Category: India

North, South Korea agree to goal of ‘complete denuclearisation’ of Korean peninsula

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The leaders of North and South Korea signed a declaration on Friday agreeing to work for the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.

At their first summit in more than a decade, the two sides announced they would seek an agreement to establish “permanent” and “solid” peace on the peninsula.

The declaration included promises to pursue military arms reduction, cease “hostile acts,” turn their fortified border into a “peace zone,” and seek multilateral talks with other countries, such as the United States.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Growth in Biocon driven by biologics business, says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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After Biocon Ltd, India’s biggest biotechnology company, reported its Q4 earnings yesterday, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director,  spoke to CNCB-TV18, said, “The main reason for considering a stake sale is not to enter into higher debt.”

“Growth has been largely driven by our biologics business which has seen a jump of 47% year-on-year and our research services business saw a jump of 45%,” she said.

The main reason for growth in biologics business is the expanding footprint in the emerging markets and addressing shortages, Shaw told CNBC-TV18.

She said the company have seen strong Q4 which is a good note to end the fiscal year.

“Research services was impacted by fire incident but it is back to normalised growth,” she added.

On the growth front, she said the company is confident that FY19 will be a good year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Biocon’s growth is better than expected, says PhillipCapital

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Pharma major Biocon reported its fourth quarter earnings yesterday. It’s a good performance on the topline, but margins have come in below estimates.

Surya Narayan Patra of PhillipCapital shared his views and outlook on the company and its results.

“Growth is better than expected particularly on the biologic revenue front and research services front. These two are the positive surprises,” he said.

“Three-four key triggers are there over 12 months period which should be impressive developments and should impact the financials meaningfully,” he added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Korean summit starts with a handshake, after years of tension

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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After a year of tensions, the first North-South Korea summit in more than a decade began Friday with a handshake.

Surrounded by bodyguards and other members of his delegation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emerged right on cue from a large building on the northern side of the border in the truce village of Panmunjom, walked down a wide flight of stairs and strolled confidently toward South Korean President Moon Jae-in to begin the historic meeting.

Smiling broadly and exchanging greetings, the two shook hands for a long time, exchanging greetings and looking from outward appearances like old friends.

Moon had awaited Kim’s arrival at “Freedom House,” a building on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone. As soon as he saw Kim come out, he walked to meet him at the border so that their handshake would be at the most symbolic of locations, each leader standing on his side of the military demarcation line that separates North from South.

Their hands still clasped, Moon invited the North Korean leader into the South for the first time ever, just one step over a line marked by a “curb” of concrete.

After he did, Kim, in return, gestured for Moon to step into the North. They both did, and then returned to the South together, hands held.

Kim was then met by South Korean children bearing flowers and a military honor guard before he headed into the summit hall to sign a guestbook, visibly out of breath.

Like everything about Friday’s summit, the handshake and all the atmospherics around it were carefully orchestrated and agreed upon in advance. North and South Korean officials conducted three days of on-site rehearsals to map out virtually every move of the leaders’ initial encounter.

Even so, the moment was a striking contrast to the rising fears of conflict that dominated relations just one year ago, when Kim was test-launching long-range missiles at a record pace and trading crude insults with U.S. President Donald Trump.

It was the second big North-South handshake in as many months — coming after Moon and Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, who accompanied him on Friday, shook hands at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the South in February.

That seemingly impromptu moment came as a joint North-South team marched into the Olympic Stadium, part of an effort to use the Games to try to improve relations.

Moon, elated at the sight, turned and shook the hand of Kim’s sister, who was seated right behind him in the VIP box on the first trip to the South ever by a member of the North’s ruling family. The image of the two beaming with pride stood out all the more because U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, representing the White House, sat stone-faced nearby.

Photos of that handshake were top news the next day in both Koreas.

The Koreas have a host of difficult and often seemingly intractable obstacles ahead of them, but no matter the outcome of the summit, they seemed acutely aware that the photos of Kim and Moon’s handshake will be bound for the history books.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

April 27: Here’s what you should know before the opening bell

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The market bounced back in the second half of the session on Thursday following the positive results posted by Yes Bank.

The market is likely to have a strong opening today backed by global cues.

Here’s what you should know before the opening bell 

• Oil prices edged lower on Friday, but Brent largely held gains from the previous session amid concerns that Iran may face renewed sanctions, choking off the supply.
• The Asian markets opened higher on Friday after strong US cues and a rebound in technology stocks. However, the Asian market is currently off highs but is still trading in the green.
• The SGX Nifty is trading at levels around 10,660 versus the Nifty May Future’s Thursday’s close of 10,632, indicating a positive start to the Indian equities.
• The US market ended higher backed by stellar earnings. Dow Jones gained more than 200 points in trade and ended at 24,322 points. Nasdaq and S&P 500 (US) gained more than a percent.
• Air India is in the process of hiring around 270 co-pilots in the reserved category at a time when the government has initiated the loss-making carrier’s disinvestment process, sources told PTI.
• Housing prices went up by an average of 7.6 percent in the three months ended December 2017, with highest appreciation recorded in in Kochi, according to RBI data.
• Lodha group will file for an initial public offering (IPO) as early as this week. The company is looking to raise around Rs 5000 crore via the offering, which will consist of a fresh issue and an offer for sale.
• Gold prices languished near five-week lows on Friday, set for a weekly decline of more than 1 percent on a stronger dollar, higher US Treasury yields and easing geopolitical concerns.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India, China ready to re-set ties as Modi meets Xi in Wuhan

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India and China will look to re-set their strained ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping meet each other at a two-day informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan starting on Friday.

The Asian giants, who fought a brief war in 1962 and have a history of mutual distrust, nearly came to an armed conflict near their border in 2017, taking their ties to a new low.

However, the “one of its kind” rendezvous between Modi and Xi at the heart of China is a sign enough that the two countries were willing for a new start in their tense relationship.

The Xi-Modi meeting will be different from the past ones as the talks will not be choreographed but freewheeling with only one Mandarin-speaking Indian interpreter present.

The meeting is an offshoot of Xi-Modi parleys just after the resolution of the Doklam crisis on the sidelines of BRICS Summit at Xiamen in China.

“The idea germinated at the Xiamen summit,” said an official.

The two leaders will meet not once or twice but “several” times during the two days and will have heart-to-heart conversations, Chinese and Indian officials say.

According to informed sources, Modi and Xi might amble down the East Lake in Wuhan or take a boat ride by the historic villa of Mao Zedong.

Though there is no formal agenda of the meet and both will not issue any joint statement, thorny issues like border dispute will come up during their chat.

“You can imagine the importance Xi provides to India as this is the first time he is having such a meeting with any foreign leader. They will chat on all outstanding issues,” a Chinese government official told IANS.

India and China have a longstanding dispute over their 3,500-km long winding border, which ties them down. Of the 14 neighbours, China is yet to settle its boundary dispute only with India and Bhutan.

New Delhi is against Beijing’s grand Belt and Road project whose artery cuts through Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. India’s stance on the Belt and Road matters to China as the opposition by New Delhi could well hamper the project.

Another sticking point is Beijing’s opposition to New Delhi’s application to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group and its plea at the UN to declare the Pakistan-based Masood Azhar as an international terrorist.

China’s foray into the India Ocean also worries India.

India’s inclination to be the part of Quad — an emerging bloc of the US, Japan and Australia apparently to counter China in the Indo-Pacific — worries Beijing.

As both sides have decided not make public the outcome of the two-day meet, a Chinese top official said both leaders may arrive at some important consensus to resolve their outstanding issues.

The Chinese side has said both the leaders will also talk beyond the bilateral relations. US trade protectionist policy will figure in the talks.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Why there is a dire need for due diligence in the Fortis deal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Five Bids. Three Indian investors, two private equity firms and two foreign companies. The interest in the assets of Fortis is obvious, but the trepidation among the bidders hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Of the five bids that have come in, only the bids by Munjal-Burmans and Manipal-TPG qualify as really binding. The remaining offers by IHH, the Radiant-KKR consortium and by Fosun are only partially binding.

That means the first tranche of their investment offer is immediate, and doesn’t require due diligence of Fortis books, while the second tranche, which involves the larger part of the investment, is subject to it.

The reason they are partially binding is because investors have not been able to conduct due diligence of the company, which would have allowed them to see if they are comfortable with the books and ascribe the best value to the assets.

One of the reasons why some of the recent bidders such as Radiant-KKR and Fosun haven’t been able to conduct due diligence is due to Fortis signing a binding agreement with Manipal TPG, which would prevent other parties from going through with due diligence procedures.

While this is the situation now, the lack of information given to some bidders goes back to 2017.

For example, the Munjal-Burmans combine in their first press release issued on April 12, said they had entered into non-disclosure agreement with Fortis in July 2017.

However, talks didn’t fructify as Fortis asked for commercials or a price before due diligence could commence.

Ironically, now, the Munjal-Burmans in their latest Rs 1500 cr offer have waived the need for due diligence. They have said that only if Fortis allows any other party to conduct due diligence in the validity period the Munjal-Burmans will then look to carry out due diligence with the imporoved offer then being subject to it.

In this context, it is important to note that Manipal-TPG were allowed access to the books for a few months.

In any case, the other bidders, IHH, Radiant-KKR and Fosun, haven’t been as bold as Munjal-Burmans,  or as fortunate as Manipal-TPG.

They have caveated their bids and rightly so according to experts. Fortis has had a murky few months.

From allegations on ex-promoters siphoning of Rs 500 crore from Fortis, to a delay in releasing second quarter numbers, and lastly with the auditor Deloitte eventually raising red flags once the second and third quarter numbers were released.

The internal audit reports from Luthra & Luthra and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)  probe are still pending.

The history of the promoters isn’t comforting either, and the Daiichi case weighs on the mind of experts. The Japanese company had bought Ranbaxy in 2008 for $4.6 billion, only to be saddled with USFDA issues, and eventually ended up selling the company to Sun Pharma for $4 billion, in 2014.

No one can ignore questions raised on lack of full strength of the board, links of the board members and now even the expert panel committee members to the ex-promoters.

The most recent event that raised eyebrows was Renuka Ramnath stepping down from the three member expert advisory panel within a week and one day before a decision was due, citing preoccupation.

Due diligence is as important for shareholders as it is for bidders. This is even in a case where the share value post due diligence could be lower than the current prices cited.

The advantage according to Amit Tandon of IiAS is that what exists on the books will be out versus any negative surprises later and protect from potential legal liabilities.

According to him a throrough due diligence by all parties will bring greater credibility to the sale process allowing for more aggressive bids, a fair and competitive process and eventually the best value for shareholders.

So where do things stand currently? The latest is that Fortis did not accept Manipal-TPG’s one time waiver option to provide other bidders a chance for due diligence.

Manipal-TPG taking feedback from shareholders waived their exclusivity right giving other potential bidders the right to conduct due diligence but with conditions. It is some of these conditions, which warrant another detailed discussion, that Fortis described as ‘onerous’  and hence did not accept it.

As of now there are other factors to explore. Will Manipal-TPG relax their one time waiver option to allow a fair bidding process?

Does the binding agreement come with a break up fee?And is the company even in a position to pay it, if there is one?

Amid all these questions one can’t help but wonder when the audit reports by SFIO and Luthra & Luthra will be released and what indeed the audits and these books might contain.

Till, then, it seems to be status quo. ​

Ekta Batra is an anchor and associate editor, research at CNBCTV18. She has been tracking pharma and healthcare for almost a decade.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indians feel that the US is no longer immigrant-friendly, says Congressman

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indians now feel that the US is no longer immigrant-friendly country, a top Indian-American Congressman has said, amidst a series of controversial immigration policies by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has been pushing for the merit-based immigration system to reduce overall immigration to the US and serve the country’s national interest.

A merit-based immigration system, the Trump administration feels would admit the best and the brightest around the world while making it harder for people to come to the country illegally.

“One issue that certainly came up and is something that we all have to be mindful of is there’s a sense in India that America is no longer immigrant- friendly,” Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi told PTI.

The Democratic lawmaker from Illinois, Krishnamoorthi recently visited India as part of a Congressional delegation.

“Whether you are going to America as a tourist, as a business visitor or whether you’re coming here on an H-1B visa or whether you already are here and are seeking permanent residency, it’s just a different place in the current landscape,” Krishnamoorthi said, adding that this is the general sense about America in India now.

The White House has said the current immigration system jeopardises the US’ national security, reiterating its call to end the chain migration and visa lottery system.

“So, we as lawmakers, have to make sure that we live up to the fundamental principles that made America a special place, namely, we welcome immigrants, we treat them with dignity, and we don’t scapegoat any individual or group of people for any challenges that we may have economically. You have to pull together and grow forward in the same direction,” he said in response to a question.

“I think so. I think that there’s a little bit more of that,” he said when asked if people in India, based on his visit, think that US is now more of an anti-immigrant nation.

“America’s image is largely positive in India. The polling data and other evidence would indicate that. However, we have to be concerned when a young Indian no longer looked at America as the only place where you would go to start a business or pursue your graduate studies and build a more prosperous future for yourself and your family,” he said.

There are other alternatives that have been merged and those places have taken advantage of the changes that have happened in the US. “We have to be concerned because we want the best and the brightest to continue to come to America,” he said.

Krishnamoorthi said there’s more of a competition.

“I would like to think that the US is still a destination and is the most appealing or attractive destination. But on the other hand, if the Trump administration continues to make it more and more difficult for people to come here, whether it’s just a visit or to study or to potentially enter the workforce and helping enrich our economy and help Americans; we are going to push people away,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow