New Delhi: Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad's Rs 2,058-crore stake purchase in Jet Airways has hit a regulatory air pocket, as regulators are seeking more clarity on the deal to ensure overall competition in the aviation market is not affected and interests of public shareholders and consumers are protected.
Separate clarifications have been sought on the deal, which involves a 24 per cent stake purchase in Jet by Etihad and is the first investment by a foreign carrier in an Indian airline, by capital markets regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and fair trade watchdog CCI (Competition Commission of India).
While the queries raised by the two regulators are different, both of them are concerned about certain contours of the transaction that indicate a larger control of Etihad in Naresh Goyal-led Indian carrier despite the purchase of only 24 per cent stake, sources said....
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01:59 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: In fresh trouble for arms dealer Abhishek Verma, the CBI has initiated another probe into alleged possession of documents related to small arms deal with him which allegedly violated Official Secrets Act. CBI sources said the agency has registered a preliminary enquiry against unnamed officials after documents dispatched by estranged business associate of Verma, C Edmond Allen, were found to be genuine and confidential by the Defence Ministry....
07:59 AM, May 23, 2013
Ranchi: Aadhaar will be mandatory as proof during land deals in Jharkhand from January 1 2014, an official release said on Tuesday. The decision was taken to bring in transparency in the sale/purchase of land and prevention of registering the same land more than once, the release said quoting Chief Secretary RS Sharma. Now onwards land could be registered showing Aadhaar or other relevant documents, but from January 1, 2014...
12:56 AM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will arrive in India on Monday. Karzai is set to receive an honorary doctorate from a Chandigarh university, after which he will visit the national capital. Hamid Karzai, who is not on an official visit to India, may seek increased military aid from India during and discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, an aide said. The comments follow a weekend report by the Times...
09:59 AM, May 20, 2013
New York: Yahoo may be on the verge of closing its biggest acquisition during the 10-month reign of CEO Marissa Mayer as she tries to attract more traffic and advertisers to the Internet company's website and mobile applications. The Sunnyvale, Calif, company's board of directors will meet on Sunday evening to consider approving a $1.1 billion acquisition of online content-sharing site Tumblr in a deal Mayer negotiated, according to the...
11:50 PM, May 19, 2013
Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased military aid from India during a three-day visit starting Monday and will discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, an aide said. The comments follow a weekend report by the Times of India that said Afghanistan's ambassador to India had said the country needs India's help with "equipment and weapons to fight." The Press Trust of India later quoted a spokesman for India's...
07:35 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: CBI on Thursday quizzed a senior Air Force officer as witness in connection with alleged corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP Helicopter deal in which former Air Chief is one of the suspects. Without naming the officer, CBI sources said an Air Marshal level officer was examined as witness to clarify technical issues related to the tender of 12 helicopters for which UK-based AgustaWestland was chosen as...
10:21 PM, May 16, 2013
Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday ordered to speedily compensate the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in a land exchange deal entered into in 2007. Ordering quick disposal of pending business related to the armed forces, Bahuguna on Tuesday said that transfer of a plot of land at Sitarganj to SSB should be expedited. According to sources, Bahuguna said that in view of the strategic importance of Uttarakhand, which...
06:20 PM, May 15, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday got transcripts of phone conversations between alleged middlemen from Italy. The transcripts are related to phone conversations between alleged middlemen and officials of a Defence firm, in which the Italian government has 30 per cent stake. The transcripts of the telephone calls were handed over to the Defence Ministry, which has been made as an "affected party" by the Italian...
04:40 PM, May 13, 2013
New Delhi: CBI is likely to get transcripts of phone conversations of Italian middlemen allegedly involved in the VVIP helicopter deal, intercepted by law enforcement authorities following court orders in the European country. CBI sources said the documents would be received by the Defence Ministry and later, handed over to the investigating agency to help it in its probe in the multi-crore deal. They said the records are related to...
10:26 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea which had challenged the validity of the Cairn-Vedanta deal and said there was nothing malafide in the transaction. The court was hearing a petition challenging the validity of the $8.5 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal and had sought a CBI probe into it. "There were no extraneous considerations involved in the deal and it should not be interfered with by the court....
11:59 AM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: CBI has issued a lookout notice against a former IAF chief in connection with alleged irregularities in procurement of VVIP helicopters, Defence Minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday. In a written reply to the House, he said, "CBI has issued Lookout notice against a number of individuals in India including a former chief of IAF in connection with the said case." Though Antony did not...
08:15 PM, May 06, 2013
Pune/Mumbai: Two Mumbai realty agents, nabbed in connection with the brutal murder of a Pune billionaire and his secretary for a property deal in Mumbai, were sent to police custody till Friday by a Pune magistrate in Mumbai on Sunday. Ibrahim Ismail Shaikh, 38, and Ravindra Shankar Shetty, 37, were arrested from Bandra suburb of Mumbai late on Saturday night. They have been charged with the murder of Vinod Broker,...
05:45 AM, May 06, 2013
Milan: The former CEO of the Italian defense giant Finmeccanica was released on Saturday from jail pending his trial on corruption charges in June. Giuseppe Orsi, who was held for some 80 days in pre-trial detention, faces charges for his alleged involvement in the payment of bribes to secure a 560 million euro ($670 million) deal to sell 12 helicopters to India. A speedy trial for Orsi, who was head...
12:56 PM, May 05, 2013
Rome: The 'instant trial' in Rome against ex-CEO of the Italian state-controlled defence giant Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi and the CEO of its helicopter unit AgustaWestland, Bruno Spagnoli for alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal with India will begin on June 19. A judge in the northern Italian town of Busto Arsizio granted a prosecutor's request for the instant trial, which eliminates preliminary hearings, Italian news agency...
08:09 PM, May 03, 2013
New Delhi: Facing a CBI probe for its alleged role in the payments of kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal, Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland on Tuesday said it has sought time from the Defence Ministry to discuss its contract with India. "AgustaWestland International Ltd (as the formal 'seller') has formally sought bilateral discussions with the Ministry of Defence, which is a legal obligation under the contract and is currently awaiting a response,"...
04:06 AM, May 01, 2013
Mumbai: Jet Airways on Monday said its promoter and chairman Nareh Goyal will bring down his stake in the company to 51 per cent to meet the Sebi requirement of 25 per cent floating shares. The airline has decided to give three director posts to Etihad Airways following the stake sale deal last week, it told exchanges in a filing. However, it is learnt that one of the three Etihad...
09:26 PM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: Anglo-Italian defence firm AgustaWestland has participated in bids to procure choppers for Indian Navy and Coast Guard as no decision has been taken by the government to debar it from the procurement process, Defence Minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday. In a written reply to the House, he said the Request for Proposal (RFP) for procurement of the Naval Utility Helicopter (NUH) was issued before...
05:11 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Milan: Italian prosecutors investigating allegations of corruption by Finmeccanica in the sale of 12 helicopters to India believe their evidence is strong enough to warrant an urgent trial without preliminary proceedings, a legal source with direct knowledge of the situation said. Prosecutors in the city of Busto Arsizio will ask a judge to order that Finmeccanica's former chairman, Giuseppe Orsi, and other suspects skip preliminary hearings and are sent directly...
06:10 AM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: Arms dealer Abhishek Verma had forged the signatures of a CBI officer on a letter claiming inquiry against him in the Naval War Room leak case is being closed, US-based attorney C Edmond Allen has alleged in his statement to US investigators. The statement of estranged business associate of Verma, which has been received by the agency in response to its judicial requests recently, had alleged that the...
02:06 PM, Apr 28, 2013
