Page 29 - Companies

Airtel Payments Bank CEO Shashi Arora quits

New Delhi, Dec 23 (ANI): In the wake of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) temporarily suspending Aadhaar-related e-KYC verification by Bharti Airtel, Airtel Payments Bank Managing Director and CEO Shashi Arora stepped down from his position.According to reports, the company in a statement clarified that Shashi was not sacked, adding that he would be pursuing opportunities outside of Airtel. The firm also lauded his contribution and commitment during his stint at Airtel. The decision comes in the wake of accusations and complaints of Bharti Airtel allegedly using the aforementioned verification process to open payments bank accounts of its customers without their knowledge or consent. It was reported that over 20 lakh customers had received enormous amounts of money in their Airtel bank accounts, which were allegedly operational without their knowledge.

GST hits Christmas decoration items sales

Coimbatore, Dec 23 (ANI): The 18 percent Goods and Service Tax (GST) on Christmas decorative items affected the products sale this year. Generally, Christmas sales begin by the end of November, but this year, the business is yet to gain momentum. Though sale of stars, decorative items and cakes has started picking up in big shopping malls, the usual shopping frenzy is absent. The GST rate on stars, decorative items, cake and other products is 18 per cent. It was just 5 per cent earlier.

HDFC Capital creates USD 1 billion platform for affordable housing investment

New Delhi, Dec 22 (ANI): 'HDFC Capital Advisors' have successfully achieved the initial close of its second affordable housing fund, the HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund-2 (H-CARE-2). This will be combined with the HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund - 1 (H-CARE-1) raised in 2016 to create a USD one billion platform targeting affordable and mid-income residential projects in India's leading 15 cities. The primary objective of the platform is to provide long term, equity and mezzanine capital to marquee developers at the land and pre-approval stage for the development of affordable and mid-income housing in India. This aligns with the Centre's goal to increase overall housing supply, including 'Housing for All by 2022' initiative.

Content platform YourQuote secures USD 1 mn in seed funding

New Delhi, Dec 21 (ANI): An original content and digital community platform YourQuote has received USD 1 million in seed funding which was led by IDG Ventures India. The round also saw participation from Atul Goel of the Essel City Group and Axilor. The fresh funds will help in enhancing the overall product growth and help in expanding the video platform and scaling the community across India. YourQuote has an overall user base of over 500,000 users from across India and over 4.5 million posts in more than 15 languages. The platform has seen monthly growth of 20-30 per cent. "The recently-concluded funding round will further help us to build on our early success by expanding into user-generated video content and scaling up our offline networking initiatives," Harsh Snehanshu, Co-founder and CEO, YourQuote said. With the capital infusion, the platform will be further increasing video-based creation and consumption. It will further scale its offline activities on a pan-India level to cre

Bharat Jal launches maiden water ATMs

New Delhi, Dec 20 (ANI): Bharat Jal has announced to set up small (2000LPH) water plants at multiple locations in the Delhi NCR Region and supply water through Electric 3-wheeler vending machines. The company has launched its operations with its maiden plant at Nehru Place. The company aims at taking mobile water ATMs to all parts of the country through a network of franchise by 2019. In the initial phase catering to NCR, the company shall procure water from the Delhi Jal Board, which will be treated and then supplied to the locales. As the company expands into other states, it will work in tandem with the State Local authorities and local civic bodies for facilitating the supply of clean drinking water to the masses. On 28 July, 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognised the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights.

Ola acquires Foodpanda's India business

New Delhi, Dec 20 (ANI): Ride-hailing firm Ola announced on Tuesday that it will acquire Foodpanda's India business from parent Delivery Hero in an all-stock deal. Ola has also committed investments of $200 million in the Foodpanda India business. This is Ola's second try at building a food delivery business after it shut down Ola Cafe in 2016. While the companies did not divulge details of the deal, Foodpanda is expected to be valued at $40-50 million. "Foodpanda has come to be a very efficient and profit-focused business over the last couple of years. Our commitment to invest $200 million in Foodpanda India will help the business be focused on growth by creating value for customers and partners. With Delivery Hero's global leadership and Ola's platform capabilities with unique local insights, this partnership is born out of strength," Bhavish Aggarwal, chief executive at Ola, said in a statement. Foodpanda India has about 15,000 restaurants in 100 cities listed on its platform.

Siemens to set up 20 centers for digital customer applications

New Delhi, Dec 19 (ANI): Global technology powerhouse Siemens has announced to set up 20 centers for digital customer applications in the industrial sector. These new solutions are being developed on MindSphere, Siemens' open, cloud-based operating system for the Internet of Things (IoT). Worldwide, the company has distributed its 20 centers across around 50 locations in 17 countries to come close to its customers. Siemens President and CEO, Joe Kaeser, said: "We're continuously expanding our leadership role in industrial digitalisation." "With our global experience in electrification and automation and our industrial software expertise, we're generating optimal benefits for our customers; benefits that no other companies can replicate at such high levels of performance," he added. Siemens launched its MindSphere IoT operating system across the company about a year ago.

Upgrade your car into smart car with 'Konnect First'

New Delhi, Dec 19 (ANI): India's top multi-brand certified used car company, Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd., has launched Konnect First- a connected car device designed to upgrade your car into a smart car. Conceptualised by MFCWL, the device has been developed by Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company. Konnect First, an intelligent connected drive solution, enables the car owner to interact with the vehicle and stay connected to it via a mobile app, available on both iOS and Android platforms. With several class-leading features, it offers the car owner a comprehensive package of safety, loss prevention, utility, maintenance and driving analytics in one seamless interface, thus providing complete peace of mind when it comes to the well-being of the car and its owner. The sleek device is compatible with 200+ car variants across brands and can be easily plugged into the car's OBD port to allow the driver access to a su

Now, accept direct payment into your bank account with Paytm QR

New Delhi, Dec 19 (ANI): Paytm has announced that its QR now allows offline merchants to accept unlimited payments directly into their bank accounts at zero charge. The digital payment giant announced the move in a bid to democratise mobile payments for both merchants and consumers by offering them more choices and convenience. With this development, consumers can scan and pay at merchant outlets using their preferred payment methods such as Paytm, UPI, Cards and net-banking.

Gujarat, HP Polls: Sensex dips after early trends pour in

Mumbai, Dec 18 (ANI): Soon after the early trends of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls began pouring in on Monday morning, the Sensex opened with a thud and Nifty slipped below its crucial 10,150 level. At a particular time, the benchmark indices were sharply lower- by more than 600 points. Counting of votes for 182-seat Gujarat Assembly and 68 Assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh began at 8a.m. While majority of exit polls have predicted BJP's win, the Congress is hopeful of bagging votes of influential Patidar community in Gujarat. In the hill-state of Himachal, a total of 337 candidates, including 19 women, are in fray to sweep the polls.

UIDAI suspends Airtel, Airtel Bank's Aadhaar-linked e-KYC services

New Delhi, Dec 18 (ANI): The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has temporarily suspended telecom major Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank's 'Aadhaar linked e-KYC' services for allegedly misusing the facility. "We can confirm that we have received interim order from the UIDAI regarding temporary suspension of Aadhaar linked e-KYC services till their satisfaction on certain processes relating to Airtel Payments Bank's onboarding of customers," the company said in a statement on Saturday. "We are engaging with the authority and are hopeful of an early resolution. We are also undertaking to complete the said actions on priority and have commenced with checks of our process flows. Being compliant to all guidelines is paramount to us," the statement added. UIDAI's interim order comes after some customers alleged that the telecom company had opened their bank account in Airtel Payments Bank without their consent. Over 20 lakh customers had received enormous amounts of money

Locals strip youths and blacken their faces for allegedly molesting a girl

Nalanda (Bihar), Dec 18 (ANI): Three young boys who attempted to molest a girl in broad day light were nabbed by locals in Nalanda of Bihar on Sunday. The locals dragged the boys down their motorcycle and stripped them. They even blackened their faces with ash as punishment. While the boys were being humiliated, some onlookers made a video which went viral.

Wall Street jumps all-time high amid hopes of tax-cut

New Delhi, Dec 16 (ANI): Stocks closed at all-time high as hopes of tax bill passing increased in the United States of America. The details of sweeping tax overhaul will be released, said the Republicans. The bill in its current form proposes corporate tax cut from 35 to 21 percent, which is the main reason behind the surge in equities. The equities mostly ended in green in Europe.

Looking at possibility of dynamic pricing in Railways: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Dec 16 (ANI): Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, on Saturday, said discussions are taking place to assess the viability of dynamic ticket pricing similar to airlines. Dynamic pricing is referred to fluctuation of fare prices according to time. The minister said this after holding a meeting titled "Sampark, Samanvat, Samvad" with the top officials of Railways to discuss about various issues related to Indian Railways. The Minister said that the discussion was based on overall solution for the complex problems related to Indian Railways.

Google X to set up Development Centre in Visakhapatnam

San Francisco (California), Dec 15 (ANI): Google X is ready to set up its Development Centre in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, which will be its first development centre outside the United State of America. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Government of Andhra Pradesh and Google X in San Francisco, USA in this regard. The MoU was signed in the presence of Andhra Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh and CEO of Google X Astro Teller. Google X will bring its breakthrough Free Space Optical Communication Technology (FSOC) to implement in Andhra Pradesh Fibergrid Project in 13 districts through 2 thousand FSOC links. Google X is a research and development company headquartered at California. It is famous for developing Waymo (driverless car), Google glass, Project Loon (internet through balloons) and other latest technologies. The Government of Andhra Pradesh is aiming to bring high speed internet and broadband connections to about 12 million households and 1300

Wooden toy makers thank PM Modi for revitalizing dying industry

Varanasi, Dec 15 (ANI): Wooden toy makers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, expressed satisfaction over the support being provided by the government to keep afloat their drowning business. Toy industry is one of the most neglected industries of the nation. With the advent of technology and heavy influx of cheap Chinese toys, the handicraft industry is struggling to survive and make ends meet. However, several policies introduced by PM Modi-led government has given a new lease of life to such artisans.

Fed raises interest rates, keeps policy outlook unchanged for 2018

Washington, D.C. (United States), Dec 14 (ANI): The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25 percent but left its rate outlook for the coming years unchanged. "Economic activity has been rising at a solid rate ... job gains have been solid," the Fed's policy-setting committee said in a statement. It also announced that the federal funds rate had been lifted to a target range of 1.25 percent to 1.50 percent.

Vodafone, Aviva Life Insurance join hands to offer mobility plan 'RED Protect'

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): In a first ever partnership in enterprise mobility, Vodafone and Aviva Life Insurance have come together to offer the 'RED Protect.' It is a mobility plan integrated with life insurance with sum assured worth up to 20 years of the monthly rental. Vodafone's Enterprise Postpaid Customers can now avail the RED Protect Plan with integrated life insurance in addition to their full-featured mobility plan. The plan which starts for as low as Rs. 499 per month will help professionals early in their careers secure their families. This offering is a part of Vodafone RED, India's Best Postpaid plans. At the moment, this plan is available to select enterprise customers. Customers can activate Vodafone RED Protect by calling 199, and choosing the combination of monthly rental and sum assured that suits them best. Once the mobile plan is live, customers will be guided on activating their life insurance policy by providing nominee information online. The insurance cover is a

Bitcoin price surges as future trades kick off with a bang

New Delhi, Dec 12 (ANI): The first bitcoin future trades kicked off with a bang on CBOE in Chicago. By the end of its first full day of trading on Monday, a one-month contract rose 14 percent to over $18,500. The analyst said after bitcoin tripled in value over the past month, bitcoin's futures pricing suggested investors see price increases moderating.

Maruti Suzuki passes SBI as sixth most valuable Indian company

New Delhi, Dec 11 (ANI): Shares of Maruti have increased 73% in the last one year because of a slew of successful products in the last couple of years. These much-accredited products include the Baleno, Vitara Brezza, Ciaz and the newly launched Dzire subcompact sedan. Shares of Maruti Suzuki jumped to an all-time high of 9072 per unit. This made the automaker, the sixth most valued company on the BSE, passing the State Bank of India (SBI). Maruti Suzuki currently commands over 50 per cent of the market share in the passenger vehicle segment with more than three million cars sold every year. The Indian auto giant's market capitalization on Friday stood at 2.74 trillion, ahead of SBI's 2.71 trillion. In contrast, the other Indian automaker Tata Motors' market capitalization stood at 1.18 trillion on December 8.