Category: PTI

L&T Construction bags orders worth Rs 5,704 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Larsen & Toubro’s construction arm has won orders worth Rs 5,704 crore in domestic market. “The water and effluent treatment business of L&T Construction has secured orders worth Rs 5,704 crore,” the engineering and construction major said in a BSE filing.

L&T said it has won two major orders from the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), government of Madhya Pradesh, for execution of Indira Sagar Project- Parwati phases I and II and Kalisindh phase I Micro Lift Irrigation Schemes.

The company has also received an EPC order from the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Maryadit for execution of Buxwaha Multi Village Rural Water Supply Scheme.

L&T shares were trading at Rs 1,358.25 a piece, up 1.08 percent, from the previous close on the BSE.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US delegation in North Korea to arrange Singapore summit, says Trump

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A US delegation is in North Korea to make arrangements for the Singapore summit on June 12, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, adding hope for his meeting with the reclusive nation’s leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump also said he sees “brilliant potential” in Pyongyang.

“Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself,” Trump said in a tweet.

Trump is scheduled to have a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim in Singapore on June 12. Last week, he had suddenly cancelled the meeting after North Korean statements in which they threatened not to attend the summit.

Soon thereafter, the North Korean leaders said they were ready to meet anytime and anywhere. Kim had an unscheduled meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in wherein they discussed ways to revive the summit.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said a pre-advance team is headed to Singapore to prepare for the summit.

O Sunday, Trump tweeted that US officials are in North Korea to prepare for the talks.

“I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!” Trump said in the same tweet.

According to The Washington Post, Sung Kim, a former US ambassador to South Korea and former nuclear negotiator with the North, has been called in from his post as envoy to the Philippines to lead the preparations. Sung Kim met with North Korea’s Vice-Foreign minister Choe Son Hui, who said last week that Pyongyang was “reconsidering” the talks, the daily said.

The two officials know each other well -? both were part of their respective delegations that negotiated the 2005 denuclearisation agreement through the six-party framework.

The talks are expected to continue on Monday and Tuesday at Tongilgak, or “Unification House,” the building in the northern part of the demilitarised zone where Kim Jong Un met Moon on Saturday, The Post reported.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indians to be worst hit as US prepares to recast H-4 work permit

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The move to rescind work authorisation to certain categories of H-4 visa holders is in final stages, the Trump administration has told a US court.

H-4 visas are issued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India.

The Trump administration is planning to end the Obama-era rule allowing spouses of H1-B visa holders to work legally in the US, a move that could have a devastating impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visa holders who have work permits.

The proposed rule is currently in final clearance, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told a federal court in a status update.

The Trump administration yesterday told the court that once the proposal is cleared through the DHS, it will be sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review under Executive Order for regulatory and planning review.

As previously represented to the Court, the DHS intends to proceed with publication of this new rule concerning the H-4 visa rule, the DHS said in its court filing.

The previous Obama administration under an executive order in 2015 had started giving work authorisation permits to certain categories of H-4 visa holders, who were mostly spouses of H-1B visa holders.

According to a recent Congressional report, a staggering 93 per cent of the total H-4 visa holders in the US having work authorisation are from India.

The final notification to rescind the work authorisation is expected to be issued in June.

Last week, a bipartisan group of 130 US lawmakers led by influential Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal urged the Trump administration to continue granting work authorisation to certain dependent spouses of non-immigrant workers holding H-1B visas.

Providing work authorisation for accompanying spouses helps US employers recruit and retain highly-qualified employees, putting US policy on par with other countries, such as Canada and Australia, competing to attract talented foreign nationals, the lawmakers had said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to hold trade talks in China next week

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will visit Beijing next week to resume talks with Chinese officials, state media said today, as the two sides seek to avoid a trade war. Ross’s June 2-4 visit was confirmed in a phone call with China’s pointman on economic matters, Vice Premier Liu He, on Friday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Liu visited Washington last week for high-level talks that ended with the world’s two biggest economies agreeing to back off slapping tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods.

Both sides have extended olive branches since the weekend, with China announcing on Tuesday that it will cut auto import tariffs from July 1.

For his part, President Donald Trump said his administration could impose a new fine of as much as USD 1.3 billion on embattled Chinese telecom company ZTE to replace crippling sanctions imposed last month that threatened to put the firm out of business.

At the same time, Trump said he was “not satisfied” with the recent talks.

The Chinese commerce ministry denied yesterday that it had set a target to cut its trade surplus with the United States, though it said Beijing would seek to increase US imports.

Chinese officials were reported to have offered to slash the country’s huge surplus by $ 200 billion — meeting a key Washington demand — by ramping up imports from the United States.

That was followed on Monday by President Donald Trump tweeting that China will buy “massive amounts” of additional American agriculture products.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

UBL Q4 jumps over 13-fold to Rs 90.88 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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United Breweries Ltd (UBL) today reported over 13-fold jump in its standalone net profit of Rs 90.88 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2018 led by strong volume growth. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 6.73 crore in the January-March period a year-ago, UBL said in a regulatory filing.

Its total income during the quarter under review was up 27.84 per cent to Rs 3,275.38 crore as against Rs 2,562.03 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

“In the fourth quarter ended March 2018, UBL recorded a volume growth of 24 per cent compared with industry growth of 22 per cent,” the company said in a statement.

It further added that this growth was partly the result of a low comparative, as the fourth quarter of 2016-17 already included the effects of the highway ban.

“Net revenue grew 32 per cent, primarily due to volume growth and also a favourable state mix,” it added.

UBL’s total expenses during the period stood at Rs 3,138.56 crore as against Rs 2,554.41 crore, up 22.86 per cent.

For the entire 2017-18, UBL’s consolidated net profit was up 71.63 per cent to Rs 394.63 crore, compared to Rs 229.92 crore in 2016-17.

Its total consolidated income stood at Rs 12,443.75 crore as against Rs 10,281.51 crore in 2016-17, up 21.03 per cent.

Shares of United Breweries today settled at Rs 1,180.05 apiece on BSE, up 0.22 per cent from their previous close.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Maharashtra CM for bringing petrol, diesel under GST

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Amid a nationwide outrage over rising fuel prices, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today pitched for bringing petrol and diesel under the purview of GST, saying it would ensure reduction of rates.

“A task force is already working on reducing the fuel prices. If it (petrol and diesel) can be brought under GST, rates will come down,” he told reporters here.

He said Maharashtra has already given its consent for bringing petrol and diesel under the purview of GST which was rolled out on July 1 last year but “other states have not given their consent yet.”

Fadnavis’ comment came amidst rising prices of petrol and diesel over which the opposition has been targeting the Narendra Modi government.

Talks are going on with finance ministers of all states, Fadnavis said, adding, “Once petrol and diesel are brought under the ambit of GST, its threshold will change, because right now, taxes upon taxes are levied which increases rates. GST will ensure a single tax.”

Noting that petrol and diesel prices are defined by international crude oil rates, the chief minister said the GST Council will also have to look into aspects like revenue losses before taking a decision.

Petrol costs Rs 77.47 a litre in Delhi and diesel Rs 68.53.

Petrol and diesel prices were raised for the 11th day in succession today as the state-owned oil firms gradually passed on to the consumer the increased cost of international oil that had accumulated since a 19-day freeze was imposed just before Karnataka elections.

Since the time the hiatus ended on May 14, rates have gone up by Rs 2.84 a litre in case of petrol and Rs 2.60 in diesel.

The Centre had in June last year junked the 15-year old practice of revising rates every fortnight and introduced daily revisions.

The central government levies Rs 19.48 excise duty on a litre of petrol and Rs 15.33 on diesel. State sales tax or VAT varies from state to state. Unlike excise duty, VAT is ad valorem and results in higher revenues for the state when rates move up.

Meanwhile, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis said the Centre has stood behind his state government “like Himalayas” and all stalled projects were given clearance under Modi’s rule.

“Unprecedented funds have been given by the Centre to mitigate drought problems, for irrigation purposes, to build roads. The Centre has given Maharashtra in last four years what was not given in the last 20 years,” he claimed.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow