Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 27 October 2015

:: Miscellaneous ::

India e-commerce story strong, to hit $35 bn by 2019: Nomura

Indian e-commerce sector's growth looks strong and is expected to reach $35 billion by 2019, says a report.
The report, however, noted that the focus needs to move towards the roadmap to profitability, where "some progress is visible but a lot is still in the works".
It further said that there are areas where significant progress needs to be made and that include diversification of categories, less discounting, improved logistics and benign legislation like GST. On these fronts, there are "still works in progress and remain big areas of investment", the report said.
According to Nomura, the festive sale season kicked off with a bang for Indian ecommerce players, but still is lower in comparison with China and the US.
In China, Alibaba during its 'Singles Day' on November 11, 2014 sold goods worth $9 billion, while in the US, during Cyber Monday (Monday after Thanksgiving) and Black Friday, sales of around $3 billion each were recorded in 2014.
In comparison, the quarterly expectations for India's holiday sales are closer to $4 billion.
Typically the festive season (October to December) accounts for about 35-40 per cent of annual sales for the e-commerce firms.
According to Technopak, e-commerce in India recorded around $7 billion in annual sales in FY15, and is expected to generate about $10 billion in FY16, leading to sales expectations of around $4 billion for the e-commerce firms this festive season.

:: Business ::

IndiGo Launches India's Biggest IPO in 3 Years

InterGlobe Aviation, which operates the low-cost IndiGo airline, will hit the primary market on Tuesday with an aim to raise a little over Rs 3,000 crore.
India's biggest airline according to market share is aiming at a valuation of around $4 billion (Rs 26,000 crore) through the initial public offer (IPO), which is India's biggest since 2012.

Here are 10 things to know about IndiGo IPO:

1) IndiGo shares, with a face value of Rs 10, can be bought in a price band of Rs 700 to Rs 765 starting today. Shares can be bought in multiples of 15. The IPO will close for subscription on October 29.

2) The IndiGo IPO comprises fresh issue of shares worth Rs 1,270 crore. Promoters and non-promoters are selling shares worth about Rs 1,750 crore. Together, the share sale can rake in up to Rs 3,000 crore. Post issue, the promoter holding is expected to come down to 85 per cent from 93 per cent currently.

3) Ahead of the IPO, investment arms of foreign firms including Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, BlackRock, etc. bought IndiGo shares reserved for cornerstone investors at Rs 765 each, the top end of the IPO indicative price range, helping the airline to raise Rs 830 crore and flagging strong investor appetite for the offering.

4) IndiGo has a net debt of Rs 3,912 crore, all of which is related to aircraft purchases, according to President Aditya Ghosh. IndiGo plans to use the proceeds to retire Rs 1,166 crore of debt, while the remaining amount will be used to fuel expansion, the company said. IndiGo has 430 aircraft on order from Airbus.

5) There was some controversy ahead of the IPO as InterGlobe's net worth (total assets minus total liabilities of a company) slipped to a negative Rs 139 crore at the end of June 2015. The company, however, clarified that the airline's net worth is back in positive in the September quarter.

6) IndiGo has been the only consistently profitable airline in the country for the last seven years. Industry experts say the focus on cost by IndiGo's management team has helped the airline to avoid the amount of debt that is weighing down the likes of Jet Airways and Air India.

7) IndiGo, which started flying in 2006, has risen rapidly to command almost 40 per cent market share in the domestic market. It also has one of the country's biggest fleets - 97 aircraft at present - allowing it to fly more frequently than other carriers. The average age of its fleet is around four years, which saves fuel costs.

8) IndiGo keeps costs low by buying just one type of aircraft from one supplier -- Airbus -- as well as selling and leasing back planes, and keeping maintenance costs low, experts have said. It has also benefited from its track record on punctuality, while falls in fuel costs have helped to boost revenue.

9) IndiGo was set up in 2006 by businessman Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, a former CEO for U.S. Airways Group.

10) Shares in listed carriers have rallied sharply in the run-up to IndiGo's IPO. In last one month, SpiceJet shares have rallied 55 per cent while Jet Airways shares have surged over 20 per cent as compared to 5 per cent gain in the broader Nifty.

:: Sports ::

India steady at No. 2, Kohli rises in ICC ODI rankings

The series loss to South Africa notwithstanding, India held on to their second spot in the team list, while star batsman Virat Kohli rose up a rung to second in the batsmen’s table of the latest ICC ODI cricket rankings issued on Monday.
South Africa retained their third position but reduced second-ranked India’s advantage to two points in the rankings following the 3-2 series victory, which concluded with a mammoth 214-run victory in Mumbai on Monday.
The Proteas went into the series on 110 points, five adrift of MS Dhoni’s men, but AB de Villiers’ side fought back after conceding early ground to clinch the series in a dramatic final game.
Meanwhile, as a consequence of the 3-2 home series defeat, Zimbabwe have stayed in 10th place, a fraction ahead of Ireland, with Afghanistan one more point behind following their historic inaugural series victory over a Test playing country.
By stint of a series of impressive batting displays the top 10 has re-jigged and a number of Proteas batsmen have risen in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen.
Skipper de Villiers retained his number one ranking, and is now 96 points clear of Kohli in second place, after scoring three centuries (104 not out, 112 and 119) in five matches.
Hashim Amla has dropped three places to fifth, while Dhoni has moved up two places to sixth and holds an 11-point advantage over his teammate Shikhar Dhawan.
There is a career high jump of seven places for Faf du Plessis who is level in 10th place with wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, up 13 places after scoring 318 runs in the series, including 103 and a match-winning 109 in the decider.
There were also gains for Rohit Sharma (up three places to 12th) and career high gains for Ajinkya Rahane (up 11 to 27th) and Farhaan Behardien (up 12 to 76th).
Following the series in Zimbabwe the following batsmen have also risen up the rankings; Sikandar Raza (up 14 to 40th), Sean Williams (up seven to 44th), Mohammad Nabi (up 19 to a career-high 47th) and Craig Ervine (up 19 to 61st), while Noor Ali Zadran has broken into the top 100 for the first time after vaulting 26 places to 93rd.
In the ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Australia’s Mitchell Starc has returned to the top of tree as Imran Tahir has slipped four places in the top 10. Dale Steyn has dropped one place to sixth, although Morne Morkel has climbed three places to eighth, and is now six points behind Mitchell Johnson, after claiming seven wickets for 132 runs in three matches.
R Ashwin has dropped a place to 10th, while a number of other bowlers have made significant gains across both series including Axar Patel (up 19 to 28th), Amit Mishra (up 13 to 32nd), Dawlat Zadran (up 69 to a career-high 34th), Mohit Sharma (up four to 44th) and young Proteas paceman Kagiso Rabada has risen 58 places to a career-high 49th after being the joint-leading wicket-taker in the series alongside Steyn with 10.

Silver Not Sterling Effort for Deepika in World Cup Final

Istanbul 2011, Tokyo 2012, Paris 2013 and now Mexico City 2015 – Deepika Kumari can’t seem to catch a break! Despite much promise, the recurve archer’s dreams of winning her maiden World Cup Final gold medal were dashed yet again on Sunday.
The Ranchi lass collected the fourth such silver of her career in a 2-6 loss to 19-year-old Choi Misun, the World No 1 from South Korea.
The 21-year-old, who failed to qualify last year, was in fine form as she pipped Japan’s Kaori Kawanaka in the quarterfinals and Le Chien-Ying of Chinese Taipei in the semifinals by the identical score of 6-4. But, as in years past, the final hurdle stayed insurmountable.
“I’m quite disappointed because gold is what I was aiming for. It just doesn’t seem to come my way. However, I believe I can win it one day — there’s no reason to believe otherwise. Until then, silver will have to do,” she told Express
It’s funny how perspective changes the way one looks at things. Finishing runner-up is a fine feat, except for a former champion... or even a four-time silver medallist.
It’s more of a bittersweet moment then; an invisible barrier preventing someone from achieving what they deserve.
Lokesh Pal, mentor to compound silver medallist Abhishek Verma, was one of Deepika’s first coaches when she debuted in 2008. He feels that although her preparation was perfect, the reality of having lost a similar final before comes back to haunt competitors from time to time.