Samreen Ahmad &Amp; Surajeet Das Gupta

Stories by Samreen Ahmad &Amp; Surajeet Das Gupta

The little-known company that's buying up distressed telcos

The little-known company that's buying up distressed telcos

Rediff.com   24 Jan 2020

UV Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd has made the highest bid of Rs 16,000 crore to buy Anil Ambani group's Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom, which are in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Last year it was the highest bidder for taking over Aircel's assets for an upfront payment of Rs 150 crore. Surajeet Das Gupta and Dev Chatterjee dig deeper to find out more about this little known company.

Why Yes Bank audit committee chief quit

Why Yes Bank audit committee chief quit

Rediff.com   13 Jan 2020

Uttam Prakash Agarwal alleged that Citax and Braich offers were incomplete and did not include firm commitment as to the price, size, timings, confirmation from the banks about availability of the funds.

Zoomcar to be electric vehicle-driven by 2025

Zoomcar to be electric vehicle-driven by 2025

Rediff.com   29 Dec 2019

The company, which rents cars by the hour, day, week and month, has Mahindra E2O Plus and Tata E Tigor available on the platform for which it charges a subscription fee of Rs 15,000-20,000 per month.

How Ashish Bharat Ram transformed SRF

How Ashish Bharat Ram transformed SRF

Rediff.com   29 Dec 2019

SRF

High-end phone smuggling is costing govt exchequer Rs 2,400 crore annually

High-end phone smuggling is costing govt exchequer Rs 2,400 crore annually

Rediff.com   28 Dec 2019

As much as Rs 8,000 crore worth of mobile phones in this segment - out of a total of Rs 15,000 crore - come into the country through the grey market. The government imposed the duty on these phones primarily to encourage domestic production but the strategy has failed as the bulk of high end mobile phones are currently imported.

How Uber plans to cover 200 cities by 2020-end

How Uber plans to cover 200 cities by 2020-end

Rediff.com   25 Dec 2019

The key driver of this expansion will be not car-hailing but bike-taxi service. The company is willing to partner local players that have a similar offer and would like to come on their platform.

How Infosys plans to check attrition

How Infosys plans to check attrition

Rediff.com   16 Dec 2019

With the attrition rate continuing well above 20 per cent, one of the highest in the segment, Infosys is on a drive to reimagine the way it engages with employees starting from the time of recruitment itself. The company is using digital technologies in order to simplify recruitment, provide faster career track to employees, and incentivise people with top skills. The company is looking at doubling the number of recruits from tier-I engineering colleges such as IITs and NITs to enrich its talent base. These candidates who are offered twice the salary as compared to regular campus recruits, join as 'power programmers', a term that has been internally coined by the company to recognise the top coders.

If Voda Idea shuts shop, Airtel to gain the most

If Voda Idea shuts shop, Airtel to gain the most

Rediff.com   11 Dec 2019

If Vodafone Idea shuts, a bulk of the high-paying ARPU customers will move to Airtel as Reliance Jio does not have a comprehensive postpaid offering like it, and have aggressively preferred to play in the prepaid market. The bulk of Vodafone Idea customers use 2G phones and only a few of them use data. It will be easier for Airtel to woo these customers as they can shift seamlessly to its 2G network without changing handsets or even SIM cards,

Marriott's mega India dream: 50 hotels in 5 years

Marriott's mega India dream: 50 hotels in 5 years

Rediff.com   27 Nov 2019

The hotels in the pipeline will include a range of Marriott brand portfolios such as JW Marriott, Tribute Portfolio and Sheraton.

Reliance, Airtel and 2 others bid for three Anil Ambani group companies

Reliance, Airtel and 2 others bid for three Anil Ambani group companies

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2019

The three companies for sale are Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.

Titan's mega plan to become leader in India's smartwatch space

Titan's mega plan to become leader in India's smartwatch space

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2019

Titan is investing heavily on research and development, which will do things beyond a smart watch can do today such as switching off lights, locking, and unlocking doors and making payments. Titan is also working closely with start-ups, too, to develop such futuristic features.

The story behind Vodafone's fall in India

The story behind Vodafone's fall in India

Rediff.com   24 Nov 2019

Cut-throat competition, high spectrum costs, and frequent flip-flops in government policies have made it difficult for Vodafone to make money in the country.

Why air tickets in India are going cheap

Why air tickets in India are going cheap

Rediff.com   18 Nov 2019

Airlines say that they are keeping their fingers crossed for December - another peak period - when, based on current bookings, the air fares for those who buy early are more or less in line with last year.

Telcos told to clear AGR dues in 3 months

Telcos told to clear AGR dues in 3 months

Rediff.com   14 Nov 2019

However, the government is readying a relief package and it could include a cut in the licence fee to 5 per cent, two years' moratorium on paying spectrum charges with interest, and referring the GST tax refund issue to the Council.

Airtel bids for RCom spectrum, Jio seeks deadline extension

Airtel bids for RCom spectrum, Jio seeks deadline extension

Rediff.com   13 Nov 2019

It is believed that apart from Bharti Airtel and Bharti Infratel, there are four players that have made a bid.

Indian skies fall short on wide-bodied aircraft

Indian skies fall short on wide-bodied aircraft

Rediff.com   7 Nov 2019

The collapse of Jet Airways has everything to do with the falling number of wide-bodied aircraft.

What Uber plans to do in India

What Uber plans to do in India

Rediff.com   4 Nov 2019

'12% of all our global trips are done in India.'

How govt plans to untangle the telecom mess

How govt plans to untangle the telecom mess

Rediff.com   30 Oct 2019

Analysts have pointed out that with the dues arising out of the SC judgment there could soon be only two private telcos in the country, and not three - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - as now.

Smokers, no need to kick the butt yet

Smokers, no need to kick the butt yet

Rediff.com   25 Oct 2019

Phillip Morris says its research shows that the product while giving the same delivery of nicotine to smokers, does not produce the toxic and carcinogenic effects of cigarette smoking known as harmful and potential harmful constituents.

'India is a fundamental part of Uber's growth'

'India is a fundamental part of Uber's growth'

Rediff.com   23 Oct 2019

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says the younger generation doesn't dream of owning a car, but instead wants the freedom of having any service on demand.