1. Note Ban Has Little Impact On Increments In FY17: Survey
Demonetisation did not impact this year's increments in spite of all speculations to the contrary as companies doled out as much as 20 percent to key talent in the appraisal process, according to a recent survey.
Though the job market did seem a bit slack at the start of 2017, it picked up pace gradually, a survey by Antal International Network India showed. It analysed benchmarking data and key insights on appraisal trends across disciplines.
As many as "85 percent respondents said demonetisation did not impact this year's increments at all in spite of the speculations," the survey said.
Source: PTI
2. The 'Statutory' Requirement Problems of Income Tax Returns
This year’s online filing of income tax returns has been plagued by difficulties faced by various categories of taxpayers. Very senior citizens and foreign citizens have been unable to file their returns in the absence of an Aadhaar number, though there is a specific exemption from linking their Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) to Aadhaar.
Foreign companies and non-residents not having bank accounts in India but receiving income taxable in India were required to give details of an Indian bank account and its IFSC code.
There was a fear created among non-residents about whether they are required to give details of all their overseas accounts, though they had only a negligible income taxable in India, which has since been clarified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
The common thread running through all these problems is the fact that this requirement in e-returns creating the difficulty was not a part of the notified format of the income tax returns, or that the returns did not factor in available exemptions from certain requirements. This was, therefore, not a statutory requirement.
Source: Livemint
3. Patanjali Plans To Raise Rs 1,000 Crore To Fund Expansion
Baba Ramdev-backed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, India’s second largest consumer goods maker, plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore as it looks to boost production and launch new products. The company is looking at borrowing funds from banks, said SK Tijarawala, a spokesperson of Patanjali.
The maker of Dantkanti toothpaste and Keshkanti shampoo said it will reach a production capacity of 50,000 crore units by the end of this year and plans to double it over the next three years.
The company has 50 manufacturing units across the country, including large food parks, Tijarawala told BloombergQuint over the phone. The company wants to scale up production at its existing facilities in Maharashtra, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, he said.
Source: BloombergQuint
4. Monsoon, Loan Waivers To Drive Tractor Sales
A second straight year of normal rains and loan waivers doled out by state governments are expected boost sales of farm equipment over the next few months.
Market leader Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd’s sales grew 7 percent to 17,682 units in July over the same month last year. Escorts Ltd. reported a growth of 34.3 percent at 5,418 units year-on-year. Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE), the second-largest player in the market, is yet to release its numbers.
Rainfall till 30 July this year was at 102 percent of the long-period average and the weatherman has forecast rains to be at 98 percent of the LPA through the season, with an error margin of 4 percent on either side.
Source: BloombergQuint
5. Questions Over Earnings Growth Amid Market Rally
Though Indian markets continue to touch record highs, a recovery in corporate earnings remains elusive. The steady downward revision in earnings per share (EPS) estimates of companies continues.
Data from Bloomberg shows Sensex companies’ consensus earnings per share forecast for the current fiscal has been pared by 6.76 percent since April; for fiscal year 2018-19, it has been cut by 2.9 percent.
That clearly shows that the current rally – which has seen the benchmark gauges climb close to 22 percent since the beginning of 2017 – is not being supported by fundamentals. The Sensex is trading at 20.15 times estimated earnings for the current fiscal year.
To be sure, sell-side analysts have mostly been optimistic about earnings performance at the beginning of the fiscal, for the past five years at least, before cutting them as new data points emerge. For instance, in fiscal 2016, earnings estimates for the Sensex had been pared by 3.6 percent by the end of the first half; for fiscal 2015, it was a sharper 12.3 percent.
Source: Livemint
6. 12 PSU Banks Firming Plans To Raise Funds From Markets
As many as 12 public sector banks including Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Indian Bank have lined up plans for raising funds from markets to shore up their capital base to meet global risk norm, Basel III.
About 6 to7 lenders including Andhra Bank expect to close their capital raising plan by the end of the current fiscal, sources said. The remaining would raise funds through follow on public offer (FPO) or Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) from the market during course of the next fiscal, they added.
Source: PTI
7. Why Investors Should Look at Inflation Points
In bond market parlance, bps, ie, basis points is also referred to as ‘paise’. There was a time, decades ago, when char anna or 25 paise was worth a lot. Somewhere along the line, with inflation and all, char anna or 25 paise went into oblivion. It is when the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met and cut policy rate by 25 bps, we remember 25 paise.
In the run-up to the Policy Review of 2 August, we all knew that inflation has surprised on the downside (CPI at 1.54 percent in June), GDP growth has taken a breather and that the entire market was expecting 25 bps rate cut.
What was unique in the run-up to this policy review was that the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) reduced savings account deposit rate by as much as 50 bps (eight anna in yesteryear parlance), re-emphasising the direction of interest rates in India.
Source: Financial Express
8. Race to Renew India Submarine Force Amid Rising China Threat
After years of delay, India’s navy is preparing to take delivery of one of the world’s stealthiest and most deadly fighting tools: the INS Kalvari, an attack submarine named after a deep-sea tiger shark.
The commissioning later this month of the Scorpene class submarine is a milestone in India’s effort to rebuild its badly depleted underwater fighting force, and the first of six on order.
It comes as China’s military expands its fleet to nearly 60 submarines – compared to India’s 15 – and increases its forays into the Indian Ocean in what New Delhi strategists see as a national security challenge.
A Chinese Yuan-class diesel-powered submarine entered the Indian ocean in May and is still lurking, according to an Indian naval officer who asked not to be identified, citing policy.
It’s an unwelcome reminder of China’s rapidly expanding naval strength at a time when Indian and Chinese soldiers are engaged in a border dispute stand-off in Bhutan. China’s defense ministry didn’t respond to a faxed request for comment.
Source: BloombergQuint
9. India Revises Draft Plan on Trade Facilitation for Services
India has moderated the level of ambition in its proposal on trade facilitation for services (TFS) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) by informing its counterparts that the proposed TFS agreement will only apply to the existing commitments scheduled under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), according to the latest proposal reviewed by Mint.
After facing headwinds from both developing countries, including allies such as South Africa, as well as many industrialised countries on the earlier TFS proposal, India has now floated a revised draft proposal which is largely moderated so that it remains as a bargaining chip during the current negotiations on the domestic regulation barriers in services, according to a trade official who asked not to be quoted.
In the 18-page restricted job document issued on 27 July, India has maintained that it is “in the spirit of constructive engagement.”
Source: Livemint
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)