Thursday, 22 December 2016

Vitamin D improves gut flora, metabolic syndrome

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Extra Vitamin D can restore good bacteria in the gut, according to a study on mice, giving hope in the fight against risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.

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Scientists have now discovered that Vitamin D deficiency is necessary for this syndrome to progress in mice, with underlying disturbances in gut bacteria.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, found that an insufficient supply of Vitamin D aggravates the imbalance in gut flora, contributing to full-scale fatty liver and metabolic syndrome.

IT hiring at 10-year low, Infosys takes campus hires as interns

India’s second largest software exporter Infosys Ltd is offering paid internship to campus hires before taking them on rolls, a move that that would impact new jobs across the IT sector when hiring by technology services companies is already at a ten-year low.

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The Indian technology services sector is facing its worst growth period in close to a decade as they see clients reducing budgets on traditional outsourcing work, which is not being offset by growth in newer areas such as digital and cloud. In addition, routine maintenance work of customer applications or IT infrastructure, where freshers are normally deployed have been taken over by automation or robots.

With use of automation, these companies are shifting their employees from projects, where their jobs have become redundant and training them on skills to match new requirements. Infosys and its cross town rival Wipro shifted more than 8000 employees from projects to other roles due to automation during the first half of this fiscal.

BJP calls Mamata 'maharani of corruption', rejects her charges

Calling West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee 'maharani of corruption', The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said police were doing their work and it was not a part of political vendetta.

"What Mamata is doing against Hindus in Bengal? The way they are being assaulted is a political vendetta. The police will do what they have to and it is not a part of political vendetta," said BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh.

Singh further said Mamata is talking about raids in Delhi and Tamil Nadu, but she has forgotten that raids were also conducted on bureaucrats in Rajasthan, where it is BJP's government.

Taking a jibe at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, Singh said that Mamata is called the 'maharani of corruption', but now she has to answer not only for the Saradha and Narada scams but also the Rs 10,000-crore Rose Valley scam.

"We are working within the frame of Constitution. There are checks and balances within the Constitution to keep a check on the functioning of government and whoever will violate it, will be pulled up," he said.

PM likens opposition to Pakistan; attacks Manmohan, Chidambaram, Rahul

In an aggressive speech, with oodles of sarcasm thrown in, more reminiscent of his election campaign speeches in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today equated opponents of ‘note ban’ of trying to shield the corrupt, just as Pakistan starts firing on Indian border posts to distract Indian Army so that infiltrators can sneak into Jammu and Kashmir under its cover.

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The PM also attacked Congress leadership, particularly former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Questioning the former PM's integrity, Modi expressed surprise that there was no blot on Singh even when he has been part of India's economic policy think tank since the early-1970s.

The PM was speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. Modi said when he announced ‘note ban’ decision he didn't think it was possible that politicians and political parties would be so unashamed as to come out openly to defend the corrupt.

RBI slaps fine on 5 foreign banks for violating FEMA rules

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday imposed penalty on five foreign banks, including Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, for violation of its instructions on reporting requirements of the FEMA.

The three other banks are: Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

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RBI said they have been fined for violation of its instructions on reporting requirements of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).

"The penalties have been imposed in exercise of the powers vested in the Reserve Bank under the provisions of Section 11(3) of FEMA 1999, taking into account, the violations of the instructions/directions/guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India, from time to time," RBI said.Germany's Deutsche Bank has been imposed fine of Rs 20,000, while Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank have been fined Rs 10,000 each.

Full text of Nusli Wadia's letter to Tata Motors shareholders

Amid an ongoing battle between ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and Ratan Tata, Nusli Wadia, an independent director on the board of Tata Motors, on Thursday wrote a letter to the shareholders of the company defending his role on the board and questioning the allegations levelled against him by Tata Sons.

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"... It is my duty to point out to you, the baseless and false allegations that have been made in the explanatory statement by Tata Sons supporting the resolution to seek my removal. I addressed each of the allegations that they claimed to be their reasons for my removal none of which were linked to my performance as Independent Director," he wrote.

Wadia again referred to Tata Nano as an ill-conceived investment that had been a drag on the company's finances. "I have outlined events relating to some key decisions of the Board. Most important of all is Taqata Motrors' ill-conceived investment in NANO, the car that neither sells nor is viable as every sale of the vehicle is at a substantial loss to the company."

Here is the full text of Nusli Wadia's letter to Tata Motors shareholders:

My Dear Shareholders,

I had sent you a few days ago, a detailed letter setting out my response to the resolution proposed by Tata Sons for my removal as a Director of your Company.

As I mentioned, I have served your Company as an 'Independent Director' for more than 18 years having been invited by JRD Tata, my mentor and Godfather.

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Wednesday, 21 December 2016

'Demonetisation may have cost banks Rs 3,000 cr per day'

On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew its previous directive that required deposits above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes be justified to two bank officers. To understand the impact of this move, Business Standard spoke to the HARVINDER SINGH, general secretary of the All India Bank Officers Confederation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has withdrawn its previous directive that required deposits above Rs 5,000 in old currency notes to be explained to bank officers. What do you make of this?

A: We have been pleading before RBI and Ministry of Finance that instructions issued for general public must be always clear. What was happening was that instructions issued through electronic media or notifications were reaching banks much later than when the people at large were coming to know. There was time gap between the implementation of the instructions issued by the RBI/government because when the instructions reach banks, they would have to modify their systems so that the instructions are implemented.

For example, one instruction came that we will permit withdrawal of 2.5 lakhs per family where there are marriages. Lot of conditionality were put. But these instructions were made viral during the mid of the day but actually these instructions were received by banks two days after. For these 2-3 days bank officers were facing a lot of problem.

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Monday, 19 December 2016

Meet the BS Banker of the year 2015-16: HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri

Aditya Puri, managing director of HDFC Bank is the Business Standard Banker of the Year for 2015-16.

He was selected by a six-member jury headed by former Economic Affairs Secretary C M Vasudev, for the bank’s commendable contribution in the digital banking space as well as the lender’s deep reach in rural and semi-urban India. At the same time, the bank maintained its healthy profits over the years and also kept a leash on its asset quality.

The other jury members were former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governors Anand Sinha and H R Khan, Edelweiss Group Chairman Rashesh Shah, Ican Investment Advisors Chairman Anil Singhvi, and Ambit Capital CEO — Institutional Equities Saurabh Mukherjea.

In the first screening proposed by Business Standard, two filters were used: asset size of over Rs 50,000 crore and a growth in net profit in 2015-16. The result was a dominance of new private sector banks and small public sector banks.

The jury decided to modify the filters and went on to do a more rigorous analysis to rise above “cold statistics”. Statistics, the jury argued, could be made favourable by pursuing narrow banking.

Thereby, a need was felt to emphasise the risk taking ability of the bank and its leader at a time when a slowing Economy meant more bad asset accretion in proportion to the rate of expansion of the lending book.

“We are trying to select the best banker. Should we give the award to someone who is completely risk averse and decided to not contribute much towards industrial development and rural penetration? I think not,” Vasudev set the standard for the rest of the jury.

Leather goods hub at Dharavi struggles to hide cash crunch pain

Arshad Khan is unsure of how long he can carry on with the low sales at Kohinoor Leather, his retail outlet of leather goods at Dharavi — the largest slum in Asia.

“There has hardly been any sale today. This has been the case since Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were banned (on November 8),” said Khan. This is unusual for this time of the year. “The December quarter, which coincides with the beginning of winter, is the peak business period for us,” he added. “Leather jackets, in particular, are popular during this period.”

Khan is not the only one to suffer losses following demonetisation. Almost all retailers at the market in north-central Mumbai have a similar story to tell, their faces barely concealing their emotions.

The ban on high-value notes has crippled the leather hub. Business is down by about 70-80 per cent at most, as consumers hold back on purchases. Corporate and retail orders have also dried up at manufacturing units.

New rules: You can deposit more than Rs 5,000 in bank accounts only once till 30 Dec

Demonetisation

Deposits of old notes exceeding Rs 5,000 can be made only once per account until December 30 2016, the RBI and the government clarified on Monday. The new set of limits is to check laundering of unaccounted cash.

If someone has more than Rs 5,000 in old notes, a deposit will only be allowed after the depositor satisfactorily answers why they couldn't put the money into their account earlier.

The questioning of depositor will be made on record and an audit trail will be created for a 'later stage'. A satisfactory explanation on the deposit made would be 'needed'.

What does the new rule say?

As per the RBI guidelines, deposits (using old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000s) in excess of ? 5000 into a bank account will be received for credit only once during the remaining period till December 30, 2016.

What procedure will be followed while making these deposits?

RBI: “The credit in such cases shall be afforded only after questioning tenderer, on record, in the presence of at least two officials of the bank, as to why this could not be deposited earlier and receiving a satisfactory explanation. The explanation should be kept on record to facilitate an audit trail at a later stage.”

Friday, 16 December 2016

Bajaj rides into Royal Enfield's turf with Dominar 400

Automobile companies mostly refrain from taking on the competition while launching a new product. However, Rajiv is breaking the norm.

The managing director of two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto has positioned the company's new and 'best' product,Dominar 400, as a direct competitor

Launching the 373cc premium sports bike here, he said the company was entering a "segment that has an existing tall leader with 80% market share. This segment is not open for anyone to simply enter and walk away with the market", he added in a reference to Eicher Motor's Royal Enfield range

Full text: Ratan Tata is not stepping down from Tata Trusts

Ratan Tata on Friday clarified that he will not be stepping down as chairman of Tata Trusts any time soon after several media reports said that the trusts have asked an external consultant to advise them on the process of selecting a new chairman to replace Tata.

Tata Trusts controls a 66 per cent stake in the $100 billion Tata conglomerate's holding company.

Here is the full statement from Tata:

Further to news reports that have appeared in the media today, Mr. Ratan Tata, Interim Chairman, clarified that there are no plans for his stepping down from the chairmanship of the Tata Trusts at this point in time.

Thursday, 15 December 2016

Demonetisation travails continue even as govt says it's printing more Rs 500 notes

Even after over a month of demonetisation, cash starved people continued to queue up outside banks and ATM kiosks on Thursday while the Union government said it was focusing on printing new Rs 500 notes to ease the liquidity situation over the next 2-3 weeks.

Continuing the crackdown on black money, the Income Tax Department raided two branches of a private bank in the national capital region unearthing 20 fake accounts while officials recovered Rs 10 crore from several lockers of a bank in Pune.

Serpentine queues at banks and ATM kiosks have become a daily affair since the Narendra Modi government's November 8 decision to spike high-value currency notes. There was no change in the routine across the national capital as people from all walks of life endeavoured to lay hands on much needed cash.

There were also altercations among the customers and officials after some of the bank branches ran out of money. Many customers complained that they were never informed if there was any cash left or not.

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

There is no magical on-off switch that will allow India to transform into cashless economy

The demonetisation step of the Modi government, for the most part, appears to be hugely problematic. Several expert commentators – including Ajay Shah, Prabhat Patnaik, Swaminathan Aiyer, Manmohan Singh and several others – have pointed out that given the high dependence on cash transactions in the Indian economy, the resulting liquidity crunch, the diminished purchasing power and the reduced ability to transact is likely to badly hurt the macro economy and the damage to the informal sector – especially to small firms and retailers – is likely to be severe and permanent.

Also, being saddled with cash and unable to invest due to a lack of economic activity, the banking sector may face a crisis. Ultimately, the poor and the underprivileged will likely be the worst hit – as they usually are.

Given that 86% of the currency was wiped out overnight, it seems unlikely that the RBI can systematically pump money into the economy soon enough to mitigate the problem. We will have to wait and see how the events will unfold and how soon the economy can recover, but it will be naive to assume that the demonetisation step will eradicate the deep rooted corruption and the black money problem forever.

Ramdev's Patanjali fined Rs 11 lakh for misleading advertisements

A local court in Haridwar has slapped Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved's five production units with a fine of Rs 11 lakh for "misbranding and putting up misleading advertisements" of their products.

ADM Lalit Narayan Mishra's court has asked the company to pay the fine within a month.

Patanjali Ayurved was found guilty of misbranding as the products being shown by the company as produced at its own units were in fact manufactured somewhere else, the court said.

'Amazon Prime Video' goes live in India: Top ten things to know about the service

Amazon Prime has launched its Prime Video service in Mumbai today. Amazon is all geared-up to give a tough fight to Netflix that recently announced its first local series 'Sacred Games'. Amazon Prime Video will offer the users unlimited approach to streaming of exclusive Amazon Originals, movies, and TV shows on a subscription basis. The new Amazon Prime video service can be seen as an extension of Amazon's Prime service which offers services like free delivery of products on a priority basis, along with an early access to lightning deals.

Amazon has made the "Amazon Prime Video" app available on Android and iOS. If you are an existing Amazon Prime subscriber, then you can start using the app immediately.

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

Rs 12.4 lakh crore of old notes deposited in banks till December 10

Demonetisation

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor R Gandhi on Tuesday said Rs 12.4 lakh crore of old notes have been deposited in banks till December 10. The remarks came during an impromptu press meet with news agencies Doordarshan, PTI and ANI.

RBI Deputy Governor SS Mundra was also present in the meeting, who said the central bank has suspended its staff in Bengaluru who was arrested on Tuesday on charges of colluding with bank officials in changing notes. The official in question was a junior staff who was visiting bank branches on a supervisory capacity, Mundra said.

Monday, 12 December 2016

Why OPEC's production cut might not have the desired effect

After months of speculation by oil market watchers, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recently announced a six-month production cut of 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d) with the aim of driving up the price. It’s set to take effect on Jan. 1.

Saudi Arabia will be responsible for a little less than half of the total, or just under 500,000 b/d, followed by 210,000 for Iraq and about 135,000 for Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates each. A nonmember, Russia, pledged to cut about 300,000 b/d as part of the deal.

The move, which could be extended for another six months, was in response to the expected continuation of weak oil market conditions: too much supply and too little demand. The result was that for the first time since 1998, OPEC reported a collective current account deficit of almost US$100 billion in 2015, compared with a surplus of $238 billion in 2014.

Thursday, 8 December 2016

Decoded: Why RBI unexpectedly kept rates unchanged amid cash crunch

RBI left its key policy rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent. The decision was largely unexpected by markets but not by BNP Paribas. We were in a small minority expecting unchanged policy rates. Three factors appear to have been key to the unchanged verdict. First, RBI is clearly cognisant of increased global uncertainty. "Imminent tightening" by the US Fed, the risk of "large spill-overs" to emerging markets and "firmer oil prices" were all cited as reasons for policy caution. Second, the stickiness of inflation, particularly "core" inflation, was noted as "disconcerting" and potentially generating a resistance level for future downward movements in inflation. RBI acknowledged inflation risks are skewed to the upside even before the full impact of the 7th Pay Commission on housing costs, let alone the likely inflationary impact of GST, have been factored in. Third, RBI sensibly decided to view demonetisation and the ensuing disruption to the economy as a largely “transient” shock that, in the base case, does not warrant a formal policy response.

Job offers down 10% at IIT placements this year but average packages are up

An increased number of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) coupled with revised recruitment plans by recruiters has led to number of offers come down by 10% at placements, even as number of companies at campuses is slightly up this year.

At IIT Kharagpur, as against 280 companies last year, this year the institute has seen over 300 companies register for placements, several of which have already visited the campus. Similarly, IIT Guwahati too has seen number of recruiters rise from 150 last year to 200 this year.

Despite this rise, the number of offers per recruiter has come down by anywhere between 10% and 20% at different IITs, barring a few. IITs attribute the trend to multiple reasons including rise in the number of the premier institutes to now 23, thereby leaving too many campuses for recruiters to visit, apart from revisions in recruitment plans by firms.

Wednesday, 7 December 2016

RBI says no note shortage but outside Delhi hundreds face job losses

Around 08.30 every morning, hundreds of workers arrive at the main bus depot in Noida Phase II, about 30 km from New Delhi. They fan out into the lanes of the neighbouring Hosiery Complex. With nothing more than a tiffin box in their hands, they begin their daily job hunt.

Almost every factory gate has a board proclaiming “Avashyakta hai (wanted)”. It lists the daily requirement of jobbers–tailors, finishers, ‘pressmen’ (as those employed for ironing are called), packers and so on–needed by the 200 small, export-driven garment units in the complex. The boards have been blank since the factories were hit by the aftermath of ‘demonetisation’–as the invalidation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes is being referred to.

50 banks under ED scanner to detect money laundering, hawala deals

Stepping up action to check financial crimes post demonetisation, the ED today launched an 'enquiry of records' operation at over 50 bank branches across the country to detect money laundering and hawala dealing instances through these channels.

Officials said multiple teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) swooped early morning at over 50 branches of at least ten banks, both in the private and public sector, along with banking auditors to "scrutinise" transaction records and account statements, armed with vital inputs gathered from financial snoop agencies.

They said ED teams have launched the operations at branches located in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and others based on records of transaction of these branches where the maximum amount of old notes have been deposited or huge cash has been deposited in bank accounts in one go or in a staggered fashion giving rise to suspicion of suspect deposits.

Inflation, Dollar, notes: Takeaways from the RBI's Monetary Policy review

Contrary to expectations, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rate – the rate at which the banks borrow from the central bank – unchanged at 6.25% while reviewing the Monetary Policy on Wednesday, the first policy since the government’s demonetisation drive in November. The reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 5.75%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%.

"Despite the surprise today, we believe the RBI’s decision to stand pat is a prudent one. We also expect demonetisation to hurt short-term activity, but we do not see any medium-term damage as it will only result in wealth redistribution, and not much wealth destruction. Moreover, while headline inflation is low, underlying inflation has stabilised around 5%," said Sonal Varma, Nomura's Chief India Economist.

Monday, 5 December 2016

Toyota to hike car prices by up to 3% from January 1

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today said it will increase prices of its vehicles by up to 3 per cent from next month to offset increased input cost and consistent upward trend in foreign exchange rates.

"There has been an increase in pricing of raw material commodities like steel, aluminium, copper and rubber over a period of the last six months and this puts a lot of pressure on us as all this has been leading to a higher input cost on our end," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Director and Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) N Raja said in a statement.

Another factor leading to higher input cost is the appreciation of the yen in the international market, which has increased the cost of parts that the company imports from Japan, he added.

Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal named 'Asians of the Year'

After Time Magazine put Flipkart Founders - Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal - on the list of 100 Most Influential People in the world, the Straits Times of Singapore has chosen them for the prestigious "2016 Asian of the Year" as part of a group called the "The Disruptors."

"Flipkart's innovative steps, aimed at transforming commerce in India through technology, have truly disrupted the market and it makes us proud to be recognized for this achievement.We accept this honor on behalf of all Indians," Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal said in a joint statement.

Earlier this year, Time Magazine put Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal on the list of 100 Most Influential People in the world.

Demonetisation: Can the state legally deprive people of their own money?

With the end of the year closing in, people without bank accounts stand to lose their cash if they are unable to open accounts by the end of this month. When the Centre announced the demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last month, it brought the monetary fate of people without bank accounts into question. At the end of the year, all the old notes will stand cancelled as the RBI’s liabilities, and so, people still in possession of these notes will be deprived of their money’s worth. And in a country where only a little over half the population have bank accounts, this poses a real risk; and therefore, demands immediate scrutiny from a legal perspective.

Friday, 2 December 2016

No laws in India to protect customers if they lose money during digital transactions

India lacks laws to protect consumers if they lose money during digital transactions even as the government pushes for a less-cash economy after it withdrew Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes as the legal tender.

The Modi government's demonetisation move might have warranted an increase in transaction activity on digital wallets, but measures to ensure the underlying cyber security parameters for digital payments is still kept largely under the ambit of the Information Technology Act.

"We don't have any dedicated law on digital payments. That's very important to grant complete legality and remove and doubts and clarifications pertaining to legal efficacies and legal validity of digital payments," says Pavan Duggal, an advocate in the Supreme Court specialising in cyber law.

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What black money? Government may be in for shock as deposits belie expectations

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The main reason given by the government for demonetising high denomination notes was to curb black money. Various estimates have been made of the quantum of such money — which is not expected to be deposited in banks — ranging from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 5 lakh crore.

But if one goes by the deposit trends so far and the projections, the black money expected to be purged may be much less than expected.

On Tuesday, in a reply in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal, said that there were 17,165 million pieces of Rs 500 notes and 6,858 million pieces of Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, the day Modi made the announcement of demonetising the two high denomination notes.

Thursday, 1 December 2016

NetflixOffline: You can now download and binge-watch shows without the internet

Video streaming pioneer Netflix Inc has added an option that allows subscribers to download shows at no additional cost on their mobile device to watch without an internet connection.

Netflix signaled in recent months it would add an offline viewing option to better compete as the streaming video market becomes more and more crowded. Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more Inc’s rival streaming video service, Prime Video, has had this option for about a year.

While the new option announced on Wednesday is available for all of Netflix’s subscribers, it could have greater appeal in international markets such as Africa and Asia, where internet service is less ubiquitous than it is in the United States.

Growth among U.S. subscribers has slowed in 2016. Netflix added just 370,000 subscribers during the third quarter and only 4.3 million since the third quarter of last year, suggesting they are reaching a saturation point.

In that same time frame, Netflix has added 13.2 million international subscribers, including 3.2 million in the third quarter. Much of that has to do with Netflix’s expansion by more than 130 countries earlier this year to over 190 nations currently. China is a notable holdout.