1. Chettinad Group Patriarch MAM Disowns Adopted Son – TOI
The soap opera around yet another prominent business family is headed for a climax as Chennai-based industrialist and racing baron M A M Ramaswamy , 84, moved to disown his adopted son and appoint A C Muthiah, cousin and promoter of SPIC, as custodian of all his wealth.
Ramaswamy , who managed Chettinad Cement and is better known as MAM, told the media on Tuesday that he would create two separate trusts to ringfence the family fortune from his adopted son and take forward the `Chettinad’ legacy of charity and philanthropy. AC Muthiah, he added, would be the custodian of the trusts.
2.PVR Acquires DT Cinemas from DLF for Rs 500 cr – TOI
India’s biggest multiplex firm PVR has signed a deal to acquire DLF’s DT Cinemas for Rs 500 crore. While DT Cinemas operates 29 screens with 6,000 seats across eight properties in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Chandigarh, it is going to add 10 new screens at two properties in the NCR. At present, PVR has 467 screens across 105 locations in 43 cities.
As a result of the proposed acquisition, PVR will have a presence in 44 cities with 115 multiplexes and 506 screens.
3.India Will be Less Vulnerable to Volatility among Emerging Mkts – ET
A gradual increase in US Fed rates will not hurt India, says Sanjay Shah, MD, Morgan Stanley India.
India is one of the best placed countries among emerging markets. We have right-sized our fiscal balances; current account is in control; inflation is much lower than what it was in the past and foreign exchange reserves are much higher than what they were earlier. So, these four parameters are going in our support. This means that even if there is volatility, India will be less vulnerable than most other emerging markets.
– Sanjay Shah, MD, Morgan Stanley India
4.Govt Turns Down FDI in Retail E-Commerce – BS
The Union government will not ease foreign direct investment (FDI) rules for electronic commerce.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman last month met executives of Flipkart andSnapdeal and representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) to assess the impact ofFDI on Indian e-commerce companies.
The meeting spawned speculation that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government might allow foreign e-commerce companies to operate in India. New Delhi is also under pressure from Washington and Tokyo to relax its FDI policy for e-commerce.
5. M.K. Sharma is ICICI Bank Chairman
ICICI Bank appointed M. K. Sharma as the non-executive Chairman of the Board for a period of five years, in place of K. V. Kamath. Mr. Kamath would shortly step down from the Board consequent to his nomination as the first President of the New Development Bank.
The appointment of the new non-executive Chairman is subject to the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India and would be effective July 1, 2015, or the date of receipt of RBI approval, whichever is later.
– ICICI Bank
Mr. Sharma is an independent director of several leading companies and has been a member of Government committee. He was an independent Director on the Board of ICICI Bank for eight years from 2003 to 2011.
6.India Could Become a Major Hub for De Beers – BS
De Beers, one of the world’s largest rough diamond miners, is exploring setting up an office in India. Neil Ventura, executive vice-president, De Beers Auction Sales, talks to Business Standard.
India is a strategically important market for us and we are very pleased with the recent announcement regarding the establishment of a special notified zone (SNZ) in Mumbai. We are keen to explore how this can help us expose more of our rough products to both existing and new customers based in India.
India has the potential to become a major spoke in our global operations. We have about 600 registered customers spanning dealers, manufacturers of polished and jewellery as well as retailers operating domestically, regionally and internationally.
7.Vedanta May Tap Cairn Resources – FE
Under a reverse merger a bigger company merges into a smaller one. Even a listed and an unlisted entity can merge in such arrangements.
The Anil Agarwal-led oil and metal major Vedanta Resources hinted that it is exploring merging all its Indian subsidiaries to form a single natural resources company. The major gain from the development, as and when it happens after getting the nod of shareholders and other requisite approvals, would be that the debt-burdened Vedanta Resources would be able to access cash that is on the books of the other group firms where it has majority stake.
8. World Bank Team Briefed on Ease of Doing Biz – FE
Even as the Narendra Modi government is making efforts to significantly improve India’s ranking from a dismal 142nd among the 189 countries surveyed for the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report released last year, a two-member mission of the World Bank Group is in India to collect data and information for the next edition of the report.
The mission was briefed about the reforms carried out by the government to improve ease of doing business in the country. These include removal of the requirements of minimum paid-up capital for companies, a common seal for companies and filing declaration of commencement for companies.
9. AC Restaurants Alone can Levy Service Tax: Govt
The Ministry of Finance on Tuesday clarified that only restaurants and eating places that have air-conditioning can charge service tax. And the tax will be levied on only 40 per cent of the amount charged.
Restaurants, eating joints or messes which do not have air-conditioning or central air-heating in any part of the establishment are exempt from service tax. In other words, only air-conditioned or air-heated restaurants are required to pay service tax.
The effective tax rate, after the increase as of June 1 to 14 per cent, will be 5.6 per cent of the total amount charged.