IPL 2023: All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed is desperate to shine again for the Royal Challengers Bangalore

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

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All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed has been influencing the entire country in recent times with his batting. Shahbaz Ahmed from Mayan area of Haryana played for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and has been a dependable force for the Bengal team for the last few years.

One of the most consistent domestic cricketers of the country

Earlier, he had experience of hitting two consecutive sixes in Andre Russell’s ball. Before the Indian Premier League, Shahbaz Ahmed performed brilliantly for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy. He has given the team confidence with his excellent batting in domestic cricket.

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Surprising statistics

He has performed well in bowling also. Shahbaz has been part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team for the past three years. Left-handed batsman and left-arm spinner Shahbaz has played 15 matches in IPL. He has 87 runs at 10.88 in 15 overs. At an economy of 7.18, Shahbaz has a hat-trick in the Ranji Trophy.

Role model Jadeja

He considers Indian all-rounder and current captain of Chennai Super Kings Ravindra Jadeja as his role model. Virat Kohli gave a big certificate to Shahbaz.

One of Kohli’s favourites

Virat feels Shahbaz excels in all three categories. Manoj Tiwari found him from club cricket. Apart from playing for RCB, Shahbaz played three matches in the jersey of the Indian national team. He made his debut against South Africa.

Ice cold mentality

In domestic cricket, Shahbaz played more than 15 matches and scored more than 600 runs. Batting average 39.54. He has more than 20 wickets in List ‘A’ cricket. Shahbaz is a cold-headed boy who knows how to take pressure. He is not afraid even in difficult situations. Recently played a fighting innings for Bengal in the Ranji final at Eden.

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

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

Pause in Indian unicorn funding is necessary to continue creating value: Credit Suisse

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

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The dramatic decline in VC/PE (venture capital/private equity) funding and the underwhelming post-listing performance of the first unicorn IPOs have raised doubts about the startup ecosystem after two historic years in which 70 new unicorns debuted in India.

However, in its latest report on Indian Unicorns, Credit Suisse emphasises that the slowdown is expected and necessary, given the rising interest rates globally, new valuation anchors provided by the first large listings, and a slowdown in unicorn formation globally.

According to the report, private funding slowed from $65 billion in 2021 to $42 billion in 2022, with a much slower current run rate, though they continue to be stronger than equity-raising in the public markets ($10 billion in 2022: the lowest in the five years). 

Despite the pause, the report highlights that sectoral diversity continues to be strong in India, with unicorns in financials, e-commerce, software as a service (SaaS), education, healthcare, and consumer brands. The report notes that the VC/PE industry has grown significantly over the past two decades, but the source of funds was mostly global. However, this is changing, with local flows picking up as demand from local savers for participation in private market wealth creation has created new investment channels.

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While valuations may be volatile, the underlying enablers for the Indian startup ecosystem are still improving, providing opportunities for creating value by disrupting and expanding markets. The report notes that the stagnation in internet penetration post-COVID is temporary and that specific drivers in most sectors are still intact. For example, digital payment share is rising, with rapid onboarding of merchants not only driving mid-20s annual growth in credit card use but also P2M UPI transactions.

“The bottom half of the population recovered the last, but is now doing so, and the rise in telecom tariffs that have obviated deeper penetration can be solved by BSNL’s 4G rollout. Smartphone penetration is rising and should accelerate once smartphone prices fall later this year, as is data usage per user (now at 18GB/month), and the share of credit card purchases made online continues to expand,” it notes.

The report concludes that while the pause is necessary, the underlying enablers are still improving, providing opportunities for the Indian startup ecosystem to continue to create value.

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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

IPL 2023: Mukesh Kumar is ready to fire in Delhi Capitals’ jersey

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

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Bengal’s most expensive cricketer in IPL history Mukesh Kumar is ready to fire in Delhi Capitals’ jersey

Dreams come true if you work hard. But in this way, Kumar’s dream will become a huge success, he himself may not think off. His father used to drive a taxi.

Mukesh is the most expensive cricketer of Bengal in the auction, he even broke the record of Bengal most popular cricketer Sourav Ganguly. He was bought by Delhi Capitals for 5 crore 50 lakh rupees. He also surpassed Ganguly. Ganguly earned the maximum Rs. 4 crore 37 lakh in IPL.

It was not an easy journey for Mukesh to enter the Indian cricket team. That old memory is still cherished by the current cricket leaders of Bengal.

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Waqar Younis is immpressed

Mukesh impressed Waqar Younis, the legendary pacer of the Pakistan cricket team. A resident of Gopalganj, Mukesh’s father wanted his son to join the Central Reserve Police Force.

He wanted to join the army

He tried three times but was not successful in the end. Also, he represented Bihar at Under 19 level. As a child, he dreamed of joining the army.

The year 2015 changed life

In 2015, Mukesh got a chance in Bengal’s senior team. He got the award for consistently fast bowling for Bengal. Selected for Indian ‘A’ team in test against New Zealand ‘A’ team. He took 5 wickets in the first test.

Grateful to Laxman

During, Irani Cup he also picked up 4 wickets in the first innings. Mukesh is grateful to Indian A team coach VVS Laxman. He was once the batting consultant of Bengal. He said that his advice worked.

Success in Irani and Vijay Hazare

He used to play in Shivpur club. He made his first-class debut on 30 October in the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy. He made his List ‘A’ debut on 13 December 2015 while Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2015–16.

The national team is not far away

He made his T20 debut on 6 January 2016 in the 2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In December 2022, received his first call-up to the Indian cricket team for their T20 International (T20I) series against Sri Lanka. Mukesh has 130 wickets in 34 matches in first-class cricket (through this match). He took more than 5 wickets in an innings 6 times.

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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

2.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Delhi

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

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A 2.7 magnitude earthquake struck the national capital on Wednesday, the National Centre for Seismology said.

The quake occurred at 4:42 pm. The epicentre was in west Delhi and the depth was five kilometres, it said.

A powerful earthquake of 6.8-magnitude had jolted the city on Tuesday night and its epicentre was in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region, while its depth was 156 kilometres.

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

GR Infra shares surge 9% after third order win in two days

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

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Shares of the construction engineering major GR Infraprojects jumped as much as 9 percent to Rs 1,056 in the trade on Thursday as the company bagged three orders in two days, one of which was bagged by its joint venture with Patel Engineering.

On March 23, GR Infraprojects emerged as the lowest bidder for a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project worth Rs 1,227 crore. The project involves four laning the NH from Devinagar Bypass to Kasganj Bypass in Uttar Pradesh on hybrid annuity mode. The company said it will execute the order in 730 days and the operation period will be 15 years from the commercial operation date.

GR Infra’s latest development comes a day after the company had bagged a project worth Rs 872.17 crore by NHAI. Under the terms of the contract, the Ahmedabad-based company will be responsible for six laning the Surat–Nashik–Ahmednagar–Solapur– MH/KNT border Greenfield stretch in Maharashtra on hybrid annuity mode under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the company said in an exchange filing.

In another update on March 22, the company’s joint venture with Patel Engineering emerged as the lowest bidder for an NHPC project worth Rs 3,637.12.

Earlier, on March 17, the construction company received an order worth Rs 587.6 crore.  Till March 23, the company has secured orders worth over Rs 4,427 crore including the latest order.

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GR Infraprojects, established in 1995 by Vinod Agarwal, is an integrated road engineering, procurement, and construction company with experience in designing and construction activities and road/highway projects. It mainly undertakes civil construction projects under the EPC and Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis in the road sector.

The company reported its third-quarter earnings in February. GR Infraprojects’ profit surged over 100 percent to Rs 323.7 crore from Rs 146 crore in the same quarter last year. The revenue also increased by over 12 percent to Rs 2,191.9 crore against Rs 1,955.3 crore in the same quarter last year.

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

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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

Indian govt to sell 3.5% stake in Hindustan Aeronautics via OFS

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

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The Indian government on Wednesday, March 22, said it’s selling up to 3.5 percent stake sale in aerospace and defence company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) through an offer for sale (OFS).

The government is launching the OFS on Thursday, March 23, 2023, for non-retail and Friday, March 24, 2023, for retail investors. The floor price for the OFS has been set at Rs 2,450 per share. This price is at a 6.6 percent discount to the current market price.

Around 10 percent of the offered size shall be reserved for retail investors subject to the receipt of valid bids. However, no discount is being offered to retail investors.

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“The government proposes to sell up to 1.75% (58,51,782) equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each of the company, on March 23 (for non-retail Investors only) and on March 24 (for retail investors and non-retail investors who choose to carry forward their un-allotted bids with an option to additionally sell 1.75% (58,51,781) equity shares,” HAL said in an exchange filing.

Currently, the government owns a 75.15 percent stake in the company, which was listed in March 2018.

Any unsubscribed portion of the retail category, after allotment, shall be eligible for allocation in the non-retail category in respect of their un-allotted bids on T Day who choose to carry forward their bid to T+1 Day, the company said.

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For the employee, about 5 percent of the offered size could be offered to eligible and willing employees of the company at the cut-off price in the retail category subsequent to the completion of the offer. All HAL employees will be eligible to apply for equity shares up to Rs 2 lakh.

IDBI Capital Markets & Securities Ltd, SBICAP Securities Ltd, and YES Securities (India) Ltd will be acting as the broker for the offer on behalf of the company.

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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

Coromandel to foray into contract development and manufacturing organisation business

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

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The shares of Coromandel International rose nearly three percent on Thursday, a day after the company announced that its board has approved its plan to foray into the Contract Development & Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) business.

The company said its entry into the CDMO business is a strategic portfolio choice where Coromandel can leverage its expertise in handling complex chemistries at commercial scale and strong development capabilities across various chemistries.

In addition, the board of the agri solutions provider has also approved company’s plan to expand its operations in crop protection chemicals. It also approved the plan to diversify into new growth areas namely speciality and industrial chemicals.

This expansion of the crop protection chemicals business will help the company to leverage the growth opportunities in India and the global markets. The company has plans to set up new multi-product plants in two of its manufacturing locations apart from purchase of additional land for future expansions.

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Coromandel plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore over the next two years in the above businesses and leverage the macro tailwinds in the Chemicals sector to build a business of scale.

The approvals are in line with the company’s strategy to establish a sizeable presence in the crop protection chemicals business and leverage its deep technical capabilities and best in class infrastructure to enter into adjacencies like CDMO, Speciality and Industrial Chemicals.

Coromandel International is in the business of fertilisers, crop protection chemicals, bio products, specialty nutrients, organic fertiliser and retail.

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

Nazara arm Sportskeeda acquires 73 percent stake in NFL-focused US website

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

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Gaming and sports media company Nazara Technologies Ltd on Wednesday, March 22, said its subsidiary Sportskeeda Inc has acquired a 73.27 percent stake in Pro Football Network LLC for $1.817 million.

Sportskeeda Inc reserves an option to acquire up to 10 percent and up to 8 percent additional stock of the Pro Football Network LLC in CY 2024 and CY 2025 respectively, the company said in an exchange filing.

The acquisition is proposed by way of a combination of both primary infusion in preferred stocks and secondary purchase of common stock from its existing stockholders and subsequent exchange of such common stock into preferred stock, it said.

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The proposed investment is part of Sportskeeda’s growth strategy to strengthen the strategic position and presence of the company in the US digital sports media market. The proposed acquisition will help Sportskeeda to increase its revenues in the digital media space.

Pro Football Network LLC is a US sports digital media publisher focused on publishing content related to the National Football League in the United States.

With more than an average of five million monthly active users, Pro Football Network is widely recognised as one of the best NFL-focused sports sites and is ranked third amongst the top NFL-focused media sites in the US (SimilarWeb Rankings, January 2023). NFL is the most watched sport in the US.

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The acquisition is being funded out of the internal cash reserve of Sportskeeda, which has been advanced as a loan to its wholly-owned subsidiary Sportskeeda Inc.

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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

Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil announces retirement from professional football

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

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Germany’s World Cup-winning midfielder Mesut Ozil announced his retirement from football at the age of 34 on Wednesday. The former Real Madrid and Arsenal player was a key member of Germany’s World Cup-winning side in Brazil in 2014.

He retired from the squad in 2018 amid a political debate in Germany about an influx of migrants and after backlash over a photograph taken with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, saying he faced “racism and disrespect” over his Turkish ancestry.

“I’ve had the privilege to be a professional football player for almost 17 years now and I feel incredibly thankful for the opportunity,” Ozil, who most recently played for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir, said in a statement on Instagram.

“But in recent weeks and months, having also suffered some injuries, it’s become more and more clear that it’s time to leave the big stage of football.”

Ozil’s retirement may not come as a surprise, as there had been speculation earlier this year that he was considering stepping away from the game. Nonetheless, his retirement marks the end of an era for one of the game’s most talented playmakers.

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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