Fortis to demerge hospitals business into Manipal

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

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Fortis Healthcare has announced plans to demerge its hospitals business (Fortis Hospitals) into Manipal Hospital Enterprises Private Limited (Manipal Hospitals).

According to a statement issued on late Tuesday night, the company said that the proposed transaction is subject to shareholders’ approval, creditor’s approval, applicable regulatory approvals (including Competition Commission of India, SEBI, stock exchanges and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)) and other customary conditions precedent.

The company’s board has also approved sale of its 20 per cent stake in SRL Limited (SRL) to Manipal Hospitals.

“The resultant entity Manipal Hospitals will be a publicly traded company listed on NSE and BSE. The remaining FHL will be an investment holding company with 36.6 per cent stake in SRL,” the statement said.

“As part of the proposed transaction, Dr. Ranjan Pai and TPG will invest RS 3,900 crore into Manipal Hospitals.”

As per the statement, the funds will be utilised by Manipal Hospitals to “finance the acquisition of 50.9 per cent stake in SRL (20.0 per cent from FHL and 30.9 per cent from other investors for which discussions are currently underway)”.

“In addition, the investment will support the proposed acquisition of hospital assets owned by RHT Health Trust (“RHT”) and the growth of the hospitals and the diagnostics businesses,” the statement said.

Accordingly, the combination of Manipal Hospitals and Fortis Hospitals will result in the creation of the largest provider of healthcare services in India by revenue with 41 hospitals in India and 4 hospitals overseas.

“The hospitals’ complementary geographic footprints and combined clinical strengths will provide significant scale, revenue and cost synergies,” the statement added.

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GST collection falls by Rs 1,144 crore in March

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

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Revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fell for the second consecutive month in February by Rs 1,144 crore to Rs 85,174 crore.

The collection had marginally slipped in January to Rs 86,318 crore from Rs 86,703 crore in December.

“The total revenue received under GST for February 2018 (received upto March 26) has been Rs 85,174 crore,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

It added that 59.51 lakh GST returns were filed for February till March 25.

“This is 69 percent of total taxpayers which are required to file monthly returns,” it said.

Of the Rs 85,174 crore, Rs 14,945 crore has been collected as Central GST (CGST), Rs 20,456 crore as State GST (SGST), Rs 42,456 crore as Integrated GST (IGST) and Rs 7,317 crore compensation cess, the Finance Ministry said.

It added that Rs 12,140 crore was being transferred from IGST to CGST account and Rs 13,424 crores from IGST to SGST account by way of settlement of funds on account of cross utilization of IGST credit.

“Thus, a total amount of Rs 25,564 crores is being transferred from IGST to CGST and SGST account by way of settlement,” the Ministry said.

Before picking up in December to touch Rs 86,703 crore, the revenue collection had fallen for two consecutive months from over Rs 92,000 crore in September to Rs 83,346 crore in October and Rs 80,808 crore in November.

The GST collection for July was over Rs 95,000 crore while for August it was more than Rs 91,000 crore.

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Aadhaar Saga: SC Red flags data security concerns

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

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Can the data furnished to private entities for biometric authentication be compromised? This was the question that a 5-judge-constitutional-bench of the Supreme Court of India posed to the UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey.

The Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions that question the constitutionality of the Aadhaar Act. Today was Day – 2 UIDAI CEO, Ajay Pandey’s power point presentation to the apex court.

The Supreme Court grilled the UIDAI CEO on issues of data integrity at the point of collection of data. The apex court observed that it wasn’t enough to secure only the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR).

Justice DY Chandrachud, one of the youngest judges of the apex court, observed that the process of authentication was a two way street with the UIDAI database being merely one end. He opined that it was equally critical to have a data protection mechanism at the point of collection of data for beautification.

The bench also cautioned that without a data protection law, user data captured would be vulnerable. The Court opined that the data can be exploited for commercial gains by transfer or sale to third parties The court offered an analogy of a customer ordering a pizza.

The court reasoned that if the restaurant sought Aadhaar data from its, customers and transferred it to an insurance company, the customer’s orders at the restaurant could influence the insurance premiums charged.

Meanwhile, the petitioners have submitted a list of 20 questions on the mechanics of data collection, data verification, data security, and issuance of Aadhaar cards. The Apex court has directed the govt to file their reply to the questions raised by the next hearing. The Supreme Court will resume hearing in the Aadhaar case on April 3. ​

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I-T dept attaches bank accounts of Cognizant Technologies for evading dividend distribution tax

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

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Income Tax department has attached bank accounts with over Rs 2,500 crore of Cognizant Technologies in Mumbai and Chennai. The taxman has accused the company of making illegal payments, not paying dividend distribution tax. among other charges.

The department said that the company used a scheme of arrangement to buy shares of itself from a company in the United States and Mauritius in 2016. But, the company did not pay dividend distribution tax (DDT) to the tune of Rs 2500 crore on these transactions.

Calling the scheme of arrangement “a sham”— the taxman alleges that this scheme was designed with the specific purpose of “evading taxes in India”.

It further said that while the company paid the face value of the shares it purchased from the share capital, the rest of the money involved in the transactions came from accumulated profits and so would attract dividend distribution tax.

The company has responded to the charges. It said, “Cognizant’s business operations, our associates and our work with clients are not impacted by actions recently attempted by the income tax department.”

The company also said that Madras High Court has instructed the taxman to not take any further action until the court hears the matter.

It added, “The company believes that the positions taken by the Indian income tax department are contrary to law and without merit.”

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

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: Trump election made me speak out

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

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Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower behind the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, said Tuesday that the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president in 2016 made him speak out about the practices being employed by the political data firm.

Wylie was appearing in front of U.K. lawmakers in London tuesday.

It comes after explosive reports last week that a quiz app harvested 50 million Facebook profiles for data which were then sent over to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that was caught claiming it handled the digital aspects of President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign.

Wylie said that Trump’s election was one of the major reasons he blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica’s data practices.

“I wouldn’t say it was just because of Donald Trump, but Donald Trump makes it click in your head that this actually has a much wider impact. I don’t think that military-style information operations is conducive for any democratic process,” he told the committee of lawmakers.

Cambridge Analytica was initially funded by conservative billionaire Robert Mercer and led by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon.

Wylie was the man who revealed to the New York Times and the U.K.’s Observer newspaper the practices of Cambridge Analytica and the data harvesting that took place. He is speaking to members of parliament on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, chaired by lawmaker Damian Collins.

Separately last week, Collins summoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to appear in front of the DCMS at another time and gave the company a deadline of March 26 to respond.

Facebook responded on the deadline day and said it would send either Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer or Chief Product Officer Chris Cox.

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

Enforcement Directorate makes its first arrest in Nirav Modi fraud case

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

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The Enforcement Directorate has held Shyam Wadhwa, Vice President, Firestar Diamond, marking its first arrest in the $2-billion Nirav Modi fraud case. According to ED sources, Wadhwa played a critical role in setting up the shell companies that were used to obtain unauthorized loans from Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Firestar Diamond is a company owned by Nirav Modi, the billionaire jeweller at the centre of the fraud case.

Indian authorities have stepped up investigation into the case, including a raid recently of Modi’s former law firm. Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems Ltd, are suspected to have colluded with bank officials at PNB to obtain unauthorised loans over a six-year period. PNB has revealed that the amount of those fraudulent transactions could rise by $204 million to nearly $2 billion.

Wadhwa has also been accused of managing capital flow from Letters of Understanding (LoUs) to shell companies.

Separately, the Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Vipul Ambani, president (finance) of Nirav Modi’s Fire Star Diamond, Kavita Mankikar (executive assistant and authorised signatory of three firms—Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond, Solar Exports), Arjun Patil (senior executive, Firestar Group) and Rajesh Jindal, the then head of the Brady House branch of PNB.

With inputs from agencies.

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

Enforcement Directorate makes its first arrest in Nirav Modi case

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

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested vice president of Firestar Diamond Shyam Wadhwa in Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that ED believes Wadhwa to be instrumental in setting up of shell companies used by Modi to siphon off the money.

Firestar Diamond is a company owned by Nirav Modi, the billionaire jeweller at the centre of a $2-billion fraud case in India.

With this arrest, authorities have stepped up investigation into the case, including a raid recently of Modi’s former law firm.

Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems Ltd, are suspected to have colluded with bank officials at Punjab National Bank (PNB) to obtain unauthorised loans over a six-year period.

PNB has revealed that the amount of those fraudulent transactions could rise by $204 million to nearly $2 billion.

Separately, the Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Vipul Ambani, president (finance) of Nirav Modi’s Fire Star Diamond, Kavita Mankikar (executive assistant and authorised signatory of three firms—Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond, Solar Exports), Arjun Patil (senior executive, Firestar Group) and Rajesh Jindal, the then head of the Brady House branch of PNB.

(with inputs from Reuters)

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

Indian Oil begins BS VI supply to Delhi ahead of deadline

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

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Last winter, when pollution levels spiked to record levels in north India and the National Capital Region (NCR), Ministry of Petroleum and natural gas stepped in to announce adoption of the cleaner BS VI grade fuel in the national capital by April 2018.

The announcement followed a rapid roll out plan, as a result of which, all 397 fuel stations in Delhi have started dispensing BS VI petrol and diesel ahead of the deadline.

As per data available with CNBC-TV 18, India’s largest Oil Marketing Company, Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), has upgraded all its 187 fuel stations with BS VI fuel.

HPCL’s 97 fuel stations, BPCL’s 104 fuel stations and 9 fuel pumps of Reliance Industries Ltd too have switched to the cleaner fuel.

RV Rama Gopal, Director-Refineries of IOCL told CNBC-TV18, “All 187 fuel pumps of IOC equipped with BS VI fuel in Delhi. BS VI fuel supply for IOC pumps are coming from Panipat and Mathura refineries. Next target is to supply to NCR and all metros within a year. IOC is fully geared to supply BS VI fuel to 13 major cities that the Supreme Court has ordered to be upgraded to BS VI.”

BS VI fuel comprises only 10 parts per million of Sulphur – a major pollutant – compared to 50 PPM in the currently used BS IV petrol and diesel.

Annual consumption of petrol and diesel in Delhi alone is 960 Thousand Metric Tonnes (TMT) while that of diesel is of 1,265 TMT.

Industry experts say that BS VI fuel availability is a step towards lowering pollution but full benefit of this grade of fuel will be felt only when vehicles compliant to BS VI norms ply on the roads.

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

Mamta’s West Bengal leads Ease of Doing Business ranking in the first phase

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

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Reforms initiated by the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government in the Ease of Doing Business arena has catapulted the state to the numero uno position in the first phase of the rankings. The state now shares the first position with Chattisgarh.

Initial results show that the east Indian state, which was notorious for its slow bureaucracy and archaic rules has, scored 99.73% in the initial phase of the rankings.

The final scores of this much coveted rankings will not be out till six more weeks as the final results will have feedback of the industry as well.

In the first phase, states reported on 372 business reform action points mandated by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP).

As many as 17 states have carried out more than 90% of these reforms.

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the World Bank is taking feedback from the industry on 78 reforms initiated by the states. Score from this feedback will be combined with the phase one results to determine the final rankings.

The current rankings are expected to undergo changes once the user experience data is merged with the score of the initial phase.

Going by the current status, the second position is shared by Jharkhand, MP and Haryana with a score of 99.46%, while in third position, Rajasthan and Gujarat scored 99.19%z

Last year’s top rankers were Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who are in the fifth and sixth position currently.

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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