Category: BUSINESS

The continuous contraction in India’s exports is likely to stop next year but the rate of growth will be subdued on account of the uncertain global trade situation due to rising protectionism. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the current slowdown in exports is mainly due to a decline in petroleum products, which constitute 13.42 per cent of overall outward shipments. This decline, he said, is mainly on account of fall in petroleum prices which has driven the export value downwards. However, “the positive growth in the exports of non-conventional commodity…

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Markets snapped their three-day downward spiral to finish with smart gains on Friday as banking, finance and energy stocks saw robust buying amid supportive global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 411.38 points, or 1 per cent, higher at 41,575.14. It hit an intra-day high of 41,611.27.Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty closed 119.25 points, or 0.98 per cent, up at 12,245.80.During the holiday-shortened week, Sensex declined 106.4 points or 0.25 per cent, while Nifty slipped 26 points or 0.21 per cent.According to traders, banking stocks rallied ahead of Finance Minister…

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Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing on Friday submitted a 32,000-page charge sheet against five persons in the multi-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank scam in a metropolitan magistrate court here. The charge sheet has named former managing director of the bank Joy Thomas, former chairman Waryam Singh, former director of the bank Surjit Singh Arora, along with Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan. The accused have been charged under various sections of Indian Penal Code including cheating, fraud, destruction of evidence and falsification…

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Onion literally brought tears to the eyes of consumers as retail prices touched Rs 200 per kilogram and tomato too turned pricier in the last quarter of 2019, leaving many scurrying for changes in dietary ways as costly food items pushed retail inflation to a more than three-year high. Though well below the price jump seen for the humble ‘daily consumable bulb’ and tomato, potato also become costlier as crop damages and disruptions stoked supply crunch. Albeit for a brief period during monsoon and afterwards, retail price of tomato went…

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The GST Council will set up a grievance redressal mechanism for taxpayers.The decision was taken at the 38th meeting of the GST Council held on December 18. It has decided that a structured grievance redressal mechanism should be established for the taxpayers under GST to tackle grievances on GST-related issues of specific and general nature, an official statement said on Wednesday.The council will set up the Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) at zonal and state levels consisting of both central tax and state tax officers, representatives of trade and industry and…

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The government will soon come out with a white paper on steel industry that will focus on ways to reduce the tax-related expenditure in the sector and make it competitive, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.The task will be completed in three-four months with the help of NITI Aayog and other ministries concerned, he said at an industry event here.The steel minister said he will on behalf of his ministry assign a task to NITI Aayog and ask the think tank to discuss ways with all the government departments,…

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The rupee opened on a weak note and fell 12 paise to 71.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid rising crude oil prices and strengthening of the US dollar vis-a-vis other currencies overseas. Forex traders said cautious opening in domestic equities weighed on the local unit. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.15 showing a decline of 12 paise over its previous closing. The Indian rupee on Thursday had closed at 71.03 against the US dollar. Traders said sustained foreign fund inflows…

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Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty started on a choppy note on Thursday as global investors turned cautious over US President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Retreating from its record high, the 30-share BSE index was trading 24.89 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 41,533.68 in opening session. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 7.60 points or 0.06 per cent to 12,214.30. Yes Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack falling up to 2.46 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, HDFC, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel.…

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Indian IT major Infosys has agreed to pay USD 800,000 (nearly Rs 5.6 crore) to settle allegations of misclassification of foreign workers and tax fraud, officials said on Tuesday. Infosys will pay California USD 800,000 to resolve allegations that, between 2006 and 2017, approximately 500 Infosys employees were working in the state on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. This misclassification resulted in Infosys avoiding California payroll taxes such as the unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and employment training taxes. H-1B visas also require…

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Equity benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 300 points to hit its lifetime high of 41,262.88 in morning trade on Tuesday led by gains in IT, metal and financial stocks amid positive cues from global equities and sustained foreign fund inflow. After surging 324 points, the 30-share index was trading 292.28 points or 0.71 per cent to 41,231 at 1045 hours. Similarly, the broader Nifty inched closer to its record peak of 12,158.80. It was trading 78.15 points or 0.65 per cent higher at 12,132.10. Tata Steel was the top gainer…

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