Extended crematorium hours: Govt on disposing Covid-19 victim's bodies

A day after the Delhi High Court communicated anguish over the build-up in discarding the dead groups of Covid-19 casualties, the AAP government educated that it has broadened the working long periods of crematoriums. The accumulation is aftereffect of non-working of CNG heaters at the crematoriums in Delhi
Presently rather than 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, they will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Delhi government told the court that the LNJP medical clinic is being approved to redirect bodies to crematoriums at Panchkuian and Punjab Bagh, instead of just Nigambodh Ghat.
"Pressing advances were taken to cure the circumstance like expanding the working hours of the crematorium so as to clear the excess," said advocate Sanjoy Ghose showing up for the Delhi government.
The entries came in while the court was hearing an issue identifying with the absence of offices to incinerate the individuals who passed on due to Covid-19 and the bodies accumulating in the morgues.
A Division Bench of the high court involving Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Asha Menon took suo moto perception of the issue on Thursday and changed over it into a Public Interest Litigation.
Approved wood-terminated customary incinerations, notwithstanding electric and CNG heaters, have been permitted to capacity and PPE units for all laborers, just as bodies, have likewise been made accessible, the administration told the court.
It further educated that 28 bodies were discarded on May 28, and by May 30, the staying 35 bodies will be discarded. "Just those bodies will be held back where after death/examinations are to be done," the administration said.
Following the entries, the court requested that the AAP government record a status report by June 2.

Communicating disappointment and outrage while observing the circumstance, the court on Thursday stated, "We, as residents of Delhi are tormented at the previously mentioned situation and as judges discover the circumstance as revealed and assuming valid, to be exceptionally dissatisfactory and violative of the privileges of the dead."

Apple may postpone iPhone 12 launch to November due to coronavirus pandemic

American innovation goliath Apple is probably going to push its September 'iPhone 12' dispatch to November due to coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the coordinations, gracefully chain and assembling universally. As indicated by a report by a venture banking organization Cowen, Apple's second-quarter creation is relied upon to be 35 million units, down 5 percent from the primary quarter and down 13 percent from a similar period a year ago. The expert said that the creation gracefully fasten has come back to typical yield rates, however downstream interest stays questionable. It predicts that Apple's iPhone shipments in the subsequent quarter will arrive at 30 million.
Jon Prosser, a dependable Apple insider, prior said that the organization is right now reflecting on the circumstance, and considering to push the 2020 cell phone dispatch in October to stop a hole between the occasion and handsets arriving at store racks.
Prosser, who accurately announced the discharge date of the iPhone SE, said that there is additionally the likelihood that a later iPhone 12 dispatch occasion could permit more columnists and investigators to go to face to face. He included, the October declaration will give the Cupertino-based tech goliath time to revive more stores in various markets that are shut down because of lockdown. Apple has so far revived 256 out of its more than 500 retail locations.

As indicated by Posser, a 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 models will be accessible with 128GB or 256GB of capacity and that 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro models will have 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacity alternatives.

Indian banks' asset quality pressure may last for at least 2 years: Fitch

Indian banks are taking a gander at critical resource quality difficulties for at any rate the following two years in spite of administrative measures, as indicated by Fitch Ratings.
Fitch gauges that the effect on impeded advance proportions could be anyplace between 200 to 600 premise focuses relying upon the seriousness of stress and banks' individual hazard exposures.
The most recent arrangement of measures declared by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) remembers an augmentation of the 90-day ban for acknowledgment of weakened advances to 180 days notwithstanding a few relaxations in bank loaning limits including permitting banks to support enthusiasm on working capital credits.
"These measures will put a substantial onus especially on open part saves money with (effectively debilitated accounting reports) to rescue the influenced areas because of their semi strategy job, taking into account that a significant part of the state's as of late declared improvement measures is as new credits," said Fitch in the report titled 'Significant Indian Banks Peer Review 2020.'
The across the country lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus - which has been stretched out for the third time until May 31 - has negatively affected organizations, flexibly chains and individual wages. The effect for some smaller scale and SME parts is basic, and a significant recovery is improbable in any event, when the lockdown closes.
"We expect that both buyer request and assembling are probably going to stay lukewarm until the rising instances of coronavirus patients are managed, which are approaching 160,000 (dynamic cases 86,110) according to the most recent check. The pressure is happening across areas, yet SME and retail are probably going to rise as higher hazard because of both focused on mechanical action and rising joblessness," said the report.
Disabled advances acknowledgment will presently take longer and the more loosened up loaning standards for banks could mean rising monetary record dangers if banks submit under tension in spite of their increased hazard avoidance. State banks are more in danger because of their powerless income and restricted capital cushions.

The state banks additionally have an a lot higher level of their advance books under ban than private banks at around 33%, according to detailed information.

Xiaomi to bring 'thin and light-weight' Mi Notebook-series to India in June

In the wake of solidifying its initiative situation in the cell phones and TVs fragments in India, Chinese combination Xiaomi is equipping to raid into PC advertise by carrying its Mi Notebook to the nation one month from now, an organization official said on Thursday.
Xiaomi sells a few PCs under Mi Notebook marking universally, including Mi Notebook PC, a Pro variation, the Mi Gaming PC and the Mi Laptop Air.
Given the organization's history in India, it could dispatch the standard Mi Notebook first in the nation.
"We are prepared to present the following huge class in India with the Mi Notebook arrangement. We will extensively have two arrangement under Mi Notebook that we are going to dispatch. It will be a moderate structure, a force pressed gadget with most recent innovation to satisfy the prerequisites of our Indian clients," Raghu Reddy, Chief Business Officer, Xiaomi India, told IANS.
He said the organization likewise means to present more items under the Mi brand, similar to Internet of Things (IoT) items and Smart TVs.

"Our objective with the Mi Notebook arrangement is power clients; individuals who need a specific degree of execution like understudies to office goers. With this new item, we are focusing on the individuals who are searching for an ideal gadget for gaming, diversion, training just as profitability," said Reddy.

Moon, Mars Mission: Here's how you can participate in 8-month Nasa program

Individuals over the globe are as of now in social seclusion because of the novel coronavirus that has unleashed destruction. Why not get paid to do it? Nasa is in look for sound US residents for an eight-month concentrate on social confinement in anticipation of its missions to Mars and the moon.
Who can apply for Nasa's 8-month disengagement
Not every person can apply for the program. Nasa has set out certain standards for qualification. They are as per the following:
Age qualification: Nasa is searching for sound people between the ages of 30 and 55.
Language: Candidates must be conversant in both English and Russian
Instructive capability: Candidates must have a M.S., PhD., M.D. or then again have finished military official preparing. NASA will consider different members with a four year certification and different capabilities, for example, military or expert experience.
For what reason is the exploration being completed?
The universal space office is getting ready for its next spaceflight reenactment study. The examination is being done to contemplate the impacts of disconnection and constrainment as members work to finish reproduced space missions.
Results from ground-based missions like this assist NASA with getting ready for the genuine difficulties of room investigation and give significant logical information to take care of a portion of these issues and to create countermeasures.
This examination expands on a four-month study led in 2019. The SIRIUS-19 simple crucial six members - two US residents and four Russians - disengaged in a metal territory that went about as their rocket, lunar lander and home.
Where will the members be disconnected and what will be required from them?
Members will remain in a lab situated in Moscow, and they will encounter ecological angles like those space explorers are relied upon to encounter on future missions to Mars that will have group individuals from various countries.

A little worldwide team will live respectively in disconnection for eight months directing logical research, utilizing computer generated reality and performing automated activities among various different assignments during the lunar strategic.

Maharashtra SSC result 2020: Average marking for cancelled Geography exam

Maharashtra SSC result 2020: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has chosen to grant a normal of imprints got in different subjects for the Class 10 Geography paper, which was dropped in view of coronavirus lockdown. The test was booked to be hung on March 23. Over 1.7 million understudies showed up for SSC tests in Maharashtra, which were booked between March 3 and 23.
"Since the pending Geography paper was dropped, the board has chosen to grant SSC understudies a normal of imprints acquired in composed assessment of different subjects," a round expressed.
A comparative principle will be applied if there should arise an occurrence of a professional subject test for in an unexpected way abled understudies, it expressed.
"A normal of imprints acquired in composed, oral, down to earth and inside assessment of different subjects will be granted for the subject," the notification read.
The Maharashtra class 10 outcome will be accessible on the official site - mahresult.nic.in.
Steps to check Maharashtra Board class tenth outcome 2020 when it is pronounced

1. Visit the official site - mahresult.nic.in
2. Snap on the Board Result tab
3. MSBSHSE result page will show up on the screen
4. Enter your Roll Number and different subtleties
5. Snap View Result
6. Spare a duplicate of the outcome

MSBSHSE has not yet affirmed the date on which Maharashtra SSC result 2020 will be declared

Gold prices hit two-week low on optimism around reopening of economies

Gold costs contacted a fourteen day low on Wednesday because of idealism around reviving of a few economies, however expanding Sino-US erosions over Beijing's proposed security law for Hong Kong tempered misfortunes.
Spot gold plunged 0.3 percent to $1,705.94 per ounce by 0502 GMT, in the wake of hitting its most reduced level since May 13 of $1,703.40 prior in the meeting. US gold prospects were down 0.6 percent to $1,695.80, the Reuters detailed.
On Tuesday, gold had dropped as much as 1.3 percent, to contact $1,707.10, an almost fourteen day low.
"What we saw over the former 24 hours was a break of generally important help at about $1,715," said DailyFx cash specialist Ilya Spivak.
"The positive story is by all accounts facilitating of limitations and (that) there will be a type of bounce back in financial movement… in any case, there is (additionally) a ton of antagonism. Strain between the US and China is an immense hazard."
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington was dealing with a solid reaction to China's arranged national security law for Hong Kong, including it would be reported before the week's end.

Asian offers slipped on worries about the rising Sino-US strains.

UP restarts road, bridge projects totalling Rs 31,000 cr as lockdown eases

Staying up with the continuous facilitating of the covid-19 lockdown in non-hotspot zones, the Uttar Pradesh government has restarted street and scaffold ventures totalling more than Rs 31,400 crore up until this point.
While the restoration of these foundation ventures will cultivate their auspicious fulfillment, it will likewise support the neighborhood economy, particularly in the background of the substantial inundation of returning transient specialists.
These ventures, totalling 1,900, fall under the ambit of the UP open works office (PWD), UP Bridge Corporation and Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (RNN), with complete labor organization of around 28,000.
"These ventures will advance financial turn of events and create work open doors for the workers, particularly vagrants," UP vice president serve Keshav Prasad Maurya said here. Up until now, more than 2.5 million transients have just come back to the state.
He watched street availability is critical to the quick development of products and material over the state, in this way assuming a significant job in supporting the rustic ventures and smaller scale, little and medium undertakings (MSME) when the lockdown has disturbed the general economy to an enormous degree.

The state PWD division represents the a lot of 1,539 activities totalling Rs 13,660 crore and utilizing 19,500 workers, trailed by RNN dealing with 241 undertakings costing about Rs 13,260 crore and utilizing 5,800 workers. The rest of the tasks fall under the domain of the UP Bridge Corporation.

Tamil Nadu signs MoUs worth over Rs 15,000 crore to generate 47,000 jobs

Tamil Nadu has marked 17 notice of understandings (MOUs) worth Rs 15,128 crore to create 47,150 employments in the state.
Daimler India, Salcomp and different organizations would put over Rs 15,000 crore in Tamil Nadu.
Daimler India Commercial Vehicle would contribute Rs 2,277 crore and create 400 employments.
The proposed venture will be towards organization's proposed brownfield extension at organization's Oragadam office close to Chennai.
Other significant auto task will be by BYD India. The organization will contribute Rs 50 crore to produce electric vehicles. The proposed office will come at Sriperumbudur and will create employments for 130 individuals.
Mahindra Origins will contribute Rs 46 crore.
Finland-based Salcomp has marked MoU to contribute Rs 1,300 crore, which will make 10,000 occupations. The organization has obtained significant segment of Nokia's office at Sriperumbudur, close to Chennai, which was shut because of personal duty contest. In 2019, the organization had marked a MoU worth Rs 500 crore with the Tamil Nadu Government.
Japan-based Polymatech Electronics will contribute Rs 900 crore to make semiconductor chips.
Chennai Power Generation Ltd, an India-UK co-activity, will contribute around Rs 3,000 crore to set up a 750 uber watt (MW) power plant, which will be founded on sustainable power source.
Taiwan-based Chung Jye Company alongside Aston Shoes Pvt Ltd will contribute around Rs 350 crore which would create 25,000 employments to manufacure footwears.
Lai Investment Manager Pvt Ltd (Logos) would contribute Rs 400 crore to set up a modern park in Kanchipuram region.

Other than the abovementioned, the State Government marked MoUs for different sustainable power source ventures.

Nationwide lockdown to contain Covid-19 has failed: Rahul Gandhi

Congress pioneer Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the four periods of across the country lockdown have "fizzled" and not given the outcomes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi anticipated.
Tending to a question and answer session in Delhi, he requested that the focal government explain its procedure most definitely and how it plans to help vagrants and states.
"What is the focal government's arrangement to go ahead as the infection is developing exponentially in the nation," he inquired.
"The four phases of lockdown have not given the outcome that the Prime Minister expected," he stated, including that it is quite evident that the point and motivation behind lockdowns have bombed in India.

"India is the main nation on the planet which is loosening up the lockdown when the infection is 'exponentially rising'," he noted.

Bharti Airtel slips 5% after promoters sell 2.75% stake via block deals

Portions of Bharti Airtel dropped 5.4 percent to Rs 561 on the BSE on Tuesday after its advertiser, Bharti Telecom, sold some stake in the telecom administrations supplier through open market bargains today.
At 09:15 am; around 155.71 million value shares speaking to 2.85 percent of absolute value of Bharti Airtel changed hands on the BSE, the trade information appears. The names of the purchasers are not discovered right away.
Agreeing reports, Bharti Telecom, an advertiser substance of Bharti Airtel, was to sell 2.75 percent stake worth $1 billion in the telecom organization by means of square arrangements on Tuesday morning. Up to 150 million offers will be accessible for planned speculators through a book-manufactured contribution. The offers are being offered to enormous, high networth speculators at 6 percent rebate to the end cost of Rs 593 an offer as on March 22. JP Morgan was to deal with the deal with a story cost of Rs 558 for every value share, included the report.
As on March 31, 2020, Bharti Telecom held about 38.79 percent stake in Bharti Airtel which will be diminished by 2.75 [per penny after the arrangement. The all out advertiser shareholding according to trade information right now remains at 58.98 percent. Other than Bharti Telecom, different advertisers in Bharti Airtel incorporate, Pastel Ltd (13.91 percent stake), Indian Continent Investment Ltd (6.08 percent stake) and Viridian Ltd (0.20 percent stake), information appears.

In January 2020, the Sunil Mittal-drove Bharti Airtel had raised $2 billion through a certified institutional position (QIP) which saw support by exceptionally rumored worldwide and Indian financial specialists. The organization gave 323.6 million value shares at cost of Rs 445 for every offer. After the QIP issue, the consolidated holding of the advertiser and advertiser gathering, including Singtel and the Bharti Group, in Airtel would decrease to 58.98 percent from 62.70 percent.

Uber trims a quarter of its India workforce, lays off 600 employees

Uber India on Tuesday reported it was laying off 600 of its workers – a fourth of its all out headcount of 2,400 in the nation – across client and driver support, business advancement, legitimate, account, approach and showcasing verticals.
The saved representatives would be paid 10 to 12 weeks of pay, other than clinical protection inclusion for the following a half year and outplacement support, the organization said. These staff members would likewise be permitted to hold their workstations and given the choice of joining the Uber ability catalog. "Today is an inconceivably miserable day for partners leaving the Uber family and we all at the organization. We settled on the choice now so we can look to the future with certainty. I need to apologize to withdrawing associates and stretch out my sincere gratitude to them for their commitments to Uber, the riders, and the driver accomplices we serve in India," said Pradeep Parameswaran, Uber president for India and South Asia, affirming the turn of events.

Dara KhosrowshahiIn consecutive declarations this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the organization would conserve 25 percent of its 27,000-in number worldwide workforce to spare $1 billion. Photograph: ReutersThe move is a piece of the worldwide rebuilding plan declared before by Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi taking into account the organization's focused on fortunes in the midst of lockdowns in a few nations, including India, to forestall the spread of coronavirus. These limitations, as per the CEO, had prompted a 80 percent year-on-year decrease in Uber's worldwide business in April. For the January-March quarter of 2020, the organization reported a $2.9-billion misfortune, its greatest in seventy five percent. Uber had before cutting edge its objective of accomplishing a proportion of productivity by a year, and was wanting to be in the green by the final quarter of 2020.

Hacker selling customer data of 3 crypto wallets, 1 investment platform

A programmer who was behind the digital assault on Ethereum.org is presently selling information attached to key cryptographic money wallets like Keepkey, Trezor, Ledger and online speculation stage Bnktothefuture.
The programmer has three enormous databases with data relating to in any event 80,000 clients. This incorporates the client's email address, name, telephone number, private location and other information, news organization IANS announced.
Information of clients who purportedly bought items utilizing Shopify from these crypto wallets have been undermined, as indicated by information penetrate observing and counteraction administration called Under the Breach.
"The programmer doesn't appear to have any passwords, yet is offering nitty gritty data that was taken from an asserted Shopify penetrate like email addresses, places of residence, and telephone numbers," reports Bitcoin News.
Record, in any case, tweeted: "Bits of gossip imagine our Shopify database has been hacked through a Shopify abuse. Our internet business group is right now checking these charges by examining the alleged hacked DB, thus far it doesn't coordinate our genuine (database) DB. We proceed with examinations and are paying attention to the issue".
A Shopify representative told Bitcoin.com: "We explored these cases and found no proof to validate them, and no proof of any trade off of Shopify's frameworks."

The programmer has publicized the databases of 18 virtual money trades and discussions, notwithstanding the email arrangements of two crypto charge stages.

States need to ask for permission if they want UP workers back: Adityanath

Any express that needs vagrant laborers from Uttar Pradesh back needs to look for consent from the administration and need to guarantee their socio-legitimate fiscal rights, Chief Minister Adityanath said on Sunday.
Upset that transient workers were "not appropriately dealt with" by different states in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown, Adityanath stated, "These laborers are our greatest asset and will give them work in Uttar Pradesh as state government is going to set up a commission for their business."
"They are our kin… what's more, if a few states need them back, they need to look for authorization from the state government," Adityanath said in a collaboration with the RSS-partnered distributions 'Panchjanya' and 'Coordinator'.
According to input got from vagrant laborers who came to Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath said shielding their privileges ought to get most extreme consideration and significance, news organization PTI detailed.
"Every transient specialist are being enlisted and their abilities mapped. Any state or element keen on welcoming transient specialists should guarantee and accommodate their socio-lawful money related rights," he said.
About the commission, Adityanath said it has been proposed to investigate different variables related with transient specialists' privileges and to forestall abuse while giving an official structure to guarantee financial lawful help for them.
"Protection, government managed savings, re-business help, arrangement for joblessness stipend are a portion of the elements that will be investigated by the commission," he said.
More than 23 lakh transient laborers have come back to Uttar Pradesh so far by the endeavors of the state government, the main priest stated, including countless them coming back from Mumbai and Delhi tried positive for Covid-19.

The state government has made every important course of action for them and, if essential, will keep them in isolate offices, Adityanath said.

Facebook brings in new Messenger feature to protect minors from scams

In an offer to make Messenger more secure, Facebook has presented another element that will help a great many individuals, particularly minors, stay away from conceivably hurtful collaborations and potential tricks without trading off their protection.

The Messenger clients will currently observe security sees springing up in a talk and give tips to assist them with spotting dubious action and make a move to square or disregard somebody when something doesn't appear to be correct, news office IANS revealed.

Facebook began turning this element out on Android in March and would carry this to more individuals around the globe on iOS this week.

"Protection, wellbeing and security are key to Messenger. We strive to guarantee Messenger is a sheltered spot to associate with the individuals who matter most while likewise securing their protection," as per By Jay Sullivan, Director of Product Management, Messenger Privacy and Safety.

As Facebook Messenger moves to start to finish encryption, it is putting resources into security protecting devices to guard individuals without getting to message content.

"We built up these wellbeing tips with AI that takes a gander at conduct signals like a grown-up sending a lot of companion or message solicitations to individuals under 18," educated Sullivan.

Facebook said that guarding minors on its foundation is perhaps the best obligation.

Errand person as of now has unique assurances set up for minors that breaking point contact from grown-ups they aren't associated with, and utilizes AI to distinguish and cripple the records of grown-ups who are taking part in improper collaborations with youngsters.

The new wellbeing highlight teaches individuals younger than 18 to be careful while connecting with a grown-up they may not know and enables them to make a move before reacting to a message.

Bihar Board 10th result likely to be out today: Here's what you must know

Bihar tenth outcome 2020: Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is probably going to declare the Bihar Class 10 Matric Result 2020 today on its official site biharboard.ac.in or biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in, as per media reports. This year, in excess of 15 lakhs understudies showed up for the Bihar Board Class 10 tests, which were booked from February 17 to February 24 at 1,368 test communities.
Bihar board class tenth understudies will likewise have the option to check their Matric results on outsider sites, for example, bihar.indiaresults.com and examresults.net. Then, the board has just declared the outcome for BSEB Class 12 assessment 2020 on March 24 on the official site.
Here how to check the Bihar tenth outcomes or Bihar matric result 2020
Stage 1: Log on to the Bihar board (BSEB) official site: biharboard.ac.in or biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in
Stage 2: Click on the Bihar tenth Result 2020 or BSEB Class 10 Matric Result 2020 or BSEB Matric results 2020. You can likewise check your imprints in the outcomes area present right-hand side of the site close to get in touch with us.
Stage 3: Enter your move number and the Bihar Board Class 10 matric results 2020 will show up
Stage 4: Download the Bihar Board Matric result and take a print out for additional reference
BSEB Class 10 Results 2020: Check BSEB Results through SMS

Understudies can check their Matric result on telephone through SMS by composing BSEBROLLNUMBER and sending it to 56263.

From Rs 2,000 to Rs 18,600: Here's how much air tickets will cost you

To guarantee moderate air ticket tolls for travelers and simultaneously keep up money related suitability for carriers in the hours of the coronavirus pandemic, the legislature has topped air charges for a quarter of a year. This is the first run through since tolls were deregulated in 1994 that a legislature has chosen to meddle with estimating of air tickets. While declaring the resumption of air transport from March 25, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said there would be charge tops and floor costs dependent on flight term.
How are the flight tolls going to be fixed?
The flight courses have been isolated into seven groups dependent on the flight length. The principal band, which would have its particular lower and maximum constraints of air passage, will comprise of flights that are of under 40 minutes. Second, third, fourth and fifth groups of maximum cutoff points would be of trips with spans of 40-an hour, 60-an hour and a half, 90-120 minutes and 120-150 minutes, individually.
Philosophy of ticket tolls: 40 percent of the seats in any flight would need to be sold at the mid-purpose of the lower and upper air passage limits recommended for any course by the specialists.
Likewise READ: Coronavirus LIVE updates
On account of a Delhi-Mumbai flight, the base admission will be Rs 3,500 and the most extreme charge will be Rs 10,000. Along these lines, for a Delhi-Mumbai flight having an aggregate of 180 seats, the ticket charges will extend between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000. Besides, in any event 72 seats (or 40 percent everything being equal) should be sold at a cost not as much as Rs 6700.
Air ticket passage: Here's how much air tickets will cost you

1. Household trips with under 40-minute length will have lower and maximum constraints of Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000

Train ticket booking, refund, tatkal during coronavirus: What you must know

Indian Railways has continued tasks of around 200 trains, which will run from June 1. As per the Railway Ministry, these IRCTC unique trains will be notwithstanding the current Shramik Special trains being worked since May 1 just as Special AC trains (30 trains) being run since May 12. Critical to note: Other standard traveler train administrations, including all Mail/Express trains, rural trains, traveler administrations will stay dropped due to the coronavirus episode until further guidance.
All that you should know
1. Ticket booking
Ticket booking must be done through IRCTC site or IRCTC application. From today reserving/crossing out of held tickets will likewise be accessible at Post Offices,Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra licensees and through approved specialists of IRCTC alongside Passenger Reservation System counters of reservation focuses and Common Service Centers.
2. Advance ticket booking: Passengers must note that early booking period will be greatest for a time of 30 days as it were.
3. RAC ticket/shortlist: RAC, just as Waitlist, will be produced. Notwithstanding, holding up list ticket holders won't be permitted to load up the train.
4. Tatkal: For these select 200 trains, tatkal and premium tatkal booking won't be allowed.
5.

General tickets: Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) or General tickets won't be given. Tickets won't be given locally available to any traveler.

UP fast-tracks expressway projects to create jobs for returning migrants

The Uttar Pradesh government will raise bank loans totalling Rs 9,275 crore to part fund two mega expressway projects.
The two infrastructure projects – Bundelkhand Expressway and Gorakhpur Link Expressway – are estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 4,600 crore, respectively.
According to UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) CEO and state additional chief secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi, the expressway projects will play a major role in boosting the local economy and generate employment for the migrant labourers returning from other states.
Following covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, the work on these projects had come to a standstill. However, the work resumed last month in all such pending projects, also including Purvanchal Expressway, which is estimated to cost nearly Rs 23,000 crore.
Chairing a review meeting here, Awasthi recently asked the commercial banks to expedite the process of approval to the bank loan proposal submitted by UPEIDA, the nodal agency for the expressways.
Meanwhile, Bank of Baroda has approved bank loan worth Rs 2,000 crore for the Bundelkhand Expressway project, while the process of forming a consortium of banks was underway.
Besides, Rs 700 crore worth of loan has also been sanctioned by the Union Bank of India, and the commercial banks are now in the process of granting sanction to the remaining portion of the loans worth Rs 6,575 crore.
On February 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation of 296 km Bundelkhand Expressway at a village in Chitrakoot district and observed the development of UP depended upon connectivity and that the Yogi Adityanath government was working at the speed of expressways, obliquely referring to the mega expressways.
Bundelkhand Expressway will link Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah districts. Last year, the state had awarded the six packages of the Expressway to the selected bidders, including Apco Infratech, Ashoka Buildcon, Gawar Construction and Dilip Buildcon.

So far, UPEIDA has acquired a major portion of the required 3,641 hectares for the project. It will connect Bundelkhand with the national capital region (NCR) via Agra-Lucknow and Yamuna expressways. The project would start near Bharatkoop at Jhansi-Allahabad National Highway (NH) 35 in Chitrakoot district and terminate near village Kudrail, Etawah on Agra-Lucknow Expressway.

Zomato to show separate restaurant ratings for delivery and dining

Food aggregator Zomato said on Thursday that it has revised its rating system for restaurants on the app, and will now show separate ratings for delivery and dine-in.
The firm also declared its ratings algorithm its "most precious intellectual property" and will not disclose it to anyone.
The delivery ratings will be visible in red while dine-in ratings will show as black stars.
"You will now see two ratings on the restaurant page telling you how users have rated food ordering and dining-in experience with the chosen restaurant. The colour scheme of black and red is retained throughout our app for ease of identification. The ratings will be contextual, that is, when you are browsing restaurants to order food, you will only see the delivery rating indicated by red stars; similarly when you are planning to go out, you will only see the dining rating indicated by black stars," said Riddhi Jain, global head for new products at Zomato.
The change will be visible to users in all of Zomato's food delivery markets - India, UAE and Lebanon.

The firm will also focus on weeding out fake or paid reviews for restaurants. Using machine-learning algorithms, Zomato is figuring out if any restaurant has indulged in practices like offering users free meals in return for five-star reviews, approached popular Zomato users to write positive reviews for restaurants or used PR agencies to farm reviews.

TikTok owner's valuation exceeds $100 billion in private markets: Report

ByteDance valuation has risen at least a third to more than $100 billion in recent private share transactions, people familiar with the matter said, reflecting expectations the owner of video phenomenon TikTok will keep pulling in advertisers. Stock in the world’s most valuable start-up has changed hands recently at a price that suggests its value has risen more than 33 per cent from about $75 billion during a major round of funding two years ago, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Some trades recently valued the Chinese company between $105 billion and $110 billion on the secondary markets, some of people said. It has also traded as high as $140 billion, one person said. The trades are private transactions and may not fully reflect broader investor expectations. Stock in the secondary market is usually valued at a discount to primary shares since it’s less liquid and there are fewer financial details on company performance available to investors. “The trading of ByteDance is reflective of the global wave of consumers who agree that ByteDance can displace Facebook as the leading social network,” said Andrea Walne, a partner at Manhattan Venture Partners who follows the secondary markets. In the past decade, Bytedance is surpassed only by Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Financial Services Group as companies that have traded at a higher premium in the secondary market, she added. ByteDance has grown into a potent online force propelled in part by a TikTok short video platform that’s taken US teenagers by storm. Investors are keen to grab a slice of a company that draws some 1.5 billion monthly active users to a family of apps that includes Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese twin, as well as news service Toutiao. That’s despite American lawmakers raising privacy and censorship concerns about its operation. 

Govt's Rs 2 trn package will provide limited benefits: Subhash Chandra Garg

The economic package announced by the Centre is above Rs 20 trillion but the immediate delivery or aid is quite limited and less than 10 per cent while its benefits will also be limited, said former Union Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.
Speaking to ANI, Garg said, "There are three major aims of this economic package. First that the economic growth should come back on track, second to revive the businesses and third…a large number of people became jobless due to the lockdown. There are over 10 crore people who lost their jobs out of which many of them are migrants who are trying to return home."
"The objective of economic stimulus is to achieve these three goals. Its component should have been more from the fiscal side. More aid should have been provided by the government. The fiscal component is the smallest while the liquidity component is the largest, which is above Rs 10 trillion. I don't think it helps a lot to achieve these three objectives," he added.
He added that government support is about Rs one and a half to a quarter to two trillion, which is relatively smaller than it should have been.

"The component of the credit will be to see how the banks will give it. The package is above Rs 20 trillion but the immediate delivery or aid is quite limited and less than 10 per cent. Its benefits will be limited, it does not appear to achieve the objective in lieu of the damage done," he added.

PSBs sanctioned loans worth Rs 6.45 trn in lockdown between Mar 1-May 15

State-owned banks have sanctioned about Rs 6.45 trillion worth loans to various sectors including Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), agriculture and retail between March 1 and May 15 when businesses were reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
Loans sanctioned at the end of May 8 stood at Rs 5.95 trillion.
"Loans worth over Rs 6.45 trillion were sanctioned by PSBs during March 1 May 15 for 54.96 lakh accounts from MSME, Retail, Agriculture & Corporate sectors; A notable increase compared to the Rs 5.95 trillion sanctioned as of May 8," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet.
"Public Sector Banks sanctioned over Rs 1.03 trillion as emergency credit lines & working capital enhancements in the period March 20 to May 15, which is a substantial increase over the Rs 65,879 crore that had been sanctioned up to May 8," she said.
State-owned banks launched an emergency credit line to provide funds to its existing MSME and corporate borrowers in the last week of March, soon after the lockdown was announced.

Under the scheme, the banks provide an additional line of credit of 10 per cent of the existing fund based on working capital limits, subject to a maximum of Rs 200 crore.

'All my dreams are shattered' - Coronavirus crushes Asia's garment industry

Zarchi Lwin pawned her only two gold bangles for $140 when the owner of the Myanmar factory where she sewed winter coats for British retailer Next Plc shut it down after orders dried up due to the coronavirus.
She is one of hundreds of thousands of garment workers across Asia who have been laid off, according to the Workers Rights Consortium, a labour rights campaign group, and are now struggling to survive with little welfare support, mired in debt and in many cases reliant on food handouts.
"If I have a job and an income, I can pay for medical treatment for my mother," Zarchi Lwin, 29, told Reuters from the home she shares with her 56-year-old mother, who has lung disease, in a shanty town on the outskirts of Yangon. "Now no income, no job," she said, fighting back tears. "We don't know what to do."
Next temporarily closed all its stores in Britain in March due to the coronavirus. The company said in a statement it had only cancelled some orders and "endeavoured to be fair" to its suppliers. KGG, the factory where Zarchi Lwin worked, did not respond to requests for comment.

Since the 1960s, Asia has grown into the world's garment factory, sending about $670 billion worth of clothes, shoes and bags a year to Europe, the United States and richer Asian countries, according to the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency.

Uptick in ARPU helps Bharti Airtel trump Reliance Jio in Q3 numbers

The Bharti Airtel stock was up 9 per cent and hit a fresh all-time high after the company reported a better than expected performance in the March quarter, led by India's wireless segment. The price hikes that came into effect in December resulted in a 14 per cent jump in average revenues per user (ARPU) on a sequential basis. The metric at Rs 154 is the highest in 12 quarters. This helped the company report a 10 per cent uptick in India business and an 8 per cent increase at the consolidated level. India accounts for three-fourths of Bharti’s consolidated revenues.
With wireless subscribers almost at the same level as in Q3FY20, revenue growth for the India mobile business on a sequential basis was driven entirely by the increase in ARPUs. Most brokerages had expected a 7-10 per cent sequential growth in ARPUs. Bharti’s wireless segment operational performance was better than Reliance Jio according to analysts at IIFL.
“Adjusted for the interconnect usage charge (IUC), we estimate that Bharti’s service revenue growth was upwards of 16 per cent as compared to the estimates for Jio’s service revenue growth of 4.7 per cent.” The outperformance came in despite the fall in IUC revenues, as Jio charges on off-net calls after given talk time while 4G data plans of Bharti offers unlimited voice calls. Reliance Jio (RJio) had reported a 1.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in ARPUs in the March quarter to Rs 130.6. While analysts had expected Bharti to post better ARPU growth than RJio given that Bharti has a lower proportion of subscribers on longer duration plans, the extent of ARPU increase came as a surprise, says IIFL Securities.

While India mobile subscriber base growth was somewhat flat at 283 million, there has been a robust 10 per cent growth in 4G subscriber base to 148 million. Share of 4G customers has crossed the halfway mark for the first time. Given the price hikes, this growth comes at a higher tariff bracket. Data traffic, too, has seen a decent growth of 16 per cent sequentially as compared to 6 per cent growth for RJio.

Govt should have acted like a driver to pull the economy out of the mess

The government’s stimulus measures have been a mixed bag, with possibly more disappointments than meeting expectations, especially where people had expected direct sops to flow into the business accounts, interest waivers, etc.
Among notable announcements on Sunday – the fifth and final tranche – was to hike the borrowing limit for the states from 3 per cent to 5 per cent, which thankfully comes with performance riders. MNREGA scheme has been allocated an additional Rs 40,000 crore to facilitate migrants who have returned to their home states to secure livelihood. Though it’s beneficial to the migrants, most of whom would have been reduced to penury in their efforts of reverse migration, it will also delay their return resulting in labour shortage at various industrial hubs and construction sites.
The stimulus package which was meant to cushion the economy from Covid-19 hit would not be complete without a specific package for the root problem – which is the state of the health facilities. The Finance Minister announced that health sector reforms will be taken up and investments at the grass-root level will be ramped up through clinics and wellness centres, which would be prepared for future epidemics. All the districts will have infectious diseases block in their hospitals. However, since the quantum of allocation was not announced, we assume it’s more intent than an executable plan. The central government currently spends 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on health, which is among the lowest globally. The earlier plan was to increase this to 2.5 per cent by 2025, but now it seems that the target should be steeply increased and the time-lines be crashed.

The decriminalisation of Companies Act and ease of doing business are the small mercies bestowed on Corporate India. Seven compoundable offences to be dropped and five to be dealt with under an alternative framework is in line with The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020, so there is nothing new. However, the suspension of fresh insolvency proceedings up to one year would be beneficial for many businesses that would have otherwise fallen into that category due to Covid-19 related slowdown.

Booster shot for maritime sector: Govt plans to de-risk ports, enhance FDI

To bolster the shipping sector and encourage private participation, the Union government plans to dismantle inefficient and burdensome monopolies, encourage innovation through start-up culture and innovate businesses to de-risk the projects and enhance Foreign Direct Investment in ports.
The vision includes building new ports to cater to the trade requirements, develop India as a Transshipment Hub and bring at least two ports in the world’s top 10 rankings.
Setting up ‘National Port Authority of India’ for all Major Ports in lieu of Indian Ports Association on the lines of NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) & AAI (Airports Authority of India) for planning, projects development, recruitment policies, procurement etc, so that local port administration may focus on operation and maintenance of ports.
According to the draft Maritime Vision 2030, the Ministry of Shipping has set up 14 working groups for each of the thrust areas in the sector.
Each working group will come up with a detailed roadmap, milestones with timelines and accordingly identify the institutions responsible for achieving those milestones.
Global best practices and benchmarking should be incorporated while forming the roadmaps.
Strategic roadmap to be comprehensive based on deep analysis and it should be prepared through appropriate research methodology, research tool & research design. It says modernisation in the maritime sector should keep in mind the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and 'Ease of Living'.

The government also intends to make maritime logistics highly cost-competitive by promoting port-led industrialization, Coastal Cargo development and make Indian ports affordable and competitive for EXIM and Coastal Trade.

Swiggy follows Zomato, lays off 1,100 as coronavirus dashes business

Foodtech giant Swiggy will lay off 1,100 employees citing business losses because of the lockdown to contain the coronavirus, two days after rival Zomato revealed plans to cut 13 per cent of its workforce.
The company backed by China’s Tencent and Prosus NV has about 8,000 employees and it is reducing 13.75 per cent of its workforce.
“We, unfortunately, have to part ways with 1100 of our employees spanning across grades and functions in the cities and head office over the next few days. This is easily the hardest and longest deliberated decision the management team and I have been faced with over recent times,” said Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety in a blog post. “We have been fortunate to have some of the brightest missionary talent in the country join us over the last few years, and I would like to state unequivocally that this is not at all a reflection of anyone’s performance.”
Majety said the firm had started chalking out an accelerated path to profitability for the food delivery business last December. “We had also started making great progress on our unit economics over the following months before Covid hit us.”
He said Covid-19 hit the company with a huge blow of uncertainty, forcing it to look even harder at its cost base and preparedness for the road ahead. While Covid might have long-term tailwinds for the delivery business and digital commerce when things settle eventually, he said nobody knows how long the uncertainty will last. “We, therefore, need to be prepared to see through this winter, to emerge stronger on the other side.”
Early this month, Rahul Jaimini, the co-founder and CTO of Bengaluru-based Swiggy, said he is moving away from his active role to pursue another entrepreneurial venture.

Swiggy recently said its investors continue to put their trust in the company’s leadership and their ability to execute towards the larger goal and the recent round of funding of $156 million will further strengthen and expand services that offer unparalleled convenience to consumers.

India provided medical supplies to 120 nations to fight Covid-19: Goyal

India has provided medical supplies to over 120 countries to combat the coronavirus pandemic, out of which 43 countries received it as a grant, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said during the G-20 trade ministers session on Thursday.
Goyal participated during the second G20 Virtual Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting.
"We offer full support to any global engagements to further this cause. Staying true to our tradition of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam' -- the world is one big family. India has unconditionally provided medical supplies to over 120 countries to combat this disease, of which 43 countries received it as a grant. We are also sharing our medical and public health expertise and capacity with them, using digital technologies," said Goyal.
During his intervention, Goyal called upon the G20 nations to ensure access to essential medicines, treatments and vaccines at affordable prices.

He said that the unprecedented situation calls for solidarity and a balanced, inclusive and calibrated response. "An overriding priority for all countries at this time is to save precious lives," the minister added.

Coronavirus vaccine not coming for at least 2 years: Novartis global CEO

Any vaccine to fight the coronavirus will not be ready for use for at least two years, the chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which no longer makes vaccines itself, told a German newspaper.
Novartis sold its vaccine business in 2015 to GlaxoSmithKline, one of many companies around the world now racing to make a drug.
Some companies are already testing vaccine candidates on humans.
"The results of the first clinical studies on the vaccine candidates should be available in autumn," Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). "If everything goes as we hope, it will take 24 months before we have a vaccine."
For instance, Moderna Inc has sped up plans for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine and said it expected to start a late-stage trial in early summer.
But experts have said no vaccine is expected to be ready for use until at least 2021, as they must be widely tested in humans before being administered to hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people to prevent infection.
Narasimhan, who headed development at Novartis's vaccine business before the Basel-based company concluded it was too small to keep and should be unloaded, said producing enough vaccine for the world would also be a challenge.

He said building a new factory usually took three or four years. "That's way too long," he told FAZ. "We have to use the existing production network to produce large quantities quickly."

Zomato cuts 13% jobs, slashes salaries as CEO blames coronavirus

Food delivery app Zomato is cutting 13 per cent jobs as it does not see enough work for all its employees, co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said in a company-wide email on Friday.
"Multiple aspects of our business have changed dramatically over the last couple of months and many of these changes are expected to be permanent. While we continue to build a more focused Zomato, we do not foresee having enough work for all our employees. We owe all our colleagues a challenging work environment, but we won’t be able to offer that to 13 per cent of our workforce going forward," Goyal said in the mail.
These employees will remain with Zomato at 50 per cent salary for the next six months, outplacement teams will help these people look for jobs elsewhere, previously allocated ESOPs will continue to vest during this period of six months, the current health insurance, wherever provided by Zomato will continue for this period along with access to the company's in-house mental wellness team.
Those impacted will get e-mails for a Zoom call with the leadership team within the next 24 hours. The move may impact around 500 of the firm's 4,000-odd employees.
From June, Zomato has asked for a temporary reduction in pay for the entire organisation. Salary cuts will be up to 50 per cent for people with higher salaries and lower for those with lower salaries.

"Our business has been severely affected by the COVID lockdowns. A large number of restaurants have already shut down permanently, and we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I expect the number of restaurants to shrink by 25-40 per cent over the next 6-12 months. What actually happens, for better or worse, is anybody’s guess," Goyal said.

UP Governor gives nod to labour law changes; President to take a final call

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel has approved an Ordinance exempting companies from almost all labour laws in the state for a period of three years, a top official said on Thursday.
The ball is in the court of the central government now as the Ordinance has been sent to President Ram Nath Kovind whose approval is required for the new law to come into effect. Kovind will seek the opinion of the Union home and labour ministries before taking a decision on the draft Ordinance. Since labour is a concurrent subject under the Constitution of India, states can frame their own laws but need the approval of the Centre for making amendments to central laws.
A senior UP government said that the Ordinance will apply to “old units hiring new workers and all the new units, both dealing with manufacturing process.”
“The UP governor has approved the Ordinance as proposed by the state Cabinet. It has now been sent to the central government for approval,” the official said, requesting anonymity. The UP government has said that through the labour law changes, it wants to attract investment in the state, especially since it saw influx of workers coming back from other states during the national lockdown.
The Uttar Pradesh Temporary Exemption from Certain Labour Laws Ordinance, 2020, proposes that all factories and establishments engaged in manufacturing process will be exempt from “the operation of all labour laws for a period of three years”, provided they fulfill certain conditions.
These conditions are that workers get paid the minimum wages and the salary has to be deposited on time in their bank accounts, not through cash. The provision of Factories Act, 1948 and Building and Other Construction Workers (BoCW) Act, 1996 relating to safety and security of workers, shall remain applicable. None of the provisions related to women and children and compensation to workers in case of accidents will be done away with along with a continued ban on bonded labour.

However, laws related to settling industrial disputes, and those related to trade unions, contract workers, and migrant labourers will cease of exist. Employers won’t be required to comply with welfare provisions in the Factories Act, related to cleanliness, disposal of waste, lighting, drinking water, urinals, canteens, rest rooms, crèches, and wages during the leave period, among others. Construction firms won’t be required to contribute towards a welfare fund for construction workers.

India's investment policy upsets Xiaomi, Oppo's consumer finance plans

Tougher scrutiny of foreign investment in India has soured the plans of China's smartphone manufacturers seeking to expand beyond selling hardware for a bigger share of the South Asian country's competitive financial services market.
Xiaomi and Oppo, with more than 100 million in combined smartphone users in India, cannot directly lend to consumers without a shadow banking licence and have partnered with Indian financial companies to provide the funds for services offered on their platforms.
Xiaomi in December launched its online lending service MiCredit in India, connecting users with Indian lending firms to access small loans. By the end of 2019, its platform had disbursed loans worth $16.5 million.
Oppo introdued a similar financial services model Oppo Kash in March.
The Chinese phone brands, however, are keen to establish their own non-banking financial company (NBFC) which will help improve margins by allowing them to directly sell financial products to their pool of smartphone users, people familiar with their plans said.
"India is a very important market...This (rule change) will have a dampening effect," said an industry executive familiar with Xiaomi's consumer finance plans.
That is because India's new foreign direct investment (FDI)rules add another layer in an approval process already incumbered by red tape, a lack of transparency and worries that Chinese investors are encroaching into Indian businesses.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been cautious about issuing such approvals after the near collapse of one major lender in 2018, and it may now go even slower.

Premium diners hit the brakes hard; look to reinvent for survival

The top restaurateurs across India see the ongoing slowdown crush their business models, forcing them to lay-off employees, slash salaries and shelve launch plans as they aim to reinvent their strategies and stay afloat as they see no sign of recovery before the next six months.
Entrepreneur Zorawar Kalra's Massive Restaurants runs 20 self-owned restaurants that include premium ones such as Masala Library and Bowtie. Backed by investors Gaja Capital and Everstone Group, he says the plan for now is to consolidate and survive because the coming months will see reductions and closures.
Kalra also said that his eateries don’t have the bandwidth to deliver or do takeout just yet. “However, once the lockdown ends, we will start a hub and spoke model that will enable cross delivery of cuisines across restaurants. "We are also looking at cloud kitchen concepts but nothing can fully replace walk-in business.” Kalra planned four new restaurants across major metro cities that have are on hold for now.
There will be ongoing speed bumps and resets and at least six months before 80 per cent stability returns to dining, says Sameer Sain Co-founder and CEO of private equity firm the Everstone Group. “It will not be the best restaurants to survive but the best capitalised ones that will do so.” There will have to be aggressive cost cuts, and adaptation and most will not make it. Sain says restaurants in five star hotels will have an advantage because of existent hygiene and quality standards. “High end and QSR outlets will win the battle for survival because of standards that are already in place.”
Ritu Dalmia, co-founder of Riga Food, backed by Max Group Chairman Analjit Singh and runs premium eateries Diva and Cittamanis agrees. That being said, high end restaurants mean high costs.
“Food costs are at least 35 per cent of the outgoing given that ingredients include organic vegetables, truffles, imported cheeses and meats which are mostly perishable,.” She said.

“The other 65 per cent is rentals and staff salaries, all of which are expensive to bear with zero revenue is zero,” Dalmia said, adding that she plans to open a cafe version of Diva in Gurgaon have hit the skids for now.

Tata Power, BoB among 6 stocks dropped from MSCI India Domestic Index

Abbot India, Ipca Laboratories, Jubilant Foodworks and Tata Consumer are among the six stocks that have been added to the MSCI India Domestic Index (See document), while there have been five deletions, which include Ashok Leyland, Bank of Baroda, Cummins India Kirloskar and M&M Financial Services.
MSCI India Domestic Small Cap Index (see document), on the other hand, has seen 52 deletions which include BSE, Venky’s India, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Power Finance Corporation and Dish TV India. IndiaMart Intermesh, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Nippon Life India and Relaxo Footwears are among the 13 added to this index. Though changes in both these indices have been announced, they will take place as of the close of May 29, 2020.
Domestic equities, according to a recent report by Emkay Global, are expected to see inflows to the tune of $250 million (Rs 1,900 crore) on account of this semi-annual rebalancing of the MSCI India Index, which is tracked by funds worth $14 billion (Rs 1 trillon).

It had anticipated Tata Consumer, Torrent Pharma, Jubliant Foodworks, and Biocon as key inclusion candidates, which it said, are expected to see inflows in the range between $50 million (Rs 380 crore) and $85 million (Rs 640 crore).

Unsure whether India gains if businesses shift from China: Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has said that there is no certainty that India will gain from shifting of businesses from China in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to a Bengali news channel ABP Ananda on Monday evening, Banerjee said that everyone is blaming China for the Covid-19 outbreak as it has origin there. "China is being blamed now for the coronavirus outbreak. Even people are saying that India stands to benefit as businesses will shift from China and come to India. But that may not be true," the economist said.
Banerjee, who is also a member of the Global Advisory Board formed by the West Bengal government to prepare a roadmap for Covid-19 response in the state, said, "What happens if China depreciates its currency. In that case, Chinese products will be cheaper and people will continue to buy their products".
Talking about the proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) planned to be spent by the Centre for a relief package, Banerjee said countries like the US, UK and Japan are spending a high share of their respective GDPs. "India plans to spend less than one per cent of its GDP at Rs 1.70 trillion. We should spend a much-increased proportion of GDP," he said.

The Centre had announced a more than Rs 1.70 trillion package to alleviate the hardship of the poor hit by economic disruption due to coronavirus outbreak. The Economics Nobel Prize winner said that the main problem is that people of the country do not have high purchasing power.

Twitter adds new labels, warnings to combat Covid-related misinformation

In order to deal with misinformation and provide more transparency in content on the platform, Twitter introduced new labels and warning messages that will provide additional context and information on some tweets that contain disputed or misleading information related to Covid-19.
The three broad categories the company will look at are misleading information, disputed claims and unverified claims.
In March, the microblogging platform adopted a new set of guidelines to address content that goes “against guidance on Covid-19 from authoritative sources of global and local public health information”.
Twitter’s internal teams and trusted partners will work to identify content likely to result in offline harm. However, embedded tweets and tweets viewed by people not logged in to Twitter may appear without a warning or label.
“This process is ongoing and we’ll work to make sure these and other labels and warnings show up across Twitter,” said Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of Site integrity and Nick Pickles, director, Public Policy Strategy at Twitter wrote in a blog post.
Monday’s announcement also includes using the new labels and warning messages to provide additional explanations or clarifications in situations where the risks of harm from a misleading tweet may be less severe, “but where people may still be confused or misled by the content. This will make it easier to find facts and make informed decisions about what people see on Twitter,” the officials said in the post.
“Earlier this year, we introduced a new label for Tweets containing synthetic and manipulated media. Similar labels will now appear on Tweets containing potentially harmful, misleading information related to Covid-19. This will also apply to Tweets sent before today,” they said.
The labels will link to a Twitter curated page or external, trusted sources of information.

Additionally, Twitter may also apply warnings to certain tweets, depending on the possibility of harm and type of misleading information.

ArcelorMittal offers $2 bn shares at discount to accelerate debt reduction

ArcelorMittal , the world's largest steelmaker, is issuing $2 billion of shares and convertible notes at a deep discount to accelerate debt reduction plans that have been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company said on Tuesday it will sell $750 million of shares at a price of $9.27, equivalent to 8.57 euros. That is near to their value at Monday's close, when ArcelorMittal had said it would issue new shares, but some 17% down from Friday.
On Tuesday, the shares were trading 4.6% lower on the day at 8.23 euros at 0800 GMT, making them the worst performers in the FTSEurofirst300 index <.FTEU3> of leading European shares.
ArcelorMittal will also issue $1.25 billion of mandatory convertible notes with a maturity of three years and paying an annual coupon on 5.5%. The conversion price will be between $9.27 and $10.89.
The share and convertibles issue is designed to accelerate the reduction of ArcelorMittal's net debt towards $7 billion. In February, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it had said it wanted to reach this target by the end of 2020.
The company's net debt stood at $9.5 billion at the end of March, up from $9.3 billion at the end of December.
It had cash and cash equivalents of $10 billion at the end of March, supplemented by a new $3 billion credit facility fully executed on May 5. ArcelorMittal said this would now be partially cancelled.
ArcelorMittal said last week that its shipments in the second quarter would be between a quarter and a third lower than those of the first quarter, with profit sharply down, as demand for steel dropped, particularly from automakers.
The Mittal family, which owns 37.38% of the company, will buy $200 million of the new issue, with a 180-day lock-up period.
Settlement of the share offering will be on or around May 14 and of the convertible notes offering on or around May 18. ArcelorMittal has applied to have the convertibles listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Societe Generale are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners of the offerings

Tax-burden on India's GDP to rise further, hitting consumption and savings

The latest increase in indirect taxes on commodities like diesel, petrol and alcohol by the central and various state governments is likely to lead to a further rise in the tax burden on India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In FY19, indirect taxes (net of subsidies) accounted for nearly 10 per cent of GDP, up from 9.3 per cent a year ago and a low of 6.1 per cent in FY10. This, say economists, will negatively impact household disposable income and may hit consumer demand and savings and investments by the household.
According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), disposable income is closest to the concept of income as generally understood in economics. It measures the income of households (wages and salaries, self-employed income, income from unincorporated enterprises, social benefits, etc.), after taking into account net interest and dividends received and the payment of taxes and social contributions.
"Disposable income is the portion of GDP that accrues to households that they consume, save or invest. If it grows slower than the overall GDP or declines, households will either cut back on consumption, or savings & investments, or both," says Devendra Pant, head economist India Ratings.
According to various estimates central government can earn up Rs 1.7 trillion in additional tax revenues from diesel and petrol in FY12 besides additional revenue mop-up by state governments.
Against this, India’s GDP is expected to either decline marginally or stay stagnant according to various estimates depending on the extent of the Covid-19 lockdown.
In the last five-years, indirect taxes such as excise, customs and Goods & Service tax net of subsidies has grown at a much faster pace than the growth the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The trend is similar in case of direct taxes such as personal income tax and corporate income tax.

For example, in the last five-years net indirect tax grew at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16 per cent growing from Rs 8.7 trillion in FY4 to around Rs 19 trillion in FY19. Direct Taxes during the period grew at a CAGR of 13.1 per cent from Rs 6.5 trillion in FY14 to Rs 13.5 trillion in FY19 according to figures from Reserve Bank of India.

Tariff for round-the-clock solar power is competitive: ReNew's Sumant Sinha

India’s first tender to provide round-the-clock (RTC) solar power was won last week by Goldman Sachs-promoted ReNew Power, which quoted a tariff of Rs 2.9 per unit (kwh) for the complete capacity of 400 Mw offered by the government.
The tender is unique in several ways. Unlike the nature of solar to run for a few day-time hours, this project would provide power for 24 hours. For this purpose, the tender had proposed that solar power would either be blended with other sources such as wind or hydro, or would have an energy storage system. To include that cost in the project, the tender provided for 3 per cent escalation in the tariff annually for 15 years. Industry experts said the average tariff would land around Rs 3.6 per unit.
Speaking with Business Standard, Sumant Sinha, Founder & CEO, ReNew Power said the tariff quoted for the project is not high, rather it is very competitive. “I would say the number (average tariff) is lower than what you what you are mentioning (Rs 3.6/unit). To provide that kind of firmness of power, you do have consider certain issues that you have to take care of,” he said.
At Rs 3.6 per unit, the tariff is closer to the average rate of thermal power in India. This RTC tender was floated by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply power from solar power plant all around the day. SECI is the nodal tendering agency under the ministry of new and renewable energy. The project will have 80 per cent plant load factor (operational capacity).
Sinha further added, “For example, procurers won’t buy more than 100 per cent power from you. But in the designing of the plant, you end up with times when the power generation is more than 100 per cent. We have to account for conditions such as these. That is why the tariff has been so aggressive. But it was quite lower than what the government was expecting,” Sinha said.

He also said the capital cost of most companies is higher than what regulators assume in their calculations. This therefore increases the discounting rate that the companies take. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in the tariff determination of renewable power, provide for a discounting rate, which is the ‘post-tax weighted average cost of capital’ or the cost of capital over the period of the project. This rate is higher than the capital cost and is added to the total bid amount quoted by a company.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala cuts stake in Titan, Lupin, Escorts in March quarter

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala rejigged his stake in 11 companies in March quarter and kept it unchanged in 8, as per the latest shareholding pattern filed by the companies till May 8, 2020. Jhunjhunwala increased his stake in six companies during the period under review, including Rallis India, VIP Industries, Federal Bank, Jubilant Life Sciences, GMR Infrastructure, and Orient Cement.
Of these, Jubilant Life Sciences and Rallis India have outperformed the market by surging 47 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively, since April. The remaining four, however, underperformed the S&P BSE Sensex that has gained 7.5 per cent since April.
Jhunjhunwala reduced his stake in five companies including Titan Company (stake sale of over one percentage point, or 10.3 million shares), Lupin, Firstsource Solutions, NCC and Escorts. Interestingly, except Titan Company that slipped 6 per cent, the remaining four stocks outpaced the market by gaining up to 40 per cent since April.
Delta Corp, Edelweiss Financial Services, Fortis Healthcare, Crisil, and Bilcare are among the eight companies where he did not alter holding. On the other hand, TV18 Broadcast, Karur Vysya Bank, Autoline Industries and Agro Tech Foods are some of the 10 companies where they hold a stake, but the companies have not announced their latest shareholding pattern for the March quarter yet.
Currently, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his family’s net worth in listed companies stands at Rs 8,517 crore, compared to Rs 8,388 crore as on March 31, 2020. The calculation based on the latest shareholding pattern of 31 companies available on the stock exchanges and stock price of the particular dates. As of December 31, 2019, the stakes across 30 companies were valued at Rs 12,556 crore.
Titan stake lowest since September 2006
According to the shareholding pattern of the company, as of March 2020, Rakesh and Rekha Jhunjhunwala trimmed their stake to 5.53 per cent from 6.69 per cent at the end of December 2019. Currently, their combined holding in Titan Company is at over one decade low in percentage terms. Earlier, Rakesh and Rekha Jhunjhunwala held 4.9 per cent stake in Tata Group Company at the end of September 2006 quarter, shareholding pattern data show.

Thus far in the calendar year 2020, Titan stock has underperformed the market by falling 28.5 per cent, as compared to 23.7 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 720 on March 24 this year and has almost halved from its all-time high level of Rs 1,390 touched on October 25, 2019. Despite the near-term headwinds, analysts remain bullish on Titan and suggest investors stay put for now.