IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tanking around 7 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel, ITC and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and ONGC were among the gainers.
Twenty-two proposals comprising 16 states and Union Territories and six ministries and departments have been shortlisted for participation in the parade after a series of five meetings.
E-commerce firms and sellers including Amazon and eBay have made recommendations to the government for a differentiated policy framework for e-commerce in the revised Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) which is expected to come into effect from April 1, 2021. This is because the existing policies on exports have catered largely to traditional, offline and business-to-business exports. Suggestions have been made to the government that through the FTP, it is important to create a conducive policy framework for e-commerce exports that lowers the entry barrier for small businesses to start exporting, according to the industry sources.
The government on Monday extended the period of production-linked incentive scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing with a focus on mobile phones by a year until 2025-26. The base year of the scheme 2019-20 remains the same but the companies will have the option to choose their five-year period either from the base year or the year 2020-21 for calculation of the incentives under the scheme. "Now we have extended the tenure of the scheme from 2020-21 to 2025-26. "Earlier, it would have ended in 2024-25.
The Centre has, however, retained its proposal to curb flash strikes as workers in all factories will be required to give employers a strike notice of at least two weeks after the Bill becomes a law.
The declining trade deficit figures clearly reflect that the US exports to India are increasing.
ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 7 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, ONGC, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and SBI. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank plunged nearly 15 per cent. Maruti, Bajaj Finance and Titan were the other laggards.
Equity inflows worth $3.7 billion came from the sunny Caribbean jurisdiction in 2019-20, a 267 per cent increase from the $1 billion registered in 2018-19 making it India's 10th largest source of FDI.
Out of the total 22 tableaux, 16 were of various states and UTs and six of ministries, departments and the National Disaster Response Force.
The government also appointed Dr Vinod Paul, a pediatrician at the AIIMS, as a member of the NITI Aayog
ILO acts upon a plea by 10 central trade unions objecting to the ordinances proposed to temporarily scrap labour laws in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, along with executive orders issued by at least 10 states to increase the daily working limit to 12 hours from eight hours, along with other labour law changes.
Under fixed-term employment, workers are entitled to all statutory benefits available to a permanent worker in the same factory. However, employers may not give notice to a fixed-term worker on non-renewal or expiry of his or her contract.
Privatisation of BPCL, which was dubbed India's biggest ever, has been stalled with just one bidder left in the fray after two others walked out over issues such as lack of clarity in fuel pricing, a top source said. The government had planned to sell its entire 52.98 per cent stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and invited Expression of Interest from bidders in March 2020. At least three bids came in by November 2020 but only one remains now after the others withdrew from the race.
Two entities under the Union ministry of commerce report differing figures for import of cut and polished diamonds for the first eight months of the financial year.
Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, HUL, HDFC Bank and ONGC were also among the top losers. On the other hand, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, ITC and IndusInd Bank and PowerGrid were among the top gainers. NSE Nifty declined 42.65 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 9,196.55.
Will syringe shortage puncture India's Covid vaccine plans?
Beijing will be intently watching Washington's response for any hint of weakness. Xi Jinping, who feels China has a limited window of strategic opportunity, will be emboldened to take additional initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and specifically against India and Taiwan, warns Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Going ahead with its festive sales as per schedule, companies such as Flipkart, Jabong, and Myntra are having week-long Valentines' Day sales, offering discounts of as much as 80 per cent. Amazon India is also offering discounts of almost 40 per cent.
India's economic image is not affected due to Adani Group's recent decision to pull out Rs 20,000 crore FPO (follow-on public offers) amid allegations of financial wrongdoings, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
The first task before him is to get used to the idea of working with the Monetary Policy Committee
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Trade deficit marginally widened to $9.85 billion as against $9.72 billion in February 2019.
Each dept could handle a designated area.
The department of industrial policy and promotion, nodal agency for FDI policy under the ministry of commerce and industry, seems to have prepared a note for the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs to consider.
Bharti Airtel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 11 per cent, followed by ONGC, UltraTech Cement, ITC, PowerGrid and NTPC. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, L&T and SBI were among the laggards.
Key stimuli of the government's relief package will be a tax break on jet fuel, waiver of parking and landing charges at airports for the next six months and deferment of payment to oil companies by three months.
We have a government with an extremely weak economic team advising a PM who hardly pays attention to their thoughts, says Jayanta Roy.
Parks would cut transport cost by 10% for industries, allow freight movement on larger trucks and rail.
"We now realise that the so-called farmer agitation hardly remains a farmers' agitation. It has almost got infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements, a flavour of which we saw over the last two days when there were extraneous demands to release people who have been put behind bars for anti-national (and) who have been put behind bars for illegal activities," Goyal, the Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Food and Consumers Affairs, said at FICCI's annual meeting.
In what is seen as the first sign of China's exasperation over Russia's Ukraine war, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday raised 'questions and concerns' over the conflict in his meeting in Samarkand with Russian President Vladimir Putin who thanked Beijing for its 'balanced position' on the crisis.
Japan has decided to raise the severity level of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the maximum seven on an international scale from the current status of five.
At the heart of the issue is the way e-commerce is defined in the current draft policy.
The prime minister is likely to talk about its possible extension.
It is time to shrug off the ideological shackles about the way we work, play and live, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Apple and Samsung are international players and should work as a team with domestic companies to transform India into a global powerhouse: IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
FinMin had, recently, notified changes in FDI rules that made prior approval of the government mandatory for foreign investments from countries that share a land border with India. Hong Kong was ranked 14th on the list of countries with FDI flows to India, contributing $4.2 billion between April 2000 and December 2019, the data from DPIIT shows. India received FDI worth $2.34 billion from China in the same period.
Asked for China's comments on India not joining the RCEP deal over concern of cheap Chinese products potentially harming its domestic industry, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media in Beijing on Tuesday that China welcomes India joining the deal.
Enthused by rising potato prices after a prolonged slump, Pradeep Sharma was planning to sow the crop on his 15-acre farm near Agra slightly earlier than usual. The delayed departure of the southwest monsoon also prompted his decision, since the good soil moisture would have saved at least one initial irrigation. But the acute shortage of diammonium phosphate (DAP), a crucial nutrient ahead of the sowing season for potatoes, nipped those hopes in the bud. DAP is the second-most used fertiliser in the country after urea.
Samridhi Bhardwaj analyses the dynamics of duty-free liquor allowance in India.
The US on Friday issued orders to ban popular Chinese social media apps TikTok and WeChat from Sunday to safeguard national security, weeks after India banned them, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.