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Samsung heir jailed over corruption

The Seoul High Court gave Lee, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., the prison term for bribing Park and her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth transition of managerial power at the tech giant…reports Asian Lite News

A Seoul court on Monday sentenced Lee Jae-yong, heir apparent of South Korea’s biggest family-run conglomerate the Samsung Group, to two years and a half in prison for corruption charges, including a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye.

The Seoul High Court gave Lee, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., the prison term for bribing Park and her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth transition of managerial power at the tech giant, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Park was later impeached and ousted for corruption and abuse of power.

Lee, who was present at the hearing on Monday, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was handed down, less than three years after he was released on a suspended sentence.

The 52-year-old Lee was charged in February 2017 with giving 29.8 billion won ($27.4 million) worth of bribes and promising to give more.

Also read:Q4 2020: Samsung To Post $9 Bn Operating Income

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Business

HDFC Bank Q3 net profit jumps 18%

The bank’s net profit for the third quarter of FY21 rose to Rs 8,758.3 crore on a YoY basis….reports Asian Lite News

Lending major HDFC Bank on Saturday reported an 18.1 per cent increase in standalone net profit for the quarter ended December 31 of FY21 on a year-on-year basis.

The bank’s net profit for the third quarter of FY21 rose to Rs 8,758.3 crore on a YoY basis.

“After providing Rs 3,013.6 crore for taxation, the bank earned a net profit of Rs 8,758.3 crore, an increase of 18.1 per cent over the quarter ended December 31, 2019,” the bank said in a statement.

The bank’s net revenues (net interest income plus other income) grew to Rs 23,760.8 crore during the period under review from Rs 20,842.2 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019.

Besides, net interest income (interest earned less interest expended) for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 grew by 15.1 per cent to Rs 16,317.6 crore from Rs 14,172.9 crore during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The rise in net interest income was driven by advance growth of 15.6 per cent and a core net interest margin for the quarter of 4.2 per cent.

“The bank’s persistent focus on deposits helped in the maintenance of a healthy liquidity coverage ratio at 146 per cent, well above the regulatory requirement.”

Furthermore, the bank made provision and contingencies worth Rs 3,414.1 crore as against Rs 3,043.6 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019.

“Total provisions for the current quarter include contingent provisions of nearly Rs 2,400 crore for proforma NPA as described in the asset quality section.”

Also read:BDL, Thales sign air defence deal

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Business Defence India News

BDL, Thales sign air defence deal

The Teaming Agreement, signed at a virtual ceremony held on Wednesday, will facilitate manufacture of STARStreak Air Defence System in India, BDL said on Thursday…reports Asian Lite News

Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Thales have signed a Teaming Agreement to work in partnership on the STARStreak Air Defence System with the support of both the Indian and the UK governments.

The Teaming Agreement, signed at a virtual ceremony held on Wednesday, will facilitate manufacture of STARStreak Air Defence System in India, BDL said on Thursday.

BDL, a government company under the Ministry of Defence, will become a part of the STARStreak global supply chain, providing the opportunity for export of the system to existing and future STARStreak Air Defence customers, including the UK Armed Forces through this agreement.

The STARStreak Missile System is in service in the British Army and has been procured by defence forces worldwide. The fastest missile in its category, STARStreak is unique due to its three laser-guided darts, which cannot be jammed by any known countermeasure. It has the capability to defeat any air target – even armoured helicopters – as the last line of defence.

BDL’s Director (Technical) N.P. Diwakar, Thales CEO Alex Cresswell, and Thales Vice President and Country Director, India, Emmanuel de Roquefeuil, signed the agreement in the presence of BDL Chairman and Managing Director, Commodore Siddharth Mishra (retd),UK Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin, and UK Defence & Security Exports head Mark Goldsack.

BDL, in a statement, said that as a part of its global outreach, it is trying to forge alliance with foreign companies to take the ‘Make in India’ mission further.

Earlier, Thales and BDL had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to assess the opportunity for the transfer of technology for STARStreak.

“Today’s agreement will also provide opportunity for BDL to offer STARStreak missile system to the Indian Armed Forces with a minimum of 60 per cent indigenous content, as well as design and development of the system, qualifying it under the ‘Make in India’ programme,” it said.

Mishra said that the partnership between Thales and BDL in this project with transfer of technology for STARStreak will create a new business opportunity for BDL and its supply chain partners in India.

“BDL will be able to enhance its footprints in the export market in addition to domestic market with this new business opportunity. The Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ programme, the ‘ease of doing business’ and recent ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives have created a congenial ecosystem for the foreign OEMs to tie up with Indian Industries like BDL to establish the production facility in India,” he added.

Cresswell said that the BDL manufactured system will be exported to various countries including UK. He noted that this is good news for Thales business in Belfast in Northern Ireland, for the strong supply chain of UK SMEs with whom it works and for its teams in India.

Also read:Maruti Suzuki launches ‘smart finance’

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Business

Maruti Suzuki launches ‘smart finance’

A company statement said that with the launch of Smart Finance, 24 out of 26 steps in the customer vehicle purchase journey have been digitised….reports Asian Lite News

Maruti Suzuki India on Friday announced the launch of its online financing platform — Smart Finance, for Maruti Suzuki ARENA customers across more than 30 cities.

A company statement said that with the launch of Smart Finance, 24 out of 26 steps in the customer vehicle purchase journey have been digitised.

“Smart Finance offers customers a ‘ONE-STOP-SHOP’ solution for the vehicle finance needs. The services include option to choose among wide range of finance products based on customer needs, selecting the best-suited loan product, completion of all finance related formalities and disbursal of loan, with just a few clicks,” it said.

Maruti Suzuki website will act as a facilitator between the customer and the financier providing real time status updates and in turn provide a hassle free and transparent financing solution.

Going forward, different structured schemes such as balloon and step-up offers, among others can also be reviewed on one screen.

For this, Maruti Suzuki has currently partnered with twelve financiers — State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Mahindra Finance, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bank of Baroda, Cholamandalam Finance, Kotak Mahindra Prime, Axis Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, Yes Bank and HDB Financial Services. Subsequently, the company will on-board other key financiers, it said.

Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India said: “We are overwhelmed with the response to our Smart Finance platform from our NEXA customers. Now, we want to extend the ease of a car buying journey for our ARENA customers as well. The pandemic situation in the country has further increased the usage of digital platforms. With Smart Finance, we aim to reach out to a larger audience, assist them and make every stage of the loan process transparent.”

The Smart Finance service is now available for ARENA customers in over 30 cities including Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Indore, Kolkata, Cochin, Chandigarh and Guwahati.

Also read:Qualcomm acquires chip design startup Nuvia

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Business India News

Passenger vehicle sales jump 13.6% in December

A total of 2.53 lakh passenger vehicles were sold last month compared to over 2.22 lakh units during the same period of 2019…reports Asian Lite News

Sale of passenger vehicles increased by 13.59 per cent in December 2020, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) released on Thursday.

A total of 2.53 lakh passenger vehicles were sold last month compared to over 2.22 lakh units during the same period of 2019.

Two-wheeler sales also improved 7.42 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 11.28 lakh units during the period under review.

However, the demand for three-wheelers is yet to revive and sales in December plunged nearly 59 per cent to 22,126 units, showed the SIAM data.

SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon said: “In the month of December 2020, the auto industry witnessed higher sales of passenger vehicles by 13.59 per cent and two wheelers by 7.42 per cent over a very low base of 2019.”

SIAM President Kenichi Ayukawa noted that the Indian automobile industry appreciates the efforts of the government to balance safety of people and revival of economy from the negative effects of the pandemic.

“Initiatives such as the announcement of PLI scheme, keeping interest rates very low, targeted spending in rural areas and continued focus on building road infrastructure, will help in our recovery process,” he said.

Also read:Qualcomm acquires chip design startup Nuvia

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Business

Qualcomm acquires chip design startup Nuvia

As part of the transaction, Nuvia founders Gerard Williams, Manu Gulati and John Bruno and their employees will join Qualcomm, the company said in a statement on Wednesday….reports Asian Lite News

Chip maker Qualcomm has acquired Nuvia, formed in 2019 by three former Apple engineers including one of Indian origin, for a whopping $1.4 billion for the 5G era.

As part of the transaction, Nuvia founders Gerard Williams, Manu Gulati and John Bruno and their employees will join Qualcomm, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Together, we are very well positioned to redefine computing and enable our ecosystem of partners to drive innovation and deliver a new class of products and experiences for the 5G era,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO-Elect, Qualcomm Incorporated.

Nuvia comprises a proven world-class CPU and technology design team, with industry-leading expertise in high performance processors, Systems on a Chip (SoC) and power management for compute-intensive devices and applications.

The addition of Nuvia CPUs to Qualcomm Technologies’ already leading mobile graphics processing unit (GPU), AI engine, DSP and dedicated multimedia accelerators will further extend the leadership of Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms.

“CPU performance leadership will be critical in defining and delivering on the next era of computing innovation,” said Gerard Williams, CEO of Nuvia.



“The combination of NUVIA and Qualcomm will bring the industry’s best engineering talent, technology and resources together to create a new class of high-performance computing platforms that set the bar for our industry. We couldn’t be more excited for the opportunities ahead.”

Microsoft said that it is exciting to see Nuvia join the Qualcomm team.

“Our partnership with Qualcomm has always been about providing great experiences on our products. Moving forward, we have an incredible opportunity to empower our customers across the Windows ecosystem,” said Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer, Microsoft.

Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP Platforms & Ecosystems, Google, added: “The addition of Nuvia extends Qualcomm’s capabilities in these three areas and we’re excited to see the next generation of Snapdragon with Nuvia.”

Also read:Wipro Q3 net profit grows 21 %

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Business India News

B’luru metro rail network to be extended from Thursday

“The extended service is part of the metro project’s second phase, covering more areas in the tech city for commuters living in the southern suburb,” said the official….reports Asian Lite News

The Bengaluru metro rail service on the north-south corridor (green line) would be extended from Thursday covering 6.3km and five more stations, an official said on Wednesday.

“Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa will flag off the extended service from Yelachanahalli to Silk Institute over the Kanakapura road in the city’s southern region,” an official of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd said in a statement here.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri will virtually participate in the event from New Delhi through video-conferencing.

“The extended service is part of the metro project’s second phase, covering more areas in the tech city for commuters living in the southern suburb,” said the official.

The extended service project is two-year behind schedule for various reasons, including land acquisition, shifting of utilities and displacing houses and shops that were on the route.

“The service will be open for the public from Friday after its inauguration on Thursday. As the service is being operated under Covid-induced guidelines, the frequency will be regulated to prevent crowding in the six-car coaches,” said the official.

Metro service resumed on September 7 in phases after remaining suspended since March 25 when the lockdown was enforced to contain the virus spread.

Besides wearing a face mask, commuters have to maintain social distancing and use only smart cards with online re-charge to avoid physical contact through tokens.

“Though the six-coach train has capacity to carry 1,800 commuters, only 400 are allowed in each ride till further order,” said the official.

Similarly, about 50 commuters are permitted to be on the platform for the next train at a time to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing.

“The trains run at a frequency of five minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes during non-peak hours,” added the official.

As the most popular transport mode for its punctual, efficient and cleaner service in air-conditioned coaches, the metro was ferrying over 4-lakh commuters on the twin routes, covering 42.3km across 40 well-lit stations during the pre-Covid days.

Commuters are screened at the entrance to ensure only those who are negative enter the station, with face mask or face shield.

Sanitisers are kept at the entrance of the stations for hand-washing by commuters.

Spaces have been earmarked on platforms and inside coaches to maintain physical distancing between commuters to sit or stand while travelling.

Also read:Musk keeps his ‘Indian promise’

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Business

Unicommerce starts Saudi operations

The company said its aims to deepen its presence in Middle–East and South-east Asia with almost 300 per cent growth in its international customer base…reports Asian Lite News

E-commerce focused software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Unicommerce on Thursday announced to foray in the Middle-East market, with setting up operations in Saudi Arabia.

The company said its aims to deepen its presence in Middle–East and South-east Asia with almost 300 per cent growth in its international customer base.

Currently, the company is processing over 20 per cent of India’s e-commerce volumes.

“With a strong foothold in India, we are happy to expand further in the Middle-East. The Middle-East region is witnessing a similar growth pattern like India,” said Kapil Makhija, CEO, Unicommerce.

“We will be hiring more people in the region to support our growth plans.”

Post commencement of operations in the Middle-East (Dubai) in 2018, Saudi Arabia became the ideal choice for the company considering its rich economy and its growing internet user base and e-commerce market growth.

Unicommerce recently onboarded companies like Advanced ICT Innovation Group and Safebox in Saudi Arabia and plans to add a lot of other leading brands of the region.

According to third-party analytics platform Statista, the e-commerce market in Saudi Arabia is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2020-2025) of 6.6 per cent, resulting in a projected market volume of $8,697 million by 2025 and user penetration is expected to hit 92.5 per cent by 2025.

The company processes more than 700,000 order items per day, amounting to more than $2.5 billion GMV for over 10,000 registered customers across India, Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Also read:Wipro Q3 net profit grows 21 %

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Business

Wholesale inflation eases in Dec

Wholesale inflation for December declined to 1.22 per cent due to lower food inflation, official data showed on Thursday.

In November, the inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was 1.55 per cent. The data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that food inflation fell to 0.92 per cent in December, due to sharp fall in onion prices.

The Consumer Price Index released on Tuesday, which shows retail inflation, also declined to 4.59 per cent for December 2020 compared with 6.93 per cent in November.

Also read:Musk keeps his ‘Indian promise’

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Business India News

Musk keeps his ‘Indian promise’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (File photo: IANS)

According to the details available on the Registrar of Companies website, Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited has been incorporated and the registered address is in Lavelle Road, Bengaluru….reports Asian Lite News

Breaking his silence after the news broke that Tesla has finally entered India by registering it as a company in Bengaluru, its CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he is on the way to fulfil his promise to let electric cars run on the roads of the country.

According to the details available on the Registrar of Companies website, Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Limited has been incorporated and the registered address is in Lavelle Road, Bengaluru.

Reacting to his 41.2 million followers, Musk tweeted on making India his next destination: “As promised”.

Musk, who communicates on all important company issues via Twitter, however, did not divulge any further details on his India plans.

In October last year, Musk, who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man with a whopping $195 billion net worth, had said that the electric car maker is finally ready to enter the India market next year.

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa tweeted on Tuesday to inform that Tesla is setting up its research and development (R&D) centre in Bengaluru to commence its India operations soon.

The Karnataka government had made a strong pitch to invite Tesla to the state.

“Karnataka will lead India’s journey towards Green Mobility. Electric Vehicle Manufacturer Tesla will soon start its operations in India with an R&D unit in Bengaluru. I welcome @elonmusk to India & Karnataka and wish him all the very best,” Yediyurappa had tweeted.

Tesla is also in touch with other state governments like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to start its India operations.

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said last month that Tesla will begin operations with sales in early 2021 and then “maybe” look at assembling and manufacturing vehicles in the country.

Tesla sales teams are currently working on building custom sales and production orders for the India market, ensuring orders are complete and validated once the configuration is finished.

The move will also open India to select as one of the countries where Tesla cars can be purchased.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (File photo: IANS)

Tesla officials had held talks with the Karnataka government in September last year for opening its research facility in this tech hub. The R&D unit in India is Tesla’s second outside the US. Its first such overseas centre is in Shanghai where it has a Gigafactory to make electric cars.

The tech-savvy Karnataka is the first state in the country to have an electric vehicle policy to woo investments in the sunrise sector. A slew of startups like Ola Electric, Sub Mobility and Ather have set up their operations in the city.

Also read:Wipro Q3 net profit grows 21 %