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Prabhakara Rao said that even if airlines at Delhi Airport move some of their flights to the refurbished terminal, there will be no additional slots
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The Guarantee Redemption Fund Scheme has been revised to meet the obligations arising out of the guarantee extended to state-level entities
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Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a conclave to boost business climate in West Bengal
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YES Bank launches the Digital Diya initiative to impart financial literacy to 50 villages by illuminating the lives of people in rural India
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Former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sundar Raman has joined Reliance as its CEO - Sports. Earlier this month, Raman quit the controversy-ridden IPL and his resignation was immediately accepted by the BCCI, in an attempt to clean up the T20 tournament, which has been rocked by spot-fixing scandals. A press note said Sundar Raman will be responsible for consolidation and integration of RIL's sports portfolio including its Foundation activities in Sports. In addition to the existing sports properties of RIL, Sundar will be driving newer avenues of growth in this area and also at integration with our digital services of Jio. Sundar brings with him a rich and unique experience of over two decades in understanding consumer insights and as a pioneer in the growth of sporting properties in India. Sundar said, "I am delighted at the opportunity to join Reliance. Reliance existing sports properties coupled with its Jio digital services provides newer areas of growth. RIL has a huge aspiration in the sports area. The opportunity to be engaged in integrating the entire sports portfolio and make Sports also an integral and important element in RIL’s growth will be an exciting journey."
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Certainly, the Bihar election debacle did not deter the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from firing all cylinders. The recent decision to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) limits and conditionalities for investment in industries ranging from defence and plantations to single-brand retail and private banking is likely to offer investors and existing promoters in these businesses significant new opportunities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes the measures, most of them aimed at cutting red tape, will help bypass Parliament, where his reforms have run into political opposition. Analysts say the government gave an unambiguous hint to investors — both domestic and abroad — that it has the political will to push ahead with reforms regardless of a few electoral setbacks, and sets the tone for the forthcoming Union Budget. "An extremely welcome step which will go a long way in reviving the investment cycle which is the real need of the hour if India has to be placed firmly back on the high growth path. Some of the changes could go a very long way in promoting ease of doing business and creating an environment to support job creation," Pranav Sayta, tax partner, EY India, told Mint. Among measures on the cards are single-window clearance for multi-storey buildings, a monetary policy framework, a new bankruptcy law and subsidy reforms as the Modi government seeks to maintain the momentum on policy change, according to an article in The Economic Times. The finance ministry has also put the rollout of a bankruptcy code to dramatically speed up decisions on whether to save or liquidate ailing companies, in a move to curb asset stripping and ensure higher recovery rates for creditors — both key to fostering a modern credit market and increased investment in India. Under current rules, even deciding whether to save or liquidate an ailing company can take years, leaving it in the hands of managers who can — and do — strip assets with impunity. Under the proposed changes, a decision would have to be reached in 180 days — even 90 days for fast-track applications, T K Viswanathan, chairman of the Bankruptcy Law Reform Committee, told Reuters. The government is also likely to stop supply of subsidised cooking gas to customers with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh and above. Direct benefit transfer for kerosene is expected to be taken up on a pilot basis in five districts of each state. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has already written to chief ministers on this. According to several reports, the government is clearing the decks for passage of the crucial real estate bill in the winter session of Parliament. The urban development ministry has accepted all the amendments proposed by a parliamentary committee and is readying to move the amended legislation for Cabinet approval and finally push it through Parliament. By getting back to business with a big bang reforms push, Modi has shown his sincerity in improving the ease of doing business in India and making it a more attractive destination for foreign investment. The NDA government's real reform test will be on the GST and labour laws. Quite a few columnists and media commentators are of the view that the Centre must carry this momentum by articulating its agenda for important pieces of legislation in the upcoming winter session, such as those relating to the Goods and Services Tax or labour reforms. During the period from January to June, FDI flows into India rose to $19.4 billion, up 30 per cent from a year earlier, a sign of what the government called investors' growing confidence in the country. India's economy, which grew at 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2015/16, is projected to expand at around 7.5 per cent this year. At present, Modi must ensure that the reforms momentum is sustained over the coming weeks and months. Experts say that when more private funds flow into key business sectors, public investments can be more optimally utilised in social sector projects that are critical to a developing country.
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The second phase of the Yes Bank Transformation Series got off to a roaring start in the first week with great response from IIM B, IIM K and ISB Hyderabad. In the second week the focus shifted to IIM Indore, IIM Lucknow, XLRI Jamshedpur, IIT Delhi and NMIMS Mumbai. After a rigorous online round in which they competed with 10,500 teams from colleges across the world, the stage was now set for these campuses to enthrall our jury with their out-of-the-box ideas. Launched in 2010 Transformation Series provides a platform for aspiring young leaders across the world to acquire innovative thinking, creative skills and apply their acumen and creativity to real world challenges. The aim is to engage the brightest young minds from the best universities across the world to come-up with breakthrough disruptive innovations which could transform the financial services industry – a rapidly evolving and critical sector of the Indian economy. CAMPUS BYTES… IIM IndoreIndore, has emerged as an epicenter of business in central India. One of the most active participants in the Transformation Series.. IIM Indore was the next stop in the campus round-up. The quality of presentations, from research to innovation roadmaps to financial data to back their suggestions – IIM Indore impressed the jury thoroughly with their detailed analysis of the case. After several rounds of deliberations, team YESCrows – comprising of Pulkit Jain, Anirban Pramanick and Sidharth Mahajan was declared to be the campus champions. Their focus on key digital innovations and the ability to map a clear roadmap, thrilled the jury and the team is a frontrunner for a spot in the Grand Finale IIM LucknowFrom Indore, the campus challenge moved to Lucknow, in one of India’s finest management schools at IIM Lucknow. If IIM I was all about structured and planned presentations, IIM Lucknow brought the round to life with some absolutely out-of-the box ideas. Living up to their name, Team Swaggers backed with their focus on big data and analytics took the crown of Campus Champions. Vartika, Vasu and Tuhin, a team of dreamers fascinated by the ‘Batsuit’ are now in the race for the Grand Finale. XLRI JamshedpurOur quest to discover the brightest young innovators led us to the picturesque XLRI Jamshedpur. One of India’s oldest B-schools, XLRI lived up to its billing of being among the best in business. NFC payments, facial recognition, wearables.. Ideas flew in thick and fast, backed by sound reasoning. It took several minutes of deliberation for our jury to pick “Team Invincibles as the Campus Champions. Divya, Ashish and Abhas were among the very few to focus on digitization in the SME space and are now in a great position to make the Grand Finale DMS IIT DelhiFrom Jamshedpur to the heart of the country in Delhi, the next stop for the Transformation journey was IIT Delhi. An hour of presentations, ideation and discussion later – Kaushal, Konark and P.Prudhviram from DMS IIT Delhi emerged Campus Champions from IIT Delhi NMIMS MumbaiThe spotlight shifted to Mumbai, and the youngsters from NMIMS were ready to impress. The presentations from NM stood out with their focus beyond payment innovations into other aspects of banking which could be disrupted using digitization. Tania, Bhavesh and Pratik from Team Three Wise Bankers emerged Campus Champions, and given their out-of-the-box ideas stand a great chance of making the finals MENTORING THE YOUNG MINDS…The meet the mentor sessions continued with Kunal Shah, Founder & CEO, Freecharge and Arvinder Gujral, Director APAC BD, Twitter spending an hour each to mentor the students via Twitter.
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As the Economist notes, "Today everyone wants to be best pals with India." Certainly, Britain wants to cultivate closer ties with India to secure business opportunities in a fast-growing economy at a time when Narendra Modi has been prioritising other relationships. India is the world's ninth-largest economy and, at 7.4 per cent, has the fastest growth rate in the G-20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooed a gathering of business leaders at London's financial hub Guildhall as he made a push for 'Make in India' campaign. The Prime Minister also listed the achievement of his government and said India's credibility has improved globally in his 18 months in power. India and Britain agreed on more than £9 billion ($13.7 billion) in commercial deals during a visit by Modi. Agreements include a five-year partnership to develop three Indian cities, a memorandum of understanding to develop nuclear-power plants and a deal to allow Indian Railway bonds to be traded in London. Vodafone Group Plc, the largest foreign direct investor in India, pledged to invest about £1.3 billion more. This includes £800 million to upgrade its network in India, which is the highest contributor to the group's service revenue, Chief Executive Office Vittorio Colao said in a statement. India and Britain have agreed on a comprehensive package of collaboration on energy and climate change which includes commercial deals worth £3.2 billion. This is aimed at encouraging the research, development and eventual deployment of clean technology, renewables, gas and nuclear. Ahead of the visit, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government announced plans to liberalise its foreign direct investment regime in areas including defence, banking and construction. Britain is the third-largest source of FDI in India. Here are excerpts of the details of the six pacts between India and the UK: FinanceYes Bank and London Stock Exchange (LSE) signed a bond and equity issuance deal in green infrastructure finance and have future plans to issue a green bond to the tune of £300 million. HDFC has announced the proposal to issue rupee denominated bonds overseas up to $750 million (£490 million) under the RBI guidelines, in one or more tranches. HDFC intends to list the initial issue of bonds for trading on the London Stock Exchange.LogisticsTVS is opening a £20 million advanced logistics facility in Barnsley which is expected to create 100 new jobs, and may grow to 500 across the TVS Group over 5 years. HealthcareKing's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Indo UK Healthcare Pvt Ltd will open King's College Hospital, Chandigarh. This is the first of a proposed eleven new UK-Indo Institutes for Health that will be developed across India, which, when fully implemented, would amount to a £1 billion investment into India's healthcare system. RetailMerlin Entertainments is to open its first entertainment attraction in India. The first Madame Tussauds on the sub-continent will open in New Delhi in 2017. The company will invest up to £50 million over 10 years with a view to opening more of the company's global brands in India. EnergyLightsource Renewable Energy Holdings has announced a £2 billion investment in India. They will design, install and manage around three gigawatts of solar power infrastructure in India over the next five years. This investment is expected to create 300 jobs and generate £42 million of revenue in the UK. Other major deals announced included: - Standard Life, Bupa and Aviva to invest a combined total of $365 million in their Indian joint ventures - Pact between Britain's cloudBuy for facilitating $5,3 billion worth of transactions using an online marketplace - Holland and Barrett International pact with Apollo to open 1,000 stores in India over the next five years - Kloudpad Mobility Research's investment in South India to make next generation smart watches, wearables and tablets - Wipro's commitment to increases its investment in Britain. As per the joint statement, Modi and Cmeron also announced three UK-India city partnerships with Indore, Pune and Amaravati to support India's ambitious urban development goals through technical assistance, expertise sharing and business engagement. They also launched a new Thames-Ganga partnership for healthy river systems. Modi, who just last week was ranked by Forbes as the world's ninth most powerful person, swept to power in 2014 on promises to develop India's economy and root out the corruption that had crippled the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. But the saffron party suffered a humiliating defeat in Bihar widely seen as a referendum on Modi's popularity. And India's economic growth is slowing, although it still outpaces much of the world. Modi promised full support for any businesses investing in India. "I assure you of my personal care in making your dreams a reality," he said.
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The first phase of Yes Bank Transformation Series Edition 4 received a phenomenal response with over 10,500 teams and 16,000 students participating from international and domestic colleges including Yale University, University of North Carolina, Asian Institute of Management Philippines, IIMs, ISB and XLRI amongst others. The top 30 teams of premier business schools, chosen after rigorous evaluation and deliberation by the Yes Bank leadership, now fight for their place in the top 13 who will reach the next phase of the challenge.In line with this year's concept of "Innovation Lab", the advisory council, comprising captains of the industry, along with Yes Bank's leadership team reached out to the participants of top campuses in the country. Last week the Campus Rounds were conducted in IIM B, IIM K and ISB Hyderabad. The resounding participation of students and active involvement of the members of advisory council created a dynamic platform for crowd sourcing of breakthrough disruptive ideas.Launched in 2010 Transformation Series provides a platform for aspiring young leaders across the world to acquire innovative thinking, creative skills and apply their acumen and creativity to real world challenges. The aim is to engage the brightest young minds from the best universities across the world to come-up with breakthrough disruptive innovations which could transform the financial services industry - a rapidly evolving and critical sector of the Indian economy. CAMPUS BYTES…IIM BangaloreBangalore has emerged as India's start-up hub, putting 'disruptive innovation' in national spotlight. Hence at IIM B, the hopes were high… as the Jury and members of the Advisory Council looked forward to some of the best of innovative solutions to the case challenge. After a stimulating presentation by the top 3 teams, brainstorming Q&A session by the Jury and rigorous evaluation, Team Technovators emerged as the Transformation Series Campus Winners of IIM B. The team members Pranav Raheja, Divyesh Dixit and Suryaansh Makked impressed the Jury with their focus on disruptions like NFC payments and aggregate m-wallets was key to them emerging as campus champions. ISB HyderabadThe next stop for the Transformation Series Jury and members of the advisory council was Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. The sheer quality of participation received from the students here, had made this a much sought after Campus Round. The presentations and the interactive discussion on solutions proposed, kept the jury on the edge of their seats. Kamal Karthik V, Shantanu Pendse, Keshav Khosla - members of Team Chanakya, became the Campus Winners of ISB. Their comprehensive inputs across payments, digital banking and m-banking helped them emerge as the champions. IIM KozhikodeOur quest to discover the brightest young innovators took us to the campus of IIM K. In the lush green campus of Kozhikode, the Jury came face to face with some of the most innovative solutions. Kaushik Chandrashekhar's team Belfort Juniors was chosen the Campus Winner after he impressed the judges with his extensive research and coherent inputs on disruptive strategies. Mentoring The Young MindsOne of the unique aspects of the fourth edition of Yes Bank Transformation Series was the innovative use of social and digital media to interact and engage with the student community. The idea was to reach out to the student community in the language that they converse in; at the places they frequent the most - social media. Through a targeted social and digital media campaign, based on the theme of innovation and use of technology the initiative managed to reach more than 300,000 students across the world. For more on the innovation competition, log onto: www.transformationseries.in
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In a reversal of early trends, the JDU-led grand alliance is surging ahead of the BJP-led NDA is leading more than 144 seats, well above the half-way mark needed for forming the government in Bihar. The Nitish Kumar-led grouping is leading in 146 of the 243 seats as counting of votes progressed fast in the five-phased elections that concluded on November 5. The rival alliance has been projected to get 88 seats and the 'Others' eight.Initial trends on television channels projected the BJP to be in the lead.This was a crucial test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had mounted a no-holds barred campaign in Bihar, addressing some 30 rallies and promising voters billions for development in a state with some of the country’s highest malnutrition and illiteracy levels. This election was also seen as a critical test of Modi's popularity after he stormed to power at national polls in May 2014 promising sweeping reforms to revive the faltering economy.The BJP banked on its usual agenda of youth and development though the bitter campaign this past month has also brought up mandal, kamandal, beef, reservation, Pakistan crackers and DNA. In the last assembly polls in 2010, the JDU had won 115 seats while BJP won in 91 when both parties had an alliance. RJD had got 24 and Congress 5, contesting separately. Senior minister Shyam Rajak is trailing at Phulwarisharif (reserved SC) seat in Patna district to his HAM rival. At Imamganj (reserved SC seat) Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM is leading over JD(U) rival Uday Narayan Chaudhary by 3,735 votes. Though EC trends are not available for two prime seats of Mahua and Raghopur in Vaishali district from where Lalu Prasad's two sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav are fighting, TV channels showed the elder son was leading while the younger son Tejaswi Yadav was trailing in Raghopur. Counting is in progress at 39 counting centres in 243 counting halls. A total of 243 observers from Election Commission have been deployed to supervise the counting process. (PTI also contributed to this story)
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