State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has put 21 non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loan accounts, on sale to recover over Rs 1,320 crore with the e-bidding auction process slated later this month.

PNB said in a notification earlier this week that its Stressed Assets Targeted Resolution Action (SASTRA) Division has put on sale these 21 accounts which cumulatively owe the bank Rs 1,320.19 crore.

“We intend to place these accounts for sale to ARCs (asset reconstruction companies) /NBFCs (non-banking finance companies)/other banks/FIs (financial institutions) etc, on terms and conditions stipulated in the bank’s policy, in line with the regulatory guidelines,” PNB said.

A PNB spokesperson said on Thursday that “the submission of financial bids will be only through e-auction which will take place on the bank’s portal on September 20.”

The bank’s NPA accounts up for sale include Moser Baer Solar with outstanding of Rs 233.06 crore, Divine Alloys & Power Co (Rs 200.87 crore), Divine Vidyut (Rs 132.66 crore), Chincholi Sugar & Bio Industries (Rs 114.42 crore), Arshiya Northern FTWZ Ltd Rs (96.70 crore), Birla Surya (Rs 73.58 crore) Shri Saikrupa Sugar & Allied Industries (Rs 63.35 crore) and Raja Forgings & Gears Ltd (Rs 59.73 crore).

Among the other major defaulters listed are Templeton Foods (Rs 53.17 crore), Rathi Ispat (Rs 45.48 crore) and Jain Overseas (Rs 33.41 crore).

(IANS)

Amid the rising clamour on the Rafale deal, the Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, on Wednesday said by acquiring the French fighters the IAF was strengthening its depleting fleet.

“By providing the Rafale and the S-400 (anti-missile system), the government is strengthening the Indian Air Force to counter the shortfall of our depleting numbers of aircraft,” he said at an event here.

Pointing to IAF’s strength coming down to 31 squadrons from the sanctioned strength of 42, Dhanoa said India faced a shortage of fighter aircraft despite the threat of a two-front war with Pakistan and China.

“Very few countries are facing challenges like us. We have two nuclear-armed neighbours.We have to match neighbours Pakistan and China to tackle a two-front war,” he said.

The IAF chief’s comments come a day after former Bharatiya Janata Party ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “personal culpability” in the Rafale deal which they dubbed as the country’s “biggest defence scam”.

Earlier this month, the IAF Vice Chief, Air Marshal S.B. Deo too, had endorsed the Rafale, deal saying the aircraft will give India “unprecedented combat capabilities”.

Besides BJP rebels Sinha and Shourie, the Congress led by its President Rahul Gandhi has been relentlessly attacking the Modi government over the jet deal that was announced by the Prime Minister in 2015.

(IANS)

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Wednesday opened on a positive note during the morning session of the trade.

The Sensex of the BSE after opening at 37,546.42 points touched a high of 37,638.16 points and a low of 37,432.66 points.

The Sensex is trading at 37,499.11 points up by 85.98 points or 0.23 per cent from its Tuesday’s close at 37,413.13 points.

On the other hand, the broader 51-scrip Nifty at National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 11,476.85 points after closing at 11,438.10 points on Tuesday.

The Nifty is trading at 11,287.50 points in the morning.

(IANS)

India has expressed regret that the Kashmir issue is being raised at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) after mentions of it by Michelle Bachelet, the new UN Human Rights High Commissioner, and by Pakistan at its current session.

“Terrorism is the biggest scourge and greatest violator of human rights and we hope that you will address it more emphatically in the coming years,” Rajiv K. Chander, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, told Bachelet on Tuesday at the HRC meeting in Geneva.

He told the HRC, “We regret that reference has been made to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Our views on the matter have been made abundantly clear in the Council.”

It is important that “human rights issues are handled constructively” and with regard to national sovereignty and territorial integrity in a transparent and credible manner, he added.

In an apparent reference to the Supreme Court striking down the British colonial law criminalising same-sex relations as an example of the capability of Indian legal bodies to deal with human rights issues, Chander said, “From recent developments it is evident our institutions are responsive and capable of meeting the aspirations and needs of the vast and thriving milieu of people.”

On Monday, in her first address to the HRC, Bachelet had said the recent human rights report on Kashmir had not been followed up and emphasised that her office would continue monitoring and reporting on the situation there.

The strongly-worded report released by her predecessor, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in June, outlined what it said were human rights abuses on both sides of the line of control and called for an international commission to investigate the human rights situation.

He had also repeatedly asked India to allow human rights monitors to visit Kashmir, which New Delhi has refused asserting that happenings in Kashmir were its internal affairs and there could be no external intervention.

Bachelet said that there has not been “even open and serious discussions on how the grave issues raised (in the report) could be addressed” and added that her office would continue to request permission to visit both sides of the line of control.

“The people of Kashmir have exactly the same rights to justice and dignity as people all over the world, and we urge the authorities to respect them,” she said.

She balanced the criticism of India by hailing last week’s Supreme Court decision to decriminalise same-sex relations and declared, “I very much hope other countries around the world will look to India’s example in this respect.”

On Tuesday, Farukh Amil, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, told the HRC in his national capacity that Pakistan shares Bachelet’s “anguish” over Kashmir and endorsed her call for implementing the report’s recommendations.

Since the report was released, “the plight of Kashmiris has only worsened with 60 civilians killed,” he asserted.

Islamabad was willing to allow a Human Rights Commissioner’s team to visit the area of Kashmir under its control only if New Delhi would also give a similar access, Amil said.

He also brought up the 70-year-old resolutions of the Security Council and said that a plebiscite should be held under them, even though Islamabad had not kept its agreement to withdraw from the occupied areas to facilitate it.

He had another opportunity to speak to the HRC on behalf of the 53-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation when he made a passing reference to Kashmir, lumping it with the Palestine and the Rohingya issues.

When the floor was opened to NGOs, the Karachi-based World Muslim Congress representative Sardar Amjad Yousf chimed in, expressing support for Bachelet’s references to Kashmir and calling for human rights defenders in Kashmir and those who worked with the human rights report to be declared internationally protected persons.

(IANS)

A list of high profile cases related to banking frauds was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for a coordinated action, said former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in a note to Parliamentary panel.

In the note to Chairman of Estimates Committee Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajan said that the size of frauds in the public sector banking system has been increasing, though still small relative to the overall volume of NPAs.

“The RBI set up a fraud monitoring cell when I was Governor to coordinate the early reporting of fraud cases to the investigative agencies. I also sent a list of high profile cases to the PMO urging that we coordinate action to bring at least one or two to book. I am not aware of progress on this front. This is a matter that should be addressed with urgency,” he said.

Rajan, who was RBI governor for three years till September 2016, is currently teaching at the Chicago Booth School of Business. Noting that system has been singularly ineffective in bringing even a single high profile fraudster to book, he said, frauds are different from normal non-performing assets (NPAs).

“The investigative agencies blame the banks for labelling frauds much after the fraud has actually taken place, the bankers are slow because they know that once they call a transaction a fraud, they will be subject to harassment by the investigative agencies, without substantial progress in catching the crooks,” he said.

The statement assumes significance in the light of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, in connivance with certain bank officials, allegedly cheated PNB of about Rs 14,000 crore through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).

A Mumbai branch of PNB had fraudulently issued LoUs for the group of companies belonging to Nirav Modi since March 2011. The total number of LoUs issued to the companies of Nirav Modi, his relatives and the Nirav Modi Group are 1,213, and to Mehul Choksi, his relatives and the Gitanjali Group are 377.

On whether the regulator could have done better, Rajan said it is hard to offer an objective self-assessment but the RBI should probably have raised more flags about the quality of lending in the early days of banking exuberance.

“With the benefit of hindsight, we should probably not have agreed to forbearance, though without the tools to clean up, it is not clear what the banks would have done. Forbearance was a bet that growth would revive, and projects would come back on track.

“That it did not work out does not mean that it was not the right decision at the time it was initiated. Also, we should have initiated the new tools earlier, and pushed for a more rapid enactment of the Bankruptcy Code. If so, we could have started the AQR (asset quality review) process earlier,” he said.

Finally, he said, the RBI could have been more decisive in enforcing penalties on non-compliant banks. “Fortunately, this culture of leniency has been changing in recent years. Hindsight, of course, is 20/20,” he said.

(PTI)

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati on Tuesday slammed the Modi government for rising fuel prices and accused it of being on the same page as the earlier Congress-led UPA government.

In a statement, the Dalit leader said that the Modi government was also pursuing the “anti-people policies” that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II pursued.

The Dalit leader alleged that while people were suffering due to the price rise, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were diffident in answering questions on the economic front.

She termed the government’s oil policy irrational and impractical.

“The fuel prices have spun out of control and the Modi government does not want to upset its industrialist friends,” the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said, adding that the Union government was doing virtually nothing to control rising prices of petrol and diesel.

She said the Congress and the BJP had both failed in tackling price rise and that the Modi government had no sympathy for the middle class and the poor.

If the central government desired, the fuel prices could be controlled, the BSP leader said.

(IANS)

Inflationary risks along with broadly negative global cues depressed the Indian rupee to a new low of 72.74 to the US dollar during late afternoon session on Tuesday.

At 3.35 p.m. the rupee traded around 72.64 per dollar, against the previous close of 72.45 per dollar at the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market.

According to analysts, expectations of higher overall inflation rate, growing protectionism in global trade and an increasing outflow of foreign funds from the country’s equity market have subdued the Indian currency.

(IANS)

Petrol prices on Tuesday breached the psychological barrier of Rs 90 and touched a scorching Rs 90.11 in Maharashtra’s Parbhani – a new record in India, an official said.

Parbhani District Petrol Dealers Association (PDPDA) President Sanjay Deshmukh told IANS that diesel prices also increased from Rs 77.92 to Rs 78.06 on Tuesday.

On Monday, the petrol price was Rs 89.97 and diesel stood at Rs 77.92 in the town with a population of around 3,10,000, around 500 kms east of Mumbai in Marathwada region.

On the 15th day of consecutive hikes, petrol prices increased on Tuesday by Rs 0.14 and diesel by Rs 0.15, from 6 a.m, barely two days before the state’s biggest 10-day Ganeshotsav festival begins.

The other highest centres include Nanded where petrol was retailing at Rs 89.93 per litre and diesel Rs 77.90, and Amravati Rs 89.93 and Rs 78.84.

Elsewhere in Maharashtra, in Thane petrol retailed at Rs 88.43 and diesel Rs 77.64, Mumbai was Rs 88.35 and diesel at Rs 77.56.

On Monday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party termed the hike in petroleum products as a ‘momentary difficulty’ owing to an international crisis after the Opposition parties in the country observed a Bharat Bandh, to protest the skyrocketing fuel prices.

(IANS)

Broadly negative global cues subdued the key Indian equity indices during the pre-noon trade session on Tuesday.

According to analysts, investors feared that high petrol and diesel prices and a weak rupee would pump up the retail and wholesale inflation rates, thereby mitigating chances of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in the near term.

Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in the consumer durable, FMCG, telecom and capital goods stocks.

On the currency front, the rupee traded over 72.30 against the US dollar around 11.35 a.m. at the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market.

At 11.35 a.m., the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange, traded at 11,451.70 points, lower by 22.40 points or 0.20 per cent from its previous close.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which had opened at 38,017.49 points, traded at 37,846.75 points, lower by 75.42 points or 0.20 per cent than the previous close of 37,922.17 points.

So far, it has touched an intra-day high of 38,043.27 points and a low of 37,838.30 points.

On Monday, the Indian equity indices recorded their steepest fall in the last six months as expectations of a rise in inflationary pressure dented the risk-taking appetite of investors.

The NSE Nifty50 closed at 11,438.10 points, lower by 151 points or 1.30 per cent from its previous close of 11,589.10 points.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which had opened at 38,348.39 points, closed at 37,922.17 points, lower by 467.65 points or 1.22 per cent from the previous close of 38,389.82 points.

(IANS)

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi’s plea challenging the Income Tax notice seeking tax reassessment for the financial year 2011-2012.

A bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice A.K. Chawla said the petitions filed by the Gandhis have “failed.”

However, the court clarified that the Gandhis could use their rights as the assessee and take up their grievance with the Income Tax authorities.

The order of a bench came while it was hearing the plea of Rahul, Sonia Gandhi and her party colleague Oscar Fernandes against teh March I-T notice seeking tax reassessment. They have allegedly not disclosed their income earned through Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) for the year 2011-2012.

The I-T department has told the court that they have concealed facts for evading tax.

Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are major stakeholders in Young Indian which has acquired Associated Journals Limited (AJL). National Herald newspaper was published by AJL.

“The reference to the monetary nature of the transaction i.e. fair market value, certified by the auditor, means that the promoters and shareholders of the company visualize that the shares of YI, a not-for-profit company, can increase, depending on its activities and income derived by it,” the court said.

“This court is of opinion that the assessees’ argument about nondisclosure of their interest upon acquiring the shares is unpersuasive,” said the bench.

The court also rejected the Sonia Gandhi’s submission that Income Tax department had mala fide intention in sending the reassessment notice.

Earlier in March, Young Indian requested the court to stay the recovery of tax and interest of Rs 249.15 crore raised in pursuance to a December 27, 2017 notice issued under section 156 of the IT Act for the assessment year 2011-12.

The company has submitted that it is a charitable firm and does not have any income and that Income Tax authorities have wrongly raised a demand of Rs 249 crore for the assessment year 2011-12.

On March 19, the Delhi High Court directed Young Indian to deposit Rs 10 crore in the Rs 249.15 crore income tax proceedings against the firm.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy had filed a complaint of “cheating” in the acquisition of AJL.

Swamy had accused them of allegedly conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying only Rs 50 lakh, by which Young Indian Pvt Ltd obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which AJL owed to the Congress.

The other accused in the case are Motilal Vora, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian.

(IANS)