Oraicity - Taaza khabre daily(Orai City): October 2018

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

सत्ता का सेमीफाइनल: महासमुंद की जनता के सवाल और नेताओं के जवाब

छत्तीसगढ़ में पहले चरण के मतदान में 12 नवंबर को वोट डाले जाएंगे। अमर उजाला आपको बता रहा है छत्तीसगढ़ के जमीनी हालात और उन विषयों के बारे में जो इस बार चुनावी मुद्दे हैं।

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बनारस के जेएचवी मॉल में ताबड़तोड़ फायरिंग, दो लोगों की मौत, दो घायल

बनारस के छावनी क्षेत्र स्थित जेएचवी मॉल के अंदर अचानक गोली चलने से मॉल में अफरातफरी मच गई।

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रूस: सुरक्षा सेवा भवन में विस्फोट, एक की मौत तीन घायल

उत्तरी रूस के अर्खांगेल्स्क में एक इमारत के अंदर विस्फोट होने से एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गयी और तीन अन्य घायल हो गये।

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एयरसेल-मैक्सिस मामले में चिदंबरम की जमानत याचिका का ईडी ने किया विरोध, कल होगी सुनावई

एयरसेल मैक्सिस केस में पूर्व केंद्रीय मंत्री पी चिदंबरम की अग्रिम जमानत याचिका का विरोध करते हुए प्रवर्तन निदेशालय (ED) ने कोर्ट में अपना जवाब दाखिल कर दिया है।

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Tata Harrier का प्रोडक्शन शुरू, कम कीमत में मिलेगा बहुत कुछ

हैरियर कार में फिएट से लिया गया 2.0 लीटर डीजल इंजन मिलेगा। बता दें कि यह इंजन140एचपी की पावर जेनरेट करता है। 4 सिलेंडर की इस इंजन वाली कार को कंपनी पेट्रोल और डीजल दोनों वेरियंट में लांच करेगी।

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पंकज आडवाणी ने रचा इतिहास, एशियाई स्नूकर टूर खिताब जीतने वाले पहले भारतीय बने

दिग्गज भारतीय क्यूइस्ट पंकज आडवाणी ने एशियाई स्नूकर टूर का फाइनल अपने नाम किया। 19 बार के विश्व चैंपियन ने खिताबी मुकाबले में चीन के जु रेती को मात दी...

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Happy Halloween 2018: Origin, Celebrations, Tips For Halloween Makeup

Halloween, a day to remember the dead, evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, and costume-themed parties. Halloween fever has gripped...

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Modi Vest Or Nehru Jacket? Gift To Korean President Stirs Twitter Debate

Korean President Moon Jae-in's tweet thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a tailormade "Modi Vest" stirred a huge debate on Twitter today. Before 2014, it was a Nehru jacket, argued many on...

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Priyanka And Nick's Wedding: Salman, Alia, Ranbir On Reported Guest List

The countdown to Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' wedding has already begun and with it, every so often fresh rumours about the ceremony pop up online

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Tatas, TCS violated rules in sacking Cyrus Mistry, says RTI reply

The abrupt sacking of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman and director, respectively, of Tata Sons and its crown jewel TCS violated provisions of the Companies Act, RBI rules and more importantly, Tatas' own articles of association, RoC, Mumbai said in an RTI reply. The right to information (RTI) reply, given by Uday Khomane, the assistant registrar of companies (RoC), Mumbai on October 3, is in response to a RTI request filed by the investment arms of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group on August 31. The reply said the way Mistry was removed from the chairmanship of Tats Sons and also as the director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), violated the relevant legal provisions under the Companies Act, 2013; the Reserve Bank rules governing NBFCs; and more importantly the rule 118 of the articles of association (AoA) of Tata Sons, the parent of the diversified Tata group, which is registered as an NBFC with the monetary authority. A Tata Sons spokesman refused to offer detailed comments on the questions sent by , saying, "We do not wish to comment on the matter as the matter is sub-judice." PTI has seen a copy of the RTI reply which is based on the assessment of the documents furnished by the Tatas in the aftermath of the boardroom coup on October 24, 2016 dismissing Mistry as the group chairman. The report offers an internal view of the RoC, which interestingly is totally opposite of the view taken by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai earlier this year while dismissing the petition filed by Mistry challenging his dismissal from the group. In a boardroom coup, Mistry was sacked as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, two months short of four years in the corner room of the Bombay House, the global headquarters of the 150-old conglomerate that nets over 65 per cent of its income from outside the country. Mistry, whose family is the single largest non-Tata shareholder with 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons, was nudged to take over the reins of the USD 103-billion group as the second non-Tata chairman, after Nowroji Saklatwala(1934-38), in December 2012, after group patriarch Ratan Tata retired. Mistry was removed as TCS director with 93.11 per cent votes at the EGM held on December 13, 2016, as per its company secretaries Parikh & Associates which cited section 169(2) of the Companies Act 2013 read with section 115 and 100 (2)(a) for his removal. But TCS did not send out the complete representation of Mistry to all shareholders, which violates section 169 (4)(b) of the Companies Act, noted the RoC reply. The RTI reply is based on the queries posed by SP Kumar, western regional director, RoC, Mumbai which has found that Tata Sons violated rule 118 of its articles of its AoA, when it removed Mistry. The report, exclusively available with , states that "article 118 of the AoA of Tata Sons prescribes that its chairman can be removed in the same process as specified for his appointment i.e. by the selection committee consisting of four persons and based on such recommendation of the removal committee only the board is empowered to remove its chairman". It goes on to add that Tata Sons "being an NBFC duly registered with RBI, any management change requires prior approval of the RBI", which was also not complied with. The reply also cited several irregularities pertaining to the December 13, 2016 EGM convened by TCS to remove Mistry as a director from its board. TCS had adopted a letter written by the company secretary and chief operating officer of Tata Sons on November 9, 2016 as a special resolution notice to sack Mistry. The reply noted that this letter from Tata Sons was sent to TCS without any proof of a board resolution authorising the issuance of such a letter. The report also states that "it appears prima facie that there was no proper 'special notice' received" by TCS. The RoC also said that the TCS' company secretary thereafter "on his own" forwarded the purported special notice from Tata Sons dated November 9, 2016 to Mistry. "The letter dated November 11, 2016 written by the VP & CS of TCS is against the provisions of section 169(3) of the Companies Act of 2013 as the power to send such a letter is vested with the board of the company," noted the RoC report. The RoC further noted that "since there was no TCS board meeting between November 9 and 11, 2016, and in the absence of any board resolution authorising the actions of the TCS' company secretary, such a letter and the resulting actions would be void ab-initio". Additionally, TCS had also failed to send out the complete shareholder representation of Mistry to all shareholders, "in violation of section 169(4)(b) of the Companies Act", and hence "the consequential resolution of EGM dated December 13, 2016 for the removal of Mistry would also be void". The RoC, Mumbai in a letter dated January 25, 2017 had written to the regional director of the corporate affairs ministry highlighting these concerns. "As the verification of the relevant documents further finds that the company has violated the provisions of the Companies Act, and rules there under, I am referring the matter to the regional director to verify the findings in terms of rule 11(2) of the Companies (registration offices and fees) rules of 2014," the letter read. In the reply, SP Kumar, RoC Mumbai, in a letter dated February 17, 2017, stated, "RoC having come to the conclusion that transactions are void [Annexure C point (1) to (4)] has to express in unequivocal words whether the e-form is to be rejected or e-form or document as the case may be, as invalid in the electronic record in terms of rule 10(4) of Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014." However, it is unclear what further action the ministry took on these observations, it noted. Mistry and his elder brother Shapoor Mistry, through their investment companies, are the single largest non-Tata shareholder in Tata Sons with 18.4 percent stake. The group's investment companies are currently waging a legal battle against Tata Sons in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal alleging oppression of the minority shareholders and mismanagement at Tata Sons. The tribunal began hearing the case Wednesday in New Delhi.

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Life could soon change for rating agencies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning to overhaul the role of credit rating agencies (CRAs) in the wake of the IL&FS fiasco.The regulator is discussing a proposal under which credit rating agencies separate their rating entity and the non-rating businesses in order to avoid conflicts of interest. The proposal is there shouldn’t be any linkages other than shareholding and no repatriation of dividend or profit from the nonrating businesses to the company that owns the rating business.Sebi is also planning to put in place a framework on compensation for rating agencies to ensure that there is a disincentive for them to assign aggressive ratings.The regulator’s thinking is: since ratings are fundamental to any debt instrument and a vital piece of information in the investment process of fixed income instruments, there has to be a framework which is free from bias and conflict. The framework may also look at a model where each rating agency is compensated by fixed tariff which is common to all rating agencies.“Currently, there is no transparency in the way credit rating agencies are getting compensated. This will bring transparency and accountability,” said a fund manager with a domestic asset manager.Sebi is also considering rotation of rating agencies. Companies having listed debt may be required to have two credit rating agencies rate the outstanding debt for three years. After that, another two rating agencies may have to be appointed. No rating agency can be appointed for consecutive two terms, sources said.“Credit rating firms have sadly been rarely ahead of the curve,” said S Raman, former whole time member of Sebi.The regulator will discuss all these proposals at a meeting with credit rating agencies this week.“Sebi had sought credit rating agencies’ view on various issues and these recommendations were given by them,” the person said. 66439403 The regulator is also considering to tweak rules to have at least two ratings in case issuance amount is over Rs 100 crore, and three ratings in case of Rs 500 crore.“The proposal of requiring multiple ratings depending upon the size of an issue, while carrying a decent logic, would be yet one more regulatory prescription which only bolster their business further, that too in the immediate aftermath of the IL&FS rating fiasco,” Raman said.Sebi is also planning to strengthen the rating standards and disclosures. The regulator has proposed that if a subsidiary company gets support from the parent group or government, then credit rating agencies will have to name the parent company or government that will provide support towards timely debt servicing. Rating agencies may also have to provide the rationale for this expectation.The credit rating industry has come under scrutiny after the firms that assessed IL&FS failed to pick up signals of financial trouble brewing at the lender.The regulator is also planning to introduce a specific section on liquidity among key rating drivers that will highlight liquid investments or cash surpluses for servicing debt obligation over next one year, so that investors are aware about the liquidity situation of an issuer. Besides, credit rating agencies may also have to implement the tracking of early warning indicators like bond spread analysis for debt instruments.Entities whose yield spread is either higher than or lower than a pre-defined threshold vis-a-vis the corresponding benchmark would have to be reviewed by a rating agency on a periodic basis.There are seven rating agencies registered with Sebi, including Crisil, Care Ratings and Icra.

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Jet gets payment delay notice from aircraft lessors

Jet Airways Ltd said on Wednesday it has received notices on payment delays from a few aircraft lessors, adding to the debt-laden airline's woes.Profits of airlines in the world's fastest-growing aviation market have been dented with the surge in crude oil prices and a depreciating rupee.Jet has been struggling to keep itself afloat and it had said in August that it will inject funds and cut costs to turn around the business.Jet said in a statement on Wednesday that it had got notices for payment delays/defaults from few aircraft lessors, but did not elaborate further."... they (aircraft lessors) are mindful of the challenges currently faced by the Indian aviation industry and they have been supportive of the company's efforts," the airline said in a statement.Jet's shares plunged as much as 10.8 percent in their biggest daily percentage fall since September 25, before ending the day nearly 6 percent lower.The company also said its payments to the Airports Authority of India are up-to-date and it had not received any "show-cause" notice from the body.

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Tatas, TCS violated rules in sacking Cyrus Mistry, says RTI reply

Jet Airways gets payment delay notice from aircraft lessors; shares dive

RBI-govt tussle: Paper leakage caused panic, says Subramaniam

RBI-government tussle is not a new thing. Leakage of papers caused unnecessary panic, Sunil Subramaniam, 66441979 66441007 66431356 MD & CEO, Sundaram Mutual, tells ET Now.Edited excerpts:The market participants seem to have shrugged off RBI-government tussle. We saw the first signs of it on Monday when the markets actually rose and even today the Sensex and Nifty ended 550 points and 188 points up, respectively. Historically, there has always been conflict between the RBI and government. But it is always done behind closed doors. This time, leakage of some letters caused this unnecessary panic, But I do not think fundamentally there is a problem with the government expressing to the RBI what they would like to understand from RBI’s action. The last few policies of RBI like the rate hikes have been surprising the market. One quarter they were expecting and it did not happen; another quarter they were not expecting and it happened. I think the government is seeking clarifications on that. Second, the government is concerned more about growth rather than inflation. The Reserve Bank traditionally has always had a greater focus on inflation over growth. The banking sector crisis was partly driven or enhanced by the RBI’s NPA tougher norms coming into play and thereby drying up lending. Lending is the key for government. The government’s questions were around that, asking how much further they were going to be tightened. That is a healthy debate which should have been going on at the backend and some leakage led to this kind of panic situation as if the government is going to interfere in RBI. The government has clarified that they do not intend to interfere with the autonomy of the RBI and that is very healthy news. You are positive on retail banks but it is the PSU banks which are a bit of a concern in your view. Why are you only preferring retail lenders with a private background and not PSUs? The reason is that PSUs generally have not been very strong in their retail lending segment. While they have a retail deposit base on the lending side, they have been more focussed on corporate lending. That is one reason. The second aspect is the NPA situation. The provisions they are creating has resulted in the fact that though they have liquidity, there has been a freeze on fresh lending. The third aspect is the RBI putting 12 banks on the monitoring programme. That has also slowed down decision making. Fourth and probably most important, mergers within the public sector banks are an inevitable course. We have been saying that for quite some time and the one that has happened is not the last one. So in buying up bank stock, today we are not yet clear whether it will end up merged. So if you buy a better quality bank, it might turn worse after merger with a poorer bank. If you buy a poor quality bank, you might end up with a better portfolio because it will get merged. Till the uncertainty is there, it is better to stay away and see how the whole process turns out.On the other hand, retail lenders from the private banking space set up the proper risk management procedures to manage retail very, very early. They understand retail banking and it is not just the banks, even private sector NBFCs are far better managed because their systems and processes on approving a loan, is on a book base. Public sector banks still have a man-to-man personal relationship and that is why they are more into corporate lending. But for lending retail to a large number of people, you need to have proper systems, parameters, big data crunching to see the propensity for defaults. That’s why the systems and process of retail private banks are far better than that of public sector banks in entering such a wide space. That is the reason why consumption is going to be a big driver. Retail lending has to support it and it is the private banks and the retail NBFCs which are going to continue to enjoy a major market share in that space.

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Protests After Pak Christian Woman's Blasphemy Death Sentence Overturned

Pakistan's Supreme Court today overturned the conviction of a Christian mother facing execution for blasphemy in a landmark case which has incited deadly violence and reached as far as the Vatican.

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Citing Sardar Patel's Legacy, Rahul Gandhi Accuses Government Of Treason

Political sparring over Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel peaked with its inauguration today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi targetted each other over events spread across 50...

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MS Dhoni Just One Run Away From Reaching A Sensational Milestone

MS Dhoni's landmark is even more remarkable since he has largely batted in the lower middle-order and faced lesser overs.

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Nifty Closes 188 Points Higher, Sensex Reclaims 34,000: 10 Things To Know

Domestic stock markets ended sharply higher on Wednesday led by financial services, IT and pharma shares. S&P BSE Sensex closed at 34,442.05, 1.63 per cent or 550.92 points higher, while the...

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Tata Motors posts Rs 1,049 crore loss in Q2

Homegrown automaker Tata Motors on Wednesday posted a loss of Rs 1,048.80 crore for quarter ended September 30. The firm had posted a profit of Rs 2,482.78 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Analysts in an ET NOW poll had estimated the loss figure at Rs 640 crore.The company said that its luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a loss of 101 million pounds for September quarter. Free cash flow (automotive) for the quarter was negative at Rs 4,357 crore, reflecting lower operating profits at JLR.Challenging market conditions in China dragged JLR’s sales 13.2 per cent to 1,29,887 units, while wholesale sales dropped 14.7 per cent to 1,30,652.However, Tata Motors' total income increased to Rs 72,729.30 crore in Q2FY19 over Rs 70,344.76 crore in Q2FY18.On a standalone basis, the company reported a profit of Rs 109.14 crore for the quarter under review against a loss of Rs 283.37 crore last year.“Our solid all-around performance in Q2FY19 has impressively demonstrated that Tata Motors ‘Turnaround 2.0’ is in full swing. The continued improvements were made possible due to a robust product and innovation pipeline, strong market activation, rigorous cost reductions and structural process improvements,” said Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors.The company announced its results post market hours on Wednesday. Earlier, shares of the company closed 0.76 per cent down at Rs 178.65, while Sensex advanced 550.92 points, or 1.63 per cent, to 34,442.05.On quarterly results, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said: “We have improved our market shares whilst delivering robust improvement in profitability in both the commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles and generated positive free cash flows. This strong performance in the face of an intensely competitive market situation augurs well for the future.”“In JLR, market conditions, particularly in China, have deteriorated further. To weather this volatile external scenario, we have launched a comprehensive turnaround plan to significantly improve our free cash flows and profitability. The leadership team at JLR is in mission mode to achieve the deliverables under this plan. With these concerted actions we remain committed to deliver an improved all-round performance from H2 FY 19,” Chandrasekaran.

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Anupam Kher Resigns As FTII Chairman Citing 'International Assignments'

Anupam Kher said he decided to quit as FTII's chairman as he will have to be stationed in the US for "nearly nine months between 2018 and 2019

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The case of India's tech poster boy and bumbling blackmailers

By Saritha RaiUttar Pradesh has a reputation as a rough place, with one of the highest levels of crime in the country. In May, a dozen local politicians received WhatsApp messages that threatened harm to their families unless they paid $14,000.Yet even by local standards, an extortion plot that’s surfaced in recent weeks stands out for its sheer outlandishness. It’s the case of a celebrated startup founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who allegedly was targeted by one of his most trusted lieutenants for millions in ransom. The billionaire entrepreneur created India’s most popular digital payments service called Paytm.Local police have arrested Paytm vice president Sonia Dhawan, her husband and another Paytm employee for allegedly stealing Sharma’s personal data so they could extort money. The three are in custody at Luksar Jail in Noida, the New Delhi suburb where Paytm is headquartered. Authorities are hunting for a fourth person, who allegedly made ransom calls to Sharma. A lawyer for Dhawan and her husband denies they did anything wrong.Key questions remain unanswered. Why would a nine-year veteran of Paytm turn against her boss when she had so much to lose? Were Dhawan and her suspected collaborators pressured to act against Sharma by the true culprits, as Sharma himself has suggested? What is the data the group allegedly stole? The investigation touches on one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs, whose backers include Masayoshi Son of SoftBank Group Corp. and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.."Everybody’s fascinated by this unraveling story," asked Sanchit Vir Gogia, founder and chief executive officer of Greyhound Research. "It involves a famous, very vocal person like Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Paytm’s done exceptionally well so there’s an emotional connection as well."Sharma, now 40, founded One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, in 2000 when fewer than 10 million Indians were online. He tried offering search services, ringtones and Bollywood movie songs before landing on the idea of digital payments. The business soared after the government eliminated Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes at the end of 2016, in a bid to end corruption. With the stroke of a pen, 80 per cent of the country’s paper money disappeared.“Overnight, we went from a new thing to a must-have,” he told Bloomberg News in a profile last year.One97 is now worth $10 billion, according to CB Insights, making it the most valuable startup in India. Sharma’s empire also includes the online retailer Paytm E-Commerce Pvt, backed by China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.Sonia Dhawan started working at One97 in January of 2010, according to her LinkedIn profile. Recently promoted to vice president of communications, she was well known in media circles in India, fielding press calls and arranging interviews for Sharma. She also liaised with government officials and overseas partners. Given her equity interest, Dhawan’s position would have likely grown increasingly lucrative as Paytm expands and heads for an inevitable an initial public offering.“Hard work is glory, everything else is theory,” she wrote on her Twitter page.According to police, she allegedly hatched the extortion plot with her husband, a property consultant named Rupak Jain; a colleague, Devendra Kumar; and a fourth person, Rohit Chomal.The idea was allegedly to steal personal data from Sharma, with Dhawan’s access to his passwords and computers, and then use the data to get cash, according to local police. Dhawan, Jain, Kumar and Chomal couldn’t be reached for comment.Sharma got the first call from his purported blackmailers in September. A man said he had Sharma’s personal financial information, and demanded the equivalent of about $2.7 million or it would be released to the public. The perpetrators had taken a hard disk containing the information, according to a four-page police document called a First Information Report.“It’s a case of blackmail and extortion with stolen personal data and sensitive business plans,” said Manoj Kumar Pant, the police officer heading the investigation in Noida.Still, these appear to be bumbling blackmailers. Sharma purposefully ducked the extortion calls four or five times as they tried to extract money and then insisted they deal with his brother because he was too busy. When Ajay Shekhar Sharma, who also works at Paytm, pressured the caller for details, the alleged extortionist simply blurted out the names of his three co-conspirators, according to local press.Ajay Shekhar Sharma then filed a complaint with local police in October. They recovered a hard disk from Kumar, who confessed and implicated Dhawan and her husband, according to the police.Sharma’s net worth is estimated to be close to $2 billion, making the extortion attempt more distraction than financial threat. A far bigger challenge for Paytm is holding off global rivals like Google Pay and WhatsApp Pay in a digital payments market forecast by Credit Suisse to grow to $1 trillion by 2023."Paytm runs the risk of getting slightly maligned over its handling of data,” said Gogia.Sharma didn’t respond to requests seeking comment for this article.The case has fueled intense speculation about Dhawan’s purported motive, if she is guilty, and how she could have landed in jail with such speed. Prashant Tripathi, a lawyer representing the couple, said she hasn’t done anything wrong.“She is absolutely innocent and has no connection with the theft of data or extortion,” he said in an interview, adding that she had been framed by professional rivals in the office. He wouldn’t explain why he hasn’t tried to get the couple out of jail ahead of any trial. “I await instructions from the Dhawan family,” he said.The police and Paytm are at odds over what kind of data was stolen. While investigating officer Pant told Bloomberg News that the theft included the company’s business plans, Paytm insists personal data was nabbed. “Paytm would like to reiterate that all our consumer data is protected with the highest and most impenetrable levels of security,” it said in a statement.Sharma has made it clear he doesn’t think the whole story of the blackmail attempt has been told. In a brief conversation with the Economic Times last week, Sharma said his lieutenant is probably innocent and a "conduit of someone else’s bigger plan.”"I don’t know how many more people were involved in this sad conspiracy,” he said. “I am shocked and surprised at things that happened and some claims or theories being pitched. I am sure with support of police and everyone involved we will uncover the details soon."

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CEAT extends bat deal with Rohit Sharma by 3 years

MUMBAI-Tyre manufacturer CEAT has renewed its association with cricketer Rohit Sharma for another three years.Sharma, who is the first player in the history of cricket to score three double-hundreds in one-day internations (ODIs), will continue to play with a bat that will display the CEAT insignia, in all formats of the game.“We are proud to extend our relationship with Rohit who has been a stand out performer across all formats of cricket. Our association with Rohit has been extremely fruitful for the brand CEAT and we are extremely happy with this long term association,” said Anant Goenka, managing director, CEAT.Sharma added, “I am really happy to be continuing this association with CEAT. I am extremely grateful for their backing and they have been a great support to me. These last three years have been very memorable and productive for me personally. I am looking forward to continuing this association with this prestigious company for many more years to come.”Sharma has been a consistent performer across all the formats of the game. He captained the Indian Cricket team for the first time when the Sri Lankan cricket team toured India in 2017. The team won that series, the tri nation Nidahas trophy and the recently concluded Asia Cup under Sharma’s captaincy.He also recently broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record as he became the first batsman with six 150-plus scores in ODI’s.CEAT also has bat endorsement deals with Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill and Harmanpreet Kaur. The RPG company has also been a partner of the IPL for the Strategic Time Out segment and the CEAT Cricket Ratings.

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No change in individual home loan demand: R Varadarajan

We do not give builder loan and therefore there is not much of a problem, R Varadarajan, MD, 66441979 66441007 66444333 Repco Home Finance, tells ET Now. Edited excerpts: Do you think the liquidity situation is much better now? No, I do not think so. What about the liquidity situation in the bond market? As far as home finance is concerned, we have been repeatedly saying that there is no liquidity problem. Even in the market, commercial paper is less than 5% of our total liability. As of now, it is only a Rs 450-crore liability which is maturing and we have enough liquidity. Probably at this stage, we will swap it with the bank finance because we have got more than Rs 1,800 crore already available from banks. What is the demand side situation in home financing? Demand is as usual. On the field, we do not see any change in demand. But a company like ours depends only on individual home loans. We do not give builder loan and therefore there is not much of a problem. But as far as individual home loans are concerned, we are seeing the same type of demand. There is no change in fees.The government says the RBI is not doing enough when it comes to liquidity and that one is staring at a situation where it is the government that is monitoring NBFC defaults and getting the banking sector to come to their rescue. Credit offtake has already crashed nearly 80%. How bad is the credit offtake situation at the moment? I am not seeing the problem as it is perceived to be. Many of the NBFCs and HFCs continue to get sanctions from banks. The only thing that is a concern is should banks refuse credit lending to NBFCs and HFCs and that is why they have taken up the issue. As far as HFCs are concerned, there is no issue on the liquidity front. But nevertheless, the government has said that the banks should continue to lend to the NBFCs and HFCs and therefore there is no crisis there.

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पाकिस्तान: ईशनिंदा के लिये ईसाई महिला को मृत्युदंड से बरी किए जाने के खिलाफ लोगों का प्रदर्शन

पाकिस्तान के उच्चतम न्यायालय ने अपने ऐतिहासिक फैसले में बुधवार को ईशनिंदा की आरोपी एक ईसाई महिला की फांसी की सजा को पलट दिया और उसे बरी कर दिया।

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सीबीआई विवाद: राकेश अस्थाना के खिलाफ दिल्ली हाईकोर्ट पहुंचे अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक

सीबीआई के अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक एस. एस. गुर्म ने दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय में बुधवार को आरोप लगाया कि विशेष निदेशक राकेश अस्थाना 'चुनिंदा' तथ्यों को रख कर अदालत को गुमराह कर रहे हैं।

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स्कूल में छात्रों का हटवाया तिलक, शिक्षक की करतूत पर भड़के अभिभावक, हंगामा

संत चार्ल्स इंटर कॉलेज में एक शिक्षक ने कुछ छात्रों का तिलक हटवा दिया। आरोप है कि शिक्षक ने छात्रों से अभद्रता भी की। और फिर...

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Focussed on security and privacy: WhatsApp

NEW DELHI: WhatsApp Vice President Chris Daniels Wednesday said the company is focussed on values like security and privacy to ensure that its product remains a utility that helps users communicate in everyday life.The Facebook-owned company, which has been asked by the Indian government to put in place a mechanism to clamp down fake messages on its platform, also announced its partnership with Invest India to help entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises expand their businesses."...we keep the company focussed on four values -- simplicity, quality, security and privacy. Everything we do in the company focusses on those values and delivering that value to users and ensuring that our product remains a utility that they can use to communicate in everyday life," Daniels said here.Out of WhatsApp user base of 1.3 billion people, more than 200 million people are in India -- the single largest market for the popular messaging platform.The government has been pushing WhatsApp to find a technology solution to trace origin of 'sinister' messages, a move that it believes can help curb horrific crimes like mob-lynching emanating from fake news.WhatsApp, however, had rejected India's demand for a solution to track the origin of messages on its platform, saying building traceability will undermine end-to-end encryption and affect privacy protection for users.Emphasising that people use its platform for all kinds of "sensitive conversations", the US-based firm had said it is focussing on educating people about misinformation.Speaking about the startup ecosystem in India, Daniels said companies like Ola, Flipkart, Zomato and Makemytrip are making a huge impact on the Indian economy."We are extremely impressed by the entrepreneurial tradition in India as well as by companies that we see coming out...We believe in people, we believe in creativity, we believe in entrepreneurship," he said.The partnership with Invest India will help WhatsApp in driving awareness about its business tools in around 15 states impacting over 60,000 businesses in the coming months through tools such as Startup India 'Yatra' programme and other in-person training events.WhatsApp will invest USD 250,000 as seed funding to the top 5 winners of the 'WhatsApp StartUp Challenge' and an additional USD 250,000 will be directed to a select few from the entrepreneurial community to promote their WhatsApp business number on Facebook and drive discovery of their businesses."India adds over 3 new startups a day, ranking it amongst the top startup nations in the world... Through this partnership with WhatsApp, we aim to support the innovative startups in India and to create solutions not only for India but the entire world," Deepak Bagla, CEO and MD at Invest India, said.Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said DIPP is working with the tax department and regulators to ease the rules and laws for startups to support budding entrepreneurs.He added that easing processes and norms are the biggest agenda for the department so that it supports growth of startups.

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PM's "Shiv Bhakt" Jibe At Rahul Gandhi At Sardar Patel Statue Opening

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at his critics after inaugurating the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Kevadiya in Gujarat on Wednesday. Prime Minister Modi in a veiled attack on Congress...

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OnePlus 6T vs Xiaomi Poco F1 vs Asus ZenFone 5Z

OnePlus 6T price and specifications compared with those of Xiaomi's Poco F1 and Asus ZenFone 5Z.

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Delhi Metro's Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake Section Opens For Public

The elevated Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake section on Delhi Metro's Pink Line has 15 stations.

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SBI Reduces Daily Cash Withdrawal Limit On Select Debit Cards

State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced the per day cash withdrawal limit for all Classic and Maestro Debit Cards holders from Rs 40,000 to Rs 20,000 with effect from Wednesday.

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पटेल के इस्तीफा देने की चर्चा के बीच सरकार का बयान, 'जरूरी' है आरबीआई की स्वायत्तता

भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक (आरबीआई) के गवर्नर उर्जित पटेल द्वारा पद से इस्तीफा देने की अटकलों के बीच वित्त मंत्रालय ने बयान जारी करते हुए कहा है कि केंद्रीय बैंक की स्वायत्तता बहुत जरूरी है।

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छत्तीसगढ़: गोलीबारी में गूंजती है एक आवाज 'मम्मी मैं तुम्हे बहुत प्यार करता हूं'

30 अक्टूबर 2018 मंगलवार को इस व्यवस्था का चौथा खंभा यानी पत्रकारिता यहां लाल आतंक से मुठभेड़ करती नजर आर्इ। राज्य में चुनाव कवरेज के लिए दंतेवाड़ा गई डीडी न्यूज़ दिल्ली की एक टीम पर नक्सली हमला हुआ।

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अनुपम खेर ने एफटीआईआई के अध्यक्ष पद से दिया इस्तीफा

अनुपम खेर ने FTII के चेयरमैन पद से इस्तीफा दे दिया है। उनके इस्तीफे के पीछे की वजह बिजी शेड्यूड बताया जा रहा है।

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अरविंद केजरीवाल का एलान- इस बार नहीं लड़ूंगा लोकसभा का चुनाव, दिल्ली पर ही दूंगा ध्यान

साल 2014 के लोकसभा चुनावों में मौजूदा प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी के सामने बनारस लोकसभा सीट से ताल ठोकने वाले अरविंद केजरीवाल ने एक बहुत बड़ा ऐलान कर दिया है।

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स्टैच्यू ऑफ यूनिटी: अब राहुल गांधी ने पीएम मोदी पर किया करारा वार

'स्टैच्यू ऑफ यूनिटी' को लेकर कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष राहुल गांधी ने पीएम मोदी और भाजपा पर करारा हमला बोला है।

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Tata Steel to continue talks with EU for Thyssenkrupp JV

Tata Steel Ltd said on Wednesday it will continue its discussions with the European Commission after the body raised concerns over its planned steel joint venture with Thyssenkrupp.The European Commission has opened a deeper investigation into the proposed steel joint venture over concerns that it could raise prices and harm competition.Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel earlier this year unveiled plans to combine their steel activities in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain to become the continent's second-largest steelmaker after ArcelorMittal.

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More distressed Merger & Acquisition deals in pipeline: Report

Post the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), there has been a significant increase in the number of quality assets available at attractive valuations, providing further impetus to an already hot market for M&As in India, says a report.According to a report by Kroll and Mergermarket, since 2017, distressed merger and acquisition (M&A) values in India have hit USD 14.3 billion, 12 per cent of the total M&A value, led by deals involving Bhushan Steel (USD 7.4 billion), Reliance Communications (USD 3.7 billion) and Fortis Healthcare (USD 1.2 billion).Two-thirds of distressed transactions were classified as "direct", where the asset itself was distressed, while the remaining one-third of "indirect" transactions resulted in a sale because the parent organisation was in distress.Close to USD 10 billion of those deals have been closed in 2018 so far.For the purpose of this analysis, distressed M&A was defined as any transaction involving sale of a company directly in distress or where the transaction was carried out where the parent group/company was in distress.Expectations are strong that distressed M&A will be an ongoing theme for acquisitions in the country and will increase as more companies are admitted under the IBC and make their way through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process.Since May 2016, approximately 900 companies have been referred to the NCLT and the list of companies going through the IBC restructuring and insolvency process – starting with the so-called "dirty dozen" – continues to grow, the report noted."Initially, there was concern that the Indian Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) would lack firepower. However, while there have been some hits and misses, on the whole, the IBC has been very much a positive for the Indian market and is opening the door to a new investment class: distressed assets," said Tarun Bhatia, Managing Director and Head of South Asia, Kroll.Overall, Indian M&A has had an impressive year, with deal values touching a five-year high at USD 72.2 billion and going forward, the deal momentum looks bullish as opportunities for investors and acquirers have registered significant increase as quality assets are available at attractive valuations, the report said.

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Show some grace to resolve tiff, market veterans tell govt & RBI

NEW DELHI: As rumours about RBI Governor Urjit Patel considering resignation did the rounds amid reports that the government may invoke Section 7 of RBI Act, financial markets were nervous on Wednesday.Equity benchmark Nifty50 hit a low of 10,105 in morning trade on Wednesday, before recovering some ground. The rupee hovered around its two-week low level.In a statement issued on Wednesday, the government said it gives views and suggestions to RBI from time to time and will continue to do so in public interest. The statement also said the government respects and nurtures RBI's autonomy.Section 7 of the RBI Act gives the Centre powers to give directions to the central bank from time to time in public interest after consultation with the RBI governor. It is seen as an instrument of last resort, when the government can issue direct orders to the central bank to carry out its wishes.The section involves two stages: Consultation and instruction.Sources told ETNOW that the government has not yet resorted to Section 7 of RBI Act to transfer funds, but noted that it has send letters of consultation with RBI regarding various issues, including liquidity for NBFCs, capital requirement for weak banks and lending to SMEs.“There have been differences of opinion between RBI and the government, but those were managed behind closed door. Clearly, we need magnanimity from both sides. There will always be difference of opinion. If we look at the US economy, President Donald Trump has been going berserk about Fed Chair Jerome Powell about how he is raising interest rates earlier than necessary. But these matters are better resolved through consultation behind closed door, instead of bringing them out in the open,” said Nilesh Shah, MD of Kotak Mutual Fund. Shah said the market is discounting whatever is in the public domain, but believes a lot would depend on how events pan out.It is quite possible that like in the past RBI and the government will sit across the table and resolve their differences, he said.In that case, the market has no reasons to be nervous. A reverse could also happen. There will be reasons for the markets to be nervous. “This is a binary event. We just hope and pray that it would get settled like it has always been settled in the past,” Shah told ET NOW.The widening rift between RBI and the government came to light when Deputy Governor Viral Acharya raised the issues regarding the central bank’s independence last week.Acharya said risks of undermining the central bank’s independence are potentially catastrophic, a ‘self-goal’ of sorts, as it can trigger a crisis of confidence in capital markets that the government (and others in the economy) tap to manage their finances.In his remarks, Acharya said the government that does not respect the central bank’s independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of the financial markets, ignite economic fire and come to rue the day it undermined an important regulatory institution.“Their wiser counterparts, who invest in central bank independence, will enjoy lower costs of borrowing, the love of international investors and longer life spans,” he said.“I doubt if anybody perhaps has even gone into RBI’s balance sheet. It is a very complex balance sheet. To argue about what kind of surplus and transfers are available, one should not bring these issues to public domain. I am not a great fan of the political class. But remember, politics makes strange bedfellows. Jaitley is a very seasoned politician. He is likely to take nuanced stance. Urjit Patel is not known for being particularly gracious,” said Mythili Bhusnurmath, Consulting Editor, ET NOW.

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IBPS PO Preliminary 2018 exam result declared: Here is the direct link

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has released the IBPS PO 2018 Preliminary exam results on its official website today. The preliminary exam was held on October 13 and 14. The Mains exam is scheduled to be held on November 18.Candidates can check their result on this link: https://ift.tt/2zhs5dW. The results are available till November 7, 2018. Here is how you can check your result:*Go on the homepage for IBPS PO*You will find a link: Common recruitment process for IBPS PO VII. Click on the link * On the next page, you will find a link for the IBPS PO result * By clicking on that link, you will be routed to a login page *Enter your Registration Number or Roll Number and Password or date-of-birth to login*You result will be displayed after the login*Download your exam result and take a print out for future reference

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24 हजार टन लोहे से 45 महीनों में बनकर तैयार हुए हमारे 'सरदार'

दो भारतीय कंपनियों ने मिलकर 45 महीने में स्टैच्यू ऑफ यूनिटी को तैयार किया है। इस प्रतिमा को बनाने के लिए करीब 2979 करोड़ रुपये खर्च हुए, जिसमें से अधिकांश पैसा गुजरात सरकार ने दिया है।

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The subtle but vital change NBFC crisis brought in its wake

In this din over liquidity squeeze faced by mutual funds and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), a subtle but significant change underneath the surface is being lost – the rebirth of the banking industry.After plunging in its key activity – credit growth – to a six-decade low in FY17, banks have managed to expand loans at 14.5% year-onyear, the highest growth recorded in four years.Inability of the shadow banking system to lend, rising interest rates, the tapering off of bad loans, betterment of technology and continued faith of depositors are all aiding high-street banks to put their struggles behind and look ahead to the future with promise.The end of cheap money from mutual funds and the disappearance of easy money from NBFCs are driving borrowers to the age-old banking system, which after years appears to be a better option than competitors.“Banks have liquidity,” says V Srinivasan, deputy managing director at Axis Bank. “The mutual fund market is almost kind of frozen. So even the big corporates are now turning to banks for funding.”Total loans by scheduled commercial banks have grown to Rs 89.93 lakh crore in the fortnight ended October 12, 2018 from Rs 78.64 lakh crore a year earlier, driven by loans to individuals, services and micro credit, data from the Reserve Bank of India show. By contrast, mutual funds witnessed an outflow of Rs 2.30 lakh crore, the highest since the start of the year, data from Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed. 66439098 CHANGING FORTUNES Banks suddenly appear to be a better place to borrow from, thanks to their loyal individual depositors. Bank deposits have grown 30% CAGR in the past three years even as their lending was constrained due to bad loans.“We do not have the liquidity problems that NBFCs have, we are hence in a better position. We can also partner with NBFCs and originate loans together,” said Nagesh Srivastava, head-corporate and institutional relationship, Bank of Baroda.Market interest rates have spiked in the past six months in line with global interest rates and a squeeze in domestic liquidity as the Reserve Bank of India’s currency management through sale of US dollars sucked out rupees from the market. So, the current fiscal could be favourable to banks.“In FY19, we see a likelihood that domestic banks will reemerge as a primary source of funding to the commercial sector, over bond markets and non-bank entities,” says Radhika Rao, economist at DBS Bank. “Most of these funding options are susceptible to market volatility, borrowing cost movements, liquidity squeeze and tweaks to banks’ lending controls and credit reviews.”Mutual funds, key lenders to NBFCs, have turned cautious after the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services defaulted on its loans. Because of the aversion, NBFCs are finding it difficult to roll over their short-term loans, forcing them to compromise lending for liquidity.JM Financial and IIFL Holdings, the two NBFCs for whom mutual funds are a crucial part of their total borrowings, prepaid their commercial papers to infuse confidence in the market.“This NBFC liquidity squeeze could alter the lending market in many ways,” says KVS Manian, head- corporate, institutional and investment banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank. “NBFCs made up a huge 23% of total credit in the system, so we should expect some shifts. Some of these loans will come to banks, especially in the retail and SME space, which was heavily occupied by NBFCs.”LOST GROUNDAlthough banks have historically been the backbone of Indian industry, they fell behind in the past five years due to a combination of bad loans and capital erosion.Stressed assets, the aggregate of bad loans and restructured loans, rose to 24.8% of the total in FY18, from 9.8% in FY14. These were mostly loans to power, telecom and steel industries, which faced headwinds in the shape of lower prices and regulatory changes.During this period, banks shrank their growth rates and state-run banks that constitute about three fourths of the total industry were also crippled due to lack of capital.As the lenders were setting their house in order, NBFCs which were less regulated than banks took advantage and began lending to consumers and small businessmen. As interest rates remained lower and liquidity was plenty, funding for NBFCs was easier as mutual funds chased customers.In the process, the share of NBFCs, including housing finance companies, in overall loans to the commercial sector rose to 24% in FY18 from 14% in FY15, according to estimates from Morgan Stanley.“During that period, non-bank financial institutions have taken up a greater role in lending activities,” says Rao of DBS. “This translated into a drop in the domestic banks’ share in the total flow of funds to the commercial sector to 34% in FY17 from 55% in FY16.”BANKS’ SWOTFlush with liquidity and technology, banks are preparing to reclaim their share.On September 25, a consortium of public sector banks led by State Bank of India and the Small Industries Development Bank of India launched a new internet platform that will process SME data within minutes, helping sanction loans in less than an hour.“There is a time for everything,” said Narayanan Sadanandan, chief general manager at SBI. “Now is the time for banks. This is an opportunity we want to capitalise on.”With the implementation of Goods and Services Tax, banks will have authentic accounts of even small businesses which they did not have earlier.But the gains in market share would not be for all. The big banks and the well capitalised ones would benefit while smaller ones continue to struggle with poor human resources and funds.“The rising rate environment will shift bargaining power in favour of the large banks, which have relatively higher retail funding bases – and given that CASA (Current Account Savings Account) deposits don’t reprice, loan growth acceleration at these banks will be accompanied by rising spreads,” says Morgan Stanley.State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bank of Baroda may be among the winners because of their strong low-cost deposits and improving bad loans position.SBI’s CASA is at 45.07%, while for ICICI it is at 50.8%. HDFC Bank and Kotak will reap the benefits of low bad loans.But weak banks like Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank and IDBI Bank risk being left behind in the revival.Allahabad’s stressed assets are at 16.7% while capital adequacy is at 6.88%. For IDBI Bank, gross NPAs are at 30.78% and capital adequacy is at 8.18%.“While the preoccupation may have come down with regards to bad loans and resolutions etc., you still need capital to grow, and I don’t think that the question has been fully addressed as yet in terms of how you recapitalise the banks in a manner where they can go out and lend,” says Ravneet Gill, CEO, Deutsche Bank, India.While the opportunities for banks may be opening again, it would be the well capitalised and the ones with big franchises that would be the winners.

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Section 7 & why it is being used against RBI

Section 7 of the RBI Act has come into spotlight amid the war between the Central government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The provision in the RBI Act empowers the government to issue directions to the RBI.According to an ET report, the government has invoked Section 7 which has never been used before. Exercising powers under this section, the government has sent several letters to the RBI governor Urjit Patel in recent weeks on issues ranging from liquidity for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), capital requirement for weak banks and lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) . What is Section 7?The RBI is an entity independent of the government as it takes its own decisions. However, in certain instances, it has to listen to the government. This provision in the RBI Act is contained in its Section 7 which says: (1) The Central Government may from time to time give such directions to the Bank as it may, after consultation with the Governor of the Bank, consider necessary in the public interest. (2) Subject to any such directions, the general superintendence and direction of the affairs and business of the Bank shall be entrusted to a Central Board of Directors which may exercise all powers and do all acts and things which may be exercised or done by the Bank. (3) Save as otherwise provided in regulations made by the Central Board, the Governor and in his absence the Deputy Governor nominated by him in this behalf, shall also have powers of general superintendence and direction of the affairs and the business of the Bank, and may exercise all powers and do all acts and things which may be exercised or done by the Bank.] Clearly, the section empowers the government to issue directions in public interest to the central bank, which otherwise does not take orders from the government. Why has the government invoked Section 7?The government and RBI have been at loggerheads over a few issues for some time now. The government believed that easing of lending rules for the banks under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework could help reduce pressure on MSMEs, ET has reported. However, the regulator stood its ground arguing that such a move would put the clock back and undo clean-up efforts. With the credit markets tightening after the IL&FS default in September, non-banking finance companies lobbied the government for more liquidity. But RBI maintained its position since the banking system did not witness any spike in borrowing costs and the market was just repricing risk in an evolving situation.According to an ET report, a recent court order suggesting that the government consider giving directions to RBI under Section 7 of RBI Act in a case involving independent power producers may have opened up the avenue for the Centre. Power companies had contested a February 12 circular by the banking regulator that said if a borrower misses payment even for a day, it would be considered a defaulter even though the account will remain standard in the books of the bank.Reportedly, the government and the RBI disagree on a large number of important issues such as classification of non-performing assets (NPAs) and setting up of a payments regulator independent of the RBI.Why is Section 7 seen as an extreme measure?This section has never been used in till now. It was not used even when the country was close to default in the dark days of 1991, nor in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. It is not clear how this Section operates since it has never been used. The aggressive move could scandalise a section of academia and experts, while raising questions about the government’s intentions and the impact on RBI's autonomy. A speech made last week by Viral Acharya, the deputy governor of the RBI, which brought the tensions between the RBI and the government to the fore, might have been provoked by the government's invocation of Section 7. Stressing the importance of the central bank's autonomy, Acharya had sounded a warning to the government — keep your hands off the RBI. Supporting his arguments with illustrations, principles and insights, Acharya made a case of central bank's autonomy for long-term financial stability in the country.

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Know about Donald Trump's new battlefield

In one more step against illegal immigration, US President Donald Trump has expressed the desire to end the right to citizenship for the children of non-citizens and unauthorised immigrants born on US soil.US President Donald Trump plans to end the right to citizenship for the children of non-citizens and unauthorised immigrants born on US soil in what is arguably the most far-reaching move to staunch the growth of the immigrant population in the United States. The move could discourage a large number of illegal or irregular immigrants for whom this is an attractive provision. Birthright citizenship in American lawThe law of birthright citizenship came into existence in 1868 in response to the Dred Scott v. Sandford case in which Scott, a black slave, claimed that he and his wife should be granted their freedom because they had lived in the state of Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory for four years, where slavery was illegal. The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was enacted to guarantee the right to citizenship for all persons born within the United States and subject to its jurisdiction.How Trump is wrong about itIn an interview with “Axios on HBO”, Trump said, "We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States ... with all of those benefits," Trump continued. "It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end."However, Trump was wrong in claiming that the US is the only country that grants birthright citizenship. While most countries, including India, do not offer such citizenship, more than 30 countries do. Below is a list of countries that recognize birthright citizenship, according to a Business Insider report:Antigua and BarbudaArgentinaBarbadosBelizeBoliviaBrazilCanadaChileCosta RicaCubaDominicaEcuadorEl SalvadorFijiGrenadaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasJamaicaLesothoMexicoNicaraguaPakistanPanamaParaguayPeruSaint Kits and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesTanzaniaTrinidad and TobagoTuvaluUnited StatesUruguayVenezuelaThen there are other countries that recognize birthright citizenship in special circumstances. In some cases, countries will confer citizenship to orphans or to children with stateless parents. These countries include Guinea-Bissau, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Chad. So Trump is wrong when he says only the US offers birthright citizenship. Indian law on citizenshipIndian citizenship law is a little complex. A person is an Indian by birth if born in India on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987. If a person is born after July 1987, he or she can claim citizenship if either parent was a citizen. For all born in India on or after December 3, 2004, they can claim citizenship by birth only if both parents are Indians, or if one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal immigrant at the time of birth. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014. Recently, several organisations in Assam protested against the Bill.

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सुप्रीम कोर्ट: देशभर में केवल दिल्ली-एनसीआर में सभी पटाखों की बिक्री पर प्रतिबंध

सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने आज कहा कि दिल्ली-एनसीआर में सभी पटाखों की बिक्री पर प्रतिबंध रहेगा, केवल देश के अन्य हिस्सों में ही पटाखों की बिक्री होगी।

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'मी टू' अभियान: प्रिया रमानी के खिलाफ मानहानि मामले में एमजे अकबर ने दर्ज कराया अपना बयान

'मी टू' अभियान के तहत यौन उत्पीड़न के आरोपों में फंसे पूर्व केंद्रीय मंत्री एम. जे. अकबर ने पत्रकार प्रिया रमानी के खिलाफ दिल्ली की एक अदालत में आपराधिक मानहानि का मुकदमा दर्ज कराया।

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एमएस धोनी का एक ऐसा रिकॉर्ड, जो आज तक विश्व का कोई विकेटकीपर नहीं तोड़ पाया

टीम इंडिया के पूर्व कप्तान महेंद्र सिंह धोनी के लिए 31 अक्टूबर का दिन बेहद खास है।

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Government confirms "extensive consultations with RBI" amid reports of rare powers to issue directions to RBI governor

The government today confirmed "extensive consultations with RBI" as it responded to reports that it had invoked never-before-used powers to issue directions to the central bank governor on matters of...

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Opinion: Why RBI Is Suddenly Standing Up To Modi - And What's At Stake

Encapsulated here is the broader failure of this government: it started with such hopes and ambitions, as visible in the decision to give the RBI an independent inflation target; but now it is reduced...

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Northeast Monsoon Will Reach Tamil Nadu In 2 Days: Weather Department

Conditions are favourable for the onset of northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next two days, the regional weather office said today.

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Indonesia Military Chief "Strongly Believes" Crashed Lion Air Plane Found

The smashed fuselage of a crashed Indonesian jetliner may have been found, the country's military chief said Wednesday, two days after the deadly accident feared to have killed 189 people. Using sonar...

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Poco F1 to Get Android Pie and Android Q Updates, Confirms Jai Mani

Xiaomi has earlier confirmed that Android Pie will arrive for Poco F1 in Q4 this year, while Android Q still has a long way to go.

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मुजफ्फरपुर बालिका गृह मामला : सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने कहा- बिहार में कुछ भी ठीक नहीं है

मुजफ्फरपुर बालिका गृह मामले पर सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने कहा, बिहार में कुछ भी ठीक नहीं है।

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फेसबुक सितंबर तिमाही में हुआ 5.14 अरब डॉलर का मुनाफा

फेसबुक का परिणाम विश्लेषकों के अनुमान से बेहतर रहा लेकिन आलोच्य अवधि के दौरान नये जुड़े उपयोक्ताओं की संख्या अनुमान से कम रही। पिछले कुछ समय में कंपनी का लगातार विवादों में फंसना इसकी वजह रही।

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अफगान सेना का हेलीकॉप्टर दुर्घटनाग्रस्त, चालक दल समेत सभी 25 लोगों की मौत

अफगान सेना का हेलीकॉप्टर फराह क्षेत्र में दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हो गया है। इस दुर्घटना में हेलीकॉप्टर में सवार करीब 25 लोगों की मौत हो गई है।

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To make Urjit Patel fall in line, govt invokes never-used powers

The government has invoked never-before-used powers under the RBI Act allowing it to issue directions to the central bank governor on matters of public interest, in a development that gives a new twist to the ongoing skirmish between RBI and the government.ET has learnt that separate letters have been sent to the RBI governor in recent weeks — exercising powers under this section — on issues ranging from liquidity for NBFCs, capital requirement for weak banks and lending to SMEs.The unprecedented move could have triggered last week’s rare public assertion of independence by RBI, with deputy governor Viral Acharya warning the Centre of disastrous consequences if the regulator’s autonomy is impinged upon.66434939 Section 7 of the RBI Act empowers the government to consult and give instructions to the governor to act on certain issues that the government considers serious and in public interest.This Section had never been used in independent India till now. It was not used even when the country was close to default in the dark days of 1991, nor in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis.“The Central Government may from time to time give such directions to the Bank as it may, after consultation with the Governor of the Bank, consider necessary in the public interest,” says the Section. An RBI spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment.It is not yet clear how this Section operates since it has never been used till now.The aggressive move could scandalise a section of academia and experts, while raising questions about the government’s intentions and the impact on Reserve Bank of India’s autonomy.Using the powers under Section 7 is considered sacrilegious among central bankers as it leaves little scope for the regulator to conduct the affairs in a way they deem fit. It would also set a precedent for future governments to push through their agenda even on minor issues, if there are differences.“A government’s horizon of decision-making is rendered short, like the duration of a T20 match (to use a cricketing analogy), by several considerations,” Acharya had said last week.“There are always upcoming elections of some sort — national, state, mid-term, etc. In contrast, a central bank plays a Test match, trying to win each session, but importantly also survive it so as to have a chance to win the next session, and so on.”The government and RBI have been at loggerheads over a few issues for some time now. While the government believed that easing of lending rules for the 11banks under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework could help reduce pressure on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the regulator stood its ground arguing that such a move would put the clock back and undo clean-up efforts.With the credit markets tightening after the IL&FS default in September, non-banking finance companies lobbied the government for more liquidity.But RBI maintained its position since the banking system did not witness any spike in borrowing costs and the market was just repricing risk in an evolving situation.A recent court order suggesting that the government consider giving directions to RBI under Section 7 of RBI Act in a case involving independent power producers may have opened up the avenue for the Centre. Power companies had contested a February 12 circular by the banking regulator that said if a borrower misses payment even for a day, it would be considered a defaulter even though the account will remain standard in the books of the bank.Acharya’s speech last Friday was also unprecedented in its message, where he warned of economies getting punished for imprudence which the central banks are always against.“As many parts of the world today await greater government respect for central bank independence, independent central bankers will remain undeterred,” Acharya said. “Governments that do not respect central bank independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets, ignite economic fire, and come to rue the day they undermined an important regulatory institution; their wiser counterparts who invest in central bank independence will enjoy lower costs of borrowing, the love of international investors, and longer life spans.”

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NBFCs' make-or-mar hour is just 9 days away

As thousands of crores come up for redemption, senior officials of close to 20 large non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance firms met in Mumbai this week to figure out the road ahead.They fear that another default or failure to roll over commercial paper (CP) — a money market instrument to raise short-term funds — could once again rattle the market where liquidity has dipped with most mutual funds, which have been a ready provider of credit for years, sitting on cash to meet possible redemption pressure from investors.According to a senior official of a Mumbai-based NBFC, about Rs 50,000 crore of CPs are coming up for redemption by November 9. Of this, around Rs 5,000 crore were issued by a troubled housing finance company.At the meeting, held in the office of Tata Capital on Monday, it was decided that the industry would try to marshal support from large industrialists and senior members of the financial markets to move the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).“It’s not just the professionals, we would like to approach the promoters of large corporate groups having interest in financial services companies to seek a meeting with the RBI governor. Some of us have had informal discussions with RBI officials, but we think it would make a difference if business leaders meet Urjit Patel to explain seriousness of the situation,” said a person who attended the meeting. 66438977 “Also, if big names in the corporate world seek an appointment with the governor, chances are he would agree,” the person said.There is a widely shared perception in the industry that the central bank is not fully appreciating the liquidity problem. “May be only a handful of companies are facing a real crisis. But even a single default could spark panic, push mutual fund investors to seek redemption, which would cause the funds to sell top-rated debt papers, and this would pull down many other security prices. So, many MFs are holding a large portion in cash, some NBFCs are prepaying CPs as they are not investing. The bigger challenge is reviving the credit business,” said the chairman of a large financial services group.Housing finance companies are comparatively more dependent on CPs which lower the cost of fund. The total size of HFC industry would be Rs 6 lakh crore against Rs 22 lakh crore for NBFCs.HFC REGULATIONAccording to the person, there is also an element of uncertainty as to what extent RBI would involve if some of the smallor mid-sized HFCs run into a problem.“Technically, HFCs are regulated by the National Housing Bank, which is a refinance institution, and NHB is no longer a subsidiary of the central bank. However, this was not discussed in the meeting,” he said.The participants in Monday’s meeting were members of a FICCI sub-committee.“The situation is slightly better than what it was a fortnight ago. For instance, a Mumbai NBFC raised Rs 1,300 crore of CPs on Tuesday. But stress remains as most mutual funds are investing selectively and credit cycle is not moving,” said an industry source.While RBI has allowed more headroom to banks to lend to NBFCs, most banks — particularly private and foreign banks — are preferring to buy loan portfolios by cherry-picking NBFC assets rather than directly lending to an NBFC or HFC. “Most banks would rather take exposure to the underlying borrower than extend credit to a finance firm. In fact, banks are seeing this as an opportunity,” said a senior banker.

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Everything about your TV is all set to change

In a judgement that will have far reaching implications on the Indian broadcast industry, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea from Star India, paving the way for the implementation of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s new tariff order for the broadcast sector. With a go-ahead from SC, Trai will now be able to enforce the tariff order and interconnect regulations, which will entirely change the way broadcast deals were done in India since the advent of the private satellite television.The new tariff order, industry experts said, may force broadcasters to shut down weaker channels and initiate further consolidation in the cable, DTH as well as in the broadcast sector. For starters, TV broadcasters so far used to sign fixed-fee deals with the delivery platform operators (DPOs), including cable and DTH players, charging a lump sum amount. The DPOs, on the other hand, used to charge a monthly fee from the consumers, without giving them the actual option to select channels of their choice.This all will change with the new tariff order, which will force TV broadcasters to announce maximum retail price (MRP) of their channels individually and of bouquets, which will allow a consumer to select and pay only for the channels she wants to watch.Broadcasters and cable operators have welcomed the order.Subhash Chandra, chairman, Zee Entertainment, said that the SC order is the best thing that could have happened to the industry, players and the consumers. “Supreme Court’s order has empowered the consumers across the nation... it is for the first time in 26 years that such a strong and positive step has been taken to eradicate the lack of transparency in the entire value chain,” Chandra said.While many in the industry feel that it will be a nightmare for the service providers to comply with the required initial timelines and activities and implement the order, Rajan Gupta, president of All India Digital Cable Federation, said that this is the watershed moment the industry has been waiting for. “We feel that the new framework will bring in much-needed transparency, parity, promote exercising of choice for the consumer and ensure orderly growth of the sector,” he said.For broadcasters, the biggest challenge will be sustaining the channels with lower viewership as those will get dropped completely.“Better brands and better products will get rewarded and the new order will benefit companies like Times Network,” said MK Anand, MD and CEO of Times Network, who believes that the move will also help broadcasters to move from a B2B to a B2C model.According to Anand, the status quo in the cable and satellite distribution favoured the entrenched order. “The biggest inefficiency in the current system is the ground level collection and onward flow of value at the LCO level. This bottleneck will be cleared, which will improve the flow through the system and eventually benefit the industry and the consumer.”With Tuesday’s judgment in the appeal filed by Star India against the orders of the Madras High Court dismissing its challenge to Trai’s jurisdiction to notify certain portions of the Interconnect Regulations and Tariff Order dated March 3, 2017, the near two year-long battle between the broadcasters and the regulator has come to an end.Abhishek Malhotra, partner at Bharucha & Partners, said that the broadcasting business will undergo a massive operational shift with the order. “We will now see an MRP rate instead of price ceilings. For the first time, DPOs shall have to notify their reference interconnect offer. Most importantly, the consumer will finally know the MRP of the channel/s that she is subscribing to,” Malhotra said.

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How HUL is turning employee attrition on its head

MUMBAI: At a time when CEO tenures have come down, Sanjiv Mehta has completed five years at the helm of Hindustan Unilever (HUL). The HUL CMD, who delivered his fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit volume growth in July-September this year, believes people should spend more time in the job to make a difference.This is contrary to industry trends where people movement and job hopping are considered vital for a successful career. The Rs 36,000-crore FMCG behemoth is turning the trend on its head. In an exclusive interview with TOI, Mehta said, “I believe people need to spend more time in jobs to build capabilities and make a difference. The flip side is that we need to ensure that the career progress keeps happening for good performers.”Priya Nair, executive director — home care, has spent eight years in the category, Sudhir Sitapati, executive director — foods & refreshment, has been with the portfolio for five years, while Shiva Krishnamurthy, VP — tea & foods, has worked for seven years in this segment.“There was a time when most organisations were paternalistic and took on the responsibility of developing careers for their people. Today, careers need to be steered by individuals themselves. We have to create an environment where people are happy to continue in a category because it gives them growth and opportunity to make the difference rather than flitting from one job to the other,” said Mehta, who is satisfied with an annual attrition rate of 6-7 per cent because it allows the company to accelerate the tracks of other employees. On the other hand, the company is recruiting a lot of people at mid-career levels with the right kind of talent profile.People matters occupy Mehta’s mind space a lot. "If you look at my calendar for the month, the maximum time I spend is on re-imagining HUL and coaching & mentoring of our people," he said.The results from the rewiring of the system are now visible. The time taken for an innovation to hit the market has been reduced significantly, in some cases it has been cut by one-third and in some others by half. Besides, HUL has seen a 6-7 per cent savings of turnover

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How HUL is turning the job attrition trend on its head

Cube Highways close to buying IL&FS’ Seven Road projects

Cube Highways, backed by global private equity fund I Squared Capital and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), is close to signing an agreement with IL&FS to purchase its seven toll road projects with an enterprise value of around Rs 20,000 crore, three people with direct knowledge of the deal said.The sale, which is in the final stages, will give the beleaguered IL&FS much needed liquidity of Rs 6,000 crore-Rs 8,000 crore by way of equity returns to repay some of the loans that faced defaults due to a funds crunch. IL&FS, with 348 companies under its umbrella, has a debt of Rs 91,000 crore.“The deal includes debt of around Rs12,000-14,000 crore and rest will go towards equity of the seven operational toll projects,” one of the persons quoted above said. IL&FS has 28 build-operatetransfer (BOT) projects under the listed IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL).At an enterprise valuation of Rs 20,000 crore, with a maximum equity component of Rs 8,000 crore, the new buyers would assume debt of Rs 12,000-Rs 14,000 crore. In effect, about Rs 20,000 crore of debt could be pared down by the IL&FS Group, including potential repayments of other outstanding debt, using equity returns from this deal.The newly appointed board of IL&FS under Asia’s richest banker Uday Kotak is considering ways to generate immediate cash flows and is exploring options to sell the rights to operate toll roads built by it, besides selling other assets in the energy sector, ET reported last month.Last week, the board appointed three advisors to formulate and execute a resolution plan for the debt-laden company. Ace deal maker Rajeev Gupta’s Arpwood Capital and Nimesh Kampani’s JM Financial have been appointed as the financial and transaction advisors (FTAs), while global consulting firm Alvarez and Marsal (A&M) will work as the restructuring advisor to the IL&FS board.Many road projects of IL&FS are nearing completion or have been completed but these were not generating cash flows because of delay in putting the toll collection system on time. In many cases, the government also built service roads alongside helping smaller vehicles bypass the toll plaza leading to losses for the toll operator, the ET report said.Emailed queries to Gautam Bhandari, founder of I Squared Capital did not elicit any response. The official spokesperson for IL&FS declined to comment.Singapore-based Cube Highways, a platform floated by I Squared Capital and backed by International Finance Corp. and ADIA, operates 1,700 km of highways in India. Last month, it acquired infrastructure group HCC’s entire stake in Farakka-Raiganj Highways for an equity consideration of Rs 372 crore.The November 3 polls will conclusively show if voters have cast their ballots largely on caste lines, or would throw up a surprise.

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Nilesh Shah: 2 themes to balance risk and return in this market:

The first theme relates to rupee depreciation and the opportunity for export-related and import-substitution 66441007 66431356 66426272 companies and sectors. The second theme is a game-changer of sorts, arising out of US-China trade war as China starts losing it premier manufacturing hub spot, Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak AMC, tells ET Now.Edited excerpts: How should the market read into the so-called standoff between RBI and the government? Should markets get nervous or is this is something that has happened in the past also and we should move on?In the past also there has been differences of opinion between RBI and the government. But clearly, they have been managed behind closed doors rather than being out in the open. Clearly, we need magnanimity from both sides. There will always be difference of opinion between central bank and the government. If we look at the US economy, President Trump has been going berserk about Jerome Powell, about how he is raising interest rates earlier than necessary. There is traction between the central bank and the government all over the world but these matters are better resolved through consultations behind closed doors.What are you trying to imply – get nervous or not?I am not really sure because clearly the market has discounted whatever is there in the public domain and lot will depend on how events shape up. It is quite possible that like in the past, RBI and the government will sit across the table and resolve their differences. In that case, the market has no reason to be nervous. On the other hand, reverse could also happen and then there is all the reasons for market to be nervous. This is a binary event. We just hope and pray that it will settle like it has always get settled in the past.The market seems to have put on the back-burner the fact that crude has declined to a two-month low. Brent is at $75-76 levels. Why is the market ignoring the fact that there has been such a significant cool off?It is not that the market has not taken into account the crude price drop but the fact remains that the September 18 quarterly result numbers have come a little bit subdued than market’s expectation. Of course, a few companies have delivered beyond-expectation results, but they are far and few between. Majority of companies have delivered around or slightly below expectation results. Probably, it is the subdued results of September 18 quarter that is impacting the market, making it ignore the crude price drop.Are global markets going to correct because the sneezing and the coughing have just about started there?Over last one year, India was caught in a perfect storm. Oil prices went up from $55 to $75 and that movement prompted rupee to depreciate because it had been appreciating between 2013 and 2017. The depreciating rupee prompted RBI to sell dollar and that took away rupee liquidity in banking system, raising short-term interest rates. It probably resulted in an IL&FS kind of credit event and finally a sum of all that was reflected into the stock market where the smallcap index is down almost 40% plus from the top. The good news is that majority of the bad news has been in the prices. Rupee’s over-valuations have been corrected to a great extent. After rising relentlessly, interest rates have started coming down with RBI’s open market operations (OMO). RBI is pushing liquidity through open market operations and LCR relaxations. The oil prices have also softened a little bit. Putting all these things together, a lot of bad news is already reflected in the prices. The valuation of the stock market which was at a premium to its 10-year historical price to book, is now at a discount or at around fair value. The small cap index was at about 33% premium to its 10-year historical price to book average in January 2018. Today it is at 10% discount. The largecap was at 10% premium, today it is at 4% discount. Valuations have come down from premium to around fair value and a little below fair value for largecaps as well as smallcaps. Going forward, markets will be impacted by two things – one, trajectory of oil and second election. If oil goes to $100 a barrel, certainly there will be a downside to the market. If election produces a coalition government, then there could be downside from the market. On the other hand, if we get a little lucky with oil and get a stable government, then there is upside from the market. So oil and election to a great extent will be driver for the market in the next six to eight months. What would be the portfolio setup at the current juncture? Would one be aligned towards being more defensive? How would you balance between risk and return?Rupee depreciation has been advantageous for companies which are exporting goods and services from India as well as those companies which were facing unfair import dumping from China. So, this is one theme; great opportunity for export-related or import-substitution companies and sectors. The second thing which is happening is an opportunity of our life time. It is related to supply chain disruption being caused by US imposing huge amount of tariff on variety of goods from China. The inorganic chemical industry is showing volume growth of about 40% year-on-year quarter for last three quarters. This is happening because a), rupee depreciation has given some breathing space to inorganic chemical manufactures and b), China has been moving away from that market and that is allowing Indian companies to capture export orders. This kind of supply chain disruption is occurring in various other parts as well. Last week, The Economist published an article on how supply chain disruption is moving manufacturing from China to other countries. Footwear is going to Cambodia. Food processing is going to Vietnam. Electronics is going to Malaysia and Thailand. Computers are going to Taiwan. Clothing is going to Bangladesh. Now clearly this is our opportunity. We have the ability to make footwear, clothing, computers, electronics and other items. If we can take away that manufacturing base from China, there will be a huge opportunity. We have seen a big crowded trade in FAANG stocks reversing. Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, Netflix is where bulk of the global stock market and ETF concentration is. Some of these stocks have corrected 10-15%. What will be the implications of this reversal in trade and could that impact emerging markets a bit more?When I was in the US, one question which came up between the lines was why should they invest in emerging markets? Over a 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years, American markets have delivered better returns than emerging markets. Frankly speaking, I was running out of answers because for American investors it made sense to invest in American market rather than emerging market. US markets have outperformed virtually all emerging markets. A large part of outperformance has come because of FAANGs and when these stocks start coming down, then that will be a reason for investors to diversify away from US markets into emerging markets. It is extremely important for emerging markets’ sake that American stock market and emerging markets stock market return differential reverses where emerging markets starts outperforming American market for attracting American capital. The second thing which will happen with FAANG stocks’ correction is that it will allow other companies, other sectors to go up in terms of valuation. A lot of money was chasing FAANG stocks because many people were underweight these on stocks and that resulted into capital pulling out of many other sectors many other companies. We do expect a reasonable distribution of capital across non technology, non FAANG stocks now. But again, the correction in FAANG stocks would be short lived. The world has changed and that change has been brought by these FAANG stocks. Also, we are not going into 2000 kind of scenario where many dotcom websites and dotcom companies disappeared. There will be price correction but these companies will continue to exist and prosper.One thing that could challenge the market optimism is because of a crunch in liquidity, credit offtake may start slowing down, consumer spending will start slowing down and that could challenge FY19 and FY20 estimates?Undoubtedly, that is the big risk being faced by Indian market and Indian economy. Last year, we had seen one-third of the credit coming from public sector banks, majority from non PCA banks, one-third of the credit came from private sector banks and one-third from NBFCs. Today, the PCA banks are not able to lend credit. The private sector banks and non PCA PSU banks will continue to lend credit but they will have a limitation. The entire NBFC sector, which was funding credit to real estate sector and to small and medium enterprises, is slowing down and coming to a grinding halt in some cases. If we do not provide adequate credit to the economy, undoubtedly there will be impact on the GDP growth and corporate earnings. We were talking to a few electronics distributors in Mumbai and they are saying there is a reasonable amount of slowdown in footfalls as well as sales primarily because many NBFCs are not in a position to provide consumer durable financing. Now when NBFCs step out of consumer financing, the banks can step into automobile financing and they have the requisite expertise to provide financing for two-wheelers, four-wheelers and commercial vehicles but they really do not have expertise to provide financing for washing machines and television and refrigerators. That space was the exclusive domain of many of the NBFCs and there is a slowdown coming and that slowdown will be reflected into consumer durables. So, it is extremely important that we check the boxes. One, there should be systematic liquidity. Liquidity cannot be negative so that there is capital available to everyone. Second, that capital should be available at appropriate cost. Today we have slightly higher real interest rates. It needs to be normalised. And fortunately, we have seen some reversal in the 10-year yield from 8.25 to 7.90. Third, there should be transmission of that liquidity at appropriate rates to the needy sector. Now PCA banks are out of the system from a lending point of view and so NBFCs have to take the load and there should be transmission of liquidity at appropriate rates to the NBFC sector, so that the economy continues to get the credit which is so necessary for the growth.Three months from now, what could we be staring at?We just need to be lucky and sensible. If we are lucky in oil and we are sensible in voting, Nifty will be higher than current level. If we are unlucky about oil and we are not voting sensibly, then Nifty will be lower than current levels.What is sensible voting?It is all about a stable government. Before I close, I just want to take the liberty of pointing out one thing; this is related to MSCI emerging market indices. India’s weight in MSCI emerging market indices is about 8%, China’s weight is about 28%. Most of the investors I met expressed concern as to how their portfolios are going to get impacted as China’s weight in MSCI emerging market indices will increase from almost 28% to more than 50%. Their doubling of weight will result into lowering of India’s weight. Today majority of investors are overweight India and from being overweight they will become extremely overweight as our weight reduces. Majority of investors are underweight China and they will become extremely underweight China as China’s weight doubles. This will have serious implications about FII allocations to India as well as to their existing holding in India. We must engage with investors to engage with MSCI that they should not make MSCI emerging market indices MSCI China indices and other emerging markets. It should retain its diversified nature. It should give fair representation to Indian equities. Today many of our large companies like HDFC Bank, many PSUs, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank are not part of the MSCI emerging market indices and we must engage with investors to ensure that when China’s weight increases, our weight does not reduce correspondingly. That is going to ensure that FIIs’ allocations to India remain stable. Otherwise, we could see a dramatic reversal in FII allocation as well as selling from their existing holding.

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Wednesday, October 31, 2018