Morning Brief: FIR In Bengaluru Molestation; ‘Made In India’ iPhone; Trump Is Winning

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Here's What You Need To Know Today.

No Make In India? Apple Inc. which is perhaps looking to exit China is not going to get any concessions to make India its next manufacturing hub. It wanted to make iPhones through a Taiwanese electronic manufacturer which is setting up shop in Bengaluru but it wanted tax concessions, a conducive ecosystem and exemption from local procurement norms.

Livemint reports that the government is unlikely to favour Apple over others. While this is a good decision, the government may look at relaxing FDI rule Apple wants concession on and which mandates that for proposals involving FDI beyond 51 per cent in single-brand retailing, sourcing of 30 per cent of the value of goods purchased should be done from India. If a rule in itself is a roadblock in facilitating "Make In India", it makes sense to get rid of it.

No more buying homes in pre-launches. As soon as most of the states ratify the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act of 2016 (RERA), pre-launches, the favourite tool of builders to sell homes before even laying a brick, may become a thing of past.

Real estate developers may soon shift to build-and-sell model for their residential projects. The idea is to do away with the whole pre-launch stage, and launching a project only after obtaining all approvals. This is a lengthy process and is the major reason why projects promised by builders to home buyers never get completed on time. Now RERA may force realty firms to construct the project or at least a part of it before selling to customers.

Credible evidence of molestation. After getting a lot of flak for its poor law enforcement on the eve of New Year's when alleged mass molestation of women took place in city's posh MG road area, Bengaluru police claim that they have found credible evidence of molestation and registered an FIR.

The city's new Commissioner of Police, Praveen Sood said his team was working on the case and that enquiry is underway by an officer of DCP rank. He informed that they have gone through the feeds from 45 cameras on MG Road and unedited video is available with police.

Chota mota corruption. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said yesterday that "It isn't a big deal if I am to believe for argument's sake that Sudip took Rs 2-3 lakh for the elections." She said this after the CBI arrested her close aide and her party's parliamentary leader, Sudip Bandopadhyay, in connection with the Rs 17,000-crore Rose Valley Ponzi scam in which about 18 lakh families lost their life savings.

Bandopadhyay was arrested after he refused to answer questions such as: Why he attended a delegate meeting of the Rose Valley Group when as member of the parliamentary standing committee on finance, he was aware of the alleged irregularities involving the promoters of Rose Valley? Who were the sponsors of his foreign tours or who gifted him a sedan car?

Bandopadhyay is also under suspicion for his role in helping the Ponzi group buy a central Kolkata hotel and launder ill-gotten money. The hotel was up for sale at Rs 60 crore but after Kundu started bidding for it, the amount went up to Rs 122 crore. A part of this amount was allegedly given to Kundu in a Kathmandu hotel.

Trump is already winning the perception game. After Donald Trump threatened to slap a “big border tax” on General Motors over a car made in Mexico, Ford announces that it is cancelling its plans to setup a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico. The car company will now invest $700 million in Michigan that will create 700 new jobs. CEO Mark Fields said the investment is a "vote of confidence" in the pro-business environment being created by Donald Trump.

The US president-elect also gave a terse scolding to the newly elected Republican leaders in Congress through a set of tweets after they announced their plans to dilute the Office of Congressional Ethics. Republican legislators were quick to retreat from their decision.

No more getting away with unlawful activities. The CBI has filed a chargesheet against notorious "activist" Teesta Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand and their publishing company for violation of foreign funding regulations.

Seetalvad and Anand are accused of receiving foreign contributions without mandatory registration or prior permission under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010. Ford Foundation had donated $2,90,000 to Setalvad's company which she said was fees for her consultation services and not donation. However, a former employee of Ford Foundation involved in the donation had refuted Setalvad's claims.

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We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!