NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: In his final letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said that the company needs to do better at taking care of its employees.

The letter comes amid ongoing reports of untenable conditions for Amazon workers.

"I think we need to do a better job for our employees," Bezos said in the letter sent to employees on Thursday.

"While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it's clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees -- a vision for their success," he added.

In the letter, Bezos also said that Amazon employees can take informal breaks throughout their shifts to stretch.

These informal work breaks are in addition to the 30-minute lunch and 30-minute break built into their normal schedule.

"We don't set unreasonable performance goals. We set achievable performance goals that take into account tenure and actual employee performance data," the CEO wrote in the letter.

"Performance is evaluated over a long period of time as we know that a variety of things can impact performance in any given week, day, or hour," Bezos added.

He also said that if employees are on track to miss a performance target over some time, their manager talks with them and provides coaching.

Recently, Amazon had issued a rare apology regarding allegations over exploitative working conditions at its facilities, including forcing exhausted workers to 'pee in bottles', saying that the company will look for solutions to resolve such situations.

The company had said that this is a long-standing, industry-wide issue and is not specific to Amazon.

Bezos also said, in the letter, that as executive chairman he will focus on making the company a better place to work.

"In my upcoming role as Executive Chair, I'm going to focus on new initiatives," Bezos said.

"I'm excited to work alongside the large team of passionate people we have in Ops and help invent in this arena of Earth's Best Employer and Earth's Safest Place to Work," he added.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Government has decided to simplify the process to re-issue Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards. Currently, the OCI card is required to be re-issued each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age. Now, it has been decided  to dispense with this requirement. A person who has got registration as OCI cardholder prior to attaining the age of 20 years will have to get the OCI card re-issued only once when a new passport is issued after completing 20 years of age. If a person has obtained registration as OCI cardholder after attaining the age of 20 years, there will be no requirement of re-issue of OCI card.
 
With a view to update the data regarding new passports obtained by the OCI cardholder, it has been decided that they will upload a copy of the new passport containing their photo and also a latest photo on the online OCI portal, each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age. However, in the case of those who have been registered as OCI cardholder as spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or an OCI cardholder, the person concerned will be required to upload a copy of the new passport.
 
The decision is expected to significantly ease the process for re-issue of OCI cards. The OCI Card has proved to be very popular amongst foreigners of Indian Origin and spouses of foreign origin of Indian citizens or OCI cardholders, as it helps them in hassle free entry and unlimited stay in India. 
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Wholesale Inflation rate in the country zoomed above 7 per cent driven by an increase in prices of fuel, food and manufactured goods.

As per the provisional data released for the month of March by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Commerce Ministry, the annual rate of WPI inflation stood at 7.39 per cent for the month of March over the corresponding period of last year.

However, month-on-month rate of inflation stood at 1.57 % per cent.

The Department has said in its report that the prices of crude oil, petroleum products and basic metal substantially increased last month as compared to the corresponding month of last year. It also added that due to nationwide lockdown, the Wholesale Price Index for the month of March last year was computed with relatively low response rate and therefore the difference between the corresponding period this year has recorded a larger gap. 
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: Equity benchmark Sensex ended 260 points higher after a volatile session on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, TCS and ICICI Bank amid largely positive cues from global markets.

After gyrating 877 points during the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 259.62 points or 0.53 per cent higher at 48,803.68.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 76.65 points or 0.53 per cent to 14,581.45.

TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by ONGC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy's, HDFC and HCL Tech.

On the other hand, Infosys, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.

"Domestic equities looked to be resilient amid high volatility. Benchmark indices recovered sharply from today's low mainly led by rebound in financials and pharma indices," said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Auto stocks were worst hit mainly due to wider economic restrictions imposed in Maharashtra, which contributes over 20 per cent of automobiles production of the country, he said, adding that Infosys witnessed heavy profit booking after missing the street's estimates in 4QFY21 earnings.

However, strong buying was seen in other IT majors due to sustained growth prospects, he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the red, while Seoul and Tokyo settled with gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.63 per cent lower at USD 66.34 per barrel.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Union Agriculture Ministry has signed an MoU with Microsoft for a pilot project in 100 villages of six states. This project will carry out various tasks for the betterment of farmers in the selected villages, which will enhance their income. This will also reduce the input costs for farmers and make farming easy.

These states are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Microsoft will develop farmer interface for smart and well-organized agriculture, including post-harvest management and distribution.

Speaking on the occasion, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of digital agriculture is now taking shape.

He said, since taking over as the Prime Minister in 2014, Mr Modi has laid great emphasis on the use of modern technologies in farming sector to enhance farmers income. He said, the agricultural economy is the backbone of the country and any loss to agriculture is a loss for the country.

Tomar said, the agriculture sector has contributed positively to the country's economy even in adverse conditions like Corona epidemic.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Fuel prices in the country finally fell on Thursday with oil marketing companies deciding to pass the benefit of softer global oil prices earlier this month to the consumers.

Accordingly, pump prices of petrol and diesel fell by 16 paisa and 14 paisa per litre respectively on Thursday.

With this, petrol is now being retailed at Rs 90.40 a litre in Delhi, down from previous day's level of Rs 90.56 a litre. Similarly, diesel is now priced at Rs 80.73 a litre in the national capital from earlier level of Rs 80.87 a litre.

With crude remaining below $65 a barrel, for most part of the last fortnight along with softer product prices, the oil companies decided to break their pause and passed on the benefit to the consumers. The OMCs benchmark retail fuel prices to a 15-day rolling average of global refined products' prices and dollar exchange rate.

However, the global crude has again gained and crossed $66 a barrel mark. If this holds for a few days, fuel prices may have to be revised upwards.

Before the long drawn pause, petrol and diesel fell by 22 paisa and 23 paisa per litre respectively last on March 30.

Across the country as well the petrol and diesel prices fell on Thursday but its retail levels varied depending on the level of local levies in respective states.

Premium petrol, however, continues to remain over Rs 100 a litre in Mumbai and several other cities across the country.

The OMCs went on price cut for the first time this year on two consecutive days - March 24 and March 25 after keeping oil prices steady for 24 days. It again reduced the price on March 30. Thereafter, fuel prices remained unchanged for the past 15 days before falling again on April 15.

Earlier, petrol and diesel prices increased 26 times in 2021 with the two auto fuels increasing by Rs 7.46 and Rs 7.60 per litre respectively so far this year.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: No meals  will be provided in domestic flights with a duration of less than two hours in view of new strain of COVID- 19.  

The airlines may serve pre-packed snacks and  meals  where  the flight duration is two  hours and more. 

The Civil Aviation  Ministry  has reviewed  serving meals onboard flights and issued  fresh guidelines in this regard.  The service of inflight meals will be staggered among the adjacent seats as far as possible.  The airlines have already been directed  to serve tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages in disposable cans, bottles and glasses. There will be no pouring service.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, on Tuesday, fell 5 per cent to Rs 704 on the BSE after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it has removed the company from its sustainability index due to the firm’s business ties with Myanmar’s military which is accused of human rights abuses after a coup this year.

The changes will be made to the index prior to the open on Thursday, April 15, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a statement.

The company is building a $290 million port in Yangon on land leased from the military-backed Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), Reuters said in a report.

The military coup on February 1 and ensuing crackdown on protests in Myanmar has seen some 700 people killed. Adani Group said late last month it would consult authorities and stakeholders on the project after human rights groups reported that its ports unit had an agreement to pay millions of dollars in rent to MEC, the report said. 

At 11:36 AM, the stock was trading 4.16 per cent lower at Rs 713.50 as compared to 0.24 per cent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. Around 2.56 crore shares have changed hands on the NSE and BSE, combined, so far.

Adani Ports reported a 41 per cent year on year (YoY) jump in cargo volume business at 26 million metric tonnes (MMT) in March. APSEZ said that it handled cargo volume of 73 MMT in January-March quarter of the financial year 2021 (Q4FY21). For the full FY21, APSEZ handled cargo volume of 247 MMT, registering a growth of 11 per cent on a YoY basis.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The second wave of Coronavirus (Covid-19) infections is credit-negative and poses threat to economic recovery in India, according to global rating agency Moody’s.

The second wave of infections presents a risk to growth forecast as the reimposition of virus management measures will curb economic activity and could dampen market and consumer sentiment.

However, given the focus on “micro-containment zones” to deal with the current wave of infections, as opposed to a nationwide lockdown, the impact on economic activity will be less severe than that seen in 2020.

India's very low Coronavirus death count (only about 170,179 deaths have been recorded as of April 12) and relatively very young population also help mitigate risks. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is still likely to grow in double digits in 2021 given the low level of activity in 2020.

Retail and recreation activity across India had dropped by 25 per cent as of April 07, 2021 compared to February 24, 2021, according to Google mobility data. This was mirrored in the Reserve Bank of India’s March consumer confidence survey which showed a deterioration in perceptions of the economic situation and expectations of decreased spending on nonessential items, it added.

Vaccination will be a key element in managing the second wave as authorities’ balance virus management against maintaining economic activity. India began its vaccination drive in mid-January and had administered 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine as of April 10, becoming the fastest country to reach that threshold so far. However, a shortage of vaccines and India's nearly 1.4 billion person population, which includes many people living in rural, more remote locations, could slow progress of the vaccine rollout. As of early April, around 7% of the population had been inoculated.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: The key Indian equity indices traded marginally higher on Friday morning amid largely choppy trade session.

At around 10.35 a.m., Sensex was trading at 49,860.96, higher by 114.75 points or 0.23 per cent from its previous close of 49,746.21.

It opened at 49,743.39 and has so far touched an intra-day high of 49,906.91 and a low of 49,499.99 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,896.75, higher by 22.95 points or 0.15 per cent from its previous close.

Manish Hathiramani, technical analyst with Deen Dayal Investments said: "The resistance of 14,950 has worked accurately for the Nifty. We failed to close above it. We need to get past 14,950-15,000 for an up move to commence.

"Thereafter it should be a bullish market which can take the index to 15,300-15,400. If we break 14,500, we can tumble to 14,200-14,300. It is a situation which requires patience and discipline. Traders need to be cautious."

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company, Hindustan Unilever and the State Bank of India, while the major losers were Bajaj Finance, NTPC and Asian Paints.
 

BENGALURU [Maha Media]: India's retail inflation edged up to a four-month high in March, led by an increase in food and fuel prices, but remained within the Reserve Bank of India's target range, a Reuters poll predicted.

The April 5-8 poll of more than 50 economists showed retail inflation rose to 5.40% in March from a year earlier as opposed to 5.03% in February. Forecasts ranged from 4.60% to 6.11%.

"Although India's core inflation has remained elevated for a while, the recent acceleration in headline inflation largely reflects higher food prices," said Tuuli McCully, head of Asia-Pacific economics at Scotia Bank.

"I expect the pickup to be a temporary phenomenon, yet there are significant risks surrounding the inflation outlook."

The RBI raised its inflation projection for the first half of this fiscal year to 5.2% on Wednesday, still within the RBI's target range of 2%-6%.

"With some cities already under COVID-19 lockdown and maybe more facing the same risk, the panic-buying like a year ago may set in to pressure inflation further up in the months ahead," said Prakash Sakpal, senior Asia economist at ING.

The RBI kept the key repo rate at record low 4.0% and its monetary policy accommodative amid concerns of rising COVID-19 cases that could derail the nascent recovery.

Asia's third-largest economy grew 0.4% in the Oct-Dec quarter after contracting for two consecutive quarters, its deepest recession in about four decades.

India reported a record 126,789 COVID-19 cases on Thursday and a few states have renewed restrictions to contain the spread while complaining of vaccine shortages and demanding inoculations for younger people.

A separate Reuters poll last week predicted the biggest risk to economic growth was a surge in coronavirus cases and that the central bank would keep rates on hold this fiscal year.

"The RBI will continue to see through elevated inflation and focus on supporting growth at least until the COVID-19 risk is firmly behind," added Sakpal.

The latest poll also predicted industrial output contracted 3.0% during February from a year earlier.

Infrastructure output, which accounts for about 40% of total industrial production and comprises eight sectors, contracted 4.6% in February.

Production of all eight core industries - including coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - shrank in February.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: India's debt to GDP ratio increased from 74 per cent to 90 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund has said, noting that it expects this to drop down to 80 per cent as a result of the country's economic recovery.

Paolo Mauro, Deputy Director, IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department told reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday, "In the case of India, the debt ratio at the end of 2019, prior to the pandemic, was 74 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and at the end of 2020, it is almost 90 per cent of GDP. So, that's a very large increase, but it is something that other emerging markets and advanced economies have experienced as well."

"And, for the case of India going forward, in our baseline forecast, we expect that the debt ratio will gradually come down as the economy recovers. In our baseline forecast under the assumption of healthy economic growth in the medium term, we see debt returning to about 80 per cent over time," Mauro said.

Responding to a question, he said that the immediate priorities are to continue supporting people and firms, and, in particular, to focus on supporting the most vulnerable.

At the same time, it is important to reassure the general public and investors that the public finance is under control and the way to do so is through a credible medium term fiscal framework.

"This year, India has already announced its budget. It continues to be accommodative. It continues to support health, and it continues to support people. Over the next years, it is quite likely that the deficit will be reduced in part as the economy recovers," he said.

More generally in emerging markets, the priority, given to the very large increases in inequality, given the large increases in public debt, is to mobilise revenues in the medium term, Mauro added.

Vitor Gaspar, Director of IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, said that given widening deficits and contraction in economic activity, debt worldwide increased sharply to 97 per cent of GDP in 2020.

It will increase slower to 99 per cent in 2021 before stabilising below but close to 100 per cent of GDP, he added.

In 2020, fiscal policy also contributed to mitigate falling economic activity and employment. It avoided falls on the scale of the great depression.

Gaspar said that that countries with better access to financing, countries with stronger buffers, countries with stronger fundamentals have been able to give more fiscal support during 2020. They can sustain that fiscal support for longer, and they have more options in terms of policymaking.

It is very clear when we focus on the group of emerging markets specifically, he said.

"So, speaking about emerging markets as a group, when looking at the current situation, ignore the need for fiscal policies to be tailored to fit to the country's circumstances, which is a very important point to make. Clearly there are risks.

"On occasion we have a turmoil or even turbulence in markets. When it is necessary to act to restore confidence of markets and our membership, the IMF stands ready to act and has a financial capacity of about USD 1 trillion," Gaspar said.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Cumulative vehicle registration across categories fell year-on-year by 28.64 percent in March, said a dealers' association on Thursday. The fall comes despite last year’s low base. Auto sales had come to a standstill owing to a seven-day lockdown last March.

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) warned that the lockdown in Maharashtra to contain spread of Covid-19 will have a “catastrophic impact” on April sales, as dealers will not be able to realise the potential of festivitals like Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Baisakhi and Poila Boishakh. The state contributes 10-11 per cent of the auto retail. Overall, FADA maintains extreme caution for the month of April as Covid rises to newer highs.

“Covid is not only spreading faster but is also trying to destabilize the growth which India has been able to achieve in the last few months. Any lockdown at this point will severely hamper the momentum which is getting built for the auto Industry to come out of the woods,” said FADA in a press release.

A total of 16,49,678 units were registered during the month, compared to 23,11,687 units in the same month a year ago.

With the exception of passenger vehicles and tractors that saw registration rise 28.39 per cent and 29.21 per cent respectively, all the other segments including two-wheeler, commercial vehicles, three wheelers reported a sharp y-o-y fall. The overall registration volumes were dragged down by two wheelers, which saw a decline of 35 per cent to 18,46,613 units over the year ago period.

Global shortage of wafers which is an input for semiconductor, continued to linger around and kept PV waiting periods as high as 7 month, said FADA. According to FADA Survey, 47 per cent PV dealers said that they lost more than 20 per cent sales due to supply side constraints.

Tractors continued its dream run as rural incomes saw improvements after successive monsoons and good rabi produce. According to experts, India will witness a normal monsoon for the third year in a row. This will further see tractors performing well in FY 21-22.

Financial woes brought by Covid-19 have pushed about 32 million Indians out of the middle class, undoing years of economic gains. This had its impact on 2-wheelers as it saw one of its steepest de-growth in the last few months. This coupled with high fuel prices and price increase acted as double whammy, FADA said, citing a finding from Pew Research.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: There is now a faster global growth driven primarily by the US, China and India, World Bank president David Malpass has said even as he expressed concern over growing inequality due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said here is also the concern of inequality in terms of vaccinations and median income that's not going up very fast for some countries.

"But there's also the concern that there's inequality. Inequality in terms of vaccinations, in terms of median income that's not going up very fast for some of the countries and may even be going down. There's the interest rate differential, where poor countries face much higher interest rates and they haven't gone down the way global interest rates have done," he said.

"There's the good news that there is faster global growth driven primarily by the US, China, and India, having strong rebounds," Malpass told reporters at the start of the Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

The annual spring meeting, which is being held virtually, focusses on vaccines, climate change, debt and recovery.

Malpass said there is an inequality in terms of the bankruptcy process, which is not available to sovereign countries, so the poorer countries do not have a way out of these very heavy debt burdens.

"There's also inequality in terms of access to credit with a lot of the stimulus going to the upper end, and people that don't have pristine credit ratings, for example, or small businesses, new entrants, women that would like to start a business, having great difficulty getting credit," he said.

According to Malpass, the World Bank and the IMF are working closely together to have successful implementation of the G20's Common Framework to deal with unsustainable debt situations.

There was a call for the private sector to provide comparable treatment with regard to debt, he said.

Responding to a question, Malpass said that the slowness in the vaccine rollout, particularly in Europe, is concerning.

"It's disappointing. We see in the news everyday some of the various challenges that the countries face. I fervently believe or wish for and hope for a faster rollout as excesses become available in other countries. And, we can look to the regulatory agencies to work smoothly toward their approvals so that more vaccines can be approved," he said.

He said that people getting vaccinated is an important part of their safety and global recovery.

"So, I share that sentiment that Germany said today at the G20 that there may be a softening of their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth forecast related to the vaccine problem, and it redoubles everyone's urgency and efforts to have more vaccines available worldwide," Malpass added.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday kept repo rates unchanged and maintained an accommodative stance to sustain growth.

The policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate was kept at 4 per cent, and the reverse repo rate is 3.35 per cent.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das headed six-member MPC was scheduled to meet from April 5 to 7.

This was the first bi-monthly monetary policy review for the new financial year 2021-22, as the country stares at another looming economic crisis, led by the steep rise of active COVID-19 cases. Even as the country has registered more than 8.4 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses cummulatively, as of April 6, yet, partial lockdown in some states and night curfew in the national capital have been announced to prevent the spread of the virus.

Last month, the government had asked the Reserve Bank to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for another five-year period ending March 2026.

In a bid to control price rise, the government in 2016 had given a mandate to the RBI to keep the retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for a five-year period ending March 31, 2021.

The central bank mainly factors in the retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index while arriving at its monetary policy. On February 5, after the last MPC meet, the central bank had kept the key interest rate (repo) unchanged citing inflationary concerns.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd secured the first spot on the Forbes 10 richest billionaires 2021 list while Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani is in second place. With a net worth of $84.5 billion, Ambani topped the Forbes list of India’s richest billionaires while Adani was ranked second with a fortune of $50.5 billion.

“He also sold a third of telecom unit Jio to marquee investors such as Facebook and Google and offloaded 10 per cent of Reliance Retail to private equity firms such as KKR and General Atlantic, plus concluded a $7.3 billion rights issue of Reliance shares,” Forbes said. 

An unprecedented surge in the wealth of billionaires comes amid a rapid rise in the stock market even as Covid-19 cases continue to rise across the country. The benchmark Sensex has surged 75% in the past year alone.

According to Forbes, the number of billionaires increased to 140 from 102 last year and their collective wealth double to $596 billion during the last year. The top three richest Indians collectively added $100 billion in the pandemic year, it added.   

The wealth of India's second richest billionaire Adani increased by a whopping $42 billion as shares of group companies Adani Green and Adani Enterprises skyrocketed. The infrastructure tycoon also diversified the group's businesses and expanded into India's airport management and operations business.

Adani Group earlier acquired a 74% share in Mumbai International Airport, the country's second-busiest, in September 2020. He sold 20% in his listed renewables firm, Adani Green Energy, to French energy giant Total for $2.5 billion.

Ambani garnered investments worth $35 billion for this Jio and also achieved the target of reducing the net debt levels of the company to zero by 2021. Asia's richest man also diversified his empire into technology and retail sectors with acquisitions and fundraising in the last year.   

HCL founder Shiv Nadar is perched on the third spot on the Forbes 10 richest billionaires 2021 list with a net worth of $23.5 billion. He stepped down from the position of group chairman and handed over the ropes of HCL Technologies to daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra.

Damani at $16.5 billion and Kotak Mahindra Bank MD Uday Kotak with a fortune of $15.9 billion took the fourth and the fifth spot in the list.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Following are the highlights of RBI's monetary policy for 2021-22:

* RBI keeps policy rate unchanged for fifth time in a row; repo at 4 pc

* Economic growth projection for current fiscal retained at 10.5 pc

* RBI to maintain accommodative monetary policy stance to support growth, keep inflation at targeted level

* Says recent surge in COVID-19 infections has created uncertainty over economic recovery, focus be on containing virus spread

* Projects 26.2 pc and 8.3 pc growth in June and September quarters; 5.4 pc and 6.2 pc in December and March quarters respectively

* Retail inflation projection revised to 5 pc in March quarter 2020-21

* Projects retail inflation at 5.2 pc in June and September quarters

* Gains from inflation targeting framework of 4 pc (+/- 2 pc) since 2016 reinforced by the retention of the target and the tolerance band by the government for next five years

* To ensure ample liquidity in system so that productive sectors get adequate credit

* Rs 50,000 crore additional liquidity facility to NABARD, NHB and SIDBI for fresh lending

* Will continue to do whatever it takes to preserve stability and to insulate financial firms from global spillovers

* Enhances maximum balance limit at end of the day from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per individual customers of payments banks

* To set up a committee for comprehensive review of the working of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs).
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Activity in India's dominant services industry expanded for the sixth consecutive month in March, supported by strong domestic demand, but some momentum was lost as authorities imposed fresh restrictions following a surge in coronavirus cases, a survey showed.

The results were broadly backed by a Reuters poll last week that predicted India's economy would grow faster than previously expected this fiscal year but warned a resurgence of coronavirus cases could derail growth.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.6 in March from 55.3 in February but held above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction.

"While the March results showed that service sector growth in India softened, rates of expansion for output and new business remained strong relative to the survey trend," noted Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit.

"The elections supported the uptick in demand, but the Covid-19 pandemic and reduced footfall restricted the upturn." A sub-index tracking new business was above 50 for the sixth consecutive month but eased slightly from February.

Subdued foreign demand for services meant export business declined again, although the fall was the shallowest since February last year - not long before the full impact of the pandemic hit.

This led to a reduction in headcount for the fourth month, indicating the labour market was still struggling even though the pace of contraction was marginal.

Despite the current challenges around Covid-19 infections, business expectations for the year-ahead remained high as increasing numbers of vaccines are administered.

"Service providers hope for an improvement in vaccine availability, which would curb the spread of the disease and support the economy," De Lima added.

Firms continued to bear elevated cost pressures but only passed some of it to consumers to stay competitive. An input cost index was the second-highest since February 2013, only surpassed in the previous month.

But the Reserve Bank of India is not expected to raise interest rates this fiscal year despite high inflation as policymakers prioritise supporting growth for now amid the pressures caused by the pandemic.

The fall in both the headline services and manufacturing PMIs depressed the composite PMI from February's four-month high of 57.3 to 56.0.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth projection for India to 12.5 per cent for Financial Year 2021-22. In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF has pegged India's GDP to grow 1 per cent higher than its previous report published in January this year.

The Washington-based International Financial Institution has projected a contraction of 8 percent in the growth in the last fiscal while it has forecasted a growth of 6.9 per cent in the next financial year beginning in 2022. IMF has also said that inflation will taper down to 4.9 per cent in the current financial year.

The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and vast sums of government aid will accelerate global economic growth to a record high this year in a powerful rebound from the pandemic recession, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest forecast.

The 190-country lending agency said yesterday that it expects the world economy to expand 6% in 2021, up from the 5.5% it had forecast in January. It would be the fastest expansion for the global economy in IMF records dating back to 1980.

The agency's economists now estimate that the global economy shrank 3.3% in 2020 after the devastating recession that followed the coronavirus' eruption across the world early last spring. That is the worst annual figure in the IMF's database, though not as severe as the 3.5% drop it had estimated three months ago.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Tuesday, tracking high volatility amid concerns over the economic impact of the second wave of coronavirus infections in the country.

After swinging around 646 points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 42.07 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 49,201.39. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 45.70 points or 0.31 per cent to 14,683.50.

Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 4 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, HUL, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, Nestle India and M&M.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

Domestic equities were quite volatile and gave up most initial gains as sharp spike in COVID-19 cases across the country and resultant mobility restrictions continued to weigh on investors' sentiments, said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Sharp spike in COVID-19 cases and localised lockdowns have dented investors' sentiments, he noted, adding that domestic markets are expected to remain volatile in the near term until the coronavirus spread is controlled.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo ended in the red, while Seoul was in the positive terrain.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 2.43 per cent higher at USD 63.66 per barrel.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the bi-monthly monetary policy on tomorrow at 10 am. After the Monetary Policy announcement, Governor would interact with media persons at 12.00 noon through Video Conferencing.

The meeting of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its bi-monthly meeting yesterday. In the last meeting RBI has not changed interest rates and decided to keep an accommodative stance to mitigate the impact of Covid 19 and until growth is revived on a durable basis. At present repo rate is at 4 percent and the reverse repo rate at 3.35 percent.

KOLKATA [Maha Media}: Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, today announced that it has partnered with Mahindra Logistics Limited (MLL) as one ofits key logistics partners to help fast track  deployment of electric vehicles across its logistics fleet in the country. Flipkart has committed to 100% electric mobility in its logistics fleet and will deploy more than 25,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. Mahindra Logistics will play a significant role in working with various OEMs and help Flipkart’s sustainable transition to EVs.

With a shared commitment and vision towards sustainable business practices, Mahindra Logistics has already launched EDEL, its own electric delivery brand in late 2020. EDEL has partnered with companies in consumer & e-commerce to provide sustainable last-mile delivery across six cities in India. MLL through EDEL will enable Flipkart in its journey towards building a green supply chain by not only deploying a large fleet of EVs but also creating a conducive environment for EV deployment and operations across the country. This includes building supporting infrastructure and technology such as charging stations and parking lots, training workforce, route planning and even battery swapping stations in the near future. Another key focus area will be technology and control tower operations to enable greater efficiency and cost competitiveness.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Aadhaar card is one of the most important documents that can be used for several useful purpose. The 12-digit unique identification number issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has now become one of the significant identification documents as it contains your demographic as well as biometric data.

Everyone can enroll for Aadhaar - even a newborn child. These Aadhaar cards are called Baal Aadhaar.

Here are 5 fun, interesting and important facts about Baal Aadhaar.

1. A child below 5 years gets a blue-colored Baal Aadhaar and becomes invalid when the child attains the age of 5 years.

2. You can use your child's school ID (Photo ID issued by Recognized Educational Institution) for his/ her Aadhaar enrolment.

3. Remember to update biometric Aadhaar data of your child at the age of 5 years and then again at the age of 15 years. This mandatory biometric update for children is Free. The mandatory biometric update is required to reactivate it.

4. Your Aadhaar along with the child's birth certificate or the discharge slip you received from the hospital is enough to enroll your child for Aadhaar.

5. The child's Aadhaar data does not include biometric info like fingerprints and Iris scan. Once the child crosses 5, biometrics need to be updated.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: India's biggest floating solar power plant with a capacity of 100 MW will be set up at Ramagundam in Telangana. The project expected to be opened in May, is being set up at Ramagundam thermal power plant reservoir. The solar project is commissioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The project, which is estimated to cost around 423 crore rupees, will have 4.5 lakh photovoltaic panels.

The solar panels will cover 450-acre area of the reservoir and can be expanded in the future. NTPC's efforts to set up floating solar power projects is aimed at reducing its carbon footprints and accelerate its green energy production to 30 per cent of its capacity.

The world's largest solar power plant with 600 MW capacity is being set up on Omkareshwar Dam on Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. The project costing 3,000 crore rupees is expected to start power generation only by 2022-23.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Indian Railways has logged highest ever electrification of sections covering over six thousand route kilometer in a single year during 2020-21. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it has surpassed the previous highest of over five thousand route kilometer achieved in 2018-19. Indian Railways has given a lot of emphasis on electrification in the recent years to reduce the country's dependence on imported petroleum-based energy.

More than five times electrification was achieved in the last seven years as compared to 2007-14. It has also commissioned a record 56  Traction Sub Stations during 2020-21, as against previous best of 42, which shows an improvement of 33 percent. Some of the Major sections electrified by the Indian Railways over the years include Mumbai-Howrah via Jabalpur, Delhi-Darbhanga-Jaynagar and Chennai-Trichy.

Ministry of Railways said that Railways has planned to fully electrify its tracks by December 2023. Total Rail electrification would contribute to the goal of “net zero” emissions by 2030 by drawing its entire electrical load from renewable energy sources.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: The BSE Sensex on Thursday bounced back by 359 pts to open at 49,868.53 as buying was seen across the board.

The Nifty too rose by 108 pts to 14,798.15. The Sensex registered intra days high and low at 49,942.84 and 49,743.04 pts respectively. The Nifty registered intra days high and low at 14,814.65 and 14,760.80 respectively. 

The Mid Cap rose by 0.79 PC and Small Cap by 1.38 pc. In 30 scrips 27 advanced while 3 declined. The gainers were HCL technologies by 2.57 pc to Rs 1008.70, Bajaj Auto by 1.85 pc to Rs 3739.70, NTPC by 1.97 pc to Rs 108.55, IndusInd Bank by 1.78 pc to Rs 970.95 and Titan by 1.33 pc to Rs 1578.05. 

The losers were Nestle India by 0.44 pc to Rs 17,094.75, HDFC Bank by 0.28 pc to Rs 1489.30 and Powergrid by 0.28 pc to Rs 215.05.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Government withdraws orders related to the changes in the interest rates of small savings schemes; Finance Minister says interest rates on small savings schemes will continue to be at the levels as in March 2021.
 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has withdrawn the recent orders related to the changes in the interest rates of small savings schemes. In a Tweet, she said that Government of India shall continue to be at the rates which existed in the last quarter of 2020-2021. It implies that the interest rates on small savings schemes will continue to be at the pre existing levels that prevailed as in March 2021. 

The interest rate on the National Savings Certificate (NSC) was also slashed to 5.9 per cent from 6.8 per cent, while that for Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme was cut to 6.9 per cent from 7.6 per cent earlier.

In a circular on Wednesday (March 31), the Finance Ministry announced a cut in interest rates for small savings schemes for the first quarter of the financial year 2021-22. The rate cuts are in the range of 50 basis points (bps) to 110 bps. The Finance Ministry notifies the interest rates for small savings schemes on a quarterly basis.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Government has extended the last date for linking of Aadhaar number with PAN upto 30th June this year in view of the difficulties arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar had ended yesterday.  Earlier, the Centre had extended the deadline to 31st March 2021 from the previous deadline of 30th June 2020 because of the pandemic. 
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: World Bank has raised Indian GDP growth prediction for 2021-22 fiscal to 10.1 percent from 5.4 percent projected in January. The international bank said, given the significant uncertainty amid Covid-19 effects on the economy, the real India GDP growth could be in the range from 7.5 percent to 12.5 percent.

The World Bank in its South Asia Economic Focus Spring update report said that it has revised the projection amid a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth. The international bank noted that government consumption is expected to rise by about 16.7 percent during the reported fiscal.

The World Bank, however, sounded a warning as economic activity is well below pre-Covid-19 estimate. It said that businesses need to make up for lost revenue and millions of workers, most of them in the informal sector, still reel from job losses and falling incomes should be taken care. 
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced some changes in the income tax rules, presenting Union Budget 2021-22, which are set to come into force from tomorrow. 

According to correspondent reports, with start of new financial year from tomorrow, senior citizens of the age 75 and above with income from pension and interest from fixed deposit in the same bank would be exempted from filing income tax return, ITR.
 
From tomorrow, interest earned on Provident Fund contributions above Rs five lakh in a year will be taxable. In the Budget for 2021-22, the Finance Minister had capped the tax-free interest earned on Provident Fund contributions by employees and employers together to a maximum of Rs two and half lakh in a year. She then raised the limit for tax exemption on interest earned on provident fund contributions by employees to Rs five lakh per annum in specified cases.
 
To ease the filing of returns and to facilitate taxpayers, it has been announced that in the fiscal year 2021-22 the individual taxpayers will be given pre-filled ITR forms. In order to ease compliance for the taxpayer, details of salary income, tax payments and TDS already come pre-filled in income tax returns. To further ease filing of returns, details of capital gains from listed securities, dividend income, and interest from banks and post offices will also be pre-filled.
 
No doubt, these steps will boost revenue along with ease in filing of returns leading to better tax compliance. 
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: Equity benchmark Sensex tanked 627 points on Wednesday, dragged by losses in index majors HDFC twins, Reliance Industries and Infosys amid a negative trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE index ended 627.43 points or 1.25 per cent lower at 49,509.15, and the broader NSE Nifty slumped 154.40 points or 1.04 per cent to 14,690.70.

The HDFC duo was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding nearly 4 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, Infosys and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, SBI and TCS were among the gainers.

"Domestic equities traded lower as concerns pertaining to spike in COVID-19 cases and resultant restrictions continued to weigh on investors' sentiments, said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Further, rise in US treasury yields and strengthening dollar index aggravated concerns, he added.

Financials, especially private banks, witnessed heavy profit booking, which along with selling pressure in IT stocks dragged benchmarks. However, investors continue to lap up FMCG, metals and pharma names.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.58 per cent lower at USD 63.80 per barrel.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The World Bank has scaled up its projection for India's economic growth by 4.7 percentage points to 10.1 per cent for Financial Year 2021-22, citing a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth.

The report, 'South Asia Economic Focus, Spring 2021, South Asia Vaccinates', also forecast the economy to decline by 8.5 per cent in FY 2021, higher than eight per cent projected by India’s National Statistical office.

Considering the uncertainty in 2021-22, the Bank also gave a range of economic growth for India: 7.5 to 12.5 per cent.

"Given the significant uncertainty pertaining to both epidemiological and policy developments, real GDP growth for FY'22 can range from 7.5 to 12.5 percent, depending on how the ongoing vaccination campaign proceeds, whether new restrictions to mobility are required, and how quickly the world economy recovers," it said.

Over the medium-term, growth is projected to stabilise within a 6-7 percent range. The report said public consumption will contribute positively, but pent-up private demand is expected to fade by the end of 2021. Investment will pick up gradually, spurred by a large government capital expenditure push.

Negative spillovers from financial sector distress, especially as forbearance measures expire, remain a risk to the growth outlook. Nonetheless, the Reserve Bank of India’s liquidity stance is also expected to remain accommodative during the fiscal year ending in March 2022.

As economic activity normalizes, domestically and in key export markets, India's current account is expected to return to mild deficits (around one per cent in FY22 and FY23) and capital inflows to be buoyed by continued accommodative monetary policy and abundant international liquidity conditions.

The shock from Covid-19 will lead to a long-lasting inflexion in India’s fiscal trajectory. "The general government deficit is expected to remain above 10 per cent of GDP until FY'22. As a result, public debt is projected to peak at almost 90 per cent of GDP in FY'21 before declining gradually thereafter," said the Bank.

As growth resumes and the labor market prospects improve, poverty reduction is expected to return to its pre-pandemic trajectory, it said.

The poverty rate (at the $1.90 line) is projected to fall within 6 per cent and 9 per cent, and fall further to between 4 per cent and 7 percent by FY 2024.

The report said the poorer income groups in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan suffer a greater fall in per capita consumption than the richer income groups do. Moreover, the income gap between the poorest 90 per cent of the population and the richest 10 per cent widened even further in India and Pakistan because of Covid-19 (by 13.2 percentage points in India and 7.7 percentage points in Pakistan).
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The deadline to link your PAN to your Aadhaar ends on March 31. The Central government had extended the deadline to link PAN Card with Aadhaar to March 31, 2021, from the previous deadline of June 30, 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if the PAN is not linked with the Aadhaar number by March 31, 2021, then the PAN will become inoperative from April 1, 2021.

Defaulters, who fail to link the two, may have to cough up a fine of up to Rs 1,000 as per Section 272B of the Income Tax Act. Besides, any individual found to be using an invalid PAN can up to Rs 10,000.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]:  Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 500 points in early trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, HUL and ICICI Bank amid largely positive cues from the Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 510.31 points or 1.04 per cent higher at 49,518.81, and the broader NSE Nifty surged 162.70 points or 1.12 per cent to 14,670.

HUL was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by Titan, NTPC, ONGC, Dr Reddy's, Nestle India, PowerGrid, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, M&M was the sole laggard.

Domestic financial markets were closed on Monday for Holi.

In the previous session on Friday, the Sensex surged 568.38 points or 1.17 per cent to finish at 49,008.50, and Nifty climbed 182.40 points or 1.27 per cent to 14,507.30.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 50.13 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.

Market opened on a positive note on Tuesday tracking positive cues from Asian markets, traders said.

"Sharp decline in FII selling coupled with large buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) can support the market and even take it higher.

"But there are many concerns like surge in COVID-19 cases, particularly in economically crucial Maharashtra, appreciation in US 10-year bond yield above 1.7 per cent and the dollar index moving up to 92.8 levels, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was in the red.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended with losses in overnight trade amid worries over the impact of a default by a US-based hedge fund on margin calls last week.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.18 per cent higher at USD 65.04 per barrel.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) holiday calendar list, banking operations will remain closed on several occasions in the month of April 2021.

However, it must be noted that the bank holidays vary in various states as well not observed by all the banking companies. Banking holidays also depend on the festivals being observed in specific states or notification of specific occasions in those states.

In total, banks would be closed for 9 days. Reserve Bank of India places its Holidays under three brackets --Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act; Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday; and Banks’ Closing of Accounts. Here is an elaborate list of bank holidays falling in the month of April 2021. Check out the list.

To enable Banks to close their yearly accounts: April 1
Good Friday: April  2
Babu Jagjivan Ram’s Birthday: April  5
General Elections to Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly 2021: April  6
Gudhi Padwa/Telugu New Year's Day/Ugadi Festival/Sajibu Nongmapanba (Cheiraoba)/1st Navratra/Baisakhi: April  13
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti/Tamil New Year's Day/Vishu/Biju Festival/Cheiraoba/Bohag Bihu: April  14
Himachal Day/Bengali New Year’s Day/Bohag Bihu/Sarhul: April  15
Bohag Bihu: April  16
Shree Ram Navmi (Chaite Dashain)/Garia Puja: April  21

Holidays of the mentioned days will be observed in various regions according to the state declared holidays, however for the gazetted holidays, banks will be closed all over the country.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm have agreed to revamp India-US Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP).  Mr Pradhan held an introductory meeting virtually with him yesterday and reviewed the SEP. The two leaders agreed to revamp the India-US SEP to reflect the new priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden with focus on promoting clean energy with low-carbon pathways and accelerating green energy cooperation. During the meeting, they also agreed to prioritise greater collaboration in cleaner energy sector and joint R&D through Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research among other initiatives.
 
Besides, both sides agreed to convene the third meeting of a revamped India-US SEP at an early date. They decided to intensify the efforts to take advantage of the complementarities of both the countries-advanced US technologies and rapidly growing India’s energy market, for a win-win situation through a cleaner energy route with low carbon pathways.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]:  Equity benchmark Sensex declined 87 points on Monday, tracking losses in index majors HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries amid a weak trend in global markets.

After slumping over 570 points in mid-afternoon trade, the 30-share BSE index recovered some lost ground to end at 49,771.29, down 86.95 points or 0.17 per cent.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 7.60 points or 0.05 per cent to 14,736.40.

IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 4.33 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Sun Pharma, Infosys and HCL Tech were among the gainers.

Global markets reeled and the Turkish lira plunged to near record lows after President Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly replaced the country's central bank governor, shocking investors and stoking fears of capital controls.

"Indian markets opened weak with marginal decline following mixed to negative cues from its Asian market peers as investors watched the weakening Turkish lira and fears of rise in cases due to COVID virus which increased volatility in markets.

"During the afternoon session, the markets extended their losses and sentiments were dented due to major dampener in the form of fast-rising COVID-19 cases... Restricted economic activity in these regions may impact the optimistic growth projections for FY22," said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

Strong buying was seen in IT, FMCG and pharma space, while financials and automobiles witnessed selling pressure.

"Notably, investors lapped-up quality midcap and small cap stocks after recent corrections in these spaces," said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

BSE bankex, finance, consumer durables, energy, telecom and auto indices fell up to 1.51 per cent, while realty, IT, FMCG, teck, basic material and healthcare rose as much as 2.86 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices climbed up to 0.99 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were in the red, while Shanghai ended on a positive note.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading on a weak note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.20 per cent lower at USD 64.40 per barrel.

The rupee appreciated 15 paise to close at 72.37 against the US dollar on Monday, driven by foreign fund inflows and easing crude oil prices.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Fuel prices in the country have remained steady for over three weeks now as softening crude and Assembly elections in four states and one union territory has kept Oilcos from revising the retail prices.

Accordingly, petrol continues to be priced at Rs 91.17 a litre and diesel Rs 81.47 a litre in the national capital on Monday. Fuel prices have not been revised now for 23 days.

Across the country as well the petrol and diesel price remained unchanged. But the pause has not helped in bringing down fuel prices that have crossed Rs 100 per litre (petrol) mark in several parts of the country.

Earlier, the Minister of state for Finance Anurag Thakur said in Parliament that states and Centre should look at taxes on petroleum products to see if relief can be provided to consumers.

Since the beginning of February crude has gained more than $7 per barrel that pushed OMCs to increase fuel prices on 14 occasions raising the prices by Rs 4.22 per litre for petrol and by Rs 4.34 a litre for diesel in Delhi.

Crude has now slipped 6 per cent in the last six days and is now sitting a tab lower around $ 64.5 a barrel on the back of rising US inventory.

The petrol and diesel prices have increased 26 times in 2021 with the two auto fuels increasing by Rs 7.46 and Rs 7.60 per litre respectively so far this year.

The officials in public sector oil companies said that retail price may rise again once daily revision starts post voting in various state elections. The crude is expected to move up further on demand rise and continued production cut by OPEC+ in April.

Oilcos are already making losses of Rs 2 and Rs 4 per litre on current retail prices of petrol and diesel respectively. Sources said that to cover this, the fuel prices may remain unchanged even if there is a need to cut retail rates on softening of global product prices.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed the recent single bench order upholding the Singapore Emergency Award (EA) and stalling Future Retail from going ahead with the Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh also stayed Rs 20 lakh fine and the show cause notice to the Biyanis seeking to know why they should not be kept in civil detention.

The court was hearing Future's appeal against the Single Judge order favouring the enforcement of Emergency Award against its deal with Reliance.

On March 18, Justice J.R. Midha had restrained Future Retail from going ahead with deal with Reliance on Amazon's petition. It was a big win for Jeff Bezos-led company.

The Future Group was embroiled in a legal battle with Amazon since January, when the latter moved the Delhi High Court challenging Future Group's asset sale to RIL.

The court was approached on the grounds that the asset sale violated a contract that Kishore Biyani entered with Amazon.

It had alleged that Future Group's Kishore Biyani as well as other promoters and directors were "deliberately and maliciously" disobeying the Emergency Award in spite of their participation in the arbitration proceedings.

In the order, Justice Midha rejected Future Group's argument that the Emergency Award is a nullity and imposed costs of Rs 20 lakh on it, which is to be deposited with the Prime Minister Relief Fund.

The court held that Future Retail, Future Coupons, Kishore Biyani and others "violated" the award. A show cause notice was also issued to Biyani and others on why they should not be detained in civil prison. The judge had directed Future Group to not take any further action in furtherance of the deal with Reliance.

The court had also directed attachment of Biyani's assets. The Future Group has also been asked to record all actions taken by it in connection with the Reliance deal.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: Sensex slumped by 933.84 points or 1.84 pc to settle at 49,858.24 in a volatile week under review. Resurgence of COVID -19 cases in various parts of the country made investor Jittery. Spike in global bond yields also soured sentiment. 

Nifty lost 286.95 points or 1.91 pc to settle at 14,744. The BSE Mid-Cap index declined 550.43 or 2.67 to settle at 20,026.78. BSE Small-Cap dropped 715.18 points or 3.37 pc to settle at 20,493.89. On Monday the Sensex tanked 397 points to settle at 50,395.08. The Nifty lost 101.45 points to settle at 14,929.50.

On Tuesday, despite favourable cues from global equities. Sensex, fell 31.12 points to settle at 50,363.96.Nifty declined 19.05 points to settle at 14,910.45. On Wednesday the Sensex tumbled 562.34 points to settle at 49,801.62. Nifty lost 189.15 points to settle at 14,721.30. On Thursday the Sensex dropped 585.10 points to settle at 49,216.52 Nifty declined 163.45 points to settle at 14,557.85. On Friday the Sensex gained 641.72 points to settle at 49,858.24. Nifty added 186.15 points to settle at 14,744. 
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: India’s economy is likely to grow by 12% in 2021 following a 7.1% contraction last year, as near-term prospects have turned more favourable, Moody’s Analytics said.

A stronger than expected December quarter GDP growth of 0.4% following a 7.5% contraction in the previous three months has turned India’s near-term prospects more favourable, it said.

Domestic and external demand has been on the mend since the easing of restrictions, which has led to improved manufacturing output in recent months.

“We expect private consumption and non-residential investment to materially pick up over the next few quarters and strengthen the domestic demand revival in 2021,” it said.

Moody’s saw real GDP growth of 12% in the 2021 calendar year, partially due to a low base-year comparison.

“This forecast is equivalent to real GDP, in level terms, growing by 4.4% above pre-Covid levels (as of March 2020) by the end of 2021, or equivalently, by 5.7% above the GDP level in December 2020 by the end of 2021,” it said. It said monetary and fiscal policy settings will remain conducive to growth.

“We do not expect any additional rate cuts this year below the current 4% at which the benchmark repurchase rate is being maintained,” it said.

It saw some additional fiscal support being mobilised during the second half of the year, depending on the softness in domestic spending.

Direct forms of fiscal support such as income tax cuts, however, are less likely in the current setting.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that last few days have seen a decline in the number of air passengers largely due to restrictions and imposition of compulsory RT-PCR test by various states. He said, due to this, Ministry has decided to retain the permissible limit to 80 per cent of schedule.
 
In a tweet, Mr Puri said, there has been a continuous rise in price of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) so Ministry has decided to increase the lower fare band by 5 per cent keeping the upper fare band unchanged. He said, Ministry may open the sector for 100 per cent operations when daily passenger traffic crosses 3.5 lakhs on 3 occasions in a month.
 

MUMBAI [Maha Media]: Snapping its five-session losing streak, equity benchmark Sensex rebounded 642 points on Friday, led by gains in index majors RIL, HUL and ICICI Bank despite negative cues from global markets.

After opening with significant losses, the 30-share BSE index made a U-turn to end 641.72 points or 1.30 per cent higher at 49,858.24. The broader NSE Nifty surged 186.15 points or 1.28 per cent to finish at 14,744.

NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by HUL, PowerGrid, Reliance Industries, ITC, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finance.

On the other hand, L&T, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Titan were among the laggards.

"Despite weak global cues, domestic equities recovered sharply today after five days of back-to-back fall," said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Notably, a sharp recovery in FMCG, pharma, metals and Reliance Industries helped benchmark indices to recover from initial losses.

Moderate contraction in bond yields offered support to domestic equities despite prevailing concern of rise in daily COVID-19 cases, he said, adding that the recent spike in new infections is unlikely to dent the improved prospects of economic recovery meaningfully.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with losses in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.36 per cent higher at USD 64.14 per barrel.
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The government has made hall-marking of gold jewellery & artefacts mandatory with effect from June 1, 2021."From June 1, 202l, it is compulsory for all the jewellers selling the gold jewellery and artefacts to register with BIS & sell only hallmarked gold jewellery & artefacts in three grades of 14, l8 and 22 carat gold," Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) stated in a notification to jewellers.

This will protect the consumer interest and is beneficial for jeweller also as it helps to keep a check on supplier quality and projects as a quality conscious Jeweller, it said.

The BIS hallmarking scheme consists of a grant of registration to jewellers and recognition to Assaying &Hallmarking (A&H).
 

NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: The country's largest lender State Bank of India has seen a perceptible increase in the number transactions happening at its multiple digital channels, with the percentage moving from 60 per cent in the pre-pandemic period to 67 per cent currently, Chairman Dinesh Khara said.

The rise in the number of digital transactions at the bank was largely driven by pick up in e-commerce during the pandemic-induced lockdown, which restricted movement, he said.

When e-commerce picked up, it was actually the digital channels we are offering that got wider currency and acceptability. That is one of the reasons our digital transactions have gone as high as 67 per cent now.

"I think it is a phenomenal number, considering the fact that we are a bank which is serving all kinds of customers - digitally savvy and not digitally savvy," Khara told PTI in an interaction.

He said the ecosystem such as round the clock availability of Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), which got created recently, also helped the bank in scaling up its digital transactions.

"I think part of it (higher digital transactions) is coming from the ecosystem and a part of it has come from the bank's own effort," he noted.

The lender's digital lending platform - Yono (You Only Need One App) - has achieved significant growth during the current financial year. At present, there are 35 million registered users of Yono and the bank is opening over 35,000-40,000 savings accounts per day with the help of the mobile app, he said.

During the current financial year, around Rs 16,000 crore worth of pre-approved personal loans (PAPL) have been disbursed to 12.82 lakh customers through Yono, Khara said.

While 59,000 crore car loans aggregating to around Rs 4,000 crore were sanctioned, the bank could generate 15,000 home loan leads worth Rs 4,000 crore with the help of Yono, he added.

The platform also helps in distributing products of the bank's subsidiaries including SBI Life Insurance, SBI General Insurance and SBI Card and SBI Mutual Fund.

So far in this fiscal, close to 25 lakh personal accident policies and seven lakh life insurance policies have been issued using the Yono platform, Khara said.

"As more and more users are coming and using it (Yono), we are only ensuring that it becomes all the more robust so that it is in a position to handle and generate more volumes and create value for the bank, while also improving the experience of our customers," he said.