BharatPe co-founder Shashvat Nakrani has accused Ashneer Grover, with whom he had co-founded the payment startup, of creating a false narrative about the company, and said the board acted quickly and decisively in unseating him after receiving finds of a PwC report. BharatPe, which allows shop owners to make digital payments through QR codes, last week stripped Grover of all titles and positions over his alleged "misdeeds" and may take further legal actions, including clawing back of some of his shareholding. In a letter to employees, Nakrani said the Grover episode was an aberration and not the norm at BharatPe, and went on to defend the board who he said were celebrated names in the banking and financial services industry.
BharatPe has sacked Madhuri Jain Grover, wife of the fintech firm's co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, over alleged financial irregularities and cancelled ESOPs vested with her. Madhuri is alleged to have used company funds for personal beauty treatments, buying electronic items and family trips to the US and Dubai, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Besides, she also allegedly paid her personal staff out of company accounts and produced fake invoices from known/friendly parties, they added.
'I saw Bimal Roy's Devdas again a few years ago, almost 50 years after it had been made.' 'I found it very intelligently made; the scenes flowed so beautifully.' 'There is just one scene with both Suchitra Sen and me in the film, and it's beautiful.'
'Being stressed is natural and it is a part of life. How we handle it is the important thing.'
Investments by private equity and venture capital funds into Indian entities fell by 69 per cent to $3 billion during July, a report said on Wednesday. The investments in July are the lowest for any month in a year, and lower than the $4.9 billion recorded across 118 deals in the preceding month of June, the report by industry lobby IVCA and consultancy firm EY said. Going by the number of deals, July 2022 recorded 74 deals, as against 134 deals in the year-ago period, the report said.
'If you are willing to shine like the sun, you must be willing to burn like it.'
Gensol Engineering, the beleaguered firm that came under market regulator Sebi's lens for fund diversions and governance lapses, said that its independent director Arun Menon has resigned with immediate effect.
Parineeti gets a haircut... Mallika has a question ... Manushi shares a throwback pic...
Investments by private equity and venture capital funds (PE/VC) declined by 22 per cent in March to $4.6 billion spread across 107 deals, a report said on Wednesday. The deal activity showed an increase of 54 per cent by value at $15.5 billion across 360 deals, largely on the back of heightened activity in the startup space, the monthly report by IVCA and EY said. "While India's position as an attractive destination for PE/VC investments is expected to remain strong in 2022 given its high growth and macroeconomic and policy stability, the continuing geopolitical tensions, rising inflation, quantitative tightening by the US FED and inversion in the US yield curve are potential downside risks, making investors circumspect," Partner at EY Vivek Soni said.
Private equity (PE) investments in real estate sector fell 32 per cent to $4.3 billion in the last fiscal year mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to property consultant Anarock. PE investments in real estate stood at $6.3 billion in the 2020-21 financial year. According to Anarock Capital's FY22 year-end edition of its FLUX report, PE inflows in real estate were $5.1 billion in FY'20, $5.6 billion in FY'19 and $5.4 billion in 2017-18 fiscal. The consultant attributed the fall in PE investments in real estate to the second wave of the COVID-19, leading to multiple lockdowns in various parts of the country.
Ibrahim sings Ishq Mein... Palak looks hot in the elevator... Urvashi is in V-Day mood...
'I will do it again. I am ready to put my life in danger a second time. This is my land, this is my responsibility'
The funding environment in India for startups is improving this year if one were to go by Bain & Company estimates. Five private equity (PE) investors that come on top on the criterion of deal size collectively put in $9 billion in the first half of 2024, surpassing their outlay for last calendar year, when it was $8 billion. At the top of the list is Swedish firm EQT, which acquired US-based and listed Perficient at an enterprise value of $3 billion, the deal being done by the Indian wing of the company. It has also added to its list by putting in $500 million in WSO2, a "software as a service" company, increasing its tally to $3.5 billion.
BharatPe co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, who was recently embroiled in a controversy over purportedly using abusive language against Kotak Mahindra Bank staff, has taken a voluntary leave till March-end. Grover informed the company's Board about his decision to proceed on leave earlier in the day, as per a statement issued by the fintech company on Wednesday. "For now, the Board has accepted Ashneer's decision which we agree is in the best interests of the company, our employees and investors, and the millions of merchants we support each day," it said. It added that the company will continue to be led by its CEO Suhail Sameer and its management team.
In 2024, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved 20 third-party Unified Payments Interface (UPI) applications, a record since UPI's launch in 2016. This surge reflects growing interest from financial technology (fintech) companies, driven by the integration of credit products like UPI-linked credit cards and pre-approved credit lines.
Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, once hailed as rising stars in India's clean energy sector, are now facing serious regulatory action.
'Mrs shows a dark side to the son and the father.' 'I had to do things that I wouldn't dare to do in real life.'
Salman Khan lashed out at former BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover in Bigg Boss 18's Weekend Ka Vaar episode about a meeting they had had in the past.
'If you just listen to the lyrics, they're so simple. It's definitely a great philosophy to live life by.'
News reports that GE Aerospace has delivered the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines ordered by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) for the Tejas Mk-1A has revived interest in the HAL stock.
Assam Congress spokesperson Reetam Singh was arrested on Saturday for a social media post questioning the status of cases registered against three senior BJP leaders, including a former state chief and two serving MLAs. The arrest came after a complaint by the wife of BJP MLA Manab Deka, who was mentioned in Singh's post. Singh's arrest was met with criticism from the Congress, with Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi alleging that Singh was "brutally dragged away" by police.
Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma visited Vrindavan Dham with their children, Vamika and Akaay, to pay their respects to their spiritual guru, Premanand Maharaj.
Shailendra's songs were attuned to Raj Kapoor's explorations of the themes and dreams of the Everyman.
'I have passed this to my son Aryan and told him 'Jaa beta, baap ka naam roshan kar.'
Diljit Dosanjh and Manoj Bajpayee make this comedy-drama a decent watch with their fabulous performances, says Namrata Thakker.
Temasek is nearing a deal to acquire a 10% per cent stake in Haldiram Snacks Foods, valued at $10 billion.
Deepening the funding crisis that startups have been witnessing for some time, the October inflows plunged 75 per cent on-year to $3.3 billion across 75 deals, including six large deals worth $2.2 billion, according to an industry report. Exits touched half of the inflows at $1.6 billion across 15 deals in the reporting months, a significant improvement over the previous month which saw just $653 million worth of exits across 24 deals, but 69 per cent lower on-year basis, according to the numbers collated by EY for the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, the umbrella body the PEs and VCs. However, the report said, on a month-on-month basis, the inflows continued to grow, clipping at 60 per cent over the September numbers.
'Even if India is attractive, FPIs currently lack the funds to invest, as money is being redirected to the US.'
The value of private equity (PE)-backed mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India reached a six-year low during the first seven months of the current calendar year, amid ongoing global uncertainties. The total value of these deals stood at $6.2 billion during the period, down from $9 billion in the same period last year, and lower than the $14 billion recorded during the corresponding period in 2019, according to data from LSEG Deals Intelligence. PE funds pool capital from investors, including high-net-worth individuals, to invest in high-return opportunities.
Improving economic sentiment, enabling policies and growth in key emerging sectors may help attract 30 per cent more private equity funds at $6 billion in the realty sector next year compared to 2020, says a report. PE investments into the realty space is expected to dropped to $4.6 billion in 2020 due to decline in the overall economic activity hit by the pandemic-driven lockdowns, according to a report by global property consultancy Savills India. The next wave of investments will be driven by warehousing, affordable housing and data centres apart from commercial office which will continue to see steady improvement, says the report.
The possibilities of this serviceable thriller are immense but the makers prefer to play it safe and hold back the daredevil in the diplomat's clothing, observes Sukanya Verma.
More and more PE players are willing to test the waters now, just in case they become early entrants in a future booming business.
Zomato is at 5, Swiggy at 9, Blinkit at 10.
The silver lining is that after two years, e-commerce has emerged as the top sector with $689 million in investments across 15 deals, accounting for 43 per cent of all investments in January 2021.
'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'
Sukanya Verma remembers some of his greatest solo numbers in our fondly curated playlist.
Of the amount, the home-grown private equity player founded by Renuka Ramnath plans to deploy $8 billion in various companies as part of its blueprint for growth.
"Yeh sab doglapan hai." With these words, Ashneer Grover not only called out an entrepreneur being hypocritical, but also shot to fame as a reality television star. It happened in the first few days of January, when the funded part of the start-up world needed some warm-up to get back to work, and inevitably Grover's antics on the show became a talking point. The Twitterati also debated whether it was unbecoming of a founder to diss a peer's business model with such abrasion. And hundreds of memes, with the dialogue set in various circumstances, flooded social media.
The Supreme Court of India harshly criticized a man for abandoning his wife and minor daughters, calling his actions "cruel" and questioning his humanity. The court demanded the man provide financial support to his family, including his daughters, before it would consider any favorable orders in his case. The man had previously been convicted of domestic abuse and fraudulently removing his wife's uterus. The court's strong stance highlights the ongoing issue of domestic violence and the need for legal protection for women and children in India.
It a few abandoned rail tracks to raise a village.
