News digest: Videocon case, NITI Aayog council meet, Cannes Lions, and more

The Centre stood by the Terms of Reference of the 15th Finance Commission, with PM Modi endorsing its suggestion that the Census 2011 should be one of the parameters for devolving funds to states

Videocon case: ICICI Bank weighs leave for Chanda Kochhar till probe report

ICICI Bank Chairman M K Sharma has written an email to board members seeking their opinion on whether Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar should be asked to go on indefinite leave until the internal enquiry is concluded, said people in the know. “In an email sent to board members last week, Sharma asked board members whether they agreed that Kochhar should go on indefinite leave until the ICICI Bank-constituted enquiry is completed to have a fair 

outcome,” said one of the persons cited above.  Kochhar is on her planned annual leave, the bank had said on June 1.
READ MORE   

NITI Aayog meet: Centre firm on 2011 as base year for Finance Commission

The Centre on Sunday stood by the controversial terms of reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsing its suggestion that the Census 2011 should be one of the parameters for devolving funds to states.
 

He, however, urged states to identify parameters or indices through which performance in other fields could be rewarded so that no one feels left out. READ MORE
 

 

Brotherhood and the hunt for awards at Cannes Lions 2018 

India’s annual campaign at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity (Cannes Lions) will begin on Monday. It will be the first edition when the advertising event will take place for five days, as opposed to nearly eight days earlier.

While Indian agencies will be looking to put up a strong show after a haul of 40 Lions (trophies) last year, the spotlight will be on the Pandey and Akali brothers.

Piyush and Prasoon Pandey will be conferred a lifetime achievement award, called the Lion of St Mark, on the last day of the festival. READ MORE

  

Essar Steel lenders may not allow Numetal to change structure in second bid

Lenders to Essar Steel may not allow Numetal to change its corporate structure stated in the second round of bidding if it comes up for consideration.

“The committee of creditors (CoC) may not allow Aurora Enterprises to be dropped from Numetal because this is not a fresh request for proposal (RFP),” a major lender said. 

Sources close to Numetal, however, pointed to the order passed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on May 22 this year. The order said during the pendency of appeals, the resolution professional (RP), the CoC and the adjudicating authority would not pass any order approving or rejecting plans, or on liquidation. READ MORE

 

Taj Group's Ginger bets on asset-light model, 55 new hotels, and rebranding

Seven months after he took charge, Puneet Chhatwal, Indian Hotels managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), whose operating mantra has been profitability, kicked off an entire overhaul of Taj’s Ginger brand of hotels. The ambitious plans involve adding 55 new ones over the next five years, which will catapult the company’s number of rooms from 3,900 to 7,500, using an asset-light lease model. That is expected to push the total number of rooms up considerably under the Taj Group to around 25,000.
 

While the past has seen the budget chain run into losses, Chhatwal’s take is the brand retains potential in the current environment. “It was ahead of its time as the Ginger model was not aspirational enough and got hit by changing economic tides,” Chhatwal says. “We are focused to get the positioning right before we scale up to 100 locations,” he adds. READ MORE