COMPANIES (INCORPORATION) 2ND AMENDMENT RULE 2019
In exercise of the powers
conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013
(18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further
to amend the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014, namely: -
1. (l) These rules may be
called the Companies (Incorporation) Second Amendment Rules,2019
(2) Save as otherwise
provided in the notification, this notification shall come into force from the
date of publication.
2. In the Companies
(Incorporation) Rules, 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules),
I) in clause (a), sub-rule
(5) of rule 30, ( Shifting of Registered Office ) (a) advertisement in Form INC 26 for the words
with the widest circulation, the words with wide circulation shall be
substituted
II) in the second proviso
to sub-rule (2) of rule (38), ROC Fees for e-FORM INC 32 (SPICe Form) for
incorporation of Company with Authorised Capital for the words equal to rupees
ten lakhs the words equal to rupees fifteen lakhs shall be substituted with
effect from 18.03.2019.
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NIRAV MODI FIRMS’ INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS FAILED AS MENTORS,
SAYS SFIO
The Special Fraud
Investigation Office (SFIO) has claimed that the three independent directors” —
Suresh Senapati, Gautam Mukkavilli and Sanjay Rishi — of Nirav Modi’s flagship
company, Firestar International, failed in their duty as mentors and risk
mitigators for the firm’s shareholders. SFIO in its status report on role of
independent directors of the flagship companies of the absconding diamond
trader, which was submitted to the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) last
year, accused these directors of turning a blind eye to the misgivings and
manipulations of Modi. SFIO has come down heavily on them. It said these
directors with their qualifications and experience had enough information to
gauge that operations of Firestar were mired with camouflaged and non-disclosed
related party transactions with overseas entities who were a mere front of
Modi, the report. All the three directors with Firestar International have a
background in finance and management with proven credentials. They were brought
in to give credibility and as a precursor to the planned initial public
offering, the report said. The independent directors accepted the management
responses on the same without any objections or proposing any remedial measures
which raises a stink. SFIO report states that the independent directors failed
in their role, duties and responsibilities under the Companies Act, 2013 of
being a watchdog, mentor, risk mitigator and overseer for the various
stakeholders. They turned a blind eye to the manipulations of Modi in Firestar
International’s operations. This is in violation their roles.
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RBI CIRCULAR HAS ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH, POWER FIRMS TELL
SC
The Reserve Bank of
India’s (RBI’s) February 12, 2018 circular asking banks to move insolvency
petitions against large non-performing assets (NPAs) that have not been
resolved, is based on a 'one-size-fits-all' approach without taking into
consideration factors such as the reasons for non-payment, power companies told
the Supreme Court on Wednesday. There is no distinction between the kinds of
debtors, the reasons for non-payment of the debt or consideration for external
factors influencing the sector, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for one of the
power companies told the court. The discretionary power of banks to decide
whether an account would turn non-performing asset (NPA) or not had also been
taken away by the RBI owing to the circular, he said. A two-judge Bench of
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran is hearing a bunch of
petitions moved by power, sugar, and shipping companies challenging the RBI's
circular. Essar Power, GMR Energy, KSK Energy, and Rattan India Power, as well
as The Association of Power Producers (APP) and Independent Power Producers
Association of India, had in August moved the top court after the Allahabad
High Court had rejected their plea. Citing that in their case, the supply side
as well as the demand side was under the watchful eyes of regulators, the power
companies on Wednesday said that the sector should have been exempted from the
RBI’s diktat. On the supply side, there is a shortage of coal. How do I get
coal? And if I get coal, whether I will get linkages or not is another
question. On the demand side, I cannot increase my tariff. Even if I approach
the regulator to seek permission to do the same, it would take at least 2-3
years, the counsel appearing for one of the power companies told the court. Even
within the power sector, there was a huge difference between the condition of
public and private companies as the dues of the latter was not cleared on time
by states and power distribution companies (discom) on time, he said. The apex
court is scheduled to resume hearing the companies on Thursday. It is hearing
these petitions by dividing them into three categories. There are some companies
that have challenged the validity of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The
second group of companies have challenged the constitutional validity of the
circular, and the third group, which consists mostly of power companies, have
sought temporary relief from the circular only for themselves.
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SC DECISION PUTS BANKS AT RISK OF ADDING $25 BN TO POWER
SECTOR NPAS
A year after the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) tightened the screws on companies delaying debt payments
the nation’s Supreme Court is poised to begin hearing arguments on whether the
regulator’s diktat applies across industries. Hanging in the balance is the
fate of more than $25 billion of loans to power producers They are among
parties contesting the RBI directive that forced lenders to recognise loans as
soured if dues are delayed even by a day and to approach bankruptcy courts if a
restructuring isn’t agreed to within 180 days. The top court in September
halted proceedings against power, sugar and shipping companies after they
challenged the RBI’s rules. The power sector was among the hardest hit with the
government identifying as stressed 34 plants with outstanding debt of about 1.8
trillion rupees. If the RBI directive is upheld many of these would immediately
be pushed into insolvency court with lenders forced to dial-up provisions. The
Supreme Court has said the case will be on top of its agenda for Wednesday and
a judgment is expected once arguments conclude over the next few weeks. Of the
34 plants identified as stressed, only a few units - including JP Power’s
Prayagraj unit - are anywhere close to resolution, people familiar with the
matter said. Banks could face a 75 per cent loss ratio on their lending to
these stressed companies which are on brink of bankruptcy.
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OPERATIONAL CREDITORS WITH OVER RS 1 CR DUES FROM ESSAR STEEL
APPEAL TO ARCELORMITTAL FOR PAYMENT
A forum of operational
creditors with over Rs 1 crore in admitted dues from Essar Steel has appealed
to ArcelorMittal which is in the process of acquiring the debt-ridden company,
to pay their dues as well. The NCLT Ahmedabad has been directed by NCALT to
conclude the process by March 8. ArcelorMittal's resolution proposal also
includes an additional Rs 8,000-crore of capital injection into the company to
improve operational efficiencies, increase production and deliver enhanced
levels of profitability. In its appeal, a forum of operational creditors with
over Rs 1 crore of dues, said it is unfair that ArcelorMittal is not paying a
penny to such creditors Our appeal is that ArcelorMittal may graciously and
voluntarily modify their offer a bit and pay us also if not in one go at least
in installments, over the next 12 months, the forum said. Noting that the buyer
is paying in full those operational creditors with less than Rs 1 crore dues,
the forum said it's extremely discriminating and wholly arbitrary. The
operational creditors with over Rs 1 crore dues are being singled out as if
they are being punished. What crime have we committed?
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HOTEL LEELAVENTURE REPORTS THAT RIL MAY BUY STAKE
The company said it is
evaluating various options for investment in the company or for sale of
company’s assets. There is no binding contract with any investor as on date
either for investment in the company or for sale of company’s assets, Hotel
Leelaventure said. JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (JMARC)
has filed an application with National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against
Hotel Leelaventure, under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,
2016. Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of RIL, holds 18.53 per cent stake in EIH, which operates Oberoi and
Trident Hotel brands.
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AUDIT REPORT GIVES CLEAN CHIT TO DHFL ON COBRAPOST ALLEGATIONS
While giving a clean chit
to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) on news portal CobraPost's
allegations that it promoted shell companies that were borrowers, perpetrated
tax fraud, and promoters concealed their shareholding and resorted to insider
trading, an independent audit firm has raised several red flags including
significantly inadequate monitoring in respect of 15 large borrowers and
certain instances of deviations and non-adherence to the terms of sanction of
loans.;The independent auditor's report on the allegations by news portal
CobraPost against DHFL has concluded that it has neither sanctioned/disbursed
loans to 40 entities aggregating Rs 10,304 crore nor promoted any of the
alleged 26 shell companies that are borrowers. T.P Ostwal & Associates
LLP's examination of the allegations, however, has indicated significantly
inadequate monitoring in respect of 15 borrower accounts (loans aggregating Rs
7,385 crore), highlighted that composition of the finance committee suggests
that promoter-directors can be said to have significant influence on
sanctioning loans over Rs 200 crore; and records indicating that the risk
management committee did not undertake ongoing monitoring of compliance with
the regulatory exposure ceiling. The audit firm, in its report which was placed
before DHFL's audit committee on Wednesday, observed that no loans were sanctioned/
disbursed by DHFL during the review period (April 2015 to December 2018) to the
40 entities (aggregating Rs 10,304 crore) referred to by CobraPost. In the case
of 4 entities, project loans disbursed (aggregating Rs 2,365 crore against the
newsportal's figure of Rs 2,211 crore) have been repaid up to December-end
2018. Underscoring that a major portion of the allegations pertain to loans
extended to entities that are undertaking Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)
projects, the firm said DHFL sanctioned loans to 15 SRA projects aggregating Rs
7,485 crore (CobraPost's said this number was Rs 7,525 crore). Loans sanctioned
for other projects was Rs 3,475 crore (Rs 3,997 crore). The audit firm said the
company has not promoted any of the alleged 26 shell companies that are
borrowers. Further, it does not have any directors in common including members
from the promoter group, with any of these alleged shell companies and the
company or promoters do not have any shareholding in these entities, nor are
these entities shareholders of the company. Accordingly, there are no
indications to confirm the allegations that the company has created shell
companies to divert funds the report added. We were unable to find evidence to
support the allegations that the promoters have concealed shareholding in the
company neither did we find any evidence to support the allegation of insider
trading, said the report. The firm said certain lapses and departures from the
SOPs (standard operating procedures) and policies laid by the company have been
identified. These lapses, point to deficiency in the adherence with the
policies in several instances - the risk of which needs to be examined by the
company, it added. The report elaborated, Though the company is required to
monitor post disbursal end use of funds by the borrowers, our examination
indicates the monitoring in respect of 15 borrowers (loans amounting to Rs
7,485 crores) is significantly inadequate. The records do not indicate that the
Risk Management Committee undertook ongoing monitoring of compliance with
exposure ceilings prescribed by the regulator. However, compliance with
prudential norms for exposure is tested at the time of sanction of loans by the
operational teams. Referring to the composition of the Finance Committee
(consisting of Kapil Wadhawan & Dheeraj Wadhawan -- both
promoter-directors, and one independent director) which sanctions loans that
exceed Rs 200 crores, the report observed that the promoter-directors can be
said to have significant influence in the loan sanction process for loans
exceeding Rs 200 crores. In absence of any evidence to suggest influence, we
believe that their decisions are within the framework of the provisions of the
Companies Act, 2013 and National Housing Bank (NHB). It should also be noted
that the minutes of the Finance Committee's meetings are placed before the
Board in subsequent meeting, for taking on record, the firm said. The report
observed that there are certain instances of deviations and non-adherence to
the terms of sanction of loans having major risk implications, especially in
relation to post-sanction monitoring of fund use by borrowers. As such,
non-compliances with the terms of the borrowing and possible diversion of
funds, if any, by the borrowers would have escaped attention of the Company, it
added. There are also adverse implications resulting into invalidity of the
charges created on assets of 4 borrowers (loans amounting to Rs 2000 crores)
due to non-registration of such charges. Under the provisions of the Companies
Act, 2013, such delayed registration of charges is not possible, the firm said.
Pertaining to allegations in respect of loans worth Rs 14,282 crores to 45
borrower-companies that are alleged to be part of Sahana group and/ or Wadhawan
group, the firm did not find merit in these allegations Further, loans were
disbursed during the firm's review period to only 10 entities of the alleged 45
entities amounting to Rs 4,715 crores, of which Rs 1,640 crores have been
repaid by the borrowers up to December-end 2018. No loans were given to any of
the other 35 entities during the period of review, it added. The firm found the
allegation of political considerations in connection with certain lending to be
baseless and without merit - there was no nexus between loans sanctioned and
timing of the elections. All of such loans were, in fact, not sanctioned before
or during either the Gujarat (December 2017) or Karnataka (May 2018) state
elections. The firm did not find evidence to corroborate or support allegations
of tax fraud perpetrated by the Company or violations of various other statutes
(Income-tax Act, 1961, Companies Act, 2013, FEMA,2019, etc.) - prima facie
also; it can be concluded that the Company could not have been party to such
frauds since there was no role for the Company to play in the perpetration of
any such fraud, it added. The Company has sanctioned and disbursed loans
aggregating to Rs. 2,000 crore to Notion Real Estate Private Limited, Earleen
Real Estate Developers Private Limited, Prashul Real Estate Private Limited,
Edweena Real EstatePrivate Limited as project loans for SRA development. Further,
the firm's examination of available financial statements of Darshan Developers
indicates that the shareholding has indeed undergone a change during the period
of our review and it is highly probable that certain amounts lent to the four
companies may have been used to purchase shares of Darshan Developers
aggregating to Rs 1,424.16 crore from Kyta Advisors and other instruments worth
Rs 299.28 crore (total Rs 1,723.44 crore).
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SHELL-SHOCKED: COMPANIES CUTTING DEALS TO LAUNDER MONEY FACE
SUPREME COURT HEAT
The Supreme Court has
dealt a blow to companies which cut dubious deals with shell firms to launder
money and escape tax Over decades, businesses have perfected the art of
transferring cash to paper firms which invest or lend the funds back into the
companies to legitimise the latter’s ‘black’, or undisclosed, money According
to a recent ruling by SC, if the taxman can back up its claim with sufficient
investigation and the company receiving funds as share capital fails to prove
the genuineness of the deal and creditworthiness of the investor, the company
will have to pay tax on the amount The ruling, issued on Tuesday, relates to a
dispute between the income tax (I-T) department and NRA Iron & Steel Pvt
Ltd, a Delhi-based company that had issued shares to 19 entities which either
gave incorrect address, or failed to justify their investments, or did not
respond to the tax department’s queries. The verdict may open the floodgates to
litigations on the issue of testing creditworthiness for share capital, said
Dilip Lakhani. It would apply to other cases with similar facts. Significantly,
the amendment to Section 68 dealing with share capital became effective from
assessment year (AY) 2013 -14 while the present case pertains to AY 2008-09,
said Lakhani. According to Rajesh H Gandhi, The fact that all appellate
authorities up to high court ruled in favour of the taxpayer makes the ruling
more interesting. It could be used by tax authorities to probe deeper into
share issue deals — more so, with wider powers now available under the amended
Section 68 of the I-T Act. The upshot of the verdict is that PAN of investors,
proof of address, tax returns, and routing investment through a bank may not be
sufficient to authenticate a transaction and demonstrate investors’
creditworthiness. Indeed, in this case, the assessee, NRA Iron, had produced
such information that satisfied the tax tribunal and even the HC which
dismissed the tax department’s appeal. However, the Supreme Court upheld the
taxman’s appeal as extensive probe carried out by the I-T department put
several question marks on the investor firms (based in Kolkata, Guwahati and
Mumbai) which subscribed to NRA Iron shares. In her ruling, Justice Indu
Malhotra said, The lower appellate authorities appear to have ignored the
detailed findings of the AO (tax assessing officer) from the field enquiry and
investigations carried out by his office. The practice of conversion of
unaccounted money through the cloak of share capital/ premium must be subjected
to careful scrutiny. This would be particularly so in the case of private
placement of shares, where a higher onus is required to be placed on the
assessee since the information is within the personal knowledge of the
assessee, said the apex court. The ruling, however, would not directly
influence the ongoing disputes between many startup companies and the tax
department which has invoked another section of the I-T Act to question the
disparity between stock subscription price and the fair value of startups. For
startups, the main issue relates to whether the share premium is ‘excessive’,
which is taxable under Section 56(2)(viib). While there is some overlap between
these two sections, this judgment by the Supreme Court should not per se have
an adverse effect on startups receiving genuine angel investments, said Sanjay
Sanghvi, partner at the law firm Khaitan & Co. Here, the taxman won the day
as the investee company could neither prove the creditworthiness of its
investors and genuineness of share premium nor counter the findings of the tax
department. Earlier, the burden on proof was largely on the company issuing
shares. Since AY 2013-14, Section 68 was amended and investors are required to
convince the assessing officer. In this particular case, no one represented the
assessee in the SC. Also, no one pointed out before the court that the
investors’ responsibility to prove to the satisfaction of the AO became
effective only in 2013-14, said Lakhani.
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BAD ASSETS AND BANKRUPTCY CODE: LENDERS RECOVER ALMOST HALF OF
RS 1.43-LAKH CRORE DEFAULTING ADVANCES
Lenders have recovered
about half the defaulting advances of Rs 1.43 lakh crore stuck in 82 cases that
have been resolved so far in the past two years, signalling that the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has become increasingly effective in extricating
funds from bad assets. IBC has successfully injected an element of fear into
truant promoters, said Manoj Kumar. IBC is yielding results, but it is still
evolving and improving Now, we should focus more on cutting down extra time
being taken due to excessive litigation. Still, 275 cases have gone beyond the
stipulated six-month period, show data compiled by Corporate Professionals, a
Delhi-based company engaged in insolvencies. Out of top 12 bad loan cases,
three have been resolved. The law came into effect in December, 2016. The
National Company Law Tribunal, the dedicated bankruptcy mechanism, has admitted
1,627 cases until February. More than a fifth of these cases have gone for
liquidation, while the rest are either under insolvency resolution process or
resolved.
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IBC IS NEITHER EXPEDIENT NOR APPROPRIATE IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
Law is incoherent without
appreciating the realities of life in the society and cannot be alienated from
societal habits. If a dissociation is deemed pertinent then the most
non-destructive manner of departure should be applied. A systemic change
brought out abruptly, therefore, only sinks the objective. In the Indian
context, the non-performing asset (NPA) quandary would have been substantially
different in the absence of public ownership of lenders, absence of
responsibility/performance de-linked matrix for credit disbursal and control,
and the government playing bankers to businesses. This being the fountainhead
of the massive NPAs in our system, attributing it solely to a failed promoter,
is an outcome of a convoluted and contrived logic. The Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in its present form was never a cure for this problem. It
has only caused acute distress and discomfort among Indian promoters. The
constantly looming threat of losing the ownership and, thereby the entire
promoter capital in an uncontrolled quick span, does not provide an environment
conducive to sustained entrepreneurship. India’s high cost of capital,
seasonality of large businesses, severe government interference and control,
and other unique complexities are compounded by this additional hazard. In IBC,
there exists a (singular) nemesis, the failed promoter; and a sheep to be
saved, the corporate debtor; and an Emmanuel in the creditor. The environment
prior to IBC was sympathetic to the nemesis. According to IBC, a default of 10
and 90 days in satisfying an operational or financial creditor, respectively,
debars this nemesis from shearing the sheep (read resolution process). He is
cast out. Now, this Emmanuel, incompetent to run his own house, wholly remiss
in credit sanctions and management, which in the first place fattened the sheep
to immobility, appoints a resolution professional, who doesn’t know a sheep
from a goat, to assist in shearing. In this process, the promoter dies first
and then the sheep, which by now is scrawny. Society, in reference, is the
society in context and the context of it, therefore, is not be imported.
Comparative assessments like a quick resolution in London or Singapore
contrasted in our context—as observed by the justices in the Swiss Ribbons
(supra) case, are simplistic. Social and corporate life are an output of
habituated acts produced by norms of personal and environmental forces rather
than conscious practice of law. Indian entrepreneurship is a unique and complex
space. There is no measured design. Comparing it with the space in London and
Singapore does disservice to the thought and practice. In India, an
entrepreneur is rarely distinct from their corporate establishment. The latter
does not survive without the former. Our problems are different. We cannot do
with an imported solution, or even a customized one. We need an entirely new
solution. IBC was neither expedient nor appropriate in the Indian context If
mere resolution of disputes were the solitary aim and objective of the IBC,
then there is reasonable success, whereas if its preamble had any guiding
relevance, then objectives are missed by far and, in the circumstances ensuing,
will possibly never be met. Benjamin N. Cardozo, the best of American judges,
held way back that the life of the law has not been logic: It has been
experience. IBC will only hasten the cold demise of entrepreneurship and
promotership in India.
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INSOLVENCY PROCESS: JAYPEE INFRA SUITORS’ PLANS FACTOR IN RS
750 CRORE WITH NCLT
Resolution applicants for
Jaypee Infratech — state-run NBCC and Sudhir Valia-promoted Suraksha ARC — have
factored in their respective resolution plans the Rs 750 crore deposited by the
insolvent developer’s parent firm, which is lying with the National Company Law
Tribunal (NCLT) as per the Supreme Court directive. While Suraksha intends to
utilise the fund for construction of the unfinished housing units, NBCC wants
to utlise it for payment as penalty to the homebuyers on account of delaying
the hand-overs. Though not clearly objecting to their proposals, in the last
meeting of the committee of creditors (CoC), Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, the law
firm advising the lenders suggested that the two should spell out an alternate
resolution plan without factoring in the amount of Rs 750 crore. The Supreme
Court in November 2017 had asked Jaiprakash Associates (JAL), JIL’s parent
company, to deposit Rs 2,000 crore in instalments so as to cover part of its
subsidiary JIL’s liability towards 30,000 homebuyers. Till May last year, JAL
had deposited only Rs 750 crore with the SC registry, which was transferred
subsequently to the NCLT. In relation to 858 acres that was mortgaged for loans
by JAL, both the applicants opined that it should vest with JIL. However, the
law firm said, This cannot be a condition or an assumption for the
implementation of the resolution plan. Separately, in its resolution plan, NBCC
has said statutory liabilities, including I-T, GST and stamp duty, which could
arise in the future on account of transfer of land shall be borne by the
secured financial creditors. Suraksha also suggested that the liabilities
should be borne by the lenders. However, the legal advisor observed that the
responsibility and liability for GST, I-T and stamp duty should be with the
resolution applicant/JIL and not to the account of the secured financial
creditors.
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NTPC TO ACQUIRE STRESSED ASSETS UNDER INSOLVENCY IN NCLT TO
MAKE BETTER DEALS
NTPC, the country’s
largest power utility, plans to acquire only those stressed power projects
undergoing insolvency proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)
to grab better deals. NTPC has decided to go slow on expansion of its capacity
addition through acquisition of stressed power assets. The company is now
looking at only those projects which would go under hammer as part of the
insolvency process, a source told.
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ANIL AMBANI-LED RELIANCE CAPITAL TO CUT DEBT BY RS 10,000 TO
12,000 CRORE SOON
The Anil Ambani-led
Reliance Capital Ltd on Thursday said it will reduce its debt by approximately
Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore in the next three-four months by monetising its
stakes in group companies and non-core investments. In a statement issued here,
the company said this substantial 50-60 per cent reduction in its debt will be
achieved through monetising its 43 per cent stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset
Management (RNAM) and 49 per cent stake in Reliance General Insurance Company
Ltd, along with several non-core investments. The completion of these
transactions would be a major step forward in Reliance Capital's deleveraging
strategy, it said. Reliance Capital said its 43 per cent stake in RNAM is
currently valued at over Rs 5,000 crore and the sale of controlling interests
will be at a significant premium to the market. The Reliance General Insurance
has filed its draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offer with the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
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INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA SIGNS A COOPERATION
AGREEMENT WITH THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION
The Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) signed a Cooperation Agreement with the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a Member of the World Bank Group
(WBG). The IBBI is interested in the effective implementation of the Code and
its Allied Rules and Regulations. The IFC is interested to assist the IBBI to
further build the capacity of the Insolvency Professionals, and Insolvency
Professional Agencies for the purposes of the Code. The Cooperation Agreement
envisages technical assistance up to 30th June, 2021 by the IFC to IBBI in this
regard. It inter alia covers assistance in
(a) Workshops and Training
for Insolvency Professionals and Officers of the IBBI;
(b) Train the Trainers for
Workshops for Insolvency Professionals,
(c) Development of
National Insolvency Programme,
(d) Insolvency and
Valuation Examinations.
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IL&FS FALLOUT: MORE COMPANIES IN ‘RATING WATCH’
Credit rating firms have
put more companies under ‘rating watch’ in the past one year than in the last
12 years following loan defaults by the IL&FS Group that has heightened
concerns over the health of indebted companies. The total worth of corporate
bonds under ratings watch has touched Rs 10 lakh crore in FY19 and now
constitutes nearly 10 per cent of the total corporate debt, according to data
compiled from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which is
available since 2007-08. In 2017-18, corporate bonds worth Rs 2 lakh crore were
put under ratings watch. Ratings watch is used by the rating agencies when
there is an unanticipated event in a company whose credit implications are
either unclear or not fully ascertainable. Events that prompt a CRA to place
any paper under ratings watch include sudden regulatory developments, change in
the ownership control or a significant corporate action like merger or
demerger. The action is meant to be for short-term purposes and once the event
happens, the paper is either upgraded or downgraded based on the outcome. A
bulk of this rating action was taken during December 2018 as credit rating
firms went on a defensive post the IL&FS fallout. Facing the heat from both
regulators and investors for IL&FS, rating agencies started placing debt
papers with any credible risks under ratings watch, say market participants.
There is increased activism post the IL&FS issue, says Mahendra Jajoo,
chief investment officer (Fixed Income), Mirae Asset Management. Sectors like
NBFC, real estate and construction have been under tremendous pressure and
hence a lot of companies are under watch. Post the crisis, rating agencies are
in no mood to listen and have started taking action.
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NOT ALL ‘SELF-TRADES’ ARE MANIPULATIVE: TRIBUNAL TO SEBI
The Securities Appellate
Tribunal (SAT) has reiterated that not all ‘self-trades’ are manipulative SAT
has said that manipulation should be backed by an intent whereas self trades
may occur inadvertently. In a recent order in the matter involving Crosseas
Capital, a large algo trader, SAT directed SEBI to take a relook at its 2015
order where it found that the volume of transaction in ‘self trades’ was
incorrectly calculated by SEBI’s assessing officer (AO). Cases involving trade
orders worth several crores have been classified as ‘self-trade’ and are under
SEBI scanner. SEBI had imposed a heavy penalty on Crosseas Capital for large
number of ‘self trades’ executed at the brokers end in 2011 during trading in a
newly-listed company shares. SAT also went into the arguments to see what
self-trade exactly means or if such trades can lead to manipulation. SAT
observed that self-trades placed through algo trading software using different
terminals through the same broker, may get matched accidentally without any
manipulative intention. As such, mere occurrence of self-trades may be
accidental but still would attract the provisions of prevention of fraudulent
and unfair trade practices if any additional material, evidence or
circumstances are available to indicate manipulation of the price or volume of
the scrip or creation of false or misleading appearance of trading in
securities market resulting from such self-trades. SAT referred to an earlier
court order involving a trader where manipulation was established on the basis
of intention. SAT also quoted SEBI’s own 2017 circular where the regulator had
argued that all self-trades should not be considered illegal in the absence of
any other additional evidence to prove manipulation or intent to defraud as is
done in cases of synchronised trades. Therefore, in all matters of self-trade,
an assessment has to be made regarding whether the said trade was intentional
or unintentional on the basis of supporting evidence and the manipulation
caused by indulging in self-trades should be clearly brought out. On March 11,
2011, Sudar Industries got listed and its price price rose by 47 per cent that
led to SEBI investigation. The regulator issued a show-cause notice in 2015 and
imposed a penalty of ₹1.1 crore on the broker. SEBI assessing officer found that
total market volume constituted by the appellant in the scrip by way of
self-trades was around 4 per cent and took the total market volume into
consideration to be substantial creating misleading appearance of trading with
the intention of misleading the market. The lawyers for the broker argued that
the finding given by the AO that the appellant had self-traded around 4 per
cent of the total market volume in the SIL scrip was factually incorrect. It
was urged that the total percentage of self-trades was only 1.95 per cent of
the total market. The AO has considered other aspects and found that the
execution of self-trades by the appellant was manipulative But SAT citied
various instances and orders to state that manipulation could only be
established if there was an intent to do so.
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DEBATE RAGES OVER SEBI’S ‘NOT FIT & PROPER’ ORDER ON
COMMODITY PLAYERS IN NSEL SCAM
Commodity arms of leading
brokerage houses were declared ‘not fit and proper’ by SEBI last week for their
role in the NSEL scam, but the fact that similar strictures were not passed by
the regulator against key management persons responsible for the company’s
action has raised eyebrows. A company on its own may not be ‘dishonest’ or
carry adverse reputation but it is the responsibility of the key management or
board that needs to be assessed especially when they are part of another
company handling client money in capital market, experts told. In the past,
when SEBI declared entities ‘not fit and proper’ in high-profile cases
involving Sahara India and Financial Technologies, the regulator further
studied the role of its management and board to accord them a similar tag,
securities lawyers said. Sahara’s billionaire promoter Subrata Roy was called
the ‘mastermind’ for raising ₹24,000 crore from investors and was forced to exit mutual fund
business. Recently, the commodity arms of Anand Rathi, Motilal Oswal, IIFL
Geofin Comtrade and Philip Capital were declared ‘unfit’.
The SEBI order was mainly based on observations against the brokers by court,
serious fraud investigation office and police. Legal experts say, SEBI should
go into details of allegations to hold individuals responsible too as it did in
the past. Ideally, SEBI may determine the role of people at the helm of the
entity that was declared unfit and ensure that those responsible disassociate
themselves from management of other regulated entities, too. Fit and proper
cases also take into account ‘general reputation’ of individuals associated
with the company declared ‘unfit’. At least in big scams this should be looked
at but the regulator has (its) own discretion, said Tejesh Chitlangi. Schedule
II of Intermediaries Regulations under SEBI Act specifies ‘fit and proper’
criteria for entities. Among other things, it specifies integrity, reputation
and character as key for being ‘fit and proper’. In October 2018, the Bombay
High Court said, Perusal of the Regulation 7 read with Schedule II would reveal
that while making an inquiry to find as to whether the applicant is fit and
proper person the board (SEBI) is entitled to conduct an inquiry not only about
the applicant intermediary, but also its principal officer, director, promoter
and the key management persons, with regard to their integrity, character,
absence of conviction and restraint orders, competence including financial
solvency and net worth, absence of categorisation as a wilful defaulter. The
court made these observations while presiding over an application by brokerage
IIFL relating to the NSEL matter. Anticipating adverse SEBI orders, most large
brokers had themselves applied to cancel their commodity registration
certificate, making SEBI’s current order redundant, experts said. Be it RBI,
SEBI or IRDA, it is important for any regulator in a ‘fit and proper’ case to
check on individuals who could be directly responsible for the working of
companies, said Sanjay Asher.
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NATIONAL CENTRE FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE (NCGG) AND INDIAN
INSTITUTE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS (IICA) SIGN AN MOU
The National Centre for
Good Governance (NCGG) and Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) have
signed an MoU Shri K. V. Eapen briefed the objective of the MoU that IICA will
support NCGG for utilization of infrastructure facilities during the training
programme of NCGG at Delhi and for academic & intellectual interactions for
5 years. It aims to promote good governance through Capacity Building on Public
Policy and Governance both at National and International Level and carrying out
studies/ action research on issues relating to governance.
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NELCO GETS IN-FLIGHT, MARITIME CONNECTIVITY LICENCE FROM DOT
Tatanet Services Ltd
(TNSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nelco Limited (NELCO), has won a licence
from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide in-flight and
maritime connectivity (IFMC) services. The company is in talks with Department
of Space (DoS) and ISRO to further augment its satellite infrastructure to
offer high quality IFMC services. This licence (authorization) was granted
under the flight & maritime connectivity rules 2018, announced by the
Central Government, the company said in a statement. The licence for IFMC services
will now make it possible for people to access high-quality broadband Internet
services and make voice calls while flying in Indian airspace and sailing in
Indian waters, in the same manner that they do while at home or office, said P
J Nath.
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‘INDIA LOST $18.5 B DUE TO DIGITAL BLACKMARKETS’
Even as the India economy
looks set for a leap with the government’s ‘Digital India’ vision, losses due
to the digital black or ‘darknet’ markets is only likely to grow a foreign
policy think-tank says. Digital black markets operate via darknets and are
involved in illegal sale of drugs, cyber-arms, weapons, counterfeit currency,
stolen credit card details, forged documents, unlicensed pharmaceuticals,
steroids and other illicit goods including child pornography. According to a
report by Gateway House, India suffered an economic loss of $18.5 billion in
2017 due to business on the digital black markets, a four-fold increase from
$4.2 billion in 2014. While the think-tank is currently collating the
statistics for 2018, the biggest question of the hour is how to clamp down on
such darknet markets.
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JET AIRWAYS ASSURES STAFF OF RESOLVING CRISIS IN 30 DAYS
Jet Airways (India) Ltd
executives on Tuesday assured ground staff that the airline will resolve its
crisis in a month a senior official of its workers’ union said. We got news
that about 43 aircraft of Jet Airways are grounded.
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‘AIRLINES TO HIRE 1.9 LAKH BY 2028’
Notwithstanding the
financial issues faced by Jet Airways and Air India, Indian carriers will
require an additional 1.09 lakh employees in the next nine years, including
14,000 pilots, to support their growth plans, aviation consulting and research
firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) India said in its projections. From
now till FY2028, airline companies would require an additional 50,411
administrative staff while additional 22,706 maintenance engineers would be
needed. CAPA had estimated that airlines would hire an additional 16,722 cabin
crew. General aviation would also require an additional 1,292 engineers, 1,415
pilots and 2,711 administrative and management staff. Besides this Indian
airports, airport-based service providers and air navigation operations would require
an additional 1,47,000 employees by 2028, CAPA India said. A total of 17,000
more pilots need to be hired considering the attrition rate of 3 to 5% (3,446
pilots) to West Asia and on medical reasons. At most, Indian carriers, pilots
are flying at best 660-720 hours per annum but the average is 591 hours out of
a maximum limit of 1,000, CAPA India said.
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WALMART EXPECTED REGULATORY CHANGES, BUT DISAPPOINTED IT
HAPPENED QUICKLY: BRETT BIGGS, CFO
Walmart chief financial
officer Brett Biggs said it anticipated regulatory changes in India but was
disappointed it happened so quickly referring to the foreign direct investment
(FDI) norms in ecommerce that changed last month. We will have legislation
changes, we know that and you work your way through it. It is disappointing
that you have a law like that changed that quickly, but we have made the
adjustments and we are moving forward, said Briggs at Raymond James. When you
make investment in India, note things are going to change. We knew that going
into an investment and you have just got to work their way through.
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BENGALURU HAS 98 ULTRA HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS IN 2018
Bengaluru had 98 Ultra
High Net Worth Individuals (UHWNIs) in 2018. The 13th edition of The Wealth
Report2019 forecast said Bengaluru is expected to see UHWNIs growth of 40 per
cent in the next 5 years. Leading this table is Bengaluru, which is expected to
see a UHWNIs growth of 40 per cent in the next five years and is followed by
Hangzhaou 732 UHWNIs, growth of 34 per cent. Stockholm 559 UHWNIs, growth 23
per cent. Cambridge 68 UHWNIs, growth 19 per cent and Boston 426 UHWNIs, growth
15 per cent. Bengaluru which is the home to companies which includes Flipkart,
Infosys and Wipro, and over 400 multinationals including Microsoft, Hitachi and
Samsung have bases. Shishir Baijal, said Bengaluru is the first amongst five
eye-catching ‘cities of the future’ based on their future economic potential.
This growth backed by its intrinsic potential arising from strong economic
fundamentals, will also attract investments both from domestic as well as
institutional sources.
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BILLIONAIRE BABA: PATANJALI’S ACHARYA BALKRISHNA AMONG FORBES’
BILLIONAIRE LIST
While India is a land of
curious happenings and with babas historically known for conducting miracles,
Patanjali’s Acharya Balkrishna has managed to pull another marvel by featuring
in Forbes’ billionaires’ list. Ranking 365 on the list, he shares the feat with
none other than Mukesh Ambani, who leapt six spots to become earth’s 13th
wealthiest man. Acharya Balakrishna also became India’s 15th richest man in
2018, outranking Bajaj fame Rahul Bajaj, DLF group’s Kushal Pal Singh and
Nirma’s Karsanbhai Patel. With real-time worth at $4.8 billion and net worth
around $5 billion ($4.9 billion), Acharya Balkrishna manages the operations of
Patanjali Ayurved. He also owns 98.6% of Patanjali Ayurved which he had founded
with Baba Ramdev. Currently, Patanjali Ayurved generates annual revenue of $1.6
billion, Forbes said in its report. It added that Patanjali has inked pacts
with e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart to swell its sales. Wipro’s
Azim Premji is the second richest Indian after Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth
at $22.6 billion, and is 36th richest man on the globe. Following him is Shiv
Nadar, the IT pioneer after whose name Shiv Nadar Foundation is established. He
ranked 86th on the list with a total worth of $14.6 billion. Also on the list
are Lakshmi Mittal (Rank 96, $13.6 billion worth), Uday Kotak (rank 114, $11.8
billion), and Kumar Mangalam Birla (rank 122, $11.1 billion), among others.
Cyrus Poonawalla, Gautam Adani, Dilip Shanghvi, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Savitri
Jindal also made it to the 25 richest Indians list. Meanwhile, Amazon fame Jeff
Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates continue to be on the top two spots, followed
by Warren Buffet. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg bagged the 8th spot on the list. Mukesh
Ambani is the only Indian to feature in the top 20 billionaires.
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INTERNET USERS IN INDIA TO REACH 627 MILLION IN 2019: REPORT
India's internet users
expected to register double digit growth to reach 627 million in 2019, driven
by rapid internet growth in rural areas, market research agency Kantar IMRB
Wednesday said. Internet usage in the country has exceeded half a billion
people for first time, pegged at 566 million driven by rural internet growth
and usage. In its ICUBE 2018 report that tracks digital adoption and usage
trends in India, it noted that the number of internet users in India has
registered an annual growth of 18 percent and is estimated at 566 million as of
December 2018, a 40 percent overall internet penetration, it observed. It
projected a double digit growth for 2019 and estimates that the number of
internet users will reach 627 million by the end of this year. Of the total
user base, 87 percent or 493 million Indians, are defined as regular users,
having accessed internet in last 30 days. Nearly 293 million active internet
users reside in urban India, while there are 200 million active users in rural
India, it said. The report found that 97 percent of users use mobile phone as
one of the devices to access internet. While internet users grew by 7 percent
in urban India, reaching 315 million users in 2018, digital adoption is now
being propelled by rural India, registering a 35 percent growth in internet
users over the past year. It is now estimated that there are 251 million
internet users in rural India and this is expected to reach 290 million by the
end of 2019, the report said. Increased availability of bandwidth, cheap data
plans and increased awareness driven by government programmes seem to have
rapidly bridged the digital gap between urban and rural India. Consequently,
the penetration in rural India has increased from 9 per cent in 2015 to 25
percent in 2018, it added. Bihar registered the highest growth in internet
users across both urban and rural areas, registering a growth of 35 percent
over last year. The report also noted that the internet usage is more gender
balanced than ever before with women comprising 42 percent of total internet
users. It is fascinating to note that the digital revolution is now sweeping
small towns and villages perhaps driven by increased accessibility at
affordable data costs. The increase in the usage of digital in rural India,
where more than two-thirds of active internet users are now accessing the
internet daily to meet their entertainment and communication needs, Media and
Digital Hemant Mehta said.
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INDIA HAS CHEAPEST MOBILE DATA IN WORLD: STUDY
India has the cheapest
mobile data in the world with 1GB costing just Rs 18.5 (USD 0.26) as compared
to global average of about Rs 600. The average price of USD 0.26 for one
gigabyte (GB) in India compares to USD 6.66 in the UK and USD 12.37 for the
same amount of data in the US, the study, which compared mobile data charges in
230 countries, showed. The global average was USD 8.53 for 1GB. With over 430
million smartphone users, India is the second largest smartphone market in the
world after China. Jio has signed on 280 million customers by offering free
domestic voice calls, dirt-cheap data services, and virtually free smartphones.
Its offering has led to slashing of rates by its competitors as well. Jio has
helped Ambani jump six positions on the Forbes World’s Billionaire list to rank
13th in the world. Cable.co.uk said it compared data from 6,313 mobile data
plans in 230 countries between October 23 and November 28, 2018 for the study.
India is followed by Kyrgyzstan where 1GB data is available for USD 0.27,
Kazakstan (USD 0.49) and Ukraine (USD 0.51). Zimbabwe is the most expensive
country where average cost of 1GB data comes at an eye-watering USD 75.20.
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AIRTEL'S CAPITAL INFUSION: PROMOTERS TO TAKE PART IN RS 25K-CR
RIGHTS ISSUE
Bharti Airtel's board of
directors have approved a rights issue to the eligible shareholders for an
amount up to Rs 25,000 crore, the company informed stock exchanges on Thursday.
This is part of the $4.57 billion capital-infusion plan. Promoters of Bharti
Airtel along with Singapore government's investment arm GIC Private Ltd will
subscribe to over half of the proposed Rs 32,000 crore rights issue in a bid to
infuse funds in the company. The entire rights entitlement of promoter and
promoter group of approximately Rs 167,857million (Rs 16,785.7 crore) will be
subscribed by them and GIC, Bharti Airtel said in a statement Thursday.
Promoter Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) will subscribe to 170 million
shares in the Airtel’s rights issue for a total consideration of Rs 3750 crore,
the Singapore-based company said in a separate statement.
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YOUTH INACTIVITY HIGHEST IN INDIA AMONG EMERGING MARKETS: IMF
ECONOMIST
Youth inactivity is the
highest in India among emerging and developing economies, John Bluedorn said on
Wednesday. Youth inactivity is the highest in India compare to emerging and
developing economies and it is about in 30 per cent, he said. Bluedorn noted
that the key challenges facing youth in emerging economies labour markets
include gender gaps, technological change, poor job quality in employment. He
also pointed out that emerging and developing economies are less vulnerable
than advanced economies from technological changes and automation challenges. A
recent data compiled by Mumbai-based CMIE reportedly claimed that the unemployment
rate in India rose to 7.2 per cent in Feb 2019.
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INFOSYS WON'T COMPROMISE ON GROWTH MARGINS: CEO SALIL PAREKH
Infosys will not compromise
on margins for pushing up revenue growth and its current investment in people
and building up digital capabilities will not affect its margins in any form
rather make the company future-ready. Salil Parekh said the firm was
strengthening its marketing muscle by hiring more number of people as part of
its go-to-market strategy apart from adding more locals in key client
geographies.
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DARK DAYS AHEAD FOR RUPEE OVER TRADE, LOK SABHA ELECTION
JITTERS: POLL
The Indian rupee’s weak
start to 2019 is an indication of how it will perform over the coming year,
strategists in a Reuters poll said, citing uncertainty ahead of a general
election in May and a potential trade conflict with the United States. Last
year, the currency tumbled about 10 percent and hit a record low of 74.485 to
the dollar in October, marking its worse performance since 2013, driven by a
sell-off in emerging markets and a widening fiscal deficit as oil prices rose.
While the consensus showed the rupee would not breach that record over the next
12 months, the currency was expected to weaken over 1 percent to 71.28 in 12
months from about 70.50 on Wednesday, according to the poll of 50 currency
strategists. Still, in a general upswing for most currencies against the
dollar, the rupee recouped some of its 2018 losses last month. But the Indian
currency, which is down about 1 percent this year, is forecast to weaken nearly
2 percent by end-May, suggesting upcoming elections are a clear risk. The
rupee’s weakness has started kicking back in and will remain in play until the
political dust settles, said Prakash Sakpal. We expect a win for the BJP in
May, but it will be very difficult for the BJP to get a substantial majority
which will complicate a further implementation of necessary reforms, said Hugo
Erken. In the medium-term we expect a gradual depreciation of the INR due to a
normalization of inflation rates. In case of a loss for the BJP in May, we
expect financial market volatility - the INR could potentially spike to 74, the
levels that we saw during the Indian rupee crisis last year.
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ON FACEBOOK, BJP TAKES GIANT EARLY LEAD IN AD SPEND
According to data made
available by the social media company for the month of February, BJP and its
affiliates made up for over 50% of the total spend. Congress and its affiliates
came third, behind regional parties. Affiliates in these calculations include
individuals from a party, ministers, MPs, MLAs and organisational leaders, and
outfits that clearly seek backing for a particular party as well as fan pages
on Facebook that do the same. BJP leaders involved in election-related
publicity told that social media will account for 20-25% of the party’s total
ad spend by the time campaigning is over. BJP and its affiliates spent Rs 2.37
crore in February on Facebook ads Regional parties spent about Rs 19.8 lakh,
while Congress and its affiliates spent around Rs 10.6 lakh. Government
departments such as MyGov and campaigns like Digital India have spent over 35
lakh on Facebook, the data revealed.
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FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION IS ENCRYPTED, PRIVATE MESSAGING: MARK
ZUCKERBERG
Facebook Inc Chief
Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company would encrypt
conversations on more of its messaging services and make them compatible, the
latest sign that the world's biggest social network sees its future in intimate
online chats. Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook profile that within a
few years direct messaging would dwarf discussion on the traditional, open
platform of Facebook's news feed, where public posts can go viral across the
world. Working towards implementing end-to-end encryption for all private
communications is the right thing to do, Zuckerberg said. He cautioned that details
of the plan could change as the company consults experts throughout 2019. The
strategy could frustrate law enforcement surveillance efforts as well as
lawmakers who have called on Facebook to better moderate user content. It also
would limit the company's ability to generate revenue through targeted ads. But
Zuckerberg said he could live with those tradeoffs because users want better
control of their data while still having easy access to their contacts.
Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that significant thought still needs to go into
integrating commerce into messaging.
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PARLIAMENTARY PANEL CONCERNED OVER ABILITY OF FACEBOOK TO
CHECK MISUSE OF ITS PLATFORM
A parliamentary panel on
Wednesday expressed concern over social media giant Facebook's ability to
prevent misuse of its platform during elections in India, sources said. Senior
official of Facebook appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Information Technology headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur and responded to concerns
raised by the lawmakers over the possible misuse of social media to influence
elections. Facebook has given a commitment to the panel that identity, location
and who paid for advertisements during elections will be available on a special
web page for users, sources said. According to sources, Facebook told the
committee members that it was a hybrid company and failed to clearly answer
which regulatory framework apply to their content, advertising and marketing
operations in India. The US-based company also admitted it doesn't always get
it right regarding content moderation on its platform. One of the source said
that the sense of committee members was that despite all the apologies for past
mistakes that Facebook has made, it still seems unwilling to be properly
scrutinised and transparent. On concerns raised by some members regarding
insensitive tweets and public comments by company employees, Joel Kaplan,
apologised for remarks made by Facebook employees especially on terrorism and
recent Pulwama attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, sources added. All members of the
Committee expressed that they are unconvinced that Facebook and its employees
are behaving neutrally, they said.
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GOOGLE LAUNCHES ‘BOLO’ APP TO HELP CHILDREN READ HINDI,
ENGLISH
Tech giant Google on
Wednesday unveiled a new app ‘Bolo’ that aims to help children in primary
school learn to read in Hindi and English The free app, which is being launched
in India first, uses Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.
The app features an animated character ‘Diya’, who encourages children to read
stories aloud and helps if the child is unable to pronounce a word. It also
lauds the reader when he/she completes the reading. We have designed the app to
work offline, so users need to just download the under 50MB app once and then
they have access to close to 100 stories in Hindi and English that the children
can read out loud and improve their reading skills, Nitin Kashyap told PTI. Bolo
will be available on Google Play Store in India for all smartphones running
Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) and higher, he added. Google piloted the ‘Bolo’ app in
about 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh and the early results were very encouraging
with 64 per cent of children showing an improvement in reading proficiency in
just three months, Kashyap said. We are now actively working with a number of
non-profit partners to take the app to more people across the country who could
benefit from it, he said.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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