QBiz: Jaitley Against Protectionism; Infosys Slammed Over H1-B

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Infosys has been slammed by the US over alleged cheating in H-1B lottery system. (Photo: Reuters)

1. Arun Jaitley in US: Rise in Protectionism Will Hurt Global Economy

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the rise in protectionism across the globe will hurt the world economy and welfare of people.

We need to bond together and renew our compact to protect the world from falling into a spiral of slow economic growth, rising inequality and irreversibly altered climate, conflict and fragility

Arun Jaitley in Washington DC

He was speaking at the plenary meeting of the development committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and Restricted Session of the International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC).

India has expressed concern over the rising trend of developed countries like the US, Australia and New Zealand putting curbs on the movement of skilled professionals.

(Source: Livemint)

2. TCS, Infosys and Cognizant Slammed by US For Alleged H-1B Visa Lottery Manipulation

The US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the Trump administration wants to replace with a more merit-based immigration policy.

At a White House briefing last week, an official in the Trump administration said a small number of giant outsourcing firms flood the system with applications which naturally ups their chances of success in the lottery draw.

You may know their names well, but like the top recipients of the H-1B visa are companies like Tata, Infosys, Cognizant – they will apply for a very large number of visas, more than they get, by putting extra tickets in the lottery raffle, if you will, and then they’ll get the lion’s share of visas.

The senior official, according to transcript of the briefing on White House website 

(Source: PTI)

3. Create financial awareness, make stock market accessible to everyone: SEBI Chief Tyagi

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) wants the stock market to become accessible to everyone by creating financial awareness, not through tax incentives.

At a felicitation ceremony of the National Financial Literacy Assessment Test (NFLAT) at the National Institute of Securities Markets, Ajay Tyagi, chairman of SEBI said:

Some say to get people into capital markets, there should be some support in terms of tax. I am not in favour of any tax concessions. People should come into the market through awareness.

Only two percent of the population invest directly in stock markets.

(Source: Business Standard)

4. Modi Appeals to States to Lay Down GST-Related Legislative Arrangements on Time

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the states should make legislative arrangements without delay for the GST rollout from 1 July.

Delivering the closing remarks at the third meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, he also urged states, local governments and NGOs to decide goals for 2022 and work in mission mode towards achieving them.

“The Prime Minister reiterated that the legislative arrangements at the state-level for GST should be put in place without delay,” an official statement said.

The consensus on Goods and Services Tax (GST) reflects the spirit of ‘one nation, one aspiration, one determination’, Modi earlier said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

(Source: PTI)

5. Boost to Euro After First Round of French Presidential Polls

The euro surged in early trading in Asia on Sunday, while French bond yields were expected to fall and French stocks to rally on Monday morning, on relief that France had not been left with a choice between two radical, anti-EU presidential candidates.

Multiple projections showed centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen set to face each other in a 7 May runoff for the French presidency, after coming first and second in Sunday’s first round of voting.

Investors’ greatest worry had been that the far-left, eurosceptic Jean-Luc Melenchon, who had surged in the polls in recent weeks, could jump ahead of Macron and make it into the final run-off against Le Pen, giving voters the choice between two radical candidates who would threaten the future of the EU.

(Source: Reuters)

6. FreeCharge, MobiKwik in Merger Talks

After consolidation in the online market space, it seems the turn of mobile wallets. FreeCharge plans to merge itself in an all-stock deal with MobiKwik, said sources close to the companies.

Sources say after the merger, the new entity is likely to get a top-up of 200 million dollars (nearly Rs 1,300 crore) from a Chinese investor who is eager to make an entry into India. Also, some banks have indicated they’d be interested to invest in a merged entity.

However, it should be noted that the talks are only at an initial stage. Interestingly Sequoia Capital is a major investor in both the mobile wallet entities.

(Source: Business Standard)

7. Economy to Grow Over 3-fold to $7.25 Trillion by 2030: Arvind Panagariya

India will be a Rs 469 lakh crore, or 7.2 trillion dollars, economy by 2030, growing at an average rate of 8 percent, Niti Aayog, the government's premier think-tank, has projected as part of its 15-year vision document.

This would be a more than three-fold expansion from Rs 137 lakh crore, or 2.1 trillion dollars, in 2015-16. The increase of Rs 332 lakh crore (5.1trillion dollars) in 15 years compares with the addition of 8.1 trillion dollars in China's GDP over the past 15 years.

The future is extremely bright for India’s economic growth, primarily because of an extremely large GDP base and a projection of average 8 percent growth over the next 15 years

Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog to media after third meeting of its governing council.

The Aayog has already circulated a draft three-year action plan to all states as a roadmap that will help India achieve the government's 15-year vision, which it is currently preparing.

(Source: The Economic Times)

8. ONGC Plans $11 Billion Investment to Boost Gas Production by 30%

After more than a decade of nearly static output, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) expects to increase gas production by nearly 30 percent over the next three-four years with an investment of around 11 billion dollars, according to two senior company officials with knowledge of the matter.

The officials said ONGC will put its blocks in the Krishna Godavari basin (KG-DWN-98/2) and Ratna and R-Series oilfields in Mumbai offshore into production by 2019. The coal bed methane (CBM) blocks in Jharkhand will begin production by 2020, while the Daman offshore fields, which have been pressed into production this month, will be ramped up next year.

ONGC currently produces around 23 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year, which is expected to go up to 29-30 bcm in four years. However, gas production at some existing fields is projected to drop to 11.8 bcm in four years from the current 19.73 bcm.

(Source: Livemint)

9. NHAI hits the road to woo investors for Rs 5,000 crore masala bond sale

Minister of road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari will flag off international investor roadshows for the masala bond sale planned by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Singapore on Monday, two people aware of the development said.

Masala bonds are rupee-denominated bonds sold in offshore capital markets.

“The roadshows are planned to take place over the next 15 days, starting with Singapore and will then move to Hong Kong, middle of the week and conclude in London in the second week of May. Gadkari will address investors at the Singapore leg of the roadshows on Monday,” said one of the two people aware of the development, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to reporters.

The proposed bond sale could see NHAI raise up to Rs 5,000 crore, said the second person cited above, also requesting anonymity.

(Source: Livemint)