Idea Cellular Limited Raises Rs. 3,500 crore (approx.) through Qualified Institutions Placement

Idea Cellular Limited (the “Company”), the 3^rd largest Indian wireless telecom operator^*, announced the successful closure of its qualified institutions placement. The Company has issued and allotted approximately 42.42 crore equity shares of face value of Rs. 10 each to qualified institutional buyers, at an issue price of Rs. 82.50 per equity share (including a premium of Rs. 72.50 per equity share), aggregating to approximately Rs. 3,500 crores (the “Issue”).

The Issue witnessed interest from a global investor base. The Issue allocation is approximately 56% and 44% to Indian and foreign investors respectively.

DSP Merrill Lynch Limited and Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited acted as Global Co-ordinators and Book Running Lead Managers to the Issue (collectively, the “Lead Managers”). Luthra & Luthra Law Offices acted as the legal advisor to the Company as to Indian law, and Trilegal and Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisors to the Lead Managers as to Indian law and US law, respectively. M/s. S.R. Batliboi & Associates LLP, Chartered Accountants, are the statutory auditors to the Company.

This equity raise of Rs. 3,500 crore along with recent infusion of Rs. 3,250 crore by Idea’s Promoter /  Promoter Group will reduce Idea’s net-debt by approximately Rs. 6,750 crore. Additionally, we have recently announced the sale of Idea’s and Vodafone India’s standalone towers to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited, which is a subsidiary of American Tower Corporation for an aggregate enterprise value of Rs. 7,850 crore. Further, we continue to evaluate strategic options to monetize Idea’s 11.15% stake in Indus Towers. These proceeds will strengthen the financial position of the merged entity.

Plays 23rd Feb_ 8th Theatre Olympics_National School of Drama

Today’s Performances

NewsPatrolling.com ;Maunraag: A Marathi production presenting biographical literary articles, which are presented on stage by actor Sachin Khedekar and director Chandrakant Kulkarni. A blend of autobiographical and meditative, the essays show playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar’s erudition and a vivid imagination. (LTG; 4:00 P.M.)

Encore: An English play by Theodoros Terzopoulos, this is the last of a trilogy. The previous two plays were Alarme and Amor, all depicting same theme of conflict as the mythical origin of creation and time. (Sri Ram Centre; 5:30 P.M.)

Jaana Tha Roshanpura: The play is about the relationship between three characters and how life, despite all its uncertainties, is still so beautiful. The director Virendra Saxena, an alumnus of the National School of Drama (NSD), has directed more than 15 plays and a popular actor. (Kamani; 6:30 P.M.)

Randumuri Adukkala Thinna: This Malyalam is set in a house with two rooms and an almost submerged veranda. Director K R Remesh has been a playwright and director for more than 30years in the field of performing arts in Kerala. (Kamani; 6:30 P.M.)

Sukara Asapuwa: This Sri Lankan play talks about a Russian deserter during World War II. The director Jehan Srikantha Appuhami is the Sinhala translation of ‘A place with the Pigs’ by African playwright Athol Fugard. (Abhimanch; 8:30 P.M.)

*Synopses and photographs are attached in the email attachment.

*Tomorrow’s Highlights for performances:

·         Encore (Writer: Thomas Tsalapatis; Director: Theodoros Terzopoulos; Group: Attis Theatre, Greece; Language: English; Venue: Sri Ram Centre; Time: 5:30 P.M.; Duration: 55 Minutes)

·         Dr. Anandibai – Like, Comment, Share (Writer: Gita Manek; Director: Manoj Shah; Group: Ideas Unlimited, Mumbai; Language: Hindi; Venue: Kamani; Time: 6:30 P.M.; Duration: 1 Hour 40 Minutes)

·         Serai Kela Chhau (Director: Malay Kumar Sahoo; Group: Sri Kendra Art Centre, Jharkhand; Language: Musical; Venue: Open Lawn; Time: 7:00 P.M.; Duration: 1 Hour 05 Minutes)

·         Tughlaq (Writer: Girish Karnad; Director: Debesh Chattopadhyay; Group: Laketown Sreebhumi Sanskriti, Kolkata; Language: Bengali; Venue: Abhimach; Time: 8:30 P.M.; Duration: 2 Hours 35 Minutes)

The sixth edition of Delhi Literature Festival kicks off in style

The sixth edition of the Delhi Literature Festival began today at Dilli Haat Opposite INA market New Delhi with a bang!

Bringing together book lovers, the literati and other luminaries of Delhi during the  3-day event that will continue till 25^th February, Delhi Literature Festival has some scintillating panel discussions lined up for both, the common man, as well as the intelligentsia, academicians, scholars, litterateurs and writers, alike.

Mr. Somnath Bharti MLA and former minister Delhi Govt attended the festival’s opening ceremony and shared his views on spiritualization of politics. 

Mrs. Meenakshi Lekhi Member of Parliament inaugurated the festival by lighting the lamp and shared her views on "On Interactive Government". She focused on Beti Bachao Beti Padao, Swach Bharat Abhiyan and need of education & healthcare for all. Dr Udit Raj Member of Parliament also attended the opening ceremony and shared his views on "Social Re-engineering: Changing Landscape"

Mr. Ashwini Kumar Choubey Minister of State Health & Family Welfare Government of India Government of India also attended the opening ceremony and shared his views on Sahitya aur Samaj. He said, “Literature is a reflection of the society that has been widely acknowledged. Literature indeed reflects the society, its good values and its ills. In its corrective function, literature mirrors the ills of the society with a view to making the society realize its mistakes and make amends. It also projects the virtues or good values in the society for people to emulate.”

He added, “ We should give books in gifts instead of flowers and other gift items.”

The festival started with a musical session in which author singer Minu Bakshi, singer and author, regaled the audience with her rendering of ghazals set to Hindustani classical raagas like Yaman, Bageshri, Bhopali. 

The music concert was followed by a discussion with author Sanil Sachar whose book ‘Rebound’ and has created a sensation. When asked about senior publishers not being too encouraging to young authors, he dismissed the idea that a young author doesn’t have much experience, and so, should not be published. “There‘s always an audience for everything. If there are readers it will be unfair to not give them content.”

There were other thought-provoking sessions to for the literati. JaiRaj Singh, Editor- DailyO - India Today Group moderated the session featuring Swati Daftuar – Commissioning Editor HarperCollins and Milee Ashwarya Editor-in-Chief Penguin Random House participated in a discussion on ‘Growth of Crowd Sourced Writing in New Age Writing’. Ms Ashwarya rued the fact that the readership in India has not grown over the years. Ms. Daftuar shared what the process of commissioning a writer entails, and welcomed the idea of the range of experiments in this day and age publishing that one could look into. The new emerging challenges in the publishing industry, including the popularity of e-books and celebrities writing books, the number of different ways to get published etc. were discussed at length. They all agreed that considering the potential, Indian writing ought to become global at this stage.

The concluding session on Day One had all the young thronging the venue like a storm. One of India’s most popular authors, Ashwin Sanghi spoke with Manjula Narayan on his latest book, Keepers of the Kalachakra. Meenakshi Lekhi also participated in the discussion with Sanghi.

Ashwin Sanghi took the help of the quantum theory of physics to explain his latest book’s premise. One of the basic problems with this book was to make this book more understandable because in the book you merge yourself with the universe, and there is an observer and the observed. Sanghi clarified that he throws a lot of mysterious stuff at his readers and only towards the end he unravels them. He also explained how his readers should prepare themselves for the deeper truth, and also that in spirituality and philosophy there is a lot of relevance that cannot be negated.

Meenakshi Lekhi said, “There is very little difference between Buddhism and Hinduism theologically and spiritually. She emphasized that in Hinduism and in ancient texts, we, as Indians, have always been far more all encompassing that it’s made out to be. Our theories became mythology and it’s only now that we are trying fill in the gaps.”

In her welcome address, Founder Director of Delhi Literature Festival, Ms. Bharati Bhargava said “We are grateful to the people of Delhi for their overwhelming support to make this festival a huge success. For the Delhi Literature Festival, since our primary objective is to encourage young and inspirational authors, inculcate reading habits among the youth, and also to encourage Indian literature across the globe, we would need all the help and support from as many people as possible.”

Ranbir Kapoor dares guests to take the dancefloor at Madame Tussauds Singapore

NewsPatrolling.com (Media partnered with Newzopedia.com and Webeesocial.com): Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has joined other celebrities at the IIFA Awards Experience in Madame Tussauds Singapore. The figure of Ranbir showcases his character Kabir 'Bunny' Thapar from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - one of the highest-grossing Indian movies made!

To celebrate the arrival of Ranbir's figure, we invited Dance Embassy to give a Bollywood dance workshop within the IIFA Awards Experience as a tribute to his character. Lavania Hajji from Dance Embassy created a dance workout on Badtameez Dill. 

"I really liked the setting, especially the star-studded audience around us, besides Ranbir, other Bollywood legends; Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan were there, it was quite intimidating! Besides the workout, we also danced in front of the AR dance screen whereby you will appear on stage surrounded by Bollywood dancers, it was so much fun!" said: Meenal Badiani, one of the dancers. 

The figure of Ranbir Kapoor will be touring, which means that he will be featured in Madame Tussauds Singapore for a limited period and will travel to other Madame Tussauds across the region. 

Craig Connor, General Manager of Madame Tussauds Singapore said, "It is great to have the figure of Ranbir Kapoor in Singapore, he will attract the younger crowd. Madame Tussauds will continue to invest in the ultimate Bollywood experience by adding newcomers and old-time favourites to the collection in the near future". 

The IIFA Awards Experience in Singapore is an interactive experience, where guests can re-live the glamour of the Bollywood awards ceremony. They can walk the green carpet, give a speech at the acceptance stage, be on the cover of the IIFA magazine and dance in front of an augmented reality dance screen. A dance off on Badtameez Dil is a must when visiting the IIFA Awards Experience at Madame Tussauds Singapore!

Apis India expands portfolio with Dates, Fruit Jam, Green Tea & Pickle

Newspatrolling.com : APIS India, one of the leading producer, distributor and exporter of quality honey has now added Dates, Fruit Jam “Fruitilicious”, Green Tea “Five Senses” & Pickle “Spicelicious Mixed Veggies” to its delectable portfolio. After being a pioneer in honey segment, the launch of new products marks another milestone for Apis India.

Introducing their new product from their product basket i.e in Dates category, Apis India has come up with two variants Apis Arabian Pearl, which are premium fard dates and Apis Royal Zahidi Dates, which are premium dates available in 500gms and 250gms.

Apis Fruitilicious Fruit Blast – The Fruitiest Mixed Fruit Jam is a perfect blend of finest fruits giving its consumers a real burst of delightful fruity flavours. Jam being the most favourite among children can be enjoyed with bread or rolled between chapatis or can be used as a dressing on desserts. The jam also comes with a promotional offer of a free sipper with every pack for it customers. In a market that’s extremely price sensitive the product is available in 500 gms packaging for just Rs. 120.

ADs : full cream organic milk manufacturer : Niryas.com 

Living upto its commitment to healthy living, Apis India is also offering Green Tea that has two variants: Apis Five Senses Green Tea and Apis Five Senses Green Tea with Tulsi. Green Tea is a natural source of antioxidants and is sourced from the finest tea in the world and contains no artificial flavours. This way, APIS India ensures that their product comes to you in its purest form – replete with all its little-known therapeutic uses and health benefits which is available in 50Gms (25 Tea Bags) for Rs.99.

Enhancing its product bucket further, Apis India has also launched Apis Spicelicious Mixed Veggies Pickle & Mango Pickle with Brand name, Apis Mango Tang! which has been made by sourcing fruits and vegetables from across India to offer a unique taste and flavour to its target consumers. It comes in a packaging of 400 gms at Rs. 90.

About Apis India: APIS INDIA is one of the few companies which has been certified with ISO- 22000 for documented procedure that applies to Food Safety framed by International body for Honey. Incorporated in the year 1982, the venture is headed by Vimal Anand, Managing Director and Amit Anand, Joint Managing Director. APIS India is one of leaders in the field of organized Honey trade in India. With its a world class in-house facilities for testing lab; processing and filtration for honey. It has a state of art manufacturing facility spread in over 7 acre in Roorkee with a capacity to process over 100 tonnes of honey per day. With a mission to make pure and natural products a part of consumers everyday life the company has also forayed into Tea; Cookies & Preserves considering the changing purchase dynamics & growing need of the quality branded packaged products.

Hindus offer condolences on Billy Graham’s death

NewsPatrolling.com : Hindus have offered condolences on the death of Billy Graham, the renowned Christian preacher with a global reach, who died on February 21 in Montreat, North Carolina. 

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that they were saddened by the passing of Reverend Graham, 99, religious leader of moral integrity and unwavering faith. 

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted that despite the theological differences; they appreciated his efforts at abandoning racial segregation, stance towards integration, building bridges, endorsing inclusivism, stand against apartheid, calls for peace, engagement with broader communities, etc.

New devices can cure aneurysm in India, says international doctors at ANVI

NewsPatrolling.com : The recently held International conference ANVI 2018, on technological advancements in the treatment of brain Aneurysm concluded on Saturday. This is the first ever conference on Aneurysm to happen in India where experts from all over the world discussed new devices and technologies for the cure of Aneurysm.

“One of the major highlights of the conference was the live video of case studies from Germany and Spain. The treatment was done for complex aneurysm using the devices that are currently not used in India. The device not only treats aneurysm, but also preserves the damaged blood vessels, making the patient recover quickly. This was a great learning experience for all the doctors and early career interventionist.”Dr Vipul Gupta, Organizing Chairman & Director – Neurointerventional Surgery, Agrim Institute ofNeurosciences, Artemis Hospital   

Over 300 delegates had participated in the event with International faculties from UK, France, Germany, Japan and India showcased live case studies, workshops and talk shows on the technical advancements and better treatment options available for aneurysm in India. Development is expected to happen in the field of aneurysm treatment, with new devices and screening options for early stage intervention of the disease to prevent rupturing of the blood vessels. 

“Due to poor lifestyle habits like excessive smoking, binge alcoholism and history of hypertension among the Indian population, the blood vessels get ruptured even with 1-2mm of aneurysm as compared to 6-7mm in Western countries.” Added Dr Gupta, who has treated over 2000 aneurysm patients.   

Dr Gupta and team have already worked upon how to treat even the minutest aneurysm of size less than 2mm using coiling technique. The papers have already been published in the American Journals and are the first of its kind from India.