Trouble for Anil Ambani: BSR resigns as RPower, RInfra's statutory auditor. Over 800 Indian companies want minimal disruption as Brexit looms. Indian companies in Britain — and there are an estimated 800 such — would prefer not to experience a major disruption in the event of the United Kingdom exiting the European Union, otherwise known as Brexit.
The country’s new prime minister, Boris Johnson, was elected by his Conservative Party on the assurance that Britain would leave the EU by October 31. There is growing apprehension the UK will crash out in a disorderly fashion without a deal. Speaking exclusively to Business Standard, Kevin McCole, chief operating officer of the UK India Business Council in London, said: “Indian businesses are looking for the UK to have a clear and close relationship with the EU that minimises changes to the current arrangements.”
Jet gets three EoIs, Etihad backs out; applicants to be named on Tuesday. Three entities are learnt to have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the grounded Jet Airways, which is currently in the bankruptcy court.
Sources in the know said Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways had not put in an EoI till the 4 pm deadline on Saturday. Panama-based fund Avantulo Group is one of the three entities to have expressed an interest, an official said. While the identity of the other two entities could not be ascertained, they are all believed to be foreign players. Sonia Gandhi returns once again to steer Congress out of troubled times. After Sonia Gandhi deftly led the Congress for 19 long years and wrested power twice at the Centre and in several states, she was back in the saddle on Saturday to steer it out of troubled waters once again.
Almost 20 months after she handed over the reins of the Congress to her son Rahul Gandhi, 72-year-old Sonia Gandhi emerged as the unanimous choice of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that decided to bank on her experience and tested leadership to regain the pristine glory of 134-year-old party. Once considered the unlikely heir to the political legacy of the Gandhi family, Sonia Gandhi has earned the distinction of being the longest serving president of India's grand old party.
She has credited her mother-in-law and former prime minister Indira Gandhi for the experience she gained in learning the intricacies of politics and she has proved this to every Congress leader when she steered the party to new avenues of success during her tenure. Hottest July ever! 65% Indians were exposed to heatwaves in May-June 2019. July 2019 was the hottest July ever in recorded Indian meteorological history, and 65.12% of India's population was exposed to temperatures of over 40 deg C between May and June, 2019, the most widespread over four years, according to a new analysis.
In 2016, 59.32% of India's population faced a heatwave, the number rose to 61.4% in 2017 and fell to 52.94% in 2018, according to an analysis done for IndiaSpend by Raj Bhagat Palanichamy, an earth observation expert at the World Resource Institute (WRI) in India. It was only in 2016 that satellite data improved enough to yield such a detailed analysis, according to Palanichamy. But 2015 saw the worst heatwave in India since 1992, striking areas from Delhi to Telangana and killing 2,081 people. DGCA to conduct quarterly safety audits of airside operations at airports. Rahul urged to continue as chief, final decision today, says Surjewala. The Congress Working Committee on Saturday again urged Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision to quit as party chief and said it was yet to take a final call on his resignation.
The CWC unanimously appealed to Gandhi to lead the party, saying he was the best person for the top post at the time when the BJP-led government was "assaulting democracy and undermining people's rights". After Gandhi refused to reconsider his decision, the CWC began consultations on finding his successor under five regional sub-groups led by younger leaders. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the CWC will meet again during the day to discuss the reports of the sub-groups and take a call on Rahul Gandhi's resignation by evening. NIIT announces Q1 net profit at Rs 1,090.4 crore; revenue falls 2% Tata Steel scales down capital expenditure to Rs 8,000 cr as demand slumps. Tata Steel is recalibrating its capital expenditure (capex) for 2019-2020 in line with market conditions and lower cashflows.
The company's planned capex for 2019-2020, which was Rs 12,000 crore, has now been revised down to around Rs 8,000 crore. Of the Rs 12,000 crore capex planned earlier, roughly Rs 8,000 crore was for India operations and the rest Rs 4,000 crore for Europe. T V Narendran, chief executive officer and managing director, Tata Steel, said, both geographies will see a cut in capex. The India spend is largely focused on the steel major's Kalinganagar plant, which is undergoing its second phase of expansion of five million tonnes. Flood situation grim in southern, western states, 85 dead; rescue ops on. Best of BS Opinion: Like Article 370, move govt out of way of the economy. The government might look for quick fixes under pressure to revive the economy, but sustainable economic growth will continue to be elusive without structural changes, writes T N Ninan.
Read on... Used cooking oil may fuel cars as OMCs look to procure biodiesel. India is set to bring its next big oil-import savings from the kitchen.
On Saturday, as part of World Biofuel Day, IndianOil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are taking initial steps by inviting expressions of interest (EoIs) to procure biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO) in 100 cities. After the notification on retail policy for biofuel in May, several food chains — including McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Haldiram — have started supplying to bio fuel firms. According to government sources, the EoIs will ensure collection chains of restaurants, local hotels, and canteens in these cities. This will be a step towards achieving the target of 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in high-speed diesel (HSD) by 2030, to bring down the country’s crude oil import bill.
In order to achieve the 5 per cent blending target by 2030, 5 billion litres of biodiesel is required a year. Kerala floods claim 42 lives, 100,000 in relief camps; UAE issues advisory. As Kerala continues to battle the torrential downpour lashing its shores, death toll has risen to 42 in rain related incidents, including flooding and landslides, with over 100,000 people moved to relief camps, officials said on Saturday.
Twenty people have been killed in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, and nine have died in Wayanad in rain related incidents since August 8, officials said quoting reports received till 7 am. In 988 relief camps across the state, 107,699 persons have been shifted. In the worst affected Wayanad, 24,990 persons are in such camps, they said. Many people are still feared trapped under debris following major landslides that hit the Wayanad and Malappuram districts and the rescue operations, which were suspended Friday night, have restarted as the day broke, the officials said.
Heavy rain is continuing in Wayanad, hampering the rescue efforts, the officials said. National Conference moves SC against Presidential Order on Article 370. The National Conference mounted a legal challenge in the Supreme Court on Saturday to the changes made in the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, contending that these have taken away rights of its citizens without their mandate.
Arguing that the legislation approved by Parliament and the orders issued by the President subsequently were "unconstitutional", the petition prayed for these to be declared as "void and inoperative". The petition has been filed by Mohammad AKbar Lone and Justice (rtd) Hasnain Masoodi, both Lok Sabha members belonging to the NC. Lone is a former Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and Masoodi is a retired judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court who ruled in 2015 that the Article 370 was a permanent feature of the Constitution. They have challenged the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the Presidential Orders that have followed. Ikea vs Pepperfy: India is the venue for a David-Goliath furniture fight.
Ikea is celebrating its first anniversary of operating in India. Even though the company secured regulatory approval to enter the country in 2013, it took five years of effort and significant investment before the first Ikea megastore opened its doors to Indian consumers in Hyderabad in 2018. The response was overwhelming – 40,000 shoppers turned up on day one, resulting in two-hour long queues just to get inside, while traffic built up outside the store.
Ikea has since purchased land parcels in Mumbai, Bangalore and Gurugram (near Delhi), announced a ten-fold increase in its employee strength to 15,000 and set a target to reach 200m customers in three years. India's factory output falls to 2% in June as manufacturing slows. Industrial output slowed to a 3-month low of 2 per cent in June compared to May’s seven-month high of 4.5 per cent, as capital goods production contracted and overall manufacturing growth slipped. The growth rate was in line with the economists’ expectations. The index of industrial production (IIP) had last contracted in March, and is expected to remain muted, owing to weak exports, rural distress, credit constraints and uncertainty over the election outcome, according to economists. Manufacturing output, which had risen by 4.5 per cent in May, took a hit in June, rising by only 1.2 per cent, showed data released on Friday.
The manufacturing segment constitutes the bulk of the IIP at 77.6 per cent. Policymakers continue to fear a deep negative growth emerging in the sector. SpiceJet posts highest Q1 profit at Rs 262 cr on compensation from Boeing. Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, which was on the verge of shutting down in 2015, posted its highest profit at Rs 261.7 crore in the April to June quarter, though a compensation of Rs 114.1 crore has helped.
The airline claimed this compensation amount from Boeing for the grounding of 13 737MAX aircraft, which was disputed by the company’s auditor. “We draw attention to the statement, regarding recognition of other income. In our view, there is no virtual certainty to recognise such other income, as required by accounting standards of Ind-AS 37. Had the company not recognised such other income, profit for the quarter would have been lower and accumulated losses as on June 30, 2019, higher by Rs 1,141.4 million (Rs 114.14 crore),” the company’s auditor S R Batliboi & Associates stated, indicating that discussions with Boeing on the compensation amount hasn’t been finalised yet.
Cong top brass meets today to find new chief after Rahul step-down. All eyes are on the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that is meeting in New Delhi on Saturday morning to select a new party chief, after Rahul Gandhi quit the post. All state unit presidents of the party, party MPs and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders have been asked to attend the meeting along with a large number of state leaders. Senior party leader K.C. Venugopal on Friday said that the party will certainly get a new president on Saturday. Arun Jaitley admitted in ICU, 'haemodynamically stable' now: AIIMS.
NCLT rejects IL&FS Financial Services auditors' plea challenging 5-year ban. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, on Friday rejected an appeal of former auditors of IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN) — Deloitte Haskins & Sells and BSR & Associates — questioning the jurisdiction of the tribunal to ban them for five years under Section 140(5) of the Companies Act. The tribunal also said that it would hear the argument of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on September 5 on banning the auditors based on the investigation of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
The MCA had moved the NCLT in June to ban Deloitte Haskins & Sells and KPMG-network firm BSR & Associates for five years after the SFIO in its investigation found them colluding with the erstwhile management of IFIN in painting a rosy picture of the struggling company, despite knowing the sorry state of affairs. SC upholds homebuyers' status as financial creditors in insolvency law. Govt to review CSR criminal penal provisions: FM Nirmala Sitharaman. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the industry that the government would review the criminal penal provisions on corporate social responsibility (CSR) contained in the recent amendments to the Companies Act. Govt may soon take a decision on tweaking FPI surcharge proposal.
The government will soon take a decision on tweaking the foreign portfolio investor (FPI) surcharge proposal, which has spooked the markets since its announcement in the Budget last month. According to official sources, changes could include exempting or ring-fencing FPIs structured as trusts or associations of person, a step which may require only a circular; reducing the impact of the tax by grandfathering their income for a few months; or making the transition from a trust structure to a company structure tax-neutral.
“Currently, multiple options are on the table and no decision has been finalised yet. Public sector banks volunteer to link their lending rates to repo. Several public-sector banks on Friday volunteered to link their lending rates to the repo rate to facilitate quicker transmission, even as some reduced their marginal cost-based lending rate (MCLR) over the past two days. The cuts follow State Bank of India’s (SBI’s) reduction in the lending rate by 15 basis points (bps) after the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) repo rate cut by 35 bps, on Wednesday. Income Tax dept relaxes assessment and scrutiny norms for start-ups. The income tax (I-T) department has relaxed its assessment and scrutiny norms for start-ups.
In a circular it directed its officers not to raise additional tax demands for start-ups recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Govt, RBI on same page on steps to boost economy: FM tells industry. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday assured industry leaders that the RBI and the government are on the "same page" and making efforts to boost the economy. Addressing captains of the industry at the CII national council meeting, the finance minister also said from next week she would be meeting industry people in different parts to the country over tax harassment-related issues and redress grievances on the spot. Supreme Court upholds homebuyers' rights in fight against bankrupt builders. The Supreme Court upheld the ability of homebuyers to drag property developers into bankruptcy proceedings as several real estate firms are going bust in Asia’s third-largest economy.
India's industrial output growth falls to 2%; power, mining expansion drops. NLCT allows ban on Deloitte, BSR for alleged auditing lapses in IL&FS firm. Govt looks to exempt foreign portfolio investors from higher taxes: Report. Sebi asks mutual funds to shift all investments to listed securities. With an aim to safeguard mutual fund investors from high-risk assets, regulator Sebi wants fund houses to shift all their investments to listed or to-be-listed equity and debt securities in a phased manner and reduce their exposure to unrated debt instruments from 25 per cent to only 5 per cent.
Exposure to risky debt securities has emerged as a major risk for the capital market investors, including those coming through the mutual fund space, and the regulator has been making efforts to enhance its regulatory safety net against such risks. Taking forward certain decisions approved by Sebi's board earlier in June, the regulator has now finalised the draft amendments to the prudential norms for mutual fund schemes for investment in debt and money market instruments. Govt announces revised procedure for angel tax assessment of start-ups. Indigo's value has to be preserved; will see if companies law broken: Govt.
Business leaders seeks Rs 1 trillion govt stimulus to revive economy. BS Fund Cafe 2019 - Tips on Breaking the Mutual Funds Barriers. Anand Mahindra pitches for lower GST or cess rollback to revive auto sector. RBI cuts repo rate by 35 bps to 5.40%, reduces FY20 growth forecast to 6.9% As crisis deepens, auto industry seeks stimulus package from govt. J&K crisis: Pak suspends trade with India, to downgrade diplomatic ties. Kickstarting Kashmir's economy will be PM Narendra Modi's next challenge. DHFL shares resolution plan; seeks moratorium on bank loan repayments. India Inc earnings disappoint, analysts see little hope in festive season. AustralianSuper, Ontario Teachers to invest $1 bn each in India's NIIF fund. Reliance, BP announce JV to set up 5,500 petrol pumps; RIL to hold 51% China warns of 'consequences' to Indian firms if Huawei is blocked: Sources. Kashmir debate LIVE: LS passes Bill reorganising Jammu and Kashmir.
DHL warns poor Mumbai airport infrastructure risks $5 trn economy target. Iran seizes foreign oil tanker in Persian Gulf for 'fuel smuggling' Will 'reinvest' in India if retro tax issue is resolved: Cairn Energy CEO. US accuses China of 'predatory economics', destabilising Indo-Pacific. Coffee tycoon Siddhartha repaid all loans, had no dues: Tata Capital. 9 killed in Dayton, Ohio, mass shooting hours after gun massacre in Texas. Slowdown in economy is cyclical, growth will pick up 1-2 years: Bimal Jalan. 'Cars don't sell': How a shadow banking crisis is hurting autos sector. Army foils attempt by Pak's BAT to target forward post in Keran, kills 5. Gunman kills 20 at Texas Walmart store in latest US mass shooting.
Good for tenants and owners: Model Tenancy Act takes checks most boxes. SBI most hit as eight of top-10 firms lose Rs 90,000 cr in m-cap. Keep fares from Srinagar in check for Amarnath pilgrims: Aviation ministry. Failure a tremendous experience, increases probability of success: Nilekani. Jet Airways extends deadline for submitting initial bids to Aug 10. RBI monetary policy poll: Majority see 25 bps cut, more can be in store. V G Siddhartha's death: Wrong to project us as villains, say PE leaders. BJP an organic entity, not an assembled one: PM Narendra Modi to party MPs.
Tale of two oil buyers: Saudi crude exports to China soar, US loses out. Guv said no move to repeal Article 35-A, 370, want assurance in Parl: Omar. Airfares soar on flights out of Srinagar as pilgrims curtail Amarnath Yatra. Unnao case: Expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar's arms licences revoked. Party transactions and more: Sebi flags key issues plaguing India Inc. Banks should not charge for deposit of cash at branch, ATMs: RBI. India vs Windies preview: Andre Russell ruled out of first T20I in Florida.
Amazon's deal to sell new Apple devices under US trade commission scanner. Reserve Bank bans NBFCs from charging loan foreclosure penalties. Reserve Bank bans NBFCs from charging loan foreclosure penalties. Women in Rajasthan, UP blocks to get pilot cash transfer in lieu of ration. China threatens 'countermeasures' against US plans to impose fresh tariffs. ITC Q1 net profit rises 12.7% to Rs 3,436.51 crore, revenue up 6.35% Airlines drop cancellation fees for Kashmir, DGCA asks for more flights. J&K administration asks Amarnath yatris to leave Kashmir amid terror threat. Markets bounce back on buzz of govt examining tax concerns of FPIs.
Maruti Suzuki India cuts temporary workforce by 6% as sales plummet. RBI tightens fit-and-proper criteria for directors on PSB boards. Housing finance companies get Rs 10,000-crore liquidity infusion. Amarnath Yatra pilgrims asked to leave Kashmir after terror threat. Govt will seem 'desperate' if it raids RBI's balance sheet: Subbarao. 35% minimum shareholding norm for listed firms may be put on hold: Report.
ITC Q1 net profit rises 12.69% to Rs 3,436.51 cr; net sales up 6.69% ED raids former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder, Shivinder Singh in PMLA case. Maruti Suzuki continues slide, sales down 33.5% to 1,09,264 units in July. Tata Motors cuts Tigor EV prices by Rs 80,000 post GST rate reduction to 5% Business failures shouldn't be a taboo: Sitharaman on CCD founder's death. Bharti Airtel reports Q1 consolidated net loss of Rs 2,866 crore. Companies Act amended to include penal provisions for CSR norm violations. RBI allows domestic banks to sell NPAs abroad as one-time settlement. CCD names S V Ranganath as interim chairman; Nitin Bagmane as interim COO.
Mutual funds face Rs 193-crore exposure to VG Siddhartha-related companies. Business Standard. FPIs pull out over Rs 11,000 crore in July, highest in nine months. Eight core sectors' growth drops to 0.2% in June compared to 7.8% last year. Fiscal deficit touches Rs 4.32 trillion in Q1, 61.4% of budget estimate.