1. Factory Output Growth Hits 17-Month High of 8.4% percent in November
Industrial production growth zoomed to a 17-month high of 8.4 percent in November 2017 on the back of robust performance of manufacturing and capital goods sectors.
The factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew 5.1 percent in November 2016, as per data released on Saturday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The previous high was recorded at 8.9 percent in June 2016. Meanwhile, the IIP growth for October 2017 has been revised downwards to two percent from the provisional estimates of 2.2 released last month.
(Source: The Economic Times)
2. Retail Inflation Rises to 5.21%, Dashes Rate Cut Hopes
Retail inflation crossed the RBI's comfort level and rose to 5.21 percent in December on rise in prices of food items, egg and vegetables, dashing hopes of interest rate cut in the near future.
The retail inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 4.88 percent in November. In December, 2016, it was 3.41 percent.
The Reserve Bank has been asked by the government to keep inflation at four percent, plus or minus two percent, and its rise beyond the comfort zone will put pressure on the central bank not to cut interest rate (repo rate).
(Source: PTI)
3. TCS Bags Over $2 Billion Transamerica Contract in Its Biggest Outsourcing Deal Yet
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) has won its largest IT outsourcing deal with an over $2 billion, 10-year contract from a unit of Dutch insurer Aegon NV, assuring India’s largest information technology company the fastest revenue growth in three years in 2018-19.
The contract from Transamerica Life Insurance Co is the second large outsourcing deal won by TCS in the past one month, and bigger than the $2.25 billion deal announced when it renewed a partnership with television ratings measurement company Nielsen Holdings Plc in December. TCS did not specify the exact value of the contract, but it said it was worth more than the Nielsen deal.
(Source: Livemint)
4. TRAI Cuts ISD Incoming Call Termination Rate to 30 Paise
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday slashed the international call termination charge from 53 paise a minute to 30 paise a minute, dealing a blow to telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd and Vodafone India Ltd.
Telecom firms had sought a hike in the rate to Rs 3.5 per minute.
The termination charge is payable by an international long distance operator (ILDO) to the Indian telecom operator on whose network an overseas call terminates. The new rate takes effect on 1 February.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Bitcoin Set for Worst Weekly Slide Since 2015 as Scrutiny Rises
Bitcoin slumped again on Friday, leaving the largest cryptocurrency heading for its worst weekly performance in three years as regulators around the world step up scrutiny out of concerns ranging from investor losses to strains on power systems.
Bitcoin was trading at $13,019 as of 8:24 am Hong Kong time, putting it on track for a 22 percent slide this week, the deepest since January 2015, according to Bloomberg composite pricing. The token is down about 33 percent from its mid-December peak, which came just after the introduction of futures trading on regulated exchanges in Chicago.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Punished Auditors Involved in Satyam Case; No Powers to Act Against CA Firms: ICAI
Within days of Sebi passing order against Price Waterhouse network entities in the Satyam scam, chartered accountants' apex body ICAI on Saturday said it had awarded maximum punishment to individual auditors involved but has no powers to initiate disciplinary action against CA firms.
On Wednesday, Sebi imposed a two-year ban on Price Waterhouse network entities from issuing audit certificates to any listed company in India with respect to the multi-crore scam at the IT major.
The institute has cancelled the membership of six chartered accountants with respect to the accounting fraud at Satyam Computer Services
(Source: PTI)
7. Infosys Beats Profit Estimates On One-Time Tax Benefit
Infosys Ltd’s quarterly profit rose more than expected as a one-time tax refund in the US and increased adoption of digital services boosted growth in a seasonally weak quarter for information technology firms.
India's second-largest software services outsourcer’s profit in the quarter ended December rose nearly 38 percent over the previous three months to Rs 5,130 crore, according to its stock exchange filing. It was higher than Rs 3,591 crore consensus of analyst estimates tracked by Bloomberg.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
8. NCLT Approves Vodafone-Idea Merger
The National Company Law Tribunal has approved the proposed merger between Idea Cellular and Vodafone – a move that brings both the companies closer to culminating the deal. Both the groups can go ahead for the final approval for the merger from the Department of Telecom after Vodafone’s appeal for the scheme also gets NCLT nod.
“We wish to inform you that the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal, bench at Ahmedabad, vide its order dated 11 January 2018 has sanctioned the composite scheme of amalgamation and arrangement among Vodafone Mobile Services Limited and Vodafone India Limited and Idea Cellular Limited…,” PTI quoted Idea Cellular as saying in a regulatory note.
(Source: Financial Express)
9. Forex Reserves Scale New High of $411.124 Bn
Continuing rising trends, country’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $1.758 billion to mount a new record high of $411.124 billion in the week to 5 January, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
In the previous week, foreign exchange reserves had jumped by $4.444 billion to reach a fresh peak of $409.366 billion. The reserves had crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time in the week to 8 September 2017, but had since been fluctuating. The spike in reserves was due to a rise in foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets rose by $2.045 billion to $387.149 billion.
Expressed in the US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves.
(Source: PTI)
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