India’s slow growth is a drag on the world: IMF

• Fund slashes India’s FY20 growth forecast to 4.8%, also trims global outlook
• 'Growth in India slowed sharply owing to stress in the NBFC sector and weak rural income growth,' said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath

Govt could be losing ₹5 tn in GST revenue over defaults, evasion

• The revenue loss is equivalent to 2.4% of GDP or 40% of the GST collection target
• GST authorities have zeroed in on about 40,000 companies for claiming excess or wrongful tax rebates

RBI pre-empts RTI by releasing minutes of October board meet

• This is the first time RBI has revealed the proceedings of its central board to the public
• The minutes of the 579th meeting were released as part of the central bank’s transparency initiative

DHFL lenders ease bidding criteria for prospective buyers

• Eligibility norms pertaining to minimum net worth, AUM and committed funds were lowered for potential bidders
• The ₹4,100 crore claim on DHFL by Prudential International Insurance Holdings has been rejected

Budget’s biggest task is to create employment opportunities

• The impact of the slowdown has been accentuated by the absence of jobs. People hope that the budget will ease this pain point
• The economy is going through a tough time with GDP growth sliding to 4.5% in the September quarter, the lowest since March 2013

Sebi to firms: Can’t advise, distribute to same client

Sebi consultation paper proposes client segregation, new rules for financial advisers

FM Sitharaman kicks off budgetary exercise with ‘halwa’ ceremony

• Printing of the budget documents started on Monday, with Nirmala Sitharaman attending the customary ‘halwa’ ceremony
• Close to 100 officials directly involved in budget-making and printing of the budget documents are put in a ‘lock-in’ in the North Block post the halwa ceremony

Reality check for Kotak Bank stock as growth slows and slippages rise

• Kotak Mahindra Bank’s advances grew by only 10% in Q3. Continued fall in growth is a concern
• Company’s gross non-performing loans rose to 2.46% of advances, provisions for bad loans also up

Top court seeks govt, EC response on plea to stay electoral bonds

• Plea puts on record the objections raised by the RBI, besides other authorities, which were ignored by the Centre
• Petitioner had sought a stay on the grounds that the anonymity clause flouts scheme’s objective of transparency

IAF deploys 6 Sukhoi jets in TN, boosting capabilities in Indian Ocean

• The development comes against the backdrop of China increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean region
• Defence ministry says the Sukhois will ‘provide protection to our island territories and sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean Region’

Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Canara Bank get new MD & CEOs

• Sanjiv Chadha, DMD SBI, appointed MD & CEO of Bank of Baroda for three years
• Atanu Kumar Das, ED at Bank of India, appointed MD & CEO of Bank of India for three years

Supreme Court clears government’s 7-member board to take over Unitech

• The court also granted a two-month moratorium from any legal proceedings against the new management.
• The bench clarified that no existing projects shall be stalled by the appointment of the new board.

Vodafone Idea, Airtel, Tata file joint plea in SC for more time to pay AGR dues

• Modification application, in which telcos may present a definite payment plan, is likely to be heard in SC on Tuesday
• The modification application is the final attempt by the debt-laden telcos to negotiate for an easier payment schedule with the DoT

NRI whose income isn’t fully taxable can file Form 13 for low TDS certificate

• If the payee qualifies as an NRI during the relevant financial year, the payer is required to deduct TDS at a specified rate on the taxable income of the payee
• It is advisable to document the gift through a gift deed. The taxability of receipt of gift in the US may need to be analyzed separately

Richest 10% of Indians have three-fourths of nation’s wealth: Oxfam

• The top 1% holds over four times the wealth held by 953 million, who make up the poorest 70% of India’s population
• The report, 'Time to care', released in Davos, Switzerland said the bottom 50%, the majority of the population, has a mere 2.8% share of the national wealth

Former Union minister Nadda unanimously elected BJP chief

• Nadda takes the reins at a time when the party is facing pressure over the controversial citizenship Act, NRC
• The immediate electoral challenge for Nadda will be Bihar in Nov and Bengal in May 2021

Why food inflation may turn sticky

• Despite the slowdown in rural demand, the spike in food prices is not showing any signs of cooling. Here’s why
• This is the best time for the budget to address the volatility in food prices. Reliable market intelligence on crop production and timely advisories to farmers can help stabilize prices

Why Future Group scaling down e-commerce operations makes sense

• Why interfere when the big boys are throwing large sums of money at the India e-commerce opportunity
• The fact that the group has a tie-up with Amazon means that it will continue to benefit on the e-commerce side of things through the partnership

Govt to take management control of Unitech, Supreme Court agrees

• The govt had earlier said that it is willing to take over the management control of Unitech Ltd and complete its stalled projects for providing relief to around 12,000 hassled homebuyers

Telecom dept seeks ₹48,000 crore dues from Oil India

• Oil India Ltd (OIL) is the second oil and gas firm after GAIL India to have been slapped a demand notice
• From gas utility GAIL, the DoT has sought ₹1.72 lakh crore

Do smartphones hamper students’ learning?

New evidence suggests increased smartphone use among students can weaken their academic performance

How deep is India's fiscal hole?

Taking into account a likely shortfall in revenue and off-budget spending, the real fiscal deficit could be as high as 5.5% of GDP in the current fiscal

Is there room for income tax cuts in Budget 2020?

At a time when economic growth is trending southwards and consumption has taken a hit, hopes are high that FM Sitharaman will announce some incentives in the upcoming budget. Disha Sanghvi and Ashwini Kumar Sharma ask experts if the govt has room to accommodate further tax cuts considering the widening fiscal deficit

Karvy clients challenge Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act

• According to the petitioners, the law only applies to deposits after it came into force and hence neglects the rights of older depositors
• Also, no competent authority has been set up to implement the law almost one year after it was enacted

Samsung Galaxy Note10 Lite to launch today: Check expected price, specs

• Samsung is already taking registrations for Galaxy Note 10 Lite under 'Notify Me' option on its official site
• The smartphone builds on the legacy of the Galaxy Note series, bringing premium features for its customers

Andhra cabinet approves report on decentralization of capital

• The state cabinet approved the ideology of three capitals, Visakhapatnam as executive capital, Kurnool as judicial capital and Amaravati as the legislative capital
• Cabinet also discusses farmers’ issues, insider trading of Amaravati lands, amendments to APCRDA Act

From delicacies to delicate questions: India generating interest for all at WEF

• There are also pavilions of Telangana government and of several Indian corporate groups including Wipro, Infosys, TCS and HCL Tech
• This being the 50th anniversary meeting, the rush is more than usual and hotels, restaurants and other establishments are obviously not complaining

Google CEO Sundar Pichai calls for regulation of artificial intelligence

• Sundar Pichai’s comments suggest the company may be hoping to head off a broad-based crackdown by the EU on the technology
• In 2018, Google pledged not to use AI in applications related to weapons, surveillance that violates international norms

Maruti Suzuki launches BS-VI compliant Celerio

• The new BS-VI variant Celerio will be priced in Delhi and NCR region from ₹4,41,200 to ₹5,67,300
• Maruti launched the Celerio first in 2014 with auto gear shift (AGS) technology

WhatsApp won't work on a number of phones from 1st Feb. Is yours on the list?

• WhatsApp will also not work on a number of Android and iOS phones from 1 February, 2020
• On 31 December 2019, WhatsApp withdrew support for Windows Phones