Naukariadda

In May 2020, the government reduced TDS and TCS rates for interest income, dividend income, rent payments and other non-salary payments by 25%. This was done to increase liquidity in the hands of individuals, especially those going through financial hardships caused by the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The reduction in TDS and TCS rates on non-salary payments came into effect on May 14, 2021, and will be applicable till March 31, 2021. Thus, effective from April 1, 2021, the TDS and TCS rates on these non-salary payments will be back to their original (higher) levels.This would mean that, for instance, if the interest paid on a bank FD exceeds Rs 40,000 between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, then the bank would deduct tax on the interest paid at the rate of 10% instead of 7.5% in the previous financial year 2020-21.Given below are the TDS rates applicable from April 1, 2021 Nature of payment Section of the Income-tax Act TDS rate effective from April 1, 2021 Receiving accumulated t...

This village, the epicentre of the anti-land-acquisition movement 14 years ago, was called “mini-Pakistan” by BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari, who himself had led the protesters in 2007.But the tag seemed demeaning to the long tradition of equal participation by Hindus and Muslims in any movement from Nandigram, including the freedom struggle. After Congress passed the Quit India resolution on August 8, 1942, 10,000 people marched to Nandigram police station on September 30, 1942 to hoist the Tricolour there. British troops fired at them, killing eight. The “Dictionary of Martyrs, India’s Freedom Struggle Vol 4”, published by the ministry of culture and the Indian Council of Historical Research, mentions the eight martyrs, including Sheikh Alauddin (40) who was “actively participating” in the Quit India movement. Ajim Baksh and Sheikh Abdul, who were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment, died in Midnapore jail. “Tamluk, along with adjoining areas, were the only pockets in the entire c...

Superstar Rajinikanth will be bestowed with the Dada Saheb Phalke award, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Thursday. "India every year gives Dada Saheb Phalke award to a film personality. This year this selection has been made by a jury comprising Asha Bhonsle, Mohanlal, Biswajit Chatterjee, Shankar Mahadevan and Subhash Ghai. "They unanimously recommended that superstar Rajinikanth be conferred with Dada Saheb Phalke award and we accepted it," he said. The award is for the year 2019. from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3uh8fKJ

Despite the ongoing correction in gold, the rally continues in other commodities. Experts say this trend of industrial commodities outperforming gold is here to stay for some time. ET Wealth tells you which are the commodities worth betting on and why.The most actively traded commodities on the MCX 81721592Gold: Losing a little of its shine 81721601Silver: Holding its own against gold 81721623Crude Oil: Not scarce any more 81721630Natural Gas: Subdued times ahead 81721638Copper: Expected to give good returns 81721648Nickel: Good times for industrial metals 81721655Zinc: Supply outstrips demand 81721664Aluminium: Will ride rally in industrial metals 81721677Lead: Supply glut dampens prospects 81721689Cotton: More demand than supply 81721703**in million US dollars; Source: ETF.Com; data as of 16 MarLot size is for gold mini; *Price as on 16 Mar#Based on average of all series; Source: MCXMargin requirements: Margins are split into initial margin, additional margin, special margin and extr...

The PE expansion phase is over now. From here onwards, it is the earnings expansion phase, says Daljeet Singh Kohli, CIO, Stockaxis.com. What are you making of the market texture of late?We have seen a lot of volatility in the last 15 days and that is expected. We have moved too fast and too sharp. So obviously, some cool off is required and people want to book profit also. There are some year-end requirements also. But leaving aside all of that, we are positive and constructive on the market. We feel that probably this turmoil is giving us an opportunity to add certain stocks, where one might have missed the bus earlier. So we are using this volatility in our favour. We continue to explore opportunities in the stocks that we like in IT space or pharma or in metals. We want to use any kind of dip for adding on to the portfolio. We expect this kind of volatility to remain for some time. We are in a transition phase. The PE expansion phase is over now. From here onwards, it is the earnin...

Mobile entertainment solution provider OnMobile is leading a $13 million financing in domestic short video app Chingari for a 10% stake.Following this investment, OnMobile will integrate and distribute its direct-to-consumer gaming platform, ONMO, on the Chingari app. The Bengaluru-based firm also plans to collaborate on other product integrations in the future, the company said in a statement. "The Chingari team has built a terrific product with great user retention and growth. ONMO gaming’s short format challenges and Chingari's short-form videos complement each other well" said OnMobile chief executive Krish Seshadri.Chingari plans to use the funds raised to strengthen its content portfolio, accelerate its user base and for hiring talent. The company claims to have 56 million users. Other investors participating in this round include Republic Labs US, Astarc Ventures, White Star Capital, India TV (Rajat Sharma), JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, ProfitBoard Venture, Zolve...

Taking a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she announced that the government will withdraw orders to cut interest rate on small savings schemes, the Congress on Thursday said one can imagine the functioning of economy when such duly approved order affecting crores of people can be issued by an "oversight". The opposition party also said Sitharaman had no moral right to continue as the finance minister. In a jolt to savers, the Finance Ministry on Wednesday had reduced interest rate by up to 1.1 per cent across various small savings schemes, including the National Savings Certificates (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF). However, Sitharaman on Thursday said the government will withdraw orders to cut interest rate on small savings schemes and assured to restore the rates to last quarter of the financial year ending on March 31. "Interest rates of small savings schemes of GoI shall continue to be at the rates which existed in the last quarter of 2020-2021, ...

India reported 72,330 new COVID-19 infections overnight, data from the health ministry showed on Thursday, the highest since Oct. 11. India's overall caseload stood at 12.22 million, making it the third-most affected globally, behind the United States and Brazil. The country reported 459 deaths, taking the total to 162,927, the data showed. from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3dgYFQU

India’s race to stay ahead of the renewed Covid-19 surge with an accelerated vaccination programme is being hampered by perceived centralisation roadblocks, going by complaints from states that want to ratchet up the numbers but can’t do so because of reasons ranging from single-window registration to lack of flexibility in expanding the network of centres and inoculating willing citizens beyond the stipulated age bracket even when vaccines are available.In Tamil Nadu, where several health centres run by the Greater Chennai Corporation are believed to be unofficially vaccinating people above 18, senior government doctors said a dynamic system that allows states to widen coverage — depending on vaccine availability and registration density — was the practical way to prevent wastage. “Once opened, a vial has to be used within four hours. Chennai has the capacity to vaccinate 60,000 people. On a good day, we vaccinate about 35,000, but sometimes the number drops to 15,000. Why not offer t...

New borrowers of NBFCs and MFIs will have to pay lower interest from the first quarter of the new financial year 2021-22. Apart from new borrowers this interest rate reduction will also benefit individuals who have taken floating rate loans such as home loan from these lenders.RBI has released the latest average base rate which works as a benchmark interest rate for Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). This rate is the average base rate of 5 largest commercial banks in India which has fallen by 0.15% from 7.96% to 7.81% for the quarter ending March 31, 2021. There has been an overall reduction of 1.4% within last 2 years as this rate was 9.21% for the quarter ending June 30, 2019.At the end of each quarter, the RBI releases this data which works as a benchmark for the NBFCs and MFIs to arrive at the interest rate they charge from the borrowers in the following quarter. Individuals who are planning to take loans from NBFCS or MFIs will get the a...

India opened up its coronavirus inoculation programme to people above 45 on Thursday as infections surge, which will delay vaccine exports from the world's biggest maker of the drug.The country, with the most number of reported COVID-19 cases after the United States and Brazil, has so far injected 64 million doses and exported nearly as many. This has raised criticism at home as India's per-capita vaccination figure is much lower than many countries.The government has previously said that people over 45 can register for inoculation from April 1.India initially focused on front-like workers, the elderly and those suffering from other health conditions, unlike some richer countries that have made all their adults eligible to get inoculated.New Delhi says it is working towards that goal, and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted that there would be no vaccine shortage in the country as it opens up the vaccination programme."Centre to continually replenish states' supplies...

Have a balanced allocation and go where there is earnings to support the lofty valuations, says Gurmeet Chadha, Co-Founder, Complete Circle Consultants. What according to you is the next big trigger for the market?The biggest trigger is going to be earnings. There will be differentiation in a lot of sectors, especially in banking. The actual NPAs will be reported and so the real picture would come out in terms of how the collection efficiencies are progressing, how the overdue is playing out, what percentage of restructuring as guided by management is being adhered to. Liquidity events are also very important. We keep blaming liquidity for the rally but liquidity essentially chases growth and the next stimulus the focus on infra to me would be very critical especially for cyclicals and commodities. I genuinely think we are in a commodity cycle and probably just the first leg has gone through. The market has virtually doubled from last March to this March -- from 7,500 to 14,800 almost ...

TOKYO: It took six days to prise free a giant container ship that ran aground and clogged the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most crucial shipping arteries. It could take years to sort out who will pay for the mess.Cargo companies, insurers, government authorities and a phalanx of lawyers, all with different agendas and potential assessments, will not only need to determine the total damage but also what went wrong. When they eventually finish digging through the morass, the insurers of the ship’s Japanese owner are likely to bear the brunt of the financial pain.The costs could add up quickly.There are the repairs for any physical damage to the Ever Given, the quarter-mile-long ship that got stuck in the Suez. There is the bill for the tugboats and front-end loaders that dug the beached vessel out from the mud. The authority that operates the Suez Canal has already said the crisis has cost the Egyptian government up to $90 million in lost toll revenue as hundreds of ships waited to pas...

Maharashtra added 6,51,513 COVID-19 cases in March this year, which accounts for 88.23 per cent of the total number of cases reported in the previous five-month period, according to official data. Between October 1 last year and February 28, 2021, the state recorded 7,38,377 cases of coronavirus. The data shows the increased pace of the viral infection in March 2021 compared to previous months. One of the main reasons for it is the people not following "COVID-appropriate behaviour", say experts. Many people are not maintaining social distance and do not wear masks, exposing themselves to the infection, they say. "There have been several discussions among state officials and ministers about increasing the fine amount for people not wearing masks. It could put some pressure, but the government does not want to use an iron fist to ensure people adhere to the guidelines," a member of the state COVID-19 task force told . However, another senior state health official said...

Localised lockdowns in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have started impacting adversely sales of motorcycles and scooters the past two weeks, said a top executive at the country’s second largest two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), adding demand should stabilise as the vaccination drive gains pace from April 1.Currently, 10% of HMSI’s distribution network in the western part of the country is closed on account of the restriction imposed by state governments to check the spread of the pandemic.“There is an impact on economic activity (due to the localised lockdowns). Earlier there were only night curfews. Now in many parts of Maharshtra, some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, there are day time restrictions. Our network is closed in these places which is affecting sales”, said Yadvinder Singh Guleria, director (marketing and sales) at HMSI. Guleria did not specify the quantum of the impact on sales. 81811677With retail ...

India is poised to become a manufacturing hub for Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, as it inches towards getting an approval from India’s drug regulator.“Russians have swept up unused manufacturing capacity. Many companies will be using their unused biological capacity to manufacture Sputnik V,” said a company insider, on the condition of anonymity. While 100 million doses can come immediately from Dr Reddy’s, this can go up sharply as Sputnik has signed agreements with companies like Gland, Virchow, Strides and Hetero, insiders said. The subject expert committee under the drug regulator is likely to take up an application of Dr Reddy's Laboratories to market Sputnik V on Thursday.It is indicative that companies like Serum Institute of India (SII), Panacea Biotec and Biocon may also get into manufacturing Sputnik, not immediately but down the line, a source said. “These companies have expressed interest and are exploring the making of Russian vaccine in India,” he added.Last we...

What is the expense ratio in a mutual fund scheme? This is a ratio that measures per unit cost of managing a fund. It is calculated by dividing the fund’s total expenses by its assets under management. There are various costs an AMC incurs that form part of the expense ratio. For example, the AMC has a fund management team that tracks companies in the portfolio. They make decisions to buy and sell securities to meet the objectives of the scheme. The fund house also incurs expenses, such as for transfer and registrar, custodian, legal, audit fees, and fees to be paid for marketing and distribution of its products. All such costs are recovered from its unit holders on a daily basis. The daily net asset values (NAVs) of a fund scheme are reported after deducting such expenses. Why is expense ratio higher for regular plans as compared with a direct plan? In a direct plan of a mutual fund scheme, you buy directly from the mutual fund company, whereas in a regular plan, you buy through a dis...

ET Intelligence Group: In a year when several large and small companies have altered their dividend policies, market regulator Sebi’s new rule extending the requirement of formulation of dividend distribution policy by the existing top 500 listed entities to the top 1,000 listed entities (based on market cap) has proved to be a timely move.Accumulated surpluses, excess liquidity with companies and limited opportunities to invest in the short-to-medium term are prompting companies to reward their shareholders handsomely.Last month, Bajaj Auto made changes to its dividend policy stipulating dividend distribution of up to 90 per cent when the surplus cash is over Rs 15,000 crore; up to 70 per cent in case of a surplus of Rs 7,500-15,000 crore and up to 50 per cent if the surplus is below Rs 7,500 crore.A month earlier, Hindalco outlined its new dividend policy of paying 8-10 per cent of its consolidated free cash flow to its shareholders, as against its earlier policy of paying out 10-30 ...

Mumbai: Indian authorities may be forced to impose lockdowns if the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise sharply, said JP Morgan.India is currently seeing a record daily surge in coronavirus cases amid the second wave of the pandemic that has plagued the world for over a year now.“The authorities have imposed some local restrictions to contain the proliferation of Covid-19, but they seem to be reluctant to impose hard lockdowns due to the economic costs,” said JP Morgan in a note. “However, if cases continue to rise sharply and medical infrastructure gets overwhelmed then the authorities may be forced to impose stringent lockdowns,” said the note.India's benchmark indices are down nearly 6 per cent from all-time high levels hit in mid-February. Rise in the US dollar, US 10-year treasury yields and a surge in coronavirus cases have been the key factors behind this fall.JP Morgan said the spike in new cases so far has been concentrated in a few states, particularly Maharasht...

The post-lockdown surge in purchases of home appliances and smartphones continued in the January to March quarter with many brands seeing high double-digit growth in sales. However, most companies are cautious about the June quarter, fearing wider curbs amid rising Covid-19 infections.Top white goods brands such as LG, Bosch, Siemens, Voltas, Panasonic, Lloyd and Godrej said their sales went up by up to 40% in the March quarter over the same period in 2019. In comparison to 2020 March quarter, sales growth was even higher for most brands since the national lockdown was enforced in March last year.In smartphones, market researcher Counterpoint said the January to March shipments in India will hit a new high for this period at about 34-36 million, growing by 13-16% over 2019 same quarter. If new 5G handset launches is driving smartphone sales, consumers are also upgrading their home appliances and automating daily chores as they are spending more time at home. Pent-up demand and rising t...

Auditors have asked companies using bespoke and standalone accounting software to shift to applications that wouldn’t allow them to change or delete any accounting entries, because auditors are now responsible for any such anomalies.Auditors are required to flag any transaction that is changed, tweaked or deleted by companies they audit as per new regulations applicable from April 1. Auditors will also be responsible for investigating and flagging certain accounting entries where companies may be dealing with related entities or individuals, according to the regulations notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).Many companies in India tend to delete old accounting entries and insert new ones as they come close to the end of a quarter. While often this is done for technical reasons, many suspect that some companies may be indulging in manipulating financial statements.81809951The government has said that from April, companies can only use an accounting system which has the fea...

The second round of polling in 2021 state elections in Assam (39 seats) and West Bengal (30 seats) will be held Thursday. The high point of this round in West Bengal is the contest between CM Mamata Banerjee and ex-colleague Suvendu Adhikari for the Nandigram seat. While TMC and BJP are contesting in all the 30 seats, CPM is in the fray in 15 and its alliance partners of Sanjukta Morcha, the Congress and ISF, are competing in nine and two seats, respectively. In Assam, there is a direct contest between the NDA and the Congress alliance in 25 constituencies, while the rest are witnessing triangular fights. 81806709 81806734 from Economic Times https://ift.tt/31yN3DH

Elon Musk-founded SpaceX Technologies’ bid for an initial India foray into satellite broadband faces its first challenge.An industry body representing the likes of Amazon, Hughes, Google, Microsoft and Facebook has written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) asking them to stop SpaceX from pre-selling the beta version of its Starlink satellite internet services in India. It claimed SpaceX didn’t have licence or authorisation from the government to offer such services in the country.“We request you to urgently intervene to protect fair competition and adherence to existing policy and regulatory norms,” Broadband India Forum president TV Ramachandran said in the letters, seen by ET.Trai to Look into IssueA senior Trai official said that the matter would be examined.SpaceX, which is set to compete in the global satcom space with Jeff Bezos-led Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Bharti Group-backed OneWeb, has started offering the ...

New tax and financial rules, laws come into effect from April 1, 2021 - the start of the new financial year. Here is a look at all the changes that will impact your money in FY 2021-22.Tax on PF interestAs announced in the Budget 2021, if deposits in Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) by an employee exceed Rs 2.5 lakh in a financial year, then the interest earned on the contributions exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh will be taxable in the hands of an employee. Further, in case there is no contribution by the employer to the EPF account (usually in case of government employees), then interest will be tax-exempt for the deposits up to Rs 5 lakh in a financial year.Thus, in the new financial year to avoid tax on the PF interest, ensure that the deposits in your EPF account do not exceed the specified limits mentioned above.Also Read: Higher PF deposits limit of Rs 5 lakh is applicable to this sector of employeesAlso Read: Should you stop investing in VPF? Reductio...

If you still have not completed your tax-saving exercise for the financial year 2020-21, then you should hurry up as today, March 31, 2021 is the last date to do it. Remember, if the tax-saving related investments and expenditures are not made by you by today, then your tax liability will be on the higher side for the FY 2020-21.Do keep in mind that effective from FY 2020-21, an individual has the option to choose between the old/existing tax regime and new tax regime. If an individual opts for the old/existing tax regime, then the individual will be eligible to claim the tax-exemptions such as house rent allowance, leave travel concession/LTC Cash Voucher Scheme and deductions under sections such as 80C (maximum up to Rs 1.5 lakh in financial year), 80D (deduction on the medical policy premium paid), 80E (Interest paid on education loan) etc.Let us see how much your tax liability will increase if you do not make tax-saving investments. Suppose your total income in the financial year i...

Facebook said it was taking steps to combat hate speech and misinformation in India as the world's biggest democracy started its months-long multi-phase elections in four big states. "We recognize that there are certain types of content, such as hate speech, that could lead to imminent, offline harm," the social networking giant said in a blog post dated March 30. India is Facebook's biggest market by users. Its WhatsApp chat service is among the most popular in the country, counting around 500 million users alone. Facebook has been under fire globally for alleged lapses in controlling hate speech. In the United States, the social media giant put a months-long freeze on political, electoral and social ads to crack down on misinformation and abuses around the Nov. 3 presidential elections. In India, the company's top lobbyist quit last year after a Wall Street Journal report suggested the way the social media network regulated political content in the country favou...

China faced mounting pressure Wednesday over the investigation into the origins of Covid-19, after the WHO chief revived a theory it may have leaked from a Chinese lab and the United States led concerns over data access. A report by WHO and Chinese experts released on Tuesday had judged the lab-leak hypothesis highly unlikely, saying the virus behind Covid-19 had probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary animal. China warmly welcomed the report, seeing it as confirmation of its handling of the investigation following allegations it had tried to delay and then restrict it. The report also initially appeared to back China's firm rejection of theories that the pandemic may have been triggered by a leak from a virology lab in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus first emerged. But WHO chief Teodros Ghebreyesus on Tuesday reopened the lab leak theory, as he raised concerns about the level of access China provided to the experts during their visit to Wuhan in Jan...

We are back in a situation where again the Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly. But we do not think we are going to get back into any kind of a major nationwide lockdown. We have learnt from the lessons of the pandemic, says Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA to Tamanna Inamdar of ET NOW. Edited excerpts:You have seen cases rising consistently since about the middle of February this year and now we have come to a situation where we are going back to what we saw a year ago, maybe even worse in terms of total number doubling days etc. Do you think this will have a similar impact on economic recovery?Aditi Nayar: Absolutely. In the last few weeks - there has been a surge in Covid-19 infections and it is limited to some states but they are very important states as far as the overall economic activity is concerned. The fallout is that we are back in a situation where there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the near term output. It has been a year since the nationwide lockdown was announce...

Even though municipalities have always been important determinants of citizens’ wellbeing, their powers had been gradually encroached upon by the upper tiers of the federal structure through the 20th century. Though the intent of the 74th Amendment was to undo that damage, in spirit not much seems to have been achieved. Almost 30 years after the Amendment, they still stand at the crossroads, unable to wield their governance structures to solve the complex needs of their citizens. What ails our municipalities? Who runs our cities? What needs to be done to transform their effectiveness, responsiveness and agility? These are questions that as Indians, we all need to find answers to collectively. A collective search for answers, needs to be in the form of an informed debate. It is important that data about their performance is collected on common, comparable benchmarks and disseminated to people to begin that process. The accelerated rate of urbanization taking place in India demands bette...

An increasing number of large companies and conglomerates are undertaking ‘job swapping’ or ‘rebadging’ of professionals, in order to retain experienced professionals as the pandemic has led organisations to start consolidating and reinventing businesses.HR consultants said 50-60% of the clients or organisations — including traditional conglomerates — they are working with are looking at realignment of internal people resources into newer roles and functions.The idea is to absorb people who know the organisation ethos well — which cannot be derived through hiring externally — and have a proven degree of competency and efficiency, in emerging roles and functions. This provides an opportunity to retain and reskill experienced hands instead of letting go of talent, said experts.“Several companies across sectors are reallocating and reassigning employees into different functions and job roles, a trend that has particularly skyrocketed post pandemic,” said Anshul Prakash, partner, Khaitan ...

The world breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday as the Ever Given, a colossal container ship, was freed from the Suez Canal. But we shouldn't celebrate just yet. The Ever Given brought traffic through one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors to a halt for almost a week, at a cost of roughly $10 billion a day.Every day the Ever Given blocked the Canal compounded the problem as containers already booked on future voyages sat in stranded ships and supply chains began to break down. The US Department of Defense has offered to help in the recovery, and that assistance should include addressing Suez security more broadly. The Ever Given can serve as a wake-up call to bring the canal’s security architecture into the 21st century and ensure that it continues to fulfill its historic role as the vital channel between Europe, Africa and Asia. While proposals for physical upgrades to the Suez are already being proffered, a less-discussed issue is that the current legal architectu...