बंगाल: शोले के डायलॉग से ममता ने मुख्यमंत्रियों से की साथ आने की अपील, बोलीं- जो डरते हैं, वो मरते हैं

पश्चिम बंगाल की मुख्यमंत्री ममता बनर्जी और केंद्र सरकार के बीच तनातनी इन दिनों जोरों पर है। बंगाल के मुख्य सचिव रहे अलापन बंदोपाध्याय को लेकर जारी डेप्युटेशन ऑर्डर के खिलाफ बनर्जी अपनी नाराजगी जाहिर कर रही थीं।

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मुंबई: फोटोग्राफर कोलस्टन जूलियन समेत नौ लोगों के खिलाफ दुष्कर्म का आरोप, मॉडल ने दर्ज कराई शिकायत

मुंबई में एक मॉडल ने मशहूर फोटोग्राफर कोलस्टन जूलियन समेत नौ लोगों के खिलाफ छेड़छाड़, दुष्कर्म और यौन शोषण का मामला दर्ज कराया है। शिकायत दर्ज कराने के बाद अब मुंबई पुलिस इस मामले की जांच कर रही है।

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Month After Trinamool Win, Defectors Who Joined BJP Queue Up To Return

One of the most apparent challenges faced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the months leading up to the state election was the massive exodus of her party's leaders to the BJP.

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Bengal Chief Secretary, Now In Team Mamata, Gets Notice From Centre

Alapan Bandopadhyay, the officer in the core of the latest flashpoint between Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been served notice by the Centre for skipping...

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11.5 Lakh Vaccine Doses Wasted? Rajasthan Denies Union Minister's Claim

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday alleged that Rajasthan wasted 11.5 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine.

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Peru Covid Deaths Doubled After Revision, Hit Grim Global Record

Peru on Monday more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world.

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Why Indian students are opting for overseas edu

Amid the upheaval caused by the second wave of the pandemic and predictions that the next wave may affect the younger population more, a large part of the Indian student community is looking overseas for college admission.Factors like access to vaccines, robust health infrastructure and policies favouring foreign student admissions are drawing student interest more than ever for international colleges, apart from the charm of attaining a foreign degree.Education platforms like Yocket, Collegify and Leverage Edu are seeing a more than 50% increase in students wanting to pursue higher education outside of India in 2021 compared with 2020.This is also due to pent-up demand since many aspiring students could not join colleges abroad last year due to travel restrictions as well as a surge in Covid-19 cases in several developed countries.“The number of students aspiring for foreign colleges is going up further with the improved situation in the US, UK and other countries. The US vaccination drive has brought a lot of confidence among students,” said Sumeet Jain, cofounder of education consultancy Yocket.The biggest hurdle for these students now is getting a visa due to the high number of Covid cases and lockdowns in India, and the delay in board examinations and results.A recent survey of 5,000 students conducted by higher education and career guidance provider Leverage Edu on its platform suggested that 94% of the students who had dropped plans to join an international college in 2020 were now reconsidering the plans in 2021.As much as 71% of undergraduate and post-graduate students looking to go abroad for higher studies consider better healthcare infrastructure as one of the key reasons for their interest.“The survey finding has led us to the conclusion that more than ever students are keen to study abroad this year,” Leverage Edu founder Akshay Chaturvedi said.Adarsh Khandelwal, founder of Collegify, another firm in the education space, is also seeing a steep rise in foreign college aspirants, especially for the US.All the colleges in the UK and US are taking precautionary measures including getting the foreign students vaccinated, thus building confidence among parents and students, Khandelwal said.Vaccine has played an important role in the augmented student interest this year. “We are certain that an absolute majority (more than 75%) have one eye on the ‘vaccine factor’ while applying. ‘Healthcare’ is now a living room conversation in everyone’s lives,” said Chaturvedi.Other factors like quality of air we breathe, previously little-understood points, have gained a lot of relevance post the second wave in India, he said.The undergraduate segment aspiring for international colleges is a fast-growing market for most admission experts and platforms in India.As per the Leverage Edu survey, 75% of students opted for the UK as the most favourable destination to study abroad, followed by Canada and the US. About 58% said they had made their plans in the last three months.“I have to stay in quarantine for 10 days in the UK, the healthcare system is good and vaccination is being done, so I am confident to travel there this year,” said Anmol Sahu, a student enrolled on the Leverage Edu platform, aspiring to join the University of Manchester or University College London.Of the students who opted for the UK as their preferred study destination, two-thirds said that country’s plan to vaccinate all international students would benefit incoming students.

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Delhi reopens a crack amid gloomy forecast

The Indian capital, which just weeks ago suffered the devastating force of the coronavirus, with tens of thousands of new infections daily and funeral pyres that burned day and night, is taking its first steps back toward normalcy.Officials on Monday reopened manufacturing and construction activity, allowing workers in those industries to return to their jobs after six weeks of staying at home to avoid infection. The move came after a sharp drop in new infections, at least by the official numbers, and as hospital wards emptied and the strain on medicine and supplies has eased.Life on the streets of Delhi is not expected to return to normal immediately. Schools and most businesses are still closed. The Delhi Metro system, which reopened after last year’s nationwide lockdown, has suspended service again.But the city government’s easing of restrictions will allow people like Ram Niwas Gupta and his employees to begin returning to work — and, more broadly, to start to repair India’s ailing, pandemic-struck economy. Gupta, a construction company owner, must replace the migrant workers who fled Delhi when a second wave of the coronavirus struck in April, but he was confident that business would return to normal soon.“Immediately we will not be able to start work, but slowly in six to 10 days we will be able to mobilize labor and material and start the work,” said Gupta, who is also the president of the Builders Association of India in Delhi.At least 1 million people in Delhi’s construction sector will be able to return to job sites.Even a small opening represents a gamble by city officials. Just 3% of India’s 1.4 billion people are fully vaccinated. Because of limited health infrastructure and public reporting, the state of the pandemic in rural areas — including some just outside Delhi — is largely unknown. Experts are already predicting a third wave while cautioning that the lull in Delhi may be just a respite, and not the end, of the second wave.Six weeks ago, the number of new cases in Delhi was soaring, reaching a peak of 28,395 new recorded infections on April 20. Nearly one in three coronavirus tests came back positive. Hospitals, full beyond capacity, turned away throngs of people seeking treatment, with some patients dying just outside the gates. Cremation, the preferred last rite for Hindus, spilled over into empty lots, with so many bodies burned that Delhi’s skies turned an ash gray.The nightmare in India’s capital appears to be over, at least for now, even as cases rise elsewhere in the country. The city reported 648 new cases on Monday, and about four-fifths of the intensive care unit beds were vacant.Officials in Delhi, and around India, feel a need to strike a balance between pandemic precautions and economic viability.On Monday, India released a new set of numbers that showed the country’s economy grew by 1.6% for the three-month period ending in March.But economists say those numbers, which reflected activity before the full impact of the ferocious second wave, are likely unsustainable in the near future.The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation also forecast that India’s gross domestic product would shrink by at least 7.3% over the financial year that began in April.Experts point to two main reasons: India’s prolonged lockdowns and its vaccination rate, which has fallen to just over 1 million doses a day now from about 4 million last month because of the country’s limited vaccine manufacturing capacity.Though the lockdowns have helped India slow the surge of infections, economists say restrictions might need to remain in place at least until about 30% of the country’s 1.4 billion people have received one vaccine shot.“We estimate that India will reach the vaccine threshold by mid- to late August, and, accordingly, expect restrictions will be extended into the third quarter,” Priyanka Kishore, the head of India and Southeast Asia at Oxford Economics, said in a research briefing last week. “Consequently, we have lowered our 2021 growth forecast.”She added that supply issues and vaccine hesitancy could prevent the country from reaching the 30% threshold by August, which could result in further economic decline.One economist said that the impact of the country’s shrinking economy would be even more pronounced in rural areas.“As things stand now, the scale, the speed and the spread of COVID has once again given a push back to the economy,” said Dr. Sunil Kumar Sinha, the principal economist at India Ratings and Research, a credit ratings agency. Dr. Sinha added that the country’s negative growth forecasts for the financial year were the lowest ever recorded.The lockdown that began easing on Monday was nowhere near as severe as the nationwide lockdown imposed by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, last year, which pushed millions of people out of cities and into rural areas, often on foot because rail and other transportation had been suspended. Modi resisted calls by many public health researchers, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to reinstitute similar curbs this year.But in a nod to the chaos of last year’s lockdown, throughout the second wave, core infrastructure projects across the country, which employ millions of domestic migrant workers, were exempted from restrictions. More than 15,000 miles of Indian highway projects, along with rail and city Metro improvements, continued.Most private construction sites, however, were closed down, placing workers like Ashok Kumar, a 36-year-old carpenter, in extremely precarious positions.Kumar usually earns 700 rupees, about $10, per day, but has sat at home idly for the last 40 days, unable to pay rent to an increasingly impatient landlord. He hoped to be vaccinated before returning to close quarters with other workers, but hasn’t been able to secure a dose at one of the city’s public dispensaries, which have closed intermittently because of vaccine shortages.“My first priority is my stomach,” Kumar said. “If my stomach is not filled I will die even before corona.”In a meeting with the city’s disaster management authority on Friday, Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said the lockdown would be eased in phases according to economic need.“Our priority will be the weakest economic sections, so we will start with laborers, particularly migrant laborers,” many of whom work in construction and manufacturing, Kejriwal said.Millions of people in India are already in danger of sliding out of the middle class and into poverty. The country’s economy was fraying well before the pandemic because of deep structural problems and the sometimes impetuous policy decisions of Modi.Public health researchers in India generally approved of the Delhi government’s approach to lifting its lockdown, but cautioned that the low infection numbers may represent a reprieve — and not the end — of the capital’s terrifying second wave.“It’s not a decision that can be questioned on the merit, but obviously they have to take the maximum care,” said Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.India averaged 190,392 reported cases per day in the last week, a drop of more than 50% from the peak, on May 9. The death toll also fell, though less precipitously, to 3,709 on Sunday. The overall toll of 325,972 is widely considered to be a vast undercount.As cases have fallen in Delhi, people have cautiously left their homes for evening strolls after the daytime summer heat has abated, or to pick up groceries from the normally bustling but now quiet neighborhood markets.Elsewhere in India, the pandemic is far from over. Cases are rising in remote rural areas that have scant health infrastructure.The state of Haryana, which borders Delhi and is home to the industrial hub of Gurugram, extended its tight lockdown by at least another week. And in southern Indian states where the daily case numbers remain high, official orders allowing manufacturing to resume have been met by resistance from workers.“It is a question of life versus livelihood,” said M. Moorthy, general secretary of the workers union at the Renault Nissan auto plant in Chennai.

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View: How to build a firewall with Indian features

India’s internet future — free and open, or stymied and controlled — may be decided by a 224-page lawsuit filed by WhatsApp last week.Saying that it wanted to curb fake news, revenge porn and other ills, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government introduced new rules in February that would compel social media platforms such as Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp to trace chat messages, among other things.As the three-month deadline for compliance ended, WhatsApp filed its petition in the Delhi High Court. The U.S. company is arguing that being asked to track the originator of a message has no legal sanction. It doesn’t protect people such as journalists and political activists from arbitrary state action. Nor does the rule meet the proportionality test — required now by Indian law following a 2017 Supreme Court verdict — of being the least restrictive infringement of Indians’ fundamental right to privacy.WhatsApp contends that keeping a log of messages would require it to break end-to-end encryption and save billions of messages sent by its more than 500 million users in India.How the case is decided in the coming year or so as it winds its way to a verdict followed by an inevitable appeal may come down to the technical details of data transmission. Internet messages consist of two parts: the header and the payload. That unencrypted header, which can be read by any router it passes through, can be thought of as an envelope that shows identifying information, such as originating and destination IP addresses. The payload is the message itself. If it’s unencrypted, anyone can read it along the way. If it’s encrypted, then the message is scrambled using hard-to-crack algorithms.The government says that fingerprinting each and every message — making it traceable — doesn’t include the content. But WhatsApp pleads that it will still undermine E2E encryption, posing a serious risk to privacy, and would open up WhatsApp (and other chat apps like Signal) not only to government interference, but also to hacking attacks.The rules require significant social media intermediaries to appoint a compliance officer, a grievance officer and a 24/7 contact person, something they’re grudgingly accepting. Facebook itself has fallen in line. Alphabet Inc. and its Google unit “always respect local laws in every country,” Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said, according to India’s Economic Times. Twitter Inc. has asked for a three-month extension.But traceability is a bigger battle, and WhatsApp was prepared for it. As the news website The Morning Context noted, India’s digital intermediary rules look a lot like those passed by Brazil’s Senate in June last year. That bill, PLS 2630/2020, more commonly known as the Fake News law, required companies to store “massively forwarded” messages, with the complete chain of communication, for three months. The Indian version doesn’t stipulate a holding period, nor is it restricted to messages going viral. Even if the payload stays encrypted, enormous, forever archives would be of limited use. Simply taking a screenshot or copy-pasting a message would start the chain from scratch.The bigger concern for India is not that the Modi government is taking a leaf from Brazil’s playbook, but that it’s dragging the country backward to the China of 2006. That’s when Beijing was powering up The Great Firewall, a mammoth project that would prevent outside information from flowing into the nation and allow authorities to control what was shared internally. The result has been an exit from the world’s largest internet market by some of America’s biggest names, including Facebook, Google and Twitter.Those same companies now see India as the next big hope. With plenty of growth ahead, not only for content but also e-commerce and digital payments, none want to be left out. Where the People’s Republic had the resources to build the firewall itself, and later rely on companies to self-police, India may need domestic business interests to do the job. In the name of a responsible internet and protecting citizens from data imperialists, several will be eager to abet the government in soft censorship. Keeping global tech firms out — or forcing them to accept a subservient role — may help Indian capitalists build their own consumer-centric empires.New Delhi will be able to ensure that digital communication platforms are popular but docile, amplifying the government’s messages without questioning propaganda or exposing state hypocrisy. Long-time China watchers will be familiar. Last week’s raid on Twitter’s New Delhi and Gurgaon offices, after the service labeled a tweet by a ruling party member as manipulated media, serves as a warning.After failing to keep their foothold in China by going it alone and making the case for an open internet, Western firms will try hard to not lose the only other market of more than a billion people. Both Facebook and Google signed up last year for the $20 billion-plus fund-raising spree by Jio Platforms Ltd., petrochemicals tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s digital business. Apart from lobbying for saner rules and seeking legal recourse, teaming up with India’s richest man seems a decent strategy.Amid the various pushes and pulls, India may end up somewhere between a Chinese-style firewall and a Western model of free internet. The fate of WhatsApp’s legal challenge will go some way in tracing the landing spot.

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Traders seek normal operation of shops

Traders from Maharashtra and Delhi have demanded the opening up of shops without any restrictions as small traders are no longer able to bear the financial losses incurred by keeping shops closed for two months. While the Maharashtra government has asked the local authorities to take the call, Delhi has allowed the opening up of only the construction activity and factories.Mumbai-headquartered Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MCCIA) has demanded that all types of shops across the state be allowed to open during normal working hours. “According to the rough estimate of the chamber, the traders from Maharashtra have incurred losses of close to Rs 75,000 crore since the lockdown was imposed in April,” said Lalit Gandhi, vice president, MCCIA.83134232In Delhi, the Confederation of All India Traders too has made the same demand as the NCR government has opted for selective opening of construction activities.The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has sent a letter to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asking to review the process of unlocking in Delhi.“Traders across Delhi are highly disappointed because they were expecting that shops will open from today in a phased manner to revive the business activities. Opening of construction activities and factories certainly require various raw materials. The business of Delhi has been completely derailed, how will that business be restored when there is an acute financial crunch,” said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

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PSU banks plan Rs 8,500-9,000 crore of QIPs

New Delhi: Public sector banks are expected to launch qualified institutional placement (QIP) offerings worth ₹8,500-9,000 crore in the next quarter amid a rebound in equity markets, according to sources in the know.The public sector banks that are lining up such offerings include Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Canara Bank, these sources said. All three are expected to launch their offerings between July and September.Indian Bank is planning to raise ₹4,000 crore through a QIP and is expected to time its offering around the first week of July. It is said to have appointed six merchant banks for the planned offering. ICICI Securities will be among the lead arrangers. It had passed a board resolution on March 9, enabling it to raise funds.Similarly, Bank of Maharashtra is also expected to launch its QIP offering in July. It plans to raise ₹2,000 crore. The bank had passed a board resolution on April 29, allowing it to raise up to ₹5,000 crore by way of share sales. It is in the process of finalizing merchant bankers to advise it on the sale. 83127333Canara Bank is also planning a QIP offering of around ₹2,500 crore. It sought board approvals over the weekend.Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Canara Bank did not respond to ET’s queries.Apart from the resurgence in equity markets, the exuberance around fund-raising by these public sector banks follows the recent successful QIP offering of Union Bank of India that raised ₹1,500 crore in May. “There is demand for paper in the market, especially at good valuations. The public sector banks are being seen as cheaper bets compared to private sector banks,” said Devang Mehta, head equity advisory, Centrum Wealth.Mehta also noted that commentary from large public sector banks such as the State Bank of India has been positive, giving confidence to investors.During the last fiscal, state-owned banks raised ₹11,000 crore in equity offerings. Indian Bank recently reported its earnings for FY21. It reported a net profit of ₹1,709 crore in the fourth quarter. Allahabad Bank got amalgamated into Indian Bank effective April 1, 2020, after a government-mandated reorganisation.Bank of Maharashtra reported a net profit of ₹165 crore for the last quarter of the preceding financial year. Canara Bank also posted a net profit of ₹1,010 crore in the fourth quarter of FY21.Several public sector banks including Punjab National Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda had successfully raised funds through this route in the previous financial year. Bank of Baroda's QIP, which was the largest, garnered ₹4,500 crore from investors.

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Airtel Payments Bank set to break even this fiscal

Airtel Payments Bank (APB) is set to break even in this financial year, having notched up strong revenue growth in the previous fiscal and also turned contribution positive, implying revenue fully covered variable costs, said a senior company executive.Covid-19 is a major growth driver for Bharti Airtel’s payments banking arm, he said, as customers want banking solutions closer to their homes and also seek convenient and more secure digital payment options.“Airtel Payments Bank is confident of breaking even this year, helped by the growing scale of its model that leverages deep distribution backed by investments in digital infrastructure,” the executive told ET on condition of anonymity.In 2020-21, APB saw 60% year-on-year growth in savings accounts deposits and its base of active revenue earning customers (RECs) swelled more than 77% year-on-year to 55 million. 83131835The company recorded 32% year-on-year revenue growth to Rs 627 crore, and its services were a key reason for reducing mobile subscriber churn for parent Bharti Airtel, said company insiders. Airtel’s monthly customer churn dipped to 2.2% in the quarter to March from 2.6% a year ago.“APB has taken another giant leap towards profitability this year,” managing director Anubrata Biswas said, adding that the combination of its brand and innovative products backed by distribution reach and technology positions it well to accelerate growth further.He said Airtel’s innovations such as ‘Safe Pay’ are a major services differentiator amid Covid-19 and that APB has also become a large provider of cash collection services to institutions and companies and sees it as a big growth engine. Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal had recently warned the telecom operator’s 321 million mobile users about increasing cases of cyber fraud and urged them to use Airtel Safe Pay, which can be activated while using APB services. In December 2020, Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal had said Bharti Airtel may upgrade its payments bank licence to that of a small finance bank at some point to enter the lending business and attract larger deposits.If that happens, it will be able to use deposits from its 55 million users more profitably, said industry executives. A payments bank can provide services such as savings accounts, remittances and other payment options, but current regulations do not allow it to lend money. For instance, ABP now offers digital payments and money transfers along with value-added products such as insurance, direct benefit transfer credits, Aadhaar-enabled payment systems and pension schemes.Company executives did not, however, comment on specific time frames to convert APB into a small finance bank.

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AICC panel meets Punjab MLAs amid rift

As the Congress central leadership on Monday initiated ‘dialogue’ with Punjab party MLAs to find an amicable solution to the rift in the state Congress ahead of the assembly elections, some of them are learnt to have voiced protest over chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s ‘soft handling’ of the 2015 ‘sacrilege case’. The high court had recently quashed a state government probe into the death of two people in police firing on those protesting against the desecration of the Granth Sahib in 2015, when the Shiroman Akali Dal-BJP government was in power. With the case acquiring religious sensitivity and many Congress MLAs agitated, the AICC is worried, with less than a year left for the assembly polls.Over 30 MLAs, including PCC chief Sunil Jakhar and some Cabinet ministers, held two separate rounds of meetings with the AICC panel comprising general secretary in-charge Harish Rawat and Mallikarjun Kharge and JP Aggarwal. The MLAs were asked to give their view on the issue. More MLAs, the CM and sulking MLA Navjyot Sidhu are expected to meet the panel soon.While Amarinder Singh had taken a clear upper hand in dealing with Sidhu, the sacrilege case has provided many other critics of the CM to join hands against him on a sensitive religious matter as well the allegation that rival Akali Dal leaders were allowed to get away from the sensitive corner. Many MLAs are learnt to have asked for a ‘course correction’. They argued that otherwise, Congress would be seen going back on its promises to the electorate. There are indications that Rahul Gandhi has been individually talking with some MLAs.On the eve of the meeting, Captain’s critic PS Bajwa tweeted, “be courageous and answer the call of your conscience. The almighty and people of Punjab are watching.” It is seen as his advice to other critics of the CM. With the sacrilege case driving a wedge in the party, the Sidhu camp has tapped it, even while seeking pre-poll posts including renewal of his wish for deputy CMs post and other grouse regarding non-constitution of the PCC. “There is no question of any discussion on a change of leadership in the Punjab government and our efforts is to unite the state party completely ahead of the assembly polls by addressing all internal issues,” said an AICC source. As of now, the CM is believed to enjoy majority support of MLAs.

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ABB India breaches key level, could deliver 20% return

Mumbai: Shares of ABB India on Monday decisively broke past a 13-year consolidation phase to trade above ₹1,600 apiece. If it sustains above that level, it can easily give a 20% return in the near term, according to technical analysts.ABB India is better placed to gain from the expected pickup in capex in the coming months, said analysts.“ABB has given breakout after consolidating for 13 years from 2008 to 2021 and with strong capex recovery, one can expect the stock to continue its upward journey,” said Ashish Chaturmohta, director-research, Sanctum Wealth. “In the short term, we expect ₹1,900-2,000 levels in the stock”. Shares of ABB India rallied 21% in the last month, compared to a 6.5% gain in the Nifty index. It ended 4.85% higher at ₹1,668 on Monday.Analysts said that the stock is also making higher tops-higher bottom from the last six trading sessions with rising trading and delivery volumes.“Technically, it has completed a rounding formation which has bullish implications on a weekly scale and is set to start the next leg of the rally,” said Chandan Taparia, technical analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “It has immediate support near to 1,600 zones, while a rally could extend toward 1,750 and 1,900 zones in the coming weeks.” 83127325ABB India has reported a decent set of numbers in the March quarter across all its segments led by a pickup in economic activity, better order book execution and cost rationalisation initiatives resulting in margin improvement. Despite the second wave of the pandemic, order inflows came in healthy at ₹1,830 crore driven by process automation and robotics businesses. “In the long run, we believe ABB’s resilient business model, healthy global distribution network, diversified business segment and a strong cash position would benefit the company from recovery in economic activity,” said Viral Shah, analyst, Prabhudas Lilladher.Although the management remains cautious in the near term owing to the second wave of Covid-19 in the domestic market and challenges in the global market, it hinted at the early signs of recovery in industries like data centres, renewables, electronics, F&B, and pharmaceuticals. ABB India will continue to focus on order wins and seamless execution across projects while continuing to engage closely with customers, according to the management.ABB’s total order backlog stands at ₹4,300 crore which according to analysts provides revenue visibility for the next few quarters.“The parent’s decentralisation strategy should be beneficial for ABB, as it would lead to increased transfer of products and technologies,” said Jonas Bhutta, analyst, PhillipCapital. “We like ABB’s future-ready business model backed by structural tailwinds of increasing penetration of digitisation and automation but getting to sustainable margins levels would need the parent to either review its policies.”

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टीकाकरण: दो खुराकों से मिलेगी आजादी, लगेगी एक ही डोज, जल्द होंगे परीक्षण

राष्ट्रीय टीकाकरण कार्यक्रम में सरकार दो अहम बदलाव करने जा रही है जिसके बाद वैक्सीन की दो या बूस्टर खुराक से न सिर्फ आजादी मिलेगी बल्कि आगामी दिनों में देश का पहला ट्रैकिंग सिस्टम भी शुरू होगा।

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एलोपैथी विवाद: बाबा रामदेव के खिलाफ आज देश भर में डॉक्टरों का प्रदर्शन

एलोपैथी चिकित्सा को लेकर बाबा रामदेव के साथ डॉक्टरों का विवाद बढ़ता ही जा रहा है। स्थिति यह है कि मंगलवार को बाबा रामदेव के खिलाफ देश भर में डॉक्टरों का प्रदर्शन होगा।

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Petrol Diesel Price: लगातार दूसरे दिन बढ़े पेट्रोल-डीजल के दाम, जानिए आपके शहर में कितनी बढ़ी कीमत

सरकारी तेल कंपनियों की ओर से आज दूसरे दिन फिर पेट्रोल व डीजल की कीमतों में कोई बढ़ोतरी हुई है। आज डीजल की कीमत 23 से 24 पैसे तो वहीं पेट्रोल की कीमत भी 25 से 26 पैसे तक बढ़ी है।

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Rajasthan Eases Lockdown Restrictions Amid Decline In Covid Cases

As the declining trend in COVID-19 cases continued, the Rajasthan government on Monday issued guidelines to start the "unlock" process by easing certain restrictions from June 2.

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देश के 26 राज्यों में फंगस: 20 हजार मरीज उपचाराधीन, कुल मांग के दस फीसदी बराबर इंजेक्शन भी नहीं

कोरोना महामारी के साथ देश के 26 राज्यों में ब्लैक फंगस की भी दस्तक हो चुकी है। ब्लैक फंगस के मरीजों के इलाज के लिए केंद्र सरकार ने एम्फोटेरिसिन-बी इंजेक्शन की 30,100 वॉयल आवंटित की है।

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Covid 19: कोरोना महामारी से बचने के लिए लगे लॉकडाउन ने बचाई लाखों जिंदगियां

ऑक्सफोर्ड यूनिवर्सिटी के वैज्ञानिकों ने दावा किया है कि महामारी के कारण दुनियाभर में चल रहे लॉकडाउन के कारण बैक्टीरियल इन्फेक्शन से जुड़ी जानलेवा बीमारियों में गिरावट आई है।

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कशमकश : 12वीं की परीक्षा पर स्थिति स्पष्ट नहीं, डीयू दाखिला प्रक्रिया भी लटकी

बारहवीं की परीक्षा को लेकर स्थिति स्पष्ट नहीं होने से दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय की दाखिला प्रक्रिया भी अधर में है।

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Unlock: आज से कई राज्यों में अनलॉक की प्रक्रिया शुरू, जानिए क्या खुला रहेगा, क्या बंद

कोरोना वायरस के मामलों में कमी के साथ ही कई राज्यों में अब ढील देना शुरू कर दिया है। दिल्ली, यूपी, मध्यप्रदेश, हरियाणा आदि राज्यों में कोरोना के मामलों में काफी तेजी से कमी आई है।

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दिल्ली-एनसीआर : इस सप्ताह दिखेंगे मौसम के कई रंग, हो चुकी है शुरुआत

दिल्ली-एनसीआर में मौसम इस सप्ताह कई रंग दिखाने वाला है।

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Tarzan Actor Joe Lara Among 7 Presumed Dead In US Plane Crash

All seven passengers aboard a plane, including Tarzan actor Joe Lara and his diet guru wife, are presumed dead after it crashed in a lake near the US city of Nashville, authorities said.

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ET Wealth | 6 money habits we have to change now

Covid has forced us to look at some aspects of life afresh. For many people, the financial fallout of covid has brutally exposed the fragility of their personal finances. Salary cuts and job losses have left many scrounging for cash. Despite being asset-rich, some have struggled to arrange for liquidity to tide over a cash crunch. The disruption in income has blown away rosy calculations and ambitious goals. Borrowers have been unable to cobble together enough money to pay back hefty loans. Hundreds who have succumbed to the virus have not left behind a will, leaving families without access to assets. The message is clear: we must change our money habits and question preset notions of financial security. Many of us are set in our ways of dealing with money matters. Just as we revisit other facets of life post covid, it is time to refashion some of our saving, borrowing and investing habits. Not sure where to start? After speaking to financial advisers, we have zeroed in on a few areas that demand your immediate attention. Not all of these tweaks can be done overnight. Some habits may have to be phased out gradually. A new approach may take time to take shape. But over time, these tweaks should put you in a better position to deal with financial shocks.Always have ample liquidityThe pandemic has brought into focus the importance of having enough liquidity at all times. Simply having huge savings doesn’t count for anything if these are illiquid. Your prized real estate assets won’t come to your aid when in need of immediate cash. The lakhs stashed away in instruments with a lock-in will also be out of reach. Forget about getting your money out of traditional insurance plans either. It’s not at all wrong to have illiquid assets. But it is vital to have sizeable chunk of savings in assets that you can sell quickly on a rainy day. Vivek Rege, Founder & CEO, VR Wealth Advisors, says, “Investing all savings without providing for liquidity comfort will pose a serious problem when you desperately need the money.”You can ensure liquidity by setting up an emergency fund that is big enough to take care of 3-6 months’ expenses. Some experts say a nominal buffer of 3-6 months’ expenses may no longer be adequate. Prableen Bajpai, Founder and Managing Partner, FinFix Research & Analytics, asserts, “Emergency savings need a drastic overhaul in the face of prolonged threat to jobs and incomes. At least one year’s expenses should be kept aside for this.” Where should you invest your emergency corpus?Assumed expenses Rs 50,000 a monthOne year expenses will work out to Rs 6 lakh. Divide this into three time horizon buckets as follows 83056626Note: When providing for monthly expenses, cover all basic living expenses as well as any EMIs. SIP outflows may be excluded.The requirement may be even higher for those engaged in more vulnerable occupations with limited alternative work or for households where both partners work in the same industry. It is also important to review your liquidity position periodically. This buffer may be in the form of bank deposits or even open-ended mutual funds, apart from idle bank balance. Having enough liquidity comes at the expense of lower returns, but it’s a price worth paying. Don’t borrow future incomeThe ‘buy now, pay later’ philosophy has got a rude jolt. Amid salary cuts and business disruptions, many individuals and households who borrowed heavily are stuck in a quagmire. Some are unable to repay the loans while others are left with little savings after servicing hefty EMIs. For many, the issue is of borrowing more than they can afford. When taking on a big loan, most borrowers make rosy assumptions about future income. Even if the loan or outlay seems out of comfort zone now, many surmise that a rising income trajectory will make it more affordable down the line. This logic often dictates the spending itself: Why not shell out a few lakhs extra for the roomier 3BHK even when a compact 2BHK would suffice? In lieu of the hatchback, what is a few thousand more rupees in monthly EMI for that swanky new sedan? It is this premise of borrowing from future anticipated income that can spell disaster. This thinking has to be revisited as shocks can disrupt the best laid plans. Rege cautions, “Don’t fool yourself with false optimism regarding the future. It often drives lifestyle changes that can be painful to reverse later.”Any loan decision must be taken on the basis of prevailing circumstances. The thumb rule is that all EMIs should not add up to more than 50% of your current income. Also, don’t take a loan just because it is available. If your EMIs gobble up too much of your income, other critical financial goals, like saving for retirement or your kids’ education, might get scuppered.Stress test your debt burdenBefore taking a hefty loan, consider the undesirable scenarios that may play out in future.Inflation rate assumed at 5%, normal income growth at 5% 83056672 83056681A buffer beyond health plansAmid the spate of hospitalizations, thousands of sufferers have found out the hard way the inadequacy of their mediclaim plan coverage. Insurers are refusing to pay higher than prescribed rates charged by private hospitals or cover the cost of overhead consumables like PPE kits and sanitization equipment—accounting for a chunk of covid hospital bills. With several instances of claims being denied or settled only for partial amount, policyholders have had to pay for expenses themselves. An analysis of official data shows that insured are shelling nearly 40% of the treatment costs from their own pocket. Many have even been denied cashless settlement—policyholders are being told to pay the full amount and file the reimbursement later. 83056744Clearly, your mediclaim cover may not fully cushion the blow from medical exigencies. This is a reality not merely restricted to the abnormal circumstances of the ongoing pandemic. With multiple exclusions and clauses like co-pay or sub-limits within health plans, policyholders are always at the mercy of the policy fine print. Think a Rs 25 lakh or higher policy will cover all expenses? Even those with large-sized covers are never fully covered for all expenses. Policyholders must henceforth put in place extra financial buffer even if covered by a health plan, financial planners say. “It is a good idea to have extra cushion in place for medical exigencies that goes beyond what is covered under your health plan,” contends Bajpai.Write will, update nomineesThe pandemic has claimed victims across age and class divides. Many of these were breadwinners who left behind assets, but no written wills or nominations. Bereaved families have to fend for themselves without immediate access to their own household assets. There is a clear lesson in this. Preparing a will cannot be a task kept aside for later years. If you have dependents, execute a will or at the very least, make sure to have nominations in favour of your loved ones at the earliest. Save them the drudgery of running from pillar to post claiming their rightful assets in case of your untimely demise. Not having sufficient assets yet should not stop you either. “You can still create a will covering whatever assets you own today and update it over the years as and when you accumulate more,” exhorts Tarun Birani, Founder and Director, TBNG Capital Advisors. This follow-up is critical. Make sure to update the will at regular intervals. This may be through a codicil for minor alterations or executing a fresh Will for bigger modifications. Besides, at all times, keep a trusted, responsible family member informed about the existence and location of all important financial documents.Cover big-ticket liabilitiesWith the death of the breadwinner, many families now face the burden of repaying outstanding loans. This has exposed another gap in people’s borrowing habits. When opting for large ticket size loans, it is not enough to have a roadmap to repay. Buy a term insurance cover equal to the loan amount to protect your family from shouldering the burden of repayment in case of your untimely demise. If you are taking a large home loan, opt for a term plan linked to the home loan or a separate cover. This has to be over and above any existing term plan that covers your family’s future income needs, insists Bajpai. It will ensure proceeds from the existing policy don’t go towards paying off the loan, leaving your family exposed. The worst scenario is when the family occupies the house mortgaged in the name of the deceased, but not covered under a term plan. “Covering your liabilities through a term plan will ensure the asset can come into the possession of surviving beneficiary easily after outstanding balance is paid,” asserts Rege. In case of a term cover bundled with the loan, the coverage reduces in direct proportion to the outstanding loan. The one-time premium amount is embedded in the EMI. However, it is advisable to buy a separate term plan. The premium for a linked term plan is usually higher, even if not visible upfront. Further, you cannot hike the cover amount under a linked term plan in case you opt for a top-up loan. You will have that flexibility with a separate term plan.Go beyond domestic marketIndian investors have traditionally piggybacked entirely on the India growth story for wealth creation. While this has served investors well enough, the pandemic and its economic fallout should force a rethink of domestic bias. Experts reckon it is high time Indian investors look beyond the country’s borders for investing ideas. International equities can no longer be treated as an exotic indulgence but an integral part of one’s asset allocation, feel financial planners. 83056768 The inherent strength of developed markets has been amply evident in the post-covid global environment. Economies like the US, UK, Germany, among others have shown fast recovery amid swift healthcare response and hefty economic relief packages. Viraj Nanda, CEO, Globalise India, argues, “More than any other point of time, covid has demonstrated how countries respond differently to adversities. This feeds into the respective markets. Geographical diversification is therefore a must to mitigate country-specific shocks.” Beyond this, other countries have specific strengths and expertise that are unique to each. This allows for investing opportunities that simply do not exist in Indian companies. 83056783 However, this allocation to foreign equities cannot be merely cosmetic. Investors must participate more meaningfully in foreign equities. For it to truly afford required diversification and contribute to wealth creation you need to give it enough heft in your portfolio. Any allocation less than 10% of your total corpus will not materially make any difference, even when it is the best performer in your basket.Experts maintain that 15-20% allocation will provide enough diversification. But this can’t happen overnight. “Start with small steps, build enough comfort and familiarity with foreign markets and gradually work towards that allocation,” says Nanda. This may be through equity funds investing across global equities or dedicated to US markets or even individual bets in foreign stocks.

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Stay away from these 3 financial stocks

The second covid wave has hit the economy very badly. After suffering a deep cut between March-June 2020, the Indian economy had bounced back smartly. However, experts fear the recovery will be slower this time because the spread of the disease has been wider. While it was restricted to urban areas last year, covid has reached villages this time. “Economic recovery could be more gradual for two reasons. First, the impact of restrictions are deeper and there is anecdotal evidence to suggest impact on agriculture activities. Secondly, there is a possibility that a section of the population might have dipped into their accumulated savings during the past year and therefore, possible recovery triggered by pent up demand would be lower,” says Prakash Agarwal, Director & Head -Financial Institutions, India Ratings & Research.Financials under stress The finance sector’s prospects are interlinked with economic growth and therefore, it will come under pressure this time as well. In fact, the negative impact on financial services sector may be more this time. “Though we need to wait for first quarter numbers, financial institutions will see incremental stress on their book because there is no blanket moratorium this time,” says Siddharth Purohit, Research Analyst, SMC Global.In addition to increase in defaults from the corporate side, financial institutions are also facing incremental stress on their retail books. As a sizable population has already exhausted its reserve money, chances of more defaults are high. The recent fall in collection efficiency—percentage of EMIs an institution is able to collect—is an indicator. However, large banks may be able to manage this jump in retail default as their exposure to this segment is not very big. “Retail loans are spread out and will be impacting all if lockdowns extend. However, large private sector banks are carrying adequate provision buffers for future delinquencies in these segments,” says Kajal Gandhi, Banking Analyst at ICICI Direct.83057956While big banks will be able to withstand using their muscle power, smaller banks and NBFCs will be under increased threat. “While collection efficiency will be impacted for all lenders, things are likely to be more difficult for NBFCs because they are dealing with weaker sections of society that has less capacity to withstand stress. While the proportion will be lower for secured loans like housing finance, the impact will be more in unsecured loans and vehicle finance. Their collection efficiency might be down by 15-20% by midMay,” says Agarwa.83057969What should investors do? Avoiding the entire financial sector now can be one strategy. Most finance companies have reported good numbers for the fourth quarter of 2020-21. However, things deteriorated after that and therefore, fourth quarter results are not of much use now. Banks and NBFCs were in the forefront of recent stock market rallies and therefore, they may take a breather till clarity emerges through the first quarter numbers. “Banking sector is expected to underperform the broader market in coming months,” says Purohit.Even if you want to remain invested in large banks, it makes sense to exit smaller banks and NBFCs. Analysts are particularly negative on three companies—IDFC First Bank, Yes Bank and Bajaj Finance. “Basel disclosures indicate slippages rate of 6% for 2020-21 for IDFC First Bank, which is on higher side compared to peers. Due to current wave, we expect slippages of 3.5% and credit cost of 1.7% in 2021-22, but should subside from thereon,” says a recent Prabhudas Lilladher report.With a gross and net NPA of 15.4% and 5.9% respectively, Yes Bank continues to face serious asset quality issues. “With the raging second wave, asset quality risk is likely to remain elevated and RBI’s refusal to allow the bank to set up a separate ARC has dashed its hope of window dressing of balance sheet,” says a recent Emkay report. Though the long term story of Bajaj Finance—one of the best balance sheets among NBFCs— is still intact, the second wave will negatively impact it in the short term. Its current high valuation is another reason why analysts want you to avoid this counter now. “We retain a sell on Bajaj Finance because its current valuation is rich,” says a recent Nirmal Bang report.

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Time to reduce excess exposure to silver

Just as different asset classes perform over different time periods, performance by components within the same asset class also varies. For example, silver has generated 61% returns in the past year compared to just 9% by gold. Due to this massive outperformance, the gold - silver ratio has crashed from a high of 124 on 18 March 2020 to 68. The ratio denotes the price of gold as a multiple of the price of silver. It is now close to a six-year low.So, what should bullion investors do now? This depends whether you are a long-, medium- or short-term investor. Since the phase of silver undervaluation is over, there is no need for long-term investors to take additional exposure to silver now. Long-term investors who had taken such a bet on silver in the past can also cut their exposure to neutral levels.Though the long-term trigger for silver’s undervaluation compared to gold is gone, there are several opportunities still left for short- to medium-term bullion investors. The bullion market is going through a phase of consolidation. Gold is expected to outperform silver in the short term (1-3 months) and silver is expected to outperform gold in the medium term (6-9 months). Let us consider the reasons behind this special situation.83058410Gold is expected to benefit in the near term due to various reasons and therefore, short-term investors should bet on gold more. First, the industrial metal rally has tapered off due to efforts by China to stabilise prices of global industrial metals. Since half of silver’s use is by industries, this will impact silver negatively along with other metals like zinc, copper, etc. However, gold will be spared this turmoil and outperform. Gold’s safe haven demand has also been going up of late. “The recent Chinese crackdown on crypto currencies has shaken investors and global disenchantment with crypto currencies is pushing investors into alternatives like gold,” says Praveen Singh, AVP, Fundamental Research – Commodities & Currencies, Sharekhan. The second covid wave has also helped gold. “Due to the covid wave, the US Fed is expected to take more time to increase rates and this will help gold to outperform silver over the next 1-3 months. However, I don’t think this ratio will go beyond 85 during this phase,” says Sugandha Sachdeva, VP – Commodities & Currency Research, Religare Broking.Once the short-term correction phase is over, silver is expected to continue with its outperformance and therefore, short term investors can shift back from gold to silver. The basic behavioural difference between gold and silver price movements is also a major reason for this. For example, silver and gold perform differently despite being precious metals and a close look at the long-term historical price charts will reveal this. “There will be some price action in gold every year. However, silver will remain in slumber for years and then jump up suddenly by 50-70% over 1-2 years before going back to sleep again for the next 4-6 years. Since this medium term silver jump will continue for the next 6-7 months (till end of 2021), silver is likely to outperform gold in 2021 also,” says Navneet Damani, VP – Commodities Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.While the 50% industrial use is a negative for the short-term, it becomes positive for silver in the medium-term. Though growth is still fragile, the global economy is now on a recovery path and this should favour silver and help it outperform on a yearly basis. “Silver fell along with other metals like copper, etc due to recent Chinese actions; but this is not going to last long. Global economic recovery will help silver in the medium term,” says Singh. “The Green initiative by US under Joe Biden and increased usage of silver in products like solar panels, etc are other long term positives for silver,” says Sachdeva.So, what can be the gold-silver ratio target for the medium term? Speculative markets rarely trade in fair zones and they usually move between two extremes. “Due to momentum favouring silver and its better potential in the medium-term, the gold -silver ratio will go down more in the medium term before coming back to its long-term average later,” says Singh. How much more can this ratio go down before reversing? “I expect the medium-term reversal of gold-silver ratio to happen around 60-62 levels,” says Damani.

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Should you invest in new international MFs?

Since the beginning of February, in just four months, Indian mutual fund companies have launched as many as eight new international funds. In fact, four of these have been launched (or are in the process of being launched) during the current month alone. If you add two funds that were launched in the last week of 2020, this comes to 10 international funds launched in five months. This is by far the highest pace at which new international funds have been created since this category became legally possible and the first such scheme was launched in March 2004. Why is there this sudden enthusiasm for launching new international funds? Based on the past behaviour of mutual fund companies, the biggest reason is that they can. Historically, like all businesses, mutual fund companies have preferred to launch new funds because for a variety of reasons, it has been easier and more profitable to sell new funds. However, two years ago, funds regulator Sebi codified the categories under which mutual fund schemes could be launched. In all the mainstream categories like large cap or mid-cap, they were limited to one fund each. However, in categories where many variations are possible, they can launch as many as they like if each has a different theme or focus. Coupled with the way global equity markets have stayed robust during the pandemic—at least so far— this has created an incentive to launch international funds. An entire planetful of possible variations await. You only have to read the names of the funds to see that this is happening: Axis Global Innovation, Axis Greater China Equity, BNP Paribas Aqua, HSBC Global Equity Climate Change, Invesco Global Consumer Trends, Kotak International REIT, Kotak Nasdaq 100, Mirae NYSE FANG+, SBI International Access - US Equity. Some of these are quite close to being general diversified funds, some are slightly focussed versions, while some have fairly narrow and exotic themes.In general, whether one is talking about domestic equity funds or international, it should not be the investor’s job to figure out which theme or sector or region will do well. When you invest in a mutual fund, you are paying a fund manager to make investing decisions for you. It’s his or her job to figure what type of investment is best at the moment. Figuring out whether it’s pharma or banking or climate change or aqua(!) the right area to invest in, that’s part of the service that you are supposed to get when you invest in a mutual fund. However, when you get tempted by a fund that’s supposed to limit itself to a particular subset of possible investments, then you are pre-empting the fund manager and making an investment choice yourself. If you understand enough to do this yourself, then that’s fine. However, if you end up doing it in response to someone’s marketing pitch, then that’s not so good. As far international investing goes, as I’ve written several times, every Indian equity and equity fund investor should have some proportion of their equity portfolios in foreign equity. The investing logic is unbeatable, the tax advantage is no longer significant and the exchange rate provides an additional cushion. However, just like domestic funds, the basic principles of investing cannot be passed by. In fact, because few Indian investors keep day-to-day tabs on the global business and investing environment the way they do for India, fund choice becomes even more critical. When in doubt, and when lacking in information, begin by choosing the less adventurous option. Find simple, diversified equity funds that give themselves a wide canvas to paint on, and most importantly, use SIPs to invest just as you would for a domestic fund.(The writer is CEO, Value Research)

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Wait 6 weeks for surgery after Covid, says ICMR

PUNE: Recovered Covid patients opting for non-urgent or elective surgeries are being asked by surgeons to go for repeat RT-PCR/antigen tests as part of pre-operative protocols. However, experts from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the national task force for Covid-19 have advised against repeating Covid tests within 102 days of recovery, citing presence of “non-viable dead-virus particles” that stay in the body for a while.These virus remnants cannot transmit the illness but can cause a false positive test result. The experts said surgeons should consider performing a non-urgent surgery on a Covid-recovered patient only after six weeks of recovery to ensure faster healing and convalescence post-surgery. “At present, Covid reinfection is confirmed only after 102 days of diagnosis. So, retesting within this time frame is not advisable,” said infectious diseases expert Sanjay Pujari, a member of the task force.“Also, a minimum period of six weeks prior to non-urgent surgery is recommended for Covid-recovered patients who were symptomatic. As for emergency surgeries in recovering or recovered patients, these must be done immediately with due precautions,” Pujari said. He, however, added that if a patient experiences recurrence of Covid symptoms, re-testing and consultation with an infectious disease expert can be considered.Experts said a Covid-recovered patient’s preoperative risk assessment should be “individualised”, by factoring in surgical intensity, co-morbidities and the risk-benefit ratio if procedure is delayed. “Residual symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain are common in patients who have had Covid. These symptoms can be present for more than 60 days after diagnosis,” Pujari said.Covid may also have long-term effects on heart function. A thorough preoperative evaluation, scheduled well ahead of surgery with special attention on cardiopulmonary systems, should be considered in patients who have recovered and especially in those with residual symptoms, according to the guidelines issued by the American Society of Anaesthesiology (ASA).President of Poona Surgical Society, Sanjay Kolte said, “Retesting recovered patients within 102 days from Covid diagnosis only adds to anxiety and is a wastage of money. Importantly, surgeons should adopt universal precautions while performing elective surgery rather than insisting on RTPCR reports.”Suggested wait times· Four weeks for an asymptomatic patient or someone who has recovered from only mild, non-respiratory symptoms· Six weeks for a symptomatic patient (including cough, shortness of breath) who did not require hospitalisation· Eight to 10 weeks for a symptomatic patient who is diabetic, immunocompromised, or was hospitalized with Covid· Twelve weeks for a patient who was admitted to ICU with Covid-19· No Covid retesting within 102 days· People who’ve recovered from Covid need not take another RT-PCR test to check if they have been reinfected· There is a possibility of a swab test returning a positive result after detecting non-viable remnants of the virus, even after the infection has cleared the system, an ICMR study has clarified· Non-viable virus remnants are dead particles that can no longer infect or transmit the illness· But if one tests positive 102 days after the first Covid episode, it can be considered as a case of new infection, provided there was a negative molecular test in the interim, the ICMR has said

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Not possible to cremate someone on the quiet: Yogi

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in an interaction with ET speaks on a range of issues including the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination drive and the possible third wave. Excerpts below.What is the Covid-19 situation in UP and the plan to ease restrictions?Today our positivity rate is 0.6% while the recovery rate is 97%. I can now say the second wave of Corona has been arrested. We will now open up in a phased manner after May 31. The situation will normalise to a great extent in the next week.How do you plan to ramp up vaccination, prepare for the third wave?We have started preparations for a possible third wave. I just toured the state for that purpose. UP has built post-covid wards in every district for free treatment to those reporting complications even after their Covid report came negative. We are also building 100-bed and 25-bed pediatric ICUs in medical colleges and district hospitals, respectively. We have also begun to train manpower for the same. As for vaccination, we have so far administered close to 2 crore doses. From June 1, we are opening up vaccination for 18-44 age category in all 75 districts. We have started building special booths for parents of children below 12 years. This category is more exposed to the virus as they go to work and must be inoculated in preparation for the third wave.What about vaccine hesitancy in rural areas?There is hesitancy to both testing and vaccination in villages, which is why we have tasked gram pradhans, anganwadi and Asha workers. We are putting up posters in villages of people who have vaccinated themselves. We have set up common service centers (CSCs) in each of the 58,000 gram panchayats, manned by skilled personnel for documentary and online work. Basically, people can get themselves registered and vaccinated at one place.How do you respond to allegations of under-reporting and data misrepresentation?People who are oblivious to facts and ground realities are bound to make such allegations. All data entry is taking place online, linked through a national software. Also, it is not just our state machinery working here. There are agencies like the UNICEF and WHO, besides central agencies, which are also in the field. WHO has deployed 2,000 workers here. It has also appreciated the UP model of door-to- door survey, testing and provision of medicine in rural areas. The Niti Aayog has asked other states to replicate it. A model cannot develop without any substance in it. Our recovery rate reflects there is no data fudging taking place. If we were doing so, the recovery rate would have been lower. With 3.5-4 lakh, we are also testing the most number of samples in the country every day.But still, visuals of bodies floating in the Ganga and buried in the sands will always be recalled?You would have seen these visuals in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and before that too, when there was no Covid. In India, customs and traditions built around our rivers date back to ancient times. Floating dead bodies in the river is seen as a means to salvation by some. If you look at traditions followed by monks, all three types of tradition co-exist — cremation, burial as well as jal pravah. These traditions exist even among those who are married, as well as in communities like Dasnami Sampradaya, Giri, Puri. Communities residing by the rivers especially take to this kind of practice. There was a furore on this in 2014, also in 2015 when it became a big issue in the media. We had run awareness campaigns under the Namami Gange regarding these traditions.In the first wave, I had given funds to gram panchayats and municipal corporations to conduct proper cremations. These local bodies could spend up to 5,000 on last rites after ascertaining that the family of the deceased could not afford it. But in the second wave, our administrative machinery got pre-occupied in Covid management and these events (episode of floating bodies) happened. Traditionally also there are rules for jal pravah, that the body is tied to a heavy object so it sinks and doesn’t float on the surface. However, because the Covid scare was so high, even non-Covid patients that may have been cremated this way, were done without following these norms. Usually, entire villages accompany the dead for cremation but this was not so during this wave.We have now formed committees headed by gram pradhans and heads of municipal corporations to make sure bodies are not floated in the river. Besides starting a campaign, we have deployed SDRF units, PAC flood units to patrol these areas.But these visuals have raised doubts on deaths being undercounted?Hospitals are linked with an online portal where they have to update Covid deaths. There could be delay in uploading but hospitals cannot hide data. They are held accountable. Also, if people are dying and numbers are being hidden, then someone will come out to speak up against it, right? Aisa nahi hai ki koi mar jaaye aur chup chaap uska daah sanskar kar diya jaaye. That just cannot happen. The entire system is transparent. UP would, perhaps, be the first state where all hospitals are under central CCTV surveillance. I can monitor the happenings in a hospital in Gorakhpur through my tablet in Lucknow.Look, we are facing a rare global pandemic. But still, some people want to use it to play politics. People will give them a befitting reply.Do you regret holding the panchayat elections?It’s a constitutional mandate. They were due to take place last year only but we had deferred them. Then the matter was taken to court. I am surprised that those who had earlier approached the court to hold the elections, later created a furore over them being held. They want to have it both ways- chit bhi meri pat bhi meri -- this is not possible. The HC called for holding the elections in a certain way. The state election commission announced the dates and the government supported it with the necessary machinery. Now, I have a question to ask. Panchayat elections in UP are the most difficult elections to hold but polls were also held in Tamil Nadu as well as in Kerala and West Bengal. You can compare their positivity and recovery rate with that of UP and see the difference. Secondly, there were no elections in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh or Rajasthan or Delhi. Therefore, we must understand the ground realities and make a strategy instead of resorting to hair splitting and making propaganda.Did BJP’s performance disappoint you?Panchayat elections were not fought on party symbols. No senior leader or star campaigner was also sent. The issues were very local and fought primarily on the candidate's reputation and past work. It’s not rational to guess assembly election outcomes on the basis of panchayat polls. In 1995, Samajwadi Party had registered huge wins in panchayat elections, but lost assembly polls a year later. Similarly, in 2010, the Bahujan Samaj Party won the polls but lost assembly polls in 2012. In 2015, SP had once again claimed big wins but everyone knows what happened in 2017. Strategy for assembly elections is entirely different.Is it of concern that many BJP MLAs are speaking out against the government, its bureaucracy and the police?This was never a cause of concern. Those who are serving people will receive their blessings. And mind you, no IAS or IPS can either form or bring down a government. It is the public who makes or breaks a government. If an elected representative has shown dedication towards public service, then he or she is going to get blessings of the people. Those who indulged in making unnecessary statements, have always faced embarrassments.Is the party active as an organisation on ground as you would like it to be?Both the government as well as the party are engaged in serving the people. We are now scaling up our vaccination booths from 2,500 centres to more than 5,000 from June 1. There will be a waiting area and observation area made in these booths where BJP workers will help. They are also assisting in ration distribution under the PM Garib Kalyan Package. They are also filling the gaps in distribution of medicine kits in villages.How is the Covid situation in villages?There was this apprehension that UP's villages are seeing very high infections but when we deployed surveillance committees we found that only 32% villages saw infections. And they were those next to cities. So, 68% villages were able to protect themselves from the infection through containment measures own their own, even if the government reached later. One can sit anywhere and express doubts.Oxygen shortage became a major policy issue, especially in NCR districts with Delhi. Your comments?UP has 25 crore population but was allotted 700 MT oxygen per day. Delhi has a population of 1.75 crore but was forcefully allotted 700 MT oxygen. When the issue of audit came up, Delhi government pulled back. In UP, the state government had itself tasked seven institutions including IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow, IIT BHU, among others for oxygen audits across the state. In Delhi, despite getting adequate oxygen, there was mismanagement, adverse events took place. The courts had to intervene.We never opposed Delhi getting oxygen, like from the Inox plant in Modinagar in UP. We were able to manage from other sources allotted by central govt, from Jamnagar, Uttarakahand, Jamshedpur. We made sure there was no crisis in the state and we lent to Delhi as well.How are you creating oxygen sufficiency for the future?I was astonished at the statements made by some responsible people and institutions of our country. A situation of panic was created due to which even those who did not need it, became desperate for oxygen. Also, for Remdesivir and Tocilizumab. We should try to be calm and show restraint in a crisis, not increase panic through irresponsible statements.We did face acute shortages for a few days but soon, the Centre started allocating oxygen through rail and air force. For the future, we are setting up more than 400 oxygen plants across the state.How do you plan to spur economic growth?UP was the sixth largest economy in 2014-15. We have brought it to the second spot. In last four years, more than 3 lakh crore has been invested in the state. Since March 2020, we have got Rs 75,000 crore worth investment. Covid has, of course, been a setback. But we are focusing on developing infrastructure on a war footing -- be it Purvanchal Expressway, Ganga e-way, Bundelkhand e-way etc.Besides the Jewar Airport, we are also waiting to operationalize the Kushinagar international airport where work is almost complete. Ayodhya too is getting an international airport. Besides, under the Udan scheme, work is on for developing 17 new airports in districts like Sonbhadra, Azamgarh, Shravasti, among others.How do you view the change in vaccination policy post May 1, allowing states to procure vaccines for the 18-44 category?States had only demanded this so that they could procure according to their needs. We have no objection. Centre and states will have to work together to complete this task on time.Any response to the global tender?In the pre-bid that took place, some companies showed interest. Covishield and Covaxin manufacturing companies said that they are supplying through the central government route. Sputnik, Pfizer and Moderna have shown interest. We have extended the dates, made some changes in our tender also. A lot of the companies want the government of India to get involved, so Centre has started work on that front.

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Nutrition food products flying off the shelves

Immunity and nutrition-based food products saw a record surge in demand during April and May, higher than discretionary or indulgence products, companies and retailers said.Offtake of in-home consumption of hygiene-related products such as sanitisers has, however, declined since people are hardly stepping out due to prolonged lockdown-like restrictions across states, leading brands to defocus on these categories, they said.“There is a permanent reset with heightened consumer needs for healthy foods, hygiene and immunity-boosting products,” said Sanjay Mishra, the chief operating officer at Marico. “On the other hand, discretionary products that are related to out-of-home movement are seeing softer demand as consumers are increasingly home-bound,” Mishra added.Companies are ramping up production, blocking capacities for raw material and increasing marketing spends for categories such as chyawanprash, oats, honey, health-juices, nutrition powders, coconut water amid the second Covid-19 wave.They are deprioritising manufacturing of hygiene-related products such as hand sanitisers, specialised vegetable washes and sanitisers for gadgets.Immunity remains the big draw across channels, said retail executives. “Natural health drinks, chyawanprash, multivitamin gummies and kadha have become part of regular consumption and routine buying now. The last one year has seen inclusion of many forms of immunity products,” said Devendra Chawla, managing director at Spencer’s Retail and Nature’s Basket, which operates 200 retail stores across the country.Dabur India, which added Rs 500 crore in revenue to its health supplements business in the previous financial year, expects the momentum to continue incrementally in the June quarter, even as it defocuses on sanitisers.“Demand for Ayurveda-based healthcare and immunity boosting products including chyawanprash, honey and the ayurvedic immunity-building portfolio continues to grow at a steady pace with the second wave,” said Dabur India chief executive Mohit Malhotra. “In contrast, with consumer demand for sanitising products dropping, we have reduced focus on this category,” Malhotra added.Senior executives said the shift in consumption preferences is intrinsic and will sustain in the long term. They are ensuring no stock-outs of supplies to cater to this higher demand.Nutrilite maker Amway has proactively blocked capacities with suppliers to ensure consistent supplies of raw material required to meet growing demand of its nutrition franchise, said Amway India chief executive Anshu Budhraja.

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HUL offers free telemedicine services

Hindustan Unilever, India's biggest consumer goods firm, has started a telemedicine initiative to provide free Covid-19 related services to consumers in rural areas, especially where health infrastructure is lacking.As part of the initiative, which is similar to what startups like Connect & Heal and Practo typically provide, qualified nurses are being trained as health entrepreneurs at the centres, which will facilitate tele-consultations through video conferencing with a panel of doctors. HUL, which is working with communities around its factories under project Prabhat, has opened its first centre in Haldia, West Bengal and the plan is to launch five more before covering all its sites.“As a big manufacturing and corporate establishment, we have the muscle and infrastructure to support and do this better where we have manufacturing units than in just another location in the country,” said Anuradha Razdan, executive director, human resources at HUL.The company gets over 40% of its sales from rural markets. “This is in many ways educating and supporting people as the first port of call and it replaces or sort of stepping in for a lacuna which exists in the infrastructure,” Razdan said.In the first three months, consultations will be conducted through calls, and people may walk-in only to pick up medical essentials such as oximeters, medicines, and oxygen concentrators. These centres, implemented by Labournet Healthcare, will work closely with local public health centres to help strengthen affordable healthcare where it is needed most. Rural sales, a constant comfort for FMCG companies throughout 2020 in terms of demand, have now come under threat with the Covid-19 second wave spreading rapidly in non-metro areas.“At this time, we realised public health infrastructure is severely strained. As the wave moves, it is going to get into the rural parts of the country. Not everybody needs hospitalisation or can access hospitalisation, therefore, this is the first port of call,” Razdan added.India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) on Friday said the Covid-19 second wave is different as the highly infectious mutant strain had already spread to rural India. Health ministry statistics show that 394 districts out of 718 had a case positivity rate of over 10% as on May 20. “Such a high rate of positivity rate is being recorded even when the level of testing is low in rural India,” the report added.India is also facing a severe shortage of oxygen cylinders and concentrators. Most hospitals are having to turn back patients due to shortage of beds and oxygen. Earlier this month, HUL said it would provide 4,000 oxygen concentrators to meet the medical oxygen requirement of home-bound patients and hospitals.

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M&M getting out of the tunnel, says MD

Mahindra & Mahindra is not only witnessing light at the end of the tunnel after taking an impairment charge of Rs 840 crore due to ailing subsidiaries but is also “seeing us getting out of the tunnel,” said managing director Anish Shah. In an interview with ET, Shah said lockdowns to contain the second Covid-19 wave have derailed business recovery and uptick will depend on the business environment in June. Edited excerpts:Will the lockdowns impact your performance this quarter?It will impact everyone. April was a rather good month overall. Covid-19 had started (rising) in Maharashtra in early April but the government made sure that plants could operate. The rest of India really hadn't gotten into a tough situation yet, so demand was fairly strong as well.May, however, was a very tough month. Rest of India too got impacted and even in Maharashtra things got worse. There was high absenteeism at plants and there were more supply chain issues. So, May is going to be a pretty tough month for everyone across the board.The key question is what happens in June. How quickly do we ramp up? We're starting to see positivity in terms of infections going down in many parts of the country. If we at least go back to where we were in January and February, I think that'll be a pretty good situation for us.Do you see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of provisions and write-offs?We are seeing us getting out of the tunnel, more or less… We've come down from Rs 3,500 crore (in exceptional charges) last year to Rs 840 crore this year. Of this Rs 440 crore is for SsangYong.As we didn't go through the pre-packaged resolution plan, we wanted to make sure we were being realistic in terms of what we could get back and therefore we put a provision of Rs 440 crore for SsangYong…and we are only left with Rs 220 crore of exposure (in SsangYong) for equity and debt. We've written down everything else. And (provisions for) others have also started coming down because a lot of it was due to the restructuring this year — we've done it for MANA (Mahindra Automotive North America), Automobili Pininfarina, and a few other shutdowns … we don't expect impairments to be a big number going forward.What’s the worst-case scenario for SsangYong?The board has been dissolved and the court has appointed a liquidator for the company. We are not involved at all. The scenarios for SsangYong are, one — there is a buyer that comes in and takes the company forward, and the court will then decide what happens to the debt and equity holders. The second is that there is no buyer, and the court liquidates all the assets. The asset value is fairly high, which is why we've kept Rs 220 crore on our books. That would be the worst-case scenario... we are very hopeful that there will be some buyer.Which three of your growth gems are the best poised for growth?First is farm machinery. Second is going to be e-vehicles and last-mile mobility. For the third one, it's a tough choice to pick, but I would say logistics at this point in time. That's one industry that is going to grow significantly in India and we've got a good business there.

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Petrol Diesel Price: आज फिर लगी पेट्रोल-डीजल के दाम में आग, मुंबई में 100.47 पेट्रोल की कीमत

सरकारी तेल कंपनियों की ओर से आज फिर पेट्रोल व डीजल की कीमतों में कोई बढ़ोतरी हुई है। आज डीजल की कीमत 24 से 28 पैसे तो वहीं पेट्रोल की कीमत भी 28 से 29 पैसे तक बढ़ी है।

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दावा: एनडीआरएफ के डीजी ने कहा- ऑपरेशन 'यास' के दौरान किसी की मौत नहीं हुई

ताउते चक्रवात ने भारत में कम से कम 193 लोग मारे गए थे, इसे सबसे बड़ी दुर्घटना बार्ज की थी इसकी वजह से मौतों का आंकड़ा बढ़ गया।

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Israel's Netanyahu Could Lose PM Job As Rivals Move To Unseat Him

Israeli nationalist hardliner Naftali Bennett said Sunday he would join a potential coalition government that could end the rule of the country's longest-serving leader, Prime Minister Benjamin...

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Telecom gear makers fear missing out on PLI

Cisco, Ciena, Samsung, Foxconn, Flex, Nokia and Ericsson, which want to finalise their local manufacturing plans under the telecom equipment production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, fear they will lose out on four months while waiting for approvals and the detailed guidelines.The scheme became effective on April 1 but the companies don’t expect the approval letters to come in before July, with the entire process of selection and disbursement of final clearances likely to take time, executives at three of the companies said.However, a senior Department of Telecommunications official told ET the basic incentive structure and names of interested companies have already been announced.“The guidelines are also in the final stages and will be released shortly. The workings of the department had been halted in the past weeks due to the severe Covid spread,” the official said.The official did not comment on the concerns of companies over missing out on production targets.“The final guidelines are important for us to understand the business case and make a production commitment,” one executive said. “We believe production will not start for another quarter given the poor state of manufacturing operations across sectors.”Samsung, Foxconn, Flex, Nokia and Ericsson did not respond to queries while the others could not be reached immediately for comment.DoT announced the PLI for local manufacture of telecom equipment and network hardware in February, with ₹12,195 crore to be disbursed over five years and incentives ranging from 4% to 6% of incremental production in a year. The scheme offers a higher incentive of 4%-7% to MSMEs that must invest ₹10 crore, while large companies have an investment threshold of ₹100 crore.The scheme will cover products such as 4G/5G next-generation radio access networks, IoT devices, customer premises equipment, routers and switches.DoT said in April that Ericsson and Nokia were keen to expand their existing operations in India for global supply chains, while Samsung, Cisco, Ciena and engineering manufacturing service companies like Jabil USA, Foxconn Taiwan, Sanmina USA, and Flex USA have shown interest in setting up manufacturing units in India.Local companies HFCL, Coral Telecom, Sterlite, Dixon and VVDN Technologies plan to expand their facilities. Bharti Enterprises said separately it is forming a JV with Dixon to make telecom equipment.

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India Inc wants more flexibility in labour laws

India Inc has approached state governments, seeking greater flexibility in operations and reduced compliances, as they firm up rules under the four labour codes.Several rounds of discussions have been held between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and principal secretaries of labour of Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.Staffing firms like TeamLease are also in talks with states such as Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra as part of efforts to ease the stringent regulatory regime and relax the compliance burden.“Labour in India is a concurrent subject. Multiple laws in different states act as a challenge for organisations operating pan-India,” the CII said in a representation to the states. “The high cost of compliance compels firms to remain small.”83096329The Centre has been reluctant to dilute the rules under the codes and industry sees interactions with states as an opportunity to drive home its concerns about rise in compliance cost after the implementation of the codes.Some of the key changes sought by the industry include doing away with the provisions of a creche facility by employers and introducing grandfathering clauses to prevent higher payout by employers under the new wage definition which caps allowances at not more than 50% of the wages.“The new definition of wages will lead to a sudden increase in cash flows for the industry. It is recommended to introduce the provision of grandfathering through the rules under the Code on Social Security for gratuity computation,” the CII told the states.Objecting to the provision of setting up a reskilling fund for retrenched workers, the CII said retrenched workers can be issued “skill vouchers” by employers which can be encashed or redeemed by the workers at any government authorised technical training institute.Further, employers’ representatives have sought relaxation for services sectors including exemption from standing orders as well as giving them the flexibility to work for four days a week while capping the weekly work hours at 48.“The IT/ITES/e-commerce sector has robust grievance mechanisms in place and adhere to global work culture practices and hence should be exempted from standing orders,” said the CII. “Considering global client demands (IT/ITeS) and local exigencies of work in e-commerce, powers of state government to exempt to be used.”The Indian Staffing Federation and TeamLease refused to comment as discussions are at preliminary stages.

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Vodafone Idea lenders may have to make more provisions

Loss-making telecom operator Vodafone Idea's (Vi) domestic lenders may have to take on additional provisioning burden in case the cash-strapped company fails to raise fresh capital by June end, officials at two banks said.Several lenders had written back provisions on the Vi account in the March quarter after its management assured them that it would raise fresh funds by the end of next month. Now, they say, writing back provisions could have been a hasty move.“We had written back provisions in the March quarter, after the management claimed that it was in definitive talks with investors who would infuse funds in the company. But several months on, this remains a pipe dream,” an executive at one of the top lenders said. “While they have been clearing dues on time, we have to consider taking accelerated provisions if credit quality deteriorates.”The telco has just one more month left to raise at least some part – roughly $1 billion - of its ₹25,000-crore target. 83096628Last September, Vi said it would raise ₹25,000 crore to meet operational expenses and pay statutory dues.“Since September last year, the company has been planning to raise funds, but it’s not come to fruition. Our worry is that this could get delayed further,” said another lender on condition of anonymity.For Vi, fresh capital is crucial to clear upcoming dues. Moreover, if it does not invest in infrastructure, competitors will slowly chip away at its subscribers.State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are among its main lenders.Vi has been in fundraising talks with potential investors such as an Oak Hill-led consortium, US private equity firms including KKR, besides Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CPDQ) and Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global. The discussions have not yet been successful.Vi did not respond to ET's queries.Parent entities Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group have stuck to their stance of not infusing fresh equity and it has become India’s only loss-making private sector telecom operator, rapidly losing subscribers to leading rivals Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel.In its fiscal third quarter, Vi said loans falling due beyond 12 months were at ₹8,691.9 crore as of December 31, 2020.It said that “guarantees amounting to ₹11,371.6 crore are due to expire during the next 12 months and ₹872.7 crore of incremental guarantees are to be provided.”Its fiscal fourth quarter results are expected in June.According to a senior Mumbai-based telecom analyst, time is at a premium for the telco, which has a consolidated debt of ₹1,17,080 crore as of December end.“Over the last six months, there have been a lot of talks but now most of them are on the backburner. The Covid-19 second wave has forced telcos to hold back their tariff increase plans as well. Then there are the AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues which they have to pay next year. So, the telco is definitely in a tight spot,” the analyst said.Vi has ₹50,400 crore of AGR dues payable to the government over 10 annual instalments through March 31, 2031, starting in March 2022.Unable to increase tariffs due to competitive pressures, Vi needs to raise cash quickly to bolster 4G operations in 16 priority circles to fight financially stronger rivals Airtel and Jio, arrest its steady loss of mobile users and clear the statutory dues.

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Auto sales could crash in May over lockdown woes

Passenger car sales at the retail level are estimated to have crashed by 75% to 80,000 units in May compared to its recent peak of 348,000 units in March, according to several people in the know. Monthly volumes have also slipped to a year’s low. Rising Covid-19 caseloads in April and May compelled over 90% of states to announce localised lockdowns, pulling down the shutters on auto dealers.Deliveries to customers fell from 348,000 units retail in March to 192,000 in April, before slipping to 80,000 in May. Despatches from factories to dealerships in May are expected to be slightly higher at around 90,000-100,000 units.Overall production of two-wheelers is expected to decline by 62-65% to 750,000-800,000 units in May, according to the output plans of two-wheelers vendors. Put together, the potential revenue loss for two-wheeler and passenger carmakers would be around Rs 17,000 crore in May, while the government received nearly Rs 4,500 crore less revenue because of steeply lower sales volumes.Over a dozen states, including large ones like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — which account for over 60-70% of national vehicle sales — have decided to extend the lockdown-like restrictions by a week to 10 days.83103393The mismatch between demand and supply is likely to widen, said Shashank Srivastava, executive director, sales and marketing, at Maruti Suzuki.“June is going to pose a much bigger challenge in terms of business planning and decision making. While the markets continue to be under lockdown, the factories have resumed production, so the supply-side issues will be addressed; now the challenge will move to securing retail, which will only happen on unlocking,” he said.The industry is sitting on pending orders of about 350,000 units.Inventory at dealerships prior to the lockdown were still low, at around 15 days, but that will be adequately replenished, with markets remaining closed and factories operating. The production decline has been pronounced on the two-wheeler front, but a little brighter for export-heavy companies such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor. Since these two companies have been able to deliver on their overseas commitments, the decline in the export volumes is expected to be limited.

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चीन गतिरोध: सेना प्रमुख नरवणे ने कहा- सैन्य आधुनिकीकरण के लिए फंड की कमी नहीं

भारतीय सेना प्रमुख जनरल एमएम नरवणे ने उन आशंकाओं को खारिज कर दिया है, जिनमें चीन के साथ पूर्वी लद्दाख में जारी गतिरोध के चलते वास्तविक नियंत्रण रेखा (एलएसी) पर अधिक संसाधन खर्च करने की जरूरत जताई गई थी।

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काम की बात: संपत्ति का सौदा रद्द तो ऐसे मिलेगा रिफंड, टोकन मनी पर ज्यादा संकट

महामारी में रोजगार और आमदनी छिनने के साथ लोगों को वित्तीय प्राथमिकताएं बदलने पर भी मजबूर कर दिया है। सैकड़ों ऐसे मकान खरीदार है जिन्होंने महामारी से पहले बुकिंग कराई लेकिन पूंजी नहीं जुटा पाने के कारण सौदा रद्द करा रहे हैं।

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Scores Of Children Kidnapped From Islamic Seminary In Nigeria: Officials

Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped scores of children from an Islamic seminary in central Nigeria's Niger state, police and residents said.

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शिकंजे में पहलवान : सुशील कुमार पर साढ़े चार साल में भी चार्जशीट नहीं, पुख्ता गवाहों का टोटा

इसे ओलंपियन सुशील कुमार की राजनीति या पुलिस में पैठ कहें या फिर पुलिस की लेटलतीफी।

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मध्यप्रदेश: इदौर स्थित कंपनी को मिला ब्लैक फंगस की दवा बनाने का लाइसेंस

देश के कई राज्यों में ब्लैक फंगस का कहर जारी है। दिनों दिन केस बढ़ते जा रहे हैं। वहीं मध्यप्रदेश के इंदौर स्थित मॉडर्न लेबोरेटरीज को ब्लैक फंगस संक्रमण के इलाज में इस्तेमाल होने वाली दवा एम्फोटेरिसिन-बी बनाने का लाइसेंस मिला है।

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UAE Extends Suspension On Flights From India Till June 30

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday extended the suspension of passenger flights from India till June 30 to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Hospitals Can't Offer Vaccine Packages With Hotels: Centre To States

Some private hospitals are giving package for Covid vaccination in collaboration with luxury hotels in violation of the guidelines and legal action needs to be initiated against them, the Centre said...

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1 Dead, 4 Taken To Hospital After Shooting Near Toronto

Police in the Peel region near Toronto said on Saturday one person was killed and four were transported to hospitals in the Toronto area "in various conditions" after a shooting.

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Chelsea Shatter Man City's Treble Hopes To Win 2nd Champions League Title

Champions League Final: Kai Havertz's goal secured a tense 1-0 win for Chelsea over Manchester City and helped Thomas Tuchel's men to their second Champions League title.

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1.65 Lakh New Covid Cases In India, Positivity Rate Below 10% For 6th Day

India recorded less than 2 lakh Covid cases for the third consecutive day with 1.65 lakh fresh infections, taking overall case count to 2.78 crore. The positivity rate remained below 10 per cent for...

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Thousands Protest In Brazil Against President Bolsonaro's Covid Response

Tens of thousands of people in Brazil staged another day of protest against President Jair Bolsonaro, in particular for his chaotic handling of the pandemic, which has claimed more than 461,000 lives...

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Not Jio, but RIL's O2C biz may drive the stock

After having slept for some time now, RIL's core business of oil and chemicals should start doing well and that should drive the stock going forward, says Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, in this interview. Edited excerpts:Reliance managed to wake up after underperforming for more than a quarter. Do you think the stock can build on gains further or it appears to be a one-off move?Reliance's retail and telecom segments had plateaued in terms of growth. We saw that in their subscriber's base also. But from now, the expectation is that the core oil-to-chemicals segment should start performing and that should drive the stock from here. So if you look at the overall expectation on economic growth, there has been some speed breakers. But nonetheless, the global demand has been pretty good. Oil prices have been stabilising around $60 per barrel, which is positive for oil producers. So in this environment, the expectation is that after having slept for some time now RIL's core business of oil and chemicals should start doing well and that should drive the stock going forward. What is your take on Bharti Airtel?If you look at it fundamentally, Bharti Airtel's quarterly results have been pretty good. The only ugly factor has been the wait in tariff hikes. Apart from that, their ARPUs have significantly improved sequentially and consistently over the last one-and-a-half years, mainly on back of changes in the mix. Now with the news of 5G testing coming out and growth, I think the overall space in telecom should do well. Nonetheless, there has been some consolidation that is continuing in the overall telecom space. Until there is clarity on the further growth path in terms of 5G rollout, the stock could consolidate for some more time.What is your reading of earnings of IT companies?Overall, the fourth quarter recorded robust sequential revenue growth. Most companies reported a strong deal win which has improved the visibility of growth going forward. Topline growth should continue to be good over the next one year as the deal pipeline remains strong. Overall, we have a positive stance on the sector. Our preferred picks in the tier-1 space is Infosys, followed by HCL Tech. Among the tier-2 players, we like L&T Infotech, L&T Technology, Mphasis and Cyient.Would you be tempted to book profits here or you want to ride the wave?It makes sense to remain a bit cautious although we are in a strong bull run and things have just started opening up. Our overall view is that positional traders should keep booking profits on regular intervals. We have also seen a lot of churn at least in terms of sectoral rotations. For long-term investors, it is always a good thing to buy on dips or accumulate on any declines. Traders should book short-term profits and remain a bit cautious, especially on days when you hit a new high.

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