Lockdown: Startups flags cash flow, revenue, labour concerns in meeting with Piyush Goyal

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

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Problems related with liquidity crunch, cash flow, revenue and labour matters were raised by start-ups in their meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday.

Goyal held the meeting through video conference with the stakeholders of the start-up ecosystem, including developers, angel investors and others, to assess the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown in the country.

“The start-up representatives raised the concerns, ranging from the question of liquidity crunch, cash flow and revenue problems, labour matters, and other difficulties in running the ventures due to lockdown, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.

After listening to the various problems and suggestions by the start-up stakeholders, the minister called for collaborative efforts to deal with the issues, according to the statement.

In the meeting, the minister said the country is passing through the unprecedented crisis, and this requires prompt remedial actions.

He sought cooperation in overcoming the hardships being faced by the industry, particularly the start-ups.

He welcomed the launch of the Action COVID-19 Team, which is starting a Rs 100-crore programme, aimed to seed over 50 initiatives through grants to combat the economic fallout of COVID-19 in India.

Many start-ups have been working on finding various solutions to COVID-19 issues with focus on preventive, assistive and curative aspects of the pandemic.

“Many of the ventures are in the final stage of launch and others will require some more time to take shape. These ventures will require access, funding, validation, scaling-up, and support,” it said adding that a joint committee from various government departments and industry associations are evaluating these initiatives.

The meeting was also attended by the officers from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, SEBI, CBDT, CBIC, NITI Aayog, and SIDBI. Representatives of MakeMyTrip, Zomato, Cult.Fit, and Naukri.com were present in the meeting.

In a separate information, the ministry said state-owned trading firm MMTC has decided to contribute about Rs 25 lakh to the Prime Ministers’ Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM-CARES) Fund.

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

COVID-19: Govt allows select exporters to ship formulations

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

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The government has allowed exporters having advance licences to ship formulations that have been placed under restricted category.

On March 3, exports of 13 APIs and 13 formulations, including paracetamol, vitamin B1 and B12, put under restricted category amid the coronavirus outbreak in China. In a policy circular, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said that it has received various representations from exporters highlighting the issues faced by them in fulfilling their obligations under Advance Authorisation Scheme.

Under this scheme, raw material imports are allowed duty-free but with an export obligation.

“DGFT has examined these requests and in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Pharmaceuticals, it has been decided that exports of all formulations” mentioned in the notification dated March 3, “shall be allowed to be exported under the advance license issued on or before the date of notification,” it said.

It added that no enhancement of quantity shall be permitted for import and export items in these advance licenses.

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Oil prices go up over 30% as Donald Trump signals end to price war

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

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Oil futures rocketed over 30 percent Thursday after US President Donald Trump tweeted that he expected Russia and Saudi Arabia to end a price war by slashing crude output.

Brent North Sea crude soared as high as 36.29 per barrel before pairing gains to stand up almost 25 percent at 30.82. WTI surged to 27.39 per barrel and shortly after was 25.4 percent higher at 25.47.

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

Is rural India equipped to battle coronavirus given the referral system in medicine?

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

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The coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to a halt and countries are struggling to cope with the crisis. With each passing day, the number of positive cases and deaths are rising by the hundreds, despite the ground breaking advancements in medicine. In India, the 21-day lockdown imposed by the government seems to be working as the numbers have not risen as they have in the Western world. Deserted streets in otherwise bustling cities are proof of the horror the virus has brought upon us.

While doctors, nurses and healthcare personnel are working round the clock in major cities to handle the rising number of COVID-19 positive patients, it remains to be seen how rural India would cope in case there’s a major outbreak. The lack of quality medical facilities and transport issues, would impede patients from getting treatment.

Moreover, the referral system in rural India could lead to chaos in remote areas. The referral system is a common practice where doctors ask patients to visit bigger hospitals or specialists to diagnose or treat an ailment. This can spiral out of control as public transport has been shut across the country. So, people in remote areas have little means to travel to district hospitals in bigger towns.

Even as the government and corporate companies are making efforts to provide personal protection equipment and other facilities to hospitals to ensure the safety of doctors and patients, the next few weeks will be crucial as it would become clear if India has managed to keep numbers low or not.

CNBCTV-18 spoke to cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Health to find out if the referral system would have an adverse impact on patients. Given the current scenario, Dr Shetty said, “I would not be able to comment on the referral system in villages. But in cities, the government has created clinics where people are expected to go for initial tests instead of a hospital. Some of the private hospitals like ours are also running a few clinics to help patients.”

He added, “There is a proper referral system at Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres in rural areas and people are expected to go to these centres. If diagnosed with a serious ailment, patients are then sent to district level hospitals. The government has notified the entire healthcare system about the process and all healthcare providers are included in the notification.”

The government’s decision to shut public transport and lockdown the country is understandable, but this could hinder the movement of those who actually need medical assistance.

Dr Sangeeta Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises and President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries said, “People have managed to reach hospitals in case of emergencies. The police are providing help to those who need medical help. People are not coming to hospitals for routine checkups, which is helping doctors. Isolation wards set up for COVID-19 patients are helping in curbing the spread of the virus. There’s help available at every level.”

With arrangements made to provide all healthcare facilities in villages and cities, it remains to be seen if India can emerge victorious in this battle against coronavirus.

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

Qatar Airways Cargo adds 19 Doha-India weekly flights to carry goods

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

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Amid the coronavirus pandemic that has grounded a majority of planes across the world, Qatar Airways Cargo on Thursday said it has started 19 weekly flights between Doha and India from Wednesday to get goods such as pharmaceutical products using its passenger aircraft.

“These flights will be in addition to the cargo carrier’s existing freighter services and have been introduced as a result of strong demand for Indian products such as pharmaceuticals and fresh produce,” a press statement by the airline said.

The airline will operate freight-only passenger aircraft to Delhi (3 weekly flights), Hyderabad (2 weekly flights), Bengaluru (3 weekly flights), Chennai (4 weekly flights), Mumbai (5 weekly flights), and Kolkata (2 weekly flights).

“The addition of these 19-weekly belly-hold services will see the airline’s weekly cargo capacity to India grow from 2,120 tonnes to 2,535 tonnes. The belly-hold cargo flights will be operated on a turnaround basis without any cabin crew members or passengers on-board,” the statement said.

“We continue to see strong demand for exports and imports, particularly the transportation of essential medical supplies manufactured in India that are pivotal to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said.

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

Amazon working on protecting sellers; providing free e-books and audiobooks to customers: Amit Agarwal

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

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Amazon is working to deliver essential goods to customers, while protecting sellers impacted by the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the ecommerce giant’s Country Head Amit Agarwal to CNBC-TV18.

“Our priorities are to keep employees and facilities safe and to deliver essential products. We are working closely with state governments and local authorities to get clearances and curfew passes so that we deliver essential goods to customers,” Agarwal said.

Amazon is currently delivering only essential goods, and is prioritising existing orders, Agarwal pointed out, adding that in some cities the ecommerce company has started accepting new orders.

Also, keeping in mind the time that millions of people have during the lockdown, the ecommerce giant has made its e-books and audiobooks available for free for customers.

“We are making sure our ebooks library, Audible and Kindle services are made available for free. We are working on distance learning initiatives as well,” the Amazon India head said.

He noted that Multiple discussions were held with the government to allow smoother operations of ecommerce services. While, the situation has improved, there are several challenges that exist on ground.

“It has to get down to the lowest [local] enforcement level. A lot needs to be done in getting curfew passes,” Agarwal said. “Some states are moving faster in offering online passes and self-certifications.”

“The decline in delivery personnel has also become a pain point. We need more people to provide essential services to consumers,” he stressed.

He advised customers to first find out what the situation is in terms of status of deliveries via their pincode through the app.

“Deliveries have started in many cities. Demand is more than what the capacity is. We are trying to clear the backlog as soon as possible,” the Amazon India head said.

Amazon Fresh is operational in four cities and the company has restarted deliveries for Amazon Pantry orders in a few cities.

Moreover, Agarwal said that the company is working to support sellers whose businesses have been disrupted due to the lockdown.

“It is a big disruption and a new change in business for sellers. Our supply backbone is dependent on sellers on the platform. We have communicated to them that we are focussing only on ‘essentials’. We are relaxing operational metrics to avoid penalties,” he said.

He added that the company has relaxed some seller fees like long term storage.

“We are ensuring sellers’ products are stored safely during the lockdown without any penalty,” he said.

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

COVID-19: OMCs to keep petrol, diesel prices unchanged despite rise in cost due to BS-VI transition

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

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Oil marketing companies (OMCs) comprising Indian Oil, HPCL, and BPCL have decided not to pass on the incremental cost of fuel upgrade to the consumers as COVID-19 crisis has brought the country to a standstill.

These companies, in a joint statement on Thursday, said they have fully transitioned to BS-VI compliant petrol and diesel starting April 1.

OMCs said they have incurred capital expenditure (Capex) of about Rs 35,000 crore to upgrade their refineries, pipelines, and marketing distribution network to leapfrog from BS-IV to BS-VI in accordance with the timeline of April 1, 2020.

Even though, going forward, there will be an incremental operational expenditure and the capex costs on retail selling price of petrol and diesel, the companies have decided to keep the prices unchanged due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the OMCs have highlighted that some states may see an increase in retail selling price of both petrol and diesel on account of an increase in VAT rates imposed by the respective states.

States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, etc. have increased their VAT rates with effect from April 1, 2020, which will have an impact on the consumer for nearly Re 1 a litre.

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

Tamil Nadu COVID-19 cases cross 300, 264 have links to Nizamuddin

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

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The Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 positive cases crossed 300 as the state reported 75 new cases on Thursday. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state now stands at 309.

“There are 75 new cases recorded in the state today, of which 74 have links to Nizamuddin,” said the state’s health secretary Beela Rajesh while speaking to reporters today, “In all 264 attendees who returned from Delhi have tested positive so far.”

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu recorded its highest case count in a day at 110 COVID-19 cases. All patients had returned from the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. The addition of 74 cases today brings the total number of Nizamuddin-linked cases in the state, to 264 out of 309.

“There are enough testing facilities in Tamil Nadu and more prospective cases will be tested,” added Rajesh, “Tamil Nadu is studying projections of COVID-19 spread based on how this panned out in other countries.”

Kerala, AP and Telangana case count increases too

Meanwhile, Kerala reported 21 COVID-19-positive cases today, bringing its state tally to 286. This means after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu is now second on the list of states with most COVID-19 cases, with Kerala now occupying third place.

A tweet from Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan read: “… 1,65,934 individuals are under observation; 643 of them are in hospitals and rest in home quarantine… 8456 samples sent for testing, 7622 have come out as negative.”

Speaking at Prime Minister Modi’s video-conference with chief ministers earlier today, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy said that of the 132 cases that have tested positive in the state, 111 had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz. Andhra Pradesh’s latest numbers stand at 135 positive cases, after having reported 24 new cases today.

Telangana reported 30 new cases today, taking the total case count to 129. The state also registered three new COVID-19-linked deaths late Wednesday night — barely two days after the state registered six deaths linked to the coronavirus outbreak. All nine casualties were attendees of the Nizamuddin Markaz.

Delhi government testing all attendees

At a press conference earlier today, Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said he expected COVID-19 cases to spike in the next two days. “We are testing all the 2,364 attendees evacuated from the Markaz,” he said, “People who attended appear to be more serious.”

On Thursday, the number of positive cases in Delhi crossed 200, to stand at 219. Of these, 108 cases are those of attendees at the Nizamuddin Markaz, said Kejriwal.

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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

US stock markets gain as oil recovery eclipses record weekly jobless claims

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

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Wall Street bounced on Thursday as a recovery in oil prices outweighed the shock of weekly jobless claims soaring past 6 million.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits last week exceeded the top end of analysts’ estimates at 5.25 million, and U.S. President Donald Trump has warned of more economic pain as more states enforce sweeping stay-at-home orders to curtail the coronavirus pandemic.

“The U.S. labor market has never experienced such a disruption,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial.

“Most will likely say the United States is sitting squarely in a recession right now, but the real question at hand is for how long and to what extent.”

The Dow Jones <.DJI> and S&P 500 <.SPX>, still fresh from their worst opening quarters in history, were lifted by a surge in oil prices as Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled they were ready to co-operate to help stabilize the market.

The energy index <.SPNY>, which has lost half its value this year partly due to their price war, jumped 13% with Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> and Chevron Corp <CVX.N> posting the biggest gains among Dow components.

But analysts predict further declines for U.S. equity markets as more companies announce production cuts and withdraw financial forecasts ahead of the earnings season.

Boeing Co <BA.N>, once a symbol of American industrialism, said on Thursday it would offer buyout and early retirement packages to employees, as a near collapse in business activity crushes liquidity and sparks mass staff furloughs.

“We’re going to be digesting this for awhile and until the data becomes less worse, we’re going to have lumpiness in trading around these shock-and-awe numbers,” said Richard Steinberg, chief market strategist at Colony Group, in Florida.

At 10:13 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was up 81.95 points, or 0.39%, at 21,025.46, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 17.83 points, or 0.72%, at 2,488.33. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 41.58 points, or 0.56%, at 7,402.16.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc <WBA.O> fell 6% after the drugstore retailer reported a steep decline in U.S same-store sales in the last week of March.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.53-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.80-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded two new highs and 47 new lows.

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’s projected impact on real estate merely a ‘guesstimate’

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

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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