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First Post Shalini Singh  December 21, 2017 A special court is likely to decide the fate of  former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and several others in the much-anticipated 2G spectrum allocation scam cases. For a quick understanding of the scam, read this shorter explainer by Shalini Singh, reporter who broke the story. 1. What is the allegation? The allegation relates to the fact that Telecom Minister A Raja, who after taking office in May 2007, manipulated the policy regime and TRAI’s recommendations, and in blatant violation of law (TRAI Act) and other settled law: 1. B. Prabhakar Rao Vs. State of A.P. (1985) SUPP.SCC432 2. D.S. Nakara Vs. Union of India (1983) 1SCC305 3. Monarch Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. 2000 (v) SC287 4. K. Manjusree Vs. State of A.P. (2008) 3SCC512 5. Union of India Vs. S Tel, 1 July 2009, Justice G.S. Sistani, Delhi High Court 6. Union of India Vs. S Tel 24 November 2009, Delhi High Court, Hon’ble Chief Justic...

The Economics Times December 28, 2017 At a time when bitcoins are in focus also for the wrong reasons, cryptocurrency dealer Pluto Exchange on Thursday announced the launch of India's first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.  At a press conference here, Pluto Exchange founder and Chief Executive Bharat Verma said his company is all set to launch the country's first app-based wallet that enables bitcoin transactions using a mobile number.  "The Pluto Exchange mobile app offers a solution to the coordination problem between payment processors, financial gateways and banks," Verma said.  "All other apps already in the market do transactions using bitcoin addresses, which are long and prone to error while copying. Pluto Exchange will change this scenario by enabling transactions using mobile numbers only, which are just 10 digits," he said.  By using a four-digit personal identification number (PIN), users can now b...

The Economic Times December 28, 2017 China has asked its citizens travelling to India not to breach local laws and avoid areas restricted to foreigners, warning that they can detained, fined or even sentenced for violating rules and regulations.  The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi in a notice issued yesterday did not give details of any violations, but warned its citizens to abide by laws in six areas.  These included not carrying prohibited items such as ivory and hino horns, not overstaying visas, not working in India illegally and not breaching the law by entering areas barred to foreigners, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported today.  "There have been consecutive cases of Chinese citizens being detained, fined or investigated, charged or even sentenced due to alleged law breaking in India," the statement said.   Anyone violating the laws could be fined or jailed, it added.  "The embassy can protect the safety of Chin...

The Economic Times December 28, 2017 Public sector as well as private banks have been imposing unreasonable charges on customers for failing to maintain minimum balances in their savings accounts, a study by an IIT-Mumbai professor has claimed.  The study, by Ashish Das, showed that some banks like Yes Bank BSE -0.59 % and Indian Overseas Bank have been imposing penal charges of over 100 per cent per annum on shortfall in maintenance of minimum balance in customers accounts.  The Reserve Bank guidelines mandate that charges for non maintenance of minimum balance in savings bank accounts be "reasonable and not out of line with the average cost of providing the services".  According to the study: "With many banks charging at an average high rate of 78 per cent per annum of the shortfall amount, it makes the whole regulation of reasonableness of charges as per cost quite shallow".  As per the data provided by Das, Indian Overseas Bank imposes an...

The Economic Times Sangita Mehta December 29, 2017 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) formally turned down requests from banks to extend the deadline for restructuring the debt of companies on a second list of bad loan accounts that it had issued in August. This will mean bankruptcy proceedings likely kicking off at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by December 31 for companies such as Videocon Industries, Jaiprakash Associates, Uttam Galva Steel, Essar Projects, Jaiswal Neco and Asian Colour Coated.  The central bank also declined to relax any of its other stipulations, including the process related to restructuring outside the bankruptcy court, in its letter to lenders on Wednesday evening. RBI said those accounts that were not recast as per rules stipulated in August will have to enter the insolvency process, said two senior bank officials who did not want to be named.  "We reiterate that all the conditions specified should be met... We regret that r...

The Economics Times December 29, 2017 New Delhi The government is working on a policy to bring down the annual oil import bill by USD 100 billion by 2030 through extensive use of methanol in cooking gas and transportation fuel, union minister Nitin Gadkari told Lok Sabha today.  The government was "shortly" going to implement a scheme under which 15 per cent methanol will be blended with petrol and which will reduce the cost of the fuel by 10 per cent, the Road Transport Minister said during the Zero Hour.  India is the third biggest oil importer globally and the government has been making efforts to bring down imports by using alternative fuels such as methanol.  "The final roadmap for 'Methanol Economy' being worked out by NITI Aaayog is targeting an annual reduction of USD 100 billion by 2030 in crude imports in line with our PM's vision," Gadkari said.  He said a cabinet note on use of methanol in marine and water transport sect...

The Economic Times Sanjeev Choudhary December 28, 2017 Israel will award an exploration license to a consortium of Indian state firms led by ONGC Videsh in an auction of its offshore gas fields that saw tepid response from global companies.  The decision to award the license, coming just ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed mid-January visit to India, is being seen as another step in energising relations between the two countries.  The consortium of ONGC Videsh, Bharat PetroResources, Indian OilBSE 0.33 % and Oil IndiaBSE 0.23 % will be granted an exploration license while Greece's Energean will receive five licenses, Israel's Energy Ministry said in a statement.  Indian consortium and the Greece firm were the only bidders in the 1st Israeli Offshore Licensing Round that closed last month. The auction, launched in November 2016, was extended twice to attract more bidders. It offered 24 blocks with an estimated in-place reserv...