Business News at 05:30 pm on 27th October 2023

You are listening to the Expresso Business Update. Here is the latest news from the world of Indian and International business brought to you by The Indian Express and The Financial Express.

Let’s begin. OneWeb Satellite communication service is ready to connect all parts of the country from next month, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on Friday. While speaking at the inaugural session of the India Mobile Congress 2023, Mittal said 5G services was launched last year and Airtel has covered the entire country, covering 5,000 towns and cities along with 20,000 villages till date. He said that Airtel with the help of Universal Services Obligation Fund has been connecting rural and remote areas, and now satellite technology is available to connect all parts of the country. OneWeb, now merged with Eutelsat, will operate commercially as Eutelsat OneWeb with its centre of operations in London.

Speaking of the India Mobile Congress, Reliance Jio, the leading telco of India, introduced a new satellite-based broadband service called JioSpaceFiber. This service aims to provide high-speed internet access to previously inaccessible areas in India. It was demonstrated by the company at India Mobile Congress on Friday. JioSpaceFiber, in partnership with SES, is using medium earth orbit satellite technology, the only MEO constellation capable of delivering truly unique Gigabit, fiber-like services from space to offer fast and reliable internet services across the entire country at affordable prices. This initiative is part of company’s efforts to bring digital connectivity to every household in India, including remote regions. The newly unveiled service also supports the expansion of Jio 5G network in rural areas.

On to market. Asian Paints’ stock price rose 0.48% to Rs 2,974.65, a day after posted profit for the second quarter of FY24 Rs 1,232.39 crore, up 53.3% in comparison to Rs 803.83 crore during the corresponding quarter of last year, marginally higher from the estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 8,451.93 crore, up 0.3% as against Rs 8,430.60 crore during the second quarter of FY23. The company’s EBITDA stood at Rs 1,717 crore. The stock price of Asian Paints fell 4.32% in the last five days and 10.58% in the last one month, while it gained nearly 2% in the last six months.

Over to economy. India’s lentil imports from its major supplier Canada are steady, according to a top government official, allaying concerns that a diplomatic row between the two nations is hurting trade. The administration hasn’t asked traders to refrain from purchasing the commodity from Canada, as speculated by some traders, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said. He told reporters that the flows from both Canada and Australia are seamless and that they don’t distinguish between the country of origin, but will go by the quality that they receive at ports. The clarification follows a deterioration in ties between the trading partners after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s government of helping orchestrate the killing of a Sikh separatist activist on Canadian soil.

Next up, some money matters. Non-callable Fixed Deposit Rule Change 2023: The Reserve Bank of India has decided to increase the minimum amount for offering non-callable term deposits from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 1 crore. What this means is that all fixed deposits of up to Rs 1 crore shall have a premature withdrawal facility. Banks provide two types of term or fixed deposits – Callable and non-callable. In callable deposits, premature withdrawal is allowed while in non-callable deposits, it is not allowed. The RBI had earlier permitted banks to offer domestic term deposits without a premature withdrawal option, provided that all TDs accepted from individuals for an amount of Rs 15 lakh and below shall have premature-withdrawal-facility.

On to industry. Reliance Industries on Friday announced that its shareholders have approved the appointment of Ambani scions Akash Ambani, Isha Ambani and Anant Ambani on board of the company, it said in a regulatory filing. While Isha Ambani got 98.21 per cent of votes, Akash Ambani received 98.06 per cent votes, Anant Ambani got 92.75 per cent votes for being appointed as the non-executive director of the Company. Earlier during its 46th AGM Reliance Industries, chairman Mukesh Ambani had said that his wife Nita Ambani has resigned from the conglomerate’s board and will continue to be chairperson of Reliance Foundation. As the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Nita Ambani will attend all the RIL Board meetings as a permanent invitee to the Board.

Lastly, the share market. The benchmark equity indices ended the week’s last trading session in the positive territory. The NSE Nifty 50 soared 190 points or 1.01 per cent to settle at 19,047.25, while the BSE Sensex climbed 634.65 points or 1.01 per cent to 63,782.80. The broader indices ended higher with Smallcap stocks leading the gains. The Bank Nifty index added as much as 501.85 points or 1.19% to settle at 42,782. PSU Bank and Media stocks led the gains among the other sectoral indices and surged over 4.11% and 2.58%, respectively.