Thailand drops Covid-vaccine proof requirement for foreign visitors

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

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Thailand withdrew a rule requiring foreign travellers to carry proof of Covid vaccination on Monday, just days after reinstating the barrier ahead of the arrival of Chinese tourists.

The vaccine certificate requirement, first announced last week and effective Monday, will not be enforced as it is seen to deter tourists, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters. The decision to pull the rule was taken by the ministry’s health committee early on Monday, he said.

The vaccine rule was brought back as the country prepared for a wave of tourist arrivals from China following Beijing’s decision to reopen the country to the world and scrap quarantine for arrivals from Sunday. But the move drew protests from the local tourism industry, saying the new entry rules announced without much notice would affect travellers.

The waiver of the vaccine certificate will help avoid “inconvenience” to travellers as most Thais as well as tourists from China and other countries have been fully vaccinated and possess a certain degree of immunity against the virus, Anutin said.

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The minister said tourist arrivals to Thailand will continue to rise and power an economic recovery that’s been underway. The country expects 7 to 10 million Chinese travellers to arrive by air this year, Anutin said.

“If Thai people warmly welcome travellers while being cautious about their own health and safety, the economy will recover quickly after being hit hard by Covid during the past three years,” Anutin said. “Today we will accelerate the process of bringing back what we have lost.”

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy drew about 11.5 million foreign visitors last year, compared with 40 million before the pandemic in 2019 — when nearly a quarter were from China. The government has increased its target for foreign visitors to 25 million this year.

Still, Thailand will require travellers coming from nations which insist on negative RT-PCR test results for entry to have adequate health insurance to cover the cost of treatment in case of getting infected while visiting the country, Anutin said.

A group of 269 tourists arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport on Monday from Xiamen, the first direct flight to the Southeast Asian country after China reopened its borders.

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

India’s urban consumption likely to slow down as RBI may hike lending rate by 50 bps in April

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

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High urban demand after the COVID-19 reopening is one of the factors that has helped India tide over some rough weather. However, that might slow down, once the Reserve Bank of India raises its lending rates in the next policy in April.

According to the National Statistical Organisation (NSO) in the FY23 (current financial year) the real gross domestic product (GDP), the rate at which India will grow, will grow at 7 percent while nominal GDP will grow by 15.4 percent, due to a high inflation year.

While analysing this in an interview to with CNBC-TV18, Samiran Chakraborty, Chief Economist for India at Citi, expressed concern about a slowdown in urban consumption.

“The exceptional growth momentum in urban consumption has come off whereas rural is just about holding up steady. So, the urban and rural, they are now almost converging in terms of their growth momentum, and the investment growth momentum continues at a pretty decent clip,” he said.

Also Read | Nominal GDP growth the biggest driver for slowdown worries in Indian economy: HSBC

Meanwhile, Indranil Sengupta, Head-Research and Economist at CLSA India, also weighed in on the situation and stated that the mass segment is still seeing a cut in consumption.

Sengupta agreed that the economy is heading towards slower growth and added that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may be forced to act in response.

According to Sengupta, the RBI may choose to hike rates by 50 basis points in April and may even cut rates by 100 basis points in the next fiscal year.

“We do think the RBI will hike another 50 basis points by April and then maybe cut 100 basis points in the second half of next fiscal. So, a combination of slowing world growth and rising real lending rates at home, which is why we do think that growth will dip,” he said.

Overall, the outlook for the Indian economy is somewhat uncertain at this time, with experts divided on the best course of action. However, both urban consumption and the mass segment will be key factors to watch as the situation develops.

Also Read | India’s GDP may grow 7% in FY23: First advance estimates

For the entire discussion, watch the accompanying video

Also, catch all the live updates on markets with CNBC-TV18.com’s blog

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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

Golden Globes 2023: List of movies nominated for best screenplay

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

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The Golden Globes will be making its grand return with the 80th Golden Globes Award. In 2022, the 79th Golden Globes award was not broadcast live due to protests against its organiser, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). This year, the award ceremony is going to be broadcast at 6:30 AM, January 11, with Indian audiences able to catch it on Lionsgate Play. This year, the awards ceremony has nominated several of the year’s best and biggest movies for the category of Best Screenplay.

Todd Field has been nominated for the movie ‘Tar’. Written and directed by Field, ‘Tar’ is a psychological drama that stars Cate Blanchett as the fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tar. The movie has been praised by critics for its screenplay, direction, performances and narratives. Despite that, the movie failed to break even at the box office.

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Tony Kushner and legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg have also been nominated for the category for Spielberg’s coming-of-age drama ‘The Fabelmans’. Loosely inspired by Spielberg’s own life and story, the movie is dedicated to his late parents and chronicles the magic of movies.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, or the Daniels as they are called, have also been nominated for the science fantasy adventure ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’. Widely considered to be one of the best movies of the year, the duo also directed the movie which sees Michelle Yeoh star as a Chinese immigrant who has to contend with multiple realities and universes.

ALSO READ: Golden Globes 2023: A look at nominees for best TV actor/actress in various categories

‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ is written and directed by Martin McDonagh and has secured eight nominations for itself, including Best Screenplay. The dark Irish comedy is praised for its dialogue, authentic portrayal of Irish culture and hilarious plot.

Sarah Polley is another writer-director that has been nominated for her movie this year. Polly wrote and directed the drama ‘Women Talking’. The movie was adapted from the 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews and is inspired by real-life events.

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

Relief rally in Kotak Bank, large deal in Power Grid – Stocks that kept dealers busy on Monday

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

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Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank ended with gains of close to 2 percent on Monday after the lender saw three straight days of decline, in-line with the fall in the market.

Sources within the dealing rooms tell CNBC-TV18 that the stock is seeing a relief rally after its recent underperformance. Over the last month, the stock has declined close to 4 percent, compared to a 2.5 percent drop in the Nifty Bank index.

Dealers also indicated that a large block sale from a leading FII has been called off, which may also have triggered this relief rally.

Pullback From Lows

Benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50 ended with gains of a percent each to start the week on a positive note. The gains were led by technology names, following the rally on the Nasdaq on Friday. The Nifty IT index ended 3 percent higher.

Dealers also indicate that flows were mixed at the FII desk today with small ETF buying seen. Metals were the other gainers in today’s session on the China open-up trade and the US Dollar index cooling off.

The Nifty 50 index is stuck in a range of 17,800 and 18,300, according to dealers.

Besides Kotak Mahindra Bank, here are some other stocks that have been part of the dealing room chatter today:

Power Grid: Shares of the power company ended higher on Monday after a three-day fall. A large block of 2.4 crore shares exchanged hands in today’s trading session. Dealing rooms suggest that a leading long-only fund is likely to be the seller in this transaction.

Laurus Labs: Shares of the Pharma company are oscillating between gains and losses in alternate sessions from December 30. Before that, the stock had declined for six days in a row. The stock recently made a 52-week low of Rs 368.65. The stock gained today after a large trade in which 10 lakh shares exchanged hands. Dealers indicate that this may be a clean out trade from the seller.

Redington India: The stock ended with modest gains on Monday with dealing rooms telling CNBC-TV18 that there was some buying traction witnessed in the stock at a leading FII desk. The stock is trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 202.

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Apple’s iPhone exports from India double to record $2.5 billion

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

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Apple Inc. exported more than $2.5 billion of iPhones from India from April to December, nearly twice the previous fiscal year’s total, underscoring how the US tech giant is accelerating a shift from China with geopolitical tensions on the rise.

Foxconn Technology Group and Wistron Corp. have each shipped more than $1 billion of Apple’s marquee devices abroad in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 2023, people familiar with the matter said. Pegatron Corp., another major contract manufacturer for Apple, is on track to move about $500 million of the gadgets overseas by the end of January, the people said, asking not to be identified revealing private information.

Apple’s rapidly growing export numbers illustrate how it is ramping up operations outside of China, where chaos at Foxconn’s main plant in Zhengzhou exposed vulnerabilities in the Cupertino-headquartered company’s supply chain and forced it to trim output estimates. That compounded a broader problem with evaporating demand for electronics as consumers weigh the risks of a global recession.

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Apple, the world’s most valuable company, began assembling its latest iPhone models in India only last year, a significant break from its practice of reserving much of that for giant Chinese factories run by its main Taiwanese assemblers including Foxconn.

While India makes up just a fraction of iPhone output, rising exports bode well for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to make the country an alternative to China as a factory to the world.

China’s Covid Zero policies and an episode of violence at the Zhengzhou plant — nicknamed iPhone City as the world’s biggest production centre for the device — laid bare the dangers of relying on the country. While Beijing has since dropped that approach to containing the virus, Apple and other global names are exploring alternative locations more than ever before.

Also Read: Alibaba plans logistics hub at Istanbul airport, data center near Ankara

India’s vast workforce, Modi’s support and a thriving local market make it a prime candidate to take on more electronics manufacturing. Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, began building facilities in the country more than five years ago in anticipation of a need to extend its geographic range.

One recent selling point is a raft of new government incentives, a cornerstone of Modi’s drive to make India an electronics manufacturing hub. Foxconn has won $44 million of benefits in the first year of the so-called production-linked incentives scheme, while Wistron’s claims are currently being processed, the people said.

Representatives for Apple, Foxconn and Wistron didn’t respond to emails seeking comment. A Pegatron spokesperson declined to comment.

Also Read: Google to challenge India Android antitrust ruling at Supreme Court

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

India’s cost savings and market potential are among the benefits it offers to Apple’s iPhone supply chain. Its ample labour supply and low wages — at least 50 percent lower than in China — can be a strong draw for EMS players such as Hon Hai and Pegatron, given their thin margins and labour intensiveness. India’s Production-Linked Incentives (PLI) offer subsidies equivalent to four to six percent of production costs for five years once certain performance criteria are met.

– Steven Tseng, analyst

Apple’s contract manufacturers currently make iPhones at plants in southern India. But production in the country is just beginning. About three million of the devices were made in India in 2021, compared with 230 million in China, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates.

Foxconn began making the iPhone 14 in India a few months ago — sooner than anticipated — after a surprisingly smooth production rollout that slashed the lag between Chinese and Indian output from months to mere weeks. Apple’s three Taiwanese partners currently assemble iPhones 11 to 14 in India.

Also Read: Ant Group founder Jack Ma to give up control in key revamp

But moving out of China, where Apple has built a deep supply chain for close to two decades, isn’t easy. A Bloomberg Intelligence analysis estimated it would take about eight years to move just 10 percent of Apple’s production capacity out of China, where roughly 98 percent of the company’s iPhones are being made.

India tracks the production and exports of all smartphone makers who enjoy financial incentives as part of Modi’s push.

Beyond smartphones, the country is drawing up plans to boost financial incentives for tablet and laptop makers, hoping to woo Apple to make everything from earphones to MacBooks locally as well as attract other brands. The iPhone maker is also expected to open its first retail store in India in 2023, after meeting certain criteria imposed on foreign retailers.

Also Read: Apple likely to cancel release of fourth generation iPhone SE in 2024

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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

General insurance industry premium rises 13% in December — Here’s how key insurers fared

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

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The general insurance premium advanced by 13 percent year-on-year in December, according to the provisional data released by the General Insurance Council. The premium is 16 percent up  in FY23, the data said. Standalone health insurance companies in the month of December have grown their premium by 23 percent on a year-on-year basis, and 26 percent up to December on a year-on-year basis.

However, the month was not good for listed general insurance companies.

For ICICI Lombard, the premium has just grown by about 9 percent on a year-on-year basis. However, the premium is still up 21 percent on a year-on-year basis because of the past good performance.

For New India Assurance, the falling streak continues. This time also in the month of December the premium is down by about 2 percent on a year-on-year basis. So far up to the month of December, the premium has just grown by about 22 percent on a year-on-year basis.

For Start Health Insurance, the management told CNBC-TV18 that the company is shifting towards retail health insurance products and that shift is restricting the company’s growth. In December, the premium was just up about 16 percent on a year-on-year basis. The premium for Star health has grown by about 16 percent.

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

Re-KYC FAQ — What is it, process, documents required and other key questions answered

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

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently said that the periodic updation of Know Your Customer (KYC) is important. The same can be done in person at a bank branch or online using a video-based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) except in cases where there is a change of address.

This clarification from RBI came after several users complained that banks are telling them to do in-branch completion of their fresh KYC process despite the central bank allowing digital re-KYC.

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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

JSW Steel production improves on better utilisation, resumption of operations

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

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[wealthdesk shortname=”JSW Steel” isinid=”INE019A01038″ bseid=”500228″ nseid=”JSWSTEEL” sector=”Steel – Large” exchange=”nse”]

JSW Steel on Monday announced that its group combined crude steel production rose by 17 percent to 6.24 million tonnes in the December quarter compared to the year-ago period.

The production volume of JSW Steel’s Indian operations increased by 20 percent to 6.06 million tonnes in the December quarter compared to 5.05 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter.

On a quarterly basis, the production volume rose by 9 percent compared to 5.57 million tonnes in the September quarter.

The production volume was higher sequentially primarily due to improved average capacity utilisation to 91 percent as against 84 percent in the same period a year ago at JSW Steel and BPSL.

Also, restarting of steel-making operations at JISPL with effect from November 14, 2022, post-completion of the shutdown undertaken in July 2022 contributed to the growth.

The output of its jointly controlled entities, Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. (BPSL) and JSW lspat Special Products Ltd. (JISPL), however, declined by 30 percent year-on-year to 0.10 million tonnes in the December quarter from 0.14 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter. On a quarterly basis, the output soared more than threefold from 0.03 million tonnes in the September quarter.

The output of JSW Steel USA Ohio dropped 49 percent Y-o-Y to 0.08 million tonnes in the December quarter from 0.16 million tonnes in the same period a year ago.

The output of JSW Steel and its jointly controlled entities was higher by 15 percent Y-o-Y at 17.80 million tonnes in the first nine months of the current financial year as against 15.49 million tonnes in the same period a year ago.

JSW Steel is the flagship business of the diversified USD 22 billion JSW Group. JSW Group also has interests in energy, infrastructure, cement, paints, sports, and venture capital.

Shares of JSW Steel are trading higher by 2.09 percent at Rs 743.55.

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Karnataka elections 2023: Congress leader Siddaramaiah says he will contest from Kolar, but…

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

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Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah announced on Monday he will contest from Kolar constituency in the upcoming state assembly elections. He, however, added that the final decision is in the hands of the high command. “This is subject to approval of the high command,” the Congress leader said this while speaking at a rally in Kolar. Currently, he is representing Badami in Bagalakote district.

The Karnataka Assembly elections 2023 are likely to be held in April-May.

Siddaramaiah recently stroked a controversy by calling Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai a puppy before Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He had said: “CM Bommai and others (Karnataka BJP leaders) are like puppies in front of PM Modi. You all shiver in front of him.” Bommai had then hit back, saying, Siddaramaiah’s statement mirrors his personality.

Now, A book titled ‘Siddaramaiah’s Real Dreams’ has sparked a political debate, with the Congress ban of the “BJP-backed book”, News 18 reported.

#BreakingNews | #Karnataka: The book ‘Siddaramaiah’s Real Dreams’ triggers controversy; Congress orders for ban on the BJP-backed book@reethu_journo shares details with @GrihaAtul | #Congress #BJP #Siddaramaiah #TipuSultan pic.twitter.com/FTlFVhKobz

— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 9, 2023

The 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly is currently under the control of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The BJP holds 120 seats while the largest opposition Congress has 72 seats. The other major party is the Janata Dal (Secular) with 30 seats. The BJP received 36.2 percent of the vote share compared to the runner-up Congress’s 38 percent in the 2018 election.

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

Jet Airways public shareholding to reduce to 0.2% after takeover | Exclusive

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

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Public shareholders of Jet Airways are staring at a wipe-out in their share value as their stake in the company would decline to 0.2 percent after the Jalan Kalrock Consortium takes over the airline. According to the resolution plan document accessed by CNBC-TV18, the Jalan Kalrock Consortium has proposed to reconstitute public shareholding from 25 percent to 0.21 percent, resulting in an almost complete wipe-out of the present market value of holdings of public shareholders.

Public shareholders currently own around 23 percent of the over Rs 800 crore market cap company. The plan also proposes that the resolution applicant will restore public shareholding to 10 percent within 18 months and to 25 percent within three years.

According to the Jalan Kalrock Consortium’s shareholding pattern proposal, after it takes over the airline, shares adding to 89.7 percent of equity would be issued to the new promoters, and equity of 9.5 percent would be issued to assenting financial creditors after the conversion of debt.

Meanwhile, lenders have taken a 95 percent cut in the resolution plan and in return they had settled at a share in equity, employees and workmen would get 0.5 percent equity after the takeover.

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The revival plan of Jet Airways, which was granted the Air Operator Certificate to start commercial flight operation in May, has been hitting roadblocks in the last few months.

Last week, sources told CNBC-TV18 that Jet Airways’ erstwhile Resolution Professional and Head of Monitoring Committee Ashish Chhawchharia sent a notice to Sanjiv Kapoor objecting to his designation as CEO of Jet Airways.

In the notice, the Monitoring Committee asked Kapoor not to make any statements on behalf of Jet Airways and added the sources as his statements can be misleading and can cause confusion in the minds of stakeholders

Later, Jalan-Kalrock issued a statement saying Sanjiv Kapoor would remain the CEO-designate of the company till the airline’s ownership is transferred to the consortium by the lenders.

At the end of last month, sources told CNBC-TV18 that few senior management, cabin crew, and pilots had exited the airline amid its relaunch uncertainty. The senior executives who exited the airline included heads of engineering and human resources. Latest addition to the exits is the head of communications who resigned last week.

Earlier last month, the JKC moved the NCLT to seek a transfer of ownership of the airline, the matter will be heard by the court this week

In November, the Jet Airways Cabin Crew Association (JACCA) moved the NCLAT seeking liquidation of Jet Airways’ assets after the consortium defaulted on payments committed in the Resolution Plan.

The news of the pay cuts and leaves without pay came in November as the JKC, which won the bid to resurrect the airline, was forced to take drastic cost-cutting measures. These included pay cuts and Leave Without Pay for many of the 230 employees.

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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