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The Mint June 21, 2020 Posted by  Asit Ranjan Mishra The last time India’s current account turned positive was in the March quarter of 2006-07 at $4.2 billion. For the full year, current account was positive for three consecutive years from 2001-02 to 2003-04. With significant slump in domestic economic activity due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown that has significantly curtailed imports, the finance ministry expects the country’s current account balance to turn surplus in the June quarter of FY21 after a gap of 12 years. The last time India’s current account turned positive was in the March quarter of 2006-07 at $4.2 billion. However, for the full year, current account was positive for three consecutive years from 2001-02 to 2003-04. India's CAD narrowed to 0.2% of GDP in December quarter of FY20 from 0.9% during the September quarter on the back of lower trade deficit and rise in net service receipts. Data for the March quarter is expected to be re...

The Mint June 21, 2020 Posted by  Clifford Alvares Most of the small and mid-caps are showing the huge impact of the pandemic on their scrawny figures as the coming two quarters will be washouts Investors should be circumspect on some of companies where cashflows are low For the stock markets, next week will mark the expiry of the June series derivative contracts. The expiry will provide how much of the sentiment will stay on the positive side after reopening the economy. Stocks are building some momentum on the upside as investors have started to look at how much earnings can be recovered. One can see that the clash at the at the Indo-China border was quickly put behind. The grim economic news coming from the US is also now on the backburner. But then sentiments may be running a bit ahead of the economic reality. The run-up in the small and mid-cap stocks are a case in the point. The the BSE Small Cap index gained about 3.7% compared to the 2.8% gains of th...

LiveMint June 21, 2020 Posted by  Elizabeth Roche ·         Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday gave his go-ahead to the new tactical approach to be adopted ·         The new tactical approach to be taken up by the Indian Army may include staggered movement of patrols in key areas of the LAC India on Sunday hit the reset button on the rules of engagement with Chinese troops along the entire stretch of the 3,488-kilometre long border, with the Indian Army given the green signal to respond appropriately to any provocation. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday gave his go-ahead to the new tactical approach to be adopted, a persn o  familiar with the development said, which came against the backdrop of the 15 June “violent faceoff" between Indian and Chinese troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Singh’s approval was conveyed in a meeting he held on Sunday with Chief of Defence...

Business Standard June 22, 2020 Posted by Shrimi Choudhary Home Ministry received more than 20 proposals for foreign direct investment, including from China and Hong Kong, requiring security clearance between April and May.   In sync with the current sentiment, the Union home ministry is likely to stall security clearance to a clutch of Chinese companies seeking to invest in India, according to officials close to the development. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) received more than 20 proposals for foreign direct investment (FDI), including from China and Hong Kong, requiring security clearance between April and May. “We are vetting some of these proposals which have come from various sectors. Reference:  https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/watching-the-dragon-half-a-dozen-chinese-fdi-proposals-may-be-on-hold-120062100822_1.html

The Telegraph June 18, 2020 Th e RBI has defined the businesses or qualifying assets that can be financed by housing finance companies as it invited public comments for a new set of rules governing HFCs which were brought under its control in August 2019 from the purview of the National Housing Bank. The RBI has proposed 11 activities or qualifying assets that come under housing finance: these include loans to individuals or group of individuals including co-operative societies for the construction or purchase of new dwelling units; loans to individuals for the purchase of old dwelling units; loans to individuals for the purchase of old or new dwelling units by mortgaging existing dwelling units; and loans to individuals for renovation or reconstruction of existing dwelling units. It also covers lending to builders for the construction of residential dwelling units and loans given for slum improvement schemes. At least 50 per cent of the net assets — total assets excludi...

Business Standard June 18, 2020 Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that WHO recommends immunizing people at risk first, including the elderly and those with underlying conditions like diabetes or respiratory disease, as well as key workers The chief scientist at the World Health Organization says the agency hopes there will be about 2 billion doses of a vaccine against Covid-19 by the end of next year that would be reserved for priority populations. Swaminathan told a press briefing: It's a big if because we don't have any vaccine that's proven. She said that because of the numerous vaccine candidates currently being tested, WHO hoped at least some might prove ready for use next year. Swaminathan said that WHO recommends immunizing people at risk first, including the elderly and those with underlying conditions like diabetes or respiratory disease, as well as key workers. But Swaminathan noted that there was still no strategy regarding any possible global distribution o...

The Hindu June 18, 2020 The first deadly face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in more than four decades adds another layer of uncertainty to companies already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic on both sides of the border. The clashes that left 20 Indian soldiers dead, along with an unknown number of Chinese casualties, followed a seven-week military standoff between the two nuclear-armed powers. While India in a statement late Tuesday said it remains committed to peace on the border with China, an escalation risks disruption for firms from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Xiaomi Corp. to Tata Motors Ltd. that have customers -- and investors -- in two of the worlds biggest economies. A gamut of companies importing parts or capital from China will have to find alternative sources quickly if tensions escalate, said Aneesh Srivastava, chief investment officer at Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. The makers of white goods, luggage bags, auto components and some of the...

The Telegraph 19 June 2020 India on Wednesday sailed through the elections for non-permanent members to the UN Security Council, bagging 184 of the 192 votes to represent Asia-Pacific on the high table in 2021 and 2022. This is the eighth time that India has been elected to the non-permanent membership of the UNSC since Independence; the first being in 1950-51 soon after Independence when the country was still trying to find its feet but punched way above its weight on the global stage because of the non-violent freedom struggle against colonialism that triggered similar movements. India was elected unopposed as there was no other candidate from Asia-Pacific after Afghanistan withdrew in India’s favour in 2013. Briefing mediapersons, secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, Vikas Swarup, refused to be drawn into speculating on the eight votes that did not come India’s way despite the fact that both China and Pakistan had supported its candidacy. “It was a se...

Hindustan Times 19 June 2020 Data posted on India’s Beijing embassy website, which it sourced to China’s customs department, showed total bilateral trade between Jan and Nov 2019 at $84.3 billion, a drop of nearly 3.2% from the previous year’s $ 95.7 billion. The deadly border skirmishes between India and China have cast a cloud over trade relations, which have seen the latter rapidly expand its footprint in the Indian economy, spanning infrastructure, physical goods and hi-tech, with the value of total bilateral trade surging 20% in the last six years, according to official data. At least some of this surge, experts admit, has come at the cost of local industry. Chinese firms have ploughed huge investments into some of the country’s most iconic tech brands, such as the ride-hailing service Ola, a fintech company Paytm, food-delivery app Zomato and e-commerce platform Flipkart. How large are Chinese investments in India and what do the two countries trade in? Mapping these...

Hindustan Times 19 June 2020 Posted by: Harshit Sabarwal In a statement, Ambani said Reliance raised Rs 1.15 lakh crore from global tech investors by selling a little less than a quarter of the firm’s digital arm, Jio Platforms Ltd, and another Rs 53,124.20 crore through a rights issue. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Friday said his flagship firm Reliance Industries is now net-debt free after a record Rs 1.69 lakh crore fund raising in under two months. In a statement, Ambani said Reliance raised Rs 1.15 lakh crore from global tech investors by selling a little less than a quarter of the firm’s digital arm, Jio Platforms Ltd, and another Rs 53,124.20 crore through a rights issue. The company had a net-debt of Rs 1.61 lakh crore as on March 31, 2020. “I have fulfilled my promise to the shareholders by making Reliance net-debt free much before our original schedule of March 31, 2021,” he said. Reference:  https://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/reliance-is-net-deb...

Hindustan Times 19 June, 2020 Posted by Kanishka Sarkar Top US trade representative on Thursday said the administration is negotiating with India over its status under trade preference programme Generalized System of Preferences. The US is mulling over restoring India’s beneficiary status under its trade preference programme Generalized System of Preferences on receiving a counterbalancing proposal from New Delhi, a top Trump ministration official told lawmakers on Thursday. The United States US is currently negotiating with India for it, he added.  “We’re in negotiations with India, we took away their GSP, and we’re in the process of restoring it if we can get an adequate counterbalancing proposal from them,” US trade representative Robert Lighthizer told members of the Senate Finance Committee.  “Till now, we haven’t done that. But this is something that we’re actually actively negotiating right now,” Lighthizer said, responding to a question from Senator Mari...

Hindustan Times June 19, 2020 The Railway Ministry’s announcement came three days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed as hundreds of troops from India and China fought with iron rods and clubs studded with nails in Ladakh. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) is in the process of terminating a contract given to a Chinese firm in 2016 because of delays in the signalling and telecommunication work assigned to it, the railway ministry said on Thursday. The decision to terminate the Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal & Communication’s contract was taken in April due to the firm’s “slow progress” in the work, officials said. The ministry’s announcement came three days after 20  Indian soldiers were killed  as hundreds of troops from India and China fought with iron rods and clubs studded with nails in Ladakh. India is mulling economic measures, including limiting China’s access to its vast market, i...

HIndustan Times 19 June 2020 Posted by: Shivani Kumar President Donald Trump has been eager for a full US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asserting that American forces are merely policing a civil conflict and should be brought home. The war began in October 2001.  The United Stat es has reduced its troop presence in Afghanistan to 8,600, fulfilling its obligation as part of a February deal with the Taliban, the general who oversees American forces in that region said Thursday. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie gave no indication of when, or at what pace, US forces would be further reduced. He noted that the February deal requires the US to fully withdraw its forces by next May, but he called that an “aspirational” commitment that would depend on certain actions by the Taliban.  President Donald Trump has been eager for a full US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asserting that American forces are merely policing a civil conflict and should be brought home. The war began in Octob...

Hindustan Times 19 June 2020 Posted by Prashasti Singh The criticism of Michael Pack is unusual because it’s coming from supporters of President Donald Trump who had backed his controversial nomination to run the US Agency for Global Media over staunch Democratic objections. The new chief of US-funded global media is facing a conservative backlash over his decision to fire the heads of two international broadcasters, adding to concerns about the direction of the agency, which oversees the Voice of America and other outlets. The criticism of Michael Pack, who defended his personnel moves, is unusual because it’s coming from supporters of President Donald Trump who had backed his controversial nomination to run the US Agency for Global Media over staunch Democratic objections. Trump allies, including former adviser Sebastian Gorka, have offered public support for the ousted head of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Alberto Fernandez, while others have taken i...