Today Sector News – 14.02.2018

Today Sector News – 14.02.2018

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* AUTOMOBILE: Honda is set to launch three new cars over the coming year in the Indian markets. Also, on the horizon from the company may be an all-new SUV in the range of 1.2-1.5 mln rupees.

* AVITATION: Air India will retain its name even after the government divests it stake in the airline. Private airport operators have urged the government to bar the Airports Authority of India from bidding for public-private partnership or PPP in any new airport project on the grounds this will defeat the purpose of attracting private investment in the sector.

* BANKING: Having the bankruptcy code as a potent and time bound system for resolving stressed assets, the Reserve Bank of India late on Monday revoked all the older resolution mechanisms that had been introduced in the absence of a bankruptcy law.

* CEMENT: The Competition Commission of India, in a preliminary investigation, has found six leading cement companies have formed a cartel, this time in the north eastern region.

* CORPORATE: Seeking to crack down on shell companies, the government has proposed to remove exemption available to firms with tax liability of up to 3,000 rupees from filing income tax return starting next financial year.

* DEFENCE: The Defence Acquisition Council cleared acquisition proposals worth 159.35 bln rupees on Tuesday.

* ECONOMY: Trade Minister Suresh Prabhu said the government was looking at the problems with special economic zones to understand the way forward for the industrial clusters. The government has merged the Public Provident Fund Act and Government Savings Certificates Act with the proposed Government Savings Promotion Act to bring small savings schemes under a singular provision.

* INSURANCE: The new premium income of India's life insurance industry declined for the first time after eight months in January, mainly due to lower collection of market leader Life Insurance Corp of India. Chiefs of three public sector general insurers--National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India--to meet on Friday to thrash out the initial roadmap for the merger of the companies.

* MINING: The government has decided to constitute a study group for revision of rates of royalty and dead rent for minerals excluding coal, lignite, sand for stowing, and minor minerals, as per an official order issued by the mines ministry.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has revised the prices of coronary stents using its emergency powers, without having sub-categories for drug-eluting stents, a major demand of multinational manufacturers. The government is planning to cap how much drug retailers and wholesalers can earn on medicines they sell in an effort to arrest rising drug prices.

* REGULATORY: SEBI has decided that two of its whole-time members will look into the regulatory aspects relating to five brokers being probed for allegedly misselling products of the National Spot Exchange.

* STEEL: ArcelorMittal made an offer to buy distressed steelmaker Essar Steel India, without
disclosing the financial details, along with a plan to make the company profitable, the Lakshmi Mittal owned company said. Essar Steel's bids are set to be opened today for analysis before being submitted to the Committee of Creditors next week, who will subsequently announce the winner. Liberty House Group said it was interested in bidding for Bhushan Power and Steel and sought an extension to the deadline to submit its resolution plan for the bankrupt company.

* TAXATION: Revenues from the Goods and Services Tax could cross 1 trln rupees a month towards the end of next fiscal once anti-evasion measures such as matching of tax data and e-way bill are put in place.

* TELECOMMUNICATION: UK's Vodafone may shortly unveil converged fast broadband solutions in India by bundling wired home broadband packs with 3G/4G mobile services.