Spice Communications, owned by billionaire B K Modi, may consider buying out Telekom Malaysia, its partner in the phone company, if the latter fails to come up with a stake-raising plan by June, a top company official said. Telekom Malaysia, South Asia's second largest telecommunications company, owns 39.2 per cent in the Indian company and was keen to increase it to 74 per cent, the upper limit for foreign direct investments in the Indian telecom sector.
Ahead of Valentine's Day, Rediff's LOVE GURU recommends simple hacks to warm up the boredom in a long-term relationship.
'The culture of mankind has been spread by the travel gene which pushes one in five people to have the curiosity to move to unknown destinations.'
The Supreme Court told actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut that she had "added spice" to a retweet during the 2020-21 farmers' protest, leading her to withdraw her plea for quashing a defamation complaint.
In recent times, there have also been instances of GPS spoofing and interference incidents at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai airports.
Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government has initiated an inquiry into Indigo's mass flight cancellations and will take strict action against the operator to set an example for other airlines.
DGCA provided temporary relief to IndiGo, which is partially owned by Rahul Bhatia, by rolling back the night duty definition to 12 am-5 am from 12 am-6 am earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night-landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations.
Leading FMCG companies have announced a price cut on their products, including soaps, shampoo, baby diapers, toothpaste, razors, and after-shave lotions, effective from September 22 to extend the GST rate cut benefits to consumers. Firms such as Procter & Gamble, Emami and HUL have come up with new price lists which have been communicated to their respective distributors and consumers through their respective websites.
Daily essentials and food products will be cheaper from Monday, as leading FMCG companies have slashed prices, extending GST cut benefits to consumers.
The civil aviation ministry reports six aircraft engine shutdown incidents and three May Day calls in India this year. The Air India plane crash investigation is ongoing, with all aspects being examined.
'In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism.'
The ministry also said it remains committed to full transparency relating to the ongoing investigation and will follow all mandated protocols and norms in the larger interest of the highest standards of passenger Safety and convenience.
In a big setback to Aditya Birla Group firm Idea Cellular, the Delhi High Court said the six licences of Spice Communications would not be transferred to Idea, since the company did not comply with the licence and merger guidelines. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore for hiding information.
A team of Telekom Malaysia officials will meet US-based billionaire B K Modi and officials of Idea Cellular in Mumbai on Friday, a top official at Spice Communications said. Another option is to permit Telekom Malaysia raise its stake in Spice Communications to 74 per cent. Even though, Idea Cellular will have no role to play in this deal, the Modi family will sell around 14 per cent stake and retain a 26 per cent stake.
Idea Cellular's bid to acquire a controlling stake in the B K Modi-promoted Spice Communications has hit a pricing roadblock. Investment banking sources said that B K Modi had asked for Rs 70 a share for his 40.8 per cent stake in Spice, valuing the company at Rs 4,829.47 crore, but Idea is reluctant to pay that much."Any price valuing Spice Communications beyond Rs 4,200 crore would be expensive for Idea Cellular," said an analyst with a domestic brokerage.
Mobile service provider Spice Communications has raised Rs 520 crore (Rs 5.20 billion) through its initial public offer, for which the issue price has been fixed at Rs 46 a share.
Aditya Birla group firm Idea Cellular on Monday made an open offer to the shareholders of Spice Communications for acquiring additional 20 per cent stake in the telecom services provider for about Rs 1,066.63 crore (Rs 10.66 billion).
Telekom Malaysia might partner with strategic investors to increase their combined stake in Spice Communications to 74 per cent. The Malaysian giant has 39.20 per cent equity in the telecom company and foreign institutional investors hold 9.59 per cent, taking the total foreign holding to 48.79 per cent.
The Aditya Birla group's wireless telephony firm Idea Cellular has agreed to buy Spice Communications in a three-stage deal in which minority shareholders of Spice would be given an option either to swap their shares for the Birla group firm or sell them in an open offer.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has taken off SpiceJet from its enhanced surveillance regime, a senior official said on Tuesday. The airline, which has been facing multiple headwinds, was placed under enhanced surveillance recently. The senior DGCA official said that in view of the observations made in the past concerning inadequate maintenance and in view of the incidents during the monsoon season last year, SpiceJet was placed under enhanced surveillance.
UAE-based telecommunication services provider Emirates Telecommunications Corporation has pulled out of negotiations to acquire a stake in Indian wireless telephony service provider Spice Communications, citing high valuation. Separately, the promoters were expecting a deal to be signed in the next couple of days.
The court asked Idea to transfer all the licences of Spice back to DoT.
Spice Communications, a company that offers GSM services in Punjab and Karnataka through its Spice Telecom brand, intends to raise Rs 520 crore (Rs 5.20 billion) through its initial public offering (IPO).
The department of telecommunications has raised questions about the merger between Idea Cellular and Spice Telecom violating key clauses on intra-circle merger and mobile licence conditions.
Retail inflation slowed to 5.48 per cent in November compared to 6.21 per cent in October, mainly due to easing food prices, especially vegetables, according to government data released on Thursday. According to Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the inflation in the food basked reduced to 9.04 per cent in November. It was 10.87 per cent in October and 8.70 per cent in November 2023.
B K Modi-promoted Spice Communications will decide before November 12 whether it will pull out of the COAI's petition in the TDSAT, where the association has challenged the government's decision allowing dual technology use and enhanced subscriber-based spectrum allocation.
Telecom to Telekom Malaysia in an attempt to complete the merger, sources involved in the negotiations said, declining to be identified. The group has hired Enam Financial as adviser to the transaction. Investment banking sources said the lawyers from both the parties are now busy structuring the deal so that the acquisition meets all the regulatory norms of the country and the Birlas retain control over Idea Cellular.
The Initial Public Offer of mobile service provider Spice Communications today got subscribed over three times on its second day of offer with robust demand from Foreign Institutional Investors.
Aditya Birla group's Idea Cellular has signed a deal to acquire 40.8 per cent stake in Spice Communications for Rs 2,716 crore (Rs 27.16 billion).
Spice Communications, in which Telekom Malaysia holds 49 per cent stake, will invest up to $300 million (about Rs 1,200 crore) in its existing circles in Punjab and Karnataka, a senior official of the company said.
Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla group firm that is on the verge of taking over Spice Communications by buying out B K Modi's 41 per cent stake, is sounding out its bankers to raise funds to upgrade in the struggling telecom operator's network and technology.
MDH Spices has denied allegations that its products have traces of cancer-causing agent ethylene oxide (ETO), calling them "untrue" and "lacking any substantiating evidence." "Amid speculations doing rounds that there is presence of ETO in our products, we clarify and state unequivocally that these claims are untrue and lack any substantiating evidence," a statement released by the company said.
The move follows the recent probe report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
Aviation regulator DGCA conducted 53 spot checks on 48 SpiceJet aircraft between July 9 and July 13 and it did not find any major safety violations, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday. "However, as a safety measure, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered SpiceJet to use certain identified aircraft (10) for operations only after confirming to the regulator that all reported defects/malfunctions are rectified," Singh said in his written reply in Rajya Sabha. SpiceJet planes were involved in at least eight technical malfunction incidents in the 18-day period starting June 19, following which the DGCA had on July 6 issued a show-cause notice to the airline, stating that "poor internal safety oversight" and "inadequate maintenance actions" have resulted in degradation of safety margins.
Jet Airways has complained to India's aviation regulator about the use of its livery on SpiceJet aircraft, saying the practice could "mislead the public" and is a safety hazard. Jet collapsed in 2019 and lessors repossessed its Boeing 737s. Some of these aircraft were leased to SpiceJet, which operates them without changing the livery. Jet, which is now being revived by the Kalrock Jalan consortium and aims to restart operations in September, has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ask SpiceJet to stop using its livery.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that is typically characterised by widespread tenderness and pain throughout the body. It is usually accompanied by fatigue, sleep and mood disturbance, says rediffGURU Nidhi Gupta.
'When the bombing happened in the Taj Mahal hotel in 2008, that was a very sad moment, but he really took care of the people, took care of everybody and that was when you saw some of his best moments.' 'There are some things which we will never forget. That is when the best of a person comes out.'
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