Latest News

By Duncan Bartlett China is enduring a barrage of complaints from Europe’s political and business leaders. Hong Kong has created a rallying point for critics, who are also being egged on by the Americans. China’s state media tries to put a positive spin on the situation. Yet as Duncan Bartlett writes, there’s not much good news from Europe to reassure patriotic readers in China. The state-run media in China does not just report domestic and international news – it acts as the nation’s voice. Its primary goal is to project a positive image of the country. It has been doing this for the benefit of a domestic audience since the People’s Republic was founded in 1949. China also has a large and well-funded network of newspapers, broadcasters and websites which are designed to spread its influence internationally. Many of them use the English language.Yet in my view, despite the enormous resources at its disposal, Chinese journalism aimed at foreigners tends to be fairly clumsy. When it come...

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on August 5 a plea filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty who has sought transfer of an FIR, lodged against her in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, from Patna to Mumbai. As per the cause list uploaded on the apex court's website, the transfer petition filed by Chakraborty will come up for hearing before a bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy on Wednesday. Rajput, aged 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then the Mumbai Police has been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. Governments of Bihar and Maharashtra have already filed caveat in the top court seeking to be heard before any order is passed on Chakraborty's plea in which she has sought transfer of the FIR, lodged against her and others for alleged offence of abetment of suicide, from Patna to Mumbai. Krishna Kishore Singh, father of the late actor, has also filed a caveat in the ...

Hyderabad: All the states in the country need to emulate the "Delhi model" for controlling the spread of the coronavirus, Union Minister of state from Home G Kishan Reddy said here on Saturday. "I am requesting the state government (Telangana) to focus on testing, tracing and treatment. There is a need to increase the number of tests (in Telangana). The more number of the tests, the faster the containment of the disease. You know, Delhi as a union territory I am personally monitoring. There is 84 per cent recovery rate in Delhi. All the states should emulate the Delhi model," he told reporters. The union minister visited Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (TIMS), a 14-storey building at the sports complex at Gachibowli which was transformed into a hospital. Even in future as part of the fight against coronavirus, the Centre will send required quantities of PPE kits and ventilators to Telangana, he further said. "The State government should tak...

NEW DELHI: With new details coming in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, his sister Shweta Singh Kirti sought help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to push for urgent investigation of the matter.On Saturday morning, Shweta took to social media to share the open letter she wrote to PM Modi, requesting him to intervene. In her note, she wrote that she feared that the evidence is being tampered with in the ongoing investigation. She further claimed that her late brother did not have a godfather in Bollywood and similarly his family does not have one in life.Shweta posted the letter with the caption, "I am sister of Sushant Singh Rajput and I request an urgent scan of the whole case. We believe in India's judicial system and expect justice at any cost." View this post on Instagram I am sister of Sushant Singh Rajput and I request an urgent scan of the whole case. We believe in India’s judicial system & expect justice at any cost. @...

By Gunjan PrabhakaranIt has been over three years since the introduction of GST, and it’s been a roller coaster ride for all the stakeholders. There continues to be several areas of inconsistency between the GST law and the GST portal. To name a few, GSTN portal does not have a functionality to link multiple invoices with a single credit note, non-availability of date of filing of the GST returns by the vendor, no possibility to track the amendment of any invoices, inability to provide negative values in GSTR 3B, and the list is long. However, GST policy makers have been very proactive in taking cognizance of the hardships faced by the industry and are committed to bring about requisite amendments from time to time. The huge compliance burden posed under GST has been a matter of huge concern for India Inc. Recently, senior officials from the GSTN and GST policy wing, with a view to remedy the hardships faced by the taxpayers, announced certain steps that are proposed to be taken to imp...

By Peter S. Goodman, Liz Alderman and Jack EwingBefore the pandemic, a traditional state of play prevailed in the enormous economies on the opposite sides of the Atlantic. Europe — full of older people, and rife with bickering over policy — appeared stagnant. The United States, ruled by innovation and risk-taking, seemed set to grow faster.But that alignment has been reordered by contrasting approaches to a terrifying global crisis. Europe has generally gotten a handle on the spread of the coronavirus, enabling many economies to reopen while protecting workers whose livelihoods have been menaced. The United States has become a symbol of fecklessness and discord in the face of a grave emergency, yielding deepening worries about the fate of jobs and sustenance.On Friday, Europe released economic numbers that on their face were terrible. The 19 nations that share the euro currency contracted by 12.1% from April to June from the previous quarter — the sharpest decline since 1995, when the ...

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported total sales of 108,064 units in July 2020. This is a growth of 88.2% over June 2020 and a fall of 1.1% over July 2019. This includes domestic sales of 100,000 units and 1,307 units for other OEMs in the domestic market. In addition, the company exported 6,757 units in July 2020.“The company remains committed to the health, safety and well-being of all members across the value chain. All production and sales continue to take place fully consistent with all safety requirements for employees and customers. This is subject to compliance with all COVID 19 related constraints”, Maruti Suzuki said in a statement. While sales of mini cars Alto and S-Presso increased 49.1% to 17,258 units last month, those of compact cars (Swift, DZire, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno, WagonR, Tour S) declined 10.4% to 51,529 units. Wholesale volumes of midsize sedan Ciaz though tanker 45.6% to 1303 units. In the utility vehicle segment (Ertiga, XL6, Vitara Brezz...

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said on Thursday it has bought another $522 million of stock in Bank of America Corp, boosting its already large stake in the second-largest U.S. bank by assets.Berkshire bought about 21.2 million Bank of America shares from July 28 to 30, according to a regulatory filing.Following those purchases, Berkshire owned a total of 1.02 billion shares in Bank of America which roughly represents an 11.8% stake in the company.Berkshire has spent more than $1.7 billion on 71.5 million Bank of America shares since July 20, including the latest purchases, according to regulatory filings.Berkshire began investing in Bank of America in 2011, a time many investors worried about the bank's capital needs, when it acquired $5 billion of preferred stock plus warrants to buy 700 million common shares.By the end of March, Bank of America had become Berkshire's second-largest common stock investment, trailing only Apple Inc . Berkshire also invests in seve...

After going through disruptions in supply chain and curtailed domestic production, the Indian smartphone market is now showing encouraging signs of revival that sets it on a potential course for market recovery for over 40 per cent in the second half this year, according to a new report. Over the short-term, the mobile market will improve in mid-Q3, spurred by early online sales festivals, setting the smartphone market on a potential path to recovery towards the all-important festive season. During this period, smartphone brands will focus on showcasing their consumer-centric value propositions, focusing more on hyperlocal delivery models, and launching more 5G-ready smartphones, according to market research firm CMR's 'India Mobile Handset Market Review Report.'CMR's current estimates point to a better performance for the India smartphone market in H2 2020, with the market anticipated to recover by more than 40 per cent in comparison to the first half. "As a conse...

BENGALURU: The National Education Policy (NEP) approved by the Union cabinet two days ago does not mention ‘Chinese’ among the foreign languages it cites as examples students can learn at the secondary level. The ‘Chinese’ language (rather than Mandarin or Cantonese) was mentioned in the draft released in 2019. It had named French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese as foreign languages which could be offered as electives, and not in place of the three-language formula.The approved policy released by the Centre on Wednesday omits Chinese.‘Chinese out of NEP, reason is obvious’The ones cited are Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian “for students to learn about the cultures of the world and enrich their global knowledge and mobility according to their own interests and aspirations”.An official associated with the formulation of the final NEP said he was unaware of the change, but “the reasons are obvious”. India has banned over 100 Chinese apps follo...

The burden of borrowing from markets to make up for the deficit in goods and services (GST) compensation due from the Centre cannot be solely on states, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal said in a letter to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.“States should not be made to bear the burden of borrowing, which in any case is likely to be higher than the rate at which the central government will be able to borrow,” Badal said in the letter dated July 3, a copy of which was seen by ET.Badal suggested a combination of borrowing and bringing more products such as tobacco and cigarettes, and other goods used predominantly by the rich, under the ambit of compensation cess to overcome the deficit.“In federal polity there shall always be some dispute on legal interpretations… Constitution allows their healthy resolution through a mechanism that is yet to be operationalised,” said Badal.The Punjab finance minister’s comments came close on the heels of the attorney general’s opinion that...

By Suresh SadagopanEarly in July, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) notified changes to the Investment Advisers Regulations, 2013. The amendment to the IA Regulations has been long in the making - over seven years to be precise. The various proposals that came in the form of consultation papers in the past, have gone in different directions, adding to the confusion. Now finally, the amendments have come in. There are good points for sure; but there are niggles as well.The positivesOne of the positive amendments is client-level segregation. This is a brilliant way of avoiding conflicts of interest at the client level and at the same time allowing the advisor to do distribution for some clients and advisory for others. This way, the existing businesses are not disrupted, while at the same time avoiding conflicts of interest at the client level.This kind of client segregation is to be there at the family level for individual investment advisers, where say the wife can be a...

NEW DELHI: US lawmakers' six-hour grilling of the CEOs of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple on Wednesday renews the question about fairness and transparency of practices followed by these companies in India. If the tech giants are suspected of crushing competition and lax about privacy and data protection in the US, they could be doing so in India too. India is the fastest growing market for several of their businesses.Investors and entrepreneurs agree that while India needs to attract more foreign investment, it also has to build a clearer regulatory system to safeguard national interest - a system that strikes a balance between the needs of nurturing local businesses and making India attractive to investors from abroad."India needs to build capabilities to identify businesses that violate customer privacy, are not registered to do business in India and do not pay taxes. We need clear regulations and must take action where appropriate," said Krish Gopalakrishnan, co-fou...

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be joined on the stage and on the spot of the bhoomi pujan (ground-breaking ceremony) for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5 by a few select invitees, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Ram Temple Trust head Nritya Gopal Das.Some of these VIPs will speak on the occasion, with the general secretary of the trust, Champat Rai, coordinating the proceedings, said people aware of the matter. Home minister Amit Shah is also likely to attend the function, they said.The bhoomi pujan will be done by the PM between 12:30 pm and 12:40 pm in the auspicious ‘abhijeet muhurat’. “There will be limited number of VIPs on stage and at bhoomi pujan spot given social distancing norms and Covid-19 protocols,” a member of the trust told ET on condition of anonymity, as Ayodhya district saw its biggest single-day increase of 142 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, taking total cases to 1,194 and active cases to ...

NEW DELHI: The first major impact of the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is likely to be felt in the academic session 2022-23 when the Centre plans to roll out 'easier' board exams, 5+3+3+4 school format and a reformed 360-degree school report card.However, the plan for exams in classes 3, 5 and 8 has still not been finalised. It is not yet decided if the school or an external authority will conduct these examinations.Officials from CBSE said the issue is being closely examined but it is highly unlikely that the board will conduct these examinations."It is clear that CBSE as a board cannot conduct exams for classes 3, 5 and 8. It will, in all probability, be conducted by the school with some framework from state's education department and may be some guidelines from the Centre. However, we will be deliberating over this subject and have more clarity on it over the next few days," a top CBSE official told ET.Secretary general of the Council of Boards of Sc...

NEW DELHI: The navy is not in favour of an offer by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for an upcoming Rs 21,000 crore Make in India contract as its chopper does not meet requirements and there is a dire need to establish alternative capability in the private sector to manufacture modern aircraft.Sources said that the naval version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) that is being offered does not meet basic qualitative requirements and is unsuitable for the role required, including urgent Search and Rescue (SAR) missions at sea. As reported by ET, the naval utility helicopter (NUH) plan - originally planned for the private sector under the strategic partnership model - is going through a tussle after HAL entered the fray and has requested the government to be included."The ALH has a rigid rotor head and has been designed for high altitude operations, where it is very good at. The problem is that the design limits it in terms of the blade folding capability. In missions such as SA...

KOLKATA: TV makers Samsung, Xiaomi and TCL don’t immediately plan to set up new production lines for large-screen premium models and will instead seek licences to import them as the limited demand for these products does not justify local manufacturing, said people familiar with the matter. LG and Sony, too, are evaluating the licence route for the 75-inch-plus premium models which are at present imported.Industry executives are, however, aware that these licences may not be issued easily, especially for imports from China. They fear that this development will impact availability of highend TV sets just ahead of the crucial festive season.The government on Tuesday re-introduced import curbs on TV sets and put them on the restricted list for the first time in 20 years with the objective of boosting local manufacturing. Companies will now have to apply for a licence to import TV sets.TCL India general manager Mike Chen said the company is already in touch with the Directorate General of ...

New Delhi: TV manufacturers like China's Xiaomi said the Indian government's decision to impose restrictions on the import of colour television (TV) sets will encourage and give a boost to local manufacturing."Currently, over 85% of our Mi TVs sold in India are manufactured in India. We believe that this decision will encourage and give a boost to local manufacturing," a Xiaomi India spokesperson said. Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents the likes of Xiaomi, Realme and OnePlus, welcomed the decision to restrict imports of colour TVs, saying India has enough manufacturing capacity and the much-needed move will boost local production. ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said India was losing jobs as imports continued unabated. “The industry was surprised by the government’s decision to restrict the import of colour TVs clocking up to Rs 600-700 crore per month, a substantial portion of which was coming from the zero-duty FTA Asean countries,”...

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India has told the Supreme Court that it hadn’t permitted WhatsApp to go live with full-scale payment services on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. The banking regulator said it was concerned that WhatsApp was storing some payment data elements outside India beyond the timelines permitted in its June 26, 2019 circular. The central bank said it had advised the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the UPI system, to not permit WhatsApp to launch full-scale payment services till the time it fully complied with the rules.The RBI made the comments in its response to a court notice, seeking its stand on a petition by an NGO which wanted to stop WhatsApp from carrying out trials of its payment service in India before it complied with local regulations.The RBI said in a letter dated November 1, it had advised the NCPI to ensure that the payment data were not stored by WhatsApp outside India beyond the permitted time or in an encr...

NEW DELHI: The government is considering increasing the import duty on active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to 20-25% from the current 10%, to help boost local manufacturing of the bulk drugs, people in the know told ET. The department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) is mulling the proposal as it pushes to make India self-reliant on APIs. A committee of experts formed by the DoP had suggested increasing the customs duty on APIs. "This will help the Indian pharma industry as they face stiff competition from cheap imports," said an official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the world, but it is dependent on China for crucial raw material. India imports 70% of the APIs used by its drug makers from China. For some APIs, especially antibiotics, the dependence is more than 90%. Pharma experts, however, said increasing the duty was impractical at present. "We are yet not self-reliant and increasing the import duty i...

SBI has done nothing in this whole rally and from Rs 170-160 it has come to Rs 195, says the Director, IIFL Securities. What else is catching your eye given the recent moves that we have been seeing? Financials are a little under pressure today even though we have continued to see traction among some of the names like Kotak and IndusInd?It is clear that IT and pharma have led from the front purely on the back of excellent results from large IT majors and Dr Reddy’s which set the cat amongst the pigeons. But banks are in a weak spot and microfinance and the NBFCs will be even weaker. So I am extremely pessimistic about that. We are bearish on the month of August and we think that banks will lead the way down. So, please be hedged or raise cash because this has been a party which is now nearing the end. What about SBI? What exactly are you pencilling in when it comes to the numbers?They will have the best of treasury income given the yields are hitting all-time lows. Their liability side...

I do not know how August will be, but over the next 2-3 months, the market should be lower than what they are today, says the analyst. The intriguing stock for me today is Bharti. There is nothing wrong with the numbers but ever since the promoter stake sale has happened, the stock is down. Today also the stock should have been 3% higher, but it is 4% lower.Yes exactly. When management sells to institutional investors, most stocks tend to find a bottom near that price. However, for Bharti, it has acted more like a stop for the stock like it has found it very tough to cross that and the stock remained below that level. This could be partly because so much investment has gone into Jio and they have continued to gain new subscribers, while Bharti and Vodafone have lost subscribers. The problem with many of the over-owned stocks, especially where stake sales happen is that as and when these euphoric ETF flows reverse, we will see selling in them in a similar manner as we saw buying. So, th...