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THURSDAY • AUGUST 17, 2017 CHENNAI: ₹6; Outstation: ₹8 Pages 18 • Volume 24 • Number 196 ߯sþs

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PEOPLE@WORK NITI or rajniti? That is the question being asked at the Centre’s policy think tank after a high-profile exit p2

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QUICKLY ECONOMY

GST relief for Himalayan, N-E units New Delhi, August 16

As many as 4,284 industrial units in the North East and Himalayan States will get GST relief in the form of a refund of the Central share of CGST and iGST. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday gave its nod for a new scheme to refund the Central share of Central GST and integrated GST to these units in lieu of the excise exemption lost due to the rollout of the goods and services tax and the scrapping of excise laws from July 1. p4

BANKING

Do not legalise bitcoins: panel New Delhi, August 16

The Finance Ministry will work out a roadmap to regulate the use of virtual currencies such as bitcoins based on the report of an official committee, which has recommended not legalising them. While welcoming the use of new technologies such as block chain, the committee is said to have proposed that the use of cryptocurrencies should not be permitted in the country. It is also not in favour of a complete ban, but is understood to have recommended stringent provisions for p6 regulating it.

2016-17 saw number of cases being probed by SEBI double over previous year

Mandates some level of private participation in operation and maintenance

Mumbai, August 16

OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for a new metro rail policy. Framed by the Urban Development Ministry, the policy is expected to promote ‘Make in India’ initiative in metro rail projects, according to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The policy will help meet the metro rail aspirations of various cities. Apart from financial returns, the policy lays emphasis on intangible benefits on the environment and safety fronts. For approving the projects, the Centre will take into account an economic rate of return of 14 per cent instead of financial rate of return of 8 per cent. Metro projects in 13 cities are at various stages of planning and appraisal. While asking States to take steps for ensuring financial viability, it has also called for evaluating other transport modes such as buses, trams and light rail

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OUR BUREAU

The CCEA has given its nod for setting up a mechanism wherein three ministries together will decide on the terms of such deals

as necessary from time to time for efective implementation of decisions taken by the Cabinet. The latest changes were proposed by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), an oicial statement said. Several top notch stateowned entities including Air India, BEML and Salem Steel Plant are being lined up for strategic disinvestments this fiscal. The CCEA had on June 28 granted in-principle approval for considering strategic disinvestment of Air India and five of its subsidiaries, including Air India Express. In the case of Air India, a

Focus on viability The new policy wants States to charge a “betterment levy” in areas that will benefit from metro rail projects M_PRABHU

transit. Some level of private participation in the operation and maintenance of the metro system will be mandatory for all projects that take funds from the Centre. Most of the metro systems globally, barring the one in Hong Kong, make operating losses . Additional tax The new policy wants States to charge a “betterment levy” in areas that will benefit from the metro rail projects. Indicating that States should provide for higher floor area ratio to keep the costs low for commuters, the policy mandates ‘transit oriented development’ to promote compact and dense urban development along metro corridors. TOD reduces travel distances besides enabling eicient land use in urban areas. Permanent fare committee The policy also empowers States to make rules and regulations and set up a fare fixation authority for timely revision of fares.

group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already been mandated to decide on the treatment of unsustainable debt of Air India. This group will also decide the quantum of disinvestment and the eligibility criteria of bidders. For 2017-18, the Centre’s disinvestment target has been pegged at ₹72,500 crore, of which, about ₹42,500 crore is envisaged from minority stake sale and exchange traded funds. So far this fiscal, the Centre has raised ₹9,300 crore. Bharat-22 To help achieve the disinvestment target for the current fiscal, the Centre proposes to launch a second exchange traded fund (ETF) known as Bharat-22. This will comprise stocks of 22-blue chip public sector units, state-owned banks and some holdings in SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India).

For rigorous assessment of new metro proposals, the policy has suggested independent third party assessment by agencies to be identified by the government — like the Institute of Urban Transport and other such centres of excellence — whose capacities would be augmented as required. Setting up of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) has been made mandatory, which will prepare comprehensive mobility plans for cities for ensuring complete multi-modal integration for optimal utilisation of capacities such as last-mile connectivities. State commitment To ensure financial viability of metro projects, the new policy requires States to clearly indicate in the project report the measures to be taken for commercial development at stations and in the surrounding urban land. This is for maximising non-fare revenue. States are also required to accord all the required permissions and approvals in advance.

Berkshire Hathaway to buy L&T arm for ₹174 crore KSENIA KONDRATIEVA Mumbai, August 16

Infrastructure and engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has divested its entire stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary, L&T Cutting Tools, to IMC International Metalworking Companies BV, owned by US-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the company said in a filing with stock exchanges. The sale is expected to be closed within the next 90 days, it said. The deal will bring L&T ₹174 crore and could be considered as a part of the group’s broader strategy to divest noncore businesses and assets adopted several years back. L&T Cutting Tools is a part of L&T’s EWAC Alloys business and has a manufacturing facility in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, producing a range of products. Its total revenues during the last financial year stood at ₹169.5 crore and constituted around 0.15 per cent of L&T’s consolidated revenue.

Data security: Lens on foreign mobile phone makers

OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

Taking a tough stand, the government has ordered all leading mobile phone manufacturers, majority of them Chinese, to provide some details about safety and security practices they undertake during production. According to a senior oicial, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has written to 21 companies including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Gionee, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus. “Under the Section 70B (6) of IT Act, you are hereby re-

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quested to provide a detailed written response about the safety and security practices, architecture, frameworks, guidelines/standards, etc., followed/implemented in your product/services provided in the country,” the letter said. Based on the response of the companies, the Ministry will initiate verification and audit of devices where required, said the oicial. The directive comes amid a stand-of between India and China over Doklam, as also rising concerns over imports of Chinese IT and telecom equipment. According to sources, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

ceived alerts and complaints regarding a few top corporate houses, too. Insider trading is when a ‘connected person’, who may be an associate or a key management employee or one close to the promoters, deals in the shares of a particular company on material information that is not know to the public. Rigging or manipulation is artificial price movement in stocks by traders. SEBI issued 37 warning letters and 35 deficiency letters to mutual funds in 2016-17 for noncompliance with regulations and launched adjudication proceedings against three of them. The markets are agog with rumours of a few fund managers being probed by SEBI for frontrunning and insider trading.

PALAK SHAH

Alternative mechanism in the works for speedier strategic disinvestment

Govt asks 21 companies to provide safety details

Regd. TN/ARD/14/2012-2014, RNI No. 55320/94

‘Make in India’ driven metro Spike in insider trading, manipulation rail policy gets Cabinet nod

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Strategic disinvestments may get a fillip with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Afairs (CCEA) approving a revised institutionalised mechanism for speedy completion of such transactions. The CCEA on Wednesday gave its nod for setting up an alternative mechanism, wherein the Finance Minister, the Minister for Road Transport & Highways and the Minister of the administrative department will decide on the terms of such deals. This alternative mechanism will decide on the terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of expression of interest (EoI) to inviting of financial bid. CCEA has also given its nod for empowering the core group of Secretaries to take policy decisions with regard to procedural issues and to consider deviations

SOME WAY TO GO India needs to improve its infrastructure to smoothen cargo traffic flow, says Lufthansa Cargo CEO Peter Gerber p18

Ahmedabad Bengaluru Chennai Coimbatore Hubballi Hyderabad Kochi Kolkata Madurai Malappuram Mangaluru Mumbai Noida Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirapalli Tirupati Vijayawada Visakhapatnam

Setting up of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority has been made mandatory, which will prepare comprehensive mobility plans for cities for ensuring complete multimodal integration

New Delhi, August 16

TECHNOPHILE Sarahah goes against the grain of honesty. The app becomes a platform for explicit sexual advances and trolling p10

had called a meeting of senior oicials from his department, including representatives of CERT-IN and others, on August 14 to take stock of the situation. “There have been reports that some mobile companies leak data in the form of contacts/ text messages to a third country. Therefore, we have ordered some companies and asked them what steps can be taken to secure data and they are not compromised in anyway. We have asked them to furnish details by August 28,” an oicial said. “For any content, the mobile devices form the centrepiece, and any app/ content which is preloaded,is part of the device.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of the device-maker to take care of such data,” the official said. As regards penalty, the oicial said, there’s ‘unlimited compensation’ and penalties of ₹5 crore through statelevel arbitrators in terms of the damage caused by a company, under the IT Act. Section 43 (a) of the Act says a company is responsible to make sure that it keeps all the data of the users safe and they are complied by the rules of the land. According to experts, Apple is one of the companies, which has the highest commitment towards privacy of its users. It clearly explains in its website on how it handles a user’s information, what it does and does not collect, and why.

Insider trading, manipulation and stock price rigging are at their peak in India’s equity markets. In 2016-17, there were nearly 185 fresh cases of market manipulation and price rigging and 34 new cases of insider trading under investigation by market regulator SEBI. This is more than double the number of such cases in the previous year, data gathered by BusinessLine from SEBI revealed. Targeting tax evaders The rise in numbers is mainly on the back of tip-ofs from the Income-Tax Department, which has been closely studying tax evasion via stock markets post demonetisation in November 2016, a SEBI oicial said. The I-T Department’s main area of study has been the evasion of short-term tax by traders who book fictitious profits and losses. In 2016-17, 76 per cent of cases taken up for investigation pertained to manipulation and price rigging compared with 63 per cent in 2015-16. Such investigations by SEBI were not as high even when it was probing the IPO scam between between 2003 and 2005 by the now infamous Rupal Panchal, who opened thousands of demat accounts to corner shares in 18 public issue-bound companies. “SEBI has been empowered by an amendment to its insider trading rules in 2015, which is why it can now investigate more

alerts. It is not necessary that final orders be passed in all the cases and investigations close in many of them if no violation is found,” Sumit Agarwal, Partner, Suvan Law Advisors. A SEBI oicial said it had re-

Commodity market probes Investigations taken up by SEBI in the commodity markets too rose by 62 per cent. Overall, the regulator took up 97 cases in the commodity markets for detailed investigation in 2016-17 compared with 61 in 2015-16. A total of 2,328 cases have been taken up for investigation by SEBI so far, of which probes have been completed in 2,059 cases.

Stressed assets: Relief for lenders OUR BUREAU Mumbai, August 16

Providing major relief to banks and other lenders holding stressed assets, market regulator SEBI has relaxed norms for a stake purchased in distressed listed companies by lenders, exempting them from making open ofers to shareholders.

The relaxation will be subject to certain conditions, including shareholders’ approval of the stake acquisition by way of a special resolution, SEBI said. Bad loans amount to around ₹8 lakh crore and the Centre and the RBI have been making eforts to tackle them. Details on p18

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BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

BABU BEAT

Of plans, policies and politics NITI – or rajniti? The question arises at the government’s premier policy think tank after a high-profile exit RICHA MISHRA

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hen Arvind Panagariya, thought to be the blue-eyed boy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced his decision to move on from his role as Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog barely two years and eight months into his tenure, it created a flutter. With Panagariya announcing that he was returning to Columbia University, where he served as professor of Indian Political Economy, murmurs began about whether the premier policy ‘think tank’ of the government should be headed by ‘imports’ — economists settled overseas. Accept it or not, rajniti and niti (politics and policies) go hand in hand. There has been talk about certain heavyweights within the government not being happy with Panagariya’s economic thinking, particularly when it came to disinvestment. Also, there have been murmurs about NITI Aayog, or the National Institution for Transforming India, being

reduced to a marketing agency. Just a couple of years into its existence, why is NITI Aayog attracting controversy? After all, it was born with such lofty ideals – to replace the frayed old Planning Commission, a Nehruvian legacy. As Narendra Modi said in his first Independence Day speech as the Prime Minister, “to strengthen our federal structure, to make our federal structure vibrant, to take our federal structure as a heritage of development, a team of a Chief Minister and Prime Minister should be there, a joint team of the Centre and the States should move forward, then to do this job, we will have to think about giving the Planning Commission a look … very shortly, we are about to move in a direction when this institute would be functioning in place of Planning Commission.” Much ado about nothing? NITI Aayog was formed by a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. While designing strategic and long-term policies and programmes for the

OFFICE BUZZ

Lack of local economists? But, a more pertinent question raised is whether the government cannot consider more India-based economists? Is there a dearth of good policy researchers in India? Kirit Shantilal Parikh, former member, Planning Commission, and currently Chairman, Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), says, “It will not be totally correct to say so. You have to see the larger picture. NITI Aayog has been getting inputs from foreign firms who have been willing to give advice free of cost. That doesn’t mean they are better than Indian researchers.” According to Parikh, “Everyone wants ready-made researchers, but does not want to pay for building domestic capacities. Incentives and structure of payments have to be reworked. Government departments do not pay for infrastructure, only the staf cost, that too at rates below the market rates. It is easier to let foreign firms like McKinsey come and do work pro bono. They also love to do it because they get a huge boost on their CV. ‘Worked for NitiAayog in India’ raises the price for their other fellows.” To be fair, Panagariya has experience in policy roles in India.

government, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States. Panagariya insists his decision to move on is apolitical. “The announcement is sudden, but the decision was not sudden. My leave from Columbia University was for two years, and I have already done two years and eight months here. I did try for an extension but it did not materialise,” he explains. The question then is why did the government appoint someone who was uncertain about his ability to serve the full five-year term? Should it have looked for someone who could have stayed the full course? Historically, during its last fifty years, the erstwhile Planning Commission saw only four fiveyear terms completed – one each of Pranab Mukherjee and KC Pant and two of Montek Singh Ahluwalia. As many as 15 appointees during the same period served less than three years. Against these facts, the controversy surrounding Panagariya’s departure would seem to be much ado about nothing. “It is not fair to blame Panagariya alone,” an erstwhile member of the Planning Commission said.

Early retreat Arvind Panagariya’s impending departure puts the spotlight on imported vs home-grown economists to head public institutions. SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

He was previously Deputy Chairman of the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s Advisory Council and had spearheaded reforms on tricky subjects, such as labour, in the State. Some key decisions of the Aayog during his stint include doing away with the Five-Year Plans and preparing three roadmaps for the economy — the 15-year Vision Document, the 7-year Strategy Document and the 3-year Action Agenda. With the Plans being scrapped and thus no role in allocating funds to the States from the Union Budget, the Aayog worked on reforms in healthcare, education

and the Smart City initiative with State Governments. It also coordinated with the Finance Ministry on subjects such as advancement of the Union Budget and merger of the Railway and General Budgets. The other question about NITI Aayog is on political pressures. Nehruvian thought did dominate and shape the Planning Commission and its development agenda before eventually losing its sheen. Plans have been made with a populist agenda. As an erstwhile Planning Commission member says, “On a critical economic issue a minister had asked ‘have you ever fought

elections’, making it clear that a politician follows a diferent path.” The latest allegation doing the rounds is that NITI Aayog was working as a marketing outfit for government policies. Most associated with it believe that this is not a correct interpretation. Whatever promotional advocacy NITI Aayog gets involved with is only after a mandate comes from the government. “Judge us for our work, instead of trivia” says Panagariya, as he prepares to go back to his first love – academics – from September 1, and hands over the post to economist Rajiv Kumar.

DIGITAL TSUNAMI

What candidates want What do jobseekers look for? A personalised approach in the recruitment process, an organisation that offers growth, recognition and work-life balance are some of the pulls, finds LinkedIn’s new report Inside the Mind of Today’s Candidates. According to the report, compensation remains the main reason why people switch jobs, with over 45 per cent respondents rating it as the top factor. Forty per cent said they would switch jobs if there were better skills and interest fit. Candidates also wanted a better recruiting experience and a feel of the company culture to decide whether they fit in.

What the workforce wants Where would talent opt to work – an SME, an MNC, or a startup? No surprises here. Randstad India’s Workmonitor Survey shows that MNCs are still the most favoured employers, with 84 per cent of Indian respondents showing an inclination to work for them. Interestingly, globally only 55 per cent of total respondents preferred an MNC. Having said that, in India 76 per cent of respondents said they would like to work for a startup. Entrepreneurial ambition was highest among the Indian workforce with 56 per cent of overall survey respondents indicating they could leave their jobs to start their own business. However, there was a difference in response when dissected by age groups with those in age group 45-54 years reluctant to start their own business while those in the 25-34 year age bracket were most keen.

The roadmap to becoming a digital HR rock star Digital journeys are always about putting the human at the centre of the experience experience, it is hard for employees to change the behaviours that have made them successful in the analogue world. The same behaviours will become a barrier as the organisation goes digital. Digital is really not about technology. It is about putting the human being at the centre.

ABHIJIT BHADURI

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echnology is forcing organisations to re-imagine their business. Business models, payment systems and even the competitive landscape are getting transformed. To stay in the business, leaders have had to digitally invest in transforming their organisations. The best place to begin the digital journey is to start re-imagining the employee experience. This time it is HR that has to take the lead. In the analogue world, HR has been the guardian of processes. Processes create silos within the organisation. Experiences often cut across processes. To compete in the marketplace on speed, firms have to flatten organisation structures and empower cross-functional teams to make decisions. That is the only way in which decision-making can be done in real time. These behaviours need a diferent organisational culture. Without transforming the employee

The talent mindset HR in the analogue world is a boundary-keeper. HR defines a process for the organisation and then ensures that everyone follows the process. Digital organisations turn this premise on its head. The individual is at the centre and the organisation aims to craft an experience that is mutually rewarding. The focus is on experience design and not process. Take learning and development, for instance. In the analogue world the focus is on training people using standardised content. The participants are nominated to attend a training programme once or twice a year. The classroom is a place to transfer content. It is a one-size-fits-all. In the digital world, the belief is that learning happens when there is a pull from the learner. That means letting the learner decide the pace of learning. It is bytesize and just in time for the learner to apply it to solve a problem. Learning is

individualised and cuts across disciplines. Content is free and available in plenty. The learner has to contextualise the learning. The path forward Rewrite the job descriptions: Step one of the journey is to rewrite every job description in the HR team (including the CHROs) to leverage mobile, AI and analytics. Chatbots can do a better job of employees’ query

resolutions in real time. Today bots are available of the shelf to help an organisation track employee engagement, run reports, update dashboards and respond to query resolutions. Chatbots can be leveraged to do predictive analytics. It is a myth to think digital is about giving up the human touch. Technology augments the capability of the HR person. It enables building an individual experience. Facebook tells you ahead of time that your friend’s birthday is coming up. That in no way comes in the way of your creating a personalised greeting for the friend. Know the customer’s world: Send every member of the HR team to get an immersive view of the employment experience of your organisation. That means letting them do 30-day long projects with the sales team in the field. By working with the sales team, they will understand the challenges the sales team experiences. They will also get a better understanding of what could delight the customer. This is a better approach to building business acumen in the HR team. When the HR team is back, ask them to re-imagine the experience of what it means to be a salesperson. The immersive experience of being in the shoes of a salesperson (or any other role) can build empathy. Challenge the HR team to come up with AI-powered bots that can help the salesperson become more efective. That could

mean analysing competition or creating dashboards that explain customers’ buying patterns. Run what-if sessions: Run what-if sessions every Friday (or any other day of the week, but fix the day) by inviting a diverse group of employees to team with HR to design policies for employees. I have done it, and believe me the employees behave far more rationally and responsibly than we think. The teams that are working on problems should not be more than 5-7-person teams and they should be able to complete the design and implementation in 30-45 days. If the team comes up with a problem that needs more than 45 days, ask them to break the problem into smaller chunks. Use what-if triggers to ignite the imagination and help re-frame problems. For example, if a startup were to design this process, what technologies would it leverage? What if you could design a new tech-enabled oice space to increase collaboration? You do not need to send everyone to attend a training programme on how to build a digitally-savvy HR team. Encourage the team to educate themselves for 30 days about the technologies. Encourage them to use their network to talk to various startups in this space. Be prepared to make small investments. The journey will be well worth it. (Abhijit Bhaduri is a coach and leadership development consultant)

OFF DUTY BY THE BOOK

Turning over a new leave

Dealing with the evolving workplace

From birthdays to pet adoptions – why employers the world over are letting staff take a day off for unusual reasons

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he boss might raise an eyebrow if you asked for a day of on your birthday, but GoZoop, a digital-first marketing company, actually gives its employees a day of for their birthdays. Cofounder Ahmed Aftab Naqvi claims that they, in fact, were the first company to ofer period leave, on International Women’s Day (March 8) this year, but didn’t go to town about it. Menstrual leave created quite a sensation recently in this country. While a few companies fell over each other to announce that they were ofering the facility, public discourse saw arguments for and against the move. While it definitely sounds unusual, the facility has been on ofer in other Asian countries such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and parts of China, where women employees have to produce a certificate to use it. Across the world, companies and countries ofer leave facilities that might sound ofbeat in others. In Belgium, for instance, by royal decree, employees can take leave of absence with pay for important family events including a child’s first Holy Communion and a family member’s ordination/ entry into a monastery or convent. Grandparental leave is on the anvil in the UK, and in CM YK

Japan, congratulations leave for marriage or birth of a child is a common practice. At GoZoop, those who have completed 3, 5, 7 and 10 years with the company get additional paid leave of that many days respectively. It also ofers 15-day and 30-day breaks for those who have completed 18 and 30 months with the company, and unpaid leave over and above that to pursue interests. Wooing millennials All this is done with an eye on the millennials. “To get the best output, we have to see what we can do to create the workplace where people can do the best work of their lives. It creates a lot of positivity and productivity goes up. Attrition is lower too,” says Naqvi. It also builds an atmosphere of trust all round, with employers trusting employees and the latter responding with responsibility and no misuse of the facilities. On New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day, the oice shuts down at 3 pm.

Women employees at the group are also given leave for fertility treatment. This was a response to an increase in leave taken for this reason. “In 2016, we announced that we will consider leaves taken for fertility treatment as part of the unlimited sick leaves,” says Mitra. This is ofered to the women because they require a period of rest and recovery during this time. If required men too can avail themselves of sick leave for this purpose. Some firms have a leave donation policy. Accenture has an ‘Hours That Help’ leave sharing programme for individuals facing crises such as medical emergencies or serious health conditions which demand their taking time of from work over and above their entitlement. Under this scheme, an employee can donate a maximum of five days of leave to those in need. People are very open to sharing their leave balance if they know they cannot utilise it themselves, says a spokesperson. There is no other incentive earned other than “tremendous goodwill”. Accenture also saw that many people did not exhaust their leave fully by the end of the year. This ofered an opportunity for CARTOON RESOURCE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

SRAVANTHI CHALLAPALLI

Building trust and fostering cooperation is another motive behind such facilities. The Godrej group has been ofering unlimited sick leave since 2011. Sumit Mitra, Head – Group Human Resources and Corporate Services, Godrej Industries and Associate Companies, says the idea stemmed from the thought that “one cannot put a number to falling sick and you cannot plan your illness or recovery. Our team members can avail sick leave on a ‘need to basis’ and it is completely trust-based.” It has actually helped reduce the number of sick leaves, from an average 9.2 earlier to 8.3.

them to address both the situations. Godrej’s Mitra says, “We have observed that our employees feel more valued and respected when we invest trust in them. They are also less stressed about keeping a count of their sick leaves and are able to strike a better work-life balance with flexible work policies.” Other needs & situations Around the world, some companies insist on ‘compulsory leave’ to ensure their employees are refreshed, and in some, leave facilities improve with the employees’ age. In Sweden, employees have the right to take six months of to start their own business. Many countries’ laws mandate specific leave days to enable citizens to perform civic responsibilities such as blood donation and jury duty. Puerto Rico ofers a day of for employees to go and get their driving licence. For organ donation, Canadian laws provide for unpaid leave ranging from 13-26 weeks. In some provinces there, employees are entitled to unpaid leave of up to 52 weeks if their child goes missing. Scottish brewer Brewdog’s earlier this year announced one week’s paid leave for workers who adpot a puppy or a rescue dog.

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echnology and talent are challenging companies. With machine learning, it’s a new world out there. How ready are companies to face this world? Sophie Wade’s book is a good place to start to prepare for the new work environment. Wade, who describes herself as a Workforce Innovation Specialist at Flexcel Networks, a consultancy she founded to help companies cope with new realities, outlines four priorities and six pillars to achieve a smooth transition to the future of work. The priorities which she outlines in chapter one are engagement, personalisation, integration and choice. The pillars are pretty wide and range from technology to culture and mindset to leadership, transparency and hierarchy, productivity, performance and creativity, policies, frameworks and environment, and finally

careers, freelancers and learning. Each of these are dealt with in detail in subsequent chapters. According to Wade, integration and inclusion are key factors in the transition to the future of work and have to encompass both individuals and generations or what she terms Me-llennials and We-llennials. The book has some interesting examples of new approaches. For instance, Jumpwire Media, a social media agency, asks incoming employees to propose their own salary. According to Wade, ofering choice is a powerful way of engagement, and as a result, productivity. Similarly, the chapter on leadership also has interesting examples of moving away from hierarchical attitudes to empathy-driven ones. It is a lucidly written book with helpful takeaways at the end of each chapter summing up key points. There are also questions she leaves for the reader to mull over and evaluate to see how ready they are. In Embracing each chapter, cartoons with Progress: punchy lines reinforce the new Next steps realities of work. Particularly for the useful is the glossary at the end Future of that gives Future of Work work lexicons. As Wade points out, the Author: A Sophie Wade change is so relentless and there is so much flux that the book is 267 pages ; by no means exhaustive. But it $24.99 on certainly has some coherent Amazon strategies to begin with.

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NEWS

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

GST relief for industrial units in Himalayan, N-E region

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CCEA approves budgetary support of ₹27,413 crore for 10-year period OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

Growing anger Demonstrators hold signs during the ‘Defend DACA and TPS’ rally outside Trump Tower in New York. A day after belatedly faulting white supremacists for deadly clashes in Virginia, US President Donald Trump returned to his controversial position that there was “blame on both sides” for the weekend violence, saying that liberal counterprotesters also bore responsibility BLOOMBERG

BSE, PHD chamber ink pact New Delhi, August 16

Leading exchange BSE and industry body PHD Chamber today signed a pact for exchange of information on unemployment and consumer sentiment in India. The information will Ashishkumar Chauhan be published by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) on its website and reports circulated to its members. “It is expected that in future, BSE as well as PHDCCI will be able to create new landmarks by venturing into research in several new areas,” BSE said in a statement. This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would enable the students, faculty of PHDCCI and BSE training institute to effectively cooperate in different areas of research, said Ashishkumar Chauhan, BSE MD and CEO. “This is expected to be useful not just to students and research scholars but also the country at large,” Chauhan added. PTI

Climate meet from August 31 New Delhi, August 16

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Suresh Prabhu and Dharmendra Pradhan along with CEOs from top global firms and key policy makers will deliberate upon the impact of current business actions on climate change at a summit here later this month. The Business and Climate Summit, which is being held for the first time in India from August 31 — September 1, will emphasise the future vision around a low carbon trajectory and build on the partnerships needed to scale up and accelerate the low carbon transition. The Summit was launched in France in 2015. The second edition was held in London in 2016. PTI

As many as 4,284 industrial units in the North East and Himalayan States will get GST relief in the form of refund of Central share of CGST and iGST. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Afairs (CCEA) on Wednesday gave its nod for a new scheme to refund the Central share of Central GST (CGST) and integratedGST (iGST) to these units in lieu of the excise exemption lost due to the onset of goods and services tax (GST) and scrapping of excise laws from July 1 this year. A budgetary support of ₹27,413 crore for this scheme has been approved for the period from July 1, 2017 till March 31, 2027, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here after a Cabinet meeting.

X W “Upon repeal of the Central excise duty laws, the government has decided to refund the Central share of CGST and iGST to the affected industrial units for the residual period in the States of North Eastern region and Himalayan States.”

He said the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) will notify the scheme, including detailed operational guidelines for implementation within six weeks. Industrial boost The 4,284 eligible industrial units were granted excise duty exemption for the first 10 years after commencement of commercial production under the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion (NEIIPP) 2007 and package for special category States for Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to promote industrialisation. “Upon repeal of the Central excise duty laws, the government has decided to refund the Central share of CGST and iGST to the afected industrial units

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with IT and Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rural development Minister Narender Singh Tomar at a press conference in the Capital on Wednesday KAMAL NARANG

for the residual period in the States of North Eastern region and Himalayan States,” Jaitley said. Under the scheme, if the Centre collects, say, ₹100 in the form of CGST and iGST, then the aggregate refund will only be

Cabinet approves raising ₹9,020 crore for Long Term Irrigation Fund OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for raising Extra Budgetary Resources of up to ₹9,020 crore during the financial year 2017-18. An oicial statement said that the funds will be raised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) through the issuance of bonds at 6 per cent per annum as per requirement. These funds will be for the implementation of Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) works of 99 ongoing prioritised irrigation projects along with their command area

development (CAD) works under the Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). An oicial statement said that a large number of major and medium irrigation projects taken up under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) were languishing mainly due to inadequate provision of funds. Reservoir project The Cabinet also approved the completion of remaining work at the North Koel Reservoir Project. The project in Jharkhand and Bihar will be completed at an estimated expenditure of ₹1,622.27 crore that will be in-

PRATIM RANJAN BOSE Kolkata, August 16

Doubling of track capacity between Jharsuguda and Vizianagaram via the coal belts of Sambalpur and Titlagarh will improve the scope of evacuation and the pace of supplies to the South

has been stalled the last five years due to land acquisition issues for a 3- km stretch. Sources told BusinessLine that the Railways has finally made some headway in land acquisition. The project is now expected to be completed next year. The loopline will help circular movement of rakes, thereby increasing the pace of evacuation from Talcher by 50-60 per cent. State-owned Coal India (CIL) now des-

42% Indians willing to pay premium for prompt customer service PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai, August 16

Nearly 42 per cent of customers are willing to pay a premium for a prompt service, according to a survey commissioned by American Express. The online survey, conducted by Kantar IMRB on behalf of American Express, found that if a premium had to be paid, 53 per cent of the respondents would pay a premium of 20-40 per cent in return for better customer service. The survey, titled ‘Decoding customer service for Indian customers’, was conducted among 1,577 urban customers across Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru,

CM YK

cise exemption. “It is now expected that the few States that have granted VAT exemption would also announce the manner and methodology for refund of the SGST component of the GST paid,” he told BusinessLine.

New corpus fund for higher education OUR BUREAU

Funds will be raised by Nabard and released through bond issue

curred during three financial years from the start of the project. An oicial statement said the construction was originally started in 1972 and continued till 1993 when it was stopped by the Forest Department of Bihar. Since then, there has been no work on the dam. The total cost of the project is ₹2,391.36 crore. An expenditure of ₹769.09 crore has been incurred on the project till date. The balance amount has been approved for disbursal after the Cabinet’s nod. The execution of the project will be monitored by an Empowered Committee headed by the CEO of NITI Aayog. The Cabinet also approved the creation of seven posts of

Completion of key rail link projects to improve coal supplies from next fiscal Coal supplies will improve significantly beginning 2018, riding on the completion of key rail projects in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. In Odisha, the CIL-financed 53.5-km Jharsuguda-Barapali rail link is expected to be ready by December; paving the way for moving nearly 80 million tonnes of additional fuel from the vast Ib Valley reserves in Sundergarh district. This coupled with the ongoing doubling of track capacity between Jharsuguda and Vizianagaram via the coal belts of Sambalpur and Titlagarh will improve significantly both the scope of evacuation and the pace of supplies to the South. Currently, the region is connected by a single-line. The Railways is on course to resumingwork on the 30-km Talcher-Angul loopline to pace up supplies from the Talcher coalfields. The project

₹58, that being the Centre’s share under the devolution formula approved by the Finance Commission, he said. MS Mani, Partner-GST, Deloitte in India, welcomed the decision to refund GST to units in exempted zones enjoying ex-

Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Delhi-NCR in July. The respondents were defined on the basis of ownership of credit card, type of TV, type of phone, cars owned, vacations in India and abroad, frequency of fine dining and frequency of air travel. It noted that 31 per cent of the respondents would be willing to pay for service, where service providers listens to them or act on their feedback, while 27 per cent would be willing to pay premium for service that is available everywhere. 66 per cent of consumers said they would discontinue using a brand or product due to poor customer service.

patches 30-35 rakes a day from Talcher. The loopline is expected to increase this to 50 rakes a day. Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited — a special purpose vehicle of South Eastern Coalfields Limited, IRCON and the State government — is reportedly making fast progress in connecting the prolific Mand Raigarh coalfield to the Kolkata-Mumbai line. According to CIL sources, construction is apace and

should link up the opencast mines at Chhal and Baroud by next year, adding approximately 20 million tonnes to the miner’s annual throughput. This line is to be extended to the prolific Gare Palma coalfields. The Coal Ministry has asked the Railways to double the 25km single-line connectivity between Shakti Nagar in UP and Karela in MP. Karela is located on the Katni-Chopan line connecting eastern India with the North. This will help improve supplies by approximately 30 million tonnes annually from Northern Coalfields, a subsidiary of CIL. The implementation of the Tori-Shibpur rail link in Jharkhand is progressing at a slow pace and is expected to reach Bhalumath (midway between Tori and Shibpur) by the end of this year. As a contingency plan, CIL has a laid a 20-km road connecting Bhalumath with the Magadh coalfields.

X W The Cabinet also approved the completion of remaining work at the North Koel Reservoir Project at an estimated expenditure of ₹1,622.27 crore.

Principal Director and 36 posts of Director on regular basis in the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service. An MoU between India and Sweden on Intellectual Property Rights also got the Cabinet’s assent. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Afairs approved the closure of Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation Limited (ANIFPDCL).

New Delhi, August 16

Higher education schemes would soon get more support as the Cabinet has approved the creation of a corpus fund for secondary and higher education. All the funds collected from the secondary and higher education cess would be credited to the Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK), an oicial statement said. However, the funds from the scheme would only be utilised once the budgetary support is exhausted. “In any financial year, the expenditure on ongoing schemes of the Department of School Education and Literacy and Department of Higher Education would be initially incurred from the gross budgetary support (GBS). Expenditure would be financed

Revenue Dept’s probes are source of data on black money: Jaitley PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, August 16

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said ongoing probes of and notices to depositors of unexplained money post note ban were among the sources to collate information about black money that figured in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech. “The revenue figures and the potential revenue gain figures were based on ongoing investigations, notices, responses (received by) the CBDT and the Revenue Department,” he said when asked about the figures related to recovery of black money in the Prime Minister’s speech. Jaitley further said the numbers mentioned were not dependent on report of the Reserve Bank of India. Stressing that there was “no confusion” in the numbers, Jaitley said the real

source is “how much money is being deposited, how much of it is unexplained, how many people have deposits which are disproportionate to their sources, how many people have been given notices, what is the quantum covered by those notices, so the determination of estimated figure is on that basis”. Modi, in his speech, said the hidden black money has been brought into the formal economy through demonetisation. The Prime Minister said more than ₹1.75 lakh crore deposited in the banks is under the scanner and black money worth ₹2 lakh crore “had to be deposited in the banks”. Over 18 lakh people have been identified, whose income is much higher than their declared income and therefore, they have to clarify this, Modi added.

Petrol pumps to sell EESL’s energy efficient bulbs, fans Pact signed between PSU oil retailers and EESL OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

Energy eicient appliances will now be sold in fuel retail outlets of Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). Speaking at an event where an agreement between the oil companies and Energy Eiciency Services Ltd was signed, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “An eco-system is being developed to enhance the non-fuel retail business of fuel retail outlets.” The petrol pump dealers will directly do business with EESL and would get about 10 per cent margin, Pradhan added.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at the signing of the MoU between EESL and PSU oil retailers for selling energy-efficient appliances in petrol pumps PTI

Also speaking at the event, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Coal, Power, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, said, “The country will save over ₹40,000 crore from energy eiciency measures.” An oicial statement said that the scheme will be

rolled out at petroleum retail outlets in a phased manner. In the first phase, distribution will commence from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Consumers can purchase an LED Bulb at ₹70, a 220W LED tubelight at ₹220 and a 5-star Ceiling Fan at ₹1,200.

For all FMCG manufacturers who enjoyed excise and VAT exemption in the past, GST introduction has led to multiple challenges in terms of product pricing, raw material sourcing, adherence to anti-profiteering requirements etc. “These are matters that have a significant bearing on their profitability and market share and, hence, such units would be expecting a comprehensive declaration of the policies governing exemptions – both Centre and State,” Mani said.

As part of the agreement, EESL will make the entire upfront investment for ensuring availability of the products at the outlets and no upfront capital cost will be borne by the OMCs barring manpower and space. An oicial statement also said that over 25.5 crore LED bulbs, over 30.6 lakh LED tubelights and around 11.5 lakh energy eicient fans have been retailed in the country under the UJALA scheme. This will lead to an annual energy savings of over 3,340 crore kWh and result in avoidance of over 6,725 MW of peak demand. The statement added, through the scheme the estimated cumulative cost reduction in bills of consumers annually is over ₹13,346 crore and is leading to reduction of approximately 2.7 crore tonnes of CO2 every year.

from MUSK only after GBS is exhausted,” the statement said. Budgetary allocation for education has not witnessed an increase commensurate with the challenges of the sector. As a percentage of GDP, in fact, the expenditure on education has dipped to 2.8 per cent in 201415, from 3.1 per cent during 200910 to 2013-14. This new corpus fund would be used for funding ongoing schemes as well as programmes started in the future. Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also given its nod for creation of posts in National Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh. The post of a Director and three other non-teaching posts for Registrar, Librarian and Principal Student’s Activity and Sports Oicer would be created at the institute now.

Changes in Factories Act will help erring firms: BMS X W

OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

The Centre’s move to amend the Factories Act 1948, which includes easing of licensing norms, is set to be opposed by all trade unions. Ahead of a tripartite meeting called by the Labour Ministry this week, RSS-ailiate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) said the proposed amendments would take the country back to the “feudal age” and help “erring big companies.” Accusing the Centre of “bypassing” the Parliamentary Standing Committee and empowering the bureaucracy, a BMS statement on Wednesday said “a clerk in the Ministry (Labour) is getting the powers of Parliament flowing from the Constitution.” The trade union also flayed the “highly diluted” safety provisions and warned the government that “India will be under the risk of increased factory

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“A clerk in the Labour Ministry is getting the powers of Parliament flowing from the Constitution.”

calamities like Bhopal tragedy in every Indian town.” “An amendment proposes factories to work without any licence flouting established laws including environmental laws. This is a serious threat to safety and other concerns,” it added. BMS also picked holes in the Ministry’s attempts to “ease doing business”, saying that allowing online applications for licenses and Web-enabled random inspections may lead to mushrooming of illegal units everywhere, adding that the “role of authorities and inspectors should not be diluted by self-certification which has already become controversial.”

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QUICKLY CL Educate invests in 361 Degree Minds Chennai, August 16

CL Educate has invested ₹8 crore in Chennaibased 361 Degree Minds, a research-led edutech company. The infusion will help the two companies discover new synergies and leverage each other’s strengths to expand geographical spread and consumer base, and launch new programmes for new audiences. CL Educate already holds 4.43 per cent in 361 Degree Minds, which was founded in 2006 by three classmates from BITS, Pilani, said a press release issued by CL Educate. According to CP Gopinathan, Co-founder & Chief Integrator, 361DM, investment from CL Educate will accelerate the company’s capability growth and market expansion plans. OUR BUREAU

Seaways buys 24% IDFC stake Hyderabad, August 16

The promoters of Seaways Shipping and Logistics Ltd (Seaways) in a private deal, have recently bought out the entire stake of 24 per cent held by IDFC Private Equity (IDFC PE) held in the company. Subsequently, IDFC PE has now completely exited from the Hyderabad-based Seaways. “The partnership between IDFC PE and Seaways over the past nine years has been mutually rewarding,” PVK Mohan, Chairman and Managing Director, Seaways Group, said in a release issued here on Wednesday. Seaways had earlier planned for an Initial Public Offering, and had filed the DRHP last year which has however, been deferred. The company is now planning to go public in FY2018-19. OUR BUREAU

For retailers, profit from every puff

Domestic airlines may charge more for excess baggage

Sell pre-GST cigarette stocks at higher prices, and pocket the unjust gains

OUR BUREAU

ABHISHEK LAW Kolkata, August 16

Prices of cigarettes have moved up in the wake of the levy of a cess in the pos-GST regime. But a few retailers are oloading lesser-priced old stocks at a premium, thereby efectively pocketing gains through sales in the black market. The 4-8 per cent mark-up over the earlier (lower) Maximum Retail Price (MRP) that these retailers charge matches the new prices as released by the tobacco companies. For instance, ITC Ltd, whose cigarette brands command a 7080 per cent market share, announced aprice hike a week after the GST Council imposed a cess on ‘sin’ products. Ever since price revisions were announced on July 24, cigarettes prices, across brands, moved up by 4 per cent or between ₹2 and ₹6 on every pack of 10 sticks, even if the printed prices were lower. Trade sources say that as on August 15, three weeks after the

Commanding a premium According to Rajesh (name changed on request), a prominent retailer in the Central Business District, the old stock of Flake – a pack of 10 sticks priced at ₹48 – was sold at ₹50 for a pack of 10, a premium of about 4 per cent. And if a customer gets argumentative, Rajesh hands over a new pack that has the revised price. Similarly, a 20-stick pack of Classic is being sold in parts of the city at ₹300, against the earlier price of ₹278. For Navy Cut Filter, the printed price was earlier ₹89. It has been revised up to ₹94 / ₹95 for a pack of 10 (or a 5-6 per cent premium). New stocks of 10 sticks of 74 mm (manufacturing date of 31/7/17) now have a prin-

Mumbai, August 16

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure-controlled Reliance Defence and Engineering has said it is changing its name to Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd (RNEL). The company said the change of name is in line with company’s focus on building capabilities for the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. The company is set to seek shareholders’ approval for the name change in its AGM on August 22. The company aims to be a leading manufacturer and supplier of advanced weapon platforms, equipment and ships. After the Reliance Group acquired a controlling stake in

Pipavav Defence and Ofshore Engineering in 2016, it changed the name of the company to Reliance Defence and Engineering. With total assets of ₹10,000 crore at that time, the company's acquisition ensured its capability to undertake the production of all types of surface ships and submarines. Within a year of its existence, the company obtained 27 industrial licences, which will help the new entity build the full spectrum of defence platforms. The firm has also submitted bids for orders amounting to ₹30,000 crore for the Landing Platform Dock (LPD) and Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC)

contracts for the Indian Navy. The bids are expected to be opened next month. The company has a large ship building and repair facility in the country and has one of the largest dry docks. It was recently selected by the US Navy to provide services to the seventh fleet bringing forth likely business opportunities amounting to ₹10,000 crore over the next five-seven years. It is also undertaking three refits for the Indian Navy. In an earlier competitive bidding process, wherein four bidders from PSUs and private sector participated, the company was awarded contracts for the refitting of INS Jamuna, INS Deepak and INS Savitri.

court had not stayed it or deferred the date of implementation. The court had said the amounts charged by the airlines will be restored if the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) succeeded in its plea challenging the circular. Oicials of the DGCA, FIA and individual airlines which could benefit from the order declined comment. “The DGCA for the first time interfered in tarifs. We argued that determination of tarifs is in the hands of the airline. DGCA has no power or role in that. Only the Centre can interfere through a rule which has to be approved by Parliament. It was more on law and jurisdiction whether the Authority has the power to interfere in tarifs that the High Court took its decision,” Gaurav Sarin, FIA Advocate, told BusinessLine. He pointed out that FIA said that excess baggage was just one component of the fare.

New Delhi, August 16

price revision was announced, new stocks of brands like Flake, Gold Flake, Navy Cut and Classic are coming in. But it has not deterred the trade from selling old stocks at a premium.

Reliance Defence is now Reliance Naval and Engineering OUR BUREAU

5

Cigarette packets are on display at a shop

ted price of ₹100, trade sources say. In an emailed response to BusinessLine, ITC said that stocks with new MRPs across “select brands” are available in the market. “Given the multiple channels, stocks with new MRP of select brands where prices have been revised are already available progressively in the market. ITC prints the MRP on all cigarette packages in compliance with the packaged commodities rules, and sells them to over 1,500 wholesale dealers in the country,” it said.

‘Wholesalers at fault‘ These wholesale dealers in turn sell to secondary wholesalers, from whom retailers purchase the cigarette packs for eventual sale to consumers. In fact, retailers to whom BusinessLine spoke point out that it was wholesalers who revised the prices at their end. “I sell at the price at which I buy from a stockist. I cannot help it if the stockist or wholesaler sells at a price higher than the printed one. I pass on the higher price to the consumer,” a shop-keeper said.

Domestic travellers may soon have to pay more for travelling with excess baggage. Agencies reported on Wednesday that the Delhi High Court had set aside the ₹100-per-kg fee that had been fixed by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for excess checked-in baggage on private airlines. At the moment, apart from Air India which allows each passenger 25 kg of checked-in baggage for domestic flights, all the other private sector airlines ofer a 15-kg free baggage allowance. Agencies reported that Justice Vibhu Bakhru had set aside the DGCA’s June 10, 2016, circular according to which private airlines had been allowed to charge ₹100 per extra kg till 20 kg against their earlier rates which ranged from ₹220 to ₹350 per kg of excess baggage. The circular had come into effect from July 1 last year as the

GMR Energy to finalise sale of 220 MW gas plant With growing fuel concerns, company exploring options for other plants OUR BUREAU Hyderabad, August 16

GMR Energy Ltd is at an advanced stage of finalising sale of 220 MW gas-fired power plant. A subsidiary of the diversified GMR Infra, GMR Energy Ltd (GEL) had entered into a memorandum of undertaking with an external party for sale of its 220 MW gas-based power plant for $63 million. It is in the process of entering into a definitive agreement to conclude the sale. The move to divest the stake comes in the backdrop of lower supplies of

natural gas to various power generating companies in the country, including that of GMR Energy and those under the GMR portfolio. The shortage of gas supplies has had adverse impact on not just the gas plant but also the company finances. Due to shortage of gas linkage, GMR Energy has not generated and sold electrical energy since April 2013. The other two entities of GMR Vemagiri Power Generation and GMR Rajahmundry Energy, are also facing fuel linkage concerns.

The latter two emerged as successful bidders in the auction process of the Ministry of Power and operated on an intermittent and truncated basis from August 15 and October 2015, respectively, till September 2016. All these entities are incurring losses due to shortage of gas, necessitating the company to consider stake sale and explore other options, with a view of free-up funds and pay-up debt, which is sapping the company’s profitability. GREL issue GMR had informed about the company concerns due to fuel linkages impacting its power plants, and

X W GMR Energy is in the process of entering into a definitive agreement to conclude the sale. Due to shortage of gas linkage, GMR Energy has not generated and sold electrical energy since April 2013.

thereby, its financials. GREL has not commenced commercial operations pending linkages of natural gas supply. The consortium of lenders have decided to implement Strategic Debt Restructure Scheme under the Reserve Bank of India framework for revitalising distressed assets. The lenders collectively

hold 51 per cent of the equity share capital in such assets, which is due to conversion of debt outstanding into equity and bring about flexible restructure of balance debt after corrective plan comes through. Debt of ₹1,309 crore and interest of ₹105 crore was converted into equity shares of GREL in May 2017 for 55 per cent stake and the company had extended a guarantee of ₹2,738 crore. Under the SDR, lenders had to find a strategic buyer by June 2017. The lenders sought extension by months, but the RBI refused extension. The lenders and the management are exploring other options.

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Panel not in favour of legalising virtual currencies

QUICKLY

Says no need for a full ban; Finance Ministry to work on norms to regulate them the Finance Ministry has submitted its report. It is under examination,” said a person familiar with the development.

SURABHI New Delhi, August 16

Holding steady The Bank of Thailand logo is seen in Bangkok. Thailand's central bank on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged again at 1.50 per cent, as it feels the level is low enough to aid an economic recovery hampered by high household debt levels REUTERS

Rupee ends 3 paise lower Mumbai, August 16

The rupee staged a comeback after plunging to a fresh three-week low and ended with a modest loss of 3 paise at 64.15 a dollar on Wednesday even as local equities put up a strong performance. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the rupee opened sharply lower at 64.28 compared to Monday’s level of 64.12 . It touched a low of 64.33 in midmorning deals due to heavy dollar pressure but managed to recoup most of its losses to end at 64.15, with a small loss of 3 paise. PTI

Bonds weaken, call rates end lower Mumbai, August 16

Government bonds (G-Secs) weakened further on heavy selling pressure from banks and corporates, while the inter-bank call rates also finished lower due to lack of demand from borrowing banks amidst ample liquidity. The 6.79 per cent government security maturing in 2027 fell to ₹101.81 from ₹101.90 previously, while its yield inched up to 6.53 per cent from 6.52 per cent.The overnight call money rate ended lower at 5.78 per cent from Monday’s level 5.85 per cent. It resumed higher at 6.00 per cent and moved in the range of 6.00 per cent and 5.70 per cent. PTI

The Finance Ministry will work out a roadmap to regulate the use of virtual currencies such as bitcoins based on the report of an oicial committee that has suggested not to legalise them. While welcoming the use of new technologies such as block chain, the committee is said to have proposed that the use of crypto-currencies should not be permitted in the country. It is also not in favour of a complete ban, but is understood to have recommended stringent provisions for regulating it. “The committee constituted by

Weak capex cycle and debt overhang among other challenges, says minutes of meeting

OUR BUREAU

Zurich, August 16

Swiss Life on Wednesday posted a larger-thanexpected rise in half-year profit as growing real estate holdings helped increase income.“We are ahead of schedule in implementing our group-wide programme and the sustained and consistent orientation of our business towards profitability and capital efficiency enabled us to improve our profit sources,” Chief Executive Patrick Frost said.Net profit rose 5 per cent to 524 million Swiss francs. REUTERS

PMI decline Dholakia said the industrial outlook survey and household expectations survey by the RBI do not paint a rosy picture of the economy. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) has declined to a contraction zone in July 2017. The IIM Professor elaborated that “Rupee has continually appreciated and exports are not doing well. Investment demand is not picking up…expanding negative output gap in India cannot be wished away, but needs immediate aggressive policy action to

aging risk-taking. Acharya reiterated that growth slowdown since the first quarter of 2016-17 is rooted in the stressed balance sheets of our banks and corporates in several sectors. RBI’s output gap estimates that account for financing conditions using recent modelling advances to pick up this protracted slowdown. RBI Governor Urjit Patel felt that while the growth outlook in terms of projected GVA (gross value added) growth for 2017-18 is retained unchanged at 7.3 per cent, there are some signs of downside risks on the underlying growth momentum in industry and services. While the frontloaded expenditure by the Central Government so far during the year has provided a boost to the economy, the Governor cautioned that the implementation of farm debt waiver by the State Governments has significantly increased the fiscal risks and poses an upside risk to the inflation outlook. Patel said: “Efective transmission of a policy rate cut is the key to achieving the goal of supporting the non-inflationary growth.” Credit growth has also been low, partly because of risk aversion among banks on account of their stressed assets position. Resolution of stressed balance sheets of banks, therefore, will remain important for reviving credit demand and the investment cycle.”

Rising concern Implementation of farm debt waiver has significantly increased the fiscal risks, the Reserve Bank felt

correct it. Persistence of negative output gap imposes severe social costs on the economy that is largely borne by the poor and the unemployed.” While batting for status quo in policy rate for now and delivering a credible monetary policy that supports the economy, Patra said it is paradoxical that weak aspects of economic activity are widely cited, but every projection of growth — oicial; multilateral; independent — shows that it is expected to accelerate in 2017-18. Cautioning that the financial environment is “bubbly and frothy”, the RBI ED said the combination of high valuations in equity and fixed income markets, an appreciating currency and the persistence of a liquidity overhang in the money market is a perfect recipe for financial imbalance. A rate-cut can amplify it if the central bank is seen as encour-

VG Kannan, Chief Executive of IBA, expressed the view that the unions should not go on a strike at a time when talks are going on at several levels on the contentious issues. In his response, AIBEA’s Venkatachalam said that he wished he could agree but most of the issues raised were very serious in nature. On privatisation and mergers, the government has been contradicting the RBI Governor and Deputy Governor, he said. The Banks Board Bureau is not doing anything concrete for the betterment of banks, he said. There was no way the unions could withdraw the strike call, he added. AIBOC leader Franco said that instead of requesting the unions not to go for strike, the IBA should support them.

Rupee Currency Futures Date

Euro : Rupee

Pound : Rupee

Yen : Rupee

US Dollar : Rupee

Open

High

Low

Close

Volume

Aug-17

75.6550

75.6550

75.1875

75.2225

89422

Sep-17

75.9575

75.9900

75.5475

75.5825

Oct-17

76.3800

76.3975

75.9475

75.9850

Open Inter.

P MANOJ Mumbai, August 16

The Cabinet is set to take a call on privatising Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) but opinion is split on the value proposition that could accrue to the buyer in the domestic dredging market where foreign firms have started winning large contracts though the business is reserved for Indian ships according to local laws. “The aim is to upgrade technology, improve capability, infuse capital to buy necessary dredgers/ equipment and instil experienced professional management to optimise the operations of DCI,” a Shipping Ministry oicial said, asking not to be named ahead of a Cabinet decision on the plan.

India’s dredging market is seen at ₹20,000 crore by 2020, according to government estimates. The government, which owns 73.47 per cent stake in Mumbai-listed DCI, considers the firm based in the port city of Visakhapatnam a “laggard”. India’s biggest dredging contractor earned ₹599.69 crore from running 19 dredgers of diferent categories and reported a net profit of ₹7.40 crore in the year ended March 2017. It has a debt of ₹700 crore on its books. “DCI has a lot of dredging equipment,” says a senior executive with one of the dredging companies. “If someone wants to increase their portfolio of dredging equipment, buying DCI would

A hi-tech dredger of the Dredging Corporation of India at work

definitely benefit. And, possibly trained manpower,” he said. Some experts, however, suggest that entities looking to buy DCI would be able to get “better equipment” with the money spent on acquisition. “DCI’s dredgers are meant only for maintenance dredging and not designed to do capital dredging,” said a consultant who advises the firm. “The entity buying DCI will have to spend at least

Dollar Spot - Exports

Dollar Spot - Imports

98235

Currency

10446

30274

Euro

0.8545

0.8531

0.8502

0.8455

Euro

0.8542

0.8545

0.8532

0.8502

1508

10980

Pound Sterling

0.7774

0.7767

0.7750

0.7724

Pound Sterling

0.7771

0.7773

0.7766

0.7750

Japanese Yen*

110.3091 109.7475

Japanese Yen*

Nov-17

76.7000

76.7000

76.3200

76.3200

862

775

Aug-17

83.1900

83.1900

82.6500

82.7400

79713

55207

Sep-17

83.3775

83.3775

83.0025

83.0925

5654

Oct-17

84.0000

84.0000

83.4000

83.4425

Nov-17

84.0000

84.0000

83.7700

Dec-17

84.4000

84.4000

Jan-18

84.5000

84.5000

Spot

1 Mth

3 Mth

Currency

6 Mth

Spot

1 Mth

3 Mth

6 Mth

Regulatory adjustments According to the agency, other State-led banks have previously received capital injections from the government to stave of skipped coupon payments after coming close to breaching minimum capital adequacy requirements. “There have also been several regulatory adjustments in the previous few years that appear to have been timed to avoid potential damage to sentiment in the AT1 market. Most recently, the Reserve Bank of India decided earlier this year to allow banks to use their statutory reserves to pay coupons on AT1 instruments after losses left some banks lacking distributable reserves. “These policies are in response to persistent banking sector losses and weak internal capital generation that will continue to put some banks in danger of breaching minimum capital adequacy ratios, which are set to rise further with the implementation of the Basel-III framework over the next two years,” Fitch said.

110.6573

110.8384

110.7862

0.9721

0.9682

0.9619

Swiss Franc

0.9743

0.9740

0.9721

0.9683

OUR BUREAU

7938

Singapore Dollar

1.3682

1.3678

1.3671

1.3652

Singapore Dollar

1.3686

1.3682

1.3679

1.3669

Mumbai, August 16

1426

1922

Hong Kong Dollar

7.8210

7.8158

7.8065

7.7865

Hong Kong Dollar

7.8195

7.8250

7.8169

7.8060

83.8925

71

198

Australian Dollar

1.2730

1.2731

1.2743

1.2756

Australian Dollar

1.2727

1.2730

1.2734

1.2744

84.4000

84.4000

2

17

Canadian Dollar

Canadian Dollar

84.5000

84.5000

1

7

58.2350

58.3250

57.9800

58.0175

29010

20589

58.4875

58.5525

58.2425

58.2775

4248

4074

1.2735

1.2731

1.2723

1.2711

64.2100

64.4800

64.9500

65.6400

Indian Rupees

1.2740

1.2735

1.2732

1.2722

64.1200

64.4000

64.8800

65.5700

Source: State Bank of India, Chennai

Source: State Bank of India, Chennai

Oct-17

58.7500

58.8100

58.5025

58.5650

256

273

Nov-17

59.0000

59.0000

58.8750

58.8750

9

65

Aug-17

64.3500

64.4100

64.2150

64.2325

904342

1032241

Sep-17

64.5000

64.6250

64.4350

64.4575

103765

579976

Oct-17

64.8175

64.8625

64.6825

64.6950

15049

195227

Nov-17

65.0150

65.0850

64.9000

64.9125

2120

59850

Currency

TT

Bills

6m

3m

1m

TT

Bill

1m

3m

6m

1m

3m

6m

Dec-17

65.2775

65.3050

65.1325

65.1550

4592

53080

US Dollar

64.21

64.24

65.64

64.95

64.48

64.12

64.11

64.40

64.88

65.57

1.23

1.31

1.31 -0.38

Exchange Rates IMPORT Spot

EXPORT Forward

Spot

Foward

LIBOR

Jan-18

65.4925

65.5525

65.3725

65.3825

1168

26146

Euro

75.14

75.18

77.63

76.39

75.58

75.07

75.05

75.37

76.04

77.12

-0.40

-0.38

Feb-18

65.7200

65.7500

65.5800

65.5800

1041

12350

Pound Sterling

82.60

82.64

84.98

83.81

83.02

82.51

82.50

82.85

83.54

84.61

0.25

0.28

0.28

Mar-18

65.8800

65.9125

65.8000

65.8000

217

7120

Japanese Yen *

57.95

57.98

59.81

58.88

58.27

57.85

57.84

58.13

58.63

59.44

-0.03

-0.03

-0.03 0.75

Apr-18

66.1500

66.1500

65.9925

65.9925

2

8785

Singapore Dollar

46.93

46.96

48.08

47.51

47.14

46.85

46.84

47.07

47.43

47.97

0.70

0.75

May-18

66.1800

66.1800

66.1800

66.1800

1

4104

Hong Kong Dollar

8.21

8.21

8.43

8.32

8.25

8.20

8.20

8.23

8.30

8.40

0.39

0.86

0.86

Jun-18

66.4900

66.5000

66.3800

66.3800

31

9746

Canadian Dollar

50.42

50.44

51.64

51.05

50.65

50.33

50.33

50.57

50.96

51.54

0.95

1.06

1.06

Jul-18

66.6000

66.7000

66.5325

66.5525

1951

11862

9.59

9.60

-

-

-

9.58

9.58

-

-

-

-

-

-

Chinese Yuan

* for 100 units Source: State Bank of India, Chennai

costs, he said. “But, the number of equipment DCI has would require a few thousands of crores for someone to buy new ones. Plus, the waiting period to get those equipment is at least 18 months. With the acquisition of DCI, the equipment is readily available. In dredging, the cash earners are your equipment. That becomes the selling point for DCI,” the executive mentioned earlier said. The average age of the company’s fleet involved in maintenance dredging — where it holds the top slot in India — is 22 years while that of capital dredging is 30 years. But, unlike merchant ships, dredgers don’t have age restrictions to operate as long as they hold safety certifications from ship classification societies. For many years, DCI survived on assured business given by the Central govern-

Swarna Pragati raises ₹50 cr in debt funding from SBI

0.9741

Sep-17

CM YK

Operational costs Besides, DCI dredgers are not designed to operate with less personnel. While, a dredger owned by a European dredging firm can be run with 27 people, DCI’s dredgers require at least 40 people to operate, raising operational

110.8024

Indian Rupees

110.6601 110.3129

₹300 crore to buy some good spares to re-furbish the dredgers to boost performance,” he said, asking not to be named.

Swiss Franc

Aug-17

National Stock Exchange

The government remains unwilling to allow State-run banks to miss coupon payments on Additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments, going by the ₹1,861-crore capital injection into IDBI Bank, according to Fitch Ratings. It said the capital injection into IDBI Bank, which reported substantial losses in its FY17 and first quarter results, on August 9, ahead of first quarter earnings announcement, underscores that the authorities have little appetite to force a coupon skip by a large State-owned bank. The ratings firm observed that IDBI Bank may have been at risk of skipping a coupon payment without the fresh capital, which might have disrupted the domestic AT1 market and made it more diicult for banks to raise the capital needed to meet Basel-III minimum requirements. The cost the government faces in recapitalising State banks could potentially rise if access to the AT1 market weakens, it added. “Investors in AT1 instruments are clear beneficiaries of capital injections and other forms of forbearance, but senior creditors typically would expect any future losses to be cushioned by AT1 investors first taking losses.

While some feel the PSU major’s equipment, manpower will benefit the buyer, others say it will increase their operational costs

Quantity Contract

“These policies also create moral hazard by weakening the pressure AT1 instruments should put on banks to recapitalise by raising equity on a more timely and pro-active basis,” the agency said.

Mumbai, August 16

Experts divided over privatisation of Dredging Corporation

Bank unions firm on strike as talks with IBA fail Talks between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the unions held in Mumbai on Wednesday, to avert a nationwide strike on August 22, have failed. DT Franco of the All-India Bank Oicers’ Confederation (AIBOC) and CH Venkatachalam of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said the IBA insisted that it was for the government to make a decision on most of the unions’ demands. But they were appreciative of the fact that, for the first time, the IBA took the initiative to call the unions for talks. The unions will now meet with the Chief Labour Commissioner in New Delhi on August 18. At Wednesday’s meeting,

Infra bottlenecks Dua underscored the fact that the twin problems of weak capex cycle and debt overhang have constrained the private sector from undertaking new investment. Infrastructure bottlenecks are also a major constraint, while the government’s plan for housing to all may provide an impetus to growth.

Capital accumulation Ghate observed that while remonetisation, front-loaded government expenditure and a good monsoon will sustain the positive momentum on growth, his biggest concern now is the slowing rate of capital accumulation. “Indebted manufacturing companies continue to de-leverage, and the envisaged capex continues to decline. A prolonged period of weak investment growth will

Swiss Life profit up in H1

Thiruvananthapuram, August 16

impact potential growth,” he said. He felt that both farm loan waivers and proximity to the 2019 election year suggest that fiscal impulses could contribute to inflationary pressures. These need to be carefully watched.

Even as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 4-2 vote in favour of a 25-basis-point cut in the repo rate, majority of the members flagged their concern regarding weak investment growth and its impact on economic growth, according to the minutes of the meeting released by the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday. The MPC has six members — Chetan Ghate (Professor, Indian Statistical Institute), Pami Dua (Director, Delhi School of Economics), Ravindra Dholakia (Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad), Michael Debabrata Patra (Executive Director, RBI), Viral Acharya (Deputy Governor, RBI), and Urjit Patel (Governor, RBI).

Karnataka Bank has ventured into social media by opening its official pages in social networking sites FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and CEO of the bank, unveiled the official social handles of the bank in Mangaluru on Wednesday. The official social handles of the bank are @karnatakabank for Twitter and Facebook, and @officialkarnatakabank for Instagram. OUR BUREAU

regulation on virtual currencies, including bitcoins, in the country, the committee said that government should put in place some norms.

such as the recent Ransomware attack, and legalising them could lead to their use in more such incidents, the committee said. In the background of lack of

Govt to support public sector banks to meet AT1 bond coupon payments: Fitch

Mumbai, August 16

Mangaluru, August 16

Becoming popular The market for virtual currencies, including bitcoins, has seen a significant increase over the last few years BLOOMBERG

MPC members flag weak investment growth and its impact on economy OUR BUREAU

Karnataka Bank on social media

VINSON KURIAN

Not much understanding “It was felt that there is still not much understanding of what crypto-currencies are and how to use them in the country. Further, it has been seen that these currencies are used for speculative purposes,” said the person, adding that this was the main reason for the committee unanimously deciding not to legalise it. Crypto-currencies have also been used in malware attacks,

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently informed Parliament that the committee included oicials from the departments of Economic Afairs, Financial Services and Revenue (CBDT) and ministries of Home Afairs, Electronics, and Information Technology, RBI, NITI Aayog and State Bank of India. “The objectives of the committee were to take stock of the present status of virtual currencies, both in India and globally, examine the existing global regulatory and legal structures governing virtual currencies, suggest a framework for regulation of virtual currencies, if considered, including issues relating to consumer protection, taxation and money laundering, among others,” he had said.

“There can no longer be a vacuum over these currencies as they are being used, whether we like it or not,” said a second source. The Finance Ministry is now looking at the recommendations of the panel and is expected to work with the Reserve Bank of India on the best way forward on the issue. The market for virtual currencies, including bitcoins, has seen a significant increase over the last few years. The RBI has, over the years, advised users, holders and traders of such currencies of their potential risks. In February, RBI had also said that it has not given licence or authorisation to any entity to operate or deal with bitcoins and virtual currencies in the country.

Swarna Pragati Housing Microfinance, a Chennai-based housing finance company, has raised ₹50 crore in debt funding from State Bank of India. The firm will use the funds to grow its loan portfolio and strengthen its presence in the rural afordable housing market. The latest funding follows a 2015 Series B funding round from Zephyr Peacock, Omidyar Network, Aavishkaar Ventures, and Asha Impact. “The afordable housing market presents an unprecedented opportunity in India right now for the rural housing credit market,” said Ramesh Kumar, CMD of

X W The firm will use the funds to grow its loan portfolio and strengthen presence in rural affordable housing

Swarna Pragati. “With the help of State Bank of India and our other funders, we’re redefining an industry by putting the needs of the consumer at the centre of what we do, helping thousands of families reach their full potential.” To date, the company has provided more than ₹170 crore to more than 17,000 borrowers across Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, among other States.

ment-owned port trusts on nomination basis (without tenders). This system was scrapped in the last decade. DCI now has to compete with other firms, both Indian and foreign, to win contracts at State-owned port trusts and elsewhere. In fact, more than half of DCI’s annual revenues came from the maintenance dredging contract at Kolkata Port Trust and a big portion of the other half from Cochin Port Trust. Stiff competition Dredging Corporation is now facing stif competition from local rivals such as Adani Group, Mercator, Dharti Dredging and other global firms for securing jobs. Intense competition has resulted in dredging contractors quoting way below estimates to clinch contracts, hurting their margins.

Aadhaar must for short-term crop loans OUR BUREAU Mumbai, August 16

To ensure hassle-free benefits to farmers under Interest Subvention Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory for availing short-term crop loans up to ₹3 lakh in 2017-18. This move is in line with the government’s increasing emphasis on linking Aadhaar to various transactions in the economy. In order to provide short-term crop loans to farmers at an interest rate of 7 per cent during 2017-18, the RBI said it has been decided to ofer interest subvention of 2 per cent to lending institutions on use of their own resources. . ...... . . ...CH-X

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BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

QUICKLY Paytm Mall to invest $5 million Mumbai, August 16

Paytm Mall, owned by Paytm E-commerce, on Wednesday said it will support its shopkeepers to take on online retailers and will invest up to $5 million to address the needs of its partner retailers. “We will continue engaging with our partnered retailers to build our inclusion programme and enhance their businesses,” Paytm Mall CEO Amit Sinha said in a statement. The firm has set up a dedicated team of 500 personnel to address the unique needs of retailers, he said. PTI

RCom’s one-year 2G prepaid plan Mumbai August 16

Reliance Communications on Wednesday launched a one-year prepaid plan offering unlimited 2G internet for ₹70, the company posted on micro-blogging website Twitter. The scheme ‘Data ki Azadi’, launched to mark the Independence Day, also includes a talktime of ₹56. Last Thursday, the firm had announced an unlimited data and voice calling offer for ₹299 per month, and on Monday, it had announced its 28-day ‘Get-Net’ plan, which offers 1GB data per day for ₹147. COGENCIS

Lycos Internet net loss narrows Mumbai August 16

Lycos Internet’s net loss narrowed to ₹3.5 lakh in April-June from ₹224-lakh loss a year ago. Income from operations fell 1.7 per cent on year to ₹110 crore during the quarter. Total expenditure, excluding finance cost, during the quarter was largely flat at ₹110 crore compared with the year-ago period. Operating margin expanded to 2.89 per cent in April-June from 0.25 per cent in the same period a year ago. Finance cost was at ₹3.09 crore as against ₹3.95 crore a year ago. COGENCIS

Sellers say Amazon yet to settle dues of last festival season Members of the now suspended Platinum Programme claim requests sent over past eight months have still not been addressed SANGEETHA CHENGAPPA Bengaluru, August 16

Sellers who were part of e-commerce giant Amazon.in’s elite Platinum Seller Programme, which the firm suspended this June, say they are yet to receive crores worth of pending claims incurred during the previous festival season sale. Some of the sellers told BusinessLine that several oicial requests and claim documents that were sent to Amazon over the past eight months — to sort out issues such as losses incurred due to customer damaged/returned products, brand infringement by other sellers on the marketplace, fake orders, seller suspension for flimsy reasons, frequent increases in seller shipping fees and commissions charges — have still not been addressed by the e-tailer. “Amazon owes me ₹1.2 crore for losses incurred during last year’s Diwali sales. The losses are from goods lost in transit, sale of damaged goods which went out of Amazon’s warehouses despite stringent quality checks, higher fees charged by Amazon vs the zero-fee commitment they made to me for the festive season” said a Platinum Seller from North India, on con-

TRAI floats draft rules to amend mobile number portability mechanism Invites written comments from stakeholders by August 31

dition of anonymity. “I was charged the standard Platinum Seller fee of 2 per cent, which includes delivery fees plus Amazon’s commissions. I have been in talks with them to clear the pending amount over the past eight months, but to no avail,” he said. Another West India-based Platinum seller, who is in dispute with Amazon to settle a ₹15-crore due from last year’s festival season sales ,said the etailer had asked him to sell at huge discounts which would later be compensated to him; but the dues are yet to be settled. Amazon, which introduced the Platinum Seller programme last June, subsequently cut down the seller count in the programme by 70 per cent this February, as it was incurring huge losses due to dampened customer spending post demonetisation. The programme is an inviteonly club of sellers that Amazon chooses to upgrade based on the quantum of sales they generate, low return rates, quick service, quality products with zero defects, customer ratings they receive, etc. In turn, the benefits they receive from Amazon

total rejections of porting requests, TRAI said. The new mechanism will result in less rejection of porting requests and increase subscriber satisfaction, it said. The draft also proposes a provision to transmit relevant information such as date of the bill, amount outstanding, last date of payment, date of the notice and period of notice given to a subscriber by the donor operator through the mobile number portability clearing house. The regulator has invited written comments from stakeholders by August 31.

are: weekly payouts instead of bi-weekly, ability to add ‘platinum’ keywords to their listings which improves visibility in search results, the option to create a custom Amazon storefront, etc. ‘Unfair practices’ With the Platinum programme revoked, Amazon now has one large seller — Cloudtail India, a joint venture between Amazon-

.com and Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures — which sources say contributes 60 per cent to Amazon.in’s total Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of ₹2,300 crore per month. If this figure is right, it violates the government guidelines issued last year. While the Centre allows 100 per cent FDI in online retail under the marketplace model, it does not allow marketplaces to

have a seller contributing over 25 per cent of its total sales. Asked why the Platinum Seller Programme was revoked, Gopal Pillai, Director and General Manager, Seller Services, Amazon India, said he did not wish to comment on it. On the unsettled dues of sellers in the programme, he said: “I am not aware of any such seller issues.” A spokesperson from the All India Online Vendors Associ-

OUR BUREAU

Never mind what you are hearing from the White House: Boris Johnson London, August 16

New Delhi, August 16

With the Platinum Seller Programme revoked, Amazon now has one large seller — Cloudtail India, a joint venture between Amazon.com and Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures REUTERS

ation (AIOVA) - Forum, which has over 3,000 registered sellers who sell in various online marketplaces, said: “Amazon Wholesale India buys in bulk from brands and sells it to its Platinum Sellers, who in turn sell it on Amazon.in. Now, with the programme being revoked, Cloudtail will efectively be Amazon’s sole Platinum Seller, receiving preferential benefits. For instance, a set of three shirts by Amazon’s private label Symbol is sold by Cloudtail at ₹299. How can other sellers compete with such low prices?” Earlier this year, AIOVA had also written to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), highlighting the unfair competition created for a marketplace seller by Flipkart and Amazon. “Cloudtail India, a seller on Amazon.in, and WS Retail, a seller on Flipkart, both of which contribute 70-80 per cent to the total sales on both marketplaces, are tendered special benefits, such as rock-bottom product pricing that is lower than distributor/manufacturing price and lower fees for doing business. Premium advertisement spots and warehouse slots are specially reserved for them, making it diicult for other sellers to compete with them. We hope the CCI takes action against these unfair practices,” said the AIOVA spokesperson.

IBS sets up test factory Britain hopes to work with India to exercise influence over China on N Korea for Lufthansa Cargo VIDYA RAM

COGENCIS

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday released draft rules to amend the current mechanism for mobile number portability. Under these, it has proposed a mechanism to share the unique porting code generated by a donor operator with the mobile number portability clearing house, which in turn can be approached by a recipient operator. This will confirm the correctness and validity of the code submitted by the subscriber, the regulator said. This is important as the grounds for rejection dependent on the unique porting code — such as code mismatch or invalid or expired code— account for around 40 per cent of the

7

Britain hopes to work with India to exercise influence over China on North Korea, the country’s Foreign Secretary has said. Speaking at a event celebrating Indian independence’s 70th anniversary in London on Tuesday evening, Boris Johnson expressed his hope that the two allies could work together to “persuade our friends in China of the truth… It’s in the Chinese government’s hands to exercise that economic pressure to achieve the diplomatic resolution that we need. “Never mind what you are hearing from the White House; let’s focus on the real cause of the current crisis, when North Korea is recklessly and wantonly threatening its neighbours and those further afield with nuclear strikes,” he said. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with India in our determination to ensure stability

in the Asia-Pacific region. In all those eforts to secure peace and security — the indispensable foundation of trade and prosperity — we are working ever more closely with India. “This relationship is about so much more than trade and so much more than…the interchange of goods and services. It’s about the things that make the trade happen and at a time when the world is full of promise and full of threats and when global trade has actually been declining as a share of global growth, our relationship with India is about the safety, security and freedom that make that trade possible. We are shoulder to shoulder with India in tackling the threat of extremism and terrorism of the type we have seen in our great cities.” Johnson’s remarks mark a shift away in Britain from rhetoric focussed largely on trade cooperation with India in the wake of the Brexit referendum

Britain’ s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

to a more holistic discussion of the relationship. Senior figures in India have on occasion expressed their concern about the focus on boosting trade. Last year, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the BBC that India was no longer being treated as “old friends” but that relationship had become a tight “tight professional engagement.” “India must be recognised as bearing the brunt of this for decades. Iif this isn’t recognised, bilateral cooperation will not be a success,” India’s envoy to the UK YK Sinha said in June. Johnson also acknowledged factors that stood in the way of greater cooperation in-

cluding over visas, and student visas in particular. “We have to have a proactive policy. We have to get the visa system right,” he said, adding that he hoped India too would recognise Britain’s ambitions for increased access to the good and services markets in India. High Commissioner Sinha said he hoped the countries would continue to increase cooperation on intelligence sharing when it came to combating terrorism. “We have a very good beginning in anti-terrorism cooperation. Terrorism is one of the very important issues that concerns both India and the UK and I dare say the fountain head of terrorism is perhaps the same. But not withstanding that, I think we need to do much more when it comes to intelligence sharing cooperation.” He added that while issues such as visas posed a challenge to the relationship, they were “not insurmountable… We need to see how we can come up with a mutually winwin situation — the dialogue has already started.”

Thiruvananthapuram, August 16

IBS Software, an IT solutions provider to the global aviation industry, has set up a ‘test factory’ for Lufthansa Cargo to ensure all its application software are fit for purpose and meet the quality standards the latter has set for itself. IBS is a strategic IT partner for Lufthansa Cargo, and responsible for managing end-to-end testing of all applications under the core IT platform, enabling a smooth rollout of product upgrades, new services and innovations. The test factory will ensure the testing services are delivered in a scalable, flexible and cost-efective manner, a spokesman for the company said here. Lufthansa Cargo will thus be able to derive benefits from IBS’ domain knowledge in air cargo as also its experience in building, testing and imple-

menting mission-critical systems for airlines and travel companies around the world, the firm said. Jochen Göttelmann, Chief Information Oicer, Lufthansa Cargo, said the test factory bundles product development, project implementation and quality assurance for its core IT platform. “We have succeeded in reducing the IT complexity and in streamlining our provider relationships. We get these business-critical services now out of one hand only, ensuring smooth transition of projects into operations.” Akshay Shrivastava, SVP and Global Head of IBS’ Services Business, said: “The relationship with Lufthansa Cargo has been taken to the next level by setting up this test factory, which will contribute to successful implementation of its IT strategy.”

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THINK xyz

0 thursday, august 17, 2017

Sizing it up Aside from the size of SBI’s bad loans, higher slippages across other banks and unbridled growth in retail loans call for attention

T

here was a sense of unease when State Bank of India — India’s largest bank — reported its June quarter results, its first after the merger with five associate banks. The stockpile of bad loans for SBI is now a tenth of its loans, which, given the size of the merged entity, is alarming. True, India’s banking system has always been highly fragmented compared to the developed economies, where the top three or four banks account for 70 per cent of the banking activity. But that’s not to say that the Indian financial system is devoid of the threat that loomed for other economies due to large and highly interconnected financial institutions. In line with the broad principles of the Basel Committee, the Reserve Bank of India had designated SBI as one of the two domestic systemically important or ‘too-big-to-fail’ banks — failure could have a cascading impact on the entire financial system and the economy. With the merger, SBI’s systemic importance has only risen. The merged entity’s assets are about a fourth of the country’s GDP and loans are a fourth of the sector’s overall lending activity. Given this, the sharp spike in SBI’s slippages and bad loans, even seven quarters after the RBI’s asset quality review, calls for attention. While poor asset quality of associate banks was expected to drag SBI’s performance, the quantum of slippages of a little over ₹26,000 crore and total bad loans at a whopping ₹1.8 lakh crore for the consolidated entity, is disturbing. The state of afairs at other public sector banks that lack the bandwidth, size and reach of SBI, is far worse. Alarmingly, many of these banks have bad loans that are a fifth or more of their loan book. Led by two large banks that have relatively higher exposure to stressed sectors, NPAs for private sector banks too have been growing at a worrying pace of 50-100 per cent year-on-year in the last four quarters. For PSBs, after moderating, additions to bad loans jumped 30 per cent in the June quarter. Despite RBI’s countless attempts to clean out banks’ balance sheets, more skeletons appear to be tumbling out every quarter. However, aside from stress in large corporate accounts, there is another risk looming. Many banks are reporting increasing slippages in their retail portfolio. After abandoning personal loans and credit cards in 2008, banks have been growing their retail portfolio aggressively in recent times. But just as excessive corporate lending has spelt doom, banks run similar risks from their unsecured retail portfolio. Ensuring that back-end processes of underwriting customers are streamlined and risks mitigated through the proper usage of credit bureaus is critical to avoid a repeat of past mistakes. It is worrisome enough that banks have to carry their legacy corporate bad loans for some time. If retail delinquencies gather steam, banks will find it diicult to drag themselves out of the morass of stressed loans, even if the economic cycle turns.

OTHER VOICES

Trump’s bargaining chip to pressure China Trump signed a memorandum that directs US trade representative Robert Lighthizer to investigate whether China is involved in forcing foreign companies to transfer technology in exchange for being allowed access to the Chinese market and whether China stole US IPR. A US president has no ability to adjust the global industrial pattern at will. Generally, Trump has kept US pressure on China so he could gain the upper hand. BEIJING 15 AUGUST 2017

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

Imagining India’s new data privacy law India is uniquely positioned to create a law that balances the right to privacy with harnessing the advantages of technology SUPRATIM CHAKRABORTY SOUMYADRI CHATTOPADHYAYA

“India has a unique opportunity to draft a very modern data protection and privacy Bill which can be superior to what is happening elsewhere in the world.” — Nandan Nilekani

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ata is the lifeblood of today’s digital economy and is driving new businesses that challenge conventional wisdom about markets. With the proliferation of smartphones, every tap creates a digital footprint: valuable information that can be exploited by companies to generate everything, from customer preferences to consumption patterns. Critically, the traditional notion of data being merely sensitive personal information is now being challenged as companies are also exploiting real-time data generated from daily activities such as one’s route preference whilst booking cab rides using an app. Even the Government’s drive to digitise India on the back of initiatives such as JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) and the increased focus on digital payments is fuelled by data. As dependence on data continues to grow, so does the vulnerability of data subjects. Hence, any debate on data privacy must recognise the need for a comprehensive data privacy law, which not only contributes to and complements the constitutional right to privacy but also enables data subjects to harness the benevolence of technological advances. Recent concern India’s existing data privacy framework dates only to the year 2009, in-

Can it be true that Trump doesn’t see much diference between Nazis and white supremacists, and their opponents? The core problem in Charlottesville was the underlying hatefilled attitudes of the mob carrying Confederate battle flags and shouting anti-Semitic and racist slogans. The rally was intended to defend a statue of Robert E. Lee that the city plans to remove. The racism displayed by some of Trump’s followers is not an issue to be viewed through the usual left-right political prism. LOS ANGELES 15 AUGUST 2017

Sri Lanka’s support Sri Lankan cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala’s announcement of the islanders’ short tour to Pakistan carried a message . He spoke of improved security and playing conditions. He also asked for support from Asian cricketing nations for Pakistan. It was the Sri Lankan team in 2009 that was the target of a terror attack in Lahore. KARACHI 16 AUGUST 2017

Setting the rules A well-functioning data privacy regime should ideally set the rules of the game for all actors, cut out any regulatory uncertainty and strike a balance between protecting the right of privacy of data subjects with the business needs of data collectors. In 2012, the AP Shah report studied global best practices with a view to rebooting the existing domestic framework; it identified transparency, consent, and accountability as the fundamental building blocks of the ideal data protection regime. The report also observed that any new data privacy framework must aim to harmonise principles such as the principle of notice, choice and consent, limitation on collec-

Key factor A chance to make privacy laws tough and up-to-date SDECORET/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

tion and purpose, disclosure, openness, security, and accountability. These would also be relevant today. Moreover, with technology constantly evolving, an approach based on standards would enable the law to keep pace with rapid changes in technology, as against objective rules that would fail to be relevant with constant technological developments. Perhaps the biggest shift required from the existing regime is with respect to its applicability. It is imperative to bring government agencies within the ambit of the new framework. Although drafting a legislation that is applicable to both the private sector and the Government alike is a daunting task, it may be a streamlined method of ensuring that data subjects are adequately safeguarded. Debatable While ‘consent’ is the cornerstone of any data privacy regime, the ad-

equacy of such consent from the data subjects is sometimes debatable, especially in the context of standard-form contracts such as click wrap agreements. Recent studies show that this problem has been exacerbated manifold; people are often forced to accept unfavourable terms of service since most apps are designed to quit immediately if one does not click on the ‘I agree’ button. Behavioural research also points to the inability of data subjects to manage their own data. This is attributed to a combination of lack of understanding and general disinclination. To counter this, researchers have argued that perhaps regulating only the collection of data may not be enough, its use by data collectors and data processors could also be regulated such that there is a prohibition on using certain data in a manner that is detrimental to data

subjects. This could be a useful supplement to temper the current prior consent-based approach where data subjects often surrender their data without truly understanding the wider ramifications of exploitation of such data. Several stops and starts and multiple draft privacy Bills later, the Government has now taken the step to constitute a committee under Justice (Retd) BN Srikrishna to suggest and draft a new data protection Bill. While the Supreme Court continues to deliberate whether the right to privacy should be elevated to a separate fundamental right, a robust and wellfunctioning data privacy legislation will go a long way in complementing the constitutional right to privacy in not only creating the right incentives for all stakeholders but also providing an eicient redress mechanism for data subjects. Chakraborty is associate partner and Chattopadhyaya senior associate at Khaitan & Co

Why ‘President Pence’ isn’t such a bad idea A drab, conservative mediocrity moving into the Oval office looks like the best chance that America has to rescue itself FRANCIS WILKINSON

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onald Trump’s presidency has produced a proliferation of Eeyores. It’s not their (our) fault. However dismal one’s view of current American politics, Trump is sure to expose it, with a tweet or the lack of one, as a naive androsy fantasy. Each day, we adjust our sights down. Each day, the president forces our gaze lower. Some conservatives might take comfort in the prospect — wish, really — of a President Mike Pence assuming oice before the current occupant’s term is up. The Indiana Republican is as dull and serviceable a politician as Trump is bizarre and broken. Pence can recite the social conservative catechism by heart and, until he signed on to the Trump carnival, held conventional conservative views on trade and taxes and decency. Relative’s better I wouldn’t say I’m a big Pence fan. But everything’s relative. He doesn’t approach each hour as a mortal threat to precarious manhood, and it’s hard to imagine Pence groping women, or bragging to others that he did. When Nazis went on a homicidal rampage (in Charlottesville), Pence’s response, aside from the requisite media bashing that all

Hello, Goodbye If wishes were horses NYT

Trump White House employees must engage in, seemed both professional and perturbed, suggesting he did not, on the whole, approve of murderous thugs. Compared with the daily degradation that is President Trump, a Pence White House looks better than good; it looks grand. I’m consistently perplexed when others don’t share my enthusiasm for the humdrum Hoosier. Liberal friends recoil when I point out the upsides, including the observation that Pence shows no outward signs of sociopathy — as if our recent experience hasn’t taught us what a superb

LET TERS TO THE EDITOR Pragmatism called for

Trump doubles down on irresponsible comments

troduced to address growing concern relating to ‘data protection’ and ‘data privacy’. This framework was primarily introduced through Sections 43-A and 72-A of the Information Technology Act 2000. Subsequently, the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules 2011 were issued. These regulate the collection, disclosure, transfer and storage of sensitive personal data and information. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned legislative framework does not extend to government agencies, and also stops short of imposing an obligation upon the data collector to mandatorily report any data compromises to data subjects. Further, it imposes a stif requirement to establish intent to cause wrongful gain or loss before an enforceable remedy against a data breach would be available to data subjects.

With reference to ‘What’s holding an entrepreneur back?’ by Sidharth Birla (August 16), there is no doubt that a robust monsoon will help the economy on the consumption front but that’s not enough to call it an economy revival. Yes, there is no dearth of fresh capital for small entrepreneurs in the form of private equity or venture capitalists; large corporates performing well and without a huge debt on their balance sheet are fighting the problem of lack of capacity utilisation. Unless their existing facilities are utilised they will not even think about fresh investment. It is worth introspecting on the fact that, with banks burning not only their fingers but almost the whole body, how will they perceive new borrowers and how will new credit demand be entertained. Of course, banks would be vary and cautious and borrowers may come

qualification that is for the presidency. One of the chief liberal concerns about Pence was voiced in June by Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, who told the International Business Times that Pence, “in terms of a lot of domestic policy” certainly would be worse than Trump. He went on to point out that Pence was instrumental in promoting some of Trump’s worst cabinet appointees. If Pence was indeed responsible for dreadful cabinet picks such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Scott Pruitt, then President Pence surely couldn’t do any

worse than Vice-President Pence already did. Likewise, Pence’s domestic policy priorities have largely been adopted by Trump, whose political survival may depend on continued support from Christian conservatives. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was confirmed by the Senate in April, is the kind of smart, rigid conservative Pence would’ve nominated himself. On social issues such as abortion or transgender rights, it’s hard to see where Pence would’ve difered from Trump, who reinstituted restrictions on international abortion funding and tweeted a ban on transgender troops without even consulting the Pentagon. Pence annoys liberals because he seems like a stock movie character — a pinched little sex-phobic Chamber of Commerce preacher harbouring a shocking secret that he can’t bear to face. I don’t know anything about Pence’s soul or his secret longings. But with Trump’s sprawling indiscipline and gross appetites perpetually on display,a little self-repression doesn’t sound so bad. On foreign policy, there’s little chance Pence would be as dangerous and bumbling as Trump, who is a few decades late to the realisation that China is not much interested in advancing US interests on the Korean peninsula, and last week

clumsily handed a weapon to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. (After Trump foolishly mused about using force in Venezuela, Maduro used the threat of Yanqui imperialism to thrash his democratic opponents.) A sense of clarity A Pence presidency would also have a clarifying efect for voters choosing our next president, separating Trumpism from conservatism, and making it impossible for Republicans to distance themselves from the former (Pence) even when it looks like the deranged, identical twin of the latter. If Trump goes down in a ball of fiery corruption, or if we learn that his abiding admiration for Vladimir Putin stems from an even more unsavoury source than Trump’s jackboot reveries, Pence will have diiculty escaping the rubble. He did, after all, aid and abet the catastrophe. Meanwhile, a transition from Trump to Pence would be like switching to the occasional aspirin after having been force-fed a diet of LSD. This trip has been too strange and it’s already gone on too long. A drab, conservative mediocrity moving into the Oval Oice may not be our best chance to make America great again. But it’s the nearest one at hand. BLOOMBERG

Send your letters by email to [email protected] or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.

across very tough conditions from lenders in order to follow safe lending. So banks will have to be pragmatic to help revive the economy.

direction. Spelling out course corrections gives the speech sincerity and gravitas. Although this time it was free of political overtones, it fell short of 2014.

Bal Govind

R Narayanan

Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

I-Day address

Modi once again displayed his exemplary oratorical skills and exhorted his countrymen to contribute towards building a new India by 2022 in which there would exist no casteism, communalism, terrorism, nepotism and corruption. While he has been unequivocal in condemning violence in the name of faith in the context of rising cow vigilantism and orchestrated violence against Muslim minorities and Dalits, the despicable actions of the BJP-led governments in UP and MP directing madrasas to give videographed proof of their patriotism in the run-up to Independence Day raises serious questions about the

Modi’s Independence Day address of 2014 was his most prime ministerial. With a successful election behind him he had the entire nation as his constituency and he could fully shed his campaign robes. In 2015 and 2016, with the gigantic UP elections looming, he had to be back in campaign mode, the party being dependent on his charisma. The 2017 address was not short on vision. Modi has the genius to set them but perhaps they have been far too variegated and in too quick succession. While vision motivates progress it is perceiving the errors that help set it in the right

commitment of the BJP leadership to preserving the secular fabric of the country. Apprehensions being expressed in several quarters over insecurity among minorities and the ascendancy of majoritarianism are not baseless. Modi may have positioned himself as a visionary leader, but he cannot go ahead with his tasks without reining in vested interests within his political constituency who are bent upon sowing seeds of hatred. M Jeyaram Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

What’s with the headgear?

Whenever Modi hoists the flag in Red Fort on Independence Day or at other public functions, we find him wearing headgear symbolising a particular clan or state. Isn’t it true that he represents not only a particular State, clan or a group but the people of the entire nation? Then why express a special

leaning towards a particular group by wearing the specific headgear? Tharcius S Fernando Chennai

Everything takes time

This refers to ‘Fight against black money a sham: Cong’ (August 16). The mainline party which is in opposition wants to attack the government of the day just for heck of it. Little do these worthies realise that at least the present government has taken up the case with the Swiss Bank requesting the authorities to reveal the names of those who have stashed their illegal money. The Congress party could have brought back black money, improved living conditions and created corpus to help farmers in distress. It is too much to expect the government of the day to do all this in three years. HP Murali Bengaluru

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., and Printed by D. Rajkumar at Plot B-6 & B-7, CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin: 603209. Editor: Raghavan Srinivasan (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

CM YK

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BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

Form fatigue How GSTR return becomes a complex affair MOHAN R LAVI

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ompliance in the GST regime involves filing a bewildering array of forms with unique alphanumeric identities. As the date for filing the first return in the GST era fast approaches — the GSTR-3B is to be filed on or before the August 20 — taxpayers are still not clear on the nitty-gritty of filing the form. The form itself cannot be filed but can only be downloaded and saved through an of-line utility. If the entire population of GST taxpayers log on to the portal a few days prior to the due date, the portal is going to be tested for its capacity to handle such large traic — an extension of time looks imminent here. Form 3B in itself should not pose a problem for taxpayers who have seen more complicated stuf under the Central Excise Act. There are 8 columns to fill which tabulate basic data of outward supplies, inward supplies subject to reverse charge, supplies made to a certain category of persons such as unregistered persons, input tax credit, exempt supplies, tax deducted at source and details of the tax paid. It is ironical that, as on date, the only act that taxpayers can do without getting stuck on the portal is to pay their taxes though the form to compute the tax cannot be filed online. Though taxpayers in India normally prefer to pay the taxes at the nth moment, the month of August could prove to be an outlier in that the taxpayer may pay his taxes first since that is the only thing he can do now- he would later ensure that Form 3B matches the tax paid. At this early stage itself, it is becoming clear that if at all GST implementation has to be a success, a large part of the responsibility would lie in the technology piece — right now, there are no firm

opinions on the technology as only bits and pieces of it are being showcased. Credit matters Extension or no extension, filing of 3B is bound to happen at some point in time. More than the filing, it is the contents of the form that raise a few questions. Can existing indirect tax payers including VAT payers claim their carry forward credit in the form? Can taxpayers use the column 4(A)(5) of GSTR 3B and indicate all their carry forward credit as “ All other ITC”? The transitional provisions recommend a Form GST TRAN 1 to carry forward the credit including the credit of duty paid on inventory as on June 30. From which form would the credit be transferred to the electronic credit ledger-3B or TRAN1? It should be TRAN1 as it is a specific form for a specific purpose unlike 3B which is a temporary form designed to tide over the inability to mandate filing of the trilogy of forms every month- GSTR 1/2/and 3. In the absence of any specific guidance, taxpayers have taken refuge in the Twitter handle GST@Goi to seek responses to their questions. Due to the inadequacies of twitter, the answers invariably are ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ and draw reference to the particular sections of the GST Act. In a response to a question on transitional ITC on June 13, 2017, it has been stated that transitional ITC can be claimed in 3B and modalities would be announced soon. The same day, another response states there will be a fee for late filing. It may be only a matter of time before all the individual parts of GST implementation come together. Till that time, the GST Council should comfort taxpayers with an assurance that they would not be unnecessarily penalised. The writer is a chartered accountant

Railways on a difficult track There are two major obstacles: fall in revenues from coal because of the renewables shift, and the appeal of air travel

Stationary mode Nothing for the wagons to transport JAGANNARAYAN PADMANABHAN

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ndian Railways, which is making concerted eforts to correct its legacy of under-investments — and therefore, the opportunities lost — is facing the law of unintended consequences. It is up against multiple headwinds, such as: 1. Faster awarding and implementation of national highway projects 2. Decreasing dependency on coal compounded by increasing thrust on renewable energy, and, 3. Airlines weaning away AC class passengers, and the regional connectivity scheme UDAAN. Here’s the potential trouble in perspective: Indian Railways sustains itself on two businesses — freight and AC class passengers. While freight contributes to two-thirds of revenue (coal transport alone contributes to half of that), nearly a third of passenger revenue comes from AC class passengers (who constitute just 1.3 per cent of the total number of passengers travelling in a year). In the past four decades, as more highways got built, the share of roads in freight transport has rocketed from 30 per cent to 70 per cent.

Problem is, the pace of highway construction is only accelerating. In the past three years, there has been a 25 per cent increase in the length of highways constructed, and Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, wants to expand the network of highways in India by 50 per cent to 200,000 km. That will have ramifications for the Railways. Financially, it’s a pincer move because freight income is used to subsidise passenger tickets, so any shortfall in freight revenue will be detrimental to the operating ratio of railways, which is already wallowing at a decadal low of 96.9 per cent. Coal losing steam Another flank of worry is that renewable energy is exploding. Solar power generation is becoming cheaper than thermal, and wind tarifs are heading southwards, too. That will curb growth in coal freight. And if all that weren’t enough, a new law says coal cannot be transported without beneficiation for distances of more than 500 km. Demand for cement and steel, which, along with coal account for about 70 per cent of annual

lot more skin in the game so the financing and risk-sharing is well spread out.

railway freight, has been subdued for a while now. Then comes the attack from the air. India became the third-largest aviation market in the world after China and the US, by overtaking Japan. Domestic passenger traic has grown 17.7 per cent in the first four months of 2017 on a fairly large base. If the trend continues — and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t — India will also see a signal shift this fiscal where flyers will outnumber AC-class rail passengers, with more than a push coming from UDAAN. Contrastingly, the volume of rail passengers has been flatlining at 120-125 million for a while now. Clearly, the railways faces multiple headwinds, and the irony is that many of these emanate from its owner’s actions and disproportionate influence. To wit, the government is a part of all phases of customer engagement by the railways — be it providing core infrastructure and its operation and maintenance, providing vehicles and their operation and maintenance, and lastly, bearing the financial risk that have ultimately given only poor returns. In road and air transport, private entities have a

The way out Given this context, what should Indian Railways do? There is only one way, and that is ofer total customer solutions, both in freight and for passengers. For example, in freight, it can: 1. Ofer door-to-door service by tying up with logistics providers. That would require investment in technology to ensure service predictability and cargo control to the last mile. 2. Decrease the freight rate and increase investments in priority projects. 3. Execute route decongestion and laying of new tracks on mission mode. 4. Encourage private sector participation in operation and maintenance, and even running of trains and terminals 5. Get stakeholders involved in the core functioning of the rail network to benefit from optimum utilisation of finance and better management of workforce — a significant contributor to expenses. 6. Operationalise the two Freight corridors and move fast

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Leaders from opposition parties are expected to attend an event, hosted by rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, in Delhi. Top leaders of the Congress, the Left, the SP, the BSP, the TMC and other parties opposed to the BJP have been invited to the programme which is being seen as Yadav’s show of strength against Nitish Kumar’s decision to ally with the BJP. The 2008 Malegaon blast case will come up for hearing at the Supreme Court today. The apex court will hear the issue of granting bail to former Lt Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit and cancellation of bail of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, both accused in the case. The Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board will launch seven trekking trails close to Bengaluru. The controversial Great Canara Trail (covering nearly 100 km near the Kali Tiger Reserve) and the Canopy Walk, which features elevated platforms stretching 500m, are among those that got the go-ahead from the Forest Department. ASUS will launch the Zenfone 4 in Taiwan today. In July, the Taiwanese company launched the Zenfone AR, which it claimed was the world’s first augmented reality and virtual reality smartphone. Other launches today include Acer’s gaming laptop Predator Helio 300. The six-city trophy tour for the FIFA U-17 World Cup will begin in Delhi today. It will cover almost 9,000 km over 40 days between August 17 and September 26. Fans can see the trophy in the six host cities starting with Delhi, where India will be playing their group matches. India will host its first FIFA event from October 6 to 28. CM YK

THE CHEAT SHEET Ruing a bad buy? A sad one, to be frank. Sorry, but why ‘a sick world’? Well, I came across this interesting report last week that made me sit back and think about fossil fuel subsidies and their impact on our collective well-being. The report — Hidden Price Tags: How Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies Would Benefit Our Health, released by European nonprofit Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) — for the first time tried to compare fossil fuel subsidies (which Bloomberg recently called “the world’s dumbest policy”) and health costs from air pollution. Most likely, we don’t get to know of this hidden price tag that makes us sick, the report says. It is generally estimated that direct subsidies to dirty fuels stand at around $450 billion worldwide. That’s a lot of money going up in smoke! There’s more. Just last week, a

study published in the journal World Development and authored by folks working at the IMF estimated that in 2013 alone 6.5 per cent of global GDP went to subsidising fossil fuels. That’s some $4.9 trillion. Mind you, India’s GDP is just a little over $2 trillion. Of the nearly $5 trillion ‘fossil dole’, undercharging for global warming accounted for 22 per cent, air pollution 46 per cent, vehicle ‘externalities’ 13 per cent, supply costs 11 per cent and consumer taxes were 8 per cent. Oh, strange maths, this! Yes, but not many know, or have bothered to ponder over the obvious fact that, most of these subsidies end up hurting people, through fossil-fuel induced air pollution. The HEAL report, for instance, clearly shows fossil fuel subsidies support an industry that causes “premature deaths, ill-health and huge health costs”. And the health costs linked with fossil fuels are over six times higher than the direct subsidies doled out by governments. That is according to HEAL’s estimates $2.8 trillion against $444 billion (that’s what G20 governments

easy ACROSS

01. Languished with longing (5) 04. Exiles, expels (7) 08. Old way to forswear alcohol (4,3,6) 10. Sweetener (5) 11. Chinese guild (4) 12. Soft feathers (4) 16. Plant prickle (5) 17. Permanently remembered (13) 19. Food preparation room (7) 20. Large inn (5)

spent in subsidies to fossil fuel in 2014). Yes, the HEAL study came much before the IMF researchers made their staggering estimate. Experts believe that the real numbers would be much higher.

02. Keep scolding (3) 03. Very much dislike (6) 04. Dig up from the bottom (6) 05. Not worth considering (6) 06. Cooling, heating devices (9) 07. Car direction control (8,5) 09. Tends to become corpulent (4,2,3) 13. Stifness, formality (6) 14. To direct, control (6) 15. Suddenly take (6) 18. Something staked (3)

DOWN

01. Hands on responsibility for (6,3,4)

SOLUTION: BL Two-way Crossword 916 ACROSS 1. Biped 4. Squalid 8. Supposing 9. Dor 10. Overlay 12. Kepi 14. Angered 17. Amen 18. Despite 20. Lad 21. Alienated 23. Rowlock 24. Lodge DOWN 1. Bespoke tailor 2. Puppet 3. Doodling 4. Ski 5. Urge 6. Ladder 7. Darning needle 11. Yield 13. Personal 15. Meadow 16. Pitted 19. Halo 22. Irk

Offer differentiators For passengers, it can: 1. Create more pay-per-use ecosystems. While passengers buying second class tickets are the most by number, about 28 per cent of passenger revenue comes from those that buy sleeper class tickets. The railways can them by offering more facilities, in-train entertainment, station refurbishment and a material leap in punctuality. 2. Better customer experience in all the interfaces starting from ticketing, Station touch points, on board travel engagement (cleanliness, food and beverage, in coach facilities, etc.). Passengers need convenience, cost-efectiveness, and timeliness. There is enough empirical evidence to suggest people are willing to pay if they get value. Today’s consumer has many choices, so the Railways will have to ofer diferentiators by reinventing itself rather quickly. For the frenemy is at the gate. The writer is practice leader and director-transport & logistics at CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory

august 17, 1997

phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 for developed nations and by 2025 for low-income economies. This is important because as another recent study has shown, G20 countries provide four times more public money to fossil fuels than to renewable energy. The public funds wasted include soft loans and guarantees from governments along with huge indirect subsidies on petrol, diesel, coal, etc. This matters a lot in India, which has recently been criticised for exempting dirty fuels such as diesel from the ambit of GST.

This must stop. Yes. HEAL has urged policymakers to end fossil fuel subsidies for the sake of health, and use the money to support healthcare innovations and renewable energy projects. Every year air pollution from mostly fossil fuel combustion affects the lives of about 6.5 million people worldwide. Societies across the globe pay for these ailments. In the UK, for example, health costs from fossilfuel-driven air pollution are almost five times higher than the subsidies paid. This means, not only did the government give away $6.5 billion of public money to one of the world’s wealthiest industries, but that gift cost them another $30.7 billion in health costs alone from premature deaths from air pollution.

Oh, why? Many fear such moves will end up triggering ecological damage and health problems. The fuel industry’s argument that such cuts will afect the poor’s access to energy, doesn’t hold as most victims are the poor themselves. Governments must scrap fossil doles and focus on renewables, which will benefit the poor and lower-income people much more than dangerous fuels.

Indeed! HEAL wants policymakers to

A weekly column that helps you ask the right questions

bl two-way crossword 917

track the implementation of the others.

BusinessLine TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY

Fossil fuel: A hidden price tag and a sick world JINOY JOSE P

9

Level field for domestic industry: PM

The Prime Minister, Mr. I.K. Gujral, has assured a levelplaying field to the domestic industry and added that though foreign investment was welcome, it would be allowed only in areas where it was required. “The days of 16th century capitalism where any outsider can come and overwhelm you are over. Outsiders are welcome. But they will not be allowed to drown us and take over Indian companies. They will be allowed to invest in sectors where we need them,” the PM told captains of industry while inaugurating a national conference on ‘50 years of Indian industry: 1947-97, The challenges for the future’. BSE plea to keep brokers posted on FII holdings

The Bombay Stock Exchange has appealed to the Reserve Bank of India to evolve a mechanism to provide stock brokers timely information about changes in FII holdings in companies. This follows the development in the HDFC counter where the market participants sufered huge losses as their purchases in the scrip for FIIs exceeded the 30 per cent ceiling. The exchange has suggested that the RBI should inform the market on FII holding in a company as soon it reaches the ‘watch list’ limit of 26 per cent. Govt. may scrap dual pricing system

The Centre has been compelled to consider abolition of the dual pricing system of foodgrains channelised through the PDS as one of options in view of the operational glitches in the implementation of the Targeted Public Distribution Scheme. But Food Minister Mr. Raghubans Prasad Singh does not seem to be comfortable with this. After meeting PM, Mr. I.K. Gujral, on recasting the TPDS, Mr. Singh told Business Line: “I am in favour of fine-tuning the existing TPDS system through increasing the foodgrain allocation to the really poor from 10 kg to even 20 kg”.

not so easy ACROSS

01. Grieved for the pen I’d broken (5) 04. Alternatively appears in the departments one sends back home (7) 08. How one used a written promise to be dry (4,3,6) 10. In order to rag us, use a sweetener (5) 11. One of a lifting pair in secret Asian society (4) 12. What this clue is not is depressed (4) 16. Thunder-god going north: see the point? (5) 17. If it is, it can’t be put out of mind (13) 19. This range shows the scope of the cook (7) 20. An accommodating place has a lot he can sort out (5) DOWN

02. How the old horse will keep on at one (3) 03. Hate to die without one trial (6) 04. Dig in the channel, or sprinkle it in top (6) 05. It is mean for a friend to attempt it (6) 06. They may blow hot and cold about radio arts (9) 07. Circle on column will take one’s directions (8,5) 09. Gets to be corpulent, for taunts to be made of it (4,2,3) 13. It is taken from the charts for use in the laundry (6) 14. Rule that Queen Victoria has gone wrong (6) 15. A bit of a tune one may grasp hold of (6) 18. Wager the second letter one got from Greece wasn’t finished (3)

01. Outstrips the dandy as one relegates responsibility (6,3,4)

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TECHNOPHILE

10

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

SARAHAH GOES against the grain of honesty

Why does constructive feedback need the cloak of anonymity? MALA BHARGAVA

I

t’s with some dismay that I see Sarahah, yet another secret messaging app, going viral in India. I had hoped it would stay in the corner it was created in — Saudi Arabia — but no, it had to spread here, now touching family and friends. If you remember Secret, Whisper, YikYak, and that other awful Peeple app that was based on the idea of giving others ratings and feedback, the lot didn’t take long to run into trouble. I briefly tried one of these and it was vicious. Groups were wasting no time bad-mouthing others and it was obvious who was who because enough hints were given in posts for you to identify the person. I soon left, but not without a bad taste in the mouth and the uncomfortable knowledge that such apps were just bringing out the worst in people. If Sarahah wants to be a platform for honesty first, which I’m told is what the word means in Arabic, what is the idea of being dishonest about who you are? From being a tool for personal development and constructive feedback, which is what Sarahah

developer Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq very generously intended it to be, it’s quickly become a platform for explicit sexual advances and trolling, if not outright bullying — all of it otherwise not meant for print. Open season for trolls It’s obvious that such networks only give people a channel on which they can let go of social norms and behave as they never would in the real world. Even setting that aside, why should hiding behind anonymity be a way of giving anyone honest feedback? Most critical feedback is really no news to the recipient. If you tell me I’m intolerant (I’m really not, I promise) at work, it can hardly be a huge shock. If I am, the reaction of colleagues and bosses will have given me more than a hint. Hearing it anonymously doesn’t suddenly give me a way of tackling and overcoming the shortcoming of intolerance in my nature. What might work instead, is a manager at work sitting down with me and gently explaining to me the consequences of how I behave towards others. Or perhaps showing me better ways of getting things done. It’s really what a

Add to your iPhone’s storage

Malevolent effect The anonymity of the platform enables people to say nasty things that can have a negative outcome SHUTTERSTOCK

Pointless ‘feedback’ It’s really the vulnerable who will be attracted to a platform like Sarahah, other than the curious and those looking for some sport at the expense of someone else. Any ‘feedback’ thrown around is about to do as much good as a stone thrown at you. It will hurt, leave you feeling misunderstood, and give you little chance to put your arguments forward, explaining circumstances. The best place for an employer to

praise someone is really in public, where it has the maximum impact. If not, there’s email, a phone call, or over cofee at the oice canteen. There’s also LinkedIn, where you can both recommend and mentor someone. Thinking back to something wonderful a teacher once said to me, I can’t help wondering if it would have been as nice had she just sent me a message somewhere. Instead, she said what she had to in front of all my classmates at the college valedictory function, Not

MIRZA MOHAMMED ALI KHAN

Clockwise by Epoch Software, available on Android, is a nice concept that really should be fine-tuned and made easier and more intuitive to use. Other than being an ordinary alarm clock with a timer-like beeper, it has a lot of modules you can build to wake up in a customised way. For instance, you can set the alarm to read you news from a selected category such as business or technology. Or, you can hear about the weather for the day — read to you by the Google voice. There are about 11 modules, but you have to pay ₹65 to remove a few annoying ads and unlock all the features plus get unlimited alarms. The app in its free version isn’t really usable as it’s too annoying. If you do move to Clockwise Pro though, be mindful that it’s for those who like tinkering with settings. You need to dig in quite a bit to set all sorts of parameters and select what you want plus see how the alarms behave and what you need to do to hear things with it. Some refinement and an easier experience would really make Clockwise a useful app.

OUR BUREAU

only do I glow with pleasure many years later at the memory, but my classmates’ warm and enthusiastic agreement gives me a thrill even today. Thankfully there were no apps back when I was in college. As for criticism that is obviously going to hurt, there should first of all be enough honesty and courage on one side to give that possibly necessary feedback in person and enough willingness to receive the feedback. Only then is it going to lead to any

personal development. Coming from nowhere in particular, it’s unlikely to do anything but skim of the surface. Mind you, there are some who think Sarahah is a great concept, at least going by some of the surfaced reviews on the app stores. Whether it’s that or sheer curiosity, something has taken Sarahah to the top on Apple’s App Store. Like Whisper and Secret however, it’s likely to fade into the history of apps that inexplicably went viral before fading into the dust.

Nubia N2: Good looker, giant battery

APP IN A SNAP A SMART ALARM CLOCK

SanDisk’s iXpand flash drives bring utility and ease to file management

Many users believe that it’s only with Android that one can use an OTG connector and get the device talking to an external drive to share or store files. Provided the smartphone or tablet is OTG capable. While the options for iOS devices are limited, they do exist. SanDisk has a series of iXpand flash drives with a lightning connector at one end and a regular USB at the other. That means you can use it with your iPhone or iPad and with anything that takes a USB, such as a PC or a Mac. These drives come in diferent storage options from 16 GB to 256 GB, starting at a little under ₹3,000; but of course as you go up the storage scale, they get quite expensive. We looked at an iXpand Mini Flash Drive with 32 GB of storage. It connected easily enough with an iPad and an iPhone but immediately prompts downloading an iXpand app. This is neither something you can do without nor should because it brings on board a whole set of features. Once the app recognises the connected drive, you’ll be led through a tour of the features that make this accessory something more than just a blank slate of storage space. The drive and app work together to back up your photos and videos, for example, freeing up very precious space on the device. If your social media posts are really special to you, you can save a lot of the media from your networks. If you’re a big movie watcher or love carrying around music that isn’t just streamed online, the app will recognise and play diferent formats without you having to go hunting for solutions. It’s a sort of file manager that makes accessing everything stored much easier. We did, however, find a few annoyances such as repeated requests to give permission to the drive and device to work together, but this may be because both the iPad and iPhone were on the beta version of iOS 11, the upgrade coming soon to Apple’s mobile devices.

manager’s job is all about — cultivating and developing team members. Giving and receiving feedback is never ever easy and tossed carelessly and anonymously via an app or social network can do little but hurt. For teenagers, who are busy trying to navigate the hormone-riddled territory of adolescent years, ‘negative’ feedback is highly unlikely to be constructive and could just provide that fourteenth reason. It’s with no surprise that I read about a girl who committed suicide after some stinging remarks on Sarahah. It wouldn’t have been the only reason, but it could have been the last straw.

JUST OUT ASUS’ REPUBLIC OF GAMERS LAUNCHES ‘ZEPHYRUS’ LAPTOP Asus' Republic of Gamers, a sub-brand dedicated to gaming hardware and software, has unveiled what it claims is the world's slimmest gaming laptop, at just 16.9 mm of thickness. It is powered by a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor and is also the first notebook with NVidia MaxQ design technology, which enables laptops to pack in a better performance while staying lean. The ‘Zephyrus’, as the laptop is called, also features the Windows 10 Creators Update and the Windows Game Mode. The graphics are powered by NVidia’s latest GEForce GTX 1080 and NVidia G-SYNC. Yet another NVidia feature the Zephyrus sports is the WhisperMode technology that reduces laptop running noise. It is priced at ₹2,99,990.

TECH BUZZ WHATSAPP TO INCLUDE UPI PAYMENT METHOD? Something that all of us know and most of us are still coming to terms with is that payments are going digital. In India, this is slow, but sure. Post demonetisation, cashless transactions shot up and the likes of Paytm and other wallets made hay. Now, it seems other apps don’t want to be left behind. Whatsapp has been working on a payments solution within the app itself and now, if reports are to be believed, the latest beta version has integrated payments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI). There were reports earlier that said WhatsApp’s co-founder had met India’s IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss “digital commerce”. Well, one way or the other, making money transfers as easy as sending a message will definitely be an advantage.

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Nubia has released a few models in India that have garnered a decent response. The company focuses on its cameras and even at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year in Shanghai, the company’s exhibition space was lined with food, cofee beans and other photo-worthy things — all to test its phone cameras. The company recently launched the N2 smartphone, boasting a giant 5,000 mAh battery. It’s yet another addition to the burgeoning mid-range segment. The phone gets its looks on point, looking more expensive than it is. The review unit was a dull golden colour on the back and was quite a presence on tables and desks. The home button is on the front, distinguished by a rather peculiar red circle on it. The power button is on the right and volume rockers on the left, with the double speaker grille and the USB type C port on the bottom of the phone. It gets a 3.5 mm headphone jack on top. The battery size ensures that the phone isn’t exactly slim, but it does feel nice and chunky to hold without the fear of slipping; although it is quite heavy. The 5.5-inch display is AMOLED, but the resolution at 720p isn’t exactly top notch, and that shows. Colours on the home screen appear dull and chalky, but during gaming and video playback, there is an improvement. The phone gets 4 GB of RAM, but don’t be surprised; bigger RAMs are now easily available in mid-range, and even a few budget smartphones. It is powered by a Mediatek octa-core processor and along with that RAM, it isn’t slow and seldom lags. I did experience some heating when putting it through prolonged gaming

and camera use. The phone runs Android 6.0 topped with Nubia’s UI and this is a drawback, as competing phones in the segment such as the Moto G5 Plus come with Android Nougat out of the box. There are a few useful preloaded apps such as Supersnap, which lets you record what you're doing on the screen, and Dual Instance that lets you clone apps to use multiple accounts. There are also a bunch of touch controls that are triggered by swiping and tapping the edges of the screen — you can increase or decrease brightness by moving your fingers up or down on both the edges simultaneously, and switch between apps by swiping from the edge, like you would turn the pages of a book. For a company that stresses on camera performance, the 13 MP rear shooter on this one is average. Daylight shots turn out well, but under low light, the usual mid-range phone camera constraints start to show. However, it does have fun modes to choose from like clone camera, light painting, and multiexposure, so you won’t get bored of it too soon. The front 16 MP shooter does the selfie job well. The 5,000 mAH battery on this one is the best part about the phone. It lasts long even with gaming and multitasking and gets you through the day and some more with ease. At its price, it adds itself to the phones that can be considered for an average, daily user. Price: ₹15,999 Pros: Looks, battery, useful apps and touch features Cons: Heavy, average camera, old Android version, underwhelming display

A sporty take on wireless earphones The Jabra Elite Sport goes with you on a workout and senses heart rate, pace, reps and even gives you advice MALA BHARGAVA

Totally wireless earphones meant mostly for runs and workouts have almost become a category of their own, so many are the products that are coming out in this space. The Jabra Elite Sport aren’t, strictly speaking, all that new, but they have just been launched in India at a hefty price of ₹18,990. That’s more than Samsung’s IconX, which does much the same thing and Apple’s AirPods that don’t coach without the help of some specific apps, but do sound wonderful. The Elite Sport earphones come out of a box that looks most interesting on the inside. The earphones themselves sit in a little grey case that snaps open and shut and charges them. It’s a pity that the case doesn’t have a better placing for the buds or a magnetic fit-in because as you open the case, the earbuds pop out and roll

CM YK

away. The rest of the box houses a whole selection of silicone ear-gels, foam eargels and wings, along with charging cable and manual. You’ll need the manual all right as these little things are quite complex, so it’s best to have a look online or flip through the literature before using them. The earphones happen to be rather chunky, as is the case with many sport earphones I find these days. For normal sized ears, they wedge in well enough and stay there, but if your ear canal is on the small side, you may have a bit of trouble with it. I could actually barely keep them in but saw no such reports from other reviewers who stated they never fall out. Interestingly, you can use the ear buds separately from one another. You have to watch not to let them roll away, which I found happened with me often enough. If they drop, they don’t just stay in one

place like a rock or bounce once or twice, but roll of so be on the alert for them falling into something. If it’s a puddle though, they will emerge safe enough because they’re IP67 rated and water and dust resistant. That’s always nice to know. The two grey chunks that make up the Elite Sport earphones have buttons on the outer side. On one earphone, the buttons handle the volume and track skipping and on the other you have the play and pause and call functions as well as a ‘hear-through’ feature which brings the sounds around into better focus for safety. These buttons could have been of a softer kind or even been touch sensitive because pressing them is a bit diicult even when you’re not wearing them — there isn’t enough travel in the buttons for you to be sure they’ve been pressed hard enough. Serious sport You absolutely need to download the companion Jabra Sport Life app on either your iOS or Android device because that’s where you can see the features come alive. These earphones are not the option if you just want to listen to music, but if you need freedom from wires while you

workout or run and want sports features, it’s this category that you would need to consider. While they sound fine with music and while you can take calls with them, they’re best at their main function — getting you through an eicient and efective workout. Because the earbuds

sense your heart rate through your ears, they give you feedback on when to step up your workout or when to slow down. Wearables haven’t yet achieved foolproof accuracy with heart rate, but they are certainly more than a good indicator of what’s going on. But even more useful is

Trainer in your ears The earphones can sense when you’re tired and ask you to stop

the rep count feature, which does the counting for you and gives you notifications or lets you check on your phone’s display. You can also see on the screen how to do the exercise correctly. You also get a VO2Max level, which is an indicator of whether you’re working out at the correct cardiovascular level. With this, you can keep adjusting the exercise level. Best of all, you get recovery advice so that you don’t need to guess or wonder whether you’re tired enough and need a rest. The earphones charge via a regular USB cable when they’re in the case and the case itself charges them for a round or two. This isn’t all-day battery but these are not all-day earphones either and not really designed to be worn comfortably for hours. Luckily, no one works out the whole day.

Price: ₹18,990 Pros: Focused well on workout parameters, water and dust resistant, packed with features, generous accessories Cons: Pricey, somewhat clunky for small ears

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MARKET WATCH

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

Equity market offers little spark in the short term

QUICKLY

X W

Weak financial performance, anaemic corporate capex recovery are main drags Mixed trend Most Asian markets showed a mixed trend on Wednesday after US indices took small losses on Tuesday. Indian bourses, however, made handsome gains AP

Apex Frozen price band: ₹171-175 Mumbai, August 16

Apex Frozen Foods has set the price band of ₹171-175 a share for its initial public offering of shares. The issue will open for subscription on August 22 and close on August 24, the company said in a press release. Apex Frozen Food’s offer consists of a fresh issue of 72.5 lakh shares and an offer-for-sale of 14.5 lakh shares of the company by promoters Karuturi Satyanarayana Murthy and Karuturi Padmavathi. The total offering of 87 lakh shares is worth ₹149 crore at the lower end of the price band and ₹152 crore at the upper end. COGENCIS

OUR BUREAU Mumbai, August 16

After gaining 23 per cent year-todate till July, the Indian equity market is likely to struggle upwards, going ahead. Both time and price corrections are also not ruled out due to high valuation, disappointing corporate performance, and weak outlook of corporate capex recovery. Expensive @21x times Benchmark index Nifty 50 has already declined 2.4 per cent after hitting a new record at 10137.85 on August 2. The Indian equity market looks

expensive at 21 times FY18 estimated earnings, brokerages said. Bank of America Merrill Lynch remains cautious due to high valuation and has a Sensex target of 30,000 for December, which implies a 5.5 per cent downside, from Wednesday’s closing of 31,770.89. Kotak Institutional Equities pointed out that underlying conditions in several sectors, such as banks, information technology and pharmaceuticals and the broader economy continue to be weak given the performance of India Inc in Q1. It expects Nifty 50’s earnings to grow only 1.5 per cent

Amtek Auto insolvency IRP asks SEs to keep shares listed ‘The firm has been operating at very low capacity’

ted in the June 2017 quarter and only 26 per cent surprised positively. “Micro factors are not as favourable as macro,” it said.

Deutsche Bank had earlier said that almost 40 per cent of its coverage companies have disappointed in the June quarter and only 26 per cent surprised positively

last few months and it needs working capital immediately. “In terms of mandate under Section 20 of the IBC, I am required to make every endeavour to protect and preserve the value of the property and manage the operations of the corporate debtor as a going concern during CIRP,” he added. If Amtek Auto had failed to pay fees or any other charges prior to July 24, the bourses can claim it from the interim resolution professional. However, if any amount has become payable after July 24, Dinkar asked the bourses not to delist the shares till completion of the process within 280 days from the date of the admission or with extension for a maximum period of 90 days, he added. Amtek Auto is one of the 12 nonperforming accounts identified by the RBI to be referred to the tribunal by banks. On Wednesday, Amtek shares closed at ₹27.95, up 9.82 per cent, on the BSE.

OUR BUREAU Chennai, August 16

The Interim Resolution Professional appointed to complete the corporate insolvency resolution process of Amtek Auto, on Wednesday wrote to the exchanges to keep the company’s shares listed in order to keep the company as a going concern.

Poor utilisation There is also weak outlook on pick-up in private corporate capex given poor industrial utilisation, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Government spending is also expected to be limited as the fiscal deficit reached 81 per cent of FY18 target in Q1, compared to 61 per cent in the same quarter last year, and there is uncertainty over indirect tax collections post GST. Markets are slaves of earnings growth, which, in turn, is driven by good financial performance and pick-up in corporate capex.

in FY18 after it reported 8.4 per cent year-on-year decline in Q1 and downgrades are expected in several sectors such as banks, metals & mining and pharmaceuticals. There is little evidence of a strong turnaround in the economy, which can drive volume growth,” it said. Deutsche Bank had earlier said that almost 40 per cent of its coverage companies have disappoin-

11

NCLT’s move The Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) had been initiated against Amtek Auto by the National Company Law Tribunal in July. Dinkar Venkatasubramanian, who was appointed the interim resolution professional, in a letter said the company has been operating at a very low capacity for the

Shell cos: SAT to hear 2 pleas today New Delhi, August 16

The Securities Appellate Tribunal will on Thursday hear pleas by Hit Kit Global Solutions and Sanco Industries against trading restrictions imposed on their shares by exchanges on SEBI directions. The tribunal last week stayed trading curbs on eight companies, including JKumar Infraprojects and Parsvnath Developers, which were among the 331 “suspected shell companies” referred by the government to SEBI. Trading restrictions were imposed on these companies with effect from August 8, following which many of them approached SAT. PTI

Asia Index relaxes eligibility norm Mumbai, August 16

Asia Index Pvt Ltd has decided to relax the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the S&P BSE AllCap index — a comprehensive, rules-based index that seeks to measure the performance of the domestic stock market. Under the new methodology, which would come into effect from September, the ‘listing history’ required for IPO of companies would be one month as against the current norm of six months. “IPOs should have a listing history of at least one month, as of the re-balancing reference date, to be eligible for index inclusion,” Asia Index said in a notice on Wednesday. The S&P BSE AllCap comprises companies from the S&P BSE LargeCap, S&P BSE MidCap, and the S&P BSE SmallCap indices. PTI

India-focussed offshore equity funds continue to entice investors OUR BUREAU

India-focussed ofshore funds and ETFs witnessed healthy inflows in the April-June quarter, according to a Morningstar study. India-focussed funds have received $2.6 billion, higher than the net inflow of $2 billion they had garnered in the preceding quarter ending March. So far this year (until June 2017), the category has received net assets worth $4.6 billion. During the same period last year, the India-focussed ofshore funds and ETFs witnessed a net outflow of $2.3 billion, Morningstar said. An ofshore India fund primarily invests in the domestic market, but is domiciled outside India. The assets of India-focussed ofshore funds and ETFs moved

DAY TRADING GUIDE 9904 • Nifty 50 Futures S1

S2

9855

9805

R1

R2

9950 10000

COMMENT

Fresh long positions can be initiated with a tight stop-loss if the contract reverses higher from 9855 levels

Fund

Domicile Assets ($ m)

US

5,017

Luxembourg

4,280

Japan

3,301

Aberdeen Global Indian Equity

Luxembourg

3,274

GS India Equity Portfolio

Luxembourg

2,392

iShares MSCI India ETF Franklin India I(acc) EUR Nomura India Equity

Source: Morningstar Investment Adviser India Pvt Ltd

up significantly to $55.2 billion during the quarter ended June, from $50.1 billion at the end of March. The total assets of the 10 largest India-focussed ofshore funds and ETFs stood at $27.3 billion compared with $25.4 billion in the previous quarter and $20.5 billion as of June 30, 2016. “The March 2017 quarter laid a strong foundation for the June quarter to build upon and excel. The Union Budget announced on February 1, 2017, was broadly in line with market expectations

S1

S2

R1

R2

1765

1750

1790

1800

COMMENT

Make use of intraday dips to buy the stock while maintaining a stiff stop-loss at ₹1765 levels

₹279 • ITC S1

S2

R1

R2

276

273

282

285

COMMENT

After taking support at ₹271, the stock gained 3 per cent witnessing buying interest. Buy in dips

₹976 • Infosys S1

S2

R1

R2

970

960

990

1000

COMMENT

Consider initiating fresh long positions with a tight stop-loss only if the stock moves above ₹990

₹161 • ONGC S1

S2

R1

R2

158

155

164

167

COMMENT

Initiate long positions with a tight stop-loss if the stock of ONGC moves beyond ₹164 levels

₹1566 • Reliance Ind. S1

S2

R1

R2

1550

1530

1580

1595

COMMENT

Consider short positions with a fixed stop-loss if the stock fails to advance above ₹1580 levels

₹282 • SBI S1

S2

R1

R2

279

276

286

289

COMMENT

Initiate fresh long positions with a tight stop-loss if the stock of SBI rallies above ₹286 levels

₹2491 • TCS S1

S2

R1

R2

2470

2450

2510

2530

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

TODAY'S PICK National Aluminimum Company (₹69.4) BL Research Bureau

The stock of National Aluminium Company (Nalco) was resilient and fell marginally in the previous week. However, the stock found support in the band between ₹61 and ₹64 and bounced up sharply this week. In the last two trading sessions, the stock has surged almost 11 per cent and has decisively breached its 50- and 200-DMAs. Since early January, the stock has been in a broad sideways consolidation phase in the range between ₹61 and ₹80. With the recent reversal from the lower boundary, the stock CM YK

Moneyline Portfolio Investments on Wednesday sold 3.18 per cent stake in Max Financial Services (MFS) for over ₹514 crore through an open market transaction. According to the bulk deal data available on the BSE, Moneyline oloaded 85 lakh

shares, amounting to 3.18 per cent stake. The shares were sold at an average price of ₹605.02 apiece, valuing the transaction at ₹514.27 crore, the data showed. The buyer of the shares could not be ascertained immediately. Shares of MFS ended the day on BSE at ₹605.10, up 0.84

per cent. Promoted by the $2billion Max Group, MFS is the holding company of Max Life, which is the group’s joint venture with Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company. Last month, Max India had withdrawn the proposed merger agreement between Max Life and MFS with HDFC Standard Life Insurance.

A view of Prakash Industries’ factory in Chhattisgarh. The steel and power major’s shares soared 11.62 per cent on Wednesday on reports that BNP Paribas Arbitrage Fund bought an additional 0.66 per cent in the firm on Monday via a bulk deal. The stock closed at ₹115.75 on the BSE

US stocks rise with an eye on Fed minutes between the US and North Korea. All major US equity indices were higher. In Europe, miners and financial services companies led the way as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced, while core bonds across the region declined. The euro slipped after a report that Mario Draghi would not deliver a fresh policy message at the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference next week. The latest European data showed more nations joining

BLOOMBERG August 16

US stocks rose and the dollar and Treasuries largely held steady as the financial markets prepared for the release of the latest Federal Reserve minutes. European shares advanced amid growing optimism over the region’s economy. Oil headed for its first gain in three days, and base metals rallied. Markets are settling after a tumultuous few days spurred by heightened tensions

the recovery as the Euro-area economy gathers pace. Italy’s economy expanded for a 10th straight quarter, while growth in the Netherlands beat economists’ estimates. Eastern European economies including Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland also exceeded expectations, confirming that a broad-based recovery is taking hold. The S&P 500 Index was up 0.3 per cent to 2,471.83 as of 10.38 am in New York.

NSE Futures Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

Banknifty-Aug Banknifty-Sep Nifty-Aug Nifty-Sep ACC-Aug Adanient-Aug Adaniports-Aug AmbujacemAug Apollotyre-Aug Arvind-Aug Ashokley-Aug Asianpaint-Aug AuropharmaAug Axisbank-Aug Bajaj-Auto-Aug Bajajfinsv-Aug Bajfinance-Aug BankbarodaAug Bankindia-Aug Bataindia-Aug BEML-Aug Bharatfin-Aug Bharatforg-Aug Bhartiartl-Aug BHEL-Aug Biocon-Aug BPCL-Aug Britannia-Aug Canbk-Aug

Open

High

Low

Close

Qty Vol

OI

24241.00 24497.65 23990.00 24475.10 121161 2000.44 24286.45 24558.35 24057.00 24537.95 2795 112.12 9829.40 9910.00 9778.20 9904.95 145494 23589.45 9844.00 9941.35 9812.00 9937.60 6346 1515.53 1792.20 1815.95 1775.05 1811.30 2976 1214.40 112.55 116.45 109.30 115.55 3855 24192.00 399.10 405.30 392.90 398.40 2858 6657.50 266.45 264.00 373.35 106.05 1156.35

271.75 274.10 378.90 106.35 1157.75

265.40 260.45 371.10 102.45 1131.30

270.95 272.95 377.25 105.20 1142.65

1702 10037.50 5340 10455.00 1857 6120.00 4238 49294.00 2363 2901.60

716.75 495.00 2813.20 5287.95 1732.25

718.20 502.60 2865.00 5429.95 1733.80

707.15 489.00 2811.95 5184.05 1687.20

716.65 4330 12324.00 500.85 10245 32160.00 2850.05 1911 1187.25 5380.10 2457 397.13 1727.90 4928 3649.00

143.70 145.10 668.05 1750.10 808.80 1186.80 410.00 127.30 350.05 483.05 4200.70 332.45

149.00 148.25 675.95 1754.50 827.00 1203.75 412.35 129.85 352.70 489.00 4316.80 339.45

138.25 141.80 657.50 1697.35 803.65 1183.50 405.35 124.50 320.25 476.05 4198.30 323.05

147.70 15376 56563.50 147.60 4340 17202.00 673.85 3010 3026.10 1724.90 4281 1804.80 824.25 4639 11146.00 1191.85 2948 4585.80 408.70 2596 29333.50 129.20 2611 30970.00 329.30 13730 10540.80 485.30 3324 13971.60 4303.45 2139 432.60 337.90 6485 9140.98

Low

Close

Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

CAPF-Aug Ceatltd-Aug Centurytex-Aug Cipla-Aug Coalindia-Aug Concor-Aug DHFL-Aug Divislab-Aug DLF-Aug Drreddy-Aug Eichermot-Aug Escorts-Aug Federalbnk-Aug Glenmark-Aug Godfryphlp-Aug Godrejind-Aug Granules-Aug Grasim-Aug Havells-Aug Hcltech-Aug HDFC-Aug Hdfcbank-Aug HeromotocoAug Hindalco-Aug Hindpetro-Aug Hindunilvr-Aug Hindzinc-Aug Ibulhsgfin-Aug Icicibank-Aug IDBI-Aug IDEA-Aug

Open

High

Low

Close

Qty Vol

735.50 752.65 723.05 744.80 1849 1698.35 1724.00 1662.00 1719.20 5073 1223.35 1226.80 1201.95 1218.75 4804 568.10 595.55 563.10 592.60 4881 237.05 240.25 235.25 239.10 5044 1174.45 1250.00 1174.45 1235.10 2744 440.85 453.40 428.60 450.35 8126 645.15 660.60 636.60 657.60 2642 179.60 183.90 174.20 181.75 8949 2009.35 2021.90 1975.30 2007.00 5503 30500.35 30712.45 30101.50 30609.70 2510 615.85 643.30 605.45 639.95 4425 109.35 110.70 106.70 110.45 2631 635.85 669.00 620.75 624.00 2428 916.90 1052.70 863.00 1042.80 3684 584.20 615.50 584.05 611.90 1750 120.50 128.70 119.60 127.20 4206 1122.95 1127.20 1093.85 1107.70 3088 475.00 482.00 459.15 465.05 1948 863.70 868.30 851.85 865.15 1987 1720.00 1759.15 1718.20 1742.55 7758 1773.65 1789.00 1750.35 1779.90 10746 3960.35 231.55 441.45 1174.95 284.05 1180.30 294.00 51.00 86.20

4043.00 236.90 444.55 1189.80 295.35 1215.80 296.00 53.80 87.65

3936.00 228.10 433.00 1155.30 282.50 1170.05 288.05 51.00 85.75

4020.85 234.40 437.60 1186.40 292.15 1209.95 295.40 53.40 87.35

Low

Close

4456 9022 3950 3507 2805 4324 9821 1751 1841

OI

3078.40 1633.80 7728.05 7431.00 25008.70 938.75 18469.50 6446.40 39355.00 4191.80 139.88 4690.40 62337.00 5156.20 752.50 2617.50 12795.00 2473.50 3450.00 5930.40 9655.50 19529.50 968.20 39816.00 25749.68 8871.00 10320.00 7492.00 90587.75 32904.00 57330.00

Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

IDFC-Aug Indiacem-Aug Indigo-Aug Indusindbk-Aug INFY-Aug IOC-Aug ITC-Aug Jetairways-Aug Jindalstel-Aug Jswenergy-Aug Jswsteel-Aug Jublfood-Aug Justdial-Aug Kotakbank-Aug KSCL-Aug L&Tfh-Aug Lichsgfin-Aug LT-Aug Lupin-Aug M&M-Aug M&Mfin-Aug Maruti-Aug Mcdowell-NAug MFSL-Aug MothersumiAug NTPC-Aug ONGC-Aug Orientbank-Aug Pcjeweller-Aug Petronet-Aug

Open

High

Low

Close

Qty Vol

OI

55.15 183.55 1255.00 1628.95 985.55 421.65 271.95 568.15 137.50 65.20 231.55 1415.00 350.90 984.90 539.75 173.20 660.05 1148.75 975.00 1366.80 428.70 7574.05

57.35 186.20 1312.00 1659.00 986.95 427.25 281.75 593.70 140.50 65.35 238.75 1444.70 354.15 1005.40 565.60 177.25 665.90 1152.00 975.00 1377.00 431.20 7641.00

54.75 179.25 1250.00 1610.00 970.40 420.60 271.25 560.90 131.00 63.50 230.85 1382.50 348.30 970.85 535.20 171.10 650.05 1125.10 952.50 1351.35 415.15 7522.25

57.00 1709 115130.40 185.00 2821 25081.00 1283.80 2409 1494.60 1654.00 3832 4457.40 978.95 9084 27367.00 421.55 3846 19947.00 279.35 12029 49192.80 589.45 4941 3390.00 139.00 5601 37422.00 64.95 3017 73865.00 238.10 5339 54666.00 1394.45 9047 1891.00 351.50 1933 4650.00 1000.70 6061 9116.80 563.00 1841 3897.00 176.45 3930 14499.00 662.30 4792 6733.10 1142.25 5450 9290.25 963.90 5296 8469.20 1371.20 2057 3805.50 425.40 2865 7440.00 7626.55 6981 1739.25

2498.30 606.75

2565.05 624.00

2494.00 602.00

2557.70 608.40

2720 3873

1917.50 4819.00

328.65 172.10 161.95 119.60 332.95 218.15

338.75 173.70 161.95 125.35 349.40 230.10

328.65 170.25 159.75 117.65 324.35 218.15

333.00 170.60 161.20 124.50 345.90 229.30

2386 2059 1878 2490 3044 3889

7151.25 20056.00 47115.00 16518.00 4692.00 11508.00

Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

Open

High

Low

Close

Qty Vol

OI

PFC-Aug 119.50 120.40 116.40 118.75 2207 39408.00 PNB-Aug 143.65 149.60 141.10 148.20 8646 22925.00 Rblbank-Aug 495.85 519.40 493.30 516.90 2443 13126.00 RCOM-Aug 23.75 23.95 22.60 23.50 2174 96236.00 Recltd-Aug 166.45 169.20 162.80 164.85 2873 34236.00 Relcapital-Aug 779.60 797.65 776.20 794.25 10965 10296.00 Reliance-Aug 1573.15 1578.00 1552.50 1571.75 13770 13245.00 Relinfra-Aug 490.00 502.95 482.20 496.50 6748 8595.60 SAIL-Aug 58.50 60.00 57.20 59.55 2147 46800.00 SBIN-Aug 280.00 284.75 275.05 284.15 19062 76425.00 Sintex-Aug 33.05 34.15 32.10 33.70 4027 15632.25 Sunpharma-Aug 477.25 487.00 468.05 486.05 17041 37299.20 Suntv-Aug 752.35 754.90 735.50 746.60 2815 7312.00 Suzlon-Aug 17.60 17.75 17.10 17.65 4525 449310.00 Tatacomm-Aug 625.00 647.00 621.00 631.20 3730 8824.20 Tataglobal-Aug 182.30 196.70 181.50 194.10 16857 29916.00 Tatamotors-Aug 381.00 390.80 376.70 389.40 13860 40014.00 Tatamtrdvr-Aug 227.75 232.75 224.25 232.00 2370 19454.40 Tatapower-Aug 81.40 83.65 81.40 82.30 2533 27153.00 Tatasteel-Aug 622.10 632.15 621.25 631.15 13862 23302.00 TCS-Aug 2470.85 2592.95 2470.20 2492.45 4609 5435.75 Techm-Aug 401.25 426.60 399.35 419.95 5581 8494.20 Titan-Aug 635.35 639.80 620.55 628.60 3333 5289.00 Torntpower-Aug 206.90 213.95 205.25 211.55 1867 5922.00 Tvsmotor-Aug 554.65 586.50 552.60 583.70 4897 5952.00 Ujjivan-Aug 317.30 324.70 312.50 323.90 1895 7182.00 Ultracemco-Aug 3948.90 3974.25 3907.60 3947.20 2027 1502.60 Unionbank-Aug 129.05 134.80 126.10 133.80 5395 19896.00 VEDL-Aug 293.10 299.90 287.55 298.20 12172 39994.50 Voltas-Aug 553.65 554.95 540.45 544.65 3230 3220.00 Yesbank-Aug 1791.05 1795.20 1736.30 1768.80 18030 8772.40 Qty: No of Contracts; Vol: Volumes; OI: Open Interest(in 000s)

COMMENT

Fresh long positions can be initiated with a fixed stop-loss if the stock rebounds up from ₹2470 levels

S1, S2: Support 1 & 2; R1, R2: Resistance 1 & 2.

YOGANAND D

and re-emphasised the government’s resolve towards bringing in key economic reforms,” said Morningstar Investment Adviser India Private Ltd. Similarly, the outcome of the election of five States in BJP’s favour fanned expectations that this would facilitate decisionmaking pertaining to significant reforms and strategic policies and would further enhance the implementation of economic measures in a smoother fashion going ahead, it added.

Moneyline sells 3.1% stake in Max Financial for ₹514 crore New Delhi, August 16

₹1780 • HDFC Bank

India-focussed ofshore funds witnessed higher net inflows than India-focussed ofshore ETFs during the quarter. Of the total quarterly net inflow of $2.6 billion, India-focussed ofshore funds registered net inflow of about $2.1 billion, whereas India-focussed ofshore ETFs witnessed net inflows of $467 million, it added. Nomura India Equity, a Japandomiciled fund, continued to attract investors as it received net assets worth $790 million through the quarter, significantly higher than the $257 million it had received in the previous quarter. However, iShares MSCI India retained its top spot as the largest India-focussed ofshore fund and ETF in Q1. Robust inflows helped the fund’s asset size to grow to $55.2 billion from $50.1 billion in Q1.

Mega players

Chennai, August 16

Bulk deal boost

could continue to trade in this sideways range and possibly test the upper boundary in the short to medium term. The daily price rate of change indicator is on the brink of entering the positive terrain, implying emerging buying interest. Overall, the near-term outlook appears bullish for Nalco. Investors with a near-term perspective can buy the stock with stoploss at ₹67.5. Targets are ₹72.5 and ₹74. (Note: The recommendations are based on technical analysis. There is a risk of loss in trading.)

NSE Options Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

Open

S&P CNX NIFTY [75] CE-Aug-9600 264.05 CE-Aug-9700 182.50 CE-Aug-9750 148.45 CE-Aug-9800 105.40 CE-Aug-9850 91.85 CE-Aug-9900 61.90 CE-Aug-9950 47.55 CE-Aug-10000 30.00 CE-Aug-10050 21.75 CE-Aug-10100 15.00 CE-Aug-10150 10.85 CE-Aug-10200 7.55 CE-Aug-10300 5.00 CE-Aug-10400 3.30 CE-Aug-10500 2.40 CE-Aug-11000 0.90 CE-Sep-9900 147.05 CE-Sep-10000 105.25 CE-Sep-10100 68.35 CE-Sep-10200 42.95 CE-Sep-10300 28.30 CE-Sep-10500 14.70 PE-Aug-8800 3.25 PE-Aug-8900 3.95 PE-Aug-9000 4.50 PE-Aug-9100 8.05 PE-Aug-9200 8.55 PE-Aug-9300 13.00 PE-Aug-9400 15.70 PE-Aug-9450 22.55 PE-Aug-9500 25.00 PE-Aug-9550 33.75 PE-Aug-9600 41.00 PE-Aug-9650 49.70 PE-Aug-9700 56.45 PE-Aug-9750 76.75 PE-Aug-9800 93.65 PE-Aug-9850 113.25 PE-Aug-9900 138.55 PE-Aug-10000 202.20 PE-Aug-10100 283.80

High

329.00 243.35 203.25 165.00 131.00 101.40 74.00 53.50 37.45 25.95 18.45 12.60 6.80 4.15 3.10 0.90 191.55 137.00 92.20 59.85 37.65 16.00 4.10 4.85 6.10 8.20 12.00 16.85 23.95 29.45 36.75 43.95 53.85 65.00 80.00 96.70 117.60 140.60 169.95 239.70 325.00

226.85 153.75 122.35 92.65 68.55 48.35 33.55 22.60 14.65 10.60 7.80 5.50 3.65 2.75 2.15 0.85 124.75 84.10 53.75 33.50 20.75 9.05 3.10 3.40 3.90 4.45 6.60 8.40 11.75 14.35 18.20 21.05 25.15 30.75 38.10 48.10 59.70 73.05 92.00 140.55 210.50

324.00 239.35 200.20 162.40 129.00 98.60 72.00 52.15 36.25 25.15 17.75 12.10 6.50 4.00 3.05 0.90 187.05 134.75 90.55 58.10 36.60 15.10 3.55 3.95 4.45 4.95 7.40 9.40 12.95 15.55 19.00 22.05 26.30 32.15 39.40 49.20 61.15 75.35 94.40 144.10 214.65

Qty Vol

3564 27386 5043 152901 23493 231934 19403 207847 23040 122433 6907 76523 32515 12780 25385 3803 3010 6841 6498 6042 5166 3656 5027 3444 17397 15249 23854 34006 48518 4676 100129 5198 127571 8303 185051 13227 222226 9502 79292 24412 4429

OI

716625 1396050 131775 3050175 226650 3286800 445425 5562225 511050 4721550 636600 4506300 2833725 2500275 3009900 1095075 370650 772575 553050 417975 531300 752250 446700 370950 2785875 1763550 2048925 1665525 2199900 51150 5566350 53175 4151550 162075 4462800 292575 5266650 338325 3051225 2773350 1259250

Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

Open

High

PE-Aug-10500 668.65 710.05 PE-Sep-9200 30.50 37.40 PE-Sep-9300 38.90 47.90 PE-Sep-9400 50.05 61.55 PE-Sep-9500 69.35 80.35 PE-Sep-9600 88.10 102.65 PE-Sep-9700 112.00 130.20 PE-Sep-9800 146.05 166.00 PE-Sep-9900 186.50 209.10 AXIS BANK LIMITED [1200] CE-Aug-500 8.80 12.30 CNX BANK INDEX [40] CE-Aug-23800 368.75 655.95 CE-Aug-23900 282.40 557.20 CE-Aug-24000 315.00 460.00 CE-Aug-24100 174.50 365.15 CE-Aug-24200 108.00 275.45 CE-Aug-24300 65.10 195.50 CE-Aug-24400 43.20 123.65 CE-Aug-24500 20.55 67.35 CE-Aug-24600 8.00 29.40 CE-Aug-24700 1.85 10.25 CE-Aug-24800 1.00 4.60 CE-Aug-24900 2.00 2.40 CE-Aug-25000 1.00 1.60 CE-Aug-24000 323.60 564.20 CE-Aug-24200 211.00 394.00 CE-Aug-24300 136.45 310.00 CE-Aug-24400 130.00 248.00 CE-Aug-24500 86.85 202.05 CE-Aug-24700 53.00 124.35 CE-Aug-25000 21.90 48.00 CE-Aug-24000 415.80 616.00 CE-Aug-24200 295.00 468.15 CE-Aug-24300 256.60 396.95 CE-Aug-24400 201.00 335.00 CE-Aug-24500 152.70 280.05 CE-Aug-24600 114.60 230.80 CE-Aug-24700 90.55 185.05 CE-Aug-24800 79.00 147.15 CE-Aug-24900 43.10 117.00 CE-Aug-25000 49.00 92.15

588.15 593.35 25.55 26.45 33.75 34.40 43.00 44.45 55.70 56.85 72.00 73.25 91.75 93.85 117.45 120.20 151.05 153.30

Qty Vol

OI

3298 4815 6427 6143 8818 7977 7538 11293 3007

1044750 398325 363000 636150 1313325 792150 735975 977175 615150

6.70

11.55

2409

1300800

176.30 108.00 65.50 35.60 17.55 7.85 3.55 1.90 0.95 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 200.95 116.30 86.95 65.00 45.00 22.00 7.20 295.90 199.25 160.00 121.40 96.50 74.90 55.95 40.45 20.05 25.20

639.15 539.10 439.65 343.95 257.00 177.15 108.00 57.10 23.90 8.10 3.45 1.80 1.25 529.75 366.20 297.70 237.65 189.05 111.80 42.80 601.00 448.85 384.75 323.75 267.45 219.80 177.95 141.30 112.50 88.10

5125 23384 139360 239116 395912 480349 522077 589334 351565 235799 106475 50622 38207 5247 2837 5018 4397 18909 2936 6665 11408 4072 4926 3832 51172 4688 5070 4504 3397 47443

9240 9280 120040 52240 193360 335320 469440 741000 750720 890880 496800 293040 507360 130040 17440 48920 40640 196880 44960 78600 246520 37560 40160 43200 649320 56240 74920 78280 69840 1142360

Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

Open

CE-Aug-25500 10.65 CE-Aug-26000 7.15 PE-Aug-21900 0.25 PE-Aug-23000 2.60 PE-Aug-23100 3.50 PE-Aug-23200 5.00 PE-Aug-23300 7.25 PE-Aug-23400 10.70 PE-Aug-23500 13.25 PE-Aug-23600 10.90 PE-Aug-23700 15.50 PE-Aug-23800 24.95 PE-Aug-23900 33.20 PE-Aug-24000 71.00 PE-Aug-24100 94.20 PE-Aug-24200 107.00 PE-Aug-24300 172.15 PE-Aug-24400 241.90 PE-Aug-24500 327.45 PE-Aug-24600 430.60 PE-Aug-23500 43.75 PE-Aug-23700 77.45 PE-Aug-23800 94.60 PE-Aug-24000 139.40 PE-Aug-24200 190.90 PE-Aug-22500 31.95 PE-Aug-23000 44.85 PE-Aug-23500 95.95 PE-Aug-23800 141.40 PE-Aug-23900 166.80 PE-Aug-24000 194.20 PE-Aug-24100 222.70 PE-Aug-24200 262.90 PE-Aug-24300 321.35 PE-Aug-24500 412.15 ICICI BANK LTD. [2750] CE-Aug-300 2.95 INFOSYS LIMITED [500] CE-Aug-1000 17.00 ITC LTD [2400] CE-Aug-280 3.05 CE-Aug-290 1.25

High

Low

Close

Qty Vol

OI

29.40 11.85 0.25 2.60 3.50 5.00 7.25 10.70 15.85 24.30 37.75 58.05 89.30 136.05 197.00 273.10 357.45 451.80 537.15 631.70 83.00 129.10 152.55 235.05 351.10 35.55 70.85 151.80 230.05 266.00 308.40 349.00 395.40 454.70 586.30

10.40 6.00 0.20 0.50 0.60 0.90 1.20 1.60 1.10 2.80 3.35 3.75 4.25 5.10 5.35 8.35 20.00 42.35 85.05 149.35 25.10 32.70 44.00 68.00 101.30 15.50 30.00 60.05 96.45 111.95 133.05 151.00 159.15 207.20 280.05

27.45 10.95 0.25 1.60 1.65 1.80 2.00 2.25 2.70 3.10 3.75 4.45 5.35 6.65 9.15 15.40 30.50 57.05 101.80 167.50 28.20 41.10 51.90 77.85 114.75 18.45 31.90 64.25 100.30 116.65 139.10 158.45 186.60 215.30 291.05

11557 3476 27386 37390 17648 20553 31292 51960 115563 130856 180572 294524 345679 445887 290808 241695 139800 57380 20094 2484 4688 2345 2861 10606 3055 3288 16553 20040 2594 2802 33099 2976 4973 3151 20466

452000 312760 2840 331880 51920 105280 105120 178600 388320 160200 319000 414360 370320 857720 494000 682920 506480 319440 175560 43560 60840 35400 38320 143760 52680 106800 359680 400720 48160 33160 890160 45800 94240 49600 778160

4.25

2.10

4.00

2198

4532000

17.00

9.65

11.65

2294

1750500

5.70 2.45

2.40 1.00

4.70 2.05

3111 1830

2776800 4824000

Type-Exp-Stk.Pr

Open

High

Low

Close

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LTD. [150] CE-Aug-7700 71.15 91.85 60.00 81.20 RELIANCE CAPITAL LTD [1500] CE-Aug-800 17.45 23.75 15.50 20.55 RELIANCE INDUSTRIES LTD [500] CE-Aug-1560 36.40 37.45 25.65 33.30 CE-Aug-1580 27.00 27.00 18.20 24.30 CE-Aug-1600 19.00 20.05 12.80 16.90 STATE BANK OF INDIA [3000] CE-Aug-280 6.50 8.95 4.65 8.55 CE-Aug-285 4.50 6.15 3.05 5.90 CE-Aug-290 3.40 4.15 2.05 3.95 CE-Aug-300 1.60 2.00 1.00 1.90 CE-Aug-310 0.85 1.05 0.55 1.00 PE-Aug-270 3.40 4.95 1.95 2.10 PE-Aug-275 5.40 6.85 2.90 3.05 PE-Aug-280 7.65 9.45 4.35 4.55 SUN PHARMACEUTICALS IND. [800] CE-Aug-480 12.10 16.85 8.85 15.90 CE-Aug-500 6.05 8.30 4.25 7.30 PE-Aug-460 8.95 9.95 3.10 4.65 TATA GLOBAL BEVERAGES LTD [4500] CE-Aug-190 2.85 10.65 2.85 9.05 CE-Aug-200 1.30 5.90 1.30 4.85 TATA MOTORS LIMITED [1500] CE-Aug-380 10.45 15.85 8.60 15.05 CE-Aug-390 6.50 10.00 5.10 9.55 CE-Aug-400 3.95 6.00 3.00 5.70 TATA STEEL LIMITED [2000] CE-Aug-630 12.15 15.60 10.90 14.60 CE-Aug-640 8.50 10.90 7.35 10.15 VEDANTA LIMITED [3500] CE-Aug-300 4.70 7.80 3.55 7.00 YES BANK LIMITED [350] CE-Aug-1760 54.95 55.00 30.00 43.10 CE-Aug-1780 48.00 48.00 23.80 33.55 CE-Aug-1800 34.20 34.75 18.50 26.00 PE-Aug-1740 19.90 42.40 19.60 25.95 CE: Call European, PE:Put European,CA: Call American PA:Put American,Vol: Volumes OI: Open Interest

Qty Vol

OI

2135

109050

1974

1036500

2148 2516 3646

387500 397000 899000

3665 2241 4153 5185 3793 2510 2150 2382

2781000 2031000 5259000 7509000 6627000 2874000 1950000 3654000

2699 3512 2241

568800 1181600 818400

1943 3623

904500 1575000

1926 2737 3671

879000 835500 3030000

2059 2406

1080000 1896000

2318

2215500

3455 2606 3784 2574

250600 216650 464800 187950

. ..... . .. ...CH-X

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CHENNAI

POLITICS

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

QUICKLY Vaghela resigns as Gujarat MLA Ahmedabad, August 16

Flanked by Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani and other BJP leaders, Shankarsinh Vaghela, who revolted against the Congress leadership last month, submitted his resignation today as an MLA. While Vaghela had earlier ruled out going back to the BJP, the presence today of Rupani, Deputy CM Nitin Patel and senior BJP ministers Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja has triggered fresh speculation. PTI

Tripura CM flays Prasar Bharati Agartala, August 16

Tripura CM Manik Sarkar on Wednesday condemned the alleged refusal of Prasar Bharati to air his Independence Day speech, terming it an “undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step”. A statement from the CMO said AIR and Doordarshan recorded Sarkar’s speech on August 12 to broadcast it on August 15. However, it was not broadcast. IANS

Banners label Kejriwal as ‘corrupt’ New Delhi, August 16

Sacked Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday put up banners on different flyovers across the capital, calling Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal “corrupt” and urging people to join his campaign against the AAP leader. “Hundred days of surgical strike against Kejriwal’s corruption. Now it’s clear that Kejriwal is corrupt,” read the banners. The banners had “India Against Corruption” written on the left corner and a contact number at the bottom to join the move. IANS

‘Modi protecting cow vigilantes, not nation’ Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over policies; launches subsidised canteens in Karnataka OUR BUREAU Bengaluru, August 16

Rather than safeguarding India’s strategic interests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is dividing the country on communal lines and protecting gau rakshaks who are attacking Dalits, said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Speaking at ‘Sarthaka Samavesha’, a public rally organised by his party here on Wednesday, Rahul said: “Our Prime Minister has no time to engage the Chinese on Doklam or solving the burning Kashmir issue or handling the farmers crisis.” The BJP government has failed to stop an aggressive China, he

A quip and a slip CM Siddaramaiah took a swipe at Narendra Modi. “For three years now, Prime Minister Modi has been making Mann ki baat, but we will now make vangibath for the people,” he quipped. Rahul Gandhi’s faux pas had some smiling, too. “The poor people across most cities in Karnataka will be able to eat in these Amma...er...Indira canteens,” he said, in an obvious confusion with Amma canteens in Tamil Nadu. AGENCIES

further said. Its weak policy has led to the neighbour crossing the Indian and Bhutanese borders. “Modi was not wise while giving special treatment to the Chinese Premier during his visit to India few years ago. When somebody brings home a ‘crook’ do you treat him this way? Do you sit on a swing and chat with him? The result was that over 1,000 Chinese soldiers have walked into Doklam and our friendly neighbour Bhutan,” he added. Unrest in Kashmir During the 10-year UPA rule, the Congress was successful in handling Kashmir and bringing peace in the State, said Rahul. “All that has been destroyed by Modi within a month. We had succeeded in bringing peace back in Kashmir, ensured that there was brotherhood. The banks operating in that State got enough funds to boost the local economy,” he said. “If there is peace in Kashmir, Pakistan will have less chance of interfering in the troubled State. We had narrowed this gap to the maximum extent. But what is happening how? The mayhem in the State under Modi's rule has given a good chance for Pakistan to interfere again in Kashmir and pump in funds to create

OUR BUREAU

New Delhi, August 16

Food for thought Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi inaugurating the Karnataka government’s Indira Canteen at Jayanagar, Bengaluru, on Wednesday. To his right is Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah SOMASHEKAR GRN

more problems. Pakistan has benefited from Modi’s policy,” he added. Faulty policy Rahul further said: “The faulty foreign policy of the BJP government has led to old time friends and neighbours distancing themselves from India and the glaring example is Russia agreeing to defence supplies for Pakistan. The same has happened in Sri Lanka and Nepal — those countries also faced problems due to the current government’s faulty external policy.” The Centre’s policy of slashing allocations to government hospitals has led to the Gorakhpur tragedy, alleged Rahul. He said

the oxygen being supplied to the hospital was reduced as the government had slashed budgetary allocations. Rahul also slammed the Centre for not coming to the rescue of farmers in distress and claimed that his intense pressure on the BJP ruled governments in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra had forced them to announce farm loan waivers. Indira Canteen launch Earlier in the day, Rahul inaugurated the Karnataka government’s ‘Indira Canteens’ here, having the first breakfast at an outlet in the Jayanagar locality. Indira Canteens are aimed at the poor, he said, especially the migrants who come to Bengaluru

the interest of 125 crore people of the country,” he said.

former JD(U) Madhya Pradesh unit president Gopal Yadav, who had challenged Nitish’s anointment as party president last year. Challenging Nitish “Five State units of the JD(U) had challenged Nitish Kumar’s appointment as party president. Out objections still hold ground. Sharadji has a lot of support in the JD(U),” Gopal said. Sharad has been suspended for his opposition to Nitish joining the BJP alliance. He was the leader of the JD(U) in the Rajya Sabha and that position has now been allocated to another MP, RCP Singh. Another suspended leader, Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar, was present with Sharad. He also has the continuing support of 21 suspended leaders including former minister Ramai Ram, ex-MP from Sheohar Arjun Rai, former MLA Raj Kishore Sinha and ex-MLC Vijay Varma. To underline his national

Union Law Ministry clears TN ordinance on NEET PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, August 16

The Union Law Ministry on Wednesday cleared an ordinance of the Tamil Nadu government, which seeks to exempt medical students from appearing in the common entrance test NEET, a senior oicial said. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cleared the draft ordinance in consultation with Attorney General KK Venugopal. The oicial, who requested anonymity, said the ordinance will be applicable only to government colleges, and not private ones. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, State ministers and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai had multiple meetings with Prime Minister Narendra

Modi and other Central ministers over NEET (National Eligibility and Entrance Test). The NEET is an entrance examination for students who wish to study MBBS and BDS courses in government or private medical colleges. It is conducted by the CBSE. The NEET replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) and all individual MBBS exams conducted by States or colleges. However, many colleges and institutes had taken a stay order and conducted private examinations for admission to their MBBS and BDS courses. Tamil Nadu, which had initially sought permanent exemption from NEET by passing two bills in the Assembly, later made eforts to be out of its ambit for at least a year or two.

Sunanda Pushkar case: tweet with care, says court PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, August 16

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked a TV channel and the kin of Sunanda Pushkar not to indulge in “name calling” in connection with her death case but said there could be a possibility of some posturing from both sides. The court was hearing Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s plea seeking to restrain journalist Arnab Goswami and his Republic TV from alCM YK

leged misreporting on his wife’s death. Justice Manmohan made the observation after lawyers for both sides accused each other of not being careful while tweeting about the case as well as about each other. Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for Tharoor, said while the media house is now careful in how it reports about the case, some of its reporters are not exercising the same care while tweeting about it.

with a dream to build something. “No person in Bengaluru should ever go hungry and the canteens are a great means towards it,” he said, asking the government to pay attention to cleanliness and taste. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Indira Canteens are a continuation of the Congress’s commitment to a hunger-free Karnataka. “We started Anna Bhagya, giving 7 kg of rice for free to over 4 crore people, the very day we came to power. It is stemming a mass migration from our villages despite severe drought in the last three years. Indira Canteens is only a continuation of that programme,” he explained.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a supervisory body of two form apex court judges to scrutinise the SIT decision to close 199 cases in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots matter. A Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also asked the body to examine the SIT’s decision to close an additional 42 riots-related cases. The top court directed the supervisory body to examine the issue and submit a report within three months. It posted the matter for further hearing on November 28. The court had on March 24 asked the Centre to place before it the files pertaining to the 199 cases of the riots which the special investigation team set up by the Home Ministry decided to “close”. The SIT is headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, and has Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge, besides Kumar Gyanesh, an additional deputy commissioner of Delhi police, as its members. Anti-Sikh riots that broke out after the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.

With RBI still counting, how did PM get data on demonetisation: Cong PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, August 16

Veteran leader Sharad Yadav will stage a show of strength on Thursday, collecting leaders from a range of parties including the Congress and the Left in the run-up to the Janata Dal (United) joining the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, and pushing for the much-awaited special package for Bihar from the Modi government. While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s loyalists in Delhi — the most vocal being Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi — have begun to talk about the fruits of the just-forged alliance with the BJP, Sharad is readying to spoil the party. At a press conference at his Tughlaq Road residence here this afternoon, a number of leaders expelled by Nitish from the JD(U) were in attendance. Among them was

Supervisory body to examine closing of 199 cases related to anti-Sikh riots PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Sharad Yadav to stage show of strength today To hold meet with Opposition parties

15

Fighting back Rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI

stature in the stand-of with Nitish, Sharad on Wednesday talked at length about discussions with leaders of the Congress, Left, SP, BSP, TMC and other parties on saving the “composite culture” of the country. Asked who would attend the meeting, he said: “There would be hardly anybody from the Opposition who will

not come.” Asserting that a “composite culture” is the soul of the Constitution, which Sharad alleged is being “tinkered with”, he said similar meetings will be held across the country. “The Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan (Save Composite Culture Programme) is not against anybody but in the interest of the country. This is in

Tough times He cited incidents such as the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, besides farmer suicides across the country, to suggest that the situation is tough for underprivileged people. While supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments against violence in the name of faith, Sharad said it is not reflected on the ground and Modi needs to tell his party’s governments to follow his dictum. Sources close to him said invites to tomorrow’s meeting have been sent to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad among others in the Congress, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M), Lalu Prasad of the RJD and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, besides others.

New Delhi, August 16

The Congress on Wednesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over figures quoted in his Independence Day speech on demonetisation, and asked him how he knows that ₹3 lakh crore has come into the banking system, when the RBI is still counting notes. “The Prime Minister said ₹3 lakh crore which was not in the banking system has come into it,” said senior Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad. “We ask the Prime Minister — how much money has come in after demonetisation? We were told that the RBI is still counting...it may take decades to count.” “When RBI is still counting then how has the PM come up with this figure...Two contrary stands are being taken by the Prime Minister of India and the Reserve Bank of India,” he

Raising doubts Congress leaders RPN Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday PTI

told reporters. Azad, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said this is a big question as either the PM or the RBI is lying. “Since the counting of money is in progress, how can the Prime Minister make this claim? Is he now fooling the people of India? If this information is with the Prime

Minister, then why did the Reserve Bank not share it in Parliament?” he asked. He further said both the PM and the RBI have to answer as to who is lying. “If the RBI is yet to segregate between the fake money and the black money, post-demonetisation, then where did this figure come from?” Azad asked.

GORAKHPUR TRAGEDY

UP govt needs buddhi shuddhi, says Cong INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE Lucknow, August 16

The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress on Wednesday held a protest here against the deaths of children at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur. Led by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar, the demonstration was held at the GPO Park in the city. He was joined by senior leaders including Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari. Babbar, while addressing the gathering, said the BJP government needs buddhi shuddhi (cleaning of mind). It has lost the plot and is not working in the interests of the people, he said.

Up in arms Congress leader Raj Babbar at a protest against the UP government, in Lucknow on Wednesday RAJEEV BHATT

He accused the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh of being responsible for the deaths of over 60 children at the hospital, and

said that the demonstration is being held to expose the lies being spread by the State government. The Congress on Tuesday had described Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech as the “most disappointing” and slammed him for being “insensitive” towards the Gorakhpur tragedy. In his first Independence Day speech on Tuesday after assuming oice, Adityanath also sought to blame the deaths of over 60 children on encephalitis. In an obvious reference to the tragedy, widely blamed on lack of oxygen at the state-run hospital, Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh is a big state and deaths are taking place due to diseases like encephalitis. Such vector-borne diseases, he said, could be tackled with the Swacch Bharat mission.

Mayawati flays PM’s remarks president Amit Shah and described the death of children BSP president Mayawati on in Gorakhpur, caused by Wednesday attacked Prime criminal, oicial negligence, as a natural calamiMinister Narendra ty...people of the Modi for his remarks county should now on the death of chilunderstand the disdren in Gorakhpur torted and wrong and asked people to thinking of BJP leadunderstand the “disers,” Mayawati said in torted thinking” of a statement here. BJP leaders. In his IndependThe BSP chief also Mayawati ence Day speech yestermed as shocking BJP chief Amit Shah’s state- terday in New Delhi, Modi ment at a press conference in had said, “Sometimes, natBengaluru that “this is not ural calamities become a very the first time such an incid- big challenge. “A few days back, in many ent has taken place in this parts of the country, natural large country of ours”. “It is both surprising and disasters took place. A few sad that Prime Minister Modi days back, at a hospital, our went a step ahead of his party innocent children died.”

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Lucknow, August 16

Underfunding of public health mainly behind death of children Encephalitis causes havoc every year; govts are unable to combat the problem AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Gorakhpur, August 16

Inside the decrepit children’s ward at the BRD Medical College Hospital here, where over 60 children died last week, Ram Prasad prayed his two-year-old daughter would escape the same fate as he scanned the overcrowded hallways for a doctor. His plight in ‘ward 100’, where the death of so many children has sparked outrage, is emblematic of a healthcare crisis where doctors are stretched to breaking point and hospitals run out of oxy-

gen due to unpaid bills. Authorities have launched an inquiry into the causes of the oxygen disruption at the hospital, suspected to be behind the deaths. Local oicials have blamed an outbreak of encephalitis for the deaths and denied that lack of oxygen was responsible. But doctors and medical experts point to woeful underfunding in public health in eastern Uttar Pradesh, one of the nation’s poorest regions, where just a handful of specialists are available to treat millions.

Too little, too late Sanitation staff at work at the encephalitis centre in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College Hospital; (right) A baby undergoing treatment at the hospita VV KRISHNAN

“This (deaths) won’t change soon, as it isn’t a simple oxygen issue. The rot is deep and the system needs to be overhauled,” a senior hospital oicial said, speaking on condition of anonym-

ity. India spent just 1.4 per cent of its GDP on public health in 2014 — far below the global average of 6 per cent. In Gorakhpur, there are just 529 primary health care clinics — less than half the

number needed to cater for nearly 4.5 million people living in the district, July data from Brookings India show. There are just five paediatricians and 22 encephalitis treatment centres, despite

the mosquito-borne illness wreaking havoc in low-lying areas of the State every year during the monsoon. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are ravaged by encephalitis every year. Professor KP Kushwaha, who headed BRD Medical College until mid-2015, said the hospital could not cope with the volume of patients. “The government now needs to make at least five such hospitals across the region to tackle this load and get better results,” he said. But the district’s chief medical oicer Ravindra Kumar said nothing will change as long as encephalitis plagues the poor region. . ...... . . ...CH-X

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16

COMMODITIES

0 Commodity Watch

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

Gold

Silver

Copper

Brent Crude

Crude Palm Oil

Sugar

$1277.60 1.70왖

$16.85 0.21왖

$6379 18왔

$51.09 0.87왖

$613.68 0.50왖

¢13.08 0.24왔

per ounce

per ounce

per tonne

per barrel

per tonne

per pound

Farm output to top 275 mt

QUICKLY Sugar prices hold firm Mumbai, August 16

Sugar prices ruled steady at Vashi market and mill level on routine demand and supply. About 16 mills sold about 35,000 bags at ₹3,610-3,660 for S-grade and ₹3,650-3,750 for M-grade. On Bombay Sugar Merchants Association's spot rates were: (in ₹) S-grade 3,730-3,810 and M-grade 3,802-4,000.Naka delivery rates were: (in ₹) S-grade 3,700-3,760 and M-grade 3,7503,860. OUR CORRESPONDENT

Tea yield rises in the Nilgiris Coonoor, August 16

Tea productivity has increased in all the agroclimatic zones of The Nilgiris so far this calendar compared to 2016. Tea companies in the district have informed Tea Board that the productivity which is also a measure of the field yield has risen this calendar over the five-year for the same period as well, thereby confirming improved cultural practices. OUR CORRESPONDENT

Spot rubber remains weak Kottayam, August 16

Spot rubber was weak as most major grades except sheet rubber finished lower on Monday. RSS 4 closed unchanged at ₹129 a kg according to traders and the Rubber Board. The grade quoted steady at ₹126.00 by dealers. In futures, the September contracts concluded at ₹128.82 (128.40), October at ₹127.40 (127.35) and November at ₹128 (128.62)on NMCE. SS 3 improved at its August futures to ₹118.25 (115.94) on TOCOM. Spot rubber rates (₹/kg) were: RSS-4: 129 (129); RSS-5: 124 (125); ISNR 20: 112.50 (113) and Latex (60% drc): 80 (81). OUR CORRESPONDENT

Rice, wheat, pulses expected to rise

jected to be 33.10 million bales as against the 32.58 estimated in May, according to the latest data. The estimated sugarcane yield would also be marginally higher at 306.72 million tonnes.

OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

An increase in the estimated yields of paddy and wheat has helped the Government to revise its total foodgrain production projection for 2016-17 by over 2 mt to a record 275.68 mt in its 4th advance estimates, released on Wednesday. The previous advance estimates, put out in May, projected the total grain yield at 273.38 mt. Total foodgrain production in 2015-16 was 251.57 mt. The yield of staples — rice and wheat — is expected to go up by nearly 1 mt each to 110.15 mt and 98.38 mt, respectively, in comparison with the 3rd advance estimate, according to the data. Pulses up Pulses production too is expected to go up by 500,000 mt to 22.95 mt and the maize yield is pegged marginally higher than the previous estimate at 26.26

mt. What helped pulses production to go up is improved yields estimated from tur and gram, which are projected to be 4.78 mt and 9.33 mt, respectively. Half a million bales (of 170 kg each) of additional cotton yield is expected as major cotton growing areas in the country received good showers in 2016-17. The total cotton output is pro-

Oilseeds down At the same time, the Government corrected the projected output of several important crops, such as oilseeds and coarse cereals. While oilseeds yield is expected to drop further to 32.10 mt from an earlier estimated 32.52 mt, coarse cereals output received a slight revision to 44.19 mt from 44.39 mt. The poor projections for oilseeds were on account of estimated lower yields of soybean, which as 13.7 mt as against the earlier estimate of 14 mt, and castorseed, whose projections came down to 1.42 mt from 1.54 mt estimated in the 3rd advance estimate. Coarse cereals, on other hand, will break earlier yield records even at the revised output levels.

REUTERS Mumbai, August 16

India has banned the export of gold products with a purity above 22 carats in a move a trade group said was a bid to curb a practice known as “round tripping". The Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notification dated August 14 that stated exports of jewellery or medallions, containing gold of 8 carats and above up to a maximum

limit of 22 carats shall only be permitted, without giving a reason. “Round tripping to Dubai will come down due to the move," an oicial with India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd said. A trader, via round tripping, can import gold products at a lower import tax and re-export the same stock without any value addition. The ban afects jewellery, including partly processed jew-

ellery, coins and medals. “Until now, traders only had to pay a lower import tax or no tax at all on gold jewellery and gold coins so long as they re-exported the gold,” Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said in a note. “This may also be an attempt by the authorities to prevent the current account deficit from widening again after Indian gold imports rose sharply in recent months.” India's gold im-

that. Indeed, a strong rupee by itself acts as an indirect reduction in import duty.

G CHANDRASHEKHAR

depend on the nature of data flow, and is a matter of conjecture at this point. The Fed’s Balance Sheet normalisation process — it may begin anytime soon — will exert further pressure on gold rates. Drop in demand The demand side is not looking healthy either. According to reports, in the first half of the year, demand fell by a whopping 14 per cent. Higher prices discouraged consumers while reduced geopolitical risks kept the speculators — euphemistically called investors — on the sidelines. From various accounts, anecdotal and otherwise, it is becoming increasingly clear

that the appetite for gold will be subdued in the second half of the year, too. The Indian demand scenario does not present a healthy picture. The agriculture situation is somewhat mixed. Rains are deficient. Large areas are still moisturestressed; and there is risk of a decline in the kharif harvest and a consequent fall in rural incomes if precipitation does not return to normal in the next three weeks. The tax structure is also cited as a reason for tepid demand. There is now a concerted efort to have the rate of customs duty reduced from the extant level of 10 per cent; but there is little economic or social justification for doing

MCX-Nickel futures may revisit ₹700 level in coming days

Ominous signs As geopolitical risks fade, the yellow metal will hurtle down. The ominous signs are already visible. On current reckoning, it should be no surprise, if by the year-end, gold returns to a more downto-earth level of around $1,150/oz; in other words, a downward movement of over $100 from the current levels. Investors have to exercise caution in making their decision on gold investment. Because silver tags on to the coattails of gold, its prices, too, are set to come under pressure. Despite silver’s semi-industrial and semi-precious metals status, the outlook for silver is not bullish. On current reckoning, prices are expected to soon correct down from the high of $17/oz. The average price for the third quarter is likely to be $16/oz and $15.5/oz for Q4. The writer is a commodities market specialist. Views are personal

Spices Board, J&K govt tie-up to boost saffron OUR BUREAU

WEEKLY OUTLOOK GURUMURTHY K BL Research Bureau

The Nickel futures contract on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) rose in the past week to test the psychological level of ₹700 a kg, as expected. The contract touched a high of ₹703 on August 10 and had reversed sharply lower from there. However, the 200-day moving average support at ₹664 halted this pull-back. The contract fell to a low of ₹664.4 on Monday and has reversed higher again. It is currently trading at ₹680. The 200- and 21-day moving averages at ₹664 and CM YK

Wet spell over Peninsula may continue into next week

GK NAIR

VINSON KURIAN

Kochi, August 16

Thiruvananthapuram, August 16

Small cardamom turned firmer again on Wednesday and crossed the ₹1,145 a kg mark following apprehensions about the running crop due to erratic monsoon rains. At the auction held in Puttady, Idukki district, by the Vandanmedu Green Gold Cardamom Producer Company, a total of 62 tonnes arrived and the entire quantity was sold. The auction average rose to ₹1,148.49 a kg. The maximum price was at ₹1,540 a kg. The market has been on an upward trend since Monday. “The unpredictable weather conditions in the main growing region, Idukki district, has changed the market sentiment, of late, to bullish", PC Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC told BusinessLine. The second round of picking is on in full swing and yet arrivals have not been showing the usual upsurge in volume, he said, adding that this phenomenon is also contributing to the bullish sentiment.

The moderate to heavy rainfall from an active phase of the monsoon is forecast to continue along the East Coast and over the South Peninsula into the next week. Global agencies have suggested that not one, but two cyclonic circulations (with the likelihood of converting into low-pressure areas) could emerge from the Bay of Bengal of the East Coast (Odisha to South Tamil Nadu). The India Met Department (IMD), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the US Climate Prediction Centre have indicated with reasonable confidence that there will be continued rain along the East Coast and South Peninsula. The overarching rain-producing weather is a persistent trough, aligned north-to-south from Telangana to South Coastal Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. The trough is a receptacle for moisture blown in by the winds from the seas and is dumped in a heap as rain over an area where temperature, pressure and humidity conspire locally to set up the ideal conditions. This is what has been occurring over Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and parts of Telangana over the last two days. The trend will continue in varying de-

India bans export of gold products above 22 carats

Gold unwinds as Korea tensions ease As expected, gold prices have begun winding down from their recent high of $1,291 an ounce, with the waning of the tensions between the US and North Korea. The precious metal is giving up its safehaven status and much of the value gained in recent days. History tells us that often geopolitical risks fade as fast as they rise. Prices tend to rise in an uncertain environment in anticipation of a conflict. When the risk of conflict abates even partially, markets begin to correct rapidly. Importantly, US-centric events tend to exert a greater impact on gold prices than events elsewhere. Indeed, headwinds for gold are strengthening. The US jobs and other macroeconomic data are all in positive territory, which, in turn, continues to boost the equities market. If labour market conditions continue to improve — and the expectation is positive — the Federal Reserve is likely to go ahead with one more rate hike this year. Whether it will happen in September or December will

Small cardamom firmer, crosses ₹1,145/kg mark

₹650 respectively are the key supports for the contract which are likely to arrest the downside in the short term. A revisit of ₹700 looks likely in the coming days. A strong break above ₹700

will increase the possibility of the contract extending its rally to ₹715 or ₹720 thereafter. Traders with a mediumterm perspective can make use of dips to go long at ₹665. A stop-loss can be placed at ₹640 for the target of ₹710. Revise the stop-loss higher to ₹670 as soon as the contract moves up to ₹680. The contract will come under pressure only if it declines below the 21-day moving average support level of ₹650. Such a break will increase the possibility of the contract falling to ₹640 and ₹630 levels. Note: The recommendations are based on technical analysis. There is a risk of loss in trading

Kochi, August 16

Stepping up its eforts to promote marketing and to upgrade the quality of safron, the Spices Board has teamed up with the Jammu and Kashmir government to boost produce and improve value addition of the signature Kashmiri spice. The Board and the state government are going all out to secure GI (geographical indication) registration for authentication of high-quality safron from Kashmir. Issues regarding the safron trade came up for deliberations at a two-day seminar in Srinagar recently. Spices Board Chairman A Jayathilak said that the Board and J&K government are working in tandem to get GI registration for safron.

ports in July nearly doubled from last year to $2.1 billion, while the country's trade deficit narrowed to $11.45 billion in July from a month ago, following a slowdown in merchandise imports. India is the world's No. 2 consumer of gold behind China, with many saving their money in gold, using it to hedge against inflation and for gifts at special occasions. The country imports about 800 tonnes of gold a year.

grees over these places during this week and into the next. In fact, the IMD has said that the ‘monsoon shear zone’ (the area with the most active weather conditions) sits over a line connecting Karaikal, Thanjavur, Karur and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Malappuram in Kerala. Rain for West India Meanwhile, parts of Central and West India, including South and East Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh, Konkan & Goa (including Mumbai) may also witness alternating spells of heavy rain as the raindriving systems from the Bay move to the West Coast. The IMD said in its evening bulletin that the monsoon trough in North India, a seasonally prominent feature, continues to pass through the foothills of the Himalayas. In its forecast for the next five days, the IMD has indicated that most ofthe South Peninsula, adjoining Central India, the West Coast and West India stand to gain from the pulsating rain belts originating in the East.

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NEWS

BusinessLine THURSDAY • AUGUST 17 • 2017

‘Easing regulations on veggies from Bangladesh can benefit NE consumers’

QUICKLY

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy along with Ministers, MLAs and officials, flagging off a plane on the first day of services at Puducherry Airport on Wednesday SS KUMAR

CUTS study sees savings potential by nixing non-tariff barriers AMITI SEN New Delhi, August 16

Flight services resume in Puducherry Puducherry, August 16

After a gap of about three years, flight services resumed from the Union Territory, with the launch of services between Puducherry and Hyderabad. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy accorded a warm reception to passengers on their arrival at Puducherry airport in neighbouring Lawspet by private carrier Spicejet. He had earlier inaugurated the daily flight service linking Puducherry with Hyderabad and Vijayawada. PTI

ABHICL opens branch in Hyderabad Hyderabad, August 16

Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company Ltd (ABHICL) has opened its full-service branch here. “The growing demand for health insurance with increased awareness in Telangana prompted us to include the state in our list of priority markets,’’ Mayank Bathwal, CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co Ltd, said in a statement. OUR BUREAU

Allowing import of vegetables such as brinjal, tomato, green chillies and potatoes from Bangladesh by removing non-tarif barriers could help Indian households in the North-Eastern States make savings in their monthly vegetable bills, a study by consumer rights body CUTS International has said. Unrestricted import of just the four identified commodities into India could help a family in Agartala save over ₹350 in its monthly vegetables bill, the case study on ‘Promoting trade between India and Bangladesh in specific agricultural commodities’ supported by Asia Foundation estimated. In addition to the infrastructure bottlenecks, which remains one of the major hurdles to enhanced cross-border trade

File photo of a vendor bringing goods to Kalaichar Border Haat on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Garo Hills, Meghalaya RITU RAJ KONWAR

between the countries, non-tarif factors such as regulations, nonharmonisation of standards and certification requirements, the lack of institutional as well as stakeholder capacity, negatively impact trans-boundary cooperation and exchange, the study said. “We have shared the early recommendations from this study with government oicials. The study will be finalised with inputs from the advocacy dialogues being carried out with stakeholders in both countries,” Prithviraj Nath, Associate Director, CUTS International, told BusinessLine. The North-East contributes only

3-4 per cent of the total production of brinjal, tomato, green chillies and potatoes in the country, the study said. In terms of productivity, these States rank well below the national average. “While oicial figures show that the region has a surplus of production compared to its consumption, the field survey conducted by CUTS International in select NE States reveal that these States had to depend on the rest of India to meet their consumption needs,” it said. With limited water and rail connectivity, the bulk of the commodities in the NE States is usually transported by road,

which significantly adds to the cost of the vegetable. “One of the probable ways to address the issue would be to facilitate their import from Bangladesh, which is much closer to the NE States,” the study suggested. There may be possible concerns over the export of brinjal, as Bangladesh has allowed the cultivation of Bt Brinjal, which is banned in India. “However, there is no record of any export of Bt Brinjal variety from Bangladesh to any country. It may require special checks during import-export procedure which would be an additional barrier,” the study said. Saving potential Giving an estimate on the average monthly saving of families in the NE States if some of the cheaper vegetables are allowed from Bangladesh, the study says that a family of four in Agartala could save ₹109.44 on tomatoes, ₹170.24 on potatoes, ₹39.36 on green chillies and ₹47.04 on brinjals. The calculations have been made comparing prices in Bangladesh with those in Golbazar in Agartala.

‘VITians must be role models for others’ As agents of change, youngsters must work for an advanced India: Chancellor G Viswanathan OUR BUREAU Chennai, August 16

“Youngsters have to be the agents of change,” said G Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, addressing the gathering at the Vellore campus on Tuesday. “All the advanced countries follow management-based ownership instead of the family ownership management, which is prevalent in India. The companies owned and run by management graduates positively catalyse the country’s economic growth. “India as an advanced country can be taken forward by people like our

programme — so that the college can create more entrepreneurs who can provide a lot of job opportunities. “We need more people to be engaged so that they create many jobs. More than 15,000 students of VIT can be 15,000 job providers for the nation. Alumni meetings are important so that everyone understands and knows about their level of contribution to industry.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Youngsters are agents of change, thus they have to work for an advanced India. They have to play a great role in helping the nation progress on all fronts,” the Chancellor said. Atandra Saurav Bhowal, Chairman of VITMMA (VIT Management Alumni Association), delivered the Awards The meet honoured the alumni for welcome address. their achievements in various fields. R Job creation Venkatesakumar, (batch of 2009The chief guest, Raghavan Ph.D.) Associate Professor, DepartSrinivasan, Editor, Business- ment of Management Studies, PondiLine, said: “The national cherry University, was awarded in the problem is meeting the aspirations of category of Academics and Research. the country and it has to be resolved. Uttam Vasudevan (batch of 2003, VIT can adopt an entrepreneur — MBA), KPMG Global Services alongside the ongoing adopt-a-child Bengaluru, received an award in the

VIT University Chancellor G Viswanathan hands over a certificate of honour to Deepa Anandakumar, alumna of VIT Business School at the VIT Management Alumni Association meeting in Vellore on Tuesday. BusinessLine Editor Raghavan Srinivasan (2nd right) was the chief guest and Sumit Kedia (right), Director, International Chamber of Indirect Tax Professionals, guest of honour

Corporate Career category. Deepa Anandakumar (batch of 1998, MBA), a self-employed finance professional in portfolio management, was awarded in the Entrepreneurship category.

Now, pick a candidate with just a click Automation is making it easy to fit an applicant to a job profile TE RAJA SIMHAN Chennai, August 16

Automation has made the job of identifying candidates within the company or outside fitting a particular work profile a lot easier. An applicant simply loads a resume on to a company’s system and an automated recruitment tool sorts, filters and classifies the profile. HR personnel simply have to use the right search word to find the right person. Many companies efectively use the automated recruitment search tool. Consider this: As part of a re-skilling programme, over two lakh employees in a large IT company have acquired competency in digital technology. The data on each’s specialisation and

marks scored are available across the company. If a team leader wants a DevOps specialist for a project in the US, all it takes is a click of a button to locate the right person for the job. Earlier, this process would take a few days, said sources. Automation of repetitive tasks such as screening candidates allows recruiters to save on time while realigning their priorities to engage with those shortlisted. Matching the best talent with the right job is an even bigger challenge, said Sudeep Sen, Vice-President, TeamLease Service, a recruitment company. Krishna GV Giri, Chairman and CEO, Adrenalin

eSystems Ltd, said candidates expect fast response and transparency. Adrenalin’s recruitment platform integrates both internal and external systems and the company’s top management gets analytics like the speed, cost and the ei-

ciency of hiring on a dashboard for a deeper understanding and intervention, he said. Harishankar Karunanidhi, CTO and CoFounder, HackerRank, a technology recruitment platform, said that for a long time the process of hiring had a linear approach — source a candidate, screen her followed by interviews. This was time consuming. However, technology tools are unbiased and adopt a skills-centric approach to assessing candidates. Automating the recruitment process right from job posting, matching, assessing and to onboarding is continuously evolving, he said.

Falling bids may cast a shadow on solar projects Developers eye dollar denominated bonds

phasis on compliance with renewable purchase obligations, is critical. On the other hand, rooftop solar capacity installation is lagging behind groundmounted installation owing to limited efort to achieve targets, the report stated. Payments days across counter-parties, except Tamil Nadu’s distribution utility, have been observed at less than 90 days.

OUR BUREAU Hyderabad, August 16

It’s not entirely good news that bids for solar projects are falling because they may leave developers with little financial bufer to face challenges such as cost overruns and counterparty delays. Grid curtailment risk, which may be temporary, is also a concern as renewable energy penetration increases. Falling solar panel prices and rising competition have led to aggressive bidding. The increase in panel conversion eiciency has contributed to a reduction in the land required for panels and a fall in the balance of system cost. Rate of return According to an India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) analysis, a tarif of ₹2.44/kWh could CM YK

17

All fall down Falling solar panel prices and increased competition have contributed to aggressive bids AFP

have an equity internal rate of return of 10 per cent. Against the backdrop of distribution utilities trying to reduce power purchase costs, the emerging threat of renegotiation and termination of power purchase agreements can derail developments in the sector. The Rewa bid started this trend of risk allocation in

tenders and has taken centre stage in bids. Tenders floated consciously address payment security and grid curtailment to attract low bids. Solar Energy Corporation of India and NTPC have witnessed low bids from developers because of the comfort derived from their credit profiles. The pace of solar capacity auctions, along with an em-

Dollar bonds In this backdrop, investor perception of the long-term sustainability of the renewables sector and the fast-changing industry dynamics have affected their appetite for rupee bonds. Project developers willynilly seem to be turning to dollar bonds for financing because of ease of placing large issuances. Several companies have raised funds successfully through overseas bonds.

Vivek Muruganandam (batch of 2012, MBA), who is an entrepreneur in poultry meat business, was awarded in the Young Alumni Achievement category.

Malcolm Frank, Executive Vice-President, Strategy & Marketing, Cognizant Technology Solutions, addressing a TiE Chennai and Nasscom session in Chennai on Wednesday R RAVINDRAN

‘Artificial Intelligence is the engine of the fourth industrial revolution’ Countries that get it right will prosper: Expert OUR BUREAU Chennai, August 16

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new engine that is going to launch the fourth industrial revolution after loom, steam engine and assembly line, according to Malcolm Frank, Executive Vice-President, Strategy & Marketing, Cognizant Technology Solutions. In the process, countries that get it right will have strong GDP growth, he said at a session on ‘What to do when machines do everything!’ organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Chennai in association with Nasscom. The top five global companies in terms of market value are digital companies, and either Apple or Amazon could be a $1 trillion company in next 12-18 months. “We are in the midst of an important economic period,” he said. Three scenarios could emerge in future – machines will replace humans; enhance and make people better at what they are doing; or invent entirely new jobs, Frank said. There is a fear that things like more machines, automation and AI could lead to layofs, and

companies will restructure. Though data suggests that nearly 12 per cent jobs could be replaced, nearly three-quarters of all jobs will be ‘cobots’ (collaborative robot) with AI as partner. Cobot is your new colleague, and GPS is a good example that helps in navigation, he said. While man knows the art of the job, machines know the science of the job. Man will have a better judgement and dealing with visual cues, emotion, ethics and social context. A person can decide what’s the right thing to do, he said. However, in computational capabilities it is easier for computers in data analysis and pattern recognition. Based on all statistical evidence, machines can pick up the most appropriate action, he said.

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Government caps price of knee-replacement devices Overpricing will attract punitive action, even revocation of licence, says Minister

X W According to Union Minister Ananth Kumar, punitive action has been initiated against 39 hospitals found violating the NPPA order on coronary stent pricing

OUR BUREAU New Delhi, August 16

QUICKLY Microsoft simplifies blockchain New Delhi, August 16

With a rise in the adoption of Blockchain technology, Microsoft on Wednesday announced ‘Coco Framework’, a first-of-its-kind innovation that aims to improve performance, confidentiality and governance of enterprises. Current blockchain protocol technology requires complicated development techniques to meet the operational and security needs of enterprises. The new framework reduces this complexity, the company said in a statement. The Silicon Valley giant will launch the framework on internet hosting service GitHub in 2018 as an open source project. When it is integrated with popular blockchain protocols, it addresses critical needs, including high transaction speed (faster by roughly 100 times), distributed governance (network constitution for members to vote) and confidentiality. Microsoft was earlier selected as the exclusive cloud partner by BankChain. IANS

Moving further from its earlier decision to seal the maximum price of coronary stents, the government on Wednesday capped the prices of various knee replacement implants with immediate efect. Addressing media persons, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said capping of the price of knee implants came into efect from Wednesday and the move will lead to a total saving of ₹1,500 crore to patients. Every year, up to 1.5 lakh knee replacement procedures are carried out in India. The Minister cited an analysis by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Agency (NPPA) that talked about a huge margin in trade and found it unreasonable. This “unethical profiteering” forced the government to go for

Revision implants, used for replacing an older implant and specialised implants for cancers, cannot attract a price of ₹113,950, as per ceiling price calculated by NPPA, Kumar said.

The WHO notes that osteoarthritis, the main reason for knee replacement, is set to become the fourth-biggest cause of immobility in India by 2020

fixing ceiling prices, he added. Cobalt-chromium implants used in total knee replacement, which is preferred in 80 per cent of knee replacement surgeries, are capped at ₹54,720, leading to an average price reduction of up to 65 per cent. Cobalt-chromium implants are currently sold at prices ranging from ₹1.5-2.5 lakh, the Minister said. Similarly, total knee replace-

ment implants made of special metals, such as titanium and oxidised zirconium, cannot have a price of more than ₹76,600, which is far less than the prevailing rates that range between ₹2.5-4.5 lakh. Hospitals cannot charge more than ₹56,490 for high-flexibility implants that otherwise carry an average MRP of ₹181,728 at present.

Punitive action Any hospital overcharging patients will attract punitive actions, which include heavy penalty and even revoking of licence, the Minister said. He added that action has been initiated against 39 hospitals across the country as they were violating the NPPA order on coronary stent pricing. According to the World Health Organisation, osteoarthritis — the main reason for people needing knee replacement — is set to become the fourth biggest cause of immobility in India by 2020.

‘India needs to improve infrastructure to smoothen cargo traffic flow’ Mumbai, the biggest market, has significant inbound and outbound demand, says Lufthansa Cargo CEO

TANYA THOMAS Mumbai, August 16

Frankfurt-based air freight carrier Lufthansa Cargo, a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa, increased its freighter services to Mumbai from four to three last month. It also has two freighter services a week operating from Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. In an interview to BusinessLine, Peter Gerber, Lufthansa Cargo CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, talked about the challenges of consolidation in the air cargo market and infrastructural challenges in India. What’s the kind of cargo movement you see coming from Mumbai, and India?

The increase in the number of freighters to Mumbai reflects Z Y

good market development in the last nine months. Traditionally, we have had a good market in India, including in selling belly capacity on our passenger flights and our freighter presence. Mumbai is the biggest market and we have significant demand, both outbound and inbound, and that is important because the viability of freight depends on having demand in both directions. The cargo is a lot from pharmaceutical businesses directed to Europe and the US, some fashion; we also see a strong growth in the automotive sector, either as parts or full cars, sent all over the world. You’ve had a fantastic run so far this year with six-month

There are two main reasons — one is a rebound in the market from the lows of 2016. Second is our cargo restructuring programme. Now, 50 per cent of this programme is done and we’re seeing the benefits beginning to take efect. We’ve adopted new systems and processes and are looking for improvements in cost of €80 million. We will see the full benefits from the beginning of 2019. Recently, the International Air Transport Association said it expects the growth cycle in air freight to peak next year. Does that worry you?

I think that was more a statistical message. The growth rate is a reflection of the previous year. This year was good because the first half of 2016 was weak.

The Asian market is growing fast but we don’t have enough freighter capacity to meet the demand PETER GERBER CEO, Lufthansa Cargo

revenues at €1,158 million. What would you attribute this to?

You have joint ventures for

Z cargo with All Nippon Y

SEBI exempts lenders investing in stressed co from open offer The relaxation will be subject to shareholder approval Mumbai, August 16

the norms for restructuring in stressed companies that are listed on exchanges as well as resolution plans approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The move could lead to a turnaround of listed companies in distress which will benefit their shareholders and lenders.

In a major relief to banks and other lenders holding stressed assets, market regulator SEBI relaxed norms for a stake purchased in distressed listed companies by lenders, exempting them from making open ofers for shareholders. The relaxation will be subject to certain conditions, including shareholders’ approval of the stake acquisition by way of special resolution, SEBI said. Bad loans in India amount to around ₹8 lakh crore and the government and the Reserve Bank of India have been making eforts to tackle it. SEBI eased

Restructuring under SDR Currently, relaxations from preferential issue requirements and open ofer obligations are available for lenders undertaking restructuring of distressed listed companies under the Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) scheme. Relaxations will be subject to a lock-in of their shareholding for a minimum three years. “The lock-in of equity shares acquired pursuant to conversion of convertible securities purchased from the lenders shall be reduced to the extent

OUR BUREAU

the convertible securities have already been locked-in,” SEBI said. Conditions The special resolution requires approval of at least 75 per cent of a company’s shareholders. Besides, the issuer will have to make certain disclosure about the proposed acquirer in the explanatory statement to the notice for the general meeting proposed for passing the special resolution. These disclosures are about the ultimate beneficial owners of the shares proposed to be purchased, its business model, a statement on growth of business over a period of time, summary of financials of the previous three financial years, track record in turning around companies, and the proposed road map for efecting turnaround of the issuer.

Technology companies ramp up NAFTA lobbying before trade talks REUTERS Washington, August 16

Technology companies, such as Microsoft and Cisco Systems have ramped up lobbying ahead of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), looking to avoid any future restrictions on Cloud storage and to promote an international pact to eliminate technology goods tarifs. US, Mexican and Canadian negotiators started talks on the 23-year-old trade pact on Wednesday. Farming and transportCM YK

ation groups have traditionally dominated lobbying on NAFTA, but technology lobbyists are helping lead the recent surge in eforts to influence Washington, according to data from the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).

Tech firms and trade organisations disclosed they had 48 arrangements with lobby groups that discussed NAFTA with administration oicials or lawmakers in the second quarter, up from 17 groups in the first quarter and one group at the end of 2016, according to the data. “It’s both defensive and offensive,” Devi Keller, Director of Global Policy for the Semiconductor Industry Association, said of the industry’s position on the new talks. “There is an opportunity for expansion.”

Airways, United Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Do you see more such opportunities come up, particularly in Asia where the market is growing?

your partner seamlessly, and you should get the sales and operations team aligned. Other airlines such as Air France-KLM, IAG and Qatar Airways are also integrating. There is some development but we don’t know yet how deep the integration will be or which model will be successful.

O

What we will see is some consolidation. Our industry is still very fragmented. But, we also have to look at the possibility of consolidation — it’s more diicult in cargo than passenger because there are more legal issues. For instance, you cannot take more than a 25 per cent share in a US carrier. It’s even more diicult to get a percentage of an Asian carrier. The only market where it’s possible is in the EU; so parts of the market can consolidate freely. This is why most carriers are thinking of joint ventures, because it is the closest way to consolidation. Then there are legal issues, anti-trust immunity, we have to do IT integration, which is very diicult because you need to be able to book on the flights of

Won’t it make sense to look at Asia, as even air freight rates are rising here?

But it’s not easy. The Asian market is growing fast but we don’t have enough belly or freighter capacity to meet the demand. The North Atlantic routes, in contrast, have a lot of belly capacity and we fly additional freighters because there is a lot of demand from the US to get goods out of Europe. But the other way — US to Europe — it’s a weak market. We would love to operate more in Asia, but we have traic right restrictions and slot restrictions too. We don’t

have the footprint of our passenger part of the business here, which is much bigger in North America. What would you like to see improve in the Indian aircargo market?

In India, we need to improve infrastructure so the traic flows can be handled in a smoother fashion. Modern warehouses for cargo are quite high-tech because you need the flexibility to respond to cargo flows. The Bangalore airport is investing heavily in cargo. We see that stakeholders are keen about moving in the right direction. In terms of digitisation, Mumbai is a good example, as more than 60 per cent airway bills are electronic, which is higher than the worldwide average. But where the IT infrastructure in the whole industry is not as advanced in some markets, they can’t give us the data consistency and quality we need. The airlines, forwarders, handling agents, customs — all

parties have to work in the same direction. As the road infrastructure improves, we can link markets where we already fly with trucks; which in turn gives a good road feeder network to our flights. Are you looking to increase capacity? And do you have plans to invest in India?

We have been successful in recent years in strict capacity management. Last year, when the market was weak we took out capacity, and now when it’s stronger we brought it back. We have 5 options on Boeing 777F. We have to see if it’s the best opportunity because these are old options and prices escalate. We could get new options. There are plans of other companies that want to sell their aircraft, we will also look at those opportunities. There is no decision on this up to now. On the cargo side, we aren’t planning investments in India at the moment.

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