From the Editor: Anil Tyagi

THIS is another face of capitalism, albeit an ugly one. But it is as much an inherent part of the various moods and hues of ideology. Large companies, on the brink of bankruptcy, are trying to make last-minute deals to remain profitable, or survive. But if the logic of capitalism is that the government has no business to be in business, and the private sector should run to the policy makers to be bailed out, there is only one way – keep your head above the water, or declare bankruptcy. After the Supreme Court forced the telecom companies to pay their huge dues on revenue-share to the government, this is, in fact, the way forward for several reasons.

The first is that this trend is not sector-specific. Across segments, and across size-brackets, companies are in trouble...

Read more

Corruption: FROM RAJ TO RAFALE 17: The Twin Curses Of Earth and Sky

Some of the biggest scandals in independent India took place in the cases of illegal mining, stealing oil and gas from neighbouring interconnected reserves, gold-plating of projects, and sale of such precious resources at rock-bottom prices. If one includes telecom spectrum, which too is a limited resource, the circle of corrupt, cruel, violent carnage, cashing-in through human labour, and the twin curses of the earth and sky is complete.

LOOK at some of unsavory global facts. There are possibly two dozen nations in the world that earn more than 50 per cent of their exports from oil and gas. None of them is a democracy. Even if some of these regions are part of the larger democracies, they are wracked by exploitation, corruption, resource-capture by elites, and poverty...

Read more

Governance: Surviving a financial storm

Media baron Subhash Chandra had to fall back on the last resort of selling Essel Group promoter stake in November 2019 to save his jewel in the crown, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited from sinking under the debt burden of Rs. 11,000 crore. His fight back, though commendable, holds a cautionary tale for India Inc and promoters with overreaching ambitions who expended too fast, piggy backing on easy capital when the going was good. But when the economic slowdown triggered by the ill-fated demonetisation decision and dodgy financial practices came back to haunt the non-banking financial sector, trouble came storming at the doorsteps of these promoters.

ON November 21, 2019, at 9.15 am, media mogul, Subhash Chandra, must have felt like the skipper of a stricken ship who just spotted dry land after spending days and months enduring stormy seas that threatened to sink his overloaded boat...

Read more

Governance: RANA SUGARS How they duped the investors

THE GDR (global depository receipt) scam, which was perpetrated by dozens of companies between 2002 and 2014, was as simple as it gets. Float a GDR issue—the amount raised is meaningless and can be a few million dollars. It is better if the GDR is listed in a not-so-prominent exchange like the Dubai International Financial Exchange. Before the issue, ink a deal with a single buyer to purchase all the GDRs. Arrange for a bank in a slightly shadowy nation to issue a loan to the buyer.

Through a board resolution by GDR-issuer, assure the bank that the entire proceeds will be deposited as security with it until the loan is repaid. As payments are made to the bank in instalments, it releases the amounts to the issuer...

Read more

State scan: Land mafia runs for cover

MADHYA PRADESH has never seen such a sustained and coordinated crackdown on organised, white collar crime since the state came into being in 1956. Of course, there have been sporadic and selective campaigns against mafias, particularly land-grabbers, under previous governments but they evoked more cynicism than trust in the state’s people.

Razing down of the illegal Raj Tower in Indore under Digvijay Singh’s rule or Minal Residency of Bhopal under the Shivraj Singh government may have earned public encomium for the previous chief ministers but the actions proved a flash in the pan...

Read more