Top headlines: Centrum-BharatPe in race for PMC bank; Jio preps 5G infra

From Centrum-BharatPe, Liberty group in the race for beleaguered PMC Bank to Amazon enabling digitisation of over 1 million small businesses, here are top headlines this morning

Centrum-BharatPe, Liberty group in race for beleaguered PMC Bank

Steel baron Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Group of the UK, the Jaspal Singh Bindra-led Centrum group and BharatPe combine, and two business families from Mumbai and Hyderabad have expressed interest for beleaguered Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank). This is the first time that corporates, non-banking financial companies, and high-net-worth individuals have shown eagerness in taking over an urban-cooperative bank (UCB). Read More

Paediatric coronavirus vaccine work may begin in India by mid of 2021

The pandemic year has turned the conventional way of developing vaccines on its head. Though immunisation worldwide is a paediatric medical event, the first Covid-19 shots developed were for people aged 18 years and above. Work on paediatric versions of Covid-19 vaccine, however, is not far behind, according to vaccine manufacturers in the race. Read More

Reliance Jio to go for next generation network architecture for 5G

Reliance Jio is planning to launch the next generation 5G standalone Option 2 architecture for its network and skip the current interim standard used by most of the networks across the globe. The current interim architecture, known as non-standalone 5G, enables operators to leverage their existing investments in their 4G LTE networks and reduce capital costs. Read More

Being part of Amazon is Prime Video's biggest strength, and challenge

Sudip Sharma’s Paatal Lok grips you from the word go. The down-and-out Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhury’s investigation into the assassination attempt on a famous news anchor surprises and shocks in equal measure. It is well written and perfectly cast. Not surprisingly, it is on every list of the top 10 streaming shows in 2020. From convincing filmmakers to do shows for online, to having a slate with some of the best films and shows, Amazon Prime Video has come a long way since it came to India four years ago. Read More

Market value of 8 of 10 most valued firms zooms Rs 1.25 trillion

Eight of the top-10 valued domestic companies together added Rs 1,25,229.25 crore in market valuation in the past week, in line with a bullish broader market trend, with HDFC, TCS, and Bajaj Finance emerging the biggest gainers. Over the past week, the BSE benchmark gained 861.68 points or 1.86 per cent. Only Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever witnessed erosion from their market valuation, rest eight companies including HDFC Bank and Infosys made gains. Read More

Amazon enables digitisation of over 1 million small businesses in India

Technology (tech) giant Amazon said it has enabled digitisation of more than 1 million small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India. This year alone, more than 150,000 new sellers have joined its marketplace platform. This makes it one of the biggest examples of tech adoption of small businesses in the country. The Covid-19 pandemic has also accelerated the adoption of tech by SMBs. The SMBs include sellers, delivery and logistics partners, neighbourhood stores, enterprises, developers, content creators and authors in India, according to the 2020 Amazon SMB Impact Report. Read More

Lenders extend Reliance Home Finance bid deadline to January-end

Lenders to Reliance Home Finance — part of the debt-ridden Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group — have extended the bidding deadline to end-January next year, following requests from bidders. According to a source close to the development, only two bidders — Avenue-Asset Reconstruction Company (India), or ARCIL, consortium and Authum Investment & Infrastructure — have submitted binding bids. Read More

ONGC begins production in Bengal basin, making it India's eighth functional

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited has begun crude oil production from the Asokenagar-1 well, Bengal Basin in 24 Paragana district. This has made the Bengal basin India’s eighth producing basin, joining the ranks of Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mumbai Offshore, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and Cambay. Read More

We aim to double our direct distribution in 12 months: Tata Consumer chief

Sunil D’Souza took over as managing director and chief executive officer of Tata Consumer Products in April this year, at the height of the nationwide lockdown induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. D’Souza, a consumer goods veteran, has moved with speed and agility to restructure the organisation and take advantage of the new trends emerging in the business. He lays out his plans in a conversation with Viveat Susan Pinto. Read More