BackRafael Nadal wins French Open, charges filed against Mallya, Fed hikes rates
Rafael Nadal wins 10th French Open title; ED files chargesheet against Vijay Mallya; US Federal Reserve raises rates 25bps
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1. Nadal wins 10th French Open title
On Sunday, Rafael Nadal won his 10th French Open title and 15th Grand Slam title, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets and marking his first Grand Slam title win in three years. Following his historic win, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the Aegon Championships in order to prepare for the Wimbledon in July.
2. Amazon may acquire BigBasket
According to news reports on Tuesday, Amazon is exploring a possible acquisition of India’s largest online grocery site, BigBasket. The latter is active across 25 cities in India. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had earlier announced plans to spend $5 billion in India in the years ahead as the company seeks to compete against local rivals like Flipkart.
3. Titan stock soars on favourable GST rate
Titan Company’s stock closed at an annual high of Rs551.85 on 5 June, boosted by the news that the goods and services tax (GST) rate on gold jewellery was set at 3%, lower than the expected rate of 5%. According to analysts, the new GST rate should help the company gain market share at the expense of the unorganized sector.
4. Airtel overtakes Jio in adding new subscribers
Acquisition of active subscribers by Reliance Jio slowed down in April, with Bharti Airtel adding more subscribers that month. Data from reports by Goldman Sachs and ICICI Securities showed that Airtel added 2.6 million subscribers while Jio only saw 0.4 million new active subscribers in April. Last year, in the September-October period, Jio added subscribers at the rate of 16 million a month.
5. Wholesale inflation falls in May
Wholesale inflation fell to 2.17% in May from 3.85% in April on the back of a fall in prices of primary food items, fuel and minerals. The decline in food inflation was due to a steep fall in prices of vegetables. Inflation in vegetable prices was down by 18.15% in May. A reduction in crude oil prices in May saw fuel and power inflation contract 11.69%.
6. Kerala records fall in emigration
According to a survey by a thinktank, the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), about 2.25 million Malayalees emigrated abroad in 2016, a fall of 154,320 from 2014 levels. The fall comes in the background of falling oil prices, nationalisation policies and austerity drives in West Asian countries, where the bulk of the state’s emigrant population moves to work.
7. ED files chargesheet against Vijay Mallya
On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate filed a chargesheet against the former head of Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, on charges relating to the suspected diversion of a Rs900 crore loan issued by IDBI Bank Ltd. Mallya, who appeared in a UK court on Tuesday for a hearing related to India’s request for his extradition, denied the allegations.
8. US Fed goes ahead with rate hike
Setting aside concerns over low inflation, the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday went ahead with a 25bps interest rate hike, marking the third rise in six months. The benchmark lending rate now stands at 1.25%, with the Fed maintaining that another rate hike is likely this year. The Fed also outlined plans to shrink its balance sheet by rolling off a fixed amount of assets every month.
9. Interest subsidy on crop loans raised
In the backdrop of rising farmer protests, the union government on Wednesday increased the amount set aside for interest subsidy on short-term crop loans to Rs20,339 crore in 2017-18. This is 36% more than the Rs15,000 crore set aside in the budget for the same, and is 49% greater than the revised estimate of Rs13,619 crore spent in 2016-17.
Graphics by Prajakta Patil/Mint.
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