What Idea Cellular took 17 years to achieve, Reliance Jio did in 16 months

Reliance Jio reported a revenue of Rs6,879 crore for the December quarter, while Idea Cellular is expected to report a revenue of Rs6,700 crore.

Reliance is estimated to have raced past Idea Cellular in the December quarter, just 16 months after its commercial launch.

It’s been only 16 months since Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd launched commercial operations, but it may have already overtaken Idea Cellular Ltd on revenue. The new entrant reported revenue of Rs6,879 crore for the December quarter. In comparison, Idea Cellular is expected to report revenue of around Rs6,700 crore, based on consensus Street estimates.

Idea Cellular had launched operations in 1997 and it wasn’t until 2014 that it reached a similar size in revenues terms. In other words, what took Idea Cellular 17 years to accomplish, Reliance Jio has done in 16 months. Even Bharti Airtel Ltd took around 13 years before its revenues reached Jio’s annual run-rate of around Rs28,000 crore in 2008.

Of course, the incumbents started slow in the mid-1990s, when tariffs were prohibitive and volumes were low. It wasn’t until 2002-03, when the government started encouraging competition by granting new licences, that growth picked up.

As such, some may argue that it’s not fair to compare Jio’s growth with that of incumbents. Besides, in the third quarter (Q3) an important revenue source for incumbents was hit, after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India cut interconnect usage charges (IUC) by 57%. Airtel’s India wireless revenues fell 12.2% sequentially, over two-thirds of which was on account of the IUC cut.

Even so, that doesn’t take away from the fast-paced growth at Jio. Its investments—Rs2.15 trillion and counting—are far higher than that of Idea’s gross invested capital of around Rs1.25 trillion. They are even higher than Airtel’s cumulative investments of Rs2.03 trillion.

The high investments have made it clear for some time now that Jio is in a hurry to capture market share.

Still, its pace of growth has taken almost everyone by surprise. “Jio’s revenue outperformance was driven completely by higher-than-expected Arpu (average revenue per user) of Rs154/month. This was on the back of the October 2017 price increase and an increase in the proportion of subscribers opting for higher-allowance/Arpu plans,” analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities wrote in a note to clients.

Data volumes handled by the company are higher than all other telcos combined, analysts at JPMorgan India pointed out in a note to clients. “(This is something) we think must worry Bharti Airtel and the others... Jio’s data traffic of 4.31 billion GB in Q3 is nearly four times Bharti’s data traffic (1.1 billion GB), despite the latter having a subscriber base that’s 1.8 times higher,” they wrote in the note.

Jio told analysts in a post-results conference that the data and voice usage on its network shows that it is the primary SIM for most of its subscribers.

Of course, it’s also true that large incumbents have maintained their subscriber market share despite Jio’s onslaught, which means that the new entrant hasn’t yet been able to wean away their subscribers yet .

The company’s next stage of growth might depend on its success in dislodging these subscribers from incumbents’ networks. After all, while growth in Arpu helped Jio in Q3, this might not continue.

Jio’s tariff cut in January and the many cashback vouchers it has issued since October 2017 may mean Arpu remains flat this year. Growth then has to be driven by increasing subscriber count.

How Jio goes about this task is anybody’s guess. One thing’s for certain though: as Kotak’s note puts it, there’ll never be a dull moment with Jio around.

http://www.livemint.com/Money/JjgQ9OdNQS6K5KXXMkBvCP/What-Idea-Cellular-took-17-years-to-achieve-Reliance-Jio-di.html

Toothpaste ingredient triclosan could fight drug-resistant strains of malaria

Scientists say a common ingredient of toothpaste, triclosan, could be developed to fight drug-resistant strains of malaria as it has potential to interrupt infections at two critical stages in the liver and the blood

In toothpaste, triclosan helps prevent a build-up of plaque bacteria. 

London: Research carried out in part by an artificially-intelligent (AI) ‘robot scientist’ has found that a common ingredient of toothpaste could be developed to fight drug-resistant strains of malaria.

In a study in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists from Britain’s Cambridge University who used the AI robot to conduct high-throughput screening said the ingredient, triclosan, showed the potential to interrupt malaria infections at two critical stages — in the liver and the blood.

Malaria kills around half a million people every year, the vast majority of them children in the poorest parts of Africa. The disease can be treated with a number of drugs, but resistance to these medicines is increasing, raising the risk that some strains may become untreatable in the future.

Because of this, the search for new medicines was becoming increasingly urgent, said Steve Oliver of Cambridge University’s biochemistry department, who co-led the work with Elizabeth Bilsland.

After being transferred into a new host via a mosquito bite, malaria parasites work their way into the liver, where they mature and reproduce. They then move into red blood cells, multiply and spread around the body, causing fever and potentially life-threatening complications.

Scientists have known for some time that triclosan can halt malaria parasites’ growth at the blood stage of the infection by inhibiting the action of an enzyme known as enoyl reductase (ENR), which is involved in production of fatty acids.

In toothpaste, this helps prevent a build-up of plaque bacteria.

In this latest work, however, Bilsland’s team found that triclosan also inhibits an entirely different enzyme of the malaria parasite, called DHFR.

DHFR is the target of the antimalarial pyrimethamine—a drug to which malaria parasites are increasingly developing resistance, particularly in Africa. The Cambridge team’s work showed that triclosan was able to target and act on this enzyme even in pyrimethamine-resistant parasites.

“The discovery by our robot colleague that triclosan is effective against malaria targets offers hope that we may be able to use it to develop a new drug,” said Elizabeth Bilsland, who co-led the work.

“We know it is a safe compound, and its ability to target two points in the malaria parasite’s lifecycle means the parasite will find it difficult to evolve resistance.”

The AI robot scientist used in the study — nicknamed Eve — was designed to automate and speed up the drug discovery process.

It does this by automatically developing and testing hypotheses to explain observations, running experiments using laboratory robotics, interpreting the results, altering the hypotheses, and then repeating the cycle. Reuters

http://www.livemint.com/Science/Oac9HXSBY4gYG8uuf89BMN/Toothpaste-ingredient-triclosan-could-fight-drugresistant-s.html

Tata vs Cyrus Mistry: Tata Trusts MD moves Bombay HC against quashing of summons

A Mumbai sessions court had on December 26 quashed the summons issued to Cyrus Mistry and others in the Rs500 crore defamation case filed by Tata Trusts MD R. Venkatramanan

Tata Trusts MD R. Venkatramanan had filed a criminal defamation complaint against ousted Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry for making ‘false’ statements and sought Rs500 crore as damages. 

Mumbai: Tata Trusts’s managing trustee R. Venkatramanan on Friday moved the Bombay high court against a sessions court order quashing summons issued to ousted Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry in connection with a defamation complaint filed by Venkatramanan.

On December 26, a Mumbai sessions court had quashed the summons issued to Mistry and others in the Rs500 crore defamation case. A metropolitan magistrate’s court had issued the summons in July 2017, directing Mistry and others to appear.

Venkatramanan’s petition termed the sessions court’s order as “arbitrary and illegal”, saying the court exceeded its jurisdiction while examining the merits of the case.

The petition will come up for hearing before Justice Revati Mohite-Dere in due course, according to the high court roster.

Venkatramanan filed a criminal defamation complaint in the magistrate’s court against Mistry and others last year for making “false” statements and sought Rs500 crore as damages.

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/yFAwPJGQEtAnHNksgXzmBN/Tata-vs-Cyrus-Mistry-Tata-Trusts-MD-moves-Bombay-HC-against.html

You may not believe some findings of Annual Status of Education Report: ‘7 out of 10 teens can use cellphone but cannot read basic text’

More than seven out of ten children in the age group of 14-18 years can use a cellphone, but cannot read basic text fluently in their language, says ASER.

While only 12 per cent males have never used a cellphone, the corresponding number of females is much higher at 22 per cent, it says.

More than seven out of ten children in the age group of 14-18 years can use a cellphone, but cannot read basic text fluently in their language, says the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). The report also says that females have reduced access to cellphones.

While only 12 per cent males have never used a cellphone, the corresponding number of females is much higher at 22 per cent, it says. The report released here today is based on a survey which was carried out in 28 districts of 24 states, with four domains in focus, namely what are the children of this age group (14 to 18 years) doing, their ability, awareness and aspirations.

“While 25 per cent in the 14-18 age group still cannot read basic text fluently in their own language, more than half struggle with division problems. As for English sentences, 53 per cent can read them. It has also been found that the proportion of youths, who have not acquired basic math skills by 14 years, is the same as that of 18-year-olds,” the report says.

ASER 2017 has focused on 14 to 18-year-olds, who have just moved beyond the elementary school and are the first batch to pass out of class VIII after the implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009. According to the report, the number of students enrolled in school systems once they move out of the protection of the Right to Education Act, has drastically decreased particularly of girls.

The survey this year has attempted to analyse what do the children do after they move out of the security of the Right to Education Act, how much of what they learnt can be applied in their daily lives, what kind of exposure and familiarity with technology they enjoy, and what kind of career or educational goals they nurture as they get closer to adulthood.

However, the report has found that enrolment in schools or colleges among children at 14 years of age is a lot more than among those at 18 years of age.

The report also observes that the enrolment gap between males and females increases with age. It shows that at 14 years, while 4.7 per cent males and 5.7 per cent females are not enrolled in schools or colleges, at 18 years that gap increases with 27.8 per cent males and 32.1 per cent females out of schools or colleges.

http://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/you-may-not-believe-some-findings-of-annual-status-of-education-report-7-out-of-10-teens-can-use-cellphone-but-cannot-read-basic-text/1017975/

Top Stock picks by Mutual Funds ...STUDY & BUY ...!!!!

SBI to Sun Pharma: Top 10 stock picks by mutual funds in December

Interestingly, after several years, two public sector banks (other than the mammoth State Bank of India) emerged as most chased stocks by fund managers

Chandan Kishore Kant Last Updated at January 16, 2018 13:56 IST

As the year 2017 was nearing its end, India's equity fund managers were busy in shuffling their portfolios before the new year begins - which most see as a challenging year studded with lot of volatility.Interestingly, after several years, two public sector banks (other than the mammoth State Bank of India) emerged as most chased stocks by fund managers. Shares of Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India were heavily lapped up as fund managers poured in over Rs 19 billion in the two counters.

Fund managers say that recent actions taken to contain NPAs and additional money being pumped into these banks have brought back the public sector banks on the radar.Apart from these, fund managers primarily looked more for large cap stocks like Sun Pharmaceutical, Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and TCS. In recent advisory, fund managers have raised the caution and advised investors to look for large-cap oriented stocks in current times when stock indices are trading at historical highs.Interestingly, at a time when IT major Infosys did reasonably better during the Q3 quarter and stocks move up quite well, fund managers sold the counter the most as they liquidated nearly 16 million shares of the company. Maruti Suzuki continued to be on sell radar while top holdings like private banks like IndusInd and Axis could not attract fund managers.

	Most Bought and Most Sold Stocks by Mutual Funds in December, 2017
	Most Bought Stocks				Most Sold Stocks
	Companies	Shares Bought	Money Pumped		Companies	Shares Sold	Money Liquidated
		(in million)	(Rs Billion)			(in million)	(Rs Billion)
	Punjab National Bank	75.00	12.85		Infosys	-16.50	17.24
	IndiGo	6.30	7.62		Maruti Suzuki	-1.10	10.40
	Union Bank of India	43.80	6.32		India Hotels Company	-81.20	9.57
	Sun Pharmaceutical	10.00	5.69		IndusInd Bank	-3.70	6.18
	Shree Cement	0.30	5.42		Axis Bank	-9.90	5.57
	Vedanta	15.90	5.23		Wipro	-16.20	5.08
	Larsen & Toubro	4.00	5.02		GAIL India	-10.10	5.05
	Reliance Industries	5.40	5.01		TVS Motor Company	-3.80	2.96
	Motherson Sumi Sys	13.20	5.01		Castrol India	-14.80	2.86
	TCS	1.80	4.99		Shriram Transport FinCorp	-1.70	2.56
	Source : Edelweiss Fund Insight Report

First Published: Tue, January 16 2018. 11:54 IST

http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/top-10-stock-picks-by-mfs-in-december-118011600293_1.html