1. UP Govt Asks Sugar Mills to Pay Rs 123 Bn Dues in 15 Days
Sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest sugar and sugarcane producing state, have been put on a 15-day notice to settle cane dues of over Rs 123 billion, failing which stringent action will be taken against them.
Ensuring timely sugarcane payments had been one of the main pre-poll promises of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
Now, UP principal secretary – sugar industry and cane development – Sanjay Bhoosreddy has issued strict instructions to 28 sugar mills, which have paid less than 50 percent of the cane price, for speedy settlement.
(Source: Business Standard
2. GST Fails Its Biggest Promise of Economy Formalisation: HSBC
One year into implementation, goods and services tax (GST) has not delivered on the promised formalisation of the economy as yet, while the glitches in the one-nation-one-tax regime has increased the demand for cash, says a foreign brokerage report.
"The GST regime was originally associated with formality. But so far, in our view, it has not been able to live up to that promise. nor has it brought down the demand for cash which has in fact only gone up," British brokerage HSBC said in a report on Friday, 22 June.
The report, however, noted that over the long-term, GST will lead to more formalisation of the economy.
(Source: The Economic Times)
3. ED Moves Court to Seize Rs 12,500 Crore Vijay Mallya Assets
India on Friday, 22 June, made its first move to clampdown on big bank loan defaulters under a new law as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) moved court against liquor baron Vijay Mallya seeking to declare him a “fugitive offender” and to confiscate his assets worth Rs 12,500 crore.
The request is part of the second charge sheet filed in the alleged money laundering case in the Kingfisher Airlines Ltd (KFA) loan default of over Rs9,000 crore.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Govt Likely to Sell a Significant Portion of Its Stake IDBI Bank to LIC
The government is considering a proposal to sell a significant portion of its stake in IDBI Bank to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and has approached the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for clearance, according to sources.
The insurance regulator may take up the matter during its 29 June board meeting. Further, to make this proposal effective, IRDAI is likely to give LIC an exemption from breaching the maximum company-specific investment limit.
Currently, insurance companies are not allowed to own more than 15 per cent in a single company.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. US Yields Little Changed as Market Mood Still Uncertain
US Treasury yields were little changed on Friday, 22 June, trading in narrow ranges, as risk appetite improved a bit with shares on Wall Street higher, but worries over a trade conflict with China kept investors cautious.
“Yields…(are) still lower from a couple of weeks ago and that’s because of the uncertainty on the US trade situation with China,” said Lou Brien, market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago.
Benchmark US 10-year yields were up on Friday, but have declined on a weekly basis for two straight weeks.
China kept up its hostile rhetoric with the United States on Friday, saying through the official China Daily that US protectionism would hurt its own economy.
(Source: Reuters)
6. Former Infosys Top Boss Faces Teradata Suit for ‘Theft’ of Trade Secrets
Teradata, a cloud-based data firm, has alleged that key SAP employees, including its then former CTO Vishal Sikka, were involved in misappropriation of Teradata’s trade secrets. A complaint has been filed by the firm in a US court against German firm SAP.
The complaint, filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California, also claimed that a few SAP employees including Vishal Sikka “were aware of and supported SAP’s misappropriation of Teradata’s trade secrets during the development of HANA”, PTI reported.
(Source: Financial Express)
7. ICICI Bank Gets Fresh Whistleblower Complaint on 31 Loan Accounts
India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank said another whistleblower had accused it of having lax controls over operations. This is the third instance of such complaint. In the first two complaints, the bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar is facing an inquiry by the board and is on leave till investigations are over. The latest complaint relates to the incorrect asset classification of 31 loan accounts, and alleges that interest income and recoveries from non-performing assets (NPA) have been accounted as fees.
It also alleges that the bank overstated the value of mortgages offered for getting corporate loans.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. Zomato in Talks to Raise $400 Million at $2 Billion Valuation
Food-tech startup Zomato Media Pvt Ltd is in talks to raise $400 million, largely from existing investors Ant Financial and Temasek, at a valuation of as much as $2 billion, as the fast-growing online food ordering space continues to attract investor attention, according to two people close to the development.
The development comes as Zomato’s arch-rival Swiggy on Thursday, 21 June, announced a fresh funding of $210 million, the largest by a food-tech startup. Apart from existing investors, Zomato is also in talks with Alibaba Group for the existing funding round that could value the company anywhere from $1.6-$2 billion pre-money, the people cited above said.
(Source: Livemint)
9. Chai Point Expects Aggressive Growth in Its Vending Machines Business
Chai Point, the chain of tea and snacks stores owned by Mountain Trails Foods Pvt Ltd, expects its 2018-19 revenue growth to be a lot higher than the growth rates it clocked over the past two years, mainly boosted by sales of its boxC vending machines.
Revenue growth was close to 60 percent on a year-over-year basis in 2016-17 and 2017-18, a top executive said.
It is also targeting turning Ebitda-positive by the end of this year. Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.
(Source: Livemint)
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