Page 1670 - Business Finance
Trump, Xi agree to take steps to address trade disputes
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump Saturday agreed to suspend any new tariffs and take steps to address the trade disputes, which over the past few months had threatened to spill over into a trade war between the world's two largest economies. At their "highly successful" dinner meeting on the sidelines of the annual G-20 Summit here, Trump agreed not to bring in any new import tariffs on Chinese products, while Xi agreed to purchase a very substantial amount of US products so as to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries. During the meeting, Trump agreed that on January 1, 2019, he will leave the tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of product at the 10 per cent rate, and not raise it to 25 per cent at this time. "This was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the US and China. It is my great honour to be working with President Xi," Trump said in a statement released by the White House after the dinner talks ...
New G20 chair Japan wants trade imbalances, aging population on 2019 agenda
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Japan will put issues ranging from global trade imbalances to the impact of aging populations on the agenda when it chairs next year's meetings of leaders from the Group of 20 major economies, government officials said.
Xi, Trump hold 'successful meeting', agree not to impose tariffs (Third Lead)
Following a "highly successful meeting" here between US and Chinese Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the leaders of the two largest economies have agreed not to impose new tariffs from January 1, 2019, and pledged to continue negotiations to seek a way out of the ongoing trade war.
Three of real estate firm arrested for duping investors
Delhi Police on Saturday arrested three officials of a private company for allegedly duping investors, officials said.
G20 statement omits past pledges to fight protectionism
The Group of 20 major economies in a summit statement Saturday omitted past language on fighting protectionism, amid the hawkish trade stance of US President Donald Trump. A statement adopted at the end of the two-day summit in Buenos Aires instead only recognized the "contribution" of the "multilateral trading system," but said it was "falling short" in goals of growth and job creation.
Hawala racket busted in Delhi, Rs 25 crore cash seized
The Income Tax (IT) Department has busted a Hawala racket and seized cash worth Rs. 25 crore from Naya Bazar in Chandani Chowk.The IT Department sources told ANI that they conducted a raid at a private vault and recovered the cash amount from more than 100 lockers. The IT sleuths carried out the raid at eight locations across Delhi.The sources further said that in the preliminary investigation the IT Department found that mostly Hawala traders were using that locker to keep their money.The cash allegedly belonged to some high-net-worth individuals based in the National Capital Region (NCR), including gutkha traders, chemical traders and dry fruit traders. The sources told that these traders were involved in Hawala trading.This is the second major 'locker operation' by the IT Department this year. Earlier in January, the IT department had seized more than Rs 40 crore in cash from another vault in Delhi's South extension part-2.
November auto sales muted on high fuel prices, low credit flow (Roundup)
Indian automobile manufacturers on Saturday reported a broadly negative sales trend for November 2018, as Maruti Suzuki, the market leader in passenger car segment reported a 0.7 per cent decline in total sales.
Mauritius' SBM gets RBI approval to merge operations with its Indian subsidiary
The Reserve Bank of India Saturday said it has approved merger of SBM (Mauritius), India with SBM Bank (India). "The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the Scheme of amalgamation of the entire undertaking of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Limited, India with SBM Bank (India) Limited which has been granted licence by the Reserve Bank to carry on the business of banking in India through Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) mode under the Banking Regulation Act," RBI said in a release. The scheme will come into force with effect from December 01, 2018, it said further. All the branches of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Limited in India will function as branches of SBM Bank (India) Limited with effect from December 01, 2018, the RBI said. Earlier on November 21, State Bank of Mauritius, which has received a licence as a scheduled commercial bank in India, appointed Sidharth Rath as managing director. SBM Bank is the first foreign bank to set up a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS), to provide universal banking service
Adverse macro-economic factors slow down PV sales in Nov
Domestic passenger vehicle sales in November were in a slow lane with major manufacturers Saturday reporting either marginal increase or decline in offtake during the month as adverse macro-economic conditions failed to drive festive season purchases. While Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Honda Cars India reported sales growth during the month, Hyundai, Tata Motors and Toyota witnessed decline in domestic sales in November. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said its domestic sales were up marginally at 1,46,018 units last month as against 1,45,300 units in the year ago period. Sales of mini cars comprising Alto and WagonR stood at 29,954 units as compared to 38,204 units earlier, down 21.6 per cent. However, sales of compact segment models, including Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, were up 10.8 per cent at 72,533 units as against 65,447 in November last year, the company said. Hyundai Motor India posted marginal decline in its ...
IMF agrees new loan programme for Sierra Leone
FREETOWN (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board has approved a new $172 million loan programme for Sierra Leone to help the West African country combat rising inflation and lacklustre economic growth.
Hero MotoCorp Nov sales marginally up at 6,10,252 units
The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Saturday reported a marginal increase in its sales to 6,10,252 units in November. The company had sold 6,05,270 units in November 2017, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement. "The industry witnessed conservative sales off-take during the previous couple of months owing to issues like increase in insurance costs before the festive season and overall low key market sentiment. However, sales picked up in the last few days of the festive season," the company said. During the month, the company commenced nationwide retail sales of its new 125cc scooter, Destini 125, first and only scooter to feature an idle start-stop system. Hero MotoCorp also renewed its association with golfing icon Tiger Woods this week, ahead of the annual Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. The company signed Tiger as its Global Corporate Partner in 2014.
Pakistan ambassador congratulates UAE ahead of National Day
Abu Dhabi, Dec 1 (IANS/WAM) Moazzam Ahmad Khan, Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE, congratulated the leadership and people of the Middle Eastern country on the eve of its 47th National Day, wishing for their continued progress and prosperity.
Oil prices, dovish Fed push equity indices higher; Sensex gains over 3% (Market Review)
Expected improvement in India's macro-economic condition due to lower crude oil prices along with healthy inflows of foreign funds on the back of a dovish US Federal Reserve and the government's plans to recapitalise state-run banks aided the key Indian equity indices to advance over 3 per cent during the last week.
Jet fuel produced at Jamnagar refinery from US, Mexican crude is of Indian origin: US agency
Jet fuel produced at the Reliance Refinery in Jamnagar from American and Mexican crude oil is of Indian-origin for the purpose of procurement by the US government, a federal agency has determined. As such Long Beach, California-based Anoi Inc, which produces a specific kind of jet fuel, identified as J5, to be sold to the US Defense Logistics Agency, would now require waiver from the current "Buy American" restrictions. In a federal notification, the US Customs and Border Protection overruled the request by Anoi Inc that the jet fuel being produced by it at Reliance Refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, be considered to be of US and Mexican origin, which was the source of the petroleum crude oil. The notification would be issued on December 3. At the refinery, Anoi Inc said in its application that "there will be a 'one-step' transformation of crude to straight-run distillate." The process consists of desalting and heating the crude, and then distilling out the sulfur from the middle ...
Maharashtra govt announces fintech accelerator programme
The Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced the first batch of its fintech accelerator programme to establish the city as a global fintech hub. The government also unveiled a "regulatory sandbox" to aid start-ups to register and open their API (application programming interface), a release said here. The regulatory sandbox allows start-ups to test their technology under highly controlled but real-time conditions, it added. The three-month accelerator programme, which started Saturday, will include various use-cases in financial inclusion, public payment infrastructure and gov-tech. The accelerator programme, announced in September, received about 200 applications which were narrowed down to 30 start-ups. Thirteen of them were shortlisted. It is part of the dedicated fintech policy of the Maharashtra government which aims to provide various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to start-ups.
Tata Motors sales declines 3.8% to 52,464 units in Nov
Tata Motors Saturday reported 3.8 per cent decline in domestic sales to 50,470 units in November as compared to 52,464 in the same month last year. This was "due to low consumer sentiments as a result of liquidity crisis in the industry, higher interest rates and rising fuel costs," the company said in a statement. Tata Motors' Commercial Vehicles (CV) domestic sales declined 5.15 per cent in November to 33,488 units compared to 35,307 sold last November. "Small operators' profitability was also impacted due to reduced freights on account of the benefits passed by large operators from the GST related credit. Overall demand post the festival period was muted," the company said. Its passenger vehicles domestic sales witnessed a decline of 1.01 per cent to 16,982 units, as compared to 17,157 units sold in November 2017. "November 2018 was a challenging month for the industry with muted consumer sentiment caused by liquidity crunch, non availability of retail finance and moderate festive .
Bank strike on December 26 against mergers, pay revision
A day after the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) raised its wage hike offer to 8 per cent from 6 per cent, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Saturday called a nationwide strike on December 26 against bank mergers and pay revision.
Tata Motors' November domestic sales down 4%
Tata Motors on Saturday reported a four per cent decline in its domestic sales for November on a year-on-year basis.
JK witnesses 76.9 pc voting in sixth phase of panchayat polls
The sixth phase of panchayat polls concluded peacefully across Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday with an estimated 76.9 per cent electorate-- highest so far-- exercising their franchise amid tight security arrangements, state's chief electoral officer Shaleen Kabra said. A massive 84.6 per cent polling was witnessed in Jammu division, while only 17.3 per cent polling-- which incidentally was the lowest compared to the previous five phases-- was recorded in Kashmir division, Kabra said. Giving district-wise details, Kabra said, Ganderbal district in central Kashmir recorded the highest voting (41.5 per cent) followed by Bandipora (35.3 per cent), Srinagar (12.5 per cent), Baramulla (12.1 per cent), Budgam (9 per cent), Anantnag (7.3 per cent) and Kulgam (4.6 per cent). Like previous phases, Jammu division, however, recorded heavy turnout with Udhampur district topping the chart with 88.5 per cent of the people casting their votes. Jammu district recorded 87.1 per cent voting followed by ...
M&M's sales up 17% in November
Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Saturday reported a 17 per cent rise in its vehicle sales including exports for November, compared on a year-on-year basis.