PEOPLE NEWS: November 2020

Monday, November 30, 2020

Redmi Note 9 4G China Model May Launch as Redmi 9 Power in India; Poco M3 India Variant Leaked Online

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Plans to Step Down January 20

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Facebook, Google, More Tech Giants to Face Digital Tax in Canada in 2022

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Facebook, Google Becoming 'Human Rights-Free Zones' in Vietnam: Amnesty International

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India's factory recovery stumbled in Nov

India's manufacturing recovery faltered in November as coronavirus fears weighed on demand and output, prompting firms to cut jobs for the eighth month in a row, a survey showed.Asia's third-largest economy and the second most affected country by the pandemic contracted 7.5% in the July-September quarter, compared to a record 23.9% slump in the previous quarter amid some signs of a recovery in manufacturing, official data showed on Friday.But the Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index , compiled by IHS Markit, declined to 56.3 in November from October's more than a decade high of 58.9, although it is well above the 50-level separating growth from contraction for a fourth month.Sub indexes tracking overall demand and output indicated robust growth but rates of expansion were the weakest in three months."Although the softening of rates of expansion seen in the latest month does not represent a major setback, since these are down from over decade highs in October, a spike in COVID-19 cases and the possibility of associated restrictions could undermine the recovery," noted Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at IHS Markit."Companies noted that the pandemic was the key factor weighing on growth during November, with COVID-related uncertainty also restricting business confidence."Recent resurgence in infections in some parts of the country pushed local governments to reimpose some restrictions on mobility, threatening the recovery.Millions have already lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts since the pandemic started and manufacturing firms reduced headcount for the eighth month in a row, a streak not witnessed since the survey began in March 2005.Meanwhile, the strongest rise in input costs since August forced firms to increase selling prices at the quickest pace in nine months, indicating overall inflation would remain above the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 2-6%.That would limit the RBI's room to ease monetary policy further.Optimism about the coming 12 months waned for the first time in six months despite rising hopes on the progress of coronavirus vaccines, which has boosted global stock markets to record highs.

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Escorts Agri Machinery sales surge 33% in November

New Delhi: Farm equipment manufacturer Escorts Agri Machinery on Tuesday reported a 33 per cent rise in tractor sales to 10,165 units for November 2020. The company had sold 7,642 tractor units in November last year. Domestic tractor sales increased 30.9 per cent to 9,662 units, against 7,379 sold in November 2019. "The dealer and depot stocks continue to be low. Stock correction in the coming months would continue to push the industry upwards, supported by healthy water reservoir levels and a good harvest," Escorts Agri Machinery said in a regulatory filing. The company said the supply chain is still volatile but should improve going forward. "We have taken a price increase this month to pass on the inflation in the commodity prices," the company added. Tractor export in November 2020 stood at 503 units, against 263 in the same month last year.Untitled Carousel 79491447 79504500

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Toothpaste sales see uptick following increase in demand for specific-use flavours

MUMBAI: Specialisation, which has been driving growth for consumer goods, is now showing a marked increase for one of the most mundane products in the market — toothpaste. Need-based offerings are showing a sharp uptick. These include addressing tooth sensitivity, whitening or with herbal and ‘natural’ flavours.As a result, the market is fast moving from generic all-in-one toothpastes to more need-based offerings such as whitening, mint & herbal flavours, and those that address sensitivity. This is in line with global trends where specialty toothpastes are being developed, while some have been repositioned in the beauty/lifestyle category.Toothpaste, with a market size of around Rs 10,000 crore, is one of the most highly penetrated products and is growing at 2-3%. A case in point for specialisation is the sensitivity category, growing five to six times faster than the overall oral health category. 79501786Tapping this potential, GSK Consumer Healthcare is expanding its flagship brand Sensodyne with a specialised oral health care product Polident — a denture care fixative. “Across categories, consumers today are looking for products that cater to their specific needs vs offering all-in-one benefits. The same is true for the oral health category with toothpastes as well. Over time, preference has shifted to toothpastes with a sharply defined benefit proposition — sensitivity relief, freshness and so on. Sensodyne has tapped into this trend to define the sensitivity segment over the last 10 years,” GSK Consumer Healthcare area marketing lead (OH) Anurita Chopra told TOI. Similarly, the ‘natural and ayurvedic’ sub-segment of the toothpaste market is growing at a faster clip. As against this, the overall oral care category grew by around 5% in Q2 of 2020-21. “We are seeing a marked shift in consumer demand for ayurvedic and herbal toothpastes with consumers increasingly seeking natural value-added remedies for their oral hygiene needs. During Q22021, Dabur reported a growth of 24% in our toothpaste business with our flagship brand Dabur Red Paste seeing strong double-digit growth. Our Babool and Meswak brands also reported double-digit growths. We have now expanded our oral care portfolio with the launch of Dabur Dant Rakshak Ayurvedic toothpaste. On a quarterly basis, our volume market share has increased by 90bps (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) in Q2 2020-21 to reach 16.4%, which is our highest ever market share in the toothpaste category,” Dabur India CEO Mohit Malhotra said. The need-based or functional categories in oral care are growth drivers for a while now. “These toothpaste categories — gel-based, ‘natural or herbal’ and those addressing sensitivity — have been outperforming the market, and will corner a larger share over the next few years. The trend started in the late ’80-’90s with consumers taking a fancy to gel-based toothpastes, then herbal or ‘natural’ toothpastes became popular. The growth is attributed to smart advertising and marketing by companies, and the trend of premiumisation being witnessed in oral care, similar to what’s happening in consumer goods in general,” said ICICI Securities research head Manoj Menon.

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I'm no hero, says F1 medic who helped save Romain Grosjean

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Amazon, Apple Stay Away From New French Initiative to Set Principles for Big Tech

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Facebook Buys Online Customer Service Startup Kustomer

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Bitcoin Jumps to All-Time High of Over $19,800 Amid Increased Demand

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Sergio Perez says he has options to return to F1 in 2022

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Voda award issue discussed with PM Modi

NEW DELHI: The arbitration award to Vodafone by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the long-standing tax dispute was recently discussed at the highest level of the government as the deadline to appeal against the verdict approaches.While there is a strong view within the administration that the award should be challenged at the Singapore-based appellate tribunal, no final decision has been taken yet, said people familiar with the development.The issue was discussed at a recent meeting where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present. The government has time till December-end to appeal against the award and another meeting is likely to be held soon to finalise a response, said these people.A final call on the issue would be taken after examining all pros and cons, including the legal ramifications and impact on investment sentiment.Some experts are of the view that India should not appeal against the arbitration award as it would send a positive signal to foreign investors and close the vexed Vodafone retrospective tax issue that has dogged successive governments since 2012.But the dominant feeling within the government is that the award should be challenged as it questions India’s sovereign right to tax.Taxation a Sovereign RightThis award will also set a precedent for future taxation issues to be raised under the India-Netherlands bilateral investment promotion agreement and similar treaties. New Delhi’s position is that taxation is a sovereign right that cannot be challenged under bilateral investment treaties.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has backed an appeal against the award.The government is also considering the implications of a soon to be announced verdict in another arbitration case involving Cairn Plc as it makes up its mind on the Vodafone matter. This case has been filed under the India-UK bilateral investment protection agreement and if Cairn wins the award, the tax authorities will have to return Rs 11,000 crore to the company.As India is bound to contest such a verdict on the grounds that bilateral investment treaties don’t encompass tax disputes, it would look strange if it took a different view in the Vodafone case, said people familiar with the matter. 79502318Retrospective DecisionsWhen the NDA government had assumed office in 2014, it had signalled its opposition to retrospective decisions on the tax front. In his first budget speech in July 2014, then finance minister Arun Jaitley had said while the government had the right to undertake retrospective legislation, it had to be exercised with extreme caution.At The Economic Times Global Business Summit in 2018, he had described the Vodafone retrospective tax decision as an erroneous one and said his government would not take up such matters.But policymakers say the current decision will revolve around the specific issue of whether tax disputes can be adjudicated under bilateral investment pacts and not on the larger issue of retrospective taxation.The Vodafone tax dispute has been festering since 2012 when finance minister Pranab Mukherjee amended income tax rules to nullify a Supreme Court ruling in favour of the telecom company. The ‘retrospective amendment’ made Vodafone liable to pay a total of Rs 20,000 crore, including penalties to the tax authorities. This liability, according to the tax department, arose because the $11.2 billion Vodafone-Hutchison Essar deal in 2007 was subject to capital gains tax, and Vodafone should have withheld tax.Subsequently, the UK company initiated arbitration proceedings and an international arbitration court on September 25 this year ruled that the Indian tax department was in breach of “guarantee of fair and equitable treatment” under the bilateral investment treaty. The company was entitled to protection under the accord, said the arbitration court.Govt Liability at Rs 85 croreThe Indian government’s total liability in the Vodafone case following the ruling stands at about Rs 85 crore. If it does not challenge the award and win its appeal in the tribunal, the income tax department may have to refund the Rs 45 crore already collected toward the tax levy and £4.3 million (about Rs 40 crore), which is 60% of the tribunal’s administrative costs.The government on November 17 had sought more time from the Delhi High Court in an ongoing tax case with Vodafone saying that a decision on appeal against the arbitration award will be taken by an empowered committee of the cabinet. The high court will now hear the matter on December 8.This case deals with the government’s appeal against a single judge bench order that had allowed Vodafone Group to initiate second arbitration proceedings under the India-UK Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

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Nokia, Ericsson want PLI scheme to cover past investment too

New Delhi: Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson want India to include their existing manufacturing-related investments in the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme, which was recently announced by the government for telecom and networking products. The scheme is expected to support and incentivise exports from India, similar to the plan which has kicked off for the mobile handset industry. The European telecom gear vendors also want India to focus on bringing the component ecosystem under the new scheme, which aims at giving sops of nearly Rs 12,200 crore. “Cost levels in India productions are a little higher than other countries, so I really welcome this kind of a policy which is coming up to provide incentives for local manufacturers because that really helps the Indian economy,” Sanjay Malik, the India market head for Nokia told ET. “The whole policy framework is known at a very high level... We are also awaiting details. but there’s only one appeal from my side that it (scheme) should be looking at providing these incentives for future as well as for the past investment.” Ericsson’s India head Nitin Bansal also said that “investments that are already made should also be considered in some way under the PLI scheme”. Both gear vendors have given commitment to their largest client, Bharti Airtel, that all 5G equipment will be locally manufactured. Ericsson and Nokia manufacture telecom gear in India through respective facilities in Pune and Chennai. Both companies also export telecom equipment, including 5G gear, to other countries.

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Vodafone Idea likely to lose up to 70 million subscribers over next year: Fitch

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea (Vi) is expected to lose 50-70 million subscribers in the next 12 months after haemorrhaging 155 million subscribers in the last nine quarters, Fitch Ratings said, adding that Reliance Jio Infocomm could net more than half of Vi’s subscriber losses, with Bharti Airtel bagging the rest. “We expect Bharti and Jio to increase their combined revenue market share to 80% (it was around 74% by September) in the next 12-18 months,” Fitch Ratings said on Monday. In the second quarter, Airtel added 14 million subscribers — double that of Jio's seven million. Vodafone Idea is rapidly losing market share given its weak balance sheet and limited financial flexibility. Fitch said Vodafone Idea's plan to raise about $3.4 billion through a mix of equity and debt is unlikely to restore its competitive position and reverse subscriber losses, as it would still be insufficient capex. 79498837 Vodafone Idea has so far paid about $1.1 billion of its total $8.9 billion dues required to be paid to the telecom department as adjusted gross revenue (AGR).Outlook on Airtel Fitch Ratings on Monday also affirmed Airtel’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at ‘BBB-’. The outlook on IDR is negative. It also affirmed Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV’s senior unsecured guaranteed bonds at ‘BBB-’ and Network i2i Limited’s subordinated perpetual bond at ‘BB’. Fitch, however, added that the negative outlook does not reflect its view of Bharti's underlying credit profile — which has been improving due to strong growth in the Indian and African wireless operations — but rather the heightened probability that India's country ceiling (BBB-) could be lowered to ‘BB+‘. “Such an action would constrain Bharti’s IDR and senior issue ratings to BB+."“"We forecast Bharti’s (FY21) funds from operations (FFO) net leverage to be 2.2x-2.4x, below the threshold of 2.5x above which we will take negative rating action, the agency said in a release. “We expect Bharti's FY21 revenue and Ebitda to rise by around 17%-25%, on improvement in the Indian wireless market and continued strong growth in African markets,” Fitch said. It added that Airtel’s Indian wireless Ebitda is expected to rise 40-50% in FY21, led by 15 million subscriber additions and monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) improvement of 10%-12%. The agency also expects Airtel to generate small positive free cash flow in FY21 on flat core capex, lower interest costs and the two-year moratorium on the payment of existing spectrum dues, which will defer about $840 million in each of FY21 and FY22. “We expect FY21 as absolute core capex will most likely be flat at ₹210-220 billion (FY20: ₹221 billion), ignoring one-time payments for spectrum assets,” noted the ratings agency.

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Negative real rates push savers to overheated stocks

Mumbai: Indian savers rarely have had to brood over eroding values of their fixed deposits unlike their Western counterparts. While interest rates in India have not been cut to the near-zero levels as in the advanced economies, the Reserve Bank of India’s latest experiment with negative real interest rates, in an attempt to jumpstart the economy, is forcing squirrels out of their burrows. Result: They are dipping their toes into shares that have hitherto been ignored by the markets — and even out-of-favour residential properties.Real rate is the return that a security earns over inflation. Currently, the safest banks offer around 5% for one-year fixed deposits, while the consumer inflation in October was at 7.6%. So, the current real rate of return — before taxes — is -2.6%, which essentially means inflation is eating away at the value of savings. Effectively, negative real rates punish cash hoarders.So how are savers reacting? The concept of real rates is alien to most small-time savers, who are oblivious of the impact of higher inflation on savings rates. That said, the sharp decline in interest rates by banks is already hurting savers — mainly the retired. The more affluent and knowledgeable are, however, churning their portfolios to include assets that would help them keep up with the price spiral.The shift is to higher risk products. For instance, October witnessed a flood of outflows from safe liquid mutual fund schemes by institutional and well-heeled investors to some other debt categories. The current annual returns from liquid schemes are 3-3.5%, which makes real returns -4-4.5%. Rich investors who parked their money in deposits and safe debt mutual funds are moving some of this money into stocks. The beneficiaries of this shift have been the battered mid- and small-cap stocks. Investors are willing to up their allocations to equities even after the record-breaking run because of the assumption that flows from global funds are unlikely to reverse for now. Some wealth managers have been asking their clients to buy shares of battered public sector companies with dividend yields of as high as 10.5% as a substitute to low-yielding fixed deposits. In short, RBI’s experiment of smoking the squirrels out is forcing money to move around. When a central bank keeps the real rates wafer-thin or in the negative zone, the intention is to push savers to spend and lift the economy out of the slump. It is too early to conclude that people are en masse breaking their deposits and spending but they are certainty looking to make their make their money work harder.The real success for the RBI will, however, be when the negative real rates manage to move the needle in the comatose real estate market. A revival of this sector is considered crucial for kickstarting activity on the ground. The experiment worked well in the US in 2008-09, when the Fed brought in negative real rates in response to the collapse of the economy following the global financial crisis.While the government has been exhorting developers to clear their inventories, wealthy investors are scouting for opportunities in the affordable housing space, which is where the opportunities are as the Work From Home (WFH) format and low interest rates are expected to attract homebuyers in far-flung suburbs. Unlike savers, borrowers benefit from negative real rates. But since these are early days, the rush is still missing.Investors, who are not keen on being early birds in the sector, are combing the stock market for opportunities linked to a rebound in real estate.The best bet on the segment would be the property developers themselves but options here are sparse with most listed companies being in the luxury market - or laden with scary amounts of debt. So, they are looking for close substitutes such as housing finance companies and segments that cater to the construction of properties despite worries about some of their health.The stock market looks overheated at current levels but unattractive interest rates continue to make equities look appealing. But it also means that the stock market could increasingly become vulnerable to inflationary pressures. That could be one of the reasons investors are now looking for a margin of safety in the equity investments rather than opting for the growth theme at any cost.For its negative real rate experiment to work, RBI would be less worried about asset-price inflation compared to real inflation.

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Wanted: Batsmen who can bowl for India

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Skipper Finch backs Starc to rebound after torrid start

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Premier League: Fulham shock Leicester to escape relegation zone

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Premier League: West Ham ride their luck to beat Aston Villa

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Barcelona schedule presidential election for January 24

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As cars roll out of factories, companies dole out increments

Mumbai: Leading Indian carmakers are spreading the cheer of an unexpectedly strong revival in demand during the August-October festive season among employees by doling out increments after several gloomy months for the industry triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.Utility vehicle and tractor major Mahindra & Mahindra is handing out increments to employees effective December. Normally the company announces its increments on August 1 but it was deferred this time due to the pandemic and consequent uncertainties.“With a reasonable amount of normalcy restored, we’ve decided to go ahead with annual increase now,” said Rajeshwar Tripathi, CHRO at M&M. “Our increments will be effective December onwards and will not be backdated,” he added.Other market leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, Royal Enfield, TVS Motors, Hyundai, Kia and MG Motors have also been handing out annual increments to employees over October and November.Maruti Suzuki announced salary increments across cadres in October, said R Uppal, senior executive director for HR and IT.“Our merit-based salary increments along with the performance-based variable payouts were well above the industry average and were made for all associates from workmen to senior management,” said a Hero Motocorp spokesperson. “Around 15% of our employees were also elevated to the next level,” the official said.79498699The payouts are aimed at “bringing in a sense of positivity and motivation” among employees during uncertain times.“During such trying and uncertain times, it is necessary to take care of the employees,” said Tripathi.What has prompted companies to take this step is the fact that the market has recovered sooner than expected amid pick-up in rural demand and entry level passenger cars as well as two-wheelers. Auto sales grew 17% in the last three months and companies are making sure employee morale stays high.“Auto companies, which had taken stringent measures due to cash flow issues, are now reversing salary cuts, giving increments and bonus,” said Kavan Mukhtyar, partner & leader, Automotive, PwC.However, truck majors Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors are holding back increments this year.“We are not looking at increments for the year,” said Balachandar NV, president - HR, Ashok Leyland.“Tata Motors does not plan on giving increments this year,” said a top company official, who does not wish to be identified. The company paid bonuses to its employees in September. “There are two types of discussions taking place with our auto clients – while the ones in the entry level passenger vehicle and two wheeler spaces are the ones that are seeing a rebound and giving out the increments, those in the commercial vehicle space will take a view only from April,” said Ryan Lowe, partner, people advisory services, EY India. “Many CV manufacturers did not give out increments even last year and we are working with them now and a call will be taken only from April,” he added.Commercial vehicle sales were down 20% for the quarter ended September 2020.HR heads and compensation experts said the disruption caused by the pandemic will impact the quantum of increments and may not be the same across the board. “Hikes will be in 5-8% range. Top performers will take a greater share,” said Lowe.

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Look, how smart investors are making money on futures-spot mispricing

Mumbai: High net worth individuals (HNIs), ultra-HNIs and even informed retail investors have lapped up trades that offer annualised returns of between 15 per cent and 54 per cent by buying futures contracts and simultaneously selling underlying shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank, MRF, Bajaj Finance and Shriram Transport Finance Company that have seen heavy cash-based buying recently due to MSCI inflows running into billions of dollars.Termed reverse arbitrage, the trades exploit spot-futures mispricing due to supply-demand factors like the recent MSCI rebalancing-induced heavy cash buying, or corporate actions that lead to heavy futures selling due to anticipated fall in cash market shares. The trades in the current context offer risk-free monthly spreads or returns of 1.2-3.6 per cent. On an annualised basis, the returns gross 15-16 per cent and 54 per cent in one case. Kotak Mahindra Bank December 31 futures last traded at a Rs 23.3 a share discount (1.24 per cent monthly spread) to the spot price of Rs 1885.3, MRF futures were at a 2.11 per cent discount, Shriram Transport Finance (3.64 per cent) and Bajaj Finance (1.28 per cent). While Kotak Bank and MRF were inclusions into the MSCI India Index, Bajaj Finance and Shriram Transport Finance attracted buying on anticipated weightage increase.The constituents entering into such trades either own significant quantities of the underlying shares or have access to the exchange's stock lending and borrowing (SLB) platform. On the SLB, she can borrow the share for a fee from a counterparty, besides placing a 125-150 per cent cash margin against the borrowed shares.“The MSCI rebalancing has opened a reverse arb (arbitrage) opportunity, which is being exploited by arbitrageurs and other informed participants," said Rajesh Baheti, MD, Crosseas Capital.Normally, equity futures trade at a premium to the underlying spot price — called cash and carry arbitrage. That is because the futures price equals spot price plus cost of carry, which is nothing but the interest rate to fund the purchase of shares minus dividend earned.In the event of higher demand for cash shares relative to futures or heavy selling of futures due to anticipated fall in cash price, the carrying cost turns negative, opening an opportunity to buy the futures and sell cash shares.As spot and futures prices converge at or near expiry of a derivatives series, the trader pockets the pricing differential. At this stage the trade is reversed -- futures are sold and cash is bought back.“This is an event-based trade that aims to exploit mispricing between futures and spot for handsome, risk-free returns," said Chandan Taparia, analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.“It's a no-brainer trade for those in the know," added Rajesh Palviya, derivatives head, Axis Securities.Such has been the buying frenzy in cash shares that Kotak Bank in the past seven sessions through November 27 saw delivery to traded volumes of 52-65 per cent against the three-month daily average delivery volume of 47 per cent. For MRF, delivery volume on November 27 alone was 67 per cent against the three-month daily average of 33 per cent. In Bajaj Finance, the past five days saw delivery to traded percentage at 19-56 per cent against the three-month average of 16 per cent. For Shriram Transport, Friday itself saw delivery volume of 60 per cent against the three-month daily average of 19 per cent.“Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the active MSCI names," said Abhilash Pagaria, senior manager, Edelweiss Alternative Research. "On SLB, proprietary desks borrowed and sold stocks to take advantage of the reverse arb opportunity."Brokers expect much of the MSCI related buying to have concluded by Friday as the global index management company announced on November 10, the rebalancing of the indices.

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Sunday, November 29, 2020

Xiaomi Mi 11, Mi 11 Pro Tipped to Debut in January

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Bank licence row: An insider clears the air

Sachin Chaturvedi wears many hats. He is the director general of think tank RIS and is also on the RBI's central board. He was also part of the internal working group (IWG) set up by the RBI to revisit bank licensing norms. In an interview with TOI, he explains the thinking behind the recommendations. Excerpts:A lot of attention is currently focused on the entry of the corporate sector into banking. Did you expect this kind of a reaction?The reactions are on two or three different planes. One is focusing on the entry of large corporate houses. There are quite a few reactions that are welcoming the new scope for capital infusion in the banking sector, they are welcoming the efforts on enriched regulatory architecture and they are also trying to bring out the fact that the report has not just covered the architecture for universal banks but also the mechanisms needed for differentiated banks like small finance banks and payments banks. There is a need for a mix of institutional architecture and governance models to deliver what is required.A ex-RBI governor, two former CEAs and a former finance secretary are among those who are critical about the entry of corporate houses...Entry of private banks will not happen for the first time with this report. This has been the case since 1993. The provisions and requirements of various rounds of licensing have not been uniform. They reflect regulatory preferences of those times. Harmonisation across those guidelines is important, particularly when there is a new confidence for a $5-trillion economy and a new buoyancy in the economy. After 1993, the efforts to strengthen and regulate the private sector banks were made in 2001 and later in 2013, when we talked about the NOFHC (Non-Operative Financial Holding firm) to support the banking structure. In 2016, we made an effort to further insulate it.How do you safeguard corporate houses promoting a bank lending to its own group companies?We have suggested revisiting the fit-and-proper criteria. We have said that financial conglomerates getting into banking should have a structure NOFHC to come through and that companies should be regulated through RBI guidelines and necessary legislative framework. Third, the other entities of the conglomerate should not be in a similar area of business. Fourth, there should be prior RBI approval for any transactions that have to take place in the same entity. Fifth, there are suggestions to ease the regulatory structure for NBFCs to become banks and for banks to have an exit option. For equity dilution, we have proposed structures where we do not disincentivise those who are venturing into setting up a bank. But once they are there accountability should not be compromised. So, the sixth suggestion is the timespan for dilution and capping of voting rights and listing requirement. Seventh is not just redefining fit and proper criteria but also defining the base capital.

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From mining to manufacturing, companies boost gender diversity

MUMBAI: India Inc has quietly progressed on the gender diversity front in spite of the pandemic. Engineering firm ABB, Hindustan Zinc (HZL), Sun Life Asia Service Center (ASC) and leading direct selling FMCG major Amway have improved upon their gender diversity numbers significantly this year through proactive hiring of women candidates.Zurich-based ABB, which underwent a transformation from a power and manufacturing company to a technology and automation company two years ago, has seen its diversity numbers increase to 14% in October this year from 9% in 2018. A traditional set-up in manufacturing can make it extremely challenging for women to consider this segment as a career option. ABB India CHRO Raman Kumar Singh said it’s challenging to fill up positions with a woman candidate due to a smaller pool of women in manufacturing. “A big inflection point for us was to bring a shift in thinking. Once we have communicated that a certain role can be done by a woman, we seek more time to look for the right candidate,” Singh said. ABB created ownership and visibility of the agenda among business leaders through diversity and inclusion councils. It worked with leaders from each division where the women workforce is mostly present in support functions. This year, 60% of hiring was done by ABB from campuses and 20% were hired laterally. 79482167At Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc, CHRO Kavita Singh had to first get the basics in place. Emphasis was laid on setting up women-friendly toilets at every mining site and forming women councils. Today, there are seven women councils at HZL. These cover 39 women employees who are being groomed to take up front-end operational and leadership roles. Over a hundred senior leaders have been identified to mentor 200 women leaders.The percentage of women at HZL has increased to 15% currently, from around 10% two years ago. “There are always opportunities and means to get existing leaders to create space for those who are ready to move in,” said Singh. Today, the first ‘second-class mine manager’ for underground mining in India is from HZL. “Six more such women leaders are in the pipeline,” said Singh, who worked by breaking myths around mining jobs to recruit a large number of entry-level women engineers. “The target now is 30% diversity by 2025,” she added.Across the industry, global in-house trends indicate that diversity ratios are fairly healthy at the entry level, while these tend to drop at mid-managerial and beyond. At Sun Life ASC, 41% of the total new hires this year were women. The company has raised its diversity ratio for this year from 19% to 30% at director levels and 35% across the board. Sun Life ASC CHRO Rajeev Bhardwaj said, “We have directed serious efforts towards both intentional hiring at senior level and also developing leadership potential for our mid-senior female managers. Globally, Sun Life has a target of 40% women for our leadership positions. Consequently, we decided to open specific roles only for women and leveraged a targeted candidate pool to convert to hires.”For Amway, which has 5.5 lakh direct sellers, diversity numbers favour women. The business attracts women talent given that such jobs can be done on a part-time basis. When it first entered India in 1998, more men gravitated towards Amway’s business model. Back then, Amway had 60% of men working in the business. The tables have now turned with the percentage of women at Amway touching 70% today. “Women are the gatekeepers for health and hygiene products. Being consumers themselves, women naturally gravitate towards such businesses. Nearly 65% purchase decisions are made by women,” said Amway India CEO Anshu Budhraja.

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Jan Dhan accounts, direct cash transfers from government boost ATMs in rural areas

BENGALURU: With Jan Dhan accounts and the government’s direct benefit transfers (DBT), ATM usage has gone up in rural areas. This is most clearly seen by the trend of increased usage of ‘white-label operators’ ATMs, which are used only in rural and remote parts of the country. From just 2 per cent of total ATM transactions in India in 2014, these white-label ATMs now make up 12 per cent of total transactions.ATM players say that the main reason for this is that over seven years, the number of debit cards in India has doubled to 86 crore as of September 2020. And of those cards, 35 per cent (30 crore) are RuPay ones issued to PM Jan Dhan Yojana accounts. 79482864“We are seeing rural demand growing despite the pandemic. One of the reasons is that the rural economy has not been as severely impacted as the urban one with the lockdown,” says K Srinivas, CEO, BTI Payments, a white-label ATM operator. The government’s assistance to BPL workers during the pandemic is also held to have helped in part the industry take a quantum leap from 9.5 per cent in September 2019 to 12 per cent in September 2020.India’s ATM industry has grown 3 per cent to 2.5 lakh ATMs, while white-label ATMs grew 14 per cent to 24,195 as of September 2020. The higher growth percentage of white-label ATM (WLA) operators is an indication of rural growth but its not limited to that — banks have also been expanding in rural regions. However, the ATM industry numbers (3 per cent growth) do not reflect that as the expansion was offset by the 10-PSU-bank merger plan, which led to closure of ATMs in urban areas. “The rural economy is certainly growing on the back of direct benefit transfers. We have seen that in rural branches — majority of customers are using Yono app or ATMs, and come to branches only for non-payment/ fund-transfer transactions,” said Abhijit Mazumdhar, CGM, Karnataka circle, SBI, which has 58,762 or roughly a quarter of the country’s ATMs.Untitled Carousel 79007049 79348823

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Watch: Wolves' Raul Jimenez taken to hospital after horrible head knock

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RBI may keep policy rates unchanged

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to keep interest rates unchanged and reiterate its accommodative stance in this week’s monetary policy review, buoyed by good news on the economic front, said investors and traders. But it could also cite concerns about inflation, which has stubbornly remained above the prescribed target range. The monetary policy committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet on December 2-4.Bankers will watch out for any guidance on how the RBI plans to manage the record excess liquidity in the financial system, which has distorted market conditions and led to a drop in short-term rates. Some companies are borrowing at rates lower than the RBI benchmark.“Liquidity is in an excess territory and frankly gone out of hand and could lead to inflation in the future,” said DBS Bank head of treasury Ashish Vaidya. “A part of this is due to the dollar buying by the RBI which has infused cash into the system.”79483825‘Downside Risks to Growth Remain’“It will help if they clarify how they are going to restore nomalcy but given the fact that RBI has never addressed its forex strategy, we must not expect anything on that count,” said Vaidya.In its earlier reviews, RBI has guided that rates will be kept low for much of the next fiscal year. That guidance may be reiterated but with due caution in relation to India’s rising inflation.The latest data show that India’s retail inflation rose to the highest in more than six years on account of elevated food prices. The consumer price index (CPI) rose to 7.61% in October — the highest since May 2014 and up from 7.27% in September — led by food prices and above the 6% outer band set by law.However, the central bank has committed to ensure growth and for now will look through the high inflation, the experts told ET.In his speech at the Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India annual day last week, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das pointed to demand sustainability and Covid-19 infections that pose downside risks to growth.“We need to be watchful about the sustainability of demand after festivals and a possible reassessment of market expectations surrounding the vaccine,” Das said. “Even as the growth outlook has improved, downside risks to growth continue due to recent surge in infections in advanced economies and parts of India.”His comments came just before data showed that India’s GDP contracted 7.5% in the September quarter from the year earlier, marking a rebound from the June quarter’s 23.9% shrinkage. Still, this meant India is officially in recession for the first time since the government started publishing quarterly GDP data in 1996.‘Food Inflation may Hit Demand’High inflation will delay further monetary policy easing, said IndusInd Bank chief economist Gaurav Kapur.“There is a risk of food inflation becoming more generalised and dragging consumption, which the MPC members will be carefully monitoring going forward,” Kapur wrote in a note last week. “Moreover, with growth out-turn better-than-expected, (this) would also provide time for the MPC to see through temporary food price pressures and assess inflationary conditions beyond November, as food prices seasonally witness easing from December onwards on fresh crop arrivals.”Kapur said any further easing may now only happen in the next fiscal year.Bankers expect a lower inflation print for November that will ease further in December due to the statistical base effect and softening of food prices.“We can still expect one more cut of 15 to 20 basis points next quarter if inflation eases closer to 6%. The RBI has done well to manage long-term yields but it is the short term that has fallen sharply,” said Punjab National Bank head of treasury Sanjaya Wasan. “But the central bank may not be too worried about the short tenure since it wants to keep long-term rates low to boost growth.”

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Gautam Gambhir criticises Virat Kohli for 'T20' type of captaincy in 2nd ODI

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Large banks may move RBI to tweak loan rejig rule

Large lenders may soon impress upon the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the need to tweak a rule to make it easier to rejig loans to companies impacted by the pandemic-induced slowdown. In several cases, such a change will spare companies hit by Covid-19 the stigma attached to a nonperforming asset (NPA) as well lower provisioning for banks. This would call for recognising the months between the ‘invocation of the resolution framework’ (for one-time restructuring of a loan) and its ‘implementation’ as a standstill period.“This may help more banks as well as borrowers to take up one-time restructuring of loans… It will be all the more relevant once the Supreme Court lifts the stay on classification of loan assets,” a senior banker told ET.According to the regulations, the loan resolution process announced by RBI to address Covid-related stress is invoked when lenders representing 75% by value and 60% by number agree to restructure a loan. Unlike normal restructuring under earlier regulation, a loan to a Covid-hit borrower continues to be standard even with restructuring. Such restructured loan would attract a provisioning of 10%, which is lower than 15% and 25% provisioning for secured and unsecured loans that turn NPA.79483722However, if a loan slips into NPA —or, becomes 90-day overdue — after the invocation date, the account is categorised as NPA and lending banks are required to make higher provisioning.On implementation of the one-time loan restructuring — which has to be completed within 180 days from the date of invocation — the account can be upgraded to ‘standard’ (from NPA). Nonetheless, the rule requires banks to continue with the higher provisioning which kicked in when the account slipped into NPA category.“Banks want a status quo on the asset classification. This means not categorising an account as NPA in the intervening period (from invocation date to implementation date) even if there is a slippage, and making a provision of 10% upon implementation…Today, banks are not classifying loans as NPA following the Supreme Court direction, but they will have to do it once the stay is lifted. The issue has been discussed among bankers…It was recently flagged off for some companies which are going in for restructuring but may become an NPA before the restructuring process is over. Banks may ask RBI whether these companies can be considered as standard at the close of the December quarter,” said another banker.According to another banker, not too many companies are going for loan restructuring — partly because they do not want it to be recorded in their credit history, and partly due to the stiff conditions laid down by the Kamath committee. “Also, few promoters are ready to chip in capital and give personal or corporate guarantee. Banks too are reluctant in cases where they sense that companies which may be standard account on the day of invocation (as is required) but slip into NPA soon after that,” he said. According to the regulatory timeline, the resolution framework should be invoked not later than December 31, 2020; and, lenders have to reach an intercreditor agreement within 30 days of invocation.The resolution process has to be completed within 180 days from the date of invocation. “Even if the Supreme court takes longer to lift the stay, bank auditors may insist on higher provisioning once an account becomes NPA,” said another banker.

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Saturday, November 28, 2020

Need to intensify efforts to address all causes of anemia: Healthcare experts

NEW DELHI: Healthcare experts have stressed on the need to intensify efforts to address all causes of anemia for accelerating decline in its prevalence among all age groups in a mission mode.According to the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey, approximately half of the women of the reproductive age group are anemic and 41 per cent of preschoolers, 24 per cent of school–age children and 28 per cent of adolescents are reported to be anemic.The government's Anemia Mukt Bharat programme has been designed to decrease anemia by three percentage points per year among children, adolescents and reproductive age women between 2018 and 2022.Iron folic acid tablets and de-worming are its main measures. Drawing attention to the impact of anemia on health of children and women, the experts said that there is a need for intensifying efforts to address all causes of anemia for accelerating decline in anemia prevalence among all age groups in a mission mode using a multi-pronged strategy rather than scattered programme.Kapil Yadav, the additional professor at Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS said severe anemia during pregnancy significantly contributes to maternal mortality and morbidity."There is evidence that severe anemia also increases perinatal morbidity and mortality by causing intrauterine growth retardation and preterm delivery. Anemia in adolescent girls affects their physical work capacity and reproductive physiology," he said.He noted that the two most promising interventions to aid anemia control in the country in the current scenario are use of parenteral (non-oral means of administration) iron for moderate to severe anemia and food fortification. "Parenteral use of iron overcomes the drawback of side effects and compliance and bio availability currently faced by oral iron folic acid. Food fortification is also one of most sustainable solutions to the problem of micronutrient deficiency," he said.Sheila Vir, public health nutrition expert and founder director of Public Health Nutrition and Development Centre, said anemia persists primarily due to newborns being born to anemic mothers with low storage of iron which depletes rapidly after six months unless appropriate food is fed to young children from six months onwards, low intake of iron against requirements, worm infestation and malaria in endemic regions and poor water, sanitation and hygiene.Increasing dietary diversity and enhancing bioavailability of the dietary iron by increasing the enhancers in the diet and reducing the inhibitors, addressing poor sanitation and providing iron through medicinal supplementation can be among measures to control nutritional anemia.Praven Kumar, the director professor, Department of Pediatrics, Lady Hardinge Medical College, said anemia is a serious public health problem in India which can be tackled with better implementation of different components of 'Anemia Mukt Bharat'."Anemia Mukt Bharat has well defined, evidence based interventions. A lot can be achieved with better implementation of different components of AMB," Kumar said.

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Authorities mum adverse event in vaccine trial

More than a month and a half after an adverse event occurred in a clinical trial in India of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the regulator for vaccine trials, has not issued any statement on the occurrence. It also did not respond to queries about whether it has completed its investigation to determine if the trial participant’s illness was related to the vaccine. Serum Institute, which is partnering the pharma MNC and Oxford University for producing the vaccine in India, has also refused to comment.This is in sharp contrast to AstraZeneca and Oxford University going public when one of the trial participants in the vaccine trial in the UK fell ill and halting the trial till an independent safety monitoring board and UK’s regulatory authority gave safety clearance.Information about the occurrence of the serious adverse event (SAE) during the vaccine trial in India came from the family of the trial participant, which has sent the company and the regulators a legal notice.Serum Institute merely stated that it would issue an official statement next week. AstraZeneca had issued a statement within days of the trial participant in UK falling ill and halted the trials across the world in the UK, Brazil and South Africa. The trial was resumed within a week after the independent safety review committee and national regulators gave clearance.The Indian Council of Medical Research is a co-sponsor of the trial along with Serum Institute. Dr Samiran Panda, who heads the Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases (ECD) division of the ICMR, stated that the protocol was for the principal investigator at the trial site to first investigate why the adverse event had occurred followed by an enquiry by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the trial site, Sri Ramachandra Medical College (SRMC), Chennai.“We cannot intervene as we are one of the sponsors of the trial and it should not seem like we are trying to influence the process, which would be inappropriate. We have informed the drug controller general of India (DCGI) about the development and the DCGI’s report on whether the adverse event was related to the vaccine is awaited,” explained Dr Panda. According to the ICMR, it is for the DCGI to take a call on whether or not to halt the trial. The DCGI heads the CDSCO.The 40-year-old trial participant, a business consultant with an MBA from New Zealand who says he took part in the trial deeming it his duty to help such an important venture, was administered the vaccine at SRMC on October 1. Eleven days later, he woke up with a severe headache, and progressively lost his memory, showed behaviour changes, became disoriented and was unable to talk or recognise his family members, according to the legal notice.As soon as he fell ill he was admitted to the ICU in SRMC. “We did a battery of tests to find if there was any linkage to the vaccine, but we did not find any. We provided all medical care free of cost till October 26 when the family said they were dissatisfied with the treatment and got him discharged and took him home. They brought him back a couple of times for follow up but have not been in touch after that,” said Dr S R Ramakrishnan, the principal investigator at the trial site. He added that the institutional ethics committee also did not find any connection to the vaccine, but admitted that they were unable to determine why he had become so seriously ill. The family has questioned how a healthy person declared fit enough to take part in the trial could become so severely ill if it was not due to the vaccine.“Though the legal notice we have served talks of a compensation of Rs 5 crore, our focus is not on monetary compensation. It was sent just last week, more than a month after the occurrence when we saw that none of the authorities was making the adverse event public. They ought to have warned other participants so that they could watch out for similar symptoms. We want to know why the occurrence of the adverse event has been kept under wraps and why the trial was not halted like it was done in the UK. Is an Indian life of less value than that of an UK citizen?” asked a close family friend who has been helping the family cope with the illness.In India, the trial for the study to check the safety and immune response of the Covishield vaccine is happening across 17 sites. It enrolls only healthy volunteers and enrolment started in the last week of August.

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Normal operations of Dredging Corporation of India Ltd impacted due to COVID-19 induced lockdown

NEW DELHI: The normal operations of Dredging Corporation of India Ltd have been impacted in a number of ways as COVID-19 induced lockdown impeded conducting surveys, the company said in its annual report.The coronavirus situation led to imposition of lockdowns, regimented deployment of manpower leading to shortages at the work sites and yards, inordinate delays in import of emergency spares which are required to carry out the scheduled dry-docks, closure of workshops, lack of OEM support, logistic constraints and risks of virus infections, the company said.It also imposed unusual delays in both dry-docking/running repairs in yards, impeded conducting surveys and resulted in postponement of securing new work orders, the annual report for 2019-20 said.Some of the vessels became either non-operational or operated at suboptimal efficiencies in 2019-20 as also in 2020-21.Notwithstanding constraint, the management has taken a number of measures in the last three months and will continue to take best possible steps to keep the operations, it said."A definitive assessment of the impact on business is highly dependent upon the circumstances as they evolve. The management is monitoring the situation closely," the report said.Dredging Corporation of India Ltd is a premier dredging company engaged in the business of dredging. It is involved in maintenance dredging, capital dredging, beach nourishment, land reclamation, shallow water dredging, project management consultancy and marine construction.

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