Month: February 2021

At least five dead in bloodiest day of Myanmar protests against coup

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Myanmar police opened fire on protesters on Sunday killing at least four people and wounding several in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations across the country against a military coup, a doctor and a politician said.

A woman also died of a suspected heart attack after police broke up a teachers’ protest with stun grenades in the main city of Yangon, her daughter and a colleague said.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on Feb. 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide.

The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries.

“Myanmar is like a battlefield,” the Buddhist-majority country’s first Catholic cardinal, Charles Maung Bo, said on Twitter.

Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police.

Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed.

One man died after being brought to a hospital with a bullet wound in the chest, said a doctor who asked not to be identified.

Police also opened fire in Dawei in the south, killing three and wounding several, politician Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from the town.

The Irrawaddy online media outlet reported one person had been killed in a protest in the second city of Mandalay while an emergency services charity reported two dead in the central town of Bago.

Police and the spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Police broke up protests in other towns including Lashio in the northeast and Myeik in the deep south, residents and media reported.

‘NEVER KNEEL’

Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing said last week authorities were using minimal force to deal with the protests.

Nevertheless, at least eight protesters have now died in the turmoil. The army said a policeman has been killed.

The crackdown would appear to indicate determination by the military to impose its authority in the face of widespread defiance, not just on the streets but more broadly in the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media.

“The Myanmar security forces’ clear escalation in use of lethal force in multiple towns and cities … is outrageous and unacceptable,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters refused to leave the streets by early afternoon in Yangon. Many set up barricades while others chanted slogans and sang protest songs.

“If they attack us, we’ll defend. We’ll never kneel down to the military boots,” said Nyan Win Shein from one Yangon protest.

Early in the day, police swooped to disperse a teachers’ protest with stun grenades, sending the crowd fleeing. One teacher, Tin New Yee, died of a suspected heart attack, her daughter and a fellow teacher said.

Police also hurled stun grenades outside a Yangon medical school sending doctors and students in white lab coats scattering. A group called the Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had been arrested.

State-run MRTV television said more than 470 people had been arrested on Saturday when police launched the nationwide crackdown. It was not clear how many were detained on Sunday.

‘INSTIL FEAR’

Youth activist Esther Ze Naw said earlier people were battling the fear they had lived with under military rule.

“It’s obvious they’re trying to instil fear in us by making us run and hide,” she said. “We can’t accept that.”

The police action came after state television announced that Myanmar’s U.N. envoy had been fired for betraying the country for urging the United Nations to use “any means necessary” to reverse the coup.

The ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, remained defiant. “I decided to fight back as long as I can,” he told Reuters in New York.

While Western countries have condemned the coup and some have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure. They have promised to hold a new election but not set a date.

Suu Kyi’s party and supporters said the result of the November vote must be respected.

Suu Kyi, 75, who spent nearly 15 years under house arrest, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols. The next hearing in her case is on Monday.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Petrol, diesel prices unchanged across metros

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Fuel prices, which have been soaring to unprecedented levels in the country of late, remained unchanged on Sunday.

In the national capital, petrol was priced at Rs 91.17 per litre, same as on Saturday.

Similarly, in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the fuel was sold for Rs 97.57, Rs 93.11 and Rs 91.35 a litre respectively.

Oil marketing companies pressed the pause button after raising the pump price of petrol and diesel by 24 paise and 15 paise per litre on Saturday.

In line with petrol, diesel prices also were unchanged on Sunday at Rs 81.47, Rs 88.60, Rs 86.45 and Rs 84.35 per litre, respectively in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Petrol and diesel prices have been rising continuously since February 9.

The increase in the previous weeks has taken petrol to cross historic high levels of Rs 100 a litre in several cities across the country.

Premium petrol crossed Rs 100 per litre mark in several cities of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra a few days back.

Since fuel prices are benchmarked to a 15-day rolling average of global refined products’ prices and dollar exchange rate, pump prices can be expected to remain northbound over the next few days even if crude price stabilises.

Oil companies executives said that petrol and diesel prices may increase further in coming days as retail prices may have to be balanced in line with global developments to prevent OMCs from making losses on sale of auto fuels.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Government should shed its ‘arrogance’, reduce fuel taxes: Congress

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Congress Saturday accused the Modi government of ignoring the woes of common man and asked it to shed its “arrogance” and reduce the tax imposed on petrol, diesel and LPG.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the government should immediately roll back the additional taxes of Rs 23.78 and Rs 28.37 per litre on petrol and diesel respectively, which will help bring down fuel prices.

He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words as Gujarat chief minister to urge the government to reduce the high tax components on petroleum products. Singhvi said the common man is already hurt due to rising inflation and joblessness amid a decline in the economy post-pandemic.

The PM may ignore the Congress’ demand, but he should at least listen to his own words as Gujarat CM during the UPA regime at the Centre, or may heed RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’s advice that the rising fuel prices will have a cascading effect, the Congress leader said.

“The Congress and the country urge you to listen to your own voice in bringing down petrol and diesel prices,” he said, playing Modi’s statements on petrol/diesel rates made during the UPA regime.

He also took a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for saying she is in a dilemma over removing the tax on petrol and diesel, asking, “What is the ‘dharam sankat’ and impediment that even the finance minister cannot reduce fuel tax. Is the PM stopping the FM from doing so?

It is “shameful”, Singhvi said, that while crude oil is 39.2 percent cheaper since May 2014, petrol and diesel under the Modi regime are 27.5 and 42.2 percent costlier.

He said it was “reverse coalition” where the global rates are coming down, but domestic rates are rising.

Singhvi alleged that this government has raised petrol and diesel rates on 14 occasions in the last 20 days, which he said was unfortunate.

The Modi government has been the most ‘Mehengi Sarkaar’ for the people, which has taxed them heavily. This arrogant government refuses to acknowledge people’s problems or give any relief to them. It has only tried to ‘divide, deceive, dupe, distract and delude’, which are the five favourite Ds of the ‘Hum Do, Hamre Do Sarkaar’, he alleged.

The Congress leader said in the last over six years, this government has earned over Rs 21.5 lakh crore by imposing additional excise duty on petrol and diesel.

Citing figures to substantiate his claim, he said in May 2014, the international crude oil price was USD 108 per barrel and petrol was selling at Rs 71.51 per litre in Delhi while diesel was selling at Rs 57.28 a litre.

The international crude oil prices as on February 25, 2021 are USD 65.70 per barrel, but the price of petrol has increased to Rs 91.17 per litre in Delhi whereas diesel is selling at Rs 81.47 per litre in Delhi, he pointed out, alleging that the BJP regime has increased petrol rates by 820 per cent and diesel by 258 per cent since it came to power.

He also said the price of the domestic gas cylinder has increased by Rs 200 in the last three months and accused the government of consistently misrepresenting facts about subsidy on LPG cylinder.

We demand the immediate withdrawal of ‘Modi tax’ of Rs 23.87 and Rs 28.37 per litre on petrol and diesel, which was increased by the Modi government since May 2014. This is not a favour, the people deserve relief in these hard pandemic times. This reduction will reduce petrol price to Rs 67.39 per litre and Diesel price to Rs 53.10 per litre, Singhvi said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Are digital banks becoming the new norm?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With smartphones in hand, customers the world over are changing how they bank. Especially millennials, who now prefer using digital channels for their end-to-end financial needs. As every aspect of life is being taken over by the digital revolution, millennials expect banks to take out the monotony from financial decisions by offering more personalized products that cater to every person’s unique needs.

Studies show that there has been a growing openness to digital banking globally in recent times. In the US, 14.2 million customers now consider a digital bank as their primary bank, which is a 67 percent upsurge when compared to January 2020. The UK has also seen a rise in the number of people who have a digital-only bank account, which signals a 165 percent increase in the past 12 months. In fact, about 23 percent of adults in the UK have a digital bank account. In India, digital transactions rose by 23 percent in June 2020 after the gradual re-opening of our economy. The development is significant as India is the only country apart from China to have a fintech adoption rate of 87 percent (as of March 2020).

But what are the factors continuing to drive more customers for making this change? Will digital banks eventually take the top spot? To answer these questions, one must look at the benefits that digital banking provides.

An Omnichannel Approach

Today’s tech-savvy customers want tailored banking interactions over the channels of their choice. They want their banking experience to be easy, quick, and automatic. This makes an omnichannel strategy absolutely vital, as it enables customers to engage with the banking institution digitally. Some of these digital features include mobile banking, internet banking, and contactless payments via voice assistants, wearables, and even chatbots.

However, the success of an omnichannel strategy depends largely on the ability of a digital bank to deliver a uniform and integrated experience across said channels, while being backed by real-time data synchronization.

Digitizing All Financial Elements

Customers today aren’t satisfied with just the digitization of basic banking facilities like withdrawals and deposits. They are constantly looking for options such as quick loan approval, digital transactions, trip-based insurance, digital onboarding, and interest on savings bank accounts.

Although ensuring security and cost-efficiency are two of the key motivators for financial institutions, the real value of a digital bank can only be ascertained by what it can provide its customer.

Personalizing Customer Experience

While personalization in banking is targeted majorly at marketing initiatives, its true potential lies in transforming all of the institutions’ customer interactions by using granular data and analytics. It can help them to foresee individual customer needs and offer solutions accordingly. Two key areas where digital banks can truly make a difference are as follows:

Segment-based personalization: This is where different experiences including catalogues, themes, and promotions are offered to customers based on the segment they belong to. For example, college students must be targeted differently from globally affluent customers. The same holds for a full-KYC consumer and a partial-KYC consumer based on their preferences (in terms of menu options, app design, etc.) instead of placing them together in the same bucket.

Geolocation-based personalization: This type of personalization is largely based on the real-time location of the customer rather than the city, area, or state that the customer is from. It’s essentially a bank that they can carry around with them regardless of geographical location.

Offering Safe, Frictionless Payment Options

Two of the most crucial elements for a digital bank’s success include a high degree of flexibility offered in payment solutions and customer-centric services.

There is a growing number of affluent customers who are adopting a global outlook in terms of education, work, travel, and network. These customers expect their financial services to be made available to them seamlessly as they trot the globe.

Digital technology turns out to be the way for reducing payment friction and enhancing the overall customer experience for global customers. This is specifically applicable for swift, secure, and frictionless services as well as contactless payments. In order to make these transactions secure, digital banks generally use tokenization. This process converts a customer’s card information into a specific digital token. Each digital token is shared while executing a transaction while masking the customer’s real card information and securing the transaction. This kind of convenient and safe payment experience is only going to gain popularity in the future, pushing banks to up their game in this area.

Today, certain neo banks are making it more convenient for such customers by allowing them to open an account in 5 minutes via a mobile device, which is not the case with traditional banks. Also, while banks levy heavy charges for international payments, some cutting-edge neo banks ensure complete functionality with much-needed features. Some of them include free international transfers and a complete departure from annual fees, account maintenance charges, mobile banking fees, ATM and debit card fees, overdraft fees, transfers (ACH) fees, and so on. These value-added features give customers access to financial growth opportunities globally, unlike traditional banks.

Financial institutions today need to ensure that they have the right mix of automation, experimentation, analytics, and personalization tools in place that can drive the much-needed change on the ground. Considering the wide-ranging benefits such operations provide, it’s safe to say that digital banks could very well become a customer’s primary bank, provided they follow a customer-centric approach.

-by Sukeert Shanker

(The author is the founder & CEO, Aeldra. The views expressed are personal.)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Artificial Intelligence: Global scenario versus Indian landscape

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The McKinsey Global Institute has recently studied economic statistics from the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum and estimated that by 2030, AI can add 16 percent—or around $13 trillion—to the global economy and AI will boost global GDP by $15.7 billion. Since 2000, AI venture investments have risen six times and McKinsey also estimates that by 2030, at least 70 percent of businesses are likely to have implemented at least one type of AI technology.

In India comparatively, Artificial Intelligence is a growing industry sector, as a report by Computer Vision Market reveals and stands at $6.4 billion as of 2030.  36.2 percent of this demand is coming from MNCs, GICs, and Captive firms with a market valuation of $2.3 billion. The future will see a vast number of other industries such as healthcare, high-tech manufacturing, and semiconductor companies adopting AI making it one of the most attractive and fastest-growing technology sectors over the next decade.

The retail industry has been one of worst-hit industries by the global pandemic and after an initial knee-jerk pause during the lockdowns, we see a sudden spike in retail brands (across categories of products) globally wanting to adopt and embrace digital transformation initiatives. The age-old model of customer service via call-centre’s has been disrupted permanently by Covid-19 and moving to AI solutions that can help retail businesses manage both exponential rise in call volumes while maintaining very high service level quality is the new emerging opportunity. It is, therefore, not a surprise that the conversational AI market alone is expected to grow at 32 percent CAGR to $9.4 billion by 2024 according to market research company markets & markets.

The Indian Government is playing a significant role as well and recently joined a Multinational Alliance on Artificial Intelligence that includes big nations such as the United States, the UK and Australia. Also, India has launched a Nationwide Artificial Intelligence Plan to bring the best of ideas and expertise from all fields and industries together making it one of the most happening and promising technology ecosystems to watch out for.

The National policymakers substantially expanded public AI funding through promises, such as increased R&D spending, the creation of industrial and construction funds by startups, network and technology investments, and public procurement relevant to AI. The government is also creating and fostering AI through numerous variations of public-private academies; the creation of technology parks and the connection between big companies and startups.

NASSCOM estimates that by 2022, 46% of the Indian workforce will be employed in completely new industries, which do not exist, or jobs that have drastically changed skill sets. NITI Ayog reports estimate that in India demand for AI and computer learners increased 60 percent in 2018. An Independent study has also stated that in 2020 India faced a demand-supply gap of 2,00,000d data analytics experts.

While global businesses have been at the forefront of adopting emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, and IoT, Indian businesses have been traditionally late technology adopters. Owing to an in general risk-averse mindset culturally, only once a technology has been proven and tested at scale, Indian businesses are willing to adopt it and we see a similar trend even in AI and AI-based solutions.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have reversed this trend completely and we see Indian businesses realize that adopting emerging technologies in today’s world is no longer an option that can be delayed any further. In many cases it can be the deciding factor between thriving, surviving, or perishing for the business. For example, at AskSid, where we offer a digital shopping assistant that help retail brands sell more, we have seen a drastic increase in demand in the last 6 months leading to a 3X-5X jump in our opportunity pipeline.

This increased adoption within businesses is being driven by the rapid usage and adoption of AI by consumers in their daily life. Alexa, Siri, Google as voice assistants are house-hold names today both in India and outside and the expectations to get served instantly in a personalized manner is considered totally normal by today’s consumers. Any business which fails to deliver on this high standard of customer experience which consumers demand carries the serious threat of becoming redundant very fast and therefore embracing digital transformation using emerging technologies such as AI is no longer an option for Indian businesses.

To conclude the overall scenario, one thing that is evident in the global vs. Indian AI debate is that India is now no longer a laggard,

• India is going to take a leadership role in AI for the world. Indeed, through zealous technological advances and consistent R&D India can be the next artificial intelligence superpower. Indian firms and AI entrepreneurs must begin to invest more in research and to grow AI products and solutions from India.
• There has never been a better time for AI ecosystem players and especially startups offering AI solutions. There lie a huge market and humongous opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to tap into.

-by Sanjoy Roy

(The author is co-founder & CEO at AskSid Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Bengaluru. The views expressed are personal.)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

FPIs net buyers for 2nd consecutive month in Feb; invest Rs 23,663 cr

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Remaining net buyers for second consecutive month in this calendar year, overseas investors pumped in Rs 23,663 crore in Indian markets in February on account of positive sentiment due to the Union Budget 2021-22 and strong third-quarter earnings. invested a net Rs 25,787 crore into equities but pulled out Rs 2,124 crore from the bonds market during February 1-26, the depositories data showed.

This took the total net investment to Rs 23,663 crore during the period under review. Last month, the total net investment stood at Rs 14,649 crore.

Rusmik Oza, executive vice-president and head (fundamental research) at Kotak Securities, said, ”Most of the FPI flows this month can be attributed to the strong outcome of the Union Budget and third-quarter earnings season.” Besides, Geojit Financial Chief Investment Strategist V K Vijayakumar noted that the pace of FPI inflows has slowed since the US 10-year yield is spiking up. The US 10-year bond yield is a hugely important determinant of capital flows. Inflation expectations are pushing the yields up. This will slow capital inflows, he added.

Oza said the yield, which started the calendar year at 0.91 percent, has now risen to 1.47 percent. ”It has led to bond yields rising across the globe.” Also, USD 1.9-trillion stimulus coming from US government could lead to sharper recovery in the US GDP in this calender year. ”Markets are forward-looking and trying to build in the scope of further rise in bond yields going forward in spite of the pick-up in vaccination,” Oza said.

According to Oza, emerging market currencies need to be watched going forward. Countries that see higher impact on their currencies could see higher FPI outflows,he added.

Morningstar India Associate Director (Manager Research) Himanshu Srivastava said the focus will be on economic numbers and how soon India gain economic momentum back, moving forward. There are signs of improvement in the macroeconomic environment and earnings growth, and foreign investors would prefer this trend to continue.

”However, as markets continue to be at elevated levels and given high valuations, the possibility of profit-booking remains, which could slow down the pace of net flows,” he said. Besides, with the US Federal Reserve reaffirming its accommodative stance, the global liquidity backdrop remains positive, which could enable flows into emerging markets like India, Srivastava said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s coal import drops 12% to 181 MT in Apr-Jan

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India’s coal import registered a drop of 11.59 percent to 180.84 million tonnes (MT) in the first 10 months of the ongoing fiscal. The company had imported 204.55 MT of coal in April-January period of the previous fiscal year, according to provisional data compiled by mjunction services. mjunction — a joint venture of Tata Steel and SAIL — is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals.

However, India’s coal imports in January increased to 20.05 MT as against 18.67 MT in year-ago period, it said. Commenting on the coal import trend, mjunction MD and CEO Vinaya Varma said, ”There was a drop in January volumes as compared to the previous month (December). This was mainly due to the firmness in seaborne prices. While there is steady demand in the market, the import trend will largely depend on the movements in international prices, freight rates and also domestic supply.” Coal import was, however, 7.4 percent higher in January 2021 as compared to 18.67 MT in the year-ago period.

Of the total imports in January 2021, non-coking coal was at 12.77 MT, while coking coal import was 5.62 MT. During April-January 2020-21, non-coking coal import was at 119.84 MT as compared to 140.65 MT in the same period a year ago. Coking coal import was recorded at 39.16 MT, lower than 41.15 MT imported during the same period a year ago.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Companies ‘feel betrayed’ due to capping of COVID-19 vaccine price: Shaw

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Sunday hit out at the government capping COVID-19 vaccine price at Rs 250 at private hospitals, saying vaccine companies ”feel betrayed” as it is too low to sustain. Reacting to a report that the health ministry has fixed Rs 250 per shot at private hospitals and health centers, she tweeted, ”We r (sic) crushing instead of incentivising vaccine industry.”

She further said, ”Covid Vaccine Jab Capped At Rs 250 At Private Hospitals: Government – understand vaccine cos (sic) feel betrayed as price is too low to sustain.” Mazumdar-Shaw asked, ”If WHO has agreed to USD 3 per dose, why beat them down to USD 2?” The government’s capping of the vaccine price at private hospitals comes at a time when India is preparing to vaccinate people aged above 60 years and those over 45 with co-morbidities from March 1.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be given free of cost at government hospitals, while people will need to pay for it at private facilities. It is understood that the Rs 250 ceiling per dose includes Rs 150 per dose of vaccine plus Rs 100 service charge.

Click here: For the latest news and updates on COVID-19

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nearly 65% low, lower-middle income countries slashed education budgets after COVID-19 outbreak: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Education budgets were cut by 65 percent of low and lower-middle income countries after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while only 33 percent of high and upper-middle income countries did so, according to a report by the World Bank. The report, compiled in collaboration with UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, said the current levels of government spending in low and lower-middle income countries fall short of those required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

”In order to understand the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education budgets, information was collected for a sample of 29 countries across all regions. The sample represents about 54 percent of the world’s school and university-aged population. The information collected was then verified with World Bank country teams,” the report said. ”Responding to the COVID-19 crisis requires additional spending to adapt schools for compliance with the necessary measures to control contagion and to fund programs to make up for the losses in learning students experienced while schools were closed,” it added.

The sample includes three low-income countries (Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Uganda); 14 lower-middle income countries (Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan); 10 upper-middle income nations (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Jordan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Turkey); and two high-income countries (Chile, Panama). ”The following countries have education shares below 10 percent and therefore are likely to have other main financing sources besides budget assigned by the central government: Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Russia,” the report stated.

”It is not clear that countries that have seen a decline in their education budget will be able to cover these costs increased during the pandemic alongside the regular increases in funding needed to support growing school-age populations. ”Despite the urgent need for adequate funding to allow school systems to reopen safely, about half of the countries in the sample cut their education budgets. This scarcely bodes well for the future, when macroeconomic conditions are expected to worsen,” it said.

On the other hand, households in low and lower-middle income countries tend to contribute a greater share of the total education spending than those in upper-middle and high-income countries, the report pointed out. ”While data is limited, household education spending as a share of GDP has increased in low-income countries and households still contribute significantly to the costs of education. The pandemic has resulted in a large and negative income and health shock for many households,” it said.

So far, COVID-19 has infected over 11.43 crore people across the globe and claimed over 25.37 lakh lives.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Prepared to handle any responsibility given by govt: IIFCL MD

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Amid the proposed formation of DFI, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited managing director PR Jaishankar has said the company is prepared to handle any responsibility given by the government. The Union Budget 2021-22 presented in Parliament earlier this month proposed to set up a Development Finance Institution (DFI) with an initial capital of Rs 20,000 crore to fund the Rs 111 lakh crore ambitious National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), the proposed DFI, expected to anchor the very ambitious NIP. ”IIFCL has been playing its role as a policy institution and financial institution of the Government of India for financing infrastructure development. The Budget has laid down a solid foundation for taking the infrastructure to the next scale,” Jaishankar told PTI.

As far as infrastructure financing is concerned, he said, ”IIFCL has been working in a manner that development finance requirements were met in a more focussed manner. So, that has been already there”. India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL), with a paid-up capital of Rs 10,000 crore, has sanctioned the loan of around Rs 1.5 lakh crore as of January 2021 to more than 620 projects with a total outlay of Rs 10.8 lakh crore.

When asked about its role as part of a new organisation, he said, ”It matters how the government looks at it. We are geared up and prepared to handle any such responsibility that the government would give to IIFCL”. The government is considering a proposal to subsume IIFCL into the proposed DFI.

”IIFCL may be considered for a quick start if it could be subsumed in this new financial institution because they already have some domain expertise and they have some manpower who are already trained and experienced in this field,” Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda had said. Set up in 2006, IIFCL is a leading financial institution in the infrastructure sector and developed several innovative financial solutions, including takeout finance, subordinated debt and credit enhancement.

The company has channelised USD 2.8 billion from multilateral financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. It has developed 28,000 Km of road and financed 490 public-private partnership (PPP) projects, 27 percent of India’s PPP project. Besides, it has financed airports, ports and renewal energy projects.

Talking about the financial performance, Jaishankar said the profit before tax doubled to Rs 404 crore in the nine months of FY21 as against Rs 201 crore in the April-December period of the previous fiscal. The net profit of the company, wholly-owned by the government, rose by 19 percent to Rs 212 crore in the first nine-month period of the current fiscal compared to Rs 178 crore in the same period a year ago.

At the same time, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the company improved to 18.72 percent as compared to 22.27 percent at the end of December 2019.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow