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Albert Einstein had once said that “In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity”. Most of the country is facing the difficulty of an enforced lockdown due to Covid-19. However, this also gives us the opportunity to determine ways to manage our finances better, which could be useful even after the end of this pandemic. Here are 10 easy ways: 1) A great model for your monthly budget is the 50/30/20 rule. 50% of your salary should go toward things that you need (E.g. Food, rent, education, EMIs etc.), 30% on things that you want (E.g. Restaurants, movies, non-food shopping, travel etc.) and 20% allocated to safe investments like debt/equity mutual funds that can be used as a corpus to be used for large expenses (E.g. Health issues, College fees, Weddings etc.). The curfew has greatly limited our ability to go out of the house to spend money on we want. This extended homestay will help you analyze what you really NEED vs what you WANT. 2) Have fun with your family in the kitchen learning to cook exotic new recipes. You will be less dependent on getting cooked meals delivered from restaurants, which will lead to savings. Post the lockdown, make cooking with the family a weekly Sunday activity. Some of the food can even be frozen to be consumed later in the week, when you are looking for something besides the usual “daal, subzi and roti.” 3) Going out for a movie for a family of four gets quite expensive if you include the cost of multiplex tickets & overpriced theatre snacks. Many new movies are now being shown in OTT platforms; like Netflix, Amazon Prime & Hotstar; soon after their theatre release. Get the family to watch these films together with a bowl of homemade popcorn and other snacks. Post this lockdown, you can even invite your friends for a fun evening of movie watching. 4) Analyze the monthly/annual memberships you have for Gyms and social clubs (E.g. Lions, Rotary, Kitty parties etc.). See how often you actually go to them. If your attendance is less than 30% in a year, consider giving these memberships up. Also, have a look at the paid software you have on your laptop & phone. If you have not used them for more than 6 months, consider downgrading to the free versions or using the many other free alternatives available online. 5) If you own more than one car, consider selling the other one. You will be able to travel more conveniently in Ola/Uber in most cities. If you want to drive the car yourself, you can use a self-drive car rental service like Zoomcar to get around. Imagine how much you will save in car EMIs, maintenance, petrol and parking charges through this. 6) Use the time at home to clear out all the stuff you haven’t used in the last year. Please do not hoard things in the hope that you will use them “someday”. Sell these second-hand goods on platforms like Olx or Quikr. Better still, consider donating them to a local NGO. 7) Develop a frugal mindset in all thing and identify ways you can save money. Identify the credit cards/online payment services that give you the best cash backs or rewards and use them as a priority. Purchase non-branded clothes & accessories, which tend to be of similar quality to the expensive brands. Aside from a haircut, most beauty parlor regimes can be done by yourself at home. Raise your home air conditioner temperature to at least 24 degrees Celsius, your body will adapt to the moderate temperature. Change all lightbulbs to cost saving LED or CFL ones. Take all electronics like TVs, A/Cs, Laptops etc. out of standby mode, as this could raise your monthly electrical bills. Keep looking for more of these minor ways to save money. All the little savings will add up to a lot. 8) Aside from cost savings, there are many ways you can increase your monthly income by starting an online business or doing online jobs in the evenings or weekends outside your 9-5 office hours. There are many websites like Upwork & Fiverr that let you bid for projects right from content writing to larger consulting projects. There are many sites that let you provide online tutoring and give other online job opportunities. All of these don’t require any investment except your time. 9) Warren Buffet said that the best time to buy is when everyone is selling. The equity markets will be very volatile for the coming year. However, due to the overall environment of fear, most people are selling their stocks and valuations are at all time lows. If you have a pool of capital that you do not need for living expenses, you may want to purchase stocks of good quality firms periodically as the market dips. This could give you overwhelming returns on your capital over the long term. 10) Have some regard for the less fortunate who are not able to weather the storm as easily as you can. Try to purchase supplies from small shops and hawkers as they need your money more than the large grocery outlets. Also, do not haggle too much as each extra rupee will count. Donate money or time to NGOs who are providing relief efforts for those greatly affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, like the homeless or stray animals. Remember, this tough period will go away at some point. Make the best of this short time to come out financially stronger and give you benefits that will last a lifetime! (By Dr. Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, Shahani Group) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a great model for your monthly budget is the 50/30/20 rule. 50% of your salary should go toward things that you need, 30% on things that you want. have fun in the kitchen learning to cook exotic new recipes. post the lockdown, make cooking with the family a weekly Sunday activity. a good idea is to have a monthly or annual membership for gyms and social clubs.
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The crusade against recovery of funds from defaulters would continue and if necessary be intensified as the nation transforms its credit culture, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in what appeared to be backing the regulator’s stance on defaulters."We lived in a society where the creditor indefinitely chased the debtor, today the roles have reversed," Jaitley told a conference of bankers held by the Indian Banks’ Association. "The need now is that we expedite the process. We need to augment our capacity as far as NCLT and NCALT are concerned. This change of relationship has had a salutary effect."Minister Jaitley ‘s assertion comes amid lobbying by industry that the central bank has been harsh, especially to power sector, with its rule that if a borrower misses payment by even one day would be considered a default and banks commence on how to resolve stress. Some sought judicial intervention as the deadline ended Monday and the Allahabad High Court declined to stay the order.India still remained a strong growth economy despite many complaints, but the external factors such as political crisis in Turkey or a sudden jump in Crude oil prices affect the economy, he said."No doubt we will continue to retain sweet spot of fastest growing economy," said Jaitley. "Macro economic fundamentals are strong. Our challenges are really external."In a veiled attack on the Opposition Congress Party which is claiming credit for about 10 percent growth after the back series of the GDP data were released, Jaitley said that the adverse effects of such a strong growth is more dangerous that called for a moderation."If we have growth on the basis of 31% or 21% credit offtake, history will record it as growth on the back of indiscriminate lending," said Jaitley. "One lesson that all of us must learn – moderation is required rather than just running after numbers."In fact, he blamed the indiscriminate lending during those days that put banks in poor health now."We ended up creating surplus capacities and funding projects which were unable to support debt they have taken," said Jaitley. "Some have indulged in fraudulent practices. The next error we did was to start dressing up and evergreening money that was owed to the banking system." Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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finance minister says he is backing the regulator's stance on defaulters. he blames indiscriminate lending during those days that put banks in poor health. he says the adverse effects of such a strong growth are more dangerous. he says the government must take a more moderate approach. he says the government must not rely on a'stupid' approach to recovery.
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Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit IIM Kozhikode IIMK Chief Product Officer Programme Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Operations Officer Programme Visit Talking to ET Now , CEO,, says considers consumer healthcare as a long-term driver of growth and profitability. This is where the infrastructure building will happen.Edited excerpts:We will know in the next few days how good the growth is but when I refer to the Q3 numbers, it was partially on the back of a very low base of the base quarter. We grow volumes by 13%, revenue by 17% for the domestic consumer business. Obviously, the underlying demand does not support these growths and they will moderate when the base comes into place.What we do envisage, however, is that next year the volume growth will accelerate. We believe that the monsoon predictions look favourable and the stimulus which the government is bound to provide to the rural economy in particular will drive demand upwards. We are looking forward to if not double digit at least very high single digit volume growth in the next fiscal but the Q3 numbers were a little bit on the high side on account of the low base.In FY19, I do not see much rural demand happening even at the current quarter. If you take the syndicated data in terms of growth for urban and rural India for the key categories such as toothpaste and hair oil etc. it is still pretty muted, in low to mid single digits. So, there is nothing to get excited about here. But in the past, I did see a resurgence of demand and we are looking forward to hopefully double digit growth but definitely in the high single digits in the year ahead.Actually, the growth has been pretty secular with the exception of beverages where we have seen muted growth, especially in the context of a strong double digit growth in the past. At this point in time, it is trending in the mid single digits or mid to high single digits and that is a little bit below expectations.I do expect, however, the beverage growth to inch up, given the hot summer and also the demand acceleration. But other than that, if you take categories such as personal care, even hair oils did extremely well last year, as did shampoos. Oral care, of course, has been doing consistently well. Healthcare brands like honey did extremely well. So, it was a pretty wide range and with the exception of beverages we did see good growth in the third quarter.We should continue to see that growth happening of course not to the extent of the third quarter but still it is in the high single digits or mid to high single digits in the quarter or two ahead. Then of course we do believe that perhaps as early as the first quarter of next fiscal, the growth should accelerate and we should end next year on a much better note than this year.Thee are two key drivers here. One is of course seasonality and the other one is epidemic. If you have both, then the sales grow; otherwise, the sales are muted. We do see volatility here and having said that, we are really in the personal applicative space as far as our insect repellent portfolio is concerned. It is harmless and does not have any of the negative ones which the insecticide have. We expect that this is a brand which would grow. We have just scratched the surface and we have very high hopes for brand Odomos.That will accelerate, there is no doubts about it. Of course, we cut back on advertising in the current fiscal particularly in the early part of this year as the first half was very muted in terms of the ad spends because of the GST and demonetisation effects. The demand also was crunched quite a bit. On the back of comparatively low base this year and even of the last year, we will be growing our media spends very aggressively.Having said that, we will probably cut back a little on consumer promotions. The overall advertisement spends would definitely grow in the strong double digit next year.A few categories, In hair oils we will see some erosion of share of the unorganised sector, but in categories let us say like shampoos or toothpaste, there is hardly any unorganised sector left. Everything has moved over to the organised sector more than a couple of years ago. So, I do not think there will be any gains on that account but categories like hair oils would stand to gain with the introduction of GST. We will benefit from that.I do not see any margin erosion at the gross margin level next year on account of inflation even though inflation would be much higher than what we experienced in the last couple of years. We should be able to mitigate that and I do see margins being pretty flat at the gross margin level at least in the next fiscal. So, inflation is not a big concern. We have the means and the pricing power to deal with it.Yes, you would see a strong revival in the margin delivery of the international business. One, the translation losses which we are experiencing on account of sharp currency devaluations will be comparatively muted in the next fiscal. That would be one huge area where the margin expansion would happen; Two, expect better management of cost in the international business given its very high growth rate in the past few years. Except for the last two years, the cost also mounted accordingly and when the deceleration happened, we had to cut cost which obviously takes a bit of time.We are now in a situation where we have a much leaner infrastructure in the international business than ever in the past. That should also help in aiding margin recovery. Having said that, we would also be spending considerably more on advertising like in the India business because we have under invested in that area over the last year or two. But despite that, we would definitely see double digit margin expansion in the international business.There are some areas of investment in terms of infrastructure building etc. and the domestic business in consumer healthcare. It is a slow journey and so I do not think it is going to be very visible in the next year or two but it is something which we are very committed to.We do see consumer healthcare being a long-term driver of our growth and profitability. So this is where the infrastructure building will happen, this is where you will see a lot more activity. There will be a lot more of the OTC switches happening, a lot more prescriptive support and infrastructure being built. So, a lot of things will be happening in consumer healthcare and some of the results will be visible this year and next year fiscal but even more so, we would accelerate our focus and our share of the whole portfolio towards consumer healthcare in the years ahead. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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talk to ET Now about consumer healthcare as a long-term driver of growth and profitability. "the monsoon predictions look favourable and the stimulus which the government is bound to provide to the rural economy" "we are looking forward to if not double digit at least very high single digit volume growth in the next fiscal," says CEO. "the growth has been pretty secular with the exception of beverages where we have seen muted growth"
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Star performers despite global turbulence These companies reported positive net foreign exchange earnings over five years. The spillover effect between global and domestic markets have a significant bearing on a nation’s economic growth. The spillover effect can be defined as the impact certain events in one economy has on another economy. For example, a consumption slowdown in the US negatively impacts countries that export a major share of their production to the US. On the other hand, a slowdown in China leads to a supply chain disruption for the world’s producers, as China is a major supplier of raw materials.Over the past few years, the world has seen US-China trade tensions, credit tightening in China, economic upheaval in Argentina and Turkey, the build up to Brexit and a slowdown in some big emerging economies including India. According to IMF’s October 2019 World Economic Outlook report, the volume of global trade in the first half of 2019 saw the slowest growth for any six-month period since 2012. However, it expects a modest recovery in global trade growth, projected at 3.2 % in 2020 and 3.75% thereafter.Of 403 companies in the BSE500 index, for which net forex earnings data are available, over 59% have reported negative forex earnings in 2018-19. Net forex earnings is total inflows in foreign currency minus total outflows in foreign currency. Inflows include export revenue, technology transfer fees, dividends and interest earnings. Outflows include raw materials, spare imports, capital outflows, royalty and loan repayment. In the backdrop of issues the global economy is experiencing, we tried to identify companies that have continued to do good overseas business and remained resilient to global developments.PE and RoE(%) are Bloomberg’s 12-month blended forward estimates. Current price as on 5 Nov. Source: ACE Equity & Bloomberg. *Dolat Capital estimates for 2019-20.Data for the past five years, starting 2014-15, for 638 companies with market cap greater than Rs 500 crore were analysed. Only those companies that reported positive net forex earnings in all of the past five years were included. Moreover, companies where y-o-y growth rate of net forex earnings was positive in the defined time frame were filtered out. We found 32 such companies. These have also delivered marketbeating returns across time frames.The average 2, 3, 4 and 5-year returns of these 32 companies were 13.95% (31 companies), 45.1% (30 companies), 100.3% (28 companies) and 193.1% (28 companies) respectively. The number of companies with share price data available in the respective time frames is mentioned in brackets.Comparatively, BSE 500 delivered 5.7%, 28.9%, 43.5% and 47.05% returns in the given time. All returns are absolute and point to point, with 30 October the latest date. Let us look at four companies (out of 32) that are covered by a minimum of five Bloomberg analysts and with a one-year forward price potential of more than 10%.This pharma company exports to over 150 countries and derives more than 90% of its revenue from international operations. According to a JP Morgan report, the uncertainty after the company received US FDA’s Form 483 will remain an overhang in the near term. However, the current stock price barely factors in the EPS rate and imparts no value to the Sandoz deal, growth in ex-oral solid revenue, approval from other OSD facilities and growth from ex-US revenue and hence provides a good buy opportunity. The research house believes the stock price performance over the next year will be supported by earnings visibility.The company offers multi-disciplinary learning management and training delivery solutions in over 30 countries. The company reported strong operating performance in the September quarter. Dolat Capital is bullish on the company due to large deals ramp up and operating leverage gains that will improve the revenue momentum in its corporate lending business. The brokerage house expects cash yields to improve in 2019-20 and 2020-21.This tech firm provides IT solutions to the retail, manufacturing and distribution, travel and software industries. Reliance Securities is bullish on the stock due to Sonata’s differentiated business model, focus on IP and platforms, high dividend yield, quality balance sheet, high RoE, and no equity dilution for several years.This IT company with 33 global offices is engaged in computer programming, consultancy, software development and business process management. A report by Maybank Kim Eng expects 16-17% revenue growth (USD) for the next two years driven by acquisitions and organic growth. The company’s revenue growth is backed by large contracts and its industry targeted strategies are playing out. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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over 59% of 403 companies in the BSE500 index have reported negative forex earnings in 2018-19. net forex earnings is total inflows in foreign currency minus total outflows in foreign currency. inflows include export revenue, technology transfer fees, dividends and interest earnings. outflows include raw materials, spare imports, capital outflows, royalty and loan repayment.
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NEW DELHI: Reliance Communications, with over 1.71 crore shares changing hands, emerged as the most traded stock on NSE early Monday.It was followed by, Jaiprakash Associates (number of shares traded: 1.54 crore), National Aluminium Company (Nalco) (0.63 crore) and Ruchi Soya Industries (0.56 crore).BHEL (0.35 crore), LIC Housing Finance (0.28 crore), Suzlon Energy (0.27 crore), Punjab National Bank (PNB) (0.26 crore), State Bank of India (SBI) (0.24 crore) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) (0.23 crore) too were among the most traded securities on NSE.On the other hand, LIC Housing Finance (Rs 149.77 crore) was leading the pack of most active stocks in terms of value on NSE.Reliance Industries (RIL) (Rs 133.38 crore), HDFC Asset Management Company (Rs 119.86 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 110.69 crore), Axis Bank (Rs 92.72 crore), Hexaware (Rs 89.76 crore), SBI (Rs 74.33 crore), YES Bank (Rs 71.49 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 65.76 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 59.77 crore) were the other stocks that joined the bandwagon of most active stock in value terms.Frontline equity indices Sensex and Nifty touched fresh record highs on Monday in the backdrop of a rise in global stocks after the US Fed chairman Jerome Powell in his speech at Jackson Hole said that a gradual approach to raising rates was the best way to protect the US economy and job growth.Easing global crude oil prices and a fresh rise in the Indian rupee against the US dollar influenced the sentiment.The NSE Nifty index was trading 91 points up at 11,648, while the BSE Sensex was up 317 points at 38,569 around 09:40 am.Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty index, 44 were in the green and six were in the red.Grasim Industries, Power Grid Corporation of India, YES Bank, Hindalco Industries and State Bank of India were among top gainers, while Bharti Infratel, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Zee Entertainment Enterprises were the losers in the Nifty index. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Reliance Communications, with over 1.71 crore shares changing hands, emerged as the most traded stock on NSE early Monday. it was followed by, Jaiprakash Associates (number of shares traded: 1.54 crore), National Aluminium Company (Nalco) and Ruchi Soya Industries (0.56 crore) LIC Housing Finance (Rs 149.77 crore) was leading the pack of most active stocks in terms of value on NSE.
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The rout in Asian equity markets this year has not been for the faint-hearted. Yet, investment experts at private banks say it’s time for clients to indulge in a bit of bargain hunting.Wealth managers such as UBS Group and DBS Group are recommending clients dip their toes in structured products based on regional stocks, while Bank of Singapore has upgraded Asia ex-Japan equities. Concerns about the health crisis’ economic repercussions have wiped out $5.5 trillion in Asian stock-market value since January 20 when traders began reacting to virus fears. The region’s benchmark index, which snapped a four-day advance to fall 1.8% as of 11:35 am in Singapore, is set for its worst quarter since 2008, led by energy shares.While the past week’s rebound has failed to convince most investors that the market has hit a bottom, private banks are not sitting idle. Here’s what investment chiefs are recommending to clients.“Look for oversold names,” Kelvin Tay, the Asia Pacific chief investment officer for UBS’s wealthmanagement unit, wrote in a note Wednesday. Historically low valuations for regional stocks excluding Japan are offering opportunities in companies related to online consumption, such as gaming, e-commerce and food delivery, he added. The Swiss bank is also recommending China property shares listed in Hong Kong, Japanese automation and machinery companies and 5Grelated firms.In an interview earlier this month, Tay said investors can consider structured products such as equity-linked notes and reverse convertible notes on Singapore bank stocks for lower “entry points.” “You are talking about banks yielding 6% and a tier-1 capital ratio of about 15% -- you can’t get it anywhere else in the world,” he said.“We are quite near the bottom in Asian equities,” said Hou Wey Fook, DBS Bank’s chief investment officer, pointing to valuation indicators trading near historical lows, implied volatility levels, and “playbooks from SARS” and the global financial crisis. Within the region’s equities, the Singapore-headquartered bank favors China shares. Clients have been investing in beaten-down Singapore real estate investment trusts and health-care stocks by purchasing securities or structured products enhancing yields, added Joseph Poon, group head of DBS Private Bank. He said there’s been an up-tick in clients’ trading volume this year.According to Patrick Ho, HSBC Private Banking’s chief market strategist for North Asia, investors still need to manage the “very weak economic and profit data of the coming weeks and months.” But in the meantime, the private bank is recommending companies with “above average” profitability, strong balance sheets, the ability to pay stable dividends and strong brand presence. Ho said he has identified such firms in the consumer, technology and telecommunication sectors in Asia as well as China’s real estate. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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private banks are recommending clients dip their toes in structured products based on regional stocks. concerns about the health crisis’ economic repercussions have wiped out $5.5 trillion in Asian stock-market value since January 20. the region's benchmark index is set for its worst quarter since 2008, led by energy shares. Historically low valuations for regional stocks excluding Japan are offering opportunities in companies related to online consumption.
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Petrol, diesel prices today: The oil marketing companies (OMCs) cut the petrol and diesel prices for the 12th straight day on Monday amid softening global crude prices. The petrol rates, after many months of rise across the country, fell below Rs 80 per liter in Delhi Monday. The prices of petrol and diesel in Delhi today are Rs 79.75 per litre (down by Rs 0.30) and Rs 73.85 per litre (down by Rs 0.20), respectively. The petrol and diesel prices in Mumbai on Monday are Rs 85.24 per litre (down by Rs 0.30) and Rs 77.40 per litre (down by Rs 0.21), respectively. Also read: Stocks in news: ICICI Bank, BPCL, HDFC AMC, Cox & Kings, Axis Bank among top stocks to track today The petrol is now being retailed at Rs 82.86 in Chennai and Rs 81.63 in Kolkata.The prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai eased to Rs 73.85, Rs 75.70 and Rs 78.08 a litre respectively. The oil prices were stable on Monday, supported by a bounce in Asian stocks, but analysts said sentiment remained cautious after a plunge in financial markets last week triggered worries that global growth may be slowing. Front-month Brent crude oil futures were at $77.63 a barrel at 0221 GMT, 1 cent above their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $67.65 a barrel, up 6 cents from their last settlement. Before petrol and diesel prices began declining on October 18, the fuel prices had touched unprecedented levels across the country. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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petrol and diesel prices in Delhi and Mumbai are down for 12th straight day. prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai eased to Rs 73.85, 75.70 and 78.08 a litre. analysts said sentiment remained cautious after a plunge in financial markets last week triggered worries that global growth may be slowing. the fuel prices had touched unprecedented levels across the country.
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Fintech major Razorpay on Friday said it has acquired payroll and HR management software company, Opfin. The company did not disclose the amount it has raised. The acquisition will enable businesses to not only manage their payroll process and fund transfers, but also manage filing of taxes, compliances through a single platform without hiring any external vendors, Razorpay said in a statement. “Payroll is a fragmented market with no clear solution. With Opfin, Razorpay hopes to make this effort a lot easier with robust technology and an enhanced experience. This acquisition is a significant part of RazorpayX’s business banking strategy,” it added. RazorpayX is the company’s AI-driven neo-banking platform. This is Razorpay’s second acquisition in the last six months, after Thirdwatch, an AI-driven company specialising in big data and machine learning for real-time fraud prevention. Besides, Razorpay launched corporate credit cards for SMEs and startups in partnership with RBL. With this launch, Razorpay aims to solve challenges around access to credit, short term credit, reconciliation, expense filing and help businesses lead a healthy financial life, it said. These announcements were made at the second edition of FTX, Razorpay’s flagship fintech conference in Bengaluru. “It is important to think about financial inclusion not just in terms of consumers but also in terms of businesses…The move we have made today, helps us expand our horizon in payments and banking and solve new challenges for ambitious businesses who are wanting to disrupt the Indian economy,” Razorpay CEO and co-founder Harshil Mathur said. Currently, the payments business forms 70 per cent of Razorpay’s revenue and the neo-banking platform, Razorpay X along with Razorpay Capital forms the rest 30 per cent. The company has been witnessing a growth rate of 35 per cent month-on-month. “Currently powering payments for over 8 lakh businesses including the likes of Indigo, BSE, Thomas Cook, Reliance, SpiceJet, Aditya Birla, Sony and Oyo, the team plans to increase this to 14 lakh by 2020. This neo-banking platform expects a 4x growth in its volumes by the end of the next fiscal year,” the statement said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the acquisition will enable businesses to manage payroll and fund transfers. it will also manage filing of taxes and compliances through a single platform. this is Razorpay’s second acquisition in the last six months. it follows thirdwatch, an AI-driven company specialising in big data and machine learning for real-time fraud prevention. the company has been witnessing a growth rate of 35 per cent month-on-month.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk We may be exposed to interest rate changes primarily as a result of long-term debt used to fund operations and capital expenditures. Our use of derivative instruments is intended to manage our exposure to interest rate movements. To achieve our objectives we borrow primarily at fixed rates or variable rates with the lowest credit spreads available. With regard to variable-rate financing, we assess interest rate risk by continually identifying and monitoring changes in interest rate exposures that may adversely impact expected future cash flows and by evaluating hedging opportunities. We maintain risk management control systems to monitor interest rate cash flow risk attributable to both our outstanding and forecasted debt obligations, as well as our potential offsetting hedge positions. The risk management control systems involve the use of analytical techniques, including cash flow sensitivity analysis, to estimate the expected impact of changes in interest rates on our future cash flows. We may use derivative financial instruments to hedge exposures to changes in interest rates. To the extent we do, we are exposed to market and credit risk. Market risk is the adverse effect on the value of the financial instrument that results from a change in interest rates. Market risk associated with derivative instruments is managed by establishing and monitoring parameters that limit the types and degree of market risk that may be undertaken. Credit risk is the failure of the counterparty to perform under the terms of the derivative contract. When the fair value of the derivative instrument is positive, the counterparty owes us, which creates credit risk to us. The credit risk associated with derivative instruments is managed by entering into transactions with a variety of highly-rated counterparties. As of December 31, 2020, we had $900.0 million of outstanding variable-rate indebtedness which bears interest at a rate equal to LIBOR plus credit spreads ranging from 105 basis points to 125 basis points. We have interest rate swap agreements on $800.0 million of our variable-rate indebtedness, which effectively convert the base rate on the indebtedness from variable to fixed. If market rates of interest on our variable-rate debt increased or decreased by 100 basis points, the change in annual interest expense on our variable-rate debt would decrease earnings and cash flows by approximately $1.0 million or increase earnings and cash flows by approximately $1.0 million, respectively (after taking into account the impact of the $800.0 million of interest rate swap agreements). The table below presents the maturity profile, weighted average interest rates and fair value of total debt as of December 31, 2020. The table has limited predictive value as average interest rates for variable-rate debt included in the table represent rates that existed as of December 31, 2020 and are subject to change. Furthermore, the table below incorporates only those exposures that exist as of December 31, 2020 and does not consider exposures or positions that may have arisen or expired after that date. As a result, our ultimate realized gain or loss with respect to interest rate fluctuations will depend on the exposures that arise during future periods, our hedging strategies at that time, and actual interest rates. (1) Weighted average interest rates include the impact of our interest rate swap agreements and are calculated based on the total debt balances as of the end of each year, assuming the repayment of debt on its scheduled maturity date. (2) The interest rates on our variable rate debt are based on credit rating grids. The credit rating grids and all-in-rates on outstanding variable rate debt as of December 31, 2020 are as follows: (1) Our Revolving Facility is further subject to a facility fee ranging from 0.13% to 0.30%, which is excluded from the all-in-rate presented above. (3) We have in place seven interest rate swap agreements that convert the variable interest rates on all or a portion of three variable rate debt instruments to fixed rates. The balances subject to interest rates swaps as of December 31, 2020 are as follows (dollars in thousands): Item 8. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk provides information about our exposure to interest rate changes. We may use derivative financial instruments to hedge exposures to changes in interest rates, and we have established risk management control systems to monitor interest rate cash flow risk. As of December 31, 2020, we had $900.0 million of outstanding variable-rate indebtedness and seven interest rate swap agreements that convert the variable interest rates on all or a portion of three variable rate debt instruments to fixed rates. If market rates of interest on our variable-rate debt increased or decreased by 100 basis points, the change in annual interest expense on our variable-rate debt would decrease earnings and cash flows by approximately $1.0 million or increase earnings and cash flows by approximately $1.0 million, respectively.
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New Delhi: Payment solutions provider AGS Transact Technologies has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to mop-up Rs 1,000 crore through an initial public offer.In addition, another firm Harsha Engineers, manufacturer of precision bearing cages, has also approached Sebi to float an IPO AGS' initial share-sale comprises fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 400 crore, besides, an offer for sale worth up to Rs 600 crore by the existing shareholders, draft papers filed with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed.Besides, the company plans a pre-IPO placement of up to 50 lakh equity shares for up to Rs 125 crore.Funds raised through the issue will be used for payment of certain loans and other general corporate purposes.This is the company's third attempt to hit the capital market Earlier, AGS had filed initial papers with Sebi in 2015 to raise up to Rs 1,350 crore through an initial public offer (IPO). It had secured the regulator's go ahead too but did not go ahead with the plan.Prior to that, the firm had filed draft papers with the markets watchdog in 2010 but did not launch the public issue.ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, HDFC Bank , IIFL Holdings, IndusInd Bank and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd will manage the company's issue.Harsha Engineers' IPO comprises fresh issuance of shares worth up to Rs 370 crore, and an offer for sale of up to 3,31,250 equity shares each by Rajendra Shantilal Shah, Harish Ranjit Rangwala, Charusheela Harish Rangwala and Nirmala Rajendra Shah.Proceeds of the issue will be utilised towards purchase of machinery in the country; investment in Harsha Engineers Europe SRL by ways of equity infusion; investment in Harsha Precision Bearing Components (China) Company in the form of debt capital; infrastructure development for existing facilities in the country and for other general corporate purposes.Axis Capital and Edelweiss Financial Services are the merchant bankers of the issue. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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AGS transact Technologies has filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi. company plans pre-IPO placement of up to 50 lakh equity shares for up to Rs 125 crore. funds raised through the issue will be used for payment of certain loans. another firm has also approached the regulator to float an IPO. ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, HDFC Bank, IIFL Holdings, IndusInd Bank and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd will manage
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Sensex, Nifty UPDATE: Sensex and Nifty logged their highest losses ever after rising number of coronavirus cases in India and the resultant lockdown in a majority of states took a heavy toll on the financial markets today. While Sensex lost 3,934 points to 25,981 , Nifty closed 1,135 points lower at 7,610. During the session, Sensex hit an intraday low of 25,880 and Nifty fell to 7,583. All Sensex and Nifty stocks closed in the red. After today's fall, Sensex has lost 15,188 points or 36.89% in last one month and Nifty has fallen 37.01% or 4,470 points during the period. The crash in benchmark indices today came after the number of infected cases from coronavirus zoomed to 415 in the country. The government imposing lockdown in 75 districts to mitigate the threat of rising coronavirus cases also weakened market sentiment. All 19 sectoral indices ended in the red with banks and financial indices losing the most. Market breadth was highly negative with 232 stocks ending in the green against 2037 closing in the red. With economic activity coming to a halt due to the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with all industry bodies today to assess the state of economy in the wake of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today: Closing on Monday 3: 45 PM Indices Sensex and Nifty closed over 13% lower on Monday after the number of infected cases from coronavirus zoomed to 415 in the country. This was also on of the government imposing lockdown in 75 districts all over the country to mitigate the threat of rising coronavirus cases. Sensex ended 3,934 points lower at 25,981 and Nifty closed 1,135 points lower at 7,610. During the sesiion, Sensex hit an intraday low as well as one year low of 25,880 and Nifty at 7,583. All indices deep in red 3: 35 PM Where Nifty Bank has declined 17%, Nifty finance has dropped 16.40%, Nifty Auto 14%. There is 10-11% fall seen in pharma and metal indices. Sensex hit 25 K mark, Nifty at 7,600 3: 15 PM Market has dropped over 13% in Monday's bearish session. Sensex was trading 4,000 points lower at 25,970 and Nifty was 1,152 points lower at 7,583. Market update 3:05 PM As per Bloomerg data, the overall market capitalisation has dropped by 9.57%, with 1,987 declines against 224 stocks advancing and 1,895 unchanged. Global scenario 2: 50 PM Asian stocks trade mostly lower following the worst week on Wall Street that ended the week with a 17.3% loss and US equity Futures dropping over 1,300 points from intraday high. Hong Kong HangSeng also closed sharply lower today, at a drop of 4.8%, while Singapore's SGX Nifty was down 7%. Shanghai Composite index closed 3% lower. In the meanwhile, European indices opened with deep cuts and FTSE, DAxa nd CAC declined 3-4% amid the rising outbreak. In US, optimism that emergency actions by central banks and governments to ease the economic damage was waned as investors awaited for the Trump administration to deliver on legislation that will pump billions of dollars into hurting households and industries. Market Update 2: 25 PM Earlier, the downfall of 10% in Sensex led the Indian equity market to halt trading for 45 minutes today, same as on March 13. Nifty at circuit levels of 10% lower touched at 7,871 today. If the index drops 15% intraday, it will land at 7,434 mark and an overall drop of 20% will take the 50-share barometer on NSE to 6,996 level. Sensex, Nifty trade at day's low 2: 20 PM BSE 30-share index Sensex declined 3,525 points lower at 26,389 and NSE 50-share Nifty traded 1,007 points lower at 7,738 mark. 52-week lows today 1: 45 PM Around 925 stocks fell to touch their 52-week lows on NSE in Monday's session. Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, M&M, Coal India, NTPC, Vedanta and Tata Motor DVR, Advanced Enzymes, All Cargo Logistics, Apex Frozen Foods, Apollo Micro Systems and Anup Engineering were among the top stocks that hit their respective 52-week low values today. Stocks at 3-year lows today 1: 30 PM Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Titan, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto were trading near their respective 3-year lows on Sensex. Market update 1: 15 PM Sensex and Nifty halted trading today for the second time this month after government imposed lockdown in 75 districts to mitigate the threat of rising coronavirus cases in the country.The downfall of 10% or triggering of circuit breaker in Sensex at 9:58 am led the Indian equity market to halt trading for 45 minutes. 10 stocks that hit fresh highs today Stocks that trade 50 % lower since YTD 1:00 PM Overall 12 stocks namely IndusInd Bank, RIL, Bajaj Auto, SBI, Axis BANK, ICICI Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro and ONGC have lost 50% since the start of this year on BSE. Similarly, 9 stocks on Nifty that are trading 50% lower since the beginning of the year were Indusind Bank, Tata Motors, Hindalco, Vedanta, Zee Entertainment, Axis Bank, UPL, and ONGC Top gainers and losers on Nifty 12: 40 PM Indiabulls Housing (3.96%), Thyrocare Tech(3.78%), IPCA Laboratories (1.00%)and Dr Lal Pathlabs were among the top gainers on Nifty. Grasim Industries (23.54%), Indusind Bank (22.29%), Bajaj Finserv (1.23%), Bajaj Finance (20.39%), Axis Bank (20.14%), Adani Ports &Special (20.14%), JSW Steel (19.91%) and ICICI Bank (15%) were among the top losers on NSE Nifty for the day. Banking indices decline the most 12: 30 PM Bank Nifty, private banking and bluechip financial sector-based indices of NSE Nifty were falling more than 10% in today's trade, with shares of Axis Bank, ICICI Bank leading the losses. Companies announce temporary shutdowns 12:20 PM In recent market cues, many companies have been shutting down productions due to the closure amid the virus pandemic. Enkei Wheels India announced today abot shutting down operations until March 31, 2020. Further, in recent announcements of Monday, companies such as DCM Shriram Industries, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Subros Ltd, Bharat Forge, Pokarna Limited & Pokarna Engineered Stone Limited, Sunil Industries , SL Limited, SML Isuzu, Shree Cement, Whirlpool of India, Lumax Auto Technologies, Machino Plastics, TVS Motor Company,Royal Enfield, GNA Axles, Asian Paints, Minda Industries, Lumax Industries, Siemens, Jtekt etc. have announced closure of operations and shutdown of facilities until further notice. Sensex, Nifty back at year 2017 level 12: 15 PM Both the barometers have wiped out in recent sessions by opening at multiple gap down and traded back at early 2017 year levels. In one month's period, Sensex and Nifty have declined 35% each. Today, Sensex was trading 3,417 points lower at 26,498 and Nifty was down 1002 points to 7,743. Indices hit 52-week low again 12:00 PM Sensex has fallen 3,594 points to the day's low of 26,321.88 on March 23, 2020. This is also the fresh 52-week low for the 30-share barometer. Nifty50 on a similar note hit a new one year low of 7,832.55, falling 912 points during the day. During the last week's trade,the Sensex plummeted 4,187.52 points or 12.27 per cent, while the Nifty sank 1,209.75 points or 12.15 per cent. Market at day's low 11: 50 AM Market indices Sensex and Nifty are trading 10.6% lower on Monday's afternoon trading session, backed by heavy sell off in index heavyweights like RIL, ICICI ank, Maruti. Overseas, trend was majorly bearish amid rising number of COVID-19 cases, creating liquidity crisis, supply distruptions and chances of a prolonged global recession. Market trading was for 45 minutes within the first trading hour on Monday with indices dropping 10 % each. Earlier than this, Dalal street was halted for one hour of trading on March 14, 2020. Earlier, market indices opened almost 7% lower as domestic investors fretted over the concerns of economic growth in the wake of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. This was on account of sharp decline in the Asian counterparts, as market sentiments weakened on increasing numbers of infected Covid-19 cases worldwide and its impact on the economy. Nifty gap levels 11: 45 AM Nifty has created gaps in trade in the levels between 8,954-9,059, 8,294-8,321 in earlier trades. Further after falling to 7K mark, the 50-stock barometer has made gaps between levels of 7,808-7,760, 7,254-7,307 and 7,021-7,066 respectively. Nifty lower ciruit levels 11: 35 AM Nifty at circuit levels of 10% lower atoos at 7,871 today. Further 15% drop will result to 7,434 mark and drop of 20% will take the 50-share barometrer on NSE to 6,996 level. Top losers today 11:30 AM ICICI Bank (10%), Ultratech Cement (9.84%) and Axis Bank (9.71% )were top Sensex losers. On Nifty, Ultratech Cement (10%), Bajaj Finance (10%) and Maruti (10% ) were the top losers. All sectors deep in red 11: 20 AM All sectors traded deep in red on Monday. Where private banking and bank index fell 15% each, auto and realty dropped 11%. Metal, FMCG and PSU Bank dropped 10% each and IT, media index were down 8%. Trading resumes 11: 10 AM Sensex and Nifty started 10.5% lower after reopening from the 45 minutes of trading halt on Monday. Where Sensex fell 3,200 points, Nifty fell 950 points. Although, later indices recovered from day's lows and traded 9.7% lower. BSE 30-share index Sensex declined 2,995 points lower at 26,924 and NSE 50-share Nifty traded 842 points lower at 7,903 mark. Earlier, market trading was for 45 minutes within the first trading hour on Monday with indices dropping 10 % each. Earlier than this, Dalal street was halted for one hour of trading on March 14, 2020. Coronavirus cases in India 11:00 AM The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surged to 419 in India, according the the Health Ministry. This includes 8 deaths and also comprises 30 patients who tested positive but were discharged after undergoing treatment. Earlier circuit on March 13 10: 55 AM This is the second time this year, Indian indices have hit the circuit breaker. On March 13, Nifty plunged 10.07% or 966 points to 8,625 at 9:20 am after which trading was halted for 45 minutes in Indian equity market. Sensex hits circuit breaker of 10%, trading halted on BSE, NSE Rupee declines to all-time low 10: 40 AM The rupee which opened on a weak note at 75.90 at the interbank forex market, lost further ground and touched a low of 76.15 against the US dollar, registering a decline of over 95 paise over its last close. Rupee vs Dollar: Rupee falls to all-time low of 76.15 on coronavirus scare Brent crude declines 2.7% 10: 30 AM Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 2.74 per cent to USD 26.24 per barrel. Market Update 10: 20 AM The 30 stocks on BSE Sensex and 50 scrips of NSE Nifty50 were trading in red. FII/ DII action on Friday 10: 25 AM The steep decline in domestic equities and sustained foreign fund outflows further dampened the sentiment today. On a net basis, Foreign investors remained net sellers in Indian capital markets as they pulled out more than Rs 3,345.95 crore on Friday, market data showed. On the contrary, domestic investors bought Rs 2,431.24 crore worth of shares in equity markets on Friday. Market cap worth Rs 7.90 lakh cr lost 10: 20 AM Investors lost Rs 7.90 lakh crore within minutes of opening trade on Monday as Sensex and Nifty gauged the economic impact of a lockdown in most Indian states. SEBI revises derivatives position limit 10:17 AM Putting in place a tighter framework to curb high market volatility, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday announced revising market wide position limit for stocks in the derivatives segment, flexing dynamic price bands and other measures for one month starting from March 23. Market update 10:15 AM According to traders, extreme lockdown measures taken by government in India and world over has put immense pressure in investor sentiment. As the virus cases climbed, the central and state governments in the country decided to lock down 75 districts from where Covid-19 cases have been reported to break the chain of transmission, and the Health Ministry said states would earmark hospitals to exclusively treat coronavirus patients. Coronavirus in India Live updates: PM Modi to interact with industry bodies on economic impact of COVID-19 Top losers 10: 10 AM All Sensex components were trading in the red, with Bajaj Finance tanking up to 14 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Maruti and M&M. Friday's session 10: 05 AM During the last trading week till Friday, the Sensex plummeted 4,187.52 points or 12.27 per cent, while the Nifty sank 1,209.75 points or 12.15 per cent. Rupee falls to 75.16 per dollar 9: 55 AM The Indian rupee slipped further by 95 paise to 76.15 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday amid sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country and heavy selling in domestic equities. Sectors today 9: 40 AM All sectors traded in red. Where private banking and realty fell 9% each, auto and financials dropped 8.4%. IT index was down 7%, while metal, FMCG and PSU Bank dropped 6% each. Market update 9:30 AM Snapping Friday's bullish trend, market indices opened almost 7% lower on Monday as domestic investors fretted over the concerns of economic growth in the wake of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. BSE 30-share index Sensex traded 27,463 points lower at 27,367 and NSE 50-share Nifty traded 686 points lower at 8,055 mark. Opening Bell 9: 18 AM Sensex has opened 2,548 points lower at 27,367 and Nifty opened at 757 points lower at 7,988 mark. On domestic grounds, tensions escalated further as the government put 75 districts in lockdown from Monday after the seventh death reported in India. Further Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with all industry bodies to assess the state of economy in the wake of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi will preside the meet via video conferencing on Monday at 4 pm. Pre open session today 9:05 AM Indices Sensex and Nifty registered a gap-down opening on Monday on account of sharp decline in the Asian counterparts, as market sentiments weakened on increasing numbers of infected Covid-19 cases worldwide and its impact on the economy. Sensex opened 2,500 points lower at 27,590 and Nifty opened at 786 points lower at 7,950 mark. PM Modi to hold meet with industry bodies 8: 55 AM On domestic grounds, tensions escalated further as the government put 75 districts in lockdown from Monday after the seventh death reported in India. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with all industry bodies to assess the state of economy in the wake of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. PM Modi will preside the meet via video conferencing on Monday at 4 pm. Coronavirus in India Live updates: PM Modi to interact with industry bodies on economic impact of COVID-19 SGX Nifty Futures down 1,000 points 8: 45 AM SGX Nifty on Singaporean Exchange traded 1,000 points lower at 7,755 level, indicating a weak opening at the domestic grounds. Global market scenario 8: 35 AM Asian stocks were in line with US markets and fell on Monday as more countries were shutting down in a fight against the coronavirus outbreak, indicating a deep global recession. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 2%, with South Korea badly hit. Japan's Nikkei added 0.8% Australian market shed 5%. European indices closed in green on Friday, with CAC rising 5%, DAX up 3% and FTSE up 0.75%. US Futures (Dow Jones) trades at 18,175, down 865 points or 4.54%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.55%. The S&P 500 lost 4.34% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.79% on Friday. Coronavirus updates 8:30 AM India's biggest automaker Maruti Suzuki India and peers including Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Sunday they will halt car production in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. The government has also initiated measures to ensure adequate domestic production of raw materials going into pharmaceutical drug manufacturing amid coronavirus outbreak. The decision will help Indian manufacturers reduce their over-dependence on China for key raw materials Globally, there are currently 337,553 confirmed cases and 14,654 deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of March 23, 2020In India, panic escalated as coronavirus (Covid-19) cases rose to 396. The death toll from coronavirus has risen to 7 in the country. Stocks to watch today on March 23 8: 15 AM YES Bank, Aster DM Healthcare, Welspun, Torrent Power among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Monday's trading session Stocks in news: YES Bank, Aster DM Healthcare, Welspun, Torrent Power and more Last closing 8: 00 AM Equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed 5.8% higher on Friday, tracking overseas trend as investors banked on measures announced by policymakers worldwide to combat the virus outbreak. The 30-share index ended at 29,915, rising 1,629 points and the 50-share barometer closed 483 points higher at 8,745. Bulls back on D-Street: Sensex reclaims 30K mark, Nifty at 8,700: 10 things to know Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Sensex and Nifty logged their highest losses ever after rising number of coronavirus cases. Sensex lost 3,934 points to 25,981 while Nifty closed 1,135 points lower at 7,610. all 19 sectoral indices ended in the red with banks and financial indices losing the most. Sensex has lost 15,188 points or 36.89% in last one month.
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As India enters final week of the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conveyed to chief ministers that the country will have to give importance to the economy as well as to continue the fight against coronavirus. In a video conference with the chief ministers, fourth such interaction since March 22 when he first spoke to them on the pandemic, Modi also highlighted the importance for states to enforce prescribed guidelines strictly in the coronavirus hotspots zones, the government said in a statement. The prime minister underlined that the lockdown has “yielded positive results as the country has managed to save thousands of lives in the past one and a half months”, it said. “Prime Minister said that the country has seen two Lockdowns till now, both different in certain aspects, and now we have to think of the way ahead. He said that as per experts, the impact of coronavirus will remain visible in the coming months,” the statement added. Modi also said that masks and face covers will become part of lives of people in the days ahead, adding everyone’s aim must be to ensure rapid response under the current circumstances. Among those present at the virtual meet, included Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and top officials from the PMO and the Union Health Ministry. The chief ministers who attended the meeting included Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), E K Palaniswami (Tamil Nadu), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya) Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand) and Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh). Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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prime minister Narendra Modi has been in touch with the chief ministers for four days. he said the country will have to give importance to the economy and fight coronavirus. he also highlighted the importance for states to enforce prescribed guidelines strictly in the coronavirus hotspots zones. the lockdown has "yielded positive results as the country has managed to save thousands of lives in the past one and a half months"
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The government is likely to ask the next Finance Commission to consider a higher weight for the human development index (HDI) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) while recommending the distribution of resources among states. 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. 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. Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news stock tips and expert advice on ETMarkets . Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. Read Economic Times Epaper. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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as more women take up senior leadership roles in India Inc, their visibility in boardroom battles is also rising. women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts. women are playing key roles in several ongoing family disputes. reflects the rise in the number of women in positions where they can have their say. if the government approves a concessional duty of 15% on imported vehicles during its first two years of operations in india, the government will likely consider a higher weight for the HDI and sustainable development goals (S
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The Federal Reserve said that it will keep buying bonds to maintain low borrowing rates and support a US economy mired in a deep recession with high unemployment. And it said nearly all its policymakers foresee no rate hike through 2022. The Fed has cut its benchmark short-term rate to near zero. Keeping its rate ultra-low for more than two more years could make it easier for consumers and businesses to borrow and spend enough to sustain an economy depressed by still-widespread business shutdowns. Stock prices rallied modestly on the news after having been mainly lower before the Fed issued its latest policy statement at 2 p.m. Eastern time. The central bank noted in the statement after its policy meeting ended that the viral outbreak has caused a sharp fall in economic activity and surge in job losses. Fed officials estimate that the economy will shrink 6.5% this year, in line with other forecasts, before expanding 5% in 2021. They foresee sees the unemployment rate at 9.3%, near the peak of the last recession, by the end of this year. The rate is now 13.3%. The Fed also specified that it will buy $80 billion of Treasury securities a month and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities. The central bank has been slowing its purchases from as high as $375 billion a month in March. But this is the first time that the Fed has indicated the size of the purchases it will pursue in the coming months. At a virtual news conference Wednesday afternoon, Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to drive home the message that the economy remains in need of extraordinary help despite recent despite glimmers of a possible recovery, including a government report Friday that employers surprisingly added jobs in May. Since March, the Fed has slashed its benchmark short-term rate, bought $2.1 trillion in Treasury and mortgage bonds to inject cash into markets and rolled out nine lending programs to try to keep credit flowing smoothly. Most analysts expect the Fed to pause and assess the economic landscape before embarking on any further actions, which could come at September's meeting. The Fed's actions are credited with having helped fuel an extraordinary rally in the stock market, which has nearly regained its pre-pandemic high after a dizzying plunge in March. And by committing to buy corporate bonds, thereby reinvigorating the market for such securities, the Fed has also ensured that corporations can continue to borrow. Its initiatives also include a first-ever program through which the Fed is buying state and local government debt to support the municipal bond market. Many economists say those steps have prevented the downturn from worsening, by keeping credit flowing. This week, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the official arbiter of recessions, declared that the U.S. economy entered a recession in February. One challenge for the Fed now is to shift its focus from the emergency actions it took in March and April to try to carry the economy through a shutdown, to what steps it will take to stimulate a recovery as businesses increasingly reopen. In remarks last month, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida stressed that the viral outbreak remains a menace to the economy. But he also indicated that Fed officials want to see a few more months of data to gauge the economy's health before determining their next steps. For now, Fed officials likely feel little pressure to act further because few investors expect them to make any changes to their benchmark rate anytime soon. Though the Fed could technically cut rates into negative territory, Powell has largely rejected negative rates as an option. Still, there are additional steps the Fed can take. The Fed could specify how long it's prepared to keep short-term rates near zero and how much bond buying it will do to hold down longer-term rates. This guidance can help the economy by reducing the likelihood that investors will send longer-term rates up. In 2011, as the economy struggled to recover from the 2008-2009 recession, the Fed for the first time set a specific date for any potential rate hikes, saying it would keep rates low “at least through mid-2013.” That date was then extended twice until mid-2015. But the Fed in 2012 replaced its date-based guidance. Instead, it said it would keep rates at nearly zero “at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5%.” Most economists considered this approach more effective because it assured that economic progress would have to be made before the Fed would tighten credit. The Fed has bought $2.2 trillion in bonds since March, when financial markets locked up as investors rushed to unload Treasurys and other securities in exchange for cash. The markets are now largely functioning. and the Fed's purchases have slowed. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note, which are near historic lows, could rise as the government issues trillions in Treasury securities to fund an annual deficit projected to reach $3.7 trillion this budget year. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the central bank has cut its benchmark short-term rate to near zero. it said nearly all its policymakers foresee no rate hike through 2022. the central bank has been slowing its purchases since march. the central bank is expected to push home the message that the economy is in need of help. a u.s. economist says the economy is in need of extraordinary help.
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Top oil-producing countries agreed Sunday to record output cuts in order to boost plummeting oil prices due to the new coronavirus crisis and a Russia-Saudi price war. OPEC producers, dominated by Saudi Arabia, and allies led by Russia met via videoconference for an hour Sunday in a last-ditch effort to cement an accord struck early Friday that hinged on Mexico's agreement. In a compromise, Mexico came onboard Sunday to an agreement to cut 9.7 million barrels per day from May, according to its Energy Minister Rocio Nahle, down slightly from 10 million barrels per day envisioned earlier. Kuwait Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel tweeted that, following extensive efforts "we announce completing the historical agreement". Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who chaired the meeting together with his Russian and Algerian counterparts, also confirmed that the discussions "ended with consensus". US President Donald Trump welcomed a "great deal for all", saying on Twitter it would "save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States". He added he "would like to thank and congratulate" Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince and de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman, both of whom he had spoken to. Initial reticence from Mexico to introduce output cuts had led to a standoff that cast doubt on efforts to bolster oil prices, pushed to near two-decade lows. Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has sapped demand as countries around the world have put their populations under lockdown. Compounding the problem, key players Russia and Saudi Arabia had engaged in a price war, ramping up output in a bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers. Rystad Energy analyst Per Magnus Nysveen said Sunday's agreement provided "at least a temporary relief" as fuel consumption was expected to fall globally by 27 million barrels per day in April and 20 million barrels per day in May. His colleague Bjornar Tonhaugen said, however, that even though the deal made "the single largest output cut in history", prices were still expected to see "renewed downwards pressure". "The oil market will see enormous stock builds in April as the deal is only in effect from 1 May, while gradual shut ins and production declines will already happen during the current month," he said. Top oil producers struggled to finalise production cuts during a virtual summit held by G20 energy ministers on Friday, despite Trump's mediation efforts to end the standoff with Mexico. The OPEC-led agreement foresees deep output cuts in May and June followed by a gradual reduction in cuts until April 2022. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted by Russian news agency TASS as saying he expected oil markets not to recover before "end of the year, in the best case". Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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OPEC producers, dominated by Saudi Arabia, and allies led by Russia meet for an hour. in a compromise, Mexico comes onboard to cut 9.7 million barrels per day from may. the deal is expected to boost plummeting oil prices due to the new coronavirus crisis. the oil price slump has been exacerbated by a Russia-saudi price war.
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MUMBAI: Allcargo Logistics on Thursday said it is acquiring a controlling stake in express logistics company Gati The all-cash deal will see the company eventually acquiring about 45% in Gati through a direct purchase of the promoters’ stake and a subsequent open offer . It values the company at about Rs 1,000 crore.ET reported the deal on December 4, 2019, a day before its announcement.“The exponential rise in crossborder and domestic ecommerce has opened up new markets for traditional express players such as Gati. With Allcargo’s existing strength in the ocean transportation business and Gati’s expertise in land and air transportation, we are now in a unique position to offer our customers a suite of truly multimodal solutions,” said Allcargo Logistics chairman Shashi Kiran Shetty.The express logistics industry is expected to reach Rs 48,000 crore ($7 billion) by 2023, according to a study led by Deloitte in 2018. This growth will primarily be driven by domestic consumption, shift from unorganised to organisedtrade, ecommerce (domestic and crossborder) and significant demand from small and medium B2B segment.Allcargo is funding this deal through a mix of internal accruals and debt. Internal accrual is through monetisation of non-core assets including land parcels.Allcargo had been in advanced talks for the transactions in August last year, but withdrew subsequently. ET reported the first round of talks on August 15, 2018. Talks were renewed earlier this year. The final agreement between the parties was held up by Kintetsu World Express, a Japanese freight forwarder that owned 3.99% stake in Gati as of September end. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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all-cash deal will see company eventually acquiring about 45% in gati. it values the company at about Rs 1,000 crore. express logistics industry is expected to reach Rs 48,000 crore ($7 billion) by 2023. final agreement held by Kintetsu world express, a Japanese freight forwarder that owned 3.99% stake in Gati.
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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK General We are exposed to market risk changes in interest rates during periods when we have outstanding borrowings and from changes in commodity prices, primarily fuel and rubber. We do not currently use derivative financial instruments for risk management purposes, although we have used instruments in the past for fuel price risk management, and do not use them for either speculation or trading. Because substantially all of our operations are confined to the U.S., we are not directly subject to a material foreign currency risk. Interest Rate Risk We had no debt outstanding at December 31, 2020. Interest rates associated with borrowings under the Credit Agreement can either be, at our election, (i) one-month or three-month LIBOR (Index) plus a spread between 0.700% and 0.900%, based on the Company's consolidated funded debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio or (ii) Prime (Index) plus 0.0%. Increases in interest rates would not currently impact our annual interest expense as we do not have any outstanding borrowings but could impact our annual interest expense on future borrowings. Commodity Price Risk We are subject to commodity price risk primarily with respect to purchases of fuel and rubber. We have fuel surcharge agreements with most customers that enable us to pass through most long-term price increases therefore limiting our exposure to commodity price risk. Fuel surcharges that can be collected do not always fully offset an increase in the cost of fuel as we are not able to pass through fuel costs associated with out-of-route miles, empty miles, and tractor idle time. Based on our actual fuel purchases for 2020, assuming miles driven, fuel surcharges as a percentage of revenue, percentage of unproductive miles, and miles per gallon remained consistent with 2020 amounts, a $1.00 increase in the average price of fuel per gallon, year over year, would decrease our income before income taxes by approximately $8.2 million. We use a significant amount of tires to maintain our revenue equipment. We are not able to pass through 100% of price increases from tire suppliers due to the severity and timing of increases and current rate environment. Historically, we have sought to minimize tire price increases through bulk tire purchases from our suppliers. Based on our expected tire purchases for 2021, a 10% increase in the price of tires would increase our tire purchase expense by $1.4 million, resulting in a corresponding decrease in income before income taxes. ITEM 8. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
This text discusses the market risks faced by a company, including interest rate risk and commodity price risk. The company does not currently have any debt outstanding, and does not use derivative financial instruments for risk management. Increases in interest rates would not currently impact the company's annual interest expense, but could in the future. The company is exposed to commodity price risk primarily with respect to fuel and rubber, and has fuel surcharge agreements with most customers to help limit this risk. A $1.00 increase in the average price of fuel per gallon would decrease the company's income before income taxes by approximately $8.2 million, while a 10% increase in the price of tires would increase tire purchase expense by $1.4 million. The text also mentions Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS On February 17, 1998, the WRT Creditors Liquidation Trust filed suit in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Louisiana against us and Benton Oil and Gas Company of Louisiana, a.k.a. Ventures Oil & Gas of Louisiana. The suit seeks a determination that the sale by BOGLA to Tesla Resources Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of WRT Energy Corporation, of certain West Cote Blanche Bay properties for $15.1 million, constituted a fraudulent conveyance under the Bankruptcy Code. The alleged basis of the claim is that Tesla was insolvent at the time of its acquisition of the properties, and that it paid a price in excess of the fair value of the property. A trial commenced on May 1, 2000 that concluded at the end of August 2000, and post trial briefs have been filed. We believe that this case lacks merit and that an unfavorable outcome is unlikely. In 1996, 1997 and November 1998, we made certain unsecured loans to our then-Chief Executive Officer, A. E. Benton. Each of these loans was evidenced by a promissory note bearing interest at the rate of 6 percent per annum. At December 31, 1997, the aggregate outstanding amounts of the loans were $2.0 million. At September 30, 1998, the aggregate outstanding amounts of the loans were $4.4 million. In the fourth quarter of 1998,we loaned Mr. Benton an additional $1.1 million. The proceeds of the loan were to be used to pay in full certain margin account obligations owed to third parties which had obtained a pledge from Mr. Benton of his shares of Benton stock. We then obtained a security interest in those shares of stock, certain personal real estate and proceeds from certain contractual and stock option agreements. At December 31, 1998, the $5.5 million owed to us by Mr. Benton exceeded the value of our collateral, due to the decline in the price of Benton stock. As a result, we recorded an allowance for doubtful accounts of $2.9 million. The portion of the note secured by Benton stock and stock options, $2.1 million, was presented on our balance sheet as a reduction from stockholders' equity at December 31, 1998. In August 1999, Mr. Benton filed a Chapter 11 (reoganization) bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, in Santa Barbara, California. We recorded an additional $2.8 million allowance for doubtful accounts for the remaining principal and accrued interest owed to us at June 30, 1999, and continue to record additional allowances as interest accrues. Measuring the amount of the allowances requires judgments and estimates, and the amount eventually realized may differ from the estimate. In February 2000, we entered into a Separation Agreement and a Consulting Agreement with Mr. Benton, pursuant to which we retained Mr. Benton as an independent contractor to perform certain services for us. Mr. Benton agreed to propose a plan of reorganization in his bankruptcy case that provides for the repayment of our loans to him. Under the proposed plan, which we anticipate will be submitted to the bankruptcy court in the first half of 2001, we will retain our security interest in Mr. Benton's 600,000 shares of Benton stock and in his stock options, and in a portion of certain proceeds of his Consulting Agreement. Repayment of any amounts of these loans by Mr. Benton will be achieved through Mr. Benton's liquidation of certain real and personal property assets; a phased liquidation of Benton stock resulting from Mr. Benton's exercise of his Benton stock options; and, if necessary, from the retained interest in the portion of the Consulting Agreement's proceeds. The amount we eventually realize and the timing of our receipt of payments will depend upon the timing and results of the liquidation of Mr. Benton's assets, including Benton Oil and Gas Company stock. In the normal course of our business, there are various other legal proceedings outstanding. In the opinion of management, these proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity. ITEM 4. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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The WRT Creditors Liquidation Trust filed a suit in the United States Bankruptcy Court in 1998 against the company and Benton Oil and Gas Company of Louisiana, alleging that the sale of certain West Cote Blanche Bay properties for $15.1 million constituted a fraudulent conveyance. The company loaned its then-Chief Executive Officer, A. E. Benton, unsecured loans totaling $5.5 million, which exceeded the value of the collateral due to the decline in the price of Benton stock. As a result, the company recorded an allowance for doubtful accounts of $2.9 million. In August 1999, Benton filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, and the company recorded an additional $2.8 million allowance for doubtful accounts. In February 2000, the company entered into a Separation Agreement and a Consulting Agreement with Benton, under which Benton agreed to propose a plan of reorganization that provides for the repayment of the loans. The company also has various other legal proceedings outstanding, but management believes they will not have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or liquidity.
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Reuters: U.S. retail sales likely experienced a record rise in May as 2.5 million Americans went back to work, although any rebound will retrace only a fraction of the historic drops in March and April amid the coronavirus lockdowns. The monthly report, due to be released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, is expected to show overall receipts at U.S. retailers jump 8.0% last month, according to a Reuters poll of economists. That would exceed the previous record increase of 6.7% in October 2001 as Americans resumed spending following what was then a record pullback in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. While certainly an eye-catching bounce, it would retrace only about a quarter of the sales drop registered in the record back-to-back declines in the two previous months when widespread stay-at-home orders were imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Sales in April fell 16.4% after tumbling 8.3% in March. The U.S. economy dropped into recession in February as the viral outbreak brought a record-long expansion to an abrupt end. Employment fell by about 22 million in March and April, but payrolls rose unexpectedly in May by just over 2.5 million, supporting the thesis that consumer spending may be recovering and that the worst of the downturn may have passed. “Given the bounce in job growth in May and the fact that some state economies started to re-open in the second half of the month, it’s reasonable to expect that spending partially rebounded in May,” NatWest economists Michelle Girard and Kevin Cummins wrote in a note to clients. The likely sales rebound was probably led by strong auto sales as the relaxing of lockdowns across the country allowed car dealership showrooms to reopen. May’s sales rate climbed above 12 million vehicles per year after dropping below 9 million in April, according to Wards Intelligence. Gasoline prices also have stabilized, which likely helped support a retail sales recovery last month. Excluding gas and autos, sales had dropped 16.2% in April. The closely watched “retail control” figure, which further backs out building materials and food services in addition to excluding gas and automotive-related sales and most closely tracks the consumer spending component of gross domestic product, is expected to have risen 4.7%, according to the Reuters poll. That, too, would be the largest increase since the government began tracking it in 1992. “For what it’s worth, chain store reports for May suggested some hints of a turnaround,” the NatWest economists said, citing commentary from the weekly Johnson Redbook retail sales report that pointed to a pick-up in seasonal merchandise as more states reopened and the weather warmed. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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retail sales likely experienced a record rise in may as 2.5 million Americans went back to work. any rebound will retrace only about a fraction of the historic drops in march and April amid the coronavirus lockdowns. the likely sales rebound was probably led by strong auto sales as the relaxing of lockdowns across the country allowed car dealership showrooms to reopen.
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WhatsAppening? Telcos Call Out Tech Cos over Biz SMSes An industry grouping representing India’s top three telcos has accused global consumer-technology majors, such as Microsoft and Amazon, of “presumably circumventing and bypassing the legal telecom route” by using WhatsApp and other unregulated platforms to send enterprise messages to customers, causing a likely ₹3,000-crore annual revenue loss to both the Centre and the service providers. Apple asked to Join CERT-In Probe into iPhone Hacking Bid The government has asked Apple to join a probe into the alleged state-sponsored hacking attempts on iPhones belonging to prominent Indians, including some members of the opposition in Parliament, according to S Krishnan, secretary, ministry of electronics and information technology. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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telcos accuse tech giants of using unregulated platforms to send messages. government asks apple to join probe into alleged state-sponsored hacking bid. government asks apple to join probe into alleged hacking bids. telcos say they are causing 3,000-crore annual revenue loss. telcos say they are 'circumventing and bypassing the legal telecom route'
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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has indicated that he has no plan to speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping , amid a war of words between the two countries on a range of issues and tit-for-tat sanctions on lawmakers and senior officials."No, I haven't spoken to him," Trump said in response to a reporter's question at a White House press conference on Tuesday."I have no plan to speak to him," the president said while expressing his anger over China 's inability to prevent the spread of the coronavirus out of the country, from where it originated."Make no mistake, we hold China fully responsible for concealing the virus and unleashing it upon the world. (They) could have stopped it, they should have stopped," Trump said as he also lashed out at the World Health Organization (WHO) for siding with China on this issue."They were really a puppet of China," he said.Trump spoke to reporters after ending special privileges and economic treatment for Hong Kong and rescinding the territory's exception to bans on the importing of sensitive technologies.He also signed into law bipartisan legislation that allows the US government to sanction individuals and entities known to be involved in interfering in Hong Kong's freedom.Beijing has condemned Washington's recent bid reject its claims in the South China Sea as illegal and has retaliated against US visa restrictions on Chinese officials in Xinjiang by banning senior American senators and representatives.At his press conference,Trump also slammed former vice president Joe Biden , who is his Democratic Party challenger in the November presidential polls, for being "soft" on China.The China issue has become a leading election year topic as Trump and Biden each attempt to paint the other as weak in the face of aggressive moves from Beijing."By contrast, my administration acted very early to ban travel from China, from Europe, saving all of these lives. Incredible. And I want everyone to know, I want every citizen to know that we are using the full power of the federal government to fight that China virus and keep our people safe. Through Operation Warp Speed, we will deliver a vaccine in record-breaking time," he said."He (Biden) said the idea that China is our competition is really bizarre. He is really bizarre. He said China is not a problem. No. Nobody has ripped us off more than China over the last 25, 30 years, nobody close, and he says China is not a problem."Now he takes it all back. Now he wants to be mister tough guy. But for years, 47 years, he never came out against China, never said anything bad, just the opposite," the president said.He said Biden expresses more fawning praise about China on an ordinary day than about America."Biden sides with China over America time and time again. And he said on July 4 that American history is no fairy tale, and yet blindly celebrates China, saying few nations in history have come so far, so fast," Trump said."He is so proud of them. He is so proud of them. Now Joe Biden is pushing a platform that would demolish the US economy, totally demolish it," Trump said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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president says he has no plans to speak with Xi Jinping. he says he holds china responsible for spreading coronavirus. he also laments the world health organization's siding with china. he says he is "very disappointed" that he has not spoken to Xi. he says he has no plans to speak with Xi.
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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 IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Operations Officer Programme Visit Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit India saw one of the most severe lockdowns in the world, which took a large toll on growth, says Shaun Roache , Chief Asia-Pacific Economist.Three things have really changed since our last forecast, which was 1.8%. The first is obviously the lockdown. So we are now in lockdown 4.0 and across Asia Pacific, we estimate that one month of lockdown takes away three percentage points of full year GDP growth. The difference in India is that the lockdown was particularly severe. We calculated perhaps one of the most severe lockdowns that we have seen anywhere in the world and every additional month of lockdown has had an even bigger impact on growth. So the lockdown is the most important issue.Secondly, the impact that we have already seen is larger than we expected it to be. If you look at indicators such as the PMI for both manufacturing and services, they are well below expectations than what we were expecting earlier. This is clearly taking a very large toll on growth. Thirdly, the economic policy response is still lacking to some extent and it is not providing the push to domestic demand that we are going to need to see to prevent the economy from shrinking this fiscal year.Our view at the moment is that unfortunately emerging markets like India are going to suffer large contraction and recover at a slower pace and there are a couple of reasons for that. First of all, emerging markets are having a harder time including India in containing the virus. It is taking longer to flatten the curve and the other issue is that the longer it takes to flatten the curve, the more economic damage there is on the balance sheet within the economy, particularly for private sector firms, in the service sector and also the labour market. What we know about the labour market is that what jobs are lost are quite hard to regain. It takes a long time. So the bigger the impact, the longer the shock and the longer the recovery. That unfortunately has been the story in the emerging market so far compared to the US or Europe or even China.If you look across Asia Pacific in particular, you can see the strength of the technology sector is supporting growth. If you look at very important indicators like Taiwan export orders; all the orders that the Taiwanese firms are getting from the rest of the world are actually picking up quite strongly. And the reason is technology. There seems to be more demand at the moment for online shopping, working from home and health tech and that is boosting the technology hardware sector and the information services sectors, which is supporting growth.Those economies that have higher share in those sectors are performing better at this point. So you can see East Asia is doing relatively well compared to some other economies. Yes, as you said, that is a bit of a weak spot for India because we do not see the same sector weighting here which we do see in some other key emerging markets in our region.In the Indian context, there are two things. First of all, we are seeing very tight liquidity conditions particularly for small and private sector firms that are relating to some stress in the financial sector. Also, the fact that the monetary policy is not getting through to the real economy is an issue. So small and private firms are going to come out of this episode in a fairly weak state and that is going to prevent them from investing too much and hiring too quickly.I think one of the big problems India might face is that because so many people have lost their jobs, they are going to have to go back to the city, find new jobs or new employers and that takes time. They are not going to be able to go back to their old jobs in many cases and that means it is going to drag the recovery ahead. The labour market is something that should be top of the policy agenda right now. Try to keep employers connected with employees, support household incomes and try and re-start the job market as quickly as possible when things stabilise.It is the number one threat to Asia Pacific growth without any doubt because what we do know is that in most economies across the region, the service sector is the largest employer. That is not true in India where we still see the agricultural sector accounting for a large share of employment. But even here, most of the growth in employment is in the service sector and of course we know in a health pandemic, service sector is the sector that is most affected.With social distancing and everything, many service activities just are not happening. That is going to put downward pressure on demand for jobs and that is going to put downward pressure on household incomes and of course that hits consumption. One of the bright spots in India and in many parts of Asia Pacific over recent years has been the strength of consumption. To get that consumption going again, the jobs market really has to turn right. So for us, the labour market is absolutely critical.There is a bit of a decoupling going on at the moment. We can explain it in a few different ways. First of all, the monetary policy responses unleashed enormous amounts of liquidity and that is first and foremost going to support asset prices; so we cannot ignore that. The second thing is just simply the weighting of the indices in some markets, especially the US; it is heavily weighted towards large tech companies and as you said earlier, these companies are doing quite well in this crisis.But the third issue is what we really need to think carefully about what investors are pricing in for the recovery. Are they looking through this and thinking about a recovery in 2021? Our view is that recovery particularly in emerging markets and India is going to be perhaps more gradual than people think and at some point, maybe equity markets will have to deal with that. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a lockdown in india took a large toll on growth, says asian economist. the economic policy response is still lacking, says asian economist. asian economies are struggling to contain the virus, says asian economist. asian economies are undergoing a rapid recovery, says asian economist. asian economies are undergoing a slowdown, says asian economist.
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With the NSE Nifty 50 jumping 18% so far from its recent low on March 23, curious market participants are eager to call a bottom and claim that the worst is over for Indian equity markets. However, global brokerage Goldman Sachs has warned that the recent Nifty rally is not the end of the bear market that the world entered last month. Economic recovery for India could be more gradual than other north Asian peers, Goldman Sachs said in a research note. “While markets may not retest fresh lows given reduced global risks, we believe Indian equities are likely to relatively lag the region on expectations of a slower recovery,” the report said. Goldman Sachs has cut India to ‘Marketweight’ within its Asian allocation. “Thematically, we prefer large-caps over mid-caps and defensives over banks and domestic cyclicals,” the firm said. Financial sector earnings are expected to remain tepid as loan growth takes a hit, the report said, adding that meanwhile, pharmaceutical sector earnings will likely remain strong. The sectors on which Goldman Sachs is bullish include consumer staples and telecom, which it has upgraded to ‘overweight’, along with pharma and information technology. On the other hand, it said that automobiles, metals/mining,energy, industrials, cement are a few sectors that are expected to see a significant fall in earnings owing to consumer discretionary and capex sensitivity. Goldman Sachs has termed the current rally seen in India equity markets as a bear market rally. As an example, it pointed out to four distinct rallies of 12%-25% that Nifty saw in the year 2008, while being in an overall bear market, which erased 60% of the index. “For markets to make a lasting bottom, we have been monitoring a set of conditions that include flattening infection curves, visibility on the depth and duration of economic disruptions, sufficiently large policy stimulus and deep undervaluation of assets and position reduction,” the report said. FII selling seen during March was 0.4% of market capitalization, significantly less than the FII sell off seen in 2008, which was 0.8% of the market capitalization. The firm warned that the global equity markets have rallied on signs of a flattening infection rate. However, Goldman Sachs also cautioned investors that its views may not hold ground in case of more forceful policy stimulus. India has just seen a 1% of the GDP as a fiscal stimulus pushed by the finance ministry earlier last month, whereas the average across the world is 4.7% of the GDP. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the NSE Nifty 50 has jumped 18% so far from its recent low. but global brokerage goldman Sachs has warned that the rally is not the end of the bear market that the world entered last month. the firm has cut India to ‘Marketweight’ within its Asian allocation. financial sector earnings are expected to remain tepid as loan growth takes a hit, the report said.
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We generally see during the uncertain times that people tend to opt for liquid assets and the recent figure of the surge in deposits shared by the SBI reaffirms the same. And, we feel the health asset would also join the list this time as they’re now realizing the importance of having an insurance and health plan for their well-being," Ajit Mishra, VP Research at Religare Broking said in an interview to Moneycontrol's Sunil Shankar Matkar. Edited excerpt: Q: The government announced Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal package, but the market has not taken it positively. Your thoughts? In the second round of stimulus package, the government has announced a host of measures for troubled and vulnerable sectors like NBFCs, real estate, MSMEs and agriculture. These measures are likely to have a positive impact on these sectors and help them in tiding over the economic downturn in the medium term. This may lead to some recovery in the markets in the coming sessions. However, the biggest worry at this point is the nationwide lockdown which has resulted in a severe slowdown in economic activities. These things can get back on track only if the COVID-19 cases start to recede. Moreover, weak earnings and cautious outlook by corporates is also weighing on investor sentiments. At the same time, muted global cues have also added to the nervousness. In such a scenario, the possibility of sustained recovery seems unlikely. On the benchmark front, Nifty would face multiple hurdles on every rise and only a decisive break above 9,700 would change our bias. In case of decline, it has the next critical support at 8,950 and we may further slide if it fails to hold the same. Q: After reading and analysing the measures announced by the government so far, which stocks will benefit the most and where should one park his/her money? The stimulus package by the government covers many sectors like NBFCS, real estate, agriculture, fisheries and more importantly MSMEs. We believe Banks and NBFCS would get support through increased liquidity (as the measures would help MSMEs pay their dues to financial institutions) and therefore stocks like Axis Bank, M&M financials, HDFC Ltd, ICICI bank could benefit. In the agriculture and allied sectors, we are positive on stocks like Coromandel International, Godrej Agrovet and Rallis India. Despite some measures favouring the real estate sector, we are not very positive on this space as the sector was already facing liquidity and higher inventory concerns. Q: Your thoughts about the impact on PSU banks. In the recently announced measures, the government has pushed for credit support to various businesses. And, PSU banks are likely to lead the charge in providing credit, which has raised fears of further deterioration of asset quality. In such a scenario, we believe PSU banks would continue to underperform at least in the near term. Q: Will you change your FY21/22 earnings estimates after these Rs 20 lakh crore measures or wait till the opening of full economy? While the recently announced moves are positive for the economy, it would be too early to change our earnings estimates. We would wait for more updates on the easing of lockdown conditions as that would eventually lead to a recovery in economic activities. Q: Do you think people could shift their asset allocation from physical assets (land, property, gold etc) to liquid and healthy assets? We generally see this trend during the uncertain times that people tend to opt for liquid assets and the recent figure of the surge in deposits shared by the SBI reaffirms the same. And, we feel the health asset would also join the list this time as they’re now realising the importance of having an insurance and health plan for their wellbeing. We thus see the high possibility of fund flow towards sectors like banks and insurance thus stocks like HDFC Bank, HDFC Life Insurance, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Kotak Mahindra Bank and SBI life Insurance would benefit in the medium to long term driven by strong brands, steady performance, good long term growth prospects and healthy balance sheet. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that 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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biggest worry is nationwide lockdown which has resulted in a severe slowdown in economic activities. despite stimulus package, market is not optimistic about the outlook for the upcoming session. ajit mishra: "we believe banks and NBFCS would get support through increased liquidity" he says he is optimistic about the outlook for the upcoming session.
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The trade deficit between India and the US dropped by almost six per cent in 2017 compared to the previous year, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has said, even as it continued to harp on issues such as market access and high tariffs on several American products being imported into India."The US goods trade deficit with India was USD 22.9 billion in 2017, a 5.9 per cent decrease (USD 1.4 billion) over 2016," said the National Trade Estimate 2018 released by the USTR. India is one of the few countries with which US' trade deficit has decreased in the last one year.US goods exports to India were USD 25.7 billion, up 18.7 per cent (USD 4.0 billion) from the previous year. The corresponding US imports from India were USD 48.6 billion, up 5.6 per cent. India was the US' 15th largest goods export market in 2017, the annual report said.Similarly, US exports of services to India were an estimated USD 23.1 billion in 2017 and US imports were USD 28.7 billion. Sales of services in India by majority US-owned affiliates were USD 24.5 billion in 2015 (latest data available), while sales of services in the United States by majority India-owned firms were USD 14.7 billion, the voluminous report said.US foreign direct investment (FDI) in India (stock) was USD 32.9 billion in 2016 (latest data available), a 10.0 per cent increase from 2015. US direct investment in India is led by prof., scientific, and tech. services, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, it said.However, the Trump administration continued to harp India on a number of issues, including market access, high tariff and protection of intellectual property."In 2017, India implemented price controls on coronary stents and knee implants that do not fully differentiate for advanced technologies within a product class," it said.National US companies have applied to withdraw technologically advanced products from the market, but the requests have been rejected, forcing the US to sell certain products at a loss. India has indicated it may apply similar price controls on additional medical devices, it said.According to National Trade Estimate, India continues to maintain some of the highest average tariff rates worldwide. The large gap between India's WTO bound and applied tariff rates allows India to make frequent adjustments to the level of protection provided to domestic producers by modifying tariff rates, it said.For example, in 2017 India increased tariffs on pulses from zero to 30 and 50 per cent. India also raised tariffs on certain high-tech information and communication technology products from zero to between 10 and 20 per cent. The US companies have raised significant concerns with these actions, it alleged."The United States continues to raise these concerns through bilateral engagement with the Indian government, including through the US-India Trade Policy Forum," the USTR said.According to the report, the US has actively sought bilateral and multilateral opportunities to open India's market, and the government of India has pursued ongoing economic reform efforts. Nevertheless, US exporters continue to encounter tariff and nontariff barriers that impede imports of US products into India, it said.Noting that India imposes onerous requirements on dairy imports, the report said India continues to require that dairy products be derived from animals which have never consumed any feeds containing internal organs, blood meal, or tissues of ruminant origin.India has explained that its position is based on religious and cultural grounds, it said. This requirement, along with high tariff rates, continues to prevent market access for US milk and dairy product exports to India, one of the largest dairy markets in the world."In order to address India's religious and cultural concerns, in 2015, the US proposed a labelling solution to allow for consumer choice between dairy products derived from animals that have or have not consumed feeds with ruminant protein," the USTR said.India has so far rejected that proposal, and the US continues to press India to provide access to the Indian dairy market, the report claimed.The US, it said, has raised concerns about India's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)-related trade restrictions in bilateral and multilateral fora including the TPF, the WTO SPS Committee, and Codex.According to the report, the US continues to work with India to open market access for US poultry products into India consistent with the WTO ruling. Until then, the US considers the dispute unresolved, it said.Observing that India maintains zero tolerance standards for certain plant quarantine pests, such as weed seeds and ergot, that are not based on risk assessments and result in blocked imports of US wheat and barley, the report said bilateral discussions to resolve these issues, including at the senior official level, have achieved little success to date. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the trade deficit between the US and India dropped by almost six per cent in 2017. the US continued to harp on issues such as market access and high tariffs. India is one of the few countries with which US' trade deficit has decreased. the US exports to India were USD 25.7 billion, up 18.7 per cent from the previous year. meanwhile, the u.s. has continued to harp on issues such as market access and high tariffs.
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LIVE Updates | File image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation The government has released the consolidated guidelines detailing the modus operandi during the extended lockdown period as announced by PM Modi on April 14. The lockdown which will now continue till May 3 will see stricter norms in the first week and after April 20 the restrictions will be eased in non-containment zones. As per a release issued by the I&B ministry, the activities prohibited across the country include travel by air, rail and road; operation of educational and training institutions; industrial and commercial activities; hospitality services; all cinema halls, shopping complexes, theatres, etc.; all social, political and other events; and opening of all religious places/ places of worship for members of public, including religious congregations. There are certain national guidelines like mandatory home-made face covers at workplaces and in public places, strong hygiene and health care measures like provision of sanitisers, staggered shifts, access control, thermal screening and imposing fines for spitting among other things penalties will be imposed for violation. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here 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 The government has allowed select additional activities which will come into effect from April 20, 2020, only in non-containment zones. The document notes that "additional activities as permitted in these guidelines shall be implemented in a phased manner, after making all arrangements necessary for strict implementation of the guidelines." Here are some of the activities that will be allowed: - 1. All health services (including AYUSH). Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, telemedicine facilities. Dispensaries, chemists, pharmacies, all kinds of medicine shops including Jan Aushadhi Kendras and medical equipment shops. Medical laboratories and collection centres. Pharmaceutical and medical research labs, institutions carrying out COVID-19 related research. Veterinary Hospitals, dispensaries, clinics, pathology labs, sale and supply of vaccine and medicine. Authorised private establishments, which support the provisioning of essential services, or efforts for containment of COVID-19, including home care providers, diagnostics, supply chain firms serving hospitals. Manufacturing units of drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical oxygen, their packaging material, raw material and intermediates. Construction of medical/ health infrastructure including the manufacture of ambulances. Movement (inter and intra State, including by air) of all medical and veterinary personnel, scientists, nurses, para-medical staff, lab technicians, mid-wives and other hospital support services, including ambulances. 2. Agricultural and related activities All agricultural and horticultural activities to remain fully functional, such as: i. Farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field. - Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products, including MSP operations. - 'Mandis' operated by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) or as notified by the State/ UT Government (e.g., satellite mandis). - Direct marketing operations by the State/ UT Government or by industry, directly from farmers/group of farmers, FPOs' co-operatives etc. States/ UTs may promote decentralised marketing and procurement at village-level. - Shops of agriculture machinery, its spare parts (including its supply-chain) and repairs to remain open. - 'Custom Hiring Centres (CHC)' related to farm machinery. - Manufacturing, distribution and retail of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. vii. Movement (inter and intra state) of harvesting and sowing-related machines like combined harvester and other agriculture/horticulture implements. Fisheries - the following activities will be functional: - Operations of the fishing (marine and inland)/ aquaculture industry, including feeding & maintenance, harvesting, processing, packaging, cold chain, sale and marketing. - Hatcheries, feed plants, commercial aquaria. - Movement of fish/ shrimp and fish products, fish seed/ feed and workers for all these activities. Plantations- the following activities will be functional: - Operations of tea, coffee and rubber plantations, with a maximum of 50% workers. - Processing, packaging, sale and marketing of tea, coffee, rubber and cashew, with a maximum of 50% workers. Animal husbandry - the following activities will be functional: Collection, processing, distribution and sale of milk and milk products by milk processing plants, including transport and supply chain. - Operation of animal husbandry farms including poultry farms & hatcheries and livestock farming activity. - Animal feed manufacturing and feed plants, including the supply of raw material, such as maize and soya. - Operation of animal shelter homes, including Gaushalas. 3. From the financial sector the following entities will remain functional: a. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and RBI regulated financial markets and entities like NPCI, CCIL, payment system operators and standalone primary dealers. b. Bank branches and ATMs, IT vendors for banking operations, Banking Correspondents (BCs), ATM operation and cash management agencies. c. Bank branches will be allowed to work as per normal working hours till the disbursal of DBT cash transfers is complete. i. Local administration to provide adequate security personnel at bank branches and BCs to maintain social distancing, law and order and staggering of account holders. c. SEBI, and capital and debt market services as notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). d. IRDAI and Insurance companies. 4. Social sector: following to remain functional. 5. Online teaching/ distance learning to be encouraged 6. MNREGA works to be allowed. 4. Public utilities - the following to remain functional i. Operations of Oil and Gas sector, including refining, transportation, distribution, storage and retail of products, e.g., petrol, diesel, kerosene, CNG, LPG, PNG etc. ii. Generation, transmission and distribution of power at Central and State/ UT levels. iii. Postal services, including post offices. iv. Operations of utilities in water, sanitation and waste management sectors, at municipal/ local body levels in States and UTs. v. Operation of utilities providing telecommunications and internet services. 5. Social sector: following to remain functional: - Operation of homes for children/ disabled/ mentally challenged/ senior citizens/ destitute / women/ widows. - Observation homes, after-care homes and places of safety for juveniles. - Disbursement of social security pensions, e.g., old age/ widow/ freedom fighter pensions; pension and provident fund services provided by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). - Operation of Anganwadis - distribution of food items and nutrition once in 15 days at the doorsteps of beneficiaries, e.g., children, women and lactating mother Beneficiaries will not attend the Anganwadis 6. Online teaching/ distance learning to be encouraged: - All educational, training, coaching institutions etc. shall remain closed. - However, these establishments are expected to maintain the academic schedule through online teaching. - Maximum use of Doordarshan (DD) and other educational channels may be made for teaching purposes. 7. MNREGA works to be allowed: -MNREGA works are allowed with strict implementation of social distancing and face mask. - Priority to be given under MNREGA to irrigation and water conservation works. - Other Central and State sector schemes in irrigation and water conservation sectors may also be allowed to be implemented and suitably dovetailed with MNREGA works. 8. Movement, loading/ unloading of goods/ cargo (inter and intra State) is allowed, as under i. All goods traffic will be allowed to ply. ii. Operations of Railways: Transportation of goods and parcel trains. iii. Operations of Airports and related facilities for air transport for cargo movement, relief and evacuation iv. Operations of Seaports and Inland Container Depots (ICDs) for cargo transport, including authorized custom clearing and forwarding agents. v. Operations of Land Ports for cross land border transportation of essential goods, including petroleum products and LPG, food products, medical supplies. vi. Movement of all trucks and other goods/ carrier vehicles with two drivers and one helper subject to the driver carrying a valid driving license; an empty truck/ vehicle will be allowed to ply after the delivery of goods, or for pickup of goods. vii. Shops for truck repairs and dhabas on highways, with a stipulated minimum distance as prescribed by the State/ UT authorities. viii. Movement of staff and contractual labour for operations of railways, airports/ air carriers, seaports/ ships/ vessels, landports and ICDs is allowed on passes being issued by the local authority on the basis of authorizations issued by the respective designated authority of the railways, airports, seaports, landports and ICDs. 9. Supply of essential goods is allowed, as under i . All facilities in the supply chain of essential goods, whether involved in manufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods through local stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-commerce companies should be allowed to operate, ensuring strict social distancing without any restriction on their timing of opening and closure. ii. Shops (including Kirana and single shops selling essential goods) and carts, including ration shops (under PDS), dealing with food and groceries (for daily use), hygiene items, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, poultry, meat and fish, animal feed and fodder etc., should be allowed to operate, ensuring strict social distancing without any restriction on their timing of opening and closure. iii. District authorities may encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimize the movement of individuals outside their homes. 10. Commercial and private establishments, as listed below, will be allowed to operate: i. Print and electronic media including broadcasting, DTH and cable services ii. IT and IT enabled Services, with up to 50% strength. iii. Data and call centers for Government activities only iv. Government approved Common Service Centers (CSCs) at Gram Panchayat level. v. E-commerce companies. Vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions. vi. Courier services. vii. Cold storage and warehousing services, including at ports, airports, railway stations, container Depots, individual units and other links in the logistics chain. viii. Private security services and facilities management services for maintenance and upkeep of office and residential complexes ix. Hotels, homestays, lodges and motels, which are accommodating tourists and persons stranded due to lockdown, medical and emergency staff, air and sea crew. x. Establishments used/ earmarked for quarantine facilities. xi. Services provided by self-employed persons, e.g., electrician, IT repairs, plumbers, motor mechanics, and carpenters. 11. Industries/ Industrial Establishments (both Government and private), as listed below, will be allowed to operate: i. Industries operating in rural areas, i.e., outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities. ii. Manufacturing and other industrial establishments with access control in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EoUs), industrial estates, and industrial townships. These establishments shall make arrangements for stay of workers within their premises as far as possible and/ or adjacent buildings and for implementation of the Standard operating protocol (SOP) as referred to in para 21 (ii) below. The transportation of workers to work place shall be arranged by the employers in dedicated transport by ensuring social distancing. iii. Manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates. iv. Food processing industries in rural areas, i.e., outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities. v. Production units, which require continuous process, and their supply chain. vi. Manufacturing of IT hardware. vii. Coal production, mines and mineral production, their transportation, supply of explosives and activities incidental to mining operations. viii. Manufacturing units of packaging material. ix. Jute industries with staggered shifts and social distancing. x. Oil and gas exploration/ refinery. xi. Brick kilns in rural areas i.e., outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities. 12. Construction activities, listed as below, will be allowed to operate: i. Construction of roads, irrigation projects, buildings and all kinds of industrial projects, including MSMEs, in rural areas, i.e., outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities; and all kinds of projects in industrial estates. ii. Construction of renewable energy projects. iii. Continuation of works in construction projects, within the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities, where workers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside (in situ construction). You can read the full document here: - Find other stories related to MHA guidelines on Lockdown 2.0 here. Follow our full COVID-19 coverage here Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the government has released the consolidated guidelines detailing the modus operandi during the extended lockdown period. the activities prohibited across the country include travel by air, rail and road; operation of educational and training institutions. 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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William H. Gates Sr., a lawyer raised in the Great Depression who helped his son give away an immense fortune, has died. He was 94. He died Monday at his beach home on Hood Canal, Washington, according to Bill Gates III’s family office. The cause was Alzheimer’s disease. Gates saw his middle child grow from a headstrong boy to one of the most admired business leaders of his generation who became the world’s second richest person, with a net worth of more than $123 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. When Bill Gates started giving away the billions he’d made as co-founder of Microsoft Corp. he turned to his father to advise his charitable foundation. “I never imagined that the frequently argumentative little boy I faced each night at dinner, the one eating my food and using my name, was to be my future employer," Gates said in a 2003 speech to fellow members of Rotary International, a worldwide service organization. For their earliest philanthropic endeavors in the 1990s, the elder Gates worked from a basement office at home or, as a British newspaper reported, from the vinyl booth of a burger joint where he often ate lunch. Funding Pleas The William H. Gates Foundation, started in 1994 with an initial stock gift of $94 million, concentrated its giving on global health and community groups in the Pacific Northwest. The elder Gates scanned pleas from the serious to the whimsical. One man suggested funding a ballroom dancing television channel, he wrote in his 2009 memoir, “Showing Up for Life." In the book, he also recounted getting an appeal from his son and his son’s wife, Melinda. They had learned that many children die each year from illnesses that are rarely fatal in developed countries, such as measles, malaria and diarrhea. “Dad, maybe we could do something about this?" they wrote. The foundation, now known as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has committed more than $50 billion to expand childhood immunization, eradicate polio, provide seeds to African farmers and improve American public schools, according to its website. The elder Gates served as one of the foundation’s co-chairs, along with his son and daughter-in-law. “We have to be helpful to each other or it would be an impossible world," he said in a May 2009 interview with the Seattle Times. “This is not only good religion but very practical for economy and humanity." Ballmer Connection Earlier, he played a role in the development of Microsoft, the world’s largest software company. Over dinner in 1980, he helped his son recruit a friend from Harvard University, Steve Ballmer, to work for Microsoft. Ballmer left graduate school and later became chief executive officer of the Redmond, Washington-based company. The elder Gates operated the slide projector at his son’s first keynote address at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas, in 1983. “Without me, you wouldn’t be here," he joked at one meeting of Microsoft employees. William Henry Gates II was born Nov. 30, 1925, in Bremerton, Washington, an hour’s ferry ride from Seattle. He said in his memoir that he learned his work ethic from his father, who owned a furniture store in a town hit hard by the Great Depression. Eagle Scout With his Boy Scout troop, Gates felled trees and worked two-man crosscut saws to build a lodge in the woods. He became an Eagle Scout. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II in 1944 and served in Hokkaido, Japan, and Tokyo after the Japanese surrender. Returning to Seattle, he attended the University of Washington under the GI Bill and received a law degree in 1950. While there he asked a university friend, Mary Maxwell, to set him up with one of her sorority sisters -- preferably a tall girl, because he stood 6 feet, 7 inches tall (2 meters). Mary, at 5 feet, 6 inches, stood on her tiptoes and suggested herself, Gates recalled in his memoir. They married two years later. In addition to the son they called “Trey" -- for William III, his name before father and son became simply Sr. and Jr. -- the couple had two daughters, Kristianne and Libby. Their son’s intellectual intensity and headstrong nature at times led to a battle of wills, Gates wrote. Parental Discipline Once, the younger Gates dawdled in his room as the family waited in the car. His mother asked what he was doing. “I’m thinking, mother," he replied, according to his father’s recollection. “Don’t YOU ever think?" On another occasion, the future software mogul, then 12, got so nasty with his mother that his father threw a glass of cold water in his face, according to an April 2009 Wall Street Journal article. “Thanks for the shower," young Gates replied. His parents took him to a counselor, who advised them to give the youth more freedom. Later, the young Gates demonstrated his first commercial software, a program to measure traffic that he wrote with his friend Paul Allen, at the kitchen table. The elder Gates built his law practice at the Seattle firm that became Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, then part of K&L Gates LLP. Among its clients was Microsoft, which Gates’s son founded with Allen in 1975. Aside from his law work, Gates served as a trustee for more than two dozen Pacific Northwest groups, including the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and King County United Way. In recent years, he was also lent his name to proposals for higher estate and income taxes. Voters rejected a state income tax initiative he supported in 2010. Mary Gates died of cancer in 1994. The elder Gates married his second wife, Mimi Gardner Gates, the former director of the Seattle Art Museum, in 1996. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the cause was Alzheimer's disease. Gates' son and daughter-in-law helped him give away billions. he was the world's second richest person. the elder Gates worked from a basement office at home or a burger joint. he helped his son give away more than $50 billion. he died at his beach home on Hood Canal, washington.
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TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei edged up to a fresh 27-year high on Tuesday, building on recent strength thanks to upbeat earnings hopes, while Ono Pharmaceutical surged on news that a Nobel Prize was awarded to researchers for a cancer-fighting method used in its drug Opdivo.The Nikkei share average ended 0.1 per cent higher at 24,270.62, hovering at levels not seen since November 1991.The gains in the benchmark have been underpinned by the prospect of stronger corporate earnings on the back of a weaker yen. The benchmark index has comfortably stayed above the 24,000-line since last Friday.The Nikkei rallied 5.5 per cent in September, and its sharp gains in the short-period of time make the market prone to profit-taking, but the underlining mood remains positive, traders said."Investors take heart from the global economy's strength and prospects for brighter earnings forecasts as they start reporting earnings later this month," said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities.While many companies based their dollar-yen assumptions at around 105-107 this fiscal year, the current levels are boosting hopes that manufacturers, which export their goods overseas, will raise their annual earnings forecasts, he said.The dollar surged to as high as 114.06 yen in the previous session, its strongest since November last year, before trading flat at 113.77 yen on Tuesday.Exporters got a boost, with Toyota Motor Corp rising 1.6 per cent, Honda Motor Co <7267.T. adding 1.5 per cent, while Panasonic Corp soaring 2.7 per cent.Shares of Ono Pharmaceutical Co jumped as much as 6.9 per cent to hit 3,430 yen, the highest level since August 2016, before ending up 3.1 per cent on news that a Nobel Prize was awarded to researchers for a cancer-fighting method used in Opdivo, a drug it co-developed with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co .On the weak side, discount clothing chain Shimamura Co tumbled 8.2 per cent after the company revised lower its earnings forecast for the year ending February 2019. It now expects a net profit of 27.3 billion yen, down from previously forecast 35 billion yen.The broader Topix was up 0.3 per cent at 1,824.03. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the benchmark index has comfortably stayed above the 24,000-line since last Friday. the dollar surged to 114.06 yen in the previous session, its strongest since last year. shares of ono pharmaceutical surged on news that a Nobel prize was awarded to researchers. discount clothing chain Shimamura Co tumbled 8.2 per cent after it revised lower its earnings forecast.
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“We are safe for this week and we are safe for next week and in the third week we have… parts missing,” said Sir Ralf Speth of Jaguar Land Rover this week. He was talking about the impact China’s Coronavirus has had on Britain’s biggest car maker. Speth was not shying away from telling how significant an impact the virus and the subsequent virtual shutdown of the Chinese economy has had on Jaguar Land Rover. He went on to say that Jaguar Land Rover has been flying in parts from China in suitcases for its assembly line in the United Kingdom. It is no secret that people in China concerned about Coronavirus are not looking to buy cars for now, which is bound to impact sales and revenue of Jaguar Land Rover in the ongoing quarter. The impact of this will be felt by Jaguar’s Indian parent — Tata Motors. Tata Motors earnings for the quarter ended 31 December 2019 show the dependence of the Indian automobile manufacturer on its British subsidiary. Tata Motors posted a consolidated profit of Rs 1,739 crore in the October-December quarter. On the other hand, the standalone earnings of the company saw Tata Motors post a loss of Rs 1,039 crore. Sales in China Ralf Speth joined the likes of Apple on Tuesday to announce that sales and supply will be hit due to the deadly virus in China that has taken nearly 2,000 lives so far. The impact on revenues for the coming quarters could also be significant if normalcy fails to resume in Asia’s largest economy. “In the near term, the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak could negatively affect China region revenues of Tata Motors which accounts for 11% of consolidated revenues,” said analysts at Emkay Global in a research note. Emkay has marked Tata Motors as one of the companies that could be hurt significantly due to Coronavirus. According to Jaguar Land Rover’s quarterly earnings report, its China sales were up 24.3 per cent on-year basis in the third quarter of this fiscal. Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover sales dropped 12 per cent in Britain; 10 per cent in Europe and 11.5 per cent in the rest of the world, making China its biggest market. “After Apple gave lower guidance of sales due to China, other global companies, which are either supply or manufacturing dependents, are worried to follow suit. China has been an important territory for JLR in terms of volumes and profits. Retail sales in China have seen a good rise. Also, total sales from China contributed almost 20 per cent with 1,41,000 units,” Pritam Deuskar, Fund Manager at Bonanza Portfolios, told Financial Express Online. Tata Motors derives about 11 per cent of its consolidated revenues from the China region through JLR’s exports and joint ventures. “Assuming China volumes are impacted by 25% in the near term consolidated EBITDA estimates could reduce by 6% and 5% in Q4FY20 and Q1FY21, respectively,” analysts at Emkay Global said. Ralf Speth claimed that Jaguar Land Rover is making no sales in China currently. Coronavirus will only add to Tata Motor’s woes. The company reported a 17 per cent decline in total sales at 47,862 units in January. Total domestic sales were down 18 per cent at 45,242 units as compared to 54,915 units in January last year, the company had said. Manufacturing hurdles elsewhere China extended the Lunar New Year holiday break due to the outbreak in Hubei province. Factories are yet to start manufacturing in China which might have a significant impact on the world in the coming quarters. It is not just sales in China that are set to witness a sharp fall in the coming quarters, with factories in China closed and lack of imports of key auto parts, the supply chain will take a hit too. Ralf Speth has already said that the company has been flying in parts packed in suitcases to its facilities in the United Kingdom. In the last 5 years, import of car equipment from China has gone up by 22.1 per cent, according to a report by Geojit Financial Services. For Tata motor’s JLR’s 17% volume mix comes from China. Jaguar Land Rover’s joint venture in China with state-owned Chery Automobiles in one of the biggest factories of the Auto Manufacturer outside Britain. Employing over 3,000 people the factory accounts for 200,000 units produced per year. On the back of closed manufacturing plants in China, Indian auto-giant Tata Motors has seen its share price drop more than 12 per cent since mid-December, when the news of the outbreak of Coronavirus in China reached ears across the globe. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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sales in china are up 24.3 per cent on-year in the third quarter of this fiscal. but sales dropped 12 per cent in Britain, 10 per cent in Europe and 11.5% in the rest of the world. the impact of the virus on sales and supply will be felt by the Indian parent. the virus has taken nearly 2,000 lives so far. if normalcy fails to resume in the largest economy, the impact on sales and revenue could be significant.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday the number of direct taxpayers is expected to double to 7.6 crore during the five-year term of the present government on account of various initiatives like rationalisation of tax structure, lowering of rates and anti-black money measures. “If we look at the functioning of the direct tax department, various factors like strict compliance, rationalisation of tax structure, lowering the lowest slab, and the result of that has been…we are finding 15-20 per cent gradual increase in the tax collections every year,” he said. He said this while delivering the valedictory address at the 29th Conference of Accountants General here, organised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The number of direct taxpayers was 3.8 crore when the Modi-led government took office in May 2014. “Four years ago, when we assumed office the total number of people who filed tax returns in India was 3.80 crore. It’s already 6.86 crore last year, which is the fourth year. At the end of fifth year, I do hope it will be something close to 7.6 crore or 7.5 crore, which means that in five years we would have doubled the number of people filing tax returns in India,” he added. He attributed the increase in number of direct taxpayers to initiatives of the government like anti-black money measures, formalisation of economy, use of technology, ability to detect transactions. These initiatives have also led to increase in tax collections by 15-20 per cent, he added. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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finance minister says number of direct taxpayers expected to double. attributed increase to initiatives like anti-black money measures. he said tax collections have increased by 15-20 per cent. number of direct taxpayers was 3.8 crore when the modi-led government took office in may 2014. he said the number of direct taxpayers was already 6.86 crore last year.
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Two identical legislations backed by top companies from the Silicon Valley like Google have been introduced in the US House of Representatives and Senate to end the per-country limit on green cards and could benefit thousands of Indian professionals waiting to gain permanent legal residency if signed into law.In the Senate, Republican Mike Lee and Democratic presidential aspirant Kamala Harris introduced the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act Wednesday, a bill that would remove per-country cap for employment-based green cards.An identical bill -- Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (HR 1044) -- was tabled in the US House of Representatives by Congressman Zoe Lofgren and Ken Buck, Chair and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, with co-sponsorship of a bipartisan group of 112 Congressmen.If passed by Congress and signed into law, the legislations would benefit thousands of Indian professionals on H-1B visas whose current wait time for permanent legal residency is more than a decade.The H-1B visa, most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.Having a Green Card (officially known as a Permanent Resident Card) allows a person to live and work permanently in the United States.According to some recent studies, some categories of those Indian professionals face a wait of 151 years under the current system which imposes a country cap on people who get green cards.The United States makes currently 140,000 green cards available every year to employment-based immigrants, including many who first come here on temporary H-1B or L visas.The existing law, however, provides that not more than seven per cent of these green cards can go to nationals of any one country — even though some countries are more populous than others.Because of this seven per cent limit, for example, a Chinese or Indian post-graduate may have to wait half a decade or more for a Green Card, much longer than a student from a less-populated country."Ours is a nation of immigrants, and our strength has always come from our diversity and our unity," Harris said."We must do more to eliminate discriminatory backlogs and facilitate family unity so that high-skilled immigrants are not vulnerable to exploitation and can stay in the US and continue to contribute to the economy," said the Indian-American Senator.Co-sponsored by 13 more Senators, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act increases the per-country caps for family-sponsored green cards from seven per cent to 15 per cent.Without adding any new green cards, it creates a "first-come, first-served" system that alleviates the backlogs and allows green cards to be awarded more efficiently."Immigrants should not be penalised due to their country of origin," Lee said."Treating people fairly and equally is part of our founding creed and the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act reflects that belief. Immigration is often a contentious issue, but we should not delay progress in areas where there is bipartisan consensus just because we have differences in other areas," Lee said.The bill has also been endorsed by Immigration Voice, Compete America Coalition, the Information Technology Industry Council, Google, Walmart , the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, The Heritage Foundation , La Raza, and many others.The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act alters the per-country limits for employment-based immigrants so that all are treated equally regardless of their country of birth.Noting that the immigration system is severely broken, and it has been broken for decades, said Lofgren said at the heart of this broken system are the outdated employment- and family-based immigration systems, which suffer under decades-long backlogs."In combination with the per country limits, these backlogs keep nuclear families apart for decades, while preventing US employers from accessing and retaining the employees they need to stay competitive. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act begins to address these problems and makes the immigration system somewhat more rational. It is a small, but good step forward," Lofgren said.Buck said year after year, he has met with constituents who come here legally on work visas from India or China and face decades-long wait times for obtaining permanent residence."We want to ensure America remains globally competitive, we need to ease the backlogs and leverage the talent and expertise of our high-skilled immigrants who help strengthen the US economy and fill knowledge gaps in certain fields," he said.These are people who have helped America grow and thrive as a nation of immigrants and the US needs to make sure the system continues to value those who are following American laws and doing the right thing, Buck argued.Aman Kapoor, co-founder and president of Immigration Voice, welcomed the move."It would help to grow our economy by allowing highly skilled immigrants to start their own companies and hire American workers. And, it will finally remove the last vestiges of discrimination from our high-skilled immigration system," Kapoor said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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two identical bills introduced in the house and the senate to end per-country limit on green cards. the legislations would benefit thousands of Indian professionals waiting to gain permanent legal residency. existing law provides that not more than seven per cent of green cards can go to nationals of any one country. if passed by congress and signed into law, the legislations would benefit thousands of Indian professionals.
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Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will work with WhatsApp to educate and train small-medium business owners (SMEs) and entrepreneurs on how the WhatsApp Business app can help them connect with their customers and grow their businesses, CII said in a statement.CII said WhatsApp and CII will work to enhance business communication for Indian SME's through CII’s SME Technology Facilitation Centre. This was set up in November 2016, with the objective of creating awareness amongst SMEs in India on technological solutions that can be optimally adopted to enhance their overall competitiveness. There will be on-ground training around the country to explain the features and best practices on the App. In addition to this, business owners can attend training webinars to help them grow and expand their businesses.According to a survey demonstrating the economic impact of WhatsApp in India, 70% of SMEs on WhatsApp in India say that they built their business on the platform. 78% of these SMEs say they have increased sales because of WhatsApp. Until the launch of the WhatsApp Business app earlier this year, small businesses didn’t have a formalised way to use WhatsApp to connect with their customers.Neerja Bhattia, executive director, CII said: “CII SME Technology Facilitation Centre, is CII’s initiative to provide latest technology support to SMEs in India. It’s operating as a one stop solution centre, summating different upgraded and latest technology from our multiple large technology partners with an aim to enhance access to technology for Indian SMEs and create technical literacy amongst them.The Centre also provides an opportunity to its technology partners to expand their market and reach out to SMEs spread through out the country with their product and services.”Ben Supple, public policy manager, WhatsApp, said, “Whether it’s a chai stand or saree shop, small businesses are at the heart of vibrant communities and the engine that makes the Indian economy grow, and by partnering with CII, we’re committed to helping SMEs achiceve success. Small businesses need to meet their customers where they are, and in India, that’s on WhatsApp. With the WhatsApp Business app, small businesses can easily and efficiently connect with their customers, and we’ll be introducing new features in the future to continue helping them grow.”Launched in January 2018, the WhatsApp Business app was developed to improve SMEs’ communications with their customers, by creating an official presence for those companies in the app and enhancing their customer care, with specific tools to make communicating with customers easier and more efficient. More than three million peopleare already using the WhatsApp Business app worldwide.WhatsApp and CII will develop content to be distributed among entrepreneurs both in physical and digital formats, addressing the advantages of the professional use of WhatsApp Business and promoting the creation of networks for knowledge sharing. WhatsApp will also give workshops to CII team members across the state, to expand contentdissemination and offer local support for cities across India. The partnership starts on 29th October with training in Pune and is expected to reach small and medium businesses along with start-ups and members of CII. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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CII will work with WhatsApp to educate and train small-medium business owners (SMEs) and entrepreneurs on how the WhatsApp Business app can help them connect with their customers. there will be on-ground training around the country to explain the features and best practices on the App. 78% of these SMEs say they have increased sales because of WhatsApp. Until the launch of the WhatsApp Business app earlier this year, small businesses didn’t have a formalised way to use WhatsApp to connect with their customers.
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Markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday further extended the deadline for issuers of municipal debt securities to comply with certain regulatory norms to July 31 in view of the COVID-19 crisis. The relaxation pertains to submission of investor grievance report, financial results and accounts maintained by issuers under ILDM Regulation, Sebi noted in a circular. In view of the situation arising due to COVID-19 pandemic, Sebi in March had extended the timeline for submission of these reports to June 30, which has now been extended till July 31. Providing relaxation from compliance with certain provisions of Issue and Listing of Municipal Debt Securities (ILDM) norms, Sebi said circular shall come into force with immediate effect. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the relaxation pertains to submission of investor grievance report. the deadline for submission of these reports has now been extended till July 31. the deadline was extended in march due to the COVID-19 pandemic. the deadline has now been extended till July 31. the deadline for submission of these reports has now been extended till July 31. a spokesman for the senate is expected to meet in the coming weeks.
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This is what occurred in March 2020. The spike in volatility would also have forced investors to cut the overall size of risk-adjusted positions. Gold’s high liquidity makes it an attractive component of a portfolio to sell in times of urgent need for cash, such as when meeting margin calls. The generally held belief is that gold is negatively correlated to equities during extended bear markets, but it is not unusual for gold, and other putative safe havens, to retreat in unison on big down days in the broader market. However, it is worth reviewing this performance and considering what demand drivers may influence gold prices over the coming months. Much has been made of the relative performance of gold since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The S&P GSCI Gold gained 10.2 percent on a year-to-date (YRD) basis through April 7, 2020, highlighting its safe-haven status. It is worth remembering that gold had already enjoyed a surge in investor interest prior to the current crisis, on the back of low to negative interest rates across the globe and a myriad of geopolitical flare-ups. As for the demand side of the equation, there is plenty of uncertainty in the near term. Jewellery demand, which accounted for approximately 50 percent of all demand for gold in 2019, has undoubtedly fallen since the start of the year, but it is too early to say by how much. The World Gold Council estimated that Chinese consumer demand fell 30%-50% year-over-year in Q1 2020. Many also expect that jewellery demand in the West will not perform as strongly in the current economic climate. Central bank buying is even more uncertain, with oil-rich nations negotiating the impact of a collapse in energy prices and other global sovereigns looking to fund large stimulus packages to mitigate the impact of the current economic downturn. Investor demand for gold is expected to remain strong, although, from portfolio construction and diversification standpoint, there will be a point at which large investors choose not to add to their gold holdings. The massive fiscal and monetary response by governments to manage, and hopefully lessen, the financial impact of the pandemic has triggered inflationary concerns among some investors. As a hedge against inflation, gold is still viewed by many market participants as the “currency of last resort”. The supply-side implications should not be ignored. Disruptions in the flow of physical gold between London and New York has already caused some disturbances to the usually stable differential between London Spot and COMEX futures price and led to the launch of a new futures contract that allows for the delivery of a wider choice of gold bars. There has also been a notable disruption to mine supplies that will flow through to the market. (The author is Global Head of commodities, S&P Dow Jones Indices) 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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gold is an attractive component of a portfolio to sell in times of urgent need for cash. it is not unusual for gold, and other putative safe havens, to retreat in unison on big down days in the broader market. gold is still viewed by many market participants as the “currency of last resort”. the massive fiscal and monetary response by governments to manage the impact of the pandemic has triggered inflationary concerns among some investors.
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Latest updates on lockdown 4.0 and coronavirus: Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in his media briefing on Thursday that the new fare structure for domestic flights is announced for 3 months. As domestic flights resume from May 25, the Civial Aviation Ministry released standard operating procedures (SoPs) for airports across the country on Thursday. Among the guidelines, the ministry made web check-in mandatory for passengers boarding flights, they will be permitted to carry only one check-in baggage. The Passengers are also required to reach the airport 2 hours in advance for thermal screening. The total coronavirus cases in India jumped to 1,12,359 on Thursday, including 63,624 active cases, 45,299 recoveries, 1 migrated, and 3,435, according to latest update by the Union Health Ministry. The country recorded more than 5,600 COVID-19 cases for second day in a row with 5,609 new cases, and 132 deaths in the last 24 hours. Also Read: Coronavirus: COVID-19 cases surge to 1.12 lakh; check state-wise tally, deaths Also Read: IRCTC Update: Railways releases list of 200 trains starting from June 1; booking to start from today Follow BusinessToday.In for all the latest updates on coronavirus:- 8:30 PM: Goa report 2 new coronavirus cases, tally rises to 52 As many as 2 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Goa today; taking the total number of positive cases to 52, says Directorate of Health Services, Goa. 7:40 PM: No inter-district check-posts for health screening: Karnataka govt No inter-district check-posts for health screening in the state. Agencies running public transport to ensure health screening of passengers before the start of a journey. No health screening of passengers travelling by private vehicles across districts in the state, says Karnataka government. 7:15 PM: Home ministry asks States/UTs to strictly implement measures to contain coronavirus Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said it has reported violations of home ministry guidelines at various places. States/UTs must strictly implement all measures to contain COVID-19. Local authorities must take all necessary steps to enforce the guidelines, says MHA Spokesperson. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to States- Violations of MHA Guidelines being reported at various places. States/UTs must strictly implement all measures to contain #COVID19. Local authorities must take all necessary steps to enforce the guidelines: MHA Spokesperson pic.twitter.com/UxzJTnnnoR ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 7:00 PM: Coronavirus in Karnataka: 143 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in 24 hours 143 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Karnataka from 5pm yesterday till 5 pm today; taking the total number of positive cases to 1605. There are 992 active cases: Health Department, Karnataka. 6:40 PM: Delhi records highest single-day spike of 571 fresh cases on Thursday Delhi reported the highest single-day spike of 571 fresh cases on Thursday, taking tally in the city to 11,659 and the death toll from coronavirus infection rose to 194. This is the third consecutive day when 500 or more fresh cases have been reported in a day in Delhi so far. The previous highest was 534 cases recorded on May 20. 6:20 PM: Vande Bharat Mission: Civil Aviation in talks with private airlines to bring stranded Indians back Ministry of Civil Aviation is in talks with private airlines to engage them in Vande Bharat Mission to bring stranded Indians back. A total of 23,475 people have safely returned to India under the mission till date, ANI quoted MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava as saying. 6:05 PM: Defence manufacturing adversely affected by coronavirus: Rajnath Singh Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that manufacturing sector has been affected the most due to coronavirus-led lockdown and disruption in supply chains, while the defence sector is more aggravated than others as the only buyer of its products is the government. 5:55 PM: UP reports 360 new cases in last 24 hours In last 24 hours, 360 new positive coronavirus cases have been reported in the state. Active cases stand at 2,130 while 127 deaths have occurred due to COVID-19 and 3,099 people have been cured till now, says Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad. 5:40 PM: IICB Kolkata gets nod from DCGI to start convalescent plasma therapy CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) in Kolkata has got approval from DCGI to start therapy on convalescent plasma. They've tied up with few hospitals in Kolkata and have begun trials now, says Shekhar C Mande, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 5.13 pm: Delhi govt takes back 70% corona cess Delhi government has taken the decision to take back 70% corona cess on liquor. The decision has been taken since the Haryana and UP borders are open now and can lead to smuggling, sources say. Meanwhile, a formal notification in this regard is awaited. 5.05 pm: 397 coronavirus cases in Gujarat in 24 hours Gujarat which is the third worst-hit state in India recorded 397 new COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this the state's tally climbed to 12,537, as per the Union Health 4.56 pm: Total COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu The state recorded 743 new cases, and 3 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the state's tally to 13,191, according to Union Health Ministry. 4.46 pm: Bihar reports 96 new coronavirus cases Bihar registered 96 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the state's total count of positive cases to 1,872, said the state's Information and Public Relations Department. 4.37 pm: Chandigarh records 14 fresh coronavirus cases 14 new COVID-19 cases have been reported from Bapu Dham colony on Thursday, taking the total count of coronavirus cases in Chandigarh to 219. 4.27 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus cases The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 6,146, including 150 deaths, 3,422 recoveries, and 3,041 discharged, said the Rajasthan health department. 131 #COVID19 positive cases, 3 deaths, 18 recovered & 41 discharged in Rajasthan today so far. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 6146, including 150 deaths and 3422 recovered and 3041 discharged: Rajasthan Health Department pic.twitter.com/xpAG28xTwx ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 4.17 pm: 571 COVID-19 cases in Delhi in 24 hours Delhi recorded 571 fresh coronavirus cases, 375 recoveries in the last 24 hours, said the Kejriwal government adding that the total count of positive cases in the national capital now stands at 11,659, including 5,567 recoveries, 194 deaths. (ANI) 4.09 pm: Uttarakhand coronavirus cases: 10 more infected Uttarakhand recorded 10 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, said the state health department adding that the total coronavirus positive cases jumped to 132 including 77 active cases, 54 recoveries, and 1 death. (ANI) 3.59 pm: Domestic flight routes classified into 7 categories, says Civil Aviation Minister All routes in within the country fall within these 7 categories:- 1) Flight time less than 40 minutes 2) 40 - 60 minutes 3) 60 - 90 minutes 4) 90 - 120 minutes 5) 120 - 150 minutes 6) 150 - 180 minutes 7) 180 - 210 minutes. 3.49 pm: West Bengal coronavirus cases: Total 72 deaths across West Bengal, claims Mamata Out of these 72 deaths, Kolkata's count stands at 15, Howrah -7, North 24 Parganas-17, East Medinipur-6, South 24 Parganas-18,Hooghly-2. 3.43 pm: Minimum and maximum fares fixed for next 3 months, says Puri We have set a minimum and a maximum fare. In the case of Delhi, Mumbai the minimum fare would be Rs 3500 for a journey between 90-120 minutes, maximum fare would be Rs 10,000. This is operative for 3 months - till one minute to midnight on 24th August, says Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. 3.33 pm: Corona updates: Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri briefs media Announcing SoPs for domestic flights beginning May 25, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the flights will restart up to a limited extend of required and approved summer schedule. He added that for operation from Metro to Metro cities, airlines will be permitted to function with one-third capacity of approved summer schedule 2020, which is over 33.33%. Puri stated that from Metro to Non-Metro cities and vice-versa, where weekly departures are more than 100, airlines will be permitted one-third capacity of approved summer schedule 2020. 3.23 pm: New fare structure announced for 3 months Delhi-Mumbai fares-minimum cap of Rs 3,500, maximum- Rs 10,000, says Puri. 3.17 pm: Domestic flights from May 25 Fare limits have been fixed, says Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. 3.14 pm: 'Metro to non Metro citites'-Only 1/3rd flights to resume: Hardeep Singh Puri 3.09 pm: Evacuation flights 20,000 people brough back from abroad, says Hardeep Singh Puri. 3.04 pm: Coronavirus live updates Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri begins press conference on SoPs for domestic flights beginning from May 25. #WATCH: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri addresses the media in Delhil https://t.co/q2KmGXzRfq ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 3.00 PM: Latest coronavirus cases in Rajasthan As many as 131 COVID-19 positive cases, 3 deaths, 18 recovered and 41 discharged in Rajasthan today so far. The total number of positive cases in the state rises to 6,146, including 150 deaths and 3,422 recovered, says the Rajasthan Health Department. 2.50 PM: Lottery ticket sale resumes in Kerala Sale of lottery tickets resumes in the state after almost two months. Ramesan B, a retail lottery ticket seller in Thiruvananthapuram, says, "We are witnessing fall in sales as people stay at home due to lockdown". - ANI 2.40 PM: Coronavirus in numbers 45,299 people cured; recovery rate 40.32% 2,615,920 samples tested so far; 1,03,532 samples tested in last 24 hours 3,027 dedicated COVID Hospitals and Health Centres 6,50,930 COVID Care Centres identified 2.30 PM: On May 20, 279 Shramik trains were run taking 5 lakh migrant labourers, students and trapped tourists to their homes: Railway Minister Also read: Railways to start ticket booking at 1.7 lakh common service centres from tomorrow: Goyal 2.20 PM: 70-year-old woman from Budgam district who had tested positive for coronavirus dies at hospital in Srinagar, taking COVID-19 related death toll in Jammu and Kashmir to 19: Officials --PTI 2.15 PM: Update from Rashtrapati Bhavan President Ram Nath Kovind accepted credentials from Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Senegal, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius, Australia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Rwanda through video conference today. This was the first time that credentials were presented through the digital medium. President Kovind remarked that digital technology has enabled the world to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19 and carry out its functions in an innovative manner. 2.03 pm: Manufacturing sector most-affected by lockdown, says Rajnath Singh Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the manufacturing sector has been the most affected by lockdown and disruption in existing supply chains, defence sector is no exception. Defence sector has faced more pressure compared to other sectors, he added. Manufacturing sector has been the most affected by lockdown and disruption in existing supply chains, defence sector is no exception. Defence sector has faced more pressure compared to other sectors: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/NWAU2sLa7r ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 1.56 pm: Odisha coronavirus cases at 1,103 Odisha's COVID-19 tally stands at 1,103 as of date, including 753 active cases, 343 recoveries, and 7 deaths, said the state health department. (ANI) 1.45 pm: COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra near 40,000 With 2,161 new COVID-19 cases and 65 deaths, Maharashtra's total count of confirmed coronavirus cases climbed to 39,297, along with 1,390 deaths, according to Union Health Ministry on Thursday. 1.35 pm: Mumbai lockdown extension news Large number of migrant labourers gathered at the grounds in Kandivali's Mahavir Nagar after 2 of the 3 trains, scheduled to leave from Borivali for UP, were cancelled. The labourers requested to be sent to their home states. Police is requesting them to vacate spot. Mumbai: Large number of migrant labourers have gathered at the grounds in Kandivali's Mahavir Nagar after 2 of the 3 trains, scheduled to leave from Borivali for UP, were cancelled. The labourers requested to be sent to their home states. Police is requesting them to vacate spot. pic.twitter.com/fV5LlDUxkJ ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 1.25 pm: 116 new COVID-19 cases in Karnataka Karnataka recorded 116 fresh coronavirus cases from 5 pm on Wednesday to 12 pm on Thursday. 14 people recovered and were discharged during this period. The total coronavirus positive cases in the state have risen to 1,568, while total deaths stand at 41, and a total of 570 people have been discharged so far, the Karnataka government said. 116 new #COVID19 positive cases reported in Karnataka (from 5 PM y'day to 12 PM today), 14 people discharged during this period. Total positive cases in the state rises to 1568, total deaths stand at 41 and a total of 570 people have been discharged so far: Govt of Karnataka pic.twitter.com/ztywDkzoF2 ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 1.17 pm: Indore coronavirus cases: 59 more infected in 24 hours Indore which is the worst-hit district in Madhya Pradesh, recorded a total of 59 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the district's tally to 2,774. The death toll due to coronavirus in Indore also jumped to 107, after 2 more patients, both men aged 57 and 62 years, passed away at a private hospital on Tuesday, informed Indore's Chief Medical and Health Officer Praveen Jadia. (PTI) 1.09 pm: US coronavirus deaths: 1,561 new fatalities in 24 hours The United States recorded 1,561 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 93,406, according to latest data by Johns Hopkins University. US has a total of 1,550,959 cases. (AFP) 1.00 pm: Uttar Pradesh lockdown news: New full list of containment zones in Noida, Greater Noid; check here The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration released the new full list of containment zones for Noida and Greater Noida. The notice issued by the administration notifies that there are 63 containment zones in the district, divided into Category I and II in case of urban areas, the Financial Express reported. Containment zones falling in category 1 are the ones where only one coronavirus positive case is found, while the ones in second category have more than one positive cases. In case of rural areas, if only there is only one COVID-19 positive in a village, then only that village will be identified as a containment zone. If more than one case is found in a village, then the neighbouring areas will also be classified as the containment zone. Here is the full list of containment zones in Noida, and Greater Noida:- CATEGORY me 1. Sector 48, Noida 2. Sector 7, Noida 3. Ajnara Daffodil, Sector 137, Noida 4. Village Surajpur, Greater Noida 5. Village Tugalpur, Greater Noida 6. Village Chaprauli, Sector 168, Noida 7. Village Dadupur, Block Dhankaur 8. Yakubpur, Sector 83, Noida 9. NCR City Village Girdharpur, Near Chaprola, Greater Noida 10. Village Mangrauli, Block Jewar 11. Sai Upvan, Near Village Habaitpur, Noida 12. Village Nawada, Yamuna Expressway 13. Sector 68, Noida 14. Village Sutyana, Greater Noida 15. Kali Charan Mandir Kasna, Greater Noida 16. Galaxy North Avenue II, Gaur City II, Greater Noida 17. Village Salarpur, Sector 102, Noida 18. Shramik Kunj, Sector 110, Noida 19. Purvanchal Royal Park, Sector 137, Noida 20. Panchsheel Hynish, Sector 1, Greater Noida 21. CISF Camp, Greater Noida 22. CRPF Camp, Greater Noida 23. Sector 46, Noida 24. Sector 40, Noida 25. Saya Zion, Gaur City I, Greater Noida 26. Samridhi Grand Avenue, Greater Noida 27. Him Sagar Apartment, Pocket 4, Greater Noida 28. Nirala Estate, Near Patwari Village, Greater Noida 29. Ace City, Greater Noida 30. Hig Apartments Omicron 1, Greater Noida 31. Sector 41, Noida 32. Near Vishal Mega Mart, Village Surajpur 33. Yamuna Expressway Industrial Authority Plot Number 8, Sector 24 34. Jalvayu Towers, Sector 47, Noida 35. Village Faleda 36. Sector 19, Block A, Noida 37. Village Chalera, Gali Number 4, Sector 44, Noida CATEGORY II 1. Sector 30, Noida 2. Pi 1st, Pi 1st Advocate Colony, Greater Noida 3. Village Bisrakh, Greater Noida 4. Skytech, Sector 76, Noida 5. Alpha 1, Greater Noida 6. Sector 10, Noida 7. Nat Madhiya Village, Near CNG Pump, Greater Noida 8. Paras Tierea, Sector 137, Noida 9. Jalvayu Vihar, Sector P-3, Greater Noida 10. Ace Golf Shire, Sector 150, Noida 11. Sector 19, B Block, Noida 12. Chaura Village, Sector 22, Noida 13. Village Sadarpur and Khajoor Colony, Sector 45, Noida 14. Sector 9, Noida 15. Nithari, Sector 31, Noida 16. Sector 8, Noida 17. Village Mamura, Sector 66, Noida 18. Village Malakpur, Greater Noida 19. Sector 12, Noida 20. Chhajarsi, Sector 63, Noida 21. Sector 5, Noida 22. WHO Society, Chi-II, Greater Noida 23. Village Nangla, Phase II, Noida 24. Sector 15, Noida 25. Sector 27, Noida 26. Sunshine Helios, Sector 78, Noida 12.51 pm: Japan coronavirus vaccine trial Japan is conducting clinical trial of antiviral drug Avigan for treating COVID-19 patients. Final results expected around July. 12.41 pm: Indian Railways in lockdown: Bookings will resume from Friday Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday that the boking of train train tickets will resume at around 1.7 lakh common service centres from Friday across the country. He added, "Bookings will also resume at counters of different stations in the next 2-3 days. We are developing a protocol in this regard." 12.31 pm: Coronavirus pandemic: 7 worst-affected states in India Maharashtra is the worst-hit with 39,297 cases Tamil Nadu on second spot with 13,191 Gujarat at 12,537 Delhi-11,088 Rajasthan-6,015 Madhya Pradesh-5,735, and Uttar Pradesh at 5,175 12.26 pm: Chandigarh lockdown 4.0 latest updates Chandigarh Transport Undertaking has resumed bus services in the union territory amid continuing COVID-19 lockdown. A bus driver says, "We are not allowing more than 15 people to board the bus at a time to ensure social distancing among passengers. Chandigarh Transport Undertaking resumes bus services in the union territory amid continuing COVID-19 lockdown. A bus driver says, "We are not allowing more than 15 people to board the bus at a time to ensure social distancing among passengers". pic.twitter.com/XoFab56izT ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 12.18 pm: Coronavirus vaccine: Indian pharma company conducts trials for potential COVID-19 drug Strides Pharma Science Ltd, has said that it has got regulatory approval to carry out clinical trials of anti-viral drug Favipiravir, considered to be a potential treatment for COVID-19, Reuters reported. The Bengaluru-based pharma company has received nod from the Drug Controller General of India to carry out trials of favipiravir in India, informed Strides Founder and Non-Executive Chairman Arun Kumar. 12.09 pm: Jharkhand COVID-19 cases Jharkhand health department said on Thursday that the total cases in the state now stand at 290, including 158 active cases and 129 recoveries. Total number of cases in Jharkhand now at 290, including 158 active cases & 129 recovered/discharged: State Health Department pic.twitter.com/bDNOUH6us3 ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 11.59 am: Coronavirus India updates: 1,000-fold rise in COVID-19 tests says ICMR The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that India has witnessed a 1,000-fold rise in the count of coronavirus tests that are being carried out every day over the past 2 months. It added that for every COVID-19 positive test more there are 20 negative tests that have been done. As per the ICMR, a total of 25.12 lakh samples have been tested till 9 am of May 20, and the testing capacity has been grossed up to 1 lakh tests per day. 11.49 am: Andhra Pradesh COVID-19 cases: 45 more infected in 24 hours Andhra Pradesh recorded 45 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. The total count in the state now stands at 2,452, comprising 718 active cases and 54 deaths, said the state's COVID-19 Control Room. (ANI) 11.39 am: Liquor shops in J&K People form long queue outside a liquor shop in Jammu which opened following relaxations in coronavirus lockdown. J&K administration has permitted the opening of liquor shops in the entire union territory. Jammu & Kashmir: People form long queue outside a liquor shop in Jammu which opened following relaxations in #CoronaLockdown. J&K administration has permitted the opening of liquor shops in the entire union territory. pic.twitter.com/SGWvsYibZv ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 11.32 am: Corona news: India's growth depends on intensity, duration of COVID-19 pandemic, says govt A report by Finance Ministry said on Wednesday that the India's GDP growth in FY21 will hinge upon the severity, spread, and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reported readied by the Economic Affairs Division of the ministry said that it took note of the IMF's projection of 1.9% growth in the current fiscal. IMF last month had pegged India's GDP to dip to 1.9% in FY21 as against 5.8% assessed in January. Read more here: Coronavirus: India's growth depends on severity, duration of pandemic, says Finance Ministry report 11.26 am: COVID-19 recoveries in India: State-wise status Top 5 states by recovery: Maharashtra-10,318 Gujarat-5,219 Tamil Nadu-5,882 Delhi-5,192 Rajasthan-3,404 11.19 am: COVID-19 cases in India: State-wise status Five worst-hit states by deaths: Maharashtra-1,390 Gujarat-749 Madhya Pradesh-267 West Bengal-253 Delhi-176 11.15 am: Noida lockdown extension: Markets reopen, follow odd-even rule Markets in Noida are open on odd-even basis following social distancing and necessary precautions. The guidelines are applicable only outside containment zones. Restaurants, and sweet shops are permitted to open but only home delivery is allowed. 11.09 am: Coronavirus tracker in India: Check BusinessToday.In tracker to get state-wise tally of COVID-19 cases INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graph. 11.00 am: Delhi lockdown latest updates Heavy traffic movement in Ghazipur amid 4th phase of lockdown. Delhi: Heavy traffic movement in Ghazipur amid 4th phase of lockdown. #lockdown4 pic.twitter.com/UmZHw0999Z ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 10.50 am: COVID-19 testing in India: 26 lakh samples tested so far The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that a total of 26 lakh samples have been tested so far with over 1 lakh samples tested in the last 24 hours. (ANI) 10.45 am: Lockdown relaxation in Andhra Pradesh Social distancing rules followed at bus stands as the state allowed the public transport to resume operations. 10.37 am: Coronavirus live updates: AAI issues SoPs for airports The Airport Authority of India (AAI) released the SoPs for all airport operators as domestic flights are all set to resume from May 25. It shall be verified by the Central Industrial Security Force/Airport staff at the entry gate. However, Aarogya Setu is not mandatory for children below the age of 14 years: Airports Authority of India (AAI) https://t.co/4X1GGDipDx ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2020 10.28 am: Indian Railways status: Railways releases list of 200 trains beginning Jun 1, online bookings to start from Thursday Indian Railways has released a list of 200 passenger trains that will begin transporting passengers from June 1. Among these trains, 17 are Jan Shatabdi and 5 Duronto Express trains. The Indian Railways is also running Shramik Special trains and Special AC trains since May 1 and May 12, to ferry migrants and other passengers. People can book tickets online from Thursday at 10 am. Online ticketing will be done through IRCTC website or through Mobile App. 10.21 am: Bihar's coronavirus count touches 1,600, Odisha past 1,000-mark Bihar's total number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,674 with 96 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours. Most of these 96 new cases were recorded in the state's Champaran district (26), followed by Buxar (21), and Darbhanga and Patna (9 each). Meanwhile, Odisha's tally reached 1,052, out which 74 were registered in the last 24 hours. The death toll in the state stands at 6. 10.15 am: Global COVID-19 tally past 5 billion-mark Over 5 million (50 lakh) people worldwide have been tested coronavirus positive so far. Latin America overtook the United States and Europe in the past week to report the highest new daily cases worldwide. The virus has infected more people in under 6 months than the annual total of severe flu cases, assessed by the WHO at nearly 3 million to 5 million globally. 10.05 am: Domestice flights from May 25: Civil Aviation ministry issues guidelines for airport operators Civil aviation ministry releases sops for airports operators, highlights:- 1. Thermal screening before passengers enter terminal 2. Entry inside terminal at least 2 hours before departure 3. Trolleys discouraged, bag sanitising outside terminal 4. Washrooms to close every hour for sanitation 5. UV scan to sanitise checkedin baggage. 6. Sanitisers dispernsers at terminals 9.56 am: Delhi corona news Jail superintendent posted at Delhi's Mandoli jail tests COVID-19 positive. 9.49 am: Coronavirus global updates: World COVID-19 tally past 49 lakh, over 3 lakh deaths so far The total count of COVID-19 cases in the world has climbed to 49,96,472, as per data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University. 3.28 lakh people have died due to the infection so far. 9.43 am: Corona updates: Nations with more COVID-19 cases in India Here is the list of countries with more coronavirus cases than India, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. United States: 15,51,853 Russia: 3,08,705 Brazil: 2,91,579 UK: 2,49,619 Spain: 2,32,555 Italy: 2,27,364 France: 1,81,700 Germany: 1,78,473 Turkey: 1,52,587 Iran: 1,26,949 India: 1,12,028 9.36 am: COVID-19 recovery rate in India rises to 40.32% 3,002 people recovered from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. India's total count of those recovered jumped to 4,5299 on Thursday from 42,297 on Wednesday. 9.29 am: Lockdown in Delhi: Parks, garden open in Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park, and Talkatora garden open for public from May 21 The parks will be open from 7 am to 10 am in the morning, and 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm in the evening. Meanwhile, open gym, yoga and other activities will not be allowed during the period. Entry of people above 65 years of age, children below 10 years of age, and persons with co-morbidity, and suffering from chronic diseases will not be permitted. 9.25 am: Total coronavirus deaths in India The country recorded 132 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours taking India's toll to 3,435, as per the latest update by the Union Health Ministry. 9.16 am: Over 5,600 coronavirus cases in 24 hours, second day in a row India recorded 5,609 new COVID-19 cases, and 132 deaths in 24 hours, ending Thursday morning taking the country's total past 1.10 lakh. The country also reported a spike of 5,611 fresh cases and 140 deaths in 24 hours ending Wednesday morning. 9.08 am: India COVID-19 cases cross 1.10 lakh The total coronavirus cases in India jumped to 1,12,359 on Thursday, including 63,624 active cases, 45,299 recoveries, 1 migrated, and 3,435, according to latest update by the Union Health Ministry. 9.03 am: Coronavirus latest updates: WHO expresses concern over the rising COVID-19 numbers in poor countries The World Health Organisation (WHO) expressed concern on Wednesday (May 20) over the rising count of fresh coronavirus cases in poor nations, even as several rich countries emerge from lockdown. The global health body said 106,000 new cases of infections of the novel coronavirus had been registered in the past 24 hours, the most in a single day since the COVID-19 outbreak began, as the total number of cases world-wide approached 5 million. Read more here: India should adopt market-friendly approach to survive in post-COVID world: Alice Wells 8.58 am: Corona global news: India needs to adopt market-friendly approach in post-COVID world, says a senior US diplomat Highlighting that India has been unable to crack trade deals Alice Wells, the outgoing Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs said on Thursday that India needs to bring in economic reforms to seize the opportunity provided by the coronavirus crisis. He added that the US wants a trade deal but India has been unable to do so. She added that there's a real opportunity for diversification as countries are looking to de-risk from China. 8.54 am: Global updates on coronavirus: Trump slams China Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump lashed out at China saying that "China is on a massive disinformation campaign because they are desperate to have Sleepy Joe Biden win the presidential race so they can continue to rip-off the United States, as they have done for decades, until I came along!" Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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coronavirus cases in india jump to 1,12,359 on Thursday. country recorded more than 5,600 COVID-19 cases for second day in a row. 132 deaths in the last 24 hours. govt. no inter-district check-posts for health screening in the state. a spokesman for the u.s. government says it has reported violations of guidelines.
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Dr Naliniprava Tripathy, Harsh Alipuria Union Budget 2019 India: India’s vision is to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030 and a $5 trillion economy by 2025. To accomplish it, a big challenge in front of the new government is to espouse a balancing act to recuperate savings, improve farm productivity, drive consumption, bring the fiscal deficit under control and providing requisite incentives to boost the economy. The first big task in front of the new government is to roll out a budget, which would give the fledgling economy a much-needed enhancement and put a stop to the rising unemployment levels, which currently pegged at over 6%. Another major factor in consideration for the budget would be the fiscal deficit of 3.4%, and it would be interesting to see the next year’s target considering the cash crunch in the financial sector and lack of investments. Hence, massive investment has to be made to create jobs, and infuse confidence in the Indian Investors. The headline of the interim budget was the monthly allowance for farmers and the conditional increase of the income tax slab to 5 lac rupees. However, the FM at that point of time tried to maintain the status quo considering the elections were on the horizon. This time the FM Sitharaman needs to make sweeping changes to ensure India remains the fastest growing economy in the world. Also read: Budget 2019: GST on insurance same as GST on alcohol; Is it justified? Here we look at the major sectors and section of people and what would be their expectations from the budget. Investors: Investor confidence and the movement of the two-benchmark indices reflect a lot about what is going on in the economy. The upturn in Nifty and Sensex after the NDA government swept the Lok Sabha seats was a signal of that. A similar trend was also observed after the 2014 results were declared. A positive budget will no doubt have a good impact on the confidence amidst the gloomy statistics of growth and unemployment numbers. The high Securities transaction tax has prevailed for a long time now. Lowering STT would be very positive for investor sentiment. The reduction of STT or the restoration on the rebate, which was withdrawn in 2008 by FM Chidambaram, remains the most significant demand. The tax on LTCG last year also dampened investor confidence. The government should look to tackle that caveat as it eats into the profits earned on the appreciation of a good investment. Common Man: PM Modi and this BJP government have resonated with the common person like no one else in the previous few decades. Even after the shock and the inconvenience of demonetization hasn’t deterred the ordinary person from voting for PM Modi. Now all eyes would be on the new Finance Minister if she can reward the common man’s trust with favorable policies. Most Indian taxpayers are having high expectation about tax rebate and standard deductions. It has been widely believed that the tax exemption limit of 2.5 lacs will be increased to 3 lacs to boost the demand. Also read: Budget 2019: 7 key expectations of women from Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget This increase in the limit will put an additional 2500 rupees in the pockets of the common man, increasing the spending power. Additionally, it would be ideal for increasing the limit of exemption through investment tax deductions made under 80C of the Income Tax Act. Currently, the limit stands at 1.5 lac rupees and is expected to go to 2 lacs. However, this will have a twin effect of increasing the demand but also, putting the pressure on the fiscal budget of the country. To push the economy further, relief should be given to individual taxpayers to strengthen investments and to imbue more currency into the economy. The income deduction towards interest paid on home loan limit is quite low in comparison to the cost of the borrowed loan. It is also equally important to relax in restriction of setoff losses from house property to increase the investment in an additional house property, which can become an income-yielding asset and help in disposal of current inventory. Farmers: The agrarian sector is the highest employer for Indians by a vast margin. The employment opportunity provided by this sector has helped our country overcome many of our problems. Nevertheless, whenever the sector is in trouble, a quick fix of loan waivers and cash transfers is meted out. With the mandate on its side, it is high time to stopped resorting to these measures and look for structural reforms that would catapult the sector into the prosperity it deserves. Initially, the government should try to consolidate the fragmented market. The intermediaries make up most of the profits, leaving both the consumers and the farmers shorthanded. A lot of the produce is wasted in the storage facilities, which should be efficiently exported, to ease the pressure on the storage facilities as well as make up some ground on current account deficit. Another essential reform would be to focus on the infrastructure. It is a startling fact that even in the 21st century, India experiences, floods, and droughts at similar times in different part of the country. Water management and irrigation facilities need a push to sustain the output and the well being of the farmers. Finance Sector: The financial sector is going through a crisis with liquidity being a significant factor. PSUs and NBFC are both facing cash shortages, which is hampering their growth visions. There is a need for better governance, capitalization, and consolidation to save the ailing sector. Government is planning on injecting 1.06 lakh crore rupees into the distressed finance sector, where public sector banks are battling NPAs, and the NBFCs are facing an unprecedented cash crunch. Greater clarity over the role of Bank Boards Bureau would also help in boosting the overall temperament of the industry. The corporate tax rate is currently 25%, but only applicable to those companies, whose turnover up to Rs250 Crores. However, a single tax rate can be imposed on all companies in India, including partnership firms and limited liability partnerships at par with other Asian Economics. The government also required to enhance the index of ease of doing business to make Indian as an investment destination hub and shoot up economic progress. Dr Naliniprava Tripathy is Professor (Finance), IIM Shillong and Harsh Alipuria is Alumnus IIM Shillong, working with a Consulting Firm. The views expressed are the authors’ own. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the new government is expected to roll out a budget to boost the fledgling economy. the fiscal deficit of 3.4% is also a major factor in consideration for the budget. investors are expecting a positive budget. the high Securities transaction tax has prevailed for a long time. the government is expected to make sweeping changes to ensure India remains the fastest growing economy in the world.
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The real estate landscape in India has undergone a tectonic shift in recent years, buoyed by major long-term regulatory and structural changes. Contributing ~6-7% of the country’s economy, real estate continues to be the second largest employment generators in India, only after agriculture. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has played a crucial role in this development, bringing in stringent regulations to promote trust, transparency and stability in the real estate ecosystem. One of the key changes implemented by RERA is the imposition of escrow. It stipulates all real estate builders/ developers to transfer 70% of the money received from customers to an escrow account maintained with a scheduled commercial bank. This particular provision prevents developers from using the funds for other projects, and mitigates the risk of insolvency. What is an escrow account? Once restricted to large-scale transactions such as mergers & acquisitions and cross-border deals, RERA has now successfully introduced the concept of escrow as a trust-building mechanism in real estate in India. An escrow account is under the purview of a neutral third party, which is essentially a bank or a recognized lender. In real estate, the developer can access the funds from an escrow account solely for the purpose of construction of the project to which it belongs. However, the request for withdrawal of funds must be certified by an engineer, architect and a chartered accountant to ensure real estate developer’s claims are justified. The restriction on withdrawals from an escrow account makes it the perfect tool to address the incessant delays in residential real estate projects. To put things into perspective, a recent research report revealed that as many as 220 projects comprising 1.74 lakh homes are completely stalled across seven major cities in India. According to another report, nearly 4.54 lakh units in the country are running behind their completion dates. Against this backdrop, this fail-safe payment system is proving to be a boon for home buyers. Moreover, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 requires all developers to get the escrow account audited, within six months after the end of every fiscal year, by a certified chartered accountant. The statement of accounts will only be verified if it is signed by the same chartered accountant. On the other hand, an escrow arrangement assures the developer that the buyer has the money to complete the transaction. Essentially, it’s a win-win for both the parties involved in the builder-buyer agreement. While the RERA Act mandates the use of escrow for new projects, it is yet to gain momentum in the secondary (resale) property market. This is because unlike the primary market, the resale market lacks a regulatory backbone, rendering the scope for foul play. Without RERA’s direct supervision, real estate players continue to ask for hefty cash pay-out in property purchases, forcing customers to drop their plans or shift to other avenues. However, at a time when transaction activity is on the decline and more consumers are seeking ready-to-move options, it’s critical that the government incorporates an escrow system in the resale segment as well. Otherwise considered murky in the absence of an effective watchdog, the arrival of escrow can undoubtedly boost the creditability of the secondary real estate sector in India. The road ahead: Escrow to create a level-playing field in India’s rental housing space With new-age digital escrow service providers offering easy-to-use solutions, the concept is likely to become an integral part of real estate, which happens to be an opaque sector in India. While real estate escrow is still at a nascent stage in India, it holds huge scope for growth. Not only home buyers, the rental housing space can also avail direct benefit from an escrow system in place. Given the highly unregulated nature of this sector, it is the only way to protect the interests of both tenants and homeowners. The main purpose of a rental escrow account is to ensure the landlord is complying with the legal requirements pertaining to maintaining a safe and healthy environment. This is applicable for making necessary repayments in the rented home. Western countries have already created a successful model for rental escrow, and the same can be replicated in India. The real estate sector though has been largely impacted by the ongoing economic slowdown and COVID-19. However, regulatory intervention, forward looking measures such as escrow, upcoming new tenancy laws etc will definitely go a long way in creating a positive and structurally sound ecosystem in the times to come. (By Ashwin Chawwla, Founder & CEO, Escrowffrr) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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escrow is a new form of escrow that allows developers to withdraw money. the escrow account is under the purview of a neutral third party. the request for withdrawal must be certified by an engineer, architect and a chartered accountant. the real estate industry is booming and is booming. the government is introducing a new escrow system to help developers.
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As the S&P 500 approaches fresh highs, some investors hope to pick up bargains in the battered U.S. real estate sector, where values of some major stocks have been cut in half this year.Coronavirus-fueled lockdowns and a major shift toward working from home have weighed on residential and retail U.S. real estate investment trusts. The sector has slid 7% this year compared with a 3% gain on the S&P 500.Yet investors say stocks in the sector could jump if a coronavirus vaccine loosens the pandemic’s hold on the U.S. economy.“You’re going to find more attractive spots in the REIT space than you will in some areas of the market like technology, that have the growth but are getting expensive,” said Mark Freeman, chief investment officer at Socorro Asset Management.Among his largest positions is Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc ( ARE.N ), which rents space for medical research, and Prologis Inc (PLD.N), which owns warehouses used for ecommerce fulfillment by companies such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).Drugmakers will likely have tens of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines in the early part of next year, Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases official, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.Such a breakthrough would be a boon for companies like mall landlord Simon Property Group Inc (SPG.N), said John Creswell, executive managing director at Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Shares of the company are down 58.2% for the year to date and trade at a trailing price to earnings ratio of 9.6, less than half of their 52-week high of 22.9.The company, which is expected to report earnings on Aug. 10, is managing the effects of the pandemic by capping its spending until consumers once again feel comfortable congregating in large groups, Creswell said.“They’re showing that they can live with COVID, not just get through COVID,” Creswell said.An extension of unemployment benefits and another stimulus bill would likely provide an outsized lift to retail and residential REITs that have lagged hot sectors such as data centers, said Michael Knott, Green Street’s head of U.S. REIT Research.“Given that consumption is such a critical aspect of GDP, bridging toward an environment that starts to look more normal will be pretty important to the retail and residential space,” he said.There are plenty reasons to be skeptical of a quick rebound. Enhanced unemployment benefits lapsed last week, and Congress has, as of Friday, had failed to pass another stimulus bill that would provide relief. Those enhanced benefits had funded continued spending for many of the more than 20 million Americans who have lost their jobs since February.More than 30% of mall-based businesses and office tenants are expected to withhold at least part of their rent payments this year, according to estimates from Green Street Advisors.Valuations in the sector also tend to vary widely, thanks to rallies in warehouse and data-center stocks that have skewed averages higher. Data center operator Digital Realty Trust, for example, is up 31% for the year to date and trades at a P/E of 55.2. On the whole, companies in the sector trade at 37 times earnings, compared to 24 for the S&P 500.Still, Freeman of Socorro Asset Management has raised his exposure to the REIT sector, expecting that consumers will return to physical retail stores and workers will return to offices once the pandemic is over.He also plans on adding to his exposure to apartments and retail centers, in part due to more attractive yields than those available from government or corporate bonds.“We are going to see how fundamentals play out before we become much more aggressive, but we’re starting to get much more comfortable with the space,” he said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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some investors hope to pick up bargains in the battered real estate sector. the sector has slid 7% this year compared with a 3% gain on the S&P 500. investors say stocks in the sector could jump if a coronavirus vaccine loosens the pandemic’s hold on the economy. a broader economic recovery could be a boon for REITs.
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It’s the year-end and it is also the tax-planning season. My sessions obviously have a lot of queries relating to Section 80C for tax saving. And despite all the noise about adoption of mutual funds, I find that 60-70% of the participants still prefer investing in investment-linked insurance over equity-linked savings schemes ( ELSS ) or even Public Provident Fund (PPF) simply because they believe that these policies give the highest returns with little or no risk. Moreover, they are willing to lock in money in an endowment or unit-linked insurance plan ( Ulip ) but not in PPF. This is because of investment biases people have. In the above case, investors continue to invest in investment-linked policies simply because they are familiar with these investments and fear losing money in other investments. Decisions about money are mostly not taken rationally and there is a tendency to let our emotions overrule logic. In most cases, despite knowing why one should be choosing another investment, one ends up investing in tried and tested products due to investment biases. For example, real estate is still the most preferred investment for most investors simply because of their false sense that nothing is likely to go wrong with real estate. This is because they are biased by an existing conclusion that with real estate, one cannot go wrong. The same bias also applies to those buying traditional insurance. Unfortunately, these biases are hard-wired and overcoming them is a big challenge. Further, with the overload of information available, investors find it difficult to focus on the relevant information. With market-linked investments, individuals feel they are not competent to understand how these investments work and hence stay away. The anchoring bias or relying just on some specific information is another issue. For example, with mutual funds, investors base their decisions on the current net asset value (NAV) rather than whether the fund ties in with their risk profile or is suitable for their investment horizon. People are also influenced by where others in their circle are investing. Every individual at some point is influenced by family members or colleagues or friends, on their financial choices. To the extent that even if an individual has made the right decision, an influencer may put him down. I have come across so many cases, where women are questioned about their financial decisions by those who may not have knowledge themselves. Investors always blame market volatility for their losses, but in most cases it is an error of judgment while choosing investments or wrong decisions during the investment period that actually lead to losses. So how can you overcome your investment biases and prevent yourself from being your own enemy? Educate yourself: Educate yourself on the various investment products and how they work. Most people who buy investment-linked insurance do not realise that the sum assured is just not enough to take care of the family needs in case of an eventuality. Self-awareness is important to bust myths like all mutual funds do not invest only in stocks. There are funds which are less volatile and can be invested into for various goals. Take out time to make financial decisions: View money management as something that allows you to live your life the way you want instead of looking upon it as a chore. Create a financial plan: To actually be able to be financially secure, it is important to keep out the noise from the markets, influencers and create a financial plan. Unless you have a financial plan in place, you wouldn’t know the right financial choices for your goals. I had a client who wanted to invest into a second property without realising that he would have very little left to be saved post EMI, for children’s education or retirement. A financial plan is your money map and will guide you towards choosing which investments you need to make versus those you want to make. Learn from your mistakes: Mostly one loses money not due to bad luck or market volatility but because of not choosing the right instrument for the investment period. Analyse why you lost out. Is it because you panicked on a market correction or invested into something without understanding the working of the product? Build in accountability: Unless you are accountable to someone, you will keep following the same investment biases. Normally, one decides where to invest and convinces oneself about it. Have someone play the devil’s advocate who can challenge your decisions. How about the above for a new year resolution? Mrin Agarwal is a financial educator, founder director of Finsafe India Pvt. Ltd and co-founder of Womantra Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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investors still prefer investing in investment-linked insurance over equity-linked savings schemes. they are willing to lock in money in an endowment or unit-linked insurance plan ( ulip ) but not in public provider fund (PPF) this is because of investment biases people have. real estate is still the most preferred investment for most investors. this is because they are biased by an existing conclusion that with real estate, one cannot go wrong.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk We are currently exposed to market risk in two areas: commodity prices and, to a lesser extent, interest rate risk. Our risk management activities involve the use of derivative financial instruments to mitigate the impact of market price risk exposures primarily related to our oil and natural gas production. All derivatives are recorded on the consolidated balance sheet at fair value with settlements of such contracts and changes in the unrealized fair value recorded as price risk management activities income (expense) on the consolidated statements of operations in each period. Commodity Price Risks Oil and natural gas prices can fluctuate significantly and have a direct impact on our revenues, earnings and cash flow. During year ended December 31, 2019, our average oil price realizations after the effect of derivatives increased 4% to $59.23 per Bbl from $57.12 per Bbl in the comparable 2018 period. Our average natural gas price realizations after the effect of derivatives decreased 19% during the year ended December 31, 2019 to $2.55 per Mcf from $3.16 per Mcf in the comparable 2018 period. Price Risk Management Activities We have attempted to mitigate commodity price risk and stabilize cash flows associated with our forecasted sales of oil and natural gas production through the use of oil and natural gas swaps. These contracts will impact our earnings as the fair value of these derivatives changes. Our derivatives will not mitigate all of the commodity price risks of our forecasted sales of oil and natural gas production and, as a result, we will be subject to commodity price risks on our remaining forecasted production. We had commodity derivative instruments in place to reduce the price risk associated with future production of 9,638 MBbls of crude oil and 5,935 MMBtu of natural gas at December 31, 2019, with a net derivative liability position of $11.6 million. For additional information regarding our commodity derivative instruments, see Part IV, Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules - Note 6 - Financial Instruments, included elsewhere in this report. The table below presents the hypothetical sensitivity of our commodity price risk management activities to changes in fair values arising from immediate selected potential changes in oil and natural gas prices at December 31, 2019 (in thousands): (1) Presents the hypothetical sensitivity of our commodity price risk management activities to changes in fair values arising from changes in oil and natural gas prices. Variable Interest Rate Risks We had total debt outstanding of $733.0 million at December 31, 2019, net of unamortized original issue discount and deferred financing costs. Of this, $389.9 million was from our 11.00% Notes and 7.50% Notes, which bear interest at fixed rates. The remaining $343.1 million is from borrowings under our Bank Credit Facility with variable interest rates. We are subject to the risk of changes in interest rates under our Bank Credit Facility. In addition, the terms of our Bank Credit Facility require us to pay higher interest rates as we utilize a larger percentage of our available borrowing base. We manage our interest rate exposure by maintaining a combination of fixed and variable rate debt and monitoring the effect of market changes in interest rates. We believe our interest rate risk exposure is partially mitigated as a result of fixed interest rates on 53% of our debt. The interest rate on our variable rate debt at December 31, 2019 was 4.79%. A 10% change in the interest rate on this variable rate debt balance at December 31, 2019 would change interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 by approximately $0.6 million. Item 8. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Summary:
This text discusses the market risks that the company is exposed to, including commodity prices and interest rate risk. The company uses derivative financial instruments to mitigate the impact of market price risk exposures related to oil and natural gas production. The company has attempted to mitigate commodity price risk and stabilize cash flows associated with forecasted sales of oil and natural gas production through the use of oil and natural gas swaps. At December 31, 2019, the company had a net derivative liability position of $11.6 million and 53% of its debt was fixed interest rate. A 10% change in the interest rate on the variable rate debt balance at December 31, 2019 would change interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 by approximately $0.6 million
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The Narendra Modi government's demonetisation move, which turned around 86 per cent of cash in circulation illegal tender overnight on November 8, 2016, led to a significant decline in cash, which lowered India's economic growth and led to a reduction in jobs by at least 2-3 percentage points in the quarter of the note ban, a new study has found. The study shows that Indian districts that experienced more "severe demonetisation shocks" had much larger contractions in ATM withdrawals, and highlights its effects on the Indian economy. It also talks about the rise of alternative forms of payment options, including mobile wallets, after demonetisation. The paper, 'Cash and the Economy: Evidence from India's Demonetisation', written by Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, an associate professor of economics at Harvard; Gita Gopinath, the Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department of the IMF; and Prachi Mishra of Goldman Sachs and RBI's Abhinav Narayanan, was done to highlight "the consequences of demonetisation in the cross-section of Indian districts". Also read: Two years of demonetisation: RBI warned govt on black money, fake notes claims Talking about the effects on economic activity, the paper says the economic activity declined by 2.2 percentage in November and December 2016. "To reach this number, we first cumulate the cross-sectional effects on employment and nightlights over districts. Next, we argue that this calculation provides a lower bound for the aggregate consequences of the cash decline. Such a lower bound arises in our model due to cross-district trade. Combining these two results yields a decline in nightlights-based economic activity and of employment of 3 pp or more in November and December of 2016 relative to the counterfactual path, which translates into a decline in the quarterly growth rate of 2 pp or more," it said. The paper also says there was around 2 percentage points or more decline in credit in Q4 of 2016. Talking about the poor implementation of the note ban, the report said both the RBI and government maintained secrecy prior to the policy's announcement and the RBI "did not print and distribute a large quantity of new notes before the announcement", which led to an immediate shortage of cash. "Printing press constraints then prevented the government from quickly replacing more than a fraction of this total with new notes. Thus, the total currency declined overnight by 75 per cent and recovered only slowly over the next several months," said the report. Also read: 50 lakh people lost jobs since demonetisation, says Azim Premji University report The study said while the slow replacement of notes led to a decline in the currency, it did not affect the overall size of the RBI's balance sheet. "The immediate consequence was to increase deposits at commercial banks as households deposited old notes but could not freely withdraw new notes due to the cash shortage," it said. The RBI initially required banks to hold these deposits as reserves at the central bank by increasing the cash reserve ratio to 100 per cent on all incremental deposits received between September 16 and November 11, said the report. "Since these reserves paid no interest while banks continued to pay positive interest on their deposits, on December 6 the RBI withdrew the increase in the reserve ratio and instead absorbed the deposits by issuing short-term Market Stabilization Bonds (MSB)," it maintained. Also read: 88 lakh taxpayers didn't file returns in demonetisation year: report "We conclude that in modern India cash continues to serve an essential role in facilitating economic activity," said the report. On November 8, 2016, at 8:15 pm, Prime Minister Modi had announced in an unscheduled national televised address that the two largest denomination notes, the 500 and Rs 1000 rupee, would "cease to be legal tender", and that they would be replaced by new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. The Centre said the decision was taken to target black money, reduce corruption, and remove fake currency notes. Edited by Manoj Sharma Also read: 'GST, demonetisation helped in building an honest India,' says Piyush Goyal Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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demonetisation led to significant decline in cash, a new study has found. the study highlights its effects on the Indian economy. economic activity declined by 2.2 percentage in November and December 2016. the report also talks about the rise of alternative payment options, including mobile wallets. the report says the government and RBI maintained secrecy prior to the policy's announcement.
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The rupee pared initial gains and provisionally settled 2 paise lower at 75.58 against the US dollar on Friday as investors awaited fresh cues from further announcements on the fiscal stimulus package. Forex traders said the local currency was trading in a narrow range amid rising risk-aversion in the broader financial markets.At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 75.51, but pared initial gains, and finally settled for the day at 75.58 - lower by just 2 paise over its previous close.During the trading session, the rupee witnessed an intra-day high of 75.45 and a low of 75.59 against the greenback On Thursday, the rupee had settled 10 paise lower at 75.56 against the US dollar.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will announce the next tranche of the stimulus package later in the day. Forex traders said market participants are concerned about the implications of the Rs 20-lakh-crore economic stimulus package on the fiscal deficit, as there is still no clarity on how the package would be financed.Meanwhile, domestic bourses were trading on a muted note with the benchmark Sensex quoting 14.39 points higher at 31,137.28 and the broader Nifty up 9.05 points at 9,151.80.Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold equity shares worth Rs 2,152.52 crore on Thursday, according to provisional exchange data. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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rupee closed at 75.51 but pared initial gains and settled 2 paise lower. the local currency was trading in a narrow range amid rising risk-aversion. rupee witnessed an intra-day high of 75.45 and a low of 75.59 against the greenback. the rupee will announce the next tranche of the fiscal stimulus package later in the day.
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The S&P BSE Sensex climbed Mount 32K and the Nifty50 closed just a shade below 9,400 on May 13, riding high on the Rs 20-lakh crore stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the evening before. The bulls, however, failed to keep the momentum going. The Nifty50, which started with a gap on the upside, failed to hold the gain towards the close of the trade and ended near its intraday low, which suggests selling pressure at higher levels. The final tally on D-Street: the Sensex rose 637 points to close at 32,008 while the Nifty50 ended 187 points higher at 9,383. "After the stimulus package was announced yesterday, which accounts for around 10 percent of the GDP, markets shot up by around 3 percent before paring some gains by the end of trade. The details are awaited regarding the math and allocation of the announced package and how much will be the fresh stimulus," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. "If the details match the headline announcements, then this would significantly help allay fears surrounding the economy and businesses and its recovery path," he said. Globally, markets were weak, fearing resurgence in virus infections and conflicting opinions on opening up of economies, while number of new infections continued to be a worry for India as well, he said Sectorally, the action was seen in capital goods, banks, realty, public sector, finance, and power stocks while profit-taking was visible in healthcare, FMCG, and telecom names. On the broader market front, the S&P BSE Midcap index rose 1.5 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index was up 2 percent. Top Nifty gainers included ICICI Bank, M&M, Adani Ports, UltraTech Cements, L&T, Axis Bank and ZEE Entertainment. Top Nifty losers included HUL, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and Britannia Industries. Stocks & Sectors Sectorally, the S&P BSE Capital Goods index rose 5.08 percent, followed by the S&P BSE Bankex that was up 3.8 percent and the S&P BSE Realty index rose 3.5 percent. Profit-taking was seen in the S&P BSE Healthcare Index, followed by the S&P BSE FMCG and the S&P BSE Telecom index. A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in stocks like Adani Power, Tata Chemicals, Ambuja Cements, ACC, REC, Godrej Properties and BHEL. Long Buildup was seen in stocks like Godrej Properties, Voltas, SBI Life, Escorts, NCC, Shriram Transport, and ZEE Entertainment. More than 40 stocks hit 52-week high. These include Ruchi Soya, Bharti Airtel, IOL Chemicals and Titan Biotech. Stocks in news Nestle India declined 5 percent despite reporting better than expected earnings. Kotak Mahindra Bank was up 3 percent after reporting operationally strong earnings. Maruti Suzuki slipped from highs after lower-than-expected Q4 earnings. Jubilant Life advanced 5 percent reaching after an agreement with Gilead for a COVID-19 drug. Premier Explosives share price was locked in 5 percent upper circuit after the company received a licence to manufacture RDX/RDX compounded products. Technical View Consistent selling pressure saw the Nifty50 form a Bearish Belt Hold formation. If the index Nifty fails to get past 9,585 in the next one or two trading sessions, it will initially slide all the way to the recent lows of 9,043. A close below 9,240 can be considered as some sort of confirmation for weakness. “We have had a gap-up opening today but it will not be meaningful unless we trade and keep above 9,600. Until then, the bias continues on the sell- side. A good risk/reward trade is still on the anvil,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments. “Traders might like to attempt a short here with 8,750-8,800 targets and a 9,600 stoploss where they will also reverse their trades on the long side,” he said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the Sensex climbs to 32,008 while the Nifty50 closes just a shade below 9,400. the Sensex is up 637 points to close at 32,008 while the Nifty50 ends 187 points higher at 9,383. the broader market front sees the action in capital goods, banks, realty, and finance.
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Saudi Arabia's decision to shelve what was billed as the biggest share sale ever is a major blow to the credibility of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman but there are other ways to finance reforms to strengthen the economy, bankers and investors say. The initial public offering (IPO) of 5 percent of state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco was a centrepiece of the crown prince's plan to diversify the kingdom's economy beyond oil by raising $100 billion for investment in other sectors. The 32 year old ruler, widely known as MbS, also promised that listing Saudi Aramco on international stock markets would help create a culture of openness in the secretive kingdom and make it more appealing to foreign investors. The decision to shelve the IPO raises doubts about the management of the process as well as the broader reform agenda, sapping the momentum generated by Prince Mohammed's dramatic 2030 Vision announcement in 2016 that helped propel him to power in the world's top oil exporter. "The problem is: the more it gets delayed and the more there's not clarity on why it's getting delayed and what the issues are, the more it undermines confidence," said James Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS https://www.rsis.edu.sg). "He's been very good at creating expectations but not as good at managing expectations," said Dorsey. Industry sources told Reuters this week that both the international and domestic legs of the IPO had been postponed indefinitely. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the government remained committed to conducting the IPO at an unspecified date in the future. "The reform process has to be judged on its entirety and over a period of years but this will negatively affect perceptions of its credibility overall, considering that the IPO was promised in such high-profile terms," said Richard Segal, senior analyst at Manulife Asset Management in London. VISION 2030 Prince Mohammed launched his Vision 2030 programme with promises to fundamentally transform Saudi Arabia's economy and open up its people's cloistered lifestyles. He has implemented a series of high-profile reforms, including ending a ban on women driving and opening cinemas in the conservative kingdom. But those moves have been accompanied by a harsh crackdown on dissent, a purge of top royals and businessmen on corruption charges, and a costly war in Yemen now in its fourth year. The crown prince's increasingly aggressive stance towards arch-rival Iran and in relations with supposed friends such as Canada and Germany has unnerved allies and investors alike. "The Aramco IPO was supposed to be an example of a new global level of transparency. Perhaps because there's so much going on and so little explained, it looks like they've gotten worse at transparency," said a former senior Western diplomat. But some bankers said the reform programme was far bigger than the Aramco IPO and, despite the possible political fallout, many changes could still go ahead, or even accelerate, now that senior officials are no longer preoccupied by listing Aramco. "The reality is there is a lot of other stuff that the authorities could do before doing this huge move of the Aramco IPO," said a senior banker whose institution pitched to help arrange the sale. FDI DRIVE Riyadh's circumstances have improved greatly since plans for the IPO were first announced in 2016. Oil was about $35 a barrel at the time and the government was desperate for cash. Oil prices have more than doubled since and the state budget deficit has narrowed sharply, so Riyadh has more room to find other ways to finance projects. MSCI https://www.msci.com and FTSE Russell http://www.ftserussell.com decided this year to add Saudi Arabia to their emerging market equity indexes, so even without the IPO the kingdom can expect an inflow of $20 billion or more of foreign funds next year. Meanwhile, the authorities are proceeding, slowly, with other reforms to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). In July, Riyadh published draft rules for partnerships between the state and private firms to build infrastructure. Last week, the kingdom's water utility said it was talking to international companies about involving them in water distribution and treatment. In addition to Aramco, authorities have said they aim to sell another $200 billion worth of state assets in the coming years. While many analysts say this looks ambitious, freezing the Aramco IPO may clear the way for smaller sales to go ahead. "The IPO always had important symbolic value but would not have affected the rest of the Saudi economy very much," said Steffen Hertog, associate professor at the London School Economics and Political Science http://www.lse.ac.uk and a leading scholar on Saudi Arabia. "Challenges like private job creation for Saudis and improving the legal and regulatory environment for local and foreign investors are more important for kingdom's long-term economic health," he said. SABIC SALE While Prince Mohammed put the value of a 5 percent stake in Saudi Aramco at about $100 billion, analysts reckon the IPO would have only raised some $50 billion to $75 billion as the prince's valuation was over-optimistic. The money would have gone to the government's Public Investment Fund (PIF), largely to fund projects creating jobs. With unemployment among Saudi citizens officially at a record 12.9 percent, finding ways to boost employment is seen as vital. But even without the IPO, those projects could still go ahead because Aramco said in July it may buy a strategic stake in petrochemicals maker Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) from PIF - potentially giving the fund as much money as the IPO. At market prices, the sale of the PIF's entire 70 percent stake in SABIC to Saudi Aramco would raise about $70 billion. If the PIF can create jobs, suspending the Aramco sale may even prove politically positive for Prince Mohammed because some Saudis were uncomfortable with the IPO. "The average citizen saw it as a misguided sell-off of the national patrimony. Many Saudi royals worried it would expose their source of wealth and privilege," said Jim Krane, fellow for energy studies at Rice University's Baker Institute. "So there is probably some level of relief in Saudi Arabia that the state is backing away from the plan." Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the initial public offering (IPO) of 5 percent of state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco was billed as the biggest share sale ever. the decision to shelve the IPO raises doubts about the management of the process and the broader reform agenda. both the international and domestic legs of the IPO have been postponed indefinitely.
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Indian markest hit new highs on December 3 on vaccine news and strong economic data but witnessed profit-booking at higher levels. The S&P BSE Sensex hit a record of 44,953, while the Nifty50 rose above 13,200 for the first time to hit a high of 13,216 during the day. The indices couldn't hold on to the gains and Sensex ended 14 points higher at 44,632, while the Nifty50 closed with gains of 20 points to 13,133. Sectorally, action was seen in the public sector, metals, oil & gas, power, and auto stocks while profit-taking was visible in IT, finance and banks. On the broader markets front, the S&P BSE midcap index rose 0.8 percent and BSE smallcap index was up 0.68 percent, outperforming the benchmarks. "The broad market is continuing its buoyancy led by a rally in mid and small-cap stocks. This trend can continue given the gap between the pricing of main and broad stocks,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol. “Today, largecaps are mildly underperforming, in which financial stocks did contribute to the upside but weakness in HDFC bank after the RBI curbs limited the upside,” he said. All eyes will on the outcome of the MPC meeting on December 4. Though most experts feel that the central bank could well keep rates steady but may increase growth forecast for the upcoming quarters. Nair added that hopes are alive that economic recovery will grow wider as fresh COVID cases are reducing, adding strength to the momentum. Top Nifty gainers included Hindalco, ONGC, and Maruti Suzuki, while TCS, SBI Life and HDFC Bank were among the biggest index losers. Here is what experts think that investors should do on December 4: Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited The Nifty opened positive and made a new lifetime high of 13,216 but could not hold at the higher zone. It corrected by 100 points from its higher levels and after a consolidative move, it ended the day with gains of around 20 points. It formed a Bearish candle on a daily scale as it closed lower than the opening level but formed higher highs-higher lows for the fourth trading session. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the Sensex and the Nifty50 both hit new highs on the day. the broader markets saw profit-taking in metals, oil & gas, power and auto stocks. the broader markets saw a rally in mid and small-cap stocks. the broader markets saw a 0.8 percent rise in the Sensex and 0.8 percent in the smallcap index.
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When he graduated from university in Japan, Tomohiro Ohno didn’t know what he wanted to do. But he knew what he didn’t want to do, which was work for a traditional Japanese company. So he ended up founding a firm that’s more space age than staid: Ohno was an early mover into augmented reality. The company he started, Kudan Inc., is developing programs that enable computers to have the equivalent of human eyes, using what Ohno and his industry call computer vision algorithms. Kudan listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December. It was a sparkling debut. The stock shot up more than sixfold to a high at the end of February, which saw his fortune top $800 million. While it has since given up some of those gains, the market value is still about $1.3 billion, and Ohno owns more than half the shares. He’s currently estimated to have a net worth of about $700 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Still, the 49-year-old entrepreneur is far from getting carried away. ‘Ridiculous Amount’ “It’s a ridiculous amount,” Ohno, who goes by “Tomo,” said in an interview in Tokyo. “That doesn’t mean anything. We’re not aiming to increase market value,” he said. “It doesn’t really impact us.” While people often associate augmented reality with Pokemon Go, the hit mobile game that makes images of anime characters seem as if they’re in users’ real-world locations, Ohno says the technology is so much more than that. “I’ve nothing against Pokemon Go,” he said. “But after all, it’s just showing Pikachu” — one of the characters — “in the corner of the room.” READ ALSO | Google wants contracting firms to offer health care benefits, parental leave Kudan is deploying the technology for different purposes. It’s developing programs that enable computers to perceive real-world objects in three dimensions. They have uses in everything from driverless cars to drones and even vacuum cleaners. It works with other technologies such as artificial intelligence to enhance the autonomous and interactive experience. Brain, Eyes “AI is the brain and we are the eyes,” said Ohno, who started his career as a management consultant before working at a startup in Bristol, U.K. and then founding his own business buying and selling computer-game licences. “The eyes and brain need to work together.” Kudan recently announced a partnership with California-based Synopsys Inc. to have its technology embedded into Synopsys products, which cover markets from mobile to automotive. While Ohno says making his company massive isn’t his main goal, this kind of alliance helps Kudan gain exposure. “We don’t want to be the next Google,” Ohno said. He wants Kudan to be more like ARM Holdings, the chip designer owned by SoftBank Group Corp. whose technology is in most smartphones. “ARM is massive, but tiny compared to Intel. But it’s everywhere. That’s where we want to go.” Kudan initially focused on using augmented reality for marketing, according to Ohno. No one was successful in making the technology easily digestible to ordinary people at the time, giving the company a good business opportunity, he said. But soon, a bigger firm doing similar things emerged as a competitor. That caused Kudan to come up with a strategy of making competitors its customers, instead of defending its turf. ‘Highly Rated’ The process involved switching the company’s business model from using AR for marketing to developing apps using the technology and finally becoming a provider of algorithms to other companies. Kudan’s chief technology officer, John Williams, who Ohno calls a “self-taught genius” and his best friend, convinced him to move away from apps into the underlying technologies, Ohno said. Now, Kudan has a wider customer base, including previous competitors, he said. “It’s a highly rated stock among investors,” said Tomoichiro Kubota, an analyst at Matsui Securities Co. in Tokyo. But there is “the risk of seeing a company with a similar model popping up,” he said. And “the other side of expectations being high is that we’re in a situation where there’s been quite a bit of buying, and it’s looking expensive.” Kudan trades at more than 150 times book value, and more than 35,000 times earnings, which were negligible for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. The stock fell 0.9 percent in early trading on Wednesday in Tokyo. That won’t unduly concern Ohno, who is more focused on developing the business and other goals, such as setting up a unit in China and taking it public. He’s still based in Bristol, where his company’s technology lab is located. Kudan has fewer than 20 employees, many of whom have Ph.D. degrees from a computer vision laboratory at the University of Bristol. Ohno said the company hires only experts in their field, and shuns meetings as unnecessary, because his people already know what to do. The office in Bristol is situated in a former church. Ohno’s seat has a five-meter stained-glass window directly behind him, which shines a glow of light over him on sunny days. Asked if he has plans to move to a new location, he said he’s happy where he is. “I do look like a god there,” he said. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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augmented reality entrepreneur Tomohiro Ohno is launching a company that's more space age than staid. he's currently estimated to have a net worth of about $700 million. the company is developing programs that enable computers to have the equivalent of human eyes. it works with other technologies such as artificial intelligence to enhance the autonomous and interactive experience.
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Injections of Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) have turned out to be an effective therapeutic treatment for COVID-19 Rusan Pharma said it has launched Apomorphine Hydrochloride injection, the first ever such medication for Parkinson's Disease in India. The drug was recently approved by the India drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). Sold under brand name APOSAN, it is used for the treatment of motor fluctuations in patients with chronic Parkinson’s Disease, who are not sufficiently controlled by oral anti-Parkinson’s medication currently available in India. APOSAN will be available in the form of injections, pen and continuous infusion pumps. Rusan controls the end-to-end production of the drug, from formulation to API to ensure continuous supplies for the Indian PD patients. The company is one of the few manufacturers globally to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of Apomorphine Hydrochloride. The company has been exporting it’s API to the global market where the finished formulation has been available for than a decade. "Being a Make in India product, we want to ensure the treatment is affordable and accessible to all PD patients. Since, PD is a chronic disease, we aim to bring the per day cost to patients down to an affordable price," said Kunal Saxena, MD, Rusan Pharma. Rusan price APOSAN at one-fourth of the price sold in UK. The cost of the product for a daily dose (between 30 – 60 mg), in India will range between Rs 475 and Rs 950 per day as compared to Apomorphine Pens in the UK ranging between Rs 2,250 to Rs 4,500 per day. To ensure ease of use, Rusan will be launching the APOSAN pens and continuous infusion pumps which will be provided free of cost to the patients with Rusan's APOSAN therapy. Rusan said it will also be launching the APOSAN Hope therapy which will consist of paramedics who will offer support free of cost to doctors, nurses, patients and their caregivers on the safe and effective use of the APOSAN range of products. Saxena said the company plans to end the financial year FY19 with Rs 350 crore in sales. Founded in 1994, the company is engaged in de-addiction and pain management products in the domestic and international markets. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Rusan Pharma has launched the first ever such medication for Parkinson's Disease in India. the drug is used for the treatment of motor fluctuations in chronic Parkinson's disease. the company controls the end-to-end production of the drug, from formulation to API. the cost of the product for a daily dose (between 30 – 60 mg), in India will range between Rs 475 and Rs 950 per day.
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With consumer preference for digital payments growing steadily over the last several years, Axis Bank, in collaboration with Google Pay and Visa, today launched the ACE Credit Card. The card is designed for the growing base of users keen to participate in the digital economy. Payments for essential use cases like mobile recharges, bill payments made via Google Pay earn users 5% in cashback. Users also get 4%-5% cashback for spends made on daily use categories such as food ordering, online grocery delivery, cab rides for transactions made on partner merchants’ platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, BigBasket, Grofers and Ola. There is also an unlimited 2% cashback on all other transactions (except EMIs, Cash withdrawals, Fuel) making it one of the most rewarding credit cards in its segment. The ACE Credit Card is aimed at bringing a seamless, digital experience to users, starting from application to issuance, with the entire user journey for the credit card application being completed digitally. Users will be able to get cashback directly into their ACE Credit Card accounts. The tokenization feature enabled in partnership with Visa, will allow Google Pay users to use their ACE Credit Card to make payments through a secure digital token attached to their phone without having to physically share their card details. The primary cardholder should be between the age of 18 and 70 years. Unless there are case variations, the required documents for Axis Bank ACE Credit Card application include a copy of your PAN card or Form 60, residence proof, identity proof, a colour photograph and proof of income in the form of latest payslip / Form 16 / IT return copy. The ACE Credit Card can be availed by eligible users through the Google Pay app. Joining Fees Rs. 499 – Waived for all applicants in 2020 In 2021, joining fee reversed if spends exceed Rs 10,000 within 45 days of issuance Annual Fees Rs. 499 (applicable from second year of use) Annual fee waiver at Rs 2 lakh spends in the year Cashback Unlimited 5% cashback on Recharges & Bill Pay transactions (electricity, internet, gas, DTH, mobile recharge, and more) through Google Pay Unlimited 4% cashback on online food delivery – Zomato, Swiggy, and cab rides – Ola Unlimited 2% on all other transactions (exclusion of EMI, wallet load, cash withdrawal and fuel transactions) Fuel Surcharge waiver 1% fuel surcharge waiver (valid for transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 4,000. Max benefit up to Rs 500 per month) Finance Charges (Retail purchases and Cash): 3.4% per month (49.36% per annum) Limited Time Offers ● Joining fee of Rs 499 waived for users who apply in 2020 ● Unlimited 5% cashback on Grofers & BigBasket ● Rs 500 cashback after 3 transactions (min Rs 500 each) within 45 days of card issuance Lounge Benefit Complimentary lounge access 4 times a year at participating in domestic airports Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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ACE Credit Card is designed for users keen to participate in the digital economy. payments for essential use cases like mobile recharges, bill payments made via Google Pay earn users 5% in cashback. users also get 4%-5% cashback for spends made on daily use categories such as food ordering, online grocery delivery, cab rides. unlimited 2% cashback on all other transactions (except EMIs, Cash withdrawals, Fuel)
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Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website Indian School of Business ISB Chief Technology Officer Visit Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Executive Officer Programme Visit Yes. I think things are improving. If you ask us, we started our lockdown late January and things improved a bit towards early mid-March and then we had people returning to Hong Kong. That led to a further pickup in cases, and that is when another work from home or mini-lockdown came in. But things are much better from where it was a month-and-a-half back.I think a similar situation plays out for India. If you ask me, we need this 21-day lockdown. Once it happens, people have to exhibit some restrain for a month or so, and hopefully in three months, we should be out of this.Markets are always forward looking. If we go back and say why were the markets getting sold off in early March, it was because people were worried that the government will not be able to handle this big deluge of coronavirus cases. But the government has been swift, which is where one is positively encouraged by the response and after that it is fingers crossed. So that is where we saw 35 per cent correction in equities in last one month. That was the local aspect of it. There was a global aspect also, because we saw credit markets literally freeze globally.We saw FII outflows of record $6 billion in less than a month. So that had an impact. But now, as we see synchronized stimulus from governments and central bankers globally, things are much better than probably a week back. That is the comfort from an India perspective.Now, you will not have relentless exits from equities, which were happening until a week back. Now all the eyes are on the government and RBI as to what do they do to make sure that businesses do not go down in this 21-day shutdown.That is clearly positive in the medium term. Right now, risk aversion is so high. Most of the data points almost indicate a panic level in terms of attitude towards equities, markets, etc. But some of these high-yield spreads are compressing and risk aversion is normalising. What it means is that flows would come into equities, flows would come into emerging markets. Within EMs, just like it happens between largecaps and midcaps , countries that have tackled the coronavirus well will perform first. So as we talk, we have seen China perform well. We have seen Korea, Taiwan perform well. In a month or so, as we see India come out of this lockdown well with not too many cases, a similar story will play out. So ASEAN like the Philippines, Vietnam markets would also do well.It is difficult to time it, more so in such volatile periods. But the valuations are very cheap. So if you look at India ex-consumer staples, price-to-book is even below the GFC lows, as low as in 2001. On earnings, it is one standard deviation below mean. So valuations are in a fairly attractive zone. What you want to see is how the government handles the situation. We have seen governments do well in controlling this virus by such lockdown. Now we need RBI and finance ministry to feel the urgency and that is where sooner they do it, the better it is. Because the more they delay, the bigger will be the stimulus requirement.There are expectations that we should get something over the weekend. That is something being watched keenly. Once it comes through, there would be a deep opportunity in financials, industrials, utilities and real estate. Consumer staples may give you some upside, but there is better risk-reward in other sectors. This is all contingent on the virus coming under control in next 30 to 45 days.Absolutely. This is one space we have liked, and these names have got smashed post Budget. Investors went overboard again in terms of saying look people are not going to buy life insurance. But I absolutely agree with you, this is what we are seeing on the ground and that is why we like these names in the first place.Consumer tastes are changing, their preferences are changing and people realise that they need a certain amount of insurance for their families to have the same kind of livelihood tomorrow that they are having now if anything happens to the key earning member. So I think life insurance is a structural story.Apart from financials, in some of the energy names risk-rewards are very favorable now. Telecom is something we will add. So there is deep value in the market. If somebody has two- to three-year timeframe, it is difficult to see how one would lose money. The risk-reward is very favorable, but obviously there is a tail risk that policy response comes too late, policymakers are complacent or this virus completely gets out of hand.People are looking beyond these one or two months. We were interacting with some of these IT companies, it is work from home for everybody. The idea is to just ensure that you run the businesses and processes keep working well and then incremental sales growth is going to be pushed back, deferred.So these are good cash generating companies I agree with you. But the upside there would be limited. The bigger challenge which we will face for these companies would be in 12-15 months from now. Big banks will come under pressure because of near-zero interest rates, and a lot of these IT companies have close to 30-40% of their revenues coming from the BFSI sector. So it is to be seen if those IT spends get curtailed from a medium-term perspective. So they are okay in the near term. If the rupee depreciates, they will offer good downside protection. But in the longer term, I am not sure of big upside in these names.These are two hypothetical situations we have been discussing. We were discussing that this virus remains under control and the government acts and RBI acts quickly to make sure that there are no large-scale defaults in the economy. Clearly the risk-reward is a lot favourable for Bank Nifty. Outside Bank Nifty, obviously Reliance offers a promising opportunity because it has gone beyond pure energy play with what it has done in telecom and retail. So I think there are interesting opportunities. What may pull Nifty down would be IT and staples. IT, because of much lower growth rates in the future than in the past, and staples because of expensive valuations as the starting point.If we look at the numbers for December quarter, we had some of these companies guiding for subdued numbers. We have seen a kind of a pre-emption in March demand. In the last couple of weeks people did stock up on all these hand sanitisers, soaps, etc, but beyond that, I think there is a bigger upside in the consumer discretionary.Consumer discretionary has almost come to a standstill, but from a longer-term perspective the penetration story remains intact over there. These are the companies which benefit from electrification, these are the companies which benefit from the availability of consumer finance. Their market-caps are much smaller compared with the opportunity which is there. So if somebody has a three year timeframe, consumer discretionary offers a much better risk-reward than staples, but till the time we have clarity on the virus spread, there would be investors who would prefer the certainty of staples over the volatility of discretionary.I will again break your question into multiple parts. First is, if we take the China example of 2003 when SARS broke out, markets traded the second derivative, which is the growth in cases. So if in the next five to seven days the growth in cases plateaus or goes down, that is what would give the market some comfort that look the government has control on the virus spread, and the cases are not going to grow. That is where you will see the first bottom for the market.Historically we have seen it takes about nine to 12 months for markets to recover. You are probably alluding to the demonetisation event, but what is different now is the big global stimulus. This is the kind of stimulus that came during the GFC. Now we have got Germans coming ahead with a huge stimulus. So the global stimulus is huge; monetary and balance sheet expansion by central banks is huge. The market has lost 35%. And we can get those gains back in next 12-15 months.We are in a world which has seen a lot of these external shocks coming through -- whether it was US-China trade war last year and then we have this coronavirus. So it may not be a bad idea to have a market stabilisation fund. Most countries do that. Look at China, they had close to 80,000 cases, they had foreign outflows of $15 billion from their local market, yet the market was down only 10%. In India we are down 35% on barely $5 billion of outflows. So $5-10 billion of market stabilisation fund would do well from a medium-term perspective, else because of this volatility in the market most investors focus only on largecaps and smallcaps and midcaps get deprived of capital. From a longer-term perspective, it may be a good idea to think through this. Let us put a market stabilisation fund in place and that can lead to a healthy functioning of the financial system. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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aaron miller: we need this 21-day lockdown in equities, but things are much better now. he says we saw 35 per cent correction in equities in last one month. miller: synchronized stimulus from governments and central bankers is good for the economy. he says we need to be more cautious and more cautious in the coming months.
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The government extended the tax-saving exercise for FY2019-20, until June 30, 2020, from the earlier deadline March 31, 2020. This gave the taxpayers extra time to complete their tax-saving investments for FY2019-20. Having said that amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there are taxpayers who have not yet invested in the necessary financial products to save tax. If you are one of them who still haven’t zeroed in on a financial product to invest in to reduce your tax outgo for this year, here are some options for you. Here are a few investment options that offer tax benefits; Insurance Life insurance comes first while investing in tax-saving instruments, especially if you have financial dependents. Keeping it simple, buy a term plan with an adequate insurance cover. Opting for a term insurance plan will not only come with a low premium, but your payment outgo will also be eligible for tax benefit under Section 80C. Experts suggest not to opt for endowment plans or ULIPs. Even though these provide twin benefits of insurance and investment, they neither serve as a good investment nor provide adequate life insurance coverage. Create wealth while saving tax Don’t just invest randomly only to save taxes. Consider your investments a way to achieve your long-term goals, for instance, accumulation for your retirement, paying for your child’s higher education, etc. Alternatively, Equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) and the National pension scheme (NPS) also help in creating long-term wealth. Even though equities are volatile in nature and are a risky bet over the short-term, they tend to give superior inflation-adjusted returns in the long term. ELSS happens to have the shortest lock-in period (3-years) among all tax-saving alternatives and should be the mainstay of your tax-saving investments. They offer great long-term return potential. Even though NPS is a viable option for wealth creation, it locks the money of an investor until he/she reaches the age of 60. There are partial withdrawals with NPS, but only under specific circumstances. However, with NPS one can avail of an additional deduction of up to Rs 50,000 over and above the Rs 1.5 lakh limit under Section 80C. Additionally, even though PPF is a popular tax-saving instrument, it comes with a lockin period of 15-year. Look at other alternatives If you are not satisfied with ELSS, PPF, and NPS for your tax-saving requirements, you can look at NSC. Among fixed-deposit kind of investment with a shorter maturity period, National Savings Certificate (NSC) is ideal. It is known to offer better returns along with a sovereign guarantee. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the government extended the tax-saving exercise for FY2019-20, until June 30, 2020, from the earlier deadline March 31, 2020. amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some taxpayers who have not yet zeroed in on a financial product to save tax. here are a few investment options that offer tax benefits. equities are volatile in nature and are a risky bet over the short-term, but they tend to give superior inflation-adjusted returns in the
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Gland Pharma share made a strong debut on BSE today rising over 13% against the issue price. Share of Gland Pharma opened at Rs 1,701 against the issue price of Rs 1,500, logging gain of 13.4% on BSE. The pharma firm stock rose further up to 21.26% at Rs 1819 against issue price. Market cap of the firm rose to 29,358 crore. Total 1.79 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 33.50 crore on BSE. Against the debut price of Rs 1701, the share rose 6.93% to Rs 1819. The Hyderabad-based firm backed by Chinese firm Fosun Pharma launched its initial public offering (IPO) from November 9-11 (Monday-Wednesday). The IPO worth Rs 6,500 crore had a price band of Rs 1,490-1,500 per share. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd, Haitong Securities India Pvt Ltd and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd were the book running lead managers to the IPO. Gland Pharma on November 8 raised Rs 1,944 crore from anchor investors at the price of Rs 1,500 per equity share. Stocks in news: RIL, Gland Pharma, SBI, Alkem Labs, Bharti Infratel, Wipro, Infosys The anchor investors include the Government of Singapore, Nomura, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, SBI Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund, SBI Life Insurance Co., Fidelity, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HSBC Global Investment Funds, Small Cap World Fund and The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust PLC among others. Gland Pharma IPO opens: Check price band, lot size; other details Share Market News Live: Sensex rises 150 points, Nifty at 12,815; HCL Tech, ONGC, Infosys top gainers Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Gland Pharma shares rise over 13% against the issue price of Rs 1,500. the pharma firm stock rose further up to 21.26% at Rs 1819. the firm backed by Chinese firm Fosun Pharma launched its initial public offering. the IPO was worth Rs 6,500 crore. the firm raised Rs 1,944 crore from anchor investors at the price of Rs 1,500 per equity share.
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1/11 Indian markets ended higher for the fifth consecutive day on July 7, with the Nifty closing at 10,800 helped by the financial and IT stocks. At close, the Sensex was up 187.24 points or 0.51 percent at 36674.52, and the Nifty was up 36 points or 0.33 percent at 10,799.70. About 1,312 shares advanced, 1374 declined and 151 remained unchanged. 2/11 Bandhan Bank | CMP: Rs 391 | The stock was up 10 percent after the private lender reported a deposit growth of 6 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 60,602 crore as on June 30. Year on year, deposits grew by 35 percent, the bank told stock exchanges. Total advances grew 3 percent QoQ and 18 percent YoY to Rs74,325 crore in June, it said. The share of micro-banking deposits to total deposits stood at 5 percent on June 30 against 5.7 percent on March 31. 3/11 Gujarat Pipavav Port | CMP: Rs 84.30 | The stock jumped 6 percent after the company remained operational during the lockdown period. "APM Terminals Pipavav successfully handled more than 622 container trains. The port handled 1,86,000 TEUs and out of which 1,10,000 TEUs were transported by trains," said the company in its statement. "The port also handled dry bulk shipments of 0.41 million MT and 0.21 million MT liquid from April to June 2020 without any delay. The port created additional yard space and worked with extended logistics partners to ensure smooth flow of goods and addressed many emergent supply chains needs from the customers," it added. 4/11 Camlin Fine Sciences | CMP: Rs 59 | The share price gained over 4 percent after Infinity Holdings acquired half a percent equity stake in the company via open market transactions. Infinity Holdings bought 6,63,586 shares in Camlin Fine at Rs 56 per share, bulk deals data on the National Stock Exchange shows. 5/11 Suzlon Energy | CMP: Rs 5.30 | The stock was down 4 percent after the company reported losses in the quarter ended March 2020. The company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.22 crore, mainly due to lower revenues and high finance cost. The consolidated net loss was Rs 294.64 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, 2019, the company said in a regulatory filing. Total income from operations declined to Rs 658.89 crore from Rs 1,450.47 crore in the year-ago period. 6/11 Shriram Transport Finance Company | CMP: Rs 724 | The stock was up over 3 percent after the company fixed its rights issue price at Rs 570 per share, an 18.3 percent discount to the previous day's closing price. The securities issuance committee of the company has fixed July 10 as the record date for determining equity shareholders entitled to receive the rights entitlement in the rights issue, said the non-banking finance company in its filing on July 6. 7/11 Unichem Laboratories | CMP: Rs 190 | The shares were up over 3 percent after the company received ANDA approval for its Cyclobenzaprine Hydrochloride Tablets USP, 5 mg, 7.5 mg and 10 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration to market a generic version of FLEXERIL (Cyclobenzaprine HCl) Tablets, 5 mg and 10 mg of Janssen Research and Development LLC. 8/11 Bajaj Finance | CMP: Rs 3,349.90 | The stock jumped over 7 percent a day after the company disclosed its June quarter performance. The company said it may consider additional accelerated provisioning for COVID-19 in Q1FY21 as well to strengthen its balance sheet. The new loans booked during Q1FY21 were 17 lakh as compared to 73 lakh in Q1FY20, down 76.7 percent year-on-year. Assets under management stood at approximately Rs 1.38 lakh crore as on June 30, 2020, compared with Rs 1.29 lakh crore as of 30 June 2019. AUM under mortarium reduced from 27 percent as of 30 April 2020 to approximately 15.5 percent as of 30 June 2020. 9/11 DCW | CMP: Rs 12.75 | The share price shed 3 percent after the company posted a loss of Rs 25.05 crore in the quarter ended March 2020 versus a profit of Rs 14.91 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue of the company was down at Rs 293.6 crore versus Rs 357.9 crore. 10/11 Caplin Point Laboratories | CMP: Rs 346.50 | The stock gained almost 2 percent after Caplin Steriles, a subsidiary of the company entered into a private label distribution agreement with Xellia Pharmaceuticals for five generic injectable ANDAs in the US. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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1/11 Indian markets end higher for the fifth consecutive day on July 7. the Sensex was up 187.24 points or 0.51 percent at 36674.52. about 1,312 shares advanced, 1374 declined and 151 remained unchanged. 4/11 Camlin Fine Sciences jumped over 4 percent after it acquired half a percent equity stake.
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A customer got lucky in Latvia when a Royal Enfield dealership delivered an Interceptor 650 to him in quite a fancy way. Read to find out how! Getting a motorcycle delivered in a unique fashion must be a dream for many of you out there! Now, Royal Enfield showrooms in Latvia are coming in the headlines these days for all the right reasons. A few days back, we told you how a Latvian RE dealership commissioned as many as 10 units of a custom-built Scrambler 650. Very recently, a Royal Enfield concept store in Latvia delivered an Interceptor 650 to a customer in a quite different way. The bike was packaged in a huge scale model box. The box was created just for the said unit of the Interceptor 650 and was then loaded onto a trailer. And what’s more! The said box was towed by a luxury Jaguar F-Pace. Needless to say, the customer to whom the bike was delivered is certainly a lucky one. The said way of delivering bikes to customers looks like a part of a promotional campaign by the dealership or the company itself. The Interceptor 650 is currently on sale in Latvia at a price of 6,850 Euros that translates to Rs 5.62 lakh looking at the current exchange rates. In India, the bike will cost you a starting of Rs 2.64 lakh (ex-showroom). The bike is currently the most affordable twin-cylinder bike that you can buy in India. In other news, Royal Enfield recently recalled over 15,000 units of the Interceptor, Continental GT 650 and the Himalayan in some of the global markets due to a corrosion-related issue. The company said in a press statement that it has managed to discover a brake caliper corrosion-related issue in some motorcycles in specific countries. After investigation, it came to light that the corrosion is brought by sustained, long-term exposure to riding on roads that are treated with certain salts, or a combination of salts in order to prevent the formation of ice during the winter season. Images – Royal Enfield Latvia Stay tuned with Express Drives for more updates. For the latest auto news and reviews, subscribe to Express Drives official YouTube channel. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a customer got lucky when a Royal Enfield dealership delivered an Interceptor 650 to him in Latvia. the bike was packaged in a huge scale model box and then loaded onto a trailer. the box was towed by a luxury Jaguar F-Pace. the company recently recalled over 15,000 units of the Interceptor, Continental GT 650 and the Himalayan in some of the global markets due to a corrosion-related issue.
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A Parliamentary panel has batted for the abolition of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax for all investments in startups which are made through collective investment vehicles such as angel funds, alternate investment funds and investment Limited Liability Partnerships.The former minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha headed Standing Committee on Finance in its report tabled on Tuesday said the tax should be removed at least for the next two years to encourage investments amid the pandemic.It also recommended that the exemption for income on investments made before March 31, 2024, subject to the investment being held for a period of at least 36 months as incentivised in the Finance Act, 2020, should be provided to long-term and patient capital invested across all sectors.Noting that businesses are stressed for liquidity and valuations of businesses have softened due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it also said the pricing guidelines prescribed under the various laws and regulations by SEBI , Income Tax Act, Companies Act, FEMA should be made more consistent to provide a certain, coherent and simple framework for facilitating large-scale investments in India."The Committee would like to strongly recommend that tax on Long Term Capital Gains be abolished for all investments in startup companies (as designated by DPIIT) which are made through collective investment vehicles (CIVs) such as angel funds, AIFs, and investment LLPs," the committee said in its report "Financing The Startup Ecosystem".India's startup sector welcome the recommendation of abolishing long term capital gains (LTCG) in startup investments. Industry leaders said that the move would open the floodgates for Rupee (domestic) capital to flow into the sector, which has been sorely lacking."These reforms would open the floodgates of domestic capital going into start-ups like never before, as long as the eligibility criteria of the tax benefits is not too narrow, enabling the widest set of startup investors and companies to benefit for a long enough period of time," said Kunal Bhal, cofounder and CEO at Snapdeal.Others pointed out that removing LTCG or bringing it at par with taxation of gains made through listed securities on the secondary market, has been one of the most long standing asks of the industry."The Parliamentary Panel has given voice to a longstanding ask of the Indian startup ecosystem. Investments into startups are in the form of primary investments into the company, which in turn generates new assets, economic growth and jobs. These measures, if adopted, will help accelerate the Indian startup ecosystem and allow them to meet the PM's goal of startups contributing 20% of India $5 trillion GDP by 2025," said Siddarth Pai, founding partner at 3one4 Capital & co-chair Regulatory Affairs Committee at IVCA.The panel recommended that after this two year period, the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) may be applied to CIVs so that revenue neutrality is maintained.Investments by CIVs are transparently done and have to be done at fair market value, the Standing Committee said, adding that it is easy to calculate the STT associated with these investments."This can be done in lieu of imposing LTCG on these CIVs and to make the taxation system fairer, less cumbersome, and transparent. This will also ensure that investments in unlisted securities are on par with investments in listed securities," it said.At present, LTCG earned by foreign investors in private companies attracts taxation at concessional rate of 10%, in comparison to the domestic VC/PE investments being taxed at 20% (for LTCG) with an enhanced surcharge of 37%. The panel also proposed that the sectors in which Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCIs) are allowed to invest should be expanded to include all sectors where Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permitted, as this route provides a flexible investment framework and hence will be able to attract significant capital in the economy."There is now a need to allow issuance of hybrid securities, which bear characteristics of both debt and equity under the FDI route, at least for a limited period to enhance the fund-raising capabilities of the companies to raise capital at commercially suitable terms in this difficult time," it said.The committee also recommended that the exemption for income on investments made before March 31, 2024, subject to the investment being held for a period of at least 36 months as incentivised in the Finance Act, 2020, should be provided to long-term and patient capital invested across all sectors.It also said that there is a need for AIFs to be allowed to be listed on capital markets, thereby creating permanent source of capital for the startup ecosystem besides creating more domestic Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) on the lines of International Finance Corporation (IFC) and The German Investment and Development Company (DEG).The committee said that India needs to reduce the startups' dependence on foreign funds as capital going into India's unicorns comes mainly from foreign sources such as the US and China. Currently more than 80% of capital going into India's unicorns comes from foreign sources. China has investment of over Rs 30,000 crore in India's growth companies and currently invested in 18 of 30 unicorns.It said India needs to become self-reliant by having several large domestic growth funds powered by domestic capital to support India's unicorns and suggested that Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Fund-of-Funds vehicle should be expanded and fully operationalised/utilised to play an anchor investment role.The panel said domestic risk capital should not be punished at any level while observing that the current tax disparity was proving advantageous to foreign capital through low tax jurisdictions and low taxes for fund management services.As per the panel, such a move will establish a level playing field for domestic investments in comparison to foreign investments and domestic listed in comparison to unlisted securities.The committee recommended that CIV capital gains should always be taxed at the same rate as listed securities to encourage domestic investments in unlisted debt and equity securities.As per the report, large financial institutions in India should be encouraged to channelise a proportion of their investible surplus into domestic to bring in "much-needed" additional domestic capital for startup investments.The panel suggested that Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority and National Pension Scheme be encouraged to invite bids from professional fund managers for running a fund-of-funds programme on which SIDBI would be eligible to participate while major banks should join hands to float a fund-of-funds.For insurance companies (both life and non-life), it said, they must be given latitude to invest in fund-of-funds by IRDAI as well as directly in VC/PE funds along with a higher exposure cap and that investments by insurance companies in AIFs must be carved out under a separate category while calculating the applicable exposure limits and not clubbed with other investments under 'unapproved investments'.Foreign Development Finance Institutions may also be encouraged to participate with local asset management companies to set up fund-of-funds structure or direct VC/PE funds, particularly in social impact, healthcare and venture/startup sectors. 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a panel has batted for the abolition of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. the tax should be removed at least for the next two years. industry leaders say the move would open the floodgates of domestic capital. the panel's report is a long standing ask of the Indian startup ecosystem. a spokesman for the panel says the panel is "deeply concerned"
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In the first year of the goods and services tax (GST) regime, the consumer hasn’t benefited as he ought to have and small businesses have found it difficult to cope with the new system, while big businesses are getting used to it. The tax bureaucracy is struggling to come to terms with loss of control and authority, while the fiscal managers are beginning to see the pot of revenue at the end of the rainbow. In transactional terms, the B2C (business-to-consumer) segment is running well, but the B2B (business-to- business) sector continues to have operational and structural hiccups. Revenue apprehensions have receded, especially in the overall tax collections, as some of the rate and base gains of GST are getting reflected in direct tax collections as well. The one-year GST journey has seen quite a few speed breakers—tardy technology solutions, procedural lapses, systemic failures, architectural modifications and policy withdrawals. The technology piece is still clearly struggling, while the procedural and compliance part is better than what it was six months ago. At the end of one year, there are no roadblocks in sight. There is still a long way to go before “one-tax one-nation" is achieved in letter and spirit. But there is no denying that one tax, one commodity is already a reality. Coming from a regime of extreme dispersion of rates not only across states but within commodity groups, there has been a big move forward. Similarly, while there is definite scope to make procedural and compliance matters simpler, there is no denying the fact that a year ago, businesses were filing multiple returns: separate returns for VAT (value-added tax), excise duty, service tax and countervailing duty. All these have been replaced by a GST return. With one year of revenue flows, it can be argued that the GST Council erred on the side of caution and pitched the rates high. This was driven by revenue considerations as well as assessment of compensation financing requirements. As such, it seems now certain that multiple rate slabs will converge sooner than later. It is very likely that the two slabs of 12% and 18% will converge to 14.5% earlier than expected. Along with this, the number of commodities attracting 28% will have to be, and will be, trimmed. In fact, it might just be the time to go in for another serious exercise of rate calibration based on aligning it to the overall macroeconomic situation. A case in point can be the reduction of GST on construction materials from 28% to 18%, which will give a fillip to the economic activity. The big surprise of the first year is that a producer state like Maharashtra has already made up for the revenue loss. Even as the tax collection from “goods" is down, it has been more than made up by the “services" part. At the end of year one, there are some sectoral issues that have surfaced. The main among these is tourism, exporters and handicrafts, which need to be resolved. For tourism, it is imperative that the tax refunds system is put in place at the earliest. The effective tax burden on exports as well as handicrafts has become very high compared with the previous tax regime. The issue of embedded taxes for exports will have to be resolved through a proper mechanism, and not in an ad hoc manner. The big learning from the year is that if GST has to deliver, it must address two key stakeholders: customers and small business. For the customer to benefit from the GST regime, it is essential that the regime of maximum retail price (MRP) system—an anachronism from control raj days which has no place in a GST regime—is abandoned. The MRP system was relevant in a pre-liberalized economy operating with producer taxation. The producers would work out the costs and margins of its distribution chain and allocate that within the MRP. Now it is a consumption tax, with final payment of tax at the last stage. Here, it becomes an anomaly to have an MRP. The result is, GST is being charged over and above MRP! Under GST, the MRP seems to have created a retail price collusion as it becomes the de facto uniform price. For small businesses, it is imperative to put in place a modified composition scheme, which will make the GST regime attractive. With neither allowing input tax credit to the composition dealer nor raising of GST invoice enabling the buyer to take input tax credit, small businesses are in a bind; registered dealers are reluctant to make purchases from these composition dealers as compared with the purchases from registered dealers, where they get input tax credit. This has destabilized the supply chain and also affected purchases by registered dealers from the composition dealers causing business distress. Haseeb Drabu is former finance minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the one-year GST journey has seen quite a few speed breakers. there is still a long way to go before "one-tax one-nation" is achieved. the number of commodities attracting 28% will rise by 28% in the next year. the number of commodities attracting 28% will also rise by 28% in the next year.
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Advertising spend in India is likely to rise by 11.4 percent to Rs 697 billion in 2019, driven by key events such as the ongoing cricket world cup and the recent general elections, according to a report by the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN). The 2019 estimate is up from January's projection of 10.6 percent growth in ad spend, and 10.8 percent in 2018, the report said. The agency said digital media spend is projected to grow by 32.7 percent to Rs 144.1 billion in 2019, accounting for 21 percent share of the total advertising expenditure. Television, however, continues to be the dominant force in India, with an estimated contribution of 39 percent to the total ad spend in 2019, it said. The medium is forecast to expand in 2019 by 9.5 percent to touch Rs 271.4 billion. "India is at the cusp of a major change... With the expansion on online video via mobile devices, the role of TV is changing and entertainment at one's own pace is becoming the norm," said Kartik Iyer, president of Amplifi India, a DAN group company. The Asia Pacific ad spend is projected to rise by 4 percent in 2019 amid lower global growth, the report added. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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india's advertising spend is likely to rise by 11.4 percent to Rs 697 billion in 2019. the growth is driven by key events such as the cricket world cup and the recent elections. digital media spend is projected to grow by 32.7 percent to Rs 144.1 billion in 2019. television is forecast to expand in 2019 by 9.5 percent to touch Rs 271.4 billion.
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With the wedding season almost coming to an end and summer onion coming into the markets, the focus among farmers and traders alike in Maharashtra is on storage. As a result, arrivals have begun to dip and there is a possibility of a price rise in the next fortnight, according to top market officials in Nashik region. More significantly, cash payments have begun to make a comeback in most markets with cases of bounced cheques on the rise. On Thursday, market arrivals at Lasalgaon, the country’s largest market for the bulb, dipped to 9,000 quintals from an average of 14,000 quintals in the last week while arrivals at neighbouring Pimpalgaon also dipped to some 12,450 quintals on Thursday with modal prices dropping to Rs 700 per quintal. Lasalgaon prices have remained more or less steady at around Rs 650 per quintal over the week. The harvest of summer onions is on in full swing. According to Atmaram Kumbhar, chairman, Chandwad Agriculture Market Produce Committee (APMC), demand is usually slack during the wedding season and since the summer onion can be stored, farmers now prefer to store the onion in anticipation of better prices. As a good monsoon is predicted this year as well, one can expect another bumper crop, he said, adding that sowing should commence after June-July and the new crop should hit markets between August to November. That is when one can expect farmers to bring out the stored onion, Kumbhar said. According to industry observers, the high volatility in onion prices stems from lack of storage facilities which have not kept pace with rising production. Maharashtra uses Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and National Horticulture Mission and created 42,282 low cost onion storage structures having a capacity of 9.65 lakh tonne. According to Kumbhar, the storage situation could be ascertained only after May when the storage figures would become clear since most farmers end up using informal structures to store their produce. The crop is sown in December-January and is out in the market by April. Due to its high yield and storage capacity, farmers tend to store it in their sheds and sell it in batches till October. Maharashtra presently accounts for close to 30 % of India’s onion production. Meanwhile, cash payments have begun to make a comeback in most of the APMCs in Nashik district. The Kalwan Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee has now mandated that traders buying onion or grain must pay farmers in cash and not through cheque. Till November 2016, transactions in Kalwan’s agriculture markets, like in much of the country’s informal economy, were conducted entirely in cash. Often, the trade was as much off the books as on them. After Modi government banned Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, liquidity crunch forced traders to switch to cheque payments. Chandwad and Pimpalgaon are the two other markets that switched to cash payments after demonetisation. Kumbhar pointed out that there were instances of cheque bounces and there was no way of keeping a check on cheque payments and farmers often faced the short end of the stick which is why the market committee encourages cash payments. Although Lasalgaon APMC encourages same day cheque payments, farmers would still prefer cash and immediate liquidity in hands, market committee officials said, adding that a special squad ends up making surprise visits on traders to find out if the cheque payments were being cleared. Kumbhar pointed out that despite facing problems, Lasalgaon continues to remain with the cheque payment system since it is the largest wholesale market in the country. Majority of the 14 odd market committees in Nashik district now prefer cash payments although they may not publicly declare it, market officials revealed. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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summer onion arrivals have begun to dip in the last week. cash payments have begun to make a comeback in most markets. prices have dropped to Rs 700 per quintal in the last week. the harvest of summer onions is on in full swing. a good monsoon is predicted this year as well. a bumper crop is expected to hit markets between august and November.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday interacted with a group of doctors and representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and appreciated their good work besides assuring them security, officials said. This comes amid reports of attacks on healthcare workers and assaults on some doctors engaged in COVID-19 duties in different parts of the country. The home minister interacted with the doctors and the IMA through video-conferencing, a home ministry official said. Shah appreciated their good work and assured them full security, he said. The home minister appealed to them to not do even a symbolic protest as the government is with the doctors, the official said. The IMA was planning to stage protests against assaults on some doctors and healthcare workers engaged in COVID-19 duties. There have been reports of doctors being abused, beaten and denied entry into residences. Families of at least two doctors, who succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Shillong and Chennai, had faced opposition while performing their last rites as the locals claimed that burying them in their localities may lead to the spread of the infection. INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic Also read: Lockdown 2.0: India Inc supports extension; seeks stimulus package to revive economy Also read: Coronavirus India Lockdown Live Updates: Maharashtra reports 552 new cases, UP-153; Country's tally at 19,984 Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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home minister amit Shah appreciates doctors and IMA representatives. he assures them security besides assuring them security. this comes amid reports of assaults on some doctors in different parts of the country. the IMA was planning to stage protests against assaults on some doctors. a spokesman for the IMA says the government is with the doctors.
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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Aramco will expand its market share in Asia despite likely OPEC limits on output next year, and is eyeing deals in China and Africa as it aims to become a global leader in chemicals, the head of the world’s top oil producer said on Monday. Amin Nasser, chief executive of the state oil giant, told Reuters that his company would abide by any OPEC agreement to cut crude production in 2019, less than two weeks before the exporter group meets to decide output policy. But he added that he still sees growth opportunities in Asia - identifying China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia - and will push ahead with refining ventures to guarantee new outlets for Aramco’s crude. “We are always going to be attempting to expand our market share but at the same time the company is obliged to meet any agreement by OPEC," Nasser said in an interview in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. “Asia is a very important market for us. We are looking at two potential JVs (joint ventures) for refineries in China right now ... We continue to expand our market share in different markets. “We are looking at India, we are looking at Malaysia, we are looking at Indonesia, we are looking at China. All these markets are very important to us. And other markets as well, even in Africa," he added. Aramco said last week it would sign five crude oil supply agreements with Chinese customers, taking its supply to China to a record-high 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2019. Nasser did not explain how Aramco would meet that higher demand if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Saudi Arabia is the de facto leader, decided to restrict production next year. Asked whether the company planned to reduce crude exports to the United States as inventories there increase, he said: “All markets are important for us. Asia is the biggest market for sure, then Europe and the U.S." Nasser added that plans to expand the company’s Motiva refinery in the United States and move into petrochemical production at that plant were going ahead as scheduled. OPEC meets in Vienna on Dec. 6, amid expectations that Saudi Arabia will push for a production cut of up to 1.4 million bpd by the producer club and its allies to prop up sagging oil prices. Benchmark Brent crude was trading near $60 a barrel on Monday, clawing back some losses after plunging nearly 8 percent the previous session amid fears of a supply glut. Saudi Arabia’s crude production has hit an all-time high in November of about 11.1-11.3 million bpd, an industry source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said earlier this month that Aramco would ship less crude in December compared to November due to lower seasonal demand. A chemical leader Aramco aims to become a global leader in chemicals and the world’s largest integrated energy firm, with plans to expand its refining operations and petrochemical output. The company plans to raise its total refining capacity - inside the kingdom and abroad - to 8-10 million bpd from around 5.4 million bpd now, Nasser said. “We are the industry leader when it comes to upstream oil and gas. But when it comes to downstream, even though we have a big position in refining ... our ambition is much bigger, we are looking at 8-10 million bpd in refining," he said. “Chemicals is a major area for expansion. We are going to be the global leader when it comes to chemicals." To get there, Aramco is embarking on the possible acquisition of a strategic stake in Saudi Arabia’s SABIC, the world’s fourth-largest petrochemicals maker. Nasser said he hoped to finalise talks “soon" with the Public Investment Fund to buy the sovereign wealth fund’s stake in SABIC. “We are doing partly the due diligence and the negotiations at the same time. These things take time," he said. “And then if we are able to conclude the negotiations, still there is the process of antitrust in different countries and that also takes some time. We did not put a timeframe that we need to have but we are hoping to have it soon." Aramco aims to allocate some 2-3 million bpd of its crude production to petrochemicals, Nasser said. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. Topics Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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amin Nasser said his company would abide by any OPEC agreement to cut crude production in 2019. but he added that he still sees growth opportunities in Asia - identifying China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. he said he is looking at two potential JVs (joint ventures) for refineries in china right now.
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live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × While the September quarter results of ITC met street expectations, that of fellow FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever marginally beat expectations. Both companies can thank their rural customers for the fillip. The sales of ITC grew by 15.4 percent and that of HUL by 10 percent during the September 2018 quarter. For the last few years, the surge in agribusiness and rural sales has been the driving factor of the future growth potential of FMCG businesses in India. Rural contributes 35-40 percent of overall sales value. Rural segment growth is on the radar of analysts in assessing the roadmap of ITC and HUL in India. HUL operates in three segments of Homecare, beauty care, and foods solutions business. Of this, the home care and beauty care products are widely distributed in rural and semi-rural areas too, given the rising youth lifestyle aspirations of rural India. “Rural growth continues to grow ahead of its urban counterparts. So, we certainly believe that it has the potential to grow much faster,” said Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, HUL. The key verticals of its peer ITC are cigarettes, FMCG, hotels, agri, and paper. ITC through its e-choupals and associated distribution reaches out to rural areas with its agri and FMCG products. As per brokerage Prabhudas Lilladhar, HUL has reportedly grown its rural business 1.2 times of its urban growth. This could also be on part of lower current comparison base in rural consumption. The reports suggest that in the past quarter rural growth was 1.5 times urban growth. The report also suggests that ITC’s agri and FMCG business growing around 13 percent with a recovery in rural consumption. The ITC management has highlighted a stable demand environment with visible signs of recovery, especially in the rural markets. Analysts expect cigarette volumes to recover driven by a recovery in rural consumption which forms two-thirds of smokers. For other players in the sector too, the rural market has played an important role. For Dabur in the second quarter of Q2, the rural growth has been higher than urban by 3-4 percent, as per management. The rural markets were impacted on the downside during demonetisation and GST implementation due to the large informal sector in rural areas. As per Nielsen report issued in August 2018, after GST implementation, supply chain inefficiencies have been ironed out and this will help in rural supplies. Thus, consumption in rural areas will depend largely on current inflation and rural income. IMPROVING RURAL CONSUMPTION The government intends to double farm income by 2022 through the increased budget allocation in water and electricity and also raising the Minimum Support Price or MSP to agricultural produce. This bodes well through demand pick up for large FMCGs like HUL and ITC that already have a vast rural distribution network in place. Nielsen report states that post GST implementation, the price advantage of the informal sector will go down that will help branded FMCGs ITC, HUL and the like to compete on equal footing. “The rural segment continued to grow faster at 1.2-1.25x for FMCG companies but still remains lower than historical levels,” according to ICICI Direct Research. Analyst estimates are that future growth of FMCG would be more in rural areas with nearly 3 times of urban growth. However, it remains an overall balanced picture for rural consumption due to its large dependence on monsoon recorded at 92 percent for all Indian basis as per Skymet estimates. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the sales of ITC grew by 15.4 percent and that of HUL by 10 percent during the September 2018 quarter. rural contributes 35-40 percent of overall sales value. cigarette volumes to recover driven by a recovery in rural consumption. agri and FMCG business growing around 13 percent with a recovery in rural consumption. agri and FMCG business growing around 13 percent with a recovery in rural consumption.
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After tonnes of spy pics and teasers, Kia has finally unveiled the Sonet compact SUV. First showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo, the Kia Sonet is the second car to be premiered first in India. And just like the Seltos, the Sonet is also ‘Made in India’ for the rest of the world. In terms of design, just like we’ve been expecting, a lot of what was showcased as the concept makes its way down to the production car. According to Kia, design inspiration was taken from baby elephant, hence the muscular stance. Even the company’s signature tiger-nose grille gets a tusk-like formation on the lower portion. It also gets LED headlamps with very uniquely designed LED DRLs. Off to the side, the A and B-pillars have been blacked out while the C-pillar is painted red giving the roof a sort of cantilevered look. The 5-spoke alloys, too, are carried forward from the concept vehicle. The rear gets tail lamps that also match the headlamp’s DRLS. The all-new Kia Sonet will be powered three engine - a 1.2-litre petrol, a 1-litre turbo-petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. The transmission options will take the cake however. The Sonet will get a 5-speed manual, a 6-speed manual, a 6-speed automatic and a 7-speed DCT gearbox. The Sonet will also get a 6-speed iMT (intelligent manual transmission). For the first time in the segment, Kia is also offering the diesel with an automatic transmission. As for the interiors, the Kia Sonet gets a single unit for both the infotainment system and the digital instrument cluster. According to Habib, the cluster is also the biggest in the segment. The dash itself is sleek and flanked by vertical air con vents. On the technology front, the infotainment system is a 10.25-inch touchscreen system, 7-speaker Bose sound system and a world’s first, smart air purification system built in. Of course, just like the Seltos, the Sonet will also get connected features through UVO Connect. Other features include ventilated seats, electric sunroof, remote engine start even on the manual and front and rear parking sensors. Kia is also planning on introducing the GT-Line trim which will add more sportiness to the car. These updates will be both on the exterior as well as the interior. The GT Line will be available on the turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engine. Kia says that the Sonet will be produced in India for the world which means it will be exported from India to markets everywhere. The launch, too, will take place first in India and in other market later on. There has been no price announcement but expect the range to be Rs 7-10 lakh. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the all-new Kia Sonet will be powered by a 1.2-litre petrol, a 1-litre turbo-petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. the sonet will also get a 6-speed iMT (intelligent manual transmission) the infotainment system is a 10.25-inch touchscreen system, 7-speaker bose sound system and a world’s first, smart air purification system built in.
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Gland Pharma share made a strong debut on BSE today rising over 13% against the issue price. Share of Gland Pharma opened at Rs 1,701 against the issue price of Rs 1,500, logging gain of 13.4% on BSE. The pharma firm stock rose further up to 21.26% at Rs 1819 against issue price. Market cap of the firm rose to 29,358 crore. Total 1.79 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 33.50 crore on BSE. Against the debut price of Rs 1701, the share rose 6.93% to Rs 1819. The Hyderabad-based firm backed by Chinese firm Fosun Pharma launched its initial public offering (IPO) from November 9-11 (Monday-Wednesday). The IPO worth Rs 6,500 crore had a price band of Rs 1,490-1,500 per share. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd, Haitong Securities India Pvt Ltd and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd were the book running lead managers to the IPO. Gland Pharma on November 8 raised Rs 1,944 crore from anchor investors at the price of Rs 1,500 per equity share. Stocks in news: RIL, Gland Pharma, SBI, Alkem Labs, Bharti Infratel, Wipro, Infosys The anchor investors include the Government of Singapore, Nomura, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, SBI Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund, SBI Life Insurance Co., Fidelity, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HSBC Global Investment Funds, Small Cap World Fund and The Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust PLC among others. Gland Pharma IPO opens: Check price band, lot size; other details Share Market News Live: Sensex rises 150 points, Nifty at 12,815; HCL Tech, ONGC, Infosys top gainers Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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Gland Pharma shares rise over 13% against the issue price of Rs 1,500. the pharma firm stock rose further up to 21.26% at Rs 1819. the firm backed by Chinese firm Fosun Pharma launched its initial public offering. the IPO was worth Rs 6,500 crore. the firm raised Rs 1,944 crore from anchor investors at the price of Rs 1,500 per equity share.
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Govt incentives will help Indian pharma cos reduce API imports from China: Tata Mutual Fund Unprecedented stimulus flowing through will keep markets inflated: Craig Erlam Rural growth alone won’t be able to sustain demand in the long term: Dabur Ex-CEO The government is likely to ask the next Finance Commission to consider a higher weight for the human development index (HDI) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) while recommending the distribution of resources among states. 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. 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. Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way! (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news stock tips and expert advice on ETMarkets . Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. Read Economic Times Epaper. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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government likely to ask next Finance Commission to consider higher weight for the human development index (HDI) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) 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. women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts, or family disputes that may extend into the boardroom.
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NEW DELHI: After witnessing heavy volatility in the past three months, Indian equity market has been trying to stabilise in the last few weeks. The 30-share Sensex , which scaled its lifetime high of 38,989.65 on August 29, closed at 36,134 on Tuesday. Since the end of August, the index has danced to the tune of wobbly crude oil prices, unpredictable rupee and a series of defaults by a leading NBFC player.Analysts still see volatility to remain ingrained in the market till the results of general elections are out in 2019. At the same time, they expect market fundamentals take a turn for the better in view of easing crude oil prices and stability in the rupee against the US dollar. Edelweiss Professional Investor Research in a report has listed 24 emerging investment ideas that can be good bets:The company was founded by Ashwin M Parekh in the late 80s in collaboration with Schock & Co (German company), to manufacture composite quartz kitchen sinks. Quartz sinks have seen good growth and Acrysil has been constantly ramping up capacity to meet the growing demand worldwide. Acrysil is targeting revenue of Rs 500 crore in the next five years along with a gradual margin improvement. The stock currently trades at 25 times FY18 P/E.The company, established in 2002, is one of India’s leading human resource service companies in the organised segment. The company has presence in eight locations, with over 2,250 clients and over 1,700 core employees across the country. Improvement in core staffing business productivity coupled with volume-led growth in both general and IT staffing will further bolster the expansion.The bank is one of the well-diversified small finance banks with an asset under management of Rs 20,219 crore as on Q2FY19. ASFB has persistently worked as retail focused, customer-centric premier asset financing NBFC. The management expects to build a retail customer-centric bank with a view of growing assets 30-35 per cent per annum and reach $10 billion assets by 2022.It is the sixth largest paper manufacturer in India, with a paper capacity of 3,50,000 MTPA in Balasore, Odisha. EPML has a positive outlook on expectation of improved profitability in newsprint segment and rising market share gain prospects in consumer packaging segment. However, the company has quite large amount of debt (mainly foreign currency denominated), with high debt/EBITDA of 5.76x based on H1FY19 financials. Furthermore, the company is currently trading at an expensive EV/Ebitda multiple of 10.4 times based on H1FY19 financials.The company is one of the region’s most well-established brands in the field of woven polyethylene and polypropylene product manufacturing. It has been continuously focusing on increasing share of high margin value-added products: 1) advance composite business; 2) water conservation business; and 3) Agri products.Finolex Industries, incorporated in 1981 is the largest PVC pipes manufacturer in India. The company started as a rigid PVC pipe manufacturer before going in for backward integration in 1994 to manufacture PVC resins. It reported strong results with improvement in realization and inventory gain. Both the business division showed a good growth in the Ebitda profitability; margin expansion as well as in terms of absolute growth. However, with the narrowing PVC/EDC spread will directly impact the profitability of PVC resin business in coming quarters.Visaka Industries was established in 1985. The company has two main divisions; Building Products division which manufactures cement asbestos products as well as fibre cement flat products and the Textile division. Edelweiss has a ‘Buy’ rating on this stock with a target price of Rs 800 based on 15 times FY20E earning.Strong client relationship and niche segment presence to drive growth in tough times. Edelweiss believes that most negatives are factored in, there is uncertainty regarding end customer demand.The company is a key manufacturer of ferrous and aluminium casting and machining components used in the automotive space supplying to various models across leading automobile OEMs in the Indian and international markets. Some of the key drivers that could spur Rico’s financial performance are cost reduction measures, entry in high-realisation, complex aluminium products business, strong annual order book mainly from overseas OEMs ensures healthy growth going ahead in both revenue and profitability.Oberoi Realty is one of the leading developers in Mumbai with developments across Residential, Offices, Retail, Hospitality and Education sector. With the recent correction in the realty sector post-liquidity crisis, the stock at the current market price of Rs 425, trades at more than 40 per cent to its NAV value. The NAV calculation captures the value emerging from Oberoi’s existing and planned residential development potential, ongoing and upcoming development in commercial and hospitality division.Future Supply Chain Solution, Godawari Power, Heritage Foods , Indostar Capital Finance, Intellect Design Arena, Jamna Auto Industries , Jindal Stainless Hisar, Magma Fincorp, Minda Industries, Prabhat Dairy, Prism Johnson, Ramkrishna Forgings, Vinati Organics and Welspun stood among other emerging investment ideas in the list of Edelweiss Professional Investor Research.(Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of ETMarkets.com. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the stock/s mentioned) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the 30-share Sensex closed at 36,134 on Tuesday. the index has danced to the tune of wobbly crude oil prices, unpredictable rupee and a series of defaults by a leading NBFC player. a number of emerging investment ideas can be good bets. a number of them include a shanghai-based shanghai-based shanghai-based shanghai-based shanghai-based shang
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ET CONTRIBUTORS The domestic equity market took a sharp corrective move on Thursday as the weekly options expired, and ended the session with a sizable cut. The US Fed ’s projection of a long road ahead for repairing the economic damage from Covid-19 was not received positively by Asian markets this next morning. Indian equities opened modestly lower, but during the day, stayed on a secularly falling trajectory.It didn’t show any intent of recovery during the session and the decline intensified in the second half of the session. Nifty gave up the psychologically important 10,000 level and went on to close at 9,902 with a net loss of 214.15 points, or 2.12 per cent.The maximum Put open interest, which was at 10,000 level at the start of the session, gradually shifted to 9,900 market and this kept Nifty from breaching this level on expiry. Volatility rose marginally, as India Volatility Index, INDIA VIX, went up by 0.76% to 29.6600. Thursday’s session confirmed the 10,250-10,350 zone as a strong resistance for Nifty in the immediate short term.This zone will now become a key resistance for the index for the coming days. Nifty’s ending near the low point of the day might result in some more downside. However, given the fresh shorts, we will see intermittent pullbacks as well. In Friday’s session, we are likely to see Nifty to face overhead resistance at 9,950 and 10,030 levels, while supports should come in at 9,860 and 9,805 levels.The Relative Strength Index, or RSI, on the daily chart stood at 58.02. It remains neutral, as it does not show any divergence from price. The daily MACD remained bullish as it traded above the signal line. However, the slope of the histogram appears to be downward, which suggests diminishing momentum in the index. A Big Black body emerged on the candles. It signifies strong momentum on the downside throughout the session.Pattern analysis showed Nifty remained in the upward rising channel after the rising wedge got resolved on the upside. Currently, it is facing resistance at the upper rising trend line of the channel and the 100-DMA on a closing basis. The 100-DMA currently stands at 10,229.Nifty has added good amount of Open Interest in futures. This was evident as the June futures open interest increased by 4.33 lakh shares, or 4.14%. The increase in OI along with a decline in Nifty signalled fresh shorts addition on the index. In the current technical setup, Nifty may see some mild pullback from the current level. However, it will remain limited in its extent as Nifty has shifted its resistance zone lower to 10,250-10,300 levels. In the event of any up-move, moderate purchases may be made with vigilant profit protection at higher levels.(Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, is a Consulting Technical Analyst and founder of Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services, Vadodara. He can be reached at [email protected]) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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domestic equity market took a sharp corrective move on Thursday as the weekly options expired. ended the session with a sizable cut. Nifty gave up the psychologically important 10,000 level and went on to close at 9,902 with a net loss of 214.15 points, or 2.12 per cent. india Volatility Index, INDIA VIX, went up by 0.76% to 29.6600.
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India is facing a food fraud problem with about ten states unable to ensure food safety and 15% of food samples failing to pass quality tests. “The food regulator analyses a total of 106,459 samples across India and finds over 15.8% food samples as sub-standard, 3.7% unsafe, and 9% mislabeled during the year 2018-19,” Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) said in a report on Tuesday. At least ten states are also unable to ensure food security in the country, according to FSSAI, as they lack workforce and adequate food testing laboratory infrastructure. Earlier, a research report by UP-based Harcourt Butler Technical University had also stated that Kanpur, which is one of the biggest markets for edible oil, has about 70% of adulterated mustard oil in the markets. Kanpur also supplies other states with mustard oil. “Finding 70% adulteration in more than 120 samples of oil of 30 big companies is a dangerous sign. In 15% of the samples, mustard was less than 20%, that is, it did not know what oil was,” the ASPA report said. Various other instances of adulterated food have also been reported in parts across the country. In fact, some of food items are considered repeat offenders such as milk, oil, tea, coffee etc as they have been found to have most diluted ingredients, according to ASPA. Other than various health issues associated with adulterated food, India also suffers monetary loss due to counterfeit food items. The country is reportedly losing over Rs 1 lakh crore per annum due to the sale/purchase of counterfeit goods by consumers across all sectors, ASPA said in an earlier report. “Counterfeiting corrupts an economy by harming consumer rights, damaging brand equity, causing losses to industries and causing loss of government revenues,” Authentication Solutions Providers’ Association (ASPA) said. Food sector is not the only area which is suffering from the menace of counterfeit goods. The issue is prevalent in sectors such as FMCG, auto, pharmaceutical, e-commerce, packaging, consumer durables, agriculture, fertilisers, etc. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a total of 106,459 samples across india are analysed and found to be sub-standard. 15% of food samples fail to pass quality tests. ten states are also unable to ensure food security in the country. counterfeit food items are also a major problem in the country. the country is losing over Rs 1 lakh crore per annum due to the sale/purchase of counterfeit goods by consumers across all sectors.
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live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More × Tata Power, India’s largest private integrated power company, is preparing to join a growing club of Indian companies looking to raise additional capital through a rights issue, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Moneycontrol. The new fundraising plan would be in addition to an ongoing process to establish an infrastructure investment trust, or InvIT, for the firm’s renewable energy assets, they said. “They are in active discussions with advisors and want to tap the rights issue route to reduce their debt burden and strengthen the balance sheet for expansion purposes,” said a person familiar with the ongoing discussions. A second person said Tata Power will launch a rights issue of substantial size because of the size of debt. “It should definitely be upwards of Rs 2,000 crore and the final approved amount could be much higher.” Another person said the company may look at launching the rights issue before mid-August prior to the June quarter results. “Merchant bankers are likely to be finalised in the next few days,” this person said. All the three persons spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity. Tata Power MD and CEO Praveer Sinha was quoted in a recent media report as saying the company was attempting to reduce the debt to the levels of Rs 25,000 crore by the end of this fiscal year from Rs 44,000 crore. “It is an indicative target. We are looking at various means to do it. We have already started our divestment process,” he said. Tata Power is also in advanced discussions to close certain divestments in segments such as shipping and hydropower. The company has reduced its debt-to-equity ratio from 2.19 to 1.99 in FY20 and aims to reduce it to below 1.5 in FY21. The promoter shareholding in Tata Power stands at 37.22% , with Tata Sons holding a 35.27% stake. In the public shareholder’s category, a group of insurance companies led by government owned behemoth LIC hold 12.44% stake in the firm. Rights issues have emerged as the preferred fund raising route for corporates during the nationwide lockdown triggered by the outbreak of COVID-19. The mechanism has flexibility in pricing, can be executed within short timelines and protects the dilution of existing shareholders. Reliance Industries (RIL), M&M Financial Services, Future Consumer and Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail are some of the companies that have publically announced rights issues. RIL’s Rs 53,000-crore rights issue was the biggest equity offering ever in the history of corporate India. There is an InvIT plan too Tata Power is also looking to raise Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000 crore of equity capital through an unlisted InvIT and is in advanced talks with global investors, according to a fourth individual privy to the firm’s fundraising plans. Moneycontrol was the first to report Tata Power’s InvIT’s plans on June 22, 2019. This person too did not want to be named. In response to a query on their InvIT plans, Tata Power said, “We don’t respond to market speculations.” Moneycontrol is awaiting a response to a query on the rights issue plans and has sent reminders. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from the company. The firm wants to join corporates like Reliance Industries, Piramal Enterprises and Larsen & Toubro that have tapped global investors and launched InvITs by monetising their operational infrastructure assets. InvITS are instruments that work like mutual funds and enable direct investment of money from individual and institutional investors in infrastructure projects to earn a small portion of the income as return. Under markets regulator Sebi’s rules, a company can explore listed and unlisted InvITs, though the latter has gained popularity due to tax benefits. A report by rating agency ICRA dated April 17, 2020 highlighted the impact of the nationwide lockdown on the power utility’s operations. “The lockdown imposed in India to control COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have an adverse impact on the cash flows of power distribution entities because of decline in electricity demand as well as constraints in collections from consumers, which would in turn affect the cash flows of Tata Power Group,” the report said. However, the report also added that the company’s liquidity position is expected to remain adequate and would be supported by “the presence of undrawn working capital line of Rs 2,379 crore at a standalone level, sizeable cash balances and the company’s ability to refinance the short-term debt.” A few days earlier, the central government announced a phase -wise relaxation of the nationwide lockdown, which is gradually being implemented by every state. Consequently, this would have led to an improvement in demand and collections for the company. Big power player Tata Power has an installed generation capacity of 10763 MW in India and a presence in all the segments of power sector — fuel and logistics, generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), transmission, distribution and trading. The thermal power generation capacity stands at 6,840 MW while generation through clean sources such as hydro, solar, and wind stand at 3924 MW. The commissioned a total of 4,000 MW at a single location, Mundra, in FY15. Some of its major projects include thermal power stations at Trombay, Jojobera, Haldia, Jamshedpur, Maithon and Mundra, hydro stations in Khopoli, Bhira and Bhivpuri in Maharashtra, wind farms across five states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan and solar power projects in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the company is preparing to join a growing club of Indian companies looking to raise additional capital through a rights issue. the new fundraising plan would be in addition to an ongoing process to establish an infrastructure investment trust, or invIT, for the firm’s renewable energy assets. rights issues have emerged as the preferred fund raising route for corporates during the nationwide lockdown triggered by the outbreak of COVID-19.
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The central government is all set to announce the next round of "financial relief package" to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement could come next week, according to sources. A top source in the government, who has been part of the strategy-making, said, "The discussions and deliberations at the top level on the package were over almost a week ago." The final round of discussion on the stimulus package took place on May 2 between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with officials of the ministry. Sources say senior PMO officials have been working on final tightening of nuts and bolts of the relief package and the next step could be the announcement. The source, on condition of anonymity, added, "Not all measures which are part of the package need a Cabinet clearance. There are some proposals which will need Cabinet nod. There has been no Cabinet meet for the last two weeks. So one can say this Wednesday there may be a meeting." To prepare the financial system for the big move next, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet CMDs and CEOs of public sector banks on Monday. Also Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: Cabinet Secy to meet states, UTs on Sunday; India cases-59,662, Gujarat cases-7,797 According to sources, the agenda of the meeting may include credit flow, credit sanctions, and disbursements since March 1 and four other items. Govt to borrow more to fund stimulus package On Friday, the government had indicated that the funds for the long-awaited financial relief package were going to come from additional borrowing from the market. It had declared that it would raise its borrowing by over 50% of Budgetary Estimate (BE) during 2020-21. Economic Affairs Department under the Finance Ministry said, "The estimated gross market borrowing in the financial year 2020-21 will be Rs 12 lakh crore in place of Rs 7.80 lakh crore as per BE 2020-21." The government resorts to such borrowing to bridge the gap between its income and expenditure. This provides ample evidence that the government has shed its reluctance to breach the fiscal deficit target. Following this level of borrowing, the fiscal deficit during 2020-21 could go up by 200 basis points (bps). 100 bps translate to 1 percentage point. What could be in the package Last week, the government sources had confirmed that "a package with proposals and implications," had travelled some time ago from the North Block office of the finance ministry to the PMO in South Block. Also Read: FM Nirmala Sitharaman says Rs 18,253 crore disbursed under PM-KISAN scheme during lockdown Various concerned departments like the Department of Financial Services, which deals with banking and related issues, is said to have already submitted their report vis-a-vis measures, implications, and procedures. Ministries like MSME, labour and others have also sent in their proposals and responses. Various sources in the government and its advisory entities claim that the package focuses on relief, rehabilitation and revival post lockdowns and COVID-19 impact on the economy. PM and his office have held a series of meetings with different ministries, departments and statutory bodies like the RBI. Sources have been stating that a "Big Bang" package has not been government's first choice and it has been opting for "targeted packages" for different sectors and segments in a phased manner with active involvement of the RBI. Relief for MSME The PMO is said to have drawn a comprehensive proposal for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector that may address both the stress on the entities plus those who work in them. The ministry of MSME had sent multiple proposals for the sector and the PMO is said to have taken the final call. To help the MSMEs, the government is said to be working on providing a guarantee for additional funding of 20% of the credit limit of medium and small entities. This may involve the government guaranteeing over Rs 3 lakh crore loans. Once the government steps in as guarantor, banks will be incentivised to lend to MSMEs. A senior government official said, "Using the loans once, MSMEs kick start operations defaults will not be instant. They may occur only after the deep distress forced by coronavirus spread abated. The department of financial services is said to have submitted its report to the PMO on this proposal." The MSME ministry had submitted proposals like setting up of a special fund to pay up the banks in case of defaults and using the credit guarantee trust to operate the assistance. The government is actively considering ways to address both the supply and demand side of the crisis. Sources say the fiscal relief measures may have strong elements to address the workforce and migrants like those who resorted to protests in various parts of the country or are fleeing back to their native places in large numbers. The other key proposal for the MSMEs has been a direct assistance in the form of wage support for workers to reduce the burden on the entities. Top government sources confirmed the existence of a proposal for MSME getting "payroll support" for employees drafted by the NITI Aayog. This has potential to immediately address the large scale retrenchment and job losses that are being reportedly causing hardships. More money in the hands of the labourers can trigger demand for goods produced by industries and businesses which have been given a go ahead to start working with social distancing protocols. The target of this could be nearly 10 crore workers. The labour ministry has already cleared deferred payment of employers' contributions in the EPF to reduce the burden on MSMEs. The government also said to have on its table a proposal to put money in the hands of the poor and needy. The opposition and experts have been suggesting that the Centre must target the bottom 30-40% of the economic strata, which includes daily wagers and migrant labourers. Ex-Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg in an article recently estimated that the government needs to spend nearly Rs 60,000 crore to provide at least Rs 2,000 direct cash transfer to nearly 10 crore workers for three months. Sources said that several tax and other incentives have been under consideration for over a month to provide a helping hand to large industries and corporates. Manufacturing services and industry provide 42% of employment but their contribution to GDP exceeds 70%. The move by the government is expected to set the tone for the economy. The government's fiscal moves will also decide the next move by the RBI on the monetary front. The RBI sources indicated that the "central bank will now wait for the government's fiscal measures to address the economic distress before deciding its next monetary intervention." The RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on April 17 had announced a slew of measures to improve credit flow and liquidity. More reforms coming? Over the last few days, PM Modi has held several rounds of meetings with ministers, officials and stakeholders. His focus has been on a post COVID scenario in which India could position itself as a competitive manufacturing destination in comparison to China. The government is working on proposals to bring in greater foreign direct investment (FDI), improve ease of working, and system reforms to make India more lucrative for companies exiting China following the COVID-19 outbreak. Sources say that announcements on these lines are also in the pipeline. Sources said that PM has held discussions for interventions in the financial sector and structural reforms along with a strategy to support MSMEs and farmers, liquidity situations and ways to strengthen credit flows. A business' recovery plan is said to have become the mantra in the government and the PM, according to sources, has been flagging the need for generating gainful employment opportunities by helping businesses overcome difficulties and strengthening major structural reforms. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the government is all set to announce the next round of "financial relief package" the package is to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. the final round of discussion took place on may 2. the government is expected to borrow more to fund the relief package. the government has said it will raise its borrowing by over 50% of budgetary estimate.
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Hundreds of millions of people worldwide kicked off the weekend under a coronavirus lockdown, as the global death toll accelerated sharply and the World Health Organization warned the young they were "not invincible". The pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, sharply restricting the movement of huge populations, shutting down schools and businesses, and forcing millions to work from home -- while many have lost their livelihoods entirely. While President Donald Trump insisted the United States was "winning" the war against the virus, individual states dramatically ramped up restrictions, with New York and Illinois joining California in ordering residents to stay home. The virus death toll surged past 11,000 worldwide, with 4,000 alone in worst-hit Italy where the daily number of fatalities has shot up relentlessly over the past week. While the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the hardest hit by the virus, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that young people were also vulnerable. "Today I have a message for young people: you are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks -- or even kill you," Tedros said. "Even if you don't get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else." China on Saturday reported no new local infections for a third straight day, and the WHO said the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus emerged late last year, offered a glimmer of "hope for the rest of the world". 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 But there are growing concerns of a new wave of "imported" infections in the region, with Hong Kong reporting 48 suspected cases on Friday -- its biggest daily jump since the crisis began. Many of them have a recent history of travel to or from Europe. Across Europe, governments continued to rigorously enforce lockdown measures as the continent's most celebrated boulevards and squares remained silent and empty even as warmer spring weather arrived. Italy reported its worst single day, adding another 627 fatalities and taking its reported total to 4,032 despite efforts to stem the spread. The nation of 60 million now accounts for 36 percent of the world's coronavirus deaths and its death rate of 8.6 percent among confirmed infections is significantly higher than in most other countries. France, Italy, Spain and other European countries have told people to stay at home, threatening fines in some cases, while Bavaria became the first region in Germany to order a lockdown. Britain, falling in line with its neighbours in the European Union, also announced tougher restrictions, telling pubs, restaurants and theatres to close and promising to help cover the wages of affected workers. With virus fears gripping the United States, its largest state California -- with over 1,000 cases and 19 deaths -- told its 40 million residents to stay at home. New York state, which has reported over 7,000 cases and 39 deaths, followed suit on Friday, ordering its nearly 20 million residents to do the same from Sunday evening. Trump applauded the New York and California decisions, but said he did not think a nationwide lockdown was needed. "Those are really two hotbeds," he said. "I don't think we'll ever find (a US-wide lockdown) necessary." Shortly after the president spoke, the governor of Illinois ordered residents of the midwestern state to stay at home and the Connecticut governor did the same. The restrictions so far imposed in seven states cover around 100 million people, with the country's three most populous cities -- New York, Los Angeles and Chicago -- under lockdown. Trump also announced Friday that the US and Mexico have agreed to restrict non-essential travel across their border beginning on Saturday. Meanwhile a staffer in the office of US Vice President Mike Pence, the pointman for Washington's response to the outbreak, tested positive for the coronavirus. The family of country music legend Kenny Rogers, who died aged 81, said Friday they would hold a small private service "out of concern" for the virus emergency. France said more than 4,000 people were fined on the first day of confinement and ministers described those breaking the rules as "idiots". The strict measures follow the template set by China, as a lockdown imposed in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, appeared to have paid off. Europe now accounts for more than half of the world's fatalities linked to COVID-19. Accurate figures are difficult to come by, however, as many of those who die suffer from other illnesses and infection rates are uncertain because of a lack of testing in many countries. The shadow of the virus is lengthening across Africa and the Middle East too. Gabon confirmed sub-Saharan Africa's second known death, with reported cases across Africa standing at more than 900 and rising fast. In Iran, both supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani promised the country would overcome the outbreak -- but still refused to join the rest of the world in imposing heavy restrictions. In Latin America, Cuba and Bolivia both announced they were closing their borders, and Colombia said it would begin mandatory isolation from Tuesday. The pandemic has sparked fears of a global recession, battering the world's stock markets and prompting governments to push huge spending plans to limit the damage. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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world health organization warns young people are "not invincible" a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. the death toll has risen to 11,000 worldwide, with 4,000 alone in worst-hit Italy. the u.s. has imposed a moratorium on the spread of the virus.
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Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has become the most downloaded app among social media applications in India during the lockdown period. Besides ByteDance's video app, WhatsApp, Facebook, Helo, Instagram and VMate were the most downloaded social networking apps on iOS or Google Play in the week starting March 22, data released from app analytics firm App Annie showed. India and Brazil were the two largest markets by downloads on Google Play in Q1 2020. However, on iOS, China and the United States were the biggest markets in terms of downloads. App downloads on Google Play grew 5 per cent y-o-y to 22.5 billion, while downloads on iOS grew 15 per cent y-o-y to over 9 billion new downloads in Q1 2020. On Google Play non-gaming apps accounted for 55 per cent of total downloads, while on iOS the figure was 65 per cent. Social media app downloads on iOS and Google Play, during the lockdown in India in the first week, starting March 22 went up 20 per cent as compared to January 2020. This led to more than 49 million new downloads. AajTak Live Hindi News India, ZOOM Cloud Meetings, Uvideo, Instagram, Jio TV and Amazon Prime Video were the most downloaded apps, except for gaming apps, in the country during the week starting March 22 compared to the previous week, reports suggest. AajTak Live Hindi News India and ZOOM Cloud Meetings reportedly jumped 56 and 54 places in terms of rank respectively. App Annie said that news apps, video conferencing calls and entertainment apps gained significant momentum during the lockdown. It added that it had not seen any significant movements in ranks for dating apps like Tinder and Bumble in India in terms of new downloads. TikTok's #GharbaithoIndia campaign, launched in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, generated over 4.6 billion views. Instagram's live views grew more than 60 per cent during the first week of 21-day lockdown. PM Modi had declared a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25 to April 14 to fight novel coronavirus pandemic in the country. Also Read: Coronavirus update: 697 fresh COVID-19 cases, 109 deaths reported so far Also Read: Infosys Q4 revenue to take 130bps hit; FY21 outlook gloomy: Analyst report Also Read: Coronavirus in US: Tiger at NYC's Bronx Zoo tests positive for COVID-19 Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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india and Brazil were the two largest markets by downloads on Google Play. on iOS, China and the united states were the biggest markets in terms of downloads. app downloads on google play grew 5 per cent y-o-y to 22.5 billion. on google play non-gaming apps accounted for 55 per cent of total downloads. aajTak Live Hindi News India, ZOOM Cloud Meetings, Uvideo, Instagram, Jio TV and Amazon Prime Video were the most downloaded apps
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MUMBAI: Tractor makers Mahindra, Tractors and Farm Equipment (Tafe) and Sonalika that have been struggling with customised hiring schemes are looking to cash in on rising demand as the migrant workforce scramble back to their homes in other states.So far, 65-70% of the districts remain Covid-19 free, fuelling belief that agricultural activities will see an uptick.“As the agri economy grows, ownership of tractors in the rental segment will get stronger. It is making entrepreneurs of small and marginal farmers through this model while increasing farmer productivity”, says Hemant Sikka, president of Mahindra’s tractor division. Sikka added that the migrants would have less cash in hand to own a tractor and renting it will increase productivity immediately.Incidentally, Mahindra’s tractor rental project, Trringo, more an experimental model to bring entrepreneurs on one platform, has not done as well as expected.Tractors are usually bought directly from dealers with the farmer paying 25-30% of the price upfront and the rest financed by specialised rural banks and NBFCs. The average price of a tractor is ₹6-7 lakh. A farmer shells out around ₹2 lakh as down payment. The final quantum of financing and repayment depends on the relationship between the dealer and the farmer.Loans taken by the farming community primarily from micro finance companies are for tractor and pick-up vehicles, says Paul Thomas, managing director of ESAF, a small finance bank in Kerala that funds tractor hiring.“What is important is that the harvest has been good for wheat, sugarcane , pulses and the government will buy and warehouse these products. Demand for tractor hiring has since opened up and we are getting close to 20 financing requests daily,” said Thomas.With the country seeing a good rabi crop and a bumper harvest in the offing, workers see a future for themselves in the agriculture space. Some industry experts think labourers will stay back even for sowing and not come back till November.“We need to support farmers to increase farm productivity while ensuring reduced operational cost and affordable agri machinery,” said Raman Mittal, executive director, Sonalika Group. These centres, besides renting out high end agri machinery to needy farmers, would also act as ‘agri machinery clinics’ for repairs of implements, adds Mittal.Manufacturers are looking at multiple models to rent out tractors with TAFE launching a free tractor rental service in Tamil Nadu , Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. “The scheme received a good response from farmers and in 60 days, over a lakh acres have been cultivated and rental service has been provided in this crucial cropping season” said TR Kesavan, president, TAFE, who is also the president of tractor association, TMA.Massey Ferguson last week announced a scheme of owning a tractor on an initial payment of only Rs 5,000.TAFE manufactures a range of tractors with brands like Massey Ferguson, TAFE Eicher, and the recently acquired Serbian tractor and agricultural equipment brand - Industrija Mašina i Traktora.The domestic tractor sector has managed to enter positive territory at a much faster pace due to timely relaxation of the lockdown for the agricultural sector. Experts expect the second half to be better for the tractor industry, projecting a surge in demand post the rabi season and a normal monsoon. A significant growth in demand for food grains will drive the farm equipment rental market for the tractor companies. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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migrant workforce scramble back to their homes in other states. makers are looking to cash in on rising demand as agri economy grows. 'agri machinery clinics' would also act as 'agri machinery clinics'. 'we need to support farmers to increase farm productivity while ensuring reduced operational cost and affordable agri machinery'
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FMCG Sales Climb as Rural Demand Sees Green Shoots India’s packaged consumer goods grew 9% by value and 8.6% by volume in the September quarter from the year earlier, aided by higher spending in rural India for both essentials and discretionary products, researcher NielsenIQ said. In India, 200 M Users is a Relatively Small Number; We’ve Room to Grow Snap Inc, parent company of messaging app Snapchat, made news for doubling its user base in India to 200 million within the space of a year, buoyed by greater adoption of new products such as short video offering Spotlight that is taking on the likes of Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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consumer goods grew 9% by value and 8.6% by volume in the September quarter. higher spending in rural India for both essentials and discretionary products. snap Inc, parent company of messaging app Snapchat, made news for doubling its user base in india to 200 million within the space of a year. boosted by greater adoption of new products such as short video offering Spotlight.
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Sandip Sabharwal It is unfortunate but true that the only reasoning that many give for being negative on India is rising crude oil prices. While it is of concern as it impacts both our current account deficit (CAD) as well as inflation trajectory, there are many things working in India’s favour, which cannot be ignored. Most who are just crude-focussed are missing the big part of the rally. The oil price rally was more drastic during the boom years of 2003-2007. And back then, there was not much of focus on renewables or electric vehicles, which is a reality today. The price of crude price may rise but its longer-term outlook becomes increasingly negative as it is held up unnaturally. Nevertheless, that is not the India story. The India story has several other things working for us. It is reflected in the GDP print that was reported on August 31, which came at 8.2 percent, the highest in several years. While many are still skeptical about the GDP data but we will continue to see an improvement in this over the next several quarters. The economy is like a huge spherical rock, which is difficult to move, but when it catches momentum, it moves very fast and it takes time to slow down. So the economy as large as ours tends to be either in a virtuous cycle or a vicious cycle. As I write today, it is very clear that the economic juggernaut has turned around and started to accelerate. Low inflation of the last few years combined with improving income to expenditure ratios have led to a revival in consumer demand both at the urban and rural levels. A good monsoon this year should further add to this. The impact of Pay Commission hikes is also better seen now. This is reflected not only in the consumption of non-durables but also in higher value durables like cars, bikes, TVs etc. The increasing occupancy of hotels during the holiday seasons and packed holiday destinations is another factor verifying this sentiment. This should continue going forward. The government, when it took over, worked on a lot of aspects to improve transparency and this has speeded up project awards in the infrastructure sector. A huge number of road, railways and urban infrastructure projects have been launched whose implementation has picked up pace now. Infrastructure investments generate a lot of employment and demand for products as well. That is being seen today. The implementation of many projects will be rapid over the next two years. It is reflected in the guidance of many companies of this segment which are looking to grow 20-40 percent. Corporate investment demand has still been slack as there was enough spare capacity created in the last boom which is now getting filled. Many capital-good companies are now showing an improved an order book and visibility of growth. This combined with the turnaround in many commodity industries will be overall positive for corporate sector investment demand. The ability of banks to fund new growth projects was also significantly hampered due to the state of their balance sheets. Thankfully, now the write-offs have been made to a great extent. In the next 8-10 years, we should see a strong balance sheet from financials as the fear of the past will be over. Hopefully, we will see a permanent change in the way many banks operate. Despite high inflation, which may cause an uptick in interest rates, the ability of these banks to deliver credit will be stronger. A clean auction and project award processes combined with the implementation of GST will improve the productivity of the overall economy. We have already seen efficiency gains play out in the numbers of many consumer companies. As the systems stabilize, we will see these gains flow into the entire economy. These efficiency gains at a time of an improving economy will add to the profitability of companies. Many other aspects related to financial inclusion, low-cost housing schemes, LPG for all, electricity for all, a low-cost digital economy etc. will also have a positive impact on improving the efficiency of the overall economy. In this context, when we evaluate the economy beyond 2019, the way we need to look at it is that the good work done cannot be undone very fast. Undoing the bad of the past has taken 3-4 years and the economy has started improving now. Some reforms are structural in nature: GST, auctions, project award transparency etc. There will be others which are not structural but will still require 3-4 years to undo. As such, if the same government comes back, we will see continuity and possibly a high growth economy for the next decade or so. Even if there is a change, economic growth will continue to be strong and corporate sector profitability revival will continue for at least 3-4 years. Subsequently, depending on the kind of dispensation at the Centre, we could see an end to the cyclical revival. In conclusion, I believe that we have now entered a high growth phase of the economy, which will continue for a few years. Whether we will have 10-15 years of a high growth economy finally depends on how the political landscape is after the next elections. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that 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 oil price rally was more drastic during the boom years of 2003-2007. but the india story has several other things working for us. low inflation of the last few years combined with improving income to expenditure ratios have led to a revival in consumer demand. the government has worked on a lot of aspects to improve transparency. the implementation of the idf is also improving.
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Stuck in homes due to lockdown, many urban families in Delhi-NCR have discovered their green thumb and are nurturing kitchen gardens in their terrace and balconies. The fresh, pesticide-free produce is not only helping address the food safety concerns of people but also serving as a stress buster during the time of coronavirus-induced lockdown. Nibha Dalal, a resident of Noida sector 41 has been growing tomatoes, okra and potatoes in her kitchen garden. “At first it was just a hobby but when I saw the risk of resources depleting at super markets and also that exposure to fruits and vegetables may increase chances of coronavirus transmission through the surface, I thought it might be a good idea to be self-sufficient,” Dalal said. Her neighbour Varsha Rajora said she is not only growing vegetables for food security but also to de-stress. “All my three children are in Mumbai presently and we keep seeing news of how badly Maharashtra is impacted by coronavirus. My kitchen garden helps me stay distracted and occupied,” Rajora, who spends an average of four hours in her kitchen garden everyday, said. Naseema Firdaus, a resident of Mayur Vihar Extension, has converted her balcony into an area to grow vegetables. She is growing cherry tomatoes, curry leaves, coriander leaves and potatoes in her balcony. “The idea to grow my own vegetables came after the lockdown started. I realised it would be a lot safer to grow vegetables in my own garden but due to space constraint I am growing only those vegetables that can survive in a limited space,” she said. Nisha Tomar, a Gurgaon resident, said gardening has become a matter of self-sustenance. “In the initial week of lockdown, attempting to grow some vegetables was less about a hobby and more about self sustainability. We don’t have local vegetable shops around my society and Big Basket took time to resume delivery in my area after the lockdown was announced. “So, I decided to attempt the basics on my own. I tried basil and mint first and they quickly grew. Then I got excited about it and moved to spinach,” Tomar told PTI. The limited accessibility in initial weeks of lockdown prompted Dhwani Bhardwaj to try her hand at kitchen gardening and she found it a unique way of keeping her kids occupied. “I remember as kids we would paste different seeds in holiday homework scrapbooks but honestly I never gave a thought that we can try it at home. So following some YouTube instructions I planted tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper and lettuce and we named each of the pot after each family member to fix responsibility for the pot. And now after a month, we were excited to see the results,” she said. “It is not even an accessibility issue now but I think I will procure limited vegetables from outside till the corona crisis is over,” she said. Dipti Jhanjhani,who has been growing vegetables in her balcony for a few years, is now receiving calls from her friends and relatives who want gardening tips. “The lockdown has taken the DIY trend to another level.Earlier, whoever visited my house would be stunned with how I have accommodated so much in the balcony and how I am so dedicated to gardening. Now during the lockdown I got calls from many of my friend who wanted to experiment with kitchen gardening,” she said. There is no available data on how many families may be growing vegetables at their homes since the lockdown. Atul Sharma, owner of a plant nursery in Noida, said the demand for seeds specially of vegetables has significantly increased in the last two months. “Though the nursery has not been operational due to the lockdown, I am getting 10-12 calls every day inquiring about seed availability and if home delivery is possible. Earlier such demand was seen for flower seeds but now it has moved towards vegetables,” he said. Bhim Singh, a gardener, said he has been getting calls from people asking tips for their plants. “What kind of soil this vegetable needs, how much water should be given, is it suitable to grow it in pots are some of the common queries I am asked. Ironically, I would have got many gardening opportunities if I could step out,” he said. Rabia Hasan, a psychiatrist, said growing vegetables can act as a good stress buster. “It gives people the satisfaction to think that they have enough to take care of the needs of their families. News of shortage of food items is also making people think that they are prepared to an extent and if nothing else it is a good hobby to pursue,” Hasan said. India is currently under the biggest lockdown with around 1.3 billion people asked to stay home in view of the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed 2,752 lives and infected 85,940 people in the country. The government has asked people to “learn to live with the virus,” urging people to make COVID-19 prevention guidelines a part of their lives as a behavioural change. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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many urban families in Delhi-NCR are growing kitchen gardens in their terraces. the fresh, pesticide-free produce is serving as a stress buster during lockdown. the limited accessibility in initial weeks of lockdown prompted Dhwani Bhardwaj to start a vegetable garden. he said: "it is a matter of self-sustenance. i am growing my own vegetables'
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In the wake of Covid-19, the bond market is facing significant stress in recent times while the rupee has taken a hit led by FPI outflows. Ananth Narayan, professor-finance at SPJIMR, tells Bhavik Nair in an interview that credit and fixed income markets are strained and need help. Excerpts: 1. What are your view on the measures taken by the RBI so far? The RBI has an immense capacity to control both the currency and the fixed income markets. On the currency front, we have seen very large dollar demand this month, including record FPI outflow of $14 billion. In this background, RBI has managed volatility very well, by dipping into its ample currency reserves. However, credit and fixed-income markets are strained and need help. Amidst FPI and domestic mutual fund redemptions, risk aversion, and market illiquidity, we’re seeing even quasi-sovereign short-term paper being dealt at 9%. Sustained dislocation of this kind can impair financial stability, at a time when financial services ecosystem is quite stressed. 2. How much time do you think the corporate bond market will take to recover? Our corporate bond secondary market volumes are low compared to the holdings of institutional players. When institutions face large redemptions, we do see sharp dislocations unrelated to fundamentals. For now, this dislocation can be addressed by the RBI. First, the MPC might have to deliver a deep rate cut and undertake bond purchases, to give some relief to financial institutions. Next, the RBI may have to use the 2008 playbook and provide liquidity to MFs/ NBFCs against corporate bonds. Finally, banks can be nudged to be more active in credit markets. 3. Is the pain over for the rupee or are we going to see further depreciation? First, rupee has been overvalued in real effective rate terms for a while now. Some amount of depreciation is good for our terms of trade. Second, the dollar itself has strengthened a fair bit against most currencies in recent times. Our permanent flows – across current account deficit (CAD) and foreign direct investment (FDI) – are now a comfortable surplus, for now. The dollar outflows we are seeing now are a risk-off reversal of portfolio flows, and of nervous open positions. There still is an overhang of open, unhedged positions in the market. For now, given ample currency reserves and surplus permanent flows, I think RBI will continue with what they’re doing – control volatility, but not come in the way of gradual, corrective rupee depreciation over time, if the outflows sustain. 4. Will FPIs think of looking at the Indian capital markets anytime soon? How long do you think the risk aversion will continue? India enjoys a fair amount of goodwill among global investors. Despite all our challenges, we also enjoy some tailwinds – low crude oil prices, and the opportunity to onshore supply chains in the evolving global context. For now, global markets are on edge, and short-term investor behaviour can be difficult to predict. Medium term, with the Federal Reserve and the US government cranking out a huge combined monetary and fiscal stimulus, risk and liquidity should return sooner rather than later. At that point, the ball will be in our court. 5. What do you expect from the upcoming monetary policy? In the current context, I would expect the MPC to deliver a deep rate cut – at least 50 bps, perhaps as much as 100 bps – more as a means of delivering relief, than achieving anything immediate on growth or inflation. While monetary print and fiscal spend may be inevitable in the short term, we are not the USA to continue with this forever. More medium term, we will require deep reforms to address the structural issues in our economy, and to take advantage of our many opportunities. In this evolving context, our MPC will have quite a challenging tightrope to walk. 6. How do you see the first-half borrowing by the government for FY21? The Covid-19 lockdown will impact the economy, and overall demand will see a shock drop. This will hurt businesses and livelihoods. Only 17% of our workforce is salaried while the others are casual, contract and self-employed. A fiscal relief package will be inevitable to combat the challenges of Covid-19 and the lockdown, at a time when tax collections will also slump. In light of this, FRBM will almost certainly have to be set aside, and the borrowing by the government and public sector will rise sharply. In turn, the RBI may have no choice but to monetise much of this deficit by way of open market purchase of bonds. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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rupee has taken a hit led by FPI outflows. credit and fixed income markets are strained and need help. rupee has been overvalued in real effective rate terms for a while. rupee has been overvalued in real effective rate terms for a while. rupee has been overvalued in real effective rate terms for a while.
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Starts at Rs 42,990Great processor Apple doesn’t do cheap” is something you hear a lot in tech town. The next time someone says that, you could show them the new iPhone SE. It is the cheapest iPhone — something Apple hopes will help it spread its wings farther in India. However, you should also add that a lower price point does not make it, well, cheap in any sense.Now, you might think that if Apple has cut the price of a new iPhone significantly, it would have cut corners also. Much to our surprise, the SE doesn’t seem to have made any stark compromises.A lot of it is down to the processor that powers the SE — the A13 Bionic chip. The processor that is also used in the iPhone 11 series makes a compelling case for the SE. And it delivers the best performance in this price segment.The SE looks like the iPhone 8 that came in 2017 and in many ways reminds you of a simpler time.The second generation has a couple of features that could feel like it was part of a cost-cutting exercise. One is the size and display. The 4.7-inch LCD screen looks a bit odd. The chunky bezels don’t help. But it is easy to carry and use. The big-sized phones that most of us carry around have made us forget that small screen phones aren’t bad and have their own set of pros.The second factor that could be seen as a compromise is perhaps the camera with a 12MP no-frills sensor. Thanks to AI and computational photography, it delivers solid performance. Yes, there is no night mode or wide-angle photography. But for an average casual smartphone user, the camera is more than sufficient. The photos in the Portrait mode are as good as those in the iPhone 11 series. The daylight shots in the SE are really good.The SE has also brought back the Home button. It works seamlessly and hardly takes time to get used to.The iPhone SE is a tough phone to beat on many parameters and Android smartphone companies will soon find that out even with their fully-loaded offerings. The clincher in its case is that the aspirational value of owning an iPhone. Add to that a great processor and a phone that does everything consistently well, and you are staring at a winner.- The writer is with gadgetsnow.com Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the new iphone SE is the cheapest in the market. it is powered by the same chip that powers the iphone 11 series. the camera is 12MP no-frills and the camera is more than enough. the price tag is a bit high but the phone is a winner. it is priced at Rs 42,990 and is available in india.
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Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Operations Officer Programme Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Executive Officer Programme Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Marketing Officer Programme Visit If you go back to three blocks of five years each over the last 15 years, Indian markets have more or less given around 50% to 60% absolute over each five-year block and that is predominantly mimicking the GDP growth in rupee terms, says, Founder,, in an interview with ETNOW. Look for good quality consumer stocks in small and midcaps, says Singhania.Edited excerpts:Over the last 18 months, markets have found new reasons to get nervous. The general election was a big event and the mandate has been much better than what the market expected. Global investors are looking at India as one of the very few economies to have political as well as economic stability over the next five years. That is what the elections have done to the markets. There are newer challenges which we will discuss whenever we want to, but the big event is behind us now. ET Now : What you are saying is that the world is uncertain. There is a global macro risk and a political risk. But in India, the macros are stable and the political environment is stable. If you are a rating agency, would you say India is AAA and the world is BBB?Sunil Singhania: The Europe region, particularly because of Brexit related likely changes in the UK leadership, is uncertain. US goes into election in 2020 and political parties and politicians globally obviously are the same. The first priority for any politician is to win the elections and I am very sure that for Trump also, it would not be any different and there will be a war of rhetorics over the next one year - be it trade war or some announcements about China, India, Mexico and so on.China continues to be a black box. India stands out as one block where for five years we have a mandate and in terms of economic policies, we can only improve from here. That really stands out. I do not know whether it will be AAA versus BBB, but at least on the policy and the political fronts, this kind of stability attracts foreign investors. It is also reflected in some of the other macro indicators. For example, the currency which had touched 74 is back to below 70. G-Sec yields which in the very recent past hit a high of 8.25%, came down to below 7%.We have already had three rate cuts and maybe a few more would ensure liquidity is coming back on the broader level. There is a crisis of confidence largely because of some groups and some NBFCs facing issues but generally, liquidity is coming back. On top level macros, India clearly stands out and that is a big positive from a global investor’s perspective.The good thing about this time is that post elections we have not had 20% circuit up and 30% rise in the market over a one-month period. We have been doing well but one -year returns for Indian markets have been 5-6%. I would say the markets have not taken the mandate in a euphoric manner. You talked about the last five years. If you go back to three blocks of five years each over the last 15 years, Indian markets have more or less given around 50% to 60% absolute over each five-year block and that is predominantly mimicking the GDP growth in rupee terms.On a broader basis, it is a very fair estimate for any investor to work with that if the GDP grows 60% in rupee terms between 2019 to 2024 , then the markets should logically give that kind of returns in largecaps. Obviously, there will be some alpha to be made.In terms of the last five years also, the first two-three years of the government was a very difficult period because our fiscal deficit was very high. We were coming out of the shock of oil having hit over $100 and that burden had to be borne. There were two path-breaking reforms. We will not go into whether they were positive or not, but demonetisation and GDP which caused disruption between 12 and 18 months also had impact. It is only in the last one year that a lot of spending on infrastructure has started and hopefully in the next five years, the government would complete the unfinished agenda.For the next five years at least, I am an optimist. It is going to be much more transformative in terms of focus on growth than the first five years.That is what investors should be looking at. If the GDP is going to go from $2.5 trillion to $6-7 trillion, that wealth will be created over the next 10 years. That is the advice we always give to the investors, particularly the retail investors who get a little bit nervous with all what is happening. However, whether this GDP is 7% or 8%, is going to determine whether you end up making 50-60% return in the five-year blocks or 80-90%.Yes and to be fair, over the last two-three years, we had a slowdown on the industrial side. It was consumption which kept the economy going. Obviously over the last two-three months, the slowdown in particular is a cause of worry and it has to be tracked.Car sales is one indicator but the Maruti chairman had come and said that this is a phenomena which is always there during election time. So let us see how June sales pan out. There was a slowdown in terms of other consumption items as well. However, I was speaking to a couple of companies last week towards the late week and the indication which we were getting is that March and April were really challenging.In May, there has been some revival and the first ten days of June have again seen some revival. I would say that we should not take this slowdown as a trend. We are a growing and young economy. 65% of our population is below 35 years of age. The standard of living is improving. This segment is definitely going to grow and that is going to kick the economy alive. There was also a little bit of slowdown, particularly in the vehicle sales -- be it commercial or passenger -- because of some issues with NBFCs. Hopefully that will get resolved. We are quite optimistic that in the runup to the festive season and hopefully with normal monsoon, this would be a near-term speed breaker rather than a trend.I believe that a lot of consumption stocks are still trading at a significant premium to their fair value, particularly on the staple side. Consumer staples, where the volume growth is not going to be more than 4-5%, at least I am not in the camp which will give 60-70 PE multiples. However, on the other hand, there are consumption stocks which are on the discretionary side and where once the economy starts to grow at a rapid pace, the growth rates can be significant.There is value and stocks with Rs 5,000, 7,000 and 3,000 crore market caps, which people are ignoring. are some consumption names. These are decent companies where there can be value. I would say that even within consumption basket, focus is on consumer discretionary.The consumer staples are still expensive and even within the consumer discretionaries, if you can find good brands in small or the midcap category, which right now are being ignored, but where a lot of money is going to be made because if Starbucks can have 10,000 outlets and McDonald’s can have thousands of outlets in the US, a lot of businesses in India can also have multiple opportunities to grow. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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India is one of the few economies to have political as well as economic stability over the next five years. global investors are looking at india as one of the very few economies to have political as well as economic stability over the next five years. the currency which had touched 74 is back to below 70. 'the market has found new reasons to get nervous. the general election was a big event and the mandate has been much better than what the market expected'
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Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses Offering College Course Website Northwestern University Kellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management Visit Indian School of Business ISB Digital Transformation Visit IIM Kozhikode IIMK Advanced Data Science For Managers Visit Bengaluru | Mumbai: Dealing with issues around cash flows, clients are seeking large discounts and payment delays from IT services providers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.This means, the software services firms will have to effectively take a hit on margins to protect long-term customer relationships.IT companies, which are already facing the prospect of billings reducing sharply as clients stop non-essential work, will now have to begin managing their cash flows, industry executives said.The discounts and pay delays sought by clients are large, according to firms that help clients negotiate and manage contracts.“We are seeing 60% of our clients requesting discounts. This can range anywhere from 20-50% with 30% being the average,” Steve Hall, Partner and President at ISG, said in a presentation on the state of the outsourcing market.Hall added that clients also wanted relaxation in payment due dates to 120 days from 30-45 days previously.“Clients want these for short durations, 60-90 days so far, but we are seeing some clients ask for discounts and relaxations going up to a year,” Hall said.ISG has 700 clients, including 75 of the top 100 customers in its markets, according to its annual filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission Pravin Rao, the newly appointed chairman of industry lobby group National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), said that Indian IT firms have seen clients impacted due to the crisis asking for deferred payments.“Short-term there will definitely be an impact. Companies in travel, hospitality, retail are particularly struggling,” Rao, who is the chief operating officer of Infosys , told ET. “There are cash flow issues, so we do expect to see some demand for delayed payments”.For IT companies, some discount requests are coming due to a shift to the work-from-home model.“Clients want to preserve their cash, so they need discounts. One of the first things they are asking for is productivity discounts, because people are not as productive in the work-from-home model because of infrastructure and process issues,” a senior executive at a top-five IT services company told ET.Another executive said companies were open to giving these cuts because ‘there was no other option.’“The entire travel sector has a cash flow issues. Airline consultants are talking about possible bankruptcy. There isn’t a choice. But by being flexible we can hope to get bigger partnerships when things go back to normal,” he said.A few US-based research firms are already cutting target prices of IT companies.James Friedman, analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, cut target prices on shares of Infosys and Cognizant citing checks that suggested "client budget cuts have started."The impact of discounts provided by mid-cap IT companies to their clients will also be keenly watched by analysts to determine the extent of slowdown in revenue growth in the coming quarters.According to a note by HDFC Securities, for Hexaware, impact from pricing discounts, payment terms extension and project delay/cancellation, was a key concern.Similarly, for Persistent Systems , “payment terms changes from key accounts; risk of financial stability of customer portfolio,” were cited among critical components to watch out for in the coming quarter. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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clients seeking large discounts and payment delays from IT services providers. firms are facing the prospect of billings reducing sharply as clients stop non-essential work. some discount requests are coming due to a shift to the work-from-home model. a u.s. company is preparing to launch a new software product to help customers. a u.s. company is preparing to launch a new product to help customers.
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Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website Indian School of Business ISB Chief Technology Officer Visit Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Executive Officer Programme Visit Yes. I think things are improving. If you ask us, we started our lockdown late January and things improved a bit towards early mid-March and then we had people returning to Hong Kong. That led to a further pickup in cases, and that is when another work from home or mini-lockdown came in. But things are much better from where it was a month-and-a-half back.I think a similar situation plays out for India. If you ask me, we need this 21-day lockdown. Once it happens, people have to exhibit some restrain for a month or so, and hopefully in three months, we should be out of this.Markets are always forward looking. If we go back and say why were the markets getting sold off in early March, it was because people were worried that the government will not be able to handle this big deluge of coronavirus cases. But the government has been swift, which is where one is positively encouraged by the response and after that it is fingers crossed. So that is where we saw 35 per cent correction in equities in last one month. That was the local aspect of it. There was a global aspect also, because we saw credit markets literally freeze globally.We saw FII outflows of record $6 billion in less than a month. So that had an impact. But now, as we see synchronized stimulus from governments and central bankers globally, things are much better than probably a week back. That is the comfort from an India perspective.Now, you will not have relentless exits from equities, which were happening until a week back. Now all the eyes are on the government and RBI as to what do they do to make sure that businesses do not go down in this 21-day shutdown.That is clearly positive in the medium term. Right now, risk aversion is so high. Most of the data points almost indicate a panic level in terms of attitude towards equities, markets, etc. But some of these high-yield spreads are compressing and risk aversion is normalising. What it means is that flows would come into equities, flows would come into emerging markets. Within EMs, just like it happens between largecaps and midcaps , countries that have tackled the coronavirus well will perform first. So as we talk, we have seen China perform well. We have seen Korea, Taiwan perform well. In a month or so, as we see India come out of this lockdown well with not too many cases, a similar story will play out. So ASEAN like the Philippines, Vietnam markets would also do well.It is difficult to time it, more so in such volatile periods. But the valuations are very cheap. So if you look at India ex-consumer staples, price-to-book is even below the GFC lows, as low as in 2001. On earnings, it is one standard deviation below mean. So valuations are in a fairly attractive zone. What you want to see is how the government handles the situation. We have seen governments do well in controlling this virus by such lockdown. Now we need RBI and finance ministry to feel the urgency and that is where sooner they do it, the better it is. Because the more they delay, the bigger will be the stimulus requirement.There are expectations that we should get something over the weekend. That is something being watched keenly. Once it comes through, there would be a deep opportunity in financials, industrials, utilities and real estate. Consumer staples may give you some upside, but there is better risk-reward in other sectors. This is all contingent on the virus coming under control in next 30 to 45 days.Absolutely. This is one space we have liked, and these names have got smashed post Budget. Investors went overboard again in terms of saying look people are not going to buy life insurance. But I absolutely agree with you, this is what we are seeing on the ground and that is why we like these names in the first place.Consumer tastes are changing, their preferences are changing and people realise that they need a certain amount of insurance for their families to have the same kind of livelihood tomorrow that they are having now if anything happens to the key earning member. So I think life insurance is a structural story.Apart from financials, in some of the energy names risk-rewards are very favorable now. Telecom is something we will add. So there is deep value in the market. If somebody has two- to three-year timeframe, it is difficult to see how one would lose money. The risk-reward is very favorable, but obviously there is a tail risk that policy response comes too late, policymakers are complacent or this virus completely gets out of hand.People are looking beyond these one or two months. We were interacting with some of these IT companies, it is work from home for everybody. The idea is to just ensure that you run the businesses and processes keep working well and then incremental sales growth is going to be pushed back, deferred.So these are good cash generating companies I agree with you. But the upside there would be limited. The bigger challenge which we will face for these companies would be in 12-15 months from now. Big banks will come under pressure because of near-zero interest rates, and a lot of these IT companies have close to 30-40% of their revenues coming from the BFSI sector. So it is to be seen if those IT spends get curtailed from a medium-term perspective. So they are okay in the near term. If the rupee depreciates, they will offer good downside protection. But in the longer term, I am not sure of big upside in these names.These are two hypothetical situations we have been discussing. We were discussing that this virus remains under control and the government acts and RBI acts quickly to make sure that there are no large-scale defaults in the economy. Clearly the risk-reward is a lot favourable for Bank Nifty. Outside Bank Nifty, obviously Reliance offers a promising opportunity because it has gone beyond pure energy play with what it has done in telecom and retail. So I think there are interesting opportunities. What may pull Nifty down would be IT and staples. IT, because of much lower growth rates in the future than in the past, and staples because of expensive valuations as the starting point.If we look at the numbers for December quarter, we had some of these companies guiding for subdued numbers. We have seen a kind of a pre-emption in March demand. In the last couple of weeks people did stock up on all these hand sanitisers, soaps, etc, but beyond that, I think there is a bigger upside in the consumer discretionary.Consumer discretionary has almost come to a standstill, but from a longer-term perspective the penetration story remains intact over there. These are the companies which benefit from electrification, these are the companies which benefit from the availability of consumer finance. Their market-caps are much smaller compared with the opportunity which is there. So if somebody has a three year timeframe, consumer discretionary offers a much better risk-reward than staples, but till the time we have clarity on the virus spread, there would be investors who would prefer the certainty of staples over the volatility of discretionary.I will again break your question into multiple parts. First is, if we take the China example of 2003 when SARS broke out, markets traded the second derivative, which is the growth in cases. So if in the next five to seven days the growth in cases plateaus or goes down, that is what would give the market some comfort that look the government has control on the virus spread, and the cases are not going to grow. That is where you will see the first bottom for the market.Historically we have seen it takes about nine to 12 months for markets to recover. You are probably alluding to the demonetisation event, but what is different now is the big global stimulus. This is the kind of stimulus that came during the GFC. Now we have got Germans coming ahead with a huge stimulus. So the global stimulus is huge; monetary and balance sheet expansion by central banks is huge. The market has lost 35%. And we can get those gains back in next 12-15 months.We are in a world which has seen a lot of these external shocks coming through -- whether it was US-China trade war last year and then we have this coronavirus. So it may not be a bad idea to have a market stabilisation fund. Most countries do that. Look at China, they had close to 80,000 cases, they had foreign outflows of $15 billion from their local market, yet the market was down only 10%. In India we are down 35% on barely $5 billion of outflows. So $5-10 billion of market stabilisation fund would do well from a medium-term perspective, else because of this volatility in the market most investors focus only on largecaps and smallcaps and midcaps get deprived of capital. From a longer-term perspective, it may be a good idea to think through this. Let us put a market stabilisation fund in place and that can lead to a healthy functioning of the financial system. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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aaron miller: we need this 21-day lockdown in equities, but things are much better now. he says we saw 35 per cent correction in equities in last one month. miller: synchronized stimulus from governments and central bankers is good for the economy. he says we need to be more cautious and more cautious in the coming months.
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Top brokerages, including CLSA, HSBC and Morgan Stanley, have welcomed the raft of measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India to protect the economy and the financial system, saying the central bank may go for more rate cuts. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on March 27 announced a huge 75 basis points rate cut on March 27, bringing it to 4.40 percent from 5.15 percent. Here is what brokerages have to say about the RBI measures: CLSA While the measures to infuse liquidity, including targeted LTROs (long term repo operations), will support the bond market, the operationalisation and effectiveness of MPC measures are the keys to success. A three-month moratorium for all term loan repayments will entail a one-time NPV (net present value) hit for banks and NBFCs and problems will be acute for lower-rated NBFCs with limited funding options, CLSA said. HSBC The financial firm is of the view that the RBI delivered more than expected and the measures will not just help immediately but will also help in the reconstruction process. All eyes were on the fiscal deficit and the role central bank would play in funding it, HSBC said. "Given abundant liquidity, reverse repo rate could become more effective one," HSBC said, adding that the CRR cut by 100 bps would infuse primary liquidity of Rs 1.37 lakh crore across the banking system. HSBC said the regulatory forbearance was likely to help banks and borrowers and banks being permitted to deal in offshore rupee NDF markets would help curb volatility. The global financial firm expects growth to halt in the first half of FY21 but rise sharply in the second half of the current financial year. Jefferies Quantum of action by the RBI was substantial and largely satisfactory, Jefferies has said. Measures such as the rate cut and $50 billion liquidity would accelerate monetary transmission while loan repayment deferrals would alleviate some bad loan concerns, Jefferies said. BofA Securities BofA Securities is of the view that the reverse repo rate cut works out to 90-115 bps after the enlargement of rate corridor. RBI was among few central banks that were still with sufficient arsenal to fight for growth, BofA said. Infusion via TLTRO (targeted longer-term refinancing operations) for banks to buy corp bonds and CRR cut would assure markets, BofA said. The government may follow up with fiscal stimulus (1-1.5 percent of GDP), funded by RBI OMO, it added. BofA believes deferral of interest payments should comfort borrowers at a time of uncertainty. "We expect MPC to cut 25 bps each in June and October. RBI could continue to intervene up to $30 billion to stabilize the rupee," BofA said. Nomura Nomura acknowledged that the RBI had announced necessary measures but said demand risks persisted. "Relief announced is temporary and may have to be extended," Nomura said. The brokerage is positive on stronger franchises and ICICI and Axis Bank are its preferred picks. "ICICI Bank and Axis Bank offer the safety net necessary to weather the storm," Nomura said. If banks absorb NPV impact of deferred payments, it can impact NIMs by 7-10 bps, Nomura said. Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley expects RBI's measures to help in eventual recovery as the disruptions ease."These measures reduce risk aversion in the financial sector and support financial stability," Morgan Stanley said. The global financial firm said the measures would provide enough liquidity and reduce the cost of capital. “In the base case, we expect the government to raise fuel taxes by Rs 9-10 per litre and use for stressed sectors. If disruptions linger for longer, RBI may lower rates by another 40 bps," Morgan Stanley said. Morgan Stanley expects a gradual recovery in growth from Q3CY20. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment 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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brokerages welcome RBI measures to protect economy and financial system. a three-month moratorium for all term loan repayments will entail a one-time NPV hit. HSBC: measures will not just help immediately but will also help in reconstruction process. a 75 basis points rate cut on march 27 brought it to 4.40 percent from 5.15 percent.
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The Bundesbank must stop buying government bonds under the European Central Bank's long-running stimulus scheme within three months unless the ECB can prove the purchases are needed, Germany's top court ruled on Tuesday. The verdict deals a blow to the 2-trillion-euro Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) credited with keeping the euro zone economy afloat over the past five years. With the European Court of Justice - the top court in matters of European Union law - having already cleared that scheme, Tuesday's ruling also raises questions about the future of the EU and the resilience of its institutions. The Constitutional Court judges in Karlsruhe did however leave open a loophole for continuing the scheme if the ECB can show it is necessary despite its "negative effects", such as endangering taxpayer money and making governments increasingly reliant on central bank funding. They also said their decision did not apply to the ECB's pandemic-fighting programme, a 750 billion euro ($815 billion) scheme approved last month to prop up the coronavirus-stricken euro area economy. ECB policymakers will discuss the ruling at a virtual Governing Council meeting starting at 1600 GMT, a spokesman for the bank said. The PSPP currently accounts for less than a quarter of the ECB's monthly bond purchases. Germany's top court objected to the Bundesbank's participation in it saying - among other side effects - that the purchases posed risks for state finances, resulted in the loss of private savings and maintained unviable companies. "The Bundesbank may thus no longer participate in the implementation and execution of the ECB decisions at issue, unless the ECB Governing Council adopts a new decision that demonstrates...the PSPP (transactions) are not disproportionate to the economic and fiscal policy effects," the judges said. They added the German central bank must also sell the bonds already bought, which were worth 533.9 billion euros at the end of April, albeit based "on a possibly long-term strategy coordinated with" the rest of the euro zone. But they said the scheme did not amount to directly financing government, which would put it in breach of European Union Treaties. EASY WAY OUT, OR INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS? Commerzbank economist Joerg Kraemer expected the ECB to easily convince the judges about the necessity of the purchases. "With its armada of specialists, it will be easy for the ECB to carry out such a check," Kraemer said. "The ECB's bond purchases will continue. Today's ruling won't change that." But Luis Garicano, a Spanish liberal member of the European Parliament, said the ruling posed a threat to the future of EU institutions. "Very worried about the future of Europe post (the verdict). Europe cannot work if national Constitutional Courts decide unilaterally... Expect Hungary's and Poland's constitutional court to follow this precedent," he said in a Twitter posting. German bonds and the euro sold off after the ruling, with the benchmark 10-year Bund yield climbing to briefly touch a session high of -0.517%. European stocks trimmed some gains and the pan-European STOXX 600 index was last up 1.05%. Amassing nearly 3 trillion euros of bonds since 2015, the ECB has long relied on asset purchases to support the economy through crises and a threat of deflation. As the central bank of the euro zone's largest economy, the Bundesbank has taken the lion's shares of those purchases. But a group of academics in Germany has long argued that the ECB is overstepping its mandate, and that these buys constitute direct financing of governments. While the ECB primarily responds to the European Court of Justice, the Bundesbank is subject to German courts. With much of the euro zone now in lockdown to halt the spread of the virus, the ECB plans to print another 1 trillion euros to run the pandemic-fighting programme and help keep borrowing costs down for companies and governments. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the ECB must stop buying government bonds under the stimulus scheme. the decision leaves open a loophole for continuing the scheme. the public sector purchase programme is credited with keeping the euro zone economy afloat. the ecj has already cleared the scheme. but the ruling does not apply to the ECB's pandemic-fighting programme.
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The country's second largest luxury carmaker BMW said it has recorded steady recovery in sales post the covid-induced lockdown and expects the luxury car market in India to rebound in the next calendar year. BMW Group India President Vikram Pawah told ET sales in the local market have improved sequentially post the lockdown, and while volumes in the industry will decline this year, the long-term potential remains intact.“Since July, we have seen a steady increase in enquiries, showroom traffic, customer interactions. There is a lot of traction in the market going into the festive season. We expect Q4 to be good but volumes this year will be lower than 2019. The market should recover in 2021”, informed Pawah. He added post the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic customers are showing an increased preference for personal mobility solutions, families are opting to travel together in cars, which is boosting sales of automobiles.However, with three months of sales washed away between April and June, industry estimates luxury car sales to drop by around 40% in the ongoing calendar year. Around 35,000 luxury cars were sold in the country in 2019. Pawah added, “Passenger vehicle sales in India were estimated to touch 5 million units by 2020. We are not where we should have been. The luxury car market mirrors demand in the mass segment. There is a long way to go from here, the potential is immense.” He informed if the government were to rationalise the tax structure on luxury cars, it would enable the industry to grow faster, add value and contribute to the national economy.On its part, BMW will continue to invest in the Indian market and introduce new products to draw in buyers. The company, which is in the midst of its biggest product offensive, has gained market share over the past year and intends to overtake compatriot Mercedes Benz to attain the pole position going forward. “We will launch a total of 11 new products this year. Many more are planned for launch in 2021. We are in the midst of our biggest product offensive, we have been gaining market share and closing the gap with our closest competitor. We intend to continue to do so in the next 24 months”, said Pawah, who was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of BMW Series 2 Gran Coupe priced upwards of Rs 39.3 lakh (ex-showroom). BMW India sold 4,144 passenger vehicles in the first nine months of the ongoing calendar year, compared to 5007 units sold by Mercedes Benz India. The company had sold 9,641 units in 2019. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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BMW says it has recorded steady recovery in sales post the covid-induced lockdown. the luxury car industry in india is expected to rebound in the next calendar year. around 35,000 luxury cars were sold in the country in 2019. the company is in the midst of its biggest product offensive. a total of 11 new products are planned for launch in the next 24 months.
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Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses Offering College Course Website MIT MIT Technology Leadership and Innovation Visit Northwestern University Kellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management Visit Indian School of Business ISB Digital Transformation Visit New Delhi | Bengaluru: The onus to ensure that all private sector employees install the central’s government’s health app Aarogya Setu on their mobile phones cannot lie with the head of a company, according to MAIT, the country’s hardware manufacturing body.“Dereliction by an individual employee should not be a sword hanging over management,” MAIT’s CEO George Paul told ET.The nodal industry grouping, which counts as its members global technology majors Cisco, Dell, Intel and Canon among others, will write to the government seeking a withdrawal of this punitive measure announced in the guidelines released by the ministry of home affairs while announcing the extension of the lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus.“It is advisable that punitive measures on heads (of companies) be withdrawn,” said Paul who took over as head of the industry lobby in April 2019.“Heads of all organisations are equally keen to run their operations without the pandemic situation flaring up. So, any measures in that direction will be implemented. And the more data populated the app is, the more effective it will become,” he said.An official from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) said this measure (installing the app) has been implemented on the demand of the services industry which wants to control the pandemic but at the same time wants the economy to also open up.“While this may seem like it is being made mandatory, it should be seen from the light of an enabling feature which can allow businesses to start operations,” the official said.“Anyone who is in the red rating should not come to work, and only those who are green should step out. Privacy matters to that extent only and the larger economy of the country has to be also taken care of,” said the official on condition of anonymity.Ministry of Home Affairs in its notification last Friday had allowed factories and offices in designated zones to begin operations while mandating the use of the contact tracing Aarogya Setu app by all employees while holding heads of respective organisations liable for 100% coverage. Any negligence, if proven, on the part of a director, manager, secretary or any other official shall lead to punishment, it said.Earlier in the week, the central government had also mandated all its employees as well as those working with public sector organisations to download the app. Residents in containment zones — demarcated within red (hotspots) and orange zones by state and district administrations as per health ministry guidelines — must also download the app.“The law is fine, its purpose is also nice, but the government should also help on how to enforce it,” said CP Gurnani, CEO of Tech Mahindra , adding that he doesn’t have an issue from the principal data side since it is a well-designed and well-engineered app.Pointing out that while an organisation can ask its employees to install the app, but if some of the employees delete it later, “how will anybody enforce it,” Gurnani said.Elsewhere, one of India’s largest conglomerates, which is expected to mandate employees to download the app closer to the opening date, is seeking clarity on how factory workers without access to smartphones will download the app.“There are also concerns about the app violating Europe’s GDPR norms and whether expats working at the conglomerate can be forced to download the app,” said the company executive who did not want to be named.So far close to 88 million people have downloaded the app and the government’s aim is to take it 350 million — covering all smartphone users in the country.“I don’t think there will be a situation where the industry will be harassed. But, let’s see how the enforcement is done,” said Ashish Aggarwal, senior director at National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the software lobby adding that so far the industry is not unduly concerned.People who are voicing privacy concerns should look at the government’s move of mandating employees from a health point of view and not data, Aggarwal said, pointing out that app can always be deleted, while the government has also clarified that data will be deleted in a specific time frame. “So, there is additional comfort in that,” he said.Several companies such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Flipkart , NMDC, Ericsson , Huawei, Xiaomi , and Vijay Khetan Group have mandated their employees to download the app.“As the nation is looking to move out of the lockdown in a calibrated manner, there is no better tool than technology to aid individuals, organisations and government bodies alike,” said Ruzbeh Irani, president — Group HR & Communications for Mahindra & Mahindra. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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onus to ensure all private sector employees install the central’s government’s health app Aarogya Setu on their mobile phones cannot lie with the head of a company, according to MAIT. the nodal industry grouping will write to the government seeking a withdrawal of this punitive measure announced in the guidelines released by the ministry of home affairs.
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Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Marketing Officer Programme Visit IIM Kozhikode IIMK Chief Product Officer Programme Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Operations Officer Programme Visit Yes, I totally agree with you. These are very difficult times and that is the nature of market. It is unfortunate. It is a medical issue become a financial problem and now the contagion is widespread, so not a very good time definitely for markets, for global economies and for people in general.Well, these are the times when your portfolio allocation, your diversification come to the rescue. So these are times to be waited out, not much can be done given the extent of the damage. Selling at such levels never works, because recoveries could be quite swift and then you lose out. Secondly, it is very difficult sentimentally to allocate capital after a downturn like this. So what we have seen is that staying put seems to work for the large majority. Having said that, a lot of money is being pulled out of the markets globally. We have seen foreign investors take out nearly Rs 27-28,000 crore in March itself so far. So there is a deleveraging happening as far as investments go. We are seeing that Indian retail investors are still gung ho there, they are putting money into the market through the SIP route. We do not know till how long and when that turns, when you would really see capitulation happening. Right now we are pretty near to that. These kinds of cuts in the market are very difficult to digest and people are really hurting. It is a matter of time before everybody throws in the towel and say no more investment. That is when probably the market will bottom out. Maybe some more time to go for that.Quite clearly, this is not the time to buy. We have not really been recommending that. Let us see some more consolidation at lower levels. That is when you know bottoms are being formed. It started off as a China-centric issue and our assessment was that like SARS and other earlier epidemics it would play out in two to three months. Now what is coming out is that it seems to be a five-six months story in terms of corporate earnings being very solidly impacted across the world. With the virus spreading so fast in Europe and a lot of uncertainty on the impact in the US, markets are in a very long panic mode. So in those times, maybe 10% of your incremental funds could be allocated, but otherwise largely there is a risk of going after falling knives and getting hurt as markets trend even lower. Right now it is a good time to just watch from the sidelines, reassess portfolios, reassess your risk appetite. Right now risk appetites will go down sharply and the sentiment will be very difficult even on a recovery to go ahead and buy again.On Friday, there was a lot of confidence boosting, but the sharp fall today, and especially after such a strong surprise measure announcements by the Fed , it has really taken the market by surprise. So the problem seems to be quite large, very widespread and even timewise it might take time to sort out.So it might be better to just wait this out than to allocate fresh capital. If you have to go for quality, go for cash flows. Go for what has not fallen as much like healthcare, FMCG, the consumption themes. There is a good rabi crop coming in, hopefully the government will have some measures on the fiscal front. We are expecting RBI to come up with some monetary measures; they have put in liquidity into the markets. That is not quite flowing through the economy. You need some fiscal measures, some tax relief or some direct benefit transfers into people’s pockets to make up for the loss of employment, make up for the loss of incomes that people will face with the shutdowns that we are seeing across the country.So now globally and nationally, we need some fiscal response. We are hopeful the US will come out with a strong fiscal response that is what President Trump has been mentioning and that could be one catalyst.It is going to be long-drawn-out. There is high probability of it. You are looking at the US and global recession. Those two are the worst case scenarios which the markets are baking in. Indian financials are being hurt, because the market is thinking with so many shutdowns happening across the economy, there will be more defaults -- both at the retail as well as the corporate levels. This could push people just on the fence into delinquencies and we are seeing banks and financials paying a price for that.So a lot of the negatives already baked into this market, but we have seen higher levels of falls in the past decade. So no one can call the bottom. I would say just hang in there, it’s not the time to sell out that would have been some time in December or January, which we can say only in hindsight. It’s very difficult to call the bottom. Markets are panicking. It’s not the time to put in more money. Just say on the sidelines and watch your portfolio, nothing more than that. This too will pass.The amount of stimulus that the Fed and the other central banks are putting in, we are discounting that right now. But that will over time start working through in the economy. Add to that the US fiscal stimulus and then you will see the markets even out, bottom out. Wait for that stimulus. Do not fight the Fed in the market, that is not proving true today. Eventually it will prove true when the amount of stimulus from the Fed starts flowing through into the markets. Right now it is panic mode, just stay put. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a medical issue has become a financial problem and now the contagion is widespread. a lot of money is being pulled out of the markets globally. a sydney-based consultancy says it is a matter of time before everybody throws in the towel. a sydney-based consultancy says it is a matter of time before people throw in the towel.
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While the recategorisation of mutual funds by Sebi is a welcome move as it will help investors, the new regulations must not stifle innovations, Sanjay Sapre, President, Franklin Templeton Investments tells ET Wealth.Providing standard definitions and making product categories consistent is a welcome move. All products becoming ‘true to label’ will be in the investor’s best interest and will be beneficial for asset managers who have always stuck to the mandate. However, we have to ensure future innovation is not stifled as a result of the new regulation.Another unintended risk is that as a result of restrictions in the open-ended space, assets may move to structures such as closed ended funds, PMS, etc, which may not be in the investor’s best interest. While there are challenges in terms of certain product category definitions, and the change will be complex for advisers and investors to digest, we nevertheless believe that this is a step in the right direction.Sebi’s product categorisation and rationalisation circular is a significant change and financial advisers will certainly take time to digest this. Advisers need to insist on full disclosures on the changes from all asset managers. Some products are undergoing simple name changes, while for others, the portfolio construct itself is changing. Simply relying on whether a fund has offered a load free exit option is not enough as this will not give a full picture of the impact on a client’s portfolio.Detailed disclosures and a thorough understanding will not only help advisers assess the impact of these changes but will also help them to explain the same to their investors. Advisers will also need to decide whether past performance of funds remains relevant as an evaluation criteria. For funds undergoing significant changes, past performance may not mean much in the future. Advisors will have to become familiar with the new fund names and categories as they decide on future allocations of client monies.Given the number of funds in the industry, this will be no small task. ‘Do-it-yourself’ investors will face similar challenges. While the task of comparing funds will become easier, investors still need to understand the changes in their existing funds in order to assess the impact on their portfolio and take an informed decisionSebi has standardised the process of disclosing historical returns of erstwhile schemes in case of mergers vis-à-vis surviving schemes. This provides transparency and uniformity to investors making investment decisions. It would help if this is extended to schemes undergoing significant changes as historical returns of many such schemes may not be strictly comparable to their prospective returns. Since investors look at past performance as one of the parameters while making a fund choice, it may help to standardise norms for showcasing past performance of schemes as well.Clearly defined fund categories within this asset class will help to simplify the way in which investors can compare and choose fixed income funds. However, there is a risk that with the new category definitions and fund names, investors may assume that only credit funds carry risk, whereas other fixed income funds do not. This is clearly not the case. There is a need to help investors become conversant with fixed income as an asset class.Our fixed income team believes that rising global oil prices and its pass-through effect on the domestic economy would exert an upward pressure on inflation. Further, a stronger US dollar and the consequent weakening of the rupee is weighing on the widening fiscal deficit situation.With external borrowings for corporates likely to become expensive, such corporates may tap the domestic bond market to raise capital which in turn may lead to hardening of interest rates. This is already being seen with banks hiking their lending rates. Overall, our fixed income team’s view is that the macro situation is not as positive as it was earlier.Despite some meaningful correction, mid- and small-caps as a category still trade at a premium to their long-period average valuations and hence might witness some more reversion to more normal valuations. But this normalisation may not happen swiftly. Our approach in managing funds in the mid- and small-cap space has been guided by a judicious combination of quality, growth and reasonable valuations.Our advice to investors has been to take exposure in this space in a gradual and phased manner through SIPs. We also encourage periodic rebalancing of the investors’ portfolio such that the total exposure to this asset sub-class is within the overall risk-reward goals of the investor. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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recategorising mutual funds by Sebi is a welcome move as it will help investors. but the new regulations must not stifle innovation, says sanjay Sapre. 'do-it-yourself' investors will face similar challenges. 'closed ended funds' may not be in the investor's best interest.
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Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund on Friday said it is making every effort to ensure an orderly and equitable exit to all investors affected by closure of six debt schemes, a day after it was asked by regulator sebi to focus on returning investors’ money at the earliest. The fund house also issued an apology to Sebi and said that comments of its top executive Jenny Johnson were wrongly interpreted, diluting her responses about the reason for winding up of schemes. Last month, the fund house had closed six of its debt funds, citing redemption pressures and lack of liquidity in the bond markets. These schemes, together having an estimate amount of over Rs 25,000 crore assets under management, were Franklin India Low Duration Fund, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, Franklin India Credit Risk Fund, Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund and Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund. In a notice on Friday, Franklin Templeton MF President Sanjay Sapre said the company would like to highlight that every possible option to avoid this difficult decision was considered, but it was concluded that this was the only viable option to protect value for investors in these funds. “Working closely with the trustees, the firm is committed to ensuring an orderly and equitable exit for all investors at the earliest possible time,” he added. Franklin Templeton MF clarified that some media outlets in India have quoted Johnson out of context, “which diluted the essence of her responses”. The headlines and articles erroneously suggested that Johnson stated that Sebi’s guidelines on unlisted securities were the main reason for the decision to wind up these schemes. This is neither factually correct, nor substantiated by the comments made during the conference call. We deeply regret any misunderstanding this may have caused, the fund house said. “We deeply regret any unintended slight this may have caused to the esteemed offices of Sebi whom we have always held in the highest regard and unconditionally apologise for the same,” it added. Franklin Templeton MF said that the primary reason which forced the decision to wind up these six schemes was the severe market dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown which led to severe market illiquidity particularly for papers rated below AAA, combined with heightened redemptions during this period. On Thursday Sebi had asked Franklin Templeton MF to focus on returning money to investors at the earliest. The regulator said “some mutual fund schemes” continued to invest in high risk and “opaque” debt securities despite the regulatory framework having been reviewed and amended for safeguarding investors” interest after credit risk events noticed since September 2018, which had led to challenges in the corporate bond market. Incidentally, these regulatory changes were implemented after taking into account suggestions made by Sebi’s Mutual Fund Advisory Committee, whose members at that time included Sapre, sources said. “Some mutual fund schemes chose to have high concentrations of high risk, unlisted, opaque, bespoke, structured debt securities with low credit ratings and seem to have chosen not to rebalance their portfolios even during the almost 12 months available to them so far,” Sebi had said. Seeking urgent steps to safeguard investors’ interest due to Franklin Templeton MF’s decision to shut down schemes, stock brokers’ association ANMI had even asked the government and Sebi to appoint a high-powered committee to take over the management of the fund house and examine its investment decision. In a letter dated April 26 the Finance Ministry and Sebi, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI), which represents 900 stock brokers, had also requested for steps to safeguard further erosion of investor wealth and to inform the investors of these six schemes in a time-bound manner about modalities for them getting back their investments. The association had alleged that Franklin Templeton MF had heavily invested in low rated papers in the debt market and had also put money into several lesser known companies. Besides, substantial investment in low-rated papers, ANMI also alleged that the investment made by the fund house were in contravention to the Sebi norms. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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sebi asked fund house to focus on returning investors’ money at earliest. last month, the fund house had closed six of its debt funds. scheme closures cited redemption pressures and lack of liquidity in the bond markets. fund house issued an apology to sebi and said comments of its top executive Jenny Johnson were wrongly interpreted. sebi said it had a ‘very high level of confidence’ in the company’s decision to wind up the schemes.
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India is expected to grow at 1.3% in the current fiscal in the absence of supply constraints dampening stimulus measures , said a report released by the National Council of Applied Economic Research NCAER ) on Thursday.According to the NCAER’s Quarterly Review of the Economy (QRE), the first quarter is likely to have witnessed a 26% contraction. The estimate was based on the detailed sectoral analysis since the lockdown has restricted data availability.Taking a more pessimistic view, Pronab Sen, former chief statistician of India and Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser, both agreed that FY21 GDP would be closer to a 12.5% contraction. Sen and Shankar were part of a panel discussion on the release of the QRE.Contrary to the view that the fiscal impact of Covid-19 related measures has been conservative, the report found the total fiscal stimulus at 11.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).This included a 6.3% combined budgeted deficit along with a 2.1% of additional post- budget central borrowing to offset the expected revenue shortfall, coupled with the 1.3% additional fiscal spending under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package and the conditional 2% incremental state borrowing.Acharya felt the combined fiscal stimulus of the Centre and states could even be too much, implying a situation where demand would grow due to the stimulus while supply was constrained resulting in higher inflation levels while growth remained depressed.The liquidity infusion by the Reserve Bank of India of another 8% of GDP should result in a very significant recovery of aggregate demand, the report said.The report estimated the total borrowing programme of the general government at Rs 17-21 lakh crore considering the Centre’s Rs 12 lakh crore requirement along with the increased borrowing limits for the states up to 4.8% of GDP.Managing borrowings on such a scale would be a significant policy challenge, said Sudipto Mundle, member of the 14th finance commission and co-author of the QRE. He suggested spreading the programme over the next two fiscals to avoid financial instability.In its sectoral analysis, the QRE found that agriculture was the only bright spot with an expected gross value added ( GVA ) growth of 3% in the first quarter and for this fiscal as well.Industry is likely to have seen a massive 54.2% contraction in GVA in Q1 and -27.1% for FY21. Similarly, services is estimated to have witnessed a 16% contraction in GVA for the first quarter, and is likely to be negative for the fiscal as well.On the whole, the report expected positive GVA only in the fourth quarter of this fiscal, as per its base case scenario. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the first quarter is likely to have witnessed a 26% contraction. agriculture is the only bright spot with an expected growth of 3%. the report also found that agriculture is likely to have seen a massive 54 per cent growth. the report also found that the government is likely to have spent more than a quarter of its GDP on infrastructure projects. despite the tightening of supply, the report said the economy is expected to grow at 1.3% in the current fiscal.
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By Syed Ali China has emerged as the biggest investor and the second-biggest trading partner in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. China’s bilateral trade with LAC in 2018 was US$ 308 billionwith a high growth rate of 18.9 percent. Compared to this, the US trade with LAC in 2018 was more than double of China at US$ 740 billion. The steep rise in trade between the LAC and China has raised concerns in the US with the implications it carries for its traditional markets. More worrying for the US is China’s growing ‘soft power’ influence in the LAC region, with many countries adopting China’s flagship Belt Road Initiative (BRI), and receiving investments from Chinese public and private enterprises. This influence has been further promulgated with a number of Chinese leaders visiting the region and forging bilateral partnership agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. This partnership has been emboldened with President Xi’s ambitious goal of increasing the total China-LAC trade to $500 billion by 2025. China’s growing trade with the resource-rich LAC has made it the top trading partner with major economies in the region which include Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. China’s strategic goal is to secure raw materials such as oil, ores, minerals, and agricultural produce which are essential for its manufacturing industry. Major Chinese imports from the region in 2018 were primarily natural resources, including ores (29%), soybean (19%), petroleum (19%), and copper (8%). Major Chinese exports to Latin America included electrical machinery and equipment (21%); machinery and mechanical appliances (15%); motor vehicles and parts (7%); and a wide array of industrial and consumer products.LAC countries are buyers and also development partners for China’s technology.In exchange, owing to its educated and growing middle-class population, theLAC region offersa huge market for Chinese products. China’s state-owned banks (China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank) have become the largest lenders in LAC with accumulated loans to have surpassed US$ 140 billion (2005-2018). However, 90 percent of this investment has been received by four countries, which are Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, and Argentina,making them the top recipients of Chinese lending. For Venezuela and Ecuador, much of the financing has been provided through loans-for-oil deals. In recent years, China’s banks provided more financing to the region than was provided by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank combined. A significant amount of lending has been for infrastructure projects, as well as for oil and gas and mining projects. Since 2002, major Chinese companies and banks have shown interest in approximately 150 transportation infrastructure projects, with about half in various phases of construction. Increased participation of non-state investors has introduced new sources of dynamism and diversification to Chinese direct investment in Latin America. Brazil’s emerging tech industry, for instance, has successfully and continuously attracted high-profile Chinese investments. Chinese companies have also committed billions to Colombia, winning bids to build Bogota’s first metro line and a regional rail line, and acquiring a gold mine among other deals.China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) a resurrection of the ancient Silk Road has also made its way to the region, and through this initiative, the region has received investment for its Physical and Digital infrastructure. Diversifying this investment further, a Chinese initiative in science and technology diplomacy is taking shape under the banner of the “science silk road,” exemplified by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA) in Chile and the Caucharí Solar Park complex in Argentina. China and Argentina have a number of joint development projects underway as part of the BRI, which is helping to energize local economies in various provinces. Chinese companies are helping construct South America’s largest solar farm in the northwestern province of Jujuy and wind farms in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Chubut in Argentina, with an eye to boosting renewable energy and contributing to combating climate change. In the last two decades, since China formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it has out rightly asserted itself as an indispensable trading partner globally. This ascendancy has causedripples in the traditional markets because it has jeopardized the stronghold of the old players. However, there are no permanent friends in international trade, there are only interests and whoever caters to these interests gets to exercise dominance. Europe and the US have been stagnating, and therefore have not been able to compete or provide to the insatiablemarkets of the developingworld. This widening gap has been fostering new relationships like China and LAC, and despite the geographical distance between them, the two are being connected by the desirefordevelopment as a common goal. (The author is an independent analyst on Latin American Affairs. Views expressed are personal.) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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trade between the LAC and China has raised concerns in the US. more worrying for the US is China’s growing ‘soft power’ influence in the LAC region. major Chinese imports from the region in 2018 were primarily natural resources. major exports to the region include electrical machinery and equipment. 90 percent of this investment has been received by four countries.
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Buying a health insurance plan has become much simpler than before. As a buyer now one need not have to compare policies across insurers in terms of their features. IRDAI had mandated all standalone health insurance companies and general insurance companies to offer a standard health product to the policyholders from April 1, 2020. Such standard health insurance is called Arogya Sanjeevani Health Insurance Policy and will carry almost similar features across insurers. Several insurers including Digit Insurance, a new age general insurance company has launched Arogya Sanjeevani Health Insurance Policy, let us see what it has to offer. For someone who is 30 years of age, for the Rs 5 lakh cover, the annual premium comes to about Rs 2914 plus GST. In comparison, the regular health insurance policy of Digit Insurance for the same individual and for the same insured will cost Rs 3900 plus GST. The latter will, however, cover Critical Illness in addition to hospitalisation. Further, it will not have any co-payment clause. The policy provides Cashless facility that can only be availed at the Network hospitals (5900 as on Feb 11, 2020) else one has to apply for reimbursement of the claim for which the payment is supposed to be received within 30 days from the receipt of the last necessary claim document. The room rent is 2 per cent of Sum insured up to a maximum of Rs 5,000 per day. The ICU/ICCU room rent charges will be 5 per cent of Sum Insured, up to a maximum of Rs. 10,000 per day. The plan covers Day care procedures. Daycare procedures refer to medical treatments undertaken in a hospital, requiring less than 24 hours due to technological advancement. Owing to the success of technology in medicine, there many modern treatments like Balloon Sinuplasty, Immunotherapy, Stem Cell Therapy, Robotic surgeries amongst many other treatments which are covered as a part of this policy. Plastic Surgery and Dental treatment necessitated owing to an injury or a disease are also covered. Cataract surgery for both eyes up to 25 per cent of Sum Insured Rs. 40,000 whichever is lower, per eye is covered. If you wish to get hospitalized under an alternative therapy such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga and/or Homeopathy, it is also covered. The Pre-hospitalization and Post-Hospitalization expenses are covered for 30 and 60 days respectively. There will be a waiting period depending on the nature of ailments in addition to the waiting period for pre-existing ailments. One needs to carefully read the inclusions and exclusions before buying any policy. If there is a claim in a year, there is an increase in the base Sum Insured, without any increase in your annual health insurance premium. This increase in Sum Insured is called as the Cumulative Bonus and is 5 per cent for each claim-free year up to maximum up to 50 per cent. Further, there will be a Co-payment clause in such a policy that refers to the amount of money you need to pay from your pocket, during a health insurance claim. In this policy, it is 5 per cent Co-payment on each claim. The Arogya Sanjeevani Health Insurance Policy has a maximum sum insured of Rs 5 lakh and as medical inflation is rising fast, you may have to buy additional coverage through a regular health insurance policy. If you still do not have a health insurance policy for self and family members, its time you get one. Before buying you may compare the premium across a few insurers. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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IRDAI mandated all standalone health insurance companies to offer a standard health product. the policy is called arogya Sanjeevani health insurance policy. it will carry almost similar features across insurers. the policy provides cashless facility that can only be availed at the network hospitals. the policy is available from April 1, 2020.. arogya Sanjeevani health insurance policy is available from january 1, 2020.
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The year 2018 marks a significant milestone in the history of modern India—the completion of 25 years since private entrepreneurs were awarded licences for the first time in 1993. I was one of them—going on to build the most extensive greenfield network of those days despite great adversity and scepticism. I was 29-years-old then and have been a participant and witness to the progress of the telecom sector since. Over the course of the last 25 years, telecom has seen the biggest and most transformational reforms—improving connectivity and boosting India’s economy by attracting more than $30 billion FDI from April 2000 to September 2017, employing 4 million people (direct and indirect), contributing 6.5% to India’s GDP. All achieved with private capital. Clearly, the FDI in telecom witnessed its lowest in 2012-13 under the UPA Government—marred by 2G scam which led to SC intervening and cancelling 122 licences, significantly deterring any investment into a burgeoning sector. The NDA Government inherited this sector at its lowest but since, the FDI has increased substantially, achieving the highest inflow of $6.01 billion in FY18 (till September). The credit goes to reforms introduced by PM Modi. Commensurate to the FDI inflow, India now has the second largest network in the world, next only to China. The total telephone subscribers in the country stands at 1,185 million as on December 2017. Of this, 501 million are rural. However, 25 years since, the sector is reeling under stress—as noted in the Economic Survey—with growing losses, debt pile-up, price wars and reduced revenue. With the government committed to transforming and reforming to create a New India, time is right to relook the telecom policy. I had written to the PM in July 2017 suggesting this, and as a result, Trai had sought inputs from the public on the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2018. Along with others, I too have submitted my views titled ‘Reimagining Telecom’. This government is committed to structuring change in economy and governance. It has walked the talk on important issues like transparency, technology in governance and also on consumer rights, eg, the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act. Reimagining Telecom is consistent with its objectives. For starters, I believe the policy should be a comprehensive technology and telecom policy addressing both innovation and infrastructure—keeping increasing connectivity, rapid technological evolution in ICT sector, consumer rights and regulatory, institutional capacity growth as its goals. A ReImagined Policy could trigger an additional FDI of $20 billion, create over a million jobs and catalyse India into the leadership of future emerging areas of technology. During this 25-year period, India has seen three telecom policies—NTP-1994, NTP-1999 and NTP-2012. While NTP-1994 envisioned telecom reforms and paved the way for private participation, it was the NTP-1999, released by the NDA government under PM Vajpayee, which paved the way for structural changes. This resulted in healthy competition among the TSPs, drastically bringing down the costs and leading to an exponential growth in mobile subscriptions. However, the third National Telecom Policy, ie, NTP-2012 achieved little and may have negated some of the positive reforms brought out by previous policies by introducing a unified licensing regime allowing operators to provide converged services and delinking the spectrum from licensees without being explicit about how to allot spectrum. This policy may have perpetuated the ambiguities that resulted in the infamous 2G Scam and required the SC to intervene on the basic issue of license allocation. Clearly, the last effective telecom policy (NTP-1999) will be 19 years old in 2018. In “internet time”, this would be considered an exceptionally long period, and hence warrants a review. Reimagining telecom assumes greater significance with the roll-out of the present Government’s vision of “Digital India”. While India is one of the largest connected countries, it remains one of the largest unconnected ones too. Most important goal of this policy must be to ensure every Indian gets internet and broadband access, which is currently at less than 30% as of end November 2017, and 15% in rural India. These figures are unacceptable and focus must be on expanding access. Telecom consumers have long suffered at the hands of telecom companies as the issue of call drops and internet quality show. So, this new policy also must lay down a Magna Carta of digital consumer rights—including privacy, net neutrality, quality of service and free and fair competition among others. Further, the new policy needs to establish the role of the ICT as a facilitator of inclusive growth and sustainable development on the one hand, and as an essential delivery mechanism for important national programs such as “Digital India” and “Smart Cities” and transforming government and governance on the other. It also needs to develop an enabling framework that will aid the penetration of new, emerging technologies such as AI, IoT and Blockchain, etc. With Digital India and mygov.in, this government has set out a roadmap to embed technology in government to speed up decision making and allowing better government-citizen interface. This needs to be accelerated to break the traditional silo-like functioning. Only technology and large intranets can break down these silos and ensure transparency. The capacities of institutions like Trai have to be built into a global-standard regulatory with powers and capabilities to ensure reasoned, high quality, consultative economic and technology regulation. For global standard investments, India needs global standard institutions, policies and regulation. In less than a decade, the disruptive power of the Internet has transformed government, business and citizens’ lives. This is nothing when compared to the new disruptive technologies. Our governance and policy framework is ill-equipped and must transform fast so that India can be ahead of the curve in this wave of tech innovation. The NDA government in 1999 had formulated one of the best national telecom policies. The current Narendra Modi government kicked off a process to shape a new telecom policy. This can propel India to the lead among the nations and companies shaping the future of innovation and technology. Rajeev Chandrasekhar Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha & former telecom entrepreneur. Views are personal Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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reimagining telecom' is consistent with its commitment to reforming the sector. telecom sector is reeling under stress with growing losses, debt pile-up, price wars and reduced revenue.'reimagining telecom' is consistent with its commitment to reforming the economy. 'i am a pioneer in the field of telecoms and have been a participant in the transformation of the telecom sector since i was 29'
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NEW DELHI: Dalal Street had a topsy-turvy ride on Monday and the benchmark equity indices gave up almost all the gains before ending slightly higher, thanks to a rally in IT, banking and financial stocks. This was the eighth day of gains in last nine sessions.Global cues were mixed as Asian markets traded upbeat on Friday’s surprise jobs data from the US, but most European markets opened in the negative.Among blue chip names, IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer, adding 6.89 per cent after the company said its promoters were planning to raise stake. Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and ONGC were among the other top gainers.Here is a lowdown on what happened in Monday’s session: Nifty Energy index gained for the 10th session as reopening of the economy meant consumption of all forms of energy will also see a spike. The index added 1.55 per cent thanks to gains in GAIL, BPCL, HPCL and ONGC.Nifty Pharma snapped its seven-day gaining streak and slipped 1.41 per cent thanks to profit booking in all but one constituent stock. The index closed 2 per cent lower from day’s high dragged by Biocon, Divi’s Labs, Cipla and Piramal Enterprises, which fell 2-4 per cent.During the course of the day, Nifty crossed above the 100-day moving average, but could not sustain above it. The index had crossed above its 50-day moving average on May 27 and has been on an upward trend since then.PTL Enterprises, promoters of Apollo Tyres, accumulated over 11 lakh shares of the company, following which the stock added 1.58 per cent to Rs 106.25. Similarly, Ajit Abraham Isaac, promoter and director of Quess Corp, purchased nearly 18,000 shares in the company. The stock, however, closed 0.87 per cent lower at 280.20.Nearly 600 stocks hit the upper circuit during the day. They included Swan Energy, Dishman Carbogen, PC Jeweller, Aavas Financiers, J&K Bank, ITDC, SpiceJet, Au Small Finance Bank, Va Tech Wabag and Network18, among others.The number of stocks hitting 52-week highs are increasing day-by-day. On Monday, 77 stocks hit the mark, including Adani Green Energy, Alkyl Amines, Astrazeneca Pharma, Dhanuka Agritech, PI Industries and Reliance Industries, among others.As many as 50 stocks on BSE crossed above the signal line of the MACD indicator, flashing ‘buy’ signals. They included Dishman Carbogen, Info Edge, Apollo Micro Systems, Sical Logistics, The New India Assurance and Hindustan Organic, among others.As many as 28 stocks gave ‘sell’ signals going by the same indicator. Prominent among them were Cipla, Sun TV, Mangalore Chemicals, Mahindra EPC, Vinyl Chemicals, MCX and Astec Lifesciences, among others.On account of the global cues, Nifty opened gap up on June 8. It couldn't build upon the early gains and dipped as the day progressed. “Going ahead, 10,040-10,000 is likely to act as a cushion for the index. On the flip side, today's high of 10,328 will pose as a key hurdle and if bulls manage to surpass that barrier then the index can stretch towards 10,550,” said Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Senior Technical Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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indices gave up almost all gains before ending slightly higher. a rally in IT, banking and financial stocks was the biggest gainer. meanwhile, ONGC, ONGC and BPCL also gained. meanwhile, ONGC and ONGC were also big gainers. meanwhile, ONGC and ONGC were also big gainers.
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Apex industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has sought infusion of over Rs 2 lakh crore into the economy in times of crisis emanating from the coronavirus outbreak in India. "A fiscal stimulus of around 1 per cent of GDP amounting to Rs 2 lakh crore is needed to put money in the hands of people through Aaadhar based Direct Benefit Transfer," the industry body said, in an action note on COVID-19 and its impact on industry and economy, to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The body maintained that the government would have fiscal room with global oil prices going down. "With every $10 decline in the oil price leads to a saving of $15 billion in the oil import bill," the note stated. Suggesting a temporary one-time measure to boost consumer demand, the CII said via DBT, the Centre can transfer Rs 5,000 to people with income less than Rs 5 lakh per annum. "This can be for all persons greater than 18 years of age. For more vulnerable persons above 60, it can be raised to Rs 10,000," the body said. It said with a budget of Rs 2 lakh crore, as many as 20 crore people could be compensated with a transfer of Rs 10,000 each or 40 crore people with a transfer of Rs 5,000 each. The industry body said data on workers in different categories showed that there were roughly 20 crore casual labourers employed in India right now and that they could certainly be compensated from the government's fiscal resources. Also read: Coronavirus outbreak: FM says economic package to be announced 'as soon as possible' The CII also suggested distributing a month's ration to those below the poverty line and to daily wage earners using food stocks available with the Food Corporation of India. It sought tax-related relief of 10 per cent in long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) and keeping overall tax rate on dividends at 25 per cent. Other relief measures suggested by the industry include clearing of government dues to the private sector; waive off of taxes for most affected sectors like civil aviation, hotels, SMEs, real estate and commercial infrastructure; making GST payable on collection of proceeds instead of raising of invoices; and the postponing of rules on the eligibility of NRIs and OCIs under the Income-Tax Act by one financial year. The CII also asked the government to articulate that the spending on activities related to Covid-19 mitigation would be earmarked under Corporate Social Responsibility work of the corporate sector. "Allow companies to give advance CSR funds of next two years allocation in Prime Minister Relief Fund to support expenses for combating COVID," it said. The body has suggested a series of monetary policy measures for the Reserve Bank of India to make sure there's enough liquidity in the system. It sought at least 50 basis point cut each in both repo rate and cash reserve ratio and change in the definition of NPA (non-performing assets) recognition from 90 days to 180 days till September 30. The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted the global economy, and countries, trade blocs are taking fiscal measures to overcome the crisis. Travel, tourism and hotel industries are some of the worst-affected sectors in India due to travel bans, social distancing and suspension of business activities. To offset the economic impact of the deadly virus outbreak, the special COVID-19 economic task force announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday is expected to announce an economic package for the most-affected sectors. While India is yet to come up with a rescue package in wake of coronavirus crisis, major economies of the world have announced billions of dollars worth bailout packages to offset losses due to the COVID-19's outbreak. The US alone has set aside over $1 trillion in a bid to protect the economy from COVID-19. UK, Switzerland, China, Sweden, Austria, and Japan, have also taken fiscal measures, including offering support to local businesses. Also read: Coronavirus: PM Modi launches Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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industry body calls for fiscal stimulus of around 1 per cent of GDP. CII says government will have fiscal room with global oil prices going down. it also suggests distributing a month's ration to those below the poverty line. CII also asks for a re-introduction of the'separate' tax on dividends.
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Small and mid cap funds are high beta in nature and they are suitable for investors with fairly high risk-taking capacity. High beta means both the return potential as well as the associated risks are high. Hence, for investors who wish to aim for higher than market returns, these are the ideal options as far as mutual funds are concerned. As far as the current market scenario goes, this seems to be an appropriate time to invest in small and mid cap companies. Though market timing is extremely difficult and subject to high probability of errors, yet an intelligent guesstimate of market trends is always useful in enhancing the portfolio returns. By various yardsticks, my estimate is that this year is likely to be a very bullish one for the broader markets. Firstly, the large and frontline stocks have already done very well over the last few months. Market sentiments and momentum suggest that this bullishness is set to last. The divergence between large caps and mid caps is at a historical high. This divergence has already led to buying emerge in shares beyond the main indices. All these are signs that this bull market has more legs to go and the mid cap space is set to outperform. Therefore, for investors who understand the risks associated with investing in smaller companies, this is truly a great time to invest in them. Investing in these companies requires a lot of research and knowledge. Since a majority of investors do not have time, ability or access to quality research, they are better off investing through the mutual fund route. While selecting appropriate funds which invest in smaller companies, investors must take the help of a competent financial advisor or do their own research. Important factors to consider are the relative outperformance of the scheme in comparison to its peers as well as the benchmark indices. Different bullish as well as bearish periods should be analysed to ascertain the schemes which have the best consistency of out performance. Size of the fund and it’s duration are other important criteria to help you zero in on the appropriate choice. Generally funds with relatively larger corpus and longer history are considered more stable and less risky. Expense ratio is another important factor as it directly impacts the return to investors. Avoid schemes where the fund manager or objectives have been recently changed. Due to its volatile nature only those funds which can be kept aside for many years should be invested in mid cap stocks and funds. Also, SIPs offer even better returns on these funds as compared to the front line ones as higher volatility usually results in better rupee cost averaging. Lastly, do remember that these funds are not suitable for risk-averse investors. To conclude, small and mid caps generally give very handsome returns and tend to outperform the large caps over a long period of time. This seems to be a very appropriate time to enter mid caps. Mid cap funds are somewhat easier to chose and invest rather than individual stocks in the same category. SIP in mid and small cap funds is a terrific way of creating long-term wealth. At the same time, this category of schemes is appropriate only for investors who can tolerate some risks in order to aim for higher returns. (By Ashish Kapur, CEO, Invest Shoppe India Ltd) (Disclaimer: These are the author’s personal views. Please consult your financial advisor before making any investment) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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small and mid cap funds are high beta in nature and are suitable for investors with fairly high risk-taking capacity. this seems to be an appropriate time to invest in small and mid cap companies. divergence between large caps and mid caps is at a historical high. this is signs that this bull market has more legs to go and the mid cap space is set to outperform.
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Living in a Covid-induced lockdown world is emerging as a challenge for virtually everyone. Be it a business owner fighting liquidity crunch or a salaried individual worried about job loss or salary cuts, the times are uncertain and challenging. On the other hand, financial plans are being redrawn with newer safer strategies being adopted. To help avoid unwanted financial stress, here are 4 financial planning mistakes you should avoid in a post-Covid world. Mistake 1: Taking emotional decisions It is human nature to panic when the emergency button is pressed. The fact, however, is panic and emotions don’t mix well with financial planning. Monetary decisions must be made on fundamentals with objectivity. For example, the Covid pandemic has significantly weakened India’s growth outlook. Consequently, stock markets have registered negative growth in the last 2-3 months. As an investor, watching your investments taking a hit can be tough. But do not act on an impulse and exit the markets. This would not be an objective decision. Know that the long-term growth story of India retains intact. Volatility is the nature of equity investments so continue paying your mutual fund SIPs looking at the bigger picture. Remember why you are investing and focus on your investment goal. Also, any important structural changes like changing your debt-equity investment ratio should only be considered if your life circumstances have changed immensely like a job loss etc. Mistake 2: Believing it’s too late to have an emergency corpus So, you didn’t have an emergency corpus in place and you had a tough ride economically during the Covid lockdown phase. Worry not. Use the hard times as a lesson and start building your emergency corpus right away. It is never too late to have an emergency fund in place. Growing uncertainty of Covid-19 and no imminent vaccination in sight means the economic uncertainty can be a long haul. Start creating your emergency corpus even if you never had one. To begin with, the money you would have spent on going out for movies, meals, social gatherings, etc can be rerouted to this emergency corpus. Mistake 3: Opting for blanket loan moratorium With the government extending the 3-month loan moratorium to 6 months, the attraction to save money by opting for an EMI moratorium may be huge. It should actually be an option only if you are facing an extreme situation like a job loss and strapped for cash. Financially, the loan moratorium can be a burden in the long term as you continue to pay interests on the loan, increasing your final outgo. If you are a salaried individual and fortunate enough to receive a monthly salary, continue with the loan EMIs. If you are not in a position to pay or are facing job uncertainty, consider squaring off some investments to pay off your loans to be debt free. Mistake 4: Exploring EPF corpus withdrawal Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals have historically been available for essential needs like medical treatment, children’s marriage, or home purchase. The Covid crisis has meant the government softening norms allowing withdrawals from EPF to tide over temporary liquidity issues. But before exploring the option, know that a premature EPF withdrawal can deeply impact your retirement takeaway due to future compounding effect. If you are facing liquidity crunch, an EPF withdrawal should be your last priority, as retirement funds are best left untouched until your sunset years. Explore other options like selling some non-performing investments to help address your instant liquidity needs. The world is facing an unprecedented time both medically and economically. It may take quite some time for the world around us to stabilize and adjust to the new normal. Until then, strap in and use some smart financial moves to tide over the current times. (By Nisary M, Founder, HerMoneyTalks) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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a covid-induced lockdown world is emerging as a challenge for virtually everyone. panic and emotions don't mix well with financial planning. a blanket loan moratorium may be huge, but it should be a safer option. a 'no-fail' scenario means a 'no-fail' scenario.
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Saab Bags India’s First 100% FDI in Defence Project India has cleared the first 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector, with permissions granted to Sweden’s Saab to set up a new facility that will manufacture rockets. Steady Loan Demand, Fall in Provisions Lift SBI Profit 8% State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender by loans outstanding, met D-Street expectations to report an 8% increase in the second-quarter net profit on steady credit demand and lower provisions as the nation’s most-valued government entity wrote back some accounts where recovery was delayed. The lender expects robust loan growth, underpinned by broad-based economic expansion. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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first 100% foreign direct investment in defence sector cleared. permission granted to Sweden's Saab to set up rocket manufacturing facility. 8% increase in second-quarter net profit on steady credit demand. lender expects robust loan growth, underpinned by broad-based economic expansion. sBI expects robust loan growth, underpinned by broad-based economic expansion.
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NEW DELHI: India's sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, which contribute to air pollution, recorded a significant decline of approximately six per cent in 2019 as compared to 2018, the steepest dip in four years, a report has said.However, India continues to occupy the top emitter's position for the fifth consecutive year, the report based on an analysis by Greenpeace India and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), released on Tuesday, said.Sulphur dioxide is a poisonous air pollutant that increases the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and premature death.In 2019, India emitted 21 per cent of global anthropogenic (human-made) SO2 emissions, nearly double that of second-ranked global emitter, Russia."China occupies the third position. The annual report ranks the world's biggest emitters of sulphur dioxide," the report said.As per the report, the biggest emission hotspots in India are thermal power stations (or clusters of power stations) at Singrauli, Neyveli, Sipat, Mundra, Korba, Bonda, Tamnar, Talcher, Jharsuguda, Kutch, Surat, Chennai, Ramagundam, Chandrapur, Visakhapatnam and Koradi."While credit needs to be given to India for making ambitious strides in renewable energy, contrarily concern arises from the consistent support given to coal-based energy generation," it said.The report said India has been faring reasonably well in its clean energy transition and has set itself one of the world's most ambitious renewable energy targets but lack of FGD units in most power plants overshadows it."Renewable energy capacity has been increasing in India's power sector, delivering more than two-thirds of the subcontinent's new capacity additions during the FY 2019-20.""However, these efforts are overshadowed by the fact that most of the power plants in India lack flue-gas desulfurization(FGD) units. The FGD units are critical in the process of reducing emissions," it said.Avinash Chanchal, Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace India, said renewable energy capacity may have expanded but the air quality is far from safe."In India, we are getting a glimpse of how reduction in coal usage can impact air quality and health. In 2019, renewable energy capacity expanded, coal dependency decreased and we saw a corresponding improvement in air quality. But our air is still far from safe.""We must speed up the energy transition away from coal and towards renewables, for our health and economy. While ensuring just transition of energy, with the help of decentralized renewable sources, we need to prioritize access to electricity for the poor," Chanchal said.In 2015, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change introduced SO2 emission limits for coal power stations. But power plants missed the initial deadline of December 2017 for the installation of FGD units, the report said."Though the deadline was extended till 2022, as of June 2020 most of the power plants are operating without compliance to standards.""Five years after setting the SO2 emission limits, the Indian government has decided to shut down non-compliant thermal power stations and has also allocated Rs 4,400 crore to tackle the air pollution crisis," it said.Sunil Dahiya, Analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), said, SO2 emissions are affecting the health of millions of people directly and worse through converting to PM2.5."The most efficient and easiest way to reduce PM2.5 levels is to install FGD and reduce SO2 emissions from power plants as they form a significant fraction of total PM2.5 pollution at different locations across the country.""Every single day delay in implementation of prescribed norms and not installing the FGD system is causing huge health and economic damage to our society, it's time the offenders/non-complying power plants are pulled up for inaction and damage to the society to ensure better implementation moving ahead," he said.It's high time that governments reduce investments in fossil fuels and shift to safer energy sources, such as wind and solar, the report said, adding that they must also strengthen emission standards and effectively implement flue gas pollution control technology on coal-fired power plants, smelters, and other major industrial SO2 emitters.In August last year, a study by Greenpeace had claimed that India is the world's largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide, which is produced from coal burning, and greatly contributes to air pollution.Greenpeace India has released an analysis of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) data, saying India has more than 15 per cent of all anthropogenic sulphur dioxide (SO2) hotspots in the world detected by the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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india's sulphur dioxide emissions recorded a significant decline of approximately six per cent in 2019. the steepest dip in four years was recorded in 2018, a report has said. but India continues to occupy the top emitter's position for the fifth consecutive year. in 2019, India emitted 21 per cent of global anthropogenic (human-made) SO2 emissions.
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Representative image The creeping demand slowdown has gripped the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector as consumers continue to cut back on purchases, including of entry-level products, according to a report in Business Standard. The report cited Nielson data, which found that categories with a high contribution of small packs such as shampoos, soaps, chips, biscuits, toothpaste, etc, (Rs 5, Rs 10) have seen decline in sales compared to last year. In biscuits for example, small packs contribute to more than two-thirds of all sales, but saw a decline of 5 percent for the January-June 2019 period, compared to the past year, it noted. Small packs in fact contribute to 80 percent of all chips sales. For the period, the slump has been 3 percent, at 15 percent compared to the past year’s 18 percent. In the toiler soaps category, where one-fourth of the sales are small packs, the growth has been flat against 3.3 percent in the year-ago. "The slowdown is getting worse. Overall, the growth rate of biscuits has declined to levels of 2-2.5 percent in Q1 April-June 2019," Mayank Shah, Category Head of Parle Products, told the paper. He added that GST of 18 percent on the segment has been the biggest contributor to the downturn. Britannia Managing Director Varun Berry said, "This slowdown has taken the biscuit category growth to 2 percent in Q1.” Godrej Chairman Adi Godrej and Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala had also pointed out that the government should focus on economic revival at a time when the RBI cut the FY20 GDP growth rate to by 0.1 percent to 6.9 percent. Godrej and ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in July to discuss an outreach programme to tackle this slowdown. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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creeping demand slowdown grips fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. categories with a high contribution of small packs have seen decline in sales. small packs contribute to more than two-thirds of all sales. but small packs in fact contribute to 80 percent of chips sales. for the period, the slump has been 3 percent, at 15 percent.
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By Sandeep Wasnik For the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region with soaring poverty rates, high population density and lagging health care, COVID-19 poses a tremendous risk. The region will feel it deeply because their economies are dependent on investment and trade from the United States, Europe and China. However, these are currently home to hot-spots for the COVID19. The economies of LAC region depend heavily on foreign investment and demand for primary commodities such as oil, copper, and zinc. It is expected that GDP will contract over 2 per cent across the LAC region and 3 percent in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. Governments have taken some measures to protect their citizens from the economic fallout due to COVID19 which is expected to cause the biggest single-quarter decline since the big recession from 2008-2009. Countries like Chile as well as El Salvador have adopted certain measures to provide immediate relief to their citizens. For instance Chile announced a $12 billion economic plan that equals roughly 4.7 percent of the country’s GDP with three main objectives: strengthening the Health systems budget, protect family income, and protect jobs and employers. On the other hand, El Salvador, President NayibBukele suspended utility, mortgage and credit card payments for three months for all Salvadorans, and will provide a $300 stimulus payment to approximately 1.5 million households affected by the virus. Pessimistic Scenario: In LAC region debt levels are higher than they were at the outset of the financial crisis, social safety nets remain very weak, tourism has evaporated, and a number of countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico are already mired in a weak patch economically, while Venezuela faced an outright crisis before the COVID19 arrived. The drop in oil prices will severely worsen the economic impact of the pandemic for oil exporting countries and commodity prices, exports, tourism, remittances and foreign direct investment are all on the cards and will pummel regional economies. India – LAC Region Commodity Trade Business: India has exported nearly $ 13.56 Billion value products to LAC region in financial year 2018-19. Info-graph shows LAC Region import from the India and the top most 5 Products (Two Digit HS CODE) which India is exporting are: 1. HS CODE 87 – Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof – Value: $ 3296.17 Million. 2. HS CODE 29 – Organic chemicals – Value: $1218.85 Million. 3. HS CODE 30 – Pharmaceutical products – Value: $923.88 Million. 4. HS CODE 38 – Miscellaneous chemical products – Value: $917.55 Million 5. HS CODE 84 – Machinery, mechanical appliances, nuclear reactors, boilers; parts thereof – Value: $736.24 Million For more understanding we need to focus on Indian state wise trade for the region. Maharashtra is in the top position with an export value of $3812.11 Million followed by Gujarat $3127.82, Tamil Nadu $1713.13, Haryana $687.37 and so on. Info-graph shows the State wise exports to Latin America and the Caribbean countries in Financial Year 2018-19. Some of the Indian states/Districts/Cities are the Hot-Spot of COVID19, which gives clear idea that trade business with Latin America will be affected even after the lockdown is lifted. As, not all industries will be not open due to social distancing but there can be a working model for Essential Goods Manufacturing Industries. Essential Goods Manufacturing Industries – Quarantine Model (EGMI-QM): Essential good manufacturing industries are those industries who manufacture essential products, like Food Processing, Pharmaceuticals, Health Care, Agriculture Products, Packaging and others. An industry can run on minimum man power, however, the company needs to provide accommodation/camps, food and essential services in factory area, this factory area will be quarantined so that industry will keep rolling and make economy keep role. These Minimum Man power will have to go for health check-up before entering the quarantine factory area. This model can be adopted in India, Latin America and any part of the world. Info-graph gives basic model visualization. IT AND ITeS INDUSTRIES – The IT industry has been India’s crown jewel in our country’s economic growth for the past two decades. An industry has provided global recognition for Indian youth’s technology and entrepreneurial capabilities and immensely contributed in improving India’s international image. Info-Graphs shows Indian IT and ITeS sector business. IT and ITeS sector can play important role during lockdown/post-lockdown and are also favourable for social distancing (Work from Home). Indian IT and ITeS sectors can focus on Latin America Sectors for Banking Process, Company Financial& Audit Process, E-Commerce industries process, Telecommunication industries, development of online applications, Agritech and others. Customers may accelerate their journey towards Cloud and Digital adoption to minimize human touch points. And, this should create huge business opportunities for Indian IT companies and push for increased onshore and local presence. Which sectors need focus between India and Latin America: As we have seen time and time again, both economic boom and economic slowdown eventually come to an end. Three months ago, we were in a bull market, meaning all aspects of the financial market, stocks, bonds, real estate, currencies, commodities, etc. were on the rise or were expected to rise and then the virus emerged. Though the stock market has plummeted and many businesses and institutions are closing their doors, there may be hope in the V-Shaped economy rise. Annual GDP Growth Rate in India is expected to be 3.20 percent by the end of this quarter. Looking forward, estimate Annual GDP Growth Rate in India to stand at 1.50 in 12 months’ time. In the long-term, the India GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 2.50 percent in 2021 and 4.00 percent in 2022. Recently, during lockdown due to COVID19 , E-Commerce industries, Videoconferencing applications, Internet or Telecom industries, Entertainment Sector, Food Processing Industries, Fund Transactions, Agriculture and Agritech, Health Care and Insurance, Pharmaceuticals Sector, Packaging Industries, Logistics Services, IT and ITeS sector and others have been the focus areas and it will continue growing. These are the sectors which will contribute to the economy and economy will rise by V-Shaped. Indian Pharmaceuticals: Hydroxychloroquine is one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs with lesser side effects. It can be bought over the counter in India and is fairly inexpensive. But its purchase and use has been severely restricted as it is being selectively used for Covid-19 treatment due to its antiviral properties. India, the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), exported $51 million worth of the drug in FY19. This was a minuscule portion of the country’s $19-billion pharma exports. Indian Pharmaceuticals industries are ready to ramp up the production to meet domestic as well as export requirements. India manufactures 70 percent of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). India exported hydroxychloroquine API worth USD 1.22 billion in April-January 2019-20. During the same period exports of formulations made from hydroxychloroquine was at USD 5.50 billion. India currently has an annual installed capacity of around 40 tons of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of hydroxychloroquine, with this capacity, can make around 200 million tablets of 200 mg. (The author is Latin America and the Caribbean Countries Market Expert. Views are personal.) Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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the economies of the LAC region depend heavily on foreign investment and demand for primary commodities such as oil, copper, and zinc. it is expected that GDP will contract over 2 per cent across the LAC region and 3 percent in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico. countries like Chile and El Salvador have adopted certain measures to provide immediate relief to their citizens. the drop in oil prices will severely worsen the economic impact of the pandemic for oil exporting countries.
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rakesh ranjan | ET Online and Agencies | Updated: 5 Dec 2020, 10:45 am Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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rakesh ranjan: 'i am a very happy man. i am a very happy man.' rakesh ranjan: 'i am a very happy man.' rakesh ranjan: 'i am a happy man.' rakesh ranjan: 'i am a happy man.'
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Foreign investors pulled out a net Rs 1,255 crore from the domestic capital markets in just two trading sessions in May after remaining net buyers for the previous three months. As per the latest depositories data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out a net sum of Rs 367.30 crore from equities and Rs 888.19 crore from the debt market during May 2-3, taking the total net outflow to Rs 1,255.49 crore. Markets were closed on May 1 on account of Maharashtra Day. Prior to this, FPIs infused a net amount of Rs 16,093 crore in April, Rs 45,981 crore in March and Rs 11,182 crore in February in the capital markets (both equity and debt). "It is too early to take a call on the trend in May. It is possible that FPIs might pause a bit in view of the election outcome," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. Indian capital markets have been receiving their share of the capital flows into the emerging markets after leading central banks of the world took a dovish monetary stance, experts said. Vidya Bala, Head - Mutual Funds Research at FundsIndia, said, "In April FPI inflows into India were less robust than March, coming on the back of continuing rise in crude. FPIs continued buying selectively in banking and financial services and specifically in insurance sector besides oil and gas and utilities, according to data from NSDL." However, the month of May could see some volatile movements as election results come out. The currently weak macro-economic numbers too will be further watched, she added. Summarise this report in a few sentences.
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foreign investors pull out net Rs 1,255 crore from the domestic capital markets. net outflow came after remaining net buyers for the previous three months. market closed on may 1 on account of Maharashtra day. experts say it is too early to take a call on the trend in may. a dovish central bank stance has led to a decrease in capital flows into emerging markets.
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