B U S I N E S S

Sensex regains 26,000-mark
New Delhi, July 22
Buoyed by the bounce in telecom stocks and progress of the monsoon, the BSE Sensex today rose by 311 points to reclaim the 26,000-mark. The NSE 50-share Nifty firmed up by 83.65 points, or 1.09%, to close at 7,767.85. Reflecting the trend in the stock market, the rupee rebounded from one-month lows and rose six paise to end at 60.24 against the US dollar.

PFRDA frames norms for NPS Trust, Pension Fund managers
New Delhi, July 22
Pension fund regulator PFRDA has framed regulation for two key operative arms — NPS Trust and Pension Fund managers — for expansion and deepening of the sector. The National Pension System (NPS) Trust is set up and constituted for taking care of the assets and funds under the NPS in the interest of the subscribers, said the regulation issued by the regulator as per the PFRDA Act.

Indians spend over 3 hours daily on smartphones: Study
New Delhi, July 22
Smartphone users in India are among the biggest consumers of data globally, spending over three hours on an average on their devices, a study by telecom equipment maker Ericsson today said.

Four new airlines get flying licence
New Delhi, July 22
Several more new airlines are likely to fly in the Indian sky in the coming months with the government giving flying licence to four of the six companies which had sought permits for launching scheduled, private or charter air operations.

MTNL offers to return CDMA spectrum
New Delhi, July 22
MTNL has informed the Department of Telecom that it is ready to return the entire CDMA spectrum it currently holds if the telecom operator is paid auction-determined price.

Sensex regains 26,000-mark
Macroeconomic indicators, positive global cues lead to surge
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 22
Buoyed by the bounce in telecom stocks and progress of the monsoon, the BSE Sensex today rose by 311 points to reclaim the 26,000-mark. The NSE 50-share Nifty firmed up by 83.65 points, or 1.09%, to close at 7,767.85. Reflecting the trend in the stock market, the rupee rebounded from one-month lows and rose six paise to end at 60.24 against the US dollar.

Alex Mathews, Head Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said the telecom stocks were in focus after the TRAI issued guidelines for mobile spectrum sharing between carriers and on the Idea’s better earnings whereas the auto and capital goods stocks were under pressure.

The sectoral gainers of the day were IT and oil & gas while the losers on the other end were capital goods and power sector.

The FIIs were buyers in capital market segment and bought shares worth Rs 161.17 crore on Monday while domestic institutions were net sellers of Rs 181.16 crore as per the provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Improving macroeconomic indicators, monsoon progress and positive global cues have also supported the buoyancy in the domestic markets, brokers said.

This is only the second time in its history that the 30-share BSE Sensex has closed above the 26K level. The index had closed at record 26,100 on July 7. Its all-time high, however, is 26,190 points and was hit on July 8.

Dipen Shah, Head of Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities, said: “Supportive global markets, slight easing of geo-political tensions and continued optimism on long-term growth prospects of the economy helped sentiments.

Monsoon has been progressing across India over the past few days. Results, especially from IT majors, have been above estimates.”

Among the frontline blue-chips, Reliance Industries spearheaded the rally followed by HDFC, TCS, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Infoys and Wipro. As many as 25 Sensex constituents ended in the green while five ended down.

PFRDA frames norms for NPS Trust, Pension Fund managers

New Delhi, July 22
Pension fund regulator PFRDA has framed regulation for two key operative arms — NPS Trust and Pension Fund managers — for expansion and deepening of the sector. The National Pension System (NPS) Trust is set up and constituted for taking care of the assets and funds under the NPS in the interest of the subscribers, said the regulation issued by the regulator as per the PFRDA Act.

NPS Trust shall be the nodal point for coordination of operations of all intermediaries, it said.

“NPS Trust is the operating arm of the PFRDA which will also coordinate and oversee the activities of all other intermediaries which include pension fund, Central Record keeping Agency (CRA), Points of Presence (PoP) and aggregators,” PFRDA acting chairman RV Verma said.

The regulator also issued regulations for the important intermediary Pension Fund which would invest assets accumulated by the NPS Trust.

Pension Fund means an intermediary which has been granted a certificate of registration as a fund for receiving contributions, accumulating them and making payments to the subscriber, according to PFRDA (Pension Fund) Regulations, 2014.

There would be a choice of multiple Pension Funds and the number of pension funds would be determined by the Authority, in the public interest, it said.

The sponsor or sponsors of a pension fund would at no time either directly or indirectly hold more than 26% of the equity stake in CRA or custodian or the trustee bank, it said.

It said such fund would also not engage in any other business activity except those relating to pension schemes regulated by the Authority.

The management fee would be 0.005% of assets under management (AUM) or Rs 10 lakh whichever is higher, it said.

These two regulations that are now in place are important as they provide a framework for the operation and implementation of NPS, Verma said.

“These among other regulations already framed by the PFRDA mark an important milestone in development and expansion of the market oriented pension industry in India as envisaged under the PFRDA Act,” he said.

The regulation said the investment management fee is to be calculated on the AUM on a daily accrual basis and charged to the scheme at the end of every quarter. — PTI

New guidelines

• NPS Trust will be the nodal point for coordination of operations of all intermediaries
• The regulator also issued norms for the Pension Fund which would invest assets accumulated by the NPS Trust
• The sponsors of a pension fund would at no time hold more than 26% of the equity stake in Central Record keeping Agency or the trustee bank.

Indians spend over 3 hours daily on smartphones: Study

New Delhi, July 22
Smartphone users in India are among the biggest consumers of data globally, spending over three hours on an average on their devices, a study by telecom equipment maker Ericsson today said.

According to the study, Indian users spend three hours 18 minutes on average every day with their smartphones, of which one-third time is spent on apps. Also, there has been a 63% increase in app usage in the past two years, the study added.

As much as 76% of existing mobile broadband users (respondents) said they are willing to pay more for guaranteed better mobile data experience.

“India has higher smartphone usage compared to even the US, where the average is 132 minutes (2 hours 12 minutes). In some of the Asian countries, it ranges between 40-50 minutes,” Ericsson India vice-president (Strategy and Marketing) Ajay Gupta said.

The study found respondents saying they checked their phones 77 times a day on an average, with about 26% saying they do so more than 100 times a day.

“Smartphone usage is now no longer limited to just social media and chat apps. People are using mobile apps like WhatsApp and WeChat for business purposes, while many working professionals said they shop online using smartphones even while at work,” he said.

The Ericsson Consumer Lab study was conducted among 4,000 smartphone users across 18 urban cities in India.

Video consumption on mobile devices is on the rise, with 40% respondents saying they watched videos late at night in bed, 25% while commuting, 23% while having dinner and 20% said they watched videos while shopping.

The report also found 12% of housewives saying they use smartphones as portable video players. Another 10% said they watch spiritual videos at the start of their day. — PTI

63% increase in apps usage

• Indian users spend 3 hours 18 minutes on average every day with their smartphones
• There has been a 63% increase in apps usage in the past two years
• 76% of the respondents say they are willing to pay more for guaranteed better data experience
• Subscribers check their phones 77 times a day on an average, 26% check more than 100 times a day

Four new airlines get flying licence

New Delhi, July 22
Several more new airlines are likely to fly in the Indian sky in the coming months with the government giving flying licence to four of the six companies which had sought permits for launching scheduled, private or charter air operations.

While AirAsia India, Ligare Aviation Limited, Quickjet Cargo Airlines and LEPL Projects Limited have been granted the Air Operator’s Permit (AOP) or the flying licence, the two pending cases are those of Tata-SIA Airlines Limited and Air Pegasus Limited, Minister of State for Civil Aviation GM Siddeshwara has said.

Tata-SIA Airlines, a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has announced plans to launch flights by September-end or October.

Recently, the DGCA, which is in the process of examining Tata-SIA’s application for grant of AOP to launch a full-service carrier, recently dismissed objections from the Federation of Indian Airlines against it.

The approval for an AOP, when granted, would be subject to the orders of the Delhi High Court in a case challenging foreign direct investment in new Indian carriers.

Two other airlines, Air Carnival and Zav Airways, have been granted the initial No-Objection Certificate (NOC) by the Civil Aviation Ministry to start scheduled regional services.

While Air Carnival proposes to operate in the Southern region, Zav Airways would fly in the Northeastern and Eastern regions, officials said. — PTI

MTNL offers to return CDMA spectrum

New Delhi, July 22
MTNL has informed the Department of Telecom that it is ready to return the entire CDMA spectrum it currently holds if the telecom operator is paid auction-determined price.

“MTNL has offered to surrender entire 800 Mhz band spectrum but it wants an auction-determined price for the surrendered frequencies,” a government official said.

As per TRAI recommended price, the value of CDMA spectrum held by MTNL amounts to about Rs 1,937 crore.

MTNL operates in Delhi and Mumbai where it has 1.28 lakh subscribers using its CDMA service. Its total subscriber base stands at about 34 lakh. The TRAI has also recommended that DoT should take back entire CDMA spectrum of MTNL and put it up for auction.

However, the state-run firm had earlier declined to surrender CDMA frequencies citing that it may use these airwaves for deploying 4G services. — PTI