The opposition alliance that will take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be called Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and an 11-member committee will be set up for coordination, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced after a meeting of the parties in Bengaluru.
Lack of decisiveness and courage to deal with PSBs may turn out be the biggest impediment to the Modi government's economic initiatives, says Debashis Basu.
Capital expenditure by 54 large central public sector enterprises and five departmental arms, having a capex minimum target of Rs 100 crore, rose 93 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-May period to Rs 1.39 trillion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Railways have started this financial year's capex cycle on a stronger note. In the first two months of FY24, the 54 CPSEs, along with the departmental arms, achieved 19 per cent of their combined budget target of Rs 7.33 trillion, Business Standard has learnt.
The SilverLine project, which is expected to considerably reduce travel time from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, cannot be implemented without approval from the Centre which appears to be giving it a second thought in view of the United Democratic Front and Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to it, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.
Two firms belonging to the Adani group - India's most valued conglomerate - are part of the Nifty 50 index. The group, however, has no representation in the Sensex. And it could stay this way if a proposed index qualification rule change gets approved. Recently, Asia Index, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE responsible for index composition, floated a consultation paper where it proposed that a stock must have a derivative contract to be eligible for inclusion in the flagship 30-share Sensex index.
'The impact of CEO transition is fairly even for stocks, with about half (53 per cent) of the events not producing any change in the relative performance of the stock.'
The law officer said nothing remains in the matter after the privacy judgement.
Helped by the Offer for Sale route, a whopping Rs 45,300 core was mobilised through public equity markets in 2013, a growth of 25 per cent over last year.
After bumbling for years since 2014, the Modi government seems to believe that massive government expenditure will lead us to prosperity supported by 'seat-of-the-pants' decision-making, observes Debashis Basu.
If a 5% to 10% fall in the equity market gives you sleepless nights, you are not cut out for a 75% to 80% allocation to equities and must reduce it.
Brokerages expect Nifty50 companies to have cumulatively witnessed strong double-digit growth in their earnings in the first quarter of FY24 (Q1FY24). This growth in the combined earnings is expected to have been driven by banks, automakers, and oil & gas companies. Other sectors may report muted profit growth.
In its reply to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said urgent action was warranted against the promoters of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) in the alleged fund diversion case to safeguard the management and protect investors and other stakeholders. It termed the applications made by Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra and ZEEL managing director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Punit Goenka as "completely false and misleading" in its response submitted to SAT on June 17. "We have a situation before us where the chairman emeritus and the MD and CEO of this large listed company are involved in a myriad of different schemes and transactions through which vast amounts of public money belonging to listed companies are diverted to private entities owned and controlled by these persons.
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has paid $1.4 billion to buy out US-based Tiger Global's investment in e-commerce firm Flipkart, according to sources. The transaction puts Flipkart's valuation at $35 billion, against nearly $38 billion in 2021 when it raised funds from Japan's SoftBank, Walmart, and other investors. Tiger Global, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, and Accel now have all fully exited the e-commerce firm by selling their stake to Walmart.
Cement companies witnessed speculative support from investors through FY23 amid hopes of a rebound. After capex announcements in the FY24 Budget, there was further interest due to expectations that government expenditure would boost earnings, besides a generic macro-recovery. Cement earnings were under pressure in FY22 and FY23 due to high raw material and fuel costs; muted demand prevented them passing on the higher cost.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) will invest nearly $4.4 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) in India by 2030 and support more than 48,000 jobs externally through a new regional service launched on Tuesday, said the on-demand Cloud computing company. AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) is the company's second infrastructure region in India, six years after it opened its first Cloud region in Mumbai in 2016. The Hyderabad region will give customers access to AWS technologies for data analytics, security, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
With certain quarters demanding privatisation of public sector banks in the aftermath of the alleged fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB), Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister chairman Bibek Debroy tells Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Ishan Bakshi and Indivjal Dhasmana that reducing government equity even to zero would not mean giving up of government control over these banks.
New Delhi Television (NDTV) has deferred its Annual General Meeting (AGM) by a week to September 27, the company said in a regulatory filing on Sunday. The AGM was originally scheduled to be held on September 20. The media company said that the deferment was due to the processes required after the notice and public announcement of the open offer made by Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL), an indirect subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, to its public shareholders.
He claimed even the media is debarred from entering the secretariat and reaching out to the chief minister and thus changes need to be made in the governance model in Odisha.
The last time a bear attack was launched on a controversial businessman was when a cabal of brokers launched an assault in the early 1980s on what they thought was an over-priced Reliance share, recalls T N Ninan.
Lord Jo Johnson, younger brother of former British prime minister Boris Johnson, has resigned his non-executive directorship of a UK-based investment firm linked with the now-withdrawn Adani Enterprises Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). 'The Financial Times' newspaper referenced UK Companies House records to reveal that 51-year-old Lord Johnson had been appointed as a director of London-based Elara Capital Plc in June last year and resigned on Wednesday, the day when the Adani Group announced withdrawal of the FPO. Elara, which described itself as a capital markets business raising funds for Indian corporates, was among the bookrunners on the FPO.
Strong performance of past IPOs spurred investors' interest, with 87 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) garnering Rs 1,460 crore through initial share-sales in the first nine months of the year. This was way higher than 56 companies that had raised Rs 783 crore through initial public offering (IPO) in the entire 2021, the industry data showed. Further, the remaining part of the year 2022 can see more mature companies accessing the platform.
'This is a race where every technology can be used by the bad guys and good guys.'
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
The run-up to next year's general elections might see some of the top executives of government-run companies getting unlucky. And, the period could become the best in the lives of those waiting in the wings.
The Adani story has only one angle -- how the stocks were rigged up to ridiculous heights, the Hindenburg report on gross overvaluation, followed by the vertical free fall of Adani stocks, points out Debashis Basu.
The railways, the country's largest employer, will be hiring 127,000 people in 2018-2019, for which 23.7 million are competing.
The combined market-cap of all listed Adani group firms has plunged nearly Rs 7.11 trillion since January 24 when the Hindenburg report was made public.
The apex court was hearing a petition seeking directions to the authorities to ensure adequate security at hospitals and medical centres to prevent attacks on doctors and healthcare workers by relatives of patients and others.
The Centre will promote Kisan Drones, chemical-free natural farming, public-private partnerships for the delivery of digital and high-tech services to farmers across the country during the financial year 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Presenting the Budget 2022-23 in Parliament, Sitharaman said the inclusive development is one of the four priorities of the government moving forward. As part of the inclusive development, the government will promote the use of 'Kisan Drones' for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of insecticides. The government will also facilitate a fund with blended capital raised under the co-investment model through Nabard to finance agri start-ups and rural enterprises, she said.
Richest Indian Gautam Adani-led group's flagship firm on Wednesday filed an offer letter with stock exchanges for a proposed Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offer (FPO). The FPO of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) is planned to open on January 27 and close on January 31, according to the offer letter. Of the Rs 20,000 crore proceeds of the FPO, Rs 10,869 crore will be used for green hydrogen projects, work at the existing airports and construction of a greenfield expressway.
Adani Group is expected to report a 20 per cent rise in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) at Rs 61,200 crore for the year that ended in March 2023 (2022-23, or FY23), according to a note submitted by the group to lenders recently. The group had earned Ebitda of Rs 57,299 crore in the preceding financial year that ended in March 2022 (2021-22). The group's gross debt was Rs 2.27 trillion as of March 31, 2023, and has projected to not take on additional debt until it lowers its existing one.
Could it have been more reformist? Of course, but this is an election year Budget, observes Akash Prakash.
There seems to be no respite for Adani Group companies from the market carnage. All 10 stocks belonging to the conglomerate came under a fresh bout of intense selling pressure on Wednesday as the group's debt levels and repayment capabilities continued to plague investors. Analysts said investors are also concerned about whether the group will be able to maintain its pace of growth, given the current turmoil that has wiped out over Rs 12 trillion in market capitalisation (m-cap) since the start of the year.
The Centre has started a headcount of people of the minority community employed during the last one year in all its departments as part of review of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new 15-point programme for welfare of minorities.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
It will be helpful advice for a chief minister-in-waiting who is going to have to deal with empty coffers and overflowing expectations
The Union Cabinet has approved the modalities for holding 5G spectrum auctions, and 72097.85 MHz of radio waves will be put on the block by July-end, an official release said on Wednesday.
As India goes into firming up trade deals with developed nations like Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and the regional bloc, and the European Union (EU), it will have to be well prepared to negotiate on new-generation issues, such as data protection regulation, e-commerce, and environment. India is yet to negotiate pacts with its trading partners on these evolving issues since discussions between them have until now been largely focused on tariff and non-tariff barriers and the rules of origin. "We can no longer look at trade just as trade. We have to look at it in totality of global and regional conditions.
A communiqu sent by the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) to the heads of all PSUs, said the move would help the government to get predictable and periodic dividends before Budget estimates are firmed up.
The guidelines for strategic disinvestment were issued on Monday itself when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17.
