MAM
Thums Up Ninja Hunt contest winners announced
MUMBAI: Thums Up announced the names of the regional winners for the Thums Up Ninja Hunt promotion. The promotion, which was launched nationally few weeks back to promote the biking culture in India, received tremendous response across India. These ‘Dumdar Five’ are among the 100 lucky winners across India, who would ride home a Bajaj Pulsar.
The bikes were presented to the winner at the Coca-Cola plant in Dasna, Ghaziabad by Masuri Station House Office Ravi Shanker Pandey, who was the chief guest for the occasion. If the luck of the winners holds on, they can also be one of the four national winners of a Kawasaki Ninja ZX 6R – one of the strongest, fastest and most powerful superbikes in the world, worth more than Rs 600,000.
The winners are: Ratan Agarwal, Ved Prakash, Rahul Verma, Amit Rana and another winner from Najibabad.
Echoing the excitement of all the winners, Rana said, “It is only through Thums Up that I have won this bike. Seeing me here, I am sure many more will now actively participate in this promotion to win the bike. I am going to continue participating in anticipation of winning the Ninja Bike.”
Thums Up unveiled this unique promotion to promote biking culture in India. The innovatively designed Thums Up under-the-crown promotion is in line with brand’s core identity of being – macho, outgoing, adventurous, and fearless. To win the Bajaj Pulsar Bike, the consumer needed to cross his fingers and peel the crown liner of their Thums Up bottle.
Besides winning 100 Bajaj Pulsar bikes, this promotion also gives the consumer an opportunity to win many cool and exciting biking gear prizes like biker jacket’s, bags, sunglasses and waist-pouches.
Coca-Cola India has also lined up a series of marketing programs for the promotion of The Thums Up Ninja Hunt that include activation of key accounts, promotional activities in colleges and marketplaces and an extensive road-show showcasing the cool machines covering the country.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
