Morning Brief: Companies Pay Up Rs 1.1 Lakh Crore For Fear Of Insolvency Action; Apple Executive’s Wife Slams Kejriwal For Tweet On Husband’s Killing; And More

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news brief for today.

Companies Pay Up Rs 1.1 Lakh Crore For Fear Of Insolvency Action

The fear of action under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has helped banks to recover Rs 1.1 lakh crore from loan defaulters who were earlier unwilling to clear dues. The National Company Law Tribunal has admitted over 975 cases so far, filed by lenders or the operational creditors, the Times of India reported. The daily says that the actual number of cases filed for action are four times higher as most of these cases are withdrawn because the borrowers, who are unwilling to clear dues, agree to settle payments to avoid losing control.

Lenders were able to realise their entire claims in three of the 12 cases where resolution took place in the June quarter, data shows. This fiscal year, public sector banks are aiming to recover 1.8 lakh crore from loan defaulters. This is around two-and-a-half times the amount recovered in the fiscal year 2017-18. However, the 180-day deadline to complete the insolvency resolution process has been missed in 42 per cent of the cases. The process has been completed in the stipulated time period in only a quarter of the ongoing 716 cases.

Apple Executive’s Wife Slams Kejriwal For Tweet On Husband’s Killing

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was widely criticised on Sunday for linking the killing of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari to religion. Kejriwal, who blamed the Yogi Adityanath government and the Bharatiya Janata Party for the incident, had put out what many said was insensitive tweet identifying the victim as ‘Hindu’. He also accused ‘BJP leaders’ of raping ‘Hindu girls’ throughout the country.

Tiwari's wife Kalpana slammed the Aam Aadmi Party leader saying that the matter should not be associated with religion and caste. "The Delhi CM's statement is unwarranted,” she said in shock when told about the tweet, asking politicians to not link the issue to religion or caste. The UP Police on Sunday called the incident a “murder” and arrested the constable involved in the incident. It has dismissed his claim of firing on Tiwari in self-defence. Tiwari was shot dead while he was going to drop an ex-colleague after a launch event.

Three Booked For Circumcising Minor Boy To ‘Convert’ Him To Islam

Ludhiana police on Sunday booked three persons — a juice vend owner living in Machhiwara, and two of his aides — for allegedly circumcising a 10-year-old boy to convert him to Islam forcefully. The boy, according to reports, has been admitted to a hospital in serious condition following the incident. The police have identified the main accused as Mohammad Mobin while two of his accomplices remain unidentified. It is yet to arrest anyone in the case, reports said.

The boy has revealed that Mobin, who had employed him for Rs 1,000 a month in his roadside juice vending shop, assaulted him daily and forced him to accept Islam. Mobin and his two accomplices, he said, performed circumcision on Friday. The police have registered an FIR against the three men under Sections 295 (hurting religious sentiments), 326 (causing grievous hurt by weapons) and 34 (act done by several persons with common intention) of IPC.

PoK ‘PM’ Was Aboard Pakistani Chopper That Violated Indian Airspace

The head of the ‘government’ installed by the Pakistan Army in Occupied Kashmir, Raja Farooq Haider, was onboard the chopper which violated Indian airspace along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday. Haider was reportedly travelling to offer condolences to an acquaintance with two other ministers when the chopper entered Indian airspace and was fired at by the Indian Army using small weapons. According to a spokesperson of the Army, it turned back into PoK when the army fired.

Helicopters are not allowed to come within one kilometre of the LoC and fixed-wing aircraft within 10 km. The helicopter breached the agreement by 700m, the Army said in a statement. According to reports, two fighter jets of the Indian Air Force were airborne as soon as the violation was reported. This development came just soon after Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on the eve of the second anniversary of the surgical strikes, said “something big has happened”.

India Wants To Have Trade Deal With US To Avoid Tariffs: Trump

President Donald Trump has claimed that India wants to have a trade deal with the United States as it does not want him to impose tariffs, the Times of India has reported. Trump, who often accuses India of imposing 100 per cent tariffs on some US products, has made a statement on a trade deal with India for the second time this month. Earlier this month, he had said that India wants to have a trade deal with the US. In his statement, he claimed that his relationship with India is “good” and that New Delhi does not want a trade deal with “anyone else”.

This statement comes just days after US Trade Representative Mark Linscott returned from India after a detailed discussion on trade issues. Trump told the crowd he was addressing that he is using India just as an example. Hinting that his trade issues with India were not as bad as others, he said he could give examples of countries which are “brutal, take advantage of the US”.

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