General Affairs
Yes, NSA Doval met Pakistani counterpart, MEA confirms, says talks were about terrorism
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The Ministry of External Affairs today confirmed media reports that the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan recently had a meeting.
"We have said terror and talks cannot go together but talks on terror can definitely go ahead," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. The ministry's confirmation comes around a week after media in both India and Pakistan reported that PM Narendra Modi's NSA Ajit Doval met his Pakistani counterpart Lt General (retd.) Nasir Khan Janjua in Bangkok.
The meeting, the reports said, took place just a day after jailed Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav was allowed to meet with his wife and mother in Islamabad. That meeting ignited major controversy with New Delhi expressing concern over how the Jadhav family had been treated during their time in Pakistan.
This isn't the first time Doval has met with Janjua in a third country. In 2015, the two NSAs had met, again in Bangkok, and discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, among other bilateral issues.
Kulbhushan Jadhav met wife, mother on December 25 in Islamabad.
Ajit Doval was reported to have met his Pakistani counterpart just a day or two later.
News reports in India and Pakistan said the meeting was a secret one.
MEA today confirmed the meeting had taken place.
The Doval-Janjua meeting in December was about terrorism, the MEA said today while confirming that talks had taken place. "... Our issue was eliminating terrorism... we of course raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in those talks," Kumar said on Thursday.
The meeting, according to a report in the Pakistani publication Dawn, was supposed to be secret. But, "once the Indian side 'did not live up to its commitment' and information about it began appearing in Indian media, Pakistani officials too started sharing their impressions about the interaction," the Dawn said in its report, referring to a story published by the Indian Express saying the two NSAs had met in Bangkok.
"We have said terror and talks cannot go together but talks on terror can definitely go ahead," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. The ministry's confirmation comes around a week after media in both India and Pakistan reported that PM Narendra Modi's NSA Ajit Doval met his Pakistani counterpart Lt General (retd.) Nasir Khan Janjua in Bangkok.
The meeting, the reports said, took place just a day after jailed Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav was allowed to meet with his wife and mother in Islamabad. That meeting ignited major controversy with New Delhi expressing concern over how the Jadhav family had been treated during their time in Pakistan.
This isn't the first time Doval has met with Janjua in a third country. In 2015, the two NSAs had met, again in Bangkok, and discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, among other bilateral issues.
Kulbhushan Jadhav met wife, mother on December 25 in Islamabad.
Ajit Doval was reported to have met his Pakistani counterpart just a day or two later.
News reports in India and Pakistan said the meeting was a secret one.
MEA today confirmed the meeting had taken place.
The Doval-Janjua meeting in December was about terrorism, the MEA said today while confirming that talks had taken place. "... Our issue was eliminating terrorism... we of course raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in those talks," Kumar said on Thursday.
The meeting, according to a report in the Pakistani publication Dawn, was supposed to be secret. But, "once the Indian side 'did not live up to its commitment' and information about it began appearing in Indian media, Pakistani officials too started sharing their impressions about the interaction," the Dawn said in its report, referring to a story published by the Indian Express saying the two NSAs had met in Bangkok.
Chinese helicopters crossed over into Indian territory twice last year: Sources
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Chinese helicopters crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de-facto border between India and China - in October and in November last year, top sources have told India Today.
The transgressions happened after the 73 day stand-off at the Doklam plateau between India and China. The Doklam plateau, in the Chumbi valley, is claimed by both China and Bhutan.
India Today has accessed information that shows transgressions increased manifold in 2017, as compared to the previous year. Sources said that there were over 400 transgressions in 2017 (compare with 270-odd in 2016).
In 2015, the number of transgressions by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) was over 350.
AIRSPACE VIOLATIONS
The first airspace violation was reported on October 11, when two helicopters crossed over into Indian airspace in the Rim Khim area in Uttarakhand's Barahoti sector.
And on November 7, as many as four Chinese helicopters crossed over into India airspace in the Ladakh sector. One of the helicopters reportedly hovered in Indian airspace for about 30 minutes, sources said.
The transgressions happened after the 73 day stand-off at the Doklam plateau between India and China. The Doklam plateau, in the Chumbi valley, is claimed by both China and Bhutan.
India Today has accessed information that shows transgressions increased manifold in 2017, as compared to the previous year. Sources said that there were over 400 transgressions in 2017 (compare with 270-odd in 2016).
In 2015, the number of transgressions by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) was over 350.
AIRSPACE VIOLATIONS
The first airspace violation was reported on October 11, when two helicopters crossed over into Indian airspace in the Rim Khim area in Uttarakhand's Barahoti sector.
And on November 7, as many as four Chinese helicopters crossed over into India airspace in the Ladakh sector. One of the helicopters reportedly hovered in Indian airspace for about 30 minutes, sources said.
FDI policy changes: Former RSS ideologue cautions Modi govt against allowing indiscriminate globalisation
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Former RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya has cautioned the Modi government on economic reforms.
He said, "Allowing indiscriminate globalisation is not conducive to our environment and we will not be able to cope up with its ill effects. We have seen the example of Brazil which started off economic reforms ahead of India, the ill effects of indiscriminate urbanisation despite the fact that their population is much less and they have double land mass, if India treads the same path the impact will be catastrophic."
He further added, "Like the FDI in construction sector will lead to foreign-based companies walking away with cream and we will be fed on leftovers."
"Already the ABCD jobs have become scarce --A for ardali (support staff), B for bairra (waiter), C for chowkidar (security guard) and D for driver, right now challenge is for livelihood in India, but globalisation will bring in hidden unemployment when highly educated youth will not find matching jobs to their skills," he cautioned.
Govindacharya said that the focus should be on agriculture and allied industries which have more opportunities for job creation and suits India's conditions.
On the changes in FDI in single brand retail sector, he said, "I am sure the BJP and RSS must be thinking about the ill effects of allowing single brand retail. Since its far reaching social consequences, apart from adverse impact on manufacturing, it will bring in environment concerns, pollution, growth in crime as well."
On differences between RSS and BJP on economic issues, he said, "I am not an RSS ideologue, both RSS and BJP should work together so that the difference on opinions don't result into any rift between the two."
Swadeshi Jagran Manch opposes FDI in single brand retail
Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a RSS affiliate, too has strongly opposed the decision of the Union cabinet allowing 100 per cent FDI under automatic route for Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT) and construction development. It's national co-convener Ashwini Mahajan told India Today that easing the norms for FDI in SBRT would go against the best interest of the country and Modi government's Make in India policy.
Mahajan said that the decision to set off the condition of mandatory sourcing requirement of 30 per cent of purchases from India for 5 years after the opening of the first store by the foreign company is worrisome.
"As a result of this decision, foreign companies would get freedom of procuring the products from anywhere in the globe, this would go against the interests of the domestic manufacturing and also would discourage the future investment in manufacturing in India and therefore would go against the own declared policy of the government of encouraging 'Make in India'," he said.
He also said that it would be appropriate to mention that at present domestic manufacturing is in serious problems due to lack of new investment in manufacturing in the country. "The Swadeshi Jagran Manch calls upon the governments to revisit this decision and do not tinker with the 30 per cent mandatory procurement by MNCs from within the country," he added.
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch has also expressed strong resentment to Union cabinet's decision to allow foreign investment up to 49 per cent in Air India and other decisions about easing of norms for FDI and FIIs.
Mahajan said that it would be prudent to honour the report of the Parliamentary Committee, which has recently recommended against the disinvestment in Air India and has recommended for holding back this decision for the time being.
He said, "Allowing indiscriminate globalisation is not conducive to our environment and we will not be able to cope up with its ill effects. We have seen the example of Brazil which started off economic reforms ahead of India, the ill effects of indiscriminate urbanisation despite the fact that their population is much less and they have double land mass, if India treads the same path the impact will be catastrophic."
He further added, "Like the FDI in construction sector will lead to foreign-based companies walking away with cream and we will be fed on leftovers."
"Already the ABCD jobs have become scarce --A for ardali (support staff), B for bairra (waiter), C for chowkidar (security guard) and D for driver, right now challenge is for livelihood in India, but globalisation will bring in hidden unemployment when highly educated youth will not find matching jobs to their skills," he cautioned.
Govindacharya said that the focus should be on agriculture and allied industries which have more opportunities for job creation and suits India's conditions.
On the changes in FDI in single brand retail sector, he said, "I am sure the BJP and RSS must be thinking about the ill effects of allowing single brand retail. Since its far reaching social consequences, apart from adverse impact on manufacturing, it will bring in environment concerns, pollution, growth in crime as well."
On differences between RSS and BJP on economic issues, he said, "I am not an RSS ideologue, both RSS and BJP should work together so that the difference on opinions don't result into any rift between the two."
Swadeshi Jagran Manch opposes FDI in single brand retail
Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a RSS affiliate, too has strongly opposed the decision of the Union cabinet allowing 100 per cent FDI under automatic route for Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT) and construction development. It's national co-convener Ashwini Mahajan told India Today that easing the norms for FDI in SBRT would go against the best interest of the country and Modi government's Make in India policy.
Mahajan said that the decision to set off the condition of mandatory sourcing requirement of 30 per cent of purchases from India for 5 years after the opening of the first store by the foreign company is worrisome.
"As a result of this decision, foreign companies would get freedom of procuring the products from anywhere in the globe, this would go against the interests of the domestic manufacturing and also would discourage the future investment in manufacturing in India and therefore would go against the own declared policy of the government of encouraging 'Make in India'," he said.
He also said that it would be appropriate to mention that at present domestic manufacturing is in serious problems due to lack of new investment in manufacturing in the country. "The Swadeshi Jagran Manch calls upon the governments to revisit this decision and do not tinker with the 30 per cent mandatory procurement by MNCs from within the country," he added.
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch has also expressed strong resentment to Union cabinet's decision to allow foreign investment up to 49 per cent in Air India and other decisions about easing of norms for FDI and FIIs.
Mahajan said that it would be prudent to honour the report of the Parliamentary Committee, which has recently recommended against the disinvestment in Air India and has recommended for holding back this decision for the time being.
Relief for Indian techies in US: Bill for increasing number of Green Cards introduced
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A legislation backed by the Trump administration pushing for merit-based immigration and increasing the allotment of Green Cards by a hefty 45 per cent annually has been introduced in the House of Representatives, a move that could benefit Indian techies if signed into law.
The legislation Securing Americas Future Act if passed by Congress and signed into law by US President Donald Trump will end the diversity visa programme and reduce the overall immigration levels from currently averaging 1.05 million to 260,000 a year.
It seeks to increase the allotment of Green Cards by an impressive 45 per cent from the current 120,000 to 175,000 per annum.
Indian-American technology professionals, who come to the US mainly on H-1B visas and opt for Green Cards or legal permanent residence status, are expected to be a major beneficiary of the Securing Americas Futures Act.
As per unofficial estimate, there are nearly 500,000 Indians waiting in the queue for Green Cards and have to seek annual extensions of their H-1B visas. Many wait for decades to get their Green Cards.
The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.
The increase in the number of Green Cards per annum is likely to reduce their wait period drastically.
Having a Green Card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, allows a person to live and work permanently in the United States.
However, the elimination of chain migration is likely to badly affect those Indian Americans who are planning to bring their other family members to the US.
Securing Americas Future Act eliminates Green Card programmes for relatives, other than spouses and minor children.
A merit-based immigration system, the Trump administration feels would admit the best and the brightest around the world while making it harder for people to come to the country illegally.
Observers say this could benefit technically-qualified people from countries like India and China.
The legislation was introduced by House Homeland Security Committee Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee Chairwoman Martha McSally, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Judiciary Committee Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Raul Labrador.
"This bill offers common-sense solutions that will finally secure our borders, better support our frontline defenders, strengthen interior enforcement, and get tough on those who break our immigration laws. With this the president at the helm, we have the opportunity to provide the security and rule of law our founding fathers intended," said McCaul.
At the same time, it creates a renewable temporary visa for parents of citizens to unite families at no cost to taxpayers.
The legislation creates a workable agricultural guest worker programme to grow the US economy, authors of the legislation said.
Labrador said the bill will modernise Americas immigration system for the next generation, enacting conservative reforms that will make the nation strong.
"This carefully crafted legislation, which is aligned with the White Houses? immigration priorities, combines enforcement measures and increased border security to enhance public safety, ensure the door remains open to law-abiding immigrants, and restore the rule of law," said Goodlatte.
In a late-night statement, the White House said the legislation "would accomplish the Presidents core priorities for the American people".
The legislation Securing Americas Future Act if passed by Congress and signed into law by US President Donald Trump will end the diversity visa programme and reduce the overall immigration levels from currently averaging 1.05 million to 260,000 a year.
It seeks to increase the allotment of Green Cards by an impressive 45 per cent from the current 120,000 to 175,000 per annum.
Indian-American technology professionals, who come to the US mainly on H-1B visas and opt for Green Cards or legal permanent residence status, are expected to be a major beneficiary of the Securing Americas Futures Act.
As per unofficial estimate, there are nearly 500,000 Indians waiting in the queue for Green Cards and have to seek annual extensions of their H-1B visas. Many wait for decades to get their Green Cards.
The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.
The increase in the number of Green Cards per annum is likely to reduce their wait period drastically.
Having a Green Card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, allows a person to live and work permanently in the United States.
However, the elimination of chain migration is likely to badly affect those Indian Americans who are planning to bring their other family members to the US.
Securing Americas Future Act eliminates Green Card programmes for relatives, other than spouses and minor children.
A merit-based immigration system, the Trump administration feels would admit the best and the brightest around the world while making it harder for people to come to the country illegally.
Observers say this could benefit technically-qualified people from countries like India and China.
The legislation was introduced by House Homeland Security Committee Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee Chairwoman Martha McSally, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Judiciary Committee Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Raul Labrador.
"This bill offers common-sense solutions that will finally secure our borders, better support our frontline defenders, strengthen interior enforcement, and get tough on those who break our immigration laws. With this the president at the helm, we have the opportunity to provide the security and rule of law our founding fathers intended," said McCaul.
At the same time, it creates a renewable temporary visa for parents of citizens to unite families at no cost to taxpayers.
The legislation creates a workable agricultural guest worker programme to grow the US economy, authors of the legislation said.
Labrador said the bill will modernise Americas immigration system for the next generation, enacting conservative reforms that will make the nation strong.
"This carefully crafted legislation, which is aligned with the White Houses? immigration priorities, combines enforcement measures and increased border security to enhance public safety, ensure the door remains open to law-abiding immigrants, and restore the rule of law," said Goodlatte.
In a late-night statement, the White House said the legislation "would accomplish the Presidents core priorities for the American people".
Punjab government waives off farm loan of jailed Pearl group MD
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Punjab government officials have waived off the loan of Pearl Group managing director Sukhdev Singh while many of the actual debt-ridden farmers are committing suicide for their names not being included in the list of beneficiaies of the loan waiver.
Sukhdev Singh has allegedly got his name included in the list of economically weaker farmers and has got a loan amounting to Rs 1.74 lakh waived off.
Raghuveer Singh Sandhu, deputy registrar of cooperative societies, Punjab, said that the allegations on Sukhdev Singh will be investigated.
Accused of committing Chit Fund and other scams, Singh was arrested by the CBI in 2016. He had raised a loan from Cooperative Society Jaliyan in Rupnagar district.
State government sources said that the concerned cooperative society official has been asked to submit a report within two days.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on January 7 had launched the debt waiver scheme which kicked off controversies as the farmers who had not provided their Aadhaar details were not considered for the waiver.
The state government is waiving off loans of 5.63 lakh farmers who had raised loans through the cooperative societies in the first phase.
Further, the state government also plans to write off loans raised from nationalised banks.
A total waiver of Rs 2700 crore will be made in four phases of the scheme.
Sukhdev Singh has allegedly got his name included in the list of economically weaker farmers and has got a loan amounting to Rs 1.74 lakh waived off.
Raghuveer Singh Sandhu, deputy registrar of cooperative societies, Punjab, said that the allegations on Sukhdev Singh will be investigated.
Accused of committing Chit Fund and other scams, Singh was arrested by the CBI in 2016. He had raised a loan from Cooperative Society Jaliyan in Rupnagar district.
State government sources said that the concerned cooperative society official has been asked to submit a report within two days.
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on January 7 had launched the debt waiver scheme which kicked off controversies as the farmers who had not provided their Aadhaar details were not considered for the waiver.
The state government is waiving off loans of 5.63 lakh farmers who had raised loans through the cooperative societies in the first phase.
Further, the state government also plans to write off loans raised from nationalised banks.
A total waiver of Rs 2700 crore will be made in four phases of the scheme.
Business Affairs
Price Waterhouse gets 2-year ban in Satyam scam: 10 major points from 108-page Sebi order
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Nine years after India's then tech major Satyam brought shame to the country, and left the entire global corporate community shocked by manipulating accounts to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore, the memory of the India's biggest corporate scandal was refreshed on Wednesday after the market regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) barred the network entities of international auditing firm guilty Price Waterhouse from issuing auditing certificates for the next two years, finding a "systemic problem" in the audit processes carried out by the PW entities at the time of Satyam scam.
In addition to ordering the disgorgement of over Rs 13 crore from Price Waterhouse (PwC) and two of its former partners, the capital regulator assured the present order would not affect the firm's audit works taken up during 2017-18 fiscal year. Price Waterhouse, however, seems perturbed and 'disappointed' with the adjudication order.
By passing a stringent order against one of Big Four auditors in the world, Sebi seems to have set a strong message that wrong practices and market abuse would not be tolerated in India, say experts. Sebi says it carried out the investigation into the affairs of SCSL (Satyam Computer Services Limited) to ascertain whether the provisions of the SEBI Act were violated, and it found that certain directors and employees of SCSL connived and collaborated in the overstatement, fabrication, falsification and misrepresentation in the books of account and financial statements of SCSL, whose statutory auditor from April 1, 2000, was Price Waterhouse (PwC).
"There has been no intentional wrong doing by PW firms in the unprecedented management perpetrated fraud at Satyam, nor have we seen any materialevidence to the contrary. We believe that the order is also not in line with the directions of the Bombay High Court order of 2011 and so we areconfident of getting a stay before this order becomes effective," said PwC in a statement, as PTI reported.
10 major points extracted from Sebi order
Sebi has imposed a two-year ban on entities/ firms practicing as chartered accountants in India under the brand and banner of PwC from directly or indirectly issuing any certificate of audit of listed companies, compliance of obligations of listed companies and intermediaries registered with the regulator.
The capital market regulator has confirmed the published books of account of Satyam contained false and inflated current account bank balances, fixed deposit balances, fictitious interest income revenue from sales and debtors' figures, and for several years.
Price Waterhouse Bangalore and its two erstwhile partners - S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri Noticee - have been asked to jointly disgorge the wrongful gains of over Rs 13 crore with interest calculated at the rate of 12% per annum from January 7, 2009, till the date of payment.
The noticees have been asked to pay the said amount in the next 45 days. These two partners can't also issue any certificate of audit of listed companies, compliance of obligations of listed companies and intermediaries registered with Sebi for the next three years.
The order says the noticees were granted an opportunity by Sebi to conduct an inspection of all the documents collected during the investigation, and PwC entities and the representatives of engagement partners took out separate inspection of records. The order says the auditors did not independently check the veracity of the monthly bank statements and fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) and relied upon them for their certification process.
PW firms benefited from the relationship from SCSL by having received a fee of over Rs 23 crore during 2000-2008. Of this, over Rs 13 crore was paid towards PW Bangalore for the audit of SCSL, says the order.
The network structure of operations adopted by the international accounting firm should not be used as a shield to avoid legal implications arising out of the certifications issued under the brand name of the network, the Sebi order said.
Highlighting that common investors were, in a way, fooled as Satyam's audit certifications - which they fully trusted as it was attested by internationally reputed firm Price Waterhouse - were false and misleading, the order says the long period during which the falsification of account books took place points to a systemic problem in the audit processes carried out by the PW entities.
Sebi has also said the objective of insulating the securities market from such fraudulent accounting practices perpetrated by an international firm of repute will be ineffective if the directions do not bring within its sweep the brand name PwC.
Sebi points out that it is important for it to take stern view of the market abuse and fraudulent practices, particularly when persons tasked with protecting the interest of investors are themselves hand-in-glove with the main perpetrators of the fraud.
In addition to ordering the disgorgement of over Rs 13 crore from Price Waterhouse (PwC) and two of its former partners, the capital regulator assured the present order would not affect the firm's audit works taken up during 2017-18 fiscal year. Price Waterhouse, however, seems perturbed and 'disappointed' with the adjudication order.
By passing a stringent order against one of Big Four auditors in the world, Sebi seems to have set a strong message that wrong practices and market abuse would not be tolerated in India, say experts. Sebi says it carried out the investigation into the affairs of SCSL (Satyam Computer Services Limited) to ascertain whether the provisions of the SEBI Act were violated, and it found that certain directors and employees of SCSL connived and collaborated in the overstatement, fabrication, falsification and misrepresentation in the books of account and financial statements of SCSL, whose statutory auditor from April 1, 2000, was Price Waterhouse (PwC).
"There has been no intentional wrong doing by PW firms in the unprecedented management perpetrated fraud at Satyam, nor have we seen any materialevidence to the contrary. We believe that the order is also not in line with the directions of the Bombay High Court order of 2011 and so we areconfident of getting a stay before this order becomes effective," said PwC in a statement, as PTI reported.
10 major points extracted from Sebi order
Sebi has imposed a two-year ban on entities/ firms practicing as chartered accountants in India under the brand and banner of PwC from directly or indirectly issuing any certificate of audit of listed companies, compliance of obligations of listed companies and intermediaries registered with the regulator.
The capital market regulator has confirmed the published books of account of Satyam contained false and inflated current account bank balances, fixed deposit balances, fictitious interest income revenue from sales and debtors' figures, and for several years.
Price Waterhouse Bangalore and its two erstwhile partners - S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri Noticee - have been asked to jointly disgorge the wrongful gains of over Rs 13 crore with interest calculated at the rate of 12% per annum from January 7, 2009, till the date of payment.
The noticees have been asked to pay the said amount in the next 45 days. These two partners can't also issue any certificate of audit of listed companies, compliance of obligations of listed companies and intermediaries registered with Sebi for the next three years.
The order says the noticees were granted an opportunity by Sebi to conduct an inspection of all the documents collected during the investigation, and PwC entities and the representatives of engagement partners took out separate inspection of records. The order says the auditors did not independently check the veracity of the monthly bank statements and fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) and relied upon them for their certification process.
PW firms benefited from the relationship from SCSL by having received a fee of over Rs 23 crore during 2000-2008. Of this, over Rs 13 crore was paid towards PW Bangalore for the audit of SCSL, says the order.
The network structure of operations adopted by the international accounting firm should not be used as a shield to avoid legal implications arising out of the certifications issued under the brand name of the network, the Sebi order said.
Highlighting that common investors were, in a way, fooled as Satyam's audit certifications - which they fully trusted as it was attested by internationally reputed firm Price Waterhouse - were false and misleading, the order says the long period during which the falsification of account books took place points to a systemic problem in the audit processes carried out by the PW entities.
Sebi has also said the objective of insulating the securities market from such fraudulent accounting practices perpetrated by an international firm of repute will be ineffective if the directions do not bring within its sweep the brand name PwC.
Sebi points out that it is important for it to take stern view of the market abuse and fraudulent practices, particularly when persons tasked with protecting the interest of investors are themselves hand-in-glove with the main perpetrators of the fraud.
TCS posts 3.6% fall in Q3 net profit y-o-y, remains hopeful of stronger growth
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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the first IT firm to declare results for the seasonally tepid December quarter. India's biggest software exporter saw its net profit fall 3.6 per cent year-on-year to Rs 6,531 crore in the quarter that ended on December 31, 2017, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
The company had registered a net profit of Rs 6,778 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal. The Q3 net profit, however, grew 1.3 per cent in comparison to September quarter this fiscal. The software giant posted net profit of Rs 6,446 crore last quarter.
The company posted 3.9 per cent growth in income from operations during the quarter at Rs 30,904 crore, as opposed to the Rs 29,735 crore in the year-ago period, as per Indian Accounting Standard (Ind-AS). TCS has declared a dividend of Rs 7 per share, while earning per share was at Rs 34.12.
The software arm of salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group said revenue growth from all segments was above 9.5 percent, barring retail and the banking, financial services and insurance sector (BFSI), its largest.
"We wrapped 2017 with a strong performance in the December quarter, marked by the signing of industry-defining deals, robust client metrics and broad-based demand across industry verticals. As lagging parts of our portfolio turn around, and areas of softness reduce, we are well placed for stronger growth ahead," said TCS CEO and MD Rajesh Gopinathan.
He added that the company signed its first over USD 50 million deal in 'Digital' this quarter, "crossing an important milestone in the mainstreaming of Digital technologies".
"We had a very good quarter marked by excellent operating metrics all across. New deal ramp-ups, increasing traction in Digital, robust demand pick up in Retail and continuing momentum in most of our industry verticals gave us strong volume growth in a seasonally weak quarter. Our reputation for superior execution, combined with our platform capability, positions us well to close mega deals," TCS COO and Executive Director N Ganapathy Subramaniam said.
TCS' digital revenue saw an increase of about 40 per cent year-on-year and accounted for 22.1 per cent of the company's revenues. During the quarter, TCS saw its IT attrition rate (LTM) coming down 0.2 per cent sequentially to 11.1 per cent. It added 12,534 employees (gross) in the December 2017 quarter, taking its total headcount to 3,90,880 people.
The company had registered a net profit of Rs 6,778 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal. The Q3 net profit, however, grew 1.3 per cent in comparison to September quarter this fiscal. The software giant posted net profit of Rs 6,446 crore last quarter.
The company posted 3.9 per cent growth in income from operations during the quarter at Rs 30,904 crore, as opposed to the Rs 29,735 crore in the year-ago period, as per Indian Accounting Standard (Ind-AS). TCS has declared a dividend of Rs 7 per share, while earning per share was at Rs 34.12.
The software arm of salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group said revenue growth from all segments was above 9.5 percent, barring retail and the banking, financial services and insurance sector (BFSI), its largest.
"We wrapped 2017 with a strong performance in the December quarter, marked by the signing of industry-defining deals, robust client metrics and broad-based demand across industry verticals. As lagging parts of our portfolio turn around, and areas of softness reduce, we are well placed for stronger growth ahead," said TCS CEO and MD Rajesh Gopinathan.
He added that the company signed its first over USD 50 million deal in 'Digital' this quarter, "crossing an important milestone in the mainstreaming of Digital technologies".
"We had a very good quarter marked by excellent operating metrics all across. New deal ramp-ups, increasing traction in Digital, robust demand pick up in Retail and continuing momentum in most of our industry verticals gave us strong volume growth in a seasonally weak quarter. Our reputation for superior execution, combined with our platform capability, positions us well to close mega deals," TCS COO and Executive Director N Ganapathy Subramaniam said.
TCS' digital revenue saw an increase of about 40 per cent year-on-year and accounted for 22.1 per cent of the company's revenues. During the quarter, TCS saw its IT attrition rate (LTM) coming down 0.2 per cent sequentially to 11.1 per cent. It added 12,534 employees (gross) in the December 2017 quarter, taking its total headcount to 3,90,880 people.
Budget Expectations: Micro-lenders seek deepening of reforms and levy rationalisation
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After a year that saw a mix of both positive and negative developments for the micro-lending sector, hopes are up for some deepening of reforms and some correctives. A key positive measure last year, the creation of new credit lending entities like the small finance banks and payments banks, were a boost to the financial inclusion space and needs to be seen on how they take off in 2018. Mainstream banks also expanded their footprint in this space with some acquisitions.
However, there was also a setback: most micro-lending institutions hit record highs in non-performing assets (upto around 15 per cent as opposed to just about 1 per cent earlier) following demonetization and remonetisation of high currency notes and are still coping with it. Given this background, the budget this year, microfinance sector players hope, will see some re-thinking from a taxation perspective that would make government an enabler for growth.
There are broadly two issues with this:
Firstly, GST. "Different services are offered to the microfinance clients and we are hoping that the service tax , now GST, will be done away with since it is a service to a low income segment of the population," says Ratna Viswanathan, CEO MFIN (Microfinance Institutions Network) . The counter argument could be that the MFIs are for-profit and therefore need to pay the tax but their view is that they need to be structured as for-profit because grants alone would not make it sustainable. Since we borrow at commercial rates from the banks - 13 to 18 per cent, provide cash collaterals to the banks, and lend at 24 per cent, while banks access funds at 6.5 to 7 per cent interest and directly lend in the MFI space at about 26 per cent. The microfinance institutions for the past two years have been using the UIDAI's Aadhaar biometric authentication for KYC (Know Your Customer) when enrolling new clients. But now, when they are moving to e-KYC, they are finding it quite expensive. "For e-KYC, UIDAI is levying a rather hefty charge. Perhaps if they could consider waiving it since, again, the services are for the low income households," says Vishwanathan.
Moving to e-KYC is important to ensure there is no duplication as the MFIs need to ensure the borrowers are saved from over-indebtedness. Through e-KYC, the borrower need not submit the documents but can authorize the banks or lending agency to access the borrowers Aadhaar information directly from the UIDAI and for this the UIDAI charges.
Secondly, lending to small businesses. The credit guarantee fund scheme has been extended to not only banks but also for NBFCs (Non Banking Finance Companies). This is a credit guarantee scheme that Sidbi administers on behalf of the central government for lending to small businesses. The biggest problem with banks is that they need collateral, which is not something, many of these businesses cannot provide therefore the scheme, now made available to NBFC and not just banks so that small businesses could get this loan based on the guarantee. "While the direction taken by the government is positive from a policy perspective, I do hope the budget will further expand the coverage for the guarantee fund as currently it is still restricted in terms of size of an NBFC and on the amount of loan," says S Viswanatha Prasad, managing director, Caspian Advisors, an early investor in three small finance banks.
The other concern that many have and is worrisome since there are only 12 months to the elections, is how to ring fence micro-loans from political interference? During the demonetization period, this was exploited by some local political groups. More protection is needed for institutions lending unsecured small amounts to borrowers. Ideally, increase client protection laws but also ensure enforceability of the debts while protecting the borrowers.
Finally, currently the small finance banks cannot lend loans below Rs 10 lakh in lieu of security. "So a small trader cannot graduate from a self help group to a small finance bank," says Prasad and this hopefully, the budget would also try and address.
However, there was also a setback: most micro-lending institutions hit record highs in non-performing assets (upto around 15 per cent as opposed to just about 1 per cent earlier) following demonetization and remonetisation of high currency notes and are still coping with it. Given this background, the budget this year, microfinance sector players hope, will see some re-thinking from a taxation perspective that would make government an enabler for growth.
There are broadly two issues with this:
Firstly, GST. "Different services are offered to the microfinance clients and we are hoping that the service tax , now GST, will be done away with since it is a service to a low income segment of the population," says Ratna Viswanathan, CEO MFIN (Microfinance Institutions Network) . The counter argument could be that the MFIs are for-profit and therefore need to pay the tax but their view is that they need to be structured as for-profit because grants alone would not make it sustainable. Since we borrow at commercial rates from the banks - 13 to 18 per cent, provide cash collaterals to the banks, and lend at 24 per cent, while banks access funds at 6.5 to 7 per cent interest and directly lend in the MFI space at about 26 per cent. The microfinance institutions for the past two years have been using the UIDAI's Aadhaar biometric authentication for KYC (Know Your Customer) when enrolling new clients. But now, when they are moving to e-KYC, they are finding it quite expensive. "For e-KYC, UIDAI is levying a rather hefty charge. Perhaps if they could consider waiving it since, again, the services are for the low income households," says Vishwanathan.
Moving to e-KYC is important to ensure there is no duplication as the MFIs need to ensure the borrowers are saved from over-indebtedness. Through e-KYC, the borrower need not submit the documents but can authorize the banks or lending agency to access the borrowers Aadhaar information directly from the UIDAI and for this the UIDAI charges.
Secondly, lending to small businesses. The credit guarantee fund scheme has been extended to not only banks but also for NBFCs (Non Banking Finance Companies). This is a credit guarantee scheme that Sidbi administers on behalf of the central government for lending to small businesses. The biggest problem with banks is that they need collateral, which is not something, many of these businesses cannot provide therefore the scheme, now made available to NBFC and not just banks so that small businesses could get this loan based on the guarantee. "While the direction taken by the government is positive from a policy perspective, I do hope the budget will further expand the coverage for the guarantee fund as currently it is still restricted in terms of size of an NBFC and on the amount of loan," says S Viswanatha Prasad, managing director, Caspian Advisors, an early investor in three small finance banks.
The other concern that many have and is worrisome since there are only 12 months to the elections, is how to ring fence micro-loans from political interference? During the demonetization period, this was exploited by some local political groups. More protection is needed for institutions lending unsecured small amounts to borrowers. Ideally, increase client protection laws but also ensure enforceability of the debts while protecting the borrowers.
Finally, currently the small finance banks cannot lend loans below Rs 10 lakh in lieu of security. "So a small trader cannot graduate from a self help group to a small finance bank," says Prasad and this hopefully, the budget would also try and address.
Higher core income boosts IndusInd Bank Q3 profit 25% to Rs 936 crore
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Private sector lender Indusind Bank on Thursday reported 25 per cent growth in December quarter, primarily due to a surge in the working capital demand and boost in higher core income, which have increased its net profit to Rs 936.25 crore. The positive growth numbers of the bank indicate the reviving demand over doubling of credit growth. The bank, which has eight accounts in the list of 40 largest dud assets, does not see any impact of the proceedings as all, it says, the accounts have been necessarily provided for.
The city-based lender, promoted by the Hinduja Group, saw a 20 per cent rise in the key net interest income at Rs 1,894.81 crore on a 25 per cent growth in advances, while its deposits grew 23 per cent. Fee income grew 22 per cent to Rs 1,076.51 crore, while the spike in yields over the past few months resulted in a 17 per cent decline in the treasury income at Rs 110 crore.
Managing director and chief executive Ramesh Sobti said the bank saw a surge in demand for term-loans, which is indicative of a turnaround in the corporate sector. He said while working capital demand continues to dominate corporate loan growth, there are brownfield expansions happening for which funds are being sought. "There is real growth. We can sense it and we feel demand is reviving," he said, pointing out to a doubling of credit growth for the industry at over 10 per cent as being evident of this trend. The bank maintained its net interest margin at 4 per cent level, even as the share of the high-margin retail loans grew to 24 per cent during the reporting quarter.
Sobti said the bank saw a 20 per cent growth in the legacy vehicle loans, while the non-vehicle loans jumped 40 per cent on a lower base. The bank reported a minor surge in the gross non- performing assets ratio, which went up to 1.16 per cent on well-distributed reverses in loans against property, commercial loans and corporate loans. The lender is yet to be informed about divergences in bad loan recognition for fiscal 2017 and impact, if any, will be undertaken in the next quarter, Sobti said.
The bank continues to carry a Rs 70 crore floating provision created last June, which can be used in difficult circumstances. The credit cost rose to 0.58 per cent and Sobti exuded confidence of meeting the 0.60 per cent target for the fiscal, excluding the impact of divergences, if any. Its merger with microlender Bharat Financials has received the go-ahead from the Competition Commission and it will be now seeking approvals from Sebi and NCLT, he said.
The bank counter closed with a 2.08 per cent dip at Rs 1,698.60 on the BSE, as against 0.20 per cent gain on the benchmark Sensex.
The city-based lender, promoted by the Hinduja Group, saw a 20 per cent rise in the key net interest income at Rs 1,894.81 crore on a 25 per cent growth in advances, while its deposits grew 23 per cent. Fee income grew 22 per cent to Rs 1,076.51 crore, while the spike in yields over the past few months resulted in a 17 per cent decline in the treasury income at Rs 110 crore.
Managing director and chief executive Ramesh Sobti said the bank saw a surge in demand for term-loans, which is indicative of a turnaround in the corporate sector. He said while working capital demand continues to dominate corporate loan growth, there are brownfield expansions happening for which funds are being sought. "There is real growth. We can sense it and we feel demand is reviving," he said, pointing out to a doubling of credit growth for the industry at over 10 per cent as being evident of this trend. The bank maintained its net interest margin at 4 per cent level, even as the share of the high-margin retail loans grew to 24 per cent during the reporting quarter.
Sobti said the bank saw a 20 per cent growth in the legacy vehicle loans, while the non-vehicle loans jumped 40 per cent on a lower base. The bank reported a minor surge in the gross non- performing assets ratio, which went up to 1.16 per cent on well-distributed reverses in loans against property, commercial loans and corporate loans. The lender is yet to be informed about divergences in bad loan recognition for fiscal 2017 and impact, if any, will be undertaken in the next quarter, Sobti said.
The bank continues to carry a Rs 70 crore floating provision created last June, which can be used in difficult circumstances. The credit cost rose to 0.58 per cent and Sobti exuded confidence of meeting the 0.60 per cent target for the fiscal, excluding the impact of divergences, if any. Its merger with microlender Bharat Financials has received the go-ahead from the Competition Commission and it will be now seeking approvals from Sebi and NCLT, he said.
The bank counter closed with a 2.08 per cent dip at Rs 1,698.60 on the BSE, as against 0.20 per cent gain on the benchmark Sensex.
Sensex, Nifty register modest gains: Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank among biggest gainers
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Upcoming Q3 results strengthened investors sentiments and helped Sensex and Nifty gain 70 and 19 points respectively in today's trade. Sensex closed at 34,503 whereas nifty ended the day at 10,651. Moreover, favourable expectations from Union Budget that will be presented on Feb 1 also fuelled sentiments.
IT major TCS declined over -0.8% ahead of its quarterly results. Infosys will declare its results tomorrow and the stock jumped 2.4% in today's trade.
Realty, IT and Tech sectors witnessed heavy buying pressure. However, profit booking was visible in metal, oil & gas and energy sectors. Out of the 19 BSE sectoral indices, 11 indices advanced and 8 indices declined.
Among the A category stocks of BSE, the major gainers were Aban Offshore( 10.34%), Symphony (8.06%) and Jubilant (6.8%). Out of 2936 shares that were traded on BSE today, 1603 gained, 1327 declined whereas 138 remains unchanged.
Infosys (2.28%), Bharti Airtel (1.51%) and Kotak Bank (1.5%) were the biggest Sensex gainers. Both mid cap and small cap indices extended gains with BSE Small cap crossing 20000 mark in the intra-day trade. Over 50% of the constituents of BSE Small cap index gained in today's trade.
IndusInd Bank reported 16% jump in total income and 25% jump in net profits in Q3FY18. The stock went down over -2% due to concerns on asset quality. The stock was the biggest large cap loser today followed by Marico (-1.74%) and Wipro (-1.53%).
Among the global peers, US markets fell overnight and most Asian stocks were down today amid fears that China will reduce its purchases of US government debt. Nikkei traded lower as investors are concerned as stronger yen may hit country's exports.
IT major TCS declined over -0.8% ahead of its quarterly results. Infosys will declare its results tomorrow and the stock jumped 2.4% in today's trade.
Realty, IT and Tech sectors witnessed heavy buying pressure. However, profit booking was visible in metal, oil & gas and energy sectors. Out of the 19 BSE sectoral indices, 11 indices advanced and 8 indices declined.
Among the A category stocks of BSE, the major gainers were Aban Offshore( 10.34%), Symphony (8.06%) and Jubilant (6.8%). Out of 2936 shares that were traded on BSE today, 1603 gained, 1327 declined whereas 138 remains unchanged.
Infosys (2.28%), Bharti Airtel (1.51%) and Kotak Bank (1.5%) were the biggest Sensex gainers. Both mid cap and small cap indices extended gains with BSE Small cap crossing 20000 mark in the intra-day trade. Over 50% of the constituents of BSE Small cap index gained in today's trade.
IndusInd Bank reported 16% jump in total income and 25% jump in net profits in Q3FY18. The stock went down over -2% due to concerns on asset quality. The stock was the biggest large cap loser today followed by Marico (-1.74%) and Wipro (-1.53%).
Among the global peers, US markets fell overnight and most Asian stocks were down today amid fears that China will reduce its purchases of US government debt. Nikkei traded lower as investors are concerned as stronger yen may hit country's exports.
General Awareness
Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
National Youth Festival
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Context: National Youth Festival is being celebrated on 12th January, that is, on the occasion of birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the youth icon of India.
About the National Youth Festival:
What is it? National Youth Festival (NYF) is the biggest Youth Festival of its kind in the Country. The Festival is organised by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in collaboration with State Govt. of Uttar Pradesh at Gautam Buddha University.
Objective: The objective of organizing NYF is to provide a platform to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to provide them opportunity to showcase their talents in various activities.
Theme: The Theme of the Festival is ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’, to capitalize on the demographic dividend of young India, to capture the vibrancy and fresh perspective of youth and to pledge to accomplish the Goal of New India.
Significance of the festival: The Festival also provides an arena, by creating a Mini-India, where youth interact in formal and informal settings and exchange their social and cultural uniqueness. This blend of diverse socio-cultural milieu creates ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’. The entire programme is designed to enhance the awareness about government initiatives and exhorting the youth to express their perceptions and concepts of how to make their initiatives more effective.
Facts for Prelims:
This is the 22nd National Youth Festival. The 1st National Youth Festival was held in 1995 in Bhopal.
This is the first time that the National Youth Festival is being organized in NCR.
About the National Youth Festival:
What is it? National Youth Festival (NYF) is the biggest Youth Festival of its kind in the Country. The Festival is organised by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in collaboration with State Govt. of Uttar Pradesh at Gautam Buddha University.
Objective: The objective of organizing NYF is to provide a platform to bring the youth of the country together in an attempt to provide them opportunity to showcase their talents in various activities.
Theme: The Theme of the Festival is ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’, to capitalize on the demographic dividend of young India, to capture the vibrancy and fresh perspective of youth and to pledge to accomplish the Goal of New India.
Significance of the festival: The Festival also provides an arena, by creating a Mini-India, where youth interact in formal and informal settings and exchange their social and cultural uniqueness. This blend of diverse socio-cultural milieu creates ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’. The entire programme is designed to enhance the awareness about government initiatives and exhorting the youth to express their perceptions and concepts of how to make their initiatives more effective.
Facts for Prelims:
This is the 22nd National Youth Festival. The 1st National Youth Festival was held in 1995 in Bhopal.
This is the first time that the National Youth Festival is being organized in NCR.
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