Here’s why realty stocks are buzzing in trade

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

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A whole host of real estate stocks like Godrej Properties, Oberoi Realty and Brigade Enterprises were buzzing in trade today.

All of these companies reported strong Q4FY21 numbers. Godrej Properties reported best-ever quarter in terms of bookings and sales volumes went up by 16 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. Given the launch pipeline and strong balancesheet, the management expects strong bookings in FY22 as well.

Similar is the story with Oberoi Realty – for FY21 the company recorded sales of Rs 3,280 crore. Strengthening residential cycle and good project pipeline is keeping the management confident that the same performance will continue in FY22.

According to the management, a strong pipeline on ongoing and upcoming projects and favourable market conditions will maintain the momentum going for Brigade Enterprises.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Sonal Bhutra for more details.

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

Cyclone Tauktae: Rescued workmen from barge recall horror at sea

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

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Battling tidal waves as high as 10 metres and strong winds while trying to stay afloat in the cyclone-hit rough Arabian Sea for almost 12 hours, workmen rescued from a sinking barge near here narrated their horrifying experience in their quest for survival. Some of them said they had almost lost the hope of making it alive back home.

The warship INS Kochi arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday with 125 workmen rescued from barge P305, an accommodation barge that sank amid the cyclone Tauktae fury. Of the 273 people on the ill-fated barge, 184 have been rescued so far by the Indian Navy.

”It was a horrific situation on the barge. I had not thought I would survive. But, I swam in the waters for seven to eight hours with the determination to stay alive and was rescued by the Navy,” workman Manoj Gite told reporters here. Gite (19), a resident of Kolhapur, said as the barge started sinking, all workmen got worried and he along with others wore a life jacket and jumped into the waters.

The workman, who had joined as a helper on the barge only last month, said he lost all his documents and mobile phone in the cyclonic storm. Asked if he would return to the rig again, Gite said he is not keen to go back and is contented to be alive after the nightmarish experience.

Another workman, who was injured in the incident, thanked the Indian Navy for saving his life. ”It is because of the Navy that we all are alive and safe today, otherwise we don’t know what would have happened to us,” the workman said while fighting back his tears.

One of the officials on the barge had claimed the cyclone was ”not huge”, another workman said. ”The official is now missing. We tried to search for him, but in vain,” he said.

Another rescued workman said as their barge started sinking, he jumped into the waters in the middle of the night and tried to stay afloat. ”I swam for about 12 hours before the Navy team rescued me,” he said.

Another personnel, who works as a fitter at the rig, said the sea waves were higher than the height of the barge and there were high-speed winds blowing around. ”Before the Navy ship arrived, we were not sure what was going to happen. As we saw the naval ship coming towards us for rescue, our confidence went up. I was sure they would save me, hence I jumped into the waters and started swimming,” he said.

Click here: For LIVE news and updates on Cyclone Tauktae

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

COVID-19 vaccination deferred by 3 months after recovery, says Health Ministry

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

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The COVID-19 vaccination will be deferred by three months after clinical recovery from the coronavirus as the Union Health Ministry has accepted new recommendations on the COVID-19 vaccination. The new recommendations were made by the NEGVAC (National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19).

Also, if an individual is tested COVID positive after the first dose of vaccine, then the second dose to be deferred by three months after clinical recovery from illness, the NEGVAC recommended.

The panel has also recommended vaccination for all lactating women.

There will be no screening of vaccine recipients by Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) prior to vaccination.

Earlier, the time gap between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine was increased from four-six weeks to six-eight weeks. Earlier this month, it was increased to 12-16 weeks based on the recommendation from the expert panel.

Follow here for live updates on COVID-19

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

IDBI Trusteeship Services invokes pledged shares of Coffee Day Enterprises

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

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IDBI Trusteeship Services, on behalf of Marina Hari (IV) Pte Ltd and Standard Chartered Private Equity (Mauritius) II, has invoked 2.30 per cent equity shares pledged of debt-ridden Coffee Day Enterprises for an estimated sum of Rs 14.66 crore.

Marina Hari (IV) Pte Ltd and Standard Chartered Private Equity (Mauritius) II Limited are holders of optionally convertible debentures of principal amount Rs 300 crore, issued by Coffee Day Enterprises’ promoter group firm Devadarshini Info Technologies Pvt Ltd.

The shares were sold on May 17, 2021, and, based on the weighted average price of the stock at Rs 30.14 apiece, sale of 4,865,067 equity shares of Coffee Day Enterprises is estimated at a sum of Rs 14.66 crore. “The sale of shares is pursuant to the sale/enforcement of invoked pledged shares through IDBI Trusteeship Services Limited (ITSL) acting as the debenture trustee, for the benefit of Marina Hari (IV) Pte. Ltd. and Standard Chartered Private Equity (Mauritius) II Limited as the holders of optionally convertible debentures of principal amount Rs 300 crore, issued by Devadarshini Info Technologies Pvt Ltd and holding the shares by way of pledge as security,” a regulatory filing said.

The sole purpose of the sale of shares is to recover the defaulted dues to the debenture holders and not for making any gain,” it added. Marina Hari (IV) Pte Ltd and Standard Chartered Private Equity (Mauritius) II Limited are not directly holding or transferring the shares other than as beneficiaries through ITSL, the filing said.

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Indian Oil Corporation Q4 beats estimates; net profit jumps 78% to Rs 8,781 crore; GRM at $12.50/bbl

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

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State-run oil refiner Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 8,781 crore in the quarter ended March 2021, registering a sharp 78.6 percent growth as compared to Rs 4,916.6 crore in the previous quarter.

The company’s revenue in Q4FY21 rose 16.3 percent to Rs 1.24 lakh crore from Rs 1.06 lakh crore, QoQ.

The company’s earnings beat CNBC-TV18 analysts’ poll estimates on all fronts. Profit was estimated at Rs 5,741 crore on a revenue of Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

IOC’s gross refining margin (GRM) in Q4 was at $12.50/bbl versus CNBC-TV18 Poll of $6.50/bbl. The average GRM for the year April- March 2021 is $5.64 per bbl as against April- March 2020 of $0.08 per bbl.

EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, increased 40.3 percent to Rs 13,501 crore from Rs 9,622 crore, while EBITDA margin improved by 190 bps to 10.9 percent from 9 percent on a sequential basis.

The share price of Indian Oil Corporation touched a 52-week high of Rs 109.00. The stock ended 1.56 percent higher at Rs 107.20 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday.

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

Kotak Mahindra Bank arm buys 74% stake in HKR Roadways for 715 cr

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

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Kotak Special Situations Fund (KSSF) on Tuesday said it has acquired a 74 per cent stake in HKR Roadways, a non-performing asset for banks, for Rs 715 crore. The consideration paid for HKR, a special purpose vehicle owned by a consortium led by the Gayatri Group, also includes a one-time settlement for funding the debt with all the lenders, KSSF said in a statement.

The USD 1 billion KSSF is managed by Kotak Investment Advisors, which focuses on alternate assets business, and this funding and resolution of debt is the fund’s first bet on the road sector. Acquiring controlling stake in stressed assets like HKR is in line with our overall strategy of settling lenders in full cash against their dues and taking over such projects, KSSF chief executive Eshwar Karra said.

He said the company requires additional capex to achieve commercial operation date (COD), and it expects a turnaround in the next few years. HKR was awarded a 25-year concession for a four-lane toll highway project of the existing Hyderabad Karimnagar Ramagundan section of State Highway One (SH1) under Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis by the then Andhra Pradesh government. The 207 km toll highway project commenced operations from June 2014, but due to delays in the right of way and significant under performance of traffic vis–vis initial estimates, the account became a non-performing asset (NPA) with all lenders.

The existing consortium of lenders to HKR has sanctioned a one-time settlement of all the dues, subject to a Swiss Challenge Auction. Post settlement of dues, HKR will no longer be an NPA account, the KSSF statement said. Spelling out the fund’s strategy for the future, Karra said KSSF will continue to offer a full cash settlement, which he said is a much better option than non-cash options and is fully geared to fund pre-packaged solutions under IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code), as and when the rules are notified.

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E-way bill integrated with FasTag, RFID; GST officers to get real-time data of commercial vehicles

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

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GST officers have been armed with real-time data of commercial vehicle movement on highways with integration of the e-way bill (EWB) system with FasTag and RFID, a move which will help in live vigilance of such vehicles and check GST evasion. Additional features have been added to the e-way bill mobile application of tax officers, which will provide them real-time tracking details of e-way bill and vehicle to help them nab tax evaders who are misusing the e-way bill system.

Under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, e-way bills have been made mandatory for inter-state transportation of goods valued over Rs 50,000 from April 2018. However, gold is exempted. In the electronic way (e-way) bill system, businesses and transporters have to produce before a GST inspector the e-way bill, if asked.

On an average 25 lakh goods vehicle movements from more than 800 tolls are reported on a daily basis to the e-way bill system. The integration of e-way bill, RFID and FasTag will enable tax officers to undertake live vigilance in respect of e-way bill compliances by businesses and will aid in preventing revenue leakage by real-time identification of cases of recycling of EWBs, non-generation of EWBs.

Taxmen can now access reports on vehicles that have passed the selected tolls without e-way bills in the past few minutes. Also, the vehicles carrying critical commodities specific to the state and have passed the selected toll can be viewed. Any suspicious vehicles and vehicles of EWBs generated by suspicious taxpayer GSTINs , that have passed the selected toll on a near real time basis, can also be viewed in this report.

The officers can use of these reports while conducting vigilance and make the vigilance activity more effective. Also, the officers of audit and enforcement wing can use these reports to identify the fraudulent transactions like bill trading, recycling of EWBs. AMRG Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said ”online real-time tracking of vehicles and goods would go a long way in tightening the lid on tax evaders. This mobile application for tax officers would empower them to catch hold of all the stakeholders involved in clandestine removal of goods.”

EY India Tax Patner Abhishek Jain said CBIC had earlier conveyed its intention to further digitise the process of enforcement of e-way bill provisions under the GST law, and in line with this idea, the e-way bill system has now been integrated with the FasTag and RFID system, and MIS (Management Information Systems) reports from the same will made available on officer’s mobile app.

”This is a commendable move on the part of government and points towards the development in the field of technology and how the government is pro-active in using the same to ensure tax compliance and track fraudulent activities,” Jain added.

Last month, in a report titled ’E-way Bill – A journey of three years’, the government had said 180 crore e-way bills have been generated in three years till March 2021. Of this, only 7 crore bills were verified by tax officers. In the 2020-21 fiscal, ended March 2021, 61.68 crore e-way bills were generated, of which 2.27 crore were picked up for verification.

In 2019-20 fiscal, ended March 2020, 62.88 crore e-way bills were generated, of which 3.01 crore were picked up for verification by tax officers. The top five states in which generated maximum number of e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods were generated are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The top five sectors where maximum e-way bills were generated in the past three years are textiles, electrical machinery, machinery and mechanical appliances, iron and steel, and automobiles. With effect from January 1, 2021, the government has integrated RFID/FasTag with the e-way bill system and a transporter is required to have a RFID tag in his vehicle and details of the e-way bill generated for goods being carried by the vehicle is uploaded into the RFID. When the vehicle passes the RFID Tag reader on the highway, the details fed into the device gets uploaded on the government portal. The information is later used by the revenue officials to validate the supplies made by a GST registered person.

To improve tax compliance, the government has also started blocking of EWB bill generation if a GST registered taxpayer has not filed GSTR- 3B return for the last two successive months. Also, the government has blocked the generation of multiple EWBs on one invoice. If the EWB is once generated using an invoice number or document number, then none of the other parties can generate another EWB using the same invoice number.

Besides, the e-way bills system has enabled auto calculation of distance based on PIN codes. The system will auto calculate the distance between the source and destination, based on PIN codes.

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

Super Blood Moon in Eastern sky on May 26 evening

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

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A rare Super Blood Moon will be seen in the eastern sky on May 26 evening, just after a total lunar eclipse. Kolkata had seen its last total lunar eclipse, 10 years ago, on December 10, 2011, Director of M P Birla Planetarium and renowned astrophysicist Debiprasad Duari said Wednesday.

”On the night of May 26, the sun, earth, and moon alignment will be such that from earth it will be viewed as a full moon and also eclipsed for some time. Moon on its journey around the earth will be passing through earth’s shadow for a few moments and will be totally eclipsed,” Duari said. The total lunar eclipse will be visible mostly from Eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, most parts of North and South America, and Australia.

The partial eclipse of the moon will start at around 3:15 pm and end at 6:22 pm. For most of India, the moon will be below the eastern horizon during the total eclipse and so people of the country cannot observe a blood moon, but in some parts, mostly from eastern India, people will see only the very last part of a partial lunar eclipse, that is also very close to the eastern horizon when the moon is just rising.

On that evening, the ”moonrise in Kolkata will be at 6:15 pm and the interested people will just possibly get a few minutes glimpse of the partial eclipse which will end at around 6:22 pm,” he said. For the other metropolis like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai the eclipse will not be seen as during the eclipse phase moon will be below the horizon at these places.

”Most of the country will have to be satisfied with a penumbral eclipse, which is not very much discernible with the naked eye when the moon passes through a slightly shadowed region of the Earth and is not very spectacular,” Duari said. ”But, forgetting the critical COVID-19 situation, people can then see a bright and bigger full moon on that night. At perigee, a full moon looks 30 percent bigger and 14 percent brighter than an average full moon. That is the reason the full moon will shine brighter and also look bigger on that night,” he said.

Moon will be at its perigee on that day exactly at around 7:23 pm, at a distance of 3,57,309 km from Earth. Explaining the reason behind calling it a blood moon, Duari said as the totally eclipsed moon takes a dark blackish red colour (it) is called a blood moon.

”This happens because of the comparatively less deviation of the red part of the moonlight through the earth’s atmosphere and falling on the moon’s surface,” he said. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on May 16, 2022, but, it will not be visible from the Indian subcontinent.

But on November 8, 2022, a lunar eclipse will be seen from India.

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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

Biological E to manufacture J&J COVID-19 vaccine in India: What we know about Janssen jab

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

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The Janssen would be the fourth vaccine to be produced in India after Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

The United States-based pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has tied up with Hyderabad-based Biological E in India for manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine named Janssen.

The Janssen is a single-dose vaccine and this would be the fourth to be produced in India after Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

Here is all you need to know about the Janssen vaccine:

Is Janssen an approved vaccine?

Janssen is an approved vaccine by both the World Health Organisation and the US Food and Drug Administration. It was approved as ‘Janssen Ad26.CoV2.S vaccine’, a single shot jab, in February this year by the FDA under an emergency use authorization category for adults.

In India, J&J applied in April this year to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for permission to conduct bridging trial for its vaccine. Central government recently cleared the fast-track emergency approvals for all foreign-produced COVID-19 jabs that have been given a go-ahead by the WHO or regulators in the US, Europe, the UK and Japan.

How effective is Janssen

The single-dose vaccine has 85.4 percent efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization and 66.9 percent against symptomatic, moderate and severe infections. This validation has been observed after 28 days of inoculation. In April, data has shown it can protect the extremely serious risk category patients from the virus including death and hospitalization.

Can you take any other vaccine after a single dose of Janssen

One dose is all that is needed (o5ml). WHO recommends a 14-day period between Janssen and any other vaccine that needs to be administered.

How effective is Janssen vaccine against COVID-19 variants?

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the US FDA and the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) have all found it to be safe after studying the vaccine based on the current data availability.

In clinical trials, it has been found effective against the current variants (as first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil). The vaccine has also been tested against a number of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants.

Can everybody take Janssen jabs?

WHO recommends anyone with a history of anaphylaxis (severe allergic condition) should not take this vaccine. Those who have a body temperature over 38.5 degrees Celsius should wait until their fever subsides and they are declared medically fit to take the jabs.

Does Janssen vaccine have any side effect?

Several common side effects including headache, fever, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, redness, and swelling around the body part where the jab was injected have been noticed. Though the vaccine was stopped for a short period after six cases of blood clots were reported in the US and the European Union, it was found to be classified under the “very rare” category. J&J resumed its vaccination production after it was given the nod.

What could be the expected price in India?

The expected price would be in the range of Rs 750 to make it more affordable for the masses. The commercial production of the vaccine is expected in India by June – July.

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