British Prime Minister Theresa May on October 24 announced that she will be leading a trade delegation to India next month, as her government seeks new relationships after Britain leaves the European Union. “I’ll be visiting India in early November and I’m pleased to say that I …
SEBI looks to tighten rules for credit rating agencies
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to tighten regulations for credit rating agencies by ensuring that rating processes are insulated from business decisions, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter, including a Sebi official. The capital markets regulator will als…
Too many GST rates could be disastrous: P Chidambaram
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on October 24 said that too many GST (Goods and Services tax) rates would be ‘disastrous’ and advocated for reduction of rates in the new indirect tax regime. “A well designed GST is expected to have a standard rate, plus and minus standard rate. That latitu…
Make in India, don’t just ship from China: Aruna Sundarajan
New Delhi: Indian government is wooing Chinese component manufacturers to make in India, rather than just view the country as a large consumer market for imports of fully made products A top government official said that India and China have their strengths and the intent is to bring them togethe…
Festive season sales: Why brands & retailers must marry their physical & digital strategy
In the early days of e-commerce in India, the sector built itself on discounts as the primary proposition. Despite e-commerce being a very small part of the retail sector (2% of total retail spending), it gained outsized visibility due to the tantalising offers and discounts. And therefore, retai…
80 lakh assessees may start migrating to GSTN portal from Nov 8
As many as 80 lakh assessees of excise as well as service tax and VAT can start migrating their registration to the Goods and Service Tax Network portal by November 8, GSTN Chief Executive Prakash Kumar said. “On this date (November 8), we are releasing enrolments. This means getting these existi…
Social media start-up Sagoon seeks to launch mini-IPO in the US
New Delhi: Sagoon Inc., a social network and e-commerce start-up with offices in Washington DC and Delhi, is set to tap US capital markets through its proposed mini-initial public offering to raise as much as $20 million, a top executive at the firm said. The two-year-old start-up, founded by Gov…
Maha Skill Development Department sets targets for next year
Skill Development Department of Maharashtra Government has set targets in 12 ‘Know your Result Area’ (KRA) with deadline of March 31, 2017. Cracking the whip further, the state government has informed the officers concerned that achievement of targets will be noted in their annual per…
16 states score over 80% in WB-DIPP ease-of-doing-business ranking
New Delhi: Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), has said that as many as 16 states of India had scored over 80 per cent in the World Bank- DIPP ranking of States based on 340 parameters on ‘Ease of Doing Business’. Abhishek, while addressing the 41st J…
India Quotient invests $500k in fintech start-up CreditMate
Bengaluru: Early stage fund India Quotient has invested $500,000 in Mumbai-based fintech lending startup CreditMate, which uses data-driven algorithms to lend against purchase of used two-wheelers. “We are targeting a blue collared workforce segment which could range from beauticians to del…