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Moody’s upgrade endorsement of reform process: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

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Moody’s upgrade endorsement of reform process: Arun Jaitley

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The upgrade that came after 13 years sent the Sensex soaring

A day after Pew Research survey report about overwhelming popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and general satisfaction with the state of the country, global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service gave another piece of news to put him in good mood.

After 13 years, Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has upgraded the Government of India’s local and foreign currency issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa3 and changed the outlook on the rating to stable from positive.

The improvement in rating was greeted with jubilation in the government and sent the bank stocks soaring.

India’s sovereign credit rating was last upgraded in January 2004 to Baa3 (from Ba1), said the Government of India (GoI) in a statement released on Friday.

Welcoming the upgrade, the government said that “as rightly noted by the Moody’s” this was in recognition of major economic and institutional reforms undertaken by Government of India.

Listing the steps, the GoI said, “These reforms include introduction of path breaking Goods and Services Tax (GST); putting in place a sound monetary policy framework; measures taken to address recapitalisation of public sector banks and a number of measures taken to bring formalisation and digitalisation (The JAM agenda) in the economy – demonetisation, the Aadhaar system of biometric accounts and targeted delivery of benefits through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system.”

Moody’s statement had also said: “Key elements of the reform program include the recently-introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will, among other things, promote productivity by removing barriers to interstate trade; improvements to the monetary policy framework; measures to address the overhang of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system; and measures such as demonetisation, the Aadhaar system of biometric accounts and targeted delivery of benefits through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system intended to reduce informality in the economy.”

The GoI statement said Moody’s have also rightly recognised the Government’s commitment to macro stability which has led to low inflation, declining deficit and prudent external balance and Government’s fiscal consolidation programme which has resulted in a reduction of fiscal deficits from 4.5% of GDP in 2013-14 to 3.5% in 2016-17 and its consequential sobering impact on general government debt.

“Government intends to stay the course on fiscal consolidation in the medium term,” the statement added.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, addressing the media, said, “It is a recognition and an endorsement of the reform process that has gone on in the country, particularly in the last 3-4 years, where a number of structural reforms have taken place, placing India on a path of high trajectory growth.”

“It is also a recognition that India’s continues to follow a path of fiscal prudence that has brought rock stability to the economy,” he said, asserting, “The fact that a series of steps, including demonetisation, which are now taking the Indian economy to a greater formalisation and digitisation are something that is now being universally acknowledged.”

He said all the steps were according to a plan. “’Introduction of platforms like Aadhaar, extremely important steps like bankruptcy code, re-capitalisation of banks, setting up of statutory mechanism in terms of monetary policy committee, and most importantly smooth transition of GST… All these steps are directional in implementing economic reforms. All our steps follow a particular road map,” he said.

He claimed the government’s track record in the past three years “has been one of the better records in Indian history as far as fiscal discipline is concerned, and we intend to move on that track.”

He said this was not a one-off thing. “For three years, India is among the fastest growing economies. In the World Bank ranking, we have moved up in ‘ease of doing business’. These are no small achievements,” said Jaitley.

He took a dig at his critics saying, “Many who had doubts in their minds about India’s reform process would now seriously introspect on their positions itself.”

“GST has opened the door for farmers and traders to sell their products throughout the country. Demonetisation has increased cashless transactions,” he said, mentioning the two most criticised steps of the government.

He also said that the government plan to recapitalise the banking sector has also helped the economy to get back on track.

“Fiscal prudence has helped India to get Moody’s upgrade,” the finance minister said.

Bank stocks on Friday rose by up to 6 % after the US-based Moody’s upgraded India’s sovereign credit rating by a notch to ‘Baa2’ with a stable outlook, according to media reports.

Shares of PNB surged 6 %, Bank of Baroda soared 5.17 %, Yes Bank gained 4.16 %, SBI (3.91 %) and ICICI Bank (3.55 %) on BSE. The scrip of Axis Bank gained 2.64 % and HDFC Bank went up by 1.18 %. The BSE bank index also rose by 1.90 % to trade at 29,450.39, reports said.

The broader market also cheered the news as the BSE Sensex jumped 331.72 points to trade at 33,438.54.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Google restores delisted Indian apps after government intervention

Google on Saturday restored all Indian apps it had removed.

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Google has started to restore all the delisted Indian mobile apps on Play Store agian, which they had removed due to a disagreement over service fees. After a discussion between company representatives and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the decision was made, according to sources.

The step was taken in response to Vaishnaw’s strong statement in which he said that it is not allowed for apps to be removed from the Google Play Store. The minister had said, India is very clear, our policy is very clear…our startups will get the protection that they need.

Vaishnaw  continued saying that he has already given Google a call. They will be speaking with the app developers who were delisted this week. This is not acceptable. The minister said this kind of delisting cannot be permitted.

Ten Indian companies’ apps were banned by Google on Friday, causing outrage in one of its fastest-growing markets. With 94% of phones running on its Android platform, Google holds a large portion of the Indian market. Popular names like Naukri and Bharatmatrimony were on the list.

The main point of contention is Google’s in-app purchase fees, which range from 11% to 26%. Indian startups have long opposed the US tech giant’s actions, believing them to be unfair.

The founder of Bharat Matrimony, Christian Matrimony, Muslim Matrimony, and Jodii, Matrimony.com, expressed shock at the matchmaking apps’ removal from the Google Play Store.

Shaadi. Com CEO Anupam Mittal described it as a dark day for India’s internet, highlighting the possible broad effects on matchmaking services. He also called Google an evil.

While, Kuku FM Co-founder Vinod Kumar Meena in a statement had said that Google was behaving like a monopoly.

Meanwhile, Google temporarily withdrew the famous Indian payments app Paytm from the Play Store in 2020, claiming a few policy infractions. Due to this decision, the founder of the company as well as the larger startup community came together to build their own app stores and file lawsuits against Google.

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Anant Ambani says he is 100% lucky to get Radhika Merchant in his life

Anant Ambani said he was grateful to get Radhika as his life partner. He said he is 100% lucky to get Radhika Merchant in his life. He said every day he is falling more and more in love with her. He added although he had known Radhika for the last 7 years, it felt he had met her only yesterday. He thanked Radhika for everything.

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Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s grand three-day wedding celebrations began with a glamorous cocktail night on Friday in Jamnagar. During the celebrations, Anant Ambani also gave a speech wherein he thanked his late grandfather Dhirubhai Ambani and grandmother Kokilaben Ambani for inspiring him. Anant Ambani said he was grateful to get Radhika as his life partner. He said he is 100% lucky to get Radhika Merchant in his life. He said every day he is falling more and more in love with her.

He expressed his gratitude to his mother for pulling together the lavish three-day wedding celebrations in Jamnagar. Anant thanked his mother for all she had done. He said all the arrangements had been done by his mother and nobody else. He added his mother had gone all out and she had worked 18-19 hours a day and he was extremely grateful to her.

He also thanked all the guests who were present there at the pre-wedding celebrations. He said everyone had made it to Jamnagar to make him and Radhika feel special. He said both of them were honored and humbled to have all of them present there. Anant said he was sorry if they had caused an inconvenience to anyone. He asked for forgiveness. He hoped everyone is going to enjoy the coming three days. He also thanked his mother, father, sister, brother, his sister-law and his brother in-law for making this event memorable.

Anant said everyone has been sleeping for less than 3 hours a day for the last 2-3 months and he was very happy to share this joy with everyone. The youngest Ambani talked about his personal struggles and how his parents had always supported him. He further added his life had not been entirely a bed of roses. He said he had also experienced the pain of thorns. He said he had faced many health crises.

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Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg shares pictures from 2nd day of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant pre-wedding celebrations

Zuckerberg shared pictures from the 2nd day of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding celebrations. In the photograph Mark Zuckerberg can be seen along with his wife Priscilla Chan. The couple is exuding happiness as they prepare for the event. He captioned the picture it is getting wild out here.

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Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan joined the star- studded pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar on Friday. The event was attended by many prominent figures from different fields. Zuckerberg took to his Instagram handle congratulated the couple and said he loved Indian weddings.

Zuckerberg shared pictures from the 2nd day of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding celebrations. In the photograph Mark Zuckerberg can be seen along with his wife Priscilla Chan. The couple is exuding happiness as they prepare for the event. He captioned the picture it is getting wild out here.

The theme of the opening day of the pre-wedding celebrations was Evening in Everland as the guests wore cocktail attire. The first day of the grand celebrations elevated the expectations of the guests for the following days. The theme of the 2nd day of the pre-wedding bash is known as a Walk on the Wildside and the guests can be seen in Jungle Fever attire.

Zuckerberg has opted for an animal print shirt with white trousers, Chan is complementing his look in a strappy one piece in black and golden. The Jungle theme is aligned to Vantara, Reliance’s animal welfare initiative undertaken and launched by Anant Ambani a few days back.

International pop star Rihana electrified the pre wedding celebrations on Friday with an amazing performance, marking her debut appearance in India. The chart topping artist engaged the audience with performances of her iconic hits which included Pour it Up, Work and Diamonds.

Zuckerberg graced the opening day, wearing a black-on-black firefly blazer and shoes from Alexander McQueen while his wife Priscilla wore a black gown with gold flower details and other accessories such as dainty chain bracelet, gold necklace and stud earrings. Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan are one of the Power couples invited from the global business community for the festivities currently underway at Jamnagar.

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