Q2 GDP growth could fall below 5%

• An SBI report said the demand slowdown in the economy is still significant and would take longer time to recover
• Nomura has projected September quarter GDP growth to decelerate to 4.2%

September factory output touches the lowest level in seven years

• Factory output contracts 4.3% in September, pointing to a deepening slowdown
• In terms of industries, 17 out of the 23 groups in the manufacturing sector contracted during the month

Business confidence dips to lowest in six years

• The survey by think tank NCAER showed that the Business Confidence Index fell 15.3% from the preceding quarter
• The numbers suggest a deep and all-pervasive worsening of business sentiments, NCAER said in a statement

Another twist in Maharashtra as governor invites NCP to form govt

• The governor rejected Shiv Sena’s demand for more time to get the support of the Congress and NCP
• The Sharad Pawar-led NCP has 24 hours to respond to the governor’s invite to form govt

Glimmer of hope for carmakers as PV sales see modest turnaround in October

• Hyundai and M&M also pushed their respective compact SUVs— Venue and XUV300—during the festive month
• Sales of motorcycles and scooter remained in the red during the month, despite festivals like Diwali and Navratri

SpaceX sends up 60 mini-satellites with plans for thousands more

• The mini satellites are the second batch of an orbiting network meant to provide global internet coverage
• SpaceX says its satellite constellation will be operational for Canada and the northern US by next year

Sensex recovers to end moderately higher, banking stocks rally

• The Nifty Bank index rose over 1%
• Some selling pressure was seen in TCS and RIL

Suicides by daily wage earners rose between 2014 and 2016: Report

• Latest data points to a grim reality, where daily wage earners are taking their lives at an unprecedented scale
• A possible explanation for the distress among daily wage earners could lie in the non-farm sector’s linkages to the farm sector

Ground  Zero : Ayodhya wants to move on

• With restraint and acceptance, Ayodhya’s citizens seem to have made their peace with the Supreme Court verdict
• There’s no word on a review petition yet, but a section of Muslims feel let down. Friction is expected between the two main Hindu camps over constitution of the trust to build the temple

JNU students protesting over steep fee hike clash with police

• Hundreds of JNU students protested over the hike, leaving HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal stranded for over six hours at the venue of the varsity's convocation
• The hostel fee at JNU, including the food charges, is proposed to be hiked 300%

ShopClues’ exit sets stage for face-off between Paytm Mall, Snapdeal

• What’s common for the two firms, experts say, is their business model
• With one player exiting, e-commerce investors and analysts doubt whether a third player could exist amid intense competition from Flipkart and Amazon India

How your investments in NPS are faring

• There are eight pension fund managers to choose from and one of the ways to choose your fund manager is by tracking the returns
• Here is a breakdown of the performance of different funds of the private sector NPS

WeWork has talked with T-Mobile’s John Legere in search for new CEO

• Legere has deep ties to WeWork majority shareholder SoftBank Group Corp
• But people familiar with the CEO search stressed that WeWork intends to consider many candidates

In Karnataka, parties yet to name candidates for bypolls

• BJP, Congress, JD(S) are awaiting SC order on plea to disqualify 17 MLAs that’s likely tomorrow
• The bypolls come at a time when political uncertainty plagues all the three major parties in Karnataka

TN Seshan helped transform EC into a more effective institution

• The seriousness with which other government offices started taking EC changed completely during T.N. Seshan’s tenure as CEC
• One thing that happened during Seshan’s time was that the EC tried to convey to the people the power of their votes

Lupin to sell Japanese biz for enterprise value of ₹3,702 cr

• Pharma firm will get ₹2,104 crore in cash from sale of a 99.82% stake in Kyowa to Plutus
• Lupin expects the transaction to complete by March end, subject to requisite approvals

Masdar’s $150 mn investment values  Hero Future  at $750  mn

• The UAE-based energy firm has acquired around 20% stake in the Indian renewable energy company
• The deal comes at a time when credit availability for renewable energy firms has dried up

Nestlé India: revenue growth up, but dearer milk eats into margins

• Company was less affected by slump in demand, given its relatively higher exposure to affluent urban consumers
• A slower rate pace of growth in other expenses helped Ebitda performance

India slowdown: Electricity demand falls at fastest pace in at least 12 years

• India's electricity consumption fell 13.2% in October from a year ago, posting its steepest monthly decline in over 12 years
• India's infrastructure output in September contracted 5.2%, the worst in 14 years

Infrastructure drives PE/VC investments to $3.3 billion in October

• Despite a slower October, 2019 continues to be a marquee year for PE/VC investments
• Investments in the infrastructure space, at $1.4 billion, jumped to 43% of overall deals from 6% a year earlier

Morales' exit after 14 years leaves Bolivia in a power vacuum, splits region

• Opposition senator Anez may become interim president
• Mexico offers Morales asylum; shops and properties attacked, gangs roam streets

IBC proceedings against Aviva Life Insurance may not impact policyholders

• Aviva, which took up office space at Apeejay Express in Vashi, Mumbai in June 2008 owes Apeejay Rs. 27,67,203 in the form of dues
• Apeejay which is the operational creditor issued a notice to Aviva in April this year demanding a total sum of Rs. 27,67,203

Ashok Leyland’s impressive cut in inventory alleviates pain in Q2 results

• The firm reined in operating costs, although the big savings came from lower raw material prices as a percent of sales
• The company reined in costs on all operating fronts, including raw material, staff and other expenses

Hundreds of birds found dead at country's largest saltwater lake

• The lake spread across 190 to 230 square kilometers of area in Jaipur is country’s largest saltwater lake
• The intact carcasses have been sent to Bhopal for further investigation

External commercial borrowings of firms jump 50% in April-September

• Overseas borrowings of Indian companies jumped nearly 50% in the six months ended 30 September
• Banks are still the source of funds for firms, and ECBs made up just 12% of their total borrowings in fiscal 2019

Bajaj-Triumph JV to make only Triumph branded bikes

• In August 2017, the two companies had announced a partnership to develop and manufacture midsized motorcycles
• Bajaj it is understood has given critical inputs to Triumph on engine specifications and motorcycle categories and once the prototypes are finalized for India

Coal India Q2 net profit rises 14% to ₹3,522 cr

• The company's net profit stood at ₹3,084.54 crore in the year-ago period
• Its total income, however, declined to ₹22,012.94 crore in the July-September quarter

Businesses allowed self-assessment for claiming GST credits

• The restrictions on availment of ITC shall be on the basis of self-assessment of taxpayers, and will not be imposed through common portal

EOW arrests two auditors in connection with PMC Bank scam

• The arrested people are Ketan Lakdawala and Jayesh Sanghani
• The account banks of PMC Bank were audited by Lakdawala & Co and Ashok Jayesh & Associates

Five ways in which debt funds score over fixed deposits (FDs)

• When compared to FDs, debt funds manage risks better, are more liquid and have the potential of giving better returns in a tax-efficient manner
• Risk of concentration is high in fixed deposits where investors run the risk of losing it all if things go wrong

The case for mid-day meals for all

New data on the poor nutritional status of school-going children and adolescents in the country makes a case for a broader mid-day meal programme

Amid festive fervour at Kartarpur, a prayer for better Indo-Pak ties

• Pilgrims are wary that any spike in tensions between both nations may have an impact on the corridor
• People-to-people ties have borne the brunt of the ups and downs in India-Pakistan ties

Credit crunch worsens as loan growth slows to 6% in Q2

• NBFCs saw a 36% drop in loan disbursements, while growth in bank loans slowed to 8%, says Credit Suisse report
• For NBFCs, as well, retail asset quality held up, while wholesale NPAs saw some increase

Aditya Birla Group expects Aleris deal to close by 21 January

• On 1 October, European Commission approved Novelis’ proposed acquisition of Aleris
• The approval is conditional on the sale of Aleris’s plant in Belgium that produces aluminium

Hindalco Industries Q2 net declines 33% to ₹974 cr

• The company had posted a consolidated net profit of ₹1,448 crore in the year-ago period
• Hindalco's US arm Novelis reported 6% increase in Ebitda

How foreign capital can boost firm productivity

Foreign capital reduces fund misallocation and improves firm productivity, shows a new study

Britannia Industries Q2 net profit jumps 33% to ₹403 cr

• The company reported a 7% jump in total revenue at ₹3,117 crore
• There was an inordinate increase in milk prices during the quarter, which impacted dairy business, said Britannia Industries MD Varun Berry

Travis Kalanick sells 20% of his stake in Uber after lockup

• Kalanick, a director at Uber, sold 20.3 million shares worth about $547 million that were held in a trust
• Uber shares have tumbled 40% since the IPO, dropping the San Francisco-based firm’s value from almost $76 billion at its listing to about $46 billion

Govt processing approvals for pooled loan buyouts of ₹20,000 crore

• Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said some formalities are being worked out for this, which is taking some time
• This is one-fifth of the guaranteed corpus of ₹1 trillion under the partial credit guarantee scheme

Centre justifies Article 370 decision in Supreme Court

• Centre said militants and separatist elements, with the support of foreign forces inimical to India, were taking advantage of the situation
• In its reply to the batch of petitions, the Centre said that Article 370, in its original form, was a temporary provision with respect to J&K

IT spending in India seen rising 6.6% to touch $94 billion next year

• Software and IT services is expected to lead the IT spend growing at 15.2% and 13.4% respectively in 2020
• The uptick in IT spending is expected to aid large IT companies like Accenture, IBM, and HPE

Opinion | The muddle in Mumbai

Shiv Sena’s relations with the BJP, its three-decade old ally, now seem irreparable; and the former is counting on the support of the NCP and Congress

IL&FS gets offer for back office services subsidiary CPG BPM

• Following the offer, IL&FS announced that it is seeking expressions of interest for the stake
• CPG BPM is another asset that the Uday Kotak-led board is looking to divest

Opinion | IIP: A turn for the worse

A big concern is last month’s 20.7% decline in the output of capital goods

Will govt’s rescue plan get you closer to your dream home?

• The scheme has widened the scope of funding for stalled projects, which will benefit homebuyers
• To avail the benefit, projects need to be net worth positive and registered under the RERA Act

About 70,000 BSNL employees opt for VRS in a week

• BSNL VRS scheme will remain open till December 3
• MTNL also has rolled out a VRS scheme for its employees

Indiabulls Real Estate pares debt through asset sales

• IBREL completes the strategic divestment of its 50% stake in the JV portfolio to the entities controlled by Blackstone for an equity value of Rs2,717 crore
• The company will do regular sales from the under construction office properties to investors and deploy funds to acquire land parcels/unfinished projects for development

Opinion | When the government turns online retailer

The Centre might expand its online market portal to compete with private platforms. This is a gamble. But to keep competition levels high in the retail sector, it should go right ahead

PVR launches Delhi’s biggest superplex

• The superplex includes one IMAX screen, one 4 DX screen, two premium LUXE auditoriums, seven mainstream and one auditorium dedicated to children- PVR Playhouse
• PVR has spent an estimated ₹70 crore on the property