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Lenders plan Aircel, GTL Infra merger Look at March 31 as the proposed deadline to initiate the process Lenders to Aircel and GTL Infrastructure have come up with a solution to clear the combined debt of the firms. They are looking at the option to merge the firms so that the new entity gets a stable earning. The lenders are looking at March 31 as the deadline to initiate the merger. This comes after a proposed merger of Aircel with Reliance Communications (RCom) was called off, and banks are left with deteriorating financial health of the company as the Aircel’s shares are pledged with them.The lenders have also asked Maxis, the Malaysian promoter of Aircel, to bring in fresh equity worth at least Rs 40 billion into its Indian arm. Part of the proceeds would be used for the GTL Infrastructure merger and to repay debt. The lenders are staring at huge provisioning as Aircel has failed to repay its debt on time and telecom tower firm, GTL Infrastructure, is in the final stages

RBI may maintain status quo on rates for entire 2018: Experts The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to keep the key policy rates unchanged in 2018, despite bond yields rising sharply in the past three months.A rate hike might not come in the entire calendar year, economists and bond dealers said, adding a rate cut was not a possibility either The sharp upward movement in yields started in October last year, when the 10 year bond yields stood at around 6.65 per cent.The yields are now at 7.33 per cent. In the same period, the one year overnight index swap (OIS), an instrument used to hedge rates, rose from 6.09 per cent to 6.46 per cent. In a theoretical sense,arise in the OIS rate might indicate rate hikes, but this time the OIS movement was directly influenced by the rise in yields “It is very difficult for the OIS to remain undisturbed when the yields are rising so much.Base case suggests there would be no hike in 2018.The rise in (bond) yields is more about supply and th

Services sector growth improves in December Combined services, manufacturing PMI fastest since demonetisation. India´s economy has a reason to cheer in the New Year with its biggest sector —services —rebounding to growth in December from contraction in November, though the expansion is moderate, according to a widely tracked Nikkei Purchasing Managers´ Index (PMI). With manufacturing sector posting five year high growth in December, the combined expansion in the two sectors was the fastest since October 2016, the month of demonetisation.Higher activities in services led to increased hiring by firms with jobs growth quickening to the fastest since September, the PMI survey of 400 private sector firms showed. However, effects of the goods and services tax (GST) still persist, since a large chunk of the improvement in PMI account delayed payments from previous months, and cash shortage still not abated.PMI for services grew from 48.5 in November to 50.9 in December. APMI above 5

CBI failed to challenge 2015 excess spectrum order: Public prosecutor The public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case, Anand Grover, told the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had not followed his recommendation to challenge a 2015 special court order acquitting all the accused in the excess spectrum case. Grover made the complaint even as the top court bench monitoring telecom cases demanded a status report from the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate on their investigations into alleged irregularities related to the Aircel-Maxis deal.The public prosecutor had faced the special court's flak last month when it acquitted all the accused, including former telecom minister and DMK leader A Raja and his party colleague and MP Kanimozhi, in the 2G case. An appeal against the December 22, 2017, judgement is expected to be filed in the Delhi High Court, challenging the acquittal and also seeking expunging of the adverse remarks  the special court made agai

Sebi proposal on distributors, advisors can trip mutual funds Business from banks will be adversely impacted, advisors likely to go out of trade The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) renewed push to split the role of an investment adviser and distributor is causing a lot of heart burn in the Rs 22 trillion mutual fund industry. The industry, which has been riding high due to robust inflows of Rs 50 billion a month from the systematic investment plan route could suddenly find itself in a situation when one of the prime contributors to the assets under management, banks, will be completely out of action. “If the proposals are implemented, around 40 per cent of inflows will be impacted as wealth management arms of banks will no longer be able to give advice on mutual funds,” said the CEO of a fund house. “The latest proposals will also drive the bulk of the business towards the distribution side,” said Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research. Distribution per se is

New framework  for algo trading on cards Sebi will soon issue a consultation paper seeking market feed back The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in consultation with the finance ministry, is expected to reissue fresh guidelines on high frequency trading (HFT), popularly known as algorithm trading, after taking feedback from market participants. According to sources, the earlier proposal to tighten the algo trading rules, which had been put out by Sebi in August 2016, has been dropped by the ministry.The market´s contention was that the rules were framed without taking all aspects into consideration, were not in line with global practices, did not have sufficient checks and balances, and would have had an adverse impact on liquidity. To review the proposed norms, Sebi constituted in August last year a committee on fair market conduct to suggest measures to improve surveillance of the market and strengthen the rules for algo trades.“We have received several propos

Lok Sabha sends national medical commission bill to parliamentary committee The Lok Sabha sent the National Medical Commission Bill to the Parliamentary standing committee on health for consideration and the panel's report is expected before the budget session.The bill, which is aimed at development and regulation of all aspects related to medical education, medical profession and medical institutions, will replace the much-criticised Medical Council of India with a new commission to ensure transparency and reform. The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 29 and was expected to be debated on Tuesday.It spurred a nationwide protest by a doctor's body that led to several private hospitals shutting down their outpatient departments. The Indian Medical Association, a lobby group of 3 lakh doctors, called off the strike after the Lok Sabha referred the bill to the standing committee.After considering the bill and getting comment