold June futures were up 3.19 per cent or Rs 1,393 to Rs 45,115 per 10 grams at around 9.40 am. It scaled an all-time high of Rs 45,724 at the open. Silver May futures were up 5.21 per cent or Rs 2,146 to Rs 43,369 per kg on MCX.
Sensex and nifty started the week with a 5% uptick. broader Nifty 50 index ruling at 8,446, up 363 points or 4.5 per cent. 'traders should continue with the "sell on rise" approach,' says analyst. 'we believe the market trend will continue to remain challenging until the fresh cases start to decline'
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/auto/coronavirus-impact-24-drop-expected-in-pv-sales-in-fy21-says-siam/story/400596.html
KEY HIGHLIGHTS: PV sales to decline 20-24% if GDP growth falls below 1% in FY21 CV and two-wheelers sales to see 32-35% and 27-30% slump, respectively Industry to go back by a decade with volumes of 2.15 million units -- last seen in FY11. Industry to log double digit decline in sales for two financial years in a row -- first time ever Impact on suppliers and dealers yet to be estimated, but likely to be even worse Sale of passenger vehicles could decline by as much as 20-24 per cent in financial year 2020-21 in the worst case scenario as a result of the impact of a long drawn out recovery from the coronavirus pandemic in India, calculations made by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has revealed. These numbers are based on GDP growth in the country slowing down to less than 1 per cent in the fiscal. This decline would push industry volumes back by a decade to around 2.15 million units, a level last seen in FY11. This would be the second straight fiscal that vehicle sales would have tumbled in double digits. In FY20, sales declined by over 17 per cent to around 2.77 million units. SIAM simulated the number for two other scenarios projecting GDP growth at a more optimistic 4 and 3 per cent depending on the duration of the pandemic and its impact on the overall economy. In the most optimistic case of a 4 per cent GDP growth, vehicle sales would decline by 10-12 per cent while in case of a 3 per cent GDP growth, it would decline by 13-16 per cent. At the start of the year in January 2020, without the shadow of the pandemic, SIAM had internally projected a 2-4 per cent growth for the industry in fiscal 2021. With the lockdown that has completely stalled industrial activity in the country, any growth this year is now a foregone conclusion. "These are still hypothetical numbers, more like a theoretical exercise. But the chances of the situation being much better than what is being said is far less than they being much worse. We are at the dark end of the tunnel when we cannot even say whether we are at the bottom yet," said an industry executive. The other segments of the $120 billion industry are likely to fare even worse. In case of a less than 1 per cent GDP growth, the decline in commercial vehicle sales is projected at 32-25 per cent, two-wheelers at 27-30 per cent and three-wheelers at 28 per cent. Overall industry volumes would decline by over 20 per cent. In case of a 4 per cent GDP growth, the decline would be 17-20 per cent for commercial vehicles, 16-18 per cent for two-wheelers and 18 per cent for three-wheelers. Overall volume contraction would be 13 per cent. Sale of automobiles in the country generally follows the overall trend of GDP growth but does deviate at times. The just concluded FY20 was an example of that. While GDP growth for the fiscal was estimated at 5 per cent, overall automobile industry declined by over 16 per cent. Also read: India Coronavirus Live Updates: Country records 540 new COVID-19 cases, 17 deaths in 24 hours; tally at 5,095 Also Read: Infographic: The big PPEs shortage in battling coronavirus
industry body society of india's auto industry to record double digit decline in sales. decline would push industry volumes back by a decade to 2.15 million units. if GDP growth falls below 1% in fiscal, sales would drop by 20-24%. if GDP growth falls below 1%, industry could see a 20-24% decline. industry to see a 10-year decline in sales, compared to last year's figures.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/market-live-sensex-up-200-pts-nifty-midcap-extends-gains-manpasand-beverages-dips-20-2576811.html
May 28, 2018 / 05:18 PM IST State-owned lenderBank of IndiaMonday reported a net loss of Rs 3,969.27 crore for the March quarter, as asset quality worsened and provisions increased. The bank had posted a loss of Rs 1,045.52 crore in the same quarter last year. Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated the bank's loss to come in at Rs 1,187 crore. Net interest income or NII (the difference between interest earned and paid) fell 26 percent to Rs 2,563.85 crore from Rs 3,469 crore in the year-ago period. A Reuters poll estimated an NII decline of 22 percent to Rs 2,699 crore.
bank of india reports net loss of Rs 3,969.27 crore for the quarter. asset quality worsens and provisions increase. net interest income falls 26 percent to Rs 2,563.85 crore from Rs 3,469 crore in year-ago period. a Reuters poll estimated an NII decline of 22 percent to Rs 2,699 crore. a Reuters poll estimated an NII decline of 22 percent to Rs 2,699 crore.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/buy-on-dips-sell-on-rise-best-strategy-till-nifty-touches-11300-11500-sumit-bilgaiyan-5566461.html
live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × In August, more companies will report their results which are expected to be weaker than expected. At that time, if Nifty has crossed levels of 11,300-11,500, there could be a significant correction, which is fundamentally due," Sumit Bilgaiyan, Founder of Equity99 said in an interview to Moneycontrol's Sunil Shankar Matkar. Edited excerpt: Q: Market remained volatile in last two weeks but up move continued. Do you think the market will not look back at 10,000 again? The market is expected to cross 11,000 soon as per technical analysis. While fundamentally the Asian markets have witnessed a sharp rebound and continue to remain strong owing to which Nifty retracting to 10,000 seems difficult. As FII inflows continue to remain strong the liquidity remains healthy and hence sharper correction without a specific event trigger on domestic/global seems unlikely and bullish trend is expected to continue from minor retracement from time to time. In August, as more companies shall report their results which are expected to be weaker than expectation, that is when if Nifty has crossed levels of 11,300-11,500 then there could be a significant correction which is fundamentally due. Q: Yes Bank FPO finally received 95 percent subscription with large support from QIBs. Do you think the stock price will get adjusted to near issue price of Rs 12 before listing? There may be a minor price correction but it may not get adjusted to Rs 12 as the primary reports suggest around 27 DIIs have subscribed for the FPO which indicates these investors strong expectations of a turnaround and hence owing to these DIIs the liquidity shall remain healthy and steep correction remains unlikely. The way forward for the bank continues to see as that of dark clouds before the sunshine. The firm has been able to raise this survival capital but COVID led challenges have deepened the woes for the bank. As the entire sector is expected to witness low growth in book size, reduction in recoveries, decline in NIIs, NIMs and increased slippages the near term outlook for Yes Bank continues to be challenging. And a lot now depends on overall economic health rather than management's capability to steer around, albeit ones looking for a turnaround story and a multibagger kind of growth with accepting the risk of ending up with pennies on the dollar return on the downside may choose to stay invested/pour in fresh capital. Q: Given the 79 percent subscription to Rossari Biotech, do you expect a bumper listing? The agro chemical space is a niche one and Rossari's peers continue to trade at premium, owing to the fact that Rossari's key clientele is across FMCG, Apparel, Poultry and animal feeds industry. In the near term, it is one of the key segments - FMCG is expected to deliver strong outperformance while Poultry and Animal feeds industry are going to remain muted while Apparel is expected to hit hard, owing to which we do not expect the firm's performance to remain rangebound in term. This coupled with the fact that that stock is listing at a discount to its peers in terms of valuation multiple, one may choose to book profits on listing day or in a couple of days of listing and await for a better price point to enter again around Q2 results/ on any major market driven fall as we believe the firm is poised in right segments for delivering a strong growth over medium to long term. Q: Given the current consistent up move in the market, what should be investors'/traders' strategy? Buy on dips and sell on rise seems to be the best strategy looking at the current trend till market reaches/cross 11,300-11,500 levels, post which one needs to trade with caution with long only bets. Q: What are your top ideas with a one year view, that can sustain its performance in every fall or remain evergreen for portfolio? Poddar Pigments Poddar Pigments has the unique distinction of being the first company in India to manufacture masterbatches for dope dyeing of polypropylene, nylon & polyester multifilament yarn/ fibers. PPL has an equity capital of Rs 10.61 crore supported by reserves of Rs 177.56 crore. It has a share book value of Rs 197.14 with a price to book value ratio is just 0.93x which is highly attractive. For FY20, the PAT zoomed 28.48 percent to Rs 21.25 crore as against Rs 16.54 crore on sales of Rs 356.67 crore fetching an EPS of Rs 20.03. At the CMP of Rs 183, the stock trades at a P/E of just 9.1x. Company is setting up a new plant at Chaksu. We are recommending a strong buy for medium to long term. MCX Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) is India's first listed, national-level, electronic exchange. It is also the first exchange to introduce commodity options in India. In the financial year 2019-20, the market share of MCX was at a record high of 94.01 percent. For FY20, it reported 61.72 percent higher PAT of Rs 236.50 crore on 24.70 percent higher income of Rs 374.15 crore and an EPS of Rs 46.48. At the CMP, the MCX share trades at a PE ratio of 29x. Company recommends a 200 percent dividend for FY20. Mutual Funds hold 21.40 percent and FPIs hold 32.58 percent and other DIIs hold 17.92 percent stake in this company. We are recommending a strong buy for medium to long term. Sun Pharma Sun Pharma is the world's fourth largest specialty generic pharmaceutical company and India's top pharmaceutical company. Its global presence is supported by manufacturing facilities spread across 6 continents and approved by multiple regulatory agencies, coupled with a multi-cultural workforce comprising over 50 nationalities. During FY20, its operating profit has grown at 10.82 percent to Rs 6,989.76 crore and PAT has grown at 41.25 percent to Rs 3,764.93 crore. During FY20, its sales has grown 12.98 percent to Rs 32,837.50 crore. Stock is looking highly explosive at CMP for positional traders and investors. We are recommending a strong buy for medium to long term. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
in august, more companies will report their results which are expected to be weaker than expected. if Nifty has crossed levels of 11,300-11,500, there could be a significant correction. the market is expected to cross 11,000 soon as per technical analysis. a lot now depends on overall economic health rather than management's capability to steer around. a lot now depends on overall economic health rather than management's ability to steer around.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/policy/covid-19-monetary-policy-too-needs-fiscal-support-5158941.html
Renu Kohli Ever since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fired its ‘bazooka’ on March 27, the bond market has treaded an altogether reverse path. On the day, the benchmark 10-year bond yield responded, albeit lukewarmly, to the central bank’s 75 basis point policy rate cut with mere 20 basis point softening. That, no doubt, also included reaction to outright open market purchases the same day (Rs 150 billion). Since then, term premia have climbed steadily, with the benchmark yield back to pre-75 bps cut or the March 26 value in less than a week, (6.29 percent, April 3). Till date, the reference long yield has risen 5.4 percent on its lowest, 6.09 percent, base on the day of the monetary policy review. A longer view shows this tepid response to monetary policy cues is not new, for the sovereign long bond yield has lowered about 100 basis points in response to the cumulative 210 basis points of policy rate easing over a year. The rising risk premia reflect the spiralling of fiscal risks due to the COVID-19 shock. Markets now anticipate a larger fiscal deficit — from the extra-expenditures on health and provision of economic support as well as the revenue losses from the stoppage of economic activities. This means a steep rise in market borrowings over the planned amounts. Air is rife with speculation for nearly three weeks; the recommended corona-package sizes range from 2-5 percent of GDP to that of matching the United States. Such apprehensions have built market perceptions, pushing up term premia, triggering thereon the strong advocacy that the adverse turn in beliefs be resolved through primary market issue purchases by the central bank. The churn spilled over to a humongous jump in borrowing costs of the state governments, soon after the 75 bps policy rate easing — spreads over the 10-year sovereign bond yield rose to 140-160 basis points on April 7 auction, easing somewhat this week (117 basis points, April 13) but still much higher than the historical average spreads. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Markets have not spared the central government either, which faced higher costs — 6.51 percent weighted average yield on 10-year benchmark — at the auction last week. It is unclear why the RBI did not perform open market operations (OMOs) in response to these developments. However, it’s noteworthy that the rise in risk premia in April’s first fortnight follows three consecutive OMO purchases in the last week of March (Rs 411.4 billion on March 23-27). Such high borrowing costs are simply unsustainable, given the existing debts and deficits of both central and state governments, and the adverse turn in the growth outlook. It is also undermining monetary easing and other efforts aimed at a downward trajectory in interest rates to help the economy. The fiscal position was already too tight with not a centimetre to spare this February. Then, the government used the legally-permitted ‘escape clause’ to offset two years of successive revenue decline. As budgeted balances are set aside by the unanticipated health and economic catastrophe, the fiscal position is now set to burst open at the seams. However, the need for policy support — monetary and fiscal — is unquestionable. Indeed, it is fiscal policy that has to bear the weight of policy response in this crisis — to support lost incomes, prevent bankruptcies, especially at the most vulnerable segments. However, the government has not so far revealed its mind about any such additional expenditure towards the twin health and economic crises; nor has it indicated more borrowings than budgeted for the year. An economic task force was set up at the launch of the lockdown on March 24, but its views are still not known. However, the speculative build-up in the bond market, the resulting negation of monetary policy is counterproductive. This needs urgent redress by the government that has maintained an unusual silence on its fiscal plans. Even if it is waiting to get a better handle on COVID-19’s negative economic effects — this is understandably not easy, given the enormous uncertainty about the pandemic’s evolution — there is a need to break or confront the rising interest rate environment with some clarity on expected extra-expenditure and its financing. A coarse ballpark figure of this year’s anticipated deficit and a fair idea about how the crisis-expenditures will be reversed in the next few years (i.e. credible medium-term consolidation plan) is crucial to address market fears, dispel confusion about fiscal evolution and financing, and establish market confidence to pave a softer interest rate path. Monetary policy cannot accomplish this alone. Renu Kohli is a New Delhi-based macroeconomist. Views are personal.
benchmark 10-year bond yield responded to the central bank’s 75 basis point policy rate cut with mere 20 basis point softening. since then, term premia have climbed steadily, with the benchmark yield back to pre-75 bps cut or the march 26 value in less than a week. till date, the reference long yield has risen 5.4 percent on its lowest, 6.09 percent, base on the day of the monetary policy review.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/oil-steadies-as-saudi-tensions-balance-demand-outlook-3049381.html
Oil prices steadied, supported by geopolitical tension over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist that has stoked worries about supplies from Riyadh, but weighed by concern over long-term demand outlook. Brent crude futures for December delivery rose 35 cents to settle at $80.78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 44 cents to settle at $71.78 a barrel. Last week, both contracts fell by more than 4 percent as U.S. stock markets tumbled. However, rising geopolitical tension between the United States, the world's top oil consumer, and Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest crude producers, supported prices on Monday. Riyadh has been under pressure since journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom and a U.S. resident, disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it is found that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate. Saudi Arabia said it would retaliate for any action against it over the Khashoggi case, state news agency SPA reported on Sunday, quoting an official source. This comes at a critical time for global oil markets, which are bracing for U.S. sanctions against Iran due to come into force on Nov. 4. The United States is still aiming to cut Iran's oil sales to zero, Washington's special envoy for Iran said on Monday. Turkey and Italy are the last buyers of Iranian crude outside China, India and the Middle East, according to tanker data and an industry source, the latest sign that shipments are taking a major hit from the looming sanctions. Some producers are aiming to boost production amid the falling Iranian exports, with Iraq planning to increase oil exports from its southern ports to 4 millions barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of 2019. "If the Saudis don't come to the rescue when the Iranian sanctions kick in ... it's going to be a very undersupplied market. That was the fear that was initially driving prices higher," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. However, some risk premium was taken out of the market when Trump on Monday raised the possibility that "rogue killers" could have been responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance. Exerting downward pressure on prices, Friday's monthly report from the International Energy Agency said the market looked "adequately supplied for now" and cut its forecasts for world oil demand growth this year and next. The secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last week said that the group saw the oil market as well supplied and that it was wary of creating a glut next year. Market participants also focused on a weakening gasoline crack spread. Gasoline's premium to WTI sank to $9.49, the weakest since February 2017. "We are continuing to emphasize a virtual collapse in the NYMEX gasoline crack spreads as a bearish consideration to the crude markets that provided a significant offset to the weekend Saudi headlines in today's trade," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note.
oil prices steadied on Monday, supported by geopolitical tensions. tensions over the disappearance of journalist jamal Khashoggi stoked worries. but oil prices were also weighed by concerns over long-term demand outlook. u.s. stock markets tumbled last week, but oil prices remained steady. a u.s.-saudi trade war has sparked concern over supply.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/last-british-governor-says-hong-kong-betrayed-by-china-5308061.html
The last British governor of Hong Kong said China has betrayed the semi-autonomous territory by tightening control over the city it had promised could keep freedoms not found on the mainland. “What we are seeing is a new Chinese dictatorship,” Chris Patten told an interview with The Times of London. “I think the Hong Kong people have been betrayed by China, which has proved once again that you can't trust it further than you can throw it.” He said the British government “should make it clear that what we are seeing is a complete destruction of the Joint Declaration,” a legal document under which the former British colony was returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” framework. It gives Hong Kong its own legal system and Western-style freedoms until 2047. But many fear those are being chipped away after authorities clamped down on massive pro-democracy protests that rocked the city last year. Last week, Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers sharply criticized China's move to enact national security legislation in the territory, which was submitted on the opening day of China's national legislative session. It would forbid secessionist and subversive activity, as well as foreign interference and terrorism. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the move “a death knell for the high degree of autonomy” that Beijing had promised Hong Kong. Patten told Times he believed that “one country, two systems,” the treaty logged at the United Nations, would be enough to protect Hong Kong's capitalist economy and its way of life. “China cheats, it tries to screw things in its own favor, and if you ever point this out their 'wolf warrior' diplomats try to bully and hector you into submission," he said. “It's got to stop otherwise the world is going to be a much less safe place and liberal democracy around the world is going to be destabilized.” He called on Britain to do more to stand up to China and protect Hong Kong under its legal obligations. “Britain has a moral, economic and legal duty to stand up for Hong Kong,” he said. “The real danger is that we are entirely limp on this. We have obligations because we signed the agreement … If we don't have any responsibilities for the people of Hong Kong and their way of life, who do we have responsibility for?” China has criticized Patten's comments before. China's foreign ministry said last week Hong Kong is China's internal affair and “no foreign country has the right to intervene.
last British governor of Hong Kong says china has betrayed the semi-autonomous territory. he says the city has been betrayed by the country. he calls on the uk to do more to stand up to China and protect the city. china has promised Hongkong freedoms not found on mainland china. a treaty signed in 1997 gives Hongkong its own legal system and freedoms until 2047.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/entertainment/taapsee-pannu-huma-qureshi-and-other-stars-complain-of-insane-rise-in-electricity-bill/2007712/
Actor Taapsee Pannu, Huma Qureshi and director Bijoy Nambiar are among several people from Bollywood to express concerns over the unexpected rise in their electricity bills during the lockdown. Taking to Twitter, Taapsee shared screenshots of her electricity bill from April to June and tagged power supplier Adani Electricity. The “Thappad” star said she her bill amount for April and May ranged between Rs 3,000-4000 but she was charged Rs 36,000 for the current month. “Three months of lockdown and I wonder what appliance(s) I have newly used or bought in the apartment only last month to have such an insane rise in my electricity bill. @Adani_Elec_Mum what kind of power are you charging us for?” she wrote on Twitter with the screenshot of her electricity bills for three months. In a subsequent tweet, the 32-year-old actor said she received a bill of Rs 8,640 for an apartment which isn’t in use. “And this one is for an apartment where no one stays and it’s only visited once in a week for cleaning purpose @Adani_Elec_Mum. I am now worried if someone is actually using the apartment without our knowledge and you have helped us uncover the reality,” the actor wrote sarcastically. In a statement, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) said they had verified the meter reading of Taapsee and found it to be correct. “Upon receipt of the complaint, we have verified the meter reading and found to be correct,” a spokesperson from AEML said. Replying to Taapsee’s tweet, actor Pulkit Samrat said his bill was Rs 30,000. Actor Renuka Shahane too shared her bills on Twitter, writing that she was charged Rs 5,510 for May but was billed unexpectedly higher in June by Adani Electricity. “Dear @Adani_Elec_Mum I got a bill of Rs5,510/= on the 9th of May while in June I got a bill of Rs 29,700 combining May and June where you’ve charged me Rs 18,080 for the month of May. How did Rs 5,510/= become Rs 18,080/?” Qureshi said she too was puzzled that her bill jumped to Rs 50,000 when it was Rs 6,000 last month. “What are these new electricity rates? @Adani_Elec_Mum Last month I paid 6k .. and this month 50K?! What is this new price surge? Kindly enlighten us.” Nambiar said he was frustrated with the inflated bill which he received for the current month. “I am just joining the bandwagon to vent my frustration against @Adani_Elec_Mum. Without a single new appliance being bought & barely using air conditioning – my bill for this month has tripled!” the “David” director tweeted. Quoting actor-comedian Vir Das’s tweet, where he asked if anyone else in Mumbai got an electricity bill that is triple of what they usually pay, celebrities including, Neha Dhupia, Dino Morea and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub replied they are experiencing surge in bills. Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan said it’s “ridiculous” that despite so many complaints, Adani Electricity hadn’t issued even a “correction.” “So many people talking about the absolutely ridiculous electricity bill inflation by @Adani_Elec_Mum! And yet no correction or apology! Meter reading can’t be an excuse for this broad daylight robbery at a time when most people don’t have sources of income! Horrible,” the “Masaan” director wrote. When contacted, a spokesperson from AEML said the team has re-started physical meter reading which was halted in March because of COVID-19. “Bills were generated on lower side being an average of preceding three months, that is December, January and February, which are winter months. “Actual consumption in the months of April, May and June is comparatively higher due to seasonal impact (summer) and increased usage (advent of Lockdown/WfH),” the statement read. AEML said the consumers will now start receiving bills based on their consumption with “appropriate tariff slab benefits.” “The bill amount for the past period shall be accounted as per Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) guidelines,” the statement added.
adani electricity has confirmed the meter reading of the actor is correct. actor Taapsee pannu shared screenshots of her electricity bills for three months. the 32-year-old actor said she received a bill of Rs 8,640 for an apartment which isn't in use. he said he is now worried if someone is actually using the apartment without our knowledge.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/us-and-iraq-unwinding-strategic-space/1992994/
By Amb Anil Trigunayat Since the US invasion Iraq has not seen the peace, progress or democracy it had hoped for. On the contrary, during the past three decades, it has become a hotbed of extremism, terrorism and resultant violence with a vast array of non-state actors, militias and proxies becoming a way of life. More so since the onset of ISIS (Daesh) and the war against it brought in a free for all under the garb of fight against terrorism. Iraqis continued to suffer the brunt. US military intervention of 2003 was perhaps the biggest folly that has destabilised the region and the world. One of the far-reaching and unintended consequences was that the US handed over Iraq on a platter to Iran. Now it is trying to decimate Iranian influence and its militias in Iraq and is being hit in the bargain as well even if Iran and its revolutionary guards and Islamic militias fought the ISIS on the same side as the USA and others. But in January in the wake of increasing US-Iran tensions in the Persian Gulf, US drones killed the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis when apparently he was going to visit the Iraqi Prime Minister who claimed that he was trying to work on a rapprochement between US and Iran. This caused a violent furore not only in Iran but also in Iraq who simply due to domestic political expediency could not let it pass. Iran extracted a calibrated revenge through missile attacks on US camps without exacerbating the ground situation. Iraq felt humiliated as its sovereignty was so blatantly violated. Hence the calls and protests against the presence of 5200 US forces on Iraqi soil became louder. Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution demanding their expulsion. Nothing would have pleased the Iranians more as they felt that the US should not have been there and in the region in the first place. Trump in his signature style threatened with more crippling sanctions. Iraq has been facing economic turmoil due to low oil revenues and then under the clutches of COVID 19 when demand contraction for the hydrocarbons has multiplied the woes of the people. For months Iraqis have been protesting against the Government for its failure to provide employment, contain the high inflation and declining economic opportunity and growth. This was further compounded as the Prime Ministers had to resign and it became increasingly difficult to get a consensus candidate who could pass the muster of the complicated ethnoreligious constitutional provisions and competing political interests. Finally, last month former pro-US intelligence Chief Mustafa Khademi was able to form the government facing key challenges of public ire due to economic downturn and prevailing venom against the American forces. His premiership seems to have begun on a positive note as demonstrations have subsided and the dialogue with the Americans has begun at lease symbolically pleasing the Iraqis and Iranians alike. On June 11 a virtual strategic dialogue, in accordance with the 2008 Framework Agreement, was held between the Senior Undersecretary Hashem Mostafa of Iraqi foreign Ministry and David Hale, US Under Secretary of Political affairs. The US announced that its forces had come back to Iraq in 2014 to fight against Daesh and as that threat has subsided they will be reducing their troops in Iraq. They reiterated that the US does not seek nor request permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq. Although no timelines or numbers were made public the declared intent may assuage the public discontent and may provide an additional window of comfort to Khademi. In view of the upcoming US elections, it also fits in well with President Trump’s claims that he would withdraw US troops from abroad and unnecessary theatres of conflict. They are already doing so from Afghanistan and Germany and Saudi Arabia. How the US will continue to leverage its clout and influence when it wishes to take a targeted lead in the Indo-Pacific control and outreach especially against China’s growing ambitions remains to be seen. In Iraq how it visualises its security partnership will be closely watched. Meanwhile, Iraq has reiterated its commitment to protecting the military personnel of the International Coalition and the Iraqi facilities hosting them consistent with international law and specific arrangements for their presence as decided by the two countries. The other coalition partners will also have to make a call on their continued military presence. Acknowledging fragile economic condition and need for fundamental reforms the US offered to depute economic advisers who could help Iraq tailor its funding requests to international financial institutions. Apart from its own bilateral assistance efforts will be made to attract major US companies in energy and hydrocarbons subject to favourable conditions. One of the key discussions was the US to return important political archives including artefacts and Baath Party archives to the Government of Iraq. Hopefully, these will provide the new governments and researchers a more objective and transparent analysis of the course of events in a country that could boast of being a powerful secular nation in the Middle East in the past. To achieve security, stability and prosperity appear finally to be the key objectives even though analysts will take it with a pinch of salt. The US surely had made moderation in its approach towards Iraq especially with the new Prime Minister and will discuss these further at the Strategic Dialogue Higher Coordination Committee meeting in Washington DC. After Khademi took over the US has also extended a waiver from American sanctions till September this year allowing Iraq to import gas from Iran. Khademi happens to be the first Iraqi PM to have been invited for the official visit but obviously he will have to tread carefully between domestic expectations and US aspirations. (The author is former Indian Ambassador to Libya, Jordan and Malta. Views expressed are personal.)
since the invasion of the country, it has become a hotbed of extremism, terrorism and violence. a vast array of non-state actors, militias and proxies have become a way of life. a u.s. drone attack killed two of the country's top leaders in the u.s. in the u.s.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/how-oneplus-toppled-apples-iphone-from-top-premium-smartphone-slot-in-india/1456698/
Earlier this month, Apple made a rather unusual move by cutting its quarterly sales forecast — a first in over 15 years — citing slow iPhone sales in China. India, too, is becoming a difficult market for the technology major to crack. There was a 30-35% decline in Apple’s shipments in India last year on an annualised basis, after it revamped its distribution strategy, and cut down on discounting and differential pricing across channels. “Till the first half of 2017, Apple was trying to chase volumes with discounted prices, and driving affordability with the older models. In fact, at one point, Apple was selling iPhones for as low as `20,000-25,000,” notes Navkendar Singh, associate research director, client devices and IPDS, IDC India. The company has now consciously decided to go for value over volumes, to avoid the old lower-priced iPhone models from affecting the brand’s positioning. Higher pricing of new models in India — the iPhoneX costs around `1 lakh in India — the weakening rupee and high import duties have further added to Apple’s woes. Globally, however, pricing is not much of an issue and the market is driven by telcos, with Samsung selling at around the same price as Apple. Singh says what ails Apple in markets like China is its lack of innovation to excite consumers, vis-à-vis other players. One-upped by OnePlus In India, almost 80% of the market is ruled by phones that cost around `8,000-12,000 (less than $200). According to IDC India data, Apple had around 2.5% of the market share in 2017, whereas till September 2018, its share reduced further to less than 1.5%. Experts say the emergence of OnePlus has changed the dynamics of the premium smartphone segment in India. Its strategy to launch two flagship models each year with top-notch specifications has made high-end consumers (those willing to spend `40,000 and upwards) do a double take. While OnePlus mainly competes with Samsung and Huawei, it is also jeopardising the sales of old iPhone models, a worrying factor for Apple in India. Furthermore, OnePlus has been able to build a brand, drive volumes and increase price points of its phones by at least `3,500 with every new launch. Analysts believe that only Apple is to blame for its troubles. Because of the high pricing, most customers are holding on to their iPhones longer, unwilling to upgrade. On the flip side, Apple’s new distribution strategy and channel pricing could prove to be a game changer in the long run. “Apple has implemented channel discipline and price discipline, and tied up with fewer retailers. It wants consumers to experience the brand ecosystem. The focus is on services such as Apple Care,” says Tarun Pathak, associate director, Counterpoint Research. What’s in store Globally, Apple has stopped sharing volume numbers, instead focussing on value numbers, on services and content — Apple TV, iTunes and app store revenue. However, the India market is different and may not be ready for Apple services yet. “Apple is a strong and aspirational brand in India. The decline in shipments has given it an opportunity to look into older generation iPhones in a strategic way. How it deals with pricing will be crucial,” Pathak opines. “Also, manufacturing in India can help Apple effectively save 10-15%, which can be passed onto customers.” Furthermore, tapping resellers who can help iPhones reach the tier III and IV markets could prove pivotal.
there was a 30-35% decline in apple’s shipments in india last year. the company has now consciously decided to go for value over volumes. the weakening rupee and high import duties have further added to Apple’s woes. OnePlus has changed the dynamics of the premium smartphone segment in india. experts say the emergence of OnePlus has changed the dynamics of the premium smartphone segment in india.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/iphone-12-pros-special-stealth-version-launched-with-no-cameras-at-all/story/423655.html
iPhone 12 Pro has been reimagined in the most unusual way possible. Caviar, the Russia-based smartphone designing company, has introduced the iPhone 12 Pro Stealth that comes with everything but the cameras. The company has covered the cameras on the back and disabled the one on the front of the iPhone 12 Pro to ensure foolproof privacy on the Apple device. Privacy is crucially important today, which is why companies offer their users several controls to manage it but one can never be sure enough. Having no cameras essentially gives you that sense. The chatter around user privacy has caused huge losses to big tech companies, after which they became extremely wary of including solutions to let their users manage privacy. Some of these solutions are camera shutters on laptops, microphone toggles on smart speakers, and tight permission settings on mobile operating systems (Android and iOS). But Caviar's iPhone 12 Pro Stealth goes beyond these measures and gets rid of all the cameras. The cameras are still there on the iPhone 12 Pro, they have just been covered with Caviar's premium, hardened titanium shield. There are two variants of the iPhone 12 Pro Stealth. One comes with the hardened titanium with vertical guilloche on black laser coating while the other one has a PVD gold coating on the hardened titanium called Gold Version. The two models come in extremely limited quantity and will be available in select markets. Caviar says the iPhone 12 Pro Stealth starts at $4,990, which is monstrously pricier than the regular iPhone 12 Pro. Apple sells the iPhone 12 Pro in the US starting at $1,099. In India, the iPhone 12 Pro is priced at Rs 1,19,900 for the base version. Caviar says that this non-camera version of the iPhone 12 Pro is for people who want a high level of security. These people could be those working for intelligence firms or somewhere where there is a very high risk of information leakage or infiltration. The iPhone 12 Pro's rear cameras do not show on the outside while the FaceTime camera on it has been disabled by Caviar, except for the infrared camera that is used for Face ID. Rest of the phone is as-is. This also means that the camera app on the phone will show black visuals. If you think a smartphone without cameras is unusual (or weird), then you should know about some such innovations made by companies like BlackBerry and Nokia. BlackBerry launched the BlackBerry Classic in 2015 without any cameras to ensure its customers get the maximum level of privacy. The regular BlackBerry Classic packed an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. BlackBerry was known for creating an extremely secure ecosystem on its QWERTY phones and later touchscreen ones. A similar phone was introduced by Nokia. The Finnish company launched the Nokia E51 without any cameras. The regular unadulterated model of the Nokia E51 packed a 2MP camera on the back while there was none on the front. This phone was manufactured in limited quantities and was available in extremely select markets. The iPhone 12 Pro comes with a triple camera setup on the back, which brings huge improvements over the last year's iPhone 11 Pro, including support for Dolby Vision HDR video recording. There is a 12MP F1.6 wide camera with PDAF and OIS, a 12MP F2.4 ultrawide camera with 120-degree field of view, and a 12MP F2.0 telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom. The front camera on the iPhone 12 Pro is a 12MP F2.2 wide camera with HDR.
the iphone 12 Pro has no cameras and is a non-camera version. the camera on the back has been disabled and the camera on the front is disabled. the camera app on the phone will show black visuals. the iphone 12 Pro starts at $4,990. the company says it is for people who want a high level of security. the company says it is a good idea to get rid of the cameras.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/covid-19-impact-oyo-to-lay-off-majority-of-furloughed-us-employees-report-5459021.html
With the global travel industry battered by the coronavirus outbreak, Oyo is reportedly laying off most of its furloughed US employees as it looks to shore up operations in a market beset with low occupancy levels and dwindling revenues. According to a report in Skift, the company, which has a presence in over 800 cities across the world, has been forced to take this step because it does not see a recovery in its global operations until the second half of 2021. Oyo, however, will give them stock options but there are doubts about its long-term value. The furloughed employees were informed about this development by Chief Operating Officer Abhinav Sinha. In the mail addressed to the employees, Sinha said that in addition to the stock options, Oyo will also provide them with a job-placement service and extended health care and other separation support. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show In April, Oyo had laid off hundreds of employees across divisions like sales, business development and HR. In a recent interview, Oyo's founder Ritesh Agarwal had claimed the company has enough capital and does not plan to exit any markets. Oyo's India operations, reeling under the debilitating impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, is also stuttering and the Agarwal had said that around 5,000 employees will be handed pink slips. The operating costs of hotels are set to rise with new guidelines in place and the sector faces an uphill task in its battle to recover from this massive setback. Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis here
a report says the company is laying off most of its furloughed US employees. the move is to shore up operations in a market beset with low occupancy levels. the company will give them stock options but there are doubts about its long-term value. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/ayushman-plan-brilliant-move-india-needed-it-says-rajiv-malik-president-mylan/articleshow/64596316.cms
WhatsAppening? Telcos Call Out Tech Cos over Biz SMSes An industry grouping representing India’s top three telcos has accused global consumer-technology majors, such as Microsoft and Amazon, of “presumably circumventing and bypassing the legal telecom route” by using WhatsApp and other unregulated platforms to send enterprise messages to customers, causing a likely ₹3,000-crore annual revenue loss to both the Centre and the service providers. Apple asked to Join CERT-In Probe into iPhone Hacking Bid The government has asked Apple to join a probe into the alleged state-sponsored hacking attempts on iPhones belonging to prominent Indians, including some members of the opposition in Parliament, according to S Krishnan, secretary, ministry of electronics and information technology.
telcos accuse tech giants of using unregulated platforms to send messages. government asks apple to join probe into alleged state-sponsored hacking bid. government asks apple to join probe into alleged hacking bids. telcos say they are causing 3,000-crore annual revenue loss. telcos say they are 'circumventing and bypassing the legal telecom route'
Negative
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/stocks/pnb-sinks-31-in-5-sessions-after-big-banking-fraud-global-rating-agencies-may-downgrade-2511763.html
live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × Punjab National Bank shares continued downtrend for fifth consecutive session Tuesday after detecting Rs 11,400 crore worth of scam involving billionaire jewellery merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The stock price hit a fresh 52-week low of Rs 111, falling 4.6 percent intraday and taking total five-day loss to 31 percent. In those five trading sessions, more than Rs 12,700 crore of investors' wealth has already been wiped out. The scam came out into the open on February 14, 2018, when it informed the stock exchanges. Following this biggest scam in the country's banking sector at state-run PNB, global rating agencies hinted that they may consider downgrading the bank. Moody's placed the lender under review for downgrade. "The primary driver for today's rating action is the risk of weakening standalone credit profile of PNB, as a result of a number of fraudulent transactions" through fake letters of undertakings issued by the bank to other lenders worth USD 1.8 billion over the past many years, Moody's Investor Service said in its note. The review for downgrade will focus on: (1) the timing and quantum of the financial impact of the fraudulent transactions, (2) any management actions taken to improve the capitalisation profile of the bank, and (3) any punitive actions taken by the regulator on the bank, it added. The agency has a Baa3/P-3 rating on the Delhi-based lender now while it has a Baa3 rating on its foreign currency issuer rating. The bank overall has a Baa2 rating with a stable outlook now from Moody's. It has also placed the bank's baseline credit assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA of Ba3 and the counterparty risk assessment (CRA) rating of Baa3(cr)/P-3(cr) under review for downgrade. "These fraudulent transactions represent a contingent liability and the financial impact will be determined by the relevant laws. Nevertheless, we expect PNB will need to provide for at least a substantial portion of the exposure. As a result, the bank's profitability will likely come under pressure, although the actual impact will depend on the timing and quantum of provisions that need to be made, as well as any prospects for recovery," the agency said. The fraudulent transactions represent about 230 basis points of the bank's risk-weighted assets as of December 2017. Fitch also placed Punjab National Bank's Viability Rating of 'bb' on Rating Watch Negative (RWN), reflecting a possibility of downgrade, saying the fraud-- the biggest ever in the banking history-- has raised questions on both internal and external risk controls as well as the quality of management supervision considering that the fraud went undetected for several years. The Viability Rating measures credit worthiness of a financial institution and reflects the likelihood of the entity to fail, as per Fitch. The RWN reflects the possibility of a downgrade of PNB's Viability Rating. Stating that the fraud event has been a setback for the bank in its reputation and has had a capital market impact, Fitch said it will monitor PNB's full liability, potential recoveries and the extent of additional fresh capital from both internal and external sources to determine if the bank's financial position is no longer consistent with the current viability rating. PNB's asset quality and capital parameters continue to be weak but have shown some stability since Fitch's rating action in June 2017. For the April-December period of 2017-18, PNB's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio eased to 12.1 percent. Profitability continued to be weak but the bank raised Rs 5,000 crore in fresh equity from capital markets in the third quarter of FY2018. PNB is also likely to get an additional Rs 5,400 crore from the government by end-March 2018 under the government's recapitalisation agenda. Fitch will look to resolve the RWN once clarity emerges on the extent of control failures within PNB and how management plans to address them. The rating agency, however, said that the fraud event is unlikely to have an impact on PNB's Support Rating Floor (BBB-) due to the bank's high systemic importance as the second-largest state-owned bank. Lenders which have large exposure to the PNB fraud case like Union Bank of India (down 1 percent) and Allahabad Bank (1 percent) were also under pressure while Gitanjali Gems, one of the jewellery companies involved in the case, continued to be locked at lower circuit. The total number of arrests by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has risen to six -- four PNB officials, a retired employee of the bank, and an authorised signatory of Nirav Modi's company. Over Rs 11,400 crore worth of Letter of Understanding and Letters of Credit were issued by the bank in favour of billionaire jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi through SWIFT messages with only limited number worth smaller sums being entered in the core banking solutions system. At 12:21 hours IST, the stock price of Punjab National Bank was quoting at Rs 112.25, down Rs 4.15, or 3.57 percent on the BSE. (With inputs from PTI)
stock price hits 52-week low of Rs 111, falling 4.6 percent intraday. scam involving jewellery merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. more than Rs 12,700 crore of investors' wealth has already been wiped out. global rating agencies hinted they may consider downgrading the bank. bank under review for downgrade.
Negative
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/news-live-supreme-court-calls-cbi-ed-probe-progress-slow-in-coal-scam-case-2482997.html
21:57 That's all for today, readers. Thanks for staying on with our coverage of the day's action. Your enthusiasm encourages us to better our coverage every day. Do come back tomorrow for more news, views and insights. 21:33 Five ATMs looted of over Rs 15 lakh across Vadodara city Five ATMs belonging to different banks were looted of Rs 15.10 lakh around midnight today with thieves using gas cutters to break them open, said police. While three of the ATMs belonged to the Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and the State Bank of India, two belonged to the ICICI Bank. The incidents happened at Ajwa road, Tarsal, Sharadnagar, Manjalpur and Vadsar, said police. (PTI) 21:14 BBIN pact: India, Bangladesh, Nepal okay vehicle movement procedure Bangladesh, India and Nepal have given nod to operating procedures for movement of passenger vehicles in the sub-region under BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement, the government said today. For seamless flow of passenger and cargo traffic in the region, Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) was signed by the transport ministers of the BBIN countries in Thimphu, Bhutan on June 15, 2015. However, Bhutan could not ratify it later. (PTI) 20:53 Majority of parliamentary panel members in favour of Air India divestment Majority of parliamentary panel members are in favour of Air India divestment, sources have told CNBC TV18. There was uproar at parliamentary panel meet on Air India divestment with few opposition leaders walking out, protesting withdrawal of a draft report, according to CNBC TV18. Parliamentary Panel is expected to hold another meeting soon to finalise a draft report. Official communication on withdrawal of the draft report is expected soon. The draft report had proposed postponement of Air India divestment by five years. 20:39 China had 310 million registered vehicles, 385 million drivers in 2017 Over 33 million vehicles were newly-registered in China last year, taking to 310 million the total number of automobiles in the country by the end of 2017. Also, 30.54 million new drivers were registered in 2017 across China, which is the world's largest automobile market, according to the country's Ministry of Public Security. (PTI) 20:18 Israeli PM Netanyahu addresses Indian business leaders in Delhi Addressing business leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, "You have brilliant people in India. We have brilliant people in Israel. What we can do, is shape the future together. I believe in India. I came here to say today thank you PM Modi for believing in Israel, we believe in India". 20:08 China had 310 million registered vehicles, 385 million drivers in 2017 Over 33 million vehicles were newly-registered in China last year, taking to 310 million the total number of automobiles in the country by the end of 2017. Also, 30.54 million new drivers were registered in 2017 across China, which is the world's largest automobile market, according to the country's Ministry of Public Security. (PTI) 19:50 Madrid to keep ruling Catalonia if exiled ex-leader re-elected: PM Mariano Rajoy Spain will continue to rule the regional administration of Catalonia directly from Madrid in the event that its self-exiled former leader Carles Puigdemont is chosen as president by the Catalan parliament, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday. Puigdemont fled to Brussels in October after Rajoy fired him as Catalonia's leader when he declared an independent republic following an illegal referendum. He faces arrest and possibly decades in jail if he returns to Spain. (Reuters) 19:35 Raja writes to PM to hold debate on Air India disinvestment CPI leader D Raja has written to the prime minister saying the government should hold a debate on the proposed disinvestment of Air India as it will have long-term consequences for the country. In the letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CPI MP warned the government today that hasty economic policies have often boomeranged. (PTI) 19:12 AirAsia India to resume Chennai operations from next month Budget carrier AirAsia India has decided to resume its flight to and from Chennai, more than two years after it had discontinued operations from the Southern city, owing to competition. The Tata-AirAsia joint venture airline will fly five times a day in and out of Chennai to Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar, starting next month, AirAsia India said in a release today. (PTI) 18:56 SoftBank considers IPO for Japan wireless unit, said to seek USD 18 billion SoftBank Group Corp said today that it is considering listing its Japanese wireless business - a move that could reportedly raise USD 18 billion and would accelerate the conglomerate's transformation into one of the world's biggest tech investors. A spin-off - potentially the biggest IPO by a Japanese company in nearly two decades - would give the unit more autonomy and help investors value the business as well as its parent which has myriad holdings across the tech industry. (Reuters) 18:40 Auto Expo to witness 24 new launches, to be largest The 14th edition of the biennial Auto Expo, slated for February 9-14, is expected to see 24 new launches and over 100 unveiling of vehicles, the organisers said today. The expo is being held at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, near the Capital, while components show will be held at the Pragati Maidan in Delhi from February 8-11. The joint inauguration of Auto Expo 2018 will be held on February 8. (PTI) 18:20 BREAKING | December trade deficit at USD 14.88 billion > December exports at USD 27.03 billion, up 12.36 percent year-on-year. > December imports at USD 41.91 billion, up 21.12 percent year-on-year. > April-December trade deficit at USD 114.86 billion against USD 78.43 billion year-on-year. > December electronic goods imports at USD 4.67 billion, up 19.2 percent year-on-year. > Gold imports at USD 3.39 billion, up 71.5 percent year-on-year. > Petroleum product exports at USD 3.61 billion, up 25.2 percent year-on-year. > December gems & jewellery exports at USD 3.23 billion, up 2.4 percent year-on-year. > Engineering goods export at USD 7.36 billion, up 25.3 percent year-on-year. 18:15 Organised retailers' pie to touch 10% by 2020 on new FDI norms The recent government move to allow 100 per cent foreign capital in single-brand retail may push the market share of organised retail to 10 per cent by fiscal 2020, up from 7 percent now, says a report by Crisil. Last week government allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail under the automatic route from 49 percent earlier, and also relaxed the sourcing norms. (PTI) 18:06 BREAKING | Justice Loya death case is likely to be heard in the Supreme Court on Friday, according to CNN News18. 18:00 PE/VC investments, exits hit record in 2017 at $26.8 billion, $13 billion Investments by private equity/venture capital firms touched a record in 2017 at USD 26.8 billion, as against USD 16.2 billion in 2016, and pulled out a record USD 13 billion from the country, says a report. According to data collated by EY, Softbank's USD 2.5 billion investment in online retail major Flipkart led the PE investment pack, making it the highest-ever in the country. According to the data, PE/VC exits almost jumped two-fold to USD 13 billion across 257 deals, driven by record level of exits via open market, secondary sale and IPOs. (PTI) 17:47 India moves ahead on extradition cases of Mallya, Chawla in UK The Indian government is set to move forward in two high-profile extradition cases in the UK courts, that of embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya and alleged bookie Sanjeev Kumar Chawla. Mallya's case, which was left inconclusive over the issue of admissibility of evidence presented by the Indian authorities at a hearing last week, will return to Westminster Magistrates Court here on January 22. 17:31 Kamala Mills fire incident has shaken our conscience: HC The Kamala Mills compound blaze that claimed 14 lives has shaken the conscience of society and is an eye-opener, the Bombay High Court said today, and held that the tragedy was a result of the administration's failure to ensure strict adherence to fire safety norms. The court asked the city's civic body to bring its house in order. 17:16 Shiv Sena, NCP join hands, capture power in Thane ZP The Shiv Sena and the NCP have joined hands and captured power at the Thane Zilla Parishad (ZP) keeping the BJP out. While Sena nominee Majusha Jadhav was today elected unopposed as ZP President, NCP candidate Subash Pawar was elected unopposed as the Vice President. 17:15 Telecom to lose more jobs; on course to cull 90,000 more Faced with uncertainty, the once-sunshine telecom sector will continue to witness decline in headcounts for the next six-nine months taking the total number of job losses to 80,000-90,000, says a report. The sector, which has been witnessing rough weather in terms of profitability due to rising competition and lower margins, has witnessed large scale lay-offs making job scenario uncertain, said a CIEL HR Services in a report today. 17:08 Diesel prices at record Rs 61.74/L, petrol crosses Rs 71/L Diesel prices have touched a record high of Rs 61.74 per litre and petrol prices have crossed Rs 71 as international oil rates continue to rally. Petrol price rose to Rs 71.18 per litre in Delhi today, the highest since August 2014, according to daily fuel price list of state-owned oil firms. Diesel prices soared to their highest level of Rs 61.74 per litre in Delhi. It is being sold at Rs 65.74 in Mumbai, where the local sales tax or VAT rates are higher. 16:57 Gen Rawat's remarks 'unconstructive': China China today hit out at Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat for calling Dokalam a disputed territory and said that his "unconstructive" comments were not helpful for maintaining peace at the borders. In an angry rebuttal to Gen Rawat's comments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said his comments went against the consensus reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit last September to bring ties back on track and preserve peace on the border. 16:50 TCS bags 5-year deal from Marks & Spencer India's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today said it has expanded its partnership with Marks and Spencer (M&S) to enable the British retail giant become a digital-first business. As part of M&S' five-year plan, TCS will be the principal technology partner for the retailer and help drive agility, intelligence, innovation and efficiency, TCS said in a statement. 16:45 Govt plans ring roads worth Rs 36,290 crore in 28 major cities The government is planning to build ring roads in the country's 28 major cities at an estimated cost of Rs 36,290 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said. Detailed reports for projects worth Rs 21,100 crore are already under progress. 16:30 Group of Ministers on GST Network to meet on Wednesday A group of ministers headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi will meet on Wednesday to look into the technical issues faced by GST Network (GSTN). This will be the sixth meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) after being set up in September 2017. (PTI) 16:15 Indian Army destroys Pakistani post, kills 7 Pakistani soldiers Seven Pakistani Army men, including a Major, were today killed and four others injured as the Indian Army retaliated to a ceasefire violation in Mendhar sector and destroyed a Pakistani post along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. (PTI) 16:00 SEBI to auction 11 properties of Pancard Clubs to recover Rs 7,000 crore Looking to recover over Rs 7,000 crore of investors' money, markets regulator SEBI has lined up as many as 11 properties of Pancard Clubs and its late CMD for an online auction next month at a total reserve price of Rs 253 crore. This is in addition to 11 properties of the company that were auctioned in December as well as on January 10 and their combined reserve price was Rs 552 crore. (PTI) 15:44 Sensex zooms 251.12 points to close at new peak of 34,843.51; Nifty surges 60.30 points to end at record 10,741.55. 15:32 One of the biggest diamonds in history has just been dug up One of the biggest diamonds in history has been discovered in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa, reports Bloomberg. Gem Diamonds found the 910-carat stone, about the size of two golf balls, at its Letseng mine in the country. It’s a D color Type IIa diamond, which means it has very few or no nitrogen atoms and is one of the most expensive stones. The diamond is the fifth-biggest ever found. The Letseng mine is famous for the size and quality of the diamonds it produces and has the highest average selling price in the world. Gem sold a 357-carat stone for $19.3 million in 2015 and in 2006 found the 603-carat Lesotho Promise. “This exceptional top-quality diamond is the largest to be mined to date and highlights the unsurpassed quality of the Letseng mine,” Chief Executive Officer Clifford Elphick said in a statement. 15:23 The Supreme Court has stated that progress in the investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in coal scam cases has been "slow". 15:08 LIC sells over 2% stake in Merck, stock surges over 19% Life Insurance Corporation has sold a little over 2% stake in drug and chemical firm Merck through an open market transaction. With the sale, the total shareholding of the insurer has come down to 5.6%, Merck said in a BSE filing. LIC earlier had 12,74,823 shares in the company constituting 7.68% stake. It sold 3,43,147 shares totalling 2.06%. The stock surged to a 52-week high of Rs 1,687.30 and trading volume soared over 7.25 times in day trade on BSE. Over 5.5 lakh shares of the company were traded on both NSE and BSE stock exchanges. 14:55 Mutual funds asset base from small towns up 46% to Rs 4.1L cr Contribution of the country's small towns to mutual funds asset base surged 46% to Rs 4.1 lakh crore by November-end due to a spirited promotion campaign by industry body Amfi. Mutual funds' assets under management (AUM) from B15 locations - small towns beyond top 15 (T15) cities – grew from Rs 2.81 lakh crore in November-end 2016 to Rs 4.1 lakh crore at the end of November 2017, according to latest data available with Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). 14:45 PE investments jump 55% YoY to all-time high of $24bn in 2017 Private equity firms invested $23.8 billion across 591 deals in 2017, making it the biggest year for PE investments in India. According to deal tracker Venture Intelligence, the investment value is 39% higher than the previous high of $17.1 billion (recorded in 2015) and 55% higher than $15.4 billion invested during 2016. In terms of number of deals in the year, 2017 saw 21% less activity as compared to 2016 (731 deals), indicating large number of big-ticket transactions. 14:39 Airbus will have to scrap A380 programme if no new orders: sales chief Airbus will have no other choice but to halt the A380 programme if Dubai's Emirates airline does not place another order, the European aerospace giant's sales director, John Leahy, said. Orders from Emirates, the main customer of the supersize aircraft, have stalled over the past two years. 14:33 75 injured in floor collapse at Jakarta exchange building Jakarta, Jan 15 (AFP) At least 75 people were injured after a mezzanine floor at Indonesia's stock exchange building collapsed into the lobby, police said, as victims were carried out of the debris-filled building on stretchers, reports AFP. "The number of injured... from the floor collapse at the Indonesia Stock Exchange is 75," national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said, after an official from the stock exchange had earlier said no one had been killed in the accident. 14:04 India, Israel ink nine pacts on cyber security, other sectors India and Israel today inked nine pacts to boost co-operation in key areas, including cyber security and energy. The agreements were signed after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu for bolstering bilateral ties in strategic areas. 14:04 UIDAI allows face recognition for Aadhaar authentication The UIDAI allowed face recognition as additional means of Aadhaar authentication to be used in combination with existing ways such as fingerprint or iris scan. The move will enable easy authentication for those individuals who face a difficulty in other biometric authentication like fingerprint and iris. The facility is being allowed only in a "fusion mode" that is along with other existing means of authentication, and will be available by July 1, 2018, an official release said. "This facility is going to help in inclusive authentication of those who are not able to biometrically authenticate due to their worn out fingerprints, old age or hard work conditions," the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said. As of now, two modes of biometric authentication, fingerprint authentication and iris authentication, are allowed under Aadhaar. 13:58 Met SC judges, they assured that issues have been resolved: BCI The Bar Council of India (BCI) said its members have met 15 judges of the Supreme Court following the crisis in the apex judiciary and they have assured that the issues have been resolved, reports PTI. "Kahani khatam ho gaya (the story is now over)", BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said. He also said that political parties should not try and take mileage out of the January 12 press conference by the four senior most apex court judges to flag some problems, including the assigning of cases. "We met 15 judges and all have assured that issues have been resolved," he said. He said all the four top judges - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph - have resolved the differences and were attending the court today. 13:51 Job market sees 10% growth in hiring in Dec 2017 Hiring activity registered a 10% jump in December over the year-ago period helped by non-IT sectors like industrial products, construction, says a report. The Naukri Job Speak Index for last month stood at 1,833, up 10% over December 2016 and indicating signs of recovery in the job market. In November, the hiring activity saw a 16% growth year-on-year. 13:33 US moves ships, bombers toward Korea ahead of Olympics The US is beefing up its presence around the Korean Peninsula ahead of next month's Winter Olympics by deploying stealth bombers, at least one extra aircraft carrier and a new amphibious assault ship to the Region, reports AP. 13:28 Former minister Raghunath Jha passes away Former Union minister Raghunath Jha passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi early today. The 79-year-old Jha died due to various problems including organ failure, cardiac arrest and septic shock, according to hospital authorities. "He died today at 3.10am. The body has been handed over to the family and other formalities have been done," a senior official said. He was admitted to the ICU of the hospital on January 13. Born on August 9, 1939, Jha was Union minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise in the UPA government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 13:24 Four senior-most SC judges attend court, AG says all settled Four top Supreme Court judges resumed work like always, belying the simmering tensions sparked by their accusations against the Chief Justice, while the Attorney General described the unprecedented crisis as "a storm in a tea cup". The four judges - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph - took up their respective business on the first working day of the top court after the January 12 press conference. Attorney General K K Venugopal said the issue has been settled. 13:18 HDFC surges over 6% as board approves fundraising plan Shares of HDFC surged over 6% to its 52-week high level after the company said it plans to raise up to Rs 13,000 crore via QIP and preference shares. On January 13, HDFC said its board has approved raising up to Rs 13,000 crore primarily to maintain its holding in its banking arm and enter segments like stressed assets and health insurance. The stock surged to a high of Rs 1,876.80, up 6.56% over its previous closing price on BSE. On NSE, the stock jumped to a high of Rs 1,875.90, up 6.52% over last close. This will be the first equity raising by the country's largest pure-play mortgage lender in over a decade. 13:15 Rahul should focus more on politics of development: Adityanath As Rahul Gandhi arrived in UP on his first visit to the state after becoming the Congress president, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath advised him to shun "negative politics" and instead focus on development, reports PTI. The Congress leader arrived in the state on a two-day visit to galvanise party workers for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and breathe life in the party which saw its worst-ever performance in the 2017 Assembly elections getting only seven seats in the 403-member House. "The Congress president should give up doing negative politics," Adityanath said even as Rahul Gandhi arrived in Lucknow en route Raebareli and Amethi - the party bastions. Asked as to how he viewed his first visit to the state after donning the mantle of party head, the chief minister said, "My advise to Rahul is that he should focus more on the politics of development." 12:46 Idea, Vodafone to start operating as one entity from April, says reportIdea Cellular and Vodafone Group’s Indian unit are likely to start operating as a single unit from April, sources told Mint. The two companies, which are currently negotiating one of the most complex mergers in India, will create the world’s second largest and India’s largest telecom operator, surpassing Bharti Airtel, post completion of the merger process. It will have almost 400 million customers with 35% customer share and 41% revenue market share. It will have a revenue of Rs 81,600 crore and an operating profit of Rs 24,400 crore. “If everything goes as per plan, we are looking at the first week of April to start operations as one entity,” sources said. This would also mean that the merger will complete at least three months before the earlier deadline of first half of calendar year 2018. 12:27 Greenko eyes Essel Infraprojects’ power transmission business for $1bn, says report Renewable energy company Greenko Group is in talks with Essel Infraprojects to acquire its power transmission business for an estimated $1 billion, sources told Mint. Subhash Chandra’s Essel Infraprojects has five transmission projects in its portfolio. “This will be one of the largest deals in the Indian electricity transmission space,” sources said. Hyderabad-based Greenko Group, backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Holdings and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, is planning to enter the transmission business amid low green energy tariffs in India that will likely squeeze project developers’ profitability. 12:16 DCB Bank raises Rs 150cr via bonds Private sector lender DCB Bank has raised Rs 150 crore through issuance of bonds on a private placement basis. The bank in a regulatory filing said that the capital raising committee of its board of directors issued and "allotted 15,000 non-convertible, redeemable, unsecured, Basel-III compliant tier II bonds, for inclusion in tier II capital of the bank in the nature of debentures of the face value of Rs 1 lakh each at par aggregating to Rs 150 crore on private placement basis". These bonds carry an interest rate of 9.85% per annum for a period of 10 years from January 12, 2018. 12:08 India’s wholesale inflation at 3.58% in Dec vs 3.93% in Nov Inflation based on wholesale prices eased to 3.58% in December 2017 as prices of food articles declined even as fuel cost witnessed a surge. Calculated on the basis of Wholesale Price Index (WPI), the inflation was 3.93% in November 2017 and 2.1% in December 2016. As per government data released today, inflation on food articles slowed to 4.72% in December, from 6.06% in November 2017. Vegetables too witnessed some softening with annual inflation at 56.46% in December as against 59.80% in the previous month. Kitchen staple onion witnessed a whopping 197.05% price rise in December. Inflation in protein rich eggs, meat and fish cooled to 1.67% in December, while that in fruits spiked to 11.99%. In the fuel and power segment, wholesale inflation rose to 9.16% in December, while it was 2.61% for manufactured items. Data released last week showed that retail inflation breached the RBI's comfort level to touch 5.21% in December on rise in prices of food items, especially vegetables. 12:00 Second floor of Indonesia Stock Exchange collapses, around a dozen people injured The second floor of the Indonesia Stock Exchange building collapsed on Monday, said an exchange employee, injuring around a dozen people who were carried on stretches from the building, reports Reuters. “The second floor of the building has collapsed,” said Vindy, a personal assistant to the exchange’s President Director Tito Sulistio, who was in the building at the time. Around a dozen injured people were seen being carried from the building on stretchers, a witness said and police were cordoning off the two-tower, multi-storey building. 11:39 Four senior-most Supreme Court judges attend court, take up work Four senior-most Supreme Court judges, who had held an unprecedented press conference and raised issue of assignment of cases, today attended court and took up routine work. The four judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- have taken up their respective business on the first working day of the top court after the January 12 press conference. In the presser, these judges had flagged some problems, including the assigning of cases in the apex court, and said there were certain issues afflicting the country's highest court. 11:33 Volkswagen brand car sales hit record 6.23 million in 2017 Volkswagen's core autos division increased vehicle sales to a record 6.23 million cars last year, as rising demand for VW brand models in the Americas and the key Chinese market offset a decline in western Europe. Although the emissions test-cheating scandal of September 2015 has cost the German group billions of euros in fines and penalties, it does not seem to have caused major damage to the carmaker's popularity with consumers. 11:26 Ford plans $11 billion investment, 40 electrified vehicles by 2022 Ford Motor will significantly increase its planned investments in electric vehicles to $11 billion by 2022 and have 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its model lineup, Chairman Bill Ford said at the Detroit auto show. 11:18 50 cos bought back shares worth Rs 55,236cr in 2017, up 98.06% YoY Share buybacks in 2017 nearly doubled from the previous year to a record Rs 55,236 crore, reports Mint. In a year that saw benchmark equity indices rise 27-28%, 50 companies bought back shares worth Rs 55,236 crore, compared with 37 firms having bought back shares worth Rs 27,887.44 crore in the previous year, according to data from Prime Database. The two years before that — 2014 and 2015 — saw just 16 and 13 companies repurchasing shares worth Rs 2,019.28 crore and Rs 1,263.15 crore, respectively. Divestments by the government and lack of investment avenues prompted companies to turn to buybacks, analysts said. 11:08 Oil near three-year highs on output cuts despite rising North American rig count Oil prices held just below December 2014 highs on Monday, supported by ongoing output cuts led by Opec and Russia despite a rise in US and Canadian drilling activity that points to higher future output in North America, reports Reuters. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $69.85 per barrel at 09:42 am, down 2 cents from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.40 a barrel, down 10 cents. Both benchmarks last week reached levels not seen since December 2014, with Brent touching $70.05 a barrel and WTI as high as $64.77. US energy companies added 10 oil rigs in the week to January 12, taking the number to 752, energy servicing firm Baker Hughes said on Friday. That was the biggest increase since June 2017, and ANZ bank said the jump came “as shale producers quickly reacted to the strong rise in prices in 2018.” The picture was similar in Canada, where energy firms almost doubled the number of rigs drilling for oil last week to 185, the highest level in 10 months. 10:58 Shoppers Stop allots Rs 179.26cr shares to Amazon Retail chain Shoppers Stop said it has allotted shares worth Rs 179.26 crore to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings, an investment arm of Amazon.com. According to a BSE filing by the company, it has issued 43,95,925 equity shares of Rs 5 each at a price of Rs 407.78 per equity share, aggregating around Rs 179.26 crore, to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC. The stock is up 2%. 10:47 Infiltration bid foiled, 5 JeM militants killed Security forces foiled an infiltration bid near the Line of Control in Uri sector of Jammu & Kashmir, killing five Jaish-e-Mohammad militants. A defence spokesman said that five militants were killed. Earlier, Director General of Police SP Vaid said four JeM militants were killed at Dulanja in Uri sector in a joint operation by the Army, police and other security forces. "Three suicidal JeM terrorists killed in Dulanja Uri while infiltrating in a joint operation by @JmuKmrPolice/Army/CAPF. Search for the fourth terrorist is still on," Vaid said in a tweet.The DGP later updated that the fourth militant has also been killed. 10:34 Bank of India postpones Rs 3,000cr QIP plan State-owned Bank of India (BoI) has deferred the Rs 3,000-crore capital raising plan through private placement of equity shares after the government's move to infuse Rs 2,257 crore capital into it, reports PTI. "We have postponed the QIP (Qualified Institutional Placement) as the government decided to infuse Rs 2,257 crore capital support into the bank obviating the need for the capital immediately," BoI Managing Director Dinabandhu Mohapatra said. So, there is now no need for QIP this fiscal as more capital would also flow-in through recap bonds, he said. "The decision to drop the QIP plan has not been taken because of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA). It was taken before the PCA (by RBI). Since some positive developments were taking place on resolution of stressed assets under NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) and the government had indicated more capital infusion, we decided to wait for the actual infusion on the book and then go to the market for QIP. This way we will get more value for our shares,” he said. 10:25 Wreckage suggests engine in ONGC chopper crash could have exploded, says report Pawan Hans officials spoke of the possibility of the engine involved in the ONGC chopper crash having exploded, reports The Times of India. "Given the state of the wreckage and the remains of the passengers, there is a strong possibility that the engine might have developed a problem and exploded," an official said. The definitive answer to what caused the accident cannot be expected anytime soon. The investigation report of the November 2015 Pawan Hans crash off Mumbai High, which killed both pilots on board, was released about two years later, in August 2017. The preliminary investigation report, which was supposed to be released within a months' time so that lessons are learnt from a crash, was never released. On Sunday, the search operation for a pilot and an ONGC executive missing after Saturday's crash continued till late in vain. The helicopter, with two pilots and five senior ONGC executives, crashed in the Arabian Sea about 56km northwest of Juhu airport on Saturday morning. Its black box was recovered during Sunday's search. 10:17 The HT Media stock is up 1.2% after Macquarie upgraded it to outperform with a target price of Rs 136 per share. 10:15 Sensex, Nifty scale new peaks on positive macro data, earnings The benchmark Sensex zoomed over 209 points to scale new peak of 34,801.74 points on the back of positive macro-economic data and encouraging corporate earnings amid gains in other Asian markets. The broader NSE Nifty also soared to a new high of 10,733.40 by gaining 52.15 points, or 0.48%. It broke its previous intra-day record of 10,690.40 hit on January 12. The 30-share Sensex gained 209.35 points, or 0.6%, to touch an all-time high of 34,801.74, surpassing previous record of 34,638.42 (intra-day) reached on January 12. Reflecting the bullish mood, all the sectoral indices, led by realty, banking and power were trading in the positive zone with gains up to 1.01%. Brokers said buying activity picked up momentum on positive economic data as industrial production growth in November zoomed to a 17-month high of 8.4% on the back of robust performance of manufacturing and capital goods sectors. Shares of Infosys, India's second largest IT exporter, was trading higher by 0.33% at Rs 1,082, reacting to its Q3 earnings. Other prominent gainers that lifted the key indices to new highs include ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC, SBI, Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Wipro, NTPC, M&M, TCS, ITC, Coal India and Tata Motors, gaining up to 3.42%. 10:12 The Dish TV India stock is trading mildly higher after UBS downgraded the stock to Sell with a target price of Rs 78 per share. 10:02 SRF gets green nod for Rs 4,800cr expansion project in Gujarat Multi-business entity SRF has received green nod for expansion of its specialty chemicals, pesticide and fluoro chemicals manufacturing plant at Dahej in Gujarat, which will entail an investment of Rs 4,800 crore, as per the official document. The company wants to increase the production capacity of specialty chemicals, pesticide and fluro chemicals from 1,75,000 tonne per annum to 5,87,177 tonne per annum and captive power plant capacity from 25MW to 75 MW at Dahej. In a letter issued to Gurugram-headquartered SRF, the Environment Ministry said it has given the environment clearance to the company's proposed expansion project in Gujarat with some riders. The clearance has been given after taking into account the recommendations of an expert appraisal committee. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 4,800 crore, it said. 09:51 South Korea says planned ban on cryptocurrency market not yet finalised South Korea said on Monday that its plans to ban virtual coin exchanges had not yet been finalised as government agencies were still in talks to decide how to regulate the market, reports Reuters. “The plan to ban cryptocurrency exchanges, recently mentioned by the nation’s justice minister, is one measure in talks to curb speculative investments, which the government will carry on with enough discussion for before finalising the decision,” an official at the Office for Government Policy Coordination said. On January 11, Justice Minister Park Sang-ki said the government was preparing a bill to ban trading of the virtual currency on domestic exchanges. 09:46 France expects UK to pay up, take more refugees to keep border France expects Britain to agree to take more asylum seekers and pay more for border security in order to maintain a frontier on the French side of the Channel, a French government official told Reuters. Britain’s border was extended into France under a 2003 bilateral treaty known as the Le Touquet accord. But a migration crisis and the Brexit vote to leave the European Union have made the arrangement an increasing source of friction. The deal will be on the table on Thursday when President Emmanuel Macron holds talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May at a Anglo-French summit in southern England. 09:35 Hawaii says lack of adequate fail-safe measures led to false missile alert Human error and a lack of adequate fail-safe measures during a civil defence warning drill led to the false missile alert that stirred panic across Hawaii over the weekend, a state emergency management agency spokesman acknowledged on Sunday. Elaborating on the origins of Saturday’s false alarm, which went uncorrected for nearly 40 minutes, spokesman Richard Rapoza told Reuters the employee who mistakenly sent the missile alert “has been temporarily reassigned” to other duties. 09:33 Trump says 'I'm not a racist,' keeps door open for DACA deal US President Donald Trump insisted on Sunday “I‘m not a racist” in response to reports that he had described immigrants from Haiti and African countries as coming from “shithole countries,” reports Reuters. Trump also said he was “ready, willing and able” to reach a deal to protect illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children from being deported but that he did not believe Democrats wanted an agreement. He tweeted earlier on Sunday that the existing program would “probably” be discontinued. 09:31 SoftBank plans $18 billion IPO of mobile phone unit: NikkeiSoftBank Group plans to list its mobile phone business and raise some $18 billion, the Nikkei newspaper has said, a spin-off that would complete the Japanese telecoms conglomerate’s transformation into a global technology investor. The parent will sell some 30% of SoftBank Corp. It plans to apply to the Tokyo Stock Exchange for the IPO as early as between March and May and aims to debut the shares in Tokyo and elsewhere, possibly London, around autumn, the newspaper said. 09:28 Trump denies saying he probably had good relationship with Kim US President Donald Trump on Sunday disputed a newspaper’s account of an interview with him last week in which he was quoted as saying he probably had a “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reports Reuters. Accusing the Wall Street Journal of misquoting him, Trump said in tweets that he told the newspaper on Thursday that “I’d probably” have a good relationship with Kim, using a conditional tense, which he insisted was a “big difference.” The White House released a portion of the audio from the interview that it said showed Trump said “I‘d.” The Wall Street Journal released its own audio that it said backed up its version of the events. 08:45 Corporate bonds hit record Rs 17.72L cr in 2017 Structural and cyclical factors have helped transactions in corporate debt securities at top stock exchanges BSE and NSE surge by 37% to a record Rs 17.72 lakh crore in 2017, as per official data. Trading worth about Rs 13 lakh crore in corporate bonds was reported on the two bourses during 2016, going by data compiled by capital market regulator Sebi. During the year gone by, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) represented the largest share of trading in corporate bonds at 75%. Bonds worth Rs 13.41 lakh crore were traded on the exchange in the period. The stock exchange had witnessed trades amounting to Rs 10.5 lakh crore in 2016, when it represented over 80% of the corporate bond transactions. The remainder of the bonds worth over Rs 4.30 lakh crore were traded on the BSE during 2017 - a whopping increase of 80% from the same period year-ago. The exchange has increased its market share in the segment to nearly 25% last year compared to 18% in 2016. 08:39 Tax free Rs 20 lakh gratuity for employees a reality soon Payment of Gratuity Amendment Bill 2017 is likely to be passed in the forthcoming Budget session, which will make formal sector workers eligible for tax free Rs 20 lakh gratuity, reports PTI. At present formal sector workers with five or more years of service are eligible for Rs 10 lakh tax free gratuity after leaving job or at time of superannuation. "The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 will be passed in the Budget session of Parliament, expected to begin by the end of this month," a source said. The source further said, "The government wants to provide tax free gratuity of Rs 20 lakh to organised sector workers at par with the Central government". 08:31 'India to post average GDP growth of 7.3% over 2020-22' The Indian economy is expected to witness an average GDP growth of 7.3% over 2020-22, says a Morgan Stanley research report. According to the global financial services major, the structural growth story in India remains strong from a medium-term perspective. "The uptick in the private capex cycle, which we anticipate will begin in 2018, will ensure that the economy enters into a sustained and productive growth cycle," Morgan Stanley said in a research note, adding that over 2020-22, it expects the economy to post an average GDP growth of 7.3%. 08:26 Mutual funds garner Rs 6,200cr via SIPs in Dec Retail investors are preferring systematic investment plan (SIP) option for investing in mutual funds as the industry garnered over Rs 6,200 crore through this route in December, a surge of 56% from the year-ago period. The total money garnered by fund houses through SIPs increased to over Rs 59,000 crore in 2017 as compared to about Rs 40,000 crore in 2016, Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) data showed. 08:17 Cairn India to invest Rs 37,000cr to ramp up production Vedanta's oil and gas vertical Cairn India is planning to invest Rs 37,000 crore to ramp up crude production at its Barmer oil fields in Rajasthan, reports PTI. The investment will be made over the next few years, which will enhance the production of crude oil. The programme will help the company in achieving the production target of 5 lakh barrels oil per day (BOPD) from the Barmer oil fields. "Production will go up to 3 lakh BOPD based on the capital investment plan of Rs 12,000 crore that has already been initiated and the production will further go up to 5 lakh BOPD with full investment plan of over Rs 37,000 crore over next few years," the release said. 08:09 P-notes investment drops to Rs 1.28 lakh cr in November Overall investments into the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) fell to Rs 1.28 lakh crore at November-end after witnessing a rise in the previous month. P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas players who wish to invest in the Indian capital market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through due diligence. Total value of P-notes investment in Indian markets - equity, debt and derivatives - declined to Rs 1,28,639 crore at November-end from Rs 1,31,006 crore at the end of October, according to market regulator Sebi data. P-note investments were on a decline since June and hit an over eight-year low in September; however, it climbed up in October. This decline was in view of stringent norms put in place by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Of the total investments in November, P-note holdings in equities were at Rs 92,846 crore and the remaining in debt and derivatives markets. 08:02 FPI inflow at Rs 5,200cr in Jan so far on earnings optimism Foreign investors have pumped in over Rs 5,200 crore in the Indian capital markets this month so far on anticipation of recovery in corporate earnings and attractive yields. This follows an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore in the capital markets (equity and debt) in the entire 2017. According to the depositories data, FPIs put in a net amount of Rs 2,172 crore in equities and Rs 3,080 crore in the debt markets during January 1-12 -- translating into a net inflow of Rs 5,252 crore. 07:50 HDFC to raise up to Rs 130bn via preference shares, QIPHDFC on Saturday said its board has approved raising up to Rs 13,000 crore to maintain its holding in its banking arm and enter segments like stressed assets and health insurance. This will be the first equity raising by the country's largest pure-play mortgage lender in over a decade. "The Committee of Directors of the Corporation at its meeting held on Saturday approved the issue of equity shares up to an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 13,000 crore through a combination of a preferential allotment and qualified institutions placement, subject to shareholders' approval through postal ballot," HDFC said in a statement. 07:44 IDFC Bank, Capital First set to mergeIDFC Bank on Saturday announced it would merge with Capital First, a retail focussed non-banking finance company backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus. IDFC Bank, which has been looking to acquire an entity with a strong retail franchise that could help return ratios to improve, had earlier unsuccessfully attempted to merge with Shriram Group. IDFC Bank’s Managing Director and CEO Rajiv Lall, will make way at the helm of the merged entity for V Vaidyanathan, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Capital First. Vaidyanathan is a former ICICI Bank Executive who founded Capital First. 07:36 Retail inflation rises to 5.21% in Dec India's retail inflation accelerated to a 17-month high of 5.2% in December as fuel and vegetable prices hardened. Retail inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), was 4.88% in November. Food inflation in December climbed to 4.96% from 4.35% in November. Fuel inflation accelerated to 7.9% in December. In housing, it was 8.25%. 07:28 Nov IIP growth at 25-month high of 8.4% A robust performance by the manufacturing sector took the industrial production growth to 25-month high of 8.4% in November. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), recorded an impressive growth of 10.2% in November as compared to 4% a year ago. Among sectors, pharmaceuticals clocked the highest growth of 39.5%, followed by 29.1% in computer, electronic and optical products and 22.6% in the automobile segment. Capital goods output, which is a barometer of investment, too grew at a higher rate of 9.4% in November as against 5.3% a year ago. 07:21 Infosys Q3 net profit jumps 38% to Rs 5,129cr on tax reversal Post market hours on Friday, Infosys reported a net profit of Rs 5,129 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, aided by reversal of tax provisions of about Rs 1,432 crore. This is a jump of 37.6% on a quarter-on-quarter basis and 38.3% on a year-on-year basis. Infosys had reported a net profit of Rs. 3,726 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017. In the December quarter, Infosys posted a revenue of Rs 17,794 crore. The IT bellwether maintained its FY18 revenue guidance at 5.5-6.5% in constant currency. Its Q3 operating margin improved to 24.3% from 24.2% in the September quarter. In dollar terms, Q3 revenue grew 8% YoY and 1% QoQ to $2,755 million. 07:11 Bank of Japan sticks with pledge to maintain massive stimulus Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Monday reiterated the central bank’s resolve to maintain its massive stimulus programme until the economy reaches sustained 2% inflation, reports Reuters. He also said a moderate economic expansion now under way will help accelerate inflation toward the BoJ’s 2% target, signalling its desire to maintain the status quo on monetary policy for the time being. The BoJ will continue its aggressive easing, composed of yield curve control and a massive asset-buying programme, for as long as needed to achieve its price target, he added.
five ATMs belonging to different banks looted of over Rs 15.10 lakh. thieves used gas cutters to break them open, police said. parliamentary panel members in favour of Air India divestment. china had 310 million registered vehicles, 385 million drivers in 2017. a total of 30.54 million new drivers were registered in 2017 across china.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/letter-from-london-alcoholics-synonymous-awaiting-a-liberation/articleshow/75617326.cms
The UK is expected to scrap the #StayAtHome policy, marking a watershed moment in easing the lockdown . The press is welcoming it as ‘Magic Monday’! Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who expressed, rather emotionally, the horrors of his own Covid-combatting ordeal when confined to the ICU, even as his staff were preparing for “The Death of Stalin” scenario – has conceded that the economy is comatose with a looming recession (the worst in three centuries!) and that bold and balancing steps are needed on easing.The world is grappling for an answer to the major question right now: Will the recovery be V- or U-shaped? While there are many contours to the equation, one such is human behaviour: to what extent have habits changed, and how much will fear prolong the self-imposed social distancing and social detachment. Essentially, has the human nature undergone a permanent change or is it just a matter of time before we see a habitual mean reversion to the status quo?Earlier this week, India allowed liquor shops to reopen. Parched citizens queued up for hours in merry spirits and record sales ensued. For once, the fears of the virus, social distancing norms and strict lockdown pedagogy on personal hygiene were thrown to the wind along with the caution, as serpentine lines extended for miles in some cities. The spectacle, which is constant across small towns and through days, is not unique to India.In Guangzhou, China, a Hermès luxury goods store clocked the highest-ever, single-day sales on reopening. In northern France, a reopened McDonald ’s drive-through triggered a three-hour traffic jam, much to the dismay of haute-cuisine puritans. In Italy, coffee bars have seen regulars return and queue up patiently for hours for their pet Espresso shot. In England, we are waiting for the EPL to restart (albeit behind closed doors) and cheer the teams from the local pub. Is this just pent-up demand or a rush of addiction, or really an expression of liberation for the masses?There will be severe economic restrictions, which will affect our behaviour and spending pattern in the short-to-medium term. But the reflections in this essay are not on that, but to comprehend if there will be major long-term lifestyle changes driven by fear. Would we as a race become reclusive, and abandon group activities for a long time? Will ‘Work From Home’ become a permanent theme? Will long-distance travel or use of public transport be severely limited? Will we restrict holidays and tourism?Apocalyptic prophecies have been made for industries in the hospitality, tourism, transport, leisure, malls, theatre segments. Such predictions are easier when we are gripped by distress, and mass hysteria reigns.However, learning from history, individuals are slaves to habit and, once things stabilise, they get back to their comfort zones. A new normal is never developed due to fear, but mostly driven out of necessity or rapid technological advancements. I am not losing sight of the dangers we still face from the ongoing Covid-19 endemic, but writing obituaries for the pre-Corona world seems very impulsive. The new generation, brought up on Instagram and Facebook diet, is fuelled by ambition as well as liberation, albeit with a touch of arrogant ignorance. For this generation, which has defined the social network, being unsocial is a retrograde step and quite improbable.It’s uniquely uplifting to see the Himalayas from a town 300 km away, or spotting a mob of sheep pattering through the streets of Wales, or swans replacing gondolas in Venice – events that had become history pre-Covid. But the real healing of ‘our’ world would happen when local trains in Mumbai would help dabbawallas perfect the Six Sigma once again or when thousands queue up in November rain around Leicester Square to cheer Daniel Craig and literally scream No Time To Die!
the #StayAtHome policy is expected to be scrapped. it is a watershed moment in easing the lockdown. the economy is comatose with a looming recession. the world is grappling for an answer to the major question right now. a reopening of liquor shops in india has seen record sales.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/economic-growth-may-fall-sharply-to-2-6-per-cent-in-2020-21-sbi-ecowrap/articleshow/74835804.cms
New Delhi: The country's economic growth is likely to fall sharply to 2.6 per cent in 2020-21 due to lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, a research report said on Thursday.According to a report by SBI Research's Ecowrap , GDP growth for 2019-20 could also see a downward revision from 5 per cent to 4.5 per cent, with growth in the fourth quarter of the current financial year at 2.5 per cent."What would be impact on India's GDP because of such a lockdown?... We thus peg our 2020-21 GDP estimate at 2.6 per cent, with a clear downward bias, with first quarter of the next fiscal GDP numbers witnessing a contraction," the report said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a complete lockdown across the country for 21 days from Wednesday, asserting that social distancing is the only way out for the country in its decisive battle against coronavirus.The death toll due to COVID-19 , the disease caused by coronavirus, in India rose to 16 on Thursday and the number of positive cases increased to 694, according to the health ministry."2019-20 fiscal GDP estimates could also see a downward revision from 5 per cent to 4.5 per cent with fourth quarter of current GDP growth at 2.5 per cent," it added.According to the report, the total cost of lockdown is at least Rs 8.03 lakh crore in nominal terms, an income loss of Rs 1.77 lakh crore and a loss in capital income of Rs 1.69 lakh crore.Stating that the income loss will be the highest in agriculture, transport, hotels, trade and education, the report said, "However, the economy could recover potentially faster the quickly the stimulus programme is in place.P
a research report says the country's economic growth is likely to fall sharply to 2.6% in 2020-21. the lockdown is due to the coronavirus pandemic, the report says. the report says the country's growth for 2019-20 could also see a downward revision from 5% to 4.5 per cent. the lockdown is expected to last 21 days, with the death toll from COVID-19 rising to 16.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/german-court-hands-ecb-three-month-ultimatum-to-justify-stimulus-scheme-5225821.html
The Bundesbank must stop buying government bonds under the European Central Bank's long-running stimulus scheme within three months unless the ECB can prove the purchases are needed, Germany's top court ruled on Tuesday. The verdict deals a blow to the 2-trillion-euro Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) credited with keeping the euro zone economy afloat over the past five years. With the European Court of Justice - the top court in matters of European Union law - having already cleared that scheme, Tuesday's ruling also raises questions about the future of the EU and the resilience of its institutions. The Constitutional Court judges in Karlsruhe did however leave open a loophole for continuing the scheme if the ECB can show it is necessary despite its "negative effects", such as endangering taxpayer money and making governments increasingly reliant on central bank funding. They also said their decision did not apply to the ECB's pandemic-fighting programme, a 750 billion euro ($815 billion) scheme approved last month to prop up the coronavirus-stricken euro area economy. ECB policymakers will discuss the ruling at a virtual Governing Council meeting starting at 1600 GMT, a spokesman for the bank said. The PSPP currently accounts for less than a quarter of the ECB's monthly bond purchases. Germany's top court objected to the Bundesbank's participation in it saying - among other side effects - that the purchases posed risks for state finances, resulted in the loss of private savings and maintained unviable companies. "The Bundesbank may thus no longer participate in the implementation and execution of the ECB decisions at issue, unless the ECB Governing Council adopts a new decision that demonstrates...the PSPP (transactions) are not disproportionate to the economic and fiscal policy effects," the judges said. They added the German central bank must also sell the bonds already bought, which were worth 533.9 billion euros at the end of April, albeit based "on a possibly long-term strategy coordinated with" the rest of the euro zone. But they said the scheme did not amount to directly financing government, which would put it in breach of European Union Treaties. EASY WAY OUT, OR INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS? Commerzbank economist Joerg Kraemer expected the ECB to easily convince the judges about the necessity of the purchases. "With its armada of specialists, it will be easy for the ECB to carry out such a check," Kraemer said. "The ECB's bond purchases will continue. Today's ruling won't change that." But Luis Garicano, a Spanish liberal member of the European Parliament, said the ruling posed a threat to the future of EU institutions. "Very worried about the future of Europe post (the verdict). Europe cannot work if national Constitutional Courts decide unilaterally... Expect Hungary's and Poland's constitutional court to follow this precedent," he said in a Twitter posting. German bonds and the euro sold off after the ruling, with the benchmark 10-year Bund yield climbing to briefly touch a session high of -0.517%. European stocks trimmed some gains and the pan-European STOXX 600 index was last up 1.05%. Amassing nearly 3 trillion euros of bonds since 2015, the ECB has long relied on asset purchases to support the economy through crises and a threat of deflation. As the central bank of the euro zone's largest economy, the Bundesbank has taken the lion's shares of those purchases. But a group of academics in Germany has long argued that the ECB is overstepping its mandate, and that these buys constitute direct financing of governments. While the ECB primarily responds to the European Court of Justice, the Bundesbank is subject to German courts. With much of the euro zone now in lockdown to halt the spread of the virus, the ECB plans to print another 1 trillion euros to run the pandemic-fighting programme and help keep borrowing costs down for companies and governments.
the ECB must stop buying government bonds under the stimulus scheme. the decision leaves open a loophole for continuing the scheme. the public sector purchase programme is credited with keeping the euro zone economy afloat. the ecj has already cleared the scheme. but the ruling does not apply to the ECB's pandemic-fighting programme.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/aircraft-fighting-australia-bushfires-loses-contact-may-have-crashed/1832413/
An aircraft fighting bushfires in Australia lost contact with ground control and may have crashed, officials said on Thursday, as soaring temperatures and strong winds fanned blazes in the country’s southeast including one on the capital’s doorstep. The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service said it was investigating the incident involving Large Air Tanker (LAT) flying in the state’s Snowy Monaro region. “Local ground crews indicate the aircraft may have crashed,” the fire service said in a statement. “A number of helicopters are in the area carrying out a search.” The fire service did not immediately respond to requests for further detail. Local media reported that the aircaft was a C130 waterbomber and that it was working near a large fire in a national park. Meanwhile, in Canberra, emergency authorities urged residents and workers on the eastern side of Canberra to stay in place as it was too late to leave, warning that driving would be “extremely dangerous and potentially deadly”. “The fire may pose a threat to all lives directly in its path. People in these suburbs are in danger and need to seek immediate shelter as the fire approaches,” the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency said. Flights in and out of Canberra Airport were delayed to give way to planes fighting the fire, which was near the airport on the eastern edge of the city. Since September, hundreds of wildfires in Australia have killed 29 people as well as an estimated 1 billion native animals, while incinerating 2,500 homes and a total area of bushland one-third the size of Germany. Here are today’s key events in the bushfire crisis: * NSW firefighters were tackling 101 fires, with six at emergency warning levels. In Victoria state there were 17 blazes, with one of those at the “watch and act” warning level. * Heavy rain helped improve air quality in Melbourne, where bushfire smoke had affected players in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open. * The Victorian state government on Thursday said it would spend A$17.5 million immediately to save wildlife hit by the bushfires. It planned to focus on species most at risk, including the brush-tailed rock wallaby, the long-footed potaroo and large brown tree frog. * Economists have estimated the cost of the bushfires to Australia’s A$1.95 trillion ($1.33 trillion) economy could be as high as A$5 billion ($3.4 billion). * The Australian Tourism Industry Council estimated revenue losses totalling A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) for the industry, including forward sales and the physical damage to tourism facilities across regions ravaged by bushfires. * United Airlines said it was watching routes in Australia very carefully, noting the wildfires “had some impact on demand.” * A Reuters analysis shows animals in specific habitats, such as mountain lizards, leaf-tailed geckos and pear-shaped frogs, are battling the threat of extinction after large areas of their homes were razed by the fires.
soaring temperatures and strong winds fanned blazes in australia's southeast. large air tanker (LAT) may have crashed, fire service says. soaring temperatures and strong winds fanned blazes in the state's snowy monaro region. hundreds of wildfires in australia have killed 29 people since September.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/coronavirus-fallout-unemployment-rate-spikes-to-23-after-lockdown-says-cmie/story/400349.html
The overall unemployment rate may have surged to 23 per cent, with urban unemployment standing at nearly 31 per cent, amid the countrywide lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) estimates showed. The employment situation worsened from the start of March, before the lockdown was triggered, and then soared in the last week of the month and the first week of April 2020, CMIE data showed. While the overall unemployment rate spiked to 23.4 per cent, the urban unemployment rate soared to 30.9 per cent. "In March 2020, the labour participation rate fell to an all-time low, the unemployment rate shot up sharply and the employment rate fell to its all-time low," Mahesh Vyas, CEO, CMIE, said in an article on the website. Also read: Coronavirus: Companies assure employees of no layoffs as businesses take a hit Unemployment, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is when persons above a specified age are not in paid employment or self-employment and currently available for work during the reference period. "The unemployment rate in March was 8.7%. This is the highest unemployment rate in 43 months...The unemployment rate during this last week [of March] was 23.8%. Labour participation rate fell to 39% and the employment rate was a mere 30%," Vyas added. India's unemployment rate surged to nearly 9 per cent, the highest in the last 43 months, according to CMIE data. The unemployment rate stood at 8.74 per cent in March, highest since August 2016 when demonetisation happened, CMIE data showed. In August 2016, the unemployment rate was 9.59 per cent. While the unemployment rate was recorded at 9.35 per cent in urban areas, it stood at 8.45 per cent in rural parts of the country, the data also showed. In February, it was recorded at 7.78 per cent. Meanwhile, India is under a 21-day lockdown currently until April 14. Also read: Coronavirus Live Updates: 354 COVID-19 positive cases in last 24 hours; India's active count at 3,981
overall unemployment rate surges to 23 per cent, with urban unemployment at nearly 31 per cent. india is under a 21-day lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak. unemployment rate surges to nearly 9 per cent, highest in last 43 months. CMIE: india's unemployment rate is at its highest level in 43 months. a spokesman for the government says it is preparing to launch a nationwide strike.
Negative
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/news-live-did-sridevi-die-due-to-drowning-2515887.html
20:18 ACC shelves merger with Ambuja Cements ACC has called off the merger with Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL). ACC has said in a BSE notification that currently there are 'constraints in implementing merger between the company and ACL." The notification continues to say that the merger with ACL remains to be 'the ultimate Objective' and will not be proceeding with the Merger at this juncture 19:40 PNB fraud: Former PNB MD, Executive Director under ED's scanner After Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax (IT), Enforcement Directorate (ED) is the third agency that has questioned Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) executive director KV Brahmaji Rao, over lapses in Rs 11,400 crore PNB fraud, reports Moneycontrol’s Tarun Sharma. Meanwhile, PNB CEO Sunil Mehta could not attend to the summons issued to him due to business commitments. Also, ED will soon issue summons to former PNB MD Usha Ananthasubramanian as it feels that Mehta’s tenure at the bank is lesser, sources said. 19:15 Aadhaar helped cancel 3 cr fake, duplicate ration cards: Minister Nearly three crore fake and duplicate ration cards have been cancelled during the three years of the NDA government, CR Chaudhary, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said today. It had also saved the country Rs 17,000 crore every year during this time, he added. Linking the ration card to the holder's Aadhaar number had allowed the government to clean up the system, the minister said. 19:01 There may be further delay in return of mortal remains of Sridevi Further delay in return of mortal remains of Sridevi expected, say sources. Dubai police which earlier gave clearance now awaits clearance from Prosecution magistrate. Police reportedly informed Indian authorities the body can only be handed over after nod from prosecution magistrate, reports ANI. 18:38 Morgan Stanley pegs India's Q3 GDP growth at 7% India's economic recovery is expected to have gathered momentum and GDP growth for the December quarter is likely to have accelerated to 7%, says a Morgan Stanley report. India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.3% in July-September quarter of the fiscal, up from 5.7% in the first quarter. According to the global financial services major, growth in the industry and services sector is expected to have accelerated while growth in the agriculture sector decelerated. "We expect the economic recovery to have gathered further momentum with GDP growth accelerating to 7% YoY in the December-17 quarter from 6.3% in the September quarter," Morgan Stanley said in a research note. In GVA terms, growth picked up further to 6.7% YoY from 6.1% in the previous quarter, the brokerage said. 18:16 Farewell Sridevi Sridevi's body has been released for embalming, reports Gulf News. Many celebrities have visited Boney Kapoor's brother, Anil Kapoor's residence to offer their condolences. 17:47 Govt publishes names of 9,500 'high-risk' NBFCs The government has categorised about 9,500 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the country as "high risk" prone as they have not complied with a stipulated provision of the anti-money laundering law, reports PTI. A list of 9,491 "high risk financial institutions" has been published by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) that works under the Finance Ministry to check crimes in the Indian economy and alert enforcement agencies against such instances. The list, containing the names of the firms, has been updated till January this year. 17:45 Sensex vaults 300 pts on global leads, macro optimism Benchmark Sensex ratcheted up by more than 300 points for the second session in a row today on optimism over India's growth recovery amid positive global cues. The Sensex closed at a three-week high of 34,445.75, while the wider NSE Nifty went past the 10,550-mark. Investor sentiment was bolstered after a Morgan Stanley report said India's economic recovery is expected to have gathered momentum and GDP growth for the December quarter is likely to have accelerated to 7%. The GDP numbers will be released on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 34,225.72 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day's high of 34,483.39 before ending at 34,445.75, up 303.60 points, or 0.89%. This level was last seen on February 5, when the Sensex had closed at 34,757.16. The index had rallied 322.65 points in the previous session on Friday on value-buying by investors in recently-battered blue-chip stocks. The Nifty finished the day at 10,582.60, showing a hefty gain of 91.55 points, or 0.87%, after shuttling between 10,592.95 and 10,520.20. Gains were led by realty, auto, capital goods, banking, infrastructure, metals, power, oil & gas, PSU and consumer durables sectors, which rose up to 3.3%.IT, teck and healthcare indices ended in the red. Maruti Suzuki emerged as the leader of the Sensex pack today, with a 3.41% rise, followed by Tata Motors at 3.22%. Other gainers were IndusInd Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, M&M, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Ltd, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, RIL, ONGC, Tata Steel and NTPC, gaining up to 2.94%. In contrast, Sun Pharma, TCS, Infosys, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and SBI succumbed to profit-booking and fell by up to 2.46%. In keeping with the overall trend, the small-cap and mid-cap indices rose 0.88% and 0.74%. Shares of scam-hit Punjab National Bank lost another 1.32%. Gitanjali Gems too slumped 4.84% to Rs 23.60. Shares of Simbhaoli Sugars plunged 15.73% today after CBI registered a case against the company, its Chairman Gurmit Singh Mann, Deputy MD Gurpal Singh and others in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 97.85 crore. The company's lender Oriental Bank of Commerce also fell by 10.02%. 17:41 CPI inflation to trend higher, chances of rate hike rising, says UBS Inflation is expected to trend higher and though RBI may keep policy rates on hold in 2018-19, there are also increasing chances of a rate hike, says a UBS report. According to the global financial services major, minutes from the February 7 meet of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) seem "hawkish", and highlight upside risks to inflation. UBS expects headline CPI inflation to remain in the range of 5.1-5.6% over the next few months and average 4.9% YoY in FY19. "In our base case, we expect the MPC to keep rates on hold in 2018-19," UBS said. 17:39 ONGC says KG-D5 output delay due to policy changes Oil producer ONGC said it may miss the June 2019 target for starting production from its Krishna Godavari basin block due to new policies like GST and local purchase preference rules, including the one that mandates state-owned firms to source domestic iron and steel for infrastructure project, reports PTI. Clarifying on its last week's filing to stock exchanges, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said the new policies it had cited for a possible delay pertained to local purchase preference policy, steel policy and GST policy. "The new policies concerning oil and mining sector, as referred in the reply of ONGC to NSE and BSE, though not amply clarified in the reply, were pertaining to policies like purchase preference policy, steel policy, GST policy etc. and not regulatory policy," ONGC said in a statement. While the ONGC Board had in March 2016 approved a $5.07 billion investment for bringing oil and gas discovered in the KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 block in Bay of Bengal to production, new policies were formulated last year. 17:37 CBI case against Simbhaoli Sugars first registered in 2015, says OBC State-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce said Simbhaoli Sugars is an old NPA account of the bank and the first case was registered with CBI in September 2015. "First complaint to CBI was filed on September 3, 2015 and amended complaint was filed on November 17, 2017. The case has now been registered as per procedures," the bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank said Simbhaoli Sugars is an old NPA account which was reported to RBI and CBI as per extant procedures. The total exposure in this account has been adequately provided and there will be no impact on the profitability of the bank, it said. 17:34 Mercedes-Benz launches enhanced S Class in India German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has launched the enhanced version of its flagship product Mercedes-Benz S-Class - S 350 d diesel, and also the S 450 petrol -- in India at a price starting from Rs 1.33 crore. While the Mercedes-Benz S 350 d is priced at Rs 1.33 crore, the petrol version S 450 is priced at Rs 1.37 crore, the company said in a statement. The new S Class 350 d is India’s first BS VI compliant ‘Made in India, for India’, vehicle with a state-of-the-art diesel engine that meets BS VI emission norms, two years ahead of the regulation, it added. 17:31 Future Generali Life expects Rs 950cr premium in FY18 Private insurer Future Generali Life Insurance is expecting to garner a total premium income of Rs 950 crore in the current financial year, a company official said. Since start of operations in 2007, assets under management (AUM) of Future Generali were to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore, of which unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs) share was 10% to 15%. "We are expecting to garner a total premium income of 950 crore in 2017-18. Out of that first individual is Rs 300 crore, first group Rs 250 crore and Rs 400 crore of renewal premium", CMO and EVP (strategy) Rakesh Wadhwa told PTI. 17:28 RInfra wins Rs 292cr arbitration award against Goa govt Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) has won an arbitration award of Rs 292 crore against the Goa government for non-payment of electricity dues. It said the need for arbitration arose due to prolonged non-payment of dues by the state government towards supply of electricity by RInfra from its 48 MW Goa Power Plant in Sancoale. The Tribunal has also ordered payment of interest at 15% per annum on the total award amount if the government fails to pay the entire award amount by the deadline, it said. 17:26 CIL board to consider payment of interim dividend for FY18 State-owned Coal India’s board will meet next week to consider payment of interim dividend for the ongoing fiscal. "A meeting of Board of Directors of the company will be held on Wednesday, the 7th March, 2018 inter-alia to consider payment of interim dividend, if any, for the year 2017-18," Coal India (CIL) said in a filing to BSE. The company said that it has fixed March 15 the purpose of payment of interim dividend on equity shares for 2017-18, if declared by the board. 17:25 Rahul questions PM over delay in setting up of Lokpal Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of favouring the "super rich" and questioned why he had still not appointed a Lokpal to fight corruption, reports PTI. Gandhi, who has been targeting Modi in all public rallies in poll-bound Karnataka, also quizzed Modi over his "silence" on issues such as the Punjab National Bank fraud. "In Gujarat, Modi ji did not implement Lokayukta. It has been four years since he became prime minister... He did not implement Lokpal even in Delhi," he said. The Congress president said Modi, who had described himself as the country's "chowkidar" (watchman), was silent on the fraud and the alleged increase in the turnover of a company owned by BJP president Amit Shah's son, Jay Shah. "The country's chowkidar comes to Karnataka and speaks about corruption with his chief minister (former chief minister Yeddyurappa) who had been to jail on one side and on the other side four ministers who also went to jail during the BJP rule," he said, addressing a rally here. "Nudidante nade" (practise what you preach)," he urged Modi, quoting 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara from Karnataka. Gandhi, who is on the second leg of his three-day tour of the northern parts of Karnataka, said, "Modiji... nudidante nade. The country has not made you prime minister just to give speeches." 17:20 BSE waives transaction fees equity segment of Sensex 30 index In order to facilitate and encourage participation by retail investors in financially sound companies, BSE has waived the transaction charges on Sensex 30 stocks from March 12. Currently, transaction charges range from Rs 0.50-1.5 per trade for securities under group A, B and other non-exclusive scrips. In a statement, BSE said it has waived the transaction charges in equity segment on "S&P BSE Sensex 30 Stocks with effect from March 12, 2018. S&P BSE Sensex is the barometer of Indian economy". The move will help India in the growth story as BSE will now be the most preferred exchange for transacting in the Sensex 30 stocks, which are considered to be growth engine for India, it added. Exclusive: Maruti Suzuki Swift's hybrid version could make its way to Indian roadsMaruti Suzuki, the country largest car maker, could explore the possibility of getting the hybrid version of Swift to India as a stop-gap arrangement before moving to fully electric mobility, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. The hybrid version of the Swift is presently available in Europe but with petrol engine option – 1.2 litre and 1.0 litre. A version of that model or in diesel could make it to Indian showrooms of the company. Maruti Suzuki, the country largest car maker, could explore the possibility of getting the hybrid version of Swift to India as a stop-gap arrangement before moving to fully electric mobility, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. The hybrid version of the Swift is presently available in Europe but with petrol engine option – 1.2 litre and 1.0 litre. A version of that model or in diesel could make it to Indian showrooms of the company. 17:09 Bhushan Steel bid: Liberty House explains case in NCLT Following the rejection of its bid for acquiring Bhushan Power and Steel, UK-based Liberty House made a case at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), elaborating as to why it wants its bid to be opened, reports PTI. “The Court heard our petition. The judge heard our arguments. We explained our case stating why we want our bids to be opened in the first case," spokesperson with Liberty House told PTI. Liberty House also explained to the NCLT that it wants to do business in India as there is no better time than this. There will be another hearing for the other party - Resolution Professional and Committee of Creditors (CoC)- in March, the spokesperson said. The matter, the spokesperson said, is sub-judice and "we have full faith in NCLT". The company had earlier said that it was planning to move NCLT this week to direct creditors and resolution professional to consider its offer. 16:59 Sridevi died due to accidental drowning, alcohol traces found in blood The post-mortem report of actress Sridevi reveals that the cause of death is accidental drowning in her bathtub and forensic report has ruled out any criminal motive for the actor’s death. Forensic reports also shows that traces of alcohol were found in Sridevi's body, according to UAE's Gulf News. 16:07 Delhi HC attaches all assets of Singh bros In a major blow to Singh brothers – the promoters of Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises – the Delhi High Court in its interim order on Monday attached all assets of RHC Holdings and Oscar Investments. The latter are privately-held holding companies that own assets of Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh referred as Singh brothers. The case is related to the enforcement of a foreign arbitration award of Rs 3,500 crore by Daiichi Sankyo in a case related to the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories by Singh brothers. The court directed the Singh brothers to submit list of unencumbered personal assets that need to be valued and liquidated. 16:07 Did Sridevi die due to drowning? As anxious crowds milled around her Mumbai home and stars visited the family to pay their condolences, a Dubai paper reported that Bollywood superstar Sridevi was getting ready for dinner with husband Boney Kapoor when she suffered a cardiac arrest, reports PTI. Uncertainty over when the body would arrive and the many questions surrounding her sudden death in Dubai late Saturday intensified as the day progressed. Boney and Sridevi, 54, were in Dubai to attend nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. While most of the extended family as well as Boney and younger daughter Khushi had returned, Sridevi decided to stay back. The elder daughter, Jhanvi, was in Mumbai to complete a shooting schedule. Some details of what may have happened were pieced together by the Khaleej Times newspaper, which quoted sources as saying that the matter was under police investigation. According to the newspaper, an Indian Consulate official and a family member were called inside the morgue today afternoon. On Saturday, Boney, who produced "Mr India", which gave Sridevi one of her most remembered roles, flew back to Dubai to surprise his wife with a dinner, the paper reported. He reached the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel around 5.30pm (Dubai time) and woke her up and they chatted for about 15 minutes, the report said. Sridevi then went to the bathroom to get ready. When she didn't come out for 15 minutes, Boney knocked on the door. He did not get any response and forced open the door, to find her lying motionless in the bathtub that was full of water. "He tried to revive her and when he could not, he called a friend of his. After that, he informed the police at 9 pm," Khaleej Times quoted a source as saying. The police and paramedics rushed to the site, but she was pronounced dead. Her body was taken to the General Department of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy. 15:57 Nokia unveils curved glass flagship phone Sirocco, revamps classic 8110 Technology giant Nokia revealed its latest flagship smartphone — the Nokia 8 Sirocco — a day ahead of the 2018 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company launched the new 8110 4G, an updated version of Nokia's classic 20-year-old phone, and also unveiled Nokia 7 plus, new Nokia 6 and Nokia 1. Sirocco will come with a 5.5-inch 2K display. The smartphone is 7.5 mm thick and is IP67 rated waterproof till 1 metre for up to 30 minutes. 14:43 Fitch says asset-backed securities not affected by PNB fraud Fitch Ratings said Indian asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions are unlikely to be affected by the Rs 11,400 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB), reports PTI. PNB, it says, still remains eligible as an account bank for Indian ABS transactions rated at 'BBB-sf'. ABS are bonds or notes backed by financial assets. Typically, these assets consist of receivables other than mortgage loans, such as credit card receivables, auto loans, manufactured-housing contracts and home-equity loans. 14:20 No clarity on Sridevi's cause of death, body remains still in the morgue According to various sources, more reports on Sridevi's death expected shortly. Also, Khaleej Times has ruled out second autopsy. More blood test will be conducted. And there is no confirmation on release of Sridevi's body yet. 13:41 Aster DM Healthcare makes weak debut, shares fall over 4% Shares of Aster DM Healthcare made a weak debut at bourses today, falling over 4% from the issue price of Rs 190. The stock listed at Rs 182.10, a loss of 4.15% from the issue price, on BSE. On NSE, shares of the company debuted at Rs 183, a fall of 3.68%. The company's market valuation stood at Rs 9,225.45 crore. The initial public offer of Aster DM Healthcare was subscribed 1.33 times during February 12-15. The price band for the offer was kept at Rs 180-190 per share. The company operates in India, the Philippines, Jordan and all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states comprising the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. 13:39 Manohar Parrikar is stable, says state minister Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is "absolutely fine and stable", a state minister said today, a day after he was admitted to a Goa hospital following complaints of uneasiness, reports PTI. Parrikar, 62, was taken to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Sunday evening on a wheelchair. He was discharged from Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital on February 22, a week after he was admitted there and treated for a pancreatic ailment. "The chief minister remains admitted in hospital but he is absolutely fine and stable," state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said. He was suffering from mild dehydration at the time he was taken to GMCH. 13:33 Meet Malegam, the man chosen by RBI to solve PNB fraud On February 14, a Rs 11,400-crore scam breaks out at state-run Punjab National Bank following fraudulent deals involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and jeweler Mehul Choksi. A few days later, India’s banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), forms a committee under Yezdi Hirji Malegam – an 84-year-old chartered accountant and the longest-serving member on the RBI board till 2016, reports The Economic Times. 13:25 Bhaichung Bhutia quits Trinamool Congress Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia announced his decision to quit the Trinamool Congress. The footballer, who contested elections twice as a Trinamool Congress candidate and lost both times, took to social media to announce his decision. "As of today I have officially resigned from the membership and all the official and political posts of All India Trinamool Congress party. I am no longer a member or associated with any political party in India," Bhutia said in a tweet. Bhutia had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Darjeeling and the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections from Siliguri. The TMC declined to comment on Bhutia resigning from the party. However, sources told PTI that Bhutia had informed the TMC about his decision one month ago as he was no longer interested in being associated with any political party. 13:12 Strides Shasun to launch Ranitidine tablets in US Drug firm Strides Shasun announced that it will launch Ranitidine Tablets USP, 150 mg, used to treat peptic ulcers of the stomach and intestines, in the US markets. Strides is already a key player in the US Ranitidine Rx market with 32% market share through its approval for Ranitidine Tablets USP, 150 mg and 300 mg. The new launch will further strengthen company’s Ranitidine franchise, the company said in a statement. The company said, "the US OTC market for Ranitidine Tablets, which is the generic form of the popular brand Zantac, is approximately $200 million." This is the first product approval from company’s 50:50 JV with Vivimed Labs. The product will be backward integrated and will be manufactured at the JV’s oral dosage facility in Chennai, it said. Strides will have exclusive marketing rights for the product in the US. The product will be launched immediately. The company has 82 cumulative ANDA filings with USFDA (including its JV with Vivimed), of which 50 ANDAs have been approved as of date and 32 are pending approval. EXCLUSIVE: Govt readying a tough law for speedier recovery of dues from Nirav Modi-type fugitives The government will shortly move a new law—the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill—to impound and sell assets of Nirav Modi-type escapees, a move that will allow quicker recovery of dues through a special court from absconding corporate defaulters, reports Moneycontrol News’ Gaurav Choudhury. In September, the Law Ministry had approved the Finance Ministry’s draft of Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017, and its passage into law is now being expedited as part of the Modi government’s response to the PNB scam. The Bill is likely to be introduced after Parliament reconvenes on March 6 for the second the part of the Budget session. It defines fugitive economic offender as a person who has an arrest warrant issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who leaves or has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. The draft Bill covers a wide range of offences including wilful loan defaults, cheating and forgery, forged or fraudulent document of electronic records, duty evasion and non-repayment of deposits among others. Once voted into law the new legislation will empower investigating agencies to confiscate, and vest with themselves, any property of the absconding offenders without an encumbrances. Also, at the discretion of any Court, such person or any company where the absconder is a promoter or key managerial personnel or majority shareholder, may be “disentitled” from bringing forward or defending any civil claim. This could effectively take away the fugitive offenders rights to reclaim the assets. 12:33 Sterlite Tech bags Rs 3,500cr project from Indian NavySterlite Technologies has been awarded a Rs 3,500-crore advance purchase order to design, build and manage the Indian Navy’s communications network. "The Rs 3,500-crore system integration project will enable the Indian Navy with a digital communications network at par with the most advanced naval forces globally," the company said in a statement. This will give the Navy digital defence supremacy at par with the best naval forces globally. This is the first time that an integrated naval communications network at such a scale is being built in India, the company added. The Navy’s communications network has been envisioned as a smarter network infrastructure with enhanced throughput, high-quality secure services and ease of network management. The scope requires Sterlite Tech to design, build and manage the communications network for over a decade through its system integration capabilities, it said. 11:58 Lenders back govt takeover of Nirav Modi & Gitanjali cos, says report A set of lenders wants the government to take over the Nirav Modi and Gitanjali group of companies rather than have banks initiate bankruptcy proceedings, reports The Times of India. Banks said a precedent was set in the case of Satyam Computers, where the government appointed a board of directors to run the company and protect its assets. However, sources in the Corporate Affairs Ministry said the government was not keen on taking over the companies as this would result in the Centre being responsible for all liabilities. Those opposed to insolvency proceedings are banks that have an indirect exposure to the Nirav Modi and Gitanjali fraud through their loans against unauthorised guarantees issued by Punjab National Bank (PNB). If bankruptcy proceedings are initiated, it would mean that the resolution process has to be completed within 270 days from the date of admission. If there is no resolution plan, which is very likely given the fraud, the companies would have to be liquidated. Besides, insolvency would also adversely impact over 1,000 employees. Around 700 employees working in Hyderabad Gems SEZ — a 100% subsidiary of Gitanjali — have found themselves without a job after the SEZ was attached in the wake of the fraud. Over 250 of those employees in the SEZ were people with disabilities. 11:49 BSF foils infiltration bid along IB in J-K's Samba districtBSF troops foiled an infiltration bid along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, police told PTI. BSF troops at a border out post observed some movement along IB in Ramgarh sector around 0500 hours today, a senior police officer told PTI. They fired several rounds and illumination flares, he said adding that the suspected militants were forced back and the infiltration bid was foiled. "Troops are on alert to foil any bid," a BSF officer said. 11:39 Sridevi's body to reach India by afternoon Veteran actor Sridevi’s mortal remains will be flown back to India from Dubai today, her family said in a statement. Sridevi's body could not be repatriated on Sunday as the final investigation reports from Dubai Police were not ready till last evening. Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani has reportedly offered to fly her remains back home in his private jet. Sridevi, 54, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late Saturday night reportedly due to a cardiac arrest in Dubai's Jumeirah Emirates Towers. The body will be ready for repatriation by 1 to 2 pm, Dubai time, Khaleej Times reported. Indian Consulate officials reveal that that after receiving the Police Clearance and forensic report, the other procedures including, immigration and embalming would be completed in the next 3 to 4 hours, a source told the publication. The actor and family were in town after attending the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah which took place in Ras Al Khaimah. 11:35 Porsche to launch electric vehicle in India in early 2020 Luxury car maker Porsche, part of the Volkswagen group, will launch an electric vehicle (EV) in India in the beginning of 2020, a company official told PTI. Porsche, which started operations on India in 2012, has so far been selling fully imported cars here as the company does have any manufacturing or assembly units outside its home country Germany. "We will launch a fully electric car in India in the beginning of 2020," Director of Porsche India Pavan Shetty said. 11:23 India Inc lines up Rs 25,000cr public offers The IPO lane seems to getting busier as over two dozen companies have lined up initial share sale plans worth Rs 25,000 crore in the coming months, largely to fund their expansion projects and working capital requirements, reports PTI. Hindustan Aeronautics, ICICI Securities, Barbeque-Nation Hospitality and Flemingo Travel Retail are among the names that plan to launch share-sale offers in the coming months. Most of these companies plan to utilise initial public offer (IPO) proceeds for business expansion as well as working capital requirements, as per the draft papers filed with capital markets regulator Sebi. Besides, some of the firms believe the listing of equity shares on bourses will enhance their brand name and provide liquidity to existing shareholders. Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, ICICI Securities, Bharat Dynamics and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency - have secured Sebi's go-ahead this year to float their public offers. In addition, 20 companies including RITES, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Bandhan Bank, IndoStar Capital Finance, Nazara Technologies and Route Mobile are awaiting the regulator's approval to float IPOs. Together, these companies are expected to raise nearly Rs 25,000 crore, merchant banking sources said. Moreover, five companies, including Newgen Software Technologies and Amber Enterprises India, have already hit the capital markets. 11:13 OVL drops plan to build LNG export facility in IranONGC Videsh has shelved plans to build a $5 billion LNG export facility in Iran and has instead opted to only invest in developing a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf, for which a revised cost is being worked out, reports PTI. OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), had last year made its 'best' offer to spend $11 billion in developing the Farzad-B field in the Persian Gulf as well as in building the infrastructure to export the gas but Iran deterred on awarding the rights of the field to the Indian firm owing to differences over investments and price of gas. The company has now agreed to do just the upstream field development part, leaving the marketing of the fuel to Iran, the official said. As had been agreed during the visit of Iranian President Hassam Rouhani earlier this month, a team of OVL officials will be visiting Tehran this week to discuss modalities of the upstream development. "We had initially thought that the upstream field development would cost $6.2 billion. But, this is not the final cost. We will be able to arrive at a final cost only after we do at least well to appraise the discovery we had made about a decade back," he said. 10:52 Hindcon Chemicals IPO opens today, to raise Rs 7.73cr Chemical products manufacturer Hindcon Chemicals said its initial public offer (IPO) will open today to raise up to Rs 7.73 crore. The company said it will use the proceeds to meet working capital requirements, general corporate purposes and expenses. The IPO will put to offer 27,60,000 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at a cash price of Rs 28 per piece. The issue closes on February 28. In 2016-17, the company's net revenue of operations was Rs 33.94 crore, of which 32.14% came from exports to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The key product portfolio of Hindcon includes protective waterproofing coatings, sodium silicates, concrete & mortar admixtures, epoxy grouts & mortars, waterproofing compounds, shotcrete aids, remover cleaning compounds, sealants, tile adhesives, among others. 10:45 PNB scam may cost banking sector about Rs 21,000cr The final bill of the fraud at Punjab National Bank to the Indian banking system could well be in the vicinity of Rs 21,000 crore, if one were to account for the secured loans to the Nirav Modi group and the Gitanjali group of companies, reports Moneycontrol News’ Tarun Sharma and Beena Parmar. With investigative agencies cracking down on both groups and attaching their assets, many other banks, in addition to PNB, may struggle to recover the money loaned to these groups. 10:17 Morgan Stanley says RBI MPC's next move likely to be rate hike The Monetary Policy Committee's next move will likely be a rate hike but this will not be taken up immediately as a recovery is still at nascent stage, says a Morgan Stanley report. According to the global financial services major, the inflation trajectory will hold the key towards determining when the central bank will likely hike interest rates. "In this context and also from our read of the MPC statement and the minutes, while the next move is likely to be a rate hike, it is unlikely to be taken up immediately," Morgan Stanley said. Its base case assessment remains that "the RBI will hike in Q4 FY18. However, considering that we see upside risks to our inflation forecasts, the risks are also tilting towards an earlier-than-expected rate hike," it added. 10:10 Taxmen asked to step up collections to meet Rs 10.05 lakh cr target Faced with a daunting target of Rs 10.05 lakh crore, the apex decision making body for direct taxes CBDT has asked its field officers to step up efforts and put more focus on better performing zones, reports PTI. In the 2018-19 Budget, the government has hiked the direct tax, which includes personal income tax and corporate tax, collection target to Rs 10.05 lakh crore, from Rs 9.80 lakh crore budgeted initially. In a review meeting earlier this month, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has set higher target for zones which are performing well. "We are looking at better advance tax collection for January-March quarter. If the trend of October-December quarter continues, we will be able to achieve the landmark Rs 10 lakh crore target," an official said. The focus areas of the department for stepping up tax collection will be to follow up with entities which are currently giving taxes on the basis of self-assessment. 09:45 FPIs pull out Rs 9,899cr from equities during Feb 1-23 Foreign investors have pulled out nearly Rs 10,000 crore ($1.5 billion) from the Indian stock market so far this month primarily due to PNB fraud jitters coupled with global cues. This is against the total inflow of over Rs 13,780 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in January, latest data with the depositories showed. According to depositories’ data, FPIs withdrew a net amount of Rs 9,899 crore from equities during February 1-23. However, they put in over Rs 1,500 crore in the debt markets during the period under review. 09:38 PNB fraud: Banks for raising cover against fraud by staff Rattled by a spate of frauds in the banking sector, lenders are now planning to increase insurance cover against delinquencies by their employees to protect their bottomlines, reports PTI. "Frauds of such magnitude and scale - PNB fraud Rs 11,400 crore and OBC fraud Rs 390 crore - has forced us to consider substantially much higher risk cover than the basic banker's indemnity policy which various banks have right now," a top public sector bank official said. Besides, tightening internal risk mechanism and vigilance, banks have to look for higher cover to guard against such fraud where employees are involved, the official said, adding, this will help insulate the balance sheet. For example, SBI alone in 2016-17 reported frauds of Rs 2,424.74 crore (837 cases). Out of this, an amount of Rs 2,360.37 crore (278 cases) represents advances declared as frauds. 09:20 Godrej Appliances eyes Rs 5,000 crore turnover in FY19Godrej Appliances, the consumer durables division of Godrej Group, is targeting a 25% revenue growth to nearly Rs 5,000 crore in 2018-19, on higher demand expectation, reports PTI. "We should be close to Rs 4,000 crore this financial year. We will be targeting a 25% growth next year, at close to about Rs 5,000 crore," Godrej Appliances business head and executive vice president Kamal Nandi said. 08:58 JSW Steel set to acquire Italian Aferpi for Rs 600 cr: Source Private steel maker JSW Steel is close to acquire Italy-based Aferpi steel firm for Rs 600 crore, a source told PTI. "The deal is almost finalised. Most probably by the end of March or beginning of April, it will be final," the source said, adding that the deal is worth about Rs 600 crore. Aferpi makes specialty long products for railways, bars for auto industry parts, earthmoving vehicles, among others and is the second largest steel maker in Italy. The plan is to cater to the automobile customers of Europe. HR coils will be sent from India and further finished products will be sold to the customers there. 08:48 Liberty House appeal to NCLT to be heard today The fate of Liberty House's bid for Bhushan Power and Steel may be decided on Monday morning, when its appeal to the National Company Law Tribunal will be heard, reports Moneycontrol News’ Prince Mathews Thomas. The UK-based company had moved the NCLT after its bid for Bhushan Power and Steel was rejected by Committee of Creditors last week. The Committee, consisting of lenders, had refused to consider the bid as it was submitted after the deadline had passed on February 8. The appeal by Liberty House is an unprecedented one. In none of the auctions till now has a bid been accepted after the deadline. If the company's bid is accepted by the NCLT, it will open up a much contentious issue. Sources say that JSW Steel and Tata Steel may consider contesting it. 08:19 CBI files Rs 1bn fraud case against Simbhaoli Sugar executives The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Sunday it had filed a fraud case against executives of Simbhaoli Sugar for causing alleged losses of Rs 1.09 billion to state-run Oriental Bank of Commerce, reports Reuters. The bank alleged that the sugar refiner “dishonestly and fraudulently diverted” a Rs 1.48-billion-loan sanctioned in 2011 for financing cane farmers for private use, a statement issued by CBI said. The case comes at a time when the Indian banking sector is getting to grips with its biggest banking fraud totalling $1.8 billion, in which the No 2 state-run lender PNB has alleged that two of its employees colluded with firms linked to well-known jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. This is the second case in three days registered by the CBI upon complaints from the Oriental Bank of Commerce. The police has registered a case against several top officials of Simbhaoli Sugar, including its chairman and managing director, chief executive and chief financial officer, some unknown bank officials, and other private persons. 08:10 PNB fraud: ED to seek info from over dozen countries on Nirav Modi, Choksi's assets Widening its probe into the PNB fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate will soon send judicial requests to over a dozen countries for obtaining information about the overseas businesses and assets of diamantaire Nirav Modi and owner of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi, reports PTI. Official sources said the agency will approach a competent court in Mumbai with a request to obtain Letters Rogatories (LRs) to be sent to about 15-17 countries where the central investigation agency has traced the footsteps of the diamond and gold jewellery businesses of the firms owned by Modi, his uncle Choksi and others associated with them. The countries where the LRs would be sent include Belgium, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore and South Africa. Some official requests on the basis of agency-to-agency exchange will also be sent to few countries, the sources said. 07:51 Dr Reddy's Labs gets EIR from USFDA for Srikakulam plantPharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories said it has received the establishment inspection report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration for its formulations facility in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. The company, without mentioning the contents of the EIR, said the USFDA has maintained OAI (Official Action Indicated) status at its API manufacturing plant in Srikakulam. The US drug regulator has asked the company for more details, it said. "FDA has asked us for more details. We are providing those details and continuing to engage with FDA for resolution of pending issues," Dr Reddy's said in a regulatory filing. An OAI status is equivalent to finding of objectionable conditions at the audit site and also an indicative of regulatory and/or administrative sanctions by FDA. The USFDA issues an EIR to an establishment that is the subject of an FDA or FDA-contracted inspection when the agency decides to close the inspection. In April 2017, the company had informed about completion of the audit at its API manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh and issuance of two observations by the US drug regulator. Dr Reddy's had said that it was addressing those issues. 07:46 Huawei unveils world's first 5G commercial modem Chinese telecom gear firm Huawei on Sunday unveiled the world's first commercial 5G modem with a claim that it can deliver peak speed of over 2,000 megabit per second on next generation network, reports PTI. In India Reliance Jio has been delivering wireless broadband with peak average download speed of around 21 mbps and fixed broadband service provider Spectra claims to be delivering speed of up to 1GBPS (or 1024 mbps). The company unveiled world's first 5G CPE (consumer premise equipment or router) with the promise of delivering broadband speed of up to 2 Gbps on 5G network. The CPE will also support 4G network. Besides the chipset, Huawei unveiled full touch-screen enabled notebook Huawei matebook X Pro with 13.9 inch display, pop-up camera on the keyboard with price range starting EUR1,399. The company unveiled three 4G tablet models in Mediapad M5 series with dual use as tablet and notebook at starting price of EUR349. 07:31 Samsung launches Galaxy S9 & S9+ South Korean tech major Samsung unveiled Galaxy S9 and S9+, its latest flagship model in the smartphone segment, a day before the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, reports PTI. The phones have features like dual aperture and slow motion video options that compete with iPhone X and Google Pixel 2 series. It also have features like dual-stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos surround sound capabilities. The S9 comes with 4 GB RAM and with internal memory options of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB along with an external memory slot, which can support a capacity of up to 400 Gb. While the Galaxy S9+ comes with 6GB RAM and would also have memory options of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB along with an external memory slot of 400 GB. The company has incorporated several advanced features such as built in live automatic translator in its camera app, which could translate over 50 languages. Samsung has incorporated several Indian languages in the camera app which includes Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi and Marathi. Both the phones would be operated through Android 8 Orio and would give options to users to create their own emojis with their faces while chatting. The S9, which has put 3,000 mAh battery for its 5.8 inch screen and S9+ would have 3,500 mAh battery for 6.2 Inch screen. Both the phones would have a front camera which is 8 mega pixels and the rear would have a 12 mega pixels camera. The phones will also have features like rear figure scanning and wireless charging system. 7:15 Sridevi's autopsy complete, body to be flown back today The autopsy of superstar Sridevi, who passed away in Dubai after a cardiac arrest, has been completed and her body would be flown back to India today, reports PTI. The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late in the night reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Dubai, where she had gone along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. UAE officials have revealed that Sridevi's autopsy has been completed and the family is now awaiting laboratory reports conducted by the General Department of Forensic Evidence, Dubai, Khaleej Times reported. The body of legendary Indian actress Sridevi, who died in Dubai on Saturday night, is likely to be flown home on Monday, Gulf News reported. Sridevi’s body could not be repatriated on Sunday as the final investigation reports from Dubai Police were not ready by late evening, officials dealing with the legal formalities were quoted by the report. Officials also said that as per usual protocols, these tests take up to 24 hours in the case a person has died outside a hospital in Dubai. The same safety and administrative protocols are being followed by the police in this case as well. She reportedly had a fainting spell in her bathroom and was immediately rushed to Rashid Hospital in Dubai, the report said. The hotel, however, refused to comment on the matter and an employee stated that the matter is under police investigation.
ACC has called off merger with Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL) merger with ACC remains to be 'the ultimate Objective' and will not be proceeding with the Merger. 'there are constraints in implementing merger between the company and ACL', ACC says. 'the merger with ACL remains to be 'the ultimate Objective'
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/boycott-of-chinese-goods-will-not-hurt-china-economy-says-chidambaram/story/407524.html
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said that boycotting Chinese products will not hurt China's economy as the neighbouring country's trade with India is only a fraction of its trade globally. He added, "We must become self-reliant as much as possible but we can't decouple with the rest of the world. India must continue to be part of the global supply chain and not boycott Chinese goods. What part of Chinese trade with India is China's world trade? It's a fraction." Adding, veteran Congress party leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark on the Galwan valley conflict with China had left everyone baffled and bewildered. PM Modi, after an all party meet on the issue of ongoing border tensions with China, had said neither has anyone captured any Indian military post nor has anyone intruded into the nation's territory. Chidambaram said, "At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister made his concluding remarks. These remarks have left practically everyone baffled and bewildered. The PM said no outsider was inside Indian territory in Ladakh." The Congress leader said that Modi's statement had contradicted the Chief of Army Staff, Foreign Minister and Defence Minister's earlier statement. Chidambaram asked, "If the Prime Minister's statement reflects the correct position, we would like to ask the government a few questions. If no Chinese troops had crossed the LAC and are in Indian territory, what was the face-off on May 5-6?" He added, "We would also like to ask that if no Chinese troops were inside Indian territory, where did the clashes take place on June 15-16? Where were 20 Indian soldiers killed and 85 injured?" Chidambaram also added that once PM Modi makes a statement that there are no Chinese troops on Indian territory, he has to define Indian territory too. The former union minister said, "The Chinese claim has been consistent with what they have been claiming for the last few weeks, it is the Indian position as articulated by the Prime Minister that has come as a total shock. That is why we have asked pointed questions, now that China is claiming the entire Galwan valley, do you reject this claim or not," He urged the Modi government to reject the Chinese claim today itself and added if the Indian Government doesn't reject the claim of Chinese today, it could have "terrible consequences." With inputs from ANI Also Read: Galwan valley standoff: Well-prepared, suitably deployed to respond, says Air Force chief Also Read: Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan: PM Modi launches scheme to boost livelihood in villages
former finance minister says china's trade with india is only a fraction of its global trade. he says the country must become self-reliant but not decouple with the rest of the world. he says the comments on the recent clashes with china have left everyone baffled and bewildered. he urges the government to reject the Chinese claim and define Indian territory too.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/yes-bank-better-avoid-temptations-wait-for-rbi-roadmap-before-investing-3004941.html
Rana Kapoor | Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × Madhuchanda Dey Moneycontrol Research The stock of Yes Bank has been hammered since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) curtailed the term of its current promoter- CEO, Rana Kapoor. The damage control exercise has started with vigour and the management in a recent communication highlighted the roadmap of the “'Search & Selection Committee” within the bank to find Kapoor’s succession within the stipulated time period. The management is portraying business as usual. In an exchange filing, it has detailed the robust business growth in the quarter gone by. The bank reported 41 percent growth in deposits year-on-year (YoY), 65 percent growth in advances and pristine asset quality at 1.35 percent of advances. But are the investors convinced? The communication appears to have left investors with more questions than answers. The work seems pretty cut out for the Search Committee with the mandate going to an executive search firm for identifying an external candidate by the second week of October. The selected external candidate’s name is likely to be finalised by November end and sent to the RBI for approval by early December. The management sounded positive about finding a successor by the end of January 2019. The suggested names are likely to be a combination of internal and external candidates. The bank expects growth to come down optically in the second half of FY19 on a high base of last year. It is cognizant of its capital constraint and the challenges to its credit rating in case of failure to raise equity by the end of the current fiscal. The management is open to the idea of selling down assets to bring down the requirement of capital but would nevertheless like to be a part of the exciting growth journey that lies ahead of most private banks. The outlook and strategy of the new CEO will definitely have a bearing on growth from FY20 and beyond. The prevailing tightness in the money market could impact margins as the bank runs a high credit-to-deposit ratio and the entire international business (from the IBU unit) is funded by borrowings. On the critical monitorable of RBI’s risk assessment report, the management highlighted that although they are unaware of the outcome of this report, they do not expect a big mishap as per their own assessment of their portfolio. While corporate governance concerns perhaps lie at the heart of the non-extension of CEO’s term, the management couldn’t explicitly address the mitigating steps except for reassuring investors that in next couple of years the asset quality divergence would be close to nothing. In fact, Yes Bank’s management has maintained its 50-70 basis points guidance on credit costs in FY19, after factoring in probable divergence and the provision on account of its exposure to IL&Fs group companies, although it didn’t explicitly quantify the same. In the coming months, all eyes will be on the transition of leadership and any rejection of an internal candidate in the board or as CEO will be seen with suspicion by the market as it could be a pointer to a strategic departure. Although markets would attempt to double-guess RBI’s mind on Rana Kapoor’s succession and the noise pertaining to asset quality, the several objections raised by co-founder shareholder Madhu Kapur will have a bearing on the stock. While the stock correction makes the valuation prima facie enticing, it may be a road full of uncertainty going ahead with volatility in stock prices continuing. Risk-averse investors should await a clear roadmap that is likely to be laid down by RBI in the coming months before turning buyers.
Yes bank has been hammered since the Reserve Bank of India curtailed the term of its current promoter- CEO, Rana Kapoor. management highlighted the roadmap of the 'Search & Selection Committee' within the bank to find Kapoor’s succession within the stipulated time period. the bank expects growth to come down optically in the second half of FY19 on a high base of last year.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/an-evening-walk-down-dalal-street-global-weakness-drags-sensex-572-pts-all-sectoral-indices-end-in-the-red-3261021.html
Benchmark indices corrected sharply for the second consecutive session in line with global weakness on Thursday, ahead of a crucial OPEC meeting decision due later in the day. In intraday trade, the Sensex fell more than 600 points and the Nifty broke 10,600 levels. Traders also remained cautious ahead of five states elections exit poll due on Friday evening and results on December 11. The weakness might continue in coming sessions considering the spate of weak domestic data due (economic, tax collections, auto sales, NBFC liquidity crisis etc), experts said, adding the state elections results will be closely watched. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 572.28 points or 1.59 percent at 35,312.13 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 181.70 points or 1.69 percent to 10,601.20, continuing fall for third straight session. "GDP is not good, tax collection not good, liquidity problem continued in NBFCs, auto sales likely to be weak in December, so taking all these into consideration, there is a high possibility that the market may see 9,900 levels or March lows again in coming weeks," AK Prabhakar of IDBI Capital told Moneycontrol. Gaurav Dua, Head of Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said any fall from hereon would always be a buying opportunity as ultimately market always focusses on macro and earnings in the long term. All sectoral indices closed in the red with Auto, IT and Realty falling the most, down over 2 percent each. Bank, FMCG, Metal and Pharma slipped over a percent each. The broader markets also caught in bear trap as Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices plunged over 1.5 percent. About three shares declined for every share rising on the NSE. Among Nifty50, 47 stocks ended in the red with Reliance Industries (down 2.73 percent), Infosys (down 1.89 percent) and HDFC (1.39 percent) contributing the most to this correction. Indiabulls Housing Finance (down 5.54 percent), Maruti Suzuki (4.56 percent), Tech Mahindra (4.19 percent), Bajaj Finserv (3.98 percent) and Tata Motors (3.87 percent) were biggest losers. Sun Pharma (up 1.74 percent) and JSW Steel (up 0.34 percent) were only gainers among Nifty50 stocks. Infact, Sun Pharma snapped its three-day losing streak. The sharp fall in rupee ahead of OPEC meeting also dented market sentiment. The currency was down 40 paise to 70.87 against the US dollar at the time of publishing this article. Global Cues Global markets corrected sharply ahead of OPEC members decision due later in the day, and due to fresh flare-up of tensions between US and China. At the time of publishing this article, Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, fell 3.56 percent to $59.37 a barrel and US oil futures slipped 3.82 percent to $50.87 a barrel. Major Asian markets ended the day lower, tracking weakness on the Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei, China's Shanghai Composite, South Korea's Kospi and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were down 1.5-2.5 percent. Among European markets, France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down around 2.5 percent each.
Sensex down more than 600 points and Nifty breaks 10,600 levels. broader markets caught in bear trap as 47 stocks end in red. OPEC meeting due later in the day. five states elections exit poll due on friday evening. a crucial OPEC meeting decision due later in the day. a spokesman for the OPEC says the syria referendum is a "very important" event.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/moodys-confirms-delhi-igi-airports-ba3-ratings-downgrades-hyderabad-airports-rating-to-ba2/story/406869.html
Moody's Investors Service has confirmed Delhi International Airport Ltd's (DIAL's) Ba3 corporate family rating and senior secured ratings and downgraded GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd's (HIAL's) corporate family rating to Ba2 from Ba1. The outlook on the ratings for both has been changed to negative from ratings under review, Moody's said. Delhi International Airport Limited is the concessionaire for the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is located in the political capital of India, and operates under an Operations, Management and Development Agreement with the Airports Authority of India, a government agency. "The rating confirmation considers the resumption of domestic passenger traffic on 25 May after a two-month suspension of commercial flights in India, management's efforts to reduce operating cost and its delayed capital spending, which will have a positive impact on the airport's liquidity position," says Spencer Ng, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst. "The negative outlook, however, reflects material downside risk over the next 12-18 months, given the uncertainty over the recovery in the airport's traffic and India's weakening economic conditions, which could complicate the airport's efforts to secure additional funding to complete its expansion project and refinance its $288.75 million bond maturity in February 2022," it added. The spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the weakened global economic outlook, low oil prices and asset price declines are creating a severe and extensive credit shock across many sectors, regions and markets, the ratings agency also said. Also read: COVID-19 disruptions take currency, deposits share in household assets to highest 66% in March Also read: Coronavirus in Delhi: Of 5,947 samples, 2,137 test positive in 24 hours; tally rises to 36,824
Moody's Investors Service confirms Delhi International Airport's (DIAL's) Ba3 corporate family rating and senior secured ratings. it downgrades GMR Hyderabad International Airport's (HIAL's) corporate family rating to Ba2 from Ba1. the outlook on the ratings for both has been changed to negative from ratings under review. the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the weakened global economic outlook, low oil prices and asset price declines are creating a severe and extensive credit shock
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/assessing-impact-of-us-decision-on-blocking-h-1b-visas-mea-5459251.html
India on Thursday said it was assessing the impact of the Trump administration's decision to block H-1B visas on Indian nationals and industry but indicated its dismay over it saying people-to-people linkages and economic cooperation are an important dimension of ties between the two countries. In a huge blow to Indian IT professionals eyeing the US job market, the Trump administration suspended the most sought-after H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election year. "This is likely to affect movement of Indian skilled professionals who avail of these non-immigrant visa programmes to work lawfully in the US. We are assessing the impact of the order on Indian nationals and industry in consultation with stakeholders," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said. He was replying to a question on the issue at an online media briefing. "People-to-people linkages and trade & economic cooperation, especially in technology and innovation sectors, are an important dimension of the US-India partnership," he said. The decision by the Trump administration is going to impact a large number of Indian IT professionals and several American and Indian companies who were issued H-1B visas by the US government for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1. Srivastava said high-skilled Indian professionals bring important skill sets, bridge technological gaps and impart a competitive edge to the US economy. "They have also been a critical component of the workforce that is at the forefront of providing COVID-19 related assistance in key sectors, including health, information technology and financial services," he said. "The US has always welcomed talent and we hope our professionals will continue to be welcomed in the US in the future," Srivastava said.
the decision is likely to affect movement of Indian skilled professionals, an official says. the government is assessing the impact of the order on Indian nationals and industry. the decision is going to impact a large number of Indian IT professionals. the decision is going to impact several american and Indian companies. a spokesman says people-to-people linkages are an important dimension of ties between the two countries.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visa-and-immigration/us-green-card-ruling-may-not-hurt/articleshow/73718886.cms
Do you meet the immigration criteria? Check here PUNE: Most Indian nationals in line for a US green card are unlikely to be affected by the US Supreme Court ’s decision to lift an injunction on a rule requiring an additional set of factors while reviewing green card applications.The public charge rule, which gives discretion to immigration officers to decide who they want to admit into the US based on their assessment of whether the immigrants are likely to become an expense to taxpayers by requiring state-sponsored aid like healthcare or food stamps, was introduced by the Donald Trump administration last year.The US government had said then that it was intended “to better ensure that aliens subject to the public charge inadmissibility ground are self-sufficient, ie, do not depend on public resources to meet their needs, but rather rely on their own capabilities, as well as the resources of family members, sponsors, and private organisations.”Majority of Indians waiting for a green card have gone to the United States on an H-1B visa , putting them in the category of highly skilled and high earning individuals, not dependent on state aid. It may, however, impact a small number of people who apply for a green card under the family or relative-based green card category.A few weeks ago, over 100 US companies including Microsoft and Twitter, led by US startup Boundless, had signed a ‘friend of the court brief’ requesting the Supreme Court to not strike down the injunction. Their contention was that it would make it harder for immigrants to gain legal status, hurting innovation, and the economy. “Let’s be clear: Hardly anybody applying for a green card is even eligible for government benefits, and they’re not likely to use them in the future. The public charge rule is simply an attempt to bypass Congress and block immigrants who aren’t wealthy,” Doug Rand, Boundless president, had said two weeks ago.
the rule was introduced by the Trump administration last year. it gives immigration officers discretion to decide who they want to admit. it is based on their assessment of whether immigrants are likely to become an expense to taxpayers by requiring state-sponsored aid. a small number of people who apply for a green card under the family or relative-based category may be affected.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/centres-decision-to-set-up-ifsc-hq-in-guj-egregious-pawar/articleshow/75517521.cms
Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said the Centre's decision to set up headquarters of the International Financial Services Centre IFSC ) at Gandhinagar instead of Mumbai is egregious, erroneous and unwarranted", and urged the Union government to reconsider it.This will not only cause financial damage to the country, but also bring international discredit to it by undermining the importance of Mumbai, which is the countrys financial capital and the best choice for the IFSC authority, Pawar said in a letter written to the Centre on Saturday."Inspite of Maharashtras immense contribution to government securities, the decision to establish IFSC (headquarters) in Gujarat is egregious, erroneous and unwarranted," he said in the letter."I expect the Prime Ministers Office to take a rational and judicious decision, keeping aside the state politics and consider it as an issue of utmost national importance, the former Union minister said.Pawar cited a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report to put forth his point.He said according to the RBI data as on April 23, the Indian banking sector has deposits to the tune of Rs 1,45,00,000 crore.Maharashtra's share in the deposits is 22.8 per cent, followed by Delhi (10 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (7.8 per cent), Karnataka (7.2 per cent) and Gujarat (5.4 per cent), he said.As per the reserve requirements, every bank has to maintain SLR at 18 per cent of its deposits, in the form of government securities, he said."Through this G-sec, the central government receives funds to the tune of Rs 26,00,000 crore, and out of it Rs 5,95,000 crore is received from Maharashtra as against Gujarats contribution of Rs 1,40,000 crore, he said."Mumbai has been recognised as one of the worlds top 10 centers of commerce in terms of global financial flow, generating 6.16 per cent of Indias GDP and accounting for 25 per cent of industrial output and 70 per cent of capital transactions to the Indian economy," Pawar said.The city houses important financial institutions and corporate headquarters of numerous companies, and its business opportunities attract many multi-national companies from all over the world, he noted.Since the IFSC authority is a unified agency to regulate all international financial services centers in the country, and Mumbai, being country's economic, financial and commercial capital, is the best choice and place to relocate IFSC (headquarters), Pawar said.He, therefore, urged the Centre to reconsider the decision to set up the IFSC authority in Gujarat and relocate it in Mumbai on the basis of merit.Pawar said he hoped his letter will be taken in the right spirit and a true statesmanship will be shown in considering to set up the IFSC headquarters in Mumbai.On Saturday, the Union government's decision to set up the IFSC headquarters at Gandhinagar instead of Mumbai led to a verbal spat between the ruling allies Congress-Shiv Sena and the opposition BJP in Maharashtra.While the two ruling alliance partners alleged that it was an attempt to lessen Mumbai's stature, the Maharashtra BJP claimed the Congress-led governments did nothing to get IFSC in Mumbai when they ruled the state earlier. ND GK GK
he says the decision to set up a headquarters in Gujarat is egregious, erroneous and unwarranted. the former minister urges the government to reconsider the decision. he says Mumbai is the country's financial capital and the best choice for the IFSC. he says the city has been recognised as one of the worlds top 10 centers of commerce.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/coronavirus-pregnant-women-struggle-to-access-healthcare-facilities-amid-lockdown/story/403310.html
A few days ago, Zareena took a pregnant woman to a nearby hospital post-midnight after all the emergency helpline numbers failed to respond. She had to arrange a bike after her numerous calls for an ambulance went unanswered. "The lady is safe now. She gave birth to a baby boy," added Zareena, an ASHA worker in Noida. Pregnant women in India, be it from the rural or urban regions, are severely facing the brunt of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Although lockdown 3.0 has brought some relaxations across the less-infected zones in India, scattered health facilities continue to disrupt family planning to a huge extent across the country. Although the government has recognised abortive healthcare under 'essential non-COVID services', women seeking abortions are finding it difficult to access healthcare amid the ongoing lockdown. Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: Learn to live with COVID-19, says govt; total cases-59,662, death toll-1,981 Prevalent lockdown rules, closure of private facilities, lack of mobility, and disruption in the supply chain have led to limited access to healthcare for women. At least an estimated 1,400 to 2,000 maternal deaths might occur due to the lockdown because of poor access to family planning during this period, according to Foundation of Reproductive Health Services India (FRHS), a non-profit organisation that works in the area of reproductive and sexual health. BusinessToday.In talked to several gynaecologists in Delhi-NCR, the majority of them said that they had to close their private clinics amid the lockdown due to staff unavailability. Many of them said they were working with private hospitals or were giving advice to their patients on phones in case of emergencies. Anita Gupta, a senior gynaecologist in GK 2 Fortis La Femme said, "All of us are attached to some hospital. We are doing deliveries there. Most of the doctors have closed their private clinics amid the ongoing lockdown". Another Delhi based gynaecologist stated that there has been a significant decline in pregnant women's footfall in hospitals due to fear of coronavirus infection. She also talked about the spike in cases of unintended pregnancies. "In every five days, at least one case of unintended pregnancy comes to me," the gynaecologist added. According to the CEO of FRHS, VS Chandrashekhar, around 20- 24 lakh unintended pregnancies might happen between March to June period due to the inaccessibility of contraceptives or abortion process. These unintended pregnancies might result in 5.50 lakh to 7 lakh additional births in 2020 as many women who end up with an unintended pregnancy will be forced to carry their pregnancy to term, because of inaccessibility to abortion care. Restrictions on mobility and lack of public transport have acted as a double whammy amid the lockdown. Pregnant women seeking doctor supervision are unable to go to gynaecologists or health facilities due to restrictions imposed by the police. Chandrashekhar added that both private and public facilities have reported a sharp decline of almost 70 per cent in OPD clients amid the nationwide lockdown. The emergence of coronavirus cases has forced district authorities across India to close down several private facilities. According to FRHS, "In Bihar, private facilities were shut for the entire month of April and all activities were suspended as district authorities were over-cautious. But later, the authorities encouraged them to open services". Another reason for the closure of private facilities during lockdown is the absence of hospital staff due to lack of public transport. Every year in India around 15.6 million abortions take place, out of which, almost 93-95 per cent happen in private facilities. "A huge amount of patients undergo medical abortion using drugs, which are either sourced from a private clinic or from chemists using a doctor's prescription. A lot of people who would have wanted an abortion are unable to access it due to the disruption caused by this lockdown," Chandrashekhar said. Poor and marginalised women are severely impacted by the lockdown. Shehnaz, an ASHA worker based out of Delhi NCR stated that she is unable to attend pregnant women as she is re-assigned to treat coronavirus patients in government hospitals. "We are handling emergency cases only. In the last 40 days, I have attended only one pregnant woman. Sometimes, we send these women to other hospitals. Since the lockdown, we have stopped regular check-ups. Women seeking abortion are also getting overlooked due to this," Shehnaz added. Pre-lockdown ASHA workers used to do at least five deliveries in a month apart from the regular door-to-door check-ups. Now, as the majority of these ASHA workers are deployed to COIVD-19 related duties, women seeking pregnancy-related healthcare are largely going overlooked. Contraceptive market, too, has taken a huge hit amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. According to Chandrashekhar, "In this scenario, there would be a loss of 6.9 lakh sterilisation services, 9.7 lakh intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUCDs), 5.8 lakh doses of injectable contraceptive (ICs), 23.8 lakh cycles of Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), 9.2 lakh emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) and 40.59 crore condoms. This is likely to result in an additional 23.8 lakh unintended pregnancies, 679,864 childbirths, 14.5 lakh abortions (including 834,042 unsafe abortions), and 1,743 maternal deaths". In 2019, as per the Health Management Information System (HMIS), 35 lakh sterilisations, 57 lac IUCDs, 18 lakh IC services were provided by the public sector. Public health facilities also distributed 4.1 crore cycles of OCPs, 25 lakh ECPs, and 32.2 crore condoms. In addition, the commercial market sold 220 crore condoms, 11.2 crore cycles of OCPs, 36 lakh ECPs, 12 lakh doses of ICs, and 8 lakh IUCDs. Also read: Coronavirus Lockdown XIII: Five steps to rebuild a post-COVID economy Also read: Coronavirus: WHO plans to launch app to check COVID symptoms, contact tracing
pregnant women in india are severely facing the brunt of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. many doctors have closed their private clinics amid the lockdown due to staff unavailability. gynaecologists in Delhi-NCR say there has been a significant decline in pregnant women's footfall in hospitals due to fear of coronavirus infection.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/broadcasters-unite-against-trais-revised-tariff-order/articleshow/73198445.cms
Mumbai: Top Indian broadcasters shared a stage on Friday to express solidarity against the latest amendments to broadcast sector tariffs by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Under the aegis of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), top executives of Star & Disney India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE), Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), Viacom 18, Discovery Communications, Turner International, ETV and TV Today Network pointed out how the new regulations were going to 'strangulate' the industry’s growth.They also hinted at the grouping exploring legal options against the order. ET reported on Friday that the broadcasters were planning to move court against Trai. The IBF may file a petition in the Bombay High Court early next week, sources told ET. NP Singh, MD & CEO of SPN and president of IBF said that broadcasters had collectively spent over Rs 1,000 crore in just communicating the changes (new tariffs) to consumers. Despite that, the sector faced an overall loss of 12-15 million subscribers, he said. In the last 15 years of regulating the broadcast sector, Trai had issued more than 36 tariff orders, to 'micro-manage' what is arguably the most 'value for money' form of news and entertainment in the world. “This goes contrary to the government's stated position of ensuring the ease of doing business,” he said.Uday Shankar, president of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific and chairman of Star India and The Walt Disney Company India, wondered why there was a need for amendments since a thoughtful, comprehensive, collaborative exercise had been done last year.“It clearly means the previous exercise was not thoughtful,” he said. “If (the regulator) is so concerned with bringing down the price for the consumer, then why, in the name of NCF (network capacity fee), are distributors being allowed to charge as much as Rs 160 for something the DD FreeDish is giving for free.” Ultimately, the new regulations will mean consumer choice will be limited as smaller channels will not be able to survive, he said. India Today Group chairman Aroon Purie said the new regulations were strangulating the industry. “It’s like killing the golden goose,” he said.Megha Tata, MD - South Asia at Discovery Communications India, said India was already the cheapest cable market in the world and the future of the industry was in “jeopardy” with such micromanaging. “You can’t keep making frequent change. From 2003, our rates have grown less than half of the rate of inflation,” said Sudhanshu Vats, MD and Group CEO of Viacom18 and VP of IBF.Vats said the objectives of the new tariff order (NTO) were to give choice to consumers, to bring transparency and to reduce litigation. There is, however, already over 94% awareness of NTO and choice among consumers, he pointed out.
top executives of Star & Disney India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE), Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), Viacom 18, Discovery Communications, Turner International, ETV and TV Today Network spoke out against the latest amendments to broadcast sector tariffs. they also hinted at the grouping exploring legal options against the order. the IBF may file a petition in the Bombay High Court early next week.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/have-seen-much-worse-in-the-past-says-principal-eco-adviser-sanjeev-sanyal-on-market-crash-5029571.html
India is not insulated from the turmoil global financial markets, Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal told CNBC-TV18. On March 13, the Indian stock market hit the lower circuit for the first time in 12 years after 2008 crisis, halting trading for 45 minutes. "Have seen much worse on trading floors in the past," Sanyal told the news channel. On inflation, he sees inflation falling off sharply in the next two readings. Retail inflation, measured as Consumer Price Index (CPI), came in at 6.58 percent in February. Speaking about the coronavirus outbreak, Sanyal said first the medical angle needs to be taken care of before looking at the impact on the economy and markets. "India has monetary space to tackle the economic impact of coronavirus," he added. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has held a meeting with the industry to address supply shortfalls, Sanyal said. The outbreak of coronavirus, or COVID-19, had disrupted the supply chain to some Indian industries since it hurt imports from China to India.
india is not insulated from the turmoil global financial markets, economic adviser says. he sees inflation falling off sharply in the next two readings. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. the good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/market-likely-to-continue-on-a-zigzag-course-till-the-yearend/articleshow/78715235.cms
ET CONTRIBUTORS The domestic equity market corrected sharply midway through the week gone by on renewed fear of a spike in Covid-19 cases and fresh restrictions in some of the advanced countries.With the US Election Day just three weeks away, global markets have also slipped into a wait-and-watch mode. Both political parties in the US have substantive but diametrically opposite ideologies and policies to run economic affairs, which the markets are waiting to discount.In any case, there are fears that the election this time around may bring with it a prolonged litigation over the balloting system. And this will eventually delay the second round of stimulus, further postponing the next wave of liquidity which may negatively impact global markets.Indian markets too might witness profit booking in the near term, and move sideways. By this year-end, the domestic bourses are unlikely to witness fresh highs and a strong bout of profit booking may emerge instead. If this line of events turns out to be true, it will throw up good buying opportunity for investors , who are patiently waiting to accumulate quality stocks after a healthy correction.More so, the buzz around IPOs now seems to be fizzling out, since the listing of two much-hyped IPOs – UTI AMC and Mazagon Docks – turned out to be tepid. This dented market sentiment , which turned neutral from bullish. Given the further deterioration in global macros and micros, the sentiment can now turn bearish till the beginning of the New Year.In addition to this, there seems to be lack of support from domestic institutional investors (DIIs), which have rolled over their selling spree in October. All these factors do not bode well for the domestic market.The government tried incentivize consumer spending to prop up lacklustre economic conditions through a slew of measures before the festive season. The government unveiled an LTC concession scheme and other sops for a large army of government employees to stimulate consumer spending.Whether this petty booster will move the consumerism needle or not will have to be seen, but unfortunately the booster is being seen to be quite small and negligible compared with the mammoth size of the economy. And this may not strike the right chord in the market as a sentiment booster.Nifty50 posted another big bearish candle during the week, which indicated that the bulls have become tired and are unable to lift the index further. The non-stop market rally for more than 10 days can be attributed to the highly optimistic herd behaviour, as majority of the participants were on the long side and hardly anyone was left to be long.So, the market moved in only one direction as there was no buyer left which it was down. An additional boost from the global indices reflecting fears of a second wave of lockdowns turned out to be another negative trigger. However, we are still trading within the rising channel on the weekly chart, and need a close below the channel support to confirm the end of the bullish trend.Traders are advised to maintain a cautious outlook going forward and be watchful of the market’s reaction to the channel support. Support and resistance levels in the short term are placed at 11,300 and 11,900 levels.The market will be looking at important earnings in the coming week from bellwethers such as HDFC Life, Avenue Supermarts, Britannia and HUL, to name a few. The earnings numbers and management commentaries will guide market participants on the pace of recovery in the formal economy after the easing of restrictions. Select pockets – especially hotels, travel and tourism – are yet to recover because of their inherent disadvantages in being able to operate amid lockdowns, and hence, their earnings are expected to be muted. But as stock prices have already rallied in the recent past, selling pressure is likely to emerge in these sectors.The market may also witness a sectoral rotation and is likely to remain rangebound. Profit booking may emerge on some counters at higher levels. Overbought stocks should be avoided completely and oversold ones can be considered for an upside over the medium term.Investors are advised to remain patient and wait for a serious correction before investing in this market. Nifty50 closed the week at 11,762, down 1.3 per cent.
domestic equity market corrected sharply midway through the week gone by. renewed fear of a spike in Covid-19 cases and fresh restrictions in some advanced countries. global markets have also slipped into a wait-and-watch mode. fears that the election this time around may bring with it a prolonged litigation over the balloting system. india also might witness profit booking in the near term and move sideways.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/podcast/coronavirus-essential-covid-19-drug-selling-at-markup-of-12-times-in-black-market-us-withdraws-from-who-5524321.html
While India waits for Cipla to release the COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, the drug is being found in the black markets at a markup of upto Rs 60,000. The Drug Controller General of India has warned department officials in states and union territories to look out and prevent the black marketing of the drug. Meanwhile, the US has withdrawn from the World Health Organization, after US President Donald Trump accused the agency of taking China's side on the pandemic. Tune in to Coronavirus Essential podcast with Sakshi Batra on more updates regarding the pandemic.
the drug is being found in the black markets at a markup of upto Rs 60,000. the drug controller general of india has warned state officials to look out. the us has withdrawn from the world health organization. meanwhile, the pandemic is affecting a number of countries. a u.s. president has accused the agency of taking china's side.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/coronavirus-impact-eurozone-economy-shrinking-by-quarterly-rate-of-7-5-says-survey/1937558/
A closely watched survey of economic activity across the 19-country eurozone suggests that the single currency bloc is contracting at a quarterly rate of 7.5% as a result of the lockdowns put in place by governments to get a grip on the coronavirus pandemic. Financial information firm IHS Markit said Thursday that its purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone a broad gauge of economic activity plummeted to an all-time low of 13.5 points in April from the previous record low of 29.7 in March. The firm has been compiling data for more than 20 years. Anything below 50 indicates a contraction in activity, with a lower number indicating a sharper drop. So the scale of the April decline suggests that the eurozone is heading for an unprecedented slump. At its lowest during the global financial crisis in 2009, the index only fell to 36.2. ”With large swathes of the economy likely to remain locked down to contain the spread of COVID-19 in coming weeks, the second quarter looks set to record the fiercest downturn the region has seen in recent history,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. Williamson said that at the current rate, the eurozone is shrinking by a quarterly rate of 7.5%. European Union leaders will hold a virtual summit Thursday at which they are expected to endorse a financial aid package worth 540 billion euros ($587 billion) that would help pay lost wages, keep companies afloat and fund health care systems. The EU’s institutions and nations have already mobilized around 3.3 trillion euros ($3.6 trillion) to help over-burdened health services, suffering small businesses, embattled airlines and the newly jobless. A more detailed look at the survey released Thursday shows that the services sector has borne the brunt of the lockdown measures, which have included widespread temporary business closures and and draconian restrictions on movement. From restaurants to travel and tourism, business has fallen off a cliff as companies have had to enforce shutdowns or severely curtail their activities. Manufacturing is barely faring better, with the lockdown causing a collapse in global demand and huge disruptions in the supply chain. As a result, unemployment is expected to rise sharply over the coming months.”In the face of such a prolonged slump in demand, job losses could intensify from the current record pace and new fears will be raised as to the economic cost of containing the virus,” said Williamson. Some economists expect the eurozone unemployment rate to rise from 7.3% to well over 10%, though there are millions of people who remain on payrolls but are out of work and losing income.
eurozone is shrinking by a quarterly rate of 7.5% as a result of the lockdowns. the eu leaders will hold a virtual summit on the issue on thursday. the eu has already mobilized around 3.3 trillion euros ($3.6 trillion) to help the newly jobless. the services sector has borne the brunt of the lockdown.
Negative
http://www.financialexpress.com/auto/car-news/german-minister-to-carmakers-invest-in-electric-cars-or-lose-out/1134673/
The German car industry, which accounts for some 800,000 jobs in Europe’s biggest economy, is struggling with a global backlash against diesel cars after Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it had cheated U.S. exhaust tests. The German automotive industry must invest heavily in electric car technology and develop battery production facilities in Europe to keep up with global competitors, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.Altmaier told Germany’s mass-circulation Bild newspaper that the carmakers needed to invest high “two-digit billion amounts” in electric car technology, saying he did not understand why the firms had hesitated for so long.Investments were also needed in battery production, given expected demand for many millions of electric batteries that could help firms earn good money, he said. “Otherwise we’ll have to accept that a large part of the added value will be produced in Asia or the United States, instead of here with us,” he said.The German car industry, which accounts for some 800,000 jobs in Europe’s biggest economy, is struggling with a global backlash against diesel cars after Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it had cheated U.S. exhaust tests.To help reduce pollution levels and avoid a total ban on diesel vehicles, VW, Daimler and others have stepped up development of electric cars. The new German coalition government plans to ease the tax burden on drivers of electric vehicles, provide at least an additional 100,000 charge points across the country and subsidise car-sharing to push a shift to greener transportation.There are also plans to provide funding for research into autonomous driving technology and support the establishment of battery cell production in Germany. Altmaier said German carmakers needed to develop a model that had at least the range of a Tesla but costs less, and should work on developing an information technology platform for self-driving cars that was the best in the world. “The first safe self-driving cars must operate with German technology,” he said.German companies should also work with other European firms to develop a European battery cell production.The conservative minister said it was imperative to secure the hundreds of thousands of jobs now supporting the car and supplier industries.
economy minister says german car industry must invest heavily in electric car technology. he says the carmakers need to invest high "two-digit billion amounts" in electric car technology. he said he did not understand why the firms had hesitated for so long. he said a large part of the added value will be produced in the u.s. or Asia.
Negative
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/news-live-sterlite-tech-bags-rs-3500cr-project-from-indian-navy-2515887.html
20:18 ACC shelves merger with Ambuja Cements ACC has called off the merger with Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL). ACC has said in a BSE notification that currently there are 'constraints in implementing merger between the company and ACL." The notification continues to say that the merger with ACL remains to be 'the ultimate Objective' and will not be proceeding with the Merger at this juncture 19:40 PNB fraud: Former PNB MD, Executive Director under ED's scanner After Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax (IT), Enforcement Directorate (ED) is the third agency that has questioned Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) executive director KV Brahmaji Rao, over lapses in Rs 11,400 crore PNB fraud, reports Moneycontrol’s Tarun Sharma. Meanwhile, PNB CEO Sunil Mehta could not attend to the summons issued to him due to business commitments. Also, ED will soon issue summons to former PNB MD Usha Ananthasubramanian as it feels that Mehta’s tenure at the bank is lesser, sources said. 19:15 Aadhaar helped cancel 3 cr fake, duplicate ration cards: Minister Nearly three crore fake and duplicate ration cards have been cancelled during the three years of the NDA government, CR Chaudhary, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said today. It had also saved the country Rs 17,000 crore every year during this time, he added. Linking the ration card to the holder's Aadhaar number had allowed the government to clean up the system, the minister said. 19:01 There may be further delay in return of mortal remains of Sridevi Further delay in return of mortal remains of Sridevi expected, say sources. Dubai police which earlier gave clearance now awaits clearance from Prosecution magistrate. Police reportedly informed Indian authorities the body can only be handed over after nod from prosecution magistrate, reports ANI. 18:38 Morgan Stanley pegs India's Q3 GDP growth at 7% India's economic recovery is expected to have gathered momentum and GDP growth for the December quarter is likely to have accelerated to 7%, says a Morgan Stanley report. India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.3% in July-September quarter of the fiscal, up from 5.7% in the first quarter. According to the global financial services major, growth in the industry and services sector is expected to have accelerated while growth in the agriculture sector decelerated. "We expect the economic recovery to have gathered further momentum with GDP growth accelerating to 7% YoY in the December-17 quarter from 6.3% in the September quarter," Morgan Stanley said in a research note. In GVA terms, growth picked up further to 6.7% YoY from 6.1% in the previous quarter, the brokerage said. 18:16 Farewell Sridevi Sridevi's body has been released for embalming, reports Gulf News. Many celebrities have visited Boney Kapoor's brother, Anil Kapoor's residence to offer their condolences. 17:47 Govt publishes names of 9,500 'high-risk' NBFCs The government has categorised about 9,500 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the country as "high risk" prone as they have not complied with a stipulated provision of the anti-money laundering law, reports PTI. A list of 9,491 "high risk financial institutions" has been published by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) that works under the Finance Ministry to check crimes in the Indian economy and alert enforcement agencies against such instances. The list, containing the names of the firms, has been updated till January this year. 17:45 Sensex vaults 300 pts on global leads, macro optimism Benchmark Sensex ratcheted up by more than 300 points for the second session in a row today on optimism over India's growth recovery amid positive global cues. The Sensex closed at a three-week high of 34,445.75, while the wider NSE Nifty went past the 10,550-mark. Investor sentiment was bolstered after a Morgan Stanley report said India's economic recovery is expected to have gathered momentum and GDP growth for the December quarter is likely to have accelerated to 7%. The GDP numbers will be released on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 34,225.72 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day's high of 34,483.39 before ending at 34,445.75, up 303.60 points, or 0.89%. This level was last seen on February 5, when the Sensex had closed at 34,757.16. The index had rallied 322.65 points in the previous session on Friday on value-buying by investors in recently-battered blue-chip stocks. The Nifty finished the day at 10,582.60, showing a hefty gain of 91.55 points, or 0.87%, after shuttling between 10,592.95 and 10,520.20. Gains were led by realty, auto, capital goods, banking, infrastructure, metals, power, oil & gas, PSU and consumer durables sectors, which rose up to 3.3%.IT, teck and healthcare indices ended in the red. Maruti Suzuki emerged as the leader of the Sensex pack today, with a 3.41% rise, followed by Tata Motors at 3.22%. Other gainers were IndusInd Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, M&M, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Ltd, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, RIL, ONGC, Tata Steel and NTPC, gaining up to 2.94%. In contrast, Sun Pharma, TCS, Infosys, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and SBI succumbed to profit-booking and fell by up to 2.46%. In keeping with the overall trend, the small-cap and mid-cap indices rose 0.88% and 0.74%. Shares of scam-hit Punjab National Bank lost another 1.32%. Gitanjali Gems too slumped 4.84% to Rs 23.60. Shares of Simbhaoli Sugars plunged 15.73% today after CBI registered a case against the company, its Chairman Gurmit Singh Mann, Deputy MD Gurpal Singh and others in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 97.85 crore. The company's lender Oriental Bank of Commerce also fell by 10.02%. 17:41 CPI inflation to trend higher, chances of rate hike rising, says UBS Inflation is expected to trend higher and though RBI may keep policy rates on hold in 2018-19, there are also increasing chances of a rate hike, says a UBS report. According to the global financial services major, minutes from the February 7 meet of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) seem "hawkish", and highlight upside risks to inflation. UBS expects headline CPI inflation to remain in the range of 5.1-5.6% over the next few months and average 4.9% YoY in FY19. "In our base case, we expect the MPC to keep rates on hold in 2018-19," UBS said. 17:39 ONGC says KG-D5 output delay due to policy changes Oil producer ONGC said it may miss the June 2019 target for starting production from its Krishna Godavari basin block due to new policies like GST and local purchase preference rules, including the one that mandates state-owned firms to source domestic iron and steel for infrastructure project, reports PTI. Clarifying on its last week's filing to stock exchanges, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said the new policies it had cited for a possible delay pertained to local purchase preference policy, steel policy and GST policy. "The new policies concerning oil and mining sector, as referred in the reply of ONGC to NSE and BSE, though not amply clarified in the reply, were pertaining to policies like purchase preference policy, steel policy, GST policy etc. and not regulatory policy," ONGC said in a statement. While the ONGC Board had in March 2016 approved a $5.07 billion investment for bringing oil and gas discovered in the KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 block in Bay of Bengal to production, new policies were formulated last year. 17:37 CBI case against Simbhaoli Sugars first registered in 2015, says OBC State-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce said Simbhaoli Sugars is an old NPA account of the bank and the first case was registered with CBI in September 2015. "First complaint to CBI was filed on September 3, 2015 and amended complaint was filed on November 17, 2017. The case has now been registered as per procedures," the bank said in a regulatory filing. The bank said Simbhaoli Sugars is an old NPA account which was reported to RBI and CBI as per extant procedures. The total exposure in this account has been adequately provided and there will be no impact on the profitability of the bank, it said. 17:34 Mercedes-Benz launches enhanced S Class in India German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has launched the enhanced version of its flagship product Mercedes-Benz S-Class - S 350 d diesel, and also the S 450 petrol -- in India at a price starting from Rs 1.33 crore. While the Mercedes-Benz S 350 d is priced at Rs 1.33 crore, the petrol version S 450 is priced at Rs 1.37 crore, the company said in a statement. The new S Class 350 d is India’s first BS VI compliant ‘Made in India, for India’, vehicle with a state-of-the-art diesel engine that meets BS VI emission norms, two years ahead of the regulation, it added. 17:31 Future Generali Life expects Rs 950cr premium in FY18 Private insurer Future Generali Life Insurance is expecting to garner a total premium income of Rs 950 crore in the current financial year, a company official said. Since start of operations in 2007, assets under management (AUM) of Future Generali were to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore, of which unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs) share was 10% to 15%. "We are expecting to garner a total premium income of 950 crore in 2017-18. Out of that first individual is Rs 300 crore, first group Rs 250 crore and Rs 400 crore of renewal premium", CMO and EVP (strategy) Rakesh Wadhwa told PTI. 17:28 RInfra wins Rs 292cr arbitration award against Goa govt Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) has won an arbitration award of Rs 292 crore against the Goa government for non-payment of electricity dues. It said the need for arbitration arose due to prolonged non-payment of dues by the state government towards supply of electricity by RInfra from its 48 MW Goa Power Plant in Sancoale. The Tribunal has also ordered payment of interest at 15% per annum on the total award amount if the government fails to pay the entire award amount by the deadline, it said. 17:26 CIL board to consider payment of interim dividend for FY18 State-owned Coal India’s board will meet next week to consider payment of interim dividend for the ongoing fiscal. "A meeting of Board of Directors of the company will be held on Wednesday, the 7th March, 2018 inter-alia to consider payment of interim dividend, if any, for the year 2017-18," Coal India (CIL) said in a filing to BSE. The company said that it has fixed March 15 the purpose of payment of interim dividend on equity shares for 2017-18, if declared by the board. 17:25 Rahul questions PM over delay in setting up of Lokpal Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of favouring the "super rich" and questioned why he had still not appointed a Lokpal to fight corruption, reports PTI. Gandhi, who has been targeting Modi in all public rallies in poll-bound Karnataka, also quizzed Modi over his "silence" on issues such as the Punjab National Bank fraud. "In Gujarat, Modi ji did not implement Lokayukta. It has been four years since he became prime minister... He did not implement Lokpal even in Delhi," he said. The Congress president said Modi, who had described himself as the country's "chowkidar" (watchman), was silent on the fraud and the alleged increase in the turnover of a company owned by BJP president Amit Shah's son, Jay Shah. "The country's chowkidar comes to Karnataka and speaks about corruption with his chief minister (former chief minister Yeddyurappa) who had been to jail on one side and on the other side four ministers who also went to jail during the BJP rule," he said, addressing a rally here. "Nudidante nade" (practise what you preach)," he urged Modi, quoting 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara from Karnataka. Gandhi, who is on the second leg of his three-day tour of the northern parts of Karnataka, said, "Modiji... nudidante nade. The country has not made you prime minister just to give speeches." 17:20 BSE waives transaction fees equity segment of Sensex 30 index In order to facilitate and encourage participation by retail investors in financially sound companies, BSE has waived the transaction charges on Sensex 30 stocks from March 12. Currently, transaction charges range from Rs 0.50-1.5 per trade for securities under group A, B and other non-exclusive scrips. In a statement, BSE said it has waived the transaction charges in equity segment on "S&P BSE Sensex 30 Stocks with effect from March 12, 2018. S&P BSE Sensex is the barometer of Indian economy". The move will help India in the growth story as BSE will now be the most preferred exchange for transacting in the Sensex 30 stocks, which are considered to be growth engine for India, it added. Exclusive: Maruti Suzuki Swift's hybrid version could make its way to Indian roadsMaruti Suzuki, the country largest car maker, could explore the possibility of getting the hybrid version of Swift to India as a stop-gap arrangement before moving to fully electric mobility, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. The hybrid version of the Swift is presently available in Europe but with petrol engine option – 1.2 litre and 1.0 litre. A version of that model or in diesel could make it to Indian showrooms of the company. Maruti Suzuki, the country largest car maker, could explore the possibility of getting the hybrid version of Swift to India as a stop-gap arrangement before moving to fully electric mobility, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. The hybrid version of the Swift is presently available in Europe but with petrol engine option – 1.2 litre and 1.0 litre. A version of that model or in diesel could make it to Indian showrooms of the company. 17:09 Bhushan Steel bid: Liberty House explains case in NCLT Following the rejection of its bid for acquiring Bhushan Power and Steel, UK-based Liberty House made a case at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), elaborating as to why it wants its bid to be opened, reports PTI. “The Court heard our petition. The judge heard our arguments. We explained our case stating why we want our bids to be opened in the first case," spokesperson with Liberty House told PTI. Liberty House also explained to the NCLT that it wants to do business in India as there is no better time than this. There will be another hearing for the other party - Resolution Professional and Committee of Creditors (CoC)- in March, the spokesperson said. The matter, the spokesperson said, is sub-judice and "we have full faith in NCLT". The company had earlier said that it was planning to move NCLT this week to direct creditors and resolution professional to consider its offer. 16:59 Sridevi died due to accidental drowning, alcohol traces found in blood The post-mortem report of actress Sridevi reveals that the cause of death is accidental drowning in her bathtub and forensic report has ruled out any criminal motive for the actor’s death. Forensic reports also shows that traces of alcohol were found in Sridevi's body, according to UAE's Gulf News. 16:07 Delhi HC attaches all assets of Singh bros In a major blow to Singh brothers – the promoters of Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises – the Delhi High Court in its interim order on Monday attached all assets of RHC Holdings and Oscar Investments. The latter are privately-held holding companies that own assets of Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh referred as Singh brothers. The case is related to the enforcement of a foreign arbitration award of Rs 3,500 crore by Daiichi Sankyo in a case related to the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories by Singh brothers. The court directed the Singh brothers to submit list of unencumbered personal assets that need to be valued and liquidated. 16:07 Did Sridevi die due to drowning? As anxious crowds milled around her Mumbai home and stars visited the family to pay their condolences, a Dubai paper reported that Bollywood superstar Sridevi was getting ready for dinner with husband Boney Kapoor when she suffered a cardiac arrest, reports PTI. Uncertainty over when the body would arrive and the many questions surrounding her sudden death in Dubai late Saturday intensified as the day progressed. Boney and Sridevi, 54, were in Dubai to attend nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. While most of the extended family as well as Boney and younger daughter Khushi had returned, Sridevi decided to stay back. The elder daughter, Jhanvi, was in Mumbai to complete a shooting schedule. Some details of what may have happened were pieced together by the Khaleej Times newspaper, which quoted sources as saying that the matter was under police investigation. According to the newspaper, an Indian Consulate official and a family member were called inside the morgue today afternoon. On Saturday, Boney, who produced "Mr India", which gave Sridevi one of her most remembered roles, flew back to Dubai to surprise his wife with a dinner, the paper reported. He reached the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel around 5.30pm (Dubai time) and woke her up and they chatted for about 15 minutes, the report said. Sridevi then went to the bathroom to get ready. When she didn't come out for 15 minutes, Boney knocked on the door. He did not get any response and forced open the door, to find her lying motionless in the bathtub that was full of water. "He tried to revive her and when he could not, he called a friend of his. After that, he informed the police at 9 pm," Khaleej Times quoted a source as saying. The police and paramedics rushed to the site, but she was pronounced dead. Her body was taken to the General Department of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy. 15:57 Nokia unveils curved glass flagship phone Sirocco, revamps classic 8110 Technology giant Nokia revealed its latest flagship smartphone — the Nokia 8 Sirocco — a day ahead of the 2018 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company launched the new 8110 4G, an updated version of Nokia's classic 20-year-old phone, and also unveiled Nokia 7 plus, new Nokia 6 and Nokia 1. Sirocco will come with a 5.5-inch 2K display. The smartphone is 7.5 mm thick and is IP67 rated waterproof till 1 metre for up to 30 minutes. 14:43 Fitch says asset-backed securities not affected by PNB fraud Fitch Ratings said Indian asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions are unlikely to be affected by the Rs 11,400 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB), reports PTI. PNB, it says, still remains eligible as an account bank for Indian ABS transactions rated at 'BBB-sf'. ABS are bonds or notes backed by financial assets. Typically, these assets consist of receivables other than mortgage loans, such as credit card receivables, auto loans, manufactured-housing contracts and home-equity loans. 14:20 No clarity on Sridevi's cause of death, body remains still in the morgue According to various sources, more reports on Sridevi's death expected shortly. Also, Khaleej Times has ruled out second autopsy. More blood test will be conducted. And there is no confirmation on release of Sridevi's body yet. 13:41 Aster DM Healthcare makes weak debut, shares fall over 4% Shares of Aster DM Healthcare made a weak debut at bourses today, falling over 4% from the issue price of Rs 190. The stock listed at Rs 182.10, a loss of 4.15% from the issue price, on BSE. On NSE, shares of the company debuted at Rs 183, a fall of 3.68%. The company's market valuation stood at Rs 9,225.45 crore. The initial public offer of Aster DM Healthcare was subscribed 1.33 times during February 12-15. The price band for the offer was kept at Rs 180-190 per share. The company operates in India, the Philippines, Jordan and all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states comprising the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. 13:39 Manohar Parrikar is stable, says state minister Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is "absolutely fine and stable", a state minister said today, a day after he was admitted to a Goa hospital following complaints of uneasiness, reports PTI. Parrikar, 62, was taken to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Sunday evening on a wheelchair. He was discharged from Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital on February 22, a week after he was admitted there and treated for a pancreatic ailment. "The chief minister remains admitted in hospital but he is absolutely fine and stable," state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said. He was suffering from mild dehydration at the time he was taken to GMCH. 13:33 Meet Malegam, the man chosen by RBI to solve PNB fraud On February 14, a Rs 11,400-crore scam breaks out at state-run Punjab National Bank following fraudulent deals involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and jeweler Mehul Choksi. A few days later, India’s banking regulator, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), forms a committee under Yezdi Hirji Malegam – an 84-year-old chartered accountant and the longest-serving member on the RBI board till 2016, reports The Economic Times. 13:25 Bhaichung Bhutia quits Trinamool Congress Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia announced his decision to quit the Trinamool Congress. The footballer, who contested elections twice as a Trinamool Congress candidate and lost both times, took to social media to announce his decision. "As of today I have officially resigned from the membership and all the official and political posts of All India Trinamool Congress party. I am no longer a member or associated with any political party in India," Bhutia said in a tweet. Bhutia had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Darjeeling and the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections from Siliguri. The TMC declined to comment on Bhutia resigning from the party. However, sources told PTI that Bhutia had informed the TMC about his decision one month ago as he was no longer interested in being associated with any political party. 13:12 Strides Shasun to launch Ranitidine tablets in US Drug firm Strides Shasun announced that it will launch Ranitidine Tablets USP, 150 mg, used to treat peptic ulcers of the stomach and intestines, in the US markets. Strides is already a key player in the US Ranitidine Rx market with 32% market share through its approval for Ranitidine Tablets USP, 150 mg and 300 mg. The new launch will further strengthen company’s Ranitidine franchise, the company said in a statement. The company said, "the US OTC market for Ranitidine Tablets, which is the generic form of the popular brand Zantac, is approximately $200 million." This is the first product approval from company’s 50:50 JV with Vivimed Labs. The product will be backward integrated and will be manufactured at the JV’s oral dosage facility in Chennai, it said. Strides will have exclusive marketing rights for the product in the US. The product will be launched immediately. The company has 82 cumulative ANDA filings with USFDA (including its JV with Vivimed), of which 50 ANDAs have been approved as of date and 32 are pending approval. EXCLUSIVE: Govt readying a tough law for speedier recovery of dues from Nirav Modi-type fugitives The government will shortly move a new law—the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill—to impound and sell assets of Nirav Modi-type escapees, a move that will allow quicker recovery of dues through a special court from absconding corporate defaulters, reports Moneycontrol News’ Gaurav Choudhury. In September, the Law Ministry had approved the Finance Ministry’s draft of Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2017, and its passage into law is now being expedited as part of the Modi government’s response to the PNB scam. The Bill is likely to be introduced after Parliament reconvenes on March 6 for the second the part of the Budget session. It defines fugitive economic offender as a person who has an arrest warrant issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who leaves or has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. The draft Bill covers a wide range of offences including wilful loan defaults, cheating and forgery, forged or fraudulent document of electronic records, duty evasion and non-repayment of deposits among others. Once voted into law the new legislation will empower investigating agencies to confiscate, and vest with themselves, any property of the absconding offenders without an encumbrances. Also, at the discretion of any Court, such person or any company where the absconder is a promoter or key managerial personnel or majority shareholder, may be “disentitled” from bringing forward or defending any civil claim. This could effectively take away the fugitive offenders rights to reclaim the assets. 12:33 Sterlite Tech bags Rs 3,500cr project from Indian NavySterlite Technologies has been awarded a Rs 3,500-crore advance purchase order to design, build and manage the Indian Navy’s communications network. "The Rs 3,500-crore system integration project will enable the Indian Navy with a digital communications network at par with the most advanced naval forces globally," the company said in a statement. This will give the Navy digital defence supremacy at par with the best naval forces globally. This is the first time that an integrated naval communications network at such a scale is being built in India, the company added. The Navy’s communications network has been envisioned as a smarter network infrastructure with enhanced throughput, high-quality secure services and ease of network management. The scope requires Sterlite Tech to design, build and manage the communications network for over a decade through its system integration capabilities, it said. 11:58 Lenders back govt takeover of Nirav Modi & Gitanjali cos, says report A set of lenders wants the government to take over the Nirav Modi and Gitanjali group of companies rather than have banks initiate bankruptcy proceedings, reports The Times of India. Banks said a precedent was set in the case of Satyam Computers, where the government appointed a board of directors to run the company and protect its assets. However, sources in the Corporate Affairs Ministry said the government was not keen on taking over the companies as this would result in the Centre being responsible for all liabilities. Those opposed to insolvency proceedings are banks that have an indirect exposure to the Nirav Modi and Gitanjali fraud through their loans against unauthorised guarantees issued by Punjab National Bank (PNB). If bankruptcy proceedings are initiated, it would mean that the resolution process has to be completed within 270 days from the date of admission. If there is no resolution plan, which is very likely given the fraud, the companies would have to be liquidated. Besides, insolvency would also adversely impact over 1,000 employees. Around 700 employees working in Hyderabad Gems SEZ — a 100% subsidiary of Gitanjali — have found themselves without a job after the SEZ was attached in the wake of the fraud. Over 250 of those employees in the SEZ were people with disabilities. 11:49 BSF foils infiltration bid along IB in J-K's Samba districtBSF troops foiled an infiltration bid along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, police told PTI. BSF troops at a border out post observed some movement along IB in Ramgarh sector around 0500 hours today, a senior police officer told PTI. They fired several rounds and illumination flares, he said adding that the suspected militants were forced back and the infiltration bid was foiled. "Troops are on alert to foil any bid," a BSF officer said. 11:39 Sridevi's body to reach India by afternoon Veteran actor Sridevi’s mortal remains will be flown back to India from Dubai today, her family said in a statement. Sridevi's body could not be repatriated on Sunday as the final investigation reports from Dubai Police were not ready till last evening. Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani has reportedly offered to fly her remains back home in his private jet. Sridevi, 54, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late Saturday night reportedly due to a cardiac arrest in Dubai's Jumeirah Emirates Towers. The body will be ready for repatriation by 1 to 2 pm, Dubai time, Khaleej Times reported. Indian Consulate officials reveal that that after receiving the Police Clearance and forensic report, the other procedures including, immigration and embalming would be completed in the next 3 to 4 hours, a source told the publication. The actor and family were in town after attending the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah which took place in Ras Al Khaimah. 11:35 Porsche to launch electric vehicle in India in early 2020 Luxury car maker Porsche, part of the Volkswagen group, will launch an electric vehicle (EV) in India in the beginning of 2020, a company official told PTI. Porsche, which started operations on India in 2012, has so far been selling fully imported cars here as the company does have any manufacturing or assembly units outside its home country Germany. "We will launch a fully electric car in India in the beginning of 2020," Director of Porsche India Pavan Shetty said. 11:23 India Inc lines up Rs 25,000cr public offers The IPO lane seems to getting busier as over two dozen companies have lined up initial share sale plans worth Rs 25,000 crore in the coming months, largely to fund their expansion projects and working capital requirements, reports PTI. Hindustan Aeronautics, ICICI Securities, Barbeque-Nation Hospitality and Flemingo Travel Retail are among the names that plan to launch share-sale offers in the coming months. Most of these companies plan to utilise initial public offer (IPO) proceeds for business expansion as well as working capital requirements, as per the draft papers filed with capital markets regulator Sebi. Besides, some of the firms believe the listing of equity shares on bourses will enhance their brand name and provide liquidity to existing shareholders. Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, ICICI Securities, Bharat Dynamics and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency - have secured Sebi's go-ahead this year to float their public offers. In addition, 20 companies including RITES, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Bandhan Bank, IndoStar Capital Finance, Nazara Technologies and Route Mobile are awaiting the regulator's approval to float IPOs. Together, these companies are expected to raise nearly Rs 25,000 crore, merchant banking sources said. Moreover, five companies, including Newgen Software Technologies and Amber Enterprises India, have already hit the capital markets. 11:13 OVL drops plan to build LNG export facility in IranONGC Videsh has shelved plans to build a $5 billion LNG export facility in Iran and has instead opted to only invest in developing a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf, for which a revised cost is being worked out, reports PTI. OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), had last year made its 'best' offer to spend $11 billion in developing the Farzad-B field in the Persian Gulf as well as in building the infrastructure to export the gas but Iran deterred on awarding the rights of the field to the Indian firm owing to differences over investments and price of gas. The company has now agreed to do just the upstream field development part, leaving the marketing of the fuel to Iran, the official said. As had been agreed during the visit of Iranian President Hassam Rouhani earlier this month, a team of OVL officials will be visiting Tehran this week to discuss modalities of the upstream development. "We had initially thought that the upstream field development would cost $6.2 billion. But, this is not the final cost. We will be able to arrive at a final cost only after we do at least well to appraise the discovery we had made about a decade back," he said. 10:52 Hindcon Chemicals IPO opens today, to raise Rs 7.73cr Chemical products manufacturer Hindcon Chemicals said its initial public offer (IPO) will open today to raise up to Rs 7.73 crore. The company said it will use the proceeds to meet working capital requirements, general corporate purposes and expenses. The IPO will put to offer 27,60,000 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at a cash price of Rs 28 per piece. The issue closes on February 28. In 2016-17, the company's net revenue of operations was Rs 33.94 crore, of which 32.14% came from exports to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The key product portfolio of Hindcon includes protective waterproofing coatings, sodium silicates, concrete & mortar admixtures, epoxy grouts & mortars, waterproofing compounds, shotcrete aids, remover cleaning compounds, sealants, tile adhesives, among others. 10:45 PNB scam may cost banking sector about Rs 21,000cr The final bill of the fraud at Punjab National Bank to the Indian banking system could well be in the vicinity of Rs 21,000 crore, if one were to account for the secured loans to the Nirav Modi group and the Gitanjali group of companies, reports Moneycontrol News’ Tarun Sharma and Beena Parmar. With investigative agencies cracking down on both groups and attaching their assets, many other banks, in addition to PNB, may struggle to recover the money loaned to these groups. 10:17 Morgan Stanley says RBI MPC's next move likely to be rate hike The Monetary Policy Committee's next move will likely be a rate hike but this will not be taken up immediately as a recovery is still at nascent stage, says a Morgan Stanley report. According to the global financial services major, the inflation trajectory will hold the key towards determining when the central bank will likely hike interest rates. "In this context and also from our read of the MPC statement and the minutes, while the next move is likely to be a rate hike, it is unlikely to be taken up immediately," Morgan Stanley said. Its base case assessment remains that "the RBI will hike in Q4 FY18. However, considering that we see upside risks to our inflation forecasts, the risks are also tilting towards an earlier-than-expected rate hike," it added. 10:10 Taxmen asked to step up collections to meet Rs 10.05 lakh cr target Faced with a daunting target of Rs 10.05 lakh crore, the apex decision making body for direct taxes CBDT has asked its field officers to step up efforts and put more focus on better performing zones, reports PTI. In the 2018-19 Budget, the government has hiked the direct tax, which includes personal income tax and corporate tax, collection target to Rs 10.05 lakh crore, from Rs 9.80 lakh crore budgeted initially. In a review meeting earlier this month, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has set higher target for zones which are performing well. "We are looking at better advance tax collection for January-March quarter. If the trend of October-December quarter continues, we will be able to achieve the landmark Rs 10 lakh crore target," an official said. The focus areas of the department for stepping up tax collection will be to follow up with entities which are currently giving taxes on the basis of self-assessment. 09:45 FPIs pull out Rs 9,899cr from equities during Feb 1-23 Foreign investors have pulled out nearly Rs 10,000 crore ($1.5 billion) from the Indian stock market so far this month primarily due to PNB fraud jitters coupled with global cues. This is against the total inflow of over Rs 13,780 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in January, latest data with the depositories showed. According to depositories’ data, FPIs withdrew a net amount of Rs 9,899 crore from equities during February 1-23. However, they put in over Rs 1,500 crore in the debt markets during the period under review. 09:38 PNB fraud: Banks for raising cover against fraud by staff Rattled by a spate of frauds in the banking sector, lenders are now planning to increase insurance cover against delinquencies by their employees to protect their bottomlines, reports PTI. "Frauds of such magnitude and scale - PNB fraud Rs 11,400 crore and OBC fraud Rs 390 crore - has forced us to consider substantially much higher risk cover than the basic banker's indemnity policy which various banks have right now," a top public sector bank official said. Besides, tightening internal risk mechanism and vigilance, banks have to look for higher cover to guard against such fraud where employees are involved, the official said, adding, this will help insulate the balance sheet. For example, SBI alone in 2016-17 reported frauds of Rs 2,424.74 crore (837 cases). Out of this, an amount of Rs 2,360.37 crore (278 cases) represents advances declared as frauds. 09:20 Godrej Appliances eyes Rs 5,000 crore turnover in FY19Godrej Appliances, the consumer durables division of Godrej Group, is targeting a 25% revenue growth to nearly Rs 5,000 crore in 2018-19, on higher demand expectation, reports PTI. "We should be close to Rs 4,000 crore this financial year. We will be targeting a 25% growth next year, at close to about Rs 5,000 crore," Godrej Appliances business head and executive vice president Kamal Nandi said. 08:58 JSW Steel set to acquire Italian Aferpi for Rs 600 cr: Source Private steel maker JSW Steel is close to acquire Italy-based Aferpi steel firm for Rs 600 crore, a source told PTI. "The deal is almost finalised. Most probably by the end of March or beginning of April, it will be final," the source said, adding that the deal is worth about Rs 600 crore. Aferpi makes specialty long products for railways, bars for auto industry parts, earthmoving vehicles, among others and is the second largest steel maker in Italy. The plan is to cater to the automobile customers of Europe. HR coils will be sent from India and further finished products will be sold to the customers there. 08:48 Liberty House appeal to NCLT to be heard today The fate of Liberty House's bid for Bhushan Power and Steel may be decided on Monday morning, when its appeal to the National Company Law Tribunal will be heard, reports Moneycontrol News’ Prince Mathews Thomas. The UK-based company had moved the NCLT after its bid for Bhushan Power and Steel was rejected by Committee of Creditors last week. The Committee, consisting of lenders, had refused to consider the bid as it was submitted after the deadline had passed on February 8. The appeal by Liberty House is an unprecedented one. In none of the auctions till now has a bid been accepted after the deadline. If the company's bid is accepted by the NCLT, it will open up a much contentious issue. Sources say that JSW Steel and Tata Steel may consider contesting it. 08:19 CBI files Rs 1bn fraud case against Simbhaoli Sugar executives The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Sunday it had filed a fraud case against executives of Simbhaoli Sugar for causing alleged losses of Rs 1.09 billion to state-run Oriental Bank of Commerce, reports Reuters. The bank alleged that the sugar refiner “dishonestly and fraudulently diverted” a Rs 1.48-billion-loan sanctioned in 2011 for financing cane farmers for private use, a statement issued by CBI said. The case comes at a time when the Indian banking sector is getting to grips with its biggest banking fraud totalling $1.8 billion, in which the No 2 state-run lender PNB has alleged that two of its employees colluded with firms linked to well-known jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. This is the second case in three days registered by the CBI upon complaints from the Oriental Bank of Commerce. The police has registered a case against several top officials of Simbhaoli Sugar, including its chairman and managing director, chief executive and chief financial officer, some unknown bank officials, and other private persons. 08:10 PNB fraud: ED to seek info from over dozen countries on Nirav Modi, Choksi's assets Widening its probe into the PNB fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate will soon send judicial requests to over a dozen countries for obtaining information about the overseas businesses and assets of diamantaire Nirav Modi and owner of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi, reports PTI. Official sources said the agency will approach a competent court in Mumbai with a request to obtain Letters Rogatories (LRs) to be sent to about 15-17 countries where the central investigation agency has traced the footsteps of the diamond and gold jewellery businesses of the firms owned by Modi, his uncle Choksi and others associated with them. The countries where the LRs would be sent include Belgium, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore and South Africa. Some official requests on the basis of agency-to-agency exchange will also be sent to few countries, the sources said. 07:51 Dr Reddy's Labs gets EIR from USFDA for Srikakulam plantPharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories said it has received the establishment inspection report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration for its formulations facility in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. The company, without mentioning the contents of the EIR, said the USFDA has maintained OAI (Official Action Indicated) status at its API manufacturing plant in Srikakulam. The US drug regulator has asked the company for more details, it said. "FDA has asked us for more details. We are providing those details and continuing to engage with FDA for resolution of pending issues," Dr Reddy's said in a regulatory filing. An OAI status is equivalent to finding of objectionable conditions at the audit site and also an indicative of regulatory and/or administrative sanctions by FDA. The USFDA issues an EIR to an establishment that is the subject of an FDA or FDA-contracted inspection when the agency decides to close the inspection. In April 2017, the company had informed about completion of the audit at its API manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh and issuance of two observations by the US drug regulator. Dr Reddy's had said that it was addressing those issues. 07:46 Huawei unveils world's first 5G commercial modem Chinese telecom gear firm Huawei on Sunday unveiled the world's first commercial 5G modem with a claim that it can deliver peak speed of over 2,000 megabit per second on next generation network, reports PTI. In India Reliance Jio has been delivering wireless broadband with peak average download speed of around 21 mbps and fixed broadband service provider Spectra claims to be delivering speed of up to 1GBPS (or 1024 mbps). The company unveiled world's first 5G CPE (consumer premise equipment or router) with the promise of delivering broadband speed of up to 2 Gbps on 5G network. The CPE will also support 4G network. Besides the chipset, Huawei unveiled full touch-screen enabled notebook Huawei matebook X Pro with 13.9 inch display, pop-up camera on the keyboard with price range starting EUR1,399. The company unveiled three 4G tablet models in Mediapad M5 series with dual use as tablet and notebook at starting price of EUR349. 07:31 Samsung launches Galaxy S9 & S9+ South Korean tech major Samsung unveiled Galaxy S9 and S9+, its latest flagship model in the smartphone segment, a day before the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, reports PTI. The phones have features like dual aperture and slow motion video options that compete with iPhone X and Google Pixel 2 series. It also have features like dual-stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos surround sound capabilities. The S9 comes with 4 GB RAM and with internal memory options of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB along with an external memory slot, which can support a capacity of up to 400 Gb. While the Galaxy S9+ comes with 6GB RAM and would also have memory options of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB along with an external memory slot of 400 GB. The company has incorporated several advanced features such as built in live automatic translator in its camera app, which could translate over 50 languages. Samsung has incorporated several Indian languages in the camera app which includes Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi and Marathi. Both the phones would be operated through Android 8 Orio and would give options to users to create their own emojis with their faces while chatting. The S9, which has put 3,000 mAh battery for its 5.8 inch screen and S9+ would have 3,500 mAh battery for 6.2 Inch screen. Both the phones would have a front camera which is 8 mega pixels and the rear would have a 12 mega pixels camera. The phones will also have features like rear figure scanning and wireless charging system. 7:15 Sridevi's autopsy complete, body to be flown back today The autopsy of superstar Sridevi, who passed away in Dubai after a cardiac arrest, has been completed and her body would be flown back to India today, reports PTI. The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late in the night reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Dubai, where she had gone along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. UAE officials have revealed that Sridevi's autopsy has been completed and the family is now awaiting laboratory reports conducted by the General Department of Forensic Evidence, Dubai, Khaleej Times reported. The body of legendary Indian actress Sridevi, who died in Dubai on Saturday night, is likely to be flown home on Monday, Gulf News reported. Sridevi’s body could not be repatriated on Sunday as the final investigation reports from Dubai Police were not ready by late evening, officials dealing with the legal formalities were quoted by the report. Officials also said that as per usual protocols, these tests take up to 24 hours in the case a person has died outside a hospital in Dubai. The same safety and administrative protocols are being followed by the police in this case as well. She reportedly had a fainting spell in her bathroom and was immediately rushed to Rashid Hospital in Dubai, the report said. The hotel, however, refused to comment on the matter and an employee stated that the matter is under police investigation.
ACC has called off merger with Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL) merger with ACC remains to be 'the ultimate Objective' and will not be proceeding with the Merger. 'there are constraints in implementing merger between the company and ACL', ACC says. 'the merger with ACL remains to be 'the ultimate Objective'
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/the-china-syndrome-while-the-world-is-being-sinified-the-resistance-is-gathering-force-too/articleshow/76460149.cms
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the problem of transparency, and what China’s lack of it means for the global order. But that problem has already been there in spades, ever since the West made a Faustian bargain by admitting Communist China into the global trading order.Global markets can only function with a modicum of transparency, and free markets require limited government. Communist China has none of those attributes. Yet it was admitted into the global trading system on the mistaken premise that it would gradually acquire them. With China’s subsequent – and stunning – rise to become the world’s second biggest economy, the postwar liberal order has been imploded from within and lies in ruins, contributing to the great world disorder we see today. Egregious Chinese behaviour on Ladakh’s icy heights is just one of the symptoms of that disorder.There’s no doubt that Chinese firms are ferociously competitive, and their government has done an excellent job of developing infrastructure and tech prowess. But alongside Beijing has developed an extensive panoply of mercantilist, beggar-thy-neighbour policies that go against the spirit, if not the letter, of the principles of free trade and pursuit of competitive advantage that WTO is supposed to underpin.These include currency manipulation, standards manipulation, a comprehensive system of state subsidies for national firms, repressing returns on household savings through an underdeveloped financial sector, forced technology transfers, forced joint ventures, technology theft including through cyber-espionage, limiting exports of critical materials to deny key inputs to foreign firms, the weaponisation of trade for political ends.India has been a particular victim of Chinese mercantilism. Opaque Chinese authorities permit imports of few Indian goods and services that have otherwise been globally competitive, thus perpetuating an exploitative, colonial-style trade relationship with India. And now, of course, Indian soldiers have been brutally killed.Supporting China’s mercantilist methods is a political system of all encompassing surveillance and suppression of dissent using state of the art digital technology, a system that has been described as ‘digital Leninism’ and reaches Orwellian proportions. Political liberalism supports economic liberalism – following a rules-based global order has something to do with being able to implement the rule of law and separation of powers at home. But the Chinese system is the very antithesis of political liberalism.President Xi Jinping has made no bones about the ‘Make China Great Again’ campaign, by any means possible. But the very success of the Chinese mercantilist model dictates its failure. Wins for China became losses for other economies, sparking populist revolts in the West. Mercantilism becomes a lose-lose game when other countries too adopt it. Famously, the US veered towards mercantilism with the election of President Donald Trump. The Chinese model of populist nationalism is now everywhere, placing the WTO trading system on its last legs. A ‘Nationalist International’ is an oxymoron.The politically authoritarian side of the Chinese model has also enjoyed unprecedented success. Trump makes his admiration for ‘strongmen’ evident, and regularly disses the democratic leaders of traditional US allies. Domestically, he has few words of condemnation for police violence against blacks, but threatens to call out the military in response to civilian demonstrations and riots protesting police brutality.However, a liberal pushback against populist nationalism is also underway. US presidents generally win a second term but Trump could prove an exception this November – current opinion polls show him behind Democratic candidate Joe Biden by large margins. George Floyd is an international cause celebre, with protests against his killing having spread to every continent. India witnessed widespread youth protests against the opaque, discriminatory and statist CAA-NRC combo. New internationalist coalitions are forming, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China between lawmakers from eight countries, which will deliberate on how democracies can work together to support a “free, open and rules-based international order”.Chinese soft power in India is immense, with the China model drawing admiration from both the political right and left. However, India is bumping up against the realities of Chinese hard power on the LAC – which should inspire a rethink. That Indian soldiers were killed after an agreement to disengage in Galwan valley , is another illustration of Chinese opacity and unwillingness to stick by agreements or rules. The rogue superstate that gave the world coronavirus speaks only the language of deception and brute force.Indeed Beijing has backtracked from its commitment, under the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement of 1993, to exchange maps that would clarify where the LAC stands. Keeping its claims ambiguous is a way of keeping India on the hop, so that New Delhi walks on eggshells when it comes to Chinese interests while Beijing feels free to drive a coach and horses through Indian interests.A Sinified world (dis)order won’t be good for India. A rules based democratic order would work much better. If the world is being Sinified then the resistance is gathering force too, and India should join the resistance. Given that trade is weaponised these days it should look to form trade as well as security alliances with friendly countries. Staying out of RCEP was the right decision.China did very well out of the last Cold War, as I argued in these columns recently. But India can do well from the coming one.DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.
coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the problem of transparency. but it has already been there in spades, ever since the west made a Faustian bargain by admitting Communist China into the global trading order. with China's rise to become the world's second biggest economy, the postwar liberal order has been imploded from within and lies in ruins. alongside Beijing has developed an extensive panoply of mercantilist, beggar-thy-neighbour policies that
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/covid-19-to-test-several-established-legal-precedents-in-the-months-ahead-5225311.html
By Jayant Bhatt For the past few months, we have been staring into the face of a grave danger, to the economy, society, as well as to the human race. What repercussions will ensue, none can fathom. None of us has witnessed a situation like the present one, where flights are grounded, ships remain docked at ports, cars silently parked at the houses, factories are mandatorily closed, and people, who have the good luck and luxury to afford it, remain locked in their own homes without protest. Business as we know it, is not being conducted. While many employees in the services sector have the luxury of working from home, businesses based on manufacturing or requiring hands-on labour are suffering huge losses. While the efforts of our elected government in protecting the country from the deadly effects of the pandemic are laudatory, the resultant effects on our economy cannot be ignored. The daily barrage of notifications coming everyday being issued by the government, either as a diktat or as an advisory, is making life tougher for these already struggling businesses. While this unprecedented situation is beyond one's wildest imagination, the requirement by the state for all citizens to remain philanthropic i.e. neither lay off employees nor cut their salaries for an indefinite period of time appears to be impractical and misguided. Simply put, when one is prevented from operating their business indefinitely and earning profits, how can the state expect them to be philanthropic? COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show According to the latest press release dated May 1, 2020, the lockdown in our country has been extended for a further period of two weeks. The press release, once again, in predictable fashion, creates more ambiguity than clarity on facing the present situation. It is noteworthy that while there is certain relaxation for e-commerce companies, activities in the demarcated Red Zone are permitted only to the extent of essential goods. One can imagine the problems arising from this declaration, when in many places, as in Delhi, the entire state has been declared a Red Zone. Further, the press release states that private offices can operate with upto 33 percent strength as per requirement, with remaining persons working from home. I may be alone in this opinion, but the actual implementation of such clauses can only be imagined, not effectuated. Our well-intentioned though haphazard implementation of the lockdown begets the important legal question for businesses forced to sack its workers. What legal consequences will they face? The short answer is that our courts, which are overburdened, will face an explosion of resultant litigation by disgruntled employees and labor unions. Apart from unpaid employees, another major challenge facing businesses is their performance of contracts. Most contracts entered into nowadays contain standardised Force Majeure clauses, which may be rendered ineffectual in view of the present unimaginable situation. However, our judiciary is attempting to remain ahead of the problem. As recently as last week, the High Court of Delhi in Halliburton Offshore Services Inc. v. Vedanta Ltd. & Anr., granted relief to the petitioner by allowing their claim of restriction on movement due to the present pandemic of COVID-19 to be in the nature of a Force Majeure event, and consequently, the respondent was restrained from invoking a bank guarantee against the petitioner.However, earlier this month, the Bombay High Court, on a strict reading of a Force Majeure clause contained in an agreement, disallowed a party from invoking the said clause in order to terminate a contract pertaining to the distribution of an essential commodity viz. steel, on grounds that the Force Majeure clause was applicable only to the Respondent, and further, that steel being an essential commodity, was not subject to the restriction imposed due to the nation-wide lockdown resulting from the pandemic. Needless to state that although the aforementioned cases differ vastly in essence, the indefinite lockdown, that is undoubtedly required to stem the spread of COVID- 19, is dramatically increasing the liability of businesses. Attributing the present situation of the novel coronavirus as an Act of God or a Force Majeure situation shall be dependent on the exact terms of a contract, and courts in general have been known to make strict interpretations of the same. However, it is noteworthy that as of now, the Supreme Court has not been seized of such issues. If either of the aforementioned judgments were to be challenged before the apex court, it would undoubtedly provide a novel way of reading the same.In view of the numerous challenges faced by our citizenry, a question on the legality of such a lockdown too is constantly being raised. However, it is the judiciary which will finally decide if the actions of either the Legislature or the Executive were toeing the line or veering towards sheer arbitrariness. (The author is a New Delhi-based independent litigator who practices in the Supreme Court. He holds dual Masters of Law (LL.M.) from New York University, USA and National University of Singapore and has over a decade of experience in commercial law) Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak here
a pandemic like this is a grave danger to the economy, society and human race. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by building herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/india-china-border-dispute-rahul-gandhi-modi-govt-galwan-valley-ladakh-lac/story/410187.html
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, launched a scathing attack on the Modi government over its rule of the past six years in the country. He added that constant blunders since 2014 have left India vulnerable to such an attack. Gandhi, in a video posted on his official Twitter handle, mulled over the reasons that prompted China to take an aggressive stance against India over the past few months. Beginning the video with a couple of questions around the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh, the Congress leader queried, "Why have the Chinese chosen to violate the LAC with India at this point in time? Why have the Chinese chosen this particular time to move against India? What is about India's situation that has made China act in such an aggressive way? What is it about this moment in time that has allowed them to have the confidence to make a move against a country like India?" In order to understand the situation, Gandhi said, one has to look into multiple spaces. Touching upon several aspects, such as India's foreign policy, economy and relations with its neighbours, he enunciated that all have been destroyed by the Modi government over the past six years. This, Gandhi, added, led to the Chinese offensive along the line of actual control (LAC) in Ladakh. Also Read: India-China standoff: Patriotic Ladakhis raising voice against Chinese encroachment, says Rahul Gandhi Since 2014, the PM's constant blunders and indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable. Empty words don't suffice in the world of geopolitics. pic.twitter.com/XM6PXcRuFh Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 17, 2020 "Since 2014, the PM's constant blunders and indiscretions have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable. Empty words don't suffice in the world of geopolitics," the Congress leader said in his tweet. Foreign policy Rahul Gandhi said, "A country is protected by its foreign relationships, its economy, neighbourhood and the feeling people have. Over the past 6 years, India has been disturbed and disrupted in each of these sectors." Commenting on the Centre's foreign policies, Gandhi elucidated that earlier India had strategic partnerships with Russia, and the US, that have now become transactional relations. "Earlier, India could manoeuvre in geopolitics with the help of these relations but now India doesn't enjoy these partnerships anymore," he interpreted. Relations with neighbours The Congress leader went on to remark on India's present relations with its neighbours adding that the Modi government has managed to enrage Bhutan, Nepal, and even Sri Lanka. He added that these countries used to be friends with the country earlier. Also Read: India-China standoff: 'Someone is lying,' says Rahul Gandhi; questions government Gandhi further rued that the Indian economy that "we could boast about to the world" has seen its worst growth in 50 years. He added that "unemployment is highest in 40 years" and the economy "is an absolute disaster".Urging the government to take steps to boost the economy, the Congress leader underscored that the need of the hour is to "fire the economy" and "protect small businesses".The above three reasons (foreign policy, relations with neighbours, economy), Gandhi said, convinced China that this is the "best time to act".
a video posted on his official twitter handle mulled over the reasons for the Chinese offensive. Gandhi enunciated that all have been destroyed by the modi government over the past six years. he said the PM's constant blunders have fundamentally weakened India and left us vulnerable. he said: "a country is protected by its foreign relations, its economy, neighbourhood and the feeling people have"
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/wall-street-drops-as-stimulus-delay-weighs-6218791.html
Wall Street's main indexes slipped on December 10, heading for weekly losses as doubts over more economic stimulus dented sentiment, while data showing improved consumer sentiment kept losses in check. Nine of the 11 major S&P indexes were down in morning trading, with energy and financials among the biggest decliners on profit taking in economically sensitive sectors, that have risen sharply recently on COVID-19 vaccine optimism. With daily coronavirus death tolls at alarming levels, fresh business restrictions in many U.S. states and increasing layoffs, investors are counting on more fiscal relief to sustain a nascent economic recovery as most government aid has dried up. However, alternating headlines on progress toward a stimulus deal have kept investors on edge, after optimism over a working vaccine pushed Wall Street's main indexes to record highs this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday raised the possibility of stimulus negotiations dragging on through Christmas. "Investors are wondering what is it that Congress needs to hear before they decide to act … their focus is more on politics than it is on the American economy," said CFRA Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall. "The economy is not getting stronger and it needs at least a short-term shot in the arm." While recent data has showed a faltering recovery in the labor market, a survey from the University of Michigan on Friday showed consumer sentiment improved more than expected in November. At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.51 points, or 0.15 percent, to 29,961.75, the S&P 500 lost 12.24 points, or 0.33 percent, to 3,655.86, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 46.68 points, or 0.37 percent, to 12,359.41. The communication services index remained a bright spot, lifted by Walt Disney Co. The media company hit a record high on announcing a heavy slate of new shows for its streaming services, including Marvel and Star Wars series on its fast-growing Disney+ platform. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it was working rapidly to issue an emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, with the first Americans set to be immunized as early as Monday or Tuesday. The U.S. drugmaker's shares, however, gave up premarket gains and fell about 1 percent. Qualcomm Inc fell 5.3 percent and was among the top decliners on the benchmark S&P 500, following a Bloomberg News report that Apple has started building its own cellular modem for future devices, a move that would replace components from the chipmaker. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.6-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted six new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 163 new highs and three new lows.
nine of 11 major S&P indexes were down in morning trading. energy and financials among biggest decliners on profit taking in economically sensitive sectors. alternating headlines on progress toward a stimulus deal keep investors on edge. house speaker pelosi on Thursday raised possibility of stimulus negotiations dragging on. a survey from the university of Michigan shows consumer sentiment improved more than expected.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/walmart-indias-losses-up-74-in-fy20-even-as-revenue-increases-20-to-rs-4926-crore/2102426/
Walmart India, whose wholesale operation was acquired by Flipkart in July this year, saw its losses for the financial year (FY) 2020 increase 74 per cent from last FY. The company reported Rs 299.20 crore in net loss up from Rs 171.68 crore in FY19, according to its FY20 financials accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler. Flipkart had acquired “100 per cent interest in Wal-Mart India Private Limited, which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business,” it had said. Walmart owned and operated 28 Best Price cash and carry wholesale stores that offered nearly 5,000 items along with two fulfilment centres based in Lucknow and Hyderabad. Alongside, Flipkart, which would be hosting its Big Billion Days between October 16-21, had also launched an exclusive B2B marketplace – Flipkart Wholesale – for MSMEs and kiranas to enable them to procure goods in categories including grocery, general merchandise, or fashion along with offering schemes and incentives. Revenues, on the other hand, for Walmart India during FY20 jumped 20 per cent to Rs 4,926 crore from Rs 4,095 crore while operating revenue increased from Rs 4,061 crore to Rs 4,910 crore. Moreover, expenses also shot up 22 per cent from Rs 4,266 crore to Rs 5,225 crore for the year ending March 31, 2020. Out of the total expenses, Rs 4,451 crore was involved in purchases of stock in trade up from Rs 3,721 crore from FY19. Purchases of stock in the trade refer to finished goods bought by the company towards conducting business. Other major expenses were towards employee benefit expenses – Rs 349 crore and other expenses – Rs 310 crore. Also read: Paytm vs Google: Over 5,000 app developers ‘express interest’ to list mobile sites on mini app store Walmart India’s US parent Walmart had reported a 5.6 per cent increase in its revenue for the quarter ending July 31 FY21 to $137.7 billion from $130.4 billion for the year-ago period. However, its international business witnessed a fall of 6.8 per cent partly due to India’s Covid lockdown. Walmart International had reported net sales of $27.2 billion for May-July quarter down from $29.1 billion for May-July quarter of FY20. “Net sales included the effects of the government-mandated closure of the company’s Flipkart business in India for a portion of the quarter, as well as similar actions in markets in Africa and Central America,” Walmart had said in its earnings release. Walmart’s fiscal year is February-January.
Walmart reported Rs 299.20 crore in net loss up from Rs 171.68 crore in FY19. the company owned and operated 28 best price cash and carry stores. it also had two fulfilment centres based in Lucknow and Hyderabad. walmart also launched a marketplace for MSMEs and kiranas. expenses shot up 22 per cent from Rs 4,266 crore to Rs 5,225 crore.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/covid-19-q1-global-contractions-indicate-a-deepening-crisis-5217781.html
Representative image Due to the spread of coronavirus and the global lockdown, multilateral organisations and international agencies have been predicting the worst economic downturn since Great Depression. All are almost unanimous on this view for two main reasons. First, the virus has affected both the developed and developing economies simultaneously. Its geographical coverage is now expanding. It is not just China, Europe and the United States; it is now spreading fast into Russia, Turkey, South Asia, West Asia and Latin America. Second, it has drastically reduced both demand and supply. When the governments themselves have directed industry and services to shut operations, traditional stimulus packages have little meaning. Now it is not just forecasts, actual GDP numbers for Q1 2020 for some major economies are out. The extent of their decline has surpassed some earlier predictions. The European Union’s (EU)’s statistical agency, Eurostat, has reported that for the 2020 first quarter, the GDP in 19 Eurozone economies has shrunk by 3.8 percent. The same figure for 27 EU economies is minus 3.5 percent. France, the second-largest economy in the EU, has announced that its GDP has dropped by minus 5.6 percent, its biggest drop since 1949. This drop is much bigger than recorded during the financial crisis in Q1 2009 (–1.6 percent) or during political upheaval in Q2 1968 (–5.3 percent). Except food, all sectors have seen contraction, with the sharpest decline in engineering goods and construction. Compared to the previous quarter, the Italian GDP dropped by 4.7 percent. Similarly, the Spanish economy contracted by 5.2 percent and the Austrian economy by 2.5 percent. When released, the German economic numbers may show similar trends. Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), says that the euro area is “facing an economic contraction of a magnitude and speed that are unprecedented in peacetime”. The ECB now estimates that in 2020, the fall of euro area GDP could be between five and 12 percent. The United States has also reported that in Q1-2020, its GDP has decreased by minus 4.8 percent. In the previous quarter, the US had shown a healthy growth of 2.1 percent. China, the second-largest economy, which was affected first, earlier declared a 6.8 percent decline in the first three months of 2020 from a year ago. This is the first time China has seen this kind of decline since it started recording quarterly data since 1992. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show With more than 42,000 infections and already close to six weeks of national lockdown, India’s growth story cannot be very different. Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted about 2 percent GDP growth in India in 2020. With the developing global recession, India will be fortunate if it is able to achieve this. The economy was already weakening when lockdown started. Still, developing economies such as India, may perform slightly better. Agriculture and basic food items are lest affected by lockdowns. Also, a large number of people in these countries still depend on agriculture and spend significant part of their earnings on food items. India is also less integrated with global value chains. Since lockdowns started in March in many countries, a much bigger downturn is expected in the second quarter. IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath predicts that the cumulative loss from the pandemic to global GDP in 2020 and 2021 “could be around $9 trillion, greater than the economies of Japan and Germany, combined”. To offset these impacts, all major economic powers are infusing huge amounts into their economies. The collective response from the EU and its member states is well above 3 trillion euros. The US package of $2trillion include relief to big corporates and small businesses, individuals, states and local governments as well as public health. Japan has announced a $1 trillion relief package. These measures, however, will only be useful if at least some treatment is found by the third quarter and economies start opening up. Despite massive relief packages, a joint global effort is vital to resolve the health problems first. On May 4, the EU — along with Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, and current and future G20 presidency Saudi Arabia and Italy — is hosting a pledging event: the Coronavirus Global Response Initiative. Co-convened by WHO and World Bank, the initiative aims to garner at least $8 billion for jointly developing solutions to test, treat and prevent the disease from spreading. New diagnostics, treatments and vaccines needs to be affordable and available to all. With its strong pharmaceutical industry, India could be a valuable partner to these global solutions. The hydroxychloroquine episode has already proved its strength. The first quarter GDP results from major economies indicate the seriousness of the economic recession. The next quarter could be worse. Massive relief packages by major powers could be useful to the global economy. However, they will only work if a joint global effort is successful in developing affordable health solutions soon. Gulshan Sachdeva is Jean Monnet Chair and Chairperson Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Views are personal.
virus has affected both developed and developing economies simultaneously. it is now spreading fast into Russia, Turkey, South Asia, West Asia and Latin America. eu’s statistical agency, Eurostat, has reported that for the 2020 first quarter, the GDP in 19 Eurozone economies has shrunk by 3.8 percent. the same figure for 27 EU economies is minus 3.5 percent.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/job-creation-top-priority-skilled-people-finding-hard-jobs-am-naik/story/372946.html
AM Naik, Larsen & Toubro Group Chairman and National Skill Development Corporation chief, said the government needed to take urgent steps to ensure job creation and that even skilled people were finding it difficult to find a suitable job in times of slowdown in the economy. The government should focus on building a consumption-driven economy, he said, adding that to boost economic development, it was necessary to fund the industrial growth. Naik, during an interview with The Economic Times, said that job creation could only be boosted if the Centre took steps to ensure economic development and more utilisation of industrial capacity. "Many industries have closed or are partially utilised, or working on certain days of the week, or just one shift a day," said Naik, adding that even though there's gross underutilisation of industry, there was a great demand for growth for a country of 1.3 billion people. He also said the economic slowdown in India would also not help those seeking jobs abroad, as the economy in the Middle East is also sliding and "employability" is also not high. He said the biggest challenge in making youth job-ready is to give them the right training. "Some of the countries that were most devastated in world wars emerged as the most industrialised nations, because of most of their people went for skill training; we need good quality skill training," Naik told the news daily. Mind completely occupied with Mindtree acquisition; will make it a big firm: AM Naik Naik was recently appointed as the Non-executive Chairman of Mindtree, with effect from July 18. Apart from being in the industry for over 55 years, Naik is also a strong believer in "giving back to society". Notably, the Larsen & Toubro patriarch donates a huge part of his wealth for charity, driven by his resolve to 'give back to society' in memory of his two-year-old granddaughter who surrendered to cancer more than a decade ago. Named after his granddaughter 'Nirali', who died in 2007, he has set up Nirali Memorial Trust as well as the Nirali Memorial Radiation Centre in Surat to help other cancer victims. "I consider myself fortunate to be in a position to give back to the society that has given me so much. If I can, in some measure, help to relieve pain, alleviate suffering and provide care to those most in need, my efforts would be richly rewarded," Naik had earlier told PTI. Also Read: Mindtree now under the bigger tree of L&T, says CEO Subrahmanyan at the AGM
AM Naik, chairman of the Larsen & Toubro group, says job creation is urgent. he says even skilled people are finding it difficult to find a suitable job. he says the government needs to fund industrial growth to boost job creation. he also says the economic slowdown in india will not help those seeking jobs abroad. he donates a huge part of his wealth to charity in memory of his granddaughter who died in 2007.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/analysis/stay-put-in-equities-increase-allocation-to-debt-instruments/articleshow/62830697.cms
The brisk correction in the stock market of the past four days, which has eroded the gains in the Sensex and the Nifty so far in 2018, has various investors wondering whether the bull market is over for the moment? ET spoke to senior market participants on what investors should do at this juncture. The consensus is that there is still some steam left in the market and investors should stay put, while allocating a portion of their money to debtThe recent correction is more on account of global factors than local ones. Global markets have seen some correction after a long bull run. In our view, Indian equity markets continue to remain expensive with the small- and mid-cap segment being overvalued. We believe earnings growth will come over the next 18 months. To our investors, we are recommending a relentless focus on asset allocation. At this point, the three suitable product categories to invest are balanced advantage category, large-cap funds and credit funds. We prefer investing in balanced advantage category of funds over other equity categories since they are more attractive on a risk-return basis. India is still in the early stages of inflation , which is good for equities and bad for bonds. So, equities will continue to outperform at least for the next 12-18 months. Earnings growth is on the path of revival because of combination of both real GDP growth and rising inflation, which is good for corporate profi tability because companies are able to pass on the cost to consumers. The current correction is amplifi ed because of the failure of some exotic volatility products in the US. Investors should take advantage of this opportunity to buy equities. We believe themes like private sector banks, materials,discretionary consumption can outperform the broad markets.Investors should readjust assets towards fi xed income. With imposition of Long-Term Capital Gain (LTCG) tax, rising oil prices and rising bond yields, the upside maybe limited in equities compared to the kind of returns we have seen in the last two-three years. We may see modest returns over the next 12 months. Midcaps are good but midcaps being midcaps are volatile as well. Overall I am bullish on midcaps. One should look at reasonable companies with reasonable valuations. Small investors can buy mid-cap funds. Sectorally, metal companies are looking good and so are oil companies. The IT sector is looking better now and one can be selective in this space.Rising global yields should be seen in the backdrop of improving global outlook, and earnings growth. We would recommend investors to use the recent sharp pullback as an opportunity to invest. However, it’s important to maintain asset allocation discipline, have rationale return expectations, and a long-term time frame when investing in equities. We prefer financials, consumption sector, and businesses with global exposure.
etihad: correction in stock market has eroded gains in Sensex and Nifty so far in 2018. he says investors should stay put while allocating portion of their money to debt. etihad: equities will continue to outperform at least for the next 12-18 months. he says equities are good but midcaps are volatile as well.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/covid-19-fmcg-majors-amul-godrej-itc-hike-output-up-to-20-as-anxiety-buying-spikes/story/398814.html
The panic around the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in India has led a large segment of consumers hoarding basic food items such as milk, curd, rice, atta, oil and lentils, as well as personal care products such as soaps, handwash and sanitisers. One often gets to see empty shelves not just in neighbourhood kirana stores but also in super-markets. Even e-commerce platforms have been complaining of running out of stocks of necessities especially products such as handwash and hand sanitisers. Consumer goods companies claim that they have stepped up manufacturing on a war-footing to meet additional demand. According to R.S. Sodhi, MD, Amul, demand for long-shelf life milk, milk powder and cheese has gone up by 20 per cent over the last two weeks. "Consumers not only are hoarding out of panic, they are also buying more milk-based products because there is an advisory against consuming eggs and meat. People are substituting it with milk-based protein," says Sodhi. Amul has increased its production by over 20 per cent in order to meet the increased demand. Godrej Consumer, which was planning to increase its soap prices due to a 30 per cent increase in prices of raw materials has now shelved its plan of price increase and is instead going all out to increase production and cater to increased demand. According to Sunil Kataria, CEO (India & SAARC), Godrej Consumer Products, "We have ramped up production of our soaps, Godrej Protekt handwash and sanitisers in our units as well as through our vendor partner units. We are working closely with raw material and package material suppliers to facilitate uninterrupted supplies. Our teams are also working round-the-clock to ensure that adequate stocks are available across channels." Similarly, ITC claims to have doubled production across its food and personal care business to ensure availability. "Given the challenging circumstances, we have redoubled our efforts to ensure adequate supply of all our FMCG products including Savlon handwash and soaps across all channels. We would like to assure consumers of availability of products and would like to urge them not to panic in this situation," says an ITC spokesperson. He also added that the company has redoubled its efforts to make sure that the various retail channels don't fall short of basic food items such as Aashirvaad Atta. Will increase in production and sale of basic food and FMCG products reflect in higher revenue growth for the manufacturers? Not necessarily, say consumer goods industry experts. Most of these products, according to them, are low margin products which may ensure volume growth, but will not reflect too much in the revenue growth. ALSO READ: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Kerala confirms 5 new COVID-19 positive cases; country's count at 252 ALSO READ: Janta curfew: What is PM Modi's new formula to fight coronavirus?
consumer panic around the outbreak of COVID-19 has led a large segment of consumers hoarding basic food items. demand for long shelf life milk, milk powder and cheese has gone up by 20 per cent over the last two weeks. consumer goods companies claim that they have stepped up manufacturing on a war-footing to meet additional demand. e-commerce platforms have been complaining of running out of stocks of necessities especially handwash and hand sanitisers.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/trump-says-us-terminating-relationship-with-who-takes-steps-against-china-5336271.html
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that America is terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization as he blamed it and China for the deaths and destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe. Stating that the funding of the WHO would now be diverted to other global public health organisations, Trump announced a series of decisions against China including issuing proclamation to deny entry to certain Chinese nationals and tightening of regulations against Chinese investments in America. Trump also announced that the US will end special treatment of Hong Kong in response to Chinese imposition of new controls. He said that the US will revise its travel advisory to warn of surveillance in Hong Kong. “The world needs answers from China,” Trump said in his aggressive speech on a bright sunny day from the Rose Garden of the White House. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The president, however, did not take any questions. For decades it has ripped off the US like no one has ever done before, he said, reiterating his charges against China. China not only stole intellectual property, took away billions of dollars from the US and offshored the jobs, but also violated its commitment under the World Trade Organization, he said, adding that it was able to get away with the theft, like no one before because of past politicians and past presidents. China, he alleged, has unlawfully claimed territories in the Indo-Pacific ocean, threatening freedom of navigation and international trade and broke its word to the world on ensuring the autonomy of Hong Kong. “The United States wants an open and constructive relationship with China, but achieving this relationship requires us to vigorously defend our national interest,” he said. Trump alleged that the Chinese government has continually violated its promises to the US and many other nations. “These plain facts cannot be overlooked or swept aside,” he said. Observing that the world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government, Trump reiterated that China's cover-up of the Wuhan virus allowed the disease to spread all over the world, instigating a global pandemic that has cost more than 100,000 American lives and over one million lives worldwide. “Chinese officials ignored their reporting obligations to the World Health Organization and pressured the World Health Organization to mislead the world when the virus was first discovered by Chinese authorities. Countless lives have been taken, and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe,” he said. China, he said, has total control over the WHO despite only paying USD 40 million per year compared to what the US has been paying which is approximately USD 450 million a year. “We have detailed the reforms that it must make and engage with them directly, but they have refused to act. “Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs,” Trump said. The world needs answers from China on the virus, he said. “We must have transparency. Why is it that China shut off infected people from Wuhan to all other parts of China? It went nowhere else; it didn't go to Beijing, it went nowhere else, but they allowed them to freely travel throughout the world, including Europe and the United States. The death and destruction caused by this is incalculable,” he said. “We must have answers not only for us but for the rest of the world. This pandemic has underscored the crucial importance of building up America's economic independence, reshoring our critical supply chains, and protecting America's scientific and technological advances. For years, the government of China has conducted illicit espionage to steal our industrial secrets of which there are many,” Trump said. Trump said that later in the day, he will issue a proclamation to better secure America's vital university research and “to suspend the entry of certain foreign nationals from China who have been identified as potential security risks”. Asserting that he is also taking action to protect the integrity of America's financial system, Trump said he is instructing his presidential working group on financial markets to study the differing practices of Chinese companies listed on the US financial markets with a goal of protecting American investors. “Investment firms should not be subjecting their clients to the hidden and undue risks associated with financing Chinese companies that do not play by the same rules. Americans are entitled to fairness and transparency,” he said. Referring to the unilateral Chinese action control over Hong Kong security, Trump said that this was a plain violation of Beijing's treaty obligations with the UK in the declaration of 1984 and explicit provisions of Hong Kong's basic law which has 27 years to go. “China's latest incursion, along with other recent developments that degraded the territory's freedoms, makes clear that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to warrant the special treatment that we have afforded the territory since the handover,” he said. “China has replaced its promised formula of one country, two systems with one country, one system; therefore, I am directing my administration to begin the process of eliminating policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment,” Trump added.
president says the world needs answers from china. he says the us will end special treatment of Hong Kong. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. a vaccine is a vaccine that is based on the whole virus. a vaccine is a molecule that is able to be injected with a specific antigen.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/coronavirus-impact-economy-will-take-6-9-quarters-to-revive-axis-bank-ceo-5200881.html
The government needs to lift the lockdown entirely now or else the country will face severe implications, Amitabh Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Axis Bank, said on April 29. India has had the strictest lockdown with no major fiscal support like other countries, said Chaudhry, adding that it will take 6-9 quarters for revival of the economy. Follow LIVE updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here "We know that the lockdown will take time to get lifted, we know that the economic activity will take a lot of time to come back to normal. In that scenario, it is almost a given that a number of corporates and individuals will go through a severe stress and some will become non-performing," Chaudhry told CNBC-TV18. The private sector lender on April 28 reported a surprising loss of Rs 1,388 crore for the quarter ending March 31, as provisions rose sharply compared to a year ago. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Also read: All good for Axis Bank in Q4, but COVID-19 uncertainty shadows future outlook Despite a healthy 19 percent net interest income growth over the last year, 15 percent growth in its loan growth, and a 17 percent rise in operating profit, the bank posted a loss because it set aside Rs 7,730 crore as provisions and contingencies in Q4 FY20 against only Rs 2,711 crore during the previous year. The steep rise in provision is partially due to COVID-19 related uncertainties, and a clear indicator of the times ahead. The CEO said that the retail part of the business was practically shut and that no one is borrowing. Source: CNBC-TV18
the government needs to lift the lockdown now or the country will face severe implications. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/covid-19-indians-economic-growth-likely-to-decline-by-200-bps-in-fy21-says-yashwant-sinha/articleshow/74848093.cms
NEW DELHI: India's economic growth is likely to decline by 2 percentage points in the next financial year due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic and the consequent 21-day countrywide lockdown, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said on Friday. In an interview to PTI, Sinha said India was already facing high unemployment and the pandemic has added to the woes."My own estimate is that the 21-day countrywide lockdown which has been enforced, itself will result in shaving off at least 1 percentage point of GDP. And if you take earlier problems created by the coronavirus pandemic before the lockdown and the uncertainties of the future, then a 2 percentage points decline in growth rate(for 2020-21) is not unlikely at all," he said.Sinha, who has been quite vocal about the Modi government's policies in the last couple of years, noted that the Indian economy has been on a downward trend for 7-8 quarters now, and the decline started long before the coronavirus outbreak."If we want to reduce poverty effectively, then we have to grow at least at the rate of 8 per cent, compared to that we are growing at the rate of 5 per cent," he observed.Talking about the Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman , Sinha said it will cost in excess of Rs 1.7 lakhcrore, which means fiscal deficit of the government will increase by 1 percentage points(100 bps). "That will put pressure on government finances which means that the government will have less and less money to invest. So, it is a very serious situation and we need all kinds of innovative pressures to get over the crisis," he noted.The government on Thursday announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus that included free foodgrain and cooking gas to poor for three months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens as it looked to ease the economic impact of the nationwide lockdown. The former finance minister pointed out that the amount of money that has been made available to daily wage earners will depend on how well it is distributed."The daily wage earnersare not identified.They don't have an ID card, especially in smaller cities and rural areas. So, how the money will be distributed to them remains an issue," Sinha wondered. When asked can India become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25, in the current circumstances, he said in any case it is not possible."People who comment on these things have already given up on the basis of facts and figure. We will not be able to make India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2030 or 2032 in the normal course, now with this pandemic affecting the entire global economy, our target has to be shifted forward," Sinha asserted.The Economic Survey had projected India's economic growth at 6 per cent to 6.5 per cent in the next financial year starting April 1. As per the first advanced estimates of the national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), India's GDP growth was estimated to slip to a 11 -year low of 5 per cent. On Friday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in view of the impact of coronavirus pandemic, the growth projections of 4.7 per cent for March quarter 2019-20 and 5 per cent for the full fiscal are "now at risk".Moody's Investors Service on Friday slashed its estimate of India's GDP growth during 2020 calendar year to 2.5 per cent, from an earlier estimate of 5.3 per cent and said the coronavirus pandemic will cause unprecedented shock to the global economy. The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has crossed over 24,000. In India, over 700 coronavirus cases have been reported so far.
Yashwant Sinha says india's economic growth is likely to decline by 2 percentage points. he says the country's economic growth has been on a downward trend for 7-8 quarters now. the lockdown will result in a shave off at least 1 percentage point of GDP, he says. the former finance minister says the government will have to put pressure on finances.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/covid-impact-manufacturing-cos-struggle-to-streamline-production-due-to-weak-demand-labour-crunch-and-broken-supply-chain/articleshow/75747344.cms
Mumbai | Kolkata: With the country still under lockdown and suppliers and dealers only partially open, manufacturing firms that were allowed to resume operations are finding the going tougher than expected.Auto, steel, cement, component makers and engineering companies are struggling to streamline production, with output barely touching 20% of capacity since production started with the gradual lifting of curbs imposed to combat the spread of Covid-19.Work at factories has resumed in tough conditions: Demand is yet to revive, labour availability is limited and new safety and health norms have to be enforced in the workplace. In addition, many industry hubs in red zones, which have the most restrictions, remain closed.Auto component makers said the entire supply chain has gone haywire. Given that automobile production will be limited for the next couple of months, there’s uncertainty over supply, production and demand, manufacturers said.According to RC Bhargava , chairman of India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki , this situation is new and unique, without precedent and no rule book to follow.“Production has started, but it is evolving every day,” Bhargava said. “As we go along, we are making improvements, keeping safety paramount. It’s all trial and error and learning how to get better each day.”Experts said companies are also facing infrastructure and labour-related problems. Production in many cases has started on a single shift, with complete emphasis on the safety and health of workers. With only 20-25% of the workforce at hand, shop floor activities have been curtailed, not only for auto and component makers but also for engineering companies.Production levels in the automotive industry would not be more than 15% at this time, experts estimated. While Maruti and Hyundai Motor have started operations, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have resumed at a few locations.“For the supply chain to get normalised, it will take 3-4 weeks. There is not much demand now, so we are producing much less for local and export markets,” said Venu Srinivasan, chairman of Chennai-based TVS Motor Company . “What we are doing is running the machine in phases so as to get ready as production starts picking up.”Thermax’s factories in Vadodara and Andhra Pradesh are operating at 10-25% capacity because most raw material suppliers are small enterprises that have cash flow constraints. Transport, logistics and getting labour continue to be an issue, said MS Unnikrishnan, MD of Thermax.Even in the face of dwindling demand, Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Steel Authority of India are forced to keep their blast furnaces running, while cutting production by 40-50%. They are now grappling with disruption in production and distribution with fewer orders.“The medium-to-longer term impact will be clearer in the next 6-9 months,” said TV Narendran, managing director of Tata Steel.SAIL and others are rationalising their product basket. “We have decided to produce more semi-finished items that can later be value added into finished steel,” Anil Chaudhary, chairman of SAIL, told ET.Domestic steel demand plunged 91% in April, according to official figures, as key user industries such as construction, infrastructure and auto came to a virtual standstill.Cement makers, including Shree Cement , could be bracing for a 20-30% fall in volumes as their capacity addition plans have clashed with dwindling demand. Anand Rathi Communications has estimated a 25-30% capacity utilisation for cement in the first half of FY21.Most auto and component companies have resumed work taking into account social distancing, sanitisation and transportation. However, this has slowed production schedules and increased costs.“We are not even running one shift fully and this current production schedule is not sustainable, as the entire supply chain has gone haywire and we cannot continue to burn cash,” said Deepak Jain, managing director of Lumax, a supplier of components to automobile manufacturers. “We are producing in batches according to order and production is extremely difficult to be ramped up as practically many tier 2 and 3 suppliers are still in red zones.”New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are among the 130 districts in the country classified as red zones, which are estimated to contribute to half of the country’s economy.Jain said that at current low levels of production, labour is not a problem but the moment output is scaled up, it will become a huge issue especially as migrant workers have returned to their villages over the past month or so.While the phased opening up of various sections of automotive manufacturing units, companies will have to take the lead in putting in place a proper strategy, failing which their schedules will get disrupted and their costs will surge, experts said.
auto, steel, cement, component makers and engineering firms are struggling to streamline production. demand is yet to revive, labour availability is limited and new safety and health norms have to be enforced in the workplace. maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava: "this situation is new and unique, without precedent and no rule book to follow" for the supply chain to get normalised, it will take 3-4 weeks.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/global-cues-pull-down-indices-as-nifty-retests-9700-5-factors-weighing-on-d-street-5394461.html
It looks like a freaky Friday in the making. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged more than 1,000 points to break below its crucial psychological support at 33,000 while Nifty50 breached 9,700 at open. Sectorally, selling pressure was seen in bankex, finance, capital goods, metals and auto index. At 09:20 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 925 points at 32,613 while the Nifty50 was down 244 points at 9,657. We have collated a list of 5 factors that could be weighing on markets: Weak global cues: The sell-off on Wall Street and the weak trend seen in Asian markets will have a rub-off effect on the Indian markets as well. The three major US stock indexes fell more than 5%, posting their worst day since mid-March. US markets posted their biggest one-day loss since March 16. Crude oil prices also fell over growing concerns of the second wave of COVID-19 as well as gloomy economic outlook at the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday said a Reuters report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,861.82 points, or 6.9 percent, to 25,128.17, the S&P 500 lost 188.04 points, or 5.89 percent, to 3,002.1 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 527.62 points, or 5.27 percent, to 9,492.73. Fears of second US coronavirus wave: Fear of a second wave of COVID-19 related cases has sparked worries among investors that it would delay the economic recovery. About half a dozen states including Texas and Arizona are grappling with a rising number of coronavirus patients filling hospital beds, fanning concerns that the reopening of the U.S. economy may spark a second wave of infections, said a Reuters report. India is now among the five countries most affected by the outbreak, with over 2.8 lakh infections and more than 8,000 deaths. Globally, there have been over 75 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19, and more than 4.2 lakh people have died so far. OECD warns India’s GDP could contract to 7.3%: India’s economy could contract by as much as 7.3% in FY21 if the second wave of coronavirus sweeps the country, requiring reinforcement of containment and social distancing measures, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said, a media report quoted. Technical View: The Nifty50 managed to hold above 9900 levels on Thursday, but a breakdown below 9840 could take the index towards 9700 levels, suggest experts. “Currently, the index is hovering around its support of previous swing high of 9889 levels. Also, we are witnessing Bullish AB=CD pattern on an hourly scale around 9840 levels,” Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited told Moneycontrol. “Thus, there is a possibility of a bounce from 9840 - 9889 zone, however a hold below the same would be negative for the index towards 9777 zones. On the flipside, resistance is now placed at 10040 then 10150 zone,” he said. FIIs turn net sellers: Foreign institutional investors which were mostly net buyers so far in June turned net sellers in the last two trading sessions. FIIs have pulled out Rs 919 cr on 10 June, and Rs 805 cr on June 11 in the cash segment. But, overall for the month of June, FIIs still remain net buyers to the tune of more than Rs 13000 cr while DIIs remain net sellers. “FII’s had sold off in March and it is early days yet to determine whether the trend is changing. The country does need FII flows to support local risk capital. FII’s will come to India since India continues to show possibilities of growth given low penetration levels,” Sameer Kaul, MD & CEO, TrustPlutus Wealth Managers (India) told Moneycontrol. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
the three major US stock indexes fell more than 5%, posting their worst day since mid-March. the reopening of the u.s. economy may spark a second wave of COVID-19 related cases. fears of a second wave of COVID-19 related cases have sparked fears among investors that it would delay the economic recovery.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs/coronavirus-pandemic-about-25-million-jobs-could-be-lost-worldwide-due-to-covid-19-says-un/1903104/
Nearly 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, but an internationally coordinated policy response can help lower the impact on global unemployment, according to a UN agency. In its preliminary assessment report titled “COVID-19 and world of work: Impacts and responses”, the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures across three pillars – protecting workers in the workplace, stimulating the economy and employment, and supporting jobs and incomes. The ILO said these measures include extending social protection, supporting employment retention (i.e short-time work, paid leave, other subsidies), and financial and tax relief, including for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. It also proposes fiscal and monetary policy measures, and lending and financial support for specific economic sectors. The economic and labour crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic could increase global unemployment by almost 25 million, the ILO said. “However, if we see an internationally coordinated policy response, as happened in the global financial crisis of 2008/9, then the impact on global unemployment could be significantly lower,” it added. The report provides different scenarios of how unemployment and underemployment will be impacted due to the coronavirus. Based on different scenarios for the impact of COVID-19 on global GDP growth, the ILO estimates indicate a rise in global unemployment of between 5.3 million (“low” scenario) and 24.7 million (“high” scenario) from a base level of 188 million in 2019. By comparison, the 2008-09 global financial crisis increased global unemployment by 22 million. Underemployment is also expected to increase on a large scale, as the economic consequences of the virus outbreak translate into reductions in working hours and wages. Self-employment in developing countries, which often serves to cushion the impact of changes, may not do so this time because of restrictions on the movement of people (eg service providers) and goods, it said. The note said that falls in employment also meant large income losses for workers to the tune of between USD 860 billion and USD 3.4 trillion by the end of 2020. This will translate into falls in consumption of goods and services, in turn affecting the prospects for businesses and economies. Working poverty is expected to increase significantly too, as “the strain on incomes resulting from the decline in economic activity will devastate workers close to or below the poverty line,” the ILO said. It estimates that between 8.8 and 35 million additional people will be in working poverty worldwide, compared to the original estimate for 2020 (which projected a decline of 14 million worldwide). Underscoring the need for swift and coordinated policy responses, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said “this is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labour market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people.” “In 2008, the world presented a united front to address the consequences of the global financial crisis, and the worst was averted. We need that kind of leadership and resolve now,” he added. The ILO note warns that certain groups will be disproportionately affected by the jobs crisis, which could increase inequality. These include people in less protected and low-paid jobs, particularly youth and older workers and women and migrants too, who are vulnerable due to the lack of social protection and rights, and women tend to be over-represented in low-paid jobs and affected sectors. “In times of crisis like the current one, we have two key tools that can help mitigate the damage and restore public confidence. Firstly, social dialogue, engaging with workers and employers and their representatives, is vital for building public trust and support for the measures that we need to overcome this crisis. “Secondly, international labour standards provide a tried-and-trusted foundation for policy responses that focus on a recovery that is sustainable and equitable. Everything needs to be done to minimise the damage to people at this difficult time,” Ryder said. The coronavirus outbreak has killed 8,809 people and infected 218,631 across 157 countries and territories, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
the international labour organization (ILO) calls for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures across three pillars. measures include extending social protection, supporting employment retention and financial and tax relief. the report provides different scenarios for how unemployment and underemployment will be impacted due to the coronavirus. by comparison, the 2008-09 global financial crisis increased global unemployment by 22 million.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/food/unilever-to-create-separate-entity-for-global-tea-business-but-will-retain-india-and-indonesia/articleshow/77123331.cms
Mumbai: Unilever said it will create a separate entity for its tea business globally but will exclude India and Indonesia business, as part of the review for the segment that began earlier this year."We will retain the tea businesses in India and Indonesia and the partnership interests in the ready-to-drink tea joint ventures. The balance of Unilever’s tea brands and geographies and all tea estates have an exciting future, and this potential can best be achieved as a separate entity," said Unilever in a statement.In January, Unilever announced a strategic review of its global tea business, which includes leading brands such as Lipton Brooke Bond and PG Tips. The strategic review of the tea business, which clocked about $3.3 billion in sales last year, came after the company posted its slowest quarterly growth in a decade. The volume of tea sales declined due to subdued consumer demand for black tea in developed markets."A process will now begin to implement the separation, which is expected to conclude by the end of 2021. The tea business that will be separated generated revenues of $2.3 billion in 2019," Unilever said.Hindustan Unilever, the Indian unit is the market leader in India, controlling more than a fifth of the country’s tea segment. Tea in India is still a growing segment and is one of the largest within HUL’s food and refreshment business.
unilever will retain tea businesses in India and Indonesia. the company will also exclude the partnership interests in the ready-to-drink tea joint ventures. the tea business that will be separated generated revenues of $2.3 billion in 2019. the company posted its slowest quarterly growth in a decade. the separation is expected to conclude by the end of 2021.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/brokers-body-seeks-sebi-finmin-intervention-as-franklin-closes-6-debt-schemes/story/401944.html
Terming the shut down of six debt schemes by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF) as an extreme step that has created panic, an umbrella body of brokers on Friday sought markets regulator Sebi and the Ministry of Finance's intervention to protect investor interest. FTMF stunned all by deciding to shutter operations of six schemes with assets under management of more than Rs 25,000 crore late Thursday evening, citing redemption pressures and market volatilities in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund house has said that capital markets regulator Sebi was informed in advance about the decision, which has been taken to protect investor wealth. "Such an extreme step by FTMF has created panic among their investors as well as mutual fund investors in other debt schemes across asset management companies," the Association of National Exchange Members of India (ANMI) said. The ANMI wrote to capital markets watchdog Sebi and the Ministry of Finance, seeking their intervention to "protect the hard earned savings" of lakhs of investors. The body pitched for the formation of an expert committee of mutual fund executives to "determine the precise problem in FTMF schemes". It said the confidence of people in debt mutual funds is at a risk and an event like this should not lead to an erosion of trust in a Rs 24 lakh crore industry. Also Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: After Delhi, plasma therapy to begin in MP; India tally 23,452 Also Read: Coronavirus update:1,684 new cases reported in 24 hours, recovery rate improves to 20.57%
ANMI: FTMF's decision to shutter six debt schemes has created panic among investors. ANMI seeks intervention from regulator Sebi and the ministry of finance. FTMF says it was informed in advance about the decision to protect investor wealth. ANMI: FTMF's decision to shutter schemes is an "extreme step" that has created panic.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/delhi-violence-was-well-planned-assault-on-idea-of-india-says-karnataka-bjp-4986741.html
Representative image The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party said on February 28 that the violence that erupted in northeast Delhi was a “well-planned assault on the idea of India”. Tweeting from its official social media handle, they dubbed those demonstrating against the contentious new citizenship law to be “fake protesters” and held them responsible for the clashes that escalated into communal riots earlier this week. ZERO - Number of Indians who lost their Citizenship due to the #CAA. 40+ - Number of Indians who lost their lives due to the #CAARiots. The fake protests against CAA and subsequent riots by the so called Peacefuls are the most well planned assault on the "Idea of India." — BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 28, 2020 Notably, the Karnataka BJP handle was blocked by Twitter for 24 hours in February for posting incendiary tweets. Several Twitter users rebuked and taunted the party’s social media team for ignoring Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s hate speeches that might have triggered the entire episode. Some even called them out for not talking about Delhi Police’s inefficiency in stopping the carnage that has claimed 42 lives and injured hundreds of Delhiites. Whole Delhi riots started after Pro CAA protesters and Kapil Mishra badkaav speech. — Rehan Udupi (@rehanudupi) February 28, 2020 Why calling protests as fake?? It is your Home ministers complete failure to maintain law and order in India's national capital Delhi... Unnecessarily to hide BJPs all failures like unemployment,GST, economy,notebann BJP trying to implement CAA,also CAA is unconstitutional.. — Sharanu.N (@sharanu_ja) February 28, 2020 Today you killed 40 Indians, tomorrow how many will you kill on the name of religious based anti constitutional CAA. — Feroze Suri (@ferozsuri) February 28, 2020 Yes well planned that's why the police were destroying the CCTV system in the area before the violence — Tausif Sanjar (@SanjarTausif) February 28, 2020 Wow. With a great honesty you're accepting that complete law and order failure of North East Delhi. Hang on don't delete this also. — Bharatashree (@Bharatashree) February 28, 2020 One Twitter user also mocked the handle and asked them to not take down this tweet at least.She was referring to a tweet posted during Delhi elections where a photo of Muslim women standing in a queue to cast their vote, was shared. The Karnataka BJP Twitter handle had captioned the picture in a manner that ridiculed the Muslim population. It read: “Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR (National Population Register) exercise.” While they had removed the tweet soon after, their account was blocked by Twitter subsequently.
the Karnataka unit of the BJP said on February 28 that the violence that erupted in northeast Delhi was a 'well-planned assault on the idea of India'. tweeting from its official social media handle, they dubbed those demonstrating against the contentious new citizenship law to be "fake protesters" and held them responsible for the clashes that escalated into communal riots earlier this week.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/stocks/buy-cummins-india-target-of-rs-465-icici-securities-5429631.html
live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × ICICI Securities research report on Cummins India Cummins India’s (Cummins) export revenues dropped 21% YoY and domestic revenues declined 22% YoY in Q4FY20 in line with expectations. Management is sanguine about recovery from US and China export markets while the Middle East, Europe and South-East Asia continue to be under stress. Company was able to manage net working capital efficiently resulting in healthy cashflows and dividend payout. Though near-term execution is expected to be weak, we believe, focus on cashflows, leadership in technology and gradual recovery in export markets augur well for long-term growth. Factoring-in near-term weakness, we cut FY21E earnings by 9% and marginally tone down FY22E earnings. Outlook Given long-term structural growth drivers like change in emission norms to CPCB-IV plus and benign valuation, we maintain BUY with a revised SoTP target of Rs465 (previously: Rs412). For all recommendations report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Read More
Cummins India’s (Cummins) export revenues dropped 21% YoY and domestic revenues declined 22% YoY in Q4FY20. management is sanguine about recovery from US and China export markets. focus on cashflows, leadership in technology and gradual recovery in export markets augur well for long-term growth. 'we cut FY21E earnings by 9% and marginally tone down FY22E earnings'
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/fii-selloff-subsiding-sign-that-theyll-return-soon-taher-badshah/articleshow/75195831.cms
Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Operations Officer Programme Visit Indian School of Business ISB Chief Technology Officer Visit Market’s fears are not entirely misplaced. But we have at least some things to probably cushion that impact. When we look at our situation from the virus crisis standpoint, we know that a large number of our cases emanated from the urban centers. About 65% of the cases are probably coming out of three or four states that comprise large swaths of India, and most tier II and III locations are relatively untouched. So we can gradually ease the lockdown and restore economic activity in due course after May 3, then we will be able to contain the problem even with respect to delinquencies. But we cannot be relaxed about this. We have to take the necessary steps nonetheless and yet continue to hope that India’s problem will be contained faster. It is not something which is easy. It is probably going to be a little difficult for the banking system. So preventive measures will be clearly required.The good part is that, the intensity of the selling has clearly subsided. We have not turned to positive flows yet, but after nearly $10 odd billion flowed out of equity markets, the FII selloff has moderated at least in the first 15 days of April by a meaningful amount. That maybe an indication of the stressed conditions moderating in other parts of the world, particularly the US, not as much because of their control of the virus, but on account of monetary and fiscal policies. It is just a matter of time. Right now US markets have also kind of meaningfully corrected, and there has been some pressure on emerging market currencies. So there will be a bit of a wait out situation. They have just gone out. A lot of money has flown out in a very short time of one month. So it is going to take a while for them to gradually come back. But what we should probably look forward to is, first, this selling to subside and then gradually those flows turning positive. I think that has started to happen over the last couple of weeks.In last one month or so, the situation was of maximum fear and anxiety, and therefore, to that extent, some of the more defensive sectors and safe havens -- including things which are of daily usage and FMCG types and pharma obviously -- had some good performance. There are a lot of laggards in the market. Apart from that, the whole of the banking and financial service space has not really participated in the rise in last few days. Some of the other high beta sectors, or probably those which are associated a lot more with consumer spending, have not participated in this rally of nearly about 20% odd from the bottom. I would think from a very near term perspective, if everything has to level off and come back to that same level of equilibrium, there is a lot of beaten-down value in areas like banking and financials, probably even industrials to some extent, and a good number of areas within the consumer space, like non-FMCG. I think those sectors probably have rooms to catch up with some of the outperformers.After that we will have to re-judge as to where are we headed in terms of lifting of the lockdown, restart of economic activity, what is not going to come back and what will probably take a lot more longer to revive and how consumer behaviour is likely to change, and then take it forward from there on. So in the first round, some of the laggard sectors, the so-called high beta and those which have not participated, have a little more room to perform. Policy action expected over the next few days, both on the fiscal and the monetary side, should drive that performance.We have seen a couple of results, still not indicative entirely of the landscape the IT industry is confronted with. But March quarter probably may not necessarily be indicative, because we saw the lockdown impact only in the last couple of weeks of that quarter. From the results announced so far, it looks like the landscape has not really been significantly disturbed as yet. From the stock or sectoral perspective, many of these stocks are in the value zone, and they have been that way for a fairly long time, even before the virus-related issue. I think they have got maybe a tad more cheaper, and they are good defensives and they are good slow compounders, if I were to call them. At least there you have the confidence and comfort that balance sheets are relatively secure and many of these very cash-rich companies and have the ability to go for share buybacks and dividend payouts and so on.From that standpoint, they look to be in an interesting space. They may not necessarily provide you that element of strong beta. It depends upon how quickly the normalcy is restored in the US as well as probably Europe. That is something we need to have an eye on. But this is a sector where we are relatively well positioned. It is a good play to be in, provided you keep your return expectations reasonably modest.This sector has had its own set of challenges even before the virus set in, with regard to changes in fuel norms and the problems associated with it. There are some other behavioural challenges with respect of ownership of vehicles and so on. Also obviously there is a challenge on the electric vehicle front from a more longer-term standpoint. I think this is probably going to be the space which is going to be a little bit of a slow burn or slow recovery even when things normalise. Within that there might be some pockets which have a better chance of faster recovery. I would think two-wheelers might come back a little faster than passenger vehicles. From an affordability perspective and low ticket size, maybe even from a post-Covid consumer behaviour perspective, two-wheelers stand to probably have a slight edge over passenger cars, which is probably a little high-end discretionary. So some of the rural-oriented products such as tractors and agri-machinery etc are probably going to fare better and remain relatively unaffected. We will have to slice and dice a good part of the auto space within the overall sector.
65% of cases are probably coming out of three or four states that comprise large swaths of India. a lot of money has flowed out in a very short time of one month. a lot of money has flowed out in a very short time of one month. a lot of money has flowed out in a very short time of one month.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/analyst-corner-buyon-idfc-bank-tp-at-rs-43-capf-merger-is-value-accretive/1365948/
Edelweiss IDFC Bank (IDFCB) reported Q2FY19 loss of `3.6 bn due to higher credit cost and much higher opex (up >23% q-o-q). Key highlights: (a) upfronted provision on stress pool (of `5.4 bn) in Q2FY19 itself, thereby increasing coverage to 80%, (b) overall stress pool fell to `29 bn as the bank sold `24 bn (on cash basis), (c) balance sheet reorientation continued as infra book ran down further even as retail growth extended momentum, and (d) investments in franchise building sustained, in turn keeping opex high. Factoring slower growth (higher run-down in infra book, lower treasury profits and higher credit cost upfronted in FY19), we prune FY19/ FY20E EPS by 76%/34%. We believe, continued investment in franchise and integration challenges are likely to lead to sub-optimal ROE in the near- term transition phase. Hence, we moderate our TP to `43 (`54 earlier). However, over the medium to long term, merger of Capital First (CapF) will be value accretive. Hence, maintain ‘Buy’. GNPL fell to `9 bn (down 50% q-o-q) with overall stress pool falling to `29 bn (`48.3 bn in Q1FY19) as the bank sold `24 bn (at carrying value in all cash deal). Also, IDFCB upfronted provisions of stress pool (`5.4 bn provision in Q2FY19), thus increasing coverage on this pool to 80%. With this, management does not expect any further provision requirement and expects asset quality to stabilise henceforth. IDFCB continues to build its franchise – branches at 203, with customers crossing the 3-mn mark. This also reflected in sustained CASA (13.3% of deposit). Impressively, retail asset continued to gain momentum even as the bank continued to diversify mix within the retail segment in rural and non-rural markets. The retail segment was up 1.3x y-o-y (rural up 88% y-o-y and urban up 180% y-o-y) at `111 bn. As IDFCB has been investing in building processes, systems and infrastructure, merger with CapF will help build its retail franchise bolstered by the latter’s execution capability. We estimate the merged entity’s ROE to be lower during the integration phase. However, a diversified product suite, aggressive management with proven execution track record and adequate capital will drive up ROE.
bank reported loss of 3.6 bn due to higher credit cost and much higher opex. overall stress pool fell to 29 bn as bank sold 24 bn (on cash basis) balance sheet reorientation continued as infra book ran down further. retail segment up 1.3x y-o-y (rural up 88%)
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/coronavirus-fallout-imf-cuts-indias-gdp-growth-to-19-global-economy-to-see-worst-recession-since-1930s/story/400988.html
India's GDP is expected to fall to 1.9 per cent in FY21 as against 5.8 per cent estimated in January amid the ongoing lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic, a global report said. The Indian economy may grow at 4.2 per cent in FY20 as against 5 per cent estimated by the statistics department, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also said in its bi-annual World Economic Outlook. However, India is the only country other than China to register a positive growth rate in 2020, it added. Global growth will see its worst recession this year since the Great Depression in the 1930s, the IMF also said, adding that partial recovery is expected in 2021. "A partial recovery is projected for 2021, with above trend growth rates, but the level of GDP will remain below the pre-virus trend, with considerable uncertainty about the strength of the rebound," Gita Gopinath, the IMF's chief economist, said. In January, the IMF had estimated 3.4 per cent growth for global GDP in 2021. The global economy is likely to fall sharply by 3 per cent in 2020, much worse than during the FY09 financial crisis. However, India may see a sharp economic recovery in FY22 at 7.4 per cent, it added. Meanwhile, foreign brokerage Barclays cut India's calendar year (CY) 2020 GDP forecast to zero per cent from 2.5 per cent earlier and 0.8 per cent for the financial year 2020-21 from 3.5 per cent earlier. The brokerage has also lowered its CY21 GDP growth forecast to 7.5 per cent from 8 per cent, previously. Also read: Coronavirus Lockdown India Live Updates: Health Ministry focussed on breaking transmission chain
india's GDP is expected to fall to 1.9 per cent in FY21, a global report says. the country may grow at 4.2 per cent in FY20, the report says. global growth will see its worst recession this year since the 1930s, it adds. the global economy is likely to fall by 3 per cent in 2020. but India may see a sharp economic recovery in FY22 at 7.4 per cent, it adds.
Negative
https://www.livemint.com/Money/BnEWhGQRz4B7zoD04wK5BJ/FPIs-turn-net-sellers-in-September-pull-out-15365-crore-s.html
New Delhi: Overseas investors have pulled out a massive ₹ 15,365 crore ($2.1 billion) from the capital markets so far in September, after putting in funds during the previous two months, on widening current account deficit coupled with global trade tensions. The latest outflow comes following a net infusion of close to ₹ 5,200 crore in the capital markets, both equity and debt, last month and ₹ 2,300 crore in July. Prior to that, overseas investors had pulled out over ₹ 61,000 crore during April-June. According to the latest depository data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew a net sum of ₹ 6,832 crore from equities during 3-21 September and ₹ 8,533 crore from the debt market, taking the total to ₹ 15,365 crore ($2.1 billion). Himanshu Srivastava, Senior Research Analyst at Morningstar, attributed the outflow to widening current account deficit due to a surge in oil prices, depreciating rupee, concerns over the government’s ability to meet fiscal deficit targets and lower-than-expected GST collection. “All these factors deteriorated the country’s macro environment. It has also cast a doubt on the sustainability of the economic growth which is closely watched by the FPIs. This coupled with expensive valuation triggered a sell-off from FPIs in September," he noted. Additionally, given the global trade tensions, there has also been risk-aversion among foreign investors which explains their cautious stance towards emerging markets like India, which are considered to be riskier than their developed counterparts, he added. So far this year, FPIs have pulled out over ₹ 9,200 crore from equities and ₹ 46,510 crore from the debt markets. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. Topics
foreign investors have pulled out 15,365 crore ($2.1 billion) from the capital markets. the outflow comes after a net infusion of close to 5,200 crore last month and 2,300 crore in July. prior to that, overseas investors had pulled out over 61,000 crore during April-June. the outflow is due to widening current account deficit due to a surge in oil prices, depreciating rupee and concerns over the government’s ability to meet fiscal deficit targets
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/india-unemployment-rate-in-march-rises-to-nearly-9-highest-in-43-months-cmie/story/400057.html
Even as India fights the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, India's unemployment rate surged to nearly 9 per cent, highest in the last 43 months, according to data released by think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The unemployment rate stood at 8.74 per cent in March, highest since August 2016 when demonetisation happened, CMIE data showed. In August 2016, the unemployment rate was 9.59 per cent. While the unemployment rate was recorded at 9.35 per cent in urban areas, it stood at 8.45 per cent in rural parts of the country, the data showed. In February, it was recorded at 7.78 per cent. The unemployment rate largely remained under 8 per cent from April 2019 till February 2020, except in July and October when it surpassed the 8 per cent mark. Unemployment rate in states Tripura was the state with the highest unemployment rate for March at 29.9 per cent, according to CMIE's monthly time series. Puducherry with 1.2 per cent was the state with the lowest unemployment rate. Labour participation The labour participation rate fell to 41.9 per cent in March, lowest since January 2016 (when CMIE started with this survey). The employment rate also fell to its worst of 38.24 per cent (lowest since CMIE began the survey). The number of unemployed people who were actively looking for a job was reported at 3.79 crore. This is the highest since October 2016, when 3.85 crore unemployed people were actively looking for a job. The labour force in India in March 2020 stood at 43.3 crore. Meanwhile, the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey was suspended during the week ended March 29 because of the lockdown. INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic Also read: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Maharashtra worst-affected state with over 360 active COVID-19 cases Also read: Coronavirus impact: MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, redBus employees face salary cut, fear of job loss
india's unemployment rate surges to nearly 9 per cent, highest in 43 months. in march, the unemployment rate stood at 8.74 per cent, highest since demonetisation. the labour participation rate fell to 41.9 per cent, lowest since January 2016. the consumer pyramids household survey was suspended during the week ended march 29. meanwhile, the consumer pyramids household survey was suspended because of the lockdown.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/earnings/jm-financial-q4-results-logs-1-49-rise-in-net-profit-on-coronavirus-provision/articleshow/75579418.cms
Mumbai: JM Financial on Wednesday reported a 6.12 per cent rise in total income at Rs 840.58 crore for the January-March quarter against Rs 792.11 crore recorded for the comparable year-ago period.The company reported a 7.64 per cent drop in March quarter profit after tax and before controlling interest compared with Rs 176.45 crore reported for the year-ago period.However, consolidated net profit after tax, non-controlling interest and share of associates stood at Rs 130.56 crore, up 1.5 per cent from Rs 128.64 crore posted for the same period a year ago.The company has made a provision of Rs 175 crore on account of the uncertainties around the impact of Covid-19,For the full year, consolidate net profit declined 4.75 per cent to Rs 545 crore, while revenue slipped a marginal 1.3 per cent to Rs 3,453.55 crore.The company also recommended a dividend of Re 0.20 per share, and said the lower dividend is on account of uncertainties of Covid-19.The major impact of Covid-19 in the financial statements is captured in expected credit loss and fair value of investments, the company said in a release pointing to the gross provision of Rs 175 crore.“The last 18 months have been challenging for financial services, and especially for the NBFC sector, due to the stressed credit environment and slow economic growth,” said Vishal Kampani, managing director of JM Financial Group.He pointed that the situation has worsened on account of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns across the country.On its mortgage lending business, Kampani said he believes the residential sales will continue to be under pressure due to uncertainty among prospective buyers about the economy and the path to recovery.Commercial real estate and retail sectors will also be impacted due to the lockdown.“The next six to twelve months continue to be uncertain in light of the current lockdown situation and uncertainty around the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.“We would remain cautious in our underwriting of new transactions and would continue to support our existing clients to provide financial closures for ongoing projects,” he added.On the company’s distressed credit business, Kampani said that while Covid-19 may not have a direct impact, the evolving global and domestic economic slowdown will impact demand and realisations.“The cash flows of our business depends on the cash flows of companies which we have lent to and hence these could be impacted based on the sector exposure,” he said.
the company reported a 6.12 per cent rise in total income at Rs 840.58 crore for the January-March quarter against Rs 792.11 crore recorded for the comparable year-ago period. the company has made a provision of Rs 175 crore on account of the uncertainties around the impact of Covid-19. the company has made a provision of Rs 545 crore for the full year.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/iranian-lawmakers-set-paper-us-flag-ablaze-at-parliament/1160796/
Iranian lawmakers lit a paper US flag on fire at parliament Wednesday after President Donald Trump’s nuclear deal pullout, shouting, “Death to America!” Lawmakers held the impromptu demonstration the day after Trump’s decision. They also burned a piece of paper representing the nuclear deal. The chant “Death to America” long has been used in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also has been common to hear it within parliament. However, today’s demonstration reflected public anger in Iran after Trump’s decision. Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal imposed restrictions on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of most U.S. and international sanctions. However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its regional policies in Syria and elsewhere. Trump has repeatedly pointed to those omissions in referring to the accord as the “worst deal ever.” Proponents of the deal have said those time limits were meant to encourage more discussion with Iran in the future that could eventually address other concerns. Many Iranians are worried about what Trump’s decision could mean for their country. The Iranian rial is already trading on the black market at 66,000 to the dollar, despite a government-set rate of 42,000 rials. Many say they have not seen any benefits from the nuclear deal. Iran’s poor economy and unemployment sparked nationwide protests in December and January that saw at least 25 people killed and, reportedly, nearly 5,000 arrested.
lawmakers lit a paper US flag on fire at parliament after Trump's nuclear deal pullout. they also burned a piece of paper representing the nuclear deal. the chant “Death to America” long has been used in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. many are worried about what Trump’s decision could mean for their country. the rial is already trading on the black market at 66,000 to the dollar.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/coronavirus-impact-occupancy-of-office-space-dips-30-in-first-three-months-says-jll-india/story/400781.html
As coronavirus wreaks havoc across the world, almost all sectors, including the real estate sector, are suffering heavy losses. According to a recent report by independent property consultancy firm JLL India, there has been about 30 per cent drop in net absorption of Grade A office space to 8.6 million sq ft in India from January-March, compared to the same period last year. In the wake of 21-day nation-wide lockdown, all kinds of construction activities have been stopped since March 25. This has resulted in a shutdown of works at construction sites, forcing migrant labourers to return back to villages. Experts predict landlords may have to sit on locked capital or completed buildings, and that leasing activity will mainly be driven by renewal and consolidation works. "With fresh take up of spaces likely to be limited over the next couple of months, landlords might have to sit on locked-in capital (completed buildings) for a relatively long time period," Ramesh Nai, CEO of JLL India told The Times of India. Another consultancy firm, Colliers, has also said gross office space absorption, including net absorption and under-construction properties, has increased 4 per cent to 12 million sq ft in the same period. It believes a complete picture regarding the impact of the pandemic may start reflecting from April. Also read: Coronavirus India Lockdown live updates: Country's active COVID-19 cases cross 7,000 mark; death toll at 273 The country has been facing an unprecedented crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has stalled all major businesses across the country. With losses mounting by the day, India's real estate market may see a significant price correction for the first time in a decade, say industry analysts. Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, NAREDCO has said that the country's economy was under tremendous pressure owing to exponential losses across sectors. "Real estate has been under consistent stress with rising unsold inventories, liquidity crunch and now with COVID-19," he said, urging the government to come up with an economic relief package for the stressed real estate sector. Also read: Coronavirus effect: NAREDCO seeks relief package, lifting of construction ban The industry body has also urged the government to partially lift the nation-wide lockdown from April 14 at construction sites to avoid delays in completion of projects and minimise job losses, though speculations are rife the Centre may extend it by two more weeks. According to the latest data by the Ministry of Health, the total number of active COVID-19 cases in India now stands at 7,367. The death toll in the country has risen to 273 and 715 people have been cured and discharged so far. Some states comprising Maharashtra, Punjab and Telangana have already announced the lockdown extension. Also Read: Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities Edited by Manoj Sharma
coronavirus has halted construction in india, causing migrant labourers to return to villages. industry body urges government to partially lift nation-wide lockdown. industry experts predict landlords may have to sit on locked capital or completed buildings. industry body also urges government to come up with economic relief package. a u.s. government has been urged to lift the nation-wide lockdown.
Negative
https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/life-without-lvmh-how-tiffany-might-fare-without-the-luxury-giant-11599840139660.html
NEW YORK/MILAN/PARIS: LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group, has called off its $16-billion engagement to Tiffany. Wall Street however seems to think the U.S. jeweler will fare just fine by itself. The jilted bride thinks so, too. On Wednesday, after news that LVMH would not proceed with its takeover deal, Tiffany Chief Executive Alessandro Bogliolo held a call with employees, saying the executives are in wait-and-see mode. He told employees that Tiffany executives hadn't solicited LVMH's takeover. If the deal collapses, he said, Tiffany will be fine as it is. Tiffany declined to comment. Tiffany's shares ended trading Thursday at $114.36. Before news of the deal - in which LVMH offered $135 per share to Tiffany’s investors - came out in October, Tiffany shares were at $98.55. That means that investors value Tiffany 16% higher despite both COVID-19's blow to sales and the prospect of no LVMH deal. "It certainly seemed as if this deal was a strength in numbers for both sides," said Robert Burke, founder of an eponymous luxury retail consulting firm. "But at the end of the day, Tiffany will be OK... it offers an image and a history that is kind of second to none and is highly attractive because of that." LVMH, led by billionaire Bernard Arnault, said earlier this week it could not complete its purchase after the French government requested a delay on closing the transaction. Tiffany executives were thrilled with the deal when it was agreed with LVMH last year, seeing it as the culmination of their turnaround efforts, according to a person familiar with the matter. Longer-term, there are questions about Tiffany’s prospects in a prolonged economic downturn, particularly if governments raise taxes and property prices plummet. In a lawsuit filed in Delaware on Wednesday, Tiffany alleged that starting in late March, LVMH began foot-dragging on antitrust compliance as a strategy to kill the deal. "LVMH has sought to delay and impede the regulatory approval processes in every manner possible," Tiffany stated in its complaint. The deal would have been the biggest-ever in the global luxury industry, allowing Tiffany to quickly expand its global presence and invest more money in spruced-up stores and new collections without having to report quarterly earnings to shareholders. LVMH could use Tiffany to broaden its U.S. presence and help grow its smallest jewelry and watch business. OTHER TAKEOVER TARGETS? Asked whether LVMH had any other U.S. acquisition plans, LVMH Chief Financial Officer Jean Jacques Guiony said Tiffany is the only major jewelry player in the country and would not speculate further. Shares of a rival, the Switzerland-based luxury jeweler and watchmaker Richemont, were up 5% Thursday as its name surfaced in analyst reports as a possible alternative target for LVMH. Some industry insiders say LVMH's U-turn opens the way to negotiations rather than an acrimonious break-up. Brokerage Oppenheimer expects LVMH to cut its bid to $108 per Tiffany share. Bernstein analyst Luca Solca said Richemont, as well as LVMH’s French rival Kering , could emerge as suitors for Tiffany. “While it is unclear if and at what level these companies could be interested, the notion that Tiffany is open to M&A should be a support," he said. A TOUGH ECONOMY To be sure, Tiffany and peers face major headwinds as the health emergency has plunged major economies into recession and brought international tourism to a halt, and it may have less of a buffer against them on its own. Based in New York and best known for its diamond engagement rings, Tiffany has worked to attract a younger clientele with more affordable offerings, invested heavily in its online business, and, over the last couple of years especially, prioritized China. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for approximately 28% of Tiffany's worldwide net sales in 2019. For images of Tiffany creations, see: https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/iconic-creations-from-tiffany-co-idUSRTX7UP2H Standalone luxury goods brands, including Britain's Burberry or Italy's Salvatore Ferragamo, have underperformed the major conglomerates that dominate the industry in recent years. They are less able to hedge themselves against changes in trends and tastes - while LVMH, for instance, has over 70 brands in its portfolio, including cash cows like Louis Vuitton, eclipsing problems at its smaller labels. The big groups have also succeeded in drowning out rivals in the marketing stakes, with major investments in social media advertising, for example. Back in November 2019, when LVMH sealed the acquisition, media-shy Bernard Arnault – France's richest man and a shrewd deal maker who has built an empire through acquisitions -- did a full round of press interviews waxing lyrical about what he called an American icon. He said Tiffany has created a strong brand image, including an identifiable blue-egg color of its own. “We’re the owner of a color," the 71-year-old told Reuters at the time. “It’s a pretty rare thing." This week, LVMH filed a countersuit against Tiffany, accusing it of mismanagement through the coronavirus pandemic. It said Tiffany had underperformed LVMH’s comparable brands in the first half of the year, and questioned the fact that it had gone ahead with quarterly dividend payments despite booking a net loss of $33 million and a revenue decline of 34% in the six months to end-July. "We cannot be very pleased with a loss-making company," LVMH finance chief Guiony told reporters. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Topics
LVMH has called off its $16-billion engagement to Tiffany. a lawsuit filed in the united states alleges LVMH foot-dragging on antitrust. if the deal collapses, Tiffany will be fine as it is, says Tiffany chief executive. LVMH offered $135 per share to Tiffany's investors. a spokesman for LVMH says it is investigating the matter.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/coronavirus-scare-foreign-tourist-arrivals-hit-record-low-in-february/story/399590.html
The devastating impact of coronavirus on tourism sector can be gauged with the foreign tourist arrivals data. In February 2020, 1.01 million foreign tourists arrived in India compared to 1.08 million in February 2019, registering a year-on-year (y-o-y) de-growth of -6.6 per cent. This was the sharpest decline since 2015 and also the first in the month of February. In January it grew 1.3 per cent on a y-o-y basis. On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, tourists' arrivals in February fell 9.2 per cent compared to 8.9 per cent in January 2020. Though the intensity of the fall is hard to ignore, but going by the m-o-m data since 2015 this may not be a very unusual trend. India normally observes a healthy flow (a double-digit growth) of foreign tourists during October, November and December, which starts coming down from January till May and again improves during monsoons. Foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) during the month were Rs 18,281 crore as compared to Rs 17,912 crore in February 2019, posting a scanty y-o-y growth of 2.1 per cent. This was after a double-digit y-o-y growth since September 2019. The growth rate in FEEs during January- February 2020 was 7.1 per cent over the corresponding period last year. FEEs in US$ terms in February was US$ 2.6 billion compared to US$ 2.5 billion during the month of February 2019. Bangladesh tops the charts for foreign tourist arrivals in the country with highest share of 21.4 per cent in 2018. This was followed by tourists from United States with a share of 13.3 per cent and United Kingdom with 9.75 per cent. The top ten source countries accounted for nearly 66 per cent of tourist's inflow including Australia (3.28 per cent) and China (2.67 per cent). What started as an epidemic in China has now become a global pandemic. China reported its first COVID-19 case to the World Health Organisation on December 31, 2019 and since then the count has been rising. There have now been over 5.75 lakhs confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26,654 deaths globally. By end of January, China had 9,720 confirmed coronavirus cases and there were only 106 confirmed cases outside China from 19 countries. The percentage share of foreign tourist arrivals in India during January among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (18.68 per cent) followed by USA (15.34 per cent), UK (9.68 per cent). Canada had a share of 4.51 per cent, Australia (4.01 per cent), China (2.86 per cent) and France (2.54 per cent). As on February, the COVID-19 cases in China jumped to 79,394 with 6,009 confirmed cases outside China. This restricted the inflow of tourists from China too as the country disappeared from India's top 15 list in the February. The highest was again from Bangladesh with 21.19 per cent share followed by USA (12.68 per cent), UK (11.39 per cent) and Canada (4.46 per cent). Total number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 979 claiming 25 lives. The government has imposed a 21-day lockdown in the whole country on March 25th. All international passenger flight operations will remain closed till April 14 in the wake of the three-week nationwide lockdown imposed in light of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. As per the report of 3rd Tourism Satellite Account for India prepared in 2018 for the reference year 2015-16(using new base year, 2011-12 figures of CSO) the contribution of tourism to GDP was estimated around 5.2 per cent in 2015/16. With a lockdown ahead in India and restricted movements of people across the globe, tourist arrivals will be badly hit in the month of March and April and so will the foreign exchange earnings. Now, with roughly a 5 per cent share one can imagine the loss to the economy. Also read: BS-VI norms: Over 40 diesel cars, SUVs to leave showrooms in April Also read: Coronavirus: PM Modi advises people to perform yoga during lockdown; shares video
india recorded a year-on-year (y-o-y) de-growth of -6.6 per cent in February 2020. this was the sharpest decline since 2015 and also the first in the month of February. in January it grew 1.3 per cent on a y-o-y basis. in the month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, tourists' arrivals in February fell 9.2 per cent compared to 8.9 per cent in January 2020.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/money/coronavirus-crisis-how-to-get-your-finances-in-order-in-case-of-job-loss/1907667/
As a result of the coronavirus impact, if it continues for some more time, pay-cuts and job lay-offs may not be a surprise. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has put a halt on various business operations. Even though no sector is immune to layoffs especially with a slowdown in the economy, however, there are certain sectors/businesses that are bound to be hit badly. With restrictions and lockdowns imposed across sectors globally till the end of the month at least, people in the travel and tourism sector, hotels and airlines are the ones most in danger. Last week Indigo Airlines announced a salary cut for its employees ranging from 5 to 25 per cent. The worst part of the whole scenario is that no one knows how long the pandemic would last. It was estimated by the United Nations on March 18th that globally over 24 crore people could lose their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. In times like this to manage your finances, the first thing to do is to maintain your emergency fund. Then make sure to pay your non-discretionary expenses, such as EMIs on loans for essential, premiums for life and health insurance, and funding your long-term goals. Keep maintaining your emergency fund This corpus needs to be ready so that you can dip into this in case of an emergency like a job loss. The main reason behind having an emergency fund is to cover your fixed costs for a certain period of time. Note that, your emergency fund should at least last you for the 6 months, however, this depends on the industry you are in, and whether you are a single bread-earner or part of a double income family. An emergency fund can be created by investing in a systematic investment plan (SIP) for 6 to 12 months. It should be invested in funds keeping in mind the liquidity of such investments so that it can be dissolved as and when the need arises. Can Credit cards come to your rescue? Credit cards can be used in case of such emergencies, as they provide the cardholder free credit for over a month/45 days. Having said that, it should be kept as the last resort, even though credit cards can be used for cash flow management. The use of credit cards will only be possible, However, that is only possible if your cards are free from any existing debt. If you have existing dues on your credit card, you need to clear that up first. Experts say, to deal carefully when handling credit cards in situations such as job layoffs. Make sure not to roll over any debt, as it works out to be very expensive. Also, clear all dues by the due date, and avoid the trap of partial payment. Keep your insurances going At no cost can you stop paying the premium for your insurance. Even in such a case of a job loss, you have to try to keep your insurance policies active by paying the premium on time. If you have been relying only on your health insurance policy provided by your employer, know that in the case of a layoff both you and your family will be without any insurance cover. According to experts, one should have the basic mix of health cover, adequate life insurance, and a super top-up policy. How to deal with your investments? Firstly, do not touch your investments that are targeted towards long-term goals, which include retirement-oriented funds and the Employee’s Provident Fund. These are long term funds that need to be kept untouched and not be included in the process of funding your expenses in a temporary situation. Next, in case of dire need, you can use your short term investments or investments in liquid funds, during this time, which can act as a cushion if needed, along with your emergency fund. Also, try to reduce your expenses, in such times or at least postpone it. Additionally, in such a scenario, do not commit to large loans, such as housing loans.
coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has put a halt on various business operations. there are certain sectors/businesses that are bound to be hit badly. people in travel and tourism sector, hotels and airlines are the ones most in danger. if you are in a single bread-earner or part of a double income family, you may need to invest in an emergency fund.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/indian-capital-markets-are-witnessing-a-changing-landscape-due-to-coronavirus-heres-how/1922330/
By Ved Malla In the past five years, capital markets in India have witnessed bull and bear phases. The bulls accounted for most of the five-year period; however, Q1 2020 completely changed this landscape. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, capital markets have taken a beating both globally and locally in India. Exhibit 1 and 2 showcase the five-year returns for India’s leading size indices. Exhibit-2: Index Total Returns From Exhibits 1 and 2, we can see that the returns were promising for large-, mid-, and small-cap segments through December 2019; however, the scenario completely changed in Q1 2020. The returns of the large-cap segment were better than the small- and mid-cap segments across the five-year period. The S&P BSE SENSEX, which comprises the 30 largest and most liquid BSE-listed companies in India, outperformed all size indices. Exhibits 3 and 4 showcase returns for the 11 leading sector indices in India in the past five years. Exhibit 4: Index Total Returns From Exhibits 3 and 4, we can see that the S&P BSE Energy and S&P BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods posted promising returns, while the S&P BSE Healthcare, S&P BSE Telecom, and S&P BSE Industrials posted negative returns for the five-year period. All the sectors had negative returns in the Q1 2020. To summarize, we can say that the bulls had their way during most of the five-year period across all sizes and most sectors through December 2019; however, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, things went south at Dalal street as markets tumbled across all sizes and all sectors during Q1 2020, especially during March.
the bulls accounted for most of the five-year period through December 2019. however, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, capital markets took a beating in the quarter. the large-cap segment outperformed all size indices in the past five years. the S&P BSE SENSEX outperformed all size indices.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-among-billionaires-gaining-net-worth-in-pandemic-report/articleshow/75328037.cms
The combined wealth of America's billionaires, including Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk, increased nearly 10% during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).The wealth surge of America's richest men happened during a period that saw as many as 22 million Americans file for unemployment.Even as the broader economy faced a recession, tech and stay-at-home stocks like Zoom have rallied in recent weeks, due to a surge in usage of video conferencing and remote work technology, thus boosting the net worth of billionaire founders with holdings in those companies."This is the tale of two pandemics, with very unequal sacrifice," said Chuck Collins, a co-author of the report.During the period between January 1 to April 10 this year, 34 of the nation's wealthiest billionaires have seen their net worth increase by tens of millions of dollars, the report said.According to the IPS report, eight of these billionaires including Bezos, Zoom Video Communications Inc founder Eric Yuan and Musk saw a $1-billion jump in their total net worth.In the last decade, U.S. billionaire wealth jumped over 80.6% adjusted for inflation, the report added.
the wealth surge of the nation's richest men happened during a period that saw 22 million Americans file for unemployment. tech stocks like Zoom have rallied in recent weeks due to a surge in usage of video conferencing. 34 of the nation's wealthiest billionaires have seen their net worth increase by tens of millions of dollars. eight of these billionaires including bezos, Zoom video communications founder Eric Yuan and Musk saw a $1-billion jump in their total net worth.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/us-and-iraq-unwinding-strategic-space/1992994/
By Amb Anil Trigunayat Since the US invasion Iraq has not seen the peace, progress or democracy it had hoped for. On the contrary, during the past three decades, it has become a hotbed of extremism, terrorism and resultant violence with a vast array of non-state actors, militias and proxies becoming a way of life. More so since the onset of ISIS (Daesh) and the war against it brought in a free for all under the garb of fight against terrorism. Iraqis continued to suffer the brunt. US military intervention of 2003 was perhaps the biggest folly that has destabilised the region and the world. One of the far-reaching and unintended consequences was that the US handed over Iraq on a platter to Iran. Now it is trying to decimate Iranian influence and its militias in Iraq and is being hit in the bargain as well even if Iran and its revolutionary guards and Islamic militias fought the ISIS on the same side as the USA and others. But in January in the wake of increasing US-Iran tensions in the Persian Gulf, US drones killed the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis when apparently he was going to visit the Iraqi Prime Minister who claimed that he was trying to work on a rapprochement between US and Iran. This caused a violent furore not only in Iran but also in Iraq who simply due to domestic political expediency could not let it pass. Iran extracted a calibrated revenge through missile attacks on US camps without exacerbating the ground situation. Iraq felt humiliated as its sovereignty was so blatantly violated. Hence the calls and protests against the presence of 5200 US forces on Iraqi soil became louder. Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution demanding their expulsion. Nothing would have pleased the Iranians more as they felt that the US should not have been there and in the region in the first place. Trump in his signature style threatened with more crippling sanctions. Iraq has been facing economic turmoil due to low oil revenues and then under the clutches of COVID 19 when demand contraction for the hydrocarbons has multiplied the woes of the people. For months Iraqis have been protesting against the Government for its failure to provide employment, contain the high inflation and declining economic opportunity and growth. This was further compounded as the Prime Ministers had to resign and it became increasingly difficult to get a consensus candidate who could pass the muster of the complicated ethnoreligious constitutional provisions and competing political interests. Finally, last month former pro-US intelligence Chief Mustafa Khademi was able to form the government facing key challenges of public ire due to economic downturn and prevailing venom against the American forces. His premiership seems to have begun on a positive note as demonstrations have subsided and the dialogue with the Americans has begun at lease symbolically pleasing the Iraqis and Iranians alike. On June 11 a virtual strategic dialogue, in accordance with the 2008 Framework Agreement, was held between the Senior Undersecretary Hashem Mostafa of Iraqi foreign Ministry and David Hale, US Under Secretary of Political affairs. The US announced that its forces had come back to Iraq in 2014 to fight against Daesh and as that threat has subsided they will be reducing their troops in Iraq. They reiterated that the US does not seek nor request permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq. Although no timelines or numbers were made public the declared intent may assuage the public discontent and may provide an additional window of comfort to Khademi. In view of the upcoming US elections, it also fits in well with President Trump’s claims that he would withdraw US troops from abroad and unnecessary theatres of conflict. They are already doing so from Afghanistan and Germany and Saudi Arabia. How the US will continue to leverage its clout and influence when it wishes to take a targeted lead in the Indo-Pacific control and outreach especially against China’s growing ambitions remains to be seen. In Iraq how it visualises its security partnership will be closely watched. Meanwhile, Iraq has reiterated its commitment to protecting the military personnel of the International Coalition and the Iraqi facilities hosting them consistent with international law and specific arrangements for their presence as decided by the two countries. The other coalition partners will also have to make a call on their continued military presence. Acknowledging fragile economic condition and need for fundamental reforms the US offered to depute economic advisers who could help Iraq tailor its funding requests to international financial institutions. Apart from its own bilateral assistance efforts will be made to attract major US companies in energy and hydrocarbons subject to favourable conditions. One of the key discussions was the US to return important political archives including artefacts and Baath Party archives to the Government of Iraq. Hopefully, these will provide the new governments and researchers a more objective and transparent analysis of the course of events in a country that could boast of being a powerful secular nation in the Middle East in the past. To achieve security, stability and prosperity appear finally to be the key objectives even though analysts will take it with a pinch of salt. The US surely had made moderation in its approach towards Iraq especially with the new Prime Minister and will discuss these further at the Strategic Dialogue Higher Coordination Committee meeting in Washington DC. After Khademi took over the US has also extended a waiver from American sanctions till September this year allowing Iraq to import gas from Iran. Khademi happens to be the first Iraqi PM to have been invited for the official visit but obviously he will have to tread carefully between domestic expectations and US aspirations. (The author is former Indian Ambassador to Libya, Jordan and Malta. Views expressed are personal.)
since the invasion of the country, it has become a hotbed of extremism, terrorism and violence. a vast array of non-state actors, militias and proxies have become a way of life. a u.s. drone attack killed two of the country's top leaders in the u.s. in the u.s.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/covid-19-to-continue-to-dictate-market-trends-analysts/1905934/
Trading at the Indian bourses this week would continue to be guided by developments on the coronavirus front and concerns over its impact on the economic activity will most likely weigh on the markets, according to analysts. “The markets will continue to focus on whether the virus infection rate peaks out and also on the coordinated actions of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and the government to support businesses with relief package,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said. During the last trading week till Friday, the Sensex plummeted 4,187.52 points or 12.27 per cent, while Nifty sank 1,209.75 points or 12.15 per cent. Equity markets witnessed a relief rally on Friday after four days of fall and ended 1,627.73 points or 5.75 per cent higher at 29,915.96. “Indian indices again plunged sharply this week, witnessing the biggest weekly loss since October 2008, as the increasing number of coronavirus cases in India as well as globally, continued to spook the markets,” Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said. He also said that the markets gained on the last day of the week on hopes of an economic stimulus after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a financial task force to take necessary actions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic blow. “Easing monetary policy action across the globe shows the impact coronavirus would have on the economy. These concerns will most likely weigh on the markets that would take a while to recover from this significant price damage.” TradingBells Senior Analyst Santosh Meena said, “We can easily say that we are in the most uncertain environment of the century where the future direction of the market will completely depend on further development on the issue of COVID-19 mainly in Europe, the US and India. Meena added that if the situation improves from here then we can expect a bargain buying in the market which may lead a smart rally in the coming days, but if the situation worsens from here then the pain will continue for the market players. The financial blow of the pandemic has made investors jittery world over. Several sectors, including the airline industry, are hit hard by the outbreak following travel restrictions. “Needless to say that global cues and developments on the coronavirus front would dictate the market trend ahead also,” Religare Broking Vice-President (Research) Ajit Mishra said. Markets would also be looking at other important barometers such as rupee-dollar trend, investment pattern of foreign investors and crude oil.
Sensex fell 12.27 per cent during last trading week. equity markets witnessed a relief rally on friday after four days of fall. Sensex ended 1,627.73 points or 5.75 per cent higher at 29,915.96. if the situation improves from here then we can expect a bargain buying in the market which may lead a smart rally in the coming days.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/rbi-monetary-policy-report-post-covid-19-estimates-suggest-global-economy-to-slump-into-recession-in-2020-5126021.html
The global economy is expected to go into recession after taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its latest Monetary Policy report. "Aggregate demand is expected to be impacted adversely by likely recession in the global economy, caused by disruptions in global supply chains, travel and tourism, and lockdowns in many economies," the RBI said in its latest monetary policy report. Follow LIVE updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here "The oppressive force of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on weak or moderating high-frequency indicators of activity, barring agriculture, indicates that the implicit real GDP growth for Q4:2019-20 in the NSO’s data release could be undershot by a fair margin. In fact, the widening incidence of COVID-19 in March 2020 may produce downward pulls to Q4 GDP," RBI said. The RBI also noted the impact of lockdowns in various countries, including India. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show India has been in a nationwide lockdown since March 25, with media reports hinting at a likelihood of extension. "While efforts are being mounted on a war footing to arrest its spread, COVID-19 would impact economic activity in India directly through domestic lockdown. Second round effects would operate through a severe slowdown in global trade and growth," the RBI said. The lockdown is expected to significantly lower aggregate demand in both rural and urban areas, the monetary policy report said. Follow our full coverage here.
the global economy is expected to go into recession after taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. disruptions in global supply chains, travel and tourism, and lockdowns in many economies are expected to affect demand. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. the good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/benign-p/e-of-nifty-yet-to-price-in-india-incs-lockdown-woes/articleshow/75545455.cms
ET Intelligence Group: If the current stock valuations look alluring to you, then hold on. The benchmark Nifty 50 index trades at 15 times its one-year forward earnings, in line with the longterm average, according to the data from Bloomberg. But, it does not reflect the true picture since the rate of fall in the analysts’ earnings per share (EPS) estimates has so far been quite slow.The 12-month forward EPS has been pruned by just 11 per cent to Rs 600 per share since the beginning of the year despite rising probability of contraction in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore, the risk of accentuated earnings downgrade is elevated. Indian equities had bottomed out at 7-8 times of forward earnings during the financial crisis in 2008.The current downward revision in the corporate earnings has been largely in the energy and metal sectors. The banking and finance companies, which have a large cumulative weight in the Nifty 50, reported moderate trimming in earnings estimates despite having a high risk exposure to any fall in economic growth. This makes the sector more vulnerable to sharp EPS cuts in the coming months.Moreover, in the case of automobiles, analysts expect 10-15 per cent volume growth for the current fiscal. This may be a tall order since the first quarter volumes are likely to fall given the extension of the lockdown period in the country. The internal sales projections of a few auto ancillary companies show that they anticipate 40-50 per cent reduction in revenues for FY21.In a sharp contrast to the grim situation, the consensus earnings estimates still price in 15 per cent growth in corporate earnings for FY21. Goldman Sachs believes that the level of the forward EPS may not recover to its January 2020-level until early 2022. This means earnings growth of the Nifty 50 index may elude investors for least two years.With the impact of around Rs 9-15 lakh crore on the economy due to the lockdown, the probability of a fall in the country’s GDP for the first time in four decades has increased. In addition, the return on equity of the Nifty 50 companies is expected to drop to the lowest in 15 years. This will further weigh on the ascribed price-earnings (P/E) multiple.
the benchmark Nifty 50 index trades at 15 times its one-year forward earnings. but the rate of fall in the analysts’ earnings per share (EPS) estimates has so far been quite slow. the risk of accentuated earnings downgrade is elevated. the 12-month forward EPS has been pruned by just 11 per cent to Rs 600 per share since the beginning of the year.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/in-broadside-against-china-trump-moves-toward-ending-hong-kong-privileges/articleshow/76104086.cms
WASHINGTON/HONG KONG: President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his administration to begin the process of eliminating special US treatment for Hong Kong to punish China, but stopped short of calling an immediate end to privileges that have helped the territory remain a global financial center In making the announcement, Trump used some of his toughest rhetoric yet against China, saying Beijing had broken its word over Hong Kong's autonomy by moving to impose new national security legislation and the territory no longer warranted US economic privileges.At a White House news conference, Trump called this a tragedy for the people of Hong Kong, China and the world, having already attacked Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China. Trump said China's "malfeasance" was responsible for massive suffering and economic damage worldwide."We will take action to revoke Hong Kong's preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the rest of China," Trump said, adding that Washington would also impose sanctions on individuals seen as responsible for "smothering - absolutely smothering - Hong Kong's freedom."He did not name any of the potential sanctions targets. Trump said his announcement would "affect the full range of agreements we have with Hong Kong," from the US extradition treaty to export controls on dual-use technologies and more "with few exceptions.""Our actions will be strong, our actions will be meaningful," Trump added.China's state-run Global Times newspaper called Trump's announcement "recklessly arbitrary."Trump gave no time frame for the moves, suggesting he may be trying to buy time before deciding whether to implement the most drastic measures , which have drawn strong resistance from US companies operating in Hong Kong.He also said he was issuing a proclamation to better safeguard vital university research by suspending entry of foreign nationals from China identified as potential security risks.Sources, including a current US official, told Reuters on Thursday that the latter move could affect 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese graduate students.Financial markets saw Trump's announcement as more bark than bite and US stocks finished mostly higher as it was seen as less threatening to the US economy than investors had feared."I don't think a lot has changed," said Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council . "We haven't taken steps that really ratchet up the tension even more."He said he interpreted the actions rescinding Hong Kong's special status as being first subject to review by various agencies and not happening immediately.Trump's revved-up rhetoric against China comes in the midst of his re-election campaign in which opinion polls show voters increasingly embittered toward Beijing, especially over the coronavirus.Trump may be mindful though that a more serious rupture with Beijing could upend his hard-fought Phase One trade deal with the world's second-largest economy, which he has counted on for economic benefit in major US farm states.Trump also has to take into account the effect on the more than 1,300 US firms that have offices in Hong Kong and provide about 100,000 jobs.Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia until early in Trump's administration, said his Hong Kong provisions remained "fairly vague" and "it remains to be seen how quickly and extensively they are implemented."But there was a risk that removing Hong Kong's special status might inadvertently accelerate its loss of autonomy."Beijing clearly calculated that the collateral damage to their overall interests from US retaliation for would be manageable," Russel said.While Trump gave no time frame for moves, two people familiar with the matter said that among options under consideration were to set a deadline of a year from now for China to step back or else face full revocation of Hong Kong's special status.Such a deadline would buy time to avoid a major rupture in relations ahead of the Nov. 3 US election. By the end of that period, however, Trump might no longer be in office to make the final decision.Trump's announcement came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared China's erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy meant the territory no longer warranted special treatment under US law.Earlier, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed government told Washington to keep out of the national security debate, and warned that withdrawal of the financial hub's special status could backfire on the US economy."Any sanctions are a double-edged sword that will not only harm the interests of Hong Kong but also significantly those of the US," it said late on Thursday.It said that from 2009 to 2018, the cumulative US trade surplus of $297 billion with Hong Kong was the biggest among all US trading partners.Chinese authorities and Hong Kong's government say the security legislation poses no threat to the city's autonomy and the interests of foreign investors will be preserved.
president Donald Trump orders his administration to begin the process of eliminating special US treatment for Hong Kong. he says the territory no longer warrants US economic privileges. he also says he will impose sanctions on individuals seen as responsible for "smothering - absolutely smothering - Hong Kong's freedom" the announcement comes after he attacked china over the coronavirus pandemic.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/has-zoom-got-it-right-on-security/1916916/
By Dev C Kaspersky, a few days ago, reported that more people were being scammed by hackers taking advantage of Covid-19 spread. But it is not only the individuals that have to bear the brunt of such mishaps. Zoom, a popular video conferencing app, is now amid a controversy. Television audience measurement body, Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC), second post-Covid-19 viewership insights conference on Zoom was hacked. The hackers took over controls from the host and posted abusive messages. This is not the first vulnerability Zoom has been exposed to over the last two weeks. The video-conferencing company may be facing unprecedented downloads. Although under a typical scenario this would have been fine, the company’s terms and conditions and privacy policy made no mention of any such sharing agreement – this is the second vulnerability. According to LearningBonds.com, Zoom application downloads have increased by 1,270% to 17,190,100 (on both iOS and Android) between February 22 – March 22. An App Annie report highlights that as of March 31, ZOOM Cloud Meetings ranked number one for overall iPhone app downloads in 95 markets, including India, and claimed the top spot among business apps on iPhones in 141 markets. But it has also become the centre of controversies. Last week it was reported that Zoom was using Facebook’s SDK (read inputs) for iOS users, allowing Facebook access to user data. Zoom has competitors in the space like Microsoft Teams, with an increasing focus on video during work from home, issue of the security architecture of such apps has cropped up.“Zoom has a desktop application. While using Zoom you can hack into Window’s credentials, as Zoom gets administrative rights, which creates these vulnerabilities,” Pavan Kushwaha, founder and CEO, Kratikal Technologies, an enterprise security start-up, said, adding, “ A better option would be to use Zoom in the browser so that it does not get access system control.” Firms have been investing in enterprise security—according to research firm Gartner the global cyber security market was valued at $114 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $170 billion by 2022—but pressure on the system has increased as Covid-19 has relegated a large part of the workforce to home. Reliance on third-party apps puts systems in dangers. But developing your own system may not also be a prudent solution. “Apps like Zoom have developed these systems over time and have regular security patches. If companies develop their systems, they will have much more chances of getting hacked,” Kushwaha explained. Investments in security need to increase. Moreover, third-party apps also need to look at enhancing their architecture, as just providing vanilla group video-calling services won’t cut it anymore. Trust is a fragile thing in today’s world, especially when it comes to security. With the financial system already taking a hit and so does every other part of businesses, companies can’t afford to slip up on technology, as this remains the only contactless basis of establishing contact. Read Also: How Rooter is going beyond cricket for community building Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook
Zoom app is now amid a controversy. it is not the first vulnerability that has been exposed to over the last two weeks. last week it was reported that Zoom was using Facebook’s SDK for iOS users, allowing Facebook access to user data. a new vulnerability has been discovered in the app's browser. it is not known whether the app will be able to be hacked.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/dalal-street-week-ahead-careful-market-likely-to-slip-into-correction-mode-again/articleshow/74860847.cms
We are using line charts, as they would enable us to take a longer-term structure of the weekly charts. We do this so that we can examine the behaviour of the market against the decade-long trend line, which stands violated. After a massive decline of over 12 per cent a week before this, Nifty decelerated its decline and ended with a modest loss.The line charts do not show any significant activity, but the week saw wide-ranging trade. Nifty traded in an extensive range of 1,527 points. However, despite oscillating in such a wide range, the headline index ended the week with a net loss of just 85.20 points, or 0.97 per cent.The middle of the week saw a spike in volatility as the India Volatility Index, INDIA VIX , shot up to its lifetime high. Though it cooled off by the end of the week, it still ended with a surge of 4.90 per cent at 70.39. The entire week saw a rise in the domestic market, purely on the back of short covering. The buying, at any stage, remains absent.We have a truncated week ahead with Thursday being a trading holiday on account of Ram Navami. There are chances that the market may halt its surge and again slip into the corrective mode.We are likely to see a weak start to the coming week, as the US markets ended in the red on Friday. The negative undertone of the global setup is likely to get extended on Monday, which may lead to a modest start to the session. The trading range may not remain as much wide as the previous week; and the 8,790 and 9,000 levels are likely to act as key resistance while supports will come in at 8,230 and 7,960 levels.The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the weekly chart stood at 15.79; it has marked a fresh 14-period low, which is a bearish signal. The RSI, however, remains neutral and does not show any divergence from the price. The weekly MACD remains bearish and trades below the signal line. No significant formations were observed on the candles.Pattern analysis continued to present a grim picture. Nifty has violated a more-than-a-decade-long upward rising trend line. After slipping below the trend line, the market has shown no inclination to pull back on a weekly basis. Whenever the pullback occurs on the weekly chart, the trend line will act as a strong resistance and would limit the extent of the pullback.There are no doubts that the market has attempted to form a base for itself. However, at the same time, it has not shown any sign of the confirmation of the attempted bottom. Unless we get a confirmation of a potential bottom formation, chasing up-moves will not be a prudent thing to do. More so when the rallies are fuelled by just short covering. We will need to support all future rallies with strong buying. Until this happens, the sustainability of any up-move will be doubtful.Despite some aggressive measures announced by the Finance Minister and RBI, the market gave up most of its gains on the last trading day of the week. The steps taken by the government and RBI are nothing but an acknowledgment of something already evident that the economy is facing very tough times ahead.We recommend approaching the coming week on a highly cautious note without getting carried away with the pullbacks if any.In our look at Relative Rotation Graphs®, we compared various sectors against CNX500 (Nifty500 index), which represents over 95% of the free float market-cap of all the listed stocks.A review of Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG) shows a cluster of these sectors will continue to be a safe haven amidst these difficult times. Pharma, consumption, FMCG and IT are the groups that are in the leading quadrant. Apart from being placed in the leading quadrant, they are maintaining their relative momentum. These groups are likely to outperform the broader markets collectively relatively.The Infrastructure and the Services indices are attempting to crawl back inside the improving quadrant and leading quadrant, respectively. However, there is hardly any momentum seen in these groups, and this will hinder their relative performance over the coming days.All of the other remaining key sectors like Bank Nifty, Realty, Energy, Auto, Metals, Media, Commodities and Financial Services are likely to relatively underperform the broader market. These groups are seen losing relative momentum and drifting lower even as they remain in the weakening or lagging quadrant.Important Note: RRGTM charts show the relative strength and momentum for a group of stocks. In the above chart, they show relative performance against Nifty500 Index (broader markets) and should not be used directly as buy or sell signals.(Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA is a Consultant Technical Analyst and founder of Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services, Vadodara. He can be reached at milan.vaishnav@equityresearch.asia)
the week saw a spike in volatility as the india VIX shot up to its lifetime high. the entire week saw a rise in the domestic market, purely on the back of short covering. the truncated week ahead with Thursday being a trading holiday on account of Ram Navami. the RSI on the weekly chart stood at 15.79; it has marked a fresh 14-period low.
Negative
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/q4-gdp-growth-estimate-no-consensus-among-economists-forecasters-govt-to-release-data-tomorrow/1973556/
Eyes are glued on the Q4 economic growth data, as it includes the figures for one week of lockdown, which has the potential to drag the overall growth figure down.The government is set to release GDP growth figures for the fiscal fourth quarter Jan-Mar tomorrow; however, economists’ and rating agencies’ forecasts show no consensus and vary over a very wide range. Eyes are glued on the Q4 economic growth data, as it includes the figures for one week of lockdown, which has the potential to drag the overall growth figure down. While ICRA estimates the Q4 GDP growth at 1.9 per cent, CRISIL estimates it at 0.5 per cent. SBI research has pegged the Q4 FY2019-20 GDP growth rate at 1.2 per cent. In today’s report, Care Ratings has put the most optimistic Q4 GDP growth at 3.6 per cent. A Reuters poll of economists has forecast India’s fourth quarter GDP growth at 2.1 per cent. One of the major reasons for diverse predictions could be the absence of reliable headline numbers, making the predictions less precise. The difference in the predictions is so large that six out the 52 economists in the Reuters poll have also predicted a contraction in GDP in Q4. However, the GDP growth in full-year FY20 is unanimously believed to be in the range of 4 – 4.3 per cent. The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on travel, tourism and hospitality, government expenditure compression amidst revenue shortfalls in March 2020, and subdued credit growth are expected to have adversely impacted service sector performance in Q4 FY2020, said Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA. Also Read: Cash still king, demonetisation effect gone; digital payments rising but face 2 key roadblocks Generally, business and economic activity shoots up in the last quarter as companies put more effort to meet their annual targets. However, the nationwide lockdown called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last week of March had put a major roadblock before the economy. The coronavirus pandemic is not the only trouble behind the country’s growth, instead, it is superimposed on the previous trouble of a longer-than-anticipated slowdown in the country. These two reasons clubbed together are responsible for the pessimistic growth predictions in the last quarter. Meanwhile, the growth figures for the fourth quarter will also help in giving some clarity in establishing a base for the predictions of the first quarter when economic activity had almost come to a standstill in April and showed very limited momentum in May. Recently, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the Indian economy will contract in the current fiscal.
the government is set to release GDP growth figures for the fiscal fourth quarter Jan-Mar tomorrow. while ICRA estimates the Q4 GDP growth at 1.9 per cent, CRISIL estimates it at 0.5 per cent. a Reuters poll of economists has forecast India’s fourth quarter GDP growth at 2.1 per cent. the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is not the only trouble behind the country’s growth.
Negative
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-wage-workers-vulnerable-landless-labourers-agricultural-workforce/story/399186.html
With the entire country under a social and economic shutdown until April 14, this could be a very trying time for those who survive on daily labour. In absence of reliable data, it may be tough to number them, but not identify those whose livelihood would have been seriously jeopardised because of the lockdown. They include landless agricultural labourers, petty traders, tailors, barbers, construction workers, rickshaw/auto/Ola/ Uber drivers and many others. These workers need government support to survive the crisis. Some of the states have announced various measures, including cash transfer, PDS, food supply, etc. but going by the anecdotal evidence in Delhi and elsewhere and the plight of millions of inter-state migrant workers a lot more needs to be done. But before that here is a back-of-the-envelope estimate of the vulnerable. Also Read: Coronavirus update: Yogi Adityanath announces Rs 1,000 each for 37 lakh labourers Who and how many are vulnerable India's total workforce stood at 465.1 million in 2017-18, as per the Azim Premji University's 2019 study based on the unit-level data that the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of 2017-18 provided. According to the ILO statistics (based on Government of India data), the share of agriculture in India's total workforce was 43.9% in 2018. That would be 204 million. The rest are employed in non-agriculture sectors like industry and services. How many are vulnerable in rural India? Of the total agricultural workforce in India, 45.1% are cultivators (farmers with land or self-employed in agriculture) and the rest 54.9% agricultural labour (or landless), as per the Pocket Book of Agricultural Statistics of 2017. This would mean there are 92 million cultivators (45.1% of 204 million), who are better placed and benefit from the PM-Kisan scheme providing Rs 6,000 every year to such families. But the rest 112 million landless agricultural labour are vulnerable. This isn't a harvesting or sowing season, nor is any possibility of the rural employment guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) work coming to their rescue anytime soon. That leaves 261 million of non-agricultural workforce (465 million minus 204 million agricultural workforce). According to the Economic Survey of 2018-19, "almost 93 per cent" of India's total workforce is 'informal'. This would mean there are 242.6 million informal workers in the non-agriculture sectors. These workers can be clubbed into three: (i) self-employed and professionals like doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants etc. (ii) regular wage earners and (iii) daily wage workers. How many self-employed in non-agricultural sectors are vulnerable? The PLFS 2017-18 says 39.2% of urban males and 34.7% of urban females are self-employed. Taking the ratio of male to female employment at 70:30, the self-employed would be 37.7%. This works out to be 91.4 million. The self-employed include both the privileged professionals like doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants and the underprivileged like petty traders, tailors, barbers, construction workers, rickshaw/auto/Ola/Uber drivers and many others. According to PC Mohanan, former chairman of the National Statistical Commission (NSC), one can assume that about 50% of the self-employed are underprivileged and vulnerable. Thus, the self-employed underprivileged in non-agricultural sectors could be 45.7 million. How many are regular wage earners and daily wagers in informal non-agricultural sectors? Deduction of 91.4 million of self-employed from the 242.6 million in the informal non-agricultural sectors would leave 150.6 million of regular wage earners and daily wagers. They are the vulnerable ones. That is because most of the establishments are closed and hence it is more likely that regular wage earners in the MSME sector would have lost their jobs too. This is clear from several newspaper reports in the past few days in which various MSME associations point to a collapse of economic activities and seek government assistance package to ride over the crisis. This crisis may have been aggravated by the coronavirus fear but has been long in the making as the economy went into a tailspin. Taken together, the number of vulnerable workers in India's informal sector would then work out to be 308.3 million (112 million of the landless agricultural labourers, plus 45.7 million underprivileged self-employed in informal non-agricultural sectors, plus 150.6 million regular wage earners and daily wagers in informal non-agricultural sectors). Migrant workers are the 'most vulnerable' These 308.3 million would include about 9 million inter-state migrant workers (calculation of the Economic Survey of 2016-17, based on the Railways' passenger data). Mohanan says they are the most vulnerable of all daily wage workers. Many have gone back to their home states and many others are stranded across the country without work or support. Also Read: Coronavirus: IT industry seeks help for vulnerable sections, deferred loan repayments for affected sectors What central government could do While several state governments like Kerala, Delhi, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have taken several measures on their own but given their tight fiscal conditions and the magnitude of the problem, the Centre needs to step in. So far the Centre has focused on providing relief to the industry. For the vulnerable population, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted on March 23 that the central government "has agreed to the Food and Public Distribution Department's proposal that food grain for 3 months can be lifted by states/UTs on credit from FCI". Mohanan suggests two measures for at least next two months: (a) free PDS supply to all who demand it (he says Kerala is giving it free to both BPL and APL families) and (b) targeted cash transfers to wage labourers, particularly the migrants, for their survival as well as boosting demand in the economy. Prof KR Shyam Sundar, labour economist at the Jamshedpur's XLRI, also bats for a temporary direct cash transfer programme for the vulnerable segments of the workforce, in addition to a host of other measures that include food support, safety gears and hardship allowances to those essential services and other social support. Chandan Kumar, trade union leader and a member of the National Minimum Wage Advisory Board of the Government of India, warns that unless PDS supplies are ensured immediately, there could be starvation deaths. He also appeals for at least a month's minimum wage or Rs 10,000 to the poor through their Jan-Dhan accounts. Moreover, he says, it is very important to provide homeless and slum dwellers in urban and peri-urban areas with basic healthcare immediately to prevent a potential disaster that a virus contamination can cause in such areas.
a shutdown of the government will last until the end of the month. landless agricultural labourers, petty traders, tailors, barbers, construction workers are among those who are vulnerable. of the total workforce in india, 45.1% are cultivators and the rest 54.9% agricultural labour (or landless). the government is focusing on a plan to help rural workers.
Negative
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/stocks/vedanta-slips-2-5-on-fall-in-december-quarter-profit-clsa-maintains-buy-2496879.html
Iron & Steel | Imports from China, 2019: 4 percent. (Image: Moneycontrol) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × Share price of Vedanta slipped 2.6 percent intraday Thursday on the back of fall in the December quarter net profit by 3.7 percent at Rs 2,053 crore, which includes one-time loss of Rs 158 crore. The company had posted a net profit at Rs 2,133 crore in the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the consolidated revenue of the company was up 25.5 percent at Rs 24,361 crore against Rs 19,415 crore. Tax expense of the company for the December quarter stood at Rs 1,364 cr against Rs 552 crore. The company's operating profit (EBITDA) increased 15.3 percent at Rs 6,763 crore and EBITDA margin was down at 27.8 percent. On the segment front, the company's iron ore revenue was down 41.8 percent at Rs 843 crore, aluminium revenue rose 68.8 percent at Rs 6,514 crore and copper revenue was up 8.4 percent at Rs 5,898 crore. Brokerage: Credit Suisse | Rating: Outperform | Target: Raised to 395 from Rs 345 Credit Suisse has maintained outperform rating on the stock and raised target price to Rs 395 from Rs 345 per share. According to the firm the Q3FY18 is largely in line. The aluminium business of the company faces cost inflation and feels that it will normalise in FY19. Cairn production to likely to ramp-up in Q4 and ex-Hindustan Zinc stub is going to drive upside in the stock, it added. Brokerage: CLSA | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 422 CLSA has maintained buy rating on the stock with a target of Rs 422 per share. The company's Q3FY18 EBITDA was in-line with estimates but net profit misses. The company is benefitting from rising commodity prices but costs under pressure, said CLSA. The broking house expect EBITDA/EPS to grow at a CAGR of 21%/37% over FY19-20 and across board volume growth and higher commodity prices to drive profits. The firm believes that the stock is trading at reasonable valuations. The firm has cut FY18 EPS by 6 percent factoring in the Q3 profit miss and see a Strong 37% EPS CAGR over the next two years. Brokerage: Morgan Stanley | Rating: Overweight | Target: Rs 395 Morgan Stanley has put an overweight call on the stock with a target at Rs 395 per share. The company should continue to benefit from favourable commodity exposure, said Morgan Stanley. At 10:16 hrs Vedanta was quoting at Rs 330.80, down Rs 8.70, or 2.56 percent on the BSE. Posted by Rakesh Patil
shares of Vedanta slipped 2.6 percent intraday on the back of fall in the December quarter net profit by 3.7 percent at Rs 2,053 crore. the company's consolidated revenue of the company was up 25.5 percent at Rs 24,361 crore against Rs 19,415 crore. iron ore revenue was down 41.8 percent at Rs 843 crore, aluminium revenue rose 68.8 percent at Rs 6,514 crore and copper revenue was up 8.4 percent at Rs 5,898 crore.
Negative
https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/demand-stimulation-supply-constraints-and-recession-risks-11592494997161.html
The coronavirus pandemic reached India late, giving us a chance to learn from the experience of countries where it had spread earlier. Drawing on that experience, an unprecedented country-wide lockdown was enforced on 25 March. The objective was to slow the spread of the virus and gain time to prepare adequately for its inevitable spread. It is not clear whether this time was well spent, because India’s number of cases and, more importantly, the daily number of deaths are still rising—albeit at a slower pace than when the lockdown was implemented. Some states like Kerala have done very well. On the other hand, the rapid spread of the virus in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal is causing great concern. Meanwhile, a huge price has been paid in terms of lost livelihoods, especially by millions of casual wage workers, migrant workers and the self-employed. At the National Council of Applied Economic Research, my colleagues and I have estimated that gross domestic product (GDP) declined by about 25% in the first quarter of 2020-21, compared to the same period in 2019- 20. This is also consistent with a steep increase in unemployment in April and May estimated by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. However, the surveys also indicate a strong recovery of employment as the lockdown was wound down earlier in June. Against this backdrop, it is important to assess what the government has done to stimulate an economic recovery. The dominant narrative is that it has not done nearly enough to stimulate demand. This derives from the way the government communicated its stimulus policies. These were presented as a ₹20 trillion “aatmanirbhar" package announced on 13 May, with details spelt out subsequently by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. A part of the package comprises structural reforms in agriculture and other sectors, which, however desirable, will pay off only in the medium- to long-term and will do little for an immediate recovery. Another major chunk of the package consists of liquidity infusion measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and government credit guarantees to incentivize banks to extend credit, especially to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which have been the worst hit by the lockdown. The assistance directly provided by the government, or the fiscal component of the package, amounts to only about ₹2.6 trillion, or roughly 1.3% of GDP. This was quite a communication failure. Analysts and media quickly focused on the fact that what had been hyped as a stimulus package of over 10% of GDP actually involved fiscal spending of just over 1% of GDP. The Central government would have been better advised to focus not just on the aatmanirbhar package, but also on the substantial fiscal stimulus measures that had been announced earlier. The 2020-21 budget, for instance, had provided for a demand-stimulating fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP. Then, when it became evident that the lockdown would lead to a steep fall in revenues, additional borrowings of ₹4.2 trillion, or 2.1% of GDP, were announced to preserve the budgeted expenditure. Without this, the demand shock would have been that much more severe. In addition, states taken together are running a fiscal deficit of 2.8% of GDP in their budgets, which further helps preserve aggregate demand. The central government has also allowed additional borrowing by the states of up to 2% of gross state domestic product. Unfortunately, states may not be able to use this extra headroom because it comes with tough reform conditions. All this adds up to a demand-stimulating combined fiscal deficit of about 9.7% of GDP; nearly 11.7% if we also count the additional borrowing headroom for states. On the monetary policy front, RBI had provided for liquidity infusion of over 4% of GDP prior to the aatmanirbhar package. The government guarantees—part of the package and aimed at incentivizing bank-lending to small businesses and vulnerable groups—amount to another 4% of GDP. The demand generated by these large fiscal stimulus and liquidity injection measures could potentially revive the economy. But this may be pre-empted by supply constraints: businesses that have shut down, disrupted supply chains, and the reverse migration of migrant workers. Further, what appears as a supply constraint at one stage may re-appear as a demand constraint at the next stage in the circular chain of economic transactions. Thus, a recession is virtually unavoidable in 2020-21, possibly stretching into 2021-22. The most urgent step now for central and state governments is to provide income support to vulnerable households—through enhanced PM-Kisan and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act allocations in rural areas, as well as a similar employment guarantee scheme in urban areas or a universal income support scheme. These will help preserve lives during the recession. It will also have a strong income multiplier effect because of the high consumption propensity of the poor. Sudipto Mundle is a distinguished fellow at the National Council of Applied Economic Research .These are the author’s personal views. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.
the coronavirus pandemic reached india late, giving us a chance to learn from the experience of countries where it had spread earlier. an unprecedented country-wide lockdown was enforced on 25 march. the objective was to slow the spread of the virus and gain time to prepare adequately for its inevitable spread. a huge price has been paid in terms of lost livelihoods, especially by millions of casual wage workers, migrant workers and the self-employed.
Negative
http://www.financialexpress.com/market/commodities/gold-price-jumps-rs-120-silver-gets-cheaper-by-rs-50-in-delhi-today/1021843/
Gold prices fell Rs 120 while silver got costlier by Rs 50 on Friday at New Delhi bullion market. The most demanded precious metal gold had been on a cyclical path since December 2017. Today, gold prices extended losses, falling further by Rs 120 to Rs 30,830 per 10 grams at the owing to weak demand from jewellers despite a firm trend in overseas markets. Yesterday, gold prices saw a decline of Rs 150 per 10 grams. On their hand, silver recovered by Rs 50 to Rs 39,850 per kg on scattered enquiries from industrial units and coin makers. “Marketmen said gold dropped due to a weak demand from local jewellers and retailers but a better trend overseas limited the slide,” PTI reported. Globally, gold was trading higher by 0.38% to $1,331.40 an ounce and silver by 0.59% to $17.03 an ounce in Singapore. Trading volume remained thin due to a diversion of funds by investors towards soaring equity markets, PTI reported citing unidentified experts. In the national capital Delhi, gold of 99.9% and 99.5% purity fell by another by Rs 120 each to Rs 30,830 and Rs 30,680 per 10 grams, respectively. Sovereign, however, remained unaltered at Rs 24,800 per piece of eight grams. On the other hand, silver ready recovered by Rs 50 to Rs 39,850 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 30 to Rs 38,990 per kg. Silver coins continued to be traded at a previous level of Rs 74,000 for buying and Rs 75,000 for selling of 100 pieces. Earlier on Monday this week, Gold prices saw a steep rise of Rs 500 per 10 grams in a 10-day period while silver coins price saw a rise of Rs 1,000 per kg in the corresponding duration on the back of rising wedding season buying. Meanwhile among the domestic equities today, the party in Dalal Street continued with Sensex and Nifty hitting fresh lifetime highs buoyed by a surge in financial stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 251.29 points or 0.71 percent to 35,511.58, and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 77.7 points or 0.72%to 10,900. In the 30-share Sensex, Adani Ports, SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Axis Bank shares rallied by more than 2% each. During the day, the benchmark Sensex rose 281.88 points to hit a record high of 35,542.17 while the wider Nifty inched up 89.85 points to hit an all-time high of 10,906.85.
gold prices fell by Rs 120 to Rs 30,830 per 10 grams at the narod market. silver recovered by Rs 50 to Rs 39,850 per kg on scattered enquiries. gold was trading higher by 0.38% to $1,331.40 an ounce in global markets. gold of 99.9% purity fell by another by Rs 120 each to Rs 30,830 and Rs 30,680.
Negative
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/tech-mahindra-says-no-layoffs-yet-puts-wage-hikes-incentives-on-hold-5209131.html
live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × Tech Mahindra on April 30 announced it is putting on hold incentives and wage hikes till there is more clarity on business as the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted operations worldwide. However, its junior associates will get their remuneration packages in full. Speaking to media after the announcement of the results, CP Gurnani, CEO, said the company has taken a conscious decision that junior associates will get full package. "The cut was taken by middle and senior management," he said. Employees, say junior associates, they might or might not be able to take any cut given their cost of living and saving. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show However, he said there are no plans for layoffs yet. "Unless there is a natural situation where particular line of business has to be closed I am not looking at anything that is not in the interest of employees or the society," he said. The company employs close to 1,25,236 people, down by 4.3 percent compared to the previous quarter. Utilisation has come down as well due to the pandemic. Close to 93 percent of the employees are working from home. However, in case of business process outsourcing, it took longer since due to delay in client permissions, especially Europe and New Zealand where data privacy laws were stringent. In terms of recovery, the company expects certain verticals to recover faster. The company registered revenue of 5,181.9 million for the year ended FY20, up 4.3 percent year-on-year. However revenue declined by 3.3 percent on constant currency terms on a quarter-on-quarter basis to $1294.6 million due to COVID-19. The company is also seeing reduction in discretionary spend and volumes as customers across sectors are bracing for the COVID-19 impact. "Due to COVID-19, 5G rollouts have been affected as well. However, as economy and business recover, 5G will get a boost as remote infrastructure and cloud are gaining traction," Gurnani added.
tech Mahindra on April 30 announced it is putting on hold incentives and wage hikes. junior associates will get their remuneration packages in full. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. a vaccine is a vaccine that is given to healthy people and vulnerable sections.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/earnings/tcs-sees-q1-impact-due-to-covid-19-recovery-in-q3/articleshow/75187203.cms
MUMBAI: India’s top IT services provider, Tata Consultancy Services , said disruption in its business will peak in the quarter to June following the Covid-19 virus outbreak that has roiled companies worldwide, with several key IT clients, especially in the travel and hospitality sectors, severely impacted over the last two months.The $22-billion software services leader said it remained hopeful of demand recovery in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal year as clients invest in technology to rebuild businesses following what is expected to a major slump in its key market, United States.“The impact (of the Covid-19 pandemic) is comparable to the global financial crisis (of 2008). Its peak impact will be in the coming quarter. It is difficult to predict Q1,” TCS CEO Rajesh Gopinathan told reporters after announcing its fourth quarter results for financial year 2020.“The scenarios we have modelled, the worst case, we should be able to grow from Q3 FY21. If you were to do that…we will defend the exit rate of Q4 FY21 similar to Q4 FY20,” he added.TCS grew 7.1% to $22.03 billion in the just concluded fiscal year, lower than projected earlier as banking clients in the United States spent less due to business uncertainty.Operating margins in the fourth quarter stood at 25.1%, a marginal 7 basis point increase on a quarter-on-quarter basis.Gopinathan said while there was short-term volatility, its long-term profitability goal remained unchanged at 26-28%.TCS contributes to 15% of India’s software exports of $147 billion.In the quarter to March, TCS hired 24,179 people to take its total headcount to 448,464.The company will honour all the 40,000 campus offers it made during the year and assured existing employees it would not lay off staff. However, there would be no increments this year. The company has also frozen hiring till there is improvement in business visibility.“We are in the midst of a storm, no doubt about it. The storm is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” said Gopinathan. “Our commitment to all stakeholders is that we are confident that we have a good ship and crew.”TCS joins rivals Wipro Cognizant and Accenture to warn investors that business would be impacted in the short term due to the pandemic, which has paralysed its main markets -- the US, Europe and India.“Unlike the global financial crisis, the impact (due to the outbreak) is much more broad based… the impact has very rapidly cascaded to a lot more verticals,” said Gopinathan. “There is not much to pick and choose in terms of the impact”.On Wednesday, Wipro skipped its Q1 revenue guidance for the first time in two decades, forecasting that clients would cut technology budgets, demand price cuts and restructure contracts. TCS’ smaller rival Infosys is expected to announce its results on April 20.“Going into the quarter, there will be some customers who will ask for deferred payments which we are seeing. So far, we are not seeing any threat to eventual collections and we have to see how to manage the situation without hurting ourselves,” said V Ramakrishnan, chief financial officer of TCS.TCS won orders worth $8.9 billion in the quarter to December as clients wanted it help transform their businesses and shift applications to the Cloud.The company had cash reserves of $4.5 billion as of March 31.In rupee terms, TCS reported a 1% decline in fourth quarter profit to Rs 8,049 crore, while revenue grew by 5% to Rs 39,946 crore, lower than street expectations.For fiscal year 2020, it reported a profit of Rs 32,340 crore on revenue of Rs 156,949 crore.It declared a final dividend of Rs 6 per share.
disruption in business will peak in the quarter to June following the outbreak. several key IT clients, especially in the travel and hospitality sectors, have been severely impacted over the last two months. the impact of the covid-19 pandemic is comparable to the global financial crisis (of 2008). 'we are in the midst of a storm, no doubt about it. the storm is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,' said TCS CEO.
Negative
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/uk-car-sales-crash-to-1946-low-on-virus-lockdown/articleshow/75551502.cms
LONDON: Britain 's new car sales crashed in April to hit the lowest level since 1946, mirroring falls across Europe, with many showrooms shut for the coronavirus lockdown , industry data showed Tuesday.New registrations for all cars collapsed by a "precipitous" 97 percent last month on a yearly basis to just 4,321 vehicles, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said in a statement.That was the worst performance since February 1946 and compared with 161,000 cars in the same month of 2019."The decline was the steepest of modern times, and is in line with similar falls across Europe, with France 88.8 percent down and the Italian market falling 97.5 percent in April," the SMMT said.It added that car showrooms were closed for Britain's lockdown -- which was implemented nationwide on March 23 -- but some deliveries did take place for key workers and front-line public services and companies.The group meanwhile forecast that around 1.68 million new cars will be registered in 2020, which would mark a 27-percent slump from last year.And it called for car retailers to be in the first wave of re-openings, when the lockdown starts to be lifted, in order to kick-start economic recovery."With the UK's showrooms closed for the whole of April, the market's worst performance in living memory is hardly surprising," said SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes."These figures, however, still make for exceptionally grim reading, not least for the hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on the sector."A strong new car market supports a healthy economy and as Britain starts to plan for recovery, we need car retail to be in the vanguard."Safely restarting this most critical sector and revitalising what will, inevitably, be subdued demand will be key to unlocking manufacturing and accelerating the UK's economic regeneration."
new car registrations collapsed by a "precipitous" 97 percent last month. decline is in line with similar falls across Europe. many showrooms were closed for the coronavirus lockdown. around 1.68 million new cars will be registered in 2020. the lockdown was implemented nationwide on march 23. a strong new car market supports a healthy economy.
Negative