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Showing posts from July, 2015

Uber to Invest $1 Billion in India in Next 9 Months

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Uber Technologies Inc will invest $1 billion in India in the next nine months as the online ride hailing company is bullish on the Indian market. Uber said it would use the additional investment to improve operations, expand into newer cities, and develop new products and payment solutions. "Uber has grown exponentially in India, a global priority market for us, which has also quickly become the largest market geographically for Uber outside the U.S.," Amit Jain, President of Uber India said in a statement. The news of Uber's investment in India was first reported by the Financial Times, which said it was the first time the company had set such a target for India. Earlier this month, a Delhi court revoked a government ban on Uber, clearing the way for the company to operate in the capital city and reapply for a license. India asked unregistered web-based taxi services to halt operations in December after a driver contracted with Uber was accused of rape. Uber applied fo

100 IAS officers came under the CBI scanner in 5 years

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New Delhi: 100 IAS officers came under the CBI scanner in the last five years for their alleged involvement in various corruption cases with the Central Government according sanction to prosecute 66 of them. The CBI has sent requests seeking sanction to prosecute 100 IAS officer, 10 CSS Group A officers and nine CBI Group A officer since 2010, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh said a written response in the Rajya Sabha.

LG Jung strikes conciliatory note

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In the midst of a bitter row with AAP government, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Friday appeared to have softened his stand, saying he never tried to negate authority of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and will clear the file on appointment of DCW chief Swati Maliwal once it is properly processed. The Lt Governor, however, criticised Kejriwal for making "inappropriate" references to the Prime Minister in a letter he sent to LG yesterday. Kejriwal had yesterday accused Jung of acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the LG rejected Maliwal's appointment saying his approval had not been taken.

PSBs plans to e-auction assets

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The public sector banks will hold an online auction of pledged properties in a major way next month as per the reports. It is learnt that the bank has been holding e-auctions on standalone basis and next month auction would be on a consolidated one. The bank has created a separate vertical to look into loan accounts above Rs.1 crore and monitor them closely. For this the banks have already started sending SMSs to the borrowers reminding them of the loan due repayments. Indian Bank achieved a total business (deposits plus advances) of Rs.300,436 crore (deposits Rs.175,438 crore, advances Rs.124,998 crore) during the first quarter of the current year. Indian Bank posted a total income of around Rs.4,494 crore during the first quarter, up from Rs.4,144 crore earned during the first quarter of 2013-14. Indian Bank is not the first public sector bank to carry out e-auction of mortgaged properties earlier India’s largest lender SBI held e-auction in March. SBI will hold separate

Steel Ministry approves 83 R&D projects worth over Rs 696c

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The Steel Ministry approved as many as 83 R&D projects worth Rs 696.27 crore in 2014-15 as it aims to expand the industry's product portfolio and help it maintain long-term sustainability.  The government is encouraging public sector undertakings and private firms in the steel sector to work on research and development (R&D) projects, particularly on problems relating to utilisation of low grade ore and high ash coal, a senior official said. Besides, thrust is also being given to develop more value added products for which the country is mostly dependent on imports, the official added. To promote R&D in steel, the government constituted an Empowered Committee (EC) under Steel Secretary for approval and monitoring of R&D projects, another official said. EC has met 24 times during the fiscal and approved 83 R&D projects amounting to Rs 696.27 crore with Steel Development Fund (SDF) assistance of Rs 389.63 crore, he added.  Out of the 83 R&D p

Govt sits on files: 106 vacancies in 32 PSUs for independent directors

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  The appointment of independent directors to PSUs has come to a virtual standstill after the NDA government came to power in May 2014 — since then, 106 independent directors have resigned or completed their terms in 32 companies but their posts remain vacant. According to information accessed from Prime Database, only BHEL appointed a new independent director during this period when it brought in Anami Narayan Roy, former Mumbai Police chief and ex-DGP of Maharashtra, last August. The 32 PSUs, including blue chip names such as ONGC, Coal India, IOC, NTPC and SAIL, have admitted in their compliance reports submitted to the National Stock Exchange that they have failed to comply with norms specified in the equity listing agreement for independent directors on their boards. For instance, Coal India Limited, which does not have a single independent director on its board, said in its submission that “CIL has intimated the same to Ministry of Coal and they are

Telecom Operators May Face Licence Suspension on Privacy Issues: Prasad

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Government on Wednesday said telecom operators may face heavy penalties or suspension of licences if they fail to stop unauthorised interception of communications and maintain 'extreme secrecy' of citizens' messages. Interception and monitoring of communication messages is governed by the provisions of Indian Telegraph Act which empowers Central and state governments to carry out interception under stipulated conditions, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The Minister said rule under Indian Telegraph Rules provides that service providers shall put in place adequate internal checks to ensure that unauthorised interception of messages does not take place. He said extreme secrecy is maintained and utmost care and precaution is taken in matter of interception as it affects privacy of citizens. "The service providers shall be responsible for actions of their employees also in case of established violation of licence conditions

Sun Pharma's shares fall by 15% after 'negative surprise'

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S un Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s decision to swallow a bitter pill in the short term to ensure that its overall health, following the acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories, remains intact in the long run spooked the company’s investors on Tuesday.   On Monday evening, Sun Pharma informed the bourses of a business update which, among other things, highlighted that the consolidated profitability of the company in FY16 may be adversely affected due to “certain expenses/charges arising out of integration (of Ranbaxy with the company) as well as remedial actions”.   “The above initiatives will help the company revert to a more sustainable growth trajectory post FY16,” the company’s statement added.  The company also stated that its consolidated revenues may “remain flat or show a decline over FY15”.   What followed on Tuesday morning was a massive sell-off on the Sun Pharma stock, which fell by 14.95 percent on the BSE to close at Rs 805.30 per share. The stock’s closing price on Tuesd

Governor Raghuram Rajan meets FM ahead of Aug 4 RBI policy review

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RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today called on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and is believed to have discussed various issues including current macroeconomic situation. Rajan’s meeting with the Finance Minister comes ahead of the bi-monthly monetary policy to be announced on August 4. There is pressure on RBI to cut rate to boost economic growth. However, RBI has said it would watch out for the data, including inflation, and the monsoon progress before any change in its policy rates. While retail inflation in June rose to an 8-month high of 5.4 per cent, the overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was (-)2.4 per cent in the same month. RBI mostly tracks the consumer price index based retail inflation for its monetary policy decisions, and its next review is due on August 4. It would also wait for banks to pass on the benefit of three rate cuts during the year. RBI has cut policy rate thrice during 2015. The total reduction has been 0.75 per cent while banks have passed on

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to hold review meeting on PSU disinvestment

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NEW DELHI: Amidst opposition from central trade unions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to hold a review meeting this week on disinvestment plans for the fiscal. Sources said the meeting with Disinvestment Secretary Aradhana Johri would focus on the PSU stake sale schedule of the fiscal. "It is a review meeting and strategic sales would be discussed. It is basically a strategy meeting," an official said. The government plans to raise Rs 69,500 crore through PSU stake sale in current fiscal. Of this, Rs 41,500 crore is to come from minority stake sale and another Rs 28,000 crore from strategic sale. So far this fiscal, government has been able to disinvest stake in only one PSU, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), due to volatile market conditions. The Disinvestment Department already has cabinet approvals for Rs 50,000 crore worth PSU stake sale, but volatility in stock markets is delaying the plans. As regards strategic stake sale on PSU, Jaitley had earlier

PSU OMCs to benefit in the near term with fuel de-regulation: CRISIL

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CRISIL says marketing margins of PSU oil marketers to expand by 30-40 paise/litre in 2 years, contract there after Deregulation of diesel price, announced last October, has set the stage for re-entry of private entities in fuel retailing. However, it is unlikely these players will expand aggressively, at least in the medium term, until they are convinced the government won't do a policy flip-flop and intervene in pricing like it did in 2005. So the big three public sector oil marketing companies are unlikely to lose more than 3-5% market share over the next 2 years. What's more, OMCs' marketing margins will expand by 30-40 paise a litre and their profitability will improve by Rs 38-43 billion in the next 2 years. In the long run, however, marketing margins will decline as competition intensifies due to expansion and aggressive pricing strategies by private players. Private players are likely to capture 10-12% market share by 2018-19 with 7-8% share in fuel retail outle

Tata Steel plans to trim 720 jobs in UK

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Global steel giant Tata Steel on Thursday said it is planning to cut up to 720 jobs, mainly at its UK facility, and will refocus on high-value segments like aerospace, as it tries to rebuild its business strategy to come out of the red. The development comes a day after Tata Steel, one of the world's top steel producers, settled its UK arm's pensions dispute with trade unions that brought the firm to the brink of the biggest industrial dispute there in over three decades.  "Tata Steel today announced the next stage in its plans to refocus its speciality and bar business on high-value markets such as aerospace. The proposed changes would result in a reduction in employee numbers, mainly at its Rotherham-based bar business," Tata Steel, parent firm of Tata Steel Europe, said in a BSE filing. The company further said: "Tata Steel has identified 720 positions which will potentially become redundant. However, the company will work closely with those at ri

Seven PSU's to raise Rs 40000 crore via tax-free bonds

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National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Indian Railways Finance Corporation, to sell taxfree bonds to raise Rs 40,000 crore this financial year. An investor can earn as high as 7.3-7.5 per cent as of now by subscribing to those bonds with 10-15-20 year maturities. The government has mandated that issuers would price tax-free bonds at 80 bps less than similar maturity government bonds for institutional investors. An issuer can also sell bonds to them via private placement instead of public, but up to 30 per cent of the allotted size.  #PSUNEWS #PSUBankNews  

Haldiram products fall under govt scanner in Maharashtra

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  The Maharashtra government on Wednesday asked its health regulator to check samples of Haldiram's packaged snacks to find if they are fit for human consumption. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been asked to collect packaged food samples of the Nagpur-based leading domestic snack-maker from all over the state after reports emerged that its products have been banned in the US. Minister of State for FDA Vidya Thakur said she has written to FDA Commissioner Harshdeep Kamble regarding collection of samples and their lab testing. She has also sought a report from FDA at the earliest. The decision was taken in view of reports that Haldiram's packaged products had been banned in US as pesticides and Salmonella bacteria were found in them, she said. "This is a very serious matter. Since Haldiram products are manufactured in the state and consumed by a large number of people, it is necessary to find out if the snacks are fit for human consumption," Thak

Sebi asks govt to appoint women directors on PSU boards

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  To ensure parity between listed PSUs and their private sector peers, regulator Sebi has asked the government to fill all vacancies for women and independent directors at the central public sector enterprises.   All listed companies, whether PSUs or from private sector, are required to have at least one woman director on their board, deadline for which expired on March 31, 2015.   Along with many private sector companies, quite a few PSUs also failed to meet the deadline and they are liable to pay penalties, which would be minimum at Rs 50,000 for those who ensured compliance by June 30.   #Sebi #PSUBanks

Like Coal India Ltd, PSUs can deliver at par with TCS, Infosys: Piyush Goyal

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NEW DELHI: Better vision and leadership can help state-owned firms to perform at par with top private players like Infosys Wipro and TCS as has happened with Coal India Ltd which registered 12 per cent spurt in output, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said. "Who expected in our life time to see 12 per cent growth (CIL output) in the first quarter. Had you heard of it. It is not that only private sector, Infosys, Wipro or TCS can do things better. Government company could do equally well or better," Goyal said yesterday. #PsuBanks #CoalIndia #PsuNews