INFLATION QUICKENS IN AUGUST, EVEN AS INDUSTRIAL GROWTH REVIVES
Consumer price index-based inflation continued to rise for the second consecutive month, by 3.36% from 2.36% a month ago, as food inflation turned positive after three months of contraction. India’s industrial production recovered to grow only mildly as growth in manufacturing output remained flat with introduction of goods and services tax (GST), which continued to disrupt production networks while retail inflation quickened in August ruling out any rate cut by the central bank in the near future. (http://bit.ly/2vVYcNo)
NO PLAN TO INTERFERE IN DAILY PRICE CHANGE OF FUEL, SAYS PRADHAN
Denying any move to interfere with the pricing of auto fuel that has been left to state-owned refiners, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the increase in prices of petrol and diesel was on account of hurricanes ‘Harvey’ and ‘Irma’ that hit the US in recent weeks. Prices of fuel is linked to their international prices, and are not based on cost of production, which makes them fluctuate as per global trends. (bit.ly/2xmWKai)
AMAZON UNVEILS ITS FIRST FASHION STUDIO IN INDIA
Amazon India on Wednesday unveiled the Amazon Fashion Studio in Gurugram, a facility that offers allied services such as high-quality catalogue imaging to fashion sellers on Amazon.in. The studio, called BLINK, is Amazon’s third such facility in the world, after London and New York. (bit.ly/2h5jnGG)
MCDONALD’S, CRPL’S VIKRAM BAKSHI SPAR OVER FOOD SUPPLIERS
In order to enforce the closure of 169 restaurants, McDonald’s India Pvt. Ltd is impressing upon its vendors to stop transacting with Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt. Ltd (CPRL), the north and east India licencee of the American fast food chain. In a letter to suppliers, the Indian unit of the US-based fast food chain said CPRL is no longer permitted to operate McDonald’s restaurants and that it must cease the use of McDonald’s intellectual property. McDonald’s India, on August 21, termi- nated its franchise agreement with CPRL. According to the termination notice, Vikram Bakshi was supposed to cease using McDonald’s name, trademarks, designs, branding, operational and marketing practice and policies and food recipes and specifications from September 6. (bit.ly/2x6RPJX)
ZOMATO ACQUIRES FOOD DELIVERY START-UP RUNNR
Food technology start-up Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd has acquired delivery start-up Runnr as part of a widely expected, all-stock deal that would help the former significantly shore up its food delivery business, amid intense competition from rapidly-growing rivals such as Swiggy. The deal, which was announced by Zomato founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal in a blog post on Wednesday, is expected to bolster Zomato’s delivery capabilities and help the New Delhibased start-up build a captive fleet of delivery personnel—a model very similar to Swiggy’s (Bundl Technologies Pvt. Ltd). (bit.ly/2x1sbap)
ITC LOOKS TO ACCELERATE GROWTH IN NONCIGARETTE BUSINESSES
ITC Ltd, the cigarettes-to-shampoo company, is working on an eight-point strategy to reinvent itself and accelerate growth in its non-cigarette businesses, especially branded consumer packaged foods, a segment that it entered 15 years ago, chief executive Sanjiv Puri said. The “create the new ITC” strategy is part of the Kolkata-based company’s plan to reach ₹1 lakh crore in revenue from its non-cigarette packaged goods business by 2030. (bit.ly/2x1cDmV)
MEDTRONIC RECALLS SOME MINIMED INSULIN INFUSION DEVICES
Multinational medical device maker Medtronic Plc has recalled specific lots of infusion device (MiniMed) used with its insulin pumps, a move likely to have an impact on India, often called the diabetes capital of the world. The firm started the recall after it found the device could trigger an excessive dose of the drug and put patients at risk of hypoglycemia, a condition where blood sugar falls below normal levels. (bit.ly/2fo0BtX)
SIM CARDS NOT LINKED TO AADHAAR BY FEB MAY BE DEACTIVATED
The government will proceed with a plan to make it mandatory to link the Aadhaar number with mobile phone SIM cards, failing which all phones will be deactivated after February, IANS said, citing people familiar with the matter. The linking of Aadhaar and mobile phone SIM cards is being done to comply with orders passed by the Supreme Court in February this year in the Lokniti foundation case, which said all SIM cards have to be mandatorily linked to Aadhaar within a year from the judgement date to prevent misuse of SIM cards by terrorists and criminals, the the IANS report said. (bit.ly/2x4Qt0I)
AIRTEL IN TALKS WITH HANDSET COMPANIES FOR ₹2,500 4G HANDSET
India’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, is in talks with multiple handset makers to bring a 4G smartphone for a price as low as ₹2,500-2,700 to take on Reliance Jio. Airtel is placing its bet on a full-fledged smartphone as it believes people would be ready to shell out a little more to get a loaded handset. (bit.ly/2x1kKA7)
PATANJALI SET TO ENTER DAIRY, APPAREL BUSINESSES THIS YEAR
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd will launch products in the dairy and apparel business this calendar year, said its founder Ramdev. “With this we will be in 11 categories,” Ramdev said on the sidelines of Globoil India 2017, an edible oil conclave. “The total market size (of these two categories) will be ₹20 lakh crore. We will enter both within this year.” (bit.ly/2f96qys)