Benchmark <keyword id="19963565" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="equity-indices" source="keywords">equity indices</keyword> <keyword id="19896382" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sensex" source="keywords">Sensex</keyword> and <keyword id="19896381" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nifty" source="keywords">Nifty</keyword> closed lower on Thursday, tracking losses in the most valuable firm <keyword id="19896380" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Industries" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reliance Industries" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reliance Industries">Reliance Industries</keyword>, <keyword id="20875770" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharati-Airtel" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Bharati Airtel" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Bharati Airtel">Bharati Airtel</keyword> and <keyword id="19963313" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="LT" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="L&amp;T" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="L&amp;T">L&amp;T</keyword> amid a negative trend in global markets. The 30-share <keyword id="19895774" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSE" source="keywords">BSE</keyword> Sensex failed to hold on to initial gains and declined 151.48 points or 0.18 per cent to settle at 82,201.16. During the day, it dropped 222.2 points or 0.26 per cent to 82,130.44. The NSE Nifty dipped 53.60 points or 0.21 per cent to 25,145.10 despite a positive beginning of the trade. Among the 30 Sensex firms, Reliance Industries declined over 1 per cent. Tata Motors, Nestle, Bharti <keyword id="19896909" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel" source="keywords">Airtel</keyword>, Bajaj Finance, Larsen &amp; Toubro, JSW Steel and Mahindra &amp; Mahindra were other big laggards. In contrast, Titan, ITC, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel and State Bank of India were among the biggest gainers. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended higher. European markets were trading mostly lower in mid-session deals. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday. Foreign Institutional Investors (<keyword id="19950996" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FIIs" source="keywords">FIIs</keyword>) bought equities worth Rs 975.46 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark dropped 202.80 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 82,352.64. The Nifty declined 81.15 points or 0.32 per cent to 25,198.70. The Nifty had surged nearly 1,141 points or 4.59 per cent in 14 straight days. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark <keyword id="20025497" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Brent-crude" source="keywords">Brent crude</keyword> climbed 1.14 per cent to USD 73.53 a barrel.

Sensex, Nifty extend losses into 2nd session as Reliance, Airtel drag

Once arch rivals, Vodafone, Bharati <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> and Idea Cellular have now teamed up against <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> and complained to the government that latter’s predatory pricing has been eating up in their revenues. To make sure, the government pays heed to their outrage, the three telecom operators claimed their incompetence to invest in future technology and create jobs. The top players in the industry had met a government panel, which aims to analyse the losses in the industry. <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> backed Jio has been accused of providing cellular services at ‘too low’ a cost, which is responsible for decline in the revenue generation. According to a <keyword id="6356641" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="times-of-india">Times of India</keyword> report, the worst affected Airtel, which has seen a severe contraction in profitability post the aggressive launch of services by Jio in September last year, said that the return on capital employed (ROCE) had dropped down to "perilously lower levels" and is "highly likely to be negative" if relief is not provided. Airtel said losses to the industry will also restrict the government's ability to earn from the sector. Its earnings will come down by Rs 10,000 crore. "Consolidation/ reduced investments will result in loss of direct/ indirect employment." The companies have sought to increase charge for terminating a call on their networks to be increased from the existing 14 paise per minute. "The IUC rate of 14 paise is lower than actual cost. In order to make this financially viable, it is critical that traffic between operators is symmetrical," Airtel told <keyword id="6371459" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="toi">TOI</keyword>. "IUC needs to be correctly determined to prevent predatory voice-pricing environment. Aggressive tariffs in voice and data have resulted in a scenario of pricing below cost with every operator," Idea told TOI, seeking the fixation of a floor price for voice and data prices. However Jio has refused to the allegations. It believes that lack of investments by them in new technologies and mounting debt are making the other rivals outrageous.

Airtel, Vodafone, Idea blame Jio for revenue losses

New Delhi [India], May 16 (ANI): <keyword id="9766785" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha-elections-2024" source="Orion">Lok Sabha elections 2024</keyword> have seen a <keyword id="20108198" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="voter-turnout" source="keywords">voter turnout</keyword> at polling stations of about 66.95 per cent so far, as approximately 451 million people have voted during the first four phases of ongoing general elections. In a bid to encourage voters to exercise their franchise in large numbers, ECI has enhanced its targeted interventions to reach out to every eligible voter. The Commission led by CEC Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, further directed CEOs of the states going to poll in the fifth, sixth and seventh phases to timely distribute voter information slips to all electors and enhance outreach activities. "Commission strongly believes that partnership and collaboration are essential pillars of the voter awareness programme. It's heartening to see that, at the Commission's request, different institutions, influencers and celebrities with significant reach are working enthusiastically on a pro-bono basis," Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said. Further, he added that a higher voter turnout would be a message from Indian voters to the world, about the strength of Indian Democracy. He urges all the voters to cast their vote in huge numbers, as voting day is not a holiday but a day of pride, by participating in the festival of democracy. According to an official release, various <keyword id="21686177" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="voter-awareness-drives" source="keywords">voter awareness drives</keyword> and campaigns have been carried out by stakeholders in collaboration with ECI. Telecom Service Providers such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Bharti Airtel Limited, Jio Telecommunication, and Vodafone-Idea Limited are reaching out to every mobile user in the respective parliamentary constituency through push SMS/Flash SMSs, outbound dialling calls to mobile users, RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging and WhatsApp messages/alerts. These activities are carried out two/three days before the poll and even on the poll day, in regional languages, with an appeal to vote. ECI has collaborated with BCCI for voter awareness activities during the ongoing IPL season. The voter awareness messages and songs are being played at different stadiums during the cricket matches. The most innovative aspect of this campaign is the administration of voter's pledges by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in a pre-recorded video message, at various IPL venues. Further, voter awareness messages are integrated into cricket commentary. Cricketers from 10 IPL teams have encouraged voters to participate in the <keyword id="19895394" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lok-sabha" source="keywords">Lok Sabha</keyword> elections in 2024 with their recorded voter awareness messages. A voting day alert was sent to all Facebook users pan India to inform and inform the voters about the general elections and to nudge them to participate in the festival of democracy, the release mentioned. The release further stated that WhatsApp personalised messages have begun on polling day. Google India is contributing through its iconic feature of Google Doodle on poll days and banners appearing on YouTube, Google Pat and other Google platforms. The Retail Association of India has been actively engaging with voter awareness activities, through their retail network, whereby retail chains are encouraged to celebrate the election as a festival. The vast network of post offices and banking institutions was utilised by ECI to reach out to a wide and diverse audience across the length and breadth of the country. In collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the parliamentary elections campaign logo "Chunav ka Parv, Desh ka Garv" has been integrated with the IRCTC portal and tickets. Voter awareness announcements have been integrated with the public address system at all railway stations. The logo stickers are used on coaches of the superfast trains. In collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, hoardings on voter awareness have been installed in about 16,000 retail outlets. In collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, airlines are making an inflight announcement with an appeal message to participate in the ensuing elections. Voter guides are being kept in aircraft seat pockets. Apart from this, many airports are providing space for the display of voter awareness messages. Selfie points have been installed at airports in 10 major cities viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Patna, Chandigarh, and Pune. Cinema theatres across the country are playing ECI voter awareness films and ECI Song Main Bharat Hoon, Hum Bharat Ke Matdata Hai, at regular intervals, as a part of the Public Service Awareness (PSA) film. Sansad TV is creating short films on Unique Polling Stations set up in remote corners of the country by the election machinery after navigating difficult terrains to demonstrate the challenges in ensuring voting at the last mile. AMUL, Mother Dairy and other milk co-operatives have started branding their milk pouches with the message 'Chunav Ka Parv, Desh ka Garv' and encouraging voters through social media platforms. AMUL is also encouraging voters with its unique messaging through AMUL Girl Topical advertisements in newspapers. Prasar Bharati: Doordarshan has produced, various short films, including appeals from constitutional functionaries like President of India, Vice President of India, and Chief Justice of India, among others. Further, unique polling stations are being covered by the regional Kendra's audio-visual documentation. Music App Spotify is running a campaign called 'Play Your Part', and they have issued print advertisements, and curated the playlists for the elections, on their app. Payments app PhonePe has integrated voter awareness message into their app and is actively encouraging voters. BookMyShow has launched an integrated campaign, titled "Aaj Picture Nahi, Bigger Picture Dekho," to raise awareness among voters. MakeMyTrip is running a campaign titled 'MyVoteWalaTrip', whereby discounts are offered to citizens going to vote. Food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy are disseminating voter awareness messages through their platforms and social media activities. Grocery App Blinkit changed its logo to "Inkit" for the elections, incorporating a message encouraging people to "Go out and Vote" as a tagline. Uber India is reaching out to voters through multi-channel messaging (in-app, emails, push notifications), offering discounts for rides to polling stations, and amplifying voter awareness messages on social media platforms. Bike app Rapido has been encouraging voters with a free ride to vote. Urban Company has launched 'I Have Voted Campaign' to encourage voters. Tata Neu app, serving as the Tata Group's group-wide consumer-facing mobile app, prominently features the "Cast Your Vote" animated banner on its homepage, with additional initiatives currently underway. Truecaller is enhancing its layout by displaying voter awareness message during outbound calls Some other independent initiatives are Mankind Pharma #VotingVirgin campaign, clothing brand Neeru's "Vote ki Taiyaari" TVC, Tinder's "Every Single Vote Counts" campaign, creatively curated social media post by Matrimonial sites like Jeevansathi.com, etc and discounts for voting by popular brands such as Shoppers' Stop, MakeMyTrip, Chroma and many more. Four phases of Lok Sabha polls have been held and the voting will conclude on June 1 with results on June 4. The remaining phases will be held on May 20, May 25, and June 1.

451 million voters! First four phases of Lok Sabha elections witness 66.95% voter turnout so far

Mumbai, Dec 15 () Citing regular board approvals for various inter-corporate loans, former CG Power Industrial Solutions' non-executive chairman Gautam Thapar has refuted allegations of fund misuse amid alleged governance lapses coming under the regulatory scanner, according to documents submitted by him to the government.
 In a 36-page submission to the corporate affairs ministry early November, Thapar, who was sacked in a boardroom coup in the wee hours of August 30, has provided documents on various issues, including inter-corporate loans, minutes of board meetings and loans from lenders like Standard Chartered Singapore and Yes Bank.
 CG Power board sacked Thapar after an audit report by Vaish Associates, which itself is based on as many as 23 disclaimers, claimed that Thapar swindled Rs 3,000 crore from CG Power.
 Markets regulator Sebi banned Thapar and entities associated with him for three years, following which he moved the Securities Appellate Tribunal, which has asked the company to provide relevant documents to him.
 The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has also started a probe against CG Power and 15 group entities. The ministry has moved NCLT Mumbai seeking to restate the books of accounts of CG Power from FY16. An order is expected on Monday.
 The documents, seen by , show how Standard Chartered Singapore extended a USD 44-million lifeline to CG Singapore in February 14, 2018. The entire money was then paid to CG International Netherlands through another group entity AIA and Avantha. The same amount was fully transferred back to CG International Netherlands on the very same day.
 Later, the company in turn paid back the entire amount to StanC Singapore, thus making the account standard, show the documents.
 While a major allegation revolves around funds moving in and out of CG Power and group entities, Thapar has claimed that such a route was taken following suggestions from lenders since CG Power was facing liquidity issues.
 Similarly, Aditya Birla Finance and Yes Bank allowed CG Power to get funds between 2016 and 2019 in a similar manner as StanC did in 2018, showed the documents.
 "All the above transactions were done according to the structure provided by StanC and other respective lenders and every time the entire money was paid back to the respective lender. That not a single penny of such funds remained in Avantha books clearly shows that there is no siphoning of funds," Thapar has claimed.
 Going by the documents, the company's risk and audit committee at its meeting held on May 26, 2017 gave an "omnibus approval for entering into transactions with related parties for throughout FY18". Similar omnibus approvals were sought for and were granted for FY19 as well.
 Further, Thapar has submitted that the board approved a proposal from CG India on September 28, 2018 for a fixed deposit of Rs 229 crore as part of a credit line from IndusInd Bank. This deposit was a surety for part payments owed to Avantha towards brand royalty which the board approved, according to the documents.
 "This clearly shows that Rs 229 crore was not an additional advance to Avantha but a refund of a conditional deposit made by Avantha to CG which had to be refunded in the event of conditions not being met," the document said.
 On the allegations that CG Power made out-of-turn advances to group entity Mirabelle Trading since 2013 when CG Power was entering Southeast Asia, Thapar has said the board approved an advance payment of USD 20.15 million to Mirabelle towards service charges.
 Currently, Thapar owns just 8,574 shares in CG Power. Some of its large non-promoter shareholders are HDFC Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Mutual Fund.
 Private equity giant KKR India led by Sanjay Nayar owns nearly 10 per cent, as does L&amp;T Finance. The family office of Sunil Bharati Mittal of Bharti Airtel has since September picked up 8.3 per cent in CG Power.
 The CG Power board began to feel the tremors this March, when an operations committee was formed under chairmanship Narayan Seshadri following the insistence of Nayar.
 Incidentally, the documents also showed that Seshadri was not even present at the board meeting that appointed him as chairman of operations committee. Seshadri is also an independent director of CG Power.
 Significantly, Seshadri's Tranzmute Capital is 50 per cent owned by Nayar but this was never disclosed to CG Power when he came onto the board, as per the the documents.
 They are also directors in Epimoney and EPI Venture Partners as investors. Also, a non-disclosure agreement was signed between Tranzmute Capital &amp; Management and CG Power in August 2018.
 Going by the documents, Seshadri had a business relationship with Nayar and CG Power before he became a non-executive director on CG Power board.
 It is also interesting to note that Anubhav -- son of Akhil Gupta, who is the vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises and a close confidante of group Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal -- recently married Sanjay Nayar's daughter Adwaita.
 In a detailed e-mail statement to queries from , KKR India denied any involvement in Seshadri being appointed a director on CG Power board. "We are a lender to Avantha Holdings and have no locus standi in any of its underlying group companies. KKR India has never been involved in the decision-making process of CG Power," it said.
 The statement said that KKR is aware that SeshadrI was invited directly by Thapar himself to join the board.
 "We confirm that Narayan's partnership with KKR India was fully disclosed (on March 31, 2018). Tranzmute has working relationships with other PE funds, promoters and companies, including KKR India - there has never been exclusivity between KKR and Tranzmute in this regard," it said.
 On relationship with Epimoney, the company said KKR has never been an investor in it but Nayar is one of its six investors. BEN RAM ABM
ABM

CG Power imbroglio: Gautam Thapar cites board approvals, rejects fund misuse allegations

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46129791.cms" /> The Bombay Stock Exchange (<keyword id="35140" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSE">BSE</keyword>) <keyword id="6484188" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sensex">Sensex</keyword> has jumped by 171 points in morning trade today. The surge was led by gains HDFC, Axis Bank, <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> and <keyword id="42747" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Motors">Tata Motors</keyword>. 
 
Similarly, the 50-share Nifty index, too, regained its psychological level of 8,750 points, owing to gains in auto, banks, information technology and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks. 
 
At 10:20 a.m., the 30-share index was trading at 29,039 – an increase of 156 points or 0.54%. It reached a high of 29,054.26 and a low of 28,824.88 in intra-day trade today. 
 
The Nifty was trading at 8,761.55 – an increase of 38 points or 0.44%. It reached a high of 8,768.30 and a low of 8,705.55 in intra-day trade today. 
 
The Economic Times has compiled a list of 14 stocks, including Bharati Airtel, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries, which would be in focus today. Please visit: <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sensex-rallies-over-150-points-nifty-reclaims-8750-top-15-stocks-in-focus/articleshow/46129110.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sensex-rallies-over-150-points-nifty-reclaims-8750-top-15-stocks-in-focus/articleshow/46129110.cms</a> to see the entire list.

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Sensex, Nifty extend losses into 2nd session as Reliance, Airtel drag

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CG Power imbroglio: Gautam Thapar cites board approvals, rejects fund misuse allegations

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BI India Bureau