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US consumer spending dropped by a record in April as the COVID-19 pandemic undercut demand, buttressing expectations that the economy could contract in the second quarter at its steepest pace since the Great Depression. The Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, plunged 13.6 percent last month. That was the biggest drop since the government started tracking series in 1959, and followed a 6.9 percent tumble in March. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending plummeting 12.6 percent in April. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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consumer spending plunges 13.6 percent in April. that was the biggest drop since the government started tracking series in 1959. consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity. economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending plummeting 12.6 percent. a spokesman for the u.s. government said the data was not available.
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Gold prices on Tuesday held on to last session's more than one-week high on concerns around U.S.-China relations and as rising violent protests in the United States stoked fears of a resurgence in virus cases, while optimism on reopening of economies checked their rise. Spot gold was flat at $1,739.48 per ounce, as of 0344 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,752.10. "It appears that there are factors both supporting, and limiting appreciation in the gold price," said National Australia Bank economist John Sharma. The U.S. is likely to revoke Hong Kong's special status, and China would retaliate by limiting purchase of U.S. products- putting the Sino-U.S. trade deal in doubt, and providing support to gold; while the easing of lockdowns is limiting gains, Sharma added. In a sign that the worst of the economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic might be over, U.S. manufacturing activity crawled up slightly from an 11-year low, and China's factory activity unexpectedly returned to growth- in May. Despite some optimism about economies gradually reopening, gold prices have gained in the previous three sessions, and hit their highest on Monday since May 21. Bullion was supported by fears that the demonstrations over the death of an African American in police custody could worsen the spread of the coronavirus, and hamper the world's biggest economy's recovery. U.S. President Donald Trump stated he would deploy the military, if required. Reflecting investor sentiment, SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.5% to 1,128.40 tonnes on Monday, the highest in seven years. The dollar hovered near more than a two-month low hit on Friday, making gold less expensive for holders of other currencies. Palladium rose 0.1% to $1,962.61 per ounce, while platinum was down 0.5% at $843.70, and silver fell 0.6% to $18.17. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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gold prices hold on to last session's more than one-week high. gold is flat at $1,739.48 per ounce, as of 0344 GMT. gold is supported by fears of a resurgence in virus cases. gold is supported by fears that violent protests could worsen the spread of the virus. despite optimism about economies gradually reopening, gold prices have gained in the previous three sessions.
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More than 2.5 crore people, a number greater than Australia's population, have applied for about 90,000 positions in India Railways, underlining the challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in providing millions of jobs ahead of an election in 2019. PM Modi was voted into power in 2014 on promises to reignite growth in Asia's third-largest economy and provide jobs. But his flagship "Make in India" initiative to lift the share of manufacturing in India's $2 trillion economy to 25 per cent from about 17 per cent and create 10 crore jobs by 2022 has so far failed to deliver on its promise. The railway, which currently employs 1.3 million people, said it was filling up tens of thousands of vacant positions for engine drivers, technicians, carpenters, track inspection crews and other roles related to improving safety in the world's fourth-largest network. "We've not been recruiting for the last couple of years and attrition is already there. And so we require people," Ashwani Lohani, chairman of the railways board, told Reuters. The Railway Recruitment Board advertised for the positions last month and since then 2.5 crore people have filed online applications from around the country, Lohani said. The closing date is Saturday. The recruitment drive would be the largest conducted by a state-run organisation since Modi took office four years ago, struggling to find jobs for an estimated 1 million young people that enter the labour force each month. "The huge number of applications shows the level of stress," said Mahesh Vyas, chief executive officer at economic think-tank CMIE. "It shows that there is really a paucity of jobs, and the other thing is about the great preference that Indians have got for government jobs. We need to move away from this." The railways are India's biggest employer and are in the midst of a $130 billion modernisation plan. Applicants will take a written test available in 15 languages, according to the ad. There is also a physical fitness test and different criteria for men and women have been specified. Lohani said it would be a logistical challenge sifting through 2.5 crore candidates but the railway was equipped to handle it. "We had to come out with an open advertisement, that is the only way to do it," he said. India's unemployment rate surged to a 15-month high of 6.1 per cent in February, think-tank CMIE said. Even after the railway has completed the recruitment, the challenge will be how to train the new workers, which is critical for safety, another expert said. "When you take 90,000 people in one shot, you don't have the training facilities," said Pronab Sen, country director for the UK-based International Growth Centre, which is focused on economic policies. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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more than 2.5 crore people apply for about 90,000 positions in india railways. the railways are the world's fourth-largest network and employs 1.3 million people. the closing date for applications is Saturday. the railways are in the midst of a $130 billion modernisation plan. ad: 'we had to come out with an open advertisement, that is the only way to do it'
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File image of the Reserve Bank of India's office Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on December 4 reiterated that commercial and co-operative banks can retain FY20 profit and not make any dividend payments. The objective was to help banks conserve cash to overcome the impact of COVID. While RBI had already asked banks in April not to make any dividends for the fiscal year ending March 2020, it had said it will review its stand based on financial positions of the banks for the September quarter. “In view of the ongoing stress and the heightened uncertainty on account of COVID-19, it is imperative that banks continue to conserve capital to support the economy and absorb losses, if any,” RBI said in a statement on developmental and regulatory policies. “In order to further strengthen the banks' balance sheets while at the same time supporting lending to the real economy, it has been decided, on a review, that SCBs (scheduled commercial banks) and cooperative banks shall not make any dividend pay-out from the profits pertaining to financial year 2019-20,” it added. Das also said the central bank saw India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracting by 7.5 percent in FY21 amid the economic disruptions. However, he also noted that were nascent signs of recovery seen in second half of FY21. Follow LIVE updates on the RBI Monetary Policy here The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on December 4 voted unanimously to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4 percent. The committee, citing high inflation constraints, also said it would maintain accommodative stance as long as necessary. Reverse repo rate was kept unchanged at 3.35 percent. India's real GDP for the September quarter contracted 7.5 percent year-on-year, on the back of the steep contraction in manufacturing, construction and services, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on November 27 showed. This means, with two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, the Indian economy is in technical recession. India was in a recession last in 1979 when the real GDP fell 5.2 percent. Yet, data from the NSO also showed that the country has begun its gradual recovery following the nationwide lockdown in April, May and June which had flat-lined the economy. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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RBI has asked banks not to make any dividend payments for the fiscal year ending March 2020. the objective was to help banks conserve cash to overcome the impact of COVID. RBI saw india's gross domestic product contracting by 7.5 percent in FY21 amid the economic disruptions. but nascent signs of recovery seen in second half of FY21.
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MUMBAI: State-owned Bharat Electronics Limited BEL ) and software provider, Tech Mahindra announced a partnership on Friday to design and build digital solutions for aerospace and defense applications. The companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at DefExpo India 2020, Lucknow , to jointly develop solutions in the field of defence products and systems for the armed forces with the use of latest technologies in Aerospace and Defence (A&D) Engineering Services, 5G and cyber security.Anandi Ramalingam, Director Marketing, Bharat Electronics, said, “The MoU will enable BEL and Tech Mahindra to make joint efforts to seize the opportunities available in the domestic markets on back of the policy initiatives of the Indian Government such as Make-in-India. It will further support in tapping into global markets for export of defence products produced by the individual companies or jointly developed and produced by the two companies, leveraging on the Export Promotion Policy of the Ministry of Defence , Government of India.”Sujit Baksi, Head APAC Business and President Corporate Affairs , Tech Mahindra, said the collaboration would allow the companies to tap export opportunities.“Tech Mahindra’s collaboration with Bharat Electronics extends our vision of supporting government’s ‘make in India’ initiative to enhance our indigenous capabilities and build a robust 5 Trillion Dollar Indian economy. It is also in line with our TechMNxt charter that focuses on leveraging new generation technologies to deliver an enhanced experience to our customers,” she said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Bharat Electronics and tech Mahindra signed a Memorandum of Understanding. the companies will jointly develop solutions in the field of defence products and systems for the armed forces. the collaboration will allow the companies to tap export opportunities. the companies will also use latest technologies in 5G and cyber security. the companies will also be able to tap into global markets for export of defence products produced by the individual companies or jointly developed and produced by the two companies.
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Domestic benchmark indices were in for a bumpy ride this week with many ups and down along the way. Starting the week equity markets tanked and lost 80% of the gains made in the previous week as investors lost Rs 5.8 lakh crore. From the closing levels of the previous week, S&P BSE Sensex tanked 2,000 points or 6% this week, while the 50-stock NSE Nifty dropped 500 points to end the week below the crucial level of 9,300. “Indian indices are still mirroring international markets and are unlikely to move on their own despite daily rise in the number of Covid-19 casualties. Volatility has significantly reduced with VIX across the world down by around 50% from its highs, thereby indicating slowdown in daily volatility of markets,” said Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote. Investors poorer by Rs 7 lakh crore: Investor wealth at the end of April stood at Rs 129 lakh crore. The first trading week of May did not go down well for the investors as BSE’s market capitalisation tanked by Rs 7 lakh crore to sit at Rs 122 lakh crore at the end of trading on May 8. Reliance bags two more deals: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries bagged two more deals this week for an equity stake in its telecommunications arm Reliance Jio. On Monday private equity firm Silver Lake invested Rs 5,600 crore and on Friday another firm, Vista Equity Partners, invested Rs 11,000 crore in India’s fastest growing telecom network. If reports are to be believed, Ambani is not done with his plans to reduce his debt and is eyeing another stake sale to Saudi wealth fund. Banking stocks fall: Marquee names from the banking industry saw their share price fall this week. ICICI Bank was down 3%; SBI Bank tanked 8.7% while even HDFC Bank slipped 1.3%. Financials danced between gains and losses during the week but ended the week down in the red. Kotak Bank slipped 6.2% while Axis Bank suffered the most loss as it tanked 9%. “A mixed trend was witnessed on the sectoral front wherein defensive viz. pharma and FMCG witnessed decent buying interest while pressure continued in banking, auto and metal space. Among the index majors, Reliance is currently playing a critical role in holding the benchmark while the banking pack is under tremendous pressure,” said Ajit Mishra, VP- Research, Religare Broking. Expectation for the Week ahead: Domestic markets have been mirroring global peers so far and experts believe the following week too will not witness any substantial movement. “Market seems to be going nowhere as volatility is substantially reducing and is also unlikely to react to corporate numbers significantly. How consumers behave and react post the lockdown restrictions are lifted will be the most important data point for markets to decide their way forward. But nonetheless, this will only be visible in the next 2-3 months and till that time markets may not be in the mood to move substantially either way but may just gradually decline,” said Jimeet Modi. Expectations of a government stimulus will slip into next week as well. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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domestic benchmark indices were in for a bumpy ride this week with many ups and downs. starting the week equity markets tanked and lost 80% of the gains made in the previous week. investors lost Rs 5.8 lakh crore as investors lost Rs 5.8 lakh crore. ICICI Bank was down 3%; SBI Bank tanked 8.7%.
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Even as measures to restart the stalled Indian economy from May onwards are being debated, serious labour shortages are being predicted. And as stranded workers are being allowed to go home, corporate heads are scratching their heads on how to restart the business. Obviously there are operational challenges, but we are functioning. Labour is not easily available, said the CFO of a key infrastructure utility earlier this week. "We are offering incentives, but the workers desperately want to go back home. As soon as bus and train services start, my hunch is that many will go back. It will be difficult to get them back for a few months given the fear around the pandemic," says the CFO who did not wish to be identified. Though essential goods and services are still being delivered, the massive dislocation of workers as a result of the surprise lockdown has left a huge question mark on the possibility of restarting factories and workshops with any semblance of normalcy. The real test will be when non-essential businesses are allowed to start, especially the labour and transport-intensive ones, says Yogesh B. Mathur, former CFO and restructuring expert. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show It is a very unusual situation where there is a conflict between your personal and family health and that of earning your livelihood. Migrant labour which fuels large sections of the Indian economy is at the forefront of the economic pain that COVID-19 has inflicted. Devoid of work and wages, often stuck in accommodation which prevents social distancing, these daily wagers bore the brunt of the lockdown as the transport services stopped completely. This disruption, however, does not seem to be temporary for a variety of reasons -- genuine health concerns, fear and real logistical barriers. Many businesses are wondering if the term 'Vaishvik Mahamaari' has caused a climate of unreasonable fear. Views have been expressed on the pandemic. Perhaps more needs to provide a clear signal to workers to rejoin work, says the CFO. Others worry about the continued sealing of state borders which will prevent the resumption of genuine business activity. States are unlikely to allow free movement across borders anytime soon. For plants and factories whose workforce comes from a catchment area spread over neighbouring states, resumption of work will not be easy. The pharma cluster in Baddi is an example. In China, where a similar lockdown lasted over 70 days, many workers had gone back home for their Lunar New Year holidays at the start of the lockdown. Later as activity gradually resumed, companies shared workers between themselves to ensure delivery of essential goods and services as the lockdown was extended. For instance, Walmart Inc apparently tied up with close to 160 companies in the food and hospitality industry for worker-sharing arrangements to staff close to 400 of its stores in China. Such worker-sharing arrangements may well be doable and a win-win solution as long as skills are transferable and there is no conflict of interest. They may need to be facilitated, says Mathur. In any case, the risk is all yours if there is any infection once you start, so businesses will step forward only very cautiously, says a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry. As a partial easing of the lockdown occurs at the beginning of May, there would be greater clarity on the shortages and how companies intend to cope with an unprecedented labour shortage. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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serious labour shortages are being predicted as companies try to restart the economy. the lockdown has left a huge question mark on the possibility of restarting businesses. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection.
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Amid Boardroom Feuds, Spotlight Falls on Women As more women take up senior leadership roles in India Inc, their visibility in boardroom battles is also rising. In a clear break from the past, women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts, or family disputes that may extend into the boardroom, reflecting the rise in the number of women in positions where they can have their say. Tesla Ready to Drive in up to $2B, But With Riders US electric carmaker Tesla is willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory if the government approves a concessional duty of 15% on imported vehicles during its first two years of operations in India. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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women playing key roles in boardroom conflicts, or family disputes. rise in visibility in boardroom conflicts reflecting the number of women in positions. Tesla willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory. government approves 15% duty on imported vehicles during first two years of operations. if government approves, Tesla will invest up to $2 billion for setting up local factory.
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live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × When bear strikes, you can see share prices falling hard and market values getting lower. Mentally, this may trigger your sense to “buy low”, which is generally a smart thing to do, Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited- Investment Advisor, said in an interview with Moneycontrol’s Kshitij Anand. Edited excerpt: Q) The Nifty50 closed with gains of over 1% last week amid high volatility due to June F&O expiry. Your thoughts... A) The week started on a positive note but soon after three consecutive sessions of rally, the Nifty witnessed profit booking. On a weekly basis, the benchmark index had risen by over 1 percent. Global markets saw a strong rally in the last week but were unable to continue the same in this week due to fresh rift in the COVID cases, the trade tension between US-China and the border tension between India and China. On the daily chart, the Nifty formed a Doji which indicates indecisiveness among the bulls as well as the bears. Overall, the volatility has been prevalent throughout the week and in the coming week, market may consolidate with support at 10,200. Q) June series saw both Sensex and Nifty rally over 8% each. Which are the important levels that one should track in the July series? A) The July series has started with a volatile session but managed to close in the positive note with Nifty up by 94.10 points or 0.91 percent. From the recent low, the Nifty had rallied around 38 percent. After a second straight week of gains, the Nifty formed a spinning top candlestick pattern which shows indecisiveness in the near-term. The trend looks bullish, but Nifty may face hurdles at 10,550. In the near-term geopolitical issues and an increasing number of cases may be the key factors that might impact the investors’ sentiments and may lead the direction of the Nifty. Q) Small & Midcap stocks outperformed benchmarks in June series and so far in the month as well. What is driving the rally in the broader market when most of the macro indicators remain muted? A) Small and midcap stocks have always been an attractive investment option for investors. After a deep downfall in the first three months of the financial year 2020, most of these stocks have shown correction of almost 20-30% and even outperformed benchmarks. The reason is the attractive valuations and strong fundamentals which attracted net inflows in these stocks. In June 2020, more than 50 percent of the small and midcap stocks outperformed the benchmarks. Sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, ago-based industries, IT, cement, etc. are growing in terms of market share even when the market growth is soaring. The major focus of large investors is on the long-term earning power of these companies which is expected to see broader recovery in the next 2-3 quarters. Thus, when the economy would turn its pace, and growth rate increases, mid and small companies would benefit the most. Q) The first 6 months which will get over next week produced three stocks in the BSE 500 index that rose over 100%. The list includes names like Adani Green, Suzlon Energy, and GMM Pfadler. What is driving the rally in those names? Or it is just a liquidity wave or there is something fundamental. A) Here is our take on the following stocks: Adani Green: This stock has appreciated 209 percent in the past three months. The firm had bagged “the world’s largest solar tender” from the union government to construct an 8-GigaWatt (GW) photovoltaic power plant and set up a 2 GW solar cell and module manufacturing capacity in five years. This would entail an investment of Rs 45,000 crore at a time when companies in almost all sectors are looking to cut down capital expenditure. The company is now the largest renewable power generator in the country with 15 GW of renewable capacity under various stages of development. All these factors led to an increase in the share price of the stock in recent times. Suzlon Energy: The shareholders have approved the resolutions proposed by the company, thus paving the way for debt restructuring. The resolution plan for Suzlon may be implemented by June 30 as lenders and promoters have been able to resolve differences in the deal structure. Under the approved resolution plan, a large portion of the company’s Rs 12,785-crore debt was to be converted into sustainable and unsustainable debt, which was to be repaid over 20 years. Suzlon Energy agreed to repay the sustainable debt of Rs 3,600 crore in the first 10 years. The remaining portion of the debt was proposed to be paid over 20 years, by converting it into optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) and CCPS. The promoters of the company, led by Tulsi Tanti, had agreed to infuse Rs 375 crore into the company as equity. This step taken by the shareholders led to an increase in the stock price. GMM Pfaudler: GMM Pfaudler share price has surged 137 percent to Rs 4629 in 2020 so far. However, from January 1 to March 23 period, this stock was up just 7 percent. It is a leading supplier of process equipment to the pharmaceutical and chemical industry segments. The company’s order book continues to remain healthy on the back of strong demand from the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. Hence, the surge in its stock prices was the result of its strong fundamentals. Q) More than 70% of the stocks in BSE500 gave negative returns in the last 6 months. 18 out of 376 stocks fell more than 50% that include names like IndusInd Bank, Future Retail, Repco Home, Lemon Tree, and Raymond. Are they opportunities in a bear market or one should avoid catching the falling knife? A) There is economic dislocation because of the lockdowns and the markets are reacting in advance to that flowing through to corporate balance sheets. Right now, almost every asset class that one can think of feels like a falling knife and it may not be advisable to try to catch one. But at the same time, the equity market, in particular, is trading at lower than long-term average valuations in most markets. While the broader markets have fallen so much, some stocks within these markets have declined more. When a bear strikes, you can see share prices falling hard and market values getting lower. Mentally, this may trigger your sense to “buy low,” which is generally a smart thing to do. But emotionally, it’s hard to hold on to assets that are losing value for weeks or months at a time. There are selective opportunities in these markets. Therefore it would be palatable only to long-term investors However, given the uncertain times, markets are likely to remain volatile in the near term. Q) Your take on markets in the first six months? Opportunities for new investors but pain for the ones who are already invested? And what should be the strategy now to tackle the second half? A) Since the beginning of 2020, the whole world has seen a major downturn in almost all the activities due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Indian markets, too, had reflected a huge downturn due to the crisis. Though in the first three months the economy as a whole had seen the sharpest monthly fall ever including around 38-40% fall in both Nifty and Sensex, the next three months proved to be a relief. In spite of various challenges faced during this period being it a lockdown or China-India disturbances, Nifty and Sensex had shown a recovery of almost 40% from the lows seen in March. It is still not clear as up to how long will the economy take to revive back to the normal conditions. But next two to three quarters are expected to be more crucial for the investors. A broader recovery is expected as unlocking activities would revive demand. The investors who lost money in the crisis have started to recover their losses and the next six-month period would also give good opportunities to the new investors as well. It is expected that markets are likely to continue positive rally until quarterly results are announced. However, post the quarterly announcements markets are expected to correct up to some extent which will then give a good opportunity for investors to buy from the low levels. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the Nifty50 closed with gains of over 1% last week amid high volatility due to June F&O expiry. the July series has started with a volatile session but managed to close in the positive note. the trend looks bullish, but Nifty may face hurdles at 10,550. in the near-term geopolitical issues and an increasing number of cases may be the key factors that might impact the investors’ sentiments.
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By Smita Purushottam China has grown immeasurably powerful over the last two decades, having placed science & technology (S&T) at the core of its developmental and military strategy. China invests 2.2% of its GDP on R&D ($496 billion), dwarfing India’s $50 billion (PPP figures, 2017). It is closing in on the American R&D spend of $549 billion, clocking over 17% in annual growth rates between 2000 and 2017, against the US average of 4.3%. China’s S&T drive, growth, military strategy and geopolitical goals are intertwined, and made clear by Xi Jinping’s declaration that “technology is China’s core combat capability.” Unsurprisingly, China has simultaneously grown more threatening. It has unhesitatingly flexed its new-found muscle, to which the sacrifice of our soldiers on the border bears tragic witness. Like China, countries the world over recognise that national technology ownership equals power, with the richest and the most powerful nations all being high R&D spenders. But India’s R&D expenditure has trended downwards from 0.85% in 2011 to 0.62% in 2015, the latest year for which figures are even available, making it dependent on high-tech imports in defence, aircraft, ICT (information and communications technology) products and other sectors. Imports cannot make up for national security, which can only be guaranteed by national technological and economic strength. But in a technology-obsessed era, we are yet to take the necessary measures to rejuvenate our R&D ecosystem. The government has, indeed, launched several incentives and reforms to turbocharge India’s economic recovery. But its putative industrial policy lacks an R&D focus, an ingredient vital for success. India has been granted a time window to become internationally competitive by the government’s wise delay in signing FTAs/the RCEP. It must use this interregnum to promote national technological resilience through a whole-of-government, R&D-intensive industrial policy. Even in the US, the industrial policy is staging a comeback due to a bipartisan consensus on China. How much more urgent it is for India to forge a similar consensus to meet the challenge on our doorstep! Unfortunately, the government’s laudatory reforms are continuously being undermined by venal civilian and defence bureaucracies, a legacy of India’s import-with-benefits past. We have several heart-breaking stories on how bureaucrats emasculate their own country’s capabilities in favour of imports; tenders and contracts continue to be skewed in favour of the Big-4/foreign OEMs; foreign companies receive largesse under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), while domestic high-tech companies are routinely shown the door; public sector companies frequently act as fronts for imports; and so on. Without orders, Indian industry/high-tech SMEs are being squeezed out of existence or are fleeing abroad. India’s high-tech manufacturing sector has shrunk by 14% between 2011 and 2015. All this is in stunning and complete defiance of the Prime Minister’s call for atmanirbharta (self-reliance). It is imperative that the government’s procurement reforms be implemented on the ground. Thus, domestic procurement is estimated to provide an economic stimulus of up to 25%. In addition, to encourage business sector R&D, the government must institute a transparent tender process covering focus areas—under which top R&D-intensive domestic companies become eligible for priority procurement, tax incentives, grants or low-interest loans. A no-cost-full-commitment (NCFC) procurement model in selected projects will also provide a lifeline to domestic high-tech companies which own their intellectual property. The government must also provide direct R&D grants to companies—along the US, Israeli and Chinese models. At present, R&D funding is mostly going to academic institutions, with precious little to show in terms of commercialisation. It must create a disruption in government laboratories, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and academic institutions, granting the same incentives and funding for R&D in the private sector as enjoyed by government labs and the academia. India desperately needs an Indian DARPA that can promote a genuine, networked and effective innovation ecosystem which yields results for the economy. (The DARPA, short for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is an R&D agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.) The government must finally live up to its commitment to encourage a private sector defence industry and implement the strategic partnership policy. It must replace the mystifying and deliberately obfuscating Defence Procurement Procedure with a transparent Defence Production Policy, which all advanced countries have. The US defence sector was the primary mover on technological disruption. In India, it is still overrun by import lobbies, which constitute a deep state on their own. The US science state & genuine technological disruption Of some comfort should be the fact that China has yet to deliver a truly ‘disruptive indigenous technology’. That distinction has always belonged to the US whose game-changing technologies—from airplanes, computers, semiconductors, to the Internet and related inventions—have completely transformed life on our planet. Unfortunately, while the US science state (Fred Block) was being hobbled by market fundamentalists, China was implementing its own ersatz, top-down ‘science’ state, “parasitically siphoning off disruptive technologies born out of basic and fundamental research” conducted in the US (Bruyere and Picarsic). China’s consistent focus on applied/experimental research (US Science & Engineering Indicators) helped it to repurpose disruptive technologies developed elsewhere, which it had acquired through espionage, forced technology transfers and overseas acquisitions. This enabled China to disrupt 5G, ICT, robotics, electric vehicles/driverless cars, defence technologies, high-speed rail and biotech markets, without undertaking the hard slog of basic research. We need to move towards the American model of the networked science state. That would entail a reformed bureaucracy with a developmental and pro-technology mindset. The Prime Minister must give the call for an urgent focus on R&D and carry forward procurement reforms to save the country from external and internal predators. Sections in the bureaucracy must be made to answer for undermining the nation’s economic and technological capabilities on which national security ultimately depends. The author, a former ambassador, is the chairperson of SITARA (Science, Indigenous Technology & Advanced Research Accelerator) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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china invests 2.2% of its GDP on R&D ($496 billion), dwarfing India's $50 billion. it is closing in on the american R&D spend of $549 billion. xi has unhesitatingly flexed its new-found muscle, to which the sacrifice of our soldiers on the border bears tragic witness.
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ITEM 1. BUSINESS Baker Hughes, a GE company, LLC (BHGE LLC, the Company, we, us, or our) is an energy technology company with a diversified portfolio of technologies and services that span the energy and industrial value chain. We conduct business in more than 120 countries and employ approximately 68,000 employees. The Company was formed as the result of a combination between Baker Hughes Incorporated (BHI) and the oil and gas business (GE O&G) of General Electric Company (GE) (the Transactions), which resulted in GE owning approximately 62.5% economic interest in the Company and Baker Hughes Company (Baker Hughes) owning the remaining interest. SEPARATION FROM GE In June 2018, GE announced their intention to pursue an orderly separation from Baker Hughes over time. To that end, in November 2018, Baker Hughes completed a secondary public offering in which GE and its affiliates sold 101.2 million shares of Class A common stock of Baker Hughes. The offering included the exchange by GE and its affiliates of our common units (Units), together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock of Baker Hughes, for Class A common stock of Baker Hughes. Also, in November 2018, we repurchased and canceled 65 million of our Units from GE and its affiliates for $1.5 billion. As a result of this secondary offering and repurchase, GE's interest in us was reduced from approximately 62.5% to approximately 50.4%. In November 2018, we entered into a Master Agreement and a series of related ancillary agreements and binding term sheets with GE and Baker Hughes (collectively, the Master Agreement Framework, which were later negotiated into definitive agreements) designed to further solidify the commercial and technological collaboration between us and GE. The Master Agreement Framework focuses on areas where we work most closely with GE on developing leading technology and executing for customers. First, we defined the parameters for long-term collaboration and partnership with GE on critical rotating equipment technology. Second, for our digital software and technology business we agreed to maintain the status quo as the exclusive supplier of GE Digital oil and-gas applications, although this commercial arrangement was modified pursuant to the Omnibus Agreement, discussed below, including by rendering the relationship with GE Digital to be nonexclusive with respect to digital offerings in the oil and gas space. Finally, we reached agreements on a number of other areas including our controls business, pension, taxes, and intercompany services. All agreements within the Master Agreement Framework were finalized by the first quarter of 2019. In July 2019, we also entered into an Omnibus Agreement, a general framework agreement that addresses certain outstanding matters under existing long-term commercial agreements between us and GE. The Omnibus Agreement contains provisions regarding, among other things, (i) the repayment of certain outstanding amounts mutually owed by the parties, (ii) certain employee and assets transfers (including the allocation of costs and expenses associated therewith), and (iii) certain matters related to three international joint ventures. Modifications to the commercial arrangements between us and GE included, among other things, modification of the relationship between BHGE LLC and GE Digital to be nonexclusive with respect to digital offerings in the oil and gas space. In September 2019, Baker Hughes completed another secondary public offering in which GE and its affiliates sold 132.3 million shares of Class A common stock of Baker Hughes. The offering included the exchange by GE and its affiliates of our Units, together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock of Baker Hughes, for Class A common stock of Baker Hughes. Also, in September 2019, we repurchased and canceled 11.9 million of our Units, from GE and its affiliates for $250 million. As a result of this secondary offering and repurchase, GE's interest in us was reduced to approximately 36.8%. As of December 31, 2019, GE's interest in us was 36.7% and Baker Hughes' interest in us was 63.3%. For a discussion of certain risks associated with the separation, including risks related to our business, financial condition and results of operations, see “Item 1A. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Baker Hughes, a GE company, LLC is an energy technology company with a diversified portfolio of technologies and services that span the energy and industrial value chain. In June 2018, GE announced their intention to pursue an orderly separation from Baker Hughes over time. This included a secondary public offering in November 2018 and a repurchase of Units from GE and its affiliates for $1.5 billion. In July 2019, an Omnibus Agreement was entered into which addressed certain outstanding matters under existing long-term commercial agreements between the two companies. In September 2019, another secondary public offering was completed and 11.9 million of our Units were repurchased and canceled from GE and its affiliates for $250 million. As a result of these transactions, GE's interest in Baker Hughes was reduced to 36.7%.
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Inflation based on wholesale prices shot up to a 14-month high of 4.43 per cent in May on increasing prices of petrol and diesel as well as vegetables. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation stood at 3.18 per cent in April and 2.26 per cent in May last year. According to government data released today, inflation in food articles was at 1.60 per cent in May 2018, as against 0.87 per cent in the preceding month. Inflation in vegetables climbed to 2.51 per cent in May, while in the previous month it was (-)0.89 per cent. Inflation in ‘fuel and power’ basket rose sharply to 11.22 per cent in May from 7.85 per cent in April as prices of domestic fuel increased in line with rising global crude oil rates. Potato inflation was at a peak of 81.93 per cent, against 67.94 per cent in April. Price rise in fruits was in double digits at 15.40 per cent, while pulses saw a deflation of 21.13 per cent. The WPI inflation for March was revised upwards to 2.74 per cent from the provisional estimate of 2.47 per cent. May inflation at 4.43 per cent was a 14-month peak. The previous high was in March 2017, when the WPI inflation stood at 5.11 per cent. In its second monetary policy review for the fiscal, the Reserve Bank earlier this month hiked interest rate by 0.25 per cent– the first hike in more than four years — due to growing concerns about inflation stoked by rising global crude oil prices as well as domestic price increases. The price of Indian basket of crude surged from USD 66 a barrel in April to around USD 74 currently. Data released earlier this week showed retail inflation jumped to a 4-month high of 4.87 per cent in May on costlier food items such as fruits, vegetables and fuel. RBI mainly takes into account retail inflation data while formulating monetary policy. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation stood at 3.18 per cent in April. inflation in food articles was at 1.60 per cent in may 2018, according to government data. inflation in 'fuel and power' basket rose sharply to 11.22 per cent in may. potato inflation was at a peak of 81.93 per cent, against 67.94 per cent in April.
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By Amit Kapur In the novel coronavirus pandemic, we are battling the most daunting challenge faced by human civilisation. We have no precedents or playbook to go by. The authorities, businesses, and civil society are engaged in a battle to survive an unprecedented lockdown where the Disaster Management Act, 2005 has been invoked, and a nation-wide curfew imposed. At the end of this tunnel, our struggle to revive will begin. Aspects of how we live and transact business, and of trade and commerce are bound to change irretrievably. Yet, during this phase, we must preserve the “core” of our economy to be able to stabilise, rehabilitate, and revive later. This core, amongst other things, comprises the global and national web of contracts that is fast coming unstuck, risking a ruinous destruction of the rule of law, and commercial and social relationships. Preserving the economy and contracts is not purely commercial. We often do not notice the silent omnipresence of contractual relationships underlying the mundane elements of our daily lives, until one of them comes unstuck or requires our attention! Contracts underpin many things we take for granted—from the daily newspaper to marriage (for several), residence, basic amenities, food, education, healthcare, livelihood, et al. Imagine that the mutual promises underlying all these lose value, reliability, and predictability. Say, you cannot rely upon the delivery of any of these services/products, or the supplier cannot be sure that you will pay for what they have supplied. Consider a scenario when you cannot rely upon your employer to pay your promised wages, or there is a complete loss of job security. Sadly, this is no longer a hypothetical scenario. Some public and private sector companies have started terminating contracts which they considered non-essential. They refuse to honour committed expenses, like payment of rents, salaries, and other dues to suppliers, claiming supervening impossibility, frustration of contract, or force majeure. The resultant stress is building up in unrest. It will culminate in widespread collapse of trade, commerce, and relationships. A deluge of conflicting claims and disputes will overwhelm the already burdened judicial system! Are we doing enough, devoting our collective consciousness and energies at this hour, to safeguard the core of our society to survive, and revive in the days ahead? Where do we begin? Can we afford to first take care of the physical survival before addressing these seemingly mercantile concerns? These are some of the questions that face us. It is imminently urgent and desirable that the governance mechanism, the business world, and civil society, together toward ensuring the survival of these contracts during this period of unprecedented lockdown. We do not have the luxury to wait for better times before dealing with this issue. We need to confront the threat of irretrievable mutilation of the underlying web of contracts that will culminate in bankruptcies, and widespread unemployment. Today, faced with shortages and competing claims on limited resources, we are driven to knee-jerk reactions seeking to preserve individual well-being and wealth at the cost of others—pushing shortages and risk to others. This could perhaps be avoided if a legally binding transition period is established, preserving the contractual rights, with a promise to realise the dues/deferred entitlements over a defined period of time after the transition, while ensuring that the minimum required to preserve the assets and properties. Such a status quo will help parties be more accommodating without putting their property, legal rights, and claims at risk. During the transition, we are bound to make demands on public finances and facilities, which have their limitations, as also on private resources. We need a national consensus, built on a bipartisan basis, defining our transition path. Individually and institutionally, we must prioritise our consumption, conserving our resources by deferring non-essentials to meet the challenge during the crisis, while securing a baseline of amenities for all to survive. A safe passage must be predicated on a rational and equitable national transition plan, built and implemented transparently and carrying all stakeholders along. Our institutions and politicians need to rise above partisan considerations, and engage in evolving and implementing this national solution keeping the citizen in focus. The task forces constituted by the central government must focus on this transition path immediately. The PMO and Niti Aayog need to take the lead here, engaging all chief ministers, chambers of commerce, and representatives of civil society. We need to evolve a new social contract for a resilient, robust, equitable, and flexible transition path—governed by salutary principles, and a credible, trusted bipartisan institution. This path must establish a shared safety net for all citizens, sharing the shortages equitably and conserving resources for the future. Any hope of rebuilding a credible future must be based upon preserving the economic substratum, else revival will be predicated on an ugly bloodbath! The author is Joint Managing Partner, J Sagar Associates. Views are personal Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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amit kapur: we are battling the most daunting challenge faced by human civilisation. he says we must preserve the "core" of our economy to be able to stabilise, rehabilitate, revive later. he says contracting is a key element of our daily lives, and is a key part of our economy. kapur: we must not be afraid to ask for help from the government, or from the private sector.
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Transcript Hi there! From ETMarkets.com, this is Abhinav Kaul with Your Evening Briefing. LET’S START WITH THE TOP HEADLINES AT THIS HOUR >> Sensex gives up 1,300-pt gains despite RBI’s $50b bazooka >> Reserve Bank cuts repo rate to lowest ever at 4.4% >> Moody's slashes India’s GDP growth for 2020 to 2.5% >> Govt raises Rs 11,500 cr from sale of THDC, NEEPCO >> Gold heads for biggest weekly gain since 2008 >> British PM Boris Johnson tests positive for coronavirus Now a quick glance at what happened in Indian stock market. Sensex closed 131.18 points lower at 29,815.59, while Nifty rose 18.80 points to close at 8,660.25. Sensex earlier in the day had risen as much as 1,179 points to 31,126.03. Market breadth was neutral, as gainers and losers were nearly equal in number on BSE. In stock-specific action, HDFC Life Insurance declined 7.64 per cent after Standard Life sold five crore shares in the JV. Shares of YES Bank pared gains to close 0.94 per cent down after the lender approved a proposal to raise Rs 5,000 crore. In terms of turnover, Axis Bank was the most active security on NSE. It was followed by HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and Reliance Industries. Mayuresh Joshi, Head of Equity Research at William O'Neil & Co has more market fundamentals How do you see rate-sensitive counters after RBI decision? Can we expect further rate cuts going ahead? In global markets, European shares fell on Friday, halting their biggest ever three-day rally Meanwhile, Asian stocks rose as investors wagered policymakers will roll out more stimulus measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Back home, Nifty wiped off entire intraday gains to end flat. The index formed a small bearish candle on the daily chart. Analysts said the index needs to breach the 8,900-9,000 range in the near term, before instilling confidence among market participants. We have with Nilesh Jain of Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers to get a lowdown on market technicals. Do you see more pain ahead? That’s all for now, folks. Do check out ETMarkets.com for detailed market analysis and download the ETMarkets app on your phone for round-the-clock market coverage, investment tips and dozens of stock recommendations. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Sensex closed 131.18 points lower at 29,815.59, while Nifty rose 18.80 points to close at 8,660.25. yes bank pared gains to close 0.94 per cent down after the lender approved a proposal to raise Rs 5,000 crore. yes slid 0.94 per cent down after the lender approved a proposal to raise Rs 5,000 crore.
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Mutual fund investors are facing a crisis of confidence. It is increasingly becoming difficult for them to make sense of a volatile stock market, and the happenings in the debt mutual fund space.of ETMutuaFunds.com spoke to, MD & CEO, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund , to find out how he views the current situation. "No one knows how long the pandemic related situation will continue and hence the fallout from this and the magnitude of economic impact remains hazy. So, in the near term, it is best for investors to bear in mind that the equity markets are likely to remain volatile," says Shah.In March, we had communicated to investors that it was the right time to invest in equities. Over the past few months, the global central banks have displayed that they had more money than all the short sellers and created one of the sharpest rallies in equity market history. From 23March lows till date, the benchmark indices such as the BSE Sensex and Nifty surged 36 percent and 37.2 percent, respectively. The role of global central banks in equity markets has been understated.That said, no one knows how long the pandemic related situation will continue and hence the fallout from this and the magnitude of economic impact remains hazy. So, in the near term, it is best for investors to bear in mind that the equity markets are likely to remain volatile. They could consider products like dynamically-managed asset allocation funds, which can help make the most of such challenging times and choose to continue with their systematic investment plans (SIPs).On the debt side, a recent study by one of India’s foremost rating agencies CRISIL Ltd. is relevant. It states that the closure of six debt fund schemes by a certain fund house has frayed investor sentiment. But the study concludes that things aren’t all bad. “Indeed, dive a little deeper and there are streaks of silver – options among various categories of debt mutual funds that can help ride over the challenges being posed by the pandemic's economic blow,” it explains.Indeed, debt markets offer attractive investment opportunities across varied time periods for the investor, ranging from the short-term to medium and long-term. Investors and advisors must do a careful evaluation of the fund houses and the schemes. Fund houses which have a demonstrated track record of not facing any defaults or portfolio separation would be an ideal choice for investments. While choosing schemes, it would be advisable to consider the risk appetite and liquidity needs of the investor too.ICICI Prudential has a solid track record of more than two decades in managing debt investments. There has been no defaults, nor has there been any delay in interest payments in our debt fund holdings. Our fixed-income schemes did not have any exposure to names, which have been under stress over the past two years. This is largely due to the robust processes, which have so far helped in making discerning decisions with no risk of negative developments in the portfolio.Inflows into equity mutual funds have been subdued for the last two months largely on account of market volatility and uncertain economic environment, arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the silver lining is that all equity fund categories registered net inflows in the month of May. This indicates improving investor sentiment. Going forward, we believe that as the uncertainties wane and the economy rebounds, the equity market sentiment too would improve, leading to fresh inflows into equity markets.Currently, an individual investor is well poised to gain from investments committed at this juncture. Barring the top few names where the valuations are expensive, the others are available at relatively cheap valuations, many of which are sustainable dividend yield stocks.In April, credit as an asset class was very attractive, but that segment saw huge outflows mainly due to the panic around winding up of debt schemes incident. However, investors have realized that the trouble in debt markets is not systemic in nature. All funds in the category were able to honour redemption requests from investors.Hence, it is business as usual for fund houses where the quality of the underlying debt paper is good. We believe credit as a category is here to stay. From a cycle perspective, Indian credit is going through a burst phase. If one invests in this period, we believe it is difficult to lose money making it an opportune time to invest in this asset class.At ICICI Prudential, the focus on client selection, keeping away from concentration risk, using our own due diligence instead of relying only on credit rating as the selection tool, managing liquidity risk and not chasing Yield-to-Maturity (YTM) are all factors that have helped the credit risk fund to deliver a positive investment experience.Investors should be mindful of the fact that the key to better investment experience lies in selecting a well-managed fund that matches one’s goals and risk appetite. To identify such funds requires certain skill sets, which retail investors may not necessarily have. Here, financial advisors play a very important role in the value chain by guiding investors to choose the right funds.The common behavioural pattern seen among the investors is to invest in equities when the market rallies even at higher valuations and stop/pause their investments when the market corrects. This tends to hurt an investor in the long run and minimises the returns made on the investment. During such times, it pays to have a counter-cyclical approach.In order to address this investment flaw, we launched the balanced advantage scheme more than a decade back; a fund which invests in a counter-cyclical manner. The investing strategy also takes care of one’s asset allocation needs. Our objective while launching this fund 10 years back was to get investors invested in a product, which will deliver a good risk-adjusted experience of investing even in volatile equity markets.Balanced advantage got finalized as a category of hybrid funds in Indian MF industry post the SEBI Scheme re-categorization exercise. The core idea behind the balanced advantage category of schemes is that the allocation between asset classes is dynamically managed. However, within this category there is a wide variation in the asset allocation practices followed by various fund houses. Some fund house may follow market metrics such as price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, while some others may use a combination of P/E and price-to-book (PB) to decide on their equity allocation. In some other cases it is trailing P/E of a particular index or in-house propriety model which helps decide on the allocation to equity and debt. In our case, we predominantly decide the allocations based on a P/B model.As a result, the performance of the funds in this category too vary. In this backdrop therefore, it is not meaningful to have a near-term performance comparison. Funds, which have more equity exposure in a rising market, will tend to do well and vice versa. The performance and consistency of a fund in this category can only be judged across a complete market cycle. So, making an investment decisions or reviewing a fund solely based on near term performance may prove to be a sub-optimal approach to investing.Going forward, we believe the balanced advantage category has the potential to reach the scale of the present equity assets under management (AUM) of the industry. With the increased awareness around mutual funds and the importance of asset allocation for long term wealth creation, we believe balanced advantage category of funds stands to attract larger investor interest.At ICICI Prudential, we focus a lot on asset allocation because we believe that if one gets market cycles right, then one can outperform the average gains. What asset allocation does is that it gives primary importance to market cycles. This is why we are very focused on market cycles/asset allocation.If an asset class is at the top of a market cycle, then it makes sense to stay away from it. Conversely, if the asset class is at the bottom of a cycle, then it is time to invest into that asset class. For example: real estate cycle was at its peak during 2011-2013. Any investor who sold real estate anywhere in urban metro during these years made huge gains. Post 2013, real estate sector has not delivered returns. Similarly, in 2007 the equity cycle was at its peak.In 2012, when we launched ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Fund, investors were very skeptical about making gains from investing in US markets. Today, after an eight-year bull run in US equities, investors are opting for international funds. Similarly, in January 2018, one of the biggest decisions we took was to return money to small-cap investors in the portfolio management schemes (PMS), which turned out to be an excellent investment decision. Post that, small-caps have underperformed large-caps by a wide margin.Each of these decisions was based on where we were placed in a market cycle.Coronavirus is a medical pandemic. No one knows how long the current situation may continue. When the spread of infection tapers off, it will boost sentiment in equities. However, in case a second wave begins in India, as is said to be in certain parts of the globe, volatility is bound to stay.Given all these factors, in the near-term markets are likely to remain volatile. So, the optimal approach to equity investing would be through asset allocation funds.That said, with respect to India, it is difficult to gauge where exactly we are currently, in a market cycle. Mid, small and value themes are in the early stages of the cycle. So, one can opt for an SIP/STP for investing in these segments.Within the debt universe, we believe credit as a space remains attractive due to valuation comfort owing to the high spreads between accrual schemes and repo, which provides a good margin of safety for investments made.In equity, we are positive on the value theme since the divergence between value and growth stocks continues to prevail. We are recommending investors to take exposure to schemes with a value bias. Currently, fundamentally sound value stocks are available at inexpensive valuations, providing good dividend yield and having strong earnings visibility.The other category we are positive on is the asset allocator category of funds. The current rally seen in equity asset class is largely fuelled by global liquidity. Going forward, whenever the US Fed tapers its accommodative stance, a market correction across the globe including India, cannot be ruled out. At such times, only asset allocation techniques come to aid.Hence, asset allocation techniques should be one's mainstay as it is the only way to protect capital relative to the market at all points in time. We believe this category is well placed to make the most out of the volatility prevailing in equity and debt asset classes.Follow all the safety protocols to remain safe amidst the covid-19 pandemic. In terms of investing, be mindful of the basics and seek advice from a capable financial advisor. 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ICICI Prudential's md & CEO says the market is likely to remain volatile. he says it is best for investors to bear in mind that the equity markets are likely to remain volatile. the role of global central banks in equity markets has been understated. he says there are streaks of silver options among various categories of debt mutual funds that can help ride over the challenges being posed by the pandemic's economic blow.
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Germany Germany has bounced back from an early 2018 slowdown, official data showed today, as the pace of growth accelerated despite the rumblings of a trade war that could trip up its export led economy. Growth rebounded from its first quarter slide to reach 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter between April and June, according to preliminary data from federal statistics authority Destatis. Analysts surveyed by data company Factset had predicted expansion would remain at the pace seen between January and March, when growth slowed to 0.4 percent. "Contrary to the national soccer team, the German economy did not have a rude awakening at the start of the summer," ING Diba bank analyst Carsten Brzeski said. The figures showed Europe's largest economy had grown 2.0 percent year-on-year by the end of the second quarter, a result likely to comfort observers who had feared a slowdown throughout 2018 after the weaker first three months. Germany also outperformed the average of the 19 nation eurozone, whose growth slowed to 0.3 percent between April and June. Other major economies Italy and France reported below average expansion. Growth was lifted by "positive domestic impulses", Destatis said, with increased spending on consumption by both households and the state. A major driver of domestic consumption has been the steady decline in unemployment, with monthly official figures regularly announcing new lows not seen since Germany's 1990 reunification. Workers in some flagship sectors like metalworking have also begun driving harder wage bargains this year, hinting at an end to the long moderation in salaries that followed the financial crisis. Investments in equipment and construction, helped along by low interest rates, also swelled in the second three months. But imports grew faster than exports against a background of trade tensions. The stronger second-quarter growth result was "no all-clear" for the country, said Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) director Martin Wansleben. "Trade conflicts are increasingly clouding the international environment," he said a major risk for an export-heavy economy like Germany's. US President Donald Trump's direct faceoff with the European Union has cooled in recent weeks after he and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker agreed to talk over transatlantic differences. It is not clear that Brussels will bend to Trump's demands for what he calls "fair" trade with easier access to the EU for American goods, meaning the showdown is only on ice for the moment. Meanwhile Germany is also vulnerable to knock-on effects from Washington's confrontation with China, one of the country's biggest trading partners. And Britain's fast-approaching exit from the European Union threatens to add new hurdles to trade with another major economy. Indicators of business and investor confidence have fallen back in recent months in response to America and its partners raising tariffs on some goods in a tit-for-tat escalation. And last week harder data on industrial orders and production in June pointed towards a slowdown. Nevertheless, "with the economy having grown in 34 out of the last 37 quarters, Germany remains on track for a golden decade," ING analyst Brzeski said. But trade tensions, geopolitical risks such as the slump in the Turkish lira and politicians' slowness to invest and reform at home mean "looking ahead, the challenges facing the German economy will increase rather than decrease," he added. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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growth in germany accelerated to 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter. growth boosted by "positive domestic impulses" in domestic consumption. growth boosted by trade war rumblings. u.s. president obama has vowed to reopen talks with europe. a u.s.-led coalition is preparing to take over the eu.
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the country's economy got a big benefit from farming, there was a huge jump in sales of tractors Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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tractors saw a huge jump in sales, a huge jump in the country's economy. tractors were also a big benefit to the country's economy. tractors were also a big help to the country's economy. tractors were also a big help to the country's economy. tractors were also a big help to the country's economy.
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China and the US crossed swords Saturday ahead of an APEC summit, duelling over protectionism, trade tariffs and “chequebook diplomacy” as they laid out sharply contrasting visions for the Pacific Rim region. In combative back-to-back speeches at a business forum held on a hulking cruise ship moored in Port Moresby, Xi Jinping and US Vice President Mike Pence pulled few punches. The feisty exchanges laid the ground for what could be a fiery encounter between the Chinese leader and President Donald Trump at next month’s G20 in Argentina. Xi lashed out at “America First” trade protectionism and stressed that global trade rules should not be applied “with double standards or selfish agendas” — in a thinly veiled swipe at Washington. The world’s top two economies have been embroiled in a spiralling trade war, imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s goods in a confrontation experts warn could torpedo the global economy. Xi urged the world to “say no to protectionism and unilateralism”, warning it was a “short-sighted approach” that was “doomed to failure”. For his part, Pence vowed US tariffs would remain in place unless Beijing “changes its ways”. “We’ve put tariffs on USD 250 billion in Chinese goods and that number could more than double,” he told CEOs from around the region. Amid fears diplomatic and trade friction could spill over into the military sphere, Pence announced the US would join forces with Australia in the development of a new naval base. And in a move likely to irritate Beijing, he also briefly met Taiwan’s APEC representative. Trump decided to skip the summit in Papua New Guinea, leaving the door open for Xi, who arrived two days earlier for a state visit and has been the undoubted star of the show. Xi opened a new road and a school in Port Moresby, where he was serenaded by dozens of people from various tribes sporting parrot feathers, possum pelts and seashell necklaces. The APEC summit of leaders from 21 countries across the region has developed into a tussle for influence between an increasingly assertive China and a more withdrawn US. This appeared to be borne out by the first “family photo” of leaders, which featured Xi front and centre while Pence was absent. But in his speech, Pence lashed out at Chinese largesse in strong terms, mocking the Belt-and-Road initiative that sees China offering loans to poorer countries in the region to improve infrastructure. The vice president urged Pacific nations to embrace the United States, which, he said, did not offer a “constricting belt or a one-way road”. He said the terms of China’s loans were “opaque at best” and “too often, they come with strings attached and lead to staggering debt”. “Do not accept foreign debt that could compromise your sovereignty,” he said. “We don’t drown our partners in a sea of debt… We don’t coerce, corrupt, or compromise your independence. The United States deals openly and fairly.” As if pre-empting the criticism, Xi defended the plan amid attacks it is akin to “chequebook diplomacy” to further Chinese interests in the region. He denied there was a “hidden geopolitical agenda… nor is it a trap as some people have labelled it”. And the Chinese leader warned that no one would gain from heightened tensions between the US and his emerging superpower. “History has shown that confrontation — whether in the form of a cold war, hot war or trade war — will produce no winners,” he said. Pence too stressed that Washington wanted a “better relationship” with Beijing — if it respects its neighbours’ sovereignty, embraced “free, fair and reciprocal trade” and improved its human rights record. Officially, the leaders will discuss improving regional economic cooperation under the theme of “embracing the digital future” but the punchy speeches set the scene for a tense gathering. In the absence of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the summit itself has been relatively low-key and the focus has turned to the venue Port Moresby. The capital of Papua New Guinea has been ranked as one of the least liveable cities for expatriates, with a high level of crime, often perpetrated by feared street gangs known as “raskols”. Delegates have been advised not to venture out alone — especially after dark — and officials and journalists have been hosted on massive cruise ships moored in the harbour due to safety issues and a dearth of hotel rooms. Nevertheless, in a last-minute change-of-heart, Pence decided to stay overnight in the city rather than fly in and out from Australia as originally planned. Resplendent in shiny red or yellow patterned shirts, the leaders enjoyed a respite from negotiations at a gala dinner before starting the formal talks on Sunday. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Xi and vp pence clash over trade tariffs and "chequebook diplomacy". feisty exchanges lay the ground for what could be a fiery encounter. Xi lashed out at "America First" trade protectionism. vp vowed the us would join forces with australia in the development of a new naval base.
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Top non-banking finance companies are set to resume sanctioning fresh loans in June with sentiment boosted by the government stimulus and easing of the lockdown, even as they tread cautiously, aware that repayment capacities may have weakened with job losses and income declines. The Edelweiss Group, Mahindra Finance, IIFL Finance and Shriram Transport Finance have started disbursing loans with their clients demanding to draw down the limits sanctioned in March. Companies expect double-digit loan growth in the September quarter or early in the December quarter. Microfinance firms have also started disbursing emergency loans to help grassroots borrowers tide over the immediate crisis. “We will resume our new loan sanctions beginning June,” said Umesh Revankar, chief executive officer at Shriram Transport Finance. “We see opportunities opening up in rural and semi-urban areas that are not hard hit by Covid-19. Truck movements are going to rise, aided by the government’s stimulus package and easing of the lockdown.” The economy had come to a standstill following a nationwide lockdown that started on March 25. Shriram funds purchases of second-hand vehicles and expects overall loan expansion at below 5%, although the pace is expected to pick up with double-digit credit growth in the September quarter. Closure of regional transport offices during first two phases of the lockdown brought Shriram’s business activities to a halt.“We aim to attain 8-10% credit growth by the September quarter,” said Rashesh Shah, chairman at Edelweiss group. “Our clients are gradually coming back to work, which results in resumption of loan demand.” Edelweiss Finance plans to start sanctioning new loans from June as one-fourth of its customers are back in action. It will reopen 20% of its branches in smaller towns by this month end.Credit and refinance facilities from Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) have been operational, bridging the liquidity gap that was creating a mismatch between demand and supply till April, captains of the sector said. “We all have to build confidence first and turn sentiment to positive,” said Ramesh Iyer, managing director at M&M Financial. “Government stimulus helped in that direction. We are also reinvesting product designs and services.”The company now permits new tractor customers to start repayments after one and a half months. Mahindra Finance is sanctioning two-month-old loan requests even as it gets new loan queries from rural farming companies. “We have already started digital loan sanctions for existing customers with a credit track record,” said Nirmal Jain, chairman of IIFL Group, which has resumed operations at half of its 1,800 branches. NBFCs below the top rung, too, are gearing up to lend afresh, with the credit guarantee programme announced by the government likely to boost their fund flow. The RBI’s targeted long-term repo operation for smaller firms (TLTRO 2.0) will get a better response now as the risk would be borne by the government fully or partially, people familiar with the matter said. “The special liquidity support to lower-rated NBFCs will mean banks don’t have to take credit risk and NBFC papers are likely to be lapped up,” said Sanjay Chamria, managing director at Magma Fincorp.NBFCs are opening branches mostly in the smaller towns and cities not hit badly by the outbreak. In cities, they have resumed operations in green and orange zones, which have fewer Covid-19 cases. Local branch chiefs are now empowered to take decisions on opening branches, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the economy had come to a standstill following a nationwide lockdown. the economy had come to a standstill following the lockdown. the companies expect double-digit loan growth in the September quarter or early in the December quarter. microfinance firms have also started disbursing emergency loans to help grassroots borrowers tide over the immediate crisis. the companies are tread cautiously, aware that repayment capacities may have weakened with job losses and income declines.
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Picture for representation (Image: Pexels) The government will carry out a massive Rs 70,000 crore rural road-building project that will connect vegetable markets to nearby villages, according to a Business Standard report. The report noted that the project would seek to build roads spanning 125,000 km, 40 percent of which would be funded by the States and the remaining by the Centre. The improved connectivity is expected to allow for a smoother movement of produce, which would indirectly boost the income of farmers and improve the agricultural economy. “Research has shown that good road connectivity in rural areas has much more impact on growth and poverty than even poverty alleviation programmes,” said Mahendra Dev, director of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. In order to complete this objective, not all the roads would be black-topped, which involves layering the road with asphalt. Instead, the roads would be lined with gravel, as these villages, which are thinly populated, would not require fully developed roads. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last Independence Day speech, he promised connectivity to all villages, irrespective of the number of people inhabiting them. This promise trumped the policy which mandated connectivity to all villages on plains which had at least 500 people, and villages with at least 250 people in hilly areas. The report also observed that by the time the Modi government had come to power in 2014, close to 178,184 homes were applicable to be connected through the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). By the end of the first term, close to 97 percent of these homes were connected with all-weather roads, with only 5,345 habitats yet to be covered in states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Odisha. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the government will carry out a massive Rs 70,000 crore rural road-building project. the project would seek to build roads spanning 125,000 km, 40 percent of which would be funded by the states. the improved connectivity is expected to allow for a smoother movement of produce. the improved connectivity is expected to allow for a smoother movement of produce. the improved connectivity is expected to indirectly boost the income of farmers.
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WASHINGTON: Only a few of America's CEOs have made public statements about President Donald Trump 's refusal to accept his election loss, but in private, many are alarmed and talking about what collective action would be necessary if they see an imminent threat to democracy.On Nov. 6, more than two dozen CEOs of major U.S. corporations took part in a video conference to discuss what to do if Trump refuses to leave office or takes other steps to stay in power beyond the scheduled Jan. 20 inauguration of former Vice President Joe Biden . On Saturday Biden was declared the election winner by The Associated Press and other news organizations.During the conference, which lasted more than an hour, the CEOs agreed Trump had the right to pursue legal challenges alleging voter fraud But if Trump tries to undo the legal process or disrupts a peaceful transition to Biden, the CEOs discussed making public statements and pressuring GOP legislators in their states who may try to redirect Electoral College votes from Biden to Trump, said Yale Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who convened the meeting."They're all fine with him taking an appeal to the court, to a judicial process. They didn't want to deny him that. But that doesn't stop the transition," said Sonnenfeld. "They said if that makes people feel better, it doesn't hurt anything to let that grind through."On Saturday, the day after the video meeting, the Business Roundtable, a group that represents the most powerful companies in America, including Walmart, Apple, Starbucks and General Electric, put out a statement congratulating Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. It largely reflected the conversation from Friday's video meeting, saying the group respects Trump's right to seek recounts and call for investigations where evidence exists."There is no indication that any of these would change the outcome," the group's statement said.The executives who participated in the video conference are from Fortune 500 finance, retail, media and manufacturing companies, Sonnenfeld said. But he wouldn't identify them because they attended the meeting with the condition that their names be kept confidential. Sonnenfeld frequently speaks with CEOs and sets up meetings for them to discuss pressing issues.Richard Pildes, a constitutional law professor at New York University who spoke at the video meeting, confirmed Sonnenfeld's account, as did an executive who attended but didn't want to be identified because he didn't want to violate the meeting's ground rules.The CEOs agreed that they had seen no evidence of widespread election fraud as Trump has contended. Sonnenfeld invited Yale University historian Timothy Snyder, author of "On Tyranny," to address the group. After hearing Snyder discuss the history of democracies dying after elections and the possibility of GOP legislators changing the Electoral College outcome, many expressed alarm about the president's conduct, Sonnenfeld said.There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the election went well and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities.The issues Trump's campaign and its allies have pointed to are typical in every election: problems with signatures, secrecy envelopes and postal marks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost. With Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key battleground states, none of those issues would affect the outcome of the election.Trump's campaign has also launched legal challenges complaining that poll watchers were unable to scrutinize the voting process. Many of those challenges have been tossed out by judges.Trump has portrayed as illegitimate mailed votes received and counted after Election Day, even though that is explicitly allowed in about 20 states. He has falsely charged that campaign observers were blocked from watching the vote count as Biden overtook him in Pennsylvania.The CEOs decided to wait for the Nov. 20 certification of votes in Georgia before meeting to decide their next moves. Action could include threats to stop donations to political action committees or even corporate relocations, Sonnenfeld said.He spoke with six or seven CEOs on Wednesday who said that if there were "seditious riots" at Trump rallies or more mass firings like Trump's ouster of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other Pentagon officials, they want to reconvene to talk about acting faster as individuals, Sonnenfeld said."They thought it could have a very devastating effect upon on markets, on public trust in the process," and they would act "to make sure that the Republican elected officials do their jobs and and then be patriots and respect the process," Sonnenfeld said.The CEOs weren't worried about reprisals against their businesses but emphasized acting together. They referred to a Benjamin Franklin quote at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: "Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately," according to Sonnenfeld.But individual CEOs have been mostly silent on Trump's conduct. Juleanna Glover, CEO of media strategy firm RidgelyWalsh, said no CEO speaking out at this point could stop Trump's legal challenges."They're trying to be moral and effective leaders," Glover said. "It's a calculation of whether saying anything now can be an effective tool to making a situation better."The time may come for CEOs to speak out, but most are assuming that Trump's legal challenges and threats are just theater and the change in power will take place uneventfully, Glover said.Still, several CEOs have urged Trump to acknowledge that he's lost, concede to Biden and end any political uncertainty."The votes have been counted, and the president needs to honor the result," said Ryan Gellert, CEO of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia, which has been outspoken on behalf of progressive causes such as protecting the environment.Economist Eswar Prasad of Cornell University, a former International Monetary Fund official, said Trump's recalcitrance creates risks for the economy by "whipping up an extraordinary degree of uncertainty that, if prolonged much further, will act as a drag on what is at best a nascent and fickle economic recovery." 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executives of major corporations took part in video conference on election day. they agreed that if he refuses to leave office, they would press for judicial process. if he refuses to leave office, they would press for investigations. if he refuses to leave office, they would press for judicial process. if he refuses to leave office, they would press for a judicial process.
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Amid Boardroom Feuds, Spotlight Falls on Women As more women take up senior leadership roles in India Inc, their visibility in boardroom battles is also rising. In a clear break from the past, women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts, or family disputes that may extend into the boardroom, reflecting the rise in the number of women in positions where they can have their say. Tesla Ready to Drive in up to $2B, But With Riders US electric carmaker Tesla is willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory if the government approves a concessional duty of 15% on imported vehicles during its first two years of operations in India. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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women playing key roles in boardroom conflicts, or family disputes. rise in visibility in boardroom conflicts reflecting the number of women in positions. Tesla willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory. government approves 15% duty on imported vehicles during first two years of operations. if government approves, Tesla will invest up to $2 billion for setting up local factory.
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Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses Offering College Course Website Indian School of Business ISB Product Management Visit Indian School of Business ISB Digital Transformation Visit IIM Kozhikode IIMK Advanced Data Science For Managers Visit Washington: The Indian IT industry is an important stakeholder in promoting business relations between India and the US as it contributes to the competitiveness of global operations of American companies and creates thousands of jobs in the US, Indian envoy Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.Participating in a discussion on 'America's Highly Skilled Workforce, the Talent Pipeline, and H-1B Visas' organised here by Wilson Centre's Asia Programme and NASSCOM , Shringla on Tuesday said the Indian IT companies have invested billions of dollars across many states in the US."The Indian IT industry has been an important stakeholder in promoting and supporting stronger bilateral business relations between our two countries," the Indian Ambassador to the US said.Indian IT companies, he said, have "contributed to the competitiveness of global operations" of US firms. "And in doing so have also supported hundreds of thousands of jobs through direct, indirect and induced jobs in the US," he added.According to an estimate, the Indian IT companies have invested more than USD 50 billion in the US. The firms, he noted, are deeply embedded in the roots of American society and their contributions are exceeded far beyond the economy.Shringla said the movement of highly-skilled individuals, Indian professionals in the US through programmes like H-1B has been a mutually beneficial partnership.He said there is a 2.4 million staff shortfall in the high-tech sector today in the US. This coupled with a very low rate of unemployment below three per cent, clearly there is a shortage of people with the requisite experience and expertise in the sector.Many of the Indian companies, he said, have pledged to employ more people in the US. "For instance, Infosys has programmed to employ 10,000 US citizens in their operations. They have gone from campus to campus recruiting people, training them, and equipping them for the high-tech profession that they will join," he said.In his remarks, Shringla praised the recent passage of a bill by the House of Representatives that proposes lifting per country cap on green cards. The move is likely to benefit Indian IT professionals in the US. "This is an important initiative," he said.The event launched new reports produced by IHS Markit on H-1B visas and the global IT services industry. The reports include expert analysis of the issues that companies are experiencing with the visa programme and feature exploration of industry and government workforce and STEM education initiatives.NASSCOM President Debjani Ghosh said technology companies from India contribute about USD 78 billion of sales in the USD, and about 170,000 jobs are created directly by these tech companies from India, while close to a million jobs are created indirectly."Close to USD 16.3 billion of wages are paid by these companies of Indian origin in the US. While NASSCOM contributes about USD 185 billion to India's numbers, we also contribute USD 28.2 billion directly to the USD GDP and USD 7.7 billion in terms of state and federal taxes in the US," Ghosh said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Indian envoy says Indian IT industry contributes to competitiveness of american operations. he says the firms have created thousands of jobs in the us. he praises recent passage of a bill by the u.s. government to increase immigration. he says the bill will help create a "global workforce" for the u.s. and india.
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Retail inflation jumped to 7.34 per cent in September, mainly on account of higher food prices, official data showed on Monday. It's the highest level of inflation which has been recorded since January this year. The rate of price rise in the food basket was 10.68 per cent in September compared to 9.05 per cent in August. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation was at 6.69 per cent in August, as per data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). It was 3.99 per cent in September last year. The inflation in vegetables stood at 20.73 per cent as against 11.41 per cent in August. Fuel and light inflation was recorded at 2.87 per cent last month as against 3.10 per cent (MoM).The inflation in pulses stood at 14.67 per cent as against 14.44 per cent in August. The retail inflation, mainly taken into account by the RBI to arrive at its policy decisions, has been above the regulator's comfort level. The RBI MPC has been given the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4 per cent until March 31, 2021, with an upper tolerance of 6 per cent and a lower tolerance of 2 per cent. RBI Governor Shaktianta Das last Friday said retail inflation is expected to remain close to the targeted level by the last quarter of the current fiscal year, however, it is likely to stay above the tolerance level at 6.8 per cent for the quarter ended September 2020. RBI's six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the key policy repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent in its bi-monthly policy review meeting held last week. "Even though the high food inflation will eventually prove to be transient, with the favourable base effect and kharif arrivals to soon initiate a downward trajectory, the average inflation figures for FY2021 as well as H2 FY2021 are likely to be uncomfortably high. Amidst the unpalatable headline and food inflation figures, the relatively stable core inflation over the last three months offers some relief, keeping the hopes of a February 2021 rate cut alive," said Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA. "India's Sep CPI has surged to 7.34% from 6.69% in August. The increase in September print is higher than what market expected, Reuters poll suggested a rise of 6.88% as food prices still remain a concern on lingering supply disruption. Unless the inflation doesn't fall below the higher band of 6%, we don't expect RBI to cut rates despite Gov Das stating to 'look through inflation'. But eventually, as the supply shocks dissipate as the economy continues to unlock, we may see inflation falling back to the tolerance band of 2-4%. The central bank expects CPI to fall in the 2-6% target in the second half of FY21, so we cannot rule out any rate cut this fiscal year," said Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services. Also read: What is LTC cash voucher scheme? Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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retail inflation jumped to 7.34 per cent in September, highest level recorded since January. consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation was at 6.69 per cent in august. inflation in vegetables stood at 20.73 per cent as against 11.41 per cent in august. RBI has mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4% until march 31, 2021. despite high inflation, core inflation is expected to remain stable for the next three months.
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Mumbai: BNP Paribas is overweight India in its Asia ex-Japan universe, and expects BSE benchmark Sensex to touch 44,500 by the end of 2020."India, despite its sharp economic slowdown, offers high quality compounders and a few attractively valued candidates poised for a potential recovery," Manishi Raychaudhuri, Asia Equity Strategist, BNP Paribas told reporters on Thursday.On the earnings front, Raychaudhuri pointed out that year 2019 was a "one-horse" affair for Indian earnings. Barring contribution from financials, EPS growth for MSCI India would be in the range of -7 % to -10%."The year 2020 promises to be similar, though slightly less so," he added.Abhiram Eleswarapu, Head of India Equity Research , said there were three risks to their Indian market target.The investment house expects US Federal Reserve to cut rates at least twice going ahead, and if that does not happen, it could hurt Indian markets. The second risk is how Indian government walks the tightrope of boosting growth and managing fiscal deficit, while the third one is the emerging risk of stagflation. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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India is a "high quality compounder" and "poised for a potential recovery," says analyst. despite its sharp economic slowdown, india offers "high quality compounders" stagflation is a risk, as is the emerging risk of stagflation. the year 2020 promises to be similar, though slightly less so. if the US Federal Reserve cuts rates at least twice going ahead, it could hurt Indian markets.
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NEW DELHI: India and Singapore will have to improve connectivity in a post-corona world to boost bilateral trade ties , the Indian envoy to the Southeast Asian nation said Friday, asserting there is a "clear indication to us" that they want to diversify their supply chains and India is a priority.High Commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf said connectivity is an important way of improving tourism and investment. "Once we come out of this crisis, which will affect the aviation sector the most, we would need to take a look at how we work on connectivity projects."Speaking from Singapore on 'India-Singapore Business Promotion, Challenges and Opportunities - Post Covid-19' at a webinar organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Ashraf said India can look to bolster ties with the city-state in manufacturing pharmaceuticals, electronics and in health technology and food processing sectors."In exports, there is a clear indication to us that Singapore is saying 'we want to diversify supply chain and you guys are priority'," he said."The immediate area we were looking at was processed and fresh foods, so we are talking about fruits and vegetables, marine products and also dairy products and they (Singapore) want to diversify... and we need to work in this area," he said.Ashraf said India needs to see how to leverage ties with Singapore on two objectives: to achieve self-reliance and to be a part of the global supply chain.Also, India is an area of high priority as Singapore looks at the evolving geopolitics, evolving trade tensions and the future of supply chains and markets, he pointed."So I can see a great opportunity for India as long as we are able to create necessary conditions. We must leverage their capacity to build industrial parks in India through which they can also bring in investments. Another area is developing logistics because Singapore has a great advantage in terms of logistics," the Indian envoy said.In education sector, he said, there is "a lot being done"."We need to get our young people to do internships together to spend time together in colleges and universities, doing social projects on climate change , afforestation, health together. We have to build this relationship with our youth to learn more about each other," he said.He said efforts are also being made to promote yoga and get Ayurveda the status of traditional medicine."That would require legislative changes. In the meantime, we have been able to get a lot of other hurdles and challenges out of the way for practice of Ayurveda and we are working with the government but legislation will continue to take some effort," he said."We marked the International Day of Yoga in 120 centres simultaneously last year because instead of doing it in one large venue which makes good photo opportunity, we wanted to take it to communities, to people," he said.Ashraf said India is also trying to secure special permissions from Singapore to facilitate movement of technicians directly to the city-state.During the webinar, he also talked about how religious tourism can boost ties.Giving an example of Madurai, a city famous for its temples and often called the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu, he said it could act as a direct connection with Singapore."Everybody knows there is a product. You go to see a particular site but you can see it for a couple of hours. What is your totality of experience? They all become part of the experience and I think we still have a long way to go into turning India's resources on tourism into a major tourism package," he said."It is something for us to think about that a country like Singapore has nothing by way of natural resources or heritage monuments but it gets 19 million tourists for a 709 sq km. The benefits of tourism for inclusive development holds regionally as well as in terms of employment generation," Ashraf said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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high commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf says connectivity is an important way of improving tourism and investment. he says there is a "clear indication to us" that Singapore wants to diversify supply chains. he says India can look to bolster ties with the city-state in manufacturing pharmaceuticals, electronics and health technology. he says there is a "great opportunity" for India as long as we can create necessary conditions.
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Sandip Sen is a widely published journalist and the author of India Emerging : From Policy Paralysis to Hyper Economics published by Bloomsbury in April 2019. His book “The Inside Story of Indian Banking” is expected to be published by Rupa in the summer of 2020. LESS ... MORE Replacing Chinese products is easier said than done. The dragon has over the past thirty years built up its manufacturing capacities, which India has not. After liberalisation of the nineties, India has become one of the largest markets for computers, telephones, bulk drugs, organic chemicals, solar energy and electric vehicles. But it has not developed core manufacturing capability and has been a peripheral assembler where over 50 % of the critical components have to be imported into the country for production. We do not have a conducive ecosystem for manufacturing, and while politicians over the past seventy years have been devising new slogans to urge self dependence, they have lacked the spine to change the IAS dominated bureaucracy, that makes doing business in India so very difficult. Despite being a huge market, global manufacturers have avoided India as a production centre and prefer other locations even as they move out of China. As per a Nomura report, of the 56 companies which relocated from China between April 2018 to August 2019, only 3 came to India. 26 firms relocated to Vietnam, 11 to Taiwan and 8 to Thailand. All these nations have minuscule domestic markets in comparison to India, but have business friendly policies and technocrats that help bring about transformation, much like in China. Since India develops no technology specific actionable plans, we thought of looking at the technical strength and weaknesses sector by sector after discussing with the stakeholders the challenges to Make In India. This week we deal with Electric Vehicles from two and three wheelers to the electric car and bus. Rare Earths dominance does not make China indispensable: I have followed China’s EV development since its inception and first wrote about it in the Economic Times a decade back when China had more than 2000 small scale producers manufacturing 30 million electric two wheelers annually. Indian manufacturers produced 200,000 electric bikes annually at that time and SIAM and the big two wheeler producers were clearly not interested in EV. Behind China’s success was the fact that the state had an actionable technology plan and had invested RMB 800 million in the 863 fuel cell project conceived by Chinese Engineers and Scientists under Deng XiaoPing. They created several common service facilities that small entrepreneurs could use to access technology and provided finance. China invested not only in the mining and processing of rare-earths but also became a leading producer of electric controllers, DC motors, miniature circuit breakers, axle assemblies, brushless motors, lithium ion batteries along with solar panels, charging stations, and storage systems. India started a decade later. The electric two wheeler market is dominated by Bajaj, TVS, Honda and Hero. Today Neelam E Rickshaws of Ludhiana, Delhi based Saarthi and Bahubali, Tamilnadu based Ampere, Hyderabad based Gayam and other MSME units make lakhs of high quality E rickshaws every year competing with the likes of industry heavyweights like Mahindra and Kinetic who have recently entered the field. Other than the axle and the controller all parts are made in India. Sona Steerings and Bharat Forge need to speed up the axle projects to improve localisation. E rickshaws mostly use lead acid batteries and for lithium-ion batteries, they import from China. That could change in the near future, as Suzuki is investing Rs 5000 crores in Lithium-ion batteries as electric car and bus manufacturing cannot really succeed without indigenously produced batteries. China took the lead in storage technology around the turn of the century. China Investment Corporation made sizeable investments in mining and processing of rare earths after the nineties with facilities in China and South America, as a result of which they control 70% of the market. It took them more than a decade of sustained investment to mine and process Neodymium, Lanthanum, Didymium, Cerium, Erbium, and over a dozen other rare earth materials. They enjoy near monopoly positions in lithium-ion polymer batteries and magnets of the iPhone and iPad, solar batteries, high tech cameras that have lanthanum oxide priced at 15,000 RMB/ MT, and neodymium oxide priced at 350,000 RMB/ MT. But India need not really bother about raw material supplies because China cannot stop supplies to major global storage battery makers which include Toshiba, Panasonic. Tesla, Suzuki, Nissan, LG Chem and several others. The transformation will be easier in the car and bus segment where large players like Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata and Ashok Leyland operate. Just like India convinced Suzuki to start a lithium ion battery factory in Gujarat which in turn roped in Toshiba and Denso, it needs to convince Hyundai, LG Chem and Panasonic who have major presence in India to speed up investment plans in India for lithium-ion storage systems. Similarly it should tie up with Taiwanese, Korean,US and Japanese makers of neodymium magnets, electronic controllers and key components in electronic manufacturing instead of bothering too much about rare earths, considering our investment limitations. India needs a route map for indigenisation for the manufacturing industry that shows how to reduce import dependence in key areas where imports are high value. Only if we follow a planned exit can we actually reduce our import dependence on China. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own. END OF ARTICLE Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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after liberalisation of the nineties, India has become one of the largest markets for computers, telephones, bulk drugs, organic chemicals, solar energy and electric vehicles. but it has not developed core manufacturing capability and has been a peripheral assembler where over 50 % of the critical components have to be imported into the country for production. global manufacturers have avoided India as a production centre and prefer other locations even as they move out of China.
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Dear Readers, The US markets chose to sell off on Thursday, ironically at a time when the US Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for August came in at a solid 54.6, after a steady 50.3 in July. The seasonally adjusted composite PMI is a snapshot of economic conditions in the private sector in both manufacturing and services. A reading above 50 signifies expansion from the previous month, while one below 50 denotes contraction. The US composite PMI therefore indicates that a strong rebound is on the cards in the current quarter. Since it measures changes in month-on-month activity, the PMI is signalling that the return to growth in July has not only been sustained but has become stronger. With the benefit of hindsight, therefore, there does seem to have been some fundamental reasons for the bullishness in US equities, although the improvement will certainly not explain all of it. The US is not the only economy to see expansion in its composite PMI. China, Russia, the UK, the Eurozone all saw expansion in economic activity in both August and July 2020. The growth momentum, however, slipped in the Eurozone in August, probably because of the strong euro. Expect the European central bank to try and weaken the Euro and a stronger USD could have implications for emerging markets. China’s private sector, of course, has been expanding since May 2020. On the other hand, India’s composite PMI came in at 46 in August, up from a very weak 37.2 in July. While the pace of the decline has slowed and the manufacturing sector has started to expand in August, there’s no escaping the fact that August was the fifth consecutive month the Indian private sector has shrunk. There are plenty of other negatives. Let’s not forget that India’s GDP shrank by 23.9 percent from a year ago in the June quarter, the worst among the major economies. Consumer price inflation is one of the highest in the world and the RBI has been hard at work trying to contain a rise in bond yields. Global food prices have snapped back above March levels. The head of Axis AMC told us that a recovery in India is likely to take the shape of a W. Our recovery tracker’s latest update finds high frequency indicators to be a mixed bag. To top it all, new covid-19 cases in India are now the highest in the world and deaths have increased to around a thousand a day. If we were to construct a misery index, taking the GDP contraction, high unemployment, new infections and the inflation rate into account, India is very likely to top the tables. Recall also that the Indian government has been niggardly in offering fiscal support, compared to most other governments. That’s because it was already propping up the economy even before the pandemic hit us. In July, the latest month for which data are available, central government spending lost momentum. What then is our excuse for the rally? But then, as we have been writing ad nauseam, there are many other reasons why stock indices go up, including liquidity, hope, a vaccine and the fact that stock market investors belong to a class insulated from the general misery. And let’s not underestimate the steely determination of central banks to create asset price inflation. This week, we revisited this favourite topic from a fresh perspective. How then should investors position themselves? Some say the pandemic could leave lasting scars, but we took a contrarian position, pointing out that the Roaring Twenties succeeded the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-19. For those willing to wait, good things will come unto you. What manner of good things? Well, we brought you some high-quality multibaggers in beaten down sectors and stocks that could rise from the ashes. Some stocks, as in the FMCG sector, have run up hugely during the lockdown and have very high valuations. But with capex unlikely in the near future and cyclicals uncertain, there’s a case for remaining invested in FMCG---Jubilant Foodworks being a case in point. Trent is another stock we believe will benefit from pent-up consumer demand, while of course, Reliance Retail made the headlines this week by acquiring the retail and other assets of the Future Group. We showcased two phosgene producers, both promising, but in one of them we advised taking some profits off the table. For this agrochemical company, we said investors should buy only on declines. And sticking to pharma and chemicals, we also recommended a Vitamin D API maker registering strong export growth. Coming back to the US market sell-off, pundits point out that the Vix, or fear gauge, was rising in tandem with stocks, a very unusual occurrence and a sign that all was not well. But given the strong rally in tech stocks, booking some profits is entirely rational. With the US elections round the corner, volatility is expected to remain high. Cheers, Manas Chakravarty Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the US composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for August came in at 54.6, after a steady 50.3 in July. a reading above 50 signifies expansion from the previous month, while one below 50 denotes contraction. the US is not the only economy to see expansion in its composite PMI. china, Russia, the UK, the eurozone all saw expansion in both August and July 2020.
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WASHINGTON - A record 26 million Americans likely sought unemployment benefits over the last five weeks, confirming that all the jobs created during the longest employment boom in U.S. history were wiped out in about a month as the novel coronavirus savages the economy Thursday's weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department will add to a growing pile of increasingly bleak economic data. It will come amid rising protests against nationwide lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19, the potentially lethal respiratory illness caused by the virus.President Donald Trump , who is seeking a second term in the White House in November's general election, has been anxious to restart the paralyzed economy. Trump on Wednesday applauded steps taken by a handful of Republican-led states to begin reopening their economies, despite warnings from health experts of a potential new surge in infections."The U.S. economy is hemorrhaging jobs at a pace and scale never before recorded," said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West in San Francisco. "It compares to a natural disaster on a national scale."Initial claims for state unemployment benefits probably totaled 4.2 million in the week ended April 18, according to a Reuters survey of economists. Still a figure that would have been seen as unimaginably high less than two months ago, it would be lower than the previous week's 5.245 million. Estimates in the survey for Thursday's data were as high as 5.50 million.Based on the median forecast, last week's claims data would bring the cumulative unemployment benefits claims to roughly 26.2 million since the week ending March 21, representing about 16% of the labor force. The economy created 22 million jobs during the employment boom which started in September 2010 and abruptly ended in February this year.Last week's claims report covered the period during which the government surveyed business establishments for the nonfarm payrolls component of April's employment report. Economists are forecasting as many as 25 million jobs were lost in April after the economy purged 701,000 positions in March, which was the largest decline in 11 years."It wipes out all the job gains during the long expansion," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM in New York. "Once the economy begins to reopen initial claims will slow, but we have to be honest, not everyone is going to get their jobs back."The labor market slaughter adds to collapsing oil prices, retail sales, manufacturing production, homebuilding and home sales in reinforcing economists' contention that the economy entered recession in March.The National Bureau of Economic Research , the private research institute regarded as the arbiter of U.S. recessions, does not define a recession as two consecutive quarters of decline in real GDP, as is the rule of thumb in many countries. Instead, it looks for a drop in activity, spread across the economy and lasting more than a few months.Though weekly jobless filings remain very high, last week's data would mark the third straight weekly decline, raising hopes that the worst may be over. Weekly claims appeared to have peaked at a record 6.867 million in the week ended March 28."Claims that have been backlogged due to capacity issues should continue to be processed, with initial claims dropping to more normal, but still elevated levels," said Andrew Hollenhorst, an economist at Citigroup in New York. "While layoffs and furloughs are likely to continue across a number of industries in coming weeks, we are cautiously optimistic that the peak in layoffs following initial widespread closures has occurred."Some of the decline in claims has been attributed to a historic $2.3 trillion fiscal package, which made provisions for small businesses to access loans that could be partially forgiven if they were used for employee salaries. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved $484 billion in a fresh relief package, which mainly expands funding for loans to small businesses.With claims expected to gradually decline in the coming weeks as more small enterprises access funding, attention will shift to the number of people on unemployment benefits rolls.The so-called continuing claims data is reported with a one-week lag and is considered a better gauge of unemployment. Continuing claims are forecast to have jumped to a record 16.476 million in the week ending April 11 from 11.976 million during the week ending April 4.Next week's continuing claims data will offer some clues on the magnitude of the anticipated surge in the unemployment rate in April. Continuing claims have not increased at the same pace as initial jobless applications.Economists believe some people thrown out of work because of state-mandated "stay-at-home" orders found employment at supermarkets, warehouses and delivery services companies. They expect the unemployment rate will shatter the post-World War Two record of 10.8% touched in November 1982. The jobless rate shot up 0.9 percentage point, the largest single-month change since January 1975, to 4.4% in March. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a record 26 million people likely sought unemployment benefits over the last five weeks. the figure would bring the cumulative unemployment benefits claims to roughly 26.2 million. the economy created 22 million jobs during the longest employment boom in u.s. history. the economy wiped out all the job gains during the long expansion. in march, the economy purged 701,000 positions, the largest decline in 11 years.
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LVB jumps 5% after Cabinet approves merger with DBS India ONGC surges over 6% oil prices rally to highest since early March Union Bank surges 4% on Rs 1,000 crore fundraising plan India VIX, indicator of volatility, surges 10% to rise above 23-level 161 stocks hit 52-week highs: Firstsource, Tata Power, HDFC Bank, Tata Consumer, Granules India top names "Considering the scenario, we suggest limiting naked leveraged trades and preferring hedged positions." — Ajit Mishra, Religare Broking F&O expiry: Futures and options contracts for November month will expire on Thursday that may induce volatility in the market. NEW DELHI: Profit booking in pharma, banking and auto names weighed on benchmark indices that snapped their three-day rally on Wednesday. However, the sudden drop was largely expected and will cool off the valuations.The sudden profit booking came in amid weakness in the Asian markets and increasing nervousness among market participants, as evinced from the sharp rise in volatility indicator.The 30-share pack Sensex crashed 694.92 points or 1.56 per cent to 43,828.10. The index tumbled nearly 1,000 points from the day's high which was also the all-time high. NSE Nifty slumped 196.75 points or 1.51 per cent to 12,858.40."The market rally which was led by developments on vaccine and FPI inflows came to a halt today due to profit booking across sectors in the second half of the trading session. While western markets continued its positivity, we can expect profit booking to continue in our domestic market, in the short-term, as the liquidity driven rally can take a pause having reached all-time high on a monthly basis,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.Investors lost Rs 2.25 lakh crore during the day as market cap of all BSE-listed firms came down to Rs 172.55 lakh crore.Among the bluechip names, ONGC was the biggest gainer amid fourth straight day of gain in crude oil prices. The stock rose 5.91 per cent to Rs 80.60. Other major gainers were GAIL, Adani Ports, SBI Life Insurance and Coal India Losers from the Nifty pack were available dime a dozen. Eicher Motors saw the biggest drop, down 3.72 per cent to Rs 2,593. Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints were other top losers.Broader markets also saw profit booking, falling in-line with their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap was down 0.89 per cent and Nifty Midcap fell 1.65 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, slid 1.48 per cent.Barring Nifty PSU Bank that climbed 1.8 per cent, all sectoral indices closed in the red. Nifty Realty was the top loser, down 2.25 per cent followed by Nifty Pharma and Nifty Financial Service that fell about 2 per cent.Market breadth was in favour of the gainers as 1,662 stocks ended in the green, while 1,126 names settled with cuts. As many as 161 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 41 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 300 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 211 lower circuit limits.European markets also drifted lower as the day progressed. FTSE was down 0.54 per cent while CAC and DAX fell 0.15 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively. Asian markets were mixed. Nikkei, Hang Seng and Set Composite closed in the green while rest ended with cuts. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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ONGC is biggest gainer amid fourth straight day of gain in crude oil prices. ONGC shares rise 5.91 per cent to Rs 80.60. ONGC shares rise 5.91 per cent to Rs 80.60. ONGC shares rise 5.91 per cent to Rs 80.60. ONGC shares rise 5.91 per cent to Rs 80.60.
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted daily lives and the economy at large owing to the global lockdown and physical distancing measures in place. While globally and in Maharashtra, the healthcare systems have scaled up to meet this unprecedented challenge, the economic response will determine the long-term effects of this pandemic. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in its efforts to ensure the state continues to be the flagship investment destination, held a virtual roundtable discussion together with the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) today in the presence of senior delegates of the government of Maharashtra, the government of United Kingdom, MIDC, UKIBC and industry leaders. The agenda of this roundtable was to reiterate Maharashtra’s commitment towards India-UK relations and also to appraise the delegates of the various policy interventions and initiatives undertaken by the state such as creation of plug and play infrastructure with ready to use factory spaces, land parcels earmarked for industries, an accelerated permissions model ‘Maha Parwana’ which grants permissions as quickly as 48 hours, a state operated job portal – ‘Maha Jobs’, a unified search platform, dedicated country desks and many more. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the MIDC and the UKIBC was also signed today to collaborate and share information that can help improve connections between UK businesses and the state of Maharashtra, including by facilitating investor interactions in the UK and in Maharashtra, which will include a dialogue on the ease of doing business. The MoU establishes a broad-based understanding between the MIDC and UKIBC on the areas of collaboration and mutual interest. B Venugopal Reddy, Principal Secretary (Industries) government of Maharashtra said “Maharashtra state looks forward to further strengthen its business relations with the United Kingdom by diversifying and expanding the activities and with a thrust on manufacture of engineering components, capital goods and industry 4.0. Dr P Anbalagan, Chief Executive Officer, MIDC said “MIDC reiterates its determination towards the sustenance of our enhanced relations between Maharashtra and the United Kingdom. The MoU with UKIBC reflects our enduring support the UK business showcasing their commitment towards intensifying strategic investment plans in Maharashtra.” Speaking on the occasion, Kevin McCole, Managing Director of the UKIBC said “I’m really pleased to be enhancing our already strong relationships with the government of one of the most business-friendly states in India. We have already achieved a great deal together and today’s signing of this MoU will take our partnership to the next level. This, I think, is vitally important because as our economies and societies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic the need for expanded trade, investment and collaboration between the UK and India will only increase”. Alan Gemmell, Trade Commissioner of South Asia, Department for International Trade and British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India was also present at this event to represent the United Kingdom. Other key participants of the event included representatives of British Deputy High Commission, British Standards Institution (BSI) BAE Systems, Barclays Bank, HSBC, JCB, Arup Group, Perkins Engines, Rolls-Royce, Sheffield City Region and West Midlands Growth Company Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Maharashtra industrial development corporation held virtual roundtable discussion with the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) agenda of the roundtable was to reiterate Maharashtra’s commitment towards India-UK relations. delegates also appraised of various policy interventions and initiatives undertaken by the state. a Memorandum of Understanding (moU) between the MIDC and the UKIBC was also signed today.
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Markets regulator Sebi today imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on two promoters of financial services firm Parsoli Corporation Ltd (PCL) for failing to make a public offer to acquire shares from the public. The promoters are Zafar Yunus Sareshwala and Uves Yunus Sareshwala. In an order, Sebi said the promoters “have failed to make a public offer through merchant banker to acquire shares of PCL from public shareholders” by paying them the value determined in the manner prescribed in Sebi (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, as directed by the regulator through a ruling in July 2010. Based on an investigation into “fraudulent transfer of shares of PCL”, Sebi had passed an order in July 2010 restraining the firm and promoters from the securities market for seven years. Besides, the promoters were also directed to make a public offer through a merchant banker to acquire shares from public shareholders. Taking into consideration the facts/ circumstances of the case, Sebi said Zafar Yunus Sareshwala and Uves Yunus Sareshwala are liable for monetary penalty of Rs 25 lakh for their failure to comply with the direction of the regulator issued through the July 2010-order. However, the regulator noted that despite the instant proceedings being concluded through this order, the onus of complying with Sebi’s direction continues to lie on the promoters. The order does not vitiate the right of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to take any further action and initiate any proceedings as deemed fit within its regulatory jurisdiction, the regulator said. In a separate order, Sebi imposed a total fine of Rs 10 lakh on Tarunkumar Brahmbhatt and Prarthana Tarunkumar Brahmbhatt for fraudulent trading in the shares of BGIL Films & Technologies Ltd. The ruling has come following an investigation by the regulator in the shares of the firm for the period from June 2008 to March 2009. Tarunkumar Brahmbhatt and Prarthana Tarunkumar Brahmbhatt have created a misleading appearance of trading in the shares of the company and manipulated the price of the scrips by indulging in synchronised trades along with 20 other entities and violated PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Relating to Securities Market) Regulations, Sebi said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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promoters failed to make public offer to acquire shares from public. sebi imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on the promoters. sebi also fined two promoters for fraudulent trading in shares. a total fine of Rs 10 lakh was also imposed on two promoters. the firm has been restraining from the securities market for seven years.
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Pangolins that were smuggled into China carry coronaviruses that are closely related to the one behind the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study which sheds more light on the origins of the deadly virus. However, the study, published in the journal Nature, said the degree of similarity between the virus in the small anteater mammals, and the one causing the pandemic is not sufficient to suggest that the animals are the intermediate hosts behind the current outbreak. According to the researchers, including those from The University of Hong Kong, the findings suggest that pangolins are a second mammalian host of coronaviruses. They said the sale of pangolins in wildlife markets should be strictly prohibited to minimise the risk of future virus transmission to humans. While evidence suggests that bats may be the reservoir for the pandemic causing virus, SARS-CoV-2, the researchers said the identity of intermediate host animals — that could have facilitated its transfer to humans — remains unknown. A seafood market linked to early cases of the recent outbreak of respiratory disease was cleared out shortly after the outbreak began, the scientists said, impeding the search for the animal species that is the source of the coronavirus. One possible host, they said, are pangolins — the most-commonly illegally trafficked mammal, that are used both as food and in traditional medicine. In the study, Yi Guan and his colleagues analysed samples taken from 18 Malayan pangolins that were obtained from anti-smuggling operations in southern China between August 2017 and January 2018. They detected SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in 5 of these animals. On further analysis, they reported the presence of similar coronaviruses in three out of 12 additional animals seized in a second province in 2018, and in an additional animal from a third province from which a sample was collected in 2019. The viruses isolated from these samples have a sequence similarity of approximately 85–92 per cent to SARS-CoV-2, the study noted. One virus, the scientists said, shows strong similarity in the sequence of the receptor-binding domain — a region that encodes the ‘spike’ of the virus that facilitates entry into host cells. However, they said all of the pangolin coronaviruses identified to date lack a specific alteration in their sequences that is seen in human SARS-CoV-2. They said this places uncertainty on their role in the transmission of the novel coronavirus into humans. According to the researchers, pangolins are the only mammals other than bats that have been found to be infected with a SARS-CoV-2-related coronavirus. Based on the findings, they said there is a potentially important role for pangolins in the ecology of coronaviruses. However, the scientists said pangolins cannot be directly implicated in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans. They said these mammals should be handled with caution, suggesting that further monitoring of pangolins is needed to understand their role in the emergence of coronaviruses with the potential to infect humans. “The discovery of multiple lineages of pangolin coronavirus and their similarity to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that pangolins should be considered as possible hosts in the emergence of novel coronaviruses, and should be removed from wet markets to prevent zoonotic transmission,” the researchers wrote in the study. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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study says degree of similarity between virus in small anteater mammals and one causing the pandemic is not sufficient to suggest that the animals are intermediate hosts behind the current outbreak. sale of pangolins in wildlife markets should be strictly prohibited to minimise the risk of future virus transmission to humans. a seafood market linked to early cases of the recent outbreak of respiratory disease was cleared out shortly after the outbreak began.
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Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website IIM Kozhikode IIMK Chief Product Officer Programme Visit Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Marketing Officer Programme Visit There is definitely a niggling bit of worry. We understand the fiscal constraints under which the government will have to prepare the Budget. The revenues have not been on the expected lines. So, they need to figure out sources of revenue or let a higher fiscal deficit arise which probably will not be really palatable for the global investors who insist on fiscal discipline.Having said that, overall, a whole lot of expectations are being built around this Budget. There are different sectors with different expectations. But the fact is, this can be a watershed Budget. The growth is at a significantly lower level. There is a genuine need for kickstarting growth and stimulating investment both domestic as well as foreign. So, there are lots of expectations. But the corporate results have not been anything great, neither was it expected to be great. We will have to be really careful about what we are planning to do in the interim -- between now and the Budget announcement. Definitely cautious is the word which I will put across to the investors.I do not think there is disappointment as far as ICICI Bank is concerned. They have the Essar realisation in their kitty during the last quarter so even if there are little bit of incremental slippages, Essar realisation should cover that. So, I do not expect any disappointment. The asset quality is expected to remain stable if not improved as far as loan growth is concerned. We expect a decent loan growth in ICICI Bank. I do not think it should be a disappointment but yes of course, after the results there may be some profit booking and some correction. That should be an opportunity of acquiring the stock.From a six months to one year time horizon, we are very positive on ICICI Bank. You also touched upon the stake dilution in subsidiaries. There definitely will be some announcement on that and that will again help the bank. All the subsidiaries of the bank have been performing exceedingly well and at the consolidated level, I think the performance looks even better.IT does look decent. We love the Infosys numbers and we believe that the valuation gap between Infy and TCS will narrow significantly from here on. The way the entire IT pack is behaving, very clearly the winners and losers have been separated.As far as IT midcaps are concerned, it is pretty much the same story. Zensar numbers were a disappointment. L&T Infotech numbers were pretty encouraging. There are issues on the top line growth and if the company is able to achieve a decent top line growth with an adequate number of deal wins, those companies are showing a good performance. They are building for the future as well. I like L&T Infotech in midcap IT. We also like Infosys and MindTree in the midcap side. Persistent Systems also looks good. Overall, IT should be a defensive play. If you have Rs 100 to invest, Rs 20-30 can be put in IT in a combination of large cap and midcap stocks -- something in Infosys, HCL and the balance in the midcap IT stocks.We have been through this issue again and again. There was an independent auditors report which was discussed in detail at the last Infy board meeting. Nilekani clarified and clean chit was given to the CEO and the CFO. SEBI as a matter of process needs to do an independent investigation. They probably cannot structurally rely on a third party report which was commissioned not by SEBI and so they need to do their investigation, I do not think they need to be too much into this.One needs to be careful this time as the hopes are really high. Market is also really high. With a combination of these two factors, one needs to be cautious. One of the sectors which I look at and am confident about because even if the Budget does not give anything in the long run, investors will make a lot of money in the life insurance space. In the life insurance space, ICICI Prudential looks excellent. We have seen the results. There are expectations of separate a block being created for investment into insurance products. If that happens, it will be a great story for insurance companies like ICICI Prudential. But even if that does not happen, on its own, if an investor has one year plus time horizon, they can expect 20-25% return on at current levels. So entry into life insurance companies is definitely recommended. ICICI Pru is the top pick but one can look at SBI Life and HDFC Life as well.Dr Reddy’s has been my favourite for some time. They have done many things right including their entry into China. They have established a toehold in China which is one of the largest pharmaceutical markets. Otherwise also, considering their exposure in differentiated geographies rather than depending completely on the US markets, they have done pretty well. At current levels, Dr Reddy can definitely be bought.In the entire pharma space, we have been bullish on companies with significant business in India. If there is significant growth happening in Indian pharmaceutical industry, companies like Torrent Pharma and Natco Pharma can definitely be looked at. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a whole lot of expectations are being built around this Budget. a lot of investors are worried about the fiscal constraints. a lot of investors are also worried about the impact of the dilution in subsidiaries. a lot of investors are also worried about the impact of the dilution on the ICICI bank. a lot of investors are also worried about the impact of the dilution on the bank's equity.
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Given the mammoth `19-lakh-crore fund requirement for building 60,000 km highway in five years ending 2023-24, the government needs to augment its own sources and leverage other mechanisms such as value-capture financing (VCF) and raise debt from multilateral funding institutions (MFIs), professional services firm KPMG said. “Funding sources are limited. The (roads) ministry has to tap into internal extra-budgetary resources as much as possible, subject to keeping tab to the extent of future liabilities. The likely options to raise capital are bonds, masala bonds and debts from MFIs. Other funding mechanisms like VCF can also be explored,” said a CII-KPMG paper on “Roads and highways sector — current trends and future roadmap”. It also said monetisation techniques like Infrastructure Investment Funds (InvITs) and securitisation of toll revenues can also be explored. Funding from toll-operate-transfer (TOT) needs to be tapped into with aggressive bidding out of project bundles in the future. “However, current sources of funds are projected to meet only approximately `2.46 lakh crore of the average annual fund requirement with an average deficit of around `1.36 lakh crore per annum only for the road development part the rate of 12,000 km per annum,” it said. Funding has become a major concern mainly because of increasing cost of highway sector projects, limited options within the prevailing ecosystem and fading interest of highway sector developers in PPPs. In its election manifesto, BJP had said after coming to power, it proposes to build 60,000 km highways in five years at an average construction rate of 40 km a year. Assuming average per kilometer construction cost of `30 crore and factoring in inflation for road construction cost at 3%, the total fund requirement over five years is estimated at `19 lakh crore or an average of `3.8 lakh crore. KPMG also said that new implementation modes like least present and value of revenue which explores the concept of variable concession period can be looked into to help reignite private sector interest. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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19-lakh-crore fund requirement for building 60,000 km highway in five years. likely options to raise capital are bonds, masala bonds and debts from MFIs. monetisation techniques like invits and securitisation of toll revenues can also be explored. BJP proposes to build 60,000 km highways in five years at an average construction rate of 40 km a year.
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Asian stocks edged up on Thursday as robust corporate earnings helped Wall Street quell concerns over a surge in U.S. bond yields, while the dollar hovered near three-month highs against a basket of currencies. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.09 percent. Australian stocks were flat and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.5 percent. The Dow rose 0.25 percent overnight, ending a five-day losing streak, and the S&P 500 gained 0.18 percent on optimism over a spate of upbeat earnings that managed to offset jitters over rising U.S. bond yields. The spike to a four-year peak above 3 percent in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield this week – a benchmark for global borrowing costs – had weighed on stocks amid concerns rising corporate borrowing costs could dampen profits. Nonetheless the broader equity market reaction to the latest jump in U.S. yields appeared to be more measured compared to February, when a similar spike in rates sent stocks tumbling. “The equity markets slid sharply in January and March in response to the rise in Treasury yields. But the Federal Reserve signalled in March that its rate hikes would be gradual,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo. “Expectations towards U.S. rate hikes being gradual are enabling equities to take the current yield rise in stride.” The 10-year Treasury note yield rose to 3.035 percent overnight, its highest since January 2014. The yield has climbed on expectations of a steady U.S. economic expansion, accelerating inflation and concerns about increasing debt supply. The dollar has drawn support from the higher U.S. yields, with its index against a basket of six major currencies last up 0.05 percent at 91.210 and within reach of 91.261, a three-month peak scaled on Wednesday. The greenback has risen without pause through much of the past week as concerns over a U.S.-China trade dispute receded, allowing the market to turn its attention back to dollar-supportive fundamentals. The euro fetched $1.2169 after sliding to a 1-1/2-month low of $1.2160. The dollar was steady at 109.420 yen after going as high as 109.490, its strongest since Feb. 8. Crude oil prices were up amid the prospect of fresh sanctions on Iran and concerns about output from Venezuela. U.S. crude futures were 0.3 percent higher at $68.24 a barrel. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.09 percent. the dollar hovered near three-month highs against a basket of currencies. the euro fetched $1.2169 after sliding to $1.217 after a week of lows. the euro fetched $1.217 after sliding to $1.217 after a week of lows.
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Migrant workers raise their hands as policemen ask them for their destination as they wait for buses along a highway with their families during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi. (Image: Reuters) The reaction to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from our cities is as puzzling as the administration’s fond belief that they would calmly stay put after the lockdown, awaiting the tender mercies of a state that has mostly ignored them so far. Whole sections of the elite seem to have suddenly realised we have a lot of poor people who don’t have enough savings to tide over a few weeks of lockdown. Perhaps the sight of long lines of men, women and children trekking hundreds of miles on foot has driven home the desperation they face. The migrant workers appear to have been invisible to our policy makers too. What else explains their overlooking what would seem to be an obvious issue? Faced with a threat from what seems a deadly disease, with no means of earning a living for an uncertain period, should one blame the workers for wanting to go back to their homes, to the support provided by their extended families, perhaps to a patch of land in the village? In the absence of social security, what alternative do they have? If the administration had announced at the time of the lockdown that they would be providing shelter and food and a dole, some would have stayed back, but even then many would prefer to go home. It’s not as if our policy makers had no precedents. Chinese cities and provinces started their lockdowns after millions of migrant workers had gone to their villages for the New Year holiday in late January, extending the holiday, stopping transport and preventing the workers from returning. Perhaps the Indian administration thought that it was too late to do that as the virus had already spread in the cities and the workers could be carrying it back to the villages and small towns, whose ramshackle health centres did not have the facilities to cope with such emergencies. After all, the public health system in India is grossly underfunded. But the Indian government also had the example of the Philippines, where President Duterte had ordered a lockdown of the entire Manila region from March 15. The president’s speech left people anxious and confused, because it gave no clear idea of how citizens would cope with the loss of jobs, or what services would remain open. The speech led to a run on supermarkets and to a panic-stricken rush of people to the countryside to beat the lockdown. It was a complete fiasco. The upshot: within a couple of days, Duterte extended the lockdown to the entire island of Luzon, on which Manila is situated. The Indian government could also have learnt some lessons from Malaysia, where, after a partial lockdown order, citizens thronged police stations for passes to go back to their villages, throwing social distancing to the winds. Traffic increased on highways leading out of the cities. Nearer home, we could have learnt from the mass migration of workers to villages in Bangladesh, as the government there announced a lockdown. To be sure, India is a far bigger country, but that should have made policy makers even more cautious that all arrangements were in place to enforce the lockdown. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Instead, we know now how completely unprepared they were. Policy makers have been running around making up ad hoc rules to deal with the mess. If even a few of those workers crammed like chickens into buses and trucks are carriers of the disease, they could infect thousands. Matters have been made worse by the police, who have no compunction about using brute force on the poor. But then, did we really expect the response of Indian government to be any different? To be sure, the government has announced a relief package for the poor, but everything depends on its implementation and many will slip through the cracks. That happens even in normal times and the cracks are now likely to become gaping holes. We all know that state capacity in India is severely limited. But we shouldn’t single out the Indian government. People have been sceptical about how social distancing can happen in Manila’s slums too. Indeed, these issues will arise in Third World countries across the world. In India, where slum-dwellers share public toilets, live ten to a room and brush against each other in the narrow lanes, social distancing is a distant ideal. And according to the World Bank indicators, only 59.5 percent of the Indian population had basic handwashing facilities with soap and water in 2017. In short, the burden of the fight against the coronavirus is bound to fall disproportionately on the poor. How could it be otherwise, when the percentage of male workers in vulnerable employment in India is a huge 75 percent? Here’s another telling statistic: the World Bank indicators say that, in 2016, government health expenditure per capita, (in current US dollars) was $15.95 in India compared to China’s $231.09. But then China is richer than India. Consider Vietnam instead, a country poorer than India -- its government health expenditure per capita in 2016 was $58.27. And India’s average life expectancy at birth in 2017 was 69 years, lower than Bangladesh’s 72 years, while Vietnam’s was 75 years. So it’s not as if the Indian establishment’s heart bleeds for the poor. If that were so, the poorer half of the population would not have received just 11 percent of the growth in the economy between 1980 and 2014, as economists Thomas Piketty and Lucas Chancel have pointed out. It is therefore not surprising that the authorities didn’t really think about the problems of migrant workers when they formulated the lockdown. Ironically though, the coronavirus epidemic may bring home to us that ignoring the health needs of the poor is no longer an option, simply because the infection is no respecter of class. As far as infectious diseases are concerned, we are all in the same boat. Self-interest, rather than caring about the poor, may make us allocate more resources to healthcare for the masses. Do you think the migrant worker exodus could have been handled better? Write in with your views to [email protected] Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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migrant workers appear to have been invisible to our policy makers too. if the administration had announced at the time of the lockdown that they would be providing shelter and food and a dole, many would have stayed back. if the administration had announced at the time of the lockdown that they would be providing shelter and food and a dole, many would have stayed back.
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Amid Boardroom Feuds, Spotlight Falls on Women As more women take up senior leadership roles in India Inc, their visibility in boardroom battles is also rising. In a clear break from the past, women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts, or family disputes that may extend into the boardroom, reflecting the rise in the number of women in positions where they can have their say. Tesla Ready to Drive in up to $2B, But With Riders US electric carmaker Tesla is willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory if the government approves a concessional duty of 15% on imported vehicles during its first two years of operations in India. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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women playing key roles in boardroom conflicts, or family disputes. rise in visibility in boardroom conflicts reflecting the number of women in positions. Tesla willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory. government approves 15% duty on imported vehicles during first two years of operations. if government approves, Tesla will invest up to $2 billion for setting up local factory.
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Canada's coronavirus death toll is set to soar from more than 500 currently to as high as 22,000 by the end of the pandemic, health officials said on Thursday, while the economy lost a record 1 million jobs last month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country would not return to normal until a vaccine is developed, which could be as long as 18 months. Health officials said the two most likely scenarios showed between 11,000 and 22,000 people would die. The total number of positive diagnoses of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, ranged from 934,000 to 1.9 million. They said they expected between 500 and 700 people in Canada to die from the coronavirus by April 16. There have been nearly 21,000 positive diagnoses so far. Chief public health officer Theresa Tam said it was crucial that people continued to stay at home as much as possible. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show "While some of the numbers released today may seem stark, Canada's modeling demonstrates that the country still has an opportunity to control the epidemic," she told a briefing. Howard Njoo, Tam's deputy, said if all went well, the first wave of the outbreak could end by July or August. But he emphasized there would be subsequent smaller waves. Local governments across Canada have ordered non-essential businesses shut to combat the spread, throwing millions out of work. Canada lost a record-breaking 1 million jobs in March while the unemployment rate soared to 7.8%, Statistics Canada said, adding that the figures did not reflect the real toll. "This was about as bad as it could be," said Derek Holt, vice president of capital markets economics at Scotiabank. More than 5 million Canadians have applied for all forms of federal emergency unemployment help since March 15, government data showed, suggesting the real jobless rate is closer to 25%. Energy is among the hardest-hit sectors, as the pandemic cuts oil demand. OPEC and allies agreed to cut output by 10 million barrels per day, and Alberta's premier said his province had not been asked to contribute to the curtailments. Trudeau told reporters the country was "at a fork in the road between the best and the worse possible outcomes," predicting that once the first wave was over, the economy could partially be reopened. "Normality as it was before will not come back full on until we get a vaccine for this and ... that could be a very long way off." The Liberal government has announced a range of measures to help businesses totaling around C$110 billion ($78.3 billion) in direct spending, or 5% of gross domestic product. Trudeau's government recalled the House of Commons to meet on Saturday and vote in limited numbers on measures including a wage subsidy worth C$73 billion to soften the economic blow. Canada's independent parliamentary budget officer predicted the budget deficit would balloon to C$184.2 billion in the 2020-2021 fiscal year from C$27.4 billion in the 2019 ‘2020 fiscal year. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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coronavirus death toll set to soar to 22,000 by end of pandemic, officials say. government says country will not return to normal until a vaccine is developed. there have been nearly 21,000 positive diagnoses so far. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic.
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The Indian fell 32 paise to 75.21 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, as investors braced for a prolonged period of uncertainty as coronavirus-induced lockdowns tightened across the world and in India. Forex traders said weak opening in domestic equities dragged the local unit amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown. The rupee opened weak at 75.17 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 75.21, down 32 paise over its last close. The rupee had settled at 74.89 against the US dollar on Friday. According to Reliance Securities, rupee could track weak regional equities which resumed their fall this Monday morning after the number of coronavirus infections surged around the world. "However, we believe that RBI could be present to intervene to curb excess volatility. Technically, USDINR spot is expected to remain in the range of 74.70-75.70 levels," it noted. The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has touched nearly 34,000. In India, the tally of confirmed coronavirus cases crossed the 1,000-mark. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 6.22 per cent to USD 23.38 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, as they purchased shares worth Rs 355.78 crore on Friday, as per provisional data. Domestic bourses opened on a negative note with benchmark indices Sensex trading 771.92 points down at 29,043.67 and Nifty down 237.60 points at 8,422.65. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.34 per cent to 98.69. The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.12 per cent in morning trade. Share Market LIVE: Sensex drops 1,000 points, Nifty at 8,380; All sectors in red Stocks in news: SBI, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Bank of India and more Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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rupee opens weak at 75.17 and then falls further to 75.21. rupee could track weak regional equities which resumed their fall this morning. tally of confirmed coronavirus cases crosses 1,000-mark in india. domestic bourses open on negative note with Sensex trading 771.92 points down. a dollar index rose by 0.34 per cent to 98.69.
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Insurance sector watchdog Irdai to seek details from the country’s insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on IL& FS investments, according to ETNow.The regulator will seek LIC’s plan to protect its interest and policy holders’ money, sources told ETNow.LIC has close to 25 per cent stake in IL&FS. The stake was a transfer of UTI holdings in the company held through SUTTI.At present, LIC exposure to IL&FS stands at Rs 2,000 crore.LIC has plans to meet new board of IL&FS to discuss its stance, according to sources.IL&FS, a debt-laden infrastructure financing and construction company , will consider all available options to revive the firm, its new non-executive chairman said on Thursday.The new board of IL&FS does not underestimate the challenge, Uday Kotak told reporters.The government replaced the company’s entire board on Monday after recent defaults on some of its debt obligations triggered declines in stock and debt markets, leading to concerns about broader risk in the country's financial sector. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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regulator will seek LIC’s plan to protect its interest and policy holders’ money. LIC has close to 25 per cent stake in IL&FS. the stake was a transfer of UTI holdings in the company held through SUTTI. LIC exposure to IL&FS stands at Rs 2,000 crore. IL&FS, a debt-laden infrastructure financing and construction company, will consider all available options to revive the firm.
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From its Silicon Valley-like campus near Mumbai, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio telecom carrier is emerging as a winner from changes in the way Indian consumers plug into a digital economy made more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic. For Indian shoppers who prefer to order online, it is launching a grocery ordering service with Facebook Inc's popular WhatsApp messaging. For Bollywood fans who would prefer to avoid a crowded theater, it is readying same-day-release on the Jio platform. Those plans had been in the making for months, but the pandemic has given them a shot in the arm. India's 10-week lockdown has also led to a surge in demand for data, boosting Jio's phone and broadband offerings. And, over the past six weeks, the digital business of Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd, known as Jio Platforms, raised a striking $10 billion from global investors. The investments, including $5.7 billion from Facebook and money from private equity firms Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic and KKR & Co Inc, value Jio Platforms, where Reliance last year announced it was consolidating its digital offerings, at roughly $65 billion. They also put Jio on track toward a goal Ambani described last year: an eventual listing that would mark a milestone for his effort to unite the digital offerings of his sprawling conglomerate, from set-top boxes to e-commerce and home automation. Reliance declined to make Ambani, Asia's richest man, available for interview or respond to a detailed list of questions. But interviews with a dozen people familiar with the company's development efforts show how Reliance has pushed aggressive pricing for a one-stop digital commerce platform that incorporates features modeled on the American tech heavyweights it sees as rivals. When Jio set out to launch a set-top box, it tasked a team with analysing - and in some cases replicating - some 100 features of an Apple TV set-top box last year, according to a person close to the project and internal Jio documents seen by Reuters. "Presentation and listing of menu items should be similar to Apple TV," one of the documents says, assigning the task a "Priority 1" rating. One document compares the products' features, like average weight. Another includes instructions like "Matching the background theme of Launcher (home screen) to that of Apple TV." Jio's set-top box comes included in its broadband plans, with the cheapest annual deal costing around $110, whereas Apple TV 4K is selling for around $210 to $230 on Indian e-commerce sites. Apple Inc did not respond to requests for comment. Jio also analysed Amazon's Alexa voice assistant with the aim of coming up with its own offering, according to one person with knowledge of Jio's strategy. "They wanted to say: 'Hey Jio, can you switch on the lights?'," said the person. Reuters could not determine the status of the project. Amazon declined comment. In other areas, Ambani has shown a willingness to bet big on emerging technology. In India, Jio was an early adopter of voice-over-LTE, which is more efficient than traditional networks. The company expects that to give it an edge in rolling out 5G services. "Few companies have the potential to transform a country's digital ecosystem in the way that Jio Platforms is doing in India," said KKR's co-founder Henry Kravis in announcing his investment. In partnership with Facebook's WhatsApp, Reliance has launched a new service that allows consumers to order from their local grocery stores at a time when many Indian consumers, like shoppers elsewhere, are trying to minimize trips to stores. The service was rolled out in April in three areas of Greater Mumbai. "Reliance wants to be a global technology powerhouse," said Rahul Malhotra, an analyst with Bernstein. "With the Facebook partnership, they will build the WeChat of India," he added, referring to Tencent Holdings' messaging, payments and social media app that is ubiquitous in China. TOTAL RELIANCE Ambani dominates a dizzying array of sectors: Jio is India's leading telecoms carrier, Reliance Retail Limited is its top brick-and-mortar retailer, Reliance's Network18 Media & Investments Limited is one of its biggest news networks, and Reliance's Jamnagar is its largest oil complex. His empire also produces films at Jio Studios and runs India's top soccer tournament, the Indian Super League. By providing Indian consumers access to everything from groceries and clothes to banking and home automation via an integrated system running through Jio, Ambani hopes Reliance can become what he calls an "everything company." To help back its retail push, Reliance in March asked an Indian logistics provider for some 5 million square feet of warehousing space, according to a person briefed on the plans. That comes after a 2019 request for service, reviewed by Reuters, that said the company was seeking 1.1 million square feet of warehousing space that would be "expandable in future." Reliance has not made public details of its warehousing space. By comparison, Amazon said in 2017 it had warehouses covering about 3 million square feet in India and has expanded since then. Amazon did not provide Reuters with an updated figure. In addition to an eventual listing for Jio, Ambani has said he would look to list Reliance's retail operations as well. Jio's other planned offerings include home viewings for films on the day of their theater release and networked security systems for cars. But Jio's broadband rollout, which is key for many of its planned digital offerings, has hit glitches, in part because the company had not initially set up sufficient customer support services, according to two employees and internal chat messages reviewed by Reuters. And unlike in telecoms, Reliance has not offered steep discounts to attract new customers. Ambani's ambition of creating a homegrown tech company took shape when Jio was launched in 2016 with aggressively priced data plans. Suddenly, migrant construction workers were video-chatting with their families, farmers were checking crop prices, and office workers were screening films during their commutes home on crammed trains. Jio's competitors, then numbering around a dozen, were forced to slash prices, quit, or merge as Reliance pumped in at least $30 billion in oil-related earnings to subsidize prices. "We have to bleed others to death - I remember that as a refrain," said one former high-level Reliance executive, who asked not to be named. Some rivals held out for longer than expected and Reliance ended up investing more than originally planned, according to a half-dozen sources who worked at Reliance or were briefed on the company's ramp-up. Last year, Jio became India's No. 1 carrier by number of users. Meanwhile, rival Vodafone Idea Ltd, a venture between the Indian unit of Britain's Vodafone Group Plc and billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's Idea Cellular, has warned it may not survive having to pay about $4 billion in overdue levies and interest to the government. RIL's Rs 53,124 crore rights issue subscribed 1.59 times; vote of confidence from investors, says Ambani Share Market LIVE: Sensex drops 150 points, Nifty at 10,024; ONGC, HDFC, Indian Oil, Titan top laggards Stocks in news: Aurobindo Pharma, DLF, Powergrid, ONGC, HPCL, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and more Moody's downgrades ratings of ONGC, HPCL, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a new service is being launched for grocery ordering and same-day release. the company is launching a smartphone ordering service with facebook's popular WhatsApp messaging. the company's digital business has raised a striking $10 billion from global investors. the investment puts the company on track toward a goal. a spokesman for the company says it is "very concerned" about the company's future.
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Safari operator Pankaj Shah would normally be showing tourists around the beauty spots of his native Kenya. Instead, he is spearheading a volunteer effort to feed thousands of families left penniless when the new coronavirus devastated the economy. “One old woman told us she hadn’t eaten for days - her sons had stopped supplying her because they have no work,” he said, walking down a line of young men packing rice, flour, beans and long-life milk into boxes. Kenya reported its first case of the coronavirus on March 12. Schools closed the following week. Businesses shut, families left the capital and the casual work sustaining the vast majority of urban Kenyans dried up. The government offered tax breaks - little help to those too poor to pay taxes. Newspapers called for “total lockdown” and forgotten families in the slums began to starve and to seethe. “People were getting hungry and angry,” Shah said. Someone had to act, he decided, and he asked a couple of friends to pitch in. A local school, shuttered by the virus, offered their premises as headquarters. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Kenya’s Asian community - officially recognised three years ago as the nation’s 44th tribe - rallied round. They brought cheques or truckloads of food or vegetables planted for export and now marooned by the lack of flights. The operation has been going daily for three weeks. Shah’s volunteers, who call themselves Team Pankaj, have sent out 24,000 hampers since setting up on March 22, each with enough food to last a family of five for two weeks. He is asking wealthy Kenyans to donate 4,000 Kenya shillings each ($40) to fund the hampers - about the cost of two pizzas and a bottle of wine, he points out. “I just need half the rich people here to care enough to fund a hamper,” he says impatiently. His phone buzzes with community leaders, imams, church leaders and chiefs asking for help. Shah tests potential partners with a small distribution - say 100 boxes - and scales up if they handle it well. Last week he sent two lorryloads of food to a distribution in the Deep Sea slum, where residents presented orange tokens and had their fingers inked before carting away the boxes and bags of vegetables. Volunteers helped pregnant women and those with babies. Mary Wangui, 29, said she had been desperate. “You can’t hug a child to sleep when they are hungry,” she said. Although Shah has never run any kind of aid operation before, he has a guiding spirit: Mother Teresa, whom he said he met more than three decades ago in Nairobi. A wheel spun off the Roman Catholic nun’s ancient pickup truck and hit his new Mercedes, he said. The accident brought an unlikely friendship between a “young, wild” businessman and the world famous missionary who cared for the poor, he said. He volunteered with her for three months, he said, and adopted a baby girl from one of her orphanages. “I think about what she would do,” he says, after the coronavirus hit. “That’s the inspiration for the rest of my life.” Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a local school, shuttered by the virus, offered its premises as headquarters. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. it also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from future COVID-19 infection, but also helps build herd immunity.
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business AMFI March data: Liquid funds most hit; inflows into equity funds surge despite volatility The suffering category was Hybrid schemes category. Within this category, Balanced funds' category registered outflows of Rs 1,515 crore and Arbitrage Funds saw a huge unprecedented outflow of Rs 33,767 crores in March. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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inflows into equity funds surge despite volatility. suffering category was Hybrid schemes. Arbitrage Funds saw huge outflow of Rs 33,767 crores. despite volatility, liquid funds' category registered outflows of Rs 1,515 crore. despite this, the market is still largely positive. a softer market is expected to emerge in the coming months.
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By AK Verma COVID-19 has created a complex maze of power financing. Demand is down 28%, and consumption has fallen 25%. The downside may persist even after the lockdown as subdued economic activity would take around a year to regain. As an essential service power supply and maintenance continue but metre reading, billing and collection are disrupted. Discoms in India collect Rs 60,000 crore a month from consumers. Traditionally, outstanding dues, including subsidies, are realised in March. But high paying industrial and commercial consumers are more or less closed. Discoms have to give fixed charge waiver for the period of closure, which has implications. COVID-19 crisis might reduce immediate collections by about Rs 1 lakh crore. Beleaguered discoms with financial losses of Rs 27,000 crore in FY19 are likely to make much higher losses in FY20 and FY21. They would not be able to collect payments even for electricity which has been supplied and would face considerable difficulties to raise working capital. Borrowing limit—25% of previous year revenue—is exhausted. If the challenges are not addressed, resulting stress would soon permeate the entire value chain. Demand for long-term cheap finance from REC and PFC with 3-5 years moratorium will increase. As of January 2020, discom-owned gencos owed Rs 76,000 crore as overdue payments, including disputed bills. Overdue payments create cash flow problems in the value chain, especially for lower capacity generators, as they need to pay in advance to Railways and coal companies. They operate at low plant load factor (PLF), eg, 57.61% in January 2020. With decreasing demand, higher fixed cost for idle capacity would become payable, resulting in further financial loss. Therefore, inefficient generators may have to shut. Gencos would defer the debt servicing payments per RBI guidelines. Ministry of coal has recently permitted a shift from Sight Letter of Credit to Usance Letter of Credit as a COVID-19 mitigation measure. This would reduce the cost of working capital for gencos. Quantities beyond the contracted ones without performance incentive can be lifted from CIL, which has unprecedentedly high stock. These measures should reduce the cost of power production. The benefits must be transferred to consumers as a demand booster. PFC and REC face several challenges in raising cheap finances. First, they are not deposit-taking institutions, and thus, their cost of borrowing is high. Second, reduced capitalisation of PFC after REC takeover has resulted in a further increase in the cost of borrowing. Third, both PFC and REC would not get benefits of a moratorium of interest payments, as they are NBFCs. This will have an implication of Rs 15,000 crore each till June. They will have to raise Rs 25,000 crore each by June to meet the regular discharge of their liabilities. Markets have limited liquidity, and that increases the cost of borrowing. RBI has made Rs 1 Lakh crore available to banks through TLTRO. PFC & REC do not get the advantage of TLTRO. Thus, PFC and REC want funds from LIC and EPFO. They also insist on the conditionality of state guarantee with budget provision to service the debt for lending to state power utilities, as it reduces the risk weight and improves capital adequacy. Corona pandemic is a force majeure situation. Transmission sector operates on a cost-plus basis, while coal and railways are risk-mitigated with advance payments. Generators are secure through implementation of letter of credit mechanisms. Power distributors operate the riskiest business. If upstream stakeholders do not share the risks of distributors, the entire sector will become unsustainable. It is, thus, desirable to reduce fixed-cost burden on discoms. Railways can also think of usance LC mechanism. Return on equity of regulated entities should be revised downward, and depreciation can be deferred. Point of contact charges of transmission utilities should be reduced. Non-essential expenditure must be avoided. Experts are advising the central government to borrow from RBI or borrow from the market beyond the stipulated limit with a commitment to return to fiscal rectitude. States should also be permitted to borrow to an enhanced limit. Ministry of power should immediately constitute a task-force to assess utility wise requirement of capital. Author worked as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power. Views are personal Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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COVID-19 crisis could reduce immediate collections by about Rs 1 lakh crore. discoms with financial losses of Rs 27,000 crore in FY19 likely to make higher losses in FY20 and FY21. gencos owed Rs 76,000 crore as of January 2020 as overdue payments. gencos would defer debt servicing payments per RBI guidelines.
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NEW DELHI: The government promulgated an ordinance on Friday to suspend three sections in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to prevent companies from being forced into insolvency proceeding due to debt default triggered by the Covid-19 crisis.Corporate insolvency resolution filing will be suspended for six months for any debt defaults post March 25, the day the nationwide lockdown was rolled out to contain the spread of the pandemic.The suspension will remain in force for six months or “such further period, not exceeding one year from such date, as may be notified in this behalf”, the ordinance said."...a nationwide lockdown is in force since March 25, 2020 to combat the spread of Covid-19, which has added to the disruption of normal business operations... It is difficult to find resolution applicants to rescue the corporate person who may default in discharge of their debt obligation,” it said.The ordinance received the President’s assent on Friday. The Union cabinet had approved the ordinance on Wednesday.It suspended IBC Sections 7, 9 and 10, to provide relief to borrowers from being dragged into insolvency amid the struggle with the impact of the lockdown.Section 7 of the IBC allows a financial creditor to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process against a corporate debtor. Section 9 provides for application of insolvency by an operational creditor, while Section 10 is for initiation of insolvency resolution proceedings by a corporate applicant.This means that lenders will not be able to drag borrowers into insolvency for any debt default for six months beginning March 25. Equally, borrowers will themselves also not be able to declare bankruptcy in this period.The government has also amended the section that empowered resolution professional to initiate insolvency against promoters or related parties of the corporate defaulter for this period. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the government has suspended three sections in the insolvency and bankruptcy code. the suspension will remain in force for six months or "such further period, not exceeding one year from such date, as may be notified in this behalf" a nationwide lockdown is in force since march 25, 2020 to combat the spread of the pandemic. borrowers will not be able to declare bankruptcy in this period.
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By Barendra Kumar Bhoi Although securing life and livelihood together is a challenging job, wisdom lies in converting challenges into opportunities. The Modi government’s endeavours have been to fight the pandemic head-on and simultaneously support the economy from collapsing. It announced a comprehensive Atmanirbhar Bharat package of Rs 20 trillion in five tranches during May 13-17, including nearly Rs 2 trillion relief package given earlier. The Atmanirbhar package carries the blueprint of the government’s vision for a new India in the medium term. The government has steadfastly avoided soft options so far, like monetisation of deficit/debt, transfer of RBI’s reserves/contingency funds to finance stimulus package, asking RBI to open a direct window to finance NBFCs/MFs, etc. Many experts wonder as to how the government would finance the Rs 20 trillion package proposed in phases. While the uses of funds have been explicitly communicated by the finance minister, the sources of funds need better understanding to clarify misgivings surrounding the large package without a commensurate rise in the gross fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio. The package, in public domain now, has three elements—relief, rehabilitation, and rebooting of the economy through structural reforms. The bulk of the relief is being met by cash outgo from this year’s budget, which is around 1.2% of GDP, while sources of funds for rehabilitation and rebooting are distributed between future revenues of the government, the liability of the public sector units, and RBI. A major part of the rehabilitation package is credit-led. The government has given credit guarantee for Rs 3 trillion collateral-free loans to MSMEs, besides equity support of Rs 40,000 crore and subordinated debt of Rs 20,000 crore. This is a bold decision to keep MSMEs afloat and prevent large-scale lay-offs. Also, revision of MSME definition would enable a wider segment of India’s manufacturing sector to survive and help reboot the economy. RBI has been generous in making durable liquidity available through several channels like cut in CRR, OMO purchases, long-term repo operations (LTRO), targeted LTRO (TLTRO), special refinance, SLR exemption, etc. There is scope to cut the repo rate further and make LTRO/TLTRO funds available at a cheaper rate. Given the growth scenario, it may be difficult to have investment-grade corporate papers to the tune of Rs 8 trillion in FY21. Hence, RBI may have to change the conditionality associated with LTRO/TLTRO funds. Medium-term liquidity should be made available on tap for deployment as loans and/or investment in certain proportions, such that MSMEs are not deprived. The Rs 20 trillion package includes Rs 8 trillion liquidity injected by RBI. The excess liquidity, which currently returns to the RBI balance sheet as reverse repo deposits, is likely to be utilised by the beneficiaries as proposed by the finance minister as soon as lockdown conditions are removed. Since the RBI liquidity is essentially the sources of funds, the Atmanirbhar package works out to Rs 12 trillion on a net basis. Partial/full credit guarantee forms the contingent liability of the government, which has exceeded the permissible limit under the FRBM Act. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, as fiscal arithmetic are unlikely to conform to the RFBM Act, there is a need to review the Act and draw a new timeline to achieve medium-term objectives of fiscal consolidation in India. Part of the relief programme is being met by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in the form of distribution of free cereals/pulses. FCI-led relief will devolve on the government and add to its liability in due course, although it is initially considered as extra-budgetary resources. There is no free lunch anyway. Food security being a government programme, the government has to foot the bill to FCI sooner or later. Rebooting the economy can be done in two ways—through structural reforms and fiscal stimulus or a combination of both. Structural reform proposals in the Atmanirbhar package are many and far-reaching, covering agriculture, industry, mining, infrastructure, defence production, etc. The epicentre of Covid-19 disruption being the real sector, the government has to widen its structural reforms to several areas, besides continuing with ongoing reforms. In fact, the coverage of structural reforms this time is much wider than in the early 1990s. This may invigorate the economy in the medium-term if implemented in a time-bound manner. The Union government’s fiscal deficit in FY21 is likely to increase from 3.5% to 7% of GDP, mainly due to shortfall in revenues and disinvestment. Moreover, the limit of state governments’ borrowings has been increased from 3% to 5% of their respective gross state domestic products, of which 0.5% is unconditional and the rest is conditional. The combined fiscal deficit may vary between 10.5% and 12% of GDP in FY21. As the fiscal space is limited, the government has not been able to give adequate fiscal stimulus so far. However, this may be necessary, going forward. Unless economic activity is fully restored, any fiscal stimulus to augment demand at this stage may go waste. Hopefully, the government may consider fiscal stimulus at a later stage, but limited fiscal space may constrain this effort in a big way. As the domestic market is unable to absorb the enhanced government borrowing without pushing up the yield rate, the government may consider borrowing from abroad in foreign currency, either directly or through PSUs under government guarantee. Floating of Covid-19 tax-free bond for $15 billion in the overseas market, open for all non-residents, including NRIs, may be considered. If necessary, the government may resort to borrowing under bilateral swap arrangements for a similar amount, besides obtaining concessional loans from multilateral institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, the ADB, and the NDB. This would offset the outflow of capital due flight to safety, and smoothen liquidity management as RBI’s short-term liquidity windows expire. The author is Visiting fellow, IGIDR, & former head of RBI’s Monetary Policy Department Views are personal Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the government announced a comprehensive atmanirbhar Bharat package of Rs 20 trillion in five tranches during may 13-17. the package carries the blueprint of the government's vision for a new india in the medium term. many experts wonder as to how the government would finance the Rs 20 trillion package proposed in phases. the bulk of the relief is being met by cash outgo from this year's budget, which is around 1.2% of GDP.
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Representative image Anisha Chand and Anmol Awasthi Today, nearly everything we do has a digital touch to it. Our lives are so entwined with the internet that it would be quite apt to describe ourselves as netizens of a digital era! The rapid digital transformations have challenged several existing legislations which were originally designed to address conventional business models. More particularly, across jurisdictions, the increasing number of global M&A deals in digital and hi-tech markets has challenged the traditional setting of merger control rules. This all started in 2014 when social media giant Facebook acquired WhatsApp. While the deal was worth $19 billion, it did not require an antitrust approval in many jurisdictions since it did not trip the merger thresholds. This sparked an international debate on whether the traditional turnover-based thresholds required a rethink. Let us dive deeper into the workings of the Indian merger control rules to understand the alleged “enforcement gap” and whether deal-size thresholds can effectively plug this gap. Current thresholds in India The Indian merger control thresholds are based on the asset and turnover size of the transacting parties. If breached and no exemptions apply, the deal requires a pre-clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Similar thresholds are also employed by anti-trust regulators worldwide. However, in new-age markets where disruptive innovation is the norm, most companies typically employ business models where the initial focus is on building a strong consumer base. Consequently, the company hardly generates a profitable revenue in its initial years and may even be offering its products or services free of cost. What attracts big technology incumbents to these start-ups is the degree of innovation or market potential and the synergies expected from combining the businesses. Since the target is not asset or turnover heavy, these buyouts (or “killer acquisitions”) fall through the cracks and escape the CCI scrutiny. Thus, even if competitive harm is apparent, the deal’s non-reportability prevents its review by the CCI. The issue is accentuated by the fact that the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) does not allow the CCI to call in and review non-notifiable transactions. Today, many of these killer acquisitions have empowered technology giants to distort market conditions in their favour. Proposal for deal-size thresholds To plug the alleged “enforcement gap” in the extant regime, the Competition Law Review Committee noted that an additional threshold test based on “transaction value” could be introduced to bring high value M&A deals under CCI’s review fold. Subsequently, the Competition Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020, has recently proposed to introduce an enabling provision in the Act which will empower the central government to introduce supplementary notification thresholds under the Act as it deems fit. The way forward Internationally, there is little empirical evidence backing the success of deal size thresholds. Therefore, any amendment to the extant regime should be carefully thought through such that all issues are ironed out before these are introduced. For instance, similar to the present thresholds, deal size thresholds should be objective and simple yet clear in application. Issues such as accurate computation of transaction value for deals where the value is not fixed at execution or based on variable components and establishing the local nexus of a global transaction with Indian markets will need to be addressed in advance. Further, these thresholds should not burden the business with additional compliance requirements to an extent that it delivers a blow to the start-up space and ease of doing business in India. Ultimately, if the government hastens to introduce deal size thresholds, it may just be an unequal attempt to capture a handful of deals -- with genuine competition risks -- by using a sweeping framework of metrics. With the proposed thresholds guaranteeing a surge in reportable transactions in the digital ecosystem, it is advisable for tech companies to keep close tabs on developments to avoid being caught unawares. Anisha Chand is a Partner and Anmol Awasthi is an Associate at Khaitan & Co. Views are personal. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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social media giant Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014. deal was worth $19 billion but did not require antitrust approval in many jurisdictions since it did not trip the merger thresholds. deal requires pre-clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in new-age markets where disruptive innovation is the norm, most companies typically employ business models where the initial focus is on building a strong consumer base.
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