Billionaire Vitalik Buterin donates 50 trillion Shiba Inu coins to India’s COVID fight: Know its real value
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Buterin’s contribution of Shiba Inu coins worth a billion dollars to India’s COVID fight, may, ultimately, amount to just $50-100 million.
Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum cryptocurrency, May 12, donated Shiba Inu coins worth a billion dollars to support India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the second donation by Buterin, with the earlier donation standing at around $600,000 via Ethereum cryptocurrency. He joins other cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors such as Balaji Srinivasan, who recently donated $1,50,000 in total.
The donation by Buterin, the highest amount so far by any individual or organisation to India, looks huge as $1 billion in Indian currency amounts to approximately over Rs 7,300 crore. However, in reality, India is expected to get an amount of $50-$100 million (Rs 350-700 crore).
Here is a look at why India is unlikely to actually get a billion dollars in real money.
What is this Shiba Inu Coin all about?
The Shiba Inu token was created as a meme coin and has the mascot of a Shiba pup, a Japanese dog. Shiba Inu was launched as a competitor to Dogecoin, another meme coin, and has a mascot of a dog. Dogecoin has been in the news consistently, with Elon Musk, followed by other celebrities, tweeting about it, which caused its valuation to jump to $50 billion.
Currently, Shiba Inu is valued at $7.8 billion, from a high of over $40 billion. After Buterin made the donation for India, the value of Shiba Inu coins saw a price fall by around 40 percent.
The price fall was noticed after Buterin gave away 10 percent of the total coins globally available in the market. The founder of Shiba Inu, Ryoshi had a tacit understanding with Buterin to never sell these coins, thus maintaining an artificial scarcity. It was a gift that Buterin re-gifted to the India COVID Fund, leading to this price fall.
Who is Vitalik Buterin?
He is the co-founder of Ethereum cryptocurrency. The 27-year-old Russian-Canadian has been in the crypto industry for the past 10 odd years. A billionaire who has featured on the cover page of reputed magazines, he donated his billion dollars in crypto to the India COVID Crypto Relief Fund, run by Indian crypto entrepreneur Sandeep Nailwal.
When will India get the Funds?
The India COVID Relief Fund has been set up by Indian tech entrepreneur Sandeep Nailwal, also the co-founder and COO of Polygon.
With the fund sitting on this huge pile of coins donated by Buterin in its wallet, it has to strategically sell to ensure prices do not fall further.
As per a report in Mint, the fund is based out of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the 50 trillion Shiba Inu tokens have to be first converted into fiat currency. After that, the entity converts the currency through various exchanges and brings it to a bank account outside the country. Once the funds are in the bank, it is then transferred to Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) compliant non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India, where it will be disbursed as deemed fit.
Why So Less for So Much?
Unsurprisingly, India will not get the billion dollars as expected. Experts scoffed at that number saying it won’t go beyond $100 million. However, Sandeep Nailwal in an interview with Moneycontrol said India would ultimately get a mere $50 million.
For the uninitiated, cryptos work on a different level altogether. Shiba Inu is a meme or joke coin. So, when Sandeep eventually starts to sell, it would depend on the liquidity and at what price any cryptocurrency exchange would want to buy it. Unlike Buterin’s Ethereum, which is far more stable pricewise, and high in demand, joke coins after all come and go.
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COVID-19 Treatment: Isn’t it time to allow oxygen therapy in non-hospital settings?
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health issued revised home isolation guidelines. These guidelines are directed at patients and families seeking to isolate and monitor patients at home, as has long been the standard the world over.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health issued revised home isolation guidelines. These guidelines are directed at patients and families seeking to isolate and monitor patients at home, as has long been the standard the world over.
These guidelines are timely and acknowledge the need for home isolation and self-monitoring. Unfortunately, they also contain several recommendations which are at significant variance with the available evidence. In our view, these recommendations need to be urgently revisited.
The continued endorsement of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine in the Guidelines is entirely inconsistent with the available evidence. The guidelines recommend 3-5 days of Ivermectin for patients with mild disease. Scientific evidence has repeatedly shown that Ivermectin is not useful for the treatment of COVID-19 at any stage of the disease.
Even its manufacturer, Merck, has stated that there is no evidence of efficacy or safety for its use in COVID-19. Doctors in India have expressed concern that they are under pressure to prescribe these medicines. The guidelines advise the prophylactic use of Hydroxychloroquine for close contacts with the patient. This disregards the vast body of accumulated evidence that this drug neither prevents nor treats infection with COVID-19.
The guidelines advise steroids for patients with persistent symptoms like fever or cough. There is no evidence for the use of steroids in patients who do not need oxygen, whether or not other symptoms persist.
The profligate use of steroids in a population with a high incidence of diabetes is very likely contributing to the mounting cases of mucormycosis, or black fungus, currently seen in alarming numbers of COVID-19 survivors in India.
The guidelines advocate the use of inhaled budesonide after five days of disease onset. This recommendation is based on evidence that inhaled budesonide reduces the time to recovery and the need for urgent medical care. The trial on the basis of which this recommendation has been made did not delay treatment by 5 days, as is being advised by the Guidelines.
The guidelines state that “In case of falling oxygen saturation or shortness of breath, the person should require hospital admission and seek immediate consultation of their treating physician/surveillance team.”
It is very clear that all patients with COVID-19 cannot be admitted to a hospital as the health system has already far exceeded capacity in many regions, and is at grave risk of doing so in others if every such patient is sent to a hospital. Experiences not just in India but worldwide have clearly demonstrated the folly of sending all cases to hospitals, even in far better-equipped healthcare systems.
This guideline needs to be clarified by continuing to recommend that patients seek the consultation of their medical team but deleting the reference to mandatory hospitalization. The Guideline should instead direct patients to a tiered triage system that guides patients to the appropriate level of care for their needs; this may or may not include a hospital admission.
Multiple charitable organisations have successfully delivered thousands of low-flow oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders to rural locations; thousands more are on their way. These machines allow for a non-hospital based strategy to be used both in in-home and near-home settings.
Non-governmental organisations and proactive government officials have now started to build out a contextually intelligent strategy to ensure that the use of these machines is part of an ecosystem of home-monitoring supported by community health workers, strict monitoring and referral pathways, and supportive care centres capable of delivering timely and appropriate amounts of oxygen, and related treatments like steroids and proning.
Keeping patients with the mild and early moderate disease away from hospitals and promptly managing them with evidence-based protocols is key to reducing the untenable demand on secondary and tertiary tiers of care, and ensuring the well-being of patients.
We call upon the Ministry to urgently revise the Guidelines to embrace a scientific, evidence-based approach to managing COVID-19. It is our only hope to mitigate the current tragedy as much as possible at this juncture.
This column has been jointly authored by Nachiket Mor, PhD, The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, Satchit Balsari, MD, MPH, Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Priya Sampathkumar, MD, Infectious Disease, Mayo Clinic and Amita Sudhir, MD, Emergency Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine. All views are strictly personal
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Cyclone Tauktae likely to hit western coast on May 18, says IMD; NDRF teams deployed in 5 states
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Cyclone Tauktae likely to hit Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The states are already in the grip of COVID’s vicious second wave.
A depression centered over Lakshadweep, about 360 km west-southwest of Kannur in Kerala, is very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours before hitting the western coast on May 18, the Indian Meteorological Department forecast on Friday afternoon said.
IMD predicted that the depression is very likely to move initially north-northeastwards till the evening on May 14, then moving north-northwestwards, it will reach near Gujarat coast by May 18 morning.
The wind speed, which is currently at 50-60 kmph, gusting to 70 kmph, is likely to reach 70–80 kmph, gusting to 90 kmph, over the east-central Arabian Sea and the adjoining southeast Arabian Sea and Lakshadweep area from May 15 morning, the IMD said in the statement.
The depression will likely cause light to extremely heavy rainfall in Lakshadweep Islands till May 16 and in Kerala till May 17, read the forecast. Besides, some districts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Konkan, and Goa will get light to extremely heavy rainfall till May 16. Apart from these states, Gujarat and south-west Rajasthan will receive light to extremely heavy rainfall from May 16-18, the IMD predicted.
The IMD has warned fishermen not to venture into the Arabian Sea in the Lakshadweep- Maldives areas and off Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, and the adjoining Gujarat coast till May 18 as the sea conditions will be rough to very rough. It has advised the fishermen out in the sea over north and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea to return to the coast.
NDRF Teams Deployed
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed several teams on the ground in five states in view of the cyclone, to be named ‘Tauktae,’ when it is formed. At least 24 teams are pre-deployed and 29 more are kept on standby in Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, NDRF DG S.N. Pradhan told news agency ANI.
The cyclone is likely to hit the Karnataka coast on May 15 at a speed of up to 80 kmph. In view of that, the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority has issued red alerts to its three coastal districts for May 15-16.
Double Whammy for Southern States and Maharashtra
It’s a double whammy for Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, which have been fighting a severe second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these states has been reporting over 30,000 new cases every day.
Among these states, Maharashtra recorded the highest 42,582 new infections on May 13, Kerala registered 39,955 cases, Karnataka 35,297, and Tamil Nadu 30,621 daily cases.
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US fuel supplier Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million in ransom to hackers
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Colonial Pipeline, which operates US’ largest fuel network, paid $5 million in ransom to hackers’ group DarkSide on May 14.
Colonial Pipeline, which had to close its network due to a ransomware attack earlier this week, reportedly paid $5 million to the hackers’ group on May 13. Colonial Pipeline, which operates the largest fuel network in the US, announced on May 7 about the ransomware attack.
The company had closed over 5,000 miles (8,046 km) of pipeline that carried 100 million gallons (37,85,41,178 litres) petrol, jet fuel, and kerosene from Texas to the New York area as a preventive measure, which led to severe fuel shortages and a sharp increase in the price of fuel across the US, especially in the East Coast.
Bloomberg reported, quoting a US official, that the company paid over $5 million in ransom to the hacking group, DarkSide. The company’s shutdown of its network, which contributes to 45 percent of all daily fuel consumption on the Eastern Seaboard, saw gas prices rise as a result and fuel shortages across the coast.
The company announced on May 13 that it resumed operations but declined to comment on the payment of ransom.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the White House’s official policy on ransomware is to discourage companies from paying the ransom. However, the government has not yet prohibited companies from paying the ransom. The rationale behind the policy is that paying a ransom is not guaranteed to get the data back, and will encourage cybercrime groups to further target more companies.
Anne Neuberger, the White House’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said on May 10 many companies find that paying off the criminals is the best course of action to be taken when facing such an attack.
“We recognise though that companies are often in a difficult position if their data is encrypted and they do not have backups and cannot recover the data,” she said.
Neuberger highlighted the fact that the official stand of the government remains that ransom should not be paid as it encourages the proliferation of cybercrimes.
In an interview with MSNBC on May 13, Neuberger said, “At the federal government, we discourage the payment of ransoms, because the prolific payment of ransoms encourages ransomware.”
Colonial Pipeline’s hack is just another name on the list of large corporations to be hit by a ransomware attack. And it is not just private corporations that are at risk. The attack highlights the fragility of the world’s critical infrastructures’ dependence on cybersecurity systems that can be breached.
Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary, told Bloomberg TV, “This is a serious example of what we are seeing across the board in many places and it tells you that we need to invest in our systems, our transmission grid for electricity. We need to invest in cyber defence in these energy systems.”
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Explained: What is ZyCoV-D, Zydus Cadila’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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The vaccine, ZyCoV-D, is also India’s second indigenously developed coronavirus vaccine after Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
Drug firm Zydus Cadila is likely to launch its three-dose COVID-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, in June. It will be the third or fourth vaccine — depending on when Sputnik V is introduced — for COVID-19 immunisation in the country.
The vaccine, ZyCoV-D, is also India’s second indigenously developed coronavirus vaccine after Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
How Does ZyCoV-D Work?
ZyCoV-D is a DNA-plasmid vaccine. While the vaccine does use genetic material to elicit an immunogenic response in the body, it is not using the mRNA (messenger RNA), instead, it uses the plasmid DNA. A plasmid is a small DNA molecule within a cell that is distinct from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently and is usually found in bacterial cells.
“The plasmid DNA is introduced into the host cells, where it is translated into the viral protein and elicits a strong immune response mediated by the cellular and humoral arms of the human immune system. This plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance,” Pankaj R. Patel, chairman of Zydus Cadila, told The Print.
The vaccine is also more rugged than mRNA vaccines and will be stored between 2-8 degrees Celsius. It can remain stable even at a room temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, which will make it much easier to administer. The vaccine is also expected to be easy to modify if needed to combat emerging variants of the novel Coronavirus.
How Many Doses?
ZyCoV-D, unlike the other vaccines currently being used in India, will be a three-dose vaccine. The reason for the three-dose regimen is that it will offer a longer immune response and has shown better results in Phase 1 and Phase 2 testing.
The company is also testing a two-dose regimen. It is likely to finish the collection and analysis of that data by the end of May.
When Will it be Approved?
Zydus will likely submit its application for emergency use authorisation to the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) within this month. The company is currently collecting efficacy data from its 28,000 volunteers who participated in the Phase 3 trials for the vaccine. Volunteers also included children in the age group of 12-17 and people with co-morbidities that aggravate COVID-19 infections.
“We hope to see our efficacy data in the middle of May. As soon as we see strong efficacy which correlates to the vaccine’s strong immunogenicity in Phase 2, we will file for emergency use authorisation. We hope to produce a good quantity of the vaccine from July onwards to make sure it is available to the people. That is the need of the hour right now,” Dr. Sharvil Patel, managing director of Zydus Cadila told India Today.
“We have submitted a lot of data already so that it will aid the regulators once we provide them with the efficacy results. We are, hence, expecting to get the approval in May itself,” Dr. Patel added.
What About Production?
Zydus aims to produce 24 crore doses a year and the vaccine is expected to be available in the market as soon it is approved. The company is looking to produce well over two crore doses a month and is also in talks with other manufacturers to boost production capacity. The Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company will begin production with a target of one crore doses, before doubling production within a month.
“We will start supplies in the month of June. We plan to manufacture 240 million (24 crore) doses of ZyCoV-D in a year. Initially, we will start off with producing 10 million (one crore) doses a month, and subsequently, we are looking at how to double the capacity to 20 million (two crore) doses a month,” Dr. Patel said.
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Vaccine shortage will last for over 2 months, says National COVID-19 task force’s Dr NK Arora
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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The biggest question in the fight against the coronavirus second wave is the availability or supply of the vaccines. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Dr NK Arora, Head of Operations Research Group of the National Task Force set up by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) discussed this.
The biggest question in the fight against the coronavirus second wave is the availability or supply of the vaccines. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Dr NK Arora, Head of Operations Research Group of the National Task Force set up by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) discussed this.
According to Dr Arora, it will take 2-3 months before the vaccine supply really picks up.
“We must understand there is vaccine shortage for at least next two to two and a half months and before full steam vaccination for young people can take off,” he said.
India has administered almost 18 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses so far, with four crore people, or just a little over three percent of the population fully vaccinated with two doses. In the 18 to 44 year age group, less than forty lakh people have received their first jabs, with vaccine shortage slowing down the vaccination drive.
Amidst the shortage and with no major uptick in supplies expected anytime soon, the government has decided to extend the interval between two doses of COVISHIELD from six to eight weeks to twelve to sixteen weeks.
The central government has said that from August onwards it expects a sharp uptick in production and availability of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 200 crore doses likely to be supplied between August and December. Of these, the largest share of 75 crore is expected to continue to come in from Serum Institute, and 55 crore doses are expected to come in of COVAXIN of Bharat Biotech – most of the other vaccines that the government is pinning its hopes on are still in various stages of trials.
Looking at the short term supply picture – according to the latest data released by the central government, between May 16 and May 31, it will supply 1.92 crore vaccine doses to states and union territories from the central quota. This will include 1.63 crore COVISHIELD doses and 29 lakh COVAXIN doses.
For the entire discussion, watch the accompanying video
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Akshaya Tritiya 2021: Jewellers see spike in gold sales compared to last season; but overall demand remains subdued
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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. Jewellers throughout the country are expecting only 10-15 percent sales this season as the onset of the COVID-19 second wave, local restrictions and partial lockdowns have affected consumer sentiment.
Akshaya Tritiya, a highly auspicious day to purchase gold, has started on a dull note. Jewellers throughout the country are expecting only 10-15 percent sales this season as the onset of the COVID-19 second wave, local restrictions and partial lockdowns have affected consumer sentiment.
According to Arvind Sahay, chairperson, India Gold Policy Centre at IIM Ahmedabad, consumers are also seen to have taken advantage of the decline in prices in the last four months on the physical market front. That being said, demand for Akshaya Titya is lukewarm because of the overall sentiment related to pandemic and lockdown of non-essential services in many regions, particularly the southern and western states.
Doorstep service by jewellery retailers, Sahay said, is going to be a challenge in the current state.
PNG Jewellers chairman and managing director Saurabh Gadgil said usually, 30-40 tonne gold is sold on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. However, this time sales are not likely to reach even 1 tonne.
“We are urging customers to place orders for later delivery. As last year the base was very low, this year will be better, that is 10-15 percent more than 2020. However, sales are not likely to reach even 1 tonne. Usually on a normal Akshaya Tritiya 25-30 tonne gold is sold across the country,” he was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
Kalyan Jewellers executive director Ramesh Kalyanaraman predicted that Akshaya Tritiya 2021 is going to be different from last year as 20 percent of showrooms are functioning but with regionalised timing restrictions.
Meanwhile, Augmont – an integrated precious metals management company-has seen a spike in gold sales compared to last Akshaya Tritiya.
“Country is going through the worst phase in the second wave. But during a pandemic, another method of saving or buying gold has been gaining immense popularity which is in the form of digital gold. In 2020, Augmont sold around 15 kgs of Digi gold on Akshaya Tritiya and in 2021, the same volume is increased by almost 150 percent as Augmont sold around 30 kgs of gold as of 2.30 pm. Gold coins and gold bars in the range of Rs. 3,000-4,000 is more preferable for buyers this year,” said Ketan Kothari, director, Augmont.
During the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 infections, many states have imposed lockdowns or lockdown-like restrictions as a desperate measure to restrict the spread of the virus. Retail stores are closed in several major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, and in gold consuming states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
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Explained: Hybrid securities for foreign investments
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Under the former FDI path, FEMA 20(R) only recognized completely and compulsorily convertible instruments, whereas instruments like optionally or partially convertible instruments were treated as debt.
Under the former FDI path, FEMA 20(R) only recognized completely and compulsorily convertible instruments, whereas instruments like optionally or partially convertible instruments were treated as debt. Though the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 (NDI Rules) included the definition of “hybrid securities” to mean hybrid instruments such as optionally or partially convertible preference shares or debentures which can be issued by an Indian company or trust to a person resident outside India; the term was not used further in the rules.
It could at most imply that investments made through hybrid instruments would most likely be governed under the NDI Rules. A hybrid financial instrument is one that possess some attributes of debt as well as equity. Ordinarily the bond will convert into shares of stock in the issuing company. The RBI also issued the Foreign Exchange Management (Mode of Payment and Reporting of Non-Debt Instruments) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, permitting the use of Special Non-Resident Rupee Account balances for investments. Further, the sale proceeds of non-debt instruments can also be now remitted outside India.
Though foreign investments using hybrid instruments were allowed through the FDI route until 2007, RBI was of the view that issuing such instruments went against the spirit of the FDI regulations, which aimed at encouraging investments in the form of equity capital rather than debt instruments. Under the new scenario, hybrid instruments are categorized as debt, and the RBI’s External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) framework regulates them.
The aim of hybrid instruments is to allow a business to include equity-like capital while maintaining capital security and returns. Hybrid instruments have a relatively higher risk mitigating aspect. Allowing security of the capital amount seems reasonable, particularly when such protection can be arranged by liquidation preferences.
Although the RBI continues to oppose guaranteed returns, the courts are of a different view. A ‘pro-enforcement’ bias has been evident in a number of decisions involving capital security clauses in investment contracts. The Supreme Court of India decided on the issue of multifaceted investments by FDI in the case of IDBI Trusteeship Services Limited v. Hubtown Ltd. in 2016. It was decided that if the instruments did not assure the investor a certain return, then they should be regarded as equity instruments and therefore allowed under the FDI regime.
The two types of hybrid instruments mentioned in the ECB regulations are:
i. Foreign Currency Exchangeable Bonds (FCEBs) pertaining to securities denominated in a foreign currency that are issued under the Issue of Foreign Currency Exchangeable Bonds Scheme, 2008. FCEBs may be exchanged for equity shares of another corporation (the Offered Company) in any way, in whole or in part, or on any equity-related warrants basis attached to debt instruments. However, FCEBs must be issued in accordance with all other relevant regulations.
ii. Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) being instruments denominated in a foreign currency that are issued under the Issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds and Ordinary Shares (Through Depositary Receipt Mechanism) Scheme, 1993. Here also, other relevant legislation must also be followed when issuing FCCBs. However, FCCBs should be free of any warrants.
The New ECB Framework streamlines the Old ECB Framework by combining Track I (Medium term foreign currency denominated ECB with Minimum Average Maturity also known as MAM of 3/5 years) and Track II (Long term foreign currency denominated ECB with MAM of 10 years) into a single track known as “Foreign Currency Denominated ECB.”
Under the old framework, there were individual lists of Eligible Borrowers for each track. The list of Eligible Borrowers has been extended under the New ECB Framework to include all organizations eligible to receive FDI. Thus, an Indian company or an Indian limited liability partnership (LLP) functioning in an industry where FDI under the automatic route is permitted up to 100 percent, including start-ups, is eligible for ECB.
The New ECB Framework’s stated goal is to make the mechanism “instrument neutral,” and product harmonization appears to be a step in that direction. FCEBs are no longer subject to the approval route and will now fall under the automatic route. In the near future, rules regulating hybrid instruments such as partially convertible debentures are expected to be implemented.
In many niche areas, hybrid instruments, especially in the start-up domain, attract foreign investments. The principle behind hybrid financing is to provide lenders with a mix of benefits of both equity as well as debt instruments. Equity instruments offer the investor a sense of control and a residual right on the cash flows, while debt instruments generate cash for the firm’s economic development. Although Bond-like returns are combined with equity-like uncertainties in hybrids making them more lucrative these investors will recover their sums only at the very end, if a company gets wound up, since they are prioritised after senior bondholders and other lenders.
Due to Covid-19, the real impact of these changes in the ECB guidelines has not been felt in full as investors are not investing as much as they would have in normal circumstances. Let us hope, the changes give a boost to foreign investment in India, especially the start- ups and MSMEs, which require funding the most.
The author, Raj Bhalla, is law firm Partner and former legal chief at SEBI. The views expressed are personal
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India on their minds: Indian-Americans come together in support of their homeland
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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You can take the Indian out of India – but you can never take India out of the Indian.
You can take the Indian out of India – but you can never take India out of the Indian. The recent Covid-19 crisis in their homeland has galvanized Indian immigrants and their American-born children to action. For many, their hearts are in India since so many extended family members are caught in the eye of the storm. Every day there is news of deaths close to home, of real people dying unnecessarily; there are funeral pyres burning without the farewell of friends and family members.
Indian-Americans have responded in a big way, and now there are so many of them in power positions in the civic and political life that their voices have made a big difference in the US support for India, be it in raw materials for vaccines, oxygen or devices. Kamala Harris, with her roots in India, has spoken evocatively about the India situation.
US Reps. Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorthy all appealed to the Biden Administration to India, as have several Indian-American organizations and noted civil servants. As Khanna told the Nation: “It’s vital that the US drop barriers to vaccine production and aid Covid-ravaged India. We aren’t an island. I mean, the disease is going to continue to come back to us.”
Indeed, India seems to have a lot of friends in high places. The India Senate Caucus co-chairs Mark Warner, D-Virginia, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, along with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the Administration to take additional steps to help India combat the surge.
The Biden Administration has recognized the close connections and partnership with India, noting that “Reflecting the United States’ solidarity with India as it battles a new wave of COVID-19 cases, the United States is delivering supplies worth more than $100 million in the coming days to provide urgent relief to our partners in India.”
The US is providing oxygen support with an initial delivery of 1100 cylinders which will remain in India to be repeatedly refilled at local supply centers with more expected. According to the White House the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also locally procured oxygen cylinders and will deliver them to support hospital systems in coordination with the Government of India. Also included are oxygen concentrators, oxygen generation units, personal equipment and vaccine manufacturing supplies which will allow India to make 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Therapeutics and Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) are on the list along with public health assistance and collaboration with US CDC experts.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Health Commissioner Dave A. Chokshi announced that the City will tap into its stockpile to send COVID-19 test kits, swabs, ventilators, and pulse oximeters to India. “We should publicly share all research, technology, and techniques for producing the COVID-19 vaccines. Our city, home to thousands of Indian-born New Yorkers, and our country have a moral imperative to demonstrate global solidarity in order to overcome this devastating pandemic.”
The dire situation has galvanized NGOs and corporations, big and small, across America. Indiaspora opened ChaloGive.org giving platform with an initial $ 1 million from their private donor network. Indiaspora’s founder M.R. Rangaswami, who lost a sister to COVID, said: “COVID has hit everyone on a personal basis. I’m treating this as a personal emergency as well as a call to action.”
Indiaspora also held a fundraiser Help India Breathe which brought together several noted names from the Indian and AAPI community, including Lilly Singh, Deepak Chopra, and Jay Sean. More than $1M was raised during the fundraiser event, with both Indiaspora and Vinod Khosla matching each dollar raised up to $1 million, effectively tripling the impact of those who gave, and collectively raising more than $3M together.
“The scale and magnitude of the situation in India is currently beyond any one person or any one group’s ability to tackle,” said Ashish Shah, Senior Director, Philanthropy and Community Engagement at Indiaspora. “We need the force of our entire Diaspora behind COVID-19 relief efforts in India so that we can make the biggest impact possible.”
Indeed, various organizations have been instrumental in rallying the troops – Pratham has procured 7000 oxygen concentrators and is coordinating with local organizations to distribute these to Indian hospitals and Covid care facilities. On May 14, directors of USA Pratham are discussing the COVID crisis in India online with Dr. Managala Narasimhan, Senior VP and Director of Critical Care Services at Northwell Health.
The American India Foundation (AIF) has dispatched oxygen concentrators to India via FED EX and Air India flights and these are being sent to various hospitals across India. AIF has received over $8.9 million from Mastercard to help an estimated 2.5 million people gain access to healthcare. According to AIF, this is the largest gift it has received and it will be used to create portable hospitals in the areas of greatest need across the country. The organization is scoping locations for several portable hospitals with a goal of constructing 2500 such units.
Tata Memorial Centre distribution team at the Mumbai airport receiving a shipment from AIF
Vikas Khanna, the noted chef, who earlier headed the massive FeedIndia Campaign during the first wave of Covid-19, providing rations during the quarantine, has now partnered in a creative and ambitious undertaking with the NGO Vibha and various corporations to work in over 40 hospitals, healthcare facilities and partner organizations in India. A partnership with Texas Instruments and the Government of Karnataka has set up a 100 bed hospital in Bengaluru, and vaccination clinics are being planned.
Vikas Khanna and Keyur Shah of Vibha promoting Covid relief for India in Times Square.
Says Keyur Shah, Director of Vibha: “While we may all have views regarding what went wrong causing the second wave in India, we at Vibha are focusing on how to make it right. Currently, we are laser focused on this relief operation. We have raised over $700k with a goal to reach a million dollars.”
Volunteers from Vibha getting packages ready
America-based NGOs which have a footprint in India are reaching out to afflicted communities in the states and cities. Many of these groups are focusing on the local communities where they already work and so are able to address their needs during this crisis.
Children’s Hope India (CHI) is a nonprofit run by women professionals in New York, dedicated to the education of underserved population. It is reaching out to hard-hit communities in Jodhpur, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal and Bengaluru. “The scope of our COVID relief is individualized to each community where our projects are located, as the need in each community is different,” says Dr. Dina Pahlajani, president of CHI. The CHI Relief Program has provided oxygen concentrators, medical kits and PPE equipment; it has set up makeshift hospitals in rural Pune and in a school in Bhopal, with triage stations where patients can isolate from crowded family homes and get medical treatment. CHI is also providing vaccination camps, meals and financial support to affected families while continuing education programs through remote learning.
Children’s Hope India providing COVID relief to local communities.
Young Indian-Americans, many who may never have been to India and their American friends are reaching out on social media with their heart-felt small donations. No Indian-American has been left untouched by the escalating crisis in India – social media is full of tributes and photographs of lost family members and friends. Just today morning there was a poignant personal tweet from Dr. Celine Gounder, who is on the Biden Covid 19 Advisory team:
“Mourning the loss of another family member to COVID.”
“Why the World Should Worry About India” is a searing article in The Atlantic by Yasmeen Serhan who observes that the world’s largest vaccine producer is struggling to overcome its latest COVID-19 surge and that is everyone’s problem. “India’s outbreak is an enormous tragedy for its own people, but it’s also a catastrophe for the rest of the world,” she wrote. “Ninety-two developing nations rely on India, home to the Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine maker, for the doses to protect their own populations, a supply now constrained by India’s domestic obligations.”
Indeed, before its vicious second wave of COVID-19, India was itself providing vaccines to so many countries. Barbados is one of the countries which had gratefully vaccinated their people, thanks to India’s generosity. The hope is that the world is able to respond to India’s crisis in a timely fashion and the tide can be turned, with a better outcome for the entire globe.
—Lavina Melwani is a New York-based journalist who blogs at Lassi with Lavina.
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India’s COVID crisis pushes up the cost of living and dying
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Ashok Khondare, a 39-year-old vegetable seller in the western Indian city of Pune, had already borrowed money to pay for his sister’s treatment when she died in a private hospital two weeks after contacting COVID-19.
Ashok Khondare, a 39-year-old vegetable seller in the western Indian city of Pune, had already borrowed money to pay for his sister’s treatment when she died in a private hospital two weeks after contacting COVID-19.
While trying to overcome the tragedy, he also had to deal with money problems that increased with his sister’s death.
The only available hearse driver charged 5,000 Indian rupees ($68) for a 6-km (four-mile) journey to the nearest crematorium – five times the going rate. When Khondare reached there, there was a long queue of dead bodies and waits of more than a day. He agreed to pay another 7,000 rupees to jump the queue.
“I had been experiencing a terrible situation for a fortnight,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep or eat properly. I wanted to end this as early as possible and didn’t mind paying an irrational amount.”
India’s second wave of the coronavirus has not only created shortages of oxygen, medicines and hospital beds, but also of wood for funeral pyres, hearses and crematorium slots, forcing people like Khondare to pay exorbitant amounts to perform the last rites of loved ones.
India is reporting by far the highest number of new daily cases globally, and over 4,000 deaths per day – figures that are almost certainly under-reported, according to experts.
India’s Hindu majority cremates its dead, and the huge numbers of deaths are creating backlogs at cremation grounds and shortages of manpower and raw materials.
“There is huge demand for firewood used for funeral pyres at crematoria, but supplies are not sufficient,” said Rohit Pardeshi, a firewood merchant in Satara, a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
Due to a local lockdown designed to curb the pandemic, there is a shortage of people to cut trees and those workers who are available are asking for higher wages.
“This has created a shortage of firewood and lifted prices,” Pardeshi said.
Retail prices for firewood are up by at least 30 percent, and have more than doubled in some areas, said a second firewood seller in the same city.
In the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 24-year-old Mukul Chaudhary faced similar problems after his mother died in the state capital Lucknow.
The ambulance driver who dropped his mother off at the hospital for 5,000 rupees charged even more to take her body to the crematorium.
“We had to beg him not to overcharge us further,” Chaudhary said.
Firewood for the cremation cost double the normal rate, while the priest who performed the last rites charged the family 5,000 rupees – two to five times the usual amount.
Rohit Jangam, a Hindu priest in Satara, said many priests there were refusing to enter crematoriums out of fear, and those who were willing were charging higher prices.
“It is too risky to perform the last rites of those died because of coronavirus,” he said. “If someone asks, I do, but I charge more since I am taking the risk.”
He declined to disclose how much more he was charging.
OXYGEN RACKET
For COVID patients who manage to survive, black marketing of medical supplies is rampant, with desperate relatives paying huge sums in what is still a low-income country.
In the capital New Delhi, oxygen cylinders have changed hands for as much as 70,000 rupees, according to interviews with relatives – twenty times the usual price and many times the monthly salary of the average Indian.
Police there have made more than 100 arrests in cases connected with overcharging, including for drugs, ambulance services and hospital beds.
Arveena Sharma, a 28-year-old lawyer from Noida, a satellite city of New Delhi, has helped more than a dozen COVID patients who are friends and relatives get oxygen and medical supplies in the last month. Almost all of them have overpaid significantly.
“They’re like vultures,” she said of those selling black market drugs.
“You are standing in front of me with something which might save me and you’re looking at my pocket.”
($1 = 73.3130 Indian rupees)
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