1. Modi-Fied Indian Markets Enter $2-Trillion Elite Club
Buoyed by relentless buying by local and offshore investors, India's stock market capitalisation (M-cap) has crossed $2 trillion, making it the ninth-largest equity market globally and second, after China, in the universe of emerging markets, according to Bloomberg data.
The spurt in stock prices has pushed up India's M-capto-GDP ratio, a tool used by equity strategists to assess the relative valuation of a market, well above the 10-year average.
A runaway bull market looks at ways to endorse the euphoria on the Street. With M-cap-to-GDP at 0.88, analysts believe there is tailwind left in the Indian equity story as markets are perceived to be expensive only when this ratio exceeds 1.
(Source: The Economic Times)
2. Tata Remains Most Valued Indian Brand, Flipkart Biggest Gainer
A bitter boardroom battle with ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry failed to impact the Tata brand even as its value fell marginally last year.
The metals-to-hotel conglomerate remained on top of Brand Finance’s list of 100 most valued Indian brands. IT firms were some of the best performers. Domestic companies also fared better than their global peers, with the collective brand value growing 15 percent this year, ahead of the global average of 11 percent, according to a press release by Brand Finance.
While the Tata brand’s absolute value did fall 4 percent to Rs 87,220 crore over the last calendar year, Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s appointment as chairman of Tata Sons is expected to “steady the ship”, said the Brand Finance release.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
3. Snapdeal Effect? Ola Restricts SoftBank Rights, Strengthens Those of Founders
Cab-hailing firm Ola has made sweeping changes in its shareholder terms, strengthening the rights of its founders and restricting those of its largest investor SoftBank Group Corp and others.
It’s the first instance of start-up leaders shielding themselves against potentially hostile action by powerful shareholders after some of the country’s top entrepreneurs lost control of their companies this year.
The move by Ola co-founder and chief executive Bhavish Aggarwal to put restrictions on SoftBank’s rights comes as the Japanese investor is close to winning a boardroom battle at another portfolio company, Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd).
(Source: Livemint)
4. Government May Have to Defer GST Rollout by One-Two Months, Says FICCI
An apex Indian industry body on Wednesday raised concerns regarding 1 July rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying the government may have to defer the implementation of the new indirect tax regime by a couple of months.
The rates decided under various slabs for GST are likely to be made public only close to the date of implementation, said Harsh Mariwala, chairman, GST Task Force, FICCI, adding that participants may tamper with the supply chain if the announcement is made earlier.
It’s unlikely that government will be able to implement GST on 1 July, he said.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
5. Infosys to Hire Nearly 20,000 Engineers From Campuses
Infosys, the second largest information technology (IT) services firm in the country, will maintain its annual campus hiring at 20,000 this year, but is looking at engineers with new skills such as digital and analytics.
IT firms in the country have witnessed technology and business shifts in the past few years. Clients are now spending more on digital, Cloud and analytics. Maintenance and testing — services usually performed by freshers – are also getting automated.
This has prompted Infosys and its peers to look for new skills when they hire.
(Source: Business Standard)
6. Made in India iPhones to Hit Stores This Month
Buyers of Apple iPhone SE could soon find a “Made in India” tag on their devices.
Taiwanese manufacturing firm, Wistron, recently conducted a trial run at the factory in Bengaluru. The few phones made during the trial run will be in stores in two weeks.
Full-scale production will take more time, said a person familiar with Apple’s plans.
“We are beginning initial production of a small number of iPhone SEs in Bengaluru. We’ll begin shipping to domestic customers this month,” Apple said in an email.
(Source: Business Standard)
7. Paytm to Launch Payments Bank on 23 May
Paytm has received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is set to launch Paytm Payments Bank on 23 May, its holding company One97 Communications Pvt Ltd said on Wednesday.
Renu Satti, vice-president of business at Paytm, will take over as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Paytm Payments Bank, the company said.
Shinjini Kumar, who was hired in February last year by Paytm to lead the payments bank, is on her way out, according to people directly involved in the matter. Kumar was a former senior executive at the Reserve bank of India.
(Source: Livemint)
8. Government Mulling to Ease FDI in Print Media, Construction, Retail
The government is moving ahead with further opening of print media, construction and retail sectors to foreign investments, and detailed deliberations in this regard were held in the finance ministry today.
The commerce and industry ministry may soon approach the Union Cabinet to get the final approval on the proposals, sources said. According to them, the government is considering to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in certain areas of print media.
Currently, the government allows foreign investment in areas such as printing of newspapers and publishing of scientific magazines with certain conditions and FDI caps.
(Source: PTI)
9. TRAI Suggests Aadhaar EKYC for Internet, Broadband Connections
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday suggested the use of Aadhaar-based eKYC verification for subscribers of fixed-line, internet and broadband connections, as in the case of mobile connections.
“…the authority recommends laying down an appropriate format (Customer Acquisition Form) for verification/reverification of all subscribers (including fixed line) availing internet and broadband services and adoption of Aadhaar-based eKYC service, similar to mobile connections, for their verification,” TRAI statement said.
The authentication using Aadhaar-based eKYC is applicable for mobile connections at the moment and TRAI had earlier received a representation from the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) to extend this authentication to ISPs for broadband and internet connections also.
(Source: Financial Express)
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