Monday, May 20

Author: Sheldan Rungasamy

New Zealand Government Proposes Amazon Tax For E-Commerce
1May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

New Zealand Government Proposes Amazon Tax For E-Commerce

New Zealand is looking forward to implement a new law that will enable the government to tax purchases such as books, shoes and other small items made online from overseas companies in what will be called the “Amazon Tax.” New Zealand’s revenue minister Stuart Nash announced that the government would work on finding a solution to the loophole in its tax structure that allowed individuals to purchase low-cost items overseas from online platforms without having to pay the 15% tax imposed on goods sold in the country’s offline retails. The new system will levy the same amount of tax on items costing less than $400 and only has to be approved by lawmakers before coming in full effect from October 2019. Several countries are confronted with the same problem as e-commerce companies provide...
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Mahindra & Mahindra Invests Canadian Data-Driven Farming Company
1May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
ACQUISITION

Mahindra & Mahindra Invests Canadian Data-Driven Farming Company

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) came to terms with Canadian IT firm Resson Aerospace Corporation in a share subscription agreement to acquire 10 per cent of its share capital for up to CAD 6.63 million. “The company has today signed a share subscription agreement for subscribing up to 8,00,402 Class C preferred shares of Resson Aerospace Corporation, Canada, which would result in the company holding up to 10 per cent of the share capital of Resson on a fully diluted basis,” M&M said in a regulatory filling. The amount of CAD 6.63 million which amounts to approximately 34.5 crore in Indian currency will be paid in cash. Resson is a machine learning and data-driven analytics company that makes use of the latest technological advancements to provide farmers with full insights abo...
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Whatsapp’s Last Remaining Co-Founder Exits Facebook
1May By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

Whatsapp’s Last Remaining Co-Founder Exits Facebook

Jan Koum, the co-founder of social messaging app Whatsapp announced that he was leaving Facebook, which acquired the messaging service in 2014 for $19 billion. Koum announced his decision to leave the ranks of Facebook to the public on his Facebook page, citing that he will now focus on his passions off work such as collecting air-cooled Porsches, working on cars and playing ultimate Frisbee. According to several US media outlets, the departure is mostly due to disagreements with Whatsapp’s parent company, Facebook, over the use of users’ information on the messaging service app. Indeed, reports suggest that Facebook is looking for ways to use private user information to raise income from its daughter company in ad-targeting strategies similar to those employed on Facebook and Instag...
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Reliance Registers Positive Revenues Across Several Business Streams
28Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
BUSINESS

Reliance Registers Positive Revenues Across Several Business Streams

Reliance Industries released filings showing that it registered an all time high net profit for the fourth quarter, amounting to Rs 9,435 crores, thanks to advantageous outcomes in the refining and petrochemical business. The firm, which revealed its fourth quarter and fiscal year accounts, showed a 17.3% increase in profit compared to last year’s figure amounting to Rs 8,046 crores. The hike is primarily attributed to an increase in the start-up of petrochemicals projects and new understandings about refining and petrochemical products. Additional hikes were reported in the filings, such as a 21.8% increase in revenue to Rs 90,894 crore, exports increasing by 32.5% to Rs 51.295 crore in the fourth quarter, ending the fiscal year on March 31, 2018. Moreover, Network 18 Media and I...
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Beer Startup Bira 91 Raises Funding
27Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Beer Startup Bira 91 Raises Funding

B9 Beverages, the company producing Bira 91 beers, a low-calorie beer recently raised non-convertible debentures to Anicut Capital, an asset management platform based in Chennai. The company, backed by American Venture Capital company Sequoia Capital, allotted 100 debentures worth Rs 10 crore to Anicut Capital in Mid-April. In March, the company also raised around Rs 5 crore from the Chennai based asset management company. Bira 91 is a startup that aims bringing craft beer, “handmade one barrel at a time”, to the Indian public and the United States. The New Delhi-based startup founded in February 2015 aims bringing an alternative quality beer to the international beverages imported in India. Bira 91 arrived in the Indian market in full force and went from selling 150,000 cases of ...
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Infosys Will Open Another Educational Center in US, Create 1000 Jobs
27Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

Infosys Will Open Another Educational Center in US, Create 1000 Jobs

Infosys, India’s leading IT company announced the opening of an Education Center in Indianapolis, US on Thursday in a bid to train American workers and create around 1,000 new jobs in the city. US Vice President Mike Pence was present for the announcement, which came one year after the company made public its intentions of setting up an innovation hub in Indianapolis. Infosys aims to create around 3,000 jobs with this initiative in Indianapolis, where Mike Pence previously occupied the position of Governor of the state of Indiana between 2013 to 2017 before being appointed Vice-President of the United States of America by Donald Trump. Commenting on the announcement, Pence said that Infosys “brings new chapter in the life of the growing Indiana economy.” He added that the initiati...
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Patanjali Denies 9,000 Crore Bid to Acquire Ruchi Soya
27Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
BUSINESS

Patanjali Denies 9,000 Crore Bid to Acquire Ruchi Soya

Patanjali, India's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company founded by Baba Ramdev denied reports suggesting that it placed a bid to acquire debt-ridden edible oil maker Ruchi Soya Industries for Rs 9,000 crore. A spokesperson for the company SK Tijarawala wrote in a tweet, “The news of applying a bid of 9,000 crore rupees by Patanjali is wrong. We are evaluating. We understand the value of money of the common people of this country.” However, SK Tijarawala did not deny Patanjali’s interest in acquiring the firm, but for a lesser price. “After examining the company’s vitals and balance sheet, the value of the deal should be at most between Rs 1,800-2,000 crore,” he said. He also describes the acquisition as synergistic with Patanjali’s values since it was “swadeshi. Vital resource...
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Flipkart Wins 110 Crore Tax Dispute, First Such Case Won By Any Company
26Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

Flipkart Wins 110 Crore Tax Dispute, First Such Case Won By Any Company

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) rejected Indian tax authorities decision on Flipkart to pay INR 110 crores on the discounts offered by Flipkart in their capital expenditure account. As per the law, the tax authority targeting and demonstrating how e-commerce companies asked for tax exemption from earnings generated through discounted products, which deduct their taxable earnings considerably. However, the ITAT rejected the request of the tax government amounting Rs 110 crore from Flipkart for their year ended 31 March 2016 tax filings. This is the first favorable ruling given by the tax tribunal on this litigative matter and will certainly give relief to e-commerce companies across the country incurring similar expenditure Rakesh Nangia, managing partner at law firm Nang...
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Mumbai-based Robotics Company Miko Raises $2 Million Funding
26Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Mumbai-based Robotics Company Miko Raises $2 Million Funding

Emotix, a revolutionary robotics, and consumer electronics company raised a funding round of over $2 million from IDG Ventures India and YourNest. This funding round also saw the participation of existing angel investor, Keshav Murugest, Executive Officer of WNS Global Services. Emotix, a Mumbai-based company now claims leadership over the social robotics market after taking the technology of robotics assistance a level further by incorporating emotion into its interface. The robot is powered by non-verbal cues like motion or physical gestures which facilitates human interaction a level ahead. The startup’s first companion robot, intended for children received very positive feedback few months after its launch. "The recent investment from funds advised by IDG Ventures India and YourN...
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Despite Data Leak Scandal, Facebook Profit Increases
26Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
News

Despite Data Leak Scandal, Facebook Profit Increases

Facebook recorded a significant increase in profits in the first quarter of 2018, thanks to a growing user base and bigger revenues from ads as the social media giant seems to suffer neither harm nor backlash after the recent data leak of over 87 million Facebook users. The profits the Silicon Valley-headquartered company recorded in the first quarter of this year soared by over 63% from last year to $5 billion, while total revenues witnessed an increase of 49% to $11.97 billion, according to earning figures shared by the company. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who despite spending most of the last month under pressure from the international community following the news of his company failing to protect data of millions of users from a third-party app, shared a message to investors ...
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Online Travel Marketplace Raises 1.6 Crore Funding
26Apr By Sheldan RungasamyNo Comments
FUNDING

Online Travel Marketplace Raises 1.6 Crore Funding

Tripshelf, an online travel marketplace announced on Wednesday that it raised a funding round worth Rs 1.6 crore from a group of investors which includes GEMS advisory, Alok Mittal of Indifi, Sachin Bhatia the co-founder of MakeMyTrip and TrulyMadly, and more. The funds raised will be used to consolidate its business operations and establish a long term asset vs. hyper growth capital. Tripshelf is currently enjoying a positive period after achieving several targets such as an annual Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of Rs 36 crore and an annual revenue run rate of Rs 1.5 crore. After this funding round, the startup is now setting its eyes on achieving a run rate of Rs 3 crore annually, and a GTV of around Rs 50 crore. This time, with the fresh capital, we look forward to on-boarding mor...
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