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Air India goes on safety overdrive, places 71 passengers in no-fly list in 2023

ThehindubusinesslineThehindubusinessline · 1y ago
Air India goes on safety overdrive, places 71 passengers in no-fly list in 2023
Medial

In 2023, Air India and Vistara placed 93 passengers on their no-fly lists due to unruly behavior, accounting for over 90% of all cases in India. These actions were taken in response to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's rules on handling unruly passengers, which were implemented after an incident involving a Shiv Sena MP in 2017. Previously, Air India had not banned any passengers under these rules. However, the airline has since taken a more proactive approach following a controversial incident on a New York-Delhi flight. Akasa Air and IndiGo also added passengers to their no-fly lists. Aviation experts emphasize the need for airlines to address these issues seriously and passengers' rights should be balanced with due process.

Mayhem at Arthmate after Vihaan Kumar’s arrest: COO Renu Satti resigns, employees exodus, and more

EntrackrEntrackr · 10m ago
Mayhem at Arthmate after Vihaan Kumar’s arrest: COO Renu Satti resigns, employees exodus, and more
Medial

A nearly two-year-long legal tussle with Gameskraft has pushed SaaS-based lending enabler Arthmate into utter chaos, including the arrest of its co-founder and former chief executive officer CEO, a top executive’s resignation, and employee exodus. Gameskraft co-founder and chief executive officer Ramesh Prabhu lodged a complaint with Gurugram Police (Sector 29) on September 2022, which led to an FIR being registered in March 2023, accusing Arthmate co-founder and former chief executive Vihaan Kumar of financial irregularities and fraudulent activities. 15 months after the FIR, Kumar was arrested by the police and Economic Offences Wing (EoW) on June 10, 2024, according to a court order accessed and reviewed by Entrackr. For the uninitiated, Gameskraft is one of the top profit generating startups from India which reported Rs 1,062 crore profit in FY23 with Rs 2,662 crore revenue. Arthmate is a digital lending platform that deploys credit services across fintechs and SME sectors. The firm recorded Rs 132 crore of revenue with profits of Rs 5.5 crore in FY23. “Vihaan’s arrest created a stir at the Gurguram-based firm which saw an exodus of employees including its chief operating officer Renu Satti,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. Satti, former Paytm Payment Banks CEO, joined the company in February this year. While her LinkedIn profile still shows her as COO at Arthmate Finance, sources confirm that she has resigned (after Vihaan’s arrest). Responding to Entrackr queries, an Arthmate spokesperson said that Kumar has no association with the company. “As the matter is sub-judice, we cannot comment on it at the moment,” said a Gameskraft spokesperson. Queries sent to Satti on Monday over WhatsApp did not elicit any response. We will update the story in case they respond. The heart of the matter Now coming back to charges leveled by Gameskraft’s Prabhu against Vihaan Kumar: Kumar entered into Gameskraft with the promise of making investments in the company, but slowly gained the confidence of the board intending to control its operations, as per the court order. Vihaan suggested restructuring the board of directors under his so-called investment strategy and also positioned his people as the key members of the Gameskraft board. He also apparently started representing himself as a founder and investor of Gameskraft, holding meetings with third parties, including consulting firms like E&Y and PWC, and government officials, the court order added. Vihaan introduced service providers and contractors like Fly Tech, Ginni Tech, Skytech, Synx, and others to GamesKraft without the consent of the original promoters, said the court order. These firms allegedly burdened Gameskraft with financial losses due to undelivered or over-invoiced services, as per the FIR details. Kumar’s actions had caused a financial loss of approximately Rs 12.15 crore to Gameskraft, including unpaid GST amounts that had already been remitted to the fraudulent service providers. Based on these allegations, the Gurugram police filed an FIR for criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, using forged documents, and criminal conspiracy. Vihaan Kumar allegedly used entities including Arthmate Tech P2P Financial Private Limited and Clear Though Advisors for alleged forgery, as per the court order. His close aides Vijay Kumar Dhanuka and Hitesh Bhansali represented Vihaan at Gameskraft. Dhanuka is head of operation and treasury at Arthmate for four years whereas Bhansali worked with the company as its grievance and nodal officer. Kumar also served as a co-Founder at Arthmate Finance, according to sources, but Entrackr could not verify this independently. No relief for Kumar, for now Vihaan Kumar was arrested on June 10, 2024, at his office premises in Gurugram. However, Kumar’s counsel contested that his arrest was illegal and challenged it in the Chandigarh High Court. The court, however, declined to offer any relief and rejected his claims on August 30, 2024. Kumar continues to be in prison until the court grants him a bail. The incident places the spotlight yet again on the impact the actions of a few can have on a firm. In Arthmate’s case, significant size and profitability has not been enough to shrug off the issues created by Kumar, indicating an outsized influence on the firm, for all their protestations to the contrary. A broader employee exodus in particular looks bad, indicating a deeper rot than just an aberration at the top. If the company does manage to arrest and slide and get back on track, one suspects it will still have to contend with the Kumar issue.

Exclusive: Gaana acquired by Radio Mirchi’s parent for Rs 25 lakh

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Exclusive: Gaana acquired by Radio Mirchi’s parent for Rs 25 lakh
Medial

After a potential merger and acquisition talks with Airtel Wynk fell through, Times Internet and Tencent-backed Gaana consolidated with Times Group’s listed subsidiary Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL) in December 2023. However, the deal somehow managed to bypass major media attention as of now. Significantly, Gaana was acquired for Rs 25 lakh, as per ENIL’s filings with the National Stock Exchange (NSE). ENIL is promoted by Bennett Coleman, and operates popular FM radio brand ‘Radio Mirchi’. For context, Gaana raised over $200 million in its lifetime, and was last valued at around $580 million, according to Entrackr’s data. Gaana’s consolidation with ENIL indicates that it’s a distress sale and the firm has given up on hopes of a third-party acquisition. The details of the acquisition are limited at the moment, and there is no clarity about Tencent’s holding in the 14-year-old platform. Entrackr’s queries sent to Times Internet and ENIL on Friday didn’t elicit any response. We will update the story in case they do. According to Entrackr’s data, Times Internet used to own a majority in Gaana whereas Tencent had around 35% stake until September 2020. To keep the platform up and running, Times Internet has also been injecting debt in Gaana at regular intervals. In July 2023, the music and podcast streaming platform received Rs 100 crore debt from Times Internet that eventually got converted into equity shares. Now, Times Internet has committed to inject up to Rs 10 crore debt in Gaana, as per its regulatory filings with the RoC this week. As per ENIL’s chief executive officer Yatish Mehrishi, the firm also invested Rs 15 crore in the first quarter of FY25. As the equity investments in India from its bordering companies aren’t allowed, Ganna received back-to-back debt rounds worth $90 million led by WeChat-owner Tencent in September 2020 and June 2021. The downfall of Gaana could also be ascertained from erosion of its scale which nosedived by over 80% to Rs 12.5 crore of revenue during the previous fiscal year (FY24), Mehrishi disclosed Gaana’s FY24 revenue numbers during investors’ call in May. After the acquisition, ENIL put Gana completely behind a paywall, and also doubled the subscription fee to Rs 599. These changes were reflected in its collection in the last quarter of FY24, which stood at Rs 9.5 crore. On the other hand, ENIL’s consolidated operating revenue shrank 25.79% Q-o-Q to Rs 113.46 crore but the Mumbai-based company slipped into red with Rs 5.45 crore losses in Q1 FY25. Gaana also went through a management rejig as it replaced its long time chief executive officer (CEO) Prashan Agarwal with Sandeep Lodha in mid-2021. Lodha also quit the firm in July 2023. At present, Gaana is being run by ENIL’s chief executive officer Mehrishi. Amidst the split of Times Group assets between Samir and Vineet Jain, Times Internet has been selling out its portfolio and incubated companies for the past three years. It recently sold its subsidiary ETMoney to 360 One (formerly IIFL Wealth) for about $44 million. This was the seventh subsidiary from which Times Internet took exit since 2021. In June, Amazon acquired the assets of MX Players from Times Internet. In February 2022, The Gurugram-based company sold MX TakaTak to ShareChat while DineOut was acquired by Swiggy in May 2022. In the same year, Times Internet sold its three companies MensXP, iDiva, and Hypp to e-commerce roll-up unicorn Mensa.

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