Lupin revising product portfolio in US to overcome price erosion impact

 Lupin feels that there is no sustainable higher margin opportunity in the complex products space, Gupta said. She however asserted that Lupin will not vacate the oral solid segments, With its planned product pipeline for complex generic medicines in the next two years, the company hopes to have up to 40 percent of its revenue.

Oral solids are still the bread and butter of the company, but the kind of price erosion one has witnessed on the oral solid side, we decided that it made sense to rationalize the portfolio that does not make sense.

According to Lupin Ltd Executive Director, Global CEO and Head Corporate Affairs Ramesh Swaminathan, the company continued to witness around 10 percent price erosion in the US market in the first quarter ended June 30,2022.

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala dies at 62

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala death: The veteran investor was one of the co-founders of Akasa Air, India's newest budget airline.Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala died on Sunday morning at 62 in Mumbai. Jhunjhunwala was one of the co-founders of Akasa Air, India's newest budget airline.

The veteran investor - often called the ‘Warren Buffet of the Indian market’ - was reported to be unwell for some time. His net worth was estimated to be around $5.8 billion, according to Forbes. His most recent appearance was at the launch of the airlines where he was seen in a wheelchair. The cause of the death was not immediately known.Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was indomitable. Full of life, witty and insightful, he leaves behind an indelible contribution to the financial world. He was also very passionate about India’s progress," tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paying rich tributes to the businessman. "His passing away is saddening. My condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti," PM Modi added.Condolences flooded social media as leaders across the nation remembered him. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharman paid him respects in her tweet: “Investor, bold risk taker, masterly understanding of the stock market, clear in communication- a leader in his own right. Fondly remember several conversations we’ve had. Had strong belief in India’s strength and capabilities. Condolences.”"Shocked & saddened by the untimely demise of ace stock trader & investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala this morning. A role model for many young investors, he was an institution by himself. May his soul rest in peace & may God grant his family & friends, strength to bear this huge loss (sic)," wrote Karnataka CM Basavaraj S Bommai.

 

No GST on residential premises if rented out for personal use: Govt

The government said GST will not be applicable on residential units if they are rented out to private persons for personal use . The government dismissed the media reports which claimed that there is an 18 percent GST on house rent paid by tenants. 

Trade deficit hits record $30 bn as ezports struggle

 India's trade deficit widened to a record $30 billion in July as exports grew at a much slower pace compared to imports, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry. 

Merchandise exports decreased to a five month low of $36.27 billion in July but witnessed a marginal increase of 2.14 per cent year on year.

Inbound shipments grew 43.61 percent YoY in July to $66.31 billion in June. 

The rise in imports has been mainly due to an increase in the purchase of petroleum products, electronic goods and coal. Among major import items, gold declined 43.6 percent to $2.37 billiom after the centre raised the import duty on the metal last month.

Petroleum products grew at 9.18 percent, chemicals 8.03 percent, electronic good 46.09 percent and rice 30.88 percent.

Income taxpayers can't join Atal Pension Yojana from Oct 1: Govt

It has been said that the income taxpayers availing Atal Pension Yojana (APY) will be restricted from October 1 this year inorder to ensure that the benefits from such a scheme is reaching in to the poors and underprivileged .

This scheme (APY ) has been launched in 2015 

and is a social security scheme for citizen aged 18 to 40 . The people's who join the scheme will get a guaranteed pension of 1000 to 5000 rupees based on their contribution .their contribution can be in monthly quarterly half yearly .If the person is dead ,then the pension will be procured by  spouse. If both of them  is no more then the pension will be returned to nominee .

Rupee down by 9 paise to 79.71 against US dollar in early trade

 Rupee depreciated 9 paise to 79.91 against US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and rising crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.67 against YS dollar and lost further ground to 79.91 registering a decline of 9 paise. On Thursday, the rupee depreciated by 37 paise to close at 79.62 against US dollar. 

Microsoft gives ONDC its first Big Tech push

 Microsoft has become the first global Big Tech company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce( ONDC) . 

ONDC is a Government initiative for developing a open network for digital commerce. Microsoft intends to introduce social e-commerce via its app in the Indian market this year.

ONDC is expecte to open to the public in Bengaluru over the next fortnight as it enters into the next phase of the pilot for further fine tuning before rollouts in other cities. It already has a large number of merchants from the city on the platform.

The network is currently in the pilpt phase in 36 cities across the country and has already onboarded nine platforms and is in an advanced stage of development of adding another 17.

ONDC has garnered interest from various other platforms, which including telecom majors and banks. The network began its pilot on april 29 in Delhi, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal and Shillong and is in the process of adding more cities before a nationwide launch.

₹157 crore raised for the network from 17 banks and financial institutions 

ONDC intends ₹7.5 trillion targeted gross merchandise value of digital transactions over the next 5 years. It is ₹4.5 trillion currently. 2 million retailers on digital commerce platforms in the next five years. 250 million e commerce users over the above mentioned period from 90 million now.

Reliance Industries increases Related party disclosures in FY in 2022

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) has increased related-party disclosures, its annual report for the financial year FY22 shows.In particular, increased details pertaining to transactions between RIL and its telecom and retail subsidiaries are positive, analysts tracking the company said.“While it is too early to say if the increased disclosures between RIL and its subsidiaries, such as Jio and retail, are a step towards listing these businesses, it would be seen as a positive,” brokerage JP Morgan said in a report released on Tuesday.instance, RIL disclosed in its latest annual report that Reliance Retail  in which it has 85 per cent stake was the master distributor for Reliance Jio Infocomm for its telecom services. RIL also said that Reliance Retail had undertaken sale of customer premise equipment and enterprise devices for Reliance Jio during the period.In another instance, Jio Platforms, in which RIL has a 66.4 per cent stake, was providing software and application development services to Reliance Retail. Jio Platforms holds 100 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital of Reliance Jio Infocomm. Reliance Retail Ventures, in which RIL has an 85.1 per cent stake, was providing warehousing and logistics services to Reliance Retail. Reliance Retail Ventures, for the uninitiated, holds 99.93 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital of Reliance Retail.In its annual report, RIL had disclosed that it made investments to the tune of nearly Rs 30,000 crore in FY22 in its retail vertical. It added 2,500 new stores and 11.1 million sq. ft. of warehousing space during the year.

JP Morgan said that compared to FY21, Reliance Retail’s investments had jumped 189 per cent in FY22, indicating its desire to keep its retail growth engine going. Retail contributed 22.7 per cent to RIL’s FY22 revenue, while telecom contributed 11.4 per cent.Oil-to-chemicals (O2C), on the other hand, remains the largest vertical for RIL, contributing 56.8 per cent to its revenue.

The company said it had further strengthened its sourcing ecosystem in retail. It is working closely with producers, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), service providers as well as local and international brand companies.

 

HDFC Bank, IDFC First hike MCLR post repo rate hike by Reserve Bank

The largest private sector lender bank HDFC , raised its marginal cost of fund based lending rate from 5 to 10points basis from August 8 onwards .HDFC one month MCLR stands now at 7.95 percent .Another private sector IDFC first has also revised their MCLR upward by 5 to 15 bos across loans tenors .Last year Canara bank also raise their MCLR 5 to 15 bps.The RBI has raised their repo rate  to a 3 year high  of 5.40  percent .

Fuel demand rises 6.1% year-on-year

 India's fuel demand in July rose 6.1% year-on-year, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed on Monday. A proxy for oil demand, totaled 17.62 million tons in July, down 5.7% from 16.68 million tons in June. As higher prices are starting to impact demand, fuel demand is softer than the prior month

Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 6.8% higher from a year earlier at 2.81 million tons. Gasoline and petrol fell from a month earlier as monsoon rains restricted mobility and construction work while high inflation curtailed overall demand for goods, per preliminary sales data. 

Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 1.7% to 2.41 million tons, while naphtha sales fell 6.2% to 1.14 million tons 

India-China-Sri Lanka

 China's Yuan Wang 5 is a surveillance ship that is used for tracking and support of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Colombo, last month,  has allowed the ship to be docked at the Hambantota port and this gave rise to security concerns in New Delhi. Following India's concerns Sri Lanka has deferred the ship from docking at its port. 

India's opposition has been called "senseless" by the Chinese authorities saying "relevant" countries like India should stop disrupting normal exchanges between Beijing and Colombo. The Chinese vessel was expected to dock at the Sri Lankan port for refueling and replenishment and conduct satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean through August and September. 

The Hambantota port and its location is considered to be important for its location as the port is located in the hometown of the former president of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and it has been developed largely with Chinese loans. 

The ties between Sri Lanka and India have been previously strained in 2014 when Sri Lanka has given permission to a Chinese nuclear powered submarine to dock in one of its ports. China is the main creditor of Sri Lanka with investment in infrastructure. Debt structuring of Chinese loans would be key to the country's success in the ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. India has been on the forefront by extending assistance of about $4 billion. 

India home to 75000 startups, says Goyal

 India in its 75th year of independence is now home to 75000 startups said Union Minister Piyush Goyal. 

The minister had recently said the country aspires to become the largest startup ecosystem in the world. It had appealed that the startups are incorporated and listed in India and not to leave the country for few more dollars. 

Of the recognised startups, 12% cater to IT services, 9% to healthcare and life sciences, 7% to education, 5% to professional and commercial services and 5% to agriculture. 

PwC India buys Venerate Solutions

 PwC India has announced it has completed the acquisition of Venerate Solutions Private Limited, a Sales force consulting firm. 

Venerate was founded in 2016 in Bengaluru. It builds customised solutions on the Sales force platform across multiple clouds. The solutions help organisations in managing customers and sales. 

As the world recovers from the global pandemic, the enterprises are looking to transform their business and also keeping their customers at the center of their vision. 

Swiggy workers can take up 2nd job under moonlighting policy

 Food delivery giant Swiggy has introduced an industry first moonlighting policy for its employees. Under this policy, Swiggy employees can take up external projects for pro bono or economic consideration based on internal approvals. 

This could encompass activities outside office hours, or on weekend that doesn't impact their productivity while on the job, or have a conflict of interest with Swiggy's business. 

The Commonwealth hamper that is brought home

The Commonwealth Games are a multi sport event for the members of the Commonwealth Nations. The Commonwealth Nations are an association of the former territories of the British Empire. It consists of a total of 56 member states. Queen Elizabeth || is the head of the Commonwealth. There are Commonwealth realms of a total of 15 member states and the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe are former members of the Commonwealth. 

The 2022 Commonwealth Games are happening in Birmingham, England. They began on the 28th of July and are scheduled to end on the 8th of August. The are 72 nations that participated. 

Nearly 200 athletes have competed for 16 sports in Birmingham. Indian athletes have won 49 medals 17 gold, 13 silver and 19 bronze. India has won gold in weightlifting, wrestling, para powerlifting, para tennis, boxing, athletics, table tennis, and lawn bowls. 

Some of the firsts are:

a) Sanket Sargar for 55kg weightlifting 

b) Mirabai Chanu for 49kg weightlifting

c) Jeremy Lalrinnunga for 62kg weightlifting

d) Sudhir for para powerlifting

India had a very young athlete, Anahat Singh, at the age of 14 to participate at the games, a squash player. She is a class 9 student from Delhi.

 

Amazon ties up with Railways to deliver packages across India

 Amazon India has engaged with the Indian Railways to transport customer packages in more than 110 inter City routes, ensuring one to two day delivery for its customers, the e- retail giant said on Wednesday. 

Since its operational engagement with the Railways in 2019, Amazon has increased its transportation lanes five fold, it said, Amazon was the first company in the India e-commerce space to work with the Indian railways to build an express transportation product via rail in 2019. 

Amazon worked with railways to scale up its network. 

Rupee tumbles 45p as US-China tension flares

 The rupee weakened sharply against the dollar on Wednesday as concerns of tensions between US and China sparked by US speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan eroded risk appetite. 

It send investors rushing to the safety of the greenback, this was said by the dealers. The domestic currency also suffered against the dollar as exporters made a dash to lock in purchases of the greenback. 

The rupee settled at 79.16 to a dollar against 78.71 on the previous day. In 2022, the rupee has weakened 6% against the dollar

Airtel gears up for nationwide 5G roll out this month

 Bharti Airtel signed agreements with global telecom equipment majors Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to commence the deployment of 5G services. The announcement came just a couple of days after the 5G auction ended with the government fetching more than Rs. 1.5 trillion. 

Samsung had only worked with Reliance Jio to build 4G networks. This is the first time that it is making partnership with other players. But under the existing policy, the government has not permitted Chinese telecom gear makers to participate in the 5G roll out. 

Ericsson is one of the old partners of Airtel and Nokia had the contract awarded a 45% share of the Airtel network. 

Uber sells entire holdings in zomato; pockets Rs. 3088 cr

 Uber is the first major share holder of Zomato to cash out after one year lock up on its pre IPO shares which had ended last month. The sale comes close on 35% jump in Zomato's shares. 

Uber sold its 7.77% stake in domestic food delivery company Zomato to mop up Rs. 3088 crore. A total of 612 million shares were sold at Rs. 50.44 per piece. 

Zomato got listed in July 2021 and hit a peak marker cap of Rs. 1.26 trillion which had currently declined to Rs. 43655 crore. Zomato does not have any Promoter. The shareholding of its founders and all investors could weigh on shares of the company. 

TVS Motor's board to consider fund raising proposal this month

 TVS Motor's board is to consider fund raising proposal this month. This raising of funds is done by debentures. The company's board will consider and approve fund raising through non convertible redeemable debentures. 

This is done in a private placement basis, in one or more series, if it is done in a regulatory filing. Details about the amount that the company is planning to raise through debentures is not disclosed. 

Ericsson, Nokia scale up ops as firms ready for 5G launch

 Telecom manufacturers like Ericsson and Nokia are scaling up their operations with the roll out of 5G services. Bharti Airtel announced that it would deploy 5G services from August after announcing network agreements with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.

Ericsson wil be manufacturing 5G radios and microwave equipment at its pune plant. They will be scaling up the 5G production to meet the requirements of the Indian market. 

Nokia is also strengthening its manufacturing operations in Chennai plant. They are enhancing the skills of employees in preparation for the 5G roll out in India. They have already manufactured 5 million telecom network equipments at its Pune plant which was set up in 2008. Over 50 percent of this units was exported.

Most domestic needs for Radio Access network equipments are being met from the Chennai plant. Ericsson and Nokia have been participating in the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for telecom.

Mobile service providers have acquired spectrum worth Rs 1.5 trillion in the auction that concluded on monday. Companies bought 51,336 MHz of the spectrum which was 71 percent of the spectrum in offer.

The Department of Telecommunicationplans to allocate the spectrum to companies by August 12.

 

Nykaa consolidated net profit rises 42% to Rs 5 crore in June quarter

The net profit of Nyka rose 42 percent ie ,to 5 crore in April June quarter  of FY23 . Nyka had reported 3.5 crore in the same period in previous year . The CEO ,MD , Chairman of Nyka said that the beauty vertical ,offline and online  witnessing a growth momentum while building efficiencies accross the value chain .After the pandemic Nyka now experiencing the positive scale of  their unit .They also announced that they are opening up their second Aveda X Nyka salon in the country and first in Delhi .

COST's revenue challenge

 The latest number of Goods and Services Tax (GST) was lower than the latest month. But it showed a jump on its value before this month when it is calculated on a weekly basis. However, the collections had shown a trending up. 

This same trend is also seen in the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) and also in Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST). They both also show a rasing trend. But this trend had been changed in the latest month. 

Adani Group enters induatrial 5 G spectrum space.. to develop super app

The Adani group will digitally integrate its businesses, link data centres, build globally largest industrial cloud operations and develop a super app to offer a suite of services across its 400-million customer base.The Adani group announced its foray in industrial 5G space after acquiring 400 MHz of spectrum in the 5G airwaves auction that concluded on Monday. The group acquired spectrum worth Rs 212 crore in millimetre wave (26 GHz) band.The newly acquired 5G spectrum is expected to help create a unified digital platform that will accelerate the pace and scale of the Adani Group’s digitisation of its core infrastructure, primary industry and B2C business portfolio.The acceleration of digital enablement will have material long-term improvement in the rate of return on assets, it said. “Acquiring 400MHz of spectrum is the group’s first step in integrating its digital infrastructure portfolio, which includes data centres, terrestrial fibre and submarine cables, industrial cloud, AI innovation labs, cybersecurity and superapps,” it added.“The Adani Group’s foray into the industrial 5G space will allow our portfolio companies to offer a set of new add-on services that capitalises on all the other digital segments we are building...We believe the next data surge will be created more by machines than by people as all devices get interconnected. This data will need to be streamed, stored, processed, and analysed by other machines in real time and this capability will change every single industry. It will help build a set of services that the market cannot even fully conceptualize today. This volume will be exponentially higher and generated at the edges, especially in a country like India, where the Tier 2 and 3 cities are witnessing the fastest all-round growth,” group chairman Gautam Adani said in a statement.

India should gradually withdraw fiscal, monetary stimulus :IMF

 In order to maintain external sector balance at a comfortable level, the IMF has recommended that India should gradually withdraw its fiscal and monetary policy stimulus, develop export infrastructure and negotiate free trade pacts with the key trading partners to maintain that sustainable boost for the country. IMF said it should liberlise its investment policy and reduce the tariffs, especially on intermediate goods.

Bringing these reforms in India could eventually attract more FDI. A multilateral lending agency projected India's current account deficit to increase from 1.2% to 3.1% in  financial year 2023. India's external debt liabilities are moderate compared with peers and the short term rollover risks are limited. The IMF allowed the RBI to replenish official forex reserves which was recorded around 638.5 billion dollars at 2021 ending, it is now estimated to be 593.3 billion billion dollars as on June 24 2022.

Call grows for shift in RBI stance

 Ahead of Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) statement on Friday, while marketing participants are certain about a rate hike, there are also growing calls for a shift in the central bank's stance. Economists and market watchers are divided on whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce a change in the stance of monetary policy. According to a BS poll, the MPC is expected to raise the repo rate by 35-50 bps from the current level of 4.9%. This will take the policy rate past 5.15 per cent. It was 5.15 per cent before the RBI started cutting interest rates. Some economists expect the RBI's next move will be more future tightening. The given inflation remains well above the central bank's comfort zone.

Firms' green push gets a thrust with energy bill

 The Energy Conservation bill 2022 which was tabled in Parliament on wednesday - may push manufacturing companies to step up the use of green energy for their captive needs. 

It proposes the to mandate the use of non fossil sources for industrial activity, penalising those who dont do so.  Most of the companies from cement and metal to petrochemical depend largely on thermal power for their energy requirements.

Firms such as Ultratech, Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and JSW steel have plans to make transition to green energy. Estimates suggest that by 2030, large manufacturing could have around 20-25 percent of their captive power needs coming from non fossil fuels.

According to Ministry of steel, India contributes 12 percent to total carbon dioxide emissions annually ahead of global average of around 8 per cent. 

The government directed steel companies to develop a time bound action plan to reduce carbon emissions.

Russia becomes India's third-largest coal supplier in July, shows data

•  Imports rising by over a fifth compared with June to a record 2.06 million tonnes, Russia became India's third-largest coal supplier in July

Russia has historically been the sixth-largest supplier of coal to India, behind Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, and the United States, with Mozambique and Colo­mbia alternatingly featuring in the top five.

• India expects its central bank's recent approval to allow payments for commodities in the Indian rupee to provide a major fillip to bilateral trade with Russia.

• India's imports from Russia have jumped nearly five times to over $15 billion ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. India, the world's second-largest producer, importer and consumer of coal, has historically imported more coking coal — used mainly in steelmaking — from Russia, with Australia being the other key supplier.  

• Overall Indian coal imports, including shipments of anthracite and PCI coal, were nearly 10% lower in July at 23.8 million tonnes, compared with record imports of 26.29 million tonnes in June, the Coalmint data showed.

• Indonesia was the top supplier, while South Africa was marginally ahead of Russia, the data showed. Higher coal imports from Russia were mainly driven by cement manufacturers and steelmakers, two Indian traders said.

• Thermal coal imports from Russia jumped 70.3% in July, compared with June, to a record 1.29 million tonnes, while coking coal imports rose by over two-thirds to more than 280,000 tonnes, Coalmint data showed.

• However, steep discounts offered by Russian suppliers to Indian consumers in the recent months have incentivized higher buying of thermal coal used mainly in power generation especially as global prices have traded at near-record highs due to western sanctions choking traditional trade.

 Indigo start three way exit for passengers 

Deboarding an aircraft from the left side has been a long lasting practices in commercial aviation  . Passengers disembarked on indigo flight in Delhi from the right side on the front.  

Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019

 The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was originally focused on core issues of data protection and information privacy like trusted hardware, certification, non personal data, and data localisation. All of these issues are creeping into the legislation because of the gaps that exist in the IT Act. The government had two options where it could create a complex law that could be inconvenient as it would cause tremendous amount of compliance challenges for start-ups or to go back and do do a clean slate where do framework of laws and politics. The framework will have a new digital privacy bill which will update the IT Act, the national data governance framework policy. 

The government withdrew the deliberated Bill on Monday saying it will be replaced with something that has a 'comprehensive framework' and is in alignment with 'contemporary digital privacy laws'. The bill was first introduced to the Lok Sabha in 2019 and was later tabled to a Joint Parliamentary Committee(JPC) which tabled its report in December, 2021. 

Even with suggested changes by the committee the bill was flawed. The citizens would get little protection against the government snooping but the bill would have also offered higher levels of protection against cybercrime and would have instituted better safeguards against misuse of data by private agencies. 

Wal Mart cuts 200 corporate jobs as weak demand

Walmart Inc. is eliminating about 200 corporate jobs as it contends with rising costs, bloated inventories and weakening demand for general merchandise.The cuts include staffers in last-mile delivery and merchandising, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Walmart will also add an unspecified number of jobs in areas such as e-commerce, health and wellness, ad sales and supply chain, said one of the people.We’re updating our structure and evolving select roles to provide clarity and better position the company for a strong future,” the company said in an email Wednesday. “At the same time, we’re further investing in key areas and creating new roles to support our growing number of services for our customers, suppliers and the business community.”The retail giant is tightening its belt a week after slashing its annual profit forecast for the second time in less than three months. US consumers are pulling back on clothing and durable-goods purchases as soaring inflation raises the cost of food and basic items. That’s prompting Walmart to cut prices on general merchandise even as grocery sales which are less profitable for the retailer continue to rise.The shares fell less than 1% in extended trading in New York. Walmart has dropped 9.8% so far this year, while an S&P 500 index of consumer-staples companies slipped 2.9%. Jennifer Bartashus, a retail analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company eliminated hundreds of corporate jobs around the same time of year in 2020. “While job cuts are always a difficult decision, Walmart’s growth as a technology-focused company has likely helped introduce more efficiencies and productivity into its operations,” Bartashus said. Inventories surged during the company’s fiscal first quarter, in part because of a mismatch between customer demand and its merchandise. Walmart is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings Aug. 16.In addition to spending more on groceries because of the highest US inflation in four decades, consumers who were cooped up in their homes earlier in the pandemic have been shifting some dollars to services such as travel and restaurants. Some may also be stepping back from home deliveries as they go out more. Walmart has more than 100,000 management and professional workers in the US, according to a federal filing. The company, the country’s largest private-sector employer, has a total US workforce of almost 1.6 million people. The job cuts were reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

Govt withdraws Personal Data Protection Bill 2019

 The Government has withdrew the Personal Data Protection bill 2019 after four years of deliberation. It is to be replaced with another one that has a comprehensive framework and is in alignment with the contemporary digital privacy laws.

The government withdrew the bill because the Joint Parliamentary commitee has recommended 81 amendments to it l, which has 99 sections. JPC had made 12 recommendations. 

The JPC's report on Personal Data Protection bill had identified many issues that were relevant but beyond the scope of modern digitap privacy law.

The first draft was presented in July 2018, the Minister of state for Electronics and Information Technology started drafting the bill in October 2018. 

Industry stakeholders suspect a lack of agreement between two factions within the government has led to the scrapping of the bill. This can be a setback for the big tech or corporate world but also for individuals and consumers and privacy first organizations that worked for engaging with government and consumers.

India plans energy transition, to build carbon credit market

 At the 26th session of Conference Of Parties India made commitments in line with the climate. The center introduced amendment to the Energy Conservation Act 2001. It was to meet the targets embracing the green fuels, industrial energy efficiency also to build the country's own carbon credit market.

The amendments have been proposed in the context of energy transition planned by India with focus on promotion of renewable energy and the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The Energy Conservation Bill,2022 said that it will help in meeting the five targets announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. On Wednesday at Lok Sabha the bill proposed the mandatory threshold for consumption of green fuels like green ammonia, green hydrogen and biomass in all industries.

Swiggy anouncing moonlight policy

Swiggy employees will be allowed to work on external projects for money or pro-bono, said the food delivery firm on Wednesday about a moonlighting policy that it claimed is the industry’s first.Moonlighting should be outside office hours or on weekends, must not affect productivity or clash with Swiggy’s business.The Bengaluru-based company has around 5,000 employee and it works with more than 200,000 restaurant partners and stores in India.The policy is available to all full-time employees of Bundl Technologies Swiggy’s parent company,subsidiaries, affiliates, associates, and group companies. Projects that risk conflict of interest or interference with employees' duties to Swiggy are subject to an approval process.Swiggy’s employees policies come at a time when falling valuations, slowing funding and investor sentiment have prompted many Indian start-ups to lay off employees and conserve cash. The founders of edtech unicorn Unacademy took a salary cut; the firm’s offices discontinued complimentary meals and snacks; and “certain businesses” will be shut. Earlier this year, the edtech firm laid off more than 1,000 employees.Asked if such policies would help productivity and growth, Menon said that Swiggy is careful about spending and it invests in employees.Swiggy last week announced a permanent work-from-anywhere policy for the majority of roles after taking feedback from several managers and employees.Swiggy recently said it has reached its first milestone in implementing a two-year ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) liquidity programme. This year eligible Swiggy employees had the option to receive liquidity of up to $23 million against their ESOPs.

Supreme Court wants states to make DIN mandatory for GST officers

 

The Supreme Court directed the Centre and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to issue advisory to states for implementing a digital system for all communication sent by GST officers to taxpayers. It will bring in further transparency and accountability in the indirect tax administration and ensure that taxpayers are not harassed. The central government had in October 2019 implemented electronic generation of Document Identification Number (DIN) for all communications made by income-tax officers to taxpayers. A DIN is a 20 digit identification code that is affixed to every communication sent to taxpayers by the government.

At present, DIN is mandatory for every type of communication with the IT department. The apex court observed, It cannot be disputed that implementing the system for DIN for all communications sent by the state tax officers to taxpayers and other concerned persons would be in the larger public interest and enhance good governance. The top court further said it will bring in transparency and accountability in the indirect tax administration, which are so vital for efficient governance.

The court noted that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the governing body for direct taxes had implemented DIN on all communications made by Income tax officers in 2019 to ensure better transparency. However, in GST, only two states Karnataka and Kerala have implemented the system.
The concerned states to consider implementing the system for generation of a DIN for all communications sent by the state tax officer to taxpayers and other concerned persons. This would bring in transparency and accountability in the indirect tax administration at the earliest.

The plea has sought direction to the GST Council to consider and take a policy decision in respect of implementing the system by all states. It has also sought direction to the central government/Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to introduce centralized DIN for the entire country. The apex court order directing the council to issue instructions to other states to implement DIN will be much appreciated by the industry at large. If successfully implemented, it will go a long way in facilitating transparency and ease of doing business.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna had, in early July, issued notices to the ministry of finance, CBIC, GST Council and others, seeking their replies on the plea.

 

Uber users in Delhi, NCR can book their rides using Hindi on WhatsApp

 

The two companies, Uber users can book cabs, auto rickshaws, and bikes on WhatsApp in Hindi and English. Uber is expanding the WhatsApp to Ride product for users in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR), which is among the ride-hailing firm’s top places globally by volume. Bangalore Tech Centre engineers worked tirelessly behind the scenes to develop this product and integrate it. They finished the feature’s development process in less than three months, just in time for the Lucknow launch.

The Lucknow pilot discovered that the WA2R audience is younger than the average Uber App user, with nearly half of them being under the age of 25. The fact that 33% of inbounds during this pilot came from new users demonstrates the potential for new user acquisition through this partnership. The simplicity of the ride-booking experience within the WhatsApp interface, WhatsApp Partnerships, India, has helped Uber acquire new riders.

There are three ways for WhatsApp users in Delhi NCR to book an Uber ride. They can message Uber’s business account number, scan a QR code, or open an Uber WhatsApp chat directly by clicking a link. They will then be asked to provide pickup and drop-off locations, as well as the upfront fare and the driver’s expected arrival time.

Riders have access to the same safety features and insurance protection as those who book trips directly through the Uber app. On booking, they will be informed of the driver’s name and license plate. They will be able to track the driver’s location as he travels to the pickup location and communicate with the driver anonymously via a masked number.

 

 

Amazon and Indian Railways

Amazon and the Indian Railways have entered into partnership for moving customer packages on 325 inter-city routes. The company first partnered with the Indian Railways in 2019 and now the partnership is further strengthened and increased its routed five-fold. The Railways enables the company to make one- and two-day deliveries to customers and towns and smaller cities. 

By strengthening this engagement, Amazon India will ferry packages to Jharsuguda, Ratnagiri, Kurnool, Nanded, Bareilly, Bokaro and Rudrapurc covering a bunch of states. This arrangement is in line with what Amazon stands for- timely deliveries. 

Venkatesh Tiwari, Director at Amazon Transportation, India has said that they are focussed at providing fast and convenient shopping experience to the customers disregarding the distance of the location of their stay. Mr Tiwari has also said that Amazon will continue to engage with the Indian Railways and create more opportunities to use the strong network and infrastructure built by the Railways.

Amazon is the first company in the Indian e-commerce space to work with the Indian Railways to build an express transportation product via rail in 2019. It has since continued to increase the volume of packages transported through this network. During the COVID lockdown period, Amazon worked with the Indian Railways to transport high-priority products.

Amazon delivers to all 100 per cent serviceable pin codes, with more than 97 per cent such places being able to receive their deliveries within two days of placing an order.

Amazon expands partnership with Railways for deliveries in festive season

 

Amazon is strengthening its engagement with the Indian Railways for moving customer packages on 325 inter-city routes. This is a five-fold increase in routes since the e-commerce firm began working with the Indian Railways in 2019. The Railways enables the company to make one- and two-day delivery to customers in towns and smaller cities. With this expansion, Amazon India will ferry packages to Jharsuguda, Ratnagiri, Kurnool, Nanded, Bareilly, Bokaro and Rudrapur.

The expansion is in line with the company’s need to ensure timely deliveries during the festival season October to December. They are focused on providing a fast and convenient shopping experience to our customers, no matter where they live across the length and breadth of the country, said Venkatesh Tiwari, director at Amazon Transportation, India. Working with the Indian Railways helps us further that commitment. They will continue to engage with the Indian Railways and create more opportunities to use the strong network and infrastructure built by them.

Amazon was the first company in the Indian e-commerce space to work with the Indian Railways to build an express transportation product via rail in 2019. Since then, it has continued to increase the volume of packages transported through this network. During lockdowns in 2020 to contain the coronavirus, the company worked with the Indian Railways to transport high-priority products. Amazon India delivers to all 100 per cent serviceable pin codes, with more than 97 per cent of such places now being able to receive their deliveries within two days of placing an order.

 

Airtel gears up for nation wide 5G roll out this month

Bharathi Airtel on Wednesday signed agreements with global telecom equipment images Ericsson,Nokia and Samsung to comments the deployment of 5G services across the country this month. The company is likely to start with Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Pune. The launch could go inside with the independence day . The announcement came just a couple of days after the much awaited 5G auction ended with the government fixing more than 1.5 trillion. Some of the important Bharati's strategy are company ropes in three telecom gear makers to set up 5G networks, Samsung for the first time looks beyond partner jio and signs with bharati for two circles, Ericsson and Nokia retain their circles where they had deployed 4G too, analysts estimate the 5G roll out could cost about 10 billion,Govt has promised to allocate spectrum by August 10. This is the first time that Samsung which has worked with only Reliance Jio so far to build 4G networks , has sorted to go beyond it's partner and work with other players. Sources set the South Korean telecom giant had won the Punjab and Kolkata circles, where the 4G network was built by Chinese company ZTE. Under the existing policy, the government has not permitted Chinese telecom gear makers to participate in the 5G roll out. Nokia z award of the contract accounted for a 45% share of the Airtel network. Ericsson an old partner of the Airtel has won 11 circles retaining all of these were it had deployed 4G. 20 include Karnataka which was with Huawei 4G but was partly given to Ericsson later.

Rupee back to 78 levels vs dollar as FPIs return to Indian markets.

The rupee strengthened well below 79 against the dollar on Tuesday and closed at its strongest level in over a month. It settled at 78.71 per dollar, against the previous day’s close at 79.03. The US dollar index, a measure of the currency against six major rival pairs, was at 105.67 around 6.15 pm IST on Tuesday. It had climbed to a 20-year high of 108.54 in late July. “The Indian rupee outperforms Asian currencies as lower oil prices improve the outlook for the trade balance and foreign fund buying helps fill the gap in dollar demand and supply. The local currency has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the recent slide in crude oil prices,” HDFC Securities Research Analyst Dilip Parmar told Business Standard. 

According to the US Federal Reserve's latest policy statement, the rupee has strengthened 1.4 per cent versus the US dollar, faring better than the Singapore dollar, the South Korean Won, the Indonesian rupiah, the Malaysian ringgit, the Chinese yuan, the Hong Kong dollar, the Philippine peso, the Taiwan dollar and the Turkish lira. 

The decline in crude oil prices, has reduced the risk for inflation in India, which has boosted sovereign bond prices with the yield on the 10-year benchmark paper settling at its lowest level in three months

“Foreign fund inflows, a decline in crude oil prices, and a weak US dollar have helped the rupee gain a healthy correction after losing one-sidedly over the past two months,” said CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari.

India's July trade deficit widens to record $31 bn; exports dip marginally

•  India’s trade deficit widened to a record $31 billion in July.
•  A sequential decline in exports and somewhat flat imports.
• According to released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday, it showed that merchandise exports declined to a five-month low at $35.2 billion in July while imports eased sequentially to $66 billion.
• Out of the top 10 export items 7 of them faced a decline. 
• They are engineering goods (2.5 per cent), petroleum products (7.1 per cent), gems and jewellery (5.2 per cent), pharmaceuticals (1.4 per cent), readymade garments (0.6 per cent), cotton yarn (28.3 per cent), and plastic (3.4 per cent).
• But some of them showed growth, They are chemicals (7.9 per cent), electronic goods (46.1 per cent), and rice (30.2 per cent).
• Gold is one the most imported item and it faced a decline. gold declined 43.6 per cent to $2.4 billion after the Centre raised import duty on the metal last month.
• However, imports of non-oil and non-gems and jewellery products grew 42.9 per cent, due to recovery in domestic economic activities as well as elevated price pressure.

Commerce Secretary B V R Subhramanyam said with fears of recession looming in some of India’s largest export markets — the US and Europe — India should be “worried”.

• “We will be able to compensate for the hit from these two regions. The recently signed trade deals with the United Arab Emirates and Australia (and the upcoming deal with the UK) will boost exports. There can be exports of $15-16 billion to these two nations,” he said.

• Expecting more trade deals with Russia and Sri Lanka, mostly huge opportunities in Russian tea, telecom, pharmaceutical products, leather.

• A $8-9 billion trade with Russia and Sri Lanka is expected.

• The exports could go above $500 billion this fiscal year, adding that restrictions on exports of wheat, iron and steel, and petroleum products had reined in growth in shipments.

• India had surpassed the $400-billion target in 2021-22, closing the last financial year at $421 billion.

• Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA, said the sharp trade deficit in July did not augur well for the size of the current account deficit in Q2 FY23.

  “The current account deficit is likely to have crossed $30 billion in Q1 FY23, a fallout of higher commodity prices, equivalent to around 80 per cent of the full-year figure for FY22. Lower commodity prices should temper the trade deficit although the strength of merchandise and services exports in the face of the global slowdown fears remains crucial,” she added.

Pelosi shows up in Taiwan

 Despite threats from Beijing, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night. Pelosi became the highest ranking American official in 25 years to visit Taiwan.

Taiwan is claimed by China as part of its territory, to be annexed by force if necessary, and they views the visits by foreign officials as recognition of the island's sovereignty. Pelosi's visit has triggered tension between China and United States. 

China has warned against the political impact of Pelosi's visit to the island and said that its military will not stand idle if they feel their integrity is being threatened. The Biden administration did not urge Pelosinto call off the visit while assured Beijing it would not signal any change in the US policy on Taiwan.

China's military threats have driven concerns of a new crisis in the Taiwan Strait that could roil global markets and supply chain. Military drills and live fire exercises in the waters and airspace encircling Taiwan are scheduled from August 4 - 7.

US warships are also on the move to the Taiwan strait as Russia backs China over the provocative trip.

Rupee's journey from 40 to 80 per dollar

 The rupee once saw times where its value appreciated from 49 to 40 against the dollar between 2002 and 2007 and then happened the financial crisis which tipped everything downhill. The rupee then went past 52 in no time and has been depreciating ever since. The rupee has since shown about 5 per cent rate of depreciation per annum. It has depreciated in line with the interest rate differential between India and the US.

Interest rate differential is the difference of interest rates of two different currencies. The interest rate of a currency is the cost of borrowing funds in an economy. When you buy a currency that has higher interest rate against a currency that has lower interest rates you receive payments for the difference. This is called a carry trade. 

Some of the years where the rupee has depreciated the most were 2008 with -23.8 per cent, 2013 with -12.4 per cent, 2018 with -9.2 per cent. It fared well during 2017 with +6 per cent. Though the rupee has weakened up to 50 percent during the last decade it has developed strong resilience to external shocks over these years.

On the Balance of Payments front before Covid and the war the trade deficit stabilized at 5-5.5 per cent of GDP and the current account deficit at 0.5-1 per cent of GDP, which is considered to be manageable. Our services-sector exports grew to hit $250 billion mark. Foreign direct investments have grew to hit $83.5 billion in FY22. India continues to be the biggest recipient of foreign remittances. 

The build-up of forex during the good times is proving to be helpful in now times of BoP stress. There has been a steady decline in the exchange rate volatility. A stable rupee reduces the risk that foreign investors expect when investing in Indian assets. 

Auto industries gets their chips back

Most car manufacturers like Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, M&M reported single to high double digit growth in their car sales in July due to the supply of semi conductor chips. Other companies like Kia , Toyota, Honda, Skoda also reported robust growth in sales which is said to be recorded as the highest ever passenger vehicle wholesales in July. 

Sales at Maruti rose 6.82% says the marketing and sales of Maruti, and overall sales stood at over 3.42 lakh units last month as compared with 2.94 units in July 2021. They also mentioned that this is the highest sales to be recorded by the company till date. 

Sales at M&M rises to 33% to 23,053 units against 21,046 the previous year.

Hyundai Motors, India's second biggest carmaker said its sales were 5.1% higher at 50,000 units last month against 48,042 units sold in July last year. The increase in the supply of semi conductor chips in the market has shown a positive trend.

Centre may lower import duty on wheat to combat sharply rising prices

According to trade and market participants, the government may decrease import duties on wheat as part of measures to offset the commodity's steeply rising prices in recent weeks. Though there is no official confirmation, industry participants anticipate efforts to prevent a spike in flour prices during the festival season, which begins this month.

Wheat is subject to a 40% import tariff in India.

Some equities from the Central pool could be liquidated for private traders, and surplus holdings could be reduced. However, traders say that removing import duties will not help much in the current global environment because the globally landed price of Indian wheat is around Rs 3,000 per quintal, while the maximum price at which Indian wheat is selling domestically in southern ports is Rs 2,700-2,750 per quintal.

"At the moment, it does not make sense to lower the import duty because domestically available wheat is still cheaper than that in global markets," a senior industry official said. "However, with Russia and Ukraine agreeing to allow the passage of stored wheat and the US expecting a bumper harvest, global prices may soften, bringing parity with domestic rates."

Wheat prices in the country's major markets reached a record high of Rs 23,547 per tonne last week. That was over a 12% increase from the previous lows following the government's sudden restriction on wheat exports on May 14. According to Reuters, the increase was caused by increased demand and limited supplies as a result of a heat wave that destroyed the crop. The Centre had regulated wheat exports in recent months to moderate prices and ensure that corrupt operators did not use the opportunity to export extra flour.

In April 2022, India exported approximately 95,167 tonnes of wheat flour (atta), according to the food ministry. This compares to about 26,000 tonnes in April 2021, an almost 267 per cent increase.

Manufacturing PMI expands at quickest pace.

 India's manufacturing activity expanded at a quickest pace in eight months on the back of new business orders and outputs.

S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) jumped to 56.4 in July from 53.9 in June. A value above 50 shows expansion. The survey said that the rise in growth was a result of strong demand and pick-up in sales.

New orders rose in July, recovering from the growth momentum which was lost in June. The international markets contributed to the upturn in total order books as new export orders rose at a moderate pace.

Even as the cost for raw materials continued to rise, the rate of inflation slipped to a nine month low. Purchasing activity growth marked higher in July and firms were successful in their efforts to obtain inputs amid a second consecufive improvement in supplier perfomance.

The survey also pointed that companies stepped up input purchasing and reported solid manufacturing activities but job creation remained subdued.

5G spectrum ends; RIL emerges top bidder at Rs88k crore

 The government had earned Rs150173 crore when the auction for telecom spectrum ended Monday afternoon after 7 days of bidding and 40 rounds, adding Rs43 crore to its kitty on the last day. the amount earned is higher when compared to the 7 auctions since 2010. in 2015 they earned 113932 crore. According to sources, Reliance Jio bid Rs 80,000 crore. It was followed by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and the Adani Group, which had said before entering consumer mobility.

The auction went for many days and rounds than planned expecting that most of the spectrum will be sold at the base price and will be over within two days. Companies had kept away from buying the 700Mhz spectrum in the earlier two auctions because they believed it was very expensive. The spectrum is becoming very popular globally as the key spectrum required for 5G coverage, especially indoors and for more efficiency. 

RBI may push rates up by 30 to 50 bps

 On August 5 the RBI 's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to announce a repo rate hike of 35-50 bps. It is mainly to tackle elevated inflation according to a majority of respondents in a Business Standard Poll. Of the 10 polled, three excepted the MPC to straightaway raise the benchmark policy rate by 50 bps; 3 others predicted an increase of 35 bps. An estimate of 35 -50 bps hike were provided by two of the institutions. One of them provided 40-50 bps for policy tightening. One institution said the MPC could opt for a 25-35 bps increase. 

No question of recession or stagflation in India, says FM Sitharaman

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam Claims that, India is nowhere near a recession or stagflation and the government is making all efforts to bring down retail inflation below 7 per cent.
• The government has taken several measures to make raw material prices cheaper and reduce inflation of food items.
• The US may has gotten into an unofficial recession, but India is nowhere near getting into a recession or stagflation..
• Sitharaman's claim is that "Even as international agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have downgraded growth rates of economies, each time India has remained as the fastest-growing economy,” 
• A Bloomberg survey shows that India has zero probability falling into a recession.
• Sitharam also said that  "Our people have gone through the pandemic, global value chains have hit us, but in spite of that, because of the various steps taken by the government and also by the Reserve Bank of India, we remain much better than most countries,”
• While 4,000 Chinese banks are reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy, gross non-performing assets of Indian commercial banks have declined to a six-year low of 5.9 per cent for FY22.
• While many major economies have triple-digit debt-to-GDP ratios, the central government’s debt-to-GDP ratio has gone down to 56.29 per cent of GDP in FY22 from the revised estimate of 59.9 per cent for the same year. According to the IMF, India’s general government (centre+states) debt stood at 86.9 per cent of GDP in FY22.
• GST collection in July was the second-highest ever at Rs 1.49 trillion, remaining above Rs 1.4 trillion for the fifth consecutive month.
• 
  

Air India under Tata Group Management

Air India has been showing signs of improvement in the passenger load factor (PLF). PLF is an important metric of capacity utilisation of an airline's feet that shows how many seats it has been able to fill on every flight. Data from Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows that there has been an uptrend in key operational parameters after the Tata Group has taken over Air India.

While Air India was still under the government control, it's domestic PLF stood at 60 per cent. Beginning from February to June the same parameter has clocked 80 per cent since the Tara's have taken over. The international operations have rose to 80 per cent compared to 63 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

Air India which had the highest number of passenger complaints, has managed to resolve issues like delays and denial of boarding among others that angered flyers. Within months of taking over has brought in major management changes in Air India led by the appointment of Tata Sons vice-president Nipun Aggarwal as airline's chief commercial officer.

The Tata's appointed few other personnel in key senior roles. They retained Captain RS Sandhu, the airline's chief of operations as appointed by the government. They brought in Singapore International Airlines' former CEO as the chief executive officer after requisite clearances were given by the Union Home ministry for his appointment.

Tata Steel to roll out 'First in India' seating system for Vande Bharat

 

Tata Group is planning to spend Rs 3,000 crore on R&D by FY26 and set to roll out the ‘First in India’ seating system for Vande Bharat Express trains from September 2022. Tata Steel’s Composites division bagged a Rs 145 crore bulk order for seating systems of the Vande Bharat express that includes the supply of complete seating systems for 22 train sets, with 16 coaches in each train set. These are specially designed seats, which can rotate 180 degrees and have aircraft-style passenger amenities. This is first-in-India’ kind of a supply, which will be executed over 12 months starting September 2022.

Composites industry in India is dominated by institutional businesses and is largely dependent on infrastructure, industrial and railway sectors. One of the key initiatives of the composites business was to convert to Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) applications where steel is currently being used. Railways has been a promising customer for the FRP Composites business of Tata Steel.

The FRP used in the seats will have higher corrosion resistance and lower maintenance cost. Moreover, it will be conforming to the European standard of fire-retardant property, and will offer improved safety and comfort to passengers. Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is the second fastest train in India, which operates at a speed of 130 km/hr.