Espresso: Banks invest in blockchain infrastructure firm

Home-grown blockchain firm

The Indian Banks Blockchain Infrastructure Company (IBBIC), incorporated on May 25, has started allotting shares to the consortium of its promoter banks.

In separate stock exchange filings, a mix of fourteen public sector and private banks, including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, bought 5.55 percent stake each in IBBIC.

IBBIC had been incorporated to engage in the business of designing, building, and implementing distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions, according to stock exchange filings.

IMF cuts India’s growth outlook

The International Monetary Fund(MF) cut India’s economic growth forecast to 9.5 percent for FY 2022 from 12.5 percent estimated in April 2021.

“Growth prospects in India have been downgraded following the severe second COVID wave during March-May and expected slow recovery in confidence from that setback,” IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook update.

It maintained its global growth projection of 6 percent in 2021, even as it upgraded growth prospects in advanced economies, which is offset by its downgrade in developing and emerging markets.

Intel partners with Qualcomm

Intel unveiled its comeback plan as it catches up with its rivals in chip manufacturing by 2025. Intel Foundry Services, launched earlier this year, will manufacture semiconductor chips for Qualcomm with its new technology in coming years.

Intel laid out its roadmap for process and packaging technology, revealing innovations that will help it gain market share it has lost to rivals Samsung and TSMC.

“We are accelerating our innovation roadmap to ensure we are on a clear path to process performance leadership by 2025,” said Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, who returned to the company in February after more than a decade.

Digital banking boom at YES Bank

YES Bank has adopted a holistic approach on going digital, and has integrated this strategy across its banking ecosystem, according to its latest annual report.

The size and volume of digital banking transactions scaled up in 2020-21. The value of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions grew 134.7 percent annually, while volume grew 102.4 percent over the previous financial year.

YES Bank has recruited around 300 employees with technology, product, digital or analytics background to strengthen its digital leadership, according to the annual report.

Interglobe Aviation losses widen

Interglobe Aviation, which runs Indigo Airlines, reported a loss for Rs 3,179 crore in the first quarter of FY 2022, compared to a loss of Rs 2,849.3 crore a year ago.

Its revenue for the first quarter of FY 2022 was Rs 3,170 crore, up 177 percent over the same period last year, but 50 percent lower than in the quarter ended March 2021.

“Our financial results were severely impacted by the second COVID-19 wave,” said Ronojoy Dutta, CEO of Interglobe Aviation.” The number of passengers traveling declined sharply in May and June.”

Facebook unveils Metaverse team

Facebook is developing a new product to realise CEO and Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a shared digital space that users can access simultaneously, but virtually.

Metaverse PG is now part of the social media giant’s Reality Labs, said Andrew Bosworth, Vice President at Facebook, in a post. Reality Labs is the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) division at Facebook.

Instagram’s Vice President of product Vishal Shah will lead the Metaverse PG team, which will include its AR/VR content and FB’s gaming teams.

Facebook has been aggressive in the virtual reality segment. In 2016, it acquired Oculus for $2 billion, with analysts expecting Facebook to invest more in its R&D team.