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highlights
There's an orchestrated campaign to malign Aadhaar, says Nandan Nilekani
Former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani said there was an "orchestrated campaign" to malign Aadhaar, reports PTI. He was reacting to filing of an FIR on The Tribune newspaper report relating to Aadhaar data breach. "There is 100% an orchestrated campaign to see how Aadhaar gets maligned, yes absolutely," Nilekani said.
Infosys to announce Q3 earnings on Friday; here are 5 key things to watch out
Infosys, the country's second largest software services provider, will announce its third quarter earnings on Friday. The key things to watch out for would be its full year guidance and management commentary. Overall it is expected to be soft quarter due to seasonality.
The stock rallied 15.6 percent in quarter ended December 2017, trading at 14.3 times its FY19 EPS.
GMR Infrastructure may raise up to Rs 5K cr via airport biz IPO
GMR Infrastructure is looking to raise between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore through the listing of its airport holding entity, sources told The Economic Times. The move will help it pare debt and mobilise expansion funds. GMR is working with at least five banks — Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital and ICICI Securities — on the mega issue that is expected to hit the markets in the April-June quarter, sources said.
Bank of Baroda may sell Nainital Bank stake to shore up capital
Bank of Baroda, India’s third-largest state-run lender, is seeking to sell unit Nainital Bank as it sheds non-core assets to bolster its balance sheet, sources told Bloomberg. A decision on the size of the stake to be sold will depend on approvals from the Reserve Bank of India, sources said.
BoB holds 98.6% stake in the 96-year-old Nainital Bank, which had assets of about Rs 77 billion as of March end. Deliberations regarding the sale are at an early stage and private equity firms have expressed initial interest, sources said. There’s no guarantee the talks will lead to a sale, they added.
Nainital Bank has about 135 branches spread across five states. It reported a net income of Rs 484 million in FY17, little changed from the previous year, and its bad-loan ratio stood at 5% of the total. That compares with a soured-debt level of 9.6% for the banking system as a whole, data compiled by RBI shows.
India's 2017 oil demand growth posts lowest gain since 2013
Indian oil consumption in 2017 grew at its slowest in four years, according to government statistics, hit by the government’s demonetisation move and a tax increase that knocked the gain in fuel use back to a modest 2.3%, reports Reuters. The low growth also coincided with another year of weak, albeit improving, new vehicle sales.
Reports on China slowing US bond purchases may be fake
A report that China is considering slowing or halting purchases of US Treasury bonds may be based on erroneous information and could be “fake”, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said. Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that Chinese officials reviewing the country’s vast foreign exchange holdings had recommended slowing or halting purchases of US Treasury bonds amid a less attractive market for them and rising US-China trade tensions. The report sent US Treasury yields to 10-month highs and sent the dollar lower. “The news could quote the wrong source of information, or may be fake news,” the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement published on its website.
Home sales drop to 7yr low, launches fall by 41% YoY in 2017
Regulatory changes, high levels of unsold inventories and weak consumer sentiment have led to a sharp 7% YoY fall in home sales and launches last year. This even as developers scrambled to complete projects, a report by property consultant Knight Frank India shows. Home sales volume hit a seven-year low, witnessing a 38% decline from the peak of 2011. Around 228,072 homes were sold last year as against 368,568 in 2011.
Knight Frank conducted the survey across eight major cities - Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR), Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. Home launches fell by 41% YoY in 2017 to 103,570 housing units. While Hyderabad saw the biggest fall in launches at 84% YoY, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai fell by 58%, 37% and 33% respectively.
UPA II made me scapegoat in 2G case to salvage its image, says A Raja in book
Vindicated in the 2G spectrum allocation case, A Raja has launched a scathing attack on former CAG Vinod Rai, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA II dispensation in his tell-all book 2G Saga Unfolds. The book, which was accessed by News18, is expected to be released this month. The former telecom minister, who was at the centre of the 2G case, didn’t spare the former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai. The “sanctity of the CAG was severely compromised by its then head, Vinod Rai”, Raja said in the book.
Raja wrote that Rai’s report and the now debunked Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss on which 2G spectrum case was built, was “a mixture of inappropriate legal interpretations, incongruous comparisons and flippant allegations.” The sharpest salvo, however, comes when Raja says, “It is my conviction consequent to the whole experience of the trial that there was political motivation to kill UPA-II and Rai’s was the shoulder on which the gun was placed.”
Raja also slammed former Manmohan Singh and the UPA II machinery, almost likening himself to a scapegoat saying, Singh’s silence on the issue was like “silencing of our nation’s collective conscience”. A decision to put him "behind bars had been taken to salvage the government’s image", Raja wrote in the book. He claimed in the book that Singh was repeatedly misinformed by his advisors. Raja alleged that Singh chose to remain a passive observer even when he was arrested and jailed for about 15 months.
Budget 2018: Amfi seeks tax-saving debt funds from Finance Ministry
Mutual fund body Amfi has proposed inclusion of debt-linked savings scheme under Sec 80 C of the Income Tax Act in Budget 2018, reports Moneycontrol News’ Himadri Buch. It has also proposed a Mutual Fund Long Term Retirement Plan (MFLRP) similar to the 401(k) plan in the US. The industry association wants the Finance Ministry to consider fund of funds category as equity funds if more than 65% is invested in equities. Lastly, Amfi has also pushed the case for extending Sec 54 EC benefit for mutual fund schemes with lock-in period of three-to-five years.
Satyam case: Sebi bans Price Waterhouse entities from issuing audit certificates for 2 years
Finding Price Waterhouse guilty in the multi-crore Satyam scam, Sebi on Wednesday barred its network entities from issuing audit certificates to any listed company in India for two years and ordered disgorgement of over Rs 13 crore wrongful gains from the audit major and its two erstwhile partners who worked on the IT major's accounts.
The market regulator's order comes nearly nine years after the scam at Satyam Computer Services came to light and after two failed attempts by auditor major Price Waterhouse to settle the case through consent mechanism. This is also one of the most stringent orders passed by any regulator against a Big Four audit major.
In a 108-page order, Sebi has imposed a two-year ban on entities/firms practicing as chartered accountants in India under the brand and banner of PW from directly or indirectly issuing any certificate of audit of listed companies, compliance of obligations of listed companies and intermediaries registered with the regulator.
Warren Buffett takes a step closer to naming a successor
Warren Buffett on Wednesday appointed Gregory Abel and Ajit Jain to the Berkshire Hathaway board as vice chairs, hinting that one of them is the most likely heir to the Oracle of Omaha at the helm of his sprawling, market-beating conglomerate. Buffett told CNBC this is "part of a movement to succession over time."
Abel, 55, will be vice chair of non-insurance businesses and will likely be seen by Wall Street as the most likely to ascend into Buffett's role eventually. Abel currently is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, which he joined in 1992. Jain, 66, was named vice chair of the insurance operations. Jain is the executive vice president of National Indemnity Company and joined the Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group in 1986.
China moves to shutter bitcoin mines, says report
China is moving to eradicate the country's bitcoin mining industry over concerns about excessive electricity consumption and financial risk, reflecting authorities' judgment that cryptocurrencies are not a strategic industry. A multi-agency task force has instructed provincial governments to "actively guide" companies in their respective regions to exit the cryptocurrency mining industry, according to a document seen by the Financial Times. The move to pressure miners follows China's shutdown of local bitcoin exchanges and its ban on initial coin offerings.
Miners create new bitcoins by solving complex maths problems whose solutions are used to validate new bitcoin transactions. Though ostensibly a computational task, the reliance on raw computing power makes the process more akin to industrial manufacturing than traditional high-technology businesses. Many bitcoin miners have established operations in remote areas without even registering a company. Some have also skirted Chinese regulations that forbid end users from purchasing electricity directly from power producers rather than grid operators.
China mines about three-quarters of the world's bitcoins, according to Liao Xiang, chief executive of Lightningasic, a Shenzhen-based mining operation. Chinese miners have taken advantage of cheap electricity in regions rich in coal or hydroelectric power, including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and Yunnan.
China may be thinking of halting US Treasury purchases and that's worrying markets
China, the biggest buyer of US sovereign bonds, could be slowing down or even halting its purchases. Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that officials in Beijing have recommended the Chinese government lower — or even stop — its buying of US sovereign debt. The report also notes that Chinese officials think US debt is becoming less attractive compared with other assets, adding that trade tensions between the two countries could provide a reason to slow down or halt the purchases.
"If China stops buying Treasuries, the market could suffer," strategists at Jefferies said. "Treasury financing needs are going to rise significantly in 2018 and beyond relative to recent history, so Treasury is going to be looking for as many sources of demand as they can find." The news worried markets. Treasury prices fell, boosting yields. The dollar also dropped against most currencies and gold rose. US equities declined.
There's an orchestrated campaign to malign Aadhaar, says Nandan Nilekani
Former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani said there was an "orchestrated campaign" to malign Aadhaar, reports PTI. He was reacting to filing of an FIR on The Tribune newspaper report relating to Aadhaar data breach. "There is 100% an orchestrated campaign to see how Aadhaar gets maligned, yes absolutely," Nilekani said.
Here are the top headlines at 2 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak
Infosys to announce Q3 earnings on Friday; here are 5 key things to watch out
Infosys, the country's second largest software services provider, will announce its third quarter earnings on Friday. The key things to watch out for would be its full year guidance and management commentary. Overall it is expected to be soft quarter due to seasonality.
The stock rallied 15.6 percent in quarter ended December 2017, trading at 14.3 times its FY19 EPS.
"Interview" with Mueller "seems unlikely" to happen: Trump
President Donald Trump hinted that it "seems unlikely" that he would allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller to "interview" him in the ongoing probe into the potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 US presidential election, reports PTI. Mueller and congressional committees investigating the matter have yet to reach a conclusion about whether any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia took place.
HC declines to restrain CPRPL from using McDonald's brand name
The Delhi High Court declined to pass an interim order restraining Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt (CPRPL), a McDonald's franchisee, from selling products under the name of the US fast food giant, reports PTI. CPRPL is a 50:50 joint venture of McDonald's and its estranged Indian partner, Vikram Bakshi.
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said the restaurants of the franchisee were a running business and hence, cannot be stayed ex-parte without proper consideration of all aspects, including the CPRPL's reply. The court, however, allowed a representative of McDonald's legal team to visit by this afternoon some of the restaurants run by CPRPL to collect samples of food and packaging as well as inventory. The restaurants were directed to provide the samples to the representative.
'Ind directors should exercise caution in related party deals'
Independent directors should exercise special care in issues of conflict of interests in related party transactions as well as those related to managerial remuneration as they are the watchdogs of companies, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs PP Chaudhary said. Amid persisting concerns over corporate governance practices, the minister stressed the need to further strengthen the institution of independent directors, adding that they are required to play a critical role in establishing internal financial controls.
Housing sales fall 17% in nine cities during 2017: PropTiger
Housing sales dropped 17% during 2017 in nine major cities of the country because of demand slowdown and impact of the new realty law, according to a report by realty portal PropTiger. Sales declined to 2,18,500 units last year in nine cities - Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad - against 2,63,500 units in 2016, the News Corp-backed PropTiger said in its report. Launches fell by 43% to 1,63,573 units in 2017 from 2,88,748 units in the previous year.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal has quashed the merger order between ICICI Prudential Life and Sahara Life. It has upheld the appointment of IRDA's administrator to run Sahara Life's business. The ruling will come as a huge relief for Sahara Life which had challenged the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India's (Irda) merger order between ICICI Prudential Life and it. Irda will now give Sahara Life a fresh hearing before passing the merger in three months.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has allowed Bharti Airtel to do Aadhaar-based eKYC verification of its mobile customers till March 31.
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea seeking withdrawal of coins having religious symbols embossed on them. In its ruling, the court said the coins having religious symbols do not dent the country's secular fabric and secularism does not bar issuance of coins to commemorate any event.
Armed robbers seize jewels worth 4m euro from Paris Ritz
Armed robbers launched a spectacular raid on the world-famous Ritz hotel in Paris, making off with an estimated four million euros worth of jewels, the latest in a string of high-profile heists in the French capital, reports AFP. The gang of five men armed with hatchets smashed display windows on the ground floor of the hotel in Paris' luxurious Place Vendome around 6:30 pm, making off with the jewels.
Three of the gang were detained while fleeing the scene and an AFP journalist said some roads around the hotel were sealed off by security forces following the incident. Two people were still being sought by authorities on Thursday evening.
GMR Infrastructure may raise up to Rs 5K cr via airport biz IPO
GMR Infrastructure is looking to raise between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore through the listing of its airport holding entity, sources told The Economic Times. The move will help it pare debt and mobilise expansion funds. GMR is working with at least five banks — Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital and ICICI Securities — on the mega issue that is expected to hit the markets in the April-June quarter, sources said.
Here are the top headlines at 1 pm from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra
Lamborghini Urus debuts in India at Rs 3cr
Lamborghini has launched Urus at Rs 3 crore, making it the costliest in its class in India. Calling it super sport utility vehicle the Urus is Lamborghini's first ever SUV and India is amongst the first few countries to get the vehicle, reports Moneycontrol News’ Swaraj Baggonkar. Attaining 100km/hr in just 3.6 seconds the Urus has a top speed of 305 kmph. Powering the SUV is a mammoth 4 litre litre V8 engine mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. This engine generates peak power of 650 hp.
Apollo Micro Systems IPO: Proceed with caution as valuations, working cap requirements a concern
For an MD of a high-tech defence-system company, Apollo Micro Systems' 55-year-old chief Karunakar Reddy Baddam strangely does not seem to have a voter identification number and driving licence - at least it hasn't disclosed in the company's red herring prospectus filed with SEBI, as is practice. But that's the least of the concerns here, finds Moneycontrol Research’s Jitendra Kumar Gupta.
Apollo, whose IPO opened on Thursday, is seeking to raise Rs 156 crore for a mere 24.7% stake. Context: over the last two decades of operations, the company has created a net worth of only Rs 63 crore. The other big concern is the purpose of fundraising. Out of the total issue size of Rs 156 crore, Rs 118 crore will be used for working capital. The rest Rs 38 crore will be used for general corporate purpose, which is on the higher side.
Bank of Baroda may sell Nainital Bank stake to shore up capital
Bank of Baroda, India’s third-largest state-run lender, is seeking to sell unit Nainital Bank as it sheds non-core assets to bolster its balance sheet, sources told Bloomberg. A decision on the size of the stake to be sold will depend on approvals from the Reserve Bank of India, sources said.
BoB holds 98.6% stake in the 96-year-old Nainital Bank, which had assets of about Rs 77 billion as of March end. Deliberations regarding the sale are at an early stage and private equity firms have expressed initial interest, sources said. There’s no guarantee the talks will lead to a sale, they added.
Nainital Bank has about 135 branches spread across five states. It reported a net income of Rs 484 million in FY17, little changed from the previous year, and its bad-loan ratio stood at 5% of the total. That compares with a soured-debt level of 9.6% for the banking system as a whole, data compiled by RBI shows.
Here are the top headlines at 12 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak
Govt accident cover plan gets 130m enrolments, term insurance gets 52m
The Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), the government’s personal accident insurance scheme, has crossed 130 million enrolments and had 132.57 million enrolments as on January 8, 2018, reports Moneycontrol News’ M Saraswathy. Meanwhile, the term insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), has covered 52 million individuals for Rs 2 lakh each so far, according to data from the Department of Financial Services.
Launched in May 2015 as part of the Jan Suraksha Yojana by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both insurance products are valid for one year each and can be auto-renewed through deduction of premium from the bank account of the person insured. The premium for the accident insurance is Rs 12 per annum, while that for the term insurance is Rs 330 per annum.
Exclusive: Trai may today halve international interconnect charge to 25-30 paise
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) may today announce halving of international termination charges to 25-30 paise per minute from 53 paise, a senior official told Moneycontrol News’ Dhirendra Tripathi. The regulation will be effective from a later date.
International termination charges are paid by the telecom operator from whose country the call is originating to the service provider here on whose network the call terminates. The charges are payable on calls made to mobiles as well as landlines. The international operator recovers this charge from its subscriber.
The telecom regulator had raised the international termination charges to 53 paise per minute from 40 paise in February 2015 while cutting the mobile termination charges to 14 paise per minute from 20 paise per minute. It further cut the mobile termination charge to 6 paise in its September 19, 2017 order while leaving the subject of revising international termination charges open to further deliberations.
Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose nearly 2% after its Halol plant in Gujarat was cleared by the Dutch health regulator.
Here are the top headlines at 11 am from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra
Shares of Bharti Airtel gained over 1%, hitting a high of Rs 516.70. Global research and broking firm Nomura has initiated a Buy on the telecom major with a target at Rs 625 per share.
India's 2017 oil demand growth posts lowest gain since 2013
Indian oil consumption in 2017 grew at its slowest in four years, according to government statistics, hit by the government’s demonetisation move and a tax increase that knocked the gain in fuel use back to a modest 2.3%, reports Reuters. The low growth also coincided with another year of weak, albeit improving, new vehicle sales.
Reports on China slowing US bond purchases may be fake
A report that China is considering slowing or halting purchases of US Treasury bonds may be based on erroneous information and could be “fake”, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said. Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that Chinese officials reviewing the country’s vast foreign exchange holdings had recommended slowing or halting purchases of US Treasury bonds amid a less attractive market for them and rising US-China trade tensions. The report sent US Treasury yields to 10-month highs and sent the dollar lower. “The news could quote the wrong source of information, or may be fake news,” the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said in a statement published on its website.
Louis Vuitton wants to take Baba Ramdev's Patanjali global
French luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, also known as Louis Vuitton or LVMH, is interested in buying stakes in Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved, reports The Economic Times. "We would love to work with him if we can find a model," L Catterton Asia Managing Partner Ravi Thakran said.
He said he is aware that Ramdev's business model does not support working with multinational companies and with foreign money or brands. The L Catterton private equity fund is co-owned by Louis Vuitton. They claim to be ready to bet $500 million, which is close to half of their remaining funds in Asia, to buy stakes in Patanjali.
Indian-American announces plans to run for US Congress
An Indian-American investment banker has announced his plan to run for the US House of Representatives from a Congressional seat in Connecticut, reports PTI. Harry Arora, 48, seeks to oust Democratic incumbent Jim Himes, who has represented the 4th Congressional District since January 2009.
Arora wants to have a Republican voice in the so called 'Samosa Caucus' -- the informal group of Indian-Americans in the US House of Representatives. Currently four Indian-Americans in the US House of Representatives - Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Pramila Jayapal - are from the Democratic party.
Kamala Mills fire: '1Above' pub owner Abhijeet Mankar held
Abhijeet Mankar, owner of '1Above' pub, was arrested in connection with the December 29 Kamala Mills fire in Mumbai that claimed 14 lives. The 30-year-old hotelier was on the run along with co-owners of the pub, Kripesh Sanghavi and Jigar Sanghavi, since the day of the incident. "Our team arrested owner of the 1 Above pub, Abhijeet Mankar, from Marine Lines in the early hours," Ahmed Pathan, Senior Police Inspector, NM Joshi Marg Police Station told PTI.
Sensex regains 51 points in early trade ahead of earnings
The benchmark Sensex rebounded by 51 points in opening trade today after IT, realty and teck stocks rose on optimistic buying by investors ahead of announcement of quarterly results. The 30-share index rose by 51.78 points, or 0.15%, at 34,484.85, in opening trade with IT, realty, teck, power and auto leading the recovery by rising up to 0.8%. The gauge had shed 10.12 points in the previous session following profit-booking at record levels.
Also, the NSE Nifty traded higher by 9.05 points, or 0.08%, at 10,641.25 in the opening trade. Traders said widening of bets by investors ahead of Q3 numbers from IndusInd Bank and TCS, to be released later in the day amid buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) influenced sentiment.
DIIs bought shares to the tune of Rs 600.24 crore, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 572.26 crore on Wednesday, as per the provisional data. Support came from key stocks such as Infosys, ONGC, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever and M&M, rising by up to 1.04%.