Internet Duel: Musk vs. Ambani 💪

Good Morning!

Ah, the clash of the Titans! Elon Musk and Mukesh Ambani gearing up for a battle in the sky. It's like a cosmic showdown between Starlink and Reliance Jio, fighting over the internet-starved villages like knights jousting for the holy grail of connectivity. Will Musk's satellite fleet conquer the Indian skies, or will Ambani's telecom empire hold its ground? Only time will tell, but one thing's for sure, this clash of billionaires is taking the 'space race' to a whole new level!

1. Musk Wants Starlin Inds Resist From Ambani’s Jio

Elon Musk is keen to launch his Starlink satellite broadband in India, but he faces strong resistance from Mukesh Ambani, the world's richest man and owner of Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio. Musk believes that Starlink could be incredibly helpful in remote villages that have no internet or lack high-speed services. However, Starlink is at odds with Ambani's Reliance over the government's distribution of satellite broadband spectrum, setting the stage for a battle between two of the world's richest men for satellite services in the world's most populous nation.

2. Byju's Crisis: 3 board members, auditor resign; cite differences with founder

Three non-executive directors of Byju's, G V Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital, Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus, have resigned due to differences with founder Byju Raveendran on key operational issues. The resignations are yet to be accepted. The board members' departure comes at a time when Byju's is looking to take Aakash Educational Services, its subsidiary, public. Byju's has raised $250 million in fresh funding and is close to securing an additional $700 million to build up its war chest ahead of the highly anticipated IPO of Aakash.

3. Meesho, NPCI feature on Time 100 most influential companies list for 2023

Two Indian companies, Meesho and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), were included in Time magazine's annual list of 100 most influential companies in the world for 2023. Meesho is a shopping platform founded in 2015 that aims to democratize e-commerce in India, while NPCI is an umbrella organization for all retail payments systems in India and has played a significant role in adopting digital payments in the country. Other companies that made the list include Nvidia, SpaceX, OpenAI, Crocs, Taco Bell, BYD, LVMH, and Lockheed Martin.

4. Monetary policy dangerously close to levels at which it can damage economy: MPC member Jayant Varma

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the minutes of its June Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. All members of the MPC unanimously voted to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50 percent. While RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das expressed confidence in India's macroeconomic fundamentals and growth prospects, Professor Jayanth R Varma said the monetary policy is now dangerously close to levels at which it can inflict significant damage to the economy. The RBI June MPC 2023 minutes also projected that headline inflation is expected to decline in 2023-24 from its current level of 5.1%

5. ONGC starts oil evacuation from Panna field via sub-sea pipeline, saving $43,000/day

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has started oil evacuation from the Panna oilfield in the Arabian Sea to shore through a sub-sea pipeline, saving $43,000 per day. The pipeline links the oilfield to the shore, eliminating the need for tankers to transport the oil, which reduces the cost of transportation and the risk of oil spills. ONGC has been working to reduce costs at the Panna-Mukta field, which it regained control of after two and a half decades, and has already saved Rs 1 crore in shipping costs by changing the contract for bringing oil produced from the fields lying in the Arabian Sea to land.

6. SEBI bars Eros International from securities market over breach of trade regulations

India's market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has barred Eros International Media Ltd, Eros Worldwide, and Eros Digital from the securities market until further orders due to accounting irregularities at the firm. The SEBI has also restrained Eros International's Managing Director Sunil Arjan Lulla and CEO Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi from holding any board positions in listed companies. The order comes after the SEBI found prima facie evidence that the company's books of accounts were "overstated and do not present a true and fair picture of the financial health of the Company".

7. IFFCO signs agreement for export of nano liquid urea to US

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) has signed an agreement with California-based Kapoor Enterprises Inc to export nano liquid urea to the US. The agreement was signed on June 21 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US. IFFCO has not provided any details about the quantity and value of the contract it has bagged from Kapoor Enterprises. The cooperative is currently exporting more than 5 lakh bottles of nano liquid urea to more than 25 countries. In June 2021, IFFCO launched the world's first nano urea fertiliser, while nano DAP was launched in April 2023.

8. India-US signs Artemis Accords, ISRO-NASA to launch joint space mission in 2024

India has signed the Artemis Accords, a non-binding multilateral arrangement between the US government and other world governments participating in the Artemis program, an US-led effort to return humans to the Moon by 2025, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to Mars and beyond. NASA and ISRO have agreed to launch a joint mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024. This development could give a significant boost to India's space exploration ambitions, as the country is working on a manned space mission called Gaganyaan, and the country's space start-up ecosystem has been attracting significant investor interest.

9. Kejriwal's Delhi govt to pay 90% cost to turn 26 non-conforming industrial areas

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on June 21 that the government will bear 90% of the cost to transform all 26 non-conforming industrial areas into conforming ones. These areas were not planned for facilities such as water, electricity, waste treatment, and fire safety based on industrial usage. The government aims to create 600,000 job opportunities through this initiative and generate revenue. After being converted into conforming industrial area zones, all the security concerns will be eliminated, and businessmen and workers will be able to operate and focus on development with ease.

10. Fitch raises India's GDP forecast to 6.3% from 6% for FY24

Fitch Ratings has revised upwards its FY24 economic growth forecast for India to 6.3% from 6% it had predicted earlier, primarily due to a stronger outturn in the first quarter and near-term momentum. The growth forecast compares with 7.2% GDP expansion in FY23.

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