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Friday, July 31, 2020
Trump says he will ban Chinese app TikTok
"As far as TikTok is concerned, we're banning them from the United States,'' Trump told reporters Friday on Air Force One as he returned from Florida. Trump said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to enforce the action, insisting, "I have that authority.''
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2020-21 Belgian football season to start next weekend: League
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Danielle Kang seizes lead in Ohio with flawless round as LPGA returns
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IPL: 'Tests' before T20 for Aussie, Eng players
The UAE government, in the middle of putting their own Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place for this year's edition, will make it compulsory for any overseas traveller arriving there to undergo a week's quarantine, including two Covid tests. These are among the multiple precautionary measures that are being planned for the tournament as the threat of the virus remains.
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IPL 2020 in UAE: 'Tests' before T20 for Australian and England players
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Bhaichung Bhutia urges more Indians to ply their trade abroad
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PSG edge out Lyon on penalties in French League Cup final
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Stroll lifts Racing Point after Perez virus blow as Hamilton has 'difficult day'
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A TikTok-Microsoft deal may be the best and most elegant solution for all parties involved
In this instance, though, Microsoft may be the best suitor. On the surface, it may seem strange to contemplate such a large deal in an environment of greater regulator scrutiny over the technology industry’s acquisitions.from Tech-Economic Times https://ift.tt/316Ayyr
Big push: iPhone maker Pegatron, Samsung likely to have applied for govt's PLI scheme
Telecom minister RS Prasad is scheduled to hold a briefing later today (August 1) on the applications for the PLI scheme, which aims to incentivise large electronic manufacturers to set up production bases in the country for the local and global market.from Tech-Economic Times https://ift.tt/3gl5i57
Navy not keen on HAL for choppers
NEW DELHI: The navy is not in favour of an offer by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for an upcoming Rs 21,000 crore Make in India contract as its chopper does not meet requirements and there is a dire need to establish alternative capability in the private sector to manufacture modern aircraft.Sources said that the naval version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) that is being offered does not meet basic qualitative requirements and is unsuitable for the role required, including urgent Search and Rescue (SAR) missions at sea. As reported by ET, the naval utility helicopter (NUH) plan - originally planned for the private sector under the strategic partnership model - is going through a tussle after HAL entered the fray and has requested the government to be included."The ALH has a rigid rotor head and has been designed for high altitude operations, where it is very good at. The problem is that the design limits it in terms of the blade folding capability. In missions such as SAR, every minute is precious and the ALH just takes too much time to be deployed," a source said. While the navy is already operating the ALH in a utility role, it requires 111 helicopters for deployment onboard ships to carry out multiple roles, including surveillance and ferrying supplies. The requirement is urgent and a specialised chopper is needed that can be quickly deployed and retrieved and can be stored in the space constrained hangar onboard all vessels.The process to acquire the choppers is already in advanced stages with four Indian companies shortlisted who can partner with a foreign technology provider to make the helicopters domestically. However, the final selection is stuck after HAL put in a representation. In the original tender document, it was specified that only private sector companies are eligible to take part in the contest.Sources said that there is a need to have capacity in the private sector too for manufacturing modern aircraft and the NUH programme will enable the identified winner to procure technology and skills. Besides the navy requirement, the winning company will have a large domestic civilian market to tap, besides a robust export potential.
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Centre unsure of class 3, 5, 8 exam mode
NEW DELHI: The first major impact of the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is likely to be felt in the academic session 2022-23 when the Centre plans to roll out 'easier' board exams, 5+3+3+4 school format and a reformed 360-degree school report card.However, the plan for exams in classes 3, 5 and 8 has still not been finalised. It is not yet decided if the school or an external authority will conduct these examinations.Officials from CBSE said the issue is being closely examined but it is highly unlikely that the board will conduct these examinations."It is clear that CBSE as a board cannot conduct exams for classes 3, 5 and 8. It will, in all probability, be conducted by the school with some framework from state's education department and may be some guidelines from the Centre. However, we will be deliberating over this subject and have more clarity on it over the next few days," a top CBSE official told ET.Secretary general of the Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE), M K Sharma, said various school boards will await finer details from the Centre before taking a call.The new policy advocates the need to track progress throughout the school years and not just at the end of grades 10 and 12.These examinations aim to test the achievement of basic learning outcomes, through assessment of core concepts and knowledge from the national and local curricula, along with relevant higher order skills and application of knowledge in real-life situations, rather than rote memorisation."The Grade 3 examination, in particular, would test basic literacy, numeracy, and other foundational skills. The results of will be used only for developmental purposes of the school education," stated the NPE 2020.Officials told ET that the idea is to mainly ensure that minimum and basic learning levels are attained, especially in primary schooling years.Meanwhile, considerable ground work has already been done by the CBSE and NCERT on the 'easier' board exam format.The proposal to bring in a format like the SAT National Aptitude Test for senior classes is also expected to see an earlier rollout with a pilot planned later this year.By November-December, the National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission will be launched to ensure that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy in Grade 3 by 2025. The plan to serve breakfast at schools is expected to be moved for cabinet approval in the next few weeks. The HRD ministry will next month also initiate work on the new National Curriculum Framework- a near year-long exercise at NCERT.
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Import restrictions on colour television to give a boost to local manufacturing: Xiaomi
New Delhi: TV manufacturers like China's Xiaomi said the Indian government's decision to impose restrictions on the import of colour television (TV) sets will encourage and give a boost to local manufacturing."Currently, over 85% of our Mi TVs sold in India are manufactured in India. We believe that this decision will encourage and give a boost to local manufacturing," a Xiaomi India spokesperson said. Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents the likes of Xiaomi, Realme and OnePlus, welcomed the decision to restrict imports of colour TVs, saying India has enough manufacturing capacity and the much-needed move will boost local production. ICEA chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said India was losing jobs as imports continued unabated. “The industry was surprised by the government’s decision to restrict the import of colour TVs clocking up to Rs 600-700 crore per month, a substantial portion of which was coming from the zero-duty FTA Asean countries,” the body said in a statement on Friday. “Restrictions mandated through the import licensing regime, will stop the unrestricted inflow of finished goods/CBU’s. Imports of CBU’s in 2019-20 crossed Rs 5,000 crore,” it said. Open cells constitute nearly 70% of bill of material cost for TVs. At present, around 35% of TV sets sold in India are imported.
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Not allowed WhatsApp to go live for full-scale UPI operations: RBI tells Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India has told the Supreme Court that it hadn’t permitted WhatsApp to go live with full-scale payment services on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system. The banking regulator said it was concerned that WhatsApp was storing some payment data elements outside India beyond the timelines permitted in its June 26, 2019 circular. The central bank said it had advised the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the UPI system, to not permit WhatsApp to launch full-scale payment services till the time it fully complied with the rules.The RBI made the comments in its response to a court notice, seeking its stand on a petition by an NGO which wanted to stop WhatsApp from carrying out trials of its payment service in India before it complied with local regulations.The RBI said in a letter dated November 1, it had advised the NCPI to ensure that the payment data were not stored by WhatsApp outside India beyond the permitted time or in an encrypted form.It said the NPCI had forwarded a system audit report and a post change review report submitted by the Facebook-owned messaging platform, along with its comments on the compliance status on “storage of payment system data”.The RBI said after examining these reports, it was concerned that some payment data elements were being stored outside India beyond the permitted timelines.Subsequently, the NPCI on January 7 told the RBI that it had received a letter from WhatsApp agreeing to complete all pending issues by May 31, and requesting the approval to go live. The NPCI had stated that WhatsApp had committed to closing two of the five items of non-compliance identified by the RBI by January 31 and the remaining three by May 31. Compliance would be supported by a third-party audit report, it had said.The NPCI requested the RBI’s approval to grant the final “go-live” to WhatsApp on UPI, subject to the third-party audit confirming closure of the committed two items.
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Happy Eid-ul-Adha: Eid Mubarak Images, Quotes
Apart from sacrificing goats, it is imperative for all Muslims to begin their day with extra prayers in the morning. In fact most mosques are packed with large groups of people but this year will be different due to government restrictions.
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Centre may hike import duty on bulk drugs
NEW DELHI: The government is considering increasing the import duty on active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to 20-25% from the current 10%, to help boost local manufacturing of the bulk drugs, people in the know told ET. The department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) is mulling the proposal as it pushes to make India self-reliant on APIs. A committee of experts formed by the DoP had suggested increasing the customs duty on APIs. "This will help the Indian pharma industry as they face stiff competition from cheap imports," said an official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the world, but it is dependent on China for crucial raw material. India imports 70% of the APIs used by its drug makers from China. For some APIs, especially antibiotics, the dependence is more than 90%. Pharma experts, however, said increasing the duty was impractical at present. "We are yet not self-reliant and increasing the import duty is going to hit the pharma industry, especially those which are manufacturing formulations and depending on other countries for APIs," said an expert, requesting anonymity.The government has been working to bring down the dependency for API imports. Last week, a Rs 10,000-crore scheme aimed at reducing the dependency and ensuring adequate domestic supply was launched by the minister for chemicals and fertilizers.The government would provide an incentive of Rs 10 crore each to Indian companies setting up plants to produce 53 crucial APIs for which the domestic drug industry is vulnerably dependent on China. It has proposed to disburse funds within 60 days of the receipt of a claim. Firms whose cost of production is comparable to or less than the import price will get priority. Those availing of the production-linked incentive scheme, which the Cabinet had approved in March, must supply to domestic drug makers. The scheme also offers annual incentives of Rs 720 crore for crucial fermentation products including penicillin g (used to manufacture antibiotics), amino cephalosporanic acid 7-aca (used in manufacturing antimicrobial drugs), clavulanic acid (to treat bacterial infections) and erythromycin thiocynate (anti-infectives), said the official.
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Vodafone Idea Brings Rs. 819 Recharge Plan With 2GB High-Speed Daily Data, 84 Days Validity
Vodafone Idea has silently expanded its prepaid plan portfolio by bringing the Rs. 819 recharge option. The new prepaid recharge plan offers 2GB high-speed daily data allocation alongside unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS messages per day for 84 days.
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Thursday, July 30, 2020
Manjrekar requests BCCI to take him back as commentator in IPL
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Rajasthan: 'If 30 MLAs gone, it would be tough'
A video of a conversation between Speaker C P Joshi and chief minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav has gone viral in which Joshi was heard talking about a close shave of the government. The speaker was heard saying that if 30 MLAs had gone, the situation would have been tough.
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1st ODI: Billings steers England to comfortable win over Ireland
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IPL in UAE may see more players and less staff
An IPL franchise generally has 25-28 players in its squad and at least 10-15 members in support staff besides the executives. TOI understands that each IPL franchise will have to organize its own bio-bubble upon reaching UAE about month ahead of the tournament. In that case, limiting the squad could be a bone of contention.
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Players protest racial injustice as NBA returns to action
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Varalakshmi Vratam fasting rules, puja kit, vrat vidhi
Varalakshmi Vratam fasting rules are very strict and this vrat is mostly observed by married woman (sumangalis) for the well being of their husband, children, and other family members.
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from Times of India https://ift.tt/33dg0XQ
Cognizant’s headcount drops by 10,500
Cognizant’s number of employees at the end of the second quarter dropped to levels last seen at the end of 2018 as the company embarked on a massive cost cutting programme leading to a firing of about 7,000 employees.
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TN Board 11th result to be released today
TN plus one result 2020 to be released today i.e., July 31, 2020. Along with the TN DGE’s website, the TN plus one result 2020 will be available on the following websites — tnresults.nic.in, tnresults.in, dge1.tn.nic.in, and dge2.tn.nic.in.
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Realme 6i, Realme Narzo 10A to Go on Sale Today at 12 Noon via Flipkart, Company Website: Price in India, Specifications
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Oppo Reno 4 Pro to Launch in India Today: How to Watch Live, Expected Price, Specifications, More
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Sales up Rs 70K cr annually in 17-19: Tata
MUMBAI: The Tata Group companies, under Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, have seen annual incremental revenue growth of around Rs 70,000 crore between 2017 and 2019. Further, return on equity on funds infused by shareholders has risen to 46%, excluding impairment, during this period. This was stated by Tata Sons in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday in response to earlier submissions by Cyrus Investments and other Shapoorji Pallonji Group companies."The current management has been taking decisive actions to strengthen and solidify the core businesses and foray into new businesses, correcting the capital structure of both listed and unlisted companies to eliminate risk on Tata Sons," the affidavit said.Cyrus Mistry, who was removed as the chairman of Tata Sons in 2016, had claimed in his submissions to the apex court that the Tata Group had an adjusted net loss of Rs 13,000 crore in 2019 - the worst in three decades.However, the Tata Sons affidavit - which essentially defended the group's performance under Chandrasekaran - said that Mistry had a jaundiced view of events. "One needs to note that business perspectives can alter depending on the vantage point one is placed in," it said.As per the submission by Tata Group's holding company, the return on equity (RoE) on capital infused by shareholders rose to 46% in 2018-20, excluding writeoffs."It is regrettable that for reasons primarily attributed to earlier inaction, Tata Sons had to absorb impairments and writeoffs. Excluding such impairments, the RoE (a measure of return on the equity infused by shareholders of a company) increased to 46% in 2018-20," said Tata Sons in its reply, a copy of which was reviewed by ET."The market capitalisation of listed Tata operating companies increased by 37% as compared to the increase in BSE 50 at 22% and Nifty 50 at 21%. In the same period, the value of Tata Sons holdings in listed operating companies increased by 55%," the affidavit said.Overall, Tata Sons invested Rs 28,500 crore in the operating companies to correct their balance sheets and support growth during Chandrasekaran's tenure.The capacity of Tata Steel India rose from 12.7 million tonnes per annum to 19.3 MTPA in the past three years through two major acquisitions and organic growth. Tata Sons also increased its shareholding in operating companies across the board.The Tata Sons affidavit also compares, unfavourably, Mistry's tenure with that of Ratan Tata."Under the tenure of Respondent No 3 (Cyrus Mistry), the market performance of Tata operating companies excluding Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Motors was below Sensex returns," said the affidavit.The submission went on to state that, "Under Respondent No. 4's (Ratan Tata's) tenure as executive chairman, however, the market capitalisation of Tata operating companies increased from less than Rs 8,000 crore in the year 1991 to around Rs 5 lakh crore in the year 2012 - an increase of approximately 60 times - more than three times the Sensex return in the same time period.""The complaints of Respondent Nos 1 & 2 (Mistry Group-promoted firms) are nothing but an attempt on the part of Respondent No 3 (Cyrus Mistry) to avenge his 'loss of face' because of his replacement as the chairman of Tata Sons," the affidavit said.
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from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3jYhRWc
Monsoon loses steam, raises crop concerns
PUNE | NEW DELHI: After a blistering start in June, the southwest monsoon has stuttered, falling far short of normal in the fertile planes of northern and central India as well as parts of Maharashtra, sparking concerns about output of key crops if rainfall does not strengthen in a week.Bountiful rainfall in June prompted farmers to speed up crop planting, which remains much higher than this time last year, but farmers who sowed oilseeds, pulses, cotton and coarse grain in areas with erratic rainfall are beginning to worry."Some districts in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have not received sufficient rainfall, which may affect the crop growth," said Suresh Agarwal, president, All India Dal Millers Association.Rainfall across India in July, a crucial month for farming, is 9% below normal, with a deficit of 20-27% in parts of northern, central and western India. But there is no need to ring the alarm bell yet as crops will revive if the monsoon revives quickly in these areas.77274042"If we receive rainfall during the next 10 days, the situation can remain under control. Also, good increase in area under sowing and good weather condition in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and parts of Maharashtra, may compensate for any losses in productivity in other states," said Nitin Kalantry, a pulses processor from Maharashtra.The good news is that rainfall is indeed expected to strengthen in the next two weeks, the head of long-range forecasting at India Meteorological Department (IMD), Sivananda Pai, told ET. Northern India has seen heavy showers in the past two days. He said monsoon lost momentum because there were no low-pressure area since June 22. IMD data shows 26 out of 33 districts in Rajasthan have received deficit rainfall. As much as 32 out of 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 19 out of 33 in Gujarat and 17 out of 51 districts in Madhya Pradesh have received deficient rainfall.The soybean processing industry recently said crops were at risk. India is dependent on imports for oilseeds. It had to import 400,000 tonnes of urad in 2019-20 to bridge the gap in domestic production and demand.Total rainfall for the season remains above normal, but its distribution is a concern, said Rahul Chauhan, director, IGrain India, a commodity research company. "An outbreak of high temperature and heavy heat is also reported which has threatened the progress of kharif crops. There is sporadic rain at some places but it is not benefiting much In some other areas of Madhya Pradesh including Malwa-Nimar, the dry hot weather is adversely affecting the progress of crops," he said.
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NPCI looks to limit UPI dominance by single third-party application, may restrict share of transactions
Mumbai: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is thinking of ways to limit the Unified Payment Interface’s (UPI) dependence on any single third-party application. It proposes to do this by restricting the share of transactions of any single payment company, people familiar with the matter said. NPCI owns and operates UPI in the capacity of a not-for-profit “umbrella body”.The burgeoning UPI ecosystem is currently dominated by Google Pay, Paytm, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Amazon Pay, who together control over 90% market share. ET reported in September last year that NPCI could cap the share of transactions at 33% of the overall market share, to insulate the broader UPI ecosystem against any systemic collapse.The discussions have gathered steam over the last couple of months, the people said, and NPCI has held closed-door meetings with payment service provider (PSP) banks, members of UPI’s steering committee and select third-party players to discuss the implementation scope and challenges. 77274020One of the ways being considered is to introduce new regulation capping the transaction share at 50% for the first year of implementation and reducing it to 40% and 33%, respectively, over the next two fiscal years, one of the people said. In case the transactions limit is set to be breached, the NPCI may send warnings to companies to stop onboarding new customers and disable new transactions – else incur a penalty, the person said.The discussions are “a work in progress” and NPCI has not issued any formal circular or internal advisories on how the system will be implemented, another person aware of the matter said.NPCI declined to comment. “Imagine your payments will be distributed to other players, if you reach a market cap which is not under our control. And, players have to de-facto lose customers because new acquisitions will be stopped,” Sameer Nigam, founder of PhonePe said. “Also, why hasn’t there been a cap on other payment instruments? While none of the payment players is in the 50% discussion range, what is of concern is the market cap for the second year, as most of us are nearing the 40% cap. We are still awaiting clarity on this from NPCI,” Nigam added.
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Third-party sellers flag Amazon's data policy, say company pushing in-house brands
BENGALURU: Third-party sellers have demanded transparency from ecommerce company Amazon on its data practices as well as alleged preferential treatment for in-house brands.Five small sellers — across categories like fashion, toys, packaged foods and general merchandise — have highlighted these concerns to Amazon India, they told ET, without getting a clear-cut response or legal assurance. The All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) has also raised similar concerns with the Competition Commission of India. The development comes at a time when small sellers are becoming increasingly dependent on online channels for sales in light of the economic disruption due to the Covid-19 outbreak. It also comes in the backdrop of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s admission to the US Congress on Wednesday that he could not guarantee it was not accessing third-party seller data to develop its own competing products. The ecommerce behemoth has in the past denied such allegations. Amazon has more than 500,000 third-party Indian sellers.77273999At the same time, the online retailer operates at least eight private label brands, including home cleaning products range under Presto!, fashion brands — Symbol, Myx, House & Shields and Arthur Harvey; as well as small furniture and appliances under Solimo, grocery label Vedaka, and AmazonBasics brand for small electronics items. Sellers said their issues revolve around differential platform fees, and the use of sales data to make Amazon’s private labels and partner brands stronger, which have also been highlighted by local seller bodies in the past. “These practices have been a concern for a larger set of merchants, as there are no clear checks and balances,” said a small merchant who sells toys on Amazon, with average sales of less than Rs 3 crore. Amazon did not reply to ET's email seeking comment till press time.“Using competitors’ data to design private labels and selling it at massive discounts and discounted platform fee to preferred sellers are the issues flagged in India,” said Chanakya Basa, managing partner at Knock Legal, a firm that has represented the AIOVA in a few cases against ecommerce platforms.“The only way to survive is that either your brand is so powerful that the platform cannot replace you or they will copy your product and keep you. The real issue is when a third-party brand is not powerful, that's when they will copy and replace,” an Amazon employee said.
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from Economic Times https://ift.tt/337WcoF
NPCI looks to limit UPI dominance by single third-party application, may restrict share of transactions
Mumbai: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is thinking of ways to limit the Unified Payment Interface’s (UPI) dependence on any single third-party application. It proposes to do this by restricting the share of transactions of any single payment company, people familiar with the matter said. NPCI owns and operates UPI in the capacity of a not-for-profit “umbrella body”.The burgeoning UPI ecosystem is currently dominated by Google Pay, Paytm, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Amazon Pay, who together control over 90% market share. ET reported in September last year that NPCI could cap the share of transactions at 33% of the overall market share, to insulate the broader UPI ecosystem against any systemic collapse.The discussions have gathered steam over the last couple of months, the people said, and NPCI has held closed-door meetings with payment service provider (PSP) banks, members of UPI’s steering committee and select third-party players to discuss the implementation scope and challenges. 77274020One of the ways being considered is to introduce new regulation capping the transaction share at 50% for the first year of implementation and reducing it to 40% and 33%, respectively, over the next two fiscal years, one of the people said. In case the transactions limit is set to be breached, the NPCI may send warnings to companies to stop onboarding new customers and disable new transactions – else incur a penalty, the person said.The discussions are “a work in progress” and NPCI has not issued any formal circular or internal advisories on how the system will be implemented, another person aware of the matter said.NPCI declined to comment. “Imagine your payments will be distributed to other players, if you reach a market cap which is not under our control. And, players have to de-facto lose customers because new acquisitions will be stopped,” Sameer Nigam, founder of PhonePe said. “Also, why hasn’t there been a cap on other payment instruments? While none of the payment players is in the 50% discussion range, what is of concern is the market cap for the second year, as most of us are nearing the 40% cap. We are still awaiting clarity on this from NPCI,” Nigam added.
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from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2BJ4GqU
Excessive c-sections cost Rs 5,000crore/year
An analysis of the data reveals that 28.5 lakh more caesarean sections were done in private hospitals across the country in 2018 than the acceptable international ratio of normal to caesarean births. The average extra cost of each such procedure comes to about Rs 18,000. This means that the 28.5 lakh extra caesarean deliveries cost a total of Rs 5,130 crore.
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Honor 9A, Honor 9S, MagicBook 15 India Launch Today at 2pm: How to Watch Live Stream, Expected Price, and More
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S&P dips on worries about earnings, data, elections
The S&P 500 and Dow closed lower on Thursday after data painted a worrying economic picture on a crucial day for corporate earnings reports, while President Donald Trump exacerbated investor nervousness by floating the possibility of delaying the U.S. presidential election.The main earnings focus on Thursday was on reports from high-flyers including Apple Inc, Google parent Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc .After the bell, shares in Facebook rose 8% and Amazon climbed 6% following their reports while Alphabet climbed 2%.Investors also worried about the expiration of enhanced employment benefits on Friday as U.S. Congress was no closer to a deal on Thursday to extend or replace the extra $600-per-week in payments to tens of millions thrown out of work by the coronavirus.Early in the day second-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data showed the U.S. economy suffered its steepest contraction since the Great Depression, as business activity came to a halt due to lockdowns aimed at fighting the pandemic.Also jobless claims rose last week, adding to signs the momentum of economic recovery has slowed as coronavirus cases spiraled in southern and western U.S. states.Shortly after the data, Trump, raised the idea of a delay in elections. The idea was immediately rejected by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress, the branch of government with the power to make that change.But the S&P gained ground as the day wore on and closed well above its session low, which was reached at 1000 EDT (1400 GMT).The market stabilized after "opening the front hall closet and all the stuff comes tumbling out," said Carol Schleif, deputy chief investment officer, Abbot Downing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She cited the stimulus battle along with election uncertainty on top of weak data and earnings angst.After the initial knee-jerk reaction, Schleif said, people stepped back and focused on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's assurance on Wednesday that the central bank would "do whatever it takes" to support the economy."You open the door it comes piling out, you're frightened and then you settle down and start picking stuff up and putting it back where it belongs," she said.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 225.92 points, or 0.85%, to 26,313.65, the S&P 500 lost 12.22 points, or 0.38%, to 3,246.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 44.87 points, or 0.43%, to 10,587.81.The market had gained ground on Wednesday even after the Fed also said a surge in virus cases was likely stalling the recovery, which will depend significantly on the virus path.Of the S&P 500's 11 major sectors energy, materials , financials and lagged the most. Technology consumer discretionary and communications services were the only sectors to eke out small gains.The tech-heavy Nasdaq was boosted by Qualcomm Inc, up 15%, after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue largely above estimates.But investors were anxious about earnings from the Nasdaq's so called four horsemen - Apple and Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook. Apple was the last to report of the companies which have a combined market value of about $5 trillion."When you have a big earnings day you're going to have volatility in the market," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.Still Wall Street's main indexes were headed for their fourth monthly gain in a row, with the benchmark S&P 500 only about 4% below its February record high."The markets have over the past several months been detached from reality and are being fueled by Fed buying and positive momentum," said Phil Toews, chief executive officer of Toews Corp in New York.United Parcel Service Inc, up 14.4%, soared following its quarterly results.Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.89-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.24-to-1 ratio favored decliners.The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 95 new highs and 27 new lows.On U.S. exchanges 10.1 billion shares changed hands compared with the 10.47 billion average for the last 20 sessions.
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No language will be imposed on anyone: Pokhriyal
Children will be exposed to different languages early on but with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue, starting from the foundational stage onwards. All languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, said Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.
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BSNL Expands 1500GB FTTH Broadband Plan on a Promotional Basis
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has expanded the 1500GB fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) Bharat Fiber broadband plan by reintroducing it in the Telangana circle.
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Disband panel probing killing of Dubey: PIL in SC
A Mumbai-based advocate-cum-PIL petitioner on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking disbanding of the inquiry commission formed to look into the encounter killings of gangster Vikas Dubey . Ghanshyam Upadhyay filed an application alleging bias against both Justice Chauhan and ex-DGP K L Gupta.
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38 yrs on, SC clears man accused of adulteration
Prem Chand, now 76 years old, was charged after sample of haldi (turmeric) taken from his shop in a village in Sonepat district in 1982 by a food inspector along with a medical officer was found adulterated. The report of the public analyst revealed that it contained four living meal worms and two liveweevils.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Gold eases as risk sentiment improves after Fed policy meeting
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.1% to 1,241.96 tonnes on Wednesday.
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India’s banks are racing to lend against a $1.5 trillion hoard of gold
The added competition could lower borrowing costs for Indian consumers, who in desperate moments of financial stress often pay exorbitant rates to informal lenders to use gold as collateral.
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IPL final could be postponed from Nov 8 to 10
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Sports Day awards event this year likely to get scrapped
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World No.1 Barty pulls out of US Open over coronavirus fears
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Juve crash to humiliating Cagliari defeat, Immobile eyes goal record
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Ibrahimovic scores two, Donnarumma saves penalty in Milan win
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IPL final likely to be postponed from Nov 8 to 10
The IPL governing council is contemplating postponing the date of the tournament’s final from Nov 8 to 10 and allow its stakeholders – especially broadcaster Star India – to make further use of the Diwali week. A final decision in this regard will be taken when the GC meets in the next three days. If the delay is confirmed Indian team will fly for Aus after IPL from UAE.
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Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra dies at 78
West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra passed away at a city hospital in the early hours of Thursday. He was 78. Sources at the private hospital where Mitra was admitted to said he died due to heart and age-related ailments. Mitra passed away around 1.30 am. The hospital said he had tested negative for COVID-19. Mitra is survived by his wife and son.
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Data breaches cost India Inc 9.4% more in 2020, remote ops increase risk, says IBM report
The annual study by IBM Security - covering over 500 companies globally - which examines the financial impact of data breaches found that the average total cost for India Inc due to security breaches was Rs 140 million (Rs 14 crore) in 2020, an increase of 9.4% from 2019.from Tech-Economic Times https://ift.tt/338OxGs
US lawmakers, united in their ire, lash out at Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai
It was the first hearing for some time where Dems and Reps acted as if they had a common foe, though for different reasons. Dems criticized the tech cos for buying startups to stifle them and for unfairly using data to clone and kill off competitors, while Reps questioned whether the platforms had muzzled conservative viewpoints and were unpatriotic.from Tech-Economic Times https://ift.tt/30T4gXq
Samsung Galaxy M31s India Launch Today at 12 Noon: Expected Price in India, Specifications
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Redmi Note 9 to Go on Sale Today at 12 Noon via Amazon, Mi.com: Price in India, Specifications
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NPPA unable to regulate remdesivir sale
NEW DELHI: India has not set a price for anti-viral remdesivir because it has been approved only as an experimental therapy for Covid-19, leaving the field open for black marketers, who are said to be selling the drug for as much as 10 times the actual price.The Drug Controller General of India said in June that remdesivir could be included in the clinical management protocol for Covid-19 as an experimental therapy for restricted emergency use on patients.According to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, remdesivir has not been notified as a drug and hence it cannot regulate the price of one of the most expensive Covid-19 treatments in India.The NPPA can only control prices of devices and products that are defined as drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. A product or device that is not notified as a drug goes out of the NPPA's purview, people aware of the matter told ET.In the case of stents and orthopaedic implants too, the government had to notify them as drugs to bring them under price regulation.The DCGI said remdesivir cannot be brought within the ambit of a drug as yet.
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Eye phone or a smart idea for smartphone companies, may be the next market disruptor
NEW DELHI: Smartphones as well as laptops and tablets are 21st century essentials. According to Statista, currently 3.5 billion people globally own smartphones. That works out to nearly 45% of the world’s population, which is 7.8 billion. The percentage of smartphone users will go up substantially every year.Now, look at another statistic. Vision Council of America estimates that over 4 billion people in the world use either glasses or contact lenses. That’s more than 51% of the global population.There’s no data on how many smartphone users wear glasses or use contacts. But it’s likely to be a very substantial number.Now consider three facts.1. Vision problems typically are more common as a person ages.2. Purchasing power typically also goes up as a person grows older or working.3. Researchers studying what is called the digital eye syndrome (vision problems associated with prolonged exposure to digital screens) have noted that people with eyeglasses or contact lenses are likely to suffer more while looking at digital screens for extended periods of time.All these data and facts are telling smartphone companies one thing — there’s a huge market for devices with screens that adapt to an eyeglass or contact lens user’s vision problems. And super premium pricing is no issue because, as we noted, older people who have vision problems are also typically those who have more purchasing power.Think about it. A corporate executive with, say, nearsightedness who can’t work without his phone or laptop would gladly pay a fairly steep premium for a device that allows him to take off his glasses while using his device. The sheer relief and convenience is impossible to overestimate.In the Indian pricing context, a CEO with vision issues who pays around one lakh rupees for a top-end, feature-rich Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max or a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra would pay a 20-30% premium without batting an eyelid for a model that allows him to take off his eyeglasses while working.The same holds globally. And don’t underestimate the potential market from smartphone-addicted, eyeglass/contact lens wearing teenagers with affluent parents – they, and their parents, would be only too happy to pay those premiums too.Apple, Samsung and other top-of-the-line smartphone makers should therefore definitely consider adding these vision-correcting smartphones to their product portfolio. The first company out with such a product will likely be able to charge high premiums.Toplines, bottomlines and market capitalisation will all spike. That’s the nature of disruptive innovation. It disproportionately rewards first movers. So, even if, say, a competitor hits the market with a similar product in a quarter, the first mover will still make a lot of money and add a lot of heft to its m-cap. The good news for Apples, Samsungs and their likes is that at least one version of base level technology for such devices has already been tested. And the even better news is that according to research in this technology, vision-correcting devices may need nothing more than a smart accessory that can be fitted onto an existing smartphone.As Live Science reports (https://bit.ly/3jOqBOL) on an MIT Technology Media Lab project: A “vision-correcting display is a thin, transparent material that fits on top of the screen of a smartphone or other device. It works in conjunction with a software program to correct the viewer’s focal distance — the range at which the eye can bring objects into focus.” Focal distance is the problem for people with vision issues like nearsightedness or farsightedness.University of California, Berkley researchers also developed a similar technology. The basic way this technology works is this:1. The vision-correcting screen cover has tiny pinholes that adjust lights coming from the screen.2. An algorithm is fed with data on an individual’s specific vision impairment.3. That algorithm then adjusts, as Live Science reports, “the intensity of each direction of light that emanates from a single pixel of an image on the device's screen”.4. It’s this adjustment that allows a vision-impaired person to keep away his eyeglasses and still see clear images on the smartphone screen.Obviously, when smartphone makers sell vision-correcting devices they will have to be programmed with each user’s specific vision data. But that’s hardly an insurmountable problem. The programming can be done at a retail level or even by consumers themselves. Right now, apps that can adjust screen light or font size or other display particulars in a few quick clicks are all that vision-impaired people can fall back on when using digital devices. For them, a device that adjusts to their own vision needs and allows them to say goodbye to their glasses will be a boon. And the company that gives this product to them will have a smash hit. The new Eye Phone — that may well be the next market disruptor.
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Yes Bank to take over HQ of Anil Ambani
Yes Bank, which faced a crisis in March this year on account of bad debts, has substantial loans due from the Anil Ambani group, to which it had an exposure of close to Rs 12,000 crore. In the last two decades, the Anil Ambani group expanded aggressively in new businesses raising high levels of debt.
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Poco M2 Pro to Go On Sale Today at 12 Noon via Flipkart: Price in India, Specifications
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Prices hit record high, but analysts believe investors can still strike gold
Analysts said further declines would be a buying opportunity and they see gold prices in the range of $2,040-$2,170 in the next three months, which means gains of up to 10% inthe period.
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Navy keen on 3rd aircraft carrier to retain edge
The commissioning of India’s second aircraft carrier has been delayed till September next year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. While reconciling to this setback, the Navy remains all the more keen to push its case for a third aircraft carrier as well as two new fighter squadrons to counter China’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
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Live: 5 Rafale jets to arrive at Ambala air base
The first batch of five Rafale aircraft would be arriving in Ambala today to join the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet. Stay here for all live updates
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TikTok to government: Ready to store data locally
TikTok, the blocked Chinese app controlled by internet giant ByteDance, is understood to have told the government that the company is ready to set up data centres in India to store user information locally even as it denied any breach of user privacy and integrity, emphasising that its operations always adhered to local laws and regulations.
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Live updates: Maharashtra Class 10 results
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) is all set to announce the results of the Maharashtra SSC annual board examinations 2020 on the official website of the Board at around 1 pm today. Students who appeared in the MSBSHSE 10th Board Exam 2020 are advised to stay connected with the TimesofIndia.com to get all the latest updates on the result declaration, pass percentage, toppers list and other details.
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Live updates: Odisha Board Class 10th result
This year, around 5.34 lakh students appeared for the Odisha state board matric annual examinations 2020. Finally, all the students who are eagerly waiting for their result will be able to check their scores online on the official website of the Board.
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Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni are captains who like to listen: Suresh Raina
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Shooters, coaches disagree with NRAI, no training camp from Aug 1
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Pep Guardiola brought me to a different level: Leroy Sane
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CAS reveals Man City ignored UEFA investigation, but did not breach FFP
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Tour de France 2021 date swap avoids Tokyo Games clash
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Bihar election norms to be worked out: CEC
Amid demands to defer the Bihar assembly elections due to Covid-19, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora says all necessary preparations are underway, new SOPs are being brought out to ensure that ‘no voter is left behind’ and the election calendar will be worked out keeping in mind the pandemic-related concerns. Excerpts from an interview with Anubhuti Vishnoi.BIHAR POLLS AMID COVIDAll necessary preparations to conduct the Bihar elections in time are underway at the Election Commission of India, state and district level. The election schedule will be worked out keeping in view the logistics, weather, school calendar, security and pandemic status and with all related law and order authorities, health officials, national, state and district-level agencies. Necessary suggestions of political parties are taken into consideration. All the recognised parties have been asked to furnish their views by July 31. Meetings with agencies/ministries are already being held, besides regular reviews with local and central administration authorities.ENSURING TURNOUTA reassessment of procedures at various stages of the election is being worked out by a team of officials in the Commission. The SVEEP (systematic voter education and electoral participation) strategy is being modified to ensure that ‘no voter is left behind’. The ECI guidelines pertaining to electoral machinery, voters, political parties, candidates and other stakeholders are also being tweaked. We will step up the use of digital technologies in voter awareness, outreach and training. The Commission will make greater use of digital and media platforms, including bulk SMS, social media, television advertising, FM and community radio, NVSP (national voter service portal) and the Voter Helpline App. The Voters Guide will be updated to reflect the Covid imperatives.PREPARATIONSAll necessary preparations are underway. The ECI has directed the CEO, Bihar, to limit the number of electors per polling station to a maximum of 1,000 (as opposed to the current limit of 1,500) so that social distancing can be observed. CEO, Bihar, has already assessed and identified 33,797 additional polling stations to be created. This will reduce the average number of electors per polling station from 985 to 678. The commission has introduced measures like Booth App for better queue management. Related requirements of additional polling personnel (approx 1.8 lakh), sector officers, vehicles etc. have been worked out to cater to better management. CEO, Bihar, has been provided additional number of EVMs, including VVPATs. He has been directed to launch a campaign to enroll left-out citizens. This will help those eligible migrants, who would have returned to the state and are not registered as electors. The state has mapped 6,68,547 PwD electors.Optional postal ballot voting facility will be provided to those above 80 years, persons with disability, electors engaged in essential services as also Covid positive electors who are on home or institutional quarantine.At present, the work of First Level Check is continuing in all districts in the presence of representatives of political parties. CEO, Bihar, has conducted meetings with all concerned recognised political parties.VOTERS/POLLING BOOTHA booth size with 250 electors is not in the consideration of the Commission in view of the formidable logistical challenges of additional manpower and other resources. ‘DIGITAL’ CAMPAIGNSPolitical parties are the most important stakeholders in the election process after, of course, the electors. The commission is always open to meetings with representatives of political parties whenever they seek time or when we invite their suggestions. Campaigning is a major concern, so ECI is seeking their inputs. The Election Commission hasn’t prescribed any specific mode of campaign.
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May not be able to pay GST dues: Centre
NEW DELHI: The Centre is said to have told a parliamentary panel it may not be able to pay goods and services tax (GST) compensation due to states in the near future as tax collections have fallen due to the economic slump on account of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.The issue of GST compensation was raised by Opposition members of the standing committee on finance that met on Tuesday to deliberate on 'Financing the innovation ecosystem and India's growth companies'. The Opposition members also sought a discussion on the state of the economy.Finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra were among officials who appeared before the committee. They said the government is not in a position to clear all GST compensation dues in the near future as the economy is not robust enough to bear the cost, said people with knowledge of the matter. GST collections are likely to fall significantly as consumption has slumped due to the pandemic, the officials were cited as having said.In the first three months of the current financial year, the government collected Rs 1.85 lakh crore as GST, down from Rs 3.14 lakh crore in the year-earlier period. The compensation amount is supposed to be paid to states in bimonthly instalments.No timeline for clearing duesThe government had promised states it would make good any loss in revenue based on a pre-agreed formula for five years to get them to support GST, which was rolled out in July 2017. The steep fall in GST will raise the compensation amount.When asked if the government was trying to go back on its commitment to the states, the officials maintained that there are provisions in the legislation that allow the Centre to defer compensation payments to states when GST collections fall short, said the people cited earlier.The officials did not give any timeline for clearing the dues.The Centre has released Rs 1.65 lakh crore as GST compensation to states and union territories for FY20 against a cess collection of Rs 95,444 crore, the finance ministry said in a statement on Monday. For March 2020, the Centre released GST compensation of Rs 13,806 crore, thus clearing all dues to states for FY20, the statement said.The Centre has already expressed its inability to pay GST compensation to states in the GST Council and suggested market borrowings by the council to discharge this liability. The law ministry is examining the proposal that is likely to be taken up at the council's next meeting.Discussion on economyThe Opposition members demanded a structured discussion on the impact of the pandemic and the lockdown on the economy at the next meeting of the committee. Members emphasised that GDP projections in the Budget and plans envisaged in March do not hold now.Congress leader Manish Tewari had written to committee chairperson Jayant Sinha on July 16 raising the plight of 50 million inter-state migrants, expectations of negative growth and retrenchment across various sectors. He had said these issues should be discussed at the panel's July 28 meeting.In the two-hour meeting on Tuesday, Mohapatra and other officials spoke on the status of startups in the country, the flow of capital, including foreign direct investment (FDI), into these ventures, tax incentives provided by the government and related issues.
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Moderna's vaccine protects 16 monkeys from virus, 30,000 humans await
Moderna Inc.’s vaccine candidate against Covid-19 protected against the virus in a trial that inoculated 16 monkeys, an encouraging step on the path to a defense for humans against the pandemic.Two injections of the vaccine protected against heavy exposure to the virus at two different levels of dosage, Moderna said in findings published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The primates didn’t show any sign of creating enhanced disease, a problem that has occasionally been associated with vaccines.The results, if they hold up in humans, suggest that the vaccine may be able to protect against Covid-19 in both the upper and lower airways. In all the monkeys who got the high doses of the vaccine, no viral replication was detectable in their noses two days after being challenged with the virus, according to the study results. And no viral replication was seen in the lung fluid of 7 of 8 animals in both dose groups after being challenged with the virus. All 16 monkeys showed at least some sign of protection, with limited lung inflammation seen in the lungs of both groups.While the data is encouraging, a far bigger test is under way for Moderna, involving 30,000 humans. The phase 3 trial to determine the safety and efficacy of the vaccine will begin producing data in November or December. The vaccine uses messenger RNA, a synthetic form of genetic material from the virus designed to nudge the body’s immune system into attack mode. The U.S. government is providing $955 million to help fund the vaccine’s development.Moderna shares rose 2% to $81.49 at the close in New York. 77232074
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Realme C11 to Go on Sale Today at 12 Noon via Flipkart, Realme Website: Price in India, Specifications
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Wall St falls as virus hits consumer confidence
Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday as investors fretted about weakening consumer confidence, disappointing financial results and as investors worried about wrangling in the U.S. Congress over a coronavirus aid plan.Weighing heavily on the Dow were industrial conglomerate 3M Co, down 4.8%, after it reported a second-quarter plunge in demand across its businesses and McDonald's Corp, which fell 2.5%, after a surprisingly big drop in global same-store sales.Data released in the morning showed U.S. consumer confidence ebbed in July as coronavirus infections flared up across the country.As they waited on a stimulus package agreement and for quarterly reports in one of the busiest weeks in earnings season, investors were also anticipating the U.S. Federal Reserve's Wednesday wrap-up of its two day policy meeting."It's probably not a bad place to take some profits and rebuild some liquidity because any of those three events could lead to volatility," said Sameer Samana, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in St. Louis.Samana said "its going to be very hard for the Fed to surprise on the positive side."Meanwhile, Florida reported a record one-day rise in coronavirus deaths, and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark, stoking fears the United States was losing control of the outbreak.Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, called the consumer survey "unsettling" evidence that "individuals are increasingly concerned about the recent surge in coronavirus impacting their finances and their mobility."Feeding the fears, members of congress were sparring over a $1 trillion aid proposal from Senate Republicans announced on Monday, four days before millions of Americans lose unemployment benefits."There has to be tremendous compromise from both parties to get to some agreement," Luschini said, noting a congressional recess scheduled for August adds deadline pressure."It's particularly critical at this time since the market is really feeding off the largess that's been expended by fiscal and monetary authorities," he said.The indexes lost further ground late in the session after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said no coronavirus bill would be brought to the senate floor without legal liability protections for corporations, a measure opposed by the Democratic majority in the House of RepresentativesThe Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 205.49 points, or 0.77%, to 26,379.28, the S&P 500 lost 20.97 points, or 0.65%, to 3,218.44 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 134.18 points, or 1.27%, to 10,402.09.Materials, energy and consumer discretionary were the biggest percentage decliners of the S&P's 11 major sectors. Defensive real estate, utilities and consumer staples sectors were the only gainers.Another focus this week is results from Wall Street's trillion-dollar market value companies - Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc - as well as Facebook Inc.Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far this quarter, about 80% surpassed significantly lowered profit forecasts, according to Refinitiv IBES data.Pfizer Inc shares rose 3.9% after it raised its full-year forecast a day after it announced a pivotal global study to evaluate a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.25-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.97-to-1 ratio favored decliners.The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 22 new lows.On U.S. exchanges 9.28 billion shares changed hands compared with the 10.56 billion average for the last 20 sessions.
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Indian Navy steps up Indian Ocean operations
New Delhi: A strong message has been sent to China with deployment of Indian Navy in strength in the Indian Ocean Region, with top sources saying there is no reason for concern as far as PLA presence is concerned and the strategic Malacca strait is being kept under strict observation.As reported by ET, the navy and air force was pressed into action immediately after the Galwan clash on June 15, with sources saying operational warships have been at sea to consolidate presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).Sources said that coordinated action has been taken up by the three forces given the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and daily joint meetings are being conducted to monitor the China situation. The navy has heightened presence along the strategic Malacca strait from where a bulk of China’s energy supplies pass through, with sources saying warships as well as aircraft have been deployed.“These operations will continue, we do not know for how long but we will remain alert. This is not a passive response. The Chinese Navy has ships in the Gulf of Aden but there is nothing alarming about their deployment in the IOR,” a source said.77231842Sources said that while steps were taken to check on the PLA Navy’s intentions in the region after the clash, the Chinese side has been occupied in the South China Sea with current assets. “The two US aircraft carrier strike groups and the frictions with Japan and Taiwan has kept them contained to the South China Sea,” a source said.India is also embarking on a major plan to strengthen military infrastructure in the Andaman Nicobar islands. Without going into details, sources said that the islands will be of utmost importance in coming years to project power as China extends its reach into the Indian Ocean.“China sees itself as a global power. They don’t want to be limited by land disputes. Their ambition is the seas – and they requires resources and markets that are available in places like Africa. This means that they will significantly increase their presence in the oceans and will move westwards. We need to be ready to counter or match them,” another source said.India is also gearing up for an extensive exercise with the US and Japan in the Bay of Bengal under the Malabar series later this year, though the participation of the fourth member of the so called quad – Australia – is yet to be decided on. The Malabar series and similar exercises with Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Australia are part of the larger plan to check the growing Chinese influence and maritime activity in the region.
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Nepal: Prachanda holds meeting without Oli
New Delhi: The China-brokered peace deal between Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” encountered severe turbulence as Nepal Communist Party (NCP) executive chairperson Prachanda unilaterally convened a meeting of the powerful standing committee at the premier’s official residence in Kathmandu in Oli’s absence.The 45-member standing committee of NCP was scheduled to meet on Tuesday morning, but the meeting was postponed for the ninth time. However, in a dramatic move Prachanda convened the meeting in the absence of the PM. Standing committee members close to Oli did not attend the meeting.Oli had postponed the meeting without consulting Prachanda, ET has learned. About 25 standing committee members were present in the meeting. The two factions have hardened their positions once again. The Dahal faction is now demanding that Oli resign as party chair. Oli, however, has threatened to take stern steps if he is pressed to stepping down.Earlier, NCP vice chairman Bam Dev Gautam suggested a “middle path” approach to address the conflict between Oli and Prachanda.Gautam proposed that Oli be allowed to stay as PM for the remaining term of the House of Representatives, that is two and a half years, and chairman of the party until the unity general convention that Oli has proposed to hold by mid-December. Besides, he said, Prachanda should be given the responsibility as the NCP chairman with all executive powers until the unity general convention of the NCP is held.
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CBI vs CBI: Top officer hasn’t joined duty
A bench of CJI S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked, “How can you not join your place of posting?” His counsel Rajeev Dhavan said Bassi had challenged his “illegal” transfer to Port Blair and the court in January last year had asked him to approach the authorities against the transfer.
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Monday, July 27, 2020
12 stocks that can offer good returns over the next 2-3 weeks
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Gold rises 1% as softer dollar, stimulus bets fuel record run
Spot gold was up 1.1% at $1,963.91 per ounce by 0030 GMT after hitting a record high at $1,966.76 in early Asian trade. U.S. gold futures climbed 1.4% to $1,958.80.
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Sarfaraz Khan trains at Mohammed Shami's farmhouse
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Brazil sets Olympic camp in Portugal due to pandemic at home
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Playing against Jonty was always a challenge: Sachin
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IMD launches weather app for real-time updates and warnings across India
Called "Mausam", the app is aimed at the urban population and will provide realised weather features and forecasts for upto a week across the listed 450 cities. It will also show radar and satellite images, which were earlier visible only on IMD's website.from Tech-Economic Times https://ift.tt/3f7FIiL
Reliance picks up stake in Zivame
MUMBAI|NEW DELHI: Reliance Brands has bought out the stake of Ronnie Screwvala-owned Unilazer Ventures in leading lingerie retailer Zivame and is in talks with other partners to take full control of the firm.People close to the development said Reliance Brands, which sells several premium and luxury labels such as Jimmy Choo, Tiffany, Diesel and Mothercare in India, could pay up to $160 million - or about Rs 1,200 crore - for acquiring Zivame. Zodius Capital and Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad will exit the firm, these people added."The deal is as good as done," a person with direct knowledge of the matter told ET. "Reliance would be buying 100% stake in the company," he said.Reliance Brands and Zivame did not respond to emails seeking comments till press time Monday. Emails to Zodius and Khazanah Nasional Berhad went unanswered.In an emailed response to ET, Unilazer Ventures founder Ronnie Screwvala said his company had sold its entire 15% stake in Zivame to Reliance Brands last week.Zodius is the largest shareholder in Zivame with about 60% stake. Khazanah Nasional Bhd owns about 25%. 77211205Zivame holds substantial market share in the premium lingerie category but its expansion plans and fundraising have been hit by the Covid-induced lockdown. It was looking to raise $50 million by the end of last year, but the deal couldn't be completed.Zivame wanted to expand the number of stores from 35 to 60 by FY20. It posted revenue of Rs 140 crore in FY19 and was hoping to cross Rs 250 crore in revenue in FY20, ET had reported on September 26 last year.Acquiring Zivame could give a boost to Reliance's plans to offer multiple shopping and buying options to customers.Founded in 2011 by Richa Kar, Zivame also sells products under categories such as beachwear, active wear, and other apparel products and accessories. According to its website, the company has 30-plus retail stores and a presence in more than 800 partner stores across the country.
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Investing has turned political, globally: Bob van Dijk
Geopolitical tensions across the world have led to investing becoming political which is unfortunate, Bob van Dijk, the group chief executive of Naspers and Prosus, one of the largest technology investors in the world, told ET in an exclusive interaction.His comments come in the backdrop of a global backlash against Chinese technology firms, including ByteDance-owned short video platform TikTok, because of data security issues.India banned 59 Chinese origin apps last month, including TikTok, and there have been reports suggesting that the United States could follow suit, amid a larger US-China trade war that has been raging between the two countries for some time.Elaborating on the impact of country-wise groupings that pit US and Chinese technology companies against each other, van Dijk said, "Foreign investors are a great source for stimulating local economies and growth. We are a global company - neither Chinese nor US - and we have always worked through local entrepreneurs, keeping jobs local which has served us well..."Naspers was an early investor in Chinese technology behemoth Tencent and gained prominence as a tech investor globally on the back of the stupendous returns it generated from the Pony Ma-founded company."I cannot speak for Tencent, as they make their own investments and decisions...We have always made sure that we keep the jobs, decision making and the IP creation local. That's always been good for us," said van Dijk.As for India, the South Africa-based group ploughed $500 million in the previous financial year, taking its overall investment in the country to $5 billion since 2014.It has bet on food delivery platform Swiggy, educational technology company Byju's, among others. It also owns and operates fintech venture PayU and classifieds firm OLX here.India, van Dijk said, will remain the group's top investment destination. "In India, we've felt welcome as an investor for a long time - being supported to bring not only capital but also knowledge - and I really want to commend Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and Piyush Goyal (commerce and industry minister) on making doing business easier...," he said.Last year, Prosus, spun off from media and internet conglomerate Naspers, was listed in Amsterdam. The new entity houses all the consumer internet assets of the group, including its holdings in Indian companies such as Swiggy, Byju's and social commerce startup Meesho, among others.The Indian internet ecosystem has seen a major shift recently, with Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Platforms scooping up about $20 billion from the likes of Facebook, Google and a dozen other marquee investors.While Jio has been an impressive company - more so with its new investments - innovation will come from startups, said van Dijk, adding companies that directly compete with Jio may need to worry going forward."If you look at the investments we've done in India, it has always been in companies that are great founder-led businesses, which pushed innovation and executed well locally. And, in my experience, a lot of value creation happens through innovation and typically by startups... very few large companies manage to truly innovate...," he pointed out.When asked if the Reliance-Facebook-Google collective would deter the group from doubling down on India, van Dijk said, "If you're directly competing with a product coming out of the Jio portfolio, then it may be something to scratch your head over, because they are formidable. If I look at our businesses, I don't think they compete directly with what they run today, so I'm less focused on it..."On the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on various portfolio businesses, van Dijk said the effect has been varied depending on their geographic presence, while recoveries have also been different depending on supply chains and operational complexities of each country."What we have seen across most of our businesses is a fairly solid recovery once the most immediate lockdowns were lifted...In India, we saw recovery in digital payments and classified, but food has been slower, but in the long-term, we will see an accelerated shift in people's behaviour online - whether it is payments, buying products or delivery services," he said.Swiggy, where Prosus owns around 40% stake, has been severely hurt by the Covid-19 led lockdown while food-delivery businesses have excelled in the United States and Europe. Prosus is a shareholder in Germany's Delivery Hero and owns a controlling stake in Brazil's iFood.
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Concentration risk on the rise with only a few stocks performing
ET Intelligence Group: The depth of the equity market is shrinking even as the benchmark indices are on an upward swing. The share of the ‘A’ group companies, which represent the popular and liquid stocks, in the BSE’s market capitalisation rose to a record high of 93.7 per cent in the first four months of FY21 compared with an average of 84 per cent in the last two decades, according to the data from the stock exchanges.The market cap of the ‘A’ group stocks grew by 32 per cent, while that of the ‘B’ group stocks rose by around 16 per cent during the period. The ‘A’ group of companies reported a 9.5 per cent annual increase in their market cap over the past decade, much higher than the 5.2 per cent growth of their ‘B’ group counterparts.The concentration risk among large caps is rising as a handful of stocks are driving the index momentum. The Nifty gained nearly 47 per cent from the March 23 lows led by Reliance Industries and Infosys. The two stocks accounted for half of the total points added to the Nifty during the period.77210950The other 45 Nifty constituents that have earned returns since March 23 contributed just 1-3 per cent each to the index’s gain. In addition, the proportion of the non-delivery trades reached 70 per cent in July 2020, the highest in 12 years, reflecting a sharp rise in speculative trades.
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RBI governor remains non-committal on moratorium
Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das remained non-committal on both moratorium and a loan-restructuring scheme despite conflicting demands from lenders and industry. The governor on Monday called for an infrastructure stimulus and said that any subsidy has to be through direct benefit transfer.In an interaction organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh made a representation to the governor for not extending the moratorium beyond August 31. “We see that even those who can pay — whether individual or corporates — are taking advantage of the moratorium and not repaying, and it is hurting us. There is some talk that the moratorium is going to be extended, our request is that it should not be done,” said Parekh. Parekh called for a restructuring of loans to prevent a financial crisis. “According to RBI’s projections, NPAs (non-performing assets) could be 12.5-14.7% next year. If restructuring is not given and banks, NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) and microfinance companies with this kind of NPAs will see their ratings come down, they will not have access to funding and we will have a major crisis,” said Parekh. He added that a similar restructuring was provided in 2008 and is needed to avoid a bigger problem.77207973Das, however, remained non-committal but said that all suggestions are being noted. Parekh’s plea was in contrast to a representation made by Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman and past president of CII, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, calling for an extension of the moratorium. “Given the stress in the economy and the huge pressure, the moratorium extension should be seriously looked at and considered,” he said. Mittal also called for a relaxation of foreign borrowing norms to help corporates tide over liquidity issues.
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Moderna, Pfizer eye yr-end Covid vaccine launches
The trials, both announced on Monday, are the first late-stage studies supported by the Trump administration's effort to speed development of measures against the novel coronavirus, adding to hope that an effective vaccine will help end the pandemic.
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BCCI shares detailed plan for IPL 2020 in UAE
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Liverpool's Klopp wins LMA 'Manager of the Year' award
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5G trials: Stiff contest awaits Jio globally
Mumbai: Reliance Jio will face stiff challenges as it enters the 5G club and offers its product to operators globally, with rivals Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson ahead in developing the technology and in filing patents, experts said.“Jio is the latest entrant in 5G technology and its competitors like Huawei, Ericsson and Qualcomm have had a head start. It will take Jio some time to catch up with its rivals,” said Nirupam Lodha, a partner at L&L Partners who specialises in patent laws.Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said in mid-July that unit Jio had developed its own 5G technology, which supports faster mobile connectivity.“This made-in-India 5G solution will be ready for trials as soon as 5G spectrum is available and can be ready for field deployment next year,” Ambani said. “Once Jio’s 5G solution is proven at India-scale, Jio Platforms would be well positioned to be an exporter of 5G solutions to other telecom operators globally, as a complete managed service.”Jio, which started operations in 2016, has filed for 134 patents of which 29 have been granted. In its latest annual report, the Mukesh Ambani-led telco said Jio had filed for 31 patents in FY20 alone and was granted 10.Experts said competitors have the first-mover advantage.“Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung would already have acquired patents with regard to components underlying the 5G technology. With already existing patents, it would be formidable for Jio to pace up,” said Advait M Sethna, a specialist in IP telecom and constitutional law.The effort is time-consuming as components related to 5G and many processes would already have been patented.“Even if Jio enters into assignment and licence agreements with the existing companies for using their patented technology, these companies would have an upper edge. This is the challenge Jio is likely to face until it carves a niche in the 5G space in the Indian market,” Sethna said.Jio didn't respond to ET's emailed queries 77210825Huawei said in an email to ET that it was the “top patent-holder for 5G technology worldwide. We held 20% of all 5G patents till June 2020.”Huawei faces huge challenges in deploying its 5G technology in some markets amid charges of cyber snooping due to its alleged links with the Chinese state and army, accusations that the company has denied. It has been barred in the US, and in the UK from 2021, while its participation in 5G deployment in India is under a cloud. This may prove advantageous to Ericsson and Nokia and open a window of opportunity for Jio.Finland’s Nokia said it holds more than 3,000 patents that are essential for 5G.Sweden’s Ericsson said it spends 17% of its sales on R&D every year and has an India focus as well.“We have quite a significant number of national entry applications covering different technologies, including 5G, filed in India,” Ericsson said, without specifying how many 5G-related patents it holds.However, some experts said Jio still has a strong chance in the 5G race.“It depends on Jio’s patent strategy - whether it is product patents or process patents or combinations of both, and also what is the technical edge over others - depends on their tech portfolio completely,” said Aditi Verma Thakur, a partner at IndusLaw who specialises in intellectual property rights and patents. “If Jio’s portfolio is strong, then it can catch up with global competitors.”
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July brings cheer to job seekers
MUMBAI: Is India seeing a sharp recovery in the jobs market? Early indicators in July suggest green shoots in some employment segments with a rise in active and fresh openings following on from a trough in June. For the first time in four months, the Indian job market has seen an increase in open positions with close to 150,000 listed in July, going by data from official company pages on LinkedIn and direct postings on top job boards. That’s a recovery from June, which saw a dip in jobs to 130,000 open positions from 200,000 in April and 167,000 in May, according to an analysis by specialist staffing firm Xpheno for ET. Nearly 65% of these active openings in July were either published or refreshed over the last two weeks, another indicator of companies resuming hiring activity after a pause during the lockdown to control Covid-19 and the consequent economic slump. Early July data show all sectors are adding active openings to listings by 12-18% from June levels. 77211157“If the trend continues for the rest of July and sustains for August, we will be possibly looking at the first V-shaped recovery graphs in the job market,” said Xpheno cofounder Kamal Karanth. Prominent employers with active openings for the month include Accenture India, Wells Fargo, IBM, Mphasis, Citi, Wipro, Infosys, Capgemini and Amazon India, the data showed. Health tech, ed tech, ecommerce and healthcare are on the leader board for now among sectors that nearly dodged the slowdown or registered a quick recovery. The early recovery sectors where hiring activity is rising faster than others are automobiles, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, energy and pharmaceuticals, showed the data. “Pharma and healthcare have started showing green shoots of recovery… Once the lockdown is lifted by various governments, this is one sector that will show a sharp V-shaped revival,” said Yashwant Mahadik, president, global HR, Lupin. “We are hiring for all critical functions like marketing, sales, manufacturing, quality and R&D.” India imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 with restrictions being eased in stages from May. However, localised disease outbreaks have forced states to implement shutdowns in these areas.“Nearly 100+ new hires and 90+ summer interns have joined the company recently,” said PM Srinivas, head of human resources for Procter & Gamble in the Indian subcontinent. “We are also continuing to accept and process applications for full-time job opportunities.”GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is hiring people for the field, sales and digital departments. “We are continuing with our hiring plans and will continue to strengthen our teams in field force, digital and ecommerce,” said Priyank Parakh, director, human resources, GSK Consumer Healthcare. “In fact, we continued to export talent from India into roles abroad and have hired new people to fill in the vacancies.” The top hiring sectors continue to be software, internet-enabled services, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and information technology (IT) services. They were hiring even during the lockdown and have accelerated now.“Our client interactions suggest sentiment is getting better, especially in sectors such as consumer goods, retail, healthcare, pharma and ecommerce,” said Anurag Malik, partner, people advisory services, EY India. The most-advertised IT positions are project/programme managers, tech leads, software engineers, cloud solution architects, automation specialists, full stack developers and security specialists. The most advertised non-IT positions are business development managers, presales executives/pre-sales managers and marketing specialists. Close to 44% of active openings for the month are from the top five metropolitan cities. Bengaluru leads the pack with 18% of the openings. Hyderabad follows with 8%, Chennai at 7%, Delhi at 6% and Mumbai continuing to trail at 5%. Hyderabad registered the biggest growth in active openings in July, toppling Delhi to take the second position on the listing.
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Stiff competition awaits Reliance Jio as it takes 'made-in-India' 5G tech to the world
Mumbai: Reliance Jio will face stiff challenges as it enters the 5G club and offers its product to operators globally, with rivals Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson ahead in developing the technology and in filing patents, experts said.“Jio is the latest entrant in 5G technology and its competitors like Huawei, Ericsson and Qualcomm have had a head start. It will take Jio some time to catch up with its rivals,” said Nirupam Lodha, a partner at L&L Partners who specialises in patent laws.Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said in mid-July that unit Jio had developed its own 5G technology, which supports faster mobile connectivity.“This made-in-India 5G solution will be ready for trials as soon as 5G spectrum is available and can be ready for field deployment next year,” Ambani said. “Once Jio’s 5G solution is proven at India-scale, Jio Platforms would be well positioned to be an exporter of 5G solutions to other telecom operators globally, as a complete managed service.”Jio, which started operations in 2016, has filed for 134 patents of which 29 have been granted. In its latest annual report, the Mukesh Ambani-led telco said Jio had filed for 31 patents in FY20 alone and was granted 10.Experts said competitors have the first-mover advantage.“Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung would already have acquired patents with regard to components underlying the 5G technology. With already existing patents, it would be formidable for Jio to pace up,” said Advait M Sethna, a specialist in IP telecom and constitutional law.The effort is time-consuming as components related to 5G and many processes would already have been patented.“Even if Jio enters into assignment and licence agreements with the existing companies for using their patented technology, these companies would have an upper edge. This is the challenge Jio is likely to face until it carves a niche in the 5G space in the Indian market,” Sethna said.Jio didn't respond to ET's emailed queries 77210825Huawei said in an email to ET that it was the “top patent-holder for 5G technology worldwide. We held 20% of all 5G patents till June 2020.”Huawei faces huge challenges in deploying its 5G technology in some markets amid charges of cyber snooping due to its alleged links with the Chinese state and army, accusations that the company has denied. It has been barred in the US, and in the UK from 2021, while its participation in 5G deployment in India is under a cloud. This may prove advantageous to Ericsson and Nokia and open a window of opportunity for Jio.Finland’s Nokia said it holds more than 3,000 patents that are essential for 5G.Sweden’s Ericsson said it spends 17% of its sales on R&D every year and has an India focus as well.“We have quite a significant number of national entry applications covering different technologies, including 5G, filed in India,” Ericsson said, without specifying how many 5G-related patents it holds.However, some experts said Jio still has a strong chance in the 5G race.“It depends on Jio’s patent strategy - whether it is product patents or process patents or combinations of both, and also what is the technical edge over others - depends on their tech portfolio completely,” said Aditi Verma Thakur, a partner at IndusLaw who specialises in intellectual property rights and patents. “If Jio’s portfolio is strong, then it can catch up with global competitors.”
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July brings cheer to job seekers; V-shaped revival likely in employment if trend continues
MUMBAI: Is India seeing a sharp recovery in the jobs market? Early indicators in July suggest green shoots in some employment segments with a rise in active and fresh openings following on from a trough in June. For the first time in four months, the Indian job market has seen an increase in open positions with close to 150,000 listed in July, going by data from official company pages on LinkedIn and direct postings on top job boards. That’s a recovery from June, which saw a dip in jobs to 130,000 open positions from 200,000 in April and 167,000 in May, according to an analysis by specialist staffing firm Xpheno for ET. Nearly 65% of these active openings in July were either published or refreshed over the last two weeks, another indicator of companies resuming hiring activity after a pause during the lockdown to control Covid-19 and the consequent economic slump. Early July data show all sectors are adding active openings to listings by 12-18% from June levels. 77211157“If the trend continues for the rest of July and sustains for August, we will be possibly looking at the first V-shaped recovery graphs in the job market,” said Xpheno cofounder Kamal Karanth. Prominent employers with active openings for the month include Accenture India, Wells Fargo, IBM, Mphasis, Citi, Wipro, Infosys, Capgemini and Amazon India, the data showed. Health tech, ed tech, ecommerce and healthcare are on the leader board for now among sectors that nearly dodged the slowdown or registered a quick recovery. The early recovery sectors where hiring activity is rising faster than others are automobiles, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, energy and pharmaceuticals, showed the data. “Pharma and healthcare have started showing green shoots of recovery… Once the lockdown is lifted by various governments, this is one sector that will show a sharp V-shaped revival,” said Yashwant Mahadik, president, global HR, Lupin. “We are hiring for all critical functions like marketing, sales, manufacturing, quality and R&D.” India imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 with restrictions being eased in stages from May. However, localised disease outbreaks have forced states to implement shutdowns in these areas.“Nearly 100+ new hires and 90+ summer interns have joined the company recently,” said PM Srinivas, head of human resources for Procter & Gamble in the Indian subcontinent. “We are also continuing to accept and process applications for full-time job opportunities.”GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is hiring people for the field, sales and digital departments. “We are continuing with our hiring plans and will continue to strengthen our teams in field force, digital and ecommerce,” said Priyank Parakh, director, human resources, GSK Consumer Healthcare. “In fact, we continued to export talent from India into roles abroad and have hired new people to fill in the vacancies.” The top hiring sectors continue to be software, internet-enabled services, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and information technology (IT) services. They were hiring even during the lockdown and have accelerated now.“Our client interactions suggest sentiment is getting better, especially in sectors such as consumer goods, retail, healthcare, pharma and ecommerce,” said Anurag Malik, partner, people advisory services, EY India. The most-advertised IT positions are project/programme managers, tech leads, software engineers, cloud solution architects, automation specialists, full stack developers and security specialists. The most advertised non-IT positions are business development managers, presales executives/pre-sales managers and marketing specialists. Close to 44% of active openings for the month are from the top five metropolitan cities. Bengaluru leads the pack with 18% of the openings. Hyderabad follows with 8%, Chennai at 7%, Delhi at 6% and Mumbai continuing to trail at 5%. Hyderabad registered the biggest growth in active openings in July, toppling Delhi to take the second position on the listing.
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Realme Narzo 10 to Go on Sale in India Today via Flipkart, Realme.com: Price, Offers, Specifications
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Banks can't fund infra projects: RBI Guv
Industry has to find new ways to fund infrastructure projects as banks struggling with bad loans would not be able to fund them, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das told an industry gathering organised by CII on Monday. According to estimates of NITI Aayog, the country would need around US $4.5 trillion for investment in infrastructure by 2030. “On financing options for infrastructure, we are just recovering from the consequences of excessive exposure of banks to infrastructure projects,” Das said. “Non-performing assets relating to infrastructure lending by banks has remained at elevated levels. There is clearly a need for diversifying financing options.” Das hailed the setting up of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and said that it was a major strategic policy response in finding new ways to finance infrastructure projects. 77210655Das also suggested a new North-South, East-West expressways and rail lines alongside, he said the state governments must stop cross subsiding electricity and instead should move to direct benefit transfer schemes. “As in the case of the golden quadrilateral, a big push to certain targeted mega infrastructure projects can reignite the economy,” the governor said. “This could begin in the form of a north-south and east-west expressway together with high speed rail corridors, both of which would generate large forward and backward linkages for several other sectors of the economy and regions around the rail/road networks.” Both public and private investment would be key to financing our infrastructure investments, Das added. Das argued that India has progressed significantly in creation of physical infrastructure in the last few years, which he supported by several statistics. Road construction has increased from 17 kms per day in 2015-16 to close to about 29 kms per day in the last two years. India is the third largest domestic market for civil aviation in the world with 142 airports. On airport connectivity, India ranked 4th among 141 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report, 2019 of the World Economic Forum. In telecommunication, the overall tele-density at end of February 2020 was 87.7% while the growth of internet and broadband penetration in India increased at a rapid pace.
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Sunday, July 26, 2020
F&O data hint at overbought market, blue chips lend support
Mumbai: A key indicator in the equity derivatives segment is pointing to an overbought market after a rally of 49 per cent in the India’s benchmark indices from their March lows.The PCR or put call ratio touched 1.87 on July 21. On Friday, the ratio stood at 1.73 — still near extreme levels — which indicates complacency among participants at the higher levels.Put call ratio is a popular technical indicator.Analysts said a higher PCR is usually positive, but a much higher PCR is giving signal that the market is overbought.“We are in the expiry week, which might be one of the reasons for higher PCR. People write puts on the expectation that the market won’t go down in the few days before expiry. If put writing is happening, it means participants don’t expect market to go down. Buying in heavyweights like Reliance is giving confidence that market won’t go down,” said Chandan Taparia, derivatives analyst at Motilal Oswal. “Much higher PCR indicates caution,” he said.The level (PCR by OI) of 1.87 on July 21 was the highest since April 30 this year, when it touched 1.89. When the PCR hit 1.89 levels this year, the Nifty slipped to 9,050 level from 9,900 level in one month, said analysts. Similarly, PCR by open interest touched 1.89 levels on January 23, 2018 after which the Nifty dropped from 11,100 to 10,100 in three months, said analysts.“Put writers are aggressive and it means that people are confident that the market will remain strong. Participants believe the downside will be capped and have written 10,700-11,000 put strikes,” said Rajesh Palviya, head — technicals & derivatives at Axis Securities. “Call options data show writing at 11,500. However, when such aggressive put writing becomes visible, sometimes, participants become cautious when such easy money is to be made. This why the market is correcting from the top in the last one or two days,” said Palviya.Some analysts believe that the market would remain stable in the expiry week, but caution could set in at higher levels.“When PCR comes to this range the market tends to correct. This time, FII money is coming as dollar has broken the one-and-half year low, the dollar index is below 96, so the market should be stable in the coming week. But if 11,500 is hit, then caution will come into the market,” said Amit Gupta, head of derivatives at ICICIdirect.
from Economic Times https://ift.tt/30NhepH
from Economic Times https://ift.tt/30NhepH
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