A look back at some of our biggest and best stories from this week. In case you missed them, here's a recap:
In a major relief to the stressed telecom sector, the Narendra Modi government asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) not to take any coercive action against telecom companies for non-payment of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues until further court orders. The director of the licensing finance policy (LFP) wing has issued a direction that departments concerned should not take any coercive action, until further orders, against the licensees in case they fail to comply with the Supreme Court order.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday revised downward India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection to 4.8 percent for the financial year 2020 (FY20) and to 5.8 percent for FY21. In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update for January, the IMF cut India’s growth forecast by 130 basis points (bps) for FY20 and 120 bps in FY21 and 90 bps in FY22.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to allow any form of stay on the implementation of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. The court was hearing about 140 petitions challenging the constitutionality of the law enacted in December last year. The apex court issued a notice to the Union government in all CAA matters filed in the court and has given the government four weeks to reply.
Market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) may launch a probe into the whistleblower's allegations of financial impropriety against Infosys chief executive officer Salil Parekh. This development comes weeks after audit committee of Infosys gave Parekh and other top executives a clean chit in the matter.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Piyush Goyal, Railways Minister, Commerce and Industry Minister spoke about the government's strategic outlook for India. He said, India is a land which has the power of democracy, the power of demography, the power of leadership, the power of talent, all of which culminates in the power of opportunity.
DFC Bank will retain global executive search firm Egon Zehnder to identify a successor to managing director Aditya Puri, the country's top private lender said on Thursday. "Egon Zehnder has been recommended by the search committee and unanimously appointed by the bank's board," Neeraj Jha, a spokesman for HDFC Bank, said in an email, confirming a Reuters report on the matter from earlier on Thursday.
United States President Donald Trump is likely to visit India between the 24th to 26th of February. The highlight of this visit could be a mini trade deal that India and the US have been negotiating for several months now. The schedule and list of deliverables were discussed during the visit of senior US diplomats Alice Wells, Matthew Pottinger and Lisa Curtis to India last week. The exact duration of the visit is also being worked out.
The tax collections shortfall in the current financial year is expected to be nearly Rs 2 lakh crore this financial year, CNBC-TV18 has learnt. This estimate is based on the bifurcation of direct tax and indirect tax shortfall. Direct tax shortfall in the current financial year is estimated at Rs 1.5-1.8 lakh crore whereas indirect tax shortfall could range between Rs 30,000-60,000 crore.
The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday approved up to 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bharti Airtel from 49 percent allowed earlier. Last year, the Department of Telecom had returned Bharti Airtel’s FDI application as the company had not provided clarity on the foreign investor.
China closed off a city of more than one crore people Thursday, halting transportation and warning against public gatherings, to try to stop the spread of a deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds and spread to other cities and countries in the Lunar New Year travel rush.
The Supreme Court on Monday approved the central government's proposal to take over the management of embattled realty firm Unitech and appointment of new board of directors. The apex court said the existing board will be superseded and a new board will be appointed. The new board, which will consist of seven nominee directors nominated by the government, will be headed by former road transport secretary YS Malik.
