Grofers set to convert 200 'kirana' stores into branded grocery outlets

Online grocery platform Grofers is working on converting about 200 brick-and-mortar stores into its own branded outlets over the next few months as it looks to expand its business and push its private label of products.
The SoftBank-backed company has been working on the business model for the past few months and has already converted about 100 such 'kirana' outlets.

"We have converted several grocery stores into our own branded offline stores, around 100 kirana stores in Delhi-NCR have been a part of this effort that started somewhere in November last year. Our target is to have 200 such stores in the coming few months," Grofers Vice-President and Head (Offline Business) Yeshu Bansal told PTI.
Grofers is also keen on expanding this network to southern markets such as Bengaluru, he added.
Maintaining that this model will have no "adverse effect" on its online sales, Bansal said these stores are more focused towards the base of offline buyers that is different from the already existing and growing online consumer base.
"Using our forecasting tools and data science, we help the offline stores understand what items are selling more and what should he stock for. We are taking our experience and tech to the offline store," he said.
He added that Grofers will also provide training to these stores about how to handle point-of-sale, and retention and loyalty schemes, among other areas.
"We are entering kirana stores in residential areas that has middle and the lower middle class population. The goal is to help the retailer scale up his business by getting more footfalls, and for us, it helps push their homegrown brands (private label products) as well," Bansal said.
The company has also launched a toll-free number for the prospective partners from Delhi-NCR to reach for enrolment.
Grofers already has a network of more than 6,000 partner stores (Grofers service partners) that help it in delivery of grocery items to customers.
It aims to double its sales to Rs 5,000 crore this fiscal and is also gearing up to hit the capital market with initial public offering (IPO) in the next three years.

Jaguar Land Rover plans to build electric cars at UK factory: Report

Britain's biggest automaker Jaguar Land Rover is expected to announce plans next week to build electric cars at its central English Castle Bromwich factory, the Sunday Times reported.
An all-electric version of its XJ luxury saloon will be the first of three new vehicles to be made from a common skeleton followed by a sport utility vehicle, the newspaper said.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment late on Saturday.
The move would be a rare bright spot for the British automotive sector which has been hit by job cuts, plant closure announcements and falling sales in recent months linked to tumbling demand for diesel vehicles and Brexit uncertainty.

Tax sops, funding access: What fintech, start-ups expect in Budget 2019

Fintech firms and start-ups expect the government to usher in a new set of reforms in the upcoming full Budget for the current fiscal and hope for tax relief, funding access, and further push to digital economy.
It come at a time when the consumption demand is not growing fast enough, investment is tapering and exports are falling.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil the full budget 2019-20 on July 5.
The interim budget was presented on February 1, as the general elections were due in April and May to form the new government.
Loyalty programme firm PAYBACK Chief Executive Officer Gautam Kaushik said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term with an even bigger majority provides an opportunity to be decisive on the policy front.
"We expect a bolder approach to reforms and usher in reforms 2.0 for the economy that has been facing issues of domestic consumption not growing fast enough to offset a weakening global economic environment coupled with slow growth in investments and subdued exports," he said.
In 2018-19, India's economic growth had slipped to a five-year-low of 6.8 per cent, lower than 7.2 per cent in the preceding financial year.
"We expect Budget 2019 to continue with the tone set by the interim budget, which was built on the theme of offering exemptions to taxpayers, maintaining fiscal prudence, support to farmers and encouraging digitalisation," said Gaurav Gupta, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Myloancare.in.
There continues to be an expectation of higher tax relief, and the fintech industry is looking forward to more clarity or direction on electronic-Know Your Customer (eKYC) using Aadhaar and a further push to digitalisation, he added.
Gaurav Chopra, founder CEO of online aggregator of financial products IndiaLends, said the government should push forward new reforms as part of Digital India 2.0.
"Although the government has strengthened its measures to curb cyber frauds, they should implement stricter laws and policies and conduct programmes to spread awareness about the cyber threats. We also hope that the coming budget will offer further tax sops as well as some special incentives offered to start-ups, and overall reduction in corporate tax," Chopra said.
FIA Technology Services, which offers kiosk banking and remittance services among others, expects the government to outline solutions to support financial technology (fintech) start-ups.
"With this budget, we expect that the government in the 2019 Union Budget introduces measures to ease working capital blockages, with possible reduction in compliance burden," said Seema Prem, CEO of FIA Technology.
Fintech companies also expect the government to come up with measures to ease out the funding procedure and want more access to already-available government funds under corpuses such as financial inclusion funds, Prem said.
NBFC firm InCred, which is engaged into personal and consumer loans as well as SME lending, said the primary objective of the government should be to revive the growth rate and boost consumption.
The government needs to attack on the front foot by easing liquidity conditions and bringing in needed regulatory changes to aid job creation, said Bhupinder Singh, CEO and founder, InCred.
Vinay Bagri, co-founder and CEO, NiYO, expects a slew of measures from the government to ease the operating environment for fintech start-ups, particularly in the wake of liquidity crisis in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and setback to digital on-boarding through eKYC.
"We expect the government to push forward new reforms under the umbrella of Digital India 2.0. We are hoping for tax relaxations for fintech companies and payments players," Bagri said.

Insolvency procedure benefits creditors, but concerns remain, say lenders

Even as the implementation of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code has changed not only the economic scenario but also the outlook of both creditors and the debtors, there are certain concerns that have to be addressed including the delay in admission of cases, lack of bidders, and disparity in valuation, say bankers. In a workshop organised by Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on 'Committee of Creditors - An Institution of Public Trust', these issues were highlighted.
Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, Indian Bank raised concerns over delays in admission of cases, the minimum default amount of Rs 1 lakh which remains to be enhanced, primacy of secured creditors over others, maximisation of value of assets, and the balancing of interests of all stakeholders. She asked for trusts/societies to be brought within the ambit of the IBC for the resolution of defaulting educational institutions. The mere threat of being referred to the National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT) is bringing defaulters to negotiation table, she added.

Another issue that came up in the discussions was that in some cases, even if all the conditions were fulfilled, the application was still dismissed by looking at the company's balance sheets. In some instances, other motives were ascribed behind moving an application. This is an issue that needs to be addressed and it was suggested that the NCLT should consider limiting its roile. The issue of out-of-court settlement between creditors and debtors was also discussed. Under the present insolvency regime, a settlement can be carried out only after making an application of withdrawal under Rule 8 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority Rules), 2016 before the admission of the application by the adjudicating authority.
A spree of amendments shows that the system and procedures for the effective resolution of a debt-ridden company evolves continuously. Several orders and judgements, including the Supreme Court's, have paved the way for a near satisfactory implementation of the Code.
M S Sahoo, chairperson, IBBI said that companies which are viable should be rescued and an effective resolution plan must be put in place thatbenefits all stakeholders. He said that 30 new judicial members have been appointed for the speedy disposal of pending cases.
It was agreed that the NCLT experience has been more or less smooth. Creditors said they realise that the insolvency process it is not just a recovery legislation for lenders unlike SARFAESI Act or the Recovery of Debts Act, but an effective resolution mechanism for corporate debtors.
They said that 30 per cent of the cases that were undergoing resolution, as on September 2018, have already exceeded the 270-day time limit and their resolution is still underway, contrary to the legal mandate that a company's liquidation should commence on exceeding the deadline.

McLeod Russel auditor Deloitte concerned over company's solvency

McLeod Russel auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP has raised concerns over the company’s ability to remain in business unless its loan restructuring application with lenders receives a favourable response.
According to Deloitte, the Williamson Magor Group company’s liabilities exceeded assets by Rs 1,435.66 crore as on 31 March, 2019 and in the last financial year, it was unable to discharge its obligations for repayment of loans and settlement of other financial and non-financial liabilities including statutory liabilities.

While giving an adverse opinion on this company primarily on account of recovery of inter-company deposits (ICD), the auditor stated that the tea producer is currently in discussion with lendTs for carrying out a refinancing proposal.
Stating that there are indications of a “a material uncertainty which cast a significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern”, the auditor said, “The ability of the company to continue as a going concern is solely dependent on the acceptance of the refinancing proposal, which is not wholly within the control of the company”.
Explaining the basis of adverse opinion, Deloitte Haskins & Sells claimed that as on March 31, 2019, ICDs of Rs 1,744.68 crore were given to promoter group companies and other companies while Rs 77.03 crore has been accrued as interest. These ICDs as well as the interest income are doubtful of recovery, considering the financial condition of WMG and other companies to whom these ICDs were given.
Moreover, McLeod Russel didn’t make any provision for the outstanding amounts recorded as ICDs and interest accrued thereon.
“Consequently, the noncurrent portion of loans and interest accrued thereon are overstated and loss for the year is understated by Rs. 1821.71 crore”, the auditor said.
On a standalone basis, McLeod Russel has claimed to have incurred a loss of Rs. 4.41 crore in the last fiscal year while reported a profit of Rs. 38.82 crore on a consolidated basis.
Moreover, the auditor said that McLeod Russel recognised Rs. 67.82 crore as sundry income from one of the promoter group companies.
“In our opinion and according to the information obtained by us, the sundry income may have been funded to the said promoter group company through monies indirectly lent by the company and therefore may not have been actually realised. These therefore may have been reflected only by book entries and prejudicial to the interest of the company” the report from the auditor stated.
Calls to K K Baheti, the chief financial officer and director at McLeod Russel went unanswered.
The auditor has also stated that the financial statement prepared by the company is not in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, as modified by a circular and does not give a true and fair view in conformity with the aforesaid Indian Accounting Standards and other accounting principles generally accepted in India.
For the year ended March 31, 2019, McLeod Russel reported nearly 20 per cent decline in its total income at Rs. 1960.23 crore and 82 per cent fall in its net profit at Rs. 38.82 crore. It has been selling its estates to pare debt and is estimated to have received Rs. 940 crore from the sale proceeds.
On June 29, Price Waterhouse & Co Chartered Accountants LLP quit as the auditor of another WMG company Eveready Industries citing its inability to obtain sufficient audit evidence on Eveready Industries’ ICD and its recovery.
Besides, on May 31, Deloitte Haskins & Sells and V Singhi & Associates, the auditors of McNally Bharat Engineering, another WMG entity raised concerns over this firm’s ability to remain in business unless a financial restructuring proposal with the lenders is approved.
FY 2018-19
FY 2017-18
Total Income
1960.23
2447.12
Total Expenses
2188.95
2195.57
Net Profit
38.82
219.16
Source – McLeod Russel
All figures in Rs. crore

ICC CWC 2019 match 38 highlights: Australia crush New Zealand by 86 runs

Australia cricket team crushed New Zealand cricket team by 86 runs in the in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the historic Lord's Cricket Ground today. Australia retains the top spot in ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table while New Zealand remians at the third place. While defending champions Australia is the only team to have booked a semi-final berth, the Kiwis, who are placed third, are still a point away from it.
Batting first, Australia managed to put 249/9 in 50 overs after shaky start as Alex Carey (71 off 72) and Usman Khawaja (88 off 129) put up a crucial partnership in the middle. Trent Boult's hat-trick became the highlight in the first innings. While chasing, New Zealand started slow and Australian bowlers did not allow them to put partnerships. Jason Behrendorff started scalping the top order while Mitchell Starc picked another 5-wicket haul in the tournament to bring victory to Australia.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Australia vs New Zaland scoreboard

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01:24 AM
Over 44
Over Summary: 0 0 0 W NZ: 157/10
Mitchell Starc into his last over, Santner keeps the strike to face him, OUT!! Santner is caught It's all over, Australia win by 86 runs!!
01:18 AM
Over 43
Over Summary: 0 6 4 1 2 0 NZ: 157/9
Lyon continues, Santner smashes him for a six to deep square-leg, a boundary follows on inside edge as the ball race past the keeper, Boult picks two amd an eventful over after a long time
01:13 AM
Over 42
Over Summary: W 0 0 0 0 0 NZ: 144/9
Starc scalps Ferguson on the first ball of the over, Trent Boult is the last batsman, Starc is aiming for his fifth wicket
01:07 AM
Over 41
Over Summary: 0 0 1 0 0 2wd 0 NZ: 144/8
Lyon continues, Santner sends the ball in the air and Warner just had the catch but it slips the last moment, a wide follows
01:03 AM
Over 40 Starc removes Sodhi
Over Summary: 0 0 0 1 1 2Wd Wd W NZ: 141/8
Starc continues, concedes some singles and bowls back to back wide, Sodhi given LBW and he reviews but to no avail!
12:58 AM
Over 39 Lyon scalps Neesham
Over Summary: W 0 0 1 0 4 NZ: 136/7
Lyon scalps Neesham on the first ball and Ish Sodi, the new batsman, gets a boundary off the last ball
12:50 AM
Over 38
Over Summary: 0 0 1 0 0 0 NZ: 131/6
Starc continues, he concedes just two singles and NZ doesn't lose any wicket
12:47 AM
Over 37
Over Summary: 0 0 0 1 2 1 NZ: 130/6
Nathan Lyon concedes four runs in his over
12:40 AM
Over 36 Latham departs
Over Summary: 1 0 W 0 0 1 NZ: 126/6
OUT!! Starc is back into attack but it's Steve Smith who grabs the eyeballs with a quick catch and Tom Latham is back into the pavilion!! Mitchell Santner is the new batsman
12:36 AM
Over 35
Over Summary: 0 0 0 1 1 1 NZ: 124/6
Glenn MAxwell continues and just three singles off the over
12:33 AM
Over 34
Over Summary: 0 0 0 0 0 1 NZ: 121/5
Lyon is back, just a single off the last ball

12:27 AM
Over 33 Smith removes Colin de Granhomme
Over Summary: W 1 0 0 0 1 NZ: 120/5
OUT!! Steve Smith gets wicket at Lord's and Colin de Grandomme departs o golden duck!! Jimmy Neesham is the next batsman and singles from the over
12:23 AM
Over 32
Over Summary: 4 1 1 W NZ: 118/4
Cummins into the over and Taylor pulls the ball for a boundary, and gives the strike to Latham, who has been struggling at the crease, but he gets off the mark with a single to third man, OUT!!! Taylor sustains a top-edge in search of a bi\g shot and Carey takes the catch
12:20 AM
Over 31
Over Summary: 1 0 0 1 1 1 NZ: 112/3
Maxwell is brought in and concedes four singles off the over
12:16 AM
Over 30
Over Summary: 0 0 0 0 1 0 NZ: 108/3
Pat Cummins is back into the attack, he starts with four dots, and out of form Latham manages a single off the fifth ball
12:11 AM
Over 29
Over Summary: 0 1 0 0 1 1 NZ: 107/3
Lyon continues, chance for catch as Taylor sweeps the ballto fine-leg but Finch was far off, chance for runout on the fifrth ball but Taylor had made his ground already
12:07 AM
Over 28
Over Summary: 0 0 0 0 1 0 NZ: 104/3
Starc continues, no runs off the first four balls and a single comes from Latham

12:04 AM
Over 27
Over Summary: 1 1 2 0 1 0 NZ: 103/3
Nathan Lyon is back into the attack and Finch is using his bowlers well, trying to confuse Kiwi batsmen, Tom Latham is the new batsman and 100 up for for the team as riotation pf strike continues
12:00 AM
Over 26 Starc gets Williamson
Over Summary: 1 2 2 W 0 1 NZ: 98/3
Starc is brought back into the attack and he delivers, gets the prized wicket of Kane Williamson!! The batsmen was looking to cut the ball but ended up sustaining an edge.
11:54 PM
Over 25
Over Summary: 1 1 1 0 4 0 NZ: 92/2
Maxwell continues, and so the trail of singles by both batsmen but Williamson again breaks the continuity by picking the ball for a boundary over long-on. This alos brings up 50-run stand between the batsmen
11:50 PM
Over 24
Over Summary: 0 0 6 0 2 0 NZ: 85/2
Stoinis continues adn Williamson slogs the ball for a SIX to deep mi-wicket!! This came out of nowhere and he adds a quick two on to of it

11:47 PM
Over 23
Over Summary: 0 0 0 1 1 2 NZ: 77/2
Glenn Maxwell is brought in into the attack now, so many changes all of a sudden form Aaron Finch, Williamson and Taylor are sticking with singles and doubles to keep the scoreboard moving
11:44 PM
Over 22
Over Summary: 1L 2 0 1 0 1 NZ: 73/2
Marcus Stoinis has finally been brought in, albeit after Finch and Smith, runs keep coming in in singles and doubles
11:40 PM
Over 21
Over Summary: 1 1 0 0 4 1 NZ: 68/2
While Maxwell and Stoinis are taking care of the fielding department, skipper Aaron Finch has deployed himself on the attack, and looking at the opportunity, Ross Taylor gets his maiden boundary
11:37 PM
Over 20
Over Summary: Wd 1 Wd 0 0 0 0 1 NZ: 61/2
Behrendorff continues and he bowls two wides in the over but overall, concedes runs in singles only
11:32 PM
Over 19
Over Summary: 0 1 0 1 1 1 NZ: 57/2
A strange move from Australia skipper as Smith and he concedes four runs off the over
11:28 PM
Over 18
Over Summary: 2 0 1 0 0 1 NZ: 0/2
Benrendorff continues and Williamson picks two at the begining and survives a caught behind as Carey drops a catch, a difficult one though

11:24 PM
Ove r17
Over Summary: 0 1 0 0 1 0 NZ: 49/2
Lyon continues and the batsmen are cautious than ever, especially after the first ball that almost had Taylor out!
11:21 PM
Over 16
Over Summary: 0 0 0 0 0 1 NZ: 47/2
Behrendorff continues and all he concedes is a single off the last ball from Ross Taylor
11:20 PM
Over 15
Over Summary 1 0 1 0 0 0 NZ: 46/2
Steve Smith drops Williamson on the last ball of the over, otherwise, it was just a silent over with two singles off it

ICC CWC 2019 Eng vs Ind Live score: Woakes gets Rahul early in tall chase

In today’s match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, England cricket team skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat against India cricket team at The Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham. The hosts have replaced Moeen Ali with Liam Plunkett. India have handed World Cup debut to young Rishabh Pant, who replaced struggling Vijay Shankar, in the team.
Here are the playing 11 both the teams
England playing 11: Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
India playing 11: Virat Kohli (C), Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah.

Check 2019 cricket world cup points table here

ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: India vs England LIVE score

India vs England head to head
Overall: 99
India: 53
England: 41
No Result: 3
Abandoned: 2
Tie: 2
Cancelled: 3

World Cups
Total: 7
India: 3
England: 3
Tie: 1
ICC CWC 2019, MATCH 38: Ind vs Eng LIVE streaming

England vs India world cup match will start at 3:00 pm IST. The match will be broadcast live on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 2 in English Commentary and on Star Sports Hindi HD, in Hindi Commentary. You can also live stream Ind vs Eng cricket match on the Hotstar app and the Hotstar website.

Stay tuned for India vs England LIVE score, toss, playing 11 updates and match commentary here
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08:16 PM
Over 14
Over Summary: 2 2 0 0 4 0 ; India: 51-1
Mark Wood continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: Kohli drives through extra cover for FOUR

Ball 4: Kohli nudges towards backward point for no run.

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: A short delivery and Kohli pulls towards deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs.

Ball 1: Kohli clips towards deep backward square leg for a couple of runs.
08:11 PM
Over 13; CRR: 3.31 REQ: 7.97
Over Summary: 0 0 1 1 0 1 ; India: 43-1
Plunkett continues

Ball 6: Kohli drives towards sweeper cover for a single.

Ball 5: A full delivery and Kohli hits back to bowler.

Ball 4: Rohit pushes towards cover for a single.

Ball 3: Kohli steers down to third man for a single.

Ball 2: Kohli tries to run the ball down to third man, misses.

Ball 1: DOT
08:07 PM
Over 12; CRR: 3.33 REQ: 7.84
Over Summary: 1 0 4 0 0 4 ; India: 40-1
Mark Wood, right-arm fast, comes into the attack

Ball 6: A short delivery and Rohit hoicks towards deep backward square leg for FOUR

Ball 5: Rohit gets an inside edge but ball falls short of keeper.

Ball 4: Rohit nudges towards backward point for no run.

Ball 3: A short delivery and Rohit transfers his weight on backfoot and hits wide of mid-on for FOUR

Ball 2: Rohit dabs in front of mid-off

Ball 1: Kohli collects a single towards mid-wicket
08:03 PM
Over 11
Over Summary: 1 0 1 1 0 0 ; India: 31-1
Liam Plunkett, right-arm fast, comes into the attack

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: Kohli hits towards sweeper cover for a single.

Ball 3: Rohit drives wide of cover for a single.

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: Kohli collects a single
08:02 PM
Over 10
Over Summary: 0 0 0 0 1 0 ; India: 28-1
Jofra Archer continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: A single for Kohli

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: DOT
08:01 PM
Over 9
Over Summary: 4 0 0 1 0 0 ; India: 27-1
Woakes continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: A single for Kohli towards deep square leg

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: Kohli smashes FOUR
08:00 PM
Over 8
Over Summary: 0 0 1 0 1 0 ; India: 22-1
Jofra Archer continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: A single for Kohli

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: A single for Rohit

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: DOT
07:58 PM
Over 7
Over Summary: 1 0 0 0 0 2 ; India: 20-1
Woakes continues

Ball 6: A couple of runs for Kohli

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: A single for Rohit towards square leg
07:43 PM
Over 6
Over Summary: 0 4 4 0 0 0 ; India: 17-1
Jofra Archer continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: Virat Kohli defends right under his eyes.

Ball 4: Virat Kohli dabs towards mid-off for no run.

Ball 3: Virat Kohli drives handsomely through extra cover for FOUR.

Ball 2: Virat Kohli edges through second slip for FOUR

Ball 1: A short delivery and Virat Kohli somehow sways away from the line.
07:39 PM
Over 5; Woakes bowls third successive maiden
Over Summary: MAIDEN ; India: 9-1
Woakes continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: Rohit taps towards backward point for no run.

Ball 2: Rohit tucks towards mid-wicket for no run

Ball 1: Rohit dabs towards cover for no run
07:35 PM
Over 4; CRR: 2.25 REQ: 7.15
Over Summary: 0 0 0 0 0 1 ; India: 9-1
Jofra Archer continues

Ball 6: A single for Rohit towards fine leg

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: Archer beats Rohit outside off

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: DOT
07:32 PM
Over 3: Woakes scalps Rahul
Over Summary: WICKET MAIDEN ; India: 8-1
Woakes continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: Virat Kohli, right handed bat, comes to the crease and knocks towards cover for no run

Ball 3: Rahul looks to work on leg side, but ball hits the upper half of bat and scoops towards bowler and Woakes collects the catch. Rahul c and b Woakes 0(9)

Ball 2: Rahul punches on backfoot towards cover.

Ball 1: Rahul leaves outside off.
07:27 PM
Over 2; Root drops Rohit at first slip
Over Summary: 4 0 0 0 4 0 ; India: 8-0
Jofra Archer, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack

Ball 6: Rohit leaves outside off.

Ball 5: Rohit punches towards deep point for FOUR

Ball 4: Rohit gets an outside edge as he goes for cover drive, but Root drops a straight forward chance

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: Rohit defends on front foot.

Ball 1: Rohit drives straight down the ground for FOUR.
07:24 PM
Over 1; Woakes starts with a Maiden
Over Summary: MAIDEN ; India: 0-0
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma are at the crease. Rahul is on strike. Woakes opens the attack

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: DOT

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: DOT
06:56 PM
Innings Break: India need 338 runs to win
India has never chased an excess of 300-run in World Cups. A big task ahead for Virat Kohli and company

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England finish on 337/7 against India at Edgbaston!
Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy gave them a blistering start before Mohammed Shami's five-for pegged them back.
But Ben Stokes' 79 has ensured the hosts finish strong.
Can #ViratKohli and his men chase this down?#CWC19
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06:55 PM
Over 50; England scored 92 runs in last 10 Overs
Over Summary: 0 1 1B W 0 1 ; England: 337-7
Bumrah continues

Ball 6: Plunkett collects a single.

Ball 5: DOT, as Plunkett fails to put bat on ball.

Jofra Archer, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Ball 4: Stokes goes for scoop shot holed up to Jadeja. Stokes c (sub)Jadeja b Bumrah 79(54) [4s-6 6s-3]

Ball 3: One byes taken

Ball 2: A single for Stokes as he drills the yorker towards leg side

Ball 1: Stokes fails to score off the yorker
06:44 PM
Over 49
Over Summary: W 4 6 4 1 0 ; England: 334-6
Shami continues

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: A short delivery and Stokes hits towards deep extra cover for a single.

Ball 4: Stokes hits wide of long-off for FOUR

Ball 3: A length delivery and Stokes pulls towards deep backward square leg for FOUR.

Ball 2: Stokes hits the hattrick ball towards cow corner for FOUR

Ball 1: A short delivery and Woakes manages only a top edge, Rohit completes the catch at deep square leg. Shami on hattrick. Woakes c Rohit b Shami 7(5) [4s-1]
06:38 PM
Over 48; CRR: 6.65
Over Summary: 1 1 1 1 4 1 ; England: 319-5
Bumrah continues

Ball 6: Woakes squeezes the yorker for a single.

Ball 5: A short delivery and Woakes hoicks towards deep backward square leg for FOUR.

Ball 4: Stokes whips towards square leg for a single.

Ball 3: A short delivery, Woakes gets a top edge to fine leg for a single.

Ball 2: Stokes collects a single.

Ball 1: Chris Woakes, right handed bat, comes to the crease collects a single.
06:34 PM
Over 47; CRR: 6.6
Over Summary: 4 2 1 4 6 W ; England: 310-5
Shami continues

Ball 6: A short delivery and Buttler hits from the upper half of the bat, Shami completes the catch.

Ball 5: Another full toss and Buttler smashes over long-off for SIX

Ball 4: Buttler smashes towards deep square leg for FOUR

Ball 3: Stokes smashes the half volley towards long-on for a single.

Ball 2: Stokes whips towards wide of long-on for a couple of runs.

Ball 1: A full toss and Stokes smashes straight down the ground for FOUR
06:28 PM
Over 46; CRR: 6.37
Over Summary: 1 2 0 0 1 0 ; England: 293-4
Jasprit Bumrah [7.0-1-29-0] is back into the attack

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: Stokes squeezes the yorker towards extra cover for a single.

Ball 4: A short delivery and Stokes goes for big hoick, misses.

Ball 3: Stokes blocks the dipping slow yorker.

Ball 2: Stokes whips towards deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs.

Ball 1: Buttler collects a single towards mid-off
06:23 PM
Over 45; Root departs
Over Summary: W 1 0 6 3 2 ; England: 289-4
Mohammed Shami [7.0-1-25-2] is back into the attack

Ball 6: Stokes hammers towards wide of long-off for a couple of runs.

Ball 5: Buttler flicks towards cow corner and a fumble from Kohli allow them to take 3 runs

Ball 4: A short of length delivery and Buttler blunted towards deep mid-wicket for SIX

Ball 3: A yorker and Buttler drills towards mid-wicket for no run.

Ball 2: Stokes collects a single towards mid-off
Jos Buttler, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Ball 1: Root scoop towards deep fine leg and GONE. Root c Hardik Pandya b Shami 44(54) [4s-2]
06:16 PM
Over 44; CRR: 6.3
Over Summary: 1 4 1 1 2 0 ; England: 277-3
Hardik Pandya [9.0-0-51-0] is back into the attack

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: A coupke of runs for Stokes fine leg.

Ball 4: Root tries to guide between backward point and short third man, Pant makes a brilliant effort to save a certain boundary

Ball 3: Stokes comes down the wicket and hits towards deep square leg for a single.

Ball 2: A full toss and Stokes clobbed it away towards deep square leg for FOUR

Ball 1: Root hits towards deep square leg for a single.
06:12 PM
Over 43
Over Summary: 1 0 0 0 1 1 ; England: 268-3
Bumrah continues

Ball 6: Root runs down to third man for a single.

Ball 5: A short delivery, Stokes pulls without any timing to deep square leg.

Ball 4: Stokes hits towards mid-off and looking for a single but declines at opportune moment as Jadeja was fielding at mid-off

Ball 3: Stokes goes from ramp shot, misses, brilliant death bowling from Bumrah.

Ball 2: Stokes hits the yorkish length delivery to mid-off for no run.

Ball 1: Root punches towards long-on for a single.
06:07 PM
Over 42; CRR: 6.31
Over Summary: 6 1 4 0 0 1 ; England: 265-3
Chahal continues

Ball 6: A juicy full toss and Root sweeps towards deep backward square leg for a single.

Ball 5: DOT

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: Root hits though extra cover for FOUR as Hardik Pandya makes a loppy effort at boundary line.

Ball 2: Stokes comes down the wicket and whips towards deep mid-wicket for a single

Ball 1: Ben Stokes comes down the wicket and hits towards deep mid-wicket boundary for SIX.
06:03 PM
Over 41; CRR: 6.17
Over Summary: 1 2 3 0 1 1 ; England: 253-3
Jasprit Bumrah [5.0-1-18-0] is back into the attack

Ball 6: Stokes hits towards deep backward square leg for a single.

Ball 5: A short delivery and Root pulls towards deep square leg for a single.

Ball 4: Root dabs towards gully region for no run.

Ball 3: Stokes comes down the wicket and hits over extra cover for 3 runs.

Ball 2: Stokes slices wide of third man for a couple of runs.

Ball 1: Root nudges towards gully region for a single.
05:58 PM
Over 40; CRR: 6.12
Over Summary: Wd 4 1 1 6 1 1 ; England: 245-3
Chahal continues

Ball 6: A single for Root

Ball 5: A single for Stokes

Ball 4: Stokes unleashes reverse sweep towards cover boundary for GIGANTIC SIX.

Ball 3: Root sweeps towards deep square leg for a single.

Ball 2: Stokes sweeps towards deep backward square leg for a single.
Ball 1: Stokes sweeps towards deep square leg for FOUR

Ball 1: WIDE down the leg side
05:53 PM
Over 39; CRR: 5.9
Over Summary: 0 2 1 1 1 1 ; England: 230-3

Hardik Pandya continues

Ball 6: Stokes runs down the slow short delivery to third man for a single.

Ball 5: Root collects a single towards third man.

Ball 4: Stokes works towards deep square leg for a single.

Ball 3: A short delivery and Pandya pulls towards deep square leg for a single.

Ball 2: Root flicks towards deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs.

Ball 1: Root tucks towards short mid-wicket for no run.
05:48 PM
Over 38; CRR: 5.89
Over Summary: 0 0 4 2 2 0 ; England: 224-3
Yuzvendra Chahal [7.0-0-53-0] is back into the attack

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: Stokes hits towards deep fine leg for a couple of runs.

Ball 4: Stokes works towards deep square leg for a couple of runs.

Ball 3: Stokes reverse sweeps towards point region for FOUR

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: DOT
05:44 PM
Over 37; CRR: 5.84
Over Summary: 0 0 1 1 1 0 ; England: 216-3
Hardik Pandya [7.0-0-42-0] is back into the attack

Ball 6: DOT

Ball 5: Stokes clips towards square leg for a single

Ball 4: Root glances towards deep fine leg for a single.

Ball 3: Stokes gets an inside edge to leg slip region for a single.

Ball 2: Stokes punches towards mid-off for no run.

Ball 1: Stokes tucks towards mid-wicket for no run.
05:40 PM
Over 36; CRR: 5.92
Over Summary: 0 0 1 0 0 1 ; England: 213-3
Shami continues

Ball 6: A short delivery and Stokes swivels across for a single towards deep square leg.

Ball 5: Stokes gets a leading edge to point region for no run.

Ball 4: Stokes blocks on front foot.

Ball 3: Root pulls the short delivery to deep square leg for a single.

Ball 2: DOT

Ball 1: Root drives back to bowler
05:36 PM
Over 35; CRR: 6.03
Over Summary: 0 1 1 0 1 1 ; England: 211-3
Kuldeep Yadav continues

Ball 6: Root works towards square leg for a single.

Ball 5: Stokes edges through first slip for a single towards short third man

Ball 4: DOT

Ball 3: Root drives towards long-off for a single.

Ball 2: A single for Stokes towards long-off

Ball 1: DOT

Two years of GST: New tax return system, refund mechanism from tomorrow

Kicking off celebration to mark two years of the GST implementation, the finance ministry will on Monday come up with further reforms in the indirect tax system with introduction of new return system, rationalisation of cash ledger system and a single refund-disbursing mechanism, among others.
Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur will preside over the event alongside key secretaries and officials of various departments, the finance ministry said in a release on Sunday.

The introduction of GST was a game changer for the Indian economy as it has replaced multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure with a simple, transparent and technology-driven tax regime, it said.
The ministry said it will introduce the new return system on a trial basis from July 1 and on mandatory basis from October 1.
"Sahaj & Sugam returns for small taxpayers are proposed," it said.
With regards to single cash ledger, the government will rationalise the ledger in such a manner that earlier 20 heads are merged into 5 major heads, it added.
There is only one cash ledger for tax, interest, penalty, fee and others.
A single refund-disbursing mechanism will come into play wherein the government which sanctions refund disburses all four major heads of refunds namely CGST, SGST, IGST and cess, the ministry said.
"Threshold limit of Rs 40 lakh is offered of suppliers of goods as per the choice of states. Introduction of composition scheme for small service providers up to an annual turnover of Rs 50 lakh with a tax rate of 6 per cent, electronic invoicing system in a phase-wise manner for B2B transactions is proposed to be introduced and GST Appellate Tribunals are being established at various state headquarters and area benches also," it said.
The goods and services tax (GST) was implemented through a gala ceremony held in the central hall of Parliament at the midnight of June 30, 2017 and came into effect from July 1, 2017.
The government said GST has integrated India into a single common market by breaking barriers to inter-state trade and commerce.
By eliminating cascading of taxes and reducing transaction costs, it will enhance ease of doing business and provide an impetus to 'Make in India' campaign.
During the course of the past two years, the government brought in various changes in the GST system both with regard to quantum of taxes and inclusion and exclusion of items (goods and services).
At the event, a book on 'GST for MSME' will also be released.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs' officers who have put in hard work in the implementation of GST will be awarded 'GST Commendation Certificates' by Thakur, release said.

Sobha, Prestige dip after K'taka govt mulls construction ban for 5 yrs

Shares of south India based real estate companies mainly Sobha, Prestige Estates Projects and Brigade Enterprises have fallen by up to 7 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on Friday after reports suggested that Karnataka government was mulling to ban construction activity in the state for 5 years owing to acute water supply shortage.
Among the individual stocks, Sobha dipped 7 per cent to Rs 507, followed by Brigade Enterprises (down 6 per cent at Rs 247) and Prestige Estates Projects (down 4 per cent at Rs 267) on the NSE.

All these stocks have erases partial of their respective intra-day losses and were down less than 2 per cent on the NSE, as compared to 0.17 per cent decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 index at 01:17 pm.
“The Karnataka government is contemplating to ban construction of apartments in Bangalore for next five years due to severe shortage of drinking water faced,” deputy chief minister G.Parameshwara said on June 27.
The decision, however, would be finalized after discussing with the builders, he added.
Thus far in the calendar year 2019, Sobha, Prestige Estate Projects and Brigade Enterprises had outperformed the market by surging in the range of 15 per cent to 21 per cent. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty 50 index up 10 per cent till Thursday.

SBI hits new high as PSU banks gain; Canara Bank, Bank of India up over 4%

Shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks rallied by up to 12 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that bad loans cycle seems to have turned around as bulk of the legacy non-performing assets (NPAs) have already been recognized in the banking books.
Corporation Bank, United Bank of India, Uco Bank, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Indian Overseas Bank were up in the range of 6 to 8 per cent while Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Andhra Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda and Syndicate Bank gained between 1 and 4 per cent. The State Bank of India (SBI) hit a new high of Rs 365, up 1 per cent on the NSE in intra-day trade.

At 12:31 am, Nifty PSU Bank index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 2.3 per cent, as compared to a 0.22 per cent decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 index. Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank indices were down 0.30 per cent and 0.60 per cent, respectively.
According to RBI's bi-annual financial stability report (FSR) released on Thursday, after market hours, banks are showing improvement in stability with the bulk of the legacy NPAs already recognised, and the NPA cycle “seems to have turned around”.
In a baseline scenario, the FSR expects the banking sector’s gross NPA ratio to decline from 9.3 per cent in March 2019 to 9.0 per cent in March 2020. The number of banks having gross NPA ratio of more than 20 per cent came down in March 2019, compared to September 2018.
This implied a broader improvement in asset quality. While banks’ asset quality improved, balance sheet liquidity, which is proportion of liquid assets and stable liabilities, as also profitability need improvement, the FSR said. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT
“We see that the commentary has turned positive on RBI’s outlook on baseline near term gross NPL in the past two publications after being negative since FY2016. RBI’s internal baseline NPL projection is at 9 per cent for FY2020 (30bps improvement yoy) though we believe that the performance could be far better than this forecast,” analysts at Kotak Securities said in a note.
COMPANY LATEST PREV CLOSE GAIN(%)
UNION BANK (I) 83.05 77.60 7.02
CORPORATION BANK 25.45 23.80 6.93
UNITED BANK (I) 10.70 10.05 6.47
CENTRAL BANK 21.30 20.05 6.23
UCO BANK 18.65 17.75 5.07
I O B 12.25 11.70 4.70
BANK OF INDIA 92.20 88.40 4.30
CANARA BANK 290.00 278.50 4.13
PUNJAB NATL.BANK 80.90 78.00 3.72
PUN. & SIND BANK 26.95 26.25 2.67
BANK OF MAHA 16.00 15.60 2.56
ANDHRA BANK 23.85 23.35 2.14
BANK OF BARODA 123.65 121.40 1.85
ORIENTAL BANK 97.40 95.65 1.83
SYNDICATE BANK 41.85 41.20 1.58
INDIAN BANK 266.25 262.45 1.45
ST BK OF INDIA 363.85 362.15 0.47
VDO.AI
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Sebi to start second phase of UPI process for retail investors from July 1

The second phase of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) mechanism as an alternative for retail investors to buy shares in a public issue will be effective from July 1.
In a circular on Friday, Sebi said with the implementation of the second phase, the existing process of submitting bid-cum-application form with intermediary and the movement of application forms from intermediaries to self-certified syndicate banks for blocking funds will be discontinued.

Instead, "for such applications only the UPI mechanism would be the permissible mode," it added.
In November, the regulator said it would launch UPI as an alternative payment option for retail investors to buy shares in a public issue in a phased manner from January 1, 2019, a move that will cut listing time for an IPO to three days from six.
The implementation date was extended till June 30, 2019 to ensure smooth transition to UPI in Application Supported by Block Amount (ASBA).
"In Phase II, the existing timeline of T+6 days will continue, for a period of 3 months or floating of 5 main board public issues, whichever is later. The implementation of Phase III shall continue unchanged ... from the date of completion of Phase II," Sebi said.

New sectoral caps to hit NBFCs, says Kotak Institutional Equities

Market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India has reduced the sectoral caps for debt mutual funds to 20 per cent from 25 per cent. It has also reduced the additional exposure limit allowed in case of housing finance companies (HFCs) to 10 per cent from 15 per cent. These changes, however, may not have an immediate impact for the mutual fund industry but will “significantly reduce the financial flexibility” of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), says Kotak Institutional Equities.
MFs exposure to non-banks (including PFC and REC) has declined to 36 per cent in May 2019 from 39 per cent in September 2018. Excluding PFC and REC, the ratio was 28 per cent in May 2019, in line with the new effective cap of 30 per cent. Within this, the exposure to NBFCs was 18 per cent and HFCs was marginally higher than the new cap at 11 per cent,” says a note by the brokeage.

“NBFCs make concerted efforts to diversify funding avenues from banks to mutual funds, insurance companies, foreign borrowings, retail bonds in order to optimize funding costs as well as reduce dependence on any single source. The new regulations will structure reduce the leeway for NBFCs especially in the backdrop of the recent Sebi regulation that prescribed large borrowers to raise 25 per cent of incremental borrowings from bond markets from FY2022,” the note added.

Sensex ends lower as trade frictions haunt G-20 meet; logs weekly gains

Equity benchmarks nursed losses Friday as investors remained cautious ahead of the crucial US-China trade talks on the sidelines of the G-20 meet.
Domestic trading sentiment was also at a low ebb following tightening of mutual fund norms by regulator Sebi, and the RBI recommending extra vigil regarding non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), traders said.

After a choppy session, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 191.77 points, or 0.48 per cent, lower at 39,394.64, dragged by index heavyweights RIL, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and TCS.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 52.70 points, or 0.45 per cent, to end at 11,788.85.
However, the key indices posted gains for the week.
The Sensex rose 200.15 points or 0.51 per cent, while Nifty gained 64.75 points or 0.55 per cent during the week.
Asian markets ended lower as G-20 leaders sat down to chart a way forward for the global economy hit by rising trade tensions. However, US President Donald Trump tempered expectations of an easy breakthrough, saying he had not promised his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping any reprieve on imposing new tariffs.
Back home, top losers in the Sensex pack included Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, RIL, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Vedanta, Tata Steel, TCS, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, which fell up to 3.29 per cent.
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, NTPC, Maruti, HUL and Tech Mahindra rose up to 1.05 per cent.
Regulator Sebi Thursday made it mandatory for MFs selling liquid schemes to hold at least 20 per cent in liquid assets like cash and G-secs, and also banned them from entering into standstill agreements with firms whose debt they have exposure to.
Meanwhile, in its bi-annual Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank said the country's "financial system remains stable despite some dislocation of late", but recommended extra vigil on NBFCs.
"Indian markets had a less than productive session, as concerns on IT demand impacted IT majors, which were a drag on the headline index, alongside weakness in metals and commodities.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump ahead of the formal inauguration of the G-20 Summit in Osaka. Investors are hoping for a positive outcome from the upcoming G-20 summit.
"While European equities and US futures gained, Asian markets continued to drag. Indian markets fell in line with peer Asian markets. However, the high beta sectors like real estate, capital goods and PSU bank outperformed," said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.
Sectorally, the BSE energy, metal, telecom, basic materials, oil and gas, bankex and auto indices fell up to 1.52 per cent.
However, realty, consumer durables, FMCG, utilities and healthcare gained up to 0.58 per cent.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices lost up to 0.30 per cent.
The Indian rupee appreciated 4 paise to 69.03 against the US dollar intra-day.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, traded flat at USD 65.64 per barrel.

Trump-Modi had productive discussion on Iran, national security: Ivanka

Donald Trump had a "productive discussion" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on topics like Iran, 5G and national security during their meeting in Osaka, the US President's daughter and top adviser Ivanka Trump has said as she described India as a "critical" trading partner, security partner and ally of America.
Modi and Trump met in the Japanese port city of Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the first since the Indian prime minister led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landslide win in the general elections.

In a video of Ivanka tweeted by the White House on Saturday, the final day of the G20 Summit, she gave a brief summary of Trump's separate bilateral meetings between her father and Prime Minister Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Ivanka, who has made women's economic issues her main focus, said the US President especially talked about the 5G telecommunications technology and its security implications with other global leaders in his bilateral meetings on the margins of the G20 Summit.
"We are here at the G20 in Osaka and Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abe just concluded a meeting with the President talking about 5G technology, particularly with focus on its security implication," Ivanka said about the meeting between the top leaders of Japan-America-India here.
"A one-on-one meeting between the President and Prime Minister Modi where the same issues were covered, of course 5G, as well as trade relationship between the United States and India, a critical trading partner, a critical security partner and a critical ally," she said while commenting on the Trump-Modi meeting.
"So it was a productive discussion, everything from Iran to national security was covered by the President and the US delegation with their Indian counterparts," the 37-year-old businesswoman-turned politician said, adding that it has been a productive Friday morning for the US President.
Modi himself tweeted that the topics discussed during his talks with President Trump were wide-ranging.
"We discussed ways to leverage the power of technology, improve defence and security ties as well as issues relating to trade," the prime minister said on Twitter.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told reporters that Prime Minister Modi and President Trump had a "very open and productive" meeting.
"This was a very open and productive meeting. The two leaders had a very warm discussion," he said.
President Trump congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his victory and the two leaders discussed issues related to Iran, to 5G, to trade and to defence relations.
On the issue of Iran, Modi outlined India's energy concerns as well its concerns regarding peace and stability in the Persian Gulf region.
Both sides agreed that they would remain in touch on the issue of Iran and will continue to have mutual discussion on how to ensure regional peace and stability.
The discussion came at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the US, which has accused Tehran of being behind a series of operations against oil tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters. The US has also deployed its warships and additional soldiers to the region.
On 5G, the prime minister highlighted the technical and business opportunities that this new area provides for cooperation between India and the United States.
The Prime Minister outlined that India would have a billion users of the 5G technology and in that sense India is the second largest market in the world.
"The way India moves or the way whatever choices India makes will essentially determine the way the global trend will go," Gokhale said.
He said Prime Minister Modi underlined the importance of Indo-US collaboration in the further development of 5G technology for mutual benefit.
The two leaders discussed the issue of 5G at a time when Chinese telecom giant Huawei has urged India to make an "informed and independent decision" on permitting its 5G trials in the country.
The Trump administration is putting pressure on other countries to restrict the operations of Huawei and banned American companies buying its products over security concerns.
Gokhale said President Trump welcomed this idea and he spoke about the work that American companies are now doing in 5G.
He specifically referred to the Silicon Valley and said that since he had taken over as the President of United States he has focused on this area, on developing America's capabilities in technology, that he looked forward to working with India.

IL&FS board sets up sub-committee to oversee disinvestment process

Debt-ridden IL&FS has decided to constitute a sub-committee to oversee the process of divestment of its assets in light of the Reserve Bank of India's June 7 circular which has laid guidelines for resolution of bad loans.
The decision to form a sub-panel was taken in its board meeting held on June 28, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) said in a statement.

During the meeting, IL&FS board reviewed the progress on divestment of all domestic and foreign assets outlined in its resolution framework.
The board has decided to constitute a six-member empowered committee, including four directors Vineet Nayyar, C S Rajan and Bijay Kumar to discuss and finalise the asset-wise framework of resolution with lenders.
The board decided to empower the panel to take necessary steps to enhance enterprise value of assets under divestment.
"This committee is formed in view of positive response received from financial institutions to the framework outlined, by Prudent Norms for resolution of stressed assets issued by RBI on June 7 earlier this year," it said.
After the Supreme Court quashed RBI's guidelines on stressed assets, released in February 2018, the central bank on June 7 came out with revised norms which gave more room to lenders for resolution of bad loans.
It further said the board also decided to allow the bidders for toll road assets to jointly monitor traffic data and assess revenue stream.
The board noted that the stake sale in seven wind energy special purpose vehicles (SPVs) is in final stage after Orix has conveyed it's decision to match GAIL's offer.
LIC, which is IL&FS biggest shareholder with a more than 25 per cent stake while Japan's ORIX Corp with a 23.54 per cent stake and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority with 12.56 per cent.

FPIs remain net buyers for 5th month in a row, pump Rs 10,384 cr in June

Foreign investors infused a net amount of Rs 10,384 crore into the Indian capital markets in June and remained net buyers for the fifth month in a row on expectations of continued economic reforms.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) invested a net of Rs 2,272.74 crore in equities and Rs 8,111.80 crore in the debt segment, taking the total net investment to Rs 10,384.54 crore in June, according to the depositories' data.

"The net inflows in June emphasises that investors expect the continuation of economic reforms under the (Bharatiya Janata Party) BJP-led government which would propel economic growth. However, the low quantum of net inflows suggests that investors are not yet investing with full conviction and are adopting a wait-and-watch stance before the Budget scheduled on July 5," said Himanshu Srivastava, senior research analyst and manager (research), Morningstar.
So far in 2019, the FPIs have invested a net cumulative amount of Rs 87,313.22 crore since January, the data showed.
Except January, FPIs have been net buyers in 2019 till now and have invested a net Rs 9,031.15 crore in May, Rs 16,093 crore in April, Rs 45,981 crore in March and Rs 11,182 crore in February into the Indian capital markets (both equity and debt).
"FPI investment, though trending down post March, continues to be positive. So long as the leading central banks continue to be dovish, FPI inflows will continue. As of now, there are no signs of a stance reversal," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
Commenting on the outlook, he said, "The FPI into Indian equity will depend on the outcome of Budget to be presented on July 5th. Presently, there is no valuation comfort in the market and the monsoon has been well below the long-term average, which are likely to moderate FPI flows.

Working more than 10 hours regularly increases chance of a heart attack

Australia is in the bottom third of OECD countries when it comes to working long hours, with 13% of us clocking up 50 hours or more a week in paid work.
These long hours are bad for our health. A new study from France has found that regularly working long days of ten hours or more increases our risk of having a stroke.
Other research has found that employees who work long work hours are likely to have poorer mental health and lower-quality sleep.
Long working hours have also been shown to increase likelihood of smoking, excessive drinking, and weight gain.
Long hours are bad for our health
The effects of regular long work hours on our health are wide-ranging.
The new French study of more than 143 ,000 participants found those who worked ten or more hours a day for at least 50 days per year had a 29% greater risk of stroke.
The association showed no difference between men and women, but was stronger in white-collar workers under 50 years of age.
Another meta-analysis of more than 600,000 people, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, found similar effects. Employees working long hours (40-55 hours per week) have a higher risk of stroke compared with those working standard working hours (35-40 hours per week).
Irregular work hours, or shift work, has also been associated with a range of negative health and well-being outcomes, including the disruption of our circadian rhythm, sleep, accident rates, mental health, and the risk of having a heart attack.
And it’s not just the physical effects. Regularly working long hours results in poor work-life balance, leading to lower job satisfaction and performance, as well as lower satisfaction with life and relationships.
Why are we working more?
Although many countries have imposed statutory limits on the work week, worldwide around 22% of workers are working more than 48 hours a week. In Japan, long work hours are such a significant issue that karoshi – translated as “death by overwork” – is a legally recognised cause of death.
Concerns around automation, slow wage growth, and increasing underemployment are some of the reasons Australians are working longer. A 2018 study showed Australians worked around 3.2 billion hours in unpaid overtime.
And work doesn’t end for many people when they leave the office. If they aren’t doing extra work at home, taking calls, or attending after-hours meetings online, working second jobs is increasingly becoming the norm. Many Australians now work additional jobs through the gig economy.
The influence of job control
Autonomy and “decision latitude” at work – that is, the level of control over how and when you perform your duties – is a contributing factor to the increased risk of health problems.
Low levels of decision latitude, as well as shift work, are associated with a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes. Individual control plays a significant role in human behaviour; the extent to which we believe we can control our environment considerably impacts our perceptions of and reactions to that environment.
Early psychology research, for example, showed that reactions to the administration of an electric shock were very much influenced by the perception of control the person had over the stimulus (even if they did not actually have control).
These findings were echoed in data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It found that a lack of alignment between an individual’s preferences and their actual working hours resulted in lower reported levels of satisfaction and mental health. The results applied both to workers who worked long hours and to those who wanted more hours.
What can employers do?
Effective communication with employees is important. Employees may be unable to complete their work in standard hours, for example, as a result of having to spend excessive amounts of time in meetings.
Employers can take steps to implement policies to ensure that long work isn’t occurring regularly. The Australia Institute holds an annual Go Home on Time Day to encourage employees to achieve work-life balance. While this initiative raises awareness of work hours, going home on time should be the norm rather than the exception.
Increasing employees’ input into their work schedule and hours can have positive effects on performance and well-being.
The design of the workplace to promote well-being is an important factor. Research on shift work has shown that enhancing the workplace by providing food, child care, health care, accessible transport, and recreational facilities can reduce the effects of shift work.
Finally, implementing flexible work practices, where employees have some control over their schedule, to encourage work-life balance has been shown to have positive effects on well-being.
The Conversation logo
Such initiatives require ongoing support. Japan instituted Premium Friday, encouraging employees to go home at 3pm once a month. Initial results, however, showed that only 3.7% of employees took up the initiative. The low take-up can be attributed to a cultural norm of lengthy work days, and a collectivist mindset where employees worry about inconveniencing peers when they take time off.
Given the rise in concerns about future work, and workplace cultures where long hours are the norm, change may be slow in coming about, despite the negative health effects of long work hours.
Libby Sander, Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Bond Business School, Bond University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

RTGS, NEFT transfers set to get cheaper from Monday as RBI scraps charges

Fund transfer through RTGS and NEFT systems is set to become cheaper from Monday after the Reserve Bank of India decided it will not impose any charges on such transactions.
After announcing its decision to waive all charges on fund transfer through RTGS and NEFT systems from July 1, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had also asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers from the same day.

The real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system is meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers, while the national electronic funds transfer (NEFT) system is used for fund transfers of up to Rs 2 lakh.
"With a view to push the digital transaction, the RBI has decided not to charge the RTGS and NEFT transactions. This would help banks reduce the fees from customers for these transactions," Indian Banks' Association Chairman Sunil Mehta said in IBA's newsletter.
The country's largest bank SBI charges between Re 1 and Rs 5 for transactions through NEFT and between Rs 5 and Rs 50 for RTGS route.
To provide an impetus to digital funds movement, the central bank had decided to do away with the processing charges and time-varying charges levied on banks by the RBI for outward transactions through the RTGS, as also the processing charges for transactions processed in NEFT will be waived by the Reserve Bank of India.
Currently, the RBI "levies minimum charges" on banks for transactions routed through its RTGS and NEFT system.
Banks, in turn, levy charges on their customers.
The RBI has also constituted a high-level committee under IBA Chief Executive V G Kannan to examine ATM charges and fees by banks amid demands for reviewing the levies.
The use of automated teller machines (ATMs) has been growing significantly and there have been persistent demands to change ATM charges and fees.

Putin says Russia and Saudi Arabia will maintain oil cuts for 6-9 months

Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to extend the Opec+ agreement at current production levels for the rest of this year and potentially into early 2020.
Speaking at the Group of 20 summit in Japan, the Russian president said the extension of output cuts -- which expire at the end of June -- could be for six or nine months. His comments make the outcome of next week’s Opec+ gathering in Vienna all but a foregone conclusion, and further reinforce Putin’s role as the ultimate policy maker within the group.

Saudi oil officials later confirmed their support to the extension, although cautioned they still needed to discuss the deal with other Opec ministers.
Riyadh and Moscow ended years of animosity in 2016, joining forces to manage the global oil market in an effort to prop up prices. The current version of the deal by the so-called Opec+ coalition calls for production cuts of 1.2 million barrels a day.
“We have agreed: we will continue our agreements,” Putin said in Osaka. “In any event we will support the continuation of agreements, both Russia and Saudi Arabia, in the volumes previously agreed.”
The announcement marks the first time a senior leader from the group has indicated the curbs could be needed into 2020. That reflects a somber outlook for oil supply and demand next year due to a combination of slowing global economic growth and rising US shale output.
Trade Deal
The Russia-Saudi deal followed an agreement made earlier in Osaka between the US and Chinese presidents to restart trade talks, and comments by Donald Trump that he wouldn’t impose new duties on Beijing for now.
“The Saudi-Russia deal, combined with a positive outcome from the US-China trade talks at the G-20, should allow oil prices to move higher,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultants Energy Aspects Ltd. in London.
The alliance between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners has had a mixed track record of supporting oil prices, in part because some members have at times overproduced. Since Russia and Saudi Arabia came together to manage the market in late 2016, benchmark Brent crude has oscillated between $45 and $85 a barrel. On Friday, Brent futures for September closed at $64.74.
Hours after the Osaka meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on his arrival to Vienna for the Opec meeting that the kingdom supported extending the deal for another nine months until early 2020. "But we have to talk to other ministers," he cautioned on the early hours of Sunday in the Austrian capital.
OPEC ministers are scheduled to meet on July 1 in Vienna to discuss their production policy for the next few months. On July 2, oil ministers from non-OPEC nations will join the talks. Saudi Arabia and Russia are the largest members in the group, and usually both nations are able to steer the Opec+ alliance into their preferred policy. Yet, others may oppose. In the past, Iran has put up fierce fights to the position of Riyadh.
Al-Falih warned the extension of the production cuts was needed as oil demand growth had “softened a little bit,” but said there wasn’t a need to deepen them. Earlier, the Saudi oil minister said in a tweet that the Russian-Saudi deal to extend the production cuts would "help reduce global stockpiles" of crude oil "and thus balance the market."
For Moscow, there’s an extra incentive to extend the curbs by nine months, as Russian oil companies struggle to raise production over the winter. By extending the deal into 2020, Russia could be in a better position to pump more during the spring of next year.
A long extension could also be an acknowledgment by Russia of the impact of the massive Druzhba pipeline outage on its production capacity. The country’s oil output has fallen in recent weeks as a result of on-off flows through the link, parts of which were suspended two months ago amid the contaminated-crude crisis.
This year the Opec+ alliance has cut production by more than the pledged 1.2 million barrels a day as US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela slashed output from both countries. Saudi Arabia also unilaterally made deeper curbs, pumping 9.7 million barrels a day in May, compared with its Opec+ ceiling of 10.3 million.
Saturday’s verbal agreement between Putin and Prince Mohammed highlights the importance of the G-20 as a key policy-making forum for oil and Opec watchers. Last year, Putin and the crown prince used the summit in Buenos Aires to give their political backing to extend the Opec+ deal into the first half of 2019. A few days later, with clear instructions from their leaders, the respective oil ministers met and agreed on the details of cuts.
The G-20 in 2016 in Hangzhou, China, also proved pivotal for the oil market, with Putin and the crown prince forging a rapprochement between the world’s top two oil exporters. Since that meeting, the two nations have cooperated on output policy as de facto leaders of the Opec+ coalition, which includes all the members of Opec plus a handful of independent producers including Mexico, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
“The strategic partnership within Opec+ has led to the stabilization of oil markets” while supporting global economic growth, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said on Saturday following the talks.
As further proof of the importance of the G-20 for the Opec negotiations, Saudi Arabia and Russia recently lobbied fellow Opec+ nations to reschedule their Vienna meeting, shifting it by a few days so oil ministers would gather just after Putin’s sit-down with the crown prince, rather than before as originally planned. Opec+ will meet in the Austrian capital on July 1-2.

Mann ki Baat 2.0: Conserve every drop, says PM Modi as water crisis looms

At a time when the water level in India's major reservoirs and river basins has fallen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday pitched for conservation of rain water, saying there is a pressing need to make water conservation a mass movement on the lines of the cleanliness drive.
In the first address in the second edition of monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat', the prime minister also said 'one size fits all' approach is not required in water conservation.

"In different parts, different methods may be adopted but the aim is same- to conserve every drop of water," he said.
Modi appealed to all Indians, including eminent people from all walks of life to create awareness on water conservation.

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He also urged people to share knowledge of traditional methods of water conservation.
"If you know about any individuals or NGOs working on water (conservation), do share the details," he said.
He asked people to use #JanShakti4JalShakti to upload their content relating to water conservation.
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Several cities across India are facing water shortage as water level in various dams and water bodies has gone down significantly.

Money in Swiss banks: India slips one place to 74th, UK retains top rank

India has moved down one place to 74th rank in terms of money parked by its citizens and enterprises with Swiss banks, while the UK has retained its top position, as per data released by the central banking authority of the Alpine nation.
India was ranked 73rd last year, after jumping 15 places from its 88th position a year ago.

An analysis of the latest annual banking statistics released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) shows that India remains ranked very low when it comes to money parked by Indian individuals and enterprises in Swiss banks, including through their India-based branches, while accounting for just about 0.07 per cent of the aggregate funds parked by all foreign clients of Switzerland-based banks.
In comparison, the top-ranked UK accounted for more than 26 per cent of the total foreign funds parked with Swiss banks at the end of 2018.
Among the top-ranked jurisdictions, the UK is followed by the US, West Indies, France and Hong Kong in the top five.
The top-five countries alone account for more than 50 per cent of the aggregate foreign funds parked with the Swiss banks, while the top-10 account for nearly two-thirds.
The top-15 countries account for nearly 75 per cent of all foreign money in Swiss banks, while the contribution of the top-30 is almost 90 per cent.
The top-10 countries also include Bahamas, Germany, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands and Singapore.
Among the five-nation BRICS block of emerging economies, India is ranked the lowest while Russia is ranked the highest at 20th place, followed by China at 22nd, South Africa at 60th and Brazil at 65th place in terms of amount of money parked by their residents and enterprises at the end of 2018.
The countries ranked higher than India also include Mauritius (71st), New Zealand (59th), the Philippines (54th), Venezuela (53rd), Seychelles (52nd), Thailand (39th), Canada (36th), Turkey (30th), Israel (28th), Saudi Arabia (21st), Panama (18th), Japan (16th), Italy (15th), Australia (13th), UAE (12th) and Guernsey (11th).
However, several of India's neighbouring nations are ranked lower, with Pakistan ranking 82nd, Bangladesh 89th, Nepal 109th, Sri Lanka 141st, Myanmar 187th and Bhutan 193rd.
This is the first time in the last four years that the funds linked to Pakistan in Swiss banks have slipped below that of Indians.
A number of other major countries also saw their funds falling in Swiss banks amid a global clampdown against the erstwhile banking secrecy walls in the Alpine nation.
The funds, described by SNB as 'liabilities' of Swiss banks or 'amounts due to' their clients, are official figures disclosed by Swiss authorities and do not indicate the exact quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held in famed safe havens of Switzerland.
The official figures, disclosed annually by Switzerland's central bank, also do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.
It has been often alleged that Indians and other nationals seeking to stash their illicit wealth abroad use multiple layers of various jurisdictions, including tax havens, to shift the money to Swiss banks.
Also, with Switzerland putting in place an automatic information exchange framework with India and various other countries, the famed secrecy walls of Swiss banks are said to have crumbled. India will start getting this automatic data from this year, while it has already been getting information on accounts where proof of illicit funds can be furnished.
The funds officially held by Indians with banks in Switzerland now accounts for only 0.07 per cent of the total funds kept by all foreign clients in the Swiss banking system, almost same as the level seen at 2017-end after a modest increase from 0.04 per cent a year before that, as per an analysis of the latest figures compiled by the SNB (Swiss National Bank) as on 2018-end.
India was placed at 75th position in 2015 and 61st in the year before, though it used to be among the top-50 countries in terms of holdings in Swiss banks till 2007. The country was ranked highest at 37th place in the year 2004.
The total money held in Swiss banks by foreign clients from across the world fell by about 4 per cent to CHF 1.4 trillion (about Rs 99 lakh crore) in 2018.
In terms of individual countries, the UK continues to account for the largest chunk at about CHF 372 billion (down from CHF 403 billion a year ago), which remains more than 26 per cent of the total foreign money with Swiss banks.
The US remains on the second position despite a dip to about CHF 144 billion (from CHF 166 billion a year ago), accounting for nearly 10.3 per cent of all foreign funds. The share is more than 1 per cent only for 21 jurisdictions.
India was ranked in the top-50 continuously between 1996 and 2007, but its rank started declining after that -- 55th in 2008, 59th in 2009 and 2010 each, 55th again in 2011, 71st in 2012 and then to 58th in 2013.
Money parked by Indian clients fell by nearly 6 per cent in 2018 to 955 million Swiss francs (about Rs 6,757 crore) to hit its second-lowest level in over two decades.

Why it's still a long road before US, China can reach deal to end trade war

China and the United States will face a long road before they can reach a deal to end their bitter trade war, with more fights ahead likely, Chinese state media said after the two countries’ presidents held ice-breaking talks in Japan.
The world’s two largest economies are in the midst of a bitter trade war, which has seen them level increasingly severe tariffs on each other’s imports.

In a sign of significant progress in relations on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, agreed to a ceasefire and a return to talks.
However, the official China Daily, an English-language daily often used by Beijing to put its message out to the rest of the world, warned while there was now a greater likelihood of reaching an agreement, there’s no guarantee there would be one.
“Even though Washington agreed to postpone levying additional tariffs on Chinese goods to make way for negotiations, and Trump even hinted at putting off decisions on Huawei until the end of negotiations, things are still very much up in the air,” it said in an editorial late Saturday.
“Agreement on 90 percent of the issues has proved not to be enough, and with the remaining 10 percent where their fundamental differences reside, it is not going to be easy to reach a 100-percent consensus, since at this point, they remain widely apart even on the conceptual level.”
Trump also offered an olive branch to Xi on Huawei Technologies Co [HWT.UL], the world’s biggest telecom network equipment maker. The Trump administration has said the Chinese firm poses a national security risk given its close ties to China’s government, and has lobbied US allies to keep Huawei out of next-generation 5G telecommunications infrastructure.
The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, in a lengthy statement about G20 released by the Foreign Ministry following the delegation’s return to Beijing, said the Xi-Trump meeting had sent a “positive signal” to the world.
Though problems between the two countries remain, China is confident as long as they both follow the consensus reached by their leaders they can resolve their problems on the basis of mutual respect, Wang said in the statement released late Saturday.
Trump’s comments on Huawei, made at a more than hour-long news conference in Osaka following his sit-down with Xi, generated only a cautious welcome from China. The word “Huawei” was not mentioned at all in the top diplomat’s appraisal of G20.
Wang Xiaolong, the Foreign Ministry’s special envoy of G20 affairs and head of the ministry’s Department of International Economic Affairs, said if the United States does what it says on Huawei then China would of course welcome it.
“To put restrictions in areas that go beyond technology and economic factors will definitely lead to a lose-lose situation. So if the US side can do what it says then we will certainly welcome that,” Wang told reporters.
The pause in tensions is likely to be welcomed by the business community, and markets, which have swooned on both sides of the Pacific due to the trade war.
Jacob Parker, vice-president of China operations at the US-China Business Council, said returning to talks was good news for the business community and added much needed certainty to “a slowly deteriorating relationship”.
“Now comes the hard work of finding consensus on the most difficult issues in the relationship, but with a commitment from the top we’re hopeful this will put the two sides on a sustained path to resolution.”
China’s position as the trade war has progressed has become increasingly strident, saying it would not be bullied, would not give in to pressure, and that it would “fight to the end”.
Taoran Notes, an influential WeChat account run by China’s Economic Daily, said the United States was now aware that China was not going to give in, and that tariffs on Chinese goods were increasingly unpopular back home.
“We’ve said it before - communication and friction between China and the United States is a long-term, difficult and complex thing. Fighting then talking, fighting then talking, is the normal state of affairs,” it said.

Govt working on tax sops for retail investors in CPSE, Bharat-22 ETF

The government is working on a proposal to extend tax benefits to retail investors in its two exchange traded funds - CPSE and Bharat-22 ETF.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has written to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), seeking their opinion on whether equity linked saving scheme (ELSS) benefit under section 80C of Income Tax Act can be extended to retail investors of these ETFs, an official has said.
As per the plan chalked out by the DIPAM, retail investors in CPSE and Bharat-22 ETF would be given option to enjoy tax breaks just like investors in ELSS mutual funds. However, their investments would be locked-in for three years.
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These investors can also choose to not opt for ELSS category and can continue to trade in their units freely.
"We have written to the tax department seeking their opinion on whether ELSS benefits can be extended to CPSE and Bharat-22 ETF," the official told PTI.
If the CBDT, which is the apex decision making body for direct tax matter, gives concurrence, then DIPAM would work out a final plan and an announcement may be made in the 2019-20 Budget to be unveiled on July 5.
ALSO READ: Budget 2019: MFs want reversal of LTCG tax; seek clarity on toxic assets
Though extending ELSS benefits to the existing ETFs would not add to the government's disinvestment coffers, but it would stimulate retail investments in ETFs and also encourage household savings.
Currently, investments made in ELSS MFs are eligible for tax deduction of up to Rs 1.50 lakh under section 80C of the I-T Act, with a mandatory three-year lock-in period.
The government, currently, has two exchange-traded funds - CPSE ETF and Bharat-22 ETF - listed on domestic exchanges. ETFs function like a mutual fund scheme and have underlying assets of government-owned companies.
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Separately, it has also kickstarted work on launching an ETF consisting of stocks of state-owned banks, insurers and financial institutions this fiscal and has invited bids from advisors to explore its feasibility.
The plan to launch a financial sector ETF comes on the back of the government seeing huge investor demand for two existing ETFs. It has raised Rs 32,900 crore through two tranches and an additional fund offer of Bharat-22 ETF, and Rs 38,000 crore in five tranches of CPSE ETF in the domestic market.
The government had raised about Rs 85,000 crore from CPSE disinvestment last fiscal. For the current fiscal, the target is Rs 90,000 crore.

Trump tours Demilitarised Zone in N Korea ahead of meeting with Kim

US President Donald Trump arrived on Sunday in the Demilitarised Zone dividing the Korean peninsula ahead of a meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong Un.
The expected encounter, only suggested a day earlier by Trump on Twitter, comes with negotiations over the North's nuclear programme in stalemate since the leaders' last summit in Vietnam in February.

Accompanied by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, an earnest-looking Trump toured an observation post overlooking North Korean territory, with a US military officer pointing out the sights.
Trump is expected to hold a brief encounter with Kim in the DMZ, which would be their third face-to-face meeting after a historic initial summit in Singapore and a second in Hanoi that collapsed without an agreement.
The two would "just shake hands quickly and say hello because we haven't seen each other since Vietnam", Trump said earlier.

Hike in I-T exemption level, tax on income over Rs 10 cr in Budget: Survey

The upcoming Budget may hike the tax exemption limit for individuals from the current Rs 2.5 lakh and introduce a higher 40 per cent tax on those with income above Rs 10 crore, a KPMG survey said.
The pre-Budget survey 2019-20 conducted by KPMG (India) included responses from 226 respondents spanning across industries.
A whopping 74 per cent of the respondents felt that exemption threshold of personal income tax would be hiked from Rs 2.5 lakh, while 58 per cent said the government would consider a new 40 per cent tax slab for the 'super rich' -- those earning above Rs 10 crore.
While only 13 per cent of respondents feel that inheritance tax would be brought back, 10 per cent felt there are chances of re-introduction of wealth tax/estate duty, the survey said.
To boost housing demand, 65 per cent of respondents felt the Budget may increase the tax deduction limit for interest on housing loan for self-occupied properties from the present Rs 2 lakh.
Also, 51 per cent said the government could carve out deduction for repayment of housing loan principal from the existing overall deduction limit of Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80C.
However, 53 per cent of the respondents do not expect Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to make any major direct tax amendments in the Budget to be unveiled on July 5.
Also, 46 per cent of those surveyed felt corporate tax rate will not be cut to 25 per cent for all companies as was demanded by industry chambers in their pre-Budget meeting with Sitharaman.

Recreational drug use surges worldwide, cannabis most popular: UN report

Some 271 million people globally, or more than one in 20 of the population aged 15 to 64, used recreational drugs in 2017, according to newly released data from the United Nations World Drug Report. That’s a 30% increase from 2009.
The use of cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines and prescription stimulants are at post-recession highs in the U.S., the study said. And although the use of prescription opioids has dipped recently, the number of overdoses has increased. More than 47,000 deaths were recorded there in 2017, many of them attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

The most popular drug globally continues to be cannabis, with an estimated 188 million people having used it in 2017, according to the study. Cannabis usage is most prevalent in North America, where there are an estimated 56.6 million users, followed by Asia with 54.2 million.
One-third of Israeli men in the 15-to-64 age bracket and 28.5% of those in Jamaica used cannabis at a greater frequency than all other countries measured, the study said. American men followed at 21.4% while Canadians and New Zealanders rounded out the top five with 19.1% and 18.6%, respectively, according to the latest data available.
The legalization of cannabis in some North American jurisdictions has contributed to a decline in seizures, which have slumped 77% since 2010, the study said.
Meanwhile, a record 693 tons of opiates was seized worldwide in 2017, a 5% increase from the previous year, as law enforcement efforts and international cooperation curtailed the global distribution of opium.
Still, the temptation to traffic illegal drugs remains strong for some. A Brazilian Air Force sergeant traveling with President Jair Bolsonaro’s entourage en route to the G-20 summit in Japan was arrested earlier this week for allegedly possessing 39 kilograms (86 pounds) of cocaine.
Some 271 million people globally, or more than one in 20 of the population aged 15 to 64, used recreational drugs in 2017, according to newly released data from the United Nations World Drug Report. That’s a 30% increase from 2009.
The use of cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines and prescription stimulants are at post-recession highs in the U.S., the study said. And although the use of prescription opioids has dipped recently, the number of overdoses has increased. More than 47,000 deaths were recorded there in 2017, many of them attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

The most popular drug globally continues to be cannabis, with an estimated 188 million people having used it in 2017, according to the study. Cannabis usage is most prevalent in North America, where there are an estimated 56.6 million users, followed by Asia with 54.2 million.
One-third of Israeli men in the 15-to-64 age bracket and 28.5% of those in Jamaica used cannabis at a greater frequency than all other countries measured, the study said. American men followed at 21.4% while Canadians and New Zealanders rounded out the top five with 19.1% and 18.6%, respectively, according to the latest data available.
The legalization of cannabis in some North American jurisdictions has contributed to a decline in seizures, which have slumped 77% since 2010, the study said.
Meanwhile, a record 693 tons of opiates was seized worldwide in 2017, a 5% increase from the previous year, as law enforcement efforts and international cooperation curtailed the global distribution of opium.
Still, the temptation to traffic illegal drugs remains strong for some. A Brazilian Air Force sergeant traveling with President Jair Bolsonaro’s entourage en route to the G-20 summit in Japan was arrested earlier this week for allegedly possessing 39 kilograms (86 pounds) of cocaine.