News highlights of the day: Govt open to increase deposit insurance cap of 1 lakh, says FM Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today assured the Rajya Sabha that the government is considering putting in place a "much better" security measure for bank depositors and is open to suggestions for raising the deposit insurance limit from Rs 1 lakh currently.

The finance ministry also in a statement clarified "certain misgivings" about the FRDI Bill, saying the proposed legislation would not modify "adversely at all" the present protections available to depositors.

21:12 Former Special Secretary (RAW) A.B Mathur appointed as government interlocutor for talks with ULFA, Assam, tweets ANI

20:48 Mumbai Protest update: Traffic jam in Mumbai's Deonar area due to protests post #BhimaKoregaonViolence, reports ANI.

Rajinder Khanna, a former chief of the country's external intelligence agency RAW, was today appointed the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA), according to an official order. He headed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) from December 2014 for a fixed two-year period. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the appointment of Khanna as the Deputy NSA on re-employment and on contractual basis, according to the order issued by the personnel ministry.

20:38 Agriculture Ministry directs all states and UTs to conduct 500 random sampling of milk every month at village level to detect adulteration, All India Radio tweets.

The government has notified lower 1 percent GST rates for manufacturers who have opted for composition scheme as well as easier norms for traders opting for it.

The finance ministry has notified the changes decided by the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, in November 2017. The notification stipulates that manufacturers who have opted for composition scheme will now have to pay 1 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) as against 2 per cent earlier.

India said today that it would be in China's interest that the shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean remain secure and asserted that the Indian Navy was keeping an eye on its key maritime areas.

In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said the Navy's deployments in the Indian Ocean have been "further structured" under the new mission-based deployment (MBD) concept.

The investments required in urban areas for a 20-year period between 2012-13 and 2031-32 is estimated to be Rs 39 lakh crore, the government said today.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has constituted a high-powered expert committee to provide an estimate of investments required for urban infrastructure services, including the maintenance and replacement, the minister of state for housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, said in the Lok Sabha.

A surge in the number of cars purchased with formal financing, coupled with factors like longer tenor loans and an uptick in used vehicle financing, has led auto financing growth outpacing the auto industry volume growth, says a report.

The auto loan growth has been coming in at 18-20 percent for leading financiers, while the auto industry reported a 6-7 percent surge in volumes, domestic brokerage Kotak Securities said today. (PTI)

19:20 Mumbai Protest update: Jet Airways and Air India have waived off cancellation charges from Mumbai due to situation in the state.

Last year was the safest year for civil aviation since plane crash statistics were first compiled in 1946, two industry studies have found.

A total of 10 crashes of civil passenger and cargo planes claimed 44 lives, said the Aviation Safety Network in a statement published yesterday.

18:37 Mumbai Protest update: All trains on the suburban railway network are running as normal.

On an average, 2.30 lakh sanitation and garbage-related complaints are registered every month on the 'Swachhata App', the government said today.

The mobile application was launched on August 6, 2016.

Stanford scientists have used an artificial intelligence system and publicly available data from Google Street View to predict income levels and voting patterns of neighbourhoods in the US.

The system analysed 50 million images from the street-scene feature of Google's mapping service. (PTI)

A pilot project to test 'panic button' feature on mobile phones to ensure women safety will kick-start in Uttar Pradesh on January 26, Union minister Maneka Gandhi said today.

In April, 2016, the Department of Telecommunications had, through a gazette notification, made it mandatory for mobile manufacturers to provide panic buttons in cell phones by January, 2017.

The order said the phones will have to have the panic button in the form of numeric key 5 or 9 to invoke emergency calls. Smart phones without the facility of an emergency call, too, will have to have the same provision, or allow use of power on or off button as the panic button. (PTI)

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) leader Prakash Ambedkar has alleged that Hindu Ekta Aghadi is responsible for the violence.

Ambedkar also said that there will be Maharashtra bandh on Wednesday to protest the state government's 'failure' to stop the violence in Pune district on Monday, according to News18.

He also said that the Maharashtra Democratic Front, Maharashtra Left Front, besides 250 other organisations, will be supporting Wednesday's bandh.

17:31 Mumbai Protest update: More than 100 people have been detained from different locations, according to Mumbai Police PRO.

India can reach a capacity of 17,000 megawatts in renewable energy by the year 2022, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

During the Question Hour, Minister of state for power, new and renewable energy RK Singh said the share of renewable energy was progressively increasing in the Indian electricity mix. (PTI)

17:07 Mumbai Protests update: As a measure of caution, over 50 people have been detained in Mumbai, according to News18.

Ford India today reported 27 percent jump in total sales at 29,795 units in December.

The company had sold 23,470 units in the same month previous year, Ford India said in a statement.

Domestic sales were down 8.6 percent at 5,087 units last month as against 5,566 units in December 2016, it added.

Exports were at 24,708 units last month as against 17,904 units in the year-ago month, a growth of 38 percent.

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its construction arm has won contracts worth Rs 1,454 crore including one in Egypt.

The Smart World & Communications Business Unit secured an order worth Rs 864 crore for implementation of five million Smart Meters across 16 cities of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the company said in a statement.

Besides, Power Transmission & Distribution Business has bagged orders worth Rs 568 crore from both international and domestic customers. (PTI)

The Lok Sabha today sent a contentious bill, which seeks to overhaul medical education and replace the Medical Council of India, to a standing committee and asked it to submit its report before the budget session.

The bill had triggered wide protests from doctors whose apex body had called for a strike today, as also the opposition parties. (PTI)

15:56 Bill for quick prosecution of cheque bounce cases tabled in Lok Sabha A bill aimed at reducing inordinate delays in cases of cheque dishonour and payment of interim compensation to the complainants was tabled in the Lok Sabha today.

The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was introduced by Minister of State Finance Shiv Prasad on behalf of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, also seeks do away with "unnecessary" litigation in cheque dishonour cases. (PTI)

Investment manager Principal Financial Group said it would purchase Indian lender Punjab National Bank’s minority stakes in their joint ventures. The agreement, subject to regulatory approval, would give Iowa-based Principal Financial full ownership of Principal-PNB Asset Management Co and Principal Trustee Co, the company said in a statement. PNB has 21.38% ownership in Principal-PNB Asset Management Co and 30% in Principal Trustee Co.

German factories shifted into overdrive in December as strong foreign demand propelled growth in activity to a record high and capacity constraints led to the biggest delivery delays in more than 20 years, a survey showed on Tuesday. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing, which accounts for about a quarter of the economy, jumped to an all-time high of 63.3 from 62.5 in the previous month.

The founder of debt-laden tech conglomerate LeEco has defied orders from Chinese regulators to return to the country before end-2017, saying he needed to stay in the United States as a fundraising for his electric car startup was making progress, reports Reuters. The Beijing branch of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued a notice last week ordering LeEco CEO Jia Yueting to return to China to sort out a mounting debt pile linked to his firms and protect investors’ rights. Jia said in a statement that he had asked his brother, Jia Yuemin, to meet the regulator face-to-face last Friday to provide a report after the notice was issued.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said a judicial inquiry has been ordered into the violence which erupted during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune district. "A sitting High Court judge will head the inquiry," Fadnavis said, a day after a youth died as a group, opposed to the celebrations due to the "British victory" in the battle, clashed with Dalits rallying their way to the battle memorial.

The violence sparked off protests in various parts of the state today, including in Mumbai where protesters staged a rail roko in Chembur. Shops and business establishments were shut and a senior journalist of a national news channel was attacked as groups of youths from Chembur, Vikhroli, Mankhurd and Govandi joined the protest, police said.

The incident of violence in Pune district would be probed by a sitting judge, Fadnavis said, adding that Rs 10 lakh compensation would be given to kin of the youth killed. The youth's death would be probed by the CID, Fadnavis said. He appealed for calm and peace, saying Maharashtra is a progressive state which does not believe in casteist violence. Strict action would be taken against those who use social media to spread rumours, he said and appealed to political parties to refrain from saying anything that would fuel tensions.

Hospitality chain Lemon Tree Hotels has received capital market regulator Sebi's go ahead to float an initial public offering. The company had filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi in September and obtained its "observations" on December 22, which is necessary for any company to launch public offer, latest update with the regulator showed.

Going by the draft papers, Lemon Tree Hotels' public offer comprises sale of up to 195,797,000 equity shares by the existing shareholders, including Maplewood, Whispering Resorts, Palms International and RJ Corp. The offer will constitute up to 24.9% of the post-offer paid up equity share capital of the company. The public issue is aimed at achieving the benefits of listing the equity shares on stock exchanges.

The company has 40 hotels with 4,300 rooms in 24 cities across the country. Founded in 2002 by Patu Keswani, the company has hotels under four brands - Lemon Tree Premier, which is an upscale brand; Lemon Tree Resorts, a leisure segment brand; Lemon Tree Hotels, a midscale brand and the economy brand Red Fox Hotels.

The Delhi High Court stayed a trial court order awarding three-year jail term to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in a coal scam case till January 22, by when it has also sought response of the CBI on his appeal challenging the conviction and sentence, reports PTI. Justice Anu Malhotra also stayed the order imposing a fine of Rs 25 lakh on Koda, who was present in the court, and granted him interim bail till the next date of hearing this month with a direction that he will not leave the country.

The order came on Koda's plea seeking suspension of sentence and regular bail till pendency of his appeal before the high court. Koda, who was held guilty of corruption and conspiracy in allocation of a Jharkhand-based coal block to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog (VISUL), also challenged the December 13 and 16, 2017 orders of conviction and sentence respectively, which was admitted by the high court.

The former chief minister was granted bail by a trial court till January 18. In his appeal, Koda said the trial court order holding him guilty was bad in law. The appeal and stay on the fine was opposed by CBI counsel Tarannum Cheema. The agency, however, did not oppose interim bail granted to Koda till January 22.

The Finance Ministry today said the RBI Bonds Scheme has not been closed but the interest rate on such papers lowered to 7.75%. On Monday, the government notified that the 8% GoI Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003 "shall cease for subscription with effect from the close of business on Tuesday."

"The 8% Savings Bonds Scheme, also known as RBI Bonds Scheme, is not being closed. 8% Scheme is being replaced by the 7.75% Savings Bonds Scheme," Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg said in a tweet. These taxable bonds are meant for individual other than non-resident Indians with no maximum limit for investment.

In 2003, the government came out with bonds offering 8% interest to encourage retail investors to invest. The bond was open for subscription from April 21, 2003, and had a fixed tenure of six years. There was no upper limit for investment.

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, for questioning in connection with its money laundering probe in the INX media case, reports PTI. Official sources said Karti has been called on January 11. The investigating officer (IO) of the case will record his statement in the case, they said.

The central probe agency had registered a case against Karti, the son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, and others in May this year. It had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), ED's equivalent of a police FIR, against the accused named in the CBI complaint including Karti, INX media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, and others. The ECIR was registered under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland reported a 79.41% jump in total sales at 19,253 units in December 2017. The company had sold 10,731 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement. Sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles zoomed 81.62% to 15,950 units against 8,782 units in the year-ago month. Light commercial vehicle sales rose 69.47% to 3,303 units compared with 1,949 units in December 2016.

Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, reported a 16.67% YoY growth in total sales at 66,968 units in December. The company had sold 57,398 units in December 2016, Royal Enfield said in a statement. Domestic sales were at 65,367 units last month as against 56,316 units in December 2016, up 16%. Exports rose 47.96% to 1,601 units as against 1,082 units in the same month previous year, it said.

Mumbai traffic situation as of 2.15 pm, as per Google Maps. Slowness seen around the Amar Mahal Junction in Chembur.

More tweets coming in on incidents of violence reported in Mumbai today. Authorities are yet to comment on these incidents, with the Mumbai police merely saying protests have taken place. Surprisingly, none of the news channels have reported about the disturbance, yet.

An event to mark 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle took place in Pune yesterday, commemorating the defeat of the forces of the Peshwa's army at the hands of the East India Company defeated, according to PTI.

Police have recorded the statement of a co-owner of Mojo's Bistro in connection with the fire at '1 Above' pub. Yug Pathak, the co-owner of the Mojo's Bistro pub and son of a retired IPS officer, was questioned by a team of the NM Joshi Marg police. "On Sunday, we recorded Pathak's statement which is part of our investigation," Additional Commissioner of Police (central region) S Jayakumar told PTI.

He said action will be taken after a thorough investigation. As of now, the probe is underway, he added. Fourteen people were killed and 21 others injured when the fire broke out in the upscale '1 Above' pub and spread to Mojo's Bistro a storey below in the Kamala Mills compound in Mumbai on December 29.

FMCG firm Emami has roped in Bollywood star Salman Khan to endorse its edible oil brands with the aim to tap the markets outside eastern India. The actor would act as a brand ambassador for Emami Healthy & Tasty, Himani Best Choice and Rasoi, apart from Bake Magic, a speciality fat brand, a company statement said.

To reach out to the consumer base nationally, the company decided to engage Salman Khan to join legendary superstar Amitabh Bachchan, both of whom enjoy a strong pan-India appeal. Earlier, Emami had engaged Bachchan to endorse the edible oil brands.

Home-grown auto major Tata Motors reported a 52.48% jump in total sales at 54,627 units in December. The company had sold 35,825 units in the same month of the previous year, Tata Motors said in a statement. Domestic sales of commercial vehicles last month stood at 40,447 units as against 24,998 units in the same month previous year, a jump of 61.8%. In the passenger vehicles segment, Tata Motors said its domestic sales were up 30.96% at 14,180 units last month as against 10,827 units in December 2016.

Ace investors such as smallcap czar Porinju Veliyath of Equity Intelligence India, Vijay Kedia of Kedia Securities and Dolly Khanna have several smallcap names in their bets for 2018, reports The Economic Times. Kedia is betting on Everest Industries and Vaibhav Global. Dolly Khanna is positive on Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances and Rain Industries. Porinju's top bets for 2018 include Tata Coffee and Tata Global Beverages.

The Telecom Regulatory of India (Trai) has issued The Telecommunication Interconnection Regulations, 2018. The interconnection regulations for telecom companies will come into effect on February 1. Service companies will now have to enter in an interconnect agreement within 30 days of the receipt of the request. The regulator has also laid down a framework for provisioning and augmentation of ports at points of interconnect or (PoIs).

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani was among the world's fastest wealth creators in 2017 in terms of percentage changes in net worth, reports The Economic Times. From Asia, China's Ma Huateng, of Tencent Holdings, nearly doubled his wealth to $41.2 billion, adding $20.3 billion in 2017. India's Mukesh Ambani was the second best: his wealth grew 77%, and the year-end figure was $40.2 billion.

In terms of actual increase in net worth, Ambani comes sixth among the top 500 with an increase of $17.5 billion. Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who added $35 billion to his wealth in 2017, leads the world's super-rich list with a net worth of $100.4 billion. Investor Warren Buffett, with a net worth of $85.8 billion, is the third-richest person in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Bernard Arnault of LVMH have added $24 billion each to their wealth in 2017. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people, has risen 23% in 2017, compared with a 20% increase in the MSCI World index.

The Congress would consult a larger opposition before finalising its stand on the contentious bill which proposed to ban instant triple talaq and make the practice a cognisable offence, party sources told PTI. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which has already been passed in the Lok Sabha last week, is likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha today.

According to the sources, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Ghulam Nabi Azad has convened a meeting of the leaders of his party (the Congress) as well as other parties in his Parliament chamber today, before the bill is taken up. The sources added that while the Congress was in favour of the bill as it proposed to ban instant triple talaq, whether it would press for sending it to the Select Committee, as has been the practice in the Rajya Sabha, would only be seen today.

The party might press for amendments in the bill, including a clause for maintenance to the Muslim women and making it mandatory for the man to prove that triple talaq had not been invoked, the sources said.

The Indian manufacturing sector ended the year on a strong note, with operating conditions in December improving at the strongest rate in five years driven by significant increase in new orders, a monthly survey said. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in December, from 52.6 in November as growth was recorded across all three monitored categories - consumer, intermediate and investment.

BJP MP Nepal Singh said "these things happen", when asked about the country's soldiers martyred recently in the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir, reports ANI. The BJP MP from the Rampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh also said that jawans are in the Army and thus should expect death because of the profession they are in. "Soldiers in the army die every day. There is no country in this world where in a battle, soldiers do not lose their lives. These things happen," said Singh when he was asked about Sunday’s Pulwama terror attack of Sunday.

Bajaj Auto's total sales in December registered a healthy 30% YoY growth, driven by exports and strong three-wheeler sales. Total sales increased to 2.92 lakh units in last month of passing year, from 2.25 lakh units sold in year-ago. Total domestic sales rose 25% YoY to 1.49 lakh units and exports shot up 35% to 1.43 lakh units in December. Three-wheeler sales grew 187% to 63,785 units compared with 22,217 units sold in same month last year. Motorcycle sales during the month increased 13% to 2.29 lakh units, from 2.03 lakh units in December 2016.

Stocks lost early gains to trade flat in morning session as banking, auto, FMCG and energy shares witnessed selling despite strong global cues. The BSE Sensex was trading down by 36.06 points or 0.11% at 33,776.69 at 0950 hrs. The 30-share index had risen by 148.38 points, or 0.43%, to 33,961.13 in opening trade with all sectoral indices led by realty, power and infrastructure advancing by up to 0.82%. The broader Nifty also surrendered gains to trade down by 3.95 points or 0.04% at 10,431.60.

SBI dropped the most by over 1% among Sensex scrips. Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints also dropped up to 1%. Stocks failed to hold onto gains after positive core industry data. Infra sector grew at the fastest pace in more than a year at 6.8% in November 2017 on the back of robust performance in segments like refinery, steel and cement.

The big gainers that supported the Sensex include ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Dr Reddy's, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Bharti Airtel, rising by up to 1.87%. In the auto space, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and M&M too were in keen demand largely on the back of encouraging sales data for December and gained up to 1.51%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.58% while Shanghai Composite index up 1.18% in early trade today. Japanese markets remained closed today for an extended New Year holiday.

A Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) proposal to make listed firms disclose defaults on their loans within a day of it happening is stuck in a turf war between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the markets regulator, sources told Mint. The central bank has reservations about the Sebi proposal as it considers banks to be the biggest stakeholders in default data and believes such data is not for public consumption, sources said.

Sebi had initially released a circular on August 4 proposing default disclosures within a day, only to withdraw it on September 30, just a day before it was to become operational. The circular had sought to bring bank loan default disclosure on par with delay in repayments on other kinds of debt instruments such as bonds, as required by Sebi’s Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirement regulations.

The United States has suspended its $255m military aid to Pakistan for now, the White House has confirmed, saying the fate of such assistance will depend on Islamabad's response to terrorism on its soil. The confirmation comes on the same day when US President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists in return for $33bn aid over the last 15 years.

"The United States does not plan to spend the $255m in FY16 in Foreign Military Financing for Pakistan at this time," a senior administration official told PTI. "The president has made clear the US expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorists and militants on its soil, and that Pakistan's actions in support of the South Asia Strategy will ultimately determine the trajectory of our relationship, including future security assistance," he said.

Even as RBI’s December end deadline for referring stressed firms to the insolvency court is past, bankers are still in process of filing bankruptcy proceedings in 25 of the likely 28 non-performing asset (NPA) accounts, reports Moneycontrol News. While the NPA clean-up exercise continues, the cumbersome out-of-court resolution processes to be completed before December 13 delayed the filings by a few days.

Asian shares scaled a decade peak on Tuesday after a survey of Chinese manufacturing proved surprisingly upbeat, while the euro lurked within striking distance of its 2017 top against an ailing dollar. Sentiment was also helped by news that North Korea had offered an olive branch to South Korea, with Kim Jong Un saying he was “open to dialogue” with Seoul.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5% to heights last visited in 2007, having risen by one-third in value last year. Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday but E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 edged up 0.15%. Shanghai blue chips climbed 1% after the Caixin index of Chinese industry rose to a four-month high of 51.5 in December, confounding forecasts for a decline. The SGX Nifty is trading mildly lower at 10,523.

Growth in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up to a four-month high in December as factories cranked up production to meet a surge in new orders, a private business survey showed on Tuesday. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) rose to 51.5 last month, from 50.8 in November.

Oil prices had their highest January opening since 2014 on Tuesday, supported by ongoing supply cuts led by OPEC and Russia as well as strong demand. Only rising US production, which is on the verge of breaking through 10 million barrels per day (bpd), is somewhat hampering the outlook into 2018.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $60.29 a barrel at 06:49 am, down 13 cents, or 0.2%, from their last settlement of 2017, but starting the year above $60 a barrel for the first time since 2014. Brent crude futures LCOc1 - the international benchmark for oil prices - were at $66.79 a barrel, down 8 cents, or 0.1%, since their last close of 2017. It is also the first time since 2014 that Brent opened a year above $60 a barrel.

Auto majors Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Honda Cars India (HCIL) posted robust sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market in December, ending 2017 with a double-digit growth. On the other hand, Hyundai Motor India reported a marginal increase in domestic sales last month and utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) saw a decline of 7% YoY in its domestic passenger vehicle sales last month.

The country's largest carmaker, MSI, said its domestic sales were at 1,19,286 units, up 12.1%, from 1,06,414 in December 2016. The sales were mainly driven by compact segment, comprising Swift, Dzire and Baleno, which jumped by 23.2% to 53,336 units last month.

Similarly, HCIL reported a 26% jump in its domestic sales at 12,642 units in December. It had sold 10,071 units in December 2016.

Hyundai Motor India's domestic sales, however, rose marginally to 40,158 units last month as compared to 40,057 units in December 2016.

M&M said sales of its passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, were down 7% to 15,543 units compared to 16,799 units in December 2016.

In the two wheeler sector, TVS Motor Company reported a 39% increase in total sales at 2,56,909 units in December. It had sold a total of 1,84,944 units in the similar month of 2016.

The Nifty slipped by 95 points on Monday following fag-end selling in auto, financial service, banking, IT, energy, FMCG and metal sectors. In a choppy trade, the Nifty traded near flat-line most of the session in the absence of any definite trigger as financial markets across the globe closed for New Year holiday. It moved in small bouts of buying and selling activity, the final hour trade saw emergence of profit-booking in recent gainers.

The Nifty opened higher at 10,531.70 and moved in a range of 10,537.85 and 10,423.10 before ending at 10,435.55, down 95.15 points, or 0.9%, from its previous close. It saw an intra-day movement of about 114.75 points. On the sectoral front, auto fell by 0.99%, financial service 0.97%, bank 0.87%, IT 0.86%, private bank 0.84%, energy 0.77%, FMCG 0.62%, PSU bank 0.59% and metal 0.53%. However, realty rose by 0.23%.

Major index gainers were Indiabulls Housing Finance, Coal India, Wipro, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Indian Oil Corporation, Larsen & Toubro and Power Grid Corporation of India. Losers included Bharti Infratel, Tata Consultancy Services, Bosch, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

Starting the New Year on a highly bullish note, the rupee surged ahead to close at a fresh five-month high of 63.68 a dollar, gaining 19 paise against its US counterpart. This is the highest closing for the home currency since August 8 last year when it had settled at 63.63. Continuing its winning streak, the rupee has strengthened by a solid 47 paise in last three sessions.

Frantic dollar unwinding by banks and exporters in the face of extremely bearish sentiment for the greenback overseas largely supported the big rupee upmove despite a fall in local stocks and growing concerns with regard to fiscal deficit. Expectations of robust capital inflows into the country on the back of relevant economic policy measures also kept forex market undertone highly buoyant.

Retail inflation for industrial workers rose to 3.97% in November 2017 mainly due to surge in prices of food items, kerosene and cooking gas. "The year-on-year inflation measured by monthly CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers) stood at 3.97% for November 2017 as compared to 3.24% for the previous month (October 2017) and 2.59% during the corresponding month (November 2016) of the previous year," the Labour Ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, food inflation stood at 3.91% in November against 2.26% of the previous month (October 2017) and 1.66% during the corresponding month (November 2016) of the previous year. The All-India CPI-IW for November increased by 1 point and pegged at 288. On one-month percentage change, it increased by 0.35% between October and November, when compared with the decrease of 0.36% in the corresponding months of last year.

Thermax Group said it has concluded Rs 327 crore order from a public sector company based in Western India for its upcoming chemical plant. The project is for a BTG (boiler turbine generator) package on engineering, procurement and construction basis for their captive co-generation power plant of 2X65mw capacity, a statement said.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has slammed the Narendra Modi government for reducing interest rates for small savings instruments and scrapping the 8% Government Savings Bonds, saying the move was a "severe blow" to the middle class. In a series of tweets on Monday, the former Union Finance and Home Minister said the rate reduction comes at a time when inflation is rising, which is a double whammy for the middle class.

"GoI 8% taxable bonds have been the safe harbour of the middle class, especially retirees and senior citizens, since 2003. Government has taken away their only safety net (sic). Modi government scraps 8% taxable bonds dealing a severe blow to the middle class. How will the risk-averse average citizen save?," he tweeted.

Chidambaram wondered whether the government has been pushing people into the stock market and mutual funds. "For whose benefit? Government has a duty to explain. Government owes a duty to provide its citizens one safe and risk free instrument for savings. Taking the only instrument away is a deplorable act," he tweeted.