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The Quint S D Muni September 30, 2019 The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Nepal, is unfolding its hidden colours and contours. BRI, in South Asia — commonly understood as an infra-structure initiative — is much more than that, and includes a long term strategic plan to integrate the targeted countries economically, culturally and — if possible — even ideologically. The ideological front of BRI was opened on 23 and 24 September, with a two-day symposium organised in Kathmandu by the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the Communist party of China (CPC). A huge delegation came from Beijing under the leadership of the Chief of International Liaison Department of the CPC, Tong So, for an interaction with the NCP on “President Xi Jinping’s thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”. The top brass of the NCP, and a large number of its cadre, participated. Inaugurating the symposium, Nepal’s Prime Minister O...

Financial Express October 03, 2019 India has managed to leverage digital technology to usher in socio-economic equity and growth in the last 10 years. Digital technologies are key to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to make India a $5-trillion economy. The Digital India initiative launched in 2015 has helped improve the delivery of government support and public services. The software industry has revolutionised India in more ways than one. Apart from creating millions of jobs, it also helped the central and state governments to improve governance. The focus on digitising various welfare schemes, creating a robust database and having a universal identifier in Aadhaar helped the government target its welfare efforts and save crores of rupees. Improved delivery of welfare expenditure is expected to have a multiplier effect on economic growth and welfare. With its more than 1.3 billion population, India had no option but to embrace digitisation to optimise r...

BusinessLine Suresh P Iyengar October 03, 2019 Tata Steel has walked away with a profit of  ₹ 5,000 crore made by Bhushan Steel during the insolvency period stretching over 18 months. This contrasts with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ruling that the profit made by Bhushan Power and Steel during the insolvency period belongs to the financial and operational creditors. JSW Steel moves NCLAT JSW Steel, the winning bidder of Bhushan Power, has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the NCLT’s order. As of May 18, the current assets of Bhushan Steel were  ₹ 7,909 crore, while its current liabilities were  ₹ 2,742 crore. Therefore, the net current assets bagged by Tata Steel after the insolvency proceeding were  ₹ 5,168 crore. Bhushan Steel had inventories of  ₹ 4,219 crore and trade receivables of  ₹ 1,288 crore when Tata Steel officially took over the company. Tata Steel also inherited non-current assets, ...

Firstpost Madan Sabnavis, Oct 03, 19 The MPC is officially supposed to target CPI inflation which remains in the comfort zone of 3-3.2 percent which is less than the 4 percent benchmark With inflation being less of a worry today, the RBI has now explicitly stated over the last few policies that growth has to be tackled, which is in alignment with the government's concern Fiscal stimulus through spending may be more effective until it prods inflation upwards and hence cannot be used without limit It is almost a foregone conclusion that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will go for at least 25 bps cut in the repo rate based on what the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decides. It is foregone because it is logical given the developments that have taken place in the last month or so. The markets hence should not really be surprised and it is possible that the yields on bonds may not move much. Let us first see what will be driving this decision. The MPC is officia...

Firstpost FP Staff, October 03, 2019 The announcement came during a conference call with investors and analysts following a heavy plunge in the bank's share price over the past few sessions.  The bank scrip had dipped to historic lows and lost 22 percent of its value just on Tuesday to close at a low Rs 32, down from a high of Rs 404 in August 2018 when RBI asked Rana Kapoor to leave the bank  Yes Bank CEO Ravneet Gill's comments before the markets opened lifted the stock, though, rallying over 34 percent on the BSE Mumbai:  Rajat Monga, the senior group president and former chief financial officer at the troubled lender Yes Bank, has quit, chief executive Ravneet Gill said on Thursday. The announcement came during a conference call with investors and analysts following a heavy plunge in the bank's share price over the past few sessions. The bank scrip had dipped to historic lows and lost 22 percent of its value just on Tuesday to close at a low Rs 32,...

The Quint Oct 02, 2019 Korean tech giant Samsung, on Wednesday, 2 October, confirmed that it has ended mobile production in China, citing challenge faced from domestic rivals in the world's biggest market, a Reuters report said. The shutdown of the company's last factory comes after it cut the production at the plant in the city of Huizhou in June and suspended another factory last year, giving the same reason, the report said. Apart from Samsung, Sony also announced a complete shutdown of manufacturing smartphones in China, saying it will make phones in Thailand instead. “The production equipment will be re-allocated to other global manufacturing sites, depending on our global production strategy based on market needs," Reuters quoted the company as saying. On the other hand, Samsung has already expanded smartphone production in lower-cost countries, such as India and Vietnam in the recent years. https://www.thequint.com/tech-and-auto/tech-news/samsung-e...

Live Mint Reuters, July 09, 2019 Tokyo:  Oil fell on Tuesday amid worries over the outlook for demand after the latest signs that international trade disputes have been dragging on the global economy, although the potential for conflicts in the Middle East offered support to prices. Brent crude futures were down 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.90 a barrel by 0343 GMT. They fell 12 cents on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $57.41 a barrel. They rose 15 cents in the previous session. Oil prices are being pressured by ongoing worries about demand as the US-China trade war, heading into its second year, dampens prospects for global economic growth, which strongly impacts oil demand growth. The countries are the world's two largest oil consumers. Japan's core machinery orders fell by the most in eight months, data showed on Monday, in a sign the global trade tensions are taking a toll on corporate investment. Japanese governm...

Financial Express April 18, 2019 How Mukesh Ambani’s deal with Saudi Aramco would help RIL; top brokerages explain Even as the giant deal between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and world’s most profitable firm Saudi Aramco continues to hog limelight, analysts say that the potential deal will help RIL in de-risking and de-leveraging. The possible deal with Saudi Aramco could derisk RIL’s energy business in the long-term and could accelerate its deleveraging plans in the near term. Even as the giant pact between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and world’s most profitable firm Saudi Aramco continues to hog limelight, analysts say that the potential deal will help RIL in de-risking and de-leveraging. According to global firm HSBC, the possible deal could derisk RIL’s energy business in the long-term and could accelerate its deleveraging plans in the near term. HSBC has retained a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares with a target price of Rs 1,500. Reliance Industries ...

The Economic Times By Archana Chaudhary April 18, 2019 The RBI made a surprise U-turn on monetary policy this year under new Governor Shaktikanta Das after food prices fell.  India’s new government should review the central bank’s inflation goals, including whether consumer prices or the underlying core measure is the appropriate target to use to determine interest rates, an economic adviser to the current prime minister said.  Speaking in his personal capacity, and not as a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Economic Advisory Council, Rathin Roy said the Reserve Bank of India’s inflation target should be relooked at after the elections, given that the current mandate expires at the end of March 2021. The RBI’s goal is to keep inflation at 4 percent over the medium term.  We need to decide what sort of macroeconomic framework we want going forward,” said Roy, who is director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in New Delhi....

Economic Times April 18, 2019 India has a dangerous addiction to imported crude, and it should be wary of getting too cozy with its dealer.  t’s funny how friendly someone gets when they’re trying to sell you something.  Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is doing its best to make nice with one of its biggest customers. With the ink barely dry on the takeover of 70 percent of the country’s chemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and the issuance of its first-ever corporate bond, Aramco is looking to buy a stake in the world’s biggest oil refinery.  Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is seeking to sell as much as a quarter of its refining business for at least $10 billion and is entertaining offers from Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News this week.  That represents quite a prize. Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery is about twice the size of the biggest U.S. plant, Aramco-owned Port Arthur...

The Economic times April 17, 2019 Th IL&FS group has a total debt of Rs 94,216 crore. The appellate tribunal bench said it would pass its order on RBI’s plea on April 29.  Banks must reflect defaults of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Group companies as non-performing assets in their accounts, the Reserve Bank of India said in a submission to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, seeking a modification of its previous order.  NCLAT had in February prohibited banks from recognising any IL&FS group accounts as non-performing assets without first seeking approval from the tribunal.  RBI counsel Gopal Jain on Tuesday said allowing banks to recognise NPAs in their accounts would not impede the resolution process for the IL&FS group. “There is a criteria by which after 90 days (of default) they have to reflect it (NPA) in their books of accounts,” Jain said. “This circular has been upheld in the Supreme Court.”  ...