The Himalayan Mail8 JAMMU SATURDAY DECEMBER 26, 2020 NEWS

NEW DELHI, DEC 25:Biotechnology major Bioconon Friday said its arm, Bio-con Biologics, and Mylanhave been informed by theUS health regulator of a de-ferred action on the biologicslicense application (BLA) fora biosimilar to drug Avastin,used to treat various types ofcancers. Biocon Biologics Ltdand Mylan, a subsidiary ofViatris Inc, have been in-formed by the US Food andDrug Administration(USFDA) of a deferred actionon the BLA for MYL-1402O, aproposed biosimilar to

Avastin (bevacizumab), Bio-con said in a regulatory filing."To complete the applica-tion, the agency noted thatan inspection of the manu-facturing facility is requiredas a part of the standard re-view process. However, dueto restrictions on travel re-lated to COVID-19, theagency is unable to conductan inspection during the cur-rent review cycle. We awaitthe dates for the inspection,"it added. "There are no addi-tional observations related tothe application," Biocon Bi-ologics spokesperson said.

USFDA informs Biocon, Mylan of deferred action on biosimilar license plea

NEW DELHI, DEC 25:Markets regulator Securitiesand Exchange Board of India(Sebi) on Thursday imposeda penalty of Rs 27 crore onNew Delhi Television's(NDTV) promoters- Pran-noy Roy, Radhika Roy andRRPR Holding. The penaltywas imposed for violatingvarious securities norms, in-cluding Prohibition ofFraudulent and Unfair TradePractices (PFUTP) regula-tions. The regulator imposedthe penalty against NDTVpromoters for by concealinginformation from sharehold-ers regarding certain loanagreements. RRPR is a partof NDTV's promoters' groupand had a 29.18 per centstake in the company as ofSeptember 2020.

The regulator in its ordersaid the loan agreements hadclauses that have an adver-sarial effect on NDTV share-holders. The said loan agree-ments include one withICICI Bank and two withVishvapradhan CommercialPrivate Ltd (VCPL). Sebi be-gan its probe after receivinga complaint from Quantum

Securities, a shareholder ofNDTV, about the violation ofrules by non-disclosure ofmaterial information toshareholders.

The regulator said itsprobe began after receipt ofcomplaints, in 2017 fromQuantum Securities Pvt Ltd –a shareholder of NDTV –about an alleged violation ofrules by non-disclosure of in-formation, important toshareholders, about loanagreements with VCPL.

The regulator said anagreement was signed in2009 between VCPL andNDTV's promoters for a loan

of Rs 350 crore to repay theICICI Bank loan. A secondloan agreement with VCPLwas signed for Rs 53.85crore, a year later. And theseloan agreements includedclauses and conditions thatsubstantially affected thefunctioning of NDTV. It al-lowed VCPL to indirectly ac-quire 30 per cent sharehold-ing in the company byconverting warrants into eq-uity shares of RRPR Hold-ing. The regulator furthersaid the loan agreementswere structured so thatclauses on various mattersabout NDTV, which was

price sensitive information,were concealed from the mi-nority shareholders. How-ever, the Roys contendedthat NDTV was not a party tothe agreement, and therewas no requirement on theirpart to make a stock ex-change disclosure.

Sebi, in its order, saidclauses of the loan agree-ment, demonstrate thatNDTV promoters devisedthe scheme in such a waythat they would contain cru-cial information aboutNDTV, though NDTV wasnot part of the agreement.

Sebi imposed a fine of Rs25 crore on Roys and RRPRHolding, which needs to bepaid jointly and severally.Besides, a penalty of Rs 1crore has been imposed onPrannoy Roy and RadhikaRoy.

NDTV founders said theywould appeal against the or-der at Securities AppellateTribunal (SAT). They saidthe Sebi order is based on anincorrect assessment of factsand that they have never sur-rendered the company's con-trol to another entity.

NDTV promoters to appeal against Sebiorder imposing fine of Rs 27 crore

NEW DELHI, DEC 25:Bitcoin just won’t go away.The original cryptocurrencyagain had commentatorseating their words in 2020 —yours truly included. It’s nowtime to accept it’s here tostay.

Like Monty Python’s BlackKnight, Bitcoin believerstreat near-fatal volatility asmere flesh wounds. Drops of80 per cent are welcomed asfortuitous buying opportuni-ties. But far from being aweakness, this is evidence ofthe asset class’ longevity. Thecryptocurrency rallied 224per cent this year, bringing tomind the wild advances of2017 as it soared to recordhighs.

While the supply side ofthe schedule is algorithmi-cally defined, I was caught offguard by the ability of the de-mand side to withstandvolatility. I went into moredetail in how my thinking onthis asset class evolved in this

YouTube podcast:Supply of the digital tokens

are capped at a maximum of21 million which it is ex-pected to reach in 2140, withperiodic reductions in the re-ward for the network of com-puters that certify transac-tions. Yet supply dynamicsaren’t sufficient to guaranteea long-term future. Many as-sets have artificially limitedsupply: Baseball cards, lim-ited print-run art work, and

a number of historic Ponzischemes fall into this cate-gory.

What distinguishes thesuccesses is how investorsrespond to crashes. In mostcases, when a vehicle de-signed purely around thegreater-fool theory collapses,it never recovers. There hasbeen no substantial progressmade on Bitcoin as a unit ofexchange. It’s far from wide-spread adoption as a cur-

rency.Since Bitcoin’s market

capitalization reached $1 bil-lion in March 2013, therehave been two cycles ofspikes to record highs, fol-lowed by drawdowns ofmore than 80 per cent. Eachof those cycles were precededby a halving of the block re-ward.The first cycle could bedismissed as an anomaly, thesecond as a coincidence. But ahalving again occurred inMay, and the cycle is repeat-ing before our eyes with thecryptocurrency comingwithin a whisker of the all-time peak last week. To ig-nore it now is to dismiss theevidence of history.

Like social networks, cryp-tocurrencies derive theirvalue from the number ofusers. I could build a plat-form with the exact qualitiesof, and even some improve-ments over, Facebook, butachieving critical mass is an-other matter.

Bitcoin crushes doubters as 224 pc rally proves it's here to stay

SAN FRANCISCO,DEC 25: The value of XRP,worlds third largest cryp-tocurrency after Bitcoin andEthereum, crashed morethan 40 per cent after the USSecurities and ExchangeCommission (SEC) suedboth the founder and currentCEO of tech company Ripplefor raising more than $1.3billion through an "unregis-tered securities offering" af-ter selling their cryptocur-rency XRP.

According to CoinMarket-Cap, the XRP's declinedmore than 42 per cent in thepast 24 hours and was downmore than 63 per cent fromits 30-day high of $0.76.

It now sits at just $0.27.The lawsuit which said

that XRO is a security notcurrency, claimed that Rip-ple's former CEO andfounder Christian Larsenand its current CEO BradleyGarlinghouse violated securi-ties laws by selling XRP over aseven-year period starting in

2013.According to the company,

"The SEC is completelywrong on the facts and lawand we are confident we willultimately prevail before aneutral fact-finder".

"XRP, the third largest vir-tual currency with billions ofdollars in trading every day, isa currency like the SEC hasdeemed Bitcoin and Ether,and is not an investmentcontract," Ripple argued in ablog post.

The company said that theother major branches of theUS government, includingthe Justice Department andthe Treasury Department'sFinCen, have already deter-mined that XRP is a cur-rency.

"Transactions in XRP thusfall outside the scope of thefederal securities laws. Thisis not the first time the SEChas tried to go beyond itsstatutory authority. Thecourts have corrected it be-

fore and will do so again."Michael Kellogg, Kellogg,Hansen, Todd, Figel & Fred-erick

Garlinghouse said that "al-though the SEC's decisionbrings an even greater senseof urgency to our decisionwhether to move our HQoutside the US, we also lookforward to working with thenew Biden administration tosee if we can find a rationalpath forward here".

The SEC in the past hadruled that Bitcoin andEthereum are currencies.

XRP, however, differsfrom Bitcoin and Ethereumas the rest of the two cryp-tocurrencies are createdthrough a "mining" processwhich is ongoing.

"Ripple started XRP bycreating 100 billion units allat once" and this may be whythe US SEC has called it a se-curity, not a currency.

Ripple was recently valuedat $10 billion following a$200 million funding round.

Price of world's 3rd largest crypto-currency XRP crashes after lawsuit

NEW DELHI, DEC 25:Billionaire Mukesh Am-bani's Reliance IndustriesLtd (RIL) has agreed to buyout IMG Worldwide LLCfrom their sports manage-ment joint venture for Rs52.08 crore.

The nation's biggest com-pany by market value, in astock exchange filing, said itwill buy IMG Worldwide's50 per cent stake in IMG-Re-liance Ltd (IMG-R) for nomore than Rs 52.08 crore incash.

RIL will rebrand the com-pany after the closure of thedeal.

RIL had formed an equaljoint venture with IMG

Worldwide, an internationalsports marketing and man-agement company, in 2010to develop, market and man-age sports and entertain-ment in India.

IMG is a global leader insports, fashion, events andmedia, operating in more

than 30 countries, and is apart of the Endeavor net-work.

IMG-R is engaged in thebusiness of creation, man-agement, implementationand commercialisation ofsporting, fashion and enter-tainment events in India.

"The company has enteredinto definitive agreements toacquire the shares held byIMG Singapore Pte Ltd inIMG-R, for a cash consider-ation not exceeding Rs 52.08crore," the filing said.

IMG Singapore Pte Ltd, awholly-owned subsidiary ofIMG, holds 50 per cent of theshare capital of IMG-R.

"Post completion of acqui-sition, IMG-R will become awholly-owned subsidiary ofthe company and will be re-branded by the company,"RIL said. IMG-R had aturnover of Rs 181.70 crore(including GST of Rs 25.79crore) and a net profit of Rs16.35 crore in FY20.

Reliance to buy out IMG Worldwide from sports management joint venture

SAN FRANCISCO,DEC 25: Elon Musk-runSpaceX will start flight test-ing its Super Heavy booster(starting with low-altitude"hops") in a few months fromnow.

Super Heavy booster willbe used to fly Starship for or-bital launches and deeperspace missions, includingMars.

Reacting to a follower onTwitter, Musk said late on

Thursday that the first SuperHeavy hop is just "a fewmonths" away.

The SpaceX CEO andfounder said the companywill use both of its two launchpads in Boca Chica, Texaswith prototype rockets set upon each.

SpaceX recently set up itsSN9 prototype of Starship atits Texas testing facility.

Meanwhile, Super Heavywill be nearly 240 feet talland include 28 Raptor en-gines.

Earlier this month, a pro-totype of the next-generationheavy-lift rocket Starship ex-ploded on landing after ahigh-altitude test flight inTexas.

The launch and ascent of

Starship serial number 8(SN8) were successful, but asthe engines appeared toreignite for landing, the vehi-cle flipped back to verticaland then slammed into theground.

Starship is SpaceX's fullyreusable transportation sys-tem designed to carry bothcrew and cargo to the Earth'sorbit, the Moon, Mars, andbeyond.

Musk said this month thatthe company is working to-wards launch of an uncrewedMars flight in about twoyears.

In August, a prototype ofSpaceX's Mars Starshipspacecraft got off the groundin a test flight, marking asmall step that could one day

prove to be a giant leap to-wards the human explo-ration of the Red Planet.

The vehicle, Starship SN5,performed a small hop as ittook to the skies for about 40seconds.

"Mars is looking real,"SpaceX CEO Elon Musktweeted shortly after the testflight.

Several of Starship SN5'spredecessors got destroyedduring test flights.

SpaceX says its Starshipspacecraft and Super Heavyrocket (collectively referredto as Starship) represent afully reusable transportationsystem designed to carryboth crew and cargo to Earthorbit, the Moon, Mars andbeyond.

SpaceX to begin flight testing Super Heavybooster in few months: Elon Musk

NEW DELHI, DEC 25:The telecom industry's 'ac-tive' subscriber base rose bynearly 2.5 million in October2020 to touch about 961 mil-lion, and user additions ben-efited from vanishing impactof SIM consolidation trig-gered from tariff hike, ac-cording to a latest report.

ICICI Securities, in its re-port crunching Trai's tele-com subscription data, saidBharti Airtel's active sub-scribers rose about 3 millionto reach nearly 320 millionin October 2020, "most ofwhich was driven by totalsubscriber net adds, thus in-

dicating improving quality ofsubscriber addition".

Bharti Airtel saw the high-est subscriber addition in itstraditionally weak circles ofMaharashtra (0.7 million)and Gujarat (0.5 million).

The active subscribers arecalculated based on the re-ported visitor location regis-ter (VLR), a key metric re-flecting the number of activeusers on a mobile network.

"Industry-active sub-scriber base expanded by 2.5million to 961 million. Sub-scriber addition has bene-fited from vanishing impactof SIM consolidation trig-

gered from tariff hike," thereport said.

According to the ICICI Se-curities' report, Jio's activesubscribers rose 1.1 millionto 319 million in October.

It added that VodafoneIdea Ltd's (VIL) active sub-scriber numbers continuedto decline, but at a lowerpace; it fell 1.2 million result-ing in an active subscriberbase of about 260 million inOctober 2020. VIL's totalsubscriber base shrunk by al-most 2.7 million, it said.

ICICI Securities observedthat Bharti Airtel has re-gained market leader posi-

tion by active subscribers.On an overall basis, Airtel

added 3.6 million new cus-tomers in October, taking itstotal wireless customer baseto 330.3 million in October2020, according to the Tele-com Regulatory Authority ofIndia's (Trai) data.

Airtel was followed by Re-liance Jio, which added over-all 2.22 million new mobilecustomers, taking its totalsubscriber base to 406.3 mil-lion during the said month.Vodafone Idea Ltd and state-owned BSNL and MTNL re-ported a loss of subscriberbase, on an overall basis.

Telecom industry's active subscriber tally up by 2.5 mn in October: Report

CHENNAI, DEC 25:Hero Electric, country'slargest electric two-wheelercompany, is planning toclose the fiscal with 10-15 percent growth despite the pan-demic. The company is look-ing to increase its capacity byover 200 per cent and is alsolooking for investors. It is inthe process of investingaround Rs 700 crore.

Naveen Munjal, MD, HeroElectric told Business thatthe company is planning toincrease its capacity to250,000 units from the cur-rent around 70,000-75,000units per annum at its Lud-hiana facility. The companyis also planning to set up agreenfield facility in SouthIndia.

While he declined to com-ment on the size of the newfacility, he said, the companyis planning to invest aroundRs 700 crore in manufactur-ing over the next 3-4 years.The company is planning toraise funds to back com-pany's proposed invest-

ments, he added.The proposed expansions

comes on the backdrop ofcompany's target to sellaround half a million units inthe next four years. Since itsinception the company sold350,000 two-wheelers.

During the current fiscal,the company is looking at 10-15 per cent growth comparedto last year's sales of around50,000 units. He is confidentof achieving the number de-spite some challenges in sup-ply chains due to various rea-sons, including the ongoingfarmer agitations in Punjaband Haryana.

Munjal said, the adoptionof EV will be faster comparedto ICE vehicles as people aremore concerned about envi-ronment, looking at movingaway from public transportand within personal mobil-ity, they are also looking atease of use. The total cost ofownership has always beenlow, but now the pricing isalso very aggressive, in fewsegments it is closer to the

price of ICE two-wheelersand lenders have also startedlooking at EV segment seri-ously.

He expects in the next fiveyears, at a conservative levelEV contribution in total two-wheeler sales will increasedto 10-15 per cent, but if ag-gressively pushed it can in-crease to 20-25 per cent fromthe current one per cent.

Munjal said, during thelock down the companyleveraged digital to train itsdealers and employees,which started yielding re-sults. Digital sales now ac-counts for around 25-30 percent of overall sales.

“Particularly, online book-ings during pandemic havebeen very encouraging, weare now looking at a hybridmodel of lead generation andbookings online and deliverythrough dealer network”,said Munjal, adding that dur-ing the pandemic the com-pany conducted over 2,500programmes for employees.The company also trained

over 6,000 roadside me-chanics on EVs as part ofmeasures undertaken duringthe pandemic.

In a bid to address therange anxiety that is com-mon when it comes to adop-tion of EVs among the cus-tomers, Hero Electric hasinstalled around 750-800charging stations and plansto increase it to 20,000 overthe next 2-3 years.

It may be noted that HeroElectric offers modular orportable batteries which canbe charged at home. Thecharging stations is a densecharging infrastructure. A lotof customers don’t actuallyuse it, but it’s solely there togive them comfort — thatshould they get stranded andrun out of charge, this is whatthey can do.

So, it is more of a confi-dence-building (measure)than anything else, saidMunjal, adding that this willnot drive profit as it is moreto give customers satisfac-tion and comfort.

Hero Electric targets 10-15 pc growth in 20-21, scouts for PE investors