Author: Yashi Gupta

Strides Pharma unveils SteriScience as its dedicated arm for sterile injectables business

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Pharma major Strides Pharma Science Limited on Monday announced an investment of Rs 135 crore over the next 24 months in SteriScience Pharma Pvt Ltd to make it the company’s dedicated arm for the global sterile injectables business.

The company has started manufacturing of more than 20 quick to launch products and expects the first Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to be launched within FY21.

Furthermore, SteriScience has entered into a Joint Venture with Brooks Laboratories Limited for constructing a robust carbapenem business with integrated manufacturing capabilities, Strides Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

The investment in SteriScience will allow Strides to leverage its rich expertise and experience in the high-value injectables business. SteriScience is designed for a global foray in sterile injectables leveraging the group’s rich experience in the domain, it added.

On September 20, 2019, Strides had announced that it would re-enter into sterile injectables business post the completion of the company’s non-compete period with Mylan. The non-compete period ended in December 2019.

“Given the unexpected developments due to Ranitidine product withdrawal from the US markets and COVID-19 outbreak, the company had put on hold all the new investments. However, the company retained the option to participate in the injectable platform SteriScience in partnership with the family office of the promoters until December 2020 with a 54% economic interest,” it said.

Strides and the family office of promoters will partner to infuse capital into SteriScience. The partners will also transfer their current sterile injectable related assets and Intellectual Property (IP) to the platform at cost.

The business will require a total investment of Rs 400 crore (Rs 250 crore equity and Rs 150 crore debt) until it achieves an operational break-even in the next 24 months. The partners will invest this amount in proportion to their ownership and their family office will make the remaining investments.

On Monday, the shares of Strides Pharma Science ended 1.86 percent lower at Rs 673.15 on the BSE.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Google Doodle: Search engine honours frontline coronavirus helpers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Google dedicated today’s doodle to all the frontline workers battling the deadly pandemic. Google had released the same doodle earlier in April as well; however, with no vaccine in sight, it was much needed.

The two ‘o’ in Google have been replaced by a doodle-version of helpers who continue to deliver essential services despite the threat of a raging virus.

From doctors, nurses, teachers, delivery staff to cleaners, grocers, emergency services workers, and security-men, the doodle says ‘thank you, coronavirus helpers.’

For the past couple of years, Google has celebrated famous people, festivals, and significant days in history through its doodles. On important occasions, the company also changes its logo.

Sharing its doodle on Twitter, the search engine giant urged everyone to stay at home, stating that would be the best way to thank all the frontline workers.

At the bottom of the doodle, Google also shared precautionary measures against the virus. It suggested following simple steps like wearing masks, washing hands, keeping a safe distance, and covering face when sneezing and coughing.

India recorded 92,071 cases on Monday; the total cases tally has crossed 48 lakh mark. The number of deaths is at 79,722, with about a thousand of them recorded in the past 24 hours.

The country has been reporting the highest per day increases in cases in the world, with an average of about 90,000 cases a day since September started.

The US has recorded the most number of deaths with 193,705, with Brazil and India closely following at 131, 210 and 79.722, and Mexico at 70,604.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India-China border tension: Corps Commanders to work out a framework for disengagement next week

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian and Chinese armies are expected to hold a fresh round of Corps Commander-level talks early next week with a focus on implementing certain provisions of a five-point agreement reached between the two countries to disengage and de-escalate the situation in eastern Ladakh, government sources said on Friday.

India and China reached the five-point consensus to resolve the over four-month-long border row in eastern Ladakh at a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on Thursday evening on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet.

The sources said Indian Army will keenly observe Chinese military’s overall approach along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh to make an assessment of their seriousness in easing tension as agreed in the Jaishankar-Wang talks. It is learnt that Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane deliberated on the overall situation in Ladakh as well as on the provisions of the agreement with top military officials in the Army headquarters.

In Chushul, another round of Brigade Commander-level talks took place for around four hours from 11 AM to 3 PM on Friday with a focus on bringing down tensions in the face-off sites. The five-point agreement included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions and steps to restore peace and tranquillity along the LAC. However, it has not mentioned any timeline for disengagement and restoration of peace and tranquillity.

In the five rounds of Corps Commander-level talks, the Indian side has been insisting on immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to April. The face-off began on May 5. The sources said India will not lower its guard and will maintain the current state of very high-level combat readiness in eastern Ladakh till there are visible changes in the ground situation.

Separately, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and top military brass on Friday deliberated on the five-point agreement. The deliberation was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Gen Naravane, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh among others.

The meeting also carried out a comprehensive review of the security scenario in eastern Ladakh in view of fresh confrontation by two sides in the southern bank of Pangong lake earlier this week. The fresh confrontation further intensified the standoff and triggered a massive military build-up by both sides in almost all friction points along the LAC, the de-facto border between the two countries.

In the last few days, the Army further bolstered its dominance over a number of strategic heights overlooking key Chinese-held positions around Pangong lake area. The sources said additional reinforcements have been made in hilltops and strategic locations around Pangong lake to keep a hawk-eye vigil on Chinese-held position of Finger 4.

The mountainous spurs in the area are referred to as Finger. China has been holding onto Finger 4 to 8 on the north bank of Pangong lake, the sources said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Loan moratorium: Expert committee to help government in assessment of relief to bank borrowers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government has constituted an expert committee to make an overall assessment of providing relief to bank borrowers. The panel consists of three members – former CAG chairman Rajiv Mehrishi, Former Professor of IIM-A and ex-member of RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee Dr Ravindra Dholakia, and Former SBI and IDBI Bank MD B Sriram.

The committee will assess concerns raised during the proceedings of the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court regarding the impact of interest waiver and waiver of interest on interest, and other related issues.

The committee will give its suggestions to mitigate financial constraints of various sections of society and measures to be adopted in this regard. They will also give suggestions that maybe necessary given the current pandemic.

The State Bank of India will give secretarial support to the committee, which may consult other banks and shareholders if necessary.

The committee will submit its report within a week, the Finance Ministry said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: Why was Deepak Kochhar arrested by ED? All you need to know

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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On September 7, Deepak Kochhar, the husband of former ICICI Bank CEO, Chanda Kochhar, was taken in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody until September 19. Armed with fresh evidence against him, the ED produced him before the special PMLA Court (Prevention of Money Laundering Court) for his remand hearing in the noon.

According to media reports, the evidence relates to six loans worth Rs 1,875 crore that ICICI bank sanctioned to Videocon Group between June 2009 and October 2011.

Allegations against Deepak Kochhar and Videocon

According to the allegations, Deepak and Chanda Kochhar laundered money in the loans ICICI Bank gave to Videocon. These loans later turned out into non-performing assets.

CBI, ED, SFIO, and income tax department are conducting parallel investigations against Deepak and Chanda Kochhar in this case.

The case came to light when the CBI registered an FIR against the Kochhars and Videocon over alleged irregularities in the dealings between ICICI Bank and Videocon.

Moreover, according to these allegations, Dhoot invested crores in NuPower a few months after his loan was illegally sanctioned.

According to ED, Videocon made investments into companies held by Deepak Kochhar in exchange for these loans after their disbursal was cleared by the then CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar. In the wake of these allegations, she took early retirement in October 2019.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the tax department concluded in their report that Rs 64 crore of payment was illegally received by Deepak Kochhar from Videocon through various layered transactions. While the transactions were filed under ‘business expenses’ by Kochhar’s company, the ministry suggested they were not genuine. Moreover, according to the report, the Videocon group had no serious intention of recovering these funds.

Chanda’s standing in the case 

Allegedly,  Chanda Kochhar had abused her official position to approve a loan worth Rs 3,250 crore for Videocon in 2012 for a deal that concerned NuPower Renewables, Deepak Kochhar’s company.

The FIR against her also alleged that she accepted “illegal gratification through her husband”. It is to be noted that Videocon made investments in NuPower Renewables right after it granted their loans.

Videocon Chief, Venugopal Dhoot claimed Chanda Kochhar did nothing illegal. He said its wrong to assume that they would use their personal ties to gamble in criminal acts. He added that he knew all the 12 people on the panel and Chanda Kochhar was not the only one who cleared the loan.

ED is also now investigating some loans sanctioned under the leadership of Chanda Kochhar, including Sterling Biotech, Essar Steel Minnesota, Bhushan Steel, and Power Limited for alleged bribery. However, so far, Deepak Kochhar hasn’t been linked to any of these cases.

Timeline of  ICICI Bank-Videocon Case

2016

The probe started in 2016 when Arvind Gupta, an investor in both the firms, Videocon Group and ICICI Bank, raised concerns about alleged loan irregularities.

Gupta wrote to authorities like RBI and even Prime Minister, but his complaint garnered no attention at the time.

2018

Fast forward to March 2018, another whistle-blower complained that the delay in recognising impairment of several loan accounts between 2008 and 2016 was a deliberate action to save on provisioning costs. The whistle-blower filed the complaint against the bank’s top management that quickly garnered the attention of many agencies.

However, the same month, the bank came out with a statement saying they had full faith in Chanda Kochhar. The statement was given after Chanda’s alleged role in approving the loan to Videocon group was under scrutiny.

Later that month, CBI filed an internal query and questioned Chanda’s husband and his brother, Deepak and Rajiv Kochhar. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank continued to defend Chanda who was facing quid pro quo allegations.

April 2018 saw the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) getting involved in the case and they sought permission from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for a probe.

In May 2018, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), shot a notice in which they asked Chanda Kochhar and the bank to explain the bank’s dealing with Videocon group. They were asked to submit their responses by June 7.

In the wake of rising pressure, by the end of May, ICICI also launched a probe into the matter.

On July 5, SEBI asked Kochhar and bank again to reply to showcase notice by July 10 when they failed to do it previously.

On October 10, Kochhar sought early retirement from her post and the bank approved with the promise that it would not affect the investigation in any manner.

2019

On January 24, CBI registered a case against Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar, and the MD of Videocon Group Venugopal Dhoot over irregularities in sanctioned loans.

January 30 marked the day when the BN Srikrishna panel found that Chanda Kochhar had, in fact, violated the bank’s code of conduct. As soon as the report was released, the bank took away all the bonuses paid to Kochhar between April 2009 and March 2018.

In February 2019, she was handed the termination letter by the bank.

By the end of 2019, Kochhar had filed a petition against the bank claiming her termination was illegal, untenable, and unsustainable in law.

2020

In January, the Enforcement Directorate attached the assets worth more than Rs 78 crore belonging to Kochhar family.

The Bombay High Court, in March, dismissed the petition that challenged Kochhar’s termination.

Earlier in June, CBI booked Venugopal Dhoot, MD, Videocon for cheating millions from one of the leading lenders of the country.

Finally, on Monday, Deepak Kochhar was arrested by ED after conducting the latest round of questioning. The agency had said they found evidence against Deepak Kochhar, however, they did not disclose any other information.

Details about the arrest

The agency arrested Deepak Kochhar under sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a round of questioning. During the session, he was confronted with the fresh evidence that emerged about his money trail. However, Deepak was not cooperative with the investigation, that’s why he was placed under arrest.

Vijay Aggarwal, Deepak’s lawyer in an interview to the Print said, “The arrest is illegal as my client has been cooperating in the investigation. The offences are punishable for imprisonment up to 7 years only, so he cannot be arrested like this when he has always joined the investigation on the summons.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Groww raises Rs 220 crore in Series C funding round

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bengaluru-based investment platform, Groww, on Thursday, said it had raised $30 million in series Y funding. The funding was led by Y Continuity, Y Combinator’s growth-stage fund.

The funding round also saw participation from their existing investors – Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital, and Propel Ventures. Series C financing is the fourth stage in the capital-raising process by a startup.

The company offers mutual fund and digital gold investing, stockbroking services and its users can invest in US stocks as well.

Groww is planning to utilise the money raised to enhance its technology infrastructure, expand product suite, and hire top talent across engineering, product, and growth divisions, according to the company’s statement.

Part of the funding will be used to fuel Groww’s pan-India financial education invest ‘Ab India Karega Invest’.

The Co-Founder and CEO of the startup, Lalit Keshre, said, “Our wealth as a nation will keep growing, and our mission is to provide the best experience to investors to manage their wealth. We are happy to partner with investors who believe in our long-term vision.”

The three-year-old platform has over 80 lakh registered users, of which 60 percent comes from tier 2 and 3 cities, while 60 percent of users join the platform as first-time investors.

Last year, Groww raised $21.4 million in series B funding from Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital and Y Combinator. Groww is the first company to receive funding from Y Combinator’s Y Continuity.

“India is seeing increased participation of retail investors in financial markets with 2 million new stock market investors added in the last quarter alone. Groww is leading this change by serving millions of retail investors,” Sequoia Capital India LLP Principal Ashish Agrawal said.

According to PTI, the company records more than 1.5 Lakh new SIPs every month. 

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Eveready Industries Q1 net profit jumps to Rs 25 crore led by robust operating performance

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Eveready Industries India on Wednesday reported a robust jump in its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 to Rs 25 crore from Rs 6.9 crore in the year-ago period, mainly on account of better operating performance led by improved margins.

Consolidated revenue during the period fell 20.5 percent to Rs 263.4 crore from Rs 331.2 crore, YoY.  This fall was attributable to non achievement of optimal sales during April 2020 consequent to a complete stoppage / disruption of economic activities during the initial phases of the countrywide lockdown, the company said.

“Despite the lower turnover, gross margin was at par with that of the previous year due to a better turnover mix towards the more profitable segments of batteries and flashlights. Though the battery and flashlight turnover was also in the negative territory, the impact for these segments was lower in comparison to the other segments of lighting and appliances,” Eveready Industries said in an exchange filing.

Operating performance in Q1FY21 improved as consolidated EBITDA rose 65 percent to Rs 41.3 crore from Rs 25 crore in Q1FY20 due to an improved gross margin, lower employee cost, lower distribution cost, lower promotional spends and lower overheads.

Consolidated EBITDA margin expanded to 15.7 percent from 7.6 percent, YoY.

“The discontinuance of the packet tea business further helped the Company in improving margin and releasing working capital,” it added.

The company’s core categories of batteries and flashlights, however, are witnessing a healthy demand, given the sharp decrease in dumped imports from China and the disruptions caused to the unorganized market for non-availability of supplies.

Going ahead, it said that the situation in the battery segment should continue to look positive as full effect of the implementation of the BIS standards comes into force.

The flashlight segment is also likely to benefit as many of the unorganized gray market players may have been adversely impacted by cash flow constraints arising out of economic disruption. Furthermore, Government initiatives on restricting imports from China are likely to benfit both the segments, it added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

ASEAN 2020: Key takeaways of the virtual talks held by Vietnam on Wednesday

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings were held online on Wednesday due to the risks of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Later in the week, the 10-nation bloc’s foreign ministers are scheduled to meet their Asian and western counterparts for talks, concluding in the annual security forum.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told reporters earlier this week that the talks would continue to focus on regional response to the pandemic and help member states recover economically. 

The key takeaways of the talks are as follows-

1. Estabishment of COVID-19 response fund for member countries

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung told reporters earlier this week that the negotiations would continue to focus on a regional response to the pandemic and ways to help member states recover economically. 

To help member countries deal with the aftermath of a raging pandemic, a COVID-19 response fund will be established. The response fund will help member countries buy medical supplies and protective suits. 

Thailand has pledged to contribute $100,000, and ASEAN partners, including China, Japan, and South Korea, were expected to announce contributions, according to a senior Southeast Asian diplomat.

2. Establishment of ASEAN Center on Public health emergencies

The AP report said that Japan will research the possibility of establishing an ASEAN center on public health emergencies. The result of the research will pave the path to ASEAN countries dealing with coronavirus-like pandemic effectively. 

3. US-China confirm their attendance in Asia’s largest security forum

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, declared that Washington regards all of China’s maritime claims illegitimate and remains neutral in territorial disputes, but the Trump administration has sided with the four ASEAN claimant states and Indonesia – all the countries that opposed China’s claims on the entire waterway. 

Amidst these territorial disputes, China reportedly fired two test missiles in the south China disputes. While these territorial disputes are far from over, both China and the US have confirmed their attendance in the ASEAN Regional Forum on Saturday, Asia’s largest security forum.

(With inputs from AP)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SBI moots VRS scheme to optimise costs, about 30,000 employees eligible

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a bid to optimise its costs, the State Bank of India (SBI) has planned a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) under which about 30,190 employees are eligible. According to sources, a draft scheme for VRS has been prepared and board approval is awaited. The proposed scheme, ‘Second Innings Tap VRS-2020′, is aimed at optimising human resources and costs of the bank.

The scheme will open on December 1 and will remain open till the end of February, it said, adding that applications for VRS will be accepted during this period only.

The total net savings for the bank would be Rs 1,662.86 crore if 30 percent of eligible employees opt for retirement under the scheme, as per estimates based on July 2020 salary.

“The staff member whose request for retirement under VRS is accepted will be paid an ex-gratia amounting 50 percent of salary for the residual period of service (up to the date of superannuation), subject to a maximum of 18 months’ last drawn salary,” it said.

Other benefits like gratuity, pension, provident and medical benefits will be given to employees seeking VRS.

A staff member retired under the scheme will be eligible for engagement or re-employment in the bank after a cooling-off period of two years from the date of retirement.

Ahead of amalgamation of SBI’s five associates with it in 2017, the merging subsidiaries had announced VRS for their employees.

In 2001 also the bank had announced VRS with the objective to optimise human resources. However, the proposed VRS scheme is not finding favour with bank unions.

Such a move at a time when the country is in the grip of COVID-19 pandemic reflects anti-worker attitude of management, National Organisation of Bank Workers Vice President Ashwani Rana said.

Senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram, criticised this scheme and pushed it off as a cruel step, while the economy is collapsing, and jobs are scarce because of the pandemic.

However, according to an SBI spokesperson, the bank has been employee-friendly and is expanding its operations and requires people, which is evidenced by the fact that the bank has plans of recruiting more than 14,000 employees this year.

In this backdrop, it was thought to provide an amicable solution to employees who expressed a desire for making a strategic shift in their vocations, either due to professional growth limitations, mobility issues, physical health conditions or family situations, added SBI spokesperson.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow