Budget 2018-19

  The company has raised over Rs 50,000 cr ore since Apr-2019, through several equity transactions leading to inflows of over Rs 18,000 cr Piramal Capital  & Housing Finance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL), on Monday said it raised Rs 4,050 crore through issuance of long-term, five-year non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in two tranches. The first tranche of the NCD issue amounting to Rs 2,000 crore opened on March 10, 2021 with a pay-in on March 12, 2021. The second tranche of the remaining Rs 2,050 crore opened on March 18, 2021 with a pay-in on March 19, 2021. Rating firm CARE Ratings has assigned an ‘AA’ rating for both the issuances, it said Rajesh Laddha, executive director, Piramal Enterprises. said, “Since the beginning of FY20, we have significantly transformed the liabilities profile towards more stable, long-term sources of funds. The company has raised over Rs 50,000 crore since Apr-2019, through multiple long-term borrowings and ...

  The airline currently operates 37 of its total fleet of 53 Airbus A320 aircraft GoAir  is planning to add new routes as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO). While the IPO size could not be ascertained, a media report on Thursday pegged it at around Rs 4,000 crore. The airline currently operates 37 of its total fleet of 53 Airbus A320 aircraft. A senior executive said new routes were under evaluation but the airline was already selling tickets for flights to new destinations, such as Amritsar, Dehradun, and Surat, on online portals. The route expansion comes ahead of a possible IPO. The airline is also strengthening its management and is looking to hire senior executives in finance, sales, and network management roles. Industry sources said the airline was working on listing plans and had hired merchant bankers and law firms for the share sale. A final decision would be taken by the Wadia group, which owns the airline.

  The telecom department had issued demand notes to the three operators on March 8, and the deadline for making the upfront payment was Thursday Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea on Thursday made upfront payments for the spectrum bought in the recently concluded auctions. It is learnt that while Reliance Jio has made a payment of Rs 15,019 crore, Bharti Airtel and Vi paid Rs 6,323 crore and Rs 574 crore, respectively. The  telecom department  had issued demand notes to the three operators on March 8, and the deadline for making the upfront payment was Thursday. Reliance Jio emerged the highest bidder in the 4G telecom spectrum auction, beating incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea by a wide margin. The Centre would get Rs 77,815 crore from the two-day auction — one of the shortest in a decade. While the amount has exceeded the government expectation, the total mop-up is far below the Rs 3.92 trillion worth of airwaves put up for sale. The spectrum has be...

  This comes as the firm takes on a surge in internet traffic after pandemic restrictions drove more users and advertisers online Alphabet Inc’s  Google  said on Thursday it plans to invest over $7 billion in offices and data centers across the United States as it takes on a surge in internet traffic after pandemic restrictions drove more users and advertisers online. The company’s investment related to U.S. offices and data centers was over $10 billion last year and more than $13 billion in 2019. The latest investment includes expansion plans for data centers in Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas, the company said on Thursday. Google is also spending $1 billion in its home state of California. The move comes at a time when many companies are exiting Silicon Valley after the pandemic triggered a broader shift to remote work, making companies reconsider the state’s higher operational costs and hefty taxes. The investments would create at least 10,000 new full-time Google j...

  Facebook has announced new measures to prevent its interest-based forums called Groups from spreading harmful content Facebook  has announced new measures to prevent its interest-based forums called Groups from spreading harmful content, like hate speech and misinformation. The measures come after the social networking platform faced criticism for its groups being linked to protests that led up to the Capitol riot in the US earlier this year. “We know we have a greater responsibility when we are amplifying or recommending content,” Tom Alison, Vice President of Engineering at Facebook, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. These new changes will roll out globally over the coming months, Facebook said. The social networking giant said that when a group starts to violate its rules, it will now start showing them lower in recommendations, which means it is less likely that people will discover them. This is similar to its approach in News Feed, where the platform shows lower quali...

Bill provides that no insurer shall invest policyholders’ funds outside India, says government A Bill raising the foreign investment limit in insurance to 74 per cent ensures that control, ownership and money collected from policyholders stays in the country, Finance Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman  told Parliament on Thursday. Every insurance product, pricing, investment and marketing is regulated in the country, she said in reply to a debate in the Rajya Sabha, which passed the Bill. The decision to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit from 49 per cent was taken after the sector regulator IRDAI held detailed consultations with stakeholders. “The regulator also flagged this point that if FDI has to be raised, it has to be raised with adequate safeguards…very clearly looking at both aspects of control and ownership, and also the (policyholders’) money does not go out of the country,” Sitharaman said. The Bill provides that no insurer shall, directly or indirectly, i...

  Mumbai also recorded highest ever daily count of 2,877 cases; the number of active cases in the state are 1.6 lakh Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 25,833 new coronavirus cases, the hightest one-day spike since last March when the first coronavirus infection was detected. It took the caseload to 23,96,340, said a health official. With 58 fatalities, the death toll jumped to 53,138. The earlier record was 24,886 cases, reported on September 11 last year. The state is in the beginning of second  COVID-19  wave, a central team report had said earlier this week. On Thursday, 12,764 patients were discharged from hospitals, the highest in single day this year. The total of recoveries now stands at 21,75,565. There are 1,66,353 active cases in the state. Nagpur city on the second consecutive day recorded highest number of new COVID-19 cases at 2,926, followed by 2,877 in Mumbai and 2,791 in Pune city. Pune division comprising civic bodies of Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad as well as d...