1. GST Council Meeting Begins on Tuesday, Key Issues to be Discussed
The crucial three-day meeting of the all-powerful GST Council, starting Tuesday, will decide on the tax rate and sort out issues like compensation formula for roll-out of the new indirect tax regime from 1 April 2017.
With the Finance Ministry setting 22 November as the deadline for building consensus on all the issues in the Council, the upcoming meeting is significant as it will decide on the most crucial aspect of tax rate that will have a bearing on the common man.
At its previous meeting last month, the GST Council, which has all state finance ministers as members, had finalised area-based exemptions and how 11 states, mostly in the North-East and hilly regions, will be treated under the new tax regime.
Read The Quint’s full report here.
2. Sensex at 30: A Reflection of a Changed India
One of the most keenly watched equity indices of the world, the S&P BSE Sensex, turned 30 this month. The index, composed of 30 important stocks representing ‘large, well-established and financially sound companies across key sectors’ according to the BSE’s website, continues to be an important barometer of the Indian economy, 30 years after it was first launched in October 1986.
The journey of the Sensex over the past 30 years in many ways mirrors the evolution of the Indian economy over the past three decades. When it was first launched in 1986, India was arguably taking baby steps towards economic liberalisation, the big push for which finally came in 1991.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Jio Not a “Punt” But a Well-Thought Out Business: Mukesh Ambani
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday in a rare interview organised by The Print, a digital media outfit owned by senior journalists Shekhar Gupta and Barkha Dutt, explained how his new telecom venture, Reliance Jio is not a “punt” but a well-engineered business.
However, speaking to Shekhar Gupta, Ambani did take a shot at his competitors as he termed the trouble with inter connectivity as similar to a meritorious student “getting ragged.”
Read The Quint's report here.
4. ICICI Bank Shares Rise 7% on Essar-Rosneft Deal
Shares of ICICI Bank Ltd on Monday closed 7 percent higher, the maximum rise in over seven months, as investors hoped that the proceeds from the sale of Essar Oil will help the Essar group deleverage. ICICI Bank has a significant, though unknown, exposure to the Essar group, which has a total debt of around Rs 90,000 crore.
Other banks such as Axis Bank and State Bank of India (SBI), which also have exposure to Essar, saw their shares climb. ICICI Bank rose 7 percent, most gains since 2 March, to close at Rs 258.55. SBI rose 0.5 percent to Rs 253.10, Standard Chartered Plc rose 2.5 percent to Rs 53.05. However, Axis Bank fell 0.4 percent to Rs 518.85. India’s benchmark Sensex closed 0.52 percent lower at 27,529.97 points.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Will RBI Let Banks Kick The Bad Loan Can Down The Road Again?
Two possible changes to a scheme for bad loan resolution could water down the tough stance taken by the Reserve Bank of India against stressed assets over the past two years.
Faced with more than Rs 6 lakh crore in loans that have already turned bad (and more that are stressed), the country’s lenders are lobbying hard for flexibility in rules under The Scheme For Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A), which is currently under review by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
One such change, which allows banks to classify the sustainable part of the loan as a standard asset as soon as the loan is restructured, is already in the works and final guidelines are awaited. A second change, which includes more flexibility in scheduling repayments on the sustainable part, is also under discussion, said two people familiar with the matter.
Read the full BloombergQuint report here.
6. ‘Incredible’ Friendship With Warren Buffett Was Completely Unexpected: Bill Gates
Business magnates Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s long-standing friendship has always remained in the public eye but the Microsoft founder said that the beginning of the friendship was unexpected.
Gates was speaking with renowned private equity investor and founder of the the Carlyle Group, David Rubenstein, on Bloomberg’s ‘The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations’.
Gates spoke at length about how he was not very interested in meeting Buffett for the first time when the two were invited to a dinner by Gates’ mother. Gates said he thought of Buffett as "somebody who just bought and sold securities” which according to him was a “zero sum thing”. But that impression turned on its head pretty quickly.
Read the full BloombergQuint report here.
7. To Restore Credibility of GDP, Inflation and IIP Data, Modi Government Sets up Five Committees
The government has begun a mammoth exercise to overhaul the system of collecting key statistics on inflation, industrial production, consumption and employment to restore the credibility of official economic data, which took a severe beating after a new series of national accounts was released last year.
In a wholesale clean-up attempt, five committees have been set up to review data for GDP estimates, provide for mechanisms to ensure “data integrity” and come up with industry-wise and geography-wise disaggregated data – something that is not available in the current system.
(Source: The Economic Times)
8. LG, Videocon and Godrej Say Big Online Discounts Violate Norms; Flipkart, Amazon Refute Charge
Television and white goods brands LG, Videocon and Godrej are crying foul over their products being sold at big discounts on Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal during festival sales with some manufacturers suggesting that this is in violation of ecommerce regulations and warning that warranties may not be valid on such goods.
LG and Videocon have cautioned online sellers against such offers and even stopped supplies to a few, said industry executives, as the companies fear the deep discounts that pulled prices below cost in some instances could affect their brand image as well as hurt sales through the brick-and-mortar channel.
(Source: The Economic Times.)
9. ReNew Power Plans to Raise $500 Million via Offshore Bonds
Green energy producer ReNew Power Ventures plans to raise around $500 million (Rs3,300 crore) through an offshore bond sale and use the proceeds to repay part of its domestic debt, said three people aware of the development.
ReNew Power, backed by Goldman Sachs and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), has hired HSBC Holdings as the lead manager and is in talks with more investment banks, one of the three people said.
Hyderabad-based renewable energy company Greenko Group in August raised $500 million by selling green bonds to overseas investors, marking the first high-yield issuance of its kind by an Indian company. The Singapore government’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd holds a majority stake in Greenko.
(Source: Livemint)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)