WORK ON CITY’S COASTAL ROAD TO START IN OCTOBER

MUMBAI : The BMC’S standing committee on Tuesday gave its final approval to construct the first phase — or southern part — of the coastal road project. Work on the ₹12,721-crore phase is expected to start by next month and will be completed in the next four years, civic officials said. ››P2

Oyo Hotels eyes expansion in China, raises $1 billion

NEW DELHI : Oyo Hotels, an Indian startup for booking reliable rooms, is raising $1 billion to fund expansion into China and other global regions. Existing investors including Softbank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners have put in $800 million, with commitments for another $200 million, the company said on Tuesday. About

$600 million of this will be directed to China, where Oyo began operations only 10 months ago. The latest funding puts the firm’s valuation at $5 bn. ››P15

Bad loans are under control, says Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI : The government will consider easing tight regulatory control over certain poorly performing state-run banks to help improve their lending capability, as the bad debt problem plaguing the Indian banking sector is now firmly under control, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday. The government expects to recover bad loans worth ₹1.8 trillion in the current fiscal year, he said. ››P15

Actor Bill Cosby branded ‘sexually violent predator’, sentenced to 3 to 10 years

NORRISTOWN: Disgraced American television icon Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison by a judge on Tuesday and branded a “sexually violent predator” for assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago. Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of five to 10 years in prison. The defense asked for house arrest. The 81-year-old was accused of sexual misconduct by around 60 women.