There’s room for more rate cuts, says RBI Governor

• The government has limited space for any fiscal expansion, says Shaktikanta Das
• Banks need to take steeper haircuts to resolve stress at some non-bank lenders, says Das

Breather for Essel as lenders give six more months to clear its debt

• A February deal to extend the repayment deadline had been criticized by Sebi and investors
• The Essel group has embarked on sales of non-media assets, particularly those housed under Essel Infra

GST Council to opt for just minor tax tweaks

• GST Council will also consider states’ demand for extending cess on select products like automobiles beyond 2022
• The Council will also consider a uniform tax rate for lottery tickets, which are currently taxed at 12% or 28%

Sitharaman may announce more measures on Friday to support economy

• Sitharaman will address the media on Friday morning ahead of the 37th meeting GST Council
• So far, the govt has announced measures to improve access to credit for small businesses and to enhance the liquidity of non-bank lenders and housing financiers

FM directs banks, NBFCs to focus on increasing credit outgo in 400 districts

• Sitharaman also assured banks that the Centre will consider their request for a special dispensation for farmers and MSMEs
• FM asked the PSB heads whether there was any impact of the announcements made by the finance ministry in the last one month on the banking secto

Google unveils integrated payments and jobs app

• Tech firm also announces AI research lab in Bengaluru at its ‘Google For India’ event
• Google Pay will allow users to add their credit and debit cards, and help find entry-level jobs

Norms on RBI reserves not cast in stone: Jalan

• The reserves can be partially used to fund defence or security exigencies, says Jalan, who headed the panel to revise RBI's economic capital framework
• RBI’s capital reserves has lately become a hotly debated matter

Opinion | Modi’s revolution of attitudes that has wowed Bill Gates

The Gates Foundation has gone by the audacity and carefully measured impact of Swachh Bharat

FM Nirmala Sitharaman takes to Twitter to defend govt’s economic measures

• The FM reacted to Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's remark that she found it odd that Sitharaman should have been the one to announce the ban on e-cigarettes
• 'I’ve been working on and regularly speaking about measures we’ve been taking on matters of the economy,' tweeted Sitharaman

₹17.6 trillion investor wealth wiped off since 3 June

• Indian stocks have plunged more than 10% since their record highs in June
• Experts say the recent fall signals uneasiness among the market participants

Trump likely to make ‘some’ announcement at Houston

• Trump’s statement raises expectations of a breakthrough in India-US trade relations
• Modi and Trump will be meeting twice in three days— at Houston and during UNGA in New York

Draft code proposes social security for all informal, gig workers

• The exact number of gig workers are unknown as they are still figuring out whether they are formal workers or informal workers, a study shows
• Central Government may formulate and notify, from time to time, suitable social security schemes for gig workers, as per the draft social security code

Opinion | The best way to reform India’s architecture of fiscal federalism

A revival of the Inter-States Council could ensure revenues are shared in a way that preserves the fiscal autonomy of states

RBI reserves can fund national security exigencies: Bimal Jalan

As a percentage of GDP, the transfer of funds (to RBI) is not that high. The full resilience of RBI has been reserved. It is a one-time transfer, says Bimal Jalan, former RBI governor

Banks need to take larger haircuts to resolve stress in some NBFCs, says Das

• Shaktikanta Das said that the resolution process for the shadow banks will have to be market linked and for this, banks and other lenders will have a major role to play
• Das said that the Finance Bill has given the RBI powers over NBFCs but it would prefer that the resolution of stress be through market mechanisms

Amazon vows to be carbon neutral by 2040, buying 100,000 electric vans

• Jeff Bezos said Amazon would continue to work with energy companies
• Amazon and Ford Motor Co are among the investors in Rivian

Global economy seen sliding towards weakest growth in a decade: OECD

• The Paris-based organization cut almost all economic forecasts it made just four months ago as protectionist policies take an increasing toll on confidence and investment
• Manufacturing has born the brunt of the economic crisis brought about by a tit-for-tat trade war between the US and China

Mamata tells Shah NRC not needed in Bengal

• Banerjee said she had flagged several irregularities in that exercise in Assam to the home minister
• Her discussions with Shah came just a day after he had reiterated the need for a 'countrywide NRC'

Banks to hold public meets with NBFCs until 15 Oct in 400 districts: Sitharaman

• The move is an attempt to increase credit disbursement ahead of the upcoming festive season
• Sitharaman said she has asked banks no stressed MSME should be declared an NPA till 31 March, 2020

Air India privatization underway, says Hardeep Singh Puri

• The Civil Aviation Minister said another GoM meeting on Air India will take place soon
• The Air India divestment process is truly underway, said Puri after the GoM meet ended

TVS launches NTORQ 125 Race Edition scooter. Check price, features

• The new scooter will come with its signature LED DRLs and LED Headlamp
• The NTORQ 125 Race Edition will be available in three tone combination of matte black, metallic black and metallic red colour

SBI eyes 1 October launch of revamped home loan product linked to repo

• RBI asked banks to link rates on floating rate loans to borrowers to an external benchmark from 1 October
• The RBI recently asked banks to link their lending rates on floating rate loans to retail, personal and MSME borrowers to an external benchmark from 1 October

The story of LCA Tejas so far

• The Tejas is an indigenous light weight, multi role supersonic aircraft developed in both fighter and trainer versions
• The Tejas is designed to carry a veritable plethora of air-to-air, air-to- surface, precision guided and standoff weaponry

RBI caps term for banks' concurrent auditor at three years

• Earlier the tenure of external concurrent auditors was fixed at five years on a continuous basis
• RBI also said that banks should ensure that the concurrent audit covers risk sensitive areas identified by them as per their specific business models

Compliance key focus in new Direct Tax Code report: Ranjan

• The DTC report aims to simplify tax law provisions, and improve certainty and predictability of the law
• An overhaul of the tax law will help widen tax base in the country

Telangana company to offer ₹1 lakh bonus to each of its 48000 employees

• SCCL is owned by the Telangana government and the Centre on a 51:49 equity basis, earned record net profit of ₹1,765 crore during 2018-19
• The net profit grew from ₹418 crore in 2013-14 to ₹1,765 crore in 2018-19

NASA captures images of Chandrayaan-2's Moon landing site: Official

• The probability of establishing contact with the lander has a deadline of 21 September because after that the Moon region will enter into a lunar night
• Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander lost communication with ground stations during its final descent

New securities are an alternative to student debt

Courses that last for a short duration and are more vocational in nature are very well suited to HCCs, with the legal infrastructure around such contracts strengthening and regulatory uncertainty reducing

Goldman Sachs may lead investment round in JSW-backed Purplle

• The online makeup and cosmetics segment has seen strong investor interest over the last few years
• Purplle competes directly and indirectly with brands including Nykaa, founded by veteran investment banker Falguni Nayar

e-Cigarette ban: Why regulation of the emerging industry was difficult in India?

• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance for banning production, import, distribution and sale of electronic cigarettes
• e-Cigarettes have started getting popular among schoolgoing children and that prompted the govt to act

PEs defer exit plans in a volatile market

• 29 firms let regulatory nod for IPOs lapse this year, shows data
• Lack of investor appetite is affecting the valuation expectations of the investors

Tata Motors shifts its EV strategy from fleet to personal segment

• Tata Motors announces development of an all-new modular powertrain platform called Ziptron that will power its electric cars for personal segment in the future
• The modular powertrain platform will be capable of providing long running range of up to 250 kms per charge along with the fast charging capability

As monsoon season nears end, reservoir levels rise to 85% of overall capacity

• As per the latest report of the Central Water Commission, the live storage available in the 113 reservoirs has increased to 144.179 BCM
• The ongoing monsoon conditions over central India and states along the west coast have led to rising water levels in many of the rivers contributing to higher storage

Infosys plans skilling, rewards schemes to reduce attrition

• Employees get a certification and a skill tag for learning one of the 32 digital skill sets identified
• Bridge programmes allow workers to pick up alternative skills for more compensation

Driver earnings 8-15% lower in Bengaluru than in other cities, says Uber exec

• Karnataka has fixed a maximum and minimum fare for cab aggregators, with slabs based on the cost of the vehicle
• There has been a lot of protests against the 'surge pricing' or 'dynamic pricing' mechanism

‘I’ve been working’ on the economy, Nirmala Sitharaman tweets after criticism

• 'I’ve been working on and regularly speaking about measures we’ve been taking on matters of the economy,' Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman wrote on Twitter
• Sitharaman is due to address a press conference today after a meeting with heads of state-run banks

Fund houses, Rana Kapoor in a bind as Yes Bank stock comes under pressure

• Fund managers had entered into a layered deal that uses Kapoor’s Yes Bank shares as collateral for a loan
• The stock has dropped a 75% in the last five months and needless to say has spooked everyone, including Kapoor

Don't want banks to only recycle loans with existing customers: Sitharaman

• For every one existing customer who wants a loan, banks will have to bring five fresh customers for loans, the FM told heads of PSU banks at a review meeting on Thursday
• No stressed MSME would be declared an NPA till March 2020, said Sitharaman

Air passenger traffic slows for 3rd straight month, IndiGo market share drops

• Domestic scheduled carriers carried 11.79 million passengers last month, compared with 11.90 million in July
• The local carriers had flown 12.02 million passengers in June. On a year-on-year basis, passenger air traffic grew 3.8% from 11.35 million a year ago

RBI keeping a close watch on external sector management: Shaktikanta Das

• The governor added that the outlook for India’s external sector is one of cautious optimism
• Among the challenges facing India, deepening of the global slowdown and escalation of trade and geopolitical tensions appear to be the most significant, Das said

With eye on China, Trump makes it tougher for foreign firms in high-tech US biz

• US has further tightened the rules governing entry of foreign investors into American businesses through takeovers and equity participation in sensitive tech and other high-tech areas
• National security considerations are being cited as the reason for the enhanced scrutiny

Consumer goods companies partner to launch packaging waste management entity

• The entity called 'Karo Sambhav' has been developed by Packaging Association for Clean Environment, an industry body that counts over 30 companies as its members
• 'Karo Sambhav' will work towards recycling packaging material, collection of post-consumer packaging

Will Reliance Jio profit again from Trai’s change of tune on IUC rules?

• With Jio’s market share rising rapidly, there is a view it may soon become a net receiver of IUC
• On the other hand, Jefferies' analysts estimate the move will result in an 18% drag on Reliance Jio Infocomm's operating profits

Govt notifies 8.65% rate of interest for over 60 mn EPFO subscribers: Report

• The Central Board of Trustees had approved 8.65% interest rate for FY19 on 21 February this year
• EPFO manages ₹11 trillion retirement corpus