Top headlines: ExxonMobil, ONGC to bid jointly; telcos bat for tariff hike

From Exxon bidding for auction rounds under OALP tp Flipkart readying for big billion day sale, here are top headlines this morning

ExxonMobil, ONGC to bid jointly for upcoming auction rounds under OALP

American energy giant ExxonMobil and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are set to jointly bid for the upcoming sixth and seventh auction rounds under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). The companies are discussing the submission of expressions of interest (EoI), the last date for which is November 15. Read More
 

A turning point: Apple's online debut in India a big step towards retail

The best place to buy Apple is Apple. That’s how the Cupertino-based tech giant explained why it opened the online Apple store in India last month, 23 years after the company’s first online outlet was opened in the US in 1997 and 19 years after the physical retail debut at Tysons Corner in McLean and Glendale Galleria in Southern California, US, in 2001. The online launch is meant to be a precursor to India’s first physical store coming up next year. Read More

Big Billion Days sale: Flipkart readies virtual war room for festive season

With Covid-19 having accelerated the shift to e-commerce, Flipkart is expecting to host the biggest flagship sale event ‘Big Billion Days’ this month. Jeyandran Venugopal has his task cut out as chief product and technology officer of Flipkart — to implement new technologies at a fast clip. Read More

Voda Idea, Airtel bat for tariff hike, but Reliance Jio is sitting tight

The chorus for a tariff hike from incumbents is getting louder. In August, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal declared firmly that mobile tariffs have to go up for the industry to be sustainable. Backing him up was Vodafone Idea chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla who called tariffs, despite last December’s 40-50 per cent increase, very low and said raising them was vital for growth. Read More

Singapore's Mapletree Investments buys land in Mumbai for Rs 525 crore

In one of the biggest land deals in the country this year, Mapletree Investments of Singapore has bought a 7-acre land parcel in the Vikhroli area of Mumbai for Rs 525 crore, said people in the know. The Kanakia group, from which Mapletree did the purchase, had bought the plot from India Tube Mills and Metal (ITM) Industries for Rs 363 crore in 2018. Read More

Clix Capital, Lakshmi Vilas Bank set to make a joint presentation to RBI

As Clix restarts merger talks with the new representative of LVB, it is said that the two may make a joint presentation to the RBI this week. Clix will put forth details on the merger and state some of its key conditions critical for the deal to come through.

These conditions include the firm taking 51 per cent or more stake in LVB, and the leeway to gradually reduce stake to 15 per cent over 8-10 years. Read More

GST row: Govt proposes to revise Option 1, Oppn states may table 3rd option

Ahead of the crucial Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting on Monday, the Centre has proposed to increase the interest-free borrowing limit for states to around Rs 1.1 trillion through the special window of the Reserve Bank of India to make up for the compensation shortfall, up from Rs 97,000 crore it proposed earlier. Read More

Firms can now convert permanent jobs into fixed-term contracts

The Union government has done away with the safeguard provision that deterred employers from converting permanent jobs into fixed-term contracts, as part of the new labour laws notified last week. The Industrial Relations (IR) Code, 2020, notified on September 29, has allowed companies to hire contract workers directly through fixed-term contract, known as fixed-term employment. Read More
 

Paytm takes the challenge to Google, launches its own mini app store

Paytm has taken the challenge to Google’s Play Store by launching its Android Mini App Store, through which it seeks to help developers take their applications to the masses. This is the start-up’s latest move to break Google’s monopoly over distribution of Android applications. Read More