Samie Modak, Shivani Shinde, Sohini Das

Stories by Samie Modak, Shivani Shinde, Sohini Das

Despite nod foreign Covid vaccines likely to be delayed over indemnity clause

Despite nod foreign Covid vaccines likely to be delayed over indemnity clause

Rediff.com   11 Aug 2021

India is not keen to 'bow down' to demands related to indemnity against legal liabilities in case any vaccine recipient develops severe adverse reactions post inoculation.

Dream run to continue for small- and mid-cap stocks

Dream run to continue for small- and mid-cap stocks

Rediff.com   9 Aug 2021

The relentless rally in small- and mid-cap stocks continues as large-caps show signs of fatigue. In July, the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 8.1 per cent, extending its year-to-date (YTD) gains to 48.5 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 added 3.1 per cent, taking its YTD rise to 33.5 per cent. On the other hand, the Nifty50 remained unchanged for the month, with YTD gains of 12.7 per cent.

Meeting 1.35 bn vax dose target in Aug-Dec a long haul

Meeting 1.35 bn vax dose target in Aug-Dec a long haul

Rediff.com   6 Aug 2021

While Covishield supplies would meet the target of 500 mn doses between August and December, it looks like Covaxin would miss the target of 400 mn unless the partner sites of Bharat Biotech ramp up very rapidly, reports Sohini Das.

A deeper look at Q1 performance of top 4 IT players

A deeper look at Q1 performance of top 4 IT players

Rediff.com   2 Aug 2021

While Wipro leads the pack on absolute numbers, analysts for Infosys for reporting consistent growth, revising FY22 guidance and beating TCS on revenue growth.

'The potential in India is enormous'

'The potential in India is enormous'

Rediff.com   30 Jul 2021

'India is still a small market but whatever we do, we do it with full focus.'

AstraZeneca finds small clot risk after 1st Covid shot

AstraZeneca finds small clot risk after 1st Covid shot

Rediff.com   29 Jul 2021

But no extra risk after second dose, shows study led and funded by drug maker, reports Sohini Das.

Russia reaches out to Kerala for Sputnik V plant

Russia reaches out to Kerala for Sputnik V plant

Rediff.com   29 Jul 2021

The government may look at areas around Thonnakkal, in Thiruvananthapuram district, for the facility. If successful, this would be one of the few sites of Sputnik V owned by Russian firms outside that country. Shine Jacob and Sohini Das report.

Microsoft plans to set up Rs 15,000-crore data centre in Telangana

Microsoft plans to set up Rs 15,000-crore data centre in Telangana

Rediff.com   28 Jul 2021

US tech giant Microsoft is in the final stages of talks with the Telangana government to set up a data centre with a total investment of Rs 15,000 crore. According to sources in the state government, the company has zeroed in on a land parcel near Hyderabad for the facility. "In the information technology (IT) space, Telangana is already seeing some major investments. "Microsoft is establishing its data centre here, and it may come out with a public announcement soon," said a source.

3rd wave: Govt creating 30-day stock of key Covid medicines

3rd wave: Govt creating 30-day stock of key Covid medicines

Rediff.com   26 Jul 2021

'The Centre is planning to procure five million vials of Remdesivir ahead of the third wave. What's better is that this time, the government is paying us in advance,' said a senior executive of a Mumbai-based pharma player which makes Remdesivir. Sohini Das reports.

Zomato to debut on the stock markets today, 4 days ahead of schedule

Zomato to debut on the stock markets today, 4 days ahead of schedule

Rediff.com   23 Jul 2021

India's first unicorn Zomato will make its stock market debut on Friday, marking a historic moment for the domestic capital market. As per initial schedule, Zomato's listing was to take place on July 27. However, investment banks managed to complete the share allotment and listing formalities ahead of the deadline. Under the Sebi framework, the timeline between IPO closing and listing has to be six working days. Zomato's IPO had closed on July 16.

Pandemic push: Demand soars for digital, technical skills across industries

Pandemic push: Demand soars for digital, technical skills across industries

Rediff.com   20 Jul 2021

The Indian IT services sector is scrambling to retain talent since digitisation-led transformation has increased the demand for a digitally skilled workforce. As a result, the pull for jobs for tech professionals is also coming from non-IT sectors, leading to higher attrition among IT companies. The average number of tech jobs from non-IT sectors has seen a 41 per cent uptick in March-May'21 versus March-May'19, according to data from Naukri.com.

How India can avoid being crippled by chip shortages

How India can avoid being crippled by chip shortages

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2021

Tata Motors recently cut the sales forecast of its luxury car brand, JLR, due to chip shortages, scaling down its production numbers from the earlier 120,000 units to 60,000-65,000 units by September, and leading to an almost 10 per cent fall in the company's stock. In May this year, Bosch India, too, had stated that chip shortfalls would impact its production, as supply chains were getting disrupted.

Zydus Cadila to begin vaccine trials for kids above 5 yrs soon

Zydus Cadila to begin vaccine trials for kids above 5 yrs soon

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2021

So far, no other vaccine has been approved globally for children below 12 years. Sohini Das reports.

Paytm's listing grew 370x from Rs 120 cr in 2010 to Rs 16,600 cr 11 years later

Paytm's listing grew 370x from Rs 120 cr in 2010 to Rs 16,600 cr 11 years later

Rediff.com   17 Jul 2021

According to its DRHP filed in 2010, the company's net worth was just Rs 140 crore. Its total income for the financial year 2009-10 stood at Rs 119 crore and it had a net profit of Rs 16 crore. In sharp contrast, at the end of March 2021, Paytm's networth was Rs 6,535 crore and total income stood at Rs 3,187 crore.

Zomato's entry to Nifty or Sensex would be challenging

Zomato's entry to Nifty or Sensex would be challenging

Rediff.com   15 Jul 2021

Zomato could get added to the MSCI and FTSE indices by the end of this year, while an entry to the Nifty or the Sensex would be challenging before the second half of 2022, said Brian Freitas, an analyst at independent research provider Smartkarma, in note. "With nearly the entire pre-IPO shares locked up for one year, the free float will be very low and the stock will need to move higher to around Rs 328 per share (4.3 times over possible IPO price of Rs 76) to be included in the Nifty index (with no change in the market cap of the smallest index constituent). "We can be reasonably certain that Zomato will not be included in the Nifty index till the September 2022 rebalance at the earliest," he said.

Trade margins capped at 70% for oximeters, BP meters, other medical devices

Trade margins capped at 70% for oximeters, BP meters, other medical devices

Rediff.com   14 Jul 2021

The medical devices, which have been in high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, will now see a drop in prices, as the earlier margins were up to 709 per cent for some of these products.

Serum to double Covid vaccine output in 2022

Serum to double Covid vaccine output in 2022

Rediff.com   13 Jul 2021

SII would be scaling up its AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine manufacturing capacity to 200 million doses a month from 100 million a month now, reports Sohini Das.

Strong deal pipeline may boost Q1 show of IT firms: Analysts

Strong deal pipeline may boost Q1 show of IT firms: Analysts

Rediff.com   12 Jul 2021

A seasonally-strong quarter, with no immediate impact of the second wave and continued acceleration of digital transformation will allow the IT services sector to report a robust Q1 this financial year. However, key metrics to look out for will be attrition rate and margin lever as they will be impacted by salary hikes. Analysts expect growth for the quarter to be broad-based, with sectors like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail, manufacturing, hi-tech and life sciences driving revenue growth. Analysts across brokerage houses are pegging revenue growth in the range of 1.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

Explained: What the Brazil-Covaxin row is about

Explained: What the Brazil-Covaxin row is about

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2021

Three entities are at the centre of this controversy: The Brazilian government, Bharat Biotech and a Singapore-based company called Madison Biotech.

India may get 4m doses of Pfizer, Moderna by August from COVAX

India may get 4m doses of Pfizer, Moderna by August from COVAX

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2021

However, before the Moderna and Pfizer messenger ribonucleic acid (or mRNA) vaccines come to India via this route, the legalities around the indemnity clause will have to be settled, reports Sohini Das.