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Firstpost Zomato and Uber Eats may become the biggest by the number of orders and size ahead of Swiggy, if the merger deal takes place. Last month, Uber had put Uber Eats on the block for $500 million and Zomato was reportedly the frontrunner in the bid. Uber may invest up to $200 million in fresh capital as part of its plans to sell the India food-delivery business, Uber Eats, to local rival Zomato, said a news report.  The latest funding by the ride-hailing company will come into the  combined entity  of Zomato and Uber Eats, said a report in  The Economic Times. Zomato and Uber Eats may become the biggest by the number of orders and size ahead of Swiggy, if the merger deal takes place, the report said.  “While the agreement is not signed yet, they are in a period of exclusivity, which means both parties cannot engage with others. Uber’s capital commitment can range between $100 million and $200 million, but this may be along with a fe...

Business Line Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman of Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE), has been appointed to the Global Board of the US Chamber of Commerce’s US-India Business Council (USIBC). This appointment is from immediate effect as she joins a prestigious list of CEOs and executives on USIBC’s 35-member board. “Fostering strong and inclusive growth in trade and investment relations between both the countries, USIBC has been a key catalyst of positive bilateral engagement and transformative reforms. I look forward to the opportunity of engaging effectively in USIBC’s initiatives towards a continuously strengthening eco-system that promotes stronger economic partnership between India and the US,” Mallika Srinivasan said in a statement. Shekar Ayyar from VMware, Rajan Navani from Jetline Group of Companies, and David Taghioff from Library Pictures International, have also been appointed to the Global board of USIBC along with Mallika Srinivasan.  Reference:  ...

Business Line In the run up to the Budget, life insurance companies have pitched for increasing the cap for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. The issue was taken up at a recent general body meeting of the Life Insurance Council, where life insurance companies were on the same page  vis-a-vis  the proposal to hike the FDI ceiling in the sector. “All life insurance companies have said they are in favour of increasing the FDI cap, which can be decided by the government,” sources familiar with the development told  BusinessLine . Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in the Budget 2019-20 announced that the government would “examine suggestions of further opening up of FDI” in a number of sectors, including insurance, along with 100 per cent FDI in insurance intermediaries. At present, FDI up to 49 per cent is allowed in the insurance sector through the automatic route. Following the Budget announcement on furth...

Business Line CP Chandrasekhar/Jayati Ghosh The slowdown in registered manufacturing draws attention to the structural crisis afflicting the Indian economy, which is both generalised and deep s hrink in demand,  Driving down growth and  Sectors’ movements. With the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registering negative month-on-month annual rates of growth over the three months ending October 2019, the perception — based on trends in individual industries — that the Indian industry is experiencing or is on the road to a recession has gained strength. It is true that month-on-month growth rates tend to be volatile and are heavily influenced by the base effect. However, trends depicted in Chart 1 suggest that growth decelerated sharply for some recent months before turning negative. Moreover, even the growth of 0.5 per cent during the first seven months of this financial year (April to October) relative to the corresponding period of the previous year points to ...

The Tribune Aadil Nakhoda The current account surplus reported in October 2019 marks a shift from an otherwise persistent current account deficit. It is an achievement for the government in terms of its objectives to curtail the current account deficit, particularly as it faces several challenges on the economic front. A survey of the summary of balance of payments reported by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) indicates a $253-million, or 14%, increase in worker remittances from the value reported in September 2019. The deficit in the balance of trade in goods and services decreased $38 million in October 2019 over September 2019. Furthermore, a major proportion of foreign portfolio investment and foreign direct investment, reported in the first quarter of FY20, was received in September 2019. In Pakistan, Islamic banks’ deposits dip due to overregulation With the ‘hot money’ flow into Pakistan increasing and more expected in the next few months,...

The Indian Express Shubhajit Roy China had earlier managed to hold informal closed-door consultations on Kashmir in the UNSC on August 16, 11 days after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 on August 5. A move by China to get the Kashmir issue on the agenda for consultations in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has been thwarted by other members led by the US and France. China had earlier managed to hold informal closed-door consultations on Kashmir in the UNSC on August 16, 11 days after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under  Article 370  on August 5. This time, sources said, Beijing sent a note to the UNSC over the weekend to “echo the request” of Pakistan for a briefing on Kashmir. On December 12, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had written to the UNSC and expressed concern about a possible escalation of the situation. But the US, which holds the presidency of the U...

The Indian Express ENS Economic Bureau The JV is expected to be formed in the first half of 2020, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. UK oil giant BP and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Monday signed a definitive agreement relating to the formation of their new Indian fuels and mobility joint venture (JV). This follows the initial heads of agreement signed in August this year. The JV is expected to be formed in the first half of 2020, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. “The new venture, a further development of RIL and BP’s longstanding partnership, will include an India-wide fuels retail service station network and aviation fuel marketing business. Building from RIL’s existing businesses, the partners expect the venture to co-create a world class fuels partnership to grow rapidly and help meet India’s fast-growing demands for energy and mobility,” RIL said in a statement. The JV expects to expand from RIL’s current fuel retail...

The Indian Express Mehr Gill The punishment for high treason, as per Pakistan’s High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973, is death or life imprisonment. A special court in Islamabad on Tuesday  sentenced former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf to death   for high treason under Article 6 of Pakistan’s Constitution. ARTICLE 6 says:  “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or hold in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.” THE PUNISHMENT  for high treason, as per Pakistan’s High Treason (Punishment) Act, 1973, is death or life imprisonment. AN APPEAL  against the verdict will lie in Pakistan’s Supreme Court. Even if the top court upholds the special court’s verdict, the country’s President can pardon him under Article 45 of the constitution: “The President shall have p...

The Indian Express ENS Economic Bureau Customers can now transfer money through NEFT without paying any charges any time of the day whereas banks charge a fee for fund transfer through cheques and demand draft (DD). Giving a big boost to digital funds movement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday operationalised round-the-clock (24 X 7 basis) availability of the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and asked the banks not to levy any charges on NEFT transfer from savings bank account holders.  Customers can now transfer money through NEFT without paying any charges any time of the day whereas banks charge a fee for fund transfer through cheques and demand draft (DD). “In order to give further impetus to digital retail payments, it has now been decided that member banks shall not levy any charges from their savings bank account holders for funds transfers done through NEFT system which are initiated online (internet banking and/ or mobile apps of the ban...

Business Line The US and China announced Friday that they reached a Phase-1 trade deal but provided little detail on what exactly will be part of the agreement. Also read:   Trade war: US reaches ‘deal in-principle’ with China US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer brought a print-out of the 86-page agreement to a briefing with reporters Friday afternoon as a show-and-tell to prove that its all done and written up. Lighthizer said its an important step forward for the two countries, while acknowledging that a lot of big issues are outstanding, and need to be addressed in future negotiations. Also read:   View: Trump’s dud of a deal shows the futility of trade war Here’s what we do and don’t know: Tariffs As part of the deal, the US will halve its 15 per cent tariff on about $120 billion in Chinese goods. It will also suspend indefinitely planned duties that were set to take effect on Sunday that would have covered consumer favourites such as smart phones ...

The Indian Express The UIDAI said the tender was put on hold till further directions after the PIL was filed. In the present case, UIDAI told the court that the tender for hiring the agency was floated in 2018 through the Central Procurement Portal. With its plans to hire an agency for social media management coming under legal challenge, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the tender floated for this had “expired”, and it had no plans to revive that. The UIDAI communicated this to a bench of Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, which was hearing a PIL by Trinamool Congress MP  Mahua Moitra  who alleged that the project was intended for “mounting surveillance on social media platforms”. The UIDAI said the tender was put on hold till further directions after the PIL was filed.  Moitra had earlier challenged the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s plan to set up a social media hub. Following the litigati...