Rupee jitters bring double whammy for steel sector
The falling rupee will adversely impact the domestic steel sector as import of various raw materials will become expensive and the cost of servicing debt would also go up, government officials and experts said yesterday. The rupee slumped 43 paise against the US dollar to trade at a life-time low of 70.32 on strong demand for the American currency. In general, a weaker rupee supports exports and at the same time protects the domestic industry, including steel, from imports as they become costlier, Joint Plant Committee(JPC) Chief Economist A S Firoz told PTI. He, however, warned that a weak rupee will adversely affect the Indian industry as it has to extensively depend on imported inputs such as coking coal, steel scrap etc.
Tech Mahindra to partner US-based football team on AI
IT firm Tech Mahindra yesterday said that it has signed 4-year technology partnership contract with Florida-based football team Jacksonville Jaguars to enhance experience of team's fan by using modern tools like artificial intelligence and data analytics. "We have partnered with Jacksonville Jaguars to enhance pre-match, during the match and post match engagement of fans. We plan to create immersive fan experiences with digital technologies and can help make the team smarter with artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. It is an initial 4-year contract with them," Tech Mahindra chief marketing officer and chief strategy officer Jagdish Mitra yesterday said. Tech Mahindra will provide next generation digital technology expertise such as artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, to enhance the fan experience and front office efficiencies.
RMCL Q1 sales rises by more than 200% to Rs. 135.40 cr
Radha Madhav Corporation Ltd. (RMCL) has reported strong sales growth of more than 200% at Rs. 135.4 cr for first quarter ending 30th June 2018, as compared to Rs. 45.1 cr reported in the same period previous year. The net profit for the quarter has been reported at Rs. 80.55 cr during the quarter as compared to loss of Rs 24 lakhs during same quarter previous year. Speaking on the occasion Mitesh Agarwal, MD of Radha Madhav Corporation Ltd said, “ The company has been through a difficult phase and would thank the investors and shareholders who have supported and kept their faith in us. The company is on the threshold of new phase of growth, to be driven by the consumer products business already reflected in the numbers during the quarter. We are also taking many more steps to revive the packaging business which will start showing results from fourth quarter of the current year.”
Walmart India activates UPI on its B2B e-commerce platform
Walmart India yesterday activated unified payments interface (UPI) for all its registered members. This payment solution will enable members, especially kiranas/resellers, who shop online at Walmart India's B2B e-commerce site www.Bestprice.In, to make direct and secured payments online from their bank account without sharing bank details, the global retail giant said in a press release yesterday. "This will especially benefit kirana members who neither hold any credit/debit card nor have the time to visit banks for making RTGS payments," it said. The company's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar said, "This initiative reiterates our commitment to enable small businesses, especially kiranas, prosper. This payment solution will help our members spend more time with their customers and serve them better as they do not have to step out of their stores to visit banks for making payments."
GCPL expects 25-40% sales growth from new products
Homegrown FMCG player Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) expects 25-40% of its growth coming in from new products across categories, a top company official has said. "We are looking at 25-40% of this year's growth coming through new product development. New product development is a hallmark of our strategy and this year the paddle has gone further up. We will have around seven to nine launches this year. The innovation focus will be even more aggressive this year and lot of investment has gone behind them across all categories," GCPL India and SAARC chief executive officer Sunil Kataria told PTI.
LIC's Western zone sells cancer policies worth over Rs 29 cr
National insurer Life Insurance Corporation's western zone has collected Rs 29.16 cr premium by selling close to 60,182 cancer cover policies since its introduction last November, according to Vipin Anand, zonal head. The cancer cover product is a health insurance that covers policyholders against financial problems arising out of treating cancer. It is a non-linked, regular premium payment health plan providing fixed benefit for life assured if the policyholder is diagnosed with any of the specified early or advance stage cancer during the term of the policy.
BNP Paribas India launches consumption fund
BNP Paribas India AMC has launched a consumption fund that seeks to generate capital appreciation and provide long-term growth opportunities by investing in companies that are expected to benefit from the growing consumption. The fund is open for subscription during August 17-31, a release said. The scheme will invest in sectors such as auto, banks, cements, construction (real estate), consumer durables/non- durables, fertilisers, finance, city gas distribution, healthcare services, hotels, media & entertainment, pesticides, pharma, retailing, telecom, textiles and related value chain businesses.
NPCI launches UPI 2.O
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) yesterday launched advanced version of its online payments solution - Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The key features of UPI 2.O includes overdraft facility, invoice in the inbox, one time mandate and helping customers check merchants authenticity by scanning QR code, NPCI said in a release. Currently, UPI 2.0 member banks are State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, RBL Bank, YES Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank and HSBC. UPI was launched on April 11, 2016.
Honda Navi crosses 1 lakh cumulative sales
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India yesterday said its 109-cc bike Navi, which is indigenously conceptualised and developed by Honda R&D India, has crossed the one-lakh sales milestone since its launch at 2016 Auto Expo. The company also said it will soon start shipping the bike to two more markets - the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica this year.