Afghanistan car blast kills provincial police chief, two others

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

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A car blast in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province killed three people on Monday, including a provincial police chief, the Taliban-Run Afghan interior ministry said.

Two others were injured in the blast near Badakhshan’s police headquarters, interior ministry spokesperson, Abdul Nafi Takor, said, adding that four people had been arrested in connection with the incident.

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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

CAIT welcomes DPIIT retail policy move to limit e-commerce to 20% of trade

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

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The CAIT on Monday, December 27, said that it welcomed the initiative by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to roll out a National Retail Trade Policy allowing only 20 percent of retail trade via e-commerce, stating that “it will boost the retail trade of India to a new level.”

“It meets with the long pending demand of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and hence we appreciate this move,” said CAIT National President B.C. Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, in a joint statement.

They firmly asserted that the policy must contain a specific provision that only up to 20 percent of retail trade should be permitted to be conducted online. They further demanded that the stakeholders must be taken into confidence before implementing the same.

Also read: DPIIT seeks views of different ministries on draft national retail trade policy

Retail trade in India is the only sector that lacks a separate ministry or a policy, according to Bhartia and Khandelwal, who estimate that the market is worth Rs 130 lakh crore yearly and is growing at a pace of 10 percent annually.

The National Retail Trade Policy will therefore prove to be beneficial for the country’s economy and trade and commerce, they said. It should be emphasised that conventional retailers, or non-corporate retail, account for approximately 80 percent of retail trade, whereas corporation retail accounts for about 10 percent, e-commerce for about 7 percent, and direct selling  3 percent.

However, Bhartia and Khandelwal said without an e-commerce policy and codified rules and regulations for e-commerce trade, the National Retail Trade Policy will prove to be a half-baked exercise that will be only partially beneficial.

The retail trade has four verticals — corporate retail, non-corporate retail, e-commerce and direct selling. Therefore, the National Retail Trade Policy should have a streamlined and thorough policy that enables all four verticals to operate together without interfering with one another, they said.

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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

Infibeam Avenues announces perpetual renewal of ‘Bharat Bill Payment’ license by RBI

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

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Infibeam Avenues Limited, India’s first listed fintech company, received Perpetual license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for its bill payments business, BillAvenue, for operating as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). As a BBPOU, BillAvenue operates as both biller and customer operating unit onboarding Billers and Agent Institutions to service the customers.

The perpetual license will help the company to offer safe, secure and uninterrupted services to our 18,000 plus billers, agent institutions and our network of one million agents spread across 2000 cities and towns of India. It will also help expand into the hinterlands of India.

“BillAvenue is a unified, interoperable online bill payment platform, built on the NPCI’s Bharat BillPay infrastructure to provide ‘anytime, anywhere’ bill payment facilities to customers across India through a network of small & medium agents to large Agent Institutions (AI),” said Vishwas Patel, Infibeam Avenues Ltd’s, Executive Director.

BillAvenue services telecom, broadband companies, cable TV, DTH players, electricity distribution companies, LPG & Gas distribution companies, FASTAG, health insurance, life insurance, NBFCs, and municipalities, apart from others, as its clients.

“These are exciting times for Infibeam Avenues Ltd as it gallops forward with high growth. A month ago, we received the Payment Aggregator’s (PA) license, and now this perpetual renewal of the BBPS license proves our company’s credentials, processes and compliances. We are the pioneer in the biller market and have revolutionized it by providing a single window concept for the billers. This extra boost will help us to further enhance our product and services for our customers,” said Vishal Mehta, Managing Director, Infibeam Avenues Ltd.

On Thursday, Infibeam Avenues Ltd received RBI’s letter confirming the renewal of a Certificate of Authorization (CoA) for operating as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBBPS) on a perpetual basis in accordance with RBI’s circular on ‘Perpetual validity for certificates of Authorization (CoA) issued to Payment System Operators (PSOs) under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

In 2017, BillAvenue, was among the early non-bank service provider to get an RBI-licensed operating unit license to onboard billers and agents across India.
BillAvenue has 90 percent biller market share within BBPS serving 18,000 plus billers and has more than 1 million agents network spread across 2000 cities and towns in India. It currently processes bills at a run rate of over 100 million bills annually. On an annualized basis, BillAvenue is processing bills worth Rs 120 billion. The bill payments business generates over 40 percent gross profit margin.

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

Maharashtra launches ‘Balsnehi’ buses to help street children — details here

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

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Maharashtra Women and Child Development department has launched ‘Balsnehi’ (child-friendly) buses and vans under an initiative to rehabilitate street children. The project will be implemented in six districts where ‘flying squads’ will move around in dedicated vehicles to help bring these street children into the mainstream of the society and ensure their education.

Each squad will comprise of a teacher, a counsellor, a driver and an assistant.

The project will be implemented in Mumbai city and its suburbs, Thane, Nashik, Pune and Nagpur, over a period of six months. It will be implemented by the district women and child development officers in collaboration with NGOs working in this sector. The department issued a government resolution (GR) announcing the central government’s approval for the project proposed under the Integrated Child Protection scheme. The government has approved Rs 50 lakh for the project.

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The child-friendly buses will have a capacity of 25 children and will be equipped with CCTV cameras inside and a tracking device to ensure the safety of children. The counsellor and teachers from the squads are expected to first take parents of the children into confidence. The squads have been instructed to admit any orphan children they come across, into the designated organisations with help from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

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The children should be given nutritious meals in case of malnutrition and if someone is identified as a person with disability, they should be given appropriate benefits as per the available government schemes. Also, children younger than six years should be enrolled at an anganwadi or one of the closest government-run schools.

The squads are instructed to take the children to the closest government hospitals for health and medical check-ups and if the children fall within the qualifying age groups, they would receive the COVID-19 vaccine as well.

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

China Covid situation is affecting Apple, Tesla again

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

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Tech companies which have manufacturing facilities in mainland China are likely to face disruption following the massive outbreak of COVID-19 in the country after the government dropped its zero-COVID policy.

Economic activity in China slowed in December with more people staying home to avoid getting sick or to recover following the abrupt easing of tough restrictions. Till now, there is no reliable data on the extent of the spread of the virus in the country or the number of sick and dead people, Bloomberg reported.

Amid the widespread COVID-19 outbreak in China, Apple’s business has come under threat as supply chain experts have warned of a growing risk to the production of iPhones.

Following the turmoil, the tech giant has accelerated plans to shift some of its production outside China. The iPhone maker has asked suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products in India and Vietnam and reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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With the Chinese government reversing the zero-COVID policy, the company is likely to face further disruption due to worker shortages at component plants or assembly factories across the country.

“We should be seeing a lot of operations get impacted by absenteeism, not just at factories, but a warehouse, distribution, logistic and transportation facilities as well,” Financial Times quoted Bindiya Vakil, CEO of supply chain mapping company Resilinc, as saying.

Apple is not the only company facing disruption in China due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Electric carmaker Tesla suspended manufacturing at its Shanghai plant on December 24, Reuters reported quoting an internal notice and two sources. The Elon Musk-led company was expected to shut down the plant over New Year. However, the decision came earlier than expected.

Other companies like Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, Google, Dell and Hewlett Packard, who have manufacturing facilities in China, are also likely to be affected by the rise in COVID-19 cases.

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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

Redevelopment has been a big growth trigger for real estate developers: Keystone Realtors

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

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The year 2022 has been a dream year for real estate developers as they are calling it the start of a strong real estate bull cycle. Keystone Developers popularly known as Rustomjee Developers was recently listed on the bourses on 24th November with a premium of 3 percent to the issue price of Rs 541.

It is a Mumbai-based real estate player with 32 completed projects as of 30th June, 12 ongoing projects and 21 forthcoming projects. The company has strategic investors like HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund-3 and Lipalton Pte. ltd in its businesses and in the past it has had investors like Giza and HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund 1.

Talking about this real estate boom, Boman Rustom Irani, CMD of Keystone Realtors said, “There are lots of reasons why the real estate has actually taken off the way it has. The key is that in India, we are largely building our wealth to actual real estate sources, and most of the families have about 60 percent of their wealth growth coming from the real estate itself.”

He added that buyers are looking at long-term safety for their money. He added cities like Mumbai and MMR have grown hugely and redevelopment has been the big growth trigger.

Read Here: Real estate sees boom in 2022, but will this stay in 2023?

Irani said, “This has led to a newness or a kind of youth infusion into the city of Mumbai redevelopments add to that the infrastructure is being built across the country this is leading to a lot of commercial development as well.”

Last known number at Rs 244 crore which is in three months FY23, but from FY20 bookings of Rs 1,000 crore, bookings are now at Rs 2,640 crore, so that is the normalized run rate. Volumes in Fy22 were at 1.48 million square feet, and in 3 months it is at 0.2 million square feet, during the pandemic it was between 0.7-0.9 million square feet.

Debt was a big issue for the company and now that has been able to reduce it substantially, from 7.7x in 2020 to 1.38x in FY22 and funds raised via IPO were also used to reduce debt.

Irani said, “We did not need to come to the capital markets, because the fact that the debt was high, our debt wasn’t very high. As a matter of fact, in 2018, we started reducing, we started on this path of reducing our debt. We brought it down to absolutely manageable levels where all the debt lay in the projects themselves, ongoing projects. But we have decided to bring that down as well right now. So that there’s headroom for growth, again. 1:1 debt to equity is something that real estate developers can happily survive or take care of a healthy company.”

For full interview, watch accompanying video

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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

Year ender | The insurance behemoth LIC’s hunt for growth continues

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

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If there is one thing which the primary markets in the year 2022 would be known for then it has to be for Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) initial public offering (IPO) — India’s largest-ever public offer. The government had plans to raise Rs 21,000 crore through dilution of just 3.5 percent stake. The issue price was Rs 949/share and aspiration was to have Rs 6 lakh crore market cap company.

Well, there was some cheer from the subscription response but only short lived. LIC listed at Rs 865/share, a 9 percent discount to its IPO price. Since then, it has been a ride which has kept investors on the edge of their seats. The stock hit its high on the listing day itself which was Rs 919/share and since then, it just refused to look north. The price slid all the way till Rs 588/share which was on October 21.

The slide between Rs 919 to Rs 588 took place in about 5 months and entailed a loss of Rs 2.1 lakh crore in market cap for LIC.

It has been a roller coaster ride. The stock has gained 26 percent from its lowest point. This elevation helped LIC regain about 1 lakh crore of market cap. Talking more recent, the stock has gained 21 percent this month and about 8 percent this week.

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But even after all of that action, it is still 22 percent away from its IPO price.

What has brought this bounce from lower? More importantly, are these triggers strong enough to turn this bounce into reversal? To have a conclusion on that we first need to understand what the triggers are:

PSU rally

First one is the larger PSU rally which we have seen. In the last 6 months, LIC’s investment just in the top 20 PSUs has grown 25 percent- returns ranging from 3 percent to 87 percent. This does two things – an increased investment returns increases the total income for the company and also pushes its embedded value.

A 10 percent move in equity markets moves LIC’s embedded value by 6.5 percent.

Financials

The next one is LIC’s financials. So far in FY22, LIC’s premium has seen a growth of 43 percent which compares to the private life insurance industry premium growing at 18 percent.

Not just that, LIC has taken market share to the tune of 400 bps from private players in FY22 so far.

Government’s proposal to amend insurance act

The next advantage comes from government’s proposal to amend the insurance act. These amendments, if approved, will allow LIC to enter health insurance market, distribute other general insurance products and distribute other financial products- opening three new business streams for the company.

Government looking to appoint private sector professional

The last one is, courtesy some reports, which suggest that the government is looking to appoint a private sector professional as the first CEO of LIC. This is also acting sentimentally positive for the stock.

Bottomline

To conclude, 2022- the buzz was all about LIC going public. 2023 will be all about a possible business turnaround at LIC and all eyes will be on how the largest life insurer maneuvers various regulatory changes which are in the offing.

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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

Who is Manasi Tata, the new director of Kirloskar joint venture companies

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

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Kirloskar Systems Private Ltd (KSPL) on Monday, December 27, announced the appointment of Manasi Tata as the director on its joint venture companies. The joint venture companies include Toyota Industries Engine India, Kirloskar Toyota Textile Machinery, Toyota Material Handling India and Denso Kirloskar Industries.

Tata’s appointment, which is effective immediately, comes after the passing of her father and former chairman and managing director of KSPL Vikram Kirloskar. His wife Geetanjali has already taken charge as the company’s new chairman and managing director.

A graduate from Rhode Island School of Design in the United States, Tata is trained in the Toyota manufacturing processes as well as the Japanese work culture. 

Tata is the fifth-generation scion of the Kirloskar empire. She is passionate about art and also runs an NGO, Caring with Colour, which works with government schools in Karnataka’s three districts.

“Deeply intertwined with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, Manasi Tata is truly committed to take forward her father’s vision and dream, contributing towards accomplishing national goals and remains dedicated towards keeping up the strength of partnership with various stakeholders, and the relationships that have grown stronger over the years,” the company said in a statement.

Vikram Kirloskar died of a heart attack last month at the age of 64 years, days after Toyota Motor Corp launched its second hybrid car in India, a seven-seat people-carrier, as part of a broader strategy to double-down on the sale of electrified vehicles in emerging markets.

In his last interview with CNBC-TV18, Kirloskar had said, “Innova Hycross is a 5th generation hybrid aimed to provide higher fuel efficiency. Hycross will surpass all experiences people have had with the Innova Crysta.”

“Rollout of flex fuel vehicle, will depend on regulations on ethanol and testing procedures. Toyota hopes to hit full capacity consistently starting middle of 2023,” he had said.

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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

Year ender 2022 | Banks ride the year on healthy loan growth and reduction in stress portfolio

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

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The year 2022 for banks has brought healthy loan growth and profitability. This in turn has meant that the challenge of growing the loan books in the face of rising interest rates has not become daunting as yet, and banks say they are in a pretty strong position to deal with these challenges come the new year.

Bankers have a reason to smile as they move away from the pain of the bad loan or NPA (non-performing asset) cycle to healthy long growth and profitability. Profits for the sector on a quarterly basis have increased from Rs 36,854 crore in the second quarter last year to a whopping Rs 58,717 crore in the same period this financial year.

The loan growth for the banking sector as of Q2 FY23 was at 16.44 percent perhaps one of the highest from the first of November 2013.

The rise in loan growth helped in stronger topline growth for the banking sector, which has helped the bottom line or the earnings of the banks. So, the loan growth incrementally has been driven by the retail segment.

The corporate sector has now started to come back for working capital loans as money market rates have shot up through the roof. So the capital expenditure (capex) based demand going ahead may augur well for a healthy loan growth rate for the banking sector.

Stronger loan growth has also translated into healthy operating profit growth for the banking sector. Operating profits of the sector have grown from Rs 97,383 crore in Q2 FY22 to a little under Rs 1,15,000 crore as of Q2 FY23.

Stress reduction, the banking sector has seen its gross NPA ratio decline from 7.4 percent in Q2 FY22 to right now about 5.24 percent in Q2 FY23. In value wise that decline has been 15.2 percent year-on-year in Q2 FY23.

The declining gross NPA amount-wise has largely been led by the PSU banks. Now, PSU banks’ gross NPA value-wise has declined by 15.9 percent year-on-year that is from Q2 FY22 to Q2 FY23 while that of private sector banks has declined by 12.7 percent in the same period. So, PSU banks the gross NPA ratio has declined by 256 basis points from Q2 FY22 to Q2 FY23. While that of private sector banks has declined by 119 basis points in the same period.

Bank’s balance sheet has strengthened with that core provision coverage ratio increasing from 69.7 percent in Q2 FY22 to right now about 74.6 percent in Q2 FY23.

PSU banks co-provision coverage ratio has increased to 74.9 percent in Q2 FY23 when compared to a little under 70 percent in Q2 FY22 and that of private sector banks has increased to 74.4 percent in Q2, FY23 versus 69 percent that they had a year ago.

So for 2023, the loan growth could remain strong and could be in double digits. Net interest margin will continue to expand till Q4 FY23 results as loans are getting re-priced faster and at a healthier rate. Return ratios will expand as credit costs will come down and stress in the balance sheet will continue its downward trajectory.

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

Bizarre accident in UP’s Balrampur results in death of 90 sheep

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

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As many as 90 sheep and 8 vultures died on Sunday in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, after being run over by a train on the Gorakhpur-Gonda route. Prabhu Ram, a villager from Vishanpur Kodar, was attacked by a pack of dogs as he was out grazing his sheep.

Ram was directing the herd of sheep toward the Saryu Canal railway bridge when a train headed from Gorakhpur to Lucknow ran over them, according to an official. A second train then ran over eight vultures feeding on the carcasses.

Ram managed to save his life by jumping into the canal.

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Nand Kumar Pandey, the head of the village of Motinagar where the tragedy took place, claimed that numerous vultures had flown down and were feeding on the sheep carcasses when another Gorakhpur-bound train drove over eight of them.

SP Yadav, a local MLA, visited the area after the incident and demanded Rs 40 lakh in compensation for the sheep owner. He said that the state government and the rail minister had been asked to reimburse the compensation.

The requested amount, however, is far greater than what sheep would have been fetched on the free market.

A report on the incident would be filed to the district administration and the Railways, said Tulsipur Sub Divisional Magistrate Manglesh Dubey on Monday.

He said that in order to prevent the spread of illness, instructions had been given to remove the sheep carcasses and vulture corpses.

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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