What is GST or Goods and Services Tax?  
Read more at: http://www.goodreturns.in/classroom/2013/03/what-is-gst-or-goods-services-tax-162100.html?utm_source=daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email-newsletter&utm_campaign=28112015 RBI unlikely to act on policy rate till Union Budget
For
 the monetary policy review, Rajan would watch out for a likely rate 
hike by US Fed and impact of Seventh Pay Commission on fiscal deficit Read more at : http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/XlvarpdReFr83GR0wKkxXL/RBI-unlikely-to-act-on-policy-rate-till-Union-Budget.html#ref=newsletter 
Snapdeal to roll out advertising platform
The
 move is a potentially key revenue stream that will reduce dependence on
 Google and Facebook, and take on e-commerce rival Flipkart which 
acquired Adiquity Technologies six months ago Read more at : 
http://www.livemint.com/Companies/xNCbfCJGJ8GsSHr3CymmlJ/Snapdeal-to-roll-out-advertising-platform.html#ref=newsletter The import of exports
Export industry, unlike non-tradable activities, has to face foreign competition from the start Read more at :  
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ZrVUGrbPWP5FSKxxSl9JlM/The-import-of-exports.html#ref=newsletter 
The cost of redistributing wealth
Should we just redistribute all the wealth until everyone has an equal amount?  Read more at : http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/5RS3X32VkY8USJ1IhDSMjL/The-cost-of-redistributing-wealth.html#ref=newsletter 
CLR
 Note:The Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) of India has issued as 
circular with reference number CIR/CDMRD/DEA/03/2015 dated November 26, 
2015 for Timelines for Compliance with various provisions of Securities 
Laws by Commodity Derivatives Exchanges. CIRCULAR CIR/CDMRD/DEA/03/2015 
November 26, 2015 To, The Managing Directors / Chief Executive Officers 
of all Commodity Derivatives Exchanges... 
 | 
| 
 
CLR
 Note: The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has issued a notification with 
reference no. DBR.IBD.BC. 61/23.07.001/2015-16 dated November 26, 2015 
for Engagement of Services of Expatriate Officers in Indian Offices of 
Foreign Banks. RBI/2015-16/252 DBR.IBD.BC. 61/23.07.001/2015-16 November
 26, 2015 All Foreign Banks operating in India Dear Sir/Madam, 
Engagement of Services of Expatriate Officers in... 
 | 
| 
 
CLR Note: The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has issued a notification with reference no. DBR.AML.BC.No.60/14.01.001/ 
 | 
| 
 
CLR
 Note: The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has issued a notification with 
reference no. RBI/2015-16/250 dated November 26, 2015 for Non-Banking 
Financial Company-Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) – Directions DNBS.PD.No. 234/CGM (US)-2011 dated December 2, 2011 and DNBR.CC.PD.No. 027/03.10.01/2014-15 dated April 08, 2015 – Revision of the loan amount with tenure not less than 24... 
CLR Note: The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has issued a notification with reference no. DBR.BP.BC.No.55/21.04.172/ 
Thanks & Regards, 
Meetesh Shiroya  
 | 
Subscribe via Email 
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Daily Updates and News
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Daily Updates and News
Direct Tax
 
 
http://economictimes. indiatimes.com/articleshow/ 49899290.cms?utm_source= contentofinterest&utm_medium= text&utm_campaign=cppst 
 
 
 
FDI
 
 
http://www.livemint.com/ Politics/ HQt5Y873ckFQMWPErSCGEN/DIPP- notifies-easing-of-FDI-policy- in-several-sectors.html
 
 
Miscellaneous Laws  
 
 
 
http://economictimes. indiatimes.com/articleshow/ 49931750.cms?utm_source= contentofinterest&utm_medium= text&utm_campaign=cppst
 
 
http://economictimes. indiatimes.com/articleshow/ 49938852.cms?utm_source= contentofinterest&utm_medium= text&utm_campaign=cppst
 
 
http://economictimes. indiatimes.com/articleshow/ 49934057.cms?utm_source= contentofinterest&utm_medium= text&utm_campaign=cppst
 
 
India signs 11 more APAs to reduce tax disputes
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed 11 more advance pricing agreements (APAs) with MNCs on Tuesday,
 taking the total number of such deals that would spare them from 
rigorous tax audits under certain conditions to 31 so far. Of this, 22 
were signed this year. The department had earlier set an internal target
 of about 150 APAs for this year, mostly with US-based companies in the 
IT and ITeS sector to avoid future tax disputes. So far, it has covered 
about a fifth of this target.    [….] Read more at:
Govt inks 11 pacts to sort transfer-pricing issues
The
 government has concluded 11 agreements to tax multi-national companies 
via the transfer-pricing mode. Of these, one advance pricing agreement 
(APA) has a 'rollback provision', which means those relating to previous
 years. The government has signed 22 APAs so far in the current 
financial year and 30 more are expected to be inked in FY16, providing a
 climate of certainty and non-adversarial tax regime to foreign 
companies.The APAs were signed with companies in sectors rang    [….] 
Read more at:
Indirect Tax
Delhi government tells ecommerce companies to file returns by month end 
The
 Delhi government has given time till November end for ecommerce 
companies to start filing mandatory quarterly returns, providing 
specific information on sellers from the national capital on their 
platform."Attention! All ecommerce web portals," a half-page ad issued 
by Delhi government's department of trade and taxes on Monday
 said. "It is compulsory to enrol with the department by filing form 
EC-1 online." In a bid to check tax evasion by Delhi-based sellers on 
online platforms, the     [….] Read more at:
Prospects brighten for key tax reform; Arvind Subramanian panel may suggest 18% GST rate
A
 key panel on goods and services tax is likely to recommend a 
revenue-neutral rate of about 18 per cent. The group, headed by Chief 
Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, has zeroed in on the rate after 
considering various scenarios, brightening the chances for this 
important reform as the low rate should be acceptable to everyone."It 
has worked out to about 18 per cent," a government official privy to 
discussions said. GST, which seeks to replace a host of central and 
state indirect taxes on goods     [….] Read more at:
PM Narendra Modi willing to speak to everyone on GST Bill: Arun Jaitley 
Offering
 an olive branch to the Opposition to get the GST bill passed, Finance 
Minister Arun Jaitley today said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is 
willing to speak to everyone to get the landmark indirect tax law 
through. Jaitley, who needs Parliament approval for the Goods and 
Services Tax (GST) Bill in the winter session to roll out the new 
indirect tax regime from planned April 1,
 said he has spoken to "almost all Congress leaders" on the issue. "We 
have absolutely no hesitation even at     [….] Read more at:
30 of 32 parties back GST Bill: Government claims, hopeful of its passage 
Amid
 all the uncertainty over the fate of the goods and services tax bill, 
the government has claimed that 30 of the 32 political parties are 
supporting the proposed legislation and it is confident about the 
passage of the Constitution amendment bill in the winter session of 
Parliament. "We are making efforts for its passage. The public mood is 
almost one-sided in favour of the GST," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M
 Venkaiah Naidu told reporters. He claimed that of the total 32 parties 
represented at t    [….] Read more at:
SEBI
Sebi to set rules, offer sops for green bonds
The
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is set to unveil rules on
 monitoring the end use of green bonds, and might propose incentives for
 companies to issue them at its board meeting on November 30 (next Monday).
 “Sebi is working on regulations that will incentivise companies to 
launch green bonds. We would like these bonds to be listed on the 
domestic exchanges instead of on overseas exchanges,” said a source 
privy to the development. “Regulations by Sebi are likely to be followed
     [….] Read more at:
Sebi sets timeline for commodity exchanges
Markets
 regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has 
directed regional commodity derivatives exchanges to submit a scheme for
 corporation and demutualisation for approval within a period of two 
years from the date of their association with Sebi, that is September 
28, 2015. Following this, Sebi would give them its assent to adhere to 
the guidelines under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 
(SCRA) within three year from September 28, 2015, the regulat  [….] Read
 more at:
Sebi interim order fines Polaris founder, ex-CFO
The
 Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has, in an interim ex parte 
(without hearing the other side's defence) order ordered impounding of 
allegedly unlawful gains made by Polaris Consulting and Services 
founder Arun Jain and the company's former finance head, R Srikanth, for
 breaches in 2008 of insider trading rules. The company was earlier 
known as Polaris Software Lab. Sebi member Prashant Saran directed 
impounding of the allegedly unlawful gain for the period till the or    
[….] Read more at:
RBI
RBI clears way for 'vulture' funds
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Thursday
 it would allow foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to invest in bonds 
that are in default, partly or fully, if the residual maturity is at 
least three years. This means banks which have given loans to companies 
in stress can clean their balance sheet by selling these stressed 
assets. The buyers of these bonds, usually foreign “vulture funds” 
looking for distressed assets worldwide, can buy these at a steep 
discount and then put a lot of pressure on com    [….] Read more at:
Consumer complaints increase by 11.2% in 2014-15: RBI
The
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s banking ombudsman has recorded a 11.2 per
 cent uptick in complaints by banking customers in 2014-15. The 
regulator said it received 85,131 complaints in the last financial year 
compared with 76,573 a year ago. Public sector lenders accounted for 34 
per cent of the total complaints, followed by State Bank of India (SBI) 
and its associates at 31 per cent, private banks at 23 per cent and four
 per cent against foreign banks. While PSBs, private sector banks and 
    [….] Read more at:
Govt plans to put 98% sectors for FDI under automatic route
India
 is planning to put around 98% of sectors that are open to foreign 
investments under the automatic route so that investors are spared of 
the trouble of approaching either the finance or the commerce ministry 
for any approval, a senior government official said on Tuesday.“We
 are putting maximum sectors (of FDI) through automatic route. Our 
belief is that nobody should come to the government. So we get 92% of 
FDI coming through automatic route. We are targeting that almost 97-    
[….] Read more at:
DIPP notifies easing of FDI policy in several sectors
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion on Tuesday
 notified the recent liberalization of foreign direct investment (FDI) 
policy in several sectors including defence, retail and construction 
development sector. The DIPP has also defined the term “manufacturing” 
for attracting FDI. In a recent decision, the government has permitted a
 manufacturer to sell products made in India through wholesale, retail 
including through e-commerce platforms without government approval. The 
    [….] Read more at:
NPCI relaxes norms to claim personal accident cover for RuPay
National
 Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has relaxed the time period to 
claim personal accident insurance under RuPay Classic cards to 90 days 
from 45 days, with immediate effect. The card holders will have to carry
 out at least one banking transaction within 90 days of accident 
including the accident date, to be eligible for the personal accident 
cover, the company said in a release on Wednesday. The card holders are entitled to a sum insured of Rs 1 lakh under personal accident     [….] Read more at:
Economy & News
Indian black pepper production to decline in 2016 due to inclement weather 
Inclement
 weather will once again crimp the production of black pepper, one of 
the top export earning spices of India, in 2015-16. The International 
Pepper Community, an inter-governmental organisation of pepper producing
 countries in the world, has projected the Indian black pepper output to
 touch 53,000 tonnes, down by 12,000 tonnes from previous year. dropped 
to 37,000 tonnes in 2014 before rising to 65,000 tonnes in the current 
year. With Brazil and Sri Lanka increasing th    [….] Read more at:
Cross-border e-commerce to grow more than 75% in 2016: PayPal 
Indian
 online shoppers will spend Rs 54,700 crore buying products from other 
countries, and that is expected to rise by more than 75 per cent in 
2016, a report by payment firm PayPal said."The Indian ecommerce space 
is experiencing an exciting time where innovation is the key. Our 
research reveals that the advent of technology is slowly diminishing 
borders for online shopping. With the number of online shoppers set to 
grow exponentially, it will lead to increase in the number of sho 
    [….] Read more at:
Rs 20k crore worth crops lost due to February-April unseasonal rains: Report 
Farmers
 have lost more than 10 million tonnes of rabi crops, valued at above Rs
 20,000 crore, due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm in 
February-April this year, CSE said in a report. India may have to import
 10 lakh tonnes of wheat in 2015-16 as about 68.2 lakh tonnes were lost 
due to unseasonal rainfall, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
 said in its report, titled 'Lived Anomaly'. In February-April 2015, 
standing crops on 182.38 lakh hectares or 29.61 per cent of the entire 
rabi sown ar     [….] Read more at:
New Development Bank appoints 4 new Vice Presidents, allocates roles 
As
 it prepares to rival multilateral funding agencies like World Bank and 
IMF, newly-launched New Development Bank of five BRICS countries has 
allocated formal responsibilities to four vice presidents. The 
Shanghai-based bank in a release said, "Following the second meeting of 
its Board of Directors on November 23-24, the NDB is pleased to announce
 the allocation of formal responsibilities to the four Vice Presidents 
of the Bank." NDB BRICS is multilateral development bank operat    [….] 
Read more at:
FAME-India scheme to save Rs 60,000 crore on oil import bill: Government 
The
 FAME-India scheme offering incentives on hybrid and electric vehicles 
will help save Rs 60,000 crore annually on the country's oil import bill
 by 2020, the government said today. "The successful rollout of the 
FAME-India scheme will result in an annual savings worth Rs 60,000 crore
 on India's oil import bill by 2020," Additional Secretary in the Heavy 
Industries Ministry Ambuj Sharma told PTI. "We will spend about Rs 800 
crore in the first two years. Overall, Rs 14,000 crore are needed to 
    [….] Read more at:
Thanks & Regards,
Meetesh Shiroya    
 Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Daily Updates and News
CDs are documents, can be considered as evidence under law: SC
Therefore, without expressing any opinion as to the final merits of the case, this appeal is allowed, and the orders passed by the courts below are set aside.”
( Source – PTI )
Ban on commercial activities affecting livelihood: NGT told
It had directed each vehicle, permitted to Rohtang Pass, to pay 
environmental compensation at the rate of Rs 1000 for petrol vehicle and
 Rs 2500 for diesel vehicle.
The Tribunal had also said that each vehicle which carries more than six passengers would be liable to pay compensation of Rs 5,000 as environmental compensation and these charges are payable for single entry.
Rohtang Pass is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali and connects Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
( Source – PTI )
Thanks & Reagrds,
Meetesh Shiroya
  
CDs are documents, can be considered as evidence under law: SC
The Supreme Court has ruled that a compact disc (CD) is a document 
under Section 3 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The Court also held 
that a CD has to be exhibited/played by the trial court to enable the 
public prosecutor to admit or deny its genuineness under Section 294 of 
the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The decision was rendered by a Division Bench of PC Pant and Dipak 
Misra JJ. in an appeal against the decision of the High Court of Punjab 
and Haryana.
The appellant accused is on trial for molestation of his niece and is
 currently lodged in jail. He had sought to rely on the recording of a 
conversation between his wife and son, and the father of the victim. The
 appellant had  moved an application Section 294 of CrPC to get the CD 
played in the court for preserving a copy of the text contained, and 
therein for further communication to the Forensic Laboratory for 
establishing its authenticity. The application had, however been 
rejected by the trial judge. The High Court had affirmed the order 
passed by a Special Judge.
The question before the Supreme Court was whether the Special judge 
was correct in denying the application to play the CD so that its 
genuineness could be considered and established. Relying on the various 
decisions of the Supreme Court, the Court interpreted Section 3 of the 
Indian Evidence Act to hold that a CD is a “document”.
“In R.M. Malkani vs. State of Maharashtra, this Court has observed
 that tape recorded conversation is admissible provided first the 
conversation is relevant to the matters in issue; secondly, there is 
identification of the voice; and, thirdly, the accuracy of the tape 
recorded conversation is proved by eliminating the possibility of 
erasing the tape record.
In Ziyauddin Barhanuddin Bukhari vs. Brijmohan Ramdass Mehra and 
others, it was held by this Court that tape-records of speeches were 
“documents”, as defined by Section 3 of the Evidence Act, which stood on
 no different footing than photographs…
In view of the definition of ‘document’ in Evidence Act, and the 
law laid down by this Court, as discussed above, we hold that the 
compact disc is also a document.”
The Court then proceeded to hold that since CD is a document under 
Section 3 of the Evidence Act, it is not necessary for the court to 
obtain admission or denial on a document under sub-section (1) to 
Section 294 CrPC personally from the accused or complainant or the 
witness. It held that the endorsement of admission or denial made by the
 counsel for defence, on the document filed by the prosecution or on the
 application/report with which same is filed, is sufficient compliance 
of Section 294 CrPC. The court also turned down the contention of the 
respondent that the petition has been filed to prolong the trial.
“In our opinion, the courts below have erred in law in rejecting 
the application to play the compact disc in question to enable the 
public prosecutor to admit or deny, and to get it sent to the Forensic 
Science Laboratory, by the defence. The appellant is in jail and there 
appears to be no intention on his part to unnecessarily linger the 
trial, particularly when the prosecution witnesses have been examined.
Therefore, without expressing any opinion as to the final merits of the case, this appeal is allowed, and the orders passed by the courts below are set aside.”
( Source – PTI )
Ban on commercial activities affecting livelihood: NGT told
Ban on commercial activities affecting livelihood: NGT told
Heeding to the plea that the ban on commercial activities in the 
eco-sensitive Rohtang Pass area was affecting the livelihood of people, 
the National Green Tribunal has sought response from the Himachal 
Pradesh government on the issue.
A bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notice to the 
Himachal Pradesh government, HP pollution control board and others on 
the plea of women from villages located near the Rohtang Pass area.
The women from villages — Panchang, Kothi, Solang Kulang and Ruar– 
said as a result of the ban on all activities at the 13,050 feet pass, 
they have been rendered completely jobless and were leading miserable 
life.
“It has become extremely difficult in such a state to sustain the 
family and kids. The applicants have neither been rehabilitated, nor 
have they been provided any interim compensation by the state 
government,” the plea said.
The petition further contends that the “applicants had been playing 
an important role in bringing up their families by earning the 
livelihood from small-time tourism related activities (non-polluting) 
like renting folk/local/traditional dress, snow dress, walking sticks to
 tourists, giving pets and yak to tourists on minimal rent for 
photography and by selling homemade tea and snacks”.
Advocate Bhakti Pasrija Sethi, who has filed the case on behalf of 
these women, alleged that the state authorities were evicting the locals
 from such activities without devising any concrete plan for their 
rehabilitation.
“I personally visited Rohtang pass area last month and met the women 
from the villages in the nearby area. Their livelihood has been 
seriously affected due to the ban orders,” Advocate Bhakti told PTI.
“The applicants may be permitted to continue with their non-polluting
 activities at Rohtang pass in consonance with the Relief and 
Rehabilitation Plan submitted by the Deputy Commissioner, Kullu to the 
state government,” the plea said.
On July 16,
 the green panel had asked the state to hold consultations with all 
stakeholders, whose livelihood would be affected by the ban on 
commercial activities and frame a rehabilitation plan to re-engage them 
in alternative employments and sustainable tourism.
 
The green court had earlier extended the stay on its order banning entry of all diesel and petrol tourist vehicles while 
limiting the number of vehicles entering the popular area to 1,000 per 
day.
The Tribunal had also said that each vehicle which carries more than six passengers would be liable to pay compensation of Rs 5,000 as environmental compensation and these charges are payable for single entry.
Rohtang Pass is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali and connects Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
( Source – PTI )
Thanks & Reagrds,
Meetesh Shiroya
Monday, 23 November 2015
Daily Updates and News
Direct Tax
http://www.business-standard. com/article/pti-stories/govt- to-further-simplify-itr-forms- sets-up-committee- 115112200147_1.html
 
http://www.moneycontrol.com/ news/economy/gst-rate-if-18- won%E2%80%99t-be- harshindustry-parekh_4291321. html?utm_source=ref_article
SEBI
http://www.business-standard. com/article/pti-stories/ healthcare-global-gets-sebi- nod-for-ipo-115112300895_1. html
http://www.business-standard. com/article/pti-stories/sebi- bans-kerala-housing-fin-from- raising-funds-from-public- 115112301093_1.html
http://wap.business-standard. com/article/finance/dbs-to- focus-on-affordable-housing- segment-in-the-run-up-to-set- up-a-subsidiary-in-india- 115112300590_1.html
http://www.moneycontrol.com/ news/business/removal525-rule- to-aid-vistaras-expansion- plans-sia_4293401.html?utm_ source=ref_article
 
 
http://www.moneycontrol.com/ news/business/will-continue- to-have-9-spreads-muthoot- finance_4284641.html?utm_ source=ref_article
 
 
  
'There needs to be a serious rethinking on CBDT Proposal'
On Friday,
 the Central Bureau for Direct Taxes (CBDT) proposed a roadmap to bring 
corporate tax down from the current 30 percent to 25 percent by doing 
away with tax breaks to India Inc. One such proposal is to reduce the 
tax exemption offered on investment made for scientific research from 
the current 200 percent to 100 percent. This move has not gone down well
 with the pharma industry. Earlier in the day Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 
Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon  l    [….] Read more at:
Govt to further simplify ITR forms, sets up committee
The
 government is looking to further simplify income tax return forms to 
help taxpayers fill them without seeking help from experts and the 
revenue department has set up a committee in this regard. The committee,
 according to sources, will be headed by a joint secretary level officer
 and would include chartered accountants and tax experts. "The tax 
department is trying to further simplify the return form so that no 
outside help is needed by those who want to file returns on their own," a
 source sa   [….] Read more at:
Indirect Tax
Biggest GST concern is on federal powers of states: Yechury
Sitaram
 Yechury, member, Rajya Sabha says that concerns of states regarding the
 Goods & Services Tax (GST) Bill have not been addressed yet. 
Talking to CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan, Yechury says that state governments
 “feel they are being deprived of their own resources.” The biggest 
concern is that GST will infringe upon state resources, he says. Yechury
 added that it is the government’s responsibility to address these 
issues, so that GST can be passed soon. On recent hike in cess and 
taxes,    [….] Read more at:
GST rate if 18%, won’t be harsh on industry: Parekh
With
 3 days to go for the winter session of parliament, the government is 
making a major push to pass the constitutional amendment bill to 
facilitate goods and services tax (GST). According to top government 
sources the Centre is batting for a GST rate of 18 percent or lower, 
leaving the Congress with little to oppose. The panel led by the chief 
economic advisor would also be proposing 3-different GST rates, say 
sources. Ashvin Parekh, Managing Partner, Ashvin Parekh Advisory 
Services is of      [….] Read more at:
SEBI
Sebi, Bangla regulator sign pact over co-operation
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Sunday
 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh 
Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on co-operation and technical 
assistance. The MoU was signed by the chairmen of the two bodies in the 
presence of Sheikh Hasina Wazed, prime minister of Bangladesh. “The MoU 
will create an opportunity for strengthening the Bangladesh capital 
market, utilising the experience of Sebi,” said Hasina. The     [….] 
Read more at:
Healthcare Global gets Sebi nod for IPO
Healthcare
 Global Enterprises (HCG), a cancer care network operator, has received 
the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) approval to float 
an initial public offer (IPO). The company filed its Draft Red Herring 
Prospectus (DRHP), with Sebi on July 27
 for the IPO, wherein the promoters and other existing shareholders will
 collectively sell 31.1 million shares of the company. This comprises a 
fresh issue of up to 11.6 million shares and an offer for sale of up to 
19.5 million scrips by existing     [….] Read more at:
Sebi bans Kerala Housing Fin from raising funds from public
Capital
 markets regulator Sebi has barred Kerala Housing Finance from raising 
fresh funds from the public 'till further directions'.  The move comes 
after Sebi received a reference from National Housing Bank stating that 
Kerala Housing Finance raised funds from the public without complying 
with the regulatory requirements. A Sebi probe found that Kerala Housing
 Finance had issued six series of secured redeemable Non-Convertible 
Debentures (NCDs) labelled A to F to 23,538 allottees    [….] Read more 
at:
RBI
FM to meet PSB heads to discuss NPAs, rate cut
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet heads of public sector banks (PSBs) on Sunday
 to discuss bad loans and interest rate reduction, in light of the 
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lowering its policy rate in September. The 
performance review meeting will also take stock of credit flow to 
productive sectors to spur the economy and review of Indradhanush, 
sources said. The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of PSBs rose to 
6.03 per cent at the end of June, as against 5.2 per cent in March. A   
 [….] Read more at:
DBS to focus on affordable housing segment in the run up to set up a subsidiary in India
Singapore
 based DBS Bank has decided to focus on the affordable housing segment 
as part of its run-up to converting itself into a Wholly Owned 
Subsidiary (WOS) in India. At the moment, the lender typically focuses 
on the higher end of the segment but is now looking at either acquiring 
an affordable housing portfolio or tying up with a lender that caters to
 the segment. "In the affordable housing segment we are looking at 
partnership with some entity that has the strengths or on taking on a 
portfolio.    [….] Read more at:
RBI's Rajan: China slowdown is hurting India
China's
 economic slowdown is hurting India, Reserve Bank of India Gov. Raghuram
 Rajan said in a newspaper interview published this weekend. "There is a
 lower demand for some of our exports to China," Mr. Rajan told the 
South China Morning Post. "But indirectly, too, many of the countries 
are not exporting to China as much as they did and they are buying less 
from us," he said in the interview with the Hong Kong-based daily. A 
spokesperson for the RBI confirmed that Gov. Rajan had made     [….] 
Read more at:
Economy & News
Pfizer, Allergan ink $160 billion merger deal
Global
 pharma major Pfizer Inc and Botox maker Allergan Plc have entered into a
 merger agreement for a total enterprise value of about USD 160 billion 
in the biggest ever deal in healthcare sector. The combined company is 
expected to generate annual operating cash flow in excess of USD 25 
billion beginning in 2018 with broadened innovative pipeline of more 
than 100 combined mid-to-late stage programmes in development. As per 
the definitive merger agreement that has be     [….] Read more at:
Have fixes for 90% of emissions scandal cars in Europe: VW
German
 auto giant Volkswagen, mired in a massive emissions cheating scandal, 
has said it has found technical solutions for more than 90 percent of 
the vehicles affected in Europe. The recall process is now viable 
"technically, financially and in terms of manpower. This is good news," 
chief executive Matthias Mueller said. "For over 90 percent of the 
Europe group's vehicles, solutions are now confirmed," he told around a 
thousand VW executives at the company's headquarters in     [….] Read 
more at:
Dell acknowledges security hole in new laptops
Major US computer company Dell Inc said on Monday
 a security hole exists in some of its recently shipped laptops that 
could make it easy for hackers to access users’ private data. A 
pre-installed programme on some newly purchased Dell laptops that can 
only be removed manually by consumers makes them vulnerable to cyber 
intrusions that may allow hackers to read encrypted messages and 
redirect browser traffic to spoofs of real websites such as Google or 
those belonging to a bank, among other     [….] Read more at:
Removal of 5/25 rule to aid Vistara's expansion plans: SIA
Following
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Singapore, CNBC-TV18’s Kritika 
Saxena caught up with Goh Choon Phong, CEO, Singapore Airlines to 
discuss their India plans. Speaking on the 5/20 rule, Phong said it is 
an impediment to Vistara’s expansion plans. “We believe that the rule 
will unnecessarily constrain Vistaara from expanding and serving India. 
We would hope that the Prime Minister and his group will consider 
removing that rule altogether to allow the Indian base carriers to 
    [….] Read more at:
Will continue to have 9% spreads: Muthoot Finance
In
 an interview to CNBC-TV18, George Alexander Muthoot, MD, Muthoot 
Finance  shares details on the company's Q2 performance. Below is the 
verbatim transcript of George Alexander Muthoot's interview with Latha 
Venkatesh & Ekta Batra on CNBC-TV18. Latha: The fashion has been 
that gold is losing its sheen. Are you seeing it in the amount of gold 
loans being taken? A: Gold may or may not be losing its sheen but gold 
loans are still one of the best options for anybody to take a loan. It 
    [….] Read more at:
Thanks & Regards,
Meetesh Shiroya  
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