Page 3423 - Business Finance
Corus Entertainment's revenue misses, shares hit all-time low
(Reuters) - Canadian media company Corus Entertainment Inc on Wednesday reported quarterly revenue that missed analysts' estimates, hit by weakness in its television and advertising businesses, sending its shares to a record low.
Sitharaman delegates greater financial powers to DRDO units
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has decided to delegate greater financial powers to various establishments within the Defence Research and Development Organisation to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, an official statement said today. The step is intended to neutralise the "ill-effects of over-centralisation" and facilitate quicker decision making. the Defence Ministry statement said. It is also in line with similar financial delegations made to the armed forces in the last one year, it said. The powers of the secretary, Defence Research and Development to sanction projects and procure equipment have been enhanced from Rs 75 crore to Rs 150 crore and for the directors general (DG) of the establishments from Rs 50 crore to Rs 75 crore. The DRDO has several laboratories which focus on different aspects of defence research. The powers of the directors general to sanction research projects to universities, technological institutions and the indigenous defence industry under the ...
Infosys to announce June-quarter results on July 13
Infosys, the country's second largest IT services company, is scheduled to announce its financial results for the June quarter on July 13. The meeting of the board will be held on July 12 and 13 to consider the audited consolidated financial results of the company and its subsidiaries for the quarter ending June 30, 2018, Infosys said in a BSE filing. "The financial results will be presented to the board of directors on July 13, 2018 for their approval," it added. Investors will not only be keen on the company's scorecard for the June quarter and its take on the demand environment for tech services, but will eagerly also watch out for the management's narrative and operational strategy, given the backdrop of governance-related issues. Infosys had, yesterday, said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not investigating it, and that it has sufficient time to file a key regulatory document. Responding to reports of an anonymous whistleblower questioning delay in filing of ...
Westinghouse eyes Saudi, India deals as end to bankruptcy nears
PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. nuclear firm Westinghouse expects to emerge from bankruptcy with sufficient equity in coming weeks and is targeting Saudi Arabia and India for new reactor sales, its CEO said.
States should give power subsidy via DBT mechanism: Secy
States should adopt direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism to provide any subsidy support to power consumers, a top power ministry official said today. Power Secretary A K Bhalla observed that ideally there should not be any subsidy to power consumers in the country but if states intend to give any support, it should be through the DBT mechanism. "Ideal situation should be that there are no subsidies," Bhalla said addressing at an Indian Energy Exchange event. "What we are trying to say in our draft policy..if state governments feel that any set of consumers are to be subsidised, it should be given through direct benefit transfer mechanism." On participation of foreign power suppliers like Bhutan on the country's power exchanges he said a proposal in this regard is on the table. He was of the view that there should not be any limit to market of power trade in the country in exchanges. The national electricity policy provides for 15 per cent volume of short term power trade market of .
MSMEs revenue rose 27% in FY18, vibrancy returning to sector: Report
Revenues of micro, small and medium enterprises surged by 27 per cent and operating profit by 66 per cent in 2017-18, signalling that vibrancy is returning to the sector after challenges posed by demonetisation and GST rollout, according to a study. The liquidity challenges also appeared to have receded with improvement in the working capital parameters particularly the debtor position which has declined from 100 days as on March 2017 to 78 days as on March 2018, the study of a representative set of 327 MSMEs with rated debt up to Rs 25 crore conducted by Acuite Ratings observed. "These figures reinforce the belief that the MSME sector is already on a recovery path and should continue to sustain the improved performance in FY19, Acuite Ratings CEO Sankar Chakraborti said. "SIDBI's MSME Pulse report jointly released along with TransUnion CIBIL estimates that 5 lakh new borrowers are likely to tap the formal borrowing channels in the first half of 2018 as compared to 4 lakh in the ...
Oil rises on supply losses, U.S. push to isolate Iran
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday on supply disruption in Canada, falling U.S. crude stocks, uncertainty over Libyan exports and U.S. demands that importers stop buying Iranian crude from November.
'Healthy food, inflight connectivity high on preference list of domestic fliers'
A Turkish Airlines survey on aviation trend in India has said 50 per cent of the respondents prefer air travel to other modes of transport with most of them looking forward to having in-flight connectivity and onboard mobile phone calls. It said the business class travel has seen a gradual rise with 44 per cent of the survey respondents having travelled in business class in the past two years. The survey, conducted in association with Nielson, covered roughly 600 respondents to understand their likes and dislikes in 'before flight', 'during flight' and 'after flight' phases of the journey. "...there is a growing acceptance of airline travel as a preferred mode of travel in India due to the growth of the sector with increased options in the form of airlines, routes and benefits. "50 per cent of the respondents preferred air-travel versus other forms of transport. 99 per cent of the respondents to the survey also expressed a willingness to take a long-haul flight in the next two years,"
Work for Gandhi family, get promoted in Congress: BJP
Days after the I-T Department served notice to Robert Vadra to pay Rs 25 crore for evading taxes, the BJP on Wednesday alleged that his close aide Krishnan Srinivasan was appointed AICC Secretary as a "quid pro quo" for his services to the Gandhi family.
Nifty ends below 10,700-mark, down 97.75 pts on global cues
NSE Nifty declined by 97.75 points to a three-week low of 10,671.40 due to losses in energy, PSU banks, media, infra, realty and metal stocks amid signs of escalating trade war between the US and other world economies. The Indian rupee weakened to a 19-month low against the US dollar over concerns that higher crude oil prices will worsen the fiscal balance and accelerate inflation. Further, traders opted for caution before the June expiry of derivative contract due tomorrow. Overseas, the European markets bounced back from early losses, while oil prices climbed after the US moved to pressure allies to stop buying Iranian crude. Asian markets closed lower as jitters over trade conflicts between the world's major economies lingered. The Nifty 50 index fell by 97.75 points or 0.91 per cent to close at 10,671.40. It hovered between 10,785.50 and 10,652.40 during the session. It saw an intra-day movement of about 133.10 points. Sector-wise, energy dropped by 2.46 per cent, PSU bank 2.43 ...
Niti's WEP signs statement-of-intent with fin institutions to promote women entrepreneurs
Niti Aayog's Women Entrepreneurs Platform (WEP) today signed statement of intent (SoI) with financial institutions & social organisations with an aim to increase the number of women entrepreneurs. According to an official statement, the Aayog singed SoIs with financial institutions such as the Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Sreemanta Sankar Mission, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and SREI Infrastructure Finance. Through its partner organisations, WEP aims to create opportunities and support women in order to help them realise their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale up innovative initiatives, it added. The WEP is an initiative under the Niti Aayog which was launched on March 8, 2018 on the occasion of the International Women's Day.
Trump releases plan to restrict Chinese investment in US
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a plan to restrict Chinese investment in US technology companies as part of an effort to fight the theft of intellectual property.
VECV plans Rs 500-cr investment this yr; to up truck volumes
VE Commercial Vehicles, a joint venture between Swedish automaker Volvo and Eicher Motors, is planning to invest Rs 500 crore this year for business growth and aims to increase truck volumes by 50 per cent to meet the growing demand. It is also awaiting board approval for setting up a third plant at an investment of Rs 300-400 crore in the next two years, said Vinod Aggarwal, managing director and chief executive of VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV). "The company consistently invests Rs 400-500 crore every year and the investment this year will also be around Rs 500 crore," he said. Aggarwal said a new plant requires an initial investment of Rs 300-400 crore or more. "A proposal for this has been sent to the board for approval, which is expected in the next two months," he said. The combined capacity of the two plants at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh is 80,000-90,000 units per annum, and the new plant will manufacture another 40,000-50,000 units, according to him. Eicher ...
Parrikar chairs 'ease of doing business' meeting
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today chaired a meeting to track the state's progress in promoting 'Ease of Doing Business'. "Officials from eleven departments attended the meeting and briefed the CM on the progress. The officials assured that the deadlines set by the government will be met," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a release here. At the meeting, Parrikar reiterated the commitment of his government to make the state friendly for meaningful business investments, which would spur job creation and further economic growth, it said.
JNPT may sail into Mumbai landmark - Air India Building
If all goes according to plan, the country's premier container terminal, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) may buy out Mumbai's landmark, the Air India Building, the erstwhile headquarters of the country's flag-carrier, official sources indicated here on Wednesday.
If ED, CBI object proposal to sell assets, it'd show agenda beyond dues recovery: Mallya
Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who has filed application before Karnataka High Court seeking nod to sell assets worth Rs 13,900 crore to repay debt, today said if ED and CBI object to the proposal it will show that there is an agenda against him beyond recovery of dues. In a series of tweets a day after claiming that he has become the "poster boy" of bank default and a lightning rod for public anger, Mallya said he will continue to make every effort to settle dues with the banks. In his statement yesterday, Mallya had said that UBHL (United Breweries Holdings Ltd) and himself have filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, 2018, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crore. "We have requested the court's permission to allow us to sell these assets under judicial supervision and repay creditors, including the public sector banks such amounts as may be directed and determined by the court," he tweeted. Mallya further said, "If the criminal ...
India, US officials to meet again to discuss tariff related issues
Senior officials of India and the US will meet again tomorrow to resolve tariff related issues on goods with a view to increase bilateral trade between the countries. The meeting assumes significance as India last week announced the decision to raise customs duties on as many as 29 products, including pulses, iron and steel products, imported from the US as a retaliatory action against the tariff hikes by Washington. India's notification to increase duties on these 29 items will take effect from August 4. India is pressing for exemption from high duty imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products and resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). As many as 3,500 Indian products from sectors such as chemicals and engineering get duty free access to the US market under the GSP, introduced in 1976. Trade experts have stated that removal of GSP benefits to India is against the global trading norms. According to
Government to provide capital support to ECGC
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved investment of Rs.2000 crore for strengthening of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).The amount would be infused in three financial years, i.e. Rs. 50 crore in 2017-18, Rs. 1450 crore in the year 2018-19 and Rs. 500 crore for 2019-20, according to the official statement.The infusion would enhance insurance coverage to Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) exports and strengthen India's exports to emerging and challenging markets like Africa, CIS and Latin American countries.The increased capital infusion will help ECGC to diversify its product portfolio and provide cost-effective credit insurance helping exporters to gain a stronger foothold in the difficult international markets.ECGC is a premier export credit agency of the Government of India to provide Export Credit Insurance Services to facilitate exports from the country.
Anoop Kumar Pandey to replace Rajiv Kumar as UP's Chief Secretary
Senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) official Anoop Kumar Pandey is slated to replace fellow IAS officer Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, with the latter to retire on June 30.Pandey is currently posted as the Industrial and Infrastructure Development Commissioner (IIDC) in the state. He is a 1984-batch IAS officer.Prior to his appointment as the state's Chief Secretary in June 2017, Kumar was the Secretary in Shipping ministry, Government of India. He had earlier served the Central Government in various capacities in Ministries of petroleum and natural gas, finance and shipping, as also in the central Cabinet secretariat.In Uttar Pradesh, he has served as the divisional commissioner of Saharanpur and Meerut and also in the industrial development department.
Cabinet nod to railways modernisation pact with Indonesia
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved a pact with Indonesia for sharing of information in railway sector including modernisation of trains and maintenance of tracks and tunnels.