SBI to hire merchant banker for sale of non-core assets
The State Bank of India (SBI) has started the process for selling some of its investments which are not critical to its core business in an attempt to shore up its capital base, two people aware of the development said. SBI has stakes in stock exchanges, depositories, clearing and warehousing corporations, and credit rating agencies. As a first step, the bank plans to hire a merchant banker to assist in the process.
Uber’s India plans may face disruptions amid Asia probe
Uber Technologies Inc.’s latest review of its Asian operations is likely to be a major distraction for the company’s Indian unit even as the parent grapples with an exodus of top executives and wages bruising market-share battles with taxi aggregators such as Lyft and Ola in key markets. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Uber, the world’s most valuable start-up, is facing a US federal probe to determine whether the cab-hailing company broke laws against overseas bribery. The report also said Uber had initiated a review of its Asian operations while notifying US officials about payments made by company staff in Indonesia.
22 lakh GST returns filed till 6 pm Wednesday on GSTN portal
Nearly 22 lakh GST returns for August were filed as of 6pm Wednesday, as businesses flocked the GSTN portal to submit their returns on the last day for tax filing. Over 21.83 lakh returns were filed till 6pm, a person aware of the development said. GST return filing would continue till midnight. This is the second month of return filing under the goods and services tax (GST) regime and similar to last month, businesses thronged the GST Network portal on the last day to pay taxes. Nearly 45 lakh businesses had filed GST returns in July fetching a revenue of Rs95,000 crore to the exchequer.
US Fed keeps rates steady, balance sheet to fall up to $10 bn per month
The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but signaled it still expects one more increase by the end of the year despite recent weak inflation readings. New economic projections released after the Fed’s two-day policy meeting showed 11 of 16 officials see the “appropriate” level for the federal funds rate, the central bank’s benchmark interest rate, to be in a range between 1.25% and 1.50% by the end of 2017. That is one-quarter of a point above the current level.
Shell companies: Omar Abdullah, Mohanlal in the list of disqualified directors
There are some prominent names among the thousands of directors of defaulting companies disqualified by the government. Malayalam film star Mohanlal, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, Maharashtra sales tax commissioner Rajeev Jalota and leading consultant Rama Bijapurkar are among those in the list released by the corporate affairs ministry.
Reliance Jio says won’t derive any benefits from IUC cut
Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) has denied that the lowering of interconnect usage charge (IUC) would benefit the new entrant and in fact called the cut ‘six years too late’, highlighting that it should have happened as per regulator’s directive in 2011. ‘There is no question of any advantage from the new IUC regulation to Jio as it has already passed on all the benefits to customers. We deny any benefits to Jio,” the Mukesh Ambani owned telecom operator said in a statement Wednesday.
Banks told to scan accounts of shell companies’ promoters, directors
The government has asked lenders to scrutinise all bank accounts of promoters and directors of shell companies for possible fraudulent activities as part of an ongoing crackdown on shell companies. In some cases, investigating agencies have already shared relevant information with the banks, officials said.
Source: Economics Times
Good news: Railways food must carry details of quantity, supplier, says Railway Minister Piyush Goyal
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked officials to ensure that meals served on board trains carry information about quantity and the contractor supplying it, as the national carrier continues efforts to improve catering services. In a letter addressed to all zonal general managers, the railway board has said that Goyal has asked that food served to passengers has the name of the supplier or contractor, weight, date of packing and a distinct symbol indicating if it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian. As of now, the packets only mention if the food is veg or non-veg.
Cheque books, IFSC of 6 subsidiary banks of SBI to be invalid; what you should do now
The State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday has asked the customers of its subsidiary banks to apply for new SBI cheque books ‘as soon as possible’. Customers holding an account in the subsidiary banks of SBI will soon not only have to get a new cheque book, but also an Indian Financial System (IFS) code. The country’s largest lender in a tweet announced, “All the erstwhile associate banks of SBI and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank users need to upgrade their cheque books.” Apart from Bharatiya Mahila Bank, the accounts holders of State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Raipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad will have upgrade their the new cheque books and IFS codes, reported NDTV.
Rajasthan govt plans to set up OLX-like portal for cows
Rajasthan is planning to set up a portal to help people buy and sell cows online, encouraged by the success of e-commerce sites such as OLX and Quikr.com.
The website will host photos, yield, price of cows and contact details of owners for buyers to get in touch with sellers directly. “Our efforts are to increase farmers’ income and ensure no cow is abandoned. The farmers will receive right price of cattle and role of middlemen will be curbed,” said Rajasthan cow welfare minister Otaram Devarsi.
Mumbai receives second heaviest September rain in over a century
The city experienced yet another intense downpour, the second time this season, receiving almost as much rain over Tuesday and Wednesday as it usually does in an entire month. Data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicated that over 24 hours starting 8.30am on September 19, Mumbai recorded about 304 mm of rainfall, just shy of the 312mm average set for the entire month of September—which means it rained in one day almost as much as it usually does over a month!
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