Sex Education, Jamtara, Doctor Who, and More: January 2020 TV Guide to Netflix, Amazon, and Hotstar

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My journey has been a little different to other players: Mayank Agarwal

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New tennis era kicks off with ATP Cup

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Mobile makers get retailer ultimatum on online discounts

More than 50,000 mobile phone retailers have given an ultimatum to the top five smartphone brands to permanently stop online discounting and launch of online exclusive models, claiming that the ecommerce push had badly hurt their business.

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Guardiola says Man City was team of the decade

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Sex Education, Jamtara, Doctor Who, and More: January 2020 TV Guide to Netflix, Amazon, and Hotstar

Sex Education season 2, Jamtara Netflix, Doctor Who season 12, Dracula Netflix, BoJack Horseman season 6 part 2, Star Trek: Picard, The Forgotten Army, Little America, Avenue 5, Curb Your Enthusiasm season 10, and more — these are the biggest TV shows coming to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, Apple TV+, and Sony BBC Earth in January 2020.

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Ratan Tata & Cyrus Mistry take their fight to the TCS boardroom

MUMBAI: Tata Sons will move the Supreme Court to seek early interim relief from the tribunal order reinstating Cyrus Mistry ahead of the TCS board meeting scheduled for January 9 to consider Q3 results. The holding company is likely to file an appeal on January 2 although a hearing is possible only when the SC opens on January 6 after the winter break, said people with knowledge of the matter.Legal experts said the Mistry family-owned firms that hold stakes in Tata Sons can oppose an interim stay, which could force the Tatas to re-induct Cyrus Mistry pending a final order. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ruled on December 19 that Mistry should be reinstated as director of Tata Sons and three group firms — TCS, Tata Industries and TTSL (Maharashtra). Mistry had been ousted as Tata Sons chairman in October 2016 and was eventually succeeded by N Chandrasekaran.Tata Sons and TCS declined to comment. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group also didn’t comment.“To the best of our knowledge, reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry as a director on Tata Sons and the other companies as per the NCLAT order has not been complied with and that itself is contempt of court,” said a legal representative close to the Mistrys.Tata Sons may Avoid Board Meeting“They (Tatas) sought a stay on chairmanship, but reinstatement as director was (to be) ‘forthwith’,” said the legal representative close to the Mistrys.Listed companies generally have a window of 45 days to declare results after the end of each quarter, according to Sudip Mahapatra, partner at law firm S&R Associates. That gives TCS time until mid-February to obtain relief from the Supreme Court.“In my view, it is unlikely that Tata Group will risk calling for a board meeting before getting any relief from the Supreme Court,” said Mahapatra.The holding company will avoid holding a board meeting, said one of the persons. 73053299 “We do not wish to complicate issues at the moment by doing so,” said one of them. “There is no emergency situation. It is a matter that will be pursued legally.”Tata Global Beverages Ltd is the only Tata company that has held a board meeting — to announce a CEO — following the NCLAT decision, since there was no immediate legal impact on it.Tata Sons will have to seek an immediate stay on the entire order from the Supreme Court, said Ashish K Singh, managing partner of law firm Capstone Legal. Postponing a scheduled board meeting can look like a deliberate attempt at not complying with the order, he said.“Cyrus Mistry can make an application before the NCLAT for seeking specific directions for compliance with the order passed in the upcoming board meeting,” he said. “In any case, the matter is listed on an application filed by the ministry of corporate affairs on January 2, seeking modification of the order at NCLAT on a different legal issue. Nothing stops either of the parties to approach the appellate tribunal for clarification at that time.”TATA SONS BOARD ASSURES CHANDRATata Sons board members have assured chairman N Chandrasekaran of their support through messages and calls, said executives aware of the matter. The chairman has held a meeting with group CEOs to apprise them of developments and allay concerns.Tata Trusts nominee Venu Srinivasan, Ajay Piramal and Farida Khambata were on the Tata Sons board at the time of Mistry’s ouster. Since then, Chandrasekaran, Harish Manwani, Bhaskar Bhat, Ralph Speth and Saurabh Agrawal have joined the holding company’s board. None of them responded to emails from ET.“The NCLAT order hasn’t dismissed the board, so the directors should continue to perform their duties,” said Shriram Subramanium, founder and MD of InGovern Research. “However, they should avoid any big decisions that have significant impact as there is an element of uncertainty to the role of the executive chairman.”The board should meet and discuss the impact and implications going ahead, said a corporate governance expert. There should be a continuity plan irrespective of what the SC decision could be, he added. A senior TCS executive said the order adds to uncertainty for the company, which may see its US business impacted by the upcoming presidential elections.The Registrar of Companies (RoC) has moved the NCLAT to implead itself in the case. The RoC, which is part of the corporate affairs ministry, has sought deletion of the words “illegal” and “with the help of the RoC” that were used by the tribunal in its order. The appellate tribunal is yet to hear the matter.

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The documents you'll need to clear NPR test

NEW DELHI: The government will launch a drive instructing the “head of the family” to make available details of 21identifiers during enrolment in the National Population Register (NPR). These will include Aadhaar, driving licence, Permanent Account Number (PAN) and voter ID card, ET has learnt.The nationwide NPR is to be held from April 1 to September 30 to record the ‘usual residents’ of the country who have lived in an area for the previous six months or more, or persons who intend to stay there for the next six months or more, according to an official notification.Several state governments have stalled work on the NPR, alleging that it’s the first step toward a National Register of Citizens (NRC), which will be used in conjunction with the Citizenship Amendment Act to disenfranchise Muslims.PM Narendra Modi has denied any such intent. Home minister Amit Shah says the NPR data will not be used for an NRC and that there has been no decision on conducting an NRC as of now.The questionnaire for NPR 2020 is likely to continue with the controversial column on “date and place of birth of parents” besides other fields. A senior government official explained to ET that this question didn’t have any sinister connotations.Ensuring Data Security“These details were recorded during the previous NPR enumeration as part of a single question on parents,” the government official said. “This time, we have a separate question on the place of birth to ascertain if they are staying with the children or not.”Congress politician and former minister of state for home affairs Ajay Maken has criticised the government’s move to modify the NPR form. “As MoS Home in 2010, I supervised the NPR! But Modi-Shah 2020 NPR is totally different,” he tweeted on December 25. 73053355 Officials said the Registrar General of India (RGI) will further ensure that the data collected using mobile apps by enumerators and supervisors are secure. Only those with verified credentials can download the app using logins and passwords provided by the census commissioner, they said.“The mobile IMEI number will help us to identify the enumerator who is using the app and recording the data,” one of the officials said.NPR was first rolled out by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government along with the 2011 Census. In 2011, details such as name, date of birth, sex, marital status, educational qualification, occupational activity, father and mother’s name, nationality (as declared) were among the questions asked of respondents.According to the home ministry, NPR data has been previously provided to the governments of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Manipur for the Sarvam scheme that tracks subsidies and the public distribution scheme (PDS). Rajasthan has been given NPR data for the Bhamashah women’s empowerment scheme.In 2015-16, the NPR database was updated in all states and Union Territories, except Assam and Meghalaya.“The electronic database of more than 1.19 billion usual residents of the country has already been created under NPR,” said the official. “The number of questions were 14 then, but were subsequently increased to 21 during the 2019 pre-test that was held from April 12, 2019, to September 30, 2019. The pre-test was held in 74 districts during which demographic details of around 3 million individuals were collected.”

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India has a new CDS, but is he the real boss?

New Delhi: The government has amended the charter of the defence secretary to specifically include making of “defence policy” alongside his primary responsibility of “defence of India”, while carving out a new Department of Military Affairs (DMA) to be headed by the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff.In a gazette order dated December 30, 2019, the government amended its relevant Rules of Business to remove four specific responsibilities from the Raksha Vibhag (Department of Defence), headed by the Defence Secretary, to bring them under the DMA but at the same time specified his primacy on policy matters and big ticket capital acquisition.“Defence of India and every part thereof including defence policy and all such acts as as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination to effective demobilization,” states Entry 1 of the amended charter for the Raksha Vibhaag.In effect, sources said, any files related to defence policy issues would still have to pass through the Defence Secretary, thus removing ambiguity in how the CDS would function with the Department of Defence.The other alteration is in the entry on defence purchases where the earlier formulation of “procurement exclusive to the defence services” has been replaced by “capital acquisition exclusive to the defence services”. Other procurement has come under the CDS-led DMA. This essentially means that new big ticket weaponry purchase will still be within the ambit of the Defence Secretary.Further, the National Defence College and the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis have been specifically brought under the Defence Secretary on grounds that their “remit is broader than military matters”. At the same time, the order also amends the Transaction as well as Allocation of Rules of Business to include the DMA or the Sainya Karya Vibhag as the fifth new department in the Defence Ministry along with the departments of Defence, Defence Production, Defence Research and Development as well as Ex-Servicemen Welfare.Each of these departments are headed by a Secretary-ranked officer, except the DMA where the CDS will be of cabinet secretary rank just like the three service chiefs. They all will report directly to the Defence Minister.The four elements removed from the direct ambit of the Defence Secretary are the three armed services, their respective headquarters, the territorial army and works relating to the Army, Navy and Airforce.These make up for four of the eight key responsibilities of the CDS-led DMA. The fifth is non-capital purchases while the other three relate to promoting jointness in procurement, training and operations besides encouraging use of indigenous equipment.

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D-Mart's Radhakishan Damani buys 8.8-acre mixed use plot from CCI for Rs 500 cr

MUMBAI: D-Mart founder Radhakishan Damani has bought an 8.8-acre parcel close to Sanjay Gandhi National Park from CCI Projects for over Rs 500 crore, two people aware of the development said.CCI Projects, an associate company of Cable Corporation of India, was earlier looking to develop this land on its own. It will now use funds from this sale to pay the Rs 360 crore it owes Indiabulls Housing Finance, the persons cited earlier said, requesting not to be named.The land is part of 22 acres owned by Cable Corporation of India, which had mortgaged the entire plot to Indiabulls Housing Finance for a residential-led mixed-use project. The funds remaining after payment to Indiabulls Housing Finance will be used to complete the proposed project, sources said.73053593 Email queries sent to Cable Corporation, Damani and Indiabulls Housing remained unanswered as of press time.Last month, Noida-based real estate developer Logix Group had raised Rs 540 crore from IndusInd Bank through a lease rental discounting transaction on two of its commercial office space projects. Funds raised through this exercise were also to be utilised to provide exit to existing lender Indiabulls Housing Finance.Over the last few months, Indiabulls Housing has exited from several of its large loans for projects such as One BKC in Mumbai, Vatika Mindscapes in New Delhi, RMZ Centennial and Nxt in Bengaluru, and Chennai’s Ozone TechnoPark.In the backdrop of increasing preference for alliances and joint development of land holdings, this will be one of the few instances of an outright purchase.Over the last couple of years, several realty developers have reworked their business strategies to focus on asset-light models, such as joint development to reduce upfront capital cost and cope with liquidity pressure.CCI Projects had started phase I of the project in early 2015 and it was expected to be completed in 36 months. As part of the plan, a residential complex was to be followed by retail, entertainment, commercial and hospitality units. The group had planned to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the project which would accommodate about 8,000 people in the residential zone, with a larger transient population in the commercial, retail and cultural zones. It could not be ascertained whether CCI Projects would now go ahead with the previously stated plan.Billionaire Damani recently bought 270,000 shares of VST Industries at an average price of Rs 4,259.99. According to media reports earlier this month, Damani may be looking to raise Rs 5,870 crore through sale of 5.2% in Avenue Supermarts, owner of the DMart brand. Damani, who sold about 1% earlier this year, has to sell more shares before the end of March to meet a minimum requirement for public float, the reports said.

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Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Bengal pay most for power

Rural and urban domestic consumers drawing around 400 units or more of electricity a month in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal pay the highest rates in the country, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has estimated. Utilities in Maharashtra, including those in Mumbai, and Madhya Pradesh have witnessed regular tariff revisions by their respective power regulators in comparison to other states as increased costs were passed on. However, in other states, rising costs are not always fully passed on to consumers resulting in suppressed tariffs. Moreover, unlike southern states, utilities in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh do not have ready access to cheap hydel power. Debjoy Sengupta takes a look at the states with the cheapest and costliest domestic power... 73053164 73053165

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Adani, NTPC in fray to acquire Avantha’s stressed power plant

NEW DELHI: Adani Power and NTPC Ltd are in the race to acquire a 1,260 megawatt thermal power plant of Gautam Thapar’s Avantha Group, a stressed project undergoing resolution as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).This is the first time NTPC, the country’s largest power producer, has bid for any stressed project, while Gautam Adani-led Adani Power is on a buying spree, having recently acquired GMR Infrastructure’s 1,370 mw coalbased power plant in Chhattisgarh for a debt component of Rs 3,530 crore and equity outgo of Rs 1.The Jhabua power project received two bids till the deadline on Monday, sources said. “Bids will now be opened and evaluated,” one person close to the development said. Adani Power and NTPC did not respond to separate queries sent by ET. NTPC has said earlier that it would not buy any project outside the IBC process.Banks and financial institutions are trying to close resolution proceedings for at least five stressed power plants, including Essar Power Mahan, RKM Power-Gen and Suzlon Energy, before the deadline in the first week of January, under RBI’s Prudential Framework for resolution of stressed assets that was released on June 7, 2019.Lenders can close deals outside the IBC process by March, but will have to make higher provisioning as per RBI regulations. For some projects, like RattanIndia Nashik, deadline as per the RBI framework is July 2020.Jhabua Power Ltd, a special purpose vehicle promoted by the Avantha Group to set up the coalbased thermal power project at Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh, faced land acquisition and funding issues leading to time and cost overruns. Lack of power purchase agreements also added to its woes, industry sources said.73053136 In August 2018, a lesser-known Noida-based firm Worlds Window, backed by Exim Industries, emerged as the highest bidder for the Jhabua plant as lenders attempted to resolve the project outside the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).However, the company could not arrange the requisite funding and the project got entangled in a legal battle over forfeiture of bank guarantees.Currently, Jhabua Power has 600 mw operational power generation capacity, while 660 mw is under implementation. It has debt claims of more than Rs 5,000 crore.On Monday, lenders of RattanIndia Power Ltd, led by Power Finance Corp and State Bank of India, closed debt resolution of its 1,350-mw coal-based project at Amravati in Maharashtra for Rs 4,050 crore in a deal outside insolvency court, with existing promoters backed by foreign funds Goldman Sachs and Varde Partners.Earlier, Resurgent Power acquired 75% stake in Jaiprakash Associates – owned Prayagraj Power Generation Co’s 1,980-mw Bara power plant for Rs 6,000 crore, while Hong Kong-based Agritrade Resources bought SKS Power’s Binjkote plant for Rs 2,170 crore.

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Extend deadline for inter-creditor pacts: Banks to RBI

MUMBAI: Leading banks have written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asking it to extend the deadline for signing intercreditor agreements (ICAs) by another three months so that cases close to resolution are not referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as the January 7 deadline approaches.“We have written to RBI seeking extension of inter-creditor agreement deadline of January 7 by three months so that cases are not referred to NCLT,” said a senior public sector banker.Banks are willing to make the additional 20% provision that breaching the deadline entails but want the window of resolution open until the March 31 financial year end to avoid the value destruction that they say would follow by taking the NCLT route as prescribed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).The ICA mechanism was established in order to arrive at a resolution plan within a specific period (30+180 days) for bad loans without entering the NCLT process.Lenders need to come up with an ICA resolution plan for loans worth Rs 3 lakh crore by January 7— the deadline for most stressed accounts — failing which they have to make a 20% provision and refer cases to the NCLT within 30 days.“Value destruction happens when cases are sent to NCLT.”73053058 Of the 2,542 cases in which the resolution process had started until the end of September, 186 have been closed on appeal or review, or settled; 116 have been withdrawn; 587 have ended in orders for liquidation; and 156 have ended in approval of the resolution plan, data showed. The realisation of 34% of the claims is from 27 companies.Resolution plans under the ICA framework are taking longer than anticipated because banks and non-bank lenders such as mutual funds and insurance companies are at loggerheads. With creditors unable to agree on buyers or the restructuring mechanism, it’s taking several weeks to arrive at any consensus. The delays will eat into bank earnings.“No resolution plan has been implemented in many cases and these cases are likely to be referred to NCLT,” said Chandan Churiwal, senior vice president, Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprises.The central bank’s June 7, 2019, circular requires banks to put in place an ICA within a month of the review period. To implement a resolution plan in 180 days, financial institutions enter into an ICA, authorising the lead bank to put it into action. The lead bank then prepares the plan that includes empanelling turnaround specialists and industry experts for operational revival of the asset. In case the chief lender is unable to complete the process on time, the asset moves to the NCLT. Lenders need to come up with an ICA resolution plan for loans worth 3 lakh cr by January 7.

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After Ayodhya, Rafale verdicts in '19, SC to decide on CAA & J&K this year

At a time when dissent gets traction among intellectuals and social media, the Supreme Court in 2019 achieved the unexpected by rendering a unanimous verdict on the 70-year-old Ayodhya land dispute and putting stamp of approval on the deal to purchase 36 fully-loaded Rafale jets from France.

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Banks continue to remain wary of lending to NBFCs

MUMBAI: India’s non-bank lenders continue to face hurdles in accessing funds, with banks insisting that the last-mile financiers ensure zero loss on securitisation pools, three people familiar with the matter told ET. In some cases, state-run banks are insisting NBFCs ensure 100% collection on past securitisation pools despite clear markups for expected credit losses during the purchase of these pooled loans.This new trend by banks to cover historic pool losses may hit fresh sanctions, even as NBFC credit growth is floundering.Banks undertake purchase of retail pools under the securitisation mode to meet their priority sector and retail lending requirements. As per central bank rules, the risk and rewards of the securitisation pool is to be borne by the buyer without any recourse of credit loss to the seller.Banks are required to get a credit loss assessment done from a rating agency and add a markup to the total deal cost for future credit losses. But risk aversion toward non-bank lenders is changing the rules of the game.73053003 “Most of the public sector banks expect that the seller NBFC shall ensure zero loss on the pools,” said the CEO of a leading NBFC, on the condition of anonymity. “For the past losses, they want 100% collection from retail pools, in complete contravention of RBI guidelines. The NBFCs are forced to comply as banks would otherwise block new business.”Officials at the lending banks year, banks charged nearly 40 bps as the spread on AAA-rated NBFC paper. This rose to more than 1.5 percentage point and has remained at that level despite the regulatory and policy measures. These costs are even higher for mid-sized and small non-bank lenders that have a higher reliance on bank credit.“The median rated mid-sized NBFCs rely for more than 80% of their debt on PSBs. This reliance is now getting abused by banks demanding loss compensation, which is clearly unethical. It is compressing our margins and systemically destroying profits of NBFCs,” a senior official from a mid-sized NBFC said.Credit disbursals by NBFCs have continued to slide despite government measures to boost bank funding to the sector. Loan sanctions fell 34% in the September quarter, a year after the NBFC liquidity crisis that was sparked by the IL&FS defaults.NBFC sanctions fell to Rs 1.9 lakh crore at the end of September from Rs 2.9 lakh crore during the same period last year, according to data compiled by the CRIF High Mark credit bureau.

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Tesla Delivers First China-Made Model 3 in Just Under a Year

Tesla has started delivering Model 3 electric cars built at its Shanghai factory in just under a year since it began work on the $2 billion plant, a record for global automakers in China, and said it would ramp up deliveries from next month.

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Elon Musk Says Boring Company's Las Vegas Tunnel to 'Hopefully' Be Operational Next Year

Elon Musk, founder of tunnelling enterprise Boring Company, said in a tweet that a commercial tunnel in Las Vegas would "hopefully" be fully operational in 2020.

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Amazon Prime Video January 2020 Releases: Star Trek: Picard, The Angry Birds Movie 2, and More

Upcoming movies and Web series on Amazon Prime Video in January 2020: Star Trek: Picard, Russell Peters: Deported, The Angry Birds Movie 2, Kabir Khan’s The Forgotten Army, Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer, James May: Our Man in Japan, Rohan Joshi: Wake N Bake, Afsos miniseries, Treadstone, All or Nothing: Brazil CBF, and more.

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5G in 2020: Everything You Need to Know

Unlike 4G or any previous generation wireless technologies, 5G rollout is aimed to help enhance connectivity, not only through faster data access on mobile devices, but also by enabling new experiences that would come from connected devices.

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BSNL Launches Rs. 299, Rs. 491 Broadband Plans With 20Mbps Internet Speed: All Details

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched two new broadband plans priced at Rs. 299 and Rs. 491, and both plans offer 20Mbps data speed. These monthly rental plans have been introduced on a promotional basis, and will be offered until March 25 next year.

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Tata Sky HD, SD Set-Top Box Price in India Increased by Up to Rs. 300

Tata Sky SD and HD set-top boxes (STB) had seen a price reduction in India during Diwali. Now, the prices have been revised once again, and an increase of up to Rs. 300 now reflects on the DTH operator’s site.

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Airtel Discontinues Rs. 23 Prepaid Recharge, Now Offering Rs. 45 as Base Plan

Airtel has issued a public notice that the base recharge plan of Rs. 23 is being discontinued for prepaid users in all circles, and is being replaced by the Rs. 45 prepaid plan.

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Vivo S1 Pro India Launch Date, Oppo Reno 3 Series, Samsung A30s Price Cut, and More Tech News This Week

Vivo S1 Pro launch date reveal, Oppo Reno 3 series launch, the news of Redmi Note 8 duo going on open sale in India were the biggest tech stories in a week that was pretty light on the news.

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People open to quality midcaps including NBFCs: Hemang Jani

Once we have some sort of revival in the economy and risk appetite is back as also the flows, broader market will start participating in a big way, says Hemang Jani, Senior Vice President, Sharekhan. Excerpts from an interview with ETNOW. Today is the last trading day of the year and the last day of the year and the decade. What is the feeling that you are getting going into the next decade in terms of equity structure? Is it going to be a roller coaster ride like last year or are we going to have a one-way move to begin with and then may be follow through from there?In the year which has gone by, Nifty has been up 13%. But right through the year, only a few stocks contributed to the upside and there has not been a broader participation. In 2020, at least in the first three months, things do not look that great in terms of the economic growth or the earnings picture. People would continue to focus on companies where there is some degree of growth visibility. Once we have some sort of revival in the economy and risk appetite is back as also the flows, you will see broader market participating in a big way. At least for now, it looks like the market would continue to focus on the same bunch of stocks which have been performing well. Where could we look for some opportunity? Some of the select NBFCs like Muthoot is seeing a great move. We have some selective names run up as well. Some of the smaller names would you look at perhaps further potential going forward in 2020?Yes, when we are talking about NBFC sector per se, a large part of the damage is already behind us. You would see certain companies which have gone through too much of a correction or grind, experiencing some sort of revival. So, something like L&T Finance or for that matter some of the smaller banks which have been listed would definitely see a buying interest. But yes, you would continue to see a larger focus on the well capitalised NBFCs where growth is also in play, something like HDFC or Bajaj Finance but selectively, people are open to the quality midcap companies in spaces including NBFC. What is the BPCL situation? There has been talk of the government seeking a 30% premium from the BPCL stake sale. In that sense, the stock is going into a tizzy. But from an investor’s point of view, is it worth a buy at these levels?Yes absolutely. There are two important factors that we should be really focussing on. One is how soon the government is able to initiate the whole process. We all know that it has got delayed but the sooner they are able to start this whole process, better it would be. Second, if any global oil major expresses interest in picking up the stake, that would determine to a great extent what kind of pricing BPCL gets over the next few months. If you have some major oil players coming into the fray, it means the premium could be substantially higher against only a bunch of domestic players bidding for it. Looking at the strategic nature of BPCL and the diversified business that it has and more importantly the kind of petrol pump network that it has, it is extremely difficult for anybody to replicate that. Just to acquire land and build the whole thing would take years, if not more. I have no doubt that the price BPCL would get could be substantially higher but it is totally dependent on how soon the government is able to start the whole process.

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Aaditya's induction takes Shiv Sainiks, NCP and Cong by surprise

Debutant MLA Aaditya Thackeray (29) was on Monday inducted as cabinet minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by his father Uddhav Thackeray, making the Thackerays the first father-son duo to be part of the cabinet together in Maharashtra.

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How pacers powered rise of Team India in 2019

Since January 2018 - when Bumrah made his debut - India's pacers have taken 274 wickets in 22 Tests at 20.74, the best among all teams. They also have the most five-wicket hauls (14). In wins, Bumrah has the best strike rate (30.4), best average (13.19) and best economy rate (2.59) among all bowlers since his debut.

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Morning Podcast: Market-moving news and stocks

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How pacers powered the rise of Team India in 2019

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Will 'Mankad' anyone who goes out of crease this IPL: Ashwin

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Footballer Dhanarajan collapses, dies during game

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South Africa vs England: Not afraid of taking big decisions, says England coach Chris Silverwood

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Indian tycoons faced bankruptcies, jail and even death in 2019

By Bhuma Shrivastava and P R SanjaiFor many Indian tycoons, 2019 turned woeful as lenders -- empowered by the nation’s recent bankruptcy law and desperate to clean up soured debt from their books -- started seizing assets of delinquent firms or dragged them into insolvency.Indian banks wrote off a record $39 billion of loans in the 18 months through September in a bid to repair their balance sheets as they battled the world’s worst bad debt pile. Making matters worse, a shadow banking crisis led to a funding squeeze, crushing debt-laden businesses that were critically dependent on rollover financing.“Life has come a full circle for tycoons that had enjoyed debt-fueled growth,” said Nirmal Gangwal, founder of distress and debt restructuring advisory firm Brescon & Allied Partners LLP. “Many firms collapsed like a house of cards. The downfall was rather unprecedented.”The government has also been cracking down on economic crime to assuage public anger over absconding businessmen. It’s even barred some from traveling overseas if they were deemed a flight risk.Here are some of the country’s biggest and most-storied businessmen who saw their fortunes fade. Spokespersons for these tycoons didn’t immediately reply to emails and text messages seeking comments.Anil AmbaniThe chairman of Reliance Group, which makes movies to metro lines, had a close shave with jail time in March before his elder brother and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, bailed him out at the last minute. The woes of the ex-billionaire came to the fore when India’s top court asked him to pay Ericsson AB’s India unit about $77 million of past dues or go to jail since Anil Ambani, 60, had given a personal guarantee. His telecom carrier slipped into insolvency this year, while unprofitable Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. faced a cash crunch. Reliance Capital Ltd. is selling assets to pare debt. Ambani is also fending off Chinese lenders in a London court.Malvinder & Shivinder SinghKarma caught up with ex-billionaires and brothers Malvinder Singh, 47, and Shivinder Singh, 44, and how. Scions of a prominent business family, they once helmed India’s top drug maker and second-largest hospital chain. In October, the two were arrested on charges of fraudulently diverting nearly $337 million from a lender they controlled. India’s market regulator found in 2018 that the brothers had defrauded their hospital company of about $56 million. The collapse of the $2 billion empire turned brother against brother, prompting their mother to broker a peace deal that was short-lived. In February, Malvinder accused Shivinder and their spiritual guru of fraud.Shashikant & Ravikant RuiaAfter a hard-fought battle to keep their flagship steel mill, the first-generation entrepreneurs finally saw the bankrupt Essar Steel India Ltd. pass on to ArcelorMittal last month. The $5.9 billion takeover was almost two years in the making with multiple legal wrangles. The group, controlled by Shashikant Ruia, 76, and Ravikant Ruia, 70, were also reprimanded by a U.K. judge in March this year for concealing documents. Started in 1969 as a construction firm, Essar Group diversified, investing about $18 billion between 2008 and 2012, and piled on debt. In 2017, the group had sold another prized asset, Essar Oil.V.G. SiddharthaBefore jumping off a bridge into a river in July in an apparent suicide, the founder of India’s biggest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day had penned a letter that spoke of pressure from lenders, a private equity firm and harassment by tax officials. He had spent much of the last two years pledging ever more of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd. shares to refinance loans for ever shorter periods, at ever higher interest rates. “I would like to say I gave it my all,” V.G. Siddhartha, 60, wrote in the letter. “I fought for a long time but today I gave up.”Naresh GoyalThe former ticketing agent who built India’s largest airline by value, stepped down as chairman of Jet Airways India Ltd. in March, caving in to pressure from banks who took over the company. Cut-throat price wars and surging costs pushed Jet deeper into loss. The airline stopped flying in April and went into bankruptcy two months later as lenders failed to find a buyer. In July, an Indian court barred Naresh Goyal from flying overseas after the government said it was investigating an alleged $2.6 billion fraud involving Jet Airways.Rana KapoorThe founder of Yes Bank Ltd., which became India’s fourth-largest non-state lender, tweeted in September 2018 that his shares were invaluable and requested his children never to sell them upon inheritance. But trouble was brewing. The nation’s banking regulator, which found the lender had repeatedly under-reported its bad loans, refused to extend his tenure as chief executive officer. This forced Rana Kapoor, 62, to step down by end-January. Kapoor, who has pledged some of his Yes Bank shares in July, sold almost his entire stake in the lender by October.Subhash ChandraThe rice trader-turned-media mogul, 69, who brought cable television into Indian homes in the early 1990s with his ZEE TV, resigned as chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. in November and lost control of his crown jewel. To help pay the debt of Essel Group, Subhash Chandra has been selling stake in Zee Entertainment in the past few months to repay group’s debt.Gautam ThaparA default by Gautam Thapar, founder of the paper mill-to-power transmission Avantha Group, on pledged shares made Yes Bank Ltd. the biggest shareholder in CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. In August, the firm was hit by an accounting scandal forcing the board to remove Thapar, 59, from the chairman’s post. A month later, the market regulator ordered a forensic audit of the firm and barred Thapar from accessing securities market.--With assistance from Jeanette Rodrigues, Suvashree Ghosh and Anto Antony

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Reliance sets up Jiomart to sell grocery online soon

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company by market value, has started its web portal Jiomart, harnessing the might of its two largest consumer-facing businesses to announce its entry into online food and grocery shopping by early next year.The app will connect both lastmile neighbourhood stores and consumers, leveraging data and technology capabilities of Reliance’s telecom business Jio and the cash-and-carry infrastructure of its retailing arm.According to officials, the new venture will be an aggregator where it will partner local grocers and equip them with points of sale (PoS) terminals, low interest working capital, inventory management skills, and GST compliance.In January 2019, chairman Mukesh Ambani announced that group companies Reliance Retail and Jio would jointly launch a new ecommerce platform in the country.At present, services of the website with the tagline 'India ki nayi dukaan' are available in the outskirts of Mumbai, in suburbs such as Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai. The site offers free home delivery, pre-registration discounts and options to buy more than 50,000 grocery products online."Kiranas are being registered and given POS machines with integrated billing applications. Also, it enables digital transactions, promotions including loyalty, discount coupons by fast moving consumer goods firms and supply chain management," said an official privy to the launch of the service.Reliance Retail had logged net sales of Rs 1.3 lakh crore last fiscal.

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IPOs worth Rs 50,000 crore to light up Dalal Street next year

ET Intelligence Group: Indian companies may mop up Rs 40,000-50,000 crore through the initial public offering (IPO) route in 2020, an analysis of the draft red herring prospectus (DHRP) filed by companies with the market regulator and pitch notes of investment bankers show.It would be nearly four times higher compared with the Rs 12,362 crore raised by 16 companies in 2019 on the main exchange boards, which was the lowest in five years.Among the prominent IPOs that may hit in the first half of the new year are SBI Cards & Payment (issue size of Rs 9,000-10,000 crore), UTI Asset Management Company (Rs 3,500-4,000 crore), Burger King (Rs 400 crore), Home First Finance (Rs 1,500 crore) and Computer Age Management Services (Rs 1500 crore).73039343 The later part of the year may witness the public issues of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Emami Cement, Easytrip Planners (which operates easemytrip.com), Puranik Builders, Samhi Hotels, and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.Pranav Haldea, managing director at Prime database said, “There is a robust pipeline of IPOs if the secondary market continues to improve and assuming no major negative surprises from the Union Budget.” According to Prime database, 21 companies having approvals from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plan to raise nearly Rs 18,700 crore while 13 other companies are waiting for the approval to raise over Rs 18,000 crore.“Sentiments have improved for the IPO market and enquiry levels from corporates have increased multi-fold. If market returns from the existing stocks become broader over the next two-three quarters, we may see fresh IPOs worth more than Rs 40,000 crore in 2020,” said an investment banking head of a leading domestic private bank. “Our calendars are quite tight in the first quarter of 2020 and we have already scheduled road shows for five-six companies in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States.”Interestingly, the returns of the companies that debuted on bourses in 2019 are promising. Their median return was 42.6 per cent over their issue prices, according to the data compiled by the ET Intelligence Group.Stocks including IRCTC, Affle India, and IndiaMART Inter-MESH have doubled from their issue prices. Nearly four out of every five IPOs in 2019 earned returns for investors. The S&P BSE IPO Index, an index comprising companies that raised money in the past two years, rose by 36 per cent in 2019 compared with a gain of 13 per cent of the S&P BSE Sensex.72990263 The fund raising from the rights issue and through qualified institutional placement (QIP) also gained prominence in 2019 as corporates needed capital to meet regulatory obligations. Fifteen companies raised Rs 52,053 crore from rights issue in 2019, the highest amount in five years.A major portion was accounted for by Vodafone Idea’s issue of Rs 25,000 crore and Bharti Airtel’s Rs 24,939-crore issue.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) invested $3.9 billion in intitial public issues and qualified institutional placements of Indian companies during the year. They have also invested a net $9.9 billion through the secondary market.

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Top10: Did India’s ‘forest cover’ really increase?

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Gold prices steady, set for best year since 2010

US gold futures were unchanged at $1,518.30.

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Maria Sharapova to return next month as Brisbane wildcard

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IndiGo, Etihad show interest in Air India

NEW DELHI: IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways have met government officials and evinced interest in ailing national carrier Air India, a senior government official told ET.“Representatives from these companies have met government officials and, unofficially, shown interest in the national carrier. The Tata Group, however, has not shown any interest yet,” said the official, who sought anonymity.The government, which could not sell 76% in Air India last year, is offering 100% stake this time. But the response to road shows in Singapore and London were not encouraging.Officials said that they did, however, see interest from a couple of private equity investors. “There are these two companies and a couple of private equity investors who have shown some interest. An airline as big as Air India is unlikely to receive any more interest,” said the official.The Centre is likely to come up with the expression of interest (EoI) documents by next month.73039207 73039214 Among the two suitors, IndiGo can bid to own 100% in Air India but Etihad can own only 49% under the current foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.The norms allow a foreign carrier to own up to 49% in an Indian airline, but allow 100% foreign investment in an airline. This means Etihad can bid for 100% stake in Air India by tying up with either Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) or National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund is an infrastructure investment company anchored by the Indian government, where ADIA is a key investor.Etihad, till recently, owned 24% in Jet Airways but decided against funding the financially crippled airline, leading to its grounding in April.Emailed questionnaires sent to IndiGo and Etihad had not elicited any response as of press time Monday.The government, which did not receive a single bid in its maiden attempt to sell Air India last year, is being cautious this time and has offered various relaxations, such as 100% stake in the airline, substantial restructuring of debt and liabilities and allowing the new owner to offer VRS to employees.According to the plan being discussed, the government will pay Air India’s dues amounting to Rs 22,000 crore to vendors such as airports and oil companies before putting the airline up for sale. It may also waive the airline’s entire working capital debt of about Rs 15,500 crore, so that Air India is left with a loan burden of about Rs 20,000 crore.According to the approved plan, Air India will be offered along with low-cost international subsidiary Air India Express as well as its 50% stake in ground-handling company Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services.

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Adani Electricity set to raise up to $1.5 billion abroad

MUMBAI: Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd, the flagship power transmission and distribution company in Gautam Adani’s empire, is set to raise up to $1.5 billion in what could be one of the largest overseas borrowing exercises by an Indian company in the New Year.The company, a subsidiary of Adani Transmission Ltd, is expected to raise about $1 billion via bonds and $400-500 million through syndicated loans, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told ET.The proceeds will be used to expand capacity and refinance loans taken to fund the acquisition of Anil Ambani’s Mumbai power distribution company two years ago. Adani aims to reduce costs by tapping relatively cheap money available overseas. Currently, debt securities worth $11 trillion yield negative returns globally.The Adani Group did not respond to ET’s email seeking comment on the matter.The proposed bonds will be offered globally, including in the US. The securities may be of sevenor 10-year maturity. The company is said to have sought ratings for the proposed issue, which could be investment grade, on par with India’s sovereign rating. The proceeds from the bonds will be used to refinance loans taken to fund the acquisitions two years ago. “The company had taken loans from large local banks including ICICI Bank, SBI and Bank of Baroda with five- to sevenyear maturities, which it will pre-pay using the bond proceeds,” said one person.The company is also in talks with foreign banks to raise up to $500 million through syndicated offshore loans, which will be used to expand capacity next year.The syndicated loans would be three- or five-year money and be priced after adding 250-275 basis points over and above the London Inter-bank Offered Rate.73039252 “Such refinancing via dollar bonds should give the company a cost advantage even on a fully hedged basis,” said an executive associated with the exercise.Adani Electricity was formed after the acquisition of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.’s integrated generation, transmission and distribution utilities powering Mumbai city. Its distribution network spans over 400 sq. km and caters to the electricity needs of over 2.9 million customers.Adani Transmission acquired debt-laden Reliance Infrastructure’s electricity generation, transmission and distribution business in Mumbai in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 18,800 crore ($2.6 billion) in December 2017. It was one of the largest corporate takeovers in the power sector.Barclays, Citi, Deutsche, JPMorgan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Standard Chartered Bank are among the banks involved in the entire fund-raising exercise.The banks could not be contacted immediately for comment.Adani Transmission reported a total consolidated debt of Rs 17,909 crore at the end of September, a drop of 2.6% from a year earlier, according to ETIG Database. Interest costs, in proportion to total debt, increased 5.72% compared with a 2.71% rise a year earlier, according to ETIG calculations.Indian companies raised a record $30.25 billion in overseas borrowings this year as they exploited abundant overseas liquidity and overcame a tight domestic market that turned risk averse, ET reported on December 26.Adani Transmission agreed to sell a 25.1% stake in Adani Electricity Mumbai to Qatar Investment Authority for Rs 3,200 crore, the company said on December 11. This brings down the promoter's stake to 75%.

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IndiGo, Etihad show interest in boarding Air India

NEW DELHI: IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways have met government officials and evinced interest in ailing national carrier Air India, a senior government official told ET.“Representatives from these companies have met government officials and, unofficially, shown interest in the national carrier. The Tata Group, however, has not shown any interest yet,” said the official, who sought anonymity.The government, which could not sell 76% in Air India last year, is offering 100% stake this time. But the response to road shows in Singapore and London were not encouraging.Officials said that they did, however, see interest from a couple of private equity investors. “There are these two companies and a couple of private equity investors who have shown some interest. An airline as big as Air India is unlikely to receive any more interest,” said the official.The Centre is likely to come up with the expression of interest (EoI) documents by next month.73039207 73039214 Among the two suitors, IndiGo can bid to own 100% in Air India but Etihad can own only 49% under the current foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.The norms allow a foreign carrier to own up to 49% in an Indian airline, but allow 100% foreign investment in an airline. This means Etihad can bid for 100% stake in Air India by tying up with either Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) or National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund is an infrastructure investment company anchored by the Indian government, where ADIA is a key investor.Etihad, till recently, owned 24% in Jet Airways but decided against funding the financially crippled airline, leading to its grounding in April.Emailed questionnaires sent to IndiGo and Etihad had not elicited any response as of press time Monday.The government, which did not receive a single bid in its maiden attempt to sell Air India last year, is being cautious this time and has offered various relaxations, such as 100% stake in the airline, substantial restructuring of debt and liabilities and allowing the new owner to offer VRS to employees.According to the plan being discussed, the government will pay Air India’s dues amounting to Rs 22,000 crore to vendors such as airports and oil companies before putting the airline up for sale. It may also waive the airline’s entire working capital debt of about Rs 15,500 crore, so that Air India is left with a loan burden of about Rs 20,000 crore.According to the approved plan, Air India will be offered along with low-cost international subsidiary Air India Express as well as its 50% stake in ground-handling company Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services.

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Chinese phone companies may spice up premium space in 2020

NEW DELHI: Aggressive Chinese smartphone companies Oppo, Vivo and Realme are set to challenge the dominance of OnePlus, Apple and Samsung in India’s premium segment in 2020, likely pushing growth in the category to the fastest ever.Premium smartphones – those priced over Rs 30,000 – are expected to grow by 48% in 2020, according to Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Research firm TechArc expects a 30% increase in 2020.“India’s premium segment is still at a nascent stage, contributing just 6% to the market by volume. This is still low when compared to markets like the US and China, where the premium segment accounts for 50% and 22%, respectively,” said Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint Research.With Oppo, Vivo and Realme entering the premium segment, consumers are set to have an abundance of choice, which will help expand the market at a faster pace than before, analysts said.Premium device shipments are expected to grow by 33% in 2019, while overall smartphone sales are expected to show muted growth - in single digits.73039208 Growth in smartphone sales will be about 5% in 2020, Realme India chief executive officer Madhav Sheth told ET earlier, as people hold on to their devices for longer due to lack of innovation in new models and higher average prices.In 2020, the category is expected to contribute 34-36% of the market by value, compared with less than 30% in 2019, according to TechArc.The premium market is dominated by OnePlus, Samsung and Apple, which had 35%, 23% and 22% share, respectively, in the third quarter of 2019, data from Counterpoint Research showed. Oppo, Vivo and Realme, which, like OnePlus, are owned by China’s BBK, have already entered the category.Realme, an online-only brand, plans to go offline in 2020, hoping to disrupt the segment with a slew of premium launches.73039216

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Chinese phone companies may spice up premium space in 2020

Premium smartphones those priced over Rs 30,000 are expected to grow by 48% in 2020, according to Counterpoint Technology Market Research. With Oppo, Vivo and Realme entering the premium segment, consumers are set to have an abundance of choice, which will help expand the market at a faster pace than before, analysts said.

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As moratorium ends, NPAs may rise in January

MUMBAI: Non-performing assets in the wholesale book is expected to rise from January, as an increasing proportion of the loan book comes out of moratorium. Nearly Rs 70,000 crore worth of advances to infrastructure developers would be out of a stipulated moratorium period in January, according to India Ratings. Some of these exposures may turn delinquent, as cost of funds have risen, and liquidity is tight.These NBFCs are large lenders to developers. A third of developer loan book of NBFCs was under moratorium where interest payment was happening, but principle payment was to start from January. Delinquencies may increase on these accounts on a case to case basis.“The principal moratorium is estimated at 50-70% of assets for some non-banks, going as high as 90% in some, as per Crisil.With the moratorium period of these facilities gradually coming to an end, we expect the asset quality to come under pressure. There has also been an increase in softer delinquencies for nonbanks in the current fiscal reflecting the build-up of stress.73039055 “The share of loans under moratorium in the wholesale or real estate segments of non-banks tends to be high as much as 70% in certain cases given the typical maturity profile of real estate loans,” said Karthik Srinivasan, senior vice-president Icra.Most lenders are wary of developers because of unsold inventory. While banks have slowed down their exposure to developers, NBFCs have aggressively expanded in this segment. NBFCs saw over 30% increase in loan book till 2017-18.This, coupled with the high prepayments or exits through refinance or take-out, helped support the asset quality despite the slowdown in the borrower segments. However, banks raised borrowing cost by 150-200 basis points after the IL&FS default.“For these borrowers liquidity constraints may continue since the developers are saddled with unsold inventory and also since fresh funding has become difficult to come,” said a senior bank official. “NPA is likely to increase only marginally in the fourth quarter as lenders have already classified many of the big accounts as NPA. Cost of funds to the developers has also increased by 150-200 bps.”

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As moratorium ends, NPAs may rise in January

MUMBAI: Non-performing assets in the wholesale book is expected to rise from January, as an increasing proportion of the loan book comes out of moratorium. Nearly Rs 70,000 crore worth of advances to infrastructure developers would be out of a stipulated moratorium period in January, according to India Ratings. Some of these exposures may turn delinquent, as cost of funds have risen, and liquidity is tight.These NBFCs are large lenders to developers. A third of developer loan book of NBFCs was under moratorium where interest payment was happening, but principle payment was to start from January. Delinquencies may increase on these accounts on a case to case basis.“The principal moratorium is estimated at 50-70% of assets for some non-banks, going as high as 90% in some, as per Crisil.With the moratorium period of these facilities gradually coming to an end, we expect the asset quality to come under pressure. There has also been an increase in softer delinquencies for nonbanks in the current fiscal reflecting the build-up of stress.73039055 “The share of loans under moratorium in the wholesale or real estate segments of non-banks tends to be high as much as 70% in certain cases given the typical maturity profile of real estate loans,” said Karthik Srinivasan, senior vice-president Icra.Most lenders are wary of developers because of unsold inventory. While banks have slowed down their exposure to developers, NBFCs have aggressively expanded in this segment. NBFCs saw over 30% increase in loan book till 2017-18.This, coupled with the high prepayments or exits through refinance or take-out, helped support the asset quality despite the slowdown in the borrower segments. However, banks raised borrowing cost by 150-200 basis points after the IL&FS default.“For these borrowers liquidity constraints may continue since the developers are saddled with unsold inventory and also since fresh funding has become difficult to come,” said a senior bank official. “NPA is likely to increase only marginally in the fourth quarter as lenders have already classified many of the big accounts as NPA. Cost of funds to the developers has also increased by 150-200 bps.”

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Stakeholders believe, MDR waiver may hurt digital India

MUMBAI: The Centre’s decision to not levy Merchant Discount Rates for payments made through Ru-Pay debit cards and Unified Payment Interface (UPI) instruments has drawn criticism from market stakeholders, several of which claim the move could slow India’s drive toward a less-cash economy.The policy, besides putting National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) domestic RuPay cards under competitive disadvantage over multinational rivals Visa and Mastercard, also threatens the business models of several home-grown Payment Service Providers (PSPs), industry executives said.“The prohibition on charging MDR on Rupay and UPI would kill the industry and make the business model unviable. It is akin to nationalisation of the payments industry,” said Vishwas Patel, chairman of Payment Council of India (PCI), an industry body representing more than 100 PSP fintech companies.“There would be a significant negative impact on the payment ecosystem –innovation, job losses and a slowdown in the expansion of the digital payments in India,” said Patel. “Service providers will start withdrawing the existing deployed POS terminals from unviable small shops and establishments as continued maintenance, training and supply of printer rolls etc. will increase losses.”Furthermore, past representations by both the Indian Bank’s Association and the Payment Council of India have also warned that in a market environment with no incentives for investments, there could be “near stoppage in customer incentive spends by the (market) participants,” and a potential “dry out revenues” for many businesses, as per copies of their letters reviewed by ET. The revenue impact to the government is about Rs 2,500 crore annually.Mailed queries to the IBA and NPCI remained unanswered.73039038 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the zero MDR regime would kick in once the Department of Revenue issued a gazette notification on January 1.The announcement came after a high-level meeting with top executives of public and private sector banks, where the finance secretary, revenue secretary, economic affairs secretary, electronics and information technology secretary, RBI representatives and the chief executive officer of NPCI were present.MDR is the fee accrued by ‘issuer’ banks from ‘acquirer’ banks on digital payments and is generally levied from the merchants processing the transactions. The current MDR charges are capped at 0.60% of card-based transactions for payments over Rs 2,000. The costs of MDR below Rs 2,000 for banks are borne by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY).“It’s a hara-kiri committed by the government,” a top industry executive requesting anonymity told ET. “Such a policy would put years of hard work done by domestic companies in expanding digital payments network and put NPCI in a competitive disadvantage over international rivals operating in the market.”There are more than 500 million RuPay debit cards in the market and 4 million POS (point of sale) machines processing debit card payments. With roughly around Rs 14 lakh crore worth of digital transactions per month, the MDR net spends come in at around Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore annually, as per market estimates.“Nearly 55% of this revenue goes to the private fintech players and the rest goes to the banks,” said Loney Anthony, Managing Director of Hitachi Payments Services.According to a PCI spokesperson, Indian PSP startups notably, the likes of Paytm, Mswipe, PhonePe and PineLabs, have attracted billions worth of foreign direct investments over the last few years. “In a scenario where there are no viable business models for these companies, the investments coming in would also take a hit,” Anthony added.

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The Mandalorian on Disney+ Is a Most Curious Thing, Just Like Baby Yoda

It’s set in the world of Star Wars and it’s got the delightful Baby Yoda. So why then is The Mandalorian only available in five countries through Disney+? What decade are we living in?

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PAN-Aadhaar Linking Deadline Is December 31: How to Check Status, Link Aadhaar-PAN Online or via SMS

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Amazon's Ring Cameras Are Vulnerable to Hackers, Claims Lawsuit in the US

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Top 5 Space Moments of 2019

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Is Betelgeuse, One of the Sky's Brightest Stars, on the Brink of a Supernova?

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Google Pixel 3a XL, Vivo Z1 Pro, Other Phones Receive Price Discounts as a Part of Flipkart Sale

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Flying Cars to Hyperloop: A Review of Tech Predictions

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Bitcoin's Purported Creator Says His Fortune May Remain Locked

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2020 iPad Pro Purported Renders Suggest iPhone 11 Pro-Like Triple Rear Cameras

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Samsung Galaxy A30s 128GB Storage Variant Launched in India: Price, Specifications

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This Tiny Island Nation of 11,000 People Is Cashing in Thanks to Its .tv TLD

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26GHz Band Inclusion in Spectrum Auction Said to Be a Distant Possibility

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China Launches Powerful Rocket in Boost for 2020 Mars Mission

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Coming Autumn 2020 on Disney+

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Internet Shutdowns Costing Telecom Operators Crores in Lost Revenue

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Best-Selling Room Heaters to Buy in India This Winter Season: Check Price, Other Details

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Spotify to Suspend Political Advertising in 2020

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NASA's Mars 2020 Rover to Seek Ancient Life, Prepare Human Missions

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Best Movies of 2019: Our Favourite Films, From Avengers: Endgame to Joker

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The Mandalorian Season 2 Coming Autumn 2020 on Disney+

The Mandalorian, the live-action Star Wars television series that introduced the world to Baby Yoda, has been confirmed for a second season.

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Spotify to Suspend Political Advertising in 2020

Spotify said on Friday it would pause selling political advertisements on its music streaming platform in early 2020.

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Best Movies of 2019: Our Favourite Films, From Avengers: Endgame to Joker

From Avengers: Endgame to Joker, the Gadgets 360 staff pick their favourite movies of 2019. The list also includes a couple of Bollywood releases in Andhadhun and Article 15, alongside unknown fare from Punjab, Syria, and Korea.

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26GHz Band Inclusion in Spectrum Auction Said to Be a Distant Possibility

The inclusion of a new band -- 26GHz -- is a distant proposition in the spectrum auction which stands as has been decided by the Digital Communications Commission, official sources said on Friday.

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Internet Shutdowns Costing Telecom Operators Crores in Lost Revenue

Mobile operators are losing around Rs. 2.45 crores ($350,000) in revenue every hour they are forced to suspend Internet services on government orders to control protests against a new citizenship law, a top lobby group said on Friday.

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10 Best and Worst Tech Trends of 2019

2019 was a mixed bag in terms of technology trends. On one hand, the consumers finally started really worrying about their data and big tech made some big promises to safeguard it, on the other, deepfakes went mainstream and are surprisingly each to create, becoming an even bigger cause of concern in the era of fake news and misinformation campaign...

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Dish TV Launches New SD, HD Combo Packages for Bengali Subscribers

Dish TV has brought the Rs. 169 Sampurna Bangla combo pack with 196 SD channels. The new range also includes the Swagat Cricket Bangla pack at Rs. 219 and Swagat Bangla pack at Rs. 208.

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50 Moments That Defined Tech This Decade

Between 2010 and 2019, we’ve seen an enormous number of technological reforms that have changed the way we live today. We are, here, covering a total of 50 distinct events in the technology world that changed our life trajectory.

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Mobile Internet Services Restored in Kargil After 145 Days; No Such Relief for Jammu and Kashmir

Mobile Internet services have been restored in Kargil district of Ladakh more than 145 days after being suspended in the wake of the Centre abrogating provisions of Article 370 of the constitution, officials said.

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Airtel Rs. 558 Prepaid Recharge Plan Revised, Validity Reduced to 56 Days: All Details

The validity of the Airtel Rs. 558 prepaid plan has been reduced from 82 days to 56 days – a heavy reduction of 26 days. Additional benefits on the plan include free four week course at Shaw Academy that allows users to learn anything from photography to music.

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10 Best and Worst Tech Trends of 2019

2019 was a mixed bag in terms of technology trends. On one hand, the consumers finally started really worrying about their data and big tech made some big promises to safeguard it, on the other, deepfakes went mainstream and are surprisingly each to create, becoming an even bigger cause of concern in the era of fake news and misinformation campaign...

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Best TV Shows of 2019: Our Favourite Series, From The Witcher to The Family Man

From The Witcher to The Family Man, the Gadgets 360 staff pick their favourite TV shows of 2019. The list also includes four series from India, alongside Emmy-winners and under-the-radar entries.

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50 Moments That Defined Tech This Decade

Between 2010 and 2019, we’ve seen an enormous number of technological reforms that have changed the way we live today. We are, here, covering a total of 50 distinct events in the technology world that changed our life trajectory.

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The Netflix Decade: How One Company Changed the Way We Watch TV

In the not-so-distant past, TV viewers were forced to wait a week for the next installment of their favorite shows, parceled out by networks in half-hour or hour-long increments.

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10 Best and Worst Tech Trends of 2019

2019 was a mixed bag in terms of technology trends. On one hand, the consumers finally started really worrying about their data and big tech made some big promises to safeguard it, on the other, deepfakes went mainstream and are surprisingly each to create, becoming an even bigger cause of concern in the era of fake news and misinformation campaign...

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50 Moments That Defined Tech This Decade

Between 2010 and 2019, we’ve seen an enormous number of technological reforms that have changed the way we live today. We are, here, covering a total of 50 distinct events in the technology world that changed our life trajectory.

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Tesla Set to Begin Deliveries of China-Made Model 3 Cars on December 30

Tesla will begin delivering Model 3 vehicles built at its Shanghai factory on Monday, a company representative told Reuters. Construction of its first plant outside the United States began in January and production started in October.

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The Decade's Biggest Technology Disappointments

In 2010, we were excited about new iPhones and finding old friends on Facebook, not fretting about our digital privacy or social media's threat to democracy. Now we are wondering how to rein in the largest companies in the world and reckoning with wanting innovation to be both fast and responsible.

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Tesla Secures $1.29 Billion Loan From Chinese Banks for Shanghai Factory

Tesla entered into agreements with lenders in China for a secured term loan facility of up to CNY 9 billion ($1.29 billion), according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

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Timex Helix Gusto HRM Review

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Netflix January 2020 Releases: Ghost Stories, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dracula, and More

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Social Media Platforms That Thrived (or Died) in the Decade Past

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Solar Eclipse 2019: 10 Great Photos Taken During the Eclipse Today

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LG to Showcase webOS Auto at CES 2020, a Competitor to Android Auto and Apple Car Play

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'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse Wows Skywatchers Across Asia

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Redmi Note 8, Redmi Note 8 Pro, Redmi 8 Now on Open Sale in India: Check Price, Specifications, More

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Indian Mobile Users Have Already Consumed 55 Million Terabytes of Data This Year: TRAI

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Sony PlayStation 4 Slim 1TB Price in India Cut, Now Available at Rs. 27,990: Report

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It's important to put together a squad that gels well: Anil Kumble

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Eng's WC-winning cricketers named in New Year Honours list

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At 2.4°C, Delhi records coldest day of season

The national capital on Saturday witnessed season's lowest temperature of 2.4 degree Celsius, reported news agency ANI quoting IMD. The temperature was recorded at 6.10 am. The city has been witnessing the longest December cold spell since 1997. A thick layer of fog has also engulfed the national capital.

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The biggest sports controversies in 2019

Be it Russia getting banned from participating at the Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to US women's soccer captain Megan Rapinoe having a go at President Donald Trump, there were several occasions when things kept coming to a boil in the year 2019. Racist chants reared their heads from time to time, not sparing the best of international athletes, mostly footballers.

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How a firm and few bankers used excel sheets to con a bank

MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police filed an over 32,000-page chargesheet in connection with the multi-crore scam at Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank on Friday, charging HDIL promoters Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan as well as former bank chairman Waryam Singh, managing director Joy Thomas and director SS Arora.The EOW charged the former management of PMC Bank with failing to report an account of Rakesh Wadhawan with an outstanding amount of Rs 1,671.88 crore as the top borrower from the HDIL Group and filing false statements with the Reserve Bank of India to avoid regulatory scrutiny.Of 43 accounts with an outstanding amount of Rs 5,027.33 crore in FY18, only 21 loan accounts of the HDIL Group with dues of Rs 333.14 crore were reported to the RBI, according to the chargesheet reviewed by ET. The group’s total outstanding amount accounted for more than half of PMC Bank’s entire credit exposure.The chargesheet says Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan hatched a criminal conspiracy to cause wrongful gains for their company by taking loans from PMC Bank against mortgage facilities without providing any security.To support its findings, the EOW attached a statement of Rupali Raut, an executive of the bank’s credit department who prepared statements submitted to the RBI during FY15 to FY17.‘Rakesh Wadhawan not Named Top Borrower’Raut told the EOW that “the practice of hiding loan liability of HDIL Group company’s account dates back from almost 2008”.Rakesh Wadhawan should have been reported as the top borrower from HDIL Group in 2018, according to the EOW. However, bank officials, acting under instructions from superiors, excluded his name. The acts of concealing material facts of the total credit exposure of HDIL Group companies in PMC Bank and the preparation of false statements filed with the RBI fall well within the ambit of forgery and criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code, the EOW said in the chargesheet.Similarly, irregularities were observed in other statements submitted to the RBI that dealt with segment-wise analysis and the bank’s exposure to the real estate sector.“As the main business of HDIL and its group companies is construction and development of the properties, all accounts have to be classified under commercial real estate (CRE) category… Instead, PMC Bank has shown additional counts of fictitious accounts and amounts,” the EOW said.PMC Bank showed 59,675 accounts with outstanding dues of Rs 5,528.38 crore. These accounts included 21,049 fictitious accounts purportedly prepared over the years to conceal 22 loan accounts of HDIL with outstanding dues of Rs 4,638.46 crore and 22 other loan accounts with outstanding dues of Rs 3,815.82 crore, according to the chargesheet.The probe revealed that HDIL and associate companies availed of mortgage against overdraft/ mortgage loan type credit from PMC Bank between 2008 and 2014, while Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan availed of similar loan facilities from 2009 to 2013. While awarding these mortgage facilities, PMC Bank did not follow the rules.In the case of Sarang Wadhawan, the memorandum of deposit limit of Rs 10 crore was sanctioned in 2009 and by 2018, this limit had been renewed to Rs 91 crore. The enhanced amount was disbursed without any security. The required loan documents were invalid and the amount wasn’t repaid, which were a full-fledged breach of the RBI’s norms and conditions, the EOW said.“All facilities are mortgage loans. However, officials have not obtained security against facilities awarded... facilities have been enhanced periodically without taking into consideration the actual performance of borrowers,” it said.The bank officials, instead of classifying these loans as non-performing assets, kept charging interest on these outstanding dues to keep them alive and present them as financially sound, it was stated in the chargesheet.The alleged modus operandi involved falsifying the bank’s advances master dump Excel sheet, which required details of each loan account to be provided. The bank started to conceal select non-performing exposures by replacing the information with dummy accounts. The largest outstanding balance among the fictitious accounts mentioned in the advance master indent of FY18 was only Rs 42.83 lakh, the chargesheet stated.“The same have been missed by the previous RBI inspecting team because the balance outstanding in these fictitious accounts was considerably small in amount,” the EOW said. 73002592 According to the chargesheet, PMC Bank included 2,500 accounts in the advance master file in 2014-15 and while adding them, only the outstanding amount was mentioned. In 2015-16, a new set of accounts was included. For 2016-17, an additional 4,969 new fictitious accounts were included for a total of 17,469. For 2017-18, 3,580 fictitious accounts were added, taking the total to 21,049 fictitious accounts, according to the chargesheet.“This exercise was done for the purpose of concealing huge outstanding of HDIL Group accounts... the practice of creating fictitious accounts was applied to meet with compliance of RBI instruction regarding providing details of all borrowers of bank,” it said.The EOW said the bank maintained three notebooks containing details of the money paid and received by HDIL and its associate companies, Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, Waryam Singh and Joy Thomas. The money belonged to public depositors. The statements of over 40 depositors were attached with the chargesheet.“In some instances, they have paid cash to these people against cheques furnished by them and in some instances cash was paid to them without any cheque or any other instrument,” the EOW said.The chargesheet states that between 2014 and 2019, Rs 65.29 crore was paid in cash to HDIL Group which returned Rs 55.28 crore. The balance has not yet been repaid.

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HUL will be getting a brand new top order

MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever will split the role of current chairman and managing director Sanjiv Mehta, who will retain the second post, said top officials close to the development. A top Unilever executive will become non-executive chairman at the India unit in order to meet the March 2020 Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) deadline for separating the two roles. The measure is aimed at improving corporate governance at Indian companies.Insiders are betting that the maker of brands such as Dove and Sunsilk may appoint Unilever chief operating officer and former HUL CEO Nitin Paranjpe, 56, as non-executive chairman. Paranjpe used to be the president of Unilever's homecare business and executive vice president for the South Asia region encompassing businesses in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal in 2008-13.“We are conscious of this requirement of the regulation and we will take steps to meet it,” a Hindustan Unilever spokesperson said without elaborating. The company is expected to make an announcement early next year, said the people.While the CEO or managing director is directly responsible for operations, the chairman’s remit is governance. Harish Manwani was non-executive chairman of HUL before he retired in 2018.“While the board comprises external corporate stalwarts, Unilever is generally comfortable with having a company person at the helm because there is a lot of coordination that the chairman has to do with the parent company,” said one of the persons. 73002724 ‘Paranjpe seems to be the best bet’“And like Harish Manwani earlier, Nitin Paranjpe seems to be the best bet for that role.” Mehta has been CMD of HUL since June 2018. He’d been appointed CEO and MD of the company in 2013 and has headed Unilever’s businesses in the rest of South Asia since then.Paranjpe was made global chief operating officer in March as part of a leadership recast that also saw Mehta being appointed president of South Asia and a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE).HUL’s independent directors include Aditya Narayanan, Leo Puri, S Ramadorai and OP Bhatt. Sebi wants chairman and managing director roles to be separated with effect from April 1, 2020. This had been recommended by the report of the Uday Kotak committee on corporate governance.

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NPR can't decide who's a citizen & who's not

NEW DELHI: The data collected for the National Population Register (NPR) will not confer a right to Indian citizenship, says the new 2020-21 manual of instructions issued for enumerators by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. It also cautions enumerators against getting into arguments over nationality with individuals in households across the country.“Nationality recorded is as declared by the respondent and does not confer any right to Indian citizenship,” says the manual, a copy of which has been seen by ET.The manual instructs enumerators that in cases where the nationality of persons in the same household is different, they must “probe this question for each individual carefully to get the correct information”. However, it says, “Do not get into any argument with the respondent regarding this (nationality). Please inform the respondent to give correct nationality of each person in the household.”Data for NPR updation will be collected between April 1 and September 30, 2020, as per a notification issued by the Registrar General of India on July 31 this year.People will be asked 21 questions this time, up from 14 when NPR was introduced in 2011 by the then Congress government along with the Census. A pretest for NPR was held between August and September and responses of 3 million individuals were recorded.The new categories introduced for 2020 NPR are Aadhaar (voluntary), mobile number, date and place of birth of parents, place of last residence, passport number, voter identity cards, permanent account number (PAN) and driving licence number.Resistance by StatesIn 2011, details such as name, date of birth, sex, marital status, educational qualification, occupational activity, father and mother’s names and nationality (as declared) were among the questions posed to respondents.Union minister Prakash Javadekar had said on Tuesday after a cabinet meet, “No documents or biometrics will be taken during the NPR process. Whatever people will say will be accepted.”NPR is a database of “usual residents” of the country and the government has said that it will not be used for the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is meant to be an official record of legal Indian citizens.Several states government including West Bengal, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have stopped work on NPR despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah clarifying that the NPR data will not be used for NRC. 73002638 Protests against NRC have been raging in parts of the country ever since the government introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which sought to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Parliament earlier this month.On Friday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that as long as she is alive the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will not be implemented in the state. The West Bengal government was first to halt the work on NPR.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi compared NPR and NRC with demonetisation. “Whether NPR or NRC, it is a tax on poor people of the country,” he told media persons in Chhattisgarh on Friday. “Poor people will have to go to officers and show their documents and give bribe. They will have to give bribe if there is a slight mistake in their names. Crores of rupees will be pulled out of the pockets of the poor and will be given to the same 15 people. This is the truth. It is an attack on the people.”NPR was updated in 2015-16 in all states and Union territories, except Assam and Meghalaya, leading to an electronic database of more than 1.19 billion usual residents of the country.

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Live Score: Aus vs NZ, 2nd Test, Day 3

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Wolves put Man City's title bid in tatters

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Top10: Can tech solve commonplace net shutdowns?

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Ibrahimovic returns to AC Milan on six-month deal

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Fashion companies go beyond one-size-fits-all to make apparel for Indian body types

BENGALURU: Allen Solly Women reported about 70% surge in its average sales a month ago when the women’s clothing brand introduced 70-80 styles meant for four different Indian body types, from slender to generously built women.“There was a need to move beyond the standard one-size-fitsall and…complement Indian body types,” said Vishak Kumar, CEO at Madura Fashion & Lifestyle that owns apparel brands such as Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Van Heusen and Peter England. “Majority of the Indian body types fall into the category of apple, pear and hourglass shapes; we moved to create dresses which are all about silhouettes that embrace different body shapes and not just standard sizes.”Madura Fashion is now trying to decode body blocks regionally to customise store assortment.It is not the only one. Top fashion retailers such as Aditya Birla Fashion, Levi Strauss & Co, Arvind Fashions and Myntra have already begun adopting ‘India Size’. Till now most apparel brands in the country have been following size charts meant for global countries, especially the US and UK, with a slight tweak. For instance, larger sizes are more popular in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh than the rest of the Indian markets, industry insiders said. Now, top brands are investing aggressively in sizing divisions and hiring data scientists to decode tailoring, and, in turn, reduce wastage and returns due to poor garment fit.73002812 Denim maker Levi Strauss has introduced a laser technology that allows jeans to be finished at distribution centres instead of centralised manufacturing facilities, a move that can help initiate custom orders. “Our CEO Chip Bergh has commented that ‘sizes will go out of the window 10 years from now’,” said Sanjeev Mohanty, managing director – South Asia, Middle East and North Africa at Levi Strauss & Co. “So we are thinking about sizing as the next breakthrough for apparel business.”Earlier this year, the government launched an initiative to measure a group of people and prepare a comprehensive ‘India Size’ chart, which can be adopted by the country’s apparel industry. The ‘Size India’ project undertaken by Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) jointly with textiles ministry and National Institute of Fashion Technology seeks to develop a standardised India size chart, officials said.“The India size chart should be ready by the end of 2020 or mid-2021,” said Rahul Mehta, chief mentor at CMAI.Online fashion retailer Myntra recently roped in local tailors to deliver clothes and alter products at customer’s doorstep.

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Tech talent crunch in 2020 likely to go up to 200,000

New Delhi: A shortage of employees skilled in technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, Internet of Things, cybersecurity and data analytics that India is facing would become acute next year, say recruitment experts.If the shortage was in thousands in 2019, it is going to be up to 2 lakh in 2020, according to estimates by headhunters such as TeamLease, Randstad, Magna Infotech and ABC Consultants. The demand for new tech talent is across all sectors, as businesses become digitised and automated. 73002720 “…for every skilled candidate in technologies like digital, data and analytics, AI, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, etc., there are about three companies who have a role to offer in their organisations,” said Ratna Gupta, a senior director at ABC Consultants.Vijay Sivaram, the chief executive of Magna Infotech, concurred with this view, saying that there were plenty of opportunities for those skilled in new technologies, at a time when the economy is slowing down and most IT employees are facing job insecurities.The estimated demand in 2020 would be 4.4 lakh for new-age tech professionals, while the supply is projected to be 2.4 lakh, according to Team-Lease Services.The profiles in demand include information security analysts, cloud engineers, network analysts, cybersecurity experts, digital transformation consultants, data governance experts, digital marketing specialist, data scientists, blockchain developers and AI specialists.“The shortage would increase to 2 lakh by 2020, thus pushing up the (salary) hikes from 35% to 60%, and some outliers will even command 100%-plus in certain skills like data science and ML (machine learning) in 2020,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, a co-founder of TeamLease.The shortage is creating a vacuum for the companies who fail to get the candidate with the required skills. This is resulting in a delay in closing the job postings with almost 50% of the demand going unfulfilled, said Sivaram of Magna Infotech.It is the new-age companies and startups that are luring the tech talent with over 100% salary jumps.It took two months for Bharatpe to close its search for a chief technology officer who was offered a twofold jump in fixed salary. “It is difficult to get tech talent especially with new technologies know-how,” said Ashneer Grover the chief executive and cofounder of Bharatpe.There is another recent example of a global in-house centre (GIC) offering a 100% jump in salaries to attract cybersecurity professionals from the Big 4 professional services companies. “This GIC was setting up its cybersecurity arm for the first time and they were behind the deadline,” said the founder of a search firm who did not wish to be named.“The talent skilled in new technologies are providing breakthrough gains and transformation for companies across sectors, especially given the current crisis pervasive across all sectors,” said Suresh Raina, the managing partner at Hunt Partners.Hunt Partners, which conducts searches for CXOs, is struggling with the limited talent pool at the top as the demand from traditional sectors like manufacturing, pharma, BFSI and consumer has been on a rise.“Our customers are keen on embracing the new technologies in their business operations … hence many roles in new technologies are in high demand but the supply for many new-age digital skills is limited,” said Suresh Bethavandu, a vice president and the global head of talent acquisition at Cognizant.The IT services firm is hiring talent for cloud, data, digital engineering and IoT.“To stay ahead in the war for talent and build a digitally skilled workforce, Cognizant expects to increase hiring from colleges in 2020, continue to go all out for experienced talent skilled in digital technologies and expand our pool of digital talent via our reskilling and upskilling programmes,” said Bethavandu.

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Studds Shifter D3 Decor review

Studds Shifter D3 Decor review

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Slowdown may worsen bad loans problem

MUMBAI: India’s slowing economy could cause gross bad loans in the financial system to rise again after the first annual decrease in eight years, even as a seventh of non-bank lenders faced the risk of failing capital adequacy tests if gross nonperforming assets (NPA) were to increase 3%, the central bank said Friday.The slowdown could cause the gross non-performing ratio of local lenders to increase to 9.9% in September 2020 from 9.3% in September 2019, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Financial Stability Report showed.“This is primarily due to change in macroeconomic scenario, marginal increase in slippages and the denominator effect of declining credit growth,” the RBI said in the report. Credit growth remained subdued at 8.7% until September 2019.The bi-annual report said that banks saw stable asset quality in the first half to September, and 24 banks had gross NPA (GNPA) ratios below 5%. But four banks had GNPA ratios higher than 20% in September 2019. The share of large borrowers in Indian banks’ total loan portfolios stood at 51.8% as on September 30, and their share in gross NPA was 79.3%.NPAs of Private, Foreign BanksStress tests on public sector banks showed that GNPA may rise to 13.5% by September 2020 from 12.7% in September 2019 in a severe stress scenario.Private sector banks could see increase in gross NPAs to 5.4% from 3.9% during the same period and foreign banks from 2.9% to 4.2%. The central bank conducts stress tests to assess the resilience of the Indian banking system against macroeconomic shocks for credit risks. These tests included a baseline and two adverse (medium and severe) macroeconomic risk scenarios.73002549 Capital Adequacy ConcernsThe central bank said that capital adequacy for 53 banks is projected to come down to 14.1% by September 2020 from 14.9% in September 2019. Three banks may have capital adequacy below the minimum regulatory level of 9% by September 2020 without considering any further planned recapitalisation. If macroeconomic conditions deteriorate, five banks may see capital adequacy fall below 9% under a severe stress scenario.For banks with high bad loans, availability of growth capital, or Tier-I capital, appears to be limited.The Financial Stability Report assured that in case of failure of a non-banking finance company (NBFC) or a housing finance company (HFC), no bank will fail. Failure of an NBFC with the maximum capacity to cause solvency losses to the banking system will cause a loss of 2.5% of the total tier-I capital of the banking system, while failure of an HFC with the maximum capacity to cause solvency losses to the banking system will lead to a loss of 4.6%.On NBFCs, the report said that under a severe stress test scenario, 14.2% of the NBFCs will not be able to comply with the minimum regulatory capital norms if the gross NPA rises by 3%. The report showed that consumer credit portfolio of NBFCs and HFCs had relatively higher delinquency rates as compared to banks.Delinquency in home loans and loans against property rose for NBFCs and HFCs, while it remained stable for banks.NBFCs have seen stress in their asset quality during the first half of the fiscal. The gross NPA ratio of the NBFC sector increased from 6.1% as at end-March to 6.3% as at end-September.

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LG to Showcase webOS Auto at CES 2020, a Competitor to Android Auto and Apple Car Play

LG has officially announced that its partnered with Microsoft, Qualcomm, and other vendors, to showcase potential use cases of its in-car infotainment platform.

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Free Wi-Fi to All Villages Connected via BharatNet Till March 2020: Prasad

Wi-Fi services being provided through BharatNet in villages across India will be free of charge till March 2020, Telecom and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday.

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