Friday, November 29
Sam Bankman-Fried testified at his fraud trial, denying defrauding anyone and instead portraying himself as an inexperienced cryptocurrency visionary. He acknowledged making mistakes but disputed the claims made by former executives that he was responsible for the collapse of his businesses. Bankman-Fried admitted to lacking knowledge about the industry when he started FTX and about marketing when he became the face of his company. He also claimed ignorance about his businesses being billions of dollars in debt until shortly before their collapse.
State-owned telecom company BSNL is set to launch its 4G service in a phased manner, beginning in Punjab in December at a small scale and then roll it out across the country by June next year, Chairman and Managing Director P K Purwar said on Saturday. The company plans to have a nationwide 4G rollout completed by June 2024 and subsequently transition to 5G services. BSNL has secured contracts with IT companies TCS and ITI worth approximately Rs 19,000 crore for the deployment of its upgradable 4G network.
Reliance Industries, the energy-to-retail major, reported a 30% increase in its consolidated net profit for the September quarter, boosted by strong performances in oil & gas revenues, retail, and digital services. The company's consolidated revenue also saw a slight increase. Reliance Retail saw a 19% rise in gross revenue, while Jio Platforms reported record-high gross revenue and added 1.1 crore subscribers. Additionally, Mukesh Ambani's three children received approval to join the RIL board.
On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) imposed a substantial fine of Rs 33 crore on 13 individuals previously affiliated with Sharepro Services, a Register & Transfer Agent (RTA). Their scheme aimed to deceive investors in various companies and mutual funds, such as Asian Paints, Britannia, Kansai Nerolac, and UTI. This group, which included Govind Raj Rao, former MD of Sharepro Services, and Indira Karkera, VP and key operations figure, collaborated to unlawfully shift shares and dividends.
JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon will sell part of his stake in the largest US bank next year for the first time in almost 18 years at the helm, the bank said on Friday. Billionaire Dimon and his family intend to sell 1 million of the 8.6 million shares they own, subject to the terms of a stock trading plan, the bank said in a regulatory filing. The sale would fetch nearly $141 million, with a remaining stake of about $1.07 billion, based on Thursday's closing price.
The Indian stock market, specifically the sensex, experienced a significant drop of 901 points or 1.4% on Thursday, reaching a four-month closing low. This decline is attributed to geopolitical risks and the hardening of US government bond yields. Additionally, the expiration of October derivative contracts and heavy selling by foreign funds have contributed to market volatility. In the last six sessions, the sensex lost 5% of its value, resulting in a loss of investors' wealth amounting to Rs 17.8 lakh crore.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday carried out raids at multiple premises of Chandigarh-based pharmaceutical company Parabolic Drugs and its promoters as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank loan fraud case, official sources said. The searches by the central agency covered a total of 17 premises in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Panchkula and Ambala in Haryana, they said. The action is being undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Pharmaceuticals firm Cipla Ltd on Friday reported a 44.9 per cent rise in consolidated profit after tax at Rs 1,155.37 crore in the second quarter ended September 2023. The company had posted a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 797.41 crore in the July-September quarter last fiscal, Cipla Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Consolidated total revenue from the sale of products in the quarter under review stood at Rs 6,589.22 crore, up 14.41 per cent, as against Rs 5,759.28 crore in the year-ago period.
Air India has appointed Captain Klaus Goersch, a former executive at British Airways and Air Canada, as its EVP and chief operations officer. Captain Goersch, a licensed pilot, will be responsible for overseeing various functions including flight operations, engineering, and cabin crew. Captain Manish Uppal, who transitioned from Air Asia India a few months ago, has been appointed as senior VP-flight operations, while Captain Henry Donohoe’s corporate safety, security and quality role.
