Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has intensified its crackdown on Hiren Bhanu and his wife Gauri, the absconding couple in the Rs122 crore scam at New India Cooperative Bank.

Blue Corner Notice Issued

The EOW has issued a Blue Corner notice against Hiren, the alleged mastermind and former chairman of the bank, and Gauri, who was the acting vice-chairman. Investigators have traced Hiren to Abu Dhabi and Gauri to Thailand, leading to the issuance of the notice. The EOW had initially issued a lookout circular.

Now, with confirmed foreign locations, the alert has been issued. The Blue Corner notice will help track Bhanus’ locations, monitor their activities, and facilitate their arrest.

According to EOW sources, the duo fled abroad just before the scam was exposed. As per the probe, Hitesh Mehta, the bank’s general manager, executed the fraud under the instructions of the Bhanu couple.

Reports indicate that they received Rs28 crore from the embezzled funds. Hiren fled to Dubai on January 26, while Gauri left for Thailand on February 10 just before the scam was uncovered on February 12.

New Delhi, March 8: India’s inflation fell to 4.31 per cent in January from 5.22 per cent, approaching the RBI’s 4 per cent target after four months above 5 per cent and this trend reinforces the case for potential rate cuts, with the repo rate at 6.25 per cent, a new report showed on Saturday.

The observed market trajectory suggests a cautious sentiment among investors, potentially influenced by macroeconomic conditions, sector-specific developments, and global financial market trends, according to the Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund report.

The Nifty 500 Index declined by 7.88 per cent in February, reflecting contractions across multiple sectors. Factor-based strategies reflected broader market movement, while fixed-income instruments, including Nifty 5 year Benchmark G-Sec (+0.53 per cent), exhibited relative stability.

Globally, developed markets displayed mixed movements, where Switzerland (+3.47 per cent) and United Kingdom (+3.08 per cent) registered gains, while Japan (-1.38 per cent) showed a contraction, the report mentioned.

The US CPI inflation stood at 3 per cent, reflecting marginal increase from 2.90 per cent in the prior month.

Another HSBC report mentioned that India’s long-term outlook remains strong and the investment cycle is projected to be on a medium-term uptrend supported by government investment in infrastructure and manufacturing, pickup in private investments, and a recovery in the real estate cycle.

The HSBC Mutual Fund’s ‘Market Outlook Report 2025’ expects higher private investments in renewable energy and related supply chains, localisation of higher-end technology components, and India becoming a more meaningful part of global supply chains to support faster growth.

The real economy, as of now, has evinced resilience to global developments.

“Basis the growth-inflation numbers, the MPC’s last policy action as well as the MPC minutes, we believe the RBI-MPC would deliver another 25 bps cut at its April policy while continuing to stay nimble and flexible on its liquidity strategy,” the report projected.

For a third rate cut, inflation trajectory, monsoon outlook and global developments will possibly be key inputs going into the June policy meeting

New Delhi, March 7: Declining to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s ‘justified’ decision, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to put a brake on the ongoing construction work for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) in Mumbai by the Adani Group.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar refused to overturn the High Court’s December 2024 decision in favour of the Adani Group.

The apex court also declined an oral plea by UAE-based Seclink Technologies Corporation for a status quo order on the project.

The CJI-led bench remarked orally that the High Court’s decision — upholding the tender awarded to Adani Properties Private Limited — was justified as the railway line would also be developed and incorporated into the project.

The apex court also issued notice to the Maharashtra government and Adani Properties on the petition filed by Seclink Technologies challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to cancel its 2019 bid for the redevelopment of Dharavi slums and issue a fresh tender in 2022 to Adani.

In December 2024, the High Court’s division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar dismissed a petition filed by Seclink Technologies, saying: “The grounds raised in the petition lack force and effort. The challenge to the government’s action of cancelling the earlier tender and issuing a fresh tender award fails.”

On Friday, the Supreme Court heard Seclink’s plea after it proposed to increase its offer of Rs 7,200 crore for the project by 20 per cent.

The apex court then ordered Seclink to file an affidavit on its proposal and listed the matter for hearing on May 25.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Adani, argued that equipment worth hundreds of crores of rupees had already been purchased by the company, after which the apex court ordered it to maintain an escrow account for all the payments.

The Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for the 259-hectare Dharavi Redevelopment Project and bagged it with its Rs 5,069-crore offer in the 2022 tender process conducted by the state government.

In the first tender issued in 2019, the petitioner company had emerged as the highest bidder with its Rs 7,200-crore offer.

Later, the Eknath Shinde government cancelled the 2019 tender and issued a fresh one in 2022 with additional conditions. The state government decided to include 45 acres of railway land in the project for slum rehabilitation, an element not included in the original proposal.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had recommended that the state government issue a new tender to reflect the changes and incorporate factors like the costs of acquiring this land.

Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums, is spread over 2.8 sq km of prime land near the central business district of Bandra-Kurla Complex. The Dharavi redevelopment plan seeks to replace the existing informal settlements with modern housing, infrastructure, and commercial spaces.