India has been rocked by a number of bank frauds over the years. Here are the ones that have made headlines.
Kingfisher's Vijaya Mallya
The Kingfisher tycoon Vijay Mallya is accused in India of fraud and money laundering to the tune of 90 billion rupees. He fled to the UK and there are efforts underway to get him extradited. Widely considered to be India’s answer to Richard Branson, the flamboyant Indian entrepreneur built up his inherited empire, United Breweries Group, the prized assets of which were its beverages division and Kingfisher Airlines, and lived a lavish lifestyle, buying Formula One and cricket teams, islands and vintage cars. But the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines, which stopped flying in 2012 and had amassed US$1 billion in debt, left him in trouble. State Bank of India has called for him to be jailed as the country’s largest lender tries to recover money it is owed.
Rotomac founder Vikram Kothari
Vikram Kothari, the founder and chairman of Rotomac Pens, based in Uttar Pradesh in north India, has been accused of a 36 billion rupees loan default, on loans taken from a consortium of seven Indian banks. The industrialist and his son Rahul Kothari were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Delhi last week following a day of questioning. The scandal emerged following the break out of news of the $1.8 billion fraud linked to the jeweller Nirav Modi and after state-run lender Bank of Baroda filed a complaint with the authorities. Properties have been raided in connection with the case. Vikram Kothari denies any wrongdoing.
Jatin Mehta of Winsome Diamonds
A Gujarat-based diamond merchant Jatin Mehta is considered to be one of India's biggest defaulters. He owns a company called Winsome Diamonds and is accused of owing more than 65 billion rupees to a consortium of Indian banks, including Punjab National Bank, which took the biggest hit. He fled India in 2016 and now resides in St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. This case had similarities to the Nirav Modi scandal. Letters of credit were issued on the behalf of Indian lenders to raise money from international bullion banks, but these loans were never paid, leaving the Indian banks exposed.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
