OPINION, P6&7 MARKETS, P10 INTERNATIONAL, P8 RENU KOHLI VIVIAN FERNANDES CALL OF ASSURANCE COVID BLUES Financial flows will IARI fungal straw decomposer Your jobs, increments, World economy faces is no substitute for existing have to revive for the non-burning methods to bonuses secure: Puri to long, hard climb, says economy to recover deal with crop residue HDFC Bank employees IMF chief Georgieva

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IN THE NEWS CAPITAL INFUSION EYE ON GROWTH PLI SCHEME Govt removes export curbs on Amazon readying Stimulus 2.0 soon, Final nod for Apple, N-95 masks THE GOVERNMENTON big payments play Samsung to make Tuesday removed export curbs on N-95 masks, which will be conservative are in demand due to Covid, Earlier this year, it GATHERING PACE phones in India with a view to promote had invested about ■ Amazon Pay (India) has BALANCINGACT outbound shipments, PLI schemes for `1,355 crore in the increased authorised ■ ■ ■ The scheme will reports PTI. Earlier, exporters clutch of sectors, Budgetary cost Only a Centre's Combined output to share capital from $820 of stimulus 2.0 fraction of this Budget size for generate 3 lakh direct were required to seek payments entity million to $2.2 billion, says ■ SC stand be `10.5 lakh crore employment licence from the government interest reliefs, may be limited to to be spent in this fiscal to be paper.vc note FY21, as more within `30.4 on debt in five years opportunities in next five years for export of these masks. urban jobs scheme, recast ■ Amazon investment gains `1-1.5 than half the lakh crore SHRITAMA BOSE & scheme It will create significance as infra/construction lakh crore year is over estimated Discoveries about ASMITADEY payments crucial to FE BUREAU additional indirect New Delhi, October 6 space incumbents are going sops likely ■ Govt expects to save `4 lakh crore stimulus New Delhi, October 6 employment of 9 lakh black holeswin all out towoo the small via spending curbs inApril-Dec, 2.0 size Domestic value addition merchants curbs may continue in Q4 AMAZON INC APPEARS to be SAMSUNG, RISING STAR, A is expected to grow Nobel for Physics ■ readying fora big playin the Paytm has set itselfa FE BUREAU ■ Extra burden on Budget from string of contract manufactur- from the current 15-20% THREE SCIENTISTS WHO Indian payments market with target of25 million New Delhi, October 6 stimuli announced to be so far ers forApple as also a bunch of to 35-40% in case of mobile unravelled some of the deep a chunky capital infusion.Cit- merchants for FY21; even below the `3 lakh cr home-grownplayersareamong phones & 45-50% for electronic mysteries of black holes ingregulatoryfilings,business Google Pay last year said it is THEMUCH-AWAITEDSTIMU- estimated themobilephonemanufactur- components have won the 2020 Nobel signals platform paper.vc, in a targeting over 200 million LUS package 2.0, which the ing firms that have won The scheme will extend Prize in Physics, reports note, said Amazon Pay (India) offline merchants policymakers want to be approvalstodobusinessinIndia an incentive of 4% to 6% Reuters. Britain's Roger has increased its authorised appropriately timed to ensure under the PLI (performance- on incremental sales Penrose, University of share capital from $820 mil- itsefficientandefficacioususe linkedincentives)scheme. over base year of goods Oxford professor, won half lion to $2.2 billion.Earlierthis by key economic agents,will government, the package tion sectors given their high Thecombinedvalueoftheir manufactured in India the prize of $1.1 million for year, Amazon had invested likely be unveiled during the would consist of production- labourcontentandanemploy- merchandise is estimated at a his proof that black holes are about`1,355croreinthepay- ` next three weeks, given the linkedincentive(PLI)schemes ment guarantee scheme for staggering `10.5 lakh crore a direct consequence of ments entity. Pay recentsignsofapick-upinvar- for a clutch of sectors, includ- the urban poor on the lines of over the next five years and 60% or `6.5 lakh crore worth Albert Einstein's general Theinvestmentgainssignif- ious sectors, including manu- ingsteel,textilesandfoodpro- the popularrural scheme. many multiples of the current ofgoodsistobeexported. theory of relativity. icance at a time when incum- facturing and exports. cessing, more incentives for investment of `11,000 crore. bentsinthepaymentsspaceare According to sources in the infrastructure and construc- Continued on Page 12 Of the total production value, Continued on Page 12 Yes Bank: ED going all out to woo the small merchantandtheenvironment arrests Cox and is becoming increasingly com- FM Sitharaman reiterates: MSP is there, will be there ADIAinvests `5,513 cr in Reliance Retail Kings ex-CFO petitive.Paytm has set itself a storefront across the country. FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA Sithara- Sitharaman defended the new laws target of 25 million merchants For at least a year now, manonTuesdayhighlightedthegovern- andassertedthattheCentrehasnoplan ABU DHABI INVESTMENT 1.16% stake in in Jio Plat- ENFORCEMENTDIRECTOR- for FY21,while Google Pay last Reliance Industries has also ment’sresolvetocontinuewiththeprac- to scrap the MSP (minimum support Authority(ADIA)willpickupa formsfor`5,683.50crore. ATE onTuesday arrested the yearsaiditistargetingover200 been trying to make inroads tice of announcing the benchmark price) system.“I find that absolutely 1.2% stake in Reliance Retail Thisistheseventhinvest- former CFO and internal millionofflinemerchants. into this segment of retailers. prices of select crops and procurement, unreasonabletokeepspeculatingonit Ventures (RRVL) for ment in RRVL in four weeks auditor of the Cox and Kings Tothis end,both players,as TheFacebookinvestmentinJio seekingtodebunktheOpposition’scriti- and say that this is the concern of the `5,512.50 crore,valuing the and the retailer has mopped Group in connection with its also Walmart/Flipkart-owned Platformsisexpectedtoaccel- cismthattheCentreistryingtoabdicateits farmer.MSP is there,it was there and it theretailerat`4.29lakhcrore, up a staggering `37,710 money laundering probe in PhonePe have, over the last erate the process. purchaseresponsibilitythroughtwofarm shall continue to be there,” she reports fe Bureau in Mum- crore by selling 8.51% of its the Yes Bank alleged loan couple of years, been working Bills,reportsfeBureauinChennai. added. ■ Page 2 bai. ADIA has also bought a equity. ■ Page 4 default case, reports PTI. to build a presence at every Continued on Page 12 APPOINTMENT PANDEMIC ● ON HOLD BSNL will take Dinesh Khara is Bengaluru to soon 10 months to new SBI chairman become India’s clear pending SHRITAMA BOSE bank’s associates and sub- vendor dues Mumbai, October 6 sidiaries in his role as manag- top corona city ing director (MD). His tenure DINESH KUMAR KHARA has saw the listing of the bank’s ISHAAN GERA As cases are rising... of `15,000 cr been appointed chairman of two insurance arms and its New Delhi,October 6 3,50,000 Projections KIRAN RATHEE State Bank of India (SBI) for credit card company. 3,00,000 New Delhi, October 6 threeyears starting October7. The foremost challenge for LAST MONTH, BENGALURU 2,50,000 Delhi Kharahasbeeninchargeofthe Khara in his new role will be to surpassedMumbaitobecome 2,00,000 THE VENDORS OF state- deal with the repercussions of the second city in India to 1,50,000 owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam 1,00,000 Covid-19—intermsofrecover- cross two lakh infections. 50,000 Bengaluru (BSNL) would have to wait iesaswellasgrowth. Today, the city leads India 0 longer for clearance of their Afreshdimensionhasbeen when it comes to active cases. dues as the ailing company is added to the restructuring The country’s IT capital Aug 1 Oct 21 notexpectedtoclearmorethan schemeforCovid-relatedstress reported 54,113 active infec- ...Bengaluru is running UNMASKING TRUMP 10% of the outstanding dues with the judiciary getting tions last Friday, more than out of infra everymonth.Thecompanyhas involved. If the government twice that in Delhi or Mum- US President Donald Trump faced a backlash on Tuesday for removing his mask when he atotalduesofaround`15,000 does indeed decide to bear the bai.At this pace, in about two (Availability, in %) returned to the White House and urging Americans not to fear Covid that has killed more crore towards various vendors than 209,000 people in the country and put him in hospital compound interest compo- weeks, Bengaluru will over- 50 likeNokia,ZTE,UTStarcom,etc, 41.7 38.3

nent for borrowers who took take Delhi to become the city 40 34.5 who all were expecting that

the moratorium,banks will with the highest number of 30 25.8 withthecompanyrecentlyrais- 18.2

have to launch a mam- confirmed Covid-19 cases. 20 14.3 ing `8,500 crore through sov- moth administrative Although Delhi is closing 10 ereignbonds,wouldeitherclear 0 BIG TECH FIRMS exercise. in on three lakh infections Hospital ICU Ventilator their dues in one go or at least andBengalururegisteredonly beds beds beds 40-50%ofthetotalamount. Continued on 2,52,229 cases on Tuesday, Sept 14 Oct 6 ‘US House antitrust report hints at break-up’ “BSNL has cleared 10% of Page 12 infections in the garden city The US House of Representatives antitrust our dues after raising funds are growing at more than report on Big Tech firms contains a "thinly throughbonds.Wewereexpect- twice the rate as they are in added by Bengaluru in the veiled call to break up" the companies, ingthatabout50%ofourdues Delhi; 1.9% compared with past seven days. Republican Congressman Ken Buck said in a would be cleared but the BSNL QuickPicks 0.8%. Close to 11.4% or draft response seen by Reuters. The House management is saying bulk of 28,660 infections have been Continued on Page 12 antitrust subcommittee is expected to themoneywouldbeutilisedfor Services sector PMI inched publish its report this week on Amazon, retiring bank debts.They,how- Oldest Delhi graveyard clears space to bury dead Apple, Facebook and Alphabet. ever, have promised to make towards normalcy in Sept ABuck representative confirmed to monthly payments in install- ACONTRACTION in the services WORKERS WERE CLEAR- grows,reportsReuters. Reuters the authenticity of the draft response. ments for outstanding dues,” 70 Manufacturing PMI

56.8 ILLUSTRATION: PHORE ROHNIT sector substantially narrowed in 60 51.4 ING undergrowth from Since its first virus burial In the draft, he shared Democratic concerns said an official with one of the September, signalling a gradual wasteland onTuesdayto add in April, the Islamic grave- about the power of BigTech firms, with their vendors.However,BSNLhasnot 50 ‘KILLER ACQUISITIONS’ return to normalcy,reports 400gravestotheIndiancap- yard of Jadid Qabristan has penchant for "killer acquisitions" to eliminate givenanywrittencommitment 40 48.7 ■ fe Bureau in New Delhi.The ital’s oldest functioning seenmorethan700funerals rivals and self-preferencing in guiding ■ Republican Ken Panel is expected to to the vendors regarding 30 49.8 PMI for services stood at 49.8 in cemetery beside the ruins of on a patch of adjoining customers to their other products. However, Buck shares Democratic publish its report this monthly clearance of dues September, just shy of the 20 historiccitywalls,asthedeath wasteground designated for he objected to a plan to require them to concerns about the week on Amazon, Apple, throughinstallments. Services PMI power of BigTech firms Facebook, Alphabet 50-mark that separates con- 10 toll from the coronavirus pandemicvictims. delineate a clear "single line of business". traction from expansion and 0 Continued on Page 2 compared with 41.8 inAugust. Sept 2019 Sept 2020 New members may lend slight CHARTBUSTER dovish tilt to MPC,analysts say WITHTHE appointment of economistsAshima S Korean retail investors bid over $50 bn to win coveted BTS label shares Goyal, Jayanth RVarma and Shashanka Bhide to the MPC, the rate-setting, six-member panel may CYNTHIA KIM listing in September. to pick up just two shares. not overly concerned about acquire a slight dovish tilt, given their earlier criti- Seoul, October 6 Most of the bids for Big There has been some con- the impact. cism of hawkish policies, some analysts said, reports fe Bureau Hit’s stock, priced at 135,000 cern that funds pouring in Someanalystssaidtalkthat in New Delhi. Nevertheless, they expect the MPC to hold on to SOUTH KOREAN RETAIL wonpershare,camelateonthe from retail investors could the band’s members mayhave the benchmark lending rate in its October 7-9 meet. PAGE 10 investors ponied up over $50 second of two days of orders affect short-term moneymar- to complete mandatory mili- billion as they sought to lay from individual investors. kets as the funds would be at tary service could have pre- theirhandsonsharesinBigHit “I waited until 2 pm this brokerages’ disposal for three vented retail demand from Electronic book mechanism must Entertainment, the manage- afternoontosubscribebecause days before investors who are reaching such loftyheights. ment label of K-pop sensation I wanted to choose the not allocated shares get their Bylaw,all able-bodied men for issuance ofAT1 instruments BTS — more than 600 times arrangerwithlesscompetition moneyback. in South Korea aged between THE SEBI on Tuesday mandated the usage of thevalue of shares on offer. forbidding,”saidOhSang-min, But the total amount of 18 and 28 must serve in the electronic book mechanism for issuance ofAdd- The combined 58.4 trillion a32-yearoldretailworkerwho retailbidsdidnotmatchsome military for roughly two years itional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments, reports PTI. won ($50.3 billion) in orders placed bids worth 100 million headyforecastsof 100trillion as part of the country’s Perpetual non-cumulative preference shares, fell just shy of a record 58.55 won aftertaking out a loan. won, and market sources said defences against North Korea. innovative perpetual debt instruments and perpetual debt trillion won in bids for the He was told by his money Big Hit Entertainment is the management label of K-pop on Tuesday they were moni- instruments are commonly referred to as AT1 instruments. retailportionofKakaoGames’ managerthathewouldbeable sensation BTS (above) toring the situation but were Continued on Page 2

Pune 2 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 'QUAD' COALITION

S Jaishankar, external affairs minister

Once we've institutionalised what we're doing ❝– the four of us (India, the US, Japan and ❝ Australia) together – we can begin to build out a true security framework EconomyWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020

Quick ● FARM BILLS ROW OVER GST COMPENSATION Goyal invites start-ups to MSP is there,will be Centre to say no to voting register at GeM View SUMIT JHA (AG) opinion.The legal opinion PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA New Delhi, October 6 held that states can borrow on New Delhi, October 6 the basis of future receipts of there: Sitharaman EVEN IF ONE or more states compensation and thus do not COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY don’t want to exercise the bor- need Council’s recommenda- ministerPiyushGoyalonTues- FE BUREAU rowingoptionsproposedbythe tiontoraiseloan. day invited start-ups to regis- Chennai, October 6 CentreforbridgingtheGSTrev- Earlier on Monday, the teratpublicprocurementpor- enue shortfall,they can't force Council’s marathon 8-hour talGeMandoffergoodsaswell FINANCEMINISTER NIR- an voting on the issue at the longmeetingcouldn’tbreakthe as services to government MALASitharaman onTuesday GST Council, sources in the impasseovertheproposedbor- organisations and PSUs. ‘Personal data highlighted the government’s Union government feel. The rowingoptionsmeantforcom- He said that about 4,000 security should be resolve to continue with the Council,accordingtothem,has pensatingstatesevenafterone start-ups have already regis- practice of announcing the no jurisdiction to sit in judge- ofthetwoavailablechoiceswas tered at Government e-mar- backed by law’ benchmark prices of select ment over such individual tion,and it approved the pro- sweetened further as 10 states ketplace (GeM). PROTECTIONOFPER- crops and procurement, seek- choices. posal to extend compensation continuedtodemandthatCen- The commerce ministry SONALdatashouldbebac- ingtodebunktheOpposition’s The states that have agreed cess levy tenure beyond origi- treshouldborrowandcompen- launchedGeMinAugust2016 kedbyalegalprovisionasit criticismthattheCentreistry- toexerciseoneoftheborrowing nally scheduled expiry of June, sate the states fully for their to create an open and trans- willhelpensureprivacyand ing to abdicate its purchase options—21ofthem—cango 2022. GSTrevenueshortfallinFY21. parent procurement platform confidentialityofindivi- responsibility through two ahead, even if a consensus “The extension of compen- At least 21 states are in for the government, which duals,aseniorRBIofficial farm Bills cleared by Parlia- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressing a remains elusive in the next sation cess will ensure that favour of‘option 1’of the bor- runs in several lakh crore. saidonTuesday.Data ment last month. press conference in Chennai on Tuesday PTI CouncilmeetingonOctober12, statesrevenueisprotectedfrom rowing plan and states namely “I invite all start-ups to list protectioniscrucialbecause Speaking to reporters in thesourcesadded. the proceeds of this fund,and Jharkhand,Kerala,Maharash- their products and start offer- privacyandconfidentiality Chennai,Sitharamandefended have seen, soon after the har- procurement of agriculture As many as 10 states proves that Centre has carried tra, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, ing goods and services to gov- ofindividualsistheirright the new laws, which seek to vest the prices of items will go commodities, Tomar had remained defiant even at the out its legal and moral obliga- Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West ernment organisations,PSUs, undertheConstitution,RBI offerfarmersunfetteredaccess downandsoonaftertheprices stressed.MSPs were adminis- 42ndmeetingoftheCouncilon tion of keeping the promise to Bengal and Chhattisgarh are state government bodies,hos- executivedirectorTRabi to the markets, and asserted will go up. We have also seen trativemeasuresandthesehad Monday.At least two of these states,”asourcesaid. notonboardwiththeproposal. pitals,schools,andcollegesrun Sankarsaid. that the Centre has no plan to farmers throwing their pro- neverbeenpartofanylaw. states asked for voting on the However, states’ entitle- The original ‘option 1’ of bythegovernment,”Goyalsaid scraptheMSP(minimumsup- duceliketomatoesontheroad However, although the issueinthemeeting.Theyeven ment to borrow is government borrowing amount `97,000 attheNationalStartupAwards IOC regional office port price) system.“I find that for not getting even their pro- Centre announces MSPs of 22 askedtheUnionfinanceminis- bySection293oftheConstitu- crore was revised to `1.1 lakh 2020 event. lights upwith absolutely unreasonable to ductioncost,”Sitharamansaid. crops every year, the official tertonottakethemforgranted, tionwhichisbeyondGSTCoun- croreafterstatesthebasisofcal- The minister also said that keep speculating on it and say Importantly, states used to procurement is limited to just indicatingthattheymighteven cil’s ambit.“Now the ball lies in culatingshortfallwaschanged. about `4,000 crore was rooftop solarplant that this is the concern of the imposeleviesofupto8.5%on 10 – wheat, paddy, masur, movethecourtforaresolution. the court of individual states, In the meanwhile,Council already disbursed through STATE-OWNED INDIAN farmer. MSP is there, it was procurement,she added. urad, moong, arhar, mustard, With the Centre’s interven- not the GST council,”another decidedthatthecesscollection Fund of Funds for start-ups, OILCorporation (IOC) on thereanditshallcontinuetobe As FE had reported,Punjab gram, groundnut and cotton. tion,itwasagreedtomeetagain sourcesaid.Headdedthateven this year so far amounting to “giving it out to about 361 Tuesdaysaid its northern there,”sheadded. leviesanaggregatetaxof8.5% Ofcourse,therehasbeensome aweeklatertodiscusstheissue ifasinglestateiswillingtobor- `20,000 crore would be dis- start-ups”. regional office in the Sitharamansaidthatunder of the MSP at which the FCI improvementinprocurement further,state finance minister row,the others in the Council bursed to states on Monday. He added that huge poten- national capital has ‘certain other governments’, and otheragencies buygrains. atMSPsoverthelastfiveyears. whoattendedthemeetingsaid. can’tpreventitfromexercising Further,it was also decided to tialisthereforstartupsinareas commissioned a 50- the focus was only increasing Haryanaisnotfarbehindwith The total procurement of nine SourcessaidthatGSTCoun- itsrightguaranteedintheCon- disburse `25,000 crore to includingrailways,airportser- kilowatt (KW) rooftop theMSP(andprocurement)for anaggregatelevyof6.5%.The crops(barringcotton)in2013- cilhasjurisdictiontoextendthe stitution. states that hadn’t received its vices, food processing, educa- solarpowerplant to paddyandwheat,and theydid pan-India average is to the 14was61milliontonne,which levy of cess to compensate for TheCentralgovernmenthas dueshareinthefirstyearofGST tion, healthcare, agriculture, electrifythe building. not bother about other crops. tune of 6% of MSP. increasedtonearly114million the shortfall in the compensa- alsoreliedonattorneygeneral’s implementation. electronics and defence. Overa period of time,it con- Speaking at the Indian tonne in 2019-20. IFFCO&Prasar tributed to a distortion in the Express Group’s Idea Exchange Arecent FE analysis of nine Bharatitopromote cropping pattern across the programme recently, agricul- crops with MSPs showed that BMS to hold country. ture minister Narendra Singh pan-India average mandi newfarmmethods All these years,the farmers Tomar had ruled out the possi- prices of three out of four rabi nationwide stir Labour ministry to appoint PUBLIC BROADCASTER were bound to sell at certain bility of bringing the MSP sys- crops were 2-17% below their PRASAR Bharati has designatedmandis,evenifthe tem for farm goods under the MSPswhileonlymasurwas1% on Oct 28 signed an agreementwith price there was not right for new Bills. However, he also aboveMSPduringtheharvest- consultant for drafting rules leading fertilisercooper- them,shesaid,addingthatthe refuted the Opposition’s claim ing period (March-June).Simi- RSS-ALIGNED BHARATIYA ative IFFCO to broadcast new Bills give them more thatthereformsproposedinthe larly,fiveoutofsixkharifcrops MAZDOOR Sangh (BMS) on FE BUREAU ministry’swebsiteseekingcom- and promote newagri choices now. Billswould kill theAPMC man- were 3-17% below their MSPs Tuesday demanded immedi- New Delhi, October 6 mentsfromthestakeholders. innovations on DD Kisan “The MSPwas not there for disandthesystemofMSPs. during harvesting period ate withdrawal of anti-worker The IR code proposes to channel,the government vegetablesandfruitswhichare TheBillshadlittletodowith (October-January) and only provisions in the labour codes THE LABOUR MINISTRY will allow firms with workers up to said onTuesday. highly perishable items. We theMSPsystemorgovernment paddywas3.5%aboveMSP. and said it will hold a nation- rope in consultants to advise it 300 as against 100 now – to wide protest against the new on framing the rules under resort to closure and retrench- laws on October 28.BMS has three new codes on industrial ment without prior govern- also planned to hold a long relations, social security and mentpermission(thestategov- continuous agitation if the occupational safety & health. ernments are to be authorised government does not give any Thesecodessubsuming25cen- Draft rules under the code to allowthisvia notification).It heedtoitsdemandswhichalso tral labour acts were passed by on wages, passed last will also endorse by law the includes general strike to pro- Parliamentlastmonth. already-in-force full-benefit tectworkers'rights. A senior labour ministry year, are already out for fixed-term employment In a virtual press confer- official said advertisements comments from the scheme for all sectors. The ence, BMS office-bearers on will be released in the newspa- stakeholders requirementofmandatory14- Tuesday discussed the details pers soon for appointing, on day notice for strikes will now oftheresolutionspassedinthe temporary basis, consultants applytoallunits,notjustpublic 19th National Conference of with deep domain knowledge. thestakeholders.Codeonwages utilityfirms. the union held virtually last Basedontheresponse,suitable proposes universalisation of Thesocialsecuritycodepro- week, wherein it decided to candidates will be chosen as minimumwages. posestocoverall50crorework- hold continuous all India agi- consultants. Making of the rules and ersundersocialsecuritynetand tation against the anti-worker “There will be no appoint- theirproperimplementationis setupaNationalSocialSecurity provisions in the new labour mentonthenominationbasis,” the key to success of govern- Board that would recommend codes. saidtheofficial. ment’s efforts to bring in the suitableschemesforthediffer- BMS has urged the govern- Theministryhasalreadyset much-desired changes in the entsectionofunorganisedsec- ment to call it and other trade upthreecommitteesheadedby labour reforms that the Modi torworkers. unionsimmediatelytodiscuss three joint secretaries in the governmentstartedin2014. The Code on Occupational the anti-workers provisions in ministry.Therewill be an addi- After drafting,rules be sent Safety & Health proposes to the labourcodes. tional 6-7 members in each to the law ministry forvetting. allowthewomen employees to The government has committee. Following that,there would be work at night, subject to the planned to implement all the Draft rules under the code tripartite meeting attempting conditions relating to safety, four labour codes in one go by on wages,passed last year,are toreachtoaconsensus.Thedra- holiday, working hours and December. —PTI alreadyoutforcommentsfrom ftruleswillalsobeplacedonthe theirconsent,amongothers.

‘Theatres to reopen from Oct 15 with 50% capacity,one-seat distance’ PRESS TRUST OF INDIA “Cinema halls shall be bookingforcontact-lesstrans- screen shall not overlap with New Delhi, October 6 allowed to open with 50 per actions.Properventilationhas the commencement time, cent capacity only and people tobeensuredandtemperature intermission period or finish AFTERSEVENMONTHS of will maintain one-seat dis- setting of all air conditioning time of a show at any other shut down due to Covid-19, tance. Alternate seats will be shouldbeabove23degreeCel- screeninamultiplex,”themin- cinema halls will reopen on left vacant for social distanc- sius,”he said. istrysaid in its SOP. October15with50%capacity ing.Wearingmasksatalltimes Theminister,releasingthe The SOP document said andone-seatdistancebetween inside the hall will be impor- SOP, said sufficient time onlypackagedfoodandbever- the viewers, information and tant,”he added. interval between successive ageswillbeallowedandonline broadcastingministerPrakash Briefingthepressathisres- screenings on a single screen payments will be encouraged JavadekarsaidTuesday. idence,theUnionministeralso aswellasonvariousscreensin atfoodandbeveragecounters. “Cinema halls are shut for said that online booking of a multiplex should be pro- Deliveryoffoodinsidethecin- last seven months. They are tickets will be encouraged but vided to ensure row-wise ema hallswill be prohibited. nowopeningfromOctober15. box office will be open for sin- staggeredentryandexitofthe The ministry of home For safety of people,we have gle-screen theatres. audience. affairshadinitsunlockguide- come out with SOP (standard “In single-screen theatres, “Theshowcommencement lines issued on September 30 operatingprocedure)tobefol- ticketcounterswillbeopened. time, intermission period and allowed reopening of cinema lowed,”Javadekarsaid. However,weencourageonline finish time of a show at any halls from October15.

From the Front Page

BSNLwill take raisedweremeanttobeutilised company continues to provide lawmakers and fans arguing for retiring debt and meeting thesupport. they are doing plenty for their 10 months to the capex requirements. The Despite the revival package countrywithoutwearing a sol- state-run companyhas an over to the tune of around `70,000 dier’suniform. clear pending `20,000croredebtonitsbooks. croreannouncedinOctoberlast The band, supported by a Most of the vendors have year,BSNLcontinuestofaceliq- massiveglobalfanbase,hasjust vendor dues of written several letters to the uiditychallenges. notchedupthefirstNo.1onthe firms as well as department of US Billboard Hot 100 singles `15,000 cr telecommunications(DoT)seek- S Korean retail chart by a South Korean group AquerysenttoBSNLregard- ingreleaseoftheirpayments. withthesongDynamite. ing the matterremained unan- Afew months ago,industry investors bid Offering about 20% of the swered till the time of going to body COAI had also written to companyinitsIPO,BigHitEnte- thepress.Asource,howeversaid DoT on behalf of the vendors over$50 bn to rtainment,led byCEO Bang Si- thatthecompanyhasbeenclear- urging that payments be hyuk,hasraisedsome962.6bil- ing10%oftheduesforthepast released. win coveted BTS lionwon ($830 million).In the twomonthsandthesameprac- More recently, Nokia had institutionalportionoftheoffer, tiseisgoingtobecontinued. warned that it would pull out label shares investors expressed interest in OnSeptember21,BSNLhad supportformaintainingBSNL’s But there have also been more than 1,000 times the nu- announced about raising networkintheabsenceofclear- growing calls forBTS members mberofsharesonoffer.Thelabel `8,500 crore through issuance ance of the dues. But as some to be granted alternatives or is due to make its market debut of sovereign bonds.The funds amount has been released,the delays to the service,with some onOctober15.—REUTE RS

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS NATION 3 ● WORKERS’ PROTESTS By2030,India to pip Govt plans interest subvention UPgovt stallsVaranasi China asworld’s largest for solar cell makers

LPG residential market FE BUREAU portsofsolarmodulesfromIn- New Delhi, October 6 dia,where solar module mak- discom privatisation PRESS TRUST OF INDIA TheDirectBenefitTransfer erswillbeincentivisedaccord- New Delhi, October 6 of LPG (DBTL) gives out subsi- TO REDUCETHEcountry’sde- ing to the efficiency of the DEEPAJAINANI The move by the UPPCL official, requesting dies to thevulnerable popula- pendencyontheimportofsolar panels. China continues to be Lucknow, October 6 BJP-ruled state comes anonymity. INDIA IS EXPECTED to over- tion, while the Pradhan equipment,theMinistryofNew the largest source of solar cells close on the heels of the “Unless we earn revenue takeChinaastheworld’slargest Mantri UjjwalaYojana(PMUY) andRenewableEnergy(MNRE) and panels for India,with im- THEUTTARPRADESHgovern- andareabletopaythegencosat cooking gas LPG residential provides families living below isplanningtolaunchaninterest ports worth $1.3 billion in Union power ministry menthasputinabeyanceaplan leastforthepowerpurchase,we sector market by 2030,Wood the poverty line access to free subvention scheme forloans of FY20. The value of such im- to unbundle and privatise the seeking to fast-track the cannotbesustainable.Theem- MackenziesaidonTuesday. LPG stoves. cell and wafer manufacturers, portsfromChinainFY18wasa Varanasi discom, Purvanchal privatisation of electricity ployees have to commit to this “Liquefied petroleum gas Wood Mackenzie research officialssaidonTuesday.Wafers massive$3.4billion.Theshare Vidyut Vitran Nigam (PVVNL), discoms in the country, by at least. Privatisation for the (LPG) demand in the residen- analyst Qiaoling Chen said: and cells are the basic building of prominent Chinese module following protests from its en- issuing the draft standard sake of privatisation is not our tial sectorwill con- “Although nation- blocksofsolarmodules,andthe MNRE officials said under suppliers such as Trina, Han- The govt has been gineersandotherworkers. bidding guidelines aim. Our aim is that you im- tinue to see sus- wideLPGcoverage minusculemanufacturingbase the proposed scheme, wha,JASolarandCanadianSo- The move by the BJP-ruled prove the system, else we will tainable growth at implementing has reached 98%, of these products is the area of discounts on interest would lar (which has a large produc- state,one that follows the Cen- have to find alternatives,”the a cumulative an- schemes to help up 42% from continuedrelianceonimports. be given to wafer and cell tion base in China) in the tre’s reformist policies for the According to an agreement official said. Giving details of nual growth rate lower-income 2014,usage is still To this date, there are no manufacturers on capital Indian market has signifi- stressed sector most ardently, signed between state principal the roadmap forthe next three (CAGR) of 3.3%, families cope with low. Average an- wafermakersinIndia,whilethe expenditure and working cantlydropped in this period. comes close on the heels of the secretary (energy) Arvind Ku- months, the official said the reaching 34 mil- nual cylinder re- cell manufacturing capacity is capital requirements To reduce Chinese imports, the cost of Union power ministry seeking mar and the employees’repre- management’sperspectivewas lion tonne (MT) in fills have not kept only2.5giga-watt(GW),imply- theUniongovernmenthadim- tofast-tracktheprivatisationof sentatives,theUPCCLmanage- to look for an improvement in 2030 as house- switching from upwiththepaceof ing that the 10GWof domestic ceive interest subvention on poseda25%safeguarddutyin electricitydiscomsinthecoun- mentalsoassuredthestaffthat revenuegeneration. holds’ dependence dirtier biomass new connections, solar module makers have to loans taken for technological July 2018 for two years (it has try,byissuingthedraftstandard itwouldnotimplementprivati- “We need at least `5,400 on solid biomass to LPG with average con- import most of their compo- upgrade of their plants after just been extended foranother biddingguidelines. sation in any sphere without crorepermonthforthebalance diminishes in the sumption remain- nentsfromoutside. three years of operation.Plans year to July 2021, at a rate of In a meeting of Uttar takingworkersintoconfidence. sixmonthsofthecurrentfinan- long run sup- ing below the In a virtual symposium ti- are underway to offset the cost 15%).The government is also Pradesh Power Corporation “Forthe next three months cialyeartobecomeself-sustain- ported by rising benchmark of 12 tled‘India PVEDGE 2020’held ofpowerforwafermanufactur- considering to impose a 20% (UPPCL)officialsandSangharsh we will not talk of any privati- ing.Ourtotal expenses,includ- average household incomes cylinders.” onTuesday,MNREofficialssaid ingaswell. basiccustomsdutyonsolarim- Samiti,whichwaspresidedover sation.Butwewillmonitorthe ing O&M,is `77,000 crore and and urban population,”it said Even with subsidy and the under the proposed scheme, Union power minister RK ports;afinalcallonthisisyetto bystatefinanceministerSuresh daily performance and have a wegetaround`12,000croreas in a report. initialcostofset-upcoveredby discounts on interest would be Singhsaid,“Wewillalsoinclude betaken.Solarprojectdevelop- Khanna and energy minister monthly meeting on the governmentsubsidy.Ourpower Driven by environmental the government, LPG is more given to wafer and cell manu- additional incentives for firms ers prefer Chinese equipment Shrikant Sharma, the UP gov- progress. Efforts would be purchase cost is `60,000 crore and health concerns,the gov- expensive than biomass. Still, facturersoncapitalexpenditure whouseadvancedtechnologies due to lower prices. Global ernmentassuredtheemployees made to improve the working per annum.Last year,our rev- ernment has also been imple- the government of India is and working capital require- under the interest subvention module prices are consistently that efforts would be made to of the discoms and improve enue was around `40,000 menting schemes to help committed to roll out plans to ments.Thepercentageofinter- scheme.” coming down and currently improvethediscomsinthepre- revenue realisation. We will crore. This year our target is lower-income families cope further address affordability est subvention was not men- Niti Aayog, on its part, has ranging at $0.17/watt power sent set-up only by taking the take a view on the issue after `50,000crore,meetingwhichis withthecostofswitchingfrom and infrastructure challenges tioned. Through this scheme, also proposed a production- (wp) —almost half the early employeesintoconfidence. three months,” said a senior keytosurvival,”hesaid. dirtierbiomass to LPG. in the LPG sector. manufacturers would also re- linkedincentiveschemeforex- 2018-levels. ‘Opposed to CSL steps up workforce to ramp formation of exclusive up ops, earn more revenues cliques’ RAJESH RAVI Kochi, October 6 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Beijing, October 6 COCHIN SHIPYARD (CSL) IS apparently pulling out all the stops to earn revenues CHINA ON TUESDAY reiterated like last year and one of its major steps is itscriticismofthemeetingofthe ramping up workforce on site to make Foreign Ministers of India,Aus- up for the pandemic-triggered disrup- tralia,Japan and the US inTokyo, tion. It has increased its workforce by sayingitisopposedtotheforma- 1,200 to ramp up operations in Kochi tion of“exclusive cliques”harm- and other facilities. ingthirdparty’sinterests. The shipbuilder had reported a The foreign ministers from net profit of `632.01 crore in the year theIndo-Pacificnationsknownas ended March from a revenue of theQuadgroup-theUS,Japan,In- `3,422.49 crore. dia andAustralia – met in Tokyo Ship building, including the aircraft onTuesdayinwhatistheirfirstin- carrier,and repair are behind schedule CSL reported a standalone profit of “Hooghlywill be a dedicated facility persontalkssincethecoronavirus because of the pandemic and foreign `43 crore in the quarter ended March, forconstruction ofvessels forinlandwa- pandemicbegan. travel restrictions, chairman and man- down from Rs 139 crore in Q1 FY20, terways.Tebmawill focus on smallerand aging director (CMD) Madhu S Nair told with Covid-19 lockdown disrupting op- fishingvessels.We are startingwith fish- Financial Express. erations from March 23 to May 5. ing vessels for the domestic market un- “Some of the vessels are reaching The shipyard has an order book of der the Union government’s Blue Revo- milestones, but we are struggling to get `14,000 crore and recentlyexpanded its lution and then will look at the export the service engineers for the OEMs sup- capacity by taking over the distressed market aftergaining experience,”he said. plied by foreign companies in the ships. TEBMAShipyard (TSL) and constructing The company has also delivered 11 Indian OEM supplies were also affected a yard at its 100% subsidiary Hooghly out of 16 fishing vessels contracted for initially,but nowwe have managed to Cochin Shipyard in Kolkata. Tamil Nadu beneficiaries.The remaining bring them on site,”he said. Nairsaid CSLwas eying opportunities five are also ready to be delivered. The New India Assurance Company Limited, Mumbai “The pandemic impacted ship build- in inland, coastal, fishing and special The CMD added that the company ing and repair in both Cochin and Mum- vessels segments, besides aspiring to had forayed into the construction of au- Regd. & Head Office: 87, M.G. Road, Fort, Mumbai- 400 001 bai and we are trying to see if we can at- spin off a dedicated vertical for fishing tonomous electricvessels forASKO Mar- tain last year’s performance,”he added. vessels. itime AS,Norway. CIN No : L66000MH1919GOI000526, IRDA Reg No : 190 Tel: +91 22 22708263; Fax : +91 22 22652811 Centre to file plea against Pune City recovering Email : [email protected]; Web site : www.newindia.co.in 2G acquittals: CBI tells HC NOTICE TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF THE 101st ANNUAL but Pune district GENERAL MEETING PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, October 6 NOTICE is hereby given that the 101st Annual General Meeting ("101st AGM") of the Company will be held situation grim on Thursday, October 29, 2020 at 3.30 p.m. IST through Video Conferencing/Other Audio-Visual Means to THE CBI ON Tuesday told the GEETA NAIR Maharashtra recovery rate transact business, as set out in the Notice of the 101st AGM. Delhi High Court that the trial Pune, October 6 was 78.61%. (i) The Company has sent the Notice of the AGM along with the Annual Report court verdict acquitting all ac- The Ganesh festival celebra- cusedincludingformertelecom PUNECITYHAS registered a tions in the last week of August 2019-20 on Tuesday, October 6 through electronic mode to those members whose email ministerARaja in the 2G spec- drop in the Covid-19 positive had led to a surge in cases in addresses are registered with the Company/Depositories in accordance with the Ministry of trum allocation cases was de- cases and a rise in the number Pune city during September Corporate Affairs ("MCA") Circulars dated May 5th, 2020 read with circulars dated April 8th, cided to be challenged as an of people recovering from the with daily additions reaching 2020, April 13th, 2020 and May 5th, 2020 (collectively referred to as "MCA Circulars") and opinionwasreceivedthat“itisa infection. According to the 2,000onanaverageandonSep- SEBI Circular dated May 12th, 2020. The Company has engaged the services of National fitcasetopreferanappeal”. notplacedonrecordthemand- Pune Covid-19 Response War tember5,therewas a record ad- Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) for providing its members the facility of "remote Theagencysaidtheopinion atoryauthorityundertheprovi- Dashboard data,positivity rate dition of 4,000 cases on a single e-voting". The remote e-voting period commences at 9.00 a.m. on October 25th, 2020 and wasreceivedfromtheMinistry sionsoftheCrPCandaddedthat has come down to 23.13% as day leading to a higher number ends at 5.00 p.m. on October 28th, 2020 (5:00 p.m. IST). ofLawandJustice,whichexam- the appeal was filed under the on October 2,2020.During the of critical patients causing a (ii) Electronic voting shall also be made available by use of remote e-Voting system for all those ined the proposal of the probe signatures of advocate Sanjeev first week of September 2020, shortage of hospital beds and Members who are present during the AGM through VC/OAVM but have not cast their votes agencytofileacriminalappeal. Bhandari with a stamp of SPP positive cases were at 30.5% oxygen supply.This pushed the by availing the remote e-Voting facility. The remote e-Voting module during the AGM shall The CBI said itwas apprised (SpecialPublicProsecutor). indicating those testing posi- casefatalityratiofrom1.81%in be disabled by NSDL for voting, 15 minutes after the conclusion of the Meeting. through a letter bythe Depart- “In 2G cases,the SPP is ap- tive for the virus was gradually July to 2.41% in August but has mentofPersonnelandTraining pointed bywayof a specific no- coming down. since theycome down to 2.37% The cut-off date for determining the eligibility of the members for voting through remote in January 2018 that the law tification.Anearliernotification Similarly, patients recover- as on September end. e-voting at the 101st AGM is Friday, October 23rd, 2020. Any person who acquires shares of the Company andjusticeministryopinedthat was issued for the trial,which ing from the infection in Pune While Pune is reporting a re- and becomes a Member of the Company after dispatch of the Notice and holding shares as of the cut-off “it is a fit case to prefer an ap- was superseded by a February has improved with recovery covery,the situation at the Pune date i.e. 23rd October, 2020, may obtain the login ID and password by sending a request at peal”. 2018 notification appointing rate going up to 86.40% as on district level remains grim with [email protected] Additional SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta (now Solicitor October 1,2020,from 77% a cases going up in Pune rural and Members may note that notice of the AGM and Annual Report 2019-20 is also available on Company’s (ASG)SanjayJain,appearingfor General) to act as SPP.The noti- month ago.A total of 1,26,430 Pimpri-Chinchwad areas and the CBI and the ED,submitted fication was specific to the 2G had recovered from the infec- taking the district close to the web site www.newindia.co.in, web sites of Stock Exchanges i.e. BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange before Justice Brijesh Sethi that cases and therefore,the appeal tion out of total 1,46,32 people three lakh Covid-19 positive of India Limited at www.bseindia.com and www.nseindia.com respectively. Members can attend and theletterwassentasadirection filed itself was without anyau- who were infected in Pune city. cases mark. During the first participate in the AGM through Video Conferencing/ Other Audio-Visual Means (OAVM) facility only. The to the CBI to go and file an ap- thority and the CBI ought to At present, the recovery rate in week of September, Pune be- instructions for joining the AGM are provided in the Notice of the AGM. Members attending the AGM peal. clarify the same before the Pune city is better than Mum- came the district with the high- through VC/OAVM shall be counted for the purpose of reckoning the quorum under section 103 of the “Inthiscase,anopinionwas court,”hehadcontended. bai which was at 82.46 while est number of cases in India. Companies Act, 2013. formed by the Central govern- Respondingtothis,onTues- In case of any query relating to voting by electronic means, please refer to instructions for e-voting ment and the appealwas filed,” daytheASGshoweddocuments annexed to the AGM Notice available on our web site www.newindia.co.in or www.evoting.nsdl.com. Jain said. The relevant docu- to the court relating to the ap- mentswereshowedtothejudge pointmentofBhandariasSPPin NCLATsuspends court If your email ID is already registered with the Company/Depository, login details for e-voting will be sent who was hearing the matter DelhiHC forconducting prose- on your registered email address. Members who have not yet registered their email addresses are throughvideoconferencing. cution,appeals,revisionofother works after some staffers requested to register the same with their DPs in case the shares are held by them in electronic form and The documents were matters arising out of cases in- with M/s Link Intime (India) Pvt Ltd in case the shares are held by them in physical form. showed and submissions were vestedbytheCBI. test Covid-positive For any queries/grievances relating to e-voting, members are requested to contact Mr. Mahesh Masurkar, madebytheASGinresponseto He also referred to the Feb- Investor Relations, Link Intime India Private Limited, C-101, 247 Park, L.B.S. Marg, Vikhroli (W), Mumbai - the application by Kusegaon ruary 2018 notification by THE NATIONAL COMPANY Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) 400 083, Tel. No. +91 22 49186270, email id : [email protected]. Members can also contact Ms. FruitsandVegetablespromoter which the then ASG Tushar has suspended all its court works,including virtual hearing Pallavi Mhatre, Assistant Manager, 4th Floor, "A" Wing, Trade World, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Asif Balwa, seeking a copy of Mehtawas appointed as SPPto and filing,after some of its staff tested Covid-19 positive. Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai–400013, Tel No 1800222080/+912224994600, email id : the sanction letter of the Cen- conduct appeals,revisions and Earlier, one staff member posted in its record section had tre to the CBI to file an appeal otherproceedingsbeforetheHC tested positive on September 30,which necessitated the sus- [email protected]. against the acquittal of the ac- and the Supreme Court in the pension of work on October 1 in order to carry out the saniti- For THE NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED cusedinthecase.AdvocatesVi- casesrelatingto2Gspectrum. sation of the NCLAT premises and required judges and other jay Aggarwal, Mudit Jain and Jain further showed to the staff to undergo testing. Sd/- Ashul Aggarwal, representing court the administrative order After that test,four more staff members,of which three are JAYASHREE NAIR Asif,said they would examine by which he was appointed as from the record section,tested positive for Covid-19 on Octo- COMPANY SECRETARY & CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER the documents given by the SPPtoconducttheprosecution, ber 4. CBI and respond. appeals and revisions arising Presently, like other judicial/quasi-judicial bodies, the Place: Mumbai Besides this, Aggarwal has out of the cases related to 2G NCLAT is conducting virtual hearing through video confer- earlier argued that the CBI has spectrum. encing,which was started during the lockdown.—PTI Date: October 6th, 2020

Pune 4 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

WOOING START-UPS

Piyush Goyal, minister, commerce & industry I invite all start-ups to list their products and start offering goods and services to government❝ ❝organisations...I believe start-ups will be playing an increasingly important role in many strategic CompaniesWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 sectors going forward. Quick ADIAto buy 1.2% stake in Reliance Retail for `5,513 cr FE BUREAU been the other investors so far.Thus, chains, is strongly positioned for further Mumbai, October 6 within fourweeks the retail firm has sold Investment (` cr) Stake (%) Valuations (lakh) growth.Thisinvestmentisconsistentwith View 8.51% stake raising a total fund of nearly our strategy of investing in market lead- ADIA 5,512.50 1.20 4.285 RELIANCEINDUSTRIES(RIL) onTuesday `37,710 crore. TPG 1,837.50 0.41 4.285 ingbusinessesinAsialinkedtotheregion’s Tata Motors global said that a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani, chairman and man- consumption-driven growth and rapid Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) aging director,Reliance Industries, said, GIC 5,512.50 1.22 4.285 technological advancement.” wholesales decline will invest `5,512.50 crore in its sub- “The investment by ADIA is a further Mubadala 6,247.50 1.40 4.285 Even though Reliance Retail is ahead 16% in July-Sept sidiaryRelianceRetailVentures(RRVL)for endorsement of Reliance Retail’s perfor- Silver Lake* 1,875 0.38 4.285 of its peers when it comes to digitisation a 1.20% stake. The stake sale values manceandpotentialandtheinclusiveand General Atlantic 3,675 0.84 4.285 of its services, it will need to make large TATAMOTORS ONTuesdaysaid its Reliance Retail at `4.285 lakh crore.The transformationalnewcommercebusiness investments to consolidate the backend group globalwholesales,including investment in Reliance Retail by ADIA model that it is rolling out.” KKR 5,550 1.28 4.21 anddigitiseoperationstotakeonAmazon JaguarLand Rover,declined by16% comes shortlyafterit invested `5,683.50 Hamad ShahwanAldhaheri,executive Silver Lake 7,500 1.75 4.21 and Flipkart.Reliance Retail has acquired to 2,02,873 units in the second crore in Jio Platforms for1.16% stake. director (private equities department), Total 37,710 8.48 NA Future Group’s retail business. This quarterof the current fiscal overthe TheinvestmentinRRVLbyADIAisthe ADIA, said,“Reliance Retail has rapidly Investments in Jio Platform would add around 1,300 stores to its cur- year-ago period.The drop in sales of seventh investment in RIL’s retail arm established itself as one of the leading Total 1,52,055.45 32.97 rent 800 stores in grocery and 440 stores its commercialvehicles and Daewoo within four weeks. Silver Lake, KKR,Gen- retail businesses in India and,by leverag- *additional investment in fashion and lifestyle, thus taking its rangewas higherat 29% as against eralAtlantic,Mubadala,GICandTPGhave ing both its physical and digital supply total network to 2,400. passengervehicle sales,which fell 9%. L&Tlaunches final ● STARTS OCT 17 offshore patrolvessel CCI moves SC against HC LARSENANDTOUBRO (L&T) on Tuesdaysaid it has launched the seventh and final offshorevessel for Amazon makes annual stayon probe against the Indian Coast Guard at its defence shipyard at Kattupalli.Thevessel is the last in the series of seven offshore patrolvessels contracted to L&Tby Amazon,Flipkart the defence ministryin March 2015. sale a month-long affair PHOTO: BLOOMBERG Uberlaunches employee FE BUREAU FE BUREAU Amazon had said the CCI order was New Delhi, October 6 New Delhi, October 6 passedwithout“primafacieapplicationof commute services mind”,andtermingitsfindings“perverse, UBERHAS EXPANDED its Uberfor AMAZON ONTUESDAYsaiditwillstartits THE COMPETITION COMMISSION of arbitrary,untenableinlaw”,hadfiledawrit Business product offering by annual festive sale on October 17,and has India (CCI) has filed an appeal in the petitionintheKarnatakaHighCourtseek- launching two commute-specific planned a month-long sale event in India Supreme Court against an interim stay ing a stayon the investigation. services.The Employee Group Rides thisyear.Asthepandemichasdisruptedrou- orderissued bythe Karnataka High Court TheHighCourt,whilegrantingtempo- will enable employees from the same tine,thecountrytypicallymorepronetotra- in February against the fair trade regula- rary relief to Amazon and Flipkart, had organisation to book rides togetherto ditionalshoppinghasaddednewonlinecus- tor'sprobeintotheallegeddiscriminatory observed that the Enforcement Direc- work and Business Charterwill allow tomers across age groups.Amazon did not business practices by Amazon and Wal- torate has already initiated an investiga- companies to reserve a dedicated fleet mentionanenddateforthesale. mart-controlled Flipkart. tion into the two firms’operational activ- fortheiremployees and customers. At a virtual press conference, Manish The plea was filed by the CCI on Sep- ities alleged to be in contravention of the Tiwary, vice-president at Amazon India tember 21.The matter may be FDI (foreign direct invest- UpGrad records 50% said,“Itisgoingtobeamonth-longseason listed for hearing this week, a CCI in January ment) policy in e-com- of celebration,of festivities and that’s how memberaffiliated to the Delhi had directed its merce.The court also noted revenue growth in Q2 wehavedesignedtheGreatIndianFestival.” workfromhomenecessitatedtheaddition “Demand across categories is very VyaparMahasangh(DVM)told director-general to thatwhiletheCCIhadasked HIGHERED-TECH FIRM upGrad The surge in online ordervolumes has of more screens and devices.The demand heavy compared to what it used to be. In FE.Anticipatingsuchamoveby probe Amazon and for Amazon’s comments in reported a 50% growith in its gross prompted e-commerce companies to alsoextendstosupportingaccessorieslike the Diwali season,we expect these trends the CCI, Amazon has filed a Flipkart for alleged anearliercasefiledbytheAll revenue in the second quarter,as per recruit fresh staff.Amazon said its regis- routers. Citing an internal survey,Tiwary tocontinueifnotsortofmultiply,”Tiwary caveat in the SC,which means India Online Vendors Asso- discriminatory its Q2 business performance results tered Prime members are buying more. said there is a strong demand for mid- said.While consumption of formal wear the Court has to give a hearing ciation, it should have held released onTuesday.Thiswill keep the While the frequency of purchasing has range smartphones priced between has taken a hit,Tiwary expects the festive tothecompanybeforepassing business practices consultations with the par- companyon track forits forecasted goneup,theyarealsoexperimentingwith `15,000-`25,000. period to create demand as consumers anyorder,the membersaid. ties in the present matter `1,200 crore annual run rate. new categories and adding more items to Sports equipment and yoga mats are would want to look their “festive best,” Following a plea by the before passing the theirshoppingcarts.Thecompanyhasalso amongothercategoriesthathaverecorded evenwhile hosting Zoom parties. DVM, the CCI in January had directed its impugned order. Fynd,Flipkart join hands added newusers,Tiwarysaid. an “unprecedented spike” in demand of Amazon Prime members will get early director general to probe Amazon and Welcoming the appeal filed by the CCI, E-commerce firms are estimated to late.Withhome-boundconsumershaving accesstothe salestartingOctober16.Cus- Walmart-controlled Flipkart,stating that the Confederation ofAll IndiaTraders said to help brands list,sell touch $4 billion in GMV during the first more time to experiment in the kitchen tomers and business buyers can now also “…it needs to be investigated whether the theassociationwouldurgethegovernment FYND HASANNOUNCED a new leg of the festive sales this year, a growth and adorn their houses,segments such as supportsmallbusinessesbyshoppingfrom allegedexclusivearrangements,deep-dis- tobanfestivalsalesofthesecompanies. integrationwith Flipkart to help of 50% year-on-year, according to esti- kitchen/home appliances,gourmet foods SMB deals and save with rewards,which counting and preferential listing by the AmazonandFlipkartcornerbulkofthe brands effortlesslylist and sell mates byconsulting firm RedSeer. and furniture have seen an increase in theycanredeemduringthesale. Ops (opposite parties - Flipkart andAma- domestic e-commerce market share,and products. Fynd’s merchants can Electronicsasasegmentisseeingcon- sales.Consumersarealsobuyingessential Rival Flipkart is hosting its Big Billion zon)arebeingusedasanexclusionarytac- have been investing heavily to grow their activate theirphysical stores on the siderabletractiononAmazon,asstudyand clothing,openandsportsfootwear. Days sale from October16 to 21. tic to foreclose competition”. businesses. Flipkart marketplace and convenientlymanage inventoryand orderswithin Fynd. RAI appoints Bijou Indian IT shares soar on expected positive Q2 performance

Kurien as chairman SRINATH SRINIVASAN companies led by a mix of digital founda- THE RETAILERSASSOCIATION of Bengaluru, October 6 TCS Infosys Wipro IT growth set for tion,integrated deals from smallerclients, India (RAI) onTuesdaysaid it has Intra-day on BSE (`) Intra-day on BSE (`) Intra-day on BSE (`) experiencetransformationandcoretrans- 2,760 1,065 340 appointed industryveteran Bijou AHEAD OFTHE Q2FY21results,sharesof 1,055.75 comeback: Fitch formationdeals.” Kurien as its chairman.The board of IT services firms such as TCS,Infosys and 2,736 2,716.15 335 333.15 Total contract value numbers are directors,on September30,also Wipro are showing positive outlook.Bro- 2,720 1,055 1,054.10 330 THE INDIAN ITservicessectoris expected to be robust across large compa- appointed Kulin Lalbhai,executive kerages estimate the sequential revenue 330 expectedtoreturntohighsingle- niesfuelledbymegaandlargedealwinsand 2,680 1,045 director,Arvind,asvice-chairman. growth for the sector to lie between 1.8% 325 digitrevenuegrowthin2021-22 awardsofcontractsthatwereinitiatedpre- and 3.7% in constant currency terms and galvanisedbyhigherdemandfor Covid.“For example,Infosys’numbers will 2,640 1,035 Unnati raises `12 cr 1-5%indollartermsforthequarterended Previous close: Previous close: 320 Previous close: digitaltransformationaftera be bolstered byVanguard deal and TCS by September30. 2,706.85 1,048.20 334.05 flattish2020,accordingtoFitch Phoenix.HCLTech’smegadealwasreported from Nabventures 2,600 1,025 315 AsperarecentKotakInstitutionalEqui- Open Close Open Close Open Close Ratings.Inareporttitled‘Spotlight: inmedia,whileWiproannouncedacouple AGRI-TECH START-UPUNNATI has ties report,this will largely be due to rea- IndianITServicesSector’,Fitchsaid of interesting wins.Mphasis among mid- raised `12 crore from Nabventures,a sonabledemandtrendsacrossfinancialser- theimpactofthe pandemicisseen tier companies will likely report a strong fund backed bythe National Bank for vices, telecom and insurance and forecast across Tier-1 IT.As a result, our productsandautomationtoreduceprocess tobemoderateandshortterm,as number powered by the $216-million Agriculture and Rural Development supply-sidefactorsthatimpactedrevenues earning pershare estimates are up 1-16% bottlenecks,”itadded. customersfocusontransforming three-year deal signed in July 2020,” the (Nabard),to scale up its tech platform inJune2020quartertricklingdown.Rupee acrossTier-1IT,includingTechM,”analysts Evolvingtrendsindicateincreasedout- businessesdigitally,moving analysts said.The mega deals are expected and set up more partnerstores. depreciation, reduced travel and rental atNomuraResearchIndiasaid. sourcing due to stretched client financials platformsonline,andminimise toputHCLTechastopperformerwith3.7% costs promise increased margins.Analysts Amongtopbusinesssegments,digitalis and specialised capabilities that Indian IT spendingonlegacyservices. growthinconstantcurrencytermsforSep- Asus unveils newvariant atKotakexpectTechMahindratoreportthe expected to show growth. Analysts at firmspossessovercleint’sin-housetechni- — PTI temberquarter. highest increase in Ebit margin on a Nomura said banks witnessed a sharp cal teams. This may reflect positively on GoingforwardwiththeDecemberquar- of ROG Phone 3 forsale sequentialbasisat193bpsfollowedbyTCS increaseindigitallog-ins,growthinmobile theirresults. as of 2019, as per Gartner), followed by ter,analystsexpecttheguidancesofInfosys, ASUS REPUBLIC OF Gamers (ROG) at161bps.However,duetothework-from- internet users and the rise in transaction Earlier,Gartner’s IT spending forecast retail, healthcare, manufacturing and HCLTechandWiprotobeintherangeof1- will launch a 12GB/128GBvariant of home infrastructure and subsequent data volumesinthepasttwoquarters. predicteda7.5%CAGRonoutsourcing(vs energy(65% of ITspending in theseverti- 3%, 1.5-2.5% and 0-2%, respectively. ROG Phone 3,designed formobile securityinvestments,analystsarecautious McKinsey’s digital sentiment survey 4%CAGRbetween2010and2019)vs2% calsisoutsourced). Management commentaries on crucial gaming,during the Flipkart‘Big inassertingasubstantialimprovement. also revealed a 20-100% rise in the num- CAGRforin-houseITspending,alloverthe Onthedealsfront,IndianITmajorshave variables like furloughs,pricing,discounts Billion Days’sale.Priced `52,999, “Further,the shift to work from home ber of online users across industries in the expected period of 2020-2022. Nomura healthy pipeline with payments and clo- and rebatesare alsoexpectedtobetracked ROG Phone 3 is also available on up to will require changes to the SEZ export US.“Thisnecessitatedoverallcoretransfor- analystssaidwithinverticals,BFSIandtele- surescomingthroughinthelasttwoquar- closely.With a very positive outlook,ana- nine months’no-cost EMI starting at incentivepolicies.WeraiseourEbitmargin mation of enterprises, including shift to comhaveledthepushonoutsourcing(68% ters.AnalystsatKotakInstitutionalEquities lystshavegivenIndianITstocks‘buy’rating `5,556 a month. estimates by 40-150 bps over FY22-23 cloud,usingdata&analyticstoroll-outnew ofITspendinginthesesectorsisoutsourced said,“The deal pipeline is strong across all aheadoftheQ2FY21results. Paytm has a long way to go before weaning users off Google’s platform Icra sees hint of recovery for ISHAAN GERA & RISHI RANJAN KALA Apt comparison? Android's 2.5 billion orApple’s 1.4 billion Gartner’s senior research director New Delhi, October 6 global active userbase. ManjunathBhatsaidotherappstorescan- Apps Developers Rakesh Deshmukh, co-founder and not match up with Play Store as they lack steel industry PAYTM MAY BE moving ahead quickly to Google Play Store 34,04,581 CEO of Indus OS which runs IndusApp “network effects”. “Play Store is manda- createamini-appstore—itplanstoshow- 75,92,91 Bazaar, said creating an app store of torytomakeuseofGoogleMobileServices PRESS TRUST OF INDIA case a demo on October8 — but data indi- Apple App Store 17,33,326 Google’s size is a humongous challenge. that includes other apps like Maps.Any New Delhi, October 6 cate that it will take more than just an 13,45,180 “We have been here forsevenyears.In the Android-based OEM device comes pre- IndianplatformtoupendGoogle’smarket. firstyearofourappstore,wehad300apps. bundled with Play Store which provides THE DOMESTIC STEEL industryis wit- Amazon App Store 6,02,325 After Google’s announcement last 1,29,357 Youareworkinginaspacewhichhasbeen users with a secure, reliable and familiar nessing early green shoots of recovery week that itwill charge 30% commission captured by someone else and has a accesspathtodownloadapps.Anappstore fromthesecondquarterofongoingfiscal, on in-app purchases forexchange of digi- Tencent App Store 82,798 decade of experience,”he said. is fundamentally a market place — and a rating agencyIcra said. 52,158 talgoodsusingitsappstore,aconsortium It was not easy to get developers on market place thrives as a result of both TheCovid-19pandemicandlockdown of Indian app creators decided to chal- Indus App Bazaar* 4,00,000 IndusastheyareusedtotheGoogleexpe- producers and consumers actively con- had forced steel players to reduce their lengeGoogle’smonopoly.Paytmhassince rience,hesaid.“Forinstance,onthedevel- tributing to the growth of the market.” capacity utilisation and look for export been able to convince 300 creators to list *Company's claim; Source: 42matters operportal,where theycome,sign up and Moreover, restrictions placed by markets to adjust theirproduce. their apps. However, its success depends publish apps, developers compare how Google also hinder listing of third-party However,“the domestic steel industry on how easily it will be able to wean users app store maynot be that easy. 52,158 developers. Play Store is different than Indus,”Desh- app stores on its Play Store.Neither the is witnessing early green shoots of recov- off Google’s PlayStore. Datafrom42mattersonappavailabil- India’s native app store, Indus App mukh said. Citing another example, he Amazon app store nor Samsung’s Galaxy ery from Q2 FY2021 (second quarter of China certainly has lessons for Indian ity and developer preference for Google Bazaar,which also offers translation ser- said Indus offers search functionality, StorearelistedonPlayStore.Besides,con- financialyear20-21),supportedbyeasing app makers.As per Newzoo data, Google andApple’splatformsshowsthatevenbig vices to apps in 12 Indian languages, has which took two-and-a-half years to build cerns over the safety of consumer data of mobility restrictions and a gradual onlyaccountedfor3.6%shareinthemar- names like Amazon and Tencent haven’t been able to show some success — the and bring it on a parwith PlayStore. deters people from using such services. improvement in the domestic demand ketinJuly2017.ButthesuccessofChinese been able to put up a competition.Google companyclaimstohave400,000appsand A key factor is that stakeholders like As a result, unless Paytm or any environment,”Icra said in a report. app stores is owed to the dominance of has3.4millionappsonPlayStore,whereas 56 million monthly active users. But this users,OEMs,developers,andgovernment other native app store can onboard “Consequently, the performance of native apps and local language content. Applehas1.7millionapps.Theyalsohave may also be due to the company running have to come together to create such a enough users, it is unlikely that the steelmills,especiallyblastfurnaceplayers, In India, however,where Google Play 0.8 million and 1.3 million developers, its operating system for mobile phones store. Besides, apps also have to be avail- marketwillshiftawayfromGoogleoriOS. is expected to register a healthy rebound Store cordons off 94% of the market and respectively.Incontrast, Amazonhasonly anditspartnershipwithSamsungtopop- ableinregionallanguages,asonly10%of India will need more local content and inQ2,supportedbyrisingcapacityutilisa- accountedfor360millionuniquevisitors asixthofappsanddevelopers.Tencenthas ulate its Galaxy Store.Even with 100 mil- population can speak English.And most many more apps for a native app store tionrates,successivesteelpriceshikes,and inAugust,as perComscore,entryof anew anevenlowershare,with82,798appsand lion users, it only forms a fraction of critical is the discoveryof local apps. to be successful. tepid input costs,”it added.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS 5

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Pune 6 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM ATTACK ON FARMERS

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

PM earlier implemented demonetisation, then the ill- ❝conceived GSTand during COVID-19, did not give any❝ monetary aid to the poor ...After all this, now farmers have been attacked by bringing in the new laws OpinionWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020

● ECONOMIC STRESS Compounding the SHARP CONTRACTION IN FINANCIALFLOWS LASTYEAR Hathras horror SHOWS EXCEPTIONALSTRESS The UP administration’s ham-fisted approach in the matter underscores a desire to bulldoze accountability Financial flows must revive HE MOBILISATION OF caste groups against the backdrop of the alleged rapeandmurderofaDalitgirlinHathras—byOppositionpoliticiansand identity-politics leaders—can be argued both as a political assertion for T rights of the marginalised and as opportunistic exploitation of caste faultlinesinthesociety,fromdifferentvantagepoints.But,theUttarPradesh(UP) for economic recovery government’sclaimthatthemobilisationisan“internationalconspiracy”toinsti- gatecasteriotsanddefametheYogiAdityanath-leddispensationislittlemorethan HE 4.2% GDP growth in ering of production ought to provide an attempt to deflect scrutinyoverits failures. 2019-20 rattled everyone. the impetus. OneofthemostegregiousfailuresintheepisodehasbeenthatoftheUPPolice; The year had begun with Initial trends reflect tepidity.Less while the incident happened on September 14,the police filed a complaint based expectations around 7%, RENU thanhalftheamountofspecialliquidity ontheFIRonlybySeptember20andrecordedthevictim’sstatementonthealleged abovethatin2018-19,and schemeforstressedNBFCs(`300billion) rapeonSeptember22.Ifpastisprecedent,UPPolicepersonnelcertainlydon’tseem anTupturn aftera two-yeardownswing. KOHLI that ended in Septemberwas approved to be sensitised on crimes againstwomen,and among these,againstwomen from Growth was expected to be driven by Author is a New Delhi based macroeconomist (`111.2 billion,39 proposals); less than marginalisedgroups—indeed,threeofitspersonnelhavebeencharge-sheetedbythe higher financial flows to the commer- Views are personal quarter of funds disbursed (`72.3 bil- CBI in the Unnao rape case.The state government has not responsibly acquitted cial sector, monetary easing and lion).Reasons forthis are reported to be itself; the girl’s familyalleges that the police hurriedlycremated herbody,without improved transmission, a fillip from consolidation, strict eligibility terms, theirexplicitconsent,soonafterherbodywasreleasedfromSafdarjungHospitalin publicspendinginruralareas,amongst lion; systemically important NBFCs fully-guaranteedcollateral-freelending shorttenure,amongstothers;mostsuch thenationalcapital.ThestategovernmenthastoldtheSupremeCourtthatthecre- others.Instead,theyearendedwithGDP (netofbankcredit)didmarginallybet- programme,partially-guaranteed sub- apprehensions existed from the outset mation was expedited because it had “intel inputs” that the death would have growth plunging to 3.1% in the last ter at `135.7 billion! Bank credit ordinate debt for stressed MSMEs,and oftheannouncement.Thepartialcredit sparked large-scale violence and caused major law & order problems—ironically, quarter(Jan-March,2020).The slide,in (adjusted, non-food) flow ebbed by a pooledinvestmentfundforequityinfu- guarantee (`450 billion) to banks for therehassincebeenarallyinsupportoftheaccused,capturedoncamera,withslo- defiance of all expectations—above all, factorof two in contrast—`5.8 trillion sion in MSMEs.Another arm provides NBFC lending appears to have elicited the central bank’s—is often attributed from`11.2 trillion theyearbefore.For partial credit guarantee to public sector comparably better response—`255.1 gans that can seem as an attempt to intimidate the victim’s family.The UP Police to financial sectorweakness,although an economy sized `203 trillion,this is banks on borrowings of NBFCs, HFCs, billionofbondsandcommercialpapers imposedavirtualcurfewonthevictim’sfamilyandbarricadedhervillagebydeploy- remaining speculative.But now, an eye-popping collapse! microfinance institutions (MFIs),and were bought as on September 25.And, ingnearly300personnel,asreportedbyvariousmainlinemedia,whilemembersof recently published data on financial The accompanying graphic shows creates a fully-guaranteed special pur- underthe `3 trillion guaranteed emer- thevictim’sfamilyhaveaccusedthedistrictadministrationofputtingpressureon flowstothecommercialsectorconfirms that the financial resource flows from posevehicle,managedbyapublicsector gency credit line ending this month, them not to speak to the media. Beyond this, the visuals of UP police personnel whygrowthsanktothedepthsitdidlast NBFCs fell steeply despite that bank bank,tobuytheshort-termdebtofeligi- banks had sanctioned `1.77 trillion assaulting Opposition politicians—even manhandling Congress general secretary year—financingfromallsegmentssawa lending sustained its raised pace,27% bleNBFCsandHFCs. loanstoMSMEsandindividualsanddis- inchargeofEasternUPPriyankaGandhi—doesthestategovernmentnocredit,the breath-taking slide that is unprece- average and thrice the overall credit The dependence upon financial bursed `1.25 trillion as on September subsequentapologyfromthepoliceandtalkofinternalinquirynotwithstanding. dented! Besides illuminating the pre- growth since 2017-18.However,bank intermediaries,chieflypublic banks,for 21;privatebanksexceededpublicones. Thestategovernmenthasgonetrigger-happywithchargestobeatdownanycrit- Covid fall in growth,this new perspec- supportordoubledLICinvestmentsand combating the Covid-19 shock and The unenthusiastic response here is icismofitshandlingofthecase—asperanIndianExpressreport,ithasinvokedcharges tive raises concern about the pace of external commercial borrowings,1.3x uplift the economy is obvious. The reportedlyduerejectionsbybanksdueto ofsedition,cheating,criminalconspiracy,evenpromotingenmitybetweendifferent post-Covidrecoveryaswell. increase in foreign direct investment impactofthesesupportivemeasureshas ineligibility and risk aversion,despite groupsandimputations,assertionsprejudicialtonationalintegration,amongother The accompanying graphic illus- couldnotoffsetorstemthedecline. tobeseenorvisualisedinthelightofthe enhanced scope and coverage since the charges,in21FIRsacrossthestate,sixofwhichhavebeenfiledinHathras.Whilethe tratestheseverecontractioninfinancial The question arises if funds flow severe collapse before Covid.An impor- initialannouncement. needistoexpeditejusticeforthevictim’sfamily,thestategovernmenthasrequested resource flows to the business sector in slowed so severely because of low tantquestionarisinghereisthefinancial These are narrow snapshots.Aggre- theSupremeCourttoorderaninvestigationofthe‘criminalconspiracytospreadcaste 2019-20 from all segments,domestic demand or risk-aversion,tighter lend- strength of firms for eligibility of gate bank credit growth gives a broader conflictandinstigateviolenceandincidentsofpropaganda’bythemediaandpoliti- and external.It is set in the context of ing standards, and liquidity crunch announced support, viz viable as on picture: relative to this March,this con- cians.Suchastand,withoutdoubt,hasachillingeffectonmarginalisedgroupsmobil- almost a decade’s preceding trend.The (NBFCs).Itwouldbefairtoassumeboth March2020.Howviablewerebusinesses tracted -1.8% in August with credit to isinganddemandingjustice,whichisahealthyfeatureforatruedemocracy.Theinep- depths to which these sank is startling: factors account for the slump, e.g., that banks or nonbanks were averse to NBFCs at -1.3%; both are significantly titude of the UP administration is,thus,only compounded by the attempt to stall scaled to GDP,these were down to 7%, occasional statements of bank chiefs financing before Covid-19? The role of lowerthanthematchingperiodlastyear. lowestinadecadeandwaybelow11.6% and real economic indications on the demand-supplyfactorsbecomescrucial, Onanannualbasis,totalnon-foodcredit democraticoversight—unstatedcurfewstokeepmediaandcivilsocietyfromreach- averagedsince2011-12.At`14.5trillion demand side,and consistent urging of given the weak funding flow before paceslowedinAugust(6%)comparedto ing thevictim’s familyand police assault on politicianswhowanted to the meet the lastyear,fundflowswere`9trillionless bankstoshedhesitationorfearoflend- Covid.Thatrisk-aversionorcautionmay July (6.75%); the slowing of credit to victim’s and build political pressure in the interest of justice betrays a ham-fisted than2018-19,equalling2012-13levels. ing byRBI and government. notjustcarryover,butquitelikelyaggra- NBFCs is more pronounced at 17% in approachtobulldozeaccountability.Thepresentcrisiswasanopportunityfortherul- The accompanying graphic shows Against this backdrop, post-Covid vatewiththeCovidshock. Augustcomparedto25%averagedthis ingdispensationtosignalthatitmeansbusinessonensuringaccountabilityandjus- howthisfallisdistributedacrossmajor policy responses providing liquidity, How have agents responded until June-July and less than half the pace in tice—instead,CMAdityanath chose to see the outrage overthe incident as“conspir- financialsystemsegments(domestic). keep credit flowing are appropriate.On now?The period is too short to reckon August2019. acyby“someanarchistswhocan’tbeartoseedevelopmentinthestate”. Relativeto2018-19,financialresource the borrowers’side,the support ranges progress.Virus infections are not yet It is quite likely that seasonal and flow from housing finance companies fromregulatorymeasurestoencourage contained,the spread adding to exist- unlocking factors could increase the (HFCs) was 19x lower that by systemi- creditflows(retailsectorandMSMEs)to ing uncertainty of lenders and bor- pace,dispelorreducelenders’cautious- cally important nonbanks (NBFCs- forbearanceonassetclassification(loans rowers. However, basic sustenance ness as more light is shed on the credit- A richly deserved honour NDSIs) declined 9x! In rupee terms, to MSMEs,real estate developers).The needsoffinanciallyweakandvulnera- worthinessofborrowers,businesstrends HFCs funding flow was just `85.7 bil- secondprongtargetsbusinesseswiththe blebusinesses,aswellaspartialrecov- andloandemand.Thenextquartermay Medicine Nobel for discovery that made blood transfusions safer provide important clues. Much also Financialflows fell sharply Decline across-the-board, but NBFCfinancing collapsed dependsupontheadvancementorevo- N AYEARwhentheworldhasbeenheldhostagebyavirus,theNobelforphysi- lutionofthepandemic. in 2019-20 HFCs & NBFCs exceptional despite steady bank support However, one must flag that any ology/medicinegoingtothescientistswhodiscoveredthehepatitisCvirusseems Flow of resources to commercial sector Flow of Resources, ` bn % y-oy change in outstanding bank credit Non-food credit advancement or uplift in funds flow apt.American scientists HarveyAlter and Charles Rice and the UK’s Michael % of GDP ` trillion, Rhs 12,000 Net issuance of 29.2 will be from their shocking pre-Covid HoughtonhavebeenrecognisedbytheNobelcommitteefortheirgroundbreak- 16 25 30 26.9 I 10,000 CPs subscribed 25.9 collapse.Thereareriskstobothlenders 25 ingdiscoverythathasmadebloodtransfusionsafer.HepatitisCvirus(HCV),alongwith 14 Period avg, 11.6% to by non-banks and borrowers from the additional of GDP 20 8,000 hepatitisBandHIV,isamongthemajorpathogensforblood-borneinfections,andas 12 Net Credit by 20 stress, especially financial intermedi- pertheWHO,about71millionpeopleintheworld—6-11millionIndiansincluded— 10 6,000 housingfinance 15 companies 15 aries,some of who may be unable to sufferfromHCVinfection,atopcauseofcirrhosisandlivercancer. 8 4,000 withstand or propagate more stress Beforethe1970s-1980s,whentheviruswasdiscoveredandidentified,theworld 7.1 Total gross 10 6 10 2,000 accommodation across the real economy.Policymakers knewoftwohep-viruses,AandB—Awasresponsibleforamilderformofliverdisease 5 4 by NABARD, NHB, are seized of these dangers no doubt. andwastransmittedthroughcontaminatedfoodandwater,whileBwasmoreinsidi- 5 0 SIDBI & EXIM Bank But,theyarealsoextremelydependent 2 0 ous,withsignsofinfectionmanifestingyearsaftercontraction,asseriouslivercondi- -2,000 Systematically upon the financial sector to drive the 0 0

important non- FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 tionslikecirrhosisandcancer.ForyearsafterHBV’sdiscovery—whichalsowonthesci- -4,000 recovery. Superimposed upon last deposit taking entists behind it the Nobel—chances of blood-borne liver-conditions continued to Bank credit to NBFCs year’s trickle of financial resources,we

FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 NBFCs (net of FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 cloud blood transfusions till the time HCVwas discovered; even though blood was Source: Handbook of Statitstics, RBI with author's calculations bank credit) Overall non-food credit growth just do not know what the pace or screenedforHBV,thisbroughtdowntheblood-borneliverdiseasebyjust20%.While progress of recoveryahead could be. thereareeffectiveanti-viralsthattreatHCVinfectionandteststhatdetectpresencein bloodmarkedfortransfusion,avaccineisyettobedeveloped. WhileAlterandhiscollaborators,workingthroughthe1970s,definedthecharac- LETTERS TO teristicsofthevirus,Houghtonandhisresearchpartnersidentifiedthevirusin1982; in1997,Riceconclusivelyshowedthattheviruswasresponsibleforchronichepatitis Water crisis: The elephant in the room THE EDITOR in human beings.The well-deserved honour for the three,however,brings to sharp reliefalimitationoftheNobelPrize.In2013,ithadbeenreportedthatHoughtonhad Addressing water risks requires the fundamental refusedawell-knownhonourforhisworkonhepatitisCbecauseitexcludedco-work- shift from enhancing short-term systemic GAURAV TANEJA & Bihar elections ers George Quo and Qui-Lim Choo,who he believed made seminal contributions to performance to ensuring equally long-term ABHAYA K AGARWAL The LJP led by Chirag Paswan has the research.Though Houghton has accepted the Nobel,he used his moment in the put Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in a soup limelighttounderscoretheinadequacyofthe‘threepersons’capfortheprize.Aspera resilience.The best time to act on it is now The authors are partners, Government and Public Sector, by deciding to field candidates Guardian report,Houghton remarked that“Great science,often,is a group of people EY India. Views are personal against JD(U) but not BJP.The andIthinkgoingforwardwesomehowneedtoacknowledgethat”. young Paswan wants to test his THE WATER SITUATION in India is torwith a vision for local issues,could losses; circular economy—encouraging party’s independent standing and graveowingtotremendouswater-stress, catalysethedepoliticisationofthewater recycle and reuse by various pro- dethrone Nitish in the elections. If depletingaquifers,dyingriversandlarge arena.WhilesomestateslikeMaharash- grammes like the NMCG,development BJP wins more seats than JD(U), it MindTheGap chunks of land facing desertification. tra have set up a water regulator,they ofreusepolicieslikeGujarat,TamilNadu; will have a genuine claim for the CM The net water availability,close to 700 have fundamental flaws like financial desalination—developingformalpolicy post. But, Nitish is a seasoned An online portal on mental health is a good start, BCM, appears to meet the present dependencyon the state,limitations in and building upon existing effortswith politician with an incredible track demand,but a tremendousvariation in its powers to regulatewatertariffs,lack dueconsiderationstooverarchinguseof record of flitting effortlessly but need to increase spends too rainfall patterns and surface water of adjudicatory powers and overriding renewableenergytoreduceitsenviron- between political divides. In 2017 regimes make areas like the northeast accesstobureaucratstoitscommittee. mentalimpact.NITIAayoghasproposed he returned to the NDA fold just as GAINSTTHE BACKDROP ofover300millionpeopleaffectedbydepres- water-rich while others like the south- Unregulated and free access to desalinationalongIndia’svastcoastline. easily as he embraced UPAin 2015. sion,theWHO’sannouncementthatCovid-19hadhalted93%ofmental west and west extremelywater-scarce. groundwater has resulted in exploita- Historically,imbalancesinthewater BJP’s challenge is to prevent a healthserviceacrosstheworldisalarming.Covid-19hasexacerbatedissues Increasing population,rapid urbanisa- tion.Water-intensiveactivitiesinwater- supplyhavebeenredressedbyaugment- repeat of Maharashtra last year, of mental health,but has also mainstreamed discussions about it.Many tion,climatechangeandotherdriversare scarceregionsmustbestringentlyregu- ing more water and developing new when Shiv Sena joined hands with A onlyfurtherwideningthedemand-sup- lated.Thereisaneedforenhancementof infrastructure. As a result, water UPAto bag the CM post. In Bihar countries are now considering mental health as a serious concern.Stress-related to lockdownshasincreasedawareness.So,theplanofMentalHealthFoundationofIndia, ply gap by increasing the demand at inter-state trade that promotes respon- resources are being exploited to the politics, current pre-poll alliances may or may not last beyond the as perthe Indian Express, to launch a mental health portal is indeed commendable. approximately10%perannum. sibleaccesstowater. extent of becoming non-replenishable. Over the last few decades,India has Learning its lessons from the power The answer,therefore,lies in reducing elections. Nitish must worry about StartingOctober10,theWorldMentalHealthDay,theportal,MiHope,canbeusedfor made large investments inwater infra- sector,thewatersector,whichisamono- the demand side of the equation. LJP because it was a similar plan by booking consultations with doctors atAIIMS.The portal will also promote lifestyle structure (estimated at `350-400 per lith institution almost completely con- Demand-side entails pricing of water Ram Vilas Paswan in 2005, interventionssuchastherightdiet,yoga,etc,toovercomestress-relateddisorders. capitaannuallyundervariousschemes), trolledbythegovernment,shouldgrad- rationalisedtoitsvalueandalteringthe contesting against RJD in 178 seats Thisinitiativeisindeedlaudable,butthegovernmentneedstolookatthelarger ~`430 billion under JNNURM,~`200 ually move towards unbundling, public perception that clean and safe though both were national partners picture on mental health in the country.Mental health issues have often been the billion under Smart Cities,~`80 billion followedbyprivateparticipationincer- water is a social but an economic good. in UPA, that ended Lalu Prasad’s 15- subject of stigma in society,and the government hasn’t been able to do much to underAMRUTand`50-100billioneach tain inefficient segments.Various mul- Awareness regarding subsidies that go year-long rule over Bihar. If history address this.Even though suicides have been rising,the government spending on year for NRDWP.Although the country tilateral institutions have played a key into the water system could increase were to repeat, this would be mentalhealthhasremainednegligible.RecentdatareleasedbytheNationalCrime has benefitted from these investments, role in facilitating privatisation invest- accountability.Irrigationbeingthetop- Nitish’s turn to be tripped by Records Bureau showed that over 1.39 lakh people committed suicide in 2019; the coverage remains poor with 82% ment.Privatisation is a key enabler for mostwaterconsumerat80%usage,has another Paswan after another 15 this was a 3% increase from last year. Sixty-seven per cent of all suicides were ruralpopulation,about163millionstill introducingefficiencyinoperationsand an efficiency as low as 45%.Rainwater year hegemony. Chirag has accounted for by those aged 18-45 and mental illness was a cause for suicide for bereft of piped water.Water,unfortu- investments alongwith bringing about harvesting,efficient plumbing fixtures, garnered the spotlight by openly 6,491 or7% of the total suicide committed byyoungsters. nately,remains a pending agenda con- contractualandcommercialdiscipline. recycling greywater,and micro-irriga- challenging Nitish. But, Nitish’s IntherecentBudget,theallocationfortheNationalMentalHealthProgramme trarytotheothersectors.Waterisastate Theuseofnew-agemethodstotrans- tionneedtobeincentivised. success in growing his party was a mere `40 crore.What is worse, against a similar-sized allocation in FY20, subject,anditsgovernancestructurehas formthewatersectorinordertoprovide Addressing water risks requires the beyond a narrow caste base is revisedestimatesshowthatthegovernmentgaveonly`5croretotheprogramme. a fragmented and complex interface alternative sources and improve effi- fundamental shift, from enhancing worth studying for Bihar’s younger Thegovernment,thus,needstoinvestfarmoreheavily,bothinexpandingthescope withlackofcoordination,accountability ciency can ultimately reduce water short-term systemic performance to politicians even as they hammer oftheprogrammeandraisingawareness—atpresent,withIndia’shealthbudgetat and transparency.Jal Shakti,an aggre- stress.This includes non-revenuewater ensuring equally long-term resilience. away at his failures. — just about 2% of the GDP,there is little scope to increase the funding for mental gatewaterministry,isawelcomestepfor reduction—smartreal-timemonitoring, Thebesttimetoacttoaddressthewater Sanjay Chopra, Mohali health;atunder0.1%theyeartheMentalHealthcareBillwaspassed,centralfunds amelioratingvariouswaterinstitutions. metering atvarious levels and automa- crisis was ten years ago, the next best Anindependent,transparentregula- tion will ensure a reduction in systems timeisnow. ●Write to us at [email protected] formental healthwere lowerthan Bangladesh’s 0.44%.

R.N.I. Reg. No. MAHENG/2010/34809 Printed and published by Vaidehi Chintaman Thakar on behalf ofThe Indian Express Private Limited and printed at The Indian Express Private Limited Press, Survey No. 288, Plot 1 and 2, Raisoni Industrial Park, Village Maan, Taluka Mulshi, District Pune-411027 and published at The Indian Express Private Limited, Express House, Plot No. 1205/2/6, Shirole Road, Shivajinagar, Pune-411004. Phone: 67241000, Fax: 67241047. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Managing Editor: Sunil Jain, Resident Editor: Malini Bhupta* (*Responsible for selection of news under PRBAct)© Copyright: The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Financial Express®

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS OPINION 7

130 days.The ideal time is the firstweek of November for wheat to avoid early ● INDIAN RAILWAYS summer heat,which can cause prema- ture ripening and shrivelling of grain.A week’s delay in sowing beyond the opti- Time for track maltimeresultsinareductionofyieldby 150kganacre,saysthePAU’smanualfor cultivation ofwintercrops in the state. maintenance Punjab grows rice in about 3 million hectares. It has to be harvested with machines for wheat to be sown on time. The combine machines cut paddy about two feet above the ground.These leave loose straw in piles on either side after threshing. Raking and baling the straw addstothecost.Conventionalseeddrills RC cannotplantwheatinfieldswithstubble ACHARYA and loose straw.They need clean fields. Burningisacheapoption.Evenifthefun- The author is former member, Railway galmixissprayedonthestrawcover,con- Board ([email protected]) ventional seed drills will choke on the straw, because the decomposition takes about three months. With fewer trains running, it’s a chance Wheat can also be planted in unploughed fields with straw and stub- to put those idle track machines to work ble retained in them.The only require- ment is that the straw be chopped and spread evenly across the field after HEINDIANRAILWAYS,asthenation’seconomic threshing.Thiscanbedonewithcombine lifeline,haskeptitstransportnetworkhumming machines equipped with devices called with activityoverthe last six months during the the SMS (straw management system), pandemic. Although passenger services were which are now mandatory. Seed drills severelycurtailed,freighttrainshavebeenrolling called the Happy Seeders cut five-cm alongT its 65,000-km network, bringing coal to thermal deepslitsinstraw-coveredfieldsandsow plants,ironoretosteelplantsandlimestonetocementman- wheat seeds. The retained straw con- ufacturers.Foodgrainswereswiftlycarriedfromproducing serves soil moisture and suppresses to deficit states, and thousands of shipping containers weeds. It degrades in five to six months moved to ports forexport. onitsown.Fieldswithwheatsowninthis ShramikSpecialtrainshelpedthousandsofmigrantsand mannerforthreeyears need 20 kg lesser otherpassengersreachhomes.Reportedly,tillJune4,4,228 urea per acre from the fourth year special trains ferried 57.23 lakh migrants.Gujarat requisi- onwards, the PAU manual says.This is a tionedthehighestnumberoftrains(1,026),followedby802 method that has been recommended by trains for Maharashtra, mostly destined for Uttar Pradesh, premierresearchinstitutesincludingthe which received 1,695 and Bihar1,519 trains. ILLUSTRATION: ROHNITPHORE PAU, the Indian Council of Agricultural The slowdown also provided the Railways an opportu- Research (ICAR) and the CIMMYT (the nity to catch up with its much-needed track maintenance pectininpaddystraw.Thefungithriveat International Maize and Wheat andotherpendingprojectsthatneededa‘block’—inrailway 30-32 degree Celsius,which is the tem- Improvement Center,Mexico City). parlance it’s when all train running activities cease on a VIVIAN perature prevailing when paddy is har- Thepracticeofstrawretentioniscatch- given section. vested andwheat is sown. ing on,but the pace faltered lastyear.The Politicalheavyweightssuch FERNANDES The IARI has commercialised the numberof combine machines fittedwith as Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish technology.Ithaslicensedsixcompanies. strawmanagement devices in Punjab has Kumar,MamataBanerjee,Ram The author blogs at Two of these are ready to start produc- increasedfrom1,360in 2017 to5,422in Vilas Paswan, Sadananda The East Central www.smartindianagriculture.com tion, the IARI’s head of the Division of 2019.The number of Happy Seeders has Gowda, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Railway zone, in Microbiology,KAnnapurna,said. risenfrom640in2016to14,842in2019, etc, as railway ministers had Thefungiaresuppliedinfourcapsules. whentheyweredeployedonabout17%of merrily introduced over 100 particular, ● The starter culture is made byadding the Punjab’spaddyarea. newpassengertrainseveryyear managed to fast- CHLOROPHILE fungito50gramsofbesanand150grams In21%ofPunjab’sareaunderpaddy, in the last couple of decades, track a number of ofjaggeryinfivelitresofboiledandcooled thestrawischoppedandmixedinthesoil taking the total to almost electrification water.Everytwodaysthestarterisfedwith with machines. Soil microbes are quite 9,000 originating trains daily. jaggery mixed in five litres of water. efficient in digesting the straw, but the With additional 7,000 freight projects that had Twenty-litres of the broth diluted to 500 fungal spray will add to the microbial trains crowding the tracks, been languishing The fungal litresareenoughforonehectare. populationandquickenthejob.Whether track maintenance had been for years Among those who have tried the the incremental benefit justifies the severelyimpacted. decomposer is Ajay Pundhir,32,of Pipal extracostandeffortwillhavetobestud- Track maintenance ShahvillageinMuzaffarna- ied.The chopping and mix- machines need a clear one- gar tehsil in Uttar Pradesh. ing of straw is done with a and-a-half hour gap between two successive trains to get An MBA in biotechnology rotavator. A newly-intro- intoasection,carryoutthenecessarytampingwork,andget decomposer marketing, he gave up a Even IARI director duced machine called the out.With a plethora of new passenger trains being intro- salaried job for farming, AK Singh says the Super Seeder combines the ducedeveryyear,mosttrunkrouteswerecarryingtrafficat owing to family exigencies. decomposer is work of a rotavator and a 150% of their designed capacity,with little possibility of a Hehasusedthedecomposer seed drill. Farmers might track machine to be deployed between successive trains. on paddy straw and sugar- complementary to prefer this machine to the Resultantly,unlessa‘block’wasordered,trackmachines makes little cane cuttings. Sprayed on existing methods. It Happy Seeder because they remained idle forweeks.With the RailwayBoard’s constant cattledungmixedwithveg- is important for like neat fields. stressonensuringpunctualityofpassengertrains,veryfew etable shavings,it produces farmers to stay on There is an apprehen- divisional railwaymanagerswerewilling to stick theirneck friable vermicompost, sion that in fields where out and give priorityto track maintenance. Pundhirsaid. the message, which straw is mixed with the Now,thankstothepandemicandtheresultantsharpfall difference BaljitSingh,62,ofKheri is that straw is best soil, microbes, including inthenumberofpassengertrainsbeingrun,agoldenoppor- Sadh in Rohtak’s Sampla retained in the fungi, will compete with tunityhaspresenteditselfforasustaineddrivetomakegood The paddy straw decomposer developed by tehsil (Haryana), Rachpal field, on the surface plants for nitrogen when the backlog of track maintenance, especially on the all- Singh, 26, of Basti Thakur they digest the straw. This important trunk routes. the Indian Agricultural Research Institute is Dwara in Hoshiarpur dis- can affect plant growth In fact, some general managers in charge of zonal rail- trict (Punjab),Ankit Hathi, and yield. Hence, farmers wayshavedonepreciselythat,askingoperatingdivisionsto not a substitute for no-burning-stubble 24, of Bhensoda village in are advised to apply urea utilise track machines in what is known as‘shadow block’, management practices Mandsaur district (Madhya Pradesh), while sowing, and not later at the time when specific time slots are planned in advance so that a and Sandeo Sapkale,40,an armyofficer of irrigation. numberof track machines couldwork simultaneouslyon a in Jalgaon’s Kathora village (Maharash- It is important for farmers to stay on numberof sections on a given stretch of track. tra) have endorsed the decomposer for the message,which is that straw is best The East Central Railway (ECR) zone,with its headquar- its efficacy. retainedinthefield,onthesurface.There ters at Hajipur near Patna,was able to notch up over 53% Butisitanalternativetothemethods is a saving in time, cost and emissions. increase in utilisation of track machines for the half year HE INDIANAGRICULTURAL plantingwheat forthe newseason. alreadyrecommendedtoavoidtheburn- Incorporating the straw in the soil is the 2020,overthesameperiodlastyear.ItsSBCM(shoulderbal- ResearchInstitute(IARI)has Prakash Javadekar, the Union minis- ing of paddy stubble?“It is complemen- second option wheat growers (and the last cleaning machine) completed 300 km in six months, developed a fungal cocktail ter of environment, forest and climate tary, and not a substitute,” AK Singh, onlyoneforthosewhoplantpotatoafter while it did only195 km in the same period lastyear. that can make paddy straw change,has said it will be tried out in director,IARI,said. paddy).Microbialdecomposersarecom- The ECR zone also managed to fast-track a number of andstubblesoftwithinabout farms in Delhi and the surrounding BoththeIARIandthePunjabAgricul- plementary,andnotanalternative.There electrification projects that had been languishing foryears Tthreeweeks,andcompletelydegradeitin states.But is this innovation an alterna- tural University (PAU) began work on are issues like weed management with becausethe high densityof traffic on certain routes did not about sevenweekswhen mixedwith the tive to the existing methods of averting microbialdecompositionofpaddystraw the retention of straw on the surface. allow a‘block’.Mega projects such as new bridges over the soil. Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejri- stubble burning? in 2015 when alternatives to burning Weedsaredevelopingresistancebecause Kiul and Kosi rivers were also completed with resources of wal has asked chief ministers of neigh- PusaDecomposer,asitcalledafterthe were not available. Wheat is planted of repeated use of the same post-emer- men and material that had been denied foryears. bouring states to popularise it amongst name of the institute’s campus in Delhi, between the last weeks of October and genceherbicideswithoutrotation.These their farming community so that they is a mix of seven fungi that produce November.It is a five-month crop.There issues need to be addressed.They don’t don’tcleartheirfieldsbyburning,before enzymes to digest cellulose, lignin and are late-sown varieties that mature in invalidate the technology.

UK-INDIA ECONOMIC TIES

URING THE PANDEMIC, nerships already in place and there is Prime Minister Narendra appetite in both the countries for more. Modi stressed that India The government of India recently raised awaits the partnership of the Fast-tracking India the FDI cap forinvestment in the defence global business community sector from 49% to 74%,which is partly Dinitseffortstowardsanatmanirbhar(self- why a recent UKIBC event attracted 160 reliant) Bharat.This reinforced my belief atmanirbharta innovative,IP-richdefencecompaniesand that deeper UK-India economic coopera- for why there was such a high-powered and tion would accelerate the government’s successful minister-led UK delegation to aim of a self-reliant India,while bringing DefExpo in Lucknowin February2020. benefits to the UKaswell. From advanced engineering and technology The B2B connects are strong, and the Linked by our shared past and a set of UKandIndiangovernmentshavetheright common democratic values, but more to life sciences and healthcare, there are ambitions and approach to maximising forcefully by our shared ambitions of an many areas where the UK and India have theirshared economic potential.Thiswas exciting future, India and the UK are two obviousattheJointEconomicTradeCom- great allies and very close and significant complementarities for collaboration mittee(JETCO)inJuly2020,whenboththe economic partners. governments committed to an enhanced Indiaisthesecondlargestinvestorinto trade partnership,seen as a roadmap to a the UK, behind only the US.At the same JAYANT KRISHNA future FTA as proposed earlier by Prime time, the UK has been the second fastest Minister Boris Johnson.The journey will Group CEO, growingG20investorintoIndiainthelast UK India Business Council start by focusing on incremental market decade.Trade between the two countries access reforms that grow trade, invest- rose by nearly 10% (to £24 billion) in ment and prosperity.This blend of prag- 2019—much faster than the growth in partnership.Nowonder,takingontherole ating atmanirbhar Bharat, underpinned Advancedengineeringandtechnology Oxford University, the UK’s AstraZeneca matismandvisionisjustwhatbusinesses global trade. Indeed, the Indian govern- asthegroupCEOoftheUKIBCatthistime byboth the countries’strong track record also have the potential to support climate and the Serum Institute of India is evi- want,and there is a great deal of enthusi- ment understands the importance of is particularlychallenging and exciting. in technologyand innovation. goalsofboththecountries—beitforclean denceofthekindofuntoldpotentialwhen asmtobuildonthisannouncementbefore global economic inter-linkages, made Forexample,theaccelerateduseofdig- In manufacturing, the UK already has air, industrial waste, or renewable and British and Indian institutions work ministers meet in autumn for the next clearbyfinanceministerNirmalaSithara- ital technology and the need to expand a great presence in India,with the likes of moreefficientenergy.WithIndiafronting together. All are working on one of the round of JETCO discussions. man’sinsistencethatatmanirbharBharat healthcare provision are two of the more PerkinsEngines,JCB,BAESystems,Glaxo- theInternationalSolarAllianceandtheUK world’s most promising Covid-19 vac- Much like the rest of theworld,the UK means“integration,not isolation.” obvious trends that will shape the future SmithKline and Rolls-Royce well estab- hosting the UN climate conference in cines.ThiscombinationofR&Dandman- and India currently face stern economic Ambitiousreformsandanewapproach relationship.There are others and it was lished.The UK’s rich research and devel- November 2021, both are taking leading ufacturingprowessishuge,andtheworld challenges.But it is clearthat the comple- were probably needed even before the musictomyearsthat—whenunderlining opment ecosystem, coupled with the rolesandcansupporteachother’sdomes- iswatchingwith avid interest. mentaritiestheUKandIndianeconomies pandemic,with the UK forging an inde- the importance of global cooperation— desire of UK businesses—from SMEs to tic energyand climate goals. The UK and India must also look at enjoy mean that by tackling those chal- pendent trade policy after leaving the EU PrimeMinisterModihighlightedthecen- largeconglomerates—toenterandexpand And the opportunities in healthcare opportunities emanating from the busi- lengestogetherwewillemergesoonerand andtheIndianeconomyfacingchallenges trality of sectors such as manufacturing, in India, is a recipe for further success.At andlife sciences are tremendous and cru- ness sentiments worldwide to explore stronger.When countries come together of its own. The pandemic, though, has infrastructure, energy, pharmaceuticals, thesametime,IndianbusinesseslikeTata, cial.Accessibility,efficiencyandqualityof manufacturing supply chain possibilities on the right terms,all stakeholders bene- added not just urgency,but also new and spaceanddefence.Theseareallareasthat TVS and many others are simultaneously healthcare have never been more impor- as alternatives to China. And lastly, in fit, and the UK and India have come additional dimensions to the UK-India are ripe forIndia-UK collaboration in cre- establishing and expanding in the UK. tant. The collaboration between the defence, there are strong UK-India part- togethermore than most.

Pune 8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

COVID VACCINE Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,

WHO Director-General We❝ will need vaccines and there is hope❝ International that by the end of this year we may have a vaccine. There is hope. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 ● ‘THE LONG ASCENT’ US trade deficit widens to Globaleconomyfacinglong $67.1 billion,a 14-year high BLOOMBERG The overall gap in trade in supplychains.American businesses,which climbtorecovery:IMF head October 6 goods and services expanded drew down inventories at the start of the to $67.1 bn in August from a lockdown,have recentlyincreased imports THEUSTRADEdeficitwidenedinAugustto toreplenishstocksaheadoftheholidays. Georgieva told an online LSE the largest since 2006 as the nation revised $63.4 bn in July. Meanwhile,depressedeconomicactivity event that the IMFwill make WTO sees less imported a record amount of consumer Total imports increased 3.2% to abroad has led to smallerimprovements in a small upward revision to its severe global trade goodsamidapickupindemandaheadofthe $239 bn, while exports rose 2.2% exports of goods from the world’s biggest holiday-shoppingseason. from the prior month to $171.9 bn economy. Trade volumes are higher than global economic output slump this year Theoverallgapintradeingoodsandser- May’spandemiclows,butremaindepressed forecasts next week vices expanded to $67.1 billion in August following the initial uptick stemming from THE WORLD TRADE Organization from a revised $63.4 billion in July,accord- priormonth to $171.9 billion.The nation’s reopeningmeasures.Together,thevalueofUS (WTO) offered a less gloomy projec- ingtoCommerceDepartmentdatareleased surplusinservicesshranktothelowestsince exportsandimportsclimbedtoalmost$411 REUTERS tion for this year’s decline in global Tuesday. The median estimate in a 2012.Meanwhile,the merchandise trade billion,stillwellbelowpre-pandemiclevels. Washington, October 6 The global economy is trade while noting that downside Bloombergsurveyofeconomistshadcalled deficitexpandedtoarecordhigh. The increase in imports of services out- risks remain if resurging outbreaks forawideningto$66.2billion.Thepositive The coronavirus pandemic undid some pacedtheadvanceinexports,resultingina

THE GLOBALECONOMY is in“less dire” coming back from the of Covid-19 stall the economic balanceonservicesdroppedto$16.8billion. of the Trump administration’s deficit- lower overall surplus. Travel exports shapethanitwasinJunebutriskscrashing depths of the crisis. But this recovery.The WTO said it expects Total imports increased 3.2% to $239 reductioneffortswhichwerestartingtobear declinedforasixthstraightmonthandwere againifgovernmentsendfiscalandmone- ❝ global merchandise trade to fall by billion,while exports rose 2.2% from the fruitbeforeCovid-19upendeddemandand down77%fromayearearlier. tary support too soon, fail to control the calamity is far from over.All 9.2%thisyearfrom2019,compared coronavirus and ignore emerging market countries are now facing with the 12.9% drop projected in debt problems, International Monetary ❝ April,according to revised forecasts Fund Managing Director Kristalina what I would call ‘The Long releasedTuesdayin Geneva.But the GeorgievasaidonTuesday. Ascent’ WTOalsosaiditexpectsglobaltrade Trump,still infectious,back at Georgieva told an online London growth of 7.2% in 2021, much School of Economics (LSE) event that the — KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA, weaker than the prior outlook for a IMFwill make a small upward revision to IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR 21.3% bounce-back. White House — without mask its global economic output forecasts next — BLOOMBERG week,adding:“Mykeymessageisthis:The ASSOCIATED PRESS the departing helicopter from the portico global economy is coming back from the nextweekasmembercountriesparticipate for emerging markets, but Georgieva October 6 terrace,whereaideshadarrangedAmerican depths of this crisis.” in the meetings,which will be held largely urged countries to keep up support for flagsforthesunsetoccasion. “But this calamity is far from over.All inanonlineformat. their economies, warning that global PRESIDENTDONALDTRUMPstagedadra- The president leftWalterReed National countries are now facing what I would call Georgieva said the IMFwas continuing growth would stay subdued for the matic return to the White House Monday Military Medical Center,where his doctor, ‘the long ascent’-a difficult climb thatwill toprojecta“partialanduneven”recoveryin medium term and the risk of“severe eco- night after leaving the military hospital NavyCmdr.Sean Conley,said earlier Mon- be long,uneven,and uncertain.And prone 2021. In June, it forecast 2021 global nomic scarring”was high. where he was receiving an unprecedented daythat the president remains contagious tosetbacks,”sheaddedinaspeechbilledas growthof5.4%. “Weareveryclearinthemessageweare level of care for Covid-19.He immediately andwouldnotbefully“outofthewoods”for her“curtainraiser”fornextweek’sIMFand But $12 trillion in fiscal support,cou- communicating to not withdraw support ignitedanewcontroversybydeclaringthat anotherweek but that Trump had met or WorldBankannualmeetings. pled with unprecedented monetary eas- prematurely,”Georgieva said.“If we do so, despitehisillnessthenationshouldnotfear exceeded standards fordischarge from the The Fund in June forecast that coron- ing, has allowed many advanced then we risk massive bankruptcies and thevirusthathaskilledmorethan210,000 hospital.Trumpisexpectedtocontinuehis avirus-related shutdowns would shrink economies,includingtheUSandtheeuro massiveunemployment.” Americans—andthenheenteredtheWhite recoveryattheWhiteHouse. global gross domestic product by 4.9%, zone, to escape the worst damage of the “In low-income countries, the shocks Housewithoutaprotectivemask. ladyandseveralWhiteHouseaides,includ- “Don’tbeafraidofit,”Trumpsaidofthe markingthesharpestcontractionsincethe pandemic, and some business sectors are so profound that we face the risk of a Trump’s message alarmed infectious ingnewcasesrevealedMonday. virus.“You’re going to beat it.We have the Great Depression of the 1930s,and called proved more able to operate amid it, ‘lostgeneration’,”Georgievasaid,signaling disease experts and suggested the presi- Landing at theWhite House on Marine best medical equipment,we have the best formorepolicysupportfromgovernments Georgieva said. China also has recovered that the IMF and World Bank will press dent’s own illness had not caused him to One,TrumpgingerlyclimbedtheSouthPor- medicines.”Hisremarkswerestrong,buthe andcentralbanks. fasterthan expected. hard for more debt relief for low-income rethink his often-cavalier attitude toward tico steps,removed his mask and declared, was taking deeperbreaths than usual as he TheIMFwillpublishitsrevisedforecasts This provided some positive spillovers countriesnextweek. thedisease,whichhasalsoinfectedthefirst “Ifeelgood.”Hegaveadoublethumbs-upto deliveredthem. White House nixes updated FDAguidelines onvaccine approval MAPPING THE VIRUS Cases pass Europe’s largest economy is showing ASSOCIATED PRESS tists,not politicians,will decide if the shots the head of FDA’s vaccine division, in an signs of WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 6 aresafeandeffectiveformassvaccination. online interview last week with the non- 35.5 million improvement, but ButPresidentDonaldTrumphasrepeat- profitFriendsofCancerResearch.“Thecom- the scale of the THEWHITE HOUSEhasblockednewFood edlyinsistedthatavaccinecouldbeautho- paniesknowwhatwe’reexpecting.”Instead, Deaths exceed damage justifies and Drug Administration guidelines on rised before Election Day,even though top Markssaid,releasingtheguidelineswas“an Germany’s 1.04 million unprecedented bringingpotentialvaccinesforCovid-19to government scientists working on the attempt to help the public see what we’re borrowing and market that would almost certainly have administration’svaccine effort have stated requiringofCovid-19vaccines.” Recoveries spending,Angela prevented their introduction before the thatthattimelineisveryunlikely. He added that the guidelines would Merkel said. November3election. Thesenioradministrationofficial,who explainthatallupcomingvaccineswouldbe 26,630,455 The threat of the novel coronavirus in Russia has not gone away, At issuewas the FDA’s planned instruc- spoke on the condition of anonymity to reviewed by FDA’s independent panel of but the country is ready for any development, the RIAnews tionthatvaccinedevelopersfollowpatients discuss the action, said the White House outsidevaccine advisers,before the agency � Biden calls onTrump to agency cited PresidentVladimir Putin as saying during a The intervention by Trump officials send message: 'Masks enrolled in their trials for at least two wasintentongettingasafevaccinetomar- makesitsownfinaldecision. meeting with parliamentary leaders onTuesday. is the latest example of the matter' monthstoruleoutsafetyissuesbeforeseek- ket and wanted to make sure“additional Marks explained Monday that the two Singapore is exploring ways to safely open its borders after administration undercutting its � ingemergencyapprovalfromtheagency.A loopholes”weren’t added thatwould slow months of safety follow-up forvaccines is GSK to widen Covid-19 the coronavirus led to record losses at the nation’s flag carrier antibody treatment trial and decimated traffic at ChangiAirport. senioradministrationconfirmedthemove downtheprocess. own medical experts working important because the most serious side after safety clearance Monday evening,saying the White House Only one drugmaker, Pfizer, has sug- to combat the pandemic effectsconnectedwithshotsoftenoccurin The US Food and DrugAdministration plans to have an expert � panel review any Covid-19 vaccine application for emergency believed there was“no clinical or medical gested it could have data on the safetyand thefirstseveralweeksaftervaccination. Pence, Harris debate unfolds with amped-up use, along with at least two months of safety data, according to reason”fortheadditionalrequirement. effectiveness of its vaccine before Election “The safety profile of a vaccine that's stakes, plexiglass a document posted by the agencyTuesday. TheinterventionbyTrumpofficialsisthe Day.And a number of variables would still Additionally,FDA scientists have been goingtobeusedinmillionsofpeoplehasto The UnitedArab Emirates, with a population of around latestexampleoftheadministrationunder- havetoalignforthecompanytosubmit,and discussing the contents of the guidelines beincrediblyclean,”Markssaidinanonline � Italy virus surge brings parliament to halt as 9.9 million people, surpassed 100,000 recorded cases cutting its own medical expertsworking to the FDAto reviewand greenlight,avaccine publiclyforweeksandhavemadeclearthat discussion with the Journal of American of Covid-19 infection onTuesday. lawmakers isolate combat the pandemic.FDACommissioner application before November 3. Pfizer’s the recommendations have already been MedicalAssociation.Whenaskedaboutthe UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government is working � Putin says Russia is ready StephenHahnhasbeenattemptingtoshore competitors Moderna, AstraZeneca and sharedwitheachofthevaccinedevelopers. potential timing for a first vaccine,Marks to get the country“back to normal” by this time next year. for any coronavirus up public confidence in the FDA’s vaccine Johnson & Johnson are working on longer “There’s no there there toget all excited said an emergency authorisation could Speaking to his Conservative Party’s annual conference, being developments reviewforweeks,vowing that careerscien- researchtimelines. about this guidance,”said Dr.Peter Marks, come“beforetheendoftheyear.” held online this year. Quick EU reviewing Pfizer-BioNTech Cos to shrink offices as work stays remote BLOOMBERG virus,thepollfound. morethan15daysofeachmonth,while22% Covid-19 vaccine in real time October 6 View Cisco,the largest maker of networking willdothateightto15dayseverymonth. equipment,recentlysurveyed 1,569 execu- Cisco’sWebexvideoconferencingservice REUTERS MORE THAN HALF of companies plan to tives,knowledgeworkersandotherswhoare has benefited from lockdowns that have October 6 VACCINE UPDATE shrink their offices as working from home responsible foremployee environments in keptmillionsofpeopleworkingandstudy- US, allies rebuke becomesaregularfixtureaftertheCovid-19 the post-Covid era. The findings suggest ingfromhome.It’salsofacesrisingcompe- china at UN over THE EUROPEAN HEALTH regulator is ■ The EMA said on Tuesday its pandemic ends, according to a survey by manyofthisyear’sradicalchangestoworklife titionfromZoomVideoCommunications. reviewing a Covid-19 vaccine being devel- human medicines committee CiscoSystems. willremainlongafterthepandemicsubsides. For employees who do return to the Xinjiang and HK oped by Pfizer and BioNTech in real time, was evaluating the first batch of Some53%oflargerorganizationsplan The poll,conducted forCisco byDimen- office,Webexisaddingenvironmentalsen- days after launching a similar assessment data on the vaccine to reduce the size of their office space and sional Research, concluded that working sorsthatplugintoitscurrentvideo-confer- THEUSAND38countriessteppedup processforAstraZeneca’svaccine. more than three quarters will increase from home is the“newnormal.”More than encinggear.Thatwillhelpcompaniesiden- ■ The agency is using“rolling criticismofChina’shumanrights The European MedicinesAgency(EMA) work flexibility.Almost all of the respon- 90%ofrespondentssaidtheywon’treturnto tify over-used and under-utilised spaces, reviews” to speed up evaluations record,denouncingBeijingatthe saidonTuesdayitshumanmedicinescom- dents were uncomfortable returning to the office full time.12% plan towork from whilecomplyingwithroomcapacitylimits ofvaccines during the pandemic UnitedNationsforitstreatmentof mitteewasevaluatingthefirstbatchofdata work because they fear contracting the home all the time,24%willwork remotely andcheckingifworkersarewearingmasks. by studying data as it is submitted ethnicminoritiesandforcurtailing onthevaccine,andwouldcontinuetodoso freedomsinHongKong.“Widespread untilenoughdataisavailableforafinaldeci- surveillancedisproportionately sion. Pfizer and BioNTech said in a joint Navalny says Russian authorities poisoned continuestotargetUighursandother statementthestartofthereviewisbasedon thanamillionpeopleglobally. McAfee founder minorities,andmorereportsare datafromlaboratoryandanimaltesting,as WhileAZD1222usesaweakenedversion him as threat ahead of parliament elections emergingofforcedlaborandforced well as earlytesting on humans,while con- ofachimpanzeecommoncoldvirustobuild charged with tax birthcontrolincludingsterilisation,” tinuingtalkstosubmitdataasitemerged. immunity against Covid-19, Pfizer and REUTERS The outspoken critic of President Germany’sambassadortotheUN, The EMA is using “rolling reviews” to BioNTech’svaccine,called BNT162b2,uses Moscow, October 6 Vladimir Putin emerged from a coma in evasion ChristophHeusgen,saidTuesday. speedupevaluationsofvaccinesduringthe ribonucleicacid,achemicalmessengerthat early September after collapsing on a pandemic bystudying data as it is submit- containsinstructionsformakingproteins. KREMLIN CRITIC ALEXEI Navalny said he domesticflightinSiberiaonAugust20. ASSOCIATED PRESS Airbus unveils newbiz jet ted, rather than waiting for all data to be When injected in people, BNT162b2 believed Russia’s intelligence services had German doctors say he was poisoned Memphis, October 6 madeavailablealongwithaformalapplica- instructscellstomakeproteinsthatmimic poisonedhimwithaNovichoknerveagent with a Novichok nerve agent. Germany, in search of corp demand tion. Last week, it began reviewing the outer surface of the novel coronavirus, because authorities saw him as a threat France and otherWestern countries have ANTIVIRUSSOFTWAREENTREPRENEUR AIRBUSSEISbettingthatitscorporate- AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vac- which the body recognizes as a foreign aheadofnextyear’sparliamentaryelections. demandedanexplanationfromtheKremlin JohnMcAfeehasbeenchargedwithevading jetdivisionwon’tbeashardhitbythe cine, AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, invader and mounts an immune response “Theyunderstoodthattherewerebig,big for Navalny’s illness. The Kremlin has taxes after failing to report income made pandemicascommercialflightsasthe increasing chances of the British vaccine againstit.Pfizer’svaccineiscurrentlybeing problems threatening them ahead of elec- rejected any suggestion that Putin or the frompromotingcryptocurrencieswhilehe planemakerunveiledabusiness becoming the first to be approved in the evaluatedinlate-stagestudiesintheUnited tions forthe State Duma,”Navalnysaid in a Russian authorities were responsible for did consulting work, made speaking versionofitsA220model.Theaircraft regionforthediseasewhichhaskilledmore States,Brazil,SouthAfricaandArgentina. YouTubeinterviewwithaRussianblogger. Navalny’scondition. engagements and sold the rights to his life willhavethreetimesmorecabinspace storyforadocumentary,prosecutorsinTen- andcostaboutathirdlesstorunthan nesseesaidMonday. competingmodels.Themodelisbased AJuneindictmentchargingMcAfeewith ontheA220-100andwillbeabletofly Kim Jong calls for ‘80-day battle’ to boost N Korea economy tax evasion and willful failure to file tax asfaras10,500km,enoughtoconnect returns was unsealed in federal court in LondontoLosAngeles. NORTH KOREA LAUNCHED its first pro- North Korea’s latest campaign is aimed economyinAugust,tellingpartyleadersthat Memphis on MondayafterMcAfee’s arrest ductivity campaign in fouryears to funnel at completing projects in time for the rare his country “faced unexpected and inSpain,whereextraditiontotheUSispend- USjobopeningsfellinAug workersandresourcestomajorprojectsina political gathering in January of the next inevitable challenges in various aspects,” ing,the US attorney’s office said in a news bidtoreviveaneconomywallopedbysanc- Party Congress, when Kim’s regime is adding his development goals had been release.Online court records do not show forfirsttimeinfourmos tionsandfloodingfromtyphoons. expected to layout a newfive-yearplan for “seriouslydelayed.” whetherMcAfeehasalawyertospeakonhis US JOB OPENINGS declined in August LeaderKimJongUncalledforan“80-day theeconomyandrevampitsleadership. TheproductivitycampaignsallowNorth behalfaboutthecharges. forthe first time in fourmonths,point- battle”at a Politburo meeting of his ruling ThisyearNorthKoreaisheadingtoward Korea to divert resources and personnel to McAfeedevelopedearlyinternetsecurity ingtoamoderationinpaceofhiring.The Workers’Party,its official Korean Central its biggest economic contraction since whatitsleadersseeastop-priorityprojects, softwareandhasbeensoughtbyauthorities numberofavailablepositionsslippedto NewsAgencyreportedonTuesday.“Westill 1997,according to Fitch Solutions,as the offering quick fixes for an economyfacing in the US and Belize in the past.The indict- 6.49millionduringthemonthfroman face the challenges that cannot be over- coronavirusledtoborderclosuresandflood- shortagesofoil,buildingmaterialsandcash ment said McAfee failed to file tax returns upwardly revised 6.7 million in July, lookedandtherearemanygoalswehaveto ing destroyed large swathes of crops.Kim due to sanctions related to its nuclear from2014to2018,despitereceiving“con- accordingtotheLabourDepartment. attainwithinthisyear,”areportsaid. issued a rare warning for North Korea’s weaponsprogram.—BLOOMBERG siderableincome”fromseveralsources.

Pune 9 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

ON STOCK MARKETS

Ajit Mishra, VP, Research, Religare Broking

The RBI has announced the new dates for the MPC PersonalFinance meet and the outcome will be out on October 9. ❝ ❝We thus expect rate-sensitive pack to remain WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 volatile in the near future.

● SYSTEMATIC WITHDRAWAL PLAN ● YOUR MONEY GHAZALJAIN Use SWP to redeem mutual fund investments Take a multi- important to fine-tune this strategy to asset approach You can create your own BENEFITS OF SWP extractmaximumbenefitespeciallywhen pension or generate a you are investing in equity based mutual ■ SWP allows investors to funds.However,therearecertainwaysand when interest secondary regular income redeem their investment from means through whichyou could possibly by setting up a systematic a mutual fund scheme in a avoid such scenarios. rates are low withdrawal plan for your phased manner Re-balance at regular intervals mutual fund investments ` ■ This way, investors have their Aftercreating an investment portfolio IT'S OCTOBER AND we are more than six ` money invested in the scheme, consisting of equity and debt mutual months into the Covid-19 pandemic.Yet, ` but are able to access regular fundswithanintentiontogoforSWP,itis thetwoheadlinesthataredominatingnews PSARAVANAN ` income and returns essential to re-balance at appropriate this week are: India overtakes Brazil as the ` ■ intervals.Bymeans of periodic re-balanc- countrysecond-worst-hit byCovid-19 and SYSTEMATICWITHDRAWALPLAN(SWP) As SWP redeems at fixed ing, investors could book profit when theInternationalMonetaryFundconfirms ` allows investors to redeem their invest- intervals, it protects investors equityvaluations are expensive,and they India’sGDPworst-hitamongG20nations. from withdrawing large ment from a mutual fund scheme in a SWP ` can shift to debt funds. This effectively Clearly,Covid-19 pandemic seems far phasedmanner.Accordingtotheinvestor ` amounts due to panic or fear helpsinportfolioprotectionandenhances fromoverandwearestaringataprotracted requirements,theperiodicintervalscould ` during market corrections the period of cash flows generated from economicdeceleration.Therestillcontinues bemonthly,quarterly,half-yearlyorannu- ` the available corpus.There are significant highuncertaintyonhowthiswillunfold. ` ■ On each withdrawal, value of ally. On each and every withdrawal, the numbers of dynamically managed asset Reduced economic output has caused a value of your investment in the fund is your investment in the fund is allocation mutual funds available which big drop in tax collections,even as the gov- reduced by the market value of the units reduced by the market value of do the re-balance on its own based on the ernment has rolled out a `1.7-lakh crore thatyouhavewithdrawn.Inotherwords,it the units that you redeem pre-determined valuation models. Often stimulus plan to cushion the economic isjusttheoppositeofaSystematicInvest- suchmodelsaretime-testedandrobustin damage caused by the virus-induced ment Plan (SIP).Let us discuss the advan- ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD nature.Further,thereisnoinvolvementof nationwidelockdown.Thiswillmeanhigher tageofSWPandhowyoucanusethesame atfixedintervals,saymonthly,quarterly,etc., years before your retirement and invests andwithdrawingviaanSWPisagreatway investor interference as such funds fiscal deficits forthe government.It is esti- in an effective manner. irrespectiveofthemarketlevels,itprotects thesameinamutualfundschemeaccord- to create a regular source of secondary remove behavioural biases and optimise matedthatthefiscaldeficitin2020-21may investorsfromwithdrawinglargeamounts ingtoyourrisktolerance.Afterretirement, income. returns.Investors can thus consider such shoot up to 6.2% of the GDPfrom the cur- Advantages of SWP duetopanicorfearduringthetimesofmar- youcanoptforanSWPonamonthlybasis funds forinvestment. renttargetof3.5%. SWP allows investors to customise the ket corrections.Let us see some effective which serves asyourown pension. Downside of SWP To conclude, SIP helps investors to cashflowaspertheirrequirements.Youcan strategiesofusingSWP. Though we have inherent merits in learn the disciplined approach towards Low interest rates withdraw just the capital gains on your Generate a secondary income equityfundSWPtherearesomedownside investingandSWPhelpsdisciplinedwith- As the government borrows more to investmentorafixedamount.Thisway,you Create your own pension Giventhepandemic,additionalsource riskslikecapitalerosionwhichwillimpact drawal of the same. finance its spending and burgeoning fiscal haveyourmoneyinvestedinthescheme,but Through, SWP investors can create of income is required by almost everyone the available corpus.That could probably deficit, coordinated fiscal and monetary are able to access regular income and their own pension plan.Accordingly,you to manage the rising cost of living and lead to an investor running out of money The writeris a professoroffinance and policies will be needed.Thus,the Reserve returns.AsSWPredeemsmutualfundunits can create a corpus around two or three otherexpenses.Investinginmutualfunds well before the target date.Therefore,it is accounting,IIMTiruchirappalli Bank of Indiawill continue to intervene in bondmarketstokeepinterestrateslowand boost economic growth forthe foreseeable ● YOUR QUERIES future.The central bank has cut repo rates by2.5%sinceFebruary2019withthemost eFE aggressivecutscominginrecentmonths.

Dhaval Kapadia ● INTERVIEW: THIRUKUMARAN NAGARAJAN, CEO & Co-founder, Ninjacart Compareyourdebt

` fund schemeswith A multi-supply chain network will mean ` ` categorypeers ` ` ` before switching better value for farmers and retailers ` ` ●WhyamIearningsuchpathetic The pandemic has seen grocery delivery ogy,itisvitaltohavealargebackendoper- Equity returnsfromdebtmutualfunds?Isit apps,especially those dealing in fresh pro- ationinplace,andeventually,thelastmile bettertoinvestinbankdepositsorin duce,scramble to strengthen their supply deliverywilldecidetheproficiency. Gold Debt NPSforthelongterm? chains to meet increasing demand from —VijayDubey theircustomers.Bengaluru-basedB2Bfresh What are the changes you see in the Fixed-incomeinstrumentsare produce supply chain company Ninjacart sourcing/supplychainbusiness?Canwe ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD relativelylessvolatilethanequities,and itselfturneditsfocustoB2Csegmentinthe seeafuturebeyondtheAPMCs? AsaresultofRBI’saccommodativemon- lendstabilitytotheportfolioandprotect initialdaysofthelockdowntoconnectfarm- Inthesourcingsideofthesupplychain, etarypolicyoverthepastyear,fixeddeposit againstpurchasingpowererosiondueto ers to retailers and end-consumers. As mitigation of wastage,and ensuring the ratesofbankshavebeenslashedmassively. inflation.Investmentsinfixedincome ThirukumaranNagarajan,CEO,andco- safetyoftheharvestedproduceuntillast- Forinstance,the 10-yearfixed deposit rate instruments/debtfundsaretypically founderofNinjacart,says,thisuniquetime miledelivery,hasbecomeveryimportant. ofIndia’slargestbankis5.4%asofOctober subjecttointerestrateriskandcreditrisk. has taught the agritech startup new New ideas are rolling in the market after 6.On the other hand,inflation levels have TheRBImeasuresannouncedalongwith lessons—need for increased awareness thenationwidelockdown.Everyoneistry- remained above the 6%-mark in recent abundantliquidityinthebankingsystem towards adopting technology by all the ing to solve the traditional supply chain monthsandspikedto6.93%inJuly. haveresultedinyieldsfallingsubstantially, stakeholders, build a sustainable supply problems byenabling enhanced technol- What this translates into forthe Indian particularlyattheshorterendoftheyield chain and further identify and streamline ogy.Agritech is at an evolution stage,and fixeddepositinvestorisdepositratesgoing curve.Thesharpfallinyieldshasinfact demand and supply gaps.“In the sourcing it will take almost a decade to conclude down plus inflation going upwhich equals benefittedmostdebt side of the supply chain, mitigation of whetheritisfragmentedornot. tonegativerealreturns. funds,giventheinverse wastage,andensuringsafetyoftheproduce Emergenceofmulti-supplychainnet- relationshipbetween until the last-mile delivery, has become workwillgivebettervalueforfarmersand Negative real returns interestratesandbond very important,” he tells Banasree retailers.Selling produce through more Negativerealreturnsmeanthatinflation prices.However,fornew Purkayasthainaninterview.Excerpts: than one supply chain will give rise to is higherthan interest rates fordepositors. investorscominginthe ityinfrastructureinthefoodsupplychain. denceoverfreebiesordiscounts. healthycompetitionandtherebyimprove Therefore,savers will see a fall in the real yieldsarerelativelylower How has the Covid pandemic changed Whilewetemporarilyshiftedourfocus thelivelihoodoffarmers. valueoftheirsavingsandtheinterestonthe MUTUAL thanthoseprevalent thebusinessenvironmentforNinjacart? toB2Cinordertoneutraliselossesforthe Is there any fundamental difference savings will be insufficient to meet the FUNDS earlier. Intheinitialdaysofthelockdown,the farmers,partners and retailers,our focus betweenthemanygrocerydeliveryapps HowdoyouseetechnologiessuchasAI, increasedcostofliving.Thisisbadnewsfor Youshouldevaluate firsttobeimpactedwasournetworkofdis- isB2BasthatisthecoreofNinjacart’sexis- that have come up which would allow SaaS,remote sensing and cloud driving thosewho relyonlyon bank fixed deposits theperformanceofthefundsinyour tributors, farmers, retailers, and con- tenceasanagritechstartupecosystem. theirsurvivalbeyondthepandemic? theagritechrevolutionahead? fortheirsavingsandinvestmentneeds. portfoliovis-à-visthatoftheirrespective sumers. We jumped into action to do The country’s online deliverysectoris These technologies are predominant Even though bank fixed deposits offer categorypeers.Ifafundhasbeen everythingwithinourcapacitytoconnect Wouldyousaythattheonlinecustomer currently valued at $1 billion, and the tools in the agritech sector as it helps to enormous safetyin these uncertain times, deliveringbelow-averageperformance farmers to retailers and even end-con- hasnowmaturedandnolongerneedsto graph is likely to increase due to the new accelerate the sector’s capabilities.Prob- safetyisn’tenough.Withreturnsdwindling, consistently,youmayswitchtoamore sumers.Sincethen,Ninjacart’sfarmernet- beluredbyfreebies? setofconsumersexploringonlinebuying. lems like middleman intervention,price many investors have to now explore other consistentone.Bankstoohavecutdown workhasexpandedexponentially.Wealso The lockdown forced consumers to However,survivalofonlinedeliveryapps, volatility,wastage,andunfairpracticesgot investmentavenuesforhigherreturnsthan ontheirdepositratesinlinewiththe saw an increase in awareness about Nin- moveonlinewhootherwisewouldprefer specificallywhen it comes to fresh pro- replaced oreven removedwith the intro- bankfixeddeposits. sharpfallinmarketinterestrates.Interest jacart amongst the end-consumer.This to visit the local sabzi mandi to procure duce,will not onlydepend on large-scale ductionoftechnology. Equities give higher returns with high frombankdepositsforlongerholder wasmadepossiblethroughtwoinitiatives theirfreshfood.Aswecomebacktosome capabilities but on conscious selling,i.e., MultipleAI applications and machine risk,more than keeping parwith inflation. periods(>3years)aretaxedatmarginal ‘Harvest the Farms’and‘Footprint’.The formofnormalcy,tomobilisetheinterest capacityto meet high demandwhile also learning tools enable Ninjacart to predict But for some- rate,comparedtoafavourabletaxrateof ‘Harvest the Farms’initiative established in buyers, we do come across freebies being able to efficientlycommunicate to the market price,this way farmers know one with a low Negative real returns 20%postindexationofcostsincaseof a direct connection between the farmer more and more.In India,especially after theend-consumertheentiresupplychain the price before harvesting the produce, risk appetite, mean that inflation is debtmutualfunds. and the end-consumer,through partner- the nationwide lockdown, online con- trail.Wewillseeaconsolidationphasefor and this increases the chances of better making the higher than interest NPSisconsideredasalongterm ships with hyperlocal platforms such as sumershaverisento80%,andwithtime it to work and operate to its maximum returns.Wealsouseradiofrequencyiden- shift from the rates for depositors. investmentvehicleforbuildinga Swiggy,Zomato,andDunzo.‘Footprint’,on theyhavematuredtoapointwherequal- potential.However,toeliminatetheinter- tification (RFID) to know exactly which stability of Therefore, savers will retirementcorpus.Onemayoptfora the otherhand,implemented a traceabil- ity and security are given more prece- mediariesandreplacethemwithtechnol- vegetablesandfruitshavebeendelivered. fixed deposits see a fall in the real 100%fixed-incomeoptionunderthe tothevolatility ‘Activechoice’option.However,thefixed- of equities is value of their savings incomeportionoftheinvestmenttoois ● DIGITALTRANSFORMATION ■Coreenterprisesystemsinthecloud not easy.How- and the interest on investedintocorporatebondsandG-secs ■ Highly automated core business ever, a multi- the savings will be andhencewouldfetchsimilaryieldsas processes asset approach insufficient to meet thoseinmutualfunds. ■Digitalsensorstrackingproducts can navigate the increased How tech can help tide ■ Key partnerships in digital ecosys- treacherous cost of living ●Stampdutyisnowpayableonmutual tems markets with fundspurchase.Forcapitalgains The analysis compared organisations the right allo- calculationwhatisthecostof over the Covid-19 crisis withmore advanceddigitalcapabilitiesin cations and would be an ideal way to get a acquisitionnow? placepriortoCovid,referredtoas“leaders,” flavourofequityinvesting. —AVenkat officer,TCS,beforethepandemic,compa- to those that had fewer, if any, in place, With right equity allocations before SinceJuly1,2020,astampdutyof TCS study says 90% of big nies’ digital capabilities were rapidly knownas“followers.”Fewerleaders(64%) Covid-19,rememberequitieswererunning 0.005%(`5forevery`1lakh)hasbeen firms are increasing digital becoming central to their success and haveseentheirrevenuedecline,compared atveryhighvaluationsthen,afundrunning leviedonpurchaseofmutualfunds.The businesstransformationinitiatives.“How- to followers (73%). Leaders had better lower allocation to equities balanced with stampduty,however,willnotbeleviedon transformation budgets ever,our study has revealed how several business visibility and a more confident appropriategoldanddebtallocationscould redemptionofunits.Theacquisitioncost enterpriseswerenotasfaralongindevel- outlook,with74%ofthemexpectingrev- haveensuredthatthefallinfundvaluewas shallbeinclusiveofthestampdutyfor opingadigitalbackboneastheyhoped.” enues to bounce back within two years, notasbrutalasthestockmarkets. computationofcapitalgains.Ifaninvestor FE BUREAU Hisreferenceistoaglobalsurveytitled, above $1 billion and 44% above $10 bil- comparedto54%offollowers.While68% Oneshouldnotexitfixeddepositscom- invests`1lakh,ofwhich`5isdeductedas “DigitalReadinessandCOVID-19:Assess- lion—spanning11industriesacrossNorth of companies have seen revenue declines pletelyaseveryassethasaroleinone’sport- stampduty,and investmentgrowstoa COMPANIES THAT EMBRACED digital ingtheImpact,”undertakenbytheITser- America,EuropeandAsia.Sixdigitalcapa- amidCovid-19,90%oforganisationshave folio.Itwould be prudent to diversifyone's valueof`1,10,000thegainswouldbe transformation more whole-heartedly vices major that reveals that 90% of bilitieswereidentifiedascriticalfactorsin eithermaintainedorincreasedtheirdigi- investmentsinbankfixeddepositsforsafety `10,000andnot`10,005. have performed better during the pan- organisationsaremaintainingorincreas- companieswithstandingthepandemic: taltransformationbudget.Firmsreported and protection and in a multi asset fund to demic and expect a fasterrebound,while ing their digital transformation budgets ■ End-to-enddigitalcustomerexperi- maximum increases on: collaborative boostreturns. Thewriterisdirector,InvestmentAdvisory, the laggards are now making necessary amid the pandemic.The survey engaged ence(CX) technologies(65%),cybersecurity(56%), MorningstarInvestmentAdviser(India). investments and racing to catch up. almost 300 senior business leaders from ■ AI-based analytics to continually cloud-native technologies (51%) and Thewriterisassociatefundmanager, Sendyourqueriesto AccordingtoRajashreeR,chiefmarketing large enterprises—97% with revenue improvetheCX advancedanalytics(39%). AlternativeInvestments, [email protected] QuantumMutualFund

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BACK ON TRACK

Siddhartha Mohanty, managing director and chief executive officer, LIC Housing Finance We have disbursed `2,115 crore in home loan ❝ Markets subsidies to our customers eligible for the CLSS under❝ the PM Awas Yojana since its inception in 2017 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 and up to the end of September.

● Money Matters MEETING FROM OCTOBER 7-9 Sensex jumps over 600 pts; G-SEC New members may lend Nifty hits 7-month high Benchmark yield rose 0.021% FE BUREAU under selling pressure Mumbai, October 6 Rupee ends 17p STOCKMARKETSRALLIEDonTuesdayfor 6.025 the fourth straight session with the Nifty lower at 73.46 5.990 slight dovish tilt to MPC reclaimingitscrucialpsychological11,600 THERUPEEparedinitialgainstoset- mark to end at its highest level in seven tle 17 paise lower at 73.46 against FE BUREAU shrank by as much as 23.9%, year-on- months. The rally which was driven by the US dollar onTuesday due to dol- New Delhi, October 6 year,in the June quarter. stocks of financials has come amid strong lar buying by banks, possibly on September 23 October 6 The MPC’s usual bi-monthly review global cues and improving economic indi- behalf of the RBI,and oil importers. WITHTHEAPPOINTMENTofeconomists meeting was earlier scheduled for Sep- cators.TheNiftyralliedby159.05points,or At the interbank forex market, the Ashima Goyal, Jayanth RVarma and tember 29-October 1 but it had to be 1.38%, to close at 11,662.4 whereas the domesticunitopenedat73.17track- `/$ Shashanka Bhide to the Monetary Policy postponed due to a late selection of the Nifty Bank was up by 2.16% and closed at ing positive domestic equities and Committee (MPC), the rate-setting, six- new members after the term of the ear- 22,853.7.TheSensexrallied600.87points, weak greenback,but soon pared the The rupee ended 0.228% memberpanelmayacquireaslightdovish lier ones ended last month. External or1.54%,tocloseat39,574.57. gains and finally closed at 73.46, lower as crude tilt,giventheirearliercriticismofhawkish members make up for a half of the six- Foreign portfolio investors have been down17paiseoveritspreviousclose prices hardened policies that tend to over-emphasise the member MPC, headed by the Reserve buyers in the last two sessions of October, of73.29.Duringthesession,thelocal importance of high inflation, some ana- Bank of India (RBI) governor,and it must buying equities worth $300 million in unit witnessed an intra-day high of Inverted scale 73.46 lysts said onTuesday. have a quorum of four. total. On Monday, they bought stocks 73.15andalowof73.51againstthe 73.57 Nevertheless, they expect the MPC to “The members…shall hold office for a worth $31.89 million.The IHS Markit’s Americancurrency. —PTI hold on to the benchmark lending rate onpolicy,giventhecurrenthigh levelsof periodoffouryearsoruntilfurtherorders, Services Business Activity Index rose for when it meets from October 7 to 9.Ele- inflation.”Nomura expects unchanged whicheveris earlier,”the finance ministry the fifth straight month in September to vated retail inflation in times of a record policy rates and the continuation of an said in a gazette notification. 49.8 from 41.8 inAugust. ity, credit market dynamics, and may not GDPcontractionandcallsforalargerfiscal accommodative stance thisweek.There- Goyal is a professor at Indira Gandhi Stocks of banks and financials which shy away from advocating for the RBI to September 23 October 6 stimulushavecomplicatedtheMPC’stask. after, it forecasts a cumulative 50 basis Institute of Development Research; have been consistent underperformers look at unconventional or untested mea- It may, therefore, choose to only ensure a points of rate cuts,“as we expect growth Varma is a professor at Indian Institute were trading in the green. Sanjeev Hota, sures.They are likely to look through the greater transmission of the earlier rate to remain below trend and inflationary of Management (Ahmedabad) and Bhide Head of research, Sharekhan by BNP current phase of elevated inflation and C=/$ cuts thisweek,theysaid. pressures to subside”. is a senior advisor at the National Coun- Paribas, said,“Financial stocks have been find space to lowerrates further.” While views on monetary policy may The new members, says Nomura, are cil ofApplied Economic Research,Delhi. laggards since the last few months but This also caused the banking stocks to The euro rose against 0.119% change, depending on the position one likely to be “vocal on liquidity and credit They replace Chetan Ghate, professor at there maynot be anyfurtherhuge under- rally with the top gainers in Nifty Bank the dollar holds or the situation the economy is in, market dynamics and may not shy away the Indian Statistical Institute; Pami performance from here on.On Tuesday,a beingBandhanBank,IndusIndBank,IDFC anydovishtilttothe MPCmayoffersome from advocating the RBI’s use of the Dua,director at the Delhi School of Eco- lot of factors contributed to the rally in First Bank, RBL Bank, and HDFC Bank up 1.1797 comforttothegovernmentthatneedsthe unconventional measures”.It, however, nomics; and Ravindra Dholakia, profes- banking stocks such as the pre quarter by4.8 % to 2.58%. central bank to continue to share its con- conceded that unlike Goyal and Varma, sor at the Indian Institute of Manage- updatefromHDFCBankandHDFC,which Additionally, the risk appetite of cernsovergrowth,especiallyafterthedev- viewsofBhidearenotwellknownonmon- ment,Ahmedabad. wasquitegood.Theoverhangoftheinter- investors improved afterthe US President 1.1660 astation caused by the Covid-19 pan- etarypolicy,so“wewouldplacehiminthe ThegovernmenthadsetuptheMPCin est waiver has gone and the loan morato- Donald Trump returned to the White demic. neutral camp fornow”. 2016, shifting the interest rate-setting rium has ended so banking stocks have HouseinWashingtonputtinganendtothe In a report, economists at Nomura Retail inflation eased onlymarginally powerfromtheRBIgovernortothepanel. started participating in the rally.” cloudofuncertaintyovertheleadershipof said:“We believe that the new external to 6.69% year-on- year in August, Its mandate is to keep annual inflation at Additionally,theMonetaryPolicyCom- thecountry.Meanwhile,USfiscalstimulus September 23 October 6 members are more neutral-to-dovish in against a revised 6.73% in July,remain- 4% until March 31, 2021,with an upper mittee saw three new members take talks were indicated to be on an advanced theirpolicyviews,whichwilltilttheover- ing above the MPC’s tolerance band of 4 tolerance of 6% and a lower band of 2%. charge,who according to market partici- stage which also cheered the global mar- all MPC in a dovish direction.However, (+/-2)% for eight out of the previous The MPC had last met fromAugust 4 to 6, pants,are more neutral to dovish. kets.IFAGlobal,said,“Anticipationofpres- we do not expect any immediate impact nine months. Meanwhile, the economy whichwas its 24th meeting. Nomura,in a report,said,“Overall,the ident Trump recovering from Covid-19 Quick new external MPC members appear to be and of Democrats and Republicans reach- more neutral-to-dovish in their policy ing a consensus on a fiscal stimulus pack- View IndusInd Bank Q2 deposits grow 10.26% views.Theyarelikelytobevocalonliquid- ageseemstobebuoyingrisksentiment.” FE BUREAU at the end of the first quarterof financial Mumbai, October 6 (` cr) Q2FY20 Q2FY21 « Chg (%) year 2020-21. Your jobs,increments,bonuses are Net CASA ratio* The bank also specified that deposits NPCI working on PRIVATE LENDER INDUSIND Bank reg- advances Deposits (%) from retail and small business cus- secure: Puri tells HDFC Bank staff istered a 10.26% year-on-year increase tomers amounted to `75,610 crore dur- AI-based fraud in its deposits and a 2% rise in its net ing September quarter, compared to PRESS TRUST OF INDIA detection model advances during September quarter. 228,460 `67,318 crore as of June 30,2020. Mumbai, October 6 However,the bank’scurrent account sav- Net advances grew by 2% year-on- Axis Bank to offer THENATIONALPAYMENTS ings account (CASA) ratio in the Septem- 207,193 yearto `2 lakh crore,compared to `1.97 HDFC BANK MANAGING director and pay hikes to staff CorporationofIndia(NPCI)isworking ber quarter declined 100 basis points 200,242 40.40 lakh crore a year ago. chief executive officer Aditya Puri has onsomeartificialintelligence-based year-on-year to 40.4%. 197,113 The advances stood at `1.98 lakh assured employees of the country’s INDIA’S THIRD-LARGEST private frauddetectionmodelsasbanksand In a provisional data released on crore as on June 30,2020. largest private sector lender that their lender is joining its larger rivals in financialsystemsarenowincreasingly exchanges, the bank said that its 41.40 CASA ratio stood at 40.4% at the end jobs and bonuses are secure. offering pay hikes to staff even as usingthetechnologytofurthertheir deposits grew by 10.26% to `2.28 lakh of the second quarter, down 100 basis Even as the Covid-19 pandemic rages the economic fallout of the coron- « « business,itsmanagingdirectorand crore, compared to `2.07 lakh crore in 1.59 10.26 « 100bps points compared to 41.4% as on Sep- on, Puri, who retires later this month, avirus pandemic threatens profit CEODilipAsbesaidonTuesday.Many the same period last year. Source: BSE tember30,2019.CASAratio remained at said the bank is doingwell,has sufficient growth.AxisBankwillincreasestaff bankshavelaunchedchatbots,many Its deposits stood at `2.11 lakh crore 40.1% at the end of June quarter. capital and does not have any strain in salariesbetween4%and12%from havelaunchedthefrauddetection the loans that it has made. October 1 based on performance, Roboadvisoryservices,whilehigh He also hinted that the bank maypost accordingtopeoplewithknowledge frequencytradinghasbeenbeenfairly a strong set of quarterly numbers in the of the plans. The Mumbai-based knownastobeusingAIandvideoKYC F&O volumes in Sept up 14.8% at `21.57L cr overAug recently ended July-September period lender, which has about 76,000 (KnowYourCustomer)isanotherarea and quarters ahead as well. employees, also paid bonuses to its whereAIisbeingused,Asbesaidat URVASHI VALECHA TheCovid-19pandemichasresultedin staff, the people said, asking not to RAISE2020eventinNewDelhi. Mumbai, October 6 Average daily turnover (` crore) F&O Cash job losses,especially in the organised sec- be identified because the matter — 25,00,000 68,000 56,614 tors,asbusinessessufferedduetoeconomic is private. BLOOMBERG AirtelPaymentsBankaimsto THE DAILYAVERAGE turnover in the F&O Cash (RHS) 58,631 activitycomingtoahaltinlockdowns. raisemerchantbaseto25lakh futures and options (F&O) segment has HDFC Bank and its private sector beenimprovingsteadilyandhastouched 20,00,000 56,000 competitors have met hikes and bonuses advantage,”he said. AIRTELPAYMENTS BANKonTuesday yet another high in September.Market 16,78,251 commitments since the start of the pan- He urged employees to work as a said it aims to expand its merchant experts attribute this steady rise to the demic. “Not only are your jobs secure, team,followthevision the lenderhas set 50,322 6 month avg base to 25 lakh in the next few lack of returns from other asset classes, 15,00,000 44,000 yourincrement is alsosecure.Yourbonus out for itself and beat competition. months from 15 lakh at present.The lower margin on options strategies, new 47,857 andyourpromotion are secure,”Puri told Puri was speaking ahead of the companyalso announced the launch margin trading norms and addition of over 1.15 lakh employees of the bank,in launch of festive offers by the lender in of an app thatwill turn merchants’ newdemat accounts. a video message last week. its second edition. 10,00,000 32,000 smartphone into a point of sales (PoS) Volumes in F&O in Septemberwere at Puri,who has led the bank forover25 Competing banks have also launched machine and the transaction done `21.57 lakh crore,14.8% up overAugust years since its inception,said he is giving similar aggressive offerings, eyeing 15,72,254

through the appwill be directly and higher than the one-year average of 11,49,077 13,06,944 16,68,626 19,10,248 18,77,589 21,57,024 the assurance on behalf of the manage- larger share of transactions amid slow- 20,000 credited into theirbank account. `15.7 lakh crore. In January when the 5,00,000 ment team including his successor ing consumption. April May June July Aug Sept 1 year avg stock markets were at record highs,vol- Source: NSE Sashidhar Jagdishan. He said the bank has not accepted SBIlookingtohiveoffYono umes were `16.7 lakh crore. The cash “The bank is doing well. We have all defeat in the face of the coronavirus out- market saw turnover of `55,606 crore in the capital that we need.Our portfolio is break and delivered good results for two intoseparatesubsidiary September,8.9% lowerthan inAugust. ancy are the reasons behind the sharp andun-pledgingofshares.Thenewnorms not under strain. We are aggressively quarters,and added that projections for THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST lender Navneet Daga,lead analyst — institu- increaseinF&Oturnovers.” havecausedashiftofmarketparticipants using our distribution and technology the upcomingquartersalso saythesame. State Bank of India is actively tionalequities,YESSecurities,saidthe sud- Additionally, the new margin trading totheF&Osegmentfromthecashmarket, looking to hive off its digital denspurtin theturnoversislargelyattrib- norms came into force from September 1 according to experts. platform Yono into a separate utedtothepandemicandlackofcompeting which meant that traders would have to Ever since the markets crashed in subsidiary,its chairman Rajnish asset classes.Low brokerage,ease of open- pay upfront deposit of margin when they March, trading volumes have been rising ANALYST CORNER Kumar said.Yono orYou Only Need ing accounts,automated apps,along with aresellingsharesandnotuseintradaypro- steadily.The DAT in September in both One App is the lender’s integrated significantreductioninmarginsonoptions ceeds to buy shares.The participants are cashmarketand equityderivativesareup banking platform. hedge trades,markets volatility and buoy- still to get used to the process of pledging by58% and 29% since January. Maintain‘reduce’on TCS as stock valuations are punchy Sebi announces new guidelines Electronic book mechanism must KOTAK INSTITUTIONALEQUITIES through shareholder approvalvia the tender route (15% ofshareholder funds in BUYBACK—A SURPRISE. The TCS case ofthe open market route). Our for product labelling in MFs forissuance ofAT1 bonds: Sebi board will consider buyback of equity estimate ofmaximum outlay ofbuyback PRESS TRUST OF INDIA the recommendations of the Corporate shares on October 7, 2020. Tax through the board-approved route is `89 FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 6 Bonds and Securitization Advisory Com- arbitrage exists between dividend and billion (0.9% ofcurrent market cap) or Mumbai, October 6 mittee (CoBoSAC). buyback depending on the recipient. `220 billion (2.2% ofcurrent market cap) MARKETS REGULATOR SEBI onTuesday The instruments have certain unique Buyback through the tender route is through the shareholder-approval route. THESECURITIESANDExchangeBoardof mandatedusageofelectronicbookmech- features which grant the issuer (banks in essentially an alternative form of The company has gone through the India(Sebi)hasannounceddetailedguide- anism for issuance of Additional Tier 1 consultation with RBI) a discretion in dividend distribution; hence the tender route in the past for buyback of lines for product labelling in mutual (AT1) instruments. terms of writing down the principal or discussion on EPS dilution due to equity shares. Notably,Sebi restricts funds.Untilnowtherewerefivecategories The mechanism has been made interest, to skip interest payments, to buyback is not relevant. The maximum promoter participation in the open to measure level of risks in the mutual mandatoryforsuchinstrumentsirrespec- make an early recall,among others,with- quantum of buyback through board market route ofbuyback. fund schemes, but now regulator have tive of the issue size. out commensurate right for investors to and shareholder approval route is Apremium to the spot price is introduced one more category known as times the risk level has changed over the Perpetual non-cumulative preference legal recourse. `89/220 billion. The buyback has taken necessary to incentivise shareholders to ‘veryhighrisk’.Thenewguidelinesshallbe year,on theirwebsite andAmfiwebsite. shares,innovative perpetual debt instru- Given the nature and contingency a few by surprise given expectations of tender shares through the tender route. in force with effect from January1,2021, Thedebtsecuritiesoftheschemesshall ments and perpetual debt instruments, impact of AT1 instruments and the fact supply ofTCS stock from the principal Assuming a 15% premium to October 5 toalltheexistingschemesandallschemes be valued for credit risk and higher the commonlyreferred to asAT1 instruments, that full import of the discretion is avail- shareholder to fund buyout of closing price,TCS has headroom to buy to be launched thereafter. credit rating lower will be the credit risk areessentiallynon-equityregulatoryinstru- abletoanissuer,itmaynotbeunderstood Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group’s stake in back 1.8% ofequity outstanding through Sebi,initscircular,statedthat“Risk-o- value.Forexample,ifdebtschemeshadG- ments,formingpartofabank’scapital. in the truest form by retail individual Tata Sons. Stock valuations are punchy; the shareholder-approval process ofthe meter shall be evaluated on a monthly Sec,AAA,DSLorTREPSintheportfoliothe Such instruments are governed bythe investors,Sebi noted. maintain ‘reduce’. tender route.At a broader level, the basis and Mutual Funds/AMCs shall dis- credit riskvaluewill be 1,while forAA+ ReserveBankofIndia(RBI)guidelinesand Accordingly,the regulator has come TheTCS boardwill meet on October share buyback price in the tender route close the Risk-o-meteralongwith portfo- credit risk value will be 2.On the other issued under Sebi's issuance and listing out with the additional framework 7 to consider a buyback ofshares.TCS is irrelevant as long as all shareholders liodisclosureforalltheirschemeson their hand, for unrated and below investment framework. related to issuance,listing and trading of had net cash of`511 billion at end-June participate in the offer.Investors inTCS respective website and on Association of securities credit risk value will be 11 and Inaddition,issuersandstockexchanges such instruments which are proposed to 2020.The buyback amount can be up to will receive cash based on a simple Mutual funds in India (Amfi) website 12,respectively. will have to ensure that only Qualified be listed. 10% ofshareholder funds ofthe last formula, i.e. the proportion ofholding in within 10 days from the close of each Basedontheweightedaveragevalueof Institutional Buyers (QIBs) are allowed to “TheissuanceofAT1instrumentsshall audited financials (through a board- TCS X buyback size. Effectively,this is month.”The fund houses shall also dis- each instrument (weights based on the participate in the issuance of AT1 instru- be done mandatorily on the Electronic approved route).Alternately,the simply an alternative form ofdividend closetherisklevelofschemesasonMarch AUM), credit risk value of the portfolio ments,theregulatorsaidinacircular. BookProvider(EBP)platformirrespective company can allocate a buyback amount payout. Should potential EPS dilution 31 of every year, along with number of shall be assigned. The decision has been taken based on of the issue size,”Sebi said. ofup to 25% ofshareholder funds matter in such cases?Webelieve not.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS MARKETS 11

Insurers receive `5,400-cr Covid claims CHIRAG MADIA Claims received from Coronavirus is `1.56 lakh for Bhaskar Nerurkar, head- Mumbai, October 6 Covid-19 patients across the industry. Health Claims at Bajaj Allianz 3.49 lakh applications and The average claim size GeneralInsurance,says,“With GENERALINSURANCE COM- varies from one state to the number of active cases PANIES have received claims insurers have settled 2.17 another.Forexample,inMaha- going down in India,we have for over `5,400 crore from lakh claims amounting rashtra the average claim size seen doubling of claims have Covid-19 patients across 3.49 to `2,175 crore for Covid-19 is `1.25 lakh gone up from 16 days to 31 lakh applications. as on October 5 while it increase to `1.83 lakh days.This indicates slowing of Insurers have settled 2.17 in Tamil Nadu and `2.03 lakh growthrate.Ifthingscontinue lakh claims amounting to inDelhi.However,asthenum- to remain undercontrol in the `2,175 crore as on October 5. ther increase due to the novel ber of active cases goes down, next few days, we might see Players in the general insur- Coronavirus.“Typically, every insurers expects claims to go lesser number of Covid-19 anceindustrysaythatifclaims year loss ratio for the retail down in the days to come. claims going forward.” continue to rise than the loss health policy is around 65- ratio in the health portfolio 70% while for the group could increase by 8-10% only health policy its around 90- due to the ongoing pandemic. 100%.But thisyeardue to the DatafromInsuranceRegu- pandemic we expect loss ratio latory and Development to further go up by 8-10% for AuthorityofIndia(Irdai)shows theinsurancecompanies,”said thatinthefinancialyear2019- a seniorofficial from a leading 20,health insurance had seen private insurance company. premiums of `51,636.34 The loss ratio is the ratio of crore, a growth of 13.41% claims incurred to earned pre- compared to previous year.As miums.So,if the loss ratio is such, claims arising from the 80%, that means the insur- novel Coronavirus are around ance companies have received 10.5% of the health insurance a premium of `100 and paid premiumsreceivedlastyear. claims of `80 to the policy- However, players in the holder. Officials in the insur- industrysaythatlossratiosfor ance industrysaythat average thehealthportfoliowouldfur- claim size reported for novel FM launches Indian Bank’s MSME mentoring programme FE BUREAU what the bank looks for when Chennai, October 6 theyapproachforloans,howto manage cash flows, which UNION FINANCE MINISTER schemes of government are Nirmala Sitharaman on Tues- available and suitable to them day launched MSME Prerana, and howtoregisterthemselves an online business mentoring for these. Many units were programmeforMSMEsinlocal remaininginthemicroorsmall language by Chennai-based sector,despiteopportunitiesto public sector lender Indian scale up due to the apprehen- Bank.Theinitiativeismeantfor sionaboutthetaxburden.” empowering entrepreneurs throughskilldevelopmentand capacitybuildingworkshopsin thelocallanguage. Theprogrammeisincollab- oration with Poornatha & Co,a firmthatdesignsentrepreneur- ialdevelopmentprogrammesin vernacular languages using online web based interactive sessionsandcasestudies. Sitharaman said that Indian Bank has taken an out- of-the-boxinitiativeinlaunch- ing MSME Prerana which will handhold the entrepreneurs through a mentoring pro- gramme.This novel initiative shall further inspire others in the banking sector to adopt similarmeasures. Spread over 12 sessions, MSME Prerana programme enables MSME entrepreneurs to acquire expertise in han- dling finance and managerial skills,capacitytohandlecrises in business, understand the dynamicscreditratingandrisk management.While the ses- sionsonmanagerialandfinan- cial skills will be handled by Poornatha,thebankingrelated topics will be handled by fac- ulty from Indian Bank. On completion, all participants would get a certificate, issued jointly by Indian Bank,Poor- natha& Co and MADE (Michi- gan Academy for Developing Entrepreneurs),US. Padmaja Chunduru,MD & CEO,IndianBanksaid:“During the outreach programmes, webinars and interaction with our MSME units, one main takeawaywasthatthereisstilla lotofdependenceonchartered accountantsoragentsforthese units to access bank loans and scale up their operations.The barrierwaslanguage,itwasthe jargon, the confusion about Cashewnut prices on revival path RAJESH RAVI Kochi, October 6

CASHEWNUT PRICES are on a revival track after touching historic lows due to Covid-led disruptions. InIndia,themarketforbro- ken cashews,which is used for making sweets, is yet to see demand revival with on- premisesnackingyettopickup in major cities,Hari Krishnan Nair,presidentofWesternIndia CashewCompany(WIC),said. Indiancashewexporterslost significant market share to Africaduetocompletelockdown forweeks followed byweeks of partiallockdown,headded. India produces 6-7 million tonne raw cashew per annum and was till recently the lead- ing supplier of kernels to the global markets. “There has been some revival in demand in last few weeks, but it seems clear that India’s consumption in 2020 will be lower than 2019,” Pankaj Sampat of Samsons Traders said.

Pune WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 12 NATION FINANCIAL EXPRESS

From the Front Page Bajaj Finance

Bengaluru to throughAugust. regular business. Simultane- deposit book The package,according to a PLI scheme: Final nod forApple,Samsung to make phones in India ously, the old bugbear of bad soon become seniorgovernmentfunctionary, loanswillalsohavetobekeptin rises 22.5% would be rolled out a few days Approximately more than domestic value addition is check.The business of banking India’s top ahead of the three-phase Bihar two lakh direct jobs are expectedtoincreasefromthe itselfhasturnedintoachallenge to `21,600 cr Assemblyelections,starting on expected to be created over current 15%-20% to 35%- asCovidslammedthebrakeson corona city October28. thenextfiveyearswhileindi- 40% for mobile phones and analready-slowingeconomy. in Sept The rising infections and a The budgetary cost of the rect employment opportuni- 45%-50%forelectroniccom- Non-foodcreditisgrowingat lowerrecoveryrate—Bengaluru stimuli could be limited to `1- ties are expected to number ponents. 5.3%year-on-year(y-o-y) even PRESS TRUST OF INDIA has a recovery rate of 77% as 1.5 lakh crore,as the Centre is nearlythree times that.. The PLI scheme for large asthebankingsystemsitsonan New Delhi, October 6 against Delhi’s recoveryrate of keen on not expanding its Bud- The local companies that scaleelectronicsmanufactur- ever-expandingpileofdeposits. 90% – have also meant rising get size from `30.4 lakh crore have won approvals and can ing was notified on April,1, Retailcredit,whichhadbeendri- BAJAJ FINANCE ON Tuesday pressure on the city’s health budgeted.Theadditionalburden use the PLI sops are Lava, 2020.Itprovidesanincentive ving growth even as recentlyas said its consolidated deposit infrastructure. Within a fort- on the budget from stimuli Bhagwati(Micromax),Padget 60% of the global revenues inet nodwas not required. of 4% to 6% on incremental lastyear,isnowshowingsignsof book rose by 22.5% to night hospital bed occupancy announced so faris roughly`3 Electronics,UTLNeolyncsand frommobilephones.Foxconn The objective of the sales—over the base year of a slowdown.The onlysegments `21,600 crore as of Septem- has increased from 61.7% on lakh crore. The Centre is Optiemus Electronics. Six Hon Hai,Wistron and Pega- scheme is to promote five FY19-20—for goods in cer- contributing meaningfully to ber 2020, while customer September 14 to 74.2% on expected to save about `4 lakh companies have been given tron are the contract manu- global and five local champi- tain segments made in India growth are pockets in the roads franchisegrewby14%to4.41 October6. crore via the spending restric- thegoaheadunderthespeci- facturersforApplewhowillbe onsasalsoencouragecompo- over a period of five years. and energy sectors. Khara will crore. Meanwhile,while 58% ICU tions imposed on central min- fied electronic components making phones here. nentmanufacturers.Thesub- Incentives are applicable havetoexpandtheseavenuesof Customer franchise as on beds and 66%ventilatorswere istries for the April-December segment: AT&S, Ascent Cir- Inall,16applicationswere sidy outlay for the five global under the scheme from growth in orderforthe bank to September 30, 2020, stood at occupied on September 14, period,soabout`1lakhcroreis cuits,Visicon,Walsin,Sahasra, approved by the ministry of firms is `28,150 crore, August 1,2020.Telecom and liveuptoexpectationsofgrowth 44.1 million as compared to occupancies have increased to already available with it for and Neolync. electronics and IT (MeitY) on approximately `5,630 crore IT minister, Ravi Shankar and compete with its private- 38.7 million ayearago. 82%and86%onOctober6. spending on Stimulus 2.0. In Foreign players can only Tuesday.The confirmations per company over five years. Prasad said the PLI scheme sectorrivals.Thatmightbekeyto DuringtheJuly-September Thesituationbecomesworse fact,itmightevensaveaconsid- make phones that have an have been somewhat delayed Forlocalfirms,thetotalincen- has been huge success in reversingthelender'slacklustre quarter,thecompanyacquired ifgovernmenthospitalsarecon- erable sum from the `3-lakh- invoice value of Rs 15,000 or owing to confusion about tive outlay is `7,300 crore or terms of the applications stockperformance. 1.2 million (12 lakh) new cus- sidered,where 82% of hospital crore stimulus announced more, for the localplayers, whethertheproposalscleared about `1,460 crore per com- receivedfromglobalaswellas Covid has turned out to be tomers,Bajaj Finance said in a beds are occupied.Moreover,of already,allowingitnottoexceed there is no such bar.Apple, by MeitY needed approval pany,again,overfiveyears.For domesticmobilephoneman- transformative in terms of how regulatoryfiling. atotalof114ICUbedsavailable theBudgetsizeevenwithsecond withashareof37%andSam- from the Union Cabinet.The electroniccomponents,sixeli- ufacturing companies and organisations function and SBI Deposit book stood at in government hospitals and trancheofstimulus. sung, with a share of 22%, department of expenditure, gible applicants will be given electronic components man- willbeforcedtorelookitswaysof approximately `21,600 crore government medical colleges, “Thestimuluswilllikelybea together account for nearly however,clarified that a Cab- `900 crore as incentives.The ufacturers. work sooner than later.This is as on September 30, 2020, as onlyninewere available.In the combinationwelfareandinvest- evident from the fact that the compared to `17,633 crore a case ofventilators,onlythree of ment/infrastructure develop- bank’s corporate headquarters yearago,it added. 141ventilatorswereavailableon ment related measures.These in Nariman Point had to be However,new loan booked Tuesday.Ifthegovernmentdoes are likely to be announced just brightened chances that the the estimated level is a likely Inotherwords,thenon-bank According to a Nielsen esti- sealed on multiple occasions in duringQ2FY21fellto36lakh not augment infrastructure ahead of Bihar assembly elec- budgetary cost of stimuli — directive from the Supreme paymentplayershavemadethe mate,India has roughly12 mil- the last fewmonths aftersome as compared to 65 lakh in the capacity,patientscouldbebadly tionsandtheDussehracelebra- already announced and the Courtpotentiallyenhancingthe transition from peer-to-peer lionkiranasandclosetoamillion people tested positive forCovid year-ago period. affecetdthecomingweeks.Ben- tions (October 25),”a govern- tranche likelyto be unveiled in cost ofdebt reliefs to theexche- (P2P) payments to a large-scale wholesalers that make up the there.Whileoutgoingchairman The assets under manage- galuru,tillTuesday,hadrecorded ment official said. “Since November — would be met quer. peer-to-merchant(P2M)model. lifelineofthe$650-billionretail RajnishKumarhasoftenspoken ment (AUM) in the quarter 3,101deaths. stimulusisofapan-Indianature, solelythrough‘reprioritisation’, Amazon Pay,which offers cus- industry. Going to small mer- of‘anywherebanking’beingthe under review rose to it won’t violate Election Com- or the curbing of expenditure Amazon tomisable payment solutions chantsalsomakessenseforpay- newparadigm forSBI,the bank `1,37,300 crore from mission’s model code of con- underselectotherheads. andcorporategiftcardservices, ments players because it opens isyettocomeupwithaconcrete `1,35,533crore,BajajFinance Stimulus 2.0 duct,”theofficialadded. Announcingthecalendarfor readying big could be looking to consolidate up doors for cross-sell of other modelforexecution.Itisclearly said. The government feels the thesecondhalfofthisfiscal,eco- its presence at small merchant products and services, credit unfinished business that will “The company continues soon,will be effortsbeingmadetounclogthe nomic affairs secretary Tarun payments play outlets. being the foremost among passontothenewchairman. toremainwellcapitalisedwith assorted transfers to stateswill BajajsaidtheCentrewillborrow Very soon, WhatsApp QR Earlier this year, Vivek them. The data that can be SBIhasmadepublicitsplans capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) conservative have a complementary role `4.34 lakh crore,orabout 34% codescouldpopupnexttothose Lohcheb,head-offlinebusiness mined from transactions at to set up a newumbrella entity of approximately 26.5% Besides,a host of additional along with the direct stimulus ofthefull-yeartarget.Ithasfac- ofthethreeexistingplayers. development,PhonePe,hadtold these stores could also bevalu- forretailpayments,acompetitor while maintaining highest welfare/reliefmeasurestargeted measurestospurtheeconomy. tored in potential stimulus WhatsApp has about 400 FEthat97%ofcommerceisstill able forthese tech-driven com- totheNationalPaymentsCorpo- ever liquidity buffer. Consoli- atthevulnerablesectionswould TheCentrehasrecentlystuck requirement and lower-than- million users in India and fea- offline andwithin that,90% is panies. rationofIndia(NPCI).Kumarhas dated liquidity surplus stood be announced , including a to its enhanced gross market expected disinvestment rev- tures prominently in the daily unorganised. “So, payments also spoken of plans to spin off at approximately `22,300 waiverofcompoundinterestfor borrowing target of `12 lakh enues in the borrowing plan. livesofmostofthem.Thisexist- players are looking not at Dinesh Khara is SBI’sYonoappintoastandalone crore as of 30 September specifiedsmallborrowers–indi- crore forFY21,brightening the Even“some surprises”can also ing userbase,coupledwith the kiranas,but at all unorganised digitalbankandunlockvalueby 2020,and the liquidity posi- viduals and MSMEs – under a chancesofitsbudgetaryexpen- beaccommodated,Bajajadded. 60 million-odd merchant net- stores because they constitute SBI chairman offering the platform to small tion remains very strong,”the certain loan limit for the six- diture fortheyearbeing reined Athreattothegovernment’s workonJioMart,couldmakeJio themassofmerchants.Whoever AninstitutionthesizeofSBI banks.WhetherKhara picks up Pune headquartered non- month moratorium period inattheestimatedlevel.Thisalso plan to limit the budget size at a significant player in the pay- wins this market will win the willbeparticularlyhard-pressed these two tasks as his own banking finance company mentsmarket,expertssay. paymentsspace,”hehadsaid. to juggle this exercise with its remainstobeseen. said. DHFL case: Auditor reports fraudulent transactions worth `2,150 crore PRESS TRUST OF INDIA company sold its stake in New Delhi, October 6 Pramerica Life Insurance to DHFL Investments DEBT-RIDDEN MORT- (DIL),as per a regulatory GAGE LENDEr DHFL on filing. Tuesday said that fraudu- Basedonthereport,“the lent transactions worth administrator has filed an `2,150.84 crore byway of application in respect of undervaluing the com- agreementsexecutedatthe pany's insurance sub- time of selling the com- sidiaryhavebeendetected pany's stake in Pramerica by transaction auditor Life Insurance Company GrantThornton. (erstwhile DHFLPramerica DHFL is undergoing Life Insurance Ltd) to DIL resolution process under and in respect of certain the Insolvency and Bank- Inter-Corporate Deposits ruptcyCode. (ICDs) given by the com- Earlier this year, the panytocertainentities(ICD company's administrator entities)beforetheMumbai roped in Grant Thornton benchoftheNCLT”. to conduct an investiga- This is the third filing tion into the affairs of the based on the report sub- mortgage firm. mitted by the auditor and According to the audi- further filings may be tor'sreport,the`2,150.84 undertaken in due course, crore-fraudwasinrelation the company said. Indian to the undervalued and Overseas Bank's former fraudulent nature of cer- MDandCEORSubramani- tain agreements entered akumar is the company's intobytheDHFLwhenthe administrator.

Steel Limited

CORPORATE IDENTIFICATION NO. (CIN) : L27102MH1994PLC152925 Regd. Of�ce: JSW Centre, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai - 400 051. Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited Tel.: 022-4286 1000 Fax: 022-4286 3000 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jsw.in NOTICE OF LOSS OF SHARE CERTIFICATES (Formerly known as Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited) Notice is hereby given that the Share Certi�cates in respect of the following Equity Shares (CIN - L65910MH1995PLC220793) have been reported to be lost/misplaced and the Shareholders thereof have applied for duplicate Share Certi�cates in lieu thereof. Registered O�ce: 4th Floor, Tower A, Peninsula Business Park, Ganapatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400 013. Tel No. +91 022 6808 7000 • Fax No. +91 022 6808 7097 • www.nipponindiamf.com Share Certi�cates Certi�cate Distinctive No. 0f Folio No Name/Joint Names No(s) From To Shares NOTICE NO. 64 Record Date JSW1146368 RAJKUMAR MANDHANI 2640719 2405965551 2405966500 950 JSW1158185 GOVINDARAJULU G R 2654860 2408388731 2408389930 1200 October 12, 2020 JSW0332742 ALKA GARG 2692820 2415500891 2415503510 2620 DIVIDEND DECLARATION Any person who has a claim on the above Share Certi�cates is requested to contact the Notice is hereby given that the Trustee of Nippon India Mutual Fund (“NIMF”) has approved declaration of dividend Company at its Registered of�ce within 15 days, failing which the Company will proceed to issue duplicate certi�cates. on the face value of Rs. 10/- per unit in the undernoted scheme of NIMF, with October 12, 2020 as the record date: Place : Mumbai For JSW Steel Limited Dividend NAV as on October Date : 06-10-2020 Sd/- Name of the Scheme(s) Lancy Varghese (` per unit)* 05, 2020 (` per unit) Company Secretary Part of O. P.Jindal Group Nippon India Balanced Advantage Fund - Dividend Plan 24.4722 Nippon India Balanced Advantage Fund - Direct Plan - 0.1500 29.8221 Dividend Plan *Income distribution will be done/dividend will be paid, net of tax deducted at source, as applicable. Pursuant to payment of dividend, the NAV of the Scheme will fall to the extent of payout, and statutory levy, if any. The dividend payout will be to the extent of above mentioned dividend per unit or to the extent of available distributable surplus, as on the Record Date mentioned above, whichever is lower. For units in demat form : Dividend will be paid to those Unitholders/Bene�cial Owners whose names appear in the statement of bene�cial owners maintained by the Depositories under dividend plan/option of the Scheme as on record date. All unit holders under the dividend plan/option of the above mentioned scheme, whose names appear on the register of unit holders on the aforesaid record date, will be entitled to receive the dividend. For Nippon Life India Asset Management Limited (Formerly known as Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Limited) (Asset Management Company for Nippon India Mutual Fund) Mumbai Sd/- October 06, 2020 Authorised Signatory Make even idle money work! Invest in Mutual Funds

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS 13

PUBLIC NOTICE CLASSIFIEDS Notice is hereby given that my clients Deepak M Desai age about 49 yrs, Mrs. Deepa Deepak D e s a i age about 45 yrs and late Mr. Madhusoodan M Desai age about 81 yrs (who BUSINESS died interstate on 18-11-2015 residing at C 52 Forest County CHS Ltd Kharadi Pune are Joint owners of property bearing Flat No. C 52 Forest County CHS Ltd Kharadi Pune on the�fth�oor, BUSINESS OFFERS adm. area about 91.42 sq. mtrs. Carpet and one Covered car parking in the building basement (7A-c and 7B-c) of project known as Forest County SR no 41/1 A Hissa no 1B (New),SR No 30 acres land with 2 lakh 41/2A/1,Hissa no 1 SR no 40, Hissa no 1B/2, Sr sqft industrial shed No 40 Hissa no 2/B2, Sr No 59 Hissa no 1+2+4/1, Sr No 59, Hissa no 1+2+4/2, Sr no 59 ,Sr No 59 construction,etc in Hissa no 1+2+4/3, Sr no 59 Hissa no 3 Kharadi Pune – 411014 That 1) Deepak M Desai Son 2) excellent condition for Mrs. Deepa Deepak Desai Daughter in law, 3) Sale in D Chemical zone Mrs.Vidya Vijayendra Pai Daughter are the only legal heir of Late Mr. Madhusoodan M Desai. My area in Dindori at client hereby invites claims or objections from the Nashik. Suitable for any heir or heirs or other claimant or claimants objector or objectors to the transfer of the said shares and new industry, ware- interest of the deceased member in the capital/Property of the society or any other houses close to cargo objection of whatsoever nature, should intimate the hub airport. Lucrative same within 30 days of publication of this notice, with documentary proof thereof, failing which all offer. Contact such claims, if any, shall be deemed to have been 9545554089. waived and abandoned and the society shall complete the transaction without any reference 0050169979-1 thereto and no claim shall be entertained thereafter. And the society shall be free to transfer the said�at and shares pertaining thereto to my clients 1) Deepak M Desai Son 2) Mrs. Deepa Deepak ''IMPORTANT'' Desai Daughter in law, 3) Mrs. Vidya Vijayendra Pai Daughter This is issued under bye laws of the Whilst care is taken prior to MCSAct, 1960. acceptance of advertising copy, Place: Pune, Dated: 07.10.2020 it is not possible to verify its Adv. Gouri S. Lokhande (Ghanwat) contents. The Indian Express Of�ce No.10, Om Ganesh Market, Below Haveli No.16, (P.) Limited cannot be held Manikbaug, Sinhagad Road, Pune 51. M.: 9049003203 responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred as a result of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or Publications. We therefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

CLASSIFIED CENTRES IN MUMBAI

SOUTH MUMBAI Phone: 23415111

Beejay Ads, Taj Publicity Services, Opera House Byculla (W), Phone : 23692926 / 56051035. Phone : 2305 4894. Mobile : 9892011371. Color Spot, Yugarambha Advertising, Byculla (E), Girgaon, Phone : 23748048 / 23714748. Phone : 2386 8065. Mobile : 9869074144. FCA Communications, Nariman Point, CENTRAL MUMBAI Phone : 40020550 / 51. Aaryan Publicity Fulrani Advtg. & Mktg. Dadar (E), Antop Hill Phone: 022-65881876 Phone: 24159061 Mobile: 9320111876 Mobile: 9769238274/ 9969408835 B. Y. Padhye Publicity Services, Dadar (W), Ganesh Advertising, Phone : 2422 9241/ Abdul Rehman Street, 2422 0445. Phone : 2342 9163 / 2341 4596. DATEY Advertising, J.K. Advertisers, Datey Bhavan, Dadar (W) Hornimal Circle, Mobole : 8452846979/ 9930949817 Fort. Phone : 22663742. Hook Advertainment Dadar Mani’s Agencies, Mobile : 8691800888 Opp.G.P.O. Fort. Central Advertising Agency, Phone : 2263 00232. Mahim (W), Mobile : 9892091257. Phone : 24468656 / 24465555

Manjyot Ads, Charudatta Advertising, Currey Road (E) Mahim (W), Phone : 24700338. Phone : 24221461 Mobile : 9820460262. Jay Publicity, OM Sai Ram Advtg., Dadar (E), Currery Road Phone : 24124640 Mobile: 9967375573 Pallavi Advtg. Pinto Advertising, Dadar (W), Mazagaon, Mobile: 9869109765 Phone : 23701070. Mobile : 9869040181. Shree Swami Samarth Advertising, Dadar (W), Premier Advertisers Phone : 24440631 Mumbai Central Mobile : 9869131962 Mobile: 9819891116 Stylus Arts, Sarjan Advertising, Dadar (W), Tardeo, Phone : 24304897 Phone : 66626983 Time Advertising, Sanjeet Communication Matunga (W), Fort. Phone : 2446 6191 Phone : 40024682/ 40792205. Vijaya Agencies, S. Arts Advtg. Dadar (W), Masjid Phone : 2422 5672. KLM AXIVA FINVEST LIMITED Registered Office: Door No. 3-3-408/1, First Floor, RTC Colony, Opposite SBI Bank LB Nagar, Mansoorabad, Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Telangana-500074 Indiabulls Asset Reconstruction Company Limited CIN:U65910TG1997PLC026983 Indiabulls Finance Centre, Tower - 1, 9th Floor, Senapati Bapat Marg, Website: www.klmaxiva.com Elphinstone Road, Mumbai, Mumbai City, MH 400013 STATEMENT OF AUDITED FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2020 PUBLICNOTICE Regulation 52(8), read with Regulation 52(4) of SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015 (under Rule 3 (1) of Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002) For the year ended For the year ended SUBSTITUTED SERVICE OF NOTICE U/S.13 (2) OF SECURITISATION AND RECONSTRUC- Sl. No. Particulars 31/03/2020 31/03/2019 TION OF FINANCIAL ASSETS AND ENFORCEMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST ACT, 2002. (Rs. In Lakhs) (Rs. In Lakhs) Notice is hereby given to the borrowers as mentioned below that since they have defaulted in repayment of the Credit 1 Total Income from Operations. 9,956.59 6,629.23 facility availed by them from the original lender IndusInd Bank Limited (IBL), their loan accounts have been classified as Net Profit/(Loss) for the period before tax, exceptional and (or Non-Performing Assets on 07-09-2019 in the books of the Assignor Bank as per RBI guidelines thereto. Pursuant 2 thereto, the Assignor Bank (IndusInd Bank Limited) vide Assignment Agreement dated 30-09-2019 entered between extraordinary Items) 749.03 370.60 Assignor Bank and Indiabulls Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Indiabulls ARC”) has Net Profit/(Loss) for the period before tax, after exceptional 3 assigned all their rights, title, interests with respect to the said financial assistance, secured assets, guarantees and any and (or extraordinary Items) 749.03 370.60 other underlying security interest and all their other rights, title and interests with respect to the said Non Performing Assets Net Profit/(Loss) for the period after tax, exceptional and (or (herein after referred to as financial assets), in favour of Indiabulls Asset Reconstruction Company Limited acting in its 4 extraordinary Items) 50.68 capacity as Trustee of the Indiabulls ARC – IXTrust. Thereafter, Indiabulls ARC has issued demand notices on 223.75 Total Comprehensive income for the period (Comprising 11-08-2020 under section 13(2) of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security 5 Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) on the last known addresses of the said borrowers thereby calling upon and Profit/Loss for the period after tax) 50.68 223.75 demanding from them to repay the entire outstanding amount Rs.2,48,13,958.42 (Rupees Two Crore Forty Eight Lacs 6 Paid up Equity Share Capital 5,312.82 5,149.32 Thirteen Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Eight and Paise forty two Only) as on 31-07-2020 together with further interest 7 Reserves and Surplus (excluding revaluation) 1,193.80 1,110.42 at the contractual rate on the aforesaid amount and incidental expenses, cost, charges etc. as stated in the said demand notices. However, the borrowers have refused to accept the said demand notices and therefore the service is being done 8 Net worth 6,506.62 6,259.74 by us by way of this publication as per Rule 3 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 (SARFAESI Rules): Paid up Debt Capital/Outstanding Debt (Including all 9 1.Name and address of Borrower and Co Borrower/s : borrowings) 48,930.94 33,428.74 Mr. Anil Radhakrishna Mithe (Borrower/Mortgagor) 10 Outstanding Redeemable Preference Shares -- C/O Indrani Hardware, S No. 12/9/2, Beltica Nagar, Nr Sonal Mangal Karyalay, Thergaon, Pune 411033 11 Debt Equity Ratio 7.52 5.34 Mrs. Asha Radhakrishna Mithe (Co-Borrower/Mortgagor) C/o Indrani Hardware, S. No 12/9/2, Beltica Nagar, Nr Sonal Mangal Karayal, Thergaon, Pune 411033 12 Earnings per Share (in Rs) Type of Loan. : Loan against Property Date of NPA : 07.09.2019 Date of Demand Notice : 11.08.2020 1. Basic 0.10 0.56 Total Outstanding Dues (INR) as on below date* : Rs.2,48,13,958.42 (Rupees Two Crore Forty Eight Lacs Thirteen 2. Diliuted 0.10 0.56 Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Eight and Paise forty two Only) 13 Capital Redemption Reserve - - Description of the Secured Assets/Mortgaged Properties 14 Debenture Redemption Reserve - 530.56 All the piece and parcel land bearings S. No. 12, Hissa No. 9 & 10 (p) admeasuring 2500 sq. ft along with construction Note: standing thereon consisting of ground floor, & two floors situated at Thergoan, pune, which is within the Local limits of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal corporation and within the registration District of the Sub Registrar, Taluka Haveli District Pune 1. The above financial results has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Company in their respective and bounded as under ; On or towards East : Adj Property, On or towards West: 2 meter Road, On or towards North meeting held on 05th October, 2020. : By Road, On or towards South : Adj Property. 2. The Board has not recommended payment of any dividend during the year. We hereby call upon the borrower stated herein to pay us within 60 days from the date of this notice, the outstanding 3. The Company has provided depreciation based on the useful life of the assets as prescribed in Schedule II of amount of amount Rs.2,48,13,958.42 (Rupees Two Crore Forty Eight Lacs Thirteen Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty Companies Act, 2013. Eight and Paise forty two Only) as on 31-07-2020 together with further interest thereon plus cost, charges, expenses, etc. thereto failing which we shall be at liberty to enforce the security interest including but not limited to taking possession 4. The working results have been arrived at after considering impairment as per Ind As provisions, depreciation of and selling the secured asset entirely at your risk as to the cost and consequences. on fixed assets and other usual and necessary provisions. Please note that as per section 13(13) of the SARFAESI Act, all of you are prohibited from transferring by way of sale, 5. Previous year figures have been regrouped/reclassifed wherever necessary to confirm to current year lease or otherwise, the aforesaid secured assets without prior written consent of the Indiabulls ARC. Any contravention of presentation. the said section by you shall invoke the penal provisions as laid down under section 29 of the SARFAESI Act and / or any other legal provision in this regard. Sl. No. Particulars Disclosures Please note that as per sub-section (8) of section 13 of the Act, if the dues of Indiabulls ARC together with all costs, The credit ratings assigned to the bank charges and expenses incurred by Indiabulls ARC are tendered to Indiabulls ARC at any time before the date fixed for sale or transfer, the secured asset shall not be sold or transferred by Indiabulls ARC, and no further step shall be taken by facilities and non-convertible debentures Indiabulls ARC for transfer or sale of that secured asset. of KLM Axiva Finvest Limited has been Sd/- Authorised Officer (a) Credit rating and change in the credit rating, if any. revised from CARE BB+; Stable Dated : 06.10.2020 For Indiabulls Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (Double BB+; Outlook: Stable) to Place : Pune Trustee of the Indiabulls ARC – IX Trust CARE BB+; Stable (Double B Plus; Outlook: Stable) on 01.04.2019 (b) Debt equity ratio. 7.52 (c) Previous due date for the payment of Interest. 01.03.2020 Previous due date for the payment of principal along with (d) 5.11.2019 interest. (e) Next due date for the payment of Interest. 01.04.2020 Next due date for the payment of principal along with the (f) 05.11.2020 interest. (g) Debenture redemption reserve NIL (h) Net worth 6506.62 lakh (i) Net profit /loss after tax 50.68 lakh Earnings per share (j) Basic 0.10 Diluted 0.10 For KLM Axiva Finvest Limited Sd/- Shibu Thekkumpurathu Varghese Date: 05.10.2020 Whole-Time Director Place Ernakulam (DIN: 02079917)

Pune WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 14 FINANCIAL EXPRESS

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● LEGAL BATTLE Pompeo calls for united 'Quad' Trump rape accuser says slander bloc on China in virus crisis

BLOOMBERG Ritsumeikan University. “It October 6 doesn’tmeanthatthisissome- is not at all a presidential duty thing to contain China. US SECRETARY OF State Nobodycan contain China.” Michael Pompeo called on The Quad has gained else -- whose job description otherfinancial documents. three other Indo-Pacific momentumasPresidentDon- Prez said she was includes slandering women The president argued that democracies to band together aldTrumppursuesamorecon- trying to smear who they sexually assaulted,” Carroll’scaseshouldbetreated againstcoercionfromChina,in frontational approach to Bei- Carroll’s attorney, Roberta differently because it’s not a a bid to keep pressure on Bei- jing, while India grows his name for Kaplan, said in the filing in criminal matter. jing amid the coronavirus cri- increasinglywary of Chinese political reasons Manhattan. New York State Supreme sis rockingWashington. economic and military influ- The Justice Department Court Justice Verna Saunders The so-called Quad -- also theCCP’sexploitation,corrup- ence in South Asia.The US has moved Carroll’s case from wasn’tpersuadedandallowed including Australia, India and tion and coercion,”he added. since 2017 sought to draw BLOOMBERG state court to federal court on the case to proceed. Japan -- began its second min- Forthehost,newlyinstalled India,which has traditionally October 6 September 8 and took over Themovefromstatetofed- isterial-levelmeetinginTokyo Prime Minister Yoshihide protected its non-aligned sta- Trump’s defence after a judge eral court leaves taxpayers on Tuesday,in an event expected Suga, the meeting signals a tus, into the fold with a re- THE NEW YORK advice ruledthatthepresidentcould- the hook for Trump’s defense to help firm up New Delhi’s willingness to continue some branded “Indo-Pacific Strat- columnist who claims Presi- n’t put off the suit any longer. in the case, but the US isn’t at participationinthegroup.The ofhispredecessorShinzoAbe’s egy.” dent DonaldTrump raped her Carrollcalledthemoveadelay President by implying that led by Acting Assistant Attor- risk of paying damages. firstinternationalgatheringof more hawkish security pro- India’s foreign minister inadepartmentstoredressing tactic to avoid renewed Carroll is too unattractive for ney General Jeffrey Bossert Instead, if the substitution ministers in Japan in almost a jects.Chinahasexpressedcon- Subrahmanyam Jaishankar room two decades ago asked a demands for Trump to be him to sexually assault her,” Clark invoked the FederalTort soughtbyJusticeDepartment yeardemonstratessolidarityat cerns that the “Quadrilateral was upbeat about the push. judgetodenyaJusticeDepart- deposed and submit to a DNA according to the filing. Claims Act in its filing last isgranted,thecasewillalmost a time when China is feuding Initiative,” which Abe first “Our objective remains mentrequesttosubstitutethe test during the final weeks The Justice Department monthtoarguethatthepresi- certainlybedismissedbecause with at least three of its mem- helped promote more than a advancingthesecurityandthe US government as the defen- before the presidential elec- press office didn’t immedi- dentwasactingofficiallywhen the US can’t be held responsi- bers: Australia, the US and decade ago, is an attempt to economicinterestsofallcoun- dant in her defamation law- tion. ately respond to a message he called Carroll a liar,requir- ble for intentional tort claims India. form “exclusive cliques” and tries having legitimate and suit. The department “inter- seeking comment on the fil- ing the substitution of the US under the Federal Tort Claims Aheadoftheevent,Pompeo stoke a“newColdWar.” vital interests in the region,” E. Jean Carroll, who went vened to shield Trump from ing. as the defendant. Act. reiterated a charge made by Japanese Foreign Minister Jaishankar said.“It is a matter publicwithherclaimslastyear legal accountabilityonlyafter Inherfiling,Kaplanbalked Attorney General William TheGovernmentAccount- theTrumpadministrationthat Toshimitsu Motegi avoided of satisfaction that the Indo- andsuedTrumpafterhecalled hisstatecourtstalltactics,pro- at the argument that Trump’s Barr stood behind the depart- abilityProject,anonprofitcivil thecoronaviruspandemicwas mention of China, the coun- Pacific concept has gained her a liar,said in a court filing cedural gambits, and asser- statements fell within the ment’s move,calling a back- rights defence organisation, madeworsebyaChineseCom- try’sbiggesttradingpartner,in increasingly wider accep- Monday that the US effort tions of immunity were all scope of his duties, including lash against it a “little tem- filedaso-calledfriend-of-the- munist Party’s cover-up.“The his comments. He said the tance.” misapplies a federal law rejected,”Carrollsaidinthefil- claims that Carroll had falsely pest” resulting from the courtbriefinthecaseMonday regime’s authoritarian nature Quad could help strengthen That the meeting is hap- intended to protect govern- ing. accusedothermenofrapeand “bizarrepoliticalenvironment saying the US was wrong to led its leaders to lock up and the international order and pening at all,as Trump battles ment workers from lawsuits The president has denied that she was lying about him inwhichwe live.” conclude that anything silence the very brave Chinese called on countries that share a Covid-19 infection in Wash- related to theirjobs. Carroll’s allegations. In June “as part of a secret political Carroll’s case appeared to Trumpsaidafterhisinaugura- citizens who were raising the the vision for a free and open ington, illustrates its impor- The law doesn’t apply 2019, after Carroll publicly conspiracy”and to sell books. begettingbackontrackinJuly, tion “automatically and inex- alarm,”Pompeotoldreporters, Indo-Pacific to join. tance to the US Pompeo -- one becausetheallegedlydefama- aired her claims, he told “Trumpactedfordecidedly after the US Supreme Court orably” falls within the scope with the foreign ministers “What they’re doing is oftheTrumpadministration’s tory statements weren’t part reporters:“I’llsayitwith great personal reasons unrelated to ruled that a sitting president of his employment. Trump’s from the three other states by sending a message to the Chi- mostvocal critics of the Chi- of Trump’s official duties, she respect:Numberone,she’snot furtheringanyinterestsofthe isn’timmunefromstatecourt alleged statements were his side. nese side that engagement is nese Communist Party -- can- said. mytype.Numbertwo,it never United States”when he made actions -- a ruling thatcleared instead part of a pattern of “AspartnersinthisQuad,it more important than celed subsequent stops in “There is not a single per- happened.Itneverhappened.” the statements, according to the way for Manhattan Dis- remarks that started long is more critical now than ever assertiveness,”said Kunihiko MongoliaandSouthKoreaini- son in the United States -- not “It is inconceivable that the filing. trictAttorneyCyrusVanceJr.to before his election, the group that we collaborate to protect Miyake,aformerdiplomatand tially planned for later this the President and not anyone Trump aimed to do his job as AJusticeDepartmentteam demand Trump’s taxes and said. our people and partners from visiting professor at Japan’s week. Moderna vaccine trial China in talks with WHO over assessing its vaccines for global use REUTERS been fully completed, raising “Potentially through this countries as Pakistan,Indone- contractors fail to enrol Singapore, October 6 safetyconcernsamongexperts. emergencyuselistingthequal- sia, Brazil, Russia and the Socorro Escalate, WHO’s ityand safetyof thesevaccines UnitedArabEmirates. enough minorities CHINA IS IN talks to have its coordinatorforessentialmedi- and efficacycould be assessed. Lastmonth,theUAEautho- locally-producedCovid-19vac- cines and health technologies ..and then this could be made rised the emergency use of a REUTERS cines assessed by the World in the Western Pacific region, available for our licensees,” CNBG vaccine, the first inter- Chicago, October 6 Health Organization,as a step told a news conference con- Escalantesaid. national emergency clearance towardmakingthemavailable ducted online that China had China has at least four foroneofChina’svaccines,just PRIVATE CONTRACTORS for international use, a WHO held preliminary discussions experimental vaccines in the six weeks after human trials HIRED by Moderna to recruit officialsaidonTuesday. with WHO to have its vaccines finalstageofclinicaltrials-two beganintheGulfArabstate. volunteers for its coronavirus Hundreds of thousands of includedinalistforemergency are developed by state-backed Philippines President vaccine trial failed to enrol essential workers and other use. China National Biotec Group Rodrigo Duterte said last enough Black, Latino and groups considered at high risk The WHO’s emergency use (CNBG),andtheremainingtwo month it would prioritise Native American participants The company said it will in China have been given listing procedure allows unli- dite their availability in public procurement agencies to are from Sinovac Biotech and China and Russia in his coun- todeterminehowwellthevac- provide complete data on locally-developed vaccines censed vaccines and treat- healthemergencies.Thishelps determine the acceptability of CanSinoBiologicsrespectively. try’sglobalshoppingforavac- cine works in these popula- the more diverse trial even as clinical trials had not ments to be assessed to expe- WHO member states and UN thevaccines. They are tested in such cine. tions,companyexecutivesand vaccine researchers told group in its formal Reuters. application seeking To make up for the short- commercial approval from Google, Oracle financed many HK ousts teacher in fall, Moderna slowed enrol- the US Food and Drug ment of its late-stage trial and Administration next year instructed research centres to supporters in top court faceoff warning to those focus on increasing participa- tion among minority volun- teers, the company said.The hired to test the Modernavac- BLOOMBERG briefsinGooglev.Oracleisfour effortisbeingbolsteredbyaca- cine at five sites,saidefforts to October 6 times the number filed in the who push politics demic researchers who have enrol volunteers from diverse average high court case. BLOOMBERG longstanding relationships backgroundstoprovideproper ALPHABET’S GOOGLE AND Among the combatants are a October 6 with organisations in Black population balance is"notori- Oraclewill face off in the US Hollywood lobby shop,a dark- andotherminoritycommuni- ously difficult" in any clinical SupremeCourtonWednesday moneygroupwithananti-big- HONG KONG LEADER Carrie ties. trial. in a multibillion-dollar copy- tech agenda and an advocacy Lam defended disciplining Five investigators working “If there’s a problem with right dispute with sweeping organisation forblind people. teachers for promoting anti- on the Moderna trial said in recruiting minorities, and implications for technology The case pits tech compa- China views, after the Asian interviews that commercial there is, you can’t fix that and media companies world- niesthatwantfreeruseofpro- financial centre for the first siteinvestigatorsquicklyfilled overnight,”he said. wide. gramming languages against timerevokedaneducator’sreg- a large portion of the 30,000- Black Americans made up But the finale of the high- entertainment and media istration over the content of person study with mostly onlyabout7%ofthetrialasof stakes litigation, which has businesses that favour theirlessons. whitevolunteers. September 17.That should be beengrindingthroughthefed- stronger copyright protec- Lam told reporters Tuesday The Education Bureau said ButCovid-19infectsBlacks closer to 13% to reflect the eralcourtsforadecade,maybe ticular,”said Paul Collins,who anyone broke the Supreme tions. she was obliged to protect stu- the teacher's materials in the United States at nearly actual US population. remembered for another rea- studies such briefs as a politi- Court’srulerequiring“amici”- Google is challenging an dents from being drawn into were not in line with the three times the rate of white During the last two weeks son: as a case studyin the sub- cal science professor at the - which means “friends” in appealscourtrulingthatitvio- the political disputes that have constitutional and legal Americans,and they are twice of September,Moderna said it tle art of influencing Supreme University of Massachusetts Latin--todeclarewhetheralit- lated Oracle’s copyright when fuelledahistoricwaveofunrest status of Hong Kong as likely to die from the virus, increased the proportion of Court justices. Amherst. igant contributed money it included some Oracle- intheformerBritishcolony.She according to a report by the Black enrolment,but declined Thebare-knuckleGooglev. “There is a tacit quid pro intended to fund the prepara- owned Java programming was responding to questions National Urban League and to provide details. Oracle brawl features dozens quo with the idea being that tion of the brief. codeintheAndroidphone.Sun about the Education Bureau’s otherstudies. Increased trial participa- of outside groups that have these groups” are expected to But the rule has a loophole: Microsystems developed the decisiontoderegisterateacher out basis,then that becomes a Andcommunitiesofcolour tion could help address dis- written, signed or recruited support their funders’ posi- It doesn’t require brief writers Java language before Oracle accusedofgivinghisclassof10- very serious matter,”Lam said, count prominently among trustbetweencommunitiesof others to join friend-of-the- tions. or signatories to disclose gen- bought the companyin 2010. and11-year-oldsalessonabout referringtoHongKong’sstatus healthcare workers and popu- colour and the medical indus- court,or amicus curiae,briefs. It’s unheard of for a com- eral funding unconnected to On at least 14 briefs on independence and freedom of as a special administrative lationsathighriskofCovid-19 try after years of underrepre- Many have received funding pany to outright lobby the the specific court case. behalf of Google, some of the speech. region of China. The Profes- complications, making them sentation in pharmaceutical from one of the companies for Supreme Court, yet legal “It’sasignificantloophole,” authors or their employers “Ifthereisaverytinyfraction sionalTeachers’Union said in a among the first likelyto be eli- research,historical horrorsto- reasons unrelated to the case experts say amicus briefs, said Collins.Democratic sena- received money from the of teacherswho are using their statement posted on its Face- gibleforanewvaccine,experts ries of medical experimenta- but didn’t disclose it. whicharesupposedtoprovide tors on the Judiciary Commit- search giant,while the writers teachingresponsibilitiestocon- book page late Monday that it said. Paul Evans, chief execu- tion without consent, and Amicus briefs are “the pri- independent perspectives tee last year proposed a mea- ofsevenbriefssupportingOra- veywrongmessagestopromote would help the teacher appeal tive of Velocity Clinical socioeconomic and health mary way that groups lobby from third parties, can influ- surerequiringamicitodisclose cle received funds from the misunderstanding about the the decision.The bureau’s alle- Research in Durham, North access inequities, vaccine judges inAmerica and justices ence the outcome. funding sources. software firm, according to a nation,tosmearthecountryand gationswere“totallynot in line Carolina,whose company was experts andpublic healthoffi- on the Supreme Court in par- There’s no evidence that The60friend-of-the-court Bloomberg analysis. the HKSAR government with- withthefacts,”theunionsaid.

CURBS IN PLACE After meatworkers die ofCovid-19, Twitter tests how its misinformation labels can be more obvious families fight for compensation October 6 working,happy-go-lucky,self- REUTERS Rothsaidtheneweffortsat honour” that users actively ber appeared to have been viralandconductingexercises less person,”Rangel said.“It’s a October 6 Twitterinclude testing a more pursueforattention,saidRoth. labelledwithin two hours. on likely new 2020 election AFTER SAULSANCHEZ tested greatloss.” visible reddish-magenta Though Twitter’s labels Roth said Twitter reduces claims to get faster. positiveforthecoronavirusata Now Rangel, 53, is in the TWITTERISRETHINKING colour, and working out have been praised by some the reach of all tweets labelled Multiple researchers told hospital in Greeley, Colo., he middleofanewstruggle.Hersis howthelabelsitappliestomis- whethertoflaguserswhocon- misinformation experts as a for misinformation, by limit- Reuters it was difficult to spoke to his daughter on the one of several families of JBS informationlookandwork,its sistently post false informa- long-overdue intervention, ing theirvisibilityand not rec- assess effectiveness of Twit- phone and asked her to relay a employees in Greeley seeking head of site integrity told tion. their execution has triggered ommending them in places ter’s interventions without message to his supervisors at compensation for a death Reuters in an interview,as the “We’vedefinitelyheardthe criticisms from researchers as like search results.The com- knowing which actions it was work. caused by Covid-19.The com- social media company tries to feedback that it would be use- too slow. panydeclinedtoshareanydata taking andwhen. “PleasecallJBSandletthem pany has denied her family’s make these interventions ful to see if an account is a “Mostly things take off so about the effectiveness of Thecompanydoesnotkeep know I’m in the hospital,”his claim,aswellasatleasttwooth- more obvious and cut its reac- repeat offender or has been totweetsbyUSPresidentDon- fast that ifyouwait 20 or30 these steps. public lists of when it has daughter Beatriz Rangel ers,accordingtolawyersrepre- tion times. repeatedly labelled, and we’re aldTrump. minutes... most of the spread In August, Election applied labels and has not rememberedhimassaying.“Let senting the families who are Twitter’sYoelRothsaidthe thinking about the options In September, Twitter forsomeonewith a big audi- Integrity Partnership shared data to allow outsiders themknowIwillbeback.” now taking those claims to companyis exploring changes there,”said Roth. announced it would label or ence has already happened,” researchers said Twitter’s dis- to assess howits labels affect a The meat-processing com- court. Those denials, first tothesmallbluenoticesthatit Twitter started labelling remove posts claiming elec- saidKateStarbird,anassociate abling retweets on a Trump tweet’s spread or how users pany JBS had employed reported by Reuters,offered a attachestocertainfalseormis- manipulated or fabricated tionvictorybeforeresultswere professor at the University of tweet that violated its rules interactwith them. Sanchez,78,atitsplantinGree- viewofthedifficultiesfacedby leading tweets, to make these media in early 2020, after a certified. Washington who has been had a clear effect on its spread “The platforms need to leyforthreedecades.Hewasone families of essential workers signals more ‘overt’ and be public feedback period. It Roth said research under- analysing Twitter’s labelling butwas“too little,too late.” explain what hypothesis ofatleast291peopletherewho who have fallen ill or died more ‘direct’ in giving users expanded its labels to coron- mining the idea that correc- responses. RothsaidTwittertakesinto they’re testing, how they’re tested positive for the coron- because of the coronavirus, information.Buthedidnotsay avirus misinformation and tions can strengthen people’s It took Twitter about eight account the number of testing it,what the results are avirus,according to data from manyofwhomarestrugglingto whether any new versions then to misleading tweets beliefs in misinformation - hours to add labels to Trump retweets, engagement and and be transparent,” said healthdepartment. cover medical or funeral costs. would be ready before the US about elections and civic known as the‘backfire effect’- tweets about mail-in voting viewstoprioritiseviralcontent Tommy Shane, head of policy OnApril7,Sanchez became “Wejusthaveastackofbills,and electioninthenextfourweeks, processes.Twitter says it has had contributed to Twitter thefirsttimeitlabelledhimin for review to give “the most and impact at anti-misinfor- one of at least six employees at I think it’s reallytaken a toll on a period that experts saycould now labelled thousands of rethinkinghowitslabelscould May, though Starbird said bang for our buck.”But he said mation non-profit First Draft. theplanttodieofCovid-19,the mymom,becausemydadused be rife with false and mislead- posts, though most attention be more obvious. The risk is Twitter was getting quicker. Twitter was exploring how to “Because these are public illness caused by the coron- to be the one handling all the ing online content. has been on the labels applied that label“becomes a badge of TwoTrump tweets in Septem- predictwhichtweetswouldgo experiments.” avirus.“Mydadwasaveryhard- finances,”Rangelsaid. --NYT

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