Airtel Partners With Intex Low Price 4G Phone

Airtel Partners With Intex Low Price 4G Phone 

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator, announced its partnership with Intex to offer low cost bundled 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs 1,649. As part of the partnership, two other smartphones-Aqua A4 and Aqua S3-will also be available at effective prices of Rs 1,999 and Rs 4,379, respectively.

The Airtel-Intex pact is Airtel's third aggressive 4G smartphone offer under its ongoing 'Mera Pehla 4G smartphone' drive, aimed at bringing affordable bundled 4G phone options to the market. The company has already partnered with Karbonn Mobiles and Celkon to sell low-cost 4G devices to take on Jio's low-cost feature phone. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio is offering an internet-enabled feature phone for a refundable deposit of Rs 1500. To counter the offensive, other telecom operators are also lining up their own bundled offers. For instance, Vodafone India has tied up with mobile handset firm Micromax to launch a 4G smartphone at an 'effective price' of Rs 999. 

Under the latest handset bundling pact, the Intex Aqua LIONS N1, the Aqua 4 and the Aqua S3 will be sold to Airtel customers for a cash down payment, on which the company will give cash-backs over three years on the condition that those opting for these 4G devices would need to recharge their phones with a minimum pack every month over the next three years.

PNB Sells Stakes In Subsidiary For Rs 1,315 crore 

Public sector banking major Punjab National Bank has raised funds of more than Rs 1,315 crore through stake sale in subsidiary company PNB Housing Finance through offer for sale route. 

The bank sold 98,15,860 equity shares of the subsidiary to different investors for the said amount. 

The company has recorded a year-todate return of 52.40 per cent on the bourses, against the S&P BSE Sensex year-to-date return of 23.19 per cent and S&P BSE Bankex year-to-date return of 37.16 per cent on the bourses. 

PNB Housing Finance is a whollyowned subsidiary of Punjab National Bank. The housing finance giant has recorded a year-to-date return of 55.30 per cent as on December 5, 2017.

Gold Demand Likely To Drop To 8-Year Low 

 Amidst slowdown in the economic growth of the country, gold imports by India remained at the back seat for the third consecutive month in November. While the supplies of the commodity has remained at its original level, gold demand has dropped in the domestic market. 

According to media reports, the overseas purchases of gold has declined to 91.5 metric tonnes from a supply of 111 tonnes of gold in November 2016. India, which is the second largest market for gold in the world, is likely to witness a fresh low in its gold demand in the current fiscal. The gold demand had declined to a seven year low in 2016, after tax reforms were introduced by the government. 

The demand for gold stood at 666.1 tonnes in 2016, while the demand in expected to fall down to 650 tonnes in 2017. The average demand of gold for a period of 10 years stands at 845 tonnes. Most of the gold demand of the country is sourced from the rural areas, where gold jewellery is widely bought to store it as family wealth.

Services PMI Slips Into Contraction; Touches 3-Months Low

Following the slump in the Indian economy, the services sector, the biggest sector in the economy, plummeted into contraction mode in the month of November as indicated by the Nikkei Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The overall demand in the economy has come to a major low post the roll out of GST.

The services PMI declined to 48.5 points in November, as against 51.7 points in October 2017. The November reading of the services PMI was the weakest in the last three months. Readings below 50 points depict contraction, whereas readings above 50 indicate expansion.

The slump in the services PMI is a preface to a laggard growth story and slow recovery in the economy, although the economic growth of the country improved to 6.3 per cent in the Q2 of FY18, as against a growth rate of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. 

The Nikkei Composite Output Index activity, which takes into account both the manufacturing and services sector, also witnessed a decline to 50.3 points in November, as against 51.3 points in October 2017. This index too fell to its 3-month low in November on the back of a critical stagnation in the private sector output of the economy. 

However, the employment scenario in the economy improved slightly in November with a rise in jobs in the services sector despite contraction.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has held its rates constant as a cautionary measure against inflationary trends. The input costs have been on the rise in the economy as a consequence of rising food and fuel prices and higher taxes..