1. RBI Likely to Maintain Status Quo on Interest Rates
With inflation rearing its head again and global crude oil prices inching up, the Reserve Bank is likely to maintain the status quo on interest rates tomorrow at its bi-monthly monetary policy review for the current fiscal, say experts. Besides, the central bank may wait for the impact of delayed monsoon rains before making the next move.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, criticised for following hawkish monetary policy for too long before starting to lower rates, has reduced the benchmark interest rate by 1.5 percent since January last year. Since then, he has been persuading banks to fully transmit the benefit of the policy rate cut to customers.
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2. Switzerland Agrees to Share Information on Black Money: Livemint
Switzerland has agreed to the ‘automatic’ exchange of information of money that has been illegally held in Swiss banks by Indian nationals. According to Livemint, the sharing of information will come into effect from 2018.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Switzerland on Monday during which, Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann said Switzerland will send its state secretary in the federal department of finance Jacques de Watteville to New Delhi next month to discuss the details for cooperation on the information-sharing framework.
The Swiss also agreed to back India’s bid for the membership of nuclear supply group (NSG), a group that oversees all the trade of nuclear material, parts and transfer of technology for civilian use of nuclear energy.
3. KKR India to Invest Rs 600 Crore in Kwality: Livemint
KKR India, the local arm of the New York-based buyout firm will invest Rs 600 crore in Kwality India. According to Livemint, the investment will take place through a structured debt transaction.
Kwality is India’s largest dairy firm outside government control. It receives more than 70 percent of its revenue from selling products to FMCG conglomerates like HUL, ITC, Britannia etc.
The new investment will help Kwality strengthen its brand and expand its retail business. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has been roped in to be the new brand ambassador of the dairy firm.
4. SEBI Recommends Forensic Audit in NSEL Scam: BS
A forensic audit has been recommended by the Securities and Exchange Board of India of brokerage houses whose clients have lost a whooping Rs 5,574-crore in National Spot Exchange Scam (NSEL).
According to Business Standard, the regulator recommended a third party audit after looking into the books of the brokers. Earlier, on 4 April, SEBI had given brokerages a 60-day period to get their books checked by a third party auditor.
The brokerages include Anand Rathi Commodities, India Infoline Commodities, Geofin Comtrade, Phillip Commodities and Motilal Oswal Commodities. The NSEL scam came to light in July 2013, when the exchange was unable to repay 13,000 investors who were trading on the platform. The exchange did not have adequate goods in its warehouses to back trades.
5. Govt to Support Banks on Bad Loans, Says Arun Jaitley: Livemint
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held a meeting to review the performance public sector banks (PSB) and financial institutions. The meeting was attended by chairmen, managing directors and CEOs of sevaral banks.
Jaitley said after the meeting that government will take steps to protect and empower state-run banks to take commercially prudent decisions as the banking system deals with the surge in bad debts, reports Livemint. He added that banks have made a number of suggestions to improve the recovery process, which the government will consider.
Jaitley stressed that the government will fully support banks so they can in turn support growth. He said that operationally banks are sound.
6. Telcos Seek Parity in Regulations with Communication Apps: ET
Telecom companies have asked for regulation of over-the-top (OTT) players that provide communication services like Whatsapp and Facebook. According to The Economic Times, the telcos believe that these apps also provide services such as voice calling and hence, should be brought under the same regulation as carriers.
Communication apps offer calling services at far lower rates than carriers. A consumer just pays for the data consumed, thus eating into telcos’ revenue pie. Voice still accounts for around 80 percent of a telco’s revenue.
Telcos want these apps to be brought under regulation so that the apps pay the same levies such as licence fee, spectrum charges, etc. besides also following rules around security, lawful interception, and quality of service.
7. Sales MD of Microsoft India Resigns: ET
Karan Bajwa, the managing director (sales) of Microsoft India has resigned. According to The Economic Times, Bajwa may be the next head of Facebook India. He is likely to replace Kirthiga Reddy.
Microsoft India has confirmed Bajwa’s resignation.
We confirm that Karan Bajwa, managing director of our sales and marketing group, has decided to pursue an opportunity outside Microsoft after spending nine successful years with us.Microsoft spokesperson to The Economic Times
Bajwa will remain with Microsoft till 30 June.
Earlier, Reddy had stepped down from her current role as Facebook India managing director in February. She will be moving to the company’s headquarters in the US in the next six to 12 months.
8. Delivery Staff of Online Firms Shifting Back to Fast Food Chains: ET
Several people who left their jobs with fast food chains like Dominos and KFC to work for e-commerce firms like Flipkart and Amazon are now coming around for their jobs. According to The Economic Times report, delivery guys are unhappy with the stretched work hours and the pressures of ‘sale day’.
Another key factor is compensation. While online delivery firms used to pay about Rs 30,000 per month about six months ago, at present, they pay only Rs 300-400 per day. Executives at Jubilant FoodWorks, which owns the franchise for Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts in India, said close to 500 delivery persons who had left the company for online firms now want to come back.
9. India Topples China in Smartphone Sales Pace, But Lags in Volume
Even as global smartphone growth threatens to slow down, India has surpassed China’s pace in smartphone sales. However, the volume of phones sold is still pretty less as compared to China.
According to Economic Times, India still sells only a quarter of smartphones as compared to China. Further, the average selling price of smartphone in India is almost half of that in China and is unlikely to grow soon.
But that’s just one part of the story. In a globally slowing market, all smartphone players are looking for volume growth, a reason Apple’s Tim Cook turns to India to revive sales.
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