Latest news with #PrashantTandon
News18
5 days ago
- Business
- News18
Textiles, leather, pharma, auto related stocks end higher
Agency: New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Shares of companies related to sectors such as textiles, leather, pharma, and auto, among others, ended higher on Thursday after India and the UK signed a free trade agreement, as the deal will boost exports from labour-intensive sectors, including textiles and leather, while making British cars and whisky cheaper in India. Defying a weak trend in the broader equity market, leather-related stocks such as AKI India Ltd jumped 5 per cent, Mirza International went up by 1.86 per cent, Zenith Exports climbed 0.96 per cent, and Superhouse Ltd (0.47 per cent) on the BSE. Textile-related stocks such as Pearl Global Industries surged 3.67 per cent, Welspun Living rallied 2.36 per cent, Vardhman Textiles climbed 1.88 per cent, Trident Ltd gained 1.68 per cent, Arvind Ltd advanced 1.04 per cent, and Alok Industries (0.20 per cent). Tata Motors climbed 1.51 per cent and and auto components and equipment maker Sona BLW Precision Forgings went up by 0.28 per cent. Shares of Dr Reddy's Laboratories climbed 1.39 per cent, Lupin edged higher by 1.20 per cent, Sun Pharma (0.56 per cent), and Alkem Laboratories (0.44 per cent). 'The recently concluded UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) represents a significant advancement in the bilateral relationship between the two nations, with the potential to elevate trade by an estimated USD 34 billion annually. Conversely, India will benefit from duty-free access for 99 per cent of its exports to the United Kingdom, thus bolstering essential sectors such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, and agriculture," Prashant Tandon, Executive Director – Listed Investments at Waterfield Advisors, said. Despite a positive start, the 30-share BSE Sensex failed to carry forward the momentum and fell later in the trade. The benchmark tanked 542.47 points, or 0.66 per cent, to settle at 82,184.17. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 157.80 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 25,062.10. The FTA is expected to benefit 99 per cent of Indian exports from tariffs and will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India, besides boosting the overall trade basket, according to Indian officials. The deal, firmed up after three years of negotiations, is expected to ensure comprehensive market access for Indian goods across all sectors, and India will gain from tariff elimination on about 99 per cent of tariff lines (product categories) covering almost 100 per cent of the trade values, they said. Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday said the India-UK free trade agreement would help the marquee automaker to access lower tariffs in India for its luxury models. Under the India-UK FTA, India will reduce tariffs on automotive imports from about 110 per cent to 10 per cent under quotas on both sides, benefiting companies such as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). 'We welcome this free trade agreement between the UK and India, which over time will deliver reduced tariff access to the Indian car market for JLR's luxury vehicles," a company spokesperson said in a statement. JLR is owned by Mumbai-headquartered Tata Motors. PTI SUM SUM SHW view comments First Published: July 24, 2025, 19:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
News18
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
‘Udaipur Files' Director To Move Supreme Court After Delhi HC Stays Film Release
The Delhi High Court passed an interim order staying the film's release after hearing two petitions filed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind and journalist Prashant Tandon. After the Delhi High Court ordered a stay on the release of Udaipur Files: Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder, director and producer Amit Jani on Thursday announced he will approach the Supreme Court to challenge the decision. 'We had screened this film for their lawyer Kapil Sibal, so even after the screening, he had to oppose it because he had taken fees for it. Today, the High Court has stayed the release of this film. We are going to the Supreme Court to challenge this decision. They have been asked to go to the Central Government and the government will give its decision within seven days whether the film is right or wrong…" The Delhi High Court passed an interim order staying the film's release after hearing two petitions filed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind and journalist Prashant Tandon. The petitioners had challenged the CBFC's decision to certify the film, citing concerns over potential communal unrest and threats to public order. The bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal stated, 'We provide that till the grant of interim relief is decided, there shall be a stay on the release of the film." The stay will remain in effect until the central government responds to the revision application filed under the Cinematograph Act, 1952. The film is based on the 2022 murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Udaipur, Rajasthan, who was brutally killed on camera by two men allegedly angered by his support for former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. The incident sparked national outrage. The petitioners argued that the movie sensationalises a deeply sensitive issue and could exacerbate communal tensions, particularly with elections approaching in several states. The film was initially scheduled for a theatrical release on July 11. view comments First Published: July 11, 2025, 08:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tata 1mg plans more offline forays as it looks to raise $300 million
Tata 1mg is re-entering an investment phase as the online pharmacy looks to expand its offline presence amid talks of an external funding round, according to people in the know. Tata Digital had acquired a strategic stake in 1mg in 2021. Since then, the e-pharmacy firm has raised only $40 million, through a rights issue from Tata Digital in 2022. The planned $300 million external fundraising for 1mg marks a shift in strategy for the salt-to-software Tata Group , which had last year asked 1mg and its grocery delivery firm BigBasket to increase reliance on debt to fund growth. In fiscal 2025, 1mg's revenue is estimated to have grown 30-35% to around Rs 2,500-2,600 crore, people aware of the matter said. Its annual cash burn is about Rs 180-200 crore, with a significant part of this going into new initiatives including offline expansion, one of the people said. In FY24, its revenue had grown 21% to Rs 1,968 crore with over 80% of this coming from medicine sales, as per filings made with the Registrar of Companies. Net loss shrank to a fourth at Rs 313 crore compared with Rs 1,255 crore in FY23. Since being acquired by the Tata Group, which currently owns a 67% stake in 1mg, the company's revenue has more than tripled until FY24. In fiscal 2021, 1mg had reported revenue of Rs 309 crore. In the remaining 33% stake in the company, its founders own about 7%, while investors such as European family office Corisol Holdings, World Bank's investment arm IFC and others hold the rest. Offline push In addition to offline sales, the company is increasing its push behind institutional business. The company's business-to-consumer segment, which includes e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics and consultation services, now contributes 70% to its revenue, sources said. Under the institutional segment, 1mg provides its offerings in tie-ups with hospital chains, clinics and insurance companies. It is also building a full-stack approach ranging from consultation to management of specific diseases and conditions. It has started this programme with obesity and cancer. 'This includes helping patients deal with initial doctor consultations, diagnostics, creating a medical and dietary plan, working with hospitals as well as insurers,' a person in the know said. Responding to queries by ET, 1mg founder and chief executive Prashant Tandon said the company is 'focusing on a new phase of growth' with online pharmacy and digital diagnostics 'now being close to profitability'. 'Several new initiatives are underway, and offline expansion will be a key part of our growth strategy going forward. We aspire to become a truly omnichannel, integrated healthcare company and are well on our way to achieving that vision,' he said. Market dynamics Competition in the online pharmacy space stabilised following the operational restructuring of former market leader PharmEasy , which last year undertook a deeply discounted rights issue – at a 90% markdown – to address its debt burden. Additionally, the rapid medicine delivery space is also heating up with Apollo Hospital 's pharmacy division Apollo 24/7 also expanding its offline presence — via creating micro warehouses within existing pharmacies instead of opening dark stores — to fulfil medicine orders in 19 minutes. While 1mg is setting up its own offline stores to facilitate 30-minute deliveries in cities including Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Faridabad, it has also partnered with BigBasket in places where its outlets are not opened yet. Quick commerce firms Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes are tying up with PharmEasy to offer 10-minute deliveries, while Zepto is setting up its own capabilities. However, aggressive expansion of quick delivery in medicines faces multiple hurdles including it being capital-intensive and having arduous regulatory requirements. Besides, traditional offline chemists and pharmacists have alleged that online delivery of medicines does not comply with existing laws, a claim countered by e-pharmacy firms. In the latest flashpoint, a lobby group of offline druggists has approached the union health ministry seeking withdrawal of a March 2020 notification that allowed doorstep delivery of medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Economic Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
1mg's offline push; cyberattacks on the rise
Happy Wednesday! Tata Digital's epharmacy, 1mg, is looking to expand its offline presence amid talks of fresh funding. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch. Also in the letter: ■ Dream Sports invests in Cricbuzz, Willow TV ■ Ola, Swiggy weigh on SoftBank■ Flipkart's leadership churn 1mg readies brick-and-mortar push ahead of external funding Prashant Tandon, CEO, 1mg Online pharmacy 1mg is looking to expand its offline presence amid talks of an external funding round, people in the know told ET. To this end, 1mg is seeking to raise $300 million in external funding. Driving the news: 1mg is expanding its offline presence from 110 stores presently to 3,000 in five years. Tata Digital, which owns 67% of 1mg, last backed it in a $40 million rights issue in 2022. FY25 revenue is estimated at Rs 2,500-2,600 crore, up 30-35%; cash burn stands at Rs 180-200 crore. Tell me more: Revenue has tripled since FY21 (Rs 309 crore) to Rs 1,968 crore in FY24; net loss fell 75% to Rs 313 crore. 70% of revenue now comes from e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics, and consultation. Offline stores and disease-focused 'full-stack' care models (starting with obesity and cancer) are now in play. 1mg is also teaming up with BigBasket for last-mile delivery amid rising competition from Apollo, PharmEasy, and quick commerce players. Quote, unquote: 'Several new initiatives are underway, and offline expansion will be a key part of our growth strategy going forward,' said 1mg founder and chief executive officer Prashant Tandon. He added, 'We aspire to become a truly omnichannel, integrated healthcare company and are well on our way to achieving that vision.' Also Read: Tata's billion-dollar bet: BigBasket and 1mg set for $1.3 billion cash surge Cybercriminals look to capitalise on India-Pakistan tensions A spike in cyberattacks has followed the India-Pakistan conflict, with over 100 incidents reported in just a week. Foreign 'digital tourists' and hacktivist groups from Morocco, Bangladesh, Iraq and Palestine have targeted the Indian government and private infrastructure. No pros: Most attackers are 'script kiddies' or amateurs using pre-built tools for distributed denial of service (DDoS), phishing, and website defacement. Groups like SYLHET-GANG-SG and Team Azrael claimed major data breaches, but experts debunked them as recycled or fake. The MO: During this conflict, the use of fake AI-generated letters (which strikingly look similar to official letterheads) and videos has become more prominent. These are more often than not spread via WhatsApp and Telegram to manipulate sentiment and steal data. Yes, but: There is one real threat, coming from across the border: APT36 (aka Transparent Tribe), a Pakistan-linked espionage group, has launched malware 'payload' attacks on defence systems. Last week, ET reported about three such attempts. Dream11 parent to invest $50 million in Times Internet's Cricbuzz and Willow TV Gaming company Dream Sports has acquired a strategic minority stake in cricket media platform Cricbuzz and North America's leading cricket broadcaster, Willow TV. Deal details: Dream Sports has invested $50 million in Cricbuzz and Willow TV, both owned by Times Internet -- the digital media arm of The Times of India Group , which publishes The Economic Times . Why it matter: Dream Sports will acquire a strategic minority stake in Cricbuzz and Willow TV, which collectively has 185 million monthly users across more than 150 countries. The investment will create new opportunities for fan experiences, given that the companies intend to collaborate and provide Cricbuzz's audience with more real-time analysis and statistics, engagement and commerce integrations, and AI-driven predictions. Quote, unquote: 'Cricbuzz and Willow sit at the heart of how hundreds of millions of fans follow cricket every day. We're excited to work with Dream Sports to reimagine and develop new ways to collaboratively create new experiences for cricket fans across the planet,' said Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman, Times Sports CEO Harsh Jain added, 'With this investment, cricket fans can expect much more fan engagement, interactive streams, and integrated commerce experiences that will bring them closer to the action and to each other.' Beyond Cricket: Also Read: Mixed reality content startup Flam raises $14 million from RTP Global, others Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Masayoshi Son, CEO, SoftBank SoftBank posts first annual profit in four years, but Ola and Swiggy weigh on Vision Fund 2 in Q4: Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group booked an investment loss of $708 million for its Vision Fund 2 in the January–March quarter, citing the poor performance of Indian listed stocks as a key factor. Microsoft to lay off thousands to streamline management: Report | A company spokesperson told CNBC that the fresh layoffs, meant "to reduce layers of management", will affect 3% of its workforce. Microsoft had a headcount of 228,000 last June, which puts the number of affected employees in the neighbourhood at 7,000. Flipkart's SVP Ankit Jain likely to join Swiggy Instamart as COO: Ankit Jain, senior vice president (SVP) at ecommerce platform Flipkart, is likely to join quick commerce firm Swiggy Instamart as chief operating officer (COO), replacing its current SVP and COO, Sairam Krishnamurthy, according to people in the know. PayU gets final nod from RBI to process online business payments: The RBI granted the licence on May 13. This comes more than a year after the Prosus-backed firm received the banking regulator's in-principle approval to operate this business. It has started onboarding new merchants since then. Global Picks We Are Reading ■ An $8.4 billion Chinese hub for crypto crime is incorporated in Colorado (Wired) ■ Investors back start-ups aiding copyright deals to AI groups (FT) ■ Google's bringing Gemini to your car with Android Auto (TechCrunch) Updated On May 14, 2025, 07:28 AM IST
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tata 1mg plans more offline forays as it looks to raise $300 million
Tata 1mg is re-entering an investment phase as the online pharmacy looks to expand its offline presence amid talks of an external funding round, according to people in the know. Tata Digital had acquired a strategic stake in 1mg in 2021. Since then, the e-pharmacy firm has raised only $40 million, through a rights issue from Tata Digital in 2022. The planned $300 million external fundraising for 1mg marks a shift in strategy for the salt-to-software Tata Group , which had last year asked 1mg and its grocery delivery firm BigBasket to increase reliance on debt to fund growth. ETtech In fiscal 2025, 1mg's revenue is estimated to have grown 30-35% to around Rs 2,500-2,600 crore, people aware of the matter said. Its annual cash burn is about Rs 180-200 crore, with a significant part of this going into new initiatives including offline expansion, one of the people said. Live Events In FY24, its revenue had grown 21% to Rs 1,968 crore with over 80% of this coming from medicine sales, as per filings made with the Registrar of Companies. Net loss shrank to a fourth at Rs 313 crore compared with Rs 1,255 crore in FY23. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Since being acquired by the Tata Group, which currently owns a 67% stake in 1mg, the company's revenue has more than tripled until FY24. In fiscal 2021, 1mg had reported revenue of Rs 309 crore. In the remaining 33% stake in the company, its founders own about 7%, while investors such as European family office Corisol Holdings, World Bank's investment arm IFC and others hold the rest. Offline push In addition to offline sales, the company is increasing its push behind institutional business. The company's business-to-consumer segment, which includes e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics and consultation services, now contributes 70% to its revenue, sources said. Under the institutional segment, 1mg provides its offerings in tie-ups with hospital chains, clinics and insurance companies. It is also building a full-stack approach ranging from consultation to management of specific diseases and conditions. It has started this programme with obesity and cancer. 'This includes helping patients deal with initial doctor consultations, diagnostics, creating a medical and dietary plan, working with hospitals as well as insurers,' a person in the know said. Responding to queries by ET, 1mg founder and chief executive Prashant Tandon said the company is 'focusing on a new phase of growth' with online pharmacy and digital diagnostics 'now being close to profitability'. 'Several new initiatives are underway, and offline expansion will be a key part of our growth strategy going forward. We aspire to become a truly omnichannel, integrated healthcare company and are well on our way to achieving that vision,' he said. Market dynamics Competition in the online pharmacy space stabilised following the operational restructuring of former market leader PharmEasy , which last year undertook a deeply discounted rights issue – at a 90% markdown – to address its debt burden. Additionally, the rapid medicine delivery space is also heating up with Apollo Hospital 's pharmacy division Apollo 24/7 also expanding its offline presence — via creating micro warehouses within existing pharmacies instead of opening dark stores — to fulfil medicine orders in 19 minutes. While 1mg is setting up its own offline stores to facilitate 30-minute deliveries in cities including Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Faridabad, it has also partnered with BigBasket in places where its outlets are not opened yet. Quick commerce firms Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes are tying up with PharmEasy to offer 10-minute deliveries, while Zepto is setting up its own capabilities. However, aggressive expansion of quick delivery in medicines faces multiple hurdles including it being capital-intensive and having arduous regulatory requirements. Besides, traditional offline chemists and pharmacists have alleged that online delivery of medicines does not comply with existing laws, a claim countered by e-pharmacy firms. In the latest flashpoint, a lobby group of offline druggists has approached the union health ministry seeking withdrawal of a March 2020 notification that allowed doorstep delivery of medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
