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Former Chairman BILL GATES NASSCOM Co-founder, Microsoft Honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award TiE Global Summit 2020 JANMEJAYA Its an honour to receive this prestigious award from TiE SINHA SelectUSA,U.S. Chairman, Boston Department of Commerce Consulting Group India

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As a First Generation Entrepreneur Mr. Bill Gates has created a remarkable impact not Mr. Bill Gates is a Visionary Entrepreneur who has overcome various challenges and only on the global economy but also has become an inspiration to many entrepreneurs failures to create a new world, and he has leveraged success to tackle health and through generations, and the fact that he continues to give back to society. What he poverty issues worldwide which are overlooked by society.He democratized the entire has achieved is commendable. My Heartiest Congratulations to Mr. Bill Gates on being TiE Global Chair TGS Chair IT and Computer Technology ecosystem. He is a living legend and a role model for awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. every entrepreneur. My Personal and Hearty Congratulations to Mr. Bill Gates on being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Amrutanjan Health Care Limited CIN: L24231TN1936PLC000017 Regd. Office: No103 (Old No.42-45), Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 Tel : 044-2499 4465 Fax 044-2499 4585 Website : www.amrutanjan.com COMPANY NOTICE Notice is hereby given that the following Share Certificate bearing distinctive numbers given below standing registered in the favour of Mr. PRAKASHCHANDRA PRABHU Hunder Folio no:P0000255 has been reported lost/misplaced.

Share Certificate No(s) No of shares Distinctive Numbers 968 1340 866725-868064

Duplicate of the said Share Certificate(s) will be issued, if no objection is lodged with the Registered Office of the Company within fifteen days from the date of publication. For AMRUTANJAN HEALTH CARE LIMITED Sd/- Place: Chennai (M. Srinivasan) Date: 10/12/2020 Company Secretary & Compliance Officer

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Pune OPINION, P8 COMPANIES, P6 INTERNATIONAL, P10 EDITORIAL BY 2027 TEST LAUNCH 75% of districts extreme DRDO's quantum Walmart to increase SpaceX's Starship communication success climate hotspots; local quite significant, now exports from India prototype explodes climate planning needed focus on NM-QTA to $10 bn each year on landing

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VOL. XI NO. 269, 16 PAGES, `6.00PUBLISHEDFROM:AHMEDABAD,BENGALURU,CHANDIGAR H,CHENNAI,HYDERABAD,KOCHI,KOLKATA,LUCKNOW,MUM BAI,NEWDELHI,PUNE READ TO LEAD

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IN THE NEWS FARMERS’ PROTESTS ● COVID-19 CAPITAL NEEDS CCI raids offices Ready to PSBs told to tap mkts aggressively of LafargeHolcim, Delhi blockade soon; vaccinate 1 m other cement firms Massive infusion daily:Apollo More infusion likely Barring THE COMPETITION Commi- (` cr) 106,000 SBI, BoB & ssion of India (CCI) on Wed- APOLLOHOSPITALS,thecoun- in March after 88,139 Canara, govt holds nesday conducted raids at can still talk,says govt try’s largest hospital chain,says evaluating Q3 results over 80% in all 70,000 the offices of some cement it’sreadytoadministeronemil- other PSBs due companies, including The unions added that they lioncoronavirusvaccinedosesa Will block railway to regular LafargeHolcim, reports PTI. would block the Jaipur-Delhi day,butthegovernmenthasnot BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK infusion According to some reports, tracks if need be, andtheDelhi-Agraexpressways made clearhowvaccineswill be New Delhi, December 10 25,000 25,000 the CCI also conducted “onorbeforeDecember12,”and distributedandwhetherprivate 20,000 raids at offices ofAditya will announce date all the roads entering into the healthcare networks will be THE GOVERNMENT HAS *Outlay via Birla group’s UltraTech supplementary national capital,one-by-one,if involved, reports Bloomberg. impressed upon public-sector FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21* demand Cement, and Shree Cement. FE BUREAU theirdemandsareunmet. Apollo has so fartrained 6,000 banks (PSBs) to raise capital New Delhi, December 10 Farmer leader Shiv Kumar staff to give out jabs across its from the markets more IRCTC OFS: Issue “No law is completely Kakkatoldmediaherethatthere network of 71 hospitals, hun- aggressively,takingadvantage At the same time,it is plan- assessing their financial per- subscribed two DECLARING THAT THEY are bad. We are still ready to wasnothingnewinthegovern- dredsofclinicsandthousandsof of abundant liquidity, and ning to finalise by late Febru- formance in the third quarter steadfastly on the warpath, discuss any specific ment’s proposals sent to them pharmacies, according to MD ensureasustainedcreditpush aryorearlyMarchthedistribu- aswell as success in fund-rais- times on Day 1 farmerunionsonThursday cat- clauses in the laws on on Wednesday, and that these SuneetaReddy. to help spur economic activi- tion of the `20,000-crore ing,sources told FE. egorically rejected the govern- was“completelyrejected”bythe ties, as lockdown curbs are capital, approved in Septem- THE OFFER-for-sale for the ment proposals to amend the which farmers have ‘Sanyukta Kisan Committee'’. Full report on Page 6 all but lifted. ber, among various PSBs after Continued on Page 4 Indian Railway Catering and three contentious agriculture- objections.” JangvirSingh,leaderof another Tourism Corp (IRCTC) got a marketinglawstheywantabro- union,however,saidtheunions good response from non- gated. Even after agriculture “There is no relation might consider if the govern- retail investors as the issue ministerNarendraSinghTomar between MSP and these mentsentanotherproposal. was subscribed nearly two said the door for discussions laws. The laws are not All the 40-odd farmers times on the first day,reports “arestillopen”andthatfurther going to impact the unionswhohavecometogether PTI. Retail investors will get changes in the laws could be current MSP under the Samyukta Kisan chance to bid for IRCTC OFS made,farmer leaders said they Morcha would discuss their on Friday,the last day for the would intensify their agitation procurement system”. strategyfurtheronSaturday. issue, DIPAM secretary —NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR against the laws with a nation- AGRICULTURE MINISTER Tuhin Kanta Pandey said. wideprotestonDecember14. Continued on Page 4 SUPREME COURT OPPORTUNITY Tatas nix Mistry plan Fintechs lending to to resolve dispute high-risk segments SHRITAMA BOSE FE BUREAU relief cannot be granted. I am Mumbai, December 10 New Delhi, December 10 opposingit,”TataSonscounsel Harish Salve told a Bench led ARMED WITH CAPITALa TATA SONS ON Thursday by the Chief Justice. Salve clutch of fintechs is moving in rejected the non-cash settle- added that if this proposal is to finance the self-employed ment offer extended by the accepted,it would leave Tata and freelancers at a timewhen ■Fintechs moving in to finance ShapoorjiPallonji(SP) groupin Sons with the problem of banks and other lenders are self-employed, small business lieu of its 18.4% stake in the minorityshareholdinginallits clamping down on unsecured owners and freelancers holdingfirm. group firms instead of the loans.The risks are high given ■Banks and large NBFCs have The SPGroup had offered a holding firm where this prob- howevenbeforethepandemic frozen unsecured lending; pro-rata division of all the lem exists today. the share of loans in the 90 some have raised income caps assetsofTataSonsaspartofthe The CJI queried if the pro- days-past-due (dpd) category ■Fintechs lending to settlement and had valued its posal is“tenable”at this stage. waselevated. businesses are tracking end stakeat`1.75lakhcrore. AstudybyEquifaxandSmall use by embedding themselves “It’s nonsense.This kind of Continued on Page 4 Industries Development Bank in the supply chain of India (Sidbi) put the ratio of ■Delinquencies at digital-only WHATWASTHE OFFER BENEFITS bad loans in the personal seg- lenders remain high as many ■ SPGroup to be given ■ Pro-rata separation ofassets and ment at 6.15% for fintechs,in borrowers are untraceable pro-rata shares in listed entities liabilities would be a fair and December2019,wayabovethe ■Big investments in fintech ofTata Group equitable solution to all stakeholders 0.71%fortheindustry. driving fresh lending However, lenders like ■ ■ Pro-rata share ofbrandvalue Largely non-cash settlement AbhishekAgarwal,co-founder would ease pressure onTata to raise adjusted for net debt can be and CEO, CreditVidya, believe writing space, has now large quantum ofdebt settled in cash or in listed securities thereisanopportunity.“There launched a lending vertical ■ For unlisted ■ Minimise any dispute on is a segment of the population called Prefr, which offers companies, an valuation whichisnotasbad,buthasjust pay-later loans,cash advances expeditedvaluation can ■ Tata Sonswould con- beenhitverybadlybythepan- and term loans to the be donewith a valuer tinue to have control over demic,”Agarwal said. self-employed. selected by both sides the underlying assets The lender,which operates in the alternative data under- Continued on Page 4

Special Feature FAMILYAFFAIR TVS Group restructures ownership model

SAJAN C KUMAR without impacting any of Chennai, December 10 the stakeholders. Under the new structure, ‘Nearly 90% of THE $8.5-BILLION, Chennai- though each branch of the based TVS Group has family would become inde- Instagram users embarked on a restructuring pendentandmanagethebusi- follow a brand’ exercise whereby each family nesses they are running, the Sandeep Bhushan, head – group would get complete terms of the family arrange- global marketing solu- ownership of the companies ment do not envisage anyroy- tions, Facebook India, on they manage and the holding alty or brand usage payments Instagram’s branded company structure would Venu Srinivasan,TVS Motor from the operating busi- content solutions, be abolished. chairman and MD nesses/companies to the TVS monetisation strategy for According to a stock familymembers/theirholding IGTVand Reels, and more exchange filing by the group agement and functioning of companies,the filing said. ■BrandWagon, P11 onThursday,thenewarrange- the company in any way, ment will not affect the man- and business would continue Continued on Page 4

US LAWSUITS Facebook may have to sell Insta,WhatsApp REUTERS Thelawsuitshighlightthegrowing Washington/Palo Alto, Dec 10 bipartisanconsensustoholdBigTech accountableforitsbusinesspractices Google, Amazon FACEBOOKCOULDBEforcedtosell and mark a rare moment of agree- fined €135 m itsprizedassetsWhatsAppandInsta- ment between the Trump adminis- gram after the US Federal Trade tration and Democrats, some of GOOGLE RACKED up another Commission and nearly every US whom have advocated breaking up record fine in the European statefiledlawsuitsagainstthesocial bothGoogleandFacebook. Union,this time a €100-million mediacompany,sayingituseda“buy The complaints on ($121 million) penalty from or bury” strategy to snap up rivals Wednesday accuse Face- France’s privacywatchdog over andkeepsmallercompetitorsatbay. book of buying up rivals, thewayitmanagescookiesonits With the filing of the twin law- focusingspecificallyonits search engine,reports Bloom- suits on Wednesday, Facebook previous acquisitions of berg.CNIL,France’sdataprotec- becomes the second big tech com- photo-sharing app Insta- tionauthority,alsoslappedAma- pany to face a major legal challenge gramfor$1billionin2012 zon with a €35-million fine for thisyearafterthe US Justice Depart- and messaging app Whats- placingcookies,whicharetrack- ment sued Alphabet’s Google in Appfor$19billionin2014. ingdevices,onpeople’scomput- October, accusing the $1-trillion erswithouttheirconsent. company of using its market power Continued on ■ Full report on Page 10 to fend off rivals. Page 4

Pune 4 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

INVESTMENT PITCH Nitin Gadkari, Union minister

We need liquidity in the market. India is an attractive destination for investments. Our MSMEs are doing excellent job. You can ❝ bring❝ your technology to India. You can make joint ventures, you can invest in Indian industry... there is a huge potential. It is a EconomyFRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 golden opportunity and a win-win situation for both the sides. Quick ● POWER PLAY ADB cuts India contraction FM takes stock View Centre seeks cheaper renewable projection to of MSME dues 8% for FY21 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA made by the government,par- energy contracts to spur projects PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA New Delhi, December 10 ticularlybytheMSMEministry, New Delhi, December 10 forpayment of these dues.Par- option to pool electric- agreetolong-termcon- saidSunilDahiya,an analystat FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA ticular focus was placed on Cash-strapped units ity supply from RE tracts, particularly the Centre for Research on THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT Sitharaman on Thursday CPSEs and central government shunning long-term projects by develop- with prices of solar EnergyandCleanAir.“Policiesto Bank (ADB) on Thursday reviewed the situation about agencies for payment of dues,” ers,including Adani power likely to con- promote clean energy and its upgraded its forecast for the outstandingpaymentstomicro, anofficialstatementsaid. Rice export rates contracts needed to Green Energy and tinue to drop. It’s a renewablepowerauctionshave Indianeconomy,projecting8% smallandmediumenter- As a result, over underwrite new offerittoutilitiesata potential further givenitgeopoliticalclout,which contraction in 2020-21 com- prises, especially by `21,000 crore of extend gains to moreaffordableprice, dragontheroll-outof might diminish if the projects pared to 9% degrowth esti- CPSEsandcentralgov- MSME dues have over 2-mth high wind, solar projects according to the people, RE projects in India, fail to take off.The countryhas mated earlier, on the back of ernment agencies. been paid in past 7 who requested anonymity to whichhasstalledamidCovid. tobemoreaggressiveinmaking faster-than-expectedrecovery. Top officials, includ- months by central RICEEXPORTPRICESin discuss private details. That Utility-scale solar installa- sureprojectsgetbuilt.” Observingthattheeconomy ing department of government agencies Indiaroseforathird RAJESH KUMAR SINGH shouldhelpthefirmssealpacts tions in the first three quarters Thepoolingplanincludes12 has begun to normalise, the financialservicessecre- andCPSEs,itadded.The straightweektoitshighest December 10 with utilities and enable con- of 2020 declined 72% from a GW of projects awarded under Asian Development Outlook tary Debasish Panda, statement saidthehighest inmorethantwomonths structiontostartonasmuchas yearearlier,whilewindinstalla- India’s biggest solar auctions Supplement said the second MSME secretary AK Sharma, level of procurement was duetoanappreciationin THEGOVERNMENTISconsid- 15.2GWofREcapacity,asixth tions in the same period were lastyear.Adani Greenwon bids quartercontractionat7.5%was werepresentinthemeeting. achieved in October of over therupeeandhealthy eringplanstoassistrenewable of current installations, and the lowest in over a decade, to build two-thirds, with the betterthanexpected.Theecon- As part of the Aatmanirb- `5,100 crore and payment of demandfrombuyersin energy developers as cash- help the government meet its according to Bloomberg NEF. remaindergoingtoAzurePower omycontractedby23.9%inthe harBharat package announced over`4,100crore.Itfurthersaid AsiaandAfrica.Pricesfor strapped utilities shun the climate goals. The renewable India has set out targets to Global.They quoted a winning Junequarterofthecurrentfiscal in May this year,MSME dues goingbythereportsreceivedin thetopexporter’s5% long-termcontractsneededto energyministrydidn’trespond nearlydouble its RE capacityto priceof`2.92akWh,abovepre- onaccountoftheimpactofthe fromcentralgovernmentagen- first10 days forNovember,this brokenparboiledvariety underwritenewwindandsolar toarequestforcomment. 175 GW by 2022 and raise it vailingpricesinothersolarauc- coronavirus pandemic. “The cies and central public sector levelofperformanceisexpected roseto$378-$383per projects, according to people The country’s debt-bur- fivefoldto450GWby2030. tions although the tender also GDP forecast for FY2020 is enterprises(CPSEs)shouldhave tobesurpassedasprocurement tonne,theirhighestsince familiarwith the proposals. deneddiscoms,whichhavesuf- “India’sshiftawayfromfos- included bids for solar module upgradedfrom9%contraction beenpaidin45days.“SinceMay of about `4,700 crore and pay- theweekofSeptember24, State-runSolarEnergyCor- feredlossesrelatedtoelectricity sil fuels is absolutely critical to manufacturingplants. to8%,withGDPinH2probably 2020, regular follow-up and ment of about `4,000 crore from$375-381lastweek. poration is discussing an theft, have been reluctant to limitingglobalclimatechange,” — BLOOMBERG restoredtoitssizeayearearlier. concerted efforts have been havealreadybeenreported. ‘India an attractive destination for HC seeks govt, DGGI reply on CIL looking at import substitution investment,has huge returns scope’ plea over CGSTAct sections as Indonesian coal prices soar PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA Section69oftheActrelates PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA New Delhi, December 10 topowertoarrestapersonand INDRONIL coal.“Wehavealreadycommu- aid in offtake growth even if New Delhi, December 10 Gadkari calls for more innovation to section132dealswithpunish- ROYCHOWDHURY nicated with 300 importers demandfromthepowersector identify import substitute products THE DELHI HIGH Court has mentofcertainoffenceswhere Kolkata, December 10 seekingtheirrequirementfrom remainsmuted. TERMING INDIAAS an attrac- sought the Centre and DGGI’s a person commits or abets domestic sources. The rising Indonesiancoalprices(FOB) tive destination for invest- UNION MINISTER NITIN ment has decided to go in replyonapleachallengingthe commission of an offence. AS INDONESIAN THERMAL international coal prices in the at $ 67.09 per tonne in March ments, Union minister Nitin Gadkari onThursdaycalled for a tendering process to constitutional validity of vari- The court was hearing the coal prices have started surg- lastfortnightcouldofferCILan this year slumped to its lowest Gadkari on Thursday urged for more innovation and give government technol- ousprovisionsofthecentral petition by Arun Gupta, ing,Coal India (CIL) is looking opening,”aCILofficialsaid. at$49.42pertonneinSeptem- investorstotapthevastoppor- research to identify prod- ogycenterscomprisingtool goods and services tax director of Transline at an opportunity to replace ThePSUminer,saddledwith berthisyear,forwhichimports tunities it offers and get good ucts that can be indige- rooms to successful private (CGST) Act, relating to Technologies, also imported thermal coal with astockpileof91MTinthesys- were upbeat despite the gov- returns at a time when the nously manufactured as players who have an excel- the power of arresting seeking direction to the domestic variety going by tem (53.5 MT at the pit heads ernment’s efforts to bring it whole world is finding an cost-effective import sub- lent track record. a person. the authorities to the government’s mandate of and 37.5 MT at the power down.AlthoughtheIndonesian alternative destination for stitutes.Hesaidthegovern- — PTI A bench of Justices comply with the 100 million tonne (MT) of plants), is looking for newer average coal prices for Novem- investment in the wake of Manmohan and Sanjeev mandatory procedure import substitution. avenues to push coal.Though ber,accordingtoaPlattsreport, Covid-19 pandemic. Narula issued notice to the under the CrPC for valid In the wake of the Indone- demandfromthepowersector were down 15.1% y-o-y, con- The Centre has initiated a Hewasparticipatinginadia- OurMSMEsaredoingexcellent central government and the commencement of investiga- sian government setting the suddenlyincreasedabove13% sidering the recent price trend plethora of initiatives towards logue with a diaspora of busi- job.Youcanbringyourtechnol- Directorate General of GST tion into any offence qua him. November average free on in October, it declined once the mark up in November has self-relianceasperthevisionof ness leaders and CEOs on‘Tar- ogytoIndia.Youcanmakejoint Intelligence(DGGI)ontheplea The DGGI has accused Gupta board (FOB) coal prices at again in November, and non- openedopportunitiesforCIL. PrimeMinisterNarendraModi geting $5-trillionAtmanirbhar ventures, you can invest in seeking to declare sections 69 of issuing fake invoices with- $55.71 per tonne, up 9.2% power gave the impetus lifting Indonesian coal prices are making investment procedure Bharat economy by boosting Indianindustry...thereisahuge and 132 of the CGST Act as out the supply of goods and from October’s FOB value,CIL 12.3MT,agrowthof46%y-o-y. boundtomoveupfurtherfrom transparentandhassle-free,the MSMEs’.“We need liquidity in potential.Itisagoldenopportu- unconstitutional,illegal,unen- having allegedly committed hasstartedtalkingtoimporters This helped CIL’s y-o-y offtake Decemberonwardsasthereare road transport,highways and themarket.Indiaisanattractive nityandawin-winsituationfor forceable and ultra vires to the offences under the CGSTAct to find if they could meet their to grow 8% in November.Sub- increaseddemandfromChina, MSMEsministersaid. destination for investments. boththesides,”Gadkarisaid. Constitution. amounting to `13 crore. requirementthroughdomestic stitutingimportscouldfurther JapanandSouthKorea.

From the Front Page

Farmers’protest: proposed for stubble burning, and asked for a neutral third- Price and Reliance Market to the government said the issue partyvaluationfortheunlisted lend to their customers. Delhi blockade wouldbesuitablyaddressed.An US lawsuits: Facebook may have to sell Insta,WhatsApp assets adjusted fornet debt. In order to better the Ordinance in this regard was Earlier, on Tuesday during chances of recovering their soon; can still promulgated after an order of Federal and state regula- eralLetitiaJamesonbehalfof Facebook’s general coun- ernment now wants a do- thecourseofthehearing,Salve loans, fintech lenders are ask- the National Green Tribunal, tors said the acquisitions the coalition of 46 states, sel Jennifer Newstead called over,sendingachillingwarn- hadpeggedthevaluationofthe ing specificallyforthe end use talk, says govt wherein `1-crore penalty and shouldbeunwound—amove Washington, DC and the lawsuits “revisionist ing to American business Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s of funds. In some cases, this Addressing the media to five years’imprisonment were that is likely to set off a long Guam.Alabama,Geor- history” and said that no sale is ever final,” 18.4% stake anywhere could take the shape of small- make the government’s stand proposedforstubbleburning. legal challenge as the deals gia, South Carolina antitrust laws do Newsteadsaid.Newsteadalso between `70,000-80,000 scale supply chain financing, clear,Tomarsaid:“Itisnotright Disapproving of the farm- were cleared years earlier by and South Dakota not exist to punish raised doubts about alleged crore.On Thursday,Salve said where the funds are disbursed to announce agitation when ers’ unions decision to inten- the FTC.“For nearly a decade, did not participate “successfulcompa- harms caused by Facebook, the court can only ask Tatas to to a distributor in the retail talks are happening.The talks sify the agitation when “talks Facebook has used its domi- inthelawsuit. nies”.She said arguingthatconsumersbene- buy out the minority stake at supply chain and the repay- are still on.There is no break- are continuing,”Tomar urged nanceandmonopolypowerto James said the WhatsApp and fitedfromitsdecisiontomake fair market value and SP mentismadebythemerchant. down.Farmers should express farmers to return to their crushsmallerrivals,snuffout company acquired Instagram have suc- WhatsAppfree,andrivalslike Group’s proposal is “akin to Inothers,merchantsareloane- their views during the discus- homes in view of adverse competition, all at the rivals before they could ceeded after Facebook YouTube,TwitterandWeChat windingup TataSons”. doney to sustain operations sions, as we are ready with an weather conditions amid the expense of everyday users,” threaten the company’s invested billions of dollars in did“just fine”without access TheSPGroup’sproposalhad running until the online sales open mind to discuss all issues Covid 19 pandemic. said NewYork Attorney Gen- dominance. growing the apps.“The gov- toitsdeveloperplatform. said that as a non-cash settle- result in payments.Others are atanyforum.” Elaborating the proposals ment, it should get pro rata funding cash-starved free- He, however, asserted the senttosomefarmerleaderson shares in listed entities of the lancers and gig-economy lawswon’tbescrapped,though Wednesday,Tomar said even The government had loans.In August,Moody’s had progressinimplementingsome through TV Sundram Iyengar Tata Group where Tata Sons workers. Delinquencies the farmer unions are disin- though the leaders did not refrained from providing for said PSBs will need `2.1 lakh of the critical schemes of the & Sons, Sundaram Industries currentlyownsstake.Forexam- remain elevated in this seg- clined to accept anything less. share any specific suggestions more capital for state-run crore over the next two years, schemes,announced in Mayas and Southern Roadways col- ple, 72% of TCS is owned by ment. Many of the loanees “No law is completely bad.We with regard to different provi- banks in the Budget for FY21, and most of it might have to part of a `21-lakh-crore relief lectively called as TVS holding Tata Sons and SPGroup’s own- were untraceable post the are still ready to discuss any sionsinthethreelawsinques- assuming that its massive comefromthegovernment. package.For instance,by early companies. The TVS Group ership of 18.4% translates to lockdown despite Aadhaar specific clauses in the laws on tion,thegovernmentmadethe infusion of `2.6 lakh crore in Non-food bank credit November, banks had sanc- comprises over 50 companies 13.22%shareholdingofTCS. eKYChavingbeendone.Unlike which farmers have objec- proposalsonthebasisofpoints the three years through FY20 growthdeceleratedto5.6%in tioned loans of about `2 lakh and employs a totalworkforce Fortheunlistedcompanies, banksandlargeNBFCs,digital- tions.”Theministeralsoreiter- discussed during five rounds would be enough.Last fiscal,it October from 8.3% a year crore under the `3-lakh-crore of close to 39,000 employees. an expedited valuation could only lenders do not have field atedthattherewas“norelation of meetings held earlier. had extended `70,000 crore. before, show the latest RBI creditguaranteescheme. Over the decades, the TVS be done with a valuer selected agents to make recoveries for betweenMSPwiththeselaws”, “We have not received any However, the Covid-19 out- data.Credittoindustry,infact, familyhasexpandedtheirbusi- bybothsides,theSPGrouphad them and are, therefore, far adding, “these laws are not letter from the government break and consequent pres- contractedby1.7%inOctober Family affair: nesses and the TVS Group has proposed.The Tata brand was worse off at collections. going to impact the current and we will discuss it among sure on the banks’ balance from a rise of 3.4% a year ear- grownintoalargebusinesscon- valued at $20 billion as per its Industry executives like MSPprocurementsystem.“We ourselves if the government sheets forced it to seek Parlia- lier. Having risen at a double- TVS Group glomeratewithinterestsinsev- lastvaluation. TarunKumarKalra,globalhead arereadytogiveit(thepromise send any invite for talks.How- mentary approval in Septem- digit pace in FY19, the non- eral businesses operating in During the hearing,the CJI of sales,CredoLab said fintechs no threat to MSP) in writing. ever, most of the farmer lead- ber for a supplementary food credit growth started restructures diversifiedfields,includingtwo- told Salve that the SP Group’s are mushrooming, with free- Regarding making MSP legal, ersareoftheviewthatafter50 demand of `20,000 crore to faltering since last fiscal. wheeler and automotive com- resentment against Ratan lancers as the main customer this is not the topic of discus- hours of discussions, the gov- infuse fresh capital. The economy,which saw a ownership ponent manufacturing, auto- Tata’s participation in the segment because they know sion at the moment”. ernmenthasnotbeenoffering Bankers have said much record 23.9% slide year-on- motivedealerships,distribution affairs of Tata Sons was gen- these people need help and Commerceandfoodminis- whatwewant.Theprotestplan dependsontheSupremeCourt year in the June quarter and a model of automotive parts,financial uineashedidnotholdauthor- their existing lenders are turn- terPiyush Goyal said there are willcontinueasannouncedon verdictonapleaforawaiverof 7.5%fallinthesecondquarter, “With the passage of time, services,logistics services,elec- ity or powers.Salve said that ingthemdown.“Theyareusing also farmers who support the Wednesday,” Shiv Kumar interest forcritical sectors like needs a massive credit push to various members of the TVS tronics,textilesandneedles. this was done for the“smooth all sorts of alternative data and lawsthatgivethemfreedomof Sharma,presidentofRashtriya realty and power during the getbackonitsfeetintheafter- familyfeltthattheownershipof Thecurrentshareholdersof functioning”ofthecompanies. behaviour to assess this seg- choice to sell produce any- Kisan Mahashangha,said. six-monthrepaymentmorato- math of the unlock.PSBs have shares in various companies/- theTVSholdingcompaniespri- Meanwhile,the SP Group’s ment because that’s where the where in the country. Goyal (With agency inputs) rium period.Any directive to toshunriskaversionanddothe businesses should align and marily consist of the third and counsel, in his opening argu- biggest consumption will hap- cited the recent panchayat banks to share the burden, heavy lifting, especially synchronise with the manage- fourthgenerationsoftheorigi- ments,told the court that their pen,but where the biggest risk election results in Rajasthan PSBs told to along with the government, becauseshadowlenders’ability ment of the respective compa- nalfounder,TVSundaramIyen- claimofoppressionofminority alsolies,”Kalrasaid. and said the victory of BJP will further strain their to lend has been impaired by nies,as is currentlybeing done. gar.Thevariousbusinessesand shareholders in Tata Sons can- The full impact of the pan- shows that rural population tap markets finances and raise capital thecrisis.Severalagencieshave Keeping this objective in mind, entities of the TVS Group have not be overlooked just because demic on the economy in welcomed the farm laws. requirements,bankers fear. forecasttheGDPtocontractby the members of theTVS family been traditionally managed by ofprofitsregisteredbythecom- terms of employment levels Among other concessions aggressively Already, the SBI board in upto11%inFY21.Althougha have today agreed to subscribe members of the different panyovertheyears.Thehearing and small and medium enter- offered to farmers,the govern- “The idea is to ensure that Julyplannedtoraiseasmuchas rebound in growth is expected tothetermsofamemorandum branchesoftheTVSfamily. willcontinueonMonday. prises (SME) profitability will ment had said it would amend PSBs have adequate capital to `25,000 crore this fiscal.Pun- inFY22,analystsexpectittobe of familyarrangement in order play out over a much longer the laws to empower states to not just meet regulatoryrequi- jab National Bank intends to mainly on the back of a to record the terms of the fam- Tatas nix Fintechs period of time.These risks are make rules for registration of rement but also substantially raise `14,000 crore — `4,000 favourablebase. ilyarrangementsoagreedupon. likely to manifest themselves traders,andlevysamefees/cess boost lending.PSBs have lined crore in tier-II capital,`3,000 In its Financial Stability Senior nominated members of Mistry plan to lending to high- thereafter,Kalra said. as in APMC mandis on private up fund-raising plans, so that croreinAT-1bondsand`7,000 Report, the RBI had forecast theTVS familyshall nowdelib- The sole explanation marketyards.Also,dispute res- theydon’thavetorelyexcessive- crorethroughqualifiedinstitu- that gross non-performing erate on how best to further resolve dispute risk segments behind the increased lending olutionwouldbebroughtunder lyon the government for more tional placement. Similarly, assets (NPAs) may jump from implement this arrangement,” InitsfilingbeforetheSCon It found that traditional to riskier segments amid an thejudiciaryandcreditagainst capital,”saidaseniorbanker. Bank of Baroda wants to raise 8.5%attheendofMarch2020 thefilingsaid. October 29, the SP Group has NBFCs’ unsecured loan dis- economic crisis is the venture infrastructure built on con- Whileallstate-runbanksare `13,500 crore and Canara to 12.5%, a 20-year peak, by With this restructuring, sought a direct stake in all the bursements had dropped by money invested into fintechs. tractedfarmlandwouldbedis- told to tap the markets more Bank`8,000crore. March2021.However,theNPA VenuSrinivasanandSudarshan listed companies of the Tata 70% after the Covid-19 out- This money allows them to allowed to allay the farmer’s aggressively,it’s more critical However, while larger level may shoot to 14.7% by Venu will manage TVS Motor, Group, which includes a break and also that private lendand,intheprocess,obtain fearsoflossofpossession/own- for the nine of the 12 PSBs — lenders can raise resources,the March 2021 in case of a sever- TVSCredit,andSundaramClay- 13.22% stake in Tata Consul- banks were lending primarily thedigitalfootprintoflakhsof ershipoftheirlands. barringjustStateBankofIndia, smaller ones need the govern- ityofeconomicstress. tonandsomeotherfirms. tancy Service based on the the to their customers.Also, they people. “So if one year after Also,thegovernmentwould Bank of Baroda and Canara ment help the most. Rating However, with the graded The TVS family has been formula suggested byit.It had they raised income cut-offs launch,thefintechcanclaimit ensurecontinuationofcurrent Bank — in which the govern- agency Icra has estimated that pick-up in manufacturing fol- engaged, for more than a cen- said that as perthis scheme its for borrowers to be able to has 100,000 freelance cus- electricity payment system ment holds above 80%, he state-runbanksneed`50,000- lowing the easing of lockdown tury,inadiverserangeofbusi- stake in other listed firms of accessloans.Anotherplayerin tomers, its valuation will be even after amendment in the added.PSBs are also exploring, 60,000 crore in capital even measures, credit offtake is nessesthroughvariousentities the group would be below this segment is ePayLater, more, as compared to how lawconcerned.Onanothercrit- morevigourously,theoptionto after the RBI breather on the expectedtopickupinthecom- in which the branches of the 10%.It had also sought a pro- which has tied up with Metro manyof those customershave ical concern on heavy penalty offloadnon-coreassets. one-time restructuring of ing months.Banks have made TVS family have invested in or rata share of the Tata brand Cash & Carry,Walmart’s Best actuallypaid back,”Kalra said.

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New Parliament building a milestone in India’s democratic history: PM PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, December 10

PRIMEMINISTERNAREN- DRA Modi laid the founda- tion stone of the new Parlia- ment building on Thursday and described the event as a “milestoneinIndia’sdemoc- ratichistory”,assertingthatif the old Parliament House gavedirectiontothecountry build this new building of post-independence, the new Parliament,” Modi said, onewouldbeawitnesstothe addingthat thenewbuilding making of an‘Aatmanirbhar will be an inspiration when Bharat’. India will celebrate 75 years Addressingagatheringaf- of its independence. ter laying the foundation The new building, whose stone and performing the construction is likely to be ground-breaking ceremony, completed in 2022,will have Modiurgedthepeopletotake an area of 64,500 square me- a pledge to keep ‘India First’ tres. It will also have a grand and asserted that every deci- ConstitutionHalltoshowcase sion should increase the India’s democratic heritage,a strengthofthecountry,whose loungeformembersofParlia- interestisparamount. ment,alibrary,multiplecom- Asserting that Indian de- mittee rooms, dining areas mocratic traditions predate andampleparkingspace. the Magna Carta, a 13th "The current Parliament century document many buildingplayedanimportant scholars consider as the role in pre and post indepen- framework for a modern re- dent India.The first govern- public, the prime minister ment of an independent In- said that the day is not far dia was formed here and the when theworldwill term In- first sitting of Parliament dia“motherof democracy”if tookplacehere,ourConstitu- Indians extol the country’s tion was drafted here, our democratic history with democracy was re-estab- confidence. lished here. Babasaheb “It is a very historic day. Ambedkar and others, after TodayisamilestoneinIndia’s deep deliberations in the democratic history...We,the CentralHall,gaveusaConsti- people of India,will together tution,"he said.

Sena MLA Sarnaik probed by ED for over 6 hrs PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai, December 10

SHIV SENA MLA Pratap Sar- naik was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for more than six hours atitsofficehereonThursday inanallegedmoneylaunder- ingcase.Sarnaik,whoseprop- erties had been searched by the ED last month,appeared atthecentralagency’sBallard Estate office around 11 am, andleftaround5.30pm. He was cooperating with the probe, and if there was any scam or corruption in which Tops Security Service was involved,it should come out, he told reporters while leaving.OnNovember24,the ED launched searches at ten properties of Sarnaik, Tops Group and its promoter RahulNandaandafewothers in Mumbai and neighbour- ingThane. “I am fully cooperating with the ED enquiry.The ED officers asked questions and behavedverywell during the questioning,”theSenaleader said,addingthatheanswered allthequestions.

Guj dyestuff makers see big loss in rising anti- dumping duty by govt FE BUREAU Ahmedabad, December 10

THE CENTRAL GOVERN- MENT'S decision to increase anti-dumping duty on basic rawmaterialsofdye-stuffmay translate into huge loss of ex- portbusinessforGujaratbased dyestuffmanufacturers. Recently,theIndiangovern- ment has imposed provisional safeguards dutyon imports of PhthalicAnhydridefromKorea. Asaresultofit,pricesofthisba- sic raw material for dyestuff makershavegoneupfrom`50 perkgto`100perkg. Raising the issue, the Gu- jarat Dyestuff Manufacturers Association (GDMA) president Ramesh Patel has sent a letter to the chairman of Competi- tion Commission of India to takenecessarymeasuresinthe largerinterestoftheDyeInter- mediates and Dyestuff manu- facturersofIndia. “If the government would not take the issue seriously,the Gujaratbaseddyestuffindustry would have `15,000 crore loss of export business in coming days.Due to price rise in raw- material,itwouldbedifficultfor the Indian manufacturers to compete for Chinese counter- partsininternationalmarkets,” saidYogesh Parikh,immediate pastpresidentofGDMA.

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STREETVENDORS ONLINE Vivek Sundar, COO, Swiggy

As a platform committed to bringing the widest choice of food to the doorsteps of consumers ❝ ❝safely and hygienically,we’re delighted to bring them their favourite street food which they have CompaniesFRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 been missing for many months now

Quick FIGHTING COVID PANDEMIC FY20 Key conclusions of the CSR study ■ Companies increased their CSR ■ 79 companies have spent at-least CSIR-CCMB,Apollo spend by 20.3% to `102.7 bn in FY20 2% of average 3-year profits on CSR Hospitals tie up for from 85.3 bn in FY19 activities, compared to 71 last year View Apollo Hospitals ■ The number of companies that ■ Family-owned business are the ‘underspent’ has come down to 18 largest spenders at `46.7 bn; PSUs development of from 25, even as the unspent amount have seen the biggest uptick in increased to `7.5 bn in FY20 from absolute amounts to `34.1 bn in FY20 ready to vaccinate rapid testing kits `6.9 bn in FY19 from `24.6 bn in FY19 FE BUREAU Chennai, December 10 Environmental COVID-19 Relief Sustainability Rural D Multiple Hunger, Poverty 1 m people daily CSIR-CENTRE FOR CELLULAR&Molecu- evelopment causes* & Healthcare larBiology(CCMB) andApollo Hospitals on Reducing Thursday announced a collaboration for Inequalities joint manufacturing and commercialisa- 19.1 Education tionofaninnovativedryswabtest—direct 11.9 20.1 Swiggy partners with amplificationrapidRT-PCR(DArRT-PCR)— 10.9 forSARS-CoV-2detection. 10.2 AtmaNibhar Nidhi to The test has been developed by CSIR- 22.1 bring 36k vendors online CCMB and the collaboration with Apollo 8.4 Category wise Hospitalswillfocusonscalingupmanufac- CSR spend in FY20 SWIGGY ON THURSDAY announced turing and commercialisation of the tests (` billion) the expansion of its Street Food Ven- jointly.The rapid, safe and cost-effective *Includes funds contributed towards technology incubators, armed forces veterans, national dors programme to 125 cities under DArRT-PCRtestswillbeavailablenationally heritage, sports, Swachh Bharat Mission, PM’s National Relief Fund and Overheads incurred (`1.3 bn) the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s CHRIS KAY throughtheApolloHospitalsnetwork. AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) December 10 UP FOR IT The DArRT-PCR test allows rapid,safer Scheme.Thisfollowsasuccessfulpilot and more cost-effective SARS-COV-2 test- Topfive CSR contributors in FY20 thatSwiggyinitiatedwiththeministry INDIA’SLARGESTHOSPITALchainsaysit’s ■ Apollo Hospitals has so far ing.Thesamplecollectioncentrescansend 9.1 (` billion) trained 6,000 staff across its 8.5 ofhousing&urbanaffairs(MoHUA)in readytoadministeronemillioncoronavirus drynasalororopharyngealswabstotesting 7.5 chains to give out the jabs Ahmedabad,Varanasi, Chennai, Delhi vaccinedosesaday,butthegovernmenthas centreswith no need for the imported and 6.1 6.1 6 5.4 5.4 and Indore, through which the com- notmadeclearhowvaccineswillbedistrib- ■ It has been telling clientsvia its expensiveviraltransportmedium. 5 4.9 4 4.3 4.4 pany has already onboarded over 300 uted and whether private health care net- digital app that a shot 'should be Rakesh Mishra, director, CSIR-CCMB, 3.3 3.7 street vendors on its platform, the workswillbeinvolved. available in 60-120 days' said,“Aspeoplearegettingbacktotheirnor- company said in a statement. The Apollo Hospitals Enterprise has so far mal lives and businesses,it is important for SVANidhi Scheme has received loan trained6,000stafftogiveoutjabsacrossits ■ It has held talks with Serum ustorampupourtestingforthecoronavirus. applicationsfrom1.47lakhstreetfood networkof71hospitals,hundredsofclinics Institute but are awaiting govt Theviruswillbehereforsometime,itseems, FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY18 FY19 FY20 direction vendors so far. andthousandsofpharmacies,accordingto and thosewho test more frequentlywill be managingdirectorSuneetaReddy,whosaid ■ Apollo has treated more than able to contain the impact of Covid-19 bet- NSDC ties upwith Byju’s the company’s talks with officials in New 30,000 Covid patients and ter.Cheaper,rapid and easy-to-use tests as Delhihadyettoprovideanyfirmguidance. provided about 400,000 tests these are the need of the hour.WithApollo to back teacherskilling “Weneedtoknowifthegovernmentwa- anditsvastnetworkofhospitalsandhealth Source: Institutional Investor Advisory Services THENATIONALSKILLDevelopment ntstohandlethewholethingorallowthepri- swiftlyinoculateitspopulationofabout1.3 services,we are positive about impacting CorporationonThursdaysignedan vatesectortodoit,”Reddysaidinanintervi- billionpeople.Therearealsofearsofunequal manylivestowardsbetterhealth.” agreementwithedutechmajorByju's ewonTuesday.“Theissuehereishowcanwe access,given the enormouswealth dispari- Thebiologicalsamplecanbedirectlyiso- tosupporttheskillingofteachersand doubletheamountofpeoplethatcanbeva- tiesacrossIndia’scitiesandvasthinterlands. latedfromthepatientswabs,andtestingcan trainers."Sharingavisiontoaccelerate ccinated,”shesaidfromChennai,addingthat Apollo Hospitals has held talkswith the bedoneusingaone-stepprotocol. theSkillIndiaMission,thepartners Apollo is readyto help in anycapacity.The SerumInstituteofIndia,theworld’slargest The current gold-standard method,on Walmart plans to boost aimatempoweringteachersand government“candoit,butitwilltaketime.” vaccine makerwhich has alreadyproduced the contrary, requires many expensive trainerswiththekeyskillsanddigital HowandifIndiadecidestoworkwithits millions of doses ofAstraZeneca’s shot.But reagentsandstepsthataddtotheexpertise, toolstomakelearningengaging, largenetworkofprivatehospitalsonvaccine Reddysaid developers arewaiting on direc- moneyand time required forthe tests.The exports from India to effectiveandpersonalisedforchildren distribution could be crucial to anysuccess tion from Delhi“because all of them have DArRT-PCR test reduces the time and andyouth,"NSDCsaid.Itaddedthat in reining in theworld’s second-worst out- committedcapacitytothegovernmentfirst.” humaneffortby40-50%inthecurrentset- Byju'swillsupportNSDCbyproviding break,which has inflicted deep economic RajeshBhushan,secretarytothefederal tingoftesting. $10 billion by 2027 freeaccesstoitseducationalcontent damage.Indiamaystartinoculationefforts health ministry,told Bloomberg last month Sangita Reddy,joint MD,Apollo Hospi- andtoolstohelptheteachers. within weeks as front-running developers that India will rely on its national immu- tals Group, said, “As India continues to FE BUREAU applyforemergencyauthorisation. nization network,which currently targets unlock,easy availability of cost-effective, New Delhi, December 10 M&Mexpectsdropin Therewill be a“flood of Covidvaccines” 26.7millionnewbornsand29millionpreg- reliabletestingforCovid-19isthekeytoget- in the next five to six months,Krishna Ella, nantwomeneveryyear.Expertsbelievethat tingbacktonormal.Widespreadtestingwill INANATTEMPTtosupportIndiansmalland production,salesvolume the chairman of Bharat Biotech Interna- systemwillneedtobesignificantlybuiltup enablequickidentification,immediateiso- medium businesses and create jobs,Wal- MAHINDRAANDMAHINDRA(M&M) tional — producing one of India’s leading with help from private players to meet lationandearlytreatmenttopreventspread. mart onThursdayannounced its commit- isexpectingreductioninproduction indigenous candidates — told a conference India’sneeds.PrivatehospitalsinIndiahave With nearly half of all Covid-19 infections ment to export $10 billionworth of India- andsalesvolumeatitsautomotive onTuesday.Apollo has been telling clients beencriticisedforsittingonthesidelinesof beingtransmittedbypeoplewhoareasymp- madegoodseachyearby2027. divisionandinitswholly-owned viaitsdigitalappthatashot“shouldbeavail- the Covid crisis.Though the private sector tomatic,theseeasyandquicktestswillgoa The latest initiative will add to the US- subsidiaryinthelastquarterofthe ablein60-120days”andcustomerswill“be accountsforabout60%ofIndia’stotalhos- longwayinfacilitatingtheidentificationof basedretailer’sexistingprogrammes—Wal- currentfiscalduetoglobalsupply thefirstonestoknowaboutthevaccines.” pitalbedcapacity,therewerewidelyreported infected individualswho maybe asympto- mart Vriddhi supplier development and SourcingofficeinBangalore,whichopened shortageofmicro-processors.M&M Companies vying to roll out those vac- instancesofsomeprivatehospitalsanddoc- maticorpresymptomatic.” Flipkart Samarth that aim to help Indian in2002. saiditisengagingcloselywithitsauto cines,alongwithpublichealthexperts,have torsrefusingtotreatCovid patientsascases MSMEs.While the Samarth scheme facili- “By significantly accelerating our componentssupplierBoschand raised concerns about India’s capacity to accelerated fromJune.—BLOOMBERG SpiceJet ties up with tates underserved communities like arti- annual India exports in the coming years, assessinglikelyproductionloss."The sans,ruralentrepreneursandweaverstosell we are supporting the Make-in-India ini- operationsofthecompanyinthe Om Logistics for on Flipkart’s marketplace,theVriddhi sup- tiative and helping more local businesses automotivesectorwillbeaffectedby plier programme equips MSMEs to supply reachinternationalcustomers,whilecreat- theglobalsupplyshortageofmicro- Gennova Biopharmaceuticals gets nod vaccine transportation toWalmart,Flipkartandothercompaniesin ing jobs and prosperityat home in India.It processors(semiconductors)usedin Indiaaswellasaroundtheworld. is also a way for Walmart to bring more electroniccontrolunit(ECUs)whichis for human trials I, II of its vaccine NO-FRILLS CARRIER SPICEJET onThurs- Walmart that has already been present high-quality,India-madegoodstomillions suppliedbyBosch,"Mahindrasaid. FE BUREAU basedCovid-19trialinIndiaandexpectedto day announced its partnership with Om inIndiaviaitswholesalecash&carrystores ofcustomersallacrosstheworld,”saidDoug Pune, December 10 be completed byMarch.The Gennovavac- Logistics for Covid-19 vaccine transporta- before its acquisition of a controlling stake McMillon,president and chief executive WiproGEHealthcareties cine was developed in collaboration with tion. Thestrategicpartnershipaimstonot inFlipkartin2018countsthecountryasone officeratWalmart. BIOTHERAPEAUTICS COMPANY GEN- HDTBiotechCorporation,Seattle,US,andit onlyprovideaspeedyandseamlesssolution of its top sourcing markets with annual The expansion in sourcing will include upwithIIT-Madras NOVABiopharmaceuticalshasgotapproval has demonstrated safety,immunogenicity, forCovid-19vaccine movement and deliv- exportsworthabout$3billion.India-made helpingdevelophundredsofnewsuppliers WIPROGEHEALTHCARE onThursday fromtheDrugsControllerGeneralofIndia neutralisationantibodyactivityintherodent ery,butalsotocreateasustainablecoldchain apparel,homeware,jewellery,hardlinesand incategoriessuchasfood,pharmaceuticals, announcedafellowshippartnership for conducting Phase I and II human trials and non-human primate models.Theywill network both domestically and interna- otherpopularproductscurrentlyreachcus- consumables,health&wellnessandgeneral withIndianInstituteofTechnology- foritsnovelmessengerRNA(mRNA)-based be administering the first human injection tionally,SpiceJetsaid. tomers in 14 markets, including the US, merchandise,alongwithapparel,homeware Madras(IIT-M)toprovideincreased Covid-19vaccine,HGC019.This is the first afterallregulatoryclearance. Recently,the Gurugram-based airline Canada,Mexico,CentralAmerica,and the and otherkeyIndian export categories,the opportunitiesforresearchscholarsto mRNA-basedvaccine manufacturing plat- Gennovawasoneofthethreefirmsthat saiditsdedicatedfreighterdivisionSpiceX- United Kingdom, via Walmart’s Global companysaidinastatement. buildandfurtherimprovethe forminIndia. the Prime Minister,Narendra Modi,inter- press has the capabilityto transport sensi- innovationecosystem.Underthis Gennova is a subsidiaryof Pune-based acted with for an update on the develop- tive drugs and vaccines in controlled tem- programme,WiproGEHealthcarewill pharma firm, Emcure Pharmaceuticals. mentoftheirCovid-19vaccines.Thedepart- peraturesrangingfrom(-)40°cto(+)25°c. alsoprovidefinancialaidandindustrial Namita Thappar,ED,Emcure,tweeted on ment of biotechnology has provided seed SpiceJet, in its endeavour to provide IOC reaches 100% refinery capacity expertisetochosenmasters’(MS) ThursdaythatGennovahadgotconditional fundingforGennovaBiopharmaceuticals's seamlessend-to-endcoldchainsolutionsfor researchscholarsatIIT-M. approvalforhumanclinicaltrialsofitsCovid- novelmRNAbasedCovid-19vaccinecandi- theCovid-19vaccinedelivery,haspartnered in Nov with rising fuel demand 19vaccine.ThiswillalsobethefirstmRNA- datecalled,HGCO19. withOmLogistics,theairlinesaid. —PTI Instamojo enables 2 lakh FE BUREAU states resorted to implementing sporadic New Delhi, December 10 local lockdowns.The run rate was 89% at small biz digitisation October-end. “As we get closer to the INSTAMOJO,AFULL-STACKsolutions WITH RISING CONSUMPTION of petro- Covid-19vaccineroll-out,thefundamen- providerforMSMEs,hasenabledthe CCI starts probe against cement companies leum products, state-run refiner Indian tals of the economybeing strong,we see a digitisationofmorethantwolakh OilCorporation(IOCL)rampeduptheutil- rapidV-shapedrecoveryintheoverallcon- smallbusinessesacrossthecountry, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA regulatoryfiling. CompetitionCommissionofIndiahasini- isation of its refineries to 100% of their sumption of petroleum products,” SM acrossthelasttwoquarters.Infact, New Delhi, December 10 ACCsaiditisofthefirmviewthatithas tiated an investigation against cement design capacities in November. In the Vaidya,chairman,IOCLsaid. datafromtheplatformshowedthat acted and continues to act in compliance companies in India including Ambuja beginning of the lockdown to contain the Rise in refinery utilisation also coin- morethan70%ofthemerchantson- ACCANDAMBUJACementsonThursday with competition laws and we are fully Cementsregardingallegedanti-competi- coronavirus outbreak in March,IOCLhad cides with increasing gross refining mar- boardeddidnothaveanyformof said fair trade regulator CCI has initiated cooperating with the investigation and tive behaviour. regulatedcrudeoilthroughputatmostof gins(GRMs)ofIndianrefiners,astheycon- onlineordigitalpresencebefore. an investigation against them and other providingallnecessaryinformationtothe “Ambuja Cements Limited has a long- its refineries by25% to 30%.The com- tinue to benefit from the low crude price cementcompaniesinthecountryregard- authorities. standingcommitmenttofaircompetition panyhad kept all its refineryunits on‘hot environment globally.While IOCL’s GRM ing alleged anti-competitive behaviour. “ACC has a long-standing commit- as reflected in its Code of Business Con- standby’, which means the units were in FY20,on a weighted average basis,was “The Competition Commission of ment to fair competition as reflected in duct and Ethics,”it noted. ready for scale-up whenever petrol and only$0.08/barrel in FY20,the same grew MukeshAmbani India (CCI) has initiated an investigation its Code of Business Conduct,”the com- Shares ofACC Ltd were trading 1.42% diesel demand picks up. to$3.46/barrelinApril-Septemberperiod. against cement companies in India pany added. down at `1,632.70 on BSE, while the Utilisationlevelshadincreasedto89% The total refining capacity of the country becomes grandfather including ACC regarding alleged anti- Inaseparatefiling,AmbujaCementsin Ambuja Cements stock was trading at in June, but fell to 61% and 77% respec- is 249.9 MT per annum, and of this 69.7 BILLIONAIREMUKESHAMBANI on competitive behaviour,”ACC Ltd said in a a similar worded statement, also said the `248.70,down 1.66% on BSE. tively in August and September as some MTPAis run byIOCL. Thursday became a grandfather after a son was born to his eldest son. “Shloka and Akash Ambani became UPL denies report Hina Nagarajan to head proud parents of a baby boy today in ‘Strong uptake of services from start-ups’ Mumbai,”a statement from the Ambani of promoters United Spirits from July1 family spokesperson said. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA dollar counts and we would want them to Akash married diamantaire Russell siphoning money New Delhi, December 10 appreciatethatcostoptimisationneedsto United Spirits (USL),a part of global liquor Mehta'sdaughterShlokainMarch2019. be seen as a continuous journey,rather giant Diageo,onThursdayappointed Hina Ambani, 63, and his wife Nita have UNITEDPHOSPHORUS(UPL)onThursday AMAZON WEB SERVICES (AWS) on than a one off exercise...AWS is dedicated Nagarajan as the company's newCEOwith threechildren—twinsAkashandIsha,29 in a statement said, “There has been no Thursday said it is witnessing strong to helping startups achieve the highest effectfromJuly1,2021.IncumbentAnand years old, and Anant, 25. The Ambani siphoningoffundsandthereisnonewcom- uptakeofitsservicesfromstart-upsinthe saving potential on the technology KripaluwillstepdownonJune30. family is said to have returned to Mum- plaint against it,”in response to the news country across segments like fintech, spends,”he added. Nagarajan is currently the managing bai just before Diwali last month after reporttitled‘Eightshellfirms,aPaliHillhouse healthcare,e-commerce and logistics. Aroranotedthattherearethreesectors director of the Africa Regional Markets spending considerable time abroad. onrent:whistleblowerclaimsUPLpromoters AWS Head of Startup Ecosystem (Asia where the company is witnessing a lot of (ARM) at Diageo and will join USL as the “Nita and Mukesh Ambani are siphoned off money’ that appeared in ET PacificandJapan)GauravArorasaidcloud activityand momentum. CEO-Designate fromApril 1,the company delighted to become grandparents for PrimeonDecember10,2020." is the best place to build startups as it is “One is fintech,we are seeing a lot of said,addingshewilltakeoverformallyfrom thefirsttimeastheywelcomedthegreat- Italsoconfirmedthatalltransactionsin cost effective and allows scaling based on disruptionhappeninghere,startupsinthe July 1 and will be a member of the Diageo grandson of Dhirubhai and Kokilaben questionwereonarms-lengthbasis,denies growing business requirements. theseon-demandcomputeresourcesona fintech space are offering similarservices ExecutiveCommittee. Ambani,”the statement said. thewhistleblowerisamemberoftheboard. “...Start-upsareconsciousofbuildinga payas equal model,”he said. that the banks used to provide and it is ShewillreporttoJohnKennedy,thepres- “The new arrival has brought Awhistleblower had alleged the company robust and cost optimised architecture Aroraaddedthatthethreebiggestbud- improving customer experience and ident of Diageo Europe and India.Nagara- immense joyto the Mehta andAmbani enteredintorentdealswithashellcompany early on, so that they can run like a lean getitemsforstartupsarepeople,technol- (offering) different functionality,making janwillbebasedinBengaluruandwillwork families.” andpaidcrores,andshellentitieswereused startup as theyscale theirbusiness.Cloud ogy,andmarketing,andthatstartupsneed it easier...So fintech is definitely one sec- closelywithKripalutoensureasmoothtran- Bothmotherandsonaredoingwell,it tocarryoutotherillegaltransactions. services to begin with are extremely cost to manage theircapital to succeed. torwhere we're seeing a lot of momen- sition,thecompanysaid. added. —PTI —REUTERS effective as theygive startups access to all “Whatever state startups are in, every tum,”he said. —PTI

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS COMPANIES 7

● JEWAR AIRPORT OYO to make further WayCool raises $7.8m from RBL,Samunnati, InnoVen Capital CHENNAI-BASED AGRIsupply ing requirements for the com- linesofgrowthandbuildrelated chain start-up WayCool Foods pany’s annual business plan.It physicalaswellasdigitalassets. Swiss firm selects consortium investments in Europe has raised $ 7.8 million in debt willbeusedtosupportselectnew —FEBUREAU PRESS TRUST OF INDIA fromSamunnati,RBLBank,and New Delhi, December 10 InnoVen Capital. This follows ���� ������������� ������� to design passenger terminal the previous debt financing ���� ��������������������� ����� ������� �� ��������� ������� ���� ��� ��� HOSPITALITY FIRM OYO has round of $5.5 million, which ��� ������ ������� � ������� ���� ������ PRESS TRUST OF INDIA The four-company designedtheHyderabadairport already invested around Euro wasguaranteedbyUnitedStates ����� ��� �������������������� �������� ������������������ New Delhi, December 10 consortium is expected andthenewIstanbulairport,he 350to400millioninEuropeand International Development ������ said,addingthatGrimshawwas will be making further invest- Finance Corporation (USIDFC) ������������ ��� ������ �������� ���� ��� ���������� ������� ������� ����� �� ��� to conclude the key ������� ���� �� ���� �� ��������� ���� �������� ���� �� ����� ��������� ������� SWISS DEVELOPER ZURICH involvedindesigningoneofthe mentsthereinthetimestocome, “In times to come,I believe andfinancedbyIndusIndBank. design activities by June ����� ����������������������� ������ ����� ������ �� �������� ��� �������� �� ��� Airport International has terminals at Zurich airport its founder and Group CEO thattheinnovativetechnology WayCoolhasalsoclosedthe ����� �� ��� ������ �� ��� ��� ����� ���� �� ���� �� ��� ������������ ��� ��������� ��� selected a four-company con- or July next year around20yearsago. RiteshAgarwalsaidonThursday. and the manpower that India Series C round of $32 million ��� �� ��� �������� �� ���� �� ��� ���������� �������� �������� ��� ���������� �������� �� �������� �� sortium to design the passen- “They are already at work. The investments will be has, and the great depth of byLightbox earlierthisyear. �������� ������ �� ��� ������ �� ��� ��� ��� ��� ������ ������� ��� �������� �� ger terminal for the greenfield We expect them to conclude specifically in data sciences experiences that exist in The funds will be utilised ��������� ������� ����� ���� ������� �������� ���� �������� �������� ������� NoidaairportinJewar,oneofits director, Yamuna Interna- the key design activities by andAI-drivenforwardlooking Europe,providegreatopportu- for meeting working capital ������������ ������������ �������� �� �� ���� ���������� ��� ��� ���������� ��� �������� ����� �� ����� ����� � ���� �������� ��� topofficialssaidonThursday. tionalAirport(YIAPL)toldPTI. next June orJulyso thatwe are intellectual property invest- nity for both of us to make needsandtoboostautomation ������������������������������ ����� ��������� ���� ��������� ��� ��������� “We conducted a design YIAPLisa100%subsidiaryof in a position to contract our mentsaswellasformergerand investment in each other’s in the existing distribution �� ������� ��� ��� ������� �������� ������ ��� �������� ���� ����� �� ���������� competition where we invited ZurichAirportInternationaland construction partner to build acquisitions which help grow geographies,”Agarwal said. centres andwarehouses. ���� ��� ���������� ���������� �� ��� ��������� ���� ���� ����� ����� ��� ��� ����� ������ ����� ����� ��� ��� ���� �������� ����������� ��� ���������� ������������� three international teams to hasbeenincorporatedtodevelop the airport,”Birchersaid. the business,he added. Commentingontheimpact WayCool Foods plans to ������������ ����� ������������ ���� �� ���� �� ������ ��� ��� �� ��� ������� make proposals on how they theNoidaairportinJewar. OfficialsoftheUttarPradesh Agarwal was speaking at of Covid-19, he said the pan- achieve 70% digital and ������� �� ��� ����� �������� ��� �� �������� ����� �� �������� ��� ��� ������� �� would design this airport,tak- “We have chosen the team governmentandZurichAirport the India Symposium 2020, demic has been very tough on mechanical automation across ������ ����� ������� ��� �� ������� �� ���������� ���� ��� ����� ���������� ��� ��� ���������� ��� ������ �� ��� ��� ��� ingintoaccountefficiencyand comprising Nordic,Grimshaw, International signed a conces- organised by the Institute of the hotel and holiday home all distribution units by mid- ��� ������ ������ ��� ��� ��������� ���� ������� ���� �� ���� �� ��� ��� ������������ �� net zero emissions,digital air- Haptic and STUP — a team of sionagreementonOctober7to Chartered Accountants of industry,but Europe has been 2021. ��� ������� ����� ����� ������� ��� ���������� ���� ��� ������������������ portandothermaintraitsthat four companies from Norway, begin the construction of the India(ICAI)NetherlandsChap- the market which helped OYO Chinna Pardhasaradhi,CFO, ������������������������ ��� ������������� ������ wewanttosee,”DanielBircher, EnglandandIndia,”Birchersaid. Noidaairport,estimatedtocost ter and India Dutch Financial seethroughthecrisis,especially WayCool Foods,said,“The latest ��� ������ ��� ������ ������ ���� ���� �� ��������� �� ��������� ������� �� ��������������������� �� ��� ����� �������� ������� ���������������� chairman and managing Members of this team have `29,560crore. Corridor(IDFC). inthepeaksummerseason. debtroundcompletesthefund- ������ �� �������������������� ����� ��������� ����� ������������ ��� ��� ������� ������ �� �������������� ���� ��� ���� ��� ������������������ ����� ����� ��������� ���� ����� ���������� �������������� ��� ��������� �� ��������������� ����� ����� ��������� ���� ��� �������� ���������� BSNL’s satellite-based IoTdevice service launched ��������������� Gayatri Chhabria joins familyfirm Finolex ������ �� ������� ���� ������� �������� BSNL ON THURSDAY country’s jurisdiction. The opedthedeviceforuseinIndia. ��� ������� ���� �� ��������� ������ �������� �������� �� ��� ��� ������������ �� ���� ����� ����� �� ��� �������� �� ��� ����� �� ��� ������ �� ��� ��� ��� ��� �������� �� GEETA NAIR Gayatri is the older of the and not worry about designa- announced the launch of a state-runtelecomfirmsaiditis According to a BSNL offi- ������ ������� �������� ����� ���� �� ���� ��������� ������ ��� ���� ��� ����� Pune, December 10 two daughters of Prakash and tionandpositions.Soafterher satellite-based internet of theworld’sfirstsatellite-based cial, the device developed by ����������� ��� ������� ����� ������� ������ �������� ��� �������� ������ ��� ����� Ritu Chhabria. She is not the Masters from the Warwick things (IoT) device service that narrowband-IoTnetwork. The Skylo will be provided only �� �������� �� ��� ������ �� ��� ���� ��� ������� ���� ���� �� ��������� �� ��� ������� �� ��� ������� �� ������������������ ��� �� ��� ������� �� ���� �� THE FINOLEX GROUP has firstwomantojoinfamilybusi- Business School in UK, she can be used across Indiawhere service has been launched in throughthestate-runfirmata �������������������� inducted the third generation ness. Her aunt, Aruna Katara, started out as management mobile towers are not present, partnership with US-based priceofaround`10,000aunit. ��� ���� ������������� ������� intobusiness.GayatriChhabria hasbeeninvolvedwiththefam- trainee at Finolex Industries. including the seas within the firm Skylo, which has devel- —PTI ���� ����� � ������� ������ ������� has joined the family business ily enterprise in education, ���� � ���������� ������� ��������� and will start with marketing (ISquareIT)aswellastheirHope andcommunicationsaswellas Foundation. Her younger sib- CSR in her portfolio. She will, lingtooisgettingreadytoenter like her father Prakash businesswithherownstart-up Chhabria,work across all func- focusedonsustainability. tions and departments before Chhabria,28,isawareofthe takingupmoreresponsibilities. legacythat she is carrying for- Withalineagethatboastsof wardandshesayshergrandfa- PralhadPChhabria,thefounder ther and founder of Finolex, oftheFinolexGroupononeside wantedhertoworkherwayup and Gopichand P Hinduja,co- and not come with a sense of chairmanoftheHindujaGroup entitlement and enjoy the ontheother,joiningthefamily privileges. business was a logical natural The other grandpa (Hin- extensionforher. duja) told herto focus onwork

Containerised trade on recovery path: Maersk

INDIAN CONTAINERISED TRADE is on a recovery path despitedecliningbyabout8% year-on-year during the third quarter (July to September) of the year, global container logistics firm Maersk said on Thursday. It said that con- tainerised trade from the country reported a 31% increasefromthesecondquar- ter.Thereport,whichisacom- bination of market intelli- gence and Maersk data, said exports out of India are up by 14% overQ3 of lastyearwhile they are 47% higher than Q2 of2020.Importsare,however, 28% lowerthan Q3 of 2019, but have recovered by more than 30% from Q2 of 2020. —FE BUREAU

Pune 8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

SELF-RELIANT INDIA Prime minister of India Narendra Modi The old building fulfilled the needs of the country,the❝ new Parliament building will fulfill the country’s ❝aspirations ... the new building would become a witness to the creation of‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ OpinionFRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 On climate, local planning ● THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS POLICYTOOLS FORTHE MANAGEMENTOFFOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES NEEDTO BE DEVELOPED as vital as national goals IN PEACETIMES LIKE NOW(WHENTHE RUPEE IS STABLE) SOTHATITCAN BE DEPLOYED EFFECTIVELY CEEW says 75% of India’s districts are hotspots for extreme climate-change-related events; need local risk assessment Hedging INR for HERE COULDN’T HAVE been a more sobering prelude to the ClimateAction Summit that begins on Saturday—the UN has warned that the planet is on a ‘3oC-temperature rise (above pre-industrial levels) bythe end of this century’ T pathway;greenhousegas(GHG)emissionsrosesharplylastyear,by2.6%,thanks largelytowildfiresinrecordfrequencyandintensity,themselvesaresultofclimatechange. the long-term Against this backdrop,a new report by the Council on Energy,Environment andWater (CEEW)seekstodrawattentiontothefactthatIndiawillneedsub-nationalstrategiesto HE RECENTLYCON- who can offer liquidity to the market. respond to the extremeweatherevents resulting from climate change,something poli- CLUDED Virtual Global Unfortunately,when the word‘specu- cymakersneedtotakenoteofattheearliest. Investor Conference saw lator’ is used for such market partici- The CEEWstudy that looks at hydro-meteorological data—hydro-met events con- large global investors AKHILESH pants, it carries a negative tone in the tribute to almost 90% of the natural disasters—over five decades,1970 to 2019,finds recommitting to their policymaking circles.In anycase,such thattherehasbeenasharpspikeinextremeeventsoverthelastdecadeandahalfinIndia. intTerest in investing in India for the TILOTIA amarketexistsoutsideIndia:theNon- While the country saw 250 extreme climate events such as floods,droughts,cyclones, long-term.Forinvestors,thereturnthey Author is with National Investment and Deliverable Forward (NDF) market. heat/coldwavesbetween1970and2005,between2005and2019,thesehavenumbered seek is dependent on the performance Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). Views are personal Liberalised outflows: Outflows 310.Also,extremeclimateeventshaveflippedin40%ofIndiandistricts—withdrought- of underlying investment and the on the capital account could be liber- prone ones getting flooded alarmingly regularly and flood-prone ones suffering from exchange rate of the Indian rupee.For- alisedfurtherforbothindividualsand droughts.Flood frequency has increased eight times between 1970 and 2019,even as eigninvestorswithlong-termcommit- ~$350bnexports)andanother$250bn rupee over the long-term. If India had corporate. This will create a natural thatofassociatedeventssuchaslandslides,heavyrainfall,hail/thunderstormsandcloud- mentstoIndianinfrastructureneedthe of invisible flows (~$200 bn of services a thriving two-way market for long- marketasIndians(retailorcorporate) burstshavegoneup20x.Thenumberofaffecteddistrictsaverages55ayearnowagainst abilitytohedgetheircurrencyexposure and ~$70 bn of remittances inwards). terminvestments(bothintoandoutof who invest outside India: they will 19 in the 1970-2005 period.While cyclones hit 258 districts between 2010 and 2020, inIndia.Theexposurecantypicallylast These flows are settled over a short thecountry),anaturalhedgingmarket seek hedges on their global holdings. theaveragenumberofdistrictswitnessingcyclonesannuallyhastripledsince2005,and for multiple decades,especially in the period of say, one to twelve months— would have evolved. With Indian companies now allowed contextofinfrastructure. such a large market has meant that the Asanaturalconsequenceofthecur- to list outside the country,the Indian theannualfrequencyofcycloneshasdoubled;thishasbeenaccompaniedbya12xrisein While,overthelong-run,theIndian Indian currencyhas natural buyers and rentaccountbeingmoreactivethanthe public could be allowed, via mutual thenumberofassociatedeventssuchasextremerain,thunderstorms,etc.Similarly,the rupee has depreciated in small single- sellers, thereby, creating an efficient capital account, extant rules with funds and alternative investment yearlyaverage of droughts has jumped 13 times since 2005.Nearly75% of Indian dis- digit percentages (2.3% pa over the hedging market. Since respect to the foreign funds (AIFs) to invest more liberally tricts—hometoalmosthalfthecountry’spopulation—arehotspotsforextremeclimate lasttwodecades),thereareyearswhen global trade is denomi- exchange markets have abroad.ThiswillallowIndianstoben- eventssuchasfloods,droughts,cyclones,etc,CEEWsays. the exchange rate has moved signifi- nated largelyin US dollar, been conceptualised and efitfromtheIndia growthstorywhile As per data from the National Disaster Management Authority,floods in India in cantly causing a large variability in the currency pair that is The Indian govt can written accordingly.The also making the foreign exchange 2018 affected land the size of Punjab.The very same year,as per German Watch,the returns.Manylargemovesoftherupee mostactivelytradedisthe consider borrowing idea of underlying expo- market more balanced. country’s economic losses from climate change stood at `2.7 lakh crore.Bearin mind are caused by factors exogenous to INR-USDpair. in US dollar (or in sures, the certainty of Benchmarks for better pricing: thisisthelossfigure—andtheCEEWdrought,flood,etc,calculationsrepresentclimate India—a taper tantrum or a large dol- On the capital some other transactions,needtohave The Indian government can consider change impact—when the global temperature has risen by 0.6oC from pre-industrial lop of inflows before the Great Finan- account, however, India only plain vanilla hedges borrowing in US dollar (or in some levels;itisnothardtoimaginetheextremesthata2oCrise(theParisaccordgoal)would cial Crisis (GFC). The average, hence, has imbalances between currencies) with alldrawfromtheidealised othercurrencies)withlong-termpaper mean,letalonetheapocalypticconsequencesofa3oCrise.Apartfrommitigationefforts, hides thevariability. inflows and outflows, long-term paper (5- buy-sell transaction of an (5-year,10-year,20-yearand30-year). India will need to focus on adaptation and response—indeed,it is crucial to start now Indian foreign exchange currency withinflowsbeingmean- year, 10-year, 20- importer and exporter. Thiswillallowpricediscoverybetween given the UN’s Inter-AgencyStanding Committee estimates that every$1 invested in hedging market is (a) limited to a few ingfully higher. Inflows year and 30-year) The needs and require- the highly traded INR bonds and for- preparedness saves $2 of future recovery and response costs.India’s climate policy— currencies like the US dollar,euro,etc, take placevia the foreign ments of a long-term eign currency Indian bonds.The price apart from aggressively pursuing domestic and international efforts to bring down evenasinvestorsfromacrosstheglobe direct investment (FDI) investor, like a sovereign differentialswill allowmarket partici- emissions,the latter in coordination with other climate champions—has to pay heed are now investing here,(b) it is illiquid and foreign portfolio wealth fund (SWF) or a pants to have a view on the long-tenor to CEEW’s call for the drafting of a Climate Risk Atlas for the country that can inform beyond the 12-months horizon or a investment (FPI) route. Outflows take pensionfund,areverydifferent.Thedif- exchange rates.This move needs to be localactiontoadapt.TheCEEWalsorecommendsthattheUniongovernmentscaleup few spots like 3-year and 5-year hori- place largely onlyvia the Liberalized ferent nature of this set of investors doneinaprudentialmannertoensure zons, and (3) beset with regulatory Remittance Scheme (LRS). In the pre- requires a deeper think on the regula- that the market is of a reasonable size the basic surveillance and tracking system of the national Integrated Disease Surveil- requirements of underlying exposure GFC era, Indian companies had, for a tions,typesofinstruments,andnature relative to the overall debt. lance Programme (IDSP) database and the state disaster management authorities and largelyplain-vanilla hedges. few short years, embarked on large ofmarketparticipantsallowed. Policytoolsforthemanagementof (SDMA)tofacilitateemergencypreparedness.Withriskassessmentatalllevels—includ- global acquisitions—this trend has foreign exchange reserves need to be ingthegrassroots—Indiastandsagreaterchanceofbuildingclimateresilienceforthe Economic rationale for practically stopped over the last Possible solutions developed in peace times like now nationbytailoringresponsestothelocalcontext. the issue decade. In any year, hence, inflows of Expanded market access: With a (whentherupeeisstable)sothatitcan India’s balance of payments is more foreign exchange significantly exceed large foreign exchange reserve,which be deployed effectively if there are liberal andopenon thecurrent account outflows in India.This has led to the nowcovers more than 16 months of sudden,sharp movements.The cen- withacombinedtransactionvalueof$1 building up of large foreign exchange imports, India can now afford to pro- tral bankers have created cross-cur- A quantum leap trillion, which has a reasonably equal reserves for India, which have now gressively relax regulatory require- rency swaps inter se between them- matching on the incoming and outgo- crossedhalf-a-trilliondollars.Thisalso ments for underlying exposures and selves post the Great Financial DRDO’s quantum-comm success big, now focus on NM-QTA ing.India has trade import and exports means that there are no natural coun- allow more than plain vanilla deriva- Crisis—thistoolwasre-invokedeasily of$850bnayear(~$500bnimportsand terparties who are available to hedge tives.Thiswillbringinmarket-makers during the pandemic. ARLIER THIS YEAR, when the Universityof Chicago (UoC) created a 52-mile quantumlooptotransfersub-atomicparticles,thiswashailedasasteptowards quantum internet given a successful connection oversuch a distance had not LETTERS TO E been established before.The UoC experiment involved a connection between twopoints,andnotoveranetworklikethepresent-dayinternetoffers.Subsequently,the THE EDITOR USdepartmentofenergyreleasedablueprintfornationalquantuminternet,predicting Betting on the green power market that this technologywould be availablewithin a decade.The US is not the onlycountry On the Central workingonquantuminternet;China,theNetherlands,andtheUKhaveconductedsim- India’s recently launched real-time ilarexperiments,butoverrelativelysmallerdistances.TheUniversityofBristolintheUK Vista Project has also created a hub linking eight different connections.Against this backdrop,India electricity market,coupled with the green V The choreographed ‘ground joiningthiselitegrouponWednesdayisawelcomedevelopment.TheDefenceResearch market,offers a significant opportunity to breaking ceremony’ for a new andDevelopmentOrganisation(DRDO)demonstratedcommunicationbetweentwolabs SUBRAMANIAN grand and imposing Parliament using quantum keydistribution technology.This point-to-point connectionwas estab- integrate renewable energy in the most building seemed incongruous Former secretary,ministry of new and lishedbetweenDefenceResearchandDevelopmentLaboratory(DRDL)andTheResearch efficient and competitive manner renewable energy,GoI. Views are personal when the country was going CentreImarat(RCI)inHyderabad,situatedalittleunder10kmapart.WhileIndia’sachieve- through an unprecedentedly ment is modest in comparison to other countries—Delft Universitywill be connecting difficult patch mainly due to the twocitiesusingthetechnologylaterthismonth—itisstillsignificant,giventhatthecoun- AS A SIGNATORY to the Paris Climate ability to vary the generation as per of over 400 MUs,comprising 353 MU Covid-19 pandemic and the tryhasonlyinvestedonly`186croreinthissofar. Agreement, India is committed to need,renewable generation is more at solar and about 50 MU in non-solar economic downturn. The occasion The government had announced plans to invest `8,000 crore in a National Mission increasing its share of renewable themercyofnature.Norarethebuyers energy; this vindicates the confidence was cheerless in the face of the onQuantumTechnologiesandApplications(NM-QTA)—toputIndiaonaparwithother energycapacityto450GWby2030.As who are focused on commercial con- of the initiative. farmers’ intensification of their countries—but allocations areyet to be made.However,with the government trying to ofSeptember30,Indiahasaninstalled siderations keen to purchase renew- The green market has now agitation for the repeal of the new farm laws. The bhoomi pujan ropeintheprivatesectorandacademia,thereisreasontobelievethatnotonlywillfund- renewable energy capacity of 89 GW. able power. Given the seasonality and launchedtwomoreoptions—dailyand Recently, at the G20 summit, prime intermittencyofrenewablepower,itis weekly,tofacilitatethemarketpartic- performed with chants from Hindu ingproblemseasebutalsothatR&Dandapplicationarenotlimitedtothegovernment’s ministerNarendraModisaidthatIndia not easily susceptible to market inter- ipants in buying renewable energy religious texts was a display of the effortsandpurposes.InaninterviewwithFE,thesecretaryofthedepartmentofscience would not only meet its Paris Accord vention. But, a majority of the gener- from three-hours to 11-days ahead. primacy and predominance of one andtechnologyhadstatedthatthegovernmentwillfollowafour-tiermodelunderwhich targetsbutwillalsoexceedthetargets. ated renewable power in European This will further strengthen the mar- religion. The Central Vista Project an apex committeewith equal participation from academia,industryand government India has today become the most countries is traded through the power ketandallowparticipantstobuygreen (CVP) costing `20,000 crore will set the broad parameters,and hubs,whichwill be independent entities,will oversee attractive destination for investment exchanges. With climate change energythroughcontractsavailablefor sprawling along the heart of the implementation of the NM-QTA.The centres will be the focus for innovation,and the intherenewablesectorand,duringthe emerging as a key risk confronting trade in all the segments.In intra-day city validates the proposition that spokeswill focus on individual parameters related to quantum technology.The depart- last six years, has attracted over `4.7 countriesallovertheworld,thetransi- and DAC segments, the bidding takes politics is too often concerned mentalsoplanstocreateaquantumcomputerwitha50-qubitcapacitywithinfiveyears. lakhcroreofinvestment,includingFDI tion to renewable power becomes a place on a 15-minute time-blockwise only with the personal vanities of But,asmostoftheseplansarestillintheconsultationstage,andIndialagsbehindother ofabout`42,700crore.Waiverofinter- necessary and compelling option. It is MW basis, while in the daily and politicians. The new Parliament countriesbyatleasttwo-threeyears,itwillhavetomovefastinthisdirection. state transmission charges forthe sale expectedthatinvestmentinthesector weekly contracts, bidding will take building is touted as a necessity to Even if quantum technology has limited application—internet speeds would be ofsolarandwindpower,therenewable will overtake the investment in oil & place in energy (MWh) basis. The commemorate the 75th much slower, but the connection will be extremely secure—security infrastructure purchase obligation (RPO) trajectories gas by2021.The current levelised cost energywill be delivered to the market anniversary of Independence. This and scientific research will largely be dependent on such systems.Countries can use for states, focus on maintaining the ofenergy(LCOE)forlargescalesolarin participants leveraging the national, is while a resolve to strengthen quantum computers to break encryption protocols easily.India is already far behind sanctityofcontracts,permittingFDIin India is around `2.5 per kWh, com- regional and state-level transmission democratic values and practices othercountries in terms of supercomputers.It is about time it took a quantum leap. the renewable sector have accelerated pared to ~`12 in 2010. In the recent and distribution network. and a plan of action to mitigate the progress. bidding,it came down to `2. With robust value proposition dehumanising poverty and its Renewable generation, at 138 bil- Despite the challenges and such as transparency, competitive associated ills would have been lion units, has doubled in FY20, from demandsofdevelopingamarket,itwas prices, flexibility, and payment secu- worthier than construction of a DeliveryWISE 66 billion units in FY16.The country a well thought out strategy to start rity and financial savings that the grandiose building as a symbol of witnessed 20% CAGR growth in the trading in renewable power and exchange market offers, a pan-India ‘resurgent India’ to celebrate the Universal national social profile will help address inclusion and renewablegenerationsinceFY16while approach the regulators. Most renew- green market has the potential to anniversary. To my way of thinking, total electricity generation saw 4.3% able power generation companies in drive and facilitate the country to the government must be more exclusion errors and improve system efficiency growth in the same period. In other India are committed to selling their meetitsrenewableenergytargets.The concerned with mitigating the words, the rate of increase in genera- power to consumers—mostly discoms green market will ultimately encour- economic hardships of India’s EARNING FROM THE blow Covid-19 dealttodeliveryofbasicservicestociti- tion from renewable sources has been andafewthird-partyconsumersunder age green generators to adopt multi- impoverished multitudes than with zens,thegovernmenthasbeenmovingfasttoensurethatgapsinthePublicDis- much higher than the increase from the long-term Power Purchase Agree- ple models of sale and trading. securing ease of working for tribution System are plugged.The process of one nation,one ration card had othersources. ments (PPAs),with little prospect of Withtheincreasingpenetrationof parliamentarians and bureaucrats. startedbeforethepandemic,butnowtheprojectisoninfullswing.Similarly,the As per the International Energy excess generation to be offered on the renewable power,a robust green mar- There is no justification for giving L Agency’s Renewables 2020 report, exchangeandtheinabilitytoschedule ketisrequiredtoaddresstheintermit- precedence to building a sprawl of government has started enumeratingvulnerable households that have peoplewith co- morbiditiessothatitcanfast-trackitsmedicalresponse.Now,agroupofministers(GoM) drivenbyChinaandtheUnitedStates, powersupply.Itisalsoamatterofgrat- tency issues linked with green power structures to house the Parliament and the government over reportissuggestingafurtheroverhaul.Aspernewsreports,theGoMhasrecommended net installed renewable capacity will ificationthatmostgenerationcompa- adoption. India’s recently launched providing housing for all homeless thatthegovernmentincorporateauniversalnationalsocialprofiletotrackindividualand grow by nearly 4% globally in 2020, nies have adopted a robust system of real-time electricity market, coupled reaching almost 200 GW. Globally, forecastingandschedulingofpower.It with the green market,offers a signif- people. A city where the destitute familybenefits.Thereportcallsforthecreationofageo-tagged,real-time,multi-dimen- renewables are expected to overtake is in this context, the CERC was icant opportunityto integrate renew- citizens sleep on the pavements sionaldatabasethatshallincorporatedifferentservices. coal and become the largest source of approached for creating a market for able energy in the most efficient and cannot boast of a four-storey While states like Rajasthan have already mounted similar efforts—Bhamashah electricity generation in 2025 and green energy. Ultimately, the CERC competitive manner. Going forward, triangular-shaped building Yojanaisdesignedtoaddressinclusionandexclusionerrors—suchaplanhasbeenmiss- may supply one-third of the world’s approved trading of renewable energy the introduction of new segments whatever its grandeur in good ingatthecentrallevel.Ifthecentralgovernmentbringsoutsuchascheme,itwouldbe electricity. Hence, this growing focus contracts under Green Term Ahead suchasgreenday-aheadmarket,long- conscience. Also, cutting down able to eliminate the need to carry separate identity cards.A MicroSave study from and shift towards renewable energy Market (GTAM) on the energy duration green contracts,contract for trees to prepare the ground for the Rajasthan had found that respondents sawthe requirement to carrydifferent ID card underline the relevance and impor- exchange. The green market com- difference (CfD),etc,will playa crucial erection of a plethora of concrete forvariousservicesasaburden.Moreover,informationfor42%ofhouseholdswasnot tance of the green energy markets menced trade on August 21, in day- roleinfurtheringsustainabilitygoals, structures does not advance the verified.So,asingle-profileforservicesshouldgetadoptedeasily.TheCentrewillhave more than ever before. aheadcontingency(DAC)andintra-day and ensuring that all the renewable causes of conservation and tosortoutkinkslikeverificationiftheuniversalnationalsocialprofileschemeistobe Powerisacommoditythatneedsto contracts in both solar and non-solar energy generated within the country pollution abatement. successful.Another aspect that the government will need to address is data security. be consumed as it is generated.While segments.Inaboutjust90daysofcom- is dispatched in the most efficient — G David Milton, Maruthancode Storingallinformationinasingledatabasewouldmeanthegovernmentwouldhaveto conventional power plants—that are mencement of trade, the market has manner through a pan India wide rampupitssecurityservices. coal-based or large hydro—have the achieved a cumulative traded volume exchange-based energymarkets. ●Write to us at [email protected]

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®

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leverage,and still the prospect of higher returns to capital and time spent. These could be the pairing of renew- On track for able powerwith electric mobilityappli- cations through managed charging programs, decentralised power solu- tions in rural areas, RE forecasting, harmonisation O&M services, trading of regulatory products, energy efficiency applica- tions (solar ag. pump sets, solar cold storages,lighting,metering).The use of renewable power,but fora higher-value RC application than simply power to the grid.With the prospect of displacing ACHARYA conventional solutions using the pric- Former member railway board ing advantage from the path-breaking low cost of RE power generation at `2/unit. Railways has done well to implement By producing round-the-clock (RTC) power,with a higherPLFachieved learnings from the Chinese model bycouplingwith batterystorage,many higher-value industrial applications of FLATE, INDIAN RAILWAYS hasbeensuffering power (eg low-temperature heating fromasevereailment,worsethanCovid-19,viz applications), by-passing standard rampant ‘departmentalism', and creation of powergeneration,can also be explored. ‘silos’which has seriously hampered its effi- Another development which will ciencyandcontinuedgrowth.Atpresent,noless reduce uncertainty is the production- Othanninemajordisciplinesareinvolvedinrunningthe1.4mil- linked support (PLI) being given to the lionstrongbehemoth,vizcivilengineering,mechanicalengi- domestic module manufacturing neering,electricalengineering,materialmanagement(stores), industry.We can assume the solar PV operations,commercial,finance,humanresource,andRailway modules will eventually come largely ProtectionForce. fromIndia,sowillLi-ionbatteries.Prob- Intenseinter-departmentrivalryforpromotionandcreat- ablyatasomewhathighercost,butwith ingalargerturf,hasresultedinaseverelogjaminitssustained no China-specific sourcing or overall growthtomeetrisingdemandsfortransportoffreight. contracting risk. New businesses must Besides, the nearly 170-year-old behemoth has been usethesurplusormarginaloutputfrom severely hit by falling passenger revenues on account of the this capacity for solarising India. Covid-19.Thetimeisripeforsomeseriousintrospectionand rebootingthemanagementethos. Investor interest In a significant move,the annual Rail budget had been The investment community is junkedfiveyearsago,whichalsoremovedtheneedfortheRail keenly searching for non-grid power Minister to play to the gallery or answer inconvenient ques- applications from RE.However,there is tions in the Lok Sabha. Operating ratio was no longer the less appetite forVC investments.Entre- Damocles’ sword hanging on the Railway Board, and a re- preneurs need to first get a prototype organisationcouldnowbeundertaken.Takingaleaffromthe out,then look for capital to scale-up. Chinese Railways,as earlyas in 2014,a group of retired Rail- Funding support forthe demonstration wayofficerspreparedaprogrammefortrainingRailwayEngi- application itself has been very hard to neerswhowould be conversantwith all the majordisciplines come by.The entrepreneur should ide- whichgointorunningthevastorganisation. allyplan tofund that herself.This is bet- Theproposedsyllabusreducesthesedisciplinestojusttwo, ter for valuations and for maximising atechnical/engineering-orientedcourseandonedealingwith promoter equity value. Only with clar- transport,financeandgeneraladministration.Thenewbreed ityon the earnings from the first appli- of RailwayEngineerswould have to be a jack of all trades and cation,can and should external fund- masterofnone.However,theywouldmasteraparticulardisci- ing be used. plineastheyprogressintheirchosendiscipline. Chinapresentlyhas10suchUniversitiesdedicatedtowards Gaps in public policy churningoutthousandsofrailwayengineerseveryyear.These For this non-grid power application aredeployedinscoresofrailprojectsinChinaandabroad,par- ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE segment, the support needed from the ticularlyin the numerousAfrican Railways,which China has government is to refresh the UDAYpro- beenhelpingtodevelopandmanage. return from this meaningful market gram and implement serious distribu- A BTech in Railway Engineering by a Chinese university transition. tion reforms (DBT,smart or pre-paid incorporatesafoundationcourse,whichincludesmathemat- The flip side of the buildout based metering,and private participation) to ics,physics,computer engineering,ethicsandleadership.Sub- HIMRAJ on razor-thin margins has been the make utilitiesviable—much-needed for jectscoveredinRailwayInfrastructureEngineeringcourseare consolidation of the RE industry,pro- myriad reasons. If the grids are not advance bridge planning,track management and mainte- DANG moted by a flight to scale,essentially financiallyviable ever,and the tariffsdo nance,dieselsystems,etc. favouring the lower cost of capital not reflect cost,then eventually even Additionally,the course forRailwaySystem and Commu- The author advises green investments. Views are personal achieved bythe top IPPgenerators.This non-grid powerapplicationswill not be nicationEngineeringcoverssubjectssuchas ITandapp-based transition is not available to existing or able to scale up.We see this in the regu- management,transporteconomics,safetyanddisasterman- prospective SMEs, and they are largely latory obstacles the state grids put on agement,passengerinformationsystem,mobilecommunica- absent from the new bids. rooftop solar generators to hold onto tion,etc,alltailoredandspecifictorunningamodernRailway The last few years have also seen a their commercial and industrial cus- system. Acoupleofyearsago,NAIR,Vadodrahadsetupasep- few new IPP platforms tomers and cover-up for arateNationalRail&TransportationInstitute(NRTI) toattract Powering being created,Temasek’s the bleeding elsewhere. youngaspirantswhoplantooptforRailwaysasacareer.Atthe O2 Power being the most The other contribution undergraduatelevel,theyofferafour-yearBTechcourseinRail recent well-capitalised There is still expected from the govern- Infrastructure Engineering and another in Rail Systems & entrant.There is still hesi- hesitation from ment is the development CommunicationEngineering.TheyalsoofferathreeyearBBA tation from domestic domestic bankers of the enabling framework course in Transportation Management and BSc in Trans- bankers to lend to low-tar- to lend to low-tariff for the launch of the elec- portation Technology. At the post-graduate level, courses renewables iff projects,given ongoing tric mobility business, offeredareMBAintransportationmanagement,supplychain execution and PPA risks projects, given whichhasalreadytakenoff management,transporttechnologyandpolicy.MScintrans- The pairing of electric mobility with renewables has (not signing SECI-awarded ongoing execution inChinaandelsewhere.We porteconomics,transportinformationsystemsandanalytics bids and not paying state- and PPArisks . So, arestillataveryearlystage, are also available.So,is RailwaySystems Engineering & Inte- now become the ultimate target of renewables awarded assets). So, even meeting the target and the regulatory frame- gration,whichisanInternationaldegreeprogrammeoffered as the sector does keep workneedstoevolvefaster incollaborationwiththeUniversityofBirmingham,UK. worldwide: to decarbonise transport growing, further aided by of 175GW BY 2022 to promote the prolifera- Inaddition,aprivateinstitutionvizSirPadampatSingha- the latest tariff reduction, will still be a tion of electric vehicles nia University located in Udaipur has also started courses in we can expect that meet- challenge from rickshaws to buses. railwayengineering,andtheirfirstbatchhadreportedlybeen ing the target of 175GW snappedupbytheNationalHigh-SpeedRailCorporation’sBul- BY2022will still be a chal- The ultimate letTrainProject,provingtheneedandmeritofsuchcourses. lenge. challenge Indian Railways hopes to have the first batch of railway Energystoragewas the original Holy engineers from NRTI inducted by 2023,of course,provided New business Grail for renewable power. With the theycleartheUPSCselectionprocesswhichismandatoryforall Does this mature segment of power decline in battery prices,this story is suchcareeropportunitiesinRailways. HE RENEWABLE ENERGY November this year has delivered a generation appear attractive for fresh now coming to pass. For example, Reportedly IITs are also being encouraged to start these (RE) sector in India has remarkable tariff of `2/kwh, a reduc- new business creation and entrepre- 19GW of solar PV projects with storage courses,whichwouldhelpincreasethepoolofrailspecificengi- matured.Low tariffs discov- tion of 15% from the last bid just this neurship? Probably not, given the mis- are under construction in the US. neersandenhancetheiremployability,especiallywithprivate ered by bidding have no summer. match between risks and rewards, and The pairing of electric mobilitywith sectorprovidingrailtransport. doubt supported a fast scale- We can argue endlessly that the the competitive positions of the deep- renewables has now become the ulti- However,since the departments or the disciplineswill upT(17% CAGR in the last five years). marketisation of tariffs occurred before pocketed IPPleaderswithverylow-cost mate target of renewables worldwide: continue to exist and will remain active as before, it Solarcapacityhas reached 33GWout of the industry reached a suitable scale, capital. Agnostic entrepreneurs and to decarbonise transport. Progress on remains to be seen if the silos will get dismantled, as the a total of 89GW of RE capacity,itself but assets continue to be built, SEB fresh investment should track other grids and the launch of EV businesses officers operating the five technical departments will be 24% of the country’s total power opposition to RE is reducing, and as segments which are not so capital- should afford Indian entrepreneurs inducted from one stream. capacity. The most recent bid in elsewhere in the world, there is no intensive, where there is less need for with this timely challenge.

HEN THE FIRST CON- `1.6trillioninvestmentplan. andearnesttolowerunitcostofoperation. SIGNMENT of Sputnik- Like at seaports,India needs to signifi- Thepost-Covidphaseprovidesaunique V vaccine from Russia, cantlyimprove the aircargo infrastructure opportunitytoregainleadershiproleinthe on board an Emirates Transporting and processes,to facilitate the transport of transportmarket.Concentratingonthecore flight,reachedDelhiair- increasing volumes of light-weight high- segment,namely,inter-city long/medium portWearlyNovember,theonwardjourneyto valuecargo.Accountingfor95%ofallinland distance passenger service corridors,with CentralDrugLaboratory,Kasauli,wasadry cargo,India’s roads and railways dominate newgenre rail travel available on-demand, runforlogisticsonformidablechallengesto thenation’sfreightmarket.Thesub-optimal through up-gradation, expansion, and transport massive consignments of tem- Covid-19 vaccines rail-roadmixinfreightmovementisamajor acceleration of inter-city trains, it must perature-sensitivevaccine fordeployment concern.ShifttoRailisessentialforsustain- speedilycorporatise sectional or"regional" acrossthecountryquickly.PackedlikeRuss- Government should abledevelopment.Railwayshasbeenlosing serviceswhichcaterforashortdistance(up ian dolls,Sputnikvials needed to be stored RAGHU mostofthelow-densityhigh-valuecargo.It to 100 km),that contribute maximum loss at-20oCthroughoutthelogisticschain. make Railways DAYAL remainsoverwhelminglypatronisedbycap- in passengerbusiness and devourvaluable Whileensuringseamlesscoldchainvac- the centre of tivecustomersofbulkcargo. routeandterminalcapacity. cineoperations,alllogisticsplayerswillneed Senior fellow,Asian Institute of The heart of railways’freight strategyis A logistics division in the commerce to collaborate for a proactively integrated, multimodal transport Transport Development, Delhi the creation of high volume, high-speed departmentisbyitself,notasufficientcon- speedy,and cost-effective transit,storage, freightcorridors,calibratingtheservicesto dition.For an institutional framework to and delivery,an additional mandatoryfea- create critical mass of containers carrying evolve conducive to optimal growth of tureforvaccineparcelsistherequisiteambi- acknowledgedasacriticalfactorforthecoun- likely to be affected by multiple factors— the whole transport business, driving a piecemeal general goods, in partnership transportsector,someoftherecommenda- enttemperaturerequirement.SerumInsti- try’s competitiveness and resilience.It has rapid urbanisation,demographic changes, relentlessmovetowardsseamless,door-to- with other players, for integrated time- tionsmadebytheNationalTransportPolicy tute of India, the world’s largest vaccine increasinglyshiftedfrombeingacost-centre growingmiddleclass,thedigitalrevolution, doorintegratedintermodaltransportation. tabled multimodal service. It needs to DevelopmentCommitteeneedimplemen- manufacturer,has been licensed to mass- toacentreofvaluecreation.Characterisedby whichwillhaveamajorimpactonmobility WhilePM’scallforoptimalmultimodal embracemyriadinnovativesystems—hard- tation,suchasaunitarytransportministry produce the vaccine developed by Oxford high costs (around 14% of GDPvis-à-vis c. and transport,in both demand and supply. connectivity is in line with integration, wareandsoftware—toharnessitspotential, for coordinated development of rail,road, UniversityandSwedish-Britishdrugmaker 8%inindustrialeconomies)andlowservice There is a paradigm change in transport whichisthedominantthemeingloballogis- simultaneouslyrecognisingthepivotalrole shipping and aviation sectors and effective AstraZeneca,soIndiaislikelytogetsupplies quality, logistics in India is considered an itself—anintegratedlogisticsservice,involv- ticsmanagement,Indiahaspromotedasys- roads play for first/last-mile connectivity. regulatorymechanism to safeguard stake- soon. Unlike the vaccines from Pfizer or Achilles’heel.Logisticscosts,ifparedbyjust ingtheconvergenceoftraditionaltransport tem with little inter-modal coordination. The huge potential of containerisation of holders’interests.Roadtransportbeingdes- Moderna requiring ultra-low (up to minus 2%,canyield$50billionannually. infrastructure with the world of informa- India’stransportnetworks,railways,inpar- domestic cargo offers opportunities for ignateda‘concurrent’subjectintheConsti- 70oC) temperature-controlled storage,the To help cut logistics costs, PM Modi tiontechnology. ticular,areseverelyconstrainedforcapacity. exponential growth in the sector.A stan- tution, and there being no provision of AstraZenecavaccinecanbe storedin a nor- calledfora"newdirection"toinfrastructure Transport todayis a high-tech industry. To scale up investments in infrastruc- dardised pallet,like airline ULDs,will help ‘intermodal/multimodal transport',sepa- malrefrigerator. development,ensuringmultimodalcoordi- As transport costs fall,physical geography ture,thegovernmenthasbeenmakingsub- handle piecemeal general cargo byroad or ratelegislationmaybenecessarytocoverall Like micro-planning for zero-failure nation.The government created a logistics mattersless.Witheconomiesofscaleinpro- stantial sectoral allocations: subsuming all rail,bypassengerorfreighttrains. aspect of logistics, also taxation parity strategic operations,the ensuing vaccine divisioninthecommercedepartment,and, duction,economicgeographymattersmore. existing highwayprojects,the `5.5 trillion Characterised by a rigid bureaucratic betweenvariousmodes. supply chain system will test the nation’s interalia,plannedcoldchaininfrastructure With the decline in air transport costs,the umbrellaBharatmalaprogrammeenvisages structure,antitheticaltobusinessethos,also Covid-19experiencesuggests:aneedto abilitytominutelyandeffectivelyplan,coor- development,especiallysuitedforhorticul- priceofspeedhasfallendramatically.There about 84,000 km of new highways to be tardyandlackadaisicalinincreasingcapac- wincustomertrust,raiseproductivity,opti- dinate,anddeliverthevaccinestrictlyasper tural products,also pharmaceuticals.The is the supremacy of demand for precision, constructed;likewise,Sagarmalaentailsan ityonarterialroutes,rationalisingitsfreight mise asset utilisation,cut costs,minimise requirement in everynook and corner.The ensuing massive vaccine logistics exercise speedandcoordinationinanticipatingcus- investment of `6 trillion for around 600 pricingbyeschewingcross-subsidisationof delays,simplifyprocesses,enhancereliabil- vaccinechallenge,whenmetefficientlyand maywell spur the country’s vital logistics tomer needs.Further,the value of trade is projectstounlockthepotentialofcountry’s passenger fares, and extracting far more ity.The vaccine logistics will potentially be effectively,will lend new confidence.Life- sectortorevampandupgradeitself. growing much faster than its weight. In 7,500kmcoastlineand14,500kmofnavi- from its resources and accelerating asset an opportune moment for India’s logistics blood of an economy, logistics, today, is The future growth of transportation is recentyears,container-isationhasredefined gable waterways.Railways,too,projects a velocity,Railwayshasn’tbeenagiletodeliver industrytolearntherightlessons.

Pune 10 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM TWITTERATI Elizabeth Warren, US senator @SenWarren Facebook's power snuffs out competition and the Instagram and WhatsApp purchases should be unwound. There's more work to do, but this is a big InternationalFRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 step in the fight to #BreakUpBigTech. Quick ● GRIM MILESTONE SpaceX launches its View US tops 3,000 dailydeaths Starship on highest S&P DJI pulls Chinese firms from indexes from Covid,setting a record test flight, crash-lands ASSOCIATED PRESS after US order THE NEWYORK TIMES CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., December 10 S&PDOWJONES Indices onThursday December 10 MAPPING THE VIRUS became the second majorindex Cases exceed SPACEX LAUNCHED ITS shiny, bullet- providerto remove some Chinese THE ONSLAUGHTHASbeenrelentless. shaped, straight-out-of-science fiction companies from its index products LateonWednesdayintheUnitedStates, 68 million Starship several miles into the air from a following aTrump administration thedailydeathtollexceededtherecordset remotecornerofTexasonWednesday,but executive order,in the latest market justoneweekearlier,2,885. Deaths top the 6 1/2-minute test flight ended in an disruption from persistent Sino-US By midnight it had climbed to 3,053, explosive fireball at touchdown. tensions.Outgoing US President and total deaths since the coronavirus 1.56 million It was the highest and most elaborate DonaldTrump’s executive orderwas spreadintothecountryatthebeginningof flight yet for the rocketship that Elon unveiled in November. theyearandbeganlayingsiegehadreached Recoveries President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani says he left MusksayscouldcarrypeopletoMarsinas SpaceX’s Starship SN8 rocket 289,529. hospital feeling “better than ever” after being admitted to littleassixyears.Despite thecatastrophic explodes during a return-landing Ifhospitalswereanyguide,thosenum- Georgetown University Medical Center with “serious finale,hewas thrilled. attempt in Boca Chica, Texas on Covid: Gates Foundation 47,483,986 symptoms” for Covid-19 a few days ago. bersareunlikelytodipanytimesoon. “Mars,herewe come!!”he tweeted. Wednesday. PHOTO: REUTERS pledges $250 m more A panel of outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Hospitalsacrossthecountryareoperat- � Moderna begins study of This latest prototype — the first one THE BILLAND Melinda Gates ingnearorabovecapacityastheycopewith Administration is meeting on Thursday to weigh whether to equippedwithanosecone,bodyflapsand — lasted six minutes and 42 seconds. COVID-19 vaccine in recommend that the agency authorize Pfizer’s coronavirus Foundation onThursdaypledged an agrowingfloodofCovid-19cases.Newdata adolescents vaccine for emergency use. three engines — was shooting for an alti- SpaceXbroadcastthesunsetdemoliveon additional $250 million to support released this week by the Department of tude of up to eight miles (12.5 km).That’s its website; repeated delays over the past � Uber asks US states to China’s aviation regulator is recommending cabin crew on the development of low-cost and Health and Human Services offered a prioritise its drivers for charter flights to high-risk Covid-19 destinations wear almost 100 times higher than previous week and a last-second engine abort on easierto delivertreatments and detailed geographic picture of the crisis, COVID-19 vaccine disposable diapers and avoid using the bathroom to hops and skimming the stratosphere. Tuesday heightened the excitement reduce the risk of infection. vaccines against Covid-19.The latest withmorethanathirdofAmericansliving � Covid scare on cruise Starship seemed to hit the mark or at among space fans. contribution comes on top of the $70 in areas where hospitals are running criti- ship shows perils of Moderna said on Thursday it had dosed the first participant least come close.Therewas no immediate Muskcalledita“successfulascent”and million funding that the foundation callyshortofintensivecarebeds. resuming tourism in a mid-to-late stage study testing its COVID-19 vaccine word from SpaceXon howhigh itwent. said the body flaps precisely guided the candidate in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18. added in November.This brings its Withsomanyhospitalsfacingthesame � Pfizer says some vaccine The full-scale, stainless steel model — rocket to the landing point.The fuel tank total commitments to the pandemic problems,the elasticity in the health care documents accessed in Uber Technologies on Thursday sent letters to the 160 feet (50 metres) tall and 30 feet (9 pressure was low, however, when the response to $1.75 billion,it said. system is gone, and medical workers are governors of all US states, asking for its ride-hail and food metres)indiameter—soaredoutoverthe engines reignited for touchdown,which EMAhack delivery drivers to get early access to COVID-19 vaccines beingrunragged.“Thereisnotalotofwig- � Gulf of Mexico.After about five minutes, caused Starship to come down too fast. Germany warns of rising as essential workers. Morgan Stanleyto shift gleroom,”saidLoyHoward,presidentofthe Covid deaths among it flipped sideways as planned and “Butwe got all the datawe needed!”he Tanner Health System.“I have been doing California reported 30,851 new virus cases, topping the descendedinafree-fallbacktothesouth- tweeted. assets to Germany elderly record of 30,075 set over the weekend. The average rate of this for 35 years,and I have not seen this � Cabin crew told to wear positive tests over 14 days reached 8.8%, the highest since easterntipofTexasneartheMexicanbor- Musk had kept expectations low, cau- MORGAN STANLEYPLANS to move kindofwearandtearonthestaff.” diapers on risky flights the spring. der.TheRaptorenginesreignitedforbrak- tioning earlier this week there was“prob- about 100 billion euros ($120 billion) Thefive-hospitalTannerHealthSystem ing and the rocket tilted back upright. ably”a1-in-3chanceofcompletesuccess. of assets to Frankfurt,the latestWall nearAtlantaexpandedthenumberofcriti- Whenittoucheddown,however,therock- Amazon's Jeff Bezos,who founded the Street bank to shift business away cal care beds to 30,but its officials are still that,but you are just constantly thinking beganvaccinatingitscitizensthisweek,and etship became engulfed in flames and BlueOriginrocketcompany,offeredswift from the UK.The US lenderexpects to scramblingfrombeforedawntotheendof aboutthosethings.” Canadaappearsneartodoingthesame. ruptured,parts scattering. congratulations. “Anybody who knows transferthe bulk of the assets in the the day. “The worry is,” said Deborah With no immediate relief in sight,the Butthingshavemovedmoreslowlyina The entire flight — as dramatic and how hard this stuff is is impressed by first quarterof nextyear,when the Matthews,the chief nursing officer,“what United States was bearing down on a countrystillmiredoverapresidentialelec- flashyas it gets,even bySpaceXstandards today's Starship test.” transition period forBritain’s exit are you going to do with the 31st ICU ghastly mark likely days away: 300,000 tionthattookplacemorethanamonthago, from the European Unionwill likely patient?What areyou going to dowith the deathssincetheoutbreakbegan.Themile- with many Republicans refusing to have elapsed,people familiarwith the next patient who needs to be on a ventila- stonesarebeingtoppledasUSofficialsrace acknowledgetheresultsandsomeworking mattersaid. tor? You have contingency plans for all of toapproveanddistributeavaccine.Britain activelytoundothem. As virus restrictions rise, Pichai apologises US jobless claims surge Google,Amazon fined $163 m in France REUTERS Reutershadforecast725,000applications for dismissal of Washington, December 10 in the latestweek. STEPHANIE BODONI Google said in a statement that it TheUSisinthethroesofafreshwaveof DECEMBER 10 stands byits“record of providing upfront AI researcher THE NUMBER OF Americans coronavirus infections.New information and clear controls, strong filing first-time claims for Initial claims strict stay-at-home orders GOOGLE RACKED UP another record internal data governance, secure infra- SUNDAR PICHAI, CHIEF executive of unemployment benefits for state went into effect in California fine in the European Union, this time a structure,andaboveall,helpfulproducts.” Google’s parent companyAlphabet,apol- increasedmorethanexpected unemployment earlierthisweek.Otherstates 100 million-euro ($121 million) penalty It said the decision “overlooks these ogised for the departure of a prominent lastweek as mounting Covid- benefits totalled a and local governments have from France’s privacy watchdog over the efforts and doesn’t account for the fact artificial intelligence researcher,whose 19 infections caused more seasonally also imposed restrictions on way it manages cookies on its search thatFrenchrulesandregulatoryguidance exit has roiled the company’s work force business restrictions, further adjusted 853,000 businesses, which econo- engine. are uncertain and constantlyevolving.” andraisedquestionsaboutitsstatedcom- evidence that the pandemic mistsexpecttoleadtoafresh CNIL,France’sdataprotectionauthor- Amazon also said it disagreedwith the mitment to diversity and the responsible and lack of additional fiscal for the week round of layoffs during win- ity, also slapped online shopping giant information they provide to users,orwill French authority’s findings. development ofAI technology. stimulus were hurting the ended December 5 ter, especially without addi- Amazon.com with a 35 million-euro fine faceadditionaldailyfinesof100,000euros. “We continuously update our privacy In an email to employees on Wednes- economy. tionalpandemicreliefmoney for placing cookies, which are tracking The Google penalty is double CNIL’s practicestoensurethatwemeettheevolv- day,Pichai,however,stoppedshortofsay- Initial claims for state fromthegovernment. devices, on people’s computers without previous highest penalties, also for the ing needs and expectations of customers ingthecompanywaswronginhowithas- unemployment benefits totalled a sea- A deal on another rescue package theirconsent,accordingtoastatementon Alphabetunit.Thecompanyhasalsofaced and regulators and fully comply with all tened the resignation of Timnit Gebru, a sonally adjusted 853,000 for the week remained elusive on Wednesday, with Thursday. intensescrutinyfromtheEuropeanCom- applicable laws in every country in which co-leader of Google’s Ethical AI team and endedDecember5,comparedto716,000 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell The companies were given a three- mission,havingbeenfinedmore than8.2 we operate,” it said in a statement. one of its best-known Black female in the prior week, the Labor Department saying Congress was still looking for a month ultimatum to make changes to the billion euros in three antitrust cases. — BLOOMBERG employees. —THE NEWYORKTIMES said on Thursday. Economists polled by wayforward. SoftBank shares soar on $11 bn EU unveils back-up plans to avoid China to sanction DoorDash gain, buyout news US officials, curb diplomat travel BLOOMBERG chaos caused by‘no-deal’Brexit December 10 ROBIN EMMOTTAND ALISTAIR SMOUT weekend.“SundayI think is an important BLOOMBERG SOFTBANKGROUPSHARESsurgedasits BRUSSELS/LONDON, December 10 moment,”Raab told SkyNews."You never December 10 paper profit from the initial public offer- say never in these talks, but I think we do ing of DoorDash hit $11.2 billion,adding THE EUROPEAN UNION'S executive on need to get some finality.” CHINASAIDITwillsanctionmoreUSoffi- to gains from the prospect the Japanese Thursdaylaid out contingencyplans fora Raab said the main points of con- cials and place new travel restrictions on companycould attempt to go private. 'no-deal'Brexit at the end of theyearto tention — fisheries and commitments on American diplomats in retaliation for TheTokyo-basedcompany’sstockrose limitdisruptiontoairtraffic,androadand a level playing field — were narrow in measurestakenbytheTrumpadministra- 11%onThursdayto8,306yenashare,the rail travel after talks between British and scope but they were matters of principle tion overHong Kong. biggest jump since March. DoorDash EU leaders failed to break an impasse. forBritain. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokes- shares closed up 86% on the first day of The European Commission also pro- Britain formallyleft the EU in January, womanHuaChunyingdidn’tprovidespe- trading,givingthefood-deliverycompany posed that Britain and the EU continue to European Commission President but has since been in a transition period cific names of those sanctioned, but said a market capitalisation of $60 billion. Tang, head of Asian research at United offer reciprocal access to their fishing Ursula von der Leyen welcomes British during which it remains in the EU single theyincluded people in the executive and SoftBank’sstockhadalreadysurgedto FirstPartnersinSingapore.“Itwasaperen- waters for up to a year, potentially easing Prime Minister Boris Johnson in marketandcustomsunion,meaningthat legislative branches and their immediate a 20-year high on Wednesday, after nial concern that SoftBank cannot mone- tension around one of the most emotive Brussels on Wednesday. PHOTO: REUTERS rules on trade, travel and business have families, as well as non-government Bloomberg News reported founder tise its investments. That narrative is sticking points in the trade negotiations. stayed the same. organisations. China would also revoke MasayoshiSonisconsideringa‘slow-burn’ changingandVisionFundresultsarelikely Britain told the EU earlier it should their next steps after failing to overcome That ends on December 31. If by visa-free entry to Hong Kong and Macau buyout to take the company private.The to have more impact on the share price makesignificantconcessionstobreakthe persistentriftsovera“lively”dinneroftur- then there is no agreement to protect for US diplomatic passport holders, Hua sharesareup75%thisyearsofar,pushing going forward.” deadlock by the end of the weekend for bot onWednesday. around $1 trillion in annual trade from told a regularbriefing in Hong Kong on its market valuation to more than $165 About $5.3 billion worth of SoftBank clarityaboutthefinaletothefive-year-old “There’sstillclearlysomescopetokeep tariffs and quotas, businesses on both Thursday. billion. shares traded hands onThursday,equiva- Brexit crisis. talking but there are significant points of sideswillsuffer.Failuretoagreenewrules The US announced sanctions on Mon- “DoorDash plus yesterday’s news lent to one-fifth of the total tradingvalue Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the differencethatremain,”ForeignSecretary would snarl borders,shock financialmar- day against 14 members of China’s about the MBO have seen investors rush- of $26 billion on the first section of the EU'schiefexecutive,UrsulavonderLeyen, Dominic Raab told BBC TV,adding that ketsandsowchaosthroughsupplychains National People’s Congress,the country’s ing to get a piece of SoftBank,”said Justin Tokyo Stock Exchange onThursday. gavethemselvesuntilSundaytodecideon both sides needed to take stock at the — REUTERS rubber-stamp legislature, as President DonaldTrumptriestoratchetuppressure onBeijingbeforePresident-electJoeBiden takes office.The US has taken a slew of Microsoft, Unilever join Amazon's actions against Beijing in recent weeks, Pfizervaccine documents accessed in hack includingrestrictingtravelvisasforCom- munist Party members and banning cot- TIMOTHYANNETTAND RILEY GRIFFIN down 1.7% to $41.85 in NewYork. pledge to fight climate change tonimportsfromamilitary-linkedfirmin December 10 The EMA issued a brief statement on Xinjiang. Wednesday saying that it had been BLOOMBERG A spokesperson at the US Embassy in PFIZER SAID SOME documents it had attacked and had“swiftly launched a full December 10 Beijing declined to comment on China’s submitted to Europe’s top drug regulator investigation, in close cooperation with latest sanctions but referred to a state- regarding its Covid-19 vaccine had been law enforcement and other relevant enti- AMAZON.COMHASADDEDacompetitor mentexpressingconcernsaboutBeijing’s accessed in a cyber-attack on the agency. ties.”It declined furthercomment. to its year-old coalition of companies actions toward the financial hub. The US drugmaker and German part- Moderna, another US-based pharma- pledging to reduce their contribution to HongKonghascontinuedtoberocked nerBioNTechsaidinastatementtheyhad ceutical company with a comparable climate change: Microsoft. bypoliticalupheaval inrecentweeks.Last been told by the European Medicines Covid-19 vaccine in development, said it Thetwotechnologygiants,neighbours month, China passed a resolution allow- Agency that some documents relating to hadn’t received any notification from the intheSeattleareaandrivalsincloudcom- Amazon, long a laggard among its ingthedisqualificationofHongKonglaw- theregulatorysubmissionfortheirexper- Pfizer and BioNTech said the EMA European regulatorabout a data breach. puting and business software, have each peersinaddressingitsimpactontheenvi- makers who weren’t deemed sufficiently imental vaccine that had been stored on informedthemthattheattackwouldhave “We are engaged with them and mon- spentmuchofthelasttwoyearsannounc- ronment,reversed course in recent years, loyal — prompting opposition legislators the EMA server had been unlawfully no effect on the timing of the vaccine itoring the situation,” a company ing increasingly aggressive climate tar- bolsteringaninternalsustainabilityteam to resign en masse. accessed. review.Theregulatorisevaluatingclinical spokesperson said. “Moderna remains gets,including duelling umbrella organi- and vowing to reach net zero greenhouse Prominent activists Joshua Wong and The companies said that none of their trialdataonarollingbasis,andaclearance highly vigilant to potential cybersecurity sations for companies willing to do their gas emissions by2040.The companyalso Agnes Chow were also sentenced to systemshadbeenbreachedinconnection isexpectedtowardtheendoftheyear.The threats.” part to avert the catastrophic warming of invitedothersinterestedinmatchingthat prison for leading a 2019 protest with the incident and that they are shot also faces a crucial hearing before a TheUSFoodandDrugAdministration, the planet.OnWednesday,Microsoft said commitmenttosignontowhatitcallsthe outsidepoliceheadquarters,thelatestina “unaware that any study participants US Food and Drug Administration panel the American drug regulator, declined to it had signed onto Amazon’s pact, along- Climate Pledge, a forum for comparing series of moves by Chinese and local have been identified through the data Thursdaythatcouldleadtoswiftapproval. saywhetherit had been targeted byhack- side consumer products giant Unilever notes on best practices and climate- officials to clamp down on the city’s bat- being accessed.” Pfizer shares closed on Wednesday ers recently. — BLOOMBERG and several othernewsignatories. friendlyinvestment opportunities. tered opposition.

Pune 11 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

● NUMEROLOGY 8.2% - expected growth in digital advertising during 2020 15.1% - decline in television advertising during 2020 31% - estimated decline in outdoor advertising — GroupM's Global 2020 End-of-Year Forecast report BrandWagonFRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020

● INTERVIEW: SANDEEP BHUSHAN feed.Does one format hamper engage- ● BLOGGER’S PARK mentontheother? Head – Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook India Wethinkofexpressionasacontinuum.Peo- plepostcontentonwhichtheycanhavesus- The need tainedconversationontheirIGfeed.Stories areforin-the-momentcontent,whileReels goesfurtherintherealmofexpression.The for want ‘Nearly 90% of growthofStoriessuggestedthatcommuni- cationwillevolveandwearekeepingupwith How should brands behave that.Reelsgivescontentcreatorstheoppor- tunitytobediscoveredbyawideraudience. in the post-pandemic world? Instagram users The role of music in Reels has been signifi- cant too — globally,two out of five songs sharedonReelsarefromIndia. We expect these to coexist as the longevityof theseverticals are different,as follow a brand’ is the audience.Facebook and WhatsApp As the time spent online by Indian con- encer marketing programme in May;Vivo alsohavemultipleavenues;thesetoolshave sumers continues to surge,Facebook has launched an unboxing campaign on Insta- anadditivefactor,increasingthetimespent been beefing up its offerings here.The tech gram usingAR tools.Eno launched a cam- ontheplatform. giant had introduced Reels, a short-video paign on Facebook targeting rural clusters Agnello Dias format tool,on Instagram afterTikTok was usingpincodes.Bankingandfinancebrands InstagramisyettobeginmonetisingReels banned in India.Sandeep Bhushan talks usedWhatsApp for post-purchase conver- inIndia.Whatisholdingyouback? toVenkataSusmitaBiswasaboutthecom- sations with consumers.Fundamentally, Reelsisstillafairlynewproduct.Wewantto SOMEWHERE AT THE peak of the lock- pany’s branded content solutions,moneti- businesseswereabletoleverageeveryaspect first get the whole ecosystem, including down, I remember reading a slogan that sationstrategyforIGTVandReels,andmore. of their consumer’s journeyvia Facebook, usersandbrands,familiarwiththetools.We said: ‘Notice how the economy has InstagramandWhatsApptools. arecurrentlyrunningaprogrammeforcre- slumped because we’re buying only what Duringthelockdown,whatweresomeof ators and brands called Love Runs Deep, we need?’ It’s a populist statement that thesignificantchangesyouwitnessedon Howareyou bringing authenticityto the whereby 25 creators will join five brand seekstomakeadistinctionbetween‘need’ Facebook,WhatsAppandInstagram? influencermarketingecosystem? campaigns,and use the whole portfolio of and ‘want’.What we need drives human Thebigshiftthattookplaceduringtheini- Nearly 90% of Instagram users follow a products including Reels in the best way existence; but what we want, I daresay, tial months of the pandemicwas that con- brand; which indicates that they want to possible.That said,we are already seeing drives human progress. sumers began spending significantlymore hearfrom brands.And about 66% of users businessesuseReelsasacontentplatform. Towantmorethanwhatoneneedshas timeondigitalplatforms.Usecasesofdigi- want to engagewith a celebrityoran influ- powered almost every forward step we talmediaandtheinfluenceithasononline encerontheplatform.Weprovidebranded Whyhasn’tIGTVbeenaspopularamong have taken as a species.And as the econ- andofflinepurchases,too,greatlyincreased. content tools to bring transparency to the marketers? omy hobbles gingerly back to some sem- For example,Instagram Live suddenly relationship betweena brand andan influ- IGTV is moving to shows now — Sundays blance of normalcy, it is now undeniably saw a 60% increase in usage within just a encer.Infact,whatisnotunderstoodisthat fromthedaysofcelebrityendorsementsto content tool is a sophisticated tool for WithShirleybyShirleySetiaandItWillTake evident that the yawning fiscal chasm week of the lockdown.Because consumer thereisamassiveincentiveforbrandstodo influencer marketing,where brands can influencers to monetise their presence Five Minutes Only by Kusha Kapila,among staringusisdrivenbyonesinglefactor:the time spent shifted, brands shifted their brandedcontentpostsbecausetheycanuse targetconsumersefficientlyandmakedis- withabrand. others.Itservesthepurposeofafull-screen lack of demand. mediamix,too.Influencersplayedafarbig- the‘paidpost’featureasanadvertisingasset cerningchoicesaboutcontinuingcommu- immersive experience. As the platform Insuchascenario,it’sonlynaturalthat gerrole forbrands on social media overthe intheiroverallmediaplan. nication as necessary based on measure- Instagram now has multiple avenues to begins to see traction across creators and thespotlightshouldfallonwhathasbeen lastfewmonths.HyundaiAurarananinflu- There is a significant structural shift ment metrics. Further, the branded post content: Reels,Stories,IGTVand the brands,monetisationwillfollowatscale. the engine of the demand generation machine for so manyyears now.Brands andbrandcreators.Sohow,ifatall,should ● TAKE 5 brandsbehaveinwhatwillnowforeverbe NAVKIRAN SINGH, FOUNDER & CEO, referred to as the post-pandemic era? BAAZI GAMES Let’s look at the biggest change in the collectivepsycheofthehumanraceinthe last10years.Inadecadethathasseenthe entire world submerge itself in a sea of hyper-connectedness, the search for real Personal Finance has turned into marketing kryptonite. Keep it real Almost every creative meeting with any ● LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD: FIXED INCOME advertiser these days,whether it’s an ini- tial briefing or a pre-production meeting for a film, ends with this blanket, all- encompassing template statement: “But Returns on debt MF will be more realistic please keep it all very real.”Find real peo- ple who look good,write real stories that in better quality bonds (PSU,AAA). The soundinteresting,andcraftrealdialogues Government borrowings BSE SENSEXSENS othersegment(lessthanAAA/NBFCs)was that sound nice. will remain high in 2021 not getting the support.TLTRO2 of In fact, the quest for real had started `50,000crorewastargetedtoNBFCsand severalyearsbeforethepandemicandthe but at some point RBI will MFIs, and 50% of this was targeted to lockdown. A far cry from the escapist, have to think of exit from small/mid-sizedNBFCs. frothyworldofthe‘90s,whereunrealand Overthecourseoftheyear,RBIkeptthe aspirational were two sides of the same the excessive liquidity supportsystemsonthroughratecuts(repo pie chart. rate cut by 1.15% since February 2020) Ithasreachedapointwhereconsumers 1 On my bookshelf... andothermeasures—reverserepowascut mayhavedifferingviewsaboutwhatthey Ikigai.I’ve always been someone driven further to 3.35%, infusion of liquidity want their brand to be, but they’re pretty bymotivation and purpose,and itwas so moving the effective overnight rate to unequivocalaboutwhattheyDON’Twant great to find a book that resonatedwith reversereporateof3.35%andevenbelow abrandtobe.Don’tbepretentious,theyall me to theverycore. 2020 ratherthanthereporateof4%,OMOpur- seem to be saying. Don’t pretend you’re chasesforthehugeG-Secborrowingpro- notheretosellmesomethingwhenweall 2 A movie I’d like to watch gramme, OMOs on State Development know you are. In fact, say it upfront and I again/ ATV series I love... Loans, twist OMOs (purchase of long maywell buyintoyou.In fact,no brand Joydeep Sen AAA maturityG-Secsandsimultaneoussaleof image is better than a fake, pretentious SiliconValley is a series I love,and also Bond ETFs short maturity papers to support the brand image. one I’d love towatch again! It’s not as if WHILE2020HASbeenachallengingyear longer end of yield curve),etc.On top of the entrepreneurial journeyisn’t forhumansandforeconomies,ithasbeen this,RBI reiterated the commitment to dramatic enough already,but the good for asset markets. The challenges ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD maintain the accommodative stance on portrayal of the drama,teamwork,twists posedbytheeconomyorstructuralissues ● FIIs /FPIs were selling heavily in ●Alltheseissuescompoundedandthe rates and support to the market into the and turns gets me everytime. werecompensatedbycentralbanksstep- March.Inamarketinstandstill,thisadded volatilityled to liquid funds giving nega- nextfinancialyear. ping in with liquidity and succour.While totheproblems. tivereturnsforafewdays. 3 My inspiration is… the debate rages on in the equitymarket ● People were waiting for RBI mea- Gradually things improved as RBI, Looking ahead Steve Jobs.The simplicityand innovation betweenfundamentalvaluationsandliq- sures. RBI was doing something (OMO, intervened with incremental measures. Yieldlevelsremainedsupportedbyliq- thatwent behind his products and ideas uiditydrivenrally,inthebondmarketitis LTRO),but market participants expected The RBI Policy Review was preponed to uidity in 2020; 10-year G-Sec yield cur- is close to unparalleled.Theworld always alittledifferent. more.Andkeptquiet,i.e., March27.Apartfromthe rently being sub 6% and 3-month Trea- needs more forward-thinkers like him. theywerenotbuying. Yield levels remained ratecut,thetargetedlong sury Bill being less than the reverse repo Here’s to the crazyones! Looking back ● Sentiments being supported by liquidity in term repo operations rate of 3.35%. In 2021 as well, govern- InMarch2020,thebondmarketwent negative, mutual funds 2020; 10-year G-Sec (TLTRO) of `1 lakh crore ment borrowing is going to be huge,as it 4 My wanderlust intoafreeze.Yieldlevelsshotup.Evenliq- faced redemption pres- yield currently being sub was meant for purchase willtakealongtimetocomebacktofiscal Iceland has been at theverytop of myto- uid funds gave negative returns fora few sure. This compounded 6% and 3-month of corporate bonds. It prudence. As long as support from RBI Thisisgettingincreasinglyunderlined go list forawhile. days.Whathappened? theproblemsastherewas Treasury Bill being less couldnotbeusedforpur- remains,themarketwillbetherewhereit becausewe are living in timeswhen there ● In the initial phase of work-from- more selling pressure on chase of G-Secs or park- is.However,somewhereinfuture,eitherin is no real separation between the corpo- 5 Indulgence is... home,trading volumes had sunk.People the market.Liquid funds than the reverse repo ing with RBI in reverse 2021orlater,RBIwillhavetothinkofexit rateandthebrand.Gonearethedayswhen Mutton curryand rice,oranydesi cuisine have internet at home,but there are spe- anywaysaw the custom- rate of 3.35% repo.Thishelpedthestag- fromtheexcessiveliquidity.Thatwouldbe consumers lapped up brands,ignorant of that can put me in a food coma. cialisedtradingsystemsintheoffice.These ary March advance-tax nant corporate bond aturningpointforyieldlevelsinthebond the corporations behind them. Today, things got sorted out gradually through relatedoutflows. market, as there was market.For debt mutual fund investors, every piece of brand communication is VPN,etc.,butthattooksometime. ● Safety was perceived in overnight somebodytopurchase,i.e.,bankswiththe returnswouldbemorerealisticasthecarry actuallya piece of corporate communica- ● Banks were not taking a view on funds,andeverybodyrushedthere.Dueto help of easymoneyfrom RBI.TheTLTRO yield(portfolioYTMs)haveeasedin2020 tion in disguise. Around the buildingpositionsonbonds,duetouncer- excessive demand in overnight funds or corporate bondswere free from mark-to- andtherallyismoreorlessdone. tainty and approaching year-end. They theTREPSmarket,ratescamedowndras- market volatility for banks. The next No-filter image were just parking the surplus liquidity tically,butwerepositive.Overnightfunds announcementonApril17ofTLTRO2was Thewriterisacorporatetrainer(debt So,brandsinthenewagemaywellhaveto withRBIitselfinreverserepo. donotgivenegativereturns. anotherpositive.Thepurchasessofarwere markets)andanauthor reveal more of their inner motivations thantheydidinthepast.Theymayhaveto World exposetheirvulnerabilities.Perhaps,even ● YOUR MONEY therightmutualfundtoinvestin,butalso bebluntandupfrontabouttheirbusiness Oreo to launch Lady concernedabouttheidealtimetoinvest. purpose and communicate in a manner Investors can make investments in thatdoesnotseemhypocritical.Andmind Gaga-inspired cookies mutualfundsasandwhentheydesire.But you,blatantly going out there and ped- MONDELEZIS Anytime is the right time it is always preferred to catch the mutual dling your product may in fact be more LAUNCHINGanew funds at a lower NAV (net asset value) honest than a brand that claims to be in versionofOreocookies, ratherthan a higherprice.Itwill not only the business of greater common good. In calledChromatica, to invest in mutual funds help to maximise your returns but also other words, unreal perfection is out; inspiredbypopsinger lead to betterwealth accumulation over flawed realityis acceptable. LadyGaga’slatest investmentoptions. time. So being unpretentious, honest, blunt album.Theselimited- Just keep in mind your risk A mutual fund is a financial vehicle Thethreeidealscenariosthataresuit- and, perhaps, even acknowledging their editionOreos—green appetite, investment wherein a fund house or an AMC (asset abletoinvestinmutualfundsare when(a) failings is what may bode well for brands creamfillingsandwichedbetweenpink managementcompany)poolsthemoney bondyields are surging to be the highest; in a post-pandemicworld. wafers—willbeinstoresbyJanuary. horizon & financial goals from several investors and invests it in (b)stockmarketshavehittherock-bottom; The world is just about coming when choosing a fund varying securities such as bonds,money (c) development in the realty sectors through a crisis that is unprecedented in Frasers Group in talks to market instruments, stocks, etc. The ` hasleapt. human history.There is enough intro- pooledinvestmentisprofessionallyman- Anyoralloftheabovesituationsrepre- spection that is going on already. So, buyDebenhams INVESTORS OFTEN WONDER when to aged bya fund manager. Fund managers MF sent an ideal scenario,but in reality,this instead of climbing on a high horse and MIKEASHLEY’S FRASERS Group, investinmutualfunds.Littledotheyknow hold an in-depth understanding and ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD time never comes.Or if it does,one isn’t telling people what to do, perhaps it formerlySports Direct,is in talks to buy thatthereisnorightoridealtimewhenit knowledge of the volatile markets. In amongretailinvestorsowingtotheirflex- abletomapitaccurately.Itisimpossibleto makessenseasbrandstogobacktobasics Debenhams out of administration.The comestoinvestinginmutualfunds.Before return, the fund houses charge a small ibility.There has been a mounting accep- define this timeline.As an investor,you and tell consumerswhatwe do. 240-year-old UKdepartment store chain choosing a mutual fund scheme, an expense ratio to manage mutual fund tancetoinvestinmutualfundsonlinedue shouldnotwaitforthesehypotheticalsit- Thebrandsthatgetthatrightwillown has been looking fora buyersince the investorshouldtrytotakeintovariousfac- investments. to the accessibility of several types of uationsandinsteadinvestinmutualfunds tomorrow. summer.In the absence of a buy-out, torssuchasinvestmenthorizon,theirrisk mutual funds that cater to the varying wheneveryouwanttoandhavethefunds. the chain mayhave to shut all of its 124 appetite, financial goals, etc. In short, Growing popularity needs of investors across all risk profiles. The authoris creative chairman, stores afterChristmas,putting these parameters should align with their Mutual funds have gained popularity Today,investorsarenotonlycuriousabout Source:TaxGuru India,dentsu,and co-founder& CCO, 12,000 jobs at risk. Taproot Dentsu

Pune 12 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

RETAIL FOCUS George Alexander Muthoot, MD, Muthoot Finance In our 24th public issue of NCDs, we wish to ❝ focus on retail and HNI investors, and we have ❝allocated 90% of the issue for this segment. MarFRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 kets Money Matters ● BENCHMARK BEATER Markets take a breather G-SEC NiftyMidcap100 is just over The benchmark yield as investors book profit remained unchanged FE BUREAU Mumbai, December 10 Nifty50 Intra-day, Dec 10 5.931 13,545 13,478.30 6% awayfrom all-time high AFTER TOUCHING ALL-TIME highs for 5.917 13,510 the previous seven consecutive sessions, 13,488.50 The rally is mainly on the Nifty Midcap 100 the markets took a pause on Thursday as 13,475 investorsdecidedtobookprofits.TheNifty back of increased liquidity 23,000 21,731.80 13,440 20,392.70 declined 50.8 points (0.38%) to close at December 1 December 10 and retail participation in 20,000 13,478.3 while the Sensex declined by 13,405 143.62 points (0.31%) to close at the market 45,959.88. 13,370 17,000 Previous close: 13,529.10 `/$ Indian shares took cues from the 13,335 URVASHI VALECHA Asian markets which were under pres- Open Close The rupee ended lower 14,000 0.141% Mumbai, December 10 sure on Thursday. The bourses in Japan, amid losses in local Taiwan and South Korea were down equities and a dollar 11,000 THE MARKET'S RALLY is not just between 0.23% and 0.33%. European bounceback Sensex Intra-day, Dec 10 restricted to the benchmark indices.The marketswererallyingaheadofmonetary 46,100 Inverted scale 73.56 8,000 45,959.88 Nifty Midcap 100 index is just 6.5% January 23, 2018 Decmber 10, 2020 policy announcement by the ECB, with 45,999.42 74.05 away from the all-time highs (21,731) stock markets in France,Germany, and 46,000 that it witnessed in January 2018. The the UK gaining between 0.1% and 0.5% 45,900 rally in the Nifty Midcap 100 stocks is large caps to midcaps since large caps sensitive theytend to outperformwhen in early trade. mainly on the back of increased liquid- have become fairlyvalued.Additionally, the economic cycle begins to recover However,FMCGstocksralliedandwere 45,800 ity and retail participation in the mar- surplus liquidity in the markets is also according to experts, which is why the thetopgainersontheNifty.Thisisbecause November 27 December 9 ket. In this backdrop, experts say that contributing to the rise in the midcap midcap index could see its outperfor- the sector has been witnessing renewed 45,700 the NiftyMidcap 100 index could touch index.” mance to the benchmarks continue. buying interest from investors.The Nifty 45,600 C=/$ its all-time high by January 2021. India’s economic indicators have However, the Nifty Smallcap 100 FMCG index, the sole gainer among the Previous close: 46,103.50 The Nifty Midcap100 has outper- been improving ever since the govern- index is 29% away from its January sectoral indices, hit a 52-week high of 45,500 The Euro rose against 0.099% formed the gains made by the 50-share ment announced the easing of the lock- 2018 highs of 9,580 and are not 34,122.5 and closed at 34,054.8. Buying Open Close the dollar index Nifty since the markets bounced down. Moreover, corporate earnings in expected to outperform.This is because in FMCG stocks also helped markets backfromtheirMarch2020lows.From the September quarter were also better unlike the midcaps,the performance in recoverfrom its lowlevels. FMCG stocks rallied and were the the period between March 23 till date, than expected which positively sur- terms of earnings for most smallcap Indian equities have been witnessing top gainers on the Nifty. This is the NiftyMidcap100indexhas risenby prised the street. This has built the stocks has not surprised positively. sectoral rotation in the last eight to nine 1.2103 because the sector has been 85% whereas, Nifty is up by 77.1%. As expectation that FY22will be theyearof Moreover, the liquidity is limited to months. Various sectors have outper- 1.1963 the benchmarks have become increas- recovery. Many foreign brokerages also large cap and midcap stocks. formed and underperformed depending witnessing renewed buying interest ingly fairly valued in the eyes of believe that the emerging markets are at Ambareesh Baliga, an independent on the market’s view about the impact of from investors investors,many of them are moving to the start of an earnings supercycle.In an market expert, said, “The smallcap Covid-19 on the economy. stocks in the midcap index. earlier report, Nomura stated that its stocks may not touch their all-time According tobrokerages suchasKotak November 27 December 9 Additionally, the abundant liquidity Business Resumption Index showed highs for quite some time. This is InstitutionalEquities,thesectoralrotation million.The futures and options segment in the market and the upward momen- improvement despite the Covid-19 because smallcaps as a segment have issimplyare-ratingstoryfordifferentsec- on NSE sawa turnoverworth `58.52 lakh tum of the stock markets is expected to related challenges on better than not had manypositive surprises,though tors.Initsreport,Kotaksaid,“Thesequen- croreandthecashsegmentsawaturnover continue,which is why experts believe expected GDPdata forQ3. we could see specific stocks outper- tial‘rotation’isnothingbutsequentialre- worth `61,138.42 crore.This is against that the Nifty Midcap 100 index could The brokerage said,“Novemberwas a forming.” rating of different sectors over the past the six-month average of Rs 59316 crore Quick touch its all-time highs in earlyJanuary. busier month than October; the NIBRI The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty ninemonths,linkedtothemarket’sgrow- inthecashmarketand`21.7lakhcrorein Deepak Jasani, head - retail research, picked up by 4.6% month on month Smallcap 100 have so farrisen by2.4% ing conviction about economic and earn- the futures and options segment. HDFC Securities, said,“If the current compared to a 2.1% gain in October, and 2.2% respectively in December. ings recovery and the negative impact of Big gainers on the Nifty were Nestle momentum in the markets continues, reflecting‘residual’festive mobilityand Going forward, a large reversal of the Covid-19 pandemic being far less severe India, ITC, Britannia Industries, Hindus- thentheNiftyMidcap100couldtryand demand. This comes despite an midcap rally for the next one or two than the market’s initial expectations in tan Unilever and Adani Ports and SEZ, up View touch its all-time highs in earlyJanuary increased threat of pandemic resur- quarters may not take place as long as March 2020.” by4.16%,3.7%,3.14%,2.39%and1.7%. itself. gence and a revival of some lockdown interest rates continue to be low across Foreign portfolio investors on Thurs- Significant losers were UPL, Ultratech The stock markets are essentially restrictions.” the globe and Indian economy contin- day bought stocks worth $301.3 million, Cement, Shree Cement,Tata Motors and Equitas SFB launches witnessing a rotation of funds from Since, midcaps are more economy ues its upward climb. provisional data show. Domestic institu- M&M, down by 11.29%, 3.32%, 2.79%, 3-in-1 account tionalinvestorssoldstocksworth$303.36 2.6% and 2.4%. EQUITASSMALLFINANCEBankhas launcheda3-in-1accountwhichallows Rupee logs first itscustomerstoinvestinwidevarietyof Mrs Bectors Food’s `500-cr Collection efficiency in retail loan pools financialproducts.The3-in-1account loss in three days, comprisessavings,tradinganddemat of NBFCs,HFCs steady in October: Icra accountsandwillbeaconvenient IPO opens on December 15 falls 9 paise optionthathelpsthecustomerstokeep PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA witnessed a spike in September 2020 fol- alltheirbankingandfinancial PRESS TRUSTOFINDIA BectorsaidattheIPOroadshow. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai, December 10 lowingtheendofmoratoriumperiodcon- investmentsunderoneumbrellaentity. Mumbai, December 10 TheIPOwouldcompriseafreshissueof Mumbai, December 10 tinued to remain high in October,though Thebankprovidesstockbrokingand equity shares worth `40.54 crore and an RATING AGENCYICRA onThursday said therehasbeennomaterialincreaseinslip- dematservicesthroughreferral BREADAND BISCUITS makerMrs Bectors offerforsale(OFS)byexistingshareholders THE RUPEE SNAPPED its two-day win- the collection efficiency in its rated retail pages. arrangementwithbrokeragefirmsfor FoodSpecialitiesisplanningtohitthecapi- worth `500 crore,which includes an offer ning streak to close 9 paise lower at pools originated by NBFCs and HFCs ICRA vice president and head (struc- tradinganddepositoryservices. tal markets mid nextweek to raise around for sale aggregating up to `245 crore by 73.66 against the US dollaronThursday, remained steadyin October,compared to tured finance ratings) Abhishek Dafria `450-500 crore to fund the company's Linus,up to `38.50 crore by Mabel,up to tracking muted domesticequitiesanda September, for almost all retail asset said, “The delinquencies in the softer SBI Life Insurance brownfield expansion of the `186 crore byGWCrown and rebound in the American currency. classes. buckets (0+ dpd and 30+ dpd) remain Rajpura manufacturing unit upto`30.50crorebyGWCon- At the interbank forex market, the While the total collections, including high in October as compared to the pre- launches newproduct inPunjab. fectionary. domestic unit opened at 73.68 against advances,overduesandpre-payments,are moratorium levels.”He, however, added SBILIFEINSURANCEannouncedthe Theproposedinitialpublic Upto50%oftheissuewill the US dollarandwitnessed an intra-day indicating a significant recovery,the cur- that “we also positively note that the 0+ launchofapowerpacked'SBILife- offeringwill open on Decem- bereservedforqualifiedinsti- high of 73.62 and a low of 73.77. rent collections inclusive of overdue dpd has not seen any material increase SmartFutureChoices’savingsproduct. ber15andcloseonDecember tutional buyers (QIB) while The local unit finally closed at 73.66 (against current month billings) continue from September to October.It indicates Tappingintotherisingconsumer 17, and the price band has 35%willbereservedforretail against theAmerican currency,register- to remain below the pre-lockdown levels, that majority of the borrowers who awarenessontheneedforinsurance, been fixed at `286-288 per investors and not less than ing a fall of 9 paise over its previous the agencysaid in a report.Theyare in the started to meet their EMI payments in theindividual,non-linked, equityshare of a facevalue of 15%forthenon-institutional close. range of 81-95% across asset classes in September after the end of the morato- participatinglifeinsurancesavingsplan `10each. investors(NIIs). On Wednesday, the rupee strength- October,it added. rium were able to continue to meet pay- empowersconsumerswiththe‘Power Theminimumbidlotis50 Asthepromoterisnotsell- ened by another 3 paise to mark its In October,the collection efficiencyin ments even in October”. toChoose’variousoptionsandbenefits equitysharesandmultiplesof ing any equity,theywill con- seven-week high of 73.57 against the US housing loan and the loan against prop- Borrowers who have now missed both aspertheirchangingneedsfromtime 50 equity shares thereafter,Mrs Bectors tinuetoholdover51%oftheshareholding dollar. erty (LAP) segments stood at 207%. For September and October payments have totimethroughoutthepolicyterm. FoodSpecialitiesmanagingdirectorAnoop aftertheIPO. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which SME, commercial vehicle and microfi- moved to the 30+ dpd bucket.The migra- gauges the greenback's strength against nance institutions (MFIs), the collection tion of delinquencies to the 30+dpd ICICILombardtoreset a basket of six currencies, was trading efficiency was 120%, 114% and 104%, bucket in October2020was considerably 0.03 percent higherat 91.11. respectively,according to the report. higher for SME and microfinance (MFI) sumassuredmutipletimes NSE to launch derivatives on Nifty The agency said the delinquencies in loans when compared to their pre-mora- LEADING PRIVATE SECTOR non-life softerbucket(0+dayspastdueordpd)that torium level,he said. player ICICI Lombard on Thursday Financial Services Index from Jan 11 `/$ Intra-day, Dec 10 announced 100% resetting of the Inverted scale sum assured multiple times and also THENATIONALSTOCKExchange(NSE)on sistsof20stocksandisdesignedtoreflectthe 73.55 cashless OPD in its bid to offer Thursdaysaid it will launch derivatives on behaviour and performance of the Indian ANALYST CORNER maximum benefits to likely Covid- theNiftyFinancialServicesIndexfromJan- financial market, which includes banks, 73.60 73.6662 19 patients. uary11,2021. financial institutions, housing finance, The exchange has already received an insurancecompaniesandotherfinancialser- 73.65 Revising ICICI Bank fair HybridResearch,AlwaysGain approval from markets regulator Sebi to vicescompanies. 73.70 bannedfromcapitalmkts launchderivativesontheindex. The index has delivered annualised 73.7025 Currently,it offers index derivatives on returnsof15%inthepastfiveyears. value to `600 from `500 73.75 THESECURITIESANDExchangeBoard onlytwoequityindices--Nifty50Indexand The NSE said it will offer futures and Previous close: ofIndia(Sebi)hasbarredHybrid NiftyBankIndex,theNSEsaidinastatement. optionsinsevenserialweekly,excludingthe 73.5625 KOTAK INSTITUTIONAL EQUITIES In economics, there is a concept of 73.80 consumer and producer (shareholder) ResearchAdvisoryServicesandAlways Thefinancialservicesspaceassumessig- monthly expiry and three serial monthly Open Close GainAdvisoryServicefromthecapital nificance,asthesectoraccountsfor33.5per contracts. This is the first time that the DOTTINGTHE I’S and crossing the t’s. surplus.The lingering aspect from the marketsforprovidingunauthorised centoftheNifty500Index. exchangewillmakeavailableweeklyfutures ICICI Bank’s analyst meet gave yet analyst meet was our inability to tradingtipstoinvestors. The NiftyFinancial Services Index con- forthestockindexderivatives. —PTI "Rupee traded weak on the back of another glimpse of the efforts it is understand when the shareholder gets selling/profit booking witnessed in the taking to rebuild itself as a bank which to see this benefit. ICICI Bank showed capital markets amid global weak cues. would enable it come closer to the prowess in building best-in-class Dollar index also found some stability current best-in-class peers. Execution is products that would keep it among the near 90.50 mark providing support to solid and we believe that this would best-in-class banks. However,when we Cement stocks slip as CCI initiates probe USDINR pair near 73.55," said Jateen reflect in a higher multiple as post- look at the overall numbers today,we PRESS TRUST OF INDIA "LafargeHolcim/ACC and Ambuja Trivedi, senior research analyst (Com- Covid recovery would differentiate the are still yet to see it in the final frontier: New Delhi, December 10 Ultratech Cement Cement are fully cooperating with the modity & Currency) at LKPSecurities. bank from what it has been the RoA/RoE normalisation.We admit Intra-day on BSE (`), Dec 10 authorities,but cannot comment further On the domestic equitymarket front, stereotyped as in the past.We keep our that it is hard to measure these benefits SHARES OF CEMENT companies,includ- 5,150 asthematterisongoing,”headded. the BSE Sensex ended 143.62 points or faith in this transition and it is our top offered to customers.We should ideally ing UltraTech Cement,Ambuja Cements 5,100 5,065 Accordingtothemediareports,thefair 0.31% lower at 45,959.88, while the idea in banks.We revise our fair value to see a combination of better-than- and ACC, on Thursday declined after the trade regulator has also searched the broader NSE Nifty fell 50.80 points or `600 (from `500 earlier) on account of industry: loan growth, diversification or Competition Commission of India (CCI) 5,050 4,962.90 offices of UltraTech Cement and Shree 0.38% to 13,478.30. rollover and marginal increase in our granular loan book, NIM profile, fee conducted raids at the offices of some Cement. Foreign institutional investors were target multiple. income, cost of delivery, ability to scale cement companies for alleged anti-com- 5,000 Earlier in the day, ACC and Ambuja net buyers in the capital market as they In its analyst meet, ICICI Bank with non-linear profit curve, asset petitivebehaviour. 4,950 Cements in a regulatory filing said,“The purchased shares worth `2,259.98 broadly shared the efforts it has been quality trends. UltraTech Cement was the top loser CCI has initiated an investigation against crore on a net basis onThursday,accord- making to rebuild its banking business For most investors, ICICI Bank has amongthe Sensex constituents,tumbling 4,900 cement companies in India for alleged ing to exchange data. and re-establish its dominance across still not reached the point where the 3.27%. The stock of Ambuja Cements Previous close: 5,147.95 anti-competitivebehavior.” Brent crude futures, the global oil the banking spectrum. Key confidence is similar to the best-in- 4,850 closed at `248.35, 1.80% down after Open Close “The CCI has initiated an investigation benchmark,rose 0.78% to $49.24 per observations, ICICI Bank’s ‘stack’ is class banks. Gaining credibility has declining 2.96% to `245.40 during the againstcementcompaniesinIndia,includ- barrel. According to Sriram Iyer, senior getting undivided attention throughout been a challenge, especially when the dayontheBSE.ACCdipped1.46%toclose ing Ambuja Cements, regarding alleged research analyst at Reliance Securities, the bank which we thought is a good economic recovery has been sluggish. at`1,631.95.Intra-day,ittumbled2.24%. Cements,hasconfirmedthedevelopment. anti-competitive behaviour,”said Ambuja regional risk appetite waned amid lack approach as deliverables can be While the bank is attempting to shift ShreeCementfell2.73%to`23,750. “LafargeHolcim confirms that ACC's and Cements.ACC said it “is of the firm view of progress on a fiscal stimulus bill in monitored, build scale that works for investor’s focus and gain credibility TheCCIonWednesdayconductedraids Ambuja Cement's offices in Mumbaiwere that it has acted and continues to act in the United States. smaller ticket sizes without impairing that eroded in the previous decade, at the offices of some cement companies, visited by the officials from the Indian compliancewithcompetitionlawsandwe Markets will now await the USFDA cost structure, evolve products around the recent price correction, including LafargeHolcim.LafargeHolcim, Competition Authority yesterday i.e. arefullycooperatingwiththeinvestigation meetingconclusiononThursdayonthe the customer’s need, and translating immediately post the lockdown which is the parent firm of two leading December 9,” said a LafargeHolcim andprovidingallnecessaryinformationto emergencyuseoftheCovid-19vaccine, this into a revenue stream that is cost reflects that investors are yet to firmly cement manufacturers ACC and Ambuja spokesperson. theauthorities”. he added. effective, scalable and less risky. back this thesis.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS 13

GBL INDUSTRIES LIMITED LOHA ISPAT LIMITED -In Liquidation Liquidator: CA Anil Goel CIN: L24117GJ1985PLC007985 Liquidator Address: E-10A, Kailash Colony, Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi -110048. Regd. Off: 801, SAFAL PRELUDE, 8th Floor, B/h. Pinnacle Business Park, Corporate Road, Prahladnagar, Ahmedabad-380015 Tel.:91-8160162721 Email: [email protected], [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] •web: www.gujaratbitumen.com E-Auction NOTICE OF THE 34TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Sale of Assets under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 AND E-VOTING INFORMATION Date and Time of E-Auction: 24th December, 2020 at 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm. Notice is hereby given that: Last date of submission of EMD: 23rd December, 2020 The 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the members of GBL Industries (With unlimited extension of 5 minutes each) Limited (the 'Company') will be held on Thursday, 31st December, 2020 at 12.00 Noon IST through Video Conferencing / Other Audio Visual Means Sale of Assets and Properties owned by Loha Ispat Limited (in Liquidation) forming part of Liquidation Estate formed by the (VC). In compliance with General Circular numbers 20/2020, 14/2020, Liquidator, appointed by the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench vide order dated April 26, 2018 17/2020 issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Circular (order communicated on June 26, 2018). The sale will be done by the undersigned through the e-auction platform number SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD1/CIR/P/2020/79 issued by the Securities and https://aaa.auctiontiger.net. INR. Exchange Board of India (SEBI) (hereinafter collectively referred to as Incremental Asset Reserve EMD 'Circulars', companies are allowed to hold AGMs through VC, without the Block Price Amount Value physical presence of members at a common venue. Hence, the AGM of the Plant & Machinery at Plot No. A-79, MIDC, Taloja Industrial Estate, Village Pendhar, Taluka A 2.30Crore 23 Lakhs 1 Lakh Company is being held through VC to transact the business as set forth in the Panvel, District Raigad Notice of the AGM dated December 07, 2020. In compliance with the Circulars, electronic copies of the Notice of the Plant & Machinery at Plot No. A-69, MIDC, Taloja Industrial Estate, Village Pendhar, Taluka B 3.85Crore 38 Lakhs 1 Lakh AGM and Annual Report 2019-2020 have been sent to all the members Panvel, District Raigad whose email IDs are registered with the Company/Depository Plant & Machinery at S. No. 2 (H. No.1, 2, 4, 4/A, 5 & 6), S. No. 4 (H. No.1, 2), S No.5 (H. Participant(s). These documents are also available on the website of the No. 1/A, 1/B, 1/C/2, 2, 3,4), S.No. 6 (H. No. 2, 3), S. No. 7 (H. No. 1/A/1, 1/A/2, 1/A/3, 1/B, C 54Crore 5.4Crore 3Lakhs Company at, https://www.gujaratbitumen.com/annualreports.html, stock exchange websites i.e. www.bseindia.com and on the website of National 1/C, 1D, 2 & 3), S. No. 96,at Village Ransai, Khopoli, Taluka Khalapur, District Raigad Securities Depository Limited ('NSDL') at, https://www.evoting.nsdl.com. Land (Freehold 18.79 acre) at S. No. 2 (H. No.1, 2, 4, 4/A, 5 & 6), S. No. 4 (H. No.1, 2), S The dispatch of Notice of the AGM through emails has been completed on No.5 (H. No. 1/A, 1/B, 1/C/2, 2, 3,4), S.No. 6 (H. No. 2, 3), S. No. 7 (H. No. 1/A/1, 1/A/2, 1/A/3, D 11.77 Crore 1.2 Crore 2 Lakhs December 10, 2020. 1/B, 1/C, 1D, 2 & 3), S. No. 96,at Village Ransai, Khopoli, Taluka Khalapur, District Raigad Members holding shares either in physical form or dematerialized form, as on Land (Freehold 18.79 acre), Building& shedat S. No. 2 (H. No.1, 2, 4, 4/A, 5 & 6), S. No. 4 (H. the cut-off date (December 24, 2020), may cast their votes electronically on the 2 Lakhs business as set forth in the Notice of the AGM through the electronic voting No.1, 2), S No.5 (H. No. 1/A, 1/B, 1/C/2, 2, 3,4), S.No. 6 (H. No. 2, 3), S. No. 7 (H. No. 1/A/1, 1/A/2, E 27.02 Crore 2.7 Crore system of NSDL ('remote e-voting'). Members are hereby informed that: 1/A/3, 1/B, 1/C, 1D, 2 & 3), S. No. 96,at Village Ransai, Khopoli, Taluka Khalapur, District Raigad • The business as set forth in the Notice of the AGM may be transacted Building, shed alongwith Plant & Machinery at S. No. 2 (H. No.1, 2, 4, 4/A, 5 & 6), S. No. 4 (H. through remote e-voting or e-voting system at the AGM; No.1, 2), S No.5 (H. No. 1/A, 1/B, 1/C/2, 2, 3,4), S.No. 6 (H. No. 2, 3), S. No. 7 (H. No. 1/A/1, 1/A/2, F 69.25 Crore 6.9 Crore 5 lakhs • The remote e-voting shall commence on Monday 28th December, 2020 at 1/A/3, 1/B, 1/C, 1D, 2 & 3), S. No. 96,at Village Ransai, Khopoli, Taluka Khalapur, District Raigad 09.00 AM (IST) & ends on Wednesday 30th December, 2020 at 05.00 PM (IST). Land(Freehold 18.79 acre), Building alongwith Plant & Machinery at S. No. 2 (H. No.1, 2, 4, 4/A, 5 & 6), • The cut-off date for determining the eligibility to vote by remote e-voting S. No. 4 (H. No.1, 2), S No.5 (H. No. 1/A, 1/B, 1/C/2, 2, 3,4), S.No. 6 (H. No. 2, 3), S. No. 7 (H. No. 1/A/1, G 81.02 Crore 8 Crore 10 Lakhs or by e-voting system at the AGM shall be December 24, 2020; 1/A/2, 1/A/3, 1/B, 1/C, 1D, 2 & 3), S. No. 96,at Village Ransai, Khopoli, Taluka Khalapur, District Raigad • Any person, who acquires shares of the Company and becomes a member post-dispatch of the Notice of the AGM and holds shares as on the cut-off Important Note: date i.e. December 24, 2020, may obtain the login ID and password by 1. E-Auction will be conducted on "AS IS WHERE IS'', "AS IS WHAT IS" and "WHATEVER THERE IS BASIS'' sending a request at [email protected]. However, if a person is already through approved service provider M/S E-procurement Technologies Limited (Auction Tiger). registered with NSDL for e-voting then the existing user ID and password 2. The Liquidator has the absolute right to accept or reject any or all offer(s) or adjourn/postpone/cancel the e-Auction can be used for casting their vote; or withdraw any property or portion thereof from the auction proceeding at any stage without assigning any reason • Members may note that: a) The remote e-voting module shall be disabled by thereof. NSDL beyond 5:00 p.m. IST on 30th December, 2020 and once the votes on a 3. The Liquidator would not accept the bid for block D unless a bid(s) for block F i.e. Building, shed along with plant resolution is cast by the member, the member shall not be allowed to change it and machinery is received with the liquidator i.e. the Liquidator will only declare a successful bidder for Block D if there subsequently; b) The facility for voting will also be made available during the is a successful bid for Block F as well. AGM, and those members present in the AGM through VC facility, who have 4. The Liquidator reserves the right to give priority to bids for auction of the Consolidated Block G for Land and not cast their vote on the resolutions through remote e-voting and are Building along with Plant and Machinery over the bids received for all other blocks from C to F. otherwise not barred from doing so, shall be eligible to vote through the e- 5. Priority of bid would be given for Block E over the bid received for Block D. If there is any successful bid for Block voting system at the AGM. c) The members who have cast their votes by E, the same shall be considered at priority. remote e-voting prior to the AGM may also attend the AGM but shall not be 6. Priority of bid would be given for Block F over the bid received for Block C,D and E. If there is any successful bid entitled to cast their votes again; and d) Only persons whose name is recorded for Block F, the same shall be considered at priority. in the register of members or in the register of beneficial owners maintained by All the terms and conditions are to be mandatorily referred from the website of AAA Insolvency Professionals LLP the depositories as on the cut-off date shall be entitled to avail the facility of i.e. https://insolvencyandbankruptcy.in/ and from the E-Auction Process Document, prior to submission of EMD remote e-voting or e-voting at the AGM. and participation in the process. The Liquidator can be contacted on [email protected]. Sd/- • The manner of voting remotely for members holding shares in dematerialized Anil Goel mode, physical mode and for members who have not registered their email addresses is provided in the Notice of the AGM. The details will also be made Liquidator in the matter of LohaIspaat Limited available on the website of the Company. Members are requested to visit IBBI (Regn. No- IBBI/IPA-001/IP-00118/2017-18/10253) www.gujaratbitumen.com to obtain such details. Address: E-10A, Kailash Colony, Greater Kailash - I, New Delhi -110048 • Members who have not registered their email addresses are requested to Date: 10.12.2020 Email: [email protected], [email protected] register their email addresses with respective depository participant(s) and Place: New Delhi Contact No.: Mr. Puneet Sachdeva: +91-8800865284, 011-4666 4625 members holding shares in physical mode are requested to update their email addresses with Company's Registrar and Share Transfer Agent, Link Intime India Private Ltd, [email protected] to receive copies of the Annual Report 2019-2020 along with the Notice of the 34th AGM, instructions for remote e-voting and instructions for participation in the AGM through VC. • The manner in which the members who wish to register mandates for receiving their dividend is detailed in the Notice. • In case of queries relating to remote e-voting, members may refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for members and e-voting user manual for members at the 'Downloads' section of NSDL's website. • The members who require technical assistance to access and participate in the meeting through VC may contact the helpline number: +91 8160162721 For, GBL INDUSTRIES LIMITED Date : 10-12-2020 Sd/- Place : Ahmedabad Managing Director

Pune Circle SASTRA Mumbai Central, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM PNB PRAGATI TOWER, 1st FLOOR, C-9, G BLOCK, BANDRA KURLA COMPLEX, BANDRA (EAST), MUMBAI-400051, PH- 022- 26726564, 26532704 [email protected] 14 FINANCIAL EXPRESS APPENDIX IV [See Rule 8 (I)] POSSESSION NOTICE (For Immovable Property) Whereas, The undersigned being the Authorised Officer of the Punjab National Bank, under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security InterestAct, 2002 and in exercise of Powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with rule 3 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002, issued a demand notice dated 03.01.2020 calling upon the Borrower/Guarantor/Mortgagor M/s. Paras Impex & others to repay the amount mentioned in the notice being Rs. 02,79,00,247.79/- (Rupees Two Crore Seventy Nine Thousand Two Hundred Forty Seven and seventy-nine Paise Only) as on 31.12.2019 together with further interest and expenses thereon within 60 days from the date of notice/date of receipt of the said notice. The borrowers Guarantor / Mortgagor /in particular having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the Borrower/Guarantor/Mortgagor and the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him/her under Section 13(4) of the BANG OVERSEAS LIMITED Thomas Scott (India) Limited said Act read with Rule 8 of the said Rules on this 5th day of December of the year CIN: L51900MH1992PLC067013 CIN: L18109MH2010PLC209302 2020. Registered office:405-406, Kewal Industrial Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Registered office: 50, Kewal Industrial Estate, Senapati Bapat Marg, The Borrower's attention is invited to provision of sub-section (8) of section 13 of the Parel (W), Mumbai - 400013; Tel No.: (022) 66607965; Fax No.: (022) 66607970 Lower Parel (West), Mumbai-400013; Tel No.: (022) 4043 6363; Act, in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets. Email: [email protected]; website: www.banggroup.com Email: [email protected] ; website: www.thomasscott.org The Borrower/Guarantor/Mortgagor in particular and the public in general is hereby NOTICE OF 28TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, BOOK CLOSURE AND NOTICE OF 10TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, BOOK CLOSURE AND cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealings with the property will be E-VOTING INFORMATION E-VOTING INFORMATION subject to the charge of the Punjab National Bank for an amount Rs. In continuation of our newspaper advertisement published on 4th December, 2020, In continuation of our newspaper advertisement published on 4th December, 2020, 2,79,00,247.79/- (Rupees Two Crore Seventy Nine Thousand Two Hundred NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Members NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Members Forty Seven and seventy-nine Paise Only) as on 31.12.2019 together with further of the Company will be held on Wednesday, 30th December, 2020 at 12.00 P.M. through of the Company will be held on Wednesday, 30th December, 2020 at 01.00 P.M. through interest & expenses thereon until full payment. Video Conferencing (VC) or OtherAudio Visual Means (OAVM) to transact the businesses Video Conferencing (VC) or OtherAudio Visual Means (OAVM) to transact the businesses Description of immovable property as set out in the Notice convening the AGM in accordance with the Companies Act, 2013, as set out in the Notice convening the AGM in accordance with the Companies Act, 2013, The residential Flat No.4, Second Floor, Sammet Apartments on Plot No. 7, Jain SEBI (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, MCA Circular SEBI (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, MCA Circular Nagar Society, Opp. Jain Nagar Bus Stand, Opp. Veer Pathology Laboratory, Near dated 8thApril, 2020 read with Circular dated 13thApril, 2020 and 5th May, 2020 and order dated 8thApril, 2020 read with Circular dated 13thApril, 2020 and 5th May, 2020 and order dated September 08, 2020 from Registrar of Companies, Maharashtra, Mumbai and SEBI dated September 08, 2020 from Registrar of Companies, Maharashtra, Mumbai and SEBI Green Bunglow, New Sharda Mandir Road, Paldi, on Land Bearing No. Circular dated 12th May, 2020 (collectively referred to as "Circulars"). Circular dated 12th May, 2020 (collectively referred to as "Circulars"). F.P.758/paolo Hissa No.7 of T.P.S. No. 3/5, Moje – Chhadawad (Madalpur), Dist – In compliance with the above circulars, copies of the Notice of AGM alongwith Annual In compliance with the above circulars, copies of the Notice of AGM alongwith Annual Ahmedabad, in the name of Mr.Ashok Chhotalal Gandhi. Report has been sent electronically to those members who have registered their email Report has been sent electronically to those members who have registered their email Sd/- address with Company/ Registrar and Share Transfer Agent (RTA)/ Depository address with Company/ Registrar and Share Transfer Agent (RTA)/ Depository Participants DATE: 05.12.2020 Authorised Officer Participants as on 27th November, 2020. The company has sent the notice of AGM as on 27th November, 2020. The company has sent the notice of AGM alongwith Annual PLACE: Ahmedabad Punjab National Bank alongwithAnnual Report through emails on 7th December, 2020. The fullAnnual Report is Report through emails on 7th December, 2020. The full Annual Report is available on the available on the website of the Company i.e. http://www.banggroup.com/ and on the website website of the Company i.e. http://www.thomasscott.org/ and on the website of the stock of the stock exchanges at https://www.bseindia.com/ and https://www.nseindia.com/ exchanges at https://www.bseindia.com/ and https://www.nseindia.com/ NOTICE IS FURTHER given that pursuant to Section 91 of the CompaniesAct, 2013 read NOTICE IS FURTHER given that pursuant to Section 91 of the CompaniesAct, 2013 read with Rule 10 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 and with Rule 10 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 and Regulation 42 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, Regulation 42 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Register of Members and Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain 2015, the Register of Members and Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed from Thursday, 24th December, 2020 to Wednesday, 30th December, 2020 (both closed from Thursday, 24th December, 2020 to Wednesday, 30th December, 2020 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of theAGM. days inclusive) for the purpose of theAGM. NOTICE IS FURTHER given that pursuant to provisions of Section 108 of the Companies NOTICE IS FURTHER given that pursuant to provisions of Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 20 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, Act, 2013 read with Rule 20 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 as amended and Regulation 44 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure 2014 as amended and Regulation 44 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, Members holding shares in physical or dematerialized Requirements) Regulations, 2015, Members holding shares in physical or dematerialized form, as on the cut-off date i.e. 23rd December, 2020, may cast their vote electronically on form, as on the cut-off date i.e. 23rd December, 2020, may cast their vote electronically on the business set out in the Notice of AGM. The company has availed facility of National the business set out in the Notice of AGM. The company has availed facility of National Depository Services Limited (NSDL) for providing remote e-voting/ e-voting facility at Depository Services Limited (NSDL) for providing remote e-voting/ e-voting facility at AGM. The members may cast their votes through remote E-voting facility at AGM. The members may cast their votes through remote E-voting facility at https://www.evoting.nsdl.com/ portal. The detailed procedure/ instructions for remote e- https://www.evoting.nsdl.com/ portal. The detailed procedure/ instructions for remote e- voting/ e-voting during AGM are contained in the Notice of AGM. A person who is not a voting/ e-voting during AGM are contained in the Notice of AGM. A person who is not a member as on cut-off date should treat this Notice for information purpose only. member as on cut-off date should treat this Notice for information purpose only. NOTICE IS FURTHER given that members who have not yet registered their e-mail NOTICE IS FURTHER given that members who have not yet registered their e-mail addresses with Company are requested to get the same registered with the Company/ addresses with Company are requested to get the same registered with the Company/ RTA. Detailed process for registration of e-mail address with the Company/RTAis given in RTA. Detailed process for registration of e-mail address with the Company/RTAis given in Notice ofAGM.Additionally, Members who have not registered their e-mail addresses with Notice ofAGM.Additionally, Members who have not registered their e-mail addresses with Company may obtain Login credentials for attendingAGM through VC/OAVM and vote for Company may obtain Login credentials for attendingAGM through VC/OAVM and vote for the resolutions proposed in the Notice. Detailed process for obtaining Login credentials for the resolutions proposed in the Notice. Detailed process for obtaining Login credentials for e-voting for the resolutions proposed in the Notice is given in Notice ofAGM. e-voting for the resolutions proposed in the Notice is given in Notice ofAGM. NOTICE IS FURTHER given that any person who acquires shares and becomes member NOTICE IS FURTHER given that any person who acquires shares and becomes member of the company after the Notice has been sent electronically and hold shares as on the cut- of the company after the Notice has been sent electronically and hold shares as on the cut-off off date i.e. 23rd December, 2020 may obtain the User ID and password by following date i.e. 23rd December, 2020 may obtain the User ID and password by following process process mentioned in the Notice of AGM or sending a request at [email protected] or mentioned in the Notice of AGM or sending a request at [email protected] or [email protected]. However, if a Member is already registered with NSDLfor Remote e- [email protected]. However, if a Member is already registered with NSDLfor Remote voting and E-voting, then existing User ID and password can be used for casting vote. e-voting and E-voting, then existing User ID and password can be used for casting vote. In this regard, the Members are hereby further notified that: In this regard, the Members are hereby further notified that: i. Remote E-voting period shall commence from Sunday, 27th December, 2020 at 09.00 i. Remote E-voting period shall commence from Sunday, 27th December, 2020 at 09.00 a.m. and ends onTuesday, 29th December, 2020 at 05.00 p.m. a.m. and ends onTuesday, 29th December, 2020 at 05.00 p.m. ii. Voting through electronic means shall not be allowed beyond 5.00 P.M. on 29th ii. Voting through electronic means shall not be allowed beyond 5.00 P.M. on 29th December, 2020. December, 2020. iii. The members who have cast their vote by remote e-voting may attend the meeting but iii. The members who have cast their vote by remote e-voting may attend the meeting but shall not be entitled to cast their vote again. shall not be entitled to cast their vote again. iv. The members who are entitled to vote but have not exercised their right to vote through iv. The members who are entitled to vote but have not exercised their right to vote through remote e-voting may vote during the AGM through e-voting for all business specified in remote e-voting may vote during the AGM through e-voting for all business specified in the Notice dated 12th November, 2020. the Notice dated 12th November, 2020. v. The results of the voting shall be announced within 48 hours of the conclusion of the v. The results of the voting shall be announced within 48 hours of the conclusion of the AGM. The results declared alongwith the scrutinizers report shall be placed on the AGM. The results declared alongwith the scrutinizers report shall be placed on the company website www.banggroup.com for the information of the members besides company website www.thomasscott.org for the information of the members besides being communicated to stock exchange. being communicated to stock exchange. vi. In case of any query or grievances, you may refer to the Frequently Asked Questions vi. In case of any query or grievances, you may refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and e-voting manual available at www.evoting.nsdl.com or call on toll free no.: (FAQs) and e-voting manual available at www.evoting.nsdl.com or call on toll free no.: 1800- 222-990 or seek clarification from the Company by sending e-mail to 1800- 222-990 or seek clarification from the Company by sending e-mail to [email protected] or send a request to Mr. Amit Vishal, Sr. Manager - NSDL (022- [email protected] or send a request to Mr.Amit Vishal, Sr. Manager - NSDL 24994360/[email protected]) or Ms. Khilona Behera, Asst Vice President - NSDL (022 (022-24994360/[email protected]) or Ms. Khilona Behera, Asst Vice President - NSDL 2499 4554 /[email protected]) (022 2499 4554 /[email protected]) By order of the Board, By order of the Board, Bang Overseas Limited Thomas Scott (India) Limited Sd/- Sd/- Place : Mumbai (Harsh Joshi) Place : Mumbai (Rashi Bang) Date : 10th December, 2020 Company Secretary Date : 10th December, 2020 Company Secretary

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CLASSIFIEDCENTRESINMUMBAI Aaryan Publicity Time Advertising, Venture Neha Agency, New Boom Ads, Ashansi Advertising & A.M. Corporation, Aries Media, K. Parth Publicity, Dadar (E), Matunga (W), Andheri (E) Goregaon (E), Kandivali (W), Press Relations, Thane (W). Dombivali (E), Ghatkopar (E), Phone: 022-65881876 Phone : 2446 6191 Phone : 61226000 Phone : 2927 5033. Phone : 28640221 Mira Road (E), Phone : 67311000. Phone : 0251 – 2430030 Phone : 2501 3939 / 2501 2323 Mobile: 9320111876 Mobile : 9819099563. Mobile : 8779275373 Phone: 022-28114235 Mobile : 9892333300 Vijaya Agencies, Anuja Media Mobile: 9833933502 Advait Advertising, Andheri (W), CSP Sanjeevani Advtg. B. Y. Padhye Publicity Services, Dadar (W), Popular Publicity Thane (W). Budhkar Publicity Pvt. Ltd., Phone : 2422 5672. Mobile : 9152895703 Goregaon (E) Kalyan (W). Kanjurmarg, LBS Marg, Dadar (W), Mobile : 8652400931 Kandivali (W), M.S. Advertising, Phone : 25345294 / 25380080. Phone: 022-25776168 Mobile : 9920640689 Bhayander (E), Phone : 0251 – 2205995 Phone : 2422 9241/ Mobile : 9820994485 Mobile: 9819091044 Bombay Publicity Phone: 022-28160100 Ashwini Communication, Mobile : 9322400262 2422 0445. Media Junction, Andheri (W) Shark Enterprises, Goregaon (E), Mobile: 9769711727 Thane (W). Matunga (W), Mobile : 9870703542 Vikson Advertising Agency Dimensions Advertising, Sandip Advtg. DATEY Advertising, Phone: 022-26863587 Kandivali (W), Phone : 2544 5007 Phone: 022-66393184/ Sugo Advertising, Dombivli (E) . Bhandup (W), Datey Bhavan, Dadar (W) 022-66332340 Carl Advertising, Phone : 28645005 Mobile : 9820927100 Adresult Services, Vasai (W), Phone : 0251-2445074 Phone: 022-25946518 Mobole : 8452846979/ Mobile: 9820295353/ 9821656198 Andheri (W), Mobile : 9820433200 Mobile : 9322597885 9930949817 Phone : 6696 3441 / 42. Goregaon (W) Phone : 7756982329/ Mangal Advtg & Consultancy, Mobile: 9820750922 Phone : 28762157 / 28726291. 7028565571 Thane (W). Achievers Media Super Age Prabhakar Advertisers, Bandra (W.), Gauri Press Communication, Phone : 2538 8134 Mahesh Advertising & Designing, Hook Advertainment Samartha Advertiser Pvt. Ltd., Borivali (E) Dombivli (E). Dadar Phone : 22691584 Andheri (E), Mayuresh Publicity, Mobile: 9869197367 Mulund (W), Goregaon (E), Phone : 42872727 Virar (W). Phone : 0251-2448917 Mobile : 8691800888 Mobile: 9820069565/ 9820069568 Phone : 25622469 / 25682469 Phone: 26852294 Phone : 0250 – 2503913. Mobile : 9819575111 NAC Mobile: 9594969627 Express Advertising, Sahil Advertising Mobile : 9923935556 Bandra (W), Keyon Publicity Borivali (W), Thane (W), Pratik Advertising, Central Advertising Agency, Mobile : 9664132358 Radha Advertising, Andheri (E.) Target Media, Phone : 2833 7799 / 2833 9977. Phone: 25406749, Mulund (W). Mahim (W), Phone : 28253077 Plasma Advertising, Dombivli (E). Phone : 24468656 / 24465555 Goregaon (E), Mobile: 9820401077 Mobile: 9223355732 Phone : 25911666 Reckon Mobile : 9920992393 Mobile: 8692959648/ 9702307711 Panvel. Mobile : 9920909141 Bandra (W.), Phone : 022-27461970 9833555898 Mobile : 9821154666 Falcon Multimedia Pvt. Ltd., Sarathi Enterprises, Charudatta Advertising, Mobile : 9867445557 Lokhandwala Advertising, AD Support Advertising, Mahim (W), Borivali (E) Thane (W), Bajaj Publicity Shree Mahapragya Andheri (W), Malad (W), Ronak Advertising, Phone : 25426604 Phone : 24221461 Space Age Advertising, Phone : 26364274 / 26316960. Mobile : 9833226463 Dombivli (E) Mulund (E) Mobile: 9869463650 Vashi. Mobile : 9920003886 Bandra (E) Phone : 71012345 Miblie : 9320962437 Phone: 21634727 Jay Publicity, Phone : 26552207 Multimedia Informatics Bijal Visual Ads., Jeet Publicity Mobile: 9324102060/ Shireen Advertising, Mobile: 9930350884 Dadar (E), Mobile : 9869666222/ 9869998877 Andheri (W), Malad (W), Borivali (W), 9820152753 Y.B.Kulkarni Advertising, Mobile : 9820006816 Thane (W). Phone : 24124640 8286013339 Phone: 28835457/ 28805487 Dombivali (W). Synthesis Communications Kirti Agencies, Mobile: 9322265715 Phone : 25343648 / 25341538 Phone : 0251 – 2480136 Khar (W), Rahul Advertising Mulund (E) Pallavi Advtg. Prime Publicity Services, Nikharge Advertising, Mobile : 9821467209 Phone : 26047542. Signature Vashi, Surbhi Advertising Phone: 25638364/65 Dadar (W), Andheri (E), Borivali (W), Phone: 022-65119998 Phone : 26839686 / 26830304. Malad (W), Thane (W). Mobile: 9869109765 Phone : 28921255 Mobile: 9820200044 Pinky Advertising, Hindustan Advertising Phone : 022-28811012 Mobile : 9322210176 Phone: 67924448/9, 66743142 Ambernath (E), Riyo Advertising, Vile Parle (W), Zoyz Creations Mobile : 9820489442 Ghatkopar (W), Shree Swami Samarth Advertising, Phone : 26146229 S.Kumar Publicity, Mobile : 9322681423 Andheri (W), Sarvodaya Swati Advertisers, Phone : 67704000/ 6500 Dadar (W), Synergy Advertising, Vashi, Thane (W), Phone: 022-26288794 Borivali (W), Ambition Advertising, Mobile : 9821306406 Phone : 24440631 Promserve Mobile: 9833364551/ 9820199918 Malad (W), Phone : 27898472 Phone : 9820786203 Vile Parle (W), Phone : 28891428 / 22811012 Mobile : 9322139909 Mobile : 9820889848 Ghatkopar (E), Mobile : 9869131962 Phone : 24210792 / 94. Mobile : 9167778766 P. V. Advertisers, Mayekar's Ad Junction, Sadguru Advertising, Arihant Advertising, Ad Plus Siba Ads & Communications, Vikhroli (W), Stylus Arts, Jogeshwari (W) Dombivli (E). Dattaguru Advertising Rohit Ads Phone: 26768888 Kandivali (W) Mira Road (E) Vashi, Phone : 6128 6128 Dadar (W), Vile Parle (W) Phone : 0251-2862551 Ghatkopar (W), Mobile: 9820123000 Phone : 28626679 Mobile : 8779657505 Phone : 27892555/ 61372555 Phone : 24304897 Mobile : 9820094562 Mobile: 9004992568 Mobile : 9870017985 Mobile: 9870528143 Mobile : 9820319546

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Indian-American Pramila elected as chair of racial justice panel PRESS TRUST OF INDIA vance racial justice, tackle “We have massive crises members — one Chair, one Washington, December 10 poverty and inequality and knocking at our nation’s Deputy Chair, one Whip, two help transform the country. door,and thework of the Pro- ChairEmeriti,two Special Or- INDIAN-AMERICAN CON- “As a lifelong organiser,I gressive Caucus has never der Hour Conveners, ten Vice GRESSwoman Pramila Jaya- am honoured that my col- been more important. The Chairs, one Executive Board pal has been elected as the leagues have elected me to American people need Con- Member At-Large and eight chair of the Congressional lead the Congressional Pro- gress to lead with vision,con- DeputyWhips. Progressive Caucus (CPC), gressive Caucus at this pivotal viction,empathy,and dedica- The CPC Executive Board making her one of the most moment,” Jayapal said soon tion to people and families in is representative of the diver- powerful US lawmakers for after her election to this most every community who are sitywithin the caucus – more the 117th Congress. powerful Congressional Cau- struggling right now,” said than half of Executive Board Jayapal, 55, who was cus,which is slated to play an Jayapal. members are people of colour elected on Wednesday, said influential role during the The incoming Executive and more than half are that the caucus is going to ad- next Biden Administration. Board of CPC is made up of 26 women.

Pfizer vaccine faces last hurdle before US Jump Networks Limited decision: CIN: L92412MH1992PLC067841 Pfizer’s Covid- Regd. Off. : Unit No. 244-A, S.V.P Nagar Andheri (West) 19 vaccine faces Mumbai 400053, Maharashtra, India one final hurdle Phone : +91 22 2854-5867 | E-mail: [email protected] as it races to be- Website: https://www.jump.tech come the first shot green- lighted in the th US:apanelofex- NOTICE OF THE ADJOURNED 27 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING perts who will scrutinise the This is to inform all the concerned Stakeholders and Members of Jump Networks Limited (Formerly Known as “Iris Mediaworks company’s data Limited”) (“the Company”) that the 27th Annual General Meeting (“27th AGM / the Meeting”) of the Members of the Company scheduled for any red flags. on Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. through Video Conferencing was adjourned due to the want of quorum. The Thursday’s AdjournedAnnualGeneralMeetingwillbeheldonWednesday,December16,2020at12:00p.m.throughVideoConferencinginterms meeting of the of provisions of Articles of Association and the Companies Act, 2013 to transact the business items as specified in the notice of 27th Food and Drug AGM including the corrigendum to the Notice of the 27th AGM which has been sent through E-mail on November 12, 2020 and Administra- tion’s vaccine November 19, 2020 respectively. advisorypanel is likely the last Further, kindly note that if at the Adjourned meeting also no quorum is present (through Video Conferencing) within half an hour from step before a US the time appointed for holding the meeting, the Members present (through Video Conferencing) shall be the quorum for the meeting. decisiontobegin shipping mil- Instructions to the Members for attending the Adjourned AGM: lions of doses of the shot, which The Company has engaged the services of Central Depository Services (India) Limited (”CDSL”) for participating in the Adjourned has shown AGMthroughVideoConferencingandvotingthereat.ThedetailedinstructionsforMemberstoattendtheAdjournedAGMaregiven strong protec- inthenoticeoftheAGM.ThenoticeoftheAGMisavailableonthewebsiteoftheCompanyat http://jump.tech/investor-relations/ tion against the (Notices section) and also on Stock Exchange’s website at www.bseindia.com coronavirus. The FDA The Company will send the separate communications through its Registrar & Share Transfer Agent ("RTA") via E-mail to all the panel functions Shareholders whose email address is available with the Depositories and the Company’s RTA in this regard. like a science court that will pick apart the In order to facilitate ease of access to the Members for attending the Adjourned AGM, they have the option to register themselves data and debate by visiting the link https://jump.tech/agm and provide the information requested. Post their registration at this link, they will receive - in public and an E-mail within a few days from the RTA with a direct link for attending the Adjourned AGM through Video Conferencing. live-streamed - whethertheshot If you have any queries or issues regarding attending AGM & e-voting from the e-voting system, you may refer the Frequently Asked is safe and effec- Questions (“FAQs”) and e-voting manual available at www.evotingindia.com, under help section or write an E-mail to tive enough to [email protected] or contact Mr. Nitin Kunder (022- 23058738) or Mr. Mehboob Lakhani (022-23058543) or Mr. be cleared for Rakesh Dalvi (022-23058542). emergency use. The non-gov- ernmentexperts By Order of the Board specialiseinvac- For Jump Networks Limited cine develop- (Formerly known as ‘’Iris Mediaworks Limited’’) ment, infectious diseases and Sd/- medical statis- Place:Mumbai Nihar Shah tics. Date: December 10, 2020 Company Secretary & Compliance Officer --AP

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