This is the first time since 2007 — when the erstwhile Indian Airlines was merged with Air India — that the national carrier has eked out an operating profit. Having an operating profit in a decade is an encouraging sign for the airline, which is seeking to turn around its fortunes amid stiff competition, sources said. A decline of nearly 24 per cent in fuel costs in the last financial year compared to the year-ago period was a key factor in the airline becoming operationally profitable. According to the sources, the benefits of lower fuel costs were passed on to passengers, which is also reflected in terms of lower yield during the last fiscal. Yield — an indicator of ticket prices — declined by 7.7 per cent. Also Read: Air India plane from Vijayawada makes emergency landing at IGI

In 2015-16, Air India carried 18 million passengers, registering a growth of 6.6 per cent. In the comparable period, the same stood at 16.88 million, they added. However, in 2015-16, the carrier saw its revenue slide to Rs 20,526 crore from Rs 20,613 crore in 2014-15. Indicating improved operating performance, EBITDAR (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rentals) rose to Rs 3,587 crore last financial year, from Rs 1,436 crore in 2014-15. Last fiscal, the airline’s capacity deployment and aircraft utilisation went up by 4.8 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively. On account of currency fluctuations, the carrier incurred a forex loss Rs 350 crore in 2015-16. Air India is staying afloat on a Rs 30,000-crore bailout extended by the government.

They will mostly be Boeings,” he said. Currently, SpiceJet is having a fleet of 43 aircraft operating 320 flights a day. Replying to a query, Singh said within next few weeks they will be adding 2 to 3 international destinations. Currently, it operates to six countries. “We are flying to six countries as of now. We are looking at more options. In the next few weeks, we will announce some more routes. We will be announcing two to three destinations more. Our strategy is to operate in 4 hour-window journey,” he said. On its proposed order, the CMD said they are talking to both Airbus and Boeing for placing an order of over 100 aircraft. Also Read: SpiceJet announces Great Festival Sale, offers one-way journey for fare as low as Rs 888

The deal will be finalised in a month, he said, adding that the whole order will either go to Boeing or Airbus. “We are going to finalise in a month. It will be either Boeing or Airbus. We will not be rushed into a decision. It will not be mix of both. It has to be done at right price. So, we have to be very careful. We have closed many issues related to aircraft purchase. It could be more than 100 aircraft,” he said. He said the budget airline is also mulling to operate flights from Hyderabad to Tier-II cities like Nagpur, Calicut and Bhubaneswar. The Airline has continuously been making profits for the few quarters on the back of operational efficiency, he claimed.

Investor sentiment received a boost after retail inflation fell to a 13-month low of 4.31 per cent and wholesale inflation at 3.57 per cent, creating headroom for further rate cuts by Reserve Bank in coming months. Besides positive domestic macro-economic data, a firming trend in global markets with upbeat Chinese inflation data easing investor concerns over global growth and the health of the world’s second-biggest economy influenced trading sentiment here. “Market was not cheered even though the CPI inflation cooled to 4.31 per cent as the mixed start to the quarter results did not comfort investors. Also Read: Sensex at 3-month low, crashes 439 points on global sell-off

Global market rebounded with the positive inflation data from China, while the investors are eyeing today?s commentary from Fed chair for any cues in rate hike trajectory,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said. The 30-share barometer opened positive at 27,712.22 and advanced to 27,763.54 but profit-booking at higher levels, shed most grounds to settle the session 30.49 points, or 0.11 per cent, higher at 27,673.60. Intra-day, it touched a low of 27,548.18. The gauge had plunged 439.23 points in yesterday’s trade after a slew of global factors such as weak Chinese export data and Fed rate hike talks unnerved investors.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty rose 10.05 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 8,583.40 after shuttling between 8,604.45 and 8,549.80. However, for the week, the Sensex dropped 387.54 points, or 1.38 per cent, while NSE Nifty lost 114.20 points, or 1.31 per cent. The broader markets today too saw some buying activity with the BSE small-cap advancing 0.83 per cent and mid-cap ending higher by 0.81 per cent. As many as 16 in the 30-share Sensex pack advanced.

Gadkari said both the companies are set for collaboration not only for connecting ports to railways networks but also in areas of waterways and roads. The development follows inking of a pact between IPRCL and the German Railways Deutsche Bahn (DB) during the Maritime India Summit earlier this year for co-operation on modernisation of rail port connectivity and port rail facilities of Indian ports. “We had a very fruitful meeting and our co-operation will deepen,” Gadkari said. Also Read: Waste-to-wealth a Rs 10 lakh crore opportunity for India: Nitin Gadkari

The government has already proposed to engage IPRCL for the port connectivity projects identified under its ambitious Sagarmala programme and the corporation has been entrusted with carrying out the feasibility and implementation of 22 projects. Out of the total 22 projects, subject to their feasibility, 10 projects are likely to be completed during 2017-18 and 7 during 2018-19. Five projects are at survey/detailed project report (DPR)/land acquisition stage, as per the government.

For efficient evacuation of cargo from ports and to reduce logistics cost, last-mile rail connectivity of ports holds significance. Indian port Rail Corporation has been set up specifically to work in this area. It was proposed in today’s meeting to form groups with representatives of IPRCL and DB to identify areas of co-operation and potential projects as also to identify cost effective new rail technologies that can be implemented. This would help bring in foreign investment and cost effective, environment friendly, innovative technology for the port-rail connectivity projects. Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar, Road Transport & Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra and other senior officials of the two ministries were also present during the meeting.

Aircel have spiced up their offers with high discounts keeping in view the upcoming festive season. Economic Times quoted Sankara Narayanan K, K, Head – SBU 1, (Chennai & ROTN), Aircel, said, “Aircel is spicing up the festivities with a whole range of exciting data and calling products. We want our customers to consume entertainment online without worrying too much about the cost. Our latest product innovations are in line with the evolving data and mobile internet scenario in the country. We have been working tirelessly to live up to this expectation of our customers and hence, we’ve redoubled our efforts in offering value for money products to our customers.” (ALSO READ: Reliance Jio sets ‘world record’, enrols 16 million users in 1st month)

Reportedly, Aircel’s offer is available across circles in Chennai, ROTN, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Kolkata, North East, Bihar & Jharkhand, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir . It will be available from Rs 24 to Rs 41. The main recharge is available in the range of Rs 291 to Rs 329. (ALSO READ- Telecom rivals Reliance Communication, Aircel merge; Anil Ambani’s RCom becomes 4th biggest mobile operator in India)

Last month, After Reliance launched Jio with affordable rates, Bharti Airtel launched a 4G data pack that matches Jio’s Infocomm’s rates. It provides 1GB high-speed data at Rs 50. Reliance in August launched 4G data pack for prepaid customers which offers 90 days of free data. Last week, Reliance Jioclaimed that it has created “a world record” by crossing the 16 million subscriber mark in its first month of operations — September. Jio has achieved the growth faster than any other telecom operator or start-up in the world, Reliance Jio Infocomm said in a release.

Last month, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications agreed to merge its wireless telecom business with rival Aircel with asset base of more than Rs 65,000 crore. The merge with the smaller rival will create the country’s 4th-biggest mobile phone operator. RCom and Aircel will hold 50 per cent each in the new company.

At NSE, shares of the company went up by 2.36 per cent to Rs 2,384. The country’s largest software services firm had posted a net profit of about Rs 6,073 crore in the year-ago period. The consolidated revenue grew nearly 8 per cent to Rs 29,284 crore for the said quarter as against Rs 27,165 crore in July-September 2015. ALSO READ: NSE to auction investment limits for Rs 9,300-crore government bonds 

Describing the second quarter as an extremely “unusual” one for the company, TCS managing director and chief executive N Chandrasekaran said, “I expect the Q3 and Q4 to be better than the similar quarters in the past many years and also the first two quarters as we expect most of the delayed project orders in Q2 to become materialised in the second half”.

Consequently, the exchange has decided to conduct an auction for the allocation of unutilised debt limits to the tune of Rs 9,333 crore on Monday, October 17, 2016. Besides, a mock bidding session would be conducted today in this regard. In an online auction conducted last month, the government debt securities had attracted bids worth a staggering Rs 6,821 crore from foreign investors as against Rs 4,615 crore on offer. ALSO READ: WPI inflation slows to 3.57 per cent as vegetable prices soften 

To boost foreign flow, limit for overseas investors in central government securities has been increased from Rs 1.40 lakh crore to Rs 1.44 lakh crore from July 5. Earlier, this limit was increased to Rs 1.40 lakh crore from April 4. Prior to that, the limit was Rs 1.35 lakh crore. To boost inflows of foreign funds into Indian capital markets, regulator Sebi raised the FPI investment limit in government securities to Rs 1.48 lakh crore from October 3 onwards. This limit will be further increased to Rs 1.52 lakh crore from January 2, next year.

Pulses inflation continued to rule high at 23.99 per cent in September, according to the Commerce Ministry data. Potato, a daily consumable vegetable, witnessed maximum inflationary pressure at 73.31 per cent. Inflation in fruits rose 14.10 per cent during the month. Overall, the food inflation basket showed good moderation with inflation at 5.75 per cent in September, as against 8.23 per cent in August. The WPI, which was in the negative zone from November 2014 to March 2016, had been rising for six months till August. In September, the inflation has slowed.

The inflation print for manufactured articles read at 2.48 per cent in September, as against 2.42 per cent in August. The rate of inflation in sugar was at 32.92 per cent and that for petrol was 1.25 per cent. The WPI inflation for July has been revised upwards at 3.72 per cent, against provisional estimate of 3.55 per cent. ALSO READ: Infosys Q2 net up 6.1 per cent at Rs 3,606 crore; cuts FY17 rev guidance 

The wholesale inflation in September is in sync with the retail inflation which eased to a 13-month low of 4.31 per cent in the month. The all-powerful Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel last week cut benchmark interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent. While he had signalled more tolerance towards inflation, the easing in CPI data was in line with the RBI’s forecast for average 5 per cent inflation in fourth quarter of 2016. This, many expect, would create more room for interest rate cuts.

“However, regardless of the passionate boycott in India and Indian media’s hysteric reports of a “doomsday” for Chinese products, Chinese goods have never been condemned by Indian government and are popular across the nation,” it said. “The boycott has not achieved success. Sales figures for Chinese products on the top three Indian online retailers in the first week of October hit a new record. Amazingly, the Chinese mobile phone company Xiaomi sold half a million phones in just three days on the Flipkart, Amazon India, Snapdeal and Tata CLiQ platforms,”the article said.

Referring to the boycott calls over China’s technical hold on moves to bring about a ban on Azhar as well Beijing obstructing India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, (NSG), it said. “Chinese products are often the victim when regional situations get tense, and this phenomenon has been existing for quite a few years. Now Chinese goods are on the stage again due to the Kashmir issue,” it said. “The bilateral trade relationship is one of the pillars of the Sino-Indian relationship. ALSO READ: Infosys lowers revenue outlook in rupee, dollar value

The trade volume was over USD 70 billion in 2015, and China’s investment in India soared to around USD 870 million in 2015, six times what it was in 2014,” it said. India has been expressing concern over the trade deficit which last year touched USD 46 billion. “To some extent, the economic relationship is the barometer of the political relationship. There shouldn’t be huge fluctuation in terms of economic cooperation if the political relationship keeps steady between the two,” it said.

“For the dragon and elephant, enhancing economic ties would be a preferable way to promote the comprehensive bilateral relationship. The more economic cooperation exists, the more opportunities there will be for Chinese products to enter the Indian market. “India is a big potential market, and people using smartphones and doing online shopping has become the irreversible trend in the new era,” it said. The commercial cooperation between these two countries could also be focused on e-commerce, service and financial investment.

Another article in the same daily said India has to upgrade its industrial structures to address USD 46 billion trade deficit. Official data during September?showed India had exported goods worth USD 922 million to China, while importing goods worth USD 5.4 billion from China. “The huge trade deficit with China has become an increasingly unharmonious factor in bilateral ties between the two countries, requiring China and India to take practical measures to narrow the trade imbalance when leaders of the two nations meet in India over the weekend for the BRICS summit,” the article said.

“The two countries have made concerted efforts to narrow the trade imbalance, including signing a five-year trade and economic cooperation agreement in 2014, but it seems that such moves have had only limited effects. What we need to do now is find out the root causes of the trade imbalance,” it said. The major imports from China include electronic components, telecom instruments, chemicals and pharmaceutical products, while India’s major exports to China include ore, plastics and cotton.

“The imbalanced bilateral trade structure is actually a result of the fact that China and India are at different developmental stages in terms of industrialisation. It won’t be easy to reduce India’s trade deficit with China simply by relying on measures such as seeking greater access to the Chinese market for India’s raw materials and agricultural products – India also needs to upgrade its industrial structure,” it said. “In other words, India seeking to solve the problem of the China-India trade imbalance cannot anchor its hopes on efforts such as persuading Chinese people to consume more Indian goods at a time when more and more Indian young people are keen to use Chinese-made goods such as smartphones,” it said.

“Efforts such as encouraging Chinese smartphone makers to set up production lines in India may be the most effective way to reduce the trade deficit, which is partly the result of a price gap between India’s imports of finished goods and its exports of raw materials,” it said. “But sadly, it seems that India is not on the right path, as the ?country is trying to reduce its trade deficit with China through trade protectionism,” it said, adding that there had been 322 anti-dumping cases in India so far, of which 177 cases involved Chinese products. “Besides, a social media campaign urging people to refrain from buying China-made products has recently been building in India. Such moves will not help contribute to reducing India’s trade deficit, but could damage bilateral ties instead,” it said.

“The guidance of 8-9 per cent in constant currency translates into 7.5-8.5 per cent growth on September 30 dollar value of Rs 66.62 and 10.9-11.9 per cent growth in rupee value,” said the filing. For fiscal 2015-16, consolidated revenue 9.1 per cent to $9.5 billion in dollar terms and 17.1 per cent to Rs 62,441 crore in rupee terms. ALSO READ: Infosys Q2 net up 6.1 per cent at Rs 3,606 crore; cuts FY17 rev guidance 

The lower guidance despite robust growth in second quarter (July-September) impacted the blue chip’s scrip of Rs five face value on the bourses, leading to loss of Rs 19.05 on the BSE to Rs 1,033 per share in the pre-noon trading from Thursday’s closing price of Rs 1052.05 despite opening at a higher rate of Rs 1,060.

“The end of PPI deflation is a good signal for the economy’s stabilisation,” Gao Yuwei, a researcher at Bank of China in Beijing, told Bloomberg News. “PPI is expected to be remain expansionary in the coming months.” Traders around Asia broadly welcomed the news on the world’s number two economy and key driver of global expansion, which is struggling with a years-long fight against slowing growth. Hong Kong added 0.6 per cent by lunch and Sydney — where several firms with close ties to China are listed — gained 0.1 per cent, while Seoul was up 0.6 per cent.

Tokyo added 0.2 per cent. However, Shanghai eased 0.5 per cent on worries the data will give the Chinese central bank reason to hold off any stimulus measures. In Bangkok the Stock Exchange of Thailand soared 3.7 per cent at the open, paring huge losses built up through the week as news filtered out that the king was gravely ill. The baht climbed more than one per cent against the dollar. The baht lost around three per cent this week as investors grew uneasy about political and economic stability after the death of the monarch who reigned for seven decades. ALSO READ: Infosys revises salaries of CFO, COO and other key execs 

While he wielded no official power, Bhumibol was seen as a uniting force in a fractured nation where political tensions are still raw two years after a military coup. However, analysts said the king’s death had been priced into the market and investors were now rushing in for bargain stocks, while attention will now be on the succession process for his son. “Thailand’s economic fundamentals remain unaffected, which should help it to weather this storm,” Jingyi Pan, a Singapore-based strategist at IG Asia Pte, said before the announcement.

“The military government, which has overseen the economy during a period of increasing (economic) growth, could help to guide the country through the period.” And Margaret Yang, an analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, added: “Eventually smart money will flow in to support the market.” In Seoul, Samsung Electronics rose almost one per cent as investors brushed off its warning that it expects another USD 3 billion-plus hit to profit over the next two quarters owing to the impact of its exploding Note 7 crisis. It said it hoped a pick-up sales of its other flagship handset would help cushion the impact.

The compensation includes fixed compensation of Rs 4.62 crore per annum and a variable compensation of up to Rs 3.88 crore per annum,” Infosys said. Additionally, based on fiscal 2016 performance, Rao will get 27,250 restricted stock units (RSU) and 43,000 stock options, vested over a period of 4 years. Apart from Ranganath, the compensation structure of Mohit Joshi (Head of the Financial Services), Sandeep Dadlani (Head of Americas), Rajesh K Murthy (Head of Europe), Ravikumar S (Chief Delivery Officer), David Kennedy (Chief Compliance Officer), Krishnamurthy Shankar (Group Head of Human Resource Development) and Manikantha AGS (Company Secretary) have also been revised with effect from November 1, 2016. ALSO READ: Infosys Q2 net up 6.1 per cent at Rs 3,606 crore; cuts FY17 rev guidance

“The revised aggregate compensation of the above individuals includes fixed compensation of Rs 24 crore and variable compensation of up to Rs 20 crore,” it said. Additionally, based on fiscal 2016 performance, restricted stock units (RSU) of 2,45,750 and stock options of 5,02,550 will be granted on November 1, 2016, it added. On Prahlad’s induction to the Board, Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee said: “We are delighted to welcome Prahlad, a distinguished technologist to the Board.

Prahlad brings with him, not only his deep knowledge of the company, but also sharp insights into the industry”. Prior to founding Surya, Prahlad played a key role in the rapid growth of Infosys, being associated with the company during its formative years. He is on the advisory board of Computer Science and Automation Department of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

The figures are as per Indian Accounting Standard (Ind AS). Revenues are now expected to grow 8-9 per cent in constant currency, translating to 9.2-10.2 per cent in INR terms and 8.2-9.2 per cent in USD terms. This is the second time the company has reduced its revenue guidance for the fiscal. In July, Infosys had said it expected revenues to grow 10.5-12 per cent in constant currency terms, lower than the previously estimated 11.5-13.5 per cent for the full year 2016-17.

“While we continue to navigate an uncertain external environment, we remain focused on executing our strategy and increasing momentum of our software plus services model. Considering our performance in the first half of the year and the near-term uncertain business outlook, we are revising our revenue guidance,” Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said. He added that in the long term, it’s increasingly clear that the IT industry’s future lies in evolving from a cost-based, people-only model, to one in which people are amplified by software and artificial intelligence (AI). ALSO READ: Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd Q2 net profit declines 19 per cent to Rs 3 crore 

The company’s operating margins expanded 80 basis points sequentially to 24.9 per cent. “Our margins expanded during the quarter on the back of further improvement in operational efficiency. Operating cash flows for the quarter were healthy and we effectively navigated a volatile currency environment through prudent hedging,” Infosys CFO MD Ranganath said. In US dollar terms, its consolidated net profit rose 3.8 per cent to USD 539 million in the September quarter of 2016-17, while revenue went up 8.2 per cent to USD 2.5 billion. Infosys shares were trading at Rs 1,028.20 apiece, down 2.27 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.

The company added 12,717 people (at gross level) and 2,779 employees (net basis) from June quarter, taking its headcount to 1.99 lakh employees as on September 30, 2016. The attrition rate was at 20 per cent for the said quarter. Liquid assets, including cash and cash equivalents, available-for-sale financial assets and government bonds, were Rs 35,640 crore in the quarter under review compared with Rs 33,212 crore as on June 30, 2016. Infosys has also declared an interim dividend of Rs 11 per equity share.

The rupee had lost 41 paise, its biggest one-day fall in over three months, to close at fresh three-week low of 66.94 against the dollar yesterday on renewed concerns over potential interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 69.68 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 27,712.79 points in early trade today. ALSO READ: Tax raised on petrol, diesel, IML in rural focussed KA budget 

At present, a host of products available on Amazon US would be available in India, later on more categories and countries from where products can be bought will be added, he said. Customers could order items from Amazon’s US portal to India earlier as well but they would have to pay in dollars. With this launch, Amazon.In will become the single largest online destination for buying both local and global products in India, he said. Amazon will now have a dedicated page showcasing all eligible products that it will ship to India under the Global Store. It will make products across categories like books, apparel, shoes, office supplies, home, kitchen, sports as well as niche categories like fishing equipment and bakeware. India is the third market after China and Mexico to get the Global Store. Also Read: Amazon Great Indian festival sale begins from October 17; huge discount on fashion, electronics, books and entertainment

“They will also have access to unique brands like Nixon (Watches), Jessica Simpson (Shoes), Zumba (Sports) and Gaiam (Sports) etc that not available in India,” he said. Customers will be able to see prices in local currency inclusive of import fee deposits and get delivery in 2-12 days. “Prices shown to customers will include product price, import fees deposit and shipping fees (based on delivery option selected) in INR for ease of purchase,” he said.

India Post, DHL and Aramex will be the third party logistics providers for products ordered from the Amazon Global Store. Customers will also be able to return most unused items within 30 days of delivery for full or partial refund based on the reason for return. Like its competitors Flipkart and Snapdeal, the Jeff Bezos-led firm has been aggressively expanding the range of products available on its platform to woo customers. A report by Kotak Institutional Equities said the Indian e-tailing market could reach USD 28 billion by 2019-20, registering a compounded annual growth rate of 45 per cent.

UK-based Vodafone’s India unit was the most aggressive, taking home Rs 20,000 crore worth of spectrum. Colao said he thanked the minister for the government’s recent policies, including spectrum auction, which will enable the company to expand its 4G services and offer the Vodafone SuperNet experience in more circles. Vodafone India acquired spectrum for a 20-year term in the recent auction across 1800, 2100 and 2500 MHz bands. Vodafone India has 17 circles with 4G capability, covering 90 per cent of the company’s total revenues and 94 per cent of mobile data revenues. Also Read: Vodafone arm ties up with Microsoft as cloud service partner

Vodafone India has the largest voice and data traffic usage within the Vodafone group and has more than 200 million customers. As of June 30, 2016, Vodafone India had 69.7 million data users, of which 32.3 million use 3G/4G services. Last year, the company had acquired 78.4 MHz of spectrum in 12 telecom circles in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands, in circles such as Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (East), Assam, and Karnataka, among others. “During the meeting, we reaffirmed our commitment to India and supporting the government’s thrust on financial inclusion by expanding our M-pesa service,” Colao said.

Airtel is offering three-month free trial of V-Fiber to new customers and also made pan-India unlimited voice calling free on plans starting Rs 1,299. “More importantly, there is no new wiring, drilling etc. required at an existing customer’s premises. One simply needs to upgrade to a new modem to experience ‘V-Fiber’ speeds,” the statement said. The offering has started in Chennai starting today and will be rolled out across Airtel’s national broadband network in the coming weeks, the statement said. “With ‘V-Fiber’ and our national optic fiber backbone, we are all set to offer a future ready network. This solution, besides reducing our carbon footprint, offers a very quick and convenient upgrade to the customer,” Bharti Airtel, Director ? Operations, Ajai Puri said. Also Read: Airtel offers 50 min free calls, 2GB storage on MyAirtel App

The announcement came a day after Airtel launched one-time 50 minutes of free calls within Airtel network with new version of its mobile application ‘MyAirtel App’ and 2GB of online storage space. Existing telcos have started rolling out high-speed internet plans as well as other offers to retain their customer base amid disruptive pricing by newcomer Reliance Jio which is offering unlimited data service till December 31 to its users.

The total income from operations (net) during the July-September period increased to Rs 23.27 over Rs 21.48 crore in the same period last fiscal. RIIL continues to provide infrastructure support services namely transportation of petroleum products and water through pipelines, construction machinery on hire and other support services to Reliance Industries Group, with a substantial portion provided to Reliance Industries Ltd, it said in a statement. RIIL presently does not have any expansion plans on the anvil. Also Read: Reliance Industries energy biz cash flow to offset outgo on spectrum: S&P

Other challenges for the 5-nation grouping are energising investment, management of spillovers in view of uncertainties injected into the business climate and prospects of returns by bouts of financial market turbulence usually on account of policy uncertainty from the systemic central banks of the world. Even though the sensitivity to spillovers has waned, he said, managing them claims non-trivial resources and policy attention. “In 2016, we have had seen umpteen times when capital flows to emerging markets flowed and ebbed,” he said. With the current account deficits/surpluses narrow in BRICS countries, these economies seem to be showing some lack of absorption capacities and the wherewithal to convert capital flows into investible resources. Also Read: RBI issues operating guidelines for differentiated banks

“This is incongruous in the context of the ultra-low cost of overseas finance, especially in mature markets and the availability of large pools of footloose capitals driven to low returns,” he added. Patel also flagged commodity headwinds that most of the BRICS nations face and underlined the need for them to manage the commodity price cycles. The modest firming up of commodity prices in the first half of this year has alleviated some stress among net commodity exporters and shaved off some trade gains accruing to some of commodity importers, he noted. “The outlook for commodities, however, generally remains soft and so we must work on a mechanism that even out large real economic effects over the full duration of the cycle so that BRICS economies are not worse off,” Patel said. He said the BRICS nations need to work hard to improve their business environment in domestic economies so as to make investments attractive.

As per the interim order, the probe by Sebi and BSE began after the stock exchange received complaints from several investors in July last year that they have entered into buy trades in Dhyana on July 27, 2015 based on the stock tips received through SMS. According to the earlier order, a website registered in Pakistan — ‘bsebull.In’ — was used to lure investors through fraudulent SMSes. A number of buy orders were placed based on messages appearing on bsebull.In, Sebi had noted. Also Read: Sebi working on reducing listing time to 4 days

The latest order comes after the 21 entities did not submit their reply and failed to avail of personal hearing after the interim order was passed in June. “I am of the view that the noticees (21) are deliberately keeping away from these proceedings and are not willing to co-operate,” Sebi Whole-time Member Rajeev Kumar Aggarwal said. As per the interim order, the company, its directors, promoters, preferential allottees and the Dhyana group employed a device wherein “the company in nexus with the preferential allottees made a facade of preferential allotment”. After the expiry of the lock-in period, the Dhyana group purchased shares from preferential allottees at artificially increased prices. In the whole process, entities of the Dhyana Group provided a hugely profitable exit to the preferential allottees.

The regulator noted that the beneficiaries made a collective profit of Rs 107.43 crore on a collective investment of Rs 5.22 crore, a whopping return of approximately 2,060 per cent on their investment in 20 months. In its latest order, Aggarwal said he did not find “any reason to revoke or modify the directions of the interim order dated June 1, 2016, in the matter of Dhyana Finstock Ltd against the noticees (21 entities)”. Accordingly, Sebi has confirmed the interim order passed against the 21 entities. Sebi had prima facie found that the entities acted in concert for implementation of the dubious plan, device and artifice that has led to the misuse of stock exchange mechanism.