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Cabinet rejig: Piyush Goyal to run finance; Irani removed from I&B ministry Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was promoted as Minister of State (independent charge) for the I&B ministry Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has emerged the chief troubleshooter for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the past couple of years. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned to Goyal to take over the reins of the finance ministry while Arun Jaitley recovers from an operation. The communique from the President’s House said Goyal had been “temporarily assigned” the portfolios of finance and corporate affairs during “the period of indisposition” of Jaitley. He would continue to hold the railways and coal ministry portfolios. The PM took the opportunity to effect a minor reshuffle of his council of ministers, including ending Smriti Irani’s nearly nine-month controversy-ridden stint as information and broadcasting (I&B) minister. Irani will continue to be textiles minister. Irani was given t...

Regulator Proposes Listed Cos Disclose Payment Delays Sebi on Monday proposed that listed companies have to disclose any delay or expected delay in payment related to their debt securities within 24 hours from occurrence of such an event.The proposal comes against the backdrop of various instances regarding non-compliance with listing norms by issuers of non-convertible debt securities (NCDs) or non-convertible redeemable preference shares (NCRPS). Besides, Sebi has received representations from various stakeholders flagging difficulties in complying with various provisions of Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirement. The new proposals regarding NCDs and NCRPs are aimed at ensuring ease of compliance on the part of the issuers who have listed their debt securities, according to Sebi. In a consultation paper, Sebi has suggested that any delay or expected delay in payment of interest or dividend or principal amount as per the due date for these instruments should be disclos...

RBI may Go for 3 Rate Hikes from Dec Quarter: Report The RBI is expected to begin its rate hike cycle from December quarter, and may go for three rate hikes by 2019 taking the key policy rate to 6.75%, says a Morgan Stanley report. It said a significant overshoot of inflation relative to RBI’s target is not likely. Moreover, the economic recovery will be on a surer footing by the fourth quarter of 2018 and this might prompt RBI to go for a rate hike. “With end demand holding up well, private capex appears poised for a recovery later this year,” Morgan Stanley said. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 15th May 2018

India to clock GDP growth of 7.7 pc in Jan-Mar New Delhi, May 14 () Despite moderation in factory output growth in March, India's GDP is expected to grow by 7.7 per cent in January-March, up from 7.2 per cent in the preceding quarter, says a Nomura report.According to the Japanese financial services major, despite the moderation in March, industrial production growth averaged 6.2 per cent in the January-March period, up from 5.9 per cent in Q4 (October-December).The uptick in average industrial production growth, implies that the overall industrial activity strengthened in Q1 (January-March), "supporting our view of a pick-up in GDP growth to 7.7 per cent year-on-year in Q1 from 7.2 per cent in Q4", the report said.The report further noted that India is expected to witness cyclical recovery led by both investment and consumption. The Times of India, New Delhi, 15th May 2018

GST Rate Finder App Available on iOS The ‘GST Rates Finder’ mobile app, which allows people to find tax rates on various services and goods under the goods and services tax regime, will now be available on iOS. The app is already available for Android users. "To install GST Rate Finder, a user of Android mobile has to first open Google Play Store and in the search option has to type GST Rate Finder. There may be many more apps available with similar names. The user has to download the app with the logo of Central Board of Excise and Customs,” said an official statement. The Economic Times, New Delhi, 14th May 2018

PSBs may re-approach Sebi for relaxing the rule on promoter equity Last year, they got a year's extension to meet the norm, till August 2018 A majority of public sector banks (PSBs) with high government shareholding might have to soon re-approach the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for relaxing the rule on promoter equity. They had got one such waiver. To bring this down as required, they could go for Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) or Employee Stock Option Plans (Esops). However, in banks with particularly high government holding, even after exercising these two measures, the promoter holding might still be higher than the stipulated level. PSBs were required to bring down government shareholding to at least 75 per cent, to comply with the amended Securities Contract (Regulations) Rules by August 2017. Last year, they got a year’s extension to meet the norm, till August 2018. However, with the recent capital infusion, government shareholding has gon...

Every govt considers taxing farm income: Niti Aayog Taxing the agriculture income has always been a politically sensitive issue and governments have refrained from doing so Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar today said imposition of tax on agriculture income has always been considered by 'successive governments', even as he cautioned that any such move should be taken once the sector is productive and attached to modern scientific methods. He further said the government think tank will come out with a development agenda for New India 2022' by July, which will spell out strategy for expediting economic growth."Taxing agriculture income has always been under consideration of successive governments. We have to first ensure that our agriculture become productive and is put on a modern scientific basis," he said in a tweet. Kumar was replying to a question on twitter whether taxing agriculture income beyond a threshold is a good idea as presented in the Kel...

SEBI, stock exchanges to step up vigilance on eve of results Similar additional safeguards have been effectively used during polls in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and other states in the recent past as well as the time of 2014 general elections Market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as well as stock exchanges have stepped up surveillance to keep a close tab on possible manipulations and excessive volatility in the markets ahead of assembly elections results in Karnataka.The results of the single-phase assembly elections will be declared on May 15. However, before the formal announcement of the results, several agencies conducted exit polls, predicting the outcome. The exit poll results for the election were announced after voting ended on May 12.A senior official said the markets regulator and stock exchanges have beefed up surveillance and risk management systems to check any manipulative activities and excessive volatility risks on Monday and Tuesday. ...

RBI’s KYC Norms Burn a Hole in Mobile Wallet No of transactions via mobile wallets fell 13% to 269 m in March from 310 m in February India’s mobile wallet industry saw a sharp fall in usage in March as new Reserve Bank of India regulations kicked in, although not as drastically as had been feared. The number of transactions through mobile wallets fell 13% to 268.79 million in March from 310.01 million in February, and the value of money settled through wallets dropped 23% to ?10,000 crore from ?13,100 crore, RBI data show. With the country showing higher adoption of digital payments overall, the fall in transactions through mobile wallets is likely because of customers moving out of the wallet ecosystem after RBI made full Know-Your-Customer requirements mandatory from March.While the industry had expected an 80-90% fall in wallet usage after February 28, when the new rules became effective, the numbers do not show such a drastic fall. “The only possible explanation could be ...

Sebi to Make Life Easier for FPIs; to Look at Grey Areas, Rework Rules MARKET REGULATOR FORMS PANEL to rationalise investment norms for offshore funds to trade in India The regulations for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) — the dominant club in the country’s capital market — will be recast to make it easier for these offshore funds to trade in India.Capital market regulator Sebi has constituted a high-profile team led by a former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to redraft the rules. The committee will delve into multiple grey zones and ambiguities to come out with a new policy regime without altering the broader framework. Some of the areas that could be examined are: a possible relook at rules for foreign institutional investors, which are otherwise registered with in matured jurisdictions like the US, but pool their money in a tax haven like Cayman Islands; should FPIs be given more time to make their funds broad-based — which require a minimum number of 20 i...

Government Tightens Norms for Import of Pulses A quota system has been introduced only for millers and refiners for the import of tur, moong and urad, says DGFT The government has tightened norms for the import of pulses to ensure that its domestic prices don’t fall below the minimum support price. The prices of most pulses have been below the minimum support price levels, leading to farmer unrest in the main pulses-growing areas. The government has also introduced a quota system only for millers and refiners for the import of tur, moong and urad, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). To avail this quota, dal millers have to submit applications between May 15 and 25. The allocation of quota for each beneficiary will be notified on June 1 and millers have to complete their imports by August 31, the DGFT said Suresh Aggarwal, president of the All India Dal Mill Association based out of Indore, said the move will benefit Indian farmers as ...