1. Rupee Rebounds 61 Paise Against USD, Logs Best Single-Day Gain in 18 Months
The rupee on Wednesday, 19 September, rebounded by 61 paise, notching up its best single-day gain since March 2017 to close at Rs 72.37 against the US currency supported by heavy dollar selling by banks and weakness in the greenback in global markets.
Snapping its two-day decline, the rupee opened higher at Rs 72.71 against its record closing low of Rs 72.98 on Tuesday and touched a session high of Rs 72.34 in day trade as crude oil prices eased globally.
The rupee closed at Rs 72.37, up by 61 paise or 0.84 percent – its best single-day gain since 14 March 2017.
(Source: Business Standard)
2. RBI Wants Yes Bank to Find Rana Kapoor’s Replacement
The banking regulator has asked Yes Bank Limited to end Rana Kapoor’s tenure as managing director and chief executive on 31 January, disregarding the bank’s plea to extend his term by three years.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also asked the private lender to draw up a succession plan in its upcoming board meeting, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, requesting anonymity.
“The Reserve Bank of India has vide letter dated 17 September, 2018 received on Wednesday, intimated that Rana Kapoor may continue as the MD & CEO till 31 January 2019,” Yes Bank said in an exchange filing, adding that the board of the bank will meet on 25 September to decide on the “future course of action”.
(Source: Livemint)
3. India Banks to Plan Resolving $19 Billion Power Sector Debt
Lenders to India’s power industry are scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss ways to resolve Rs 1.4 trillion ($19.2 billion) of stressed assets that’s hobbling the sector, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The meeting will be hosted in New Delhi by Power Finance Corporation, a state-owned firm that lends to the country’s electricity generators, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. Representatives from the finance and power ministries, and Rural Electrification Corp are also expected to participate, one of the people said.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Birla Group Sells ‘More’ Chain to Amazon-Samara
Kumar Mangalam Birla’s dream of making it big in the retail segment has ended with Aditya Birla Group selling off its struggling supermarket chain – More – to US online retail giant Amazon and Indian private equity firm Samara Alternative Investment Fund.
While the deal size has not been disclosed, market experts are pegging it at about Rs 4,500 crore, making it one of the biggest deals in the offline food and grocery segment.
Birla had launched the venture in 2007 with plans to set up a network of 1,000 stores. But just over a decade later, Aditya Birla’s retail ambition has been abandoned owing to competition from e-commerce players. According to company insiders, the lack of a long-term strategy also hindered growth for Aditya Birla Retail, which reported a loss of Rs 644 crore in FY17.
(Source: Business Line)
5. Government Appoints MDs, CEOs in 10 Nationalised Banks
The government on Wednesday, 19 September, appointed the heads of 10 state-run banks.
Most of these posts have been lying vacant for months, hindering effective decision making at the top in these banks that have been struggling with bad loans and massive losses.
The appointments committee of the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the appointments to the post of managing directors and chief executive officers of these banks, the government said in a notification.
Five serving deputy managing directors of State Bank of India have been appointed as MD and CEOs of various banks.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Income Tax Department Surveys Jet Airways’ Mumbai, Delhi Offices
The Income Tax Department on Wednesday, 19 September, began inspecting the books of crisis-hit Jet Airways Limited for alleged falsification of accounts and suspicious transactions, sources said.
Sources said that the department on Wednesday began inspection of the books and is conducting the operations at four premises of the airline. Two of the premises are in Delhi and the other two are in Mumbai, they added.
The full service carrier, which is grappling with financial woes, is already under the scanner of the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the corporate affairs ministry for various alleged lapses.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Reserve Bank Eases Norms for Overseas Fund Raising to Prop up the Rupee
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday, 19 September, eased norms for companies in the manufacturing sector to raise overseas funds and allowed Indian banks to market Masala Bonds in line with the government's measures to prop up the rupee.
Following a review of the economy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, the government announced an array of measures to check the decline of rupee and curb the widening current account deficit (CAD).
Liberalisation of the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) norms was among other measures announced by the government.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. HDFC AMC, Reliance Nippon Shares Slump as Sebi Cuts Mutual Fund Expense Ratio
Shares of asset management companies on Wednesday, 19 September, slumped on fears of the impact on their revenue and profitability after the Securities and Exchange Board of India reduced the total expense ratio. HDFC AMC and Reliance Nippon AMC were trading at their lowest levels since their trading debut.
HDFC Asset Management Co Ltd declined 7.6 percent to Rs 1,422 a share. HDFC Asset Management Co Ltd declined 7.6 percent to Rs 1,422 a share. The stock got listed on 6 August and since then it gained over 28 percent from its issue price of Rs 1,100.
Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd (RNAM) slumped 8.2 percent to Rs 196.55 a share. The stock was listed in November 2017 and has fallen nearly 22 percent since then from its issue price of Rs 252 a share.
(Source: Livemint)
9. Life Healthcare Sells Its 49.7 Percent Stake in Max Healthcare for $293 Million
South African private hospital group Life Healthcare said on Wednesday, 19 September, it will sell its entire 49.7 percent stake in India’s Max Healthcare to a global investment firm for 4.3 billion rand ($293 million), in order to focus on its operations elsewhere.
“The Company will initially use the net disposal proceeds to settle debt as well as to invest in growth opportunities in its core markets,” the group said in a statement.
Shares in Life Healthcare jumped as much as 8.42 percent to 26.90 rand.
(Source: Livemint)
10. Amazon Runs Into Copyright Issues Over Its Flagship Campaign ‘Apni Dukaan’
Amazon India’s flagship campaign ‘Apni Dukaan’, to connect with customers in the remotest parts of the country, could run into copyright issues. Pune-based businessman Ravi Jain, who registered apnidukaan.com as a domain name back in 2007, wants Amazon to stop using the campaign.
The owners of apnidukaan.com, a platform to sell kitchen appliances, electronics and furniture, are in the process of asking Amazon, which entered India in 2013, to remove all references to ‘Apni Dukaan’ from its advertisements and marketing campaigns as they own the intellectual property rights of the brand.
“Our firm and Amazon have no connection. As we own the trademark of Apni Dukaan, we are going to request Amazon to remove references to Apni Dukaan in all the ad and marketing campaigns,” Jain said.
(Source: Business Standard)
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