Fake news crackdown: Modi govt wants WhatsApp, Facebook to be responsible

The government is more concerned with Telegram, fast becoming the preferred medium for many people

The government has said it expects popular social media applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook, which have large user bases in the country, to be responsible.

In a bid to check the spread of fake news through social media and messaging platforms — leading to mob lynching in some cases — the government is exploring the possibility of blocking WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram. The government is also trying to curb child abuse and pornography spread through these platforms.

The government has already issued notices on WhatsApp to keep a check on content. But, it is more concerned with Telegram, fast becoming the preferred medium for many people.

Sources said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had expressed concerns about Telegram to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Based on the letter from MeitY, DoT had asked the telecom and internet service providers to provide inputs about blocking mobile apps.

ALSO READ: Social media with large user base should behave responsibly: IT Secretary

Asked about the blocking of mobile apps, Information Technology (IT) Secretary Ajay P Sawhney said, “We are always in touch, and anytime we have a concern we flag it. We expect all platforms to behave in a responsible manner, especially those with a large user base.” He, however, said whenever the need arises, the government acts according to the IT Act in order to remove contentious content.

Sources told Business Standard it was very difficult for the government to ensure content had been blocked or taken down. In case of Telegram, which does not have a huge user base in India yet, the government wants to strengthen its enforcement mechanism.

Telegram claims its cloud chat data is stored in multiple data centres around the globe that are controlled by different legal entities spread across different jurisdictions. The relevant decryption keys are split into parts and are never kept in the same place as the data they protect. As a result, several court orders from different jurisdictions are required to force them to give up any data.

“Thanks to this structure, we can ensure no single government or block of like-minded countries can intrude on people’s privacy and freedom of expression,” Telegram explained on its website. Read more

Nooyi - the Indian executive who broke glass ceiling in corporate America

Nooyi is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and Yale University

Chennai-born Indra Nooyi not only broke the glass ceiling in corporate America when she was named CEO of global beverage giant PepsiCo in 2006 but, through her journey, inspired millions of young Indians who dreamed of and aspired to emulate the success the India-born woman achieved in America.

PepsiCo on Monday announced that Nooyi will step down on October 3 after 24 years with the company, the last 12 as CEO. PepsiCo's Board of Directors unanimously elected Ramon Laguarta, 54, to succeed 62-year-old Nooyi.

Nooyi, one of the most powerful and influential business leaders in the world, was regularly featured on the power lists compiled by Forbes and Fortune magazines. She was also among the few female executives to lead global corporate giants.

Apart from being a prominent face of women leadership across the world, she was also the epitome of success for the millions of young Indians who aspired to be like her as they watched her journey through the ranks of PepsiCo and eventually leading the global conglomerate. She was among the first of a handful of India-born executives to helm global corporates.

She was appointed as CEO in 2006, becoming PepsiCo's fifth chief executive in its 41-year history, and the first woman. MasterCard's President Ajay Banga, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were all named to the top jobs in their companies in the years that followed.

Nooyi was also very vocal about the challenges women faced in trying to find a balance in managing their home and work. She had famously said at an Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado in 2014 that women "cannot have it all."

ALSO READ: PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi to step down as CEO, Ramon Laguarta to take over

She had told the Aspen audience that she has died "with guilt" several times in her life as she tried to bring up her two daughters with her husband. She recounted that she felt guilty for not being able to attend several activities at her daughters' school as she could not take time off from work.

Nooyi said she was disappointed at her mother's reaction to her "great news." She said her mother told her "let the news wait. Can you go out and get some milk."

She recalled her mother telling her, "let me explain something to you. You might be president of PepsiCo. You might be on the board of directors. But when you enter this house, you're the wife, you're the daughter, you're the daughter-in-law, you're the mother. You're all of that. Nobody else can take that place. So leave that damned crown in the garage. And don't bring it into the house. You know I've never seen that crown."

A staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton for president, Nooyi had also expressed her disappointment when Clinton lost the presidential elections in 2016. She had said Clinton's loss left her daughters and PepsiCo's employees devastated and there were serious concerns among the company's workers, especially the non-white employees, about their safety in an America with Donald Trump as its president. (Read more)

Apple iPad Pro 2018 to get Face ID, gesture-based UI, lose 3.5mm audio jack

The next-generation iPad Pro models are also reported to have trimmed-down dimensions when compared with the current generation models, according to a report on Japanese technology portal Macotakara

US-based technology giant Apple is working on the iPad Pro 2018, which is reported to get some of its features from the iPhone X. These include the advanced facial recognition and gesture-controlled user interface. The next-generation iPad Pro models are also reported to have trimmed-down dimensions when compared with the current-generation models, according to a report on the Japanese technology portal Macotakara.The iPad Pro 2018 models are reported to come in 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch screen formats with edge-to-edge screen. Both the models would feature Apple’s advanced facial recognition biometric set-up, which uses an infrared camera, dot projector, flood illuminator, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor and front camera to 3D-map the user's face. In terms of dimensions, the iPad Pro 2018 with a 10.5-inch screen is reported to have a compact profile with dimensions measuring 247.5 x 178.7 x 6 mm, compared with 250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1mm for the current-generation model. Similarly, the 12.9-inch model would also have a trimmed dimension of 280 x 215 x 6.4mm, compared with 305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9mm in the current model.

ALSO READ: Apple developing app to comply with DND rules, end stand-off with Trai

The iPad Pro 2018 models are also reported to lose the 3.5mm headphone jack, which has been missing in the iPhone models of the past few generations.The recent information around the upcoming Apple iPad Pro 2018 stands in line with the predictions of Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who has seldom been wrong. The analyst had earlier predicted that there would be two new iPad Pro models, the 11-inch model to replace the 10.5-inch model and a 12.9-inch model. Though the report on the Japanese technology portal still bets on a 10.5-inch screen, there are chances that we see an 11-inch model eventually.

Kuo also predicted that the new iPad Pro models would have Face ID, which has been reaffirmed in the recent report. The all-screen display with gesture-based navigation also hints at no Home Button on the front and iPhone X-like user interface, which was also predicted by Kuo earlier.

Reliance Jio effect: Bharti Airtel posts Rs 9.4-bn loss in India operations

Total revenues were also down by 8.6 per cent to Rs 200 billion for the June 2018 quarter, compared to Rs 219 billion last year

Bruised by an intense tariff war in the telecom sector, Bharti Airtel has reported a net loss of Rs 9.4 billion in its India operations during the quarter ended June. The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led firm, set to be dethroned by Vodafone Idea as the country’s largest telecom operator, had reported a net profit of Rs 8.3 billion for India in the same period last year.

However, helped by an exceptional gain of Rs 5.15 billion, the telco has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 970 million for the June quarter. Without this gain, Airtel would have reported a net loss on a consolidated basis. The exceptional gain relates largely to creation of deferred tax asset in Nigeria. This was partially offset by network refarming programme and costs pertaining to the business combinations completed during the quarter. The consolidated net profit was down 73.5 per cent for the reported period to touch Rs 970 million against Rs 3.67 billion last year.

Total revenues were also down by 8.6 per cent to Rs 200 billion for the June 2018 quarter, compared to Rs 219 billion last year. The net debt of rose to Rs 1.02 trillion at the end of June 30. Incumbent operators have maintained that Reliance Jio’s “predatory pricing” was responsible for their margins crashing.

ALSO READ: Chief technology officers of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel resign

The high-decibel tariff war is not likely to end anytime soon as Jio continues to disrupt the market. Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio has touched a customer base of 200 million within two years of starting its commercial operations, making the company the fastest to achieve the milestone.

“Industry pricing continues to remain untenable,” said Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer, India & South Asia, Airtel. On an optimistic note, he said the company’s mobile data traffic surged 355 per cent in India on a year-on-year basis, led by successful bundles, content partnerships and handset upgrade plans.

“Q1 FY19 has seen our highest quarterly capex spends of Rs 78.87 billion. Our investments have led to some opex headwinds in this quarter, but we remain focused on structural cost containment through our war on waste programme,” Vittal said.

Low tariffs continue to take a toll and the company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) in India, a key metric to gauge the profitability of any telecom operator, decreased to Rs 105 a month. The ARPU for the March quarter was Rs 116. During the last quarter, Airtel completed the acquisition of Telenor because of which its customer base in the country rose to 344 million. The consolidated Ebitda margin fell to 34 per cent in the last quarter compared with 35.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year. Consolidated Ebit also dropped by 43.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 16.80 billion.

Rahul Gandhi seeks probe in NEET candidates' data leak, writes to CBSE

Rahul called for putting in place additional safeguards to prevent such a breach in the future

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to the CBSE over media reports claiming a massive breach of data of candidates who appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test this year, and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

In the letter to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) chairperson Anita Karwal, he called for putting in place additional safeguards to prevent such a breach in the future.

Drawing attention to the recent media reports regarding the "massive breach" of candidate data, Gandhi, in his letter, said, "It is alleged that this data is available on certain websites for a price, and has leaked the data of over 2,00,000 students".

Education news : The reports claimed that personal data, including names, phone numbers and email ids of over 2,00,000 candidates, who appeared for CBSE's National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) this year, were available for a price on some online portals.

I am shocked by this wide scale theft of personal data that has compromised the privacy of candidates across the country, Gandhi wrote in the letter.

He said it highlighted the serious lack of safeguards to prevent data breach, and calls into question the ability of the CBSE to ensure the sanctity of the examination process.

I strongly urge you to order an inquiry against this shocking lapse and take action against the officials responsible for the same. In addition, I request you to put additional safeguards to prevent the recurrence of such data breaches, Gandhi said.

The CBSE conducted the NEET on May 6 in 136 cities in 11 languages, the results of which were announced on June 4.

From assembling furniture to special lunchboxes: How Ikea aims to win India

IKEA, which sells affordable furniture that people assemble themselves, in a research found that Indians would be unlikely to buy furniture which they would have to assemble together themselves

Ikea built a global empire selling affordable furniture that people assembled themselves. For its first store in India, the Swedish retailer is upending its business model.

The India store, set to open next month in the southern city of Hyderabad, will feature Ikea’s first in-house furniture-assembly team, with 150 full-time employees. Ikea created the optional service after research indicated many Indians would be unlikely to buy bookshelves and tables they had to screw together.

The store will also have items tailored for Indian preferences, such as lunchbox sets to carry multiple-course meals, pans to cook Indian flatbread, and mattresses containing coconut fibres, which many Indians find cooling. The outlet’s 1,000-seat restaurant will be Ikea’s biggest to date, serving samosas and biryani as well as Swedish meatballs made with chicken or vegetables because most Indians don’t eat beef or pork.

“This is the moment of truth,” said Juvencio Maeztu, the company’s deputy chief executive, who spent the past six years preparing for the India launch. “India is an opportunity to make the next 75 years of Ikea.”

Ikea, like many big Western retailers, is betting that India’s mushrooming middle class and young population will spur demand for the company’s products. Roughly half of India’s 1.3 billion people are under the age of 25. While only a small minority can afford an Ikea bed or table set today, incomes and aspirations are rising. The country’s home-furnishings market expanded more than 90 Per cent over the past six years to $34.45 billion as of March, Indian retail consultancy Technopak estimated.

ALSO READ: Store launch delayed over construction issues, faulty fire alarms: IKEA

Among the retailer’s potential customers is Nitin Pai of Bangalore. Mr. Pai liked the Ikea bookcases he bought in Singapore so much that he looked for a local carpenter to copy the design. Until IKEA makes its debut in Bangalore, the 44-year-old hopes the company’s arrival in India will create better options. “Higher expectations will cause domestic competitors and those elusive carpenters to raise their game,” he said.

Getting India—the world’s second most populous country—right has never been more important for Ikea. Its global sales growth has slowed sharply in recent years, while its profit has been squeezed by heavy investments in e-commerce and new channels.

Ikea has considered doing business in India for years, having first established a presence in 2007 only to run into a raft of regulations limiting foreign investment in the country’s retail sector.

In the past month, the announced date of the company’s India opening has been delayed twice. A spokeswoman said Ikea still has more work to do on the store. (more)

Honor 9N India launch today: Watch live stream, know expected price, specs

The Honor 9N would sport an optimised notch-based screen and 2.5D curved glass design with 12-layer Nano coating on the back for a mirror-like effect

Honor, the online subsidiary of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei, is all set to launch the Honor 9N in India on July 24. The Flipkart-exclusive smartphone would sport an optimised notch-based screen and 2.5D curved glass design with 12-layer Nano coating on the back for a mirror-like effect.

The Honor 9N is reported to be a renamed version of the Honor 9i, launched in China some time ago. In terms of specifications and features, the Honor 9N is expected to sport a 5.84-inch fullHD+ notch-based screen stretched in a 19:9 aspect ratio. The phone would be powered by Kirin 659 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. This is the same processor that has been used in most of Honor’s budget smartphones, including the Honor 9 Lite, Honor 7X and Honor 9i (Indian version).

However, the Honor 9N processor might support Huawei’s recently announced GPU Turbo technology, which the company claims to boost graphic performance by up to 60 per cent and processor efficiency by 30 per cent.

ALSO READ: GPU Turbo aims to address smartphones' graphic performance challenge: Honor

In terms of imaging, the Honor 9N would have a dual camera set-up on the back and a single-camera unit on the front for selfies. The rear cameras would feature a 13-megapixel primary sensor mated with a 2MP depth-sensing lens. The selfie camera would feature a 16MP lens, which would also double up as a biometric utility for the face-unlock mechanism. Powering the device would be a 3,000 mAh battery.

As for the price, the Honor 9N is expected to be priced somewhere between Rs 12,000 and Rs 18,000. However, this is a speculative price and the official price, sale information and colour details would be added soon after the launch.

At 107,487, India accounts for 1/5th of global deaths from floods in 64 yrs

India is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change

India Floods : India accounts for one-fifth of global deaths due to floods, according to government data that lend perspective to a new World Bank study that says climate change will lower the standards of living of nearly half of India’s population by 2050.

As many as 107,487 people died due to heavy rains and floods across India over 64 years between 1953 and 2017, according to Central Water Commission data presented to the Rajya Sabha (Parliament’s upper house) on March 19, 2018. Damage to crops, houses and public utilities was reported to be Rs 365,860 crore–or as much as 3% of India’s current gross domestic product–the data show.

“The main reasons of floods have been assessed as high intensity rainfall in short duration, poor or inadequate drainage capacity, unplanned reservoir regulation and failure of flood control structures,” according to the reply to the Rajya Sabha.

With heavy rains sweeping western India, many cities such as Mangaluru, Mumbai and Junagarh have flooded during the 2018 monsoon season. Over 30 people died in floods that inundated 58 villages, The Times of India reported on July 7, 2018.

Climate change will exacerbate flooding

“Temperatures have been rising across the [South Asia] region, and are projected to continue increasing for the next several decades under all plausible climate scenarios,” the World Bank study, published on June 28, 2018, said.

These changes will result in more frequent flooding, greater water demand and increased heat-related medical issues.

South Asian cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Dhaka and Karachi–that are home to over 50 million people–face a substantial risk of flood-related damage over the next century, the report said.

India is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change. It has increased the frequency of downpours as well as the gaps between rainy days during the monsoon, as IndiaSpend reported in January 2018 and February 2018.

As India’s climate warms, extreme weather, such as intense rain and floods, is predicted to worsen.

The new World Bank study mentioned above said the worst affected states by 2050 would be Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Seven of the 10 most affected districts will belong to Vidarbha, Maharashtra.

Article Source : BS

Lakshadweep's new islands to be thrown open - only for 'high-end' tourists

Checks are to be placed on the movement of tourists to ensure the ecology of the place is not disturbed

Planning to spend a long weekend with family and friends in one of the newly opened Lakshadweep islands? Be prepared to shell out a little more than you thought. If things go as planned, the Centre will develop 12 new Lakshadweep islands under its island development programme but limit their access to ‘high-end’ serious adventure and fun tourists – those who won’t mind spending more than Rs 15,000 for a one-night stay in some of the world’s most exotic and unexplored places.

The number of tourists visiting these newly opened spaces will also be planned and closely monitored to ensure the highly fragile ecology of these coral islands does not get harmed.

The visits will only be on a prior booking basis, and there will be no drive-in facility.

According to senior officials, the movement of tourists will also be limited to a specific area in the newly opened islands, so that the privacy of locals and tribal people, many of whom have their own personal communities cut off from the outside world, is maintained.

“We won’t allow this (opening of islands for tourists) to impact the much-cherished and highly fragile ecological and environmental characteristics of the Lakshadweep islands,” Farooq Khan, administrator of the Lakshadweep islands, told Business Standard.

He said the Centre in the first phase planned to build around 150 rooms in the inhabited and uninhabited islands of Lakshadweep in association with private parties. Of these, 84 rooms would be in the inhabited islands of Bangaram and Suheli.

Resort owners who exceed their allocated quota of rooms would be penalised and their licences would be cancelled to ensure that there is no crowding of resorts in the islands.

Of the 12 identified islands in Lakshadweep, for which permission has been granted to develop as tourism destinations, the work in the first phase will start on 10 – Minicoy, Kadmat, Agatti, Chetlat, Bitra, Bangaram, Thinakarra, Cheriyan, Suheli and Kalpeni.

Among these, the first five are inhabited and the remaining not.

Lakshwadeep is an archipelago of 12 atolls, three reefs and five submerged banks, with a total of about thirty-nine islands and islets. Of these, fewer than half are inhabited.

Development of the new islands in Lakshadweep is part of the Centre’s ambitious programme of holistic development of 26 islands in Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar for which it formed an Island Development Agency in June last year.

Along with the NITI Aayog, the government plans to develop these islands into tourist attractions on the lines of popular Southeast Asian beach destinations.

Article source : BS

IIT, IIM students get more than double the salary than other grads: Report

Candidates proficient in new-age skills like machine learning and data science are found to be hired largely from the top IITs

As employers look for quality talent, engineering graduates from top IITs are fetching 137 per cent higher salary package than an average engineer, while management graduates from top IIMs are getting 121 per cent more than an average MBA graduate, according to a report.

In IITs, computer science or information technology graduates are receiving the highest annual package of Rs 6.9 lakh per annum, global online talent measurement solution provider Mettl said in its campus hiring report 2018.

The report said candidates proficient in new-age skills like machine learning and data science are found to be hired largely from the top IITs.

"New IITs are catching up fast with top NITs in terms of compensation packages offered, especially for CS or IT graduates where new IITs have surpassed top NITs," it said.

In a region-wise analysis of management institutions, the report observed that west India held a leading position with 17 per cent higher compensations than the average salary recorded.

ALSO READ: More MBA graduates are choosing tech jobs, and Silicon Valley is hiring

The report is the result of a survey conducted by Mettl across 194 institutes in the country, comprising 114 engineering and 80 management institutions, during January to June period, for placement for FY 2017-18.

It said graduates from the technology domain received the higher average salary package of Rs 14.8 lakh per annum post MBA.

The general management roles accounted for the maximum number of hires at 31 per cent, while roles in senior management were the highest paid jobs commanding 118 per cent more than the average salary of MBA graduates, it added.

Mettl chief executive and co-founder Ketan Kapoor said in the present age, there is a rise in demand for skilled candidates across all domains and employers have taken the campus route to attract quality talent to meet this demand.

"However, employers face many challenges during campus placement drives. From early attrition to inability to retain candidates even after rolling out lucrative offer letters, companies face a major challenge that needs to be resolved in order to build loyal future leaders," he added.

Article Source : BS

Apple App Store turns 10 with 500 mn weekly visitors in 155 countries

Subscriptions are up 95 per cent from 2017, and as of June 2018, developers have earned over $100 billion from the App Store

Customers in 155 countries are visiting Apple App Store more often, staying longer and downloading and using more apps than ever before, the Cupertino-based iPhone giant has said.

App Store, that will turn 10 on July 10, now sees 500 million weekly visitors and hundreds of stories on the "Today" tab that have been read by more than 1 million people.

"When Apple introduced the App Store on July 10, 2008, with 500 apps, it ignited a cultural, social and economic phenomenon that changed how people work, play, meet, travel and so much more," Apple said in a statement on Friday.

With the introduction of in-app purchase (IAP) in 2009, customers could download an app and then pay to unlock different levels and functionality.

By June 2010, $1 billion were paid out to developers from IAP and paid apps.

Subscriptions are up 95 per cent from 2017, and as of June 2018, developers have earned over $100 billion from the App Store, the company informed.

"In its first decade, the App Store has surpassed all of our wildest expectations. We could not be more proud of what developers have created and what the next 10 years have in store," said Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Apple.

According to Marco Arment, a long-time iOS developer, App Store has been by far the easiest way for developers to reach the most people with his apps.

"It eliminated the friction and overhead of setting up our own distribution and payment systems, making development far more accessible to everyone and letting us focus on our true passion: making the best apps we can," he said.

Later, start-ups including Instagram, Calm, Uber and Instacart embraced features like the iPhone camera, Apple Pay, GPS and Location Services to deliver on-demand and personalised experiences -- with many creating billion-dollar businesses that started with apps in the App Store.

"At the same time, both traditional companies and those that started as websites, such as Twitter, Facebook, eBay, Yelp, Airbnb and Amazon, began building apps to meet changing customer behaviour," Apple said.

The App Store brought gaming mainstream owing to the Multi-Touch technology on iPhone and iPad and the convenience of playing on the go.

Article Source : BS

Reliance Jio postpaid users can get JioFi 4G router for Rs 499: Here is how

The JioFi cashback offer is valid only for new Jio postpaid subscribers on the purchase of JioFi 4G router. The cashback offer is applicable from today onwards i.e. July 3

Reliance Jio , a Mukesh Ambani-owned telecommunication service provider, on July 2 announced Rs 500 cashback offer on its JioFi 4G wireless portable dongle, which brings down the effective cost of ownership from Rs 999 to Rs 499. However, the JioFi cashback offer is valid only for new Jio postpaid subscribers on the purchase of JioFi 4G router. The cashback offer is applicable from today onwards i.e. July 3.

Here are the steps to avail JioFi cashback offer:

Step 1: Purchase JioFi 4G router and Jio postpaid connection by paying the device’s full amount and refundable deposit for the connection

Step 2: Use the device with Jio postpaid connection for 12 months

Step 3: After successful completion of 12 months billing cycles, the cashback of Rs 500 would be credited to user’s account that can then be adjusted in future bills

Currently, Jio only has Rs 199 postpaid plan in which the company offers 25GB of 4G data, along with free voice calls, SMS, national roaming and free access to Jio app suite, which includes Jio music, Jio movies, JioTV, Jio newspaper, etc.

ALSO READ: Reliance Jio double dhamaka offer: Know new plans, data offers, discounts

The Rs 199 postpaid plan also offers international roaming in select countries at Rs 2 per minute for voice, Rs 2 per megabyte (MB) for data and Rs 2 per SMS. It also comes with an add-on roaming pack of Rs 500 a day for unlimited voice, data and SMS.

Xiaomi prices Hong Kong IPO at bottom of range, raises $4.72 bn: Report

Xiaomi had been expected to raise up to $10 billion, split between Hong Kong and mainland China, but last week shelved the mainland offering until after listing in Hong Kong

China's Xiaomi Corp priced its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) at the bottom of an indicative range, raising $4.72 billion in the world's biggest tech float in four years, people close to the transaction said on Friday.

Xiaomi priced its share offering at HK$17 per share ($2.17), the bottom of a price range of HK$17 to HK$22, the people said. It is selling about 2.18 billion shares, one of the people said, making the IPO the largest in the technology sector since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd raised $25 billion in New York in 2014.

Xiaomi declined to comment on the IPO pricing. The people declined to be identified as the information was not public.

The pricing comes at a delicate time for Hong Kong's stock market, with the benchmark Hang Seng index falling 6.5 per cent this month and 4.8 per cent this year amid escalating trade tension between the US and Chinese governments.

The share sale is widely seen as a test of market sentiment for what is expected to be a packed second-half of the year in terms of IPOs in Hong Kong including offerings by China Tower, the world's largest mobile mast operator, and Meituan Dianping, a massive online food delivery-to-ticketing services platform.

ALSO READ: Alibaba's Jack Ma among three billionaires to grab a slice of Xiaomi's IPO

Several Chinese IPO candidates preparing to float in Hong Kong and New York could be met with cautious investors if tension persists between the world's two biggest economies, potentially dragging on capital raising amounts after a stellar first half.

China Tower has won approval in Hong Kong for an IPO that could raise up to $10 billion. Its listing timing will, however, depend somewhat on how well Xiaomi's deal is received, sources have told Reuters.

Xiaomi's IPO adds to the $6 billion of new listings so far in 2018 in Hong Kong and is set to be the first under the city's new exchange rules permitting dual-class shares common in the tech industry in an attempt to attract tech floats.

The firm lined up $548 million from seven cornerstone investors for its share sale including US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc and telecom service provider China Mobile Ltd.

Set up in 2010, Xiaomi doubled its smartphone shipments in 2017 to become the world's fourth-largest maker, according to Counterpoint Research, defying a global slowdown in handset sales. It also makes dozens of internet-connected home appliances and gadgets, including scooters, air purifiers and rice cookers.

RBI to defer putting lending, expansion curbs on PNB till Q1 results

Andhra Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, and Canara Bank, too, are likely to make a similar presentation before the regulator

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may defer putting lending and expansion restrictions on Rs 143 billion fraud-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) till the first-quarter results of 2018-19 are out.

The regulator has conveyed to the management of the bank in a recent meeting that it will examine, after looking at the June quarter results, whether PNB’s financial conditions warrant putting it under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework.

“The regulator will take a call after the June-ended quarter results (are declared). The regulator has told PNB to improve recovery, shed risk-weighted assets, and focus on reducing expenditure till then,” an official said.

PNB, led by its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Sunil Mehta, made a presentation on its revival plan to the RBI last Monday, requesting the regulator to defer action under PCA till December, according to sources.

Most public sector banks (PSBs) declare their financial results for the April-June period between the end of July and beginning of August. So PNB may not face any business restrictions till at least August if the regulator has its way.

“Looking at the PCA framework, PNB, like a few other banks, fulfils a couple of important parameters to be added to the list. But PCA will not affect business operations as such. In the present situation, no bank is looking at aggressive credit growth, looking at branch expansion or aggressive hiring, and these are a few things that the banks have to go slow on under PCA,” said Karthik Srinivasan, senior vice-president—group head, financial sector ratings, Icra, adding, “it does not change life for any bank unless the RBI puts a specific lending restriction.” According to a recent report by Credit Suisse, with net non-performing assets (NPAs) over 8 per cent and common equity tier levels down to less than 6 per cent, PNB and Andhra Bank are likely candidates for PCA. Under RBI rules, fulfilling any of the three conditions — net NPA levels above 6 per cent, two years of consecutive losses, or the capital adequacy ratio below the regulatory requirement — could put banks under PCA. PNB suffered the highest ever loss by any domestic bank, at Rs 134 billion, mainly due to the Rs 143-billion swindle on account of fraudulent loans to jewellery firms belonging to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi and the RBI’s new provisioning norms. Last week, on the directives of the finance ministry, apart from PNB, Union Bank also met the regulator, urging a deferment of PCA by citing a revival plan.

Fortis shortlists Munjal-Burman, TPG-Manipal, IHH, Radiant for stake sale

Fortis said it has received interest from various parties on May 31, as per the timeline specified in the fresh process for bidding

Fortis Healthcare on Friday said it has shortlisted four entities -- the Munjal-Burman combine, Manipal-TPG consortium, Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhand and Radiant Life Care to bid for the sale of its business.

In a regulatory filing, Fortis said it has received interest from various parties on May 31, as per the timeline specified in the fresh process for bidding.

It said the company's board has decided to include the following four parties -- Hero Enterprise Investment Office and Burman Family Office (Dabur), IHH Healthcare Berhand, Radiant Life Care, Manipal-TPG consortium in the bidding process.

Earlier this week, Fortis Healthcare initiated a fresh time-bound bidding process for its sale after terminating the offer made by the Munjal-Burman combine.

As part of the process, the Fortis board decided to invite three entities that had put in binding offers -- Munjal-Burman combine, TPG-Manipal consortium, and Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Berhad -- to participate in the fresh bidding process subject to certain conditions.

The three entities were given time till today to confirm adherence to the new bidding process while other interested parties were also required to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) by May 31.

As per the fresh criteria, the buyers have to make a minimum investment of Rs 1,500 crore into Fortis Healthcare by way of preferential allotment apart from having a plan for funding the acquisition of RHT Health Trust (RHT) and a plan for providing exit to private equity investors of diagnostic arm SRL.

Among others, the bids should be unconditional as well as mention about the source of funds for the transaction and elaborate on the plans for retention of current management and employees.

Last week, Fortis board was reconstituted after shareholders had voted out its director Brian Tempest, who was among the four directors whose removal was sought by two institutional investors.

Three other directors -- Harpal Singh, Sabina Vaisoha and Tejinder Singh Shergill -- had resigned ahead of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on May 22. During the meeting, shareholders voted out Tempest.

Interestingly, these four directors were among those who had favoured the binding offer made by Munjal-Burman combine.

Following the board revamp, Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, Ravi Rajagopal and Indrajit Banerjee have joined as independent directors.