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Business Standard January 06, 2020 India's services sector activity gained momentum and touched a five-month high in December, supported by uptick in new business orders that boosted output as well as employment, a monthly survey showed on Monday. The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index improved from 52.7 in November to 53.3 in December, highlighting the second-strongest rate of increase in output in over a year, after July. "The  news  of sustained job creation, robust new order growth and a pick-up in business confidence suggest that expansion can be maintained in the early part of 2020," said Pollyanna de Lima, Principal Economist at IHS Markit. Survey members linked the rise to better market conditions and new business growth. Moreover, total sales expanded for the third consecutive month at the end of the year, and at the quickest pace since October 2016. On the prices front, input costs increased further in December, with

Financial Times December 19, 2019 Author: Dan McCrum At the heart of Wirecard’s Asian accounting scandal is a simple question: why did the German company agree to pay around €300m for an Indian business only weeks after it changed hands for €37m? That 2015 acquisition, which handed huge profits to a Mauritian intermediary, is at the centre of criticism from short sellers, who question whether it was part of a giant fraud to inflate Wirecard’s sales and profits. The task of examining the deal is expected to fall to KPMG, appointed in October by Wirecard to conduct a special audit into controversies which have this year knocked billions of euros from the market value of the Dax-30 technology group that many see as the next SAP. Wirecard is suspected of “round-tripping”, where sales and profits are faked by sending money to a third party, who then uses it to buy goods and services from the sender in a pretence of real commerce.  Singapore prosecutors said in March that ei

First Post January 07, 2020 The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has asked the Directorate General of Foreign Trade to make the accreditation system for star exporters more robust to curb tax fraud. "Since an exporter enjoying 'star' status is allowed many facilities, including reduced customs inspections, it makes for a strong case for DGFT to continuously (or annually) seek a compliance and verification report from other regulators or obligate the exporters to produce statutory records of compliance, including certifications from the banks of No NPAs," the CBIC said in a letter to the DGFT earlier this month. The move comes following investigations into the mis-availment of IGST refunds by certain exporters holding 'star' status. In its drive to check fraudulent availment of IGST refunds, the CBIC has extensively used data analytics and matched data with income tax, GST and customs to identify risky exporters. "Ongo

The Indian Express January 07, 2020 The Chinese army has begun major military exercises in the high-altitude Tibet bordering India, deploying latest weapons including the Type 15 light battle tank and the new 155-MM vehicle-mounted howitzer, a media report said on Sunday. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Command started its New Year exercises in which it has deployed helicopters, armoured vehicles, heavy artillery and anti-aircraft missiles across the region from Lhasa, capital of Tibet, to the border defence front lines with elevations of more than 4,000 metres, state-run Global Times reported. India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) covered 3,488 kilometres, including the border along Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet. Both the tank and howitzer, which were revealed to the public on the National Day military parade on October 1 last year, are

The Hindu January 06, 2020 Author: Palak Shah Do traders in stock market today remember the drone attack on Saudi Aramco’s oil facility in September 2019? It was the first such major strike, allegedly from Iran soil, against one of West Asia’s most powerful country. However, after an initial knee-jerk reaction, calm returned to global stock markets, and they even hit new record levels in the following weeks. The US killing of Iranian Major Geneneral Qassim Suleimani in an air strike is somewhat similar event for the stock markets currently. India's benchmark equity index Sensex and Nifty have seen a fall of more than 1 per cent, without any other major news other than the US-Iran tension. The Sensex fell nearly 700 points and Nifty was down over 200 points. A key reason for this is the expectation of a sharp rise in global crude oil prices, which could hurt India badly, as the nation is one of the world’s largest importer of the commodity. Also, traders fear flight of