Urijit Patel’s exit leaves more questions few answers. Is Mallya’s time finally up? Kotak takes RBI to court and more in today’s DKODED edition of DKODING Newsline.

Kotak Mahindra and RBI to face off in court?

Kotak Mahindra’s plans to reduce promoter shareholding in the bank to less than 20% according to RBI conventions have run into rough weather with the regulator.

Last week, the bank had announced that it would be meeting the requirement through . The issue of perpetual non-convertible preference shares (PNCPS). This issue would have increased the bank’s paid up capital to Rs 1,453 crore from Rs 953 crore, and reduced the promoter’s interest in paid-up capital to 19.7% from 30.3%.

Kotak Mahindra and RBI to face off in court? | dkoding |dkodingnewsline

RBI had communicated to the bank that the PNCPS issue did not meet the guidelines. Kotak has now filed a writ petition against RBI in response. Analysts had argued that the bank had only followed the RBI’s directions in letter and not in spirit.

It was supposed to issue equity shares instead, which is apparently implicit in the RBI norms if not clearly communicated. In that case, Kotak Mahindra would have to issue equity worth Rs 1.25 trillion, far bigger a number than the preference share issue.

Kotak has communicated to RBI that it firmly believes in the PNCPS issue being a valid option, but RBI has not responded. Given the deadline of December 31, Kotak says that it was left with no option.

UK Court clears way for Vijay Mallya’s homecoming, but he has right to appeal

UK Court clears way for Vijay Mallya’s homecoming, but he has right to appeal |dkoding |dkodingnewsline

Vijay Mallya, the fugitive former boss of Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries, has suffered a setback with a UK court giving the go-ahead for his extradition to India. Mallya is wanted in the country over charges of default on loans aggregating to Rs 9,000 crore. That will be given to the bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines.

He fled the country in 2016 when banks initiated legal proceedings against him to collect the money. Judge Emma Arbuthnot, England’s chief magistrate on the case ruled that there was a prima facie case in favour of extradition, and it would not infringe on Mallya’s human rights.

Mallya’s defence had argued that India had not presented sufficient evidence for extradition and also cited the conditions in Indian jails. That did not have enough food and light. In response, the Indian side had also presented a video of Barrack 12 of Arthur Road Jail. Where they plan to keep Mr Mallya, to the Judge. Mallya has repeated his offer of giving the principal amount to banks, particularly in the past few days. Even as he claims it had nothing to do with the extradition hearing. He has further requested that Kingfisher employees be paid first.

UK Court clears way for Vijay Mallya’s homecoming, but he has right to appeal | Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley |dkodingnewsline |dkoding

Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley tweeted, “Great Day for India. No one who cheats India will go scot free. The Judgement of UK’s Court is welcome. An offender benefited during the UPA. The NDA brings him to book.”

However, Arbuthnot’s ruling needs to be approved by the interior minister and Mallya also has the option of appealing to the High Court in London within 14 days.

RBI Governor resigns for ‘not-so-personal’ reasons?

RBI Governor resigns for ‘not-so-personal’ reasons? |Urijit patel |dkoding |dkodingnewsline

Urijit Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India has submitted his resignation today, in what many would consider an eventuality that was just waiting to happen. Urijit Patel has cited personal reasons for his resignation, but it comes just a few weeks after the tussle between the Central Government and the RBI became a raging public debate.

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi waxed eloquent about Patel on his Twitter handle, stating, “Dr Urjit Patel is an economist of a very high calibre with a deep and insightful understanding of macro-economic issues.”

But the controversies will definitely not die down so soon. On October 27, RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya had severely criticised the Government, stating that governments that “do not respect [the] central bank’s independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets, ignite economic fire, and come to rue the day they undermined an important regulatory institution”.

With this speech, a Pandora’s box was literally opened, with several issues coming to the fore that were harming the relationship between the Government and the RBI.

The resignation raises doubts

These included the government’s demands that RBI take steps to improve credit availability to MSMEs, transfer surplus reserves to the government and ease lending norms to banks.

The resignation raises doubts that despite clarifications the things were being sorted out from both sides, the reality is starkly different. Reports also suggest the possibility of the RBI being pressurized again to do the Government’s bidding, more particularly on invoking Section 7.

The opposition has predictably caught on to this opportunity to criticise the Government with the Congress tweeting, “Another one bites the dust. This is the result of our ‘chowkidar’s’ assault on democratic institutions — RBI Governor, Urjit Patel steps down.”

Former RBI Chief Raghuram Rajan also expressed concern, “I think this is something all Indians should be concerned about because strength of our institution is really important both for growth and sustainable growth in equity and the economy.”

Tatas plan revamp of Ginger to return to profitability

Tata-group’s Indian Hotels Co. Ltd (IHCL) is undertaking a revamp of Ginger, its budget hotel brand and also planning to sell off some assets to return to profitability. Ginger has been in the red for the last three financial years in succession, with losses recorded at Rs 19.07 crore during 2017–18.

Tatas plan revamp of Ginger to return to profitability| Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL | dkoding | dkodingnewsline

Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL has asserted that the chain plans to double the number of Ginger hotels to more than 100 properties to improve scale as well as profitability in the coming four years.

The company is facing tough competition from the likes of Oyo, Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd, Keys Hotels and Ibis.

A brand positioning is underway at Ginger, for which MD & CEO Deepika Rao clarifies, “From being seen on the pyramid of being value-driven, we are transforming it to one more aspirational and provide an experience that speaks to our target audience of millennials.”

Tatas plan revamp of Ginger to return to profitability | MD & CEO Deepika Rao | dkodingnewsline |dkoding

This will involve a new logo and a website, additional services and features for young travelers in particular and a revamp of most of Ginger’s properties. The aim is to extract more value as well — room rates at Ginger hotels are expected to rise 30–50% to ₹3,500–5,000 . after the repositioning, depending on the market. The renovation will cost around Rs 240 crore, starting with 30 hotels in the next year.

Australia make India slog for historic win, first in Australia since 2008

Australia make India slog for historic win, first in Australia since 2008 | Virat Kohli and Team | dkoding | dkodingnewsline

India have scored a hard fought, but ultimately well deserved victory over Australia in the first test match of the bilateral series on the fifth day. While the outcome was generally expected, the margin of victory came with a surprise. Australia continued their second innings today with the score at 104/4, needing 219 runs more for a win.

The last time Australia had successfully chased a 200+ score in the fourth innings was in 1902! But it eventually turned out that the target of 323 set by. The Indian team was not as insurmountable as it initially appeared. Travis Head departed early of a short ball from Ishant Sharma for 14 (62 balls, 1×4). But Marsh (60 of 166 balls, 5×4) and T D Paine (41 of 173 balls, 4×4) slogged on. It took the brilliance of Bumrah to provide India vital breakthroughs of both Marsh and Paine.

But the Australian tail continued to wag ferociously with Cummins . (28 of 121 balls, 3×4), Starc (28 of 44 balls, 2×4) . Lyon (38 of 47 balls, 3×4) heroically resisting the Indian bowling attack.

Australia make India slog for historic win, first in Australia since 2008 | Virat Kohli and Team | dkoding | dkodingnewsline