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Sudharma Times
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{7 September 2020 ~ 13 September 2020} |
Business
News
~by
JATIN
1.US says
Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter agrees to lift oil blockade
-13 September 2020
The
US Embassy in Libya said Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter agreed to reopen key
oil fields and terminals no later than Saturday, a move that could advance
talks between the country's warring sides closer to a political settlement to
the yearslong conflict.
Powerful
tribes in eastern Libya loyal to Hifter have kept export terminals closed and
choked off major pipelines since the start of the year. That move aimed to put
pressure on their rivals in the UN-supported government in the capital,
Tripoli, in the country's west.
Oil-rich Libya was plunged into disorder when a NATO-backed
uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later
killed.
The
county has since split between rival east- and west-based administrations, each
backed by armed groups and foreign governments.
The US Embassy statement said Hifter's self-styled Libyan
Arab Armed Forces conveyed to the US government “the personal commitment of
General Hifter to allow the full reopening of the energy sector no later than
September 12."
By
Saturday evening, it was not immediately clear whether the blockade had been
lifted. There was no immediate comment from the LAAF, and Hifter's spokesman
did not immediately answer phone calls seeking comment.
The
US Embassy said it was encouraged by “an apparent sovereign Libyan agreement”
to enable Libya's National Oil Corporation to resume its “vital and apolitical
work.”
The US supports "a financial model that would constitute
a credible guarantee that oil and gas revenues would be managed transparently
and preserved for the benefit of the Libyan people,” the embassy said, adding:
“Credible safeguards will enable all Libyans to have confidence that revenues
are not misappropriated.” It did not elaborate.
Hifter
in July called for oil revenues to flow into a bank account in a foreign
country with a “clear mechanism” to distribute funds fairly among Libya's
regions.
The embassy said it welcomed “what appears to be a Libyan
consensus that it is time to reopen the energy sector."
2.Executives to
step down after Rio Tinto destroys sacred Australian sites
-12 September 2020
The
caves, set deep in a desert gorge, had yielded a treasure trove of artifacts
tracing aboriginal people’s long history in Australia: a 28,000-year-old
kangaroo bone sharpened into a blade; a 4,000-year-old plait of human hair
believed to have been worn as a belt.
Underneath
the caverns sat millions of dollars’ worth of high-grade iron ore, in a country
where mining is king.
In
May, the minerals giant Rio Tinto decided to blow up the caves to get at the
riches below. But on Friday, it became clear that Australia’s most powerful
export industry had met a force it could not bulldoze: the global movement for
racial justice.
The
company announced that its chief executive, Jean-Sébastien Jacques, would step
down after a shareholder revolt over its destruction of the prehistoric rock
shelters in the Juukan Gorge, which are sacred to two Australian aboriginal
groups.
Two
other top executives, Chris Salisbury and Simone Niven, will also leave the
company, which is based in Britain and Australia. The three executives had part
of their 2020 bonuses docked last month, but shareholders, arguing that the
measure failed to hold the individuals responsible, called for harsher
punishment.
It
was a rare admission that the mining industry, which has long propped up the
Australian economy — often at the expense of traditional landowners — had gone
too far.
“What
happened at Juukan was wrong,” Simon Thompson, chair of Rio Tinto, said in a
statement Friday, adding that the company would never demolish important
cultural sites again.
Rio Tinto destroyed the caves, in the Pilbara Desert in
Western Australia, with government approval but against the objections of two
peoples with deep connections to them, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and the Pinikura
3.German truck
maker MAN to cut up to 9,500 jobs to become profitable
-11 September 2020
German
truck maker MAN , which is controlled by Volkswagen, said on Friday it could
cut up to 9,500 jobs as part of a cost-cutting programme.
The programmer’s aim is to achieve an operating return on
sales of 8% in 2023, the Munich-based group said.
MAN said it planned a partial relocation of some of the
development and production processes to other sites, adding that sites at Steyr
in Austria and Plauen and Wistrich in Germany are up for discussion.
"The
Executive Boards are currently expecting the personnel measures planned to
cause restructuring expenses within a medium to upper three-digit million Euro
range," it added.
The company is targeting cost savings of 1.8 billion euros.
4.Singapore Airlines to cut 4,300 jobs due
to pandemic, most in its history
-10 September 2020
Singapore
Airlines Ltd said on Thursday it would cut 4,300 positions, or around 20% of
its staff, due to the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on demand
in the largest job losses in its history. The airline said after taking into
account a recruitment freeze, natural attrition and voluntary departure schemes,
the potential number of staff affected would be reduced to around 2,400 in
Singapore and overseas.
The
company reiterated its forecast that it expected to operate less than 50% of
its normal capacity by its financial year end of March 31, 2021. It is
currently at 8%. The airline has no domestic network and is wholly dependent on
international demand at a time when many borders remain effectively closed. It
said to remain viable in an uncertain landscape it would operate a smaller
fleet and reduced network in coming years, having already announced a review of
its Airbus SE A380 planes for a possible S$1 billion ($731.21 million) in
impairments.
The
job losses on Thursday were the first it had announced since the start of the
pandemic, which has seen it raise S$11 billion of equity and debt to shore up
its liquidity. "The next few weeks will be some of the toughest in the
history of the SIA Group as some of our friends and colleagues leave the
company," Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Goh Choon Phong said in a
statement.
"This
is not a reflection of the strengths and capabilities of those who will be
affected, but the result of an unprecedented global crisis that has engulfed
the airline industry," he said. State investor Temasek Holdings and others
put together a $13.3 billion rescue package for Singapore Airlines in March,
including a bridging loan it has repaid and S$9.7 billion of convertible notes
it has yet to use.
The
International Air Transport Association has forecast it will take until 2024
for global passenger traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels. Rival Qantas
Airways Ltd has announced plans to cut nearly 30% of its pre-pandemic staffing,
while Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd is reviewing its operations with an
announcement expected in the fourth quarter.
5.European
Commission reserves 200 million more coronavirus vaccines
-9 September 2020
The
European Commission announced on Wednesday it has reached a deal with a sixth
pharmaceutical firm, this time BioNtech-Pfizer, to reserve a further 200
million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine. "Our chances to develop
and deploy a safe and effective vaccine have never been higher, both for
Europeans here at home, or for the rest of the world," European Commission
president Ursula von der Leyen said. "To defeat coronavirus anywhere, we
need to defeat it everywhere."
Brussels
has previously signed deals with Sanofi-GSK, Johnson & Johnson, CureVac,
Moderna and with AstraZeneca NSE 1.04 % to be ready to procure doses quickly if
and when any of the companies develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.
"We are optimistic that among these candidates there will be a safe and
effective vaccine against Covid-19 to help us defeat this pandemic," the
EU health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, said.
6.Japan's economy shrank
more than estimated in Q2
-8 September 2020
Japan's
economy shrank slightly more than initially thought in the April-June quarter,
official data released Tuesday showed, deepening a contraction that was already
the worst in the nation's modern history.
The world's third-largest economy shrank 7.9 percent in the
second quarter of this year from the previous quarter, more than the initial
7.8 percent in the preliminary data, the Cabinet Office said.
The
downward revision comes with corporate investment weaker than in the preliminary
data released last month, as the coronavirus deepens the country's economic
woes.
The latest headline figure was modestly better than market
consensus of an 8.0 percent contraction, but it is the worst figure for Japan
since comparable data became available in 1980, beyond the brutal impact of the
2008 global financial crisis.
Separate
data released by the internal affairs ministry Tuesday showed Japan's household
spending in July dropped 7.6 percent on-year, also underlining the impact of
the coronavirus on the economy.
The 7.6 percent drop was the 10th consecutive monthly decline
and comes after a 1.2 percent slide in June and 16.2 percent dive in May.
The
figure came in much worse than economist expectations of a 3.7 percent decline,
Bloomberg said.
Japan's economy was in recession even before the coronavirus
hit due to damage from a powerful typhoon last year, and a sale tax hike in October.
The country has seen a smaller coronavirus outbreak compared
to some of the worst-hit places, with about 71,800 infections and fewer than
1,400 deaths.
A
nationwide state of emergency was imposed as cases spiked in April, but the
restrictions were significantly looser than in many countries, with no
enforcement mechanism to shutter businesses or keep people at home.
The emergency was lifted in June, and the government has been
reluctant to reintroduce measures, even as infections rise again.
7.French telecom giant Orange launches 5G
network in five Spanish cities
-7
September 2020
French
telecom giant Orange started on Monday offering 5G service in five of the
largest Spanish cities, less than a week after rival Telefonica rolled out its
own service in the whole country.
Orange
now provides all its customers in the central areas of Madrid, Barcelona,
Valencia, Seville and Malaga with 5G service at no additional cost on their
telecom bill, the company said in a statement.
European
telecoms operators are starting to roll out 5G to consumers and businesses,
offering super-fast download speeds for smartphone users and supporting
so-called smart devices and factories.
Orange
plans to expand the 5G coverage to other Spanish cities later on, the statement
said.
Orange
is responding to its rival Telefonica, which launched a nationwide 5G service
last Tuesday, with the goal of bringing the next-generation mobile internet to
75% of the Spanish population this year.
Technology News
~by GAURAV
1.Confused
digital firms breach payment deadline as no clarity on Google Tax
-12 September 2020
India's Google Tax, the recently
introduced 2 per cent equalization levy on all online/digital sale of goods or
services by a non-resident to an Indian customer through digital medium, has
become a compliance nightmare for companies in absence of any clarity and FAQs
from the tax department.
Although the last date for submitting
the taxes for the first quarter was July 7, many companies have not paid the
taxes as they are waiting for the clarifications. Any delay in payment of taxes
invites an interest of 1 per cent every month.
There is no clarity on the number
of issues and are ambiguities in terms of interpretation of the law. It is not
clear on which transaction they should be paying the equalization levy and to
what amount.
The scope of the term 'online
sale of goods' itself is so wide that online operators are seeking clarity if
it means just digital goods or any kind of goods. There are confusions with
regards to the definition of digital and electronic facility or platform. Some
experts are saying that a sale through a digital platform can also mean sales
concluded through e-mails.
"Right now, the e-commerce
platforms charge some kind of fee or commission for assisting a merchant on
sale of goods over its network. The question is whether the e-commerce platform
should be paying 2 per cent on the commission amount or the entire transaction
amount," says Dhaval Jariwala, partner in chartered accountancy firm PNDJ
& Associates LLP.
Then there are questions whether
a foreign e-commerce or digital platform which pay the equalization levy here
will get a credit in their home countries or not.
The law on equalization levy says
that an Indian consumer will be identified based on the IP address located in
India. But experts ask what if someone uses a virtual private network (VPN).
Sunil Arora, tax partner at
chartered accountancy firm ASA & Associates, finds another anomaly. He says
that Section 10 (50) of the Income Tax Act, which says no income tax would be
levied on the income that has been subjected to Equalization Levy, will come
into force from April 1, 2021 but the levy itself comes into force from April
1, 2020. "So what happens to the taxes paid during the current financial
year? Will these be taxed twice," he questions.
2. Now speak to Flipkart voice
assistant to buy grocery
-11 September 2020
A common practice it has been to
call the nearby Kira Nawala to list out the grocery items you need to purchase.
To replicate this natural behaviour for users in the online world, e-commerce
marketplace Flipkart has launched voice assistant on its platform to
allow users to discover and buy the products they like.
The difference, however, is now
instead of the shopkeeper, consumers will list the grocery items to the Voice
assistant. The feature aims to ease the transition of several hundreds of
first-time internet users into their digital journeys.
The consumers can speak to the
voice assistant in English and Hindi to purchase the products. Currently, the
service is available only for Flipkart's grocery store, Supermart.
The company spokesperson said
that it will be eventually introduced for other categories as well. Also, more
languages for voice commands are also on the cards.
The voice-first conversational AI
platform has been built by Flipkart's in-house technology team with focus on
solutions that understand vernacular languages such as Hindi, e-commerce
categories and tasks such as searching for a product, understanding product
details and placing an order, etc. It can automatically detect the language
spoken by the user and respond to mixed language commands.
The AI platform was built after
research for over five months across multiple towns and cities.
"While we have seen great
adoption for our video and vernacular offerings, the next step in that
direction is to solve for the voice capability for e-commerce," said
Jeyandran Venugopal, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Flipkart.
He further added, "The launch of Voice Assistant also aligns well with the
growing adoption and comfort of consumers towards voice-based online
commerce."
3.China opposes forced TikTok sale,
would rather see its US operations shut
-10 September 2020
Beijing opposes a forced sale
of Tiktok’s US operations by its Chinese owner Byte Dance, and would
prefer to see the short video app shut down in the United States, three people
with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Byte Dance has been in talks to
sell Tiktok’s US business to potential buyers including Microsoft and
Oracle since US President Donald Trump threatened last month to ban
the service if it was not sold. Trump has given Byte Dance a deadline of
mid-September to finalize a deal.
However, Chinese officials believe
a forced sale would make both Byte Dance and China appear weak in the face of
pressure from Washington, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity
given the sensitivity of the situation.
Byte Dance said in a statement
to Reuters that the Chinese government had never suggested to it that
it should shut down TikTok in the United States or in any other markets. Two of
the sources said China was willing to use revisions it made to a technology
exports list on August 28 to delay any deal reached by Byte Dance, if it had
to.
China's State Council
Information Office and its foreign and commerce ministries did not
immediately respond to requests for comment sent after working hours. Asked on
Friday about Trump and TikTok, Chinese foreign ministry Spokesman Zhao
Lijian said at a regular press briefing that the United States was abusing
the concept of national security, and urged it to stop oppressing foreign
companies.
CLASH BETWEEN
POWERS
Reuters has reported that Tiktok’s
prospective buyers were discussing four ways to structure an acquisition from Byte
Dance. Within these, Byte Dance could still push ahead with a sale of Tiktok’s
US assets without approval from China's commerce ministry by selling them
without key algorithms.
Byte Dance and its
founder Zhang Yiming have been caught in a clash between the world's
two preeminent powers. Trump last month issued two executive orders that
require Byte Dance to sell Tiktok’s US assets or face being banned in the
country, where the app is hugely popular among teenagers.
US officials have criticized the
app's security and privacy, suggesting that user data might be shared with
Beijing. TikTok has said it would not comply with any request to share user
data with the Chinese authorities.
Beijing has said it firmly opposes
Trump's executive orders and on August 28 moved to give itself a say in the
process, revising a list of technologies that will need Chinese government
approval before they are exported. Experts said Tiktok’s recommendation
algorithm would fall under this list.
4.Samsung aims to double online
business market share by the end of 2020
-9 September 2020
On the back of 100 per cent
year-on-year growth in the second half (July-December) of this year, Samsung
aims to double online business market share by the end of 2020. Introduced
early last year, the M-series has done exceedingly well for Samsung. And the
recently launched M51 is Samsung's eighth launch under M series
within this year. "We are here in the second half of 2020, and we are seeing
a growth in scale and strength. We are looking at 100 per cent year on year
growth between second half 2020 over the second half of 2019", says Asim
Warsi, Senior Vice President, Samsung India.
Samsung has witnessed this growth
on the backdrop of improving average selling price or ASPs. Samsung's ASP has
also moved up by over 50 per cent. "The main part of our online business
is the M series portfolio that we launched a little over one year ago in India.
M series has been designed for the young Indian millennial consumers,
the Gen Z young consumers who shop online. It's been very well
appreciated, well-liked by consumers. And by the end of 2020, we foresee that M
series would be greater than $3.5 billion franchise in terms of gross
merchandise value," adds Warsi.
The M-series has been priced
starting Rs 7,000 and goes up to the sub-Rs 25,000 price bracket as well.
Continuing the success of M-series, Samsung has now launched the M51. Just like
all its predecessors in the M-series, even this new model has been designed
keeping in view the pattern and preferences of online shoppers. The M51 is
Samsung's eighth launch under M series within this year. It features a 6.7-inch
display, is powered by Snapdragon 733g processor, a 32 MP front camera and a
7000 mAh battery amongst other features.
5.Apple revises App Store review
guidelines, loosens some in-app payment rules
-8 September 2020
Apple Inc on Friday published a
revision of some of its App Store review guidelines here, loosening
some restrictions on streaming game services, online classes and when
developers must use its in-app purchase system, which charges a 30% commission.
The company made the changes after criticism from developers over its App Store
practices and after rivals such as Microsoft Corp and Alphabet
Inc's Google declined to launch their streaming game platforms on
the iPhone because of Apple's rules.
Apple has long barred catalogs of
apps within apps but said Friday that it would allow streaming game companies
to create such catalog apps. However, each game within the catalog must still
be made into its own standalone app and use Apple's in-app payment
system. Google and Microsoft did not immediately return
requests for comment.
Other rule changes include
allowing one-on-one virtual classes to be paid for outside of Apple's payment
system, though classes taught to a group still must use Apple's system and pay
its fees. The change comes after the New York Times reported here that Class
Pass, which had helped users’ book in-person appointments at gyms, became
subject to Apple's fees.
The new rules also let business
applications such as professional databases skip Apple's payment system when
selling to organizations, but still require Apple's payment system for sales to
individuals or families. Apple also said that free standalone apps connected to
a paid service outside the app - such as email or cloud storage services - do
not need to use its payment system "provided there is no purchasing inside
the app, or calls to action for purchase outside of the app."
