Volkswagen's Porsche reputation once again tarnished by dealer arrests

Just when it seemed like Porsche India had driven past a series of legal tussles and business upsets, the legendary sports car maker, owned and managed by the Volkswagen Group is on tenterhooks again. Last week, Porsche and Audi dealers Rashpal Singh Todd (Rashy) and Mandhir Singh Todd (Mikey) were taken into custody by the authorities at the New Delhi airport. According to an HDFC Bank Official who confirmed that they filed an FIR, the alleged wrongdoing involved defaulting on collective bank loans of Rs 2.7 billion.

The Todds, who own Zenica Group, a dealership firm that sells Porsches as well as Audis, and are part of the Volkswagen portfolio, had borrowed from a consortium of banks including HDFC Bank and failed to make payments. Rashy Todd didn't return calls or messages as of the time of going to press. Audi has already reacted by sending a notice to dealers and customers indicating the Todds are no longer associated with them and Porsche, according to a source is going to do the same in a few days. Porsche India officials declined to confirm or deny if they were going to plug on Zenica as well.

Jet Airways pilots, engineers warn of 'non -cooperation' on salary payment

With Jet Airways delaying salaries of its pilots and engineers for the second consecutive month amid a severe financial crunch, its pilots have warned the management of "non-cooperation" over default on payments.

The Naresh Goyal-promoted private airline, in which UAE national carrier Etihad holds 24 per cent stake, is facing acute cash crunch after posting two back-to back quarterly losses this year.

While its losses stood at Rs 10.36 billion in the March quarter, the losses jumped to Rs 13 billion RPT crore in the subsequent June quarter of the current fiscal.

"Withholding salaries, that too without prior notice, is a serious matter and the management will bear sole responsibility for any repercussions," Jet Airways' pilots said in a communication to the management earlier this week.

"We would like to advice that failure to address the above points and not paying the salaries on time would lead to non-cooperation by pilots," they warned.

Facebook argues against company break-up, says 'we keep you safe'

Faced with new questions about whether it’s a monopoly, Facebook Inc. is making a bold argument: owning so many communications platforms helps keep users safe.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament asked Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg whether he should be allowed to own two of the world’s largest chat applications, Messenger and WhatsApp, in addition to the biggest social network and the photo app Instagram. The company answered Wednesday in an online post, saying there are “many consumer benefits” to having Facebook control so much of the world’s communication. “By working together we have been able to improve safety across all these services," the company wrote. When Facebook sees spam, exploitative images or illegal content, for example, it can obliterate it on all platforms at once.

European regulators may not buy the argument, especially since they spent some of Tuesday’s hearing critiquing Facebook for not being effective enough in its treatment of harmful content. Though Facebook is investing in computer-based solutions, the company still relies heavily on users to flag the worst offenders on its apps. Also, Facebook has shown it doesn’t necessarily have to own something to help keep it safe. The social network shares its tips on terrorist content with other companies, including Twitter Inc. and Google, through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, for example.

Amit Khare named I&B secretary in bureaucratic reshuffle

Senior bureaucrat Amit Khare, who blew the lid off the infamous fodder scam in Bihar, was on Friday appointed secretary to the information and broadcasting ministry as part of a major reshuffle involving 24 top IAS officers.

Anup Wadhawan and former Delhi chief secretary M M Kutty have been named new commerce and petroleum secretaries respectively. Rina Ray has been appointed secretary, the department of school education and literacy, an order issued by the personnel ministry said.

Khare, a 1985-batch IAS officer, is at present serving in his cadre state Jharkhand.

He had, in June 1996, reportedly exposed the multi-crore fodder scam, involving the then chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad, when he was working as the Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa (now in Jharkhand). Khare will take over the charge from incumbent N K Sinha who superannuates on May 31.

As Inflation gets 'ugly' in April, RBI may be pushed to hike rates

India’s inflation accelerated more than estimated in April, providing ammunition to hawks in the central bank to tighten monetary policy and fueling a selloff in bonds.

Consumer prices rose 4.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the statistics ministry said in a statement in New Delhi on Monday, higher than the 4.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. It was the first pick-up in inflation in four months.

The data -- the final price print before the Reserve Bank of India’s next rate decision on June 6 -- highlights the risks from surging oil prices in Asia’s third-largest economy. The central bank expects oil prices averaging around $78 a barrel to stoke inflation by 30 basis points.

Jio bowls another googly with international calling rates at 50 p/min

Reliance Jio Infocomm announced a new unlimited postpaid plan on Thursday with national roaming, international calling and international roaming plans among others.

The 'zero touch' plan, starting at Rs 199, comes with auto payment and add-on services like access to the Jio app universe similar to what Vodafone Red, Airtel Infinity and Idea Nirvana plans have in place.

The new ISD calling activated plan comes with international calling rates starting at Rs 50p/minute and roaming charges at Rs 2/ min and Rs 2/ MB for countries like US and Canada.

International roaming plans are split across Rs 575 to Rs 5,751 price range. While international calling rates are distributed across six price slabs ranging from 50 p/ min to Rs 6 /min, international roaming charges are split across two slabs of Rs 2/min and Rs 10/min.

This plan is likely to deal a heavy blow to incumbent telcos who so far still had a strong presence in the international calling arena due to their presence or collaborations across international networks.

Move over electric cars: Musk now wants to make bricks for low cost housing

Move over, candy and flamethrowers. Elon Musk tweeted out plans Monday for yet another side venture: alleviating the nation's housing crisis.

"The Boring Company will be using dirt from tunnel digging to create bricks for low-cost housing," he wrote in a tweet about his nascent tunnelling enterprise.

Company spokesman Sam Teller confirmed the plans, saying the bricks will come from the "excavated muck." "There will be an insane amount of bricks," Teller wrote in an email.

How many affordable housing units that will create, though, is a different matter, says Juan Matute, a lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, and associate director of UCLA's Institute of Transportation Studies.

Musk’s tweet "assumes that housing costs are driven by construction materials, and particularly, construction materials that can be replaced by bricks," Matutue said. "That's not the case." At least in California, the only state where Boring Co. has started digging a tunnel, land and labour drive prices more than anything else.

DoT, not Commerce Ministry, to decide on Idea's 100% FDI proposal: Prabhu

The telecom ministry is the competent authority to take the final call on Idea Cellular Ltd's proposal for infusing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the company, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has put some condition while seeking views of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on the proposal.

"The matter is completely in the domain of the line ministry. We have already clarified. No need of our approval," Prabhu told PTI In an interview.

It was communicated to DoT that they are the competent authority to deal with the proposal, he said.

"We have sent back (the proposal) immediately. We have stated that it is for you to decide," he said, adding that tax liabilities do not constitute additional condition.

Idea's proposal assumes significance against the backdrop of pending merger with Vodafone India to form the country's largest telecom operator.

The FDI policy allows an overseas firm to buy up to 49 per cent stake in an Indian telecom company under automatic approval route. But the government approval is required for stake above 49 per cent.

Idea and Vodafone announced last year that they would combine their operations to create the country's largest telecom operator worth over $23 billion, with a 35 per cent market share.

Sebi proposes changes to norms governing raising of equity capital

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday proposed a slew of changes to norms governing raising of equity capital.
Among the changes suggested by the Sebi include an increase in threshold from Rs 5 million to Rs 100 million for filing of a “draft letter of offer” for a rights issue. The regulator has also proposed to reduce the time gap between announcement of the price band and launch of an initial public offering (IPO) from five working days at present to just two working days.

Further, the Sebi has proposed to allow companies to extend the IPO time period from three days without reducing the price band. Sebi has also proposed to merge the provisions of the institutional placement programme (IIP) with those of qualified institutional placement (QIP). Changes have also been proposed for the small and medium enterprises (SME) platform. Among them are increasing the maximum post-issue face value capital for a SME public issue from Rs 250 million to Rs 500 mn. Also, provisions for SME follow-on public offer and rights issue.

Rlys eyes income boost, to build walls along high-speed corridors for ads

The Indian Railways is considering a proposal to generate revenue through advertisement on walls along the tracks on high-speed corridors, sources have said, amid a push by the national transporter to boost its non-fare earnings.

In talks with contractors, who can deliverer pre-fabricated walls, the railways plans to generate revenue through advertisement to recover the cost of the build. The sources said the idea is to share revenue with contractors, thus enabling the railways to get the walls built at minimum cost.

"With the plan for the Delhi-Mumbai high-speed corridor underway, the need for such walls is imperative for issues of safety. We are mulling the option of generating revenue from them through advertisement as they are high density areas and will get maximum exposure. Pilot projects are already underway and we are hoping to put up walls across the network starting with urban areas," said one of the sources.

Brookfield Property to purchase US mall owner GGP Inc for $15.3 bn: Sources

Commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners LP said on Monday it would acquire the 66 percent of GGP Inc that it does not already own in a cash-and-stock deal that values GGP, one of the largest owners and operators of U. S. shopping centers, at about $15.3 billion.
The deal comes as many malls struggle to retain tenants amid the brick-and-mortar retail sector's downturn. The acquisition will strengthen Brookfield Property's negotiating power with retailers and allow it to repurpose some GGP properties.

"Having Brookfield’s expertise in offices, hotels and multi-family residential properties will allow the combined company to draw more value from the GGP mall assets," Brookfield Property Chief Executive Brian Kingston told Reuters in an interview. The agreement comes four months after a special board committee of GGP rejected a $14.8 billion cash-and-stock offer from Brookfield Property as inadequate.
Brookfield Property, which is also a major owner of US office properties, is currently GGP's largest shareholder with a 34 percent stake.

Under Brookfield Property's latest offer, which was first reported by Reuters earlier this month, GGP shareholders can elect to receive $23.50 in cash per share, or either one Brookfield unit or one newly created share that trades as a real estate investment trust (REIT). GGP shares ended trading on Monday at $21.21.

Facebook data breach casts a doubtful shadow on WhatsApp Pay

Facebook on Tuesday gave Indian fintech experts 50 million reasons to doubt the safety of its ongoing experiment in India, WhatsApp Pay. The social media giant is caught in the middle of a data breach controversy. It allegedly shared data of up to 50 million users with a political data analytics company Cambridge Analytica. The data was allegedly used to tilt the results of US elections in favour of Donald Trump.
India’s industry experts as well as fintech firms are voicing their reservations around such company getting access to financial data via WhatsApp. Many believe that these firms should be regulated as well as held accountable.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) had given its consent for the roll-out of WhatsApp BHIM unified payments interface (UPI) beta with limited user base of one million users and low per transaction limit.

Lenskart plans to invest $5 million in next 3 years at Haryana facility

Online eyewear firm Lenskart plans to invest $5 million in the next 3 years at its manufacturing facility for spectacles frames.
The company recently started the facility near Gurugram in Haryana that has a manufacturing capacity of 100,000 frames a month with an investment of $1 million. It is looking at ramping it up to 300,000 frames in 3 years.
"We have set up with facility to be able to innovate on design and manufacture high quality spectacle frames at lower costs.

We will invest $5 million over the next three years and will be able to manufacture 300,000 frames a month" Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal told PTI.
Currently, this facility will only meet half of our total frames demand. Rest we will manage through contract manufacturing, he added.

Paytm's claim of leadership in UPI payments misleading, says PhonePe

A week after Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm staked claim to being the country’s largest Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, Flipkart’s digital payments arm PhonePe has hit back saying that Paytm’s claim of being the leader is "uni-dimensional and misleading".

In a blog post published on Thursday, PhonePe said that while Paytm had a larger volume of transactions on UPI, the average value per transaction on Paytm was paltry in comparison to its own. Moreover, PhonePe says the total value of UPI transactions it did in February was far higher than Paytm’s.

“We believe that the recent media narrative has been narrowly focussed only on UPI transaction volumes , which only tells half the story,” read the blogpost. “We believe that Paytm’s claim that they are the largest on UPI is both uni-dimensional and misleading.”

Paytm cornered 68 million out of 171 million total UPI transactions in February which translates to 40 per cent of the total transactions. PhonePe on the other hand managed 28 million transactions. However, the company said, the total value of transactions done on its platform at Rs 51.2 billion accounted for over a fourth of the total Rs 191.26 billion that was transacted through UPI in the same month.

From farm to kitchen, Nestle opens the doors to Maggi's production

Whether in lunch boxes or during a late night-binge, Maggi has been a constant companion for many. But, the method of preparing the two-minute instant noodles was kept a secret, even when Maggi was banned in 2015, raising speculation over the quality of ingredients in its production. Not any more. As the iconic brand turns 35 this year, maker Nestlé has opened the lid. Now, Maggi lovers can watch the entire process of these are prepared in the factory, moving Nestlé a step further towards engaging with consumers by highlighting the safety aspect. The firm has launched a campaign that aims to explain the noodles’ journey, from farm to kitchen.

To begin, there are two promotional videos. The first is a proposed television campaign, kuch achha pak raha hai (something good is getting cooked). The second one takes consumers through a Maggi production unit, where the instant noodles pass through eight stages before getting packed in the retail form.

Before Donald Trump, George W Bush tried steel tariffs but it didn't work

President Donald Trump finally followed through on his almost year-old threat to restrict imports of foreign steel.
On March 8, the president slapped a 25 percent tariff on the metal, while also putting a 10 percent duty on foreign aluminum. After initially suggesting there’d be no exceptions, Trump promised to be “very flexible” and initially exempted Mexico and Canada from the duties, which are set to go into effect in 15 days.

While Trump cited “national security” as the impetus, he’s been vowing since the campaign to use trade policy to restore jobs to the American manufacturing sector, which has suffered in recent decades. The steel sector, for example, supported as many as 650,000 American workers in the 1950s, yet now employs only about 140,000.

My research focuses on the politics of trade and what prompts political leaders to impose restrictions like tariffs. The last time a president slapped tariffs on steel offers an illuminating lesson – and cautionary tale – for Trump’s new policy.

Women's Day: AI, SpiceJet, Vistara to fly with all-female crew today

Air India Express, Vistara, SpiceJet and Air India are among the airlines which will take to the skies on Thursday with all-women crew flights in order to celebrate the International Women's Day.

As many as eight international flights of Air India Express would be operated with an all-women crew. "All women-crew flights will take off from Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Mangalore, Mumbai and Delhi on Thursday," the no-frills airline said in a release today.

Functions are also being organised at all its offices to felicitate the women workforce, which is about 40 per cent of its total employees, it added.

Bilateral deals could replace NAFTA if pact is not renegotiated soon: US

The top US trade envoy said on Monday that bilateral deals could replace NAFTA if the pact is not renegotiated soon, ramping up pressure on Canada and Mexico, already smarting from President Donald Trump's plan to impose steel and aluminium tariffs.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said political headwinds would increase the longer the negotiations dragged on, warning that time to rework the 1994 trade deal was running "very short."

"We would prefer a three-way tripartite agreement. If that proves impossible, we are prepared to move on a bilateral basis," Lighthizer said, reading from a statement in Mexico City at the end of the seventh round of talks.

Jet Airways is a valuable partner; we have no plans to sell stake: Etihad

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways says rejected reports claiming that it might sell its entire 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways by the third quarter of FY 2019. Aviation consultancy CAPA had said in a report that Etihad could exit Jet as part of a new growth strategy.
The CAPA report, prepared for private circulation, was not available on its website. The consultancy tweeted on Thursday “CAPA research indicates that Etihad may divest its 24% stake in @jetairways, possibly by Q3 of FY2019. This could lead to a rationalisation of capacity between India and the Gulf, particularly Abu Dhabi.”

CAPA did not share further details on the report. A Jet Airways spokesperson said: "As a policy, Jet Airways does not comment on speculation."
Etihad, which is among the big 3 Gulf airlines built up a global presence stitching up alliances and picking up investments in airlines around the world, including Jet Airways. But following failures at Alitalia and Air Berlin, its two high-profile investments, Etihad is said to be working on a course correction.

What to make of US Fed chairman Jerome Powell's hawkish testimony

Jerome H Powell, the newly minted Chairman of the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) came out as a clear hawk in his first testimony before the Congress on Tuesday.
Powell said that his expectations for domestic economic growth have increased since the beginning of the year, citing the passage of the $1.5 trillion tax cut, lifting of the debt ceiling and stronger global growth.
Our take on his testimony:
1. Clearly hawkish
His talons became visible when he answered a Democrat’s question as to what would cause the US Fed to hike more than three times that the central bank’s guidance currently calls for?
Powell said that each of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) member would take the developments since the December meeting into account and write down ‘new rate paths as we go into the March meeting, and I wouldn’t want to prejudge that.’
2. Personal views take front seat
When the Fed Chair testifies, he speaks for the Federal Reserve, not for himself. But, Powell gave his personal views many times. This is a big break from the past like Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke or Alan Greenspan.