Regime Change In Bangladesh May Hurt India’s Exports; Google Holds Illegal Monopoly In Search: US Co

Bangladesh Turmoil To Hit US$ 12.9 Billion Bilateral Trade With India

New Delhi’s trade and investment relationship with Dhaka may have entered a phase of uncertainty after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned following weeks of violent demonstrations and their Army chief declared that an interim government will now run the country, Business Standard reported.

Bangladesh is India’s 25th largest trading partner, with the size of the bilateral trade at US$12.9 billion. The trade is dominated by exports, with Bangladesh being India’s eighth-largest export partner. In FY24, India's exports to Bangladesh contracted 9.5 per cent to US$11 billion. Over the last two years, outbound shipments to Dhaka have been declining. Outbound shipments were affected by factors such as dollar shortage, high inflation and other factors like India’s export restrictions on essential items such as wheat and some categories of rice. Bangladesh is also a key destination for Indian auto exports. Read more 

US Judge Rules Google Holds Illegal Monopoly In Search Market

Google has illegally monopolised the search market through exclusive deals, a US judge ruled on Monday, handing the government a win in its first major antitrust case against a tech giant in more than two decades, Business Standard reported.   

Judge Amit Mehta in Washington said that the Alphabet Inc. unit’s $26 billion in payments to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers effectively blocked any other competitor from succeeding in the market.  “Google’s distribution agreements foreclose a substantial portion of the general search services market and impair rivals’ opportunities to compete,” Mehta said in a 286-page ruling. By monopolising distribution on phones and browsers, Google has been able to consistently raise the prices of online advertising without consequences, Mehta said. More here

Health Minister Nadda Denies Budget Cuts For Health, Says States Should Spend Now 

Health Minister J P Nadda said a "164 per cent increase" in the budgetary allocation to the health sector demonstrated the top priority the Narendra Modi government has accorded to the health and welfare sector, the Economic Times reported. 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Monday, he urged state governments to spend more on improving healthcare infrastructure. "We are giving money, but it is not spent. You spend the money, we will allocate more funds if the existing funds are spent," Nadda said, adding that Rs 3,200 crore has been earmarked for the PM-Ayushman Bharat Healthcare Infrastructure Mission. More here

10 Foreign Airlines Get Rs 10,000 Crore GST Notice For 2017 To 2024

The Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGCI) has sent notices to 10 foreign airlines over alleged Rs 10,000 crore unpaid taxes the Economic Times reported quoting officials. 

Airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa, Oman Air, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are accused of not paying taxes on imported services by Indian branches. This issue covers the period from July 2017 to March 2024, sparking an investigation that began in August 2023. Airlines are not covered by a June 26 circular on the valuation of supply of import of services by a related person, where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit, an official said. This is the circular cited by Infosys following a recent integrated GST demand amounting to Rs 32,000 crore. More here

Finance Ministry Steps Up Monitoring West Asia Unrest, More Worried On US Front 

The finance ministry has stepped up the monitoring of the West Asian conflict, a senior official said, as last week's assassination of the Hamas chief in Iran, blamed on Israel, has threatened to set off a wider regional conflagration, potentially impacting global oil prices, capital flows, currency movement and shipping costs, the Economic Times reported.

The conflict, however, is "unlikely to pose any major risk yet," and India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals will hold it in good stead to weather any such crisis without significant bruises, the official said.  Any potential recession in the US would be a bigger worry, the official added but did say it's a bit early in the day to sound that out conclusively. More here 

India Inc. Notches Weakest Performance In Seven Quarters, Modest Growth In Revenue

India Inc has reported a muted start to the financial year 2024-25, with a decline in net earnings and a modest single-digit uptick in revenues, Business Standard reported.

An analysis of 488 companies that have released their results for the June 2024 quarter revealed a 1.6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in combined net profit -- the weakest performance in the past seven quarters. The subdued corporate results underscore challenges on the demand front. Net sales (including gross interest income for banks and non-banking lenders) of the companies in Business Standard’s sample increased by 8.8 per cent Y-o-Y in Q1FY25. More here