1. Interim Budget 2019 Highlights
Making a big populist push in its final budget before elections, the Narendra Modi-government on Friday, 1 February, exempted people with earnings of up to Rs 5 lakh from payment of income tax, announced an annual cash dole-out of Rs 6,000 to small farmers and provided a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to workers in the unorganised sector.
(Source: PTI)
2. RCom to Go For Insolvency as It Fails to Repay Debt
Reliance Communications will opt for insolvency proceedings as it failed to sell assets to pay for its debt, the Anil Ambani-led telecom company said on Friday, 1 February.
"RCom board of directors decides upon implementation of debt resolution plans through NCLT framework," the company said in a statement. The Board of Directors of RCom Friday reviewed the progress of the company's debt resolution plans since the invocation of strategic debt resolution on 2 June 2017.
(Source: PTI)
3. Sensex, Nifty Clock Best Week Of 2019 On Budget Proposals
Indian equity benchmarks clocked best week of 2019 on Narendra Modi government's last budget proposals. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.59 percent or 213 points to 35,469 and NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.58 percent 63 points to 10,894. For the week, Sensex rose 1.2 percent and the Nifty advanced 1 percent. The central government fiscal deficit for 2018-19 settled at 3.4 percent and it was maintained at the same level for next financial year, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced at the start of his budget speech.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Govt to Conduct New Survey on Employment, Says Bibek Debroy
The government will conduct a new national sample survey on employment, which will show that there has been "substantial job creation", prime minister's economic advisory council chief Bibek Debroy has said.
In a video clip posted on the Facebook page of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Debroy also said a large part of what happens to "jobs, employment, the business environment is in the province of the states".
(Source: PTI)
5. SBI Shares Sink Over 3% Post December-Quarter Results
Shares of State Bank of India fell by over 3 percent on Friday, 1 February, despite the lender reporting consolidated net income of Rs 4,709.15 crore and a healthy improvement in asset quality for the December quarter. Meanwhile, the nation’s largest lender on Friday denied reports that its servers were compromised last week and assured that all its customer data remains safe and secure.
(Source: PTI)
6. Jet Airways Has Agreed to Etihad's Bailout Terms: Report
Jet Airways Ltd has agreed to most conditions set by shareholder Etihad Airways for offering a lifeline to the debt-laden Indian carrier, a newspaper report said, sending Jet's shares soaring as much as 18 percent on Friday, 1 February.
Both airlines are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) within days, which would result in Jet Airways' Founder and chairman Naresh Goyal reducing his stake to 22 percent from 51 percent and stepping down from the Board, the report said, citing sources.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Forex Kitty Swells by USD 1.5 Bn to USD 398.18 Bn
The country's foreign exchange reserves climbed by USD 1.497 billion to reach USD 398.178 billion for the week to 25 January, mainly due to a jump in core currency assets, Reserve Bank data showed on Friday, 1 February.
The overall reserves had dipped by USD 671 million to USD 396.68 billion in the previous week. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets -- a major component of the overall reserves -- increased USD 1.423 billion to USD 372.149 billion, the Reserve Bank said.
(Source: PTI)
8. Vedanta Sinks 20% on Weak Q3 Earnings
Shares of Vedanta Ltd slumped to a two-and-a-half-year low on Friday, 1 February, after analysts expressed concerns over an investment by a unit of the company in African miner Anglo American.
Vedanta said on Thursday, 31 January, its foreign unit Cairn India Holdings Ltd had paid $200 million to buy a stake in Anglo American from Volcan Investments Ltd, the miner's parent company, as a part of its "cash management activities".
(Source: Reuters)
9. Govt to Allocate Rs 3,900 Cr to Service Air India Debt
The government will provide a total of Rs 3,900 crore for servicing Air India's loans transferred to a special purpose vehicle, according to Budget documents.
The Air India Asset Holding Ltd, a special purpose vehicle, has been set up as part of financial restructuring of the debt-laden national carrier.
(Source: PTI)
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