Daily Sector News Today – 31.08.2017

Daily Sector News Today – 31.08.2017

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* AGRICULTURE: Farm loan waivers by state governments may cleanse the balance sheets of banks in the near term, however, it could disincentivise these institutions to lend to agriculture sector in the long term, the RBI said.

* AVIATION: The government will invite applications to appoint an adviser for divesting stake in Air India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.
 - The government has revised the effective date of the uniform levy on flights in India to fund the regional flight connectivity scheme or 'UDAN' to Sep 1, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

* BANKING: Unhappy with the monetary policy transmission by banks, the Reserve Bank of India will conduct studies on the impact of liquidity swings, liquidity coverage ratio introduction, and weak banks.
 - The RBI has received 15.28 trln rupees of demonetised 500- and 1,000-rupee notes the public deposited in banks post Nov 8, as of Jun 30.
 - The RBI's balance sheet barely grew in 2016-17 (Jul-Jun) as demonetisation caused a sharp decline in notes issued by the central bank, curbing the increase in its overall liabilities.
 - The RBI is actively considering use of Aadhaar data for individuals and Corporate Identification Number for companies, to create its proposed comprehensive public credit registry.

* COMMODITIES: The Delhi High Court has asked the government not to take any coercive action for now against gold dore bar importers for not repaying the central value added tax credit availed of by them.

* DEFENCE: Swedish defence and aerospace major, Saab, will on Friday announce a partnership with Adani group to manufacture defence equipment in India.

* ECONOMY: The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has approved two foreign direct investment proposals for single-brand multi-retail trading in India.
 - The Central Statistics Office is exploring the possibility of using the data related to the goods and services tax to create a new high-frequency indicator that can dynamically capture changes in the manufacturing sector.
 - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has defended the decision to demonetize 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, even as the RBI's annual report revealed that 99% of the banned notes returned to the system.

* HOSPITALITY: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has issued a notice to McDonald's India and its estranged joint venture partner Vikram Bakshi after the former told the court that no settlement was possible.

* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: The US has made one-on-one interviews mandatory for all green card applications, whether for employment or for refuge or asylum.

* OIL AND GAS: The recent spurt in prices of petrol and diesel over the past few weeks doesn't warrant a cut in the excise duty on the two fuels at present, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance has rallied behind the existing structure of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, saying that the implementation of draft pharmaceutical policy will complicate the regulator's functioning.

* TELECOMMUNICATION: BHARTI AIRTEL and IDEA CELLULAR have indicated that RELIANCE INDUSTRIES' JioPhone violated net neutrality principles, saying any company providing SIM-locked handsets offering limited apps under a tariff plan was as good as a 'walled garden'.