GENERAL UPDATES 11.03.2019

RBI SAYS NO DATA ON DEMONETISED 500, 1,000 NOTES USED AT PETROL PUMPS

The RBI in reply to an RTI query said it has no data on the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes used to pay for utility bills such as fuel at petrol pumps, which are believed to have formed a good part of the demonetised currency that returned to the banking system. After the November 8, 2016 shock decision to ban the use of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, the government had allowed the exchange of the junked notes as well as they being used for payment of utility bills for 23 services. Both 500 and 1,000 rupee notes could be used at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds, petrol pumps, metro rail tickets, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills, ASI monument entry tickets and highway toll. In reply to the Right to Information (RTI) query, the RBI said: information on (invalidated) notes used for paying utility bills is not available with us.

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CRACKDOWN HAS NGOS' FOREIGN FUNDING PLUNGING 40% IN FOUR YEARS: REPORT

The Modi governments crackdown on foreign funding of non-profit organisaitons has resulted in a massive 40 percent decline in fund flows from external sources for social uplift in the four years to 2017-18, finds and industry report. Over 13,000 non-government organisations have been acted against by the Union home ministry by cancelling their licences, according to a report. The report has also found that as many as 4,800 NGOs lost their licenses in 2017 alone. Foreign contributions declined by about 40 percent. This comes amid a government crackdown on NGOs for violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) of 2010, says the report. Several of these NGOs which lost licences are engaged in rights-based advocacy, and the crackdown has led to an outcry from civil society organisations who termed it as an abuse of legal procedures. The Modi government had cut short the term of Nachiket Mor from the RBI's central board last year. The report further says donations by individual philanthropists have ensured that the role of private funding continues to grow despite slowing foreign fund inflows. Total private funds raised for the social sector is estimated to have grown to Rs 70,000 crore in FY18, up from Rs 60,000 crore in FY15, even as the share of foreign contributions has come down. India Inch has contributed with Rs 13,000 crore through their mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, which is a growth rate of 12 percent, while individual donations came in at Rs 43,000 crore growing at 21 percent yearly during this period. The report, however, says there is a need for a greater participation by individual donors to meet various goals and projects that the ultra-high networth individuals have the potential to give 2.5-3.5 times more than they are donating now. This is essential because the country needs an additional Rs 4.2 trillion annually to achieve five of the 17 sustainable development goals, which include ending poverty and hunger, good health and quality education, among others.

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RBI RECEIVED OVER 1.63L COMPLAINTS AGAINST BANKS IN 2018: RTI

Of the over 1.63 lakh complaints received by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from January 1 to December 31, 2018, over 50,000 were against the SBI alone reveals RTI reply by RBI’s central public information officer. Along with leading banks, many city-based banks like Nagpur Nagrik and Shikshak Sahakari also featured in the list of over 200 institutions provided by the RBI. All these complaints were received by 21 Lokpals in various parts of the country, who were appointed under the Banking Lokpal (Ombudsman) Scheme, 2006. The CPIO’s reply to queries by RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar mentioned that SBI leads the chart with 50,256 complaints, which is obvious considering its vast network of branches. The complaints were basically related to default or delay in payment or collection of cheques and draft collection/issuance, violating RBI’s directives, levying of charges without prior notice, refusal to open savings accounts, non-disbursement or delay in pension, closure of accounts without notice, and delays in sanctioning/disbursement of loans. In the list, SBI is followed by private banking giants like HDFC Bank with 12,832, ICICI Bank with 10,752 and Punjab National Bank (PNB) with 9,899. Even the newly opened IndiaPost Payments Bank also figured in the list with 35 complaints. Apart from nationalized banks, a host of cooperative, private and even international banks, including HSBC, Emirates and Standard Chartered are included in the list provided by the top bank. Citizens can lodge a complaint with ombudsmen, but only after raising the issue in writing with the concerned bank. It can be done by either writing to the ombudsman office or by visiting the RBI website, as per the bank officials.

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E-TAILERS SAY OFFLINE PEERS SHOULD ALSO COME UNDER DRAFT E-COMMERCE POLICY

Brick-and-mortar retailers should be brought under the purview of draft e-commerce policy and they should stand same scrutiny as online marketplaces, e-commerce companies have argued in a meeting with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) officials on Friday. The industry executives have suggested to the government saying current draft should be split in two broad parts --commerce and data separately, people present in today's meeting said. Another key point raised by both domestic and foreign players is that government can ask for user data only in the case of law enforcement with necessary approvals without which the draft policy could be abused. The government has also decided to extend the deadline for public feedback on draft e-commerce policy to end of March, instead of original deadline of March 9. Industry stakeholders, both of foreign and domestic roots, have expressed the excessive focus on data storage and its usage in an e-commerce policy would lead to operational complications. The word data is mentioned 250 times in the 41-page draft.

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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENTS SEEK SELF-REGULATORY BODY

Business correspondents, or retail agents responsible for driving lastmile financial inclusion, have asked for an industrial level self-regulatory organisation so that a uniform standard can be maintained across the segment. In a closed-door meeting held between the Committee on Deepening of digital Payments headed by Nandan Nilekani and members of Business Correspondents Federation of India, the RBI mandated committee was apprised of ways in which the industry can be strengthened. We have suggested to the committee that a self-regulatory organisation for BCs can be explored which will help bring uniform standardisation for the sector, said Anand Kumar Bajaj. The body said BCs should be allowed to partner with multiple banks so that innovative financial products can be taken past the last mile and also force partner banks to remain agile. If the partner bank is facing technical challenges on a specific day, entire service goes down which is harmful for poor people who cannot waste their time waiting for resumption of services, said Bajaj. It will also help us introduce innovative products with different lenders for our customers. GST being slapped on BCs for fund transfer to non-Jan Dhan accounts has also been a sticky issue. Bajaj said his delegation told the committee that the BC does not access or the visibility to know whether the beneficiary account is a Jan Dhan account or not, since most of them are interbank transactions.

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NEW E-COMMERCE POLICY LIKELY TO TAKE EFFECT AFTER LOK SABHA POLLS

The government has decided to extend the date of submission of stakeholder comments on the draft e-commerce policy to March 31. This has ensured that there will be no chance for the policy to take effect before the general elections in April. The decision to extend the initial submission date of March 9 was taken on Friday after 30 online majors such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Ola, Uber, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft met government officials and raised a series of issues on the current draft policy, a senior official from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said. Most participants on Friday’s meeting suggested that three separate policies be carved out of the current draft. Apart from a demand to incorporate rules on banking and insurance in the draft, online businesses have clashed with the government on multiple issues, prime among them being a tug-of-war over consumer data.

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FINANCE MINISTRY EYEING PART OF NON-CORE ASSET SALE PROCEEDS OF CPSES AS DIVIDEND

The Finance Ministry is working out a mechanism under which CPSEs will have to part with a portion of the proceeds of non-core asset sales as dividend to the exchequer, an official said. However, proceeds from the non-core asset sales of state-owned companies which are candidates for strategic disinvestment and funds raised through sale of immovable enemy property will be treated as 'disinvestment proceeds', the official added. The Cabinet had last week approved laying down of procedure for monetisation of non-core assets of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), including those which are up for strategic sale. It had also cleared the proposal for sale of immovable enemy property. Niti Aayog has been asked to draw up a list of non-core assets of CPSEs, whether profit making or loss incurring, for possible monetisation. Modalities for monetisation of non-core assets of healthy as well as sick CPSEs are being worked out so that a portion of the amount can be realised by the government as dividend. Such a mechanism would provide incentive to the company to go ahead with asset sale with rewarding the government as promoter of these CPSEs, the official told. The government has budgeted Rs 1.36 lakh crore as 'dividends and profits' in the next fiscal, up from Rs 1.19 lakh crore in 2018-19. The amount includes the money received as dividend from CPSEs and surplus transfers from the Reserve Bank. The official further said that while the procedure for monetisation of non-core asset is being finalised, the actual process is likely to begin in the second half of the next fiscal. In order to expedite the process of asset sale, the Finance Ministry is planning to set up a special cell in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to coordinate with the concerned company and the administrative ministry as well as appoint transaction advisors.

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PNB SANCTIONS LOANS WORTH RS 689 CR TO 1,600 MSMES VIA PSBLOANSIN59MINUTES.COM

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has sanctioned loans worth Rs 689 crore to over 1,600 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the psbloansin59minutes.com portal as part of its effort to promote such industries. Under the Mudra Yojana, the bank has offered loan to over 2.69 lakh small entrepreneurs this fiscal (till February 14, 2019). In November 2018, Hon'ble Prime Minister announced the launch of the 59 minute loan portal to enable easy access to credit for MSMEs. MSMEs through this portal can avail loans of up to Rs 1 crore in 59 minutes or less than an hour. MSMEs apply for loans using their GST registration as the portal is integrated with GST server at the back-end as well as IT, credit bureaus and banks. It is able to quickly score the applicant on individual models of lenders (currently only public sector banks). It is a strategic initiative of SIDBI led PSB consortium incubated under the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance. Other partner banks are the SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Vijaya and Indian Bank. With regard to the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Mehta said since the inception of the scheme, PNB has sanctioned loan to over 17.16 lakh accounts with total amount of 21,019 crore till December 31, 2018. In the current financial year, the bank has offered the loan to over 2.69 lakh accounts with total amount sanctioned being 5,290 crore till February 14, 2019. The scheme has helped millions of small enterprises in the country and will continue to do so, in the coming years. The bank has exceeded the government targets under Mudra scheme and has provided additional working capital limit to MSMEs, he said.

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GOVT MOVE TO CHARGE US FOR AADHAAR E-KYC TO MAKE SERVICES COSTLY: INDUSTRY

The government’s decision to charge private companies for Aadhaar authentication has not gone down well with the industry, which argues that the move will make services more expensive for end-users. On Thursday, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency that administers Aadhaar, said it will begin charging private firms for electronic know your customer (e-KYC) transactions. Each authentication will cost Rs 20 and a yes/no transaction will bear a charge of 50 paise. The industry had welcomed the move, but Thursday’s fresh announcement about charging private companies for authentication did not go down well, given that a Rs 20 charge for each authentication would be a significant cost for private firms operating in rural areas. The high price of authentication goes against the purpose of having digital platforms that encourage inclusion. Charging a high amount for Aadhaar authentication is not conducive to inclusion and we hope the government will revisit this, said Sharad Sharma, co-founder of iSpirt, a software products think tank. Digital inclusion and reaching all parts of India are the key thrust of the government’s Digital India programme. The cost of authentication will most likely be borne by the customer. People availing a service will have to pay the company the cost of authentication. Or the companies could increase the base fare of the service they are offering, or include it as a hidden charge, said Srinivas Kodali, an independent researcher working on data and Internet. Telecom companies, banks and financial technology start-ups are the ones that use eKYC extensively for providing services. While telecom companies have welcomed the amendments to the Aadhaar Act to allow e-KYC, the costs arising out of the latest notification will be more than the Rs 20 specified by the UIDAI. Each authentication will involve the customer and point-of-sale representative authenticating the Aadhaar number. This means Rs 20 will be paid by each of them. For a yes or no authentication, it will be another Rs 0.50 per person. So, the cost of one successful authentication transaction will come to somewhere around Rs 41. In addition, there will be some charges for using the data plan, said Rajan Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India. The cost proposition could be a big disincentive for telcos and the association will try to discuss the new charges with the UIDAI, he added. Although the cost of Rs 20 for every Aadhaar-based transaction seems reasonable, there will be multiple additional charges at the back-end. In the initial stages, it will put a lot of pressure on industry margins, said Shailendra Naidu.

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SC NOT IN FAVOUR OF PASSING ORDER AT THIS STAGE TO REFER 10% QUOTA ISSUE TO CONSTITUTION BENCH

The Supreme Court on Monday said it is not in favour of passing an order at this stage to refer the issue of 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections across all classes to a Constitution bench. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it will hear the plea on March 28 and will consider whether the matter is required to be referred to a constitution bench. The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, asked senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who was appearing for the petitioner, to file a short note of the points which they have raised in their application.

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ELECTIONS 2019: INDIA GETS A NEW GOVERNMENT ON 23 MAY

The Election Commission of India (EC) on Sunday said Lok Sabha Elections 2019 would be held in seven phases to simultaneously elect governments at the centre and in four states on 23 May. The states are Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The world’s largest democratic exercise will be spread over six weeks with polling beginning on 11 April and ending on 19 May. Along with the campaign period, the election cycle will last a little over two months. The voter base is estimated at 900 million of which 84.2 million will cast their vote for the first time in a general election. The term of the current Lok Sabha ends on 3 June. The stage is now set for a showdown between the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition. Besides the Congress, the principal challenger, there are several regional parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Even while the opposition is seeking common ground to rally all anti-BJP parties in its fold, the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already launched its campaign, highlighting its track record in office and its proactive stance on national security. The model code of conduct (MCC), a guiding principle for political parties and electoral contestants, comes into effect immediately across the country. Citing security concerns, EC did not announce state polls for Jammu and Kashmir and added that it was closely monitoring the situation. It also formed a three-member special observer team to assess the situation in the state. The legislative assembly was dissolved last November.

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LOK SABHA ELECTIONS: EC IMPOSES MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT

The Election Commission on Sunday imposed model code of conduct' with immediate effect for the Lok Sabha elections and announced that voter verifiable paper audit trail' will be used in all polling stations this time. Among other things, the model code of conduct bars the government from announcing any policy move that may impact voters' decision. He said model code of conduct for polls has come into immediate effect from Sunday and all political advertisements on social media will need pre-certification. The EC said 91 constituencies will go for polls in first phase on April 11, followed by 97 constituencies in second phase on April 18.

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CALL ON INCREASING VVPAT-EVM COUNT AFTER REPORT

Amid demands by parties to increase the number of polling stations where VVPAT slips are matched with EVM results, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Sunday said the poll panel will take a final call on the issue after the Indian Statistical Institute submits a report on it. As of now, voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines are used in all polling stations but results of EVMs and VVPATs are matched in one polling station per constituency. VVPAT or paper trail machine is a device which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip appears on a small window for seven seconds and then drops in a box. Parties have demanded that 10-30% paper trail slips per constituency be counted to ensure there is no rigging.

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SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO DEPLOY FACT CHECKERS TO CURB FAKE NEWS: CEC

Social media platforms will deploy appropriate fact checkers to scan fake news and use of abusive language ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission said Sunday. Announcing the poll schedule here, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said each of the social media platforms has created a mechanism to accept only pre-certified political advertisements during the election process and will share the expenditure incurred in this regard with election authorities. He said all election management-related news on all major national and regional news channels would be monitored vigorously during the election. If any untoward incident or violation of any law is noticed, action would be taken immediately, Arora said. All platforms have agreed to establish priority channels for EC for a quick response. They have also appointed grievance officers for the election, scheduled from April 11 to May 19. (The) platforms are already taking action against fake accounts, spam by deploying fact checkers, he said.

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REGISTER 5 CRORE BENEFICIARIES UNDER AYUSHMAN BHARAT AT THE EARLIEST - RAVI SHANKAR

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, appreciated the efforts of the CSC VLEs and said, Recently, Hon’ President of India and Hon’ Prime Minister appreciated CSCs’ efforts. In last 4 years, our VLEs have become change agent of rural India. I feel proud that we have 67,463 women VLEs in India. He also launched the completion of 1000 Digital Villages and congratulated HDFC for supporting in Digital Village initiative. CSCs will become case studies in Harvard like global institutions very soon. Once, Hon’ PM said that I want to see the governance on the palm of every citizen and I can see it in villages of our country. He asked VLEs to complete the registrations in Ayushman Bharat to 5 crore in next two months. I wish the Village Level Entrepreneurs of CSC all the best and hope they will truly be the harbingers of digital revolution in India and enable us to create digitally and financially inclusive society. I and my government will always support CSCs in enabling delivery of services.

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CENTRE AIMS RECORD LOW NREGS DUES BY YEAR-END

The central government has asked Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, among other states, to pay pending wages for the rural employment guarantee scheme from their own coffers and bring down the level of dues to workers at the end of the year to an all-time low. The Centre, which plans to pay back the states by mid-April, has also granted an additional Rs 1,750 crore to the Department of Rural Development for wage payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for this fiscal. Together with loans from states and support from the Centre, an additional Rs 5,750 crore is available for payment of wages. The scheme, which guarantees 100 days of unskilled labour employment per family, is behind on payments of Rs 8,500 crore in wages for the current fiscal, a senior government official told. The ministry of rural development has just been given an additional Rs 1,750 crore for wage payments by the government, over and above the budget for the scheme, said the official. The government had previously allocated Rs 61,084 crore for the scheme for FY19.

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LABOUR STATISTICS PANEL TOLD TO LOOK INTO 'ABNORMALITIES' IN NSSO SURVEY

The government has asked the standing committee on labour force statistics (SCLFS) to look into the abnormalities in a recent report on employment and suggest changes keeping in mind the high economic growth in the country in last four years. First meeting of the committee, under its chairman SP Mukherjee, will be held on Monday. This committee had suggested the sample size for periodic labour force survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the results of which had shown unemployment at 45-year high of more than 6% in 2017-18. The government has officially not yet released the report, saying the version reported in the media was not final. The government is of the view that high economic growth cannot happen without enough job creation in the country, and said its internal assessment shows that around 7.8 million jobs are being created annually in the country. A survey of over one lakh micro, small and medium enterprises by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had shown about 60 million new jobs were added in the last four years. A senior government official told that government at the top level has deliberated upon the NSSO report on periodic labour force following which a decision has been taken to refer it to the standing committee on labour force statistics. Government had flagged some issues saying the results of the report are different from the previous version. These issues relate to abnormality in the results, said a person aware of the details. The standing committee had approved the report but now the government feels that the results need a relook. So, the results are being reviewed. This back and forth has not happened before, he said. The NSSO report on the periodic labour force survey had triggered a scathing debate over job crisis in the nation as it showed that unemployment rate stood at a 45-year-high of 6.1% in 2017-18, the period following demonetisation.

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CII RELEASES ROADMAP FOR 8% GROWTH IN COMING YEARS

Industry lobby CII Sunday released a 'Suggested Election Manifesto' for political parties to achieve an average growth rate of 8 per cent per annum in the next five years. The manifesto by the CII provides an economic roadmap for the upcoming government, the industry body said in a release. India faces its next general election by May as the incumbent government is nearing completion of the five-year term. It covers a range of subjects including agriculture, education, health, infrastructure, manufacturing, technology as well as environment. After extensive discussion with industry members and experts from various fields, we have evolved key suggestions to make an India of economic strength, technological vitality and moral leadership towards India@75 in 2022. We believe that political parties will consider these suggestions and include them in their manifesto, said Chandrajit Banerjee. The CII said it has shared the manifesto with all the major political parties, national and regional, for their consideration and inclusion in their party manifesto. The CII targets an average growth rate of 8 per cent per annum for the next five years, it said.

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SURESH PRABHU CONFIDENT OF MEETING $100-BILLION FDI TARGET BY 2020

Suresh Prabhu said Saturday the government has set a target of attracting USD 100 billion in foreign direct investments over the next two years. Boosted by the USD 16-billion Walmart-Flipkart deal last August, which is the biggest-ever foreign fund inflow into the country---2018 saw the country for the first time in two decades overtaking China with USD 38 billion in inbound FDI deals compared to China's USD 32 billion. Other major deals included Unilever buying out GSKs consumer business in the country for over Rs 31,700 crore, Schneider Electric, TPG Capital, KKR, Softbank, and Alibaba among others. We have achieved record FDI inflows last year. We have set a target and are already working on bringing in USD 100 billion FDI (by 2020), Prabhu said.

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HC SCRAPS TELECOM REGULATOR'S ORDER TO LOWER NUMBER PORTABILITY CHARGE

The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) decision to lower the fees for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) from Rs 19 per port to Rs 4 per port. The fee was first set at Rs 19 per port, but was later brought down to Rs 4 by an amendment made to the rules on August 31, 2018. TRAI had then said that the amount shall be paid only if the porting request of the customer was successful. The decision of TRAI was challenged by Syniverse Technologies (India) and MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India, which are the only two licenced companies in the business. The companies petitioned before the high court that with the consolidation in telecom market, there would be fewer port requests and a lower fee would render them unable to recover their costs. The two companies had also planned to undertake cost and capital expenditure based on the initial fee of Rs 19. TRAI had initially arrived at the per port transaction charge by dividing the total costs of the MNP service provider by the estimated number of porting subscribers over a period of five years. The two companies, however, contested this and said TRAI had, while lowering this fee to Rs 4, not considered their submissions. The cost analysis undertaken by TRAI was palpably flawed as it had not used the cost data of either of the MNP service providers, the companies had said, adding that the telecom regulator had also disregarded the cost of software licensing while revising the price downwards. TRAI has not been able to explain satisfactorily the rationale for a consideration of this nature, which would obviously lead to a lack of coherence in the calculations made, the two judge bench said.

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CCI SCANNER ON BIG DATA SECTOR TO PREVENT ANTI-COMPETITIVE ACTIVITY

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is focusing on the big data sector to prevent anti-competitive activity We will conduct surveys of big data firms and new-age economy companies, said Ashok Kumar Gupta. Gupta added that the CCI was trying to understand how anti-competition activities were conducted in this sector. The new-age economy includes all e-sales platforms. Any sector where one or a few companies can try to misuse their dominant position is under the CCI scanner. This includes automobiles, health, pharmaceuticals, and cab aggregators. The CCI chairman said the surveys would try to understand how cartels were formed and how anti-competitive actions could be checked. Business practices of big-data firms have been under the government scanner in the recent past. They are also facing scrutiny abroad. Google faced a case for exploiting its market dominance in the mobile-operating systems space in Europe, leading to a fine of €4.34 billion ($5 billion) by antitrust regulators last year.

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JET AIRWAYS COULD BUY A RS 750CR LIFELINE WITH PROMOTERS' MONEY

Jet Airways could get emergency funding if the promoters agree to bring in Rs 750 crore Lenders have approved a plan to convert part of their debt into equity with a 49% stake in the airline. SBI and PNB will bring in Rs 500 crore as an emergency infusion, subject to other lenders agreeing to the two banks being allowed to take out their money first. According to sources, lenders do not want to be majority shareholders in Jet Airways. They have therefore agreed to a debt conversion and to hold equity up to 49% of the airline. Lenders other than SBI and PNB will bring in an additional Rs 1,000 crore as part of this plan. This is subject to the airline promoters (Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airlines) bringing in Rs 750 crore promoter contribution. Once all parties agree, SBI and PNB will release Rs 500 crore of emergency funding. Etihad could bring in funds to make up for Goyal’s shortfall if the promoter agrees to step down.

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UP RERA ISSUES DEREGISTRATION NOTICES TO 7 BUILDERS

The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority Friday issued deregistration notices to seven builders for failing to meet their commitments to buyers covering 14 projects and approximately 4,800 residential units. The first of its kind action against builders has been taken under Section 7 of the RERA Act, according to an official statement. Deregistration notice has been served based upon the information collected, site inspections, complaints in RERA and non-compliance of the RERA Act. While the Authority had already given strict warnings almost two months ago, this decision was taken after home buyers flagged the repeated delays to the authority, UP RERA Chairman Rajive Kumar said. The deregistration process will be moved forward in consultation with the state government. RERA can also give sudden directions to the Promoters to complete the projects as per the terms and conditions fixed by RERA Authority.

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STERLING BIOTECH LENDERS ACCEPT ONE-TIME SETTLEMENT, AGREE TO 65% HAIRCUT

Lenders have agreed to a one-time settlement offer made by the controversial promoters of Sterling Biotech, who have defaulted on bank dues worth Rs 15,000 crore. The promoters, bankers said, have made an offer that entails a haircut of close to 65 per cent for the lenders. In a statement to the stock exchanges, the company said, The committee of creditors has approved the withdrawal of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of the company with requisite majority. Lenders had rejected a resolution plan by ACG Associated Capsules Pvt Ltd and also another on liquidation, the company had said on Wednesday. A senior public sector bank executive said the promoters Chetan and Nitin Sandesara have roped in an overseas investor to repay the loans and plan to pay part of the outstanding amount to show that their intention is to clear the debt. The promoter has already deposited 5 per cent of the OTS (one-time settlement) offer to banks, said the source. While going in for resolution, the Indian lenders have the option either to recover, rectify or restructure the account. In this case there is no issue of restructuring and is a case of recovery by way of sale of assets or settlement, said a banker. Almost 90 per cent of the lenders have agreed to the OTS.

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UDAN SCHEME: 4 AIRLINES TO LINK GHAZIABAD TO 8 SMALL TOWNS FROM MID MAY

Come 15 May, people will be able to fly from Delhi NCR to eight small towns, with four airlines scheduled to start operations under the government’s subsidized regional connectivity scheme. IndiGo, Heritage Aviation, Ghodawat Airlines and Turbo Aviation will launch flights connecting Hindon airport near Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh to Jamnagar, Shimla, Kalburgi, Kannur, Nashik, Hubli, Faizabad and Pithoragarh. The finer details of starting these airline operations under the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme are being worked out, a government official said. A civil enclave has been built for the purpose of these flights at Hindon airport, which is an air force station jointly owned by the Indian Air Force and the Airports Authority of India. Under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme, state and central governments waive taxes on fuel and certain airport charges besides offering financial support to airlines for ensuring viability of services.

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MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL LAUNCHES 3 RAILWAY PROJECTS

Piyush Goyal, launched 3 projects which will enhance passenger experience and modernise Indian Railways. Piyush Goyal announced that all Mountain Railways of Indian Railways will now have Vistadome Coaches. Latest addition of Vistadome coach is in Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Goyal said that to impart airport like look to the station, 190 stations have been illuminated with LED lighting. This will also ensure better security of the passengers. He also informed that 500 Railway stations have been identified for illumination at par with Airport standard. Goyal also congratulated the officers of Indian Railways for implementing the e-office project in a time-bound manner.

1. Station Illumination

As part of its endeavour to provide facilities at Railway Stations at par with ‘Airport standards’, Indian Railways has taken initiative to improve illumination at its Railway Stations at par with ‘Airport standards’. Out of 190 Stations (which were either State Capitals or Million Cities or cities of strategic/religious/tourist importance) selected for improvement in illumination level at par with ‘Airport standards’, till date 100 stations have already been upgraded and work at other Stations is going on at a rapid pace. They are also likely to be completed by April, 2019. Further, due to overwhelming response received from public, it has now been decided to improve illumination levels at 500 additional Stations.

2. Vistadome Coaches

Indian Railways has a number of scenically beautiful routes. Vistadome coaches have been designed to provide panoramic view to the passengers while enhancing their travelling comfort on these routes. These coaches have large windows on the sides and glass panels on the roof to provide better viewing experience. Three vistadome coaches are running between Dadar and Madgoan, in Araku Valley and in Kashmir Valley. Four hill railways have already been provided with vistadome coaches as well. In total 13 vistadome coaches are presently available:

·       Darjeeling Railway – 4 coaches

·       Kalka Shimla Railway – 2 coaches

·       Kangra Valley Railway – 1 coach

·       Matheran Hill Railway – 1 coach

Now, 2 MG coaches have been modified to vistadome coach by Golden Rock Workshop, Tiruchirappalli for Nilgiri Mountain Railway. With this addition, now all 5 hill railways will have vistadome coaches. These projects together will provide better experience to passengers, enhance digital connectivity and will help Indian Railways become the growth engine of New India.

3. e-office project

E-Office project is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Programme of the Government of India. The project aims to usher in more efficient, effective and transparent inter-government and intra-government transactions and processes. Indian Railways will now shift from manual filing system to E-office for its day to day activities to bring transparency and efficiency in functioning. RailTel, a Miniratna PSU under Ministry of Railways, has taken up the work of implementing e-Office system for Indian Railways. E-office will benefit millions of employees of Indian Railways. It will enhance transparency, increase accountability, and promotes innovation.

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MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL LAUNCHES 3 PROJECTS OF RAIL SAHYOG SUPPORTED THROUGH CSR

Piyush Goyal, launched several projects which will boost Railways infrastructure, enhance passenger experience and improve cleanliness and hygiene. 3 of these projects are supported through Rail Sahyog which is a platform for the Corporates and PSUs to contribute to creation of amenities at or near Railway Stations through Corporate Social Responsibility funds.

1. Wi-Fi Facility at 4,791 stations by Tata Trust

Providing high speed internet services to its passengers over its network is a priority for Indian Railways. Out of 8,738 Stations, 6,441 Stations have been planned to be given Wi-Fi facility, excluding 2,297 halt Stations. So far, 832 Stations have been equipped with Wi-Fi facility. 775 more Stations will be covered with Wi-Fi service by March, 2019. 4,791 balance stations will be taken up by TATA Trust and are targeted for commissioning progressively by 2nd September 2019, on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

2. Toilets in circulating areas of stations

Over 2,400 toilets will be constructed in circulating area of Stations with separate units for Men, Women & Divyangjan with low-cost sanitary pads dispenser, incinerator& condom vending machines, through CSR support from corporates like Coal India Ltd. and its Subsidiaries; NLC; IRFC; CONCOR and PGCIL. RITES, a PSU under Ministry of Railways, is project implementation partner, on behalf of Indian Railways. Sample toilets have been installed at Anand Vihar Station, New Delhi Station and Prayagraj Station.

3. Steel Benches at Railway Stations

General Insurance Corporation committed to provide funds for 5,000 stainless steel benches at Railway Stations. These benches will be provided at 250 Stations of Central and Western Railway.

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40 LAKH VOTES IN ASSAM HANG IN BALANCE OVER NRC LIST

Over 40 lakh residents in Assam, who face the prospect of turning stateless if their names are not registered in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) by July 31, 2019, will know by next week if they can still exercise their right to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Assam faces a unique problem as 40.07 lakh voters, though not figuring in the NRC, are registered voters who participated in the 2014 General Elections. Even the NRC finalisation is in the process and these persons have filed claims with supporting documents to seek a place in the final NRC to be published by July-end. Citing their case, two residents of Assam told the Supreme Court to provide a clear picture on whether such persons can vote for the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state. As per the Election Commission figures, prepared in 2016, when Assembly elections were last conducted in the state, out of 1.99 crore voters, about 1.69 crore voters participated. This suggests that 40 lakh votes would have a significant impact in the LS polls. The petition by Gopal Seth and Susanta Sen also presented the case of such persons who were declared foreigners by Foreigner Tribunals but were later found to be genuine citizens by the Supreme Court or the Tribunal's order has stayed. Though there is no fixed figure on such persons, the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S Abdul Nazeer, and Sanjiv Khanna have decided to examine the issues raised in the PIL, argued by advocate Piyush Kanti Roy.

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TELCOS’ AVERAGE REVENUE PER USER LIKELY TO BE 30% HIGHER BY DECEMBER

The average revenue per user (ARPU), a key performance metric of mobile phone operators, is expected to increase by at least 30% by December end, indicating that the financial health of the industry, hit by over two years of brutal price wars, could be on the mend. Currently ARPU ranges between Rs 88 and Rs 100 and by coming December it should touch Rs 130, said Neil Shah. This increase will come on the back of certain steps by telcos, like introduction of minimum recharge plans that make it mandatory for prepaid customers to recharge their phones once in a certain period, effectively ending lifetime free incoming calls, industry insiders and analysts said. Telcos have also tweaked some tariff plans. Market leader Vodafone Idea and second-ranked Bharti Airtel have increased international roaming rates. People are willing to pay more for these services, he said. Their data consumption is expected to go up from 1-1.5 GB per day to 2 GB per day by end of this year and this means they will be ready to absorb any increase in prices. To weed out non-paying subscribers, Airtel and Vodafone Idea have rolled out minimum recharge plans—at Rs 35 valid for 28 days—a few months ago. The efforts have started showing results with the respective ARPUs reversing a falling trend to grow—albeit marginally— in the October-December quarter.

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KARNATAKA CM MEETS MODI; SEEKS EARLY RELEASE OF RS 2,064 CR DROUGHT RELIEF FOR RABI SEASON

H D Kumaraswamy Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought early release of Rs 2,064.30 crore funds to provide relief to drought-hit farmers in the ongoing rabi season, an official statement said. Kumaraswamy informed Modi that the state faced drought situation during this year's kharif season as well but the financial assistance sanctioned by the central government was inadequate. In addition to floods, Karnataka reeled under severe drought both during kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons of the 2018-19 crop year (July-June). The state government has submitted a memorandum seeking Rs 2,064.30 crore drought relief fund for the ongoing rabi season as crop loss is estimated to be Rs 11,384.7 crore. The state has declared drought in 156 out of 176 talukas. The state has released Rs 386 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and given priority to ensure drinking water and fodder, besides creating 1.19 crore man-days jobs under the MGNREGA scheme, he added. The state government has advanced Rs 1,351 crore towards payment of pending wage and material bills in anticipation of release of central funds, Kumaraswamy said and requested for early release of funds to make further wage payments.

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MEGHALAYA HIGH COURT FINES MEGHALAYA DAILY IN CONTEMPT CASE

The Meghalaya High Court on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh each on The Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim and publisher Shobha Chaudhuri and ordered them to sit in the corner of the courtroom till the rising of the court in a contempt case. The case relates to an order by Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen on the perks and facilities for retired judges and their families. The report on December 10, 2018 headlined When judges judge for themselves likens this order to that of Meghalaya High Court’s former Chief Justice Uma Nath Singh and former Justice T.K.N. Singh on January 7, 2016 for providing Z-category and Y-category security respectively. The Supreme Court later quashed the order seeking special category security. Issuing the order, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir said that Ms Mukhim and Ms Chaudhuri would have to undergo six months of simple imprisonment and the newspaper would be banned, if they fail to deposit the amount within a week. In exercise of the power vested on us by Article 215 of the Constitution of India, we sentence both the contemnors to sit in the corner of the courtroom till the rising of the court and impose a fine of Rs 2 lakh each which is to be deposited with the Registry within a week and then to be deposited in the welfare fund of this high court, the bench said. We also further direct that in default of payment, both the contemnors will have to undergo six months simple imprisonment and the paper so-called 'Shillong Times' will automatically come to an end, the bench said while disposing of the contempt case.

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SMALL COMPANIES HIRE MORE MEN TO AVOID MATERNITY 'BURDEN'

Early-stage startups and small businesses in India have been shying away from hiring women after the government increased paid maternity leave in 2017, a survey shows. An amendment to the Maternity Benefits Act, passed in March 2017, raised paid maternity leave for women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, benefitting 1.8 million women workers in the organised sector. LocalCircles, a citizens’ forum which surveyed 9,000 early-stage startups and small businesses, said hiring women who will avail of maternity benefits, which includes six months’ paid leave, has turned into a significant economic burden for startups that typically run on shoestring budgets. In the survey, 46% of the respondents said they hired mostly male employees in the last 18 months. While the government late last year said it will refund employers for seven weeks of pay given to an employee on maternity leave, startups and SMEs said it isn’t enough to cover the cost. As per the survey, 65% of the respondents said that even 19 weeks of pay would be too much for them to absorb. A letter sent by LocalCircles to Santosh Kumar Gangwar, minister of labour and employment, on March 8, proposed that the government should exempt startups and SMEs from the Maternity Benefits Act, 2017, if they have less than 20 employees or an annual revenue of less than Rs 10 crore The proposal was backed by 61% of the respondents who took part in LocalCircle’s survey. The focus on hiring a competent employee is still there, but the focus on improving diversity has taken a back seat. Our survey in startup hiring shows that if there’s a prospective male and a female hire with equal competency, startups today prefer to hire the male, said Anshuman Das. According to the latest Monster Salary Index report, women still earn 19% less than their male counterparts in India. This gap has decreased by 1% from last year. Further, the report adds that women-led businesses received only 65% of the funding secured by male-led ones.

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MIZORAM CABINET APPROVES LIQUOR PROHIBITION BILL

The Mizoram Cabinet has approved the proposed liquor prohibition bill in the state officials said Saturday. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Friday approved the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition Bill, 2019, the official said. The bill would be introduced in the state Assembly during the Budget session starting from March 20, the official added.

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MAHARASHTRA: CABINET CUTS SEED MONEY FROM RS 1 CR TO RS 25 LAKH FOR NEW COW SHELTERS

A revised scheme for cow shelters, the state Cabinet on Friday reduced the initial seed money offered by the government from Rs 1 crore to Rs 25 lakh to set up such a shelter. The renewed Govardhan Govansh Seva Kendra scheme will be run in 34 of the 36 districts. It will, however, not be applicable in 40 revenue sub-divisions that have previously taken benefit of the scheme. In the remaining 139 revenue sub-divisions, the government will allocate Rs 25 lakh for each cow shelter. The money will be given in two tranches of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh each. A total of Rs 34.75 crore has been earmarked for the scheme, which will ensure the setting up of 139 such shelters. The state had till now provided an initial seed money of Rs 1 crore for setting up these shelters in 34 districts. It also provided land wherever possible to interested parties. The scheme was to be run with the help of voluntary organisations operating in the field of cow protection. The implementation of the scheme is, however, slow. Till last year, only 21 such centres had received the initial approvals.

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INDIA, SAUDI ARABIA TO REVIVE WORK ON $44-BILLION WEST COAST REFINERY

Hours before the Election Commission announced the dates of the Lok Sabha polls, India and Saudi Arabia came to an understanding to revive and 'expedite' the implementation of $44 billion West Coast refinery project in Maharashtra, in which Saudi Aramco will be holding a considerable stake. The decision may have political repercussions in the state as setting aside the project was one of the conditions put forward by the Shiv Sena for an electoral tie up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Global majors such as Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) had formed a joint venture with Indian state-run oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) — to hold 50 per cent stake in Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals (RRPCL). However, the progress of the project had got a jolt after 42,000 notices for land survey and acquisition, which were served to families in 17 villages of Ratnagiri district, were put on hold by the state government, following an electoral arrangement between Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The ministers reviewed various Saudi investment proposals in the Indian oil and gas sector, including the urgent steps to be taken to expedite the implementation of the first joint venture West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical Project in Maharashtra, estimated to cost the US $44 billion, which will be the largest greenfield refinery in the world, a government statement said on Sunday. However, there is no clarity on whether the government may be looking for alternate location, outside Ratnagiri for the project. During the meeting, Pradhan raised concerns about increasing trend in global crude oil prices He also pointed to the need for uninterrupted supplies of crude oil and LPG to India in view of the recent production cuts by the OPEC. Both the ministers also discussed about possible adverse impact of recent geopolitical developments on global oil market.

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GOVT SCRAPS 6TH, 7TH ROUNDS OF COAL MINE AUCTION; SALE OF 19 BLOCKS ON HOLD

The Centre has cancelled the sixth and seventh rounds of coal mines auction under which it was planning to put on sale 19 blocks. The coal ministry in a notice to the bidders said that the 6th Tranche and 7th Tranche of auction stands cancelled. However, the government did not specify the reasons for the cancellation.

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TAMIL NADU GEARING UP TO UNVEIL ELECTRIC VEHICLE POLICY

Tamil Nadu is gearing up to unveil its electric vehicle policy which would bring in a change even in the development regulations on installing charging points in buildings and public charging stations (PCS), said state transport secretary J Radhakrishnan on Friday. He said, The state’s inherent strengths in manufacturing, skilled manpower and capabilities in system software will come in handy to lead in the electric mobility sector. This announcement comes in the wake of plans of automobile manufacturer Hyundai to launch electric vehicles in the state.

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SELF-DRIVE CARS, E-VEHICLES WILL BECOME BIG IN INDIA SOON: NANDAN NILEKANI

Smoggy skies, snarling traffic jams, rising population — you could paint a picture of any metro city in India with this. Nandan Nilekani, however, says he’s had enough. India needs disruption right now because the problems are becoming too big and the chalta hai attitude will not work anymore, the Infosys co-founder said. While technology does not offer a solution to the struggles of navigating India’s urban mazes, Nilekani feels the marriage of tech-driven transit solutions like self-drive cars, electric vehicles and public transport with ride-sharing could be the next big step. Given its population density, mass transit systems are the need of the hour in India. Carpooling could gradually eliminate personal automobile ownership, he said.

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GOVT DIRECTS J&J TO PAY ₹74.5 LAKH TO FIRST VICTIM OF FAULTY HIP IMPLANT

The Central drug regulator has instructed pharmaceutical MNC Johnson and Johnson (J&J) to pay a compensation of over ₹74.5 lakh to the first patient in India affected by the company’s faulty hip implants, said a press note issued by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The first patient to be compensated hails from Maharashtra. The State-level committee formed to look into the patient’s issue had forwarded its recommendation to the central expert committee along with various documents including the disability certificate issued by a medical authority in Mumbai. Various State-level committees were also formed to examine issues faced by patients, identify the affected ones and make the process less arduous for them, said the note. The compensation amount was arrived at by a committee through a formula that was devised to calculate the expenses in each patient’s case. The committee that decides on the compensation is headed by RK Arya.

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FORCES WENT TO PAKISTAN TO KILL ULTRAS, NOT TO COLLECT BODIES: SUSHMA SWARAJ

Hitting out at critics who raised questions about the aerial attacks on Pakistan by the Indian armed forces, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said that people who ask proof of the Balakot air strike should be told that our forces had gone to kill the terrorists and not collect their bodies We should ask if our jawans should count the dead bodies or return safely after carrying out the air strike. BJP workers should ask counter-questions to those who raise doubts about the impact of our air strike. Signalling that the air strike against Pakistan after the Pulwama attack would be a poll plank for the BJP, she asked the gathering: Will you vote for people who seek evidence of bravery from the forces? Do those supporting separatists in J&K deserve your votes?

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GOVT LOWERS SALE PRICE OF BT COTTON SEEDS FOR A 450-GRAM PACKET TO RS 730

The Centre has marginally lowered the maximum sale price of Bt cotton seeds (BG-II) for a 450-gram packet to Rs 730 for the 2019-20 season. The licence, or trait fee, charged by companies has also been slashed by almost 49 per cent to Rs 20. The new price of a Bt cotton seed packet weighing 450 grams and 120 grams refugia for the 2019-20 season — October to September — will be Rs 730, including a trait fee of Rs 20. The maximum sale price of Bt cotton seeds in 2018-19 was Rs 740, including trait value of Rs 39. The panel brought down the price to Rs 800 a packet from the previous Rs 830-1,030, while trait value was lowered by about 70 per cent, from Rs 163 a packet to Rs 49.

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FIEO LAUNCHES INDIAN WOMEN EXPORTER E-GROUP ON ITS GLOBALLINKER PLATFORM

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) launched Indian women exporter e-Group on its Globallinker platform at an event to celebrate the achievements of women entrepreneurs. Ajay Sahai, said that this is a unique e-group for the women who may be established entrepreneurs or start-ups or artisans or house-wives or young women planning to start some business of their own. He urged every woman to be a part of this group and make the most of it through regular interaction.

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POLITICAL PARTIES MAY SPEND RS 50 CR ON LOCAL CABLE CHANNELS FOR ELECTIONS

This year’s election campaign is expected to generate Rs 50 crore as ad revenue for the local cable industry. Local cable channels are operated by multi-system operators, and/or local cable operators, and usually cover a smaller geographical area, usually a district. In a non-election year, the ad spend on local cable channels is Rs 60-70 crore. In the recently concluded state elections alone, national parties — BJP and Congress — spent Rs 8-10 crore on advertising on local cable channels, say sources in media planning and buying. According to the advertising data recently released by Facebook, the BJP spent Rs 4 crore on social media platform ads in February alone. Given that political campaigning usually lasts four months, parties are expected to spend almost the same (which they are spending on Facebook) amount on local cable channels per month. Of the 2,000-odd cable channels, around 1,100 are movie channels in various languages. Of the remaining ones, there are around 220 news channels (in various languages) giving viewers news about developments in their locality, and the surrounding areas. Political parties use these news channels, along with entertainment channels, to promote themselves and their election agenda.

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ONLY 4% GREEN BUILDINGS IN INDIA DUE TO LACK OF EXPERTISE, FUNDING: SURVEY

About four per cent of buildings in India are green but a lack of technical expertise to execute projects and funding to pay for improvements remain the biggest barriers to investment, according to a new study. Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle. The Ireland-based Johnson Controls Building Technologies and Solutions conducted its second annual smart city indicator survey to track key drivers, organisational barriers, technology trends, and the status of smart city solution implementations around the world. It also enumerated some of the key drivers in energy investments like greenhouse gas footprint reduction, increasing energy security and increasing building resilience. India is definitely on track to be consistent with the global average, he said.

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HOMECOMING COSTS LAKSHMI MITTAL $7 BILLION IN YEAR OF LEGAL DRAMA

It’s been a tough year as India’s fourth-richest man has struggled to return to his roots When Lakshmi Mittal, 68, left India for a vacation through Asia more than four decades ago, he didn’t plan to stay in Indonesia and lay the foundation for a steel empire that spans the globe and generated $5 billion in profits last year. Yet that’s what he did, even as a string of efforts to establish himself in India’s steel market failed -- until now. Mittal’s global giant ArcelorMittal is finally nearing the end of a yearlong battle to break into India with the $5.9 billion acquisition of Essar Steel India Ltd. The Indian steelmaker was put on the block after its lenders approached the court to recover about $7 billion in dues. The forced sale of the 10 million metric tons a year mill has hit numerous roadblocks including rules that compelled Mittal to shell out an extra $1 billion to clear the dues of two firms where he held some stake and to reportedly sell his holdings in one of them for 1 rupee a share. Perhaps the biggest hurdle was posed by Essar Group’s Ruia brothers, who lost control of the mill after a regulator pushed it into bankruptcy court. Challenges from Essar Group, rival bidders and some creditors have seen ArcelorMittal make dozens of trips to court since an initial bid in February 2018 -- dwarfing its five-monthlong campaign for Arcelor SA in what was the industry’s biggest merger. We have acquired lots of companies around the world. For the first time, we have been sued for acquiring a company, Aditya Mittal, Mittal’s 43-year-old son and the company’s chief financial officer. The legal wrangling landed in the Supreme Court last year, setting precedents for India’s two-year-old bankruptcy law. The drama also sounded a warning to other founders, who till recently were accustomed to an ineffectual court system and to walking away from debts without serious consequences.

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FACEBOOK PLANNING A 'WAR ROOM' IN DELHI TO MONITOR ELECTIONS 2019

In a bid to prevent the spread of fake news on its platform ahead of Elections 2019, Facebook Inc. plans to start an operations centre in Delhi, which will coordinate with the social media giant’s offices at Menlo Park (California), Dublin and Singapore, on a 24x7 basis to monitor election content, said Shivnath Thukral. With this move, Facebook aims for constant engagement with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to understand how it can ensure the coming polls are safe from abuse and misinformation on its platform, said Thukral. Facebook has been under pressure from the India over its inability to prevent misuse of its platform during elections. India will be the second country after the US to have an operations room for Facebook. While the company did not share specific details about its launch date and actual working, the centre will be modelled on the one launched during the US elections, said Thukral. There will be multiple cross-functional teams that will look at different aspects of the platform such as content, policy, legal, while some work closely with the EC, added Thukral. Facebook has already intensified its election efforts and there are already 40 teams working on elections in India. The process began with Karnataka, then the other state elections and will now be further strengthened during the Lok Sabha elections.

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GOVT SELLS 73% STAKE IN DCI TO CONSORTIUM OF FOUR PORTS FOR RS 1,050 CRORE

The central government on Friday concluded the strategic sale of Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) to a consortium of four ports, a move that would help it meet the Rs 80,000-crore disinvestment target set for the current financial year. A share-purchase agreement was signed between the central government and the four ports on Friday. The government held 73.47 per cent equity stake in the company. The transaction was concluded at a premium price per share of around Rs 510, vis-à-vis Friday’s closing price of the company of Rs 437 per share. The government’s stake was valued at around Rs 1,050 crore. Rajeev Shah, said: This is a win-win transaction, wherein the acquisition will facilitate the linkage of dredging activities with the ports. The co-sharing of facilities between DCIL as well as ports is expected to lead to savings for ports. On the other hand, the deal was concluded at a premium, resulting in better realisation for the government. RBSA Advisors had acted as the transaction advisor to the government. Of 73.47 per cent, the Vishakapatnam Port Trust bought 19.47 per cent, Paradeep Port Trust 18 per cent, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust 18 per cent and Deendayal Port Trust 18 per cent. Further, the Securities and Exchange Board of India granted exemption to the consortium of ports from making an open offer in line with the requirements of Regulations 3 and 4 of the Takeover Regulations.

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CS Meetesh Shiroya