Sebi bars Karvy for ₹2000 crore client fraud

• Sebi said that Karvy despite not having any legal right to create a pledge on these securities and generate funds did so in securities to the tune of ₹2000 crore
• The regulator has initiated a forensic audit to establish the extent of alleged misuse of client pledges

RBI moves swiftly on DHFL, institutes 3-member panel

• On 20 November, RBI superseded the board of DHFL and appointed an administrator in its place
• The advisory panel comprises IDFC First’s Rajiv Lall, ICICI Pru’s N.S. Kannan and Amfi’s N.S. Venkatesh

Maharashtra guessing game ends, Uddhav Thackeray to be new CM

• This will be the first time that a member of the Thackeray family will become the chief minister of Maharashtra
• Such a consensus could finally give Maharashtra a government after a political deadlock for nearly a month

Hong Kong would be 'obliterated in 14 minutes' if not for me: Donald Trump

• Trump's comments come as he mulls signing congressionally-approved legislation in support of the pro-democracy activists
• Donald Trump cast his relationship with Xi as the bulwark keeping China from moving against the pro-democracy movement that has rocked Hong Kong

India courts private hospitals to boost 'Modicare' insurance programme

• Currently, 60% of the approximately 20,000 hospitals registered under the programme are in the private sector
• The 'Modicare' programme offers families health cover of up to Rs500,000 a year for serious ailments

A billion people's data left unprotected on Google cloud server

• The unprotected data didn’t reside on a People Data Labs’ server, but rather was on a Google Cloud server, Troia said
• Troia says he doesn’t know who left the data on that server, saying it could be malicious hackers or People Data Labs’ own customers

Muthoot Finance to buy IDBI AMC, foray into mutual fund space

• The deal is expected to be completed by February-end 2020
• Currently, the country's mutual fund industry has 44 players managing assets to the tune of more than ₹26 lakh crore

Airtel, Vodafone-Idea move SC, seek review of order to pay ₹92,000 crore to DoT

• A three-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra will decide if the review plea will be allowed
• The matter pertained to the DoT’s claim that telecom companies had underreported their revenues, paying less levies to the government

Tata Motors, Yes Bank, 2 others to move out of Sensex from 23 December

• The changes will be effective from Monday, December 23, 2019, Asia Index said
• Besides, UPL Ltd and Dabur India will find a place in the S&P BSE Sensex 50, replacing Indiabulls Housing Finance and Yes Bank

15th Finance Commission seeks say in GST Council amid Centre-states row

• Tax cuts, exemptions decided by Council affect FFC’s goal of optimizing revenue targets, says NK Singh
• Singh’s comments hint that the FFC’s suggestions could be more tight-fisted than states expect.

Why Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley likes banking stocks

• He is overweight financials by two percentage points versus the MSCI India Index
• His top picks include HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank Ltd

I remember all the mistakes I’ve made. They’re like scars: Simon Taufel

We (umpires) tend not to remember the fantastic decisions; we tend to remember the bad ones

New energy label norms: Five-star refrigerators to cost ₹6,000 more

• The Star Rating label change for compressor-based products like room air conditioners and refrigerators
• The labelling guidelines will mandate the manufacturers to shift to vacuum panels from the traditional foams for cooling for the five-star range of refrigerators

Film review: Hunger’s not a game in ‘Aamis’

• Bhaskar Hazarika’s ‘Aamis’ is bold and subversive
• In this Assamese film, experimentation with exotic meats escalates into a dark desire

RBI enhances scope of non-resident rupee accounts

• Further, the RBI, in consultation with the government, decided to rationalise certain other provisions for SNRR Account
• Other purposes for allowing such a move are for export or import invoicing and business related transactions outside International Financial Service Centre, all in INR

Former BPSL chief Sanjay Singal arrested by ED

• The ED has recently attached assets worth ₹4,025 crore of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL)
• Sanjay Singal will be produced before a court here on Saturday to seek further custody, the official said

RBI mulling new rules on corp governance; wants banks to disclose more

• Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan urged banks to recognise losses because of NPAs as early as possible and not to defer the same
• The comments come at a time when the system continues to go through the issues of asset quality, even though the new additions have slowed down

DGCA conducts surprise breath analyser test on airside staff at Mumbai airport

• Under the regulations, any person if found positive in the BA test would be suspended for three months
• During similar exercises across airports last month, 18 people, including staff from airlines, were tested positive for an alcohol test

Supreme Court orders Maradu demolition to continue but will hear review plea

• The apex court asks state government to abide by its order to demolish the apartments within 138 days
• The apex court had ruled that the Maradu apartments were built in violation of CRZ norms

CasaOne raises $16 million in funding round led by Accel

• CasaOne operates out of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C
• The San Francisco-based company will use the fresh capital to expand its footprint, hire technology and engineering talent, besides adding new product categories to its portfolio

DHFL postpones release of financial results; new date to be announced later

• DHFL was scheduled to announce its financial result on 25 November
• Most banks have or are going to declare DHFL account as NPA in the third quarter

Mood: How the Lounge team is feeling this week

From India playing their maiden day-night Test to JNU protests, Lounge takes on some of the biggest updates of the week

Uddhav Thackeray to lead Maharashtra government: Sharad Pawar

• In the assembly polls, the BJP won 105 seats and Shiv Sena 56, while the Congress-NCP combine won 98 seats
• The development is significant as it could pave way for government formation in the state after facing a political deadlock for nearly a month now

Sebi bars Karvy Stock Broking from taking new clients

• The directions would be in place pending forensic audit
• The findings recorded in the order are based on the prima facie examination of facts and prima facie violation of securities law

Banks face possible $5 billion NBFC writeoff

• DHFL has been struggling to repay its loans as the spreading NBFC crisis has shut off new credit to the sector
• The company’s shares are down more than 90% so far this year

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund enables side pocketing in its debt schemes

• Franklin Templeton Asset Management has amended its schemes to enable side pocketing
• Unit holders will be allowed to exit the Franklin schemes in question without paying exit load from November 25th to December 24th, 2019

Aadhar Housing Finance dumps small-builder portfolio

• The RBI this week seized major non-bank lender DHFL, which held a controlling share in Aadhar until selling it to Blackstone in June

Not privatising Railways, only outsourcing some services: Piyush Goyal

• Our intention is to give better services and benefits and not to privatise the Indian Railways, Piyush Goyal said
• As per the government's estimate, the Indian Railways require about ₹50 lakh crore in the next 12 years

India's forex reserves rise to over $448 bn

• RBI's weekly data showed that the value of the country's gold reserves went down by $200 million to $26.70 bn

Decoding India’s climate future

A new edited volume takes a comprehensive look at India’s attempts to balance climate change mitigation with development goals

H1-B visa policy changes need US Congress approval

• H1-B is the most sought-after visa that Indian IT companies use to deploy their Indian staff on overseas projects
• H1-B visa costs account for a significant chunk of IT companies’ expenses

Tax dept launches web portal for exchange of information

• CBDT Chairman P C Mody inaugurates the web portal on Income Tax website
• The web portal will be a repository of policy and technical circulars, guidance and notifications issued by the CBDT, and provide links to relevant circulars and guidance

How government plans to regulate social media without spying on users

• The recent privacy concerns involving WhatsApp has strengthened call for making social media companies more accountable
• The traceability clause has emerged as a major bone of contention between the government and privacy advocates worldover

Food regulator slaps notice on McDonald's for 'irresponsible advertising'

• FSSAI is committed to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for all citizens
• FSSAI is also in the process of finalizing regulations to ensure safe and wholesome food for school children

Govt plans to merge 2 Union Territories-Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli has just one district while Daman and Diu has two
• The merged UT is likely to be named as Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and its headquarters could be Daman and Diu

Bill to ban e-Cigarettes introduced in Lok Sabha

• E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine
• Vaping organisations, harm reduction advocates and some medical professionals are opposing the Bill and calling for regulation instead of complete ban

The pressing need to recode the IBC

• Despite repeated changes, IBC has failed to live up to expectations. What should IBC 2.0 look like?
• The govt is taking steps to improve the efficacy of IBC by increasing the number of NCLT benches and insolvency professionals, and running awareness campaigns

Should you choose a mutual fund that invests in your favourite foreign brands?

• Sundaram Global Brand Fund is country-agnostic and does not force you to pick a market like the US, Europe or China
• Among the various international funds investing out of India, the best performer is also a passive fund the Motilal Oswal Nasdaq ETF which delivered 22.05% over the past 5 years

WhatsApp update: New photo icon, multiple device support soon

• According to reports, WhatsApp may soon roll out the 'multiple support device' feature for its Android users
• The latest version comes with a minor update on photo icon

Twitter allow users to ‘Hide Replies’ offering control over conversations

• The option to hide replies is rolling out globally on iOS, Android, Twitter Lite, and Twitter.com
• Twitter also said it was working on new controls and more clarity around the rules of conversation spaces

SC refuses to interfere with NGT’s order prohibiting use of RO water purifier

• The tribunal had also asked the government to make it mandatory to recover more than 60% water wherever RO purifiers are permitted

Property market set for modest lift from government measures: Analysts

• House prices in Bengaluru and Chennai were expected to rise around 2% over the next two years
• Property prices in Delhi, the National Capital Region (NCR), and Mumbai were forecast to be stagnant in 2020

After junking report on consumption, NSO now looks for reasons

• NSO has asked all regional offices to highlight issues raised by field inspection staff during the survey
• An international group of 201 economists put out a statement protesting the report’s suppression

IRCTC makes checking of train ticket, seat availability easier. Here is how

• Not only trains, commuters can also see the availability of seat or berth in a particular train without logging-in
• If you want to check your PNR status, there is an option available right below the 'book your ticket' box