Month: March 2021

Adani Enterprises incorporates 2 wholly-owned subsidiaries

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

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Adani Enterprises on Wednesday said it has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Vizag Tech Park Ltd (VTPL), with an authorised share capital of Rs 5 lakh, to develop a data centre and business park.

“VTPL is incorporated with the object to develop and establish an ‘integrated data centre park and technology/business park’,” the company said in a filing to the BSE.

Vizag Tech Park is yet to commence its business operations, it said. In another filing, the company said it has also incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Koddad Khammam Road Pvt Ltd, to carry out development and maintenance of a road project in Telangana.

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

WTO revises upwards trade growth forecast for 2021 to 8%

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

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Geneva-based World Trade Organization on Wednesday revised upwards the growth forecast of global merchandise trade in 2021 to 8 per cent after recording a fall of 5.3 per cent last year, amid COVID-19 pandemic.

It said that prospects for a quick recovery in world trade have improved as merchandise trade expanded more rapidly than expected in the second half of last year.

“According to new estimates from the WTO, the volume of world merchandise trade is expected to increase by 8 per cent in 2021 after having fallen 5.3 per cent in 2020, continuing its rebound from the pandemic-induced collapse that bottomed out in the second quarter of last year,” it said in a statement. It added that trade growth should then slow to 4 per cent in 2022, and the effects of the pandemic will continue to be felt as this pace of expansion would still leave trade below its pre-pandemic trend.

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, “Keeping international markets open will be essential for economies to recover from this crisis and a rapid, global and equitable vaccine roll-out is a prerequisite for the strong and sustained recovery we all need.” In October 2020, the WTO has estimated that the global merchandise trade would record a growth of 7.2 per cent.

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

Tamil Nadu extends COVID-19 lockdown till April 30

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

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The Tamil Nadu government has extended the COVID-19-enforced lockdown till April 30 with existing relaxations and restrictions, and will effectively implement the test-track-treat protocol to contain the spread of the virus, according to an order issued by Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan.

According to the order, there was a need to ensure that the RT-PCR tests conducted were uniformly distributed across all districts with adequate testing to be done in districts reporting high number of infections.

On tracking new cases, Ranjan said the new infections detected due to intensive testing need to be isolated and their contacts have to be traced at the earliest and quarantined. Containment zones have to be “demarcated” and prescribed containment measures should be implemented within such zones, he said.

“Effective demarcation of containment zones in vulnerable and high incidence areas is key to break the chain of transmission and controlling the spread of the virus. The containment zones shall be carefully demarcated by the district authorities…,” he said. On treatment protocol, he said there should be quick isolation of COVID-19 patients in care facilities or at home and clinical interventions shall be administered.

“Effective infection prevention and control practices shall be followed in treatment facilities and by healthcare workers and professionals,” he said. The district administration should take all necessary measures to promote COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and strict adherence to wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing, he said.

The district collectors shall strictly enforce the COVID-19 guidelines and for the enforcement of social distancing, the district administrations, as far as possible, use the provisions of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). “Based on the assessment of the situation, local restrictions at district/sub-district and city/ward level with a view to contain the spread of COVID-19 shall be imposed,” he said.

Any person violating these measures would be liable to be proceeded against under the Disaster Management Act, besides legal action under the Indian Penal Code and other legal provisions as applicable, he said. On the vaccination drive, he said inoculation against COVID-19 in the present scenario was critical to break the chain of transmission.

Therefore, the district administration shall rapidly step up the pace of vaccination to cover all priority groups, as recommended by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 and approved by the Centre, in an expeditious manner, he 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

Railways’ freight services record 3% jump in revenue at the end of 2020-21 fiscal

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

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The railways’ freight services registered a growth of 2 per cent in loading and a 3 per cent jump in revenue at the end of the financial year 2020-21 over the last fiscal, even though coronavirus-induced lockdown and other restrictions crippled its passenger sector, the national transporter said on Wednesday.

For the month of March, freight loading has seen a 24 per cent increase as compared to March in the last fiscal. While in March 2019-2020, the loading stood at 98.76 MT, in the current fiscal, it stood at 122.19 MT during the same month.

The freight loading for the year ending March 31 stood at 1,224.45 MT, while in the last fiscal, the railways loaded 1,205.04 MT of goods. Similarly, the railways earned revenue of Rs 12,137.22 crore in March 2020-21, which is a 24 per cent jump from the revenue earned during the last fiscal at Rs 9,806.09 crore.

While in the current fiscal, the national transporter earned Rs 1,16,634.9 crore, it earned Rs 1,13,477.9 crore in the last financial year. The railways has offered many concessions/discounts to make the movement of goods attractive. Constant dialogues with industry and logistics service providers, strong emergence of the Business Development Units (BDUs) and high speed of such trains have added to the robust fightback of the national transporter amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The freight movement, during the lockdown, has also earned the railways immense goodwill as it introduced parcel services, carrying essentials like milk, medicines and even ventilators.

The idea was if the railways cannot move passengers freely, it can move freight instead. Applauds galore were received from across the country, that is , from mothers who received medicines for their ailing children, some who received specialised products like camel milk, among others, thanked the railways through social media posts.

Keeping in mind the increasing requirement of freight locomotives in the future, the railways had in January instructed the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) to upgrade 200 of the existing 6,000 HP freight locomotives to 9,000 HP locomotives. Since then, CLW has turned out three such locos, two of which have been commissioned after successful trials. However, it is not just in loading that the freight segment has benefited amid the coronavirus crisis. The average speed of goods trains have doubled from the previous 23.71 kmph to around 45.36 kmph, the railways added.

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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

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G launched in India; see price, specs and other details here

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

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South Korean tech giant Samsung launched the 5G variant of its Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) smartphone, which is priced at Rs 47,999 in India. The device features a 6.5-inch fullHD+ Infinity-O display of 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch response rate.

It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 system-on-chip (SoC) that is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. On the battery front, the device is supported by a 4,500 mAh battery along with a 25W fast wired charger.

The phone comes with a triple camera set-up on the back that includes a 12MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor and an 8MP telephoto lens. On the front, the phone has a 32MP camera for selfies, videos and face unlock mechanism.

The rear cameras support up to 30x digital zoom through its telephoto lens. The smartphone features large image sensors including AI multi-frame processing.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G will be available in Cloud Lavender, Cloud Mint, and Cloud Navy colour options.

The device has not been listed for sale so far, but reports suggest that the South Korean said it will be available for purchase on Amazon, the Samsung India online store and the company’s offline stores starting from March 31.

— With inputs from agencies

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

Govt infuses Rs 14,500 crore capital into four public sector banks

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

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The government has infused Rs 14,500 crore, mainly into banks that are under the RBI’s prompt corrective action framework to improve their financial health.

Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and UCO Bank are currently under this framework that puts several restrictions on them, including on lending, management compensation and directors’ fees.

Of the total infusion, Rs 11,500 crore has gone to these three banks while the remaining Rs 3,000 crore has been infused into Bank of India.

According to a government notification, Rs 4,800 crore has been provided to Central Bank of India, Rs 4,100 crore to Indian Overseas Bank and Kolkata-based UCO Bank has got Rs 2,600 crore.

The capital infusion will help these banks to come out of the Reserve Bank of India’s prompt corrective action framework. The fund infusion has been done through non-interest bearing recapitalisation bonds with maturity varying between March 31, 2031 and March 31, 2036.

The investment in the special securities by public sector banks would not be considered as an eligible investment which is required to made in government securities in pursuance of any statutory provisions or directions applicable to the investing bank, it said.

Most of the large state-owned lenders — including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank — have already raised money from various market sources, including share sale on a private placement basis.

For the current financial year, the government had allocated Rs 20,000 crore for capital infusion into the public sector banks for meeting regulatory requirements. Punjab & Sind Bank was given Rs 5,500 crore in November last year.

Separately, Central Bank of India and Bank of India informed stock exchanges about the fund infusion by the government.

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

Pune reports 8,605 new COVID-19 cases, highest single-day rise

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

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Pune district in Maharashtra reported 8,605 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, its biggest one-day surge in the number of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, a health official said. It pushed this western Maharashtra district’s overall tally to 5,34,411, he said.

With the death of 56 patients in the last 24 hours, the fatality count reached 9,974. “Of these new cases, 4,458 were from the areas located within the PuneMunicipal Corporation (PMC) limits, where the caseload has reached 2,69,343,” the official said.

A total of 3,374 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, he added. With 2,288 cases, the neighbouring industrial township of Pimpri Chinchwad has so far reported 1,40,138 cases.

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

Mamata vs Suvendu: Who will Nandigram vote for in phase II of West Bengal polls

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

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It all began with the former mentee challenging his previous mentor and culminated in what’s being called the mother of all battle with the commander-turned-contender accepting the dare. Now it’s an all-out war between Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari in the epicentre Nandigram. In the second phase of the West Bengal elections, a total of 30 assembly seats are going to the polls on 1 April, but East Medinipur district’s Nandigram constituency has hogged the headlines.

It looks like the wheel has turned full circle with the TMC chief once again taking the Nandigram route to lay her claim to the seat of power, after the hotbed of the 2007 farmer agitation, along with Singur, precipitated Mamata Banerjee rise to the throne in 2011.

The only difference is that, in the past, she did not have to take up the cudgels herself fighting from the Nandigram seat. Last time, once-her-lieutenant-now-opponent Suvendu Adhikari contested and won the constituency, and in the 2011 elections, TMC candidate Firoja Bibi – also called the ‘Mother of Martyr’ due to the death of her son in the 2007 Nandigram violence – registered a victory from there. All the while, Mamata Banerjee had been securing her success from the safe seat of Bhowanipore in South Kolkata.

Perhaps the West Bengal Chief Minister took the bait because she needed to redeem her domination, both in the party and the state, after the massive exodus of the TMC leaders. In his constant provocations after joining the BJP, Suvendu Adhikari, not only questioned her supremacy but also tried to appropriate her Nandigram feat. Persistently cornered by the BJP on corruption, nepotism, cut money and tolabaji, Mamata Banerjee decided to put her best foot forward to reclaim her authority combating from a place of the opposition’s choosing.

The elections in West Bengal are divided into eight phases but all eyes are on the second phase battle of Nandigram which will determine the future of Mamata Banerjee. No one left anything for chance. While the Chief Minister spent the last three days of campaigning crisscrossing the constituency, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a massive roadshow for BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari before the campaigning for the second phase drew to a close on Tuesday.

Interestingly, the bitter war of words between the two main political forces in Nandigram began with “Bengal’s daughter” vs “son of the soil” and ended with an exchange of “Mir Jafar” and “Begum” barbs. While Mamata Banerjee named her former aide Adhikari a “Mir Jafar” for ‘betraying’ her, he lambasted her for the ‘appeasement of minority communities’ labelling her a “Begum” who wishes people on Holi with ‘Holi Mubarak’.

To counter the BJP charges and woo the Hindu voters, Mamata Banerjee, in the last lap of campaigning, played just another soft Hindutva card by declaring her gotra. Earlier, she had recited ‘Chandi Path’ and resorted to the temple run to stop the BJP from eating into the TMC Hindu base.

With the soft and aggressive Hindutva playing out, the Nandigram fight appears to have become polarised. If we look at the religious demography of the area, according to the 2011 census, Nandigram has around 73 per cent Hindu and 27 per cent Muslim populations. The BJP aims at consolidating the Hindu votes, while the TMC wants to retain its sway in the area.

In the last assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari, as a TMC candidate, received 67% votes. Three years later, in the 2019 parliamentary elections, the BJP gained over 30% votes in the region but failed to win. Nandigram falls in the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency. The TMC lost over 3 per cent votes but won the seat. In the end, the loss of CPI(M) turned out to be the gain of the BJP in the area.

This time, only the results (on May 2) will reveal if Suvendu Adhikari could shift his support base to the BJP account. He is believed to be the architect of the TMC vote bank in the region. Adhikari is the man who spearheaded the farmer protest in Nandigram. When the agitation started in 2007, Suvendu Adhikari was a TMC MLA from the Kanthi Dakshin assembly seat. He went on to win the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the Tamluk constituency before returning to the West Bengal assembly in 2016 clinching the Nandigram seat.

Amid the trade of allegations during the high-voltage campaigning, Mamata Banerjee accused Adhikari of being responsible for the police firing on the agitating farmers in Nandigram in 2007. She also kept repeating in the rallies that it was Adhikari who did not let her visit Nandigram or Medinipur to meet the people earlier. But the voters understand that an MLA can’t stop a CM from visiting an area.

The purported phone conversation between Mamata Banerjee and former TMC leader Pralay Pal betrayed her nervousness when she was heard seeking his help to win Nandigram. When the controversy erupted, the Chief Minister admitted that she made that call to ask about his health.

While Mamata Banerjee’s candidature has turned the spotlight on Nandigram, a total of 171 candidates in the constituencies across four districts of West Bengal are in the fray in the second phase of elections. Nine assembly seats each are up for grabs in East and West Medinipur districts, while eight constituencies in Bankura and four in South 24 Parganas will exercise their franchise on Thursday.

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

3 more Rafale jets leave for India from France

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

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Three more Rafale fighter jets on Wednesday took off from France for a non-stop flight to India, the Indian embassy in France said. The jets are being provided mid-air refuelling by aircraft from the United Arab Emirates, it said.

“Another batch of #Rafale take to the skies on non stop flight to India with mid air refueling by UAE. Indian Air power grows further!” the embassy tweeted. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

The formal induction ceremony of the fleet had taken place at Ambala on September 10 last. A second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3 while a third batch of another three jets joined the IAF on January 27.

The first Rafale squadron is based in Ambala air force station. The Indian Air Force is set to raise the second squadron of the Rafale combat jets in mid-April and it will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal, according to military officials.

India is expected to get more Rafale jets from France in the next few months. The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 year after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

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

NIIT’s Rs 237 crore buyback offer to open on April 12

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

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Skills and talent development firm NIIT Ltd on Wednesday said its up to Rs 237 crore buyback offer will open on April 12.

“…the company, has received final observations from the Securities and Exchange Board of India on the Draft Letter of Offer dated February 24, 2021, vide its letter dated March 30, 2021…In accordance with the SEBI (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 2018, the company will dispatch the Letter of Offer for the buyback to eligible shareholders, appearing on the record date of February 24, 2021, on or before April 5, 2021,” a regulatory filing said.

It added that the buyback opening date is April 12, 2021 and the closing date has been set for April 28, 2021.

On December 24, 2020, NIIT Ltd’s Board of Directors had approved a proposal for buyback of up to 9,875,000 equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 237 crore. The buyback price has been fixed at Rs 240 apiece.

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