QBiz: Fortis to Recover Rs 5 Bn from Singh Brothers & More
Here are the top stories from the world of business.
advertisement
1. Fortis Probe Finds Systemic Lapses, to Recover Rs 5 Bn From Singh Brothers
Fortis Healthcare on Wednesday said it has initiated legal action to recover about Rs 5 billion of funds allegedly taken out of the company by its founders Malvinder and Shivinder Singh after an external investigation found "systemic lapses and override of controls" in the loan given.
The loans were given to its founders without board approval and enough collaterals, it added.
The firm, which is embroiled in a takeover battle, also annulled the September 2016 appointment of former executive chairman Malvinder Singh as 'Lead: Strategic Initiatives' and will seek to recover payments made to him in that role as well as any company asset in his possession.
(Source: PTI)
2. Govt Plans to Sell Air India's Iconic Mumbai Building to JNPT to Raise Cash
The government has started discussions for sale of Air India's iconic building in Mumbai to the country's biggest container port JNPT as part of efforts to raise funds for the cash-strapped national carrier, sources said.
Official sources told PTI that the proposal has received in-principle approval from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following which an inter-ministerial panel has been constituted to work out the modalities.
Air India's 23-storey building at Nariman Point, Mumbai, which was also once the airline's headquarters, is a prime property and is likely to fetch high valuations.
(Source: PTI)
3. Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Set for Home Broadband War
Consumers of home broadband services can look forward to a bonanza of sorts in coming months with Bharti AirtelNSE ready to engage in another price war once Reliance Jio Infocomm launches its much awaited fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services later this year.
After unleashing brutal price wars in the mobile services space with its disruptive tariffs following its entry in September 2016, the Mukesh Ambani-controlled 4G carrier is now poised to stir a hornet’s nest; this time in the home broadband services front by offering an attractive combo of fast broadband connectivity at initial data speeds of 100 Mbps (with huge dollops of free data thrown in), videos and unlimited voice calls through the Vo-IP (voice over internet protocol) route for around Rs 1,000-1,500 a month.
(Source: Business Standard)
4. DSK Fraud Case: Bank of Maharashtra MD Ravindra Marathe Gets Bail
A special Pune court on 27 June granted bail to Bank of Maharashtra's Managing Director and CEO Ravindra Marathe in a cheating case involving city-based real estate developer DS Kulkarni and his wife, among others.
Judge SN Sardesai of the special court set up under the Maharashtra Protection Of Interest Of Depositors (MPID) Act granted the relief to Marathe on a surety bond of Rs 50,000.
While granting bail to Marathe, the court remanded other persons arrested in the case in judicial custody for 14 days.
(Source: PTI)
5. Rs 20 Bn GST Evasion in 2 Months, Less Than 100,000 Paying 80% of Tax
The GST investigation wing has detected tax evasion of over Rs 20 billion in two months, and data analysis reveals that only 1 per cent of over 11.1 million registered businesses pay 80 percent of the taxes, a senior official said today.
CBIC member John Joseph said that much like small businesses who are making mistakes while filing GST returns, multinationals and big corporates too have slip-ups.
"If you look at the way tax revenues are paid, it gives an alarming picture. We have registration of more than 10 million businesses,” Joseph said.
(Source: PTI)
6. Disney Wins US Approval for Fox Deal in Blow to Comcast
Walt Disney Co has won US antitrust approval to buy Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's entertainment assets for $71.3 billion on the condition that it sell all 22 regional sports networks owned by Fox, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
The Fox assets have been the subject of a bidding war between Disney and Comcast Corp, both of which want to expand their own entertainment businesses with Fox's hit TV shows and movie franchises such as the "X-Men" superheroes and "The Simpsons," to compete with fast-growing digital rivals Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
(Source: Reuters)
7. China to Reduce Tariffs on 8,549 Types of Goods from India & 4 Other Nations
China will reduce or cut to zero tariffs on a total of 8,549 types of goods originating in India and four other Asian countries from 1 July, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The adjustment, covering products made in India, Bangladesh, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka, was part of the tariff concession arrangement reached under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), it said.
The goods include chemicals, agricultural and medical products, clothing, steel and aluminum products. The items on the list from the five Asian countries will have a new tariff rate effective on Sunday.
(Source: PTI)
8. Vijay Mallya Defends Move to Settle Dues, Says the Offer Was Genuine
In his heyday, Vijay Mallya never lost any opportunity to grab eyeballs. Even now also when he is on foreign shores, owing millions of rupees to multiple banks in India, his penchant for hogging the limelight continues.
A day after he made public a letter written to the prime minister offering to settle dues by selling his assets under judicial supervision, the embattled liquor baron on Wednesday tried to dispel doubts over his intentions on Twitter.
In a series of tweets, Mallya said that there should not be any suspicion about the timing of his offer as he, along with United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL), has moved to the High Court requesting its intervention in the sale of assets.
(Source: Business Standard)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)