Mallya case: India reiterates fraud charge in UK court
LONDON: India insisted on Friday that documents and witness statements submitted to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court were evidence of “three chapters of dishonesty” on the part of businessman Vijay Mallya, who is facing charges of financial misconduct in India.
The hearing in Mallya’s extradition case witnessed intense arguments as judge Emma Arbuthnot remarked that the case resembled a “jigsaw puzzle,” but said that it was clear now from the various pieces that “banks ignored their own guidelines... rules were broken,” referring to the bank loans obtained by Mallya and his companies.
Facing allegations of financial misconduct to the tune of ₹9,000 crore, Mallya, who was briefly arrested last year, had his bail extended until April 27, the next date of hearing.
On Friday, t he hearing focused on the admissibility of India’s documents against Maltheweekendreview
PEPSI TO LAUNCH FIZZY DRINKS UNDER THE SLICE BRAND
Pepsico Inc. is bringing back Slice in its original form as an aerated drink with 10% real fruit juice, just as it first introduced the product in the US in 1984.
Slice, which was discontinued in the US in 2000s, now sells only in India, as a mango juice.
In its new avatar, Slice will come with a few twists—more fruit content, less calorie and with new flavours, some of which are ethnic Indian. To be sure, this is the first category extension for Slice that Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd launched in India as a mango drink in 1993.
The new range of Slice, Pepsico India said in a statement, is “fruit juice drink with fizz” that will include both “ethnic favourites like jeera, guava chili and mainstream flavours like apple, lemon, orange and clear lime”.
INDIA’S MACRO DATA SIGNALS AN ECONOMIC TURNAROUND
India’s factory output grew at a robust pace for the third straight month, at 7.5% in January, while retail inflation surprisingly slowed for the second consecutive month to 4.4% in February, signalling that the economy may be set on a strong recovery path. In December, the index of industrial production (IIP) grew 7.1%, while consumer price index (Cpi)-based inflation had slowed to 5.1% in January.
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO LOOKING TO EXPAND REGIONAL CONTENT
Amazon.com Inc’s video service will look to add more regional content in India, two company executives said, as it competes with a host of global and local players for a bigger share of a fledgling online streaming mar- lya which, his lawyer Claire Montgomery claimed were worthless.
The judge asked for details about sources of some submitted emails, which the Crown Prosecution Service, acting on India’s behalf, is set to submit by April 20.
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Mark Summers said some emails from Mallya proved intention of fraud, and alleged that he had concocted a story of duress to “further fraud”.
Mallya’s villa on Goa was also mentioned in connection with this.
“He had no intention to honour obligations under the loans taken”, Summers said, and told the judge that Mallya’s actions were part of his “fraudulent scheme”.
Mallya flew to the UK in March last year as creditors to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines closed in on him to recover their dues after he reached a $75 million sweetheart deal with Diageo Plc in return for stepping down as chairman of United Spirits Ltd. ket. In little after a year of its launch in India, Amazon’s bet on original Hindi shows and a library of films in five local languages has paid off — India is the fastest growing market for its Prime Video service, Tim Leslie, global vice-president at Amazon Prime Video, told Reuters in an interview late Saturday, on the sidelines of the India Today Concalve 2018 in Mumbai.
CRAFT BEER BRAND WHITE RHINO SETS SIGHTS ON UK MARKET
About 18 months after Ishaan Puri founded White Rhino Brew- ing Co., the New Delhi-based firm is set to take its craft beer White Rhino to the UK — one of world’s most mature beer markets.
“UK is a mature market for good quality craft beers. We have undergone a massive market study, testing before deciding to enter the UK market. We will have limited presence across selected pubs in London, Manchester and Leeds,” said Puri, founder and director, White Rhino Brewing Co.
INDIA WILL RETURN TO 7.5% GROWTH IN TWO YEARS: WORLD BANK
The World Bank on Wednesday said while India’s growth rate will return to 7.5% in two years’ time, to sustain an 8% growth rate, India requires a decisive structural reform momentum that succeeds in stimulating investment and export growth while maintaining macroeconomic stability.
Based on the fiscal third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data, the full year’s growth has been raised to 6.6%. The World Bank has projected economic growth to accelerate to 7.3% in 2018-19 and 7.5% in 2019-20.