India’s plan to clean up bad loan mess, Interpol tightens noose around Nirav Modi, and more top news

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NPA resolution: The government has ruled out a bad bank in favour of a five-pronged strategy suggested by public sector bankers. Under Project Sashakt, state-run lenders will set up an asset management company supported by institutional funding in stressed assets (AIFs) to resolve bad loans above ?500 crore. For smaller loans of under ?50 crore and ?50-500 crore, the plan is to set up a focussed vertical at the bank level and inter-creditor agreements, respectively. An RBI report said the gross NPA ratio of Indian banks will likely top 12% by March 2019 as stress in the sector continues.

The Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi in the $2-billion PNB fraud. That means 192 countries can now arrest Modi, following which he can be extradited or deported. Earlier, investigative agencies said the jeweller held at least half-a-dozen Indian passports, using which he found his way to Belgium. Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi have refused to return to the country to join the probe citing business and health reasons.

India has a back-up plan to deal with disruptions in oil supply from Iran. Indian Oil Chairman Sanjiv Singh told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia alone can cover any shortfall arising from US sanctions on the Persian Gulf state even as a narrowing spread between Brent crude and Dubai oil gives the company more options. “We have a very wide crude basket. We are fully prepared,” Singh said. Reuters reported last week that the oil ministry asked refiners to prepare for a drastic reduction or zero imports of Iranian oil from November. India imported 771,000 barrels of crude a day from Iran in May.

LIC's holdings in state-run banks are seeing a sharp value-erosion. According to a Business Standard study (paywall), the insurer has lost money in 18 out of 21 investments in public sector banks over the last 2.5 years. The trigger? The RBI's December 2015 directive to banks to make higher provisioning for bad loans. However, LIC has reaped returns in excess of 50% from its investments in private lenders, with HDFC Bank and YES Bank shares gaining the most. The insurer is investing ?10,000-13,000 crore in troubled lender IDBI Bank, a move that analysts feel won't bring "any gains" for it.

Hindi is the fastest-growing language in India. An IndiaSpend analysis of census data shows it added 100 million new speakers between 2001 and 2011, growing at a brisk 25%. Kashmiri (23%), Gujarati (20%), Manipuri (20%) were ranked second, third and fourth on the list, respectively. The number of people who call English their mother tongue rose to 260,000, up from 226,000 in 2001. Over 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother tongue, the data shows.

Idea of the Day: To encourage more female leaders in traditionally male-dominated industries, all children should be educated in subjects such as design, engineering and creative technology, suggests Ian Callum, Director of Design at Jaguar.

“We need to break down stereotypes around so-called male and female job roles, ensuring children don’t grow up with perceived barriers because of their gender.”

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