Top headlines: Rs 950 cr tax evasion by Swiggy, Flipkart; 83 Tejas for IAF

From IT department revealing over Rs 950-crore tax evasion by Flipkart unit and Swiggy to Mahindra laying off two-thirds of staff at its North American subsidiary, here are top headlines this morning

Over Rs 950-crore tax evasion by Flipkart unit, Swiggy: I-T department

Over Rs 950-crore tax evasion by food delivery start-up Swiggy and Instakart (a group firm of Flipkart) has been detected following last week’s survey operations in Bengaluru. According to the initial findings of the Income Tax Department, third party vendors were also involved in the concealment of taxable income. ‘’The survey operations on the companies resulted in impounding of incriminating documents evidencing tax evasion issues including non-deduction from tax deducted at source (TDS) on commission income and cancellation charges by Swiggy and their restaurants. Read More

Hospitals get ready for Covid shots ahead of vaccination drive on Jan 16

IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital -- one of the oldest general hospitals in the country, built by the East India Company in the heart of Kolkata -- is being primed for Covid-19 vaccination on Saturday. Next to the academic building on the campus, a signage, “Covid Vaccination Site”, points to the scene of action – the auditorium building. Inside, four makeshift sites have been readied, though on the first day, only one will be operational; the government has allowed vaccination of 100 beneficiaries in a session. Read More

Govt clears purchase of 83 indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft

Clearing the way for inducting another four squadrons of the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) into the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Union Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sanctioned the procurement of 83 fighters on Wednesday. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) will act as the lead integrator for building the aircraft at a targeted rate of 16 fighters per year. The first aircraft will be delivered three years after HAL and the IAF sign a contract. Read More

Infosys posts 16.6% net profit growth in Dec quarter, revises FY21 guidance

Information technology (IT) services major Infosys on Wednesday raised its full-year revenue and margin guidance after posting 16.6 per cent growth in net profit in the quarter ended December (Q3). The consolidated net profit of Rs 5,197 crore in Q3 is the highest ever for the firm, and beat analyst estimates, which had pegged it at just over Rs 5,000 crore. Read More

Wipro Q3 net profit rises 21%, profitability at 22-quarter high

Reporting one of its strongest quarters in recent years, Bengaluru-based information technology (IT) firm Wipro on Wednesday posted 20.9-per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,968 crore for the December quarter. It had reported a profit of Rs 2,456 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The company said its dollar revenue growth was the highest in 36 quarters. Read More

Covid-19 vaccine makers divided on indemnity ahead of vaccination drive

With India’s Covid vaccination drive scheduled to start on January 16 — with priority given to an estimated 30 million health care workers and frontline workers — vaccine makers are divided on the issue of indemnity in case of any serious adverse event (SAE). The government, too, is unlikely to indemnify or exempt vaccine makers from any liability arising out of SAEs due to inoculation. Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, whose deoxyribonucleic acid plasmid technology-based vaccine ZyCoV-D is now in Phase 3 trials, said it was not looking at a legal indemnity angle. Read More

Delhi HC issues notice to Future, RIL retail arms on Amazon's plea

Jeff Bezos-led Amazon is leading the battle with Kishore Biyani-headed Future Group on multiple fronts related to the retail conglomerate’s $3.4-billion deal with Reliance. The Delhi High Court (HC) on Wednesday served a notice on Future Retail (FRL), Reliance Retail, and the Biyanis, seeking their views on a plea by Amazon against some of the observations by a single judge Bench in a December 21, 2020, interim order. Read More

Mahindra lays off two-thirds of staff at its North American subsidiary

Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA), the Detroit based subsidiary of the Mahindra Group, has retrenched more than half of its employees, the Reuters reported on Wednesday cited sources familiar with the matter. The move comes amid the Mumbai-headquartered firm's review of all its international businesses and scaling down or shuttering ventures that are underperforming. \Read More