QBiz: Rupee Hits All-Time Low; Amazon Invests Rs 2,700 cr in India
Here are the top headlines from the world of business.
1. Rupee Crashes to All-Time Low of 69.91 on Turkish Lira Shock
The rupee crashed by Rs 1.08 or 1.57 percent to end at a historic low of 69.91 against the US currency on 13 August, amid a global rout in currencies following fears that Turkish economic crisis could adversely impact the world economy.
The US dollar strengthened against the would currencies after the Turkish Lira dived almost 8 percent, sparking a sell-off in global markets. "The rupee was mainly impacted by fall in Turkish Lira,” said a treasurer of a state-owned bank.
Lack of FII inflows and growing oil prices are also affecting the rupee, he added.
Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 971.8 crore on net basis, provisional exchange data showed.
“RBI will not be comfortable at these levels. It was seen defending rupee at all levels,” said a senior treasury official of a public sector bank, while predicting that the rupee may fall to 70 levels against the dollar soon.
(Source: PTI)
2. CBI, RBI to Prosecute, Initiate Criminal Charges Against PNB Top Brass
The central government on Monday gave the CBI and the RBI the go-ahead to prosecute and initiate criminal charges against former Punjab National Bank (PNB) managing director and CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian and former PNB executive directors Sanjiv Sharan in the ₹14,356 crore scam, in a move that spells mounting trouble for the former top brass of the bank.
RBI has also been given the go-ahead to initiate criminal charges against Ram Sangapure – another executive director of PNB.
While the CBI will be probing Ananthasubramanian and Sharan for oversight, the central bank has been given permission to initiate criminal charges against Ananathasubramanian, Sangapure and Sharan.
RBI has been asked to file a case against them under the Banking Regulation Act and the sanction to prosecute them has been given, said a finance ministry official, who did not wish to be identified.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Amazon Invests Another Rs 2,700 Crore in India Business
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has invested an additional ₹2,700 crore ($386 million) in its Indian unit, bringing its total investment in India to roughly $4 billion in the five years that it has operated in the country, even as it continues to battle local rival and market leader Flipkart.
Amazon, which has committed to invest at least $5 billion in India and also separately allocated an additional $500 million to build out its food retail business in India, simultaneously pumped in about ₹100 crore ($14 million) into the business (Amazon Retail India Pvt Ltd).
Amazon Seller Services, the marketplace arm of Amazon India, received the funds earlier this month, according to regulatory documents filed with the Registrar of Companies that were sourced from Paper.VC.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Jet Airways, Rating Agencies Under Scanner for Lapses in Loan Status Disclosure
In mounting troubles for Jet Airways, the airline and some credit rating agencies have come under regulatory scanner for alleged lapses in timely disclosure of default risk of loans worth Rs 11,000 crore taken from state-owned as well as private sector banks, officials said on 13 August.
While the concerned loan accounts are believed to have been standardised now, it has been alleged that they were in default on multiple occasions during the quarter ended 30 June and are continuously on watch list of the lenders, regulatory officials said.
Officials from credit rating agencies maintained that they have been going by the month-end status report submitted by the airline in which they had maintained that there was no default.
In a statement Jet Airways said that all its accounts with lenders are 'standard' and there is no overdue in any of our accounts.
(Source: PTI)
5. Pune Gets First Spot in Ease of Living Index, Delhi Languishes at 65th Spot
Pune is the most liveable city, followed closely by Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai in a ranking of 111 Indian cities with the national capital ranked at a lowly 65 on the Ease of Living Index released by the government on 13 August.
Thane is the fourth Maharashtra city that made it to the top 10 in the list. Other cities ranked among the best 10 are Tirupati, Chandigarh, Raipur, Indore, Vijaywada and Bhopal.
Notably, none of the cities in big states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have made it to the top 10.
Chennai has been ranked 14, Hyderabad at 27 and Bengaluru at 58. Kolkata had refused to participate in the survey.
Gurugram is at the 88th spot. Rampur in Uttar Pradesh is at the bottom of the list that has Jammu and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir at 95 and 100.
(Source: IANS)
6. Modi Govt Clears the Air on Reports About ‘China Printing Indian Rupee’
The Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs on Monday, 13 August, cleared the air about the reports about Chinese currency printing corporation getting any orders for printing Indian currency notes. Subash Chandra Garg, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, “Reports about any Chinese currency printing corporation getting any orders for printing Indian currency notes are totally baseless.”
Moreover, Subash Chandra Garg added, “Indian currency notes are being and will be printed only in Indian government and RBI currency presses.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that ‘China is printing currencies for the governments of several countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Brazil’.
The Chinese media had reported this quoting a top official of the state-owned banknote printer, as per news agency PTI.
(Source: Financial Express)
7. Retail Inflation Eases to 4.17 Percent in July as Food Prices Decline
India’s retail inflation dropped to a nine-month low of 4.17 percent in July, from 4.92 percent a month ago, on the back of softening food prices and a favourable base, according to data released on Monday, 13 August, by the Central Statistics Office.
This has provided comfort to the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, a depreciating rupee, which hit an all-time high on Monday at 69.93 against the dollar, and volatile crude oil prices, may lead to considerable uncertainty over inflation.
RBI, in its monetary policy review on 1 August, had increased its policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) for the second time in two months, blaming rising inflation risks. Analysts expect the central bank to stay paused for the rest of the financial year.
(Source: Livemint)
8. Tata Steel’s Q1 Profit Doubles to ₹1,934 Crore
Tata Steel, the country's oldest steel producer, saw its bottom line more than double as it reported a consolidated net profit at Rs 19.34 billion for the quarter ended 30 June.
“Better realisations and improved spreads lent firm support to the bottom line of the company," Koushik Chatterjee, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer told reporters at the earnings conference held in Mumbai.
Tata Steel's top line in the period under review stood at Rs 378.33 billion, up 22 percent from same period last year on the back of improved deliveries, realisations and better performance across geographies.
"The auto and branded products showed good growth during the quarter which helped us have a strong top line," said TV Narendran, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. ED Seeks Cancellation of Fraud-Accused Businessman Gagan Dhawan’s Bail
The Enforcement Directorate approached a Delhi court seeking cancellation of the bail of an accused in the over Rs 5,000-crore bank loan fraud case, alleging that he refused to appear before it despite repeated summons.
In the application filed before the Additional Sessions Judge, the ED's special public prosecutors N K Matta and Nitesh Rana urged the court to cancel the relief granted to Delhi-based businessman Gagan Dhawan, who was earlier arrested by the ED and is currently out on bail.
The agency claimed that he refused to appear before it for confrontation with Ranjit Malik, who had allegedly sent Rs 25 lakh cash to the official residence of a senior Congress leader.
The court, which, on 13 August, extended by three days the ED custody of Ranjit Malik alias Johny, issued notice to Dhawan and directed him to respond to it by 14 August.
(Source: PTI)
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