Oh God, Not Again: Whistleblower Levels Fresh Allegations Against Infosys CEO

IF even God cannot change numbers of Infosys, certainly He can send another letter through a whistleblower, questioning the inaction of its Chairman Nandan Nilekani in initiating action against CEO Salil Parekh for his misdeeds in fresh allegations leveled against him, which any devotee would not refute.

Nandan, a few days back, had famously said that even God cannot change numbers of the company, in full support of the current management, after the whistleblowers’ allegations had rocked Infosys.

Jokes apart, yet another whistleblower from Infosys has accused Parekh for having stock market connections and investing in several firms, due to which the CEO stays in Mumbai, instead in Bengaluru, to have a better oversight on his investments.

“This is a gross violation of the company’s value system and has to be investigated and action for (Parekh’s) termination should be initiated. Will the company allow such a deed by other employees? If not, then why spare the CEO? What is the toothless NRC (Nomination Remuneration Committee) doing?” asked the whistleblower.

The complainant also accused Parekh for operating from Mumbai in violation of the condition that the CEO has to be based in Bengaluru and the company incurred exorbitant costs towards his airfare and local transportation.

“Though it is a year and 8 months since Mr Parekh joined the company, he operates from Mumbai in violation of the condition that the CEO has to be based in Bengaluru and not Mumbai. What is stopping the board to insist on his movement to Bengaluru,” said the whistleblower in an unsigned and undated letter to Nandan and Independent Directors on the Board.

The whistleblower alleged that Parekh, despite being given two months time to relocate to Bengaluru, did not do so, and the company incurred Rs 22 lakh towards his airfare and local transportation.

“Four business class tickets per month plus home to airport drop in Mumbai, airport pick-up in Bengaluru and drop on the return journey,” alleged the whistleblower.

The whistleblower alleged that Parekh is a smart cookie who took an apartment on rent in Bengaluru with malicious intentions to mislead the board and the company’s founders.

“Parekh is a smart cookie. He has taken an apartment on rent in Bengaluru to hoodwink people who may question him, but that does not mean he has relocated to Bengaluru. He has done this with malicious intentions to mislead the board and the company’s founders,” the complainant said.

The whistleblower argued that it was right to expect from Parekh to pay for his transport from home to office and back, as all the employees do.

Referring to Parekh’s record of visits to Bengaluru, the whistleblower said Parekh leaves Mumbai at 10 am and reaches Bengaluru by 11.30 am and office by 1.30 pm.

“Parekh spends an afternoon in office and next forenoon he is off to Mumbai by 2 pm. This kind of involvement of the CEO in the company is the worst that we have seen till date. This, unfortunately, is not setting the right example for other employees to follow. Incidentally, it has become the norm. Many people have started working from home and nobody to ask them any questions. Even if tough managers want to ask questions, how would they as the CEO himself is working from home,” the whistleblower said.

The complainant also alleged that Parekh was eroding the value systems of the company. “Hope that you will execute your responsibilities in the true spirit of Infosys and in favour of employees and shareholders who have so much of faith in the company,” the complaint said.

Infosys, however, did not respond to the whistleblower’s complaint till the time of releasing this news breaking story.

This is the second letter written by whistleblowers to the board on September 20 after a few anonymous employees had accused Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy of unethical practices.

They also wrote to the US-based office of the Whistleblower Protection Programme, alleging willful mis-statement material accounting irregularities for April-September quarters on October 3, after there was no response from the board to their letter.

The whistleblower claimed that he is an employee of $11-billion company’s finance department and feared retaliation for the damning disclosures if he discloses his identity.

“I am an employee working in the finance department. I am submitting this whistleblower complaint as the matter is so volatile that I fear retaliation if I disclose my identity. Please excuse me for the same, but the matter is of grave importance,” said the employee in the complaint.

As an employee and a shareholder, the whistleblower said it was his duty to bring to the notice of the chairman and the board a few facts about Mr Parekh that were eroding the value systems of the company.

“Hope that you will execute your responsibilities in the true spirit of Infosys and in favour of employees and shareholders who have so much of faith in the company,” the complaint said.

Chidambaram, DK Shivakumar's arrests should boost FDI inflow

By Bapuu Naraaynnkar

A couple of developments in last few days have taken India’s development story forward and underlined Narendra Modi government’s resolve of ease of doing business.

Many media houses highlighted the dramatic arrests of Sonia Gandhi’s money-bags P Chidambaram and D K Shivakumar on corruption charges, but missed on the benefit it accrues to India’s business prospects.

Former Karnataka Minister and Congress troubleshooter Shivakumar was arrested yesterday by ED in an alleged money laundering case.

The I-T raids on Shivakumar’s properties revealed that the Congress leader’s trans-border hawala transactions was carried out in tandem with Cafe Coffee Day officials.

The sleuths found an unaccounted sum of Rs 1.2 crore at the residence of Singapore citizen Rajnish Gopinath, which he had claimed to have belonged to CCD Founder VG Siddhartha.
They also stumbled upon Shivakumar’s close kin receiving about Rs 20 crore from CCD and M/s Soul Space in a roundabout fashion.

And, Chidambaram was arrested for tweaking norms as finance minister to allow an Indian firm to receive a suspicious foreign investment, for doing so, his son Karti Chidambaram received kickbacks in crores.

Such high-level political corruption, over the years, has been deterring many foreign investors from investing in India, but Chidambaram’s arrest will certainly give them confidence in looking at India even more.

The foreign investors, in the past, has had a good experience of a clean administration provided by Modi. This is reflected in electronic payment companies experiencing a huge growth since the demonetization. Demonetization is a step to reduce reliance on cash to check corruption, which has left India’s digital economy booming.

Another major development that unfolded was the government’s decision to merge India’s state-run banks, which would boost credit and revive economic growth from a five-year low. The merger would result in higher lending capacity, large cost reduction, cost savings for subsidiaries of each merged entity and tech compatibility. It would also mean better banking to customers, more credit to the industry, agriculture, professional governance structure and a greater autonomy and accountability of bank boards.

Yet another major step taken by the government relates to relaxation of FDI norms in contract manufacturing, coal mining, single-brand retail and insurance intermediaries.

This will not only give a major boost to Make In India programme, but also help companies like Apple-product-maker Foxconn to expand its factories in India, which are mainly assembly plants for China-made components. The easing of FDI rules for coal mining also is a very significant step taken by Modi to revive the energy prowess of the country. India, in fact, is having world’s fifth-largest coal reserves, but is the second-largest importer of coal, thanks to the domestic lobby, which has challenged reforms in energy sector.

By taking this step, Modi has sent a strong message of taking on the domestic lobby to encourage foreign investors to make a foray into coal mining. The foreign investors, with deep pockets and superior technologies, will bid for mining coal in India, which will challenge Coal India’s monopoly, thus opening the doors for private players to compete in the market.

The relaxation of local sourcing norms for single-brand retail will allow companies like Apple and IKEA to ramp up their product lines quickly and start selling their products online in India, before setting up their first brick and mortar units in India. Earlier, the single-brand retailers were allowed to mandatorily source 30 per cent of goods sold in India from the country, but under the new rules, all procurements made in India by them will be considered as local sourcing, regardless of whether the goods are sold in India or exported.

Further, such sourcing is allowed for single-brand retailers or any of its group companies, either directly or through a third party.  The five years rule of Modi has seen FDI inflows reaching a record high of $64.4 billion in 2018-19, and the measures listed above, will only take the figures even higher.

Slowdown, not a big concern, but its only a disruption

By Bapuu Naraayannkar

Yes, there is an economic slowdown, but it is not of concern, but only a disruption, as this was expected, when the country was on a threshold of an impending slowdown due to ILFS and DHFL crisis, sometime back.

Why it is disruptive? Because, there is adequate liquidity in the system, hence there is a good scope for a quick revival. The crunch is only being felt heavily at the retail level.
The current five per cent, which is the lowest quarterly GDP growth rate in six years, is no indication of India slipping into a recession as claimed by Congress.

It only refers to contraction of Indian economy in consecutive quarters, which has affected the lending process of banks and other financial institutions, but the economy has not stop growing, only the rate has slowed down.

This is, of course, a setback for India as it mandates accelerated growth to bring the economy back on track.

However, many economists and big bulls like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala are optimistic of the Indian economy making a turnaround in third quarter of this fiscal, especially after major announcements made by Narendra Modi government a few days back.

One such announcement was infusion of Rs 70,000 crore into the banking system to start the process of lending and boost consumer sentiment. Another important decision was releasing of all the pending GST refunds in next 30 days and ensuring MSMEs getting refunded within 60 days in future.

The merger of ten banks into four with adequate capital and expertise was also a vital decision as it paves the way for consolidating the banks and gives the scope to possibly privatize and divest from them, which would help India get to a higher potential growth rate i next couple of years.

Apart from these announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also took vital steps to woo foreign investors. He allowed FDI in various sectors including single-brand retailing and mining, giving clear indication of the government's concern to revive the economy.

Additionally, the decision to give a part of its surplus reserves is shot in the arm for the government, which will give them the opportunity to put this money to good use.

Also, implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) by the government will boost economic growth in states, where illegal migrants are almost running a black market economies, by routing their earnings to their countries of origin by illegal means.

Moreover, government's plans to allow 100 per cent FDI in insurance from the current 49 per cent, will also help this $280 billion sector grow further.

Moreover, bringing 99.3 per cent of domestic companies having turnover of Rs 400 crore under 25 per cent tax bracket will make them deliver services and products to their clients in a cost-effective manner.

This is very vital because these firms provide enormous job opportunities and contribute to Indian economy.

Also government's efforts to relax scrutiny of investors in angel tax and reduction in shareholding voting rights from 50 per cent to 25 per cent, should attract more investors in Indian tech startups and help them transform into global unicorns, which will boost Indian economy.


With all such measures taken and fresh announcements expected from Sitharaman's office in next few days, one can only be optimistic that she would take steps, which would bring the India economy back on track in a short time.

Modi Govt Scraps Article 370; J&K, Ladakh To Be Separate Union Territories

New Delhi, Aug 5: Home Minister Amit Shah made a historic announcement of repealing Article 370, granting Jammu and Kashmir special status, on the floor of Rajya Sabha here.

With the abrogation of Article 370, Article 35A automatically gets null and void.

Shah also also declared Jammu and Kashmir a Union Territory with Legislature and Ladakh a separate Union Territory without Legislature.

Ruckus ensued in the upper house of the Parliament as soon as as Shah moved the resolution on the issue.

The notification on Article 370 signed by President Ramanth Kovind states that everything in the Indian Constitution will apply to Jammu and Kashmir.

The notification also said the Constituent Assembly in Article 370 (3) will be changed to legislative assembly, which means that the Governor, who is being treated as the State Government at the moment, will be able to move the resolution to the President.

Article 370, which was included in the Indian Constitution on October 17, 1949, exempts Jammu and Kashmir from the Indian Constitution, except Article 1 and Article 370 itself, and permits the state to draft its own Constitution.

The article also restricts Parliament’s legislative powers in respect of Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 35A stems from Article 370, having been introduced through a Presidential Order in 1954, which empowers Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define state’s permanent residents and their special rights and privileges.

BSP member Satish Chandra Mishra said his party party is not expressing any opposition to Article 370 bill and the other bill.

"Our party gives complete support. We want that the Bill be passed. Our party is not expressing any opposition to Article 370 Bill and other Bill," he said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MP Nazir Raza Ahmad Laway and MM Fayaz protested on Parliament premises and tried to tear the Constitution, but were asked to walk out of the house.

Details awaited

IAF Flies Amarnath Yatris, Tourists Out Of Kashmir

Srinagar, Aug 4: The Indian Air Force Saturday flew out Amarnath Yatra pilgrims and tourists from Kashmir to two destinations after the J&K administration cancelled the pilgrimage due to threat of terrorist attacks to it.

The pilgrims and tourists were flown in IAF's C-17 transport aircraft to Jammu and Pathankot from Srinagar, sources said.

As many as 6,126 passengers reached the Srinagar airport yesterday, but 5,829 passengers traveled by 32 scheduled flights, sources said.

"Remaining 387 passengers accommodated in 4 IAF Aircraft & flown to destinations like Jammu, Pathankot & Hindon," ANI reported.

IAF C-17s has been transporting paramilitary personnel to J&K in the last few days.

The centre has deployed about 10,000 troops of paramilitary forces in J&K about a week ago. The government said the paramilitary deployment is for security situation prevailing there.

Security forces have inputs that terrorists could target Amarnath Yatra and disrupt peace in the state.

On Friday, the Chinar Corps Commander Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon had told reporters that mines, an American M-24 sniper rifle and ammunition, were found along Baltal and Pahalgam pilgrimage routes.

He also said several terrorists have assembled at launch pads across the Line of Control. Also, several infiltration attempts into India have taken place, he added.

The Indian Army yesterday had said Pakistan Army regularly tries to push terrorists through infiltration and fires a multitude of weapons to assist them.

The IAF aircraft was pressed into service because of the unavailability of commercial flights, sources said.

There were several attempts by Pakistan to disturb peace in Kashmir and target Amarnath Yatra in last 36 hours.

Alert troops neutralized 5 to 7 Pakistan regulars or terrorists, while the neighboring country tried to conduct a Border Action Team on one of the forward posts in Keran sector.

As many as four hardcore Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were neutralized in the valley.

The army said Pakistan is deliberately resorting to malicious campaign of use of cluster ammunition by Indian Army, instead of taking credible actions against terror activities being carried out from its soil.

Omar Abdullah Wants Centre's Assurance On Article 370, 35A

Srinagar, Aug 3: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has sought assurance on central government's plans not to repeal Articles 370 and 35A of Indian Constitution, or Jammu and Kashmir's trifurcation.

The statement comes following his meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Governor S P Malik, who assured the National Conference that there were no moves on these issues.

The party MPs would move a motion in Parliament on August 5, seeking a statement from the centre on Jammu and Kashmir situation, which has wiped up frenzied emotions, Omar told reporters here.

The National Conference Leader appealed to Jammu and Kashmir citizens to keep calm and control their emotions, besides avoid steps that may cater to vested interests' objectives.

"The Governor assured us that there was no movement on repealing Article 370 or Article 35A or delimitation of constituencies in the state," he said.

Omar said the party will never allow any tampering with the special status, both politically and legally, and also wants an election to be conducted to allow the new government to address state issues. 

"We are satisfied with our meeting with the Prime Minister, because he also expressed his wish to hold elections in Kashmir," he said.

BJP asks Kumaraswamy to quit as his govt has lost majority

Bapuu Naraayannkar

Bengaluru: Mounting the pressure on the tottering Congress-JDS coalition
government, the BJP on Monday urged chief minister H D Kumaraswamy to quit followingthe resignation of 14 MLAs belonging to both the parties,  thus reducing the government to minority.

The government's strength in the assembly as been reduced to 104 seats.

The BJP has 107 members after H Nagesh and Shankar, extending support to BJP,  after tendering their resignations.

“We have decided to hold protest dharnas in all the district headquarters on Tuesday
demanding Kumaraswamy’s resignation. This government has no moral right to continue in
office,” state BJP President B S Yeddyurappa told reporters here.

He spoke to the media after
the meeting of the party’s legislature party at the state headquarters.

Later,  party general secretary Aravind
Limbavali clarified that the BJP has nothing to do with what decision will the Speaker take
on the resignation of 14 MLAs.

“The party’s future course of action in the legislature session will be discussed and decided in the legislature party to be held again on Tuesday evening,” he said.

Talking about the technicalities, Limbavali also said since the period of a member identifying with a political party within six months of getting elected is over the issue of merger of his KPJP with Congress is rendered irrelevant since he had given such a letter to BJP also.

As per the rules, a member has
to identify with a political party within six months of getting elected. Since that period is
over, that issue is irrelevant.

Asserting that the BJP has not done anything to rock the coalition government,
Limbavali categorically denied the charge that the BJP had lured the ruling party MLAs.

“There is not even an iota of truth in the charge levelled by Congress leader Siddaramaiah.

BJP totally refutes the charge as malicious and baseless,” he said.

Limbavali said the unanimous view of the members of the legislature party is that the coalition
government has reached a situation where it is bound to collapse due to its own internal contradictions.