There is no plan to direct over the top (OTT) communications players who generate large amounts of traffic to give a 'fair and proportionate' share of their revenues to telecom network operators, the communications ministry has said. A senior official allayed any such apprehension by saying: "We have no proposal of this kind or anything like this which we are working on. "There is no fresh reference on this matter to the regulator (Trai)," he said. The ministry's view is significant as telecom network operators have been escalating this issue since July when Trai issued a consultation paper called 'Regulatory Mechanism Over OTT Communication Services and Selective Banning of OTT Services'.
Apple Inc has announced the India prices of the new variants of its bestselling smartphones - launched on Tuesday - as it assembles the device in the country. The new iPhone 15 range starts at Rs 79,900 for the 128 GB variant (the same price as the iPhone 14 when it was launched last year) and goes up to Rs 199,900 for the top-end Pro Max with a 6.7 inch screen and 1 TB (terabyte) storage. The world's most valuable company also launched three new upgraded Apple watches, starting with the SE at Rs 29,900 and going up to Ultra 2 at Rs 89,900.
It started out as a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to make India an export hub. But after many a twist and turns, the latest 2.0 PLI for IT hardware, for which the 40 eligible candidates have applied till its deadline, is now focused on 'import substitution'. The scheme will help in reducing India's over-dependence on imports (80 per cent of laptops are imported), especially from China which include laptops, tablets and servers.
From the customer point of view too, LFP batteries are safer and offer a longer life.
Indian sweet, snack, and restaurant chain group Bikanervala, with revenues of over Rs 3,000 crore, is working towards an initial public offering (IPO) for its food company in the next three years. Before that, it could also bring in private equity (PE) investors. The low-profile Aggarwal family-owned group company, Bikanervala Foods (which also sells under the brand name Bikano), operates in the snack business.
Clearly, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu and his team are looking to raise their game in India.
'Our expectations are that we will be able to double our market share from 14-15 per cent currently to around 30 per cent by the end of the financial year.'
'We are going to have hybrid cars, which, as far as I know, none of our competition is working on, and this includes ethanol.'
In FY22-23, Samsung exported $4.09 billion smartphones from India -- an increase of 42 per cent over 2021, when it was $2.8 billion -- accounting for 35 per cent of all smartphone exports.
Isha's stab at the bottom of the laptop pyramid shows she is a true Ambani.
'Akasa is the dark horse and I believe Go First will be up and running soon and these two together could end up with a 30 per cent share by FY24.'
Properties located between Santa Cruz and Andheri in north west Mumbai are currently available at Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000 per square feet, while in Dubai luxurious, fully furnished, properties are available at Rs 34,000 to Rs 60,000 per square feet of carpet area in the best locations.
'While Rocky Aur Rani is a good film, there is nothing compelling in the content for which viewers would be ready to pay a premium.'
Even though electric two wheeler (e2W) companies saw a slight recovery in July of 12 per cent with 49,518 registrations - after a wash out in June because the government slashed the FAME 2 subsidy by a third - registrations are still lower for the second month in a row compared to April FY24. The slow pace has raised doubts about whether the registrations will reach anywhere near either Niti Aayog's ambitious target of 2.4 million vehicles in FY24 or whether they will be closer to the trimmed down industry expectation of around one million. In June, e2W registrations plunged to a mere 44,253, the worst month in more than a year, as companies hiked scooter prices.
Although it has not announced the price bookings, sources say it could be in thousands.
The Tata group is close to acquiring Wistron's $600-million factory in southern Karnataka by next month, according to reports. The Wistron unit makes iPhones for the Cupertino-based company. Sources said that Wistron will continue to provide the Tatas technical know-how on assembling the phone and keep back some personnel during the transition process.
West Asian carriers are up against Air India and IndiGo in the battle for seats on lucrative international routes.
The government plans to remove the definition of broadcasting services altogether from the bill to help reduce confusion among stakeholders.
Micron plans an assembly testing, marking and packaging project of $1 billion, and talks are on to set up a memory chip plant for captive requirements.
By 2025, Uber projects that 25,000-30,000 cars -- or 12 to 16 per cent of vehicle additions -- would be EVs, reports Surajeet Das Gupta.