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Oil price biggest risk for Indian economy: Moody’s survey

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A majority of Indian and foreign investors consider that high oil prices have emerged as a significant risk to the country’s economy, Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday.

The US rating agency’s report is based on a survey of 175 respondents, including from over 100 financial institutions at the annual India Credit Conference in Mumbai and Singapore held in June.

Investors were asked questions on issues like top risks facing the Indian economy, fiscal deficit, the recapitalizsation package for public sector banks and credit conditions for Indian corporates among others.

“Most of the respondents highlighted high oil prices as the top risk while 30.3 per cent of those in Singapore picked rising interest rates as the next top risk and 23.1 per cent of those in Mumbai picked domestic political risks as the second top risk,” Moody’s Vice President Joy Rankothge said in the report.

Most respondents said they believed India would not meet the central government’s fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal.

While only 23.3 per cent of the investors in Singapore and 13.6 per cent in Mumbai felt that the fiscal targets would be achieved, 84.7 per cent in Mumbai and 76.7 per cent in Singapore expected some fiscal slippage.

On the government’s bank recapitalisation plan, 85.7 per cent in Singapore and 93.6 per cent in Mumbai thought that it was insufficient to resolve the non-performing assets (NPA), or banks’ bad loans, challenges.

In this connection, while 59.6 per cent of the attendees in Mumbai thought that banks will be unable to raise capital from the markets, 32.1 per cent in Singapore felt the same way.

Respondents in both locations said funding conditions will be one of the top factors driving the outlook for non-financial corporates – 38 per cent in Mumbai and 34.6 per cent in Singapore.

According to the report, 28 per cent of respondents in Mumbai selected the resumption of capital investment as the second key factor affecting credit outlook while only 11.5 per cent felt this way in Singapore.

In contrast, 26.9 per cent of the Singapore attendees selected government policy and reforms as the second most important factor affecting the credit outlook, compared with 22 per cent in Mumbai.

‘Big 500’ corporates account for 90% CSR spend: Survey

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The ‘big 500’ companies in India contribute the lion’s share of more than 90 percent of the total Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spends in India, and just 20 top corporations account for over 45 percent, a new survey revealed on Wednesday.

In terms of the geographical beneficiaries, Maharashtra received the biggest chunk of the total CSR fund spent in the country, followed by Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat and together they account for around one-third of the total funds.

However, the northeastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, and the Union Territories have received the lowest CSR funding so far.

The survey on the CSR activities was conducted by CSRBOX and NGOBOX, which revealed that by March 2019, CSR spending will cross Rs 50,000 crore mark.

Similarly, the CSR compliance is also expected to improve and fall in the range of 97-98 percent by net year 2019-2020, according to the survey, said CSRBOX-NGOBOX CEO Bhomik Shah.

“The research examined the CSR spending trend since the applicability of mandatory CSR with the Companies Act, 2103, for companies falling under certain criteria of annual profits or turnover or net worth. According to Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India has between 13,000-15,000 such companies,” Shah said.

The survey looked into the prescribed CSR and actual CSR trends in the past four years and projected the number for the current fiscal’s CSR spend by the ‘Big 500’ companies.

The research said that the ‘Big 500’ will spend over Rs 11,000 crore on social initiatives this year to comply with the CSR rules, Shah added.

The survey predicts that education will be the most favoured area of CSR activity in coming years, followed by skills development, which could be pumped in with Rs 15,000 crore CSR funds between 2014-2019.

Besides, healthcare, water and sanitation initiatives also received substantial CSR attention due to the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and would receive Rs 14,000 crore by March 2019.

After analyzing CSR portfolios of companies in past four years, Shah said that an upward trend has been noticed for CSR compliance though the funding size for various initiatives is falling, suggesting that companies want to diversify their CSR activities.

“If the new recommendations by Sub-Legal Committee on CSR, constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in April 2018 are accepted by the government, then companies will not be allowed to carry forward the unspent CSR fund. This will boost the CSR compliance substantially,” Shah pointed out.

He explained that in the past, corporates used to write out cheques for government-instituted funds when they lacked expertise on development issues, but the scenario is reversing now with the government taking their support to show impact on ground through CSR interventions and boost official programmes — the real intention of making CSR mandatory.

“Mandatory CSR has made a lot of change in India’s development landscape. It has gradually formalised the corporate philanthropy with emphasis on impacts on the ground. With an average Rs 12,000 crore funding annually, there is a lot that can be done in education, healthcare and rural development areas,” said Shah.

Syria’s war: UN ‘deeply alarmed’ by violence in southern Deraa

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The United Nations is “deeply alarmed” about the government offensive in southern Syria, which is forcing thousands of families to flee their homes and has caused civilian deaths.

About 270,000 have fled, the UN said, with tens of thousands currently stuck by the border with Jordan after the Russian-backed government offensive began to recapture rebel-held southwestern Deraa province.

According to the UN, nearly half of the displaced are children.

“This is the largest population displacement in southern Syria since the onset of the crisis,” Anders Pedersen, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Jordan, wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Wednesday that dozens of trucks were waiting for Syrian permission to supply humanitarian aid from Jordan to Syria.

Safadi was speaking at a news conference following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

After artillery strikes hit Jordanian territory from Syria, he said Jordan’s armed forces were ready to defend country’s interests.

Amman has kept its borders shut for the new wave of refugees from Deraa, as the country says it is unable to host additional Syrians.

Jordan currently hosts more than 650,000 of the 5.2 million Syrian refugees spread across the region, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

However, the Jordanian government puts the number at 1.3 million, as the UNHCR only counts registered refugees, whereas Amman includes Syrians who have not received UN asylum.

The UN has dispatched humanitarian assistance over the past two months and has been helping to provide essential supplies such as food, water, soap and medical equipment with extra supplies prepared in case for further escalation in conflict.

Children are at particular risk of dehydration and diarrhoea, Pederson noted.

UN urges Jordan to admit some of refugees from Syria’s Deraa
“The United Nations reiterates its readiness to assist as much as needed but, at the same time, it also reminds all responsible parties that our effectiveness depends on facilitation of the provision of humanitarian aid and protection to people in need, in line with the parties’ obligations under international humanitarian law,” Pederson wrote.

“The United Nations reminds all states and parties involved in the conflict that a delay in responding to the worsening humanitarian crisis could only lead to catastrophic results.”

Since the war in Syria began in 2011, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon have shouldered much of the responsibility in hosting Syrian refugees.

The UN’s concern comes as Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Deraa, located near the Jordanian border.

Safadi said the situation in southern Syria was a cause for serious concern and needed to be resolved as soon as possible.

He said on Wednesday dozens of trucks are waiting for Syrian permission to supply humanitarian aid from Jordan to Syria.

After artillery strikes hit Jordanian territory from Syria, Safadi said Jordan’s armed forces were ready to defend country’s interests.

Delhi government takes back power to post officers

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Within hours of the apex court ruling in its favour, the Delhi government said on Wednesday it was taking back from the Lt Governor the power to transfer and post IAS and other officers.

“Two years back as per a High Court decision, the power to transfer and post officers was taken away from the elected government of Delhi and was reposed with the LG and other officials,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

“Being the Minister of Services, I have now ordered that this system be changed with immediate effect and be given back to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister,” he told reporters here.

According to the system which prevailed hitherto, the power to transfer and post IAS officers, DANICS officers and officers equivalent to all India services was vested with the Lt. Governor.

The power to transfer and post Grade I and II DASS employees, private secretaries and senior personal assistants was vested with the Chief Secretary.

A Supreme Court Constitution Bench on Wednesday ruled in favour of the Arvind Kejriwal government saying the real powers of governance in Delhi rest with the elected representatives.

Cabinet approves 50% profit over input cost for farmers

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The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved Minimum Support Price (MSP) for summer-sown crops for the year 2018-19, which will provide farmers a profit of 50 percent or more over the cost of production.

Addressing the media, Union Minister Rajnath Singh said the cabinet had taken the “historic” decision to provide relief to distressed farmers as it would have “positive impact” on the economy.

He said that the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Production (CACP) had fixed input cost for major monsoon crop paddy at Rs 1,166 per quintal and the government had added 50 per cent profit, which would make the MSP Rs 1,750 per quintal this year — a steep increase of Rs 200 from Rs 1,550 last year.

The MSP for ‘Grade A’ variety of paddy would be Rs 1,770 per quintal while it will be Rs 2,430 per quintal for jowar — a year-on-year jump of Rs 730.

He said the MSP would be based on ‘A2 +FL’ – one of the input cost concepts recommended by the Swaminathan Commission and the Central government would spend additional Rs 15,000 crore on account of the higher MSP.

Rajnath Singh said the MSP for bajra would be Rs 1,950 per quintal — return of about 97 per cent as the input cost calculated by the CACP was Rs 990 per quintal.

The government has fixed the MSP of Rs 5,675 per quintal for arhar (66 per cent profit), Rs 6,975 for moong and Rs 5,600 for urad.

In case of cotton, the MSP has been raised to Rs 5,150 per quintal.

The MSP would be Rs 4,890 for groundnut, Rs 5,388 for sunflower, Rs 3,399 for soybean, Rs 6,249 for sesame and Rs 5,877 for nigerseed.

Rajnath Singh said the higher MSP was a part of the NDA government’s plan to double farmers’ income by 2022.

Dinesh Gundu Rao has appointed as Karnataka Congress president

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All India Congress has appointed Dinesh Gundu Rao as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president.

He was the working president of KPCC in charge of South Karnataka before this.

Rao will take over from Dr G Parameshwara who was leading KPCC till now.

Rao’s appointment comes at a time when the Congress is looking to gain the support and votes of those from communities.

48-year-old Gundu Rao is five-time MLA from Gandhinagar in Bengaluru.

In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is looking to use Rao’s organizational skills to keep the party together in what could be a united fight with the JD(S) against the BJP.

It is believed that former chief minister Siddaramaiah had lobbied for Dinesh Gundu Rao.

Kuldeep’s fifer restricts England at 159/8

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Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliant bowling effort (5/24) restricted England at 159/8 in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Old Trafford cricket ground here on Tuesday.

With the hosts going at a decent pace, it was Kuldeep’s massacre which broke the English batting line-up and the spinner was well supported by pacer Umesh Yadav (2/20).

Put into bat, England were off to a good start as openers Jason Roy (30) and Jos Buttler (69) forged a 50-run partnership for the first wicket in 4.5 overs before Umesh drew the first blood to send back Roy.

Buttler was then joined by Alex Hales (8) and the duo partnered for a 45-run stand.

Kuldeep sent back Hales in the 12th over and went on to destruct the opponents as he dismissed Eoin Morgan (7), Jonny Bairstow (0) and Joe Root (0), which left England reeling at 107/5 in 13.4 overs.

Buttler got some support from unbeaten David Willey, who chipped in with 29 runs down the order, to help England reach a moderate total.

Kuldeep, however, was in no mood to give any respite to the hosts as he once again scalped a wicket in his final over to send back Buttler, the lone English batsman to show some resistance.

Brief Scores: England 159/8 (Jos Buttler 69, Jason Roy 30; Kuldeep Yadav 5/24) vs India.

England players have created their own history: Southgate

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England coach Gareth Southgate said his men have created their own history and the team wanted to win more after their victory over Colombia in the World Cup.

England won the World Cup round of 16 game at the Spartak Stadium beating Colombia 4-3 on penalties to reach the quarterfinals. The score was 1-1 after 90 minutes. It is the first time that England has won a penalty shootout in World Cup history.

Southgate said at a post-match press conference on Tuesday that the victory was a really important moment, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Not just winning the shootout but having to suffer at the end of the game in a stadium there were huge numbers of Colombian fans and we felt like an away fixture. Tonight, we showed we don’t have to conform to what’s gone before. We have created our own history, and I don’t want to go home yet,” he said.

Southgate also hopes the result will give belief to “generations of (English) players that will follow”. The coach revealed that his team has prepared for a penalty shootout situation.

“We’d talked about owning the process, and we got the rewards tonight. We looked at individual techniques and how we needed to be as a team. The goalkeepers have been very important in that as well,” the 47-year-old coach said.

After defeating Colombia, England will face Sweden in the quarterfinals on July 7 in Samara and winners of that match will play either Russia or Croatia on July 11.

Southgate said the match against Sweden will be difficult.

“Sweden is another team we have a poor record against, who we’ve underestimated in the past. We know exactly how they play and it’s going to be a real tough test,” he said.

Sweden edge past Switzerland to enter FIFA World Cup quarters

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Winger Emil Forsberg’s second-half strike helped Sweden beat Switzerland 1-0 to enter the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup after a gap of 24 years.

It was a brilliant neck-and-neck affair till the 66th minute when Forsberg scored the goal, after which Switzerland failed to display the same energy and thus lost the issue.

Forsberg broke the deadlock in the 66th minute through a low-ball shot which was deflected by Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji in the goalpost.

The match started with Switzerland taking the upper hand in the match. In the opening minute, Switzerland’s wide forward Xherdan Shaqiri slammed a ball from distance to the near post.

Shaqiri did not stop here and went on with the another chance few minutes later but the ball was deflected away from the danger zone by the defenders.

After putting up the early pressure, Sweden regrouped their strategy and it paid off to some extent as forward M. Berg beat the offside trap and charged in behind, but his shot was stopped by the goalkeeper Yann Sommer in one-on-one tackle.

Just after this attack, Switzerland found themselves under pressure as defender J. Djourou, who was in the starting XI in place of suspended Fabian Schar, made an head attempt unconvincingly in the box which landed in-front of Shaqiri and the latter got it clear to deny a brilliant effort.

In the 27th minute, Sweden got another chance to take the lead when striker O. Toivonen slammed the ball to the bottom-left corner but he failed to finish perfectly as goalkeeper Sommer dived to his right to deny the effort.

With both teams attacking fiercely, none of them found the back of the net in first 30 minutes of the match. Shaqiri, Toivonen, Berg tried hard to score for their respective teams but lacked proper finishing.

In the 38th minute, the best scoring chance of the game came when some brilliant one-touch passing pierced the Swedish defence down the left before Blerim Dzemaili blasted over from inside the box.

The next couple of minutes saw both teams creating chances in each other’s box but failed in converting those chances and as a result Sweden and Switzerland went to the tunnel goalless.

In the second half, Sweden continued where it left. In the 49th minute, Forsberg displayed brilliant skill to dodge two Swiss players before Toivonen snatched the ball and slammed over over the bar.

The series of attacks continued and the much awaited moment came in the 66th minute when Forsberg found the space on the edge of the box and fired low shot which was deflected by Akanji in the goalpost.

The goal forced Switzerland to play more attacking game as their forwards starting putting pressure on Sweden’s defence. But unperturbed by the pressure, Swedish players kept their calm.

Sweden soon, made series of substitutions to minimise the pressure and the move proved to be successful as they were close to earn a penalty in the dying minutes of the game. But a free-kick by Andreas Granqvist from just outside the box which was brilliantly saved by Sommer to wrap up the issue 1-0

Poland coach Nawalka to step down after disappointing World Cup

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Poland coach Adam Nawalka has become the second coach to lose his job after a disappointing World Cup, after the Polish FA confirmed he would be leaving his post at the end of the month.

Poland salvaged some pride from an otherwise sub-par tournament with a 1-0 win over Japan in Volgograd, but by the time they played that game they had already been eliminated after a 1-2 defeat to Senegal and a 0-3 loss against Colombia, reports Xinhua news agency.

Nawalka, who had been his country’s head coach since 2013, had originally sounded in positive mood following the Japan game, saying that the team would learn lessons from the 2018 World Cup, but though that may be the case, he will not remain in charge.

“We have decided that Adam Nawalka will remain Poland’s team coach until July 30 and after that day we will be looking for a new coach,” said Polish FA chief Zbigniew Boniek, in a news conference with Nawalka.

“We will try to build a national team in a new way,” he added.

Hector Cuper was the first coach to suffer the consequences of a poor World Cup when the Egyptian FA confirmed they would not be renewing his contract, after the Pharaohs suffered defeats against Uruguay, Russia and Saudi Arabia in their three Group A games.

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