Morning Brief: Khel Ratna To 4 Athletes; Railways 30k Cr Fund; Sensex Falls On Urjit’s Promotion

INFRA

Indian Railways is in the process of creating a fund of Rs 30,000 crore for setting up Railways of India Development Fund (RIDF). The main goals of the fund will be the expansion and modernisation of rail infrastructure through the implementation of remunerative projects across the country. This essentially means that the RIDF will invest only on those projects which have a high rate of return.

And since freight lines are more financially rewarding compared to passenger lines, the RIDF will focus on laying and developing more of the former.

URJIT EFFECT

On the first day of the trading post the announcement of Urjit Patel as the next RBI governor, Sensex witnessed a fall of 0.33 percent or 91.46 points to close at 27,985.54 points. The rupee fell to the lowest in nearly a month against the US dollar.

The 10-year bond yield, which travels opposite to the prices, gained 6 basis points, its most since 24 August 2015.

Patel’s elevation has dashed hopes of the market of any rate cut in future given the Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) has already breached the six percent level, the top ceiling of the RBI-government target.

KHEL RATNA

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sports award, will be conferred upon four athletes this year. Shuttler PV Sindhu, wrestler Sakshi Malik, gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai are set to be honoured.

Dipa’s coach Bishweshwar Nandi and Virat Kohli’s mentor Raj Kumar Sharma will be conferred with the Dronacharya award.

Boxer Shiva Thapa, long distance runner Lalita Babar, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, hockey players VR Raghunath and Rani Rampal will receive the prestigious Arjuna award.

NEW RULES

The Election Commission has amended its rules. From now onwards, performance over two consecutive general or assembly elections, as opposed to one, would be the measure to determine the status of national or state parties. This means that parties like the BSP, the CPI and the NCP who suffered a drubbing in the last general election and faced a loss of tag of the ‘national party’ will get to keep it.

If they had lost their national party status, the EC could have given their existing party symbols to any other party.

Currently, there are six national parties: BJP, Congress, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPI (Marxist); and 64recognised state parties in India.

GROWTH OUTLOOK

The credit rater, Moody’s has said that India’s growth outlook is positive. It expects that the policies over the next one and a half year will support sustained growth, accompanied by narrower fiscal deficits, low current account deficits, increased savings and investment, and inflation that is within the central bank’s targets.

However, it has raised concerns over the health of the banking sector which is sitting on a pile of Rs 6.3 lakh crore of bad loans. Here is how it sees India presently:

Economic strength: High (+)
Institutional strength: Moderate (-)
Fiscal Strenght: Low (-)
Susceptibility to event risk: Moderate (-)

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We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

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