News digest: Air India sale, Trump-Kim summit, overseas listing, and more

Retail inflation jumps to 4-month high of 4.87% in May from 4.58% in April 

The consumer price index-based inflation rose to a four-month high of 4.87 per cent in May, from 4.58 per cent the previous month, on rising food prices and a lower base.

This was despite the fuel and lighting category showing less of a rise, of 3.37 per cent, from 5.24 per cent in April.
 

Food inflation rose to 3.1 per cent, from 2.8 per cent in April. Vegetable prices rose 8.40 per cent, from 7.29 per cent; those of fruit by 12.33 per cent, against 9.65 per cent in April. READ MORE

Govt mulls selling 100% stake in debt-laden Air India after flop attempt 

The government is considering revising the terms of sale for Air India, including offering a 100 per cent stake, after its latest attempt to sell 76 per cent of the debt-ridden airline failed to draw even a single bid.

Transaction advisor EY has cited the clause of the government holding a minority stake in the state carrier as the biggest reason for the failed disinvestment bid. READ MORE

Trump-Kim summit begins a new chapter; US announces end of Korea war games 

President Donald Trump shook hands with Kim Jong-un of North Korea on Tuesday and offered a major concession during the first summit meeting between their nations, a momentous step in an improbable courtship between the world’s largest nuclear power and the most reclusive one. 

Emerging from a day of talks in Singapore and speaking to reporters for more than an hour, Trump said that he was suspending joint military exercises with South Korean forces and that he was confident Kim would begin dismantling his nuclear arsenal “very quickly.”  READ MORE

RBI's tighter norms for working capital would increase NPAs: India Inc 

The finance heads of Indian companies said the Reserve Bank India’s (RBI’s) proposal to limit the working capital facilities is “micro-management” and impacts their businesses negatively, with many companies even defaulting on loans.

On Monday, the RBI proposed that at least 40 per cent of the sanctioned working capital limit of a company should have a term loan component. For borrowers with an aggregate fund-based working capital limit of Rs 1.5 billion and above from the banking system, a minimum level of ‘loan component’ of 40 per cent will be effective from October 1, 2018.  This 40 per cent loan component will be revised to 60 per cent, with effect from April 1, 2019, the RBI said. READ MORE

Sebi panel to examine direct listing of Indian firms on overseas bourses 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has constituted a committee to examine the direct listing of Indian companies on overseas bourses.

Under the current framework, a domestic company cannot list on overseas exchanges without listing in the home market.

The nine-member expert panel announced on Tuesday will also review the Indian Depository Reciept (IDR) norms, which allow an overseas firm to raise capital in the domestic market. Currently, Standard Chartered Plc is the sole listed IDR. READ MORE