Thyssenkrupp to set up working group with unions over Tata Steel merger

On Friday, several thousand workers took to the streets to protest against the deal

THYSSENKRUPP AG is to set up a joint working group of board members and labour representatives to help implement the plan to merge with Tata Steel, it said in a statement published on Sunday after a supervisory board meeting.

The meeting was held after Thyssenkrupp top management’s move this week to sign a memorandum of understanding with Tata Steel for a 50-50 joint venture. If approved, it would create Europe’s second-biggest steelmaker after Arcelor Mittal, with combined sales of about 15 billion euros.

The working group will consist of members of the executive boards of Thyssenkrupp AG, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, which is the unit for the steel activities within the wider group, representatives of Thyssenkrupp’s works councils and the works councils of the steel sites, the statement said.

The working group will be headed by Markus Grolms, deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Thyssenkrupp AG and Oliver Burkhard, member of the executive board of Thyssenkrupp AG, where he is chief human resources officer, it said.

Thyssenkrupp AG chief executive Heinrich Hiesinger depends on the support of labour representatives, who hold half of the 20 seats on the group’s supervisory board and have fiercely opposed the deal with Tata Steel. On Friday, several thousand steel workers took to the streets of Bochum in Germany’s industrial heartland to protest against the deal, which would include up to 4,000 job cuts, about eight percent of the combined workforce. Opposition from Thyssenkrupp’s workforce could mean prolonged negotiations with management and delay any approval of the plan by the supervisory board, scheduled for early next year.

If all labour representatives on the supervisory board vote against the plans, its chairman Ulrich Lehner could still push them through with his casting vote but it is Hiesinger’s declared goal to get labour leaders to agree.

Meanwhile, Swedish finance investor Cevian, that holds a minority share in Thyssenkrupp, came out in support of Hiesinger’s plan for merging the steel unit with Tata Steel, according to a report in the mass weekly Bild am Sonntag.

It quoted a Cevian source as saying, “Splitting off the steel unit means a bigger focus on the (Thyssenkrupp‘s) industrial business.” “If the financial conditions are right, Cevian considers this option (the merger) good.”

Thyssenkrupp, whose other operations span car parts, elevators, construction steel and submarines, has faced calls to split off other parts of the business, most notably its elevator unit.

GSTN tweaked for August filing

GST Network (GSTN) has tweaked some of the features on its portal over the past month to make the system more robust and allow glitch-free tax payment facility to nearly 35 lakh assessees, its CEO Prakash Kumar said on Sunday. Of the total 87.33 lakh registered businesses on the GSTN, which manages the IT infrastructure of the new tax regime, 68 lakh were eligible to pay taxes in August.

Of the total registered taxpayers, 24.56 lakh are new registrations, while 62.77 lakh have migrated from the earlier excise, service tax and VAT regime. Kumar said the GSTN portal has handled a humongous load of filing of 1.3 lakh tax returns filing and payment per hour on September 20 -- the last day of filing of August tax returns. "Nearly 35 lakh people had filed returns till Saturday. We have done some tweaking in our portal and it is evident from the load GSTN handled at the time of August return filing," he told PTI. Kumar said a signifi cant number of returns were filed even after the due date of September 20 for August month.

Till September 20, over 30 lakh returns were filed, and the tally went up to nearly 35 lakh till September 23. "A lot of businesses file returns even after the end of due date as the (GST) Council has done away with late payment fee. This delayed filing of returns used to happen at the time of VAT payment as well in states," Kumar said.

The ministerial panel under Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi to look into glitches in GST Network will meet on October 4 to assess improvement in functioning of the portal.

Of the total 87.33 lakh registered businesses on the GSTN, which manages the IT infra of the new tax regime, 68 lakh were eligible to pay taxes in August

Politics may prevent a steep cut in the PPF rate

Interest rates on small savings schemes are due for recalibration next week, but observers believe the government might avoid making steep cuts. Small savings rates are linked to the prevailing yields in the bond market. In the July- September quarter, the average bond yield is roughly 20 basis points lower than the previous quarter. But the small savings rates may get cut by barely 10 basis points. “After the fuel price hike, a big reduction in the rates for small saving schemes can increase resentment among common investors,” says Monika Chopra, who teaches at International Management Institute..

A 10 basis point cut will reduce the PPF rate to 7.7%, the lowest in 37 years. PPF rates have progressively come down in the past two years, mirroring the decline in bond yields. Advisors say the PPF is better than bank FDs because of its tax-free status. Besides, consumer inflation is still low at 3.6%, so the real return from the PPF is more than 4%.

Salaried investors covered by the Employee Provident Fund can increase their PF contribution through the Voluntary Provident Fund ( VPF) which offers 8.65%. In most companies, employees can give the VPF mandate twice in a year— once at the beginning of the new financial year in April and again in the first week of October. So, this is the right time to opt for VPF if you want higher returns than the PPF. —Babar Zaidi

E-com festive sales grow over 50% from ’16: Analysts

Online retailers like Flipkart and Amazon are estimated to have grown their sales by over 50% compared to last year as the five-day festive event came to an end on Sunday, analysts tracking the market said.

Overall gross sales is expected to hit up to $1.7 billion, according to analysts compared to the $900 million the industry racked up last year during the corresponding period. The data is indicative and not shared officially by any of the companies.

The festive season leading up to Diwali is significant for e-tailers as it helps them mop up a good chunk of their annual sales and also brings in a new set of consumers, who typically don’t shop online.

Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy claimed the e-tailer grabbed 70% share of online sales this week widening its lead over Amazon this year, although he did not detail its shipment numbers or gross sales during the past five days. Amazon termed this year’s sale as its biggest saying rivals had used “poorly informed speculative data” for establishing their leadership.

Initial data from logistics companies and analysts suggested that Flipkart is likely to have clocked around $700-800 million in gross sales, while Amazon managed $500-600 million of sales this week. According to top executives at Amazon and Flipkart, smartphones and large appliances were the big drivers of sales as expected. The sale of Prime subscriptions grew four times compared to single-largest day sale of Prime for Amazon. The company has been pushing its Prime programme at Rs 499 per annum as members purchase more than non-Prime users. Paytm Mall, which saw its first festive season sale, witnessed spike in categories like smartphones, electronics and fashion.

“Our success during this sale was not due to just deep discounting but the unique selection we added in the run up to the sale. Our affor- Initial data show e-tailers have clocked sales in the range of in the 5-day event, according to Forrester Research In 2016 during the same period, the overall sales stood at Both and growth were largely driven by &

remained top grosser for as it grew compared to its highest single day sales

were categories that saw first-time users making purchases

witnessed towns contributing the sale this year more to dability programmes played a big role this sale and I can say we have surpassed what we had aspired for during the sale which was about having 70% share of the market. We have doubled our gross sales,’’ said Krishnamurthy.

During the sale, data released by research firm Red Seer said that awareness for ‘Big Billion Days’ sale was higher than that for Amazon’s ‘Great Indian Festival’.

“Smartphones and large appliances were the highlight of the sale as they drove large parts of the sale. All the major brands had their new ranges getting launched on Amazon during sale and the kind of response we have seen for iPhone deals has been phenomenal,” Manish Tiwary, VP, Amazon India, said while talking about the leadership claims of Flipkart in the smartphone category. Smartphones have been traditionally the topselling product during such sale events. 700-800 450-550 500-600 400-425 first sale season was also largely driven by and Major chunk of sales on Flipkart and Amazon saw users opting for Both Flipkart and Amazon managed to add news users during the past week. Tiwary said 85% of their new users came from tier II and tier III towns, while Krishnamurthy said the sale contribution of non-metro cities went up by 5%. “We have seen 50% of our categories doubling their sales and fashion, grocery saw purchases from new users on the platform,” Tiwary said.

Sushma Swaraj Goes Beyond Pak at UNGA

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s nearly 22-minute speech at the United Nations General Assembly was a forceful articulation of key challenges before humanity—terrorism, climate change, migration, nuclear proliferation and cybersecurity. Her address also included a well-directed counter to Pakistan and its charges against India, under the Right of Reply provision of the UN.

Swaraj’s articulation of Pakistan as a state sponsor of terror was necessary and important especially given the high priority given by the UN to tackling terrorism. Her pivot to Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism calling for countries to come to a consensus on a globally accepted definition of terrorism was noteworthy. Given India’s aspirations for a bigger role in the international community, it is time for New Delhi to broaden its world view. Over the years and successive administrations, Pakistan has come to dominate India’s UNGA address. In part, it is driven by the need to counter Pakistan’s efforts at the UN. That is unlikely to change. However, India needs to go beyond and use the opportunity accorded by the United Nations General Assembly speech to present its vision of the world and how a country sees and fulfils its role as a member of the international community. There is more to India’s world view and foreign policy than Pakistan. Swaraj spoke on critical challenges like climate change, migration. The UNGA is the forum for India to step up to shape the global dialogue.

India needs to leverage the UNGA better. So, it is rather unfortunate that political parties have chosen to use Swaraj’s speech as grist for the partisan mill. Political partisanship needs to stop at the water’s edge. The media, too, needs to widen its attention beyond Islamabad.

Prez hints US might go for regime change in North Korea

North Korea foreign minister Ri Yong Ho speaking during the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on Saturday

Donald Trump has appeared to threaten regime change against North Korea, tweeting to say if the country’s foreign minister echoed the thoughts of its leader they “won’t be around much longer”.

North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, had earlier said that targetting the United States mainland with its rockets was inevitable after “Mr Evil President” Donald Trump called Kim Jong-un “rocket man”.

Afterwards, Trump took to twitter to say: “Just heard foreign minister of North Korea speak at UN If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!”

Ri had called the US President “a mentally deranged person full of megalomania and complacency” who was trying to turn the UN into a “gangsters’ nest”.

The mudslinging came as US bombers and fighter escorts flew to the farthest point north of the border between North and South Korea by any such aircraft had this century. The Pentagon said the mission, in international airspace, showed how seriously Trump takes the North’s “reckless behaviour”. North Korea has said it intends to build a missile capable of striking all parts of the US with a nuclear bomb.

Trump clashes with sports world after players protest

Washington: US President Donald Trump and the sports world engaged in an intensifying spat on Saturday after he called for National Football League owners to fire players who protest during the US national anthem and disinvited a National Basketball Association star from a White House visit.

Responding to Trump’s attacks on football players who protested during the national anthem, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Saturday that Trump’s statements revealed “unfortunate lack of respect” for the NFL and its players. Goodell’s statement was released a day after Trump suggested any protesting football player was a “son of a bitch” and should lose his job.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of abitch off the field right now... He is fired’,” Trump said on Friday at a rally in in Alabama where he urged fans to boycott the NFL games.

Later on Saturday, Trump said in Twitter messages, that if NFL players wanted “the privilege” of high salaries they “should stand for the national anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Ka- Stevie Wonder (L) takes a knee ‘for the country’ with his son Kwame Morris before performing at the 2017 Global Citizen Festival on Saturday. The festival aims to end extreme poverty. Wonder took the stage and knelt, emulating a gesture popularised by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem to denounce racial injustice epernick stirred a polarising national debate in 2016 after refusing to stand during pregame renditions of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ to protest police violence against African-Americans. Several players have made similar gestures of protest since Kaepernick initiated his protest.

NBA players also struck back against comments by the president on Saturday. In an early morning Twitter message on Saturday, the president rescinded a White House invitation to basketball star Stephen Curry, who had said he would “vote” against the planned visit by the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Trump said “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” Trump tweeted. It’s beneath the leader of a country to go that route,” said Curry in a news conference. “It’s not what leaders do.”

The Oakland-based Golden State Warriors said in a statement: “We accept that President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited.”

LeBron James came to Curry’s defense, disputing Trump’s assertion that visiting White House was an honor. “Going to WH was a great honour until you showed up!” James, a prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential elections, said on Twitter.