Top Headlines: Byju's to lay off 2,500 staffers, broken rice exports & more

India will allow overseas broken rice shipments of 397,267 tonnes backed by letters of credit (LCs) issued before September 8

Edtech giant Byju’s is set to lay off nearly 2,500, or 5 per cent, of its employees as part of an “optimisation” plan. India will allow overseas broken rice shipments of 397,267 tonnes backed by letters of credit (LCs) issued before Sept. 8, the government said. Read more on these in our top headlines.

Byju's to lay off 2,500 staffers, targets profitability by March

Edtech giant Byju’s is set to lay off nearly 2,500, or 5 per cent, of its employees as part of an “optimisation” plan. The move by India’s most valuable start-up comes amid a funding winter and steep losses. “To avoid redundancies and duplication of roles, and by leveraging technology better, around 5 per cent of Byju’s 50,000-strong workforce is expected to be rationalised across product, content, media, and technology teams in a phased manner,” said the company in a statement. Read more
 

Centre allows exports of 397,267 tonnes broken rice backed by LoC

India will allow overseas broken rice shipments of 397,267 tonnes backed by letters of credit (LCs) issued before Sept. 8, the government said in a notification on Wednesday, as a sudden ban on exports of the grain prevented the loading of cargoes. On September 8, India banned exports of broken rice as the world's biggest exporter of the grain tries to augment supplies and calm local prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting. Read more
 

Retailers likely to see strong revenue performance in July-Sept quarter

Retail companies are expected to see a strong topline performance in the second quarter of the ongoing financial year. Apparel companies are expected to see an uptick which started in the April-June quarter as all covid restrictions were lifted. “Cotton prices are still high which could see margins remain under pressure,” Edelweiss Securities said in its report.  Read more
 

Run-up to Budget: Monetary threshold for GST offences may rise to Rs 25 cr

As part of its drive against decriminalisation, the Centre is contemplating raising the monetary threshold for initiating prosecution for cognisable and non-bailable offences related to the goods and services tax (GST) to Rs 25 crore and above. At present, if the amount of tax evaded or input tax credit wrongly availed of is Rs 5 crore or above, the prison term may be extended to five years. Read more
 

Global wealth set to contract by over 2% this year, says report

Global household wealth is on track for its first significant contraction since the great financial crisis of 2008, according to a report by Allianz. After three years of record gains in the value of household financial assets, 2022 is likely to result in a nominal drop of more than 2 per cent, researchers said in a global wealth report published Wednesday. They called this year a “turning point” for global wealth, amid scant signs that a meaningful reversal will follow. Read more
 

Digital rupee likely to bring down cost of cross-border payments

The introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in cross-border remittances is likely to bring down significantly the cost of transaction for customers. At present, customers have to pay a fee to the bank. This is a percentage or a fixed amount of money transferred. The fee is applicable to both inward and outward remittances. Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had published a concept note on CBDC. The central bank is in the process of launching a pilot for its CBDC, christened eRe. Read more