1) Ericsson to acquire cloud based communications service provider, Vonage for $

6.2 bn.

Ericsson has entered into an agreement to acquire Vonage Holdings Corp. for USD 21 per
share. This represents a total acquisition price of approximately USD 6.2 billion (Enterprise
Value). The merger agreement was approved unanimously by the Board of Vonage. The
transaction builds upon Ericsson’s stated intent to expand globally in wireless enterprise,
offering existing customers an increased share of a market valued at USD 700 billion by 2030.

Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson, says: “The core of our strategy is to build leading
mobile networks through technology leadership. This provides the foundation to build an
enterprise business. The acquisition of Vonage is the next step in delivering on that strategic
priority. Vonage gives us a platform to help our customers monetize the investments in the
network, benefitting developers and businesses. Imagine putting the power and capabilities
of 5G, the biggest global innovation platform, at the fingertips of developers. Then back it
with Vonage’s advanced capabilities, in a world of 8 billion connected devices. Today we are
making that possible.”

2) NoBroker becomes India’s first real estate start-up unicorn.

Real estate renting and buying platform, NoBroker, on Tuesday said it has raised $210 million
as a part of its Series E funding round led by General Atlantic, Tiger Global Management, and
Moore Strategic Ventures.

The round values NoBroker at $1.01 billion, making it the first property tech (proptech) and
real estate startup to achieve unicorn status. A ‘unicorn’ is a privately held startup with a
valuation of $1 billion and above. With the current fundraise, the company has raised $361
million till date across several equity rounds.

NoBroker will use the proceeds from the current fundraise to expand its network across 50
more Indian cities over the next two years. It will also invest heavily in expanding its
technology and product function.

3) Delhi metro to launch driverless train operations on Pink Line this week.

Today, Driverless Train Operations (DTO) were virtually inaugurated on the 59 km long Pink
Line, which links Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar by Hardeep Singh Puri- Union Minister for Housing
and Urban Affairs, and Kailash Gahlot- Transport Minister of NCT of Delhi. With this, the fully
automated Delhi Metro rail network grows to nearly 97 kilometres, which is the world’s fourth-
largest and India’s only DTO network. In 2020, the DTO facility was introduced on the Magenta
Line with which the Delhi Metro rail network had entered the elite league of the world’s 7 per
cent Metro systems, which operate as fully automated metro networks.

According to DMRC, the newly introduced DTO will bring more flexibility in the operations of
metro trains, reduce human interventions as well as human errors. Besides, the DTO facility
will also help in improving the availability of metro coaches for service. Now, the manual
process of checking done before induction will be eliminated with these driverless metro trains.
This will subsequently reduce the burden on train operators. Besides, the parking will be done
automatically on the stabling line in depots.
DMRC further claimed that on Magenta Line, the corporation has already started reaping the
benefits of driverless metro train operations in terms of increased availability of metro train
coaches for service. It further said that due to exhaustive self-tests that are done before
induction in daily service, the reliability of such trains has increased manifold.

4) India's GDP to grow 8% in 2021 and 9.1% in 2022: Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs on November 23 forecast India’s GDP to grow to 9.1% year-on-year in 2022
from 8% in 2021, following a sharp contraction of 7% in 2020, driven by consumption. “We
expect consumption to be an important contributor to growth in 2022, as the economy fully
re-opens, driven by a notable improvement in the virus situation and adequate progress on
vaccination,” said Andrew Tilton, Chief Asia Pacific, Economist quoting Goldman Sachs
Economic Research India 2022 Outlook.

Likewise, the international banking giant predicted the continuation of government capital
spending and sees nascent signs of the private corporate capital expenditure recovery,
including a revival in housing investment.

Offering its views and analysis on major economic metrics for the forthcoming year, Goldman
Sachs forecast consumer price index (CPI) inflation to rise to 5.8% year-over-year (YoY) in
2022 from 5.2% in 2021, driven by a rise in core inflation as manufacturers pass on input cost
increases to consumers, considering demand recovers as the economy recovers fully.

5) DAC clears Rs 5,200 cr AK-203 deal with Russia

The much-awaited deal to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles in India, in partnership with
Russia, was finally cleared. The contract is set to be formally signed next month when Russian
President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India.

Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that the Defence Acquisition
Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared all deviations in the deal,
which has brought the cost down.

As ThePrint reported in August 2020, India and Russia had finally come to an understanding
about the cost and supply factor for the 7.62×39 mm chambered rifle, for which formal
negotiations began in 2018.

6) Why file 23 volumes, is it to drag case or harass judges: SC asks Amazon, Future
Group.

Irked over truckload of bulky documents filed by parties in a batch of petitions arising out of
the Amazon-Future Retail case (Reliance Industries acquisition deal with Future Retail), the
Supreme Court Tuesday asked whether the purpose was just to drag on or harass the judges
and sought a common small compilation of documents.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli asked
the counsel for parties to file small volume of documents so that the matter can be disposed
of, and fixed the case for hearing on December 8.
I am sorry to say to all of you. What is the fun in filing 22-23 volumes of records. How many
documents both sides have filed repeatedly and is it the purpose of just dragging on or
otherwise to harass the judges, said the CJI.

7) Dream11 parent bags $840 million funding at $8 billion valuation.

Sports tech company Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream11, said it has raised $840
million (about ₹6,252.2 crore) in funding, led by Falcon Edge, DST Global, D1 Capital, Redbird
Capital, and Tiger Global at a valuation of $ 8 billion.

The round also saw participation from existing investors like TPG and Footpath Ventures,
making it amongst the largest investments globally in the sports tech sector, a statement said.
Dream Sports has brands such as Dream Capital, FanCode, Dream11, DreamSetGo, Dream
Game Studios, and DreamPay in its portfolio. Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth,
Dream Sports is headquartered in Mumbai and employs close to 1,000 people.

8) Samsung to invest $17 bn to build a Semiconductor fabrication factory in Texas.

Samsung has said it will build a $17bn (£12.7bn) semiconductor factory in Texas, amid a
global shortage of chips used in cars, phones and other electronic devices. The plant just
outside Austin would be the South Korean company’s biggest US investment and is expected
to be operational in the second half of 2024.

Samsung had also considered sites in Arizona and New York for the factory, which will be
much bigger than its only other US chip plant, also in Austin. Samsung said the new facility
would boost production of hi-tech chips used for 5G mobile communications, advanced
computing and artificial intelligence, and also improve supply chain resilience.

The chip shortage has become a significant business obstacle and a serious US national
security concern. Shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic have led to supply issues,
hampering production of new vehicles and electronic devices for more than a year. National
security has also become an issue because many US companies are dependent on chips
produced overseas, particularly in Taiwan, which China has long claimed as its own territory.

9) ₹90,000 cr to be invested in airport sector in 5 yrs: Civil Aviation Secretary.

Union civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal announced that the country's airports sector will get
a massive boost as an investment worth ₹90,000 crore is expected over the five-year period,
starting 2020-21 financial year. Of the total investment, nearly ₹68,000 crore will be coming
from the private players and around ₹20,000 to ₹22,000 crore will be invested by the Airports
Authority of India (AAI), news agency PTI quoted Bansal as saying.

Further, the government is also expecting to have as many as 220 operational airports,
including heliports, over five years. As of now, the country has 136 operational airports in the
country, and many aerodromes are in the works.

The PTI report further said a new airport at Mopa in Goa is expected to be ready next year,
and an aerodrome is also coming up at Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra. Besides, expansion
works have been taken up at Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad airports.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation for the new airport at Jewar
in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. "Our (civil aviation) sector will rebound... We will grow faster
than earlier," Bansal was quoted as saying.

10) NASA launches 1st mission to crash spacecraft into asteroid to change its path.

NASA launched a spacecraft with one simple mission: Smash into an asteroid at 15,000 miles
per hour.

The mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, left Earth to test whether
slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid can nudge it into a different trajectory. Results from
the test, if successful, will come in handy if NASA and other space agencies ever need to
deflect an asteroid to save Earth and avert a catastrophic impact.

The DART spacecraft lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday at 1:21 a.m.
Eastern time (or 10:21 p.m. local time) from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The rocket reached space before sending its reusable booster back toward the ocean to land
on a SpaceX’s drone ship. It will take about an hour to deploy the spacecraft in orbit, and
hours after that it will unfurl solar panels to power the vehicle on its journey.

11) Royal Enfield sets up assembly plant in Thailand, its 3rd such plant after
Argentina and Colombia.

Iconic bike-maker Royal Enfield announced the commencement of operations of its exclusive
local assembly unit and CKD (completely knocked-down) facility in Thailand.

Set up in partnership with GPX, the facility will be a significant boost to the company’s business
in Southeast Asia, and further reiterates its commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, said a
company release.

With this, the company now has three local CKD units overseas — in Argentina and Colombia
in Latin America, and in Thailand — in addition to the three state-of-the-art manufacturing
facilities in Chennai.

In addition to catering to consumers in Thailand, this assembly unit will act as a distribution
hub for all other countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Vietnam, thereby
offering significant advantage and growth opportunities for Royal Enfield. To begin with, the
facility will start local assembly of the Himalayan, Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650
models, starting this month.

12) Bengaluru best city for jobs & economic growth, Kolkata worst — Niti Aayog’s
SDG Urban index.

Bengaluru is the best and only city in the country that is providing decent jobs and ensuring
economic growth, shows the first Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Urban Index released
Tuesday by Niti Aayog, the country’s economic think-tank. Overall, however, it is Shimla that
is ensuring sustainable development, as it has topped the index based on 15 parameters.
The Himachal capital managed the highest score of 75.5, followed by Coimbatore (73.29),
Thiruvananthapuram (72.36), Chandigarh (72.36) and Kochi (72.29). India’s coal capital
Dhanbad scored the worst (52.43); Meerut (54.64), Itanagar (55.29), Guwahati (55.79) and
Patna (57.29) make up the bottom five.

The maximum score a city can achieve is 100. A score between 65 and 99 categorises a city
as a ‘front-runner’, cities scoring between 50-64 were called ‘performers’, those scoring below
50 were considered ‘aspirants’.

13) If your client is in shorts, t-shirt & flip flops, be like them: Hinduja heir to staff

Srichand Hinduja’s 31-year-old grandson, the patriarch of the $ 18 billion Indo-British group
Hinduja, says he wants to stay true to his grandfather’s values while trying to remake the
bank owned by their family Hinduja Bank, to attract a more modern clientele and less stuffy.
In an interview at the bank’s headquarters in Geneva, Karam said he told his employees to be
more like the bank’s clients, who may have made their fortunes just as well as tech
entrepreneurs as they did in the field. finance.

“If your client is in shorts, a t-shirt and a pair of flip flops, feel free to do the same, meet him
on his level,” said the executive.

Karam took over the bank at a difficult time for Hindus, with an escalating conflict between
his sick 85-year-old grandfather and Srichand’s three younger brothers. It doesn’t help that
the bank is at the heart of the conflict. In a legal battle, Srichand – represented by his daughter
Vinoo – claims exclusive ownership of the bank. The SP brothers claim that the bank is part
of the Hinduja group.

14) Tatas-owned BigBasket goes offline & plans to open 800 'Fresho' stores in 4
years.

Online grocery company BigBasket said that it has started selling fruits and vegetables through
an unmanned physical store in Bengaluru. It plans to expand its footprint to 200 physical
outlets pan India by 2023 and 800 by 2026.

The store in Bengaluru was opened in October and has been seeing 500-600 footfalls daily.
“At around Rs 50 lakh per store, the total investment will be Rs 300-400 crores for 800 stores,”
Hari Menon, co-founder and CEO of BigBasket, told Business Standard.

“The strategy is to reach the next 500 million who are yet to buy groceries online. The Fresho
stores will also work on the click and pick model where customers can order from more than
50,000 SKUs online and pick it up from the Fresho stores,” he added.

15) BharatPe's Ashneer Grover hits out at Paytm, says founder answerable for
investors' loss.

In what looks like a BharatPe vs Paytm war, founder Ashneer Grover has officially criticised
Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s decision to “misprice” the fintech firm’s public offering, adding that a
failed listing ends the frenzied cycle of IPOs in India.
Following a debut fiasco at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Paytm’s stocks continue to tank. It
saw the worst performance in recent history by tanking 27 percent to Rs 1,560 from the issue
price of Rs 2,150 apiece.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Grover whose firm recently got a small finance bank
licence said the company gave Chinese investors their money back at the cost of the public
market.

“I used to tell investors that there’s going to be two markets — pre-Paytm and post-Paytm
because post Paytm is going to tank and that is exactly what has happened. The reason is
quite simple, you have mispriced your IPO,” Grover said.