Budget is for poor, common man: FM

New Delhi: Chinese company Alibaba is learnt to have sold 3.16% direct stake in digital financial services firm One97 Communications, which operates under Paytm brand, for about `13,600 crore in a block deal. With this deal, Alibaba has sold entire direct stake in the company. Alibaba had 6.26% direct stake in Paytm as of December 2022. “Alibaba has sold its complete direct stake in Paytm in the block deal today,” a source aware of the development said on Friday. —PTI

MOODY'S CHANGES OUTLOOK ON FOUR ADANI FIRMS

India sets wheat sale at `2,350 per quintal

Industrial production growth slips to 4.3% in December 2022

New Delhi (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday staunchly defended her Budget as being pro-poor and for the common man, citing higher food and fertilizer subsidies and income tax relief, and said the focus was on job creation, small business and the farm sector.

The Budget for the fiscal year starting April (202324) also provides impetus to green growth, healthcare and keeping the economic engine running with record capital spending, she said.

The revamped new tax regime, which offers a rebate on annual income of up to ` 7 lakh, will leave higher disposable income in the hands of people, she added.

Sitharaman said the Budget balances the requirement of development

New Delhi: Moody’s Investor Service on Friday revised downwards the rating outlook on four Adani Group companies to negative from stable after a significant and rapid decline in market value following a report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research.The rating outlook for Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Green Energy Restricted Group, Adani Transmission Step-One Ltd and Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd has been changed to negative from stable. —PTI

GOLD TUMBLES BY `669; SILVER ALSO PLUMMETS `1,026

Major Highlights

z During a dicussion in Parliament on Union Budget FM Nirmala Sitharaman said the Budget balances the requirement of development imperatives within the limits of fiscal prudence imperatives within the limits of fiscal prudence.

On relief under the new

Other Stories

ADB APPROVES $130 MN LOAN FOR PROMOTING HORTICULTURE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

New Delhi: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $130 million loan to increase agricultural productivity and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in Himachal Pradesh. More than half of HP’s land area is in the mountains and 90% of the population lives in rural areas who are dependent on agriculture, said ADB Senior Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist for South Asia Sunae Kim. The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares (ha) of farmland by rehabilitating and constructing new irrigation facilities. —PTI

Govt To Revoke Ban On Fintech Firms Lazypay And Kissht

DISNEY+ HOTSTAR PAID SUBSCRIBER BASE SHRINKS 6 PER CENT

z The Budget for the fiscal year starting April (2023-24) also provides impetus to green growth, healthcare and keeping the economic engine running z On relief under the new tax regime announced in the Budget, she said it is “very attractive” tax regime announced in the Budget, she said it is “very attractive”.

New Delhi (PTI): To reduce the price of wheat and atta, the Department of Food & PD, in consultation with Ministry of Finance on Friday decided that the reserve price for sale of wheat under OMSS will be ` 2350/Qtl (Pan India) for FAQ and `2300/Qtl (Pan India) for URS wheat of all crops including RMS 2023-24 without adding any transportation cost component.

The ministry stated that this is to help the supply of wheat to general public in different part of the country at a reasonable price.

“The States may be allowed to purchase wheat from FCI for their own scheme at above reserve prices without participating in e-auction,” the ministry said in its statement.

As per the statement, the rate of wheat has been reduced to `21.50/Kg for sale to NCCF/NAFED/ Kendriya Bhandar/State Govt. Cooperatives/ Federations etc. as well as community

Reserve Price For Sale

z To reduce the price of wheat and atta, the Department of Food & PD, in consultation with Ministry of Finance on Friday decided that the reserve price for sale of wheat under OMSS will be `2350/Qtl (Pan India) for FAQ kitchen /charitable/NGO etc engaged in relief operations/ running relief camps for migrant labourers/vulnerable groups.

The ministry added that during the inaugural e-auction, which was held on the 1st and 2nd of Feb 2023, FCI sold 9.26 LMT of wheat out of 25 LMT to traders, flour mills, and other buyers.

New Delhi (PTI): India’s industrial production growth slipped to 4.3% in December from 7.3% in November 2022, mainly due to subdued performance of the manufacturing sector, according to official data released on Friday.

However, there was improvement on an annual basis as the factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 1% in December 2021.

As per the IIP data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector’s output grew by 2.6% in December 2022 from 0.6% a year ago.

The growth stood at 6.4% in the preceding month of November 2022.

Sensex, Nifty snap two-day winning run amid weak global markets

Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex declined 123 points on Friday due to selling pressure in metal and energy stocks amid a bearish trend in global equity markets.

RUPEE FALLS 4 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 82.55 AGAINST US DOLLAR

New Delhi: Gold price tumbled `669 to `56,754 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday amid weak global trends, according to HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the yellow metal had touched `57,423 per 10 grams. Silver also plummeted `1,026 to `66,953/kg. “Spot gold prices in the Delhi markets traded at `56,754 per 10 grams, down `669 per 10 grams,” Saumil Gandhi, Senior AnalystCommodities at HDFC Securities, said. In the overseas market, both gold and silver were quoting lower at $1,866/ounce and $22.12/ounce. —PTI

Yahoo To Lay Off

MORE THAN 20% OF TOTAL WORKFORCE

New Delhi: The government will revoke the ban imposed on fintech firms LazyPay and Kissht after representations were made by these companies, a senior official said on Friday. The government last week ordered the blocking of 232 apps operated by overseas entities, including Chinese, for being involved in betting, gambling and unauthorised loan service. Sources said that the government will revoke the ban on LazyPay and Kissht. —PTI

New Delhi: Streaming giant Disney+ Hotstar has seen a 6% QoQ dip in its paid subscriber base during the three months to December 2022 due to the non-renewal of content deal with Jio and the pull-out of shorter duration pack customers after the loss of IPL digital rights. According to Walt Disney’s Q1 2023 results, Disney+ Hotstar’s paid subscriber base has shrunk by 3.8 million to 57.5 million from 61.3 million. —FIB

AROUND 10 STATES AND 5 UTs NOT IMPLEMENTING CROP INSURANCE SCHEME PMFBY: AGRI MINISTER

New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said 10 states and five union territories are currently not implementing the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The ten states are: Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Telangana and West Bengal, the minister said. Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Delhi, Ladakh and Lakshadweep are the UTs which are not implementing PMFBY. —PTI

According To Government

Mumbai (PTI): India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $1.494 billion to reach $575.267 billion as of February 3, snapping a three-week rising trend, RBI data showed on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had jumped by $3.03 billion to $576.76 billion.

The reserves have been declining as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.

For the week ended February 3, the foreign currency assets decreased by $1.323 billion to $507.695 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Rising crude prices and continued selling by foreign investors also weighed on market sentiment, traders said.

Snapping its two-day gaining streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 123.52 points or 0.20% lower at 60,682.70. During the session, the index touched a high of 60,774.14 and a low of 60,501.74. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 36.95 points to finish at 17,856.50.

India’s smartphone market dip 27% in Q4

New Delhi (PTI): Smartphones shipments in India plunged by over 27% to 29.6 million in the October-December quarter of 2022, from 40.6 million in the year-ago period, mainly due to inflationary pressures, market research firm IDC said on Friday. According to the report, dwindling consumer demand due to high inflation remained a challenge throughout the year despite the improved supply situation.

Smartphone shipments in the sub-$300 (about

OVER 4,900 NEW MNCs OPENED IN INDIA

New Delhi: Yahoo said on Friday it plans to lay off more than 20% of its total workforce as part of a major restructuring of its ad tech division. The cuts will impact nearly 50% of Yahoo’s ad tech employees by the end of this year, including nearly 1,000 employees this week, the company said. Yahoo added that the move would enable the company to narrow its focus and investment on its flagship ad business called DSP. —FIB

New Delhi (PTI): Around 1,333 multi-national companies (MNCs) have shut down in the country but more than 4,900 new ones have come up opening new avenues and job opportunities, Parliament was informed on Friday. Responding during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, MoS for Commerce & Industry Som Parkash said it is normal to see some MNCs get closed and some new to come up.

A total of 1,333 MNCs have been closed down in the country, out of which 313 were foreign-based and 1,017 were their subsidiar- ies, he said. “I am happy to share that in comparison to it (the one closed down), 4,906 new MNCs have been opened. This will open new avenues and provide job opportunities,” Parkash said. The minister, however, did

Major Findings

z A total of 1,333 MNCs have been closed down in the country, out of which 313 were foreign-based and 1,017 were their subsidiaries z However as per govt, more than 4,900 new ones have come up opening new avenues and job opportunities not share the time period during which the MNCs were shut and new ones were opened.

` 25,000) price segment declined by 15% while midpremium and premium price segments of $300-500 and over $500 (`41,000) grew by 20 and 55%, respectively during 2022. The entry-level smartphones, below ` 12,500 apiece, shrunk to 46% from 54% a year ago.

Apple maintained its lead in the premium segment with a 60% share.

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 4 paise to close at 82.55 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, tracking a muted trend in domestic equities and firm crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.61 against the American currency and touched a low of 82.64 and a high of 82.34 intra-day. It finally settled at 82.55 against the greenback.

‘Milk prices in India increased due to rise in fodder cost’

New Delhi (PTI): Milk prices in the country have risen due to increase in the feed and fodder cost, Union Minister Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Balyan, who is Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said dairy companies pass on 75% of the retail price to farmers. There is a need to balance between farmers and consumers. Farmers need to get higher returns on milk for them to take up dairy farming, he said.

Tiktok Fires Entire India Workforce

New Delhi (FIB): Short video app TikTok fired its entire India staff on Monday, a report by The Economic Times said, quoting sources. Forty people were laid off and were offered severance pay of up to nine months.

“The TikTok India employees were told that February 28 would be their last day and were given feelers to look out for other opportunities for some time as it was conveyed that restarting India operations were not going to take off because of the government’s stance on Chinese apps,” a source told ET.

“The entire team was informed. We were anyway told some time ago that business in India may be shut off, so look for jobs. Most people will be given 90 days severance,” another source told ET.

The human ability to ‘Work’ is amazing, we can rise to the greatest heights or plummet to the lowest, choose carefully.

— Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India