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Posts tagged Rediff
Windfall profit tax on crude oil hiked (31-10-2023)
The government on Tuesday increased the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country and reduced the levy on exports of diesel. The tax, levied in the form of Special Additional Excise Duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was increased to Rs 9,800 per tonne from Rs 9,050 a tonne, according to an official notification. SAED on the export of diesel was reduced to Rs 2 per litre from Rs 4 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to nil from Rs 1, the notification said.
Key infra sector growth slows to 4-month low of 8.1% (31-10-2023)
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a 4-month low of 8.1 per cent in September 2023 against 8.3 per cent a year ago, according to the official data released on Tuesday. The growth rate in the output of refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity during the month under review has decelerated, while it was negative in the case of crude oil. The previous low was in May, when the growth rate of these sectors stood at 5.2 per cent.
Hiring pilots: Air India – Akasa Air battle hots up (31-10-2023)
Amid concerns over alleged poaching of pilots, Air India told Akasa Air that petitioning a competitor to collude in restricting the rights of staff to change an employer could potentially violate the competition law. Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson wrote a letter to Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube against the backdrop of Akasa Air raising concerns about Air India Express hiring pilots from the airline. The letter, dated September 21, followed a letter by Dube to Tata Sons on September 11.
Sensex sheds 238 points ahead of Fed’s rate decision (31-10-2023)
Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards. Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Nestle and Power Grid were the major gainers.
E-com gig workers have no platform to voice concerns (31-10-2023)
Gig workers in e-commerce firms are yet to find satisfactory channels to voice their concerns as none of the 12 major e-commerce platforms have recognised any collective body of workers, Fairwork India said in its latest report released on Monday. “It is disconcerting that despite the rise in platform worker collectivisation across the country, over the past four years, there was insufficient evidence from any platform that showed a willingness to recognise a collective body of workers,” the report notes. The project by Fairwork India, in collaboration with Oxford Internet Institute and WZB Berlin Social Science Centre, surveyed 963 consumers and studied the practices of 12 major e- commerce platforms.
IPO filings remain robust despite recent turbulence (31-10-2023)
Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filing continued to be robust in October, signifying the optimism in the initial public offer (IPO) market despite the recent turbulence in equities. In October, 17 companies filed their offer documents for IPOs. The rush in filings has made August-October 2023 the best three-month period for DRHP filings since July-September 2021.
RBI may conduct OMO auction in first week of Nov (31-10-2023)
Bond market participants expect an open market operation (OMO) auction in the first week of November as the banking system liquidity is expected to ease on the back of government spending and maturity of bonds. According to market participants, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue a notification on OMO sales by October 31. They speculate that the central bank might conduct the auctions in multiple tranches of Rs 10,000 crore.
Apple MacBook Pro with M3 chips in India from Nov 7 (31-10-2023)
Apple’s new MacBook Pro laptops and iMac with M3 chipsets will be available across 27 countries, including India, from November 7 onwards, according to an official statement. The company announced the launch of three M3 chipset models with built-in next-generation GPU architecture and a faster CPU with an eye on artificial intelligence use cases, gaming, entertainment professionals and other segments that need high-resolution image processing. The company has launched two variants of MacBook Pro laptops with 14 and 16-inch displays at a starting price of Rs 1.69 lakh and Rs 2.49 lakh, respectively.
India Inc’s capex to get lift from high capacity usage (31-10-2023)
Capital expenditure by Indian companies is likely to see an uptick in the upcoming quarters as capacity utilisation has surpassed the critical threshold of 75 per cent, and numerous companies have deleveraged their balance sheets, according to analysts. The first quarter of the current financial year has shown improved profitability, driven by a decrease in input prices. This, according to analysts at Care Ratings, should stimulate a revival in the private capex cycle.