A round-up of the biggest articles from newspapers.
PharmEasy to enter the market this fiscal
PharmEasy is planning to enter the IPO market this fiscal, The Economic Times reports.
Why it’s important: The company to file draft papers next month for this purpose.
? The country’s largest e-pharmacy platform eyes a $ 5.6 bn valuation.
? The talks with SoftBank fall through for fresh funding.
India is the top-performing equity market in the world
The country’s equity market has become the top-performing one in the world, The Economic Times reports.
Why it’s important: The high performance is due to the strong retail and institutional flows into the markets.
? Better earnings prospects have also helped to achieve this feast.
? Indian indices outperformed MSCI World and MSCI Emerging indices by 15% and 29% in the last year, respectively.
? Around $ 1 trillion market capitalisation is added to the Indian equities.
Is India heading for drought as rainfall is 10% below normal?
If the monsoon rainfall continues the present pattern, the country is facing a drought-like situation in the coming days, The Economic Times reports.
Why it’s important: India’s total monsoon rainfall is 10% below normal since its arrival on June in Kerala.
? The country recorded low rainfall in July and the worst in recorded monsoon in August, a 28% deficient.
? Around one-third of the country has not got enough rain.
Cabinet Secretary expresses displeasure over slow pace on local sourcing
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious programmes, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’, are not getting enough support from the various government departments, reports The Times of India.
Why it’s important: Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba is unhappy and pointed out the lack of local sourcing and procurement.
? He has expressed his displeasure in a letter to various secretaries and asked them to implement the government policy at a better pace.
? The top-most officer pointed out that in several instances, local suppliers are kept out and foreign vendors are given businesses.
Govt to set up a new entity to speed up surplus land monetisation
The government is speeding up its processes to launch a special purpose vehicle to monetise the surplus land, The Times of India reports.
Why it’s important: The effort is part of its Rs 6-lakh-crore asset monetisation programme to augment government coffers.
? The government has huge land parcels sitting idle with public sector companies, ministries, and departments.
Tech glitches? FPIs get tax notices
The income-tax department has issued several notices to foreign portfolio investors for faulty tax filings, Business Standard reports.
Why it’s important: However, the tax experts are suspecting it is due to some technical glitches.
? The IT department is asking FPIs to rectify the defects soon and present balance sheets.
? The FPIs are upset with the new developments and point out that this move is going to lower the image of India’s tax regime.
Indian industry’s capacity utilisation declines
India Inc’s capacity utilisation has come down in the last fiscal in a major way, reports Business Standard.
Why it’s important: The main reason cited is the pandemic.
? The asset-turnover ratio has declined to around 70%, a new low.
? This will hit the industry’s fresh round of capacity expansion or coming up with new projects.
? Companies generally do capacity expansion when the asset-turnover ratio is 100%.
‘The earnings recovery is broad-based, making it more sustainable’
Sailesh Raj Bhan, deputy chief investment officer, equity investments, Nippon India Mutual Fund, in an interview with Business Standard tells that Indian companies have shown strong earnings momentum.
What he says:
? Higher commodity prices, inflation, and its impact on demand are the key risks for the economy.
? The festive season will show be a clear reflection of the impact.
? The global shifts in interest rates and liquidity will dictate market movement.
? The earnings recovery is broad-based, making it more sustainable.
LIC bought around a fourth of the total funds raised by PSU banks
The Life Insurance Corporation of India is still the biggest support of PSU banks when it comes to raising funds, reports Mint.
How it’s important: LIC has bought nearly a fourth of the ?7,800 crore shares sold by five PSU banks in this fiscal.
? This is around a fourth of the total funds raised.
? The banks are Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and Union Bank of India.
