India

Opinion: Can Gautam Adan, Asia’s richest man, win India with an App?

Gautam Adani is ready to unveil his much-hyped super-app, made by an in-house startup he wants to be “the Ferrari of the digital world.”

Gautam Adani is ready to unveil his much-hyped super-app, made by an in-house startup he wants to be “the Ferrari of the digital world.”

The portal will take off in the next three to six months, Asia’s richest tycoon told the Financial Times in a recent interview. But Adani seems to have missed the sweet spot when demand for online services boomed during the pandemic. Now, the tech industry is in turmoil globally. Meanwhile, competition in Indian e-commerce is intense. Will Adani’s Ferrari get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic?

The mobile app will connect passengers at Adani’s network of airports with other services offered by his group, the FT said. That could be the easiest way to build up downloads. Adani runs seven Indian airports and is currently building a new terminal and runway for Mumbai’s second facility. Overall, 20 per cent of the nation’s aviation traffic goes through him. If Adani were to throw in a free ride home – he’s also investing in taxi fleets in cities where he has airports, according to media reports – he potentially gets to install his as-yet-unnamed app on millions of phones.

That’s just the first battle. The second will be trickier – to make consumers come back for other things.

Aggregating shopping, payments, entertainment, social media and finance in one place is the Chinese model. The likes of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Meituan perfected it before Beijing got nervous about the dominance of its tech titans and made them a target of strong antitrust action. Last year’s tech crackdown may be easing, but China’s Covid-19 policies continue to be drag on consumption: Alibaba recently posted a surprise quarterly loss. In Southeast Asia, where the template was copied successfully, investors are now demanding profitability ahead of expansion. GoTo Group, the Indonesian behemoth formed through a merger of ride-hailing provider Gojek and e-commerce firm Tokopedia, is cutting 12 per cent of its workforce.

If the regional outlook is challenging, evidence from India isn’t very encouraging, either. E-commerce is undoubtedly a success, with Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart and Amazon.com Inc.’s India websites controlling the bulk of a growing market – more than 60 per cent of the billion-plus visits to the Flipkart site during its eight-day Big Billion Days festival last quarter came from Tier 2 and 3 cities.

But with the economy reopening, some of the more niche categories that had gained popularity during the pandemic – such as education and beauty and fashion – are either fizzling out or aren’t growing as strongly as before. Amazon is shutting down its test prep business in the country and exiting meal delivery. Paytm, India’s largest digital-payments provider, has seen shares drop 75 per cent in one year since its initial public offering, the worst first-year performance for a large IPO in a decade, according to Bloomberg News.

Online grocery shopping is ramping up, but Adani’s rivals – Tata Group’s Big Basket and Mukesh Ambani’s JioMart – have an early lead in what is seen as a key hook to boost customer interactions. Pharmacies are growing fast, and here, too, Ambani’s Netmeds and Flipkart’s Health Plus are doing well. Adani’s consumer-facing web presence is limited. The Ahmedabad-based group picked up a significant minority stake a year ago in Flipkart-owned travel booking site, Cleartrip. All the more reason to make transport the fulcrum of its super-app ambitions.

How fast can Adani hope to grow? With the exception of airports, power and city-gas distribution and edible oils, the rest of his empire has a strong focus on mining, logistics and infrastructure, which don’t necessarily offer too many avenues to connect with end-consumers. Even for the 154-year-old Tata Group, which is into everything from salt and tea to cars and airlines, getting a lock on customers in the digital world is proving to be hard work. Tata Neu, the super-app around Big Basket, has been downloaded about 15 million times, according to Apptopia data cited in a Macquarie Capital research note last week. That’s a modest number in a country where there will be 1 billion smartphone users by 2026.

Tata Neu won’t be the only competition to beat. Adani’s bigger rival will be Ambani, who built his digital moat during the pandemic when money was pouring into tech. Asia’s second-richest businessman has access to 428 million telecom users, through his Jio mobile network. Ambani is also India’s No. 1 retailer and is expanding into financial services. Credit is the glue that holds a successful super-app together, or at least that has been the experience elsewhere in Asia. However, making money off it is hard. Grab Holdings Ltd.’s financial services division garnered revenue worth just $20 million last quarter from $3.8 billion in payments volumes. That translated into a $104 million Ebitda loss, compared with a profit from delivery and ride-hailing, the other two units of the Singapore-based super-app.

Expect Adani to be aggressive in trying to close the gap with his rivals. Adani Enterprises Ltd., the group’s flagship, is seeking to raise 200 billion rupees ($2.5 billion) by selling new shares. The additional firepower may come in handy to beef up the fledgling super-app. Media reports suggest that Adani may butt heads with Ambani as India’s bankruptcy court looks for a new owner for Future Retail Ltd., a large, insolvent Indian retailer. Such bolt-on acquisitions may make more sense than trying to build new businesses from scratch. As long as investors and bankers remain sanguine about Adani’s finances, a worsening squeeze on global tech funding may even work in the billionaire’s favor. Whether India will ever be a market dominated by a couple of all-purpose mobile applications remains an open question.

India

Karnataka Polls: 2,613 Candidates In Fray, Rebel Trouble For Parties

A total of 2,613 candidates are in the poll fray, as the withdrawal of candidatures for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka came to an end on Monday, election officials said.

Karnataka Polls: A total of 517 candidates have withdrawn their candidature till Monday.

Bengaluru:

A total of 2,613 candidates are in the poll fray, as the withdrawal of candidatures for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka came to an end on Monday, election officials said.

A total of 517 candidates have withdrawn their candidature till Monday, even as parties faced “rebel trouble” in several segments.

Out of 2,613 candidates in the poll fray, 2,427 are male, 184 females and 2 others, office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka said.

Among the contesting candidates from recognised political parties- 224 from BJP, 223 Congress (supporting Sarvodaya Karnataka Party in Melukote), 207 JD(S), 209 AAP, 133 BSP , 4 CPI(M), 8 JD(U) and 2 NPP.

While 685 are from Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPP), 918 are independents.

In 16 constituencies there are more than 15 candidates in the fray, so two Ballot Unit (BU) will be used in these segments during the poll.

Political parties made efforts till the last minute to ensure rebel candidates, who had filed nomination disgruntled over being denied tickets by their respective parties, to withdraw their papers.

In some cases, the parties were successful in convincing such candidates to withdraw, while “rebel trouble” loomed large on the electoral prospects of the official candidates in several constituencies.

The rebel trouble seems to be more in the case of BJP and Congress, compared to other parties.

According to party sources, Congress is facing rebel in Pulakeshinagar (Akhanda Srinivas Murthy), Harapanahalli (M P Latha Mallikarjun), Shirahatti (Ramakrishna Doddamani), Shikaripura (Nagaraj Gowda), Jagalur (H P Rajesh), Arakalagudu (Krishnegowda), among others.

In BJP rebel trouble is in – Puttur (Arun kumar Puttila), Afzalpur (Nitin Guttedar), Goolihatti Shekhar (Hosadurga), Bailhongal (Vishwanath Patil), Gundlupet (M P Sunil), Chennagiri (Madal Mallikarjun), Malur (Vijay Kumar), Gandhi Nagar (Krishnaiah Shetty), among others, party sources said.

Among those who have withdrawn as rebel candidates include – former Bengaluru Mayor- Congress’ Gangambike Mallikarjun from Chickpet, BJP’s Mahadevappa Yadawad from Ramdurg.

The elections to the 224-member assembly will be held on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

India

Shivraj’s Chouhan Makes A Big Announcement Before Polls

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government in Madhya Pradesh, in what appears a last-minute strategy tweak, is trying to court Brahmins months ahead of the assembly elections with the constitution of a Welfare Board for the community.

Madhya Pradesh has 21,104 temples including two Jyotirlingas.

Bhopal:

Besides, the government has also announced that it would develop the Bhagwan Sri Parashurama Lok religious corridor in Indore’s Janapav. Temples, meanwhile, have been given more power over their own land.

“We have decided that the government will not have any control over the activities of the temples and the auction of temple land will be done by priests and not by collectors,” Mr Chouhan said. “Brahmins have always protected religion and culture. So for their welfare, we will set up a ‘Brahmin Welfare Board’,” he added.

Madhya Pradesh has 21,104 temples including two Jyotirlingas. Of these, 1,320 temples have more than 10 acres of agricultural land. For temples without agricultural land, priests are paid an honorarium of Rs 5,000 a month.

The government’s move has triggered questions, especially since Brahmins comprise only 5 to 6 per cent of the state’s electorate.

A clue appears to lie in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state. The Prime Minister visited Rewa, located in Vindhyas — probably the only region in the country where the upper castes constitute the largest portion of the population. In some assembly seats of Satna and Rewa districts, the population of Brahmins crosses 40 per cent.

In 2018, the Vindhya region prevented Congress from returning to power with full majority. The area now seems to be emerging as one of the most intriguing battlegrounds of the poll-bound state.

In 2018, BJP won 24 out of 30 seats in Vindhyas – up from 17 in 2013. The number of Congress seats slid from 11 to six.

But two recent events – the emergence of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party in the area and a new party floated by MLA Narayan Tripathi — have given the BJP some cause for concern, sources indicated.

In Rewa and Singrauli, the BJP lost the urban local body polls last year as AAP made its Madhya Pradesh debut with a victory in Singrauli. Mr Tripathi, who earlier belonged to the BJP, has meanwhile been flexing muscle, claiming that his party will contest 30 assembly seats in the region.

The Congress has scoffed at the BJP move, saying the Chief Minister is thinking of giving respect to Brahmins after 18 years. “Till date, he kept neglecting them in the cabinet, now he is making announcements to woo the Brahmins,” said Congress spokesperson KK Mishra.

Claiming that Mr Chouhan has made announcements in Janapav, the birthplace of Parshuram, he said, “What happened to those announcements?”

“It should not be seen from the point of view of elections or votes,” said BJP leader Rahul Kothari.

“Let the Congress makes allegations but they should first answer for the condition of the temples during their tenure. They should answer for the Ramvan Path Gaman,” he added.

India

Senior Citizen Dead After Man Jumps On Him In Mumbai Swimming Pool

A 72-year-old man died after another person jumped on him from a height in a swimming pool in Mumbai, a police official said.

The incident took place at Mumbai’s Goregaon area.

Mumbai:

A 72-year-old man died after another person jumped on him from a height in a swimming pool in Mumbai, a police official said.

The incident took place on Sunday evening at Ozon swimming pool in Goregaon area.

The dead, identified as Vishnu Samant, was swimming when a 20-year-old man jumped into the pool from a height, the official said.

“Samant suffered injuries on his neck and other parts of the body. He was declared dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. On his wife’s complaint, a case has been registered against the 20-year-old man under Indian Penal Code Section 304-A (causing death by negligence),” he said.

India

UP Chief Minister receives death threat, case registered: Cops

A case has been registered against an unidentified person in Lucknow after a death threat was received for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the police said on Tuesday.

The threat was received via message on ‘Dial 112’.

Lucknow:

A case has been registered against an unidentified person in Lucknow after a death threat was received for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the police said on Tuesday.

The threat was received via message on ‘Dial 112’ (a number launched by the Uttar Pradesh government for the emergency services), in which the person stated, “I will kill CM Yogi soon”.

After receiving the threat, the Operation Commander of ‘112’ filed a case in the police station Sushant Golf City.

A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 506, 507 and IT Act 66.

“Case has been registered under sections 506 and 507 IPC and 66 IT Act in PS Sushant Golf City against an unknown person after ‘Dial 112’ receives death threat for Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath,” the police said.

In an unrelated incident on Sunday, the police arrested the person who wrote a letter threatening to launch a suicide bomb attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kochi scheduled for April 24.

The accused has been identified as Xavier, said the police.

On Saturday, Kerala BJP chief K Surendran said that he received a letter last week about a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While talking to ANI, Kochi City Police Commissioner, K Sethu Raman said, “The person who sent the threat letter against the Prime Minister was arrested. Xavier, the accused was arrested yesterday. The reason is personal enmity. He wrote the letter to trap his neighbour. We found him with the help of forensics.”

“Tight security has been arranged for the Prime Minister arriving in Kochi. 2060 policemen have been appointed for this purpose. As part of this, traffic control has also been imposed from 2 pm,” the Commissioner added.

India

West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya is hit by a 3.5 magnitude earthquake

An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 Richter scale struck Meghalaya’s West Khasi Hills on Monday, according to National Center for Seismology (NCS).

According to the NCS, the earthquake occurred at 3:33 pm (local time).

New Delhi:

An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 Richter scale struck Meghalaya’s West Khasi Hills on Monday, according to National Center for Seismology (NCS).

The earthquake occurred at around 7:47 am, informed NCS.

“Earthquake of Magnitude:3.5, Occurred on 24-04-2023, 07:47:14 IST, Lat: 25.47 & Long: 90.94, Depth: 5 Km, Location: West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya,” NCS said in a tweet.

Earlier on Sunday, an earthquake struck Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills. The magnitude of it was recorded at 3.5 on the Richter scale according to NCS.

According to the NCS, the earthquake occurred at 3:33 pm (local time).

In a tweet, NCS said, “Earthquake of Magnitude:3.5, Occurred on 23-04-2023, 15:33:33 IST, Lat: 25.26 & Long: 90.94, Depth: 5 Km, Location: South Garo Hills, Meghalaya.”

On April 16, an earthquake of magnitude 3.6 on the Richter scale hit Manipur’s Bishnupur district. As per the readings from the centre, the earthquake occurred northwest of Bishnupur at 7:22 am (local time).

“Earthquake of Magnitude:3.6, Occurred on 16-04-2023, 07:22:49 IST, Lat: 24.84 & Long: 93.69, Depth: 10 Km, Location: 24km NNW of Bishnupur, Manipur, India for more information Download the BhooKamp App,” the NCS had said in a tweet.