Friday, 10th July ’20
Good morning, Friyayy it is. We hope that you enjoyed this week’s The Morning Tea and we were able to give your day an insightful and entertaining start. In the coming week, we are going to have new features release in TMT to make your day start even smarter.
Today some bad news for TCS stock value. Flipkart forays deeper into fashion and rural entrepreneurship is gaining traction. Some quick tips to get you adept in this “smart world” and in the challenge for today, The Morning Tea stays true to its name.
MARKETS
- TCS Q1 misses estimates, profits fall 13.8% to Rs. 7008 crores. The IT services major’s revenue went down by 13.8% YoY & 12.9 percent QoQ dented by lockdown-led supply and demand challenges. CEO & MD, Rajesh Gopinathan said that all verticals were impacted but believe that it has bottomed out and would now see growth picking up. Despite the disappointing results, the deal wins remained robust at $6.9 billion for the Quarter.
- ED attaches assets worth ₹2,500 cr of Rana Kapoor and others in Yes Bank money laundering case. The founder of Yes Bank, Mr. Kapoor was booked by the CBI in March this year for allegedly obtaining ₹307 crore bribe from Avantha Group to go easy on around ₹1,900 crore bank loans to the seller’s group. In other news, YES Bank FPO is to open on July 15 and will raise up to Rs 15,000 crore.
- Cognizant India Chairman & MD, Ramkumar Ramamoorthy resigns. Mr. Ramamoorthy was with the New Jersey Headquartered IT services firm for 22 years. Cognizant has seen a spate of high-level exits after CEO Brian Humphries took charge in 2019. In a LinkedIn post, Ramamoorthy said he wished to focus on education, skilling, and mentoring entrepreneurs.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
- The Startup Village Entrepreneurship Program(SVEP) has generated 1.33 lakh employment opportunities across states in 2 years. SVEP is a sub-scheme under the Centre’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission to help the rural poor set up village-level enterprises in non-agriculture sectors. This program is to bring in a new approach to transform the rural economy.
- Google Maps is testing a new feature wherein the user will be able to see the traffic signals along a particular route. This will also enable the users to check the number of signals along the route. This feature is already present in Apple Maps. Google will release the stable version only after the testing of these features.
- Microsoft is adding new features to its video calling service Teams. The features include together mode, video filter, live reactions, and chat bubbles. These features come in these uncertain COVID times when video meeting apps like Google Meet and Zoom have gained a tremendous user base and they are releasing new features at a fast pace.
PRODUCTS & STARTUPS
- Flipkart Group announced it had invested $35 million in the youth-centric Arvind Fashions, which runs the flying machine brand, for a significant minority stake as the Walmart owned firm looks to challenge Amazon in the fashion apparels sector. Flipkart can leverage Arvind fashions, which also carry international brands like Arrow, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein, to create its own private labels.
- Zomentum, a startup that builds an all-in-one sales tool for IT providers to manage leads, assess customer requirements, generate proposals and manage billing, has raised $4.1 million in seed funding from Accel and SAIF Partners. They plan to use the capital to hire sales teams to service locations outside of North America with their business growing 45% month-on-month since January.
- Digital entertainment and technology company JetSynthesys has raised INR 300 Cr from existing stakeholders including Infosys’ co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan. They have set foot in fintech with Anyday Money and travel tech with Mezi as well. The push forward is led by new partnerships including one with WWE.
WHAT ELSE IS COOKING
Google shuts down its cloud project, no plan for cloud platform in China: Google, on Wednesday, shut down its cloud project named, “Isolated Region” and said it had no plans to offer cloud platform services in China, which was earlier reported to be shelved for politically sensitive countries. The project aimed to provide cloud services to customers and regulatory bodies around the world. Google has denied geopolitical tensions and pandemic to be the reasons behind this decision.
SBI plays godfather to Yes Bank after rescuing it: SBI is all set to invest another Rs. 1,760 Cr into Yes Bank’s rehabilitation motive, after rescuing it in exchange for a 48.2% stake with the first infusion of Rs. 6,050 Cr. SBI’s stake will be diluted considerably if Yes Bank succeeds in raising Rs. 15,000 Cr through FPO.
Samsung starts producing smart-watches in India: As a part of “Make in India” efforts, the tech giant has started smartwatch-manufacturing at its largest Noida facility. The Aluminium edition of Galaxy Watch Active2 4G (Rs. 28, 490) is the first smart-watch to be made in India, apart from a range of 18 other smart-watches (Rs. 19,990 – Rs. 35,990) that are seeing parallel production. The Galaxy Watch Active2 4G will be available from July 11 onwards across retail stores and online portals.
MORNING TEA BREAK
Quiz of the week: Which company’s Chief decided to produce a “Short Shorts” to take a dig at the Short Sellers who were predicting the company’s failure ? It is now retailing at the company’s website for $.69.420.
Answer to Quiz of the week:
Tesla’s Elon Musk.
Backstory – Elon Musk being his usual eccentric self, launched the “Short shorts” to mock sceptical investors who think Tesla is overpriced. They cost $69.420, with the “420” being a reference to Musk’s tweet about taking Tesla private at $420 a share, which had gotten him in a lot of trouble with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As part of the settlement, Musk had to step down as Tesla Chairman for a period of three years, besides a $20 million fine.
Smartwatches have evolved over the years from mere digital timekeeping to showing notifications or playing music to essential medical devices. Now we have heart rate monitors, ECG, and even blood pressure monitoring available via a smartwatch. As a result, global healthcare and wellness are ideally placed to drive the adoption and maturity of the Internet of Things (IoT). The smart technologies commonly found on a person such as a smartphone, smartwatch, and new emerging technologies like smart plasters, will be at the heart of this revolution, providing insights that will deliver benefits to the physical, emotional, and mental self.
MORNING TEA CHALLENGES
Best The Morning Tea recipe before starting your daily “Work From Home” routine
Study says WFH is making 67% Indians sleep-deprived. Don’t worry; a challenge is a sheep behaving like a lion unless we roar it down. TMT gives you a simple morning ginger tea recipe to keep you electrified during your WFH routine and solve your post-work stress. Bring your cupful of water to a bubbling boil. Next, add 1 tsp ginger root (grated),1&1/ 2 tsp honey, 2 cloves, 1-inch piece cinnamon bark, 3-inch strip orange peel. Bring the heat down to low, and let everything steep for about fifteen minutes. Strain into a cup and drink. You are ready for the challenge!!
Written by Kumar Sourav Mohanty, Akansh Bhatt, Piyush Vijayan and Shashank Dobhal.