Covid-19 hinterland digest: Stonepelting in Kanpur; domestic violence rises

The coronavirus (Covid-19) has claimed more than 1,000 lives in India. The country is conducting more tests to detect people who have the virus as a lockdown ends on May 4.
Business Standard takes a look at regional editions of Hindi newspapers to provide you with a picture of the Covid-19 situation in the hinterland.
Special care for patients during Ramzan
National Cancer Institute at Badsa, Jhajhar is doing a little more than just treating the patients. As it is the holy month of Ramzan, the 120 Tablighi Jamat patients in the institute are getting due care and attention while fasting, reported Dainik Bhaskar. The 35-member staff at the institute is providing all the comforts and facilities to these patients to help them fast smoothly. Each day, the staff gets up at 3:30 am and serves the patients with food, which is called Sehri, so that they can be ready for the whole day. After Iftar in the evening, they are served well at dinner. To arrange for all of this, the hospital staff is working at odd hours. According to the hospital, management says that they are doing everything to provide special dishes on a daily basis.
Domestic violence on the rise; police steps up vigil
Several domestic violence cases are being reported in Raipur. In the 36 days of lockdown, over 60 cases have reported, according to a report in Dainik Bhaskar. Many women have confessed that they could not reach out to the police despite being a victim. Seeing all this, the SP Arif Sheikh used Facebook live to inform about Chuppi Todo Abhiyaan (Break the silence). He said that in the time of crisis women can call or drop a message on the numbers and police will be at their doors within 10 minutes. If the complaint is found to be too serious, then the police would arrest the accused on the spot.
Stone pelting on medical team, police at Bajaria
A medical team was subjected to stone pelting in Bajariya, Kanpur when it went to quarantine a family.
Police too took some blows but then it lathi-charged the crowd., reports Amar Ujala The crowd showed some resistance and the officer-in-charge had to brandish his gun to scare off the crowd. The Uttar Pradesh government has been very vocal about the security of coronavirus warriors. Police arrested several culprits and will charge them under the Gangster Act act NSA. The scuffle lasted for over an hour.
Govt offices to commence operations in Bhopal

The government offices in Bhopal will start running once again after 36 days. 30 per cent of the strength would be present in the office and the rest would work from home, reports Dainik Bhaskar. Only officers working in the essential services department will attend the office. While doing this, the officials will have to maintain social distancing. They will not be allowed to chew tobacco. They will be thermal scanned before entering and while leaving the office. Further relaxations are expected in Bhopal but not in Ujjain and Indore.

State Bank of India completes promotion exercise, elevates 14 to Dy MD

State Bank of India has completed the promotion exercise at the top and senior management levels, and elevated 14 chief managers as deputy managing directors (DMDs). The lender has also elevated 30 general managers as chief general managers.

Given the extended lockdown, the bank extensively used its digital platform, including video conferencing, to carry out the performance review and promotion exercise, said senior bank executives.

New faces at the DMD level include Arun Mehta, who is heading SBI Capital Markets; Vinay Tonse, Prabodh Parikh, Natrajan Sundar, A K Tiwari, S Salee, Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh and Saloni Narayan. The process of their appointments is underway.

The number of people elevated to the DMD post was higher this year, as many bankers at this level moved to head other public sector banks. Some of them were Padmaja Chunduru, as managing director of Indian Bank, Mrutunjaya Mahapatra as head of Syndicate Bank (now merged with Canara Bank), and Pallab Mahapatra, as MD and CEO of Central Bank of India.

Prashant Kumar, chief financial officer, moved to YES Bank as MD and CEO as part of the plan to salvage the ailing private bank. Further, there are many retirements scheduled in the current financial year, bankers said.

At the level below the CGM’s post, the bank promoted over 60 to the post of general manager, and over 140 as deputy general managers.

Lupin gets inspection closure report from USFDA for Pithampur plant

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has closed its inspection of Lupin's manufacturing facility in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, the company said on Thursday.

The inspection for the facility was conducted by the US health regulator between February 3 and February 11, 2020, and concluded with two observations, the Mumbai-based company said.

The company has received the establishment inspection report (EIR) from USFDA for its Pithampur Unit-1 facility, Lupin said.

The USFDA issues an EIR to a company when an inspection is satisfactorily closed.
Lupin Managing Director Nilesh Gupta, said the company has received the EIR for the plant with Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI) status.

"Continuous improvement of our quality and compliance standards across all our manufacturing sites is a key focus area for the company and we are committed to working with the USFDA to manufacture and supply products of the highest quality from all our manufacturing sites," he added.

On Wednesday, the company announced that it received tentative approval for its Arformoterol Tartrate Inhalation Solution from the US drug regulator. The solution is indicated for the long-term maintenance treatment of bronchoconstriction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Following the development, Lupin shares gained 1.62% to Rs 868.10 before falling to Rs 823.

Indian Bank sees new opportunities with larger footprint after merger

After the merger of Allahabad Bank with it, Indian Bank sees growth in lending and deposits and new opportunities emerging despite the lockdown, according to Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director & CEO of Indian Bank. Both the banks have come together amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown and started working as a single bank with a larger footprint.
Even during the lockdown period, both lending and deposits are growing. "We must be careful in assessing and giving the loans. We have been one of the earliest banks to announce emergency loans across the table. I think this opens up new opportunities. First of all we have to assess the risks because there are so many more sectors now and the whole paradigm is shifting," Chunduru said.
The merger was a big task in front of the bank, but when confronted with the Covid-19 issue, the whole bank came together and the safety of the employees became paramount. Safety measures have been implemented across the bank. On April 24, it was Allahabad Bank's Foundation Day, but the amalgamated entity could not celebrate due to the lock-down.
The bank has also launched an online learning management solution for the staff. The best the welfare measures that were offered by the two banks have been made applicable to all the employees and all of them have been well received. In terms of alignment of products of both the banks, especially those related to housing loans, Indian Bank had certain products which were more attractive to the customers and they were launched across the country.

Allahabad Bank had one or two products for agriculture investments like tractors, which have been extended to Indian Bank customers.

Lockdown 2.0: Coronavirus-hit units get Rs 10,000 crore from banks

Ahead of finalising the package for industries hit by Covid-19, the Union finance ministry reviewed support extended by large public sector banks (PSBs), including via the emergency credit line, to affected firms.

 State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) have together sanctioned close to Rs 10,000 crore as immediate credit assistance to the affected units.

PSB executives said this was a regular review with top officials of large banks, including SBI. There was also discussion on working capital re-assessment.

Banks have built internal capacities for assisting companies, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs). Feedback from interactions is expected to act as an input for policies that are in works.

However, it is not clear when the package would be finalised, officials said. A SBI executive said the bank is giving these emergency loans to those in need. It does not involve elaborate scrutiny. Only thing is that borrowers have to establish the Covid impact.

Reliance increases stake in US-based tech company SkyTran to 26.3%

Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, has increased its stake in US-based SkyTran Inc, a venture-funded technology company developing modern transport modes including personal rapid transit system.
RSBVL had acquired convertible notes in two tranches, the first one on November 29 last year and the second one on March 23 this year which got converted into shares of SkyTran Inc on April 27 upon certain conditions being satisfied.
"Consequent upon this, the shareholding of RSBVL in SkyTran Inc stood increased to 26.31 per cent on a fully diluted basis," Reliance Industries said in regulatory filings at stock exchanges.
No regulatory approvals were required in India for the acquisition of shares, it added.
SkyTran, which has partnered with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in Israel, has developed magnetic levitation technology for implementing personal transportation systems aimed at solving the problem of traffic congestion globally.

Reliance has reportedly invested in SkyTran to play an active role in advancing solutions, especially in telecom, digital platforms and services, advanced materials and electric batteries.

Insurance brokers call for securing coverage of properties in lockdown

A group representing insurance brokers has written to the regulator expressing its concern about the companies likely withdrawing coverage for properties due to the nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus.

Property insurance policies usually have a condition that says if an insured property remains unoccupied for a period exceeding 15 days or 30 days then the coverage ceases to exist unless the insurer’s consent is obtained in advance.

“Policyholders are concerned that since they are simply complying with the government imposed lockdown and not willfully keeping properties unoccupied, the withdrawal of cover or imposition of new onerous conditions and warranties for continuity of coverage is unwarranted,” said the Insurance Brokers association of India (IBAI) to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irdai)

The letter said that insurers, based on the guidance note received from the GIC Re, the largest reinsurer in the country, have advised policyholders that continuity of cover is subject to compliance of specified conditions during the lockdown and prior written approval of insurer needs to be taken for continuity of cover.

GIC Re, in a letter to the General Insurance Council (GI Council), has said retail or small businesses with an insured assured up to Rs 5 crore can be shown leniency and allowed continuity of cover for unoccupied premises up to May 3 or till such time as the lockdown is extended without insurer’s consent.

Airtel signs $1 billion deal with Nokia to improve 4G network experience

Bharti Airtel has signed a multi-year deal with Nokia to deploy the Finnish company's network solutions across nine circles in India. According to industry analysts, the deal could be worth $1 billion.
"We have been working with Nokia for more than a decade now and are delighted to use Nokia's SRAN products in further improving the capacity and coverage of our network as we prepare for the 5G era," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India and South Asia) at Bharti Airtel, said in a statement.
Nokia's SRAN solution helps operators manage their 2G, 3G and 4G networks from one platform reducing network complexity, increasing cost efficiencies and future-proofing investment.
The Finnish company will be the sole provider of SRAN in the nine circles in the country.
The Nokia supplied networks with low latency and faster speeds will provide Airtel the best possible platform for when 5G networks launch across the country.

Nokia said the deal includes Nokia's Single Radio Access Network solution, AirScale Radio Access, Baseband, and related Services.
The rollout, which will also lay the foundation for providing 5G connectivity in the future, will see approximately 300,000 radio units deployed across several spectrum bands, including 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz, and is expected to be completed by 2022

Twitter disables 'tweet via SMS' feature due to text message vulnerability

Twitter has disabled its ‘tweet via SMS’ feature in most countries due to security reasons. The feature has been with the micro blogging site since its inception. However, with the proliferation of affordable smartphones and cheaper internet services, it lost its utility. Moreover, there have been vulnerabilities associated with text messaging service for tweets.
"We want to continue to help keep your account safe. We have seen vulnerabilities with SMS, so we have turned off our Twitter via SMS service, except for a few countries," said the micro-blogging platform in a tweet.
There are not many people who use this feature which is with Twitter since the very beginning but there were some complaints from people who still used SMS to read tweets.
The tweet via SMS feature was launched with Twitter's original 140-character limit.
Everyone will still have access to important SMS messages needed to log in to and manage their accounts.
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In September last year, Twitter said that it was temporarily turning off the ability to Tweet via SMS, or text message, to protect people's accounts.

"We're taking this step because of vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by mobile carriers and our reliance on having a linked phone number for two-factor authentication (we're working on improving this)," it added.

Best of BS Opinion: Franklin Templeton fiasco, Covid-19 outbreak, and more

The sad aspect of economic policymaking even for the long term is that much of it is predicated on the global pandemic.

The current equipage of all thinking seems to show the way to the future. Uddalok Bhattacharya sums up the views.

Two decisions by the government on FDI show discretion is coming back to pervade policy making. A K Bhattacharya explains how Read here

It is possible to shore up Make in India by turning the emotional pitch surrounding China’s mishandling of Covid to good account, says Ajay Shankar Read here

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Be prepared for more cases such as Franklin Templeton. Debashis Basu gives the reasons for it Read here

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A re-examination of many assumptions of economics is imperative, because of the pandemic crisis and other factors related to climate change and global trade Read here

Govt needs clear 'entry and exit plan' on fiscal expansion: Shaktikanta Das

The coronavirus pandemic will expand the government’s fiscal deficit beyond 3.5 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP), said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das as he called for a "well calibrated roadmap” to manage finances.

“The 3.5 per cent fiscal deficit target for this year will be very challenging to meet,” Das told news agency Cogencis in an interview. "It has to be a judicious and balanced call keeping in mind the need to support the economy on one hand and the sustainable level of fiscal deficit that is consistent with macroeconomic and financial stability.”

“There has to be a very well calibrated and well thought out roadmap for entry and exit.” The RBI has not yet taken a view on monetising the government deficit.

“We will deal with it keeping in view the operational realities, the need to preserve the strength of the RBI's balance sheet, and most importantly, the goal of macroeconomic stability, our primary mandate. In the process, we also evaluate various alternative sources of funding too,” he said.

The RBI has not participated in treasury bill auctions and neither has it decided whether there would be a special coronavirus bond, instrument analysts have been suggested that can be used for a private placement of government debt with the central bank.

The central bank had a sense that the new Targeted Long Term Repo Operations or TLTRO 2.0 will might not be as good as the previous such operations, as “banks are not willing to take on credit risk in their balance sheets beyond a point,” he said.

The Reverse Repo Rate is a liquidity management tool, and the cut is temporary. The policy signaling rate continues to be the repo rate. While the RBI does not need to take the approval of the monetary policy committee (MPC) for tweaking its liquidity tools, the central bank discussed the measure with the members.

RBI has not taken a final view on the rate of Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), which can be deployed to let banks park their excess liquidity with the central bank without any collateral, but at a lower rate than the reverse repo. However, SDF “is always available with RBI and it can be activated at any moment,” Das said.

India continues to enjoy the trust of foreign investors, and its banking system remains healthy, Das said.

Banks can extend moratorium to everybody, including non-bank financial companies (NBFC), but the failure of TLTRO 2.0 proved that banks are not ready to take risk. The challenge of ensuring flows to the mid- and small-sized NBFCs and microfinance institutions continues.

Lockdown controlled Covid-19, time to give economy importance: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conveyed to chief ministers that the country will have to give importance to the economy as well as to continue the fight against coronavirus.
The prime minister interacted with chief ministers as in a video conference and highlighted the importance for states to enforce prescribed guidelines strictly in the hotspots, the government said in a statement.
The prime minister also underlined that the lockdown has "yielded positive results as the country has managed to save thousands of lives in the past one and a half months."
"Prime Minister said that the country has seen two Lockdowns till now, both different in certain aspects, and now we have to think of the way ahead. He said that as per experts, the impact of coronavirus will remain visible in the coming months," the statement added.
Civil defence officials wear protective suits to help a man who was lying on the roadside near Hebbal flyover during a nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic, in Bengaluru. Photo: PTI
 Civil defence officials wear protective suits to help a man who was lying on the roadside near Hebbal flyover during a nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic, in Bengaluru. Photo: PTIModi also said that masks and face covers will become part of the lives of people in the days ahead, adding everyone's aim must be to ensure rapid response under the current circumstances.
Among those present at the virtual meet, included Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, and top officials from the PMO and the Union Health Ministry. The chief ministers who attended the meeting included Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Uddhav Thackeray (Maharashtra), E K Palaniswami (Tamil Nadu), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya) Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand) and Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh).

This is Modi's fourth such interaction with state chief ministers since March 22 when he first spoke to them on the coronavirus situation. Two days later on March 24, Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown, which was further extended till May 3. Besides discussing the way forward in dealing with the pandemic, the prime ministers and chief ministers also focussed on a "graded" exit from the lockdown.

iQOO 3 smartphone gets a price cut, now starts at Rs 34,990: Details here

Chinese smartphone brand iQOO on Friday cut the price of its flagship smartphone, the iQOO 3. Launched earlier this year, the smartphone comes in three RAM and storage configurations: 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB. The 8GB RAM variant with 128GB and 256GB internal storage configurations was launched at Rs 38,990 and Rs 41,990, respectively. The 12GB RAM variant, one with 5G network support, was launched at Rs 46,990.
Now, after the price cut, the – 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB will be available at Rs 34,990, Rs 37,990 and Rs 44,990, respectively.
“In cognizance of the difficult circumstance we are all going through due to the global health pandemic, we understand that affordability will be a key concern for consumers going forward. In order to continue with our proposition of offering best-in-class features with 5G capabilities at an affordable price point, we have decided to refresh our pricing, making the iQOO the most cost-effective 5G enabled device in India,” said Gagan Arora, Director-Marketing, iQOO India.
The new prices are applicable from today. However, the phone would be available on Flipkart and company’s online store as soon as e-commerce resume operations, which are currently suspended in view of country-wide lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.
iQOO has also announced that the iQOO 3 will be one of the first smartphones to receive Android 11 update and regular security and over the air (OTA) updates for 3 years.
The smartphone features a 6.44-inch super AMOLED display with HDR 10+ certification for high-dynamic range video-content playback.

According to the company, the device has the 180Hz Super Touch Response rate, which can improve the screen touch scan frequency by 50 per cent in comparison to screen of 120hz touch response rate.

Covid-19 crisis: SBI to disburse Rs 700 cr to MSMEs in Mumbai by June

State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, has set a target of disbursing Rs 700 crore to MSMEs in the Mumbai circle by the end of June, to help them tide over liquidity crisis due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Among all banks, SBI controls a market share of 22 per cent in the MSME lending.
"SBI will boost flow of credit to MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in this challenging period by reassessing their working capital limit and also by extending Covid-19 emergency loans.
"Overall, we expect to lend Rs 700 crore to MSMEs in four districts of Mumbai circle — Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad — by the end of June," the World Trade Centre said in a statement quoting Suresh Nair, deputy general manager (SMEs and financial inclusion) at SBI, as saying after a webinar.
Nair expressed hope that the pandemic will not lead to a sudden spurt in bad loans as the Reserve Bank of India has provided moratorium on all loan repayments.
"The impact of the crisis on NPAs (non-performing assets) will become clear after August depending on the evolving situation," Nair said.

Though SBI has provided sanction letter for additional loan facility to 67 per cent of all eligible borrowers, only 50 per cent of them could avail of the facility due to practical difficulties in executing documentation, he said.

Tepid power consumption in Chhattisgarh despite soaring temperature

The demand for power in Chhattisgarh is not rising in sync with the temperature in the state, which has reached about 40 degress in the capital, Raipur. Instead there has been a decline in electricity offtake in the state

Air-conditioners and coolers in major cities in the state were indeed switched on to beat the heat during the first week of April.

However, the state-owned Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company (CSPDC) is in a fix, because power consumption is down to almost 1,000 Mw in what the company considers as peak season.

“Normally the demand increases to 4,500-Mw in April, but this year it is only 3,500 Mw,” CSPDC officials said. A plausible explanation offered was that consumption has been lower this season due to the Covid-19 lockdown, which has forced shut industrial units and commercial establishments, which are large consumers.

 The industrial sector only consumed about 40 per cent of the total demand. Following the decrease in offtake, the Chhattisgarh State Power Feneration Company had curtailed production at its units.

While the generating company has been able to cut production costs the distribution company would have to take a loss of about Rs 500 crore, the officials said. It has already beem reeling under a crisis as the state government had subsidised power for consumer by halving electricity tariff.

The lockdown didn't make matters any better. This is because steel makers and small industrial units in the sate had come out with a fresh demand to revive their sectors. They had urged the state government to reduce power tariff for the industrial sector, which is a major customer of the power distribution company in the state.

Pakistan receives $1.39 bn loan from IMF to deal with coronavirus crisis

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received an emergency loan of $1.39 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost its foreign exchange reserves in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
The $1.39 billion loan is in addition to the $6 billion bailout package that Pakistan had signed with the IMF in July last year to stave off a balance of payment crisis. "SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) has received $1.39 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) from the IMF," the central bank said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Pakistan in March had requested the global moneylender for a low-cost, fast-disbursing loan under its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to deal with the adverse economic impact of the pandemic. The RFI is used to provide financial assistance to IMF member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need without requiring them to put a full-fledged programme in place.
According to a report in The Express Tribune, the loan will push Pakistan's foreign currency reserves apparently to a one-month high above $12 billion. The IMF executive board approved the low-cost emergency loan last week to help Pakistan meet the urgent balance of the international payment needs in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent IMF statement.
With the latest recovery of Rs 0.76 in the inter-bank market on Wednesday, the rupee has cumulatively regained Rs 7.53, or 4.5 per cent, in the past two weeks to a one-month high at Rs 160.36 to the US dollar, the SBP said in a statement.
Earlier, the foreign currency reserves had dropped to a four-month low at $10.97 billion on April 10, 2020, according to the central bank's weekly update on Thursday last week.
The reserves had partly depleted due to capital pullout worth around $2.69 billion by short-term foreign investors from Pakistan's debt market over the past five to six weeks. Many of them sold premature treasury bills and long-term Pakistan Investment Bonds in panic following the fast spread of the coronavirus across the world.

Foreign debt repayments also consumed the foreign currency reserves in the past four months.

Quick approval, grace period: Medical insurance process eased amid Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought home the significance of health and life insurance like nothing else earlier. Even those who were blasé about these covers in the past are now looking to buy a new policy or want to enhance the sum insured on their existing ones. Meanwhile, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has been issuing a slew of guidelines to health/general and life insurance companies aimed at easing matters for customers.

MEDICAL INSURANCE:

Pay health insurance premiums in instalments: Through a circular dated April 20, 2020, the regulator has permitted companies offering health insurance to allow customers to pay their premiums in instalments. With many customers expected to face financial hardships amid the lockdown, this step will ease customers’ burden. “It is an attempt to provide an affordable option to customers, and encourage more people to buy health insurance," says Prasun Sikdar, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), ManipalCigna Health Insurance.

Some insurers will charge the same premium under all options. “The premium amount will remain the same irrespective of the mode of payment," says S. Prakash, managing director, Star Health and Allied Insurance. Brokers, however, inform that some companies may charge you an extra amount if you go for any option other than annual.

The burden of paying the premium does get eased in a frequent-payment option. “In some COVID-19 cases, treatment costs have gone as high as Rs 14-15 lakh due to accompanying complications. If the sum insured on your family floater is not adequate, use the monthly payment option to enhance your cover,” suggests Amit Chhabra, business head, health insurance, Policybazaar.com.

Gadkari hints at further easing of Covid-19 lockdown in next 15 days

Union minister Nitin Gadkari hinted at further easing of the ongoing lockdown within the next 15 days, in order to revive industrial activity as the country faces dire economic problems owing to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a WebEx with the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, Gadkari, union minister of road transport & highways and MSME, said, “In the coming 15 days, this phase will be reduced. By taking preventive measures, we can start moving towards our usual activities although in Delhi and Mumbai it could be difficult”.
Acknowledging the issues in the industry like a looming liquidity crunch as well as frozen income, the minister said, “By and large, we are moving towards how we can soon resume our normal life”.
Advising entrepreneurs to look into the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity for India to maximise exports and opt for import substitution, Gadkari said that the Centre has appointed a consultant which will study imports for the last five years and then recommend how exports from India can be increased and import-substitution achieved.
Paint companies like Berger Paints are looking at import substitution by procuring raw material including pigments and other necessary chemicals locally in wake of the pandemic after supplies from China were hit temporarily.

With the Covid-19 outbreak wreaking havoc on large cities like Mumbai and Delhi, which house industrial clusters, Gadkari said the need of the hour is to opt for decentralised industries.

ValueAct eyes stake of over $1.1 billion in Japanese gaming major Nintendo

Activist investor ValueAct Capital Partners LP has built a stake of over $1.1 billion in Nintendo, according to a letter seen by Reuters, a bet that digital software distribution and the development of new entertainment products will fuel growth at the Japanese gaming company.
ValueAct, which first began buying the stock in April 2019, grew the position in Nintendo, known for its gaming consoles and for having turned characters like Mario and Donkey Kong into international hits, during the stock market sell-off in February and March, according to the letter sent to its investors.
Nintendo's future is bright, ValueAct wrote in its letter, adding there is potential for growth both in the software business and room for the company to transform itself into a broader entertainment company.
ValueAct has picked up about 2.6 million shares, or about a 2% stake, in Nintendo. Shares of the Japanese company rose more than 2% as trading started in Tokyo.
"We are aware that ValueAct is holding a stake and we've been engaged in dialogue with them. We don't disclose content of our dialogue with our investors," a Nintendo spokesman said.
A spokesman for ValueAct declined to comment.
San Francisco-based ValueAct said it has had several meetings with members of Nintendo management and that it believes in the vision the company's chief executive, Shuntaro Furukawa, has shared with ValueAct and with others.
Unlike other investment firms that push for change publicly and often ask for board seats at target companies, ValueAct prefers to work with management behind the scenes.
Its partners could offer relevant guidance and experience to help Nintendo after having served on boards at Adobe and Microsoft, the firm's letter said, stopping short of asking for board representation.

U.S. activist investors are increasingly looking to target Japan's cash rich companies and this marks the third investment ValueAct has made in Japan in the last four years.

Covid-19: Global pvt wealth takes a hit; India sees 20% dip in Jan-March

Private wealth growth rates have turned out to be negative for all major economies in the January-March quarter of 2020. Emerging economies, including India, faced the brunt of the meltdown, with total wealth growth rate ranging between (-) 14 per cent to (-) 26 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, estimates a research report by New World Wealth.
In India, the drop was fueled by local currency depreciation from around Rs 71 per US dollar to Rs 75 a US dollar during the quarter, the report said. The loss in local stock market - the BSE index down by 31 per cent in local currency terms during the first quarter of 2020 - was the other major reason for the erosion in value of private wealth in the country, the report added.
“Apart from the human cost, the coronavirus has also had a severe economic impact - our estimates show that global private wealth levels have dropped by around 15 per cent in the 1Q of 2020 (in US dollar terms),” the report noted.

This drop has been driven by declining global stock market returns, even as most major currencies weakened against the US Dollar, the report added.
“This has negatively impacted on the US Dollar based wealth of most people globally, especially those living in emerging markets,” the report said.
‘Global private wealth’ refers to the wealth held by all private individuals globally. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities.
The report also noted that some countries have handled the outbreak better than others, which may impact on their ability to recover economically in the second half of the year. Countries that appear to have handled the crisis best include Australia and South Korea.

Kotak Mahindra Bank plans share sale of Rs 7,500 crore

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank on Wednesday said its board has approved a proposal to issue 65 million equity shares of Rs 5 each as a part of its capital raising plans. At the current market price, this works out to around Rs 7,500 crore.

“The board has accorded its approval for raising of capital by way of issue of equity shares, by the bank for up to 65 million equity shares of Rs 5 each, through a private placement, follow-on public offering (FPO), qualified institutional placement (QIP) or a combination thereof, as may be considered appropriate, subject to shareholders’ approval and governmental, regulatory, statutory approvals and requirements, as applicable,” said the bank in an exchange filing.

The bank’s shares on the BSE were trading at Rs 1,147, up 1.4 per cent from previous days close on the BSE.

On a standalone basis, the lender had a capital adequacy ratio of 18.2 per cent with tier 1 capital at 17.7 per cent at the end of December 2019. The regulatory requirement is at 11.07 per cent.

(Disclosure: Entities controlled by the Kotak family have a significant holding in Business Standard Pvt Ltd.)

Oil firms float finished fuel products on Arabian Sea as demand slumps

US Oil futures touched an unprecedented negative pricing on Monday over low demand and scarce storage. Closer home Indian refiners are facing a similar issue with their refined products, forcing companies like Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) to float some products in the Arabian Sea.
This is not the first time oil companies have used floating storage, however, officials point out using this option due to a large scale slump in demand and fully utilized tankages is a first.
"We are floating products like motor spirit and reformates," said a senior BPCL official. "These are in chartered ships, floating in the Arabian Sea. They will either will go to exports or be brought back for internal consumption depending on demand."
The official pegged the volumes to be lower at a few thousand tonnes of different products.
Since the nationwide lockdown was announced in March, India's fuel consumption has taken a major hit. Most industry executives said demand for petrol and diesel fell to a third of the normal, while demand for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is now negligible, following the suspension of international and domestic flights.
The decline in demand has forced oil companies to run refineries at lower utilisation levels.
"Right now, the utilisation for refineries is at 50 to 60 per cent," the official quoted earlier in the story said.

Industry executives remain hopeful with that factory and agricultural work now resuming, demand for petrol and diesel will improve.

46% drop in hiring at Microsoft in April, only 3 jobs openings at LinkedIn

Tech giant Microsoft has seen nearly 46 per cent drop in recruitment activity while its professional career website LinkedIn has listed even worse - just 3 openings for its entire operation amid coronavirus crisis.
According to data compiled by alternative data platform Thinknum, Satya Nadella-run tech giant listed 5,580 openings on its main careers site on March 22.
"By April 20, that number sunk to 3,028, a 46% drop in hiring activity," said the platform that allows investors to get data-driven investment ideas by monitoring companies' websites.
On March 1, LinkedIn listed 510 openings.
"Microsoft-owned career website LinkedIn has seen an even starker drop in hiring. As of this week, LinkedIn shows only 3 openings for its entire business," the web platform revealed.
LinkedIn's main source of revenue comes from job listings but there are very few new jobs as industries after industries are being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Thinknum, the hiring slowdown at Microsoft is across the board.
"Of the 20 categories for which the company hires, all have seen drops in openings. None, however, more so than engineering, for which Microsoft is typically hiring for thousands of openings," it revealed.
Not just Microsoft, Google which hired 20,000 employees in 2019 and planned to recruit similar number this year has decided to freeze hiring for the rest of the year as the company fights Covid-19 pandemic.

In an internal memo, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that now is the time to significantly slow down the pace of hiring, "while maintaining momentum in a small number of strategic areas where users and businesses rely on Google for ongoing support, and where our growth is critical to their success".