Waterways Leisure Tourism, the operator of Cordelia Cruises, has fixed the price band for its IPO at Rs 769-808 per equity share. The public issue will open for subscription on June 23 and close on June 25. The IPO is entirely a fresh issue worth up to Rs 585 crore. Investors can bid for a minimum of 18 equity shares and in multiples of 18 shares thereafter.

The company plans to utilise Rs 480 crore from the issue towards deposits, advance lease rentals and monthly lease payments for its step-down subsidiary, Baycruise Shipping and Leasing (IFSC). The remaining funds will be used for general corporate purposes.

Waterways Leisure Tourism is India’s largest cruise operator by value, accounting for about 79% market share in FY25, according to a CRISIL report. It currently operates the MV Empress, which has hosted more than 7.3 lakh guests and sailed over 3.21 lakh nautical miles along the Indian coastline and neighbouring countries as of March 31, 2026.

The cruise liner offers domestic routes covering Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Chennai, Lakshadweep, Visakhapatnam and Puducherry, while international itineraries include Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

The company is also preparing to expand its fleet with the addition of Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, which together will add nearly 2,000 cabins and accommodate over 3,900 additional passengers. The expansion is expected to significantly enhance its capacity and support future growth.

Besides leisure cruises, the company caters to meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), destination weddings and corporate events by offering integrated hospitality, accommodation and entertainment services onboard.
On the financial front, Waterways Leisure Tourism reported revenue from operations of Rs 580 crore in FY26, compared with Rs 444 crore in FY24. The company posted a net profit of Rs 52 crore in FY26, reversing a net loss of Rs 123 crore reported in FY24.The issue comes at a time when India’s cruise tourism industry is witnessing growing interest, supported by rising disposable incomes, improving port infrastructure and increasing demand for experiential travel.

The IPO is being managed by Centrum Capital as the book-running lead manager.

Markets regulator Sebi’s board is set to meet on Friday to deliberate on a wide-ranging agenda, including a proposal to reintroduce open-market buybacks, faster clearance for AIF schemes and relaxed intraday borrowing rules for mutual funds, people familiar with the matter said.

These measures are aimed at improving market efficiency.

A key proposal before the board is to reintroduce open-market share buybacks through stock exchanges, along with shortening execution timelines.

The regulator has proposed that open market buybacks through stock exchanges be completed within 66 working days from the date of opening of the offer, instead of the earlier framework that allowed a duration of up to six months.

Also, Sebi proposed retaining the existing requirement that companies should utilise at least 40 per cent of the earmarked buyback amount during the first half of the offer period.

This will be the sixth board meeting chaired by Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey since he assumed office on March 1, 2025.
Apart from the reintroduction of open-market buybacks, the Sebi board will clear a proposal regarding a new green-channel mechanism – GARUDA – to speed up the launch of schemes by alternative investment funds (AIFs), allowing them to begin fundraising within 10 working days of filing their placement memorandums, compared with the current 30-day wait.GARUDA, or Green-Channel: AIF Rollout Upon Document Acknowledgement, aims to streamline the processing of placement memorandums (PPMs) filed with Sebi and further ease fundraising by AIFs.

In addition, the board is expected to consider a proposal allowing mutual funds to use intraday borrowing lines for a wider range of cash management needs, including trade settlements, forex obligations and derivative margin payments beyond just meeting redemption payouts.

The proposal seeks to address operational challenges faced by asset management companies (AMCs) due to timing mismatches between outflows and receivables within a scheme.

At present, intraday borrowing serves as an important cash flow management tool for mutual fund schemes, helping fund managers meet payout obligations and settlement requirements efficiently.

Under the proposal, AMCs are expected to be permitted to avail intraday borrowings not only for redemption or unitholder payouts but also for purposes such as pay-in obligations for trades, forex settlements, mark-to-market payments on derivative positions and repayment of existing borrowings.

More than four and a half months after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was abducted from her Tucson, Arizona, home, federal and local investigators have yet to identify a suspect or locate the mother of NBC Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie — a case that has drawn national attention, generated more than $1.2 million in reward money, and exposed both the possibilities and limitations of modern forensic investigation.

On February 1, 2026, Nancy Guthrie, the American 84-year-old mother of NBC News journalist and Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was kidnapped from her home in Catalina Foothills, a suburb of Tucson, Arizona. Evidence recovered at the residence indicated that Guthrie had been taken against her will, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos stated that he believed she had been abducted.

Bloodstains found at the scene were confirmed to be Nancy’s. Multiple ransom notes of undetermined origin demanded payment in cryptocurrency, with two deadlines that had passed by February 9. As of this week, no ransom has been confirmed paid and no proof of life has been established.

What the Evidence Shows

On February 10, FBI Director Kash Patel released four black-and-white images on social media showing a masked and armed intruder, wearing gloves and a backpack outside Guthrie’s home. Investigators reported that the intruder attempted to tamper with the video doorbell by attempting to knock it off with light taps, and when unable to, subsequently covered the lens with foliage from a potted plant. However, Patel stated that data from the device had been successfully recovered. He also said the intruder was armed with an apparent gun placed in a holster.

On February 12, 2026, based on the footage, authorities released additional details about the suspected kidnapper’s appearance, including an estimated height of 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, an average build, and a black mustache.

The FBI recently received and is now analyzing potentially critical DNA recovered months ago from Guthrie’s Tucson home, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News. A private Florida lab that works with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department sent the sample to the FBI, which is now using new technology to conduct advanced analysis on the DNA sample to see if it can lead to Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has previously described the DNA recovered from Guthrie’s home as a sample that came from more than one person and therefore needed to be untangled. Sheriff Chris Nanos recently said it could take six more months to separate the strands and isolate what investigators need. He also said as many as five other labs around the country are working on the Guthrie case.

About two dozen Pima County and FBI investigators are still actively working the Guthrie case.

The Nearby Kidnapping That Raised Questions

The investigation took on an additional dimension in recent weeks when a separate violent crime near Guthrie’s home drew public attention and renewed questions about the broader criminal landscape in the Catalina Foothills area.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that 40-year-old Coral Michelle Smith was taken into custody on an active arrest warrant tied to a May aggravated assault and kidnapping case. According to authorities, Smith allegedly assaulted a woman who later died from her injuries. The alleged kidnapping occurred about 7 miles from the Catalina Foothills home where Nancy was last seen.

Law enforcement has not indicated any connection between Smith’s alleged crimes and Nancy’s disappearance, which remains unsolved.

While many suspected that Coral Michelle Smith could be a suspect in the Guthrie case, her involvement has since been ruled out. A notable physical discrepancy between Smith and the suspect in Guthrie’s doorbell footage further undermined theories connecting the two cases. According to Fox News Digital reporter Michael Ruiz, Smith has tattoos, but none are on her wrist — a distinguishing feature visible on the masked assailant captured in the FBI’s doorbell camera footage at Nancy Guthrie’s residence.

Despite the lack of a direct connection, retired homicide detective Chris McDonough noted the investigative value of interviewing individuals with violent histories operating near the scene. “In any major missing person or abduction-type of investigation, the investigators are going to cast a wide net,” McDonough said. “She may not be involved in any way, shape or form, but she may have information that may connect something. They’re going to ask her about any familiarity around the Guthrie home. What’s the word on the street?”

The Investigation Upgraded to Homicide

After reaching its fifth month, the joint investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance by the FBI and local police has deepened. It recently upgraded the case to a homicide investigation from a missing persons case. The elevation of the case’s classification does not confirm Nancy Guthrie is deceased, but it reflects investigators’ assessment of the circumstances and the evidence recovered at the scene, including the bloodstains confirmed to be hers.

Retired detective Jon Buehler told NewsNation he fears Nancy Guthrie is no longer alive, based on bleeding at the scene and her poor health, along with the fact that multiple ransom letters did not lead to her return. “The reason I’m fearful she didn’t survive the abduction is kind of twofold. No. 1, no instantaneous demand for a reward with indication that she’s fine and that they’ll release her. That’s a pretty big stretch there to think that she survived it,” he said. “But the amount of blood that was present there in the front of the house suggests to me a wound that was bleeding a lot.”

Social Media Chaos Near the Scene

The investigation has also been complicated by a proliferation of social media personalities and online sleuths descending on the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, prompting the Pima County Sheriff’s Department to take action.

Social media streamers Alexander Zabel Jr., Troy Lewis Bradshaw, and Damian Todd Enderle were arrested near Nancy Guthrie’s home for allegedly displaying disruptive behavior. Zabel Jr. returned to the neighborhood and conducted a livestream, only to be arrested again and was given a felony charge of resisting arrest.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said: “We are now into the fifth month of this, and we started getting calls from the neighbors about a certain group of these — I’ll use the word YouTubers. The complaints got to be pretty egregious in that the behavior of those individuals was becoming pretty scary and frightful to the neighborhood.”

Savannah Guthrie Speaks Out

In her first interview since her mother’s disappearance, Savannah Guthrie told friend and former co-host Hoda Kotb that it’s “too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me.” “I’m so sorry, Mommy, I’m so sorry,” she said. She added that the family “cannot be at peace” without answers.

In a June 2026 interview with Parade, retired FBI agent Jason Pack suggested a suspect in Guthrie’s case might soon “start to crack” and eventually turn themselves in to police. “Four months is a long time to keep a secret, and people start to crack,” Pack said. “They make calls they shouldn’t make. They spend money they can’t explain.”

The FBI’s cash reward of $100,000 for any information that could lead to her recovery remains active. The Guthrie family’s $1 million reward brings the total available reward money to over $1.2 million. Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.

Capital markets regulator has proposed a series of changes to the Margin Trading Facility (MTF) framework aimed at improving operational efficiency for brokers while strengthening risk management amid rising trading volumes.

In a consultation paper released on Wednesday, the market regulator invited public comments on a package of reforms. These include expanding funding avenues for brokers, increasing the minimum net-worth requirement to offer MTF, permitting limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to provide the facility, and streamlining collateral management.

Sebi said the review was necessary in light of the growing scale of MTF transactions to ensure the framework remains robust while promoting ease of doing business.

Among the key proposals is an increase in the minimum net-worth requirement for brokers offering MTF to Rs 5 crore from the current Rs 3 crore. The regulator has also proposed allowing brokers operating as LLPs to offer margin trading, expanding the eligibility beyond corporate brokers.

To widen funding options, Sebi suggested permitting brokers to raise money through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and other debt instruments in addition to existing sources such as bank borrowings, NBFC loans, commercial papers and promoter loans.

The regulator has also proposed changes to collateral rules. It plans to allow all collateral currently accepted by clearing corporations in the cash market to be used uniformly for MTF transactions. In addition, early pay-in (EPI) sell credits could be accepted as collateral for fresh MTF positions under specified conditions.
To address operational challenges arising from stock reclassification, SEBI has proposed a 30-day rebalancing window if a funded security moves out of the Group I category, shifts to the trade-for-trade segment or is suspended from normal trading.On broker exposure limits, Sebi has suggested retaining a portion of brokers’ net worth exclusively for core broking operations while allowing the balance to be deployed for MTF. The overall exposure would remain capped at 5.5 times the broker’s net worth.

The consultation paper also proposes relief for brokers in cases of passive breaches of client-level exposure limits. Where a client’s exposure exceeds regulatory limits solely because the broker’s total MTF exposure declines, brokers would be given 30 days to restore compliance, during which no fresh exposure can be extended to that client.

To improve standardisation, Sebi has proposed a common Rights and Obligations document for MTF clients across all stock exchanges instead of exchange-specific formats. Other proposals include allowing fungibility between MTF and non-MTF client ledgers, permitting periodic settlement of excess cash collateral, enabling auto-pledge of funded shares used as maintenance margin and revising reporting timelines for brokers.

The regulator said the proposals were formulated after discussions with the Brokers’ Industry Standards Forum, market participants and the Secondary Market Advisory Committee. Public comments on the consultation paper have been invited before the proposals are finalised.

Capital markets regulator has proposed a series of changes to the Margin Trading Facility (MTF) framework aimed at improving operational efficiency for brokers while strengthening risk management amid rising trading volumes.

In a consultation paper released on Wednesday, the market regulator invited public comments on a package of reforms. These include expanding funding avenues for brokers, increasing the minimum net-worth requirement to offer MTF, permitting limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to provide the facility, and streamlining collateral management.

Sebi said the review was necessary in light of the growing scale of MTF transactions to ensure the framework remains robust while promoting ease of doing business.

Among the key proposals is an increase in the minimum net-worth requirement for brokers offering MTF to Rs 5 crore from the current Rs 3 crore. The regulator has also proposed allowing brokers operating as LLPs to offer margin trading, expanding the eligibility beyond corporate brokers.

To widen funding options, Sebi suggested permitting brokers to raise money through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and other debt instruments in addition to existing sources such as bank borrowings, NBFC loans, commercial papers and promoter loans.

The regulator has also proposed changes to collateral rules. It plans to allow all collateral currently accepted by clearing corporations in the cash market to be used uniformly for MTF transactions. In addition, early pay-in (EPI) sell credits could be accepted as collateral for fresh MTF positions under specified conditions.

To address operational challenges arising from stock reclassification, SEBI has proposed a 30-day rebalancing window if a funded security moves out of the Group I category, shifts to the trade-for-trade segment or is suspended from normal trading.

On broker exposure limits, Sebi has suggested retaining a portion of brokers’ net worth exclusively for core broking operations while allowing the balance to be deployed for MTF. The overall exposure would remain capped at 5.5 times the broker’s net worth.

The consultation paper also proposes relief for brokers in cases of passive breaches of client-level exposure limits. Where a client’s exposure exceeds regulatory limits solely because the broker’s total MTF exposure declines, brokers would be given 30 days to restore compliance, during which no fresh exposure can be extended to that client.

To improve standardisation, Sebi has proposed a common Rights and Obligations document for MTF clients across all stock exchanges instead of exchange-specific formats. Other proposals include allowing fungibility between MTF and non-MTF client ledgers, permitting periodic settlement of excess cash collateral, enabling auto-pledge of funded shares used as maintenance margin and revising reporting timelines for brokers.

The regulator said the proposals were formulated after discussions with the Brokers’ Industry Standards Forum, market participants and the Secondary Market Advisory Committee. Public comments on the consultation paper have been invited before the proposals are finalised.

A new bill would ban lawmakers in Congress from placing bets on prediction markets related to public policy issues and elections that they could be in a position to profit from by using insider information.

The Stop Lawmakers From Predicting Act was introduced Thursday by House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., which would ban members of Congress as well as their spouses and dependent children from placing a wager on a prediction market on topics that the lawmaker may have inside information on.

The ban would cover wagers on the occurrence, nonoccurence or the extent of the occurrence of specific government policies and actions, a political outcome or any other event which came to the attention of a covered individual as a direct or indirect result of the lawmaker’s service in Congress.

“The American people deserve to know their Member of Congress is not profiting off insider information,” Steil said. “This legislation is critical to restoring the public’s trust in their elected officials. Lawmakers should be writing policy, not wagering on its outcome.”

SENATE QUIETLY BANS LAWMAKERS FROM BETTING ON PREDICTION MARKETS

Steil’s bill would punish violators of the law precluding lawmakers from placing political and policy wagers on prediction markets with a fee equal to $2,000 or 10% of the value of the prohibited transaction, whichever is greater, and the net gain from the transaction.

The bill would also prohibit lawmakers from using their Members’ Representational Allowance, Senate personnel and office expense account, or political contributions or donations to pay the fine.

Lawmakers who resign from office or retire without paying the fine could be referred to the Justice Department for civil enforcement if the bill were to become law.

BLOCKCHAIN ANALYSTS SAY TRADERS MAY HAVE USED INSIDER INFORMATION TO PROFIT ON IRAN CONFLICT BETS

Steil’s introduction of the prediction market ban for lawmakers comes after his panel, the Committee on House Administration, advanced the Stop Insider Trading Act to the House floor in January, which focused on insider trading in the stock market.

It also follows an incident in March in which blockchain analysts identified suspected insiders who placed suspiciously timed bets on prediction markets related to the Iran conflict, including markets related to the U.S. striking Iran as well as the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

The bets generated significant profits and may have been placed using insider information.

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS USING ONLINE PREDICTION MARKETS? DON’T BET ON IT

The Senate in April passed a resolution brought forward by Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, that changed the upper chamber’s internal rules to ban lawmakers and their staff members from placing bets in prediction markets. Leading prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket expressed support for the effort at the time.

A broader bipartisan bill aimed at regulating prediction markets has also been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Their Prediction Market Act would also crack down on insider trading in prediction markets while also establishing regulatory frameworks to protect customers and retail investors.

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The House bill introduced by Steil that focuses on keeping lawmakers and their families from placing political and policy-related bets on prediction markets may be considered by the House Administration Committee. It would need to pass the House and Senate, then be signed by President Donald Trump to become law.