Tax department leans on Big Data to mark out multiple PAN holders
To plug tax loopholes, the I-T department will use Big Data analytics to track down evaders by collecting information such as common address, mobile number and e-mail to establish the relationship between their multiple PANs. The department, with support from private firms, will analyse the voluminous data available post demonetisation for checking relationships between PAN holders. The Managed Service Provider (MSP), which the I-T department plans to hire, will design and operationalise analytical solution that will help to collate data, matching it and identifying relationships as well as clustering of PAN and non-PAN data, an official said.
Source: Economic Times
India Post gets payments bank licence to start services
India Post has received payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India to start rollout of banking operations commercially under the permit. “India Post has received payments bank licence. The service will be launched as per schedule,” a Department of Posts official said. India Post Payments Bank is the third entity to receive payments bank permit after Bharti Airtel and Paytm. Payments banks can accept deposits up to Rs 1 lakh per account from individuals and small businesses. The new model of banking allows mobile firms, supermarket chains and others to cater to banking requirements of individuals and small businesses. It will be set up as a differentiated bank and will confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, Internet banking and other specified services.
Source: The Hindu
Trump Administration Reverses Itself Amidst Backlash, Exempts Green-Card Holders From Travel Ban
Department of Homeland Security secretary John Kelly has issued a statement declaring that all lawful permanent U.S. residents, known as green-card holders, are to be allowed into the country regardless of their native country, reversing a previous Trump administration position on the issue. The statement, which comes amidst a second day of increasing nationwide backlash and protests against Trump’s new travel ban, is surely meant to eliminate the considerable confusion around how Trump’s vaguely worded order (which temporarily banned citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations, as well as refugees, from entering the United States) applied to lawful permanent residents. The Trump administration is also facing legal challenges to the ban that were originally filed after U.S. visa holders were detained or deported after arriving at U.S. ports of entry following Trump’s order.
Source: NY Magazine
Kumar Mangalam increases his stake in Aditya Birla Nuvo to 62.77%
Kumar Mangalam Birla, owner of the diversified conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, has increased his shareholding in Aditya Birla Nuvo by purchasing shares from minority investors, including 3.86% from rival Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Mutual Fund, for Rs 775 crore, said two people with direct knowledge of the development. Aditya Birla Nuvo is to be merged with Grasim Industries. The stake purchases, which boosted Birla’s holdings to 62.77% from 58.39%, invited criticism from proxy advisory firms and local investors, who said it was against interests of minority shareholders.
Source: Economic Times
Donald Trump’s trade policies to have minimal impact on India: Nomura
Japanese financial services major Nomura has downplayed the impact of the protectionist trade policies of the US President Donald Trump on the country as it sees only 10 bps hit on GDP at 6.8% in 2017. It is also quick to add that Trumpnomics will hit the domestic software exporters, as 86% of the H1B visas in the past have been cornered by Indians. “We expect this hit on growth to be only transitory, as remonetisation, wealth re-distribution and lower lending rates should result in growth returning to above 7% from the second half of 2017,” Nomura said in a weekend report.
Source: DNA India
FM may have to budget for lower PSU dividends
As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley rises to present the 2017-18 Budget later this week, he might need to temper his expectations of dividend income from central public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the next financial year. The government’s aim to achieve its revenue target has put pressure on PSUs to increase their dividend, which has led to a steady depletion of their cash reserves in the past three years.
Source: Business Standard
India’s Reliance Infra looks for refinance options on Mumbai Metro – Business Standard
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) is looking for options to further refinance that part of its debt taken for the conglomerate’s Mumbai Metro rail business, said two people with knowledge of the development. And, exploring options for a divestment in the Mumbai Metro rail project, said one of the two sources. “Refinancing of debt is the most routine corporate finance activity that every company regularly undertakes to lower its cost of operation,” said a spokesperson for R-Infra, to an e-mail query.
Source: Business Standard
Over 530 companies may face action for CSR norm violations
More than 530 firms have come under the scanner of the government for violating CSR spending norms under the companies law and are likely to face action. The violations pertain to the 2014-15 financial year and reports to this regard have been submitted by Registrar of Companies (RoCs) concerned to the Corporate Affairs Ministry, sources said.
Source: Indian Express
Tata Teleservices was on verge of filing for bankruptcy: Mistry
Tata Sons had looked at the option of filing for bankruptcy for its loss-making telecom services arm Tata Teleservices but decided against it due to possible negative fallout on the group. According to disclosures made by ousted Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry, one of the Tata Trusts nominees had suggested filing for bankruptcy. “It is a matter of record that doing a merger deal for Tata Teleservices was challenging because of the high number of contingent liabilities that already existed in the business, as well as due to the litigation surrounding dual technology 2G issue. In addition, the entire sector lacked clarity in M&A regulations,” states the affidavit filed by Mistry with the National Company Law Tribunal.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Equities see sixth month of inflows, MFs pour in Rs 5,000 cr
Mutual fund managers have purchased stocks worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore so far in January — making it the sixth straight monthly inflow — after retail investors continued to lap up shares. Besides, fund managers have pumped in over Rs 30,000 crore in the debt market during the period under review. According to the data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), mutual fund managers invested a net sum of Rs 4,777 crore this month (till January 25).
Source: Business Standard
Govt mulls insurance guidelines for mobile wallet transactions
Government has initiated talks with mobile wallet players and insurance companies to work out a mechanism to enable an insurance framework for electronic wallet transactions. Also in the offing is notification of forensics labs as registered ‘examiners’ for electronic evidence. Today, the IT Ministry is the only registered examiner for cybercrime related evidence. “The IT Ministry has co-ordinated 2-3 meetings with insurance firms and mobile wallet players. The core idea is that money in electronic wallet needs to be insured,” an official source said. Stating that the discussions were close to a “breakthrough”, the source said once the talks reach a conclusion, the rules to enable an insurance framework for mobile wallet transactions will be notified.
Source: Moneycontrol
Market cap to GDP ratio signals upside for stocks
With the Modi-led government’s third Union Budget around the corner, investors are once again pinning their hopes on big bang reforms to boost the economy. But, in recent years, the stock market has not mirrored the economy well. The market cap to GDP ratio is currently well below 100 per cent, indicating that stocks have room to move higher. This ratio measures the value of all the stocks listed on Indian exchanges against the GDP and is used by analysts to see if the stock market is rightly valued. As a thumb rule, when the ratio moves well above 100 per cent, stocks are said to be expensive and when it is far below 100 per cent, stocks are assumed to be cheap.
Source: Hindu Business Line
Banks eyeing big-ticket reforms in Budget: Survey
Banks expect Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to announce a slew of measures for the sector in Budget 2017-18, including a hike in FDI limit for public sector lenders to 49 per cent and additional capital infusion to boost credit growth, according to a report. The Ficci-IBA Survey of Bankers, which included responses from 17 public, private as well as foreign banks representing 52 per cent of the total banking industry by asset size, said that lenders witnessed a slowdown in credit demand owing to the cash crunch post demonetisation which led to lower consumption.
Source: Economic Times
No need to opt for plastic Aadhaar cards: UIDAI
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Sunday cautioned against unscrupulous entities charging anywhere between `50-200 for a plastic Aadhaar card and emphasised that paper printed Aadhaar is “perfectly valid” and there is no concept such as smart or plastic card. Warning the public not to fall for such ploys, the UIDAI said Aadhaar letter or its cutaway portion or downloaded version of Aadhaar on ordinary paper is valid for all uses.
Source: New Indian Express
Industry 4.0 necessary to hike mfg share in GDP : Experts
Indian industry cannot ignore adopting Industry 4.0 and it has to focus more on making use of green technologies and best practices followed the world over, experts opined. This reaction comes in the wake of the Indian government setting its sights to increasing the share of manufacturing from 17 to 25 percent of GDP. And the government intends to do so in order to create millions of jobs and to push the country’s economic growth. Speaking to the media about aiming for an increased economic share in GDP, Hospira Healthcare Managing Director, Srini Srinivasan said, “To achieve this target, Indian industry has to adopt Industry 4.0 as it is important to boost manufacturing,”. He also added that adopting Industry 4.0 would enhance the quality of the products produced and ease of doing business would also improve.
Source: The Dollar Business
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