Top 10 biz headlines: Jet's ultimatum, kickbacks to Kochhars, and more

From Jet Airways' ultimatum to Whistleblower alleging kickbacks to Kochhar brothers, Business Standard brings you top 10 stories that made news on Tuesday

Crisis-hit Jet Airways' ultimatum: Infuse Rs 400 crore to stop grounding

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, who was forced to step down as chairman recently, has pulled out of the race to regain control of the airline. His consortium partner Future Trends Capital has also withdrawn from the process, it is learnt. Goyal was among the five entities to have submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to buy up to a 75 per cent stake in Jet as part of a lenders-led resolution plan to rescue the airline from going under. Read more here

Whistleblower alleges kickbacks to Kochhar brothers; ED starts probe

In what can add to the troubles of former ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar, Indian and Singapore investigators have received a fresh whistle-blower letter, alleging that her brother-in-law Rajiv Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, “were running multiple companies in Singapore, Cayman Islands and India where they used to take kickbacks from various corporate promoters for loans sanctioned by ICICI Bank”. Read more here 
 

Wipro Q4 net profit rises 38%, announces Rs 10,500-crore share buyback

Wipro has largely met the Street estimates on the revenue and profit fronts for the fourth quarter of 2018-19, though the revenue growth reported by the country's third-largest IT services firm was the lowest among the top three players in the last financial year. Read more here

Banks must flag bad loans as NPAs after 90-day default: RBI to NCLAT

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday told the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that banks had an obligation to mark bad loans as non-performing asset (NPA) after the default of 90 days and that the lenders could not be relieved of the same. The banking sector regulator has moved the NCLAT seeking a modification of its February 25 order in which the appellate tribunal had said that accounts of the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and its subsidiaries could not be classified NPAs without approval. Read more here

Pvt banks propel Sensex, Nifty to life-time highs; Infy, Tata Motors fall

The benchmark stock market indices hit all-time highs on Tuesday led by gains in heavyweights like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. Supportive global markets and better monsoon forecasts by the India Meteorological Department helped with the risk-on sentiment. Read more here

PFRDA considers issuing on-tap licences for pension fund managers

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) was considering issuing on-tap licences to fund managers, against the current practice of coming out with request for proposals (RFPs) every five years. It is also planning to double the minimum capital requirement of pension fund managers, from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore. Read more here

Walmart chief Doug McMillon impressed with Flipkart's tech prowess

During his townhall address to Flipkart employees at the company’s headquarters in Bengaluru, Walmart President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Doug McMillon was learnt to be quite impressed with the e-commerce major’s technological prowess while emphasising the need of leveraging some of those for the Bentonville-based company’s global operations. Read more here

Collaboration between govt and corps is key to resolving jobs crisis: Study

A new study highlights the underlying causes of the global jobs crisis while also offering policy solutions to generate better quality jobs. According to a news report in Live Mint, referring to a paper by Dani Rodrik of the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy, and Charles Sabel from the Columbia Law School, the global shortfall in good jobs is a massive failure of the capitalist market economy that needs to be redressed through a strategic collaboration between the private sector and the state aided by enabling legislation and regulation. Read more here

Government mulls Limited Liability Partnership framework revamp

India is looking at a comprehensive review of the decade-old Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) framework including steep penalties for nonfiling of returns. According to a news report in the Economic Times, the ministry of corporate affairs will soon set up a committee to review the structure of LLPs, touted as a low compliance hybrid between companies and partnerships. The review comes following representations about a Rs 100 per day penalty for delayed filing and difficulties faced in dissolution. Read more here

Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems headed for liquidation to recover funds

The committee of creditors to Gitanjali Gems, promoted by fugutive Mehul Choksi, has decided to liquidate the company to recover Rs 12,558 crore it owes to 31 banks and financial institutions. Choksi along with diamantaire Nirav Modi, are on the run since early last year after they misused credit facilities of banks and defaulted on loan repayment. Almost all the investigative agencies of the country are probing the multi-million scam perpetrated by Modi and Choksi together. Read more here