QBiz: RBI Relaxes Cash Withdrawal Rule; Jio Crosses 50 Mn Users
Read the top business news from around the country in QBiz.
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1. RBI Relaxes Cash Withdrawal Rule
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now said people depositing money with banks in legal tender (meaning, not in the now-banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes) on or after Tuesday are allowed to withdraw the equivalent amount without any restriction, preferably in high-value denomination.
It said it took this decision on careful consideration, as certain depositors were "hesitating to deposit their monies into bank accounts in view of the current limits on cash withdrawals from accounts".
(Source: Business Standard)
2. Over 1 Lakh iPhones Sold in Three Days Following Note Ban Announcement
iPhone sales shot up in India in the three days immediately following demonetisation as consumers rushed to buy these devices with their phased-out high-denomination notes and stores booked sales through back-dated receipts. As per trade estimates, over 1 lakh iPhones were sold in these three days, which is around three-fourth of this handset’s average monthly sales.
The spurt in iPhone sales mirrored the demand for gold and high-value luxury items that shot up in the first few days following the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on the evening of 8 November.
(Source: The Economic Times)
3. Reliance Jio Crosses 50 Million Users In Less Than Three Months
Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has crossed the 50-million subscriber mark in less than three months after its full-fledged 4G services launch to emerge as the largest broadband operator in the country.
Reliance Jio, setting a new record, has acquired 1,000 customers per minute (since 5 September) and 6 lakh per day, sources said.
"Reliance Jio continues to be the fastest growing company in the world and has crossed 50 million subscribers in a record 83 days," sources pointed out.
Airtel reached the same milestone of 50 million subscribers in 12 years, while Vodafone and Idea took 13 years each.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Banks Get Over Rs 8 Lakh Crore In Old Currency Deposit
More than half of the value of currency withdrawn as part of the government’s decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has been deposited with banks.
According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks have reported exchange and deposits amounting to Rs 8.45 lakh crore between 10 November and 27 November. Of this, exchange amounted to Rs 33,948 while deposits amounted to Rs 8.11 lakh crore.
The withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes had taken out currency worth Rs 14.18 lakh crore from circulation starting midnight on 8 November. The data released on Monday suggests that close to 60 percent of this amount has come back to the banking sector.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
5. Don’t Need A Reason To Seek Nusli Wadia’s Removal: Tata Sons
Tata Sons, in a letter addressed to the chairman of Wadia group, Nusli Wadia, said that it does not need a reason – legal or otherwise – to remove him as a director from the board of Tata Steel.
Tata Sons’ legal counsel Bharat Vasani said this in a letter dated 24 November 2016, a copy of which is with BloombergQuint.
Nusli Wadia had sought the withdrawal of a special notice by Tata Steel seeking his removal as director of the company. In a letter dated 21 November 2016, Wadia had alleged that the reasons used by the company to seek his removal were defamatory in nature and harmed his reputation.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
6. Flipkart Is India’s
Most-Preferred
E-Commerce Platform
Online marketplace Flipkart remained India’s most popular e-commerce platform in the three months to October, just nudging ahead of arch- rival Amazon India, which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build loyalty with Indian shoppers, according to the third version of the RedSeer E-tailing Leadership Index (ELI). Paytm, a digital payments and commerce platform, is also making its mark as a strong internet brand, mostly on the back of its digital wallet.
Flipkart continues to lead the e-commerce rankings with a total score of 97, improving its score of 95 from the previous quarter, the third ELI showed.
(Source: Livemint)
7. Standard Chartered’s Asean CEO Resigns
Ajay Kanwal, the head of Standard Chartered Plc’s Asean and South Asian operations, left the bank after failing to disclose some details of his past personal investments.
Kanwal said some of his disclosures about investments in businesses outside the bank didn’t meet the company’s “very high standards”, according to a statement from the lender on Monday. “Though I do not own these investments any more, as a senior leader my actions should be beyond reproach,” Standard Chartered cited him as saying.
(Source: Livemint)
8. Mobile Phone Makers Plan To Cut Production By 50 Percent
Mobile phone makers plan to cut production by up to 50 per cent, with some even considering laying off factory workers in the face of falling sales following the demonetisation announcement, in a setback for the government’s Make in India programme.
About 1.2 lakh direct and indirect jobs have been created by around 40 new handset manufacturing units that have come up in the last 12-18 months under the Make in India initiative.
Now many of these jobs appear to be under threat as brands such as Panasonic, Micromax, Intex, Lava and Karbonn consider production cuts as they brace for staggering shipments on inventory pileup in the market.
(Source: The Economic Times)
9. Tata Steel UK Sells Its Speciality Business For 100 Million Pounds
Tata Steel UK has decided to sell its Speciality Steels business to Liberty House in the first major sign that the strategy laid out by former chairman Cyrus Mistry for the steel business is being implemented without any deviations. Tatas are expected to sell the business for about £100 million.
Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta, who owns Liberty House, was among the frontrunners to buy the struggling steelmaker’s plant in the UK before Tatas agreed to opt for a merger with German giant ThyssenKrupp.
(Source: The Economic Times)
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