Paytm Payments Bank after successfully providing their VISA virtual Debit cards to more than 4.5 million customers have now launched their physical VISA Debit cards which enables the users to upgrade to a contactless payment. Let’s look at the newly launched VISA Debit card, how to order and use it.
The new physical VISA Debit card that is launched by Paytm is a contactless globally accepted card. The card can be used to pay for shopping, gadgets or any other items as well as it can be used in the ATMs to withdraw cash in India as well as abroad.
The VISA Debit cards come with an NFC chip which will allow the users to pay the money with just a tap on the POS machine available at the store. The contactless debit card is common and have been widely accepted across the globe. They have been reported to be safer and highly secure.
The card also provides various rewards, offers and also provides an option for the user to enable or disable the card on the Paytm Payments Bank app according to their convenience.
In order to apply for the VISA Debit card, you should have a savings account with Paytm Payments Bank. You will have to download the app or visit their website in order to open account. Once you have opened the account and filled the KYC, the card will be delivered to your doorstep.
Even the users who already have a Paytm savings account and a virtual VISA or RuPay Debit card will have to visit the website and order the card. The users who have a RuPay Debit card will have to upgrade to a VISA debit card and order the physical card on the website.
If you already have a physical RuPay Debit card, you will have to block the physical card and apply for a digital VISA Debit card and later follow the above step of ordering the physical card from the website or the mobile application.
Paytm Website
How to activate the Paytm Physical Debit Card
In order to activate your Physical debit card, you will have to scan the QR code through the Paytm Payments Bank app which will ask for your bank passcode. Once the passcode is entered, you will be asked to verify your debit card details and will be prompted to set your ATM pin. Once you confirm your ATM pin, your physical card will get activated.
The Paytm Payments Bank’s VISA Debit and ATM card would cost an amount of INR 250. Paytm Payments Banks claims to have simplifying the banking process of the millennials since their establishment.
FAQ
What is Paytm Visa debit card?
The new physical VISA Debit card launched by Paytm is a contactless globally accepted card, which can be used for shopping or can be used in the ATMs to withdraw cash in India as well.
What are the benefits of Paytm debit card?
You can Withdraw cash from any ATM in India, you can also Swipe your card at any store or website across India and Paytm offers Cashback at 200+ stores across India.
Can we withdraw cash from Paytm debit card?
Yes, you can withdraw cash from Paytm physical debit card from any ATM in India.
The Silicon Six tech giants have been accused by the fair tax foundation for inflating the tax payments by almost USD 100 billion. It was found that during the year 2011 to 2020 the firms have paid less in tax than the national figures mentioned on their annual reports. In this article let’s look at What is “Silicon Six” and how they Evaded 100 Billion in tax?
Silicon Six is the US based tech giants which include Amazon, Facebook, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Netflix Apple and Microsoft. They include the largest companies in the Silicon Valley. These companies have been accused of inflating the tax payments of almost USD 100 billion for the past decade.
The claim on Silicon Six by Fair Tax Foundation
A report by the campaign group Fair Tax Foundation ahead of the G7 Summit in the UK where chancellor Rishi Sunak has called on the world leaders to back a new tech tax before the G7 Summit have found that the tech companies which include Amazon, Facebook, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft have paid USD 96 billion less in tax for the year 2011 to 2020.
It is claimed that the companies have paid less amount of tax when compared to the national taxation figures they have shown in their financial annual reports.
Total Tax paid by the Silicon Six
Fair Tax Foundation has conveyed that the six tech firms have paid USD 149 billion less to global tax authorities than which they should have paid if the headline rates where they operate have been taken into consideration.
It is found that overall, the companies have paid a tax of USD 219 billion in income tax over the past decade. That is 3.6% of their total revenue which was more than USD 6 trillion. Income tax is paid on the basis of profits earned by the company, but the researchers have conveyed that the silicon six companies have deliberately shifted their income to low-tax jurisdiction places in order to pay less amount of tax.
Did Amazon Evade Taxes?
The report based on the regulatory filings of the company has found that Amazon has collected a revenue of around USD 1.6 trillion and reported a profit of around USD 60.5 billion and has only paid a tax amount of USD 5.9 billion for the year 2011 to 2020.
According to international tax rates, Amazon is supposed to pay an amount of USD 10.7 billion in taxes. The tax paid by Amazon over the past decade from 2011 to 2020 is the lowest of all the silicon six companies that are 9.8%.
A spokesperson of Amazon had commented on the claims conveying that the calculations are extremely misleading. He added that Amazon is primarily a retail company whose profit margins are low and comparing to other tech companies who have an operating profit of more than 50% is completely irrational.
The company has conveyed that the government writes the tax laws and Amazon has always tried to pay all the tax dues and always encourages the company to file the tax dues. They also mentioned that they have invested billions in creating jobs and infrastructure and said that these investments coupled with low margins would naturally result in a lower tax rate.
Facebook the social media platform that is run by Mark Zuckerberg has just paid USD 16.8 billion in income tax during the years 2011 to 2020. The company has reported a profit of USD 133 billion and a revenue of USD 328 billion. The tax paid as a percentage of profit was just 12.7% which is the second lowest among the silicon six companies after Amazon.
A Facebook spokesperson has mentioned that all companies pay taxes on their profits and not their revenues. He added that the previous year, the company has paid USD 4.23 billion in corporate income taxes globally and added that the company had paid an average tax rate of 20.71 % over the last 10 years. This is considered to be roughly in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average.
What is a Tech Tax Deal?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has conveyed that he would want the President Joe Biden’s administration to sign up for a tech tax deal and added that the tech companies are not paying the right tax amount at the right places which is not fair and which he wants to fix.
The US government’s proposals to reform the global tax systems by imposing a minimum of 15% corporate tax would end the profit sharing to tax havens of the big tech companies. Global agreements on tax would have a really big impact on the tech giants with them having to pay billions of additional taxes across the world.
Conclusion
However, the rest companies of Silicon six which include Alphabet, Apple, Netflix and Microsoft have not responded to the request on the feedback and have declined to comment on the situation.
FAQ
Which companies come under the Silicon Six?
Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix Microsoft, and Google are known as the Silicon Six.
Do Big companies pay tax?
Large multinational companies save billions of dollars by using foreign subsidiaries and tax havens and avoid taxes.
What big companies pay no taxes?
In a report it was found that FedEx and Nike are among those who avoided U.S. tax liability for three straight years and atleast 55 large companies paid no taxes in America.
A new cryptocurrency named DubaiCoin had been in the market limelight after Dogecoin and Shiba Inu Coins. The digital coin saw a surge of more than 1,000 % in the time span of 24 hours. Let’s look at the further information about this new digital coin.
The new digital coin named DubaiCoin had seen a surge of over 1,000 % in a time span of 24 hours. This was because numerous media had reported the digital coin to be the official digital coin of Dubai. The value had shot up after a press release claiming it to be the official cryptocurrency of the country.
The digital coin was made by the cryptocurrency startup Arabianchain technology and had claimed that it was the official cryptocurrency of the West Asian city. This led to the major rally in the increase of the price of the coin.
Dubai Government’s response to DubaiCoin
The Dubai Government had responded conveying that it was not an official digital coin or cryptocurrency of the country and warned the investors claiming it to be a phishing scam. The government had denied it to be the official cryptocurrency and also added that the cryptocurrency was not approved by any official authority.
The government also warned that the website that was promoting the campaign was a phishing site which is designed to steal the information of the users accessing the website. The surge of the coin had brought it to the notice of the Dubai Electronic Security Centre after which it issued the statement.
The cryptocurrency which was trading at USD 0.17 had seen a surge to USD 1.13 as of 27 May 2021.
The Arabianchain Technology that founded the DubaiCoin claims that it provides the first public, decentralized and blockchain driven on an agreement in the MENA region. The company has denied making any claims such as the digital coin being the official cryptocurrency of Dubai and also added that the website was fake.
The company has conveyed that they haven’t made any claims and mentioned the website URL and said that it was fake and a scam. They also added that the press release was published on the Dub-pay site.
How to Invest in DubaiCoin from India
Since there was a surge of 1000 % in the value of DubaiCoin it is obvious that everyone would want to invest into it. However it should be noted that the cryptocurrency hasn’t officially been made the digital coin of Dubai and the Dubai government has also rejected the claim.
However, the digital coin is not available on any cryptocurrency exchange platforms but DubaiCoin is available for exchange at HitBTC and Cryptopia. If you are interested in the digital coin then you will be able to get it by exchanging your Bitcoin or Binance coin at exchanges where there is availability of DubaiCoin.
The press release mentioned that DubaiCoin will soon be used for the purchase of goods and services both online and offline and the cryptocurrency is expected to replace the traditional fiat currency of the country.
FAQ
Can you invest in DubaiCoin in India?
As of now DubaiCoin is unavailable on any major exchange but traders can exchange bitcoin or Binance coin with DubaiCoin at exchanges where DubaiCoin is available.
Is Bitcoin allowed in Dubai?
Yes trading in bitcoin is allowed in Dubai.
Is Dubai coin fake?
According to Dubai Media Office, DubaiCoin cryptocurrency was never approved by any official authority. The website promoting the coin is an elaborate phishing campaign that is designed to steal personal information from its visitors.
The Reserve Bank of India has been reducing the circulation of 2000 rupee notes in the country. The country has seen a drop of 27% of its 2000 notes from circulation. Let’s look at why the RBI has stopped the fresh stock of 2000 notes and pulled out notes worth 57 crores in the FY21.
The number of Rs 2000 notes in the Indian economy has been reduced in the year 2021 from its peak in 2017-18. In the year 2017-18 the number of notes circulated in the Indian economy was around 33,630 lakh and in March 2021 it has reduced to 24,510 lakhs.
In the peak, the value of Rs 2000 notes is expected to be around INR 6.72 lakhs which has dropped to 4.90 lakhs in March 2021. The number of 2000 notes that are removed from the market is around 9,120 lakhs and has a value of around INR 1.82 lakh crore.
Why has RBI stopped Fresh supply of INR 2000 notes?
The latest annual report which was published by the RBI doesn’t convey any news about the missing notes. However, it is to be noted that the RBI has stopped producing the Rs 2000 notes as the notes are not coming back to the banks.
These high value notes are not available for people in the ATMs as well. It is estimated that the Rs 2000 notes are majorly hoarded in the form of black money as they have high value and require lesser space compared to a bundle of Rs 500 notes.
The estimated amount of black money which experts had predicted not to come back to the system during demonetization was around 4-5 lakh crores.
There is a growth of 10-12% for the money which is being circulated in the country from the past few years. The RBI has increased the circulation of other low valued denomination notes such as Rs 500 and Rs 200 in the market.
The annual report of the RBI has conveyed that the circulation of notes in the country has seen an increase of around 16.8 % and 7.2 % in the year 2020-21 when compared to the increase of around 14.7 % and 6.6 % in the year 2019-20.
In terms of value, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 200 notes in the country during the year 31 March 2020 was around 83.4 % and has increased to around 85.7 % in the total market value of bank notes in circulation for the year 31 March 2021.
The Rs 500 notes had a total volume has seen an of around 31.1 % as of 31 March 2021, when compared to the previous year of 25.4 %. The INR 10 denomination bank notes have seen a downfall in their total value which had a share of 23.6 % as of 31 March 2021 when compared to the previous year’s value of 26.2 %.
However, it is to be noted that the RBI has increased the production of INR 500 denomination notes and is trying to replace them with INR 2000 notes. In terms of the volume, Rs 500 recorded the highest volume which was followed by INR 10 notes for the year 2021.
Conclusion
The Rs 2000 notes’ main purpose was to ease the shortage of money supply during the demonetization and now the supply has reached a position where the central bank has become uncomfortable as the higher value note will be easier to hoard.
FAQ
Are 2000 rupee notes going to be banned?
No, RBI has announced that they will not issue a fresh supply of 2000 notes but there is no official notice by RBI of it getting banned.
Why 2000 Rs note is not issued by RBI?
As per the reports it is estimated that the Rs 2000 notes are majorly hoarded in the form of black money as they have high value and require lesser space compared to a bundle of Rs 500 notes.
Which note is going to ban?
Recently, a report claimed that the central bank was planning to ban ₹5, ₹10, and ₹100 notes.
Iran which is also widely known as Persia is a country in the Western Asia. It is the second largest country in the Middle East. The country has updated its rules on the officially mined cryptocurrencies in the country. Let’s look at what the country is planning to do with the mined cryptocurrencies in the country.
The Iran authorities have announced a new policy where they officially mined cryptocurrencies of the country for the payment of imports. They had updated its rules on the officially mined cryptocurrencies of the country in order to widely use it for the payments of imports.
According to a report from Financial Tribune, the Central Bank of Iran has announced that the licensed banks and the financial payment companies can use the cryptocurrencies that are mined by the licensed miners to use it for the payment of imports.
Iran had been hit hard by the sanctions internationally to see the use of cryptocurrency to operate outside the financial controls that follow a traditional way. In the year 2020, the Central Bank of Iran had amended its regulations on the cryptocurrencies so that the miners could mine bitcoins and other digital coins under the control of the government officially.
The miners who could mine under the government will get access to subsidized energy and they will have to provide their mined cryptocurrency to the government for the import payments. Now, the government has taken the further step to extend the legal use of cryptocurrency to the additional groups within the country.
The Central Bank of Iran has not given any further details about the new framework that was announced, they have conveyed that lenders and moneychangers have been notified about it regarding the crypto payment.
In the year 2019, Iran had legalized cryptocurrency in the country by implementing a lot of strict rules and regulations in order to control it. Accepting the cryptocurrency mining in a way to sanction the resistant fund, some thought that Iran was moving towards becoming a bitcoin nation.
The miners in the country were doubtful about the idea that Iran would directly deal or create a large group to deal with bitcoins, But the latest update indicated that it would like individual businesses to leverage the digital coins within the country.
Bitcoin Miners in Iran
A bitcoin miner who is based in Tehran has conveyed that she doesn’t believe that the Central Bank of Iran would touch bitcoin in any way and added that the system would provide just rates and the other details and the digital coin will have to transfer the coins from the sender to receiver directly.
They also noted that the regulations the central bank has laid on cryptocurrencies on how to use them will only motivate or promote the miners to conduct the cryptocurrency mining illegally.
FAQ
Is Iran using Bitcoin?
Around 4.5% of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, allowing the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies
Is there a Bitcoin ATM in Iran?
No, there is no Bitcoin ATM in Iran.
Is crypto currency legal in Iran?
In 2018, Iran legalized cryptocurrency mining in order to monitor and regulate the mining farms.
Conclusion
It is considered that no miner in the country is interested to provide their bitcoins to the government as there is a really high charge for the use of electricity and gas in the country and the law would just result in reducing the cryptocurrency mining in Iran.
Elite Business Schools have been famous for over a lot of years. Some of the major elite business schools are Harvard, Stanford, Colombia Business school, etc. Jack Ma, the founder of the popular e-commerce site Alibaba has also founded one of the elite business schools, Hupan University. Hupan University has announced that Jack Ma is stepping down as the president. Let’s look into more information about the Elite Business School founded by Jack Ma.
Jack Ma has announced that he will step down from the elite business school he had founded back in 2015. This is because of the crackdown on the influence of the billionaire in the Chinese society. The retreat from the academy is because the regulators of China have increased the pressure on Jack Ma.
Jack Ma had disappeared from public view from the day he had given a public speech against the Chinese regulators during the month of October. He had criticized the Chinese regulators and the state-owned banks.
Admission requirements for Hupan University
Hupan University which provides an executive training programme for entrepreneurs is claimed to be as hard to get into the university like Harvard or Stanford University. It was founded by Jack Ma in the year 2015 along with nine business executives.
The admission requirements of the university are very strict and accept only the candidates who have 3 years of experience in running their own business, employing at least 30 people, and have an annual revenue of around USD 4.5 million. They should also obtain 3 recommendations at least one of them which should be chosen by the university.
In the past 5 years, the university has admitted around 254 entrepreneurs and a total of 11,788 applicants have been admitted to the school. Together they employ over 1 million people and the average age of the admitted members is around 38 years and have been doing the business for the past 11 years.
So far, the school has offered 271 classes out of which most of the classes were undertaken by entrepreneurs of various traditional companies as well as internet companies. Unlike a traditional MBA school, Hupan University aims at inspiring the future entrepreneurs with a sense of social and moral responsibility.
Changes to Hupan University after Jack Ma Stepped down
As Jack Ma announced that he would step down from the Presidential position of Hupan University led to restructuring the educational programme of the university and has changed its name. Hupan had changed its name from its website and social media accounts to Hupan Innovation Center.
There were even videos released that showed workers removing the name from a large stone sign in front of the campus. The change of name was because only a licensed educational institution can mention its name as a university and Hupan is not an official university yet.
However, a person close to the business school has conveyed that Jack Ma would not hold any high profile post in the institution but several people have mentioned that he would remain connected to the school giving lectures in the future.
FAQ
Where is Hupan University located?
Hupan University is an elite business school located in Yuhu Bay, Xihu Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
When was Hupan University founded?
Hupan University was founded in 2015 by Jack Ma with nine fellow business executives.
Why did Hupan University changed its name?
Hupan University changed its name to Hupan Innovation Center because only a licensed educational institution can mention its name as a university and Hupan is not an official university yet.
Amazon.com is one of the well-known e-commerce platforms based in the United States. It is one of the big five IT companies of the United States along with the tech giants Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft. The CEO and the founder of the company Jeff Bezos have announced that he would step down from his position of CEO on July 5. Let’s look at the reason, Why he decided to step down as CEO of the company.
Amazon CEO and the founder Jeff Bezos had announced in the Annual Shareholder Meeting of the company that he would step down as the CEO of the company he had founded around 3 decades ago on 5 July 2021.
The company had previously announced about the transition plan of the CEO and is also noted that Jeff Bezos would not stay away from the company and would remain close to the company taking the major decisions of the company staying as an executive chairman.
Reason Why Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon’s CEO
Jeff Bezos has conveyed that moving to the executive role he would be closely connected to the company and the decision-making process as well as being able to focus on a lot of other works.
Jeff Bezos had conveyed that he is very excited to move into the chief executive chairman position of the company where he would be able to focus his energy and attention on new initiatives and products.
It is expected that Jeff Bezos is stepping down as the CEO in order to focus on his other initiatives such as Blue Origin Spaceship company, Bezos earth Fund, Amazon Day 1 Fund and The Washington Post.
Jess Bezos had also conveyed that he would hand over the position of CEO to Andy Jassy who has been a part of Amazon from the year 1997. He was the one who launched Amazon’s most profitable segment which is the AWS cloud computing division in the year 2006.
In the year 2020, the revenue generated from AWS was around USD 45.3 billion and delivered an operating margin of 30 %. One of the recent achievements by Andy Jassy before the official handing over of the CEO position is to bring back the former senior executive of the company Jeff Blackburn.
Reason Why Jeff Bezos chose 5 July as the date to step down
Jeff Bezos during the Shareholder meeting conveyed that there was an emotion behind choosing the date 5 July as the day to hand over the CEO position. He added that he chose the date as it was sentimental for him. July 5 is when Amazon has incorporated 27 years ago exactly on the same date in the year 1994.
Bezos had even spoke about Andy Jassy providing an assurance for the shareholders that he would never let the company down and has the highest standards and the energy that is required to keep the company alive and special. He also mentioned about the deal where Amazon had acquired MGM studios.
Conclusion
Amazon has always made sure to keep its succession plans quiet but however certain spectators have predicted the successor to be Andy Jassy. The contribution of Andy Jassy to the firm Amazon is innumerable and the same would be expected from the new position which he would undertake.
FAQ
How much Amazon stock does Andy Jassy own?
Andy Jassy owns over 1,250 units of Amazon.com stock which is worth over $280,268,736.
How much does Jeff Bezos make an hour?
Jeff Bezos earned an average of $13.4 million per hour during the pandemic.
Who will be the next CEO of Amazon?
Andy Jassy will be the next CEO of Amazon, he has launched Amazon’s most profitable segment which is the AWS cloud computing.
The United Kingdom has been trying to negotiate with India in terms of a free trade agreement between both the counties. The UK has launched a 14-week consultation process in order to seek the opinions from the public as well as businesses before negotiating on the agreement. Let’s look at what exactly is the free trade agreement and how it would benefit the countries.
The trade secretary of the UK, Liz Truss had begun the preparations for the trade deal between India and the UK. The country wants to remove the trade barriers in order to conduct the business and trade with India which includes removing a tariff of 150% on whisky and 125% on British-made cars.
The UK government is looking forward to seeking opinions from consumers and businesses from different sectors in order to help in crafting a deal that would help in increasing cooperation in the future. The industries which will be concentrated include science, technology and services which are expected to create high value jobs in the UK.
What is Free Trade Agreement?
A Free trade agreement is a situation or an pact between two or more nations in regards to imports and exports in between the countries. It can be understood as a removal of the barriers involved in imports and exports.
Under a free trade agreement good and services can be purchased or sold across international borders with very little or zero government intervention such as charging of tariffs, quotas, prohibitions or subsidiaries.
How India-UK agreement will double the trade between UK and India?
Both the countries already have a trade agreement and according to 2019, the trade between India and UK was worth 23 billion Euros and both the countries want to double the figures by the end of 2030. The recent free trade agreement is focused on concentrating much more than the movement of goods.
The free trade agreement concentrates on covering services, digital business and SMEs. So, it is expected to have a huge amount of content in a free trade agreement.
India exports to United Kingdom
What are the 5 Cs in India-UK Free Trade Agreement?
While both the governments are moving forward with the free trade agreement, it is expected to be characterized based on the 5 Cs.
1C
Where the 1st C would be Covid which both the countries have and are still suffering from. In India, the second wave has seen a drastic rise in the number of cases. The United Kingdom has been sending a lot of medical supplies and even both the countries are working together in rolling out the vaccines. Around a billion doses of Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccines are being produced by the Serum Institute of India.
2C
The 2nd C would be commerce and the main focus of the Free trade agreement as seen both the countries are trying to double the trade by the year 2030. It is also seen that around half a million of jobs in each other’s economy are supported through the trade. India is also keen on UK’s expertise in Life sciences, Med Tech and diagnostics.
3C
The 3rd C refers to the community. It refers to the British Indian community which is expected to be around 1.5 million providing an advantage to the relationship. It is considered that the Anglo-Indian community is an entrepreneurial one and research has shown that around 174,000 people are employed under the companies owned by Anglo-Indians and all the companies have a combined revenue of over 35 billion Euros.
4C
4th C refers to the commonwealth which is considered to be the important glue of the relationship. The UK is the chair in the office with India in the commonwealth and India is a founding member of the Commonwealth summit. Both the countries are working together to increase the effectiveness.
5C
The 5th C which is the final one refers to the climatic changes. In the month of November, the UK will host COP-26 which is a climate change talks and India being the key country that is expected to be most affected by global warming will have a scope to working together in finding shared solutions. They have already started by scaling up the electric mobility market in the country.
It is expected that the UK will open up its fisheries sector to more Indian players, providing more opportunities for nurses and in return, India lifts the restrictions to import British fruits to the country and improved access to medical services. These actions are expected to create around 25,000 direct and indirect jobs in India.
Ranil Jayawardena who is the international trade minister of the UK has conveyed that the trade deal with India will break down certain barriers and will make it easier for British Businesses to sell goods in India. It will also help in gaining more investments, increasing wages and lowering prices in Britain.
FAQ
Is there a free trade agreement between UK and India?
Yes, UK and India has signed a free trade agreement which is concentrated on science, technology and services.
Which country has the most free trade agreements?
UK has the most free trade agreements with 37 FTA agreements with different countries.
Is FTA beneficial for India?
Yes, FTA is beneficial for India as it will ease export in the country and will create more jobs for the people of India.
Conclusion
Over the last 10-15 years the European Union had tried to sign a free trade agreement with India and failed. But since now the UK is an independent nation it is considered that the chances of getting into an agreement with India are higher than it was ever been.
Amazon which is a multinational tech giant has been competing against the OTT platforms such as Netflix, HBO studios and Disney+Hotstar with their Amazon Prime App. The OTT platform of Amazon Prime has announced its recent acquisition of MGM studios. Let’s look at the deal and how it is going to help Amazon in the OTT field.
Amazon has finally acquired the legendary MGM studios which is a significantly legendary media company. The deal is said to be around USD 8.45 billion. This is considered to be one of the boldest moves in the entertainment industry.
The deal will help Amazon Prime to take a forward step in the streamlined business and is the second largest acquisition in the history of Amazon.
Mike Hopkins who is the senior vice president of Amazon Prime Video has conveyed that the real financial value of the acquisition is the collection of the treasure in the deep catalog which they are planning to reimagine and develop together with the talented team of MGM.
He also added that they are very excited and are looking forward to working with the talented team for high quality story telling. The company is planning to leverage the legendary catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 shows which will strengthen the platform of Amazon.
Kevin Ulrich, the chairman of MGM has conveyed that the combination to align the opportunity of the history of MGM with Amazon is inspiring. But above all Amazon needs more content for Amazon Prime video to stay relevant against the competition.
Buying MGM will provide Amazon Prime video with the access to favorites such as James Bond, Real Housewives and Survivors. It also will improve Amazon Prime’s odds in creating their own originals with a fully fledged studio that has created legendary shows and movies.
The main Ideology behind the Acquisition of MGM and Amazon
The main idea behind the acquisition of MGM is considered not to be the legendary movies or shows or not just to create original shows but to increase the number of subscribers for the OTT platform of Amazon.
Amazon earlier had a stronghold by offering shipping discounts to prime members and attracting more consumers but right now a lot of firms have been offering shipping discounts for its consumers. At the same time, we can’t predict what Amazon would do with MGM’s content and it remains unexpected.
FAQ
Who is the founder of MGM Studios?
Louis B. Mayer and Marcus Loew are the founders of MGM studios who founded it on 17 April 1924.
When was MGM founded?
MGM studios was founded on 17 April 1924 and It is around 97 years old.
Has Amazon bought MGM?
Yes, Amazon has acquired MGM studios for 8.5 billion dollars to compete against other OTT platforms.
Conclusion
The deal proves the willingness of Amazon to spend more in order to remain competitive in the streaming industry. It is to be noted that the competitors are spending heavily on developing the libraries and producing original content committing billions. This will be a step for Amazon to emerge as a much stronger brand in the streaming market.
In the past few days, the headlines and the major posts on various social media handles were about the ban of the social media applications in India. Let’s look at why the social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram might get banned in India.
Why The Government of India might ban Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
During the month of February, the Government of India had provided a new norm that is supposed to be followed by all the social media companies in the country. The Government of India had provided a time period of 3 months where the deadline for accepting the new norms was on 25 May 2021.
The social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp have not accepted the norms and have not made any provision to follow the norms.
The new Social media norms by The Government of India
As per the new norm, the large social media platforms defined as those who have more than 50 lakh registered users will have to appoint a resident grievance officer as part of a larger grievance redressal mechanism, they will also have to actively monitor the content on their platform and also provide a monthly compliance report for Indian users and self-regulation mechanism.
Social media platforms that have not accepted the new norm
As of now only the Indian based social media application Koo has accepted the norms and the guidelines put forward by the government. The other social media giants have not accepted the norms and WhatsApp has also filed a complaint against the government in the High Court of Delhi.
The social media giants such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have conveyed that accepting the new norm would end the privacy of the users and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp will no longer be end-to-end encrypted.
Number of social network users in India
Will the Social media Apps really get banned?
It is to be noted that if the social media platforms do not comply with the new norms and don’t follow the guidelines, they will not be banned by the Government but they will lose their status as a social media platform and various protections they receive as intermediaries.
The Government of India can also file a case against the social media companies for not following the rules as per the law of land.
The main consequence if the social media platforms accept the ban would be faced by the users and the citizens of the country is that they would lose the right to speech and they would not be able to freely express their view points on the social media platforms.
If the social media platforms are banned in the country it would largely affect the economy of the country adding to a lot of people becoming unemployed as a large number of people run their online businesses through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
The ban on the social media giants will also largely affect the other companies in India as they rely on these platforms for advertising their products and services. The social media platforms even provide an option where the companies can target their customers.
It would even affect the Indian based employees working in the various social media companies as the ban would lead to unemployment to a lot of them working in the Indian subsidiaries of the social media companies.
This is estimated to largely affect the economy as the businesses which have build a profile on the social media platforms would run under loss and also taking the critical situation of the Covid pandemic and increase of unemployment in the country would have a large effect on the economy of the country.
FAQ
Why is social media getting banned?
Social media apps might get banned if they fail to comply with the new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms.
What is the new IT rules for social media?
The new IT Rules 2021 for digital media platforms includes the requirement to appoint a resident grievance officer as part of a larger grievance redressal mechanism, active monitoring of content on the platform, and monthly compliance reports for Indian users.
Has WhatsApp sued Indian government?
Yes, WhatsApp has filed a case in the Delhi High Court against the Indian government, seeking to block the new IT rules.
Conclusion
India has around 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users, 21 crore Instagram users and around 1.75 crore Twitter account holders. These are the major social media companies operating in India and the Indian based application Koo has around 60 lakh users.
Michelle D’souza
