News digest: CJI's impeachment, shell companies, cash crunch, and more

TCS propels Tata group into Rs 10-trillion club; shares hit lifetime high

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has played a stellar role in helping the Tatas to become the first private business group to enter the Rs 10-trillion market capitalisation league. This has happened because of the double-digit rally in the TCS share price in the current year.

Shares of TCS, the most valuable Indian company, on Friday closed at a lifetime high of Rs 3,406. At the current price, TCS is valued at Rs 6.52 trillion, or $98.52 billion, a whisker away from the $100-billion mark. Read more...

Hawkish RBI minutes rattle currency, gilts; rupee plunges to 13-month low

The jubilation over low first-half borrowing was short-lived for the bond market. The 10-year bond yield hit 7.79 per cent in Friday morning trade, a level last seen in February, threatening to undo the entire gains earned since the announcement of light first-half borrowing.

Bond yields, however, recovered sharply to close at 7.66 per cent, marginally higher than its previous close of 7.63 per cent. Read more...

MCA zeroes in on 225,000 more suspected shell companies

The government is intensifying its drive against shell companies. After taking action against 226,000 shell companies last year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has now zeroed in on another 225,000 suspected shell companies. The ministry has sent notices to these companies, asking whether they had filed statutory financial returns. 

Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary told Business Standard that companies had been given a chance to respond to the notices. Read more...

Ahead of monsoon, rural economy at risk of slowdown over cash crunch

With cash transactions routed through banks taking a hit due to a cash crunch, the rural economy is at the risk of a slowdown ahead of the monsoon. More so in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Post-harvest rabi and pre-kharif loan offtake, typically around April, have been lower by as much as 50 per cent in several states. In southern states, where chit funds are popular instruments for investment in rural areas, defaults have risen. According to bankers, if the cash crunch persists, payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme would be hit. Read more...

Opposition meets VP, move notice for CJI's impeachment; SC judges 'disturbed'

The Congress and six other opposition parties on Friday moved a notice for the impeachment of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, accusing him of “misbehaviour” and “misuse” of authority.

The notice, bearing the signatures of 64 Rajya Sabha MPs and seven recently retired MPs of the House, is the first attempt in the history of independent India to impeach the CJI. The notice levelled five charges of “acts of misbehaviour” by Justice Misra. Read more...