News latest. Several parts of country to receive light to moderate rain this week: IMD. Several parts of the country are likely to receive light to moderate rain, with instances of thunderstorm activities at isolated places, this week, the India Meteorological Department said on Sunday.
North India is likely to witness light to moderate rainfall this week due to two western disturbances that will bring precipitation and thunderstorms to the hills and the plains, the IMD said, news agency PTI reported. The National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC) of the IMD said there will be "scattered to fairly widespread" rainfall and thunderstorm activities in northwest India for the next 36 hours. The activity will reduce significantly by May 12. Another western disturbance is likely to hit the region from May 14 and its influence is likely to continue for the subsequent 2-3 days, the IMD said.
ALSO READ: 'Normal' monsoon forecast by IMD brings relief from coronavirus heat Heavy rainfall is likely over Kerala and Tamil Nadu during the next 24 hours due to a trough. Reliance Industries may rewrite recent history of rights issues: Here's how. The Rs 53,125 crore rights issue of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is scheduled to open on May 14 might rewrite the recent history of "rights".
Shares of the company gained 3.4 per cent at Rs 1,615 on the BSE on Monday after the date was fixed for determining shareholders eligible to apply for its rights issue. The stock was trading close to its record high of Rs 1,618, and recovered 84 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 876 on March 23. The previous large rights issues by companies have typically had a strike rate of 25-28 per cent from shareholders, which includes the top 10 rights issues and all the large rights issues of the Tata group. The Bharti Airtel rights issues launched in May 2019 with a size of Rs 24,939 crore got 15 per cent response from shareholders with 27,301 applications on the total number of shareholders at 186,000. The Vodafone Idea issue in April last year received 26 per cent applications. Plasma therapy worked on my body in 3 days, says recovered Covid-19 patient. As plasma therapy is still in experimental stage and several states continue the trial of it for Covid-19, a doctor who donated his plasma after recovering from coronavirus and a plasma recipient who has recovered now have shared their experiences.
Kapil Dev Bhalla, a plasma therapy recipient, said, "I was admitted in Aurobindo Hospital wherein during my treatment for coronavirus the congestion in my chest was not getting cured despite several efforts. On April 26, I was told by Dr Ravi Dhosi that they are planning to administer plasma therapy on me. I gave them a thumbs up and within three days it worked on my body. Covid-19 fallout: Airbus, Boeing results show turbulent times for aviation. The skies are far from clear for the Indian aviation sector as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to withhold airlines such as IndiGo and SpiceJet from flying.
A recent government suggestion to begin operation between green zones has been shot down by the airlines, calling it commercially unviable. Uber sees rides recovering from Covid-19 lows, banks on food-delivery biz. Uber Technologies Inc's ride service bookings slowly recovered in recent weeks as the company expects a coronavirus-related slowdown will delay the goal of becoming profitable by a matter of quarters, not years, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Thursday.
He spoke after Uber reported it had seen encouraging signs in markets hit by the pandemic and posted a 14% rise in revenue for the first quarter, supported by a jump in food-delivery orders at its Uber Eats business. Khosrowshahi said stringent cost cutting, to the tune of more than $1 billion (808 million pounds) in 2020, would ensure the company stayed on track.
Uber on Wednesday said it would lay off 3,700 full-time employees, or roughly 17% of its headcount. The company, which makes the bulk of its revenue through ride-hailing, said trip requests had dropped 80% globally in April, but were slowly recovering. RIL sells another 2.32% in Jio, this time to Vista Equity for Rs 11,367 cr. Reliance Jio Platforms, part of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries group, has sold a 2.32 per cent stake to US-based private equity firm Vista Equity on a fully diluted basis for Rs 11,637 crore.
This is a third major equity deal for Jio Platforms in three weeks — it previously sold a 9.9 per cent stake to Facebook for Rs 43,534 crore, and then 1.5 per cent to Silver Lake for Rs 5,655 crore. The Vista Equity investment has valued Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 trillion and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 trillion. Vista’s investment will make Vista it “the largest investor in Jio Platforms behind Reliance Industries and Facebook”. Jio Platforms has now raised Rs 60,596.37 crore from leading technology investors in less than three weeks. Vista is a global investment firm focused on empowering and growing enterprise software, data and technology-enabled companies. India's credit profile to face further pressure due to Covid-19: Moody's. India's credit profile will face further pressures amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to rating agency Moody’s.
The sharp slowdown in growth will deepen with a national lockdown to contain the coronavirus being extended till May 17. “For India, we expect a sharp slowdown in growth, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaging 0.2% in the 2020 calendar year, down from our previous forecast of 2.5%.”, Moody’s said in statement. Its rating of the India government is Baa2 with negative outlook. The rapid spread of the coronavirus outbreak, deteriorating global economic outlook, falling oil prices, and financial market turmoil are creating a severe and extensive economic and financial shock. The lower growth and government revenue generation, coupled with coronavirus-related fiscal stimulus measures, will lead to higher government debt ratios which we project to rise to rise to around 81% of GDP over the next few years.
Cognizant net income declines 17%; to hire 20,000 at entry-level in 2020. Teaneck-based IT major Cognizant has reported a decline of 16.78 per cent in net income at $367 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as compared to $441 million in the same period a year ago.
The company is aiming to invest in business and would onboard around 20,000 entry-level executives in 2020. Its revenue grew by 2.8 per cent to $4.22 billion during the quarter compared to $4.11 billion a year ago, after a negative 50 basis points impact from the exit of certain content services business it had announced earlier. The company said that the Covid-19 related disruption reduced revenue in March, reflecting delays in project fulfilment while the company shifted to work-from home capabilities. The highest growth in revenue during the quarter came from Communications, Media and Technology, which grew 5.2 per cent to $626 million.
ALSO READ: Stocks to watch: RIL, Tata Motors, RBL Bk, Adani Gas, SBI Cards, SKF India. Covid-19 outbreak: Zomato may now get liquor for you amid lockdown. Food delivery firm Zomato aims to branch out into delivering alcohol, according to a document seen by Reuters, as it seeks to cash in on high demand for booze during the coronavirus lockdown.
Zomato has already diversified into grocery as the restrictions on movement shuttered some restaurants and people hesitated to order outside food. Alcohol stores, closed nationwide on March 25, were allowed to re-open this week, generating queues of hundreds of people, leading to baton charges by police to enforce social distancing. There is no legal provision for home deliveries of alcohol in India, something that industry body International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) is lobbying to change in conjunction with Zomato and others.
Covid-19: PNB opens emergency credit line for MSMEs to enhance liquidity. Punjab National Bank on Wednesday said it has opened an emergency credit line for the MSME sector to help it tide over liquidity issues amid the coronavirus crisis.
It has also liberalised the working capital assessment (LWCA) model for MSME borrowers having limits of Rs 5 crore and above, the state-owned lender said at a webinar hosted with industry body PHD Chamber to address the issues of micro, small and medium enterprises. There is a facility of standby line of credit for MSMEs as well as PNB COVID-19 Emergency Credit Facility (PNB-CECF), the bank said. There are also other policy initiatives like restructuring of MSME advances, interest subvention scheme, TReDS, Mudra loan products, Credit Guarantee Trust for MSMEs and PSB loans in 59 minutes, it added. Bharti Airtel can claim Rs 923 crore in refunds, says Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court has allowed Bharti Airtel to claim a refund of Rs 923 crore by rectifying goods and services tax (GST) returns filed between July and September 2017. The case pertains to underreporting of input tax credit in the GST summary return form, GSTR 3B, during those three months in 2017 due to absence of the purchase-related return form during the transition period.
The operator argued that in the absence of the statutory forms GSTR 2 and 3, the summary return form was introduced. It does not allow validation before uploading. In the absence of such validation, chances of incorrect details being uploaded could not be eliminated. Australia to start pre-season with new training rules from May-end: Report. Cricket Australia (CA) is set to begin the team's pre-season by the end of May under a set of new training protocols devised for the safety of players amid the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report in Australia daily 'The Sydney Morning Herald', CA is churning out strategies for resumption of training under the watchful eyes of its chief medical officer Dr John Orchard and head of sports science and sports medicine Alex Kountouris.
The duo is working closely with counterparts of other cricket playing nations and are part of committees of the Australian government and the International Cricket Council (ICC) which are trying to find ways for the resumption of sports. The report said CA's immediate priority is to draw up protocols for players' pre-season, which include barring the use of saliva or sweat to shine the ball during training. India coronavirus dispatch: Can RWAs really stop maids from coming to work? Here is a selection of pieces from across publications on Covid-19. From Mumbai migrant workers’ struggle to get home, to rethinking school education, and why the coronavirus test costs Rs 4,500 in India – read these and more in today’s dispatch.
Expert Speak Some Covid-19 patients are presenting with gastro symptoms: Some patients presenting with gastrointestinal or ENT (ear-nose-throat) symptoms are also testing positive for Covid-19. Every patient should be investigated for Covid-19 to reduce unnecessary exposure to healthcare workers and the larger community.
Read this interview with Saibal Moitra, adjunct professor and senior consultant, Department of Allergy and Immunology at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, to understand more. Long Reads Why does the coronavirus test cost Rs 4,500 in India? Garmin Forerunner 45 review: Fitness watch that motivates the runner in you. When it comes to Garmin, all that comes to mind is a dedicated fitness smartwatch which tracks crucial metrics with the accuracy that most fancy smart wearables don't. However, it makes you shell a lot of money.
Recently, Garmin brought Forerunner 45, an update to its Forerunner 35. The smartwatch, geared towards beginner to intermediate-level runners and fitness enthusiasts, comes for a price that may not pinch all. We spent a few weeks with the watch — running, cycling, and sometimes just walking around the city — and here's what the experience was like: Design and display. Covid-19: Google helps 'saathis' share credible health info in rural India. As Covid-19 pandemic affects all sections of the society, Google said that its focus in the on-going crisis in Asia Pacific has been on prioritising three things: contributing to the immediate health response, helping people learn and work from home and supporting the small businesses most affected. The company said in a statement late Tuesday that in India, it is helping female internet "saathis" (or trainers) share authoritative health advice with their networks in rural villages.
"Our team in India has helped local governments share the location of night and food shelters on Google Maps," said Scott Beaumont President, Asia Pacific. Google started showing the locations of Covid-19 test centres on Google Maps, Search and Assistant in Indonesia, before extending the feature to other countries around the world, including India, Korea and the Philippines. Apple to host its annual developers conference virtually from June 22. Apple on Tuesday announced that the company will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) virtually, beginning June 22, on the Apple Developer app and Apple Developer website for free for all developers.
"WWDC20 will be our biggest yet, bringing together our global developer community of more than 23 million in an unprecedented way for a week in June to learn about the future of Apple platforms," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. Kitchen appliance maker Stove Kraft gets Sebi's go-ahead to launch IPO. Stove Kraft Ltd, manufacturer of kitchen appliances, has received markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to float its initial public offering. The public offer comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 145 crore and an offer for sale of up to 71,63,721 equity shares, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).
Israeli research team gets a step closer to developing a Covid-19 vaccine. As researchers and medical labs are stepping up their efforts to find a cure for Covid-19, the Isreal Defence Ministry said in a statement that the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has completed the development phase of coronavirus antibody or passive vaccine, reports The Jerusalem Post. Intel buys Moovit transit app for $900 mn to develop self-driving robotaxis. Apple, Google ban GPS tracking in apps using contract tracing framework. Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google on Monday said they would ban the use of location tracking in apps that use a new contact tracing system the two are building to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Apple and Google, whose operating systems power 99% of smart phones, said last month they would work together to create a system for notifying people who have been near others who have tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Coronavirus: PCB announces financial help for cricketers, umpires, scorers. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a special one-time financial package to help out first class cricketers, scorers, umpires and ground staff, facing hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. The Board said that the first class cricketers who meet the criteria will be paid 25,000 Pakistani rupees (PKR), the match officials 15,000 PKR and ground staff Rs 10,000 PKR and their identity will not be revealed. At 27.4, India's manufacturing activity falls to record low in April: PMI. India's manufacturing activity contracted at its sharpest pace on record in April as a lockdown to combat the rapid spread of the coronavirus led to a slump in demand and massive supply chain disruptions, a private sector survey showed on Monday.
Asia's third-largest economy is taking a huge hit from the ongoing nationwide lockdown, which started on March 25, and its gross domestic product is expected to shrink for the first time since the mid-1990s this quarter, a Reuters poll showed last month. After Facebook, Silver Lake to invest Rs 5,656 cr in Reliance Jio Platforms. 36% Indian firms considering salary freeze over Covid-19 lockdown: Report. With businesses and economic activity almost halted for over a month now amid the coronavirus crisis and the nationwide lockdown, around 36 per cent companies in India are considering a freeze in salary hikes to manage their costs, according to a report by Korn Ferry. In India, the most commonly implemented measures for rewards and benefits are promotion and salary hike. State Bank of India completes promotion exercise, elevates 14 to Dy MD. State Bank of India has completed the promotion exercise at the top and senior management levels, and elevated 14 chief managers as deputy managing directors (DMDs).
Microsoft revenue beats estimates as Covid-19 crisis boosts cloud business. Covid-19: Zuckerberg endorses Silicon Valley lockdown, Musk sees 'fascism' Apple, Google release coronavirus contact tracing APIs to select developers. Video meeting app Zoom ties up with Oracle Cloud to cater to growing demand. Samsung expects profit fall in Q2 as Covid-19 hits sales of phones, TVs. Lockdown 2.0: Coronavirus-hit units get Rs 10,000 crore from banks. Indian Bank sees new opportunities with larger footprint after merger.
Samsung brings Galaxy Buds+ features to Galaxy Buds through software update. RBI opens Rs 50,000-crore special liquidity window to support mutual funds. Latest Tesla update will make cars stop automatically at traffic lights. GST, GAAR reporting delayed till March 2021 amid coronavirus outbreak. Firms that can survive with social distancing to spring back faster: Report. Covid-19 impact: Paytm Mall plans to partner with over 10,000 small shops. Coronavirus impact: 60% firms run at less than 25% capacity, says CII. Bitcoin is like a poetry, can bring a sea change in the world: Jack Dorsey. Quarantine hotels: It's business unusual amid coronavirus outbreak. Gilead disputes report of anti-viral drug remdesivir failing Covid-19 trial.
Covid-19 impact: Life Insurer's new business premium declines 32% in March. Covid-19 crisis: SBI to disburse Rs 700 cr to MSMEs in Mumbai by June. Sachin won't celebrate 47th birthday as mark of respect for Covid warriors. Reliance Jio connects with Facebook for $5.7-billion equity deal. Facebook-Jio deal may see more foreign e-commerce firms flock to India. Covid-19: India told airlines to stop selling tickets, but they wouldn't.
RBI's EMI moratorium could give Rs 2.1 trn liquidity to companies: Report. Netflix adds 15.8 mn customers during quarantine, warns boost is temporary. It's a better option to take advance EPF than a loan during tough times. Facebook to invest $5.7 bn in RIL's Jio Platforms to pick up 9.99% stake. India coronavirus dispatch: Social measures to raise public consciousness. Govt promotes blood donation amid Covid-19 lockdown, issues guidelines. Explained: What is negative crude future and how does it affect consumers? Covid-19: Future Lifestyle seeks recast of payment to operational creditors. Donald Trump wants to send US experts inside China to probe coronavirus. Covid-19: Situation improves in New York, Europe; keep trade open, says IMF. Covid-19: As govt offices reopen, here are guidelines by MoHFW for safety.
Coronavirus: All you need to know about new relaxation rules in your state. ICC T20 World Cup can be moved to Feb to accommodate IPL: RCB coach Katich. How will the Covid-19 pandemic impact Nifty companies' earnings in Q4FY20? Covid-19 Factoid: US suffers its highest single-day death toll yet. Covid-19: India gets $5.9 mn US aid; assures Bhutan, Seychelles of help. How ShareChat is helping local brands with language-focused advertising.
Covid-19 pandemic may eat into bonuses of domestic investment bankers. Covid-19 lockdown 2.0: Need govt support to keep units open, say MSMEs. 28,941 samples tested on April 15, says ICMR; WHO lauds health ministry. Coronavirus unties the wedding business knot amid lockdown extension. Classes in Cloud: Online teaching becomes order of the day amid lockdown. Cheering for fantasy sport: Gaming platforms see growth amid lockdown. Apple releases mobility data trends for authorities to curb Covid-19 spread. PPF to recurring deposits: Breather for investors in small savings schemes. Newborns may get Covid-19 transmission from mothers: ICMR issues guidelines. Mauritius funds eligible for Category-I status, move could boost investment. Decline in AUM to make equity MFs costlier, dent investor returns.
How retailers upped the ante to deal with supply chain constraints. Google ordered to pay for news taken from publishers in France. Equity and credit markets can retest recent lows, warns Chris Wood. Coronavirus impact: Credit growth likely to remain modest, says RBI. Sebi relaxes guidelines for investment through non-FATF countries. Market rally loses steam over fears of extended lockdown. Covid-19 impact: Missing disinvestment targets will have consequences. Covid-19: E-commerce saves the day as delivery workers emerge as heros. IT catches Covid-19 bug: Sector's outlook takes a hit on demand concerns. Investors opting to sit back till things get clearer: Kenneth Andrade. Covid-19 impact: 195 mn full-time workers may lose jobs globally, says ILO. Cash-strapped DHFL not to make any payment to lenders, bondholders. Facebook draws user data to help scientists anticipate coronavirus spread.
Covid-19 impact: Hydroxychloroquine's share in pharma exports minuscule. Coronavirus: Boeing suspends production of 787 at South Carolina plant. Amid coronavirus crisis, world is short of six million nurses, says WHO. Market volatility challenge to PNB HFC's equity plans, says ICRA. GSTN provides work from home access to more than 1,700 tax officers. India coronavirus dispatch: How is rural India managing the pandemic? Coronavirus: Traditional Chinese medicines and the Ayurveda connection. India coronavirus dispatch: Why we must prepare for the long haul. Covid-19 relief: Citi Bank releases FAQ on deferred EMIs and its impact.