BUSINESS
Delhi Metro facing financial distress owing to Covid-19 pandemic
At the same time, operating expenses including Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs had to be continuously paid for the upkeep of the metro network which spans 285 stations and a total track length of 389 km. Additionally, there had been a decline in the non-fare revenue garnered from advertisement as well as shop rentals for the months when metro operations had been suspended.
Vaccine rollout increases hopes for air transport: Ind-Ra
Accordingly, the agency's India logistics sector report said: "While passenger numbers for airlines are still down on a YoY basis, the start of vaccination drives in several countries globally and the Indian government allowing 80 per cent of fleet to be deployed are key positives recently."
Large fiscal deficit could be inflationary but not an immediate threat: Crisil Research
Accordingly, the budget has replaced fiscal consolidation as a priority with expansion, well into the medium term. Besides, the fiscal glide path "itself has become footloose" with a deficit at 9.5 per cent for FY21, 6.8 per cent in FY22 and 4.5 per cent by fiscal 2026.
Govt must allocate 13% of Budget to farm sector: BKS
BKS national general secretary Dinesh Kulkarni told IANS that the budgetary allocation for agriculture has increased but it is still less compared to its 13 per cent share of the total GDP. Kulkarni said that agriculture contributes 13 per cent to the Budget and so the government must allocate 13 per cent of total Budget to the agriculture sector.
Lower customs duty on gold to curb smuggling, benefit retail jewellers
According to the report, the erstwhile duty structure gave incentives for gold smuggling into India. In July 2019, as part of the revenue-raising budget, the customs duty on import of gold was increased to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent. As per Ind-Ra's estimates, unofficial imports of gold range between 150-180 tonnes compared to the official gold import numbers of 600-700 tonnes for FY20.
Amazon loses bid to stop union vote at US warehouse
Amazon appealed last month to prevent a mail-in vote by the warehouse workers on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The NLRB, in its ruling, said that Amazon's appeal raised "no substantial issues warranting review," CNBC reported on Friday.
US trade deficit surged to 12-year high in 2020
The country's trade deficit in goods and services widened by 17.7 per cent to $678.7 billion in 2020, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying in a statement on Friday. As a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), the trade deficit was 3.2 per cent in 2020, up from 2.7 per cent in 2019.
Four more states complete ease of doing business reforms
The total number of state that have undertaken the stipulated reforms to facilitate ease of doing business has gone up to 12. Earlier, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have also reported completion of this reform, which was confirmed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
PNB's Q3FY21 net profit at Rs 506 cr
The net profit declined on a sequential basis from Rs 621 crore reported for Q2FY21 to Rs 506 crore in Q3FY21. The bank's net interest income grew 28 per cent to Rs 8,313 crore during the quarter under review on a year-on-year basis. In terms of asset quality, the Gross Non Performing Assets (GNPA) declined to Rs 94,479 crore as in December 2020 from Rs 96,314 crore as in September 2020.
India's foreign exchange reserves swell by over $4.8 bn
According to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement, the reserves increased to $590.185 billion from $585.334 billion reported for the week ended January 22. India's forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and the country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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