Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday said Culver Max Entertainment, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India, has agreed to discuss extending the date required to make their merger scheme effective, a day ahead of the deadline. A day after Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) stated that it has not yet agreed to a deadline extension requested by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) for their proposed $10-billion merger, the Subhash Chandra family-promoted media firm said it has received a communication from Sony group for discussing an extension of the deal which was announced almost two years ago.
Edtech major Byju's may lay off up to 3,500 employees during the current fiscal as it looks to consolidate teams and enhance regional focus, sources privy to the development said. According to one of the sources, Byju's had "over hired" people at the time of Covid pandemic due to sudden jump in online education, but the demand has now receded, for which the company needs to do course correction. "There has been no retrenchment as of now.
The corporate affairs ministry has ordered an inspection of the books of Byju's, a senior government official said on Monday amid the edtech major facing multiple headwinds, including delay in submitting financial statements and concerns over corporate governance issues. The inspection of Bengaluru-based Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, which operates under the brand Byju's, will be carried out by the ministry, which is implementing the companies law. The ministry decided to carry out the inspection after taking note of the developments, including that the company has been unable to finalise its financial statements and that its auditor has resigned, the official told PTI.
Byju's plans to raise funds at a lower valuation of $7-8 billion as the embattled edtech major looks to shore up its financials with adequate liquidity, a senior company executive said on Tuesday. Banking on overall "improved performance", Think and Learn, the parent of Byju's, is hopeful of a higher valuation ahead of its rights issue being planned in February to raise funds. Byju's India chief financial officer Nitin Golani said the company is in need of funds and plans to raise it at a lower valuation to make the offer lucrative for investors as well as ensure adequate liquidity support for the edtech firm.
India's forex reserves dropped by $329 million to $578.45 billion for the week ended March 31, on decline in gold reserves, the RBI said on Friday. The forex kitty had risen handsomely in the previous two reporting weeks, and rose by $5.98 billion to $578.78 billion for the week ended March 24. For FY23, the overall kitty has dropped by $28.86 billion.
Chinese fashion e-commerce platform Shein is expected to make a second entry into India and has tied up with Reliance Retail for this, according to a source in the know. The source said as part of the tie-up, Shein would source goods from India for its global operations. Also, the manufacturing of its products could happen in the country and they could be exported.
'If you look at assets truly working for us, you should look at Aakash and Great Learning.'
At least six YouTube channels allegedly promoting pro-Khalistan sentiments have been blocked at the instance of the government, a senior official said on Friday.
State-owned BSNL will start 5G services in 2024, Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday. BSNL has shortlisted a TCS and C-DOT led consortium for rolling out 4G network, which will be upgraded to 5G in about a year of placing the order under the contract. "BSNL will start 5G services in 2024," Vaishnaw said while speaking to reporters in New Delhi.
Fraudsters in Himachal Pradesh minted a series of a cryptocoins -- two of which were KRO and DGT -- to cheat thousands of investors of more than Rs 200 crore over a period of five years, beginning in 2018 -- the year the crypto reached fever pitch.
Zudio was the standout performer as it tapped into the pentup demand in small-town India, at a pace never seen before, notes Indrajit Gupta, co-founder and director, Founding Fuel.
India's foreign exchange reserves dropped by $1.49 billion to reach $575.27 billion as of February 3, snapping a three-week rising trend, RBI data showed on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had jumped by $3.03 billion to $576.76 billion. In October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
India's forex reserves dropped by $5.681 billion to $561.267 billion for the week ended February 17, the RBI said on Friday. This is the third consecutive week of a drop in the reserves after the $8.319 billion decrease in the previous reporting week to $566.948 billion. In October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
Instagram, owned by the tech giant Meta, on Wednesday, unveiled its new app called 'Threads' a new app designed to directly compete with Elon Musk's Twitter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a US-based media house, Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch, framing Threads as "a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations." Threads will be linked to users' Instagram profiles, making it simple to connect with followers, prominent personalities, or brands.
India's forex reserves dropped by $8.32 billion to $566.95 billion for the week ended February 10, the RBI said on Friday. This is the second consecutive week of drop in the reserves after the $1.49-billion decrease in the previous reporting week. It can be noted that in October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
Twitter users in India looking to avail the blue tick mark for their accounts will have to shell out Rs 900 under the monthly plan for mobile phones, an update from the microblogging platform said on Thursday. The social media platform has priced Twitter Blue at Rs 650 for web and Rs 900 per month for mobile app users. "Blue subscribers with a verified phone number will get a blue checkmark once approved," Twitter said.
India's forex reserves increased by $3.034 billion to $576.76 billion as of January 27, making it the third consecutive week of a jump in the kitty. The overall reserves had risen by $1.727 billion to $573.727 billion in the previous reporting week. It can be noted that in October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
India's forex reserves declined by $1.27 billion to $561.58 billion for the week ended January 6, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. The overall reserves had increased by $44 million to $562.85 billion in the previous reporting week after two consecutive weeks of the slide. In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange kitty reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
Amid layoffs and a severe cost-cutting, Twitter has closed offices in Delhi and Mumbai and asked staff to work from home, according to sources. The micro-blogging platform's Bengaluru office that largely has engineering staff remains operational, the sources said. The Delhi and Mumbai offices shuttered a few weeks ago, with remaining staff now working from home, sources privy to the matter said.
BlackRock has again reduced the valuation of its share in edtech firm Byju's - this time to about $1 billion, TechCrunch reported on Friday, citing disclosures made by the US-based asset manager. This is 95 per cent less than its peak valuation of $22 billion in 2022. The markdown comes at a time when the company is facing a multitude of challenges, including securing fresh capital, delays in financial reporting and legal disputes with lenders.
Facebook parent Meta announced on Wednesday to slash around 11,000 jobs as a part of mass layoffs to cut expenses and transform its business model. As the tech industry is slashing jobs, Meta too announced layoffs. "We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1," said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement on Wednesday.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has reserved its order on the merger of Zee Entertainment Enterprises and with Culver Max Entertainment (earlier known as Sony Pictures Networks India). The Mumbai bench of NCLT, comprising H V Subba Rao and Madhu Sinha, reserved the order on Monday, after hearing arguments from creditors who objected to the scheme including Axis Finance, JC Flower Asset Reconstruction Co, IDBI Bank, Imax Corp and IDBI Trusteeship. In December 2021, Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures had agreed to merge their businesses.
India's forex reserves dropped by $691 million to $562.808 billion as of December 23, making it the second consecutive week of decline in the kitty, according to the RBI data. The overall reserves had dropped by $571 million to $563.50 billion in the previous reporting week, snapping a five-week trend of an increase in the kitty. In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
India's trade account could come under pressure and there could be an inflation push if crude oil prices remain above the $90 per barrel (Brent) for a prolonged period since India imports over 85 per cent of its oil and roughly 50 per cent of its gas. A rebound in economic activity is bound to lead to higher fuel demand. While India is the third-largest importer of crude, it is a net exporter of refined products, which helps to compensate to some degree.
Outward remittances in February under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) fell 23 per cent over January, latest data released by the central bank, in its monthly bulletin, revealed. In February, Indians remitted $2.1 billion under the RBI's liberalised scheme. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis - aided by international travel - LRS jumped 15.24 per cent. Further, in April 2022-February 2023, outward remittances under LRS stood at $24.18 billion, an all-time high.
With investors asking for a change in the board structure at Byju's, the edtech giant's founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Byju Raveendran, is now asking them to put $300 million into the company for more control. The company has rung up $5.8 billion from investors such as General Atlantic, Sofina, the Qatar Investment Authority, Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, BlackRock, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Silver Lake, Bond Capital, Tencent, and Tiger Global.
After rising for five consecutive weeks, India's forex kitty dropped $571 million to $563.5 billion for the week ended December 16, according to RBI data released on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had swelled $2.91 billion to $564.06 billion, making it the fifth straight week of an increase in the kitty after a protracted decline. In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel plunged nearly 5 per cent. Other major laggards were Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Maruti Suzuki.
NavIC consists of a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations and is touted to be more accurate than GPS.
India's forex reserves rose by $2.908 billion to $564.06 billion for the week ended on December 9, according to the Reserve Bank data released on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had soared by $11 billion to $561.16 billion. This is the fifth consecutive week of an increase in the reserves.
Outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) surged by 50.64 per cent to $9.1 billion in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), driven by healthy growth across segments due to a revision in the timeline of tax collected at source under the LRS scheme and normalisation in international travel. Major drivers include equity and debt investments, deposits, and the international travel segment, among others. According to the latest RBI data, the amount remitted under LRS stood at $9.1 billion in Q1FY24, compared with $6.05 billion in the same quarter last year.
The government is close to approving a proposal by Micron Technology to set up an assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) facility in the country involving an investment of about $1 billion. The world's fifth largest semiconductor company, based in Idaho, USA, will use the facility to process some of its own wafers, manufactured across the globe.
Meta's director and head of partnerships in India Manish Chopra has quit the company. He joined the social media giant in January 2019. Chopra took to LinkedIn to announce his departure. However, he will help in the transition over the next few weeks. "The recent months have been trying times for everyone in so many ways.
WhatsApp on Wednesday announced the expansion of its payments service in India to make it easier for people transacting with businesses to pay for purchases directly in the chat, with a choice of UPI apps, including rival digital payment options, as well as credit and debit cards. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg asserted that India is leading the world in people and businesses embracing messaging. WhatsApp said it is working with partners Razorpay and PayU "to make paying for something as simple as sending a message", as the Meta-owned platform unveiled a host of new features to woo businesses in India's booming commerce market.
Investments by private equity and venture capital funds declined by 44 per cent to $3.7 billion in February compared to the same period a year ago, a report said on Monday. The bets by the long-term investors were 13 per cent lower when compared to the investments in the preceding month of January, the report by industry lobby Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association and consultancy firm EY, said. "...rising global recession concerns, increasing cost of capital and mismatch in valuation expectations between sellers and investors are turning out to be major impediments in the deployment of capital," EY's partner Vivek Soni said.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Wednesday directed Google to pay 10 per cent of the Rs 1,337.76-crore penalty imposed on the tech giant by fair trade regulator CCI. A two-member bench, however, declined to grant any immediate stay the operations of Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalty and said it would pass any order after hearing out other parties. The appellate tribunal has issued notices to CCI and directed to list the matter on February 13, for hearing over interim stay.
In the second consecutive week of an increase in the kitty, India's forex reserves have grown by $2.54 billion to $547.25 billion for the week ended November 18, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall kitty had swelled by $14.72 billion in the highest weekly rise since August 2021 to $544.71 billion. It can be noted that in October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
WhatsApp had banned 2.9 million accounts in January, 3.6 million accounts in December and 3.7 million accounts in November.
With the third and final round of layoffs implemented by Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms, Inc. in process globally, India, too, has seen its impact, with some senior executives being asked to leave. Some of the executives to have been impacted are Avinash Pant, India's director of marketing; Saket Jha Sourabh, director and head of media partnerships; and Amrita Mukherjee, one of the directors on the legal team. An email sent to the company did not elicit any comment on the development until the time of going to press.
The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $3.01 billion to $561.05 billion in the week ended August 26, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed. In the previous week ended August 19, the reserves had dipped by $6.69 billion to $564.05 billion. The fall in the reserves during the reporting week ended August 26 was on account of a dip in the foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, and the gold reserves, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI on Friday.
