Mumbai: The SBI-led bank consortium has decided to auction Kingfisher House in Mumbai on March 17 in a bid to recover a part of Rs 6,963 crore debt due from the now grounded Kingfisher Airlines.The e-auction will be done under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.

SBICAP Trustee Company Ltd, which took possession of the property last year, will do e-auction of the 2,401.70 square meter property on March 17.The Trustee Company has kept reserve price of Rs 150 crore and the bid increment amount is Rs 5 lakh, a public notice said.

The earnest money deposit for this auction has been fixed at Rs 15 lakh.As per the notice, the borrower is Kingfisher Airlines and guarantors are United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd and Vijay Mallya.

It can be recalled that Kingfisher Airlines, started by liquor baron Mallya in May 2005 with much fanfare, went on to become the second largest in its heydays even though it never made a single penny in profit.As cashflow issues mounted on the airline, it has remained grounded since October 2012, and the airline lost its flying licence two months later.

The SBI-led lenders consortium had taken over the Kingfisher House near city airport in February 2015 worth around Rs 150 crore, after winning the case in the local court.They have also taken over the Kingfisher Villa in Goa, worth around Rs 90 crore.So far, the lenders have recovered around Rs 1,600 crore from their original exposure of Rs 6,900 crore by selling pledged shares and other monetisable collaterals.

The banks have moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Bengaluru and the Karnataka High Court and the company said it is contesting their claims.

Banks are now charging 15.5 percent compounded interest on this principal amount, which have not been serviced since January, 2013.SBI has the highest exposure of Rs 1,600 crore to the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines.
Other banks that have exposure to the airline include Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank (Rs 800 crore each), Bank of India (Rs 650 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 550 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 410 crore).UCO Bank has to recover Rs 320 crore, Corporation Bank (Rs 310 crore), State Bank of Mysore, (Rs 150 crore), Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 140 crore), Federal Bank (Rs 90 crore), Punjab & Sind Bank (Rs 60 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs 50 crore).

A white Baltimore police officer went on trial on Thursday on charges stemming the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died from injuries while in police custody, with a prosecutor arguing that he failed to follow department procedures.But a lawyer for the officer, Edward Nero, contended that he had little to do with Gray’s arrest and transport in a police van. Gray, 25, died in April 2015 from a broken neck suffered in the vehicle.Nero, a 30-year-old former volunteer firefighter, is the second officer to face trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court in connection with Gray’s death.The death sparked rioting and protests across the majority-black city of 620,000 people. The incident is one of those highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Prosecutor Michael Schatzow said in opening arguments that Nero, among three bicycle officers who chased and arrested Gray when he fled unprovoked, had no idea why Gray was being pursued.That made his arrest illegal, Schatzov said. Court papers say officers found a spring-assisted knife in Gray’s pocket.

Nero and a second white officer, Garrett Miller, planned to arrest Gray and then determine what to charge him with, Schatzow told Judge Barry Williams, who is presiding over a bench trial.Nero failed to secure Gray in the van despite a department memo a few days before the incident underscoring that detainees had to be seat-belted, Schatzow said.

But Marc Zayon, Nero’s lawyer, said Miller had made the arrest and handcuffed Gray, with Nero never putting hands on him except to help. Nero also tried to find Gray’s asthma inhaler when he asked for it, Zayon said.Nero had no responsibility to ensure that Gray was secured in the van. That was the duty of Miller and the van driver, African American officer Caesar Goodson Jr, Zayon said.“Evidence will show that Mr. Gray was passively and actively resisting arrest,” making it impossible for him to be belted in, he said.

Nero is charged with second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. All are misdemeanors.Five other officers face charges, ranging from misconduct in office to second-degree murder. Williams has said the trial could run through at least Wednesday.The first trial, that of African American officer William Porter, ended in a hung jury in December. Porter and Miller are expected to be called as prosecution witnesses.

Donald Trump has been no stranger to controversy during his campaign. Now, he’s going after the Saudi royal family. As usual, he is not holding back.

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump claimed that he would boycott Saudi Arabia’s oil if the Islamic nation did not begin participating in the fight with ISIS and other adversaries.“If Saudi Arabia was without the cloak of American protection, I don’t think it would be around,” Trump told the newspaper.

He also went on to argue that the United States has been “defending the world” without returned protection from many of the governments that it shields, including Saudi Arabia.“We defend everybody,” Trump claimed. “When in doubt, come to the United States. We’ll defend you. In some cases, free of charge.”

“We have been disrespected, mocked and ripped off for many, many years by people that were smarter, shrewder, tougher,” he concluded.Trump went on to explain that his foreign policy is not isolationist, but it does put America first.

Trump also believes that trade could be a strong bargaining chip for the Chinese, too.“We have tremendous economic power over China,” Trump said. “And that’s the power of trade.”If Trump were to move forward with is vision, it would mark a significant shift in America’s current relationship with the Saudis, who have long been considered an ally of the United States.

Most Americans favor cutting America\\\'s defense budget in key areas including nuclear weapons and missile defense, a new survey shows.taken between Dec. 20 and Feb. 1 and released Wednesday, finds a majority of the 7,000 respondents supports $2 billion in cuts to air power, $4 billion to ground forces, $2 billion to naval forces, $3 billion to nuclear weapons and $1 billion to missile defense. 

In total, a majority would slash the U.S. defense budget by $12 billion — but in its breakdown by party, the survey finds a majority of Republicans would leave the budget as is, while the majority of Democrats would cut it by $36 billion.

The margin of error is plus or minus 1.4 percent.

In other findings, Defense news  reports the survey found:

• 54 percent favored canceling the F-35 join strike fighter program in favor of upgrading current fighters;

• 56 percent favored continuing funding for the development of a new long range strike bomber, which will have the designation B-21, as Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James recently announced.

• A majority favored shrinking the number of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers from 11 to 10, except in Virginia, home of the Newport News shipyard, where 45 percent favored the full complement of 11.

• 54 percent opposed shrinking the number of new nuclear submarines from 12 to eight, except in New York, where 54 percent favor reducing the size of the nuclear fleet.

\\\"Given all the talk about increasing the defense budget, we were surprised to find how much Americans are not sold on increases, including a majority of Republicans nationwide,\\\" survey director Steven Kull said said in a statement, Defense News reports.

Thiruvananthapuram: Freedom is being misused in India, says veteran Malayalam film personality Balachandra Menon who feels strongly that \\\"the law of the land should be adhered to\\\".Asked about his concept of \\\"creative freedom\\\" for filmmakers, Menon, who has directed more than 40 films and acted in close to 100, told IANS: \\\"There is a strong social premise in our country and I feel today freedom is being misused and not used. There is a right to protest in our country, but at times the manner in which the protest is done breaks all permissible levels. I don\\\'t agree with it at all.\\\"The 62-year-old will be in New Delhi to screen his latest film \\\"Njan Samidhanam Cheyyum\\\" to a select audience. He will also interact with them. The film released last year.

Talking about the information and broadcasting ministry\\\'s decision to set up a new committee to look into the functioning of the censor board, which has been mired in controversies, Menon said: \\\"Over the years I have always said what I wanted to say through my films. I have ensured that I will not allow anyone to question what I tell through my films.\\\"I have expressed it well too, and have at times argued for the right to express my creative freedom with the censor board officials, and they have allowed me to express it the way I want it.\\\"Menon, who entered filmdom in the 1970s and has a distinctive style, also pointed out that there are numerous clubs in the country which insist on a dress code.

\\\"Please don\\\'t misunderstand that I am batting for the censor board. But I say the truth from the bottom of my heart.\\\"It was in 2001 that in a leading vernacular newspaper I wrote an open letter to then Kerala chief minister A.K. Antony saying that some sort of benchmark should be set for TV programmes. There are rules and regulations, and we live in a country where the Constitution gives us rights and at the same time there are things that have to be restricted.\\\"Hence, I believe the law of the land should be adhered to,\\\" added the filmmaker, whose debut directorial \\\"Uthrada Rathri\\\" had an A-certificate.Commenting on the emergence of film festivals across the country, Menon said: \\\"The concept is good, but it should not be hijacked by people with an agenda. If that happens, then the concept of holding festivals would be lost.\\\"While he appreciates the proliferation of digital media for the film world, Menon stressed that a film\\\'s success is not dependent on digital media because people come in huge numbers to theatres if a film is good.

\\\"The success depends on the way the film is made and not whether it\\\'s promoted through the digital media.\\\"About his future projects, Menon, who has introduced hugely popular actresses like Shobana, Parvathy, Karthika, Annie and Nandini, said he was soon going to don the greasepaint in the film \\\"Oozham\\\".He will act in the movie along with upcoming star Prithviraj. The film\\\'s shooting will begin in April.