BT Podcast: OBC fraud: Delhi-based jeweller fled in 2014

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PNB Fraud: Banks for raising cover against fraud by staff

Rattled by a spate of frauds in the banking sector, lenders are now planning to increase insurance cover against delinquencies by their employees to protect their bottom lines. Besides, tightening internal risk mechanism and vigilance, banks have to look for higher cover to guard against such fraud where employees are involved, the official said, adding, this will help insulate the balance sheet.

OBC fraud: Delhi-based jeweller fled in 2014

Oriental Bank of Commerce is the latest public sector lender to join the list of state-run banks which have been defrauded by diamond merchants. Using the same modus operandi like the one used by celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi to get Letter of Credit (LoC) from PNB, the accused involved in the OBC fraud availed credit facilities to the tune of Rs 389.85 crore with the help of some bank officials. Even though the CBI got a complaint from the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) for Rs 390  crore scam involving Delhi-based diamond exporter, it took the agency more than six months to file an FIR against the accused.

Railways starts recruitment exercise

Indian railways has started the process to hire 89,500 employees, including assistant loco pilots, technicians,, switchmen, trackmen, cabinmen, welders, helpers and porters. The state-run transporter aims to provide jobs to around one lakh youth from high school pass students to engineers. Railways plans to fill entry level vacancies by massive hiring, coupled with trimming of the railway board by half. This is in line with Piyush Goyal's strategy to "right-size" the railways which is "top-heavy".

UDAN: Govt expects Rs 300 cr annually from levy on airlines

The government expects to collect around Rs 300 crore annually from the levy on airlines flying on major routes towards the regional air connectivity scheme, a senior official said. To partly raise money for viability gap funding requirement under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, the civil aviation ministry has been collecting the levy since December 2016.

More routes are getting added under the UDAN scheme, which seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as making flying more affordable.

BioAsia highlights slowing growth of Indian pharma sector

BioAsia, Asia's largest Biotechnology and Life-sciences forum and the annual flagship event of the Government of Telangana has concluded. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu and Telangana Information Technology minister K T Rao deliberated on the future of the pharmaceutical industry. Rao, raised the issue of the downward spiral of pharmaceutical industry's growth rate in India as he pointed out that for the first time the growth rate of pharmaceutical sector, at around 5.5 per cent, has been recorded below India's GDP of around 7 per cent, for two consecutive years now.

5G network trial gets underway

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has joined hands with telecom major Airtel to announce a successful testing of 5G network trial under a test set-up in India. The trial was conducted at Airtel's Network Experience Centre in Manesar in Gurugram. Airtel has also partnered with Ericsson for deploying 5G technology in India.According to the partnership, Ericsson will work with Airtel to create a roadmap to help the telco upgrade its network to next-gen's 5G network. Airtel has also partnered with Nokia for 5G technology. With 5G services, Airtel wishes to take on Jio that has already stirred the 4G market and is considering to roll out 5G services in India along with Samsung.

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