Author: Nazim Khan

International Women’s Day: Twitter names CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan among five inspiring women

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

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Twitter has been at the epicenter of powerful public conversations, and women’s movements have been a part of that. For instance, in the first few months of 2020 there was an 87% growth in conversations in India to do with women’s day and women’s empowerment when compared to the same months in 2019 (Jan 1 – Feb 25).

Globally, there have been 125 million Tweets about feminism and equality over the past three years. Conversations are closely tied to International Women’s Day, as Twitter has seen a spike in Tweet volume over the past three years on and immediately surrounding March 8th. To celebrate the day this year, Twitter has launched a special emoji that is activated with the hashtags #EveryWoman and #प्रत्येकमहिला.

Maya Hari (@maya_hari), Vice President, Asia Pacific at Twitter said, “At Twitter, we see incredibly vibrant and diverse voices on our platform, from those engaging in joyful everyday conversations, to strong women who raise awareness about issues that matter. Through #EveryWoman, we want to highlight every shade and every kind of Indian woman, and honour those who are transforming how we are perceived in the workplace and beyond.”

#EveryWoman Champions by Twitter India:

Honouring #EveryWoman’s voice on the platform, Twitter India is celebrating these five inspiring women:

1) #VoiceOfChange: Chinmayi Sripaada @Chinmayi

Tamil playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada is a #VoiceOfChange on Twitter. She uses this voice to talk about harassment in the entertainment industry, while bringing to the fore stories of women from across India.

“Twitter is the mic that marginalised sections of society never had before. The platform has given the ability to women to use their words, advocate for themselves and speak up about the issues that are important to them. I feel glad to be recognised as a #VoiceOfChange by the platform, as it means I am using my voice well, to influence positive change and encouraging other women to voice their thoughts and perspectives too.” – Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi)

Here’s a video of Chinmayi Sripaada talking about being a part of the second wave of the #MeTooIndia movement and using Twitter as platform to raise her voice:

The #VoiceOfChange: @Chinmayi uses her voice for more than beautiful music. She Tweets for #EveryWomanpic.twitter.com/bUIOZJTF4L

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) March 6, 2020

2) #RecordBreaker: Dutee Chand @DuteeChand

Dutee Chand, India’s fastest woman clocking 100 metres in 11:24, is a #RecordBreaker both on and off the track. As the first Indian sportsperson to be open about being part of the LGBTQ+ community, she isn’t afraid of unchartered waters, using her Twitter handle to address gender bias in sports. Her most Retweeted Tweet of last year was when she claimed her Summer Olympic trophy telling the world ‘Pull me down, I will come back stronger!’

“My well-wishers in India and across the world have given me the motivation and strength over the years to be unapologetically who I am. It gives me happiness to be able to connect with my fans and friends, and let them know exactly how hard I have been working. I hope more Indian women use Twitter to speak up for themselves and get support from people and authorities across India.” – Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand)

Here’s Dutee Chand talking about her resilience to fight, stand up to the society and using Twitter to connect with her fans across the country:

The #RecordBreaker: @DuteeChand Tweets boldly about the challenges of being an elite athlete. She Tweets for #EveryWoman. pic.twitter.com/mYDOTSbEWP

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) March 6, 2020

3) #Catalyst: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw @kiranshaw

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, a first-generation entrepreneur and scientist is globally lauded for her work in the biopharmaceuticals industry. She shattered gender stereotypes in the workplace by becoming a successful entrepreneur. Now, she uses Twitter to support women across STEM and create awareness about issues in and around Bengaluru where she lives.

Here’s a video of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw talking about breaking gender barriers in the corporate world and the myths around women entrepreneurs. She says, “It’s a myth to think that women are not bold enough to run daring businesses. It’s myths that I think all of us have busted over time.”

The #Catalyst: @KiranShaw Tweets for women in science and women in the workplace. She Tweets for #EveryWoman pic.twitter.com/dg4Wc7uqB0

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) March 6, 2020

4) #TwitterTurk: Shereen Bhan @ShereenBhan

Shereen Bhan, a journalist, news anchor and Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18 uses Twitter to break a range of news, many of these stories have redefined the Indian economic landscape in recent times.

Check out this video of Shereen Bhan talking about her journey and advice to aspiring journalists. She says, “For me Twitter is about making connections for information and with people. It’s a great way to be able to tell your story and to reach out to people whom you may otherwise not be able to reach out to through the channel.”

The #TwitterTurk: From big scoops to interviewing Young Turks, @ShereenBhan keeps us plugged in to the fast-paced world of business news. She Tweets for #EveryWoman pic.twitter.com/k4SQobRRYN

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) March 6, 2020

5) #TwitterDiplomat: Late Sushma Swaraj @SushmaSwaraj

An illustrious leader and India’s former Minister of External Affairs, Late Sushma Swaraj had mastered Twitter. She was committed to public service, and used Twitter to promptly help those who directly reached out to her.

This video of Bansuri Swaraj pays tribute to her mother Late Sushma Swaraj. Bansuri speaks about her active contribution to public service through Twitter. She says, “Twitter has ensured that the government of the day across countries has now become more accountable and there’s a lot of power to the people to put their point of view across to their leaders directly.”

TwitterDiplomat: Late @SushmaSwaraj was a fierce advocate for using Twitter for governance, connecting with Indians across the world. She Tweeted for #EveryWoman pic.twitter.com/t0p6NKvKYd

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) March 6, 2020

Speaking about the initiative as well as conversations by women on the platform, Manish Maheshwari (@manishm345), Managing Director – Twitter India said, “Twitter is committed to powering positive change by fostering healthy conversations, sharing stories that inspire, and highlighting individuals who create real impact through Twitter. As a company committed to ensuring inclusivity and diversity, #IWD2020 is particularly special to us. In fact, Indians are the second largest group to follow @TwitterWomen after Americans. It is our honour to acknowledge these incredible Indian voices who make conversations on Twitter interesting and vibrant, inspiring #EveryWoman while at it.”

Transforming discourse on women-related conversations

From 2017 till now, #MeToo/#MeTooIndia, #SareeTwitter, #GirlsWhoDrinkBeer, #LahuKaLagaan and #JhumkaTwitter emerged as top women conversations and movements on the platform – showcasing a strong representation of celebrations and movements on the platform.

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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

SBI, LIC to pick up 24.5% stake each in Yes Bank in govt-approved bailout

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

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State Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation of India are likely to pick up 24.5 percent stake each in Yes Bank, CNBC-TV18 has learned, in a government- and RBI-approved bailout of the beleaguered private-sector lender.

The SBI-LIC consortium would likely appoint a new managing director and get board control of the bank.

The move may have been necessitated by the government and central bank’s lack of confidence in whether Yes Bank will manage to attract external investors on its own before its self-imposed March 14 deadline.

On January 20, SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar had said that “I have a feeling that it (Yes Bank) will not be allowed to fail”.

The price at which SBI and LIC will pick up stake in Yes Bank is not known, even though ET Now reported earlier today that the state-run companies will pay Rs 2 per share.

Yes Bank shares jumped 25.7 percent today after a Bloomberg report in the morning said SBI will pick up stake in the bank. The report did not mention a price even though details that have trickled out since could likely throw cold water on optimism over the stock.

“The price at which SBI and LIC will buy stake is immaterial,” Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, DH Consultants, told CNBC-TV18 in reaction to the newsbreak. “[What matters is] Yes Bank is a systemically important institution and a rescue of this kind will be good for depositors and the stability of the financial system.”

Yes Bank, once a highly-valued private-sector lender, has been facing an existential threat after the RBI uncovered hidden non-performing assets (NPAs) on its books.

This led the RBI to ask its previous management, led by co-founder Rana Kapoor, to step down. A new management led by former Deutsche Bank executive Ravneet Gill has worked towards getting fresh investors into the bank but without much success so far.

Earlier today, Macquarie and JP Morgan both said SBI need not pay more than Re 1 to bail out Yes Bank, with Macquarie pointing out that the lender’s net worth may be zero, after cancelling out estimated bad loans. JP Morgan dubbed any bailout that could take place to be one aimed at saving the bank’s depositors rather than its equity investors.

Any bailout by SBI and LIC will likely have to jump through several hoops, including SEBI’s exemption for an open offer, and LIC having to procure approval for IRDAI. (LIC has already picked up majority stake in another stressed lender: IDBI Bank.)

But with the bank’s future hanging in the balance, the government will have to work overtime to facilitate the takeover.

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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

Coronavirus impact: India restricts exports of several APIs

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

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India has restricted the exports of several active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which are biological components that make up a medicine.

The ingredients whose exports have been restricted include painkillers such as paracetamols, antibiotics such as erythromycin, besides hormone drugs and vitamins.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) also restricted exports of combination drugs that contain these APIs.

The restriction comes in the wake of a global supply chain disruption caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavarus named Covid 19 in China.

China is the world’s leading manufacturer of APIs. India imports 70 percent of its APIs from China.

Restrictions on following APIs and formulations made from them:

• Paracetamol (pain drug)
• Tinidazole (antibiotic)
• Metronidazole (antibiotic)
• Chloramphenicol (antibiotic)
• Erythromycin Salts (antibiotic)
• Neomycin (antibiotic)
• Clindamycin Salts (antibiotic)
• Ornidazole (antibiotic Acyclovir (anti-viral)
• Vitamin B1, B6, B12
• Progesterone (female hormone)

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

SBI Cards IPO: Twitter thread advising caution goes viral

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

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A Twitter post advising caution on the SBI Cards IPO has gone viral, eliciting reactions ranging from agreement to scepticism.

Written by Anurag Singh, who calls himself a value investor and runs a financial advisory firm called AdviceMyMoney, the thread says that the SBI Cards issue is expensive and has likely been primed for an IPO through a high-growth but potentially risky strategy.

SBI Cards IPO: long thread on valuation disasters in Indian markets & how these rip off the retail investors: Basic stats first:
13 crore shares offered out of total of 93 crore stocks. 14% float at Rs 750 per share is valuation of Rs 70 thousand crore to SBI Cards. #sbicards

— Anurag Singh (@anuragsingh_as) March 2, 2020

The tweet thread has been liked over 1,600 times.

Singh looked at the trailing price-to-earnings ratio for the issue, and said that given a valuation of Rs 70,000 crore at the IPO price, the stock looks steeply valued at 80 times FY19 earnings of Rs 862 crore.

The analysis of a stock only through the prism of the PE ratio could be tricky, especially if it’s a high-growth stock. For instance, SBI Cards’ profit has grown from Rs 373 crore in FY17 to Rs 863 crore in FY19. In fact, the company has already clocked a profit of Rs 1,161 crore in the first nine months of FY20. Annualising this figure at this year’s quarterly average pegs FY20’s profit at Rs 1,548 crore, which brings down the PE ratio to 45 times, a fact pointed by some on Twitter.

But Singh pointed out that the profit growth may have come through an expansion strategy by SBI Cards.

For instance, he underlined that the credit card base de-grew after the 2008 financial crisis, as banks realised the costs of pushing credit cards aggressively – between 2007-08 and 2014-15, the number of credit cards active in India fell from 27.5 million to 21.1 million.

It must be noted, however, that the credit card base has expanded since, rising sharply to 48.9 million in FY19.

Who has led this growth? SBI Cards.

As the thread points out, the company issued the most number of new credit cards in nearly each of the one-, three-, six-, 12-, 24- and 36-month periods preceding July 2019. In the one-month period between June 2019 and July 2019, SBI Cards issued about 45 percent of all new cards issued.

Why does this happen ? Well because someone wants to issue cards at much faster pace vs the competition. Other banks don’t care as they want profitable growth with stable rates. But SBI cards wants a profitable exit, not sustainable growth. So, we get this. pic.twitter.com/r2a3dgeKVh

— Anurag Singh (@anuragsingh_as) March 2, 2020

In fact, much of the high-growth push at SBI Cards has taken place over the two years between FY17 and FY19.

Singh also points out that SBI Cards’ push have resulted in the company chasing lower-spending customers. For instance, with only a 6 percent market share, Citi customers spend 13 percent of all credit card spends. SBI Cards, with its 18 percent card share, commands only a 16 percent share in spends.

Another data point that could warrant caution is that SBI Cards’ employee benefit costs have quadrupled in the two years between FY17 and FY19. During the same period, increasingly, the company’s new customers have come through SBI’s traditional banking channel (35.2 percent vs 55.2 percent) – a base that may not include a lot of high spenders.

Singh’s overall note of caution was met with generally resonating views.

Analyst Deepak Shenoy wrote that while he did not agree with some of the points made, the clear risks to the issue were that “rapid growth could lead to rapid NPAs, valuation is very rich, and that recent growth could be dressed up”.

Others pointed that the SBI Cards, thanks to its SBI’s huge banking network, still has a vast untapped base of customers. Besides, advances in data analytics techniques mean companies can now scour through vast amounts of data to take better decisions, as one user pointed out.

Brokerages have generally had a positive opinion on the SBI Cards IPO on the back strong growth prospects and a visible franchise, with some saying that investors are at least assured of listing gains.

Still, the issue comes in the backdrop of intense broader market volatility globally, triggered by the economic impact of the coronavirus.

The SBI Cards IPO issue opened on March 2 and will remain open till March 4 (March 5 for retail investors). The paper has been subscribed 51 percent, as of the latest data, indicating strong but lower-than-expected appetite.

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

Coronavirus: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan asks Indians to avoid non-essential travel to these countries

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

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Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has asked Indian residents to avoid non-essential travel to China, Iran, South Korea, Singapore and Italy, after it emerged that the country had been hit by two fresh cases of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

The health minister said at a press meet that two positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in Delhi and Telangana.

The person in Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the patient from Telangana has a travel history from Dubai.

“Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms. They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored,” Harsh Vardhan said.

Overall, five confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country so far, while reports of another 23 suspected patients is being awaited.

India is monitoring travellers across 21 airports, 12 major seaports, 65 minor seaports and a total of 5.69 lakh passengers have been screened so far, Harsh Vardhan added.

He stressed that Indian residents should avoid non-essential travel to worst-hit countries like China, Iran, South Korea, Singapore and Italy. He pointed out that travel restrictions can be imposed on more countries in case of adverse developments.

The Government of India is in conversation with authorities in Iran and Italy to evacuate Indian citizens, he said.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in China, wherein the death toll has reached close to 3,000 with about 80,000 confirmed cases.

The virus, which could become a global pandemic, has taken a toll on the global economy and financial markets. The primary reason of its impact has been attributed to the disruption of China’s export and subsequently consumer demand.

In India, the benchmark Nifty closed 69 points lower, after the government announced that two fresh cases had come to light.

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