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QBiz: Govt Slashes Fuel Prices; Chanda Kochhar Quits ICICI Bank

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1. Petrol, Diesel To Be Cheaper As Govt Cuts Down Prices

Consumers got some relief from record-high prices of auto fuels as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and at least 11 states lowered levies to make petrol and diesel cheaper as India heads into a crucial election season.

The central government cut the excise duty on auto fuels by Rs 1.50 per litre, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a press conference. It also asked state-run oil marketers to cut retail prices by Re 1, taking the total benefit to Rs 2.5. The reduced prices will be effective from midnight today.

Jaitley urged the states to match that with an equivalent cut in the value-added tax on fuel. States ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party or where it shares power obliged.

The relief comes ahead of the crucial state polls and in the last few months of Modi’s term before the next general election in May.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

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2. Chanda Kochhar Steps down as ICICI Bank CEO

Nine years after Chanda Kochhar took over as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank Ltd, then the country’s largest private bank by assets, she has stepped down.

Sandeep Bakshi, who is the chief operating officer of the bank, has been appointed as CEO for a period of five years, the bank said on Thursday.

Kochhar’s resignation comes even before a probe into alleged impropriety in granting of loans by the bank to the Videocon group is completed.

That probe will continue, said the bank while adding that “certain benefits” would be dependent on the outcome of the investigations.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

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3. IL&FS New Board Appoints Vineet Nayyar as Vice-Chairperson and MD

The newly-constructed board has appointed Vineet Nayyar as the Vice Chairman and MD of the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).

The decision was taken in a marathon over 5-hours meeting held today to decide the fate of the institution that has 348 subsidiary companies.

Nand Kishore has been appointed as the chairman of the audit committee and GC Chaturvedi will be the chairperson of the Remuneration Committee.

Newly-appointed Vice Chairman & MD of IL&FS Vineet Nayyar said they have no predetermined view on any person or any course of action. He said the board's objective is to create an enabling environment.

(Source: The Economic Times)

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4. Droom Gets Rs 221 Cr in Series-E Funding

Droom Technology has raised $30 million (about Rs 221 crore) in a fresh round of equity financing, led by two new investors, and which comes barely four months after the Singapore and Gurgaon-based company raised a similar amount from a clutch of investors.

The Series E round of funding was led by the family office of Joe Hirao, founder of ZigExN, the Tokyo-headquartered company that owns and operates a number of content-focused websites, ranging from jobs information, search and real estate, to the used car listings segment.

The company, according to Sandeep Aggarwal, chief executive of Droom, will use the proceeds to further ramp up Droom Credit, its fin-tech product launched last year, and which provides auto financing to, both, dealers and buyers in the used car and bike segment.

(Source: The Economic Times)

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5. Accenture Q4 Revenue Rises 11% to $1.03 Billion, Beats Estimates

Accenture Plc’s fourth-quarter revenue and profit beat Wall Street estimates on Thursday as investments in its fast-growing digital and cloud services businesses paid off.

Shares of the consulting and outsourcing services company were marginally up in premarket trading.

Revenue from its digital, cloud and security-related services, which the company terms as “the New”, made up more than 60 percent of total revenue.

Accenture has spent about $3.4 billion over the last three years — nearly half of it in fiscal 2017 — on some 70 acquisitions, to boost its digital and cloud services in order to compete better with Cognizant and IBM.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $1.03 billion, or $1.58 per share, from $932.5 million, or $1.48 per share, in the fourth quarter ended 31 August, a year earlier.

Its profit beat the average analyst estimate of $1.56 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net revenue rose to $10.15 billion, ahead of estimates of $10.01 billion.

(Source: Livemint)

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6. Gross Direct Tax Collection Grows 16.7% Lakh Crore in April-Sept

The Finance Ministry on Thursday, 4 October, announced that collections from direct taxes crossed Rs 5.47 lakh crore during the first six months (April-September) of the current fiscal.

Direct taxes comprise personal income tax (which also include Securities Transaction Tax or STT) and corporate income tax (CIT).

The collection, on gross basis, is 16.7 percent higher than the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Net collections (after adjusting for refunds) have increased 14 percent to Rs 4.44 lakh crore during the period under consideration and accounts for 38.6 percent of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for the current fiscal which is pegged at Rs 11.50 lakh crore.

The growth rate is as estimated and the Finance Ministry is hopeful of collections crossing the target.

(Source: The Hindu Business Line)

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7. Rupee Drops 44 Paise to Hit New Low of 73.77 Against US Dollar

The rupee collapsed to a fresh low of 73.77 against the US dollar on Thursday, 4 October, as global oil prices continued to rise, deepening concerns about the current account deficit and capital outflows.

Consistent dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, following higher crude oil prices, kept the rupee under pressure. Meanwhile, state-owned oil marketing companies have been allowed to raise USD 10 billion from overseas market to meet their working capital needs.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower and slipped further to a fresh low of 73.77 a dollar against 73.34, a fall of 43 paise. The domestic currency closed at a record low of 73.34, down by 43 paise or 0.59 per cent on 3 October.

(Source: PTI)

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8. Jet Air Gets $35m from Frequent Flyer Programme

Getting a virtual lifeline, Jet Airways on Thursday, 4 October, said its frequent flyer programme — Jet Privilege Pvt Ltd (JPPL) — has paid the airline $35 million (about Rs 260 crore) for pre-purchase of tickets. Jet is facing such a severe cash crunch that it has been deferring salary payment to staff.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad has 50.1percent stake in JPPL. Etihad has 24 percent stake in Jet.

A Jet spokesperson said, “JPPL concluded a prepaid ticket purchase agreement for $ 35 million with Jet Airways, under normal course of business.”

Jet had lost Rs 1,323 crore in the April-June of 2018, while it had a profit of Rs 53.5 crore in Q1 of last fiscal. This is one of the highest ever quarterly losses posted by Jet, which recently turned 25.

(Source: The Times of India)

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9. LIC Makes Open Offer for 26% Stake in IDBI

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Thursday, 4 October, came out with an open offer for acquiring 26 percent of equity in IDBI Bank at a price of ₹61.73 per share, entailing total payout of over ₹12,602 crore.

Earlier in the day, IDBI Bank board approved the proposal for issuance of preferential shares in favour of LIC with a view to increase the share of insurer in the bank up to 51 percent.

LIC made a public announcement for the open offer to shareholders, including retailers, as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regulations with regard to substantial acquisition and takeover of shares in a company.

LIC’s open offer is triggered after the government transferred 43 percent of its stake in IDBI Bank to the insurance company, which resulted in LIC’s holding rising to 51%.

(Source: PTI)

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