Business News Daily Updates

Indian-origin man stalked Apple CEO, tried to deliver flowers & champagne to him

Apple has been granted a temporary restraining order against an Indian-origin man named Rakesh 'Rocky' Sharma, who is accused of stalking and threatening Apple's CEO Tim Cook. As per documents, Sharma had trespassed on Cook's Palo Alto property on December 4, 2019, and tried to deliver flowers and champagne. Sharma even posted his sexualised photos on Twitter and tagged Cook.

2 SAP employees test positive for H1N1 in B'luru, company shuts all India offices

German software group SAP on Thursday said it had shut down all its offices in India for sanitisation after two employees in Bengaluru tested positive for the H1N1 swine-flu virus, Reuters reported citing a company statement. SAP offices in Bengaluru, Gurugram and Mumbai have been temporarily closed. All employees have been asked to work from home until further notice.
read more at Reuters

France's Groupe ADP to buy 49% stake in GMR Airports for ₹10,780 cr

Groupe ADP, an international airport operator based in Paris, will hold a 49% stake in GMR Airports Limited (GAL), GAL's parent company GMR Infrastructure Limited (GIL) announced. The deal involves an equity consideration of ₹10,780 crore, that values GAL at base post-money valuation of ₹22,000 crore. The first tranche of ₹5,248 crore will be received by GMR Group immediately
read more at Livemint

China car sales fall 92% in first half of February amid coronavirus

Car sales in China fell by 92% in the first half of February as most dealerships remained closed and "barely anybody" looked to buy vehicles amid the coronavirus outbreak, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said. About 4,909 passenger vehicles were sold in the first 16 days, down from 59,930 vehicles in same period last year, as per CPCA data.
read more at BloombergQuint

Maha poultry sector records loss of over ₹100 cr due to coronavirus scare

The coronavirus (COVID-19) scare has led to Maharashtra poultry sector recording more than ₹100 crore loss in the last 15 days, an official said. "The daily average chicken sale was around 3,500 metric tonnes...[has] come down to 2,000 metric tonnes," the official added. Maharashtra's Department of Animal Husbandry attributed the loss to the rumours that coronavirus can spread through chicken.
read more at India.com

Sweden starts testing world's first central bank digital currency

Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, announced that it has begun testing an e-krona that can work as a complement to cash. If successful, this would lead to the creation of world's first central bank digital currency. The e-krona could be used to simulate everyday banking activities like payments from a digital wallet such as a mobile phone app, Riksbank said.
read more at Reuters

Tesla gets court approval to clear forest to build Germany factory

A German court has ruled that Tesla can resume clearing a forest near Berlin to build its first electric car factory in Europe. Tesla plans to employ 12,000 people and produce about 5 lakh cars a year at the site. Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, the company "will plant three new trees for every one cut".
read more at Livemint

Airlines to lose nearly $30 bn due to coronavirus outbreak: IATA

Airlines will lose nearly $30 billion of revenue this year due to falling passenger demand amid coronavirus outbreak, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. The majority of financial impact will hit airlines in Asia Pacific region where revenues will fall $27.8 billion, IATA added. The organisation expects the global demand for air travel to fall by 4.7% in 2020.
read more at The Guardian

DHFL Chairman Kapil Wadhawan gets bail in Iqbal Mirchi deal case

A Mumbai court has granted bail to Chairman and MD of Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL), Kapil Wadhawan, who was arrested on January 27 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case. According to ED, Wadhawan was instrumental in laundering money as part of an "illegal deal" with gangster Iqbal Mirchi who died in 2013 in London.
read more at Livemint

112 assets of Nirav Modi to be auctioned on Feb 27, Mar 3 and 4

The Enforcement Directorate-appointed international auction house, Saffronart, will feature 112 luxury assets seized from PNB scam accused Nirav Modi in a live auction on February 27 and an online auction on March 3 and 4. The assets include artworks by Indian artists like Amrita Sher-Gil and MF Husain, luxury wristwatches, handbags and two cars, Porsche Panamera and Rolls-Royce Ghost.
read more at Livemint

CCI approves GMR-Groupe ADP deal for 49% stake sale in airport biz

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given approval for GMR Infrastructure's proposed 49% stake sale in GMR Airports to France's Groupe ADP for ₹10,780 crore. CCI said it received a green channel combination filing from Groupe ADP for the acquisition. Groupe ADP will also buy 100% stake in GMR Infra, as per the filing.
read more at Livemint

Centre releases ₹19,950 cr as GST compensation to states, UT for Oct-Nov

The Centre has released ₹19,950 crore as GST compensation to states and Union Territories for the October-November period, taking the total amount released to them in financial year 2019-20 to over ₹1.2 lakh crore. Under GST law, the Centre has to compensate states bi-monthly for any loss of revenue they incur in the first five years of GST implementation.
read more at BloombergQuint