RBI Says All Payment Systems To Remain Closed On April 1
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said all payment systems will remain closed on April 1. It is a change from its earlier directive asking banks to remain open on the first day of the next fiscal. However, there is no change with regard to the payment channels, including RTGS and NEFT, being operative as a normal working day during March 25 to April 1 (including Saturday,Sunday and all holidays). “On reconsideration, it has been decided that all payment systems will remain closed on April 1, 2017,” it said.
Nation now gets ready for GST in next three months
The Lok Sabha has passed 4 GST-related laws, marking another step towards the rollout of the single national tax on July 1. The country now faces a race to get ready for GST in the next three months. We are seeing history in making. We are going to see a new system of taxation. We seem to be well within time, says Arun Jaitley. I would say this is an important step forward. I am very optimistic of meeting the deadline, Jaitley adds.
Goods will become cheaper with GST: Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said goods may become “slightly cheaper” once all other taxes are removed after implementation of the Goods and Service Tax. Replying to a debate on the four bills related to GST in the Lok Sabha, he said all other taxes like entry tax in states will be removed once the GST is in place. “Once all other taxes are removed, goods will become slightly cheaper,” he said. Noting that both the central and state governments are pooling their sovereignty to have this tax regime, he noted that India, despite being one political entity, remained different economic entities with states having different taxes. “India remained different economic entity. Trucks could be seen waiting outside state border, there was no free flow of goods,” the minister said.
Walmart okay with selling only Made-in-India products: India CEO
Walmart Stores Inc, the world’s biggest retailer by sales, would consider opening physical outlets and selling products online if New Delhi allowed overseas supermarkets that directly sold Made-in-India products to consumers. “We are okay with selling only ‘Make in India’ products because even in our cash-andcarry stores, imported items make up for only 5% of our total products,” Krish Iyer, chief executive of Walmart India, told ET.
Supreme Court bans sale of BS-III vehicles from April 1
The health of the citizen is more important than the commercial interests of the automobile industry, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday and ordered a freeze on the registration and sale of BS-III fuel compliant vehicles by “any manufacturer or dealer” on and from April 1, when the next level and environmentally friendly BS-IV fuel emission standards are scheduled to kick in. “On and fromApril 1, 2017, such vehicles that are not BS-IV compliant shall not be sold in India by any manufacturer or dealer, that is to say that such vehicles, whether two-wheeler, three- wheeler, four-wheeler or commercial vehicles will not be sold,” a Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta ordered.
Kotak launches zero-charge digital bank account
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. launched zero-balance digital accounts that will offer free transactions as it looks to double its customer base of 80 lakh over the next year and a half. The lender announced what it called an ‘8-11’ plan to open accounts offering a 6 percent interest on sustained balances, Uday Kotak, vice-chairman and managing director of the private lender, said in a media briefing in Mumbai. The digital accounts will lower customer acquisition costs by up to 90 percent, he said. Existing customers will have to open separate accounts to avail benefits of the ‘8-11’ plan, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move which was announced on November 8 last year.
Reliance Jio’s Prime membership base close to hitting 50 million
Mukesh Ambani-backed Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the latest entrant in India’s telecom market, is closing in on turning 50 million Prime members out of the 100 million free subscribers the company was able to garner by offering disruptive 4G VoLTE services at no cost. “Out of 100 million-plus free subscribers, nearly 50 million have signed up for its ‘Prime’ membership by paying a one-time charge of Rs 99 and buying data packs,” said an official at the company. Jio’s promotional Happy New Year plan that offered free voice and data ends onMarch 31, 2017. The company has been offering Prime membership to its subscribers on payment of one-time fee of Rs 99. The Prime membership enrols subscribers to continue enjoying Reliance Jio services at affordable price rates.
DBT leads to Rs. 34,000 cr savings for govt: FinMin
The government today said the direct benefit transfer in various social sector schemes resulted in savings to the tune of Rs 34,000 crore and Aadhaar seeding helped in checking corruption and improve efficiency. “There have been some palpable achievements in some of the schemes (where DBT is implemented). There is an assessment that in all these schemes, the quantum of savings would be about Rs 34,000 crore. So far, DBT has been implemented in 78 schemes and there are many more in which it has to be implemented,” Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said today at an Assocham event here. Stating that use of technology has made the system more transparent, he said Aadhaar seeding has brought about efficiency and inter linking of beneficiaries has enabled weeding out of bogus and un-deserving people.
JP Morgan group pays Rs. 2.75 cr, settles case with SEBI
Securities market regulator SEBI has settled pending cases against erstwhile JP Morgan Asset Management, JP Morgan MF India Pvt Ltd and JP Morgan Mutual Fund for violations of mutual fund regulations dating back to 2010. In the case, the AMC had launched the JPMorgan India Fixed Maturity Plan — Series 35 to 39 after the SEBI approval had expired, the offer document carried the incorrect scheme name and information while units allotted to investors were also named wrongly.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Amul vs HUL ice-cream ad case adjourned to Monday
The legal battle between Hindustan Unilever and Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) over the latter’s advertisement about ice-cream and frozen desserts will now be heard by the Bombay High Court on Monday. The court adjourned the case without any interim relief to HUL. HUL had said the advertisement by the makers of Amul ice-cream misled consumers about frozen desserts. GCMMF has argued that its advertisement has not named any company.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Tata ties up with Alibaba to take Tetley tea bags to China
About 300 years after the British East India Company introduced tea plantations in India to kill Chinese monopoly on its trade, the Indian owners of a classic British tea brand are introducing it in China. Tata Global Beverages Ltd has entered a tie-up with e-commerce firm Alibaba to sell Tetley tea bags through the latter’s TMall business-to-consumer (B2C) marketplace. They were introduced late last year, said the company’s chief marketing officer Adil Ahmad.
Bharti Airtel beats Reliance Jio, becomes fastest network in metro cities
Airtel has been found to be the fastest network in most metro cities in India. According to a report by OpenSignal, Airtel holds its position at the top of the ladder, occasionally taken down in a few regions by Reliance Jio and Idea Cellular. It has been noted that several telecom companies have been involved in heated rivalries over claims of having the fastest LTE speed across the country. According to the reports, speed tests by TRAI and Ookla reveal that Bharti Airtel was the fastest LTE network in most major cities across the country, such as Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai among other cities. However, Idea Cellular has been found to be the fastest network with 9.3 Mbps download speeds. It is followed by Airtel with 8 Mbps and Jio with 6.8 Mbps. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio has maintained a lead in a few regions such as Shimla and Lucknow with average speeds which are far better than Airtel, like 14.5 Mbps. In these regions, Airtel is known to have been delivering speeds of 9.5 Mbps.
Bad debt issues spook steel industry
Coinciding with a sluggish consumption and after effects of demonetisation, Indian steel sector is facing an uphill task of coming out of the problems of huge stressed assets and NPAs, feel sector experts like ICRA and M N Dastur & Co. Significantly, consumption growth in steel sector remained sluggish at 3.4 per cent in 11M (11 months) FY17 as compared to 4.6 per cent in FY16 due to weak demand from construction and capital goods sectors. Sequential de-growth in demand in Q3 of FY17 due to demonetisation and its after effects in Q4 of FY17 may keep steel consumption growth for FY17 lower than the previous year levels.
Source: My Financial Digital Chronicle
New Snippet:
Source: mnmlegals
About the Author
