Vijay Mallya returns to UK court for closing arguments in extradition trial

Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, wanted in India on fraud charges, returned to Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Tuesday for closing arguments in his high-profile extradition trial.

The 62-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who has been on bail on an extradition warrant since his arrest in April last year, is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 90 bn.

He arrived at the court along with his son Siddharth.

"At the end of the day, the courts will decide," Mallya tells reporters outside the court.

At the last hearing in the case on April 27, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had received a boost in the case as Judge Arbuthnot confirmed that the bulk of the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities will be admissible in the case.

The CBI had submitted a detailed set of documents to the UK court, which includes its case of conspiracy against former IDBI Bank Deputy Managing Director BK Batra, who was referred to in court as a new "villain" of sorts in the case.

From hope to happiness: Analysts find SBI's FY2020 plan credible

State Bank of India (SBI) seems to be taking the Rs 77.18-billion loss in the March 2018 quarter in its stride with the bank’s chairman Rajnish Kumar expecting better days ahead.

“The year gone by was one of despair, the current year is one of hope and 2019-20 will be the year of happiness,” Kumar said.

He expects gains from higher credit growth, robust financial profile and control on costs.

Despite SBI’s poor numbers, the stock market has taken an optimistic view on the outlook as is evident from the stock gaining 7.4 per cent in two trading sessions.

Analysts say FY2020 targets as set by the country’s largest lender are credible and very much within reach. The clean-up of balance sheet involving recognition and provisioning for bad loans is almost through. While retail credit, which was 57 per cent of total loans in FY18, is growing at a healthy pace. Its leadership position in corporate lending, for which demand is picking up, will also stand in good stead.

To earn higher interest income, you have to take some measured risks

Interest rates in India are on the upswing. The benchmark 10-year G-Sec bond yield is up around 81 basis points over the past year. Currently, it stands at 7.77 per cent. And, there are expectations that yields would harden further in the second half of the year because the central government’s borrowing programme has been pushed back. As a result, borrowing will be higher in the second half of the year. State governments, too, are also likely to borrow heavily. Given that 2019 general elections are fast approaching, there could also be some surprise expenses from the government.

For fixed-income investors, this is undoubtedly good news, as interest rates will go up. In fact, they already are. Banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and others are slowing raising deposit rates. But, instead of just looking at fixed deposits from banks or non-banking financial companies, investors could earn higher interest income from other instruments, such as non-convertible debentures, fixed maturity plans and such.

For starters, if you want to wait and lock yourself into higher rates in the future, the strategy should be to be in shorter-term deposits or funds. Vishal Dhawan, chief financial planner, Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors, says: “If you decide to invest in fixed deposits, go for a tenure of six to nine months. This will allow you to move to deposits offering higher interest rates if rates continue to rise in the near future.” Deepesh Raghaw, founder, PersonalFinancePlan.in, adds: “At this point in time, however, investors should stick largely to shorter-duration debt funds that are not subject to duration risk.” However, if you want to invest now, there are some options.

Another bank fraud? Borrowers misuse SBI loan of Rs 32 mn to produce a film

In yet another fraud on a public sector bank, as many as 13 people including a kabaddi player got a loan of Rs 32.9 million for buying top-end cars, but 'misused' the money for producing a Tamil film.
When the fraud came to light, the Madras High Court, on a plea from the State Bank of India (SBI), granted an interim injunction against the movie's release.

The fraud was done with the connivance of an auto loan counsellor who allegedly hacked the bank's computers to facilitate the loan sanction and its disbursement.

Justice C V Karthikeyan passed the interim order on a civil suit of the lender restraining White Screen Productions (WSP) from releasing the movie till March 16, 2018.

Note ban impact: Banking correspondents feel the heat of banks cutting cost

About two years ago, when Amita Ghosh was still in a full-time clerical job with a private sector firm on the outskirts of Kolkata, many of her acquaintances had already seen a brisk rise in income as banking correspondents (BCs) in a short span of time. Their income suddenly rose three-fold, from an average of Rs 5,000 to around Rs 15,000 per month.
In August 2014, when the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched, close to 100,000 banking correspondents were roped in, for banks scrambled to meet targets set by the government. Most of them being either higher secondary or secondary school pass-outs, otherwise engaged in low-earning or informal sector jobs. Not only the BCs were entitled to fixed income of Rs 5,000 per month, but also commission payable on transactions, and new account-opening meant a good variable component. Allured by the offer of a better earning, Saha quit her job, which paid her around Rs 4,000 per month, to be a BC. For close to two years Saha’s average monthly income rose to Rs 13,000 per month, peaking around the time of demonetisation, when she earned about Rs 18,000 per month.
Cut to January 2018, Saha’s income has plummeted to Rs 6,000-6,500 per month as BCs bear the brunt of cost-cutting measures of public sector banks. Notably, few months back, when the government proposed the possibility of reduction of perks for regular employees of public sector banks, a strong opposition by bank employees ensured that such a measure was never implemented.
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Indian Bank brings 2-tier interest rate for savings A/Cs

PSU lender Indian Bank on Friday said it will offer an interest rate of 4 per cent per annum on savings account with an incremental balance of over Rs 50 lakh and 3.50 per cent per annum for deposits up to Rs 50 lakh.

The lender in a statement said it "has introduced two tier interest rate structure for saving bank accounts and will offer 4 per cent interest per annum for incremental balance over Rs 50 lakh and 3.50 per cent per annum for balance up to Rs 50 lakh."

The new interest rate will be effective from August 16, 2017, the bank said in a BSE filing.

Recently, the country's largest lender State Bank of India had slashed interest rate on savings account deposits by 50 basis points to 3.5 per on balance of Rs 1 crore and below.

However, SBI continues to offer 4 per cent interest on savings account balance of Rs 1 crore and above.

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Banks rush to buy cyber security cover as digital payments rise