1. FMS Delhi Sees Rs 12 Lakh Drop in Salary Package During Campus Placements
The highest domestic salary package offered in campus placements at Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University, dropped by almost Rs 12 lakh this year compared to those offered during campus placements to 2016.
We witnessed a slight slump in the recruitment numbers from those industries that were largely cash-based. There was a slight slowdown in recruitment from FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods firms) owing to the short-term impact rendered by demonetisationKavita Singh, placement convenor at FMS Delhi
The highest yearly domestic package was Rs 54.3 lakh, down from Rs 66 lakh in 2016. Accenture Strategy and EY Consulting emerged top recruiters at FMS Delhi with 10 offers each at the final campus placements this year. Capgemini Global Consulting made nine offers while Amazon India hired eight graduates this year.
(Source: Livemint)
2. WhatsApp May Enter Digital Payments Segment: Co-Founder Brian Acton
WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton was in the capital on the messaging app's eighth birthday on Friday. Ukraine-born Jan Koum founded WhatsApp with Acton in 2009. At the time, both were former Yahoo employees.
Today, the app has 1.2 billion monthly active users worldwide. Of these, 200 million are in India alone, making the country their biggest market globally.
The app's acquisition by Facebook in February 2014 for a ginormous $19 billion made global waves in the tech world. Acton spoke with TOI about the how far they have come along, and where they plan to go
It is our eighth birthday. I am excited to be in India specifically as it has passed a big milestone for us – 200 million monthly active users making it the largest population of WhatsApp users and also one of our most important markets.
(Source: Times of India)
3. IndiGo Brings on Board Ex-United Airlines Executive Cindy Szadokierski
Budget carrier IndiGo has roped in former United Airlines executive Cindy Szadokierski as a consultant for its airport operations.
Szadokierski would be the third executive from United Airlines to be on board with IndiGo after Greg Taylor and Rohit Philip in the recent past.
One of the promoters of InterGlobe Aviation – the parent of IndiGo – Rakesh Gangwal has also served at United Airlines. Sources said Szadokierski has been roped in by IndiGo as a consultant for airport operations.
When contacted, an IndiGo spokesperson declined to comment, while queries sent to the airline's President Aditya Ghosh remained unanswered. Taylor joined the no-frills airline as Executive Vice President for Revenue Management earlier this month, while Philip has been serving as Chief Financial Officer since May last year.
(Source: PTI)
4. Consolidated State Deficit on Course to Hit a 13-Year High, Warns JPMorgan
In the midst of the state election season, comes a warning from JPMorgan’s economists. Watch the election results but watch the finances of India’s state governments equally closely.
The country’s states are already spending more than the centre and unless there is a course correction, the consolidated deficit for states could hit a 13-year high this year, said Sajjid Chinoy and Toshi Jain of JPMorgan in a report dated 22 February.
The consolidated state deficit had narrowed to 2 percent between 2010-12, but widened to 2.8 percent in 2015-16 (even without accounting for the UDAY scheme). In 2015-16, states exceeded their deficit target by 0.4 percent of GDP. In 2016-17, states have exhausted 60 percent of their budget deficit compared to 46 percent last year, noted JPMorgan.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
5. Centre May Bring in New Method to Value M&A Deals
There may be some good news for corporate houses, private equity and venture capital funds concerned over the government's announcement in the Union Budget 2017 to allow the income-tax department to reassess the valuations of any merger and acquisition (M&A) deals and tax them accordingly.
The government may be looking to prescribe a method whereby it can learn whether the deal was done at lower or higher valuations and then levy tax.
In the context of the fact that we should logically move to a system of taxing real income, this provision is unwarranted and should be rolled back. There are other provisions in the tax law to deal with outlier situations, such as where understatement of consideration is suspected.Ketan Dalal, senior tax partner, PwC India
(Source: Economic Times)
6. Jagran Prakashan Arm Music Broadcast Gets Regulatory Nod for Rs 400 Cr IPO
Jagran Prakashan, the publisher of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, said its subsidiary Music Broadcast Ltd (MBL) has received regulatory approval of the DRHP for a proposed Rs 400 crore initial public offer (IPO). The company said in a BSE filing:
In relation to the proposed initial public offering of equity shares of our subsidiary, MBL, Jagran Prakashan Ltd has been informed that the red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed by MBL with Registrar of Companies, Mumbai, has been approved on 23 February, 2017.
The offer will be open for subscription to public on 6 March and close on 8 March 2017.
In November last year, the company had said the IPO will comprise fresh issue aggregating up to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale of up to 26,58,518 equity shares by certain existing shareholders of MBL.
(Source: BusinessLine)
7. Hotels Are Tapping Last-Minute Bookings to Boost Room Rates
More travellers are booking rooms close to travel dates, benefitting hotels that charge more for late bookings, industry executives said. The change in customer behaviour is a relief for hoteliers, who have struggled to raise average room rates (ARR) despite rising occupancy in the last two years.
Nearly 40% of the hotel businesses in India is getting booked from between 0-3 days (of travel). Today, getting sold out is a bad business. It’s okay not to be sold out 100%, but make sure that you are driving the rates by having availability and driving discretionary demand into the hotelArif Patel, vice-president, sales, marketing, distribution and loyalty, AccorHotels India
(Source: Livemint)
8. Rasna Enters Packaged Food Space With Baked Snack
Four decades after the launch of Rasna, the concentrated beverages maker has diversified into the packaged food space under the Vitos brand.
Rasna International Pvt Ltd., which has 80 percent market share in instant drinks and concentrates, on Thursday launched a chocolate-filled baked “healthy snack” targeted at children with a price tag of as low as Rs 5 a pack.
The company is looking to capture at least 5 percent of the Rs 5,000-crore packaged food market over the next three years, Chairman and Managing Director Piruz Khambatta told BloombergQuint.
Rasna has been in this single segment (powdered drinks) for a very long time and has a dominant market share. (But) this is not a growing segment. Packaged food is a contiguous category, which is the most logical move by the companyArvind Singhal, chairman of management consultancy Technopak Advisors
(Source: BloombergQuint)
9. Kissandhan Loan Facilities Extended to Latur Mandi in Maharashtra
Kissandhan Agri Financial services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sohan Lal Commodity Management Pvt Ltd (SLCM Group) announced activation of loan facility at Latur mandi in Maharashtra
We have activated loan facility at Latur mandi. New mandi activations will help Kissandhan in reaching out to more stakeholders of the agri-community making them strong financiallySohan Lal Commodity Management Group Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Sabharwal said in a statement here.
Kissandhan is catering to all the major agri regions of the country namely, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The plans are to explore regions like West Bengal and Bihar and extend innovative financing solution to the entire agri community.
(Source: PTI)
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