Equity benchmarks face a key test as investors weigh consumption revival hopes against tariff pressures and weak earnings. Amidst this, HSBC has outlined tailwinds and risks that could cap gains.
GST Reform 2.0, which trims tax slabs from four to two, signals a push for demand-led growth, and together with recent income tax cuts, sets the stage for sustained economic growth, experts said. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on September 3 approved an overhaul of the indirect tax regime by taxing essentials at 5 per cent and other goods at 18 per cent. A new 40 per cent tax will be applicable on luxury and sin items.
The proposed reforms in goods and services tax (GST) announced by the government last week, coupled with the eighth pay commission dole-out, is likely to push consumption-driven stocks - such as air conditioners (ACs), select automobiles, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and counters of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) - into higher orbit over the next few months, believe analysts.
'From tariff tensions and border skirmishes to unrest in West Asia.' 'The worst may be behind us. But any further upmove will now have to come from earnings.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Analysis of the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations.
The January-March quarter (Q4) results for 2024-25 (FY25) from the country's largest passenger vehicle (PV) maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), were a mixed bag, with revenues broadly in line but operating profit missing Street expectations. Given cost pressures, margins at the operating level were the lowest in the past seven quarters.
In a major New year bonanza for the armed forces, the Prime Minister's Office has informed the defence ministry that the armed forces personnel would henceforth have a separate pay commission, which is delinked from the civilian pay panel.
Govt is likely to find it hard to meet deficit target next year.
Unions have also demanded raising the income tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs.
'It won't be a V-shaped recovery. It'll be consolidation.' 'Investors might exit during that grind. It'll be painful.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved composition of the 7th Pay Commission, which will revise the salaries of over 50 lakh Central government employees.
The Pay Commission process is symptomatic of a national crisis within the Indian state.
The setting up of the Commission, whose recommendations will benefit about 50 lakh (5 million) central government employees, including those in defence and railways, and about 30 lakh (3 million) pensioners, comes ahead of the Assembly elections in 5 states in November and the general elections next year.
Police officers, criticising the recommendations of the sixth Pay Commission have told the government that the commission has overlooked the fact that the threats to internal security are perhaps more recurrent and damaging today than actual threats of aggression from external enemies. IPS officers have also criticised the commission for not only maintaining, but increase the edge that is given to IAS officers over them.
The Pay Commission is an administrative system/mechanism that the government of India set up in 1956 to determine the salaries of government employees. The First Pay Commission was established in 1956, and since then, every decade has seen the birth of a commission that decides the wages of government employees for a particular time-frame.
The recommendations will cost the government Rs 1,02,000 crore.
The government may defer the implementation of the sixth Pay Commission award by a year or even two to reduce the fiscal burden of the recommendations that proposed a 28 per cent across-the-board salary increase for an estimated 4.5 million central government employees. The report of the commission headed by Justice BN Srikrishna was submitted to the government on March 24 this year, nearly a fortnight before its 18-month tenure was to end.
India Inc has welcomed the Sixth Pay Commission report that suggested an average increase of 40 per cent in salaries of central government employees and said the move will not lead to a rise in inflation and revenue deficit of the government. Industry body Ficci said the pay hike would not add to inflationary conditions and revenue deficit due to buoyant revenue collections. Also, Ficci said the hike would reduce the problem of governance and attract talented personnel.
Cabinet Secretary and Secretaries to be kept in distinct pay scales at Rs 90,000 and Rs 80,000 a month, respectively.
Punit Goenka, the former director of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, is not the only one who lost his board seat due to shareholders' activism last fortnight. In recent past, institutional shareholders of several companies, including Nestle and Wipro, have pushed back against board proposals by taking an aggressive stance while voting.
The amount constitutes 45 per cent of the railways' total wage bill.
The Centre on Wednesday increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 3 percentage points effective from July 1 this year, benefitting more than 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of the Diwali festival. The Union Cabinet has approved to increase Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners by three percentage points of the basic pay/pension ahead of Diwali, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the Cabinet meeting.
There shall be two dates for grant of increment - January 1 and July 1 every year
The government on Monday made it clear that it does not propose to tinker with the existing mechanism of setting up Pay Commission for revision of wages for central government employees
Prabhu hoped that during this 3-4 years period, railways would be able to absorb the impact from their resources
'The high court notice could go some way in easing the vitiated civil-military relationship, and the trust deficit between civil servants and the military.'
Participants are keenly awaiting the rollovers to the next series ahead of the expiry of June F&O.
The Centre on Tuesday asked the UPSC to withdraw the latest advertisement for lateral entry in bureaucracy, amid a row over reservation in the advertised posts.
The total salary and pension bill of the central government, which will also include Railway employees, will go up from estimated Rs 4.33 lakh crore to Rs 5.35 lakh crore during 2016-17
Commissions paid to mutual fund distributors (MFDs) increased by over 20 per cent for most large fund houses in 2023-24 (FY24), driven by a sharp market rally and strong inflows. The largest fund house, SBI Mutual Fund (MF), which now manages nearly Rs 10 trillion in assets, paid Rs 2,025 crore to its major distributors - 21 per cent higher than the Rs 1,675 crore payout in 2022-23 (FY23).
Banking system liquidity will experience transient frictional tightness ahead of the payment of arrears
Though seven opportunities have been granted to the states, it appears that full compliance has not been affected and several states are in default, it said.
The 7th CPC places the Indian Police Service (and, almost in passing, the Indian Forest Service) on a level with the Indian Administrative Service, leaving the military out in the cold.
Why did the political system in the country react to these two decisions of the Modi government in a diametrically opposite manner? asks A K Bhattacharya.
An increase in the farmer income support scheme PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a 'robot tax' to fund reskilling of people who lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income-tax (I-T) to bring relief to the middle classes - these are some of the items in the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives of the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmer organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, met the FM and other officials over the last couple of weeks as part of the pre-Budget consultations.
The Centre on Thursday hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) to 50 per cent of basic pay from the existing rate of 46 per cent effective from January 1 this year, benefitting over 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of general elections. The Union Cabinet has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners from January 1, 2024, representing an increase of 4 percentage points over the existing rate of 46 per cent of the basic pay/pension, to compensate against price rise, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said after the Cabinet meeting.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances