‘IPEF will prove to be more economically impactful than FTA’

New Delhi (PTI): US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Thursday expressed hope that the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) will prove to be more economically impactful than a free trade agreement (FTA) with India.

The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. The 14 IPEF partners represent 40% of global GDP and 28% of global goods and services trade.

Raimondo said that a trade agreement with India is at present not on the table and the US Congress has stated that there is no appetite for an FTA.

ployed people have joined the rural workforce, which leaves the trend of the last few months. CMIE said that the increase in unemployment rate in February seems surprising, as rural unemployment was on a declining path during the last four months.

The urban unemployment rate has come down

New Delhi: Bank of Baroda (Bank), one of India’s leading public sector banks, on Thursday announced the reduction in its home loan interest rates by 40 basis points (bps) to 8.50%* p.a. Further, the Bank has also reduced its MSME loan interest rates starting at 8.40%* p.a. Both offers are with effect from March 5, 2023 and are valid for a limited period till March 31 2023. This is one of the lowest and most competitive interest rates in industry. —PTI

BYJU’S SEEKS $250 MILLION IN AAKASH PRE-IPO FUNDING

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MERCEDES-BENZ TO INCREASE PRICES BY `2-12

LAKH ACROSS MODELS FROM APRIL 1

New Delhi: Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday said it will increase prices of its vehicles ranging between `2 lakh to `12 lakh across different models from April 1, to offset rising input costs specially the adverse impact of foreign exchange. This will be the second time in three months that the company is increasing prices of its vehicles. The ex-showroom price of the company’s model range will increase by up to 5% from April 1, 2023, the company said. From April, prices of the company’s A-Class limousine will go up by `2 lakh. —PTI

ADIA NEARS BUYING $500-MILLION STAKE IN LENSKART: REPORTS

IOB DISBURSES LOANS WORTH `5.02 CRORE TO SELF-HELP GROUPS

New Delhi: Byju’s is seeking to raise as much as $250 million through the issuance of convertible notes by its tutoring service unit Aakash Educational Services. Aakash Educational Services will issue the notes that will convert into equity at a discount of 20% to the listing price of the unit’s planned IPO. Some investors in Byju’s are expected to participate in the round. The pre-IPO round at Aakash will help the startup to tide over a liquidity crunch as talks to raise funds at a parent level are getting delayed with a prolonged due diligence process. FIB

GOLD RATES FALL BY `80/10 GM; SILVER PLUNGE `390/KG

New Delhi: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is nearing a deal to acquire a stake in omnichannel eyewear startup Lenskart for about $500 million, according to sources. The Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund is finalising an agreement to buy a mix of existing Lenskart shares and new equity. Lenskart is set to close its funding round amid a global rout for tech companies that’s prompted layoffs in the thousands. —FIB

New Delhi: Public sector Indian Overseas Bank has disbursed `5 crore worth of loans to self help groups during a campaign held in the city recently coinciding with the Women’s Day celebrations, the bank said on Thursday. The women entrepreneur branch of Indian Overseas Bank in the city sanctioned loans worth `1.53 crore during the campaign organised by Chennai-I Region and Chennai II and another financial institution. —PTI

XIAOMI TO ASSIST OVER 4K STUDENTS IN DIGITAL LEARNING, JOINS HANDS WITH UNITED WAY INDIA

New Delhi: Smart device maker Xiaomi on Thursday announced it has teamed up with United Way India to establish Innovative Tinkering labs to supplement the learning process for over 4,000 children across 12 government and one government-aided schools located in Karnataka and DelhiNCR. Under the collaboration, Xiaomi India aims to develop sustainable futuristic skill-sets among children by offering them access to multiple technologies and enabling them to build new solutions to solve the challenges. —PTI

Iconic Beverage Brand Returns

New Delhi (PTI): Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has a "small exposure" to the embattled Adani Group which has been made in line with its credit philosophy, a senior official has said. Paritosh Kashyap, president and head for wholesale banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the issues surrounding Adani Group are more of a "capital market and valuations issue and not a credit issue."

"We have a small exposure to the group. We do business with every corporate in the country, and our exposures are in line with our credit philosophy and size of our balance sheet," Kashyap said.

It can be noted that a report by the US short-seller had called Adani as the biggest con in corporate history, making wide-ranging allegations on governance practices among other aspects to say that the stocks are overvalued by 85%.

from 8.55% in January to 7.93% in February. This shows that the number of unemployed people has fallen by about 0.73 million in February to 11.3 million. According to CMIE, it is interesting that the unemployment rate in rural and urban India has seen a decline during the last three months.

The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has opted out of the trade pillar and has decided to join the remaining three subjects pertaining to supply chains, clean economy and fair economy.

Assures Power Min

India taking steps for adequate power supply

New Delhi (PTI): The government has asked power companies to ensure that there is no load shedding during the summer season and urged all stakeholders to take proactive actions to meet the rising electricity demand.

Union Power Minister R

K Singh chaired a review meeting on March 7, with senior officials from Power, Coal and Railways ministries on various aspects in a bid to meet high electricity demand in the ensuing summer months.

During the meeting, Singh asked power companies to ensure that there is no load-shedding during the summer months, a power ministry statement said.

He asked all stakeholders to closely monitor the situation and take proactive actions to meet the electricity demand during the coming months.

He also asked the Central Electricity Authority to ensure that a fair and transparent mechanism is devised for allocation of coal to various States/UTs.

As per estimates of the Central Electricity Author-

Reliance brings back Campa in 3 flavours

Mumbai (ANI): Reliance

New Delhi: Gold price fell `80 to `55,025 per 10 grams in the national capital on Thursday, according to HDFC Securities. The precious metal had closed at `55,105/10 grams in the previous trade. Silver also plunged `390 to `61,955 per kilogramme. “Spot gold prices in the Delhi markets traded at `55,025 per 10 grams, down `80 per 10 grams,” Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst - Commodities at HDFC Securities, said. —PTI

Consumer Products (RCPL), the subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), on Thursday announced the launch of the iconic brand, Campa, made for a new-age India.

The Campa portfolio will initially include Campa Cola, Campa Lemon and Campa Orange in the sparkling beverage category. The launch of this brand was in line with the company’s strategy to promote homegrown Indian brands that not only have a rich heritage but also boasted a deep-rooted connect with

Indian consumers, RCPL said. The company said RCPL’s roll-out of its cold beverage portfolio across

India, starting with Andhra and Telangana, is aligned with the company’s overall vision of offering

Top Talking Point

z The government has asked power companies to ensure that there is no load shedding during the summer season and urged all stakeholders to take proactive actions to meet the rising electricity demand ity, the peak electricity demand is expected to be 229 GW during April this year. The demand then tapers off as monsoon season picks up from the southern part of the country and covers the whole country over the next 3-4 months, it said.

With GDP growing at close to 7%, the power demand has been growing in the country at close to 10% per annum, it added.

Major Highlights

z The Campa portfolio will initially include Campa Cola, Campa Lemon & Campa Orange in the sparkling beverage category z The launch of this brand was in line with the company’s strategy to promote homegrown Indian brands value and choice to Indian consumers through highquality products at affordable price points.

“My hope is that the IPEF...my strong belief is that it will prove to be in many ways more economically impactful than an FTA,” she said.

She added that this framework would be a modern equivalent of a trade agreement.

“And this is what we are trying to figure out through IPEF and if we do it right”, it would help in more job creation in both the countries than the traditional FTA.

Jio’s Radisys to buy Mimosa Networks

Hillsboro (ANI): Jio Platforms on Thursday said its subsidiary -- Radisys Corporation -- would acquire Mimosa Networks from Airspan Networks Holdings for $60 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis. Mimosa's product development, manufacturing, and sales teams of 56 employees will continue with Mimosa following the acquisition by Radisys, according to a statement from Radisys. Airspan maintains a reseller channel for specific joint 4G/5G and fixed wireless access (FWA) projects and will continue marketing Mimosa products to some of its customers following the acquisition. Mimosa has a diverse portfolio of pointto-point and point-to-multipoint products based on WiFi 5 and the newer WiFi 6E technologies as well as related accessories, such as twist-on antennas.

Sensex snaps three-day winning run; falls 540 pts

Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex declined nearly 540 points on Thursday, pressured by heavy selling in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank amid a sluggish trend in the global markets.

Besides, a weak rupee against major currencies overseas further weighed on sentiment, traders said.

Snapping its three-day gaining streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex opened strong but came under severe selling pressure to close 541.81 points or 0.90% lower at 59,806.28.

` FALLS 7 PAISE TO CLOSE AT 82.02 AGAINST US DOLLAR

Mumbai (PTI): The rupee pared its initial gains and settled for the day lower by 7 paise at 82.02 (provisional) against the US currency on Thursday. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 81.93 against the greenback and closed at 82.02 (provisional), registering a fall of 7 paise over its previous close of 81.95.

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