Category: Business

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

Automakers battle climate groups over how gas-electric vehicles are marketed ahead of new U.S. emission rules

Climate activists are questioning how environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles are as those cars rise in popularity.

The battle over the green bona fides of hybrids comes ahead of what could be the toughest U.S. restrictions on car pollution.

Hybrids combine a gasoline engine with battery power and generally get far better gas mileage than the cars and trucks Americans have typically driven. Hybrid makers led by Toyota Motor 7203 2.25%increase; green up pointing triangle argue that the vehicles’ popularity is something to celebrate and “an important solution toward achieving carbon neutrality,” Toyota executive Yoichi Miyazaki said.

Those on the other side of the debate, including activists and some regulators, say hybrids aren’t good enough if the world hopes to meet ambitious carbon-reduction targets.

“Putting more gasoline-powered cars on roads and saying that’s good for the climate is just misleading,” said Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel at consumer group Public Citizen and a former member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

The market’s shift to hybrids has brought a windfall for Toyota and prompted automakers including Ford Motor F -0.90%decrease; red down pointing triangle and General Motors GM 1.23%increase; green up pointing triangle to lean more heavily into gasoline-electric technology.

In December, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission saying Toyota’s branding of its hybrids as “hybrid EVs” as well as marketing phrases such as “electrified mobility” and “beyond zero” mislead consumers. Toyota North America said its marketing uses terms that are standard in the automotive industry.

Public Citizen has pushed attorneys general in states including Oregon, New York, Rhode Island and Illinois into examining the matter. Representatives at the state offices declined to comment about potential investigations and how far they may have progressed, and the FTC didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The marketing debate is a skirmish ahead of an Environmental Protection Agency decision, due this spring, on proposed restrictions. As proposed last year, the new standards would require average fleet emissions to be cut by 56% by 2032 compared with 2026 model-year requirements.

A group representing carmakers including Toyota, Honda Motor and Ford is lobbying against the rules. Automakers forecast they would have to sell 67% electric vehicles by 2032 to meet the standards. The companies say the rules would force them to pivot away too quickly from hybrids and other gasoline-powered cars and result in consumers purchasing more costly vehicles.

The EPA’s “draconian EV mandate” would actually be bad for the environment, said Stephen Ciccone, Toyota’s North America head of government affairs, in a message to U.S. dealers.

“We can transition to EVs, but the speed of the transition has to be more realistic,” Ciccone wrote in a memo seen by The Wall Street Journal. Despite “a lot of hits from environmental activists” and others, Ciccone wrote, “we have not—and we will not—back down.”

Source : https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/as-hybrids-become-more-popular-their-green-benefits-are-questioned-3e041ab5?st=3wokye6xfdwjcym

Google has initiated significant layoffs across its various teams, including the Voice Assistant, hardware, engineering and ad sales teams, marking a continuation of the tech industry’s trend towards reducing workforce expenses. The layoffs have affected hundreds of employees within the Voice Assistant unit; hardware teams responsible for Pixel, Nest and Fitbit products; and a considerable portion of the augmented reality (AR) team. This move is part of Google’s broader effort to streamline operations and align resources with its most significant product priorities​​.

According to The Verge, the total number is in the thousands. This comes at a time when Google parent, Alphabet Inc., reported record profits in late January. The company reported $20.4 billion in net income in Q4.

The ad sales team has seen a reduction, specifically targeting the Large Customer Sales (LCS) unit, which is responsible for selling ads to large businesses. The restructuring aims to focus more on the Google Customer Solutions (GCS) team, which deals with smaller business clients, indicating a strategic shift in Google’s approach to ad sales​​.

The layoffs have sparked widespread concern among Google employees, not just about job security but also about the ethical implications of their work, especially as the company continues to invest heavily in advancing AI technology. There’s a growing apprehension that the push towards automation and AI could eventually lead to further job replacements, adding to the existing anxiety over layoffs​​.

According to a recently leaked memo, AI is the #1 focus for Google going into 2024. Specifically, Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, full list of goals for 2024 include:

1. Deliver the world’s most advanced, safe, and responsible Al
2. Improve knowledge, learning, creativity and productivity
3. Build the most helpful personal computing platforms and devices.
4. Enable organizations and developers to innovate on Google Cloud
5. Provide the world’s most trusted products and platforms
6. Build a Google that’s extraordinary for Googlers and the world
7. Improve company velocity, efficiency and productivity and deliver durable cost savings

This situation has significantly affected employee morale, with many feeling disillusioned about their future at the company, according to Inc. The layoffs and the strategic emphasis on AI development have led to a sense of cynicism and burnout among the workforce, exacerbated by the fear of being replaced by the very technologies they are helping to create.

Late last year, there were already worries within the company that AI was going to begin replacing employees at Alphabet. Futurism reported late last year the technology giant has already begun the process of replacing some jobs with AI tools developed internally. But this differs from what Google’s senior vice president, Philipp Schindler, said on a recent earnings call about the recent restructuring and job cuts.

Source : https://finance.yahoo.com/news/google-lays-off-thousands-more-210822278.html

Patanjali has made an all unsolicited all cash offer of Rs 830 crore just days after Pune based Ashdan Properties’s Rs 760 crore offer on a net present value (NPV) basis was declared the highest bidder by banks.

A Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has okayed rebids for the debt laden Rolta India, letting Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved to make an offer for the company.

Patanjali has made an all unsolicited all cash offer of Rs 830 crore just days after Pune based Ashdan Properties’s Rs 760 crore offer on a net present value (NPV) basis was declared the highest bidder by banks. The court said that it is best that all applicants who had expressed interest should be given an opportunity.

Patanjali Ayurved’s unexpected interest of a FMCG company in a defence-focused software company has raised queries. Founded in 1989 by Kamal K Singh, Rolta India deals in GIS and geospatial services for the defence sector.

The company is part of a consortium with state-owned Bharat Electronics and was selected as a development agency for over Rs 50,000 crore worth Battlefield Management System project by the Ministry of Defence in 2015.

The project, was, shelved in in 2018, leaving Rolta India under a debt pile. Rolta India landed in insolvency court in September 2018 when Union Bank of India had filed a petition before the NCLT Mumbai.

Rolta India has a total outstanding debt of around Rs 14,000 crore. It owes Union Bank of India-led consortium a total of Rs 7,100 crore and another Rs 6,699 crore to unsecured foreign bond holders led by Citigroup.

Patanjali terms Rolta move as strategic. Rolta India’s real-estate assets hold more value than its software division. The commpany reportedly owns prime real-estate properties in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Vadodara. In Mumbai, it owns a freehold building of almost 40,000 square feet, four leasehold buildings of over 1 lakh square feet area (in total) in MIDC, Andheri East (Mumbai), according to an ET report.

Source : https://www.businesstoday.in/industry/story/patanjali-gets-a-foot-in-the-door-for-rolta-india-but-why-does-baba-ramdev-want-the-firm-417908-2024-02-17

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries is reportedly in talks for a stake in Tata Play from the Walt Disney Company. If talks go through, it will be first time Tata group and Reliance have partnered in a joint venture.

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries is reportedly in talks for a 29.8 per cent stake in Tata Play from the Walt Disney Company.

Reliance, according to a Business Standard report, is eyeing a bigger footprint India’s television distribution sector with the plan.

Tata Sons has a 50.2 per cent stake in the satellite television broadcaster. Apart from Disney, the remaining shares are owned by Temasek, a Singapore-based fund.

Business Today could not independently verify the report.

If the deal goes through it would be the first time Tata group and Reliance have partnered in a joint venture, the report stated, extending JioCinema’s reach across the Tata Play platform.

Temasek has been intending to sell its 20 per cent stake in the company, valued at close to $1 billion.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2023, Tata Play reported a loss of Rs 105 crore on revenue of Rs 4,499 crore.

Disney and Reliance are reportedly in the last leg of negotiations to finalise their mega stock-and-cash merger to create India’s largest media and entertainment business.

Viacom18 could emerge as the single largest shareholder, with 42-45% in the combined entity. RIL is expected to invest up to $1.5 billion cash in the new entity, owning 60%, with Walt Disney owning the remaining 40%.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/mukesh-ambani-and-tata-group-mulling-a-joint-venture-heres-what-is-cooking-417541-2024-02-15

Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, granted subscription perks to designated terrorist groups and others barred from operating in the US, according to campaigners.

The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) found X had granted blue check marks to accounts tied to Hezbollah members, among others.

For $8 (£6.40) a month, a tick allows longer posts and better promotion.

X removed some ticks after the report, saying its security was “robust”.

Mr Musk’s decision to charge for check marks was one of the most controversial changes he made after he bought Twitter in 2022, with critics saying the move would make issues of disinformation worse, opening the platform to impersonators.

The badge was previously free, meant to indicate that the social media platform had verified the identity behind the account.

Many of the recipients were journalists, as well as world leaders and celebrities.

In some cases, those included people facing sanctions in the US, which opened the company to criticism that it was giving a platform to the wrong people and accusations that it was breaking US sanctions law.

Now that the system is paid, however, “X may be raising new legal issues,” the Tech Transparency Project said.

It said X had removed the ticks from the accounts it had identified after its report was published.

The TTP said an account run by Ansar Allah, known as the Houthis, had also seemingly paid for its blue check mark. The check mark has now been removed. The account has over 23,000 followers. The Houthis are sanctioned in both the US and UK. The UK government says on its website that it has sanctioned the Houthis “to disrupt their ability to attack international shipping in the Red Sea, and to promote Yemen’s peace, stability and security”.

The US Treasury, which outlines organisations the US will not trade with, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.

“The U.S. imposes sanctions on individuals, groups, and countries deemed to be a threat to national security. Elon Musk’s X appears to be selling premium service to some of them”, the TTP wrote in its report.

“A blue checkmark account that bears the name and profile image of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, also indicates it is ‘ID verified’, a service that X offers to premium subscribers as a way to prevent impersonation. X requires users to submit a government-issued ID and a selfie to get verified in this way, though it is unclear if Nasrallah did so”, it added.

Posting on X, the firm’s team in charge of safety wrote that its subscription process was “adhering to legal obligations”, and was independently screened by X’s payment providers.

“Several of the accounts listed in the Tech Transparency Report are not directly named on sanction lists, while some others may have visible account check marks without receiving any services that would be subject to sanctions”, X wrote, adding that the firm would “take action if necessary” after reviewing TTP’s report.

The TTP responded to the post saying even though some of the organisations were not named on the US sanctions list, they were owned by entities that are under US sanctions.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68297121

Global stocks fell on Wednesday, while the dollar and Treasury yields stayed strong, as traders pared back expectations for the pace and scale of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.
The latest shift in rate expectations came after an upside surprise in U.S. inflation on Tuesday that showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1% on an annual basis, above forecasts for a 2.9% increase.
The data has prompted traders to slash their bets on where U.S. rates will go this year. Futures now point to about 90 basis points worth of cuts from the Fed by December, roughly four quarter-point drops, compared to 110 bps prior to the data release and 160 bps at the end of 2023.

With the prospect of a steep drop in interest rates ebbing, investors kept the pressure on global stocks, which had rallied strongly towards the end of last year on aggressive bets for rate cuts by major central banks globally in 2024.
The MSCI All-World index (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab, which hit two-year highs on Monday, was down 0.1%, following a drop on Wall Street overnight that pulled the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab back below 5,000 points. U.S. futures , were up 0.2-0.3%.

Worryingly for investors, the CPI report showed an unexpected pickup in stickier elements, such as service-sector inflation and shelter, helped drive the overall increase.
“When you get a jump like this, and the year-on-year figures really show this rather than the monthly ones, that’s a shock because it just shows that it’s not all plain sailing and we may get more increases in inflation,” Trade Nation senior market analyst David Morrison said.

“We should be surprised by the jump in inflation, because I don’t think anyone was thinking about that. It was more how slowly do we get down towards 2% and this is like kicking the ladder away a bit,” he said.
In Europe, the STOXX (.STOXX), opens new tab edged up 0.1%, as a flurry of stronger earnings boosted the regional index.
Even Japan’s Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab, which hit its highest in 34 years on Tuesday, was not spared from the beating and fell 0.7%.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-02-14/

The Commission acknowledged the unfair experience suffered by the complainant and highlighted that he had to secure alternative accommodation at an exorbitant price due to the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

A consumer disputes redressal commission in Bengaluru recently imposed a fine of ₹1.45 lakh on online travel company MakeMyTrip for a failed hotel booking that left a traveler stranded in London [Mayur Bharath vs MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt Ltd]

A coram of President M Shobha and members K Anita Shivakumar and Suma Anil Kumar also ordered the platform to pay the complainant-man ₹4.34 lakh which was the additional expense the man had to incur in securing an alternative accommodation.

The Commission acknowledged the unfair experience suffered by the complainant and highlighted that he had to secure alternative accommodation at an exorbitant price due to the Wimbledon tennis tournament.

“It is unfair that the complainant has faced difficulty in occupying the accommodation. With no other option when the OP (MakeMytrip) has not made any proper arrangement to get in to an accommodation, complainant made his own arrangement at Hotel Café Royal by paying ₹6,58,740 which is at Ex.P.3 which is exorbitant amount since the Wimbledon Tennis tournament held in the month of last week of June every year at London,” the Commission said in its order dated January 1.

The Commission was hearing a complaint by one Mayur Bharath. He informed the Commission that despite booking the hotel four months in advance and paying the full amount, MakeMyTrip failed to secure reservation leaving him stranded and incurring additional expenses.

He further stated that he had received the refund for the booking amount, but was not compensated for the exorbitant fees he paid for making alternative arrangements.

On that account, he sought a direction to MakeMyTrip to bear the additional expenses he incurred towards booking another hotel. He also sought compensation of ₹10,000 towards hardship, mental agony and stress and ₹1,00,000 as litigation expenses.

On the other hand, MakeMyTrip opposed the complaint on the ground that they could not be held liable for the hotel not honouring the reservation.

It further stated that it had refunded the entire booking amount and also offered a compensation of ₹50,000, which the complainant denied. Accordingly, MakeMyTrip sought dismissal of the complaint with costs.

The commission found the platform’s argument of acting as a facilitator insufficient

The Court emphasised that consumers place their trust on such platforms when travelling.

“It is not accepted that the contention taken by OP about liability for the deficiency of service is unfair. Since, the complainant has trusted the OP app and booked the hotel believing OP is rendering good services to customers. When there is no privity of contract between the hotel and the customer, the lapses caused must be answerable by OP itself,” the Commission said.

It noted that although the complainant was refunded the booking amount, the alternative arrangement cost ₹4,34,420 more than the original booking. It also noted that MakeMyTrip offered only ₹37,386 as compensation.

Accordingly, the Commission deemed MakeMyTrip responsible for the deficiency in service, especially given the lack of alternative accommodation arrangements and the subsequent financial burden on the consumer.

Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/consumer-forum-orders-makemytrip-pay-145-lakh-fine-434-lakh-additional-expense-failed-hotel-booking

While Chinese companies operating in India are reticent to speak publicly about the scrutiny, Xiaomi, which has written a letter to the Centre, shows that they continue to struggle in India, especially in the smartphone space where many critical components come from Chinese suppliers.

The Chinese company, which has the biggest share in India’s smartphone market at 18%, assembles smartphones in India with mostly local components and the rest imported from China and elsewhere.

India ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses after a 2020 border clash between the two countries killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four from China, disrupting investment plans of big Chinese companies and drawing repeated protests from Beijing.

While Chinese companies operating in India are reticent to speak publicly about the scrutiny, Xiaomi, which has written a letter to the Centre, shows that they continue to struggle in India, especially in the smartphone space where many critical components come from Chinese suppliers.

In the letter, Xiaomi India President Muralikrishnan B. said India needed to work on “confidence building” measures to encourage component suppliers to setup operations locally.

“There are apprehensions among component suppliers regarding establishing operations in India, stemming from the challenges faced by companies in India, particularly from Chinese origin,” Muralikrishnan said, without naming any companies.

The mobile firm also raised related to compliance and visa issues that it didn’t elaborate on, and other factors. It said “the government should address these concerns and work to instil confidence among foreign component suppliers, encouraging them to set up manufacturing facilities in India.”

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/we-have-apprehensions-xiaomi-says-phone-firms-wary-of-setting-up-base-in-india-417064-2024-02-12

This comes more than two months after it struck a strategic joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor for a 35 per cent holding in MG Motor India

The JSW group on Saturday took its next step in building a presence in the electric vehicle (EV) space when it signed an agreement with the government of Odisha for an integrated EV and EV battery manufacturing project in the state at an investment of Rs 40,000 crore.

This comes more than two months after it formed a strategic joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor for a 35 per cent holding in MG Motor India. MG Motor India was the arm of the Chinese auto maker that owns the British automotive brand Morris Garages.

The strategic joint venture is likely to accelerate growth with a focus on green mobility.

The company has also announced plans to undertake new initiatives, including augmenting local sourcing, improving charging infrastructure, expanding production capacity, and introducing a broader range of vehicles with green mobility being a major area.

The latest project will come up at Cuttack and Paradeep. A statement from the group said that the entry into Odisha came amidst competitive offers from other states.

The project consists of a 50 GWH EV battery plant, EVs, lithium refinery, copper smelter and related component manufacturing units.

According to the group, the project will help create over 11,000 jobs, marking a significant growth in employment generation in the state.

The project will also spur employment generation in ancillary and support services. It is also forecast to catalyse MSME development, and open up several opportunities in the auto component supply chain and services sector.

“Our long-standing relationship with Odisha and its people forms the foundation of our new venture. This project is a milestone in our journey, reflecting our commitment to the state’s development and prosperity.

Source : https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/jsw-group-signs-agreement-with-odisha-to-invest-rs-40000-crore-in-electric-vehicle-plant/cid/1999662

This move comes in response to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision on January 31, instructing Paytm Payments Bank to cease all banking services, including deposit acceptance and payment processing, starting February 29, 2024.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has advised all its field offices to abstain from accepting claims linked to bank accounts in Paytm Payment Bank. This order will come into effect from February 23, 204. For EPFO subscribers with accounts in Paytm Payment Bank, this restriction may affect the timely processing of withdrawals and credit transactions.

This move comes in response to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision on January 31, instructing Paytm Payments Bank to cease all banking services, including deposit acceptance and payment processing, starting February 29, 2024.
Background
Last year, EPFO had permitted EPF payments through Paytm Payment Bank and Airtel Payments Bank accounts.

Billionaire’s willingness to pay legal bills for people who want to sue Disney is latest foray against the company and CEO Bob Iger

Elon Musk is intensifying his feud with Disney

Musk, the billionaire owner of X, is soliciting people who want to sue Disney for discrimination. He says he is willing to help pay for their cases.

“If you were discriminated against by Disney or its subsidiaries (ABC, ESPN, Marvel, etc), just reply to this post to receive legal support,” Musk said Tuesday in a post on X.

The outreach came the same day actress Gina Carano sued Disney and Lucasfilm, with Musk’s financial backing, for wrongful termination from “The Mandalorian,” a television series inspired by the Star Wars franchise.

The lawsuit and solicitation of additional complaints are the latest escalations in Musk’s beef with Disney and its CEO Bob Iger, a feud that kicked off several months ago and has shown little sign of letting up. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Musk published several tweets that were critical of Disney.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/business/media/elon-musk-opens-new-front-in-disney-fight-2425f063?st=0wf82xmoafy7zl4

Paytm crisis: The Tokyo-based tech investor saw uncertainty growing in India’s regulatory environment, as well as over Paytm Payments Bank Ltd.’s license, Navneet Govil told Bloomberg News on Thursday.

SoftBank reportedly sold a majority of its stake in Paytm before the RBI order caused the fintech firm’s shares to dive.

The Tokyo-based tech investor saw uncertainty growing in India’s regulatory environment, as well as over Paytm Payments Bank Ltd.’s license, Navneet Govil told Bloomberg News on Thursday.

“We felt it was prudent to start monetizing,” the Vision Fund’s finance chief said. “We’re glad we did a good portion of Paytm before the recent stock correction.”

SoftBank has been offloading Paytm shares regularly since at least November 2022 through last month, according to Bloomberg. The Japanese investor’s stake in Paytm was around 5% as of January, compared with a roughly 18.5% stake around the time of the payments company’s initial public offering in 2021.

Paytm has fielded multiple warnings from regulators over the last two years about dealings between its popular payments app and is banking arm. The Reserve Bank of India has suspended much of the banking operation’s business, sending Paytm’s stock price down more than 40% from its January peak.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/news/story/softbank-vision-fund-sold-down-stake-in-paytm-before-rbis-torpedo-416792-2024-02-09

Pearl Kapur, the Founder and CEO of Zyber 365, boasts a remarkable net worth of $1.1 billion (Rs ₹ 9,129 crore).

New Delhi: India is home to hundreds of billionaires, with businessmen like Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani among the richest people globally. As Indian economy thrives, a new luminary has emerged, rewriting the narrative of success at an astonishingly young age. At 27, Pearl Kapur has etched his name in entrepreneurial history as India’s youngest billionaire.
His success was a result of the meteoric rise of his startup, Zyber 365. Founded in May 2023, Zyber 365 is a Web3 and AI-based OS start-up that has not only disrupted the retail sector but also achieved the coveted unicorn status within three months. A startup that is valued at over $1 billion is known as a unicorn.

The company, headquartered in London with operations based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has been hailed as India and Asia’s fastest unicorn, attaining a valuation of $1.2 billion (approximately ₹ 9,840 crore).

Pearl Kapur, the Founder and CEO of Zyber 365, boasts a remarkable net worth of $1.1 billion (Rs ₹ 9,129 crore) holding a commanding 90% of shares in the company. The startup recently secured $100 million in Series A funding, with 8.3% of the investment coming from the SRAM & MRAM Group, an agrarian company that recognized the immense potential in Zyber 365.

Kapur, an MSC Investment Banking (CFA Pathway) graduate from Queen Mary University of London, is recognised as an innovator in the realm of Web3 technology.

Before Zyber 365, Pearl Kapur’s journey included stints as a Financial Advisor at AMPM Store and a Business Advisor for Antier Solutions. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to found Billion Pay Technologies Pvt Ltd in February 2022.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/feature/india-youngest-billionaire-pearl-kapur-is-27-built-rs-9-800-crore-company-in-90-days-5017867

Gautam Adani is currently the 12th richest person in the world with a net worth of $101 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Industrialist Gautam Adani’s fortune has hit $100 billion again, a year after his group’s share prices saw an unprecedented rout sparked by Hindenburg Research’s market manipulation charges. Adani Group now stands cleared of all charges.
Gautam Adani is currently the 12th richest person in the world with a net worth of $101 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

His flagship Adani Enterprises reported 130% surge in profit last week, following which its shares rose for the eighth consecutive day on Wednesday.

Once valued at over $150 billion, Adani Group saw a big plunge in share prices last year after a short-seller attack, but has regained much of his lost wealth after a clean chit from the Supreme Court and the markets regulator.

The company had termed the Hindenburg allegations as “malicious combination of selective misinformation and concealed facts relating to baseless and discredited allegations to drive an ulterior motive”.

The port-to-energy tycoon reached a low of $37.7 billion, losing around $80 billion following the report. He has regained over $16 billion this year, according to a Bloomberg tracker, and now remains about $50 billion below his 2022 peak.

In a big victory for the company, the Supreme Court in January backed markets regulator SEBI’s clean chit to the Adani Group and ruled out a need for further probe.

Source:https://www.ndtv.com/business-news/gautam-adani-enters-100-billion-club-again-year-after-short-seller-attack-5016886

Paytm News Today: Action against Paytm Payments Bank is taken due to “persistent non-compliance” and adequate time was given for corrective actions, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Swaminathan said on Thursday. He added that the action has been taken against the Paytm Payments Bank and not the Paytm app as a platform.

The central bank will take suitable steps as warranted going ahead, Swaminathan said at a post-MPC announcement press briefing held in Mumbai along with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Das added, “There is no worry about the system, we are only talking about a specific payments bank.”

If everything had been complied with, why should RBI act against a regulated entity, asked Das, without naming Paytm.

Also, RBI will be issuing a set of FAQs (frequently asked questions) next week to assuage public concerns following the Paytm action, Das added.

Amid concerns over non-compliance, RBI has taken various measures against PPBL wherein it will not be allowed to offer any services concerning deposits, prepaid instruments and e-wallet after February 29.

The entity has also been directed to stop onboarding new customers.

‘RBI To Deal With Paytm Issue’

Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Wednesday said it is for the Reserve Bank to deal with the Paytm issue and the government has nothing to do with the matter for now.

He also said that Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) is a small financial entity and there are no systemic stability concerns.

“It is action taken by the regulator. They regulate the banks. The government has had nothing to do until now when it comes to the actions taken against Paytm. And we believe that RBI must have taken the action in the overall interest of the consumer and the economy,” Joshi told PTI in an interview.

With regard to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Paytm’s payment aggregator subsidiary, he said permission that has been sought for investment from China.

“The application is under review as it is an inter-ministerial process. It is under consideration,” he said.

On whether there are any financial stability concerns due to the action taken by the RBI against PPBL, Joshi said it is a very small bank and there were no systemic stability concerns as such.

“The customers who have an account in the payments bank, they will have to shift their account…. From what I understand, it is not the bank that will migrate the accounts. The customers have to do it,” he added.

Against the backdrop of RBI actions, on Tuesday, Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Sources said that it was made clear to him that Paytm has to deal with RBI.

Core Issues

There are allegations that PPBL had lakhs of non-KYC (Know Your Customer) compliant accounts and in thousands of cases, a single PAN (Permanent Account Number) was used for opening multiple accounts.

There were also instances where the total value of transactions was worth crores of rupees, much beyond regulatory limits in minimum KYC pre-paid instruments, raising money laundering concerns, the sources told PTI.

Source: https://www.news18.com/business/paytm-rbi-news-action-against-paytm-payments-bank-8771034.html

The Finance Minister said the Congress was now shifting the blame on the Centre. “They are adding a poisonous narrative to this. Language of separatism! Which brother of DK Shivakumar said earlier – ‘you don’t give us our tax money, give us a separate state!”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday responded to the Karnataka government’s charge that she rejected Rs 5,495 crore special grants to the southern state despite being recommended by the 15th Finance Commission. She said that this recommendation that the Karnataka government referred to “did not form the final part of the 15th Finance Commission report’.

“So the question of not accepting recommendation does not arise at all,” the finance minister said, adding that she complies with the Finance Commission’s recommendation to the last word. “Beyond the Finance Commission report, Rs 6,279.94 crore has been provided to Karnataka to assist capital expenditure plans,” she said.

Sitharaman said the state government was now realising that it could not fulfil the guarantees post which they won and came to power in Karnataka. “During the campaign, many of us had said this will cost them Rs 60,000 crore annually roughly,” she said, adding that the Congress was now under pressure to meet guarantees.

The Finance Minister said the Congress was now shifting the blame on the Centre. “They are adding a poisonous narrative to this. Language of separatism! Which brother of DK Shivakumar said earlier – ‘you don’t give us our tax money, give us a separate state!”

Sitharaman’s response came a day after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the 15th Finance Commission had recommended a special grant of Rs 5,495 crore for the state in the interim budget, which the Finance Minister declined.

He said under the 14th Finance Commission (2015-2020), Karnataka received 4.71 per cent of the tax share, which was reduced to 3.64 per cent by the 15th Finance Commission (2020-2025). This 1.07 per cent decrease resulted in an estimated loss of Rs 62,098 crore for Karnataka over five years.

“To compensate, the 15th Finance Commission recommended a special grant of Rs 5,495 crore for Karnataka in the interim budget, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman subsequently declined,” the Congress leader said on Tuesday.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/cant-fulfil-poll-freebies-shifting-blame-sitharaman-fires-back-at-siddaramaiah-says-gave-additional-funds-to-karnataka-416573-2024-02-07

More than half of the group’s market value comes from Tata Consultancy Services, whose market cap hit the ₹15 lakh crore mark  for the first time.

The market capitalisation of the Tata Group, comprising 18 firms, went past ₹30 lakh crore backed by a sharp rally in TCS and Tata Motors.

More than half of the group’s market value comes from Tata Consultancy Services, whose market cap hit the ₹15 lakh crore mark for the first time.

The surge was boosted by a deal the IT firm signed to transform Europe Assistance’s IT operating model using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The Reliance Group holds the second position on the market-cap leaderboard, at ₹21.60 lakh crore. The Adani Group, with interests across various infrastructure sectors and capital-intensive commodities, is ranked third, with a combined market value of ₹15.54 lakh crore.

Tata Motors and Titan both had market value of over ₹3 lakh crore as on Tuesday.
The former’s shares are at an all-time high after the company reported a strong set of financial numbers for the quarter ended December. Besides a strong Q3, analysts gave Tata Motors a thumbs-up on its continued improvement in JLR, the PV and CV business, and reduced net automotive debt from current levels. Year-to-date its shares are up nearly 19 per cent. Titan, however, has had a dismal start to the year, with its shares shedding 3.2 per cent.

The company was last directed to stop onboarding new customers in 2022. However, it continued operations without making any operational changes for existing customers, including the strengthening of its KYC norms.

Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) was last week ordered to halt much of its operations by February 29, and the Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory action could be more of a death blow than a slap on the wrist, people in the know told DH. It is learnt that the RBI has been keeping an eye on PPBL going back as far as 2017, soon after Paytm’s banking arm began operations.

Even in its press statement, the central bank highlighted that the company’s issues with non-compliance have been persistent. The company was last directed to stop onboarding new customers in 2022. However, it continued operations without making any operational changes for existing customers, including the strengthening of its KYC norms.

This could be the main factor behind the RBI now simply asking it to wind up operations without providing any clarity on how PPBL can make a turn around. Instead, the payment bank’s license will likely be revoked in the near future, reports indicate.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/rbi-unlikely-to-go-lenient-on-paytm-after-persistent-noncompliance-2880915

Paytm, whose price band has been revised to 10 per cent from 20 per cent, was locked at Rs 438.35, down 10 per cent.

Shares of One 97 Communications Ltd (Paytm) were locked at their lower circuit limits of 10 per cent for the third straight session on Monday following a media report that suggested the RBI was considering canceling Paytm Payment Bank’s licence. The management clarification on speculative media articles regarding an ED investigation and no involvement of the company and its CEO in anti-money laundering activities, could not lift the counter.

The Paytm stock, whose price band has been revised to 10 per cent from 20 per cent, was locked at Rs 438.35, down 10 per cent. With this, the scrip has fallen 43 per cent in the last three sessions. A Bloomberg report suggested that the RBI was considering scrapping the license of Paytm Payments Bank as early as next month. Another report said the trader body CAIT advised traders to migrate from Paytm for other payment options.

A couple of brokerages have cut target prices of PAytm sharply following the RBI restrictions. Jefferies downgraded the scrip to ‘Underperform’ and cut its target price to Rs 500 per share. Macquarie reduced its target price to Rs 650 per share.

Motilal Oswal was last having a ‘watchful stance’ on the resilience of Paytm’s business model and its ability to navigate the uncertain regulatory and macro environment. It suggested a target of Rs 575 on Paytm.

Paytm came out with a clarification. “We would like to set the record straight and deny any involvement in anti-money laundering activities. We have and continue to abide by Indian laws and take regulatory orders with utmost seriousness,” Paytm said.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/company-stock/story/paytm-shares-plunged-10-today-down-43-in-3-days-heres-why-416150-2024-02-05

Byju’s recently released the salary for January to its staff, following which founder Byju Raveendran wrote an emotional letter highlighting the ongoing challenges at the edtech firm.

Edtech giant Byju’s parent firm Think and Learn Pvt Ltd. recently paid the January salaries to its staff amid financial challenges, following which founder Byju Raveendran wrote an emotional letter to employees.

Byju reached out to employees, expressing gratitude for their support during tough times. Earlier, the company’s founders and family pledged their house to cover employee salaries due to a liquidity crunch.

“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,” wrote Byju Raveendran.

“Everybody has made sacrifices, everybody has grappled with decisions they never desired to make, and everybody is a little bit weary in this battle, but nobody has chosen to give up,” added Raveendran.

Byju’s initiated a rights issue to raise $200 million at a significantly lower valuation compared to its peak valuation in March 2022.

Byju reassured employees of his commitment, saying, “Nothing matters to me more than your belief in my ability to deliver.”

“I fight for you. You fight alongside me. This is the sacred relationship that has helped me weather every storm,” Raveendran said.

He shared a poignant moment when his father, a role model, was moved to tears after negative news about the company.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/byjus-founders-letter-to-staff-over-delayed-salaries-have-been-moving-mountains-2497647-2024-02-05

The clarification comes after Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Saturday said the enforcement directorate “will probe Paytm Payments Bank if any fresh charges of fund siphoning are found.”

Paytm Payments Bank has clarified that the firm nor Vijay Shekhar Sharma, One97 CEO, were under enforcement directorate scrutiny for money laundering.

RBI had reportedly found hundreds of thousands of accounts at the bank created without proper identification. The central bank is concerned some of these accounts may have been used to launder money. “One 97 Communications Ltd and Paytm Payments Bank operate with the highest ethical standards. We can confirm that neither we nor OCL’s founder-CEO have been the subject matter of investigation by the Enforcement Directorate regarding money laundering,” a spokesperson for Paytm Payments Bank said.

The clarification comes after Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Saturday said the enforcement directorate “will probe Paytm Payments Bank if any fresh charges of fund siphoning are found.”

The spokesperson some merchants on its platforms have been the subject of inquiries, and the bank was fully cooperating with the authorities in such instances. “We categorically deny any involvement in money laundering activities and believe fair and responsible journalism is crucial for accurate information dissemination,” the spokesperson added.

Source: https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/corporate/story/no-money-laundering-probe-on-us-or-ceo-paytm-payments-bank-clears-air-on-ed-report-416086-2024-02-04