A Lifeline for Maggi, Hope For GST And Other News From India

There’s another twist in the Maggi saga. A Mumbai court has set aside the food regulator’s order to ban the noodles brand and has asked for fresh tests. Nestle has six weeks to get the tests conducted at three labs and a clear chit will mean it can resume production of the food product. The court also slammed the regulator FSSAI for its arbitrary action and it is unclear if the FSSAI will appeal to a higher court against this ruling. All said, this is very good news for the food maker but there’s another 6.4 billion rupees damages suit that is still pending.

 The government hasn’t given up hope on the GST meeting its April 1 deadline despite the monsoon washout, as the newspapers are calling it. While there have been talks of a special session or extending the current monsoon session, there has been no decision yet. The main hurdle for the government is in the Rajya Sabha where it is in minority. Some reports suggest that the government is working to ensure it has enough allies in the Upper house to pass the bill and may at that point call a special session to debate. While this delay bring it dangerously close to deadline, some deft maneuvering may just about make it.

The weather department has just announced its latest update and it’s nothing to cheer about. The country overall has received 9 percent less rain than normal so far this year and it expects rains to be just 88 percent of the long-term average this year. Now the private forecaster Skymet is saying more or less the same thing.

"What is most shocking is that though the samples of only three variants of the Maggi Noodles were taken all nine variants of Maggi Noodles have been banned." Bombay High  Court.

Brokerages are revising their rate expectations after the lower than expected inflation rate this week. Governor Raghuram Rajan had left the rate unchanged this month but had hinted that it might cut rates sometime this year. Now, brokerages are expected a cut as early as September.

The finance secretary made a case for a rate cut in view of the yuan devaluation, which he said might bring “hot money” into the country. Hot money typically is speculative investments, which flee the market when prices drop and leave quite a bit of upheaval in their wake.

The government has appointed five banks to manage its sale of 10 percent stake in Indian Oil Corp. which is expected to earn about $1.5 billion.

The government is preparing a incentive plan to encourage Indians to exchange their old cars for new, the roads and transport minister has said. There are two objectives to this – the older cars with poorer emission standards get off the road, while the government earns revenue from taxes on new cars.

The telecom ministry has asked the regulator to take action against service providers for call drops. Call drops are the bane of cell phone users but with telecom companies handling a large volume of calls and data on limited spectrum, there are limited options.

Cover Image: Indian schoolchildren take part in the full dress rehearsal for the 69th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort in New Delhi on August 13, 2015. India celebrates its anniversary of independence from Britain on August 15 with great pomp, with the Indian tricolour hoisted atop prominent buildings and homes. 

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