GameStop and Other ‘Meme Stocks’ Hyped by Social Media Bots, Analysis Shows

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3b0zhzc

Russia Launches Its First Arctic-Monitoring Satellite Arktika-M

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3uJx82s

ET Wealth | Should you stop VPF?

Till a month ago, Nitin Aggarwal had no reason to alter the simple investment strategy he has followed for years. The Hyderabad based IT professional puts Rs 20,000 in equity funds and pours Rs 45,000 into the Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) every month. “The VPF gives me 8.5% tax free returns, the highest for any fixed income instrument,” he says. However, the Budget proposal to tax the interest earned by contributions exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh a year could change this simple structure. Along with the mandatory contribution of Rs8,500, Aggarwal’s total monthly contribution to the Provident Fund is Rs 53,500, or Rs 6.42 lakh in a year. From April, the interest earned by Rs 3.92 lakh will get taxed, reducing Aggarwal’s returns to 5.85%. Since Rs 2.5 lakh contributed by him will still earn 8.5% tax free returns, his overall return from the Provident Fund will fall to 6.9%. “I am exploring other options that can give me better returns than 5.85%,” he says.His concern is shared by millions of Provident Fund subscribers. Only a small percentage of EPF subscribers have salaries high enough that their mandatory contribution breaches the annual threshold of Rs 2.5 lakh. But a large number of subscribers put more than the mandatory 12% of basic in this tax-free haven. An online survey conducted by ET Wealth shows that one out of two subscribers use the VPF to invest more than the mandatory amount in the Provident Fund. Also, over 51% of the 3,578 respondents contribute more than Rs 2.5 lakh a year and will, therefore, get impacted by the new tax that is proposed to kick in from April.The tax will impact middle and high income PF subscribersOne out of two respondents contributes more than the mandatory 12% of basic pay to Provident Fund. 81240501A caveat: online surveys are skewed towards middle and high income groups and leave out a large section of blue-collar workers who form the biggest chunk of subscribers to the Provident Fund. So, our survey represents the opinions of EPF subscribers from the middle and upper income groups.Many subscribers would reconsider investing in VPF now 81240529The findings support the Finance Ministry assertion that high salaried subscribers are pouring in large amounts into the tax-free haven. The figures are mind boggling. According to one news report, the 20 biggest subscribers have stashed away Rs 825 crore in their Provident Fund accounts. The largest account has more than Rs 100 crore, which means it is earning more than Rs 8.5 crore tax-free interest every year. That’s more than Rs 70 lakh tax-free interest earned every month. 81240537Two other accounts have more than Rs 85 crore each, which earns them over Rs 7.2 crore tax-free interest every year. Assuming these three individuals are in the Rs 5 crore income slab where the effective tax rate is 42.7% after the 37% surcharge, the government loses more than Rs 10 crore in tax on the Provident Fund interest that accrues to them every year. 81240546By putting a Rs 2.5 lakh cap on the contribution that will earn tax-free interest, the Budget has effectively brought down the shutters on this tax-free haven. It is a clever move, because it affects only the creamy layer of the salaried class.The respondents to our survey are across income levels, with less than 5% earning over Rs 1 crore a year and a little over 12% earning between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore. Even so, a significant 7% of the respondents put in more than Rs 12 lakh a year in the Provident Fund, with a tiny minority (2.8%) putting in more than Rs 24 lakh. Game over for VPF?Like Aggarwal, many contributors to the VPF are now exploring other options that can give them higher returns. Almost 74% of respondents to our survey say they will restrict their Provident Fund contribution to Rs 2.5 lakh a year and invest the remaining in some other investment option. That’s because the interest on the Provident Fund contributions above the threshold will be treated as income and taxed at the marginal rate applicable to the individual. In the 20% tax bracket (income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh), the returns will fall slightly to 6.7%. But in the 30% tax bracket, they will fall to 5.85%. For those in higher income brackets, the returns will be even lower. Those in the C-suite drawing more than Rs 5 crore a year will earn only 4.87% on their Provident Fund. 81240554Is this the end of the road for the VPF? Not really. Experts believe that though the new tax will pare the returns, the VPF still works out to be the best investment option in the fixed income space. “Other fixed income options such as bank deposits and bonds are offering 6-6.5%. Their post-tax returns are not comparable with what VPF will give,” says Archit Gupta, CEO of tax filing portal Cleartax.com. The RBI Savings Bonds launched last year are offering 7.15% but the interest is fully taxable. Investors should focus on the small savings schemes that are still tax free. “VPF investors who don’t have a PPF account should open one immediately. If one has a daughter below 10 years, one can go for the Sukanya scheme,” says Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, Capital Via Global Research. 81240571Some analysts believe that the new tax will make subscribers shift from the Provident Fund to market-linked or equity-based instruments. This may not happen, because someone who contributes a large amount to the Provident Fund generally has a low risk appetite. The perception of risk is not likely to change just because returns have come down. The biggest draw for the 26% respondents who want to continue with the VPF is the safety of their money, followed by the high post-tax returns and assured returns (see graphic). 81240576Even so, individuals should consider other saving options such as the NPS. “VPF investors should reduce the self contribution to the Provident Fund to Rs 2.5 lakh and invest the rest in NPS where they can claim additional tax deduction and potentially earn higher returns,” says Sudhir Kaushik, Co-founder of tax filing portal Taxspanner.com. Indeed, the tax benefits offered by the NPS can boost the returns for investors. “Instead of investing Rs 50,000 in the VPF, if the same money is put in the NPS, an investor can lower his tax by Rs 10,000-15,000,” says Kaushik.In the higher reaches of the income pyramid, where surcharges push up the effective tax rate to up to 42.7%, the returns from the Provident Fund contributions will fall to below 5%. For such individuals, the NPS benefit under Sec 80CCD(2) can be especially very bountiful. Under this section, up to 10% of basic pay put in the NPS by the employer is tax free. But as our survey shows, more than 72% of the respondents willing to explore such an option have already opted for this.Not many VPF investors are comfortable with NPS because it is a market linked product and the income is not entirely tax free. While 60% of the corpus is tax free on maturity, the remaining 40% has to be put in an annuity to earn a monthly pension that is fully taxable. VPF investors, on the other hand, are used to guaranteed returns and want tax-free income.With the VPF now losing its tax-free status, life insurance companies may see this as an opportunity to hawk guaranteed income plans. The returns of these plans are low but there are other benefits. There is no limit to how much you can invest and the income is fully tax free under Sec 10(10d) if the life cover is at least 10 times the annual premium. Also, unlike the Provident Fund rate which could come down in later years, the maturity corpus guaranteed under an insurance plan will not change.Some investors in the very high income groups, where the post-tax return from VPF is below 5%, may find these plans worthwhile. But keep in mind that an insurance plan is a multi-year commitment and will need to be continued for the full term. Stopping midway could lead to lapsation of policy or slapping of surrender charges.Another possible alternative to the VPF can be debt funds. If held for more than three years, the gains from debt fund investments are treated as long-term capital gains and taxed at 20% after indexation. Indexation takes into account the inflation during the holding period and accordingly adjusts the acquisition price upwards which lowers the tax. But bond yields have come down quite sharply in the past 1-2 years and may not move down from here. The yield to maturity of most debt funds is now close to 5-6%. This means a prolonged period of low returns for investors. If a fund delivered 6.5% compounded growth over three years and inflation was 5% per year, the post-tax return would be around 6.2%.Recent developments in the debt fund space has also dented the confidence of investors. Investors who are comfortable with some risk can venture into conservative hybrid funds that invest a small 10-15% of their corpus in equities to earn higher returns. But not many VPF investors would take that route.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2PaELib

AstraZeneca sells stake in Moderna for over $1B

AstraZeneca Plc has sold its 7.7% stake in Moderna Inc for more than $1 billion after the U.S. biotechnology company's shares soared on the back of its coronavirus vaccine breakthrough, The Times reported. The report added that it was not clear over what period British-based AstraZeneca sold its holding in Moderna. AstraZeneca and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment. AstraZeneca is retaining partnership with Moderna on other disease treatments and could sell its AstraZeneca/Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine on a commercial basis in future if the virus becomes endemic, the report added. Moderna, whose vaccine is cleared for emergency use against COVID-19 in the United States, said last week it was expecting sales of $18.4 billion from its coronavirus vaccine this year.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3bKz9Da

Stock mkt to remain buoyant: Angel Broking MD

Strong economic recovery will keep markets buoyant for quite some time to come and data-savvy new investors will ensure equity market participation is high, Dinesh Thakkar MD and Chairman, Angel Broking tells ET Wealth.With markets at record highs, what are your expectations for the next few years?Markets have shown tremendous recovery in the span of just 10 months. From the record lows of Nifty’s 7,500 points to 15,400 points now on the back of high liquidity flows, we are looking forward to a strong economic recovery to take this momentum forward. In addition, we have seen a lot of retail participation, especially among millennials and first-time investors, which shows their confidence in equity markets. We expect this trend to continue.What is the best way for investors to approach a runway market like this?Markets reflect growth in the economy. India has enough growth drivers to keep markets in a bullish mode for the long term. It is difficult to time the markets. The best approach for an investor is to regularly invest in 15 to 20 stocks reflecting the sectors contributing growth to our economy. It may appear overwhelming, but in this digital era there are easy-to-follow investor education programs and investment advisories available. We provide such help through Smart Money and ARQ Prime.Retail investors have taken to direct equities in a big way in the past year. How prepared are new investors to deal with market uncertainties?In the past 10 months, the industry opened more than one crore demat accounts compared to about 50 lakh in 2019-20 and about 40 lakh in 2018-19. At Angel Broking, we acquired approximately 16.5 lakh clients during this period, the majority being first-timers. They are mostly digital natives, reflecting a new India. This generation is characterised as fast adopters who are data savvy and have access through smartphones to a huge information base. They are also well networked through community platforms on the web. In March and April 2020, when markets corrected, we saw increased participation by retail investors who were otherwise waiting on the sidelines for a correction. They seem to understand the uncertainties of the market and are well educated to take calculated risks. They are young and ready to understand the vagaries of the * equity markets.What is your assessment of the cryptocurrency fascination among investors?Bitcoin and other digital currencies are gaining a lot of traction globally among the retail population. However, it all depends on the measures undertaken by the central institutions and their vision to make something of these currencies.Are surveillance measures in India robust to prevent/tackle systemic issues from episodes similar to Gamestop in US?Our regulators have been implementing many surveillance-related measures as well as monitoring limits based on free floats of every scrip listed on exchanges. They keep a close watch on the key parameters, like client concentration in a particular scrip, percentage of client turnover compared to market turnover, the curbing of excessive volatility, and scrip-wise circuit filters. Regulators have time and again updated regulations, keeping investor safety at the core. With all these measures in place and the continuous monitoring of live trading sessions, I am very confident that the regulators would be able to prevent a similar episode.2020 saw highest instances of broker defaults. How can investors be protected better?It is unfortunate these instances happened. However, the regulators are regularly monitoring the movement of funds and securities from client bank accounts and demat accounts maintained by the brokers. In addition, the steps taken by Sebi, such as daily reporting of clients’ ledgers and shares and direct integration with banks to obtain broker transaction data, are aimed to bring more transparency and boost investor confidence. I believe these measures will generate lots of confidence for retail investors.How is the competition from discount brokers redefining the industry? In the wake of this, what is Angel Broking’s strategy?Over the last couple of years discount brokers have experienced expanding market share, not only in client acquisition or NSE active client base but also in daily turnover on exchanges. This was primarily driven by simplified and uncomplicated pricing structure offered by flat fee players like Angel Broking. Now since majority of the players are moving to a similar product offering, we believe customer engagement and experience will be the key differentiator in future.At Angel Broking, it has been our constant endeavour to simplify the process thereby ensuring higher customer satisfaction. Technology is expected to play a pivotal role in taking the financial sector to the next level by helping overcome the challenges stemming from India’s vast geography and the fact that physical footprints in smaller locations are commercially unviable.Our superior digital properties, client engagement, and seamless customer experience have created a large pool of approximately 35 lakh customers. Despite nearly doubling our client base in the current financial year and expanding turnover based market shares, we believe there is tremendous scope for deepening the market and enhancing customer engagement by augmenting investment in technology and extensively using artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. A digital first focused company like ours will play a critical role in this development. Using this tech-intensive and customer-centric approach, we envision ourselves in the pole position over the next few years.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/37RJH27

Franklin India Taxshield MF: Should you invest?

ET Wealth collaborates with Value Research to analyse top mutual funds. We examine the key fundamentals of the fund, its portfolio and performance to help you make an informed investment decision.HOW THE FUND HAS PERFORMED 81240302WHERE THE FUND INVESTS 81240310BASIC FACTSDate of Launch: 10 April 1999Category: EquityType: ELSSAUM (As on 31 Jan 2021): Rs 4,151 crBenchmark: NIFTY 500 Total Return IndexWHAT IT COSTSNAV(As on 23 Feb 2021)Growth option: Rs 701.3175Dividend: Rs 42.9452Minimum Investment: Rs 500Minimum SIP Amount: Rs 500Expense Ratio(As on 31 Dec 2020) (%): 1.89Exit load: 0%FUND MANAGERS: R. Janakiraman, Lakshmikanth ReddyTenure: 4 years, 8 months eachTop 5 sectors in portfolio (%) 81240336Top 5 stocks in portfolio (%) 81240349Recent portfolio changesNew Entrants: Housing Development Finance Corp (Jan)Complete Exits: Dish TV India (Nov). Ambuja Cements (Dec. Titan Company, TVS Motor (Jan).Additions: Kotak Mahindra Bank, City Union Bank (Jan)How risky is it? 81240360Source: Value ResearchShould you buy?This fund has always maintained a large-cap bias while retaining a sizeable presence in mid and small-cap stocks. The fund manager runs a well-diversified portfolio while taking large positions in the top bets. There is no particular style preference, with the fund manager adopting an index-agnostic approach to picking stocks and sectors. The fund has struggled in recent years, underperforming its index and lagging behind peers. While it has seen a pick up in the last six months, the fund needs to show sustained improvement to be considered a worthy bet for the long term.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3pXcad2

Investment lessons to learn from inflation

"Nevertheless it was the natural reaction of most Germans, or Austrians, or Hungarians— indeed as for any victims of inflation—to assume not so much that their money was falling in value as that the goods which it bought were becoming more expensive in absolute terms”.That’s a quote from the book When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson, a British journalist and politician. People who are familiar with economic history will know that this refers to the hyperinflation in these European countries after their defeat in the First World War. From June 1918 to November 1923, the total inflation in Germany was 9,248,560,000,000%. From its pre-war (1914) exchange rate with the US dollar of about 4 marks to a dollar, the German Mark was reduced to an exchange rate of 4,210,500,000,000 Marks to one dollar in November 1923, when it was finally abolished. Of course, the currency had become meaningless by that time, so much so that you can find photographs online of people using currency notes as wallpaper because the notes were essentially just paper. For the few months in 1923 when hyperinflation was its peak, the German people had reverted to mostly running a barter economy, or to using foreign currency as money. In 1914, you could buy 10 dozen eggs for 1 Mark whereas in 1923 if you wanted to buy 10 dozen eggs, you could pay for them with a pair of winter shoes in good condition.The basic economic facts about this episode of hyperinflation (which was the first such event) had been known to me for a long time but I had never read anything that presented how people lived through it and what they thought was happening. Hyperinflation seems to be such an esoteric event that people’s attitudes towards it didn’t really seem important except to a historian. However, this book has been a fascinating revelation. One realises that much of how people reacted to hyperinflation is how they react to normal levels of inflation that we have.Read the quote above. The key phrase is ‘as for any victims of inflation’. When prices started rising in Germany in 1919-20, most people thought that they were getting richer. They had a real asset and its worth in the number of Marks was going up, meaning they were getting richer. The idea that the asset was the same but actually the currency was losing value was not easy to comprehend. However, the ferocity of the inflation soon made them realise the reality.It turns out that in the modern world, the same thing is happening to us, except in slow motion. And slow motion is not a good thing because it keeps most of us from realising what is actually happening. You bought a piece of land 25 years ago. Now, you feel that your land is worth 40 times as much. However, that’s actually not the case. Your land is worth four times as much but the rupee is worth 1/10th as much and that’s how this illusion of 40X is created. Forty times the rupees is not 40 times the value. To see this more vividly, don’t measure your land’s value in rupees. Instead, measure it in litres of petrol or months of household expense or litres of milk and see how that has changed. Mentally, revert to the barter economy I spoke about above and see what the results are. It’s a good exercise in understanding the real impact of inflation on your savings and investments.This segregation of the 40X into a 4x rise in the land value and the 10x decline in the value of the rupee is hard to do instinctively but is in fact the key to making good investment decisions. For example, the safety vs returns dichotomy of so many investments that people make all the time looks very different when you subtract the inflation rate from the investments. Once you do that, you may realise that the safest investments actually do not even manage to completely compensate for the inflation rate. This can be a good lesson in understanding what safety actually is and what are real and what are false returns.(The writer is CEO, Value Research)

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3uFEoMN

Buzz: Cyrus Mistry family on a tiger safari

ET’s weekly roundup of the wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours:Eye on IndiaEvery year after the budget, this legal eagle packs his bag and heads for an American rendezvous, catching up with clients and updating them about the Indian dream. This year, thanks to the travel restrictions, that wasn’t possible and it had to be a virtual session. The exuberant gent lined up a series of transactions that he felt were top of the charts in terms of complexities and smooth execution. Odd though that most that made the cut were ones his firm had been involved with. We don’t know if the controversies that each one of them had attracted were also mentioned.Dickie SeatsThis sporting arena that made global headlines also houses close to 75 AC boxes for VIP guests. During the recent event, several local and national corporates spent Rs3.5-5.5 crore to buy these prime seats, only to be disappointed due to the early end of the game and the sub-optimal arrangements. The location of the seats and the poor hospitality meant money down the drain complained a few who had high hopes of mingling with political and business royalty for over five days.All Dressed UpWhen we received calls from over-eager PR executives hard-selling the turnaround story of this once industry leader, we were rather surprised considering its core business would have taken some hard knocks over the last few years thanks to government reforms.Apparently not, we were told, as the firm has turned a corner thanks to a brand new business model. We almost bought into the story till we realised the asset was getting prettied up for a sale — that explains the hoopla. After all, if you have a PE owner, that is inevitable. Watch this space as the action will firm up in the coming weeks.Jab We TookThe mandarins up on the hill are concerned about the hesitancy among some quarters about the efficacy of desi vaccine programmes, we are told. Two of the leading ad men of the country close to the current dispensation, Piyush Pandey and Suhel Seth, were entrusted with brainstorming and suggesting ways of dealing with misconceptions, especially among health workers, in a strategy paper. They have submitted their views, is what we learn. With CII acting as the nodal agency for coordination, we expect a mega PPP initiative soon.'Pawri Ho Rahi Hai'It’s lovely to see this once billionaire party boy settling into matrimony. Spending his first wedding anniversary with friends and family by the sea, it does seem some of the boisterous boyish charms are very much thriving but that’s totally acceptable, right? After all, it’s been a crazy year shuttling among Mumbai, Riyadh, Dubai and London, all in the middle of a global lockdown. You gotta let your hair down, sometimes.Safari SojournWhen we heard the Cyrus Mistry family had been tiger-spotting in Pench, we wanted to know if they were staying at the Taj, the only premier accommodation that we know of in the reserve. But just when we tried to ask him during brekkie after the jungle safari, the family hurriedly left the crowd behind. Clearly, the fanatically private family had no intention of being in the public glare. Before the apex court verdict that’s expected any moment, some downtime is indeed a necessity.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3dVVZuc

Golden Globes LIVE: 'The Crown' wins big

The 78th Golden Globes went live on Monday, taking place virtually for the first time in the history of the award show. The event is hosted by none other than comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who are returning for the fourth time, after hosting in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The two are hosting the show from opposite coasts due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fey is presenting the show live from New York’s Rainbow Room, Poehler is live from the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, while nominees from various locations around the world join in. 81265058Mark Ruffalo, British actors Daniel Kaluuya and John Boyega, Aaron Sorkin and animated film 'Soul', were among the early winners at Sunday's virtual Golden Globes ceremony.Daniel Kaluuya wins the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture at the… https://t.co/a0YKu4CxVU— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614566463000 Ruffalo bagged the Best Actor in a TV series, while Emma Corrin won Best Actress in a Television Series for Netflix drama 'The Crown'.British royal drama 'The Crown' and comedy 'Schitt's Creek' won top television honors at the event. The 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in 2020, won the Best Actor in a drama for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'.Follow the live updates from the event here:Actor Daniel Kaluuya bags Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role for film 'Judas and the Black Messiah'.Congratulations to Daniel Kaluuya - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture - Judas… https://t.co/tl50n0ACqM— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614561122000Actor John Boyega won the Best Actor in a supporting role on TV for 'Small Axe'.Congratulations to John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role - Small… https://t.co/Prbvr0Cz1N— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614561379000Catherine O'Hara bags Best Performance by an Actress in a Television series - Musical or Comedy - for 'Schitt's Creek'.Movie 'Soul' wins the 'Best Motion Picture' - Animated at the Golden Globe Awards this year.Congratulations to Soul (@PixarSoul) - Best Motion Picture - Animated. - #GoldenGlobes https://t.co/IHa1xFrim5— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614561976000Star Mark Ruffalo won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television - 'I Know This Much Is True'. This is his first Golden Globe award.Congratulations to Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) - Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series… https://t.co/HdsM0iPDqW— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614562568000Aaron Sorkin, the writer of 'The Trial of the Chicago 7', wins the night in the original script category as he bags Best Screenplay for the film.Norman Lear receives this year's Carol Burnett Award. Emma Corrin bags Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for Netflix drama 'The Crown'. It was her first nomination, and now her first win.Congratulations to Emma Corrin - Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama - The Crown (… https://t.co/ATNQ6aaVKJ— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614564508000Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste win Best Original Score in Motion Picture catergory for animiated film 'Soul'.While Diane Warren, Laura Pausini and Niccolò Agliardi win Golden Globes for 'Io Sì (Seen)' - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - 'The Life Ahead'.Show 'Schitt's Creek' bags Best Television Series! Actor Jason Sudeikis wins the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series for 'Ted Lasso'.Rosamund Pike wins Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - for 'I Care a Lot'. Congratulations to Rosamund Pike - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - I Care… https://t.co/plfi9vmabM— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614566000000Josh O'Connor bags Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series for Netflix drama 'The Crown'.The Korean-American film 'Minari', which depicts the story about an immigrant family starting a farm in rural America in the 1980s, won best foreign language movie at the award show.Netflix drama 'The Crown' takes the crown as it bags best TV drama at the Golden Globe 2021 award show.Jodie Foster wins Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in for 'The Mauritanian'. Jane Fonda receives this year's Cecil B. deMille Award.Gillian Anderson bags Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role for 'The Crown'.Star Anya Taylor-Joy won Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television for 'The Queen's Gambit'.Late actor Chadwick Boseman wins Best Actor in a drama for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'.Congratulations to Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama -… https://t.co/TRkingGRyv— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614569573000Filmmaker Chloé Zhao bagged Best Director - Motion Picture for 'Nomadland'. While director Jason Woliner's 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' wins Best Motion Picture in Musical or Comedy category at the Golden Globes 2021.Sacha Baron Cohen bags Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy category for film 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' at the show.And the Golden Globe for Best Movie Drama goes to... 'Nomadland'! Congratulations to Nomadland (@nomadlandfilm) - Best Motion Picture - Drama. - #GoldenGlobes https://t.co/lPo4Dyy99d— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) 1614571262000Andra Day bagged Best Actress in a Motion Picture for movie 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3dYWOSS

Swiss Open: PV Sindhu may face Saina Nehwal in semifinals

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3b2xhX6

Kings write to BCCI on venue allotment; Royals, SRH to follow

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3dPXvOq

I'd rather miss the Olympics than take the vaccine: Yohan Blake

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3dWN1gm

Shooting trials in Bhopal deferred due to surge in Covid cases

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/37XK7nt

'Written off' Liverpool still ready to fight: Jurgen Klopp

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2O7HR67

4th Test: Spinning track likely; Umesh, Kuldeep may replace Bumrah, Sundar

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3dUPU0R

Liverpool defeat Sheffield United 2-0 to snap losing streak

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3kzbCJ3

United draw blank again at Chelsea to fall further behind City

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3uJtuWG

Tiger Woods thanks golfers for red shirt tribute

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2OevS72

Netflix March 2021 Releases: Indoo Ki Jawani, Pagglait, and More

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/37SNzj9

Esports is the new rage in the Indian arena

Bengaluru: Inspired by the rapid pace of growth in the Indian esports sector, Animesh Agarwal, an esports professional, decided to move from just playing games to becoming an entrepreneur. The 25-year old, who launched a gaming talent agency recently, now divides his time between his gaming talent agency and attending invitation-only esports tournaments globally.Esports, which takes the form of organised, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players who are playing individually or as teams, is broadcast live for interested audiences, much like athletic sporting events.“Covid-19 really helped the gaming industry a lot because the only form of leisure apart from OTT platforms was gaming. We saw a huge surge of people following us across YouTube, Instagram, Loco,” Agarwal said. “Since we are very optimistic about how 2021 would be for gaming, we are going heavy with investments that we are putting into our company.”Agarwal’s rise from a professional player to an entrepreneur over the last three years points to the growing prominence of esports in India, where viewership doubled to 17 million in 2020. At the same time, the prize pool for esports grew about 25-30%, according to industry estimates.The ecosystem consists of players, tournament organisers, streaming platforms and brand sponsors—much like cricket and basketball. Unlike traditional sporting events, these tournaments can be played online too with referees.Consultancy KPMG estimates that the audience for esports will exceed 130 million by 2025. Recently the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) included esports as a medal sport for the first time at Asian Games 2022.India AngleGlobal gaming firms, such as Activision, Garena and Supercell, which publish Call of Duty, Free Fire, and Clash of Clans, are lining up to invest in India’s esports ecosystem after PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) had to exit late last year due to the Indian government's clampdown on Chinese or China-associated apps.Consumer and electronic brands are increasing budgets for sponsoring these tournaments, said industry executives who estimate that the highest prize pool in India was Rs1.5 crore and lowest has been Rs 1,000.“We are at most a couple of years behind (the US and China),” said Anirudh Pandita, founder of Pocket Aces, which owns game-streaming platform Loco. “PUBG had really set up the market. Now other publishers have seen that and that is why you see companies like Activision invest. They are looking at the market and saying there is real potential here.”Activision did not respond to queries emailed by The Economic Times."In the aftermath of the pandemic, mobile esports and streaming witnessed a significant surge in user base as people had more time on hand. In order to cater to this audience, multi-gaming platforms, streaming players and telcos have started to invest in esports tournaments to capture or engage their users," said Girish Menon, partner and head-media and entertainment at KPMG in India.India has seen brands—including Mountain Dew, Poco, Qualcomm, Logitech, Airtel, Dell, Acer, Coca-Cola, and Oppo—sponsoring esports tournaments and teams in the last two years. The increase in commercial interest is spurring greater interest in esports as a viable career option, according to industry executives. Sidharth Kedia, group CEO at esports company Nodwin Gaming, said that despite the cut in advertising budgets in 2020, the percentage contribution for esports has increased.Several companies that are part of the burgeoning esports ecosystem in India approached the government recently seeking a sports categorisation for the sector, and to separate it from online casual and real money gaming. “Esports is the only sport that can outrun cricket easily. We need government support to recognise it as a sport and not mix it with online gambling,” said Lokesh Suji, director of Esports Federation of India, who estimates there are 200 million esport enthusiasts in the country. “The biggest benefit of sports categorisation will be getting parental approval. Our athletes have a short shelf-life and peak at the age of 15-19.”Underscoring the growing interest in this category, Winzo, a real-money gaming platform, is organising online tournaments for esports such as Free Fire and Call of Duty. The platform, which regards esports tournaments as a source of content creation, also streams these events on YouTube.“Esport players have longer session durations and deeper engagement (compared to casual or real-money card games),” said Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder at WinZO, who estimates that of the 60 minutes spent on the platform by a mobile gamer, a third or about 20 minutes is spent consuming content.“Esports is the next big thing and India is warming up to it gradually,” Rathore said.Real-money gaming platforms such as Winzo and MPL also categorise casual online games such as chess, carrom, and pool as esports—a practice that is unique to the Indian esports sector-- and also hosts online tournaments for these e-games.Sai Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO at Mobile Premier League (MPL), estimates that “in the next 5-6 years, an incredible number of digital athletes will emerge from India and win medals”. The company held a total of 432 speed chess, carrom, and pool tournaments last year. “As data becomes cheaper and devices become more accessible, the best way to enable physical sports is through digital sports,” he said.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3uQMm66

JLR eyes strategic partnership for electric switch

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is open to the idea of a strategic partner for Jaguar after having decided to convert the iconic brand into an ‘electric only’ range by 2025. This is aimed at both reducing the time to market and building economies of scale.“We need to look at the opportunities in terms of architectures that we could utilise or we find to give us a type of stunning, jaw-dropping design, or it may be that we might actually develop a platform internally to deliver these products that are drop-dead gorgeous,” JLR CEO Thierry Bollore told investors Friday. “I want to say, the choice of the platform has to respect the proportion of designs that are going to be proposed to us.”Under the new roadmap “Reimagine”, JLR expects to double the pace of expansion (4.5% compounded annual growth rate) between FY20 and FY26 compared with a CAGR of 2.8% in the last six.It has set a target of attaining 30 billion (Rs 3 lakh crore) of turnover by FY26, which would take Tata Motors’ group revenue to Rs 4 lakh crore in the next five years.The company is right-sizing production by 25% in the next five years and will take a write-off of Rs 15,000 crore within a quarter for shelving past projects.JLR will invest Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the next five years to carve a space for itself in the luxury car space.Better revenue growth, coupled with margin improvement from the ‘Refocus’ initiative and new architectures should result in an operating profit margin (EBIT) of 10% in FY26, compared with 4% in the first half of FY21.81265024

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3uESFcP

Kuaishou IPO lights up India’s short-video space

Mumbai: Last month, Kuaishou listed on Hong Kong’s stock exchange at a valuation of $160 billion—nearly as much as larger rival TikTok’s worth. By way of comparison, the IPO makes Chinese short-video app almost as valuable as Qualcomm, a storied chipmaker and holder of foundational wireless technology patents, whose market capitalisation is $167 billion.These developments are being closely watched in India’s short-video space, which mushroomed in the aftermath of the TikTok ban in June last year.Over the past few months, Indian short-video apps have been consistently among the top free apps on Google’s Play store. Times Internet’s MX TakaTak, Dailyhunt’s Josh, Sharechat’s Moj are leading the pack and indicating the traction gained in the absence of their Chinese rivals.Investors see the Kuaishou IPO as a giant thumbs up for the sector. “It will be a big positive,” said Anand Lunia, founding partner at India Quotient, one of the investors in Moj. “Now you know how to value a non-American, early-stage content company. We’re going to see a huge amount of capital now coming into this space in India.”In recent months, Google has backed Dailyhunt’s Josh and InMobi’s Glance, signalling the rising investor interest in the sector.“This (Kuaishou IPO) should open doors for multiple IPOs too,” said Lunia. “We feel that there will potentially be over a dozen companies launching IPOs in the social space in China in the near future.”Kuaishou boasts of 300 million daily-active users, and its Indian counterparts would likely have about 20-30 million DAUs. But these are much younger companies, said an executive at a short-video app, requesting anonymity.“The success of Kuaishou’s IPO has demonstrated the massive potential of the global short video market,” said Karan Bedi, chief executive officer of MX TakaTak’s operator MX Player. “It’s success story is a reflection of this new content format's success in various markets around the world, including India...It's exciting to see for us, as India’s No.1 short-video platform.”Kiko, another local short-video platform, said that it has already added to its platform video commerce, which happens to be one of the major revenue streams for Kuaishou. “Currently, we are receiving nearly 100 orders per day and have attained a GMV of Rs 30 lakh per month. We have also recorded steady growth in GMV of 20% on a month-on-month basis,” CEO Shivam Varshney said.Sumit Ghosh, CEO of Chingari, said, “If multiple players can thrive successfully in a market like China, then multiple companies in this space can come out of India as well.” It indicates that India is a very promising opportunity for investors looking at the short-video market, he said.Some investors, however, differed.“While some Indian players in this space have hit early scale, their business models may not end up like Kuaishou’s,” said Deepak Gupta, founding partner of WEH Ventures, an investor in short-video app Trell. For example, virtual gifts are one of the biggest sources of revenue for Kuaishou, but it has not been proven in India yet, he said.India AngleMultiple experts ET spoke with said that Indian over-the-top (OTT) players can also look at a valuation that’s six times their topline after they achieve significant size—Rs 200-250 crore in revenue and 20-25 million paying subscribers.“There is huge competition in the India OTT space with 40-plus players, but in the last few months, especially during the pandemic, the consumption has jumped manifold,” said a top executive at an OTT service. “The rise in engagement levels as well as the number of users has certainly increased the valuation of the OTT players.” He said that strategic or private equity investors will look for investment opportunities with a minimum size of Rs 1,200-1,500 crore.“The pure-play OTT services will always have much higher multiples, some will manage a range of 6-8 times topline in the current environment. The broadcast or legacy companies tend to have lower multiples as the valuation is blended with broadcast,” said a senior investment banker.However, a top executive at a broadcaster-led OTT service said that, at present, there is no price discovery as players are fairly small. “There is no science to the valuation of OTT services right now in the country. Currently, it is a combination of fair value and using subscribers as surrogate,” he said. There are very few pureplay OTT players in India, which can boast a significant size and topline.Most of the companies have either legacy broadcast business, like Star (Disney+ Hotstar), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee5), Viacom18 (Voot) and Sony Pictures Networks India (SonyLIV). Some are associated with production houses like Balaji Telefilms (Alt Balaji) and Eros International (Eros Now) and MXPlayer (Times Group). Others are international players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Lionsgate Play.Disclaimer: MX TakaTak’s operator MXPlayer is owned by Times Internet, a part of the Times Group that publishes The Economic Times and ETtech.com.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3dWvPYi

Trump hints at rerun for 2024 presidential polls

Former President Donald Trump hinted on Sunday at a possible presidential run in 2024, attacked President Joe Biden and repeated his fraudulent claims he won the 2020 election in his first major appearance since leaving the White House nearly six weeks ago. Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, Trump vowed to help Republicans try to regain majorities - lost during his presidency - in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in 2022 congressional elections and dangled himself as a possibility for president in 2024. "With your help, we will take back the House, we will win the Senate and then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. I wonder who will that be?" he said, smiling. "Who, who, who will that be, I wonder." Trump's weeks away from Washington do not appear to have dimmed his anger at Republicans who voted to impeach or convict in a failed congressional effort to hold him responsible for inciting a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He singled out several such Republicans by name, like Senators Mitt Romney and Pat Toomey and House lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and suggested he would support candidates who opposed them in Republican primaries. "Get rid of 'em all," he thundered. Trump repeated lies he has told about his Nov. 3 presidential election loss to Biden, and offered a withering critique of his Democratic successor's first weeks in office. "They just lost the White House," the Republican former president said after criticizing Biden's handling of border security. "But who knows, who knows, I may even decide to beat them for a third time." Trump and his allies spent two months denying his election defeat, and claiming without evidence it was the result of widespread voter fraud, before his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 seeking to disrupt congressional certification of Biden's win. A civil war has erupted within the Republican Party, with establishment figures such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell eager to put Trump in the rearview mirror, and others, like Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham, believing the party's future depends on the energy of the pro-Trump base. Trump declared the Republican Party united behind him, with opposition coming only from "a handful of Washington, D.C., political hacks." When he mentioned McConnell's name, the crowd booed. NO PLANS FOR THIRD PARTYHe said he had no plans to try to launch a third party, an idea he has discussed with advisers in the past couple of months. "We're not starting new parties. We have the Republican Party. It's going to be united and be stronger than ever before. I am not starting a new party," he said. In a straw poll, 55 per cent of CPAC conference participants said they would vote for Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating race. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in second at 21 per cent. Without Trump, DeSantis led the field with 43 per cent, and other potential Republican candidates had single digits. But not everyone supported Trump. A separate question on the poll asked whether Trump should run again in 2024, with 68 per cent saying he should and 32 per cent opposed or having no opinion. Still, Trump fervor at the four-day CPAC event was so strong that Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., declared it "T-PAC" and participants rolled out a golden statue of the former president. Trump's flirtation with another run could freeze the Republican field for 2024 as other potential candidates try to decide whether they will have to compete against him. Many of those 2024 possible candidates spoke during the CPAC event. The Biden White House dismissed Trump's speech. "While the GOP casts about for a path forward, President Biden is going to remain laser-focused on crushing the virus, re-opening schools, and getting Americans back to work," White House spokesman Michael Gwin said after the speech. An hour into his 90-minute speech, Trump dove deeply into his unfounded claims of election fraud, going against the advice of confidants who believe he needs to look to the future. "We have a very sick and corrupt electoral process that has to be fixed immediately. This election was rigged," Trump said. "And the Supreme Court and other courts didn't want to do anything about it." "You won! You won!" the crowd shouted. Trump's campaign and his supporters brought dozens of failed lawsuits trying to overturn the results of the election, which Biden won by more than 7 million votes. The fraud claims were repeatedly rejected by state and federal officials. In the short term, Trump is making plans to set up a super PAC political organization to support candidates who mirror his policies, an adviser said. He sought to position himself as the lead critic of the new president, including on immigration and security along the U.S. border with Mexico, and the slow reopening of schools closed due to the pandemic. "Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history," Trump said. Recent Gallup polls have given Biden a job approval rating well past 50 per cent. Trump never achieved above 49 per cent.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3b4Ew0w

McIlroy, Thomas to dress in red and black in honour of Woods

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3uCWvmL

Bailey insists Finch will be Australia's T20 WC captain

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3kvXDEb

How to Check Your Airtel Balance, Plan, and Validity Of Prepaid Account

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/37S3G0o

Deep Nostalgia Brings Historical Photos to Life Using AI

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/2P8wH1p

Would market fall continue next week too?

For investors, this is not the market to worry about. Even if we do not make a new high, individual stocks and the sectoral opportunity on the long-term investment remains, says Yogesh Mehta, Founder, Yield Maximisers.The worry point for most of the investors is whether or not we are going to see that accelerated fall continue next week. Do you believe it was a knee-jerk reaction owing to what we have seen overseas?The way the market has reacted to the rising bond yields and the rupee also depreciated by almost 1%, it seems it was not just an overreaction by the investors or the traders but may continue over next week also. There was a similar volatility in the budget week as well. These are the two events which if taken in consideration, shows there is a selling pressure at higher levels. March has always been a little scary as the year ends and even we do not want to see what happened in March 2020 so those are the bad memories. Putting it all together, we have seen some fearful action across the traders’ community. Nevertheless, for investors, this is not the market to worry about. Even if we do not make a new high, individual stocks and the sectoral opportunity on the long-term investment remains there. In other words, my opinion is that the prices ran much ahead of time and ahead of the growth they have shown in individual companies. It was not comfortable to buy at that level in the portfolio because you cannot buy something which is six, seven times current and forward 4-4.5 times price to book, especially in the private sector banks and the NBFCs. There was no comfort and that is why we have seen some reaction. Also, the global liquidity has taken a pause and this is also an additional factor. It may continue further for a few percentage points and then again buying interest will come back.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3b1X4Pm

Budget session of Maha Legislature from Monday

The Budget session of the Maharashtra Legislature will begin on Monday under the shadow of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, and is likely to be a stormy affair with the opposition BJP expected to corner the state government over various issues. The 10-day-long budget session will have eight working days and the budget will be tabled on March 8. Bills pertaining to departments such as revenue, higher education and home are likely to be taken up. A draft of the Shakti Act, which provides for strict punishment for crime against women and children, is under consideration of a joint select committee of both Houses. The state budget session is normally held for six weeks, but in view of the current pandemic situation, it has been curtailed. The BJP recently alleged that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was trying to curtail the session on the pretext of coronavirus situation to run away from debate on its "failures". However, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anil Parab on Thursday claimed that it was opposition parties which wanted a one-day session. The session will start with the address of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to the joint sitting of the state Legislative Assembly and Council. The state government will also table supplementary demands on the first day. The House will hold discussion on the governor's speech on March 2, while next two days are reserved for discussion on supplementary demands, Parab said. The governor has so far not approved 12 names recommended by the cabinet for nomination to the Legislative Council. According to Parab, the Legislature will discuss proposals of opposition parties on March 5 and some bills will also be tabled. There will be no sittings on March 6 and 7. Parab had claimed that the opposition suggested a one-day session due to the COVID-19 situation, "but we decided to have a ten-day session". Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis recently pointed out that election of the new Speaker was not on the agenda of the meeting. The post fell vacant following the resignation of Nana Patole, who has taken over as the Congress's state unit chief. The state Legislature's budget session was curtailed last year also in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19. On Saturday, Maharashtra reported more than 8,000 new COVID-19 cases on the fourth straight day, raising the caseload in the state to 21,46,777. The death toll in the state due to the pandemic has reached 52,092, as per official data. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last Sunday asked to follow "COVID-appropriate" behaviour and safety norms, and said he would observe for a week to 15 days and then decide whether to impose another lockdown. The BJP has accused the government of mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis and failure to boost development works. It will raise in the House the issue of state Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod's name being linked to the death of the woman in Pune. The BJP had earlier warned that it would not allow the Budget session to proceed smoothly if Rathod did not resign. The minister has denied the allegations against him. The government is also likely to face questions from the opposition over the last month's fire at a hospital in Bhandara where 10 newborn babies died, and delay in help to farmers affected by floods and cyclone in parts of the state. Incidents of atrocities against women in COVID-19 care centres and alleged corruption in various government departmentsare also likely to be raised during the session. Fadnavis a few days back said government did not want to be questioned on issues such as "rampant corruption".

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3st2Lvk

'Insurance most-preferred financial product'

New Delhi: Insurance has become the most-preferred financial product to protect the family against health emergencies post the COVID-19 pandemic with more people inclined to invest in insurance products in the next six months, according to a survey from Tata AIA Life Insurance. According to a consumer confidence survey on the impact of COVID-19 commissioned by research agency Nielsen, life insurance turned out to be the most preferred financial tool driven by the need to secure family's future financially and the concern around medical emergencies. The survey also found that most consumers would like to buy life insurance in the next six months as part of their investment plans. The survey conducted on 1,369 respondents across nine centres revealed that during the pandemic, 51 per cent of the respondents invested in life insurance, while 48 per cent invested in health-related insurance solutions, which is higher than other financial asset classes. More than half of the respondents said their views towards life insurance have changed positively due to the pandemic and 49 per cent want to invest in buying a life cover in the next six months and 40 per cent intends to invest in health insurance. The survey said 30 per cent of the people invested in life insurance for the first time during the pandemic, while 26 per cent invested in health-related insurance solutions for the first time. Financial security against medical emergencies and expenses has become the topmost priority, with as many as 62 per cent mentioning about it and a majority of 84 per cent saying they are still concerned about self and family due to coronavirus. 61 per cent were worried about themselves/family and their top concern is the economic slowdown. "Of the respondents concerned about self and family, 50 per cent are worried about mental health due to increased workload due to Covid-19 pandemic. Among female respondents, 55 per cent said they are concerned about the mental health due to the increased workload during the pandemic. "41 per cent people are buying financial products online more often than before Covid-19 pandemic," the survey said. Among the other asset classes, one-third of the respondents said they invested in bank or company fixed deposits, and 30 per cent invested in mutual funds, while 24 per cent invested in stocks, 17 per cent invested in gold/digital gold. "Life insurance has clearly emerged as the preferred financial asset as per our Covid sentiment study. There is a distinct shift towards considering life insurance as the primary source of future financial protection, followed by health and wellness solutions. "The survey findings have helped capture and unravel the transition in customer usage and attitude towards life insurance," said Venky Iyer, CDO and Head marketing, Tata AIA Life Insurance. The survey reveals that with changing money needs and priorities, consumers' monthly allocation towards insurance, savings and investment, has increased. With less discretionary spends and more focus towards essentials spending, consumers are motivated to save, and invest more in life insurance than they were pre-Covid, he observed. Tata AIA Life said the motive behind doing the survey was to get a comprehensive understanding about consumers' usage and attitude pre and post Covid-19 pandemic towards financial instruments and type of life insurance policies. The survey was conducted on salaried, business and self-employed male and female in the age-group of 25-55 years through computer-aided web interview.81227013

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2MB0YVU

Nathan Lyon joins R Ashwin in solidarity over Ahmedabad track

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2NMhHGf

RIL gains, others lose Rs 2.2 lakh cr in m-cap

NEW DELHI: Nine of the 10 most-valued companies lost a whopping Rs 2,19,920.71 lakh crore in their total market valuation last week with the barometer Sensex tanking more than 3 per cent.Reliance Industries (RIL) was the only scrip to post gains in its market valuation among the top 10 valued companies.Among losers, Tata Consultancy Services' market valuation tanked Rs 81,506.34 crore to Rs 10,71,263.77 crore. The valuation of HDFC Bank declined by Rs 2,202.12 crore to reach Rs 8,45,552.53 crore.The market capitalisation (m-cap) of ICICI Bank dropped by Rs 18,098.57 crore to Rs 4,13,078.87 crore and that of Hindustan Unilever by Rs 11,536.32 crore to Rs 5,00,937.14 crore.HDFC's valuation declined by Rs 35,389.88 crore to reach Rs 4,57,518.73 crore and that of Infosys by Rs 16,613.57 crore to Rs 5,33,487.07 crore.The market capitalisation of Bajaj Finance fell by Rs 15,712.46 crore to Rs 3,15,653.33 crore and that of Kotak Mahindra Bank dipped Rs 30,695.43 crore to Rs 3,53,081.63 crore.The valuation of SBI went down by Rs 8,166.02 crore to reach Rs 3,48,238.34 crore.Lone gainer RIL, on the other hand, added Rs 2,092.01 crore to its valuation which stood at Rs 13,21,044.35 crore at close on Friday.Key benchmark index Sensex dropped by 1,786 points or 3.46 per cent last week amid weak global cues.The 30-share index posted its biggest single-day fall in nearly 10 months on Friday while the NSE Nifty plunged over 568 points to crack below the psychological 15,000-mark, tracking global selloffs triggered by a panic in bond markets overseas.In the ranking of 10 most-valued companies, RIL was at the top of the chart followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI and Bajaj Finance

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2ZWZAQp

How past vaccine races can help win this one

“The vaccine works. It is safe, effective, and potent.”In 1955, those were the words that told the world U.S. scientist Jonas Salk’s polio shot was a success. It was news greeted with popular jubilation, ringing church bells and boldface banner headlines. The sort of heartfelt relief that most of us can readily identify with, more than a year into a coronavirus pandemic that has now killed 2.5 million people.In an age when rich countries have largely forgotten the ravages of infectious disease, we have spent the past months grappling with the impact of a highly contagious illness that does not discriminate. We now hope our technological and medical advances can accomplish in months what it took decades to achieve in the past with poliovirus, smallpox or measles. As those rejoicing at Salk’s victory soon found, the first vaccines are the end of the beginning — not quite the beginning of the end.The two viruses are very different. Poliomyelitis is primarily spread through contact and infected fecal matter, while Covid-19 is usually transmitted through respiratory droplets. The first tends to affect young children, and can invade the nervous system. The second appears to hit the elderly hardest. Polio has triggered no pandemics, no economic crashes. Yet the large-scale campaign against what was once called infantile paralysis, and the fear that preceded it, is arguably the closest precedent to today’s effort. 81253710There’s good news in that. Past inoculation successes are reminders of what is possible: We know that vaccination works. There were also painful mistakes that stand as salutary reminders for modern policy makers that ending viral nightmares requires sound judgment, investment and trust.Records of polio cases date back centuries, perhaps as far back as ancient Egypt, but epidemics only became a serious scourge in Europe and the United States as the last century dawned. The first recognized U.S. outbreak was in Vermont in 1894. Others followed. In 1916, a devastating summer in New York brought death, lockdowns, anti-immigrant prejudice and culls of cats. It left a trail of dread. The annual number of U.S. cases peaked in 1952 at nearly 60,000.Many more children died in accidents or from cancer over these years, but panic was widespread. Images of patients in iron lungs, huge metal chambers designed to help patients breathe, terrified. So did young children in leg braces. By the 1950s, the only thing Americans feared more than polio was the nuclear bomb.81253714Ending that took a crusade. President Franklin Roosevelt, who contracted polio in 1921, helped turn a rehabilitation charity into an unprecedented national campaign that touched nearly every American, encouraging them to give just one coin for research. They did, sending them in such large numbers the White House could hardly cope. The March of Dimes began in 1938, transformed fundraising and collected hundreds of millions of dollars.Then, success. Salk got to the finish line first with an inactivated virus vaccine, earning him popular adulation, though not necessarily the respect of his peers. Albert Sabin, a bitter rival who developed a different, live virus oral vaccine approved a few years later, dismissed it as “kitchen chemistry,” arguing the University of Pittsburgh scientist had simply put together findings others had made. Still, thanks to both, cases plummeted.After a year or so of Covid-19, we have vaccine breakthroughs, but we’re not yet near the finish line; eradication is distant. There are too many unanswered questions. We don’t know enough about how immunity works after illness or vaccination, nor do we fully understand transmission. Cases go untraced. The goal of today’s shots is to bring down mortality rates, and to keep health systems running. Children will not be immunized for months. Eventually, though, the target will shift. Victory will require mass and even routine inoculation while tackling significant skepticism.81253718As that happens, it’s worth considering that the world has been here before. There are lessons to carry into the 21st century.At the most basic level, it’s clear that central government-led policy — leadership — is crucial at every stage, from supporting vaccine development to dissemination. The official decision to get behind polio inoculations didn’t guarantee a cure, but without support would have taken far longer. So too with Covid-19. In the U.S., Operation Warp Speed, a $12 billion-plus effort to fund vaccines, was a rare bright spot in the Trump administration’s otherwise dismal handling of the outbreak. Investment in manufacturing may have saved months. It’s a pity so much time was wasted by the same officials, failing to plan adequately for the actual injections.A sound strategy will have to include insuring that even the least-affluent countries have the necessary healthcare structures, without which routine immunization, cold chains to preserve vaccines, timely testing, monitoring and oversight — the basics for control of Covid-19 and any subsequent viruses — will be impossible. It’s a priority that has been neglected for too long already. While good governance helps, poor decisions create disproportionate and lasting damage. In the U.S. campaign against polio, not unlike Covid-19, the first hiccup was dissemination. President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration simply did not see distribution as its role. That was “socialized medicine,” opposed by the then secretary of health, education and welfare. One official quoted in David Oshinsky’s “Polio: An American Story” suggested that an allocation program would “constitute an undesirable precedent.” Shortages plagued the early years of the campaign, as did inequities in access at a time when U.S. schools were only just being desegregated.But what followed was worse. In the rush, inspection failures allowed tainted vaccines from one manufacturer, Cutter Laboratories, to get through and spread polio among children and their communities, leaving some 200 paralyzed and 10 dead. The pause that followed meant more than 28,000 mostly avoidable cases were reported in 1955, Oshinsky writes. The incident and the obfuscating official statements around it caused deep misgivings and still fuel anti-vaxxers today. It ushered in far tighter regulation in the U.S. and beyond, a boon. It also opened the floodgates to predatory litigation that kept large pharmaceutical firms away from vaccines, seen as high risk and low reward.Trust is vital to success. It’s striking today to read accounts of a 1947 smallpox scare in New York during which, according to the city’s health commissioner, some 6.4 million people were inoculated in less than a month, most within two weeks. That’s spectacular compared to the current pace of Covid-19 vaccinations. Authorities at the city level were able to take decisions that might be impossible today, and there are questions on the exact figures. But a popular belief in science, clear messaging, and reports like that of President Harry Truman rolling up his sleeves helped stop the spread. In 1956, Elvis lent a hand in the polio fight when he was vaccinated on live television.Rebuilding that confidence is tough, whether in politically polarized Western societies or regions like Pakistan and Afghanistan, where misinformation and threats have helped wild polio remain endemic. In 2003, rumors in northern Nigeria that polio vaccinations were contaminated with anti-fertility agents caused a devastating boycott. Five years later, the country accounted for nearly 90% of type one wild polio cases globally. Combating that means education and swift response to local concerns, especially in countries that may have competing priorities. Vaccine mistrust dates back centuries, but it’s far more pernicious in the age of the internet. It requires presence in communities, where peers can answer questions and concerns.It’s vital, not just in developing nations, to get through to everyone with reason — not condescension, let alone coercion. There remains, to quote one British parliamentarian debating smallpox in 1807, the liberty of doing wrong.History tells us that the best vaccination efforts are built on collaboration and coordination. We know that the U.S. and Soviet Union working together at the height of the Cold War was instrumental in testing the oral polio vaccine. In the 1960s, a Soviet freeze-drying technique helped provide smallpox vaccine doses for developing countries, supported financially by the U.S. Later, a global effort helped dramatically reduce polio cases — and even that might have happened more easily if the emerging world hadn’t been left to last, or cost had not dominated concerns for too long. The live vaccine has been crucial, but combined with poor inoculation practices has also led to a surge in vaccine-derived polio.We’ve seen over the past few months that fast action is possible with investment and commitment. Full victory is more elusive. Aidan O’Leary, director for polio eradication at the World Health Organization, emphasized to me the importance of aiming not for coverage targets, but for zero cases. It’s relatively easy to get to 50% or even 70% coverage, and soon Western economies will rebound — but the countdown to zero implies that not even the most vulnerable are missed, and that’s tougher. It demands sustained investment and momentum.The smallpox vaccine was discovered in 1796. After a false start, an intensified WHO eradication plan got under way in 1967. There are questions about compulsion, but the illness was vanquished by 1980. Not all efforts have had similar success, because illnesses have been harder to control, vaccines not fully effective or governments stumbled. The economic impact and financial focus on Covid-19 suggests success is more likely than ever before. Learning lessons from history can make it a triumph for everyone.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3dNMGfM

View: Why IAS needs to change to IES in spirit

In an unusual (probably the first for any Indian PM) speech in Parliament, PM Modi commented on what the IAS, or even the entire civil services community, could do better. Specifically, he mentioned four things ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­— a) a need to change the negative attitudes of disdain, suspicion and cynicism towards the private sector and profit-making entities, b) questioned why babus need to run everything (from fertiliser plants to airlines, c) emphasised the private sector as a necessary and equal stakeholder in the country’s progress, d) asked where will India reach if the entire country is handed over in the hands of babus?Statements like these suggest a major shift in how the top leadership of the country thinks, which incidentally also mirrors the thinking of millions of India’s youth. Progress, especially the “$5 trillion GDP goal” kind of progress, is absolutely impossible without a thriving private sector. And yet, our babus have not evolved as fast to fit in with the new economic aspirations of India. In fact, ‘babu’ has now become a mildly derogatory word ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­— suggesting someone old-fashioned, who creates red-tape, slows things down and enjoys tormenting others with their power.The civil services community does need to take some responsibility. However, putting the entire blame on them would neither solve anything nor will it be completely fair.There are several reasons why the IAS (and the other civil servants) are the way they are, which we need to understand if we truly want to fix things.The single biggest reason for a sub-optimal civil service is a completely outdated and warped performance measurement structure, which incentivises the status-quo. A civil servant is never rewarded for making a big positive change. They are, however, penalised if things go wrong.Let’s say an IAS officer feels the current website of the public service he works for is terrible. A private firm should be hired to re-do it. What’s the incentive to get this done? Why not just wait (or coast) in your job for three years, until the next posting and promotion, which is essentially guaranteed if no feathers are ruffled. Now, if he were to hire a new private firm, there would be a) a ton of extra work getting approvals b) someone could allege bribes were taken, or maybe bribes are actually taken at some level, c) the website may not turn out as great or may take longer and d) you would be bothering other ‘coasting’ colleagues who hate you now for creating extra work, rather than just waiting it out until the next promotion. Best case, even if an amazing new website is created, the public benefits, but the IAS person who did it all gets nothing for it. What would a typical officer do with such trade-offs? Well, nothing. Coast, wait, promotion, posting, repeat.The problem is India as a country cannot afford to coast and wait. For while the IAS gets a promotion for coasting, India as a whole only gets left behind. India won’t rise unless we work fast, hard, become innovative, improve things and create systems that enable us to do all that.In this aspect of warped incentives, it’s not the civil servant’s fault. He or she has been told, don’t rock the boat. Ever. If the government wants to change this, the incentive structures of the IAS and other civil services must be overhauled.However, while systemic changes are needed, there is something the civil servants’ community needs to change too. Fact is, the system may be wrong, but civil servants haven’t exactly screamed for big change. Once they get through the insanely competitive exam, there seems to be a fondness for the existing system too. Coasting could become comfortable after all. Then there’s the power, the idea that a billionaire will come home tonight and fold hands to get something — it could get quite addictive. There’s also an acute disconnect with technology, especially amongst the older senior officers. Tech can transform governance, provided those in in-charge know the power of it. The many sluggish sarkaari websites tell you not many in the government know about UIs (user interface) or making websites from the point of view of the user, not the government department itself.Some of these aspects can be fixed (change attitudes, make tech training compulsory), and need to be as they are slowing India down horribly. It is breeding crony capitalism. It is keeping us in the India of 1980s, where a sarkari mai-baap allowed you to do business. As the PM said, times have changed. Civil servants have to not just administer, but also enable progress. That’s why, it is probably better if we change the IAS to IES. From Indian Administrative Services to Indian Enabling Services, not just in name, but also in spirit.Chetan Bhagat is a bestselling author and a popular newspaper columnist.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/37X24CS

Reasons behind India's aircraft carriers plan

At present, India has two aircraft carriers - INS Vikramaditya and INS Viraat, while it is planning to develop the third - INS Vishaal by 2030. The question arises why is India developing a fleet of aircraft carriers? Robert Farley, writing for The National Interest - American bimonthly international affairs magazine, wrote that the rationale behind India's carrier force development has three reasons. The first is the support of a conventional war against Pakistan, which would involve strikes against Pakistan naval assets and land bases. Second, the carriers make the Indian Navy the preeminent force in the Indian Ocean, better able to command the area than any foreign competitor. The third prong involves geopolitical competition with China. Regarding Pakistan, Vikrant and Vikramaditya would struggle in strike operations because of limitations on aircraft weight, although they certainly would attract Pakistani attention. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy being the preeminent force in the Indian Ocean, Indian carriers will always have better access to bases and support facilities in the Indian Ocean than China, the United Kingdom, or even the United States, and the presence of the carriers facilitates the projection of Indian power and the management of trade protection. The third and main reason, competition with China - Beijing has managed to leapfrog Indian naval aviation development in a relatively short period of time. Although China lacks India's experience with carriers, it boasts a remarkably efficient shipbuilding industry and an increasingly sophisticated aviation sector, making it less dependent on foreign technology. Although India may struggle to keep up with Chinese construction, it can leverage geography (proximity to bases) to its advantage in the most likely areas of any conflict, reported The National Interest. Despite considerable economic challenges, India took carrier aviation very seriously in the years after independence. Unlike China (or even the Soviet Union), India focused on carriers instead of submarines. INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class light carrier, served from 1961 until 1997, fighting effectively in the 1971 war. INS Viraat, formerly the Centaur-class carrier HMS Hermes, joined the Indian Navy in 1987 and served until 2016. The operational INS Vikramaditya, former Kiev-class warship Admiral Gorshkov, was inducted into service in 2014. The 45,000-ton INS Vikramaditya could operate around twenty MiG-29K fighters, along with utility helicopters. The ship offered the Indian Navy the chance to redevelop its aviation muscles after years of operating only VSTOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing) aircraft from Viraat. Vikramaditya was only the first step towards recapitalizing the aviation wing of the Indian Navy. The second step was the new INS Vikrant, a 40,000-ton ski-jump carrier built in India's Cochin Shipyard. Laid down in 2009, Vikrant was expected to finally enter service around 2020, with an air wing similar to that of Vikramaditya, reported The National Interest. For the time being, India has decided to stick with the MiG-29K as its primary naval combat aircraft, rather than the Su-33, the F/A-18, or the Dassault Rafale. Both Boeing and Dassault remain at least somewhat hopeful of exporting carrier-borne fighters to India. Even Saab expressed an interest in converting the Gripen for naval service. The Indian Navy also contemplated developing a navalised version of the HAL Tejas, but (for now) has wisely rejected the complicated effort to convert the troubled fighter, wrote Robert Farley. With one large carrier in service and another on the way, India has become one of the world's pre-eminent naval aviation powers. India has committed to carrier aviation and has the resources and experience to develop a successful force. The next step in India's naval aviation project will be INS Vishaal, a 65,000-ton conventionally propelled, domestically produced CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) carrier. With experience gleaned from the experience with Vikrant, the design and construction of the carrier will hopefully go more smoothly. It appears as if India will have unprecedented access to US technology for the construction of Vishaal, including the EMALS electromagnetic catapult system used on the Gerald R Ford class. Unlike Vikrant or Vikramaditya, Vishaal will be able to launch and recover heavy strike aircraft, as well as early warning planes such as the E-2 Hawkeye. Vishaal is supposed to enter service by 2030, although that timeline may be optimistic, said Robert Farley.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3q4NCyG

Conchita Martinez tests positive for Covid-19

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3bLP2Jp

Alvarez crushes Yildirim to retain super middleweight crown

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2NKtqVP

Sunil Narine not ready to return to international cricket: Harper

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2NN4DjN

Ladakh disengagement upsets Indian officials

After the deadliest fighting in decades, India and China are setting up demilitarized areas along their Himalayan border -- a move that has rankled some members of India’s security establishment.Soldiers from both countries for now will no longer patrol a nine-kilometer (six-mile) stretch on the north bank of Pangong Tso, a glacial lake some 14,000 feet above sea level where troops clashed last year, according to two Indian officials aware of the developments. The agreement would result in India pulling back from strategic high ground occupied in a stealth operation last August, they said.The move followed the creation of a similar demilitarized zone last year some 150 kilometers away along the Galwan river, where 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat. That escalation on June 15, the first time casualties were reported along the disputed frontier since 1975. China only acknowledged the deaths on Feb. 19.While the pullback has calmed tensions for the moment, some members of India’s security establishment believe the creation of non-militarized areas work in Beijing’s favor, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. They said China raised suspicions by objecting to an Indian proposal for both countries to patrol the area around the lake on alternate days on the grounds that it would affect Beijing’s sovereignty.Indian defense and security officials had raised their concerns about the area around Pangong Tso with the government but it opted for a speedy disengagement. On Feb. 10 the two countries began rolling back soldiers, tanks and artillery guns that were stationed around the lake in rifle range of each other for nearly 10 months.The Indian army, Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.China’s Foreign Ministry said the creation of non-militarized zones along the border was “made up by the media” in response to questions. On Friday in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the situation on the ground “significantly eased” after the disengagement.“The two sides should cherish this hard won momentum and consolidate existing outcomes, maintain momentum for consultation and further ease the situation,” he said at a regular briefing.Distrust between the two militaries could lead to further misunderstandings, according to Sushant Singh senior fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research and author of “Mission Overseas: Daring Operations by Indian Military.“The model of buffer zones is temporary and full of challenges,” he said. “More importantly, India’s options are limited in case China -- a much bigger military power -- violates the agreement.”If the demilitarized areas end up keeping the peace, they could become a model for how India and China deal with a border nearly as long as the one between the U.S. and Mexico. Nationalism stoked by the fighting has had an economic impact, with Modi’s government banning hundreds of Chinese apps, slowing approvals for Chinese investment and strengthening security ties with the U.S., Japan and Australia.Still, while the demilitarized zones are aimed at preventing clashes of the sort that erupted last summer, the competing claims between the two sides remain, officials said. And a previous experiment with creating a demilitarized zone on the border with China has shown that it’s not a guarantee of peace.An 80-square-kilometer (31-square-mile) patch of pasture land along the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the Indian border state of Uttarakhand was the first to be set aside as no-man’s-land in the 1950s. Yet that has failed to prevent conflict in the area, according to Jayadeva Ranade, a member of India’s National Security Council Advisory Board and head of the New Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.“Uttarakhand border continues to be a hot spot,” he said. “Beijing’s track record of respecting agreements is poor.”

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2ZWLRcf

R Ashwin hits back as controversy rages over pink-ball Test track

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2ZYwFeI

WI vs SL: Mathews to captain SL as visa issue grounds Shanaka

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3uDzr7o

BCCI allows Hiken Shah to play in local tournaments

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2O8tkHc

Six cities to host IPL 2021; Mumbai says no to fans

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3uxCUEm

Vinesh Phogat enters 53kg final of Ukraine wrestling event

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3dNDmZk

Godzilla vs. Kong, Snyder’s Justice League, and More: March Guide to Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Prime Video

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3q1y5jg

Golden Globes 2021: How to Watch Live in India, Date, Time, Notable Nominations, and More

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3uGZNVV

'Heart is not in it', says Gilles Simon as he takes break from ATP tour

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/2MsGDSq

India records 16,488 new COVID cases, 113 deaths

India registered a single-day spike of over 16,000 COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row on Saturday, pushing the infection tally to 1,10,79,979, while the recoveries surged to 1,07,63,451, according to Union Health Ministry data. A total of 16,488 novel coronavirus cases were reported in a day, while the death toll rose to 1,56,938 with 113 new fatalities, showed the data updated at 8 am on Saturday. The active case count has further increased to 1,59,590, which comprises 1.44 per cent of the total infections, the data stated. The number of recoveries reached 1,07,63,451, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.14 per cent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent. A total of 16,577 new COVID-19 cases were reported in India on Friday, while 16,738 fresh infections were registered in the country on Thursday. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11; crossed 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed one crore on December 19. The 113 new fatalities include 48 from Maharashtra, 15 from Punjab and 14 from Kerala. The death toll from the pandemic stands at 52,041 in Maharashtra, 12,488 in Tamil Nadu, 12,320 in Karnataka, 10,906 in Delhi, 10,263 in West Bengal, 8,725 in Uttar Pradesh and 7,169 in Andhra Pradesh. For the first time, a coronavirus-linked death has been reported in Lakshadweep. The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths were caused due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)," the ministry said on its website, adding state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3aZahIp

Sunrisers Hyderabad's David Warner looking ahead to IPL 2021

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3bPhNoK

Pep Guardiola is the Heston Blumenthal of football: David Moyes

via Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Live Match Scores & Sports News Headlines, Results & more https://ift.tt/3bGUvRL

Facebook to Pay $650 Million in US Privacy Lawsuit Settlement

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/389JwPZ

Britain to Offer Fast-Track Visas to Bolster Fintech Companies After Brexit

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/37PRDB2

New Rules for Social Media, Online Streaming Platforms Could Threaten Free Expression in India, Say Critics

via Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/3uCel9l

Gadkari urges MSMEs to install solar rooftops

NEW DELHI: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday invited MSMEs to avail concessional debt finance to install rooftop solar for business efficiency.The Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Road Transport & Highways said rooftop solar offers an excellent value proposition to MSMEs by significantly bringing down cost of electricity consumption, which on an average, is up to one-fifth of their operations cost.Addressing a programme virtually, Gadkari said, "I believe there is a strong business case for MSMEs to install rooftop solar and achieve significant savings to achieve the cost-competitiveness. I am confident that MSMEs will stand together in generating and consuming solar power using their rooftops."The minister observed that a large amount (average Rs 8 and higher per unit) is being paid by the MSMEs for power consumption, which contributes to up to one-fifth of the overall production costs."To assist MSMEs in implementing rooftop solar projects, the ministry is working with the World Bank on a credit guarantee program to make financing accessible to unrated MSMEs. Considering the rates of solar power from large utility power plants have come down to a record Rs 1.99/kWh, MSMEs must leverage this opportunity to bring down their energy expenses," he said.Addressing the event, Junaid Ahmad, Country Director India, World Bank, said the World Bank is committed to the cause of MSMEs and an investment in this industry will aid India's aim to become 'Aatmanirbhar' or 'self-reliant'."By facilitating MSMEs to decarbonise their power consumption in a sustainable manner, India can achieve a twin objective of greening the economy and uplifting MSMEs to become highly competitive by reducing its power costs," he added.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2ZTwjWC

6 turnaround stocks worth betting on

While a few sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals and telecom, among others, thrived during the Covid-19 induced lockdowns, most other sectors were not so lucky. However, opening up of the economy has helped these to make a comeback and the third quarter numbers of several companies are proof of that. “The aggregate third-quarter numbers were good because the recovery in many sectors were much better than the street expectations,” says Sonam Udasi, Senior Fund Manager, Tata Mutual Fund.Experts feel that this positive trend will continue in the coming quarters and the lower base in 2021—the y-o-y growth will look exaggerated—is just one of the factors. “Profitability in the fourth quarter will be better because the economy would have opened up more during the January-March period. Due to increased sales, dealers are now ready to hold inventory and this is working in favour of manufacturers in 2021-22. Improvement in commodity prices should help companies from that segment,” says Kishor P. Ostwal, Chairman and MD, CNI Research.The faster recovery in impacted sectors has resulted in several of these turning around in the third quarter. For example, infrastructure players are benefitting due to increased government spending. Real estate players, especially those with business in Maharashtra, are also witnessing increased sales on the back of stamp duty reduction. There is pick up in auto ancillaries because of the pick up in auto sales. While Covid related companies benefitted earlier, other healthcare providers are catching up now. Some companies from sectors like textiles, jewelleries, etc are also in the turnaround list.Are these turnarounds just a blip or will these be sustainable in the coming quarters as well? Experts continue to be positive on the construction space. “The construction space is expected to do well due to increased government spending in 2021-22. Reduction of debt by some of these companies is another positive factor,” says Udasi. Continued foreign inflow of funds, especially through Reits and InvITs, is the main factor that is helping some of these companies to reduce debt. Reduction in corporate tax is helping companies to report increased profits and some of them are using this higher profit to pay off debt and this, in turn, will increase profit in coming quarters by reducing interest costs. While turnaround is good, some of the counters have already reacted to this news and share prices have already gone up. Therefore, the next step is to make sure that this is not yet fully priced in. For that, we compared the current prices of stocks with the consensus target price and shortlisted only the ones that have sufficient potential upside. The following companies are sorted on the basis of potential upsides. 81122066RaymondRaymond was able to report a consolidated net profit of Rs 21.7 crore in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of Rs 133 crore in the second quarter. More importantly, all business segments have shown signs of recovery in the third quarter and have reported positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). For example, its branded textile business has already reached 70% of pre-covid levels. Stamp duty reduction by the Maharashtra government has come as a boon for players like Raymond, which entered the real estate business recently. This helped Raymond to launch two more towers in its Thane project and garner 179 new bookings in the third quarter. Stringent cost reduction measures adopted by Raymond during the turmoil helped it to improve margins. The reduction in working net capital cycle has helped Raymond to reduce its net debt as well. Analysts believe that things will improve further in the coming quarters. “We expect Raymond to improve its overall financial health aided by recovery in sales and margins. Its revenue is gradually recovering to the pre-covid levels and further recovery will lead to higher margins owing to operational leverage,” says a recent LKP Research report.JMC Projects (India)JMC Projects was able to report third-quarter revenue growth of 15% y-o-y and 32% q-o-q and its quarterly revenues hit a new peak. JMC was also able to bag orders worth Rs 1,050 crore during the third quarter. “The order book of JMC Projects is around 4.3 times its last 12 month revenues. If one adds the orders received after the third quarter and L1 positions, revenue potential jumps to 4.8 times and this quells the concerns regarding sustainable growth in the medium term and beyond,” says a recent Anand Rathi report. JMC, the subsidiary of Kalpataru Power, was also able to get back to green in the third quarter of 2020-21, after remaining in the red in the previous three quarters. The debt reduction exercise continues and JMC has reduced its consolidated net debt from to Rs 1,530 crore in December from Rs 1,672 crore in September, mostly because of client receipts and tightening the working capital cycle further. The government’s efforts to attract more foreign inflows into infrastructure through InvITs should help companies like JMC and any success on this front will support its monetisation efforts and improve cash flows.IRB Infrastructure DevelopersIRB Infrastructure Developers is another company from the road space that has made smart recovery in the third quarter and beat the street’s expectations. Improvement in toll collections —up by 32% q-o-q— due to increased road traffic after the unlocking of the economy and jump in EPC executions—up by 42% q-o-q—because of normalisation of labour and supply chains helped IRB to achieve this feat. For instance, the Mumbai-Pune expressway toll collection jumped by 42% q-o-q during the third quarter and crossed the previous peak collection achieved during the third quarter of 2019-20. IRB’s third quarter net profit of Rs 69.48 crore was able to wipe out the losses of two previous quarters—of Rs 19.66 crore and Rs 30.14 crore respectively. Despite this stellar performance, IRB is still valued reasonably. “In the third quarter, IRB beat our revenue and net profit estimates by 15% and 37% respectively. We maintain buy on IRB, given attractive valuation and comfortable liquidity position,” says a recent HDFC Sec report. ITD Cementation IndiaITD Cementation was able to bounce back faster due to its dominant position in the urban infra space and MNC parentage. For instance, its third quarter revenue grew by 12% y-oy and 43% q-o-q. It also surprised at the market net profit level because of higher profits from its joint venture projects. For instance, it was able to report a consolidated net profit of Rs 30 crore in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of Rs 49.75 crore in the second quarter and Rs 10.60 crore profit during the third quarter of 2019-20. ITD is expected to report better results in coming years. “We expect execution momentum of ITD Cementation to remain strong going ahead due to healthy and diversified order book, robust bid pipeline and overall strong infra push in the economy,” says a Prabhudas Lilladher report. ITD’s large order book, placed above Rs 12,000 crore and around 4.8 times its historical revenues, gives clear visibility in coming years. ITD also has strong execution capabilities and was able to solve the hiccups in Kolkata and Bangalore metro projects. It can also boast of a strong balance sheet and low leverage. Its debt ratio is only 0.5 times.Aditya Birla Fashion & RetailAditya Birla Fashion & Retail's third-quarter revenues were down by 20% y-o-y, but recovery was visible compared to the second quarter— up by more than 100%, triggered mostly by wedding and festive season demands. The management’s focus on cost control and lower discounting helped AB Fashion to keep its gross margins at the same level. Its debt reduction strategy— through capital infusion and better working capital management, is also yielding fruit. For instance, this debt reduction has helped AB Fashion to bring down its finance cost by 28% q-o-q in the third quarter and should help AB Fashion to bring it down further in coming years. “Controlled working capital cycle, recovery in profitability and steady free cash flow generation would result in debt / Ebitda ratio declining to 0.6 times by 2022-23 compared to six times in 2019-20,” says a recent ICICI Direct report.Narayana HrudayalayaWhile Covid meant additional revenues for some segments of the pharmaceutical industry, it was negative for hospitals, especially those that were concentrating on other ailments. However, they are catching up now and coming back to black. For instance, Narayana Hrudayalaya was able to report a net profit of Rs 40.8 crore in the third quarter, compared to a loss of Rs 3.42 crore in the second quarter and net profit of Rs 31.38 crore reported during the third quarter of last year. Substantial improvement in operational performance, despite Covid-related challenges, helped Narayana to achieve this feat. To keep its balance sheet healthy, Narayana is following the ‘asset right model’. While Narayana owns some hospitals, others are partnerships —Narayana only takes care of hospital management, medical equipment, etc and the investments in land, building, etc are done by partners. “Due to Narayana Hrudayalaya’s focus on balance sheet and likely improvement in average realisation per operating bed by optimising case mix, we expect an improvement in return on capital employed (ROCE) to 16.9% in 2022-23 from 11% in 2019-20”, says a recent ICICI Direct report.Note: Price and target price as on 16 Feb. Source: ETIG Database and Bloomberg(Graphics by Sadhana Saxena/ET Prime)

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3brfnfx