Zoho has become the first bootstrapped SaaS company to reach the milestone, the firm said in a statement.
Published Date – 10:52 PM, Wed – 6 September 23
Zoho has become the first bootstrapped SaaS company to reach the milestone, the firm said in a statement.
New Delhi: Chennai-headquartered SaaS company Zoho said it has surpassed 10 crore users globally.
Zoho has become the first bootstrapped SaaS company to reach the milestone, the firm said in a statement.
The company had crossed USD 1 billion in annual revenue in 2022.
Zoho said it has witnessed a 3-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 65 per cent in the upmarket segment in India.
“This is an impressive milestone for any organisation, but it’s particularly sweet for us as a bootstrapped company that has never raised external capital,” Zoho Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Vembu said.
“The company is not in negotiations as reported” to acquire Haldiram’s,” TCPL said in a regulatory filing.
Updated On – 10:58 PM, Wed – 6 September 23
“The company is not in negotiations as reported” to acquire Haldiram’s,” TCPL said in a regulatory filing.
New Delhi: Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) and Halidram’s on Wednesday said there were no negotiations going on acquiring a 51 per cent stake in the leading snacks maker and restaurant operator.
According to reports, the Tata Group’s FMCG arm is in talks with Haldiram’s to buy a majority stake, but not comfortable with a high enterprise value.
Haldiram’s is a leading snacks maker and restaurant operator.
“The company is not in negotiations as reported” to acquire Haldiram’s,” TCPL said in a regulatory filing.
The filing was in response to a clarification sought by the NSE and the BSE regarding the reports.
“Tata Consumer Products does not comment on market speculation,” a company spokesperson said earlier in the day.
When contacted, Haldiram’s management declined to comment on the matter.
Later issuing a statement, Halidram’s said: “We categorically deny recent reports of a 51 per cent stake sale and wish to clarify that we are not engaged in any discussions with Tata Consumer Products.” TCPL owns brands such as Tata Salt, Tata Tea, Tetley, Tata Coffee, Tata Soulfull and Eight O’clock in the tea, coffee and beverages segment and Himalayan, Gluco+ in the liquid beverages.
The company is also expanding in the foods and beverages sector.
The rupee fell 2 paise to hit the lowest level of 83.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid a strong American currency and elevated crude oil prices
Published Date – 10:30 AM, Thu – 7 September 23
Mumbai: The rupee fell 2 paise to hit the lowest level of 83.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid a strong American currency and elevated crude oil prices.
Forex traders said, massive selling of equities by foreign investors in the past few sessions and subdued market sentiment also put pressure on the Indian currency.
Crude oil breached the level of USD 90 per barrel after oil producing countries agreed to extend supply cut till December this year, while dollar strengthened on safe-haven demand.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.15 against the dollar, 2 paise lower from its previous close. The unit traded in a narrow range of 83.14 to 83.16 against the greenback.
On Wednesday, the rupee declined by 9 paise to close at 83.13 against the dollar. Earlier, the rupee had touched the level of 83.13 on August 21 this year. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell marginally by 0.01 per cent to 104.85. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.21 per cent lower at USD 90.41 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 156.01 points or 0.24 per cent lower at 65,724.51. The broader NSE Nifty declined 47.10 points or 0.24 per cent to 19,563.95.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,245.86 crore, according to exchange data.
The reappointment of Bakhshi will be effective from October 4, 2023, till October 3, 2026, ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.
Published Date – 11:52 PM, Mon – 11 September 23
New Delhi: Private sector ICICI Bank on Monday said the RBI has approved the reappointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as Managing Director and CEO of the private lender for three years.
The reappointment of Bakhshi will be effective from October 4, 2023, till October 3, 2026, ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.
The bank’s shareholders have already approved the appointment of Bakhshi for three more years, it added.
The government has sought public comments on draft guidelines for prevention and regulation of “dark patterns” which are nothing but tactics used by online players to deceive customers
Published Date – 01:30 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
The government has sought public comments on draft guidelines for prevention and regulation of “dark patterns” which are nothing but tactics used by online players to deceive customers
New Delhi: The government has sought public comments on draft guidelines for prevention and regulation of “dark patterns” which are nothing but tactics used by online players to deceive customers or manipulate their choices.
The draft guidelines, issued by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, list various deceptive practices being adopted by online platforms in the nature of dark patterns which are against the interests of consumers.
The ministry has sought public comments/suggestions on the draft guidelines within 30 days till October 5, an official statement said.
According to the draft guidelines, “dark patterns” are defined as any practices or deceptive design patterns using UI/UX (user interface/user experience) interactions on any platform; designed to mislead or trick users to do something they originally did not intend or want to do; by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice; amounting to misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.
Under the guidelines, around 10 dark patterns have been specified. They are: false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement and nagging.
“False Urgency” means falsely stating or implying the sense of urgency or scarcity so as to mislead a user into making an immediate purchase or take an immediate action, which may lead to a purchase.
“Basket sneaking” means inclusion of additional items such as products, services, payments to charity/donation at the time of checkout from a platform, without the consent of the user, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the amount payable for the products and/or services chosen by the user.
“Confirm shaming” means using a phrase, video, audio or any other means to create a sense of fear or shame or ridicule or guilt in the mind of the user, so as to nudge the user to act in a certain way that results in the user purchasing a product or service from the platform or continuing a subscription of a service.
“Forced action” means forcing a user into taking an action that would require the user to buy any additional goods or subscribe or sign up for an unrelated service, in order to buy or subscribe to the product/service originally intended by the user.
“Subscription trap” means the process of making cancellation of a paid subscription impossible or a complex and lengthy process including similar other practices.
“Interface interference” means a design element that manipulates the user interface in ways that (a) highlights certain specific information; and (b) obscures other relevant information relative to the other information; to misdirect a user from taking an action desired by her.
“Bait and switch” means the practice of advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome.
“Drip pricing” means a practice whereby elements of prices are not revealed upfront or are revealed surreptitiously within the user experience; and/or other such practices.
“Disguised advertisement” means a practice of posing, masking advertisements as other types of content such as user generated content or new articles or false advertisements.
Whereas “Nagging” means a dark pattern due to which users face an overload of requests, information, options, or interruptions; unrelated to the intended purchase of goods or services, which disrupts the intended transaction.
Under the draft guidelines, certain specified dark patterns have been defined and illustrated with examples to bring more clarity. According to the ministry, the guidelines would be made applicable to all the persons and online platforms including sellers and advertisers.
The objective of the guidelines is to identify and regulate such practices which tend to manipulate or alter consumer choices, often by using deceptive or misleading techniques or manipulated user interfaces/web designs.
“Thus, the proposed Guidelines seek to oversee such practices which are prejudicial to the consumer interests,” the statement said.
The draft guidelines have been framed after detailed deliberations with all stakeholders, including e-commerce platforms, law firms, government and voluntary consumer organisations.
The ministry said it is committed to safeguarding consumer interests and promoting a fair and transparent marketplace, especially in the increasingly expanding and penetrative digital space.
“The proposed guidelines will further strengthen the industry and protect consumer interests,” it added.
The momentum in silver is likely to continue, and could add another 15 per cent over the next few quarters, says a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services
Published Date – 02:35 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
New Delhi: The momentum in silver is likely to continue, and could add another 15 per cent over the next few quarters, says a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
After experiencing significant gains in the first four months of 2023, silver encountered some volatility at higher price levels. After every major dip domestic silver prices have been seeing a range shift on the higher side and this trend is expected to continue, the report said.
MOFSL advises continuous accumulation at lower levels with immediate support at Rs 70,500, while strong medium-term support is at Rs 68,000. On the higher side MOFSL could see prices targeting Rs 82,000 followed by Rs 85,000 over the next 12 months.
Moreover, the market balance indicates that this could mark the third consecutive year of silver operating in a deficit.
In early 2023, silver had a strong performance, gaining approximately 11 per cent in the first four months and maintaining a 6 per cent overall gain.
The initial rally was driven by concerns in the US banking and debt sectors, but this momentum was somewhat tempered by the Federal Reserve’s “Hawkish Pause” policy, impacting both precious and industrial metals.
With the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 3.2 per cent, down from its peak of 9.1 per cent in July 2022, central banks are reevaluating their policies, potentially leading to a shift in the Fed’s stance from tightening to easing, which could benefit metals like silver, the report said.
Geopolitical tensions are contributing to a risk premium, supporting silver prices. Additionally, the Dollar Index rebounded sharply from around 99.60 to 104. The Fed’s raised growth forecast for the US in 2023, signalling a soft landing, is favourable for industrial metals and silver alike.
Data from the Silver Institute suggests that the market balance could remain in deficit for the third consecutive year, further supporting silver prices. Positive signals from China regarding economic growth and industrial demand are potential catalysts for silver’s performance, the report said.
Lastly, the demand for silver in green technologies such as solar energy, electric vehicles (EVs), and 5G technology continues to paint a promising outlook for the silver market.
SEBI has said that payments to the SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF) account can now be made only through online mode
Published Date – 03:22 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has said that payments to the SEBI Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF) account can now be made only through online mode.
To facilitate these online payments, SEBI has provided a dedicated link on its official website (www.sebi.gov.in).
This link offers several online payment methods to remitters such as net banking to ensure a seamless payment process. Users are required to furnish essential information such as name, PAN, mobile number and email ID.
This initiative aligns with SEBI’s commitment to modernize and digitize financial transactions, ensuring a secure and efficient payment process for all stakeholders involved with the SEBI IPEF.
India has removed additional duties on about half a dozen US products, including chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were imposed in 2019
Published Date – 03:45 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
India has removed additional duties on about half a dozen US products, including chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were imposed in 2019
New Delhi: India has removed additional duties on about half a dozen US products, including chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were imposed in 2019 in response to America’s decision to increase tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products.
India had imposed these duties on 28 US products in 2019 in retaliation to the US’ move.
The finance ministry through a notification dated September 5 informed about removal of duties on the products, including chickpeas, lentils (masur), apples, walnut in shell and almonds fresh or dried, as well as almond shelled.
The move comes ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to India to attend the G20 Summit on September 9-10, which would be preceded by a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
During the prime minister’s state visit to the US in June, both countries decided to terminate six WTO (World Trade Organization) disputes and also remove the retaliatory tariffs on certain US products.
As part of the agreement, India will be removing additional duty on chickpeas (10 per cent), lentils (20 per cent), almonds fresh or dried (Rs 7 per kg), almonds shelled (Rs 20 per kg), walnuts (20 per cent), and apples fresh (20 per cent).
In July, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha had said the government has decided to remove retaliatory customs duties on import of almonds (fresh or dried, in shell), walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, apples, medical diagnostic reagents, and boric acid. The removal of retaliatory tariffs or cuts in import duty with the US did not result in a loss to India, she had said.
The US is the largest trading partner of India. In 2022-23, the bilateral goods trade increased to USD 128.8 billion as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22.
Credit rating agency ICRA predicts the domestic air passenger traffic to grow at 8-13 per cent in FY24 to touch 150-155 million
Published Date – 04:15 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
Chennai: Credit rating agency ICRA predicts the domestic air passenger traffic to grow at 8-13 per cent in FY24 to touch 150-155 million.
The agency maintained a Stable outlook on the Indian aviation industry amidst the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic in FY2024, and improved pricing power of the carriers.
According to ICRA, it estimates growth in domestic air passenger traffic in FY2024 at 8-13 per cent, thus reaching 150-155 million, surpassing the pre-COVID levels of 141.2 million in FY2020.
During the five month period in FY24, domestic air passenger traffic stood at 63.2 million, witnessing a YoY growth of 20% from 52.6 million in five month FY23, seven per cent higher than the pre-COVID levels of 58.9 million (5M FY2020), said ICRA.
Further, the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers surpassed the pre-COVID levels in FY23, although it trailed the peak levels of 25.9 million in FY19. It is expected to cross this level in the current fiscal, with an estimated 25-27 million passengers, ICRA said.
According to the rating agency, the industry witnessed better pricing power, as reflected in improved yields and thus the revenue per available seat kilometre – cost per available seat kilometre (RASK-CASK) spread of the airlines.
The pricing power is expected to continue with a YoY decline in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices since April 2023 (notwithstanding the recent uptick) and relatively stable foreign exchange rates, ICRA said.
Given the fast-paced recovery of air passenger traffic in FY23 and continuation of the same in the current fiscal, coupled with improved pricing power, the RASK-CASK spread of some of the Indian airlines turned positive since Q3 FY23. The industry is estimated to report a significantly lower net loss of about Rs. 30-50 billion in FY2024 compared to an estimated about Rs. 170-175 billion in FY2023, said Suprio Banerjee, Vice President & Sector Head-Corporate Ratings.
According to Banerjee, the capacity addition for the industry in FY23 was limited to around six per cent of the FY22 fleet of the airlines at about 700 aircraft.
There are large aircraft purchase orders announced by various players in the industry. As per the indicative numbers, the total aircraft deliveries pending is close to about 1,500, which is more than double the current fleet in operation.
However, a large part of these is towards replacement of old aircraft with new fuel-efficient ones and the capacity addition will be gradual.
“Aircraft manufacturers are facing supply-chain challenges, resulting in the grounding of aircraft by some airlines. This, in turn, impacts the overall capacities for airlines, and thus their cash flow generation, given the high fixed-cost nature of the business,” Banerjee added.
While some airlines have adequate liquidity and/or financial support from a strong parent, supporting their credit profile, the credit metrics and liquidity profile of the others will remain stressed over the near term, notwithstanding some improvement relative to the last few years.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold contracts for October delivery traded lower by Rs 95 or 0.16 per cent to Rs 58,993 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 11,994 lots.
Published Date – 06:00 PM, Thu – 7 September 23
New Delhi: Gold prices on Thursday fell by Rs 95 to Rs 58,993 per 10 grams in futures trade as speculators reduced their positions.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold contracts for October delivery traded lower by Rs 95 or 0.16 per cent to Rs 58,993 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 11,994 lots.
Analysts attributed the fall in gold prices to the trimming of positions by participants.
Globally, gold was trading 0.14 per cent lower at USD 1,941.40 per ounce in New York.
