1. D-Street Tense as BJP Ride in Big States Seems Bumpy
Market sentiment is likely to be skittish on Monday, 10 December, as exit polls on Friday indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party risks losing control of Rajasthan to the Congress and faces a close fight in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Counting in five state Assembly elections – Telangana and Mizoram being the other two – will take place on Tuesday.
A good showing by the BJP will likely see stocks rising, analysts said.
The exit polls and a sharp drop in the US equity market on the back of trade tensions with China and a weaker-than-expected jobs report on Friday are likely to reflect in a lower opening in the stock market on Monday.
(Source: The Economic Times)
2. GST Relief Likely for BPO Industry
India could soon offer some relief to the back-office support sector that is rattled by the recent Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) decision that services rendered to overseas clients did not qualify as exports and would face GST of 18 percent.
The issue could be clarified soon, said a senior government official privy to the deliberations.
“Officials are examining it after which the law committee under the GST Council would take it up,” the official said.
(Source: The Economic Times)
3. Walmart to Tap Flipkart’s Tech Expertise
Walmart plans to globally deploy Flipkart’s expertise in progressive web applications that are aimed at a seamless shopping experience even with low bandwidth and cheaper phones besides its data analytics knowhow.
The retail giant, which is betting on India’s technology talent, will wait until the process of absorbing the e-commerce company is well underway.
“I am excited to start working with Flipkart’s tech team. We treat every acquisition, regardless of size, the same where we try and leave them alone for a year, just to make sure the integration goes well. And then we wait for them to ask and then we start working with them,” said Jeremy King, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Walmart.
(Source: The Economic Times)
4. Cancelled Coal Mines: Production Still Far Below FY15 Level
About fifty months after the Supreme Court cancelled 204 captive coal block licences saying these were allocated in an illegal and arbitrary manner, production from the blocks are far below the level before the court’s decision.
As the court had, in its September 2014 order, allowed 42 operational blocks of the cancelled lot to function till March 2015, these mines’ production peaked in FY15 at 43 million tonnes (MT) but has since plunged headlong.
According to official sources, 86 of the cancelled blocks have been reallocated so far and only 23 of these are currently operational. Post-reallocation, these blocks’ cumulative production till October 2018 was just 56 MT, that is, average annual production of a little over 16 MT.
(Source: Financial Express)
5. Modi Govt’s Disinvestment Drive: Receipts to Touch Rs 65 Cr By Jan-End
If the transactions already initiated and the plans laid out materialise, the Centre’s disinvestment revenue by January-end may touch Rs 65,000 crore, at a striking distance from the FY19 target of Rs 80,000 crore.
So far this year, the Centre has garnered about Rs 32,998 crore in disinvestment receipts, 77 percent of which via exchange-traded funds.
While another Rs 17,000 crore worth transactions are expected by end-January, about Rs 15,000 crore is assured from the proposed Power Finance Corporation’s purchase of the Centre’s 52.63 percent stake in Rural Electrification Corporation after Cabinet accorded in-principle nod to the deal on Thursday, 6 December.
(Source: Financial Express)
6. IL&FS Seeks Time Till Feb to File H1 Numbers
IL&FS Ltd has sought more time from SEBI to submit the financial results for the half year ended 30 September 2018. The debt-laden company said it will try to prepare the results by 28 February 2019.
The request by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd comes in the backdrop of its new board grappling with the restructuring of the company even as some members of the erstwhile board may face a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office for money laundering.
Considering the circumstances under which the Centre has put in place the new IL&FS board, headed by Uday Kotak, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the company wants sufficient time to review and verify its financial position.
(Source: The Hindu Business Line)
7. After Two Years, Uday Kotak Now Says Note Ban Was Poorly Planned
The outcome of the controversial demonetisation drive would have been "significantly better" if "simple things" like introducing Rs 2,000 currency notes were avoided, banker Uday Kotak has said.
The executive vice chairman and managing director of the fourth largest private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has also said small businesses are in a difficult situation at present and has welcomed the government focus to revive the sector.
On demonetisation, he said the outcomes would have been different if it was planned well.
"I think we would have had significantly better outcomes, if we had just thought about simple things. If you are taking out Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, why would you introduce Rs 2,000 notes?" Kotak asked while speaking at former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian's book launch in Mumbai over the weekend.
(Source: PTI)
8. Sebi Mulls Policy to Identify 'Difficult to Recover' Cases
Faced with difficulties in recovery of penalties and other dues from some defaulters, capital markets regulator Sebi is planning to create a separate category of 'difficult to recover' cases for optimal utilisation of its resources.
However, Sebi can initiate or continue its prosecution proceedings against the defaulters even after such a segregation and recovery procedure can be reopened in case there is any change in prevailing parameters regarding the defaulter, officials said.
A proposal in this regard is expected to be discussed by Sebi's board at its meeting this week, they said.
(Source: PTI)
9. UrbanClap Facilitates Rs 18cr ESOP Sale
On-demand home services platform UrbanClap is facilitating an employee stock repurchase programme worth $2.0-2.5 million (₹14-18 crore), which will see some of its staff turn crorepatis.
The shares owned by employees under ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) would be purchased through a secondary transaction, which is part of a recent deal whereby hedge fund Steadview Capital and existing investor Vy Capital invested $54 million in the company.
Of the total, UrbanClap raised $50 million as primary capital at a valuation of about $480 million last month.
(Source: PTI)
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