1. MiG and Other Firms Paid Millions to CBI, ED Suspect Sudhir Choudhurie's Son, Cousin
Companies associated with the son and a close relative of Sudhir Choudhrie, an Indian origin British citizen currently being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) and whose name figures in CBI’s list of “undesirable” middlemen, received over a hundred million dollars from Russian arms companies in 2007-08.
The Economic Times accessed a confidential report commissioned by Credit Suisse that shows the Choudhrie "family group" – as the report described it – had 18 accounts in the bank. The accounts are, jointly or individually, in the names of Choudhrie's son Bhanu Choudhrie, and his cousin Aman Chopra.
Russian companies that made the payments include MiG Corp, Rosoboronexport and NPO which have significant business interests in India.
(Source: The Economic Times)
2. GST Rates: Trust Deficit Between Centre, States Widens
In an indication of the growing trust deficit between the Centre and the states ahead of the crucial meeting of the Goods and Services Tax council on 3-4 November, both sides are hardening their stand on the tax rates and structure under this ambitious tax reform.
Over the past one week, both sides have sparred in the media to reiterate their rigid stance on the tax rates and slabs.
While last week Union finance minister Arun Jaitley met editors of prominent publications and television channels on GST over a cup of tea and followed it up with a Facebook post last week defending the government’s proposal of a multi-tiered rate structure and a cess, Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac wrote about his misgivings on the Centre’s proposal in a column in The Indian Express.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Gujarat Loses Out To Telangana And Andhra Pradesh On The Ease Of Doing Business List
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the ease of doing business ranking while Gujarat has slipped to third position in the list prepared by the World Bank and DIPP.
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth slots, respectively in the index based on degree of implementation of DIPP's 340-point Business Reform Action Plan.
The Action Plan includes reforms on 58 regulatory processes, policies, practices, or procedures spread across 10 reform areas spanning the lifecycle of a typical business.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Domestic FMCG Firms Log More Revenue Than MNCs in FY16: Report
Country's seven leading FMCG companies have fared better than their multinational peers in terms of revenue growth in India during 2015-16 fiscal, says a report.
As per a Assocham-TechSci Research report, the combined revenue of select seven Indian FMCG companies during 2015-16 stood at $ 11,066.46 million (over Rs 73,835 crore), while that of select seven MNCs was at $ 9,436.66 million (over Rs 62,961 crore).
Among the domestic FMCG majors, ITC Ltd reported a revenue of $ 5,944.79 million, while Britannia Industries Ltd's revenue was at $ 1,222.75 million, the report said.
(Source: The Economic Times)
5. Tata, Cyrus Mistry Put PR Teams in Place, Face a Long Battle Ahead
The Tata group and its former chairman Cyrus Mistry, who was unseated in a boardroom coup last week, have both put together communication teams to handle the fallout and prepare for a protracted battle, if there is one.
Mint learns that the Tata Sons team includes Rediffusion’s Diwan Arun Nanda and the team at the Edelman-Rediffusion strategic venture that services the Tata group, Suhel Seth, and Nikhil Khanna and Nitin Mantri of Avian Media.
Mistry is currently making do with a team from Linopinion, which has serviced the Shapoorji Pallonji group for years. He is also said to be looking for another agency that can take on the might of the PR team Tata Sons has assembled.
None of the executives involved, or their spokespersons, were willing to comment on this on the record.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Indian Markets First Amongst Equals For A Balasubramanian
With domestic growth returning to India, the markets have been able to stave off every piece of bad news.
However, according to Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund’s Chief Executive Officer A Balasubramanian, upcoming global events like the impending rate hike from the US Federal Reserve as well as the US Presidential Elections are likely to cause volatility in India’s equity markets and cannot be ignored.
In an conversation with BloombergQuint during Mahurat trading, Balasubramanian believes that a good monsoon this year has set the tone for India’s rural economy to pick-up. Government initiatives like the Seventh Pay Commission and One Rank One Pension (OROP) are likely to result in an increase in spending patterns.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Amazon Will Continue to Invest Heavily in India, Says Amit Agarwal
Amazon.com Inc will continue investing heavily in India, the chief of its local operations said, dispelling concerns of slower spending by the US e-commerce company after its chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said last week that while the India investments were starting to show results, they had hit margins, contributing to lower-than-expected results in the third quarter.
“Not at all,” Amazon’s India chief Amit Agarwal said in an interview on Monday when asked whether Amazon would slow down investments in India. Amazon, which initially said it would invest $2 billion in India, had said in June that it would invest an additional $3 billion in the country.
(Source: Livemint)
8. Facebook Readies India Launch of Mobile-First Marketplace
Facebook is preparing to disrupt the online classifieds market in India with the launch of a customised, mobile-first marketplace, once the ongoing pilot in the US and three other countries is completed.
“It is currently being tested in the US (and other countries). A specific model will be formed that is focussed on the way business and consumers in India work and (this) will be implemented. The marketplace model makes discovery of products and businesses much more efficient,” said Esme Lean, lead - SME India, Facebook, in a telephonic interview.
However, she did not specify a timeframe for the India launch.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. Mistry's Allegations: AirAsia Probing 'Rs 22 Cr Transactions'
Days after ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry claimed that a probe unearthed fraudulent deals worth Rs 22 crore at AirAsia (India), the airline said it is carrying out an investigation for alleged fraud.
In a statement, the Bengaluru-based airline said there is an ongoing investigation against certain former personnel involving irregular personal expense claims and certain company charges. The statement pointed out that this was already reported and discussed at the previous board meeting of AirAsia (India) Ltd.
In an email to the Tata Sons’ board last week, Mistry said the (Tata Sons) board members and (Tata Trust) trustees were aware that in the case of AirAsia, ethical concerns have been raised with respect to certain transactions as well as the overall prevailing culture within the organisation.
(Source: The Hindu Business Line)
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