Business

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Former BharatPe Co-founder Ashneer Grover on Monday criticised the new digital lending guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), calling the norms the worst thing that has happened in digital India.

Taking to Twitter, Grover said that the new digital lending norms will discourage the fintechs from lending.

"If UPI is the best tech/regulatory innovation in the world, the RBI's Digital Lending Guidelines have to be the worst," said Grover who, along with his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, has formed a new company called Third Unicorn Private Ltd, and are set to launch a third startup.

He further tweeted: "Essentially RBI is telling Fintechs 'Bhai mat karo digital lending shending ! Banks se hoti nahi, humein samajh aati nahi, aur pen paper ki sale bhi kam hogi (don't do digital lending as banks can't manage it, we don't understand it and it will also save on the sale on pen and paper)".

The recent RBI guidelines on digital lending are aimed at creating a robust framework that safeguards interest of customers.

The framework is based on the principle that lending business can be carried out only by entities that are either regulated by the central bank or entities permitted to do so under any other law.

This has led to fintech lenders suspending their services in the country.

Last month, Uni suspended card services on its products in line with the recent RBI notification.

The startup said that is proactively suspending services Uni Pay 1/3rd Card and the Uni Pay 1/2 Card, which will impact millions of users.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS) State Bank of India (SBI) plans to raise up to Rs 7,000 crore, which includes Rs 5,000 crore in greenshoe through Basel-III Additional Tier-I bonds, market participants said.

Bidding for the bonds will take place on Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Non convertible Taxable Perpetual Subordinated Unsecured Basel III compliant Additional Tier 1 Bonds in the nature of debentures of face value Rs 1 Crore each.

AT1 Bonds are a type of perpetual bonds that don't have any expiry date which is issued to raise long term capital.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Fintech major Paytm on Sunday said that the search operations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at six different locations in Bengaluru were carried out on merchants which were independent entities, and none of them were Paytm's group entities.

In a statement, One 97 Communications Ltd, which is the parent company of Paytm, clarified that none of the funds which have been instructed to be frozen belong to Paytm or any of its group companies.

The ED said on Saturday that it carried out search operations at six different locations in Bengaluru in connection with its probe into the Chinese loan apps fraud case.

The financial probe agency said it raided the premises associated with Paytm, Razorpay and Cashfree, all payment gateways which allegedly facilitated transactions on loan apps unauthorisedly run by Chinese-owned firms.

The company said that as a part of ongoing investigations on a specific set of merchants, "the ED has sought information regarding such merchants to whom we provide payment processing solutions".

"It is hereby clarified that these merchants are independent entities, and none of them are our group entities. We are, and will continue to, fully cooperate with the authorities, and all the directive actions are being duly complied with," said the company.

Paytm further said that that the "ED has instructed us to freeze certain amounts from the Merchant IDs (MIDs) of a specific set of merchant entities".

According to the ED, during the search operation, it was noticed that the said entities were generating proceeds of crime through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks.

"They were also not operating from the addresses given on the MCA website/registered address. An amount of Rs 17 crore has been seized in merchant IDs and bank accounts of these Chinese-owned entities," said the agency.

A Cashfree spokesperson said that the company extended diligent co-operation to the ED operations, providing them the required and necessary information on the same day of enquiry.

"Our operations and on-boarding processes adhere to the PMLA and KYC directions, and we will continue to do so," said the spokesperson.

A Razorpay spokesperson said that some of its merchants were being investigated by the law enforcement about a year and a half back.

"As part of the ongoing investigation, the authorities requested additional information to help with the investigation. We have fully cooperated and shared KYC and other details. The authorities were satisfied by our due diligence process," said the company.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 4 (IANS) After rolling out several new features, Meta-owned WhatsApp is likely working on a new feature for businesses to let them manage chats from their linked devices in an upcoming subscription service from WhatsApp for businesses.

According to WABetaInfo, under a new optional subscription plan called WhatsApp Premium, users will be able to use additional features such as the ability to create a custom business link and link up to 10 devices to their accounts in the future.

About the last feature, it would also be helpful for large businesses to manage certain chats from a specific device -- for this reason, WhatsApp is developing the ability to assign chats to linked devices, the report said.

In a screenshot, a tooltip showed up to inform the user about the new feature when it is enabled for the business account.

"When you want to assign a certain chat to a specific linked device, the list of your linked devices will show up so you can select the desired device," the report said.

"Assigned chats will be highlighted within the selected device, so the user that's using that specific device knows they have to manage those conversations," it added.

Since this is a business tool, it will not be available for standard WhatsApp accounts. This feature is under development and will be released in a future update of the app.

--IANS
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London, Sep 3 (IANS) Apple Watch's ECG heart sensor has once again saved a man's life by sending him alerts for a low resting heart rate on almost 3,000 occasions.

David Last, 54, from the UK credited Apple Watch for saving his life after his heart stopped an astonishing 138 times in a 48-hour testing period at the hospital, reports the Independent.

His heart resting rate was found to have dropped as low as 30 beats per minute (it is normally between 60-100bpm).

After tests like a 48-hour ECG and MRI, his cardiologist told him that he had a massive heart blockage.

His heart stopped 138 times in 10-second intervals over a 48-hour ECG period.

Last was operated this month, and a pacemaker was installed to detect abnormal heart rhythms.

His wife gave him Apple Watch as a gift on his birthday in April this year.

"If she hadn't bought me my Apple watch for my birthday, I wouldn't be here. I will always be eternally grateful to her for it. Apart from charging it, it's always staying on me now," he was quoted as saying.

The Apple Watch has saved several lives in the past across the world.

With iOS 16 and watchOS 9 this fall, Apple Watch and iPhone will offer features that focus on 17 areas of health and fitness, from heart health to sleep, women's health, mobility and more, according to the tech giant.

Apple recently collaborated with Stanford University in the US to build the Apple Heart Study, which was a first of its kind in the medical community and the largest virtual cardiac clinical study during its time.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) Bollywood star Ranveer Singh has made his first startup investment in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand SUGAR Cosmetics, the company announced on Saturday. It, however, did not divulge the investment figure.

SUGAR Cosmetics started off as a D2C brand in 2015 and then ventured into offline trade in 2017.

Currently, it is clocking annual sales of more than Rs 550 crore with a physical presence with more than 45,000 retail touch points across the country.

"I have admired SUGAR's ability to build a tremendous fan-following over the years and I'm excited to be a part of this journey and help the brand achieve its mission of providing Indian women access to premium and quality makeup products specially formulated for them," said Singh.

In June, SUGAR Cosmetics raised $50 million in series D funding led by the Asia fund of L Catterton. The round also saw participation from existing investors: A91 Partners, Elevation Capital and India Quotient.

The new investment by Ranveer "is expected to further boost SUGAR's expansion in other potential markets," it said.

"SUGAR is the makeup of choice for bold, independent women who refuse to be stereotyped into roles and if someone shares the same DNA as ours, it is Ranveer," said Vineeta Singh, Cofounder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics.

"This will help supercharge our growth trajectory as we continue scaling SUGAR aggressively to build it into a large and much-loved makeup & beauty brand," added Kaushik Mukherjee, Cofounder and COO.

Ranveer's actor-wife Deepika Padukone has invested in several startups, via her investment arm KA Enterprises, like Epigamia, Nua, Blu Smart, Bellatrix Aerospace and Atomberg Technologies, etc.

--IANS
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By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, Sep 2 (IANS) The share warrants issued by a company are negotiable instruments and the holder of such warrants can exercise the option of conversion within the time frame, said a Supreme Court advocate and a company law expert said.


He said when queried about the Adani Group's steps to takeover over NDTV based on the information that is available in the public domain.

"Share warrants are negotiable instruments and the issuance of share warrants presupposes the underlying equity shares of the issuer company as per such warrants," D. Varadarajan, a Supreme Court advocate specialising in company/competition/insurance laws, told IANS.

The holder of share warrants, in this case Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Ltd (VCPL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, is at liberty to exercise the option of converting the warrants into shares within the window of time frame as stated and inbuilt in the warrants, he added.

"Hence, the issuer company (in this case RRPR Holding, the investment vehicle of NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy and holding 29.18 per cent) would know prior hand and should have envisaged the contingency of conversion of share warrants into shares," Varadarajan said.

According to Varadarajan, the maximum extent of acquisition of equity shares by conversion of share warrants is premeditated by the issuing company.

"Hence, it is unconscionable to raise hue and cry on various pretext and stifle the automatic process of conversion of warrants into equity, after having enjoyed the money represented by share warrants by the issuer company by willingly issuing the warrants at the outset."

On August 23, VCPL issued a notice to RRPR Holding of its decision to convert the share warrants issued to it in 2009 into equity shares and the Adani Group issued an open offer to acquire 26 per cent stake in NDTV.

The conversion of warrants into equity would lead to Vishvapradhan Commercial gaining control of 99.5 per cent of RRPR Holding that holds 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV.

Ever since the warrant conversion notice, RRPR Holding and NDTV's founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy have been claiming that the transaction needs permission from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Income Tax Department.

They also said the decision to convert the share warrants into equity shares in RRPR Holding by VCPL was not discussed with them.

The VCPL has asked RRPR Holding to cease and desist from repeating the misconceived and misleading statements, suggestions, inferences and assertions made by it.

The VCPL has again called upon RRPR Holding to take all necessary steps and perform its obligations as specified in the Notice, forthwith and without any further delay.

A shareholder having 26 per cent stake in a company can stop the passing of a special resolution that needs a minimum of 75 per cent of members voting in its favour.

If the share warrants of Vishvapradhan Commercial are converted to equity in RRPR Holding, then the former will control over 26 per cent stake in NDTV.

Meanwhile the share prices of NDTV continued its upward spiral on Friday to touch Rs 515.10.

"Who the share buyers are will be known only when the buyers approach NDTV for name transfer," Varadarajan said.

On August 25, NDTV in a regulatory filing had said the SEBI has restrained its Founder-Promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy from accessing the securities market, and further prohibiting buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, or being associated with the securities market in any manner whatsoever for a period of two years, which expires on November 26.

The NDTV has postponed its 34th Annual General Meeting to September 27 from the earlier fixed date of September 20.

Due to change in the date of the AGM, the Register of Members and the Share Transfer Book of the Company will now remain closed September 20-27 (both days inclusive), NDTV had said.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS
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By Yashwant Raj
Washington, Sep 2 (IANS) Global coffee chain Starbucks has named Indian-born Laxman Narasimhan its next CEO.


Narasimhan, who currently heads health and hygiene company Reckitt, will join Starbucks in October and take over from its iconic interim CEO Howard Shultz in April.

Narasimhan joins the growing ranks of Indian-descent CEOs heading leading US corporate giants such as Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, Punit Renjen of Deloitte and Raj Subramaniam of FedEx. Major former Desi CEOs include Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Ajay Banga of Mastercard.

The incoming Starbuck CEO studied mechanical engineering at the University of Pune and then he headed west, picking up Masters in German and International Studies from The Lauder Institute at The University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania.

"Starbucks commitment to uplift humanity through connection and compassion has long distinguished the company, building an unrivaled, globally admired brand that has transformed the way we connect over coffee. I am humbled to be joining this iconic company at such a pivotal time, as the reinvention and investments in the partner and customer experiences position us to meet the changing demands we face today and set us up for an even stronger future," said Narasimhan, adding, "I look forward to working closely with Howard, the Board, and the entire leadership team -- and to listening and learning from Starbucks partners -- as we collectively build on this work to lead the company into its next chapter of growth and impact."

He will relocate to Seattle, Washington, from London and will work closely with Shultz before taking over formally in April.

"Laxman is an inspiring leader. His deep, hands-on experience driving strategic transformations at global consumer-facing businesses makes him the ideal choice to accelerate Starbucks growth and capture the opportunities ahead of us. His understanding of our culture and values, coupled with his expertise as a brand builder, innovation champion, and operational leader will be true differentiators as we position Starbucks for the next 50 years, generating value for all our stakeholders," said Shultz.

Shultz's handpicked successor Kevin Johnson retired in April after five years and Shultz returned to take back control of the company as interim CEO and a search got underway for a long-term head, which ended with Narasimhan being announced on Thursday.

Shultz will remain a member of the Starbucks board, the company said and he will "remain closely involved with the company's reinvention and act as an ongoing advisor to Narasimhan".

Narasimhan previously worked with PepsiCo, including as global Chief Commercial Officer, as a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, before that. At McKinsey he had been focused on its consumer, retail and technology practices in the US, Asia and India.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 1 (IANS) Tech giant Apple may use "hybrid" OLED technology, which incorporates rigid and flexible OLED panel materials, as part of its rumoured plans to switch to OLED technology for upcoming iPad models.

The tech giant is hesitant to rely solely on the flexible OLED technology it employs in its iPhone models since the panels tend to "crumple", and the effect is more evident as displays get bigger, MacRumors reported citing The Elec.

"When it became known that Apple plans to apply hybrid OLED to the first OLED iPad, the industry has assumed that the cause was cost reduction," the report said.

However, it is understood that there is a reason why Apple preferred hybrid OLED other than this cost reduction.

An official from the parts industry said: "Apple hated the fact that a part of the product screen could look wrinkled to the user's eyes when using a flexible OLED.

"iPhone OLED has a 5-7 inch screen, so these characteristics are not well revealed, but it is relatively noticeable in large-screen (10-20 inch) IT products."

While the hybrid OLED technology has yet to be perfected and will take at least a year to become commercially viable before it could be incorporated into an OLED iPad by around 2024, the report said, adding that both Samsung and LG are pursuing ultra-thin glass substrates measuring just 0.2 mm thick to be used with the technology, down from the current standard of around 0.5 mm.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Offering seamless connections and increased opportunities for frequent fliers, Virgin Atlantic and IndiGo announced a new codeshare between the UK and India.

The codeshare partnership will mean customers booking a Virgin Atlantic ticket will be able to fly on the airline's flights from London's Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai and connect to and fro to seven additional cities in India.

Later this year the agreement will be expanded to cover a total of 16 destinations throughout India, as well as connections onto Virgin Atlantic's extensive US network operated via London Heathrow. The agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic to sell seats to passengers connecting onto IndiGo flights.

The initial codeshare destinations in India include Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai. The additional destinations will include Kochi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Indore, and Visakhapatnam.

The new codeshare agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club members to reach their rewards faster, with opportunities to earn both Virgin Points and Tier Points available on every codeshare with IndiGo. The codeshare flights will be available this week for booking for travel beyond September 27, subject to government approval.

Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Atlantic, said: "IndiGo is India's largest airline and its extensive network will offer Virgin Atlantic customers even more choice when travelling between the UK and India, as well as offering seamless connections for onward travel across our extensive US route network."

Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director, IndiGo said, "This will not only help offer a seamless travel experience from London to as many as 16 destinations in India, but also open up international trade opportunities throughout the country via enhanced accessibility."

--IANS
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