Compete like the 5G

    South Korean company Samsung entered the Indian market by winning a contract with Reliance Jio when they introduced 4G network to India. They are now looking beyond Jio to expand their business.

    Samsung has now spoken to Bharati Airtel to supply equipments and build 5G networks in some areas of the country like Kolkata and Punjab. Samsung also held some preliminary talks with Vodaphone Idea said a Samsung India spokesperson. It has become evident that the move by Samsung is significant because the Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE had banned from the Indian market, the only options are Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia.

    Meanwhile Airtel has tied up with Tata Consultancy Services to build the core as well as the radios and various end-to-end stacks for the 5G deployment. Reliance Jio built its own 5G technology partly in-house and also collaborating with other companies. In the 4G business, the Chinese companies accounted to 20% in the market. Reliance Jio also started talks with Ericsson for the first time to buy equipments which is beyond what Samsung has offered. Hence we would find a lot of technological advancement in the coming years as companies shows more interest in 5G.

Nobel for AI: A matter of time?

 Devangshu Datta : Can Artificial Intelligence be awarded the Nobel Prize for key scientific research?

This is a question which is becoming more serious in coming days. In 2022 we have seen atleast 2 AI driven pieces of research, which could win the most prestigious award in science.

In february 2022 Deepmind, the British Ai research outfit, was asked to help look at a critical problem in nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is the process which occurs in the Sun and the stars giving out energy. We find it extremely hard to replicate the process here due to extreme temperature and pressure. 

Tokamak chambers which were designed to conduct nuclear fusion using magnetic manipulation. Strong elctromagnetic fields keep the plasma away from touching the chamber walls. It was difficult to run the magnets efficiently at the same time squeezing the plasma to yield maximum fusion. Deepmind's AI has worked out far more efficient ways to shape the fields and hold the plasma than any prior research.

Other field of research using AI was protein folding which is a very complex mathematical problem.  Protein consist of 300 amino acids strung together in various methods. The folding determines the biochemical reactions. Understanding how protein is folded or likely to be folded is important. 

Circa 2018, Deepminds Alphafold algorith started working on protein folding. It beat every other protein guessing platform in the Critical assessment of protein structure prediction. In 2021, Deepmind released a compendium of the structures of 200 million proteins. This is a huge step forward and could bring untold future benefits. 

Any human who have figured these two researches would have been a recepient of Nobel Prizes. So it is still questionable that can the AI's can be awarded science awards.

 

Paddy sowing dips 13% due to poor rains; likely to hurt final output

The biggest food grains grown during kharif season is  almost 13.3 percent which is less than the previous year .This happens due to poor rain in states like UttarPradesh  , Bihar Jharkhand ,and West Bengal. The trade and market players have already started factoring 10 million tonnes of drop in production of rice in kharif season as compared to the previous year. 

 

India produced 111 million tonnes of rice in previous year.The drop in acreage is about 8 -16 percent  .

Samsung and 5G in India

 During the time when 4G was being set up in India, Samsung partnered with Jio. With Jio building its own indigenous 5G technology, partly in-house and partly in collaboration with various others Samsung has moved on to Vodafone-Idea. It is in talks with Airtel to supply equipment and build the 5G network.  

While the 4G network was being set-up, the Chinese accounted for a total of 20% in the market. They supplied equipment to Airtel and Vodafone Idea sharing the two telco circles with Ericsson and Nokia. But now the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE are excluded from participating in the 5G roll out. There is a significant vacuum in the market because of this that has to be filled by three vendors Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung. 

With the 5G auction in progress, the telecommunication companies are trying to prepare themselves to have the 5G network run successfully. These companies are trying to develop their own 5g indigenous open radio access network (O-RAN) in collaboration with other players. This move is being encouraged by the government as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Though the companies are trying to build their own technology, they are still a work in progress and it is a process which will take time and its launch will only be decided by 2023-24.

Airtel has tied up with Tata Consultancy Services to build the equipment to an extent. It has also tied up with other global players such as Mavenir for O-RAN and NEC for MIMO cells. Reliance Jio has started talks with Ericsson for the first time for buying 5G equipment beyond what is available from Samsung. 

India's core sector maintains double-digit growth at 12.7% in June

In June, India's eight infrastructure sectors expanded by double digits for the second month in a row, despite a slowdown in sequential growth.

According to data provided by the industry department on Friday, the core sector gained 12.7% year on year in June but fell 4.1% sequentially. According to Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra, core sector growth has moderated from 19.3 per cent in May to 12.7 per cent in June, showing the normalising base. The disaggregated patterns of core sector data are quite diverse, ranging from a 1.7% decrease for crude oil to a 31.1 per cent rise for coal. Apart from coal, cement, refinery products, and electricity generation, growth in steel and natural gas was rather subdued in June.  According to Madan Sabnavis, chief economist of Bank of Baroda, core sector growth is excellent given the high base of 9.4% in June 2021. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut India's growth prediction for FY23 by 80 basis points to 7.4 per cent, citing less favourable external conditions and the central bank's quick tightening of policy.

The IMF noted in its April World Economic Outlook update that while a global recession in 2022 is ruled out with a growth forecast of 3.2%, the balance of risks is tilted to the negative, driven by a variety of factors that could harm global economic performance.

The IMF's downward revision of India's growth forecast comes only days after the Asian Development Bank reduced its growth forecast for India to 7.2 per cent for FY23, down from 7.5 per cent citing higher-than-expected inflation.

More consumers buying premium items

 The premium segment in the FMCG sector grew during this year. The report by Kantar mentioned three ways in which brands pushed premium products which are "natural", "small packs", "specialisation". 

It also noted that the categories like ace creams, bar soaps, and tea have grown in the premium segment. For Glow and Lovely new users accounted for 78% volume gains in the natural segment. 

Small packs also helped premium segments grow because buyers were willing to try and buy something new. 

There are some consumers whi are not compromising on purchasing premium brands despite market fluctuations if reached with right offerings. Sanjiv Mehta the MD and CEO of Hindustan Unilever told investors after its results the firm is making progress on strategic choices including accelerating market development or crearing future market.

Ola electric to make battery cells under center's PLI scheme

 Ola Electric said it has signed an agreement under the Centre’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to manufacture advanced cells in India. Ola is the only Indian electric mobility company selected by the Government of India under its ambitious Rs 80,000-crore cell PLI scheme, receiving a maximum capacity of 20 gigawatt hour. 

90 per cent of global capacity for cell manufacturing is in China. To reverse this import dependency, locally manufactured cell technology is necessary. Advanced chemistry cell will be instrumental in making India self-reliant and localising the most critical aspects of the electric vehicle (EV) value chain.

Ola had recently unveiled India’s first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell NMC 2170 and is investing heavily in developing core research and development (R&D) to create indigenous advanced cell technologies. To begin mass production of its cell from its upcoming 50 GWh Gigafactory, Ola has brought in global suppliers from Germany, South Korea, Japan.

DGCA and SpiceJet

    Indian aviation regulator DGCA has directed low cost airline SpiceJet to operate on only 50% of their flights for the coming 8 weeks. This decision taken by the DGCA is due to the high number of incidents regarding safety of the passengers.

    SpiceJet already operates on less than 50% of its flights for the summer schedule and said that this would not impact the working of the company. The airlines were operating with 4,192 flights per week making it around 600 per day and now operates at 300 per day. SpiceJet said that there would be no cancellation of flights as a consequence of this order. The reported 8 incidents happened within a month time. The airlines was given 3 weeks’ time to explain why there should be no action taken against them. The DGCA had earlier found out that SpiceJet did not have sufficient spare parts for their airplanes.

    SpiceJet has pointed out that it has been taking actions to rise up its manpower in core operational departments like engineering, flight safety and operation and maintenance control. 

Experts expect some inflation, CAD relief after US Fed hikes rates

Following the US Federal Reserve's decision to raise its key benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points, India may see some relief in terms of retail price inflation and current account deficit (CAD) in the current fiscal year (bps).

Retail inflation in June stayed over the Reserve Bank of India's target of 4%, plus or minus 2%, for the sixth consecutive month, though it softened to 7.1% from 7.04 per cent in May. Lower commodity prices should take some of the stings out of the monthly trade deficit figures. In June, the country's trade deficit reached an all-time high of $26.18 billion, up from $24.29 billion the previous month. The deficit increased to $70.8 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, more than double from $31.42 billion the previous year. This is anticipated to increase the CAD to at least 3% of GDP in the current fiscal year, up from 1.25% the previous year.

According to Madan Sabnavis, chief economist of Bank of Baroda, there are indicators that this is not the final rate hike by the US Fed and that one should be prepared for future strong moves.

According to Sakshi Gupta, principal economist at HDFC Bank Treasury, the US Fed

The MPC, which is slated to convene next week, is likely to be swayed more by local inflation-growth dynamics than by the US Fed's move, analysts said, even though the measure has narrowed the interest rate differential between the US and India.

Given the current position, Sabnavis does not anticipate any unpleasant surprises from the MPC. "It will consider Fed actions, but it will be influenced more by domestic inflation, which appears to be stable at 7%," he said.

He predicts the MPC will raise the repo rate by 25 basis points at its review meeting next week, which is less aggressive than the previous hikes of 50 basis points in July and 40 basis points in an off-cycle meeting in December.

More banks to offer higher interest rates on NRE deposits

 After HDFC bank set up a two day window for non-resident external rupee (NRE) deposits offering significantly higher interest rates than those cutrently available , more banks are likely to come up with similar offers. 

The offer by HDFC bank offers an annual interest rate of 6.8 percent on NRE deposits worth ₹2 crore to less than ₹ 150 crore for tenures ranging from 12 to 15 months and for domestic deposits worth ₹2 crore to ₹5 crore with a tenure of 12 to 15 months it offers 6.25 percent.

Axis bank has offered interest rates in the range of 6.30 percent to 6.65 percent for such deposits worth ₹5 crore to ₹100 crore for tenure of 12 to 15 months.

The offers on come NRE deposits came after RBI temporarily exempted banks from adhering to a regulation that prevented interest rates on NRE deposits. The central bank aim at  attracting more foreign inflows into India at atime when rupee has been marking low against US dollar.

Tata Steel Signs An MoU With A Start-Up

 A Bengaluru based start-up Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS) and Tata Steel have signed an MoU for drone based mining solutions. Tata Steel has entered this deal with the start-up that provides end-to-end drone solutions for effective mine management. The primary goal of this collaboration as stated is to jointly develop and offer sustainable and integrated solutions that will focus on efficiency, safety and productivity of open cast mining operations. 

The companies jointly will provide exclusive drone-based solutions such as mine analytics and geo-technical mapping to Tata Steel group companies across mining locations in India. The end-to-end mining solutions are economical, demand fewer men working on-site and improve production, efficiency and site safety. 

The company aspires to make use of the opportunities arising out of the Government's Atmanirbhar Bharat Programme by creating a sustainable mining business. Digitalization enables the usage of real-time data and data analytics, provides visualisation and decision matrix tools to predict failure, optimises scheduling and material flow and helps with overall monitoring of flow of data and materials. 

Tata Steel has announced a stock split. A stock split is a split of stock of one share reducing its value by half which means the current shareholders will hold twice the shares at half value but the total value does not change. A company usually announces a stock split when the stock price has shot up so much over a period of time that it is a burden to new investors. With the company doing well in Europe and doing marginally lower with the export moderation in India, the company has still done well at the stock market. 

India got the highest aid for trade from developed countries in 2020

India got the most trade funding from wealthy countries in 2020, totalling $2.7 billion while receiving less during the epidemic year than it did in 2019.

The World Trade Organization-led trade flow assistance is aimed specifically at the least developed economies. It consists of official development assistance for the development of supply-side capability and trade-related infrastructure for these countries to participate in international trade.

Bangladesh received the second most aid, trailing Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Vietnam, Pakistan, Morocco, Myanmar, and Indonesia, among others. Top aid providers include the World Bank, European Union institutions, the Asian Development Bank, and industrialised countries such as Japan, the United States, Germany, and France. “The Aid for Trade initiative can and should aim to help develop critical trade infrastructure while supporting climate-friendly, resilient and soci- economically inclusive outcomes,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) joint Aid for Trade at a Glance 2022 study, aid for trade pledges climbed by 18% in 2020, hitting an all-time high of $64.6 billion. The total disbursement in 2020 was $48.7 billion, which equals India receiving 4% of total payments.

However, trade experts say that figures showing India, a developing country, receiving the most aid under the WTO scheme may be inaccurate. The usefulness of trade aid has only been reaffirmed as a tool to buffer the impact of the crisis, according to the report, amid a series of disruptions in global trade, beginning with the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 and a Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Several new trade aid projects have been launched to specifically address pandemic-related concerns. Covid-19-related activities received $4.7 billion in such aid in 2020. This equates to 7% of total aid that year.

EV industry may create 50 mn indirect jobs by 2030

 Electric vehicle (EV) sales in India are expected to cross 9 million units by 2027 and the industry is seen creating more than 10 million direct and 50 million indirect jobs by 2030, says an IVCA-EY-Induslaw report.

• The EV industry attracted $6 billion in investment in 2021. 
• This could grow to $20 billion by 2030. 
• In a sign that the EV market is drawing the attention of private equity/venture capital investors in India, such investments are estimated to grow from $181 million to $1,718 million during the same period – an annual growth rate of 849%. 
• “This (PE/VC investment) has reached about $666 million in 2022 so far,” said Rajat Tandon, president of the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA).
• Srihari Mulgund, new-age mobility partner at EY-Parthenon, said electrification of Indian mobility presented a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to reimagine the future of the Indian automotive sector. “Capital becomes a strategic lever as we embark on this journey to electrify mobility.”
• The Indian Electric Vehicle ecosystem is currently at an initial stage of development, but it has been gaining traction. In 2021, EV registrations stood at about 330,000 units, a 168 per cent jump over 2020. 
• The sales were led by two- and three-wheelers – at 48 per cent and 47 per cent growth, respectively – followed by passenger vehicles at 4 per cent.
• The e-rickshaw/e-kart category (top speed at less than 25km per hour) accounted for a large part of the three-wheeler segment, with a share of 45 per cent. E-buses, which are included in others, had a share of 0.36 per cent.
• A large part of growth in EV sales is expected to come from the travel segment, especially electric three-wheelers and electric two-wheelers due to a fixed-duty cycle and companies (e-commerce, groceries and shops) committing to going completely electric in their last-mile deliveries.
• Lack of charging infrastructure, though, is one of the biggest challenges for the EV industry. At present, there are only 1,742 charging stations across the country. 
• This number is expected to increase to 100,000 units by 2027 to cover the demand from the 1.4 million EVs expected to be on the roads by then.
• Currently, India accounts of for about 2.5 billion tonnes, or 7 per cent, of global carbon emissions. 
• The ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicular pollution contributes 40 per cent to India’s total pollution.
•  The IVCA-EY-Induslaw report said EVs would help reduce exposure to VOCs (which are carcinogenic) and help improve life expectancy.
• “Although emerging strongly, it is not without its challenges – long charging time and poor charging infrastructure are the two main pain points for both users and non-users,” said Mukesh Kumar, engagement manager at Redseer.

India's personal record for data breach

       Data breaches cost an Indian business an average of 17.6 crore in the year 2022. According to an IBM report, it has been the highest amount to be recorded till date for data breach. Data breach issues are now becoming one of the most biggest challenges for businesses. The cost increased 6.6 per cent from last year when the average cost of a breach was 16.5 crore in 2020, said the IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2022. Finding shows that there is a growth of threats in India over time. It's also said that businesses cannot fully evade cyberattacks but take some measures to minimise the impact of threats over data in the company. 

       Industrial companies like chemical processing, engineering and manufacturing has paid the highest for data breaches. The average cost of a breach was 9,024 rupees in 2022. The service industry like legal, accounting, and consulting came second and followed by tech companies which includes software and hardware companies. The average cost of service industry and technology companies were as 7,085 and 9,024 rupees respectively. 

    The average time to identify a data breach has now decreased from 239 to 221 days. 

Food price - led inflation if rains don't pick up

Food price-led information can be expected if monsoons don't pick up the pace and spatial distribution of the rains does not improve soon says a report by Nomura.

Currently, the monsoon is tracked at 11 per cent above normal in July, which is the key season for the Kharif season. Rains have been geographically uneven, concentrated in central and south India, trailing in the northwest and a steep 15 per cent below normal in the east and the northeast.

If the monsoon rains continue in August and distribute geographically, Nomura believes that it could still pick up inflation and keep a check on inflation.

The stated acreage for rice, which is farmed primarily in rain impoverished areas, is down roughly 17% year on year. Pulses are generally greater, however, tur is down over 20% year on year, while moong is significantly higher. The sowing of coarse cereals, oil seeds, and cotton has also been observed. It could be a little early to sound the alarm. However, if this uneven rainfall distribution continues, a probable reduction in good grain output, particularly the rise, would be a risk to agricultural gross value added growth and upside risk to food inflation. Sonal Verma is India's chief economist.

As of mid-July, overall food grain acreage was 4.6 per cent lower year on year.

Rice plantings have lagged behind last year's comparable levels by a wide margin, and wheat stocks, according to reports, have depleted closed buffer norms. On the other hand, the government has committed to food grain distribution through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana until September 2022. If Kharif rice production only sees a little increase.

Mergers And Acquisitions On The Rise

 The Initial Public Offerings of many companies are seeing a set back in the current economic situation. IPOs of tech companies are taking a back seat with tech stocks not doing well in India and globally too. A total of 169 acquisitions have taken place with an average acquisition price at 90 million dollars in 2022 so far. During the same period in CY21 (calendar year), the numbers were 115 acquisitions with an average acquisition price at 180 million dollars. 

Companies that are growing and have the capital are looking for adjacent areas where they can find value. Small start-ups that could be of value addition to the larger companies are the opportunities that the companies are looking for. For many companies these are the avenues for growth and expansion. 

For the FY21, the following companies have been the major acquirers. 

* Byju's, which acquired Toppr, Whodat, Scholr, Hashlearn among others

* Unacademy, which acquired Swiflearn, TapChief, Handa Ka Funda

* Good Glamm, which acquired Miss Malini, Scoop Whoop

For the FY22, the following have been the major acquirers.

* Pine Labs, which acquired Setu and Mosambee

* Flipkart, which acquired Yaantra and Gadgetwood

* PhonePe, which acquired WealthDesk, GigIndia and OpenQ

One of the deals which created a buzz was the Zomato-Blinkit deal. This would give Zomato a presence in the quick commerce space. OYO acquiring Direct Booker was another such deal. This deal enabled OYO to increase and strengthen its presence in Europe and Croatia. 

Companies that have the ability to invest and see value in smaller businesses are on to acquiring or merging with the smaller firms. This is essentially a boost to our economy as both the businesses are benefitting from such deals. 

India now biggest importer of Russian crude

 India have overtook china as the top importer for seaborne Russian crude oil this month. The overall Russian crude oil imports to India are set to exceed 1 million barrels a day in july.

China's import of seaborne Russian crude oil is likely to be below India in july. China and India continue to haul in Russian crude from the seaborne market. This will be the first time Indian impprts have exceeded those from china.

Russian crude going to China on ships has been 300,000 b/d this month. China recieves more of the Russian ESPO blend crude favoured by its independent refiners. China also buys ESPO blend under a long term contract via dedicated pipelines.

The share of pipelines used to be over one-third before the Russia Ukraine war and much of it went to Europe.Russia has emerged as one of India's top 3 crude oil suppliers since late february. UAE oip supplies to India more than halved in May from April to 387,000 b/d as Russian shipments doubled.

Khelo India: Around Rs 9.5 cr gets released under 'Sports for Women

 

The Ministry of Youth Affairs said Tuesday that the Federation of Sports will use the league as a platform to identify talents to increase women’s participation in sports and provide competitive exposure to female athletes of different ages. I notified in, I read the written reply.

In addition, the Indian Sports Authority (SAI) has established one to place particular emphasis on promoting sports among talented female athletes in the country. 

In addition, a total of 3,146 female athletes are trained nationwide under SAI’s sports promotion system. In addition, under the “Human Resources Search and Development” component of the Khelo India scheme, 1374 female athletes have been trained nationwide with up to 6,28,400 rupees (including 120,000 rupees at their own expense).

Anurag Singh Takul thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the continuation of the Kero India program. “On behalf of the Ministry and all stakeholders, the Minister is deeply grateful to the Prime Minister for extending the term of the Keroind Scheme for another five years and making it nationally famous by increasing budget allocation 2022. The annual budget is 48% and is included in the Prime Minister’s award system. “

The Khelo India scheme is the main central sector scheme of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It aims to infuse sports culture and achieve sports excellence in the country, allowing the public to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence.

The Khelo India program includes the development of a playground. Development of community coaching; promotion of community sports. Establish a strong sports competition structure at both school and university levels for rural / indigenous sports, sports for the disabled and women’s sports. Bridging significant gaps in sports infrastructure, including the creation of outstanding sports hubs at some universities. Talent identification and development; support for the sports academy. Implementation of a nationwide physical fitness drive for school children. A sport for peace and development.

 

 

What is the DESH Bill?

The Development of Enterprises and Service Hubs (DESH) Bill.  

The DESH bill is expected to be tabled in the monsoon session of the Parliament. The bill is expected to bring about a paradigm shift by moving the focus from exports to domestic investments, eliminating compliance and procedural challenges, and integrating multiple models of economic zones such as SEZs, coastal economic zones, and food and textile parks. In transforming the existing SEZs into enterprises and service hubs, the focus will be on boosting economic activity and the domestic market, integrating the various models, facilitating ease of doing business and generating employment. DESH is also expected to enable states to play a greater role in the integration of all existing industrial parks within states with existing SEZs across the country.

The new bill is expected to ensure tax rebates/refunds/financial subsidies to developers/companies in the hub, in a manner similar to the existing SEZs, but with no export compulsion NFE obligation. Existing ports, airports, inland.

The customs duty only be paid on the inputs used and not on the expensive final goods. The Bill also seeks to integrate existing industrial estates such as textiles and food parks by converting them into developmental hubs. India’s target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by FY 2026, with a contribution of USD 3 trillion and over USD 1 trillion from the services and manufacturing sector respectively, requires accelerated investments. While India’s service sector continues to show appreciable growth, the manufacturing sector has been lagging, necessitating urgent interventions. While the 2005 SEZ Act was brought in with the hope of making India a manufacturing powerhouse of the world, it had very limited positive effect. The 262 operational SEZs set up over this period currently have only 5,576 operational units and account for less than 20 per cent of the country’s exports. 

MDR on UPI RuPay credit cards likely to be 2%

 National Payments Corporation of India and banks have hamerd out the contours of pricing of credit card transactionson Rupay- UPI. Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) which is the charge paid by the merchands to the card issuing bank for card transactions of 2 percent. Of this 1.5 percent will go tp the issuing bank, rest shared with RuPay and acquiring entity.

The scheme is to be forwarded to the RBI and RuPay- UPI credit card transactions will start by mid-september. Fixing of MDR on transactions has been asticking point after RBI announced linking RuPay credit cards to UPI. Unlike debit card transactions linke in UPI in which there is no MDR for ticket sizes upto ₹2000.

At outlets with an annual turnover of upto ₹20 lakh, transactions will be free, with the ticket size capped at ₹ 2000- ₹5000 and no limits on the number of daily transactions.

Loss of MDR at smaller outlets to be made up for by annual charges on credit cards, and earnings on rollovers after 45-day interest free window.

Teacher to Madam President

 Droupadi Murmu, India's youngest President at the age 64 has been elected as the 15th President of India. She belongs to a tribal society in a small village in Odisha, and also says that it was her dream to get an elementary education. It was her determination that remained strong to make it to college in her life. She said that elementary education especially for girls would be her central focus as she understood the value of education in her life more than anyone else. 

Earlier in her life, she was served as a teacher, ward councilor, the governor of Odisha before becoming the President of India. She conveyed a powerful message saying that even the poor in India can dream and make it come true. 

The President wants the people to focus more on sustainable development. As she was born in a tribal family, she says her family made her realise how important the forest and water bodies are in her life. Even I strongly to what she have said and this was what struck me the most. We might have noticed the development of our country in many areas, but these developments should not be appreciated if there is a negative impact towards the nature. To some extend, yes we can still manage to go ahead. The business these days do not focus on sustainable development, not of the organisation but to the environment. 

Start-ups collaborate with chemists

 The domestic pharma market is worth $22-24 billion and it is through offline retail chemists. The pharma industry is experiencing a shake-up due to the entrance of online pharmacies. 

The unorganized retail chain takes up the largest share of the pie in the pharma industry followed by a small segment of organized retail chemists. In the financial year of 2021, three e-pharmacies took up space in the pharma industry.

Dawaa Dost is a Rajasthan based digital health start-up backed by a Singapore Angel Network works with the local kirana stores and the women self help groups that operate in villages and then service these orders through its affiliated network of pharmacies. Biddano is another health-tech start-up based in Pune that acts as an aggregator for neighborhood chemist shops. MedleyMed is a Hyderabad based start-up that offers telemedicine kiosks at chemist outlets, apart from digitizing pharmacies. 

 Biddano works with stockists and distributors directly and provide connectivity with the retailer who often does not carry much inventory. They ensure that if a chemist places an order through Biddano, he gets the order delivered within three hours. 

All the new pharma start-ups are causing a shake-up in the pharma business. The offline players are gearing up to modernise themselves and new players are not only looking to source and make medicines available at reasonable prices but are also offering e-pharma options to standalone retailers. 

 

 

Banks flag concerns on rupee, floating rate bonds ahead of RBI policy

Interactions with senior officials from RBI gave feedback on 2 concerns, one is the recent volatality in the rupee dollar exchange rate and heavy losses incured on floating charge goverment bonds due to demand supply mismatch .In the past years banks have bought bonds at low interest rates .In the previous quarter  , bank suffered huge losses on their debt .inorder to this there were couple of discussion arises one is purely operational and about demand supply concerns in market. next one is the market is asked about the broad concerns of the moment .during the last 5 months ,the floating rate bond by government has increased by more than 3 rupees which leads to heavy market to market losses on bond portfolios 

New policy may allow only third party items on e-marketplaces.

•  In the upcoming e-commerce policy, the conflict of interest that arises because of control of vendors' inventory by e-marketplace entities will be addressed.
• There will be clear distinction between marketplace model and the inventory based model under the new policy.
• Mainly focused on third party products to be put on sale in thr platform.
• In an inventory model - the e-commerce company owns the goods and services and they are directly sold to the consumers.
• In a marketplace model - the e-commerce marketplace offers a digital platform to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers.
• To address various competition related issues, such as deep discounting, lack of platform neutrality, misuse of data by platforms and non-transparent search-ranking, concerning e-commerce marketplaces, the commitee suggested that there must be 'clear definitions' for those two models.
• An e-commerce market should not sell its own products and that sellers on the platform should only be third party sellers.
• 
  

Govt plans to scrap 80 year old coffe Act

The Centre plans to repeal the existing 80-year old Coffee Act and has proposed a new “Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022” to promote development of the Indian coffee industry.Through a new law, the government aims to modernise the functioning of the Coffee Board of India that is responsible for boosting production and the quality of Indian coffee, push exports and support the development of the domestic market. The Bill is likely to be introduced in the ongoing session of the ParliamentGovernment officials aware of the matter said the existing law was enacted in 1942, with provisions relevant to that time. Currently, many rules and regulations, especially those pertaining to the marketing of coffee, are redundant. Besides, over the past 10 years, there has been a paradigm shift in the way coffee is grown, marketed and consumed.Therefore, a revised bill with holistic provisions aimed at promotion and development of the entire value chain of coffee and enabling ease of doing business is beneficial to all stakeholders and to the general public.The new bill addresses several functional areas of the Coffee Board, such as support for production, research, extension, and quality improvement, promotion of coffee and skill development of growers. Many such activities were originally not included in the mandate of the Coffee Board but now need to be incorporated into its functions and powers,” the official said.The growth of the coffee industry will create jobs and business entrepreneurship opportunities in all sectors of the coffee value chain, from production to consumption. Besides, consumers will get good quality coffee, on a par with other countries.The Bill will also protect the interests of the labour in plantations, processing units and coffee communities.

The Bill will promote ease of doing business by simplifying documentation and procedures, including replacing the existing five-year validity of Registration cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) with a one-time exporter registration and bringing in a one-time registration of curing units. Curing is a process that prepares coffee beans for the market. There will be a time-bound procedure in the Bill for issuing the Registration Certificate.As far the strategy for production improvement is concerned, there will be expansion of coffee in suitable areas across the country. Productivity improvement will take place through systematic research and development, transfer of technology as well as developmental support to the stakeholders.

Government plans to scrap 80-year old Coffee Act

Centre plans to propose a new " Coffee ( Promotion and Development Bill), 2022" by replacing the 80-year-old Coffe act to prompt the development of the Indian Coffe Industry.

Modernizing the functions of the Coffe board of India, which is responsible for boosting the production and quality of the nation's coffee, through the new law. During the ongoing session, the bill will be introduced

1942 coffee act was relevant to provisions of that time, comments government officials. Currently, many rules and regulations especially those about the marketing of coffee are redundant.

The last 10 years have also had a paradigm shift in the way coffee is grown, marketed and consumed. 

"Therefore revised bill with holistic provisions aimed at promotional and development of the entire value chain of coffee and enabling each of doing business is beneficial to all the stakeholders and to gently public" 

"The new bill address several functional areas of the coffee board such as support for production research extension and quality improvement promotion of coffee and skill development of crores many such activities were originally not included in the mandate of the coffee board but now it will be incorporated into the function and powers," says one official. 

The growth in the coffee industry will create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in all sectors of the value chain, from production to consumption. The bill also protects the interests of the labour on the plantations, processing units and coffee communities.

Chief Economist of World Bank

 The World Bank has appointed Indermit Singh Gill, a person of Indian origin, as the Chief Economist. Gill is the second person of Indian origin to be appointed the Chief Economist. Kaushik Basu was the first person to serve as the Chief Economist. He was also appointed as the senior vice president for development economics at the multilateral development bank. 

The appointment will be effective from September 1, 2022. Gill is only the second person to serve as the chief economist. Gita Gopinath and Raghuram Rajan have served as chief economists at the International Monetary Fund, the sister organization of the World Bank. 

Gill is currently vice-president for equitable growth, finance, and institutions at the Bank, leads the work on macroeconomics, debt, trade, poverty and governance. Between 2016 and 2021, he was professor of public policy at Duke University and non-resident senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. 

He holds an MA from the Delhi School of Economics, and a BA with honors in Economics from St. Stephen College, University of Delhi. 

Automakers drive into the metaverse

 Recently Maruti Suzuki unveiled its new product Grand Vitara through its metaverse intiative NEXAverse. It will be the first car in the world that can be booked through a metaverse platform. Maruti Suzuki is planning to spend ₹6 to ₹8 crore of its innovation budget on metaverse.

Maruti is not the only auto company that is joining the metaverse bandwagon. MG motors and Volvo cars has already launched their metaverse versions. 

The reasons for getting into the metaverse is to enhance customer experience as more buyers prefer to conduct their affairs on digital platforms.

 According to Deloitte's Global state of Vonsumer Tracker survey 2021,  The car buying process such as selecting financing options and documentation will be digitized in the future. Out of 28 touchpoints in car buying process 17-20 have been digitzed by most carakers.

Automakers are looking at the metaverse much more than just a platform to showcase their products. MG verse combines five different virtual spaces, including Explore and creator centre which allows the users to personalise accessorise and build MG vehicle models and lets them take a virtual test drive, NFT gallery will be a virtual museum, virtual MG car club, gaming arena and the MG knowlesge centres for employees. 

Traditional ways of customer interaction are going to be completely transformed. Apart from automobile industry companies from other industries such as banking, insurance, and agri business have also created their metaverse platforms.

Ultra tech profit falls 7%

UltraTech, the country's largest cement maker, on Friday reported nearly 7 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit to Rs 1,584 crore for the quarter ended June 31, 2022 (Q1). Sequentially, too, it plummeted 39.5 per cent.This was because the bottom-line was hit by a sharp rise in power and fuel costs. Power and fuel costs, along with freight and handling, account for 55-60 per cent of the total cost for cement companies on a per-tonne basis, according to sector analysts. The prices of both pet coke and thermal coal have risen sharply over the past few months, putting pressure on production costs of cement firms.Despite the decline on the bottom-line front, UltraTech’s net profit beat Street estimates, which came in at Rs 1,369 crore, according to a poll of analysts by Bloomberg. Last year, the company reported a net profit of Rs 1,703 crore in Q1.UltraTech's revenue was up 28.2 per cent in Q1FY23 to Rs 15,164 crore on account of a favourable base, as well as price hikes taken in the quarter under review. Domestic sales volume grew 19 per cent on a YoY basis, thanks to an uptick in the infrastructure sector, the company said. Revenue in Q1, too, managed to beat Street estimates, which came in at Rs 14,236 crore, according to Bloomberg. The company had reported a revenue of Rs 11,830 crore in the year-ago period.Sequentially, cement sales were hit due to a moderation in demand from the real estate sector, the company noted. This resulted in a 3.8 per cent decline in revenue over the March quarter when the top-line was Rs 15,767 crore.The sharper decline in UltraTech’s net profit sequentially, as the company's results showed, pointed to the input-cost challenges it has been facing over the past few months. In the March quarter, UltraTech's net profit stood at Rs 2,620 crore.

"After a strong end to FY22, cement demand was impacted by overall inflationary trends and lower labour availability in May 2022. However, cement demand picked up in June 2022 over pre-monsoon construction activity," the company said.Its profit before interest, depreciation and tax (PBIDT) came in at Rs 3,204 crore in Q1 against Rs 3,513 crore a year ago, making a decline of 8.8 per cent. Sequentially, PBIDT was up 1.2 per cent.UltraTech Cement also re-appointed Kailash Chandra Jhanwar as its managing director.The company said that its existing expansion programme was on track and would be over by the end of FY23.Shares of Ultratech jumped over 5 per cent on the BSE following the announcement of its results in the afternoon session on Friday. The stock closed trade at Rs 6,437 per share, up 5.03 per cent over the previous day's close.

 

Trust-based taxation system helping improve collections: FM Sitharaman

The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the trust based taxation system which is introduced by government helps in increasedt number of return filings and improved collections .She complimented that the department for achieving highest revenue over 14 lakh crore in the last fiscal year and a strong growth of 14.9 lakh crore   mop up from individual and corporate tax. The government has addressed several legacy issues and removed the structural deficiencies of direct tax. The finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman said that the income tax department to be prepared for the next 25 years of growth . 

Infosys disappoints on profit, ups FY23 revenue growth guidance to 14-16%

 Infosys’ first quarter results for FY23 beat Street estimates for revenue growth but the IT services major disappointed on margin performance because of higher talent costs. Its net profit for Q1FY23 was below expectations at Rs 5,360 crore, up 3.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) but was down 5.7 per cent sequentially.

Despite an uncertain macro-economic environment and talks of a recession in key economies, including the US, Infosys has upped its FY23 revenue growth guidance to 14-16 per cent, from the earlier projection of 13-15 per cent.

For the first quarter of FY23, Infosys reported revenue growth of 23.6 per cent YoY to 34,470 crore. The figure was up 6.8 per cent sequentially. In the US dollar terms, Infy’s revenue was up 5.5 per cent sequentially on a constant currency basis. Infosys managed to beat Bloomberg estimates on top line (the revenue estimates were for Rs 34,008 crore). But the company missed net profit estimates of Rs 5,671 crore.

Even bigger disappointment was over the margin, which came in at 20.1 per cent, down from the company’s range of 21-23 per cent, over higher retention costs and cross-currency headwinds.

Mitual Shah, head of research, Reliance Securities, said: “Infosys reported a subdued Q1FY23 performance. The margin was below our expectations. However, the management raised its FY23 revenue growth guidance from 13-15 per cent to 14-16 per cent and also maintained its Ebit margin guidance at 21-23 per cent, assuring a better performance during the rest of FY23. Considering the industry-leading double-digit revenue growth, the rising share of digital business (61 per cent of revenue), likely improvement in Ebit margin levels, and valuation comfort after stock price correction, we have a ‘buy’ recommendation.

Overall, the June quarter results of Infosys were a mixed bag. There was still no clarity on attrition and TCV (total contract value) was muted on a sequential basis. Large deals’ TCV came in at $1.7 billion, down 25 per cent QoQ and down 35 per cent YoY.

The rupee strengthened against all major currencies other than the dollar

Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran stated that the rupee has only depreciated against the dollar, but has strengthened against all other major currencies of the globe at a time when it has reached a psychologically significant level of 80.


He continued, that, in contrast to prior crises, the rupee's decline versus the US dollar was less than that of other significant world currencies including the Swiss franc, Euro, British pound, and Japanese yen. He claimed that as monsoon season approaches and crude oil prices fall, inflation is anticipated to reduce.
“Even though it has depreciated by 7 per cent against the dollar, I would rather urge you to look at it as a dollar appreciation and not rupee depreciation. Because rupee is not the only currency that has depreciated,” Nageswaran said addressing the 186th Annual General Meeting of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI). “This time the rupee has declined only against the dollar but has strengthened against other major currencies,” he added.


“Even though it has depreciated by 7 per cent against the dollar, I would rather urge you to look at it as a dollar appreciation and not rupee depreciation. Because the rupee is not the only currency that has depreciated,”
The depreciation of the rupee and other currencies versus the US dollar, according to him, was primarily caused by the US tightening of monetary policy. "I believe that there is plenty to be thankful for and little need to worry about the Indian economy. The US Federal Reserve will meet again this week, and it is anticipated that they will decide to increase interest rates. In several nations, interest rates have been climbing. Even though many of us are concerned about the RBI raising interest rates, India's increase is comparatively more modest and lower than that of other countries, he continued. At its upcoming monetary policymaking meeting, the Fed is anticipated to raise its benchmark interest rate by at least 75 basis points. 

States to meet 25% of their energy needs from renewable energy sources

States would need to meet a quarter of their energy demand from renewable energy (RE) sources under the new ‘Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO)’ mandate and increase it to 43 per cent by end of this decade. The new set of targets includes solar, wind, hydro, and also energy storage for the first time for states to mandatorily purchase.


The severe targets come in the wake of India committing an ambitious 500 gigawatt (GW) of RE by 2030 at the Glasgow COP26 climate summit last year. Also, the draft Electricity Bill 2021, likely to be placed in the Parliament during this monsoon session, has proposed penal provisions for states which fail to meet their RPO targets.


Under the current set of targets for 2023-2030, the total RPO range is 24.61 to 43.33 per cent. In this, the wind RPO is in the range of 0.81-6.94 per cent, hydro RPO, introduced two years back, 0.35-2.82 per cent, and other RPO, which will majorly comprise solar power, the range is 23.44-33.57 per cent.


For energy storage, which has been introduced, the targets are in the range of 1-4 per cent during this decade. This would be met through solar and wind power projects with energy storage.


States would now need to design and provide a trajectory for meeting the RPO targets in the range stipulated by the Centre. The states which are deficient in RE generation can purchase RE certificates from surplus states or through power trading platforms. The price of RECs is issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) annually.


During the last three years, the RPO targets were 17 per cent, 19 per cent, and 21 per cent. Barring five states that over-achieved their targets, none of the states met their RPO till 2020, according to a Lok Sabha report on the same. The states which meet their RPO targets year on year are the ones that are resources rich such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. 


For states which need to purchase RE for meeting their targets, the achievement has been dismal. Since the RPO mechanism was launched in 2010, except for RE-rich states, none have met 100 per cent of their target during any year. This has led to a growing mismatch in the RE sector with states reluctant to purchase RE while solar and wind power project capacity increases every year. The Centre is now looking to strictly enforce RE purchase. 


The proposed amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003 have for the first-time drafted penalty provision for states which miss on their RPO trajectory. For states which purchase RE less than their prescribed trajectory, the Union Ministry of Power has proposed a penalty sum in the range of 25 paise per unit (kwh) to 30 paise per unit for the first year of default. For the subsequent years, the penalty rate would be 35-50 paisa per unit.


India has a target of meeting 175 GW of RE by the end of this year with solar contributing 100 GW, 60 GW through wind, and balance from other sources such as small hydro. Currently, India’s RE capacity stands at 114 GW with solar at 57 GW and wind at 40 GW.



The achievement has been appalling for states that must acquire RE to reach their goals. Except for RE-rich states, none of the states that the RPO mechanism introduced since its introduction in 2010hase ever achieved 100% of their annual objective. States are unwilling to purchase RE as a result, and this has caused a rising mismatch in the RE sector.
 

Insurance companies made Rs 40,000 cr in 5 years under the PMFYB scheme

Under the government's flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), coverage agencies had made around Rs 40,000 crore between 2016-17 and 2021-22 according to a media document on Saturday. According to the Times of India document, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union minister for agriculture, stated the agencies paid claims worth Rupees 119,314 crore to farmers towards the premium rate series of Rs 159,132 crore beneath PMFBY. For the implementation of the scheme, the authorities roped in 18 trendy coverage agencies, aimed to offer monetary aid to farmers struggling with crop loss or harm springing up out of natural calamities.

“Since the inception of the scheme till Kharif 2021- 22 season, Rs 4,190 per hectare has been paid as claims to farmers under the scheme," Tomar said in a written response to Rajya Sabha, accessed by the Times of India.

Launched six years ago, the scheme was revamped in 2020, permitting voluntary participation of the farmers. It additionally made it handy for the farmer to record crop loss inside seventy-two hours of the incidence of any event -- through the Crop Insurance App, CSC Centre or the closest agriculture officer -- with declare advantages getting transferred electronically into the financial institution debts of the eligible farmer. Under PMFBY, farmers pay 2 per cent according to the sum insured as their prop portion of the premium for Kharif plants, 1.5 per cent for rabi plants and 5 per cent for horticulture and industrial plants. If the actuarial top rate is decreased than this price, the decrease of the two might apply. The distinction between the actuarial top rate price and the top rate paid through farmers is the subsidy shared similarly through the Centre and states. Integration of land statistics with the PMFBY's National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), Crop Insurance cellular app for smooth enrollment of farmers, remittance of farmer top rate through NCIP, a subsidy launch module and a declare launch module through NCIP are a number of the important thing functions of the scheme.

Monkeypox

 The WHO has declared Monkeypox a global health emergency as infection rises. The disease has spread to dozens of countries within a few weeks and has infected thousands of people. General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director General of WHO has said that the outbreak has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which there is too little to understand and which meets the criteria. 

Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic infection caused by the monkeypox virus and it spreads mostly from human contact. The Health Minister for the state of Kerala has said that a there is a 35 year old man who is undergoing treatment after returning from the UAE. The multidisciplinary central team of officials has been already deployed by the Union Health Ministry. 

So far, 16,000 cases of monkeypox and five deaths have been reported from 60 WHO member countries. The WHO has said that it is declaring it a health emergency as it is essential that all countries work closely to design and deliver effective information and services to combat monkeypox.

There is currently no specific treatment for the virus and the patients who have contracted the virus are treated in a specialist hospital so that the infection does not spread to others and general symptoms can be treated. 

Online retail may hit ₹4.9 trn GMV this year

 A report by consulting firm RedSeer has reported that Indias online retail is on a robust growth trajectory and there is a 40-60 % year on year growth.

The market is set for a strong gross merchandise value growth and its expected to be ₹4.9 trillion for the year 2022. A strong share of tier 2 online shoppers is also expected to further drive the growth.

In the e tailing GMV index there is a monthly growth comparison , In 2022 this was 60 percent higher in april than april 2021. It was 38 percent higher in May than May 2021 and 42 percent higher in june to june 2021. 

The major contribution to this growth is the new e-commerce models to cater to unsolved consumer needs. A lot of social commerce models have played a critical  role in building new pool of customers. This sector will also witness innovations in business models to expand topline and control costs. 

Droupadi Murmu makes history; first tribal to be elected India's President

 

The scent of mahua flowers and bamboo groves travelled from the jungles to the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan as Droupadi Murmu (64) made history by becoming India’s first tribal president.

Fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Murmu got more than 64 per cent of the votes cast, and at least 20 opposition votes, winning the election by a massive margin, defeating common opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha (84) and winning voters in the electoral college with her charm, simplicity and determined conviction to protect tribal identity. Tribal chiefs from all over the country are planning to troop into Delhi to felicitate the new president when she takes oath on July 25, putting on display a new, different, iridescent India.

Murmu went against a government led by her own party and returned the Bills to the Jharkhand government, which ultimately withdrew them. It took her six months. That the Bills were proposed in the first place betrayed the BJP’s understanding of tribal identity. It took a member of the BJP to contest this -- and that member was Droupadi Murmu.

The Jharkhand government changed during her tenure. She was even-handed, advising new Chief Minister Hemant Soren to desist from diluting the composition of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC). Her successor, Ramesh Bais, followed in her stead and ultimately the Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha government had to withdraw those changes.

Murmu’s name came up for discussion as president even in 2017 but on that occasion, the government chose Ramnath Kovind, the outgoing president. This time, she was selected by the parliamentary board of the BJP from a shortlist of 20 candidates.

Maruti takes the electric road with its Grand Vitara

• India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki made its first foray towards electrifying its vehicle portfolio with the unveiling of mid-sized SUV, the Grand Vitara.
• With this, Maruti is looking to strengthen its SUV portfolio while simultaneously marking its entry into electric drive from which the automaker has so far been absent. 
• The Grand Vitara will compete against Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, MG Astor, Nissan Kicks, VW Taigun and Skoda Kushaq upon its market launch next month and its bookings are open already at authorised.
• For Maruti Suzuki, the model is critical in its struggle to regain lost ground in the SUV segment from rivals Hyundai, Kia, and Tata Motors.
• The SUV segment is the fastest-growing portfolio in India’s auto market.
• Maruti says the Grand Vitara will provide an off-roading experience while ensuring a "cleaner, greener, sustainable and carbon-neutral world" via its electric hybrid system. 
• The Grand Vitara comes with manual and 6-speed automatic

Developed nations must lead in the global transition toward Net-Zero - India

India argued that historically developed nations must lead the global transition to Net zero, as the poorest and most devoted groups are at the mercy of changing weather. These institutions contributed the least to the crisis. 

 According to the United Nations, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach zero by 2050  to meet the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

 India said that developed countries with historic experience must take the lead, as the poorest countries and the most devoted groups are at the mercy of changing weather. These institutions also contribute the least to the crisis. The United Nations will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to keep global warming below 1.5 ° C, as stated in the Paris Agreement. The World Organization states that net zero means that greenhouse gas emissions are as close to zero as possible, with the remaining emissions being reabsorbed from the atmosphere, for example by oceans and forests. 

 Global Net Zero should be based on shared but differentiated principles of responsibility and equity, and developing countries will peak later, given their sustainable development trajectory. Therefore, India said it would free up carbon space in 2050 for developing countries to grow, and developed countries should do a net minus. A cross-regional statement emphasizing this was issued in June, with two African countries signing.

India's then UN Permanent Representative, TS Tirmulti, on behalf of India and Bolivia, China, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Nicaragua, Panama and Syria, has a super-regional joint statement on "the world's net zero." Was announced. Fighting climate change during World Environment Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the COP26 Global Climate Summit in Glasgow last year that India would achieve net zero emissions by 2070.  There are still big gaps that need to be filled. Developed the country's commitment to providing $ 100 billion for climate protection. An additional issue is the compatibility of development finance and climate finance. which would drive developing countries into more debt, emphasizing India's strong commitment to climate change and sustainable development. 

 At COP-21 in Paris in 2015, India promised a 40% share of electricity generated from non-fossil fuel sources, achieving this goal 10 years earlier than the 2030 schedule. 

 India's experience helps African countries in the energy transformation, she said, and the International Solar Alliance is a notable platform that has the majority of African countries as members and is promoting the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies. In recent years, clean and green energy has become increasingly important in India's development programs in Africa and collaboration with third countries.  The philosophy underlying  India's partnership with Africa is to empower Africa for the future based on the principles of inclusion, sustainability, peace and prosperity, dignity and respect for all.

 India has such expectations in Egypt in November of this year's  UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties. Look at Sharm El Sheikh, the venue for (COP 27).

Boeing's Super Hornet

 The Boeing Company has demonstrated successfully its ability to land, take off from and ski-jump that equips India's two aircraft carriers- INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant- and is confident that it will be able to bag the tender the Indian Navy's Multi-Role-Carrier-Based-Fighters (MRCBF) requirement. The aircraft is named F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III. 

The competition to Boeing's Super Hornet in the MRCBF race is the naval version of the French Rafale Fighter called the Rafale Marine. However, Rafale Marine has only a single seat version, while the Indian Nany requires both single seat and the twin seat version. A two seat fighter offers mission flexibility, higher fleet utilization and the ability to carry out high workload missions that require a second crew member and it can also be used as a trainer. 

Alain Garcia, Boeing's defence head in India has said that it gives a lot of flexibility from a training perspective and a mission perspective to the Indian Navy that a offer a twin seat, carrier-capable platform. In January, the Rafale Marine has undergone tests at the "shore-based test facility" off the two Indian aircraft carriers in Goa and now the Super Hornet Block will be tested. 

Boeing has announced that during the test in Goa, the two US Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets completed multiple ski-jumps, roll-in and fly-in arrested landings, as well as performance flights, in variety of weights in the air-to-air, air-to-ground, and air-to-surface configurations, meeting Indian Navy's test requirements. 

The Super Hornet Block III is the US Navy's premier fighter, with over 800 aircrafts delivered around the world and over 2.5 million flight hours logged. The US Navy intends to retain the Super Hornet in service till beyond 2035. 

 TATA POWER ARM  TO RAISE 6000 CRORE FROM BLACK ROCK ,MUBADALA 

The tata power is planning to raise 6000 crore from its shareholders and the key investors blackrock  real assets and MUBADALA capita which is an abidabi based fund.  Both the investors spend $525 million this year to company.  The companies operational projects are located in across 12 states .75 %is contracted to its state utilities and the rest of it is allocated in central utilities .The company will face a competition from Adani group and Reliance industries .

Reliance Brands signs distribution agreement with Maison Valentino

 

Reliance Brands Limited (RBL) has a long-term distribution agreement with Valentino to bring to India the most established Italian Maison de Couture. Through this long-term partnership, Reliance Brands Limited (RBL) will partner with Valentino to open its first boutique in Delhi, followed by a flagship store in Mumbai. The first store is due to open in 2022 by the end of the summer, with the flagship store in Mumbai to follow in the coming months. The stores will stock a complete range across womenswear, menswear, footwear, and accessories of the brand. The new long-term distribution deal will allow brand presence through a renewed store concept geared toward adapting to the changes in the retail market. Experiential design will provide customers with a global experience and a bespoke client experiential journey.

The upcoming store opening represents a significant step in Valentino’s global strategy, and are honoured to be part of the country’s growing retail market, allowing the company and the Valentino Community to grow in a solid way, according to the values and brand culture. As per the new business model, the strong relationships between the brand, its sales force and the customers, hinged on our Couture values obsession for detail, creativity and client centricity that together with human capital and teamwork are at the core of the company culture and the main drivers of its evolution.

In Delhi, Valentino will open a 162 sqm boutique in DLF Emporio, which will carry Valentino women’s collections and an edited selection of men’s accessories, while the Mumbai flagship will carry the whole Valentino universe a complete range across womenswear, menswear, footwear, and Valentino Garavani accessories of the brand that include shoes, bags, small leather goods, eyewear, scarves, ties, and fragrances. The brand is currently present in over 144 locations through 212 Valentino directly operated boutiques and over 1,300 points of sale.

 

No need to be 'overtly' worried about fall in rupee: DEA Secretary

Economic Secretary Ajay Seth said Tuesday that the rupee is well-managed and there is no reason to "openly" worry about the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar. 

 He said the value of the Indian rupee is rising against the pound sterling, the Japanese yen and the euro. As a result, imports priced in foreign currencies are cheaper than those priced in US dollars. 

 Rupees fell to a low of $ 80 against the US dollar for the first time on Monday in a daytime spot contract on the interbank foreign exchange market. 

 Local units rebounded from a record low of 80.05, rising 6p at 79.92 against the US dollar on Tuesday and falling 7.5% or 563p against the greenback. The Secretary of Commerce believes that the rupee's fall against the greenback was due to the influx of dollars into the United States from around the world due to the Fed's tightening of interest rates. not required. Earlier this month, the RBI announced a series of moves to encourage foreign exchange inflows, raise corporate borrowing limits abroad and liberalize the standards for foreign investment in government bonds.

The RBI has automatically raised the ECB limit from $ 750 million or equivalent per fiscal year to $ 1.5 billion, easing the standard for foreign portfolio investment in fixed income markets.
Seth further stated that the RBI has not considered a particular level of rupees, but has taken steps to curb excessive volatility.
Finance Minister Pankhaj Chaudary said the Indian rupee has fallen against the US dollar but has risen against major currencies such as the pound sterling, the Japanese yen and the euro.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regularly monitors the foreign exchange market and intervenes in situations of excessive volatility,  said in a written response in Rajasaba. The Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates in recent months, making the  Indian Rupee more attractive to both residents and non-residents.

NITI ayog moots licensing, regulatory Framework for Digital banks

Centre’s policy think-tank NITI Aayog has made a case for setting up digital banks, which would accept deposits and advance loans through digital means, and suggested a licensing and regulatory framework for such lenders.A digital bank would be a bank defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and shall have its own balance sheet and legal existence. Such a bank would be different from the 75 Digital Banking Units announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Union Budget 2022-23 which are being set up to push digital payments, banking and fintech innovations in underserved areas.The success India has witnessed on the payments front is yet to be replicated in meeting the credit needs of its micro, small and medium businesses, said a NITI Aayog report titled ‘A proposal for Digital Banks in India: Licensing and Regulatory Regime’.The current credit gap and the business and policy constraints reveal a need for leveraging technology effectively to cater to these needs and bring the underserved further within the formal financial fold.

Banks and fintech businesses that offer digital banking services rely primarily on digital channels that organically have high-efficiency metrics relative to incumbent commercial banks, the report said. This structural feature makes them a potentially effective channel through which policymakers can achieve social goals like empowering the under-banked small businesses, and enhancing trust among retail consumers, the think tank said.The report by the NITI Aayog states that while the RBI has the authority to issue a licence to a banking company under Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act, an additional step is needed for creating a licensing regime for digital business banks and digital consumer banks that permits them to offer value-added-services that are complementary to their core financial business, on the same balance sheet as banking services.Legal engineering for respective licences would be done in two steps: A digital business bank licence or a digital consumer bank license. The licence may also lay down the path to a “full-scale” digital business bank/digital consumer bank licence.The Centre will have to notify that a non-financial business is complementary to the core financial business of digital business banks/digital consumer banks as an additional line of business they can engage in. The Centre, in consultation with the RBI, may create a permissible list of NFBs for digital business banks and digital consumer banks, respectively, and a list of non-permissible NFBs to ensure prudential decorum.

Rallying up for the Vice Presidential poll

 The Vice Presidential poll will be held on August 6th to elect a successor to M Venkaiah Naidu whose term ends on August 10th. With the presidential rally coming to an end, the government is bracing up for another poll. The result of the presidential poll will be out on the 21st of July, 

The candidate from the opposition to file for nomination is Margaret Alva (80). She has served as the Governor of Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand and has formerly served as the Cabinet Minister. She was a senior figure in the Indian National Congress and was Joint Secretary of All India Congress Committee. 

The candidate from the ruling party is Jagdeep Dhankar. He served as the Governor for the state of West Bengal and he also served as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. He served as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Kishangarh in Rajasthan. 

The Vice President is elected by members of the electoral college consisting of the members of both the houses of the parliament and not the members of the state legislative assembly and the voting is conducted by the Voting Commission of India. 

Canara bank raises Rs 2000 cr by issuing Basel III complaint bonds

 Canara Bank on Tuesday had raised Rs 2,000 crore by issuing Basel III compliant additional tier I bonds in July. The bank came out with the issuance of Rs 2,000 crore of additional tier-I bonds on 15th July 2022. The bank received total bid amount of Rs 5,719 crore out of which full issuance of Rs 2,000 crore was accepted at 8.24%. 

The state-owned lender said it issued 2,000 bonds to 21 allottees on July 19, 2022. The perpetual, subordinated, perpetual, non-convertible, taxable, fully paid-up secured Basel III compliant additional tier I bonds carry coupon at 8.24 per cent per annum. Banks globally need to improve and strengthen their capital planning processes.