Facebook removes ‘Kisan Ekta Morcha’ official page, restores it later after outrage

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

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A day after facing flak for removing the official page of ‘Kisan Mukti Morcha’, the social media giant Facebook on Monday released a statement, clarifying that it had taken down the page after its automated systems flagged the pages of ‘Kisan Ekta Morcha’ as “spam” following increased activity.

“As per our review, our automated systems found an increased activity on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/kisanektamorcha and flagged it as spam, which violates our Community Standards. We restored the page in less than three hours when we became aware of the context. The review showed that only the Facebook page was affected by the automated systems while the Instagram account remained unaffected,” Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook had taken down the ‘Kisan Ekta Morcha’ page on Sunday and the same was restored after a few hours following massive outrage on social media over the blocking of page.

The page is used page by farmers for updates on their protest against the Centre’s farm laws. The page has over 1,28,000 followers.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi border points seeking repeal of the new farm laws. They fear that the laws are intended to benefit corporates and will weaken the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system which offers them assured price from the government for their produce.

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

Antony Waste Handling Cell IPO sails through on Day 1; Issue fully subscribed led by retail investors

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

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The initial public offering (IPO) of Antony Waste Handling Cell has been subscribed 1.98 times on Monday, the first day of the bidding process. The issue has received bids for 1.32 crore equity shares as against a reduced offer size of 66.66 lakh shares.

The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 63 percent, non-institutional investors’ portion 8 percent and retail individual investors (RIIs) 3.56 times.

The price band for the Rs 300-crore IPO has fixed at Rs 313-315 per share. The issue closes on December 23.

Read here: Antony Waste Handling Cell IPO opens today; Here are key things to know

In March 2020, Antony Waste had launched its IPO of around Rs 200 crore, but due to tepid investor response and extremely weak markets, the IPO failed to get sail through.

The company proposes to utilise the fresh proceeds of the issue for part-financing for the waste-to-energy project at Pimpri Chinchwad through investment in its subsidiaries, reduction of consolidated borrowings of the company d general corporate purposes.

The offer consists of a fresh issue of Rs 85 crore and an offer for sale of 68,24,933 equity shares by existing shareholders.

Read here: ‘Only for high risk takers’: Brokers cautious on Antony Waste Handling Cell IPO

Most brokerages advise caution on the IPO and suggest only high-risk investors invest in it on the back of dependency on municipal authorities for a major portion of the revenue.

According to SMC Global, the firm is looking to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the municipal solid waste (MSW) management sector by continued focus on bidding for such projects.

“It is dependent on municipal authorities for a substantial proportion of its business and revenue. Also, it is dependent on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of its revenue. The loss of any of its major customers due to any adverse development or significant reduction in business from its major customer may adversely affect its business,” the brokerage advises.

A high-risk taker may opt for the issue, it added.

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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

Union Budget 2021: GJEPC’s wish list

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

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The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and presented their budget request. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Colin Shah of GJEPC shared the sector’s wish list from Union Budget 2021.

“Today 12.5 percent [tax] on gold plus 3 percent goods and services tax (GST) and 7.5 percent [additional tax] on diamonds and gemstones basically puts us out of the path [competition]. We are not able to compete with our immediate neighbours, nor are we able to compete with China and Thailand,” he said.

“Our tariff structure and duties should be in-line with international tariff structures and duties. We have requested for a reduction from 12.5 percent to 4 percent on gold, silver and platinum and from 7.5 percent to 2.5 percent for diamonds and gemstones. If that happens then we can seriously become a global leaders in manufacturing and trading in all these commodities,” he explained.

The council has asked for a comprehensive e-commerce policy, which will allow manufacturers and retailers to seamlessly ship products — at the lowest cost and faster — anywhere in the world.

For the entire discussion, watch the video.

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

COVID-19 blow: 21 million people lost their jobs in 2020, and the crisis continues

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

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The job crisis that began with the sudden lockdown of the economy in March is still playing out.

As per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reports, twenty-one million salaried and eleven million daily wage laborers lost their livelihoods to the COVID-19 pandemic. CNBC-TV18’s Ritu Singh decodes India’s employment crisis through 2020.

Watch video for more…

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

Power Minister unveils rules to protect electricity consumers

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

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Power Minister R K Singh on Monday issued a set of rules to ensure the rights of electricity consumers, asserting that now the consumer is not ”powerless”. The rules provide for penalties for power distribution utilities (discoms) for not maintaining mandated standards of services under the Electricity (Rights of consumers) Rules. ”Now the consumer is not powerless….(discoms) have to provide service…if these(rules) are not adhered to, there would be penalty,” Singh told reporters in a virtual media briefing on the rules. The Ministry of Power has promulgated rules laying down the rights of consumers.

While issuing these rules, Singh said that these rules shall empower the consumers of electricity. ”These rules emanate from the conviction that the power systems exist to serve the consumers and the consumers have rights to get the services and reliable, quality electricity. Distribution Companies across the country are monopolies whether government or private and the consumer has no alternative therefore it was necessary that the consumers rights be laid down in Rules and a system for enforcement of these rights be put in place,” he added.

The rules provide that its the duty of every distribution licensee to supply electricity on request made by an owner or occupier of any premises in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act. It is the right of consumers to have minimum standards of service for supply of electricity from the distribution licensee, it says. The rule also provide for a transparent, simple and time-bound processes for release of new connection and modification in existing connection. The rule provides that the applicant for electricity connection has option for online application. Besides the discoms would have to provide or modify an electricity connection within a maximum time period of seven days in metro cities; 15 days in other municipal areas and 30 days in rural areas.

The rules also provide that no connection shall be given without a metre and it shall be the smart pre-payment meter or pre-payment meter. There would be provision for testing of metres as wells as replacement of defective or burnt or stolen ones. The rules also provide for transparency in applicable consumer tariff and bills.

Under the rules, the consumer shall have the option to pay bills online or offline. Besides, there would be provision for advance payment of bills. To ensure the reliability of supply, the rules say that the discoms shall supply 24×7 power to all consumers. However, the Commission (power regulator) may specify lower hours of supply for some categories of consumers like agriculture.

Discoms are also mandated to put in place a mechanism, preferably with automated tools to the extent possible, for monitoring and restoring outages. There would a new category of consumers who would generate power also (prosumer). The rules say that the prosumers will maintain consumer status and have the same rights as the general consumer, they will also have right to set up Renewable Energy (RE) generation unit including rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems either by himself or through a service provider.

The rules provide for net metering for loads up to ten kW and for gross metering for loads above ten kW. These rules also provide that the commission (power regulator) shall notify the standards of performance for the distribution licensees.

The compensation amount would be paid to the consumers by the discoms for violation of standards of performance. Automatic compensation shall be paid to consumers for which parameters on standards of performance can be monitored remotely.

The standards of performance for which the compensation is required to be paid by discoms include no supply to a consumer beyond a particular duration which would be specified by the commission (regulator). The discoms would have to pay compensation for number of interruptions in supply beyond the limits.

The discoms performance would be monitored on the basis of time taken for connection, disconnection, reconnection, shifting; time taken for change in consumer category, load; time taken for change in consumer details; time taken for replacement of defective meters; time period within which bills are to be served, time period of resolving voltage related complaints; and bill related complaints. The discoms will pay penalty to consumer for breaching time limits for delivery of services set by the commission.

The discoms would have to set up a centralised 24×7 toll-free call centre and shall endeavour to provide all services through a common Customer Relation Manager (CRM) System to get a unified view. There Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) which, would include consumer and prosumer representatives.

Under the rules the consumer grievance redressal has been made easy by making it multi-layered and the number of consumer’s representatives have been increased from one to four. The licensee shall specify the time within which various types of grievances by the different levels of the forums are to be resolved. Maximum timeline of 45 days is specified for grievance redressal under the rules.

The rules provide for use of online access to various services such as application submission, monitoring status of the application, payment of bills, status of complaints raised,etc., to consumers through its website, web portal, mobile app and its various designated offices area-wise. The discoms shall provide all services such as application submission, payment of bills, etc., to senior citizens at their door-steps.

The details of scheduled power outages shall be informed to the consumers. In case of unplanned outage or fault, immediate intimation shall be given to the consumers through SMS or by any other electronic mode along with estimated time for restoration.

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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

As UK virus mutation stings market, analysts hope for ‘healthy correction’ to buy more

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

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Indian shares plunged on Monday after the discovery of a new, more infectious, coronavirus strain in the UK led to concerns the fight against COVID-19 may be more protracted than was being thought.

The Sensex fell 1406 points, or 3 percent, to close at 45,553 while the Nifty ended 432 points, or 3.1 percent, lower at 13,328. Mid and small caps fell about 5 percent on average, while some sector indexes fell as much as 7 percent.

“The news about the new virus strain in the UK spooked the market and triggered fears that more countries will resort to fresh lockdown,” S Krishna Kumar, CIO Equity of Sundaram Mutual Fund, told CNBC-TV18.

Global markets have made a sizzling comeback after falling as much as 30-40 percent in March this year, with many indices making fresh record highs.

Shares of companies that benefited from the pandemic — such as IT and pharma firms — have been among the standout performers this year, even as the focus in the latter half shifted to the “unlock trade”, or beaten-down sectors that had survived the pandemic — airlines, multiplexes and suchlike.

Still, there were fears that the market had become a bit too optimistic in weighing the prospects of a quick recovery aided by the full support of global central banks against the chances of a protracted slowdown. On a number of valuation parameters, stocks have been more expensive than they have ever been.

“This was bound to happen, be it today or one month down the line,” said Keshav Lahoti, Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking.

But Deepak Shenoy of Capital Mind said he wouldn’t look at today’s correction in a negative fashion.

“Hopefully, we will get a larger correction where some of the weaker hands will go away and you get opportunities to buy stocks,” he told CNBC-TV18.

Krishna Kumar too said that from a medium-term perspective, “these corrections are good opportunities for people to come in — if, in the next month, there are weaknesses in the market.”

Arnab Das, Global Market Strategist at Invesco, said that while the virus mutation leads to concerns of fresh lockdowns globally, governments and central banks have room to continue to support the economy through fiscal and monetary stimulus.

Some experts have warned that the “money printing” exercises that central banks around the world have resorted to could lead to inflation — this is evident in the way gold and bitcoin have behaved this year.

But Das said such concerns may be overdone given that the demand destruction resulting from COVID-19 is highly disinflationary in nature.

“So the central scenario still has to be that it (the economy and inflation outlook) is okay but the risks have gone up and that is why the market is responding this way,” he said.

Technical analysts said that the Nifty breaking the 13,500 did not bode too well for the market from the short-term perspective.

“We would now need to wait and watch the markets over the next couple of sessions,” said Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.

“One should not take hasty and risky trades by going long or short on the markets. For the upside to resume, we would need to start trading above 13,750-13,800. To break on the downside, we should wait for a day or two and re-evaluate the markets. The strategy for the current market would be to sit on the sideline without a trade,” he added.

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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

For hospitality and tourism sector, 2021 is all about survival, recovery

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

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As the uninvited guest coronavirus pandemic checked in, India’s hospitality and tourism sector suffered three-quarters of economic wipeout estimated to be up to Rs 15 lakh crore, and the industry is desperately looking forward to government support to survive and recover in 2021. With business coming almost to a standstill, the travel and tourism industry players want the government to provide targeted support to the sector till vaccine-based confidence comes, to help them meet their operating costs and retain jobs.

Although the black swan event shook the very foundation of this vibrant and bustling sector, the players are putting up a brave front, optimistic to regain the ”lost vibrancy in the latter half of 2021” and are banking on ’revenge travel’ once the health crisis is controlled to help the sector recover. ”This was the worst three quarters ever for the tourism industry over a century and this is expected to play out till another two quarters till vaccine is deployed across all source and destination markets,” Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) Chairman Nakul Anand told PTI.

The apex sectoral body had in the beginning of the pandemic forecasted almost three-quarters of economic wipeout impact on tourism at between Rs 10 lakh crore to Rs 15 lakh crore. ”On an accumulated basis this would have played out as has been evident in both Q1 and Q2 GDP data, showing tourism almost double dropped more than the economy,” he added.

Further, Anand said that while there will be ”some green shoots of recovery in tourism, it will be extremely narrow-based in some locations, across some long weekends in drive down, domestic locations”. The impact of COVID-19 has been such that all other segments of tourism — inbound, outbound, corporate, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), adventure and leisure — will continue to underperform till the next two quarters.

”This will be evident across the tourism value chain — travel agents, hotels, tour operators, restaurants, tourist transporters and most other tourism service providers,” Anand added. ”FAITH has been urging the government that till vaccine-based confidence comes, a targeted tourism support fund be made available for tourism players to meet their operating costs and retain jobs,” Anand said.

With the situation continuing to be dire, the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) reiterated the demand for support from the government to help the sector and bring back lakhs of lost jobs. FHRAI Vice President Gurbaxish Singh Kohli said for the industry, 2021 will be all about survival and recovery and everything else will revolve around this.

”Hospitality and tourism are a very important component of the economy and we need to ensure it bounces back and thrives,” he asserted. Claiming that tourism and hospitality are the worst affected in 2020, which ”has been a total write off for the industry”, Kohli said, ”we were the first to fall and the last to rise. Unfortunately, the government has not been as forthcoming (with support) as one would’ve hoped”.

Urging the government to support the sector, Kohli said, ”We need to ensure that lost jobs somehow get re-absorbed and in this, we will need the government’s support. So, interacting frequently with the government and authorities is high on the agenda for us”. Expressing similar views, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) President Anurag Katriar said, ”I would also like to request the government for liquidity and policy support as it will really help us bounce back quicker”.

He said the unprecedented crisis shook the very foundation of ”this vibrant and bustling sector in 2020”. However, Katriar said, ”I am also certain that we will regain our lost vibrancy in the latter half of 2021. Once the vaccine de-escalates the fear of contracting COVID-19, people will surely step out with a vengeance and improved economy will trigger high consumption.” Sounding pragmatic, Katriar said that while inbound tourism volumes are expected to remain subdued but the sheer size of India’s domestic market will help the sector bounce back in 2021.

MakeMyTrip Founder & Executive Chairman Deep Kalra said, ”Travelling is innate to humans and having spent time indoors people are yearning to connect, explore and travel more than ever before. While COVID-19 had a crippling impact on the entire travel & tourism industry — the promise of effective vaccine rollout is good news as the year comes to a close”. Further, he said, ’revenge travel is going to gain further momentum as we enter 2021”.

”The massive pent-up demand is going to fuel that need to travel further with a lot of people yet to take their first flight or first real holiday,” he noted. Stating that there is an opportunity in every adversity, Kalra said, ”We believe this crisis will help galvanise efforts to grow domestic tourism. With international travel remaining largely inaccessible to leisure travellers, domestic travel will continue to grow strong as more and more Indians look inwards to explore their own homeland.” To seize the day, the government as well as the industry will need to rise to the challenge of transforming top Indian destinations as world-class tourist attractions, he added.

”This requires an integrated, inter-sectoral approach and investment from the government to build supporting infrastructure while the industry should focus on innovation, stellar service and customer experience that will propel domestic tourism in India like never before,” Kalra said. Stating that the impact of the pandemic on the sector was huge, OYO Hotels & Homes founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said that 2020 posed unique challenges for the world, as it severely impacted industries and businesses, especially the travel and hospitality space.

As the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic,” We strongly believe that the use of data science, big data, and artificial intelligence will be crucial to the travel, tourism and hospitality sector,” he added.

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