Biztro

Business in bitesizes

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1. King of Good times is grounded

There is a perceptible sigh of relief in PSU banking circles that at least one bank—United Bank of India (UBI)—has been able to upstage liquor baron Vijay Mallya and get him declared a “wilful defaulter”. The decision checks Mallya’s ability to raise funds. It also allows UBI to recover at least a part of the Rs 403 crore owed to it. Waiting in the wings is an SBI-led consortium that is owed Rs 6,521 crore. Finance ministry sources say besides Mallya there are other instances where defaulting companies are known to have undeclared current accounts—thereby ensuring lenders are not able to get back funds. The ministry of corporate affairs meanwhile is in the process of drafting a bankruptcy legislation.

2. Bad blasts from the past

The ghosts of disinvestment have come back to haunt the NDA government with questions being asked about the sale of the Udaipur-based Laxmi Vilas Hotel to Bharat Hotels in 2002. The 29-acre hotel with an estimated value of Rs 151 crore was sold for Rs 7.5 crore. The case has already brought into question the process followed by the former NDA government and the role played by Arun Shourie and former disinvestment secretary Pradip Baijal. Both Shourie and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley have weighed in, raising alarm that any move to open old cases may hurt the Modi government’s attempt to end policy paralysis. What’s going on?

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3. Who’s knocking at Sinha’s door?

Not once, not twice, top officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) apparently met CBI director Ranjit Sinha at least 50 times over 15 months at his official residence in Lutyens’ Delhi: 2, Janpath. According to a story in the DNA— which seems to have accessed the visitor’s diary at Sinha’s residence—Tony Jesudasan and A.N. Sethuraman’s names (or versions of them) were listed as visitors arriving in ADAG cars between May 2013 and August 2014. Both are top officials of ADAG, whose officials are accused in the 2G scam case. Taking the story at face value, it puts the spotlight on Sinha, who has come under fire for trying to derail the trial against Reliance Telecom.

Math

4:30 am The time most CEOs get up to begin their day; Cisco’s CTO Padmasree Warrior makes up for the lack of sleep with a digital detox on Saturday

Global natural gas prices
What gas-producing countries charge domestic consumers, in $/MMBTU

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14 How old Indian-American V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai was when he ‘invented’ e-mail in 1982 

40% The percentage of shares held by individuals in British companies before Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979. By 1981, it was down to 30 per cent. In 2012, it was 12 per cent.

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Mojo

Fusion food hits a new low

UK firm Iceland Foods recently launched a ready-to-eat meal (for one person) that combines the very British institution of the Yorkshire Pudding with the ubiquitous chicken tikka. The frozen meal retails for £1.

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Mind

This week we learnt about Twitter analytics

The growing addiction with social network site Twitter acquired a fresh edge with the introduction of Twitter Analytics (analytics.twitter.com). This feature— earlier available only for advertisers—allows anyone with a Twitter account to see exactly how their followers are “engaging” with their tweets. The tool also breaks down (via easy-to-understand graphics) the composition of a user’s followers, where they are from and so on. The analytics dashboard informs you exactly how many people have seen a particular tweet, and how many times users have clicked on the profile and engaged with specific tweets. It’s fascinating—and very addictive.

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