1. Indigo’s Q3 Profit Soars 56%, Eyes Long-Haul International Flights
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates India’s biggest budget airline IndiGo, said its Q3 profit rose 56 percent, boosted by foreign exchange gains and credits from Pratt & Whitney to compensate for glitches in engines that grounded the airline’s Airbus planes.
The airline said it will seek rights to fly long-haul international flights soon.
Net profit rose to Rs 762 crore in the three months that ended on 31 December from Rs 487.25 crore in the year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected quarterly profit at Rs 651 crore.
Total income increased 25 percent to Rs 6,449.79 crore from Rs 5,158.42 crore in the year-ago period as the airline added planes and operated more flights. The airline’s stock surged 3.7 percent to Rs 1,237.90 on the BSE, while the exchange’s benchmark Sensex gained 0.06 percent to close at 36,161.64 points.
(Source: Mint)
2. Govt May Offer More Income Tax Deductions to Those Who Invest in Its Infra Projects
The Finance ministry is considering offering higher income tax deductions on investments made by taxpayers in securities used to raise funds for government infrastructure projects, two government officials familiar with the matter said.
The current limit is Rs 2 lakh and discussions are on to increase it to at least Rs 2.5 lakh, but the extra deduction will be available only on investments made in government infrastructure projects.
Considering that this will be the Narendra Modi government’s last full budget, as general elections are slated for 2019, a higher tax benefit will be cheered by all. It will impact approximately 7.5 million taxpayers in India.
(Source: Mint)
3. Infosys, TCS Join Global Tech-Reskilling Drive for 1 Million Workers
Indian information technology giants TCS and Infosys have joined a global drive for tech reskilling of one million workers in the first such IT industry initiative. The exercise, whose founding partners also include Accenture, CA Technologies, Cisco, Cognizant, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Pegasystems, PwC, Salesforce, and SAP, aims to bring competitive training content on one platform to serve the greater good.
The initiative will be targeting one million people for training and resource opportunities on the World Economic Forum (WEF) SkillSET portal by January 2021. The IT Industry Skills Initiative was launched by the WEF to meet the global skills gap challenge and address job displacement arising from automation and the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’.
(Source: PTI)
4. Government Ensures Rs 1 Lakh Cr to PSU Banks by March; Unveils Reforms
The government said on 24 January that it will infuse an unprecedented Rs 88,139 crore capital in 20 public sector banks (PSBs) before 31 March to boost lending and revive growth, and unveiled steps to tackle the bad loan problem which has reached record levels.
The lenders, which include State Bank of India, account for more than two-third of India’s banking assets as well as most of the over Rs 8 lakh crore of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans.
Announcing the banking sector reforms, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said stringent norms for disbursal of high value loans have been framed, with strict surveillance on big loan defaulters and mandatory reporting of loans of over Rs 250 crore. Bank have also been instructed to become more professional.
(Source: Financial Express)
5. Raghuram Rajan Favours Barring Promoters from Bidding for Stressed Assets
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said he was in favour of keeping promoters out of the insolvency process because they had already had their chance. Allowing them to participate could subvert the process, he said in an interview to ET Now in Davos.
"They have had their ability to pay back, to renegotiate in a way that is acceptable," he said. "I have heard businessmen talk about being warned by promoters to stay away from the auction because that would give the promoters an ability to bid at very low prices — that creates a sense of corruption around this process which I think this process would do well to stay away from."
The government recently amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to curb the participation of promoters in bidding for assets.
(Source: Economic Times)
6. Idea Cellular’s Q3 Loss Triples on IUC Cut, Jio Tariff War
Idea Cellular Ltd said quarterly loss more than tripled to Rs 1,285.6 crore, as the nation’s telecom regulator halved interconnection fees and a tariff war sparked by new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd showed no signs of abating.
The loss for the quarter ended 31 December was in line with the Rs 1,280 crore average forecast in a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts.
Idea Cellular, which is set to merge with the Indian unit of Vodafone Group Plc, reported a loss of Rs 385.6 crore in the year-earlier quarter.
The cut in interconnection usage charge (IUC) reduced Idea’s revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), an indicator of operating profitability, in the December quarter by Rs 820 crore and Rs 230 crore, respectively, the company said in a statement.
(Source: Mint)
7. With Moon Race Off, Antrix, Teamindus Call off Agreement
With a global race to the Moon being called off, ISRO's commercial arm Antrix said its launch services agreement with space company TeamIndus had been "mutually terminated".
Bengaluru-based TeamIndus had said it would launch a spacecraft aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in 2018.
In a statement, Antrix's chairman-cum-managing director Rakesh Sasibhushan said his company remained committed to encouraging and promoting private enterprise in space.
(Source: PTI)
8. Electric Vehicles to Take Centre Stage at Auto Expo 2018
At first, the Delhi Auto Expo used to be all about small, affordable cars targeted at first-time buyers. Then, as customer preferences changed, India’s only automobile show started featuring big, bulky sports utility vehicles (SUVs) aimed at an upwardly mobile, aspirational class.
The trend is set to change again. The 2018 Auto Expo next month will see a marked shift towards electric cars and vehicles that run on other eco-friendly technologies.
At the 2018 Auto Expo, which will run from 9-14 February, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd will showcase its first ever EV concept known as #Concept E-Survivor, which is expected to be introduced in the Indian market in 2020. The car is being developed by Suzuki Motor Corp., Maruti’s parent, in collaboration with Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automobile maker.
(Source: Mint)
9. This Republic Day, Income Tax Department’s Tableau Will Make Its Debut in Parade
Come 26 January and for the first time, an Income Tax Department tableau will roll down Rajpath during the Republic Day parade, showcasing its special anti-black money drive that was launched post demonetisation.
In line with the government’s vision to eradicate the menace of black money, the tableau of Income Tax department showcases ‘Operation Clean Money’ initiative which endeavours to “Create a tax compliant society through a fair, transparent & non-intrusive tax administration where every Indian takes pride in paying taxes.”
The tableau will depict the Operation Clean Money (OCM), its salient features and people’s contribution towards the drive which was launched by the I-T department on 31 January last year.
(Source: Financial Express)
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