Top 10 business news today: From Vijay Mallya assets, Raghuram Rajan on illegitimate wealth, HP Spectre – world’s thinnest notebook, more

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1. SC asks Vijay Mallya to disclose total assets held, India return date: In what can be seen as a hardening of stance against controversial businessman Vijay Mallya, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked him to disclose all his assets along with those held by his wife and children in India and abroad. The court also asked him to indicate “the amount he is prepared to deposit in the court for a meaningful negotiated settlement” and to prove his bona fides. (Express photo)

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2. HP Spectre, world’s thinnest notebook, available in India from June: Global printing and personal computer major HP Inc on Thursday launched world’s thinnest notebook – HP Spectre, weighing 1.1 kg and as thin as an AAA-battery at just 10.4 mm with sixth generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. The $1,249 (India prices yet to be announced) notebook will be available in the Indian market from mid-June this year.

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3. Raghuram Rajan cautions on perceptions: Commenting on revelations in the Panama Papers, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan cautioned on Thursday that perceptions about entrepreneurial wealth being illegitimate could be dangerous. “Increasingly, there is talk about whether entrepreneurial wealth is illegitimate, whether self-made people should have what they have and whether that is something of a fair game,” the governor observed, while speaking at CII’s Singapore Symposium, 2016. Rajan added that the fact that there are occasions when people are found to be hiding their wealth, as in the Panama allegations, essentially contributes to this process of de-legitimisation. (Reuters)

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GST bill: "They don't want ten different departments to visit them and I think their concern is a valid one. You must have taxation system which is simple, which is hassle free and ultimately a trader does not gain by evasion because taxes are normally passed on to consumer. And as far as BJP is concerned there is unequivocal support as far as GST is concerned," he said. On a new timeline for roll out of the GST regime, Jaitley said it is a transactional tax and is not dependent on implementation only at the start of a financial year. "Once the Constitutional amendment is passed, subordinate legislations will be passed, you can start it then at reasonable notice. GST never has to wait for April 1, it's not an Income Tax. It does not have anything to do with year to year. (Reuters)

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5. Ipca Labs shares hit fresh 52-week low in Friday’s trade: Ipca Laboratories shares slipped as much as 14 per cent in the early trade and hit their fresh 52-week low of Rs 480 on Friday after the pharma company informed bourses that a Switzerland-based Global Fund, which financially supports various disease eradication programmes, will not source malaria drug from Ipca Laboratories as the company has received a warning letter from the US health regulator for lapses in manufacturing norms at three of its facilities. (Reuters)

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6. Tata, Adani mega power projects to get greater tariff relief: Tata Power and Adani Power could get more generous regulatory relief for their Mundra power plants in terms of tariff increases as the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel) on Thursday held that force majeure be invoked to compensate them. The tribunal set aside the compensatory tariff order issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in 2013, saying the commission had no power to modify tariffs for developers that had entered into power purchase agreements (PPAs) through the tariff-based competitive bidding route. It, however, asked the CERC to compute relief to the two firms under the PPA’s force majeure clause within three months. (Reuters)

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7. BHEL posts net loss of Rs 877 crore in FY16: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) announced its flash results for the financial year ended March 2016 on Thursday. The company reported net loss of Rs 877 crore (provisional) in FY2015-16 against net profit of Rs 1,419 crore last year. Revenue of BHEL slid 13.72 per cent to Rs 26,702 crore compared to Rs 30,947 crore in the previous ended March 2015. (PTI)

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8. Moody’s lowers rating of Anil Ambani’s RCom: Moody’s Investors Service has changed the outlook of Reliance Communications (RCom) to negative from stable as there are persistent delays in the company’s sale of non-core assets. Moody’s said the negative outlook reflects its view that ongoing delays in RCom’s rollout of the deleveraging plans will keep the operator’s financial and credit profile strained over the near term. (Reuters)

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9. Panama Papers: British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged in a TV interview on Thursday that he once had a stake in his late father’s offshore trust, which was revealed in the “Panama Papers” leak from a law firm. Cameron told ITV News that he had owned shares in the Panamanian trust, Blairmore, but had sold them in 2010, before becoming prime minister. (Reuters)

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10. India less susceptible to external shocks, credit positive, says Moody's: Rising foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and low commodity prices continue to narrow India's external financing needs and mitigate the risk of a potential widening of the current account deficit (CAD) related to weakening remittances, Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday. “We do not expect a significant renewed widening of India's current account deficit,” said Marie Diron of Moody's sovereign risk group. The rating agency’s assessment was based on assumptions that commodity prices would remain low in 2016 and 2017. Also, FDI inflows could climb further in response to government measures, such as efforts to liberalise foreign investment limits in several sectors and the 'Make in India' initiative. (Reuters)