Top headlines: 'OMCs' margins to improve'; 1st phase of UP polls tomorrow

Here are the top headlines on Wednesday

Hijab row: Karnataka High Court refers matter to larger bench

The single judge of the Karnataka High Court hearing the case related to the Hijab ban in school-college campuses referred the matter to the Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi on Wednesday with a view that the CJ may decide on constituting a larger bench to look into the case.

Justice Krishna S Dixit who was hearing since Tuesday a batch of petitions against Hijab ban in classrooms, maintained that these matters give rise to certain constitutional questions of seminal importance in view of certain aspects of personal law. Read more here

UP Assembly Elections: Voting for first phase to begin on Thursday

The battle for Uttar Pradesh will begin on Thursday with polling scheduled to take place in 58 assembly seats spread across 11 districts in the western part of the state.

Campaigning in the constituencies going to vote in the first round of the seven-phase election in the politically crucial state ended on Tuesday evening.

The polling will start at 7 am in these constituencies according to the guidelines of the Election Commission to ensure Covid-safe polls. Read more here

Govt open to 'some tinkering' in capital gains tax regime: Revenue Secy

The government is open to 'some tinkering' in the varied rates and holding period for computation of capital gains tax on shares, debt and immovable property, in a bid to make it simple, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday.

Under the Income Tax Act, gains from sale of capital assets, both movable and immovable, are subject to 'capital gains tax'. The Act, however, excludes movable personal assets such as cars, apparels, furniture from this tax. Read more here

Moody's expects OMCs' margins to improve over 12-18 months on higher demand

The gain per barrel of crude oil processed by oil marketing companies (OMCs) is expected to increase in the coming financial year 2022-23 on the back of higher demand according to Moody’s Investor Service. The ratings agency also noted that the lowering of excise duty by the centre in November 2021 had hurt the OMCs.

In a commentary on the refining companies in India, Moody’s said, “We expect earnings for all companies to improve as refining and marketing margins improve. Compared with an average gross refining margin of $0.5-0.7 per barrel (bbl) during 2020 and first half of 2021, we expect the regional refining benchmark to average around $3.0-4.0/bbl over the next 12-18 months, balancing our expectations of demand recovery alongside incoming capacity additions. We also expect utilisation rates to remain strong as demand continues to recover toward pre-pandemic levels with the progressive easing of movement restrictions.” Read more here