Economy / Market Snapshot – March 2018

General News

• Karnataka Election 2018: EC announces single-phase polling on 12 May, counting on 15 May.
• TDP officially exits NDA over Andhra Pradesh special status row; TDP ministers in central cabinet
  P Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Y Satyanarayana Chowdary resigned.
• Rajya Sabha polls: BJP continues to be largest party with 69 seats, Congress’ number decreases to 50.
• Bypoll results: BJP lost four out of five bypolls held in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• BJP-IPFT alliance ends 25-year Left rule in Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb takes oath as Tripura CM.
• NDPP’s Neiphiu Rio sworn in as Nagaland CM; CPP’s Conrad Sangma as Meghalaya CM.
• Congress hints at readiness for tie-ups to beat BJP in 2019 at Congress 84th plenary session.
• Leaders of 19 opposition parties attend Sonia Gandhi’s dinner meet.
• Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee meet for talks on third front.
• Mamata Banerjee meets Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena and Telangana Rashtra Samithi MPs.
• Ram Nath Kovind becomes first Indian President to visit Madagascar.
• French President Emmanuel Macron visits India; India, France sign 14 deals.
• King of Jordan visits India; India, Jordan sign 12 agreements, including a MoU on defence cooperation.
• India and Vietnam ink 3 MoUs in the areas of trade, agriculture and atomic energy.
• Rahul Gandhi meets Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, addresses Indian-origin CEOs in Singapore.
• Data politics: BJP, Congress in spat over sharing app data without users’ consent.
• Defence Ministry clears purchase of light machine guns, carbines worth ₹9,435 crores.
• Indian Air Force lands its largest transport aircraft, C-17 Globemaster, in Arunachal’s Tuting airfield.
• BrahMos, supersonic cruise missile, successfully flight tested with an indigenous seeker from Pokhran.
• Sunjwan army camp attack mastermind, JeM terrorist Mufti Waqas gunned down in Pulwama.
• Tamil Nadu govt files contempt petition against Centre for not setting up Cauvery Management Board.
• CBSE question paper leak: Class XII Economics re-exam on April 25; decision on Class X in 15 days.
• Diu becomes first Union Territory to run 100% on solar power.
• 39 Indians kidnapped by IS in 2014 in Iraq’s Mosul were killed: Sushma Swaraj informs Parliament.
• Supreme Court allows passive euthanasia, upholds right to die with dignity.
• Foreign law firms can’t practice in India, but foreign lawyers can visit to advise clients: SC.
• INX media case: Delhi High Court grants bail to Karti Chidambaram after 23 days in custody.
• Anti-money laundering court issues non-bailable warrant against Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi.
• Delhi High Court restores membership of 20 disqualified AAP MLAs.
• CBI court discharges Maran brothers and all other accused from illegal telephone exchange case.
• Fodder scam: Lalu Yadav gets 14-year imprisonment in Dumka treasury case, fined ₹60 lakhs.
• 2G spectrum case: Delhi HC issues notices to Raja, Kanimozhi on appeals filed by CBI and ED.
• Kejriwal tenders unconditional apology, gets acquitted in defamation cases lodged by Gadkari, Sibal.
• Kerala ‘love jihad’ case: SC annuls Kerala HC order, restores marriage of Hadiya.
• Delhi adopts BS-VI fuel; Supreme Court wants more cities to follow suit by April 1.
• Bhagwant Mann quits as AAP’s Punjab Chief over Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Akali Dal minister.
• Anna Hazare begins indefinite hunger strike over Lokpal, ends fast after Centre’s assurance.
• Maharashtra farmers march from Nashik to Mumbai demanding proper implementation of the govt’s
  loan waiver scheme; the state govt accepts their demands.
• TTV Dinakaran launches new party – Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam.
• Donald Trump accepts invitation to meet with N Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the end of May.
• March For Our Lives: Huge gun-control rallies sweep US.
• Donald Trump fires Rex Tillerson and FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.
• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets Xi Jinping in China, commits to denuclearisation of N Korea.
• Kim Jong Un and South Korean envoys discuss possible inter-Korean summit.
• Vladimir Putin wins 4th Presidential term with 76.6% of vote.
• China’s parliament abolishes presidential term limits, allows President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely.
• Angela Merkel re-elected by German parliament to fourth term.
• Nepal’s First Woman President Bidya Devi Bhandari re-elected for second term.
• Myanmar’s first democratically elected President, Htin Kyaw, resigns.
• Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigns over shopping scandal.
• Sri Lankan President Sirisena lifts nationwide state of emergency following Buddhist-Muslim clash.
• Maldives President Abdulla lifts the State of Emergency after 45 days.
• Syrian forces escalate attacks in Eastern Ghouta, 1,100 people dead within 3 weeks.
• Nidahas Trophy Final: India beat Bangladesh to win the tri-nation series title.
• Steve Smith and David Warner step down following ball-tampering by Cameron Bancroft.
• ICC bans Steve Smith for one Test and fined 100% of the match fees and 75% of match fees to Bancroft.
• BCCI bars Steve Smith, David Warner from IPL 2018 following Cricket Australia’s ban.
• ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier: Nepal achieve ODI status after beating Papua New Guinea.
• England’s Stuart Broad becomes youngest pacer to enter 400 Test wicket club.

Business News

• • RBI to infuse ₹1 lakh crores through special auction into banking system.
  • Finance Ministry rules out privatisation and merger of public sector banks for next one year.
  • Govt to consolidate 35 overseas branches of state-run banks, to examine 69 for viability.
  • PNB issued over 41,170 LoUs since 2011; FM Arun Jaitley informs Rajya Sabha.
  • Banks write off NPAs worth ₹516 crores of 38 wilful defaulters in H1 FY18.
  • Allahabad Bank gets nod from Ministry of Corporate Affairs to amalgamate subsidiary with itself.
  • UCO Bank to merge branches in Hong Kong as it realigns overseas operations.
  • ICICI Bank’s ₹3,250 crore loan to Videocon under scanner; CBI begins preliminary enquiry.
  • US Federal Reserve raises rates 0.25%; raises 2018 GDP forecast from 2.5% to 2.7%.
  • China raises a key market interest rate by 5 bps, following Fed’s move.
  • European Central Bank sets new rules on bank capital and cash.
  • India’s GDP growth rises from 6.3% to 7.2% in the third quarter of 2017.
  • WPI inflation eases to 2.48% in February.
  • India’s trade deficit for Feb came at $12 billion as exports grew at 4.5% and imports grew at 10.4%.
  • E-Way Bill to be rolled out from April 1; Time for GST return filing extended by 3 months.
  • GST collection falls for the 2nd consecutive month in February by ₹1,144 crores to ₹85,174crores.
  • SC extends Aadhar linkages deadline till Constitution bench delivers its verdict.
  • UIDAI to roll out face ID from July 1 for Aadhaar authentication.
  • Cabinet clears Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission.
  • Govt releases Draft Defence Procurement Policy (DIPP) 2018.
  • Govt makes passport mandatory for bank loans above ₹50 crores.
  • Aadhaar card should not be mandatory for withdrawing pension: Supreme Court.
  • Nirav Modi got 1,213 fraudulent guarantees in six years: Arun Jaitley.
  • ED begins process to stall bankruptcy proceedings of Nirav Modi’s Firestar Diamonds in US.
  • Axis Bank discloses ₹200 crore exposure to companies owned by Nirav Modi and Gitanjali group.
  • Union Bank disclose another direct exposure of ₹295 crores to Nirav Modi, Gitanjali firms.
  • ED attaches 41 properties, valued at over ₹1,200 crore of Mehul Choksi group.
  • ICICI Securities, Bandhan Bank Lemon Tree IPOs hits the market.
  • Mutual Fund inflows decline 60% YoY in February, 2018.
  • US President Trump imposes 25% tariff on steel imports and 10% on aluminium imports.
  • Canada, Mexico, Australia, EU and 6 other allies exempted from steel, aluminium import tariff.
  • India scraps 20% sugar export tax to boost overseas sales.
  • Air India makes history by flying to Israel via Saudi airspace.
  • Air India mopped up ₹543.03 crore from asset monetisation.
  • CCI imposes ₹54 crore penalty on Jet, SpiceJet, IndiGo for fixing fuel surcharge.
  • IndiGo, GoAir cancel 65 flights after DGCA grounds planes with faulty Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines.
  • Tata Boeing Aerospace commissions Apache fuselage facility in Telangana.
  • Godrej Aerospace expands tie-up with Rolls-Royce, bags order of worth ₹200 crores.
  • SpiceJet inks record $12.5 billion deal with French major Safran for aircraft engines.
  • Asian Development Bank commits $120 million loan to improve Indian railways infrastructure.
  • Finance Ministry gives nod to scrap vehicles older than 15 years.
  • 16 Korean companies sign MoU with Andhra government to set up auto ancillary units.
  • BlackBerry ink pacts with Jaguar Land Rover to provide software for EVs.
  • Force Motors inks JV with Rolls-Royce’s arm to foray into the business of engines.
  • Hyundai Motor India draws up ₹6,500 crore 3-year investment plan for development of 9 new models.
  • Telecom licence fee collections shrink 4.46% to ₹3,104 crores in Q3.
  • Reliance Jio added 8.3 million users in Jan, Bharti Airtel’s market share gain modestly to 25.32%: TRAI.
  • India ranks 67th in fixed broadband speed, 109th in mobile Internet speed globally : Ookla report.
  • CEO Balesh Sharma to lead the Vodafone-Idea Merger chaired by Kumar Mangalam Birla.
  • Cognizant launches $300 million accelerated share repurchase.
  • TCS ranked as the fastest growing IT services brand in 2018.
  • US President Donald Trump signs order prohibiting Broadcom takeover of Qualcomm.
  • International Solar Alliance Summit: PM Modi lays down 10-point action plan for clean energy.
  • Asian Development Bank, International Solar Alliance sign pact to promote solar energy.
  • Tata power sells Tata Communications shares to Tata Sons for ₹2,150 crores.
  • ONGC Videsh, Oil India gets Mozambique govt nod for gas field development in the Rovuma basin.
  • IRDAI to lower third-party insurance premium on small cars from April 1.
  • Videocon exits insurance business; sells stake to DP Jindal Group, Enam Securities.
  • Edelweiss ends deal to buy Religare Enterprises securities unit as it fails to get approvals.
  • Yes Bank sells 2.17% stake in Fortis Healthcare, out of over 17% it acquired last month.
  • India imposes anti-dumping duty on import of Chinese pharma product ‘Ofloxacin’.
  • Indiabulls to sell stake in assets to Blackstone at enterprise valuation of ₹9,500 crores.
  • Apple supplier Wistron gets approval from Karnataka govt to build a new assembly facility in the state.
  • Reliance Jio buys stake in music app Saavn for its digital music service ‘JioMusic’.
  • Arvind Ltd signs a MoU with the AP govt to set up an integrated apparel and textile park in Chittoor.
  • Blue Star launches 40 new energy-efficient air conditioner models.
  • GSK buys Novartis stake in consumer healthcare venture for $13 billion.
  • Facebook, Cambridge Analytica sued in US by users over data harvesting.
  • Swiggy partners with ICICI bank to launch digital payment solutions for its delivery fleet.
  • Flipkart infuses ₹518 crore of fresh capital into payments app ‘PhonePe’.
  • Paytm gets SEBI approval to roll out its investment advisory arm, Paytm Money.
  • Ola launches operations in second Australian city, Sydney.
  • Uber halts self-driving tests after pedestrian killed in Arizona.
  • Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport ranked as the World’s Best Airport for customer
    experience.