Women lend a hand in overwhelmed crematoriums

GANDHINAGAR: As the sun descends in the west, 55-year-old Gauriben Purabia wipes the sweat off her forehead. Gauriben, who is one of the many women who work in a crematorium in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, wipes the floor using water that’s mixed with sanitiser – the tiles must stay sparkling clean at all times.A few meters away, her daughter Ambika and her husband Prakash prepare a body wrapped in a plastic bag for the CNG furnace to devour – another victim of Covid-19. A little further away, her son Vikram lords over the fire to ensure nothing is left behind. Vikram’s wife Bhavna, meanwhile, cleans up another furnace.The torrent of death that the second wave of Covid-19 in India has brought with it has numbed these women.“It’s become like a stone inside,” said Bhavna Purabia, in her late 20s and a mother of three.The women in this Gandhinagar crematorium have been as busy as their male counterparts cremating the dead since the onset of this Covid-19 wave, sharing all tasks.“When we started working here back in 2009, we were assigned tasks like keeping the place clean, assisting the gardener and so on. But now, everyone is doing what needs to be done first,” Bhavna told ET. “From arranging logs on a pyre to cleaning them, cooling the furnaces down, we do it all. After all, this is our job.”The crematorium management has added more open furnaces to handle the additional rush.“As of now, we can manage 18 bodies at one go,” said Jilubha Dhandhal, the manager of the crematorium.On an average, about 60 bodies are cremated here daily, with about 90% of them brought in body bags since the devastating second wave started, Dhandhal said.“Normally, It’s six to seven cremations a day – 10 at the most,” he added.The nine women who work in the crematorium were recruited with their husbands. The crematorium management provided them quarters and arranged to send their children to school.“When we started out back in 2009, not too many people wanted to join and so we decided to employ families and here they are,” Dhandhal said.However, after the tsunami of the pandemic, everyone’s job description has changed drastically.“The hierarchy makes little sense now and all hands are on deck,” said Apeksha, who initially used to tend the garden and now assists in the office, having studied up to class 12. “The supervisor himself is burning bodies. The women who were supposed to keep the campus clean are arranging logs, setting up piers, collecting the asthi and cleaning them up. We have to stand up to the situation and without hesitation.”The crematorium workers are aware of the risk of catching the dreaded disease themselves but are undaunted.“We have been working here for the past 12 years, but now the pressure has increased manifold,” said Bhavna, who has just finished cooling an open furnace with water. “We are not scared. We have been unscathed so far and someone up there will protect us in the future too.”The only caution the families exercise is to keep their children away from the crematorium area.“Earlier, they used to come around this side and play, but now we have asked them to stay indoors,” Bhavna said with a smile on her face. Her eldest son, is in class eight, dreams about joining the army someday.Two more ambulances pull in bringing more bodies. The team sets out to carry out its tasks. Once again.

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Created as a joke, how dogecoin became mainstream

Good morning,It's Zaheer here. Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency started as a joke in 2013, is currently the world’s seventh-largest digital coin with a market value of over $42 billion.Who’s laughing now?The world’s strangest (and cutest) cryptocurrencyIn January 2014, the two-man Jamaican bobsled team announced they wouldn’t be able to make it to the Winter Olympics in Sochi as they didn’t have the $80,000 needed for travel, equipment and other expenses.They ended receiving help from an unusual source (yes, even more unusual than ice-racers from the tropics). Users of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that began as a joke, helped make Olympics history by raising more than $30,000 worth of Dogecoin to help fund the team’s trip to Russia.A Doge is born 82337825Source: Dogecoin FacebookDogecoin had been created the previous year by Jackson Palmer, a product manager for Adobe Inc in Sydney, and Billy Markus, a software developer at IBM, as a joke about the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies.With Shiba Inu (a Japanese hunting dog and early meme celebrity) as its logo, Palmer and Markus promoted Dogecoin as a less serious alternative to Bitcoin that would also be faster, and more adaptable and consumer-friendly.Pronunciation check: Though it is variously pronounced as "doggie", "doh-gay", "dog-ay", or just "dog", the correct pronunciation according to Markus is “dohj” coin.Dogecoin is an inflationary coin, meaning there’s no limit on its supply. This is a feature it shares with fiat currencies and one that makes it unlike Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies, which have a ceiling on the number of coins that will be created.Underneath all the “such wow”, “how money” hilarity, Dogecoin’s underlying technology is borrowed from Litecoin, a legitimate bitcoin spinoff that was launched in October 2011. With a market value of over $42 billion at current prices, Dogecoin is now the world’s 7th largest cryptocurrency. 82337828Source: GiphyFirst roller coaster: In December 2013, the value of Dogecoin jumped nearly 300% in three days (from $0.00026 to $0.00095). This was around the time that China barred its banks from investing in crypto, leaving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies reeling.Three days later, Dogecoin saw its first major crash when its value dropped by 80% because of China’s decision and other factors.First scam: In March 2014, Alex Green, aka Ryan Kennedy, a British citizen created a Dogecoin exchange called Moolah and convinced users of the cryptocurrency to donate large sums to fund it. It helped that Green was known as a generous tipper in the community, and that he once accidentally donated $15,000 instead of $1,500 to sponsor a NASCAR driver.It was revealed later that Green used the moolah not on Moolah (sorry) but to buy more than $1.5 million of Bitcoin. Inevitably, he used proceeds from that investment on the sort of cartoon villain lifestyle you’d expect. Two years later, he was convicted of multiple counts of rape and sentenced to 11 years in prison.First hack: On December 25, 2013, hackers stole millions of Dogecoins from the wallet platform Dogewallet. They modified its web page in a way that transactions weren’t sent to their intended recipients but to a single account. But because of the minuscule value of each coin, the loot totalled just $12,000.Nonetheless, the Dogecoin community started an initiative called "SaveDogemas" to donate coins to those who lost funds in the breach.The Dogefather 82337830Source: GiphyDogecoin has had an incredible run since the start of 2021. If you had invested $1,000 in it on January 1, you would be sitting on a few tens of thousands of dollars now.That’s largely to do with the fact that Dogecoin has some heavyweight celebrity backers, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, fellow billionaire Mark Cuban, and rapper Snoop Dogg.In January, Dogecoin’s price went up over 800% in 24 hours, hitting $0.07 after attention from Reddit users looking to turn it into the crypto version of GameStop.Musk has called Dogecoin his “fav” cryptocurrency and “the people’s crypto” on Twitter, and at the start of April vowed to “put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon”. Each tweet saw the price of Dogecoin jump a few percentage points.The latest of Musk’s Doge tweets came earlier this week, when he slipped in a reference to the cryptocurrency while confirming his upcoming appearance on Saturday Night Live, causing its value to jump 20%.The DogefatherSNL May 8— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 1619590847000Let me now pass it on to Vikas SN for other big developments of the weekINCOMING: INDIA'S FIRST TECH UNICORN IPO & A MEGA ONLINE GROCERY FIGHTFood delivery firm Zomato filed for a historic $1.1 billion IPO with markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday. India's startup ecosystem will be keenly watching how this offering unfolds as it could set the tone for the upcoming tech IPO rush. The public issue will also likely be a test of Indian investors' appetite for startup unicorns in the country. 82337857Investors in Zomato, including Info Edge, Sequoia and Ant Financial, are expected to reap massive returns if the food-delivery firm is able to garner the expected valuations. Do read our deep dive into Zomato's IPO prospectus. 82337851The stage is also set for a fierce battle of giants in India's fast-growing online grocery segment after Tata Sons' proposal to buy a majority stake in Alibaba-backed BigBasket got the go-ahead from India's competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI).The deal, which marks one of the largest M&A deals in India's digital sector, will put Tata Group in direct competition with Reliance’s JioMart, Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, apart from Grofers.Tata Digital is likely to provide a full exit to two of BigBasket's biggest investors -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which holds a 29.59% stake, and Actis LLP, which acquired several portfolios of scandal-hit Abraaj Group and owns a 16.53% stake in BigBasket. Some smaller investors in the e-grocer are also expected to get an exit. BigBasket counts Ascent Capital, Helion Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners among its investors. 82337868BigBasket is currently the leader in the online grocery segment and says it has crossed the $1 billion annual revenue run rate mark in September last year, buoyed by growing demand for online groceries due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Do read our explainer on the Tata Group-BigBasket deal. 82337880STARTUPS, BIG TECH AID COVID RELIEF EFFORTSSeveral startup entrepreneurs, investors and startup collectives have come together to mobilise resources and offer all kinds of assistance to help the country fight the second wave of Covid-19 which had ravaged Indian cities. 82337907Large US tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Salesforce, and retail giant Walmart are also extending their support to the country through donations, sourcing medical equipments like ICU ventilator units and oxygen concentrators, and medical supplies among others.Meanwhile, India's nodal platform to schedule appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations CoWin suffered initial outages on Wednesday evening as millions attempted to log in with the portal opening registration for all adult Indians. It further drew criticism as even those who managed to register soon discovered there were no appointments available for people below 45 years, despite them being eligible for the vaccine from May 1.DEALS IN THE WORKSEducational technology startup Byju’s is raising about $150 million from Swiss multinational investment bank UBS Group AG, at a valuation of around $16.5 billion, according to a source close to the development. The investment will catapult the Bengaluru-based firm as India’s most valuable startup, ahead of digital payments giant Paytm, which is currently valued at $16 billion. 82337932Omnichannel children’s retailer Firstcry will launch India's largest Thrasio-style investment venture with $75 million in capital commitment from investors such as Japan's SoftBank, TPG, ChrysCapital and Premji Invest, sources said. GlobalBees will buy, consolidate and fast-track the growth of brands that sell products on e-commerce marketplaces in India.Blackstone Group is making a $2.8 billion commitment to buy up to 75% of Mphasis, as cloud migration and demand for digital services surge during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The private equity fund will be joined by a consortium of its limited partners, sovereign funds and marque US endowments like Abu Dhabi Investment Authority GIC of Singapore and UC Investments (The Regents of University of California) as co-investors.Tiger Global-backed GreyOrange is evaluating a US listing to raise $500-600 million, that could value the startup at $1.5-1.7 billion, people aware of the plan told ET. GreyOrange is currently in early-stage discussions with investment banks JPMorgan, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley for the capital raising initiative.Online business-to-business marketplace Udaan will buy back employee stocks worth Rs 165-175 crore, joining a batch of Indian startups that have facilitated such liquidity programmes for their staff amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Udaan joins a slew of startups such as Cred, Swiggy, Razorpay, Acko, Zerodha, MPL, Unacademy and Cars24 among others that have announced Esop buybacks in recent months. 82337949OTHER BIG STORIES BY OUR REPORTERSStartups withdraw internships offers to B-school students amid second wave of Covid-19From cybersecurity to business-to-business sales and mid-sized startups, companies across sectors have informed B-school placement cells that the internships are on hold or that they would not pay stipends, at least a dozen MBA students told ET.Crypto miners, gamers brawl over chips amid shortageAt the core of this battle is the disrupted supplies of graphics processing units (GPUs), due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips and a surge in demand from both gamers and miners, who are now accusing each other of hoarding them.Ministry of Corporate Affairs nudges Sebi on startup listing rulesSebi accepted the recommendation of Ministry of Corporate Affairs that institutional holding threshold should be 50%, after initially proposing a lower threshold of 40%.Major brands hit pause button on brand activitySeveral leading brands have replaced upfront brand promotions to escalate Covid-19 protocols in advertising on their social media handles, driven by the need to post sensitive content at a time when the second wave of infections is raging across the country.IT firms tap dealmakers to chase large contractsIndian technology services companies, including Wipro and Infosys, are ramping up their large deal teams to remain competitive and keep an eye out for big and long-term contracts over the next few years.That's about it from us this week. Have a great weekend!

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1stinstalment of Rs 8873.6 cr under SDRF out

The first instalment of the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) of Rs 8873.6 crore for the year 2021-22 has been released to all the states, said the Ministry of Finance on Saturday. The ministry said that up to 50 per cent of the amount released i.e. Rs 4436.8 crore can be used by the states for COVID-19 containment measures. It also said that an amount of Rs 8873.6 crore has been released to the states at the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Normally, the first instalment of SDRF is released in the month of June as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission. "However, in relaxation of normal procedure, not only has the release of SDRF been advanced, the amount has also been released without waiting for the utilization certificate of the amount provided to the States in the last financial year," it said. The funds from SDRF may be used by the states for various measures related to containment of COVID-19 including meeting the cost of oxygen generation and storage plants in hospitals, ventilators, air purifiers, strengthening ambulance services, COVID-19 hospitals, Covid Care Centres, consumables, thermal scanners, personal protective equipment, testing laboratories, testing kits, containment zone, etc.

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We don't wear turban for money, says Punjab Kings' Harpreet Brar

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In Pics: How Rahul, Gayle and Brar handed RCB their second loss of the season

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Wanted to bowl dot ball to ABD but ended up getting his wicket: Brar

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Canadian athletes to have vaccine access before Tokyo Games

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Maradona was left to 'fate' ahead of death: Expert panel

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Jio Braves COVID-19 Challenges to Post 47.5 Percent Net Profit Jump to Rs. 3,508 Crores in Q4 2021

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O2 supply firms to get loans from Sidbi at 4.5-6%

MUMBAI: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) has launched two quick-delivery schemes to fund businesses in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) segment that are helping tackle the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.Under the SHWAS (Sidbi assistance to Healthcare sector in War Against the Second wave of Covid) scheme, MSMEs engaged in manufacturing of oxygen cylinders, oxy-generators, oxygen concentrators, liquid oxygen or providing services in transportation, storage, refilling or supply of these items will be eligible for low-cost credit.Under the AROG (Sidbi Assistance to MSMEs for Recovery & Organic Growth during Covid) scheme, small units engaged in manufacturing of products or providing services, which are directly related to fighting Covid, such as pulse oximeters, permitted drugs (Remdesivir, Fabiflu, Dexamethasone, Azithromycin, etc), ventilators, and PPE will get credit.“The endeavour is to provide credit facilities to deserving MSMEs that have risen to the occasion in helping the citizens in this hour of need by keeping their activities operational and providing healthcare at all levels,” Sidbi chairman and MD S Ramann said.Sidbi said these schemes will provide 100% funding up to an amount of Rs 2 crore to an MSME unit at an interest rate of 4.5-6% per annum, within 48 hours after receipt of documents. Borrowers can put in their applications online.On March 25, 2020, Sidbi had launched Sidbi Assistance to Facilitate Emergency response against coronavirus (SAFE) scheme to provide financial support to all MSMEs engaged in manufacturing of any product or providing any services, which are related to fighting the coronavirus. These include hand sanitisers, masks, bodysuits, ventilators and testing labs. More than 400 MSME units producing products to fight Covid have been sanctioned financial assistance under SAFE (worth Rs 178 crore) in FY21.

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Take the SIP route to harness volatility

Volatility is back with a vengeance in the stock market and experts say that the more than 1,000 points daily swings of the Sensex will continue till the current covid spiral abates. Panic reactions by new short-term investors are fanning the volatility. “There is too much speculation, mostly by people who entered the market in the past year. Since speculation is a zero sum game, gains of experienced big bulls and bears that constitute around 2-3% of the market participants will come at the cost of small traders. The biggest losers will be the new entrants,” says C.S. Sudheer, CEO and Founder, IndianMoney.How should retail investors manage their equity investments now? While retail traders may get burnt due to the ongoing volatility, there is no need for long-term investors to panic because this will get over in some time. The situation is similar to what happened during 2020 after the deep cuts of March- April. Make the most of itExperts say systematic investment plans (SIP), also known as rupee cost averaging, is the best option for retail investors now because it helps to harness volatility in their favour. Through SIPs, you invest a fixed amount on a regular basis and continue for the long term. Though you can do SIPs in individual stocks, it works better with mutual fund schemes because mutual funds allow small investments, usually as little as Rs 500 per month. Ability to buy fractional units is its other advantage. For example, if the NAV of a scheme is Rs 23 and you are investing Rs 1,000, mutual funds will allow you to buy 43.48 units.This fixed investment per month is the cornerstone of rupee cost averaging. Since you are investing a fixed amount per month, you get more number of mutual fund units when the NAV is low (ie when the market is down) and less number of units when the market is up. This process is similar to buying more when the price is low and less when it is up and therefore, bring down your average cost of holding over time. This is why experts ask you not to stop SIPs during volatile times. “Rupee cost averaging works only if you continue during volatile times. Therefore, investors should continue with their SIPs in periods like this,” says Deepesh Raghaw, Founder, Personal Finance Plan. 82229742The impact of rupee cost averaging—the reduction in average cost of holding—will be small when volatility is low and vice versa. Let us assume that you are investing Rs 1,000 per month in an equity scheme. To avoid individual scheme performance impacting this analysis, we used the oldest open-ended index fund, UTI Nifty Fund, as the proxy (see table). The SIP in actual NAVs (which kept changing according to market volatility) generated better SIP returns compared to hypothetical NAVs (which moved up in straight lines during the analysis period). This analysis shows why retail investors should continue with their SIPs during volatile times.Do not overdo it Now another important question: should retail investors tinker with their SIP amount and increase it to benefit from the current volatility? Experts are not very enthusiastic due to various reasons. First, marketwide valuation is still high and therefore, the time is not yet ripe for increasing SIP amounts. “No need to increase allocation now because many companies are still in overvalued zones,” says Sudheer.Second, sticking with pre-determined SIPs help investors avoid behavioural problems that happen during market volatility, mostly triggered by mood swings between greed and fear. “Increasing equity investments during small corrections and stopping investments, even regular SIPs, when the market falls further is the most common mistake most investors make,” says Raghaw.Experts also say there is no need to increase the tenor of SIPs, like stopping monthly SIPs and starting weekly SIPs, to benefit from the current volatility. “Volatility is part and parcel of equity and a weekly or monthly SIP will not make much difference in the long term, say 10 years. Continuing with monthly SIPs is fine because most people get their salary on a monthly basis,” says Chandan Singh Padiyar, a Sebi registered investment adviser (RIA). Investors should consider the convenience factor also because operational issues may crop up if they try to split their monthly SIPs into four weekly SIPs. “It is better if investors fix one day close to their income date for all their SIPs. There are chances of money remaining in their savings account getting used for other purposes if SIPs are spread out and the last SIP becomes due at the end of the month,” says Jitendra P.S. Solanki, RIA.Graphic by Sadhana Saxena/ET Prime

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Look beyond return while picking a debt fund

Do you remember that Maruti ad some years ago in which a rich man who reminds one of Vijay Mallya is examining a luxury yacht he’s planning to buy? He asks the salesman, “Kitna deti hai?” Mallya’s luxury yacht days are long gone but the ad is still quite funny. It’s also quite relevant to what I want to write about today. So if you don’t remember it then go and watch it first at bit.ly/kitnadetihai and then we’ll go ahead with the rest of the story. Why do you invest in debt funds? Are you able to quickly give an exact answer to that question? Probably not, because it’s actually not a very good question. Let me try again. How are your goals for investing in debt different from investing in equity funds? That should be much easier to think about, and hopefully to answer. In fact, if you can answer that question satisfactorily then you’re going to be a successful mutual fund investor. However, there are a few more steps after the answer itself which are needed to make sure of that.The normal—and mostly correct—answer to that question is that you invest in equity funds for high returns and debt funds for stability. Stability means that returns don’t vary too much between good times and bad. This answer also points to having a correct asset allocation and towards asset rebalancing. Another common answer is that equity funds are for long-term investing and debt funds are for short-term investing. This actually says the same thing in a different way. The long term and short term suitability of equity and debt funds arises from the same factors that are there in the previous answer. I bet you have never heard anyone say that they invest in debt funds for high returns. No one ever says that, right? And yet, practically speaking, they do. Investors do this all the time. They don’t say so, they don’t admit it to themselves, but they do. It happens like this: They decide on investing in debt funds for stability, safety and so on, but then when it comes to choosing the actual fund (or even the category of fund), they start looking at the recent returns of funds! This behaviour seems hardwired in a whole lot of investors. If you are buying a luxury yacht, then you should surely optimise for luxury. How does it matter to you kitna deti hai? Surely, no matter what you are buying, you should choose on the basis of the characteristic that matters most to you, the one which led you to that product. So when you have decided to invest a certain amount of money in debt funds because of their stability, then please choose on the basis of stability, not kitna deta hai.In many ways—actually in most ways— the debt fund crisis of the last few years is the direct result of this approach on the part of investors, fund sales people and fund managers. A good chunk of people are unable to evaluate funds on anything except returns. One reason is that at the end of the day, debt funds appear to be very close to being a commodity. From a purely sales and marketing perspective, it’s hard to distinguish one from the other unless you get deep into it. The only other way is to start playing games with risk levels and returns. The problem with that is that it’s very easy to get into a mental framework where the investor is not able to make the correct trade-off between the two. I’d hate to say that if investors have gotten their money frozen in riskier debt funds, then it is their own fault. It’s not. The entire ecosystem of fund sales has created a situation, helped along by the obsession with returns alone. Smarter investors have learned a lot from the entire experience.(The author is CEO, Value Research.)

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'Let NaBFID function as Version -2 DFI'

With the enactment of National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBIFD)Act in the last week of March 2021 the focus now shift from the need of a development financial institution for infrastructure development to making NaBFID structurally and operationally efficient and efficacious.This is important particularly in the background of experience of the DFIs like IFCI and IIIFCL which failed to deliver as expected.Infrastructure projects continue to languish for shortage of funds - debt as well as equity. Out of 6835 projects identified in December 2019 under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), only a few ,about 225, have been completed and the remaining face, among other things, funding issues. The NaBFID has a tall order - as set by the finance minister - mobilisation of Rs 3 trillion over next 3 years and making that available while functioning professionally, to a large number of projects across the country and in different sectorsThe factor that failed most the DFIs in the past was the fact that these were not structured and enabled them to govern and manage themselves to act as provider ,enabler, and catalyst for financing infrastructure development .The DFI in its new incarnation as NaBFID is Version -2 of DFI, learning from the past experiences. It however still falters in one important aspect that casts doubt on the efficacy of NaBFID . The government has the ability - de jure as well as de facto - to interfere and intervene in its governance and management.On the positive note the role of NaBFID goes beyond financing and extends to coordination with central and state governments, regulators, financial institutions, institutional investors and other stakeholders within and outside india to support infrastructure financing including domestic bonds and derivatives markets.One DFI alone - whatever be its size -may not suffice for financing the need for infrastructure development across the country . Universal banking business model of commercial banks is not compatible with infrastructure financing which requires domain expertise of the sector and lending at lower rates for tenure of 20-25 years and more. The NaBFID Act facilitates setting up of more DFIs including in the private sector with the approval of RBI . This also paves the way for existing infrastructure finance companies, set up as NBFCs, to expand and grow by converting themselves into a DFI and enjoy benefits available to a DFI or a bank.Over the years these measures would create a much needed network of sector specific DFIs ,akin to commercial banks, throughout the country .On the liability side ,NaBFID would have the ability to raise ,with the support of government guarantee, long term funds for on-lending and refinancing, from domestic sources such as RBI, central government, pension funds ,banks and bond markets ,and international markets including multilateral institutions. To begin with it will have equity of ? 10000 crores fully owned by the government which would be expanded through dilution of government stake up to 26%.The success or failure of NaBFID like any other PSU /PSB would however largely depend upon the extent to which it is able to enjoy autonomy in its governance and upon professionalism it is able to display in policy formulation and laying risk based systems and processes.The NaBFID Act , while seeks to distance the government from appointment and fixation of remuneration of wholetime directors, officers and employees/. It gives strings of control on these matters in its hands . The government has the power to appoint the chairman of the board and its nominees, and has the ability to influence appointment of other whole time directors selected through the Bureau of Bank Board or similar other agency .The government also has the power to terminate the term of office of chairman ,MD, and other whole time directors albeit in consultation with RBI .Unusually, the directors appointed by the government ,which is the only shareholder, are treated as independent directors.Further as in the case of PSUs ,the government has omnibus power to prescribe or approve rules and regulations on various matters including in regard to salaries and allowances of whole time directors and employees ,and ,fee payable to independent directors.NaBFID, as per the Act,will remain outside the purview of the 3Cs,namely, CAG, CVC and CBI, for bonafide commercial decisions taken. For the first time ,the law provides such an immunity to officers and employees of a bank/FI enabling faster decision-making and should help in bringing professionalism in the functioning of NaBFID.NaBFID as a DFI Version: 2 and attendant provisions in the NaBFID Act provide for a strong foundation for a new era of development financing in India. The efficacy of the concept and design of NaBFID would however hinge upon the restraint that the government exercises and avoids political interference in its governance and management. Less the interference. more effective would NaBFID be. This also holds the key for government’s plan to dilute its equity up to 26% over the years,in favour domestic and international investors.Ashok Haldia is former MD and CEO of PTC India Financial Services Ltd.

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Now, industry faces lumber shortage

One of the things we’re learning over the past year is the vulnerability of global supply chains.There’ve been supply bottlenecks in lumber, semiconductors, shipping capacity and even labor, after Covid-19 sparked a dramatic underestimate in how much of these products and services would be needed. No one thought a global pandemic would coincide with a boom in consumer goods and a quick economic recovery, and so no one prepared for that by increasing capacity. Underinvestment is now sparking higher prices for sought-after goods, with lumber being the most notable example. Joe’s described this dynamic as a short squeeze in the real economy.But what happens when short squeezes meet other short squeezes? Resolute Forest Products is one of the first sawmills to report this earnings season and it should have unveiled bumper revenue with lumber prices up 85% this year alone. Instead, the company reported earnings-per-share that came in below analyst expectations. Why?It seems the supply shortage in wood bumped into a supply shortage in transport. From the statement:“The wood products segment generated operating income of $221 million in the quarter, a $93 million improvement from the fourth quarter, due to a $266 per thousand board foot increase in the average transaction price, or 44%, on strong lumber demand. But shipments fell by 50 million board feet because of seasonal shortage in rail cars and trucks, pushing finished goods inventory up by 46 million board feet, to 143 million board feet. The operating cost per unit (or, the " delivered cost ") rose by $49 per thousand board feet, or 13%, reflecting a higher variable compensation provision, higher fiber costs and the CEWS credits received in the previous quarter. EBITDA in the segment improved by $93 million, to $232 million.”

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Mumbai Indians have task cut out against Chennai Super Kings

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Chris Gayle takes pressure off me at the top, says KL Rahul

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Naomi Osaka enjoys winning Madrid start in bid to end clay court jinx

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Leicester rescue draw at 10-man Southampton

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Alexander Zverev crashes out in Munich to qualifier Ivashka

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SeasonWatch Is an Indian Initiative to Track Climate Change by Observing Trees

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Harpreet, Rahul ensure big win for Punjab Kings over Royal Challengers Bangalore

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IPL: We couldn't execute our plans, says Virat Kohli

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Virat Kohli's wicket gave me confidence, says Harpreet Brar

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As virus engulfs India, diaspora watches with despair

Bad news, knowing no time zones, arrives in a jarring burst of messages, calls and posts informing millions of members of India's worldwide diaspora that yet another loved one has been sickened or lost to the coronavirus.Sometimes it comes in a barrage of WhatsApp messages first thing in the morning, and sometimes it lands in the middle of the night, as it did for Mohini Gadre's father. A 3 a.m. call at his San Francisco Bay Area home let him know that his octogenarian mother _ who had tested positive in Mumbai _ was too weak to say her morning prayers, setting off a mad scramble to find her the hospital bed where she remained for days.In the U.S., where half of the adult population has gotten at least one COVID-19 shot, the talk has been of reopening, moving forward and healing. But for Indian Americans, the daily crush of dark news from ``desh,'' the homeland, is a stark reminder that the pandemic is far from over.``We're seeing life slowly start to get back to normal in small ways, and you're feeling like a bit of hope _ like with spring. You know that things are improving, it's been a year,'' Gadre, 27, said. ``And meanwhile there's this tinderbox that's been ignited in India.''The more than 4.2 million people like Gadre who make up the Indian diaspora in the U.S., according to census estimates, have watched in horror as the latest coronavirus surge burns through India, killing thousands of people a day and catapulting the death toll to more than 200,000 _ the fourth-highest in the world.In a culture that generally makes no distinctions between cousin and sibling, biological aunt or close friend, family is family. Many Indian Americans are wracked with guilt over emerging from more than a year of isolation as relatives overseas struggle to find vaccines, hospital beds and, fatefully, their breath.Like India itself, the diaspora is striated by religion, caste, class, mother tongue and other factors that continue to divide. But now many of its members are united in frustration and helplessness with little recourse. The State Department has issued a ``do not travel'' advisory for India, citing COVID-19. That leaves families few options except to try to arrange resources from afar and persuade relatives to keep safe.In the U.K. _ home to about 1.4 million Indians _ the government has added India to its ``red list'' of countries, banning arrivals for anyone from India except for U.K. citizens and residents. That adds to a sense of isolation and helplessness for many who feel cut off from loved ones.``Apart from raising funds, being generous with donations and going to offer prayers, there's not much else we can do at the moment,'' said Yogesh Patel, a spokesperson at one of the U.K.'s largest Hindu temples. ``We can't go and console family and friends, everything is happening online.''Compounding the frustration is the struggle by many in the diaspora to convince family and friends in India to abide by basic social distancing and masking protocols.The problem is twofold and cultural: A certain generational hierarchy means elders are not inclined to heed the advice of their children, grandchildren or outsiders. And misinformation spreads widely through the same social channels that are vital to coordinating help and bridging the gap across oceans.``My dad, he was all over the place, and I told him: `You've got to stay at home, you've got to wear masks,' but, you know, they don't listen,'' said Ankur Chandra, 38, a New York-based consultant whose father is now recovering from COVID-19, alone in an apartment in India's national capital region of Gurugram.Shivani Nath, a Manhattan-based interior designer for hotels who was born and raised in New Delhi, offended relatives when she expressed horror instead of congratulations at pictures of a ``complete five-day, traditional Indian Hindu wedding'' in the family _ no masks in sight.``My cousin was like, `You Americans are so arrogant and look at your own country and you have over 500,000 people who have died.' And she actually told me _ she's like, `Indians have herd immunity. We are born with herd immunity,''' Nath recounted.Her cousin later apologized, after several wedding attendees were diagnosed with COVID-19.Vijaya Subrahmanyam, 58, typically travels to India every six months to see her family, including her older sister and 91-year-old mother in Hyderabad, in the southern state of Telangana. Because of the pandemic, she hasn't been back in almost two years, and her summer plans to visit were scrapped at her own mother's advisement.The same week that the Atlanta-based college professor received her second dose of the vaccine, her mother and sister both tested positive for COVID-19. Her mother had not left her home, but her sister took a two-minute diversion to the mall to purchase a handbag after picking up some medicine, and that's where Subrahmanyam suspects she got infected.``Initially, we were like, `What's wrong with you?''' she said. But Subrahmanyam realized her sister probably felt worse about it than anyone else _ and recognized that she was the one still in India, tasked with taking care of their mother.Some of those who feel similarly helpless are channeling their energies into mutual aid projects.Anand Chaturvedi, 23, is from Mumbai but now works in New York. Coming from a tech background, he volunteered to help the same websites he himself has used, including an open-source site that helps search for virus-related resources.In Seattle, Sanjay Jejurikar, 58, is leveraging his connections and using his familiarity with India to connect people to assistance, everyone from a 75-year-old mentor to young employees of his India-based education technology startup.``In India, things are a little bit chaotic, right?'' said Jejurikar, whose mother died of COVID-19 in July in India. ``I mean, on one hand, they're very bureaucratic and rule-based, and all that stuff, which is good. But on the other hand, quite a few people are left on their own devices, like they don't have any support.''After losing her grandmother to COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, 23-year-old Farheen Ali, a grad student from Texas, moved back to Hyderabad in August to help her parents.Having experienced a pandemic peak and a Ramadan in each country, Ali thinks one of the biggest differences is the confidence she had that ``it won't get that bad or the system won't break as bad'' in the U.S. She also believes she would have been vaccinated by this point if she had stayed in Texas.While she doesn't necessarily regret coming to India, the embers of hope are dying out: ``I don't think there's any trust in the government or the public that they're going to try to get this down because I still know people that don't want to take the vaccine because of stupid WhatsApp messages or don't believe that corona is still a thing, even though people are dying at this rate.''

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Use dips to buy ICICI,Axis Bank: Anand Tandon

We are looking at an overpriced market which is struggling to find new highs but being pushed by a wall of money and that is why that is now spreading to the smaller and midcap parts of the market., says independent analyst Anand Tandon. On Bajaj Finance’s performanceIt has been a business which has performed way better than expected, given the environment it is operating in. Unsecured lending at this stage is probably the most risky business and despite that, the numbers have been kind of okay. So you have to give it to the management that they have managed to achieve whatever they have. But if one were to look at it from an investor perspective, the fact remains that it is still extremely expensive as a company and though they have justified that for a long time and the market continues to believe that it can sustain that kind of thing, you have to assume that the growth can be maintained at very high levels for you to be able to justify that number on a fundamental basis. That is a bit of a challenge in the environment we are in because for the next few months at least because of the Covid situation, we would again have an issue in terms of how the growth numbers should be panning out. Caveats on the valuations aside, it is a business that has proved time and again that it knows how to handle the risks and the business that it is into. On Bajaj AutoBajaj Auto is a much less complicated business but the numbers have been good. I frankly like Bajaj Auto because it is not dependent on India only and has a more diversified base. Though TVS has also reported very good numbers and has been rewarded accordingly, Bajaj Auto’s export numbers are the ones that I would look at more carefully because that is something that gives you a diversification beyond India. The valuation is kind of okay. The main problem was that the two-wheeler business was slowing down and that continues to remain a bit of a challenge. But I would argue that it is a little difficult to understand for the simple reason that personal mobility is one segment where one would expect numbers to improve if there is a pressure on margins. But the numbers are reasonable and the valuation is not that expensive compared to some of the other companies in the sector. I think the company can perform reasonably okay over the next few months. On Reliance Industries I do not have any other further insight in terms of the actual numbers. I think that is a job better done by the analysts but if you were to look at where the business valuation is driven from, it is largely driven from the consumer and the technology business and not so much the traditional gas and oil business. Of course, given the fact that there has been an increase in raw material prices on the oil side, one should be able to see a little bit better performance coming through even in the oil and gas business. Reliance had a tough time last year on the Jio front because of the farmer agitation in Punjab. That slowed down their numbers a bit. One is looking to see those numbers picking up again as we get out of that phase. But clearly the retail side of the business is not likely to do too well. One has to look at it more as a platform play that will work out over the next few years rather than immediately. In the near term, I would expect better performance from some of the older businesses and a little better compared to last quarter for new age business like Jio. Can Axis Bank & ICICI Bank be bought on dips?Well certainly. I have been bullish on the corporate facing banks for quite a while. ICICI Bank now is probably one of the cheaper private sector banks out there which has potential to grow quite rapidly from here and at least maintain a reasonable asset quality for the next several quarters and at the same time the valuation is not particularly expensive. Axis perhaps will need a little more time because it has already run up quite a bit though it has given up in recent weeks, But it is still expensive relative to what it has been earlier. Net-net, both these banks present good opportunities. I think the Indian banking system for all practical purposes has only four banks as far as the corporate sector is concerned -- HDFC, ICICI, Kotak and Axis. Everything else is too small or is going to have a tough time playing catch-up. From a corporate banking perspective, these are the best ways to play the sector. One can expect some amount of credit growth in the corporate side. We have not seen those numbers going up yet but the expectation is that is where the growth will happen and the consumer part is a bit overdone in my view. What is the market focussing on in the near term? After every three-four days, the market rally stalls and then again a push comes higher! If you look top down, this answer is simple. There is no upside from here because the valuations are extremely high whether you look at the Indian market or the US market. We take our cues from valuation upside to come from here. Now that said, there are a lot of problems in the US in the form of taxation possibilities and though the market seems to have shrugged that off as a non-event, that is because they have not passed the laws yet. If they were to pass the higher taxes, there would probably be a huge readjustment there and that will affect all markets around the globe. But otherwise, the assumption is that because of money coming out from the developed market, the emerging markets will benefit. Inflation is likely to go up in markets like ours where the weightage in the index is almost 60% for commodity related stocks which will obviously do well. Net-net, we are looking at an overpriced market which is struggling to find new highs but being pushed by a wall of money and that is why that is now spreading to the smaller and midcap parts of the market. The strategy that everybody is trying to follow is find smaller companies which have reason to go up because they have underperformed for several years. However, in the last few months, midcaps may actually have significantly outperformed but they have not yet reached the kind of peaks that we have seen in the past. So there is perhaps a little more upside. The large cap index will largely remain range-bound assuming there is no adverse event and that will give an opportunity for midcaps and small caps to play a catchup for some more time, especially driven by inflationary pressure. With all commodity prices going up, whether they are metals or soft commodities in the form of chemicals and petrochemicals, that is a trend that is likely to continue for at least another quarter or two.

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Stampede in Israel kills nearly 40

A stampede broke out early Friday at a Jewish religious festival attended by tens of thousands of people in northern Israel, killing nearly 40 people and leaving some 150 hospitalized, medical officials said.The stampede, one of the deadliest civilian disasters in Israeli history, occurred during the celebrations of Lag BaOmer at Mount Meron. Tens of thousands of people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, gather each year to honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century sage and mystic who is buried there. Large crowds traditionally light bonfires, pray and dance as part of the celebrations.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a ``great tragedy,'' and said everyone was praying for the victims.Media estimated the crowd at about 100,000 people.Eli Beer, director of the Hatzalah rescue service, said he was horrified by how crowded the event was, saying the site was equipped to handle perhaps a quarter of the number who were there.``Close to 40 people died as a result of this tragedy,'' he told the station.The incident happened after midnight, and the cause of the stampede was not immediately clear. Videos circulating on social media showed large numbers of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed together in tight spaces.A 24-year-old witness, identified only by his first name Dvir, told the Army Radio station that ``masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created.'' He said a first row of people fell down, and then a second row, where he was standing, also began to fall down from the pressure of the stampede."I felt like I was about to die," he said.Zaki Heller, spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service, said 150 people had been hospitalized, several dozen in serious or critical condition. Army Radio, citing anonymous medical officials, said the death toll had risen to 44.That would match the death toll of a 2010 forest fire, which is believed to be the deadliest civilian tragedy in the country's history.Heller told the station ``no one had ever dreamed'' something like this could happen. ``In one moment, we went from a happy event to an immense tragedy,'' he said.Photos from the scene showed rows of wrapped bodies.The Israeli military said it had dispatched medics and search and rescue teams along with helicopters to assist with a ``mass casualty incident`` in the area. It did not provide details on the nature of the disaster.It was the first huge religious gathering to be held legally since Israel lifted nearly all restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The country has seen cases plummet since launching one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns late last year.Health authorities had nevertheless warned against holding such a large gathering.But when the celebrations started, the Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, police chief Yaakov Shabtai and other top officials visited the event and met with police, who had deployed 5,000 extra forces to maintain order.Ohana, a close ally of Netanyahu, thanked police for their hard work and dedication ``for protecting the well-being and security for the many participants'' as he wished the country a happy holiday.Netanyahu is struggling to form a governing coalition ahead of a Tuesday deadline, and the national tragedy is sure to complicate those efforts.

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Financial pitfalls NRIs should avoid while investing

First-generation Indian migrants are far more likely to return to India annually to visit family, friends, or relatives, attend family events, or travel across the country. During these short trips, they have been known to squeeze in their financial appointments for India-based investment decisions. This hasty process usually leads to critical investment decisions being pushed aside or delegated to relatives or friends, which ultimately leads to financial pitfalls.In our experience with NRIs, some of the usual pitfalls they are known to fall into and must consciously try to avoid are as follows:Investing as a residentOnce an individual attains the status of an NRI he must convert his existing bank accounts to an NRE, NRO, or FCNR accounts. As an NRI you can open an NRE & NRO account that are rupee designated accounts and are repatriable. Similarly, investment instruments like MFs, direct equity, bonds, and more have their restrictions. For instance, an NRIs DEMAT account will need to be converted to an NRO DEMAT account, while stock trading activities will need to be routed through a PIS (Portfolio Investment Scheme) account. The rules and regulations are ever-changing; keen NRI investors need to keep abreast with these changes to avoid falling into the trap of losses.Barred Investments Often NRI’s tend to continue with their residential status-based investment instruments as well, ignoring processes and regulations. For instance, as an NRI settled in the USA there are restrictions to which mutual fund houses you are allowed to invest through. This is due to the stringent compliance requirement by the USA & Canada’s regulatory body FATCA. To avoid the complexities in compliance only a handful of investing houses accept investments from NRIs residing in the US. For NRI’s in other nations continuing with the current MFs may require a simple status change update by submitting the necessary documentation. Also Read: Why NRIs should use the mutual fund route to investmentsThe taxation webTax avoidance or double taxation is another pitfall that most NRIs fail to account for. Income earned in India, which exceeds the specified amount, in the form of interest, dividends from equity shares or MFs, rent, capital gain, etc. become liable for tax filing. In some countries income earned in India could be taxable both in India as well as in the country of the NRIs residence. To circumvent this double taxation burden on NRIs a tax treaty better known as the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) is signed between India and multiple countries. This treaty assists in tackling the problem of tax avoidance as well as determines the efficient method implied to tax an NRI income. This avoids double taxation and offers relief by reducing the burden of taxes on income earned, provided a DTAA provision exists between the two countries. Beyond intent, the foremost reason for NRIs to default on taxes is unawareness linked to the Indian tax laws that are constantly changing. Zero diversificationTying your portfolio to a single asset class or even a single country’s fate is a gamble. NRIs often fail to diversify their investments across asset classes and invest in fixed returns assets like FD’s or physical assets like gold and real estate. The reason for this tunneled vision could be correlated to avoidance of the complicated web of regulations, transactional compliances, and taxation by NRIs. Reports suggest NRI investments in Indian real estate are likely to grow at 12% in FY22. The average prices of properties in leading markets like NCR and Mumbai showed flat growth in the October-December period of 2020 as compared to the previous year (2019). Falling interest rates too have caused traditional asset classes like FD’s and more to lose their sheen. There are multiple avenues for NRIs to choose from that are both risky as well as secured. Mutual funds, NPS, direct equity, PPF, and more are avenues that can be considered based on the financial goals of the investor, be it early retirement, post-retirement planning or simply securing their dependents' future.Digital AssetsThe latest fad of Non-Fungible Tokens NFTs and Cryptocurrency along with its ambiguity over its legality by Indian laws are leaving investors in a tizzy. Young NRIs that are tech-savvy often tend to invest massive amounts of their corpus in such digital assets. Owing to its volatility and legal repercussions (especially in India) it is best if investors maintain investing in such assets within their allocated limit ensuring that its uncertainty or volatility does not put their complete financial portfolio at risk. Also Read: Here's a step by step guide for NRIs to retire richControlling OutflowsClearing off all forms of debt needs to be top a priority for every investor. First-generation NRIs who migrate often have loans for a home, education, or personal requirements. They must ensure to plan repayment and pre-payment of these loans from day 1. It is easy to get carried away and spend on lifestyle expenses in a new country. Prudent planning ensures you stay in control of your expenses and invest efficiently, especially during these unprecedented times of volatile markets, job cuts, visa delays, and more.As NRIs, investing in Indian markets need not be a burdensome task. Today, in the post-pandemic world processes and procedures have swiftly moved to online modes offering investors much transactional ease, even if they are across borders. The Indian markets are proving their grit and potential, it is now time for NRIs to decide if they want to benefit from India’s future potential.

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MCA nudges Sebi on startup listing rules

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has nudged the market regulator Sebi to partially roll back a relaxation proposed for listing of startups in India.Currently, the market regulator has created a special platform to cater to the startups looking for a listing, which is called Innovators Growth Platform (IGP). This is a niche platform that can only be accessed by big ticket institutions and wealthy investors, and hence has limited liquidity compared to the mainboard where all the bluechip stocks trade.A startup that has listed on the IGP platform can migrate to the mainboard provided the company meets several conditions, including a profit of at least Rs 15 crore in the last three years.However, if the startup does not have the profit track record, it can still migrate to the mainboard provided 75% of the shareholders of the company are institutional investors. Several startups and VC firms made representations to Sebi seeking a relaxation to this rule since it was difficult to achieve 75% institutional holding. Even among the blue-chips, only a handful of companies have such high institutional holding. Based on the industry feedback, Sebi proposed to lower the threshold to 40% from 70%. However, MCA opposed this relaxation saying the limit was too lenient and instead recommended that the threshold should be 50%. Sebi eventually agreed. Emails sent to Sebi and MCA remained unanswered.“MCA has commented that the 40% dilution is too low and must be reviewed so that the Company does not take unfair advantage of having first listing with IGP and then getting moved to Mainboard,” said minutes of Sebi board meeting dated March 25,2021. “In view of the comments from MCA...we may reduce this stipulation of 75% of capital with QIBs (qualified institutional investors) to 50% instead of 40% as proposed in the consultation paper.”

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Amazon posts record profits amid pandemic boom

Amazon, one of the biggest winners of the pandemic, posted record profits on Thursday and signaled that consumers would keep spending in a growing U.S. economy and converts to online shopping are not likely to leave. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers have relied increasingly on Amazon for delivery of home staples, and the company sees this trend continuing post-pandemic, particularly for groceries. While brick-and-mortar stores closed, Amazon has now posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, attracted more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers, and recruited over 500,000 employees to keep up with surging demand. Amazon said it expects operating income for the current quarter to be between $4.5 billion and $8 billion, which includes about $1.5 billion in costs related to Covid-19. Shares rose 4% in after-hours trade. Throughout the pandemic, the world's largest online retailer has been at the center of workplace tumult, with a failed attempt by organized labor to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Alabama and litigation in New York over whether it put profit ahead of employee safety. Amazon's business has largely been unfazed by the developments. Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said a jump in Prime subscriptions, consumers' embrace of grocery delivery amid COVID-19 and an improving economy worked to Amazon's advantage. "Habit. Good quality grocery. Stimulus checks," Pachter said. "They're going to thrive." Slower sales growth in the current period relative to the last quarter reflected a tougher comparison to last year, when lockdowns were in full swing, Pachter said. CEO Jeff Bezos touted the results of the company's cloud computing unit Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a press release, saying, "In just 15 years, AWS has become a $54 billion annual sales run rate business competing against the world's largest technology companies, and its growth is accelerating." The plaudits were a nod to Andy Jassy, AWS's long-time cloud chief who will succeed Bezos as Amazon's CEO this summer. Amazon announced a deal for Dish Network Corp to build its 5G network on AWS last week, and the division increased revenue 32% to $13.5 billion, ahead of analysts' average estimate of $13.2 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, said businesses increasingly wanted to outsource their technology infrastructure to AWS. "We expect this trend to continue as we move into the post-pandemic recovery," he said. Adding to Amazon's second-quarter revenue will be Prime Day, the company's annual marketing blitz. Amazon disclosed the event will take place in June rather than July, as is more typical, to reach customers before they head on vacation. Grocery sales anchored by Amazon's subsidiary Whole Foods Market remain a bright spot, too. Olsavsky called grocery "a great revelation during the post-pandemic period." The company's first-quarter profit more than tripled to $8.1 billion from a year ago, on sales of $108.5 billion, ahead of analysts' estimates. Ad sales growth Amazon saw its stock price nearly double in the first part of 2020 as it benefited from the pandemic. This year, however, it has underperformed the S&P 500 market index. Its shares were up about 8.5% year to date versus the index's 13% gain. Spending on COVID-19 and logistics has chipped away at Amazon's bottom line. The company has poured money into buying cargo planes and securing new warehouses, aiming to place items closer to customers to speed up delivery. It said Wednesday it planned to hike pay for over half a million employees, costing more than $1 billion - and it is still hiring for tens of thousands more positions. Olsavsky said Amazon was still working to restore one-day package delivery rates to pre-pandemic levels. He told reporters the company intends to increase spending on video content this year as well. Consumers have been watching content for more hours on Amazon, Olsavsky said. While far behind ad sales leaders Facebook and Alphabet's Google, Amazon is growing its ad business because brands' placements often result directly in sales, reaching customers who are on Amazon with an intention to shop. Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said, "Outside of its core retail and cloud units, advertising revenue is increasingly becoming another substantial growth driver for Amazon." Amazon said ad and other sales rose 77% to $6.9 billion, ahead of analysts' estimate of $6.2 billion.

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Europa League: Manchester United hit Roma for six

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Twitter Warns of Rising Costs, Slow User Growth as Pandemic Boost Fizzles; Meets Revenue Expectations

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Amazon Expects Sales Windfall as US Economy Reopens, Posts Record Profits

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Wait for deeper dips before buying: Sabharwal

Consumer demand will be impacted and even on a correction, I would avoid most of the auto, consumer durable or even consumer non durable stocks. But some of these companies with decent order books and execution cycles could be looked at on corrections along pharma and metals, says Sandip Sabharwal, analyst, asksandipsabharwal.com. The market seems a little caught up in macro concerns -- Covid resurgence and earnings. Your view?I don’t think Covid concerns are bothering the market as otherwise, it wouldn’t have rallied for the last three-four days. Last quarter’s results are going to be very good except for some auto stocks which got hit due to rising input prices and also may be some other consumer durables companies. Most managements believe that post lockdown, the bounce-back would be similar to what happened the last time. But it looks like a tough act to follow. Last year, there was no inflation; this year inflationary pressures are very high. Last year, fear was more and the actual number of people who got infected was very less. This time, it is across the board, Extended families, people we know seem to have got this infection this time. So, the post Covid bounceback is not going to be as rapid. That will be a challenge for investors. I would not be very gungho on the Indian markets. It is a liquidity fuelled rally globally where the US Fed is making sure that asset prices do not fall before the recovery is entrenched. Once that is achieved, they will cease to be accommodative. People should not be excessively bullish in this market. They should wait for possibly deeper corrections to buy into this market. Coming to the FMCG sector, how are you reading into the quarterly numbers of HUL and Britannia and the volume growth? Is there anything that you would watch out for?The volume growth held up. The challenge for investors is that last quarter’s results will be very good because it was one of the best quarters of Covid recovery. There was virtually no Covid infestation in the country and things were absolutely normal. Now suddenly, we are in a phase where breaks are getting slammed. We must grapple with how to evaluate these results in the context of what is going to happen in the future. Britannia got hit by input price increases and the margin got squeezed. HUL did reasonably well but it will get impacted going ahead because the global Unilever results indicate that inflationary pressure could impact margins over the next two quarters at least. That is something which we will see. Last time, post lockdown, consumer demand bounced back very fast because the actual impact on people was lesser. This time the actual impact is very high. I believe discretionary consumer spending will take a hit because this time, Covid is well spread out both in rural and semi urban and urban areas. Looking at the valuations of most of the consumer companies, it is tough to make a bet on buying these stocks at this stage. We should wait out. We will get them at a better price going forward. What would you buy if the market were to decline from here? Will it be pharma, IT, metals or would you look at newer opportunities? Sandip Sabharwal: IT and pharma is a classic trade and this time metals have joined into that trade because metal prices globally are moving up. Analysts have been upgrading their recommendations, prices etc all the time. IT is a different bet because in IT, there will be a lot of profit impact due to cost increases and the rupee has also appreciated surprisingly over the last couple of weeks. So benefits might not be there for IT companies. Given what is happening around us, a lot of pharma companies will continue to do well. Some like Cadila have an option value built in because of the potential approval of a vaccine at some stage during this year. If that happens, that could be a strong upside. In case of Dr Reddy’s, the Sputnik story could play out. So there are different companies with different stories. Consumer demand will be impacted and even on a correction, I would avoid most of the auto, consumer durable or even consumer non durable stocks. But the investment cycle should still continue and some of the companies with decent order books and execution cycle, could be looked at on corrections along pharma and metals. What is happening with the entire agri commodity basket? Are they good for an accumulate or a buy on dips?Yes. The hard commodities moved up first and the soft commodities caught up. Global sugar prices have gone up and Indian companies do not need a minimum support price from the government to sell sugar. Although we do not have many investable companies in the tea basket, tea prices have also shot up and there could be potentially some investment worthy companies in that space.

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India sees new high of 3.86L COVID-19 cases

India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, while active cases crossed the 31-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 31,70,228 comprising 16.90 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 81.99 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1, 53,84,418. The case fatality rate stands 1.11 per cent, the data stated. 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 the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19. According to the ICMR, 28,63,92,086 samples have been tested up to April 29 with 19,20,107 samples being tested on Thursday.

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8 money rules for young families

Unexpected expenses are the bane of a young household. Even as I write about saving and investing, some of my young readers ask me whether they will ever be able to begin saving. Young families face their unique challenges. The story of a young couple is what I narrate this week.First, our young earners realise that they won’t be able to match up to their parent’s lifestyle. They don’t want to lean on their parents' wealth or live with their parents, and find that they have to make a lifestyle compromise in terms of house, car and other simple luxuries they had taken for granted. The wealth and income of a mature household is definitely likely to be higher than one that has just begun to earn and grow.Second, our young earners incur steep expenses for rent, travel to work and leisure, recreation and entertainment, clothes and accessories and the like. The joys of earning and being able to spend without having to seek approvals can be liberating and addictive. They find mandatory expenses to run the household quite high, especially if they live in a city and like to be closer to their workplace.Third, they are unable to hold back from making a shopping list whenever a new situation arises. A friend’s wedding means shopping for new clothes, jewellery and footwear; getting a pet means buying toys, accessories, food and a long list of pet essentials; taking a holiday means shopping for suitable clothes, bags, shoes and such; moving homes means spending on redoing the house, which can include minor repairs and new furniture, decor and appliances. They realise that they find it tough to think beyond consumption as a first step to any new event.They wonder when they will begin to save. Is there some magical point at which they will suddenly modify their spending habits, they ask. They want to know how they can plan for a child if they don’t have enough savings. To think about a child sends them into a stressful conversation about expenses that will mount and the possibility of the young mother not being able to return to work for some time. How does a young household cope?First, every young household goes through these problems. It takes a while for career growth to enable higher incomes and consistent surpluses. It can be frightening to view life as being filled with bills to pay and expenses to incur and worry about income being adequate. The focus of young earners should be towards building their career and making sure they have secured their path such that they can progress to higher responsibilities and better earnings. Every household hits its peak earning capability after the initial years of struggle.Second, the stress about income arises from not being able to decide how a young family will make its lifestyle choices. In the initial years of earning, peer pressures are high. Comparing one’s lifestyle with another; trying to create false impressions; behaving rich beyond one’s means are all phases that people outgrow, hopefully, with time. Every household hits its reality about where to pitch itself and sooner that is learned the better.Third, saving is a habit inculcated even as one begins to earn an income. To be firm and mature about the limits set by one’s income takes time. Young earners are tempted to stretch their earning abilities in earlier years, only to find that EMIs and credit card dues can be killers. Learning to spend within one’s means and setting aside some money to save, however tough it might be, are precious habits. Even a small percentage is a good start.Fourth, building assets takes time. But young earners must be careful about the kind of assets they build. Owning a property too early in life, listening to advice about paying the EMI instead of rent, can be harmful to both wealth and career. Buying a property means a large chunk goes towards EMI leaving less for other assets. Concentration of wealth in one chunky asset that one cannot sell in parts, reduces financial flexibility. Career decisions about moving cities becomes tough to make. Build financial assets. House ownership can wait.Fifth, securing ones financial life from unexpected events is critical for a young household. Without the protection of insurance, the household will be devastated should a tragic event occur. As a rule, until enough assets are built that can generate an income that will replace the income of the household, insurance is the fall back. So is the emergency fund of readily accessible corpus to tide over six to nine months of expenses should the income come under risk. These critical financial goals should not be compromised.Sixth, financial comfort is more about the mindset than about any rule based or milestone based event. As one settles down to the pattern of one’s income and expense, it is easy to see where the loopholes are. A systematic dissatisfaction with inability to meet expenses must point a young household to rethink its income strategies. They may seriously be earning less than their aspirations. Or, a consistent inability to control expenses might represent an emotional spending issue. Without diagnosis and introspection, personal finance will remain mysterious and stressful.Seventh, a young household should learn the joys of small corpus for immediate goals so that they remain motivated to save and invest. It is cruel to ask young earners to pay EMIs for 20 years or to save for retirement that is too far away. Instead, saving to enrol in a postgraduate programme; making enough investment gains to take holidays; having enough money to buy a dear one an expensive gift are all joys that enable and encourage the saving and investing habit. It is easier to up the stakes as one enjoys the benefits of building wealth.Young earners have the great advantage of flexibility. They can change their jobs, cities, friends, lifestyles, habits, and attitudes as they evolve and grow. As one ages one sadly turns inflexible about many of these things; or the world limits the opportunity to take these risks. Don’t arrange your financial lives such that this precious flexibility is held to ransom.(The author is Chairperson, CIEL)

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Global chip drought hits Apple, BMW, Ford

The global chip shortage is going from bad to worse with automakers on three continents joining tech giants Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in flagging production cuts and lost revenue from the crisis.In a dizzying 12-hour stretch, Honda Motor Co. said it will halt production at three plants in Japan; BMW AG cut shifts at factories in Germany and England; and Ford Motor Co. reduced its full-year earnings forecast due to the scarcity of chips it sees extending into next year. Caterpillar Inc. later flagged it may be unable to meet demand for machinery used by the construction and mining industries.Now, the very companies that benefited from surging demand for phones, laptops and electronics during the pandemic that caused the chip shortage, are feeling the pinch. After a blockbuster second quarter, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri warned supply constraints are crimping sales of iPads and Macs, two products that performed especially well during lockdowns. Maestri said this will knock $3 billion to $4 billion off revenue during the fiscal third quarter.Play Video“It’s a fight out there and you have to be in daily contact with your suppliers. You need to make sure that you’re important to them,” Nokia Oyj Chief Executive Officer Pekka Lundmark said Thursday on Bloomberg Television. “When there is a shortage in the market, it is things like how important you are in the big picture, how strong your relationships are and how you manage expectations.”Meanwhile, companies that supply chips are reporting surging sales and pledging to invest billions to expand capacity as they struggle to keep up with demand. Qualcomm Inc., the world’s largest smartphone chipmaker, said demand for handsets is surging back as life returns to normal in some markets that had been locked down by the Covid-19 pandemic.STMicroelectronics NV, a key chip supplier for carmakers, said profit for its auto and power unit jumped 280% in the first quarter. CEO Jean-Marc Chery credited a surprise rebound in demand as well as the industry’s adoption of new, digital features that require more chips for the latest wave of supply chain constraints.Samsung, which is both a producer and user of chips, said Thursday that component shortages will contribute to a slide in revenue and profit this quarter at its mobile division, which produces its marquee Galaxy smartphones. The shortfall of critically needed semiconductors has forced the entire auto industry to cut output, leaving thin inventories at dealerships just as consumers emerge from Covid-19 lockdowns. In just the past week, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc, Volvo Group and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have joined the list of manufacturers idling factories.“The second quarter is going to be worse for automakers than the first quarter,” said Song Sun-jae, an analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities Co. in Seoul. “The chip-shortage problem could end up lasting longer, maybe into next year.”Still WaitingBeyond Apple, whose high-specification iPhones and aggressive demands typically place it at the front of the line, the dearth of chips threatens to dampen a nascent rebound in the entire smartphone market. Worldwide shipments surged an estimated 27% to 347 million devices in the first quarter, aided by a plethora of new models and China’s swift post-pandemic recovery. A shortage of components such as app processors could sap that momentum over the rest of 2021.“Covid-19 is still a major consideration, but it is no longer the main bottleneck,” Canalys Research Manager Ben Stanton wrote Thursday. “Supply of critical components, such as chipsets, has quickly become a major concern, and will hinder smartphone shipments in the coming quarters.”At Ford, the shortage will likely reduce production by 1.1 million vehicles this year, CFO John Lawler said on a call with reporters. The carmaker expects a $2.5 billion hit to earnings due to scarce chip supplies.Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk earlier this week called the chip shortage a “huge problem.” NXP Semiconductors NV said it’s expecting supply to be tight all year and warned constraints for the auto industry could extend into 2022.“There are too many uncertainties about when chip supplies will improve, and that’s making it difficult for automakers,” said Lee Han-joon, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul. “For semiconductor makers, the auto industry isn’t really seen as one of their key customers and that’s putting the carmakers in a much tougher position in securing supplies.”

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If you give Prithvi Shaw the confidence, he can do wonders: Rishabh Pant

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IPL: Punjab Kings face uphill task against RCB juggernaut

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Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu frets over training trip to US

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Europa League: Villarreal gain narrow edge in chaotic win over Arsenal

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Have talent in our dressing room, but that alone doesn't take you far: Morgan

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IPL: Mumbai back in business with win over Rajasthan

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IPL: Prithvi Shaw's boundary blitz fashions DC's 7-wicket win

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I knew where Shivam Mavi would bowl: Prithvi Shaw

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Under second wave, firms put safety first

India’s largest consumer companies have put business targets on the backburner and are prioritising safety of workforce amid the raging pandemic, and have issued advisories on compassion taking precedence over business goals.Unilever global chief executive Alan Jope said in an earnings call on Thursday that with the human crisis unfolding in India, the company’s first reflex is to care for its people. “We literally are in the business of procuring hospital beds, oxygen supplies and ambulances for our people and their families,” Jope said.The maker of Lux soap and Taj Mahal tea said it added nearly half a million small stores to its online ordering app in the past year and that it helped digitised sales. "That's greatly helpful when our feet on the streets to take orders are restricted. Despite the public health and humanitarian crisis in India, we are looking forward to continued growth in the second quarter,” Jope said.The massive surge in Covid positive cases came at a time when Indian business had started recovering from the pandemic-induced slowdown, and large companies had firmed up plans to push distribution and new products in the financial year.Britannia managing director Varun Berry said the company is asking its sales workforce not to go to the market. “We don't care if our distribution drops. We will work harder and build it back, even if we are going to see a downtrend as far as our distribution is concerned.”Berry said companies have “no choice but to tread on the side of caution” as far as employees are concerned. “It's unfortunate that you build your distribution but then something like this happens. This just seems to be a very, very vicious wave of Covid-19,” he added.Amid curfews and curbs on operating hours at heavy caseload markets like Delhi-NCR and Maharashtra, companies are stepping up supply chain agility and reducing replenishment cycles by half.“At the moment, the safety of our colleagues is our key priority. In this context, we advised our sales teams — including in rural — to work from home. We have a tele-calling model which we are using right now. Our factories continue to follow the most stringent hygiene and safety protocols,” said Deepak Iyer, managing director at chocolate maker Mondelez India.Financial institutions have cautioned the impact on economic recovery from the second wave of Covid. The Indian economy is projected to grow 11% in the current financial year, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday, adding also that the current surge in Covid-19 cases could put the recovery at risk.Durables and appliances maker Samsung has issued advisories to employees that compassion is its top priority and PepsiCo and Nestle too prioritised employee health over business goals across all functions.“PepsiCo is de-prioritising non- discretionary work, so employees have more time to take care of themselves and their families. Compassion and empathy have taken centrestage and employee safety is number one priority,” a spokesperson at the snacks and beverages maker said.For multinational players, many of who had followed global guidelines last year to manage business amid the pandemic, the situation is different this time.“Unlike Covid One last year, which was a global crisis and MNCs were following global guidelines issued by their parent companies, the second wave is an India problem. Hence, we are issuing heightened domestic protocols to deal with the devastating crisis in the country,” said the chief executive of a large global company, requesting not to be named.

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US Senators ask vax cos to share India plans

Five US senators led by Elizabeth Warren have written to drug makers Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, asking them to provide details on the plans to supply their Covid-19 vaccines in India and the rest of the world. The letter from the senators comes as India faces vaccine shortages in the middle of a raging pandemic that has so far claimed more than 2 lakh lives.The other senators who have signed on this letter are Edward J Markey, Tammy Baldwin, Jeffrey A Merkley and Christopher S Murphy. The companies are expected to respond by May 11.“India is a major producer of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines and has exported over 66 million doses globally since January 2021. But in the midst of the recent surge of Covid-19 cases, India is struggling to vaccinate people quickly enough to quell the outbreak. There are several steps that vaccine companies could take to expand access to vaccines globally, including in India,” the senators wrote.The senators suggested several steps that the companies could take to expand access to vaccines globally. They have suggested that the companies share their vaccine technology and manufacturing information with other companies to speed up production. “This technology transfer could take place voluntarily,” they wrote.There is also the World Health Organization’s mechanism for technology transfer known as the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and its recently launched mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub - which seeks to "expand the capacity of low- and middle-income countries to produce Covid-19 vaccines and scale up manufacturing" by facilitating the transfer of technology and intellectual property to those countries.Some US government officials have also put their weight behind India and South Africa’s proposal to the World Trade Organization to waive aspects of Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights. They have asked the US government to support this proposal. If this proposal goes through, it would temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers and allow countries to locally manufacture Covid-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines, the senators said.“Though Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and other companies have developed safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, the uncontrolled spread of coronavirus poses significant risks to global vaccination efforts: as the virus proliferates, it evolves - increasing the risk of a variant developing that renders vaccinations ineffective," they wrote.

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Apple Rides 5G iPhone Demand to Soar Past Sales, Profit Targets; Warns of Chip Shortages

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ExpectRs 580 cr net profit fromTitan: Khemka

In auto sector, the preferred space from a one-year perspective would be the farm sector or the tractor segment. But if one wants to play the longer term cycle recovery, then CVs would fit in well, says Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research, MOFSL. What about Titan? What kind of management commentary are you anticipating?A lot of activity has taken place in Titan during January-February with a lot of marriages happening. Overall, we are expecting good sales growth based on demand momentum and the soft base of the previous year. Further correction in gold prices during the quarter also helped push sales during the quarter. Jewellery demand momentum continued in Q4 based on the wedding season demand. What needs to be watched is the commentary from the management on the way forward with the restrictions and number of Covid cases on the rise. In the other segments such as the watch segment, for the quarter, we are expecting net sales growth of almost 60% on a YoY basis, again because of the low base of last year. We are expecting the net profit of about Rs 580 crore which would be a growth of 70% on a YoY basis. How have you looked at the auto shares and what have you made of the earnings of TVS Motors as well as Maruti. Also what are you pencilling in for Bajaj Auto?The overall auto space in Q4 so far has seen strong demand plus the price hikes that these companies had taken earlier are helping them report strong numbers. We were positively surprised by the TVS numbers as well as the strong outlook that the company has given. For TVS Motors, we have upgraded our numbers by about 14-15% for the current year and next year, mainly to reflect the hike in the prices and the cost management that the company has taken. If you look at the estimates for Bajaj Auto, it is again a similar story where we are expecting a strong growth both in terms of volumes as well as net profit growth. The bigger concern for the auto sector is that the lockdowns in Q1 and the sharp rise in the raw material costs could be a dampener in the near term. Putting that aside, the market is looking positively at some of these names because the stocks had underperformed in the recent past. Given the concerns and rising Covid cases, the results are giving positive support to the overall views for the auto space as of now. Coming to the auto sector, is this the time to bet on CVs or should one stick with the farm equipment theme? Within the auto space, the preferred segment would be the farm sector. The monsoon predictions have come in and it seems we would have the third consecutive year of good monsoon. While a lot of activity within the urban space has been restricted, the rural farm sector comes under the essential services and would continue unabated. That should also help. Although some of these stocks have been doing well continuously, on the other side the commercial vehicles (CV) cycle was the worst impacted last year. We have seen some of the stocks not performing as per expectations. So if one were to look at a one-year perspective, the preferred space would be the farm sector, that is the tractor segment. If you want to play the longer term cycle recovery, the CVs would fit in well as the cycle could improve over the next two, three years and stocks like an Ashok Leyland or for that matter Tata Motors for the domestic CV business have seen improvement. But that should sustain over the next two, three years. Passenger vehicles and two-wheelers are more secular compared to the other segments which are more cyclical and as a result of the pandemic comes, we could see some improvement in two-wheelers especially as the expectation from two-wheelers have gone up drastically. That is why there is a lot of buzz around two-wheeler names like Bajaj Auto and Eicher.

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Tata-Bigbasket deal gets CCI approval

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has greenlit Tata Sons’ proposal to acquire a majority stake in Alibaba-backed BigBasket, setting the stage for a battle of the giants in the country's fast-growing online grocery segment.Tata Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, had sought CCI’s approval to acquire a 64.3% stake in Supermarket Grocery Supplies, the business-to-business arm of BigBasket, through a mix of primary and secondary share purchases.Subsequently, through a separate transaction, Supermarket Grocery Supplies may acquire sole control over Innovative Retail Concepts which operates BigBasket’s online retail business, giving Tata control over both wholesale and retail business units.ET had reported on February 16 that the Tata Group had finalised a $1.2 billion deal to acquire a majority stake in BigBasket, of which $200-250 million would be a primary cash infusion into the online grocery startup. At the time, both parties were awaiting approvals from the CCI.Tata Digital is likely to buy out Alibaba, which holds 27.58% stake and Actis LLP, which acquired several portfolios of scandal-hit Abraaj Group, and owns 18.05% stake in BigBasket. Some other smaller investors in the online grocery startup are also expected to get an exit.The deal could also include a plan to take BigBasket public by 2022-23, giving investors who remain an upside in the near future, ET had reported in January.The transaction, which marks one of the largest M&A deals in India’s digital sector, will put Tata in direct competition with Reliance’s Jio Mart, Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, apart from SoftBank Vision Fund-backed Grofers.BigBasket is currently the leader in the online grocery segment and claims to have crossed the $1 billion annual revenue run rate. While Amazon and Flipkart are far larger in terms of reach in India, their online grocery businesses still make up a very small chunk of sales despite them making concerted efforts to grow in the segment for the last two years.According to market researcher RedSeer Consulting, India’s grocery market was over $600 billion in 2019 and has the potential to grow to over $850 billion by 2025. However, majority of this market is still controlled by unorganised retailers, largely kiranas, presenting a huge room for growth for organised players.Further, RedSeer said that the online grocery segment was “on an accelerated growth path post Covid, and estimated that the segment would capture 3% of all grocery spends in India by 2025, making it a $24 billion opportunity.Even during the second wave of Covid-19 that is forcing several states to reintroduce strict lockdown-like curbs, the online grocery segment is seeing a surge as consumers choose to shop from the safety of their homes. BigBasket has said that it is currently clocking 23-25% higher sales in April than the previous month.Rival Grofers said it has had to hire 2,000 more on-ground workers to augment its supply chain to deal with the surge in orders and plans to hire 7,000 more people in the coming months.

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View: US should grant India special waiver

The United States ought to consider granting India a special exemption or waiver from the imposition of its Defence Production Act (DPA) on raw materials for Indian vaccine manufacturers. This would probably be the clearest and most durable way forward on an issue, which if not resolved, could adversely impact Indian plans to ramp up vaccine production.At present, there’s considerable confusion on the matter. Partly, because India too has not articulated its requirements clearly. What we know now is there is one demand for 37 vaccine-related raw materials, which is specific to maintaining current production levels, especially for Covishield. That issue is now getting addressed with the US authorities looking at control status of every single item and arranging its export to India.However, as India’s Covid-19 crisis compounded, so has its requirements. India needs to urgently scale up its vaccine production to inoculate a large population. This wasn’t the case even until six weeks ago. As a result, we now have to take into account not just Serum Institute of India’s demands but also every other vaccine manufacturer, present and prospective alike. This includes Sputnik V, Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadilla, Bilogical E, among others. As of now, there are over a dozen vaccine candidates, of which four to five of them hope to be manufacturing in two to three months.From what we gather, government deliberations with these manufacturers have revealed that there are close 66 essential vaccine raw materials of which about 60% — from a dozen types of bags to store material at specific temperatures to biological and chemical substances, filters including nano-filters, flasks and other containers — are sourced from the US.In fact, it emerges that nearly 80% of WHO certified vaccine-related raw materials are manufactured in the US. Now, any vaccine maker must for health standard reasons maintain a WHO-reliable supply chain. Also, alternates are not easy to find, except may be in China which is both doubtful and limited as an option. White House Covid-19 supply coordinator Tim Manning is not wrong when he says the US Defence Production Act does not ban exports to other countries but only requires US companies making raw materials to “prioritise their government contracts ahead of other order”. That leaves only the tailend of the production line for other manufacturing entities outside the US, like in India.The US Government Accountability Office, which did an audit on the use of DPA between March 2020 and September 2020, found that the Act was used in prioritising 43 contracts valuing $3.9 billion over others with an objective to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. While this worked well for ventilators and N-95 masks for which the US was becoming increasingly dependent on China, it also blocked priority vaccine raw materials. And this applied even to offshore facilities of the US companies. The problem, therefore, is politically complex. While US President Joe Biden can be liberal on case-by-case approvals, his administration may be reluctant on lifting these restrictions altogether given that vaccination is still underway in America. Also, Europe and Canada have their own list of requirements. At the same time, Washington needs to recognise that India’s manufacturing programme must take wings to counter new mutations at the earliest.In other words, it’s in American interest to have majority Indian population inoculated given the extent of contact and cooperation between both countries. Also, Indian vaccines, in the long run, will be the ones to be deployed in less developed countries. Thus, in this backdrop and given the current state of the strategic partnership, it would make better sense for Washington to actively consider an India-specific waiver from the DPA. Such a political carve out would most likely receive the necessary bipartisan support, which would only strengthen Biden’s hand at providing India support to not just make a necessary minimum but a sufficient, if not surplus, maximum number of vaccine doses, and possibly at the earliest.

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