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The Hindu: May 10, 2019 The Finance Ministry on Friday clarified that the ‘missing’ enterprises in the MCA-21 database did not have a significant impact on the calculation of growth rates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Value Added (GVA) as these companies still added to the total output of the economy. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in a recent survey report on the service sector found that, of a sample of 35,456 companies taken from the MCA-21 database, 38.7% were out-of-survey unit. “Some sections of the media have misinterpreted these out-of-survey enterprises (as classified for the purposes of surveying the services sector) to be enterprises that do not exist in the economy,” the clarification said. “On the basis of this interpretation, the suggestion has emerged that by not removing out-of-survey enterprises from the MCA database, Central Statistics Office (CSO) over-estimates the gross domestic product of the country.” The Finance Mini

The Hindu: May 10, 2019 Growth in industrial activity dipped to a 21-month low in March, contracting 0.1% due in large part to a continuing slowdown in the manufacturing sector, according to official data released on Friday. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted in March for the first time since June 2013. To further put this contraction in perspective, the IIP grew a robust 5.33% in the same month of last year, and 4.39% in March 2017. Within this, the manufacturing sector contracted by 0.43% in March, the second consecutive month of contraction (it contracted 0.39% in February) and the third consecutive month of slowing growth. “The broad signals for the economy is a continuing slowdown and this is confirmed both from the output side and signals from the demand side,” said D.K. Srivastava, chief policy adviser, EY India. “The IIP numbers are giving the output profile of contraction and on the demand side, the sales of different sectors have been

The Indian Express, PTI, May 07, 2019 China is using its government power through the Belt and Road Initiative to achieve its national security objective, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged Monday, asserting that the Trump administration is leading global efforts to inform countries about the “predatory” Chinese economics. The Trump administration has been extremely critical of President Xi Jinping’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is of the view that China’s “predatory financing” is leaving smaller counties under huge debt endangering their sovereignty. Advertising “The Chinese effort to the Belt and Road activities is about using government power to achieve national security objectives,” Pompeo told reporters travelling with him in Finland. Noting that the US has said all along that it has a huge economic interest in China’s success and vice versa, Pompeo said the BRI needs to be transparent. “It’s got to be on a free and open basis. It

Economic Times: Kritika Suneja: May 08, 2019 US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross pulled no punches while accusing India of creating market access barriers and a discriminatory regulatory regime against foreign companies. US President Donald Trump has called India ‘tariff king’.  ET  explains the US charges and the factual position:   Link:  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/a-look-at-us-charges-on-india-tariff-and-facts/articleshow/69241711.cms

Economic Times: Bloomberg:  Wealthy investors around the world are holding a relatively high level of cash, and perhaps they’ve become too cautious, according to UBS.  The world’s largest wealth manager said 32% of high-net-worth portfolios are in cash, in a survey released on May 7.  In Asia and Latin America, the portion was 36%, compared with 31% in Switzerland and 35% in the rest of Europe. The outlier: the US at just 23%.  “Cash is a safe asset for a liquidity strategy but a risky one for longevity,” Paula Polito, client strategy officer at the Swiss bank’s Global Wealth Management unit, said.  “We see high levels of cash globally. This is a good time for investors to consider a more diversified portfolio.” Those holdings dovetail with evidence about the rally in global equities, which shows investors have been keeping some money on the sidelines even as stocks have risen solidly in 2019.  In February, Goldman Sachs Group said Asian funds were positioned al

The Hindu, Business Line, May 07, 2019 CAI trims crop estimate to 315 lakh bales, much lower than 365 lakh bales last year Amid a severe shortage of the fibre crop, India's cotton imports are set to more than double to 31 lakh bales (each of 170 kg) this year as compared to 15 lakh bales reported last year. The imports this year will set a new milestone after 2016 when the country imported a record 29 lakh bales of cotton.                            On Tuesday, the Cotton Association of India (CAI) made this import projection after it trimmed crop estimate to 315 lakh bales, about 6 lakh bales lesser than its previous estimate . Last year, cotton crop stood at 365 lakh bales. The drop is attributed to acute water shortage in the growing regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka and uprooting of cotton plants by farmers in about 70-80 per cent of area without waiting for 3rd and 4th rounds of picking. CAI President Atul Ganatra said, “International cotton

Indian Express: May 11, 2019 Clarifying on the findings of a technical committee that has found gaps in number of services sector companies, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Wednesday said the GDP estimates announced so far are not affected. It added that an official committee will examine the NSSO’s technical report on services sector enterprises for July 2016-June 2017. The clarification comes after a technical report by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has stated that over one-third of the service sector companies forming part of MCA-21 database, used in computing GDP, could not be either identified or traced in the field. The technical report based on a survey of service sector enterprises was done as a prelude to the proposed Annual Survey on Services Sector. “It is emphasised that there is no impact on the existing GDP/GVA estimates for the corporate sector as due care is taken to appropriately adjust the corporate filings at t

The Indian Express: May 11, 2019 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the 15th Finance Commission, headed by N K Singh, on Wednesday discussed the necessity of setting up State Finance Commissions (SFC) for respective state governments and public sector borrowing requirements. Key issues raised by Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das and Singh were discussed in detail at a meeting between the finance panel members and the RBI officials. The meeting also discussed the continuity of the Finance Commission. “It was felt that this was required more in view of the fiscal management requirements of the States, especially given the absence of mid-term reviews of awards granted by the Finance Commission, as it used to happen earlier with the awards granted by the Planning Commission,” an official statement said. The RBI and the Finance Commission also discussed about expenditure codes, especially given that expenditure norms vary from state to state, and the role of state

The Hindu, May 07, 2019 The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) has raised serious concerns over rising illegal import of cashew kernels, saying this has hit the crisis-ridden domestic industry. CEPCI pointed out that large scale imports of low-quality, plain cashew kernels from competing countries such as Vietnam, Mozambique and Ivory Coast have led to closure of several cashew factories that provides gainful employment to more than 10 lakh workers, majority of them are women. According to R.K.Bhoodes, Chairman, CEPCI, plain cashew kernels that falls under chapter 8 of the customs tariff is levied a basic customs duty of 45 per cent. Also, the minimum import prices of  ₹ 288/kg for broken grades and  ₹ 400/kg for whole cashew are fixed and 45 per cent of the same is levied as the basic customs duty for imports . However, roasted cashew kernels and further value-added cashew products which comes under chapter 20 of the customs tariff under various Free Trade Ag

The Indian Express: May 11, 2019 Banks are expected to realise more than Rs 80,000 crore in FY20 from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) compared to about Rs 66,000 crore realised in FY19, says a report. The higher realisation in FY2020 would be driven by the expected conclusion of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of two large accounts, Essar Steel Ltd and Bhushan Steel and Power Ltd, according to ICRA Ratings. Both these accounts are part of the Reserve Bank of India’s list of the 12 largest defaulting companies announced in June 2017. The progress of the CIRP under the IBC has been hampered over the past two years by the over-burdened NCLTs, innumerable litigations, defiant promoters and failing sectors. Even then, the process under the IBC has chugged on, albeit at a slower pace than envisioned. As of March 2019, 715 cases of defaulting corporate debtors had been closed under the IBC. Of the same, a significant portion of corporate debto

Business Line, Twesh Mishra, May 07, 2019 Outcome of brainstorming meet held by MNRE to form the base for policy tweaks Players in the country’s renewable energy sector have collectively red-flagged delays in land acquisition, ramping down of power and transmission constraints among other issues at the first ‘ Chintan Baithak’  called by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). “The outcome of this meeting will form the bedrock for policy changes that will be highlighted before the coming government to help boost the renewable energy sector,” an MNRE official conducting the stakeholder discussion told  BusinessLine . Last Tuesday, MNRE Secretary Anand Kumar tweeted that a  ‘Chintan Baithak’  (a brainstorming session) is being held with all stakeholders to review the progress made in the sector so far and to deliberate upon new and innovative ideas for catalysing the growth of this sector. Payment issues Stakeholders present in the meeting said that the age-old is

The Indian Express: May 11, 2019 Hours after the Supreme Court issued notices in a PIL seeking action against NGO Lawyers Collective and senior advocates Indira Jaising and Anand Grover on Wednesday in connection with an alleged foreign funding norms violation, the NGO alleged that it is “victimisation” on account of Jaising “taking up the issue of procedure adopted in relation to the allegations of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India.” Lawyers Collective said Jaising had been “publicly vocal on the issue of due process of law in relation to the conduct of the in-house inquiry. The Chief Justice ought to have recused himself from hearing the matter.” “It has come to our knowledge that a notice has been issued….by the Supreme Court of India in a petition filed by one ‘Lawyers Voice’, in which we are made respondents along with the Union of India. It appears that the petitioner has asked for criminal prosecution against us. Though a notice has been issued t

The Indian Express: May 11, 2019 IN ITS chargesheet filed last week against Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), the Enforcement Directorate has relied on a statement of a close aide of the controversial preacher, claiming that one of his media companies was sold in 2017 due to the “negative publicity” in the Indian media and an economic slow down in the Middle East. The ED had recorded multiple statements of Najmuddin Sathak, an alleged Naik aide, who was arrested in March this year. The ED has claimed that Sathak, a Tamil Nadu-based jeweller, was one of the directors of the Dubai-based Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBS), which telecasts Naik’s speeches through Peace TV and other content provided by Naik’s Harmony Media Private Limited. According to the ED, a probe had shown that the GBS was established in 2006 and was linked to Naik. In his statement recorded on March 28, 2018, Sathak told the ED that GBS maintained a strict, ethical standard for a

Business Line, Amiti Sen, May 07, 2019 US Commerce Secretary Ross also conveys displeasure over ‘unstable’ e-comm policy The US has indicated that it will not withdraw the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) scheme offering duty free access to over 3,000 Indian products till the ongoing general elections in India are over and a new government is in place. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in his meeting with Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, also expressed concerns over the “unstable’’ e-commerce policy of the government, which was adversely affecting US companies that have invested in India, an official close to the development told  BusinessLine . “While the US did not include the GSP issue officially in its agenda for the meetings with the Finance Minister and the Commerce Minister, the team indicated clearly that India need not worry about the scheme getting withdrawn till the general elections are over and a new government is sworn in. This is possibly to give the