'Today, according to the law, you can't even claim legal expenses when fighting a case as a non-executive director unless you are acquitted. Given how high legal expenses are, that alone is enough to scare anyone away.'
Walmart-owned digital payments app Phonepe on Thursday said it has raised $350 million at a valuation of $12 billion in a funding round led by private equity firm General Atlantic. "Marquee Global and Indian investors are also participating in the round," PhonePe said in a statement adding the investment marks the first tranche of an up to $1 billion total fundraise that commenced in January 2023. The fundraise follows PhonePe's recently announced change of domicile to India and full separation from Flipkart.
India Inc is staring at significantly higher compliance and governance costs, following the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) latest tightening of disclosure norms and regulations around the filling of key positions, the materiality of information, and third-party transfers. Recently, the securities market regulator amended the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) to introduce a raft of changes that will affect how listed companies go about transparency and disclosures. The new framework will further empower public shareholders and soon move towards a 'comply or be penalised regime or comply or explain' in the case of high-value debt-listed entities.
2023 was a good year for international cinema with many strong films premiering at the Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto film festivals.
'You ain't seen anything yet,' EAM Jaishankar says about the India-US relationship.
Housing market in Mumbai Metropolitan Region recording worst half-yearly performance since global financial crisis in 2008 has worsened the situation for them
IT services firm Wipro has launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-first ecosystem that will put the technology in every platform, tool, and solution it uses and offers to clients. Along with the launch of Wipro ai360, the company committed to invest $1 billion to advance AI capabilities in the next three years. Wipro ai360, fuelled by this new investment, will help in a new era of value, productivity, and commercial opportunities through the application of AI and generative AI, said the company.
Around 58 per cent of developers expect housing prices to increase this year because of rise in input costs, while 32 per cent builders feel it will remain stable, according to a survey. According to the 'Real Estate Developers Sentiment Survey', by Realtors apex body CREDAI, real estate consultant Colliers India and property research firm Liases Foras, 43 per cent of developers expect residential demand to remain stable in 2023, while 31 per cent feel the demand would increase up to 25 per cent. As many as 341 real estate developers from various parts of the country participated in the joint survey conducted during the last two months.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
As part of its road map to achieve 100 per cent dependence on renewable energy by 2025, Amazon on Wednesday announced its first utility-scale renewable energy projects in India - three solar farms located in Rajasthan. These include a 210-megawatt (Mw) project to be developed by India-based developer ReNew Power, a 100 Mw project to be developed by local developer Amp Energy India, and a 110 Mw project to be developed by Brookfield Renewable Partners. By the end of 2021, the company had reached 85 per cent renewable energy across its business.
'The rising cost of construction, the cost of doing business, high compliance, and inflation/interest rates going up have already reduced returns to single digits.'
'SUV is a very intensely fought category, unlike hatchbacks and cars.'
Posco Daewoo, the South Korean conglomerate whose Cielo sedan and Matiz hatchback were once the pride of Indian car owners, is looking to re-enter India. And its return journey is riding on plans to sell electric bikes and e-cycles. The company termed India's robust economic growth and surging consumer demand as reasons behind its comeback plans, saying they make India "one of the world's most promising consumer markets," according to Y S Choi, general manager, Posco Daewoo South Korea.
Raymond, the Singhania group's flagship company, has forayed into real estate development.
Piramal Fund Management has emerged as the largest lender to real estate developers at a time when the sector is facing severe slowdown.
'Life had its own plans and now I have learnt to go with the flow.'
Tulsi Tanti, the founder chairman and managing director of Suzlon Energy and a renowned expert on renewable energy, died due to cardiac arrest on Saturday evening. Tanti, 64, who was also the chairman of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, was on his way to Pune from Ahmedabad when he suffered a cardiac arrest, a company official said. He is survived by his daughter Nidhi and son Pranav.
The United Kingdom on Friday announced a joint investment package with Tata Steel worth 1.25 billion pounds, including a government grant of 500 million pounds, for the country's largest steelworks in Wales that will help protect thousands of jobs and boost the British economy. The government's grant has been dubbed as one of the largest British government support packages in history and a "defining moment" for the country's steel industry.
'With a solid investment programme and sustainable development strategy, India can exceed 7 per cent growth per year, or a doubling of high-quality national income within a decade.'
Donald Trump Jr visited Pune for a business meeting with Panchshil Realty in Pune on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.
A high performance drilling machine was brought in Uttarkashi from Indore on Saturday to pierce through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel on the Char Dham route and was being assembled before it is deployed to resume drilling, officials at the site said.
Byju Raveendran, founder of educational technology (edtech) firm Byju's, has injected around Rs 4,000 crore of personal capital into the company in recent months. This move comes as the company grapples with challenges, including securing fresh capital, delays in financial reporting, and legal disputes with lenders. "Raveendran has pledged personal property to assist the company in dealing with the crisis. "He conveyed to employees that despite perceptions of being a billionaire, he has reinvested a major portion of his wealth back into the company," said a person familiar with the matter.
The key risk factors would be anti-incumbency, small vote share swings causing large impact on outcomes and the 2004 example.
Kejriwal (55) has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and according to the sources, the agency will record his statement once he deposes before the investigating officer of the case in Delhi.
The Reserve Bank has found gaps in banks' corporate governance despite issuing guidelines on the matter, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday. Addressing directors of bank boards, Das said such gaps, which have been mitigated, could have caused "some degree of volatility". He also hit out strongly against "smart accounting" to conceal stress and bloat financial performance.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received Rs 300 crore from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) following relief from the Supreme Court (SC), which is hearing an appeal by the market regulator in the colocation case. The court on March 20 asked Sebi to return Rs 300 crore to the NSE from the Rs 1,107 crore the exchange had deposited as part of the disgorgement in the case. The NSE had given an undertaking that it will return the entire amount to Sebi if the latter wins its appeal before the SC.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday suspended Air India's Boeing simulator facility in Mumbai after finding certain alleged lapses during a spot check, a DGCA official said. The pilots, who were scheduled to undergo refresher courses at the Mumbai facility, will now not be able to do so.
As the world celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) on December 3, corporate India has kept up with efforts to make workplaces more inclusive and accessible. Organisations across sectors are taking initiatives such as equipping offices with practical work tools like Braille-friendly and voice-enabled lifts and screen readers. While inclusion has gained pace, only 11.3 per cent (or 3.4 million out of 30 million) Indians with disabilities have jobs.
The stakeholders' sentiments for a shorter period fell from 63 in Q3 2014 to 48 in Q3 2015.
The number of Singapore-based companies setting up operations in India, about 350 at present, will double in the next five years, a senior executive of the Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore said.
The group will be in a better position to now scale up most of its segments irrespective of government policy, but the bad news others add is its growing debt.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday started its investigation into alleged criminal negligence leading to the Balasore train accident which claimed 278 lives after registering a first information report (FIR), officials said.
'It could backfire on the BJP and boost the Opposition parties.'
Aseem Chhabra lists his favorite 2023 films -- a healthy blend of Bollywood, Hindi indies and some of the best work that is being done in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali cinema.
At the World Bank Banga will be replacing David Malpass, a former Trump treasury official, reports axios.com. Malpass had already announced that he will resign by July, months ahead of his term expired. "Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history," President Biden said in a statement. Banga, 63, currently serves as vice chairman at General Atlantic.
Having established its licensing business for a decade, it is tapping real estate to build on its themes.
GVK Skycity's 20-million sq ft commercial space will be bigger than that in BKC; bids invited for first phase.
'Policy-sensitive sectors will wait and watch, but policy-agnostic areas will continue based on normal consumption demand.'
Coupang, a prominent online retail giant headquartered in the United States (US), is gearing up to establish a cutting-edge technology centre in India, aiming to hire several dozen skilled professionals by the end of the year, Business Standard has learnt. The intended expansion involves the recruitment of software engineers across various domains, underscoring Coupang's commitment to extend its global reach. The Indian team will support the company's global technology team, sources said.
'The allegations of government involvement in targeted assassinations abroad are likely to help, not hurt, the ruling party.' 'True or false, they convey a sense of muscularity and, in some quarters, are celebrated as a harbinger of 'great power' status.'