COLUMN: Free COVID vaccine is no charity for the poor
Modi Govt’s decision not to offer free COVID vaccines increases chances of repeated global pandemics in the future
Category: FIRST ON RTN
GTPL’s Android smart box ready with manufacturer
GTPL Hathway, one of India’s largest cable feed provider and last-mile operator, said its much-delayed Android set-top-box originally scheduled be launched a year ago, is in the final stages of production and expected to reach the company by end of this month. It was in mid last year that the company announced that its Android […]
Hero MotoCorp to introduce battery swapping network
Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest maker of two-wheeler vehicles, today announced a tie-up with Taiwan-based Gogoro to introduce the latter’s battery swapping technology in India. Hero MotoCorp, one of the biggest makers of electric scooters in India, will bring Gogoro’s battery swapping platform to India. Under the agreement, Hero will get access to Gogoro’s innovations […]
Saregama buys music rights for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 3 upcoming films
Saregama, India’s oldest and largest music label, announced that it has has been signed as by prominent film maker Sanjay Leela Bhansali as the music label for three of his forthcoming projects. These include Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi – the music rights of which has been acquired from Pen Studios, the next untitled Bhansali […]
ACC says ‘cautiously optimistic’ despite COVID surge
ACC, one of India’s largest cement makers, said it maintains a ‘cautious yet positive’ outlook on the market for the coming months despite the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in the country. “The Company believes that the Government is taking all possible steps to intensify the vaccination program and control the spread of Covid. With […]
Quess buys out Tata Sons from BPO unit Conneqt
Business services provider Quess Corp said Tata Sons had sold it the remaining 30% of BPO provider Conneqt Business Solutions Ltd. Quess had purchased a 51% stake in the company in Nov 2017 at a cost of Rs 153 cr or about $23 mn at the time. Quess had increased its stake in Conneqt from […]
Bharti Airtel restructures: Digital comes in, telecom goes out
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel seems to have borrowed a leaf from rival Reliance Jio in announcing a restructuring of its business that puts its digital business at center stage, while moving the pipe or connectivity business to a separate, wholly owned subsidiary. This is the opposite of how things stand now. At present, the connectivity […]
JLR returns to YoY growth in Q4 auto sales
Strong sales in China helped UK-based luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover report a 12.4% jump in retail sales for the Jan-Mar period of 2021. China sales were up 127% compared to a year ago when that market was heavily impacted by Covid-19. Sales in North America were also up year-on-year (+10.4%), while other regions remain […]
Dr Reddy’s gets nod to start supplying Sputnik V
Pharmaceuticals manufacturer Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd said it received permission from India’s drug regulator to import and supply the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in India. Like the other two vaccines approved in India, the nod for Sputnik V is also an ’emergency use authorization’, meaning that it cannot be sold to anyone and everyone, but […]
TCS employees stay put amid pandemic uncertainties
Tata Consultancy Services, the largest India-based provider of IT and outsourcing services, reported its lowest ever IT employee churn numbers even as the world grappled with economic uncertainties caused by a pandemic. For the year ended March, the company lost just 7.2% of its employees. Typically, IT companies see attrition levels of nearly double that. […]
ArcelorMittal is Infosys’ new client
Outsourced services provider Infosys today bagged a major client in the form of ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company. ArcelorMittal is a Luxembourgish multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel and is the world’s largest steel […]
With govt nod, Hero MotoCorp to vaccinate full workforce
In what is likely to become a norm soon, Hero MotoCorp has announced that it will vaccinate its entire workforce, including contract workers, against COVID-19 at its own cost. “With the government opening up the vaccination process against the coronavirus for the corporate sector, we have decided to vaccinate our workforce and other stakeholders within […]
IoT: Vodafone Idea wants to become techco, not just telco
Vi Business, the enterprise arm of Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL), said it has taken a crucial step towards turning itself into a techco from being a telco for its enterprise customers. It has become only telecom company in India to offer a secure end-to-end IoT solution offering that comprises connectivity, hardware, network, application, analytics, security […]
Bharti Airtel sells ex-Tata spectrum to Jio
Bharti Airtel said it was selling spectrum worth around Rs 1,500 cr to Reliance Jio. The sold spectrum is in the CDMA band (800 MHz). Jio is currently the only telecom player in India to use that band for delivering 4G services. It is likely that Bharti Airtel got hold of that spectrum as part […]
BSNL withdraws highly popular Rs 449 Bharat Fiber plan
BSNL, a state-owned telecom provider, has withdrawn the enormously popular Rs 449 Fiber Basic Plan with effect from today. The plan was put in place in November last year in response to the launch of a cut-throat, Rs 399 plan by Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator. The 499 plan gave 3,300 GB of high-speed […]
Bharti Airtel raises $100 mn from Mastercard via Africa mobile money stake sale
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said US-based payments processor Mastercard will invest $100 mln (Rs 730 cr) into its Africa mobile payments business. The announcement comes two weeks after TPG Group invested $200 mn in Airtel Money Africa. The latest agreement values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65bn on a cash and debt free basis, […]
HAL points to 6% FY sales growth, double-digit PAT growth despite COVID
HAL or Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, a government-owned aircraft maker, reported a 6% growth in its revenue for the current year despite a one-month shut-down related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bangalore-based company reported provisional revenue of Rs 22,700 crores for the year ending today, up from Rs 21,438 crores for the year ended March 2020. […]
Kalyan Jewellers to open 14 new stores, take total to 151
Kalyan Jewellers, which went public with a Rs 1,200 cr IPO last week, said it will open a whopping 14 new showrooms on April 24. The new stores being opened across India will increase the company’s store count to 151 from the present 137. As a part of the expansion, the jewelry retailer from Thrissur […]
STIMULUS IMPACT: Maruti Suzuki to go for second price hike in four months
Maruti Suzuki has said that it will go for a round of price increases next month (April), its second in four months. The company had increased prices of its cars and utility vehicles on Jan 18 this year, citing rising commodity costs. “Over the past year the cost of company’s vehicles has been impacted adversely […]
FASTag issuances cross the 3 cr mark
The total number of FASTags issued by various agencies has crossed the 3 cr (30 mln) mark, minister Nitin Gadkari said today. This represents about 15% of the estimated 200 mln or so vehicles who are eligible for using such tags. FASTags are a form of RFID-based auto-debit mechanism being implemented across the country to […]