The RoDTEP scheme, announced in January 2021, refunds  general taxes  and  duties,  such as VAT on fuel used in  transport,  mandi tax and  electricity tax.

  It  replaces  the  WTO-inconsistent  Merchandise Exports from India Scheme  (MEIS),  which had faced several challenges from WTO members. 

  The  Union  government  has no plans  to  review the Duty Free  on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme after the United States  and the European Union (EU)  imposed anti-subsidy duties  last year  on four  products.  Indian  products,  citing  violations  of  global trade rules. A  government official said.  

 The US and EU  imposed countervailing duties  (CVD)  on paper  records,  common  aluminum  alloy  plates  and forged steel  following  an anti-subsidy investigation.  Countervailing duties  are  customs duties  on imported  products  that are imposed to  compensate for  subsidies  provided  by the exporting  country’s government to protect  the domestic industry.  “When US investigators  visit  manufacturing plants,  exporters  must demonstrate that they are receiving discounts, not incentives. They must  be able to  prove  that they  pay their  electricity  bill  and  value added  tax (VAT). But there are  document retention issues on  the  part of  our  exporters.  We are working on a process to  help  exporters  get acquainted  with the entire documentation process,” the official said. 

  “There is no need to  modify  the  project.  It is WTO compliant.  Very  few exporters  cannot present documents. Some  people mentioned  that  it  was  an incentive because there  had been an incentive before. Therefore,  our exporters will have to adapt to the documentation mechanism and the government will  help them  in the process,” the official added.  

 The RoDTEP scheme, announced in January 2021, refunds  general taxes  and  duties,  such as VAT on fuel used in  transport,  mandi tax and  electricity tax. 

 It  replaces  the  WTO-inconsistent  Merchandise Exports from India Scheme  (MEIS),  which had faced several challenges from WTO members.  The RoDTEP  program  operates  within  a budgetary framework and  in  FY 23-24, Rs 15,070 crore  has been  allocated to  promote  exports of  products  such as pharmaceuticals, organic and inorganic  chemicals,  iron  commodities steel,  among other  products.  

 “If our partner country  cannot explain  our  policy  then  that  is a problem. The  responsibility belongs to  us. Because we are looking  to reach the market.  For  example,  if partner countries  impose  standards, we  must comply with them.  So we need market access and so we will have to resolve these issues,” Biswajit Dhar, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.  

 Dhar added that implementation of the scheme assumes significance as other countries are more likely to scrutinize the scheme after the US and EU have imposed countervailing duties on Indian products. He added that RoDTEP is WTO compatible but WTO is about transparency and predictability and the government has to ensure that. 

  “Another thing is how we are implementing it. There is a problem of oversight. The industry  has rightly argued  that  this rate is  too low.  Whatever the  policy, it  needs  to be  continuously  reviewed and  monitored  to  ensure proper compliance.  

Because  because of a single  black sheep,  we cannot  let the  entire project  be called into question. The government  needs  to be  cautious in its  implementation because  as  our exports  decline,  we need to count  every penny.  Because we  might  lose,” Dhar added.  

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 The Indian  stock market  surpassed  Hong  Kong  for the first  time to rank fourth in the world,  Bloomberg reported. 

 According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the aggregate  value of  stocks  listed on Indian exchanges reached $4.33 trillion as of  Monday’s  close,  compared with Hong Kong’s  $4.29  trillion. 

  India’s  market capitalization  crossed $4 trillion for the first time on December 5. The  Indian stock  market’s recovery has come  on the back of a rapidly growing retail investor base,  Foreign  institutional  investor (FII) capital is maintained, corporate profits are  strong  and  earnings  are high. national  macroeconomic  foundation.  

  Additionally,  India has positioned itself as an alternative to China, attracting  new  capital from  investors and  businesses around the world,  thanks to its stable  politics  and  consumption-driven  economy. ,  remains  one of  the fastest-growing  major  countries,  Bloomberg reported.  By contrast, markets collapsed in  Hong  Kong,  where some of  China’s  most  innovative and  influential  companies are listed. The  combined  market value of Chinese and Hong Kong stocks has  fallen  by more than $6 trillion since their  2021 peak.  

  Bloomberg’s report adds that Beijing’s tough Covid-19 restrictions, strict management measures  on  businesses,  crisis  in the real estate sector  and geopolitical tensions with the  West, all  have  eroded China’s  appeal as  a global  growth  engine.  

 The Asian financial hub is losing its status as one of the  world’s  busiest  initial public  offering  (IPO)  locations  as new listings  dry  up in Hong Kong. 

  Foreign  funds  invested  more than $21 billion  in  Indian  stocks  in 2023, helping the  country’s  benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  index post  an eighth  straight  year of gains. 

 For more  information,  visit at https://happenrecently.com/zepto/?amp=1

 India’s IPO market has seen more companies  launch in  the past year than China and Japan combined, but  historically,  most have  been  unprofitable.  

 India is one of the  most vibrant  markets  in the world  for  IPOs. In  the past  year, more businesses were established  than China and  Japan  combined. But if history is  to be believed,  in the long run, most of them will turn out to be  failures. However,  the  appeal  of  “pop” – a significant profit on  the  listing day – means  this fever  will not subside.  

 Something is  seriously  broken. YK2 Partners, a  firm  specializing  in  investing exclusively in the  Indian public markets, has  been counting on over  two decades of  raising  initial  capital  by  domestic companies.  Analysts at  YK2, based in Mumbai  and  London, have reviewed  all  300+ motherboard issues  since January 2004  over  a 10-year trading history.  According to their calculations, the  average IPO in this  group  returned -3.5%  per  year,  turning  an investment of 100 rupees  ($1.2)  into 70 rupees a decade later.  It  doesn’t  matter  if  they  were registered  in 2004 or  2013  or any year in between. Indian IPOs have failed miserably  to generate incremental  returns for investors  compared to  what they  could  have earned passively  simply by holding  a  common  benchmark.  Some  77% have underperformed the NSE500  index  over  the  10-year period, with  an  average underperformance of more than 14%  per year.  In other words,  100 rupees  uninvested for a beginner can become 280 rupees  with very little  effort.  

 “We  are characterizing  the IPO process as a scheme orchestrated by  management,” YK2 co-founders Arun Agarwal and Vinod Nair wrote in a note accompanying their research.  private equity investors, anchor investors, investment bankers, media,  etc.”. “This may  make sense for investors looking for an  IPO,  but not for  long-term  investors like  us.”  

  The regulator’s responsibility is  to ensure that companies with  relatively strong  prospects  enter the  public markets and offer  shares  at  prices  that  create  long-term  wealth. The  Securities and Exchange Board of India has  long  been aware  that the domestic IPO market falls short of this ideal. However,  some of the  measures  attempted or  considered by SEBI have been controversial.  

 One of them  is the IPO rating  (similar to  a bond  credit  rating).  Made mandatory  since  2007,  the classification  became optional in 2014 amid intense lobbying. Another idea  is  to  allow  retail investors  to  return  shares  to  major  shareholders at the issue price after three months of  underperformance. This safety net was considered for  many  years and then  abandoned.  

  However, there is  still  room  to improve the quality of the primary capital market. Clearly, the current  disclosure-based  pricing regime  does  not  meet this  challenge. Just a  few  months ago,  SEBI Chairman  Madhabi Puri  Buch  said that  the excuse companies  often  give to justify  high IPO valuations  is  “nothing but  a few  meaningless English  words”.  

 There may be a simple reason why verbiage can so easily  be disguised  as value:  the  average IPO  generates  an average  listing-day  gain of 25%,  and  India’s  rich have  lots of savings.  Ben Bernanke, the former  chairman of the  Federal  Reserve,  has  previously maintained that  a “global savings  glut” –  a  capital  outflow from  China and oil-producing  countries – is the cause of interest gains.  low  yield.  In  India’s  case,  it is  capital controls that  place limits  on how much the  wealthy  can invest  abroad.  Any excess  local savings  will eventually push  domestic  assets out,  from real estate to IPOs. 

  Real estate  transactions have  a certain  inertia  but  IPO prices reverse  very  quickly. This  explains the average oversubscription  rate  of 44 times in recent years. So how  do you  throw  sand  in  the wheel? The SEBI chief said  on  Friday that the regulator is  probing  investment banks that artificially  inflated requests for shares  to create a false impression of demand.  

 Cleaning up the market is a good first  step  but  not  enough.  YK2’s  Agarwal  suggested  that  SEBI should consider a mandatory  one-year  lock-in period  for all IPO investors so that  subscriptions are  driven by fundamentals and not  pop appeal.  More  revelations would  just  mean  more words. They  cannot  break  the link between abnormal  demand and opportunistic supply. Only more  skins  in the game  are possible.  

 For more  information,  visit at https://happenrecently.com/zepto/?amp=1

 All equity and forex market shut on account holiday in financial institutions across Maharashtra to mark Ram Mandir Pran Pratisthan.  

 The stock market and the money market are shut today i.e. January 22 on account of holiday in many financial institutions across Maharashtra to mark the Ram Mandir ‘Pran Pratishthan’. After the holiday announcement, all public issues that were scheduled to open or list on January 22 have been deferred by a day. 

 Medi Assist Healthcare Services, scheduled to be listed today has now been rescheduled its listing to January 23. The issue closed on January 17 and the final issue price was fixed at Rs 418 per share. 

The offer was subscribed 16.25 times.  

 The Nova Agritech IPO, scheduled to kickstart on January 22 and continue till January 24 will now open for subscription on January 23. The listing too will be deferred by a day to January 31. Similarly the Epack Durable IPO will now close on January 24 instead of January 23. The listing is now scheduled for January 30 instead of January 29.  The  stock market  had a special  session on  Saturday,  January  20, as  the  market  ended lower with  Nifty closing below the 21,600 mark. 

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 Stock  Exchange Today: Following  ‘Pran Pratishtha’  at  Ayodhya Ram Mandir, the  Government of Maharashtra has declared  Monday, January 22, 2024, as  a public  holiday.  Therefore, trading activities  on  Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National  Stock  Exchange (NSE) will remain  suspended today as well. Therefore,  January  22,  2024  will be  a stock market  holiday as announced by  the Indian  Stock Exchange  in  its  circular dated December 26,  2023 with some amendments.  

 Therefore,  there is no action in the equity segment, equity derivatives segment and SLB segment today. Trading in the foreign exchange derivatives sector of the Indian stock exchanges will also remain suspended today in conjunction with the ‘Pran Pratushta’ ceremony at Ayodhya Ram Mandir. In the “Commodity Derivatives” and “Electronic Gold Receipts (EGR)” segments, trading remains morning trading. H. From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but the evening session will resume from 5:00 p.m. This means that  there will be no  trading  on MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange) and NCDEX (National Commodity Exchange) from  9am  to  5pm.  

 The NSE  on Monday  declared  a holiday for  the stock  exchanges in  a press release  and said, “As per a  partial  amendment  to  the Stock  Exchange  Circular No.  59917 dated December 26, 2023, the  stock exchanges will be closed on  Monday, January 22,  2024. Notified  as a trading  holiday.” The  holiday  was  declared under  section  25 of the Negotiable Instruments  Act 1881. ”  

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified  the public holiday in Maharashtra on  January 22, 2024  and issued  the  following statement: Press Release  2023-2024/1710 issued  today, “Market  Trading Hours  for  January 22,  2024,” January will see a No transactions or payments  will be  made. Monday, 22nd, 2024. Therefore, processing  of all outstanding transactions will  be  postponed to the next  business day, which is Tuesday,  January 23,  2024.  

 Stock market holidays  in  2024 

 So  this week will be a  shortened  week from  a  stock market perspective. As per the  stock market  holiday list  2024, the Indian stock market will remain closed on  his  January  26, 2024. H. We will be closed this  Friday  due to nationwide  Republic Day  celebrations.  This means  that  trading activities in  Indian stock  markets  will  continue to be  suspended on Monday and Friday this week. In other words, there  are only  three  trading  sessions this week  (Tuesday  to Thursday).  

 Ayodhya Ram Mandir  Puran  Pratishtha  Time  

 The sacred  rituals  of Ayodhya Ram Mandir  Puran  Pratishtha  are  scheduled to  be performed from 12:15 pm  to  12:45 pm today.  

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 The  final budget  session  of the 17th  National Diet  will be held  from  January  31st to  February  9th.  The  interim budget is expected to  be presented by Sitharaman on February 1. 

UNION Finance Minister Nirmala  Sitharaman’s next interim budget  is unlikely to  contain “grand announcements”  but  is expected to include  small tax  cuts  and  increases in social spending, officials said. 

 The interim budget for 2024-25,  to  be announced on February 1, will see  certain income tax  rate adjustments, particularly  for those at the bottom of the  tax  pyramid,  as well as a switch  to  a  new income tax  system. There is a high possibility that the  Officials said the tax  authorities are  also  considering improving  revenue collection  efficiency  through additional transactions under  TDS  and 360-degree profiling of  taxpayers, with the initial stage expected to last several years before the final stage. This is a measure  that  has  yielded good  results.  

  So far,  interim  budgets (also known as settlement votes) have  not  brought about  major changes. Ahead of the  2019  Lok Sabha  elections, the  then Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had  announced concessions to farmers and pensions to unorganized sector workers, besides increasing  standard deduction and  tax  at source  (TDS) thresholds. He was proposing a system.  Five years  ago,  in 2014,  then Finance Minister  P.  Chidambaram had announced  cuts  in excise  duty on  small cars, motorcycles,  scooters,  SUVs  (including  large and  medium-sized cars)  and tax  cuts on  mobile  phones  in the  interim budget. 

 Then, in the 2009-10  Interim Budget  near  the end  of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)  government’s first term,  then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced  a relaxation  of fiscal targets. This was preceded by a fiscal stimulus marked by Rs 40,000-crore of tax cuts in December 2008, which was later criticised for posing a challenge to fiscal consolidation.  

 Before that, in the final year of the AB Vajpayee-led NDA government, marked by the Interim Budget of 2004-05, saw late Jaswant Singh announcing changes in the stamp duty structure, revival packages for the tea and sugar industries, and merging of dearness allowance with basic pay. These weren’t the only measures taken as Singh had already announced major changes in both direct and indirect taxes in January 2004 including a cut in the peak rate of customs duty on non-farm goods to 20 per cent from 25 per cent, lower customs duty on project imports, coal and the power sector, and abolishment of the special additional duty on customs duty of 4 per cent. 

  While the revenue side of the Budget may see some tax cuts and efforts to increase efficient mobilisation, the focus of public expenditure is likely to be on infrastructure and welfare spending, but which may and can be achieved without huge fiscal implications, a person in the know said. 

  Continuing the trend from previous years, the Centre is expected to continue its thrust on capital expenditure in the upcoming year too, albeit at a slower pace than previous years. The  Center  had  increased  the budget estimate for  capital expenditure  to Rs  100,000  crore  in  2023-24 from Rs  7,280,000  crore in 2022-23 and Rs  5,920,000  crore in 2021-22. 

  Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)  will receive increased budget  allocation after  initial budget estimate of Rs 60,000 crore for  FY24 was reduced by 49 per cent (compared to revised estimate for FY23) Probability is high. 

 The government had said  this  was a demand-driven  program  and more  funding  would be  made available  as  needed. This  was  subsequently reflected  in  an  additional  allocation  of Rs 16,143  billion  for  MGNREGS in the first supplementary  subsidy application submitted to  Parliament in December 2023. 

  The  final budget  session  of the 17th  National Diet  will be held  from  January  31st to  February  9th.  The  interim budget is expected to  be  tabled  by Sitharaman on February 1.  Lok Sabha elections are  likely  to be held  in  April-May,  after  which the elected government is  expected  to present the full  budget  in July. 

  The government  will cover spending  for the first  four to five  months of the financial year  starting in  April to  cover salary payments  and  spending on  ongoing  programs  in various  areas without changing  the  tax system. A resolution has been submitted to Congress for approval. . Until the  new government takes over and presents a  complete  revised  budget  for the  entire  financial year. Over the years, some governments have  taken  policy measures or  adjusted  tax rates  to create interim budgets  before elections. 

 For more  information, see https://happenrecently.com/zepto/?amp=1

Some IPL franchise owners  went  on to buy teams in  the  T20 leagues in the  UAE,  South Africa, West Indies and the United States.

Tata Group has  won  the title sponsorship  rights for  the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 2024-28 for a  “record”  $300 million,  tournament organizers announced  on Saturday. 

Backed by  renowned  franchise owners and featuring the best players in international cricket, IPL has become the  richest T20  league in the world  with an estimated brand value of  8.4 billion USD.  

 It has  become  a cash cow for the Indian  Cricket Board (BCCI),  with the 10-team  tournament’s  media rights  for 2023-27 raking in  $6.2 billion. 

 The  Tata Group  was  the  main  sponsor of  the  men’s  IPL and  women’s  Premier League, which took  place  last year.  “This  unprecedented financial commitment reflects the immense scale and global impact of the IPL on the international  sporting landscape,”  BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement. 

Some IPL franchise owners  went  on to buy teams in  the  T20 leagues in the  UAE,  South Africa, West Indies and the United States. 

With  IPL franchises offering lucrative  multi-tournament  contracts that most cricket boards cannot match, the  growth of the  Indian  league could add to  concerns about  player superiority.  T20  tournaments are preferred  over international cricket. 

 “The  record amount…  is a testament to the immense value and appeal that  IPL holds in the world of sports,”  federation president  Arun Singh Dhumal said. 

“This unprecedented  sum  not only sets a new benchmark in the  tournament’s  history  but also  affirms IPL’s status  as a premier sporting event with global  influence. 

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 In  Q3FY24,  provisions included Rs 627 crore  for investment  in  alternative investment funds, according to  the  RBI’s  December  notification.  

  ICICI Bank, the private  sector  lender,  reported a  23.6% rise  in  standalone profit after tax  to  Rs 10,272 crore  for  the quarter ended December 2023,  compared to  Rs 8,312 crore in the  year-on-year  quarter.  

 The  bank’s  net interest income (NII)  grew  13.4 per cent to Rs 18,678  crore, compared to  Rs 16,465 crore in  Q3FY23.  

 Net interest margin (NIM) – the difference between  interest income earned and  interest paid –  fell  to  4.43%  in the October-December 2023  quarter,  from  4.65%  in the year-ago period.  Gross NPAs  (non-performing  assets)  stood at  2.3%  in  Q3FY24,  compared to  3.07%  in the same  period  last year.  Net  NPA ratio was  0.44% as on  December 31,  2023,  compared to  0.55% as on  December 31, 2022.  The net  addition  to gross NPAs, excluding  debt  write-offs and  revenue, stood at  Rs 363 crore.  NPA recovery  and  upgradation,  excluding write-offs and  sales, stood at  Rs 5,351 crore and the bank wrote off  total  NPAs amounting to Rs 1,389 crore in  Q3FY24.  

 Provisions (excluding  tax provisions)  stood at Rs 1,050 crore in the  quarter  under review,  compared  with  Rs 2,257 crore last year. In  Q3FY24,  provisions included Rs 627 crore  for  investments in  alternative investment funds (AIFs), according to  the  RBI’s  December notification.  

 Last month, the RBI  had  directed banks, NBFCs and other lenders not to invest in any  alternative investment  fund (AIF) scheme involving  downstream investments in a  corporate  debtor.

  The regulator said regulated entities  (REs)  should liquidate  their investments  in the scheme within 30 days from the date  the AIF made  such downstream  investment. If RE is unable  to liquidate  its  investments within the  stipulated time, it  will have to make  100%  provision  against  such investments,  the  RBI said. 

  Real progress in the country increased  by  18.8% over the same period last year.  The retail loan portfolio  increased  by  21.4%.  Total  ending  deposits increased  18.7% YoY  to Rs 13,32,315 crore.

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Once the norms are devised, companies deploying AI technologies would be rated on various parameters like the time taken to restore the system in the event of any hacking, malware or breakdown.

The government is working on devising a standardised set of norms for AI (artificial intelligence) systems and their response in times of crisis or breakdown of systems in sectors like connected cars, drones, Metaverse, satellite broadband and healthcare.

Once the norms are devised, companies deploying AI technologies would be rated on various parameters like the time taken to restore the system in the event of any hacking, malware or breakdown. Official sources said initially firms might be asked to self-certify their systems and provide ratings.

A standardised set of norms is required since AI technology is gradually being used in almost all sectors that have consumer interface and there is always a danger of systems getting hacked and providing erroneous results, causing harm to users. For instance, driverless cars depend on real-time decision-making like identifying traffic signals, when to stop, when to start, etc.  Similarly, automated car parkings are heavily dependent on AI connectivity. Several systems connected to telecom networks, if hacked, can throw all operations out of gear. In such scenarios, there is a need for uniform standards to assess the time taken for recovery and arrangements needed in the interim.

At present, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) is working with the industry to come up with a report on how the standards will be formulated, what kind of applications are expected in telecom and digital infrastructure networks going forward, what metrics should be considered to evaluate AI system robustness, what role can the government play in ensuring AI robustness of systems, among other things.

The TEC is expected to come up with an initial report on the subject over the next two-three months, after which public consultations with the stakeholders will take place.

Meanwhile, TEC has released procedures for accessing and rating artificial intelligence systems for fairness. The AI fairness score will check how much bias exists in the systems for preferring a particular seller or product by a particular seller to the users. However, the TEC standards are not yet mandatory for platforms to follow.

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