Apr 06, 2018 09:13 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
News Live: SAT grants more time to Sebi to pass final order in Mallya case
This blog will keep track of key global and local developments impacting business and markets through the day. Important local and global political developments will also find resonance here.
Top
highlights
TDP MPs demand special status for AP, hold protest inside Lok Sabha Speaker's chamber
Lookout notice issued against Chanda Kochhar, reports India Today
Congress to hold a protest fast of its own on April 9
Action is initiated after the hacking of MoD website: Nirmala Sitharaman
SEBI to take action against 14,720 entities for 'non-genuine trades'
Facebook says up to 2.7 million EU users affected by leak
Ministry of Defence website hacked, Chinese characters appear on the website homepage:
CBI questioning RBI's former Deputy Governor in PNB fraud case
Budget session least productive since 2000
NCLAT allows RCom to execute asset sale
Buy retail-focussed banks, select NBFC, consumer themes: Axis MF
Tit for tat trade measures by US, China may lead to mkt volatility: S&P, Moody's
Mkt volatility reminiscent of 1987 crash: Veteran trader Art Cashin
Trade war greatest threat to world eco: JP Morgan
See recession and 40% plunge in stocks ahead: Guggenheim
HRD Ministry warns CBSE students against 'fake leak mafias'
FB sent a Dr on a secret mission to ask hospitals to share patient data
State refiners plan to nearly double Iranian oil imports, says report
Former Mt Gox CEO is no longer a Bitcoin believer
CBI questions ICICI Bank MD's brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar
Lok Sabha lost over 127 hours due to disruptions in Budget session
Excl: As pressure on market share mounts, Bajaj Auto quietly phases out five bikes
German industrial output slumps as protectionism angst grows
Lupin gets EIR from USFDA for Pithampur facility
IOC acquires Shell's 17% stake in Oman oilfield for $329m
Exclusive: Dr Lal Pathlabs eyes buyouts in West, South India
1.5bn sensitive documents on open internet, says researchers
Salman Khan bail appeal reserved for Saturday
Binani Industries files application to terminate insolvency proceedings of Binani Cement
Binani Industries said it has filed application for termination of insolvency resolution process of its debt-ridden subsidiary Binani Cement, reports PTI.
HCL Technologies acquires C3i Solutions for $60m
No jobs, no vote, Rajasthan town warns Modi ahead of 2019 polls
Exclusive: Govt likely to push mega PSU insurers' merger to next year
SFIO receives plaint against L&T, co rubbishes it as baseless
Arvind to demerge and list engineering, apparel businesses by Sept: Kulin Lalbhai
IndiGo says to opt out of race to acquire Air India
Salary breakup, GST ID to be furnished in new ITR forms
China launches WTO challenge against US intellectual property tariffs
Numetal, ArcelorMittal rightly disqualified: Essar Steel RP
Japan household spending posts biggest drop in nearly a year as wages fall
J&J loses trial over claims linking cancer to asbestos in talc
US willing to talk trade with China, no session set yet
Trade fight mounts as Trump threatens $100bn more in China tariffs
SAT grants more time to Sebi to pass final order in Mallya case
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has allowed markets regulator Sebi to pass the final order by May-end in the case of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
The regulator had sought more time from the tribunal as personal hearing in the matter was completed only on March 23.
"Since personal hearing etc in the matter was completed only on March 23, 2018, and therefore extension of time is required to complete the proceedings and pass the final order," Sebi told the tribunal.
RBI issues notification on data storage by payment companies
The RBI today asked all payment system operators in the country to store all data, including full end-to-end transaction details and information collected, within India to ensure security of users' information.
The operators have been asked to comply with the instructions within six months, the central bank said in a notification.
RBI noted that "not all system providers" store the payments data in India.
The Ahemedabad bench of NCLT asks ArcelorMittal and Numetal to present submissions regarding the Essar steel auction on Monday. The bench may announce a decision on bids eligibility on Thursday.
Sugar tax on soft drinks comes into force in UK
Britons may have to shell out more for their soft drinks, as a so-called "sin tax" or "sugar tax" came into force in the UK today as part of the government's plan to combat obesity and sugar related disease.
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy was announced by former UK Chancellor George Osborne in 2016 and is based on the levels of sugar in the drinks, with the most sugary drinks paying the highest tax.
Drinks containing five grams of sugar per 100ml taxed at 18 pence per litre, and those with more than eight grams per 100ml taxed at 24 pence per litre. The levy will be applied to manufacturers in Britain and whether they pass it on to consumers or not will be up to them. (PTI)
E-way Bill to improve ease of doing business: CII
Industry body CII on Friday welcomed the launch of the E-way Bill system for inter-state movement of goods under GST, saying it will pave the way for the widening of the tax base, reduce logistics costs, and faster movement of goods.
Under the GST provisions, transporters are required to carry an electronic waybill when moving goods value exceeding Rs 50,000. E-way bill provisions have been implemented for inter-state movement of goods from April 1 to check tax evasion and boost revenues.
The major relief to industry and business is in a hassle-free movement of goods across state borders under GST (Goods and Service Tax) by removing the state barriers, which is a milestone for improvement in ease of doing business, CII said. (PTI)
The government on Friday appointed Rakesh Kumar Vats as National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) Chairman with immediate effect.
No hacking of websites: National cybersecurity chief
Government websites, including those of defence and home ministries, have not come under any cyber attack, but suffered a hardware-related glitch, National Cyber Security Coordinator Gulshan Rai said on Friday.
Explaining the outage, he said the websites have been down since afternoon after it was noticed that there was a "storage area networking system" failure.
"The same is being addressed. It is only a hardware failure," Rai, who has been working in the field of cybersecurity since 1998, said. "There is no hacking or cyber attack," Rai, who heads the cybersecurity unit, said. (PTI)
US imposes sanctions against Russian oligarchs, government officials
The US on Friday imposed new sanctions on Russian oligarchs, including President Vladimir Putin's son-in-law, and several entities accused of supporting and profiting from the Russian government's efforts to undermine western democracies.
The measures announced by the Treasury Department were also aimed at 17 senior Russian government officials. The state-owned Russian weapons trading company, Rosoboronexport, which has long-standing ties to Syria and its subsidiary, Russian Financial Corporation Bank were also targeted under new sanctions.
"The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites," US Treasury Secretary Steven T Mnuchin said as he announced the new set of sanctions against Russia. (PTI)
TDP MPs demand special status for AP, hold protest inside LS Speaker's chamber
TDP MPs again held protests for special category status for Andhra Pradesh inside Parliament even after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, reports PTI. The party's MPs, including those from the Rajya Sabha, held the protests inside Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's chamber as the party's no-confidence notice against the government was not taken up for discussion. (ANI)
U.S. sanctions Russians over 'malign activity'
The United States sanctioned 24 Russian people, including oligarchs and government officials, and 14 groups on Friday over what it called a range of malign activities by Moscow to subvert Western democracies, the Treasury Department said. (Reuters)
US job gains smallest in six months, wage growth picks up
The US economy created the fewest jobs in six months in March as the boost from mild temperatures faded, but a pickup in wage gains pointed to a tightening labor market, which should allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further this year.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 103,000 last month as construction and retail sectors shed jobs, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was the smallest amount since September and followed a 326,000 surge in February. (Reuters)
Startups raised 80% more funds in January-March quarter as against a year ago
The first quarter of the calendar year remained bullish for the startup ecosystem with the sector raising over USD 1.8 billion funding. This is a whopping 80 percent growth as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year when the sector raised USD 982 million, according to Tracxn data exclusively shared with Moneycontrol.
This excludes debt and grants given to the startups and here Tracxn has taken into account all the deals upwards of USD 5 million.
The development was led by big-ticket funding raised by companies such as BigBasket, Zomato and Swiggy.
Read the full story here.
Lookout notice issued for Chanda Kocchar, reports India Today
Lookout notices have been issued against ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and Venugopal Dhoot, India Today reports.
Bank of Baroda raises benchmark lending rate by 0.1%
A day after RBI opted for status quo in its monetary policy, state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) hiked benchmark lending rate by 0.1 percent or 10 basis points, making loans expensive.
The bank has raised marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.1 percent to 8.40 percent for 1-year tenure, BoB said in a statement.
Similar cut has been made effective in other tenures, it said.
The revised MCLR benchmarks are effective April 7, it added.
Honda Grazia crosses one lakh unit sales mark
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) today said its 125cc scooter Grazia has crossed one lakh unit sales mark in less than five months of launch.
The company had launched the model on November 8 last year with price starting from Rs 58,133 (ex-showroom, Delhi). (PTI)
Congress to hold a fast of its own on April 9
In a counter-offensive, the Congress today said its workers would hold a day-long fast at all state and district headquarters on April 9 to expose the BJP's "lies" on various issues, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a fast by BJP MPs on April 12 to protest the impasse in Parliament for which he blamed the opposition party.
Hitting back at the BJP, the Congress said it was the government which was responsible for not letting Parliament function and termed as a "gimmick" and "drama" the move by NDA MPs to forgo their salary for 23 days when Parliament did not function. (PTI)
Action is initiated after the hacking of MoD website: Nirmala Sitharaman
The website shall be restored shortly, the Defence Minister said. (ANI)
SEBI to take action against 14,720 entities for 'non-genuine trades'
SEBI will take action in a phased manner against 14,720 entities for "non-genuine trades" through illiquid stock option segment as it clamps down on fraudulent activities in the securities market.
Adjudication proceedings have been initiated against 567 entities involved in such trades in the first phase, according to a SEBI order dated April 5.
The markets regulator came across violations by 14,720 entities while it was probing 59 entities in a case related to alleged trading irregularities in stock options segment of the BSE. (PTI)
Facebook says up to 2.7 million EU users affected by leak
The European Union says that Facebook has told it that up to 2.7 million people in the 28-nation bloc may have been victim of improper data sharing involving political data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica.
EU spokesman Christian Wigand said today that EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova will have a telephone call with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg early next week to address the massive data leaks. (PTI)
Ministry of Defence website hacked, Chinese characters appear on the website homepage
Union Ministry of Defence's website was rendered unoperational in what is being assumed as a work of illegitimate hackers.
The website which is still not accessible displays a message that reads: " The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later."
Apart from 'Ministry of Defence' titles in English and Hindi, the message also includes a Chinese character on the error page which has led to rumours about whether the hackers were from China.
Image: ANI
CBI questioning RBI's former Deputy Governor in PNB fraud case
The Central Bureau of Investigation is questioning HR Khan, the former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. This is for the first time that the CBI is examining a top RBI official. Khan was in-charge of micro-economic policy and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) from 2011-16.
A source told Moneycontrol, "We have called former RBI deputy governor HR Khan who was in charge of regulation, micro-economic policy and Foreign Exchange Management Act from 2011-16 for questioning." Another source said that this is in continuation of Thursday’s probe where three chief general managers and a general manager were called in for questioning.
An RBI official told Moneycontrol that Khan had been called for explaining the policies and regulatory guidelines about the technical aspects relating to the PNB case.
Here are the top headlines at 4 pm from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra
Budget session least productive since 2000
The Budget session of Parliament, which ended today, was the least productive since the year 2000, a legislative research body PRS Legislative Research said. According to data provided by Parliamentary Affairs minister Ananth Kumar, the productivity of the Lok Sabha was 134%, and that of the Rajya Sabha around 96% during the brief Part I of session. The Part I of the session had seven LS and eight RS sittings. But Part II of the session which began from March 5 saw productivity taking a nose dive due to daily disruptions and adjournments. The productivity of the LS was 4% and that of the RS 8%, the minister said.
NCLAT allows RCom to execute asset sale
Anil Ambani-led telecom firm Reliance Communications (RCom) said the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has passed an interim order to allow the company to execute its Rs 25,000-crore asset monetisation programme, reports PTI.
Buy retail-focussed banks, select NBFC, consumer themes: Axis MF
From branded underwear to passenger cars, consumer goods are India’s best stock market bets. And they’re ones you can make money in even when the shares aren’t cheap. That’s the view of Axis Mutual Fund in Mumbai, whose long-term equity portfolio holds 26% in consumer discretionary and staples companies, together the second largest holding after financials.
“If you want to play India, you need to invest in stories that are directly linked to consumer spending in some form,” Jinesh Gopani, who as head of equities at Axis Asset Management Co helps oversees about $5.1 billion, said in an interview to Bloomberg. “In that parlance, even retail-focused banks and select non-bank finance companies are a part of the consumer sector for us.”
Tit for tat trade measures by US, China may lead to mkt volatility: S&P, Moody's
The competing tariff proposals announced by the US and China will weigh on investor sentiment, and such ‘tit for tat’ measures could lead to more financial market volatility in the coming months, global ratings agencies said. S&P Global Ratings said a greater threat is the dispute expanding beyond tariffs on goods. Moody's Investors Service said the rising uncertainty and political risk accompanying these ‘tit for tat measures’ will likely have economic and financial impact beyond that which is transmitted through direct trade channels.
Dabur completes acquisition of 2 personal care products firm in South Africa
FMCG major Dabur India said it has completed acquisition of two South Africa-based companies - D&A Cosmetics Proprietary and Atlanta Body & Health Products Proprietary - through its subsidiary. The company had last year announced that it will acquire the two personal care products companies in South Africa for a total cash consideration of about Rs 25 crore.
Market ends flat amid US-China trade war fears
The market ended Friday’s rangebound session on a flat note amid a trade stand-off between US and China. The broader markets outperformed front-liners, with the Nifty Midcap index rising half a percent. The Lupin counter is the biggest gainer, rising 3% after receiving an establishment inspection report for Pithampur Unit-I from the US drug regulator.