1. Not Possible to Keep Air India Functioning Without Privatising It: Puri
"If Air India is not privatised then from where will the money come for it to function?" said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday.
"Earlier we used to go to finance ministry to make up for the operating loss. We are not getting any money from the finance ministry, we have to go to banks," Puri told ANI when asked about Air India disinvestment.
"The condition of Air India today is that it is a first-class asset. If we sell it now then bidders would come. If we take ideological positions that we don't want to sell it then it would be difficult to run it in the future," he said.
(Source: Business Standard)
2. Economy May Have Slowed, but There's No Recession, and There Won't Be: FM
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Wednesday said the Indian economy may have slowed down but there is no threat of a recession.
Replying to a discussion on the economic situation in the country in Rajya Sabha, she reeled out numbers comparison between five years under Congress-led UPA-II regime from 2009 to 2014 and BJP's first term from 2014 to 2019 to say inflation was lower and growth higher under the Modi government.
FDI inflows in 2009-14 were $189.5 billion and the same were $283.9 billion under BJP rule in the following five years, she said, adding foreign exchange reserves rose to $412.6 billion under BJP from $304.2 billion in UPA-II.
(Source: Business Standard)
3. Trai Unlikely to Intervene in Telecom Tariffs, Floor Price for Now: Sources
With large telecom operators planning a rate hike in coming days, Trai is unlikely to make an immediate intervention on tariff issues, including fixation of any floor price as of now despite industry's demands, sources said.
Sources aware of Trai's views on the issue said that making any fresh move on floor prices or intervention does not make sense at this point, given that operators have already announced plans to hike tariffs in coming days.
Sources said any move by Trai now may "derail" the process that has been initiated at the operators' end. The regulators considers intervention to be the "last resort".
(Source: Business Standard)
4. Barred, but Karvy Uses Delivery Instruction Slips to Keep Trades Going
Karvy Stock Broking Limited (KSBL), which has been barred from taking on new clients and executing trades for allegedly misusing client securities, is using physical delivery instruction slips to continue “full support and services as usual” to its clients according to a note from division of the brokerage.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on 22 November barred the broker from using clients’ power of attorney after it found clients' shares being diverted to raise funds. It ordered the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL) to not let KSBL use their clients power of attorney to transfer securities.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Government's Fiscal Deficit to Be About 3.7% in 2019-20: Moody's
Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has projected Centre's fiscal deficit to be about 3.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019-20, which will be slightly wider than the 3.4 percent posted in fiscal 2019.
The government has kept a fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent of the GDP for 2019-20.
The agency, in a report, said the persistent spending pressures and slower economic growth will result in continued widening of the fiscal deficit.
"At fiscal year-end March 2020 (fiscal 2020), we project government deficit will be about 3.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for the Central government and around 3 percent for states, adding up to a general government deficit of about 6.7 percent," the report said.
(Source: NDTV)
6. Tata Motors to Offer VRS to 1,600 Staff as Slowdown Takes a Toll
Tata Motors Ltd is working on a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), said four people aware of the matter, as India’s largest vehicle maker bears the brunt of a prolonged slowdown in the domestic market.
The scheme will be offered to employees of different departments, across its businesses of passenger and commercial vehicles, said one of the four people cited above, requesting anonymity.
“This year, Tata Motors’ employee cost-cutting plans are more aggressive than the previous times. Besides removing surplus staff at JLR in recent months, the company is now seeking voluntary retirements from more than 1,600 people across all locations and hierarchies," said the person.
(Source: Livemint)
7. Tata Steel Confirms 1,000 Job Cuts in UK as Talks With Workers Kick Off
Tata Steel Europe said it had begun consultations with the European Works Council (EWC) on Wednesday on restructuring plans for its business, which would include up to 3,000 job losses – 1,000 of which will be in the UK.
The job cuts had been announced by the Indian steel major last week as part of a wider transformation programme as it blamed ongoing losses and continued global headwinds faced by the steel industry.
“As part of the comprehensive set of proposals, Tata Steel Europe intends to lower employment costs," the company statement said.
(Source: Livemint)
8. SBI Cards Files Papers for Rs 9,600 Crore Public Offering
SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd, the credit card unit of the country’s largest lender, on Wednesday, filed initial share sale documents that could see the company sell shares worth around Rs 9,600 crore.
The share sale is poised to become the fifth-largest IPO in the country after Coal India Ltd, Reliance Power Ltd, GIC Re, and Oil and Natural Gas Corp and will help parent State Bank of India (SBI) raise funds to boost credit growth.
SBI, which holds 74 percent stake in the unit, along with private equity firm Carlyle Group, which holds the rest 26 percent through its subsidiary CA Rover Holdings, will together sell 130.5 million shares through the IPO.
(Source: Livemint)
9. PMC Bank Scam: Mumbai Court Gives Nod to Sell Jets, Yacht of Wadhawans
A court in Mumbai has allowed the RBI — appointed administrator for PMC Bank to sell two airplanes and a yacht belonging to HDIL group promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang, the prime accused in the Rs 4,355-crore scam at the cooperative lender.
The administrator had moved the metropolitan court here, seeking its direction to sell movable assets attached by probe agencies in connection with the scam at Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank).
According to the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW), the PMC Bank management, in cahoots with the Wadhawans, concealed from the banking regulators' scrutiny huge loan defaults by HDIL group firms.
(Source: Livemint)
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