RBI to train its focus on mis-selling of insurance policies by banks -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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30Th Aug 2016

RBI (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions) 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will train its focus on "mis-selling" of insurance products by banks to their customers and also see whether new regulations are needed for protection of banking customers, Governor Raghuram Rajan said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

In his foreword to RBI's annual report for 2015-16, released on Monday, he said as more institutions and technologies bring more people into the financial system, the RBI has to make sure they are adequately informed and protected. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Referring to the code - Charter of Customer Rights - that banks had to follow in dealing with the customers, brought out by RBI in 2015, Rajan said the banks were asked to appoint an internal ombudsman to monitor grievance redressal process.

"We now will examine how banks are faring, and whether further regulations are needed to strengthen consumer protection. In particular, we will focus this year on the issue of mis-selling, especially of insurance products," he said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Complaints are heard from life insurance policyholders against banks for mis-selling of policies.

"We will also focus on enhancing our communication with the broader public, with a view to informing them on what they need to do to take best advantage of financial opportunities, as well as protecting themselves," Rajan said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

He said the RBI will work to enhance grievance redressal procedures, both within the financial institutions, and if the customer is still unsatisfied, subsequently through the RBI's ombudsman scheme.

Rajan said the grievane redressal mechanism in the rural areas as well as to the weaker sections of the society will be strengthened.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Two years' bonus for central government employees: Jaitley -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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30Th Aug 2016

Some 33 lakh employees of the central government had reason to cheer on Tuesday with the government announcing their annual bonus that has been pending for two years. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"The bonus entitlement for 2014-15 and 2015-16 will be released on the revised norms for central government employees. This was pending for two years. After this, the bonus will be covered under the 7th Pay Commission," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Excise, VAT exempted goods by states should be GST exempt: FICCI-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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30Th Aug 2016

India Inc. proposed on Tuesday that goods fully exempted from excise duty and VAT by states be categorised as exempted goods in the GST regime, which should be implemented after a minimum of 6 months from the date of adoption of the GST law by the GST Council.

"Goods fully exempted from the levy of excise duty and VAT by all the states be categorised as exempted goods in the GST regime as well," Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said in a release following a meeting here with the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on the Goods and Services Tax. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Goods chargeable to nil rate of excise duty but charged to VAT in most states could be identified for levying a merit rate of GST. All other goods (except jewellery and demerit goods) could be subjected to the standard rate," the statement said.

"As per current indications and reports, goods will be categorised as being subject to merit rates (12%), standard rates (18%) and de-merit rates (40%). The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Certain goods will be exempt from GST while bullion and jewellery would be charged to 1% / 2%," FICCI added regarding classification of goods for applying GST rates.

In this connection, the industry chamber suggested that with a view to check inflation and check the tendency to evade taxes "the merit rate should be lower and the standard rate should be reasonable." The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

On implementing GST, FICCI said that in order to provide adequate time to trade and industry to prepare "for a hassle free roll out of the GST regime", a minimum of 6 months time should be permitted from the date of the adoption of the GST Law by the GST Council.

"Additional time would be required in case the GST Law as passed by parliament or state legislatures is significantly different from the one adopted by the GST Council," FICCI said.

FICCI also requested the empowered committee that certain existing exemptions such as the area based exemptions under excise legislation and incentives under states' industrial policies should be converted into an effective, non-discretionary tax refund mechanism.

The industry body further recommended that valuation provisions under GST, which is a transaction based tax, should give primacy to actual transaction value.

"Valuation provisions under the draft GST laws are reflection of valuation laws of a single point tax like excise duty. Wide powers have been given under the draft GST laws to authorities to reject declared transaction value," the statement said.

In a meeting here with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia earlier this month, Indian industry chambers had raised concerns on the draft GST law, flagging issues like dual administrative control and wide discretionary powers for tax authorities.

"Provisions may lead to unwarranted disputes in future so it requested to give a re-look the law before finalising," a FICCI representative told reporters here after the meeting.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Nifty, Sensex breaks out of its trading range – Tuesday closing report -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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30Th Aug 2016

I  had mentioned in Monday’s closing report that Sensex, Nifty might be range-bound. The major indices of the Indian stock markets rallied strongly on Tuesday and broke out of their one-month trading range. The gains were a substantial 1.5% at the end of the day’s trading. We expect the upward momentum to continue. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Major Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

The markets were buoyed on strong buying support across sectors, coupled with positive global cues during the mid-afternoon session on Tuesday. Healthy buying was witnessed in automobile, banking and healthcare stocks. The BSE market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls -- with 1,631 advances and 1,081 declines. On the NSE, on Tuesday, there were 891 advances, 491 declines and 81 unchanged. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The US dollar traded mixed against other major currencies as investors were digesting the recent remarks by Federal Reserve Janet Yellen and newly-released economic data from the country. "In light of the continued solid performance of the labour market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months," Yellen addressed central bankers at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. Pointing to solid growth in household spending and a strengthening job market, Yellen said the US economy is "now nearing" the Fed's statutory goals of maximum employment and price stability. Analysts said it's possible for the Fed to hike interest rates as soon as September. But about 71% of 62 economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal this month believed the Fed will wait until December to raise rates. 

The government in India on Tuesday announced to issue the fifth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds, the subscription of which will be open from September 1-9. "The government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has decided to issue fifth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds. Applications for the bonds will be accepted from September 1, 2016 to September 9, 2016," the Finance Ministry said in a statement. The Bonds will be issued on September 23.  The Sovereign Gold Bond, a financial asset, was launched by the government last year as an alternative to purchasing the metal gold. Accordingly, four tranches of issuances have been undertaken during 2015-16 and 2016-17 so far.

Japan's unemployment rate dropped to 3% in July marking the lowest level in 21 years, the government announced on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the unemployment rate on a seasonally adjusted basis was 3 per cent in July, with the number of employed persons in the recording month totalling to 64.79 million, an increase of 980,000 or 1.5% from the previous year. The number of unemployed persons in July, meanwhile, was 2.03 million, the ministry said, which is a decrease of 190,000 or 8.6% from the previous year. The job availability in Japan held steady in July at 1.37, which means that there were 137 positions available for every 100 people looking for work. 

State-run oil marketer Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) on Monday declared a 25% rise in net profit for the first quarter ended June at Rs8,268.98 crore, compared to Rs6,590.83 crore in the same quarter in the previous year. Total income in the June quarter fell because of a drop in global oil prices and was at Rs1,07,200 crore, registering a fall of 5.75%, as compared to Rs1,13,743 crore in the same period last year. Average gross refining margins, on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel, for the June quarter was $9.98 per barrel as against $10.77 in June quarter of 2015. The company also declared bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1, that is, one equity bonus share of Rs10 each for every existing equity share of Rs10 each fully paid up, subject to the approval of the shareholders. Earnings per share rose to Rs34.90 during the quarter in question, as compared to Rs27.81 in the same quarter last year. The company’s shares closed at Rs574.10, up 0.38% on the BSE. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below:

 

Top Gainer (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below:The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Asian Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

Rajan rules out rate cuts unless inflation tamed -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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29Th Aug 2016

Reserve Bank of Governor (RBI) Raghuram Rajan on Monday ruled out any further interest rate cuts till such time the inflation came down to the comfort zone, and once again asked commercial banks to lower the cost of credit to their customers. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Inflation projections are still at the upper limits of RBI's inflation objective," Rajan said in his last Governor's Foreword to Annual Report released here, referring to the government-mandated level of 4 per cent annual retail inflation, plus or minus 2 percentage points. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"With the Reserve Bank needing to balance savers' desire for positive real interest rates with corporate investors' and retail borrowers' need for low nominal borrowing rates, the room to cut policy rates can emerge only if inflation is projected to fall further," he said.

In any case, the task of taking a call on the interest rates is to be handed over to a new Monetary Policy Committee, that will comprise three representatives from the central bank -- including the RBI Governor as its chair -- and three others to be chosen by the government.

Rajan also said the willingness of commercial banks to cut lending rates was muted, since the level of corporate investment had reduced the volume and scope of new profitable loans for banks. The stressed assets of the lenders was also preventing them from taking fresh exposures freely.

As regards growth, he said, while the economy was showing signs of picking up, it was still below the levels that the country was capable of. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"The key weakness is in investment, with private corporate investment subdued because of low capacity utilisation, and public investment slow in rolling out in some sectors," said Rajan, who is scheduled to demit office on September 4 and hand over the reins to Deputy Governor Urjit Patel.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports promoters pledge shares -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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29Th Aug 2016

Adani Enterprises said on Sunday that its promoters Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani have pledged an additional 1.65 crore shares, or 1.50 per cent stake, to STCI Finance Ltd. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The company said in a disclosure to the stock exchanges that with this transaction, the total number of shares pledged by Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani in Adani Enterprises have gone up to 10.01 per cent of the total share capital. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Adani Enterprises said the shares were pledged on August 24 on account of "loan of group company".

In a separate disclosure, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone's (APSEZ) said Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani have pledged over 1.34 crore shares, or 0.66 per cent stake, in the company to STCI Finance Ltd. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The statement also said that they have released over 2.01 crore shares pledged earlier.

With this, the total number of shares pledged by Gautam Adani and Rajesh Adani in APSEZ have come down to 15.97 per cent of the total share capital, from 16.29 per cent earlier.

Besides, another promoter entity Adani Properties has released pledge on 22.06 lakh shares of APSEZ. This has brought down its total pledged shares in the company to 4.28 per cent of the total share capital.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Sindhu, Sakshi, Dipa, Jitu get Khel Ratnas -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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29Th Aug 2016

Sindhu, Sakshi, Dipa (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

Shuttler P.V. Sindhu, wrestler Sakshi Malik, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, and shooter Jitu Rai were on Monday conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- the country's highest sporting honour -- at Rashtrapati Bhawan here. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the awards amid thunderous applause at the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of National Sports Day. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The President also gave away the Dronacharya awards to Nagapuri Ramesh (Athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (Boxing), Raj Kumar Sharma (Cricket), Bishweshwar Nandi (Gymnastics), S Pradeep Kumar (Swimming) and Mahabir Singh (Wrestling). The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Apart from this, 15 sportspersons were given the Arjuna Awards, among them Olympian runner Lalita Babar, boxer Shiva Thapa, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, hockey players Rani Rampal and VR Raghunath. While athlete Satti Geetha, hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke were conferred the Dhyanchand Award.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Good Q1 GDP expected due to normal monsoon, salary hikes-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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29Th Aug 2016

India's national income figures for the first quarter of the current fiscal 2016-17 are due for release on Wednesday, against the backdrop of expectations aroused by a normal monsoon and the recent pay hikes for central government employees. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The government expects Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to pick up to eight per cent in 2016-17, from 7.6 per cent in 2015-16.

"A number of structural reforms have been undertaken by the government over the last two years. The impact of all this is beginning to be felt now. We are hoping to better our growth from last year and get closer to eight per cent," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters here on Saturday. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Also, this year monsoon has been good. Agriculture production is expected to be better than previous two years which will contribute significantly to GDP," he added.

Financial services firm DBS said in a research note that on gross value added basis, India's growth is expected to have stabilized at 7.4 per cent in the June quarter, which is slightly higher than the 7.2 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

"For the year we look for growth to average 7.8 per cent this year, from FY15/16's 7.2 percent," it said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Multilateral agencies like the International Monetary Fund (7.4 per cent) and the Asian Development Bank (7.4 per cent) have estimated that the Indian economy is likely to slow down from last year's level. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

However, American agencies like Fitch Ratings and investment banker Goldman Sachs have projected the economy to marginally accelerate in the current fiscal.

In fact, the Indian government on Thursday lauded Goldman Sachs for awarding a growth forecast of 7.9 per cent for the Indian economy in the current fiscal, riding on an improved monsoon, key reforms and increased FDI inflows.

"Happy that Goldman Sachs forecast Indian economy to clock 7.9 per cent growth in current fiscal with better monsoon, key reforms and FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows," M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, said in a tweet. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Goldman Sachs lauded several important policy changes and reforms that were carried out like GST (Goods and Services Tax) bill passage, bankruptcy code, government approval of inflation targeting framework and measures to ease doing business," he said.

A pick-up in infrastructure investment and easing in foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions in the defence, aviation, retail and e-commerce sectors was also hailed by Goldman Sachs, he added. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Moody's Investors Service in August had forecast the real GDP growth for India at around 7.5 per cent for FY2017. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

In the fourth quarter of 2015-16 ending March, India's economy accelerated to grow at 7.9 per cent, buoyed by improved agricultural performance and growth in consumption.

Private consumption growth remained robust at 7.4 per cent in 2015-16, though it was marginally revised downward from the 7.6 per cent estimated earlier.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) data showed India's economy grew at 7.6 per cent in 2015-16, making the country the fastest growing major economy for the second consecutive year despite two failed monsoons.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Sensex, Nifty may be range-bound - Monday closing report-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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29Th Aug 2016

I had mentioned in Friday’s closing report that Nifty, Sensex were looking weak. The major indices rallied in a small way on Monday and closed with less than 0.50% gains over Friday’s close. The rally was however on lower volumes of trading. There is no immediate trigger for the Nifty to head higher and so the index may be range-bound between 8,550 and 8,650. The trends of the major indices in the course of Monday’s trading are given in the table below: The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Major Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

Indian equity markets traded flat during the mid-afternoon session on Monday prompted by mixed global cues and lower crude oil prices. Selling pressure was witnessed in information technology (IT), healthcare and banking stocks. The BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bears -- with 1,465 declines and 1,216 advances. On the NSE, on Monday, there were 636 advances, 821 declines and 69 unchanged. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Initially, on Monday, the benchmark indices opened on a flat note prompted by mixed Asian and US markets.  Investors also remain cautious ahead of key domestic macro-economic data such as gross domestic product (GDP) and eight core industrial output data to be announced on August 31. Besides, lower crude oil prices also added to the downward trajectory. However, Indian equity markets were lifted by sector-specific buying. Consequently, the key Indian indices closed the day's trade in the green, as healthy buying was witnessed in automobile, capital goods and metal stocks. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Following its merger with Bharti's retail business, Future Retail got listed at Rs153 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday. The stock was listed in the exchange in the list of 'T' Group Securities. Under the scheme of arrangement, the company was segregated into Future Enterprise, which took the responsibility of the backend business and Bharti Retail, which takes care of the frontend business. In May last year, the Future group approved the consolidation and realignment of its retail operations with Bharti Retail Ltd to form one of the biggest supermarket chains. In order to streamline the operations resulting from the consolidation, the respective board of directors had proposed to demerge the retail business of Future Retail to Bharti Retail and to demerge the infrastructure business of Bharti Retail to Future Retail. The shares of the company closed at Rs160.65, up 5.00% on the BSE. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

State-run Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) on Sunday said it will seek the approval of its shareholders on September 21 for raising Rs50,000 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCDs). Giving notice of its AGM to be held on September 21, REC said in a stock exchange filing that it can issue via private placement unsecured/secured non-convertible bonds/debentures up to Rs50,000 crore during a period of one year from the date of passing of this resolution. "Consent of the Company be and is hereby accorded to raise funds through private placement of unsecured/secured non-convertible bonds/debentures upto Rs50,000 crore during a period of one year from the date of passing of this resolution, in one or more tranches," the filing said. The REC board had, earlier this month, cleared the company's fund raising plans. The company’s shares closed at Rs227.30, down 1.37% on the BSE. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below:

 

Top Gainer (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

The closing values of the major Asian indices on Monday are given in the table below:The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Asian Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)