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September 18, 2017 George Mathew Banks are witnessing a surge in wilful defaults, or refusal of repayment obligations by borrowers despite having the capacity to honour the commitments. Local lenders have seen a nearly 45 per cent spike of Rs 34,900 crore in wilful defaults from last year, according to data available from TransUnion CIBIL, a credit information bureau. The data shows that wilful defaults by borrowers from banks rose from Rs 74,694 crore in March 2016 to Rs 1,09,594 crore as of March 2017. Over the last five years, data shows, wilful defaults rose by over Rs 84,000 crore — from Rs 25,410 crore in March 2013. Fiscal 2016 witnessed a spurt of 31 per cent, and fiscal 2015 saw an increase of 47.5 per cent in such defaults, according to the data. State Bank of India topped the list of banks with wilful defaulters with Rs 15,069 crore stuck in 997 accounts of borrowers, recording a rise of Rs 2,759 crore in fiscal 2017. Punjab National Bank was second with wilful d...

September 17, 2017 PTI Eyeing a multi-billion dollar contract from the Indian Navy for the supply of fighter aircraft, Russian military aviation firm MiG today said it was not averse to the transfer of technology and joint development of MiG-29 K jets with Indian companies. MiG CEO Ilya Tarasenko said his company would submit a detailed proposal to the Indian government shortly, detailing its readiness for the joint development of aircraft for the Navy to deepen its already close engagement with India. We are considering various options for long-term and perspective cooperation, including those within the framework of the Make in India programme, Tarasenko told in a written interview. In January, the Indian Navy had kick-started the process of procuring 57 multi-role combat aircraft for its carriers by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to leading military jet makers. Currently, six planes are compatible for the aircraft carrier -- Rafale (Dassault, France), F-18 S...

SEPTEMBER 16, 2017 MEHREEN ZAHRA-MALIK For years, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, one of the most-wanted militant leaders in South Asia, has lived in the open in Pakistan despite a $10 million American bounty on his head. He has mocked efforts by the United States to capture him and led large public gatherings in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city. Now he is trying something even more brazen: In recent weeks, he has become the face of a new political party campaigning to win the seat of a former prime minister in the National Assembly. Last month, the Islamist charity that Mr. Saeed founded — Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is widely accused of being a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that waged the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks and is on the United Nations list of global terrorist groups — announced that it was starting the Milli Muslim League political party. The Election Commission of Pakistan has forbidden the display of Mr. Saeed’s picture on election posters, but des...

September 18, 2017 M Zulqernain Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jammat-ud-Dawah will foray into Pakistan's political scene by contesting the 2018 general elections, a senior member of the outfit said, a day after its candidate finished third in a crucial bypoll. Last month, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a front for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba terror group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack, announced that it was launching the Milli Muslim League. Sheikh Yaqoob, a JuD-backed candidate who was defeated by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's wife Kuslsoom from a parliamentary seat that fell vacant after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court, said the new front 'will field candidates in every constituency of the country in next year's election'. Yaqoob wanted to contest Sunday's election from Milli Muslim League, launched just before the NA-120 by-poll, but could not do so as the Election Commission of Pakistan is yet to register it...

September 18, 2017 Nauzer Bharucha Maharashtra will be the first state in India to form a conciliation committee under the new Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), comprising a panel representing builders and consumer groups to arbitrate complaints.  It will mediate between two parties and help resolve their issues so that they can avoid taking the dispute before the housing regulator. Only in case the dispute is not settled can the party challenge it and lodge a complaint with the state regulator.  "The panel should start functioning in the next three months," said state RERA chairman Gautam Chatterjee, adding that it would help build trust between purchasers and developers. Last week, leading developers and consumer activists met state RERA officials to iron out how the new committee will operate.  "Talks have progressed very well so far," said consumer activist Shirish Deshpande of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP). "MGP is pres...

September 18, 2017 Business Line Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), a Pune-based non-governmental organisation working among women farmers, has won this year’s UN Equator Prize. SSP is the only Indian organisation among the 15 winners that were chosen from 800-odd entries. The award recognises SSP’s initiative to empower over 20,000 women farmers from the impoverished Marathwada region in Maharashtra, a release said on Monday. Through these farmers, SSP has been promoting climate-resilient agro-ecological farming that addresses many issues relating to sustainable development, such as food security, income security and natural resource management. The prize was received by Godavari Dange and Kamal Kumbhar, two women farmers from Osmanabad district, at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York on Sunday. SSP’s climate-resilient farming model works by giving cultivation rights of a small piece of land, which is usually half or one acre, to women from marginal families...

September 18, 2017 Businness Line Onion auctions at Lasalgaon and other markets in Nashik resumed on Monday after last week’s strike by traders. As a mark of protest against the Income Tax Department raids on large onion traders in Lasalgaon in Nashik, the trading community had stopped participating in the auctions from Thursday afternoon. They were also protesting against the coercive measures being adopted by State Government for preventing hoarding of onions by the traders. Bearish trend Jaydutt Holkar, the Chairman of the Lasalgaon Agriculture Market Committee (APMC), said that the trading has resumed after assurances from the District Collector that no coercive action would be taken against the traders. However, the market sentiment remained bearish with prices in the range of ₹1,200 to ₹1,300 quintal (100 kg), he said. http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/commodities/bl19bmrawonionbriefbl/article9864060.ece

Septembe 18, 2017 R Balaji With Tamil Nadu facing a shortfall in sugar production in 2017-18 (October-September), local markets are witnessing the arrival of stocks from Karnataka and Maharashtra. The State’s annual estimated consumption is 12-15-lakh tonnes , and production in the coming season is estimated at about 6-lakh tonnes. The South Indian Sugar Mills Association – Tamil Nadu was hoping the Centre would allow mills in the State to import duty-free raw sugar to offset at least a portion of the shortfall. However, the Centre has allowed import of 3-lakh tonnes at an import duty of 25 per cent through ports in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which get the lion’s share, and some quantity through Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Mills in Tamil Nadu will process about 1.40-lakh tonnes of the imported raw sugar; Karnataka 1.10-lakh tonnes; Andhra Pradesh 34,000 tonnes; and Maharashtra 5,900 tonnes. Tamil Nadu mills have welcomed the move to import raw sugar, as it adds a b...

September 18, 2017 L N Revathy The recent wet spell, it appears, has come as a ray of hope for sugar mills in Tamil Nadu. “Though not immediately, we hope things will look up in the next two years,” said Palani G Periasamy, President, South India Sugar Mills Association (SISMA - TN). Worst crisis Speaking on the sidelines of the four-day international symposium on ‘Sugarcane research since Co 205: 100 years and beyond’, organised by the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, in association with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and SISMA-TN, he said the industry in the State witnessed its worst period the last 3-4 years due to extreme drought. Lower capacity utilisation Sugar production slipped from 25-lakh tonnes to 6-lakh tonnes and factories were operating at a mere 20 per cent of their installed capacity. Mills in the State have a capacity to produce 30-lakh tonnes of sugar a year. Lower capacity utilisation had resulted in rising fixed costs – sugar mills...

September 18, 2017 Abhishek Law, Pratim Ranjan Bose Panic over potential foodgrain shortfall and opportunistic trading in Bangladesh have sent the price of rice soaring on both sides of the border. Over the last three weeks, the price of common rice varieties in West Bengal increased by 10-20 per cent at the miller’s end. The price of Swarna has gone up from ₹22 a kg to ₹27 a kg, Ratna from ₹28 to ₹30 and Minikit from ₹32 to ₹35. Retail prices are ₹2 to ₹5 higher. The buzz in the market is that prices will increase further after Durga Puja next week. Reason: The sudden rise in demand from Bangladesh, which reduced import duty from 28 per cent to 2 per cent in phases between June and August. According to customs sources, approximately 2,300-2,400 tonnes of rice is exported to Bangladesh from West Bengal every day; taking the total to over 600,000 tonnes in the last four-five weeks. This is as much as the annual imports of Bangladeshi traders in 2014-15. The inten...