Letters to the Editor: 16 March, 2020

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March 16, 2020

Congress witnessing exodus of many leaders

The recent exit of a prominent Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh to join a leading National Party is surprising. The move comes at a time when the Congress party is witnessing the exodus of many leaders while the assembly is staring a defeat owing to the loss of majority. The exodus since 2019 General Elections is worrying especially to the common man who is caught in an off-guard situation and anticipating assembly elections yet again.

The Congress party has lost one of its best leaders owing to a legacy carried from his father and goodwill earned from the people of the entire M.P. region. As a newly nominated MP for Rajya Sabha, BJP will otherwise immensely benefit from such a people-driven personality and princely icon especially in a region considered as a fortress of the scion’s family.

Varun Dambal

Congress in crisis

Jyotiraditya Scindia met Union home minister Amit Shah, and then the two leaders met PM Modi at his residence. They quit the party to reduce the Kamal Nath-led government to a minority. I wonder, if such great leader deceive party then it is impossible to believe in other members. Congress will have to keep safe its MLAs and MPs if it want to survive its political life.

M Qasmi Nadwi

Don’t be afraid to discuss Coronavirus

Most children will have already heard about the virus or seen people wearing face masks, so parents shouldn’t avoid talking about it. Not talking about something can actually make kids worry more. Look at the conversation as an opportunity to convey the facts and set the emotional tone. Your goal is to help your children feel informed and get fact-based information that is likely more reassuring than whatever they’re hearing from their friends or through news.

Dipti Joshi

Postal cash-receipts should carry stickers for users of postal-services

Presently system at Department of Posts is to issue computer-printed cash-receipts where the portion used by Department of Posts has sticker while the portion given to consumer is without sticker. Department of posts for convenience of users of postal-services should have sticker also in the portion given to the consumers so that they may not require gum at their end to affix it on their despatch-registers or documents etc. It will be benefit to public-exchequer also presently appreciable man-hours and gum are utilised by various public-authorities to paste postal cash-receipts on their despatch-registers.

Department of Posts will not be burdened extra because even presently one of the dual-portion of same cash-receipt still has sticker on back for the portion kept by Department of Posts itself. Rather ultimately it may be economical and convenient to print computer-stationery for issuing postal cash-receipts if sticker is there on complete dual-portion of cash-receipts rather than on single portion only.

Madhu Agrawal

Highly irrational GST-system

GST-system is highly irrational when spare-parts of cars have varying GST-rate. While clutch-assembly attracts 28-per cent GST-slab, clutch-bearing attracts 18-per cent GST slab. Surprisingly even car-battery comes into luxury segment attracting 28-per cent GST. There is irrationality in GST-slabs of other items like sweets, salted items, biscuits and bakery items which all attract different GST-slabs. It is illogical to have just 5-per cent lower GST slab on luxury item like sweets which is otherwise also considered health hazard increasing blood-sugar level.

GST structure should be totally modified so that at least similar items sold by a particular trader like confectioners and bakers may have a common GST slab of say 12-per cent. Likewise there is no sense in keeping some car-spares in luxury-segment of 28-per cent. Instead cars can be kept in luxury-segment of 28-per cent while all car-spares can be put in lower slab of 12-per cent.

There have been talks of reducing number of GST slabs for long for simplification and to be in tune with other countries having adopted GST system. Ideally there should be just three slabs of 0, 12 and 28 per cent With zero-GST applicable only on raw materials which cannot be directly used like unbranded food-grains, vegetables, cotton-yarn etc, most commodities may be under 12-per cent GST slab with 28-per cent slab reserved for luxury items and of items of long-term use like cars, refrigerators, air-conditioners, TV sets etc.

If such a system is adopted to end with GST slabs of 3, 5 and 12 percent, then even corruption-generating Input-Tax-Credit system (ITC) can be retained only for trading purposes abolishing it from manufacturing and service sector. Such one-time consolidated GST reform will fetch much more revenue that too by reducing cost of goods and services inducing towards honest GST regime. Also cess-system for extra-luxury items should be replaced by special GST-slabs in multiples of 50 or 100 per cent.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

State to double isolation wards, increase in testing labs: Tope

By

Hema Singh

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March 15, 2020

In the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic, Maharashtra Health Minister, Rajesh Tope visited the Seven Hill Hospital and Kasturba Hospital on Sunday to check the necessary facilities available for patients. After the survey, Tope informed that the number of patients has been increasing in the state and they need to be examined at the earliest. He said that there was an effort to provide food, TV, WiFi facilities to the patients.

While briefing the media about the arrangements Tope said, ‘’In order to ensure that the isolated patients are taken good care of, we reviewed the arrangements for timely meals, TV facility, and wifi connection. We also reviewed arrangements at the micro-level.”

He also stated that an effort to double the facility of labs will be available in Mumbai in the next 15-20 days. Besides Mumbai, new lab facilities will be available in cities like Pune, Miraj, Solapur, Dhule and Aurangabad.

The Health Minister tweeted, “MCGM has taken over the Seven Hill Hospital that currently has 500 beds and 500 beds more will be available after finishing some civil work. I have instructed MCGM officials to provide masks as per the requirement.”

#coronavirus सेव्हन हिल हॉस्पिटल,मुंबई येथे भेट दिली. रूग्णालयात 7 देशातून आलेल्या प्रवाशांचे क्वारंटाईन केले जाते.त्यांना मिळणारी सुविधा याबाबत माहिती घेतली.रुग्णालयात 500 खाटा उपलब्ध असून नवीन 500 खाटा लवकरच उपलब्ध केल्या जातील.रूग्णालयात पोलीस यंत्रणा तैनात करण्यात आली आहे pic.twitter.com/I1GmL9OP5E

— Rajesh Tope (@rajeshtope11) March 15, 2020

The bed capacity of Kasturba Hospital will be increased to 100. And in the next two to three days the hospital administration will arrange for around 1000 more beds. Doctors are performing their duties day and night and all the machinery will be provided to ensure that they do not have difficulties in working, Tope assured.

On Sunday, the Mumbai Police imposed Section 144 in the wake of Coronavirus. An order read, “Police has issued an order prohibiting the conduct of any kind of tour involving a group of people travelling together to foreign or domestic destinations organised by private tour operators or otherwise. However, should anyone including private tour operators, need to travel under exceptional circumstances, they may do so after seeking permission from the office of the Commissioner of Police, Greater Mumbai.”

Apart from imposing Section 144 in the city over Coronavirus scare, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday decided to close the Mumbai Zoo (Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan And Zoo) till further orders. Also, Taraporewala Aquarium situated at Marine Drive has been shut down.

As per the Union Ministry of Health and Family, the number of Coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 104. On Sunday, a 59-year-old woman tested positive for Coronavirus in Aurangabad taking the number of such cases in Maharashtra to 32. As many as 9 cases have been reported from Mumbai so far.

The Coronavirus which originated in China’s Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries infecting over 1,30,000 people.

PM Modi offers $10 million to SAARC as emergency fund

By

Web Team

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March 15, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has organised a video conference on March 15, where all leaders and representatives from SAARC nations attended the video conference meet to discuss the strategy to counter the pandemic coronavirus. PM Modi mentions “prepare but don’t panic,” as India’s guiding mantra to deal with pandemic.

Modi also mentioned the cases reported across India, “Our region has reported less than 150 coronavirus cases, but we need to remain vigilant,” he said in conference. “Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic, made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups,” Modi said.

Counter measures has been taken by the government, restrictions on travel and visas are imposed, “We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel,” cited Modi. Modi urged SAARC leaders to create an emergency fund for COVID-19, shall be based on voluntary contributions from all the SAARC nations. Moreover, Ashraf Ghani, president of Afghanistan demanded common framework for tele-medicine to tackle virus.

“India also responded to call of its people abroad, we evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries,” cited Modi. However, India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations, said Modi. “No nation can afford to be unresponsive to situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak,” said Zafar Mirza, Pakistan PM’s Special Assistant on Health. “We share common regional concerns on COVID-19; while hoping for best, we have to prepare for worst,” said Zafar.

Ibrahim Solih, Maldivian President backs coordinated model to deal with Covid-19, says no country can deal with the situation alone. Ibrahim Solih expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for regional initiative to deal COVID-19.

SAARC leaders should develop model for our economies to tide over problems posed by this virus, said Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka President. “I propose setting up of SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus,” said Rajapaksa. “Health ministers of SAARC nations can hold video conference to discuss specific issues related to COVID-19,” said Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh PM. “Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus,” said K.P. Sharma Oli, Nepal PM.

“Important for all of us to be on same page to combat coronavirus,” said Lotay Tshering, Bhutanese PM. “It is clear we have to work together; we can respond best to coronavirus by coming together, not growing apart,” Modi said to the SAARC leaders.

CM Uddhav Thackeray inaugurates much awaited Ro-Ro ferry on March 15

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Web Team

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March 15, 2020

Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray On March 15 has inaugurated Mumbai to Alibaug car ferry service. The much-awaited transport service has begun, starts from Bhaucha Dhakka to Mandwa Ro-Ro, covering 3 hours distance in just 90 minutes.

The service will certainly provide the ease of commuting at reasonable price. Thackeray mentioned some key points of this service on twitter, “Major Boost to water transporation, Ease of Travel, Comfortable for citizens, Time saving, Cost effective, Boost to Industries and Tourism in Raigad.”

Bhaucha Dhakka, Mazgaon to Mandwa Ro-Ro jetty service has begun.

Here are some benefits ??

✅Major Boost to water transportation
✅Ease of travel
✅Comfortable for citizens
✅Time saving
✅Cost effective
✅Boost to Industries & Tourism in Raigad pic.twitter.com/iw6r4AJ1FD

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) March 15, 2020

The Ro-Ro ferry service will be operational throughout the year, including monsoon, unlike the current passenger ferry. The passenger fares will be Rs 550 for the luxury class, Rs 330 for AC class and 220 for general class. Simultaneously, car fares will depend upon the size of the vehicles- Rs 1,100, Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,900.

The made in Greece, M2M1 ferry has the capacity to carry 1,500 people and 200 cars. It is 95 metres long and 18 metres wide and has a speed of 15 knots- 9.26 km/h.

The Princess Dock also popularly known as Bhaucha Dhakka is the port at Mumbai’s Mazgaon. Similarly, On the Alibaug side, the Ro-Ro ferry will dock at Mandwa. However, the main town of Alibaug is about 20km from Mandwa dock.

RBI updates measures to improve transparency and safety of debit/credit cards

By

Web Team

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March 15, 2020

RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), by way of its notification of January 15, has released its updated measures by way one can improve transparency and safety of debit/ credit cards. This will be applicable from March 16. If a person is expecting to get a debit or credit card any time after March 16, he/she will have to keep plethora of things ready for consideration.

For all kind of transactions such as online transactions, contactless transactions, card-not-present transactions and international transactions, card holders will be liable to set up separate services on their newly allotted card. However, card holders can access all their limits through all channels such as internet banking, mobile application, IVR or ATMs.

However, the regulation is mandatory for those who use mass transit systems and prepaid gift cards. At a time of issuance/reissuance of the card, RBI has asked banks to grant only domestic card transactions at ATMs and Pos terminals in India. Moreover, it will be mandatory to disable existing cards which have never been used for any kind of transactions. These norms have been taken to curb cyber frauds.

Ranji Trophy: Saurashtra’s Success Story

By

Jayanthy Subramaniam

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March 15, 2020

Saurashtra beat Bengal in Ranji Trophy, saurashtra, ranji trophy, ranji, trophy, saurashtra, bengal, cricket Cricket is a game of chance but in Ranji Trophy cricket, it’s a game of first innings lead. Saurashtra won the first even Ranji Trophy title at Rajkot beating Bengal. So, aside from the Western Region annexed the trophy. However, Mumbai, the headquarters of Indian cricket could not achieve any headway in the championship.

Saurashtra skipper Unadkat springs into action to put the skids on Bengal’s chase on the fifth and final day. His left arm medium-pace bowling was a revelation in this Ranji Trophy Championships. A magniﬁcent tale of grind and toil came to a halt as Saurashtra, led by an inspiring Jaydev Unadkat, stopped Bengal on the ﬁfth and ﬁnal day to win its first title. Unadkat not only delivered the final blow but also claimed 63 wickets at an average of 13.23 per wicket. But that was not the best this season. Bihar slow left-arm orthodox bowler Ashutosh Aman took 68 wickets in the 2018-19 season.

Saurashtra’s success story is phenomenal. They achieved this against all odds. At the same time the winning team was showing early promise in Ranji Trophy in different names. Nawanagar (HQ Jamnagar) appeared in Ranji Trophy from 1936/37 to 1947/48 (won title on debut in 1936/37 when they beat Bengal in final). Western India States Agency (HQ Rajkot) appeared in Ranji Trophy from 1934/35 to 1945/46 (won title in 1943/44 when they beat Bengal in final). Kathiawar appeared in Ranji Trophy from 1946/47 to 1949/50.

All three above sides merged to become Saurashtra from 1950/51 to date (won title in 2019/20 when they beat Bengal on first innings lead. Incidentally, Saurashtra won their maiden national title – the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2007-08, they again beat BENGAL in the final. So for Saurashtra, Bengal is the soft target to win titles.

Corona virus caused ripples as the last days play was played with gates closed for the public. More over, C Shamshuddin, one of the field umpires was on ruled out as the on-field umpire for the remainder of the Ranji Trophy final after getting hit around the lower abdomen area on the opening day of the title clash between Bengal and Saurashtra. Substitution was done from day two of the match.

After falling to Mumbai in 2012-13 and 2015-16, and to Vidarbha in 2018-19, Saurashtra beat Bengal on first-innings lead in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy final to become the newest team to win Indian cricket’s premier domestic competition. Since their first campaign in the Ranji Trophy in 1950-51, Saurashtra, in the process, become the third Gujarat-based team to triumph in the competition, the others being Gujarat and Baroda. Saurashtra are the third team from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat to win the Ranji Trophy, following the title runs of Nawanagar in 1936-37 and Western India in 1943-44.

After losing just once (against Uttar Pradesh) in a group containing Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Railways, Baroda, and Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra finished fourth in the combined Group A and B table to qualify. So after a long gap the Ranji Trophy had gone to the place where it actually belongs to.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 15 March, 2020

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Web Team

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March 15, 2020

Equities look attractive after stock market meltdown!

Banks going bust has shaken the confidence of citizens who have now become hesitant to keep large sums of money in bank’s fixed deposits after the PMC and Yes Bank fiasco. The Coronavirus and crude crash globally has resulted in stock markets crashing. However, it is a boon in disguise for investors to cash on in these times of turmoil. Today, blue chip companies are available at mouthwatering valuations and some even below their book value. The dividend offered in many companies is even higher than FD’s and every investor can think of parking funds in equities if they have a long term horizon.

Buy when everybody sells and vice versa is a golden rule to make money in stock markets but people do the reverse which is why people have had bad experience in stocks. One’s portfolio today should be distributed in pension funds, post office schemes guaranteed by the government and equities which are attractive at the moment. I have been picking up stocks of HDFC group companies, Infosys, TCS and other top companies which I am confident would perform well in the times to come. FD’s in private banks offer interest which when compared to inflation gives negative returns. This is the best time to invest in equities and the brave hearted can take risks for phenomenal gains in the days to come!

S.N.Kabra

Yogi Aditynath rightly counters court-verdict through ordinance for rioters

Virus of pseudo-secularism in India is still so high that even courts are compelled to make sue-motto Sunday sittings for taking cognizance of so-termed hurting right to privacy of rioters by ordering removal of hoardings depicting picture of those against whom cost is imposed for rioting. It was great of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who instantly reacted by bringing out an ordinance for enabling government to recover cost of damage from rioters and putting their photos on public-hoardings in much desired name-and-shame policy when Supreme Court asked the law under which such steps were taken. If putting pictures of rioters in public hurts right to privacy, then photos of criminals should also be removed from all police-stations.

Central government should also act immediately to rectify outdated laws so that persons responsible for killing IB officer Ankit Sharma and Head Constable Ratan Lal may be hanged in a time-bound period of say maximum one year to create a much-desired fear against riot-killing and other crimes attracting death-penalty. Otherwise Ankit Sharma and Rattan Lal may not get justice till infinity like is being seen in case of Nirbhaya killers. Law should be so amended that even courts may not be able to interfere in quick-most justice-delivery-system especially in cases attracting death-penalty.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

CM Uddhav announces closure of theatres, gyms, malls in 6 major cities

By

Hema Singh

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March 13, 2020

Uddhav Thackeray,Coronavirus, uddhav, thackeray, maharashtra cm, maharashtra, corona In a drastic step to curb the spread of Coronavirus, the Maharashtra government ordered closure of cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools and malls in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Nagpur cities from Friday midnight.

Making the announcement in the state Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the government was invoking the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 from midnight.

Wherever possible, companies should allow employees to work from home in view of Coronavirus threat, he said.

Thackeray announced that schools in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad areas will remain shut till further orders. However, the SSC exams in those schools will continue as per schedule.

He also informed the House that so far, 17 persons have tested positive for Coronavirus in the state- three each in Mumbai and Nagpur, 10 in Pune and one in Thane.

The chief minister also appealed to the people to avoid visiting malls.

YES Bank depositors should be patient until the real culprit is caught

By

Vaidehi Taman

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March 13, 2020

Yes Bank is India’s fourth largest private sector bank that has been growing at a brisk pace. It is primarily a Corporate bank which means that a large part of the loan is given to Corporates and substantial business is generated from this segment. Such a bank gets in trouble when Corporate borrowers are not in a position to repay back loans. Given the fact that the corporate sector was facing a stoppage, Yes Bank was seeing defaults in its books. Further, in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) audits, it became apparent that Yes Bank was under-reporting such non-payment of loans. In order to cover for such non-payment of loans, the bank falls back on its capital and in case it has adequate capital, it can keep on functioning properly. In the case of Yes Bank, it is suspected that such non-payment losses are very large and hence their current capital is not sufficient to cover such fatalities. Thus, in order to revive the bank, the current management was trying to raise capital which they were unable to. Given their inability to raise capital the bank would have had to shut down, however RBI has stepped in to prevent such an eventuality.

Yes Bank came into existence in the year 2003 when it was formed by Rana Kapoor and Ashok Kapoor but when the latter expired in Mumbai 26/11 terrorist attack, Rana Kapoor took over complete control of the Bank. While Kapoor is famous as a risk taker, Ashok Kapoor was a old-fashioned person. After Ashok died, Rana randomly gave loans to loss making companies. But in due course, Yes Bank never showed the actual data and always gave a manipulated data to hide losses of stressed asset. UBS a global firm first raised the issue regarding loan given to stressed asset, but that wasn’t creating much problems for Yes Bank. Gradually the exposure of Yes Bank to bad companies was rising. The bank gave loan to several companies like DHFL, once the company was unable to repay the loan, problems for Yes Bank started increasing. In 2018, the market cap of the Bank was Rs. 1 lakh crore which came down to 5000 crore in one and half years. When the RBI realised that there was some problems in the Yes Bank, it refused to extend the term of Rana Kapoor and revised his term to 31st January 2019. Soon after, the stock price of Yes Bank started falling. Rana Kapoor pledged his share which was not known though it was known that he had shareholding of 11 per cent at one time which was worth around Rs. 9000 crore which he slowly reduced to 1 per cent. Loans worth Rs 20,000 crore out of Rs 30,000 crore sanctioned by Rana Kapoor, during his tenure as chief of the crisis-ridden Yes Bank, turned into bad debts, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a special Court last Wednesday. According to news agency PTI, the submission was made by the ED to a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai which extended Kapoor’s custody till 16 March after the agency sought remand for further probe.

Kapoor, who was arrested by the ED is facing a probe from the ED and the CBI over allegations that he received kickbacks through scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited’s (DHFL) Rs 600 crore loan to a family-owned company. Kapoor’s wife and three daughters are also among the 13 accused named by the CBI in the case. As many as 44 companies belonging to 10 large business groups reportedly accounted for bad loans of Rs 34,000 crore of Yes Bank, PTI reported, adding that nine firms of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group reportedly owed Rs 12,800 crore while the Essel Group had unpaid loans of Rs 8,400 crore.

Last week, Yes Bank was placed under a moratorium by the RBI which took control of the Board and also imposed a Rs 50,000-limit on withdrawals from the bank after the central bank cited “serious deterioration in the financial position of the Bank”. Since then, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has shown interest in buying up to 49 per cent stake in the beleaguered private lender, as a part of its restructuring plan.

Mainly, RBI has intervened in the management by putting a cap on withdrawal. There may be some hardships to the customers, but this action has been taken to protect the interest of depositors. Unhealthy practices followed in lending and classification of the advances not done correctly are prime reasons for the crisis. The Yes Bank has lost its credibility on account of unethical banking practices followed by them. The bank has been put under moratorium to gain some time to study the situation and find out solutions. The bank is not going shut down the doors. All deposits will be safe. To understand this, one must know how a bank functions. Deposit of every 100 rupees made in any bank by a customer, the bank has to deposit 21.50 rupees with RBI as SLR ( statutory liquidity ratio) in the form of government securities, bonds and 4 rupees as cash with RBI. This is the reserve fund maintained with RBI. The balance amount only is lent to the borrower to pay interest for the deposit of 100 rupees. As the borrower would have invested in various assets to generate income to pay interest on the borrowed – big medium and small. All the deposits are invested in various loans and advances. Some of the advances might have been taken with bad motives and those have to be identified and be recovered from the culprits and the accountability also should be fixed. Then only such unwanted things will not happen. The Indian legal system is toothless and will threaten as if something is going to happen, but in reality it is not so. One example is that one SARFAESI act was brought in to solve the problems of the NPA accounts without the intervention of a court because trying to find a solution to NPA accounts in our legal system it takes five to seven years. When the banks were trying to recover the money from the stressed assets, the court started interfering and issuing stays. In any sector bad and selfish people will be there and because of these, problems come. Like that only Yes Bank has been saddled with good amount of NPA accounts. On account of NPAs, hefty provision has to be made which has resulted in capital reduction or erosion. If all the customers demand money immediately, it will not be possible to realise the money from the borrowers and pay them on demand. But all the deposits are safe and will be paid. To chanellise the withdrawals, a cap has been fixed for smooth solution of the problem. This action has been made by RBI as a controller as well as a supervisory bank. Already a structured plan has been displayed calling for opinions from all the stake holders in the bank including the investors. After that a final call would be taken by the RBI and the Government of India. The depositors have to be a bit patient and try to help the government and RBI to find the culprits so that they be punished.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Yes Bank investors need not worry: Uttam Agarwal

By

Afternoon Voice

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March 13, 2020

The unexpected write down of some bonds issued by crisis-hit Indian lender Yes Bank Ltd. as part of a state-led rescue is set to raise borrowing costs and make capital-raising tougher for other banks, investors, analysts say. The takeover of Yes Bank by Indian bank’s biggest lender, State Bank of India last week comes against the backdrop of a string of scandals in the country’s financial sector in the last couple of years from a $2 billion fraud at a large state-owned bank to mismanagement of funds at shadow banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it would work on a revival plan as part of which bonds classified as Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital will be written down ‘permanently, in full.’ Yes Bank had about 88 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in AT1 capital as of March 2019, its annual report showed, under the Basel III framework. Investors included Nippon India Mutual Fund, Franklin Templeton, a slew of local fund houses and retail investors.

An independent director of Yes Bank Ltd and Cost Accountant, Mr Uttam Prakash Agarwal who stepped down as head of the bank’s audit committee citing major corporate governance concerns, but the lender said that he was facing a ‘fit and proper’ status review as directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Gill had to be reminded repeatedly for sharing information on the capital-raising plans and the term sheets he eventually shared lacked essential details alleges Agarwal. It seeks the regulator to investigate gains made by investors due to sharing of false developments. Gill could not be reached for a comment immediately.

When AV asked, Agarwal said, “The investors need not worry about their investments, they will get their full money back. It’s the failure of governance and total involvement of current management. YES Bank’s MD and CEO Mr Ravneet Gill and his team could not manage the show. Unnecessarily the Kapoors are under attack but Gill is solely responsible for the mismanagement. Its game of manipulations, these guys just finished everything.”

Agarwal has also demanded appropriate action against the lender’s CEO and MD Gill for allegedly violating various regulatory norms. Agarwal, who was an independent director in 2018, resigned from the board of Yes Bank last month citing deteriorating standard of corporate governance at the private sector lender end. In a letter to the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, Agarwal alleged a breach of governance, non-compliance, undue influence and control on the majority members of the board by Gill through quid pro quo. The letter also alleged that there has been substantial erosion in the market capitalisation of about Rs 40,000 crore since Gill took over as the managing director.