Morning Alert..
India's exports contract for first time in 2 years; imports moderate
India’s merchandise exports contracted for the first time in two years, in October, as slowing external demand amid recession fears in the West started impacting shipments from the country, further exacerbated by a higher number of holidays during the festival month. The exports declined 16.65 per cent in October to $29.78 billion, the data released by the commerce department showed on Tuesday. Imports, on the other hand, moderated to the lowest level in eight months, growing at 5.7 per cent to $56.69 billion last month. This resulted in a trade deficit of $26.91 billion, which remained above the $25-billion mark for a fifth straight month, according to the data. It was in November 2020 when exports contracted last time, by 8.74 per cent. During October, 24 out of the 30 key export items showed contraction, while only six – electronic goods, rice, tea, oil seeds, oil meals, and tobacco — witnessed growth, the data showed. Contraction in key commodity groups such as engineering goods (-21.3 per cent), gems and jewellery (-21.6 per cent), chemicals (-16.4 per cent), and readymade garments (-21.2 per cent) dragged down the overall exports.
Direct tax mop-up to exceed budget target by 25-30 pc: CBDT chief
The direct tax collection in the current fiscal is likely to exceed the budget target of Rs 14.20 lakh crore by about 30 per cent, a senior official said on Tuesday. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Nitin Gupta also said that the Budget for next fiscal could bring about some tweaks in the TDS provision for online gaming to check tax evasion. "Currently there is a provision for deduction of TDS on online gaming. There is existing provision, if it needs to be modified or retained in the same way that needs to be seen," he said. Currently, a 10 per cent Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) is levied on income from online gaming. Gupta further said that given the current buoyancy in collections, the Budget target for the next fiscal (2023-24) is also likely to be higher.
Data protection bill will end misuse of data, penalise violators: MoS IT
The proposed data protection bill will put an end to misuse of customer data, and violators will face punitive action under the rule, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday. The minister shared his reaction in response to Google's settlement of an investigation in the US which outlines that the internet giant misled users and continued tracking their location even after they opted out of the location tracking system. Google has agreed to settle the lawsuit for which it will pay around USD 392 million, according to a statement issued by the Oregon Department of Justice. "This type of "misuse" of custmr data violates #Privacy n #DataProtection expectations India's #DigitalDataProtection bill will put a stop to this - & ensure that any Platform/Intermediary that does this will face punitive & financial consequences, " Chandrasekhar tweeted.
Commodity play
Gold – Rs 52708/10gm, Silver – Rs 62124/kg, Brcrude – Rs 6985/barrel, Degumsyoil – Rs 1296/10kg, Copper – Rs 699/kg.
Corporate News
Tata Consumer and Tata Coffee shareholders approve merger at Nov 12 vote.
ONGC Q2 profit tumbles 30% to Rs 12,826 crore on windfall tax woes.
Paytm faces another reckoning with lock-in period expiring this week.
SGX Nifty indicates flattish start to Indian markets trading at 18465 levels down by 29.50 points or 0.16%. Dow Jones also ended flattish gaining 0.17% at end.
Sector in focus – Power, Banks, IT & Metals.
