OPINION, P6 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P8 T NANDA KUMAR EDITORIAL COVID-19 NO ACCESS The burgeoning food Govts must preempt any Bharat Biotech braces US blacklists Chinese, possible adverse impact subsidy bill will be a of the highly-infective for ‘uphill’ vaccine Russian companies with key Budget worry UK SARS CoV-2 variant roll-out task possible military ties

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VOL. XI NO. 279, 22 PAGES,`6.00PUBLISHEDFROM:AHMEDABAD,BENGALURU,CHANDIGARH, CHENNAI,HYDERABAD,KOCHI,KOLKATA,LUCKNOW,MUMBAI, NEWDELHI,PUNE READ TO LEAD

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IN THE NEWS LOGISTICS & REALTY FARMERS' STIR DIGITAL PLAY Embassy REIT Wipro seals $700-m raises `3,680 cr GIC, ESR JV to Fissures in unions as through QIP IT deal with Metro AG EMBASSYOFFICE PARKS REIT invest $750 m onTuesday announced that FE BUREAU it has raised `3,680 crore, or govt hardens stance Bengaluru, December 22 To develop, own ■ $501 million, through an ESR is an 1,300 institutional placement of industrial and APAC IT MAJOR WIPRO on Tuesday focused ■ Farmer groups defer decision on further employees across Germany, units, reports fe Bureau in Farmer groups said it will take over the infor- logistics facilities, GIC and ESR to logistics talks with Govt. toWednesday, mid lack Romania and India to be New Delhi.The proceeds will form $750 defer decision on mation technology units of real estate of consensus among them transferred toWipro be utilised to fund its recent and acquire core million JVin platform Metro AG — Metro-NOM proposed acquisition of an IT whether to respond ■ Agitating farmers to skip lunch on GMBH in Germanyand Metro assets across India With likely park in Bengaluru. 80:20 ■ to Centre’s latest Wednesday, the National Farmers’ Day Systems Romania SRL — JVwill start extension of up partnership with 2.2 dialogue offer ■ Farmer leaders urge Indians abroad to underwhich more than 1,300 Reliance Capital FE BUREAU million sq.ft employees across Germany, to four more ■ JVto develop stage protest in front of Indian embassies Mumbai, December 22 build-to- Romania and India will be years, it can be a and acquire ■ gets 10 more bids core assets FE BUREAU Unions chalk out strategy to counter transferred toWipro. potential spend of up to logistics assets ' SINGAPORE’S SOVEREIGN in Mumbai New Delhi, December 22 Government s outreach programme Metro is a leading interna- $1 billion for subsidiaries in India WEALTH andThane fund GIC and ESR ■Agriculture minister ■Afew farmerleaders tionalwholesalecompanywith Deal, subject to RELIANCE CAPITAL, PART of Cayman on Tuesday said that AGITATING FARMER ORGAN- food and non-food assort- ■ Gross floor area of completed, Tomar appeals for visit Tomar and assure conditions and the debt-riddenAnilAmbani- theyhaveenteredintoan80:20 ISATIONSonTuesdayappeared mentsthatspecialisesonserv- under development and future resumption oftalks, their support for the new regulatory promoted Reliance Group, strategic partnership to estab- indecisive,ifnotdivided,intak- ingtheneedsofhotels,restau- development properties by ESR expresses hope farmers laws, to propagate the approvals, is expected to has received 10 more bids, lish a $750-million joint ven- stands at 18.7 million sq metres ingacallonwhethertorespond will take a decision soon reforms at grass root level rants and caterers as well as including from SBI Life, for its ture to develop and acquire positively to the Centre’s offer independent traders. close byApril 30, 2021 subsidiaries, sources said, industrialandlogisticsassetsin for resumption of dialogue to The estimated deal value reports PTI. Earlier this mon- India,accordingtoastatement. venturewillstartwithabout2.2 endtheprolongedimpasseover egy to counter the govern- budge from its stated position forthedurationofthefirstfive th, the committee of debe- The joint venture will millionsqftbuild-to-coreasset, new farm laws.As the farmer ment’s outreach programme, thatthelawswon’tberepealed, years is approximately $700 Wipro will deliver a com- nture holders had extended developandownindustrialand locatedincloseproximitytothe groups will discuss the matter which is aimed at propagating agriculture minister Narendra million.With the intention to plete technology,engineering the last date for submission logistics facilities as well as large consumption hubs of among themselves again on thereformsandthebenefitsto SinghTomaronTuesdaygave a extend up to four additional and solutions transformation of EoI to December 17, 2020. acquirecoreassets,focusingon MumbaiandThane. Wednesday, they have also thefarmercommunity. seriesofinterviews. years, it can be a potential programme forMetro. Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities across called for intensifying the agi- In a sign that the Centre is spend of up to $1 billion, the IBC breather India.To begin with, the joint Continued on Page 2 tation,and chalked out a strat- equally determined not to Continued on Page 2 companysaid. Continued on Page 2 extended by 3 more months GM plant to shut down as govt yet Farmer bodies seek easier credit, subsidised P&K fertilisers Govt invites EoIs for SCI stake sale THE GOVERNMENT ON to approve deal with Great Wall AMID PROTESTS AGAINST New Delhi.Sitharaman was reductionintaxesondiesel. THE GOVERNMENT ON issued a preliminary infor- Tuesday notified its THECARMANUFACTURING on December 24 after the farm Bills, finance minister presented with a raft of pro- Bharat Krishak Samaj Tuesday invited expressions mationmemoranduminvit- decision to extend the unit of General Motors (GM) deal to sell the plant to Nirmala Sitharaman on posals,includinggreaterand pitched for promoting bal- ofinterestforstrategicdisin- ing expressions of interest suspension of insolvency at Talegaon,Pune,is prepar- China’s Great Wall Motors, Tuesdayheldherpre-Budget easier access to credit, espe- anced use of fertilisers by vestmentofits63.75%stake from potential buyers by proceedings against fresh ing to shut down before the could not be concluded as consultation meetings with cially for small farmers, increasing urea price and in Shipping Corp of India February 13, 2021. At the Covid-related default by yearends,reports fe Bureau regulatory approvals did not stakeholders from the agri- incentivesforbalanceduseof lowering rates of phosphatic along with the transfer of current market price, the another three months from in Pune. GM announced it comethrough.Theplanthad culture and agro-processing fertilisers,transport subsidy and potassic nutrients in the management control, stake sale is valued at about December 25, reports would he shutting the unit 1000employees. ■ Page 4 sectors,reports fe Bureau in for fruit and vegetable and upcomingBudget. ■ Page 2 reports PTI. Dipam has `2,500crore. fe Bureau in New Delhi.

● MAHA PACT COVID VACCINE Bajaj Auto to invest `650 cr in new plant ‘Only a global FE BUREAU Motorcycles, have allied to build a new effort can get Pune, December 22 range of mid-capacity motorcycles in the 200 to 750 cc range for the Indian and us back to BAJAJ AUTO ON Tuesday signed an MoU global markets.Apart from the existing with the Maharashtra government for KTM brand bikes, the Pune-headquartered normality’ setting up new manufacturing facilities at firm has also started rolling out the Chakan at an investment of `650 Husqvarna motorcycle from KTM. It also FE BUREAU crore. The high end KTM, plans to swap its 48% stake in KTMAG Mumbai, December 22 Husqvarna and Triumph for a stake in Pierer MobilityAG motorcycles, as also electric (PMAG),Austria, which would be N CHANDRASEKARAN, vehicles, starting with the Chetak marking an entry into the electric CHAIRMAN, Tata Sons, has scooter, will be manufactured bikes segment. BajajAuto is called fora newera of co-oper- here. The facility is expected to celebrating its 75th year of ation, in which individuals, commence production in 2023. operations in Maharashtra this year. businesses and nations more BajajAuto and British motorcycle readilyjoin forces.In a letterto manufacturer,Triumph Continued on Page 2 hiscolleagues,heobservedthat to distribute avaccine to every country in the world will be an international operation of AGLANCE unparalleled complexity.“The same is true of rapid test- Google and Thiel funding helps ing and new treatments. Onlyaglobal start-up score a second unicorn effortcanget us back to FE BUREAU normality,” New Delhi, December 22 Dailyhunt parent N Chandrasekaran, hewrote. Tata Sons chairman Chan- LOCK SCREEN PLATFORM turns unicorn with drasekaran Glance on Tuesday said it has Google, MS funding believes raised$145millioninfunding resiliencewillbekeyintheTata from Google and existing VERSEINNOVATION,WHI- Group’s approach to the envi- investorMithrilCapital.Asub- CHownsDailyhunt, saidit ronment,supplychains orhow sidiary of the InMobi Group, has raised over $100 mil- it builds stronger connections Glance also owns short video lionfromGoogle,Microsoft withourcommunities. platform Roposo. NaveenTewari, CEO, Glance and Alphawave, reports “Buried in the stress and The company said it will fe Bureau in New Delhi. trauma of Covid-19 are oppor- use the fresh funds to expand Glance and Roposo. Theinvestmentvaluesitat tunitiesforrenewal.Pandemics inkeymarketsacrossAsiaand Glance delivers AI-driven over $1 billion, making it have, in the past, inspired theUSbesidesdeployingparts personalised content in varied the“firstunicornintechfor progress in medicine, urban of it to launch new services languages, including English, local languages”.Existing planning, architecture and and broaden its technology Hindi,Tamil,Telugu,onthelock investorsSofinaGroupand countless other fields.This one team.Agoodchunkofthecap- screenofAndroidsmartphones. Lupa Systems also partici- willbethesame,”hesaid. ital will also be deployed to pated. ■ Page 4 deepen AI capability across Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2

iCAR Apple targets self-driving vehicle by 2024 STEPHEN NELLIS, proceededunevenlysince2014 are not public. Apple’s goal of NORIHIKO SHIROUZU & whenitfirststartedtodesignits building a personal vehicle for PAUL LIENERT ownvehiclefromscratch.Atone themassmarketcontrastswith San Francisco/Beijing/- point,Appledrewbacktheeffort rivals such as Alphabet’s Detroit, December 22 tofocusonsoftwareandreasse- Waymo,which has built robo- ssed its goals. Doug Field, an taxis to carry passengers for a APPLE IS MOVING forward Appleveteranwho hadworked driverlessride-hailingservice. withself-drivingcartechnology atTesla,returnedtooverseethe Central to Apple’s strategy and is targeting 2024 to pro- projectin2018andlaidoff190 is a new battery design that duce a passenger vehicle that peoplefromtheteamin2019. could “radically” reduce the could include its own break- Since then, Apple has pro- cost of batteries and increase through battery technology, gressedenoughthatitnowaims the vehicle’s range, according peoplefamiliarwiththematter tobuildavehicleforconsumers, to a third personwho has seen told Reuters. The iPhone two people familiar with the Apple’s batterydesign. maker’s automotive efforts, effort said, asking not to be known as Project Titan, have ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE named because Apple’s plans Continued on Page 2

Pune 2 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM INDIA-BANGLADESH AGRI PUSH

Piyush Goyal, commerce & industry minister

This is an area where we both should work with ❝greater synergies and collaboration. Agriculture❝ can have game-changing potential between our two countries...Agriculture sector has huge EconomyWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 socio-economic dimensions Quick ● PRE-BUDGET MEET SCI too on the block, Farmer bodies seek easier credit, but FY21 mop-up to View be half the target Development P&K fertilisers at subsidised rates FE BUREAU New Delhi, December 22 finance body in FE BUREAU `2.1 lakh cr farmers tend to use more urea els according to the capability FY21 disinvestment target works: DFS secy New Delhi, December 22 andlessP&K,thuscontributing oftechnologyadoption. THE CENTRE ON Tuesday totheerosionofsoilquality. IndustrybodyPHDCCIsug- invited expression of interest THEGOVERNMENT AMID PROTESTS AGAINST BKSalsopushedfortripling gested easier access to credit, (EoI) for its 63.75% stake in `12,380 cr PLANStosetupa farm bills, finance minister of investment in micro-irriga- direct transfer of subsidies on Shipping Corporation of India Or 6% of the target has DevelopmentFinance Nirmala Sitharaman on Tues- tion and solar pumps for indi- electricityandfertilisersetc.to (SCI),worth about `2,600 crore been raised so far Institution(DFI)inthenext day held her pre-Budget con- vidualfarmersaswellasfund- the beneficiaries and reducing at the current market prices, Likely strategic sales this year* threetofourmonthswitha sultationmeetingswithstake- ing for distribution of soil wastagesfromthecurrentlevel adding one more central public viewtomobilise`111lakh holders from the agriculture moisture measuring sensors. of more than 30% to less than sector enterprise (CPSE) to the BPCL`43,000 cr^ crorerequiredforfunding and agro-processing sectors, NCUI chief executive N 10%byendFY24byaugment- pipeline of state-owned firms ^Value of Centre's 52.98% in oil refiner at oftheambitiousnational who presented her with a raft Satya Narayana said viable ing storage capacities, mod- being put on the block.The last current market price infrastructurepipeline, ofproposals,includinggreater PACs (Primary Agriculture ernising/upgrading the outright sale of a CPSE by the Air India `3,000 cr accordingtofinancial and easier access to credit, Cooperative Societies) be godowns. governmentwascarriedoutway *InAI privatisation, the Centre to receive at servicessecretaryDebasish especially for small farmers, potassic(P&K)nutrientsinthe culture University,Interna- extended the same incentives Thanks to a sustained push backinFY04. least 15% in cashand the balance Panda."Weneeda incentives for balanced use of upcoming Budget. tional Food Policy Research that the farmer producer by the government, credit WhilesaleofSCIandrailPSU component ofthe bid price likely to be adjusted against carriers’ debt;valueof developmentfinancial fertilisers, transport subsidy BKS chairman Ajay Vir Institute (IFPRI),among oth- organisationsgetfromthegov- growth to agriculture and ConCor might spill over to the Centre’s stakewas about`60,000cr in BPCL institutionasinfra for fruits and vegetables and Jakhar also suggested that ers, were also present in the ernment.He said 60% of PACS allied activities accelerated to nextfiscal,oilretailerBPCLand, in Nov 2019 but has since eroded;stake sale financingneedspatient reduction in taxes on diesel. taxes on diesel be trimmed meeting. inthecountryareviable.Based 7.4% in October from 7.1% a probably,loss-makingcarrierAir at a premium to current market price capital,andbanksare BharatKrishakSamaj(BKS) and transport subsidybe pro- While urea price is fixed by on the Amul model,Narayana year before. The challenge, India are likely to be sold to Other sales planned for the year currentlynotsuitedfor pitched for promoting bal- vided on fruits and vegeta- thegovernment,companiesfix said that PACS can procure the however,istomakeiteasierfor strategic buyers thisyearitself. (` cr) lendingforlongterm anced use of fertilisers by bles. Representatives from the MRP of P&K fertilisers, as agricultural produce of all small farmers to obtain credit Inaddition,aclutchofbig-ticket projectswhichdonot increasing urea price and low- National Cooperative Union the latter are decontrolled farmers,particularly poor,and fromformalbankingchannels, IPOswould hit the market this IRFC IPO generateanycashforyears," ering rates of phosphatic and of India (NCUI), Punjab Agri- commodities. Consequently, processthesameatvariouslev- theexpertssaid. year and a few buybacks of 4,600 hesaid. shares byCPSEs are likely.How- RailTel IPO (Another five ever, the government’s non- 1,000 CPSEs likely to Export curbs on debt capital receiptswill still be NTPC buyback undertake 3.75 crore ITRs filed for way below the ambitious `2.1 buybacks 1,200 medical goggles, Chinese proposals worth lakh crore target.The disinvest- including Coal gloves removed 2019-20 fiscal till Dec 21 ment receipts so far this year NMDC buyback India and have been about `12,380 crore 1,000 MOIL) THEGOVERNMENTON `12k-13k cr await govt nod ASMANYAS3.75croretaxpay- or6%oftheannualtarget. Tuesdayremovedexport ers have already filed their The receipts this fiscal are curbsonmedicalgoggles FE BUREAU areforbrownfieldprojects. the FDI proposals is being fol- IncomeTax returns forAssess- likelytobearound`1lakhcrore; askedtoputfinancialbidsinthe andgloves,whichwerein New Delhi, December 22 This, in a sense, confirmed lowed here as well.”An inter- mentYear2020-21 (fiscalyear at least `60,000 crore is second stage. The transaction demandduetotheCovid- whatthegovernmenthadfeared ministerialpanelhasbeensetup 2019-20) tillDecember21,the expectedtobemoppedupfrom willlikelymaterialiseinthenext 19pandemic,toboost ABOUT 120-130 FOREIGN whenittightenedtheFDInorms to scrutinise these proposals.A IncomeTaxdepartmentsaidon BPCLdisinvestment,given that financialyear. outboundshipmentsof directinvestment(FDI)propos- inApril—“opportunisticacquisi- Chinese embassyspokesperson Tuesday. the salewill be at a premium to TheSCIstockclosedat`86.9, theseproducts."Theexport als worth around `12,000- tions”bythecash-richChineseof inDelhihadinlateAprilsaidhis "Doyouknowthat3.75crore currentmarketprices. up 5.27% from the previous policyofmedicalgoggles 13,000 crore ($1.6-1.8 billion) domestic firms that sawa mas- country’s cumulative invest- taxpayershavealreadyfiledtheir However, next year could closeontheBSE.SCI postedanet andNitrile/NBRglovesis fromChinaarependingwiththe sivecrashinvaluationsafterthe ments (including FDI) in India Income Tax Returns for AY prove to be awatershedyearin profitof`336croreinFY20and amendedfromrestrictedto government for clearance, a Covid-19 pandemic. Certain exceeded$8billionasofDecem- 2020-21 till 21st December, privatisation, given the new `479 crore in H1FY21.Accord- freecategorymakingall source told FE. This follows Chinese companies have also ber2019. 2020? Haveyou filedyoursyet? ber31,2020,respectivelyinview strategic sector policy on the ing to terms, bidder/s for SCI typesofmedicalgoggles India’s stipulation inApril that applied forregistration forbid- Also, according to a recent If not, File NOW!,"the Income of the Covid pandemic.At the anvil and comments made by musthaveanetworthof`2,000 andNitrile/NBRgloves FDI proposals from bordering ding in official contracts here. report by researchers Amit Taxdepartmenttweeted. close of deadline for filing ITR seniorgovernment functionar- crore. The government has freelyexportable,"the nations must obtain govern- These proposals have been for- Bhandari andAashnaAgarwal, Thisincludes2.17croretax- withoutpaymentoflatefeesfor ies in recentweeks that the pri- barredotherCPSEsfrompartic- DirectorateGeneralof mentapproval. wardedtothehomeministryfor Chinesetech investors have put payers filing ITR-1,79.82 lakh fiscal2018-19(assessmentyear vatisation process would be ipating in the transaction. The ForeignTrade(DGFT)said Interestingly,these pending itsviews.However,thereisnobar an estimated $4 billion into filing ITR-4, 43.18 lakh ITR-3 2019-20), over 5.65 crore moreambitious.Ofcourse,given company,which owns a fleet of inanotification.Ina proposals in less than nine on Chinese companies for bid- Indian start-ups.Over the five and26.56lakhfilingITR-2. returnswere filed bytaxpayers. thesuddenfallinrevenuebuoy- 59vessels,isinvolvedinthebusi- separate notification, months are equivalent of more dingforprojectsthatarefunded yearsendingMarch2020,18of The deadline to file I-T The deadline last year too was ancy due to the Covid-19 pan- ness of transporting goods and DGFTsaidimportofcopra than a half of the total FDI bymultilateral institutions,the India’s30unicornsarenowChi- returns byindividual taxpayers extendedtillAugust31. demic,the government has no passengers.Interactingwith an isallowedthrough inflowsfromChina($2.4billion) sourceconfirmed. nese-funded."TikTok,thevideo for2019-20 fiscal (Assessment Givingacomparativeanaly- option but to augment asset industrybody,finance minister government-runtrading in 20 years through March Aseniorgovernmentofficial app,has200millionsubscribers Year2020-21) ends on Decem- sis of the ITRs filed,the Income sales and privatisation,in order Nirmala Sitharaman last week firmMMTC,whileimport 2020. FDI from China was said:“Some FDI proposals had and has overtaken YouTube in ber31,2020,whilethesamefor Tax department said 3.63 crore to avoid a big rise in borrowing said efforts to disinvest some of ofcoconutoilispermitted merely0.5%oftotalFDIinflows incomplete paperwork, so the India. Alibaba, Tencent and taxpayers whose accounts ITRs were filed till August 21, levels.In the two-stage process, thebigcompanieswereontrack throughSTEs(statetrading into India over the past two applicants were asked to com- ByteDancerivaltheUSpenetra- require to be audited is January 2019, compared to 3.75 crore the last date for submission of andtheCentrewouldmakealot enterprises)exceptSTC decades.Unsurprisngly,mostof plete it.The usual process that tion of Facebook,Amazon and 31,2021.Theduedatehasbeen filedtillDecember21,2020. EoIforSCIisFebruary13,2021. ofprogressinthisregardbyend- (StateTradingCorporation). the current pending proposals involves the official scrutinyof GoogleinIndia. extendedfromJuly31andOcto- —PTI The shortlisted bidders will be FY21.

From the Front Page

Farmers’stir: To keep the pressure on the across genres in more than 10 would be a newcomer to the innovation council that will government,the unions called languageshasmorethan33mil- automotivemarket. guide the businesses through Fissures in forfarmers to skip the lunch on lion monthly active users.The “In order to have a viable thetransformationandensure Wednesday,asamarkofprotest apphasbeendownloadedmore Logistics realty: GIC,ESR JV assembly plant, you need collaborative innovation unions as govt on the occasion of National than 100 million times on the 100,000vehiclesannually,with throughoutthepartnership. Farmers’Day.“WecalluponIndi- Google Playstore,the company morevolume to come,”the per- “We are at a stagewherewe hardens stance anslivingabroadtostageprotest said in a statement. Rival Josh to invest $750 million sonsaid. want to focus on the activities In his interviews to foreign infrontofIndianembassies.We ownedbyVerSeInnovationalso Commenting on the devel- from these tailwinds”. ESR is an APAC focused SomeAppleinvestorsreacted that are going to give us the media,he highlighted why the will also publish 25 lakh pam- bagged investment from opment, Lee Kok Sun, chief Abhijit Malkani and Jai logistics real estate platform to the Reuters report on the strongest possible competitive ongoingagitationisconfinedto phletsinHindi,EnglishandPun- investors,includingGoogle. investment officer (real Mirpuri,countryheads,ESR by gross floor area (GFA) and company’s plans with caution. advantage and to do that, we farmers from Punjab, the key jabi,anddistributeinvillagesto “Glanceisagreatexampleof estate), GIC, said, “This India,said that the strategic byvalue of the assets owned TripMiller,managingpartnerat needtobeconfidentinthedigi- beneficiaries of the govern- mobilise support for our innovation solving formobile- investment is a testament partnership provides the directlyandbythefundsand Apple investor Gullane Capital talinfrastructurethatunderpins ment’s grain procurement.He demand,” said Prem Singh firstandmobile-onlyconsump- to our confidence in the investment vehicles it man- Partners,said it could be tough our growth. Partnering with alsoarticulatedthemeritsofthe Bhangu, president of All India tion, serving content across long-term potential of this ages.As of June 30,2020,the forApple to produce large vol- Wipro allows us to simplifyand lawsandelaboratedondifferent KisanFederation. manyofIndia’slocallanguages,” market.” fair value of the properties umesofcarsoutofthegate. streamlineourITlandscape,and pro-farmer initiatives of the More than one lakh farmers saidCaesarSengupta,VP,Google. Kishore Gotety, co-head directly held by ESR and the “Itwould seem to me that if criticallygivesusaccesstoinno- NDAgovernment,butremained have been protesting outside The investments byGoogle (Asiaex-China)ofrealestate, assets under management Apple develops some advanced vationandthebestdigitalprac- non-committal on the farmer Delhi borders since November comesfivemonthsafterthetech GIC,said,“Continuede-com- withrespecttothefundsand operating system or battery tices,” Timo Salzsieder, CIO, groups’keydemandtomakethe 26 demanding repeal of the firmsaiditwouldinvest$10bil- merce growth in India over investment vehicles man- technology, it would be best MetroAG,said. minimum support price (MSP) threefarmlaws,enactedrecently lion(`75,000crore)inIndiavia the long term,reinforced by agedbyESRrecordedapprox- utilisedinapartnershipwithan Thierry Delaporte, chief statutory tounshackleIndianagriculture theGoogleforIndiaDigitisation rising internet penetration, imately $26.5 billion, and existing manufacturer under executiveofficerandmanaging Tomaralso said he expected fromvariousrestrictions. Fundoverthenextfivetoseven is expected to drive strong GFAof properties completed license,”Miller said.“As we see director,Wipro,said,“Like us, apositiveresponsefromtheagi- The Centre last week ruled years. The funds will flow in demand for industrial and company with immediate and under development as with Tesla and the legacy auto MetroAGisfocusedonleverag- tating farmers on the offer to outthepossibilityofputtingon through equity infusions and logistics assets.This is fur- scale to capitalise India’s wellasGFAtobebuiltonland companies,having averycom- ing digital transformation for holdtalks,“attheearliest”.“Ihope hold the new farm laws until a partnerships. ther supported by the rapidly modernising indus- held for future development plex manufacturing network competitiveadvantage.Wipro’s that they will complete their proposed committee of inde- emphasis on infrastructure trial and logistics landscape comprised 18.7 million sq aroundtheglobedoesn’thappen roleistomakethattransforma- internalconsultationssoonand pendentexpertsisconstitutedto Covidvaccine: development,changingsup- and tap high growth poten- metresintotal. overnight.” tion efficient and effective. come for the dialogue. We are facilitate talks with protesting ply chains, and low vacancy tial opportunities and fur- Thetransactionissubject Hal Eddins,chief economist Equallyimportantforusiswel- hopefulofresolvingit(farmers’ farmers. Onlya global levels. This joint venture is ther expand industrial and to relevant regulatory at Apple shareholder Capital coming 1,300 new colleagues protest) at the earliest,”Tomar Expressing the Centre’s well-positioned to benefit logistics portfolio. approvals. Investment Counsel,saidApple to Wipro and ensuring this aftermeetingsomefarmerlead- inability to heed the Supreme effort can get us has a historyof highermargins moveispositiveandempower- ersathisofficehere. Court’s (SC) suggestion to thanmostautomakers. ingforeachofthem.Wiproand He further said: “Several “assurethatnoexecutiveaction back to products each year with parts Shares ofTesla ended 6.5% by eliminating pouches and “My initial reaction as a Metro share a great deal in officebearersoffarmers’unions underthenewlaws”willbeini- fromaroundtheworld,buthas lower on Monday after their modulesthatholdbatterymate- shareholderis,huh?”Eddinssaid. terms of culture and values, came and met me. They tiated, attorney general KK normality,says never made a car. It took Elon debut in the S&P500 on Mon- rials,oneofthepeoplesaid. “Still don’t reallysee the appeal which has guided our discus- expressedconcernsoverthegov- Venugopal said no farmerwill Musk’sTesla 17years before it day.Apple shares ended 1.24% Apple’s design means that of the car business, but Apple sionsthroughout,andledtothe ernment’s move to make some thencomeforregistration.Nev- Chandrasekaran finally turned a sustained higherafterthenews. more active material can be may be eyeing another angle formationofthejointtransfor- changesinthelaws.Theysaidthe ertheless,hesaidhewouldseek Chandrasekaran noted that profit making cars. Applehasdecidedtotapout- packedinsidethebattery,giving thanwhatI’mseeing.” mation and co-innovation lawsarebeneficialforthefarm- theCentre’sinstructionsonthe rulesarebeingrewrittenandwe “If there is one companyon sidepartnersforelementsofthe thecarapotentiallylongerrange. -Reuters council.Our relationship with ers and there should not be any matter. But Solicitor General have learned that manythings theplanetthathastheresources system,including lidarsensors, Appleisalsoexaminingachem- Metro is a significant and changesintheseActs.” Tushar Mehta told the court once undertaken outside the todothat,it’sprobablyApple.But which help self-driving cars get istryforthebatterycalledLFP,or Wipro seals strategicpartnership.” On the other hand, farmer thatanysuchsuggestionwillbe home can be done equallywell at the same time,it’s not a cell- athree-dimensionalviewofthe lithiumironphosphate,theper- Wiprohadearliersaidthatit leaderscouldnottakeadecision “tough”toimplement. inside it such as shopping,edu- phone,” said a person who road,two people familiarwith sonsaid,whichisinherentlyless $700-m ITdeal planstolaunchadigitalinnova- on whether to accept the gov- Athree-judge Bench,led by cation, healthcare and work. workedonProjectTitan. thecompany’splanssaid. likely to overheat and is thus tionhubinDüsseldorf,Germany ernment’sofferoftalksassome ChiefJusticeSABobde,endorsed “Alongsidepracticaladaptations It remains unclear who Apple’s car might feature saferthanothertypesoflithium- with MetroAG to support Metro and other leaders could not reach the farmers’righttopeacefulprotest to lockdown, there has been a would assemble an Apple- multiplelidarsensors forscan- ionbatteries. The IT major is trying to posi- clients in the region. The pro- meeting venue as they were but made it clear that rights of shift in priorities: greaterfocus branded car, but sources have ning different distances, “It’s next level,”the person tion itself as a wholesale 360- poseddigitalinnovationhubwill leadingagitatingfarmersatdif- other citizens should not be on safety and resilience, and a said they expect the company anotherpersonsaid.Somesen- said ofApple’s batterytechnol- degree provider in the hotel, serve asWipro’s flagship centre ferent entry points of the interferedwithinthisprocess. transition from ‘just in time’ to rely on a manufacturing sors could be derived from ogy.“Like the first timeyou saw restaurant and catering food in Europe and enable organisa- national capital region (NCR), toward‘just in case’,the chair- partner to build vehicles.And Apple’s internally developed theiPhone.” industry fuelled by quality, tions to cross skill and upskill, sources said. As many as 32 Google and mannoted. thereisstillachanceApplewill lidar units, that person said. Apple had previously focusandflexibility. besidessupportingtalentdevel- organisationsofPunjab,whoare decidetoreducethescopeofits Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and iPad engagedMagnaInternational Wipro said that its transfor- opmentinlocalcommunities. leading the movement, dis- Thiel funding Apple targets efforts to an autonomous dri- Pro models released this year Inc in talks about manufac- mationprogrammewillencom- cussedthelettersentbyagricul- vingsystemthatwouldbeinte- bothfeaturelidarsensors. turing a car, but the talks pass cloud,data centre services, BajajAuto to ture ministry on December 20 helps start-up self-driving car gratedwithacarmadebyatra- Reuters had previously petered out as Apple’s plans workplaceandnetworkservices, butcouldnotarriveataconsen- ditional automaker, rather reported that Apple had held became unclear, a person alongwithapplicationdevelop- invest `650 cr sus,thesourcessaid. score a second by2024 than the iPhone maker selling talkswithpotentiallidarsuppli- familiar with those previous mentandoperationstoprovide “There is a feeling that any Apple declined to comment on an Apple-branded car, one of ers, but it was also examining efforts said. Magna did not anintegrated,flexibleandrobust in newplant decisionhastobetakenkeeping unicorn itsplansorfutureproducts. thepeopleadded. buildingitsownsensor. immediately respond to a digital infrastructure to help “The proposed investment fur- inviewthe government’s strat- The firm claims to have more Making a vehicle repre- Two peoplewith knowledge Asforthecar’sbattery,Apple request for comment. drive Metro’s transformation therreinforcesthecommitment egy of putting the blame on than 115 million daily active sents a supplychain challenge of Apple’s plans warned pan- planstouseaunique“monocell” Toturn a profit,automotive agenda. of Bajaj Auto to the state of farmersforthedeadlock,”saida userswhospend25minutesper evenforApple,acompanywith demic-relateddelayscouldpush designthatbulksuptheindivid- contract manufacturers often At the core of the partner- Maharashtrawherethejourney farmer leader associated with dayontheplatform. deep pockets that makes hun- thestartofproductioninto2025 ual cells in the batteryand frees ask forvolumes that could pose ship is the formation of a joint began,” a statement from the oneoftheorganisations. Roposo that offers content dredsofmillionsofelectronics orbeyond. upspaceinsidethebatterypack achallengeeventoApple,which transformation office and companyread.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS ECONOMY 3 IBC breatherextended bythree more months Mining halt in Goa led to sense of gloom: Study THE STOPPAGE OFminingin Court order. closure of mining has dealt a FE BUREAU the pandemic. the Insolvency and Bank- government had planned to vencyapplicationsfiledforde- Goa dealt a devastating blow A recent study by Indian devastating blow to the liveli- New Delhi, December 22 Finance minister Nirmala ruptcy Code (Second Amend- review, before the current fault before March 25 are be- to the livelihoods of people InstituteofTechnology-Indian hoods of people which in- Sitharaman had on Monday ment) Bill,2020,has already deadline expired, whether a ing entertained. The cut-off and has resulted in all-round School of Mines, Dhanbad, cludes both in mining and THE GOVERNMENTONTues- said the extension could be received Parliamentary ap- further extension of three date of March 25 for filing in- gloom in the state economy said that “the survey results non-mining areas. Agricul- day notified its decision to ex- granted.The move comes at a provaltosuspenduptoamax- months (up to March 24) was solvencyapplicationalsocame andsociallife,astudyhassaid. clearly demonstrated a sense ture,artandcraft,tourismand tend the suspension of insol- time when cash flows of com- imum of one year the initia- required.The government had as a relief for the lenders who Mining in Goa came to a ofall-roundgloominthestate all allied industries have also vency proceedings against panies in various Covid-hit tionofinsolvencyproceedings suspended invocation of Sec- had filed applications or in- halt in 2018 after a Supreme economy and social life.”The suffered,thestudysaid. — PTI freshCovid-relateddefaultsby sectors have remained far against new defaults from tions 7,8 and 10 of the IBC for tended to do so against another three months from from normal and businesses March 25. Initially, the sus- fresh default from March 25. stressed firms that had de- December 25. The move was are going through a “reset” pension was valid for six These sections deal with the faulted before the pandemic , aimedatprovidingbreatherto phase. months, which was then ex- initiation of the insolvency in syncwith the central bank’s thousandsof firmsbatteredby The government, through tended by three months.The proceedings. However, insol- June 7,2019,circular.

COVID UPDATE 6 people on London-Delhi flight test positive on arrival

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, December Delhi govt to check on 22 recent arrivals from UK SIX PASSENGERSTRAV- ELLING on Air India’s THE DELHI government on Tuesday said it will London-Delhi flight visitthehousesofpassengerswhohavearrived testedpositiveforCovid- recently from the UK to check their health. 19 on arrival, a senior Health Minister Satyendar Jain told reporters government official said that in the last two weeks, about 6,000-7,000 on Tuesday. The flight people have landed at Delhi airport.“Wewill go landedaround11.30pm house-to-houseandcheckpassengerstoassess on Monday. their condition, and advise them to isolate “Fivepassengerswere themselves,”he said.— PTI found Covid-positive at the Delhi airport. One wal,founder of the Gen- Monday said all UK-In- passenger who took a estringsDiagnosticCen- dia flights will be sus- connecting flight to terthatishandlingcoro- pended from December Chennaiwas tested there navirus testing at Delhi 23 to 31tain. andfoundtobepositive,” airport.“Of the approxi- Agarwal said the pos- theofficialsaid. mately 100 tests com- itivesamplesfromMon- A second flight from pleted so far, no positive day night’s flight were London landed at 6 am found.Wehavetwomore senttotheNationalCen- on Tuesday.Tests on the flights scheduled for tre for Disease Control passengers are under tonight,”Agarwal said. (NCDC) “for research on way, said Dr Gauri Agar- The government on the newstrain”.

West Asia,Europe passengers DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE (W) to be quarantined in Mumbai ROOM NO. 306, VARUNALAYA PHASE-II, KAROL BAGH, NEW DELHI EMAIL ID: [email protected] PHONE NO.- 011 2355 0843 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai airport, including EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Mumbai, December 22 those having connected Sl. Name of Work Estimated Bid security Period of Last dt./time flights, are in line with the di- No. Cost For each deposit For each Completion of receipt of MUMBAI’S CHHATRAPATI rectivesissuedbythestateand group (Rs.) group (Rs.) Bids SHIVAJI Maharaj Interna- central governments on Mon- 1. Selection of Partner Public Relations (PR) Agency to carry out Lump Sum INR 3,96,000.00 36 months 03/02/2021 tionalAirport(CSMIA)hassaid day, the airport operator said Media Tracking and Analysis, and to assist DJB in handling, (Rupees Three up-to 15:00 managing and improving the perceptions of the organization, Lakh Ninety-Six Hours all passengers arriving from in a release. CSMIA said in a publicizing its activities, policies and programs to the public at large Thousand Only) the Middle East and European statement, under the YAP-III PR component, at both macro and micro levels. countries will be subjected to “Any passenger identified mandatoryinstitutionalquar- as being symptomatic on ar- Further details in this regard can be seen at DJB website i.e. www.delhijalboard.nic.in under “Expression of antine fromTuesday. rivalwillbetransferredtodes- Interest” link. “STOP CORONA: WEAR MASK, FOLLOW PHYSICAL Sd/- The new rules for the pas- ignated Covid-19 facility for ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) Dy. Director (PR) sengers travelling via the furtherevaluation.” Advt. No. J.S.V. 274/2020-21 DISTANCING, MAINTAIN HAND HYGIENE” Delhi Jal Board

Pune 4 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM ERA OF COOPERATION

N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons

We are, I hope, on the threshold of a new era of coope- ration...To distribute a vaccine to every country in the ❝ ❝ world will be an international operation of unparalleled complexity.The same is true of rapid testing and new treat- CompaniesWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 ments. Only a global effort can get us back to normality. Quick ● COVID CURE Bharat Biotech readies for Ocugen to co-develop View Covaxin for US market PRESS TRUST OF INDIA The collaboration leverages Ocugen’s ‘uphill’vaccine roll-out task New Delhi, December 22 vaccine expertise,and its R&D and regu- latory capabilities in the US, the state- BLOOMBERG That may improve in the final human BHARATBIOTECHANDUS-basedbiophar- ment added. December 22 study,shesaid.Thetrialhasrecruitedhalf maceuticalfirmOcugenInconTuesdaysaid “We are delighted to collaborate with of its 26,000 volunteers, and going into theyhavesignedabindingletterofintentto Bharat Biotech to potentially bring Cov- THE DEVELOPER OFIndia’s mainhome- 2021 Ella expects licensing to allowinoc- co-develop the Indian firm’s Covid-19vac- axin to the US market. In the face of the grown coronavirusvaccineisalreadypro- ulations forpublic use byMayorJune. cinecandidateCovaxinfortheUSmarket. coronavirus pandemic, it is incumbent ducing millions of doses of its yet-to-be- The lack of Phase III trial data didn’t As per the letter of intent (LOI),“Ocu- upon all of us to find solutions that have authorised candidate, but says the stop Bharat from applying foremergency genwillhaveUSrightstothevaccinecan- thepotentialtosavelivesandrestorenor- EIL shareholders thought of supplying enough shots for use authorisation this month,though the didate and, in collaboration with Bharat malcy to our day-to-day activities,”Ocu- halfthecountry’snearly1.4billionpeople company and Serum Institute — which Biotech, will be responsible for clinical gen chairman, CEO and co-founder approve `587-crore is daunting. hassubmittedfinal-stagetrialnumbers— development, registration, and commer- ShankarMusunuri said. share buyback plan “It’s nightmarish,”said Suchitra Ella, have been asked by Indian regulators to cialisation forthe US market.” “We have been very pleased with the jointmanagingdirectorofBharatBiotech provide additional figures on safety, effi- Thecompaniesinajointstatementsaid safetyandimmunogenicitydemonstrated SHAREHOLDERSOFstate-owned International. “Sometimes I get goose- cacy,and immunogenicity. they have begun collaborating and will bythePhase1andPhase2trialsofCovaxi EngineersIndia(EIL)haveapproved bumps, sometimes I wake up early in the finalise details of the definitive agreement and are encouraged with the progress of buybackofnearly7croresharesfor morning wondering where are we.What mentswiththecompany,shesaid,declin- Bharat Biotech completes inthenextfewweeks. the Phase 3 trials in India,”he added. about`587crorewithaviewtoreturn arewe doing? Howdowe get there?” ing to gie details. recruitment of 13,000 surpluscashtoshareholders,the Bharat has already produced about 10 In its bid to halt the spread of the volunteers for Phase-III trials largestbeingthegovernmentofIndia. million doses of its still-in-trials Covaxin world’s second-largest coronavirus out- Inanexchangefiling,EILsaiditgotthe shot, ahead of an anticipated roll-out by break,Indiawill likelyinitiallylean on the Bharat Biotech on Tuesday announced Dr Reddy’s seeks approval from supportof99.9%votingshareholders the middle of next year.It has a current two-dose vaccines manufactured by recruitment of 13,000 volunteers and fortheresolutionseekingapprovalfor annual capacity of 300 million vaccines BharatBiotechandtheSerumInstituteof continuedprogresstowardsachievingthe Health Canada for favipiravir buybackofequitysharesat`84apiece. and expects the first 100 million to be India. The latter has partnered with goal of 26,000 participants for the Phase deployed by India, which has partly AstraZeneca to make at least one billion III clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Importation,SaleandAdvertisingofDrugs SadbhavEngJVlowestbidder financed the development. dosesoftheirshot,halfofwhichhavebeen ‘Covaxin’across multiple sites in India. Hyderabad, December 22 for Use in Relation to Covid-19,”a release “We have started producing at risk earmarked forIndia. Covaxin has been evaluated in fromthecity-baseddrugmakersaid. forSuratMetroproject because we know that it will be an uphill approximately 1,000 subjects in Phase I DR REDDY’S LABORATORIES, Canada- Reequnus is also known as Avigan SADBHAVENGINEERING ON task — in the Indian context it’s small,” Emergency usage andPhaseIIclinicaltrials,withpromising basedAppiliTherapeuticsandDubai-based (favipiravir) Tablets developed by Fujifilm Tuesdaysaid its jointventure (JV) firm Ella said in an interview on Monday. Bharat has spent about $60-$70 million safetyandimmunogenicityresults,Bharat Global ResponseAid FZCO (GRA) onTues- Toyama Chemical.“We are pleased towork has been declared the lowest bidder “That’s a huge challenge in front of us so far developing Covid vaccines,and Ella Biotech said in a statement. day said Dr Reddy’s Canada has filed an withourpartnersatGRAandAppilitobethe forconstruction of part of the Surat when we think of the hundreds of mil- said on Monday that early trial data sug- TheindigenouslydevelopedCovid-19 applicationonbehalfoftheconsortiumfor firstinCanadatofileanapplicationfororal Metro projectworth `780 crore by lions of doses even if half the country gested Covaxin, an inactivated candidate vaccine has been developed in collabora- Reeqonus (favipiravir) Tablets for treating solid tablets forCovid-19 treatment under the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation. needs to bevaccinated.” that uses a dead version of the virus, has tion with the Indian Council of Medical Covid-19intheNorthAmericancountry. Health Canadas Interim Order,” Vinod The company’s bid cost forthe project As many as two other countries have efficacyrates of at least 60%,whichwas a Research (ICMR) — National Institute of The application was filed under Health Ramachandran,VP and general manager, was `779.73 crore. also signed preliminary supply agree- “conservative”projection. Virology(NIV),it added. —PTI Canada’s “Interim Order Respecting the Dr.Reddy’sLaboratoriesCanadasaid. AB Desai reappointed Gammon India’s CEO GAMMONINDIAonTuesdaysaidAjit VerSe turns unicornwith funding Embassy REIT raises `3,680 crvia QIPs to BalubhaiDesaihasbeenreappointedas itsCEO."Theboardofdirectors...onthe from Google,Microsoft & others recommendationofthenomination partly fund Bengaluru IT park acquisition andremunerationcommitteereappo- FE BUREAU intedAjitBalubhaiDesaiastheCEOof New Delhi, December 22 FE BUREAU “Weappreciatetheoverwhelmingsup- thecompanyforaperiodofoneyear New Delhi, December 22 port we received from our existing effectivefromDecember17,2020,"the VERSE INNOVATION, WHICH owns investors as well as many new domestic companysaidinafilingtotheBSE. Dailyhunt, on Tuesday said it has raised EMBASSYOFFICEPARKSREITonTuesday and global institutional investors in our over$100millioninfundingfromGoogle, announced it has raised `3,680 crore, or first-ever institutional placement. The CircleofAngelsraises`25cr Microsoft andAlphawave. $501 million, through an institutional strongdemandforourofferingamidmar- Theinvestmentvaluesthecompanyat placement of units. The proceeds will be ket uncertainties and the ongoing pan- infirstfund-raisinground more than $1 billion, making it the“first utilisedtofunditsrecentproposedacquisi- demic is a testament to the confidence in CIRCLEOFANGELS,TheCircle.Work- unicorn in tech forlocal languages”. tionofanITparkinBengaluru. EmbassyREIT’sinorganicgrowthstrategy backedplatformconnectingstart-ups, Existing investors Sofina Group and “Securities committee of the board of of owning quality office assets such as mentorsandinvestors,announcedits Lupa Systems also participated in the directors of Embassy Office Parks Man- Embassy REIT is acquiring ETV from EmbassyTechVillage. firstroundoffundraisingtotalling financial round. path of rapid growth, as it explores other agement Services, manager of Embassy “This institutional placement of new Embassy Sponsor, members of `25crore.CoAisanindustry-agnostic The bulk of the fundingwill be used to international geographies to extend its REIT,atitsmeetingheldonDecember22, units diversifies our unitholder register, networkofinvestorscomprisingsenior build on the growth of the company’s broad-based tech platforms in serving 2020,approvedtheissueandallotmentof Blackstone group and other enhances the liquidity of our units,and is corporateexecutives,HNIs,and shortvideoplatformJosh.Thefirmclaims similar unmet content needs of local lan- 111,335,400 units of Embassy REIT to shareholders, for a total enterprise expected to facilitate the REIT’s potential successfulentrepreneurs. Josh to have already reached a monthly guage audiences globally,”the firm said. 129 successful eligible institutional valuation of `9,782 crore inclusion into additional global bench- activeuserbaseofover77millionbesides VerSe Innovation counts Matrix Part- investors, at the issue price of `331 per mark equity indices,”said Mike Holland, PhonePe introducesvoice havingnearly36milliondailyactiveusers. nersIndia,SequoiaCapitalIndiaandGold- unit,which includes a discount of `17.38 CEOofEmbassyREIT. The video app that offers content in 12 man Sachs as its other investors. Its con- per unit (i.e., 4.99%) on the floor price of Morgan Stanley India, Kotak Mahindra The transaction is expected to close by notification in 9 languages locallanguagesseesabout1.5billionvideo tent and news aggregator platform `348.38 per unit,”the company said in a Capital,BofA Securities India, JP Morgan theendofDecember2020. PHONEPEHASANNOUNCEDintro- plays everyday. Dailyhunt offer services in 14 local lan- regulatory filing. The issue opened on India,Axis Capital, HSBC Securities and EmbassyREITisacquiringETVfromthe ductionofvoicenotificationsinover Josh was launched following India’s guagesandreaches300millionusers.Dai- December15 and closed on December 21. CapitalMarkets(India)andIIFLSecurities Embassy Sponsor,members of Blackstone ninevernacularlanguagesonthe ban on Chinese short-video app TikTok. lyhunt had raised about `25 crore from a Under allotment of units in the issue, an served as joint book-running lead man- group and other selling shareholders,for a PhonePeforBusinessapp.Thevoice The capital will be deployed to augment clutch of investors in September2019. aggregate of 883,000,743 units are issued agers forthe offering. total enterprise valuation of `9,782 crore, confirmationhelpsmerchantsduring Josh’s content offerings, develop content Inaseparateblogpost,Googlesaidthe and outstanding immediately after the “Subject to applicable regulations, oraround$1.3billion. peakbusinesshourswithavoice creatorecosystemandinnovateinAI(arti- investment underlines its strong belief in issue,itadded. Embassy REIT proposes to use proceeds The acquisition of ETV assets includes messageannouncingtheamount ficialintelligence)andML(machinelearn- partnering with India’s innovative star- Trading of these units is expected to from this placement to fund its proposed around 6.1 million sq ft (MSF) of the com- receivedfromacustomerwithout ing),VerSeInnovationsaidinastatement. tupsandcommitmenttoworkingtowards commence on or around December 24, acquisition of Embassy Tech Village pletedareaand3.1MSFofareaunder-con- themhavingtocheckthecustomer’s “This solid business foundation and the shared goal of building an inclusive 2020, on the National Stock Exchange (ETV) that it announced earlieron Novem- struction,ofwhich 36% is pre-leased to JP phonescreenorwaitforabankSMS. capitalinfusionnowsetthecompanyona digitaleconomythatwillbenefiteveryone. (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange ber 17, 2020, and for general purposes,” Morganandtwoproposed518-keysHilton (BSE), Embassy REIT said in a statement. thecompanysaid. hotelswithintheoverallcampus. Samsungunveils‘AirDresser’ inIndiafor`1.10lakh Social commerce in India could SOUTHKOREANTECHgiantSamsung Fada: House onTuesdayintroduceditsadvanced touch $7 bn by 2025, says RedSeer No nod fordealwith Great smartclothingcaresolution‘Air- panel suggests Dresser’inIndiafor`1.10lakh,which PRESS TRUST OF INDIA merce market over 2020-25, growing willhelpuserssteamtheirclothesto New Delhi, December 22 from 1-2% of the $38 billion market in Wall Motors,GM prepares Franchise removedust,pollutantsandgerms. 2020(translatingto$0.38-0.76billion)to SOCIAL COMMERCE IN the country is 4-5% of the forecasted $140 billion e- UFO Moviez forays poised to touchupto $7billion(around` commerce market in 2025. to shut down Pune plant Protection Act 51,703 cr) in GMV by 2025 as the num- Thiswould mean the social commerce into film distribution ber of online shoppers — especially from segment could be between $5.6-7 billion FE BUREAU for auto dealers UFOMOVIEZHASannounceditsforay tier II cities and beyond — continues to inGMVby2025.GMVisatermusedin Pune, December 22 intofilmdistributionwithanintentto rise, a report by RedSeer Consulting said onlineretailingtoindicate thegrossmer- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA consolidateandpositionitselfasa onTuesday. chandise value of the products sold THECAR-MANUFACTURINGunitofGen- Mumbai, December 22 one-stoppan-Indiafilmdistributor.It Social commerce refers to e-commerce through the marketplace over a certain eral Motors (GM) at Talegaon in Pune is willbeginbypresenting11Hindifilms transactionswhere buyers and sellers have period of time. preparingforashutdownonDecember24. A PARLIAMENTARY PANEL headed by withanaimtoreleaseonanaverageat more direct connection with each other “Socialcommerceisinherentlyfocussed The companyannounced the plan to close RajyaSabhaMPKKeshavaRaohasrecom- leastonefilmeveryweekin2021. beforeconcludingapurchase,comparedto onsolvingthetrustissuesofthenextwaveof the factoryafterits deal to sell the plant to mended that the government should atraditionale-commercewherebuyersare online shoppers- as reflected in its high Chinese automotive company Great Wall enact the Franchise Protection Act for BelleVue Clinic to spend choosing by searching or browsing from a share of tier II-plus city consumers. We Motors (GWM) could not be concluded as automobile dealers in the country,indus- digitalcatalogue. expect that a significant chunk of India's regulatoryapprovalsdidnotcomethrough. trybodyFada said on Friday. `500 crforexpansion Thisreportonsocialcommerceincluded over 250 million online shoppers of 2022 Theplanthad1,000employees. Itsaidthata“faircompetitionFranchise KOLKATA-BASEDBELLEVueClinic,run platformslikeMeeshobutexcludedpeer-to- and beyond will be very comfortable with Talkswent on till lateTuesdayevening GWMwas lining up products such as SUV Act”will not onlybe awin-win forboth the bytheMPBirlaGroup,willbeinvesting peertransactionsthroughsocialmediaand social commerce and this modelwill playa between the GM management and the andelectricvehiclesforitsIndialaunchtill auto original equipment manufacturers `500croreinthenext2-3yearsfor onlinemessengers. key role in extending ecommerce to the workers’ union. The workers’ union the border clashes with China upset their (OEMs) and dealers,butwill also be benefi- expansion,whichincludessetting RedSeer said social commerce will masses,”RedSeerConsulting DirectorMri- reached out to Maharashtra chief minis- plans. GMW had plans to upgrade the cialtocustomersinthelongrun,itsaid. upoftwonewhospitalsinthecity. grow to a large share of India’s e-com- gankGutgutiatoldPTI. terUddhavThackeray,urging him to keep plant and create jobs for 3,000 people. First introduced by the US in the the factory going or to find new buyers so GWMsignedanMoUwiththeMaharash- 1980s,manydeveloped countries such as that jobs could be protected.Workers are tra government to invest around $1 bil- Mexico, Brazil, Russia, China, Indonesia, also exploring legal options at the lion. In June 2020, the Maharashtra gov- Malaysia, Japan, Italy and Sweden have Case against Jet,Goyal: Court accepts closure report industrial court in Pune.Union sources ernment announced it was putting the such rules in place to protect the fran- said the company would not be able to GM deal with GMWon hold.The DPIIT chisees,it said. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA The police filed the closure report in shut down till the Maharashtra state gov- alsoamendedrulesregardinginvestment The Federation of Automobile Dealers Mumbai, December 22 March,sayingtheyhavenotfoundanyevi- ernment approved it. byentitiesfromcountriesthatsharedland Associations (Fada), which represents dence of the complainant being cheated. The GM plant spread across 300 acres borderwithIndiathatwouldneedcentral around15,000autodealersacrossthecoun- AMETROPOLITANCOURTinMumbaion TheATIPLlaterfiledapetitionagainstthe hadcapacitytoproduce1.65lakhvehicles government approval and the deal was try,in September advocated for the enact- Tuesday accepted the closure report filed closure. However, a chief metropolitan and an engine plant to make 1.6 lakh stuck because of this. ment of such a law in the country, after by Mumbai police in a cheating case magistrate on Tuesday rejected the peti- engines.GMhadexitedfromthedomestic GWM and GM had signed an agree- American cult bike manufacturer Harley against Jet Airways, which has been tionoftheATIPLandacceptedthepolice’s market in 2017 and was using the plant ment for the sale of GM India’s Talegaon DavidsonannounceditsexitfromIndia. groundedsinceAprillastyear,itspromoter closure report. for exports,which has been on a decline manufacturingfacilitywiththetwocom- “Parliamentary standing committee Naresh Goyal (pictured) and hiswife. ATIPL’s lawyer Dharmesh Joshi said since then. Production at the GM’s plant panies targeting 2020 end forclosing the (PSC)headedbyKKeshavaRaohasrecom- TheordercameadayaftertheBombay theywilldecideonfuturecourseofaction was to continue till the end of this year to dealandthehandover.Thiswouldhaveled mended that the government should High Court rejected a plea of the Enforce- year registered a case against the Jet Air- aftergoing through the detail order. meet export demand from Mexico and to GM’s total exit from India and entry of comeoutwithFranchiseProtectionActfor mentDirectorate(ED),whichisalsoprob- ways, Goyal and his wife on charges of TheEDisalsoconductingaprobeagainst Latin America. Workers have urged the GMW into India’s domestic vehicle mar- auto dealers.This recommendation was ing the case,to intervene into the matter. cheatingandcriminalbreachoftrust,ona theGoyalsandtheseverelyindebtedJetAir- companytobringinnewinvestorsoroffer ket.The deal size has not been revealed. part of suggestions made bythe standing Earlier,a similar plea by the ED had complaint filed by city-based AkbarTrav- waysunderthePreventionofMoneyLaun- them avoluntaryretirement scheme. GMW was to debut its Haval brand in committee in its Report Number 303 been rejected by the metropolitan court elsIndia(ATIPL). deringAct(PMLA)andtheForeignExchange GM had signed an agreement with India.Ithadatthattimesaiditwouldpro- titled‘DownturninAutomobileSector-Its and a sessions court in Mumbai. The ATIPL alleged that they were Management Act. The cash-strapped Jet GreatWall Motors in January2020which vide a separation package and transition Impact and Measures for Revival’,”FADA The MRA Marg police in February this cheated of `46 crore bythe Goyals. AirwayswasgroundedinApril2019. was to be completed byend of theyear. support forimpacted employees. said in a statement.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS 5

GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Buildings (C&M) circle, (Medical Works),Madurai– 625 002. Notice Inviting Tenders (Lumpsum Contract / Pre qualification Tender) (Two Cover System) Tender Notice No:18SE/BCMC(MW)/2020-2021/Dated:21.12.2020 SHORT TERM TENDER NOTICE For and on behalf of Governor of Tamil Nadu sealed Tenders are invited from the contractors registered in Public Works Department in the appropriate class to the office of Superintending Engineer,PWD,Buildings (C&M) circle, (Medical Works), Madurai upto 3.00 PM on 08.01.2021 Received tender will be opened at 3.30 PM on the same day in the reference to the contractors of their authorized reprensentatives who chose to be present at time. The tender schedule can also available in office at 24.12.2020 to 07.01.2021 upto 5.45 PM. 1. Providing water supply and Sanitary arrangements, Medical Gas line arrangements Fire fighting, Internal Road, Entrance Arch, Ornamental Teak wood Entrance Door, Furniture arrangements, Modern O.T, Kitchen Equipment, Front elevation, Electrical related works and other such Amenities pertinent to New Government Medical College Hospital Buildings at Virudhunagar in Virudhunagar District.- Approx Value – 3032.10 Lakhs 2. Providing Modern Kitchen Facilities, Furniture, Fire fighting arrangements, Internal and External Water Supply and Sanitary Arrangements, Front elevation, Ornamental Entrance door, Compound wall, internal road and other such amenities pertinent to New Government Medical college Residential Buildings at Ramanathapuram in Ramanathapuram District. - Approx Value – 1084.90 Lakhs 3. Providing Lab arrangements, Water supply and Sanitary arrangements, Front elevation, Furniture, Fire fighting arrangements, Land reclamation works and other such amenities pertinent to New Government Medical College Institutional Buildings at Dindigul in Dindigul District. - Approx Value– 1764.00 Lakhs For further details and tender documents visit the website www.tenders.tn.gov.in and www.tntenders.gov.in. Superintending Engineer PWD., DIPR / 4808 / TENDER / 2020 Buildings(C&M) Circle (Medical Works) Madurai CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS BUSINESS OFFERS

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Pune 6 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM POLITICS CAN WAIT

Prime minister of India Narendra Modi

Politics can wait, society canwait, (but) the country ❝can’t wait for development, the poor and ❝ disadvantaged can’twait for development OpinionWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020

Preempt the UK mutant’s ● PROCURING TROUBLES THE FM WILL HAVE TO RESORTTO FURTHER BORROWING FROM NSSF,POSSIBLYTO THE possible adverse impact TUNE OF `150,000 CRORE, TAKING FCI'S LOAN TO `4,50,000 CRORE The high infectivity of this SARS-CoV-2 variant is a challenge, even if it doesn’t trip vaccines Budget’s big worry: WO NATIONS, THE UK and South Africa, have reported two separate mutated SARS-CoV-2 variants as being responsible for a spurt in cases in theirrespectivejurisdictions.Scientistsandpolicymakersarekeenlywatch- T ingtheUKvariant—theB.1.1.7.lineage—giventhemutationseemstohave drasticallyincreasedtheinfectivityofthisvariant;computermodelssuggestitis40- Food subsidy 70% more transmissible than othervariants circulating in the UK and could sup- planttheothervariants.ThenumberofvariationsnotedforB.1.1.7.arealsounprece- HE GOVERNMENT HAS approximately40% of the pooled cost. dented;23lettersintheviralgeneticcodeof29,903lettersarealtered/deletedinthis unambiguouslystatedthat Cost of holding the buffer for a year is variant, of which,17 are believed to help it invade human cells—14 amino acid Minimum Support Prices about `5,500 per tonne.FCI is holding changes and three deletions.Indeed,the GISAID,which tracks SARS-CoV-2 muta- (MSP)will continue undis- T NANDA 39milliontonnesofriceand55million tions,saysthatthisvariantismarkedbymultiplespikeprotein—thepartoftheviral turbed.Againstthecurrent tonnes ofwheat (July2020) against the particle that helps it bind to the human cell,mediated by the human receptor pro- scenarioTof the farmers’ unrest, any KUMAR buffer/strategic reserve norm of 13.5 tein ACE2—mutations,including D614G and deletion 69-70,two mutations that reform in MSP or Public Distribution Former Secretary Food &Agriculture, Govt of million tonnes of rice and 27.6 million havebeenpreviouslytiedtoincreasedinfectivity.Againstthesharpriseinthevirus’s System(PDS)isnotpossible.Evenadis- India. Views are personal tonnesofwheat,i.e.,asurplusof52mil- transmissibilitybecauseofthevariant,theR0,orthenumberofpersonsaninfected cussion may be ruled out.This should liontonnes.Thecostofholdingthisstock personislikelytoinfect,isexpectedtoconcomitantlyriseby0.4. cause some worry to the finance min- worksoutto`29,000croreperyear. Aconsensus among scientists on the likelyramifications of the B.1.1.7.muta- isterwhenitcomestoBudget2021-22. million tonnes, respectively. The Whataretheelementsofthis? The fact that the system leaks has tionsareyettodevelop,givenkeyindicatorslikeimmuneresponseandlethalitywill WhileMSPisdeclaredfor23crops, requirement of PDS and welfare FCI procures wheat and rice at MSP been acknowledged for more than a manifest later.Indeed,the WHO,in a release on Monday,has stated that“further the biggest financial burden comes schemesisabout60milliontonnes.This (some states do so under the decen- decade.Thoughrecentestimatesarenot epidemiologicalandvirologicalstudies”needtobeconductedtounderstandhow from wheat and rice. Sugarcane is leaves a surplus of about 30 million tralised procurement & distribution available,GulatiandSaini(ICRIER)esti- theUKvariant’smutationsimpactthevirus’sinfectivityandpathogenicity.But,as under a statutory minimum price tonnes, in addition to the carry-over scheme).They incur costs like market matedtheleakageat46.7%or25.9mil- regime, and the burden is passed on, stock of about 42 million tonnes (cur- fees,labourcharges,packingcosts,trans- lion tonnes for2011-12.Efforts to plug some scientists have pointed out,even if Covid-19 lethalityand severe morbidity in part, to the consumer by a mini- rent)—farabovethebufferandstrategic port,storagecharges,etc.Theseareofthe leakages have been stepped up, using staythesamedespitethemutations,theincreasedtransmissibilitywouldmean a mumsellingpriceandanotherpartto reservenorms.Majorstates(exceptPun- orderof9%forprocurement,9-11%for Aadhaar,PoSmachinesandbettertech- greaterabsolutenumberofdeathsandhospitalisationsthanusual,simplybecause, the taxpayer. Other crops like pulses jab) have stepped up procurement over labour and transport,and 15-17% for nology.Leakage has admittedly come now, more people will get infected than the under the earlier R0.The deletion at and millets are not big involume in thelastthreeyears(seegraphic). distribution.Thesalepriceisfixedat`2 down,but nobodyhas a case that these position69/70affectstheperformanceofPCRassaysthattargetsthespikeglyco- terms of procurement and the cost Whilesurplusstocksstoodthegov- and`3perkgforwheatandrice,respec- havestoppedorareatanacceptablelevel. proteingene—but,givenmostPCRassaysusemultipletargets,theimpactontest- this entails. ernment in good stead during the tively, undertheNationalFoodSecurity The food subsidy burden has been ingcouldbenegligible.Oneofthemostimportantramification—againsttheback- Thewheatandricestoryrevolvespri- Covid-19 crisis, carrying over huge Act.Inaddition,therearereleasesunder increasing and has reached levels drop of manycountries preparing to roll outvaccines (the UKhas alreadyallowed marily around the operations of Food stockscontinuestocreateseriousprob- LEAN (lower entitlements and higher causing serious concerns to the Pfizer’s)—relatestothemutations’impactonavaccine’seffectiveness.Whilemost CorporationofIndia(FCI).FCIprocures lems of storage and disposal.Aworry- costs compared to NFSAcards,but sub- finance ministry. It has not been able scientists believe that the mutations won’t have much of an impact,it would still food grains from farmers and makes it ing issue is cost. sidised nonetheless) and Open Market toallocateadequatefundstomeetthe be advisable to conduct relevant studies,especiallyfortopvaccine candidates. available to the PDS.The quantum of The subsidy burden for rice and Sales (OMSS). While the pooled cost full requirement of food subsidy. TheWHO notes that most mutations inviruses“do not have a direct benefit to procurement was more or less equal to wheat(2020-21)isestimatedtobe`1.8 (including the value of old stocks) of Under-provisioning on this account thevirusormayevenbedetrimentaltoitspropagation”.Whiletheinfectivity-vir- the requirement of the PDS in earlier lakh crore; `35,000 crorewill be added wheatis`1,850(2020-21),thatofriceis has been going on, and FCI was being ulence trade-off hypothesis—the deadlier a virus becomes for its host,the less it years.But,inrecenttimes,procurement on account of free/additional food dis- `3,727 per quintal. The sale value of given loans at 8% interest from the can spread—has backers in the scientific community,a meta-study of 29 empiri- has increased significantlywith states tributed on account of Covid-19.Add wheat (including OMSS) during the NationalSavingsSchemeFund(NSSF) cal studies published lastyearin Evolution says more studies are needed to estab- like MP,Chhattisgarh,Telangana and another`25,000croreasinterestonthe periodwas`812perquintalandthatof since 2016-17 to continue its opera- lish this.While SARS-CoV-2 has mutated sluggishly compared to, say, HIV,there Odisha stepping up their efforts.Over- loan (without repayment of principal) rice `478 perquintal.This means a sub- tions. The outstanding loan on this were nevertheless some 24,753 single mutations identified from GISAID data by all procurement of rice and wheat has taken from NSSF, and this becomes sidy of`1,872 perquintal forwheat and account (October 31, 2020) is mid-November.Against such a backdrop,countries need to stay prepared to con- gone up to 52 million tonnes and 39 `2,40,000crore. `3,249 for rice. The economic cost is `2,93,000 crore.This has meant FCI getting zero budgetary support trol the spread of the B.1.17.lineage,even if it proves to be a squib at the end. Rice procurement Wheat procurement % of current subsidy paid against current subsidy claims since 6 states account for more than 75% of Thesefive states account for more 2017, thereby, postponing the prob- procurement than 85% of procurement to FCI lemyearafteryear (see graphic). 105 14 (Million tonnes) 14 (Million tonnes) Punjab This is not all.The subsidyburden is 90 12 Punjab rising (with MSPincreasing everyyear, Autonomy,not reservations 12 75 10 Haryana quantities going up and prices under 10 60 8 Telangana Govt must listen to expert panel on quotas for faculty at IITs 8 45 PDS fixed),and is likelyto cross `2 lakh 6 Odisha AP 6 MP 30 crore.IfNSSFloanshavetobepaidback 4 HE UNION GOVERNMENT 4 Rajasthan 15 inthenext6-7years,wemaybelooking mustpayheedto therecommendationsofa 2 UP panelconstitutedtolookintoissuesconcerningreservationforstudents Chhattisgarh 2 0 at a subsidy burden of `2.5 lakh crore 0 Haryana 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 plus from nextyear.The accompanying andfacultyattheIndianInstitutesofTechnology(IITs).Theeight-mem- 2014-15 2019-20 2014-15 2019-20 Year 1 : 2001-02; year 17: 2017-18 graphic (relating onlyto FCI) illustrates ber panel, set up by the Union education ministry in April, has recom- T Opening Subsidy Subsidy Closing Loan Repaid Outstanding thepoint. mended that the 23 IITs be exempted from the policy on reservation for faculty balance claim received balance NSSF NSSF loan Does the FM have options this appointments.Giventheyareinstitutesofnationalimportanceestablishedunder year?Probablynot!Shecannotreform anAct of Parliament,the committee recommends,the IITs should be listed in the 2016-17 50,037 1,09,600 78,334 81,303 70,000 42,000 28,000 FCI as on eitherPDSorMSP,giventheeconomic SchedulerelatingtoSection4oftheCentralEducationalInstitutions(Reservation 2017-18 81,303 1,16,501 61,982 1,35,822 65,000 26,000 39,000 and political scenario.Shewillhaveto Oct 31, 2020 inTeachers’Cadre)Act2019,ortheCEIAct.Section4exemptsinstitutionsofexcel- 2018-19 1,35,822 1,20,447 70,098 1,86,171 97,000 19,400 77,600 resort to further borrowing from lence,researchinstitutions,institutionsofnationalandstrategicimportance“spec- (` crore) 2019-20 1,86,171 1,31,734 75,000 2,42,905 1,10,000 0 1,10,000 NSSF, possibly to the tune of ified in the Schedule”and minorityeducational institutions from reservations in 2020-21 2,42,905 till Oct 31 38,599 0 38,559 `150,000 crore,taking FCI’s loan to facultyappointments.Atpresent,theSchedulelistseightcentralgovernmentinsti- TOTAL : 2,93,159 `4,50,000 crore! What happens next tutions,but none of the IITs. year? Wait and watch! Surprisingly,the government did not add the IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to the Schedule, though both are widely recognised to be among India’s best.For the oldest four IITs,it is a double whammy given they fig- ureintheCentre’slistofinstitutionsofeminenceaswell.Instead,inNovemberlast LETTERS TO year—all the talk of greaterautonomyfortop-notch institutions and thevision of THE EDITOR the new National Education Policy notwithstanding—the government had writ- India set to achieve Paris targets tentoalltheIITs,IIMsandIndianInstitutesofScienceEducationandResearchto implement reservation in facultyappointments. New Covid-19 strain The panel has also stated that decisions on reservations in the IITs should be Basis current progress,India The news of detection of the new left to their respective Board of Governors.The IITs are not merely reputed engi- would achieve these targets AMISH variant of coronavirus while scouring neeringschoolsbutalsopremiercentresofinnovationandresearch.Againstsuch much before 2030; emissions its genetic sequences, and the spike a backdrop,if the government were to force them to implement a failed policy of SHAH in infections in the UK has caused reservation—the fact that reservation continues to be offered not only in educa- are down 21% vs 2005 levels, consternation across the world. It tion but also in jobs and education is a clear indication that it has not worked—it India equity strategist, BofAGlobal has come at a time when vaccines non-fossil capacity at 33% Research. Views are personal would be doing untold harm to the global standing of higher education in India. have begun to be rolled out. It must Thanks to regulatory chokehold over tertiary education in the country,very few be made clear right at the outset Indian universities are counted among the best in theworld. THE PARIS AGREEMENT that India Specifically, under the Paris agree- 106GW of energy and cut 1.1 billion that a lot remains to be known about As an alternative to its proposal to include IITs in the Schedule to the CEIAct— signed in 2015,was India’s inflexion ment, India committed to meet three tonnesofannualCO2emissionsby2030 the new Covid-19 strain. It is feared ifthiscan’tbedone—thecommitteehassuggestedthatthepostsofassociatepro- point in its fight against pollution, targets by2030: a) cut greenhouse gas orover45%ofcurrentitsemissions. that the new mutated strain could fessorandprofessorbeexemptedwhilereservationbefollowedforthepostofassis- almostsimilartotheinflexionsseenin emissions intensity of its GDP by 33- Interestingly, most capex towards be a setback in the global fight tant professors, reports The Print. Such bargaining won’t help Indian higher the UKpost the London Smog in the 35% (vs 2005 levels), b) increase non- pollution curtailment also makes eco- against the pandemic.The ability of education achieve global competitiveness.The committee would have done well 1950sortheCleanAir/WaterActsseen fossil fuel-based power capacity to nomic sense. For instance,waste heat viruses to mutate into new forms is to follow its own advice—for PhD aspirants from the reserved category,the panel in the US in 1970s. 40%, and c) create an additional ‘car- recovery based power projects being well known.The new strain of SARS- hadsuggestedatwo-year“preparatoryprogramme”attheIITs,fundedbytheCen- Over the next decade,India would bon sink’ of 2.5-3 billion tonnes CO2 implemented by cement companies CoV-2 is not something unnatural or tre.This could facilitate the creation of a talent pool forteaching positions. continue to cut its diesel consumption, (higher than its emissions currently), could achieve payback in less than unexpected. It is cause for worry step-up natural gas and renewable byan increase in forest/tree cover. three years, because they generate that it has emerged as the dominant powerintheenergymix,upgradeemis- Basis current progress,Indiawould power at one-tenth the cost of captive strain and is rapidly replacing other sionandenergyefficiencynormsacross achieve these targets much before coal-based projects. versions of the virus. Obviously it will sectors,andcleanitswaterbodies. 2030: emissions are Similarly,weseescope bear on the course of the pandemic. HyperBOLSANARO Whatmakesthepushmoreforceful down 21%vs 2005 lev- to curtail logistics costs It is found to be 70% more The Brazilian president making outlandish claims about Covid is the private sector participation with els,non-fossil capacity at by 37% for freight cargo transmissible and to that extent calls 19largecorporatesalreadyannouncing 33%. We see scope for Towards this that shifts to rail vs by for modification of the pandemic vaccine side-effects and stoking vaccine hesitancy is dangerous planstogocarbonneutralby2030-50. India to increase targets journey, we road: would be possible response.Available data suggest Thedifferencetodayisthatwenow over time, aligning itself estimate India onceRailways’railfreight that it is not more severe or deadly than the existing strains.What is FTER BADLY MISMANAGING the government’s Covid-19 response, plan to take a leap instead of eyeing with other large global capacity increases five incremental improvements. This is economies’ plans to go would incur a times, likely by 2024 in uppermost in everyone’s mind is BrazilianpresidentJairBolsonaroisnowstokingvaccinehesitancy—cit- already visible in many ways: a) LPG carbon neutral by capital expenditure our view. Also, cost of whether the vaccines developed so inganallegedclausePfizerhasputinthecontractforitsvaccine,thatit penetration is at 97.5% vs 56% in 2050/60. of $401 billion, renewable power is now far will be effective in providing A won’tberesponsibleforanyside-effects,Bolsonaromadesomebizarre 2015,on back of over 8 million new In fact, in certain cheaper than fossil fuel- immunity against the new strain. cumulatively over side-effect analogies.He said that his government wouldn’t be responsible if connections, to replace highly pollut- cases,India’s pace of exe- based power, operating Experts still study the possible Pfizer/BioNTech’svaccineturnedpeopleintocrocodilesorcausedwomentogrow ingalternativecookingfuels,b)citygas cution or the stringency 2015-30, $84 billion cost for electrified rail is impact of the mutations on the virus beards or men to speak in an effeminate voice.It is hard to fathom which is more penetration is set to reach 70% of the ofpollutionnormsisnow of which has cheaper than diesel, and its characteristics keeping in outlandish—the claim that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a lizard in a population from less than 10% cur- betterthantheworld.For already been spent powercostforsolar-pow- mind the objective of understanding human suit or Bolsonaro’s hyperbole. One would like to think of it as hyperbole, rently,c) auto norms upgrade straight instance,Indialeaptfrom eredagriculturepumpsis how vaccines might work on the butBolsonarohasanillustriousrecordofabsolutelyridiculousstatements;hehas fromBSIVtoBSVI,skippingBSV,d)aim BSIV to BSVI auto emis- cheaperthandiesel-pow- new strain. Most experts are inclined downplayed the pandemic as a“little flu”,called Amazon land diversion and the to achieve 100% electrified rail net- sion norms, within just three years ered pumps,etc. to believe that the vaccine will horrificfirethatguttedlargeswathesofit“apackoflies”,hehasevencalledformil- work within three years to cut diesel compared to 5-10 years taken by Thestronggovernmentresolve,ris- continue to be effective; however, a itaryrule in Brazil afterendorsing an anti-democracyrally.And all thiswas just in use, e) plans to step-up rail freight Europe, China, Hong Kong and Singa- ing global focus on climate change lot hinges on whether mutations 2020.Beforethat,hehasmaderaperemarkstoafemalefellow-legislator,endorsed capacitybyfivetimestocurtailfreight pore. Similarly, India is already at par issues,investorspenalisingcorporates significantly change the virus’ extrajudicialkillings,madehomophobicremarks,andcalledfortheassassination movement by roads,f) plans to imple- with global norms for emissions from with poor Environment, Social and method of attack—how the virus of a formerpresident. mentworld’slargestrenewablecapac- power gensets and energy efficiency Governance (ESG) scores through locks onto human cells and infects — Whatismorehorrificinthecurrentcontext,however,isthatBolsonaroshould ity addition programme: India’s for ACs and is planning lowervaluations – all of these imply them and impede the vaccines haverefusedanyCovid-19vaccinationsayingthathehashadCovid-19beforeand renewablecapacitydoubledinpastfive to implement the most stringent that fighting pollution would be a from doing their job of developing hencehastheantibodiesanddoesn’tneedthevaccine.Suchmassagingofthetruth years; specifically solar capacity is up norms globally. multi-decade theme. India is well antibodies and negate vaccine effectiveness or not. Let us hope isdownrightdangerous.Acrosstheworld, thescientificconsensusisthatthepres- nine times, albeit on a low base, g) Towards this journey, we estimate aligned,with the rest of the globe on normstocurtailemissionsfromexist- Indiawould incura capital expenditure thisimportantissueandisalsomaking they don’t. ence of antibodies from a previous infection is not guaranteed overa long period, ing coal power plants or face risk of of$401billion,cumulativelyover2015- great progress. — G David Milton, Maruthancode one that may be possible with vaccines.Against the backdrop of growing vaccine shutdown,h)overtime,risingtaxesfor 30,$84billionofwhichhasalreadybeen Printed bypermission.Copyright © hesitancy,thepresidentofthecountrywiththethird-largestnumberofinfections diesel cars and cess on coal. spent.As a result,India could save over 2020 Bank ofAmerica Corporation ●Write to us at [email protected] in theworld,undermining trust invaccines promises disaster.

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

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS OPINION 7

Are there arguments against this scheme? First, the MSP has become the firstoptionratherthanthelastresortfor Smart about a farmers. Second, this has led to farmers opting to grow rice and wheat in larger quantities as a corollary.Such a develop- ment is politically acceptable as govern- pandemic? ments have continuously highlighted record foodgrain production as an achievement. One can never recollect ANINDYA MALLICK & high soybean or mustard production being highlighted, unlike cereals, espe- DEBASHISH BISWAS cially, rice and wheat. This has led to neglect for other crops,which have no Partners, Deloitte India. Views are personal suretyofback-to-backprocurement.Fur- ther,there is a tendencyto growan aver- agequalitywherethepriceisassured,and The Smart Cities Mission helped some not improve the quality. cities to mount an effective response Third, rice and wheat cultivation (along with sugarcane) has led to a reduction inwatertable level in Punjab, OVID-19 HAS AFFECTED almost the entire UPand Haryana.It has also put pressure world, causing widespread disruptions in on irrigation, as farmers tend to over- economies and healthcare services. India too draw subsidised water and electricity. experienced disruptions for which citizens This has created skewness in other looked up to the government for guidance and areas as state budgets have to bear the Cleadership.The government’s response has also been some- cost.Last,a continuous increase in MSP, whatsimilartothoseofothercountries,focusingonminimis- driven by a formula, directly adds to ingtheimpactonpeople’shealth,lives,andtheeconomy.Tech- inflation as the market system is not nologyadoption across smart cities in India and globallyhas allowed to operate with prices being been a key to provide better service delivery to citizens and guided in a single direction. improvingthequalityoflife.However,thechallengesinIndia, At an ideological level,an interesting especiallyinitscities,weresomewhatlargeronaccountofcon- conundrum comes to the forefront. straintsinhealthcarefacilitiesandhighervulnerabilityofasec- There is politics involved as successive tionofsocietytoaneconomicshock. governments work to placate farmer The Smart Cities Mission,launched bythe government in groups.Duetotheexistenceofsuchpres- 2015,has been a key enabler for several cities to effectively sure groups, the MSP programme has leveragetechnologyinimprovingcitizenservicesandimprove become a shibboleth that cannot be the overall quality of life.The pandemic has been the latest touched.Ontheotherside,ashouseholds instancewhere it played a critical role in shaping the govern- have no lobby groups, there is no repre- ment’s emergencyresponse.Manyof the Indian smart cities sentation at the policy level.When fuel used the Integrated Command and Control Centre,which subsidy was removed, and the middle formsthe“brainandnervecentre”,asCovid-19WarRoomsto classpaidmoreforitsLPGandkerosene, plan and manage their pandemic response strategies.This there was no objection.When the fixed move helped them coordinate and monitor the activities of income earners see their incomes being variousstateandcityagencies. denuded by a continuous lowering of AshighlightedinTechnologyandDataGovernanceinCities: interest rates,there is no lobbying for IndiancitiesattheforefrontofthefightagainstCovid-19,cities theirinterests.Insuchacasearewemak- facedmanychallengeswhileformulatingtheirresponsestrat- ing too much noise on this issue due to egy,butwereabletoquicklyaddressthese: ILLUSTRATION: ROHNIT PHORE the political undertones? ■Technology-knowhowtorepurposeexistingsmartsolutions The farmer agitation has been taken forCovid-19responsewasakeychallengethatcitiesaddressed to absurd levels,with the imbroglio now withsupportfromtheirconsultants,academiaandlocalbusi- reaching the courts. For decades, it has nesses.Forexample,BengaluruwassupportedbyIndianInsti- INIMUMSUPPORTPRICE beenarguedthattheAPMClawsmustbe tuteofScienceandotherlocallybasedITorganisationsinset- (MSP) has become a con- MADAN repealedasthearhatiyasareexploitative. tingupitswarroom. troversial issue in the They give farmers lower prices and add ■ Staff to operate thewarroom ongoing farmers’ agita- SABNAVIS intermediation costs to escalate prices had to be quickly trained for tion,even though there is for the consumer.Now,as the govern- The experience of whichcitiespartneredwithlocal littlMebasisforthemisconceptionthatthe Chief economist, CARE Ratings.Author menthasopenedthedoorforanalterna- Indian cities has organisations and consultants. of “Hits and Misses:The Indian government is withdrawing this pro- Banking Story”. Views are personal tive, APMC is being lauded as a demonstrated that The Surat Municipal Corpora- gramme.The only reason for apprehen- pro-farmer system. It is also ironic that technology and tion, with the help from local sion is that while the government has states which have never used the mandi organisations,arrangedtraining assuredthefarmersthattheMSPwillnot tax collections to create viable infra- data-driven sessions on Covid-19 protocols bewithdrawn,historically,attemptshave ● AGRI REFORMS structureforfarmersarenowsayingthat decision making forhealthcareworkers and doc- beenmadetoremovesubsidies.Thecon- sellingoutsidemandiswithoutthetaxes are critical torsmanningthewarroom. cept of MSP,though,must be revisited. will deprive them of funds to build agri ■ City administration had to MSPis a misnomerbecause the gov- infrastructure.The counter-arguments quickly deploy staff from other ernment steps in to purchase rice and given by the farmer lobbies don’t sound government agencies and wheatregularlyaspartofthePublicDis- convincing either. onboardvolunteersforoperatingthewarroom.PimpriChinch- tribution System. The PDS has been Should we There is a pressing requirement to wad deployed municipal officers,health workers,city police sidesteppedpartlyundertheDBT,which have a serious debate on whether India andvolunteersintheirwarroom. suggeststhattherationshopmaynotbe should retain the MSPconcept.The gov- ■Sharingofknowledgewasimportantforcitiestolearnfrom required in the long run.In that case, ernment has successfully launched the eachother’sexperiencetoreducethelearningcurve.Citieslike whathappenstothefoodgrainsthatare Kisan cash transferscheme,which is the Bengalurusharedtheirexperienceinsettingupthewarroom procured? The procurement pro- do away right way to help farmers without dis- throughvariouswebinars.Solutionproviderstooplayedakey gramme of the FCI is an open-ended torting prices through faulty incentives role in sharing Covid-19 related solutions already imple- one, which accepts fair quality offered thatnotonlyskewthecroppingpatterns mentedinonecitywithothercities. anddoesnothaltpurchasesatanytime. but also come in thewayof commercial- Taking a cue from the experiences of both Indian and global Therefore, there are excess stocks with isation of agriculture.It has also created citiesinrespondingtothepandemic,thefollowingmeasures thegovernment,creatinganothersetof with MSP? largebehemothsforhandlingfoodgrains are likely to be key for ensuring sustainable effectiveness in problems: locking up of capital, expos- without a system for disposal of stocks. respondingtosimilaremergenciesgoingforward. ing the foodgrains to the threat of rot, Such policies have,at the end of the day, ■ Cities need to formulate technologymanagement policies etc.AsofSeptember1,stocksofriceand The government is working to deepen the commodity led to higherprices forconsumers. for ensuring standardisation and interoperability to enable wheat stood at 70 million tonnes The government is working to seamlesssharingofdataandanalyticsbetweenvariousagen- against a buffer stock norm of around derivatives market—a replica of the MSP system. deepenthecommodityderivativesmar- cies’systems. 41 million tonnes. On June 1, stocks Farmers, through the FPOs, should be nudged to the ket—a replica of MSP system. Farmers, ■ Policies need to be framed and standard operating proce- were 83 million tonnes against a norm through the FPOs,should be nudged to duresdevelopedforhandlingandmanagingdata,addressing of 21 million tonnes. exchanges to hedge their risks and move towards a the exchanges to hedge their risk and privacynorms,ownershipandsecurityissues. In the case of other products,there is moveovertoadiversifiedcropbase.The ■Mechanismsforinformationsharingamongcitiesandstate limited procurement at MSP as the gov- diversified crop base exchanges, like NCDEX, should be used agenciesneedtobeinplace. ernment lacks the structures to procure, forsellingtheproducewiththe govern- ■ Getting the right skill set and expertise to operate the city store and dispose of pulses and oilseeds. ment bearing the cost orpremium.This datacellbyincludingprofessionalsinareassuchasdataarchi- As of December 12, around 155,000 will lowertheinefficienciesin thevalue tecture,security,privacy,andanalyticsisimportant. tonnes of pulses and oilseeds were pro- chain and reduce the distortions in the ■Usingmultiplechannelsforcitizenoutreachlikehelpdesks, cured—a very small proportion of total The question then is,shouldwe have of sowing,knowingwellthat at thetime market.The mandi or any area outside, callcentres,citizenportalsandmobileapplications. production. For Kharif 2019, the total an MSP-based procurement system? of harvest, in case there is a fall in as perthe newlaw,can be the point of The experience of Indian cities has clearly demonstrated production was about 23-24 million The argument for having MSP is that it prices, the government will be there to sale with price hedging being done on that technologyand data-driven decision making are critical tonnes. Further, procurement is also protects the interests of farmers and buytheirproduce.Just like howthe gov- the exchange. forensuringeffectivecitizenoutreachandservicedelivery.To region-specific and less broad-based as ensures that their incomes are regu- ernment protects SMEs with certain ThereismeritindismantlingtheMSP institutionalisethistransformation,governmentswouldneed in the case of wheat and rice.The MSP, larised.As a considerable proportion of incentives, farmers too can claim their system, which has become more of a toadopttherightinstitutionalcoordinationmechanismsand hence, is more of a benchmark price the labour force, between 50-60, is share of support.However,for this to political announcement, and ideally investincapabilitiesandprocessessupportingtechnologyand announced by the government and may employed in farms,this requirement is work effectively,the promise of MSP should not playa role in the functioning data-drivenservicedelivery. notbeeffectivemost ofthetimeoutside essential.The MSP enables farmers to has to be backed with a procurement of economics.This maybe the right time of the PDS products. choose the crop to cultivate at the time ecosystem. to start the debate.

HE MACROECONOMIC Economic cycles are defined as a suc- UNCERTAINTY in times of cession of crises that followed periods of Covidpandemicishardtomea- prosperity, though these peaks and sure. Economists and policy- Why is“output troughsdonotfollowagivenfrequencyor makersusethevariable“output periodicity(bit.ly/3h9xQ2C).Theassump- Tgap”to capture the“slack”.It is a deviation tionthatdemandshockshaveonlyatran- between potential output and actual out- sitory impact on the economy needs a put,whichisastandardrepresentationofa gap”controversial? relook.Thepersistenteffectsofrecessions “cycle”. The potential output is an unob- imply that “cycles” themselves affect the servedvariable.Thereisanincreasingcon- trend.With the persistence of cyclicality, cern about thewaywe measure the poten- There is a need to the economy will not rebound to prior tial output—decomposing the output into LEKHA CHAKRABORTY trend and persistence can be seen as the trends and cycles.This is because the busi- factor in hysteresis, permanent“scars”leftbytherecession.In nesscyclealwaysisnota“cycle”.Sometimes, especially for & AMANDEEP KAUR a crisis,the output gap may be extremely the“cycle is the trend’,as rightlyargued by difficult to measure and more difficult to emerging economies IMFChief economist Gita Gopinath in her Faculty members, NIPFP. Views are personal interpret. Empirical evidence does not paperwithMarkAguir(bit.ly/38vuOCd). supportthatdemandshocksaretransient. When the macroeconomic crises and Even demand shocks can have a perma- recessions tend to “permanently” push the sleep of many economic policymakers deficiencyof demand,labourmarket chal- its nominal anchor and a measure of the advanced economies mentioned the out- nentimpactonoutput.Therearenoobvi- downthelevelofacountry’sGDP,itisinap- andacademicians.Forinstance,in2009,in lenges and decline in the equilibrium real outputgaptocapturethe“economicslack”. putgap,versus29%foremergingmarkets, ous silver bullets that address the pauci- propriatetoassumethatoutputwillbounce theEconomicReportoftheUSPresidentfor interestrates. Similarly,fiscalauthoritiesmeasure“cycli- and only 5% for low-income countries.In ties of output gap construction,however. backtopreviouslevels.Itisarguedthatthe 2009, the Council of Economic Advisors With zero lower bound on nominal cally-adjustedfiscalstance”toanalysepub- the latter, structural issues are often of As argued by Romer (NBER, 2020) notionofoutputgapisill-conceivedandill- (CEA)haveforecastedafastreboundofeco- interest rates, the monetary policy has licdebtsustainability. greater relevance”. (bit.ly/3h8b0Zg). The (bit.ly/3pd7foi), the use of “confidence measured.AnIMFpaperhighlightsthesig- nomic growth in the aftermath of global proved inefficacious as a countercyclical In India, MoF has not used cyclically IMF scholars found a limited connection intervals” when presenting output gap nificance of hysteresis (the dependence of financial recession. However, the macro policytool to resetthe economyto pre-cri- neutralfiscalconstructsforpolicymaking. betweenthesizeoftheoutputgapandpol- results and emphasising on both upside economicpathonhistory)inanalysingthe scholars have responded to CEA’s claim— sis growth levels.The fiscal re-dominance However,RBI’sinflationtargeting isinclu- icy recommendations.They suggest cau- anddownsiderisksin—Covid-19induced outputdynamicsincrisis(bit.ly/2WC06S9). “recessions are followed by quick atthesametime,thoughdesirous,hasbeen sive of output gap estimations.The recur- tioninusingoutputgapestimatesforpol- crisisandgrowthrecovery—policydiscus- InthebackdropofCovid-19crisis,thereisa rebounds”—with vehement blog debates. boundtothefiscalausteritywaveandtight rence of forecasting errors in growth by icymaking during the Covid-19 recovery. sionswould be useful. renewed interest in“hysteresis”and busi- (bit.ly/2KqYbNT). The debate was highly fiscal rules.Theworld nations have missed multilateralagencies,includingIMFpoints Ex-ante,ahigheroutputgapisexpectedto Though output gaps remain a popular ness cycles.The IMF paper argues that the technical and predominantly based on thechancetoresettheeconomytothepre- tothefactthatweakeconomicrecoverywas be linked with a tighter monetary policy measure for capturing“slacks”,their rele- state of the economy and the level of GDP whether the growth time series has unit- crisislevelsthrough“fiscalre-dominance”. not widely expected.This led to a rethink- stance.However,analysingbothlevelsand vanceforpolicymakinginCovid-19crisisis are history-dependent (“hysteresis”).The roots.Withtheempiricalevidenceofmore The output gap is a crucial variable in ingabout“outputgap”itself. changes in output gaps and policy advice, controversial due to the methodological hysteresishasurgentrelevancefordesign- thanadecade,weknownowthatrecession themacroeconomicpolicymaking,byboth A recent blogpost in VoxEU by IMF they found only a slight positive link challengestoarriveatthepotentialoutput. ing apt fiscal and monetary policies to wasnotfollowedbyquickgrowthrebound. centralbanksandthefiscalauthorities.The economists pointed out that “the fre- betweentheleveloftheoutputgapandthe In the context of emerging economies,the tacklelowdemandduringarecession. The researchers identified that the secular centralbanksbasetheirinflationtargeting quency of output gap discussions is posi- recommended tightening of monetary business cycles and the level of economic Thepersistenceofsluggishgrowthand fall in growth was due to the productivity for setting the policy interest rate on the tively correlated with a country’s income policy, but a very limited trend for fiscal growth need a different interpretation weakmacroeconomicrecoveryhaverobbed slowdown,legacies of debt crisis,chronic deviationofinflationaryexpectationsfrom level: 66% of IMF staff reports covering policyandpublicdebtmanagement. incorporatingthe“hysteresis”.

Pune 8 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM GREATMIRACLE ACCOMPLISHED Donald J. Trump, President of the US @realDonaldTrump Distribution of both vaccines is going very smoothly. Amazing how many people are being vaccinated, record International numbers. Our Country,and indeed theWorld, will soon see the great miracle ofwhat theTrumpAdministration has WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 accomplished.They said it couldn’t be done!!!

● TOP HONOUR US third-quarter GDP growth Cong passes $900 bn Covid aid bill NEWYORK TIMES LawmakershustledonMondaytopass President Trump revised slightly up Washington, December 22 thebill,nearly5,600pageslong,lessthan 24 hours after its completion and before REUTERS CONGRESS ON MONDAY night over- virtuallyanyone had read it. Washington, December 22 whelminglyapproveda$900billionstim- Atonepoint,aidesstruggledsimplyto ulus package that would send billions of put the measure online because of a cor- presents Legion THE US ECONOMY grewat a record pace dollarstoAmericanhouseholdsandbusi- rupted computerfile. in the third quarter,fuelled by more than nesses grappling with the economic and Thelegislativetextislikelytobeoneof $3trillioninpandemicrelief,thegovern- health toll of the pandemic. the longest ever, and it became available ment confirmed on Tuesday,but appears Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin only a few hours before both chambers of Merit to Modi to have lost momentum as the year drew said hundreds of dollars in direct pay- approved the bill. In the Senate, the bill toanendamidragingnewCovid-19cases ments could begin reaching individual passed 92 to 6, with Senators Marsha and dwindling fiscal stimulus. Americans as earlyas nextweek. BlackburnofTennessee,TedCruzofTexas, It recognises the efforts of the people of India & the US Gross domestic product rebounded at The long-sought relief package was Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of to improve bilateral ties, Prime Minister Modi tweeted a 33.4% annualized rate last quarter,the partofa$2.3trillioncatchallpackagethat ployment benefit for millions of unem- Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rick Commerce Department said in its third included $1.4 trillion to fund the govern- ployed Americans at $300 a week for 11 ScottofFlorida,allRepublicans,votingno. estimateofGDP.Thatwasrevisedslightly mentthroughtheendofthefiscalyearon weeks and provide for another round of It will now go to President Trump for his up from the 33.1% pace reported last September30. $600 direct payments to adults and chil- signature. month. It followed a 31.4% rate of con- Itincludedtheextensionofroutinetax dren. Butwithasmanyas12millionAmeri- traction in the April-June quarter, the provisions, a tax deduction for corporate “Iexpectwe’llgetthemoneyoutbythe cans set to lose access to expanded and deepest since the government started meals, the establishment of two Smith- beginning of next week - $2,400 for a extended unemployment benefits days keeping records in 1947. sonian museums,a ban on surprise med- familyoffour-somuchneededreliefjust afterChristmas,passagewasnotindoubt. The economy remains 3.5% below its icalbillsandarestorationofPellgrantsfor intimefortheholidays,”Mnuchinsaidon Anumberof otherpandemic relief provi- level at the end of 2019. Economists incarcerated students, among hundreds CNBC.“Ithinkthiswilltakeusthroughthe sions are set to expire at the end of the polled by Reuters had expected third- of othermeasures. recovery.” year, and lawmakers in both chambers quarter GDP would be unrevised at a Though the $900 billion stimulus President-electJosephR.BidenJr.,who agreed that the approval of the $900 bil- 33.1% rate. package ishalf the sizeof the$2.2 trillion receivedacoronavirusvaccineonMonday lion relief package was shamefully over- The United States is struggling with a stimulus law passed in March that pro- with television cameras rolling, has due. resurgenceinnewcoronaviruscases,with videdthecoreofitslegislativeprovisions, insistedthatthisbillisonlythebeginning, Over the summer,Speaker Nancy more than 17.78 million people infected it remains one of the largest relief pack- andthatmorerelief,especiallytostateand Pelosi of California and Mnuchin inched and over 317,800 dead, according to a ages in modernAmerican history. localgovernments,willbecomingafterhis towardareliefpackageofnearly$1.8tril- Reuters tallyof official data. It will revive a supplemental unem- inauguration next month. lion.

MAPPING THE VIRUS US blacklists companies PRESS TRUST OF INDIA working with the US government,and all Cases pass Washington, December 22 other stakeholders in both countries, for further strengthening India-US ties,” 77.4 million with possible military ties PRESIDENTDONALD TRUMP has con- Prime MinisterModi added. ferredtheLegionofMerit,oneofthehigh- India’s Ambassador to the US,Taranjit Deaths surpass est military honours of the US, on Prime Singh Sandhu, accepted the award on REUTERS MinisterNarendraModiforhisleadership behalf of the prime minister from the US 1.7 million December 22 China opposes US inelevatingbilateralstrategicpartnership National SecurityAdvisor Robert O’Brien list of firms with and accelerating emergence of India as a at theWhite House on Monday. Recoveries THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION on Mon- global power. President Trump “presented the BioNTech is pursuing all its options to make more Covid-19 day published a list of Chinese and Russ- vaccine doses than the 1.3 billion the companies have alleged military ties Prime Minister Modi thanked Presi- Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister 51,845,365 promised to produce next year, according to the German ian companies with alleged military ties dent Trump for the honour, saying the Narendra Modi for his leadership in ele- company’s chief executive officer. that restrict them from buying a wide China’s Ministry of Commerce � Pfizer partner BioNTech awardrecogniseseffortsofpeopleofIndia vatingtheUS-Indiastrategicpartnership,” Japan’s struggle to contain the coronavirus ahead of the range of US goods and technology. said on Tuesday it firmly opposed and US to improve ties. O’Brien said in a tweet. ready to boost vaccine holiday season has prompted some local leaders to ask more Reuters first reported last month that a US move placing 58 Chinese “I am deeply honoured to be awarded Modi was presented with the highest capacity for 2021 vulnerable residents to embrace a more extreme precaution: the US Department of Commerce drafted companies on a list of firms with the Legion of Merit by @POTUS @real- degreeChiefCommanderoftheLegionof � Airlines flying From the wearing masks at home. alistofcompaniesthatitlinkedtotheChi- alleged militaryties,andvowed to DonaldTrump.It recognisesthe efforts of Merit which is given only to the Heads of UK to NY to test Singapore will block all travelers from the UK from entering nese or Russian military, news that take measures to safeguard the the people of India & the US to improve State orGovernment. passengers the country. Citizens and permanent residents will be brought a rebuke from Beijing. rights and interests of Chinese bilateral ties, reflected in the bipartisan Hewas given the award in recognition � EU recommends against allowed to return from Britain, and they will have to undergo The final list does not include Com- enterprises.The US Department consensus in both countries about the ofhissteadfastleadershipandvisionthat nonessential travel to the a PCR test at the start of their 14-day quarantine period. mercial Aircraft Corporation of China of Commerce published the list of Indo-US Strategic Partnership,”Modi has accelerated India’s emergence as a UK Switzerland is trying to locate about 10,000 Britons who (COMAC), or the Hong Kong subsidiaries Chinese and Russian companies, entered the country after Dec. 14 and must now quarantine tweeted onTuesday. global power and elevated the strategic � US public school ofColorado’sArrowElectronicsandTexas- restricting them from buying a enrollment dips as virus for 10 days after the Alpine nation blocked borders for tourists Hesaidthe21stcenturypresentsboth partnership between the United States coming from the UK, says Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger. basedTTI,aBerkshireHathawayelectron- wide range of US goods and tech- disrupts education unprecedented challenges as well as and India to address global challenges. The first batch of coronavirus shots arrived in Singapore on ics distributor. Those companies were on nology. --REUTERS � opportunities.“TheIndia-USrelationship In New Delhi, the MEA said the award Tokyo Olympics to Monday, marking an important step in the city-state’s plan the draft list seen byReuters. canleveragethevastpotentialofourpeo- is in recognition of Modi’s vision. spend $900 million on to vaccinate its population and serve as a global hub for However,ShanghaiAircraftDesignand all companies in an equal way, foreign ple’s unique strengths to provide global SeniorBJPleadersassertedthattheUS’ coronavirus measures distribution of the jabs. ResearchInstitute,whichdesignsCOMAC ministryspokesmanWangWenbinsaidat leadership for the benefit of entire decision to confer the prestigious award � US could require All three airlines that fly from the UK to New York have agreed planes, and Shanghai Aircraft Manufac- adailynewsconferenceinBeijingonTues- humanity,”Modi said in anothertweet. on Prime Minister Modi reflects his negative Covid tests for to test for Covid-19, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s turing, which manufactures COMAC day. ItsMinistryofCommercelatersaidin “On behalf of the 1.3 billion people of “acceptance”asaworldleaderandisates- passengers from Britain office. British Airways, Delta and Virgin Airlines all will require planes,are on the list. a statement that it firmly opposed the passenger testing, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said India, I reiterate my government’s firm timony to his vision,steadfast leadership China urged the United States to stop inclusionofChinesecompaniesontheUS conviction and commitment to continue and diplomacy. what it called erroneous actions and treat list andwould take necessarymeasures.

Airbus to lose over $5 bn Quick Google, others back Facebook in orders underAirAsia X’s ByteDance eyes stake in View lawsuit over surveillance tool restructuring plan mobile games firm CMGE BLOOMBERG REUTERS REUTERS Eight-year-old ByteDance has Tibetan leader December 22 Kuala Lumpur, December 22 Hong Kong, December 22 identified gaming as its next welcomes US bill GOOGLE, MICROSOFTAND other tech Aircraft manufacturer Airbus said it CHINA’S BYTEDANCE is in talks to buy strategic growth area giants asked for permission to join Face- stands to lose more than $5 billionworth intomobilegamespublisherCMGETech- that reaffirms rights book’s legal fight against an Israeli com- of aircraft orders if AirAsia XBhd’s (AAX) nology Group, four people with direct THEPOLITICALHEADofTibetansin pany that the social media company debt restructuring scheme goes through, knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as Thetalkscomeasthegamingindustry exileonTuesdaywelcomedlegislation accuses of installing malware on the court documents showed, joining more theownerofshortvideoappTikTokmoves continues to benefit from Covid-19 pan- passedbytheUSCongressthat phones of unsuspecting users. than a dozen creditors that have chal- to strengthen its next pillarof growth. demic countermeasures which have reaffirmstherightsofTibetansto The companies asked the federal lengedtheMalaysianlow-budgetcarrier’s ACMGEspokesmansaidthecompany forced people to stay at home, boosting chooseasuccessortotheirspiritual appealscourtinSanFranciscoonMonday AllowingcompanieslikeNSOtodeploy plan. is not in talks to sell a stake to ByteDance. game downloads. leader,theDalaiLama,amovethat to let them file a motion in support of a cyber-surveillancetoolsacrossUSsystems Airbus’s challenge comes as AAX A ByteDance source said it had held talks ByteDance is looking to offer HK$4 to infuriatedChina.Chinaregardsthe lawsuit that WhatsApp, Facebook’s mes- createslarge-scale,systemiccybersecurity defended its scheme from keylessorBOC withCMGEbutwasnotinterestedinbuy- HK$5 ($0.52 to $0.64) per share to pur- exiledDalaiLamaasadangerous saging service, brought last year against risk, the tech companies said in the brief Aviation’s (BOCA) allegations that it ing into the company. chase the stake,said anotherperson. “splittist”,orseparatist,andthelatest NSO Group. at the appeals court. favoured Airbus and lacked a debt-to- ByteDance plans to buy part or all of The range represents a premium of showofsupportfromtheUSCongress WhatsAppaccusedthespywaremaker NSO says it can’t be sued in a US court equityswap offerforcreditors. the 27.6% CMGE stake held by Fairview 30% to 62% above the stock’s Monday couldincreasealreadytenseties ofusingasince-closedvulnerabilityinthe because it was doing its work as an agent In a December 16 affidavit filed at Ridge Investment, controlled by CMGE close of HK$3.08. betweenthetwocountries. messaging service to install spyware on of foreign governments and so is entitled Kuala Lumpur High Court,Asia-Pacific chairmanXiaoJianandvicechairmanSin Following the news, CMGE’s stock thephonesofatleast1,400users.Thespy- to foreign sovereign immunity. Head of Region Anand Stanley said there Hendrick,said two of the people. reversed losses and rose as much as 21% SaudiArabia’s $360 bn ware allowed NSO to surreptitiously col- US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in wasastrongpossibilityAirbus“willsuffer Thepeopledeclinedtobeidentifiedas to HK$3.75 in Tuesday afternoon trade - fund rejigs leadership lect data from users’phones,according to Oakland, California, in July denied NSO’s substantiallossesandprejudice”fromter- the information is not public. Reuters their highest since mid-October, before the suit. request to dismiss the lawsuit. mination of purchase agreements. could not reach Fairviewforcomment. closing up 1%. SAUDIARABIA’S SOVEREIGN wealth fund overhauled some of its top management as it prepares to take a greater role in the local economy.The UK deficit hits $323 billion with $360 billion Public Investment Fund Britain,stuck in Covid-19 isolation, on Tuesday said that FahadAlsaif, chief executive officer of the economy facing recession country’s National Debt Management Center and adviser to strives to lift France’s freight ban BLOOMBERG the finance minister,will become December 22 head of corporate finance and a REUTERS “We’ll seewhat materialises today.” member of its management Dover, December 22 Asked if there would be an agreement THE UK GOVERNMENT borrowing committee. on Tuesday,Patel said:“We’re working to climbed to a record 240.9 billion pounds THEUNITEDKINGDOM was stuck in get a resolution. It’s in both our interests ($323 billion) in the first eight months of Putin signs law,clears Covid-19isolationonTuesdayaftermuch to ensure thatwe have flow.” the fiscal year, reflecting the damage wayfor2 more terms of the world cut off travel ties due to a OneoptionistorolloutmassCovid-19 inflicted on an economy now at risk of highly infectious new coronavirus strain, testingfortruckdrivers,thoughsuchtests falling back into recession. edge.Themultiplethreatspilepressureon PresidentVladimirPutin signed halting one of Europe’s most important usually take 24-48 hours for a result so it InNovemberalone,spendingexceeded Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak legislation onTuesdaythat allows traderoutesjustdaysbeforetheBrexitcliff was not immediately clear how swiftly tax revenue by 31.6 billion pounds amid andBankofEnglandpolicymakerstostep formerpresidents to become edge. truckscouldbemovingagainwithChrist- the escalating cost of supporting firms upfiscalandmonetarysupport,withsome lawmakers forlife in Russia’s upper With queues of trucks snaking to the mas days away. and households through the pandemic, analystsnowpredictingtheeconomywill house of parliament once theyleave horizon in England and supermarket Johnson spoke to Macron on Monday Office for National Statistics figures pub- shrink in the first quartertoo. the Kremlin.The legislation,among The discovery of the new strain, shelves stripped just days before Christ- just months before vaccines are about lifting the freight ban,adding that lished Tuesday showed. It leaves Britain The potential hit means that the bud- otherthings,allows him to run for mas,BritishPrimeMinisterBorisJohnson the French leaderwanted to move within facing its largest ever peacetime budget get deficit in the fiscal year as a whole expected to be widely available, two more six-yearterms in the scrambled to get French President hours. Patel said details could be deficit. could be larger than the 394 billion Kremlin if he chooses. EmmanuelMacrontoliftabanonfreight sowed a fresh wave of panic announced lateronTuesday. Separate figures confirmed the econ- pounds -- 19% of GDP-- predicted bythe from Britain. The discovery of the new strain,just omyreboundedstronglyinthethirdquar- Office for Budget Responsibility last Disneynames Bergman Johnson and his advisers said the monthsbeforevaccinesareexpectedtobe ter.Butacontractionisexpectedthisquar- month.That’s already the biggest among as film studio chairman mutatedvariantofthenovelcoronavirus, and France would announce a deal to widely available, sowed a fresh wave of ter, and hopes of recovery early next year majorindustrial nations. whichcouldbeupto70%moretransmis- restart freight byWednesday. panic in a pandemic that has killed about arefadingafterthegovernmenttightened Aworse-case virus scenario combined WALTDISNEYNAMEDAlan sible,wasspreadingrapidlybutthatithad “We speak to our colleagues in France 1.7 million people worldwide and more restrictions to combat a mutated coron- withano-dealBrexitcouldseeborrowing Bergman,a 24-yearcompanyvet- been identified because British scientists constantly on a range of issues and that than 67,000 in Britain. avirus and several European countries soar to almost 450 billion pounds in eran,as sole chairman of its film stu- were so efficient at genomic surveillance. work has been underway over the last 24 The main worry is that the variant is banned entry from Britain.Meanwhile, 2020-21,with net debt topping 125% of dio,easingAlan Horn into the posi- The BBC cited France’s Europe Minis- hours and we’ll continue today,”British significantlymoretransmissiblethanthe deadlocked talks over a Brexit trade deal economicoutputinthefollowingyear,the tion of chief creative officer. terClémentBeaune as saying that Britain Home SecretaryPriti Patel told SkyNews. original strain. are heading toward a December 31 cliff fiscalwatchdogwarned.

Pune 9 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

ON STOCK MARKETS Ajit Mishra, VP, Research, Religare Broking We expect volatility to remain high in the following ❝ PersonalFinance ❝sessions too. Traders should proactively manage their positions and avoid unnecessary overnight risk. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020

● MUTUAL FUNDS ● GOLD OUTLOOK CHIRAG MEHTA Collective wisdom for optimal investing Gold remains catealittlehigherrelativetosayNifty50ETF. Two new fund of funds RIGHT STRATEGY The universe of investment forthis fund is a preferred make the most of multi-cap thetop250stocksaspermarketcap. ■ Market indices being at AnotherAMChascomeoutwithanNFO portfolio investing, combining active all-time high, multi-cap now.Inthisfund,theuniverseisthetop500 and passive fund investing makes sense stocksaspermarketcap.Thebenchmarkfor allocation is not the collective marketwis- asset in 2021 management as they track ■ Investors can avail of these dom but the collective fund managerwis- large-cap and mid-cap ETFs FoFs for easy decision making dom.Itwilltrackmulti-cap/flexi-capfunds in the context of active versus in the industry and the average allocation IN2020,LAKHSoflivesandlivelihoodswere passive and allocation to ratio to large,mid and small cap stockswill lost to the Covid-19 pandemic.The health be followed. The collective wisdom of all crisissnowballedintoaneconomiconeand multiple market cap segments Fund of funds fundmanagersisbetterthanonefundman- theglobaleconomyplungedintorecession. or fund picking agerorinvestinginonefund.Thisfundcom- Stock markets lost about a quarter of their ■ While one NFO is guided by binesactiveandpassivemanagementasthe value onlyto end theyearat all-time highs. the collective wisdom of the allocationwillbetweakedasperchangesin Real interest rates plummeted,theworld’s the industryallocation,but the underlying reserve currency lost its muscle and gold market, the other allocates is passive.The universe of investment for yieldedspectacularreturns. Joydeep Sen ` among large-, mid- and small - this fund comprises Nifty100 ETF,Mid- For all the hope spurred by the break- cap funds on basis of collective cap150ETFandSmall-cap250IndexFund. throughs on the vaccine front,we believe THE REACTIONS TO the Securities and wisdom of fund managers that most of 2021will be a bumpyjourney ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)mandatethat Conclusion fromvaccine tovaccination.Whatwill this multi-cap funds should invest minimum ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD Market indices being at all-time high, meanforgold? 25% in each of large-cap, mid-cap and cate to large or mid or small-cap orwhich ing account with a broker,you simply buy tember,whereitusesthe“marketweight”to multi-capinvestingmakessenseasmidand small-cap companies,the subsequent cre- fundtoinvestin.Nowthereistheemergence thisfundlikeanyothermutualfund.There allocate to large-cap and mid-cap ETFs. small cap segments are yet to play out. Gold prices to move up ationofanewcategorycalledflexi-capand ofafreshapproachtothiscontext. wouldbeabitofactivemanagementaswell, Thereisanoverallcapitalisationofthemar- InvestorscanavailoftheseFoFsforeasydeci- Goldisexpectedtoinitiallymoveuprid- theshiftoffundstoflexi-capcategoryshows indecidingtheallocationbetweentheETFs ket,andwithinthat,thereisacapitalisation sion making in the context of activeversus ingonthebackofadditionalfiscalstimulus there is demand for funds in this category The new approach inthefund.Thus,thesefundsofferacombi- oflarge-capstocks,mid-capstocks,etc.The passive and allocation to multiple market from the US government and improving andtherequirementofflexibility. AFund of Funds (FoF) is a fund that nation of active and passive fund manage- relative ratio of the market cap of large to cap segments.The collectivewisdom of the investment demand as well as consumer Multi-cap funds have the second high- invests in units of other mutual fund ment.In a multi-cap or flexi-cap fund,the midistakenastheratioforallocationinthis marketorfundmanagershelpsinthat.The demandfromIndiaandChina.Buttheopti- estAUM,nextonlytolarge-capfunds.How- schemes.A FoF investing in ETFs or index underlying are the stocks as such; in these fund. Hence this fund is mostly passive recurring fund management expense ratio mism surrounding the economic rebound ever,thedilemmaforinvestorsremains:Are fundsismostlypassivefundmanagement. funds,theunderlyingofETFsorindexfunds managementasunderlyingareETFsandthe is on the lowerside.In fact,SIPapproach to andthecheapliquiditybackdropisexpected multi-cap/flexi-capfundsbetterthanindex An ETF or index fund is passive manage- istheviamediatothestocks. allocation ratio is as per the collective wis- buildyourcoreportfolioisbetter. to encourage further risk taking.The con- funds or ETFs,i.e.,is active fund manage- mentperse,andtheFoFinvestingintheseis domofthemarket.Thereisactivemanage- tinuedoptimismontheeconomicrecovery mentbetterthanpassivemanagement?The offeringyou a basket.Instead of bothering The funds available mentaswell;whenonesegmentisrelatively Thewriterisacorporatetrainer(debt andsurgingriskassetscouldbeaheadwind investoralsohastodecidehowmuchtoallo- aboutwhichETFtobuyorsettingupatrad- OneAMCcameoutwithitsNFOinSep- undervalued,e.g.NiftyNext50,it mayallo- markets)andanauthor for gold that could limit its rise next year. However,the economic rebound has been losingsteam.Forexample,theUSeconomy ● YOUR QUERIES has recouped half the jobs lost due to the pandemicbutisnowaddingjobsatamuch slowerpace.Whentheliquidityledmomen- tum recedes and markets start reflecting ground reality,gold should reprice on back eFE ofconstructivefundamentals.

Chirag Nangia ● AI VISION timeaudiocommunicationofvitalvisual informationwhileensuringdataprivacy,” No need to file ITR saysRosenbaum. OrCamhasdevelopeditsconceptof“AI if gross total Wearable AI helps the visually as a companion” to empower visually impaired people in their day-to-daylives income belowbasic with its OrCam MyEye wearable device. Earlier this year,it launched the OrCam exemption limit impaired see in real-time Read,a first-of-its-classAI-driven digital reader, designed to support those with ● I have a house in the name of mywife reading challenges such as dyslexia and andI.Mywifereceives the rent in her OrCam MyEye is a voice- otherlanguageprocessingdisorders,those account as sheis co-borrowerand activated device that with mild to moderate lowvision,aswell rental agreementis done in hername. asthosewhoexperiencereadingfatigue. I invest in debt and equitymutual attaches to virtually any OrCam is taking its first steps into the funds and shares in mywife’s name. pair of glasses.It conveys IndianmarketandisfocusingonB2Bpart- As hertotalincome is below`2.5 lakh, nershipswith local players in the fields of should shefile income tax returns? visual information audibly lowvisionandmedicaldevices,inaddition ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD —Anand Kumpatla in real-time,thereby to domestic eye clinics.“Each of the part- Let’srememberthatgoldwasalreadyon Individual taxpayers ners OrCam has engaged with is hand- anupwardtrajectorybeforeCovid-19,with are required to file tax helping the visually pickedbasedontheirabilitytoprovidethe the pandemic being only one of the tail- returns compulsorily, impaired or those with best pre- and after-sales services for our windsforitsincrediblerally.Andmostofthe before the due date,if customers in India,” says Rosenbaum. macroeconomicconditionsthatsupported theirgross total income reading difficulties live a “OrCam,togetherwithourlocalpartners, goldarenowbeingcarriedforwardto2021. of the financialyear,as startedinitialdiscussionswithcentraland INCOME more independent life Gold as store of value TAX computed in state governments in order to make accordancewith the OrCam devices accessible through gov- Withplentyofliquiditysloshingaround provisions of the law, SUDHIR CHOWDHARY ernment funding and subsidies to those and also seeping into the real economy, surpasses the basic exemption limit.The who do not have the financial means to unlike 2008 where liquidity remained exemption limit forassessmentyear HERE IS A new,life changing technology affordthem.” bound to banks and financial institutions, 2020-21 foran individual is `2.5 lakh. to helpthevisuallyimpaired.We are talk- Atpresent,OrCamisfocusingonlarger theprobabilityofinflationloomslarge.The The gross total income is computed by ingaboutIsrael-basedOrCamthatisona cities,namelyMumbai,Delhi and Banga- vaccinebreakthroughcouldbringbackpre- adding up income underall heads mission to harness the powerof artificial lore,butgiventhesizeoftheIndianmarket Covid-19 spending habits. Such pent-up without accounting forinvestment- vision byincorporating pioneering tech- phone bill—using OrCam’s next-level andoutsideofhomewithincreasedinde- itislookingforwardtohavingmorepart- demand,magnified by cash handouts and linked deductions underchapterVIA(i.e. nology into a wearable platform which Smart Reading feature—the company is pendence,”heexplains. ners to push its products in the country. high savings rate, will mean consumers section 80C to 80U) ordeduction under improves the lives of individualswho are focused on makingArtificial Intelligence The device reads printed and digital Thecompanyisalsoworkingwithprivate return to fewer goods and services—with section 54/54F/54EC,etc.Hence,ifyour visuallyimpairedorhavereadingdifficul- (AI)intuitiveandapplicableinreal-timeto textaloud—fromanysurface—andseam- eyeclinicssuchasDr.Agarwal'sEyeHospi- many businesses having shut down for wife's gross total income does not exceed ties.ItsinnovationiscalledOrCamMyEye, improveindependentlivingforthosewith lessly recognises faces, identifies con- tal in southern India and with public eye good.This will drive up inflation and take the basic exemption limit,it shall not be arevolutionaryvoiceactivateddevicethat a variety of impairments,ranging from sumerproducts,barcodes,colours,money hospitalsincludingAravindEyeHospital. wealth awayfrom savers and devalue their mandatoryforherto file an income tax attaches tovirtuallyanypairof glasses.It vision loss to language processing disor- notes and more,all in real time.Its user- OrCam is set to launch its new model wages.This not only means the erosion of return.However,one mayfile a return of caninstantlyreadtoyoutextfromabook, ders,aphasia,hearing loss and more,says friendlydesignfeatureswireless,intuitive ofOrCamMyEyeinIndiasoon,whichwill purchasing power but also the erosion of income on avoluntarybasis also. smartphone screen or any other surface, Liron Rosenbaum,Asia director of busi- operationandhasbeencompactedintoa include existing features, and an addi- trust in the reliabilityand sustainabilityof recognise faces, help you shop on your ness development,OrCamTechnologies. gadgetthesizeofafinger.Thelightweight tional next-levelAI Smart Reading capa- thecurrentmonetarysystem.Thisisincred- ● Mydaughterwas an NRI in FY2018- own,workmoreefficiently,andliveamore “OrCam MyEye is the world’s most device(22.5g),sitsontheframeofauser’s bility.“Togetherwiththelaunchofthenew ibly bullish for 19 aswell as FY19-20. She had some independentlife. advanced wearable assistive technology eyeglassesandcanbeoperatedusingintu- OrCamMyEyeinIndia,wewilllaunchour gold—the cur- Gold was already on income in India bywayof Whetherit is about reading a book,or device for those who are blind orvisually itivegestures,voicecommands,orbysim- recentinnovation,theOrCamRead,which rency of last an upward trajectory dividend/interest and capital gains directingthedevicethroughavoicecom- impaired,translatingthevisualworldinto plyfollowingthewearer’sgaze.“Alldatais isahand-helddigitalreadingdevicetailor resort and the before Covid-19, from sale of shares / mutual fund mand to only read the vegetarian items audio to help them better navigate the processed offline,without requiring an made forpeoplewith reading challenges, ultimate store with the pandemic units,total ofwhichwas less than `1.5 from a menu or the total of a monthly workplace,educationalsetting,andinside internet connection—resulting in real aswellastheelderly,”addsRosenbaum. of value as real being only one of the lakh duringeach of these twoyears. rates continue tailwinds for its Shewas a student abroad in FY18-19. todipfurther. Shewas employed part of 19-20 and ● CYBERSECURITY accounts,so organisations need to invest Gold,which incredible rally. Most drewincome bywayof salary.Is she inprotectingtheirinternalemailtrafficas ispricedindol- of the macro- required to fileITRin India forAY19- muchastheydoinprotectingfromexter- lars,would be a economic conditions 20 andAY20-21? Does she have to nalsenders; big beneficiary that supported gold Defend your business,people and ■ declare herforeign earned income in 71% of spear-phishing attacks if a crisis of are now being herITRforAY2020-21? She has paid include malicious URLs,but only30% of confidence carried forward by taxes in foreign countrywithwhich BECattacksincludedalink.Hackersusing plagues the India does not have DTAA. data from evolving cyberattacks BECwanttoestablishtrustwiththeirvic- world’s reserve the world to 2021 —Praveen Godbole timsandexpectareplytotheiremail,and currency. One Non-resident Indians (NRIs) are liable newtactics.The latest report,titled Spear thelackofaURLmakesithardertodetect way in which to paytax in India on income that is Close to 72% of Covid-19- Phishing: Top Threats andTrends,reveals theattack. governments are expected to tackle these received oris deemed to be received in related cyberattacks are new details about these highly targeted “AsorganisationsinIndiatodayarefac- highdebtlevelsiscurrencydevaluations.As India during the previousyearorincome threats,includingthelatesttacticsusedby ing increasing threats from highly tar- economies compete for the weakest cur- that has accrued orarisen to such NRI in scamming, says Barracuda cybercriminalsandthestepsyoucantake geted phishing attacks,staying aware of rency,gold,being a monetary asset will be India during the previousyear.Income Networks report todefendyourbusiness. the way spear-phishing tactics are evolv- morevaluable. earned abroad byNRI is not taxed in The report takes an in-depth look at ingwillhelpthemtaketheproperprecau- Global policy makers will continue to India and the same shall be taxed abroad. how attackers are adapting to current tions to protect theirbusiness and users,” resort to monetaryinflation,credit expan- Further,the obligation to furnish ITR FE BUREAU eventsandusingnewtrickstosuccessfully saystheBarracudaIndiacountrymanager. sionandgovernmentspendingtotacklethe ariseswhere the total income (earned in executeattacks—spearphishing,business “Enterprisesmustinvestintechnologyto economic fallout of the pandemic.Use of India) exceeds maximum amount not CYBERCRIMINALSLEARNFAST,exploit- email compromise, pandemic-related blockattacksandprovidetrainingtohelp monetary policywill mean failure to nor- chargeable to tax (`2.5 lakh).Therefore,if ing every new event or loophole to harm scams,andothertypes.Asperthereport, peopleactasalastlineofdefenseandavoid malisetheworldeconomyas centralbanks yourdaughterwas a non-resident forFY theirvictims.TheirresponsetotheCovid- ■ Business email compromise (BEC) falling victim to the latest tricks of these willbetrappedinastateofperpetualpolicy 2018-19 and 2019-20 and hertotal 19pandemicprovedittoowell,saidMurali makes up 12% of the spear-phishing scammers.” manipulation,financial systems will con- income,from capital gains and other Urs,country manager (India),Barracuda attacksanalysed,anincreasefromjust7% Thereportalsoanalyseswhyorganisa- tinuetowalkonfiscalcrutches,andthesys- sources,arising in Indiawas below Networks. in2019; tions need to invest in protection against temwillbemarredwithvulnerabilities.This taxable limit,then she need not file ITR. Thecloudcomputinganddatasecurity ■72%ofCovid-19-relatedattacksare mingattacksthatfocusonfakecuresand lateral phishing and other internally- will ensure that gold remains a preferred firm has released a new report with key scamming.Incomparison,36%ofoverall donations; launched attacks from compromised portfolioassetin2021andbeyond. The writeris director,NangiaAndersen findingsaboutthewayscybercriminalsare attacksarescamming.Attackers preferto ■ 13% of all spear-phishing attacks accounts,includingsolutionsthatuseArti- India.Send yourqueries to adapting quickly to current events and use Covid-19 in theirless targeted scam- come from internally compromised ficialIntelligenceandmachinelearning. Thewriterisseniorfundmanager, [email protected] AlternativeInvestments,QuantumAMC

Pune 10 FINANCIAL EXPRESS WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

The Indian rupee ended marginally weak against EXPERTVIEW the US dollar, tracking weakness in most regional currencies on concerns that a infectious new coronavirus strain could slow down the prospects Markets of a global economic recovery. —Sriram Iyer, senior research analyst at WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 Reliance Securities

● Money Matters WAYTO CONSOLIDATION Reliance Capital gets 10 G-SEC Markets rebound as pharma more bids for subsidiaries The benchmark yield fell 0.008% PRESS TRUST OF INDIA due to buying support New Delhi, December 22

5.911 and IT stocks hog limelight RELIANCE CAPITAL (RCL), part of the debt-ridden Anil Ambani-promoted 5.898 Strong global cues from Sensex Intra-day, December 23 Rupee settles 5 paise RelianceGroup,hasreceived10morebids, 46,200 46,006.69 includingfromSBILife,foritssubsidiaries, the European markets 45,529.61 lower at 73.84 vs dollar sources said. 46,000 THE RUPEE PAREDmostofitsinitial Earlier this month, the Committee of propelled the rally Debenture Holders had extended the last totaloutstandingdebt.Thecompany’stotal December 11 December 22 losses and settled for the day5 paise 45,800 lowerat73.84(provisional)againstthe date forsubmission of expression of inter- outstandingdebtisaround`20,000crore. FE BUREAU USdollaronTuesday,trackingarebo- est (EoI) to December 17,2020.Following ThelastdateforsubmissionofEoIsfor `/$ Mumbai, December 22 45,600 undindomesticequities.Attheinter- this,10 newbids have come in forReliance the stake sale was December 1.A total of bank forex market,the domestic unit Capital’s assets,taking the total numberof 60 bidswere received bySBI Capital Mar- The rupee ended lower 0.086% INDIAN EQUITIES RECOVERED on Tues- 45,400 openedat73.95againstdollarandwit- bidsto70,thesourcessaid. kets and JM Financial Services, the advi- on fears about the new day after clocking its worst fall in seven nessedanintra-dayhighof73.82and State Bank of India’s subsidiarySBI Life sors to the lenders.The bids were invited strain of coronavirus monthsonMonday. 45,200 alowof73.95.Rupeefinallyclosedat has also shown interest in picking up forallorpartofRCL’sstakeinsubsidiaries Markets reacted to strong global cues 73.84 against dollar,registering a fall RelianceCapital’sstakeinRelianceNippon Reliance General Insurance, Reliance 45,000 of5poveritspreviousclose.—PTI Inverted scale coming from the European markets as Open Close LifeInsurance,theyadded. Securities,RelianceFinancialandReliance 73.65 investorschosetofocusonthe$900-billion Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Com- Asset Reconstruction. 73.85 stimulusthatwaspassedbytheUSHouseof many were trading higher by 1.03% and pany,ajointventurewithJapan’slargestlife There are plans to sell 100% stake in Nifty IT index Intra-day, December 23 Representatives. The Sensex rallied by 1.11%.AsianmarketsretreatedonTuesday insurer-Nippon Life which holds 49% RelianceSecuritiesandRelianceFinancial. 23,800 452.73points(0.99%)tocloseat46,006.69 23,611.6 overthefearsofthenewstrainofCovid-19 shareholding, has a paid-up capital of The company has invited bids for 49% whereas50-shareNiftyrallied137.9points 23,600 with stock markets in Hong Kong, South `1,196croreasofSeptember30,2020. stake in RelianceAsset Reconstruction.Its December 11 December 22 (1.03%)tocloseat13,466.3. KoreaandChinadecliningby0.7%to1.8%. The life insurerwith assets underman- 20%stakeinIndianCommodityExchange Foreignportfolioinvestors(FPIs),accord- 23,400 ShrikantChouhan,executivevicepresi- agementof`21,912croreattheendofSep- (ICEX)hasalsobeenputonsale. ing to the provisional data on exchanges, dent(equitytechnicalresearch),KotakSecu- temberhadpostedaprofitof`35croredur- BesidesRCL,anotherdebt-riddengroup 22,921.85 C=/$ sold stocks worth $43 million whereas 23,200 rities,said,“OnTuesday,sincethebeginning ing2019-20. companyReliance Home Finance is also on domestic institutional investors have of the session,the Nifty50 index refused to ThemonetisationofRCL’sassetswasini- salewith as manyas six suitors submitting The euro fell against 0.016% boughtstocksworth$64.8million. 23,000 fallbelowthe13,200levelsfollowingstrong tiatedbytheCommitteeofDebentureHold- theirbids.Aseparate debt resolution is cur- the dollar TheFPIshaveboughtstocksworth$5.9 short-coveringonbackofpositivenewsflow ers and the Debenture TrusteeVistra ITCL rentlyunderwayfor Reliance Commercial million in total till December18.The mar- 22,800 from the US market.”Indian shares rallied India,which represents 93% of the firm’s Finance(RCF),theNBFCarmofthecompany. 1.2242 ketshaveseenFPIinflowsforthreestraight thanks to the buying in defencive sectors months.The premium of the Indian mar- 22,600 suchasITandpharmaceuticals. ketshasrisentotheotheremergingmarkets Open Close Both the Nifty IT index and the Nifty ICICI Bank launches online platform for 1.2112 andBofASecuritiesexpectsaconsolidation ingsessionhadbeenseverelyimpactedafter Pharma index gained 3.3% and 2.2% inthemarketsinthenearterm. a newnovel coronavirus strainwas discov- respectively.In the meantime,brokerages In its report,BofASecurities,said,“With eredintheUnitedKingdom.However,there such as ICICI Securities expect the Niftyto foreign firms expanding business December 11 December 22 MSCI India’s valuation premium to EM is is no evidence yet that the strain is more touch 14,900 in calendaryear 2021 if the FE BUREAU eigncompaniescomingtoIndia.” nowat 46%,which is 5% above long-term lethal than the existing strain of Covid-19 bullishsentimentprevailsinthemarkets. Mumbai, December 22 “We believe that ourdedicated strategy average,wethinkoverallmarketscouldcon- andthatthevaccineswouldnotbeeffective Thebrokeragesaid,“Bullmarketenviro- for this segment will further simplify the solidate in nearterm.”Additionally,market against it.This led to the panic in the stock nmentprevailinginCY21couldtakeNifty50 ICICIBANKONTuesdaylaunchedanonline journey of foreign companies looking to experts believe that the FPI volumes are markets subsiding and investors chose to to 14,900 levels. However,if market bull- platform to enable foreign companies to start orexpand theirbusiness in India,”she Quick expected to remain weak as countries focusonthestimulusbillthatwaspassedin ishnessrevertstoaveragesentiment,thebase establish or expand business in India.The added.Theplatformoffersvalue-addedser- aroundtheworldentertheholidayseason. theUSAonMonday. case fundamentalvalue is close to 13,500, platformtermedas‘InfiniteIndia’willpro- vices such as incorporation of a business Therisksentimentintheprevioustrad- European markets in France and Ger- whichindicatesflatreturnsforCY21.” vide banking solutions, as well as value- entity,corporate filings,licences and regis- View addedfacilitiestocustomers.Thebanksaid trations,HRservices,compliancesandtaxa- that its platform eliminates the need of tionamongothers.Thevalue-addedservices TrustAsset coordinatingwithmultipletouchpoints. will be available in associationwith a lead- Sebi to rope in agency for VishakhaMulye,executivedirector,ICICI ing cloud-based business accounting and Bank,said,“Theinitiativeispartofourstrat- corporate services firm,while the bankwill SBI Card raises `450 cr Management Co egy to further strengthen our technology- continuetoinductmorepartnerstoexpand by issuing NCDs risk assessment of its IT infra eyes `10,000-cr enabledofferingsaimedtopartnerwithfor- itsbouquetofservicesontheplatform. SBICARDSANDPaymentServices(SBI PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Card)hasraised`450crorebyissuing New Delhi, December 22 AUM in 2yrs of ops ANALYST CORNER bondsonaprivateplacementbasis,the TRUSTASSET MANAGEMENT Company, companysaidonTuesday.The stakeh- CAPITAL MARKETS REGULATOR Sebi is thelatesttoenterthealreadycluttered`30- olderrelationshipcommitteeofthe lookingtoropeinanagencyforperforming lakh-crore mutual fund industrywith 44 Maintain‘buy’on Colgate firmhasapprovedtheallotmentof in-depthriskassessmentofitsinformation payers, plans to launch its maiden fund 4,500fixedrate,unsecured,rated, technology(IT)infrastructure. withinacoupleofweeksandgarneranAUM taxable,redeemable,senior,non-conv- The risk assessment needs to include ofover`10,000croreinthefirsttwoyearsof with revised TP of `1,820 ertibledebenturesofthefacevalueof identificationofforeseeablethreats,assess- policiesandSOPs,”theregulatorsaid. operations,saysatopofficial. `10lakheachaggregatingto`450 ment of the likelihood and potential dam- SebinotedthatITriskassessmenthelps Thefundhouse,whichhadannounceda JEFFERIES year has led to +130bps increase in croreonaprivateplacementbasis,SBI age of these threats,and the sufficiency of todeterminethevulnerabilitiesininforma- soft launch earlier this month,is awaiting penetration, +120 bps share gain in MT Cardsaidinaregulatoryfiling. controlstomitigaterisks. tion systems and the broader IT environ- the Sebi nod for its maiden scheme from COLGATE'SGROWTHAGENDA,which and 15% growth during Covid. New In a notice last week,the regulator has ment,assessthelikelihoodthatariskyevent whichitplanstogatheratleast`500crore. began under the current CEO, is gaining offerings in toothbrush, naturals portfolio ManappuramFinance invited expression of interest (EoI) from will occur,and rank risks based on the risk “Wehopetohitthemarketinacoupleof momentum as evident in the recent is being expanded, even in toothbrus- solution providers to conduct risk assess- estimatecombinedwiththelevelofimpact weeks with our first scheme as we are investor presentation.While profitable hes,with launch ofZig ZagTurmeric and raises`400crfrombonds ment of IT infrastructure,prepare policy thatitwouldcauseifitoccurs. expecting regulatorygo-ahead forourfirst growth has been the stated objective in Super Flexi Salt.The basevariant in Zig MANAPPURAMFINANCEON saidit documents,standardoperatingprocedures It will also help in identifying controls scheme anytime now. Over the next 24 the past too, the equilibrium is shifting Zag has also been re-launchedwith anti- hasraised`400crorebyissuingbonds (SOPs),documentation of procedures and and measures required tobe included in IT months,we will be launching six to eight more in favour of'growth' than 'profits'. bacterial bristles. Colgate Gentle series onprivateplacementbasis.TheFinan- processesandotherITdocuments. policiesandSOP,itadded. funds and hope to collect `8,000-10,000 New launches continue and there is a oftoothbrushes, launched a few months cialResourcesandManagementCom- In addition,design specification docu- Theconceptofriskisakeyconsideration croreinAUM,”SandeepBagla,thechiefexec- well-thought-out strategy that is also back, has also seen good response. mitteeoftheboardofdirectorsofthe mentneedtobepreparedforalltheselected inpolicymakingandawellwrittenorgani- utiveatTrustAMC,toldPTIonTuesday. supported by marketing spends. Efforts Innovation for Diabetics, colgate companyhasapprovedtheallotment processesforautomation,itadded. sationlevelITpolicy,procedureandmanual Bagla,whohasspent25yearsacrossfun- are underway on distribution expansion announced the launch ofworld's first of4,000rated,secured,redeemable “Bidderissupposedtoconductriskassess- reduces operating costs and improves per- d houses,primary dealers,and financials, with share gainsvisible in MT/e-comm. toothpaste for diabetics. India has non-convertibledebenturesaggrega- mentofITinfrastructuredeploymentatSebi formance by enhancing consistency and feelsthatwith44fundhousesthedomestic ExpandingVedshakti, colgate'snatur- c.73mn diabetics,who face a 3x risk of tingto`400crore,Manappuram annually, calculate risk score accordingly, establishingclearcriteriaforcomputer,net- MFindustryhaslotsofspaceformoreplay- als portfolio has seen strong tractionwit- contracting gum diseases.This new Financesaid. reviewcontrolsanditsimpactonpoliciesand work,hardware,software,informationsecu- ers, especially more room differentiated h 70bps increase in penetration, dou- product is an ayurvedic solution,which SOPs and changes required in the reviewed rity,andITvendormanagement. playerslikeTrustAMC. —PTI bling ofstore availability and +500bps can reduce gum bleeding by 50% and PaytmPaymentsGateway share gains on MT/ E-Comm.The com- plague severity by 22%. pany has refreshed theVedshakti brand Building heft in pharmacies, colgate aims`6k-crtransactions with new packaging, and plans to expa- plans to adopt a pharmacy-first GTM PAYTMPAYMENTSGATEWAY on Godrej Housing nd it to adjacent oral care categories approach for its toothpaste for Tuesdaysaiditisworkingwithmobile Current bull market can and build a naturals platform.After laun- diabetics. Retain Buy,we continue to like phoneandDTHtop-upretailersto Finance seeks chingVedshakti mouth spray,Colgate management's focus on expanding the makecashlesspaymentsforbulk has now launchedVedshakti Oil Pulling. Colgate franchise through innovative rechargebuysfromtelecomand conservative end with inflation in US: Core doingwell too, re-launch of NPDs and good execution.Wemaintain satellitetelevisionservicedistributors, flagship, Colgate StrongTeeth, done last our Buy ratingwith a revised PTof1,820. andexpectstofacilitate`6,000crore growth worthoftransactionsinbusiness ICICI PruAMC’s S Naren volumenextyear.Retailersformobile SUVASHREE GHOSH phoneandDTHrechargesusuallymake December 22 FE BUREAU Initiatewith‘buy’on NHPC; mostoftheirpaymentstodistributors Mumbai, December 22 ofbulktop-upsincash. INDIA’S NEWEST MORTGAGE lenderis in nohurrytocatchupinthecrowdedmarket. EQUITY MARKETS ACROSS the world DCF-basedTP of `34 Instead of aggressivelyexpanding its asset haverallieddespitethepandemicandeco- book,GodrejHousingFinancewillfocuson nomic contraction. S Naren, executive ICICI SECURITIES FY23 and Subansiri Lower (2GW) in FY24 Securitisation acquiring1,000customersbyMarchtotest directorandchiefinvestmentofficer,ICICI (construction in full swing), NHPC’s the sustainability of its systems and PrudentialAMC,is of the view that this NHPC,THE LARGEST hydroelectric po- expected earnings CAGR for the period volumes likely to processes,saidchiefexecutiveofficerMan- current‘developedworldcentralbank’bull wer generation company in India, has FY20-24E clocks 10.9% to reach`45.5bn ish Shah.“Onewayto get itwrong is to bite market can endwhen inflation returns to 7GWoperational capacity split 98%/2% (vs`30bn in FY20). Core RoE is expected bounce back more than you can chew,”Shah said in a the US. in favour ofhydro/renewables, making it to increase to 18% by FY24E from 17% phone interview.“Our primary goal is to Commenting on the outlook for the the largest ‘completely green’ power currently. understand do we have an engine that nextyear,Narensaidthatitishardtopre- generating company in India. Its regula- High regulatory certainty; no expec- in FY22: Icra knowshowtoonboardcustomerswell,that dict when the current bull market would ted business model and capacity addi- tation ofRoE revision: NHPC’s earnings THE SECURITISATION VOLUMES, espe- servesthemwell.” end. One needs to follow inflation in the My view is that when tion outlook (5 under-construction pro- and revenue is set according to CERC ciallyin retail loans of finance companies The firm,which launched its mortgage United States (US) to get a fix on that. inflation in the US comes, jects) provides earnings certainty,while tariffguidelines,which has maintained and mortgage lenders, will see healthy lendingbusinesslastmonth,isopentobuy- Hesaid,“Myviewisthatwheninflation ever improving operational performance the existing RoE structure for 2019-2024. growth in 2021-22 (FY22), after experi- ing assets from other shadow lenders and intheUScomes,thatiswhenoneneedsto ❝that is when one needs to resulting in higher incentiveswill provide For NHPC, blended average RoE is ~16% encingcontractioninFY21sofar,accord- banks in the fiscal year starting inApril,he be most careful.At that point in time the be most careful. At that the extra fillip to earnings.As a result, PAT (although core RoE is higher due to inc- ing to Icra. said. ‘developed world central bank’ bull mar- is estimated to increase by 51% over entives earned).Although the next tariff point in time, the FY20-FY24E (11% CAGR). Green cred- guideline revision ofCERC is in 2024-29, Also, the credit quality of the rated Godrej is entering an industrythat was ket can end.” ❝ pass-through certificates (PTCs) should weakened by a credit crunch and slowing He explained that when inflation ‘developed world central entials and hydro’s must-run status bac- we do not expect any change to the ex- remain‘Stable’duringFY22.Eventhough loangrowthevenbeforethepandemictook returns to the US that iswhen the Federal ked by stricter RPO compliance require- isting RoE structure due to hydro projec- collections may not have reached pre- hold.Still,housingdemandisreboundingas Reserve would likely increase the interest bank’ bull market can end. ments provide further comfort.We ts’ long gestation period and their strate- Covid levels, the credit enhancement property prices ease and lending rates rates,whichcouldleadtoalongerduration initiate coverage on the stockwith ‘BUY’ gic importance for the nation, aswell as — S NAREN , EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR available in the transactions has further declinetothelowestin16years. steepfallinthemarketsanduntilthen,the rating and DCFbased target price of`34. grid stability and peaking requirements. built-uponamortisationofthepoolssup- The financier, which is a unit of con- markets would continue to witness AND CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, Earnings CAGR of11% over FY20-24E ‘Completely green’ and must run porting theircredit quality. glomerateGodrejGroupthatmakesevery- smallercorrections. led by capacity addition: Increase in status to result in 100% offtake:As per the Theratingagencysaidincreaseinsecu- thing from soaps to houses,wants to run a According to Naren, the number one ICICI PRUDENTIALAMC standalone capacity from 5,551MWto draft ElectricityAct (Amendment), 2020, ritisationvolumesfortherestofFY21and tight ship aiming at a low cost structure, holder of stocks in Japan has become the 8,351MWin FY24E takes regulated equi- hydro generationwill now be considered in FY22 would be supported mainly by Shahsaid.He’sseekingalendingmarginof Japanese central bank. ty from`129bn at FY20-end to`221bn in renewable.Also, scope ofRPO has been growinginvestorconfidenceinassetqual- 1.5% to 2% and initiallyfocusing on serv- Similarly,theSwisscentralbankisalso everythinginthestockmarket,oneneeds FY24E, at CAGR of14.5%. Further earni- expanded to include hydrowith stricter ity due to improving collections. Higher ingbuyersofhomeserectedbyGodrejProp- one of the largest holders of stocks in the to believe that asset allocation will work ngs boost is expected from revision of compliance, assuring 100% offtake.With funding requirement of originators on ertiesandtopbuilders. world. In such a situation,where central much more because when things start TLDP-IV’s tarifforder and Parbati-III 98%/2% ofits installed capacity based account of rising disbursements and “We will have greater differentiation banks are controlling everything in the shooting up, they will have to moderate reverting to original design energy post on hydro/renewables, NHPC is the only improving business activity post end of betweenthelowestandhighestinterestrates stock markets, one needs to believe that the situation.That is why asset allocation Parbati-II’s commissioning (cumulative ‘completely green’ PSU generating firm lockdown and moratorium period would sothatwecanadoabetterjobmaintaining asset allocation is important. asastrategyworkssowell,”saidSNarenof >`2bn p.a. addition to PAT). Considering aswell as the largest in the country.It also give a push to activity.—PTI ourspreads,”hesaid.—BLOOMBERG “When central banks are controlling ICICI PrudentialAMC. commissioning ofParbati-II (800MW) in spends significantly on CSR activities.

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS MARKETS 11 Crude oil production India’s spices exports grow 19% in H1FY21 FE BUREAU The spice which recorded tonneofgingerwasexportedall Kochi, December 22 Export of spices themaximumgrowthinterms overtheworld,whichwas 86% slips 5% in November and spice products of quantity and value was morethanlastyear. HIGHER DEMAND FOR « small cardamom. It con- The export of fenugreek, immunityboosting spices like Apr-Sept 2019 % change tributed to the overall exports corianderandotherseedspices Output in turmeric has helped the Apr-Sept 2020 duringtheperiod,rising483% such as mustard, aniseed, dill November at 2.48 nation in reporting a 19% Volume of Value of exports (` cr) in value terms and 369% in seed, etc, grew substantially growth in export of spices and exports (tonne) 10,588.97 « quantity. During the period, contributing to the spices million tonne was spice products during the first « 19 16 1,900 tonne of small car- export basket in the period. 12,273.81 lower than 2.61 half of the year, state-run 7,00,050 damom valued at `329.50 Value added spices such as Spices Board said onTuesday. Value of exports crorewere exported as against curry powders and pastes million tonne Exports of spices and other ($ m) 405 tonne valued at `56.52 remained popular in many produced in the value-added products during 5,86,090 1,513.43 « crore during the same period countries resulting in their six months of FY21 stand at 7 8 lastyear. increased exports with a ship- same month a lakh tonne, valued at 1,635.09 Source: Spices Board Turmeric registered a ment of 19,500 tonne valued year back `12,273.81 crore as against remarkable growth of 42% in at `462.12 crore. the shipment of 586,090 from India. lowed nextwith a shipment of quantitywithtotalshipmentof Spice oils and oleoresins tonneworth`10,588.97crore Chilli retained its position 1,53,000 tonne valued at 99,000tonnegloballyvaluedat along with spices such as PRESS TRUST OF INDIA in theyear-ago period. of being the largest exported `2167.70 crore, registering a `858.10 crore, marking an tamarind, saffron and others New Delhi, December 22 State-owned Oil and Nat- reflating, crude oil processing Chilli, cumin, turmeric, spice from India with a ship- 33% and 22% increase in increaseof35% invalueterms sharedasignificantpartinthe ural Gas Corporation (ONGC) by the nation's 23 refineries coriander and gingerwere the mentof2,64,500tonne,fetch- quantitative and value terms ascomparedtothesameperiod spices export basket during INDIA’S CRUDE OIL produc- produced 1.5% less oil largely was fast returning to normal. top five most-exported spices ing `3,605 crore.Cumin fol- respectively. inthelastfiscal.Atotalof23,700 April-September2020. tion fell by 5% in November due to lesserthan the antici- They processed 20.78 million primarily due to a sharp drop pated output at newerfields. tonne of crude oil in Novem- inoutputatRajasthanoilfields Oil India produced 6.6% ber,down5.11%year-on-year, operated by private sector less oil from Assam due to but13%higherthan18.3mil- Nafed to set up farmer facilitation centre in Maha Cairn Vedanta, government protests/agitation in the state lion tonne crude processing in data showed onTuesday. followingtheBaghjanblowout. October2020. FE BUREAU The facility at Vashi, how- The facility is part of the basis of pre-booked orders reasonable price without India is dependent on During April-November, Top refiner Indian Oil Cor- Pune, December 22 ever, will bring farmer pro- initiative of Nafed to from customers. impairing the quality of pro- imports for 85% of its needs India's oil production was 6% poration's (IOC) nine units ducer companies across the Unlike mandis, where all duce,hesaid.Inthetraditional andthegovernmentispushing lower at 20.42 million tonne. operated at over 100% capac- The national agricultural state together offering clean- establish e-Kisan Mandis commodities are brought in market system, there is a lack domesticexplorerstoraiseout- The output from Rajasthan ity during November and so cooperativemarketingfedera- ing, sorting, grading, cleaning that would use the online oneplaceandbuyersthenturn oftransparencyintrade,which puttohelpcutdownimports. during this period dropped did units of Bharat Petroleum tionofIndia(Nafed)isallsetto facilities and cooling facilities model to attract buyers up to purchase the commodi- also leads to a burden of stock Crude oil production in 16% to 3.91 million tonne. Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and rolloutitsfirstfarmerfacilita- foralltheFPCsunderoneroof, and the offline model for ties, the idea here is to ensure management expenses on November at 2.48 million Natural gas production in Hindustan Petroleum Corpo- tion centre (FFC) for farmer hesaid.Nafedhasprovidedthe physical delivery of thatthevegetablesarebrought farmers,he pointed out. tonnewaslowerthan2.61mil- the country fell 9% to 2.3 bil- ration Ltd (HPCL). producer companies (FPCs) in land forthe facility. commodities only through advance book- The FPC has established 52 lion tonne produced in the lioncubicmetersinNovember Reliance Industries’ only- Maharashtra in the first week TheVashicentrewillberun ings through the call centre, clusters forvarious commodi- same month ayearback. largely due to a fall in eastern for-export refinery at Jamna- of January2021. by Shree Swami Samarth thus, avoiding distress sales ties and more than 750 farm- Rajasthan fields produced offshore field output. garinGujaratoperatedat90% Thefacilityispartoftheini- Farmer Producer Company and heartburn for the farmer, ersarepartofthisinitiative,he 9.6%lesscrudeoilat476,990 ONGC produced 3.7% less of its capacity while the run tiative of Nafed to establish e- (SSSFPCL). The agency runs bers of the company,said that he explained. said.A call centre is now func- tonne as Mangala,Aishwarya gas afterthe Hazira processing rateatthecompany'sadjacent Kisan Mandis that would use weekly farmer markets and theobjectiveistocreatefarmer This will also reduce the tional at Vashi, which has a and other fields in the Cairn plantwasshutdownformainte- domestic market-oriented the online model to attract also sells fruits and vegetables clusters across the state spe- price spread between the pri- database of some 3000 cus- block flowed less oil for a vari- nance.GasoutputduringApril- unitwas 106%. buyers and the offline model to housing societies across cialising in agri-commodities mary producer and the ulti- tomers. The orders will be ety of reasons, according to Novemberwas 18.7 bcm,down Nayara Energy’s Vadinar for physical delivery of com- Maharashtra. likecucumber,carrots,brinjals mate consumer in addition to takenonphoneandsenttothe data released by the Ministry 11.8%overthepreviousyear. refinery in Gujarat too oper- modities, Sanjeev Kumar Narendra Pawar,one of the and then source these vegeta- making available products of respective FPC cluster for pro- of Petroleum and Natural Gas. With the economy slowly ated at 90% of the capacity. Chadha,MD,Nafed,told FE. directors and founder mem- bles from the groups on the farm origin to consumers at a cessing forthe next morning.

Pune WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 12 FINANCIAL EXPRESS

Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS NATION 13 Adani ICTlists $300-m Steel price rise not an enigma; appetite to be sustained bond on India INX 2020 stand at 77.3 MT. In sured at large players’ end) at 2021projectedbyIMF. subdued demand growth. As running with a never ending SUSHIM November’20thecountrycon- 13.7MTatthebeginningofthe It is interesting to look back production trendwas negative, desiretoseethemarketrevival. PRESS TRUST OF INDIA 3%fortheseniorsecurednotes BANERJEE sumed 8.62 MT of steel which currentfiscalhasbeenbrought atsteelconsumptioninsomeof thecapacityutilisationwasvery Thedemandfor2/3wheel- New Delhi, December 22 maturingin2031,itadded. Former DG, exceeds Nov’19 level by 11%. down to 10.9 MT by end of thepreviousmonthsalongwith pooranddebtservicingbecame ers, tractors, passenger cars, GSM, the primary market Institute of Steel The increasing consumption November implying a strong the average price of HRC (excld. ahugeburdenforalltheproduc- consumerappliancessurfaced BSE’SINDIAINTERNATIONAL platform of India INX, has Development growth has beenvisible forthe recoveryinthesteelmarket. GST), for instance, in April’20 ers.The balance sheets of each along with demand from the Exchange (India INX) onTues- evoked significant interest and Growth last 3 months. If we assume This only proves that the (Cons: 1.1 MT,HRC: `36150/t), steel producer, large or small, affordable housing segment, day said Adani International since its establishment in only5%riseinsteelconsump- country’sappetiteforsteelwhich May”20 (Cons: 4.8 MT, HRC: showedhugedeficits,thebanks infra in roads,water pipelines, Container Terminal has listed 2018. The GSM platform of tion in December’20 over the is one of the majorindicators of `35150/t), June’20( Cons: 6.4 wereextremelyreluctanttopro- Metro expansion, DFC and $300-millionforeigncurrency India INX offers fundraising DURING THE FIRST eight last month (quite achievable), economicgrowthinadeveloping MT, HRC: `35375/t), July’20 videanycreditsevenformeeting other construction demand bond on its platform. guidelines at par with other months of the current fiscal, the consumption can reach economy,is rising and at a level (Cons: 7.7 MT,HRC: `36400/t), workingcapitalexpensesandall from projects in power plants, The bonds have been listed internationalvenues. steelconsumptioninthecoun- 9.05 MT which makes the surpassing the estimates of the Aug’20 (Cons: 8.1 MT, HRC: works connected with expan- railway expansion.For the last on the global securities market MTNs (medium-term tryhasreached53.4MTwhich country’s total steel consump- forecasting agencies andwould `38750/t).Two things are clear sionandupgradationoffacilities two months, the growth in (GSM) platform of India INX at notes),establishedontheIndia is 21% lower compared to last tion at 86.4 MTIn 2020which continue to be sustained in the from this data. Steel demand stoodstandstill. manufacturing sector (3.5% GIFT-IFSC,theexchangesaidina INX platform since its launch year. If the level of consump- is nearly 5.5% more as com- coming years 2021 and 2022. duringthefirst5monthsofthe Indian steel industry saw growthinOctober’20)hassent statement. in January 2018, aggregate to tion in Jan-March’20 is added, pared to theWSAprojection of The latterexpectation is much yearwashoveringonanaverage through the period with grit, apositivesignalinthemarket, The issuer has raised the over $ 48 billion and listing of steel consumption in the first 81.9 MT made two months linked with the anticipated 35-40% lower than previous courage, exploiting export especiallyintheMSMEsector. funds at a competitive rate of bondsaggregateto$30billion. 11 months of the current year earlier. Steel inventory (mea- growthinIndia’sGDPat8.8%for year which itself was a year of opportunitiestokeeptheplant —Views expressed are personal

Pune WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM 14 FINANCIAL EXPRESS

HDFC Asset Management Company Limited A Joint Venture with Standard Life Investments CIN: L65991MH1999PLC123027 Registered Of�ce: HDFC House, 2nd Floor, H.T. Parekh Marg, 165-166, Backbay Reclamation, Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020. Phone: 022 66316333 • Toll Free Nos: 1800-3010-6767 / 1800-419-7676 • Fax: 022 22821144 • e-mail: [email protected] • Visit us at: www.hdfcfund.com Notice-cum-Addendum to the Scheme Information Document (SID) / Key Information Memorandum (KIM) of Process for creation of Segregated Portfolio: HDFC Equity Fund - Change in fundamental attributes a) In case the AMC decides on creation of Segregated Portfolio on the day of a Credit Event it shall: Notice is hereby given that HDFC Trustee Company Limited (“the Trustee”) to HDFC Mutual Fund (“the Fund”) has decided to make changes i. seek approval of trustees prior to creation of the Segregated Portfolio. in fundamental attributes of HDFC Equity Fund (“the Scheme”) with effect from January 29, 2021 (“Effective Date”) as follows: ii. immediately issue a press release disclosing its intention to segregate such debt and money market instrument and its impact on A. Change in Name, Category, Type and Asset Allocation Pattern of the Scheme: the investors and also disclose that the segregation shall be subject to trustee approval. Additionally, the said press release shall Particulars Existing Provision Revised Provision (proposed) be prominently disclosed on the website of HDFC Mutual Fund (“the Fund”). Name of the HDFC Equity Fund HDFC Flexi Cap Fund iii. ensure that till the time the trustee approval is received, which in no case shall exceed 1 business day from the day of Credit Scheme Event, the subscription and redemption in the scheme(s) shall be suspended for processing with respect to creation of units and payment on redemptions. Category of Multi-Cap Fund Flexi Cap Fund Scheme b) Process post receipt of trustee approval by the AMC for creation of Segregated Portfolio in the Scheme(s): i. Segregated Portfolio shall be effective from the day of Credit Event Type of the An open ended equity scheme investing across large cap, An open ended dynamic equity scheme investing across Scheme mid cap & small cap stocks large cap, mid cap, small cap stocks ii. The AMC shall issue a press release immediately with all relevant information pertaining to the Segregated Portfolio. An e-mail or SMS shall be sent to all unit holders of the concerned scheme(s) who have registered email id / mobile number in the folio. Asset Under normal circumstances the asset allocation will be Under normal circumstances the asset allocation will be as Allocation as follows: follows: iii. The NAV of both segregated and Main Portfolio of the Scheme(s) shall be disclosed from the day of the Credit Event. Type of Instruments Minimum Maximum Risk Type of Instruments Minimum Maximum Risk iv. All existing investors in the scheme(s) as on the day of the Credit Event shall be allotted equal number of units in the Segregated Allocation Allocation Pro�le Allocation Allocation Pro�le Portfolio as held in the Main Portfolio. (% of (% of (% of (% of v. No redemption and subscription shall be allowed in the Segregated Portfolio. However, in order to facilitate exit to unit holders in Total Total Total Total Segregated Portfolio, the AMC shall enable listing of units of Segregated Portfolio on the recognized stock exchange within 10 Assets) Assets) Assets) Assets) working days of creation of Segregated Portfolio and also enable transfer of such units held in demat mode on receipt of transfer Equity and Equity 65 100 High Equity and Equity 65 100 High requests. Related Instruments Related Instruments c) If the trustees do not approve the proposal to Segregate Portfolio, the AMC shall issue a press release immediately informing investors Debt Securities 0 35 Low to Debt securities* 0 35 Low to of the same. (including securitised Medium and money market Medium Valuation and processing of subscriptions and redemptions: debt) and money instruments and Fixed market instruments Income Derivatives a) Notwithstanding the decision to segregate the debt and money market instrument, the valuation shall take into account the Credit Event and the portfolio shall be valued based on the principles of fair valuation (i.e. realizable value of the assets) in terms of the relevant Units issued by 0 10 Medium Units issued by REITs 0 10 Medium provisions of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 and Circular(s) issued thereunder. REITs and InvITs to High and InvITs to High b) All subscription and redemption requests for which NAV of the day of Credit Event or subsequent day is applicable will be processed Non-convertible 0 10 Low to Non-convertible 0 10 Low to as per the existing circular on applicability of NAV as under: preference shares Medium preference shares Medium i. Upon trustees’ approval to create a Segregated Portfolio:- The Scheme may invest up to 35% of its total assets in Units of Mutual Fund@ 0 20 Low to foreign securities. High ● Investors redeeming their units will get redemption proceeds based on the NAV of Main Portfolio and will continue to hold the units of Segregated Portfolio. The Scheme may invest upto 100% of its total assets in * including securitised debt, other structured obligations (SO), Derivatives. credit enhanced debt (CE), etc. ● Investors subscribing to the scheme(s) will be allotted units only in the Main Portfolio based on its NAV. The Scheme may invest in the schemes of Mutual Funds in @The Scheme may invest in the schemes of Mutual Funds in ii. In case trustees do not approve the proposal of Segregated Portfolio, subscription and redemption applications will be processed accordance with the applicable extant SEBI (Mutual Funds) accordance with the applicable extant SEBI (Mutual Funds) based on the NAV of Total Portfolio. Regulations as amended from time to time. Regulations as amended from time to time. TER for the Segregated Portfolio: Pending deployment of funds of the Scheme in securities in The Scheme may invest upto 35% of its net assets in a) The AMC will not charge investment and advisory fees on Segregated Portfolio. However, TER (excluding the investment and advisory terms of the investment objective of the Scheme, the AMC foreign securities. Derivative positions for other than hedging fees) may be charged, on a pro-rata basis only upon recovery of the investments in Segregated Portfolio. purposes shall not exceed 50% of total assets. Scheme may may park the funds of the Scheme in short term deposits b) The TER so levied shall not exceed the simple average of such expenses (excluding the investment and advisory fees) charged on of scheduled commercial banks, subject to the guidelines undertake Imperfect hedging in accordance with guidelines daily basis on the Main Portfolio (in % terms) of the scheme(s) during the period for which Segregated Portfolio was in existence. issued by SEBI vide its circular no. SEBI/IMD/CIR No. and limits prescribed by SEBI from time to time. c) The legal charges related to recovery of the investments of the Segregated Portfolio may be charged to the Segregated Portfolio in 1/91171/07 dated April 16, 2007, as amended from time The Scheme may invest upto 35% of its net assets in proportion to the amount of recovery. However, the same shall be within the maximum TER limit as applicable to the Main Portfolio. to time including SEBI Circular No. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF4/ either securitized debt or structured obligations or credit The legal charges in excess of the TER limits, if any, shall be borne by The AMC. CIR/P/2019/093 dated August 16, 2019. The AMC shall enhancements. However, investment in the following not charge investment management and advisory fees on instruments shall not exceed 10% of the debt portfolio of the d) The costs related to Segregated Portfolio shall in no case be charged to the Main Portfolio. such investments. Scheme and the group exposure in such instruments shall not Periodic Disclosures: exceed 5% of the debt portfolio of the Scheme: In order to enable the existing as well as the prospective investors to take informed decision, inter alia the following disclosures shall be made: a. Unsupported rating of debt instruments (i.e. without a) A statement of holding indicating the units held by the investors in the Segregated Portfolio along with the NAV of both Segregated factoring-in credit enhancements) is below investment Portfolio and Main Portfolio as on the day of the Credit Event shall be communicated to the investors within 5 working days of creation grade; of the Segregated Portfolio. and b) Adequate disclosure of the Segregated Portfolio shall appear in the scheme related documents, in monthly and half-yearly portfolio b. Supported rating of debt instruments (i.e. after factoring-in disclosures and in the annual report of the Scheme. credit enhancement) is above investment grade. c) Net Asset Value (NAV) of Segregated Portfolio, if any, shall be declared on daily basis. For this purpose, a group means a group as de�ned under d) Investors of the Segregated Portfolio shall be duly informed of the recovery proceedings of the investments of the Segregated Portfolio. regulation 2 (mm) of the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations and Status update may be provided to the investors at the time of recovery and also at the time of writing-off of the segregated securities. shall include an entity, its subsidiaries, fellow subsidiaries, its holding company and its associates. Risk factors associated with Creation of Segregated Portfolio: a) Investor holding units of Segregated Portfolio may not be able to liquidate their holding till recovery of money from the issuer. Pending deployment of funds of the Scheme in securities in terms of the investment objective of the Scheme, the AMC b) Security comprising of Segregated Portfolio may not realise any value. may park the funds of the Scheme in short term deposits of c) Listing of units of Segregated Portfolio in recognised stock exchange does not necessarily guarantee their liquidity. There may not scheduled commercial banks, subject to the guidelines issued be active trading of units in the stock market. Further trading price of units on the stock market may be signi�cantly lower than the by SEBI vide its circular no. SEBI/IMD/CIR No. 1/91171/07 prevailing NAV. dated April 16, 2007, as amended from time to time including Given below is an illustration explaining the segregation of portfolio: SEBI Circular No. SEBI/HO/IMD/DF4/CIR/P/2019/093 dated August 16, 2019. The AMC shall not charge investment Scheme Portfolio before the Credit Event management and advisory fees on such investments. Assets Amount (Rs.) Benchmark NIFTY 500 Index No Change Debt A 50,000 B. Addition of risk factors pertaining to Structured Obligations and Credit enhanced debt in the Scheme Information Document and Debt B 50,000 Key Information Memorandum of the Scheme as under: Debt C 50,000 The risks factors stated below for the Structured Obligations & Credit Enhancement are in addition to the risk factors associated with debt Net Assets 1,50,000 instruments. Assuming number of units outstanding is 10,000 units ● Credit rating agencies assign CE rating to an instrument based on any identi�able credit enhancement for the debt instrument issued NAV = Net Assets / No. of units = 150,000/10,000= Rs.15/- by an issuer. The credit enhancement could be in various forms and could include guarantee, shortfall undertaking, letter of comfort, There is a Credit Event in one of the Security (Debt C). Due to Credit Event the Debt C is valued at Rs. 25,000/- in line with extant SEBI etc. from another entity. This entity could be either related or non-related to the issuer like a bank,�nancial institution, etc. Credit regulations on valuation of such securities. AMC decides to segregate portfolio by segregating exposure in Debt C. The resultant split will enhancement could include additional security in form of pledge of shares listed on stock exchanges, etc. SO transactions are asset be as follows: backed / mortgage backed securities, securitized paper backed by hypothecation of car loan receivables, securities backed by trade receivables, credit card receivables etc. Hence, for CE rated instruments evaluation of the credit enhancement provider, as well as Scheme Main Portfolio the issuer is undertaken to determine the issuer rating. In case of SO rated issuer, the underlying loan pools or securitization, etc. is Assets Amount (Rs.) assessed to arrive at rating for the issuer. Debt A 50,000 ● Liquidity Risk: SO rated securities are often complex structures, with a variety of credit enhancements. Debt securities lack a well- Debt B 50,000 developed secondary market in India, and due to the credit enhanced nature of CE securities as well as structured nature of SO Net Assets 100,000 securities, the liquidity in the market for these instruments is adversely affected compared to similar rated debt instruments. Hence, lower liquidity of such instruments, could lead to inability of the scheme to sell such debt instruments and generate liquidity for the NAV (Main Portfolio) = 100,000/10,000= Rs.10/- scheme or higher impact cost when such instruments are sold. Scheme Segregated Portfolio ● Credit Risk: The credit risk of debt instruments which are CE rated derives rating based on the combined strength of the issuer as well Assets Amount (Rs.) as the structure. Hence, any weakness in either the issuer or the structure could have an adverse credit impact on the debt instrument. The weakness in structure could arise due to inability of the investors to enforce the structure due to issues such as legal risk, inability Debt C 25,000 to sell the underlying collateral or enforce guarantee, etc. In case of SO transactions, comingling risk and risk of servicer increases the Net Assets 25,000 overall risk for the securitized debt or assets backed transactions. Therefore apart from issuer level credit risk such debt instruments NAV (Segregated Portfolio) = Rs. 25,000/10,000= Rs.2.5/- are also susceptible to structure related credit risk. Investor (having 1000 units) will see his scheme holdings as follows: C. Introduction of provisions enabling segregation of portfolio in the Scheme as under: Particulars Before Credit Event After Credit Event CREATION OF SEGREGATED PORTFOLIO Main Portfolio Segregated Portfolio In order to ensure fair treatment to all investors in case of a Credit Event and to deal with liquidity risk, SEBI vide its circular no. SEBI/HO/ Market Value of Units (Rs.) 15,000 10,000 2500 IMD/DF2/CIR/P/2018/160 dated December 28, 2018, as amended from time to time has allowed creation of Segregated Portfolio of debt No. of Units 1000 1000 1000 and money market instruments by mutual fund schemes. Creation of Segregated Portfolio shall be optional and at the sole discretion of the asset management company. NAV per unit (Rs.) 15.00 10.00 2.50 The salient features of creation of Segregated Portfolio are as follows: Monitoring by Trustees The term ‘Segregated Portfolio’ shall mean a portfolio, comprising debt or money market instrument affected by a Credit Event, that has In order to ensure timely recovery of investments of a Segregated Portfolio, if any, the trustees would continuously monitor the progress been segregated in a mutual fund scheme. and take suitable action as they deem appropriate. The term ‘Main Portfolio’ shall mean the scheme portfolio excluding the Segregated Portfolio. In order to avoid mis-use of Segregated Portfolio, Trustees shall ensure that a mechanism is put in place which will negatively impact the The term ‘Total Portfolio’ shall mean the scheme portfolio including the securities affected by the Credit Event. performance incentives of Fund Managers, Chief Investment Of�cers (CIOs), etc. involved in the investment process of securities under The AMC at its sole option and discretion may create Segregated Portfolio in the Scheme, with the approval of the Trustees, subject to the the Segregated Portfolio, mirroring the existing mechanism for performance incentives of the AMC, including claw back of such amount to following: the Segregated Portfolio of the Scheme. Segregated portfolio may be created, in case of a Credit Event at issuer level i.e. downgrade in credit rating by a SEBI registered Credit D. Introduction of Covered Call Strategy under Derivatives strategy of the Scheme as under: Rating Agency (CRA), as under: Exposure on account of call option written under the covered call strategy: ● Downgrade of a debt or money market instrument to ‘below investment grade’, or The Scheme will write call options only under a covered call strategy for constituent stocks of NIFTY 50 and BSE SENSEX subject to the ● Subsequent downgrades of the said instruments from ‘below investment grade’, or following: ● Similar such downgrades of a loan rating; or a) The total notional value (taking into account strike price as well as premium value) of call options written shall not exceed 15% of the ● Any other scenario as permitted by SEBI from time to time. total market value of the underlying equity shares held at all points in time. In case of any passive breach, the Scheme shall have In case of difference in rating by multiple CRAs, the most conservative rating shall be considered. Creation of Segregated Portfolio shall 7 trading days to rebalance the portfolio. During the rebalancing period, no additional call options will be written in the Scheme. be based on issuer level Credit Events as detailed above and implemented at the ISIN level. b) The total number of shares underlying the call options written shall not exceed 30% of the unencumbered shares of the particular Further, Segregated Portfolio may be created for unrated debt or money market instruments of an issuer that does not have any outstanding company held in the Scheme at all points in time. The unencumbered shares in a scheme shall mean shares that are not part of rated debt or money market instruments but only in case of actual default of either the interest or principal amount and subject to guidelines Securities Lending and Borrowing Mechanism (SLBM), margin or any other kind of encumbrances. prescribed by SEBI in this behalf from time to time. c) In case the Scheme needs to sell securities on which a call option is written under a covered call strategy, it must ensure compliance It may be noted that even for the same security (ISIN level) held by multiple Schemes, the AMC, in its sole discretion, may decide to with (a) and (b) above while selling the securities. segregate the portfolio only for select Schemes. d) The Scheme shall not write a call option without holding the underlying equity shares. A call option can be written only on shares which It may be noted that notwithstanding the above, segregation of portfolio may be effected in such events and in such manner as may be are not hedged using other derivative contracts. permitted by SEBI whether by changes to circulars or guidelines in this behalf or by way of clari�cations issued thereto from time to time e) The total gross exposure related to option premium paid and received will not exceed 20% of the net assets of the Scheme. or in any other manner. Page 1 continued...

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NOTICE FOR INVITING BIDS

Mideast Integrated Steels Limited Regd. Off: H-1, Zamrudpur Community Centre, Kailash Colony, New Delhi - 110 048 Website: www.mescosteel.com; CIN: L74899DL1992PLC050216; Ph. No. 011-29241099 & 40587085 Statement of Standalone forthe quarterand the Year endedMarch 31,2020and ConsolidatedAudited FinancialResults forthe Yearended March 31,2020

Sr. Particulars Standalone Results Concolidated Results No. Quarter Ended Year Ended YearEnded 31-Mar-20 31-Mar-19 31-Mar-20 31-Mar-19 31-Mar-20 31-Mar-19 Audited Audited Audited Audited Audited Audited Rs. in Mn Rs. in Mn Rs. in Mn Rs. in Mn Rs. in Mn Rs. in Mn 1 Total Income from Operations 257.00 1,340.36 4,473.22 7,794.66 4,508.28 11,460.37 2 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period (before Tax, Exceptional and/or Extraordinary items) (104.50) (426.99) (537.69) 13.38 (936.68) (814.02) 3 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period before tax (after Exceptional and/or Extraordinary items ) (104.50) (426.99) (537.69) 13.38 (936.68) (814.02) 4 Net Profit/(Loss) for the period after Tax (after Exceptional and/or Extraordinary items) (119.50) (428.99) (597.69) (38.62) (996.68) (866.02) 5 Total Comprehensive Income for the period [Comprising Profit / (Loss) for the period (after tax) and Other Comprehensive Income (after tax)] (118.93) (428.64) (596.37) (37.82) (996.19) (866.05) 6 Equity Share Capital (Face value Rs.10/- per Equity Share ) 1,378.75 1378.75 1,378.75 1378.75 1,378.75 1378.75 7 Reserves (excluding Revaluation Reserve as shown in balance sheet of previous year) - - 5,219.98 5,257.80 1,929.24 2,791.83 8 Earning per share (of Rs.10/- each) (for continuing and discontinued operations) Basic (Rs.) (0.87) (3.11) (4.34) (0.28) (7.23) (6.28) Diluted (Rs.) (0.87) (3.11) (4.34) (0.28) (7.23) (6.28) Notes: 1 The above results have been reviewed and recommended by the Audit Committee and have been approved and taken on record by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on December 5, 2020. 2 The figures for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 and March 31, 2019 are the balancing figures between the audited figures in respect of the full financial year ended March 31, 2020 and March 31, 2019 and the unaudited published year-to-date figures upto December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 respectively being the dates of the end of the third quarters of the financial years which were subjected to limited review. 3 In pursuance to the Judgement dated 2nd August, 2017 of Honorable Supreme Court of India, in the matter of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 114 of 2014 (Common Cause v/s Union of India & Others), an amount of Rs. 924.75 crores has been imposed on the Company towards 'Compensation' as determined in the said Judgement which was to be paid by 31st December 2017, eventhough the Government Taxes and Royalty was paid on the ores extracted. Since the amount was not paid by the stipulated date, the Honorable Supreme Court ordered to stop mining operations with effect from 1st January 2018.“The Company has however filed a 'Curative petition' (Civil) before the Honorable Supreme Court of India challenging the Judgement and which is still pending. Hence provision has not been made for the same in the books of accounts. Further in the said case Company managed to get an Order dated 15th January, 2020 from Hon’ble Supreme Court, according to which Company get permission to sell 23,51,027.83 T of iron ore of different grade and sizes and which has been extracted. Further the realization amount from said sale should be deposited with the State of Odisha towards partial satisfaction of the Compensation demand raised by Demand Notice dated 02.09.2017. The Company is in process to sell the iron ore and to comply with the norms, it is further to be noted that Company managed to get an extension of further six months vide last order dated 24th November, 2020. The Company has deposited with the Government Rs. 55.67 cores including GST till October 2020 under protest towards compensation amount. 4 Previous periods figures have been regrouped / rearranged wherever necessary to conform to the current period's classification(s). 5 The above is an extract of the detailed format of Quarterly/Annual Financial Results filed with the Stock Exchanges under Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listing and Other Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of the Quarterly Financial Results are available on the websites of the Stock Exchange (www.bseindia.com) and the listed entity (www.mescosteel.com). Forandonbehalf of theBoardof Directors ForMideast IntegratedSteels Limited Sd/- Place: NewDelhi Natasha Sinha Date : 05December, 2020 Director

HDFC Asset Management Company Limited A Joint Venture with Standard Life Investments CIN: L65991MH1999PLC123027 Registered Of�ce: HDFC House, 2nd Floor, H.T. Parekh Marg, 165-166, Backbay Reclamation, Churchgate, Mumbai - 400 020. Phone: 022 66316333 • Toll Free Nos: 1800-3010-6767 / 1800-419-7676 • Fax: 022 22821144 • e-mail: [email protected] • Visit us at: www.hdfcfund.com Covered Call Strategy: exit load, for a period of 30 (thirty) days from December 30, 2020 to January 28, 2021 (upto 3:00 p.m. on January 28, 2021) (both days When the Fund sells a covered call (also known as writing a covered call), it would mean that the Fund would already be owning shares of inclusive) (“Exit Option Period”), if they do not wish to stay invested in the Scheme pursuant to the aforesaid changes. the underlying stock and is selling a call which grants the buyer right, but not the obligation, to buy that stock at a set price until the option The Exit Option can be exercised during the Exit Option Period by submitting redemption / switch-out request at any of the Of�cial Point(s) expires. The Fund would earn income known as option price or value (commonly known as the option premium) premium. An option's of Acceptance of the Fund including online transacting facilities such as HDFCMFOnline / HDFCMFMobile. For list of Of�cial Points of premium is based on several factors, like time value, intrinsic value, and implied volatility etc. Acceptance, please visit our website www.hdfcfund.com. A written communication in this behalf is also being sent to existing Unit holders lllustration: via email on registered email id / letter. In case any existing Unit holder does not receive the same, they are advised to contact any of the Investor Service Centres of the AMC. The Scheme owns 100 shares of Company A. Current Market Price (CMP) is Rs.50/- per share. The Scheme writes a covered call with a Unit holders should procure a release of their pledges / vacate the lien prior to applying for redemption / switch-out during the Exit Option strike price of Rs.55/- and receives a premium of Rs.2.50 per share. Thus, the total premium received for selling the call option is Rs.250 Period. In case units have been frozen / locked pursuant to an order of a government authority or a court, such Exit Option can be exercised (Rs.2.5*100 lot size). The call has an expiration date of 3 months. only after the freeze / lock order is vacated / revoked within the period speci�ed above. On the day of expiration of options contract: Unit holders should ensure that any change in address or bank mandate are updated in the Fund’s records before exercising the Exit Scenario 1: The market price of Company A is below Rs.55/-, the Scheme keeps the premium (Rs.250/-) and also the stock as the buyer Option. Unit holders holding Units in dematerialized form may approach their Depository Participant for such changes. would let the call expire as CMP is lower than the strike price. The redemption proceeds (net of applicable taxes, if any) will be remitted / dispatched to the Unit holders within 10 (ten) working days from Scenario 2: The market price of Company A moves above Rs.55/-, the buyer would exercise the option and the Scheme will have to deliver the date of receipt of the redemption request. the underlying stock to settle this obligation. The Scheme will get the strike price (Rs.5500/-) plus the premium (Rs.250/-). Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on redemption / switch-out of units, if any, exercised during the Exit Option Period shall be borne by Bene�ts: HDFC AMC. Redemption / Switch-out by the Unit holders due to change in the fundamental attributes of the Scheme or due to any other The key bene�t of writing a covered call option is to generate additional income (i.e. the proceeds of the options sale or option premium) reasons may entail tax consequences. In view of the individual nature of�nancial and tax implications, each Unit holder is advised on a stock already owned by the Fund. This enhances returns on a security that, in the fund manager's view, is not expected to move in to consult his or her own tax advisors /�nancial advisors. the short-term. It can also be used as used as an exit strategy for a long position. Unit holders who have registered for systematic investment / transfer facilities into the Scheme but do not wish to continue their future Risk: investment into the Scheme, must apply for cancellation of their systematic investment / transfer facilities registrations. Incorrectly pricing the option premium before writing the covered call by ignoring factors which determine pricing like number of days to Unit holders may note that no action is required in case they are in agreement with the aforesaid changes, which shall be deemed as expiry, adjustment with respect to announced corporate actions like dividend etc. consent being given by the Unit holders for the proposed changes. This offer to exit is merely an option and not compulsory. We would like the Unit holders to remain invested in the Scheme. Other features and terms & conditions of the Scheme such as the Investment Objective, Investment Strategy etc. shall remain unchanged. For any queries or clari�cations in this regard, please call us on 1800 3010 6767 / 1800 419 7676 or email us on [email protected]. You may also visit any of the Investor Service Centres (ISC) of HDFC MF or visit www.hdfcfund.com for any other information. The above changes are tantamount to changes in fundamental attributes of the Scheme and have accordingly been approved by the respective Board of Directors of the HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (“AMC”) and the Trustee to the Fund. The Securities and This addendum shall form an integral part of the SID / KIM of the Scheme as amended from time to time. The updated SID &KIM of the Scheme Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) has also vide its communication dated December 21, 2020 noted the changes in fundamental attributes containing the revised provisions shall be displayed on the website www.hdfcfund.com immediately after completion of Exit Option Period. of the Scheme. For HDFC Asset Management Company Limited As per Regulation 18(15A) of the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 (“MF Regulations”), changes in fundamental attributes can be Place : Mumbai Sd/- carried out only after the Unit holders of the Scheme have been informed of the change via written communication and an option to exit Date : December 22, 2020 Authorized Signatory the Scheme at the prevailing NAV without any exit load is provided to them (“Exit Option”). Thus, in accordance with the MF Regulations, existing Unit holders of the Scheme i.e. those Unit holders / investors whose valid applications MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO MARKET RISKS, READ ALL SCHEME RELATED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY. have been received by the Fund till 3:00 p.m. on December 23, 2020, are provided with an option to exit at the prevailing NAV without any Page 2

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Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS NATION 17

Jute balers remain non-compliant with high Pvt thermal power cos to get `40,000-cr liquidity boost: Crisil PRIVATE SECTOR THERMAL alongwithCoalIndia’sdecision receivables from state discoms Thesetwomeasurescanhel- power plants are in for better to offer longer term credit to underarescuepackage,national p them with a liquidity aid of court order,JC to start search and seizure times with a likely `40,000- them, according to a report. miner CIL has decided to allow `40,000crore,improvingtheir FE BUREAU on(JBA)todisclosetheirrawjute uty jute commissioner told FE, seizurewiththehelpoftheWest crore liquidity boost coming in While the government has privatethermalpowerplantsto overallcreditprofiles,Crisilsaid Kolkata, December 22 stocktotheJCwithinsevendays theJBAhasgivenamembers'list Bengal government.The Bihar from government initiatives decidedtoliquidatetheoverdue getcoalon90-180dayscredit. inareportonTuesday. —PTI of the order.It also directed the comprising197namesbutonly government has also promised MAJORITY OFTHE jute balers JC to allow time to stockists to 3 of them have disclosed their us help in seizing hoarded raw andstockistshavenotcomplied bringdowntheirstocksto500q- stocks.There are twenty other jute,”Chakrabortysaid. with the Calcutta High Court's uintaliftheyheldmore.Thebal- applications of non JBA mem- Rawjuteattheopenmarket December14 orderprompting ersandthestockistsfailingtodi- bers disclosing stocks but continuedtoremainatanaver- thejutecommissioner(JC)tost- sclose stockswithin seven days, Chakraborty refrained from age `6,000/quintal, though artsearchandseizureofrawjute. the JC should continue search mentioning the quantum dis- prices touched `6,900/quintal The HC had asked all the mem- andseizure,theHCordersaid. closed.“Going by the HC order inBengaland`7,150/qinother bersoftheJuteBalersAssociati- Koushik Chakraborty,dep- we will start our search and statesduringearlyDecember.

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Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy,itisnotpossibletoverify its contents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be held responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred as a result of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or Publications. We therefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any agreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

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PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY B-14/A, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan, Qutab Institutional Area, Katwaria Saral, New Delhi-110 016 ADVERTISEMENT for inviting proposals under Request for Proposal for selection of sponsors of Pension Funds (PFs) for NPS and other scheme regulated/ administered by the Authority. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) proposes for selection of Sponsors of Pension Funds (PFs) for NPS Government Sector Schemes, Private Sector Schemes and/or any other scheme Regulated/ Administered by the Authority. The RFP document containing detailed information, eligibility conditions, technical and commercial proposals can be downloaded from web site of the Authority i.e. http://www.pfrda.org.in. Interested entities, which satisfy the prescribed eligibility criteria, may submit their proposals in the specified format in accordance with Key dates mentioned in the RFP document to PFRDA at the abovementioned address for participating in the selection process by 1600 hrs. of 22.01.2021. Sd/- Sumit Kumar davp 15102/11/0015/2021 General Manager

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Phoenix ARC Private Limited Regd. Office : Dani Corporate Park, 5th Floor, 158, C.S.T Road, Kalina, Santacruz (E), Mumbai -400 098, Telephone: 022-68492450, Fax: 022-6741 2313 CIN:U67190MH2007PTC168303 Email:[email protected], Website:www.phoenixarc.co.in http://phoenixarc.co.in/saleauction.php?id=Njgy ONLINE E- AUCTION SALE OF ASSET PUBLIC NOTICE FOR ONLINE E- AUCTION (In terms of the provisions of Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) read with Rules 6, 7, 8 & 9 of Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002) Notice is hereby given to the public in general and to the borrower and guarantors in particular, that the under mentioned property mort- gaged to Phoenix ARC Private Limited acting in capacity as Trustee of Phoenix Trust FY15-25 (Phoenix) (pursuant to assignment of debt by Central Bank of India in favour of Phoenix vide Assignment Agreement dated 31.03.2015) will be sold on “AS IS WHERE IS” basis and “AS IS WHAT IS” condition, by way of “online e-auction” for recovery of dues and further interest, charges and costs etc. as detailed below in terms of the provisions of SARFAESI Act read with Rules 6, 7, 8 & 9 of Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002) through website https://www.bankeauctions.com Name of the Borrower Dhanlaxmi Builders and Developers 2nd Floor, Vasundhara Building, Above Indus Arts & Frames, S.V. Road, Vile Parle (West), Mumbai – 400 056 Name of the Guarantors (1) Mr. Hasmukh S Shah (2) Mr. Kiran V Sangoi (3) Mr. Mohan G Majethia (4) Mr. Sunil V Sangoi Outstanding amount as on Rs. 35,41,26,120/- (Rupees Thirty-Four Crores Forty-One Lakhs Twenty-Six Thousand One Hundred and 31st January 2018 Twenty Only) along with further interest @24% p.a. compounded monthly and penal interest @2.00% p.a., from 1.02.2018 together with expenses, other cost and charges. Possession taken under Symbolic SARFAESI Act, 2002 Date of Inspection On request Earnest Money Deposit EMD Amount to be deposited by way of RTGS Favouring “PHOENIX TRUST FY15-25”, Current Account: (EMD) 1311566520, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, Branch: Kalina, Mumbai, IFSC Code: KKBK0000631 EMD amount: Rs.2,35,13,300/- (Rupees Two Crores Thirty-Five Lakhs Thirteen Thousand Three Hundred Only) Date of submission of Bid 12.01.2021 (Tuesday) before 4.30 p.m. (E- Auction) Reserve Price Rs.23,51,33,000/- (Rupees Twenty-Three Crores Fifty-One Lakhs Thirty-Three Thousand Only) Bid Increment Rs.24,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty-Four Lakhs Only) & in such multiples Date & Time of E-Auction 13.01.2021 (Wednesday) between 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Mode of Auction Online - e auction Description of the Secured Property belonging to M/s. Dhanlaxmi Builders & Developers – Asset being auctioned Immovable property admeasuring 12187.38 sq. mtrs., consisting of Shopping Mall & Multiplex Building Known as “UP Hill Mall” (Now named as “Lonavala Square) C.T. S no. 231A, 232A and 208A (part) at Near Kumar Resorts, Except Game Zone on Ground/Upper Parking Floor and certain Shops sold (G-4, G-13, G-16, G-17, G-18, G-24, F-12, F-13, F-14), within Lonavala Municipal Corporation, Lonavala, District- Pune, and bounded as follows: North: Railway Line, South: Partly by Road & partly by CTS No. 227, 230 (Mr. Sachin Tendulkar’s Bungalow), East: Partly by Road & partly by Over-bridge, West: By TATA water Duct Line Terms & Conditions: 1. The auction sale is being conducted by the Authorised Officer under the provisions of SARFAESI Act with the aid and through e-auction. Auction/ Bidding shall be only through “Online Electronic Mode” through the website https://www.bankeauctions.com M/s C1 India Private Limited is the service provider to arrange platform for e-auction. 2. The Auction is conducted as per the further Terms and Conditions of the Bid Document and as per the procedure set out therein. Bidders may go through the website of Phoenix, www.phoenixarc.co.in, http://phoenixarc.co.in/saleauction.php?id=Njgy and website of the service provider, www.bankeauctions.com for bid documents, the details of the secured asset put up for auction/ obtaining the bid form. 3. The bidders may participate in the e-auction quoting/ bidding from their own offices/ place of their choice. Internet connectivity shall have to be arranged by each bidder himself/itself. The Authorised Officer/ Phoenix/ service provider shall not be held responsible for the internet connectivity, network problems, system crash down, power failure etc. 4. For details, help, procedure and online training on e-auction, prospective bidders may Mr. Hareesh Gowda of M/s C 1 India Private Limited, Contact Number: 91-124-4302020/2021/2022/2023/2024, 91-9594597555/07291981124/25/26, email id: [email protected]. 5. The e-auction will be conducted on the date and time mentioned herein above, when the secured asset mentioned above will be sold on “as is where is” basis & “as is what it is” condition. 6. All the intending purchasers/ bidders are required to register their name in the portal mentioned above as https://www.bankeauctions.com and get user ID and password free of cost to participate in the e-auction on the date and time as mentioned aforesaid. 7. For participating in the e-auction, intending purchasers/bidders will have to submit the details of payment of refundable Earnest Money Deposit of 10% of the reserve price of the secured asset along with copies of the PANCARD, Board Resolutions in case of company and Address Proof on or before 12.01.2021 (Tuesday) before 4.30 p.m. 8. The successful purchaser/bidder shall deposit the 25% (inclusive of EMD) of his/her/its offer by way of RTGS to the account mentioned herein above on or before 18:30 hours on 13.01.2021 (Wednesday) i.e. the day of auction, which deposit will have to confirmed by Phoenix, failing which the sale will be deemed to have been failed and the EMD of the said successful bidder shall be forfeited. 9. The EMD of all other bidders who did not succeed in the e- auction will be refunded by Phoenix within 72 hours of the closure of the e-auction. The EMD will not carry any interest. 10. The balance amount of purchase consideration shall be payable by the successful purchaser/bidder on or before the fifteenth day from the date of confirmation of sale of the said secured asset by the Authorised Officer/Secured Creditor or such extended period as may be agreed upon in writing by the Authorised Officer at his/her discretion. In case of default, all amounts deposited till then shall be liable to be forfeited. 11. For inspection of the property or more information, the prospective bidders may contact Amit Masekar/Ajit Kewin, at abovementioned address or at [email protected] / [email protected] (email) or on 09769497286/ 09619866780 (Mob). 12. It shall be the sole responsibility of the intending bidders to inspect, verify and satisfy themselves about the secured asset encumbrances, title of property put on auction and claims/rights/dues affecting the secured assets, including the statutory dues and specifications before submitting the bid. 13. The particulars specified in the e-auction notice published in the newspapers have been stated to the best of the information of the undersigned; however, undersigned shall not be responsible / liable for any error, misstatement or omission. 14. At any stage of the auction, the Authorised Officer may accept/reject/modify/cancel the bid/offer or post-pone the auction without assigning any reason thereof and without any prior notice. 15. In the event, the auction scheduled hereinabove fails for any reason whatsoever, Phoenix has the right to sell the secured asset by any meth- ods under the provisions of Rule 8(5) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 and SARFAESI Act, 2002. 16. The successful purchaser/bidder shall bear any statutory dues, taxes, fees payable, stamp duty, registration fees, cost / expenses / fees / charges etc. that is required to be paid in order to get the property conveyed/delivered in his/her/its favour as per the applicable law. 17. The payment of all statutory/non-statutory dues, taxes, rates, assessments, charges, fees etc. owing to anybody shall be the sole responsibili- ty of the successful bidder only. 18. The Borrower/ Guarantors, who are liable for the said outstanding dues, shall treat this Sale Notice as a notice under Rule 8 Clause (6) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, about the holding of the above-mentioned auction sale Sd/- Place: Lonavala, Pune Authorised Officer Date : 23.12.2020 Phoenix ARC Private Limited, Phoenix Trust FY15-25

ADVERTORIAL ‘India can become global leader in agriculture sector’ Pleases tell us what MANAGE is all strengthen our efforts and improve agri- about.What is your mandate? cultural extension. MANAGE is initiating National Institute ofAgriculture Extension MANAGE will continue to work for ensuring India as a Global efforts to give awayAwards to the Best Management,popularly known as MAN- ExtensionWorkers,Best Extension Book / AGE is an apex organisation under the Leader in Agriculture at macro level and enhance the income of the Publication,BestThesis in Extension,and Ministry ofAgriculture & FarmersWelfare, farmers at micro level through better farming by every farmer, BestAgripreneurs to recognise and appre- Govt.of India,MANAGE was established ciate the good contribution by persons to in 1987 established in Hyderabad with a tells Dr P Chandra Shekara, Director General, National Institute Extension. We started SEVA-MANAGE mission to strengthen agricultural exten- (Service Extension throughVoluntaryAs- sion system in the country through im- of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad sociation – MANAGE) Program to involve parting Managerial andTechnical Skills to the retired professionals in the field of Extension Officers,Agricultural Scientists Agriculture and Allied Sectors in imple- andAdministrators to enable them to pro- menting government programs /schemes, vide effective extension and advisory ser- Can you give a brief of a few Pro- Training Programs (FTF-ITT) with the sup- scrutiny process;we provide them with a action research projects, training pro- vices to Farmers and Fishermen for practic- grams? How do you do them? port of USAID on variety of 25 different Rs 5 lakh grant. The second category is grams, consultancy, policy advocacy ini- ing Sustainable Agriculture.We function MANAGE runs about 200 training programs topics based on the demand analysis of agri incubation programme. Here we get tiatives through MANAGE. We also intro- as aThinkTank to incubate management every year covering more than 5500 senior needs of each country.After the training, mature ideas but other sort of assistance duced a National Network ofAgricultural strategies, innovative approaches, initiate and middle level agricultural officers and we also provided handholding support and mentoring is required. For example, Journalists (NNAJ) to involveAgri Journal- reforms and promote convergence of ef- functionaries representing Government De- and guidance to them in implementing helping with patent, Upgradation of tech- ists in communicating agricultural news forts in agricultural extension system to partments, ICAR Institutions, KVKs, SAUs, their Back-at-Work-Plans in their coun- nology or expanding the reach.The grant and information rapidly through press make more responsive and efficient.We Commodity Boards,Agricultural Marketing tries and encouraged them to transplant is Rs 25 Lakh. Recently,we helped 40 inno- and electronic media. workasatechnicalarmtotheMinistryof Boards, NGOs, Private Sector,Agripreneurs Indian innovations such as Kisan Call vators and disbursed Rs.4 crore rupees. Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of etc., from different states in India.We offer Center,Agricultural Technology Manage- What are major contributions of India in the matters of agricultural exten- need-based training programs on more mentAgency,KVK,Agri-Clinics, and Family What is Employment potential of your Institute? What is the future sion management. than 50 themes of current importance. Our Nutrition Activities, Agripreneurship Besides these, MANAGE also offers MANAGE programmes? vision of your institute? training programs are farmer-focused and amongYouth etc. MANAGE also trains se- Certified Farm / Livestock Advisor Pro- We run a two-year, regular PGDM (ABM) MANAGE has made significant contribu- What does MANAGE do? What are depend heavily on participatory methodolo- nior officers under ITEC (IndianTechnical gram (CFA / CLA) to infuse professional- program which has AICTE approval.We tion since its inception in 1987. It pre- your focus areas? gies. We use experiential learning, hands- and Economic Cooperation) Programs of ism in extension for functionaries from have just completed 25 years.Introduced pared the National Participatory Water- We have several institutes in the country on practice,field visits,group works,interac- Ministry of ExternalAffairs.We also train public and private sectors for one year in in 1996, all these years, we’ve achieved shed Guidelines, established the first which undertake research in agriculture tive sessions, panel discussions, executives of private agri business com- collaboration with ICAR mentor institu- 100% placement.We select candidates Agri-Business School in India,steered the and allied subjects and generate a lot of presentations by participants, case studies, panies and NGOs on demand.We offer tions; Post Graduate Diploma in Agri on CAT scores and give seats to 66 stu- reforms in Extension by implementing the technologies for farmers. Extension Sys- success stories, games, soft skills with per- customised MDP programs to cater their Warehousing Management (PGDAWM) dents from across the country. So far, we Agricultural Technology Management tem represented by StateAgriculture &Al- sonal attention.We focus on problem-solv- need on consultancy basis. for warehousing personnel for one year produced about 1000 agri techno-man- Agency (ATMA) as an extension institu- lied Departments, Krishi Vigyan Kendras ing approach to field level issues faced by through distance mode.All these Schemes agers.All of them have settled in top and tion at district level, implemented (KVK), State Agricultural Universities farmers,officers and other stakeholders. MANAGE runs different schemes of and Programs aims at enhancing knowl- very senior positions in national and AC&ABC Scheme at the national level, (SAUs), NGOs,Agribusiness Sector, Input We conduct almost 50% of our training Govt.of India.What are they? How edge and capacities of respective func- multi-national agri-business companies. and launched DAESI for Input Dealers, PG- Dealers and other stakeholders take ap- programs at our campus in Hyderabad. they are useful to improve agricul- tionaries and ensures better agricultural We train about 6000 unemployed agricul- DAEM for agricultural officers,Introduced propriate technologies and latest knowl- Whereas,we conduct another 50% of our tural extension and entrepreneur- extension and agripreneurship develop- tural graduates every year through professionalism in extension through CFA edge to door-step of the farmers through programs at off-campus venues of State ship in agriculture in India? ment in the country. AC&ABC Scheme at 150 Nodal Training / CLA program; and conceived concepts different management and community Agricultural Management, Extension Learning is a continuous process. MAN- Institutions across India. Once they get such as Market-let Extension, Cyber Ex- approaches by its Extension Profession- Training Institutions (SAMETIs), Extension AGE believes in building capacities of How do you go about Agri start-ups certificate, they get start-up loans of 20 tension,Private Extension,Public-Private als. Extension is not just limited to transfer Education Institutions (EEIs), ICAR Institu- multiple agencies and functionaries is im- and promoting agri-preneurship? lakh with 36-44% subsidy that is pro- Extension,Linking Farmers to Market etc. of technology. It involves socio-economic, tions and SAUs with their collaboration. portant to improve agricultural extension MANAGE is a knowledge partner in vided through NABARD.We have trained We, at MANAGE, have a vision to be behavioural, managerial aspects, institu- With COVID-19, we are running all our services in India. We run innovative RKVY-RAFTAAR Program of the Ministry 75000 such graduates since 2001. As counted among the most pioneering, inno- tional and process reforms for better training activities through on-line and schemes such as Post Graduate Diploma in of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in four many as 35,000 of them have established vative, farmer-friendly and self-support- adoption of agricultural technologies by MOOC platforms as per the schedule.We Agricultural Extension Management (PG- states viz., Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, 32 types ofAgri-Ventures that can be run ing agricultural management institute in small and marginal farmers through a also offer short duration Internship Pro- DAEM) for agricultural officer for one year Kerala and Tamil Nadu with an aim at in a rural environment viz. Input (Seeds, the world.India has an advantage of var- multitude of agencies. grams for university agricultural students on distance learning mode; Diploma in strengthening infrastructure in Agricul- Fertilisers,Pesticides) trading,Fish finger- ied agro-climatic conditions which is suit- We,at MANAGE,focus on building ca- and scholars with stipend facility. Extension Services for Input Dealers ture and Allied sectors to promote Agri- lings production units, Organic Production able for a variety of crops, strong scien- pacities of Extension Professionals (DAESI) for Input Dealers / Shop Keepers preneurship and Agri-business by facili- units,Feed mixing units,direct marketing, tific research, education and extension through Training and provide Policy Sup- Do you organise training programs for one year through contact classes on tating financial aid and nurturing a Honeybee Keeping, Dairy Management system and endowed with rich experience port to Central and State Governments, for international audience and pri- market holidays; Agri-Clinics and Agri- system of incubation.We have been con- etc., and able to provide jobs to other of professionals in the field of agricultural undertake Action Research, Consultancy, vate companies? Business Centers (AC&ABC) Scheme for ducting two kinds of programme: Pre- also. Through Incubation and RKVY- development.This vast Indian experience Educational Programs, implement Govt. MANAGE also trains Senior Executives unemployed Agricultural Graduates for seed stage and Incubation. Innovators RAFTAAR Program, we are able to pro- and its relevance to farmers in many devel- of India Schemes and Knowledge & Docu- and Officers fromAsian andAfrican coun- 45 days through different NodalTraining with just an exciting idea are grouped in moteAgri StartUps by innovators. oping countries are huge. MANAGE will mentation activities that ensure effective tries as India situations and experiences Institutions in India with an objective to Pre-seed stage.As much as 2 months ori- continue to work for ensuring India as a Extension andAdvisory Services to farm- are relevant to those countries. We promote self-employment with the sup- entation programmes they are taken in to Any new initiatives you started at Global Leader in Agriculture at macro ers.MANAGE has 9Thematic Centers and trained 1400 Senior Executives from 20 port of NABARD; Skill Training of Rural where we help them with shaping up MANAGE? level and enhance the income of the farm- a School ofAgribusiness Management to countries of Asia and Africa through 44 Youth (STRY) for rural youth for 7 days their ideas and other related aspects of it. MANAGE is a concept nursery.We always ers at micro level through better farming implement its mandate and functions. Feed-the-Future International Triangular through SAMETIs in different states. Those qualify after going through a create new concepts that would by every farmer.

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Pune WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020 FINANCIAL EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL 21 Australian regulator US eco rebound patchwork delays decision on of virus risk and rules Google-Fitbit merger ASSOCIATED PRESS other than Apple, being BLOOMBERG Geographic divergence spentthousands ofdollars out- Canberra, December 22 squeezed out of the wearables December 22 fitting his restaurant’s patio market, as they are reliant on Location and local restrictions determine degree of mobility (%) with a roof and heaters in the AUSTRALIA’S COMPETITION Google’s Android system and THE US ECONOMY has splin- 0 Dollas Fed mobility and engagement index for Georgiahopes that The Vault Garden REGULATOR onTuesdaydela- other Google services to make Toyota’s driverless tered along state and citylines, -20 could attract enough guests to yed for three months its deci- their devices work effectively,” with the speed of the rebound California index cover the bills. Earlier this siononGoogle’splantobuyfit- Simssaid. largelydependent on the mag- -40 month, outdoor dining was ness gadget maker Fitbit for The ACCC would continue shuttles could double nitude of local business restric- -60 shuttered and Cole furloughed $2.1 billion despite the Euro- its investigation and set March tions to combat an unending New York index all35ofhisworkers. pean Union giving conditional 25 as its decision date, Sims surgeinCovid-19cases. -80 Illinois index “People are just exhausted approvaltothedeal. said. Googlesaidinastatement as‘office-on-the-go’ CaliforniaandIllinois,where -100 Florida index bythe back-and-forth change,” Shares of Fitbit tumbled al- itwasdisappointedatthedelay some of the strictest measures he said.Across the country, in most 7% before the opening but would continue to engage TOYOTAMOTOR CORPORA- within a fewyears. -120 have been imposed,sawjumps Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Jacksonville, Florida, Sam and bell. The EU regulators last with the ACCC to answer the TIONisaimingtocommercial- TheJapanesecarmakerhad in state unemployment filings 2020 Kiley Efron’s restaurant, Tav- week approved the deal after regulators’questions. ize an autonomous shipping- sought to showcase the e- thismonththathelpedpushthe Source: Federal Bank of Dollas, Bloomberg erna,remains open in part be- Googlepromisedto Sims said his container-like vehicle within a Paletteatthe2020TokyoSum- weekly US total to a three- cause local authorities allow al restrict user data Shares of Fitbit concerns about the few years that it says could mer Olympic games, where monthhigh.Bothstatesalsohad frescodining.They’vespacedta- and ensure An- tumbled almost deal were aligned doubleasamobilestoreorrov- over a dozen of the vehicles, Novemberunemploymentrates economic reality for workers who have managed to keep bles six feet apart and reduced droid phones work 7% before the withthoseoftheUS ing office. running on automated loops, abovethenationallevelof6.7%. andfirmsinaplacewherebusi- their jobs,many are faced with indoorseating byhalf.Sales are with other wear- opening bell Department of Jus- Toyota’s e-Palette is a were to be used to transport In Florida, where many busi- ness is generally open is vastly choosing their health or their down about 30%, but it’s able devices for at tice than those of largely transparent,driverless staff and athletes around the nesses are permitted to operate different from those living paychecks,hesaid. enough to cover expenses, in- least10years. theEU. oblong carriage on wheels Olympicvillage. at full capacity,state jobless fil- wherethingsaremostlyclosed. “Me beating the drum of cludingpaychecks forabout50 ButtheAustralianCompeti- Australia wanted to see that’s powered by a battery. It “We received a lot of in- ings have hit the lowest since Yet higher mobility also ‘Stay home, stay home, stay employees. tion and Consumer Commis- what the US decided before can accommodate up to 20 quiriesfrompeoplewondering March and the November job- comes with potentially devas- home,’does nothing,”Barocas “I’ve talked to friends in sion said itwas not prepared to making its own decision,Sims passengers,withseatsthatfold about the fate of the e-Palettes less ratewas belowthe national tatinghealthconsequences.Na- said. “It is a combination of otherstates.Iamreallygrateful accept a similarcourt-enforce- said. The EU decision was upandallowthespacetobere- after the Olympics were post- average,evenwith tourism em- tionwide,more than 300,000 proactive restrictions,coupled tobelivinginFloridarightnow,” ableundertakingfromtheSili- largelyfocusedonGoogle’suse purposed. poned,” Toyota Connected ploymentstilldepressed. people have died from Covid- with support — for both indi- SamEfronsaid. conValleytechgiant. ofdata,hesaid.“WeattheACCC The e-Palette began as a Company President Keiji Ya- And even with a new $900 19,and the recent acceleration viduals and businesses — and The tougherrestrictions are “We are not satisfied that a and the DOJ have a verydiffer- concept vehicle,announced at mamoto said onTuesday. billion stimulus package ap- in infections and deaths is creative solutions to sort of re- frustrating restaurateurs like long term behavioural under- ent theory of harm,”Sims told the 2018 Consumer Electron- “We’re receiving a lot of in- proved by Congress late on showinglittlesignofabating. duce the overall probability of Cole,especiallywhen data sug- taking of this type in such a AustralianBroadcastingCorp. ics Show by Toyota president terest in the potential of e- Monday — extending and Amajorproblemisthatlock- transmission.”Thesituationhas gest other measures may be complexanddynamicindustry “We’re concerned that if Akio Toyoda, who said it is a Palettevehiclesfordeliveryand boosting relief forunemployed down measures are often reac- been particularlyfrustrating to helpful.Astudybyresearchersat could be effectively monitored Google gets hold of Fitbit,that symbol of how he is trying to shuttle services” and beyond Americans—theroadtorecov- tive — implemented when the restaurantowners,atleastthose the Federal Reserve Bank of and enforced in Australia,” couldmean,justlikeyou’vegot transform the world’s second- that there’s “a tremendous erywillcontinuetobeunevenin virusisalreadyoutofcontrol— managingtostayinbusinessaf- Boston found mask mandates ACCC chair Rod Sims said in a a bit of a duopoly with apps, largest automaker into a mo- amount of interest in actually differentregions. rather than proactive, said ter many closed permanently areeffectiveinreducingatleast statement.“The ACCC contin- you’d have a duopoly with bility company. On Tuesday, using them as mobile stores Recent data make clear Joshua Barocas, an infectious and laid offworkers during the halfoftheincreaseincasesand ues to have concerns that wearables, which in our view Toyotasaiditplanstomakethe and roving offices,”he said. there’satrade-offbetweenjobs disease physician at Boston pandemic. deaths stemming from in- Google’s acquisition of Fitbit would significantly reduce e-Palette commercially viable —BLOOMBERG and business restrictions.The Medical Center. For workers In San Francisco,Ryan Cole creasedmobility. may result in Fitbit’s rivals, competition,”headded. Kremlin mocks Navalny over alleged underwear poison plot India stopping flights from REUTERS Germany has said he was his underpants. Navalny said certain signs of megaloma- Moscow, December 22 poisoned with a Soviet-style hehadposedasanaidetoase- nia,”said Peskov. Novichoknerveagentinanat- nior Russian security official Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's UK upsets plans of many THE KREMLINON Tuesday tempt to murderhim,an as- to gain the man’s confidence. spokeswoman,said onTwitter mocked opposition politician sertion manyWestern nations Russia’s FSB security ser- that it looked like Peskov had INDIA STOPPING FLIGHTS to of the coronavirus in parts of denlockdowns.“Wekeptdelay- AlexeiNavalnyandtriedtocall accept. vice dismissed the recording been forced to improvise and and from Britain after a new England. Besides India, other ingourtravel,thinkingeitherof his sanity into question,a day The Kremlin has repeat- as a fake. Dmitry Peskov, mockedwhat she portrayed as strain of Covid-19 with high countries like Canada have also usmightgetstuck,butrecently after he said he had tricked a edly rejected any suggestion Putin’s spokesman, told re- the Kremlin's attempts to ob- transmissibilitywasreportedin stoppedflightsfromtheUK. myfamilytook the chance and Russian secret agent into dis- that Russia tried to kill porters ona conferencecallon scure the truth. theUKhasupsetplansofmany “My family is visiting me cametotheUK,”Abhijeetsaid. closing lurid details of a Navalny. Tuesday he was speaking in a She pointed out that Putin who were to come back home and theywere supposed to re- His mother Taruna Dang, botched plot to kill him. Navalny on Monday re- personalcapacity,butthought himself had recently con- beforetheNewYearorreturnto turn post-Christmas.But now who is a professor at a private Navalny, one of President leased a recording of him File photo of Russian Navalny was suffering from firmed that state security universities there for pending theirplansseemtobedoomed,” university in India,said,“I can VladimirPutin’s most outspo- speaking by phone at length opposition activistAlexei psychological issues. agents had kept an eye on researchwork. saidAbhijeetDang,anITprofes- continue taking online classes ken critics, was airlifted to to a man he described as a Navalny making gestures “We can say that the pa- Navalny, something she sug- Theflightsuspensiontillthe sionalintheUK. fromtheUKbutwehaveseenin Germany for medical treat- state security agent who told while speaking to a crowd tient (Navalny) has a pro- gested sat oddly with the endofthisyearwasannounced He said the whole year peo- thepastthatoncestranded,the ment in August after collaps- him,among otherthings,that during a political protest in nounced persecution mania. Kremlin now accusing him of onMondayinviewofdetection ple were not travelling fearing strugglebegins.Wehopeflights ing on a plane in Russia. the poison had been placed in Moscow PHOTO:AP You can also clearly identify having persecution mania. ofanewrapid-spreadingstrain theywouldgetstuckduetosud- resumesoon.” —PTI

* ADVERTORIAL An initiative by

INDIA is predominantly an agricultural country. The development of the agricultural sector is cru- Farmer is the backbone of this nation. The cial to realise the vision of the nation to be At- Facilitators are an intrinsic farmrmer plaplays a crucial role in a nation like In- manirbhar.For this all institutions in the co-op- dia which is in the forefront among developing erative field need the support of the farmers. nations. As per statistics agricultural income The farming community must realise the im- part of Agriculture Sector constitutes a major share in the nation's econ- portance as well as the necessity of multiple omy. It is the ambition and objective of the cropping and act accordingly. Farmers should government to work for the betterment and wel- consider growing different cops in their fields and The agriculture sector is heavily dependent on facilitators in its bid to fare of farmers. Of late, the younger generation is plantations.CAMPCO will always extend a helping maintain agricultural productivity on a par with the nation’s requirements getting attracted towards agriculture.To see young- hand to the farmers in this endeavour.On the occasion sters shunning their high paying jobs to engage in agricul- of National Farmers Day on December 23,the farming community GRICULTURE sector is one of the few decades, it has also led to the depletion low interest rates for agriculture, farming and tural activities in villages, is a good development. It is note- should introspect on the ways to strengthen the farm sector. largest contributors to our GDP, con- of soil health,further leading to the decrease of small businesses,and to provide cheap credit worthy here that engaging in farming on a large scale utilising Reiterating that we are committed to achieve this endeavour, Atributing about 15% of the national soil nutrients.This imbalance of nutrients in with or without any security. technology is also profitable. we extend our warm wishes and greetings to the farmers of the GDP. It is also the main source of livelihood soil is overcome by the proper use of fertilizers. Therefore, the role of cooperative banking The various co-operative societies spread across the nation nation on the occasion of National Farmers Day. for over 50% of Indian population.As per re- Chemical substances such as fertilizers and system in India cannot be less than that of be- are always ready to support the farming community.Right from Mr Kishore Kumar Kodgi cent reports, “Gross Value Added (GVA) by pesticides are used by farmers in an attempt to ing a crucial facilitator of Indian agriculture. primary co-operative societies to institutions like CAMPCO The President Campco Ltd agriculture, forestry and fishing was estimated increase crop yield.Fertilizers provide essential Both the cooperative banks and the fertilizer- which provide a market to farm pro- at Rs.19.48 lakh crore (US$ 276.37 billion) in nutrients for plant growth whilst pesticides making companies are extensively engaged duce, have been supporting farmers. FY20 (PE).Growth in GVA in agriculture and al- attack pests that damage the crops. in supporting the farming community to help This is a sector where enthusiastic lied sectors stood at 4% in FY20. Essential Fertilizers are of utmost use“to farmers who improve agricultural yield, in both quality and youth have a good scope.Today agri- SCDCC Bank agricultural commodities export for theApril- plant crops in multiple cycles without letting quantity. culture can also generate good income. September period of 2020 increased by 43% to the soil ‘re-fill’ its stock of nutri- Rs. 53,626 crore (US$ 7.3 billion) over Rs. ents naturally.” To promote the Fully 37,397 crore(US$5.1billion)inthesamepe- use of fertilizers by farmers,“the Trusted riod last year.” central government provides a Speaking of the sector’s market size, during fertilizer subsidy to the producers Rs. 8500/- 2019-20 crop year, “food grain production of fertilizers.” In 2017-18, “Rs crores was estimated to reach a record 295.67 million 70,000 crore had been allocated turnover tonnes (MT). In 2020-21, Government of In- for fertilizer subsidy.” Both or- dia is targeting food grain production of 298 ganic and inorganic fertilizers are Vehicle Loan MT.” Similarly, production of horticulture available in the market. crops in India was estimated at a record When it comes to facilitating 320.48 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY20, the farming community mone- Dr. M.N. Rajendra Kumar as per second advance estimates. Milk pro- tarily, the role of multi-state co- duction in the country is expected to increase operative banks can’t be LOAN FACILITIES LOW INTEREST RATE FOR to 208MTinFY21from198MTinFY20,reg- negated. The credit co-opera- • Agriculture Farming• Business Purpose• Gold Pledge Loan istering a growth of 10% y-o-y. tives play an important role in • Self Groups• Industry and Service Units• Home Loan• Vehicle Gold Loan All these figures reflect the hard work of the Indian financial system, es- • Education, Petty Loan• Salaried Based at attractive interest rate. our farmers on the field day in and day out. pecially at the village level. Co- 19th Apex Bank award 18th Naabard Award No matter what the situation is, they are al- operative banks focus on in- Quality service from trusted Bank ways working on the fields to cater to our creasing the viability and country’s food security and sufficiency.India is outreach of rural finance.The ob- Shri Vinay Kumar Surinje Shri Ravindra B. among the 15 leading exporters of agricul- jectives of a cooperative bank tural products in the world,with agri-exports are — to ensure timely and in- Of�ce Bearers and Staffs from India reaching US$ 38.54 billion in FY19 creased flow of credit to the and US$ 28.93 billion in FY20 (till January farming sector,to provide longer SCDCC BANK LTD. 2020). credit support to various rural H.O. MANGALORE Soil health is of extreme importance when it development programmes, pro- comes to agricultural productivity.While we vide easy access to credit for have increased food production over the past rural industries,provide loans at

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● ON THE FRONT LINE IMFwarns euro-area ConfusionreignsascostrytosteerUS vaccineroll-out recovery may

would offer its members a arms was still far from clear central data system. But a slow,stimulus While states often follow CDC guidelines, model letter to give to employ- amid the patchwork of state spokeswoman for the state’s they generally have broad discretion ees,attestingtotheir“essential” rules.TheConsumerBrandsAs- health department did not im- still needed status. sociation representing food, mediately respond to whether when it comes to vaccine distribution The US has two authorised beverage, personal care and the same system would allow BLOOMBERG vaccines, one from Pfizer and household product companies, companiestosubmitthenames December 22 TINA BELLON and agriculture, manufactur- BioNTech SE and another from includingProcter&Gambleand of non-healthcare essential New York, December 22 ing,grocerystores,public tran- Moderna. The vaccines are Colgate-Palmolive,said it exp- workers. THEEUROAREAisindangerof sitandattheUSPostalService. rolling out as hospitals reach ected hybrid solutions, from Other industry groups,like seeingaslowereconomicrecov- US COMPANIES AND industry TheAdvisoryCommitteeon peak capacity and deaths have partnerships with pharmacies theNationalWaste&Recycling eryin 2021 than previouslyex- groups trying to move their Immunization Practices (ACIP) exceeded315,000. tohiringoutsidehealthcareser- Association,which represents pected, and may need more workers to the front of the line wasfacedwiththetoughchoice The lack of coordinated viceproviders. companies, including Waste stimulus as a resurgent coron- foraCovidvaccineremaincon- ofrankingavastgroupofessen- planshasleddozensofindustry “It’s for this reason that ManagementandRepublicSer- avirus sweeps through the con- fused about conflicting state tialworkerswho,accordingtoa groups and individual compa- nothinghaschangedaboutour vices, said it would continue tinent,theInternationalMone- and local guidelines on how list by the US Department of nies, including Amazon.com concerns about the piecemeal pushingtoprioritiseitsworkers taryFundsaid. shots will be administered and Homeland Security, make up andUberTechnologies,tolobby Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was faced state vaccination playbooks,”a for a vaccine,despite not being Risks will remain on the to which workers,even as mil- nearly 70% of the US labour state and federal officials to with tough choice of ranking a vast group of essential spokeswomansaid. included in the ACIP recom- downsideintothenewyearand lions of doses make their way force. movetheirworkersclosertothe workers who, according to a US Department of Homeland The spokeswoman also said mendations. thetimingofareboundwillde- acrossthecountry. TheACIPrecommendations, frontoftheline. Security list, make up nearly 70% of US labour force REUTERS it remained unclearhowwork- ThegrouponMondayasked pend on howquicklyand effec- An independent advisory which still need to be adopted SeveralstatesincludingNew ers could verify they were in- CDCdirectorRobertRedfield,in tivelyavaccine is rolled out,the paneltotheUSCentersforDis- bythe CDC,come months after York,MassachusettsandMichi- doesnotmentionmanufactur- deliverypeople,”theletterread. deed “essential”, adding that a letter seen by Reuters, to in- fund warned. It said unprece- easeControlandPreventionon statesformulatedtheirowndis- gan do not follow the panel’s ing at all.Uber chief executive Some industry groups, in- consumer brands would pro- clude the waste and recycling dented policy responses at na- Sunday voted that 30 million tribution plans, which have recommendationsandhavein- DaraKhosrowshahiinaletterto cludingtheFoodIndustryAsso- vide its members with a tem- industryinthenextvaccination tionalandEUlevelshavehelped essentialworkersarenextinline been disseminated to local stead drafted their own list of president-elect Joe Biden on ciation,which represents food plate theycan put on company phaseacrossthecountry. cushiontheimpactofthecrisis. forvaccines.Thosevaccinations healthdepartmentsinprepara- essential workers to be priori- Mondaycalledformorefederal retailers including Albertsons letterhead confirming essen- Kirk Sander, the group’s “Unlesspandemicdynamics are expected to start in January tion for the vaccine.The state- tised for a vaccine. Some also guidance once Biden takes of- Companies,and the American tial-workerstatus,similartolet- chiefofstaffandvice-president changesignificantlyinthecom- orFebruary. level plans differ from each prioritisepeoplewithpre-exist- ficeonJanuary20. FederationofTeachers,alabour ters distributed during curfews ofsafetyandstandards,saidone ingmonths,economicactivityis While states often follow other and from the federal ing medical conditions, who “Weaskthatyoucontinueto union,welcomedtheACIP’srec- and lockdowns so employees of its members,a large medical set to recover more gradually CDC guidelines,they generally guidelines. were not accounted for by the provide federal leadership to ommendation and the inclu- couldgettowork. waste company,saw local offi- than forecast,”the IMFsaid in a have broad discretion when it Italsoisunclearwhatproce- advisorypanel. stateandlocalleadersandrein- sionoftheirworkers. InNorthCarolina,whichhas cials prioritise its workers,who reportaftertalkswitheuro-zone comestovaccinedistribution. dures,if any,are in place forin- Massachusetts,forexample, force the need to provide early But some groups also cau- one of the most extensive vac- pick up waste from hospital members on their common The panel listed categories, dividuals to prove they belong prioritises Uber and Lyft ride- vaccineaccessforessentialcrit- tioned that despite their inclu- cine distribution plans,hospi- wards,foraCovid-19vaccinein policies.Further fiscal support including first responders, toahigh-prioritygroup.Onein- haildriversinthesamephaseas ical infrastructure workers,in- sion, the practical question of talscouldsubmitlistsofpeople some counties,but not in oth- willbeneededandgovernments teachers, and workers in food dustrygroupsaidonMondayit grocery-store workers,while it cluding rideshare drivers and howvaccineswillreachworkers' eligibleforthefirstvaccinestoa ers. —REUTERS should“explore options to en- hance the current fiscal rules.” Fornow,theIMFmaintainedits estimates of an 8.3% slump in the 19-member euro area this Biden camp adds pressure on EU to hit brakes on China deal year and a 5.2% economic re- boundin2021. BLOOMBERG marketandeliminatediscrimi- The EU wants the mitments Chinawould be pre- suchconcernswas“clearlywor- tention camps, while a recent triggering the collapse of the Aslower recoverywould be December 22 natory practices,but critics say Comprehensive paredtomakeonlabourissues. rying.”“Trade policy does not reportbyprominentresearcher Communist Party across the more likely to produce long- thatitwouldinturnrewardBei- Agreement on Investment Several European lawmak- take place in avacuum,”he said Adrian Zenz claimed that slave easternbloc.Atleastoneanalyst term“scarring”thatcouldweigh THE EUROPEAN UNION came jing with preferential access to ers and China analysts have ex- onTwitter.“Howthequestionof labourisdeployedtopickcotton at a Chinese think tank has de- on the bloc in the future, it under mounting pressure to European markets despite to open up China’s pressedconcernthattheEUand forced labour is addressed will in the region.The Chinese For- scribed the EU’s demand on warned, adding that tensions slow down its push for a major movestocrushdissentinplaces market and eliminate especiallyGermany,asholderof determine the agreement’s eignMinistryhasrepeatedlyde- labourunionsas“unlikelyorim- between the UK and EU over investment deal with China,as from Hong Kong to Xinjiang.A discriminatory practices the bloc’s rotating presidency fate.”Chinese foreign minister niedsuchclaims. possible”forChinatoaccept. Brexit have increased uncer- opposition grew to any agree- deal would be a“symbolic vic- and the EU nation with the WangYi discussed the negotia- Among the key items Brus- “We believe as long as both tainty.Britainisduetoleavethe ment with Beijing that fails to tory”forChina,andcouldmake deepesttradetiestoChina,may tionsforanagreementduringa sels had been seeking from can accommodate the other bloc’scustomsareaattheendof tackleforcedlabour. it harder to forge transatlantic andcalledfortheinvestmentac- be prepared to set aside labour workinglunchonMondaywith ChinawastheratificationofIn- side’s concerns and meet each the month, and no deal on Jake Sullivan,national secu- unity on China, according to cordtoincludecommitmentsto issues in its rush for a deal by EUcountryambassadorsaswell ternational Labour Organiza- otherhalfway,wewillbeableto arrangements afterthat hasyet rity adviser to US President- Mikko Huotari,director of the respect international conven- year’send.Theyurgeholdingoff as Nicolas Chapuis,head of the tionfundamentalconventions, achieve the targets set by our beenreached. electJoeBiden,weighedinwith Mercator Institute for China tionsbanningsuchpractices. until talks can take place with EUdelegationinBeijing. includingtheabilityforChinese leaders,”the foreign ministry’s Italy and Austria have im- a tweet late on Monday refer- studiesinBerlin. “Thereisnosuchthingasso- the Biden administration on a Inastatement,theEUnoted workers to form independent WangWenbin said on Monday, posednewlockdownstocontain encing a story on the proposed Bothsideshavesetadeadline calledforcedlabourinXinjiang,” common approach to China. progress in the ongoing talks labourunions. describingthetalksas“inthefi- the spread of the pandemic, EU-China accord. He urged oftheendoftheyear,butthene- Chinese foreign ministryspok- The European Parliament will and said that both sides are in China has only one official nalstage.” whiletheUKisfacingasurgeof “earlyconsultationwithourEu- gotiations could yet stumble if esman Wang Wenbin said at a haveasayinapprovinganyEU- “continuous contact to address trade union that covers all in- Wang Huiyao,an adviser to infections and a newvariant of ropean partners on our com- Beijingrefusestobudgeoverkey regularpress briefing in Beijing Chinadeal. outstandingissues.” dustries.Beijing has long been China’s cabinet,said he thinks the coronavirus that led several mon concerns about China’s demands on how it treats its onTuesday.“The relevant accu- Bernd Lange,a German So- Human-rights activists say spooked by the prospect of or- it’s possible that a deal can be nations to tighten restrictions economicpractices.” workers.The European Parlia- sation is totallybaseless.It sm- cial Democrat who chairs the the so-called re-education cen- ganisedlabourandhowitcould concludedsoonbutwarnedthat on travel to and from the coun- The EU wants the Compre- mentpassedaresolutiononDe- ears and slanders against the European Parliament’s trade tresandvocationaltrainingpro- evolve into a political force, any demands such as those on try. Such events are putting a hensive Agreement on Invest- cember17condemningChina’s XinjiangregionandtheChinese committee, said the fact an grams in the mainly Muslim much like the Polish labour labour show a lack of under- damperon hopes of a quick re- ment to open up China’s useofforcedlabourinXinjiang, side.”Wangdidn’tsaywhatcom- agreement was near despite Xinjiang region are de facto de- unionSolidaritydid,eventually standingofChina’ssituation. covery.

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