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Telugu film star Ram Charan on Tuesday said he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is under home quarantine. The 35-year-old actor took to Twitter to share his diagnosis. "I have tested positive for Covid-19. No symptoms and quarantined at home. Hope to heal soon and come out stronger," Charan said in a statement. He urged all the people, who have been around him in the the past couple of days, to get tested. "More updates on my recovery soon," he added. On work front, Charan will be seen in writer-director S S Rajamouli's next film "Rise Roar Revolt" ("RRR"). The "Baahubali" fame director resumed shooting on his most talked about Telugu movie in Hyderabad in October with necessary safety precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic, nearly seven months after the filming was halted. The <keyword id="6402008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="period-action-drama">period action drama</keyword> narrates a fictional tale based on the lives of two freedom fighters in the early 20th century -- Alluri Sitarama Raju and Kumram Bheem, played by Ram Charan and N T <keyword id="10511248" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rama-rao-jr-">Rama Rao Jr.</keyword> Produced by <keyword id="6711107" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="dvv-entertainments">DVV Entertainments</keyword>, "RRR" also stars Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgn in a pivotal role and marks debut of Alia Bhatt in South cinema. The film was earlier slated to hit cinema halls on January 8, 2021 but has been deferred to a later date due to COVID-19. Charan will also be seen playing a supporting role in Telugu action drama film "Acharya", directed by <keyword id="820857" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Koratala-Siva">Koratala Siva</keyword>. Produced by Charan and <keyword id="180385" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niranjan-Reddy">Niranjan Reddy</keyword> under <keyword id="10511247" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-konidela-production-company">the Konidela Production Company</keyword> and Matinee Entertainments banners, the film stars Chiranjeevi and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles. KKP SHD SHD

Telugu actor Ram Charan tests positive for COVID-19

<ul><li>To succeed in the digital age, companies need an upgraded model for their supply chain. </li><li><keyword id="10056280" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="niranjan-gidwani">Niranjan Gidwani</keyword>, <keyword id="280691" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="independent-consultant">Independent Consultant</keyword> Director and Former CEO of <keyword id="10056279" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="eros-group-dubai">EROS Group Dubai</keyword> lists a few key areas in which companies can maintain their margins in a highly volatile landscape and how <keyword id="618493" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-marketing">digital marketing</keyword> can help brands achieve their objectives. </li></ul>It is becoming more and more challenging for manufacturers, distributors and retailers to launch new products and better services that react flexibly to shifting demand, while still maintaining or trying to improve their margins and profitability. If we were to go deeper, we realise that there are 3 key areas to be simultaneously tackled: A-Improving supply chain, enhancing service levels while maintaining or growing margins B-Understanding and imbibing the rapid digital and technological transformation C-Understanding the <keyword id="10056278" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-age-customer">new age customer</keyword> A-Improving supply chain, enhancing service levels while maintaining or growing margins On the one hand, brands, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and all in the chain need to be faster, more innovative, or closer to customers. It’s no surprise that leading players are focused on improving their supply chain—especially when it comes to enhancing service levels, cutting costs, or optimizing inventory levels. To succeed in the digital age, companies need an upgraded model for their supply chain. They must rethink their operating model, particularly in light of the following dominant trends: Customer preferences have greatly changed as the influence of digital sales channels has increased. Consumers are more and more beginning to value immediate access to information, short lead times, and high levels of service. These new channels and increased consumer demands have reshaped the structure of the supply chain and added layers of complexity. Yet the underlying operating model has challenges of keeping the same pace, causing, at times, for no fault of anyone, inefficiencies and fissures along the value chain. The second consideration is the increasing pressure on supply chain functions in terms of cost and productivity. New market conditions frequently result in a growing number of products, warehouses, and logistics service providers, requiring more frequent and more detailed planning. This also puts pressure on the system to scale up personnel resources in indirect functions like billing, coordination, scheduling and distribution management. B-Understanding and imbibing the digital and technological transformation The use of new digital technologies and advanced analytics also affect supply chains design, creating both opportunities and challenges. Advanced analytics allow more precise planning, and efficiency and effectiveness also rise when planners are freed up from repetitive tasks and can concentrate on value-adding activities. However, innovative technologies and methods are beginning to place new demands on the capabilities of employees, management, and IT infrastructure along the supply chain: all of these elements need to be continually realigned to reflect the latest trends. Companies that do not respond to these challenges by radically reshaping the structures and processes of their supply chain will extract few of the benefits that the transformation promises. Another aspect of digital and technological transformation is the investment cost and returns. C-Understanding the new age customer While catering to the baby boomers, the Gen X, Gen Y, we now have to also keep in mind the new Gen Z. Members of Gen Z— typically those born between 1995 to 2010—are true digital natives: this is the generation who, from their very youth, have been exposed to the internet, to social networks, and to mobile systems. This therefore is a generation very comfortable with collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information. They also seamlessly shift between virtual and offline experiences. Coupled with the complexities of the Covid pandemic, businesses and organisations must need to seriously rethink how they deliver value to the consumer, rebalance scale and mass production while keeping in mind aspects of personalization, and—more than ever—practice what they preach when they address both the issues of marketing as well as their work ethics. Consumption has also gained a new meaning. For Gen Z—and increasingly for older generations as well—consumption is more and more beginning to mean having access to products or services, not necessarily owning them. As access becomes the new form of consumption, unlimited access to goods and services (such as car-riding services, video streaming, and subscriptions) creates value. Products become services, and services connect consumers. Car manufacturers, for example, are renting out vehicles directly to consumers, so that instead of selling a few thousand cars, these companies may sell one car a few thousand times. The role of sporting-goods businesses, likewise, has shifted to helping people become better athletes by providing access to equipment, technology, coaching, and communities of like-minded consumers. Similarly, traditional consumer-goods companies should consider creating platforms of products, services, and experiences that aggregate or connect customers around brands. Companies historically defined by the products they sell or consume can now rethink their value-creation models, leveraging more direct relationships with consumers and new distribution channels. The same thumb rules would apply to the property business which forms a significant part of business in any market. As the online and offline worlds converge, consumers expect more than ever to consume products and services any time and any place, so omnichannel marketing and sales must reach a new level. For consumers who are always and everywhere online, the online–offline boundary doesn’t exist. For decades, consumer companies and retailers have realized gains through economies of scale. Now it is very likely that those who wish to succeed better may have to accept a two-track model: the first for scale and mass consumption, the other for customization catering to specific groups of consumers or to the most loyal consumers. In this scenario, not only marketing but also the supply chain and manufacturing processes would require more agility and flexibility for each model. For companies and organisations who wish to continue to survive long term, this shift will bring both challenges and equally attractive opportunities. And remember: the first step in capturing any opportunity is being open to it.

New age marketing and selling

<ul><li>The focus will be to woo the vote bank – the middle class homebuyers </li><li><keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate">Real estate</keyword> players expect the government to lower the <keyword id="35061" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="housing">housing</keyword> interest loans </li><li>NBFCs expect a bigger push from the government </li></ul><keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’s real estate industry has been struggling for a few years now, and is looking up to the government for support. But the government’s focus may be on the middle class Indians who are a major part of its vote bank, and even the real estate industry is conscious of that. However, the players in the sector hope that while doling out sops to the voters, the government may bail the builders out with incentives and sops that will revive demand for properties. Real estate is the second largest employer in the country and it has been going through a phase of reinventing itself in recent years. The sector, infamous as a haven for ill-gotten wealth in the country, has been cleaned through a <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/real-estate/flashback-2018-tax-regulatory-changes-impacting-real-estate-sector-3333341.html">series of reforms</a> after the establishment of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in 2016. The regulatory chokehold, combined with tepid demand, had kept the builders in doldrums until now. The focus on, <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/budget-2018-dedicated-affordable-housing-fund-anvil-2490925.html">affordable housing</a> in the last budget has helped bring some of the buyers back. 2018 saw some recovery in the real estate launches. The top seven cities in India recorded launches of around 1.95 lakh units in 2018, up 32% from a year ago. <keyword id="136927" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="affordable-housing">Affordable housing</keyword> comprised the lion’s share of new launches at 40%, according to Anarock. . Another sign the industry might be improving is unsold inventory, which measures homes and properties that builders are unable to sell even after construction. At the national level, unsold inventory has steadily dropped over the last four quarters, from 47 months at the end of December 2018 to 33 months now. 

	
 
 <div type="image" title="Unsold properties have steadily reduced over the last year" msid="67559319" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Unsold properties have steadily reduced over the last year&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>







 With the builders in recovery mode, the government may focus on pushing buyers to bet their money on new homes. Benefits for homebuyers Incentives for India’s massive middle class may also be a politically prudent step for the <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> government in an election year. “The fact that the exemption limit (under Section 80C) was raised last in 2014 after a decade-long hiatus raises high expectations that this route may be revisited in this budget. It is certainly an assured crowd-pleaser, which matters in the electoral year,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. However, the government efforts to push affordable housing also appear to be moving slowly. For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a central government scheme launched in 2015 to promote affordable housing for all, has thus far only sanctioned 32% of the amount it allocated initially, pointed out Puri citing ministry data. Another aspect that the builders want the government to push for is <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/budget/budget-2019-predictions-india-modi-govt-mulls-changes-in-income-tax-rates-relief-on-housing-loan-interest-rates-savings-limit/1438563/">lower the interest rates</a> on housing loans. ‘High tax’ burden on developers However, developers have raised the issue of high taxes on real estate in India. “I would also add the expectation of bringing stamp duty within the purview of GST; input credit of construction against the output of renting; incentivize rental housing to meet Housing for All commitment by 2022 and increasing limit of interest deduction, paid on the home loan, from 2 lakh to 3 lakh," said Dr <keyword id="221667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niranjan-Hiranandani">Niranjan Hiranandani</keyword>, President, NAREDCO told <a href="https://www.zeebiz.com/india/news-budget-2019-expectations-rationalise-taxes-boost-the-purchasing-power-of-the-masses-demand-real-estate-experts-80390">Zee Business</a>. The GST Council has also formed a panel which will look into the problems that currently cloud the real estate sector, mainly after the implementation of GST, both from the perspective of the buyers as well as the developer. The panel will be headed by Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel. Given the recent massive liquidity crunch post the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/life-after-ilfs-is-it-game-over-for-nbfcs/articleshow/66316077.cms">IL&amp;FS crisis</a> among non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the industry further expects India’s government to promote easier lending options, which in turn can spur access to home loans.

Interim Budget 2019 may help homebuyers and not builders

Canada-based <keyword id="1424627" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Brookfield">Brookfield</keyword> Asset Management is buying <keyword id="3724671" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hiranandini-group">Hiranandini Group</keyword>'s office and retail space in <keyword id="6367671" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Powai">Powai</keyword> in Mumbai for around $1 billion, or about Rs 6,700 crore. This is one of the biggest deals in Indian realty space. 
 <keyword id="155196" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiranandani-group">Hiranandani Group</keyword>, an organization between Hiranandani siblings <keyword id="228496" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niranjan">Niranjan</keyword> and Surendra, has office space sprawling over 4.5 million square feet in Powai, which is developed over 10 years. 
 As per various reports, the move is being seen as a forerunner to either posting of a <keyword id="162545" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Real-Estate-Investment-Trust">Real Estate Investment Trust</keyword> that would hold the office assets or stake deal. 
 <keyword id="221667" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niranjan-Hiranandani">Niranjan Hiranandani</keyword>'s daughter Priya Vandrevala, according to reports, had recently moved the Delhi High Court against her father and her brother <keyword id="291429" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Darshan-Hiranandani">Darshan Hiranandani</keyword> to restrain them from diluting their stake in the partnership firm. 
 Hiranandani's Powai workplaces are completely rented and huge occupants incorporate Tata Consultancy Services, Nomura Group and <keyword id="6358918" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deloitte">Deloitte</keyword> Consulting India. 
 Brookfield Asset Management, a worldwide alternative supervisor, has been dynamic in India lately. In 2014, it procured 100% stake in four exceptional monetary zones possessed by <keyword id="309742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unitech-Corporate-Parks">Unitech Corporate Parks</keyword> (UCP) and 60% stake in its two different resources in the nation for Rs 3,500 crore. It had purchased the whole stake of Candor Investments, a backup of <keyword id="6354968" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="London">London</keyword> Stock Exchange-recorded India-centered realty venture firm UCP. Along these lines, it went ahead to secure the staying 40% in the two different properties. Outside financial specialists' voracity for Indian land is on the ascent attributable to generally better monetary development and hence returns. Sovereign assets, benefits assets and expansive open organizations have been entering the business sector through acquisitions. 
 Institutional investors including Blackstone Group, Singapore's sovereign fund GIC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), <keyword id="6361649" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword> and Qatar Investment Authority have been investing in Indian realty assets for the last few years. The country witnessed around $2.3 billion, or about Rs 15,000 crore, poured into the sector by foreign private equity firms in the year 2015, as per a Knight Frank estimate. 
(image: indiatimes)

Brookfield is buying Hiranandani’s office space for a whopping $1 billion

For a country where a home is more than just four walls and a roof, buying a home is usually the coming true of the dream of a lifetime. The past couple of decades has witnessed Indian <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> also turning into an asset class, where real estate measured in square feet, as represented on excel sheets, was shown to appreciate at a rate far exceeding other asset classes. The Global economic slowdown meant this was history, but investors still tend to expect maximised returns on investments in real estate. 
 
Effectively, this gives us two totally different sides of the same coin: real estate as a means of creating a home seeker’s own home, and real estate as an asset class. Given this sort of dual effects, it was a problem bound to happen: the home seeker found prices going sky-high wherever the investor exited with a good RoI. Beyond a point, the buyer slowed down, given the increase in price-points, so the exit for investors became difficult. 
 
In this scenario, neither the home seeker is happy, nor is the investor. The real estate industry faces a challenging time both ways, be it from the perspective of the investor or the end user. A segment of real estate developers went in for corporate way of working, bringing in transparency and a professional manner of working. This was the beginning of Indian real estate assimilating Global Best Practices. Over the past couple of decades, we see this reflected in aspects of the design form including architecture, structural stability, enhanced use of new technology, all of which have played a major role in the growth of Indian real estate. 
 
As Indian real estate developers started working in other countries – we have done a project, 23 Marina in Dubai, U.A.E. - the knowledge take-away was also utilised back home in India. So, we learnt about growth in quantitative terms. Obviously, In sync with these, we had issues that also started getting our attention, and ‘self regulation’ was one such topic. It had been discussed among real estate developers over the past few years. The important question was: ‘self-regulation’ vis-à-vis ‘regulation by a legal process’ i.e. enactment of a Regulatory Act with corresponding Rules. 
 Industry bodies like <keyword id="6404896" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="NAREDCO">NAREDCO</keyword> have been working on the aspect of self-regulation, some initiatives did happen – but these were at best ‘voluntary’, and it was just a matter of time before the ‘official’ regulator ultimately came through. 
 When the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (<keyword id="114913" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="RERA">RERA</keyword>) was first mooted in India, it came with some positive points, and one major stumbling block. What was positive: it will change the way real estate developers function very simply, by bringing in transparency and accountability, ensuring a corporate style of working, and effectively, enhance confidence level of home buyers. So, the first impact of RERA should be positive for both, real estate developers as also home buyers. 
 
Along with the positive aspects, for the real estate developer community, RERA also incorporates aspects which are worrisome: interpretation from the initial documentation suggested that blame for delayed delivery or late possession of a real estate project to a unit buyer was entirely laid at the doorstep of the real estate developer. 
 
Effectively, this seemed to create an uneven playing field, one where the developer would be responsible for delays caused by other agencies or authorities. So, there were protests against the unfair norms which placed entire blame on developers. This was sadly, misconstrued as opposition to cleaning up the system – which certainly was not the case. Effectively, the worry is that RERA will end up favouring home buyers at the cost of builders and developers. 
 
As of today, RERA is a reality, and the challenge for real estate developers post RERA’s implementation is to transact their businesses in a corporate manner, bringing in transparency and professionalism – which effectively, should ensure that homebuyers get their promised homes on the promised date. 
 Post RERA, the new scenario will ensure all <keyword id="4520474" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="developers-and-builders">developers and builders</keyword> follow financial discipline, ensuring that they do not transfer funds meant for one project for another. Effectively, this is a positive measure, as it will ensure sufficient funds for the projects to get completed and timely delivery of flats to the home buyers. 
 
To ensure that this happens smoothly, the industry needs to move ahead, from ‘ease of doing business’, the powers-that-be need to move on to provide “a single window” system for getting mandatory clearances from various central and state authorities. Secondly, authorities must ensure time-bound completion of infrastructure like roads, water and electricity supply as well as local transport system so that the right sort of urbanization takes place. 
 
In conclusion, I would say that while builders will benefit from the changes that RERA will bring in, the enhanced trust quotient for home buyers would obviously be the best part of the RERA. 
 
(About the Author: This article has been contributed by Dr.Niranjan Hiranandani, President, NAREDCO West)

RERA is a game changer for real estate

The conservation and promotion of India’s art and cultural heritage aren't a national matter nor is it a big concern of the government. <keyword id="719465" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ayaan-Ali-Bangash">Ayaan Ali Bangash</keyword>, a known Sarod player thinks that Indian government is not needed for increasing popularity of Indian arts and culture,”It is very important to be connected to our roots but if you’re not able to capture the audience with your music, then you can’t blame any third party for not promoting your art.” 
 Very few corporate companies notably want to promote art and culture and <keyword id="28126" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HCL">HCL</keyword>, foraying from it’s IT space, has been organizing HCL Concerts for over 18 years, dedicated to identifying, evolving and promoting talent rooted in the glorious heritage of Indian classical performing arts. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-ace-angel-investor-sanjay-mehtas-true-life-experiences-that-makes-his-investments-in-startups-fool-proof/articleshow/58061818.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: Ace Angel Investor Sanjay Mehta’s true-life experiences that make his investments in startups fool-proof</a> 
 
Concerts under the umbrella of HCL Concerts are organized regularly in Delhi NCR, Chennai and Lucknow across various venues throughout the year. These concerts are free to attend and are often enriched by the presence of luminaries in the field of Indian classical performing arts. 
 “You don’t know the kind of audience that your art will attract; Indian classical music is a sort of genre that sees a different kind of people and art has no space for clichés,” said <keyword id="6517626" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shubha-Mudgal">Shubha Mudgal</keyword>, who believes that HCL concerts have been marketed well to attract all kinds of people from all walks of life. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-an-angel-investor-whose-midas-touch-with-crypto-currency-is-redefining-the-future-of-start-up-investments/articleshow/58062121.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: An Angel investor whose Midas touch with Crypto-currency is redefining the future of start-up investments</a> 
 Over the years, HCL Concerts has evolved into a unique platform for the exceptionally talented veterans as well as upcoming artists – be it dancers, vocalists or instrumentalists. Over 400+ artists have graced this platform and have contributed towards reinvigorating the Indian classical performing arts. While there have been spellbinding performances by legends such as Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt, HCL Concerts has also provided a platform for the rare genres of performing arts like Dhrupad, Rudra Veena, and <keyword id="4401683" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gaudiya-nritya">Gaudiya Nritya</keyword> to name a few. 
 
The recently concluded HCL concerts was a special one with it spanning over 3 days in Delhi NCR across Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/read-what-rohit-bansal-and-kunal-bahl-mailed-snapdeal-employees-amidst-flipkart-acquisition-speculations/articleshow/58108189.cms">ALSO READ: Read what Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl mailed Snapdeal employees amidst Flipkart acquisition speculations</a> 

	 Artists like <keyword id="1277440" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amaan-Ali-Bangash">Amaan Ali Bangash</keyword>, Ayaan Ali Bangash, Kaushiki Chakraborty, Niladri Kumar, Purbayan Chatterjee, Rakesh Chaurasia, Shubha Mudgal and many more notable one were a part of this concert series and they had very interesting insights about what works and doesn’t in the current scenario when it comes to Indian traditional music. 
	 
	Amaan Ali Bangash, who is a popular Sarod player said that the perception that Indian classical music isn’t cool,” Very few classical musicians appeal to the audience whether it is Indian or otherwise. You might like Jazz as a genre even if you like one artist. The key is to find the artist or instrument that inspires you in Indian classical music. I don’t agree that Indian classical music is dying.”

Indian Classical Music needs a platform to shine and the government isn’t it

One of the world's largest property and infrastructure investors, <keyword id="586809" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Brookfield-Asset-Management">Brookfield Asset Management</keyword>, is all set to buy Hiranandani Developers’ commercial real estate assets, mostly tenanted office buildings, located in Powai near Mumbai. The deal is said to be worth $1 billion (approx Rs 6,700 crore). 
 
The global investor is looking forward to owning office properties with stable yields in world’s fastest growing economy. 
 As per reports, the asset manager from Canada is just a few weeks away from acquiring 100% ownership of the 4.5 million-sq-ft business park. The deal, when done, would be the single largest commercial property acquisition in India. The money coming from this acquisition would help brothers <keyword id="3387702" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Niranjan-and-Surendra-Hiranandani">Niranjan and Surendra Hiranandani</keyword> monetize their marquee commercial assets. 
 
Other potential suitors for the property included Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and Blackstone, but Brookfield put forward an aggressive offer to grab this offer, its third Indian buyout after Unitech Corporate Parks and Gammon's road and power assets. 
 
<a href="http://hiranandani.com/assets/Offices/19.jpg">Image source</a>

One of the world’s largest property investors is sealing a $1 billion deal in Mumbai. Here are the details

Friends are for a lifetime. This saying is so true for all of us, even our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/7-incredible-things-that-we-can-imbibe-from-birthday-boy-Narendra-Modi/articleshow/48987595.cms">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>. 
 They were born together, they studied together and today, both of them completed 65 years of their life. We are talking about <keyword id="309904" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niranjan-Naik">Niranjan Naik</keyword>, a resident of Navrangpura and a retired engineer from <keyword id="6408304" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="doordarshan">Doordarshan</keyword>. 
 
Both Naik and Modi were born on 17th September 1950 in Vadnagar and went to the same school later on. Today, Naik took pride to say that the way Modi has built his career is impressive. 
 
"But Narendra still remembers each friend by name. I haven't met him after he became Prime Minister but I used to click his photos when he came to Ahmedabad to address rallies," he says. 
 
 While recollecting the old days, Naik said that both of them joined Navin Sarvavidyalaya – one of the two schools in Vadnagar in those days—in class 6. 
 
After being a part of RSS local shakha, they studied together till class 12th but opted for different ways afterwards. 
 
Naik also shared a couple of incidents which he cherishes even now. He says, Modi was an attentive student, a good leader and a person with determination. 
 <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> had a fascination for the uniform even as a teenager, said Naik. "Being an NCC cadet, Narendra went all the way to Mehsana to see Army troops getting down at the railway station for the 1965 war with Pakistan," he said. 
 
Not just this, but the incident in which Modi is said to have fought a crocodile, was true. "There were a lot of crocodiles in Sharmistha lake where we used to swim. We were not afraid as we believed that if we did not harm the crocodiles, they would not harm us. Narendra, whom we fondly called ND, used to play with the tiny crocodiles on the riverbank." 
 
Recalling some more incidents Naik said, “I had gone to Bhadrakali temple one day when I saw a man sitting in an auto," said Naik. "It took me some time to realize that it was Narendra with a beard and dark sunglasses." 
 Naik, while working with Aakashvani and Doordarshan met Modi after he became the <keyword id="1203295" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="chief-minister-of-Gujarat">Chief Minister of Gujarat</keyword>. And the erstwhile CM never hid the fact that two of them were friends. 
Image: indiatimes

Meet Modi’s childhood friend

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Brijesh Goel, a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, was jailed for three years. </li><li>He passed confidential information to a friend who used it to make $280,000 that the pair shared. </li></ul>A former Goldman Sachs investment banker who was <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/insider-trading-case-options-former-goldman-sachs-barclays-squash-drunk-2023-6">found guilty</a> of insider trading and obstruction of justice was jailed for three years by a New York judge.Brijesh Goel had been at the bank since 2013 and rose to vice-president of Goldman's financing group in New York. The role gave him access to company information on potential deals that he passed onto a friend and Barclays banker, Akshay Niranjan.Niranjan used the confidential information passed to him to trade call options. Such <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/insider-trading">insider trading</a> is illegal and is monitored by the Securities Exchange Commission.Goel and Niranjan would use squash matches as cover for their activities. In one example of how they colluded, Goel texted Akshay saying "let's play squash after work," per the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1521696/download">court records</a>.The next morning, another coded text read "did you book the court?" It was really asking if he'd purchased a set of call options as they'd discussed, lawyers argued.From 2017 to 2018, the scheme netted illegal profits of about $280,000 that they divided between them.After he was arrested in 2021, Goel deleted records of the tipoffs, or asked Akshay to do so. At his trial earlier this year, Goel continued his attempts to obstruct justice, US District Judge P. Kevin Castel said."You took the stand right in this chair and you lied again and again and again," the judge told Goel.Damian William, a US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who investigated Goel, said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-investment-banker-sentenced-36-months-insider-trading-and-obstruction-justice ">press release: </a>"Today's sentence vindicates the integrity of our financial markets and the investors who play by the rules and serves as a reminder that crime doesn't pay."As well as jail time, Goel faces significant financial penalties.He will have to pay a fine of $75,000, forfeit $85,000, and has been ordered to recompense Goldman Sachs by an amount yet to be determined.At his sentencing Goel was in tears, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-01/goldman-insider-trader-gets-36-months-in-squash-buddies-case?leadSource=uverify%20wall">Bloomberg</a> reported."I am deeply ashamed of my actions," he told the judge. "I apologize to Goldman Sachs, to my colleagues, everyone who felt betrayed by my actions."

An ex-Goldman Sachs banker who passed secrets to his squash buddy just got jailed for 3 years

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some expat Indians are moving back home to launch companies of their own.</li><li>India's booming market size, internet growth, and post-pandemic spending is driving their decision.</li></ul>Nithin Hassan, 41, has always been fascinated with building something of his own.As a child in India, he would get in trouble for dismantling electronics around the house just so he could peek inside.In college, in true <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-to-bet-your-career-on-in-2024-2024-2">startup</a> fashion, he started working on a small business out of his parent's garage in Bengaluru, assembling computers for friends and family.It was the early 2000s and the internet was not the trove of knowledge it is today — Hassan was relying on books to learn. Finding mentorship and the right guidance was a challenge, too.Everyone around Hassan told him that going to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/resume-tips-google-software-engineer-skills-experience-careers-software-tech-2024-3">US for a master's degree</a> was the next big opportunity. So he did.Over the next 16 years, he put his startup plans on hold and worked at some of the world's biggest companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta.<div type="image" title="Nithin Hassan" height="2450" width="3266" msid="113831978" hostid="261" sizebytes="215682"></div>But the pandemic felt like a turning point. And its aftermath made India look like a lab-designed business environment: It had just become the world's most populous country, the pandemic had created <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/private-consumption-continues-to-be-supported-by-pent-up-demand-finance-ministry/articleshow/99069973.cms?from=mdr">pent-up demand</a> for consumer products, and growing internet adoption made commerce more scalable, he said.So Hassan left behind about $500,000 in annual pay at Meta to move back to Bengaluru in December 2023 with his wife and two children. He has since launched two startups.Hassan is part of a group of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-moved-back-to-india-after-living-abroad-for-decade-2024-9">expat Indians moving back</a> home to venture out on their own. As such, he's also part of a decades-long trend of reverse migration back to India.The trend began in the 1990s and picked up at the turn of the century, driven by the economic collapse in 2008, said Binod Khadria, the president of Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism. Many of those who returned to India for work were largely working for multinational companies.Today, the impetus for the move often looks a bit different: It's driven by factors like unstable visa policies and economic recessions, which lead to uncertainty when it comes to jobs and duration of stay in these destinations.Many returnees find work in tech, but the finance, retail, and climate sectors also absorb a large number of expat Indians, Khadia said. And some of the returnees are heading back to India to start companies of their own.India is undergoing a startup explosion. The country reported over<a target="_blank" href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2043805"> 140,800 recognized startups</a> at the end of June — nearly 50,000 more than last year — and credited them with creating 1.6 million direct jobs.To be sure, not all of these companies will make it big — and some do still stumble, like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://inc42.com/features/what-are-the-current-problems-being-faced-by-oyo/">Oyo </a>and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-hsbc-funds-byjus-startup-valuation-zero-edtech-india-raveendran-2024-6">Byju's</a>. But the chaos, where even established startups are trying and failing, makes India a fair playing field for new entrants, Hassan said.Business Insider spoke to six <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-vc-wants-see-5-traits-new-founders-fundraising-antler-2024-8">first-time founders </a>about why they have recently returned to India after spending several years, or even an adult life, abroad.<h2 id="0e4a3c47-ba19-4690-8b52-c6bfece1c81d">Fastest-growing economy</h2>The health of the economy and interest from investors are fueling the entrepreneurship boom.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-billionaire-karan-adani-plans-challenge-china-dominance-seaports-2024-8">India's economic growth</a> in 2023 — 8.2% — was the fastest of all large economies worldwide. That's led to greater purchasing power, which lets companies, including startups, sell more.India's inflation rate of about 3.5% is well below its annual wage growth of 9.6%. This makes inflation less of a challenge than it is for slower-growing peers, where consumer-focused businesses have been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy-jobs-report-sentiment-consumers-elections-recession-inflation-mortgage-rates-2024-9">hurt by high prices</a>.Investors are getting in on the action.From 2015 to 2021, the number of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-vc-firm-split-china-india-2023-6">unique investors in India</a> nearly quadrupled, though the number is tracking much lower this year, per PitchBook."Other than a slight downturn in 2022 and 2023 due to global macroeconomic factors, VC funding has been consistently growing in India," said Ben Mathias, a managing partner at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia &amp; India.Besides funding, domestic developments have encouraged founders and VCs too, Mathias said.The Indian government's Universal Payment Interface system has spurred consumers and businesses to pay online, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bcg.com/press/2june2022-digital-payments-in-india-projected-to-reach-10-trillion-by-2026">40% of all digital payments</a> globally happen in India today, the partner said.Programs like Startup India, which provides founders benefits like tax exemption, easier compliance, and funding support, have made creating a company smoother.Devyani Parameshwar worked in the microfinance and fintech space in India in the 2010s before heading to the UK and Africa. She returned to India in 2022 to launch a financial management venture."It's changed dramatically. I remember standing in line at various ministries in Delhi trying to get meetings and then trying to get answers and it wasn't easy in the past," she said of her memories of India.Now, she can use an online platform to ask the country's central bank and banking regulator questions.It's easier than ever for foreign companies to invest in India, which means startups have a clearer exit path through acquisition — something VCs think hard about before entering new markets or writing checks.<h2 id="e5dd7b6f-a09f-4ff2-84c1-5907de96dc5e">Market ripe for the taking</h2>For Rohan Bhide, who spent most of his college and professional life <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worked-in-big-tech-before-launching-my-own-startup-engineer-2024-9">preparing to launch something of his own</a>, a trip home in 2017 while he was studying in the US was a turning point.Indian telecom giant Reliance had recently launched a cheap unlimited data plan, which spiked Indian internet adoption. India was charting among the countries with the highest online transactions."That really, really drew my attention," said Bhide, who worked at Meta after graduation. "It was my dream come true — a huge market, a huge user base, and at the same time, the ability to adopt technology was incredible."Bhide returned to India in January, leaving behind about $580,000 in total compensation at ticketing platform StubHub. He and a cofounder are working on launching a consumer tech product later this year.<div type="image" title="Rohan Bhide" height="2304" width="3072" msid="113831979" hostid="261" sizebytes="218468"></div>Most Indians grew up wanting to work at a multinational company — but that's changing, Bhide said.Freelancing, running your own business, or working for a startup is much more socially acceptable now, because people see the success of other Indian startups. The country has the third-largest number of "unicorns" — companies worth $1 billion or more — with 64, per PitchBook.<h2 id="7f423804-745b-4e04-a250-839e01663f09">Boom in entrepreneurship culture</h2>A lot has changed since Hassan first wanted to launch his hardware startup in the early 2000s.Tech hot spots like Bengaluru and Gurugram have seen a boom in entrepreneurship culture in the last few years, with meet-ups, networking mixers, and even morning walks with like-minded builders.<div type="image" title="man standing in front of mountains in USA" height="2268" width="3024" msid="113831980" hostid="261" sizebytes="141132"></div>Dhruv Anand, who left Google in the US to move back to India in 2021 to launch an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-startups-most-promising-2024-9">AI startup</a>, said that there were lots of other founders and mentors to help guide him."If you want to figure out who's the right chartered accountant to talk to, who's the right lawyer to help you draft agreements, all of that stuff is very easy," Anand said."It's been a really, really supportive community," Bhide said. There are people "telling you about their entire lives just because they want to help you and they're hoping that you pass the favor onto the next person who moves to India and wants to start their own company."<h2 id="3c8bff36-e855-4530-9b44-bcc7f36b0825">Not everything is perfect</h2>Although these founders made the decision to return to India, that doesn't mean they no longer see the benefits of operating in the US.Ruchit Garg founded an agriculture startup in Silicon Valley in 2016, with a focus on supporting farmers around the globe. In 2019, he returned to India, where his late grandfather worked as a farmer.Garg has been building in India ever since, but he says its startup ecosystem cannot yet compete with the Valley's decades of experience."The overall ecosystem was more mature back in Silicon Valley. It's still one of the best places for entrepreneurs. India isn't there yet, although it's growing pretty drastically," he said.Despite efforts to digitalize key processes, many bureaucratic challenges persist.For most founders, after living in US cities where populations are a fraction of those in Mumbai and Bangalore, congested roads and poorer air quality are also everyday annoyances.But India provides some big perks, including affordable domestic help and the appeal of building solutions for problems they witness firsthand."It's a different joy to be able to build for problems that you feel for very personally," Parameshwar, the fintech founder, said. When she worked in Africa, she needed translators. Now, she can speak with her users herself.Bhide said the general sentiment among local founders is shifting from "Build from India" to "Build for India."For some founders, being surrounded by family and the culture they grew up in was another selling point.Niranjan Vemulkar moved back to India in 2015 and later founded a digital legacy planning platform.He said that he never fully felt at home in the US, where he lived for over a decade."For us, it was the fact that we wanted to raise a family in an environment where the children would have access to the grandparents and Indian culture," Vemulkar said. "The fact that you could come back to India, start something of your own and figure things out in an ecosystem which was potentially booming for startups, was just a cherry on the cake."Are you in India and have a story to share about the tech and entrepreneurship landscape? Please reach out at shubhangigoel@insider.com

Some techies are leaving cushy Silicon Valley jobs to launch startups at home in India

<keyword id="19948209" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="two-wheeler" source="keywords">Two-wheeler</keyword> maker <keyword id="19983534" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hero-MotoCorp" source="keywords">Hero MotoCorp</keyword> Ltd on Wednesday reported a 16.3 per cent rise in consolidated <keyword id="19933742" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="profit" source="keywords">profit</keyword> after tax to Rs 943.46 crore in the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2024, riding on higher sales. The company had posted a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 810.8 crore in the same period a year ago, Hero MotoCorp said in a regulatory filing. Consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter under review stood at Rs 9,616.68 crore as against Rs 8,434.28 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, it added. Hero MotoCorp said it sold 13.92 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters in <keyword id="20028449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Q4" source="keywords">Q4</keyword> FY24 as against 12.70 lakh units in Q4 FY23. Total expenses were higher at Rs 8,427.36 crore in the fourth quarter as compared to Rs 7,508.94 crore in the same period a year ago. For the fiscal ended March 31, 2024, consolidated profit after tax was at Rs 3,742.16 crore as compared to Rs 2,799.9 crore in the previous fiscal. Consolidated revenue from operations for FY24 stood at Rs 37,788.62 crore as compared to Rs 34,158.38 crore in FY23, it added. Hero MotoCorp said it sold 56.21 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters in FY24 as compared to 53.29 lakh units in FY23. "During the year, our focus on product launches, network upgrades and customer satisfaction drove us to new heights. From the highest number of product launches to the expansion of new format retail outlets and upgrade at super speed, to a digital-first approach in premium, we set the building blocks in place for accelerated growth in future," Hero MotoCorp Chief Executive Officer Niranjan Gupta said. On the outlook, he said, "Moving forward, we expect the macroeconomic factors to aid the industry's growth. With commodity prices remaining stable, expectations of normal monsoons, and government spending expected to increase, we see multiple tailwinds for the sector over the upcoming quarters." Gupta further said the company will be driving market share gains on the back of launches in the premium and 125 cc segment done in FY 24. The company's board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 40 per share on the face value of Rs 2 per equity share subject to approval of the shareholders at the ensuing annual general meeting, the filing added. "This dividend together with an interim and special dividend, marking the centennial year of Chairman Emeritus Dr Brijmohan Lall Munjal of Rs.100 per equity share, takes the aggregate total dividend for the year 2023-24 to Rs 140 per equity share," the company said. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-has-silently-launched-the-pixel-8a-in-india-starting-at-52999/articleshow/109937286.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/google-has-silently-launched-the-pixel-8a-in-india-starting-at-52999/articleshow/109937286.cms" target="_blank">Google has quietly launched the Pixel 8a in India starting at ₹52,999</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-wallet-launched-in-india-store-your-loyalty-cards-boarding-passes-and-more/articleshow/109941139.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-wallet-launched-in-india-store-your-loyalty-cards-boarding-passes-and-more/articleshow/109941139.cms" target="_blank">Google Wallet launched in India – store your loyalty cards, boarding passes and more</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/tbo-tek-ipo-company-details-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/109946929.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/tbo-tek-ipo-company-details-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/109946929.cms" target="_blank">TBO Tek IPO – Company details to risk factors, all you need to know</a>

Hero MotoCorp Q4 PAT up 16.7% at ₹943.46 crore

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A trader says he got tipsy and received some insider info from a buddy while playing squash. </li><li>The details were revealed at a court hearing this week in an insider trading case against a former Goldman Sachs trader. </li></ul>The squash court is not the most obvious venue for swapping insider trading info, but that's exactly where some sensitive material may have been divulged by a former Goldman Sachs trader, a court heard this week. In a hearing in Manhattan in the insider trading case against ex-Goldman trader Brijesh Goel, former Barclays trader Akshay Niranjan testified that Goel asked him to play a game of squash after work one day, and despite having already been out for drinks, he showed up to the court. During the game, Goel told Niranjan about a company called Lumos Pharma and recommended buying options. In coded messages the following day, Goel asked if Niranjan had purchased the options, and a few days later the company announced it was being bought, sending its stock price higher. The trade generated a profit of $2,000, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-15/ex-goldman-vp-gave-drunk-squash-buddy-insider-tip-jury-hears?cmpid=BBD061623_MONEYSTUFF&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_term=230616&amp;utm_campaign=moneystuff#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Bloomberg</a>. Niranjan said the profit from the Lumos trade was just a small part of $280,000 the two buddies made from insider trades during the course of 2017, and Lumos was one of eight companies that Goel shared info on. According to Bloomberg, Goel says he's been set up by Niranjan, who he claims is looking to avoid punishment for insider trading. The two former traders aren't mere acquaintances. Bloomberg's report says the buddies often traveled together, and Goel was a groomsman in Niranjan's wedding.

A trader says he got insider info from an ex-Goldman Sachs exec while playing drunk squash

New Delhi, <keyword id="6357252" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hero-MotoCorp" source="Orion">Hero MotoCorp</keyword> on Thursday said it recorded highest-ever sales in a festive season by retailing more than 14 lakh two-wheeler units in the 32-day period this year. The country's largest two-wheeler maker achieved the sales mark between the first day of the Navratras and Bhai Dooj on November 15. Riding on robust demand across rural markets as well as steady retail off-take in key urban centres, the company registered a 19 per cent growth over the previous year, and surpassed its previous highest retail of 12.7 lakh units which was recorded in the festive period of 2019, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement. "Our strong portfolio of brands, scale of distribution and new launches done this year have helped in driving this growth across geographies," Hero MotoCorp CEO Niranjan Gupta said. The festive season is a clear testimony that rural is coming back to growth, which augurs well for the country in general and the two-wheeler industry in particular, he added. Hero MotoCorp Chief Business Officer (India Business Unit) Ranjivjit Singh said the record retail number was achieved due to the strong customer traction across markets, with good double-digit growth in the Central, North, South and East zones. The robust customer demand in the rural markets, in addition to the very positive sentiments in key urban centres, drove this record retail sales, he added. "With this robust retail sales, our post-festive channel inventory has now come down to its lowest level in more than three years. This has set us on a steady growth path for the rest of the fiscal year," Singh noted.

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