Naukariadda

New Delhi: India's power consumption grew at a three-month high rate of 10.2 per cent at 111.43 billion units (BU) in January 2021, showing spurt in economic activities, according to official data. Power consumption in January 2020 was 101.15 BU. Besides, peak power demand also recorded a double digit growth of nearly 11 per cent at 189.64 GW in January 2021 compared to 170.97 GW in January 2020. The 189.64 GW peak power demand recorded on January 30 was also all-time high so far. After a gap of six months, power consumption recorded a year-on-year growth of 4.5 per cent in September and 11.6 per cent in October. In November 2020, the power consumption growth slowed to 3.12 per cent mainly due to early onset of winters. Experts said that the double digit growth of 10.2 per cent in power consumption and all-time high peak power demand of 188.45 GW in the month of January give sufficient evidence that most of economic activities are now at pre-pandemic levels. They think that the pow...

The Australian prime minister said on Monday that Microsoft was confident that it could fill the void if Google carried out its threat to remove its search engine from Australia. A Google executive told a Senate hearing last month that it would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government went ahead with plans to make tech giants pay for news content. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had since spoken to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella about its search engine Bing filling the space. "I can tell you, Microsoft's pretty confident" that Australians would not be worse off, Morrison told the National Press Club of Australia. "These are big technology companies and what's important to Australia, I think, is that we set the rules that are right for our people," Morrison said. "Having a news environment in this country that is one that is sustainable and is supported commercially, then this is vital to how democracies fun...

There are multiple ways to raise resources without raising taxes, says Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak AMCAnything unique, anything creative that you have as a suggestion for the finance minister today?Well it is not creative, it is often repeated but I think it is time to raise resources without raising taxes and the gold amnesty scheme or gold disclosure scheme could be a big move. There is more than 25,000 tonnes of gold held by Indians but most of it is in tijori, black economy. If we can bring a disclosure scheme whereby gold can move from tijori to white economy, government gets taxes and businessman gets equity capital in their balance sheet. The savings of $2 trillion which remains frozen in the tijoris can be part of the formal economy, can be part of the white economy. This can change India’s growth orbit. From a market messaging point of view as well, what is it that you are hoping to hear? Would taxing the super rich would mean for the market?Since this year income growth will be lo...

The headline numbers show there is an expectation of over 1.5% fiscal deficit for ‘21 and around 5.5-6% fiscal deficit for ‘22. There is a room for positive surprise here as well, says market veteran Madhu Kela. What is your gut call – are we in for a good day, bad day, flat day?The gut call is we are in for a good day. The market is going into the Budget with very little expectations. We have had a decent correction which is what I was expecting could happen and over and above that we have had a very good set of numbers. If you look at all large cap companies -- ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Cipla -- all have reported very good sets of numbers. So my gut call is that limited downside and budget could positively surprise. Even if the budget surprises positively, do you think the overhang of global cues could be far more dangerous than a decent Budget outcome? What are the chances that we could say at the end of the day that budget achcha hai but global cues ki wajah se market gir raha hai (...

ET’s weekly roundup of the wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours:Hello GoodbyeThis bulge-bracket US private equity firm has been a revolving door for a long time. Just when we thought stability was finally returning, with a new senior hire from a rival blue-blooded group, word is in that a McKinsey suit-turned-long-serving director has also put in his papers after spending 14 years with the firm, somewhat fed up with the sharp elbows in the office. Considering that the firm is on an investment blitz in the country, a steady ship is a must, one would have thought.Big DealWell, better late than never. After weeks, nay months, of negotiations, Tata boss N Chandrasekaran finally clinched the much-awaited BigBasket acquisition this weekend we hear, with a deal signing. Good timing, one could argue, considering the news from Europe was grim as Swedish group SSAB walked out of negotiations to buy Tata Steel’s Dutch business. The dreams of the super app jus...

The finance minister has already done much through July, August, September last year and there is very little left to say in the Budget, says Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder, Marcellus Investment Managers. In the last three Budgets, the stock market got nothing. Rather, in 2018 there was LTCG, then came taxation on buyback and then taxation on dividend at the end of receiver. So from a market standpoint, the Budget has not really been very kind?We will see the continuation of that today as a) all the experts are saying the fiscal space is severely constrained; and b) the challenge in Indian politics. If the government is kind to the markets, it is exposed to the charge of being suit boot ke sarkar. So both from a political optics perspective and from a fiscal constraint perspective, it is very difficult for the government to show kindness to the stock market. The best we can hope for is we do not get further hikes on LTCG and taxes on the rich. Given that they need a hefty disinvestment tar...

Myanmar's military has detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and staged a coup, a decade after relinquishing its nearly five-decade iron grip on the country. Here is a timeline of a nation that emerged from a military dictatorship, only to plunge into a trouble-filled -- and perhaps short-lived -- democracy. - 2010 - The junta holds elections in early November and the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claims victory. The NLD and many other parties refuse to take part. Observers do not consider the poll free or fair. Less than a week after the election, Suu Kyi is released after spending 16 of the last 20 years under house arrest. - 2011 - In a surprise move, the junta relinquishes power to a quasi-civilian government under former general Thein Sein, who pursues reforms. Many basic rights are restored, including the lifting of restrictions on assembly and expression. - 2012 - The NLD wins 43 out of 45 seats in April by-elections. Suu Kyi becomes an MP...

Mumbai: The fintech industry is hoping for a favourable Union Budget 2021-22 ahead of a crucial year for India’s burgeoning digital economy, as a bulk of the country's consumers and small businesses are expected to adopt digital means to access payments and financial services for the first time. According to chief executive officers and founders of payments firms, the disruptive growth seen by the fintech ecosystem in 2020 has shored up the need for a more focused approach towards sustaining the growth and protecting customer confidence.Exemptions on procurement of point of sale terminals, GST rates for rural banking agents remitting funds among households, and subsidies to compensate for merchant discount rate (MDR) waiver are among some of the measures industry executives are keeping an eye out for.“Given the surging prominence of digital initiatives in multiple facets, further attention needs to be given in the budget, towards enhancing its application and effectiveness,” said M...

People will be interested to see if the government comes out with actual borrowing figures, this time, says Sandip Sabharwal, analyst, asksandipsabharwal.com Budget has been prone to being a non-event for the markets. The expectations this time are low and the prime minister himself has talked about how we have had four mini Budgets over 2020 alluding to a slew of incremental reforms that the government has tried to put in place through the year. What could be the silver lining this time around?The allocations to capital expenditure should increase but the fact of the matter is that in terms of fiscal deficit per se, we need to look at figures. This year, the government is expected to borrow around Rs 11.5 crore which is almost 4 lakh crore more than what they did last year. With the improvement in growth, tax revenues, etc, the expected borrowing is expected to be Rs 2 lakh crore more than what it was in 2019-20. As normalcy returns, as extraordinary liquidity of the RBI gets removed,...

NEW DELHI: India on Monday stated that it has noted Myanmar developments with deep concern and called for upholding rule of law and democratic process. “We have noted the developments in Myanmar with deep concern. India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic transition in Myanmar. We believe that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld. We are monitoring the situation closely,” MEA noted in a strongly-worded statement. India has huge stakes in Myanmar who was recently gifted Covishield vaccines. India shares over 1600 km long land boundary with Myanmar. It also shares a maritime boundary and has supplied submarines to Myanmar military. USA and Australia have reacted strongly to the developments asking the leaders to be freed. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the governing party were detained in a series of early morning raids, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy said on Monday, follo...

New Delhi: Despite regulatory curbs, Indian startups continue to receive 85% of their funding from overseas investors. The government wants to change that.First, the government tweaked the country’s FDI policy so as to limit Chinese investments into India amid border skirmishes. Now, it has started deliberations on allowing domestic pension and insurance funds to invest in startups to give them access to stable, long-term capital, ET reported on 28 January.This, however, isn’t the first time such an idea has been mooted, but industry watchers say now is the right time for Indian institutional investors to become stakeholders in India’s startup story and set the tone for growth for the next decade.Flipping StartupsThat Indian startups are operating here but registering themselves in international hubs such as Singapore and the US for growth capital has caused alarm in the government. “Flipping”, as the practice is known in industry parlance, helps investors in these markets reduce time ...

Mumbai: Cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and industry leaders are hitting the panic button as the government prepares to outlaw trade in private e-money ahead of the potential launch of India’s official digital currency.On Friday, the Centre announced that it will introduce the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, in the ongoing budget session. It is aimed at paving the way for eventual introduction of digital money by the country’s central bank at a time when China is testing a version of its digital yuan. Industry mavens, who welcome the government’s move, remain concerned with the provision seeking to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies, while allowing certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology. “We believe these are two important and distinct subjects,” said Naveen Surya, chairman emeritus at Payments Council of India. While bringing in a central bank digital currency could be a tool for expansion of the digital payment industry, “bannin...

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur on Monday asserted that the budget 2021-22 will be in accordance with people's expectations and added that the government is working towards a self-reliant India and making its economy grow. "The Budget will be in accordance with people's expectations. Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas is the agenda of the Modi government. The government which functions on the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas' gave a new direction to India by announcing the Aatmanirbhar package, protecting it from the pandemic and bringing the economy back on track swiftly," Thakur told ANI. "I have full confidence the budget will fulfill the aspirations of the people. We will continue to make efforts to make India self-reliant and make our economy grow," he added. Thakur also offered prayers at his residence, ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2021-22 in the Parliament. All eyes are fixed...

All eyes are on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she will be presenting the Union Budget 2021 today, i.e., February 1. There is more interest and expectations this year from the budget due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and the impact it has had on various segments of the economy.For the salaried class, the year 2020 was marred with job loss, pay cuts, higher inflation and so on. That is why many are hoping for announcements that can at least help ease their tax burden. Here is a list of some of the expectations of the common man from the Union Budget 2021. Hike in tax exemption limitTop on the wish list of the salaried class is a hike in the basic exemption limit from the current level of Rs 2.5 lakh. The last time tax exemption limit was hiked was in Budget 2014-15. Though Sitharaman announced a new tax regime in last year's budget which offered lower tax rates, however, no changes were made in the tax exemption limit. By hiking the tax exemption limit, the government ca...

ET Intelligence Group: Tata Motors’ operating performance in the December quarter may add more conviction to the likelihood of better earnings — and a leaner balance sheet. Earnings upgrade and superior valuation of the local business after the December quarter earnings may sustain the stock’s outperformance.Tough measures by India's largest vehicle maker to contain costs and improve efficiencies have boosted the financials of the local operations and of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which contributes more than three-fourths to Tata Motors’ revenues.So, operating profit margins of JLR improved 560 basis points to 15.8 per cent in the December quarter. There are some one-off events, such as reversal of emission fines and superior product mix (higher share of Land Rover), but the trajectory of base operating margins has been consistently improving.Variable marketing and warranty expenses, which dented JLR’s margins for quite a long time, are shrinking. The Street is still apprehensive abo...

Scientists developed vaccines less than a year after COVID-19 was identified, a reflection of remarkable progress in vaccine technology. But progress in vaccine distribution is another story.Questions that arose in vaccine rollouts decades ago are still debated today. How should local and federal authorities coordinate? Who should get vaccinated first? What should officials do about resistance in communities? Should the hardest-hit places be prioritized? Who should pay?Some answers can be found in the successes and failures of vaccine drives over the past two centuries.In 1796, once scientist Edward Jenner discovered that people infected with cowpox became immune to smallpox, doctors went from town to town in England, deliberately spreading cowpox by scratching infected material into people’s arms.The rollout worked on a local level, but how could it be distributed to people in faraway places, like in the Americas, where smallpox had devastated populations? In 1803, the Spanish governm...

Yangon: Myanmar's military has detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an apparent coup, her ruling party's spokesman said Monday.The military, which ruled the country for nearly five decades, had this week refused to rule out seizing power over its claims of voter fraud in November's elections, won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party.Myo Nyunt, the spokesman for the NLD, said Suu Kyi, along with President Win Myint, had been "detained" in the capital Naypyidaw."We heard they were taken by the military," he told AFP, adding that he was extremely worried about the pair."With the situation we see happening now, we have to assume that the military is staging a coup."He added that the circumstances of the country's newly elected MPs -- who were expected to sit Monday for the opening of parliament -- were unclear.Communications appeared to be disrupted, with phone numbers in Naypyidaw seemingly unrea...

NEW DELHI: India’s vaccine diplomacy took further wing with 1 lakh anti-Covid shots being sent to Oman, a close partner in the Gulf, after having supplied the jabs to immediate neighbours. Later this week, India is scheduled to send over 5 lakh doses to Afghanistan.India will also send 2 lakh doses to Nicaragua, 1 lakh to Barbados, 70,000 to Dominica and 1.5 lakh to Mongolia, though dates are yet to be finalised.Egypt, Algeria, UAE and Kuwait have all purchased vaccines and are on the commercial export list. Apart from the gifts, Mongolia (10 lakh) Nicaragua (3 lakh), Saudi Arabia (30 lakh), Myanmar and Bangladesh are among those who have contracted to purchase vaccines from India. The purchases are made commercially but need export clearance from the Indian government. 80620476Meanwhile, around seven million made-in-India doses of AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine will be part of Pakistan’s free Covid-19 vaccination drive starting next week under the global Covax alliance, PM Imran Kha...

BATHINDA: Even as protests by farmers in Punjab completed four months on Sunday, panchayats across the state have started asking every household to send at least one member to the protest sites. Some village panchayats are calling upon their residents to join the farm protests on the borders of Delhi or else ‘pay a fine’ in the event of non-participation from a household. Earlier, the task of mobilising protesters was limited to activists of farm organisations.It was on October 1, 2020, that indefinite protests had started in Punjab, first at railway tracks, toll plazas and business establishments of some corporate houses and then at the residences of some BJP leaders. The protests are going on at 70 to 80 places in Punjab apart from the ones at the Delhi borders.Panchayats of at least five villages in Malwa region of Punjab passed resolutions that each household has to send at least one male member for a week to the protest sites in Delhi. 80616789Avtar Singh, sarpanch of Kararwala vi...

By Stan MajcherThe economic potential of India is tremendous. With its highly educated and industrious population, India has the potential to grow its economy to many multiples of its current size. To meet its potential, millions of jobs will need to be created as young Indians enter the labour market. However, economic growth is not assured. Investors, both foreign and domestic, must have confidence that India will adhere to strict enforcement of the rule of law.For many years, our clients have been significant investors in Cairn Energy, a Britain-based oil and gas company. Originally, our investment was as much about India as it was about Cairn. Cairn was an example of the benefits foreign direct investment (FDI) brings to India. Cairn helped build a multibillion-dollar domestic oil business over many years following its oil discoveries in the Rajasthan desert, an area others had abandoned. Cairn created what became an independent Indian company headquartered outside New Delhi and li...

As the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine intensified around the world, China said that it has increased the number of vaccines undergoing clinical trials to 16 from 11 to step up supplies at home and abroad. China is conducting clinical trials of 16 COVID-19 vaccines, seven of which have entered phase-III trials and one has conditionally hit the market, Wu Yuanbin, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology, was quoted as saying by the state-run CGTN TV. Wu made the comments during a haematology conference on Saturday. Yang Sheng, Deputy Director of China's National Medical Products Administration's drug registration bureau, said last month that a total of 11 Chinese vaccine candidates are in different stages of testing at home and abroad. Currently, China is vaccinating people at home and some countries abroad with two vaccines. The Chinese government has given conditional approval to Sinopharm while the results of the phase-3 trial is yet to be released. The World ...

OSLO: Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the World Health Organization and climate campaigner Greta Thunberg are among those nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, all backed by Norwegian lawmakers who have a track record of picking the winner. Thousands of people, from members of parliaments worldwide to former winners, are eligible to propose candidates. Nominations, which close on Sunday, do not imply an endorsement from the Nobel committee. Norwegian lawmakers have nominated the eventual laureate every year since 2014, with the exception of 2019, said Henrik Urdal, Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo. "The pattern from recent years is quite stunning." The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which decides who wins the award, does not comment on nominations, keeping secret for 50 years the names of nominators and unsuccessful nominees. But nominators can choose to reveal their picks. According to a Reuters survey of Norwegian lawmakers, nominees include Thunberg, ...

New Delhi: Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has asserted that the new farm laws do not affect the current MSP system and APMC's Mandis as well.Countering the the views of Former Agriculture Minister and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Tomar on Sunday said that Mandis will be more competitive and cost effective in terms of services and infrastructure under the new ecosystem.His response came a day after Pawar raised concern over the new farm laws saying these legislations will adversely affect the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and weaken the Mandi system.In a series of tweets, Tomar said: "Under the new ecosystem, mandis are not affected. Instead, they will be more competitive and cost effective in terms of services and infrastructure; and both the systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest of farmers.""As he (Pawar) is such a veteran leader, I would like to believe that he was genuinely misinformed of the facts. Now tha...

NEW DELHI: Delhi Congress on Sunday passed a resolution to make Rahul Gandhi the party president with immediate effect.Earlier this week, the Congress Working Committee(CWC), the party's highest policy making body, authorised incumbent chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal elections after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states due to be held in April-May."The CWC decided that there will be an elected Congress president by June 2021 at any cost," AICC general secretary K C Venugopal had said, adding that the little change of schedule depending on the timing of the state elections will be decided soon.Sonia Gandhi took over as interim Congress president after Rahul Gandhi resigned in the wake of the party's Lok Sabha debacle in May 2019. There have been demands from a section of the Congress leaders for having a full-time and active party president and an organisational overhaul. from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3jasoO7

Mumbai: Even as restructuring in the corporate loans has been lower than expected, high slippages in retail and SME loans have confirmed fears of fresh non performing assets (NPAs) coming from these segments as salary cuts and job losses due to the economic destruction caused by the Covid 19 pandemic has severely dented banks' balance sheets.Bank results show that slippages in retail loans have increased with lenders like ICICI Bank and RBL Bank reporting a sharp year on year increase in NPAs from the segment while others that didn't like IndusInd and Bank of Baroda flagging risks from retail loans in the near future.ICICI Bank's gross NPAs from the retail segment rose to 3.11% of loans in December 2020 up from 2.14% a year earlier as the bank acknowledged that the retail loans has been impacted by the adverse economic situation. Similarly, RBL Bank also reported a spike in gross NPAs from retail lending to 2.82% of loans in December 2020 from 0.95% a year earlier."Thi...

NEW DELHI: Advertising and promotion spends of large consumer companies including HUL, Colgate-Palmolive, Dabur, Parle, Emami and Jyothy Labs surged beyond pre-Covid levels in the December quarter compared to the corresponding year-ago quarter on account of demand recovery, new launches and the festive season, the companies said in their earnings statements, adding that they will continue to increase ad spends in sync with demand recovery and revival in consumer sentiment.India’s largest consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever’s consolidated advertising and promotion spends increased 19% over the corresponding year-ago quarter, while the home-grown Dabur’s year-on-year ad spends increased 38% in the quarter. “Going forward, we will continue to deploy A&P spends where required, and investments will continue in high growth areas,” Dabur chief executive Mohit Malhotra said. He said the company focused on strengthening its core healthcare portfolio with heavy investments behind power b...

Mumbai: Despite rising revenues, IT major Tech Mahindra is set to reduce its business process services (BPS) headcount by 5,000 to 38,000 in FY 2020-21, as a larger part of the tasks get completed through automation and artificial intelligence. Company executives said there is a "non-linearity" between revenue growth and overall headcount as technology makes it possible for a single individual to accomplish multiple tasks. It can be noted that the business process outsourcing (BPO) vertical, which has its genesis in the 'call centres' business of the past, is one of the biggest employment generators in the technology space, where Indian executives handle a slew of processes for overseas clients often across time zones. Tech Mahindra had reported a reduction of nearly 2,500 people in its overall headcount in the December quarter, and attributed a bulk of the job losses to the BPS vertical. "...what has happened is I used to have around 43,000 employees at the end ...

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party Sunday asked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to deploy the state police for the security of farmers protesting at Delhi borders against the three new Central laws. In a letter to Singh on Sunday, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said the Punjab Police must provide protection to farmers so that no harm is done to them and they can continue to protest against the "black farm laws" in a peaceful manner. "The Aam Aadmi Party demands that you deploy Punjab Police in sufficient numbers to surround the camps where the peaceful protests are being held from all sides," Chadha said. "This protection to the farmers is absolutely essential in the light of recent attacks on them, engineered and executed by goons from BJP," he said. Chadha also attacked the BJP over the issue, alleging the party proposes to continue its "attitude of intimidating" any person who dares to raise a voice in opposition. "It is very obvious fr...

MUMBAI: After raising $500 million through social bond issue earlier this month, non-banking financial company Shriram Transport Finance Company may look at raising another $250 million from such bonds before March, a top company official said.As part of its $3 billion global medium term note programme, the deposit taking NBFC had raised $500 million at a coupon rate of 4.4 per cent.As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, eligible borrowers can raise external commercial borrowing (ECB) up to $750 million per financial year under the automatic route."It depends on international markets (conditions). We need to look for a very good window (to raise $250 million from social bonds). If there is a window available, we may raise it before March (2021)," the company's managing director and CEO Umesh Revankar said. In the quarter ended December 31, the company's deposits grew by around 19 per cent (y-o-y) to Rs 14,335.36 crore from Rs 12,027.72 crore last year. On ...

Chandan TapariaNifty outlook: Monday, 1st February 2021 Nifty index opened gap up on Friday but could not sustain at higher zones. While it remained range bound in the initial half, the second half saw downfall and breached previous day’s low. It touched intraday low of 13,596 and closed the day with losses of around 180 points. It continues its formation of lower bottom from the last five sessions. It formed a Bearish candle on daily scale and Index may continue to remain highly volatile ahead of the Union Budget 2021. Now, till it remains below 13,800 zones, bounce could be sold and weakness may be seen towards 13500 and 13300 levels while on the upside immediate hurdle exists at 13,800 and 14,000 levels.Stocks (spot levels) :Scrip name: Cummins IndiaReco: BuyCMP: Rs 666Target: Rs 700Stop Loss: Rs 650Studies: Range breakout from rounding formation on daily scale, surpassed its previous hurdleScrip name: Colgate PalmoliveReco: BuyCMP: Rs 1,603Target: Rs 1,680Stop Loss: Rs 1,565Studies...