When Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was conceived last December, the idea was to reduce the dominance of e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart. It was also to bring in a level-playing field for small merchants in India's fragmented but fast-growing $1-trillion retail market. However, those goals have changed now as large e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Amazon and Ecom Express are in various levels of talks with the ONDC team. They want to form partnerships like integrating with the network as well as providing their expertise to build it, according to the industry sources.
Valuers have found almost no assets to pay for their claims against the Videocon group that entered the insolvency process in 2018. But the dissenters suggest that the money is elsewhere, possibly in the group's oil and gas assets, which are not part of the group's bankruptcy case.
India's economic image is not affected due to Adani Group's recent decision to pull out Rs 20,000 crore FPO (follow-on public offers) amid allegations of financial wrongdoings, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
From small restaurants to mighty software companies, it is businesses, not the government, that create jobs. Yet, in a cruel irony, they have to fight extortive and brutal State power every step of the way, says Debashis Basu.
For financial sector companies setting up shop in India, as of now the go-to regulators are obviously Sebi and the RBI with carve-outs for IRDAI or possibly PFRDA. But this could change soon with the International Financial Services Centres Authority, observes Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
The judgment could impact not only Ramdev's widespread ayurveda and herbal products business, but also that of many other pharmaceutical, ayurveda, herbal and cosmetic product manufacturers.
Bakshi rejects McDonald's proposal to buy his stake in JV for Rs 48-50 crore
All four societies were under common management of the Sahara group and had collectively garnered Rs 86,673 crore, including more than Rs 47,000 crore collected by Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd from nearly 4 crore depositors.
While the crackdown is a major step in combating tax evasion and improving transparency, it might also impact the flexibility and genuine corporate structures created to achieve legitimate objectives, says Suresh Surana.
The Infosys saga shows how efforts to remote-control a company by its powerful promoter, even with good intentions, might hurt the entity, says Asish K Bhattacharyya.
The levy of retrospective tax on the UK's Cairn Energy Plc is a tale of bizarre twists and turns that saw its attached shares being sold in May 2018 amid the passing of the baton from a full-time finance minister to interim one and the talks at the highest level to resolve the dispute, to claims that levy of back taxes was a result of an investigation into Panama Papers leak. The government late last month refunded about Rs 7,900 crore it had collected from selling residual shares of the British firm in its erstwhile India unit, seizing dividend and withholding tax refunds, to settle an eight-year-old dispute that had tarred the country's reputation as an investment destination. But, this did not come about easily. For seven years, the establishment vehemently justified in courts and outside seeking of Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes plus interest and penalty from a firm that gave India its biggest onshore oil discovery.
Days after it faced nationwide anti-government protests against its stringent zero-Covid policy, China in a major shift of its coronavirus response policies has announced that it will scrap quarantine for international travellers from January 8 as it reopens its borders and comes out of international isolation after nearly three years.
Born in poverty and subjected to inhuman abuse, Kalpana Saroj overcame all hurdles to emerge a success story.
It said the searches that were launched on July 22 in nine cities like Bhopal, Indore, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Noida and some others are "continuing and further investigations are in progress."
Amid a political furore over a meltdown in the Adani group shares, stock market data shows it is not only the plunge now but the sharp surge of the past also drew regulatory attention and enhanced surveillance. Adani group stocks have taken a huge beating on the bourses, losing billions of dollars in market value, after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group. The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday proposed to rationalise the definition of 'promoter group' and move to the concept of 'person in control' as well as reduce the minimum lock-in periods for promoters' and other shareholders post an IPO. In a consultation paper, the watchdog has also suggested streamlining the disclosures requirement of group companies. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sough comments from public on the proposals till June 10.
With the Supreme Court not getting into the valuation part and leaving it to the two parties, lawyers said there was nothing much for Mistry Group to negotiate.
The quizzing of the 48-year-old daughter-in-law of superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan comes weeks after her husband Abhishek Bachchan was questioned by the agency in another case emerging from the same set of papers linked to the offshore leaks case, they said.
The government is drawing up a relief package for industry with steps such as relaxation of asset-classification norms by banks, thus allowing companies to delay the repayment of loans, and tax holidays for the worst-hit sectors like aviation and hospitality. But it might not be enough to stop more bankruptcies from getting filed.
A paper authored by Rajan said, state-linked banks can be a first step in altering the ownership structure of some PSBs, where the government brings down its stakes to below 50 per cent, creating distance from operations of banks, and improving governance along the way.
India is ranked best among the BRICS nations, out of which South Africa is 17th, Brazil 35th and Russia at 100. China is much lower at 132nd place.
The framework also envisages amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act to exempt commercial decisions by PSBs from scrutiny by investigating agencies. Both the amendments are likely in the monsoon session of Parliament.
The annual earnings of a non-executive chairman of a PSB is capped at Rs 10 lakh, inclusive of fees for attending board meetings. This is way below the compensation of the chairman of any private bank, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
A draft proposal by the sub-committee of the insolvency law committee has recommended that the corporate debtor (CD) may initiate the prepack since it may prove difficult to implement if creditors are allowed to do so without the willingness of the promoter.
When was the last time we heard this government speaking of the disaster in primary education, rather than Ganga cruises and cheetahs? Less money -- Rs 88,000 crore -- was spent by the Union government on education in its last Budget than has been allocated to the Bullet train, notes Aakar Patel.
How to shield brand McDonald's? While consumers may have ignored the legal battles plaguing the franchise in north and east India, closure of restaurants is not something they are likely to ignore.
Without disclosing reasons, ICRA informed the stock exchanges on Thursday, 'The board, after due consideration and taking into account the best interests of the company and its various stakeholders, has decided to terminate the employment of Takkar with immediate effect.'
NDTV promoter group firm RRPR Holding has told VCPL, which along with two other Adani group firms has launched a hostile takeover bid for the media firm, that its stakeholding in NDTV has been provisionally attached by the I-T authorities and require their approval for the transfer. The contention has been rejected by the Adani group, which termed it as "misconceived and misleading" statements while asking RRPR Holding to convert the warrants into equity shares. In a regulatory filing, NDTV said that its founders Radhika and Prannoy Roy have informed that RRPR Holding has intimated Adani group firm Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) that the attachment of the shareholding, notified in 2018, shall remain in place until the completion of reassessment proceedings.
'Google and Facebook need to be tamed, their garb of 'Investing in India's future' need to be pulled off,' observes Vibhu Arya.
In recent months, three companies - PC Jeweller, Vakrangee and Kwality - decided to withdraw their share buyback proposals
As a result, the deadline for filing June quarter results ends on August 15. However, only 1,538 companies out of the 4,000-odd listed firms managed to declare their results within the usual deadline.
Pawar said he was upset that his three sisters were dragged into this.
IndiGo promoter Rakesh Gangwal has written a letter to markets regulator Sebi flagging governance issues at the company and has accused fellow co-founder Rahul Bhatia and his firms of indulging in questionable related-party transactions.
13 eminent economists, including former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and current International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath, in a report have asked the political establishment not to resort to populist tricks.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and some other members sought that the bill be referred to a standing committee for scrutiny.
Completing its over a-year-long probe into Saradha scam, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has submitted its final investigation report to the government, which may soon start prosecution proceedings for numerous serious violations found during investigations.
KPMG's global board will meet in India next week
The manner in which India has allowed the rule of law to be subverted for over eight years is tragic, notes former additional solicitor general of India Bishwajit Bhattacharyya.
Almost 2,000 companies whose private provident and pension funds have invested in non-convertible debentures of IL&FS group firms are staring at the prospect of booking losses to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore or more if the interest income is added.
Nasty surprises and quirky humour make Monica, O My Darling an intriguing, fun, watch, observes Sukanya Verma. Monica, O My Darling Review.
