New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) Rakesh Ramanlal Shah, Chairman & Managing Director of GSEC Ltd, who was appointed as the Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad by the Sri Lankan government, received his Commission of Appointment on Monday from High Commissioner Kshenuka Senewiratne.

His consular jurisdiction extends over the state of Gujarat.

The creation of this post aims to bolster Sri Lanka’s ties with Gujarat, focusing on enhancing trade, investment, and tourism opportunities.

Gujarat is renowned for its significant industries in India, including port development, infrastructure, renewable energy, ICT, chemical and petrochemical sectors, agro-food industries, startups, pharmaceuticals, and textiles.

Congratulating the new Honorary Consul on his appointment, High Commissioner Senewiratne highlighted the importance of elevating Sri Lanka’s engagements with the state of Gujarat in all related sectors.

Considering his business credentials, he is best placed to assist the High Commission in pursuing this objective to fruition, she noted.

Honorary Consul Shah pledged his support in working towards this end, by formulating an action-oriented roadmap to chart out the trajectory for this purpose.

They discussed possible immediate areas of cooperation, especially connectivity-focused, to enhance tourism.

The Indo-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry was identified as a framework to facilitate economic linkages with the state.

Honorary Consul Shah was accompanied by a business delegation representing a spectrum of areas, including automobile, aviation, start-ups, luxury tourism, education, infrastructure development and water supply. He is the first to be appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka in that capacity for the state of Gujarat.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) The Mahanagar Gas Ltd has hiked the prices of CNG by Rs 1.50/kg and domestic PNG by Rs 1/SCM in Mumbai and its surrounding areas with effect from midnight (July 8-9) on Monday, an official said.

Accordingly, the price of CNG will go up from Rs 73.50/kg to Rs 75/kg, and the rate of domestic PNG will increase from Rs 47/SCM to Rs 48/SCM, inclusive of all taxes for Mumbai and surrounding regions.

The latest hike is attributed to meeting the increasing volumes of CNG-PNG demand and owing to a shortfall in domestic gas allocation, the MGL is sourcing additional requirements from the market-priced natural gas.

The fresh revision will hit over a million vehicle owners who use CNG, and around 25 lakh households who get PNG supply to their homes.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections on March 6, the price of CNG was slashed by Rs 2.50/kg and on October 2, 2023, the PNG prices were also slashed by Rs 2/SCM.

The MGL claimed that despite the latest increase, its CNG offers a saving of 50 per cent and 17 per cent, compared with petrol and diesel prices respectively, and its rates for both CNG-PNG remain among the lowest in the country.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) Air India said on Monday that it has completed harmonising operating procedures across key functions for the four Tata Group airlines as a crucial step towards the merger.

Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group (51 per cent) and Singapore Airlines (49 per cent), is being merged into Air India to create a single full-service carrier.

At the same time Air India’s subsidiaries, AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia) and Air India Express, are merging to form a single low-budget airline.

“Over the past 18 months, a team of over 100 members has collaborated to align best practices and adopt common operating procedures. This effort will culminate in the creation of two distinct manuals: one for the full-service carrier Air India and another for the low-cost carrier Air India Express,” said Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India.

Previously, each of the four airlines had its own separate operating manual.

“This is an important milestone in the merger of the Tata Group airlines and we are grateful for the support received from the Ministry of Civil Aviation in terms of timely clearances for the merger process,” the Air India MD added.

“The live tracker created by the flight standards directorate of DGCA with a dedicated team for continuous monitoring of the progress of the harmonisation process has been instrumental in achieving the challenging task in a time-bound manner,” Campbell further stated.

Air India and its group companies are now initiating the necessary crew training to act on the harmonised processes, which will be another step in the direction of building the new Air India and Air India Express, he added.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) Gautam Adani, the Chairman of Adani Group, on Monday wished the athletes for the 2024 Paris Olympics, saying that this year India will achieve the “greatest medal haul ever”.

“As we get ready for the 2024 Paris Olympics, I wish the very best to the exceptional athletes who will represent our nation on the world’s grandest sporting stage,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Their relentless riyaaz and unwavering dedication truly embody the new indomitable spirit of India. I am confident that this year, we will achieve our greatest medal haul ever,” he added.

The Adani Group is “honoured to support Team India on this remarkable journey”.

“Together, we shall cheer for our champions and eagerly await the echoes of #DeshKaGeetAtOlympics. Jai Hind,” the Adani Group Chairman said.

India will be sending a contingent of close to 120 athletes to the Olympics, including an Athletics team led by the defending champion in the men’s javelin Neeraj Chopra, a 21-member Shooting team and a 16-member men’s Hockey team.

Last week, members of the Indian contingent met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the PM interacted with them and guided them with encouraging words as they got ready to leave for France.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) The RBI on Monday announced that it has cancelled the licenses of two non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for violating its guidelines.

The NBFCs include Polytex India Ltd, based in Mumbai, and Finserv India Ltd which operates out of Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

The RBI said Polytex India Ltd has violated RBI guidelines on the code of conduct in outsourcing financial services by outsourcing its core decision-making functions related to client sourcing, Know Your Customer (KYC) verification, credit appraisal, loan disbursal, loan recovery, follow-up with borrowers and attending and resolving complaints from borrowers.

While outsourcing the activities related to lending, Polytex earned a fixed fee from its service provider, whereas the service provider earned the interest charged on the borrower on these loans and in some cases at exorbitant rates in violation of Fair Practice Code (FPC) Guidelines issued by RBI.

In the case of Finserv India Ltd, RBI said the company has violated the guidelines on the code of conduct in outsourcing the financial services in its digital lending operations by outsourcing its core decision-making functions such as credit appraisal, loan sanctioning as well as KYC verification process to the service provider.

The company has also violated RBI guidelines on data confidentiality and security of customer information by providing complete access to customer data to the service provider.

Besides, the company has violated RBI guidelines on the Fair Practices Code by not providing a copy of the loan agreement and sanction letter in vernacular language to its customers.

–IANS

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