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Beginning When the world is closed, companies reporting losses, people struggling to make ends meet, Reliance Jio has made deals worth billions. It has reduced its debt to zero in less than a 3-month period.

Wipro as a company has grown tremendously and has its wings reaching out to different sectors. It has reported its share of success and failures. Its one of the best IT companies in India and brought in a lot of job opportunities to people. It still continues to provide its services and employment opportunities throughout the world. To sum up the success, if one had invested in WIPRO shares in 1980 for 10,000 INR, it would have become 380 crores INR in 2020. Isn’t that wonderful?

We all know Anushka Sharma as an actress and a model, but did you know she is also a successful entrepreneur? Of not just one company, but two companies. At a young age of 25, she ventured into starting a production company of her own. Many people told her that it was a foolish decision, as she had just established herself in films.

Story of Rakesh Jhujunwala

How technology has changed the financial sector

 Is Vijay Mallya the villain that we portray him to be? Here are some facts about this businessman that will make you see him differently. Vijay’s father, Vittal Mallya's demise was sudden and the entire business empire fell on the shoulders of Vijay Mallya who was 28 years old at that time.He turned the UB group into a global brand and owns 55% of the Indian beer market. He targeted Shaw Wallace which was a better and bigger company that owned the Royal Challenge whiskey. In 1991 the liquor laws were relaxed, paving way for Mallya to become the leader of the leading liquor company in India.When he inherited the company, the annual sales were around 2.5 m cases and by 2001 he was selling over 26m cases. After the death of the chairman of Shaw Wallace, he acquired the company and turned the liquor business in his favor.Kingfisher beer became a popular house drink. He became the owner of the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team and also sponsored the Force India Formula 1 Grand Prix racing team.With this success, he was called the king of good times. But soon it came crashing down because of Kingfisher Airlines. He launched it in the year 2005, as the five-star hotel in air. Due to the 2008 recessions, the plans of Kingfisher Airlines crumbled. The rise in fuel prices and passenger shrink, made the airline bankrupt in 2012.Vijay Mallya had procured loans from 17 banks including State Bank of India (SBI) and private banks to save his sinking company. But this move backfired for him. Mallya owed 9000 crores to these 17 banks.He was willing to repay the principal amount but wanted the interest rates to be waived off. Amidst this, Mallya became the poster boy of bank default. Many companies like Jet airways owe much more money than kingfisher, Reliance communications owe a debt of 4,50,000 crores, Videocon industrialize owes a debt of 40,000 crores.All these debts have not been paid by the companies and are looking to file for bankruptcy, in doing this, the lenders would not get a single rupee that has been given as a loan. But the ethical businessman that he is, Vijay Mallya has offered to pay the principal amount, unlike others. Kingfisher could have filed for bankruptcy in the year 2012 and didn’t have to go through these legal battles with the banks.Mallya has written several letters to the Prime Minister and shared the same via his twitter profile. All his pleas have been turned down by the government. He had offered to pay the principal amount twice; one was 4000 crores and another was 4400 crores in the year 2016.Mallya stated that the principal amount borrowed was 5200 crores along with the interest of 1200 crores. The government has recovered 600 crores from the sale of pledged assets and 1280 crores have been deposited in Karnataka high court.He even questioned the government for stating that his asset worth is 9600 crores, where certain properties bought in 1906 before the formulation of Kingfisher has been attached. In his letter he has stated that he was wrongfully called a defaulter to have run away with 9600 crores.He was accused of not taking care of his staff, as many went home without pay. But he urged that he cared for his people, as around 66,000 employees were working in the UB group for almost 20-30 years loyally. He even sent an application to the government to pay salaries to his employees, which was again ignored by the UBHL and the government.State bank of India gave a loan of 1500 crores and IDFC gave a sum of 900 crores. Both the banks bought the shares of kingfisher when it was listed in the stock market. But soon the shares of kingfisher fell and it was removed from the stock market, thereby the banks could not recover any money.UBHL and Vijay Mallya have applied to the Karnataka high court to sell assets worth 13,900 crores under judicial supervision. The copy of the same has been attached in his letter. Mallya went to the UK on 2 March 2017 when he was tipped that he was going to be arrested.He was arrested by the Metropolitan Police but got bail for the same. On 20th April 2020 his plea of extradition was rejected by the UK government. SBI had asked the UK government to declare him bankrupt, thereby settling his dues to them.But the UK government rejected the offer stating that Mallya should be given time as his pleas in Karnataka court and the supreme court has not yet been reviewed.

On 22 April, Facebook bought 9.9% shares in Reliance Jio for 43,574 crores. For Jio, Morgan Stanley was the financial advisor, AZB partners  and ‘Davis Polk and Wardwell’ were the counsel of advisors.Law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and PwC advised Facebook and Bank of America acted as an exclusive financial advisor. This move by Facebook has given it a strong foothold in the leading telecommunication industry in India.Reliance Jio has benefitted from this deal as their debt is significantly cut down. This deal has increased the market value of Jio to 65.95 billion. This deal has created history as Facebook is the first technology company to have invested in the telecommunication industry in India.Facebook being a minority member of Jio, the investment is large. This deal has made Jio one of the top 5 leading companies in India.Reliance Jio was launched 4 years back on 27 December, 2015. It has a market base of 388 million people. It awakened the era of an affordable net package and unlimited talk time, making it a serious threat to other telecommunication companies.This investment is also having a commercial commitment, where Reliance Retails, the new e-commerce business, “ JioMart” will be using WhatsApp as a platform. This new platform will help various small businessmen to sell their products online. This will empower 3 crore people to sell their products and receive payment digitally.This move will help small retail stores in the neighbourhood as orders can be taken and door to door delivery can be done easily.In India, Facebook has the largest market of nearly 328 million monthly users and 400 million monthly users for WhatsApp. This move was made by Facebook to strengthen the relationship and commitment with IndiaMark Zuckerberg in his statement mentioned that there are various small entrepreneurs in India, who need technical support platforms to make their livelihood easy. Post Corona, this would be a game-changer for many small businesses.The deal aims to ensure digital platform to 60 million micro small and medium companies, 120 million farmers, and 30 million small merchants.

India follows a model wherein raw ingredients are imported from China and the finished drugs are sold globally. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, and the decrease in imports from China, the exports of pharma in India are affected.

Find out how perspectives of valuations have changed over time

Findout the History of Indian Economy

IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRY Coronavirus is spreading throughout the world at an alarming rate. According to a study 3.8 crore people are jobless. Which is 70% of the workforce of the tourism and hospitality sector. The Federal Association in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), has urged the employees to support the workers by creating a support fund for twelve months to provide necessities and salaries of the workers. It is believed that out of 70% around 5.5 crore people would be unemployed. The total loss faced by the hospitality and tourism industry is estimated to be 5 lakh crores. The hotel chain alone would have an estimated loss of 130-155 crore loss which accounts for 27% to 32% erosion of profits from last year. The business for these industries saw a recovery in January whereas, in mid-February and March, there was a slide in this sector. The FAITH is urging the government to cut GST for this financial year for the tourism industry. They are also asking the government to have a relief package fund to revive the tourism and hospitality industry. The availability of collateral-free credit options needs to be made available for the tourism industry for its survival. The hospitality industry suffered the most in march as many events were cancelled, corporates events and bookings were called off and vacation bookings dropped steeper. There has been a significant reduction in accommodations in two-tier and three-tier hostels as well. Till April 14 2020 the borders are sealed and all international flights are suspended. Thus, there are not many international client accommodations. Moreover, many companies have work from home schedules thereby reducing corporate travels. Over 95% of the hospitality industry is owned by Bed and Bath (B&B), guest houses account for a loss of 130-155 crores. Additional loss in revenue across alternative accommodations is up to 420 to 470 crores. The tourism industry contributes to 10% of India’s GDP which is equivalent to $275 billion and this might have a huge fall if the COVID 19 situation does not improve in the second quarter. Most of the branded hotels have almost 15-25% of staff hired on a contract basis of which almost 10% of the workers might lose their job. Online travel agencies are expected to suffer a loss of 4,312 crores, tour operators are expected to have a loss of 25,000 crores, adventure tour operators are expected to suffer a loss of 19,000 crores and cruise tourism, a loss of 419 crores. Several hotels are providing rooms for a heavily subsidized rate to accommodate hospital staff and provide their kitchens to prepare meals for them. The hotels are reporting excessive losses, but to remain functional many hotels are providing rooms to quarantine those who have returned from abroad. The deputy manager of Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd Rathan Keshwani in collaboration with the Delhi Government has agreed to accommodate and quarantine those who have returned from abroad. This is also a way of showing how the hospitality industry is showing its social responsibility to combat this virus.

Coronavirus has impacted the aviation industry the most as it has crippled the travel of people around the globe. Flights had been flying empty and there has been a surge in cancellation. The aviation industry has been crippled completely as travel restrictions have been imposed and the Indian aviation industry saw a crash of 40% on certain routes. As per CAPA, private domestic carriers are expected to face a loss of 4500 crores in one quarter. The national carrier Air India is expected to have a loss of 3700 crores during this quarter. Air India is the worst-hit air carrier and the proceedings for privatization are likely to get postponed. Airbus A320, would carry 180 passengers, but during mid-March the passenger count from Bangalore to Mumbai fell to 8 passengers. Many Airlines also have the issue of getting parking spot in many cities and countries. 30% of the flights are likely to lose their spot due to non-compliance with travel and flight schedule. Every Airline is hoping that their fate won’t be like Jet Airways which suspended operations in April 2019. India has banned all domestic and international travels from March 25 2020 to April 14 2020 to contain the spread of the virus. Go Air is close to the fate of Jet Airways, as it has cut down 35% of its employees and has sent them home with no pay. It has also terminated the contract of ex-pat pilots. CEO of Indigo Airlines, Ronojoy Datta has announced pay cuts, starting with himself, pilots, crew members and executives. Many senior pilots have complained that the situation has changed dramatically, as two weeks prior they worked overtime by surrendering their leave, and now there’s no extra pay, a pay cut in salaries and uncertainty of jobs. CAPA released a report on March 18, 2020, that the airline yield started falling in February by 5-10%. By March the decline was 15%. Advanced booking has fallen by 30%. More than 150 airlines are grounded, 30% of airline staff and 50% of ground staff can lose their jobs. Due to international restrictions, the two most crucial market routes- Europe and the Middle East has cut a lot of revenue for the airlines. Due to cash crunch, many airlines are offering credit-based travel instead of refunding the cancelled tickets as cash is essential for the survival of the airlines. Many airlines have extended the credit availability from a 6-month window to almost a year. Globally, UK budget carrier Flybe has collapsed, LATAM Airlines, South America’s largest airlines has canceled 90% of the flights, America’s major Delta Airlines has grounded 600 flights and 70% of its staff. To cut costs in the future, many staff members won’t be receiving excessive training sessions and recruitment of staff would fall drastically. Airbus and Boeing would also be severely hit as many air carriers would cancel the deal of new planes to sustain and recover losses. Globally, the revenue loss in the airline industry accounts for $113 billion. The Indian government is planning a relief package for the airline industry of $1.6 billion with the deferment of taxes due to coronavirus.

Coronavirus is taking down industries one by one. The automobile industry was already struggling and its had a major setback due to the spread of coronavirus. China imports 27% of automobile parts and it has suspended shipping of the parts due to the outbreak of the coronavirus from 28th February until further notice. In 2019, the sales of automobiles dropped by 13.5% and in 2020 the growth rate was at 8.3%. Production of BS 4 vehicles has stopped. Since customer drop-in has reduced drastically due to the lockdown, many dealers can’t sell the existing BS 4 vehicles before 1st April 2020. Auto companies are asking the supreme court to extend the date to 31 May 2020. The Geneva Motor Show was canceled due to the massive spread of coronavirus. The Australian Grand Prix was also canceled due to McLaren’s withdrawal hours before the practice as one of its drivers was tested positive for coronavirus. Almost 25,000 executives from leading automobile companies have asked their employees to work from home until further notice. Automakers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors India, Toyota Kirloskar Motors, and Tata motors have upgraded the safety system for the employees by business travel restrictions, social distancing, thermal screening and suspension of biometric attendance. In India, the highest reported cases are in Maharashtra, the automobile hub of India. It has affected the supply chain in India as the components of automobile parts are in shortage for all the segments, which includes, “passenger vehicles, two-wheeler, three-wheelers, and the commercial segment.” The automobile industry contributes to 7% of India’s GDP. The entire Automobile sector in India is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 50,000 crores due to the 21 day lockdown averaging around a loss of Rs 2,300 crores per day. Since production is shut down for 10 days, the automobile industry is facing a lot of losses. Despite all this, many companies are still contributing their bit towards society. MG Motors has donated 2 crores to the hospitals and towards essentials like gloves, masks, ventilators, medication, beds, and other requirements of the hospitals. Hyundai Motors India as a part of their CSR activity has ordered a COVID testing kit from South Korea for 25,000 patients. TVS motors has contributed 30 crores towards the economic aid package. The money is funded by Srinivasan Services Trust (SST). This money will be used to provide masks to health care workers and police professionals, provide daily meals to police, health workers and municipal workers. It is also providing daily ration in Himachal Pradesh. Maruti Suzuki India has entered into a partnership deal with AgVa healthcare, to produce 10,000 ventilators per month. Tata Trust has donated Rs 1500 crores to help the health care department in providing masks, ventilators, testing kits, beds and all other essentials to combat COVID 19. Mahindra has decided to make the cheapest ventilators at a cost of Rs 7500. They have worked 48 hours non stop to design a Bag Valve Mask Ventilator prototype model. It is in the process of approval. Once the approval is given, the production will commence. Coronavirus has taken the globe by storm, but the future of the automobile industry looks promising according to McKinsey’s report. India will emerge as the third-largest passenger vehicle market by 2021. It took India 7 years to increase its production from 3 million to 4 million vehicles. But the next 5 years for India is expected to be a cakewalk as the 5 million mark would be accomplished sooner. The Automotive mission plan of 2026 aims to triple industry revenues to $300 billion and expand exports to $80 billion. This would provide job opportunities for 60 million people in the industry directly and indirectly.

The deadly new coronavirus has taken over the world claiming over 2700 lives and 80,000 plus confirmed cases globally. The virus has been spotted in almost 25 countries and has sent the markets around the world in alarm. As per the WTO reports, China is the leading country in exports and the second-biggest importer of merchandise. Any disruption in the economy of China is likely to affect globally. India being the largest trade partner of China is at a huge risk. Looking at the previous epidemic outbreaks, global markets have always shown an upward trend within the first 6 months. For instances during the case of SARS, the market was down by 3.4%, but within 6 months it became bullish and was soaring up by 17.3%. The Indian market has an advantage over the global falling of stock prices as China is the largest consumer of crude oil and due to falling of prices in the market, the oil prices have become cheaper, thus helping the Indian economy to reap the benefits as almost 80-% of crude oil of India is through import. But the overall picture of the economy would be hit severely as India depends on China on raw materials, which are soon reducing. The automobile industry is struggling in India, the assembly lining for finished product formation is done in China and due to the shutdown of industries, the automobile market is further going to struggle according to reports. Almost 67% of pharma is imported from China by India and the pharma market is also going to have a big hit in the next few weeks. Asian paints, plastic industries are likely to benefit due to the fluctuating global markets. Warren Buffet, on the other hand, is cheering the global market falls, by stating that he would want to buy food for the rest of his life and want the prices of food to fall further down. He also stated that he won’t be selling any of his stocks as he feels that experts have predicted the earning power of the industry on a 10-20 years’ time horizon and the epidemic has not changed the long term outlook of these stocks.

THE AFTERMATH OF NAMASTE TRUMP. Trump’s maiden visit to India had a lot of pomp and show, but the real deals that it achieved were strategic. This visit happened at a crucial movement where both the leaders needed a strong boost forward. Modi being criticized for his revocation of section 370 and the ongoing CAA protests, and trump facing the pressure of the elections, needed a good publicity. The most awaited deal between the 2 countries was the trade deals. Trump is publicly known to have called India the tariff king, and is known to have terminated the GSP generalized system of preference. What is the said GSP which is causing a lot of tensions in trade between the two nations? GSP gives concessions to developing countries on certain goods. Since USA has taken away this huge privilege from India in 2019, thus the import duties on certain goods were increased by India. The meeting between the two leaders was not that fruitful in trade front as this matter is likely to be resolved after the elections in the USA. The major success of the meeting was the defense deal. India is going to purchase 3 billion worth of machine equipment, thereby Trump fulfilling his end of bargain of selling more of made in united states goods. India gained its share of the deal with Exxon Mobil of importing more of liquefied natural gas. The second major success for trump after the visit is his share of gaining votes from the American Indians. Almost 4 million Indians stay in the states and the reports of previous election states that only 16% of them have voted for trump. This year he plans to secure more votes from the Indian community. This visit is a boost for him. President of the States, Trump spoke against China and mentioned Indo Pacific region instead of Asia Pacific region as how China likes to address. He mentioned his doubts over the 5g wireless network proposed by China and emphasized about the blue dot project. Blue dot project is a project launched by Washington to bring together the government of USA, Australia and Japan to set up high quality infrastructure in global level, and this cannot happen without India’s support. India is generating Big Data, the next new oil, and also has tremendous growth in the mobile data with low cost connectivity boasting Facebook and Google to mint substantial profits. USA is the powerhouse of pharma companies, generating medicine and other essential medical equipment’s. The co-operation of both the countries is essential to grow and build a better future and this meeting wasn’t a huge success as one had expected.

What caused the second biggest oil crash in the history? On Monday, 9th of march, crude oil prices saw the second biggest crash in the history post the 1991 war between US and Iraq. Prices of oil on Monday fell as much as 30% to hit a low of nearly 30$ per barrel. The main reason for the was the price war launched by OPEC countries on Russia. But how did it all start? In 2015-16 the crude oil prices dropped from over 120$ to less than 30$ per barrel in a short span after The US discovered the shale gas. This was the time when the two major oil producers OPEC and Russia entered into an alliance called the OPEC+, here they decided to cut down the oil production to 2.2(not really sure if it is 2.2 or 2.5) million barrels per day. This helped oil bounce back to price levels of around 55-65$ per barrel. They laid a road map of slowing increasing it to 3.6(again not sure, some where around this range) million barrels per day by end of 2020-21 maintaining the price stability. On Friday, during the OPEC+ meeting which took place in Austria, Russia was very clear on breaking the alliance and coming out of it. Russia believed cutting down production would give a great chance to US to increase it's market share in the oil industry due to US filling gap between the demand and supply through shale oil production. On the other hand after Russia broke the alliance, Saudi Price launched a price war against Russia by cutting the prices by 4-6$ per barrel to gain the highest market share and dominate the oil industry. This triggered uncertainties and fear over the actions which may follow by the oil producing nations and sent the crude prices tumbling down to 33$ per barrel which is almost 30% down over night. How will India benefit out of this? India is a major oil importer. It approximately saves $10billion or Rs. 70000 crores on every $5 fall in crude oil prices. The recent fall where crude prices fell almost $14 per barrel will help india save close to Rs. 2 trillion, which will give the government a chance to reduce its fiscal deficit by a pretty good margin.

YES bank is in a bad position due to its non-performing assets, poor governance and its inability to pay off the dues. Rana Kapoor built YES bank from scratch to its success of 3.4 lakh crore in a decade. Rana Kapoor is known for his risk taking ability which paid off for YES bank for a while when it had an all-time high of 404. Having all the contacts in the world, Rana wanted to be different, he leant the art of making deals with the companies who found it difficult to get finance from existing lenders. This turned out to be the biggest masterstroke and loss for the company. The woes of YES bank started 2 years ago when the banks were asked to reveal the non-performing loans. YES bank had Rs 4400 crore more than around Rs 800 crore reported in the audited accounts of March 2016. The differences increased to over Rs 7000 crore in the next year. YES bank was unable to raise capital to address the loses, thereby losing the confidence of the investors. YES bank has reported loses for the last 4 quarters. RBI issued orders for R Gandhi, former deputy governor to be part of the board due to the accumulation of non-performing assets. Due to corporate governance and risk management issues, RBI turned down the reappointment of Rana Kapoor as MD and CEO. After this, The share prices crashed from over Rs 400 to less than Rs 100 due to poor corporate governance. The board appointed Ravneet Gill as the MD and CEO of Yes Bank. YES bank constantly tried reassuring RBI that they are in touch with top investors who would plough money into the bank. In November 2019 the bank announced that it would raise 2 billion dollars but no such deal has happened so far. Moreover, many customers are withdrawing from the accounts decreasing the liquidity of the bank. On 5th March, The stocks of YES bank went up by 25% to hit a high of 37.7 after the news of SBI and LIC pumping funds. Later that evening, SBI and LIC were said to pick up 49% stake at Rs 2 per share when the shares were trading at Rs. 37 in the market RBI also suspended Yes Bank’s Board of Directors and set a limit od Rs 50000 for withdrawal per day until April 13, 2020. Due to all these events, On 6 March 2020, YES bank crashed by 85% and hit an intraday low of Rs 5.65 per share and closed around Rs. 15. RBI does not want YES bank to stoop to this stage as people would slowly start losing faith in the banking system. RBI has proposed a scheme for reconstruction of YES bank and has asked the public domain for its suggestions. Under the reconstruction scheme, it has proposed to change the authorized capital to Rs 5000 crores and equity shares would be altered to 2500 crore shares of rupees 2 each. SBI has now agreed to purchase 49% stake for Rs 10 per share for a value of Rs. 2450 crores RBI and Finance ministry are now trying to revive Yes Bank and guaranteeing the safety of their deposits so that public doesn’t lose faith in the banking system.

In this audio, we will see how air pollution impacts Indian economy

The Centre is planning to splurge over ₹100 crores to host the US President Donald Trump in his first visit to India on February 24. In his two-day tour starting on February 24, Trump will spend around three hours in Ahmedabad for which Ahmedabad authorities will spend ₹80 to ₹85 crores to beautify the city, Reuters reported. Expenditure The total expenditure on Trump’s visit to Gujarat is equivalent to about 1.5 percent of the annual budget of Gujarat. More than 12000 police officers are to be deployed around the world’s largest cricket stadium - Motera, which has the capacity to host around one lakh people.

14 February 2020 was not that dreamy to the telecom industry as they faced a sudden doomsday due to the supreme court session which escalated the payment of AGR dues. Airtel sent a letter to the DoT and promised to clear off the total debt of 21,682 crores by march 17 2020. And paid a sum of 10,000 crores on Saturday, Vodafone Idea has a total debt of 19,823 crores of which 2500 crores have been cleared, and reliance telecommunication owes a total of 16,456 crores. All this due clearance to the telecom industry has cost heavily on the stocks of the companies. What is AGR that has made the entire telecom industry come on a standstill? AGR which under the revised rules of the government, the telecom industry had to share a part of their adjusted gross revenue with the government and it includes the license fees and spectrum usage charges. The rules are clear in reading but there is a dispute wedged over it causing all the turmoil. The definition of AGR isn’t clearly stated causing all the confusion. According to the DoT (Department of telecommunication), the definition of AGR includes the earning from the telecom and non-telecom operating service of the company. But the company’s plea that the AGR should be only from the core services and not from its dividend, interest and other profits. After series of battles in the supreme court, the definition given by DoT was accepted and the telecom companies have to pay a total of 92,641 crores which contains an interest of 41,650 crores and penalty of 10,923 crores. The worst-hit of the three telecom industries is Vodafone Idea, as the bank guarantees won’t be able to provide the funds to clear off the dues that it owes DoT and they can file for insolvency and bankruptcy. According to the rule, the bank can only provide guarantees of only 2500 crores per telco.