Promoters of Hathway Cable & Datacom, one of the leading cable TV and broadband services providers, are set to infuse Rs 350 crore in the company over the next 18 months.Hathway, which has a daunting task ahead in terms of protecting its turf as Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio is set to disrupt the broadband market with its JioFibernet, is looking to deleverage its balance sheet by Rs 500 crore by March 2020.“Promoters will be investing Rs 350 crore in the business in form of equity as well as long-term unsecured loans,” Rajan Gupta, managing director, Hathway Cable told reporters on Tuesday.This, Gupta said, will be in tranches. While the company has already received Rs 100 crore in the month of July, another tranche of Rs 100 crore will be received by end of August.“Balance Rs 150 crore will come in by March 2020, while the additional Rs 150 crore will be generated from operations over the next 18 months,” Gupta informed.Hathway’s net debt as on March 31, 2018, was at Rs 1,617 crore.The company has close to 800,000 broadband consumers with almost 90% using high-speed (over 40 mbps) plans. Hathway’s ARPU from broadband business stands at around Rs 710 per month.“We have a broadband home pass of 5.2 million homes, out of which just 16% are currently using broadband. We see a big market here, Gupta said.

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Century Textiles and Industries' decision to demerge the cement business into UltraTech Cement and transfer the viscose filament yarn business to Grasim will help it reduce the debt and focus on textiles, pulp and paper and real estate businesses, a top company official said.Century Textiles and Industries (CTIL) in May this year announced plans to demerge its cement business into Aditya Birla group firm UltraTech Cement.The company last year also entered into a deal with Grasim Industries to manage and operate its viscose filament yarn (VFY) business for a period of 15 years. The agreement would provide Grasim the right to use the relevant assets of CTIL, however, the ownership of assets to remain with CTIL.Grasim would be paying Rs 600 crore royalty and a refundable security deposit of Rs 200 crore, to be done through internal accruals."This will help the company in reducing its debt," CTIL vice chairman Kumar Managalam Birla told shareholders at the annual general meeting today.The company's debt is estimated at around Rs 4,100 crore at present.Currently, CTIL has exposure to the cement, textiles, pulp and paper and real estate businesses.Its VFY plant is located at Shahad, Thane, having a capacity of 25,000 tonne, which includes 19,000 tonne of VFY and 6,000 tonne in rayon tyre yarn."CTIL has also decided to demerge 13.4 million tonne cement capacity to UltraTech Cement which will enable transfer of debt of around Rs 3,000 crore," Birla said, adding UltraTech is in a growth phase and the acquisition will give the company ready capacities in growing markets.Shareholders of CTIL will receive one share of UltraTech for every eight shares held."This transaction will help the firm in deleveraging balance sheet and creating an opportunity for its growth in the remaining businesses especially in unlocking the value in the real estate portfolio," he said.Currently the company has around 30 acre in Worli area in the city, besides around 100 acres in Kalyan.It also has land parcel in Pune, which will be developed at a later stage, the company said.The company yesterday reported a net profit of Rs 162.66 crore for the three months to June, against Rs 120.24 crore in the year-ago period.

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MUMBAI: The State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) is awaiting the final go-ahead from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to merge its existing operations with the newly registered local SBM Bank (India) Ltd as it seeks to become the first foreign bank to incorporate a local subsidiary in the country.SBM Bank India plans to open six new branches to add to its four branches in India and start operations later this year. “We missed the shift from baby steps to giant strides between 1991 and 2016. India is now preparing to leapfrog from a giant stride and we do not want to miss this opportunity. Our growth has to come from outside Mauritius,” said Moses Harding John, CEO India and East Africa at SBM Holdings, the holding company for the India subsidiary.SBM is the second largest bank in Mauritius, which has a GDP of just about $13.34 billion and a growth rate of around 4% in an economy that does not leave much room for the lender to expand.“India is linked to Mauritius through an umbilical cord because 90% of the Mauritian population is of Indian origin. Our Indian subsidiary will complement our African units and help us to build scale and business,” said John.Earlier this year SBM concluded its purchase of Chase Bank in Kenya, which together with its Madagascar and Indian subsidiaries makes up the three banking arms for the bank outside its home market.The bank will have an 11-member local board in India including John, India CEO Siby Sebastian and former SBI executives Sudha Ravi and Sanjay Bhattacharyya. Five members will be from the parent company, in addition to two Indian members who are yet to receive the final approval from RBI.“The controls will be within India, which means we will have flexibility for all decisions including hiring. Local control will mean business will gain speed and will reflect in the enterprise value for the bank, like we are seeing in some Indian private sector banks,” said John.Mauritius is the biggest source for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) investing in India and John expects to take advantage of that link as well. “We can service FPI clients both from Mauritius and India. Initially we will look to service mid-market clients in India together with retail and business banking. We can also tap dollar liquidity from our subsidiaries abroad. We are in readiness to start operations in September and we do not think it should take more than three months for a final RBI nod,” said John.

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After Trai chief's Aadhaar stunt, UIDAI has issued an advisory advising people to refrain from posting the unique number on social media and internet."People are advised to refrain from publicly putting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others," UIDAI tweeted a while back.This advisory has come with reference to some news items appearing on social media reporting few people publicly posting their Aadhaar numbers on internet and social media and posing challenges to others. "Such activities are uncalled for and should be refrained as these are not in accordance with the law. Aadhaar is a unique identity which can be authenticated to prove one’s identity for various services, benefits and subsidies," UIDAI added."Also, it is advised that doing Aadhaar authentication through somebody else’s Aadhaar number or using someone else’s Aadhaar number for any purpose may amount to impersonation and thereby a criminal offence under the Aadhaar Act and Indian Penal Code."UIDAI has also warned that any person indulging in such acts or abetting or inciting others to do so "makes themselves liable for prosecution and penal action under the law". Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman R S Sharma had earlier dared hackers to harm him by posting his Aadhaar number on Twitter.While many on Twitter claimed victory over 'leaking' Sharma's personal details post the challenge, the Trai chief asserted through multiple tweets and replies that the challenge had never been about phone numbers and other information but for causing harm using knowledge of his Aadhaar number.

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WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but solid economic growth combined with rising inflation are likely to keep it on track for another two hikes this year even as President Donald Trump has ramped up criticism of its push to raise rates.The U.S. central bank so far this year has increased borrowing costs in March and June, and investors see additional moves in September and December. Policymakers have raised rates seven times since December 2015.The Fed will announce its decision at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Wednesday. No press conference is scheduled and only minor changes are anticipated compared with the Fed's June policy statement, which emphasized accelerating economic growth, strong business investment and rising inflation."They've got expectations pretty much where they want them," said Michael Feroli, an economist with JPMorgan. "They may need to finesse how they word the language on inflation, but I think the ultimate message is going to be the same."The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the second quarter as consumers boosted spending and farmers rushed shipments of soybeans to China to beat retaliatory trade tariffs, Commerce Department data showed on Friday.The Fed's preferred measure of inflation - the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy components- increased at a 2.0 percent pace in the second quarter, the data also showed. The latest monthly figures released on Tuesday showed prices in June were 1.9 percent higher than a year earlier.The core PCE hit the U.S. central bank's 2 percent inflation target in March for the first time since December 2011.U.S. labor costs, a key measure of how much slack is left in the market, posted their largest annual gain since 2008 in the second quarter, the Labor Department said on Tuesday.TRUMP CRITICISMEconomic growth has been buoyed by the Trump administration's package of tax cuts and government spending, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said overall the economy is in a "really good place."The unemployment rate stands at 4.0 percent, lower than the level seen sustainable by Fed policymakers.The central bank is expected to continue to raise rates through 2019 but policymakers are keenly debating when the so-called "neutral rate" - the sweet spot in which monetary policy is neither expansive nor restrictive - will be hit.Rate setters are closely watching for signs that inflation is accelerating and they are expecting economic growth to slow as the fiscal stimulus fades.They also remain wary of the potential effects of a protracted trade war between the United States and China which could push the cost of goods higher and hurt company investment plans.The Fed's policy path will see interest rates peak at much lower levels than in previous economic cycles. Even so, Trump, in a departure from usual practice that presidents do not comment on Fed policy, said he was worried growth would be hit by higher rates.Administration officials played down the president's comments, saying he was not seeking to influence the Fed.On the campaign trail, Trump criticized Powell's predecessor as Fed chief, Janet Yellen, for keeping rates too low.Trump appointed Powell and Fed Governor Randal Quarles, and he has three other nominees to the rate-setting committee awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation. Almost all have been seen as mainstream in their attitude to economic policy. Economists say Trump has little influence over Fed policy beyond the personnel changes he has already made.Trump's tweets are a far cry from the 1970s when then-President Richard Nixon told the Fed chairman to kick rate setters "in the rump" to keep rates low until after an election. That stoked inflation and eventually strengthened the Fed's independence, something that has become even more entrenched since."Powell is obviously someone who values the Fed's independence," said Paul Ashworth, an economist with Capital Economics. "I don't expect them to change tack because of political pressure."

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In 1995, Jackie and Mike Bezos plowed $245,573 into their son’s fledgling e-commerce website, according to a prospectus two years later. It was a big gamble, Mike Bezos, the stepfather of Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, recalled onstage during a 2015 event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.“I want you to know how risky this is,” the son told his parents, “because I want to come home at dinner for Thanksgiving and I don’t want you to be mad at me.”He’s probably welcome to extra helpings of turkey -- and all the gravy. One IPO and three stock splits later, his parents’ stake could be worth almost $30 billion today. That would make them wealthier than Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, the 30th-richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.The parents’ holdings haven’t been publicly disclosed since the end of 1999. While it’s unclear how much they still own, continuing donations of Amazon stock to their charitable foundation suggest they still control a healthy chunk of the world’s second-most valuable company.They’ve donated 595,027 shares to the Bezos Family Foundation from 2001 through 2016, according to filings available on GuideStar, which collects data on nonprofits. The 25,000 shares they gifted in 2016 were worth about $20 million at the time. The foundation focuses on education for young people.If they haven’t sold or donated anything else, the pair would own about 16.6 million shares, or 3.4 percent of the firm, making them the second-biggest individual owners after their son.65216411 Their total return in that case would be about 12,000,000 percent, a performance that would make even the most celebrated venture capitalists blush. SoftBank’s $20 million bet on Alibaba has returned about 720,000 percent since 2000, according to calculations by Bloomberg. Sequoia Capital’s WhatsApp investment returned roughly 36,000 percent by the time Facebook Inc. bought the messaging service for $22 billion in 2014.“We were fortunate enough that we have lived overseas and we have saved a few pennies so we were able to be an angel investor,” Mike Bezos, a Cuban immigrant who also goes by Miguel, said in Philadelphia. “The rest is history.”He bought 582,528 shares in February 1995, according to the 1997 prospectus. Five months later, Jackie Bezos bought 847,716 shares. The wider Bezos family held this stock through four trusts at the end of 1999, another filing shows. The Jacklyn Gise Bezos 1996 Revocable Trust held 8.9 million shares, followed by the Miguel A. Bezos 1996 Revocable Trust with 4.8 million shares, while the Bezos Family Trust and the Bezos Generation Skipping Trust held 2.9 million and 675,000, respectively.Any self-respecting wealth adviser likely would have pressed the family to diversify their holdings given the "heightened consequences of such extreme individual company exposures," according to Eduardo Gruener, co-founder of Miami-based multi-family office GFG Capital.Siblings’ WindfallAfter applying historic selling patterns and accounting for the disclosed donations, Jackie and Mike Bezos would still control $10 billion of shares, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s on top of their son’s $147 billion fortune, which easily makes him the world’s richest person. He’s added $48 billion to his fortune so far in 2018 as Amazon shares have risen 52 percent through July 30.Even if they had unwound all of their Amazon holdings at the lowest possible price, they still would have reaped about $100 million.The filing also suggests a windfall for Jeff Bezos’ siblings Mark and Christina. They each bought 30,000 Amazon shares for $10,000 in 1996. If they haven’t sold any of those shares, their stakes would be worth about $640 million apiece.The Bezos Family Foundation didn’t respond to email and telephone messages requesting comment. Amazon declined to comment.Wozniak’s LargesseWith Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. approaching market values of $1 trillion, the world could have myriad unknown tech billionaires. Only corporate insiders or shareholders with stakes exceeding 5 percent are required to report their interests. In the case of Apple, that means individuals with positions up to $46.7 billion wouldn’t be required to disclose their holdings.Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak held a 7.9 percent stake in 1980, which shrank over time as he sold options at low prices to mid-level employees and gifted shares to those he felt had been shortchanged. His remaining stake is thought to be in the millions rather than billions.Or take Google parent Alphabet. An early investor was reportedly none other than Jeff Bezos, who put $250,000 of his own money into the internet-search startup in 1998, according to the New Yorker. Those shares, valued at about $280 million at the IPO, would be worth more than $8 billion today.That pales in comparison to the returns potentially reaped by his parents, who hit the jackpot backing their boy.“Extraordinary returns don’t come around often” said Gruener, the wealth adviser.“Replace Amazon with nearly any other name in the market and the ending may have turned out as a nightmare.”

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NEW DELHI: Vistara today announced unbundling of services on its flight with the launch of ‘Vistara Freedom Fares’ that allows passengers to book fares without frills, including complimentary meal onboard.“Effective August 2, 2018, travellers will have the freedom to choose from thoughtfully designed bundles of features and services at different price points for their preferred flight and class of service or select them à-la-carte,” said the airline in a release.As part of unbundling, Vistara introduced ‘Lite’ fares that will be available in Economy Class only, and for customers seeking simply the lowest fares that do not include complimentary meals. “However a buy-on-board option of snacks and drinks will be available. While ‘Economy Lite’ customers will continue to earn Club Vistara points, they will not earn elite-qualification ‘tier points’. ‘Economy Lite’ fares are not upgradeable, non-changeable and non-refundable (though taxes are always fully refundable). The free checked baggage allowance remains at 15kg, but is restricted to one piece of checked baggage only,” the release added.This move by Vistara, which was launched as a full service carrier, is likely to help it boost ancillary revenues in an aviation market, where airlines are not able to charge fares in commensurate with the cost due to high capacity.“Consumers today have a vast range of options and the one-size-fits-all approach is increasingly becoming redundant. It is the age of flexibility; of deciding for yourself; of doing things at your own terms. We observed this consumer behaviour over a period of time and are delighted to bring ‘Vistara Freedom Fares’ to the discerning travellers, while also further enhancing our product and service portfolio with ‘Vistara World’,” airline CEO Leslie Thng was quoted in the release. Additionally, the airline announced the introduction of ‘Vistara World’, its free in-flight entertainment system with video and audio content of more than 70 hours streamed wirelessly onto personal handheld devices and laptops.‘Vistara World’ will be rolled out fleet-wide in August 2018, subject to regulatory approvals, the airline said.“Together with the introduction of wireless streaming of in-flight entertainment content, the attractive bundled features will provide more choices and value to customers and also help us enhance overall customer satisfaction and experience,” Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara was quoted in the release.

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NEW DELHI: Tata Motors today said it has decided to stop manufacturing operations in Thailand citing viability issues but would continue to sell vehicles in the country through imports.As part of this ongoing review, the company has undertaken a reassessment of its business model in Thailand to ensure it is sustainable over the long term, Tata Motors said in a statement."The business as it stands today is sub-scale and not sustainable. We have hence decided to cease the current manufacturing operations in this financial year," it added.Going forward, the company shall continue to address the Thailand market with a revamped product portfolio, suitable to local market needs, delivered through a completely built unit (CBU) distribution model, Tata Motors said.Tata Motors is committed to the ASEAN region wherein Thailand is an important market and the company endeavours to continue serving customers as it transitions to the new operating model, it added."It was becoming unviable business for us. Therefore, we decided to cease manufacturing operations," Tata Motors Group CFO P Balaji said.The company had incurred a loss of Rs 170 crore on the business last year, he added.

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The company showcased how to build customer experiences on PTC’s ThingWorx Industrial Innovation Platform using KPIT accelerators.

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Pune headquartered KPIT Technologies said that it has launched the first Center of Excellence (CoE) in the US for PTC at it’s Raleigh, North Carolina facility. Probodh Chiplunkar, Head of Digital Business at KPIT said, “It is the first of its kind in the US, and the second CoE that PTC and KPIT have collaborated on globally. Companies today want to create digital experiences for their users that are fast to build, yet scalable for the enterprise. Enabled by our accelerators built on PTC technologies, companies can quickly integrate IT and Operations Technologies for a connected manufacturing experience and better business outcomes, like a safer workplace, improvement in manufacturing OTD and unparalleled customer service.The company showcased how to build customer experiences on PTC’s ThingWorx Industrial Innovation Platform using KPIT accelerators. "KPIT is building solutions that the provide value for discrete and process manufacturing industries," said Mike DiTullio, executive vice president, marketing and sales, PTC. "With an engaging user experience, KPIT’s accelerators integrate diverse systems using PTC’s ThingWorx, Navigate and Vuforia products. KPIT has shown true collaboration with the launch of this second CoE worldwide.”Catherine Kniker, Chief Revenue Officer, ThingWorx and Vuforia, said, “This customer experience center at KPIT’s location in Raleigh offers one of the best ways for customers to try out PTC technology. Being co-located with the talent KPIT has put together in manufacturing, engineering and digital technology, the CoE showcases digital innovation while producing assets that can be easily replicated by customers.”

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What's the deal with all of the fancy sheets out there?

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Big-bang sales by e-commerce companies may soon be over. A government think tank headed by commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu has prepared a draft e-commerce policy that sounds the death knell for deep discounts during online sales. If the draft policy becomes the rule, it will be difficult for big online marketplaces to shower discounts on customers. Here's what this means:What the draft saysTo address anti-competitive issues in e-commerce effectively, the draft e-commerce policy recommends several strategies. Two of these aim at regulating online prices. First is a sunset clause. The draft says, "A sunset clause, which defines the maximum duration of differential pricing strategies (such as deep discounts) that are implemented by e-commerce platforms to attract consumers, would be introduced." The sunset clause might restrict the ability of e-commerce companies to offer deep discounts. Another strategy aims at restricting the ability of the e-commerce marketplace companies to influence prices of goods. "The restriction imposed on e-commerce marketplace, to not directly or indirectly influence the price of sale of goods and services, would be extended to group companies of the e-commerce marketplace," says the draft.Why the restrictions?The restriction on pricing are aimed at curbing the practice of foreign-funded companies bypassing laws to use foreign money to offer huge discounts. Discounts help e-commerce companies gain loyal subscribers. Domestic retailers have raised the issue of foreign money funding discounts which makes it difficult for the local retailers to compete. Ensuring a level-playing fieldIn April this year, a group representing brick-and-mortar retailers, including Future Group and Reliance Retail, alleged that e-commerce companies were violating India’s foreign investment regulations by influencing prices on their platforms and illegally funding abnormal discounts. The Retailers Association of India alleged in a letter to Prabhu that Amazon and foreign-funded companies in India, including Flipkart, Shopclues and Snapdeal operated models under which 100% foreign investment was allowed only to provide platforms to other retailers and vendors to conduct business. Similar letters were sent to Prabhu by a group of small vendors that sells on e-commerce sites and by the Indian Cellular Association, a lobby of handset makers representing Apple, Micromax, Nokia, Vivo, Lava and Lenovo. They urged the government to take action against Amazon and Flipkart for violating FDI norms by offering discounts — directly or indirectly — on mobile phones and other products through intermediaries or partner companies. Flipkart and Amazon had denied the allegations.Curbs on related partiesThe draft e-commerce policy also places curbs on "related parties". "Bulk purchase of branded goods such as electronic products (especially mobile phones), white goods, branded fashion by related party sellers which lead to price distortions in a market place would be prohibited," says the draft policy. Related party sellers are the online sellers who already have a business relationship with the e-commerce company. A foreign-funded e-commerce company is not allowed to keep inventory but some companies might circumvent this rule by funding their sellers and offer discounts through them. Deep discounts hurt local retailersIn April, Future Retail joint MD Rakesh Biyani said there was a level-playing field imbalance happening due to improper discounts. He said the government policy stated that e-commerce players should not be allowed to participate in pricing and should not invest money in discounting. "If one particular channel is misusing its money power to discount the product at a faster rate and the other channel is unable to match the price, it shrinks the market," he said. Last year, when asked at a company event why e-commerce companies should not offer discounts when his own brick-and-mortar stores too offer heavy discounts, Future Group founder and CEO Kishore Biyani said, "This is an Indian company, with Indian money and discounts. That is foreign funding." The draft e-commerce policy clearly states that it is aimed at creating a level-playing field. It takes note of "the need to preserve flexibility and create a level-playing field to enable formulation and implementation of appropriate policies in the future for encouraging domestic innovation and boosting the domestic digital economy to find its rightful place with dominant and potentially non-competitive global players".

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NEW DELHI: Growth of eight core sectors expanded to 7-month high of 6.7 per cent in June due to better performance by cement, refinery and coal segments, as per official data released today.The eight sectors, which also include fertilisers, steel, natural gas, electricity and crude oil, had expanded by 1 per cent in June last year.The previous high rate of growth was recorded in November 2017 at 6.9 per cent.The growth rate in May was 4.3 per cent.As per the data released by the commerce and industry ministry, the expansion in cement, refinery products and coal was 13.2 per cent, 12 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively, year-on-year basis.Crude oil and natural gas registered a negative growth of 3.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively in June compared to the year-ago period.The expansion in the electricity generation was 4 per cent in June compared to 2.2 per cent in the same month of the last fiscal.Steel sector, however witnessed a slower growth of 4.4 per cent compared to 6 per cent in June 2017.The data revealed that expansion rate in the fertiliser segment was 1 per cent, better than negative growth recorded in the year ago month.During the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the eight core industries recorded a growth of 5.2 per cent as against 2.5 per cent in the same period last year.These eight core industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 65214792

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