CMYK
A ND-NDE
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DELHI THE HINDU
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 202016EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NIFTY 50
PRICE CHANGE
Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366.60. . . . . . . . -5.90
Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1873.50. . . . . . -17.80
Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724.05. . . . . . . . . 9.05
Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3161.50. . . . . . . . -1.30
Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9591.40. . . . . . . 56.50
Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 4528.20. . . . . . . . . 8.95
Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.35. . . . . . . 14.45
BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501.70. . . . . . . 23.20
Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3255.95. . . . . . . 23.45
Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447.55. . . . . . . . -0.90
Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179.25. . . . . . . . -3.25
Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 3133.35. . . -108.50
Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. 19487.05. . . . . . -25.60
GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120.95. . . . . . . . . 2.05
Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799.90. . . . . . . . . 6.20
HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595.60. . . . . . . . . 9.10
HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2391.65. . . . . . . 45.70
HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244.65. . . . . . . 14.85
Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 2373.25. . . . . . -88.80
Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196.30. . . . . . . . . 7.05
Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2160.30. . . . . . . . . 4.70
ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539.10. . . . . . . . . 8.30
IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1272.80. . . . . . . . . 0.15
Bharti Infratel . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 246.05. . . . . . . . . 6.00
Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784.55. . . . . . . . -3.30
Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 114.70. . . . . . . . . 0.90
ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.45. . . . . . . . . 0.80
JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269.25. . . . . . . 10.90
Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1689.75. . . . . . . . -8.55
L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1310.05. . . . . . . 18.30
M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584.35. . . . . . . . . 7.45
Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7040.90. . . -158.70
Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 16384.85. . . . . . -70.75
NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.20. . . . . . . . -0.80
ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106.80. . . . . . . . . 0.65
PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 189.35. . . . . . . . -5.00
Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1448.50. . . . . . . 22.10
State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311.00. . . . . . . . . 4.75
Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426.25. . . . . . . . . 0.60
Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183.75. . . . . . . 18.05
Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475.05. . . . . . . 23.15
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2146.55. . . . . . . 38.80
Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 814.05. . . . . . . . . 2.95
Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1279.85. . . . . . . . . 4.05
UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 4471.80. . . . . . . . -2.45
UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537.45. . . . . . . 14.85
Vedanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143.10. . . . . . . . . 4.55
Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.25. . . . . . . . . 2.00
YES Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.60. . . . . . . . . 2.65
Zee Entertainment . . . . . . 226.65. . . . . . -17.85
EXCHANGE RATES
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on February 05
CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL
US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 71.01. . . . . . . 71.33
Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 78.27. . . . . . . 78.62
British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 92.68. . . . . . . 93.10
Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 64.72. . . . . . . 65.01
Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 10.18. . . . . . . 10.23
Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 73.00. . . . . . . 73.34
Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 51.48. . . . . . . 51.72
Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 53.44. . . . . . . 53.70
Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.23. . . . . . . 17.33
Source:Indian Bank
BULLION RATES CHENNAI
February 05 rates in rupees with pre-vious rates in parentheses
Retail Silver (1g) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.4. . . . . . . (49.7)
22 ct gold (1 g) . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 3837. . . . . . (3856)
market watch
05-02-2020 % CHANGE
Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 41,143 ddddddddddddddd0.87
US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 71.25 ddddddddddddddd0.03
Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 40,871 ddddddddddddd-0.95
Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 55.64 ddddddddddddddd1.68
In the wake of the recentPunjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank crisis,the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to the Banking Regulation Act to bring 1,540cooperative banks under theReserve Bank of India (RBI)regulation.
Cooperative banks have8.6 lakh account holders,with a total deposit of about₹��5 lakh crore.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters thatadministrative matterswould continue to be underthe Registrar, Cooperative.However, cooperative bankswould be regulated under
the RBI’s banking guidelines.Their auditing would also bedone as per its norms.
Qualifi��cations would belaid down for appointments,including that of Chief Executive Offi��cers. Prior permission from the RBI would be
required for the appointment of key positions. Theregulator would deal with issues such as loan waivers.
The RBI would also havepowers to supersede theboard of any cooperativebank in fi��nancial distress.
These measures would beimplemented in a phasedmanner, said Mr. Javadekar.
The proposed amendments, along with the government’s decision to increase the insurance coveron bank deposits from ₹��1lakh to ₹��5 lakh, have beenbrought to strengthen the fi��nancial stability of cooperative banks and boost publicconfi��dence in the bankingsystem.
In the PMC Bank case, theRBI had to step in last yearafter massive irregularities inits loan accounts were detected. The regulator had toplace a withdrawal limit foraccount holders, which ledto a major public strife andprotests by them.
Cooperative banks to comeunder Reserve Bank purview Regulator gets powers to supersede board of any such bank in fi��nancial distress
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
In the PMC Bank case, RBI had to step in after massiveirregularities were detected in its loan accounts. * REUTERS
Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Wednesdayintroduced a bill in the LokSabha to provide for a mechanism to settle disputedtax cases to the tune of ₹��9.32lakh crore.
However, Congress leaderin the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury objected tothe Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020, saying it violates parliamentary traditionby using Hindi and Englishlanguage.
Introducing the bill, Ms.Sitharaman said it focussedon trust building rather thanbeing an eff��ort towards meretax resolution. She informedthe House that it would notbe an openended scheme
but would have a specifi��c timeframe. She said the billwould reduce the litigationexpenditure for the government and generate revenue.
Opposing the introduction, Mr. Chowdhury saidthe bill’s name was not onlyan attempt to impose Hindibut will also hurt the tax collection eff��orts.
Joining the debate, hisparty colleague Shashi Tharoor said the bill equated anhonest taxpayer with thedishonest tax payer and violated the principle ofequality.
The Finance Minister, however, pointed out the contents can be debated later.
In her Budget speech announcing the Vivad se Vishwas scheme, Ms. Sitharamanhad said nearly fi��ve lakh cases of tax disputes werepending in varioustribunals.
Under the scheme, taxpayers whose liabilities arecaught in dispute can paytheir taxes by March 31,2020 and avail themselves ofa complete waiver of interestand penalty.
Vivad Se Vishwas Bill aims to settle ₹��9.32 lakh crore in cases
Special Correspondent
New Delhi
Nirmala Sitharaman
Bill to resolve disputed incometax cases introduced in LS
The Union Budget presentedlast week has received a rather subdued response fromglobal fi��nancial majors whofeel that the it did not off��erany major stimulus, as a result of which economicgrowth may remain mutedlonger than expected.
They also feel that execution would be the key challenge as the government hasunveiled an ambitious privatisation plan, which facesmany headwinds.
Bank of America MerrillLynch (BofAML) said themarkets will shift focus toearnings, among otherthings, as the Budget did notoff��er any major stimulus.
“We think the markets’disappointment with theBudget will last a short
while, post which MSCI Indiashould continue to movewith EM [emerging markets],” stated a report by BofAML, while highlighting thefact that the relatively modest cut in tax collections implied that the stimulatory
impact of the measure onconsumption or demand islikely to be small.
Credit Suisse’s view is that“growth may remain subdued for longer than marketexpectation, and that lowerinterest rates remain a ne
cessary condition for growthrevival.” It added the Budgethad provided no stimulus torevive rural consumption — akey factor for the fast movingconsumer goods (FMCG)sector — as the total budgeted rural expenditure is largely fl��at yearonyear.
Goldman Sachs said execution would be key for thegovernment due to an ‘ambitious privatisation plan.’
“The execution of privatisation plans was weak inFY20, and has historicallybeen the case... The intenton privatisation is clear, andwe think the plan to sell apart of its holding in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) isa welcome move — whatmarkets are looking for isgreater progress in implementation,” stated the report by Goldman Sachs.
Budget disappoints global fi��nancial majorsGrowth may stay muted on lack of major stimulus; progress on privatisation, key
Rural let-down: Budget provided no stimulus to revive ruralconsumption, says Credit Suisse. * PTI
ASHISH RUKHAIYAR
MUMBAI
It is ‘extremely critical’ fortech fi��rm Wipro to go for astrong leader who can gelwell with company chairman Rishad Premji. And, theperson will also have to fi��t inwith its ‘strong’ culture, saidindustry watchers.
Peter BendorSamuel,founder and CEO of U.S.based research and consulting fi��rm, Everest Group, saidthe challenge for the juniorMr. Premji is to fi��nd a strongoperator who would workwell with him and fi��t into Wipro’s working culture.
“This person, more importantly, should be able todrive growth as well bybuilding further on thestrong operations that Abidhas put in place,” said Mr.BendorSamuel. Wipro’soutgoing CEO Abidali Nee
muchwala did bring in necessary changes in the company in his four years at thehelm. “He took a hard decision to walk away from lowvalue deals and turned thecompany’s nose in the rightdirection. There is a lot morethat needs to be done, forWipro to catch up withicompetition,” said HansaIyengar, senior analyst atOvum, a U.K.based consulting fi��rm. Wipro was one of
the fi��rst Indian IT companiesto talk about ‘digital’ and pivot its business towards it.Mr. Neemuchwala is seen ashaving laid the foundationfor the company’s digital business, according to analysts.
“However, [Wipro] wasslow in making necessary investments and has laggedpeers who are witnessingdoubledigit growth in theirdigital businesses. Slowinggrowth and declining margins mean less money to invest, which means lesser innovation, and that is avicious cycle eating away atWipro,” said Ms. Iyengar.
Wipro has pockets of effective delivery, in areassuch as energy, manufacturing and BPO, but needed towork harder on where itreally wanted to excel, saidPhil Fersht, chief tech analyst and CEO, HFS Research.
‘Neemuchwala made wise calls, but a lot more is to be done’
Mini Tejaswi
Bengaluru
Rishad Premji
‘Wipro’s next CEO must fi��t inwith Rishad, company culture’
India’s services sector activity surged to a sevenyear high in January drivenby sharp increase in newbusiness orders, leading tojob creation and businessoptimism amid favourablemarket conditions, amonthly survey said onWednesday.
The IHS Markit IndiaServices Business ActivityIndex rose from 53.3 in December to 55.5 in January,signalling the strongest upturn in output in sevenyears.
New work intake also expanded to the greatest extent in seven years. Freshbusiness orders were mainly generated domestically,as exports decreased at thestart of the year.
A number of panellistsmentioned weaker demand from China, Europeand the U.S.
Services indexhits 7yearhigh in Jan.
Press Trust of India
New Delhi
The government is reviewingthe negative implications ofthe scrapping of the Dividend Distribution Tax, announced in the Union Budget 202021, for investors inreal estate investment trustsand infrastructure investment trusts, also known asREITs and InvITs.
Dividend income was taxfree in the hands of REIT andInvIT investors so far, making it attractive for highnetworth investors to put money in these trusts. Now, thedividend income will be rendered taxable in the hands ofthe investors.
“(REITs and InvITs) have
been successful attempts atgetting investments for realestate and other infrastructure,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a
meeting with the CII National Council on late Tuesdayevening. “We don’t intend totax or burden InvITs,” sheclarifi��ed in response to con
cerns raised by CII’s taxationcommittee chairman RajeevMemani.
Revenue Secretary AjayBhushan Pandey said the government had received somerepresentations on the taxability of REITs and InvITs onMonday. “So we are lookingat that and if there are someanomalies, we will see howto address them,” he said.
Sources said senior Finance Ministry offi��cials, including representatives fromthe Department of Economic Aff��airs, may also discussthe matter with industry executives over the Finance Minister’s threeday tour ofMumbai, Chennai and Kolkata starting this Friday.
Govt. reviewing dividend tax rules forreal estate, infra investment trustsIndustry seeks meeting with FinMin to convey impact on plans to raise $100 bn
Changing gear: If there are some anomalies, the Centre willaddress them, says the Revenue Secretary. * P.V. SIVAKUMAR
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Uttam Prakash Agarwal, aformer board member ofYes Bank, has written to Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das allegingviolation of norms by thebank’s MD and CEO RavneetGill, demanding action.
Mr. Agarwal resignedfrom the board last monthciting governance issueswhile Yes Bank said theboard was scheduled to lookinto the ‘fi��t and proper status’ of Mr. Agarwal but heresigned before the meetingstarted. In his letter, Mr.Agarwal alleged breach ofgovernance, noncompliance, undue infl��uenceand control on a majority ofboard members by Mr. Gill.
He said discussion on his‘fi��t and proper’ status wasnot in the board meetingagenda which he receivedon January 9.
Board meet
The board meeting was onJanuary 10.
“This was done intentionally and purposely to divertthe attention from the regulators, stock exchanges, media and public at large fromfactual situation and his (Mr.Gill’s) own failure on variouscounts, major being zeroprogress on capital raisingcreated by Mr. Gill in thename of [Reserve Bank] forwhich I am initiating separate legal proceedingagainst him,” the letteradded.
ExYes Bank directorseeks RBI action on CEOAlleges governance, compliance issues
SPECIAL CORRESPDENT
MumbaiTata Sons chairman N.Chandrasekaran said onWednesday it is “too early”to take a call on Air India,in which the governmenthas decided to sell its entire 100% stake.
“It is too early...” Mr.Chandrasekaran told PTIwhen asked if the TataGroup would be putting ina bid for the Air India stakepurchase, at the Auto Expohere.
The comments from theTata Sons chief come in thewake of reports appearingin a section of the mediasaying that the Tatas appeared to be moving closerto a decision to bid for AirIndia in partnership withSingapore Airlines.
Too early totake a call on Air India: Tatas
Press trust of india
greater noida
