Business

Lucknow, Dec 25 (IANS) Akasa Air is commencing its air service from Lucknow on Sunday.

It is scheduled to start two flights from Lucknow -- one to Bengaluru and the other to Mumbai.

Airline officials met UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and handed him the first symbolic boarding pass.

The chief minister said, "UP is benefitting massively from the Udaan scheme started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has allowed people from even the lowest rungs of society to dream of travelling by air. The improving air services in UP are a realisation of this dream."

Akasa Air was represented by its CEO Vinay Dubey, co-founder Neelu Khatri, cofounder Pravin Aiyar and other senior officials.

The chief minister said that along with Lucknow which is being connected to Mumbai and Bengaluru, Varanasi should also be connected to these routes.

The Varanasi route has maximum passengers and this will be beneficial for both the residents of the state and for the airlines, he said.

He also suggested that Akasa Air start air services from Lucknow, Varanasi and Kushinagar to Kathmandu in Nepal. There is a great demand for this route among countries with a large Buddhist population, he said.

The Chief Minister further said that connectivity has a huge role to play in increasing the pace of development.

To that end, the government is trying to connect maximum cities in the state with expressways and air services.

Yogi Adityanath said that right now, nine airports are functional in the state and are serving 75 destinations. Another 10 airports are under construction.

He added that Uttar Pradesh would soon have five international airports -- Varanasi, Kushinagar and Lucknow are operational while Jewar and Ayodhya are under progress.

"It is the government's responsibility to ensure better connectivity for the 25-crore people in the state and to provide them with good air connectivity. Air connectivity is not ordinary connectivity but very beneficial in improving and increasing tourism potential of the state," he said.

--IANS
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By Atul Krishan
New Delhi, Dec 24 (IANS) The Centre Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has learnt in the Chanda Kochhar case that loans which were sanctioned by ICICI Bank were adjusted in RTL (rupee term loan) of Rs 1,730 crore.


This was revealed after a special CBI court on Saturday remanded former ICICI Bank CEO-MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar to CBI custody till December 26. The CBI had arrested the couple on Friday in connection with their alleged role in the ICICI Bank-Videocon money laundering case. Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Group is a co-accused in the case.

During the preliminary inquiry, the CBI has learnt that Chanda Kochhar sanctioned credit facilities of Rs 3,250 crore by violating the rules of Banking Regulation Act, RBI guidelines and credit policy.

That various sanctioning committees of ICICI Bank sanctioned loans to Videocon Group companies, namely Millennium Appliances India Ltd (MAIL), RTL of Rs 175 crore on June 30, 2009; loan of Rs 240 crore to Sky Appliances Ltd (SAL) on November 17, 2010; loan of Rs 110 crore to Techno Electronics Ltd (TEL) on November 17, 2010; loan of Rs 300 crore to Applicomp India Ltd (AIL) on May 30, 2011; and loan of Rs 750 crore to Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL) on October 31, 2011.

These loans amounting to Rs 1,575 crore were sanctioned by various committees.

The loans sanctioned to SAL, TEL and AIL were for the purpose of enabling them to repay the unsecured loan availed by these companies from VIL. It also sanctioned a loan to VIL for refinancing the existing loans of the company.

Sandeep Bakshi, K. Ramkumar, Sonjoy Chatterjee, N.S. Kannan, Zarin Daruwala, Rajiv Sabharwal, K.V. Kamath and Homi Khusrokhan, all senior officials of ICICI Bank, were part of the committees which sanctioned the loans.

"These loans turned non-performing assets (NPA) due to which the ICICI Bank suffered losses and the accused made wrongful gains. ICICI Bank had also released the security available in the form of FDR of Rs 50 crore in the accounts of Sky Appliances Ltd and Techno Electronics Ltd without any justification," the CBI said.

Chanda Kochhar took over the charge of ICICI Bank as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer on May 1, 2009. The aforesaid credit limits to the above said Videocon Group companies were sanctioned after she assumed charge as the MD-CEO of the bank.

These loans were sanctioned by different sanctioning committees in which Chanda Kochhar was one of the committee members.

The committees sanctioned RTL of Rs 300 crore to VIEL and Rs 750 crore to VIL. In 2012, the existing outstandings of the six accounts were adjusted in RTL of Rs 1,730 crore sanctioned under refinancing of domestic debt. The account of VIL and its group companies were declared NPA in June 2017.

(Atul Krishan can be approached at atul.k@ians.in)

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) Google on Friday said it has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to appeal the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) decision to penalise the tech giant Rs 1,338 crore for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem.

In a statement to IANS, Google said it has decided to appeal the CCI's decision on Android as "we believe it presents a major setback for our Indian users and businesses who trust Android's security features, and potentially raising the cost of mobile devices".

"Android has greatly benefitted Indian users, developers, and OEMs, and powered India's digital transformation. We look forward to making our case and remain committed to our users and partners," a Google spokesperson said.

In October, the Indian anti-competition watchdog also slapped its second penalty on Google -- this time to the tune of around $113 million (Rs 936 crore) -- for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

The CCI directed Google to cease and desist from indulging in anti-competitive practices.

Google strongly disagreed with the CCI's decision, saying it is taking all appropriate legal steps to defend the Android business model in the country.

Google is optimistic that the "NCLAT will take full account of the evidence on record and the tremendous contribution that Android has made to the massive growth and prosperity of the mobile ecosystem in India".

Android has created more choice for everyone, and supports thousands of successful businesses in India and around the world, according to the company.

The appellate tribunal will take into account "this irreparable harm Android stakeholders will face if a stay is not granted pending the outcome of the appeal", according to the company.

Not just Google, but even some Indian phone manufacturers disagree with the CCI's remedies, given its obvious adverse implications.

India is Google's largest market by users.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Dec 23 (IANS) Software company IceWarp on Friday announced that it intends to double employee strength by the end of 2023 in India.

Currently, the company's India team has a strength of 100 members.

The company also announced the inauguration of a new office in Mumbai to accommodate its growing team.

The company said that the larger office setup will allow the IceWarp India team to accommodate new resources from all departments, planned to hire in order to address the growing business requirements.

"We believe that our office's expansion in Mumbai will reinforce our commitment towards the region as we look forward to providing seamlessly collaborated Enterprise Email and Collaboration solutions to organisations of all sizes," Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp India, and Middle East said in a statement.

With a solid presence across 50 countries, IceWarp offers an affordable, seamlessly integrated, and easy-to-use communications solution to businesses and provides a true alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

"This new office expands IceWarp's foothold at the heart of the business hub of the country and will thus, allow it to strengthen its position in the country and exponentially grow its vision," it said.

The company also mentioned that it is keen on partnering with equally motivated and driven professionals from various fields like marketing, sales, operations, CRM, and support to grow with the brand.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) Twitter has laid off more employees from its remaining public policy team, after laying off an unknown number of engineers in its infrastructure vertical last week.

A member of the Twitter public policy team tweeted late on Thursday that she has been laid off.

"Yesterday was my last day at Twitter, as half of the remaining Public Policy team was cut from the company. It's hard to convey how fortunate I feel to have had this exceptional opportunity. This was, indeed, a dream job," posted Theodora (Theo) Skeadas.

"I am unbelievably proud of the work we did to protect people in global conflicts including Iran, Ukraine, and Libya," she added.

According to Musk, Twitter now has just over 2,000 employees (it had more than 7,500 employees when he took over in October.

Musk said in the latest live audio conversation platform Twitter Spaces that Twitter was on track to lose about $3 billion next year but should now be "roughly cash flow break even" after his job cuts.

The company has been hit by at least 100 former employees of various legal violations, including gender discrimination in layoffs and failing to pay promised severance.

Twitter laid off around 3,700 employees in early November in the first cost-cutting measure. Hundreds more resigned later.

The company was also sued in the US for mass layoffs without giving employees advance written notice.

The lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court in the Northern District of California, in violation of worker protection laws, including the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act as well as the California WARN Act, both of which require 60 days of advance notice.

The lawsuit is seeking "a range of relief, including compensatory damages (including wages owed), as well as declaratory relief, pre- and post-judgment interest, plus other attorneys' fees and costs".

--IANS
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Islamabad, Dec 20 (IANS) Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that the government would approach the provinces for the implementation of a policy aimed at saving energy, local media reported.

Briefing the media after a meeting of the federal cabinet, Asif that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had held several meetings on the issue and a final decision would be taken by Thursday, Dawn reported.

He said that estimates have shown that if 20 per cent of the government workforce worked from home on a rotation basis, Pak Rs 56 billion could be saved.

"It is mainly about the nation limiting its lifestyle," he said.

Asif added that the timing of wedding halls would be restricted to 10 pm, while restaurants, hotels and markets would close down by 8 pm in order to save energy.

He, however, said that there may be some room for the closing time for restaurants to be extended by an hour, Dawn reported.

The minister said that by implementing these steps, the country would be able to save Rs 62 billion.

Asif also said that the government is slowly working on shifting to renewable energy, but until that is achieved, such measures are important.

He went on to say that energy-efficient fans and bulbs would soon be introduced in the markets, which would further help save Rs 38 billion.

"Similarly, if street lights are used alternatively, we would be able to save Rs 4 billion."

The minister revealed that the government is also in talks with motorcycle companies for electric bikes.

"The motorcycles that run on petrol will slowly be phased out. We have begun importing e-bikes and have started negotiations with motorcycle companies for modification of the existing motorcycles. This will save us around Rs 86 billion," he added, Dawn reported.

If all these measures are translated, Asif said, "You will see that a lot of money can be saved."

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) Global inflation may have peaked but the balance of risks is increasingly tilted towards a "darkening" global outlook and emerging market economies (EMEs) appear to be more vulnerable, the RBI said in its bulletin for December 2022.

"The near-term growth outlook for the Indian economy is supported by domestic drivers as reflected in trends in high frequency indicators," it said in the chapter on the state of the economy.

"Waning input cost pressures, still buoyant corporate sales, and turn-up in investments in fixed assets are heralding the beginning of an upturn in the capex cycle in India, which will contribute to a speeding up of growth momentum in the Indian economy," the bulletin said.

It further noted that the equity markets touched a string of new highs during November, buoyed by strong portfolio flows to India. Headline inflation moderated by 90 basis points to 5.9 per cent in November driven by a fall in vegetables prices even as core inflation remained steady at 6 per cent.

"The finances of the Central Government as well as the States improved significantly in first half of 2022-23 with receding negative spillover effects induced by the pandemic, even as the war in Europe has led to targeted fiscal measures," the bulletin said.

On the government's finances, the bulletin said that the Centre had recorded robust tax collections, both direct taxes and GST, reflecting sustained recovery of the economy, improved tax governance and administration as well as healthier balance sheet of the corporate sector.

"India's core digital economy (hardware, software publishing, web publishing, telecommunication services, and specialised and support services) increased from
5.4 per cent of Gross Value Addition in 2014 to 8.5 per cent in 2019," it noted.

Focussing on digital rise, the RBI bulletin said that India's digital economy grew 2.4 times faster than the Indian economy, with strong forward linkages to the non-digital sectors.

The digital output multiplier has increased over time, highlighting the role of digital economy investments to drive growth.

The employment estimates show that 4.9 million people were employed in the core digital sector. Considering the total digitally dependent economy, around 62.4 million workers are employed in digitally disrupted sectors, the bulletin said.

--IANS
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Taipei, Dec 20 (IANS) Apple is planning to begin production of MacBooks in Vietnam by mid-2023, as it continues to diversify its production base away from China to other countries, including India, the media reported on Tuesday.

The tech giant has tapped its top supplier Foxconn to start making MacBooks in the Southeast Asian nation as early as around May, reports Nikkei Asia, citing sources.

According to the report, the iPhone maker aims to have 'out of China' production alternatives for key products amid Covid lockdowns that hampered its supply chain.

Apple plans to move some MacBook production to Vietnam for the first time next year as it "continues diversifying its production base away from China amid escalating tech tensions between Washington and Beijing," the report mentioned.

As per a Counterpoint Research report, Foxconn aims to shift up to 30 per cent of its capacity to India, Vietnam and Brazil.

It had already developed "rather high production capacities in India and Vietnam before the recent disruption at its Zhengzhou plant" in China.

As of September 2022, there were 21 Apple suppliers in Vietnam.

When it comes to smartphone production, manufacturing in India grew 16 per cent (year-over-year) in Q2 2022 (April-June) to reach over 44 million units, said the Counterpoint report.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is "telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam" in order to "reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn".

The contribution of domestic iPhone manufacturing in India jumped from 50 per cent in 2019 to 73 per cent in 2021, according to market research firm CMR.

In the meantime, the percentage of imported iPhones to India decreased from 50 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2020, 27 per cent in 2021 and around 15 per cent this year -- showing a significant Make in India's boom for Apple.

Apple aims to ship 40-45 per cent of iPhones from India compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to analyst Ming-chi Kuo.

--IANS
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Tokyo, Dec 20 (IANS) The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Tuesday decided to adjust its yields on 10-year government bonds in a policy move to address mounting costs connected to its long-standing monetary easing measures.

The BOJ said its yields on the bonds would be adjusted from a range of plus and minus 0.25 per cent to a range of plus and minus 0.5 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

The central bank also said it had opted to maintain its yield target, adding that it will substantially raise the amount of bonds it purchases.

The BOJ said, however, in contrast to European and U.S central banks, it will continue to set short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 per cent and guide 10-year yields to around zero per cent as regards its yield curve control program.

Economists here said the BOJ's move was a surprise tweak to its ultra-loose monetary easing policy, rather than an overhaul of its massive stimulus program, but was anticipated to be unrolled next year.

In its statement on the matter, the bank said its decision was made to "improve market functioning and encourage a smoother formation of the entire yield curve, while maintaining accommodative financial conditions".

--IANS
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Sonipat, Dec 20 (IANS) As O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) completes 13 years since its founding, 100 JGU students will be selected to participate in an amazing certificate
programme designed exclusively for the students of JGU in collaboration with the Aresty
Institute of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

These full-time JGU students will be selected on merit from the 12 schools of JGU to study at the Wharton School in summer 2023.

The partnership between India's world-class private university (ranked number one in India in the QS World University Rankings 2022, three times in a row) and Wharton Executive Education augurs well for promoting excellence in management education.

The industry-relevant programme at Wharton will offer specially designed modules, including business model innovation and ecosystems, international banking and financial markets, entrepreneurship and technology innovation, global business strategy and mergers and acquisitions, strategy with analytics, and strategic leadership and influence. The course modules will be offered by Wharton faculty, who are world-leading scholars in their respective fields of business, finance, and entrepreneurship. JGU students will receive a certificate of completion from the Wharton School, upon successful completion of this programme.

Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, said, "The collaboration that is being established between JGU and Wharton Executive Education will be unique and transformative, given the opportunities of learning from and engaging with some of the most outstanding academics and thought leaders in the world. This is in line with the vision of the National Education Policy 2020, which has recognised the role and importance of internationalising Indian higher education. Indian students, post pandemic, have an aspiration to study at world-class institutions in India and abroad. They will immensely benefit from the synergies of learning at JGU and at Wharton to contribute in different capacities to various industries globally".

Professor (Dr.) Mayank Dhaundiyal, Dean, Jindal Global Business School, said, "This is a truly exceptional opportunity for JGU students to study management, finance, and entrepreneurship at an Ivy League institution. This programme will provide our students with extensive exposure, and help them become globally conscious, and conceptually strong, thereby dramatically increasing their employability. We remain committed to offering our students short- and long-term international opportunities with leading universities and business schools around the world, to enable and empower them to become leaders and entrepreneurs".

Professor (Dr.) Mohan Kumar, Dean, Office of International Affairs and Global Initiatives, JGU, Observed "The Jindal-Wharton collaboration is an example of global
engagement that has a direct impact on the life and learning of our students. The fact that a substantial number of students from JGU will be spending time at the Wharton School in the USA learning some of the cutting-edge issues relating to finance and entrepreneurship from scholars and practitioners will be a transformative opportunity for the students".

--IANS
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