State ownership in listed firms, in terms of the value of shares held, surged to a seven-year high of 10.38% of total market capitalization as of March 31, driven by a robust rally in several public sector unit (PSU) stocks.
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1Front Page
Xiaomi Technology India has said its ability to “continue as a going concern” is dependent on the outcome of multiple regulatory and tax disputes as well as additional funds from the Chinese parent.
Well-heeled Indians betting on ‘blank cheque’ firms — the Wall Street term for special purpose acquisition companies or SPACs — have started receiving notices from the tax department.
India’s leap to digital payments is structurally tamping down on traditional currency leakage from its banking system, with growth of currency in circulation (CIC) in FY24 declining the most since demonetisation.
It’s a question millions of Indians have been asking at dinner tables, during water cooler moments and in television debates: Who will win the election?
2Pure Politics
Prime Minister Narendra Modi caused a flutter on Wednesday when he alleged that Rahul Gandhi, who has consistently attacked the NDA government as being an Adani-Ambani dispensation and “suit-boot ki sarkar”, has gone silent on the two business houses as he has received election funds from them.
Sam Pitroda, chairman of the Overseas Congress and a close political advisor of Rahul Gandhi, was forced to quit from his position late Tuesday evening after his description of the physical features of Indians region-wise put Congress in an embarrassing position amid election and exposed it to attack from the PM and BJP leaders.
X is turning out to be a different kind of bird in this Lok Sabha polls. All social media platforms including X complied with ECI’s takedown orders on posts seen as violative of the model code of conduct in 2019 and most like Meta continue to do so.
In a fresh controversy over yet another Sandeshkhali “video” which surfaced on Wednesday, a woman from Sandeshkhali is heard saying that she had lodged complaints for non-payment of dues and not rape or sexual assault.
BJP has lashed out at Sam Pitroda for his alleged remarks on how south and northeast Indians look. It said that Rahul Gandhi’s mentor was “racist” and raised doubts on his understanding of India and its heritage.
Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday carried out searches on the premises of Jharkhand rural development department in Ranchi as part of its ongoing money laundering probe.
Political leaders get a lot of affection from their followers. However, sometimes it can be a little embarrassing. Recently, while addressing a rally in Satara for BJP candidate Udayanraje Bhosle, Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis was interrupted by a fan from the audience, who shouted, “Saheb, we love you!”
BJP has got its two-term MP Pritam Munde to sit out in this constituency in the Marathwada region and instead has given the ticket to her elder sister, Pankaja Munde.
Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala on Wednesday said that if the leader of opposition in Haryana assembly Bhupender Singh Hooda takes steps to bring down the Nayab Saini-led BJP government, his party would support the move.
Citing the 2023 Supreme Court recommendation on bringing in disincentives for stubble burning, the Centre has begun moving towards excluding farm fire burners from Minimum Support Price (MSP) benefits this year on.
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday said his government is not in any trouble and working strongly, a day after three Independent MLAs withdrew support to the BJP dispensation.
As the BJP government in Haryana is facing questions on its majority in the state assembly after three independent MLAs withdrew support to the regime, opposition Congress on Wednesday demanded that the government be dismissed, President’s rule be imposed, and assembly polls be held.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday junked a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to restrain media channels from creating pressure and airing sensational headlines on claims of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation and imposition of President's rule in the capital.
JDS workers staged protests in Hassan on Wednesday, urging chief minister Siddaramaiah to drop deputy CM DK Shivakumar from the cabinet for his alleged role in the circulation of pen drives containing explicit videos and to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an impartial probe.
The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday ordered repolling at four booths in Madhya Pradesh's Betul Lok Sabha seat on May 10 after electronic voting machines were damaged when a bus ferrying them and polling personnel post-voting caught fire, an official said.
The updated approximate voter turnout figures for polling in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections stands at 65.68 per cent, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
A man has been detained for alleged bogus voting after he live-streamed from inside a poll booth in the Dahod Lok Sabha constituency, officials said on Wednesday.
It’s difficult to make an assessment of the third phase right away. I was busy with my own election in this phase. But, I would believe that counting all three phases together, we should be in the range of 175-200 seats (of the 283 polled). So, yes it will be 400 paar in this election.
3Brands & Companies
Vehicle registrations in the country a proxy for retail sales went up by a robust 27% year on year to 2.2 million units in April, led by two-wheelers on the back of stable fuel prices, positive outlook for the monsoons, Navratri demand, and the ongoing marriage season.
Realtors are modifying their daily construction schedules by advancing the start of the day and delaying its end. Contractors have been instructed to conduct outdoor work during the cooler morning hours and avoid the midday heat.
Reliance Foundation, principal partner of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the non-profit arm of Reliance Industries, is gearing up to host the first-ever India House at Paris Olympics 2024 slated for July 26 to August 11.
Walt Disney's maiden profit from streaming entertainment in Q2 may be short-lived as the segment is expected to experience a Q3 loss due to International Cricket Council (ICC) digital rights, which are held by Disney+ Hotstar.
Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide tablet, branded Rybelsus, is gaining popularity in India though doctors have cautioned against indiscriminate use of the drug approved for treating diabetes and also for weight reduction.
Amid concerns over thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) — a serious adverse event that causes blood clots and a low blood platelet count, linked to AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine — Serum Institute of India (SII), the maker of the product in India, said that it had disclosed all information about the side-effects in its packaging insert in 2021 itself.
Auto components major Bharat Forge Ltd on Wednesday reported a 77.8% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs227.1 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024, riding on higher sales.
4Companies: Pursuit of Profit
Vedanta Limited chairman Anil Agarwal likened critical minerals such as copper, zinc, aluminium and silver to gold, saying they are “almost like gold” when it comes to their functional value. He said not only are these minerals fundamental for new-age technologies, but they are also green metals.
JSW Steel will consider raising long-term funds at its board meeting on May 17. It will also consider a dividend, along with earnings for the March quarter and FY24.
Bitumen consumption scaled a decade high last fiscal due to a surge in road construction ahead of the general election. Sales of bitumen, used mainly for building roads, rose 10% to 8.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY24, according to oil ministry data.
Tata group-owned Air India Express on Wednesday cancelled more than 80 flights after nearly 100 cabin crew members reported sick, protesting human resource practices of the airline.
Akasa Air passengers can now carry pets that weigh up to 10 kg in the cabin of domestic flights, with the airline on Wednesday saying the enhancement to its pet travel service has been done after taking customer feedback into consideration.
Engineering and construction conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) beat Street expectations to report a 10% rise in fourth-quarter net profit, helped by strong performance across infrastructure and energy segments.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) expects to clear all vendor dues in the next fiscal year and is looking to boost average revenue per user (ARPU) via multiple tariff hikes after elections, as well as faster 2G-to-4G conversions, the cash-strapped telecom company’s management recently told analysts.
Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Ltd on Wednesday reported a 16.7% rise in consolidated profit after tax to ₹943.46 crore in the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2024, riding on higher sales.
TVS Motor Company Wednesday reported an 18% rise in standalone net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter propelled by higher revenue and vehicle sales.
5Economy: Macro, Micro & More
Indian exporters have sought priority shipment facilities for local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) as transhipment of Bangladesh’s export cargo to third countries through the Delhi Air Cargo complex is causing delays, inflating freight expenses.
The 16th Finance Commission on Wednesday invited suggestions from the general public, institutions and organisations on relevant issues for it and those related to its terms of reference.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the government’s focus on capital expenditure and infrastructure development has directly benefited state-run companies and led to substantial growth in their stock performance.
Interest-free or concessional loans given by banks to their employees will qualify as “fringe benefits” or “amenities,” and are thus taxable, the Supreme Court has said, defining the tax treatment on one of the most coveted perquisites enjoyed by bankers.
India became the first country to receive over $100 billion in remittances in 2022, a UN agency, the International Organisation for Migration, said in its latest World Migration Report Wednesday.
The senior counsel, continuing his arguments from Tuesday, noted that CCI had expressed concerns based on assumptions, but it had not shown contravention of norms by Google in terming the operation of Google Play Billing System (GPBS) and Google Pay as an abuse of dominance.
India has extended the free import of yellow peas by four more months until October 2024, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification, adding that the import is permitted without the minimum import price (MIP) and port restriction conditions.
A working paper from the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) has said share of the majority Hindu population in India decreased 7.82% between 1950 and 2015 while that of minorities including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists rose during this period, suggesting that the country offers a conducive environment to foster diversity in the society.
6The Edit Page
Rural market is delivering some cheer to the FMCG industry, with growth outpacing the urban segment from January to March. The outlook has improved with prediction of a normal monsoon and pricing power of producers.
That Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia coincided with the 25th anniversary of US bombs falling on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, in which three Chinese nationals were killed, during Nato bombing of Yugoslavia on May 7, 1999, is no coincidence.
The share of global electricity from renewables rose to a record 30% last year as the growth of wind and solar power continue to far exceed that of fossil fuels, according to a report from energy thinktank Ember.
You know that enthusiasm is on the low side when it has to be stoked by what marketers call ‘incentives’. On Tuesday, as Bhopal’s voters lined up, there was reportedly significant interest in participating in a ‘lucky draw’.
The next time you’re in Dubai — if you’re not already in Dubai — you just have to get yourself a place at Orfali Bros Bistro at Jumeirah. Run by the eponymous three brothers — head chef Mohammad and pâtissiers Wassim and Omar — OBB is international chic, West Asian classic.
A spectre is haunting America — the spectre of Palestine. A few powers that be have entered into an uneasy alliance to exorcise it: Republicans and Democrats; tycoons and professionals; public figures and masked thugs aided or ignored by the police.
7Smart Investing
Muthoot Finance has raised $650 million through US dollar-denominated bonds, with global investors showing firm demand for the debt issued by the domestic gold financing heavyweight.
Esaf Small Finance Bank reported a 57% year-on-year fall in net profit for the March quarter on account of nearly a three-fold rise in provisions and contingencies, reflecting a sharp deterioration in asset quality.
The stock of Sonata Software, a mid-tier IT company, crashed by 15% on Wednesday after the company reported lower revenue and profit for the March quarter following weakness in the domestic and international businesses.
BSE (The Bombay Stock Exchange) said consolidated net profit was ₹106.9 crore for the quarter ended March 31, up 0.56% from the previous quarter. Consolidated revenue from operations jumped 31.5% to ₹488.4 crore from the December quarter.
Home First Finance Company India reported a 30.5% rise in the March quarter net profit at Rs83.5 crore against Rs64 crore in the year-ago period, backed by healthy earnings. Quarterly interest income stood at Rs283 crore, up 38% year-onyear. Total income was also 38% higher at Rs318 crore.
Canara Bank, India’s fourth largest public sector bank by assets, reported an 18% increase in profit year on year led by growth in retail loans, other income and a sharp fall in provisions.
Piramal Enterprises (PEL), the non-banking finance company of the real estate and pharma group swung to a profit in the March quarter helped by a large tax write-back even as higher funding costs and continued paring of its wholesale loan book pressured earnings.
8ET Markets
FPIs sold shares worth ₹27,140 crore across 14 sectors in April 16-30 period. Other than financials, information technology (IT), fast- moving consumer goods (FMCG) and oil & gas sectors were among the sectors that witnessed large outflows.
Investors with higher risk appetite looking for a rule-based investing approach in the mid- and small-cap space could consider some allocation to the Mirae Asset Nifty MidSmallcap400 Momentum Quality 100 ETF, said wealth planners. Conservative investors must stay away from this fund, they said.
Indegene’s Rs1,841.76-crore IPO was subscribed 69.64 times on Wednesday, the final day of bidding. The retail investor category was subscribed 7.62 times while the qualified institutional investor category was subscribed 197.55 times.
Citigroup on Wednesday sold shares of telecom company Vodafone Idea for close to Rs234 crore through an open market transactions.
9Around the World
Hamas said it was battling Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip’s crowded southern city of Rafah on Wednesday after a US official said Washington had halted a shipment of powerful bombs that Israel could use in a full-scale assault.
Tesla Inc is sending executive Tom Zhu back to China, where he led the carmaker’s entry into the country, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Top executives at BMW and Volkswagen on Wednesday warned against imposing EU import duties on electric vehicles from Chinese automakers, saying it could upend the bloc’s Green Deal plan and harm automakers that import cars made in China.
Russian missiles and drones struck nearly a dozen Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities on Wednesday, causing serious damage at three Soviet-era thermal power plants and blackouts in multiple regions, officials said.
London’s elite Garrick Club voted to allow women to join for the first time since being founded in 1831, responding to growing public pressure to end its archaic all-male setup.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was accused Wednesday of leading a “chaotic” government as another one of his Conservative lawmakers defected to the main opposition Labour Party ahead of a looming general election.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Wednesday that cannabis would be re-listed as a narcotic by end of 2024, in a stunning U-turn for the country two years after it became the first in the region to decriminalise its recreational use.
A Hong Kong court allowed the government to ban a popular protest song when used with criminal intent, dealing a setback to free speech in the city.
10Disruption: Startups & Tech
Data collaboration software startup Atlan raised $105 million in fresh capital in a funding round led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and US-based venture investor Meritech Capital, valuing the company at $750 million after the investment.
Ride-hailing platform Uber is strengthening its hyperlocal deliveries from neighbourhood stores, people aware of the matter said, amid a growing demand for quick commerce in India.
Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) has migrated its bill payment business to Euronet Services India, said two people in the know. This comes after the shifting of PPBL’s retail point of sales business to RBL Bank and the settlement business for merchant payments to Axis Bank.
Indian outsourcing leaders will likely have to wait longer, perhaps until the start of FY26, for a revival in business as the US Federal Reserve could keep interest rates elevated in the world’s largest economy to ensure a lasting victory over politically uncomfortable inflation.
Early arrival of summer and unprecedented heatwave conditions across the country have bumped up online demand for products like air-conditioners and coolers, boosting overall ecommerce sales, analysts and companies said.
Google announced launch of its digital document storage offering Google Wallet in India. The app can be used to store boarding passes, loyalty cards, movie and travel tickets, among other digital documents, firm’s India engineering lead Ram Papatla said.
OpenAI announced launch of a new tool aimed at detecting whether digital images have been created by AI. Authentication has become a major concern in the fast development of AI, with authorities worried about proliferation of deep fakes that could disrupt society.
11Sports World Play
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not in a Champions League dominated by the same familiar faces, by the superpowers and the Premier League’s moneyed elite.
Football fans around the world will now have a day to celebrate the world’s most popular sport every year – May 25. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Tuesday proclaiming May 25 as World Football Day.
12ET Panache
A painting, who s e auction was halted in 2021 on the suspicion that it might be a Caravaggio, has been confirmed as a work by the Italian Baroque master, Spain’s Prado Museum has announced.
Millionaire rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been feuding through lyrics and jibes for years. Now, a violent incident has put their fight in the spotlight.
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ET Print Edition is a digital avatar of the Economic Times newspaper. It has gained immense popularity amongst avid readers in no time. Here’s why it’s being loved by several readers.
In today’s fast-paced world, reading a newspaper while having a cup of tea is a distant dream. Realising the hardship faced by newspaper lovers nowadays, Economic Times has come up with a unique initiative called ET Print Edition.
The ET Print Edition is a digital experience of the Economic Times newspaper, which is published daily. It helps you get the enormous amount of valuable information published in the newspaper daily in the digital form.
So, you get acquainted with all national and international affairs of the world while you are on the go. The best part is you can access the digital copies of our daily published stories in the print, anytime, anywhere.
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