News digest: PNB fraud, war against fakes, right to die, and more

Loan disbursals to India Inc are taking a hit at this crucial time of fiscal year end, as banks, especially public sector lenders, have turned defensive in the aftermath of the PNB fraud

Trump slaps tariffs, rattles Indian metal firms; JSW asks govt to retaliate

Indian metal producers with exposure to Europe and the United States warned of increased costs and lower sales with US President Donald Trump signing on Thursday a proclamation levying a 25 per cent duty on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminium imports. 

As soon as Trump signed the proclamation, Tata Steel Europe asked the Dutch government and the European Union to persuade the US not to levy the duty on steel imports. Read more here...

PNB fraud fallout: Loan disbursements to corporate India take a hit

Loan disbursals to India Inc are taking a hit at this crucial time of fiscal year end, as banks, especially public sector lenders, have turned defensive in the aftermath of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud. The assessment of the impact of the new framework for restructuring of stressed assets is also taking bankers’ time.

Normally in March, last month of any financial year, activity levels are in high gear, said a top executive of a public sector bank. But now, the management of most banks, especially state-owned banks, which account for 70 per cent of banking in India, hardly have time to concentrate on big-ticket business. So, growing the business (loan disbursals) has been pushed down the priority order. Read more here...

Bisleri International to launch a fizzy mango drink called Fonzo in April

Twenty-five years after parting ways, brothers Ramesh and Prakash Chauhan will find themselves competing for a slice of the same market this summer. 

Ramesh's Bisleri International, which manufacturers and markets the packaged water brand by the same name, will launch a fizzy mango drink called Fonzo in April.

This would be the first time his company will step into the domain of younger brother Prakash directly. Read more here...

E-commerce companies' united fight against piracy is stronger than ever 

Those who shop online stand united in the thought that the act is akin to arranging a gift to oneself. It arrives on your doorstep all wrapped up, waiting to be tried and tested. Now imagine a scenario where the shoes you ordered online fit exactly right and are just as lime green as you wanted them to be, only they read “Liver” instead of, say, “Lee Cooper”. Even the cardboard box they came in had proudly announced they were Lee Coopers, recalls B Venkateswara Prasad, a Noida-based customer who received just such a product.

The problem of fake goods finding an online platform is a global one, says  says Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner and national leader (retail and consumer products), Ernst & Young. “It’s everywhere,” he says.

A recent case involved American lifestyle and footwear brand Skechers, which filed a case against Flipkart and four sellers on the e-portal alleging the sale of counterfeit products in the brand’s name. Read more here...

SC upholds 'living will', allows passive euthanasia for the terminally ill

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Friday recognised that a terminally ill patient or a person in a persistent vegetative state may execute an “advance medical directive” or a “living will” to refuse medical treatment, saying the right to live with dignity also included “smoothening” the process of dying. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed that the failure to legally recognise advance medical directives might amount to “non-facilitation” of the right to smoothen the dying process, and dignity in that process was also part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Read more here...