| | | Question of the Week A jobs-for-bribes scandal dubbed the “Sons and Daughters” program hit investment bank JP Morgan Chase in 2016. What was it about? | | |  | Here's a great value proposition A digital subscription to Mint premium can be yours at just ₹213 per month. Check out the convenient and affordable plans we have for you here. | | Good Morning | | The News in Summary An eventful week unfolded as the blue-chip Tata group firm, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, faced the repercussions of a bribes-for-jobs scandal. Elsewhere, troubles mounted for Adani as US agencies started enquiries into its disclosures to large institutional investors. Meanwhile, at the Paris Air Show, IndiGo placed the largest single order for aircraft with Airbus while the problems of Zee founder Subhash Chandra and his son mounted with Sebi furnishing in court evidence to support its ban on the two. Finally, a meltdown at edtech major Byju’s, which proceeded to lose three directors and its auditor even as it fired employees. | | | | TCS Hit by Bribes-for-Jobs Scandal In a startling turn of events, Tata Consultancy Services, India’s biggest IT services firm and the jewel in the Tata group, found itself in the middle of a scandal after internal investigations revealed that a few senior hiring executives had accepted bribes from staffing firms. While details are awaited, a whistleblower’s complaint implicated E.S. Chakravarthy, the global head of the firm’s recruitment division, along with a few other executives. Following an internal enquiry, Chakravarthy was sent on leave while four other executives were sacked, and three staffing firms were blacklisted. | | | | US Agencies Turn the Lens on Adani Group  Just when it looked like the Adani group was climbing out of the hole it found itself in following the accusations of malfeasance made in the 24 January report by short-seller Hindenburg Research, comes the news of enquiries by US regulators into its representations to institutional investors with large holdings in the Indian conglomerate. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, were believed to have asked for information on what the Adani group told those investors. While such inquiries by US law enforcement agencies aren’t uncommon and don’t always lead to criminal or civil proceedings being filed, with the valuation of Adani Group’s eight listed companies more than halving in the six months to April 2023, the new revelations were another blow sending its shares down the most by value in four months. The group, in a statement, said it was not aware of any subpoena to investors and that it was confident that its disclosures were full and complete. | | |  | | | | | | IndiGo Flies High With 500-Aircraft Order to Airbus InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, the operator of India’s largest airline, confirmed what’s been spoken about for a while when it ordered 500 narrow-body planes with Airbus, a new record for the single-largest purchase in the commercial aviation industry. The order, surpassing the Tata group-backed Air India’s order for 470 aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing in February, takes IndiGo’s total order book to 1,330. The planes, to be delivered between 2030 and 2035, will help the low-cost carrier expand to the European market, with the aim of upping its share to 30% of its total operations over two years. The deal affirms the surge of demand in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market but also points to the growth prospects of a duopoly in the sector, with IndiGo’s 61.4% market share and the combined 26.3% share of all airlines under the Tata group fold—Air India, Vistara, AirAsia India and Air India Express adding up to a whopping 88%. For the rest, there is Akasa Air which is still in its infancy though it is expanding its fleet with four Boeing B737 MAX jets, increasing its orders from 72 to 76 planes; SpiceJet, which is going through an upheaval; and GoAir, which is temporarily grounded by its financial woes. | | | | Subhash Chandra Wages Grim Battle as Merger With Sony Comes Under Threat Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) chairman emeritus Subhash Chandra and managing director and CEO Punit Goenka are trying hard to stem the fallout from the order by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) banning them from holding any responsible position in a listed company. At stake is the company’s merger with Sony Pictures Networks (SPN), a lifeline for the two, with Goenka telling Mint in an interview that the merger should go through irrespective of whether he’s the CEO or not. In a cautious response, Sony Pictures said it took the India markets regulator’s order banning Zee Entertainment’s founder and CEO from holding board positions “seriously” and would continue to monitor developments that may affect its deal. Earlier, Zee had written to Sebi that “continuous and repetitive” investigations on the same cause of action create prejudice for the company and its shareholders and can potentially impact the merger process. For its part, the markets regulator, in its reply to the Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT), reiterated that the two had diverted public money to private entities owned by them. | | | | Crisis at Byju’s  Edtech company Byju’s, whose decacorn status has been steadily eroded, is in the middle of a major crisis with three board members, G.V. Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital (now Peak XV Partners), Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, resigning as directors leaving only the founder Byju Raveendran, his brother Riju Raveendran and his wife Divya Gokulnath on its board. To add to its woes, Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned as its auditor with immediate effect, citing long-delayed financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022. The latest developments come at a time when the company is engaged in a bitter court battle with its lenders in the US while dealing with severe financial woes at home, where it has been on a layoff spree. They are also a serious setback to its efforts to raise equity funding from investors, a month after it raised $250 million in debt funding from New York-based investment manager Davidson Kempner Capital Management. Not surprisingly, the company was in talks with global investors who quit its board to reconsider their decision. | | | | This Mint video looks at Byju’s problems after it laid off 1,000 people in the middle of a legal battle in the US: | | | | Last Word The bad news for job seekers continues unabated, with hiring by Indian companies down to a two-year low in the June quarter. With budgets stretched amidst a hiring freeze, even those who get a job can hope for no more than a 12% hike as compared to a 100% jump six to eight quarters ago in sectors like IT, retail and BFSI. The squeeze is hurting employees, of course, but also staffing firms like TeamLease, Xpheno and Manpower which have seen contract recruitments shrinking by 60-70%, with mandates from sectors like IT down from 60% to 10% currently in contract and permanent recruitments. With production-linked incentive schemes (PLI) leading to a spurt in manufacturing and hiring of blue collared workers, it is white-collared jobs that have been the worst hit. | | | | Answer to the Question In November 2016, US regulators charged JP Morgan Chase with hiring “unqualified” children of China’s ruling elite in return for lucrative business from the country’s key decision-makers and fined the bank $264 million. | | | Do you have any questions? Send in your queries to sundeepkkhanna@gmail.com Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? Sign up here. | | Written by Sundeep Khanna. Edited by Saikat Chatterjee. Produced by Shad Hasnain. Send in your feedback to newsletters@livemint.com. | | | | | Download the Mint app and read premium stories | | | | | | View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Contact us You received this email because you signed up for Mint Top of the Morning or because it is included in your subscription. Copyright © HT Digital Streams. 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