Top headlines: Digital shoppers for sales turnaround; Jobs market dwindle

From firms eyeing sales turnaround with digital shoppers to Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition, here are top headlines of the day

Festive strategy: Digital shoppers in focus as firms eye sales turnaround

Customers of Tanishq, the Tata group-owned jewellery brand, in Mumbai, were greeted with special messages on their mobile phones over the weekend. They were invited to participate in online aartis of the city’s Lalbaghcha Raja and Pune’s Dagdusheth Ganpati — both popular Ganesh pandals in Maharashtra. Read More

Future Retail averts default, pays Rs 100 cr of interest on foreign bonds

Future Retail, which is in talks with Reliance Industries (RIL) on sale, on Monday averted a default by paying Rs 100 crore of interest on its foreign bonds. Any legal complication due to default at this stage would have delayed the deal with RIL, a source said. The interest was paid on the last day of the 30-day grace period granted by the bondholders of the $500-million senior secured notes. Read More

Will cancel spectrum allocation if telcos don't pay AGR dues: SC

After several rounds of hearings and a year later, the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case. On the last day of hearing on Monday, the court observed that if telecom companies are unwilling to pay their dues, it would direct the Union government to cancel their spectrum allocation and licence. Read More

In a bind over UAE-Israel ties, Pak has eye on the 'prize': F-35 jets

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) establishing full diplomatic relations with the predominantly Jewish state of Israel — only the third Muslim Arab country to do so after Eqypt and Jordan — has raised questions in academic and diplomatic circles as to whether Pakistan will follow suit. Read More

Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition with a three-pronged attack

For Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest mobile service provider by market share, the battle with its chief rival Jio, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has shifted to newer frontiers. The first is protecting and expanding its lucrative enterprise business, where Jio is making aggressive entry steps, with global tie-ups over the past two weeks. The second is a global investment in broadband satellite through UK-based OneWeb. Read More

Unlock rally in hotels, multiplexes and retails stocks may fizzle out

While unlocking of the economy is boosting the overall market, it has also improved sentiment towards stocks belonging to sectors such as hotels, retail and multiplexes, which were sharply hit due the pandemic. Many stocks from these sectors have gained 30 to over 100 per cent in the last three months, outperforming the 26.5 per cent rise in the BSE Sensex during the same period. Read More

Indiabulls Housing in talks with Oaktree to raise $200 million in debt

Indiabulls Housing Finance is in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Oaktree to raise $200 million (Rs 1,500 crore) in debt, said sources in the know, the second such deal between the two in the past three months. Like in the previous deal, Indiabulls will pledge some developer loans with the global stressed assets investor, which will come in as a senior lender. Read More

Jobs for youngsters dwindle in slowing economy hit by Covid-19, lockdown

Covid-19 is known to be particularly dangerous for the elderly who may have comorbidities. It is also known to be equally dangerous for very small children. Young adults are less likely to be infected by the disease so as to lead to a fatal outcome. Most youngsters remain asymptomatic through a possible infection and the event is often no different from a common flu. Read More