MONDAY • AUGUST 30, 2021 CHENNAI ₹10 • Pages 12 • Volume 28 • Number 241 Bengaluru Chennai Coimbatore Hubballi Hyderabad Kochi Kolkata Madurai Malappuram Mangaluru Mumbai Noida Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirapalli Tirupati Vijayawada Visakhapatnam Regd. TN/ARD/14/2012-2014, RNI No. 55320/94

CM YK ...... CHENNAI BusinessLine J2 MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021

CM YK ...... MONDAY • AUGUST 30, 2021 CHENNAI ₹10 • Pages 12 • Volume 28 • Number 241

GDP NUMBERS TOMORROW DOUBLE WHAMMY MANN KI BAAT The first quarter GDP data for the Covid and African Swine Fever have The start­up sector is getting vibrant and current fiscal may come in higher taken a toll on the $2­billion pork this bodes well for the country in the days to mainly due to the base effect p10 and pig­rearing industry in Assam p3 come, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi p2

Bengaluru Chennai Coimbatore Hubballi Hyderabad Kochi Kolkata Madurai Malappuram Mangaluru Mumbai Noida Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirapalli Tirupati Vijayawada Visakhapatnam Regd. TN/ARD/14/2012-2014, RNI No. 55320/94 Airtel dials up ₹21,000­crore rights issue Analysts wary of lack of details on deployment from high capex, non­core invest­ (ARPU) to ₹200­300 in the coming ment and AGR liabilities. Plus no months. The company has been tar­ BL ON CAMPUS of funds amid intense competition with Jio clarity on purpose/ utilisation of geting this ARPU range for long since For a mentor-mentee relationship fund raise,” Aliasgar Shakir ­ Telecom the launch of Reliance Jio in 2016. There are cases of the S RONENDRA SINGH laborations with various partners. Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Ser­ As of first quarter ended June, Air­ mentor and mentee not New Delhi, August 29 This is one of the biggest fundrais­ vices, told BusinessLine, adding that tel’s ARPU was ₹ 146, whereas Reli­ being aligned on the Bharti Airtel on Sunday said that its ings of the company after its quali­ there is no update on any strategic ance Jio’s was ₹138.4 and Vodafone­ nature of the board of directors has approved fied institutional placement (QIP) investment too. Idea ₹104. relationship. We have equity capital raising of up to and foreign currency convertible The just­announced rights issue seen different issues as ₹21,000 crore through a rights issue. bond issuance last year. In January Net debt involves fully paid­up equity share of mentees as well as mentors. Based on our “The board approved the issuance last year, the telecom major had funds for paying AGR dues to the But, another telecom industry ob­ ₹535 each (including a premium of experience, here are some tips we would of equity shares of face value of ₹5 raised $2 billion via a QIP issue, government, but it is unlikely. The server said the proposed capital ₹530 per equity share). Twenty­five like to offer to those seeking mentors. p6 each of the company on rights basis mainly to pay its dues to the Depart­ company has AGR dues of ₹ 43,000 mop­up, which is expected to hap­ per cent of this has to be paid on ap­ to eligible equity shareholders of the ment of Telecommunications as dir­ crore, out of which it has already pen over 36 months, is likely to plication and the balance in two CORPORATE FILE company as on the record date (to be ected by the Supreme Court towards paid ₹18,004 crore by March 31. How­ strengthen the balance sheet of Air­ more additional calls as may be de­ The web of life at TVS Motors notified later), of an issue size of up adjusted gross revenue (AGR). ever, some also opined that the an­ tel and enable the telecom company cided by the Board/ Committee of We are inside a forest to ₹21,000 crore further capital,” the nouncement is not clear yet on pur­ to raise more debt resources in the the Board from time to time, based with multiple ponds, 18 company said in a stock exchange 5G auction pose/ utilisation of the capital and it years to come. The company, with a on the company’s requirements to be precise, and filing. Acording to some analysts and mar­ is a bit of a dampener for such a high net debt of ₹1.6 lakh crore, would re­ within an overall time­horizon of 36 diverse sub-habitats — However, the company is yet to ket trackers, apart from the invest­ capex­intensive sector. quire such fundraising through dif­ months. For the QIP issue, the board marsh land, grassland, share details on the purpose of the ment to develop 5G technology, the “This is third round of fundraising ferent routes, said some analysts. For had fixed the floor price as ₹452.09 a wetland and woodland proposed equity capital raise. Ac­ company may utilise the proposed in less than three years after ₹42,000 improving its balance sheet and for share. — home to 442 species of plants and 292 cording to sources, the company capital mop­up for the upcoming 5G crore raised in fiscal year 2020. It’s a return on investment too, the com­ Shares of Airtel closed at ₹ 593.95 species of animals. All this within the may use this fund for capex and in­ spectrum auctions, expected at year­ bit of a dampener after rising lever­ pany has been vocal about increas­ apiece on the BSE on Friday, up 1.21 premises of TVS Motor Company’s factory vestment for 5G technology with col­ end. Theoretically, it can utilise some age in the last three years coming ing the average revenue per user per cent from the previous close. at the heart of Hosur’s industrial cluster. Welcome to the Sacred Forest. p7

QUANTUM Cool as carbon dioxide HUL leverages AI, ML, data for a smarter supply chain Earlier this month, the Chairman Sanjiv Mehta says company’s three what you sell today, we manufac­ ensure a very high rate of fulfill­ lion outlets adopting it,” Mehta Cabinet approved the ture tomorrow. That’s the vision, it ment,” Mehta said. said. ratification of the ‘Kigali biggest assets are people, brands and data will take some time for us to reach At the core of Mehta’s strategy is Amendment to the there, but we are progressing to­ The digital strategy data. HUL has hundreds of experi­ Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete VINAY KAMATH ferent assortment of products wards that,” he added. The seeds of the digital strategy ments running in the company THOMAS K THOMAS compared to a store in Dahisar. In HUL has also started measuring were sown by Mehta a few years ago today that use tech platforms like the Ozone Layer’. This means phasing out the hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are Chennai/Mumbai, August 29 the past, the algorithms were based closely the days between sales under the Reimagine HUL pro­ artificial neural networks, machine The country’s largest FMCG com­ on what you sold. Now, the al­ rounds. Earlier, the company gramme. One such digital tool is learning and artificial intelligence. used in our refrigerators. So, no HFCs pany, Hindustan Unilever Ltd gorithms are based on who are the would have longer runs because called Livewire that enables busi­ “We will have machine intelli­ anymore. Fine, but what do you replace (HUL), is reconfiguring its entire consumers living in the vicinity, that’s what brought in efficiency. ness heads to take real­time de­ gence complement human intelli­ them with? p8 supply chain to enable just­in­time what would be the living standard But longer runs would also mean cisions by slicing, dicing and ana­ gence increasingly. For a company, BANKING delivery of products by using new measure and what are the product Sanjiv Mehta that there will be store inventory. “If lysing multiple, disparate data which reaches nine out of 10 house­ digital technologies, including ma­ categories they’ve adopted. We you look at how you optimise your points. The other example is the holds in the country, we have got IBC sets itself on firm footing chine learning, artificial intelli­ would be able to customise the as­ to its entire supply chain, including supply chain, on one axis there Shikhar app where a retailer can thousands of SKU, millions of The Parliamentary gence and data analytics. This will sortment in each of the millions of factories and fulfilment centres to could be capacity; on the other, place an order even when a sales­ stores and the quantum of inform­ Standing Committee enable HUL to customise products stores,” Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman be able to do precision marketing, there could be inventory; and on man is not able to visit him or her. ation we have is massive. In the recently stirred up a available at millions of stores based and Managing Director, HUL, told depending on where the demand the third axis, there could be in­ “Pre­pandemic, it used to take us past, we used to say that the two hornet’s nest by on the customers in the vicinity. BusinessLine in an interview. is. “The value chain, which was lin­ formation. If you have information a lot of effort to convince retailers biggest assets we have are our suggesting a possible “We want to be the most intelli­ ear in nature – plan, source, make, closest to the consumer, then you to adopt the digital app. Post­pan­ people and our brands. Now, we cap on haircuts banks gent consumer goods enterprise. A Real-time information market and deliver – is now becom­ could optimise on the other two demic or after the beginning of the have added data to it. So, it’s people, can take while approving the resolution grocery store in South Mumbai HUL is deploying data and techno­ ing more circular,” Mehta ex­ axes. You need lesser inventory and pandemic, this has certainly accel­ brands and data. That’s what will plan of a bidder under the Insolvency and should be having a completely dif­ logy to feed real­time information plained. “Our vision would be that lesser capacity and you could still erated with more than half­a­mil­ define HUL of the future,” he said. Bankruptcy Code. p9

Promoter has Silver Sunday ‘WHO nod for Covaxin likely in two weeks’ refused to infuse Children with comorbidities will able evidence. Currently, we are not aware of any such pro­ funds, SpiceJet become eligible for jabs once ZyCov­D posal as to reduce the interval is available, says NTAGI chief NK Arora between the two doses of Cov­ tells Delhi HC ishield. There is also a na­ MONIKA YADAV India, Arora said there is a mis­ tional vaccine programme FORUM GANDHI New Delhi, August 29 match between the manufac­ which is going to come up Mumbai, August 29 Bharat Biotech is likely to get turing of the first and second and be made public very soon. SpiceJet has informed the approval from the World dose of the vaccine. It will be announced in a few Delhi High Court that its pro­ Health Organization in two days,” Arora said. moter Ajay Singh has declined weeks for the emergency u se ‘Clear picture in a week’ to infuse fresh funds in the listing (EUL) of its Covaxin vac­ “Within a week or so, a clearer Children vaccination debt­strapped airline. cine, NK Arora, who is heading picture will emerge, so that it According to NTAGI’s head, “Singh has expressed his in­ the National Technical Advis­ can be taken up at high speed NK Arora the results of the Covaxin clin­ ability to inject further funds ory Group on Immunization in the health system also, as at ical trial on children will be in the company in his indi­ (NTAGI), told BusinessLine. the moment, it is available in and then it will be made available in October, and once vidual capacity. SpiceJet has EUL is a WHO procedure the private sector in limited widely available. Being a the regulator allows, children also approached its bankers through which it assesses the numbers. As of now, only 8­10 single­dose vaccine, it will with comorbidities will be eli­ for additional credit facilities medicines, vaccines and lakh doses of Sputnik V vac­ greatly complement existing gible for immunisation. and other mechanisms for devices used to address an cine doses have been vaccines, he added. “As we have 44 crore chil­ raising funds,” SpiceJet said in outbreak classified as a ‘pub­ provided [so far],” Arora On India’s aim to vaccinate dren, we will begin vaccinat­ the court filing. lic health emergency of inter­ added. all of its adult population by ing them only after the vaccin­ The court proceedings are national concern’. With the With regard to vaccines of year­end, Arora expressed op­ ation of the adult population related to a dispute with air­ approval for EUL, Bharat Bi­ foreign manufacturers like timism about achieving the is complete; and that too will craft manufacturer De Havil­ otech will be able to supply its Moderna and Pfizer, Arora goal. likely begin in the first land. The court filings also re­ vaccine to other countries. said there are administrative He cleared the air on re­ quarter of FY22. However, as veal that the RBI has rejected The Hyderabad­based com­ issues such as indemnity and ports suggesting the g overn­ soon as the ZyCov­D vaccines the airline’s request for an ex­ pany had applied to WHO for liability clauses. ment’s plan to reduce the in­ are available in the market, tension of the timeline and ra­ Paddler Bhavina Patel and high-jumper Nishad Kumar won silver medals at the EUL in the second week of July. With respect to Johnson & terval between two doses of children with comorbidities tio on the “ one time restruc­ Paralympics tournament in Tokyo 2020, on Sunday. PTI With regard to the limited Johnson, he said the vaccine Covishield. will become eligible for the in­ turing”. supply of Sputnik V vaccine in will be manufactured here “We are studying all avail­ oculation,” Arora said. Details p2

REGULATORY BREACHES Resin Art finds the chemistry of success on Instagram RBI turns up the heat on errant banks, others TM AMRITA who owns @she.de.art. Epoxy Chennai, August 29 resin is a reactive polymer and Central bank ive Directions (AID) imposed posed programme Digital Small businesses have been a volatile material to work by the RBI on some of the 2.0. booming on Instagram ever with. The bubbles change due will no longer urban co­operative banks. However, in a major relief since the onset of the pan­ to temperature and moisture, confine itself to AID is imposed on UCBs to for the private sector bank, demic. From thrift clothes to and curing time is a challenge arrest further deterioration the central bank partially lif­ phone charms, all kinds of en­ as well. Despite high material monetary penalties in their financial health and ted the ban, allowing it to is­ terprises have surfaced on the costs, Patel and Gupta estimate protect depositors’ interest. sue new credit cards. social media platform. But it is their profits to be around 15­25 K RAM KUMAR “In the case of co­operat­ The RBI barred Mastercard resin art stores that have found per cent. SURABHI ive banks, once we impose too from acquiring new cus­ a unique chemistry with Ins­ Mumbai, August 29 AID, business restrictions are tomers (debit, credit or pre­ tagram users. A host of artists Visual appeal and the ability ing. “Reels are not something I Profitable venture The regulatory bite is get­ put – they will not accept paid) from July 22 for not have taken to creating a variety to customise products have like. Why isn’t the algorithm The pandemic has been over­ ting sharper for regulated fresh deposits and cannot complying with data­local­ of things — jewellery, book­ played a major role in the actually trying to support your whelmingly positive for resin entities (REs), including grant or renew any loans isation requirements. marks, clocks and photo growth of resin pages. work as it is?,” says Anuja Deb, a pages. “As a dentist, I had to banks and non­banks, with and advances. According to the RBI’s frames – using epoxy resins resin artist from Kolkata. shut down my clinic for two to business restrictions being “All those business restric­ latest annual report, during and met with success. Reeling in customers Although factors such as three months. This store was a imposed by the Reserve Bank tions, which were earlier the July 2020 to March 2021 Take Neha Patel, the owner of However, artists feel the com­ video quality and use of trend­ boon and helped me finan­ of India on those not com­ RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das confined only to co­operat­ period, it took enforcement @resinartspace, says, “During petition is cut­throat, given the ing music determine the per­ cially and mentally. Sales have plying with its regulations, ive banks, we are now using action against 54 REs and the pandemic, I was intro­ rapid rise in the number of formance of a Reel, in many also been consistent,” says Ami going by its recent actions. to monetary penalty (for reg­ it for other entities also. So, imposed an aggregate pen­ duced to resin art and watched resin art stores. Simple aesthet­ cases, virality is a shot in the Sukhija, whose page has over Recalcitrant REs will have ulatory violations). We are this really helps in the en­ alty of ₹19.41 crore for non­ videos online, which rekindled ics is not enough of a differenti­ dark. This arbitrary nature of 21,000 followers. to banish the thought of get­ also imposing business re­ forcement action,” ex­ compliance with provisions/ my long­forgotten love of art ator to boost sales of a page. engagement tools begs the Preethi Boora, who opened ting off lightly by just paying strictions. plained Das. contravention of certain dir­ and my desire to launch my The ability to launch unique question: is the Instagram al­ her page mid­pandemic, says, monetary penalties. “Some ₹1 crore monetary ections issued by it from own small business.” pieces also plays a part in gain­ gorithm an advantage for resin “I reached 100 sales in 45 days RBI Governor Shaktikanta penalty here, ₹2 crore there, Credit card issuance time to time through vari­ The business studies student ing an edge. artists? after my first launch. There is a Das, in an interaction with how does it matter? So, we Last December, the RBI direc­ ous circulars. majoring in finance says she But a marketing push is “In a way it is. Resin art is definite chance that resin BusinessLine, emphasised are entering into business ted HDFC Bank to temporar­ Since April 1, 2015, 52 UCBs has applied the strategies she needed as well and this is trending now, so people seek it. pages like mine will grow in that supervision of regu­ restrictions. We are answer­ ily halt sourcing of new (up to December 11, 2020) learnt on her Insta page and it where Instagram Reels comes Having ‘resin’ in your user­ the next few months.” lated entities has been able to the public,” he said. credit card customers as have been placed under AID has helped her hone her mar­ in, though some of the artists name is always an advantage,” (The author was an intern tightened. Das likened the business well as launch of digital by the RBI, per the ‘Report on keting abilities. confide they find it intimidat­ says Palak Gupta, a 19­year old with BusinessLine) “And for the first time, we restrictions on banks and business generating activit­ Trend and Progress of Bank­ are not confining ourselves non­banks to the All Inclus­ ies planned under its pro­ ing in India 2019­20’.

CM YK ...... CHENNAI

BusinessLine 2 NEWS MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021

Suspension of Promoter has refused to infuse IndiGo’s plan to raise ₹3,000 crore international flights extended via QIP flies into rough weather till September 30 Investors worried Till then, IndiGo has been funds, SpiceJet tells High Court selling and leasing back its PRESS TRUST OF INDIA about impact of aircraft. Each sale is giving New Delhi, August 29 Carrier hopes to raise ₹570 crore, ‘fully month, SpiceJet had requested pandemic on the airline a profit of at least The suspension of scheduled in­ an extension of the timeline by $2­4 million. ternational passenger flights due collateralised’, from lender banks 60 days and its request for pro­ aviation sector, In January , IndiGo had to the coronavirus outbreak has vision of an alternative security. sources say shelved its plans to raise been extended till September 30, FORUM GANDHI existing lenders, the court doc­ The De Havilland dispute is funds up to ₹4,000 crore aviation regulator DGCA said on Mumbai, August 29 ument shows. regarding the non­payment of FORUM GANDHI proval from its board with through a QIP. However, it Sunday. “However, international SpiceJet has informed the Delhi However, when contacted, a tranches on aircraft deliveries. Mumbai, August 29 the internal deadline to instead opted to raise scheduled flights may be allowed High Court that its promoter SpiceJet spokesperson said, The aircraft maker ap­ IndiGo’s plan to raise raise funds, according to money through sale and on selected routes by the compet­ Ajay Singh has declined to in­ “Singh is committed to the well­ proached the UK Court to seek ₹3,000 crore via qualified sources, is August 31. lease back (SLB) transactions ent authority on a case­to­case fuse fresh funds in the debt­ being and sustenance of Spice­ remedies on the said dues. The institutional placement has QIP is a capital­raising and other alternative basis,” it added. strapped airline. Jet and has already collateral­ UK court passed an order in fa­ hit an air pocket as poten­ tool, primarily used in India options. Scheduled international pas­ “Singh has expressed his in­ ised his considerable stake in Ajay Singh, SpiceJet promoter vour of De Havilland and direc­ tial investors are wary due and other parts of southern The airline reported its senger services have been sus­ ability to inject further funds in the company with various ted SpiceJet to pay £5 million to the impact of the pan­ Asia, whereby a listed com­ highest­ever quarterly loss pended in India since March 23, the Company in his individual banks. In fact, he has also debt company with significant within 28 days. The aircraft demic on the sector, say pany can issue equity of ₹3,180.2 crore in the April­ 2020 due to the coronavirus pan­ capacity. SpiceJet has also ap­ offered to infuse more funds as collateral with banks. The com­ maker then moved an applica­ sources. shares, fully and partly con­ to­June period. It has been a demic. But special international proached its bankers for addi­ part of SpiceJet’s proposal to pany has requested banks to al­ tion in the Delhi High Court to A banking source told vertible debentures, or any carrier with the strongest flights have been operating un­ tional credit facilities and other bankers.” low it to utilise fully collateral­ implement the same. BusinessLine that IndiGo has securities other than war­ balance sheet. However, the der the Vande Bharat Mission mechanisms for raising funds,” When asked about RBI’s de­ ised unutilised limits.” In this regard, the SpiceJet been trying hard to raise rants which are convertible second wave has made it ex­ since May 2020 and under bilat­ SpiceJet said in the court filing. cision on OTR, the spokesper­ The airline is looking to its ex­ spokesperson said that “The funds through the QIP in to equity shares to a quali­ tremely turbulent for the eral “air bubble” arrangements The court proceedings are re­ son added: “The matter with re­ isting bankers for additional matter with regard to De Havil­ the past three months. “In­ fied institutional buyer . airline, too. with selected countries since July lated to a dispute with aircraft gard to RBI OTR is nothing funding to the tune of approx­ land is pending adjudication diGo was looking at Middle 2020. manufacturer De Havilland. specific to SpiceJet and there imately ₹570 crore. before appropriate forum and Eastern players, however, ‘Weighing options’ ‘Mounting debt’ India has formed air­bubble The court filings also reveal that are many other industries the Company is contending due to the impact of the Another source, said that As of June 30, IndiGo had pacts with around 28 countries, the Reserve Bank of India has re­ which are governed by the Penalty issue and assailing the same. Since pandemic on the aviation the company is weighing all free cash of ₹5,602.7 crore, including the US, the UK, the UAE, jected the airline’s request for same.” According to documents sub­ the same is sub-judice, we do sector, the potential in­ options. It is waiting it out which is 7.5 per cent lower Kenya, Bhutan and France. The an extension of the timeline mitted by SpiceJet to the Delhi not think it will be appropriate vestors are cagey about put­ for the next few weeks to see than the same period last circular issued by the DGCA also and ratio on the “one time re­ ‘Approached banks’ High Court, De Havilland has re­ to get into its specifics. Ad­ ting money into the com­ how the third wave pans out year. Its debt levels went said the suspension does not af­ structuring”. The airline has In response to questions on fused to give the debt­strapped equate disclosure with regard pany at this time,” said a top before making another plan from ₹23,551.6 crore in June fect the operations of interna­ sought fresh financing of ap­ raising funds, the spokesper­ airline an extension to pay the to the same already forms part placed source. to raise funds or to extend 2020 to ₹31,690.1 crore, a tional all­cargo services and proximately ₹570 crore from its son said that: “SpiceJet is a low­ £5,000,000 penalty. Earlier this of our notes to the accounts.” In May, IndiGo had got ap­ the timeline for the QIP. rise of 34.6 per cent. flights specifically approved by it.

MANN KI BAAT PM sees bright future for start­up sector ‘India’s average tariffs more than thrice levied by UK’ OUR BUREAU stop, we must make the mo­ In note on FTA, UK seeks inputs from its out that UK’s total trade in “India, too, could gain con­ New Delhi, August 29 mentum permanent,” he said. goods and services with In­ siderable market access if Prime Minister Narendra Modi industry and trade ahead of negotiations dia increased by 51 per cent there is an agreement on on Sunday said that the start­ Covid vaccination from £9.8 billion in 2011 to bringing down non­tarrif up sector in India is getting vi­ Modi said that more than 62 AMITI SEN cent, while it was at 14.6 per £14.8 billion in 2019, its ex­ barriers,” the source said. brant and this bodes well for crore Covid vaccine doses have New Delhi, August 29 cent for UK exports to India. ports of goods and services In services, India’s restric­ the country in the days to been administered in the The proposed India­UK Free Manufacturers and export­ to India have increased by 3 tions are substantially come. In his monthly address country, but still one would Trade Agreement can bring ers in the UK have time till per cent from £8.2 billion to higher than the UK across all to the nation, Mann Ki Baat, have to be careful, be vigilant. in gains for the British in­ August 31 to submit their in­ UK’s total trade in goods and £8.5 billion over the same sectors covered by the OECD over radio, Modi said the start­ Prime Minister Narendra Modi dustry in terms of increased puts on the proposed FTA services with India has period. Services Trade Restrictive­ up culture is expanding even Swachh Bharat market access as the average with India, following which increased 51% since 2011 Evidence suggests that ness Index, the note stated. to smaller cities and this is an ising skill development. “There He highlighted that Indore tariffs in India on UK exports the UK Department for Inter­ FTAs can lead to large, sus­ The sectors with greatest re­ indication of a bright future. is no dearth of opportunities continues to be number one in are more than thrice the av­ national Trade will go free, it added. “It is clear that tained increases in trade in strictions are rail freight In the talk, his 80 th in the for skilled people in the world ‘Swachhata’ rankings for last erage tariffs levied on Indian through the suggestions to the UK would seek higher goods between partner transport, legal, accounting series, he said, “Ask any young­ today”, he said. many years. Now, the people of goods in the UK, the UK gov­ finalise its negotiating posi­ market access for a large countries, by around 32 per and architecture, it said. ster what he or she wants to do Indore have made it a ‘Water­ ernment has pointed out to tion. The formal negoti­ number of items apart from cent, the note said. “While the index may show and a common answer will be ‘Momentum in sports’ plus City’, referring to the goal its industry. New Delhi also ations are likely to begin be­ automobiles and wines and high restriction in services start­up”. On India’s commendable per­ of treating all wastewater to ac­ put in place higher non­tariff fore the end of the year, as spirits. India, too can gain in Non-tariff barriers trade in India, in the UK too, formance in the Olympics, ceptable levels before being re­ barriers affecting trade, it per indications given by goods, by looking for market “In comparison to the UK, In­ Indian service providers face Space sector reforms Modi said, “Every medal is spe­ leased into the environment. said. both sides. access in sectors where it dia has a greater number of various kinds of barriers He also highlighted that the cial. When India won a medal In an information note for faces high tariffs such as gar­ sanitary and phytosanitary which may lessen through recent space sector reforms in hockey, the nation rejoiced.” Sivaganga district the consultation relating to Market access ments and textiles and foot­ measures, technical barriers mutual recognition agree­ have captured the imagina­ “Our fields (sports grounds The Prime Minister lauded the the India­UK FTA prepared by Majority of product lines, wear,” a person tracking the to trade, quantitative restric­ ments for service providers. tion of the youth who. He said in villages, towns, cities ) must efforts of the Kanjirangal Pan­ the UK Department of Inter­ about 66 per cent, exported developments in India told tions, tariff­rate quotas, and India’s gains in services will that Indian youth now want to be full of players. The recent chayat of Sivaganga district in national Trade, it noted that by India to the UK faced no BusinessLine. safeguards,” it stated quot­ also come from a more lib­ do something new and on a at Olympics has boosted our con­ Tamil Nadu for an indigenous while the simple average tar­ tariff lines while only 3 per Highlighting, the growing ing data from WTO’s Integ­ eral visa regime that will large scale. fidence. When there is such project to generate electricity iff on goods imported into cent of product lines from scope of India­UK economic rated Trade Intelligence ease movement of workers,” The whole world is emphas­ momentum, we must not from waste. the UK from India was 4.2 per UK could enter India tariff­ relations, the note pointed Portal. the official said. GST ON REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT TN appoints 14­member panel to 18% on all charges, except construction services: Maharashtra AAR formulate new industrial policy Covers charges for not be considered as composite as a part of construction services, amount. Also, one­third deduc­ supply. The applicant Thane­ but when question of payment of tion, in lieu of land value will not power meter, water OUR BUREAU also members. Representat­ based Puranik Builders is en­ GST arises, the applicant tries to be permitted. Chennai, August 29 ive from the industry are connection, club gaged in construction and sale of contend that the value of the Smita Singh, Partner with The Tamil Nadu government Suresh Sambandam of Kiss­ residential apartments. Apart other charges collected is part Singh & Associates said that the has appointed a 14­member flow; Suresh Raman of Tata maintenance from consideration for the main and parcel of value of that main Ruling has failed to examine one State Planning Commission Consultancy Services, Chen­ construction activities, the de­ construction services. It is legal of the most fundamental charac­ Working Group (SPC­Working nai; Ramkumar SHISHIR SINHA velopers collect various other principle that a party cannot be teristics of composite supply ie, Group) on Industrial Policy Ramamoorthy (former CMD New Delhi, August 29 charges from their customers at permitted to approbate or rep­ other services and construction with members from the State Cognizant India); N Charges collected by real estate the time of entering into the robate on the same facts and take of flats being naturally bundled government, academia and Chandran of Eastman Ex­ developers, other than for con­ agreement and/or before giving inconsistent shifting stands,” and the extent of interdepend­ industry. ports, Tiruppur; K Selvaraju, struction services, such as those possession of residential tracts where the principal supply AAR said. ence of both. “A buyeris willing to The formulation of a new General Secretary, Southern Chief Minister MK Stalin for utilities and maintenance will apartments. would be construction services. pay other charges because the Industrialisation Policy for a India Mills Association and attract 18 per cent GST, ruled Ma­ Accordingly, the GST rate on prin­ ‘No deduction on land value’ residential flats and other Transitioning Economy has sioner of Industries and Sampath Yuvaraj, former harashtra’s Authority for Ad­ ‘Other charges bundled’ cipal supply will also be applic­ Based on facts presented and go­ charges so paid for miscel­ been assigned to members Commerce Sigy Thomas Vaid­ joint secretary of Tiruppur Ex­ vance Ruling. The applicant felt that the ser­ able to common amenities. It ing through legal provisions, AAR laneous services cannot be en­ Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE; M hyan, and MD and CEO of port Association, says the Charges for services such as in­ vices underlying the ‘other may be noted that effective rate said: “the consideration for joyed separately without buying Vijayabaskar of MIDS and TRB Tamil Nadu Industrial Guid­ Order. stallation of electricity meter, wa­ charges’ may be treated as natur­ of GST, on other than affordable providing the construction ser­ the residential flat. Thus, the Rajaa, MLA says a Govern­ ance and Export Promotion At a meeting chaired by ter connection, club house main­ ally bundled with supply of main housing, is 5 per cent. vices and the consideration for present ruling has added an­ ment Order issued on August Bureau Pooja Kulkarni. Stalin on July 2, it was re­ tenance and development construction services which are Also, the developer paid stamp the other services are considera­ other complexity to the r eal es­ 26. Padmini Swaminathan of solved to prepare new charges will not be treated as con­ supplied in conjunction with duty only on the sale considera­ tions against separate independ­ tate sector which has been reel­ Officials from the govern­ MIDS, M Suresh Babu of De­ policies on ten specific struction services, MAARhas said. each other, in the ordinary course tion excluding other charges. ent services being provided by ing with effects of the pandemic. ment are Industry Secretary partment of Humanities and themes to be released by Accordingly, GST at the rate of 18 of business. It was also submitted “When the question of payment the applicant.” Accordingly other This ruling has also added addi­ N Muruganandam, IT Secret­ Social Sciences, IIT Madras January 2022. Industrial per cent would be applicable on that such supply will qualify as of stamp duty arises, the applic­ charges would attract GST at the tional cost for the customers,” ary Neeraj Mittal, MSME Sec­ and MV Ramesh Babu, Presid­ policy for a Transitioning Eco­ such charges and these would composite supply of work con­ ant treats these other charges not rate of 18 per cent on entire she said. retary V Arun Roy, Commis­ ent, Codissia, Coimbatore, are nomy is one of them.

FT to pay ₹2,918 cr to investors CBDT extends due dates for in 6 suspended debt schemes A bride’s impromptu dance goes electronic filing of various forms OUR BUREAU tions submitted during July­ Liquidator to start when the schemes were New Delhi, August 29 September quarter can now suspended. With technical glitches in be uploaded on or before disbursements Investors in Franklin Tem­ viral, scores a hit for a new song the new Income Tax portal December 31. from September 1 pleton Short Term Income remaining unresolved, the The application for regis­ Plan will get ₹950 crore, In­ Singer­dancer Mohana Bhogaraju's million views on YouTube. spectacular one. He has started Central Board of Direct Taxes tration or approval under SURESH P IYENGAR come Opportunity Fund ₹567 Bulletu Bandi Nirupa Patel, Founder of BlueR­ his own YouTube Channel RL (CBDT) has extended the due Section 10(23C), 12A or 80G of Mumbai, August 29 crore, Dynamic Accrual ₹433 clocks 50 m views on YouTube abbit Entertainment, was vis­ Tunes, with his singer brother date for the filing of certain the Act in Form No10AB will Investors in the six debt crore and Ultra Short Bond ibly surprised at the success of Ram. Though very popular in electronic forms including now have to be filed on or be­ schemes of Franklin Tem­ ₹414 crore, Credit Risk ₹346 KV KURMANATH the video on social media and their video. “ For Mohana, it is Hindi and Punjabi, the culture one relating to Equalis ation fore March 31 of the next pleton suspended last year crore and Low Duration Hyderabad, August 29 their WhatsApp groups. Within the first album and it has be­ of making private songs, cover Levy statement, and the form year. These sections help in will get ₹2,918 crore, raised funds will distribute ₹208 This is a post worth making a hours, it went viral, with lakhs come a stupendous hit. We songs and albums is just pick­ for declaration received getting exemption on contri­ through sale of assets and crore. song and dance about! An im­ of people liking the bride’s ges­ crossed the 50­million mark for ing up in Telugu. A majority of from senior citizen account butions made to educational coupons. The low duration fund has promptu fun dance at a wed­ ture and spontaneity. the Bulletu Bandi song on Sat­ songs end up getting a few holder among others. These institution or charitable SBI Funds Management, more than repaid investors ding by a bride went viral and urday night. We are adding a thousand ‘views’ on YouTube, forms are to be filed elec­ institution. the Supreme Court­appoin­ completely and has asset of helped the newly­released song A stupendous hit million every day,” she said. with only a small percentage tronically. ted official liquidator of the ₹300 crore for monetisation. she was performing on – Bul- In no time, the video clocked The song is about a bride making it to 3­4 million range. According to the board, schemes, will start distribut­ Similarly, Ultra Short Bond letu Bandi – score a big hit. about four mil­ telling her groom the Equalisation Levy State­ ing the money from Septem­ Fund has returned the entire It all started when the bride lion views on how caring her Offer for the bride ment in Form No1 for FY21 ber 1, said the fund house in a AUM as of last April and has Sai Sriya of Jinnaram in Telugu Film Pro­ father and broth­ While songs sung by singers can now be filed on or before statement to its investors. asset of ₹1,215 crore while the Mancherial district in Telan­ ducers Council’s ers are and how like Mangli and Madhupriya December 30. Income Opportunity, Credit gana, decided to surprise the official channel humble she is and have witnessed a high number Banks will have till Novem­ 95% AUM returned Risk and Dynamic Accrual groom by breaking out into a where it was eager to piggy­ of ‘views’ (over 10 million), a ber 30 to upload declara­ The schemes, which were ab­ funds have repaid 94 per cent spontaneous jig to a folk genre hosted. back on his Bullet new breed of singers with an tions received from recipi­ ruptly suspended last April, of assets and have ₹800 crore, song. The song, written by lyri­ Meanwhile, (Royal Enfield). eye on fame on YouTube are ents in Form No 15G/15H have so far returned ₹21,080 ₹966 crore and ₹747 crore for cist Lakshman, and sung by the original Bul- Twenty seven­ still awaiting their moment of during the quarter ended crore. monetisation. playback singer Mohana Bhog­ letu Bandi year­old Laxman, glory. Meanwhile, the bride June 30. Including the last tranche Having returned 84 per araju relates the hopes and video, produced by BlueRabbit who has penned about 200 who gave Bulletu Bandi a fresh Normally these declara­ of payment, the fund house cent of dues, Short Term In­ dreams of a bride about life Entertainment in association songs including five for Telugu impetus has got an offer from tions are submitted by a has returned 95 per cent of come Plan has the highest as­ after a wedding. with Mohana Bhogaraju in films, said he expected Bulletu Blue Rabbit Entertainment to senior citizen who do not the asset under management set of ₹2,047 crore for sale, as The couple’s friends shared April 2021, has registered 50 Bandi to be a hit but not such a dance for an album. have PAN to get income tax (AUM) of about ₹26,000 crore of August 27. benefits. Similarly declara­

CM YK ...... CHENNAI BusinessLine 3 MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021 NEWS

Assam pork industry penned in by Covid, African swine fever Small breeders, who account for 80% of the Hazarika has also detailed wards. Against two being avail­ imals at 50­60 per cent lower out issues in a two­part post for able at ₹5,000­6,000, one cub cost in wet markets. In some meat supplies, are amongst the worst hit Iravati Research & Communica­ is priced at ₹5,000­odd. cases, distress sale price is tion Centre, a Kolkata based Moreover, cost economics are higher than government com­ ABHISHEK LAW jab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, think­centre engaged in re­ not in favour of breeders. Pig pensation rate. Kolkata, August 29 stocks in local markets of As­ search and policy advocacy. feed has to be b ought from A double whammy of Covid sam are hit with the “lactating South or North Indian States, as Other North Eastern States and African Swine Fever (ASF) and pregnant females” being Distress sales, price rise local production continues to States like Arunachal Pradesh, has taken a toll on the ₹11,000 the worst affected. Distress sale “Impact wise it will seem small be low. Meghalaya and Manipur have crore ($2 billion) pork and pig­ of livestock and rising price of to a casual observer due to the “If price of livestock doubles, reported ASF last year. rearing industry in Assam. piglets – which have almost Officially, 39,000 pigs have large number of unorganised it becomes unsustainable for Mizoram, which remained safe Small breeders, particularly doubled over the last few succumbed to the African swine players, mostly women with unorganised breeders. There is thanks to the ban on import of those from the matrilineal soci­ months – have severely im­ fever in the last 18 months stocks of 3­4 animals. Indi­ no surety that high pork prices pigs and pork including from eties of Assam, have been pacted the rearing segment as vidual household losses may be will remain a long­term trend,” neighbouring countries and amongst the worst hit. They ac­ infections continue to swell within the State. “Give it an­ limited to ₹30,000 versus a said a local rearer. stringent entry rules due to count for over 80 per cent of over the last one year. other six months and you will large organi sed farmer where Distress sale too isn’t uncom­ Covid, is also hit. the meat supplies in the re­ Officially, 39,000 pigs have see the effects on the local eco­ it runs into lakhs,” he said, mon. While there isn’t any evid­ Atul Bora, Assam’s Animal gion’s local markets . In retail succumbed to the ASF in the nomy. Small rearers, primarily adding, “With 5­7 lakh unor­ ence to suggest that ASF passes Husbandry and Veterinary outlets of Assam, prices have in­ last 18 months, while 13,200 women who rear at home are ganised players, the collective from animals to human, the in­ Minister, had previously creased by 40 per cent in Assam families are economically af­ the worst hit. The rearing in­ losses will be huge.” ternational operating proced­ blamed China for the disease. ( up from ₹280/kg to ₹400/kg), fected. Industry sources, how­ dustry is in doldrums now with Typically, small breeders rear ures mandate culling of anim­ Industry sources add, around primarily on account of short­ ever, say the numbers are ASF and Covid both affecting 3­4 animals with one or two of als over a one km radius in the 2020, pig carcasses were seen ages due to instances of rising higher. Assam’s livestock is sentiments,” Arindom Haz­ these being females which give area where ASF is detected. floating on the Brahmaputra ASF cases. around 21 lakh, while some peg arika, Co­founder, Arohan birth to around 15­16 young an­ For small farmers, testing river. In July last year, the first Pork is a staple delicacy of it at 30 lakh. Annual pork con­ Foods – which works on the imals. With pregnant females stock, awaiting reports and cases were detected in India in the region. While supplies are sumption in the State is around value chain, capacity­building being susceptible, pig­breeders then culling is a long drawn areas along the banks of this managed through rule­bound 11 crore kg and approximately and processing segment – told now need to buy the cub. Price and cumbersome process . river in Arunachal Pradesh and movement of pork from Pun­ two crore of it is produced BusinessLine. of piglets are moving north­ Most prefer distress sale of an­ Assam. TN tea planters worried over State’s As economy recovers, soda ash prices increase move to revise minimum wages Rates are also up tors. Tata Chemicals, a subsi­ dustries is also strengthen­ equivalent to 3.3 mt, said diary of the Tata Group, is ing the market growth in Tata Chemicals. The com­ Salary expenses category, who would find it to on tight supplies, one of the largest producers this segment, it said, adding pany said that the trade be an uphill task to shoulder the flat glass growth of soda ash in the world, that the market would wit­ shrunk to 15 mt from 16.6 mt make up over 60% burden of a sudden wage hike. apart from Nirma Ltd. The ness a compound annual due to Covid which affected of plantations’ The wage and wage­related ex­ SUBRAMANI RA MANCOMBU rise in soda ash prices has growth rate of four per cent demand and supply chains. penditure, in the cost of produc­ Chennai, August 29 helped the company’s stocks during 2021­26. The soda ash The price recovery has been production cost tion in plantations, is in excess Among the slew of commod­ to rally by over 150 per cent market value was pegged at led by Chinese growth, of 60 per cent,” said Arun Ku­ ities that have gained this in the past year. Since the be­ $17.8 billion last year with though it was delayed in OUR BUREAU The State’s tea production stood mar, Chairman, The Planters’ As­ year following economic re­ ginning of this year, the the annual production es­ other parts of the world, Bengaluru, August 29 at 153.83 million kg in 2020 sociation of Tamil Nadu. covery, soda ash – also known world’s consumption, lead­ stocks have gained over 70 timated at 55 million tonnes where companies tried to Tamil Nadu g overnment’s pro­ “The methodology adopted as sodium carbonate – is one ing to the price surge. per cent. (mt). cut their inventories. posal to revise the minimum within a period of two months by the government in the noti­ with its prices rising over 70 US­based Ciner Resources, Belgium­based global wages for employees in the from the date of gazette notific­ fication for arriving at the vari­ per cent since the beginning world’s largest natural soda chemicals firm, Solvay S.A., Chinese-led recovery plantation sector has triggered ation. Thereupon, the g overn­ able dearness allowance com­ of the year. ash producer from Trona ore commenting on the second The recovery this year concerns in the State’s tea sec­ ment shall issue the final noti­ ponent is egregious. This would According to the Trading in Wyoming, said during the quarter results this year, said comes on the heels of tor. The government has issued fication by either modifying or result in an adverse effect every Economics Website, soda presentation of its second soda ash sales were up eight world demand declining PERSONAL a draft notification dated July confirming the proposals. The quarter to quarter, when the ash, which is widely traded quarter results that “(soda per cent on continued recov­ 5.4 per cent last year, CHANGE OF NAME 30, proposing revision of min­ previous such revision was in dearness allowance would have on spot in Europe and Asia, ash) sales prices globally are ery in flat glass. imum wages for employment 2017. to be revised, during the course has increased by 972.5 yuan steadily rising due to a tight­ Market research firm, BusinessLine I Sonti Lalitha W/O, Late Chintapanta in plantations growing tea, cof­ of the validity of the final noti­ (₹11,150) per tonne this year ening market and higher IMARC Group said, “The eco­ Disclaimer: Readers are requested to verify Satyanarayana R/o Plot No 197, G 1, & make appropriate enquiries to satisfy Rao,s Apartment, Block-b A S Rao Na- fee, rubber and cinchona. Low prices fication,” he said. to 2,312 yuan (₹26,475). costs”. nomic recovery may result in themselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any gar, Maruti Nagar, Ecil, Hyderabad - As per the latest proposals, “What is worrying for the em­ The employers in the planta­ In its annual report for an increase in demand for published in this newspaper. THG 500062 have changed my name to ‘Steady rise in prices’ PUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher & Chintapanta Lalitha there would be a wage increase ployers is that the steep increase tion industry are in the process 2020­21, Tata Chemicals said, sodium carbonate (soda ash) Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch of ₹87 per day for workers in tea in their wage liability has come of finalising their objections . Economic recovery across soda ash demand, after be­ which is used, among others, for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s estates, which is the predomin­ about in the context of falling Tea production in Tamil Nadu the globe has pushed up de­ ing hit during the Covid­19 in the glass production.” products and/or services. In no event can ant plantation crop here. The af­ tea prices at the public auction stood at 153.83 million kg (mkg) mand for soda ash, which is pandemic, recovered by last The increased use of glass the Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s, Employees of this fected parties are required to centres. Growers of coffee and in 2020, accounting for around used among others things in year­end and the recovery packaging solutions in the newspaper/company be held responsible/liable in any manner submit their objections or sug­ rubber in the State belong 12.2 per cent of India’s tea out­ glass production that ac­ continues sequentially food and beverage, pharma­ whatsoever for any claims and/or damages gestions to the proposals primarily to the small holder put of 1,257.53 mkg. counts for 50 per cent of the across all application sec­ ceutical and personal care in­ for advertisements in this newspaper.

CM YK ...... CHENNAI BusinessLine

4 • • THINK MONDAY AUGUST 30 2021

0x y z Should high fiscal deficit be frowned upon? monday, august 30, 2021 Not in the current context, as the heightened security and healthcare concerns call for increased expenditure Price puzzle A VASUDEVAN dia has had monetisation through including that on imports, would ‘automatic’ issuance of ad hoc treas­ help reduce illnesses and promote Greater transparency is needed in fuel pricing he term ‘deficit finan­ ury bills till 1996, a period that rep­ family welfare. cing’ is used to denote resented higher growth variability Now that the new vaccination he pricing of petrol and diesel in this “T the direct addition to than in subsequent years. The cau­ policy is unveiled to ensure that vac­ country is a mystery that befuddles gross national ex­ tion of economists for minding the cines to thwart Covid are provided penditures through budget defi­ safe upper limits to deficit finan­ almost free for the adult population Tall. The oil marketing companies cits, whether the deficits are of rev­ cing right from about the end of by the end of December 2021, the need to explain why prices are not al­ enue or of capital account. The 1950s was, however, found to be not combined fiscal deficit of the ways market­linked and stay frozen for exten­ essence of such a policy lies, there­ easily implementable partly due to Centre and States would go up ded periods. The government, for its part, fore, in government spending in ex­ economic uncertainties in the glob­ sharply beyond the minimum two­ cess of the revenue it receives in the alised world as at present and digit figure in relation to GDP. should answer why it is not taking steps to en­ shape of taxes, earnings of State en­ shocks such as the current pan­ However, its success would de­ sure that retail pricing rules are always fol­ terprises, loans from the public, de­ demic. pend on the governance mechan­ lowed. International crude oil price declined posits and funds, and other miscel­ Now there is a debate as to isms and implementation by 17 per cent between July 13 and August 20 laneous sources. The government whether a large fiscal stimulus strategies. The supply of and de­ may cover the deficit either by run­ would lead to high inflation, war­ mand for vaccines and its matching this year. This should have provided relief to ning down its accumulated bal­ ranting a hike up in policy rates of at every vaccination center on a consumers, who were paying around ₹100 per ances or by borrowing them from interest at the possible expense of daily basis is critical. This will re­ litre at petrol pumps across the country. But the banking system (mainly from growth. As of now, the stimulus rep­ quire that supplies have to be retail selling prices of petrol and diesel have the central bank of the country and resented by GFD/GDP is expected to sharply ramped up even if it neces­ remained almost unchanged in this period. thus ‘creating’ money).” be above single digit. The highest ra­ sitates imports of vaccines and The above quote from the First tio ever recorded in India, however, elimination of bottlenecks related The rupee­dollar rate, which is an input in the Five Year Plan (1952), believed to was 9.6 per cent in 2001­02. And the Healthcare has to be provided whatever be the economic cost B JOTHI RAMALINGAM to infrastructure and logistics. pricing formula, has been largely steady in have been drafted by KN Raj, which highest domestic and foreign liabil­ On infrastructure and develop­ this period. This is not the first time we saw had been also used by other well­ ities to GDP of the Centre and States nomic cost, if we define public good years or so, not even one fourth of ment­related activities in India, the such an anomaly. Often, prices tend to freeze known senior economists includ­ was 82.13 per cent in 2004­05. These as non­rivalrous and non­exclud­ the total expenditures to GDP that a ongoing discussion is largely on ing VKRV Rao and AK Dasgupta, has ratios may be noted for not imped­ able. The Governments, both at the poor country like Sierra Leone in their support to employment cre­ prior to elections. This goes against the prin­ undergone a transformation. The ing growth prospects in sub­ Centre and the States, have there­ West Africa had incurred in 2018 as ation, investment rate and growth ciple of decontrolled retail prices of petro­ concept of the gross fiscal deficit sequent years. fore very little option but to sharply per the latest World Bank data. prospects and economic equity. leum products. Since mid­June 2017, pricing of (GFD) is now widely used since it is increase expenditure on internal There is a huge gap in health care. These issues would prevail so long petrol and diesel are being computed based consistent with the internationally Three challenges and external security, health and re­ What is critical is that health­re­ as there are no adequate structural accepted standards of fiscal statist­ The impact of the pandemic on In­ lated infrastructure and education lated infrastructure in India re­ reforms of the product and factor on a daily pricing mechan­ ics. The data on GFD expressed in re­ dia’s fiscal deficit needs to be seen activities, apart from the normal de­ quires a boost in terms of number markets and the financial sector. ism based on 15­day rolling lation to gross domestic product in the context of three challenges velopment and maintenance ex­ of doctors, nurses, and other sup­ Otherwise, the currently estimated Scan & Share average international rate. (GDP) for India are avail­ India faces at present: the penditures. The surge in public ex­ porting staff and the other hospital potential growth of 6­7 per cent This method can result in a able in official publica­ Scan & Share defence of borders in the penditure will raise the combined infrastructure like the number of may not be sustained. lag between price­changes tions for the years begin­ light of the evolving Centre and States GFD/GDP possibly hospitals, health centers, hospital The impact of the possible large ning 1970­71. power play in the western to above the single digit. beds, ventilators, oxygen concen­ fiscal deficit now may dissipate if in domestic market when In the early 2000s, after and north­western parts Of the three challenges stated trators, ICUs, and operation the recent elimination of retro­ compared with interna­ experiencing external of India and the attend­ above, the least discussed is about theatres. Besides, R&D efforts of the spective taxation, sharp flows of for­ tional prices, but it cannot payments crisis due to ant terrorist attacks on In­ defence needs and actions that pharma industry would have to be eign investments, dampened infla­ result in a standstill price. large fiscal deficit in the dia; the uncertainty need to be taken to thwart security given a sharp boost to take care of tion expectations, hopes of 1990s, India laid down a about the longevity of the threats and protect the territorial Covid cases as well as other serious successful privatisation plans and Besides the ad hoc manner of price revi­ statutory rule on GFD/GDP at 3 per Covid­19 pandemic and the related integrity not only in the immediate illnesses. signs of noticeable economic recov­ sions, there are other fundamental flaws in cent, mimicking the one prevalent diseases; and the investment slow­ present but also in the medium and If actual supplies of medicines ery across sectors materialise to in­ pricing. Though India is self­sufficient in pet­ in advanced economies, hoping down with attendant uncertainty long­term periods. and vaccines are not available from vigorate the animal spirits. rol and diesel refining and does not have to that it would make the country fisc­ about growth prospects. Regarding health, the average domestic sources to meet the high ally sustainable. Barring the last of the three chal­ public expenditure to GDP was domestic demand within a given The writer is a former Executive Director, import it, the base prices are calculated based Monetisation of fiscal deficit, the lenges, the other two should be re­ around 1 per cent of the GDP while period, medical, including vaccine, RBI, and former Special Adviser to the on trade parity. This formula is based on the main source of ‘created’ money, is garded as public goods that need to private expenditures to GDP were imports would become essential. A Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria. prices in international market assuming that said to carry the risk of inflation. In­ be provided whatever be the eco­ about 2.5 per cent over the last 20 surge in overall health expenditure, Through The Billion Press 80 per cent of petrol and diesel is imported and 20 per cent is exported. The price so ar­ rived at is converted into rupees and cost of freight, marketing, refiner’s margin and deal­ er’s commission is added to arrive at the pre­ tax price. Since the retail prices have no link to Nourishing cities through urban agriculture the actual cost incurred by the producers, there is cartelisation by these producers with Terrace and other home garden initiatives should increasingly focus on growing fruits and vegetables than ornamental plants all of them pricing petrol and diesel very close APARNA/N LALITHA ence on food imports. This holds an tion that are regularly consumed by ing are mentioned as one of the cli­ to each other. The right way to arrive at the important lesson for localising the residents. mate mitigation and adaptation price would be to use the actual costs incurred uring the Covid­19 lock­ nourishment of humans to prevent The community of small produ­ measures. Green India Mission is by refiners in sourcing crude oil, cost of refin­ down, people from a for­ starvation and overcome nutri­ cers exchange ecological know­ one of the eight missions under the ing, plus a profit margin. This method can res­ Dtunate section were able tional deficiency. ledge and barter produce making National Action Plan on Climate to engage in nurturing What if people were encouraged such initiatives successful; to city­ Change aiming to increase the ult in different selling price among refiners their home gardens, producing to grow their food even if they did raised children such spaces provide forest and tree cover, restore de­ based on their operational efficiency, which is supplies for home and neighbours. not own land? While all food sup­ avenues for eco­cultural learning. It graded lands and promote agro­ good for consumers. With private refiners These gardens, which are part of the plies could not be sourced through used to be a practice in government forestry in cities. such as Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy broader concept of ‘urban agricul­ small scale decentralised produc­ schools in Tamil Nadu where a Other corresponding missions ture’ (UA), can provide uninterrup­ tion, mechanisms for supplement­ corner of the school would be used on agriculture, sustainable habitat (formerly Essar Oil) having more efficient re­ ted supplies to city dwellers during ing diets at household or com­ for growing green supplies for chil­ and water if worked in tandem with fining plants, their costs are likely to be much crisis situations like the pandemic. munity level could be explored. dren’s mid­day meal. the goal of UA, have potential to en­ lower when compared to PSU refiners. UA refers to growing plants and What if the fabled ‘green thumb’ is Planning strategies like Garden hance urban resilience. Although With both the Centre and the State govern­ rearing livestock, including facilitated across income groups to city, Broadacre city, Greenbelt devel­ the pandemic has brought disrup­ ments unwilling to roll back excise duty rates aquaculture and apiculture, har­ access micro­nutrients? Time to green the rooftops opment and more have gained trac­ tion and uncertainty, never before vesting, processing and distribut­ tion periodically to revive the idea has there been such mass aware­ — except Tamil Nadu which cut taxes by ₹3 a ing food and non­food products Rooftop farming In urban India, public spaces gen­ of interspersing congested and pol­ ness about health, hygiene and litre recently — to provide relief to consumers, from aromatic and medicinal A report by the World Economic erally carry ornamental vegetation. luted cities with green zones in or­ building immunity through clean better transparency in fuel pricing can herbs. Forum informs that Singapore is There is opportunity to create ed­ der to make them liveable. How­ air and water or consuming fresh, provide some succour. With transportation These could be at varying scales already producing almost 10 per ible landscapes and green infra­ ever, with rapid urbanisation, organic food. within urban or peri­urban areas. cent of its food through rooftop structure. Berries and fruits grow­ industrialisation and capital invest­ It is an appropriate time to intro­ cost accounting for a large portion of house­ Growing population and increas­ farming while conventional farm­ ing in the commons have ment on urban lands, green zones spect and transform the way we hold budgets and rising retail prices having a ing demand for food would require ing is done only on 1 per cent of its traditionally been important are being converted to developable produce and consume. Apart from trickle­down effect on other products in the increased per unit food production land. There are cases of rooftop gar­ source of nutrition for the poor. areas in cities. governments, citizens and profes­ economy, this muddled manner of pricing pet­ in available land. It is estimated dens in Montreal, New York and Professionals such as urban plan­ Agriculture, mostly associated sionals from the field of architec­ that 80 per cent of the food pro­ Paris, or urban landscapes growing ners and landscape architects need with rural practice, hardly finds a ture, planning, agriculture, social rol and diesel is having a far­reaching impact. duced worldwide finds way into cit­ fruit trees in Vancouver and to effectively utilise public spaces place in urban planning guidelines. sciences and private developers ies where farmlands are constantly Bangkok. Public spaces are land­ and offer citizens an opportunity to For instance, India’s Urban and Re­ need to cross­learn and co­create shrinking. scaped to grow vegetables and enjoy nature’s bounty. This will gen­ gional Development Plans Formu­ productive green urbanism for a re­ There used to be public allotment fruits in raised beds, containers or erate income for local bodies and lations and Implementation (URD­ silient future. of gardens in post­war Europe to ad­ vertical frames. These, besides gen­ also attract urban agri­tourism. To PFI) guidelines mention dress food crisis. Similarly, the 2008 erating income, also extend posit­ begin with, public institutions and agriculture while preparing city Aparna is Assistant Professor, Institute 30/30: THREE DECADES OF REFORMS RAVIKANTH financial crisis­led increase in food ive externalities to the neighbour­ work spaces, especially those with plans. of Architecture and Planning, Nirma prices saw efforts of urban com­ hood through clean and green residential services, could be en­ However, there is little offered for University, Ahmedabad, and Lalitha is munities in growing food them­ environment, nutrition and cul­ couraged to create green corners in inclusion of agriculture in city Professor, Gujarat Institute of selves, thereby reducing depend­ tural connect. their premises by growing vegeta­ plans, though, UA and vertical farm­ Development Research, Ahmedabad.

BELOW THE LINE

selection and other modalities. After all, the recess coincided campaign ahead of the State elec­ people with extremist ideologies Reason: It now transpires that with a surge in daily new cases and tions. Some relief for a man who have overpowered democracy in a DIPAM — which is the most power­ test positivity rate as also all­round was quite reluctant to give up the nation. ful government department (next criticism of the State’s Covid CM’s post not long ago. only to the PMO) — had sent a mail strategy. As he began the address Abuses fly thick and fast to the selected investment banks on Saturday, Vijayan said he was Batting for majoritarianism Hurling abuses is nothing new to to refrain from talking or sharing happy to resume after a break Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister politics. But it hit a new low last details about the mandates with forced by ‘an intervening session Nitin Patel stoked a storm of a de­ week in Telangana, with top Con­ the media. of the Assembly followed by Onam bate after his remarks at the idol gress and TRS leaders exchanging Needless to say that the invest­ holidays’. Nothing more, nothing installation ceremony of Bharat abuses, attracting sharp criticism ment banks decided to follow the less! Mata Mandir in Gandhinagar on social media. Telangana Pra­ Tight-lipped for a cause? advisory (read instruction) down earlier this week. Patel had stated desh Congress Committee Presid­ Merchant bankers are generally to a tee. Living it up that India’s secularism, Constitu­ ent A Revanth Reddy ridiculed Tel­ forthcoming and even readily Former chief minister of tion, democracy and secularism angana Rashtra Samiti leader and brag with hacks about the IPO 'No show' by Kerala CM Karnataka BS Yediyurappa is mak­ will cease to exist if Hindus be­ Labour and Employment Minister mandates that they secure from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi­ ing it large when it comes to his re­ come a minority. Ch Malla Reddy, calling him a those aspiring to tap the market . jayan presented himself back tired life. Sources close to him say He also said, “Those talking ‘joker’ and a ‘broker’. This is more so in the current again for the daily Covid review that he recently took his entire about Constitution, secularism Malla Reddy, who’s not new to times of IPO frenzy. press conference at 6 pm on Sat­ family for a holiday abroad and and India’s laws will do so as long using lighter and harsh words on However, things were quite dif­ urday. His choice to disconnect when he returned to Bengaluru , a as Hindu community is in major­ public forums, paid the Congress ferent when it came to the pro­ from the eagerly watched live brand new seven­seater Toyota ity in the country. Once the num­ MP back in his own coin, calling posed mega LIC initial public offer­ show for 36 days at a stretch had Vellfire, a hybrid electric car, which ber of Hindus goes into minority, him a ‘blackmailer’, a ‘middleman’ ing. Almost all the 10 investment sent rumour mill working over­ costs about ₹1.06 crore was wait­ nothing of this will exist.” and several other unmentionable banks that were selected by the time and gave rise to theories for ing for him at the parking lot. Later in an explanation to TV things. Social media was abuzz government this past week to and against — depending on Sources also say that the Toyota channels on his comments, Patel about the lack of sanity of politi­ handle the IPO of LIC remained which side of the political divide has been bought to ensure that he said his reference was in context of cians while talking in public. tight­lipped on talking about their they originated from. has a comfortable ride during his the current global events, where Our Bureaus

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CM YK ...... CHENNAI BusinessLine 5 MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021 THINK

BOOK REVIEW BOOK REVIEW Interesting, but only in parts A journey of passion, purpose and grit The profiling of 25 BITSians follows a templated style The book is a fascinating tale of an intrepid entrepreneur and the company he has built CHITRA NARAYANAN thors, was a BITS Leadership Summit they planned in which they wanted to call the HARISH BHAT quence that is worthy of a Bollywood porate governance. Finally, in a move ncreasingly, a lot of books have a tem­ trailblazers from the institute — that never n our home, for over two decades plot, Harsh suddenly received a call one that is rare for Indian entrepreneurs, he plated feel to them. The Pilani Pioneers took off, but from the ashes of that rose this now, the only brand of coconut oil evening, from Keki Dadiseth, the then hands over the operational reins of the is one of these. Ever since Rashmi book. we use is Parachute. My wife stead­ CEO of HUL. Dadiseth wanted to buy company to a professional CEO, step­ IBansal wrote her runaway bestseller So far so good. But the problem is in the Ifastly refuses to consider other Marico, and he made his case, along with ping back to become Chairman. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, which profiled 25 execution. The profiles follow a templated brands. A significant proportion of the a compelling offer. He then went on to Most importantly, alongside these MBAs from IIM Ahmedabad, there have style. There is a short summary of the trail­ cooking oil we use comes from Saffola. hold out a not­so­veiled threat. “Marico fine qualities of leadership, he has abso­ been many collections of entrepreneurial blazer, followed by a longer account of Both these iconic Indian brands have will be history…sell, if you don’t, you lute belief in the core values of trust and success stories. their journey, their passion, their philo­ been created by an Indian company, will regret it.” transparency, which have, in the final Bansal herself built on her success and sophy and then a “Back to BITS” section Marico — the name being a play on its Mariwala was rattled, spent a sleep­ analysis, created not just a commercially followed up with quite a few such antholo­ where the person profiled shares some promoter’s family name, Mariwala. less night, but the next morning, he de­ highly successful business, but also a gies — a set of profiles on people without an vignettes about life in the campus. Therefore, I was particularly curious to cided that there was no question of giv­ greatly respected and admired corpora­ MBA (Connect the Dots), a collection of pro­ This could actually have been the best read the story of Marico, narrated by its ing in to a threatening call and selling tion. This is perhaps why Marico’s im­ files of successful executives in jobs ( Shine section — after all, who doesn’t love a bit of founder and Chairman, Harsh out. Marico fought back in the markets pressive portfolio of consumer brands, Bright), and so on. nostalgia, and one would have loved to see Mariwala. with a vengeance. A few years later, at the which include Parachute, Saffola, Gaurav Mandlecha and Durjai Sethi are a the evolution of BITS Pilani over the years The book Harsh Realities lives up to its end of a bruising battle, HUL stepped Mediker, Revive, Setwet and Livon, enjoy bit late to this party, though one thing go­ through the eyes of the alumni. But sadly, name, because many episodes of this away, for its own strategic reasons. In the complete trust of millions of con­ ing in their favour is that the institution this section is too short. story illustrate how Mariwala overcame Title: Harsh Realities: The Making of fact, Marico then went on to acquire Ni­ sumers today. from which they pick the success Also, while some like Gulu the harsh realities of an entrepreneur’s Marico har from HUL, thus cementing its mar­ Mariwala’s commentary on these stories — BITS Pilani — is refresh­ Mirchandani have packed it with life. The challenges of breaking away Authors: Harsh Mariwala and Ram ket leadership. David had beaten Go­ milestones in his journey is insightful, ingly different from the usual B­ colour pointing out the lack of non­ from a traditional family business and Charan liath, yet again. and holds invaluable lessons for us. And, School formula. Mandlecha and vegetarian food in the days when creating a professionally run FMCG Publisher: Penguin Portfolio The book contains many such fascin­ as icing on the cake, we also read, at the Sethi are young BITSians they studied, many others have company, overcoming a sad but inevit­ Price: ₹699 ating episodes, where Mariwala’s end of every section, Ram Charan’s can­ themselves. given stereotyped answers or been able family separation, facing up to a be­ dogged persistence, and his ability to in­ did views on each of these milestones, It’s quite an eclectic mix of pro­ very sketchy. hemoth like Hindustan Unilever, own­ brought on board top­class talent from spire his people, come to the fore. To win which are a gold­mine of management files — there are seasoned busi­ Take Dabur’s former CEO Sunil ing up to both successes and failures — reputed consumer goods companies in the markets, his team and he create a wisdom. That is perhaps what makes nessmen like Baba Kalyani and Duggal’s Back to BITS section. There they are all part of this immensely read­ such as Asian Paints, SmithKline stream of distinctive products, innovat­ this book unique: it is a remarkable real­ Gulu Mirchandani, dynamic pro­ is just one line about the institute able book, co­authored by two legends — Beecham and Colgate. Not an easy task ive packaging and, most importantly, a life tale, narrated by the chief protagon­ fessionals such as Harish Bhat of and the memory shared is mostly Harsh himself, and Ram Charan, the for a relatively unknown firm, but his re­ strong sales backbone. The relentless ist himself, with sharp reflections by one Tata Sons, Ajoy Misra, former MD about his desire to pursue man­ well­known management guru, who cruits were drawn by Harsh’s earnest­ search for appropri­ of the world’s lead­ and CEO of Tata Consumer Title: The Pilani agement from one of the top has also been Mariwala’s coach for sev­ ness, simplicity and transparency. The ate solutions to cus­ ing management Products, Sunil Duggal, former Pioneers: Inspiring three IIMs, post his engineering. eral years. story of how this top team went about tomer needs, and thinkers. CEO, Dabur India, Mahesh Babu, Success Stories of 25 The book is a compelling read because defining the vision and strategy, then the sharp focus on I wish the book MD and CEO, Mahindra Electric, BITS Pilani Graduates Looking for more it works at many levels. First, it takes us building the right culture for an agile consumer­centric had contained and entrepreneurs like Hari Authors: Gaurav This is true of the larger profiles through an exciting story of how a very consumer and brand­led company is innovation, take voices of a few Menon of Big Basket, Abhishek Mandlecha, Durjai as well. While they are all very successful company has been created the stuff of legend. centre­stage in the Marico consumers Humbad of Goodera and Sethi breezily written and a good read, from scratch, with all its ups and downs. story multiple from across India, Phanindra Sama of redBus. Publisher: Pan most of them leave you wanting Marico was created in 1990, when the Battle with HUL times, highlighting who have been the However, just four women — Macmillan India more. consumer products business of his fam­ One of the most dramatic interludes in how central these bedrock of the com­ Tulsi Mirchandaney, MD, Blue Price: ₹399 A more experienced writer ily firm, which had been primarily in the the book is the battle that Marico had to key themes have pany’s success. Dart Aviation, Shivangi Nadkarni, might have drawn the subject commodities business for many dec­ wage with Hindustan Unilever, which been to Marico’s re­ Harsh Realities is a co­founder and CEO, Arrka Consulting, out and brought out quirky anecdotes and ades, was demerged — a move that took wanted to acquire the company. HUL, markable progress. fascinating story, Sandhya Prakash, founder and MD, Beacon harder lessons on combating business many years for Mariwala to accomplish. with its deep pockets and its own These stories and which every entre­ Energy Solution, and Nandini Chopra, MD , challenges. For instance, the profile of He calls this the most important mile­ coconut oil brand, Nihar, spared no ex­ their lessons apart, a preneur and man­ Alvarez & Marsal — figure, a comment on Mirchandani is conspicuous by the ab­ stone in his life, because he could now pense to try and bring second reason that ager can learn a lot how skewed the business world still is sence of talking about the internal con­ mould the future of the company, free of Marico and its flagship brand, Para­ this book works so from. It is written in when it comes to gender. flicts that led Onida to the brink, or how it any shackles. chute coconut oil, to its knees in the mar­ well is that it gives a simple and lucid has come back again now. Mariwala then painstakingly built a ketplace. This would be a prelude to us a ringside view of Mariwala’s mind, style, and can be read with ease. As I com­ The genesis On the other hand, I must admit that it strong foundation for Marico. He making an acquisition offer. In a se­ and his evolution as a corporate leader. pleted reading the book, aptly on Inde­ In their introduction , the young authors was fascinating to learn about newer entre­ He stays close to the consumer. He is al­ pendence Day 2021, I came away hoping try to answer why they featured these par­ preneurs like Sagar Yarnalkar, co­founder MEET THE AUTHOR ways open to learning, never letting his that our nation can produce several ticular 25 BITSians — the strand that con­ and CEO, Daily Ninja, or Abhishek Nayak of ego get ahead of him. From his failures, more Harsh Mariwalas, and many more Harsh Mariwala, the founder of Marico, transformed a traditional nects these disparate people they say is the Appsmith. he learns valuable lessons. He trusts his Maricos. business into a leading consumer products and services company. moral fibre, the giving back to society, This book may be useful to students or well­honed instinct, built on years of ex­ Prof. Ram Charan has authored and co­authored more than 30 books adding value to lives, traits they share. appeal to future engineers but lacks the perience. He ensures that the company The reviewer, Harish Bhat, is Brand that have sold over four million copies in more than a dozen languages. The genesis for this book, say the two au­ depth a business reader might seek. which he founded builds the right cor­ Custodian, Tata Sons

SHORT TAKE BusinessLine Japan may mix Covid America mucks it up in Afghanistan TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY shots for speedier RAJKAMAL RAO lars worth weapons to the American void left behind. The Taliban. geopolitical situation for India August 30, 2001 vaccinations n the famous blockbuster, Almost half of Afghanistan’s has turned from yellow to red in a Rail travel to cost more apan could mix AstraZeneca For Your Eyes Only (1981), population is too young even to matter of days at a time when In­ Rail travel will become more expensive from October 1 this JPlc’s Covid­19 shots with those James Bond uses Q to tinker know who or what the Taliban is. dia’s economy is struggling to re­ year, as commuters would have to cough up a safety developed by other companies in Iwith the new face recogni­ In a flash, millions of Afghans will cover, and the Delta variant con­ surcharge — ranging from ₹1 per ticket to ₹100 per ticket order to speed up its vaccination tion system to identify a crook be subject to an extreme version tinues to inflict harm. depending on the class of travel — in addition to the effort, according to the minister after failing to capture him the of Sharia law as their national During the last few years, it cost normal fare. Passengers travelling beyond 500 km will in charge of the country’s rollout. first time. He gets a call from M, constitution. Hard­earned wo­ America nearly $900,000 for have to pay a higher amount of the ‘flat’ levy in all classes The idea would be to combine who admonishes him, “And 007, men’s rights to education and each soldier deployed to Afgh­ barring second class (ordinary) and second class (mail and the dose with one from Pfizer Inc. try not to muck it up again!” work will again become a thing of A poorly planned exit AFP anistan as it spent almost $7 bil­ express). A formal announcement on the safety surcharge, and BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc., Led by America, the West the past. Music will be banned lion each year. Still, at just 1 per which would enable the Railways garner an additional Taro Kono said Sunday on a Fuji TV mucks it up again in Afghanistan. from public places. Western­style turn even more radical or face a cent of the Pentagon budget, ₹5,000 crore over the next six years, was made by the news programme. Since As­ Nearly 130 years after the British art, culture, and fashion will be­ threat to his administration. This Afghanistan was relatively stable, Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, in a suo motu traZeneca recommends eight established the Durand Line arti­ come a distant memory. outcome directly threatens India with Western­style institutions statement in Parliament today. weeks between its two shots, it’s ficially dividing the Pashtun as Pakistan’s ISI and hard­line mil­ thriving. Nor were American sol­ Pvt FM cos allowed to use AIR facilities likely that time could be peoples of Afghanistan and Refugee crisis itary factions are freshly em­ diers in any mortal danger. There The Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) has shortened if combined, Kono Pakistan, and 32 years after the So­ The majority of the 37 million boldened to encourage terrorist were no recorded American casu­ decided to permit private FM companies to use the added. viet Union left Afghanistan in ut­ Afghans will shrug their activity across the Line of Control. alties for nearly 18 months. Amer­ existing facilities of the All India Radio (AIR) for Studies on mixing Covid vac­ ter disgrace resulting in its ulti­ shoulders and get on with their India also gets nothing after ica operates much larger foreign transmitting radio signals. After a review meeting, the I&B cines so far show that it could res­ mate downfall, it is now lives, but the impending global nearly 20 years of supporting the military bases at far higher costs Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, said that the private FM radio ult in an equal if not stronger im­ America's turn to fail. It is little refugee crisis is unthinkable dur­ West in Afghanistan. Worse, with in Germany, Korea, Japan, and companies had problems in setting up permanent towers mune response. But it’s not clear wonder that this mountainous ing a pandemic. Already 50,000 its withdrawal, India has ceded West Asia to extend protections in and this was leading to a delay in their commencing which combination could give landmass has a well­earned nick­ refugees are being resettled in influence to China, ready to work those regions. operations. According to the letter of intent (LI), the FM the best protection that will last name: The graveyard of empires. various American cities. Ger­ with a Taliban­led government. Why America decided to pull companies had to start operations within a year of the longest, and there’s some evid­ America’s poorly planned and many, the UK and other parts of Bloomberg estimates that China out from Afghanistan, first under frequency allocation. ence that mixing could cause atrociously executed exit will Europe are about to face a refugee is eyeing nearly $1 trillion in min­ Trump, and now, so haphazardly Bombay Dyeing promoters' stake to go up to 54.47% worse side effects. Countries like likely set off repercussions all onslaught not seen since 2015. erals and deposits hidden under­ under Biden, will be discussed for Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd, in the Canada, Germany and France al­ over the world for a long time. Around Afghanistan, the secur­ neath Afghanistan’s rugged ter­ years to come. The last few weeks’ formal announcement of its share buyback today, has low mix­and­match vaccines, but Because, unlike prior countries ity situation will change rain. events will likely be as seminal as indicated that the promoter’s equity stake in the company the US. has warned against doing that had occupied Afghanistan, overnight. The always­porous China is already heavily inves­ 9/11 that first triggered the Amer­ would stand revised to a maximum of 54.47 per cent on so. America poured real money — Afghan­Pakistan border will be­ ted in Pakistan, Iran, and the ­Stan ican invasion of Afghanistan. completion of the exercise. At present, the promoter’s “I’m asking the health ministry nearly $2 trillion — to build a come even more so. Imran Khan, countries because of its One Belt stake is 40.85 per cent. The open offer to buy back 1.02 to issue its point of view on fledgling democracy, but gave it who has had a soft corner for rad­ One Road initiative and wants to The writer is Managing Director, Rao crore equity shares, amounting to 25 per cent of the total whether it’s okay to mix the vac­ all away, including billions of dol­ ical Islamic views, will have to consolidate its gains by filling the Advisors LLC, Bedford, TX paid­up equity share capital, is at ₹60 per share. cines,” Kono said. If mixing is al­ lowed, he said it would also in­ crease the options for a potential third shot that Japan is considering. easy bl two-way crossword 1956 not so easy Vaccinations in Japan, which ACROSS DOWN ACROSS DOWN started late compared to other de­ 1. Draw close to (8) 1. Charm worn on the person (7) 1. Get close to Father who 1. Mother, up to the turn, is allowed veloped nations, has progressed 7. The passing over (5) 2. Royal daughter (8) returns quietly with the fish to wear it for luck (7) quickly since early summer. About 44 per cent of the popula­ 8. Fabled horse with single horn 3. Woodwind instrument (4) (8) 2. Royal personage at home to tion is fully vaccinated, including (7) 4. Light with a wick (6) 7. Hated to change it, in the end Charles I in the newspapers (8) nearly 90 per cent of those over 9. Sea mammal (7) 5. Thin wood strip (4) (5) 3. It gives the 'A' and starts opera the age of 65. Still, a majority of 10. Everyone, separately (4) 6. Sound of horse (6) 8. Fabulous beast produced by before overture ends (4) younger people haven’t been in­ 12. Keenly (7) 7. Please greatly (7) roc in peacekeeping 4. Is able to be misled by oculated and they have been the 14. Cattle thief (7) 11. Softens in maturity (7) organisation (7) old­fashioned lighting (6) worst affected during its current 17. Joint bent, genuflecting (4) 13. Arcs of the spectrum (8) 9. Party record half­hinges on 5. Wood used in building the Hall at surge of infections. 18. Call upon to appear (7) 14. Scamp, rogue (6) this animal being at sea (7) Hindhead (4) All three vaccines are approved 21. Instalment of a serial (7) 15. Take it as an affront (6) 10. Put ashore topless, with no 6. The reason tavern is included is for use in Japan, but most of the 22. Out of order, wrong (5) 16. Execute by guillotine (6) single exclusion (4) for it to sound like horse (6) 124.5 million doses given have 23. Emphasised (8) 19. Chief (4) 12. Agree to change ends of 7. Make one very pleased to have used Pfizer and Moderna. As­ 20. Languish with longing (4) livery with keenness (7) held it around end of Spring (7) traZeneca was approved in May, al­ 14. He takes off what's on the 11. Softens with age, as Monsieur is though the Japanese government hoof (7) so well adapted (7) did not make it immediately avail­ 17. Week in the Algarve finishes 13. Coloured arches brown as one able, taking a cautious stance on the joint (4) could make them (8) reports of related blood clots. SOLUTION: BL Two-way Crossword 1955 18. Call for one to appear as a 14. Scallywag takes the Last month, Japan began to al­ Scotsman in adding Academicians to California (6) low a limited rollout of As­ ACROSS 7. Philosophical 8. Predominate 12. Savant 14. Grease 16. problems (7) 15. Begrudge what one must pay to traZeneca vaccine to those over Mildew 18. Inched 19. Centrifugal 23. Indeterminate 21. What happens is nothing, in be tenant round the Southeast DOWN the age of 40 that wanted to take 1. Chap 2. Blue 3. Escort 4. Spring 5. Pica 6. Fare 9. Revolve deep trouble (7) (6) it. Most of the shots are being pro­ 10. Trachea 11. Weed 12. Sump 13. Nee 15. Run 17. Warden 18. Infamy 22. An unmarried girl who is 16. Act as leader to top one (6) duced domestically and don’t rely 19. Cane 20. Need 21. Gong 22. Lute wrong (5) 19. The sea: it may have gas in it (4) on imports. Japan has almost two 23. Underlined the way 20. Craftsmanship in embroidery million AstraZeneca doses on puddings were sent back (8) needs it, as it has needles (4) hand, Kono said. BLOOMBERG

CM YK ...... CHENNAI

BusinessLine BUSINESSLINE ON CAMPUS • • 6 MONDAY AUGUST 30 2021 • MANAGEMENT • ENGINEERING • ACCOUNTANCY

SNIPPETS GUIDE AND ADVISE

ICFAI’s BBA-MBA courses ICFAI Foundation for Higher Nurturing a healthy mentor-mentee relationship Education has launched five-year, full-time, BBA-MBA and BCom-MBA integrated Mentorship is a gift of time and expertise built on mutual respect and trust, with clear rules of engagement programmes, and BSc (data understand their potential and may want to end the engagement. basis of any sound relationship. analytics). These programmes will improve their performance. Since mentoring is not a formal Respect boundaries in the rela­ be offered by ICFAI Business A mentor helps the mentee construct, do close the loop with tionship. Mentors may choose to School (IBS) at its Kengeri think through their decisions by them if you’d like to withdraw. share personal details of their Campus, Bengaluru. The providing a sounding board. Good struggles or help you navigate a Foundation has been permitted mentors often share insights on Mentorship, not friendship challenge. But that does not per­ by the Ministry of Education to how they have resolved similar Mentorship is a gift of time and ex­ mit you to flaunt the relationship start an off-campus centre “The RENUKA KAMATH | SHRINATH V problems themselves. pertise. Mentors have their own to gain advantage. Mentors may focus will be on communication Mentors may also give the reasons for being involved, as also be comfortable talking in a skills, critical thinking, t a corporate function a mentee a glimpse into their work­ mentorship is not a paid private setting, but cautious about inter-personal skills and a good couple of years ago, one ing pattern, which can be a refer­ engagement. engaging publicly to avoid being understanding of the domain of us met an ex­student. ence on how someone senior nav­ Mentors may have struggled accused of favouritism. It is im­ knowledge,” said Prof Mahender A She was ecstatic that the igates difficult decisions. when they started out and missed portant to respect this. Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, ICFAI. chief guest at the event was having a guide. Mentorship may In the case we started with, the someone who she saw as her Identifying your needs be their way of giving the guid­ young girl who walked up to the Go for a ‘blocked account’ mentor. After the chief guest fin­ Start with listing areas that you ance they never got. Mentorship chief guest clearly made him un­ ished his speech, she rushed on to need guidance on and areas of in­ lets mentors understand a differ­ comfortable as she did not respect ICICI Bank Germany plans a digital the stage to hobnob with him. He terest. For instance, if you are ISTOCK.COM ent generation and changing as­ unstated boundaries. Would her and instant ‘Blocked Account’ for was visibly uncomfortable and hasty with decisions, a mentor Seniors in your firm may help who can relate to your current pirations. Enthusiastic youngsters mentor be comfortable with her students aspiring to study in slipped away after a few words. who is more reasoned could help identify mentors, in the firm or in­ conditions and offer targeted ad­ bring fresh perspectives to ment­ basking about her relationship Germany. This was a clear case of the you pause and consider different dustry. If you are a student, faculty vice than a flamboyant mentor or ors’ viewpoints. They may identify with him in public? Or could she A Blocked Account is a special mentor and mentee not being approaches to situations. If you or alumni who are doing some­ an industry leader who may be some parts of themselves in the have been more graceful in her type of account wherein students aligned on the nature of the rela­ are keen on learning about a do­ thing aligned with your aspira­ starved of time. youngster and be keen on connect­ approach? are required to keep a certain tionship. We have seen different is­ main, someone with working ex­ tions may turn out to be good Think about how to present ing back to their younger selves. In closing, mentorship can be a amount of money in order to get a sues as mentees as well as ment­ perience can be a great guide on mentors. yourself well. A mentor has to Whatever be the motive, mentor­ mutually beneficial relationship Balance Confirmation Certificate ors. Based on our experience, here future opportunities and pitfalls. A warm introduction is great in choose you as much as you choose ship is not the same as friendship. that helps both parties. Seeking (BCC), a mandatory requirement are some tips we would advise Look at a mentor as an advisor, getting a mentor interested in them. Give them a glimpse into A mentor is a well­wisher, but out the right mentors and learn­ for a student visa. Only banks, those seeking mentors. not as someone to make your de­ you. Use your network ­ be open your world ­ make it interesting. not a friend. Mentors want you to ing from them, can often be the which are authorised by the cisions. Mentorship should help about your mentorship needs. Most mentors want to learn from grow, but usually have busy calen­ fastest way to excel both person­ German Federal Foreign Office, Mentoring vs coaching you grow, not become a crutch. Chances are that someone can put you as much as teach you. dars as well. Respect their time ally and professionally. Just be can offer this facility. Mentorship is an opportunity for you in touch with prospective Three key factors for mentor­ and involvement. Try going in aware of the rules of engagement. This facility enables students to youngsters to be guided by Finding the right mentor mentors. ship to work are chemistry, trust, with a set of clear asks. Action ad­ deposit the required amount with someone senior. Mentorship may Finding the right mentor could be Do some homework before ap­ and time. The perfect mentor may vice you get and let the mentor (Renuka Kamath is Associate Dean the bank and get the BCC. They span aspects of working life and a matter of luck or just being ob­ proaching a mentor. Study their be time­starved, or you may not re­ know the outcome. In sharing the and Professor of Marketing, Bhavan's can open this account online struggles of the mentee. Coaching servant and bold. If you’re lucky, career and background to get a late to their style of mentoring or outcome, you help them learn. SPJIMR, Mumbai, and Shrinath V is before their visa applications, sessions are usually structured in­ your company HR may already sense of the person. Be choosy. You have trust issues with them. If any And you show you’re willing to put product strategy coach and without visiting a branch. terventions to help the coachee have a mentorship programme. may be better off with someone of these factors don’t work, you in the work to grow. That is the consultant)

GREAT PROSPECTS Nanotech opens up job options in a variety of industries According to some estimates, a three million workforce skilled in nanotechnology will be required worldwide by 2021 ist in our environment, both logy has its applications. Nan­ nano­crystalline materials, plications in drug delivery to natural and unnatural such as otechnology provides job nano­photonics and nano­ treat cancer tumours films and coatings, embed­ opportunities in health in­ porous materials to name a (without using radiotherapy ded nanotechnology, biolo­ dustry; pharmaceutical in­ few. It is estimated that and chemotherapy), solar en­ gically natural, biological na­ dustry; agriculture industry; around three million nano­ ergy, batteries, display tech­ notechnology, natural environment industry; food technology skilled workforce nologies, optoelectronic particles, manufactured and beverage industry as well will be required worldwide by devices, semiconductor C. GOPALAKRISHNAN particles, nano­electrical in government and private re­ 2021. Many government insti­ devices, biosensors, luminous mechanical systems. search institutes. tutes and Indian industries paints, and many others. A he word “nano” refers Building on current nano­ have focused on nano­materi­ major challenge in this emer­ Tto the length scale (one technology­enabled applica­ Skills als. It is also estimated nano­ ging field is training a new nanometre is one­bil­ tions in areas as diverse as One needs to have a diehard technology will create an­ generation. lionth of a metre) that is one consumer electronics, medi­ passion for research, espe­ other five million jobs world­ An abundance of job oppor­ thousand times smaller than cine, energy, water purifica­ cially to find out new struc­ wide in support fields and tunities awaits candidates the micro scale, the scale that tion, aerospace, automotive, tures in the field of nanotech­ industries. with an MTech in Nanotech­ was traditionally associated infrastructure, sporting nology. It is important to have Since nanotechnology is a nology from India and with the electronics industry. goods, textiles, and agricul­ sound analytical skills, along special branch that essen­ abroad. Indian industry has Viruses and DNA are examples ture, the nanotechnology re­ with a scientific bent of mind. tially combines physics, focused on nanomaterials of natural objects on the nano search underway today will Analysing and interpreting chemistry, biology, engineer­ and many scientific institu­ scale; in contrast a human cell enable entirely new capabilit­ skills are a necessity in this ing and technology, it is open­ tions have started R & D activ­ can appear enormous. ies and products. Nanotech­ Into the future R & D in nanotechnology has enabled early detection of emerging diseases field and also to accept fail­ ing up job prospects for stu­ ities. The CSIR has set up 38 The term nanotechnology nology also underpins key in­ ures in experiments as a chal­ dents in these subjects. The laboratories across the coun­ refers to the engineering, dustries of the future. For velopment (R&D) in nano­ gen fuel; nano­engineered continue to invest in these im­ lenge. Other necessary skills career opportunities in the try to carry out researchand measurement and under­ example, new architecture technology has enabled early pores in a membrane for wa­ portant areas. Agencies use a which are required are: Good fields of nanoscale science development . Those with a standing of nano­scaled ma­ and paradigms exploiting na­ detection of emerging dis­ ter filtration; drug­loaded wide variety of mechanisms mathematical and computer and technology are expand­ PhD in Nanotechnology will terials and devices. Manipu­ notechnology are providing eases and will lead to the nano particles carried by red to support the research infra­ programming skills; ad­ ing rapidly, as these fields have many opportunities. It is lating matter atom by atom the foundation for artificial treatments of the future. Past blood cells; and the first pro­ structure, including Centre equate laboratory training for have increasing impact on a perfect career for those who and creating features on the intelligence (AI), quantum in­ investments in nanotechno­ grammable memristor com­ grants, instrumentation de­ expert handling of advanced our daily lives. A professional have a scientific bent of mind atomic or “nano” scale is now formation science (QIS), next­ logy R & D have provided a puter, enabling low­power AI velopment or acquisition pro­ equipment; ability to learn in the field of nanotechno­ and a passion for studying a proven technology and generation wireless commu­ foundation to support the re­ applications. Nanotechno­ grammes, training grants, fel­ and adopt new techniques; logy can easily find viable ca­ and experimenting with the there is an ever growing cata­ nications, and advanced sponse to the Covid­19 pan­ logy advances are impacting a lowships, and collaborative have a systematic way of reer opportunities in various minutest molecules. Students logue that utilises manufacturing. demic. Nanotechnology­en­ variety of other sectors in­ programmes that support working; a natural propensity sectors. They can work in the with a science and engineer­ nanotechnology. While advances in modern abled applications include cluding consumer electron­ workforce development. for research work; keep track field of nano­medicine, bio­ ing background can pursue Nanotechnology repres­ electronics have long been at vaccines, sensors, masks, fil­ ics, aerospace, automotive, in­ of the latest scientific news, informatics, stem cell devel­ Nanotechnology as a career. . ents an entire scientific and the nanoscale, new nanoma­ ters, and antimicrobial frastructure, sporting goods, Career opportunities books and research opment, pharmaceutical engineering field, broadly terials and designs will en­ coatings. and agriculture. The scope and application of magazines; a good back­ companies, and nano toxico­ (The writer is Associate within Materials Science and sure the continued strength Examples of nanotechno­ nanotechnology is tremend­ ground of physics, chemistry, logy and nano power generat­ Professor, Department of Engineering, and not just a of the semiconductor in­ logy innovations are: a highly Research infrastructure ous. Indian engineering and medicine, electronics and ing sectors. The major areas Physics and Nanotechnology, single product or even group dustry, which powers com­ sensitive wearable gas sensor; The research infrastructure, science graduates are increas­ biotechnology for the development of ap­ SRM University) of products. As a consequence puting, e­commerce, and na­ nanoparticles absorbed by including physical and cyber ingly opting for nanotechno­ plications involving nano­ of this there are several differ­ tional security. plants to deliver nutrients; resources as well as education logy. Right from medicine, Job prospects technology are medical and WX ent types of nanotechnology, Nanotechnology also enables durable, conductive yarns and workforce development pharmaceuticals, informa­ Job opportunities and a re­ pharmaceuticals, IT, electron­ Read more stories on and many applications associ­ the rapid genomic sequen­ made with MXene; electrodes efforts, is critical to support tion technology, electronic, search career exists in the ics, magnetics and opto­elec­ management, engineering ated with each type. There are cing and sensing required to that incorporate nano­ the entire funding ecosystem opto­electronics, energy, areas of nano­device, nano­ tronics, energy chemicals, ad­ and accountancy on also several other types of advance medicine and bio­ particles and enable the con­ (National Nanotechnology chemicals, advanced materi­ packaging, nano­wires, nano­ vanced materials and textiles. www.bloncampus.com nano­sized objects which ex­ technology. Research and de­ version of sunlight to hydro­ Initiative), and agencies will als to textiles, nanotechno­ tools, nano­biotechnology, Nanotechnology has ap­

‘SMART’ RECRUITING How campus hiring has changed this year Recruiters have overhauled the traditional recruitment process with remote hiring and expanded their talent pool

AKSHAYA CHANDRASEKARAN began revamping its pro­ make the entire experience build relationships, and LEO FERNANDEZ cess for entry­level recruit­ more remote­friendly for understand workplace cul­ ompanies are act­ ing to include first­round new recruits. Remote hir­ ture, is the biggest barrier How to handle rejections from companies as freshers? We get Cively hiring from virtual interviews, a year be­ ing is delivering results on and a developmental area rejected because of the lack of experience, but we need a chance to campuses this year. fore Covid hit, with an aim par with the face­to­face in recruiting. even gain experience. They have put in place to open up opportunities ones,” says Krishnan “This explains why the - Sonali Verma highly functional remote for more graduates of vari­ Bangarusamy, Associate demand for soft skills has It's quite understandable to feel a little frustrated with rejections hiring systems and colleges ous colleges. Vice­President, Human Re­ gone up. Since all the unof­ from companies citing a lack of experience, when they’re unwilling have embraced online “College placement com­ sources, Omega Healthcare ficial communication to provide that experience journey in the first place. Two sugges­ classes and standardised vir­ mittees think the process Management Services. channels are cut off in re­ tions: never treat any rejection as a rejection of you as a person. It tual placements. Unlike last has become far more effi­ One other reason the mote work, it's also shut off should never reduce your self­esteem or confidence. Even Jack Ma, year, where many job offers cient and less chaotic with new approach seems to be the scope of making con­ the Chinese billionaire, recounted how among 24 applicants for a were deferred or rescinded remote hiring, compared to working is that job seekers nections and collaborating job, 23 were selected and he was the only one rejected! The others because of the uncertainty recruiters visiting campuses are relatively more open to with other team members. didn’t become billionaires, he did. So, treat each rejection as a step relating to course comple­ and conducting the whole taking online classes and Even periphery interac­ closer to the great job you will get. tion and examination dates, process,” says Anshuman upskilling themselves to be tions that happen in a phys­ The second suggestion is to ask yourself how you can improve in this year, the placement sea­ Das, CEO and Co­founder, ISTOCK.COM a good fit for the role. “Re­ ical environment hold the way you present yourself to interviewers. Ask them for feedback son has been smooth on CareerNet. cruiting leveraging from at the scores, and not col­ cent graduates find it value and facilitate under­ — even if they’ve rejected your application. What did I do right? What both ends. recruiters who come to tier 1 lege names. This is a huge easier to manage training standing the workplace could I improve? Use your student and personal journey to high­ IT companies, which dom­ Level playing field colleges nearby, have a shift in entry­level hiring and remote work parallelly better. Candidates on­ light qualities and skills that you know employers are looking for — inate the campus hiring seg­ The results of online place­ chance to compete. “Com­ that has taken place,” adds since everything is virtual,” boarded virtually are ex­ times when you took the initiative, when you solved a difficult prob­ ment, began exploring re­ ments have been good, says panies used to seek out tal­ Sankaran. says Sankaran. pected to have exceptional lem, when you demonstrated you are a quick learner. Work on show­ mote hiring to expand their Sankaran. The recruiting ent from top 100 colleges be­ “Remote hiring has elim­ interpersonal skills and casing how you will add value to them, and I can soon see that offer talent pool even before the process is fairer, more in­ fore. Now, the process has inated geographical barri­ Demand for soft skills communication skills. letter in your hands. pandemic hit, says Pasu­ clusive, and diverse as been completely trans­ ers to talent acquisition. We Despite successful hiring Based on this feedback pathi Sankaran, Chief Oper­ urban­centric hiring has col­ formed. We pre­asses the tal­ leveraged the situation and processes, onboarding a re­ from recruiters, soft skills (The expert is CEO and co-founder of TalentEase.) ating Officer of recruitment lapsed with remote hiring. ent pool across all colleges expanded our talent pool. mote employee still seems are taking centre stage in Students: Please mail your queries on the disciplines of management, technology and assessment The tier 2 and tier 3 engin­ and present the assessment The advancements made be­ to be a challenge for many many B­schools and engin­ engineering and accountancy to [email protected]. Our solutions company HirePro. eering colleges, which usu­ scores to recruiters, and fore the pandemic were re­ companies. To help the em­ eering colleges’ placement panel of experts will answer them For instance, Accenture ally engage in piggyback re­ they pick the hires looking configured and tweaked to ployee get off to a fast start, training,” explains Das.

CM YK ...... CHENNAI BusinessLine CORPORATE FILE 7 MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021 • PEOPLE • STRATEGY • WORKPLACE

NATURE OF WORK OFFICE BUZZ The honey trap The web of life at TVS Motors n investment firm in the US The automobile major’s forest within its factory at Hosur is seeding nature-inspired thinking within the company A— Nuveen — has overhauled its office in Manhattan for its re­ N MADHAVAN habitat. There are spot­billed found their way into the turning to workplace employ­ ducks, softshell tortoises, parking lot or inside the fact­ ees, and introduced interesting he sounds are surreal. freshwater turtles, snakes (in­ ory. The employees don’t hurt touches. The most notable be­ Birds chirping, water cluding the big four danger­ the reptile, instead alert ing two beehives on a terrace. A beekeeper has been Tgurgling down a ous ones — cobra, Russell’s vi­ trained personnel who en­ hired to train employees to harvest honey which they stream into a pond, bamboo per, saw­scaled viper and sure the creature is left back can take home. A quirky office perk? Apparently the brushing against each other, common krait), butterflies in the forest. latest workplace trend, according to US media reports, wind whistling its way past and dragonflies. Endangered At Hosur, the forest sits in is to bring the outdoors — gardens, bees, flowers, sun­ the canopy of trees and a faint species such as Indian pan­ front of the company’s R&D shine — into the office to keep employees engaged. humming of a distant ma­ golin, gray slender loris and centre. “Its a great atmo­ chine. We are inside a forest otters too have been sighted sphere when you walk into with multiple ponds, 18 to be here. the offices surrounded by precise, and diverse sub­hab­ It all began in the birds,” says R Babu, Vice­pres­ Apply only if vaccinated itats — marsh land, grassland, mid­1990s when various de­ ident, R&D. Engineers con­ wetland and woodland — partments at the fast­growing ceptualising a solution or obs are opening up, every­ home to 442 species of plants TVS Motor started eyeing the design, often take a walk in Jwhere. However, a new trend and 292 species of animals. All 50­acre empty land, on the the forest and return with a seen in the US is that those hir­ this within the premises of eastern boundary of the nature­inspired ing have a new mandate now — TVS Motor Company’s factory Hosur factory, for expansion. solution. It applying candidates should be at the heart of Hosur’s indus­ When the matter reached happened when fully vaccinated. Jobs site In­ trial cluster. Welcome to the Venu Srinivasan, then the they were looking deed.com says listings on the platform requiring vac­ Sacred Forest. Managing Director of the to enhance the cinated candidates is up 90 per cent in August com­ Spread over 50 acres of TVS company, he drew a circle en­ drivability of TVS Green input Sacred Forest is home to 442 species of plants; (below) Venu Srinivasan BIJOY GHOSH pared to July. Although barely one per cent of the total Motor’s 310­acre Hosur facility capsulating the 50­acre area iQube, the electric job posts on the site are mentioning this, it is a signific­ that manufactures two and and called it a sacred area As a nature lover, he had al­ includes a waterscape with new area or go ver­ scooter. “The at­ ant trend, according to Indeed. three wheelers, it is not the where no department had ways wanted to create a hab­ sloping banks and many is­ tical.” Srinivasan, mosphere helps usual landscaped greenery at claim. “The area around the itat where flora and fauna live lands, open areas and no wa­ he adds, believes to think in an un­ corporate premises but factory was barren. We in perfect balance. The com­ ter or air pollution. Attention that a responsible cluttered man­ Future of leadership a biosphere rich in wanted to use this land for pany’s facilities at Mysore (50 is given to growing tree spe­ firm should not build from ner,” he adds. Srinivasan sees wildlife. Painted creating green cover, in­ acres) and Nalagarh in Hi­ cies that birds prefer for nest­ wall to wall, but make space a larger picture. Students storks visit in hun­ stall rainwater harvesting machal Pradesh (7 acres) have ing. Trees and plants are nat­ for micro­organisms to thrive. from nearby schools visit the anagement consulting dreds every Novem­ systems and re­charge similar forests but they are ive to the region, and planted “The company is executing forest and observe how Mfirm Korn Ferry has ana­ ber to breed and fly­ groundwater for our bore not as mature as Hosur. in a manner that they will give that vision.” nature should be preserved. lysed what a future CEO of away in April, wells,” recalls fruits round the year for the In the Mysore factory, he has European companies will be at times leav­ Srinivasan. The ho­ Space for micro-organisms birds and animals. These need Culture of sustainability launched a formal three­year like in 2025. Three key trends ing behind rizon, over the A separate team takes care of substantial investment of There have been tangible and curriculum covering relevant will shape the business land­ juveniles. years, kept mov­ the forests including Preston time and money. “Our Chair­ intangible benefits from this environmental aspects. “Is it scape in the future: Technology, socio­political change Herons, ing. “One Ahimaz, a 27­year World Wild­ man (Venu Srinivasan) is clear initiative. It has recharged the not important to reinforce a and environment. Traditionally, CEOs are chosen for hornbill, pel­ thing led to life Fund veteran. He is TVS that one­third of the land has water table and dissolved culture of sustainability for strategic vision, financial acumen, determination and icans, cormor­ another Motor’s Forest Consultant. to be reserved for nature,” says solids in the bore wells by 70 the next generation?” he drive. But Korn Ferry says, the future CEO will have to ants, moorhens and what “Mimicking a forest is not P Venkatesan, Vice­President — per cent. These efforts have asks. wear many hats, understand technology, be connected have all made we have easy. We have to look at finer Civil. Ask him about space for made the employees more en­ (Scan the code for a video and collaborative. themselves com­ today is a bio­ details to ensure wildlife feels future expansion, and he re­ vironment consciousness. tour of the Sacred Forest at TVS fortable in this sphere,” he says. less threatened,” he says. That sponds: “We can expand in a Many a time snakes have Motors’ Hosur plant)

POWER TRIP TABLE TALK IEX: Charged up for growth All Reddy to manage biz of healthcare The first energy exchange exerts a vice-like grip on the market Apollo Hospitals MD Suneeta Reddy on the new and changing scenario post the Covid-19 pandemic M RAMESH VINAY KAMATH could be postponed, cream and more scones dive into digital with Apollo Preetha did secure a seat in a arely do you come stopped coming, leaving with a cheesy herb dip. 24/7 (now part of Apollo medical college and she was across a company that uneeta Reddy leads Apollo to focus on Covid­19 There’s also an open sand­ HealthCo Ltd). With five mil­ keen, “but dad said no; we Rhas over 92 per cent us from the hush of care. Apollo developed a wich with avocado, as­ lion active users using Apol­ just don’t have enough man­ market share. The Indian En­ the well­appointed programme called kavach, paragus, bell peppers, with lo’s teleconsult services of agers and we need people to ergy Exchange (IEX) has that Sboardroom at Apollo which first isolated patients cheese and lettuce. Suneeta its doctors, Suneeta believes run the system.” Suneeta rare honour and it’s still in Hospitals group corporate and those who didn’t have had promised an English tea a hybrid model could well herself wanted to go to Har­ the early stage of business. office to an equally well laid severe infections were al­ and it’s laid out, all right, be here to stay. Its app had 15 vard for her post­graduate When Financial Technolo­ out dining hall. We can eat lowed to stay in hotel though she herself eats million downloads! Suneeta studies but couldn't, though gies (India) Ltd floated IEX in while we talk, says the Man­ rooms. Then clinical proto­ little, pointing out also points out Apollo later she did a course for 2008 (now it has fully ex­ aging Director of India’s cols were codified in a red that scones are has 4,100 pharma­ owner­managers at Harvard ited), the country’s first en­ most well­known hospital book. “During the first wave her mother’s fa­ cies. “Pharma­ Business School. Suneeta ergy exchange was in the chain. The quietness is a far everything was new and vourite even­ cies are at least graduated from Chennai’s bluest of oceans — its only cry from the heaving, teem­ changing and some of the ing snack. 40 minutes well­known Stella Maris Col­ competitor, Power Exchange ing bustle one can see at the drugs were also in clinical away from lege and followed it up with of India Ltd, would surface hospital’s reception, the trials and this red book The two homes (in de­ a diploma in financial man­ months later. A dozen years first of Apollo’s 70 hospitals, would update clinical proto­ Covid-19 livery zones) in agement from the Institute down the line, IEX still has a on Chennai’s Greams Road. cols which were shared waves 40 per cent of of Financial Management & vice­like grip over the energy With a lull in the pandemic, among the 35 hospitals of Still on the pan­ India. It has Research (now part of Krea Lion’s share With only two players vying for the spoils of the market — which, in India, all those requiring health­ Apollo involved in Covid­19 demic, Suneeta marked out 10,000 University). energy market, the IEX keeps a huge pie to itself KVS GIRI means electricity market. care for ailments other than care. In the second wave we says there was a huge PIN codes and in terms Recalling her days of And now, the company’s for­ tracts allowed — yet. over the next few days (Term­ Covid­19 are back in droves. even shared best practices difference between the first of delivery it is the only on­ growing up in then Madras, tunes look set due to both ex­ These had got stuck in a ahead market, TAM). The If it wasn’t for the times with smaller nursing and second waves. “In the line company which can de­ Suneeta says they all came ternal and internal reasons. tussle over jurisdiction — RTM has been a success bey­ we live in, the soft­spoken homes,” she explains. Dur­ first we had to open out only liver within two hours with back from the US when Dr who should oversee these, ond IEX’s expectations — in Suneeta says she would have ing this period, Apollo used 2,500 beds; in the second a prescription fulfillment of Prathap Reddy, a cardiolo­ A widening market SEBI or Forward Markets the 7 months of the year, met us at a restaurant for a 2,500 of the 10,000 beds it wave we had to open out 85 per cent,” she explains. gist, decided to relocate to First, the external. In India, Commission? The matter has nearly 10 billion kWhr conversation; so Raghuvir has for Covid­19 care with 5,000 beds (of the 10,000 The talk veers to the short­ India. “Within one year of where the energy markets since been resolved (SEBI for passed through the RTM. Srinivasan, Editor, Business- around 17,000 patients in beds Apollo has all over) for age of para­medical staff in coming back, father was are still evolving, volumes cash­settled trades and FMC That is ₹40 crore, because Line, and I meet her at her of­ hotel isolation over a period. Covid­19 care, and at least the country, which Suneeta completely upset as he lost a are still extremely low — cue­ where electricity is supplied), IEX gets two paise on either fice, where she has prom­ Its medical director also 8,000 hotel rooms and it says is a real problem. “A lot patient who couldn’t go to ing fast growth. In a country but the Supreme Court has to side of the trade. ised us a good tea time connected with physicians was still not enough. We did of our nurses go abroad; the US for a heart surgery that consumes 1.3 trillion formally approve this — spread. The discussion, of around the world for the our best. Our principle, as they may not have good lan­ and he resolved to set up a kWhr of electricity a year, which is pending for about a New products course, kicks off with what’s latest information to treat our father (Apollo founder guage skills, but they make corporate hospital. Every­ just 6 per cent is traded over year­and­a­half. In August 2020, it launched on top of everybody’s mind: the infection. Chairman Dr Prathap C up with the compassion and one said it was impossible as the exchange. Most of the Whenever longer­term another product — Green The pandemic. A liveried waiter tip­toes Reddy) said, no patient care they give. We should it needed the equipment, electricity is sold by generat­ contracts — say, for three or Term Ahead Market (G­TAM) “The first wave of the pan­ up and serves us hot coffee should be denied care. There either look at it as an advant­ technicians, quality doctors, ors to buyers through long­ six months — and derivatives — an exclusive channel for re­ demic was something that and plies us with various was really a lot of pressure,” age or disadvantage. Unfor­ but few people bought into term power purchase agree­ are allowed, more players newable energy. G­TAM has no one had ever seen before. little delights: A multigrain she recalls. She, and her sis­ tunately, the healthcare sec­ his vision,” she reminisces. ments (PPAs) that typically will jump to the exchanges. so far traded 2.74 billion We being in the healthcare quiche with broccoli, to­ ters too, received a barrage tor has never been given the All the four sisters were a spread over 25 years. IEX’s blue ocean will hence units, with an average price sector were familiar with mato, artichoke and red of calls, even from minis­ impetus to really do some­ part of the planning for Though the market will get bigger. of ₹3.48 a kWhr for solar and viral borne diseases such as cheddar and cranberry ters, for a bed and the hos­ thing significant that would Apollo as “no one fully un­ grow on its own, there is ad­ Another external issue is ₹4.06 for non­solar. Now, H1N1, MERS, but to take that scones with jam and clotted pitals tried their best to take subsidise what we do here,” derstood his vision as we ditional propulsion in the that of trading in renewable these are dream prices for experience and scale it up to in all requests. The saddest she elaborates. did.” AF Ferguson was hired form of the government’s energy certificates (REC), generators. Over time, when tackle Covid­19 was challen­ part of the second wave, she During Covid­19, through to work on a business plan whip. The National Electri­ which is also stuck in the the G­TAM develops a track­ ging,” she explains. Infec­ says, was when minutes an affiliate company, Med and an agency was entrus­ city Policy, 2021, vows to in­ courts. This is not a big part of record, financiers could fund tious diseases specialists after reaching a hospital Skills, nurses were upskilled ted to come up with an ap­ crease the share of the spot IEX’s business, but a revenue­ ‘merchant capacities’ of and doctors in the Apollo people passed away as the to use ventilators as it’s a propriate brand name. “I market to 25 per cent. earner, nevertheless. RECs are wind and solar — all the elec­ system started collaborat­ drop in oxygen was so complicated task and mon­ was 19 then. The agency That’s a huge pie for IEX to tradable instruments given tricity would be sold only ing. “The first thing we did sudden. itoring them cannot be came up with all kinds of sink its teeth in. After all, to renewable energy generat­ through the markets, for bet­ was to get the protocols in Ask her about the done by untrained nurses. names which we were not there are only two players to ors who settle for a less­than­ ter prices. place; first was isolation fa­ talk of a third wave Junior docs were trained to happy with. We wanted share the spoils (a third — premium for their electricity, Apart from RTM and G­ cilities and then adequate looming, she says, “I ventilate and junior nurses something with the letter A Pranurja — has been in the for which sacrifice they get TAM, IEX also floated a subsi­ protection for all those in think the worst is trained to monitor. “We had as I was thinking of stock ex­ making for over a year). the RECs that they can sell in diary last year, the Indian Gas the chain from doctors to over, and now we it as a digital platform and changes where a company Towards this end, the gov­ market (IEX or PXIL). Exchange, for trading in nat­ nurses and food service pro­ have a medical ar­ could quickly execute and with the first letter A would viders who were catering to senal and people upgrade,” she adds. be on top. I came up with ernment has proposed ‘mar­ The buyers of RECs are the ural gas. This is picking up ANGARAJAN ket­based economic dis­ ‘obligated entities’— utilities too, as more supply hubs are the Covid­19 patients. R are better Apollo, the Greek god of patch’, or MBED. Under this, and industries like cement being added. And, Covid­19 was very prepared.” Different paths healing. But, the name is all power supply will be and steel, who have a Renew­ In 2020­21, IEX earned new for the doctors, unlike The pan­ Ask Suneeta how come one thing, fulfilling the vis­ routed through the market; able Purchase Obligation to ₹356.23 crore, and made a anything they had experi­ demic saw neither she nor her three sis­ ion is another and that’s any difference between the meet. The court case is over net profit of ₹205.43 crore enced before. Patients who Apollo take ters studied medicine, she where all the sisters pitched market price and the price whether the abolition of a (58 per cent of revenues) and needed treatment which a deeper smiles, and says her sister in.” agreed under the PPAs will minimum (floor) price for paid total dividend of ₹4 for be squared­up offline the RECs by the Central Elec­ each share of ₹1; for Q1 of between the buyer and the tricity Regulatory Commis­ FY22, the numbers were ₹103 seller. The idea is to deepen sion is valid or not. When this crore and ₹62 crore, respect­ from several sources shows average the market as well as to is decided, one way or the ively, earning ₹1.41 a share. IN THE LIMELIGHT compensation of the top layer rose provide a clear market­based other, REC trading will re­ On the NSE on Friday, the IEX nearly 13 per cent. Some CEOs price signal. sume, meaning more earn­ share closed at ₹436. cashed out on stock options — espe­ ings for IEX. The only negative is per­ Are our CEOs overpaid? cially as the markets were on a high, Long-term contracts Internal moves that are haps that the government EO salaries are back under scru­ has been arrived at. while others were given double di­ Another driver is the longer­ powering IEX ahead are a wants to bring in a ‘market Ctiny, after the shareholders of Given the blows dealt by the pan­ git pay hikes. Analysts were sur­ term contracts and ‘derivat­ launch of a slew of products. coupling’ mechanism — a Eicher recently rejected a proposal demic, and business upheavals, and prised at a conservative firm like ives trading’ in energy. One was the ‘real time mar­ common price clearing for for re­appointment of Siddhartha also to minimise layoffs, several HCL Technologies offering its CEO C Today, if you are a buyer of ket’, where you can offer to both the exchanges. IEX op­ Lal as the company's managing dir­ CEOs have taken paycuts. For in­ Vijayakumar nearly $4.38 million electricity (say, a factory), buy or sell power after one poses this as it fears diminu­ ector. They were displeased at the10 stance, according to Tech (₹32.47 crore) in annual compensa­ Siddhartha Lal, riding into a pay storm and wish to buy from the hour, as opposed to the popu­ tion in its market share. But per cent salary hike mooted for him. Mahindra’s annual report, the tion (including variable pay and market, you can do so only lar ‘day­ahead market’ (DAM), it may not matter much be­ Lal’s salary in FY21 was ₹21.2 crore. salary of the CEO, C P Gurnani, in cent from the year before. However, perks) plus stock options up to 2026 for a period up to the next 11 where you offer to buy or sell cause the pie itself is Now, a revised pay structure for Lal FY21 was ₹22 crore – down 33 per even as some CEOs took cuts, data — a big pay leap. days. Nor are forward con­ power the following day, or growing.

CM YK ...... CHENNAI

BusinessLine 8 QUANTUM MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021 S CIENCE FOR INDUSTRY

TECH START-UP FROM THE LABS White light LED Cool as carbon dioxide Astrogate Labs’ Conventional LED materials do not emit white light — specialised techniques, such The answer to phasing out HFC refrigerants under the Kigali amendment as blue coating, are used to produce white laser focus light. Now, researchers at IIT-Madras have M RAMESH developed a white-light emitter for LEDs. A M RAMESH and send up a satellite, so as team comprising professors Aravind arlier this month, the Union to demonstrate to potential Chandiran, Ranjit Nanda, Tamilselvan Appadurai, Ravi Kashikar, Cabinet approved the ratifica­ ill some years ago , customers that its techno­ Poonam Sikarwar and Sudhadevi Antharjanam has been Etion of the ‘Kigali Amendment Tsatellites were logy works. It has since ac­ working on crystalline materials called ‘halide perovskites’, to the Montreal Protocol on launched for telecom­ quired access to a ground sta­ which have extraordinary opto-electric properties. They Substances that Deplete the Ozone munications or observing tion in Australia and will developed expertise in tuning the material at an atomic level Layer’. This means phasing out the hy­ the Earth. In either case, it launch a satellite soon. This to obtain different properties. drofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are used was not necessary to beam satellite may travel on a Supported by a grant from the government’s Science and in our refrigerators. signals from the satellite to a SpaceX rocket. Singh told Engineering Research Board (SERB), the team made a Actually, HFCs do not deplete the precise location on ground — Quantum that the satellite­to­ ‘distorted crystal structure’ of the halide perovskites to get a ozone layer, which protects life on earth the signals fell on a broader satellite communication is natural white light emitter that shows at least eight times from harmful ultraviolet rays, but they area and that was okay. currently under develop­ intense white light emission than conventional emitters, says have a high ‘global warming potential’, But now, thousands of ment and will be good to go Chandiran. Unlike other recently developed white LED or GWP, of 12,000­14,000. One GWP rep­ satellites are being launched commercial in 12–18 months. materials, this distorted perovskite showed stability under resents one molecule of carbon dioxide. for specific applications such Singh believes Astrogate ambient conditions, he says, making it ideal for long-lasting, So, no HFCs anymore. Fine, but what as, say, observing a particular has an assured future, as energy-saving lighting. do you replace them with? agricultural field. The data is more and more satellites are There is a global call to move away very personal and needs to go set to orbit the Earth in the from ‘synthetic refrigerants’ (like r­134a, to the owner alone. It be­ Wearable pulse sensor r­152a) towards ‘natural refrigerants’ comes important to shoot A low-cost soft, flexible, and wearable sensor like ammonia, hydrocarbons such as Freeze! There’s a global move away from eco-unfriendly synthetic refrigerants ISTOCK.COM the signal to a precise point for diagnosis of pulse rate variability in propane and butane, and carbon diox­ on Earth. For this, the conven­ humans has been developed at IIT-Bombay. ide. Hydrocarbons are the best, but they Prof Satyanarayanan Seshadri of the De­ set up three commercial­scale plants — tional radio­frequency mode The high-sensitivity sensor can also be used can catch fire. Overall, the best natural partment of Applied Mechanics, IIT­ in a community kitchen (Akshaya won’t do — they have a large for motion monitoring in robotics, refrigerant is carbon dioxide. Madras, who has been working on a car­ Patra), a supermarket, and a fishing ves­ footprint and consume a lot prosthetics, minimal invasive surgery and Carbon dioxide, however, has a prob­ bon dioxide­based refrigeration project. sel. “The future is carbon dioxide,” says of bandwidth. identification of tumours. Researcher Dipti Gupta has lem. It becomes ‘supercritical’ at 31 de­ “The system works quite well, because Seshadri. Astrogate Labs, a fabricated these tactile (pressure and strain) sensors using grees C — namely , it exists in a state carbon dioxide is 15­20 per cent more ef­ Bengaluru­based start­up, low-cost polyurethane foam and nanomaterial-based inks that where there is no distinction between ficient than conventional refrigerants,” Magnetic refrigeration has developed — customised can coat several substrates. Reduced graphene oxide was used gaseous and liquid states — it will not li­ Seshadri tells Quantum. S ynthetic refri­ The future also holds room for other — laser­based communica­ as the sensing material, which was challenging due to the quefy, no matter how much pressure gerants with low global warming poten­ technologies, including one in which Se­ tions for both satellite­to­ hydrophobic (water-repellent) behaviour of graphene oxide you apply. A refrigerant must be liquefi­ tial, such as r­34, are less efficient, calling shadri too is involved. Gas­free, magnet­ ground and satellite­to­satel­ STOCK.COM inks as also the agglomeration of graphene oxide flakes after able. for more electricity. In India, every kWhr based refrigeration, a joint project of lite communication. Its I reduction. A reducing agent called hydrazine and a Refrigerators work by vaporising the of electricity produced leads to an emis­ the International Advanced Research ‘pointing, acquisition and coming years. He said Astrog­ dual-component additive comprising benzisothiazolinone refrigerants in them, which leads to sion of 0.83 kg of carbon dioxide (emis­ Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New tracking system’ is precise to ate aims for a revenue of $60 and methylisothiazolinone were used to synthesise a cooling. But to keep the machine run­ sion factor); the more electricity you Materials (ARCI) and IIT­Madras, has a few milli­degrees, using million in five years. hydrophilic (water-loving) graphene oxide ink. This mixed ning the gas is converted back to liquid consume, the more carbon dioxide you seen some success, even if it might take lasers — which means over­ The company is a part of with multiwalled carbon nanotubes led to a simple, low-cost by compressing it. More pressure means let out. a decade to hit the market. coming a big challenge, be­ the emerging private space approach for fabricating a pressure sensor based on higher temperature. We need the pres­ A carbon dioxide system today costs At its heart are special materials that cause satellites tend to be industry, with start­ups get­ polyurethane foam coated with graphene oxide ink, says a sure but not the temperature, so we ‘re­ thrice as conventional refrigeration, become hot when put inside a magnetic wobbly. Lasers can beam ting into satellite launch release from the Department of Science and Technology. ject’ the heat in a condenser. When the but, Seshadri points out, costs will come field. While this ‘magneto­caloric effect’ down information to a point vehicles (like Skyroot gas cools inside the condenser while down as you manufacture more — the was discovered 130 years ago, global re­ as small as 500 sq m and, un­ Aerospace), keeping satellites Short-runway aircraft still under high pressure, it becomes li­ costs are not inherent in the physics. search is currently fabricating better al­ like radio­frequency, there is in position with thrusters The University of Petroleum and Energy quid — and ready for a new cycle. loys, which heat up more in a magnetic no licence fee. (Bellatrix) and communica­ Studies, Dehradun, has come up with a In hot climes like India, the ambient INDEE+ field. ARCI scientists R Gopalan and Srik­ Where the need is for long­ tion to and from satellites. system for producing aircraft for short temperature is already high; the tem­ Seshadri’s work is part of an Indo­Nor­ anti Kavita have made “Heusler” alloys range (satellite­to­ground) Venkat Vallabhaneni, Man­ runways. It has a horizontal thrust drive at perature of the refrigerant from the wegian programme, called INDEE+, “an using manganese and nickel. and high­speed communica­ aging Partner, Inflexor Ven­ the nose of the aircraft and vertical thrust compressor needs to be higher than the umbrella project supporting the Indian Seshadri has designed a prototype, tions, lasers are much better tures, a venture capital fund drives at opposite ends of the wing. A control ambient temperature — a temperature refrigeration and air conditioning sec­ which uses commercially procured than radio­frequency, says that has invested in Bellatrix, unit operates these drives to generate simultaneous lifts in the gradient is needed to ‘reject’ the heat. tor in the transition towards more en­ lanthanum­iron­silicon, a good but ex­ Nitish Singh, Co­founder and said that the returns in this horizontal and vertical directions. During takeoff, the But beyond 31 degrees C, carbon dioxide vironmentally friendly technology”. pensive alloy that is also being tried out CEO, Astrogate Labs. business could be a dizzying horizontal thrust motor is operated at about 75 per cent refuses to liquefy. The project is supported by Danfoss, by others such as the Fraunhofer Insti­ (How does information 10x and is eyeing more space thrust to overcome initial inertia. The vertical thrust motors Indian researchers have solved this the Danish multinational which has op­ tute, Germany. travel on lasers? Well, some­ companies for investing. are then propelled at about 80 per cent thrust to generate problem by “a clever arrangement of erations in India. Five Indian partners The results will be the benchmarks for what like morse code — in se­ Singh observes that the space vertical lift. They are turned off once the aircraft attains a heat exchangers, so that the ‘cold’ avail­ are involved — IIT­Madras, IISc, BITS, ARCI’s Heusler alloys. quences of ‘off’ and ‘on’.) industry has a long gestation desired elevation. During landing, the horizontal thrust motor able within the system” is used to li­ Central Institute of Fisheries Techno­ In the contrivance, a tube containing Last year, Astrogate raised period; but once that is is gradually slowed to about 40 per cent to glide the aircraft. quefy carbon dioxide . The liquid that logy, and the Council for Energy, Envir­ the magneto­caloric materials is pushed $700,000 from a group of in­ through, the returns are Thereafter, the vertical thrust motors are started, and speeded has vaporised is very cold; the trick is to onment and Water. into, and taken out of a powerful mag­ vestors led by Speciale Invest. high, particularly given that up gradually to about 50 per cent thrust. On touchdown, the tap the low temperature to cool the Now that the demo plant in IIT­ netic field. When inside the field, it be­ The start­up needs the money for any space start­up “the vertical thrust motors are gradually slowed down. compressed gas into a liquid, explains Madras is working well, INDEE+ plans to comes hot; when pulled out, it chills. to first build a ground station whole world is the market”.

LIFE SCIENCES BIGDATA Cancerous strategy Cosmic housekeeping Why a heterogeneous mix of rogue cells ens of thou­ are more invasive than fixed formations Tsands of satel­ lites are to be PREETI MEHRA atedly but without moving launched in the forward. A heterogeneous near future, for n the battle against can­ group of cells employs a various purposes. Icer, any new understand­ strategy akin to “Total Foot­ Elon Musk’s satel­ ing of the body’s rogue ball”, where players move lite­based internet cells that invade nearby tis­ freely, replacing each other’s service company, sues and organs is signific­ position, thus maintaining Starlink, alone ant. Researchers at the de­ the pressure of the attack. plans to put up partment of biosciences and Points out Dr Sen: “We ob­ 48,000 satellites. All these earth orbiters will encounter bioengineering, IIT­Bombay, served that both differing one big problem (and, later, contribute to it too): Space have found that cancer cells sizes and stiffness was re­ debris. There are at least 27,000 catalogued space debris of different sizes and stiff­ quired to enhance invasion. out there, according to NASA, the US space agency, some as ness or flexibility are far Cells are constantly interact­ tiny as paint chips, but deadly nevertheless, for they are more “migratory and invas­ ing with each other. They re­ moving at incredible speeds. ive than a group of homo­ lease and sense chemical sig­ Now, a Japanese company called Astroscale has come up genous or uniform cells”. nals to achieve this . During with a space sweeper — a satellite designed to drag space Explains Dr Shamik Sen, as­ migration, as cells reposition debris lower, where it will burn to dust due to friction with sociate professor, IIT­Bom­ themselves, some become the earth’s atmosphere. Astroscale successfully conducted bay, who mentored the leaders and the rest follow­ its first test last week. Space is mostly vacuum, but when we study: “It is now well estab­ ers. Heterogeneity may allow litter it we better “vacuum” too. lished that each tumour is better co­operation between INFOGRAPHIC : PARTHA PRATIM SHARMA different from another.” Fur­ the sub­populations, driving ther, individual cells in a tu­ faster migration.” mour can be distinct from It identified sub­popula­ each other in shape, size, tions based on cell size and BIOCHEMICAL DEFENCE stiffness, and so on. stiffness, and one which This property of cancers, closely resembles cancer ‘tumour heterogeneity’, aids stem cells — which are associ­ their spread . Heterogeneity ated with increased invasive­ Detecting antibiotics in food at a fraction of the prevailing cost enables cells to con­ ness and reduced tinuously re­position sensitivity to chemo­ A low-cost sensor devised by IIT-Bombay and Manipal Institute of Technology researchers stands out for its simplicity individual cells therapy. Cells at the within a moving leading edge were K BHARAT KUMAR veloped a sensor to detect whether a drops of water (or the sample) are the concentration of antibiotic in group of cells. This found to be smaller sample contains certain kinds of an­ applied to the sensor. Measurements the sample. enhances the net in­ and softer than the esearchers from IIT­Bombay tibiotics, identified as beta ­lactam are taken and the user can see the “We found the sensor was most vasiveness of the cell rest. Rand Manipal Institute of Tech­ antibiotics. result on the instrument’s display sensitive when the sample was population, Sen says. Will neutralising these at­ nology, Manipal, have de­ The likes of p enicillin and c eph­ unit within 10­15 minutes,” he says. slightly acidic (pH 5.5),” Mukherji Using two types of breast tacker cells arrest cancer veloped an inexpensive and simple alosporin belong to this category. “Measuring 7 by 4 by 1.5 inches, the says. cancer cell lines (cells that di­ spread? Not really . Tumor way to check if food items contain They are distinguished by the pres­ instrument can run for two days in So it was not as sensitive to antibi­ vide and grow under lab con­ cells are not only heterogen­ antibiotics. ence of a nitrogen ring in their mo­ one battery charge. When made at otics in meat compared to milk. ditions) the IIT team ana­ eous but also constantly Why is this important? Antibiotics lecular structure. The nitrogen ring scale, the instrument could cost However, as the use of beta ­lactam lysed individual cell sizes, evolving. Studies show that a are useful in fighting bacteria. But targets the wall of the microbe to ₹10,000­15,000. In contrast, mass antibiotics is typically banned in how they moved around, and sub­population grown in the more you ingest them over time, destroy it. Drug­resistant microbes, spectrometers cost ₹40­50 lakh,” poultry, merely the ability to detect their flexibility. Employing isolation can re­generate the the less effective they tend to be­ however, secrete an enzyme called ISTOCK.COM says Mukherji. the presence of antibiotic could computer simulation, they entire population. come in treating bacteria­induced beta­lactamase, which breaks the ni­ check the presence of beta ­lactam The team estimates that, when make the sensor useful across coun­ mixed different types of cells According to Dr Sen, even illnesses — a condition known as‘an­ trogen ring to make it powerless. antibiotics in the likes of water, milk made at scale, the sensor could cost tries. in different proportions and designing cell­based bioma­ tibiotic resistance’. The antibiotic­ and meat. Importantly, no expert is less than ₹35 apiece. It can be reused There were other challenges, too, observed how they invaded terials to directly counter resistant germs find ways to survive. Cost advantage required to use the sensor,” the site multiple times, which further re­ such as equipping it to detect the and how far each cell translo­ leader cells may not be a They are “badmaash”, as Prof Sou­ There are different methods to check says. duces the testing cost,says Mukherji. lowest possible antibiotic concentra­ cated or moved from its ori­ great idea. Reason: It is diffi­ myo Mukherji, who led the research, if a sample contains an antibiotic, The sensor is made of optical fibre, tion, says team member Dr Pooja ginal place. cult to control stem cell pro­ puts it. They influence other mi­ but few quantify it with such simpli­ with cladding removed from the The chemistry behind the reading Nag. Translocation is more sig­ liferation and the type of crobes to turn antibiotic­resistant, city and at low cost. “Methods such sensing region, which is bent into a “When beta ­lactam in the test Significantly, the sensor was seen nificant in an invasion than cells it could give rise to once too. as mass spectroscopy or standard­ U­shape and smaller than a U­pin. sample gets broken down by the immune to the presence of mo­ scattered movement of cells inside the body. Unfortunately, antibiotics get into ised chromatography can measure “The bending of the fibre is for beta­lactamase enzyme coating on lecules other than beta ­lactam anti­ with no forward movement. Also, it is now well known our food and water in three ways: the levels of antibiotics but are ex­ higher sensitivity. The sensing re­ the sensor, hydrogen ions are re­ biotics. So, it was at its best only for An article on IIT­Bombay’s that stem cells can be trans­ Sewage (via urine and faeces of hu­ pensive and require experts to gion is coated with polyaniline, leased, and acid byproducts form. these kinds of antibiotics. website makes an analogy formed by cancer cells to fur­ mans under treatment with antibi­ handle them,” says the IIT­Bombay which is further coated with specific This alters the polymeric backbone Storage is another challenge. with football. Players may ther expedite cancer inva­ otics); floor cleaners and soaps that website, which explains the science sensing molecules,” says Mukherji. of polyaniline — changing its form “When not coated with the enzyme, pass the ball around but fail sion. “Further work needs to have antibiotics as antimicrobial behind the principle. In contrast, The sensor is in a cartridge, which from emeraldine base to emeraldine the sensors can be stored for a long to advance into the opposing be done in order to identify agents; and effluents (of manufac­ “the sensor developed by Mukherji can be inserted in an instrument salt,” says Mukherji. time. However, once coated, the team’s defence. Similarly, novel markers exclusive to turers of antibiotics). and team is easy to use, affordable, that has a light source, a light de­ This alters the level of light it ab­ sensor must be kept at 4 degrees C,” cells may move around agit­ attacker cells,” Sen says. The researcher group has de­ robust and reliable. It can be used to tector, electronics and display. “A few sorbs, which is proportionate with says Mukherji.

CM YK ...... CHENNAI BusinessLine 9 MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021 BANKING & FINANCE

WHAT’S NEW Road to recovery: IBC sets itself on firm footing ‘G-Sec yields evolving in an orderly manner’ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been painstakingly But massive haircuts taken by financial creditors have led to questions from some quarters on the efficacy of the insolvency code emphasising that it does not view Government Security (G­Sec) yields as cast in stone, but evolving in an orderly SURESH P IYENGAR cent. In at least 58 of the 348 cases proper due diligence,” he added. manner, in alignment with underlying he Parliamentary Standing where a resolution plan had been ap­ fundamentals, according to an article on Committee recently stirred proved until March 31, operational Araw deal the ‘State of the Economy’ in the central T up a hornet’s nest by suggest­ creditors recovered nothing, even as The recovery for operational credit­ bank’s latest monthly bulletin. The RBI has ing a possible cap on haircuts banks financial creditors managed to re­ ors is even worse. For instance, in focussed on the key role of the G­Sec can take while approving the resolu­ cover a substantial portion of the cases where the admitted claims market in facilitating monetary tion plan of a bidder under the In­ dues owed to them. were over ₹5,000 crore, operational transmission by establishing benchmarks for other financial solvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). It is pertinent to note that opera­ creditors recovered only 12.5 per cent market segments. This assumes significance when the credit As the insolvency process has fairly tional creditors are also borrowers of of their total admitted claims. channel is muted and waves of the pandemic threaten to matured now, “it is imperative to banks, and any adverse impact on The recovery for financial credit­ destabilise financial markets and institutions. have a benchmark for the quantum their recovery will indirectly hit the ors has been better at 42 per cent in of haircut comparable to global banks. insolvency cases where the total ad­ NPS: Banks to make additional provision standards”, the committee noted. mitted claims were over ₹5,000 Public sector banks will have to make an The suggestions were made by the No need for cap crore, while in cases where the total additional provision of over ₹21,300 crore Committee on Finance in its report Addressing a webinar on five years of admitted claims were less than annually on account of revision of norms to on the ‘Implementation of Insolv­ IBC recently, Insolvency and Bank­ ₹5,000 crore, they recovered only calculate family pension and higher ency and Bankruptcy Code ­ Pitfalls ruptcy Board of India chief MS Sahoo 29.7 per cent. contribution toward National Pension and Solutions’. said the criticism on IBC does not Another worrying factor is the System (NPS). This follows last week’s take into account the objective with delay in the completion of resolution announcement by Debasish Panda, Secretary, Department Aclear deviation which the code was introduced. process, impacting operational cred­ of Financial Services, that enhancement of family pension The committee flagged that “the low “The insolvency law is not a recov­ itors much more than financial and also employers’ contribution under the National recovery rates with haircuts as much ery tool. When it comes to the IBC, the creditors. Pension System (NPS) has been approved by the Finance as 95 per cent, and the delay in resolu­ sole target is reorganisation of a com­ As of March­end, 79 per cent of the Minister. So, family pension for the spouse of deceased bank tion process with more than 71 per pany while discharging the claims of changed the behaviour of several group companies had admitted total 4,376 cases under the IBC are employees is set to increase, with a uniform payout of 30 per cent cases pending for over 180 days, the creditors to the extent realistic­ promoters when it comes to their claims of ₹64,839 crore, but banks pending for over 270 days, and the av­ cent of the last salary, resulting in the pension going up to as clearly point towards a deviation ally possible. If creditors want to fo­ commitment to repaying the bor­ agreed to hand over the company to erage time taken for the completion much as ₹30,000­35,000. Till now, family pension for bank from the original objectives of the cus on recovery there are other aven­ rowed money, besides improving Anil Agarwal­owned Vedanta for a 95 of insolvency resolution was 492 employees is under three slabs of 15 per cent, 20 per cent code intended by Parliament”. ues available to them,” he added. evaluation methods and diligence per cent haircut. days. This delay, experts said, was an­ and 30 per cent of the last pay drawn with a cap of ₹9,284. In the report, which was tabled in Disagreeing with the suggestion processes among lenders. Similarly, the Jalan­Kalrock consor­ other reason for low interest among Lok Sabha recently, the committee for a cap on lenders’ haircut, Aashit Despite inadequate judicial and tium got the troubled Jet Airways bidders in the stressed assets market. Demand for health cover boosts insurers said that about 13,000 IBC cases, Shah, Partner, J Sagar Associates, said physical infrastructure, NCLTs have after banks wrote off 95 per cent of its Slowing economic growth and in­ worth ₹9­lakh crore, are pending that while lenders may have taken been disposing off mounting cases loan. ordinate delays in the completion of Covid­related health claims in the first five months of the with the various benches of the Na­ significant haircuts in some cases, amid rising financial stress in eco­ Sundaresh Bhat, Partner & Leader CIRP proceedings are among the current fiscal have already topped similar claims in the full tional Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). these are primarily in legacy matters nomy. (Business Restructuring Services), biggest reasons for lenders to accept fiscal of 2020­21, and non­life insurers are watchful about Banks and financial institutions where borrowers were already in Massive haircuts taken by finan­ BDO India, said the haircut taken by the haircuts, according to experts. the impact of a possible third wave. The have taken a cumulative haircut of severe distress. cial creditors in the insolvency resol­ the banks depends on the underly­ IBC prioritises recoveries for both only silver lining is the sustained demand ₹3.22­lakh crore or 61 per cent of their Ultimately, the recoveries lenders ution cases of Videocon Industries ing assets of the corporate debtor public and private sector banks, for health cover that has boosted growth admitted claims since the IBC regime make in an IBC process is a matter of and Jet Airways, among others, have and valuations, which is determined NBFCs, and other financial creditors for the industry. According to general was implemented. commercial bargain. If the haircut is led to questions being raised on the by market forces. over operational creditors. Only fin­ insurance industry data, as many as Both financial and operational significant, it is not due to the law, but efficacy of the IBC. After resolution at­ “The CIRP process under the IBC is ancial creditors have representation 23,64,957 Covid claims were reported on a creditors have taken 4,376 compan­ invariably because of the asset qual­ tempts failed, C Sivasankaran­owned awell­settled process now to arrive at on most Committee of Creditors cumulative basis by August 18, amounting ies to the NCLT under IBC between ity. Introducing any conditions on Siva Industries and Holdings, offered a proper market or realisable value formed for selecting and approving to ₹29,949.9 crore. Of these, 19,66,595 claims worth December 2016 and March 2021. In a maximum haircuts will only hinder a one­time settlement of bank loans for any resolution of the corporate the bids of the companies, and have ₹18,325.4 crore have been settled. Insurers say that even as few cases, the recovery for banks has the process, he said. of ₹5,000 crore by paying just ₹500 debtor under stress. The genuine res­ priority over operational creditors in Covid­related claims have come down in recent months, been abysmally low, with the hair­ Even as recovery remains a major crore. olution applicant will not pay for the the distribution of assets if the com­ medical claims for routine surgeries and hospitalisation are cuts ranging between 90 and 95 per concern, the IBC has substantially Videocon Industries and its 12 lending done without doing a pany is sent to liquidation. now picking up.

Sharp spike in NPAs unlikely: Moody’s The Covid wave will lead to new problem loans in the retail and SME segments, but a severe asset quality decline is unlikely, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Banks’ It’s defining times for Urban Cooperative Banks improved profitability, capital and loss buffers will help them absorb anticipated loan losses and maintain credit They must be brought to the forefront to be as important as the big corporates for the prosperity of the masses strength, said the global credit agency in a report. Moody’s observed that the second wave is increasing asset risks for Act without compromising stone in the history of corporates for the prosperity banks, but the country’s economic recovery, a tightening of on the cooperative nature and cooperative movement of our of the masses. loan underwriting criteria, and continued government cooperative principles of the country. The immediate demand of support, will prevent a sharp spike in problem loans. banks. The ministry will be suc­ the UCB sector with the Min­ That the amendment was cessful if it thinks independ­ istry should be to see that the not meant to affect the co­ ent of the Finance Ministry, reported move on consolida­ D KRISHNA operative nature of function­ NITI Aayog and the RBI. Co­ tion in the sector by the NITI ing of these banks was an as­ operation being in the State Aayog and Finance Ministry is surance given by the Finance list in the Constitution, how halted. On the contrary, the ell before the ad­ Minister to the House when the Ministry establishes a rap­ Ministry needs to ensure the Wvent of the corpor­ presenting the Bill. port and functions as a guide growth of UCBs and credit so­ ate structure, The RBI is also expected to to the State governments will cieties across all States in the trade and business was done interpret the Act’s provisions be an important deciding years to come. by individual businessmen, in a manner that they are not factor of its success. It is for the traders and artisans. The fin­ disruptive for the UCBs. It re­ cooperative sector to rise (The author is the former chief ancial intermediaries were mains to be seen as to how the above all other issues and executive and advisor of the also individuals, and lending RBI implements them. The ex­ compel the ministry to bring National Federation of Urban in India was done by gold­ clusive Ministry of Coopera­ cooperatives to the forefront Co-operative Banks and Credit smiths and sahukars. The Finance Ministry needs to ensure the growth of UCBs tion is an important mile­ to be as important as the big Societies) With the coming of the co­ and credit societies across all States in the years to come lonial powers, banks were formed as joint stock compan­ ence are: Maharashtra, Gu­ sufficient regulatory powers ies to facilitate imports, and to jarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu in the Banking Regulation ensure that exports that were and Kerala. These States are (BR) Act. flourishing for centuries were economically better off, and Acting quickly, the govern­ killed by choking finances by the UCB sector has contrib­ ment got the Act amended by eliminating their financiers – uted to their growth. Since Parliament, giving the RBI the indigenous money lend­ UCBs are a proven model to nearly identical powers to reg­ ing firms. cater to the unorganised sec­ ulate cooperative banks the With banks not lending to tor in all types of urban way it regulates commercial the common man, the finan­ centres, they are ideally suited banks. An interesting cial intermediaries, in the to be replicated in large num­ sideshow is that the said form of cooperative credit in­ bers in all States. amendment has been chal­ stitutions, came up. They were It is unfortunate that the lenged and the Madras High formalised in 1904 by an Act. sector has, from time to time, Court is hearing the argu­ Thus began the journey of the been receiving uncharitable ments. The BR Act, 1949, is an relationship between the co­ treatment both from regulat­ Act meant for banking com­ operative credit system and ory/government and the me­ panies. informal/ unorganised sector. dia, for less of its own faults or Today, the unorganised sec­ weaknesses and for more of More power for the RBI tor is still a very important seg­ systemic bias of not receiving The Act was amended in 1965 ment of the Indian economy, any government support like to bring cooperative banks contributing almost 50 per other segments of banks. It is under RBI regulation by inser­ cent of its GDP and account­ very important that com­ tion of a special section – Sec ing for 90 per cent of employ­ munity­based local financial 56 (as applicable to cooperat­ ment. Large commercial intermediaries are there in ive societies). This enabled banks have a limited appetite large numbers in small urban some select sections to be to service this sector. The few centres to cater to the local­ made applicable as they are to new Small Finance Banks ised small business. cooperative banks, while (SFBs) that have come into be­ The line of thinking that some others were made ap­ ing are an experiment that is there are too many urban co­ plicable with certain modific­ largely untested. Though operative banks and that they ations, and a large number of meant to service small bor­ should be consolidated is sections were not made ap­ rowers, they are nevertheless faulty. In recent times, cooper­ plicable at all. not local institutions and, to ative banks, more particularly The control of the RBI was that extent, they have limita­ UCBs, have been in the lime­ partial and it shared the con­ tions in penetrating to grass light ever since the Punjab trol with the registrar of co­ roots levels effectively. and Maharashtra Co­operat­ operative societies of States, ive (PMC) Bank and Sri Guru giving rise to the much­dis­ The USP of UCBs Raghavendra Sahakara Bank cussed dual control and the In this context, the urban co­ imbroglios happened. The RBI difficulties it posed to the operative banks (UCBs) are and the Central government central bank. largely localised financial ser­ had to answer uncomfortable The recent Banking Regula­ vice providers, and have been questions on this. tion (Amendment) Act 2020 in existence for over a century. Post­PMC Bank episode, it enables the RBI to get all the Their niche is in catering to surfaced that depositors’ in­ powers, including those the lower middle class and terest could not be protected hitherto exclusively with the people of limited means, self­­ by the RBI as it was not given registrar of cooperative societ­ employed and micro enter­ ies. However, powers of regis­ prises. UCBs are most comfort­ WX trar continue to be with him able in dealing with these but the powers of RBI override customers. The States where those of registrar. They hardly have big cor­ UCBs have a good While the amendment porates as their customers. presence are: gives the required powers to The market share of UCBs is Maharashtra, Gujarat, the RBI to take timely action very small (about 3 per cent) Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and steps to prevent UCBs because over 90 per cent of and Kerala. These from failing so that deposit­ their loan ticket size is less States are economically ors’ monies are protected, than ₹5 lakh, and historically better off, and the which was the main purpose they are well spread out only UCB sector has of the amendment, it also en­ in a few States. The States contributed to growth joins upon the central bank to where UCBs have a good pres­ make regulations under BR

CM YK ...... CHENNAI

BusinessLine 10 NEWS MONDAY • AUGUST 30 • 2021

LIQUIDATION PROCESS GDP growth may straddle 15-23% range IBBI to ban appointment of commission agents SHISHIR SINHA around in activity, enabled by New Delhi, August 29 a swift opening up of the eco­ Says it’s a burden on liquidation estate, will ment of marketing agents on jawala & Co, said the board den on the liquidation estate, Economists, the RBI and vari­ nomy amid receding Covid commission/ success­fee basis rightly proposes to do away coupled with duplicity of ous research outfits expect cases in several States. lead to overlap of work with the liquidator for sale of assets, Ruby Singh with this since such a struc­ work. the first quarter GDP growth Ahuja, Senior Partner, Karan­ ture imposes additional bur­ “It is clear that going for­ to be between 15­23 per cent, Agriculture growth KR SRIVATS cess. The IBBI highlighted that ward the board not only wants on the back of base effect and Giving a sectoral picture, she New Delhi, August 29 one option could be to use the to make the sale of assets a smart recovery of economic pegged agriculture growth The insolvency regulator, In­ services offered under the plat­ Committee of Creditors: IBBI issues more transparent process, but activity vis­a­vis the same rate at 3.5 per cent. On the solvency and Bankruptcy form for distressed assets discussion paper on Code of Conduct also has recommended full in­ period last fiscal. limited scale) were not much other hand, a positive base­led Board of India (IBBI), proposes (PDA) besides many online volvement of the stakeholders On Tuesday, the govern­ affected. broad­based recovery is anti­ to ban the appointment of platforms to list assets for sale KR SRIVATS when there have been sev­ for all significant matters re­ ment will release the first Yuvika Singhal, Economist cipated in both industry and commission agents for the for free or for a negligible New Delhi, August 29 eral issues and apprehen­ lating to the liquidation pro­ quarter (April­June 2021) GDP with QuantEco, said: “The services sectors, with the lat­ sale of assets in a liquidation amount. Insolvency regulator IBBI has sions regarding the conduct cess, including the manner to data for the current fiscal. hearty double­digit Q1 FY22 ter posting its first annualised process. It is of the view that come up with a discussion of members of the CoC. be adopted for sale of assets,” However, all agencies are GDP growth, which we estim­ expansion since the start of the appointment of commis­ Greater visibility paper on Code of Conduct In fact, the Standing Com­ she said. unanimous on the fact that ate at 23 per cent, is more of the pandemic, she said while sion agents is an additional Such means may be explored for the Committee of Credit­ mittee on Finance – headed Ahuja also said that the pro­ the base effect will have a key optics, led by last year’s fa­ expecting GDP growth for full burden on the liquidation es­ to extend the reach to stake­ ors (CoC), which is the cus­ by Jayant Sinha – had re­ posal is the need of the hour role as GDP de­growth was vourable base owing to the na­ FY22 at 10 per cent. tate, in addition to overlap­ holders, maximise the value of todian of public trust during cently recommended that since it has been observed in 24.4 per cent last year. tionwide lockdown.” Devendra Kumar Pant, ping of work with the liquid­ distressed assets and ensure resolution process. there is an urgent need to some cases that stakeholders The April­June quarter saw This headline growth com­ Chief Economist with India ator and, should, therefore, transparency, said the IBBI. The proposed Code of Con­ have professional code of have not been kept in the loop the peak of second wave, res­ pletely conceals the sequen­ Ratings & Research (Ind Ra), must be avoided. Also, the board is contemplat­ duct, which establishes conduct for the CoC, which by the liquidator, which res­ ulting in localised lockdowns. tial contraction in the quarter, said that by the end of March With the evolution of the ing to provide the facility to li­ broad principles that can be will define and circumscribe ults in the abuse of the process. However, lockdown in the cur­ owing to the ferocious second this year, the Google mobility market, there are many altern­ quidators to upload auction applied to every situation, is their decisions, as these have “Greater involvement of the rent fiscal was much different wave of the pandemic. The indicators (retail and recre­ ative methods to tap a larger notices on its website, which expected to elevate account­ larger implications for the stakeholder committee in the from that of last fiscal. bulk of deceleration in eco­ ation, transit and workplace) pool of potential bidders would allow greater visibility ability and responsibility of efficacy of the code. On sev­ complete process, beginning First, there were no strin­ nomic activity occurred over were around 15­20 per cent rather than relying on such for the assets being sold and the CoC to ensure transpar­ eral occasions, questions from the appointment of the gent nationwide lockdowns. April and May as pandemic re­ lower than their baseline commission agents, said the curtail the information asym­ ency in their functioning. have been raised about the professional and leading to Second, inter­State and intra­ strictions turned severe levels. However, the regional/ IBBI in a discussion paper on metry in the process. action of CoC being detri­ the sale of assets, is essential to State movement was permit­ across most States amid an es­ localised lockdown due to strengthening the regulatory Commenting on the IBBI Apprehensions mental to objectives of the keep checks and balances in ted. Third, manufacturing calation in infections. June, Covid has slowed down the framework of liquidation pro­ proposal to ban the appoint­ It is being proposed at a time code. place,” she added. activities and services (on a however, saw a sharp turn­ economic recovery process.

Boost to Covaxin supply ‘August’ presence: FPIs pump in ₹11,557 cr into debt market ‘Bond yields in home country, exchange also remains muted. For­ eign investors put in just rate played a role in driving investments’ ₹986 crore in Indian equit­ ies in August after pulling NARAYANAN V debt is determined mainly out ₹11,308 crore in July. On Chennai, August 29 by five factors, which in­ a year­to­date basis, FPI in­ After seven consecutive clude bond yields in the vestment in Indian equities months of sell­off in the In­ home country, bond yields during the current calendar dian debt market, foreign in the country where the in­ year stands at ₹50,022 crore portfolio investors (FPIs) vestment is made, exchange as of August 27. turned net investors in the rate, exchange rate outlook, segment in August, pump­ and the cost of hedging ‘Valuations stretched’ ing in ₹11,557 crore as on with expectations regard­ Kranthi Bathini, Director of Friday. ing the bond yields and ex­ equity strategy at Foreign investors have change rate being the signi­ ent with its transient infla­ vestors, however, have been WealthMills Securities, said: pulled out close to ₹23,000 ficant factor. tion theory and sustaining net investors in Indian debt “FPI activities have signific­ crore from the Indian debt with QE, yields have come under the Voluntary Reten­ antly come down in the last market between January ‘Yields come down’ down,” said Vijayakumar. tion Route (VRR). two months. One possible and July. Hence, the net out­ “The US 10­year bond yield “In India the 10­year yield After pulling out ₹2,306 reason could be that both flow from Indian debt on a is now at 1.31 per cent. It had has risen from 6 per cent in crore in January, FPIs have benchmark indices BSE Sen­ year­to­date basis stands at touched a high of 1.74 per April to 6.24 per cent now. been net investors in all sex and Nifty 50 are hover­ Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya releases the first batch of Covaxin manufactured at ₹11,376 crore as of August cent in end­March this year. Rising yields in India and successive months, collect­ ing around all time high Bharat Biotech’s Chiron Behring facility in Ankleshwar, Gujarat. The vaccine doses 27. With inflation rising in the falling yields in the US have ively infusing ₹25,345 crore and the valuations are a manufactured at this facility would be available for supply starting next month VK Vijayakumar, Chief in­ US, the expectation was that widened the yield spread, under the VRR route from little bit stretched, which vestment Strategist at the yield will remain high making FPI investment in January to year to date as of may not be compelling for Geojit Financial Services, or even go higher. But with bonds attractive,” he fur­ August 27. them to invest at the said that FPI investment in the Fed remaining consist­ ther added. Foreign in­ FPI investment in equities moment.”

AS DEADLINE TO APPOINT AUDITORS NEARS... Koo hopes to add muscle with new languages Local audit firms see surge in NBFC clients YATTI SONI to expand to other countries lakh users (8.5 million) Bengaluru, August 29 as well. The expansion will download the Koo app. The SURABHI level­playing field, giving them good quality audits and multi names,” said another person, After crossing 1 crore (10 mil­ prioritise regions where, company had earlier repor­ Mumbai, August 29 an opportunity to start audits nationals operating or want­ who did not wish to be named. lion) app downloads in 18 apart from English, other ted a huge spike in users in Domestic audit firms are see­ of these firms, which were ing to operate in India need to months, microblogging plat­ languages form part of the February 2021, when Twitter ing a surge in new clients from largely the domain of the Big accept that, he added. New guidelines form Koo aims to touch 100 day­to­day conversations. was caught in a clash with non­banking financial com­ Four audit firms in the past. Sumit Maheshwari, Partner, In a bid to ensure independ­ million downloads in the “Most of the products that the Indian government. panies (NBFCs) with the “Larger Indian audit firms Ashok Maheshwary and Asso­ ence of bank auditors, the RBI next one year, fuelled by its are available today are global September 30 deadline, im­ are being sought after and al­ ciates LLP, a CA firm, agrees. issued guidelines for the ap­ expansion in multiple lan­ products, designed for the Engagement rates posed by the Reserve Bank of most all large NBFCs and “The RBI guidelines have cre­ pointment of statutory central guages. English­speaking world. So, a Commenting on Koo’s en­ India for the appointment of banks have already appointed ated a level­playing field for auditors or statutory auditors “A lot of this growth will awatka, Koo is currently lot of people feel alienated by gagement numbers during statutory auditors, looming auditors. Those left behind are mid­sized domestic audit in April this year. Under the come from language expan­ available in 8 languages, in­ those products because they this time, Bidawatka said: ahead. finding it difficult to get good firms and helped us in getting norms, it made joint audit sion; the more the com­ cluding Hindi, Kannada, can’t find their language “We have probably one of the According to industry auditors. to audit more NBFCs than mandatory for entities with as­ munity grows, the more Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, As­ communities. We have cre­ highest engagement rates in sources, almost all large NBFCs “There is a huge churn in the earlier. We have already on­ set size of ₹15,000 crore and people share posts about us samese, Bangla, and English. ated a very emotional experi­ social media. A very high per­ have appointed statutory aud­ industry due to the new audit boarded some NBFCs. A joint above, capped the number of and the platform’s reach Among these eight lan­ ence in the Indian languages centage of the people com­ itors in line with the new guidelines. Several mid­sized auditor brings a second level audits a firm can perform in a grows, eventually creating a guages, 20 per cent ­25 per for now and this particular ment, like, share, follow norms. domestic audit firms in Mum­ of check and also helps audit year at four banks and eight snowball effect. The app cent of posts on Koo are in proposition can also be people, because we’ve actu­ “It is a closed chapter now. bai have benefited from these firms gain more experience,” NBFCs and urban cooperative starts showing high up on English and others in ver­ taken to the world,” said Bid­ ally made the interface very NBFCs have followed the Re­ guidelines as the value that he said. banks (UCBs), and reduced the the play store, the number of nacular languages. The app awatka. easy. For instance, the follow serve Bank of India guidelines, they bring to the table is now Others pointed out that tenure of auditors. downloads increases and a plans to add Gujarati and He added that English­ button is made to blink on and most of them have ap­ being recognised and appreci­ even the Big Four auditors UCBs and NBFCs were given lot of people start talking Punjabi to its list of lan­ speaking nations are largely the Koo app. We have made it pointed or are in the process of ated more by the corporate have Indian teams working for the flexibility to adopt these about the platform,” co­ guages soon. the US, the UK, Australia, and very obvious for vernacular appointing auditors under the world,” said Ameet Patel, Part­ them. guidelines from the second founder Mayank Bidawatka Building language­based New Zealand, and beyond India to understand which new norms,” said a person fa­ ner, Manohar Chowdhry & As­ “These large firms also use half of the current fiscal year. told BusinessLine. communities is a core aspect these countries, most of the button to click and what they miliar with the development. sociates, and Past President of the expertise of domestic aud­ Though the norms had led of Koo, something they hope world has some local lan­ should be doing, how they Bombay Chartered Account­ itors, but till now, this had to some concern, including re­ New additions to replicate in the global guage or speaks multiple can like, etc.” Almost 20 per Level-playing field ants’ Society. been the near exclusive do­ quests to push back the Founded by serial entrepren­ markets as well. Koo is languages. cent of Koo’s user base are Domestic audit firms said the It is a misnomer that only main of these firms because guidelines, the industry has eurs Aprameya already available in Nigeria Further, between February said to be posting their opin­ new guidelines have created a the Big Four firms can deliver they are seen as big brand fully adapted to it now. Radhakrishna and Bid­ and the company now plans and August 2021, Koo saw 85 ions on the app. ‘Climate action, a $11-tn How fuel­price hike has hit e­commerce logistics ecosystem opportunity for India’ For every 5% rise in fuel prices, there is at also allows sellers to opt for pay­ package shipped over air move­ duced goods from factories to gets negotiated when there is a per­package, with charges start­ ment. Likewise, costs have also warehouses. fuel cost hike. “If the costs per­ PRESS TRUST OF INDIA not a narrative of cost but one least 1% hike in delivery costs, say players ing at ₹19 for 500 gms. gone up for roadways and other Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, sist for a long time, we might re­ New Delhi, August 29 of sustainable economic Garg is currently reviewing mode of transport. We have co­founder and director, Wake­ view product pricing. We India must act now to prevent growth,” said Atul Dhawan, DEBANGANA GHOSH and Shiprocket have been either the costs and doesn’t plan to been absorbing some part of fit.co, told BusinessLine: “We do haven’t passed any costs to the the country losing Chairperson, Mumbai, August 29 absorbing the costs into their make any changes before the Di­ the total costs.” a lot more local deliveries with consumers over the past one $35 trillion in eco­ Deloitte Grappling with all­time high gross margins or negotiating / wali sales happen. our truck drivers in the last mile. year,” he said. nomic potential India. fuel prices and peak Diwali sale splitting it with courier part­ “We are taking the costs on us Cutting corners The last mile has always been “It’s always tough managing over the next 50 As India as­ season approaching, e­com­ ners. till Diwali. Sellers having D2C sellers like sleeptech solu­ short distances of around 8­10 margins. We review our spends years due to unmit­ pires to be a merce sellers and logistics play­ “Initially, up till 5­10 per cent planned sales beforehand. They tions brand Wakefit, which km. There the price impact is on a monthly basis. Some igated climate $5­trillion eco­ ers are taking a hit on their mar­ fuel price hike, we were absorb­ will find it difficult to manage deals with mattresses and bed­ not so much. months we cut down on mar­ change, says a new nomy, it is not gins while cutting down on ing the increased costs on our otherwise, considering they are room furniture, shared a similar “The costs for us have gone up keting spends or we reduce dis­ report from the De­ just foreign other expenses to accommod­ gross margins for at least six already working on thin mar­ picture. Though it sells through in the middle mile. Because we counts. Overheads and staff loitte Economics and domestic ate higher logistics spend. months. But as prices went on gins. For them, in regular times, e­commerce marketplaces such have factories in Bengaluru and salaries are fixed, but other costs Institute. investments Both logistics aggregators increasing, we had to negotiate delivery as Rajasthan, the stock has to be such as logistics, marketing, The report, ‘In­ that will be and D2C sellers are contemplat­ it with our courier partners. We costs can go Amazon, transported in a truck from Ra­ tools, raw materials, growth can dia’s Turning Point: How Cli­ key in driving growth, the ing increasing product prices haven’t yet passed on the costs up to as high Flipkart jasthan to our warehouse in In­ be managed differently every mate Action Can Drive Our Eco­ country must also take this op­ eventually, passing on the cost to our e­commerce sellers,” Sub­ as 10­15 per and Snap­ dore or Bengaluru to Hydera­ month,” Ramalingegowda ad­ nomic Future’, also reveals how portunity to align its ambitions to the customer if higher costs odh Garg, Chief Financial Of­ cent of the deal, Wake­ bad. Again, when we have to ded. the country could gain $11 tril­ with climate choices, he noted. sustain. ficer, Pickrr Technologies, told total costs in­ fit gets ship a mattress to Delhi, pro­ lion in economic value instead According to logistics players, BusinessLine. volved in around 70 duced only in the Bengaluru Uncertainty over the same period, by limit­ Impact of climate change for every 5 per cent rise in fuel Pickrr ties up with courier selling a per cent of factory, it will be at least 1,500 While there is uncertainty ing rising global temperatures With no action taken on cli­ prices, there is at least 1 per cent partners offering monthly pack­ product,” its busi­ km. That’s the massive differ­ around the draft e­commerce and realising its potential to ‘ex­ mate change, average global hike in delivery costs. Fuel price ages to end sellers, depending said Garg. ness from ence.” rules and an added possibility of port decarbonisation’ to the temperatures could rise by 3 de­ started increasing towards the on the number of orders they At present, its own Wakefit uses a combination compliance costs in the near fu­ world. grees Celsius or more by the end of last year and, as of now, it are shipping per month. These after sharing website, of delivery methods. For far off ture, the immediate concern for “We have a narrow window end of this century. This will is up by over 25 per cent. packages let sellers ship orders the cost burden with the courier and prefers to use its own deliv­ areas, they uses courier services most e­commerce sellers is the of time – the next 10 years – to make it harder for people to live While Amazon has already an­ at lower prices starting at ₹22 services players, Pickrr’s logist­ ery methods, instead of choos­ such as FedEx, Blue Dart and Del­ fight to get the trucks to deliver make the decisions needed to and work, as sea levels rise, crop nounced their annual fee revi­ per order. The package also in­ ics costs are still up by 3 to 4 per ing logistics services of the hivery. For major towns and cit­ shipments as Diwali nears. alter the trajectory of climate yields fall, infrastructure is sions for sellers across product cludes add­on features such as e­ cent. marketplaces. ies they have their own delivery Amazon, Flipkart and D2C change. No one is immune to damaged, and other challenges categories and other require­ commerce site integrations, Gautam Kapoor, Co­founder While its last­mile delivery teams, but the delivery staff are sellers will be using trucks, and the impact of climate change, emerge, threatening the pro­ ments, including a 5 per cent chat, call and e­mail support, and COO, Shiprocket, told Busi- cost continues to stay manage­ on contract and have their own there will be a shortage in both but for India this is a window of gress and prosperity that the hike in logistics costs applicable easy billing and COD remit­ nessLine: “Due to higher fuel able, it has gone up exorbitantly trucks. Wakefit doesn’t own the middle­mile and last­mile deliv­ opportunity to lead the way nation has enjoyed in recent from September 1, logistics ag­ tances. Shiprocket, too, has a costs there has been an increase for middle­mile transport, fleet. Contracted staff are paid ery. And, a further jump in deliv­ and show how climate action is decades, said the report. gregators that include Pickrr similar business model, but it of around ₹3­5 per 500 gms of which involves moving pro­ on a monthly basis. This cost ery costs.

CM YK ......