Category: Business

IIHL is yet to get a nod from insurance watchdog Irdai for its Rs 9,650-crore acquisition of Reliance Capital. IIHL said it will be able to pay the sum it has bid for within 48 hours of the Irdai nod and complete the deal.

Mauritius-based IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL) is eyeing a valuation of $50 billion by 2030 with the acquisitions of the debt-ridden Reliance Capital (RCAP) and Invesco Mutual Fund, up from the $30 billion it expected a year-ago before the RCAP buy.

IIHL is yet to get a nod from insurance watchdog Irdai for its Rs 9,650-crore acquisition of Reliance Capital, chairman Ashok Hinduja said. Stating that IIHL has been in touch with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) since November on the deal, he said IIHL is “hopeful” of the nod coming as soon as possible and added that usually, such a go-ahead comes in 2-3 months.

Hinduja said IIHL will be able to pay the sum it has bid for within 48 hours of the Irdai nod and complete the deal.

With a little over three weeks to go before the National Company Law Tribunal’s May 27 deadline for executing the Rs 9,650 crore buy of RCAP comes to a close, Ashok Hinduja said the Mauritius-based IIHL has tied up Rs 7,500 crore from a clutch of banks for the acquisition.

Declining to specify any details about the banks who have committed the funds, Hinduja said there is a lead bank which will organise the funds once the time arises, and added that there has been an “over-subscription” among the lenders in offering money.

Hinduja said the remaining portion of over Rs 2,000 crore will be equity from IIHL.

The Hinduja family is the promoters of IIHL who got the platform together but have less than 10 per cent in it, he said, adding that he does not have any holding in IIHL. To a question about Torrent Investments, the other bidder for the RCAP resolution, challenging the NCLT’s decision in the Supreme Court, Hinduja said IIHL will go ahead with the payment even if the SC verdict is pending and added that the apex court has not given a stay on the process.

Once the takeover is complete, IIHL plans to divest the real estate investments which also come along with the transaction, Hinduja said, adding that this will fetch it around Rs 250 crore.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/stocks/story/iihl-targets-50-billion-in-valuation-post-reliance-capital-and-invesco-mutual-fund-buys-428354-2024-05-05

India actually has very stringent standards for maximum residue limits compared to other countries, and these limits are determined based on the risk assessment of each food commodity.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India refutes media reports suggesting it permits higher levels of pesticide residue in herbs and spices.

The reports, claiming FSSAI allows 10 times more pesticide residue in herbs and spices, are “false and malicious”, the apex regulatory body said.

It is clarified that India actually has very stringent standards for maximum residue limits compared to other countries, and these limits are determined based on the risk assessment of each food commodity, it said, adding “FSSAI’s standards are in line with global standards set by Codex.”

Codex is a set of international food standards published by the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation.

Pesticides in India are regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare through the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee established under the Insecticide Act of 1968. The CIB & RC oversee the registration, import, transport, storage, and banning of pesticides in the country. The FSSAI’s scientific panel on pesticides residues examines data from the CIB & RC to recommend MRLs after conducting thorough risk assessments. “Different pesticides have varying MRLs depending on the food commodity they are used on, with specific limits set based on the dietary habits and health concerns of the Indian population,” FSSAI said.

While Codex has adopted a list of registered pesticides globally, India has its own list of registered pesticides managed by the CIB & RC. Total pesticides registered by CIB & RC in India are more than 295 out of which 139 pesticides are registered for use in spices. Codex has adopted total 243 pesticides out of which 75 pesticides are applicable for spices.

Any pesticides not registered by the CIB & RC are subjected to a default MRL of 0.1 mg/kg which is applicable only for spices. This decision was made after considering the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s adoption of MRLs that ranges from 0.1 to 80 mg/kg for spices worldwide from 2021-23.

Different crops may have varying MRLs for the same pesticide, said FSSAI. For example, the use of monocrotophos is allowed on many crops with different MRLs, such as 0.03 mg/kg for rice, 0.2 mg/kg for citrus fruits, and 0.2mg/kg for chilli, showing the tailored approach to risk assessment.

Source : https://www.ndtvprofit.com/business/indias-food-safety-authority-refutes-claims-of-pesticide-overuse-in-spices

Apple shares climbed 7% in extended trading on Thursday after the iPhone maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that topped estimates and announced an expanded stock buyback program.

Apple announced that its board had authorized $110 billion in share repurchases, a 22% increase over last year’s $90 billion authorization. It’s the largest buyback in history, ahead of Apple’s previous repurchases, according to data from Birinyi Associates.

However, overall sales fell 4% and iPhone sales fell 10% year over year during the quarter, which Apple attributed to a tough comparison versus last year.

Here’s how Apple did versus LSEG consensus estimates in the quarter ended March 30:

• EPS: $1.53 vs. $1.50 estimated
• Revenue: $90.75 billion vs. $90.01 billion estimated
• iPhone revenue: $45.96 billion vs. $46.00 billion estimated
• Mac revenue: $7.5 billion vs. $6.86 billion estimated
• iPad revenue: $5.6 billion vs. $5.91billion estimated
• Other Products revenue: $7.9 billion vs. $8.08 billion estimated
• Services revenue: $23.9 billion vs. $23.27 billion estimated
• Gross margin: 46.6% vs. 46.6% estimated

Apple did not provide formal guidance, but Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Steve Kovach that overall sales would grow in the “low single digits” during the June quarter.

Apple posted $81.8 billion in revenue during the year-ago June quarter and LSEG analysts were looking for a forecast of $83.23 billion.

On an earnings call with analysts, Apple finance chief Luca Maestri said the company expected the current quarter will deliver double-digit year-over-year percentage growth in iPad sales. What’s more, he said the Services division is forecast to continue growing at about the current high rate it’s achieved during the past two quarters.

Apple reported net income of $23.64 billion, or $1.53 per share, down 2% from $24.16 billion, or $1.52 per share, in the year-earlier period.

Cook told CNBC that sales in the fiscal second quarter suffered from a difficult comparison to the year-earlier period, when the company realized $5 billion in delayed iPhone 14 sales from Covid-based supply issues.

“If you remove that $5 billion from last year’s results, we would have grown this quarter on a year-over-year basis,” Cook said. “And so that’s how we look at it internally from how the company is performing.”

Apple said iPhone sales fell nearly 10% to $45.96 billion, suggesting weak demand for the current generation of smartphones, which were released in September. The sales were in line with analyst estimates, and Cook said that without last year’s increased sales, iPhone revenue would have been flat.

Mac sales were up 4% to $7.45 billion, but they are still below the segment’s high-water mark set in 2022. Cook said sales were driven by the company’s new MacBook Air models which were released with an upgraded M3 chip in March.

Other Products, which is how Apple reports sales of its Apple Watch and AirPods headphones, was down 10% year over year to $7.9 billion.

During the quarter, Apple released its first new major product category in years, the Vision Pro virtual reality headset, but the $3,500 device is expected to sell in low quantities, especially compared to Apple’s major product lines.

“We’re only scratching the surface there so we couldn’t be more excited about our opportunity there,” Cook said.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/02/apple-aapl-earnings-report-q2-2024.html

Bogged down by financial turbulence and engine woes, budget carrier Go First stopped flying in May last year and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process.

Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has deregistered all the 54 planes leased by Go First, days after a court allowed lessors to take back their aircraft from the bankrupt airline.

Bogged down by financial turbulence and engine woes, budget carrier Go First stopped flying in May last year and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process.

Foreign lessors that have leased planes to the airline had moved the court to take back the aircraft.

Against this backdrop, the Delhi High Court on April 26 directed the DGCA to forthwith process the applications filed by the lessors for deregistration of 54 planes.

The high court had also said the process shall be done in not later than five working days.

A senior official at the regulator on Wednesday confirmed that all the 54 aircraft of the airline have been deregistered.

Some of the notices deregistering Go First’s aircraft were uploaded on the DGCA website.

An A320 plane, having registration number VT-WJL, was deregistered on April 29. The request for deregistration under IDERA was received by the regulator way back on May 11, 2023. The lessor is based in Ireland, according to a deregistration notice.

Under the Cape Town Convention, a lessor can opt for the Irrevocable De-registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA). Generally, the option is exercised by lessors when there is a default by an airline with respect to a leased aircraft.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/dgca-deregisters-bankrupt-go-firsts-54-planes-3003611

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab said in a filing on Wednesday that its assets in Russia may be seized after lawsuits in Russian and U.S. courts.

The bank faces several legal challenges over its Russian dealings after the U.S. and European nations imposed economic sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The value of claims and orders to freeze assets exceeds JPMorgan’s available assets in Russia, the largest U.S. lender said. JPMorgan Chase did not specify the amount of its assets in Russia.

A Russian court last month ordered the seizure of funds in JPMorgan accounts after Russian state-owned bank VTB (VTBR.MM), opens new tab sued to regain its funds blocked abroad.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan sued Russia’s VTB Bank (VTBR.MM), opens new tab as the U.S. lender sought to block VTB’s effort to recover $439.5 million.

JPMorgan’s Russian assets are worth less than VTB’s claims alone, a source said. These assets could range from cash to real estate to office equipment. JPMorgan declined to comment beyond the filing.

JPMorgan accused Russian courts of ignoring the bank’s contractual rights and obligations, and disregarding its inability to make various payments because of sanctions laws.

JPMorgan said U.S. law prohibits it from releasing funds to sanctioned companies, including VTB, which was put on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s sanctions list in February 2022.

Separately, the bank expects to enter into a resolution with a third U.S. regulator that will require it to pay a civil penalty of $100 million for reporting incomplete trading data to surveillance platforms, it said.

The third agency is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the source said. Before this, the Fed and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had fined JPMorgan on the same issue. The CFTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/jpmorgan-says-its-russia-assets-may-be-seized-after-lawsuits-russia-us-2024-05-01

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab has backed away from an ambitious plan for innovations in gigacasting, its pioneering manufacturing process, according to two sources familiar with the matter, in another sign that the electric-vehicle maker is retrenching amid falling sales and rising competition.

Tesla has been a leader in gigacasting, a cutting-edge technique that uses huge presses with thousands of tons of clamping pressure to die-cast large sections of the car’s underbody. On a typical vehicle, the underbody can consist of hundreds of individual parts.

Last year, as Tesla developed a new small-vehicle platform, it aimed to punch out the underbody in a single piece, Reuters exclusively reported last September, citing five sources familiar with the automaker’s gigacasting operations. The long-term goal was to radically simplify manufacturing and slash costs.

But Tesla has since halted the effort, opting to stick with its more proven method of casting vehicle underbodies in three pieces: two gigacasted front and rear sections and a midsection made of aluminum and steel frames to store batteries, according to the two sources familiar with the matter. That is largely the same three-piece method the company has used for its last two new models, the Model Y crossover SUV and the Cybertruck pickup.

Tesla’s retreat from one-piece gigacasting has not been previously reported. The automaker did not respond to a request for comment.. Tesla last month laid off more than 10% of its global workforce. A handful of senior executives have also resigned or been pushed out.

Such moves also reflect a fundamental strategy shift, with Tesla now focusing more on developing self-driving vehicles than on pushing for huge growth in EV sales volume, which many investors had been counting on.

The step-back on gigacasting occurred last autumn, the people said, before Tesla decided in late February to halt development of an all-new affordable car, often called the Model 2, which would have been the first vehicle it built with one-piece gigacasting. Reuters first reported the cancellation of the Model 2 on April 5.

On April 23, as it released earnings that missed Wall Street expectations, Tesla said it had a simpler, faster plan for producing “more affordable” cars after shelving plans for the Model 2, which was expected to cost $25,000 and be released in the second half of 2025.

Instead, Tesla officials said, it would produce affordable models using a current platform and production lines. On an investor call, Chief Executive Elon Musk declined to provide details on the planned new offerings or their target prices.

Tesla has not entirely abandoned the small-vehicle platform it had planned for the Model 2. Instead, it will move forward in developing a self-driving robotaxi on the same platform, Reuters reported in the April 5 story. One of the two sources familiar with the automaker’s gigacasting operations said the suppliers involved are now adapting Tesla’s three-piece process for the next-generation vehicle.

Both sources said the automaker decided last autumn to halt work on the more innovative and difficult one-piece casting process. At the time, the rationale for the decision was to speed development of the now-defunct Model 2 and avoid any costly delays or manufacturing problems, the two sources said.

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Tesla and Musk have said gigacasting helps the automaker reduce costs over the long term. But the process requires large initial investments and is difficult and time-consuming to perfect, automotive manufacturing experts say.

Experts in vehicle manufacturing said Tesla’s more conservative path on gigacasting is no surprise and in part reflects the pains it has experienced historically in launching complex and innovative vehicles on time. The automaker’s highly experimental Cybertruck arrived last autumn at a far higher price than predicted after substantial delays to work through manufacturing issues. Tesla is still struggling to produce the angular, stainless-steel pickup in mass-market volumes.

Holding off on one-piece gigacasting will save the company from making massive short-term capital investments in manufacturing and design, said Terry Woychowski, president of U.S. engineering company Caresoft Global, who has led teardowns and engineering analyses on numerous vehicles, including Teslas.

“Would they rather have done it all in one big piece? Sure, they would’ve, but at what cost?” Woychowski asked.

James Womack, a vehicle manufacturing expert and former research director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Tesla’s gigacasting pullback reflects the company’s scramble last year to launch an all-new $25,000 car to catch up with Chinese EV makers who are already dominating the low-cost EV segment.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-retreats-next-generation-gigacasting-manufacturing-process-2024-05-01

The group has been split between two branches of the founding family, with Adi Godrej (82) and his brother Nadir (73) on one side and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej (75) and Smita Godrej Crishna (74) on the other, according to a statement issued by the group.

The founding family of 127-year-old Godrej Group, which spans from soaps and home appliances to real estate, has reached an agreement to split the conglomerate, with Adi Godrej and his brother Nadir keeping Godrej Industries that has five listed firms, while cousins Jamshyd and Smita getting unlisted Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates as well as a land bank, including prime property in Mumbai.

The group has been split between two branches of the founding family, with Adi Godrej (82) and his brother Nadir (73) on one side and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej (75) and Smita Godrej Crishna (74) on the other, according to a statement issued by the group.

Godrej Enterprises Group — comprising Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates that have a presence across multiple industries spanning aerospace and aviation to defence, furniture and IT software — will be controlled by Jamshyd Godrej as chairperson and managing director. His sister Smita’s daughter Nyrika Holkar, 42, will be the executive director.

Their families will control this arm that also will hold the land bank, including 3,400 acres of prime land in Mumbai.

Godrej Industries Group — which includes the listed companies – Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet and Astec Lifesciences — will have Nadir Godrej as chairperson and will be controlled by Adi, Nadir and their immediate families.

Pirojsha Godrej, 42, son of Adi, will be the executive vice chairperson of GIG and will succeed Nadir as the chairperson in August 2026, the statement said. In the statement, the Godrej family termed the split as “an ownership realignment” of the shareholdings in the Godrej companies.

“The realignment has been arrived at in a respectful and mindful way to maintain harmony and to better align ownership in acknowledgement of the differing visions of the Godrej family members,” it said.

“This will help maximize strategic direction, focus, and agility, and will accelerate the process of creating long-term value for shareholders and all other stakeholders.”

Both Groups will continue to use the Godrej brand and are committed to growing and strengthening their shared heritage.

Ardeshir did not have any children, and so the group was inherited by his younger brother Pirojsha. Pirojsha had four children – Sohrab, Dosa, Burjor and Naval.

Over the years, the helm of the group came to the children of Burjor (Adi and Nadir) and Naval (Jamshyd and Smita) as Sohrab had no children while Dosa had one child Rishad, who had no children.

To enable the split, the two sides quit the boards of companies in rival camps. So, Adi and Nadir Godrej resigned from the Godrej & Boyce Board, while Jamshyd Godrej left his seat on the boards of GCPL and Godrej Properties.

Unconfirmed reports say Adi and Nadir Godrej will divest their stakes in Godrej & Boyce to the other branch. Jamshyd Godrej and his side of the family will transfer interests in Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) and Godrej Properties to their cousins through a family arrangement.

Real estate worth crores of rupees, mostly in prime land in Mumbai suburbs, will remain under Godrej & Boyce (G&B), and a separate agreement will be worked out to govern the ownership rights.

It owns 3,400 acres of land in Mumbai, including a 3,000-acre parcel in Vikhroli, Mumbai. The Vikhroli land by some estimates has a development potential of over Rs 1 lakh crore. It can develop 1,000 acres, while about 1,750 acres are covered with mangroves and is the destination of rare plants and birds. About 300 acres of land have already been encroached upon.

The Vikhroli property was bought by Pirojsha at a public auction from the Bombay High Court receiver in 1941-42. It was previously owned by a Parsi merchant Framjee Banaji, who bought it from the East India Company in the 1830s.

Adi is currently chairman of Godrej Group. His brother Nadir is chairman of Godrej Industries and Godrej Agrovet. Their cousin Jamshyd is chairman of the unlisted Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing company. His sister Smita Crishna and Rishad Godrej also hold a stake in Godrej & Boyce, which owns most of the property in Vikhroli.

A couple of years back, Jamshyd roped in investment banker Nimesh Kampani and lawyer Zia Mody to advise him on separating the land ownership. Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Uday Kotak and Cyril Shroff of legal firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas were assisting Adi.

According to the statement, the realignment will be implemented after the relevant regulatory approvals have been obtained.

“Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG) comprises Godrej & Boyce (G&B) and its affiliates, which have a presence across multiple industries spanning aerospace, aviation, defence, engines and motors, energy, security, building materials, construction, green building consulting, EPC services, intralogistics, healthcare equipment, durables, furniture, interior design, architectural fittings, IT, software as well as infrastructure solutions.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/godrej-family-split-adi-brother-to-keep-listed-firms-cousin-jamshyd-to-get-unlisted-companies-land-bank-3002296

Banks like Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, and IDFC First Bank have revised some of their service charges with effect from May 1, 2024.

The month of May will see a couple of significant changes in terms of investment, mutual fund KYC norms, surcharges on utility payments, and others. Last month, ICICI Bank and YES Bank said they would revise their charges for savings accounts from May 1.

Besides, YES Bank and IDFC First Bank said that credit card users have to shell out 1% surcharge fee on all utility bill payments.

Here are the top 5 changes you would see in May.

1. ICICI Bank

Last month, ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank by market capitalisation, said it would revise the charges for some of its services for customers. These would include charges related to ATM usage, debit cards, cheque books, IMPS, stop payment, signature attestation, and more.

• Debit Card Fees: The annual fee of Rs 200 for regular locations and Rs 99 for Gramin locations.
• Cheque Books:  The first 25 cheque leaves annually are free of charge. After that, there is a charge of Rs 4 per leaf. However, there is a transaction cap of Rs 25,000.
• Cash Transaction Charges:  If you perform cash transactions at your home branch, you will receive 3 free cash transactions per month. After that, there is a charge of Rs 150 per transaction.
• MPS Charges: 
  Amount up to Rs 1,000 – Rs 2.50 per transaction
  Amount above Rs 1,000 to Rs 25,000 – Rs 5 per transaction
  Amount above Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 lakh – Rs 15 per transaction.
• Stop Cheque Payment Charges:  For a particular cheque – Rs 100 (Free through customer care IVR and internt banking).
• Issuance of Duplicate Pass Book:  The bank will charge Rs 100 for issuance of duplicate pass book and Rs 25 per page for updation.
• ECS / NACH Debit Returns :  Rs 500 per instance for financial reasons. Maximum recovery of up to 3 instances per month for the same mandate.
• Card replacement :  For a replacement card in the event of lost or damaged card, the customer will have to shell out Rs 200.
• Surcharge on Railway Bookings:  Customers will be charged 1.8% of bookings as per Visa regulations.
• Photo and Signature Attestation:  For photo and signature attestation related to savings accounts, the bank will charge Rs 100 per application from customers.
• Cash Deposit Charges : The bank will charge Rs 50 per transaction, to be levied on cash deposited in the cash acceptor/recycler machines on bank holidays and between 06.00 p.m. and 08.00 a.m. on working days.
  The bank will levy charges if the cash deposit in the cash acceptor/recycler machines exceeds Rs 10,000 per month between 6 pm and 8 am on working days or on bank holidays.

  This charge will not apply to senior citizens, basic savings bank account holders, Jan Dhan account holders, incapacitated and visually impaired persons, student accounts, or any other accounts identified by ICICI Bank.

2. Yes Bank savings accounts

In April, Yes Bank said it will revise its minimum average balance (AMB) requirements across different savings account variants.

• Rs 5000 for Savings Value / Kisan SA, maximum charge is Rs 500
• Rs 2500 for My First YES, maximum charge is Rs 250
• Savings Account Pro Plus, Yes Essence SA, and YES Respect SA will necessitate an AMB of Rs 25,000, with a maximum charge of Rs 750.
• Savings Account PRO will mandate an AMB of Rs 10,000, with a similar maximum charge of Rs 750.

Yes Bank provides interest rates from 3% to 7% based on savings account balances. These rates apply to all account holders, including regular, senior citizens, rural, semi-urban, and urban customers. The rates will be in effect starting from January 1, 2024.

If balance maintained is: = 100% of the requirement- NIL 50% of the requirement- 5% of balance shortfall

The Yes Bank website noted: “^AMB requirement, as defined by YES BANK from time to time, at select locations, is Rs 5,000 for YES Grace, Rs 2,500 for YES Respect and Rs 2,500 for YES Value. For Kisan Savings A/c, Average Yearly Balance (AYB) of Rs 1,000 is required at all locations. For Savings value where AMB requirement is Rs 2,500, Maximum Charges for non-maintenance of balances is capped at Rs 125 per month. For Kisan Savings A/c, Charges would be Rs 100 per annum.”

Yes Bank credit cards

Starting May 1, YES Bank credit cards will charge a 1% surcharge for utility bill payments. As per the latest regulations, Yes Bank customers will have a free usage limit of Rs 15,000 in the billing cycle. Beyond that, the Yes Bank will add GST and a 1% tax to the expenditure.

As per the bank, the changes will only affect the fuel fee category on some of the bank’s credit card types. ‘Private’ credit card type has been barred from these revisions. According to the YES Bank website as of March 29, 2024, “A charge of 1% will be applicable on all utility transactions in a statement cycle.”

IDFC First Bank credit cards

IDFC First Bank has announced that it will levy an additional 1% surcharge plus GST when the cumulative amount of credit card payments for utility bills exceeds Rs 20,000. However, this surcharge will not apply to the FIRST Private Credit Card, LIC Classic Credit Card, and LIC Select Credit Card.

The bank has clarified that if the total amount of utility bill transactions (gas, electricity, and internet) within a statement cycle is Rs 20,000 or less, no surcharge will be imposed. Conversely, if the total exceeds Rs 20,000, an extra 18% GST will be added to the 1% surcharge.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/personal-finance/banking/story/5-money-changes-in-may-2024-hike-in-savings-account-charges-icici-bank-yes-bank-idfc-first-bank-credit-card-surcharge-new-kyc-norms-for-mf-details-here-427743-2024-05-01

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan on Monday, the agency said in a statement, amid discussions for a new loan.

The funding is the second and last tranche of a $3 billion standby arrangement with the IMF, which Islamabad secured last summer to help avert a sovereign default.

The approval came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed a new loan programme with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.

Islamabad is seeking a new, larger long-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the fund after the current standby arrangement expires this month.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, has said Islamabad could secure a staff-level agreement on the new program by early July.

Islamabad says it is seeking a loan over at least three years to help achieve macroeconomic stability and execute long-overdue and painful structural reforms.

Aurangzeb has declined to give details on the amount the country is seeking.

Islamabad is yet to make a formal request, but the Fund and the government are already in discussions.

If secured, it would be Pakistan’s 24th IMF bailout.

The $350 billion economy faces a chronic balance of payments crisis, with nearly $24 billion to repay in debt and interest over the next fiscal year – three-time more than its central bank’s foreign currency reserves.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/imf-approves-11-bln-funding-pakistan-says-xxx-2024-04-29

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing on Sunday on an unannounced visit, where he was expected to discuss the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla’s development in China could be regarded as a successful example of U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation.

“Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days,” Musk posted on social media platform X, as he appeared in a picture with the premier.

Tesla reached an accord with Chinese authorities for a plant in Shanghai, its first outside the United States, in 2018.

The U.S. electric vehicle maker rolled out FSD, the most autonomous version of its Autopilot software, four years ago but has yet to make it available in China, its second-largest market globally, despite customer demand.

Musk said this month that Tesla may make FSD available to customers in China “very soon,” in response to a query on X.
Equity analysts at Wedbush called the surprise visit “a major moment for Tesla.”

“While the long term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous, a key missing piece in that puzzle is Tesla making FSD available in China which now appears on the doorstep,” Wedbush said in an emailed company report.

Rival Chinese automakers such as Xpeng (9868.HK) , opens new tab have been seeking to gain an advantage over Tesla by rolling out similar software.

Tesla has since 2021 stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai as required by Chinese regulators and has not transferred any back to the United States.

Musk is looking to obtain approval to transfer data collected in the country abroad to train algorithms for its autonomous driving technologies, the person said.

Musk’s visit to China, first reported by Reuters, was not flagged publicly and the person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media. Tesla did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV in its report about Musk’s meeting with Li did not say whether the two had discussed FSD or data.

Earlier in the day, a separate report carried by state radio said Li had visited the ongoing Beijing auto show and had commented about how China’s smart new energy vehicle (NEV) sector had gained a leading position in the market and that the country had to work hard and maintain its advantages.

Musk also met with Ren Hongbin, a government official who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the organizer of the auto show, state media reported.

“It is good to see electric vehicles making progress in China. All cars will be electric in the future,” Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user affiliated with state media.

Late on Sunday, a top Chinese auto association published a list of 76 car models it said it had tested and found to be compliant with China’s data security requirements, among them being Tesla’s Model Y and 3 cars.

Musk’s trip came just over a week after he scrapped a planned visit to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing “very heavy Tesla obligations.”

The company said this month it would lay off 10% of its global workforce as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for EVs led by Chinese brands.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/elon-musk-heading-china-visit-teslas-second-biggest-market-sources-say-2024-04-28

The lender’s shares tumbled as much as 13% on Thursday after it was barred from adding new customers through its digital channels and from issuing fresh credit cards.

Uday Kotak built his Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. over decades to become Asia’s richest banker. After India’s regulator slapped his bank with a surprise ban, he’s facing one of his biggest tests yet – and a dip in wealth.

The lender’s shares tumbled as much as 13% on Thursday after it was barred from adding new customers through its digital channels and from issuing fresh credit cards. As the largest shareholder with a stake of almost 26%, the billionaire founder bore the heaviest brunt from the selldown, the most in four years.

Tesla reported a 9% drop in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, the biggest decline since 2012, and missed analysts’ estimates, as the electric vehicle company weathers the effect of ongoing price cuts.

The stock jumped in extended trading after CEO Elon Musk told investors that production of new affordable EV models could begin sooner than expected.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 45 cents adjusted vs. 51 cents expected
Revenue: $21.30 billion vs. $22.15 billion expected
Revenue declined from $23.33 billion a year earlier and from $25.17 billion in the fourth quarter. Net income dropped 55% to $1.13 billion, or 34 cents a share, from $2.51 billion, or 73 cents a share, a year ago.

The drop in sales was even steeper than the company’s last decline in 2020, which was due to disrupted production during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tesla’s automotive revenue declined 13% year over year to $17.38 billion in the first three months of 2024.

Musk said on the call that the company plans to start production of new models in “early 2025, if not late this year,” after previously expecting to begin in the second half of 2025. Musk also touted Tesla’s investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, and said the company is in talks with “one major automaker” to license its driver assistance system, which is marketed in the U.S. as the Full Self-Driving, or FSD, option.

In its shareholder deck, Tesla reiterated a pessimistic outlook for 2024, telling investors that “volume growth rate may be notably lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023.”

Prior to the 11% jump after hours, Tesla shares were down more than 40% this year, reaching their lowest since January 2023, on concerns about weak deliveries, competition in China and the company’s ongoing price cuts. Earlier this month, Tesla reported an 8.5% year-over-year decline in vehicle deliveries for the first quarter.

The company said in the deck that it’s accelerating the launch of “new vehicles, including more affordable models,” that will “be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines” as Tesla’s current lineup. Tesla is aiming to “fully utilize” its current production capacity and to achieve “more than 50% growth over 2023 production” before investing in new manufacturing lines.

Also in the deck, Tesla showed off screens of a robotaxi-based ride-hailing service. The company has been promising a self-driving vehicle for years without delivering on Musk’s promise.

Sales growth across EVs is slowing, and Tesla and key rivals have been slashing EV prices to try to spur demand. Tesla’s gross profits plummeted 18% in the first quarter, partly due to price cuts this year.

After discussing operational challenges in the first quarter, including Red Sea supply chain disruptions, Musk said on the call that, “We think Q2 will be a lot better.”

Tesla said total sales included revenue from earlier sales of its FSD option. The release of a feature called Autopark in North America allowed the company to recognize the deferred revenue.

Chris Redl, autos analyst at Siena Capital, estimates that Tesla recognized as much as $700 million in deferred revenue in the quarter from FSD. That’s roughly 4.3% of Tesla’s automotive revenue after stripping out regulatory credits.

Tesla embarked on a massive restructuring this month, with two executives, Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel, resigning. Musk said last week in a companywide memo that the automaker was cutting more than 10% of its global workforce.

Capital expenditures rose to $2.77 billion, up 34% from a year earlier.

Free cash flow turned negative in the quarter, with the company reporting a deficit of $2.53 billion. A year ago, Tesla reported free cash flow of $441 million, a number that reached $2.06 billion in the fourth quarter. Tesla attributed the negative figure to a $2.7 billion buildup in inventory and $1 billion in capital expenditures on “AI infrastructure.”

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/23/tesla-tsla-earnings-q1-2024-.html

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block Coach parent Tapestry’s (TPR.N), opens new tab $8.5 billion deal to buy Michael Kors owner Capri (CPRI.N), opens new tab, saying it would eliminate “direct head-to-head competition” between the flagship brands of the two luxury handbag makers.

In a statement, the FTC said the tie-up, which would create a company with about 33,000 employees worldwide, could reduce wages and employee benefits.

“The proposed merger threatens to deprive millions of American consumers of the benefits of Tapestry and Capri’s head-to-head competition, which includes competition on price, discounts and promotions, innovation, design, marketing and advertising,” the FTC said.

The FTC’s rare antitrust challenge against a high-end fashion merger could set a precedent for luxury deal regulation, several antitrust lawyers said.

In an interview with Reuters, Tapestry CEO Joanne Crevoiserat said the company was “proud of the wages and benefits” it offers to employees and that the competition for talent goes beyond just the fashion industry.

“We see the FTC as fundamentally misunderstanding the marketplace and the way consumers shop today as well as the impact of this deal on employees and workers in our industry,” Crevoiserat said.

“We source talent and lose talent to a vast array of competitors,” she added.

The U.S. luxury market is highly fragmented with several differentiated brands catering to a wide range of consumers, antitrust experts said, arguing that legacy fashion brands typically face healthy competition from labels launched every year.

“The FTC’s decision to sue is surprising because there’s no shortage of competition for fashion, apparel and accessories. The commission has latched onto a marketing term – ‘accessible luxury’ – and treats it like a unique market that exists in a vacuum,” said Howard Hogan, chair of the fashion, retail and consumer practice at law firm Gibson Dunn.

NEW GUIDELINES

U.S. antitrust enforcers issued new merger guidelines in December to encourage fair, open and competitive markets.

Antitrust lawyers noted that the FTC is using a new tactic under the guidelines by arguing that the merger would directly affect hourly workers who may lose out on higher wages due to reduced competition for employees.

“The revised federal merger guidelines outlined that potential effects on labor like lowering wages or work conditions is a basis to challenge a merger, so that is a newer trend. It’s not surprising since the agencies announced they’d do that but it is something new to test in court,” said Jennifer Lada, litigation attorney at Holland & Knight.

Tapestry had offered to buy Capri in August, hoping to create a U.S. fashion behemoth that could effectively battle bigger European rivals such as Louis Vuitton parent LVMH (LVMH.PA)

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/us-ftc-sues-block-85-bln-takeover-capri-by-tapestry-2024-04-22

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab has cut prices in a number of its major markets, including China and Germany, following price cuts in the United States, as it grapples with falling sales and an intensifying price war for electric vehicles (EVs), especially against Chinese EVs.
The price cuts come after Tesla, led by its billionaire CEO Elon Musk, reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years.

“Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand,” Musk posted on X, opens new tab on Sunday.
Tesla, the EV market leader, ignited an EV price war over a year ago by aggressively cutting prices at the expense of profit margins.
Tesla cut the starting price of the revamped Model 3 in China by 14,000 yuan ($1,930) to 231,900 yuan ($32,000), its official website showed on Sunday.
In Germany, the price of the Model 3 rear-wheel-drive was trimmed to 40,990 euros ($43,670.75) from 42,990 euros, where the price had been since February.

There were also price cuts in many other countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a Tesla spokesperson said.

U.S. prices of the Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles were cut by $2,000 on Friday. On Saturday Tesla slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving driver assistant software to $8,000 from $12,000 in the United States.
Tesla has been slow to refresh its ageing models as high interest rates have sapped consumer appetite for big-ticket items, while rivals in China, the world’s largest auto market, are rolling out cheaper models.

This weekend, Musk postponed a planned trip to India, where he was to have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing obligations at Tesla. The trip was to have included the announcement of plans for Tesla to enter the South Asian market, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-cuts-prices-across-its-line-up-china-2024-04-21/

Products of the two companies were found to contain ethylene oxide during routine surveillance programmes.

Hong Kong has banned the sale of MDH Pvt. and Everest Food Products Pvt. curry spices after detecting the carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide in them.

MDH Group’s three spice mixes—Madras Curry Powder, Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala Powder and Curry Powder Mixed Masala Powder—while Everest Group’s Fish Curry Masala were found to contain the pesticide under routine surveillance programmes, the Centre For Food Safety of The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said in a statement dated April 5.

In a separate and similar move, Singapore pulled Everest’s products off its shelves, citing the presence of pesticides above safe levels.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified ethylene oxide as a Group 1 carcinogen. According to the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation, a food for human consumption containing pesticide residue may only be sold if consumption of the food is not dangerous or prejudicial to health.

Source: https://www.ndtvprofit.com/business/ethylene-oxide-is-carcinogenic-if-had-above-prescribed-levels

In a notification, the IRDAI has asked insurers to offer health insurance products to cater to all age groups.

Now, people above the age of 65 will be able to purchase new health insurance policies as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has removed the age cap on buying health insurance policies, effective from April 1, 2024, ANI reported.

Earlier, individuals above the age of 65 were not allowed to purchase policies. But the changes that have come into effect from April 1, 2024 have now enabled any individual, regardless, of age to be eligible to purchase a health insurance policy.

New health insurance rules
In a notification, the IRDAI has asked insurers to offer health insurance products to cater to all age groups.

The insurers may design the health insurance policy products specifically for senior citizens, students, children, maternity, and any other group as specified by the Competent Authority.

This new decision by the IRDAI is aimed at creating a more inclusive healthcare ecosystem in India and encourage insurance provider companies to diversify their offerings.

According to the report, the top insurance regulator body has asked the providers to introduce ‘tailored policies’ for specific demographics including senior citizens and also establish dedicated channels for handling claims and grievances.

“It’s a welcome change since it now opens Avenue for people above 65 to seek health cover. Insurers based on their Board approved Underwriting guidelines can cover people above 65. The coverage is subject to offer and acceptance between the Insured and Insurer based on affordability for the senior citizens and viability for Insurers.” an industry expert told ANI.

Following the recent notification, the health insurance providers are prohibited from refusing policies to individuals with severe medical conditions including cancer, heart or renal failure and AIDS, the report added.

Besides this, the insurance regulator has decreased the insurance waiting period from 48 months to 36 months.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/now-individuals-above-65-can-buy-health-insurance-policy-check-new-rules-101713667247658.html

As a first-time founder or budding entrepreneur, it’s always advisable to validate our idea before investing time and money into our startup.

However, many of us struggle to conduct proper market research or do not even know where to begin.

So we’ve created a sample “Market Research on Agritech Industry in India” and included a few “Market Research Tools” at the bottom for your convenience.

The agritech industry in India is a rapidly growing sector that leverages technology to improve agricultural productivity and efficiency. India’s agriculture sector faces several challenges, including low productivity, lack of infrastructure, and climate change impacts. Agritech solutions aim to address these challenges by providing farmers with access to modern technology and tools to improve crop yields, reduce input costs, and increase profitability.

Market Size and Growth:

The agritech industry in India is estimated to be worth around $24.1 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25% during the forecast period of 2021-2026, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets. The report suggests that factors such as increasing demand for food, changing consumer preferences, and government initiatives to support the sector are driving the growth of the agritech industry in India.

Key Segments:

The agritech industry in India can be segmented into various categories, including precision agriculture, farm management software, supply chain management, and e-commerce. Here are some of the key segments:

Precision Agriculture: Precision agriculture uses technologies such as drones, sensors, and GPS to monitor and manage crops, soil, and water resources. This technology helps farmers optimize inputs, reduce waste, and increase yields.

Farm Management Software: Farm management software helps farmers manage their farm operations, including planning, monitoring, and analysis of crops, inputs, and resources. This technology helps farmers improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase profits.

Supply Chain Management: Supply chain management solutions help farmers and agribusinesses manage the supply chain, including procurement, logistics, storage, and distribution. This technology helps improve the efficiency and reliability of the supply chain and reduce wastage.

E-commerce: E-commerce platforms provide farmers with access to markets, buyers, and financing. These platforms help farmers sell their produce directly to consumers, bypassing intermediaries and increasing their profits.

Key Players:

The agritech industry in India includes various stakeholders, including startups, established companies, and investors. Some of the prominent players in the agritech industry in India include:

CropIn: A startup that provides farm management software and analytics solutions to farmers and agribusinesses.

Ninjacart: An e-commerce platform that connects farmers with retailers and consumers and provides logistics and supply chain management services.

AgroStar: A startup that provides farmers with access to inputs, advice, and e-commerce services through a mobile app.

DeHaat: An e-commerce platform that connects farmers with markets and provides them with access to inputs, credit, and advisory services.

WayCool: An agri-commerce startup that provides supply chain management services, including procurement, logistics, and distribution of fresh produce.

Challenges:

The agritech industry in India faces several challenges, including low adoption of technology by farmers, lack of infrastructure and connectivity, and limited access to financing. Other significant challenges include regulatory barriers, market fragmentation, and the need for customized solutions for diverse crops and regions.

Opportunities:

The agritech industry in India presents significant opportunities for investors and businesses, driven by factors such as increasing demand for food, changing consumer preferences, and government initiatives to support the sector. The adoption of technology in agriculture, such as precision farming and e-commerce platforms, also presents significant growth opportunities.

Conclusion:

The agritech industry in India is a rapidly growing sector that leverages technology to address the challenges faced by the agriculture sector. The adoption of technology in agriculture has the potential to improve productivity, reduce input costs, and increase profitability for farmers. However, addressing the challenges faced by the sector, such as low adoption of technology and lack of infrastructure, will be crucial in the long term.

Market Research Tools: Here are a few Market research Tools for you to do market research on any Business Idea.

1. Statista: Statista is a global statistics database that provides access to data on a wide range of topics, including market research, consumer behavior, and demographics. The platform includes data from more than 80,000 topics and 22,500 sources, making it a valuable resource for researchers, analysts, and marketers. Statista offers both free and paid plans for accessing its database.
2. Facts and Factors: Facts and Factors is a market research and consulting firm that provides customized research reports for various industries, including healthcare, technology, and automotive. The firm offers a range of services, including market sizing, competitive analysis, and strategic consulting. Facts and Factors provides research reports to help clients make informed business decisions.
3. Mordor Intelligence: Mordor Intelligence is a market research and consulting firm that provides industry reports, market analysis, and custom research services. The firm specializes in various industries, including healthcare, technology, and energy. Mordor Intelligence offers research reports to help clients understand market trends, competition, and growth opportunities.
4. Markets and Markets: Markets and Markets is a market research and consulting firm that provides industry reports, market analysis, and custom research services. The firm specializes in various industries, including healthcare, technology, and energy.
5. Google Trends – This tool helps you to identify search trends and topics over time. You can use it to see the popularity of your business idea and to find out what people are searching for related to your idea.

Source: https://startuppedia.in/how-to-do-market-research-on-any-business-idea/

The U.S. military’s success helping Israel stop a massive wave of Iranian missiles and drones last weekend might suggest Washington is well prepared militarily for whatever comes next as Iran and Israel move from shadow warfare to direct confrontation.
But current and former U.S. officials say U.S. forces are not positioned for a major, sustained Middle East conflict and the Pentagon may have to revisit assumptions about military needs in the region if the crisis deepens.

“I don’t think we have all the forces that we would want to support Israel if there was a direct war between them and Iran,” said Michael Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East under the Trump administration.
Though Tehran has indicated it had no plans to retaliate for an apparent Israeli strike on Friday, the tit-for-tat attacks have raised fears of an unpredictable regional war that the United States has sought to prevent.

In the months since an attack by Hamas militants on Israel triggered a war in Gaza that has ignited unrest throughout the Middle East, the United States has rushed thousands of U.S. service members to a region that had seen a steadily declining U.S. presence over years.
But many of those new U.S. troops are on warships and aircraft that move in and out of the region, and are only temporarily deployed. That U.S. strategy to rely on surge forces could be tested now Iran and Israel have broken the taboo of open military strikes against each other.

“What it means for the U.S. military is that I think we have to revisit this idea of what are the necessary, sustainable (military) capabilities that we have to maintain in the region,” said Joseph Votel, a retired four star Army general who led U.S. troops in the Middle East.
SUSTAINED FOCUS
Votel and other former officials said the U.S. military’s success in downing Iran’s drones and missiles last Saturday was presumably aided by detailed U.S. intelligence that allowed the Pentagon to anticipate the timing and targets of Iran’s attack.

“I think the bigger concern is our ability to be responsive over a sustained period of time,” Votel said.
U.S. officials say Iran does not appear to want an all-out war with Israel, and Tehran has played down Friday’s strike. Still, experts warn the situation is unpredictable, particularly as long as the Israel-Hamas conflict rages.
U.S. Army General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the current head of Central Command, told lawmakers last month that he had requested more troops than the Pentagon had sent to his region, which President Joe Biden’s administration has said is a lower priority than the challenge from China, for example.
In written testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, Kurilla said a dangerous shortfall in U.S. intelligence assets, targeting expertise and linguists “contributes to gaps and seams in our ability to detect and disrupt plots, increasing freedom of movement” for violent extremist organizations.
Although Kurilla’s comments appeared more focused on Afghanistan, some intelligence shortfalls have already affected U.S. strategy since the start of the war in Gaza.
For example, a lack of detail about Houthi weapons stockpiles before the Iran-backed group started attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea has made it hard to determine the effect of months of strikes on the group’s arsenal of missiles and drones, said officials.
Still, sending more U.S. troops to the Middle East and bolstering intelligence assets longer-term could prove difficult, officials say.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-military-strategy-tested-iran-israel-warfare-comes-out-shadows-2024-04-19/

Joel Bueno shed tears of joy as his four-legged guests entered the intensive care unit where he had been admitted due to a blood clot.
Bueno, 34, said being showered with affection by therapy dogs Vida and Lu reminded him of his own dog back home.
“It’s great to have someone that loves you more than anything else in the world,” he told Reuters with a broad smile. “They give everything for you, no matter how you are with them.”

The visit was part of a trial launched by the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona and the Affinity Foundation, which specialises in pet therapy, to improve the emotional well-being of patients in intensive care units (ICU).

Patients in the programme receive two visits each week of 15 to 20 minutes each.
“For now it’s just a perception, but it seems to us that there’s a benefit for patients,” said Lucia Picazo, an ICU doctor.The project will analyse saliva samples collected from patients before and after a therapy session, to check whether stress indicators like cortisol decrease while those related to wellbeing like oxytocin and serotonin increase, she said.
Patients aren’t the only ones benefiting from the project: many members of staff in the emergency ward also enjoy having the canines around and bond with them, said Maribel Vida, who leads Affinity’s animal therapy projects.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/spanish-hospital-enlists-therapy-dogs-boost-icu-patients-morale-2024-04-19/

Google has fired 28 employees over their participation in a 10-hour sit-in at the search giant’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California, to protest the company’s business ties with the Israel government, The Post has learned.

The pro-Palestinian staffers — who had donned traditional Arab headscarves as they stormed and occupied the office of a top executive in California on Tuesday — were terminated late Wednesday after an internal investigation, Google vice president of global security Chris Rackow said in a companywide memo.

“They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers,” Rackow wrote in the memo obtained by The Post. “Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made co-workers feel threatened.”

In New York, protesters had occupied the 10th floor of Google’s offices in the Chelsea section of Manhattan as part of a protest that also extended to the company’s offices in Seattle for what it called “No Tech for Genocide Day of Action.”

“Behavior like this has no place in our workplace and we will not tolerate it,” Rackow wrote. “It clearly violates multiple policies that all employees must adhere to – including our code of conduct and policy on harassment, discrimination, retaliation, standards of conduct, and workplace concerns.”

Rackow added that the company “takes this extremely seriously, and we will continue to apply our longstanding policies to take action against disruptive behavior – up to and including termination.”

The fired staffers are affiliated with a group called No Tech For Apartheid, which has been critical of Google’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

The group had posted several videos and livestreams of the protests on its X account — including the exact moment that employees were issued final warnings and arrested by local police for trespassing.

The protesters have demanded that Google pull out of a $1.2 billion “Project Nimbus” contract — in which Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services provide cloud-computing and artificial intelligence services for the Israeli government and military.

Critics at the company raised concerns that the technology would be weaponized against Palestinians in Gaza.

The impacted workers blasted Google over the firings in a statement shared by No Tech For Apartheid spokesperson Jane Chung.

“This evening, Google indiscriminately fired 28 workers, including those among us who did not directly participate in yesterday’s historic, bicoastal 10-hour sit-in protests,” the workers said in the statement.

“This flagrant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own workers — the ones who create real value for executives and shareholders.”

“Sundar Pichai and Thomas Kurian are genocide profiteers,” the statement added, referring to Google’s CEO and the CEO of its cloud unit, respectively.

“We cannot comprehend how these men are able to sleep at night while their tech has enabled 100,000 Palestinians killed, reported missing, or wounded in the last six months of Israel’s genocide — and counting.”

An NYPD spokesperson said the Tuesday protest “involved approximately 50 participants” in total and confirmed “four arrests were made for trespassing inside the Google building.”

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety said the protest in California “consisted of around 80 participants.” A total of five protesters who refused to leave the Google office were “arrested without incident for criminal trespassing,” booked and released, a spokesperson added.

It couldn’t immediately be learned if all nine arrested employees were among those who were fired. Google had earlier placed the employees on administrative leave and cut their access to internal systems.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/business/google-fires-28-employees-involved-in-sit-in-protest-over-1-2b-israel-contract/

Findings showed that in India, all 15 Cerelac baby products contain an average of nearly 3 grams of sugar per serving.

New Delhi: Two of the best-selling baby-food brands by Nestle in India contain high levels of added sugar, while such products are sugar-free in the United Kingdom, Germany Switzerland, and other developed nations, according to an investigation by Public Eye. The report said that Nestle, which is the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products in several countries, a violation of international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases. Violations were found only in Asian, African, and Latin American countries.
However, a Nestle India Ltd. spokesperson told NDTV Profit that the company has reduced the total amount of added sugars in its infant cereals portfolio by 30% over the past five years and it continues to “review” and “reformulate” products to reduce them further. “We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritise using high-quality ingredients,” it said in a statement.

Findings showed that in India, all 15 Cerelac baby products contain an average of nearly 3 grams of sugar per serving. The same product is being sold with no added sugar in Germany and the UK, while in Ethiopia and Thailand, it contains nearly 6 grams, the study said.

The amount of added sugar is often not even disclosed in the nutritional information available on the packaging of these kinds of products.

“While Nestle prominently highlights the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients contained in its products using idealizing imagery, it’s not transparent when it comes to added sugar,” the report said.

Nestle sold over ₹ 20,000-Crore worth of Cerelac products in India in 2022.

Experts say that adding sugar, which is highly addictive, to baby products is a dangerous and unnecessary practice.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/nestle-adds-sugar-to-baby-cereal-sold-in-india-study-finds-5466244

AAP leader and Water Minister Atishi responded to LG VK Saxena and said that his letter might have been intended for optics but one cannot refute the fact that water woes in Delhi have been artificially created.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, in a scathing letter to jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of using the death of a woman for political gains. The crux of the letter was the mismanagement at the Delhi Jal Board that resulted in the said water woes in the city. AAP leader and Water Minister Atishi responded to Saxena and said that his letter might have been intended for optics but one cannot refute the fact that water woes in Delhi have been artificially created.

In the letter to Kejriwal, LG Saxena said that the water minister using the death of a woman in a fight over fetching water was for “narrow political goals” and that the government has created a “chimera of free water”. His letter comes two days after Atishi had written to the LG, asking him to suspend the CEO of Delhi Jal Board after the woman’s death in Farsh Bazar.

“I was deeply distressed at the insensitive communication from the Minister for Water… Atishi on Sunday. While I was yet to receive the letter, it characteristically found its way on various social and mainstream media platforms, the moment it was signed. She has chosen to use the unfortunate death of a woman in East Delhi for narrow and partisan political goals,” he said in his letter, adding that the water minister indicted her own government of 9 years by underscoring the inadequacy of water supply. The LG said that the woman’s death was not the only of such cases, and that many such incidents have happened in the past due to the failure of the government.

“Such instances have become a recurrent phenomenon year after year and have been widely reported in media over the last 10 years… Water woes in the capital, especially in settlements where the poor live, have exacerbated over the last decade…Your minister’s hasty missive to me is an admission of these failures and defaults of performance of your government and amount to facile attempts at shrugging responsibility off, a complex problem,” he added.

Saxena, quoting the Economic Survey 2023-24, tabled in the recent Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly, said that water treatment capacity only grew marginally from 906 MGD to 946 MGD in the last decade. This is growth of 4.4 per cent, while the population of the city grew 15 per cent. There is an overall shortfall of 290 MGD of water supply in Delhi, he said.

Source:https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/your-ministers-hasty-missive-is-an-admission-of-failure-delhi-lg-slams-aap-over-water-woes-atishi-responds-425816-2024-04-17

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday won the dismissal of some claims in a dozen lawsuits accusing him of concealing from the public that Facebook and Instagram were harmful to children.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, came in the sprawling litigation by children pursuing hundreds of lawsuits accusing Meta and other social media companies of addicting them to their platforms.

Twenty-five of those cases sought to hold Zuckerberg personally liable, saying Meta’s billionaire founder created a false impression about the platforms’ safety despite repeated warnings they were unfit for children.

The plaintiffs argued that his public stature and outsized role as the “trusted voice on all things Meta” created a duty under several states’ laws for Zuckerberg to speak fully and truthfully on the risks its products posed to children.

But Rogers said the plaintiffs could not rely on Zuckerberg’s comparative knowledge about Meta’s products to establish he personally owed such a duty to each plaintiff. Such a ruling, she said, would create “a duty to disclose for any individual recognizable to the public.”

“The court will not countenance such a novel approach here,” she said.

Meta, which remains a defendant, declined to comment. The company denies wrongdoing.

Hundreds of lawsuits are pending before Rogers filed on behalf of individual children against Meta and other social media companies, including Alphabet, which operates Google and YouTube; ByteDance, which operates TikTok; and Snap, which operates Snapchat.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/judge-dismisses-some-claims-against-metas-zuckerberg-over-social-media-harm-4268401

Under pressure in China where local players have outsmarted him, facing tech disruptions in the industry, and a general demand slowdown, for Musk, the India story is as important as the EV story is for India.

WHEN Tesla chief Elon Musk is expected to land in India later this month to announce his electric vehicle (EV) investment plans, he will wish for a red carpet no doubt — but there will also be a few red flags in the wings.

Under pressure in China where local players have outsmarted him, facing tech disruptions in the industry, and a general demand slowdown, for Musk, the India story is as important as the EV story is for India.

New Delhi hopes the entry of the marquee EV flagbearer, just like it was in China, will be a catalyst for its domestic electric four-wheeler push. So much so that after turning down Tesla’s demand for upfront import duty cuts two years ago, it believes the latest cuts, with a post-dated investment pledge and progressive localisation targets, are worth it.

The key issues that will frame the talks with Tesla:

* Policy rethink: The new EV policy, which effectively lowered import duties to 15 per cent from 100 per cent on car models costing over $35,000 if its manufacturer promised to invest $500 million in setting up a local factory, is being seen as a move to welcome Tesla. This marks a part reversal of the domestic manufacturing policy push given that the duty cuts are aimed at enabling a carmaker to import fully built cars made in a foreign country, even though there is an implicit promise of building a factory at a future date backed by bank guarantees, and progressively increasing domestic manufacturing targets. Tesla had pitched for cars to be imported from its Shanghai factory but — given the optics of imports from China — is now likely to get the first lot from its Berlin-Brandenburg factory. This is learnt to be at New Delhi’s insistence.

* Subsidy structure: The waiver of duties is specifically for models of electric cars with a combined cost, insurance, freight prices of $35,000 or above — a landed cost of `35 lakh or more, a user segment that does not generally qualify for a tax waiver for what is clearly a luxury product. While the import numbers may be limited to 8,000 units annually, the new policy does entail a demand by Tesla of sampling their cars here to test out the “market potential”, before it takes a full-scale plunge into manufacturing.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the new policy “is designed to attract investments in the e-vehicle space by reputed global EV manufacturers” and seeks to “provide Indian consumers with access to latest technology, boosting the Make in India initiative, strengthening the EV ecosystem by promoting healthy competition among EV players, reducing imports of crude oil and reduce air pollution.”

In July last year, the Centre is learnt to have turned down China-based BYD’s proposal to build a $1-billion EV plant in partnership with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. The rejection of the proposal from BYD — a technology leader in battery assembly and EV manufacturing — was possibly on “security” grounds although an official confirmation was not available and the companies did not comment.

* Industry change: The EV industry is currently staring at a fork-in-the-road moment, with Tesla being particularly impacted given its outsized impact on the global EV sector. Its stock has tanked with the company on track for its slowest quarter since 2022 impacted by lower production and deliveries. The steady slowdown in EV demand across key markets, including North America and Western Europe, has started to expose a major overcapacity problem at its factories such as Shanghai and Berlin. To be sure, the slowdown is not limited to Tesla alone. In October, GM announced it would cut production of EVs, citing slowing demand while in January, Ford slashed production of its electric pickup truck by half.

* Tesla’s 3 key challenges: One, the lack of a mass-market entry-level “low-cost family” car in its line-up, something that was touted by Musk as the company’s primary mission way back in 2006. Its cheapest current model, the Model 3 sedan, sells for nearly $40,000 in the US and the planned low-cost Model 2 is a non-starter.

Two, less flashier Chinese EV makers are fast closing the gap with Tesla. Shenzhen-based BYD eased past Tesla as the top seller of electric cars in the last three months of 2023, boosted by a surge in sales of the Chinese carmaker’s smaller, low-cost EVs such as its Seagull and Dolphin models.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/business/when-elon-musk-lands-in-india-the-red-carpet-for-tesla-and-a-few-red-flags-9270304/

CBI books second-biggest electoral bond buyer Megha Engineering and 8 steel ministry officials in Rs 315 cr case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a case against Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), a prominent infrastructure firm based in Hyderabad. The investigation is centered around alleged bribery payments made to officials of NMDC Limited and MECON Limited, both entities under the steel ministry, regarding payments related to invoices.

MEIL recently gained attention due to its significant contributions to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through Electoral Bonds. According to data released by the State Bank of India, MEIL donated a substantial amount of Rs 584 crore to the BJP between April 2019 and October 2023. In total, the company purchased Electoral Bonds worth Rs 966 crore (excluding bonds bought by its subsidiaries) from April 2019 to February 2024.

CBI named eight officials from NISP and NMDC, as well as two officials from MECON in connection with alleged bribery. The FIR alleges that around Rs 78 lakh in bribes were given to clear bills totaling Rs 174 crore for works related to the Jagdalpur integrated steel plant.

MEIL also made significant donations to various political parties, including Rs 195 crore to BRS, Rs 85 crore to DMK, and Rs 37 crore to YSRCP. TDP received about Rs 25 crore, while Congress got Rs 17 crore. Smaller sums ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore were given to JD-S, Jana Sena Party, and JD-U.

The FIR, which was disclosed on Saturday, reveals that the CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry on August 10, 2023, regarding the purported bribery in a project worth Rs 315 crore. This project involved the construction of intake well, pump house, and cross-country pipeline at the integrated steel plant in Jagdalpur, which was contracted to the company.

Following the findings of the preliminary enquiry, a recommendation was made on March 18 to initiate a formal case regarding the alleged bribery. This recommendation led to the filing of the case on March 31. The CBI has named eight officials from NISP and NMDC Ltd in the case. These include retired executive director Prashant Dash, director (production) DK Mohanty, DGM PK Bhuyan, DM Naresh Babu, senior manager Subro Banerjee, retired CGM (finance) L Krishna Mohan, GM (finance) K Rajshekhar, and manager (finance) Somnath Ghosh, who are alleged to have received a bribe amounting to Rs 73.85 lakh.

The agency also identified two officials from MECON Ltd – AGM (contracts) Sanjeev Sahay and DGM (contracts) K Illavarsu – who allegedly received payments totaling Rs 5.01 lakh in connection with the payment of Rs 174.41 crore by NMDC Ltd to MEIL for 73 invoices. Subhash Chandra Sangras, general manager of MEIL, and Megha Engineering, along with others, were named as accused in the case.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/cbi-books-second-biggest-electoral-bond-buyer-megha-engineering-and-8-steel-ministry-officials-in-rs-315-cr-case-425430-2024-04-13

The claims were made by Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour who said that “sections of the fuselage of the 787 Dreamliner are improperly fastened together.”

A whistleblower claimed that there are structural flaws in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner that could cause it to break apart mid-flight. Following this, the air safety body of the US – the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – announced a probe into his claims, the New York Times reported. The claims were made by Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour who said that “sections of the fuselage of the 787 Dreamliner are improperly fastened together and could break apart mid-flight after thousands of trips”.

What Sam Salehpour claimed about safety of Boeing planes?
Sam Salehpour worked at Boeing for more than 10 years. He said the company introduced changes to the manufacturing process which included shortcuts that could lead to parts of the fuselage failing after thousands of flights. The plane’s fuselage comes in several large pieces from different manufacturers which are later fastened together on an assembly line. He wrote to the FAA regarding these concerns as Boeing has been managing a safety crisis following a January 5 mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane.

Sam Salehpour also said that he faced threats and exclusion from meetings after he identified engineering problems which affected the structural integrity of the jets.

What Boeing said on the claims?
Boeing halted deliveries of the 787 widebody jet for more than a year until August 2022 after the company said in 2021 that some of these airplanes had shims- a thin piece of material used to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product-that were not the proper size.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/boeing-engineers-startling-claim-dreamliner-787-has-structural-flaws-could-break-apart-midflight-101712887295183.html

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating a Boeing whistleblower’s claims that the company dismissed safety and quality concerns in the production of the planemaker’s 787 and 777 jets, an agency spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The planemaker has been grappling with a full-blown safety crisis that has undermined its reputation following a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane. It has undergone a management shakeup, U.S. regulators have put curbs on its production, and deliveries fell by half in March.

Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour’s allegations stem from work on the company’s widebody 787 and 777 jets. He said he faced retaliation, such as threats and exclusion from meetings, after he identified engineering problems that affected the structural integrity of the jets, and claimed Boeing employed shortcuts to reduce bottlenecks during 787 assembly, his attorneys said.
Boeing halted deliveries of the 787 widebody jet for more than a year until August 2022 as the FAA investigated quality problems and manufacturing flaws.

In 2021, Boeing said some 787 airplanes had shims that were not the proper size and some aircraft had areas that did not meet skin-flatness specifications. A shim is a thin piece of material used to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product.
In a statement, Boeing said it was fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner, adding that the claims “are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft.”

Salehpour observed shortcuts used by Boeing to reduce bottlenecks during the 787 assembly process that placed “excessive stress on major airplane joints, and embedded drilling debris between key joints on more than 1,000 planes,” his lawyers said.
He told reporters in a call later on Tuesday that he saw problems with misalignment in the production of the 777 widebody jet which were remedied by using force.
“I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align,” he said.
Boeing shares closed down nearly 2% at $178.12 on Tuesday after the FAA confirmed the investigation, which was first reported by the New York Times.
“Voluntary reporting without fear of reprisal is a critical component in aviation safety,” the FAA said. “We strongly encourage everyone in the aviation industry to share information. We thoroughly investigate all reports.”
An agency source said the FAA has met with the whistleblower.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/faa-probing-boeing-whistleblowers-quality-claims-787-777-jets-2024-04-09/

🇨🇳 China’s share of gold as a percentage of its total reserves

A single ticketholder from Oregon has won the eighth largest jackpot in US history – with enough money to buy a fleet of private jets or a flotilla of yachts.

A US lottery winner has scooped a $1.3bn jackpot that had rolled over for more than three months.

The Powerball jackpot is the eighth largest lottery prize in US history and the sole winner – whose identity has not been revealed – will have it paid out over 30 years if they choose to receive the full amount in instalments.

If they opt for it in cash, they will receive $608.9m (£481.8m).

The $1.3bn (£1bn) prize was scooped by a ticketholder from Oregon who matched all six numbers – which were announced early on Sunday morning as 22, 27, 44, 52 and 69, while the red Powerball was 9.

US lottery prizes are subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.

Until the latest draw, no-one had won Powerball’s top prize since New Year’s Day, amounting to 41 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner, tying a streak set twice before in 2022 and 2021.

As the prizes grow, the draws attract more ticket sales and the jackpots subsequently become harder to win. The game’s long odds for the draw were one in 292.2 million.

Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

What can you buy with $1.3bn?

The eye-watering sum means the winner could purchase a fleet of Gulfstream G550 private jets with plenty of millions to spare – with Business Jet Traveller reporting the planes cost around $48m (£38m).

If they wanted to purchase a flotilla of Northrop and Johnson yachts, they could do so quite comfortably – with the luxury vessels costing around $135m (£107m) each.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/us-ticketholder-scoops-13bn-powerball-jackpot-heres-what-they-could-buy-with-all-that-money-13110083

The airline is scaling back operations by around 25-30 flights per day, affected passengers have been re-accommodated on other flights

Vistara has cancelled nearly 1,000 flights for the month of April in order to ensure stability in its operations, which saw a massive disruption last week over hectic rosters for pilots and unrest from a section of cockpit crew over pay cuts.

“We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, that is, roughly 10% of the capacity we were operating,” a Vistara spokesperson said in a statement.

The move will provide a much needed buffer to the airline in pilot rosters.

The airline said that the cancellations will mostly affect domestic flights and have been implemented much ahead of time to minimise inconvenience to passengers.

“All the affected passengers have already been re-accommodated on other flights,” the airline added.

Vistara has also deployed bigger Airbus A321 and Boeing 787 aircraft on domestic routes to accommodate more number of passengers and has also been booking its customers on other airlines. Air India will also be sending nearly 20 First Officers on deputation to support Vistara. Six Airbus A320s of Vistara are also being shifted to Air India Express to improve the aircraft and manpower ratio.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/vistara-cancels-nearly-1000-flights-in-april-to-stabilise-operations/article68040097.ece

India is rapidly emerging as the “cancer capital of the world”, according to data shared by the annual Health of Nation report by Apollo Hospitals, the country’s largest vertically integrated health care provider.
The report sheds light on the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India, including cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health issues, all of which significantly impact the nation’s overall health.

Srinivas Pallia, a current company executive board member, will take over as Wipro CEO and MD effective Sunday.

Wipro announced on Saturday the resignation of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Thierry Delaporte.

Srinivas Pallia (Srini Pallia), a current company executive board member, will assume the role effective Sunday. Wipro Limited, an Indian multinational corporation specialising in information technology, consulting, and business process services, confirmed that Pallia will also serve as the company’s Managing Director.

“At their meeting held on April 6, 2024, which concluded at 7 PM, pursuant to the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Mr. Srinivas Pallia as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Company with effect from April 7, 2024 for a period of five years, subject to approval shareholders and the Central of Government as may be applicable,” the company’s regulatory filing read.

Who is Srini Pallia?

• According to Wipro’s official website, Srinivas Pallia holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a masters in technology from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore.
• He completed the Harvard Business School’s Leading Global Businesses executive programme and the McGill Executive Institute’s Advanced Leadership Program.
• Srini Pallia joined Wipro in 1992 and has held numerous leadership roles, including President of Wipro’s Consumer Business Unit and Global Head of Business Application Services. The company says, “Throughout his tenure, Pallia has strengthened Wipro’s business performance, and continues to accelerate growth.”
• Pallia served as CEO of the Americas 1 unit of Wipro and a member of the Wipro Executive Board, a role which he assumed in January 2021. In this capacity, he oversees various industry sectors, defining their vision and implementing growth strategies. Americas 1 company unit includes Healthcare & Medical Devices, Consumer Goods & Lifesciences, Retail, Transportation & Services, Communication, Media & Info services, Tech Products & Platforms and Latin America.
• In 2008, Business Today recognised Srini Pallia as one of India’s top 25 young business executives. He is also a Wipro’s Group Executive Council and Inclusion & Diversity Council member.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/who-is-srinivas-pallia-new-wipro-ceo-after-thierry-delaportes-resignation-101712411833474.html

LIKE anyone habituated to the excesses of Wall Street, Tom Wagner and Greg O’Hara knew how to throw a party.

On the night of Nov 9, 2021, guests emerging from the oversize elevator at Zero Bond, the members-only Manhattan social club frequented by Kim Kardashian and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, were greeted with flutes of Champagne. Offerings of sliced raw tuna on crispy rice and roasted maitake mushrooms awaited them as heads turned to admire an Andy Warhol and a Keith Haring, while New Order throbbed in the background. On every cocktail napkin, emblazoned with Hertz’s familiar yellow and black, was “Let’s Go!”—the slogan for its splashy new ad campaign starring seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

Earlier that day, Hertz Global Holdings, the rental-car giant that careened into bankruptcy during the first two months of Covid-19 burdened with a bad balance sheet and generations of even worse management, had raised US$1.3 billion in an initial public offering (IPO). Somehow, in slightly more than five months, Wagner and O’Hara had pulled off one of the greatest turnarounds in corporate history.

By the time Wagner’s hedge fund, Knighthead Capital Management, and O’Hara’s private equity firm, Certares Management, bought Hertz in a June 2021 bankruptcy auction, the company had slashed its debt and cut 15,000 jobs. Neither Wagner nor O’Hara had any experience in the industry, but to the self-styled disrupters in an archaic business, that was a virtue. They would run financial analyses that clearly showed the future of rental cars was in electric vehicles (EVs). “We felt we could position Hertz in a completely different way,” Wagner told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview just before the IPO.

Hertz’s new owners were making a fully charged bet to swap Hertz’s petrol-powered rental-car fleet for EVs. The company announced an unprecedented order for 100,000 Teslas and struck an exclusive deal to supply EVs to Uber drivers. It planned to build out a national, and eventually global, charging network at Hertz’s thousands of locations, with ambitions to become the service manager for the autonomous-driving era.

Wagner was also ski buddies with Brady, then quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and persuaded him to be its new celebrity frontman. Brady, who in his prime joked that he was the slowest man in the NFL, would show, in Hertz’s words, that the company “is making EV rentals fast”—a play on the company’s 1970s commercials, with OJ Simpson vaulting down staircases touting “The superstar in rent-a-car.”

Source : https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/transport-logistics/how-hertz-s-bet-teslas-went-horribly-sideways

Forbes richest list 2024: Gautam Adani is the second richest Indian as per the list as he added $36.8 billion to cement his position.

On the 2024 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires, 200 Indians featured- up from 169 last year. The combined wealth of these Indians is a record total of $954 billion—up 41% from $675 billion last year. At the top of the list is Mukesh Ambani whose net worth shot up to $116 billion, from $83 billion, making him the first Asian to break into the $100 billion club. Mukesh Ambani retained his position as the ninth richest person in the world is both India’s and Asia’s richest person.

Gautam Adani is the second richest Indian as per the list as he added $36.8 billion to cement his position. Overall in the list, he is at No.17 with a fortune of $84 billion. The richest woman in India remains Savitri Jindal who is now the fourth richest in India, up from sixth a year ago. She has a net worth of $33.5 billion.

In the list are twenty-five new Indian billionaires who made their debut. These include Naresh Trehan, Ramesh Kunhikannan, and Renuka Jagtiani. Meanwhile, Byju Raveendran and Rohiqa Mistry have been dropped off this time.

Here are India’s 10 richest people:
Mukesh Ambani- net worth $116 billion
Gautam Adani- net worth $84 billion
Shiva Nadar- net worth $36.9 billion
Savitri Jindal- net worth $33.5 billion
Dilip Shanghvi- net worth $26.7 billion
Cyrus Poonawalla- net worth $21.3 billion
Kushal Pal Singh- net worth $20.9 billion

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/forbes-richest-list-2024-mukesh-ambani-tops-in-india-gautam-adani-at-2-check-top-10-names-here-101712116481250.html

The Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2024 featured 200 Indians, of which 25 were debutants. The list of Indian billionaires has grown from 169 in 2023 to 200 this year.

Forbes released its list of ‘World’s Billionaires’ for 2024 on Wednesday, which featured 200 Indians, up from 169 last year.

Indians on the list amassed a staggering $954 billion, marking a remarkable 41% increase in their wealth from the previous year’s $675 billion held by 169 billionaires.

Out of the 200 Indians on the list, 25 featured on it for the first time.

Renuka Jagtiani

Renuka Jagtiani, with a net worth of $4.8 billion, serves as the chairperson and CEO of Landmark Group, a multinational consumer conglomerate in Dubai founded by her late husband, Micky Jagtiani, in May 2023. Under her leadership, Landmark Group employs over 50,000 people.

Ramesh Kunhikannan

Ramesh Kunhikannan has a net worth of $1.2 billion. Kunhikannan is the founder and managing director of Kaynes Technology, an electronics manufacturer based in Mysore. Established in 1989, Kaynes specialises in assembling printed circuit boards and operates eight factories across India, supplying 350 clients globally in the automotive, aerospace, and medical industries.

Kabir Mulchandani

Kabir Mulchandani is the proprietor of FIVE Holdings, a Dubai-based real estate firm renowned for its luxury party hotels and resorts across the Middle East, Spain, and Switzerland. His net worth is $2 billion. Mulchandani established the company in 2011 and intends to launch it on the Dubai stock exchange in 2025. Originally from Mumbai, he initially worked in his family’s consumer electronics business before relocating to Dubai in the early 2000s to pursue investments in real estate.

Ramesh Jaisinghani

Ramesh Jaisinghani’s net worth is $1.6 billion, and he derives his fortune from his stake in Polycab India, a company specialising in electrical wires and cables. Founded by his elder brother Inder as a trading firm in 1986, Polycab now supplies a wide range of products, including power cables, solar cables, and optical fibre cables, to industries such as power, oil and gas, and renewable energy. In 2014, Polycab expanded its product line to include electric fans, LED lighting, switches, and switchgear, eventually going public in 2019.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/forbes-worlds-billionaires-list-2024-has-25-indians-feature-for-first-time-2522846-2024-04-03

Disney has won a boardroom battle against critics who had accused the media giant of botching its streaming strategy and losing its creative spark.

Activist investors, including Nelson Peltz of Trian Management, had sought seats on the company’s board of directors, which they said was too close to Disney’s leadership.

They pledged to push for priorities such as higher profits.

A majority of shareholders voted to maintain the company’s current board.

At its shareholder meeting on Wednesday, Disney said its board nominees had been elected by a “substantial margin”. Just 31% of votes cast supported Mr Peltz for a seat, according to a source familiar with the results.

But the hard-fought battle raised pointed questions about struggles at Disney’s film and television business, and cast a shadow over the legacy of long-time leader Bob Iger.

“All we want is for Disney to get back to making great content and delighting consumers and for Disney to create sustainable long-term value for shareholders,” Mr Peltz said at the shareholder meeting on Wednesday.

Mr Peltz is known for his fights with big companies such as fast food chain Wendy’s and Procter & Gamble, maker of brands such as Pampers and Vick’s.

He had criticised Disney for responding too slowly as pay television subscribers started to flee in 2015 and said big gambles, such as Mr Iger’s decision to buy a hefty chunk of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in 2019, had not paid off.

Trian and another firm, Blackwells Capital, said the board had overpaid executives and bungled its responsibility to pick a new chief executive.

They also called for a review of Disney’s studio operations, noting a streak of films that have disappointed at the box office.

The debate coincided with pressure Disney has been under from right-wing activists, who have accused the firm of “going woke”.

Concern about how Disney is handling culture wars issues prompted several questions from shareholders at Wednesday’s meeting, where separate shareholder proposals focused on Disney’s political and charitable donations and its policies for trans employees were also defeated.

Disney had urged shareholders to vote against those proposals and to back the current board. It said new faces threatened to disrupt progress that the company has been making.

“As we gather today, we stand on a far more solid foundation,” Mr Iger said in remarks at the meeting after the results were announced. “We have turned the corner and entered a new positive era for the Walt Disney company.”

Mr Iger had retired as chief executive in 2020, but Disney’s board abruptly re-installed him as boss in 2022, ousting his successor amid complaints about the company’s streaming business and other issues.

Soon after his return Mr Iger announced a reorganisation and thousands of job cuts in a bid to improve the company’s profits. He is now planning to step aside at the end of 2026.

“With the distracting proxy contest now behind us, we’re eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers,” Mr Iger said in a statement after the victory.

The investor battle was costly for both sides.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68725961

Cash-strapped Byju’s and its investors are engaged in a bitter battle over the company’s rights issue of $200 million in a petition alleging oppression and mismanagement.

Byju Raveendran, whose net worth a year ago was ₹17,545 crore ($2.1 billion), has hit zero, according to the Forbes Billionaire Index 2024. The massive slide comes at a time when the edtech entrepreneur is locked in a bitter battle with dissenting investors.

Once high-flying edtech firm, this is a significant mark down for the poster child of India’s startup ecosystem. Noting Byju’s fall from the list, Forbes said, “Only four people from last year’s list dropped off this time, including former edtech star Byju Raveendran, whose firm Byju’s was enveloped in multiple crises and its valuation was marked down by BlackRock to $1 billion, a fraction of its peak $22 billion valuation in 2022.”

Cash-strapped Byju’s and its investors are engaged in a bitter battle over the company’s rights issue of $200 million in a petition alleging oppression and mismanagement. The four investors — Prosus, General Atlantic, Sofina, and Peak XV (formerly Sequoia) — had sought a stay on the rights issue at less than 99 per cent enterprise valuation compared to Byju’s peak valuation of $22 billion.

The investors fear the rights issue would wipe out the value of their investment.

Here are India’s 10 richest people in Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2024:

Mukesh Ambani — net worth $116 billion
Gautam Adani — net worth $84 billion
Shiva Nadar — net worth $36.9 billion
Savitri Jindal — net worth $33.5 billion
Dilip Shanghvi- net worth $26.7 billion
Cyrus Poonawalla — net worth $21.3 billion
Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/from-21-bn-a-year-ago-to-zero-byju-raveendrans-net-worth-plummets-amid-ongoing-crisis-424212-2024-04-03

Google, the search engine used by more than a billion people around the world, is reported to be considering charging for premium content generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

The company, owned by Alphabet Inc, is said to be revamping its business model and looking at putting some of its core product behind a paywall.

It would be the first time Google had charged for any of its content.

Google said it did not have anything to announce “right now”.

According to the Financial Times (FT) it is said to be looking at whether to add certain AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services which already offer access to its new AI assistant called Gemini, Google’s version of the viral chatbot ChatGPT.

Executives have reportedly not yet made a decision when or whether to move ahead with the technology but the FT said engineers were developing the know-how needed to deploy the service.

Google’s traditional search engine would remain free of charge but would continue to appear with ads alongside searched-for content, which subscribers would also see, the FT said.

Google has faced challenges coming to grips with the AI revolution – earlier this year Gemini, which can answer questions in text form but also generate pictures in response to text prompts, stoked controversy after it mistakenly created an image of the US Founding Fathers including a black man.

It also generated German soldiers from World War Two, incorrectly featuring a black man and an Asian woman.

Why Google’s ‘woke’ AI problem won’t be an easy fix
Google apologised and immediately “paused” the tool, saying it was “missing the mark”.

However, the company is still number one for the majority of internet users when it comes to searching for information.

According to the global market research company Statista, Google has dominated the desktop search engine market since 2015 with a solid 80%+ of internet users. Various websites suggest it has more than a billion daily users.

The majority of Google’s revenues are generated through advertising. Its parent company, Alphabet, is one of the biggest internet companies worldwide with a 2023 valuation of $1.6tn (£1.26tn), according to Statista.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68727857

Byju’s blamed ‘foreign investors’ and said “few misguided foreign investors in Byju’s have obtained interim order in February which restricted usage of funds.”

Byju’s said that it will delay March salaries to its employees making it the third straight month when the edtech company struggled with disbursements. The company blamed ‘foreign investors’ for the financial woes, in an email to employees as it said that “a few misguided foreign investors in Byju’s have obtained an interim order in late February which has restricted usage of the funds raised through the successful rights issue”. The company is following a parallel line of credit to ensure disbursal of salaries by 8 April, the email said as per Mint.

What Byju’s email said to employees on salaries?

“We are writing to you today with a heavy heart but with a message of hope and reassurance. We regret to inform you that there will again be a delay in the disbursement of salaries…This irresponsible action by the 4 foreign investors has compelled us to temporarily hold the disbursal of salaries until the restriction is lifted,” it said, adding, “We have full faith in the Indian judicial system and we eagerly await a favourable outcome that will enable us to utilise the funds raised through the rights issue and alleviate the financial challenges that we are currently facing.”

Byju’s salary woes in January and February

Byju’s has been struggling to pay salaries on time since January this year. In February, Byju Raveendran said in an email to employees, “I have been moving mountains for months to make payroll, and this time, the struggle was even bigger to ensure that you receive what you rightfully deserve.” The company has reportedly paid only a portion of February salaries and said that it will ‘pay the balance once the rights issue funds are available’.

The income tax rule disallowing businesses from claiming tax deductions for payments beyond 45 days to micro, small and media unterprises (MSMEs) for supply of goods and services will come into effect on Monday.

According to Section 43B(h) of the Income Tax Act, introduced through Finance Act 2023, if a larger company does not pay an MSME on time — within 45 days in case of written agreements — it cannot deduct that expense from its taxable income, leading to potentially higher taxes.

Some industry bodies have urged the government to postpone implementation of the new payment rules, the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) is of the opinion that the new rule has the potential to be a game-changer for MSMEs.

MSMEs fear that due to this provision, large buyers could cold-shoulder MSME suppliers and start buying either from those MSMEs that are not registered with Udyam or from non-MSMEs.

Acknowledging that Section 43B(h) has caused some apprehensions among both MSMEs and larger businesses, FISME said, “such fears are unfounded”.

“Replacing dependable suppliers just because a large company does not want to pay them in time is a ridiculous conclusion to draw. In any case, in the worst eventuality, the tax thus paid over such delays can be adjusted the following year when the company pays the supplier. But it does instill discipline in commercial practices,” the industry body said.

Source: https://www.news18.com/business/timely-payment-to-msmes-latest-rule-to-come-into-force-from-monday-8834639.html

Here’s a look at some of the changes in tax rules that will be effective from April 1

April 1 marks the beginning of a new financial year after which Union Budget proposals on income tax take into effect from this day. These changes were announced by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech this year in February. Here’s a look at some of the changes in tax rules that will be effective from April 1:

1. There will be a default adoption of the new tax regime which aims to streamline tax filing procedure and promote greater participation in the new regime. Although, taxpayers will still have liberty to stick to the old tax regime if it is more beneficial to them.
2. The tax slabs will be as follows: Income from 3 lakh and 6 lakh will be taxed at 5%, 6 lakh to 9 lakh will be taxed at 10%, 9 lakh to 12 lakh will be taxed at 15%,12 lakh to 15 lakh will taxed 20% and ₹15 lakh and above will be taxed at 30%.
3. Standard deduction of ₹50,000, which was previously applicable to the old tax regime, has now been incorporated into the new tax regime. This will further decrease taxable income under the new regime.
4. The highest rate of surcharge of 37% on income above 5 crore has been reduced to 25%.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/new-tax-rules-come-into-effect-from-april-1-heres-all-you-need-to-know-on-basic-exemption-limit-and-rebate-101711702814107.html

Investors whose KYC records have been successfully verified using the accepted OVDs, coupled with confirmed mobile numbers and email addresses, are exempt from undergoing this verification process.

Stock market: Investors active in the stock market and mutual funds trading whose Know Your Customer (KYC) credentials are found to be inconsistent with the officially valid documents (OVDs) have been asked to update their information before March 31, 2024. That means just one day is left to update the KYC information. Failure to do so will result in the invalidation of KYC status.

However, it is crucial to note that this requirement doesn’t apply to all. Investors whose KYC records have been successfully verified using the accepted OVDs, coupled with confirmed mobile numbers and email addresses, are exempt from undergoing this verification process.

A circular by CDSL Ventures dated March 28, 2024, stated: “For such older KYC cases (i.e. Non Aadhaar-based KYC records lodged up to August 2023), where the KYC record meets the PAN – Aadhaar seeding validation (where applicable and already implemented w.e.f. July 01, 2023) and Email / Mobile are validated by KRA and the KYC record is in verified (KYC Registered) status with KRA, such investors will be allowed to continue transacting in securities market with their existing intermediary. However, these investors would need to undergo fresh KYC as per the extant framework for getting onboard with any new intermediary. Accordingly, it may be noted that such older KYC cases where email ID/mobile number validation is not successful, such KYC records would need to be put ‘ON HOLD’ in the KRA system with effect from April 01, 2024.”

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/personal-finance/investment/story/stock-mutual-fund-investment-is-updating-kyc-info-before-march-31-must-for-all-investors-423528-2024-03-30

IPL 2024: Cricket’s marquee tournament sees Star India and Reliance’s Viacom18 fighting it out; next year will be a very different story.

It’s IPL time again and there is a big battle for the advertising pie. Whether you are watching the marque tournament on television or on digital, the talk is on viewership or eyeballs. The larger that number is, the more likely is the ability of the medium to rake in more moolah.

This year is one with a bit of a difference. The Disney-owned Star India and Reliance Industries’ Viacom18 are fighting it out in the market at the most interesting time. In February, a mega $8.5 billion deal was inked between Reliance Industries and The Walt Disney Company to merge their digital and streaming assets in India. The former will hold a majority control in the new entity.

According to Balu Nayar, former MD of IMG and a key architect of IPL, one stronger entity will help streamline the rights. “As we’ve seen in the last IPL, the existence of streaming rights with one entity and linear television with another resulted in revenues that were significantly lower compared to a situation of one owning the combined rights,” he says.

Last year saw the two competing the same content and equivalent audience numbers for revenue from the same advertisers. “It was a complete buyer’s market, where advertising rates were negotiated lower and lower. That may not have affected Reliance much but for Disney, having spent a lot on both the acquisition of Star India and the IPL rights, it was a death knell.”

If things go to plan, the Reliance-Disney merger will be done by next year’s IPL and can drive home a hard bargain. “They would be in a far stronger position with respect to both advertisers and distribution partners, as this is traditional must-have content. In this case, we will see the rights for the IPL, BCCI and ICC with one entity and Sony having a minor component.”

Importantly, this year’s IPL will coincide with the Lok Sabha elections. By the looks of it, it will be an event with high viewership and a huge positive for the news business. A marketing head with a prominent advertiser is clear that media budgets will need to be balanced smartly.

“If the allocation was 80% for IPL in a non-election year, it could easily come down to 40% this time,” says the executive. There is a good chance that advertisers will come aboard the IPL bandwagon after the first few days of the league. After all, the stakes are huge. Cricket is India’s biggest sport and media rights for IPL are amongst the most expensive globally. That said, the auction concluded in 2022 saw the total outgo to acquire the media rights at over Rs 48,000 crore, which was a spike of 2.6x to the last round. When one is speaking of that kind of numbers, a battle royale for advertising revenue is only to be expected.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/sports/ipl/story/ipl-2024-a-big-battle-for-the-advertising-pie-ahead-422985-2024-03-27

Zomato share price: Zomato stock was up more than 1.35 per cent to ₹176.45 and commanded a total market capitalization of more than 1.55 lakh crore.

Zomato share price: Shares of Zomato Ltd hit an all-time high today (March 26) as the market resumed for the last trading week of FY24 after Holi. Zomato stock was up more than 1.35 per cent to ₹176.45 and commanded a total market capitalization of more than 1.55 lakh crore. This comes after e-commerce arm of Zomato Blinkit hiked its delivery charges by ₹11-35 in certain areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) which are likely to boost Zomato’s topline and profitability.

Zomato share price today

Zomato stock opened upside today and went on to touch an intraday high of ₹183.40 per share level on NSE. In the past one year, the shares have logged over 250 percent rise in the last one year.

Zomato share price: Is it the Blinkit effect?

Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of Blinkit said, “We hit our all time high orders, OPM (orders per minute), and almost every other metric on the board! Thank you for choosing us for your Holi needs.” Among the most ordered products on e-commerce platforms were Gulal, water balloons, white T-shirts, detergents and sweets.

Is Zomato share price rising because of IPL?

Zomato could also be reaping benefits of Indian premier league (IPL) in the first quarter of FY25.

What Bernstein and other brokerages said on Zomato stock?

Brokerage firm Bernstein gave an ‘outperform’ rating on Zomato with a target price of ₹200 on the stock. Meanwhile, broker Kotak Institutional Equities put the stock at ₹190 with a ‘buy’ rating. JM Financial has a ‘buy’ rating on Zomato and put a target price of ₹200.

Tesla was recently passed by Chinese company BYD for worldwide sales of electric vehicles.

Tesla and Apple could be about to lose millions of customers in China as the state pushes people to opt for domestic products rather than Western technology.

Both companies have reportedly been forced into discounting many of their products to compete with Chinese competitors.

Many at China’s annual Communist Party event told the Financial Times that they are using devices from Chinese companies.

Zhan Wenlong, a nuclear physicist and party delegate, told the outlet: “For people coming here, they encourage us to use domestic phones, because phones like Apple are not safe.

“[Apple phones] are made in China, but we don’t know if the chips have back doors.”

Guo, an employee at the government-funded think tank in China, told the outlet that he and his colleagues were told to ditch their Apple devices for Huawei equivalents.

He said: “They gave us a deadline with a month and day by which we would have to stop using iPhones.

“They didn’t give us any subsidies, instead one day Huawei people came into our office with boxes of phones to sell, all 20 per cent off. Our whole building was fighting to get the phones.”

Nong Jiagui, a teacher in Yunnan province, added: “Schools are told to use Chinese phones as well, to support Chinese companies.”

Other Western brands such as Nike and Adidas have also seen a sales slump in China amid increased competition from domestic products.

Tesla’s shares dropped more than seven percent this week after another sales decline in China.

Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, sold 60,365 China-made vehicles in February, down 19 percent from a year earlier, Reuters reports.

Chinese competitor, BYD, passed Tesla for worldwide sales of electric vehicles.

Source: https://www.the-express.com/finance/business/130595/tesla-apple-china-sales-byd

Dwarka Expressway Inauguration Today: According to the officials, Dwarka Expressway has a direct link to the Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

PM Modi Dwarka Expressway Inauguration: As part of mega infra push, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Gurugram section of the Dwarka Expressway on Monday. The engineering marvel, which is India’s first elevated Highway, witnessed the launch of 19-km stretch in Gurugram. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari were also present at the event. The Gurugram stretch has eight lanes, four on each side. This is the first highway in India that has been constructed on a single pier.

There are several interesting features of this speedway. According to the officials, Dwarka Expressway has a direct link to the Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The last 500-metre link of the 2.3 km tunnel, which is closest to the IGI Airport, has been made explosion-proof.

The Haryana segment of the Dwarka Expressway has been constructed at an approximate cost of Rs 4,100 crore. It comprises two sections: a 10.2 km stretch from Delhi-Haryana Border to Basai Rail-over-Bridge (ROB) and an 8.7 km segment from Basai ROB to Kherki Daula. This expressway will facilitate direct connectivity to the IGI Airport in Delhi and the Gurugram Bypass.

Source; https://www.financialexpress.com/business/roadways-modis-mega-infra-push-pm-launches-gurugram-stretch-of-dwarka-expressway-dedicates-112-national-highways-to-nation-bkg-3421036/

Close on the heels of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barring JM Financial Products from IPO financing and even financing against shares, the capital markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has barred JM Financial from acting as a lead manager for any public issue of debt securities.

According to the Sebi order, JM Financial allegedly engaged in practices that have a “detrimental effect on the orderly functioning of the market and harm the interest of the ordinary investors.”

A 22-page order by Sebi’s whole-time member Ashwani Bhatia stated that JM Financial, along with connected entities, gave an assured exit to certain investors at a profit, thereby incentivising them to apply in the public issue in contravention of the regulatory mandates.

“The manner in which subscriptions have been managed in this public issue of debt instrument is shocking. The transactions at every stage of this public issue appear to have been done in a pre-determined and pre-meditated manner; and executed clinically to ensure subscription and success… In the process, market integrity and fair price discovery have been compromised,” stated the Sebi order.

The probe revealed that in a particular debt issue, a significant number of individual investors sold the securities allotted to them on the day of listing itself.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/story/sebi-bars-jm-financial-from-acting-as-lead-manager-for-public-issue-of-debt-securities-420560-2024-03-07

7th Pay Commission: In a bonanza for central government employees, the Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a 4 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) to 50 per cent of the basic pay. The 4% DA hike, which will benefit over one crore central government employees and pensioners, will become effective from January 1, 2024. Apart from this, HRA has also been increased for the employees.

Briefing about the Cabinet decisions today, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, “The DA hike will cost the exchequer Rs 12,868 crore.”

The government has also increased dearness relief (DR) by 4 per cent. DA is given to government employees, while DR is given to pensioners. DA and DR are hiked twice a year, with effect from January and July.

How Much Salary Hike Will Central Govt Employees Get?

Since the government has announced a 4 per cent DA hike, how much is the salary hike likely for central government employees? If somebody’s salary is Rs 50,000 per month and has Rs 15,000 as the basic pay. He or she currently gets Rs 6,900, which is 46 per cent of the basic pay. However, after the 4 per cent hike, the employee will get Rs 7,500 per month, which is Rs 600 higher as compared with Rs 6,900 earlier. So, if someone has a Rs 50,000 salary a month with Rs 15,000 as the basic pay, his or her salary will rise by Rs 600 per month.

Source: https://www.news18.com/business/govt-announces-4-da-hike-heres-what-it-means-for-central-govt-employees-8806909.html

Critics say Beijing could force video-sharing app to share data on its US users and spread propaganda.

A US House of Representatives committee on Thursday voted 50-0 to advance the bill, setting it up for a likely full vote in the near future.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said on X that he would bring the “critical national security bill” to the House floor for a vote next week.

The bill, introduced by Republican Mike Gallagher, would give Beijing-headquartered ByteDance roughly six months to divest or face a ban.

The latest push to restrict TikTok comes after former President Donald Trump’s efforts to ban the app in 2020 were blocked by the courts.

TikTok’s critics have argued that Beijing could force the platform to share data on its US users and spread propaganda and misinformation.

TikTok has denied sharing personal data with the Chinese government and insisted it would refuse any request if asked.

“The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” TikTok said in a statement accusing the legislation’s backers of seeking the predetermined outcome of a total ban.

“This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”

Gallagher denied seeking to ban the platform outright, saying it could continue to operate in the US “provided there is that separation”.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/3/8/us-lawmakers-advance-bill-to-force-tiktok-to-cut-ties-with-chinese-owner

Sales in China of Apple’s iPhone fell by 24% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared to a year earlier, according to research firm Counterpoint.

It comes as the US technology giant is facing fierce competition in the country from local rivals.

During the same period China’s Huawei saw its sales jump by 64% in its home market, the report says.

Apple and Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the BBC.

Aside from a resurgence of Huawei sales at the more expensive end of the Chinese phone market, Apple was also “squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing from the likes of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi,” Counterpoint Research’s Mengmeng Zhang wrote.

China, which is one of Apple’s biggest markets, also saw overall smartphone sales shrink by 7% in the same period, the report said.

Huawei struggled for years due to US sanctions but its sales surged after releasing its Mate 60 series of 5G smartphones in August.

It came as a major surprise as the Chinese firm was cut off from key chips and technology required for 5G mobile internet.

Honor, which is the smartphone brand spun off from Huawei in 2020, was the only other top-five brand to see sales increase in China during the period, according to the report.

Sales of Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo also fell in the first six weeks of the year, Counterpoint said.

Its report also said Apple’s share of the Chinese smartphone market dropped to 15.7% from 19% last year, putting it in fourth place as it fell from the number two spot.

Meanwhile, Huawei rose to second place as its market share grew to 16.5% from 9.4% a year earlier.

Despite its sales falling by 15% over the last year, Vivo remained China’s top-selling smartphone maker, Counterpoint said.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68486928

Tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is building a secretive underground bunker on a secluded island – and he’s not the only one.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has spent the past several years acquiring an enormous parcel of land on a picturesque and secluded Hawaiian island.

The tech billionaire is in the process of building a luxury estate, rumoured to be costing him a cool US$260 million ($400 million), but included in the plans is a secretive underground bunker that’s twice as big as an average Australian home.

Reports about the project sparked concern in certain corners of the internet and saw a flood of inquiries directed at companies that construct sub-terrain shelters.

Mr Zuckerberg, executive chairman and CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, hasn’t commented on the bunker revelations and anyone working on his property is bound by a strict gag order.

But it appears he has been quietly planning his fortified retreat for at least a decade.

Zuck’s shopping spree

It was Christmas in 2016 when Zuckerberg took to his social media platform to share happy snaps of his family enjoying the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Home to about 73,000 locals, the pristine piece of paradise – known as ‘The Garden Isle’ – has served as the setting of major Hollywood productions, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurassic Park.

Most residents are descendants of Native Hawaiians, as well as Chinese, Puerto Rican and Filipino migrants who came to work on sugar plantations in the late 19th Century.

It’s also beloved by tourists from around the world, and more recently by the rich and famous.

“A few years ago, Priscilla and I visited Kauai and fell in love with the community and the cloudy green mountains,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote in 2016.

“We kept coming back with family and friends, and eventually decided to plant roots and join the community ourselves.

“We bought land and we’re dedicated to preserving its natural beauty. It’s filled with wildlife like pigs, turtles, rare birds and seals, and local farmers use it to grow fruits and spices. I love taking Max to explore and see all the animals.”

Records show he’d embarked on a frenzied shopping spree beginning in 2014.

A few days after his Christmas post, hundreds of Hawaiians who held a possible interest in small parcels of land within Zuckerberg’s estate were served with lawsuits by the billionaire.

Such is Hawaii’s colonial past that much of the land has a complex history of ownership, including a concept known as ‘kuleana’.

Hawaiian law allows the transfer of ancestral land to descendants without formal deeds, meaning a large number of people could hold shares in portions of land within Mr Zuckerberg’s compound.

His lawsuits offered those descendants a choice – either sell up or be legally forced to put the land up for public auction.

There was a fair amount of discontent among locals, but Makaala Kaaumoana, executive director of an environmental group in Hanalei on Kauai, thought the lawsuits were “a good thing”.

“It is always a sad thing when families lose their land, for any reason, but at least this way they are compensated,” Ms Kaaumoana told The Guardian.

An enormous compound

Since then, Zuckerberg has seized a total of 5.5 million square metres of land and surrounded it with a 2m high wall, with guards positioned along the perimeter and a security force conducting patrols on quad bikes.

To put the mammoth estate into perspective, that’s 1359 acres or 550 hectares of dirt – about 80 per cent of the size of Sydney’s CBD.

An investigation by tech magazine Wired uncovered details about what Zuckerberg, worth an estimated US$176 billion (AU$269 billion) has planned for his island estate.

“[The] compound consists of more than a dozen buildings with at least 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms in total,” the report revealed, sighting planning documents obtained by the outlet.

“It is centred around two mansions with a total floor area comparable to a professional football field [5295 square metres] which contain multiple elevators, offices, conference rooms, and an industrial-sized kitchen.

“In a nearby wooded area, a web of 11 disk-shaped tree houses are planned, which will be connected by intricate rope bridges, allowing visitors to cross from one building to the next while staying among the treetops.

“A building on the other side of the main mansions will include a full-size gym, pools, sauna, hot tub, cold plunge, and tennis court. The property is dotted with other guesthouses and operations buildings.”

But the most eyebrow-raising feature is away from view.

“The plans show that the two central mansions will be joined by a tunnel that branches off into a 5,000 square foot [464 square metres] underground shelter, featuring living space, a mechanical room, and an escape hatch that can be accessed via a ladder.”

The incredible size of the bunker, which has a blast-proof door, is double that of the average Australian home.

It will be entirely self-sustainable, producing its own food and water.

When complete, Zuckerberg’s Hawaiian estate will rank as one of the most expensive private properties in the world.

Few other details are known about the bunker.

Everyone who enters the property must sign a strict nondisclosure agreement, according to reports, and workers are sworn to secrecy.

Various media reports make mention of labourers being sacked after sharing selfies from the property on social media – posts that were quickly detected by Zuckerberg’s representatives.

“It’s fight club,” a former contractor told Wired. “We don’t talk about fight club.”

What does Zuck know?

When news emerged of Mr Zuckerberg’s bunker construction, Ron Hubbard, boss of Atlas Survival Shelters, said “it got really busy”.

“[It] caused a buying frenzy [and] the phone hasn’t stopped ringing [like] World War III is coming,” Mr Hubbard told The Hollywood Reporter.

One such bunker sold was a US$7.5 million (AU$11.5 million) underground compound in Oklahoma, he said.

Robert Vicino, founder of another bunker design and construction company called Del Mar, was also inundated with interest from interested buyers.

“Now that Zuckerberg has let the cat out of the bag, that’s got other people who share his status or are near his status starting to think, ‘Oh God, if he’s doing that, maybe he knows something that I don’t, maybe I should seek this out myself,” Mr Vicino told The Hollywood Reporter.

“But it’s no secret that the one-percenters and top-ranking government officials have been in on this bunker idea for a long-a** time. The pandemic was a huge driver of interest in sales; then all the global concerns and issues at home are another boost.”

Source: https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/billionaire-facebook-founder-mark-zuckerberg-building-enormous-secretive-underground-bunker/news-story/717b98c50292ff01f82adc6ab53758b8

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, is the latest in a series of legal challenges the billionaire faces after he acquired the social media company for $44 billion in October 2022 and later renamed it X.

Four former top Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, have sued Elon Musk for over $128 million in combined unpaid severance, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, is the latest in a series of legal challenges the billionaire faces after he acquired the social media company for $44 billion in October 2022 and later renamed it ‘X’.

The other plaintiffs are Ned Segal, Twitter’s former chief financial officer; Vijaya Gadde, its former chief legal officer; and Sean Edgett, its former general counsel.

Mere minutes after Musk took control of Twitter, the former executives say they were fired and that Musk falsely accused them of misconduct and forced them out of Twitter after they sued the billionaire for attempting to renege on his offer to purchase the company.

Musk then denied the executives severance pay they had been promised for years before he acquired Twitter, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say they each are owed one year’s salary and hundreds of thousands of stock options.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/former-twitter-executives-including-parag-agrawal-sue-elon-musk-for-over-128-million-in-severance-2921895

Byju’s crisis: Byju’s said that the latest disclosures dispel fake narratives that the $553 million have been siphoned off.

Byju’s, that claimed on Saturday that it had no money to pay salaries to employees after the just-raised funds through rights issue, stated ahead of a US court hearing that it has $553 million parked in an American investment firm. On Sunday evening, the edtech firm, ahead of a hearing on the whereabouts of its $553 million funds, said that its subsidiary in the US is the beneficial owner of the fund. Byju’s, however, can’t bring TLB (term loan B) money to India, so it can’t be used to pay the salaries of its employees.

“Camshaft, in its latest submission, has disclosed to the Delaware Court that the USD 533 million was transferred from BYJU’S Alpha to another 100 per cent Think & Learn owned subsidiary, Inspilearn LLC (a Delaware firm). As BYJU’s has indicated previously – the funds continue to remain in a Think and Learn subsidiary, contrary to the false allegation made by a select list of investors before the NCLT in India,” Byju’s said in a statement.

The Florida hedge fund was asked to reveal where the money is located or face possible sanctions from a federal judge. “Camshaft, in its latest submission, stated it had transferred the money to a non-US Fund in the name of a 100 per cent subsidiary of Think & Learn, Inspilearn LLC. It also clarified that no limited partners in the Camshaft Capital Fund are related or are any subsidiary of Think & Learn,” Byju’s statement claimed.

Camshaft is a wealth manager that managed the funds, according to the Byju’s statement. The manager transferred the money to a 100 per cent subsidiary of Byju’s the company said. Byju’s said that this is consistent with its position that the group entities remained the beneficiary holders of the money, which the lenders have sought to gain information of, citing technical defaults.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/byjus-says-it-is-beneficiary-owner-of-553-million-fund-parked-in-subsidiary-419872-2024-03-04

Google’s Gemini chatbot issue: Google shut down Gemini’s human image generation capabilities while Sundar Pichai called the mistake “completely unacceptable”.

Amid controversy over Google’s AI chatbot Gemini which was accused of being “racist” as it refused to generate images of white people and portraying historical figures who were originally white as people of colour, CEO Sundar Pichai is facing calls to resign. Google shut down Gemini’s human image generation capabilities while Sundar Pichai called the mistake “completely unacceptable”. But demands for his resignation increased as per a Business Insider report.

Analysts Ben Thompson and Mark Shmulik said that things at Google needed to change, including possibly replacing CEO Sundar Pichai, as per the report. Ben Thompson said that there is also a need to address past issues while Mark Shmulik asserted that Sundar Pichai may not be suitable for guiding Google in the future.

Ben Thompson said that Google needed a “transformation” that would “mean removing those who let the former run amok, up to and including CEO Sundar Pichai.”

Mark Shmulik in a note wrote, “The most recent saga only further raises increasingly louder questions around whether this is the right management team to guide Google into this next era.”

This comes as Google’s Gemini was called out by several users for generating historically inaccurate images and accused of being “too woke”, “racist” and producing wrong details about “white people”.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/googles-gemini-chatbot-issue-will-sundar-pichai-resign-he-is-running-amok-101709532168862.html

In his speech, Anant Ambani expressed gratitude towards family, friends, and guests who convened in Jamnagar to celebrate the pre-wedding festivities with Radhika Merchant.

Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, experienced a deeply emotional moment during the pre-wedding ceremony of his youngest son, Anant Ambani, in Jamnagar, Gujarat. As Anant openly spoke about his health issues, Mukesh Ambani was moved, reflecting a heartfelt instance amidst the joyous pre-wedding event.

In his speech, Anant Ambani expressed gratitude towards family, friends, and guests who convened in Jamnagar to celebrate the pre-wedding festivities with Radhika Merchant.

“My life has not always been a bed of roses. I have also experienced the pain of thorns. I have faced many health crises since childhood, but my father and mother have never let me feel that I have suffered. They always stood by me, making me believe that if I can think it, I can do it. That is what my father and mother mean to me, and I am eternally grateful,” said Anant Ambani during his speech. His words, particularly addressing his health issues, moved his father Mukesh Ambani, making the moment emotional.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/video-mukesh-ambani-breaks-down-after-son-anant-mentions-about-his-health-issues-parents-support-at-pre-wedding-ceremony

The 737 MAX 9 jet was forced to make an emergency landing when a door plug blew out mid-flight

Three passengers who were on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 when a door plug blew out mid-flight on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet in January have filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the airline and Boeing.

Kyle Rinker and his girlfriend Amanda Strickland were seated just two rows diagonally behind the teenager who had his shirt sucked off when the door plug flew off, their attorney Jonathan Johnson, an aviation law specialist, said in a press release this week.

Kevin Kwok, who was also sitting near the pair, is also part of the lawsuit filed late last month in Multnomah County, Oregon.

“This is mostly about the systemic problems at Boeing, which is jeopardizing the lives of the entire traveling public who travel on Boeing aircraft,” Johnson told KGW-TV. “They should not be trusting luck to avoid a planeload of people being killed.”

Rinker told KGW that about five minutes into the flight “we heard the loud pop. We were just sitting there trying to relax … and then, that thing just happens. The oxygen masks come down, just like, ‘Oh, wow, something’s going on. We got to get these on.'”

He added, “The wind just came rushing it. It was very, very cold all of the sudden, obviously, because you’re flying up there at 16,000 feet.”

Rinker said they live in an area where he often hears airplanes overhead, which has been triggering since the incident.

“We have not been on a plane since. I’m not sure when that will happen again,” he said.

The lawsuit is just the latest legal challenge that Alaska and Boeing have faced since the Jan. 5 incident when the Ontario, California-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing back in Portland. No serious injuries were reported.

Mark Lindquist, another lawyer who represents 22 other passengers who were onboard Flight 1282 when it depressurized, told Fox Business last month their lawsuit against Boeing and Alaska had been expanded to include the allegation that passengers on a prior flight of the aircraft heard a whistling sound.

The updated lawsuit says, “there was a whistling sound coming from the vicinity of the door plug on a previous flight of the subject plane. Passengers apparently noticed the whistling sound and brought it to the attention of flight attendants who reportedly informed the pilot or first officer.”

Source : https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/boeing-alaska-airlines-hit-1b-lawsuit-filed-3-flight-1282-passengers

The money generated from these illegal operations, i.e. proceeds of crime were routed and channelled through bank accounts maintained by these entities with the Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, the ministry said.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/companies/paytm-payments-bank-fined-rs-549-cr-for-money-laundering-2918057

More than a billion people globally are now considered obese, a condition linked to an increased risk of numerous serious health problems, according to updated estimates from the World Health Organization and an international group of researchers.
Obesity is so prevalent it has become more common than being underweight in most nations, including many low and-middle income countries that have previously struggled with undernourishment.

“A staggering number of people are living with obesity,” said Majid Ezzati, senior author of the paper published, opens new tab in The Lancet on Thursday and a professor at Imperial College London.
The findings, considered among the most authoritative of independent estimates, are based on data from more than 220 million people in more than 190 countries.
While obesity rates are plateauing in many wealthier countries, they are rising rapidly elsewhere, Ezzati added. And while being underweight is becoming less common globally, in many countries it remains a significant issue, leaving increasing numbers of countries facing what is known as the “double burden” of malnutrition.

“In the past, we have been thinking of obesity as a problem of the rich. Obesity is a problem of the world,” said Francesco Branca, head of nutrition at the WHO, in a press conference.
Obesity rates for adults more than doubled between 1990 and 2022, and more than quadrupled among children and adolescents aged 5-19, the paper said.
Over the same period, the proportion of girls, boys and adults considered underweight fell by a fifth, a third and half, respectively, the analysis found.

Ezzati called the rise in obesity rates among children “very concerning”, mirroring a trajectory seen with adults since even before 1990. At the same time, he said, hundreds of millions still do not have enough to eat.
Being severely underweight can be very detrimental to childrens’ development and, at its most extreme, the condition can cause people to starve to death. Obese people are also at risk of premature death and disability given the link to the early onset of diabetes, heart and kidney disease, and a slew of other serious health conditions.
The rise in the double-burden has been greatest in some low- and middle-income countries, the paper said, including parts of the Caribbean and the Middle East.
In these countries, obesity rates are now higher than in many high-income countries, particularly in Europe. In some European countries like Spain, there are indications obesity rates could be starting to decline or at least stagnate, Ezzati added.
The updates are the first from the team since 2017, opens new tab, and were compiled by more than 1,500 scientists in the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. At that point, around 774 million people above the age of 5 were estimated to be living with obesity, a similar proportion – around 1 in 8 people – as the new figures.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said implementing measures such as taxes on high sugar products and promoting healthy school meals were needed to help tackle obesity rates.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/more-than-billion-people-worldwide-are-obese-who-study-finds-2024-02-29/

Canada’s antitrust watchdog widened its investigation into whether Google’s online advertising business is engaging in predatory pricing.

As part of the Competition Bureau’s probe — which expands on an investigation that initially began in 2020 — the law enforcement agency obtained an order from the Federal Court of Canada requiring Google to producing relevant records and written information, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Competition Bureau was issued its first court order related to their investigation into Google’s conduct in the online-display-advertising market in October 2021, which sought to determine whether the Alphabet subsidiary was “impeding the success of competitors” and surging prices as a result, The Journal reported.

The bureau said Thursday that it’s also now examining whether Google is using its market power across display-advertising-technology services to harm competition.

In addition, the Competition Bureau is looking into Google’s potential predatory pricing, according to The Journal, which is a strategy often deployed to weaken rivals by establishing extremely low prices.

“The investigation is ongoing and there is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time,” the bureau told The Journal.

A Google spokesperson argued in a statement to The Post that “the advertising technology industry is highly competitive and constantly evolving, which has lowered costs and expanded choices for consumers.”

“We will continue to engage constructively with the Canadian Competition Bureau and demonstrate the benefits of our products to Canadian businesses and consumers,” the spokesperson added. “Canadian businesses choose to use our advertising products because they’re effective and reliable at helping them reach their customers and grow.”

The Competition Bureau’s investigation adds to the scrutiny Google is facing from other organizations around the globe.

On Wednesday, the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech behemoth was hit with a $2.3 billion lawsuit by media giant Axel Springer and 31 other publishers, alleging that they suffered heavy losses due to the search giant’s practices in digital advertising.

The move by the group — which include publishers in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden — comes as Europe’s antitrust regulators crack down on Google’s ad tech business.

“The media companies involved have incurred losses due to a less competitive market, which is a direct result of Google’s misconduct,” the media firms’ counsel at Geradin Partners and Stek Lawyers said in a statement obtained by The Post.

“Crucially, these funds could have been reinvested into strengthening the European media landscape.”

They cited the French competition authority’s nearly $240 million fine against Google on its ad tech business in 2021 as well as the European Commission’s charges last year to buttress their group claim.

Google said that it will oppose the claims “vigorously,” and called the lawsuit “speculative and opportunistic.”

The Sundar Pichai-led firm also similarly said last year that it disagreed with EU antitrust charges against its ad tech business where it is involved in both the buy-side as well as the sell-side of the ad-tech business.

The European Union — which has implemented tougher regulations on Big Tech firms than American officials with the Digital Service Act, which took effect earlier this month — also slapped Google with a $2.7 billion antitrust fine in 2017 for market abuse related to its shopping service.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/02/29/business/google-predatory-advertising-practices-probe-expanded-by-canadas-antitrust-watchdog/

As part of this process to reduce dependencies, Paytm and Paytm Payments Bank have mutually agreed to discontinue various inter-company agreements with Paytm and its group entities.

One 97 Communications (Paytm) shares are in focus on Friday morning after Paytm and Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL) mutually agreed to discontinue various inter-company agreements. In a BSE filing, Paytm said the company and its associate entity, PPBL, introduced additional measures to strengthen their approach towards independent operations of PPBL.

As part of this process to reduce dependencies, Paytm and Paytm Payments Bank have mutually agreed to discontinue various inter-company agreements with Paytm and its group entities. Further, the shareholders of PPBL have agreed to simplify the Shareholders Agreement (SHA) to support PPBL’s governance, independent of its shareholders. The Board of OCL approved the termination of agreements and amendment of SHA on March 1, 2024.

Paytm had announced earlier that it would sign up new partnerships with other banks and take measures to provide seamless services for its customers and merchants. In its intimation to stock exchanges on Feb 1, 2024, the company had indicated the possible financial impact.

As informed earlier, One 97 Communications Limited and its services that include the Paytm app, Paytm QR, Paytm soundbox and Paytm Card machines will continue to work uninterrupted. Paytm is committed to uphold the highest standards of market leading innovation and technology enabled solutions for its customers.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/company-stock/story/paytm-shares-fintech-discontinues-inter-company-agreements-with-payments-bank-419601-2024-03-01

‘Robust economic growth, favourable demography and a thriving startup ecosystem will enable increased wealth creation opportunities for Indians going forward,’ Vivek Rathi, who heads research at Knight Frank India, said.

Bengaluru: India will witness the highest growth globally in the number of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) at 50.1% in the next five years to take the tally to 19,908 by 2028, a new report by property consultancy Knight Frank revealed on Wednesday. UHNWIs are defined as individuals with a net worth of $30 million and above.

“A range of factors will combine to propel India’s ultra wealthy population over the next five years. Robust economic growth, favourable demography and a thriving startup ecosystem will enable increased wealth creation opportunities for Indians going forward,” Vivek Rathi, who heads research at Knight Frank India, said.

Following a dip in 2022, this number grew 6.1% in 2023 to 13,263 driven by rising prosperity in India. Globally, the number of UHNWIs rose by 4.2% during the year to 6,26,619 from 6,01,300 a year earlier.

How the ultra rich spend

About 32% of the wealth of India’s ultra rich is invested in residential real estate, 14% of which is located outside the country. About 12% plan to purchase a new home in 2024. On an average an Indian UHNWI owns 2.57 homes, while a sizable 28% of the group rented out their second homes during 2023.

About 17% of their wealth is channeled towards passion investment, the top three items in which comprise luxury watches, art and jewellery. Globally, art emerged as the best performing luxury asset class with prices appreciating 11% in 2023.

“The demand for rare collectibles is on the rise across different age groups in India, and as wealth continues to grow in the country, we can anticipate further investments in these asset classes,” Knight Frank India Chairman and Managing Director Shishir Baijal said.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/indias-ultra-rich-club-to-grow-the-fastest-at-50-by-2028-knight-frank-2914891

Nita Ambani, founder and chair of Reliance Foundation, is likely to be chair of the Reliance Industries-Walt Disney merged entity, as per reports.

According to a report in Reuters that quoted sources, Nita Ambani, Mukesh Ambani’s wife is likely to be appointed chair of the board of the entity that will be formed by merging the India media assets of Reliance Industries and Walt Disney.

Reliance and Disney are close to signing the India media merger deal that has been in the works for months. An announcement is expected this week.

Earlier this week, a report by Bloomberg stated that the binding pact to merge the media operations has been signed by Disney and Reliance. It stated that Ambani-led Reliance is expected to hold 61 per cent in the merged entity, while the rest will be held by Disney.

However, as per Reuters, Reliance is expected to hold 51-54 per cent stake in the merged entity, Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and Uday Shankar is set to take a stake of 9 per cent, while Disney will hold 40 per cent.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/nita-ambani-likely-to-be-chair-of-reliance-disneys-merged-media-biz-report-419219-2024-02-28

The Reserve Bank has barred the PPBL from accepting deposits and credits from any customer post-March 15 for persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/amid-crisis-vijay-shekhar-sharma-steps-down-as-paytm-payments-bank-chairman-2910896

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and eight states said on Monday they are suing to block supermarket chain Kroger’s (KR.N), opens new tab $24.6 billion deal to buy smaller rival Albertsons (ACI.N) , opens new tab, saying it would boost grocery prices for millions of Americans.

The deal, which would create a grocery empire with more than 4,000 stores, has drawn tough scrutiny from lawmakers and consumer groups worried about higher grocery prices, job losses, store closures and diminishing choice for consumers.

U.S. food prices have risen by 25% over the last four years, and while food inflation is showing signs of cooling off in 2024, grocery bills have become a growing concern for shoppers.

The deal would strengthen Kroger’s position as the second largest player in the US grocery market behind Walmart.

The FTC’s lawsuit comes at a time when the Biden administration has pressed for lower grocery prices and pushed back against big-ticket mergers that risk price hikes, affecting consumers in areas ranging from medicines to airline tickets.

The White House, after the FTC suit was announced, said President Joe Biden believes large corporations must be checked by healthy competition.

Shares of Kroger fell 2%. Albertsons stock rose 0.6%. The deal spread, a measure of investor confidence in the merger, implies less than 40% chance of the deal being completed.

While the FTC charged the deal will eliminate “fierce competition between Kroger and Albertsons,” Kroger defended their business model, saying it has reduced prices every year since 2003 and would be applied to the merged company.

The FTC’s legal efforts “only strengthens larger, non-unionized retailers like Walmart WMT.N>, Costco COST.O> and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab by allowing them to further increase their overwhelming and growing dominance of the grocery industry,” Kroger said in a statement.

An Albertsons spokesperson added, “We are disappointed that the FTC continues to use the same outdated view of the U.S. grocery industry it used 20 years ago, and we look forward to presenting our arguments in Court.”

But the FTC sees the situation differently, noting the “supermarket mega merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years,” and warning the deal would further exacerbate “the financial strain consumers across the country face today,” said Henry Liu, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has also raised concerns over access to pharmacies and fresh groceries in rural areas and small towns.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/us-ftc-announce-it-is-suing-block-kroger-albertsons-merger-monday-semafor-2024-02-26

As per the pact, the media unit of Reliance and its affiliates are expected to own at least 61 per cent in the merged entity, with Disney holding the rest.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Walt Disney Co have signed a binding pact to merge their media operations in India, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. As per the pact, the media unit of Reliance and its affiliates are expected to own at least 61 per cent in the merged entity, with Disney holding the rest.

The stake split between the partners may change, depending on how Disney’s other local assets are factored in by the time the deal is closed. The deal is likely to be announced early this week.

The Wall Street Journal earlier this month reported that Disney had agreed to sell 60 per per cent of its Indian business to Viacom18. The deal is seen as a significant move in the Indian media and entertainment industry after the Zee-Sony deal collapsed last month.

Disney agreed to sell 60 per cent of its India business to Viacom 18 at a valuation of $3.9 billion (Rs 33,000 crore). Viacom18 is owned by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/reliance-disney-sign-binding-merger-pact-ril-to-own-61-in-merged-entity-report-418857-2024-02-25

Byju Raveendran, the founder of ed-tech unicorn Byju’s, asserted that he continues as CEO and business will go on as usual as he rejected the shareholders’ decision to oust him.

In Short

• Byju’s founder CEO Byju Raveendran asserts he remains CEO despite shareholders voting for his removal
• Raveendran calls the extraordinary general meeting a ‘farce’ and dismisses rumors of his firing
• Claims ‘essential rules were violated’ in the meeting, deeming it invalid

A day after shareholders of the ed-tech firm Byju’s voted to remove its founder-CEO Byju Raveendran from the board, the 44-year-old businessman asserted that he continues to be the firm’s CEO and management remains unchanged.

In a note to employees, he called Friday’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders a “farce” and stated that “rumours” of him being fired from Byju’s “have been greatly exaggerated and highly inaccurate”.

“I am writing this letter to you as the CEO of our company. Contrary to what you may have read in the media, I continue to remain CEO, the management remains unchanged, and the board remains the same,” he said.

On Friday, over 60 percent investors of the company voted to remove Raveendran and his family from the board over alleged “mismanagement and failures”.

However, Raveendran rejected the EGM decision and said a lot of essential rules were “violated”.

He wrote, “This means that whatever was decided in that meeting does not count, because it didn’t stick to the established rules…It is crucial for everyone to understand the specific issues that make this EGM a farce”.

Byju Raveendran or his family did not attend the EGM, which they deemed “invalid”.

In his email to the employees, the Byju’s boss also highlighted that the investor’s meeting failed to achieve a proper quorum, as it required the presence of at least one Founder Director.

“The claims made by a small group of select minority shareholders that they have unanimously passed the resolution in the EGM is completely wrong. Only 35 out of 170 shareholders (representing around 45 per cent of shareholding) voted in favour of the resolution. That in itself shows the very limited support that this irrelevant meeting received,” he further said.

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/byjus-ceo-byju-raveendran-board-meeting-investors-email-to-staff-egm-meeting-2506743-2024-02-25

Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders paid tribute to his longtime business partner and friend Charlie Munger, who died in November.

Famed investor Warren Buffett”s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders paid tribute to his longtime business partner and friend Charlie Munger, who died in November.

Investors have long sought wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha on markets, the economy and life in general. But Buffett opened Berkshire’s 2023 annual report on a personal note with a dedication to Munger, who died in November at age 99, just 33 days before the milestone birthday.

Excerpts

On investing in stocks:

I can’t remember a period since March 11, 1942 — the date of my first stock purchase — that I have not had a majority of my net worth in equities, U.S.-based equities. And so far, so good. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 100 on that fateful day in 1942 when I pulled the trigger.I was down about $5 by the time school was out. Soon, things turned around and now that index hovers around 38,000. America has been a terrific country for investors. All they have needed to do is sit quietly, listening to no one.

On picking winners:

Our goal at Berkshire is simple: We want to own either all or a portion of businesses that enjoy good economics that are fundamental and enduring. Within capitalism, some businesses will flourish for a very long time while others will prove to be sinkholes. It’s harder than you would think to predict which will be the winners and losers. And those who tell you they know the answer are usually either self-delusional or snake-oil salesmen.

On market panics:

Markets can and will unpredictably seize up or even vanish as they did for four months in 1914 and for a few days in 2001. If you believe that American investors are now more stable than in the past, think back to September 2008. Speed of communication and the wonders of technology facilitate instant worldwide paralysis, and we have come a long way since smoke signals. Such instant panics won’t happen often but they will happen.

“Berkshire’s ability to immediately respond to market seizures with both huge sums and certainty of performance may offer us an occasional large-scale opportunity. Though the stock market is massively larger than it was in our early years, today’s active participants are neither more emotionally stable nor better taught than when I was in school. For whatever reasons, markets now exhibit far more casino-like behavior than they did when I was young. The casino now resides in many homes and daily tempts the occupants.

On Berkshire’s prospects, for shareholders like his sister, Bertie:

Berkshire should do a bit better than the average American corporation and, more important, should also operate with materially less risk of permanent loss of capital. Anything beyond slightly better,though, is wishful thinking. This modest aspiration wasn’t the case when Bertie went all-in on Berkshire but it is now. There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/global-markets/story/warren-buffetts-annual-letter-tips-how-to-pick-winners-favourite-stock-charlie-munger-418825-2024-02-25

Warren Buffett on Saturday moved to reassure investors that his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), opens new tab would serve them well over the long term, even as he mourned the recent passing of his longtime second-in-command Charlie Munger.

In his widely-read annual letter to Berkshire shareholders Buffett said his more than $900 billion conglomerate has become a fortress that could withstand even an unprecedented financial disaster.

“Berkshire is built to last,” Buffett wrote.

Still, Buffett tempered expectations for Berkshire’s stock price, saying his Omaha, Nebraska-based company “should do a bit better” than the average American corporation, but that its huge size left “no possibility of eye-popping performance.”

“There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others,” Buffett wrote.

The letter was accompanied by Berkshire’s financial results, including a record $37.4 billion operating profit and $96.2 billion net profit for all of 2023.

Berkshire’s shares have risen by 4,384,748% since Buffett took over in 1965, or 19.8% compounded annually.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX), opens new tab, in contrast, gained a mere 31,223%, or 10.2% annually, though in recent years Berkshire has performed more like the index.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/warren-buffett-says-berkshire-built-last-though-eye-popping-gains-are-over-2024-02-24

Major investors of Byju’s voted for the ouster of the edtech firm’s CEO Byju Raveendran following a meeting that lasted for hours. Read to know what happens next.

Major investors of embattled edtech firm Byju’s voted to oust founder Byju Raveendran as the chief executive officer (CEO) on Friday after a Zoom call that lasted for hours.

The proceedings of the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), called by major investors of Byju’s, faced delays as several employees of the edtech firm tried to disrupt proceedings, reported Bloomberg news quoting two people who attended.

It was reported that on multiple occasions during the meeting, unidentified participants attempted to disrupt the proceedings by using whistles and other loud noises.

Over 60 per cent of the investors voted for Raveendran’s ouster at the EGM, including Prosus NV and Peak XV Partners, citing mismanagement and other challenges at the edtech company.

Prosus released a statement to confirm that the shareholders passed all the resolutions put forward for a vote. The development comes as a huge blow to the man who was once considered a poster boy of India’s edtech sector.

Not just Raveendran but they also voted to remove his family members from leadership positions at the company.

Byju’s rejects EGM outcome
Byju’s has rejected the resolutions passed by investors during the EGM, including the decision to remove Raveendran from the board of the company.

“The resolutions passed during the recently concluded extraordinary general meeting – attended by a small cohort of select shareholders – are invalid and ineffective,” according to the company statement quoted in a Bloomberg report.

Neither Byju Raveendran nor his family attended the EGM, which they deemed “invalid”.

What happens next?
While major investors have voted for the removal of Byju Raveendran as CEO of the company, it will remain on hold until March 13 as Byju Raveendran had filed a petition against the decision of investors to call for the EGM.

On Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court ruled that any resolutions passed during the EGM would be suspended till the next hearing, but declined to halt proceedings.

Anticipating the outcome of the EGM, Byju’s had already issued a statement.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/byjus-investors-prosus-peak-xv-partners-vote-for-ceo-byju-raveendran-ouster-what-happens-next-2506389-2024-02-23

A consortium of shareholders, including the global tech investor Prosus, aims to dethrone Mr Raveendran and install a new board.

The fate of Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO of ed-tech giant Byju’s, hangs in the balance as an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of its investors is scheduled to take place today. A consortium of shareholders, including the global tech investor Prosus, aims to dethrone Mr Raveendran and install a new board.

Byju’s, once hailed as one of India’s most profitable start-ups with a valuation exceeding $20 billion, has witnessed a staggering decline of approximately 90 per cent in the past year. The ed-tech firm, propelled by the surge in demand for online learning during the Covid pandemic, now grapples with a series of crises. Key investors withdrew support, Deloitte resigned as the auditor, and a legal feud with US lenders over a $1.2 billion loan added to the turmoil.

Ahead of the meeting, Byju’s claimed that the Karnataka High Court had ruled any decisions made at the meeting would be “invalid” until the next hearing, asserting that the move is a mere “smokescreen” to disrupt the company’s management and control.

Goldman Sachs said it remains selective and reiterate its ‘Buy’ rating on HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank Ltd, IndusInd Bank and Bandhan Bank among private players.

Foreign brokerage Goldman Sachs has cut its ratings on YES Bank Ltd shares to ‘Sell’ and cut its rating on State Bank of India and ICICI Bank Ltd to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy. Besides, the broking firm retained its ‘Buy’ rating on HDFC Bank but upgraded Bajaj Finance to ‘Neutral’ from Sell’. All players face the dilemma of maintaining market share or compromising margins in the wake of stronger balance sheets across the sector, the foreign brokerage said.

Goldman Sachs said there are several headwinds to deposit rates including alternatives such as stock market investments and said the Goldilocks period of strong growth and visible profitability is over in the short run. It raised concerns over consumer leverage and said return on asset is likely to moderate going ahead. Goldman Sachs has slashed its earnings estimates for banks across its coverage by 5 per cent for FY25 and 2 per cent for FY26, saying the Goldilocks period is over for the financial sector.

YES Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank price targets

For SBI, the brokerage suggested a target of Rs 741; it sees ICICI Bank at Rs 1,068 while its target price for YES Bank came in at Rs 16. For Bajaj Finance, Goldman Sachs suggested a target of Rs 6,815 while the battered shares of HDFC Bank got a target of Rs 1,915 from the foreign brokerage.

Headwinds to deposit rates

Goldman Sachs sees multiple headwinds to deposit growth and said the system would require to offer attractive rates to make bank-deposits attractive. It said strained financial savings, the rise of alternatives such as stock market investments and strong growth in alternate government schemes such as PPF and small savings are a few headwinds.

Goldilocks period over

Goldman Sachs said its FY25 and FY26 estimates are below consensus on aggregate PAT by 2 per cent and 1 per cent. However, for select names, it lowered its estimates by mid-to-high single digits.

“We believe the proverbial Goldilocks period of strong growth and visible profitability is over for the financial sector in the near term, as headwinds are increasing such as rising pressure on cost of funds due to structural challenges in the funding environment.

Consumer leverage

Goldman Sachs said there were growing concerns on rising consumer leverage, which is posing as a potential asset quality challenges, particularly in unsecured lending. Besides, it said there is pressure on operating costs due to elevated wage inflation as well as the need to expand the distribution network for future deposit growth.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/stocks/story/goldman-sachs-says-sell-yes-bank-shares-downgrades-sbi-icici-buy-hdfc-bank-it-says-418640-2024-02-23

The mountain of cash at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B 1.44%increase; green up pointing triangle just keeps growing.

Berkshire’s tally of cash and equivalents has marched skyward for five consecutive quarters, reaching a record $157.2 billion at the end of September. Whether it finished 2023 at new heights is one question investors will look to answer when the Omaha, Neb., company releases its annual report Saturday.

Followers will parse Buffett’s accompanying letter for any plans the famed investor might have for that money as well as his thoughts on the economy and markets. Many are also eager to read any reflections Buffett might share on the life and contributions of Charlie Munger, his longtime partner and friend who died Nov. 28.

Investors got their most recent look at Berkshire’s stock-market moves when the company disclosed it had trimmed its flagship position in Apple in the fourth quarter while boosting its stakes in Chevron and Occidental Petroleum.

One tantalizing mystery: Berkshire wrote for a second consecutive quarter that it was requesting confidential treatment from the Securities and Exchange Commission for one or more holdings it omitted from its public 13F filing. One reason institutional investors can ask the SEC to keep a holding private is that disclosing it would reveal a continuing program of buying or selling a security. Investors can initially ask the SEC for confidentiality for up to one year.

Some observers have guessed that Berkshire bought a financial stock because of an increase in the third quarter in the company’s cost basis for stock investments in the category of banks, insurance and finance.

Meanwhile, the tower of cash leaves Buffett equipped to pounce should he spot an attractive business to add to the Berkshire empire, which includes insurer Geico, BNSF Railway and Dairy Queen. The cash also helps maintain what Buffett described in a February 2009 letter to shareholders as Berkshire’s “Gibraltar-like financial position.”

Many shareholders say they aren’t worried that so much investing firepower is sitting in cash—especially since higher yields mean that money is earning much more than in the recent past.

Berkshire had more than $125 billion in short-term investments in U.S. Treasury bills on Sept. 30. Yields on such short-term government debt rocketed higher as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in a bid to tame inflation. The yield on six-month Treasury bills, for example, was 5.35% Thursday, up from 0.71% in February 2022, according to Tradeweb ICE closes.

Source : https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/a-150-billion-question-what-will-warren-buffett-do-with-all-that-cash-7ddcf36a?st=0wugyg8vz06pqoo