Some major news of 2017 July Week 1

1. Weekly News
03/07/2017 – 08/07/2017

2. Xiaomi goes old school to reclaim Smartphone crown in
China
• Xiaomi Corp. pioneered an online flash-sales model that lifted
it to dizzying heights and made it Asia’s most valuable start-
up, but it’s since fallen on hard times. Now it’s counting on
old-fashioned retail to make a comeback, and that’s proving a
much stiffer challenge

3. Amazon looks to ink JVs with Dabur’s Burman family,
Infosys’ Gopalakrishnan
• Amazon is negotiating terms with the family offices of
prominent business families in order to create more merchant
entities that will act as sellers on its India-based marketplace,
according to three people aware of the development. Among
those who have been approached are Burman Family
Holdings, the strategic investment arm of the Burman family,
which owns consumer company Dabur and Infosys co-
founder Kris Gopalakrishnan's family office.

4. Samsung on track to take Intel's chip crown with record
Q2 earnings
• SEOUL - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to report its
best-ever quarterly profit in the second quarter, with soaring
memory chip sales pushing it past Intel Corp as the biggest
semiconductor maker by revenue for the first time.

5. Here’s how Apple, Google, Microsoft make money
• Whenever we talk about the biggest technology companies in
the world, some of the names that almost always come up are
Apple, Alphabet (parent of Google), Microsoft, Amazon and
Facebook. All of these tech giants have revenues running into
billions of dollars, which they earn through different digital
products and services.

6. Microsoft
• The Redmond-based technology corporation has the most
evenly distributed revenue table. Microsoft Office generates
28% of the company’s revenue, followed by Windows Server
& Windows Azure, which bring in 22% revenue. The Xbox
division, Windows OS, Bing & other advertising, as well as the
Surface division generate 11%, 9%, 7% and 5% revenue
respectively. The remaining 18% is classified as ‘Other’.

7. Apple
• The major part of Apple’s revenues, according to the Visual
Capitalists report, comes from the iPhone.
• While the iPhone contributes 63% to Apple’s revenues, the
iPad and iMac bring 10% and 11% of revenue respectively.
Other products such as accessories and more bring 5%
revenue, while services such as iCloud, Apple Music, iTunes
and more generate 11% of the total revenue.

8. Alphabet
• The parent company of Google, Alphabet gets majority of its
revenue (88%) from advertising using Google AdWords and
YouTube. Google Play services and Pixel products bring in 11%
of the revenue share. Other subsidiaries like Nest, Verily,
Google Fiber and more generate 1% of the total revenue, says
Visual Capitalists report.

9. Facebook
• Social media giant Facebook, as expected, generates its
massive revenue from Facebook Ads.
• This division alone contributes up to 97% of the company’s
total revenue. Remaining 3% is classified under ‘Others’ by
the report.

10. Amazon
• Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, gets
majority (72%) of its revenue from the online shopping
business.
• Amazon Prime and other media services bring in 18% of the
total revenue, followed by Amazon Web Services that
contributes 9% of total share. 1% is generated by the ‘Others’
segment, according to Visual Capitalists report.

11. Qatar says will boost gas production by 30 percent
• Energy-rich Qatar said it plans to increase natural gas
production by 30%. Qatar intends to raise production to 100
million tonnes of natural gas a year by 2024, its current
production is up to 77 million tonnes per year.

12. Ashok Leyland pares Tuesday’s losses, up nearly 2%
• Shares of Ashok Leyland1.56 % erased their Tuesday’s losses
and were trading 1.76 per cent up in the morning trade on
Wednesday.
• According to reports, the country’s second largest commercial
vehicles (CV) manufacturer Ashok Leyland is aiming at a 35
per cent market share during the current fiscal.

13. Hero MotoCorp won't be paying royalty to Honda
anymore
• Effective July 1, the Munjals-owned Hero MotoCorp has
decided to put a complete halt on royalty payments to its
former joint venture partner Honda. The two-wheeler giant
will now tap its in house R&D unit — the Centre of Innovation
and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur, Rajasthan — for all technology
requirements.

14. GST shines on renewable energy sector
• The renewable energy sector is quite content with GST
provisions. Contrary to earlier fears of sale of solar equipment
– panels, modules and inverters – being taxed at high rates,
the GST on such sales has been set at 5 per cent.
• “The net effect on solar projects will be 3.5-4.5 per cent,” said
Raj Prabhu, co-founder and CEO of Mercom Capital Group,
which tracks the segment. “There will be issues with power
purchase agreements as they will vary from state to state but
5%GST

15. Foxconn plans Rs 32,000cr investment in India as GST
makes imports costlier
• Foxconn plans to invest up to Rs 32,000 crore for mobile
manufacturing in India after the recently implemented Goods
and Services Tax (GST) imposed a 10 percent customs duty on
imported smartphones and mobile components.
• Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics
manufacturer, is reportedly planning to invest up to $5 billion
(around Rs 32,000 crore) in India to bolster the country’s
prominence as a global mobile phone manufacturing hub.

16. Nandan Nilekani, Helion's Sanjeev Aggarwal launch
$100M fund Fundamentum
• Nandan Nilekani said he will stop making personal
investments in startups beyond the 12 he has already made
and will only invest through Fundamentum.
• Aadhaar architect and Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani
and Helion Venture ’s Sanjeev Aggarwal have launched an
investment fund, called Fundamentum, with a corpus of $100
million to back startups looking for growth capital.

17. Byju's acquires TutorVista, Edurite from Pearson
• Byju’s, the edtech company, has acquired TutorVista and
Edurite from UK-based Pearson. The partnership is focused
on expanding international reach and creating a diverse
product portfolio for Byju’s.
• TutorVista is one of the largest online tutoring brands
catering to school and college students, majorly in the US.

18. BookMyShow acquires Mumbai-based Burrp
• Online movie and event ticketing platform BookMyShow has
acquired struggling Mumbai-based local food and restaurant
recommendation engine Burrp from Network18 in an all-cash deal.
• Concluded as a slump sale, the deal was finalised at a meagre Rs 6.7
lakh, 2 months after the board of Network18 gave an in-principle
approval to sell Burrp on the back of its paltry revenue contribution
to its parent. The Network18 divestment has been made to
Foodfesta Wellcare Private Ltd, a subsidiary of BigTree
Entertainment which owns and operates BookMyShow.

19. Defaulters may follow Essar route to block bankruptcy
• A number of large loan defaulters may follow the footsteps of
Essar Steel by approaching courts to block bankruptcy
proceedings against them, after the steelmaker got a stay on
hearings on an insolvency petition moved by a bank.
Essar Steel is among a dozen defaulting companies identified
by the Reserve Bank of India for speedy recovery under the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, after the regulator was
empowered by the government to direct lenders to take
action against defaulters. Hearings in the RBI-identified cases
started at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last
week.

20. Subsidised LPG rate hiked by up to Rs 32 per cylinder
post GST
• Domestic cooking gas (LPG) price has been hiked by up to Rs
32 per cylinder -- the steepest increase in six years -- following
implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Subsidised LPG rates have been increased to Rs 477.46 per
14.2-kg cylinder from Rs 446.65 in Delhi after GST was
implemented.

21. Mahindra cuts prices of utility vehicle, SUV by up to 6.9
per cent
• Mahindra & Mahindra today announced reduction in prices of
its utility vehicles and SUVs by up to 6.9 per cent on an
average to pass on the GST benefit to customers.
• The prices of vehicles for end customers on large UVs and
SUVs have been reduced by an average of 6.9 per cent, while
those that come under small car segment have been reduced
by an average of 1.4 per cent, Mahindra said in a regulatory
filing.

22. E-commerce players offer 'GST bonanza discount'
• With the country's much-awaited the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) reform in action, e-commerce players are optimistic that
more tax benefits will come in within the new tax regime,
which will be shared with the consumers.

23. FMCG companies resume stock supply post GST shift
break
• After a four-day shutdown to migrate to the new goods &
services tax (GST) structure, consumer behemoths such as
Hindustan Unilever and Coca-Cola have resumed dispatches
to their stockists and distributors, easing concerns of retail
point availability. Reckitt Benckiser, HUL, Dabur, Coca-Cola,
Marico and Parle Products said they have started sending
fresh stocks to trade channels after ensuring GST-compliant
invoicing.

24. India's GST could boost illegal bullion, jewellery sales
• A hike in taxes on gold sales in India could stoke under-the-
counter buying and drive up the appetite for precious metal
smuggled into the country, where millions of people store big
chunks of their wealth in bullion and jewellery.
• As part of a new nationwide sales tax regime, the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) on gold has jumped to 3 percent from 1.2
percent previously, with traders and buyers saying the move
will likely force more transactions into the black

25. Myntra to go big on offline expansion, Jabong to add
premium brands
• In a year since the acquisition of Jabong, Flipkart-owned
fashion portal Myntra is doubling down on taking the Myntra-
Jabong combine towards profitability. While Myntra has big
plans for its offline expansion, Jabong will be positioned as a
premium and a bridge-to-luxury online destination with three
new labels to be launched on the portal, said Ananth
Narayanan, the CEO of Myntra and Jabong.

26. Flipkart begins phone delivery to all UP, Bihar cities post
GST
• Flipkart has begun delivering mobile phones to all cities of
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from July 1, as the goods and services
tax (GST) regime has reduced the tax outgo besides doing
away with cumbersome paperwork. Rival Amazon, which has
been delivering to these states, said it will ramp up expansion
and last-mile delivery of higher value goods in Bihar.

27. Tatas, Bharti on a call to explore joint front in telecom
and DTH
• The Tata Group and Bharti Enterprises have held exploratory
talks to evaluate a mega alliance involving their telecom,
overseas cable and enterprise services, and direct-to-home TV
businesses, several people familiar with the matter said.
Discussions between both sides have revolved around a
possible merger between unlisted Tata Teleservices and Tata
Sky and the listed Tata Communications with the Bharti Airtel.

28. IDFC, Shriram groups in talks to combine businesses in
mega union
• IDFC and Shriram groups are in talks to combine all or some of
their businesses in a mega union that could straddle
traditional banking, consumer lending and truck financing,
apart from providing billionaire Ajay Piramal an entry into a
highly regulated industry.
• The board of Shriram Capital, the holding company for the
consumer lending arm Shriram City Union and truck financing
subsidiary Shriram Transport Finance, will meet on Saturday.

29. GST impact: Apple cuts prices of all iPhone models in
India by up to 7.5 per cent
• Apple has slashed retail prices of all its iPhone models by 4
per cent to 7.5 per cent from July 1, as the Cupertino-based
smartphone maker passed on benefits accrued from goods
and services tax (GST) regime to consumers.

30. Why oil demand will rise even if we all buy
Teslas
• When looking at oil demand, oil market analysts focus
overwhelmingly on passenger vehicles.
• No doubt the upcoming release of Tesla's Model 3 will spark
more than a few columns on how it could be the beginning of
the end for oil.
• But the conversation often overlooks the role that heavy
trucks and freight play in driving demand. The International
Energy Agency just published a report arguing that the world
needs to get a handle on fuel efficiency for freight, or else oil
demand will continue to rise, regardless of how many Tesla's
are on the road.

31. Government of Singapore Investment Corp acquires 6.2
per cent stake in Gayatri Projects
• Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) on Thursday
acquired 6.2 per cent stake in infrastructure company Gayatri
Projects through a block deal. GIC brought 1.1 crore shares of
Hyderabad based infra company at a price of Rs 150 per share
valuing the deal at Rs 165 crore. Shares of Gayatri Project surge
11 per cent to Rs 168.95 on Thursday.

32. Traders dig out loopholes to pay less, avoid tax
• A Chennai shopkeeper has begun to split the bill for a pair of
shoes, selling each separately. A garment dealer is selling the
quintessential dupatta separately from the salwar suit that it
ostensibly belongs to.
• A leading basmati company, which established its brand with
extensive print and electronic advertising for years, is seeking to
withdraw trademark registration. It has informed the trade about
other brands not being trademarked to claim tax exempt status.
• Businesses are relying on innovative ways to beat the norms to
ensure their products remain exempt or at lower rates under the
goods and services tax (GST) that rolled out on July 1
• Most businesses are taking advantage of the GST Council’s
attempts to protect consumers, especially the aam aadmi.
Footwear of less than Rs 500 faces GST of 5% while that above it
is charged at 18%. Apparel under the GST regime attracts a tax
rate of 5% if priced below Rs 1,000 and 12% above that.