The Indian Government has provided an update on the roll-out of the e-Way Bill system, which was introduced on April 1, 2018, confirming it will be extended to another five states from April 15, 2018.

India's Central Board of Direct Taxes has launched a consultation on changes to the country's tax ruling process and forms to enable the country to exchange information on tax rulings with other countries' tax authorities, as proposed by the OECD in its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project.

Meeting on May 4, 2018, India's GST Council approved plans to simplify GST filing obligations.

India's Central Board of Direct Taxation announced on June 7, 2018, that during the first two months of June tax officials have been tasked with resolving disputes with taxpayers.

India is to receive bank account information from HSBC, after Switzerland's highest court ruled that the bank is obligated to provide data requested where the leaked data has not been purchased.

Officials from Switzerland and India have discussed the automatic exchange of tax information and free trade.

India's GST Council has decided on a number of goods and services tax regime amendments to boost the availability of affordable housing in the country.

A number of goods and services tax regime amendments, intended to simplify compliance for traders, will become effective in India from April 1, 2019.

India's GST Council has put flesh on the bones of its plans to introduce a new goods and services tax regime for real-estate transactions.

A number of goods and services tax regime amendments, intended to simplify compliance for traders, became effective in India from April 1, 2019.

India's Central Board of Direct Taxes has launched a new consultation on proposals to amend Article 7 of India's double tax treaties on permanent establishment, and rule 10 in the Income Tax Rules, 1962, to establish a formula to bring within the charge to Indian tax a proportion of profits of a multinational deemed to have a significant digital presence in India. The country is considering using a formulary apportionment approach, akin to that proposed under the EU's Common Corporate Tax Base initiative.

During its 35th meeting, India's GST Council approved changes to GST filing requirements and deadlines, and approved the introduction of an electronic invoicing system,

India has published in its Official Gazette legislation to give effect to tax announcements in the 2019-20 Budget.

India will launch its legacy dispute scheme starting September 1, 2019.

India has again extended the due date for furnishing the annual GST return and reconciliation statement for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

As of September 1, 2019, India introduced an obligation for tax to be deducted at source at a two percent rate if a taxpayer's cash withdrawals totaled INR10m (USD138,350) or more in the previous year.

India's Ministry of Finance has released a new Notification that sets the "tolerable range" for arm's length dealings.

The Indian Government on September 20, 2019, announced that it will reduce the rate of corporate tax to 22 percent, from 30 percent. New domestic manufacturing ventures will benefit from a 15 percent rate.

India's GST Council agreed a number of changes to the country's goods and services tax regime, at its meeting on September 20, 2019.

Local authorities in India have been instructed to draw up lists of taxpayers that have filed fraudulent or potentially fraudulent requests for input tax credits and where appropriate share this information with other state authorities.

CASTROL INDIA share price has zoomed 6% and is presently trading at Rs 131.

Meanwhile, the BSE OIL & GAS Index is at 11,694 (up 1.4%).

Among the top Gainers in the BSE OIL & GAS Index today is CASTROL INDIA (up 5.7%).

Over the last one year, CASTROL INDIA has moved down from Rs 149 to Rs 131, registering a loss of Rs 18 (down 12.5%).

On the other hand, the BSE OIL & GAS has moved down from 15,092 to 11,694, loss of 3,398 points (down 22.8%) during the last 12 months.

The top gainers among the BSE OIL & GAS Index stocks during this same period were INDRAPRASTHA GAS (up 52.7%) and RELIANCE IND. (up 15.1%).

What About the Benchmark Indices?

The BSE Sensex is at 32,089 (up 1.5%).

The top gainers among the BSE Sensex stocks today are INDUSIND BANK (up 4.3%), HUL (up 3.3%) and KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK (up 2.9%). Other gainers include RELIANCE IND. (up 2.7%) and AXIS BANK (up 2.4%). The most traded stocks in the BSE Sensex are RELIANCE IND. and INDUSIND BANK.

In the meantime, NSE Nifty is at 9,383 (up 1.4%). The top gainers in the NSE Nifty include INDUSIND BANK (up 3.9%), DR. REDDYS LAB (up 3.5%) and KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK (up 3.2%). Other gainers include INDIABULLS HOU. FIN. (up 3.2%) and HUL (up 2.9%) are among the top gainers in NSE Nifty.

Over the last 12 months, the BSE Sensex has moved down from 38,277 to 32,089, registering a loss of 6,188 points (down 16.63%).

CASTROL INDIA Financial Update...

CASTROL INDIA net profit stood at Rs 3 billion for the quarter ended December 2019, compared to a profit of Rs 2 billion a year ago. Net Sales declined 2.1% to Rs 10.1 billion during the period as against Rs 10.3 billion in October-December 2018.

For the year ended December 2018, CASTROL INDIA reported 2.4% increase in net profit to Rs 7.1 billion compared to net profit of Rs 6.9 billion during FY17.

Revenue of the company grew 1.4% to Rs 39 billion during FY18.

The current Price to earnings ratio of CASTROL INDIA, based on rolling 12 month earnings, stands at 15.6x.

This article (CASTROL INDIA Surges by 6%; BSE OIL & GAS Index Up 1.4%) is authored by Equitymaster.

Equitymaster is a leading 'independent' equity research initiative focused on providing well-researched and unbiased opinions on stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

TUBE INVESTMENTS OF INDIA LTD share price has plunged 5% and is presently trading at Rs 375.

Meanwhile, the BSE CAPITAL GOODS Index is at 11,399 (up 0.8%).

Among the top losers in the BSE CAPITAL GOODS Index today is TUBE INVESTMENTS OF INDIA LTD (down 5.4%).

SKF INDIA (up 7.4%) and SADBHAV ENGINEERING (up 4.9%) are among the top gainers today.

Over the last one year, TUBE INVESTMENTS OF INDIA LTD has moved up from Rs 368 to Rs 375, registering a gain of Rs 7 (up 1.9%)..

The BSE CAPITAL GOODS has moved down from 17,932 to 11,399, loss of 6,533 points (down 36.4%) during the last 12 months.

The top gainers among the BSE CAPITAL GOODS Index stocks during this same period were HONEYWELL AUTOMATION (up 14.0%).

What About the Benchmark Indices?

The BSE Sensex is at 32,089 (up 1.3%). The top gainers among the BSE Sensex stocks today are ICICI BANK (up 3.7%). The most traded stocks in the BSE Sensex are SBI and INDUSIND BANK.

In the meantime, NSE Nifty is at 9,383 (up 1.4%). DR. REDDYS LAB (up 4.7%) is among the top gainers in NSE Nifty.

Over the last 12 months, the BSE Sensex has moved down from 38,277 to 32,089, registering a loss of 6,188 points (down 16.77%).

ITD CEMENTATION INDIA share price has zoomed 11% and is presently trading at Rs 38.

Meanwhile, the BSE REALTY Index is at 1,345 (up 1.3%).

Among the top Gainers in the BSE REALTY Index today is ITD CEMENTATION INDIA (up 10.8%).

SOBHA LIMITED and OMAXE LTD are among the top losers today.

Over the last one year, ITD CEMENTATION INDIA has moved down from Rs 115 to Rs 38, registering a loss of Rs 78 (down 67.5%).

On the other hand, the BSE REALTY has moved down from 1,983 to 1,345, loss of 638 points (down 32.4%) during the last 12 months.

What About the Benchmark Indices?

The BSE Sensex is at 32,089 (up 1.6%).

The top gainers among the BSE Sensex stocks today are RELIANCE IND. (up 4.0%), ICICI BANK (up 3.8%) and BHARTI AIRTEL (up 3.1%). Other gainers include HUL (up 2.7%) and KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK (up 2.7%). The most traded stocks in the BSE Sensex are SBI and INDUSIND BANK.

In the meantime, NSE Nifty is at 9,383 (up 1.5%). The top gainers in the NSE Nifty include RELIANCE IND. (up 4.1%), ICICI BANK (up 3.8%) and DR. REDDYS LAB (up 3.7%). Other gainers include BHARTI AIRTEL (up 3.3%) and HUL (up 2.7%) are among the top gainers in NSE Nifty.

Over the last 12 months, the BSE Sensex has moved down from 38,277 to 32,089, registering a loss of 6,188 points (down 16.56%).

Share markets in India are presently trading on a positive note. Benchmark indices advanced today tracking firm global cues.

Further, talks of an economic stimulus for small businesses battered by the coronavirus outbreak improved sentiment.

Reportedly, the government may unveil fiscal stimulus amounting to 0.3% of the country's gross domestic product, focusing on small and medium sized businesses, real estate firms and banks.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 524 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 146 points.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading up by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the energy sector and telecom sector witnessing buying interest, while power stocks are witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is currently trading at 75.44 against the US$.

Gold prices are currently trading down by 0.1% at Rs 46,134.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, after a sharp rally in the past few weeks, the markets have turned volatile again.

You would be interested in knowing when the market will likely bottom out.

Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Weekly Cash Alerts, has the answer and he has recorded a video about it.

You can check the same here - This is When the Stock Market Will Bottom Out

Moving on, market participants are tracking Shree Cement share price, TCI Express share price, and SBI Cards and Payment Services share price as these companies are scheduled to announce their March quarter results (Q4FY20) later today.

You can read our recently released Q4FY20 results of other companies here: Ambuja Cement, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Marico, Kansai Nerolac, NIIT Technologies, Persistent Systems, SKF India.

In news from the banking sector, public sector banks (PSBs) sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore for the March-April period to 41.81 lakh accounts, according to the finance ministry.

The borrowers represented the micro small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), retail, agriculture and corporate sectors.

Reportedly, PSB loans amounting to Rs 265 billion have been sanctioned in 2.37 lakh cases for MSMEs.

This is part of the PSB initiative to prioritise pre-approved emergency credit lines and enhanced working capital requirements to the sector.

Meanwhile, PSBs sanctioned loans worth Rs 773.8 billion to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) between March 1 and May 4.

Including the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) targeted long term repo operations (TLTRO) window, PSBs extended Rs 1.08 lakh crore of financing to ensure business stability and continuity.

The finance ministry said that the three-month loan moratorium facility announced by the RBI has been availed by 3.2 crore PSB accounts.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indian economy is poised to recover from the recent crisis brought upon by the coronavirus pandemic with PSB sanctioning loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore in just two months.

Speaking of the banking sector, the low access to credit for micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) tells us there is a huge opportunity for lenders.

This is evident from the chart below:

India's Huge Lending Opportunity

Of the 60 million MSMEs in India, only 11% had access to credit from organised lenders. Most of them are self-financed or get credit from unorganised sources.

Here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about this in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• Self-financing limits the growth of these MSMEs. On the other hand, high interest rates from unorganised sources makes it difficult for them to earn profits.
  
  The Modi government is looking at various ways to correct this problem. Mudra loans, online loans facilities are being made available to MSMEs.
  
  Slowly but surely, lenders are sensing the huge opportunity that lies ahead for this sector.
  
  Banks and other financial firms with prudent lending practices and strong distribution networks will benefit from this megatrend.

Tanushree is counting on 7 top stocks from the Indian stock market that will benefit from this megatrend.

As per her, now is the right time to buy these stocks to profit from the Rebirth of India. You can read about them here.

Moving on to news from the FMCG sector, shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 4% today after institutional investors bought stake in the company via open market on Thursday.

The NSE bulk deal data showed that foreign portfolio investor Societe Generale, a French multinational investment bank and financial services company, bought 129 million shares of HUL at an average price of Rs 1,902.

UK-based Glaxo-SmithKline (GSK) offloaded its stake in HUL via block deals, yesterday.

According to the term sheet, over 133 million shares were offered in the range of Rs 1,850-1,950 to investors through a special block window.

The deal is valued roughly between Rs 246 billion to Rs 259 billion.

Note that last week, HUL reported a 7% decline in volumes in Q4FY20. The company's profit before tax fell 10.6% to Rs 19.9 billion, while net profit declined 1.2% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 15.2 billion.

HUL share price is presently trading up by 3%.

To know more about the company, you can HUL's latest result analysis on our website.

And to know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

TIMKEN INDIA share price has plunged 5% and is presently trading at Rs 888.

Meanwhile, the BSE 500 Index is at 12,146 (up 1.0%).

Among the top losers in the BSE 500 Index today are TIMKEN INDIA (down 5.1%) and LAURUS LABS LTD (down 8.9%).

E.I.D. PARRY (up 8.0%) and TV18 BROADCAST (up 7.4%) are among the top gainers today.

Over the last one year, TIMKEN INDIA has moved up from Rs 549 to Rs 888, registering a gain of Rs 339 (up 61.6%)..

The BSE 500 has moved down from 14,958 to 12,146, loss of 2,812 points (down 18.8%) during the last 12 months.

The top gainers among the BSE 500 Index stocks during this same period were ADANI GREEN ENERGY (up 432.8%), ABBOTT INDIA (up 142.8%) and NAVIN FLUORINE (up 115.8%).

What About the Benchmark Indices?

The BSE Sensex is at 32,089 (up 1.2%). The top gainers among the BSE Sensex stocks today are RELIANCE IND. (up 4.2%). The most traded stocks in the BSE Sensex are INDUSIND BANK and ICICI BANK.

In the meantime, NSE Nifty is at 9,383 (up 1.1%). ZEE ENTERTAINMENT (up 4.9%) and DR. REDDYS LAB (up 4.3%) are among the top gainers in NSE Nifty.

Over the last 12 months, the BSE Sensex has moved down from 38,277 to 32,089, registering a loss of 6,188 points (down 16.83%).

TIMKEN INDIA Financial Update...

TIMKEN INDIA net profit stood at Rs 846 million for the quarter ended December 2019, compared to a profit of Rs 264 million a year ago. Net Sales declined 3.0% to Rs 3.7 billion during the period as against Rs 3.8 billion in October-December 2018.

For the year ended March 2019, TIMKEN INDIA reported 61.6% increase in net profit to Rs 1.5 billion compared to net profit of Rs 920.0 million during FY18.

Revenue of the company grew 33.0% to Rs 17 billion during FY19.

The current Price to earnings ratio of TIMKEN INDIA, based on rolling 12 month earnings, stands at 26.5x.

This article (TIMKEN INDIA Plunges by 5%; BSE 500 Index Up 1.0%) is authored by Equitymaster.

Equitymaster is a leading 'independent' equity research initiative focused on providing well-researched and unbiased opinions on stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z earphones come with a magnetic stripe on the earbuds that pause music when attached.

Kerala coronavirus cases: With May 8 being the 100th day of COVID-19 outbreak in India, Kerala reported only one new case in 24 hours, state CM Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday

Under complete lockdown less than a quarter of India's $2.8 trillion economy is functional. We are expected to lose over Rs 32,000 crore ($4.5 billion) every day during the lockdown

With most auto-stocks down by nearly 40-70% since February 2020, the post-COVID-19 scenario might see consumers move away from all forms of shared mobility to more personal forms of transport

Companies' success in the next 18 months won't be determined by their growth or profitability, but merely by their ability to survive and not run out of cash

India's Goods and Services Tax Council has proposed new GST rates for the oil and gas industry.

Both cars come with eight-speed steptronic sport automatic transmission and a host of safety features like six airbags, attentiveness assistance, dynamic stability control, including dynamic traction control, anti-lock braking system and electric parking brake

Singapore's tax agency has announced that the territory's new double tax avoidance agreement with Cambodia entered into force on December 29, 2017, capping cross-border withholding taxes on trade and investment.

The lesson here is don't marry your stocks. If your original investment thesis fails, you shouldn't shy away from exiting your positions

According to a recent study, each year as many as 40,500 critically ill U.S. hospital patients die with an unknown medical condition that may have caused or contributed to their death.

Nearly 550 dengue cases have been reported in Himachal Pradesh, India and especially in Bilaspur, which is Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda's hometown.

The average cost of inpatient care was found to be (Dollor) 26 in Burkina Faso and (Dollor) 134 in Cambodia, while the average cost of outpatient care was (Dollor) 13 per episode in Burkina Faso and (Dollor) 23 in Kenya.

Highights: Mussels help in treating myocardial infarction (MI) A protein from mussels and stem cells help t

Highlights: Breastfeeding may lower a woman's risk of developing diabetes later in life Pregnant women wi

The Bank of Canada has published the findings of its latest business outlook survey, which shows some concern among firms over the impact of US trade and tax policies.

Ontario's new government has scrapped the province's cap-and-trade carbon pricing regime, effective July 3.

Canada's small business tax rate will be reduced from 10 percent to nine percent from January 1, 2019, as part of a suite of new year tax changes.

The Canadian Liberal Party has announced plans to reduce the income tax burden by raising the Basic Personal Amount.

The Indian Cabinet on August 24 approved the signature of a double tax agreement protocol with Cyprus that would tackle "round tripping" and base erosion and profit shifting.

The revised double tax avoidance agreement between India and Cyprus will take effect from April 1, 2017, India's Central Board of Direct Taxes has announced.

India's Department of Commerce has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into Fluoroelastomers from China.

The United States International Trade Commission will issue countervailing duty orders on imports of cold-drawn mechanical tubing from China and India, after determining that they are causing material injury to US manufacturers.

India is proposing to levy a safeguard duty of 70 percent on imports of solar-power equipment from China and Malaysia.

Medications being used to treat COVID-19 are known to cause prolongation of the QTc in some people. The QTc is an indicator of the health of the heart's electrical recharging system.

Diabetic patients who stopped using aspirin three months post insertion of a coronary stent and then took the anti-platelet drug ticagrelor alone for