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Following pressure from the government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), telecom operators have reportedly begun trials of caller ID services in a few areas.As per a report in the Times of India, telcos have begun "limited trials" in Mumbai and Haryana. Quoting sources, the paper claimed that the operators are planning to add more cities over the coming weeks.The CNAP (Calling Name Presentation) is being seen as a way to curb spam and fraud calls, which have seen a marked increase in recent times."Trials are beginning on limited numbers as we try and assess the feasibility of CNAP, where not only the number but even the name of the caller will be displayed during incoming calls. We will be sharing the results of the trials with DoT so that a practical and justifiable view of the proposed service can be taken," a senior executive in a top telco told TOI, requesting anonymity.TRAI had earlier said that the government should issue appropriate instructions for making CNAP available on all mobile phones sold in India after a suitable cut-off date from the date of notification.The telecom operators, however, had opposed the move, citing technical challenges.Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio has said that this should "not be a mandatory service," adding that "there will be many technical issues like increased load on signalling and possible impact on latency and interconnection-related issues."Airtel said there are "likely to be techno-commercial challenges" involved in implementing the measure and added that CNAP would need to adhere to privacy laws. "Privacy is an important consideration, and the framework is going to have to address the genuine concerns of users who may not be keen to share their details."Voda Idea said CNAP should be introduced "as an optional service" and should not be mandated upon telcos.

“I think certain sectors that could surprise us will be Agriculture, Consumer Durables, Insurance and Services,” says Kush Gupta, Director at SKG Investment & Advisory.In an interview with ETMarkets, Gupta said: “The new government would enhance capital expenditure, above normal monsoon are expected to support agriculture, Crude oil prices have come down which should support inflation,” Edited excerpts: With election uncertainty now over – where are markets headed? Elections in the past have always led to sharp movements pre and post-event, but history has shown that the markets finally stabilize one to six months post-event.Amongst various factors that D-street evaluates, political stability is the most desired one. Nobody wants a policy paralysis. I think the election result has created a lot of anxiety amongst investors.There was a lot of hype around results and expectations were very high, exit polls made it worse and then the Sensex came crashing down along with the expectations.Primary fear is that a coalition government will make it difficult to pass reforms, India has been on a runway for 3-4 years now and a sudden brake will undo all the efforts.Another factor is that post COVID we saw a massive increase in domestic participation, these new investors have enjoyed high returns that exceeded their targets and I think psychologically it has become the norm.Most of them have not seen a bear market or a fall like the global financial crisis of 2008 or even the fall during COVID.It’s their first election cycle, so fearful reaction towards the unexpected is natural. I think as the new government will get formed, parliament will resume, normality will return along with the D-street confidence. The political scenario has changed. Will this also change any target you have on D-Street? Over the past five elections dating back to 1999, Indian equity markets have always given positive returns six months after the elections.This includes coalition governments being formed and outcomes less favourable than the current one. I think there will be a continuous focus on infrastructure, Make in India, energy self-reliance, defence, etc.However, increased focus should also be seen in mass developmental projects like employment, rural income, water for all, electricity for all, and poverty eradication.While the political scenario may have changed, our target for Indian markets have not changed, at least not in the current scenario. We have seen coalition governments in the past working well and resulting in economic growth.India growth story remains strong, our foreign exchange remains at a solid $ 650 Billion, SIPs are clocking Rs. 20,000 Crore a month, GDP growth is at 8.20%.We are not worrying as of now to change our long-term view on the Indian stock market. How are FIIs likely to approach D-Street amid political uncertainty? The valuation premium was on stable fundamentals but the new govt might come with a different agenda. What are your views? If we see the FII data for the past 3 years, since 2022 they have not invested any large sums of money in the Indian markets.In May itself, just before the elections, we saw an exodus of $3.5 Billion. Foreign investors deem Indian markets to be expensive and are not always a fan of rupee depreciation.I have a contra view of this election result on FII behaviour, with some correction in the markets, we could see foreign investments coming back.While stable fundamentals command a high premium, FIIs never really accepted that or invested on higher premiums.Apart from the political landscape, Indian companies are still very profitable, there is a large middle class that will continue to push consumption, a lot of room for growth in almost every sector.These are factors that will continue to attract foreign investments especially when other developing nations such as China, Russia or Brazil have struggles of their own.With corrected valuations we could come back on their radar Indian equities can become lucrative again for global investors. Which could turn out to be a dark horse in FY25? I think certain sectors that could surprise us will be Agriculture, Consumer Durables, Insurance and Services.Baseline economy is strong, India is a growing country with growing needs, certain sectors will remain resilient inspite of the temporary political uncertainty and anxiety amongst investors.The new government would enhance capital expenditure, above normal monsoon are expected to support agriculture, Crude oil prices have come down which should support inflation.There are multiple silver linings which could be absorbed by various sectors, and they will come out shining in FY 25. Do you think there is going to be a complete reset of the policy initiatives? Absolutely not, while the popular sentiment is that BJP failed in the elections one has to consider some important factors. Any administration to get elected for the third consecutive time is almost unheard of in any part of the world.Election result is surprising because our expectations and media hype was too much, it is not surprising if you look at the political landscape.There are coalition governments that work very well, push policies and reforms and make change. I don’t see why it would be any different this time.We will witness de-concentration of power from BJP, there will be collective decision making but to assume that decisions won’t be made is pre-mature.To think that brakes will be pulled on the existing policies that are working in favour of the country, I doubt it. Is there a need to shuffle the portfolio amid political/reform uncertainty? Past decade, we have seen certain sectors being the flavour of the economy. Infra, Auto, PSUs, and Defence have done very well due to the incumbent government’s focus.With a change on the political front, one can expect that some of these sectors may not enjoy the same growth. I think one can be a little cautious and exit from those that have seen substantial returns.If there is uncertainty then it is always advisable to allocate funds to defensive sectors such as Consumer Staples, Utilities and Health.It is not to say we won’t see infra growth in the country, but one can take a cautious stance. Analyse the new administration’s policy, their focus and then take sector specific bets.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Domestic markets were largely positive in the week gone by even though there were no fresh triggers post the election outcome. The broader market outperformed the benchmarks during the week as sentiments were in favour for growth-based stocks.During the week, as many as 191 smallcap stocks delivered double digit returns with 13 of them gaining 25% or more. PTC Industries was leading the smallcap pack at 35%, followed by Avantel at 33% and Honda India Power at 30.47%.About 21 stocks including Jubilant Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, Agarwal Industrial Corp, DCX Systems, Bajaj Hindustan, Dredging Corp among others have offered returns between 20-25% during the week.In the midcap segment, nine stocks including Schaeffler India, Oil India, Oracle Financial among others have risen in double digits. While Schaeffler gained 16%, Oil India and Oracle were up over 13% each.Among the Sensex pack, Ultratech Cement topped the charts with 7.4% returns, followed by Larsen and Toubro at 4.3% and Power Grid at 3.9%.The outcome of the Fed meeting was hawkish during the week as market expectations have shifted from two rate cuts in CY24 to just one. However, the stability of US inflation provided some relief.What should investors do?Next week will be a truncated one with investors enjoying a long weekend due to Bakrid on Monday. The market is now awaiting fresh triggers, possibly a favourable budget which is likely to be announced next month.On the macro front, domestic CPI data suggests a gradual decline in inflation. "Though the last mile towards the inflation target remains sticky, given the expectation of a normal monsoon, investors are hopeful that the MPC will be one step closer to the easing cycle," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.Investors will also track some key interest rate decisions by the Bank of Japan and ECB, along with US GDP data which will likely have an influence on the global rate cut trajectory."We expect market uptrend to continue next week supported by positive macro trends, expectation of sustained government spending and policy continuity, healthy monsoon and strong earnings," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal.Technically, Nifty continued to show range-bound action within 23300-23500 levels and still there is no early signs of any breakouts on either side.A decisive move above 23500 levels is likely to open an upside breakout and a slide below 23300 levels could mean a chance of downside breakout of the range movement in the near term, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.With data inputs from Ritesh Presswala(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Tarouba (Trinidad): New Zealand registered their first win of the ongoing T20 World Cup, defeating Uganda by nine wickets here. New Zealand put up a complete bowling performance to dismiss Uganda for a paltry 40 before gunning down the target in 5.2 overs with opener Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra remaining unbeaten on 22 and 1 respectively. Pacer Tim Southee (3/4) was the pick of the bowlers for the BlackCaps with fellow quick Trent Boult (2/7), spinners Mitchell Santner (2/8) and Rachin Ravindra (2/9) picking up two wickets apiece. Brief Scores: Uganda: 40 all out in 18.4 overs (Kenneth Waiswa 11; Tim Southee 3/4) New Zealand: 41 for 1 in 5.2 overs (Devon Conway 22 not out; Riazat Ali Shah 1/10)

Mumbai: HDFC Bank is making market enquiries about the issuance of infrastructure bonds worth around ₹10,000-15,000 crore as India's largest lender by market value looks to garner long-term capital and meet the reserve requirements arising out of its last-year merger with erstwhile parent HDFC."Bond markets are relatively stable now after the election-related volatility and for HDFC Bank, infrastructure bonds are a desirable option because these instruments bring leeway on maintenance of statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR)," said a source aware of the developments.An email sent to HDFC Bank requesting a comment on the matter did not receive a response by the time of publication. In April, HDFC Bank had said that it plans to raise up to ₹60,000 crore through the issuance of various types of bonds in the current financial year. Funds raised through infrastructure bonds, which have a minimum maturity of 7 years, are exempted from the maintenance of SLR and CRR, which are mandatory reserve requirements for banks.111010771SLR, which is the portion of deposits that banks must invest in liquid securities like government bonds, is currently at 18%. The CRR, which is kept with the RBI is at 4.5% of net demand and time liabilities, a proxy for deposits.For HDFC Bank, the push towards infrastructure bonds comes at a time when the lender is trying to deftly balance the growing portion of deposits it must set aside as reserves after the merger with the relatively lower-yielding home loans that it inherited on its balance sheet from HDFC.The country's largest bank by market capitalisation has witnessed a compression in its net interest margins over the last couple of quarters due to the new asset-liability mix. HDFC Bank's net interest margin was at 3.44% in FY24 versus 4% in FY23.Further, with the bank not receiving any dispensations from the RBI on maintenance of reserves after the merger, issuance of infrastructure bonds as a means of garnering capital assumes more importance. In March, ET reported that the RBI had declined a request from HDFC Bank to permit classification of more than ₹1 lakh crore of securities issued by the erstwhile HDFC as infrastructure bonds. HDFC had more than ₹1.20 lakh crore of bonds classified as infrastructure finance instruments. If these bonds were given the infrastructure tag in the bank they can be set off against infrastructure and affordable housing loans of the merged entity without maintaining CRR and SLR on them.HDFC on its own had about ₹1 lakh crore of affordable housing loans and this would totally be offset against them.HDFC Bank had last issued infrastructure bonds in March 2024, raising ₹2,910 crore through such instruments at a rate of 7.65%.Latest RBI data showed that as on May 31, bank credit growth was at 16.1% year-on-year, excluding the impact of the HDFC merger. Deposit growth over the same period was at 12.2%.

PM Narendra Modi, on his maiden trip abroad since his re-election for the third straight term in office, met US President Joe Biden on Friday in a brief pull aside at the G7 summit and is understood to have touched upon various issues of common interests, including the Indo-Pacific region. "It's always a pleasure to meet @POTUS @JoeBiden. India and USA will keep working together to further global good," Modi wrote on X following their one-on-one meet on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy. Modi also met the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Japan and the UK on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy, focusing on 'Make in India' initiative besides collaboration in high-tech, AI and defence sectors. He alsobriefly met the Canadian PM amid a chill in ties. Modi, who was invited for the Outreach Session at the G7 Summit, met French President Emmanuel Macron and reviewed bilateral relations, focusing on the 'Horizon 2047' Roadmap and the Indo-Pacific Roadmap, officials said. Discussions included cooperation in defence, nuclear, space, education, climate action, digital public infrastructure, connectivity and cultural initiatives such as the National Museum partnership and enhancing people-to-people ties. They agreed to further intensify strategic defence cooperation with increased focus on 'Make in India', officials informed. With UK PM Rishi Sunak, the focus was on the ongoing negotiations over the Free Trade Agreement. Upon reaching the venue of the summit, Modi met Pope Francis. Visuals from the session showed Modi sharing a hug with Pope Francis. Modi also invited Pope Francis to India.

New Delhi: Delhi Congress workers will break pitchers on Saturday to highlight people's plight due to water scarcity in the national capital, its chief Devender Yadav said and demanded a special session of the assembly to discuss the issue. In the 70-member Delhi Assembly, the Congress has no MLAs. Yadav alleged the Delhi government has not taken effective steps to address the water shortage due to which people, including women, children and the elderly, are forced to run after water tankers to fill a bucket. The Delhi Congress will hold a "matka phod" protest in all 280 blocks of the national capital from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday to highlight the plight of the people, thirsting for drinking water, Yadav said. "Thousands of Congress workers, locals, former MPs, ex-MLAs, district and block Congress presidents, municipal councillors, ex-corporators and others will participate in the demonstrations," he said. Alleging that 58 per cent of potable water was going to waste, the Delhi Congress chief claimed that had the Delhi government taken effective steps to plug the loopholes, people would not have faced such a severe crisis. People have been complaining of dirty water through taps but the Delhi Jal Board did not take any step to address this, he said. Yadav claimed that water tankers do not reach many areas and people have to spend over Rs 100 daily to purchase drinking water. Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Friday said water production in the national capital is decreasing continuously as less water is reaching the Yamuna river here. The AAP government has been accusing BJP-ruled Haryana of not releasing Delhi's share of water. Sharing data, she said water production on June 6 was 1,002 million gallons per day (MGD) which declined to 993 MGD the next day and 990 MGD on June 8. It was 978 MGD on June 9 and 958 MGD the next day. On June 11, June 12 and June 13, water production was 919 MGD, 951 MGD and 939 MGD, respectively, the minister added.