This is a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.
1. Will Jet Airways Ever Fly Again?
After a resolution process lasting nearly 16 months, insolvent Jet Airways (India) Ltd. has found a buyer.
Over the weekend, a consortium of U.K.-based Kalrock Capital Partners and Murari Lal Jalan was selected as winning bidders for the airline under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Jet Airways informed exchanges.
Neither Kalrock Capital nor Jalan have exposure to aviation sector companies.
Here’s how much the new owners may have to spend to restore airline operations and making Jet Airways relevant again.
2. Doubling Down On Air India Divestment
India is ready to sweeten the deal for the sale of Air India Ltd., the loss-making state-owned carrier.
The government is considering allowing potential suitors for Air India decide how much of the flag carrier’s debt they want to take on as part of the deal, Disinvestment Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told Bloomberg News.
The bid date is also likely to be extended beyond Oct. 30 to give investors time to make an offer, he said.
“We will remove the constraints that the current structure of the transaction poses for investors.”
3. How Britannia And HDFC Life Fared In Q2
Britannia Industries Ltd.’s quarterly profit and revenue rose, aided by increased sales at a time when the economy was opened up in phases following a series of lockdowns imposed in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Net profit rose 23% year-on-year to Rs 494.93 crore.
Revenue rose 12% to Rs 3,419.11 crore.
Operating margin expanded to 19.8% from 16.1%.
Find out how Britannia focused on high-volume products to beat the pandemic impact.
HDFC Life Insurance Co.’s quarterly net profit rose, aided by cost cuts.
Profit increased 6% year-on-year to Rs 326 crore.
Gross premium rose 35% to Rs 10,183 crore.
Annualised premium, however, fell 4% to Rs 3,334 crore.
Get more details and management commentary here.
Related Coverage
TCS beats peers in Q2 on deal wins, easing supply constraints.
What analysts made of HDFC Bank’s Q2 performance.
4. Nifty Slams A Century; Gold Rallies
Indian equity markets began the new trading week on a positive note, notching up their second straight day of gains.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 1.1% or 449 points higher at 40,431
The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.9% or 124 points higher at 11,873.
Banking stocks were the top performers in today's session.
Follow the day’s trading action here.
U.S. stocks rose as investors speculated Congress will deliver stimulus this year and the election result won’t be contested, even as a grim milestone highlighted the pandemic’s threat to economic growth.
The S&P 500 Index advanced for a second day, boosted by apparent progress on a spending package and the latest data from China showing its economy continues to rebound.
Gold strengthened 0.9% to $1,915.52 an ounce.
Get your daily fix of global markets.
5. Small Town Shoppers Flocking To Amazon, Flipkart
Small towns are driving sales in this year’s festive season as more first-time sellers and buyers go online during the pandemic.
Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart and Amazon said 60% of their customers are from Tier II and beyond towns.
According to initial trends, small and medium businesses selling on Amazon and Flipkart are seeing more demand online.
Here are some key takeways by Indian e-commerce’s festive sale season.
6. Airtel's Privacy Policy 'Drafting Error'
Turns out it was a drafting error. At least that’s what Bharti Airtel Ltd. said in its second response to the furore generated by its privacy policy.
Updated on Oct. 8, the telecom company’s website said it may collect sensitive personal data of users that range from their ethnicity and race to their political opinions, religious beliefs and sex life. Even trade union membership.
After social media backlash, Airtel amended its privacy policy to remove those clauses.
The telecom services company issued a statement on Oct. 18 suggesting the wording of the policy was an error.
But that raises the larger question of whether companies can access such private data if they wanted to.
7. Killing Digital News Softly With Words?
Digital news media organisations were caught by surprise last week, thanks to a clarification by Ministry of Commerce on foreign direct investment policy in news and current affairs. These entities now have a year to comply with the latest diktat that spells out the scope of the FDI policy.
Implication-wise, the language—“registered or located in India”—lends itself to interpretations, Vivek Gupta, partner at KPMG, told BloombergQuint.
The new FDI policy’s applicability to social media platforms and search engines would depend on the specific location of the ‘uploading’ or ‘streaming’ operation.
What about foreign news agencies and OTT platforms?
8. Reverse Migration, Reversed
Businesses have sent vans and buses, some even offered flight tickets. All this to get workers back from the hinterland, where they retreated in one of the biggest episodes of reverse migration the country has seen due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The retreat into villages, however, didn’t sustain.
A survey by Inferential Survey Statistics and Research Foundation showed 67.6% of the 2,917 migrant workers surveyed wanted to come back to towns and cities.
Was the return of India’s great migrant workforce to cities inevitable?
9. Chinese Soldier Captured; To Be Released
A Corporal of Chinese People's Liberation Army was apprehended in the Demchok sector of Eastern Ladakh on Monday after he had strayed across the Line of Actual Control, the Indian Army said.
The Chinese soldier has been identified as Wang Ya Long and he has been provided with required medical assistance including oxygen, food and warm clothes, it said.
The Army said the PLA soldier will be returned after completion of all the formalities.
Sources said the PLA soldier was interrogated on how he crossed over to the Indian side.
10. News In A Streaming World
You would think streaming is a golden opportunity in a market like India where television ratings are in question and the quality of content is generally appalling, writes Parry Ravindranathan.
The news part of the television business, more so than entertainment, is in a particularly bad place.
The future of the TV news business and its revenue model is under scrutiny.
It opens up the market for pure-play digital streaming news channels with lower costs and no legacy baggage.
Yet, the industry faces an existential question.
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