Author: Asian Lite Newsdesk

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Business World News

Samsung’s Smartphone Profits Spike in Q3

Samsung Electronics narrowed the gap with Apple in terms of profit shares in the third quarter, with more than 30 per cent smartphone market share globally, a new report said on Friday.

The South Korean tech giant accounted for a 32.6 per cent share of profits worldwide generated from the smartphone segment in the third quarter, up from a 18.8 per cent share a year earlier, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics.

The latest figure was the largest for Samsung since the second quarter of 2014, when it took 37.9 per cent of global smartphone profits.

Apple defended its status as the world’s most profitable smartphone vendor with a dominant 60.5 per cent share in the third quarter. But its market share was down from 66.9 percent from a year ago, reports Yonhap news agency.

By shipment, Samsung was the leader in the third-quarter global smartphone market with a 21.9 per cent share, followed by Chinese brands Huawei Technologies with 14.1 per cent and Xiaomi with 12.7 percent.

Apple took the fourth spot with a 11.9 per cent share.

Strategy Analytics said the late release of the iPhone 12 dragged down Apple’s operating margin to 21 per cent in the third quarter, which was down from 23 per cent a year earlier.

In contrast, Samsung saw its third-quarter operating margin increase to 14 per cent from 11 per cent a year ago, thanks to its enhanced product mix covering both premium and midrange smartphones.

Samsung also narrowed the gap with Apple in terms of revenue in the third quarter.

Samsung took a 22.6 per cent revenue share in the third quarter, which was 6.9 percentage points fewer than Apple.

In the third quarter of last year, Samsung’s revenue share stood at 20.2 percent, while that of Apple reached 33.8 per cent.

Also Read: Samsung pips Apple in US smartphone sales

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Business Economy India News

RBI grants Rs 318.20 relief to LVB

In a sudden turn of events, some hours before the amalgamation of the Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank India Ltd is to take effect, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave a Rs 318.20 crore relief to DBS Bank.

The RBI wrote ti LVB’s Administrator on Thursday to write down Rs 318.20 crore worth of Unsecured Non-convertible Redeemable Fully Paid-up Basel III compliant Tier-2 Bonds before the scheme of amalgamation comes into effect on November 27.

The LVB had raised the money through Basel III Tier 2 bonds in three tranches.

The RBI cited the Information Memorandums of respective Basel III Tier 2 bonds issued by the LVB while communicating its decision to the LVB.

“If the relevant authorities decide to reconstitute the Bank or amalgamate the Bank with any other bank under Section 45 of the BR Act (Banking Regulation Act), such a bank shall be deemed as non-viable or approaching non-viability and both the pre-specified trigger and the trigger at the point of non-viability for write-down of the Bonds shall be activated. Accordingly, the Bonds shall be written-off before amalgamation/reconstitution in accordance with applicable rules,” the RBI told T.N. Manoharan, Administrator of the LVB.

According to the RBI, as Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act has been invoked and the amalgamation scheme has been notified, the LVB is deemed to be non-viable or approaching non-viability and accordingly, the triggers for a write-down of Basel III Tier 2 bonds issued by the bank has been triggered.

“In light of the above provisions, such Basel III Tier 2 bonds would need to be fully written down before the amalgamation of the bank comes into effect,” RBI said in its letter.

The Central Government, in its notification, had written off the entire amount of the paid-up share capital and reserves and surplus, including the balances in the shares or securities premium account of the transferor bank and the delisting of the shares and debentures.

As a result, the shareholders of the LVB will not get anything for their shares.

Meanwhile, the shareholders of the 94-year-old Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) have started knocking the doors of justice for a fair valuation of their bank, the amalgamation of which takes effect from Friday onwards.

On Thursday, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, Kare Electronics and Development Pvt Ltd and others filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court praying for a stay of the notification issued by the Central government for amalgamating the LVB with DBS Bank India Ltd, a subsidiary of DBS Bank, Singapore.

The petitioners will also make DBS Bank as a party to the case by amending their petition.

“The petitioners had prayed for a stay of the Central Government notified scheme of amalgamation of LVB with DBS Bank India. The other prayer is to quash the writing off of the entire entire amount of the paid-up share capital and reserves and surplus, including the balances in the shares or securities premium account of the transferor bank and the delisting of the shares and debentures,” Paras Parekh, Partner, Parinam Law Associates representing Indiabulls Housing, told IANS from Mumbai.

The Bombay High Court, admitting the writ petition, refused to stay the Central government’s notification amalgamating LVB with DBS Bank India, and fixed the next hearing for December 14.

The court said: “We are of the opinion, prima facie, that the petitioner’s claims being a monetary claim, can be considered at the time of disposal of the petitions.”

Also Read: Indian economy’s recovery better than expected: Das

Also Read: FIIs turn net buyers in India in 2020

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Business Economy India News

Majority ready to switch to WFH in India: Survey

More than half of the office-goers in India are willing to switch jobs if it meant they could work remotely, said a new survey on Thursday.

There has been a heightened interest in online learning since Covid-19 with 83 per cent of survey participants from India saying they are more interested in online learning/training, according to the research by Cloud software firm Salesforce.

“Amid the global pandemic, companies have been leveraging technology to pivot their businesses at hyperspeed. This new all-digital world poses an opportunity for business leaders to rethink how they not only connect with their customers, but also their employees,” Dulles Krishnan, Area Vice President, Salesforce India, said in a statement.

“By shifting our priorities on our employees, ensuring safety and reskilling for the future, we have the opportunity to use technology to make the future of work a more inclusive and resilient environment.”

This report surveyed 20,000 people across ten countries, including 4,000 people from India, focused on gaining insights about the participants’ perceptions of the future of work from around the world.

Also Read:Indian economy’s recovery better than expected: Das

Insights from the study revealed that remote work is a luxury not available for all and that working remotely will look different everywhere.

The pandemic has pushed companies to adapt to new realities that are radically transforming how they operate and serve both their employees and customers.

In fact, 79 per cent of the survey participants from India said technology should play a major role in workplace safety.

The survey showed that trust in business and government is significantly higher in India than the global population.

About 89 per cent of the survey participants from India said they trust businesses to create a better future.

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Economy World News

Venezuela to step up ties with ASEAN

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has ratified his country’s formal request to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“We want to express what we did at the beginning of the year in writing, the formal request for Venezuela to be part of the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation,” Arreaza said during the third day of the virtual ASEAN Conference on Thursday.

He stressed that it would be a very important step for Venezuela “to have a much closer and much more productive relationship with the ASEAN”, Xinhua news agency reported.

From a bilateral perspective, Venezuela already maintains “extraordinary relations” with the 10 members of the Southeast Asian bloc, said Arreaza.

The Foreign Minister said that as soon as pandemic restrictions on international flights are lifted, he plans to visit each of the ASEAN members.

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation is a peace treaty established by the ASEAN founding members in 1976.

India and China were the first countries outside ASEAN to sign the treaty in 2003.

As of July 2009, sixteen countries outside the bloc had acceded to the treaty.

In July 2009, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the treaty.

The European Union announced in 2009 its intention to accede as soon as the treaty would be amended to allow for the accession of non-states and joined accordingly in July 2012.

Also Read: Indian economy’s recovery better than expected: Das

Also Read: Mexico’s economy to shrink in 2020

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-Top News UK News

Asian Lite Daily Digital UK – November 27, 2020 – England Sets Out New Tier Rules

UK health Secy Matt Hancock

England Sets Out New Tier Rules; India Renews Call To Extradite Rana From US; Biden Appeals Americans To Avoid Big Thanksgiving – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital UK – please click here to read.

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-Top News Arab News India News

Asian Lite Daily Digital Dubai – November 27, 2020 – India Cements Ties With UAE

India Cements Ties With UAE; Abu Dhabi To Be Global Logistics Hub For Vaccine Distribution; Biden Appeals Americans To Avoid Big Thanksgiving; Govt seeks connectivity, not charity: Ghani – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital Dubai – please click here to read.

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Cricket Sport

Mumbai Indians takes home the IPL title

Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday cruised to their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title with a five-wicket win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final at the Dubai International Stadium. MI have become the first team in nine years to win back-to-back titles after Chennai Super Kings did it in 2010 and 2011.

Captain Rohit Sharma scored his first half-century since October 1 as MI chased down a target of 157 with nine balls to spare.

Earlier, DC recovered from losing three wickets in the first four overs to post 156/7 wickets. By contrast, MI were on top from the first over with a 45-run partnership between openers Sharma and Quinton de Kock.

Marcus Stoinis, who was dismissed off the very first ball of the match earlier, came back with the wicket of the in-form de Kock off his first ball of the MI innings.

But this was followed by another 45-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, continuing the onslaught. Sharma soon completed his 63rd T20 half-century. However, Yadav sacrificed his wicket when Sharma ran down to the non-striker’s end.

Sharma eventually fell for 68 off 51 deliveries. MI lost three wickets towards the end but it was too late for Delhi Capitals.

Earlier, captain Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 65 took Delhi Capitals (DC) to 156/6 wickets in 20 overs.

After losing their first three wickets within the first six overs, DC were brought back into the game with a 96-run stand between Iyer and Rishabh Pant (56) for the fourth wicket.

The partnership between Iyer and Pant was broken in the 15th over by Nathan Coulter-Nile after which Shimron Hetymer fell to Boult. Coulter-Nile then got the wicket of Axar Patel.

DC lost the in-form Marcus Stoinis off the very first ball of the match to fast bowler Trent Boult. Boult went on to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane while Shikhar Dhawan fell to Jayant Yadav, who was brought into the team in place of Rahul Chahar.

Boult was the highest wicket-taker for MI with three scalps while Coulter-Nile and Yadav got two and one respectively. Jasprit Bumrah finished wicketless.

Brief scores: DC: 156/7 wkts in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 65 not out, Rishabh Pant 56; Trent Boult 3/30) lost to MI: 157/5 in 18.4 overs (R Sharma 68, I Kishan 33 not out, A Nortje 2/25) by 5 wkts

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USA World News

Anarchy to leadership: Robert De Niro on Trump’s Exit

Robert De Niro

Academy Award winning actor Robert De Niro, of “The Godfather” fame, who has called US President Donald Trump all sorts of names from “punk,” “pig,” “bullshit artist,” “mutt,” “national disaster,” “fool,” “bozo,” and other unmentionables, is welcoming Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ ascendancy to America’s highest office with palpable excitement and loads of praise.

“With Kamala Harris, it’s going to be… it might surprise us more that they’ll do things that we didn’t expect and don’t expect, but they could, and it would be a terrific four years, maybe longer,” a visibly relieved de Niro said on a nightly news show Monday evening.

De Niro described the transition from Trump to Biden as one from “anarchy” to “leadership”.

“We need someone to lead us through in a kind of father figure way or mother figure way, to show that they love us, care about us and they want our best.”

“Yeah, and that’s what we were going to get with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. She’s tough, she’ll do the things that maybe he wouldn’t do or can’t do but I’m hoping that she will do it,” he said of his hopes from the Biden-Harris ticket.

De Niro expressed “relief” that he can now be done scrapping with Trump.

“It’s like being in an abusive relationship. We don’t know what’s going on. Nobody knows. I don’t even think he knows what’s going on. Thank God!” De Niro said, speaking from his New York bubble.

In De Niro’s view, another term for Trump would have meant that the idea of a two term US Presidency would have come into question, a theory that Trump himself has riffed on during his super-spreader rallies.

De Niro explains how that Trumpian fantasy might have played out, or could, in the future: “Somebody’s gonna come along who’s a lot smarter, more sensitive, more material, and not so boorish, and they’ll be able to pull the wool over the eyes of the public, and then we will have a serious more serious deeper problem.”

The actor couldn’t stop jabbing at Trump, as the bye-bye Trump party refused to let up on the streets below his apartment.

“There’s a screw loose there,” De Niro said about how the current occupant of the White House blew his chances in the US 2020 election.

“If he had done what he should have done for the virus, he could have won this election. It’s like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.”

Also Read: ‘Kamala looks like me’: Young Americans

Also Read: KAMALA: ‘Dream With Ambition, Lead With Conviction’

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-Top News Asia News

Taliban expects new US admin to retain Doha Pact

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN VISITED TO IIT BOMBAY

In a statement on, the Taliban has assured the new US administration, which will come to power in January 2021, of remaining committed to the implementation of the Doha peace agreement, saying it was an “excellent document” to end the decades-long war in Afghanistan.

In the statement, the group said the implementation of the US-Taliban agreement “is the most reasonable and effective tool for ending the conflict with the US”, referring to their fight against American forces, TOLO News reported.

“We remain committed to the agreement on our part and view it as a powerful basis for solving the Afghan issue and we also give preference to solving our internal problems through dialogue and negotiations,” it added.

In a historic move, the Taliban signed the peace deal with the US on February 29, under which the militant group will not attack American forces inside Afghanistan.

The agreement also requires the withdrawal of American troops within 14 months since the intimation of peace process.

The peace negotiations were inaugurated in Doha on September 12 with the hope to end the four decades of war in the country.

Negotiating teams representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban held more than 10 meetings. But direct negotiations were yet to begin.

Tuesday’s statement came two days after the Taliban said that Biden should respect the Doha Agreement because it was not made with a single person but with the American government, the media reported on Monday.

A spokesman for the Taliban told the media that when the new US administration comes in power, it will need to acclaim the agreement, reports Khaama Press.

Taliban hopes that the Biden administration will abide by the Doha Peace protocols, the spokesman said.

The two developments come amidst a sharp increase in Taliban attacks on Afghan forces in many parts of the country.

Also Read: Khalilzad urges Taliban to stick to the peace deal

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Business Tech Lite

Whatsapp launches Shopping Button Globally

WhatsApp. (Photo: IANS)

Facebook on Tuesday made a new shopping button in WhatsApp live globally, including in India, to help people check out available products and make purchases right from a chat.

The tool will make it easier for people to discover a business’ catalog so they know what goods or services it offers.

Previously, people had to click into the business’ profile to see if the business had a catalog.

“Now, when a person sees the shopping button, which looks like a storefront icon, they will immediately know the business has a catalog so they can browse products and start a conversation about an item they see with just one tap,” the company said in a statement.

This will also make it easier for businesses to have their products discovered which can help increase sales.

More than 175 million people message a WhatsApp Business account every day, and more than 40 million people view a business’ catalog each month — including more than 3 million in India.

According to a recent survey, 76 per cent of adults in India said that “I am more likely to do business with/purchase from a company that I can contact via messaging than one that I cannot.”

The new shopping button is available now across the world and will replace the voice call button.

To find the voice call button, simply tap on the call button to select either a voice or video call.

“In the future, we’ll make it possible to add items to a cart and check out, all within WhatsApp,” the company said last month.

Facebook said it will finally start charging companies using WhatsApp for Business, as it expanded ways for its users to check out available products and make purchases right from a chat.

Some 50 million businesses message a WhatsApp Business account every day and this move will help WhatsApp continue building a business of its own while it provides and expands free end-to-end encrypted text, video and voice calling for more than 2 billion people.

Also Read: Whatsapp’s new tool will help users manage phone space