Modi's mother queues up at a bank to exchange cash

As thousands continue to struggle daily in the wake of the central government’s surprise move of demonetising of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes since November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mother, Heeraben on Tuesday was seen joining the serpentine queues of a bank in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Heeraben, who is aged above 90 years, went to the bank to exchange currency worth Rs 4,500.

Ever since its announcement, the move has been facing several road blocks in terms of implementation with public anger simmering in the wake of dysfunctional ATMs, and long queues and limited cash at banks.

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Gas migration case: RIL initiates arbitration against govt

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and its partners, BP and Niko Resources, have initiated an arbitration process against the Centre's notice imposing a penalty of $1.55 billion on these companies for allegedly using migrated gas from state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC's) asset in KG-D6.

It was on November 3 that the government had slapped the penalty. Following this, RIL had come out with a statement that the contractor's liability has not been established by any process known to law and the quantification of the purported claim is without any basis and arbitrary. "RIL remains convinced of being able to fully justify and vindicate its position that the government’s claim is not sustainable," it said. The company is already locked in arbitration with the government on various other issues related to KG-D6. 

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The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will hurt agriculture, informal sector workers—about 482 million people who earn cash incomes—and disrupt India’s consumption patterns for at least the next quarter, according to an assessment released last week by Deloitte, an international consulting firm.

In contrast, sectors like e-commerce and payment banks, payment gateways are set to gain as transactions using cashless methods will increase over the coming months, the Deloitte report said, emphasising that “the long-term outlook remains positive”.

The lines to exchange defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes grew across India, as fraying tempers and scuffles were reported.

The Prime Minister–who had promised working ATMs by day three–pleaded for 50 days to set the chaos right, and his government extended the validity of the old notes in select transactions for another 10 days.

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Banks shut today, ATMs open, withdraw Rs 2500 a day: Top developments

Amid unending queues of cash-starved citizens at banks and relentless attacks by the opposition, the government on Sunday announced an increase in withdrawal limits at banks and ATMs. The Centre also urged the states to "facilitate the opening of new bank accounts" and last-mile distribution of small denomination notes as it announced that the new Rs 500 note had been issued.

Here is everything you might have missed over the weekend:

Daily withdrawal amount raised: The daily withdrawal from ATMs has now been hiked to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000 and from bank counters to Rs 4,500 from Rs 4,000. The limit of Rs 10,000 per day withdrawal has been removed.

The upper limit for weekly withdrawals from bank accounts has been raised to Rs 24,000 from Rs 20,000.

Money rush: ATMs will start dispersing Rs 2000 notes from today

 

With banks struggling to cope with rush to get alternative currency, the government has extended use of old defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for paying household utility bills, fuel, taxes and fees and purchases from co-operative stores till November 24.

It has also advised banks to waive charges imposed on various kind of e-transactions till December 31. Besides, the RBI has advised national payment corporation of India to waive its transaction charges on old transactions which are settled through financial switch.

Here are the key highlights of what Shaktikanta Das, DEA said today

1. The focus of the government is to activate all channels whereby cash is dispensed to the public.

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Donald Trump vows to immediately deport up to 3 million undocumented immigrants

In line with his hardline immigration stance, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to immediately deport up to three million undocumented immigrants, saying "we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate".

"What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably two million, it could be even three million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate," Trump told CBS News.

"But we're getting them out of our country, they're here illegally," the 70-year-old business tycoon-turned politician said in an excerpt released ahead of broadcast of the interview.

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Donald Trump vows to immediately deport up to 3 million undocumented immigrants

In line with his hardline immigration stance, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to immediately deport up to three million undocumented immigrants, saying "we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate".

"What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably two million, it could be even three million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate," Trump told CBS News.

"But we're getting them out of our country, they're here illegally," the 70-year-old business tycoon-turned politician said in an excerpt released ahead of broadcast of the interview.

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New series of Rs 500 notes issued

After Rs 2,000 currency notes, the government has launched a new series of Rs 500 notes, even as people are stand in long serpentine queues awaiting their turn at bank branches across the country.

After demonetising old Rs 500 and RS 1,000 currency notes, the government had first introduced only Rs 2,000 notes. However, ATMs are not able to dispense it, since they will have to be re-calibrated to do so. This might take up to three weeks.

Similarly, ATMs will have to be re-calibrated for a new series of Rs 500 notes as well.   

The government also plans to soon reintroduce the Rs 1,000 note back in the market, but with far more evolved security features.

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CLOSE India to be part of core World Bank team

For decades a borrower, India will soon sit in the core management team of the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.

Axel Van Trotsenburg, vice-president, development finance at the Bank, told Business Standard: “India will be one of the IDA deputies, the 14-member group of donor nations which run the key negotiations with member countries.” Van also said the institution would weigh costs to consider Indian markets for raising bonds — as the institution will for the first time tap international markets to raise money — to finance low-cost aid programmes.

Set up in September 1960, IDA was at one time the biggest source of aid for India. For IDA, too, India happened to be the largest aid recipient among its 173 member-countries.

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Banks shut today, ATMs open, withdraw Rs 2500 a day: Top developments

Amid unending queues of cash-starved citizens at banks and relentless attacks by the opposition, the government on Sunday announced an increase in withdrawal limits at banks and ATMs. The Centre also urged the states to "facilitate the opening of new bank accounts" and last-mile distribution of small denomination notes as it announced that the new Rs 500 note had been issued.

Here is everything you might have missed over the weekend:

Daily withdrawal amount raised: The daily withdrawal from ATMs has now been hiked to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000 and from bank counters to Rs 4,500 from Rs 4,000. The limit of Rs 10,000 per day withdrawal has been removed.

The upper limit for weekly withdrawals from bank accounts has been raised to Rs 24,000 from Rs 20,000.

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It was a great honour, says Donald Trump on meeting Barack Obama

US President designate Donald Trump said it was a "great honour" to meet President Barack Obama, as the two met for transition talks at the White House, media reports said.

"So Mr. President, it was a great honour being with you, and I look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future," Washington Post quoted Trump as saying on Thursday.

"We discussed a lot of different situations, some wonderful and some difficulties. I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel," he added.
 

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Amid an unfolding boardroom drama that has seen Tata Sons split wide open, with most board members and senior executives sing with Interim Chairman Ratan Tata or ousted group chief Cyrus Mistry, Bhaskar Bhat is learnt to have resigned from the board of Tata Chemicals.

"Bhaskar Bhat, non-executive, non-independent director, has resigned from the Board of the company w.e.f. November 10, 2016," Tata Chemicals said in a BSE filing.

In his resignation letter, Bhat said, "I have just read the statement put out by the independent directors on the BSE website. The contents as well as the spirit of the statement completely dilutes the views I expressed at the Board meeting today especially regarding the threat the company faces on account of loss of confidence of the promoter Tata Sons in the Chairman of Tata Chemicals."

 

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Taxmen clamp down on jewellers, traders stop accepting old notes amid raid fears

A day after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the Income Tax (I-T) department on Thursday conducted surveys on jewellers and suspected hawala operators across Mumbai, Delhi and parts of Punjab.

There have been reports of illegal profiteering by discounting of money, sale of gold at an up to 60 per cent premium, and sale of jewellery for over Rs 2 lakh without PAN details.

“We are keeping a watch on illegal transactions. I can only say that legal and honest taxpayers have nothing to worry about,” Sushil Chandra, chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) told Business Standard, but did not specify details of survey operations.

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DND flyway toll free, SC refuses to stay Allahabad HC order

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay Allahabad High Court's order making 9.2-km, eight-lane Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway toll free.

The apex court has asked the Comptroller Auditor General to verify the cost of DND flyway project and submit a report before it within four weeks.

The court had on October 28 declined to stay the Allahabad High Court's order making the Delhi-Noida flyway toll-free.

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The great Indian jugaad: How some are beating the Rs 1000 note ban

Even as the Modi government on Tuesday declared that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would no longer be legal tender, the average Indian, with his prowess in the art of jugaad, found ways to beat the system, thanks to a 50-day window given for exchange of these banknotes.

Despite the panic visible across all cities, there always are some opportunists ready to take advantage of someone’s desperation. They always find ways to play the system. And, in this case, they have turned religious places, non-government organisations (NGOs) and gold jewellers into laundering centres. At many places, even the retail shops have become money-exchange centres, they are giving Rs 400 in exchange for Rs 500 notes. Even some bank managers are getting offers for a 20 per cent cut in lieu of exchange of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

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EU invites Trump to discuss trade deals at summit, warns against 'isolation'

The EU's top leaders today invited US President-elect Donald Trump to a summit as soon as possible as they warned of uncertainty in relations and a need to respect democratic values.

"I do not believe that any country today can be great in isolation," European Council chief Donald Tusk told reporters in Brussels, referring to Trump's campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again".

"Europe and the United States simply have no option but to cooperate as closely as possible."

Tusk and European Commission boss Jean-Claude Juncker said in a letter that they wanted to discuss "unprecedented challenges" including the Islamic State jihadist group, the conflict in Ukraine, and a troubled EU-US trade deal under negotiation.

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Trade troubles ahead: What Trump's victory means for Asia

Donald Trump, points toward Republican Vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence

No mainstream observer expected this. Donald Trump was not supposed to win the GOP primary, let alone the White House. Yet, here we are.

This was always an election that would favour a change candidate, but conventional wisdom said that the reality TV star was not plausible in a general election. But he turned his complete lack of political experience into a huge advantage.

The fact that Trump was light on policy detail while on the stump, and that he contradicted himself on an almost daily basis, means that we have very little to go on when trying to ascertain what a Trump presidency will mean for Asia.

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Donald Trump's victory: American Muslims express shock, fear

Fear and shock were expressed by American Muslims after Republican Donald Trump was confirmed as President of the US after months of taking anti-Islamic stands.

The Republican made his most controversial remarks about Islam in December last year, sparking anger among the world's 1.5 billion followers of the religion, when he called for a ban on Muslims entering the US after a mass shooting in California, the Daily Mail reported.

For the editor of the Muslim section of Patheos, a website specialising in spirituality, Dilshad Ali had never felt the fear of Trump until now.

"I woke up today and I finally felt it. It felt personal, like the election was a vote against me," the 40-year-old mother of three told CNN on Wednesday.

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On day of Trump's victory, eBay lays off staff in Bengaluru

Online marketplace eBay is laying off staff in Bengaluru and taking back work to Silicon Valley. The decision came on Wednesday as Donald Trump got elected as the 45th President of United States on promise of bringing back jobs home.

Calling it a part of a global restructuring, the eBay says it has cut jobs at its centre in Bengaluru in favour of shifting them to other locations around the world. The layoffs will affect only those people working in its global product team, while its analytics and India product support teams will be unaffected.

"As a normal course of business, eBay regularly reviews its operational structure and today we announced some changes to our global product and technology team. As a result, we are reducing our overall technology workforce in Bangalore and shifting work to other global centers around the world," said an eBay spokesperson.

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Why the US Election is close, and what Trump and Obama have in common

Donald J. Trump is in striking distance of winning the election with two days to go, and there’s really just one reason for that: He’s leading white voters without a college degree by a huge margin.

In recent national surveys, Mr. Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 59 percent to 30 percent among that group. It’s larger than the 57-35 lead that Mitt Romney had with those voters in the final polls in 2012.

On their own, Mr. Trump’s gains among this group have been enough to cancel out four years of favorable demographic shifts for Democrats among Hispanic and well-educated white voters.

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Government bonds may no longer be 'safe' assets, investors warn

Investors pushed into buying government bonds that won't mature for many years, seeking to bolster meagre returns since the financial crisis, could now face big losses if central banks raise interest rates.

As yields have collapsed toward zero due to slow economy growth, falling inflation, super-easy monetary policy and central bank bond-buying, investors have sought bonds with longer and longer maturities to eke out extra basis points in return.

Governments keen to lock in record-low borrowing rates have obliged by issuing longer and longer debt. A spate of 30-year and 50-year issuances have seen average maturities rise to 9.8 years, from 8.5 in 2011, according to JP Morgan's global government bond index - a huge shift for the multi-trillion dollar market.

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Samsung to launch AI assistant service for Galaxy S8

Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphones are displayed at its shop in Seoul, South Korea. AP | PTI

Samsung Electronics Co said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7’s collapse and differentiate its devices.

The world’s top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple’s Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company’s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices.

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Nifty holds 8,500; PNB Housing Finance lists at 11% premium

Markets continued to hold on to their early gains with Lupin emerging as the top gainer after the USFDA clearance for it Goa unit.

At 10:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 254 points at 27,528 and the Nifty50 was up 90 points at 8,523. In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 1.5%-1.7% each. Market breadth was strong with 1888 gainers and 423 losers on the BSE.

ALSO READ: Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump: Latest developments on US elections

Lupin was up 6% after the pharma major said that it has received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its Goa plant leading to closure of all outstanding inspections of the facility.

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Blackout of NDTV: A time when Vajpayee government refused to ban Jaya TV

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

As it becomes increasingly clear with each passing day why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken away the Information and Broadcasting Ministry portfolio from Arun Jaitley and given it to M Venkaiah Naidu in the cabinet reshuffle in mid-July, the journalistic world is sharply divided over the daylong blackout of NDTV India and News Time Assam.

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the India Today group Aroon Purie on Saturday tweeted a paragraph from the statement by the News Broadcasters Standards Authority (NBSA), an independent regulatory body set up by television channels: “Banning channels dangerous weapon in hands of government. Should respect well established self-regulation.”

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Images of supposed new Rs 2,000 notes emerge on Twitter

Alleged Rs 2,000 note (Photo: @allusaiharsha)

Images of the supposed Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes have been circulating on Twitter. The images follow some media reports that such a currency note might soon be introduced.

Business Standard could not independently verify if the images circulating on the micro-blogging site were authentic,

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Infosys, Sun Pharma, Wipro hit 52-week lows

Brokers trade at their computer terminals at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai. Photo: Reuters

Infosys, Wipro and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries from the benchmark Sensex and Nifty50 indices have hit their respective 52-week lows on the bourses today.

All these three stocks were down in the range of 1%-2%, as compared to 0.16% fall in the benchmark indices at 01:21 pm.
Sun Pharma was too down 1.8% to Rs 701, also its 52-week low on NSE. The pharmaceuticals company will announce its Q2FY17 results on November 10, 2016.

The board will also consider the proposal for the merger/amalgamation of Ranbaxy Drugs Limited, Vidyut Investments Limited, Gufic Pharma Limited and Sun Pharma Medisales Private Limited (formerly known as Solrex Pharmaceutical Company), all four companies being wholly owned subsidiaries of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries subject to receipt of necessary approvals.

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Government slaps $1.5 bn penalty on RIL for drawing ONGC's gas in KG basin

A man walks past an advertisement of Reliance Industries Limited at a construction site in Mumbai.

The government on Friday sought $1.5 billion from Reliance Industries as penalty for using the migrated gas from the block of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra pradesh coast.

Oil ministry has given Reliance Industries and partners 30 days to respond to the penalty notice

Shares of Reliance Industries were down 1.28 per cent to Rs 1012.30 at 1:20 pm.

In a report by Justice AP Shah committee, it found the operators guilty and recommended the compensation on RIL and its partners for “unjust benefit” received through migration of gas. Reports suggest that the government is set to come out with a notification in this regard by the end of this week.

International consultant DeGolyer & MacNaughton said in a report that 11.125 billion cubic meters of gas migrated during the six years to March 31, 2015, from ONGC's two blocks in Krishna Godavari basin, off the country's east cost, to the one operated by Reliance.

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Cyrus Mistry won't resign from Tata companies, ready for legal battle

Ousted Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry leaves from Bombay House in Mumbai.

Cyrus Mistry will not resign from any group companies where he is the chairman and is ready for legal battle with Tatas — if need be, a family source told Business Standard.

Mistry is currently chairman of all top-listed firms. Tata Sons stake in these companies is low while the institutional/small shareholders are owning the rest. The Shapoorji Pallonji family owns 18.5 per cent in the Tata group holding company, Tata Sons. Tata Sons, in turn, holds 39 per cent stake in Indian Hotels.

Senior independent directors on the board of Indian Hotels are planning to discuss the acquisitions made by the previous management led by former chairman and current Interim Chairman Ratan Tata in the crucial Indian Hotels board meeting to be held in Mumbai on Friday. The removal of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Indian Hotels is not on the agenda, and the board meeting is to consider the July-September 2016 quarter results.

ALSO READ: Ronen Sen lashes out at Cyrus Mistry for leaking information.

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Govt tightens gold import norms for premium export houses

The Director General of Foreign Trade has tightened norms for export houses to import gold in their capacities as nominated agencies. The public notice to this effect issued by the DGFT has said that for getting permission as a nominated agency for importing gold for domestic purpose, only exports from domestic tariff areas would be counted and such exports have much better vigilance mechanism.

At present apart from banks, MMTC and body like export promotion councils star and premium trading houses were allowed to import gold for domestic market. now import by star and premium trading houses will come down because the DGFT has said that for “the export performance of Gem and Jewellery items for Special economic zones and Export oriented units {SEZ/EOUs} will not be clubbed with export performance of Domestic tariff area (DTA) units for grant of nominated agency certificate.”

The public notice no. 37/2015-2020 dated 4 October was actually made available this week only.

A veteran trade analyst said that, “some leading export houses were allegedly incorrectly declaring gold jewellery exported from SEZ/EOUs to be of 22 carat jewellery while actually, they were exporting 18 carat jewellery thereby saving around 8 per cent of gold imported duty free in the name of exporting back and selling that gold in open market in India. Since DTA exports have tighter vigilance mechanism, such a practice will be arrested.”

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DoCoMo, Singur, IHL: Tata Group's tryst with law in 2016

Cyrus Pallonji Mistry’s near unceremonious removal as chairman of the Tata group of companies is now set to turn into an extended legal battle.

The removal has been followed by bitter outbursts from the ousted chairman who even wrote a scathing five-page letter to the board thus transforming a boardroom feud into a public row.

Interim chairman Ratan Tata and his team have moved to file caveats in Bombay High Court, Delhi High Court and the National Company Law Tribunal as a preventive measure from any legal action that Mistry may initiate. Mistry has not announced any legal action yet and hasn’t filed caveats either.

While this mother of all legal troubles is brewing, here are the other run ins with the law the $104 billion salt-to-software conglomerate had to deal with in 2016:

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