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Madhabi Puri Buch has on Monday been appointed as the chairperson for market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved Buch's appointment for an initial period of three years. Her tenure as a whole-time member of Sebi ended in October 2021.

Puri Buch will be the first woman to head the securities market regulator, which has evolved to become one of the most important institutions in the financial market ecosystem. She is also the first person from the private sector to head Sebi.

Current chairman Ajay Tyagi’s tenure as Sebi chairman ends today. He served as chairman for five years. Puri Buch, who has been granted an initial term of three years, will assume charge on March 1.

Puri Buch has worked closely with Tyagi as she was the WTM between April 05, 2017 and October 04, 2021.

She has handled key portfolios such as surveillance, collective investment schemes and investment management.

An alumna of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Buch has three decades of financial market experience. She joined ICICI Bank in 1989.

At the private lender, Buch worked in corporate finance, branding, treasury and loans, before moving to ICICI Securities. She headed the domestic investment bank before moving abroad, where she headed private equity firm Greater Pacific Capital. She later served as a consultant to the New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS bloc of nations.

Read Also| India skips resolution to call for UN General Assembly session on Ukraine

Article Source:- Business Standard

India abstained from a procedural vote taken in the UN Security Council to call for a rare special emergency session of the UN General Assembly on Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The resolution was adopted with 11 votes in favour, paving the way for the General Assembly to meet on the crisis as soon as Monday. India, China and the UAE abstained, while Russia voted against the resolution.

The 15-nation Security Council met on Sunday afternoon to hold the vote on the emergency special session of the 193-member General Assembly on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This comes two days after the Russian veto blocked a UNSC resolution on its "aggression" against Ukraine.

The vote calling for the UNGA session was procedural so none of the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, UK and the US -- could exercise their vetoes.

President of the 76th session of the General Assembly Abdulla Shahid, who was to attend the 49th regular session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, cancelled his trip "due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine and potential developments in the Security Council," for the vote.

He also met with Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya on Saturday after the veto on the draft resolution in the Security Council. Kyslytsya briefed Shahid "on the security situation in Kyiv and the potential action he would be seeking in the General Assembly."

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also cancelled his scheduled trip to Geneva for the Human Rights Council meeting "due to the aggravating situation in Ukraine."

On Friday too, India, China and the UAE abstained from the resolution, while 11 members of the Council voted in favour.

The UNSC resolution was expected to be blocked since Russia, a permanent member of the Council and President of the UN organ for the month of February, was certain to use its veto. Western nations said the resolution had sought to show Moscow's isolation on the global stage for its invasion and actions against Ukraine.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield had said after the failed UNSC vote that "we will be taking this matter to the General Assembly, where the Russian veto does not apply and the nations of the world will continue to hold Russia accountable."

While a UNSC resolution would have been legally binding, General Assembly resolutions are not. A vote in the 193-member UN body is symbolic of world opinion.

In the explanation of vote in the Security Council on Friday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti had said India is "deeply disturbed" by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine and urges that all efforts be made for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities.

Tirumurti also said India is "deeply concerned" about the welfare and security of the Indian community, including a large number of Indian students, in Ukraine.

"Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment. It is a matter of regret that the path of diplomacy was given up. We must return to it. For all these reasons, India has chosen to abstain on this resolution," Tirumurti had said.

In March 2014, after Russia's annexation of Crimea, the General Assembly had adopted a resolution that underscored the "invalidity" of the referendum held in "autonomous Crimea".

By a recorded vote of 100 in favour to 11 against, with 58 abstentions, the Assembly had adopted a resolution titled 'Territorial Integrity of Ukraine', calling on States, international organisations and specialised agencies not to recognise any change in the status of Crimea or the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, and to refrain from actions or dealings that might be interpreted as such. India had abstained from the resolution.

Under the resolution "Uniting for Peace", adopted by the General Assembly in November 1950, an emergency special session can be convened within 24 hours of such a meeting being requested.

The UNGA "resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members...," the resolution states.

"If not in session at the time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefore. Such emergency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the vote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations," it says.

The UNGA resolution of 1950 also reaffirms the "importance of the exercise by the Security Council of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and the duty of the permanent members to seek unanimity and to exercise restraint in the use of the veto.

Also Read|  Russia-Ukraine crisis further complicates matters for RBI, its MPC

It is clear that governments and central banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) included, across the world are looking for an opportune moment to exit from stimulus mode and drain out excess liquidity. In its February monetary policy, the RBI deferred the normalisation of policy rates because the weakness in India’s growth recovery continues and it is outweighed by the worryingly high ‘global inflation’.

A few weeks after the policy, global dynamics have changed with rising geopolitical uncertainties following the Russia-Ukraine conflict war, and the consequent sanctions imposed by the West. The ‘normalisation process’, which was difficult, could get worse, mainly because we are moving further into the conundrum of higher inflation and lower growth (at least globally). The MPC will have to delve on how the exogenous geopolitical risk will impact inflation and growth spillovers in the middle of a gradual exit from the accommodative monetary policy.

Firstly, the Economist points out that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is likely to isolate Russia’s economy. The immediate global implications will be in terms of higher inflation, lower growth, and disruptions in the financial markets via deeper sanctions. However, the good news is that the impact on India’s growth is likely to be limited as Russia is not India’s major trading partner with just 0.8 percent share in India’s export and 1.5 percent of its imports.

What’s worrying is the indirect spillovers of a broader growth slowdown. This is important in the context that the MPC has judged that India’s growth recovery is incomplete, and policy support remains inevitable. The IMF, in January, slashed the global growth forecast for 2022 and 2023 by 50 bps and 70 bps respectively due to Omicron-associated restrictions. If global growth weakness emerges and there is further downward revision, India’s buoyant recovery could take a set-back via the trade channel. Also, if supply bottlenecks emerge, the manufacturing and infrastructure sector could have notable repercussions. Given the MPC’s higher weightage to growth over inflation since March 2020, geopolitical risks could make the MPC remain ‘accommodative’ for a longer time.

On the other hand, near-term inflation will play spoilsport. The ‘oil monster’ has woken up from its slumber, boiling at about $100 per barrel, and is likely to remain range-bound in the immediate future. This increase in the crude barrel will seep into the retail inflation through direct channels such as increase in pump prices and the palpable impact via freight rate hikes, which companies would eventually pass on to the consumer.

This could push wholesale inflation higher for a couple of months, but high base-effect of the previous year is likely to temper the spikes. The headline retail inflation number may not come down to the MPC’s inflation forecast of 4.5 percent for 2022-23. The three-month ahead and one-year ahead inflation expectations, which dipped recently as per RBI’s survey forecasts, could see an immediate upward shift for the shorter time horizon.

Inflation in the next couple of months will be high owing to supply side disruptions. Thus, RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra’s comments in the minutes are important. He points that inflation led by supply constraints cannot be stabilised by monetary policy instruments. Thus, one can infer that change in the ‘accommodative stance’ and raising policy rates could be further delayed.

The one area where the RBI will have a significant intervention will be in the external sector management. The current account deficit is likely to swell due to rising crude oil imports. In addition, with the expected normalisation of monetary policy and rate hikes by key advanced economies, foreign portfolio outflows could weigh on the balance of payments scenario. Ashima Goyal, emeritus professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, is of the view that interest-sensitive foreign flows are still a small percentage of the Indian market, and, therefore, potential outflows are a miniscule portion of India’s forex reserves (pegged at around $630 billion). With rising imports and likely portfolio outflows as a reaction to geopolitical and monetary policy normalisations, balance of payments and currency management will be more critical than gradual normalisation.

The headwinds from the geopolitical risks coupled with the expected policy normalisation by advanced economies have pushed the RBI’s MPC in a tricky position where there are no easy answers. The added challenges of global growth slowdown spillovers led by global value chains bottlenecks will be an important determinant to look out for. Near-term inflation spikes if led by supply shortages/disruptions is unlikely to shift the policy stance to ‘neutral’ in the coming policy.

When one looks back and compares, it feels like the policy stimulus responses during an unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic were easy to manage. Exiting the stimulus in the thick of geopolitical risks has just made the equation a difficult one to crack.

Also Read| Russian participation at Mobile World Congress 2022 to be restricted

There would be no Russian pavilion and some firms would also be barred from showcasing products at the annual Mobile World Congress that begins in Barcelona on February 28, the organisers have said.

The Global System for Mobile Communications said the Russian participation at the much-followed annual meet would be curtailed in keeping with the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West after its invasion of Ukraine.

“In light of this emerging situation and considering the tragic loss of life, MWC seems immaterial under the circumstances," GSMA said in a statement shared on its website, condemning the Russian invasion.

The industry body said it would "continue to cooperate with international sanctions against Russia", as the situation evolves.

Also Read: Russia Ukraine News Highlights | More than 50,000 Ukrainians flee country in 48 hours, says UN

It also vowed to follow, "all government sanctions and policies resulting from this situation," and said "there will be no Russian Pavilion at MWC22."

Speaking to Reuters on February 25, GSMA Chief Executive John Hoffman said there were no plans to cancel or put off MWC 2022, which will be held from February 28 to March 3.

Also Read: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to flee, asks Ukraine to 'stand firm'

"As we see the situation today, we don't see any need or requirement to do that," said Hoffman. "Of course it's an evolving situation and we will continue to monitor it."

Country pavilions shine a spotlight on smaller companies and this year, the absence of a pavilion could dent prospective deals or opportunities for Russian firms.

Larger exhibitors with ties to Russia, however, can still pay GSMA to be on the show floor and the organiser confirmed it would not stop them until further sanctions force its hand.

Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital early Saturday as explosions reverberated through the city and the president urged the country to stand firm against the siege that could determine its future. He refused American help to evacuate, saying: The fight is here.

Hundreds of casualties were reported in the fighting, which included shelling that sliced through a Kyiv apartment building and pummeled bridges and schools. There also were growing signs that Russia may be seeking to overthrow Ukraine's government, which U.S. officials have described as Russian President Vladimir Putin's ultimate objective.

The assault represented Putin's boldest effort yet to redraw the world map and revive Moscow's Cold War-era influence. It triggered new international efforts to end the invasion, including direct sanctions on Putin.

As his country confronted explosions and gunfire, and as the fate of Kyiv hung in the balance, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for a cease-fire and warned in a bleak statement that multiple cities were under attack.

This night we have to stand firm, he said. "The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.

Zelenskyy was urged to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. The official quoted the president as saying that the fight is here" and that he needed anti-tank ammunition but not a ride.

For their part, U.S. defense officials believe the Russian offensive has encountered considerable resistance and is proceeding slower than Moscow had envisioned, though that could change quickly.

The Kremlin accepted Kyiv's offer to hold talks, but it appeared to be an effort to squeeze concessions out of the embattled Zelenskyy instead of a gesture toward a diplomatic solution.

The Russian military continued its advance, laying claim Friday to the southern Ukraine city of Melitopol. Still, it was unclear in the fog of war how much of Ukraine is still under Ukrainian control and how much or little Russian forces have seized.

As fighting persisted, Ukraine's military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, an account confirmed by a senior American intelligence official. It was unclear how many were on board. Transport planes can carry up to 125 paratroopers.

The U.S. and other global powers slapped ever-tougher sanctions on Russia as the invasion reverberated through the world's economy and energy supplies, threatening to further hit ordinary households. U.N. officials said millions could flee Ukraine. Sports leagues moved to punish Russia and even the popular Eurovision song contest banned it from the May finals in Italy.

Through it all, Russia remained unbowed, vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that it stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw troops immediately. The veto was expected, but the U.S. and its supporters argued that the effort would highlight Moscow's international isolation. The 11-1 vote, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, showed significant but not total opposition to Russia's invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbor.

The meeting exposed Russia-Ukraine frictions, including when Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya requested a moment of silence to pray for those killed and asked Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia to pray for salvation." Nebenzia retorted that the remembrance should include people who have died in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Pro-Russian separatists there have been fighting the Ukrainian government, which Russia accuses of abuses. A moment of tense silence did ensue.

NATO, meanwhile, decided to send parts of the alliance's response force to help protect its member nations in the east for the first time. NATO did not say how many troops would be deployed but added that it would involve land, sea and air power.

Day Two of Russia's invasion, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, focused on the Ukrainian capital, where Associated Press reporters heard explosions starting before dawn. Gunfire was reported in several areas.

A large boom was heard in the evening near Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square in central Kyiv that was the heart of protests which led to the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president. The cause was not immediately known.

Five explosions struck near a major power plant on Kyiv's eastern outskirts, said Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. There was no information on what caused them, and no electrical outages were immediately reported.

It was unclear how many people overall had died. Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side from the first full day of fighting and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures.

U.N. officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes. They estimate that up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates.

Zelenskyy tweeted that he and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone and discussed strengthening sanctions, concrete defense assistance and an antiwar coalition."

Also Read |  CBI arrests ex-NSE GOO Anand Subramanian over alleged irregularities

His whereabouts were kept secret after Zelenskyy told European leaders in a call Thursday that he was Russia's No. 1 target and that they might not see him again alive. His office later released a video of him standing with senior aides outside the presidential office and saying that he and other government officials would stay in the capital.

Zelenskyy earlier offered to negotiate on a key Putin demand: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and abandon its ambition of joining NATO. The Kremlin said Kyiv initially agreed to have talks in Minsk, then said it would prefer Warsaw and later halted communications. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said later that Kyiv would discuss prospects for talks on Saturday.

The assault was anticipated for weeks by the U.S. and Western allies and denied to be in the works just as long by Putin. He argued the West left him with no other choice by refusing to negotiate Russia's security demands.

In a window into how the increasingly isolated Putin views Ukraine and its leadership, he urged Ukraine's military to surrender, saying: We would find it easier to agree with you than with that gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have holed up in Kyiv and have taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage.

Playing on Russian nostalgia for World War II heroism, the Kremlin equates members of Ukrainian right-wing groups with neo-Nazis. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, angrily dismisses those claims.

Putin has not disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a hint, saying, We want to allow the Ukrainian people to determine its own fate. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia recognizes Zelenskyy as the president, but would not say how long the Russian military operation could last.

Ukrainians abruptly adjusted to life under fire, after Russian forces invaded the country from three sides as they massed an estimated 150,000 troops nearby.

Residents of a Kyiv apartment building woke to screaming, smoke and flying dust. What the mayor identified as Russian shelling tore off part of the building and ignited a fire.

What are you doing? What is this? resident Yurii Zhyhanov asked Russian forces. Like countless other Ukrainians, he grabbed what belongings he could, took his mother, and fled, car alarms wailing behind him.

Elsewhere in Kyiv, the body of a dead soldier lay near an underpass. Fragments of a downed aircraft smoked amid the brick homes of a residential area. Black plastic was draped over body parts found beside them. People climbed out of bomb shelters, basements and subways to face another day of upheaval.

We're all scared and worried. We don't know what to do then, what's going to happen in a few days, said Lucy Vashaka, 20, a worker at a small Kyiv hotel.

At the Pentagon, press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. believes the offensive, including its advance on Kiev, has gone more slowly than Moscow had planned, noting that Ukraine forces have been fighting back. But he also said the military campaign is in an early stage and circumstances can change rapidly.

The Biden administration said Friday that it would move to freeze the assets of Putin and Lavrov, following the European Union and Britain in directly sanctioning top Russian leadership.

Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called the sanctions against Putin and Lavrov an example and a demonstration of a total helplessness of the West.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Article source:- business-standard

The CBI has arrested former Group Operating Officer of National Stock Exchange Anand Subramanian after expanding its three-year probe into the co-location scam in the exchange in view of "fresh facts" that emerged in a damning Sebi report referring to a mysterious Yogi which was guiding actions of former CEO Chitra Ramkrishna and other irregularities, officials said on Friday.

Subramanian was taken into custody late Thursday night in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, they said.

He was questioned for days in Chennai early this week during which he was found evasive in his responses to the sleuths which prompted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to examine him in custody, the officials said.

The agency will produce him before a court in Chennai for his transit remand to bring him to Delhi, they said.

Once the plea is granted, the CBI will bring him to the national capital and produce him before a special court for seeking his custodial remand for questioning in connection with the case at its headquarters, they added.

An audit report allegedly referred to Subramanian as a mysterious Yogi, but it was dismissed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in its report on February 11, the officials said.

Ramkrishna, who succeeded former CEO Ravi Narain in 2013, had appointed Subramanian as her advisor who was later elevated as Group Operating Officer (GOO) at a fat pay cheque of Rs 4.21 crore.

Subramanian's controversial appointment and later elevation besides crucial decisions were guided by an unidentified person who Ramkrishna claimed was a formless mysterious Yogi dwelling in Himalayas, a probe into Ramkrishna's email exchanges during the Sebi-ordered audit showed.

It was alleged in an audit that Subramanian was the Yogi, but Sebi dismissed that claim in its final report on February 11.

Ramakrishna had left the NSE in December 2016.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India on February 11 has charged former National Stock Exchange (NSE) CEO Ramkrishna and others with alleged governance lapses in the appointment of Subramanian as the chief strategic advisor and his re-designation as group operating officer and advisor to MD.

Sebi has levied a fine of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna, Rs 2 crore each on NSE, Subramanian, former NSE MD and CEO Ravi Narain, and Rs 6 lakh on V R Narasimhan, who was the chief regulatory officer and compliance officer.

The CBI, which was probing the co-location scam since 2018 against a Delhi-based stock broker, swung into action after the Sebi report which showed alleged abuse of power by the then top brass of the NSE, the officials said.

The agency expanded its probe and grilled Ramkrishna, Narain and Subramanian in connection with the scam, they said.

The central probe agency had booked stock broker Sanjay Gupta, owner and promoter of Delhi-based OPG Securities Pvt. Ltd, in 2018 for allegedly making gains by getting early access to the stock market trading system, the officials said.

The agency was also probing unidentified officials of the Sebi and the NSE, Mumbai, and other unknown persons.

"It was alleged that the owner and promoter of said private company abused the server architecture of NSE in conspiracy with unknown officials of NSE. It was also alleged that unknown officials of NSE, Mumbai had provided unfair access to said company using the co-location facility during the period 2010-2012 that enabled it to login first to the exchange server of Stock Exchange that helped to get the data before any other broker in the market," the CBI has alleged in the FIR.

Read Also|  Isn’t it a good idea to look at the markets when there is blood on the Street?

Moody's Investors Service has raised its GDP growth forecast for India for the current calendar year to 9.5 percent from 7 percent, citing a stronger-than-expected economic recovery from the national lockdown of 2020 and the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-2021.

The  GDP growth forecast for 2023 has been retained at 5.5 percent.

The calendar year forecasts translate into a projection of 8.4 percent growth for FY23 and 6.5 percent for FY24. The FY23 projection is 60 basis points higher than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) forecast of 7.8 percent. However, the central government's Economic Survey for 2021-22 estimated a real GDP growth rate of 8-8.5 percent for the next financial year, with the 2022 Budget assuming a nominal GDP growth rate of 11.1 percent.

"Sales tax collection, retail activity and PMIs (Purchasing Managers Indices) suggest solid momentum. However, high oil prices and supply distortions remain a drag on growth," Moody's said on February 23 in an update to its Global Macro Outlook 2022-23 report.

"As is the case in many other countries, the recovery is lagging in contact-intensive services sectors, but it should pick up as the Omicron wave subsides. With most remaining restrictions now being lifted with the improvement in the COVID situation, including the reopening of schools and colleges for in-person instruction across various states, the country is on its way to normalcy," Moody's added.