Tag Wise Current Affairs
Tag: Miscellaneous
Cabinet approves creation of Agri-Market infrastructure fund
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 07 February 2019
Government constitutes committee to boost domestic manufacturing of aircraft
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 08 February 2019
Bharat 22 ETF subscribed over 10 times
Tags: Miscellaneous, Public Finance
Published on: 15 February 2019
GeM and GS1 India ink MoU to empower buyers to informed choice
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 18 February 2019
NPPA brings 42 non-scheduled cancer drugs under price control
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 28 February 2019
Unorganized sector generates largest number of jobs in India: Oxfam Report
Tags: Miscellaneous, Industries
Published on: 01 April 2019
India notifies tax info exchange pact with Marshall Islands
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 07 June 2019
India to host 3rd International Sunflower Seed and Oil Conference
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 08 July 2019
Government abolishes duty on polyester manufacturing chemical PTA
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 05 February 2020
How pandemic is disrupting demand and supply of loans?
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 02 May 2020
How Covid has affected finance of state governments
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 29 October 2020
Increase in daily wages of Assam tea garden workers
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 23 February 2021
Stock options restrictions for independent directors
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 02 April 2021
RBI’s Retail Direct Scheme and integrated ombudsman scheme
Tags: Miscellaneous
Published on: 16 November 2021
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'title' => 'Cabinet approves creation of Agri-Market infrastructure fund ',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved creation of Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) to upgrade and develop rural markets for agricultural goods. It will have corpus of Rs. 2000 crore with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF)</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It aims at development and up-gradation of agricultural marketing infrastructure in Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) and Regulated Wholesale Markets.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will provide State/UT Governments subsidized loan for their proposal for developing marketing infrastructure in 585 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and 10,000 GrAMs. </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">States can also access this fund for innovative integrated market infrastructure projects including Hub and Spoke mode and in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. </span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the disbursal of funds will be dependent on demands and proposals received from the states.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Using this fund physical and basic infrastructure will be strengthened in GrAMs using MGNREGA and other Government Schemes.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The interest subsidy for this fund will be provided by Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare to NABARD in alignment with annual budget releases during 2018-19 and 2019-20 as well as upto 2024-25. </span></span></li>
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'title' => 'Government constitutes committee to boost domestic manufacturing of aircraft',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government has decided to set up committee for development of regional transport aircraft for commercial use in the country. The committee will be tasked with creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for development of regional transport aircraft. This is part of road map being prepared by Central Government to boost domestic manufacturing of aircraft.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India is one of fastest growing domestic aviation markets in the world and many airlines have embarked on fleet expansion to cater to the rising passenger traffic.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The fleet size of domestic airlines is set to increase twofold to 1,100 planes by 2027. This is further expected to increase to 2,359 planes by 2040.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currently, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is the only entity that produces aircraft and helicopters for military and non-military purposes.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Measures to boost domestic manufacturing of aircrafts</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government also has formed separate committee of experts to explore manufacturing of aircraft, helicopters and associated equipment within the country.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government is also planning to manufacture Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) domestically under National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD) programme.</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NCAD programme aims at developing of 90-seater aircraft in two phases namely, design and development phase and manufacturing phase.</span></span></li>
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'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has envisaged to develop and expand National Gas Grid, by further adding 14,239 km of gas pipeline to country’s existing 16,788 km network. At present about 16,788 Km natural gas pipeline is operational and about 14,239 Km gas pipelines are being developed to increase availability of natural gas across the country.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Background</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">At present share of natural gas in India’s energy mix is just over 6%. Government has set aim to increase its share to 15% for mowing towards gas based economy, while world average is 24%. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">For this, Government is envisaging National Gas Grid focused to increase availability of cleaner cooking fuel such as PNG and transportation fuel (CNG) to all citizens of the country. </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">National Gas Grid</span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Objectives </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Remove regional gas and green fuel access imbalances within the country with regard to access to natural gas</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Connect gas sources to major demand centres and ensure assured availability of gas to consumers in various sectors. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Develop City Gas Distribution (CGD) Networks in cities to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG).</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Implementing Authority</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is nodal authority to authorize to grant authorization to entities for development of CGD network in Geographical Areas (GAs) as per PNGRB Act, 2006</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It identifies GAs for authorizing development of CGD network in synchronization with the development of natural gas pipeline connectivity and natural gas availability. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">After completion of 9th CGD Bidding Round, CGD network will be accessible in 178 GAs covering approximately 280 districts spread over 26 States/UTs.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Benefits</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Its expansion will benefit industrial and commercial units by ensuring uninterrupted supply of natural gas. It will also expand potential coverage of gas pipeline network to about 50% of country’s population, spreading over 35% of area. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It will provide better infrastructure for automobiles using gas. It will also aid in renewing of fertilizer sector and also give a boost to power and automotive sector.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">Natural gas </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It is superior fuel as compared with coal and other liquid fuels, as it is safer, cheaper and environment friendly fuel. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It is 60 percent cheaper compared with petrol and around 45 percent cheaper when compared with Diesel. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It can be used in domestic kitchen, transport sector as well as fuel for industries and commercial units. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It can be supplied through pipelines and hence, there is no need to store it in cylinders in kitchen, thus saves space. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"quicksand",serif">It is environment friendly fuel and it can play significant role in reducing carbon emission.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'title' => 'Cabinet hikes MSP of Jute',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister has increased Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Raw Jute for 2019-20 season. This decision was taken based on recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Jute Corporation of India (JCI) will continue to act as central nodal agency to undertake price support operations at the MSP in Jute growing states.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Factors taken into considerations</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">CACP, before recommending MSP hike for raw Jute, has taken into account cost of production, overall demand-supply, inter-crop price parity, domestic and international prices.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It also took account terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors and likely impact of MSP on user industries and minimum 50% as margin over weighted average cost of production.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Impact of increased MSP </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is expected to ensure appropriate minimum prices to farmers </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will yield returns of 55.81% over all India weighted average cost of production. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will step up investment in Jute cultivation and thereby production and productivity in the country.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Jute</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is one of the important natural fibers after cotton in terms of cultivation and usage. It is long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It grows in plain alluvial soil and standing water. It is rain-fed crop and monsoon climate is most suitable for growing it. Soft water is necessary for jute production</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Ganges Delta account for almost 85% of world’s jute cultivation. India is largest producer or cultivator of jute in the world (accounting for 60%) followed by Bangladesh and China.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">India’s top jute producing states are West Bengal (alone accounts for 50% production) followed by Bihar, Assam and Odisha. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Nearly 40 lakh farmers and 3.7 lakh workers in jute mills are dependent for their livelihood on jute sector.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Government support </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Jute sector in India is predominantly dependent on Government support which purchases jute products more than Rs. 6,500 crores every year.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Government has been making concerted efforts for development of this sector considering dependency large of population for their livelihood on jute sectors. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It also has expanded scope of mandatory packaging norms using jute under Jute Packaging Material (JPM) Act, 1987. </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'title' => 'Bharat 22 ETF subscribed over 10 times',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">The second follow-on issue of Bharat 22 Exchange Traded Fund (B22ETF) received about Rs. 40,000 Crore and was subscribed over 10 times of base issue size which was fixed at Rs. 3,500 Crore. Government has decided to retain approximately Rs. 10,000 Crore as its divestment proceeds. Since its launch in November 2017, Government has raised Rs 22,900 crore through B22ETF in two tranches. </span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Bharat 22 Exchange Traded Fund (B22ETF)</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">B22ETF is passively managed fund that tracks S&P BSE Bharat 22 index. ICICI Prudential is its ETF Manager and Asia Index Private Ltd. Is its Index Provider.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It was launched by Union Finance Ministry to meet some part of its disinvestment target of Rs. 80,000 Crore in current fiscal. It is second ETF launched by Union Finance Ministry, first was CPSE ETF’s 10. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It has total 22 stocks spread across six sectors viz. basic materials, energy, finance, industrials, FMCG and utilities with 20% cap on each sector and 15% cap on each stock. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is well-diversified ETF as it spans across six sectors. Sector wise weightage is basic materials (4.4%), energy (17.5%), finance (20.3%), FMCG (15.2%), and utilities (20%) and industrials (22.6%).</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It has three stocks of private sector companies viz. Axis Bank, ITC and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which account for 44% of total investment. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">All other stocks are of public sector entities, including ONGC, IOC, SBI, BPCL, Coal India and Nalco.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">The banking segment includes stocks from State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Axis Bank, Indian Bank, Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">The energy segment includes Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Bharat Petroleum (BP), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Coal India Limited (CIL).</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Exchange-traded fund (ETF) </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is essentially index funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks. It is basically basket of securities that are traded, like individual stocks, on an exchange.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Each stock in it is assigned weights that reflects composition of index. It is similar to mutual funds in certain manner but is more liquid as it can be sold quickly on stock exchanges like shares. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Its trading value is based on net asset value of underlying stocks that it represents. Its price changes daily as it is traded throughout day. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It owns underlying assets (shares of stock, bonds, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Benefits:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Trading through ETF route is considered as safer mode of disinvestment as it shields investors against stock market volatility. Its shareholders are entitled to proportion of profits, such as earned interest or dividends paid. It enables investors to gain broad exposure to entire stock markets or specific sectors with relative ease.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'metatitle' => 'Bharat 22 ETF subscribed over 10 times | Study IQ',
'metakeyword' => 'In Business and Economy Current Affairs, Second follow-on issue, Bharat 22 Exchange Traded Fund, B22ETF, received, Rs. 40,000 Crore, subscribed over 10 times,base issue size',
'metadescription' => 'The second follow-on issue of Bharat 22 Exchange Traded Fund (B22ETF) received about Rs. 40,000 Crore and was subscribed over 10 times of base issue size which was fixed at Rs. 3,500 Crore.',
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(int) 5 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 190,
'title' => 'GeM and GS1 India ink MoU to empower buyers to informed choice ',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">GS1 India has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to enable GeM's buyers and vendors to provide rich, accurate and standardized information on attributes of products across various categories. This will help in empowering them to take more informed decisions.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Under this MoU</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">GeM will access product data from GS1 India's DataKart, the National repository of information on attributes of millions of retail products in the country. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Every data of products on GeM will be subject to validity checks based on globally accepted GS1 standards. </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">GS1 India</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is government-industry-ledstandards body registered under Societies Registration Act 1860. <em>It is affiliated with GS1, a not for profit global standards organisation.</em></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It was established by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, FIEO, IMC, APEDA, Spices Board, IIP and BIS. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It aims to improve efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels through use of global GS1 standards.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">These standards help in strengthening consumer trust and confidence in products they buy by providing them access to trusted product data and empower them to make informed choices.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'IWAI launches LADIS portal ',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched LADIS (Least Available Depth Information System) portal to provide real-time information on available depth on stretches of National Waterways (NWs). Information provided through this portal will help better planning for movement of vessels and ensure optimum use of NWs.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">LADIS Portal </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is hosted on IWAI’s website (<a href="http://www.iwai.nic.in" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">www.iwai.nic.in</a>) and has been developed in-house. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will provide details of least available depths (LAD) obtained from respective surveyors and regional incharge deputed with IWAI survey vessels which constantly move on NWs.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Initially, it will provide information only for NW-1, NW-2, Indo-Bagladesh Protocol route and NW-3, along with date of survey. Later it will be expanded to other NWs also.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will facilitate day to day operations of inland vessels plying on NWs and to avoid any hindrance in service and operation. </span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Benefits of LADIS Portal </span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will ensure that real-time data on LAD is disseminated for ship/barge and cargo owners so that they can undertake transportation on NWs in more planned way. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will help transporters by guiding them on suitability of time of movement as it will provide assured depth of waterway required for seamless movement of vessels.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will enable vessel operators and cargo owners to prepare their sailing plans strictly as per applicable waterways related information (hydrographic survey reports, river Notices etc.).</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will enhance credibility and efficiency of information sharing to achieve seamless operations on NWs, besides pre-empting problems that may occur during movement of vessels.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is nodal body in charge of development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. It functions under Union Ministry of Shipping.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is statutory body established under Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985. It was established in October 1986. It is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Functions:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Build necessary infrastructure in inland waterways, survey economic feasibility of new projects and carry out administration and regulations of these waterways. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Undertake projects for development and maintenance of inland waterways transportation infrastructure on national waterways.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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(int) 7 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'id' => (int) 281,
'title' => 'NPPA brings 42 non-scheduled cancer drugs under price control',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has brought 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs under price control through trade margin rationalisation. In this regard it has invoked extraordinary powers in public interest, under Para 19 of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">NPPA order</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Trade margin of these 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs under price control has been capped up to 30% on selling price (MRP).</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It directs manufacturers to fix their retail price based on price at first point of sale of product of these non-scheduled formulations containing any of 42 drugs.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">These 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs would cover 72 formulations and 355 brands. The revised prices will come into effect from March 8, 2019. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">This decision will reduce retail prices of these drugs by up to 85% and entail minimum savings of Rs. 105 crores to consumers. Currently, 57 anti-cancer drugs are under price control as scheduled formulations.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">About National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is independent regulatory body under Department of Pharmaceuticals, Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. It was set up in 1997. It is headquartered in New Delhi.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Mandate:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> (i) Fix/revise controlled bulk drugs prices and formulations placed in National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) under Schedule-I of DPCO. (ii) Enforce prices and availability of medicines under DPCO, 2013. (iii) Monitor prices of decontrolled drugs in order to keep them at reasonable levels. (iv) Implements and enforces provisions of DPCO. (v) Recover amounts overcharged by manufacturers for controlled drugs from consumers.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">So far, around 1,000 drugs have been brought under price control under initiative. Non-scheduled drugs are allowed an increase of up to 10% in prices every year, which is monitored by the NPPA.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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(int) 8 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 574,
'title' => 'India, US ink pact to check tax evasion by MNCs',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">India and United States (US) signed Inter-Governmental Agreement for Exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports (local filing) to check tax evasion by Multi National Cooperations (MNCs). The agreement aims to ensure that all tax authorities have access to same information about MNC’s value chain and resulting tax consequences. India already has signed Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for Exchange of CbC Reports with 62 countries/jurisdictions.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong> </strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Features of agreement</span></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will enable both countries to automatically exchange CbC Reports filed by parent entities of MNCs in the respective jurisdictions with effect from January 1, 2016.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It will also reduce compliance burden by obviating need for Indian subsidiary companies of US MNCs to do local filing of CbC Reports.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It is part of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) action plan incorporated in Income Tax (IT) Act.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Under IT Act, it is mandatory for Indian subsidiaries of MNCs to provide details of key financial statements from other jurisdictions where they operate.<strong> </strong></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">This provides Income Tax (IT) department with better operational view of such companies, primarily with regards to revenue and income tax payment.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Country-by-Country (CbC) Report</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Template for it has been provided in BEPS Action 13 report (Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting).</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It mandates MNCs to report annually and for each tax jurisdiction in which they do business information wrt to revenue and taxation<strong>. </strong>This report is called Country-by-Country (CbC) Report.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">This CbC report contains aggregated country-by-country information relating to global allocation of income, taxes paid, and certain other indicators of MNCs.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">It also contains list of all constituent entities of MNC operating in particular jurisdiction and nature of main business activity of each constituent entity. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">The information provided in CbC report enables enhanced level of assessment of tax risk by both tax administrations.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'metakeyword' => 'In Economy Current Affairs, India, United States, Inter-Governmental Agreement,r Exchange of Country-by-Country, CbC Reports, local filing, check tax evasion, Multi National Cooperations (MNCs).',
'metadescription' => 'India and United States (US) signed Inter-Governmental Agreement for Exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports (local filing) to check tax evasion by Multi National Cooperations (MNCs).',
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'title' => 'Unorganized sector generates largest number of jobs in India: Oxfam Report',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">According to Oxfam’s recently released 'Mind The Gap - State of Employment in India' report, in India, largest number of jobs are generated in the unorganized sector. The report also highlights that lack of quality jobs and increasing wage disparity are key markers of inequality in the Indian labour market</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Highlights of report</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Largest number of jobs were generated in the unorganized sector, which highlights questions over India's growth data and not being reflected in the growth of jobs.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Women’s participation:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Regressive social norms continue to hamper women's participation in the workforce. On an average, women are paid 34% less than similarly qualified male workers for performing the same tasks. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Women are being left out of economic growth narrative as a consequence of poor policy choices and lack of investment in social security and infrastructure.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Demonitisation:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Job generation was adversely impacted after demonetization and hit the women workforce most. There is decline in rural jobs.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Post-demonetisation period also saw drop in households with two or more persons being employed.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Between January and October 2016, 34.8% households saw two or more persons employed. Post-demonetisation, this dropped to 31.8% with women workers becoming the first casualties of job losses.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Social realities:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Class and caste still continue to play crucial roles in determining employment for men and women, especially in stigmatised vocations like sanitation, jobs in the leather industry and rag-picking. Discrimination also exists in terms of market participation</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Policy interventions:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Economic factors can be improved by way of policy interventions. There is need shift in development focus towards labour intensive sectors to create more jobs and pushes for better work conditions to make jobs more inclusive.</span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">There is need for higher investments in health and education to improve productivity. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Disparities in education system:</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"> Students from state education boards do considerably worse than those of independent national boards that cater to richer, better schools. </span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif">Within public education system, there are also glaring inequalities in educational investment.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand",serif"><input alt="" src="https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/a604/tnef4an55i9za3m6g.jpg?size_id=5" style="height:534px; width:632px" type="image" /></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'title' => '5,000 millionaires left India in 2018: Report',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">According to Global Wealth Migration Review 2019, about 5,000 Indian high net worth individuals (HNWIs) or 2</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">%</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> of India's super rich migrated to other countries in 2018. It was released by Mauritius based AFRASIA Bank.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Report Highlights</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Global migration of HNWIs trend picked up over the last few years. China, Russia and India rank are top three countries seeing exodus of HNWIs worldwide, followed by UK and France. </span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Australia attracted major chunk of super rich immigrant, beating United States to 2nd place. Over 12,000 HNIs moved to Australia since 2008, against 10,000 to USA and 4000 to Canada. </span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">In the last 10 years, China has been best performing country in terms of wealth creation, growing by 130</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">%</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">, while India was ranked 4th with 96</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">%</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">. Mauritius and Ethiopia were ranked number 2 and 3. </span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">India related facts:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> is among world's top countries in wealth creation since 2008. But it is also losing HNWIs through migration.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">As per projections, India will be 4th largest wealth market by 2028, after US, China and Japan and ahead of UK and Germany.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">But interms of equitable distribution of wealth, 48</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">%</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> of India's wealth is concentrated in the hands of HNIs, against a global average of 36</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">%.</span></span></span></span></li>
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'title' => 'India notifies tax info exchange pact with Marshall Islands',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">India has notified a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the Marshall Islands. It will enable bilateral sharing of banking information and allow officials of one country to undertake tax examinations in the other. TIEA between India and Marshall Islands for exchange of information with respect to taxes was signed in 2016 at Majuro, the Capital of the Marshall Islands. It was notified by India on May 21, 2019.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Significance</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It will enhance mutual cooperation between India and the Marshall Islands. It will provide effective framework for exchange of information on tax matters which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) </span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It is based on international standards of tax transparency and exchange of information. It enables sharing of information on request. It enables bilateral sharing of information, including banking and ownership information for tax purposes. It also allows officials of one country to undertake tax examinations in the other.</span></span></span></span></p>
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'title' => 'India to host 3rd International Sunflower Seed and Oil Conference',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">India will be hosting the 3rd edition of International Sunflower Seed and Oil Conference (ISSOC) 2019 in Maharashtra, Mumbai from July 19 to 20, 2019. The aim of the conference is to encourage better communications among sunflower oil producers, industry groups, academic researchers and local governments.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">ISSOC 2019</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It is being organized by International Sunflower Oil Association (ISOA) and hosted by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It will see the participation of around 300 delegates from across the world with interests in sunflower seed, oil, and meal.</span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Note:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> The first edition of this conference was held in 2015 at Shanghai, China and 2nd edition in 2017 at Odessa, Ukraine.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">India’s consumption of sunflower oil</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Sunflower seed is seen as healthy table-seed and culinary seed having wide applications in variety of food preparations including cakes and pastries. In 2018-19, globally sunflower seed production was at 51.41 million tonnes, sunflower oil at 19.45 million tonnes and sunflower meal at 20.90 million tonnes.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">India is the largest importer of sunflower oil with imports of about 2.8 million tonnes. The global imports of sunflower oil is around 9.6 million tonnes. This shows significance of India in global sunflower seed and oil market as every producer or exporting country in the world looks to India for a market.</span></span></span></span></p>
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'title' => '7th Economic Census begins from Tripura',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Union Government will kick off 7th Economic Census, a massive exercise aimed to get complete count of all economic units in the country from the north eastern state of Tripura. The census will be conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and is being conducted this year after a gap of five years. MoSPI haspartnered with CSC e-Governance services India Ltd (CSC SPV), , a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as the implementing agency to conduct the census. It will be launched in other states/union territories in August and September.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">7th Economic Census</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It will undertake complete count of all establishment located within the geographical boundary of the country. It will help to put in place threshold turnover in monetary terms for households/ establishments for inclusion in the coverage of the Census. </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">The data will be collected through door to door survey of each household and commercial establishment as per the provisions of Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Coverage:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> It will cover all establishments including household enterprises, engaged in production or distribution of goods or services in the non-farm agricultural and non-agricultural sector will be counted. It will also identify villages with no economic activity for policy purposes.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Implementing agencies:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and CSC e-Governance Services India Limited.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Digital Support:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> It will be carried out through an IT-based digital platform for data capture, validation, report generation and dissemination.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">National Business Register:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> Economic Census will help to prepare a National Business Register which can be linked with existing databases at the central and state government levels. It will list of all establishments, tagged by geographical location up to village/ward level for local level planning purposes and provide information on number of workers working in establishments (which are under operation), activity-wise and area-wise.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Technical modalities:</span></span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif""> Task group comprising representatives from NCAER, EPIC-India, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, labour and employment ministry, GST Network, Reserve Bank of India and NITI Aayog, will look at technical modalities related to the conduct of the census.</span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in; text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">About Economic Censuses </span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It was launched in 1976 as a plan scheme. It undertakes complete count of all establishments located within the geographical boundary of the country.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It also provides detailed information on operational and other characteristics such as number of establishments, source of finance, type of ownership, number of persons employed etc.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">It covers all entrepreneurial units in the country involved in any economic activities of either agricultural or non-agricultural sector and engaged in production and distribution of goods and or services not for own consumption.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">Information gather from this census is used for micro level/ decentralized planning and to assess contribution of various sectors of the economy in the gross domestic product (GDP).</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Quicksand","serif"">So far total Six Economic Censuses (EC) have been conducted till date. The first in 1977, second in 1980, third in 1990, fourth in 1998, fifth in 2005 and sixth edition in 2013.</span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'metatitle' => '7th Economic Census begins from Tripura',
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'title' => 'INX media scam',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Issue</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in relation to the INX Media case. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Background</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CBI has registered an FIR alleging irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX media for receiving funds from abroad to the tune of Rs 305 crores.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is alleged that Chidambaram received kick backs and tweaked FDI rules to allow excessive flow of foreign investments into INX media firm.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Details</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222">According to ED, INX Media was granted permission by the FIPB for FDI inflow amounting to Rs 4.62 crore from three Mauritian companies into INX Media.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222">Instead of the approved Rs 4.62 crore FDI, INX Media brought in a much larger sum of </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222">Rs 305 crores.</span></span> <span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222">It then went a step further and even brought in downstream investments, clearly violating rules. </span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222">To facilitate changes, a bribe of $1 Million was transferred to Karti Chidambaram, son of P.Chidambaram through various foreign banks. The bribe amount was then used to buy various benami properties abroad.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0in; margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)</span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222">The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was a national agency of </span></span></span><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Government of India<span style="color:#222222">, with the remit to consider and recommend </span>foreign direct investment<span style="color:#222222"> (FDI) which does not come under the automatic route.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="color:#222222"> It was housed in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. FIPB was abolished on 24 May 2017.</span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'title' => 'GST collection up by 4.5% in August',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Issue</span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The gross GST collection in August, 2019 stood at 98,202 crore, up 4.51% compared to 93,960 crore in the same month last year</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST collection, although higher on year-on-year basis, is still lower than government's expectations of 1 lakh crores.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Background</span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST collection is a significant part of government’s revenue collection which is estimated to be around Rs 1 lakh crore every month to meet targets.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The on going slowdown has reduced the revenue amount from target of Rs 1 lakh crores to Rs 98,202 crores.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Details</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The total number of summary returns in GSTR 3B forms filed in the month of July upto 31 August was 75.8 lakhs</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indirect tax collection in the month of August is generally subdued due to seasonality factor and hence may not be considered a reflection of consumption slowdown.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Effects</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A lower GST mop-up is set to strain government finances and make it difficult to meet fiscal target.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The burden would increase on the Centre for compensating states for revenue shortfall. The pressure on the revenue department could also go up to meet the targets which in turn may result in coercive actions against trade and businesses.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The lower revenue is expected to hamper infrastructural and social reforms intended by the government.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Way Forward</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To boost sales and initiate growth the government is expected to resort to rate cuts in some sector such as automobile and consumer goods like biscuits.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">By plugging the leakages the government hopes to increase the revenue amount.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:#212121">GST</span></span></span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or consumption tax) imposed in India on the supply of goods and services. It is a comprehensive multistage, destination based tax. It is collected from point of consumption and not point of origin like previous taxes.</span></span></p>
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'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2113,
'title' => 'India among top 10 countries with Gold reserves',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Issue</span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has overtaken the Netherlands to move into the list of top ten countries in terms of total gold reserves.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to the World Gold Council, India has gold reserves totalling 618.2 tonnes, which is marginally higher than the Netherlands’ reserves of 612.5 tonnes.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Background</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s gold reserves have grown substantially in the past couple of decades from 357.8 tonnes in the first quarter of 2000 to the current 618.2 tonnes.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Demand is concentrated among emerging market central banks with diversification being the key driver in the face of ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Details</span></strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to the latest release by the World Gold Council, U.S. leads the country list with total gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes followed by Germany with 3,366.8 tonnes.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the IMF is ranked third with a holding of 2,451.8 tonnes, it is followed by countries such as Italy (2,451.8 tonnes), France (2,436.1 tonnes), Russia (2,219.2 tonnes), China (1,936.5 tonnes), Switzerland (1,040 tonnes) and Japan (765.2 tonnes) before India at the 10th spot.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Significance</span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Most central banks are raising their gold holdings as the dollar is strengthening, as they feel the need to diversify their reserves. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Gold is seen as a better hedge against the dollar than any other currency<span style="font-size:11.5pt"><span style="background-color:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="color:black">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
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'title' => 'Exports to handle economic slowdown',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Slowdown in domestic manufacturing could be negated by fast-tracking exports. As trade windows open due to trade tensions between the U.S. and China, an opportunity is created for Indian exports to the U.S. market.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ahead of the Union Commerce and Industries Minister’s meeting with exporters and importers on September 11 to discuss trade policy instruments, exporters have flagged certain concerns, saying the government should help build large capacity for exports instead of announcing measures only for the MSME sector.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The CII has said that the exporters were at the mercy of foreign shipping lines in the absence of a national shipping line due to which their profits eroded significantly. A national shipping regulatory body should also be formed to determine freight rates.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Remedial measures are needed to protect the huge employment and investments made in SEZs where many units were finding it difficult to carry on their businesses due to some mid-term policy changes. There is also a suggestion for the government to give a one time I-T exemption.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Measures to boost exports includes “full reimbursement “ of various imposts on exports and relaxed lending norms to improve credit flow to reverse a slide in the growth of outbound shipments.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Way ahead</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For Indian exporters to become competitive, the government needs to ensure that transaction costs are cut drastically, embedded taxes are fully offset, raw materials are made available at reasonable prices and credit is extended at cheaper rates.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Land acquisition needs to be made easier and companies must not be dragged into unnecessary legal hurdles.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'id' => (int) 2214,
'title' => 'Aadhar authentication for GST',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To keep fake traders at bay, Aadhaar authentication or physical verification will be made mandatory for new traders coming under the Goods and Services Tax regime from January 2020.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Goods and Services Tax is an indirect tax imposed in India on the supply of goods and services. It is a comprehensive multistage, destination based tax.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under the new rule, those who do not prefer Aadhaar authentication, can go for physical verification, which will be carried out in three days. Currently, Aadhaar authentication is optional and no physical verification is required.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST network is trying to make returns system more simple compared to the earlier one. All types of taxpayers will get a new system under three formats: <strong>Sahaj</strong>, <strong>Sugam </strong>and <strong>Normal.</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Refunding will be made online to bring more transparency and convenience for traders and exporters.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>GST Network</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Goods and Service Tax Network (or GSTN) is a non-profit, non-government organization. It will manage the entire IT system of the GST portal, which is the mother database for everything GST.</span></span></p>
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'metatitle' => 'Aadhar authentication for GST',
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2242,
'title' => 'India and GSP',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> A group of 44 influential lawmakers has urged the Trump administration to reinstate India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the key GSP trade programme as part of a potential trade deal between the two countries.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Trump administration had terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which had reduced India’s exports to the US significantly. India was the largest beneficiary of the programme in 2017 with USD 5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status .</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">American businesses and workers have suffered most from GSP termination to date instead of the foreign beneficial country it is alleged.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Despite facing higher tariffs due to lost GSP, imports from India of (previously) GSP-eligible products increased over 40 per cent in June/July 2019 compared to a year earlier. This may be the result of companies shifting sourcing away from China.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Latest data also shows that loss of GSP for India cost American companies about USD 30 million in July.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>GSP</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under the GSP programme, nearly 2,000 products including auto components and textile materials can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by Congress.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2328,
'title' => 'India- USA trade deal fails',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The India-US limited trade agreement that was intended to be signed to prevent on going escalations in tariff war has failed to get through.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The announcement of an agreement was expected to coincide with bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump. Trump had announced that a bigger trade deal would be coming into place soon.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sources have cliamed that the prospects of an agreement faltered due to the failure to reach an agreement on Information and communications technology (ICT) products.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The U.S. has wanted India to eliminate tariffs (20%) on ICT products, but India is concerned that this could open up the market to flooding by Chinese technology.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The U.S. wanted greater access to Indian markets for medical devices, such as stents and knee implants, ICT and dairy products and sought the removal of price caps.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India wanted the reinstatement of preferential market access to U.S. markets under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, which was revoked in early June.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It had also wanted facilitation of processes in agricultural product markets where it already had access such as easier certification of food product irradiation facilities and greater access in some agricultural markets like table grapes, pomegranates for instance.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Other Issues</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Some of the larger issues for the U.S. include digital trade like for instance regulations around data localization and FDI in e-commerce.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India also continued to appear on U.S.’s “Priority Watch List” this year along with 10 other countries.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The annual list identifies countries which, according to the U.S., pose challenges to American intellectual property rights.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'India set to lose WTO case',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A WTO dispute settlement panel has upheld a US complaint that export subsidy programmes provided by the Indian government violated provisions of the trade body’s subsidies and countervailing measures (SCM) pact.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In 2018, the US complained that India’s export-related programmes violated Article 3.1(a) of WTO’s SCM agreement. Under Article 3.1, developing countries with gross per capita of $1,000 per annum are not entitled to provide export subsidies that are contingent upon export performance.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The three-member dispute settlement panel has struck down Indian export promotion schemes on the grounds that India is not entitled to provide such subsidies because its per capita gross national product (GNP) has crossed $1,000 per annum.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India will have a month to challenge the ruling before an appellate body, the highest court for global trade disputes. If the appellate body upholds the panel’s ruling, India will be required to discontinue the existing export promotion schemes.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ruling comes at an opportune time for US, which is piling pressure on New Delhi to open the Indian market for medical products, particularly heart stents and knee implants, dairy items and other products, as part of an interim trade deal.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India had announced it would discontinue export subsidies soon. Despite these pronouncements, the government has continued with export subsidies.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Implications</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The programmes that could be affected are export-oriented units scheme, electronics hardware technology parks scheme, bio-technology parks scheme, merchandise exports from India scheme, export promotion capital goods scheme, special economic zones and duty-free imports for exporters.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Export subsidies</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Export subsidy is a government policy to encourage export of goods and discourage sale of goods on the domestic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_(economics)" title="Market (economics)">market</a> through direct payments, low-cost <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loans" title="Loans">loans</a>, tax relief for exporters, or government-financed international advertising.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An export subsidy reduces the price paid by foreign importers, which means <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_market" title="Domestic market">domestic</a> consumers pay more than foreign consumers. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization" title="World Trade Organization">World Trade Organization</a> (WTO) prohibits most subsidies directly linked to the volume of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exports" title="Exports">exports</a>, except for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_Developed_Countries" title="Least Developed Countries">LDCs</a>.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 22 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2416,
'title' => 'GST collection drops',
'description' => '<p><strong>Issue</strong></p>
<p>The revenue collected through GST has dropped for the second consecutive month in September to a 19-month low of Rs. 91,916 crore.</p>
<p><strong>Background</strong></p>
<p>The lower collection of GST has been attributed to lower growth in GDP numbers in the current quarter. This slowdown has impacted consumption pattern of the public and has resulted in lower revenue collection.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Details</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>The revenue during September 2019 is 2.67% lower than what was collected in the same month of the previous year.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>During April-September, the domestic component has grown by 7.82% while the GST on imports has shown negative growth and the total collection has grown by 4.9%.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The lower collections is assumed to be low due to the lower GDP growth numbers, as GST is a transaction tax that is immediately impacted by any decline in any economic activity.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It has also been observed that drop in State GST collections has been sharper than for central GST (CGST).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>GST</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Goods and Services Tax is an indirect tax imposed in India on the supply of goods and services. It is a comprehensive multistage, destination based tax.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Goods and services are divided into five different tax slabs for collection of tax - 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Petroleum products, alcoholic drinks, and electricity are not taxed under GST and instead are taxed separately by the individual state governments.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The single GST subsumed several taxes and levies, which included central excise duty, services tax, additional customs duty, surcharges, state-level value added tax and Octroi.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>India adopted a dual GST model, meaning that taxation is administered by both the Union and state governments. Transactions made within a single state are levied with Central GST (CGST) by the Central Government and State GST (SGST) by the State governments.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>For inter-state transactions and imported goods or services, an Integrated GST (IGST) is levied by the Central Government.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reverse charge Mechanism</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) is a system in GST where the receiver pays the tax on behalf of unregistered, smaller material and service suppliers.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The receiver of the goods is eligible for Input Tax Credit, while the unregistered dealer is not.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Administration</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>GST Council is the governing body of GST having 33 members and is chaired by the Union Finance Minister.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>GST Council is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The council is headed by the union finance minister and assisted by the finance minister of all the states of India.</p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2477,
'title' => 'RCEP deal',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Agriculture<strong> </strong>Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has communicated to Commerce minister Piyush Goyal the importance of protecting farmers’ interests while negotiating the RCEP trade agreement.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">RCEP will remove customs duty on about 80-85% of items. The result will be that Chinese and other cheap goods will flood the Indian market even more. There are some concerns regarding impact of this deal on domestic sectors.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>RCEP</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) is a proposed free trade agreement between India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the ten member-states of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) grouping.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Benefits of RCEP</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is expected to provide market access for India’s goods and services exports and encourage greater investments and technology into India. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It would facilitate India’s MSMEs to effectively integrate into the regional value and supply chains.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RCEP would help India streamline the rules and regulations of doing trade, thus reducing the trade costs.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Threats due to RCEP</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Concerns expressed by various industry sectors have been the possibility of large-scale dumping of Chinese goods and the impact on Indian manufacturing.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The effect on Indian agriculture if the domestic market is opened up to dairy and farm produce, especially from Australia and New Zealand.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">RCEP will cause widespread unemployment and reduce the income of rural farmers who will be impacted due to easy goods imports from other countries.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Religare Enterprises Ltd promoter Shivinder Singh and his brother were arrested by the Delhi Police for alleged diversion of public money for their own benefit.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had carried out searches<strong> </strong>at the homes of the brothers after revelations from the Mauritius Leaks on their offshore holdings showed great irregularities in their account books.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is alleged that funds were allegedly diverted from REL, a company listed in India, to a Jersey firm that was solely owned by Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, using a web of offshore companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The alleged persons had absolute control on Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) and its subsidiaries that put Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) in poor financial condition by way of distributing the loans to the companies having no financial standing and controlled by the alleged persons. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These companies wilfully defaulted on repayments, causing a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore to the investors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Poor financial health of Religare Finvest was to a large extent on account of wilful default on significant unsecured loans, defined for internal purposes as corporate loan book by borrower entities either related, controlled or associated with the promoters.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The loans were given at a non-arms-length basis, which is in violation of corporate governance norms, as well as other regulations for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 25 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2505,
'title' => 'US-China trade deal',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The United States and China have agreed to the first phase of a deal to end the trade war. This has prompted President Trump to suspend the tariff hikes imposed on China.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is one of the biggest step toward resolution of a 15-month tariff war between the world's two largest economies that has hit financial markets and slowed global growth.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The accord contains provision for agriculture, currency and some aspects of intellectual property protections, which is expected to normalise relations up to certain extent.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mr. Trump has also agreed not to proceed with a hike in tariffs to 30% from 25% on about $250 billion in Chinese goods that was supposed to have gone into effect.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>US-China tariff wars</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The China–United States trade war was an ongoing economic conflict between the world’s two largest national economies, China and the United States. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">President Donald Trump in 2018 began setting tariffs and other trade barriers on China with the goal of forcing it to make changes to "unfair trade practices".</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Among those trade practices and their effects are the growing trade deficit, the theft of intellectual property, and the forced transfer of American technology to China.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the United States, the trade war has brought struggles for farmers and manufacturers and higher prices for consumers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In other countries it has also caused economic damage, though some countries have benefited from increased manufacturing to fill the gaps.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Effect on India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India could increase its trade footprint in the midst of the US-China trade conflict, particularly under categories on which Washington has imposed tariffs on Beijing.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Diversion in investment flows is an opportunity that India could benefit from, as manufacturers seek alternative origination destinations away from China.</span></span><br />
</p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 26 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2788,
'title' => 'India resumes buying Malaysian palm oil',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Refiners in India have resumed buying Malaysian palm oil after a gap of nearly a month as Kuala Lumpur has been offering a $5 per tonne discount over supplies from rival Indonesia.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indian refiners stopped purchases from Malaysia last month fearing India could raise import taxes or enforce other measures to curb imports after Kuala Lumpur criticised India for its actions in Kashmir.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The resumption in purchases by India, the biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil this year, could support Malaysian palm oil prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India's top vegetable oil trade body had told members to stop buying palm oil from Malaysia in a call aimed at helping New Delhi punish the country for criticising India over its policy towards Kashmir.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Indonesia</strong> is the world's <strong>biggest producer of palm oil</strong>, followed by Malaysia.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India's total edible oil imports. India buys more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>India</strong>, the <strong>world's biggest importer of edible oils</strong>, also buys soya oil from Argentina and Brazil, and sunflower oil from Ukraine.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Other Major imports by India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Petroleum Oil</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India gets its crude oil from the Middle-East, especially Saudi Arabia and Iraq.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Precious stones</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Precious stones are imported particularly from African countries.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Electronics</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">More than half of the shipments of electronics come from China.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Heavy machinery</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Industrial machines, engines, pumps are imported mainly from Japan and China.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Organic chemicals</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Fertilizers are imported particularly from USA and Europe.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Plastics</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Most of the imported plastics come from western countries.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Animal and vegetable oil</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Malaysia and Indonesia are major exporters to India.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:none"> </li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Iron and steel</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Japan, China and South Korea export Iron and steel products to India.</span></span></p>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 2829,
'title' => 'Patenting in India',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Industrial leaders have argued that Indian patenting environment needs revamp if innovation in Science and technology has to develop more than competitors, China and the USA.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In 2008, India had filed 750 global patents, when China had 6,000, and the U.S. had 53,000 patents. In the next 10 years, that’s in 2018, the U.S. had only 56,000 patents, but China had 60,000 patents and India just 2,100 patents.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Patent laws in India</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The principal law for patenting system in India is the Patents Act, 1970. Initially, according to the provisions of this law no product patent but only process patents could be granted for inventions relating to food, drugs and chemicals. However, since 2005 product patenting is allowed in India.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Intellectual Property Rights</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Intellectual property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Types of Intellectual Property Rights</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A <strong>patent </strong>is a form of right granted by the government to an inventor or their successor-in-title, giving the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, and importing an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A<strong> copyright</strong> gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or "works". Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed it is necessary to recognize and respect the intellectual creations of a creator.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An <strong>industrial design</strong> right protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern and color in three-dimensional form containing aesthetic value. An industrial design can be a two- or three-dimensional pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Plant breeders' rights</strong> or plant variety rights are the rights to commercially use a new variety of a plant. The variety must amongst others be novel and distinct and for registration the evaluation of propagating material of the variety is considered.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A <strong>trademark</strong> is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from similar products or services of other traders.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A <strong>trade secret</strong> is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors and customers. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 28 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3123,
'title' => 'GST council adds lotteries in 28% tax bracket',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST council has voted for inclusion of lotteries in 28% tax bracket under the GST regime during a meeting. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There have been widespread concerns about the shortfall in tax revenue at a time of economic slowdown and lower consumption. In the first eight months of this financial year, only about 50% of GST collection targets and 60% of compensation cess collection targets have been achieved.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With regard to lotteries, there is a dual rate regime at present, with state-run lotteries taxed at 12%, while state-authorised lotteries (run by private players) face a 28% tax rate.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Other decisons</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Council decided to waive the late fee for GSTR-1 taxpayers who have not filed returns from July 2017 to November 2019 if all the returns are filed by January 10, 2020.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Council has decided that all entities with 20% ownership by central or state governments will be exempt from GST payable for long-term land leases from January 1, 2020.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>GST council</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">GST Council is the governing body of GST having 33 members, out of which 2 members are of centre and 31 members are from 29 state and 3 Union territories with legislation.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The council is headed by the union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman assisted with the finance minister of all the states of India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST council is responsible for any revision or enactment of rule or any rate changes of the goods and services in India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The council contains the following members (a) Union Finance Minister (as chairperson) (b) Union Minister of States in charge of revenue or finance (as member) (c) the ministers of states in charge of finance or taxation or other ministers as nominated by each states government (as member). </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">GST Council is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 29 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3127,
'title' => 'National Company Law Tribunal',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The NCLAT restored Cyrus Mistry as the Executive Chairman of the Tata Group. This judgement renders N. Chandrasekaran's appointment as Executive Chairman of the company illegal.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The National Company Law Tribunal had previously dismissed Mistry’s legal action on the grounds that such cases, brought by investors, require a minimum shareholding condition to be met.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>NCLT</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The <strong>National Company Law Tribunal</strong> is a <strong>quasi</strong>-<strong>judicial</strong> body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The tribunal was established under the Companies Act 2013 and was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India and is based on the recommendation of the Justice Jain committee on law relating to insolvency and winding up of companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The tribunal has <strong>sixteen</strong> benches, six at <strong>New Delhi</strong> (one being the principal bench) and two at <strong>Ahmedabad</strong>, one at <strong>Allahabad</strong>, one at <strong>Bengaluru</strong>, one at <strong>Chandigarh</strong>, two at <strong>Chennai</strong>, one at <strong>Cuttack</strong>, one at <strong>Guwahati</strong>, three at <strong>Hyderabad</strong> of which one is at <strong>Amaravathi</strong>, one at <strong>Jaipur</strong>, one at <strong>Kochi</strong>, two at <strong>Kolkata</strong> and five at <strong>Mumbai</strong>.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Decisions of the tribunal may be appealed to the <strong>National Company Law Appellate Tribunal</strong>, the decisions of which may further be appealed to the Supreme Court of India on a point of law.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Functions</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">All proceedings under the Companies Act, including proceedings relating to arbitration, compromise, arrangements and reconstruction and winding up of companies shall be disposed of by the National Company Law Tribunal. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NCLT bench is chaired by a Judicial member who is supposed to be retired/Serving High Court Judge and a Technical member who is from Indian Corporate Law Service, ICLS Cadre.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The National Company Law Tribunal is the adjudicating authority for insolvency resolution process of companies and limited liability partnerships under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3190,
'title' => 'Two slab GST envisioned',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government think-tank NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand has made a case for only two slabs under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime as against the current multiple slabs.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST, which replaced almost all the indirect taxes, came into force on July 1, 2017 and the tax rates have been revised several times since then.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currently, there are four GST rate slabs, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Several items fall in the exempt or nil duty category. Besides, cess is also levied on five goods.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Besides frequent demand for reduction in the rates on various goods and services, there has also been expectations for a slash in the number of tax slabs.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The focus should be on steady increase in revenue collection from the new indirect tax regime rather than tinkering with rates.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong> Benefits of lesser tax slabs in GST system</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reduced confusion</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since the tax slabs will be reduced significantly, there will be less confusion among business fraternity regarding the tax rates while filing returns.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Boost consumption</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Lowering the tax slabs will reduce the rates on certain fast moving consumer goods. This will in turn boost consumption and growth.</span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Easy estimation</strong></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Now that the slabs are reduced, there will be better chance for government to predict revenue estimation from GST as chances for going wrong will be low.</span></span></p>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3328,
'title' => 'India plans to cut palm oil imports from Malaysia',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has issued a notification declaring that the import of refined palm oil “is amended from 'Free' to 'Restricted.'</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The move is said to be retaliation against top supplier Malaysia after its criticism of India's actions in Kashmir and a new citizenship law.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India's restrictions on imports of refined palm oil will lead to a price war between the world's two biggest suppliers of the commodity, Indonesia and Malaysia.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">New Delhi had earlier informally asked palm oil refiners and traders to avoid buying Malaysian palm oil. The decision to restrict all imports of refined palm oil is also likely to boost business for Indian refiners of the vegetable oil.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Palm oil is crucial for the Malaysian economy as it accounts for 2.8 per cent of gross domestic product and 4.5 per cent of total exports. State-owned and private Malaysian refineries will likely have to scramble to find new buyers for their refined product.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India's total edible oil imports. The country buys more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia is the world's biggest producer of palm oil, followed by Malaysia.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 32 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3367,
'title' => 'China removed from list of currency manipulators',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Trump administration is dropping its designation of China<strong> </strong>as a currency manipulator in advance of the January 15 signing of a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade agreement.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The preliminary pact that the two sides are set to sign includes a section that’s intended to prevent China from manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even while removing China from its currency black list, the Treasury Department does name China as one of 10 countries it says require placement on a watch list that will mean their currency practices will be closely monitored.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to China, the countries on that monitoring list are Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland and Vietnam.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The administration had dropped China’s designation as a currency manipulator because of commitments in the Phase 1 trade agreement that President Donald Trump is to sign with China .</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The initial decision to brand China as a manipulator had come in a surprise announcement in August which reversed a Treasury finding in May that no country was manipulating its currency. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The initial decision to brand China as a manipulator had come in a surprise announcement in August which reversed a Treasury finding in May that no country was manipulating its currency. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Currency manipulation</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The central bank weakens its own currency to subsidize exports and raise the price of imports, sometimes by as much as 30-40%, and it is thereby a method of protectionism. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currency manipulation is not necessarily easy to identify and some people have considered quantitative easing to be a form of currency manipulation.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currency manipulation has a disproportionate effect on the secondary sector of the economy and lobbyists of the U.S. manufacturing sector have regularly referred to China as a currency manipulator.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 33 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3537,
'title' => 'Economic survey and its importance',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One day before the Union budget, the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) of the country releases the Economic Survey. The Economic Survey for 2019-2020 will be tabled in Parliament on January 31.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Economic Survey is a report the government presents on the state of the economy in the past one year, the key challenges it anticipates, and their possible solutions.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The document is prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the guidance of the CEA, currently Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For the past few years, the Economic Survey has been presented in two volumes. For example, in 2018-19, while Volume 1 focussed on research and analysis of the challenges facing the Indian economy, Volume 2 gave a more detailed review of the financial year, covering all the major sectors of the economy.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Importance</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Economic Survey is a crucial document as it provides a detailed, official version of the government’s take on the country’s economic condition. It can also be used to highlight some key concerns or areas of focus.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government is not constitutionally bound to present the Economic Survey or to follow the recommendations that are made in it.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But while the Centre is not obliged to present the Survey at all, it is tabled because of the significance it holds.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Expectations from the 2020 survey</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Economic Survey ahead of the Union Budget is expected to offer key insights into the path ahead for the government to revive growth.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Survey is expected to shed light on the crucial gaps that the Budget will aim to fill in terms of unemployment, private investment, and a slump in consumption.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The dilema of remaining fixated on deficit targets or making a concerted push towards more expenditure to kickstart growth is one of the key challenges the government is facing.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 34 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Government abolishes duty on polyester manufacturing chemical PTA',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Domestic manufacturers of polyester have called the move of abolishing duty on PTA chemical a huge relief for the industry, claiming they had been fighting to remove the duty for four-and-a-half years.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government was abolishing in public interest an anti-dumping duty that was levied on imports of a chemical called PTA.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>PTA</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Purified Terephthalic Acid</strong> (PTA) is a crucial raw material used to make various products, including polyester fabrics. PTA makes up for around 70-80% of a polyester product and is, therefore, important to those involved in the manufacture of man-made fabrics or their components.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This includes products like polyester staple fibre and spun yarn. Our cushions and sofas may have polyester staple fibre fillings. Some sportswear, swimsuits, dresses, trousers, curtains, sofa covers, jackets, car seat covers and bed sheets have a certain proportion of polyester in them.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">PTA is a raw material for many of the industries. There has been persistent demand that they should be allowed to source that particular product at an affordable rate, even if it means importing it.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Easy availability of this critical input at competitive prices was desirable to unlock immense potential in the textile sector, seen as a significant employment generator.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The duty had meant importers were paying an extra $27-$160 for every 1,000 kg of PTA that they wanted to import from countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Korea and Thailand. Removing the duty will allow PTA users to source from international markets and may make it as much as $30 per 1,000 kg cheaper than now.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for anti-dumping duty</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The anti-dumping duty on PTA was imposed after two domestic manufacturers, MCC PTA India Corp Pvt Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd, approached the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in October 2013.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The companies had argued that some countries had been exporting the product to India at prices lower than its value in their own domestic markets. This dumping of PTA into the Indian market had a significant adverse impact on the domestic industry, they argued.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The polyster manufacturing companies had alleged that the product’s cost had become more expensive domestically, which made their own products pricier and less attractive for their domestic and international buyers.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Anti-dumping duties</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The World Trade Organization does not regulate the actions of companies engaged in dumping, but instead focuses on how governments can or cannot react to dumping.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 3769,
'title' => 'India-US bilateral trade',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">President Donald Trump announced that India and the United States will be making a very major trade deal, and that the countries were in the early stages of discussion for an incredible trade agreement to reduce barriers of investment.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The current balance of trade, which is tilted in India’s favour, has long been a sore point with Trump, who has described India as a “tariff king”.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">US-India goods trade in 2018 is worth $87.9 billion and India is US’s ninth largest goods trading partner. US goods exports to India $33.5 billion and goods imports from India $54.3 billion (2018). The deficit stands at $25.2 billion.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Total US-India trade in services is $54.8 billion. US services exports $25.2 billion and services imports from India $29.6 billion (2018).</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">1,97,000 American jobs are supported by US exports of goods and services to India.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Top US exports to India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Precious metal and stone (diamonds) $7.9 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mineral fuels $6.7 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Aircraft $2.9 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Machinery $2.2 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Organic chemicals $1.6 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Top US imports from India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Precious metal and stone (diamonds) $11 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Pharmaceuticals $6.3 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Machinery $3.3 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mineral fuels $3.2 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Vehicles $2.8 billion</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The indexes plunged more than 10 per cent each day earlier and a circuit breaker was triggered for the first time since 2009 halting trading for 45 minutes.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) experienced the second biggest single-day fall in its history as it fell by 8.2 per cent, slightly lower than the 11 per cent fall it saw during the 2008 financial crisis.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said that safeguards in the US stock market are working as planned, after a seven per cent drop in the S&P 500 led to a 15-minute halt in trading as circuit breakers were triggered.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These declines came amid the <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/this-word-means-coronavirus-6210554/">coronavirus</a> outbreak, due to which several countries have shut their borders affecting airlines, tourism and the hospitality sectors and has led to a scare among market participants worldwide.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Circuit breakers are triggered to prevent markets from crashing, which happens when market participants start to panic induced by fears that their stocks are overvalued and decide to sell their stocks.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In June 2001, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) implemented index-based market-wide circuit breakers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This index-based market-wide circuit breaker system applies at three stages of the index movement, at 10, 15 and 20 per cent. When triggered, these circuit breakers bring about a coordinated trading halt in all equity and equity derivative markets nationwide.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For instance, if the S&P BSE Sensex were to fall more than 10 per cent before 1 pm on a given day, circuit breakers would be triggered for a period of 45 minutes; in case it fell more than 15 per cent on or after 2 pm, circuit breakers would be triggered for the remainder of the day and in case it fell more than 20 per cent at any time of the day, the trading would be halted for the remainder of the day.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 4227,
'title' => 'Dollar swap agreement',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India is working with the United States to secure a dollar swap line that would help in better management of its external account and provide extra cushion in the event of an abrupt outflow of funds.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India already has a $75 billion bilateral currency swap line with Japan, which has the second highest dollar reserves after China. The Reserve Bank of India also offers similar swap lines to central banks in the SAARC region within a total corpus of $2 billion.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While India is largely expected to tide over any challenge posed by continued outflows of funds from the markets, a swap line with the US Federal Reserve provides additional comfort to the forex markets. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been large sellers in the Indian equity and debt markets in March and April so far, as concerns over the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit investor sentiment.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even as the stock markets have seen a pullback from earlier low levels, there is apprehension that the economic impact of COVID-19 will last for a significant length of time, and there is unlikely to be any V-shaped recovery in the economy or in the financial markets.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Despite the slump in global crude oil prices and reduction in imports due to the pandemic outbreak, a sharp outflow of funds resulting from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) looking for safer havens amidst the current global uncertainty, has pulled down India’s foreign exchange reserves.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In a swap arrangement, the US Fed provides dollars to a foreign central bank, which, at the same time, provides the equivalent funds in its currency to the Fed, based on the market exchange rate at the time of the transaction. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The parties agree to swap back these quantities of their two currencies at a specified date in the future, which could be the next day or even three months later, using the same exchange rate as in the first transaction.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These swap operations carry no exchange rate or other market risks, as transaction terms are set in advance. The absence of an exchange rate risk is the major benefit of such a facility.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The Fed already has permanent swap arrangements with the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank. Other large economies including India, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa currently do not have a currency swap line with the US.</span></span></p>
</li>
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(int) 38 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 4277,
'title' => 'Ways and Means Advances',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a 60% increase in the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit of state governments over and above the level as on March 31, with a view to enabling them “to undertake COVID-19 containment and mitigation efforts” and “to better plan their market borrowings”.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Ways and Means Advances (WMA) window is intended only to tide over temporary mismatches in cash flow of receipts and payments.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">WMA is a facility for both the Centre and states to borrow from the RBI. These borrowings are meant purely to help them to tide over temporary mismatches in cash flows of their receipts and expenditures.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Section 17(5) of the RBI Act, 1934 authorises the central bank to lend to the Centre and state governments subject to their being repayable “not later than three months from the date of the making of the advance”.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The interest rate on WMA is the RBI’s repo rate, which is basically the rate at which it lends short-term money to banks. That rate is currently 4.4%. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The governments are, however, allowed to draw amounts in excess of their WMA limits. The interest on such overdraft is 2 percentage points above the repo rate, which now works out to 6.4%. Further, no state can run an overdraft with the RBI for more than a certain period.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For the Centre, the WMA limit during the first half of 2020-21 (April-September) has been fixed at Rs 120,000 crore. This is 60% higher than the Rs 75,000 crore limit for the same period of 2019-20. The limit for the second half of the last fiscal (October-March) was Rs 35,000 crore. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For the states, the aggregate WMA limit was Rs 32,225 crore till March 31, 2020. On April 1, the RBI announced a 30% hike in this limit, which has now been enhanced to 60%, taking it to Rs 51,560 crore.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for increasing WMAs</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The lockdown has resulted in revenues drying up, and it is the states that are actually feeling the heat. With economic activity at a near standstill, there is hardly any money coming in from GST, petroleum products, liquor, motor vehicles, stamp duty or registration fee. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At the same time, the states are also incurring the bulk of the on-the-ground expenditures for combating the novel coronavirus. These extend not only to purchases of testing kits, personal protective equipment and ventilators or deployment of healthcare and police personnel, but even to providing food, shelter and other relief measures to those worst hit by the lockdown.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In a scenario where their expenses are real, mounting and cannot be deferred, even as revenues are collapsing and uncertain, the states are facing an unprecedented cash crunch. Most of them have resorted to slashing expenditures of other departments in order to meet COVID-19 exigencies, with some even deferring or cutting salaries of employees. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 4327,
'title' => 'Facebook -Reliance Jio deal significance',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Facebook’s purchase of a nearly 10% stake in Reliance Industries’ digital business unit Jio Platforms brings one of the world’s largest Internet companies on the table with India’s largest telecom player.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The deal pushes the Indian conglomerate ahead in its plans of de-leveraging its balance sheet while accelerating the launch of its new commerce business.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This not only marks Facebook’s long-pending formal entry into India’s telecom sector but also catapults it to a place among the biggest foreign investors in India’s technology space.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani had said the group had prepared a roadmap for becoming a zero net-debt company within 18 months. The Facebook deal significantly contributes to that plan by paring about Rs 43,574 crore from its outstanding debt as of September 2019 of Rs 2.92 lakh crore. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The other primary contributors to the debt-reduction plan will be a potential $15 billion (around Rs 1.05 lakh crore) deal with Saudi Aramco for a 20% stake in Reliance Industries’ refining and petrochemicals business and Rs 7,000 crore from a 49% sale in its fuel retail joint-venture to British firm BP. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experts have said the arrangement among Reliance Retail, Jio Platforms and Facebook-owned WhatsApp to offer consumers the ability to access the nearest kiranas, or grocery stores.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This can provide products and services to their homes by transacting with JioMart using WhatsApp and has come at a very opportune time. WhatsApp boasts 400 million users in India. Further, using WhatsApp’s base also allows Reliance Retail to promote its services to users of Jio’s rival telecom players.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The partnership with Reliance could also help Facebook navigate the regulatory environment in India, where it has had several skirmishes with the authorities, including for its major initiatives such as WhatsApp Pay.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The deal also marks Facebook’s entry among elite investors in India’s technology space, joining the likes of SoftBank, Amazon and Google that have together poured in billions of dollars in Indian tech startups and their own ventures over the years. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Prior to Jio Platforms, Facebook had invested around $20-25 million in social commerce platform Meesho in 2019, and participated in a $110 million funding round for edu-tech company Unacademy earlier this year.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Why crude oil is cheaper but not petrol?',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">On 1 March, petrol sold at ?71.71 a litre in Delhi. On 6 May, it sold at an almost similar price of ?71.26 a litre. Yet, the price of the Indian basket of crude more than halved from $50.90 a barrel on 2 March to $23.04 a barrel on 4 May. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. A type of fossil fuel, crude oil can be refined to produce usable products such as gasoline, diesel, and various other forms of petrochemicals.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Centre’s collection of excise duty and goods and services tax (GST) fell drastically as production and consumption of goods and services slid because of the lockdown. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">State governments’ collection of taxes on petrol, diesel and alcohol, and stamp duty on real estate transactions also fell. This left the governments with little option but to increase taxes on fuel.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The base price of petrol as of 1 March was ?32.61 a litre. It has since fallen to ?17.96 a litre, reflecting the fall in oil prices. However, between then and now, the central government has increased the excise duty on petrol by 65%, from ?19.98 a litre to ?32.98 a litre, primarily on account of the rise in special additional excise duty and additional excise duty (road and infrastructure cess). </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This apart, the Delhi government has increased the value-added tax (VAT) on petrol from 27% to 30%. As a result, taxes on the commodity have jumped from ?35.23 a litre to ?49.42 a litre.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In March, the retail selling price of petrol in Delhi was 120% more than its base price. Now it is 297% higher than its base price. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The case with diesel is similar. Between March and May, the central government increased the excise duty on diesel by 101%, from ?15.83 a litre to ?31.83 a litre.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">This tells us that the central government does not expect tax collections from excise duty on goods other than petrol and diesel, GST as well as income tax, individual and corporate, to match what it has budgeted for this fiscal. Hence, this massive increase in excise duties on petrol and diesel.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 4417,
'title' => 'How pandemic is disrupting demand and supply of loans?',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Despite the Reserve Bank of India’s repeated efforts to bring down the interest rate in the economy as well as provide more money to the financial system, banks have not been extending more loans to the broader economy.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI has made it cheaper for the banks to borrow from it, by reducing the repo rate by 185 basis points since February 2019. Further, it has made it less remunerative for banks to park their funds with the RBI by cutting the reverse repo rate by 225 basis points.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Banks had parked close to Rs 7 lakh crore with the RBI. Essentially, banks have decided to even park the deposits that they get with the RBI instead of lending to either retail customers or businesses.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There are several sectors of the economy such as the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that are facing acute shortage of funds especially in the wake of the COVID-19-induced economic disruption.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Credit growth to businesses was already struggling for the last several years. Most of the momentum to credit growth was coming from loans retail customers were taking. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These were typically being taken by individuals buying homes, personal cars, and other consumer durables like televisions, refrigerators etc.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even before the COVID-19 disruption in the past couple of months, demand for loans had already plummeted among businesses in the 2019-20 financial year. Retail loan growth also suffered a bit as the economy slowed down.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Crisil Research estimates that while demand for new loans would remain anaemic among the business, retail loans, which were pushing up the total credit growth rate, will fall to their lowest growth rate in a decade.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Demand for most commodities for which individuals would have typically taken a retail loan is likely to fall sharply. In terms of financing penetration, almost all commercial vehicles are financed, as are 75% of all passenger vehicles, and almost every second home (new units); this dip in demand completely shuts off the demand for retail loans.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Simply put, banks are increasingly risk-averse. Moreover, they do not know which firm will survive the COVID-19 disruption and which will flounder. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The irony is that banks may be willing to give loans to the bigger firms but these companies do not need new loans because they already have excess capacity while smaller firms, which are in dire need of funds, appear too risky for banks’ appetite.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The regulatory forbearance, in the form of a three-month-long moratorium on paying back loans, has made it difficult for banks to assess which firms are poor are managing their business and finances in this period.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 4984,
'title' => 'Stamp duty on mutual funds',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government had introduced changes to the Stamp duty Act last year by introducing a uniform rate of stamp duty on trading of shares and commodities.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The stamp duty will be applicable on all transactions, including shares, debt instruments, commodities and all categories of mutual fund schemes.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">All shares and mutual fund purchases will attract a stamp duty of 0.005 percent and any transfer of security (MF units) will attract a stamp duty of 0.015 percent.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While all categories of mutual funds (except for ETFs) will attract stamp duty for the first time, shares purchased by individuals at stock exchanges were charged stamp duty at different rates by respective states.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As for mutual funds, it will be applicable on all fresh purchases, including the fresh monthly purchases in previously registered Systematic Investment Plans. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will also be applicable if investors switch from one scheme to another and also in case of dividend reinvestment transactions. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Transfer of units from one demand account to another, including market/off-market transfers, will also attract stamp duty.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact on investors</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The impact on long-term investments by retail investors is nominal. Since the stamp duty will be charged as a one-time charge, if an investor invests Rs 1 lakh in a mutual fund scheme or in a stock and holds it for two years, he will have to pay a duty of only Rs 5. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the impact is higher for investors with short-term investment horizons such as banks and corporates who invest in liquid and overnight schemes of mutual funds. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the one-time charge is only 0.005 percent, if an investor has only a one-month investment horizon, the annualised cost would rise to 0.06 percent. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In case the investment horizon is one week, the annualised impact cost would be 0.26 percent and on a one-day investment horizon, the cost works out to 1.82%.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will also impact share purchases by individuals in several states where the rates earlier were lower than the new uniform rate of 0.005 percent.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Benefits to the government</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In the financial year 2019-20, the mutual fund industry mobilised aggregate funds of over Rs 188 lakh crore. If the industry continues to mobilise funds to the tune of Rs 190 lakh crore or higher, it will generate revenues of nearly Rs 1,000 crore for the government from mutual fund transactions itself.</span></span></p>
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'title' => 'China’s role in India’s silk weaving industry',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a time when Chinese goods are frowned upon, there is one industry that will simply come to its knees without its primary raw material from China – India’s silk weaving industry.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nearly 80 percent of the silk threads that weavers use across the country come from China. Of the rest, 10 percent comes from Karnataka and the rest from Bihar and Assam. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In India, there are primarily four types of silk thread sources – domestic, which include mulberry and eri, and wild that includes tussar and muga.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With the dependence on Chinese silk threads, the Benarasi silk sari has taken a different shine and no longer holds the heaviness that came with pure zari. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Silk weaving across the country today, from Salem and Erode to West Bengal, Rajasthan and Varanasi all depend on China for its threads.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The difference in quality between Chinese threads and threads from Karnataka is in the finish and thickness. Reeling is how the raw silk filaments are drawn out from the cocoon. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The machines in India do not give the smoothness or the shine that Chinese threads have. This leads to thicker threads which can be used on handlooms, but not on the warp in power loom because of the speed with which the yarn is woven — and the chances of the breaking are greater.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The cost of Chinese silk threads is almost the same as that from Karnataka, which is anywhere between Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000 per kg. However, with locally-made threads, there is 25 percent wastage after washing the threads.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While Chinese silk threads are widely used, our own home-grown eri, tussar and khadi silk can be promoted and the cocoons made more accessible to weavers across the country.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'id' => (int) 4948,
'title' => 'Impact of banning Chinese imports in India',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Following the recent clashes with Chinese troops in Ladakh, there has been a growing clamor in the country to boycott goods from the neighboring country.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The development has caused an alarm among various industry bodies that are concerned about the adverse impact in the event of a blanket ban on exports in several sectors.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Industry associations, from pharmaceuticals to telecommunications and automobiles, are of the view that a “knee-jerk” offensive against <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/world/china-coronavirus-tracker-region-wise-cases-and-deaths/">China</a> till alternative vendors are finalised or domestic capacities are built will hurt the economy, including the country’s exports.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">China accounts for a sizable portion of India’s top imports, especially where intermediate products or components and raw materials are concerned. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It has also been the top exporter of products like electrical machinery, equipment, and their parts, nuclear reactors, organic and inorganic chemicals, fertilizers as well as vehicles, their parts, and accessories.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">China also accounts for 45 percent of India’s total electronics imports. A third of machinery and almost two-fifths of organic chemicals that India purchases from the world come from China.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Automotive parts and fertilizers are other items where China’s share in India’s import is more than 25 percent. Several of these products are used by Indian manufacturers in the production of finished goods.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even as an export market, China is a major partner for India. At $15.5 billion, it is the third-largest destination for Indian shipments. At the same time, India only accounts for a little over two percent of China’s total exports.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nearly $3.6 billion worth of ingredients that Indian drug-makers import to manufacture several essential medicines, China catered to around 68 percent. India is considered one of the largest pharma industries in the world and accounts for a considerable portion of imports of finished formulations by other large economies like the US.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An analysis shows that countries like the US, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico, and certain European countries could be tapped as alternate import sources for some critical electronic, vehicular, and pharmaceutical components as well.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government’s focus is expected to help ministries handhold industries where self-reliance needs to be built.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">While an increase in tariff can be one way to achieve import substitution, the more effective strategy would be to provide an ecosystem that addresses the cost disability of Indian manufacturing leading to such imports.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5072,
'title' => 'Market rebound',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Undeterred by the pandemic, projections of an economic contraction, and border tensions, India’s stock markets have staged a remarkable rebound.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Markets in India are broadly mirroring the trend elsewhere, effectively highlighting the disconnect between financial markets and the real economy across the world.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Investors appear to be focusing on the easing of some short-term tail risks, and placing their bets on central banks’ return to monetary-policy easing, ignoring the economic slump and the rise in global poverty.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The big concern is the unrealistic valuations, given that FY21 is a washout in terms of earnings for companies across sectors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There are also red flags regarding fresh non-performing assets for banks, which may begin to show up after the moratorium period ends on August 31. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experts feel that a lag in an economic revival, demand in the economy, and reinstatement of income levels may lead to stress in all segments — corporates, MSME, and retail in the quarter ended December 2020.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The near 40% gain in India’s benchmark indices — BSE and NSE — since the March 23 low came even as retail investor sentiment was weak and individuals held on to cash amid uncertainty.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the gains in stock markets worldwide have been puzzling, there are some answers. The first is the ample liquidity in the market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Reserve Bank of India cut its key policy rate by 115 basis points over the last three months and announced a liquidity injection of around Rs 8 lakh crore in the financial markets since its first announcement on March 27.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Some participants feel that a near halt in real estate investments and an increase in household savings on account of the COVID-19-related uncertainty has also been instrumental in money finding its way into the stock market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">On the economy front, a better-than-expected revival in automobile sales in June over May, faster recovery in rural India, and expectations of a good monsoon has fuelled the bull run.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Increasing gold prices',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After over nine years, gold prices hit Rs 50,000 per 10 grams<strong> </strong>in India, the world’s second-largest gold consumer after China.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> The host of factors like global uncertainties triggered by COVID pandemic, weak dollar, low-interest rates, and stimulus programmes have increased the appetite for gold.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Though equity markets around the world rebounded sharply from their March lows, the high level of uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and the ultra-low interest rate environment supported strong flight-to-quality flows. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Like money market and high-quality bond funds, gold benefited from investors’ need to reduce risk, with the recognition of gold as a hedge fund that led to its increased demand.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Gold is an integral part of wedding ceremonies in India and is traditionally used as a hedge against inflation and considered as a safe haven<strong> </strong>for investors during periods of uncertainties. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Whenever stock markets, real estate, and bonds fall across the world, investors turn to gold to park their funds. The fall in the value of other asset classes and global uncertainties in the wake of Covid-19 helped gold climb to a record high. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A key factor behind this robust performance is that the supply growth of gold has changed little over time, increasing by approximately 1.6 percent per year over the past 20 years.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Gold, established as an investment, a reserve asset, and an adornment, is highly liquid, no one’s liability, carries no credit risk, and is scarce, historically preserving its value over time.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">With prices on the rise, investors have embraced gold in 2020 as a key portfolio hedging strategy. Regardless of the recovery type, the pandemic will likely have a lasting effect on asset allocation.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Contribution of excise tax to economy',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Following the easing of restrictions in the third phase of the nationwide lockdown, some of the cities showed long queues outside liquor stores around the country. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Manufacture and sale of liquor is one of the major sources of state revenue, and the reopening comes at a time when the states have been struggling to fill their coffers amid the disruption on account of the lockdown.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Liquor contributes a considerable amount to the exchequers of all states and Union Territories except Gujarat and Bihar, both of which have enforced prohibition. Generally, states levy excise duty on manufacture and sale of liquor. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Some states, for example Tamil Nadu, also impose VAT (value added tax). States also charge special fees on imported foreign liquor; transport fee; and label & brand registration charges. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A few states, such as Uttar Pradesh, have imposed a “special duty on liquor” to collect funds for special purposes, such as maintenance of stray cattle.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reports show that a state excise duty on liquor is the second or third largest contributor to the category State’s Own Tax revenue; sales tax (now GST) is the largest. This is the reason states have always wanted liquor kept out of the purview of GST.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The states collected about Rs 12,500 crore per month from excise on liquor in 2018-19, which rose to about Rs 15,000 crore per month in 2019-20, and which was further expected to cross Rs 15,000 crore per month in the current financial year. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During that financial year, the five states that collected the highest revenue from excise duty on liquor were Uttar Pradesh (Rs 25,100 crore), Karnataka (Rs 19,750 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 15,343.08 crore), West Bengal (Rs 10,554.36 crore) and Telangana (Rs 10,313.68 crore).</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With Bihar and Gujarat having prohibited liquor, Bihar had ‘nil’ revenue from liquor in 2018-19 and 2019-20, while Gujarat’s liquor revenue was negligible. Andhra Pradesh too announced prohibition last year; however, sale of the liquor has been allowed with “prohibition tax”.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The states’ revenues comprise broadly two categories — Tax Revenue and Non-Tax Revenue. Tax revenue is divided into two further categories: State’s Own Tax Revenue, and Share in Central Taxes. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Again, Own Tax Revenue comprises three principal sources: Taxes on Income (agricultural income tax and taxes on professions, trades, callings and employment); Taxes on Property and Capital Transactions (land revenue, stamps and registration fees, urban immovable property tax); and Taxes on Commodities and Services (sales tax, state sales tax/VAT, central sales tax, surcharge on sales tax, receipts of turnover tax etc).</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">According to the RBI report, in 2019-20, state GST had the highest share, 43.5%, in states’ Own Tax Revenue, followed by Sale Tax at 23.5% (mainly on petroleum products which are out of GST), state excise at 12.5%, and taxes on property and capital transactions at 11.3%.</span></span></p>
</li>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5480,
'title' => 'Employment boost',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Prime Minister, while addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) annual meeting this year, urged those present to think big and partner with the government in putting India on the path to growth.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There is much that can be achieved if government and industry work towards the same objective, and in a spirit of mutual trust.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Employment is one such area. There are three problems we must address: Labour regulation, living conditions for migrant labour in cities, and the strength of our rural economy.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Labour regulation must start with a clear-eyed recognition of facts. We have stringent labour laws to protect workers, but this covers only the formal sector, which is less than 15 per cent of employment. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 85 per cent of our workforce who are informally employed, meanwhile, have almost no protection, and employers have almost complete flexibility.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Living conditions in our cities is the second challenge. India is unique in having 70 per cent of our population still residing in rural areas. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">We must encourage the migration of people to higher productivity occupations in our cities. And we must ensure that clean, affordable and accessible housing is available for all in our cities.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reverse migration is also an opportunity to collaborate in spreading the geography of development. We have long had policies aimed at getting firms to invest in less-developed districts and the government has an ambitious goal of doubling farmer’s incomes.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But the gap between the richest (urban) and poorest (rural) districts in the country still keeps growing. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The easiest way to grow farmer incomes is by having them grow more value-added crops. The Atmanirbhar agricultural reforms, which permit contract farming, and open up agricultural markets, are major medium-term reforms. Implemented right, they can transform agricultural markets.</span></span></p>
</li>
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(int) 49 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5553,
'title' => 'Rupee gains',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The rupee rose nearly two percent to 73.40 against the US dollar last week as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pumped more money into Indian markets and the Reserve Bank of India refrained from intervening in the foreign exchange market.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">FPIs have bought Rs 46,602 crore worth of shares so far in August, the highest monthly inflow in calendar year 2020. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">FPIs are making use of the interest rate differential to bring in dollars. Dollar inflows into the stock market and gains in other Asian currencies boosted the rupee’s value. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The US Federal Reserve’s recent policy shift towards hotter inflation could further boost inflows and boost the rupee’s value.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Globally, risk sentiments have strengthened on aggressive stimulus by the US Fed and there have been sharp inflows into the stock market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI which bought $ 59.74 billion of forex reserves since April 1 this year to boost the country’s reserves did not intervene in the market to prevent the rupee appreciation in the bygone week.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When the RBI buys dollars, it releases equivalent amount in the rupees into the system which, in turn, could put pressure on inflation and yields.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The US Federal Reserve recently signalled a major shift in its approach to managing inflation in a bid to aid the country’s economy’s recovery. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The new policy will allow the bank to keep interest rates lower for longer, stimulating growth to help tackle unemployment. The Fed move will lead to more capital flows to emerging markets like India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Gold prices, which had recently retreated from the all-time high levels, rebounded as traders began to incorporate the Fed’s new policy which is focused on inflation. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5367,
'title' => 'India’s forex reserves shooting up',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s foreign exchange reserves jumped by a record $11.9 billion in the week ending July 31 to hit a fresh high of $534.5 billion, making it the fifth-largest holder of reserves in the world.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a time when the economy is under stress and the growth is expected to contract in 2020-21, the rising forex reserves have come as a breather as it can cover India’s import bill of more than one year.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During the 10-month period between September 27, 2019 and July 31, 2020, the foreign exchange reserves have swelled by $100 billion.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In ten months India has added 25 percent of the reserves it had till September 20, 2019. India is now fifth in global ranking behind China ($ 3,298 billion), Japan ($ 1,383 billion), Switzerland ($ 896 billion), and Russia ($ 591 billion).</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government’s decision to reverse its budget decision relating to higher surcharge impact on FPIs along with a cut in the corporate tax rate in September played a significant role in turning the investor's mood and draw them to invest in the Indian economy and markets.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Reserve Bank functions as the custodian and manager of forex reserves and operates within the overall policy framework agreed upon with the government.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for increase in forex</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The rise in foreign exchange inflows has been through Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI and has also been supported by decline in import bill over the last 4-5 months on account of dip in crude prices and trade impact following Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s oil import bill declined as the global spread of coronavirus since February 2020 not only roiled the stock markets but also led to a crash in the Brent crude oil prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Lockdown across countries in response to Covid-19 pandemic impacted global trade and has resulted in a sharp dip in import expenditure — electronics, gold, and also crude oil prices among others.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Gold which was a big import component for India witnessed a sharp decline in the quarter ended June 2020 following the high prices and the lockdown induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Importance of forex</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It’s a big cushion in the event of any crisis on the economic front and enough to cover the import bill of the country for a year. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The rising reserves have also helped the rupee to strengthen against the dollar. The foreign exchange reserves to GDP ratio is around 15 percent. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Reserves will provide a level of confidence to markets that a country can meet its external obligations, demonstrate the backing of domestic currency by external assets, assist the government in meeting its foreign exchange needs and external debt obligations and maintain a reserve for national disasters or emergencies. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'How India can boost overall demand in economy?',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India is facing a structural demand problem. This challenge has aggravated over the past few months as jobs have been lost and incomes have collapsed.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Boosting demand, in particular domestic demand, is critical for an economic revival as external demand is likely to remain muted.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s growth story has been driven by demand generated by those who are at the top of India’s socio-economic pyramid, but that has now plateaued.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One option is to turn to those at the bottom of the pyramid who have a high marginal propensity to consume. However, realising the untapped demand potential of this group requires enhancing their incomes and earnings.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Structural change that allows for productivity increase in the informal sector increases the incomes of low-wage workers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An effective intervention in this context would be to ensure a decent minimum wage for those who are the bottom of the distribution — the casual labour. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This, in turn, will help set a higher wage floor for others engaged in low-paid work, including regular informal workers, thereby enhancing their earnings.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is important that minimum wages are paid in public workfare programs too, in particular MGNREGA works, which involve the employment of unskilled labour.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The minimum wage can be linked to the consumption expenditure of the relatively better-off group of workers, that is, the regular formal workers in some manner. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">This would create not just a dynamic linkage with the consumption of the better-off workers, but will also allow for the updating of the minimum wage every year.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5420,
'title' => 'Outflow in equity funds',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After over four years, equity mutual funds have witnessed their first monthly outflow as investors pulled out a net Rs 2,480 crore in July, even as the benchmark indices rose around 7.5 per cent.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the industry continued to see positive inflows following the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the sharp decline in the market, the net outflow reflects growing concern among investors over cash flows.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When the markets witnessed sharp falls, investors continued with their investments and equity schemes witnessed net inflows of over Rs 10,000 crore in each of those two months.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Over the next four months, the reality of the crisis started to hit investor incomes and their capacity to invest, even as the markets started to recover, the fragility of the economy notwithstanding.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In April, net equity inflows fell to Rs 6,212 crore, and in May and June, it came down to Rs 5,256 crore and just Rs 240 crore respectively. And in July, inflows turned into net outflows as the industry saw redemptions overtaking gross inflows.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The net outflow in July is the result both of a fall in inflows from investors, and profit-booking by existing investors following the recovery in the markets.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Investors anticipating a decline in corporate performance and the general economy seem to have booked profits when the market recovered in July.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There is stress among a big section of investors, both salaried and self-employed, who are witnessing a decline in their income levels, and that is forcing them to stop their investments in equity mutual funds. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A good chunk of money is now going into fixed deposits of banks, despite the fall in interest rates. This could be an indication that investors are looking for safety of their capital in uncertain times.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Equity funds</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An equity fund is a mutual fund that invests principally in stocks. It can be actively or passively (index fund) managed. Equity funds are also known as stock funds.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Equity funds are ideal investment vehicles for investors that are not as well-versed in financial investing or do not possess a large amount of capital with which to invest. Equity funds are practical investments for most people.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 53 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5604,
'title' => 'Stock market margin norms',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The stock markets implemented a transparent and stringent mechanism of collecting 20 percent upfront margin on cash market transactions and tightened the pledging system to protect the interests of investors.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Though the new rules have created some teething troubles, such as arranging margins and settlement delays, the situation is expected to become normal in a few days.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Market regulator Sebi did not have any margin requirement for cash market transactions so far, but now clients will have to give 20 per cent of the cost of the shares and it will be applicable to buying and selling of securities. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The margins from clients were required only in the futures & options segment till last year and cash margins were not demanded from clients.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Earlier it was adjusted by brokers. While Sebi tightened the margins norms due to the misuse of securities by unscrupulous brokers in the industry, the new norms have created new challenges for the brokers. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Investors had lost crores of rupees in the unauthorized pledging of shares by Karvy. The Karvy issue forced the regulator to tighten the pledging system. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They used to take out money from clients’ accounts and adjust for other clients’ requirements. Sebi rules say a client can pledge securities with a trading member, who will in turn re-pledge the same with the clearing member.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The clearing member will re-pledge the same to Clearing Corporation (CC). At the same time, shares will remain in the demat account of the client and the complete trail of pledging process will be registered in the demat account of the client. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 20 percent upfront margin collection will help in orderly movement of the stock markets which had witnessed excessive speculation in the last couple of months.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The tightening of the pledging system will make investors’ money safer and lead to more transparency and less manipulation.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5677,
'title' => 'GST shortfall borrowing by states',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Covid pandemic has played havoc with the economy. Revenue streams of the government, the private sector and individuals have been severely impacted while the expenditure is shooting up with a rise in commitments.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One significant area of loss of revenue to both the Centre and the states is GST. But while the states have the comfort of assured 14 per cent growth through the compensation mechanism, the Centre has no such guarantee.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Compensation Act mandates compensating the states for revenue loss on GST implementation from the Compensation Fund.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In case the amount in the GST Compensation Fund falls short of the compensation payable, the GST Council shall decide the mode of raising additional resources including borrowing from the market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additional resources could be raised by increasing the tax or the cess but in the present difficult times it would not be advisable to raise the burden of either the tax or the cess.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Financially imprudent for the Centre to borrow since large borrowings by the Centre would push up the bond yield rates, which in turn would push up the bond yield of the states setting off a spiral leading to hike in the interest rates for businesses and individuals.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The Centre has already breached the budgeted borrowing limits for the current year in the first four months itself. It makes sense for the states to borrow.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5850,
'title' => 'ESG funds',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Although big in global investments, ESG funds are witnessing growing interest in the Indian mutual fund industry too. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, which launched its ESG fund on September 21, has already raised over Rs 500 crore in its ongoing NFO.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">ESG investing is used synonymously with sustainable investing or socially responsible investing. While selecting a stock for investment, the ESG fund shortlists companies that score high on environment, social responsibility, and corporate governance, and then looks into financial factors. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">So, the scheme focuses on companies with environment-friendly practices, ethical business practices and an employee-friendly record.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Modern investors are re-evaluating traditional approaches, and look at the impact their investment has on the planet. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As a result of this paradigm change, asset managers have started incorporating ESG factors into investment practices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the coming years, ESG way of investing will be the new normal in India as most of the millennial and young population in India are more conscious while making an investment decision.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As ESG funds gain momentum in India, companies will be forced to follow better governance, ethical practices, environment-friendly measures, and social responsibility. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Globally there has been a big shift as many pension funds, sovereign wealth funds etc don’t invest in companies that are seen as polluting, don’t follow social responsibility or are tobacco companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Tobacco companies and companies in the coal business may find it tough to make the cut. So will companies that generate hazardous waste and do not manage them properly. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Besides, sectors that use a lot of water and do not follow best practices on its reuse, or companies that discharge untreated waste in soil, water or air will find it tough to get funds parked in them.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5693,
'title' => 'SEBI’s multicap directive for mutual funds',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The latest directive by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) slapping limits on stock market investments of multi-cap schemes of mutual funds have upset their plans on investments.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sebi has specified that the minimum investment in equity and equity-related instruments of large, mid, and small cap companies in multi-cap schemes should be 25 per cent each of total assets under management of the scheme. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">So, if a multi-cap scheme of a fund house has an AUM of Rs 10,000 crore, it will have to invest at least Rs 2,500 crore each in the three categories of stocks. The fund manager is free to invest the remaining Rs 2,500 crore in any category they want.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While Sebi guidelines said that multi-cap funds should invest at least 65 percent into equity and equity-related instruments, the fund managers were free to allocate the money into large, mid or small caps.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mutual funds were getting decent returns by investing in large-cap stocks, which were leading the Sensex rally in the last two years. On the other hand, mid and small cap stocks fared rather poorly when compared to large stocks. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Their returns may come down also or the schemes may carry higher risk. Mid and small caps don’t offer the desired comfort level to fund managers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The companies that are ranked 101-250 are mid cap and the 251st company onwards comes under small-cap companies. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The categorisation has been done to ensure uniformity in respect of the investment universe for equity schemes. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mutual funds have been focusing on the top 100 large-caps as many of them are good performers and give decent returns to investors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since a lot of the rebalancing will result into funds moving out of large-cap companies to mid-cap and small-cap companies, this is expected to resulting into a decline in share prices of some large-cap companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Mutual Fund</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in securities such as stocks, bonds, and short-term debt. The combined holdings of the mutual fund are known as its portfolio. Investors buy shares in mutual funds.</span></span></p>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5937,
'title' => 'Sensex driving up',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The benchmark Sensex at BSE crossed closed above the 40,000 mark and has been holding on to the gains.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Over the last six trading sessions, the Sensex has risen by 2,209 points or 5.8 percent and closed at over seven-month high of 40,182.67.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In its policy statement the RBI Governor said that several high-frequency indicators are pointing to the easing of contractions in various sectors of the economy.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Better than expected numbers on various economic fronts has driven the rally. If the strong vehicle sales numbers for September was one, TCS announcing a strong performance for the quarter ended September lifted the stock prices of leading IT companies. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The E-way bills jumped 10 percent in September and the power demand too has witnessed a double-digit growth. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rail freight in the last 10 days of September rose by 19 percent and the Pharma market grew 4.5% in September.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As all these numbers indicate a better than expected uptick in the economy, the stock markets have been responding to the same. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The decline in COVID-19 cases over the last week has come as a big positive for the markets. With declining numbers, there has been further easing in lockdown restrictions and the central regulations now permit nearly all activities. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is expected to further provide strength to the restoration of economic activities across the country and will help sustain momentum in the stock markets. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Investors, however, need to be careful with stock picking as a number of companies may be trading at expensive valuations.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'UP’s big film city plan',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has unveiled an ambitious plan to set up a “film city” and invited the film fraternity to come to the state.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Adityanath had announced that the country’s “biggest and most beautiful film city” would be set up in Gautam Budh Nagar district.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While there is excitement about the project, with government officials indicating that it is intended also to create employment opportunities in the state, this isn’t the first time that a government of UP has attempted to woo the film industry to set up base in the state. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Over the past few years, UP has offered financial incentives up to Rs 2 crore to attract filmmakers to the state. The scripts of these films are approved by the state government, and these movies have to fulfill certain criteria under the existing state film policy.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under the policy, a film made in Awadhi, Braj, Bundeli or Bhojpuri, can get up to 50 per of the cost of the film as subsidy, and up to 25 percent of the cost if it is made in Hindi, English or any other language.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This subsidy is subject to a maximum limit of Rs 1 crore if at least 50 percent of the shooting has been done in the state, and Rs 2 crore if two-thirds of the film is shot in UP.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The policy also provides for additional incentives if the director shoots a second or third film as well in the state; in such cases, the subsidy ceiling can go up to Rs 2.50 crore provided two-thirds of the shooting days are in the state for the third of successive movie of the same director or producer.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If five main artistes in the film belong to Uttar Pradesh, an additional subsidy of Rs 25 lakh is given by the state towards wages; in case all artistes are from the state, the producer can be given up to Rs 50 lakh.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The policy further offers that if a film training institute is set up in any major city apart from Noida or Greater Noida, the state would provide 50 per cent, or up to Rs 50 lakh, of the cost as a subsidy.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">‘Film Bandhu’ has given a grant of Rs 22.59 crore to 38 big and small Hindi and Bhojpuri films over the past three years, which shot at least half of the film in UP.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'id' => (int) 5790,
'title' => 'Shapoorji Pallonji to exit from Tata',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After an association of close to 84 years, the Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (SP) Group has offered to exit from Tata Sons as litigation with the Tatas has affected the business expansion plans of the SP Group.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The market value of SP Group’s stake in the listed entities of Tata Group is estimated to be over Rs 148,000 crore, going by the market capitalisation of all listed group firms. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Earlier this month, Tata Sons moved the Supreme Court seeking to restrain SP Group firms from raising capital against security of their shareholding in Tata Sons. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Tatas argued that the articles of association (AoA) stipulate that shares cannot change hands, including to lenders or other parties, and the right of first refusal rests with Tata Sons. The SP Group was planning to raise funds for real estate expansion by pledging Tata Sons shares.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Tata Group is open to buying the shares in Tata Sons held by the SP Group to aid the latter are fundraising efforts. The Supreme Court restrained the SP Group from transferring or pledging Tata Sons shares.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SP group owns an 18.37% stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, while the majority 66% is controlled by Tata Trusts headed by Ratan Tata. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is learnt that the Tata Sons Articles of Association states that if any shareholder of Tata Sons wants to sell his/her shares, then he has to first offer it to Tata Sons. Tata Sons will then decide a fair market value and offer it.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Investment bankers and finance experts say Tata Group’s offer to buy back SP Group’s shares involves various layers of complications.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Tata Group will have to work out a financing plan to show how it will fund that acquisition and what will it put as lien for that borrowing.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'title' => 'Auction theory',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded this year’s Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson for auction theory.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Auction theory studies how auctions are designed, what rules govern them, how bidders behave, and what outcomes are achieved.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This simple design of such an auction is the open bidder getting the property (or the commodity in question).</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">But over time, and especially over the last three decades, more and more goods and services have been brought under auction. The nature of these commodities differs sharply. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For instance, a bankrupt person’s property is starkly different from the spectrum for radio or telecom use. Similarly, carbon dioxide emission credits are quite different from the spot market for buying electricity, which, in turn, is quite different from choosing which company should get the right to collect the local garbage. In other words, no one auction design fits all types of commodities or seller.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is also true because the purpose of an auction also differs with the commodity and the entity conducting the auction. More often than not, private sellers want to maximise their gains while public authorities may have other goals in mind.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Wilson developed the theory for auctions of objects with a common value — a value which is uncertain beforehand but, in the end, is the same for everyone. Wilson showed what the “winner’s curse” is in an auction and how it affects bidding. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Milgrom formulated a more general theory of auctions that not only allows common values but also private values that vary from bidder to bidder. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He analysed the bidding strategies in a number of well-known auction formats, demonstrating that a format will give the seller higher expected revenue when bidders learn more about each other’s estimated values during bidding.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">With each passing year, as societies have become more complex Milgrom and Wilson responded by inventing new formats for auctioning off many interrelated objects simultaneously, on behalf of a seller motivated by broad societal benefit rather than maximal revenue.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 5993,
'title' => 'Delisting',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Vedanta has announced that it had failed to garner the number of shares required to complete its delisting process from the stock market.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Vedanta fell short of garnering the threshold amount of 90% of shares of the company, even after public records initially showed that offers by shareholders had crossed that threshold.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the delisting process, the promoters of a company launch a reverse book building process in which shareholders can tender their shares for purchase by promoters at a set price. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The discovered price is the price tendered by shareholders at which the company is able to cross the threshold of 90% stake required to complete the delisting process. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Therefore, the lowest price at which the company can complete the acquisition of 90% of shares is the discovery price.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Foreign shareholders hold shares through a custodian, but custodians are not allowed to participate in the secondary market and therefore bids are tendered by brokers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This process could be used to artificially reach the 90% threshold in cases where some bidders do not even own the shares, thereby giving a push to smaller shareholders to participate in a delisting process that they believe is likely to succeed. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Delisting</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Delisting is the removal of a listed security from a stock exchange. The delisting of a security can be voluntary or involuntary and usually results when a company ceases operations, declares bankruptcy, merges, does not meet listing requirements, or seeks to become private.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Companies must meet specific guidelines, called "listing standards," before they can be listed on an exchange. Each exchange establishes its own set of rules and regulations for listings. Companies that fail to meet the minimum standards set by an exchange will be involuntarily delisted. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'China’s digital Yuan',
'description' => '<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">China concluded its largest pilot project to date for a central bank-backed digital yuan, with the trial extending its lead in the global race to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC).</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under the trial programme, the central bank distributed “red envelopes” in the form of online wallets containing 200 digital yuan ($29.75) each to 50,000 randomly selected consumers.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">China’s digital yuan is probably the most advanced of the several CBDC initiatives that are being developed around the world.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Central banks, including the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), are concerned about cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or private projects like Facebook’s Libra gaining widespread traction, restricting central bank control of flows of funds.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The PBOC been working on its digital yuan programme since 2014, though it released few details until last year. Some crucial aspects like an estimated launch timeline remain undisclosed.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The digital yuan is designed to replace cash in circulation, such as coins and bank notes, not money deposited long-term in bank accounts.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Commercial banks will have a role in distributing the digital currency to users, and to do so they must deposit exactly the same amount of their reserves with the PBOC as the digital yuan they distribute.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Both commercial bank distributors and the central bank will keep databases tracking the flows of digital yuan from user to user, something that they cannot do as effectively with coins or banknotes.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unlike cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the digital yuan will not use blockchain, distributed ledger technology which allows transactions to be validated without the need for banks.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-left:0cm; margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Advantages</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Widespread use of the digital yuan would give Chinese policy makers greater visibility into how money flows around China’s economy.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This would help them track any illicit flows of funds, such as money laundering or terrorist financing, and it would also allow them to experiment by targeting monetary policy interventions on specific economic classes, regions or other groups.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In extreme economic circumstances, it would also allow them to have negative interest rates for cash.</span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
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'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Global energy majors have called on the government to bring natural gas under the GST regime as natural gas market is witnessing growth.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currently petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel, natural gas, and crude oil fall outside India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government officials have also indicated that the government is considering bringing natural gas under the ambit of the GST regime.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experts have argued that bringing natural gas under the GST would lead to a reduction in the cascading impact of taxes on industries such as power and steel, which used natural gas as an input. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The inclusion of natural gas under the GST regime would do away with the central excise duty and different value added taxes imposed by states. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This would lead to an increase in the adoption of natural gas in line with the government’s stated goal to increase the share of natural gas in the country’s energy basket from 6.3% to 15%.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">GST was a welcome federal initiative to ease trade and it will be good if natural gas is included in that as the current regime India was a complex market, with 29 markets within itself (because of differences in state laws).</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'id' => (int) 6115,
'title' => 'Harley Davidson’s tie up with Hero',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The tie-up announced by Harley-Davidson with Hero MotoCorp is part of the corporate makeover by the American cruiser bike brand, which involves exits from nearly 40 global markets.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has been complaining about high taxes on import of semi-knocked down or completely built units, which raise the final cost of the product, discouraging several buyers.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Harley-Davidson said it has decided to hand over sales, service, and distribution of its products to Delhi-based Hero MotoCorp. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hero will also take care of sales of parts, accessories, general merchandise, riding gear, and apparels of Harley-Davidson.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This arrangement is similar to revamped distribution models being piloted by Harley in 16 other markets outside the United States, apart from India. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Harley has been scouting for local partners in India and China to bring down the cost of operations and develop cheaper motorcycles that cater to the local markets.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is being defined as a non-equity tie-up — a distribution-based partnership that does not involve transfer of technology from Harley. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A licensing agreement allows Hero to develop and sell a range of premium motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson brand name.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hero MotoCorp would sell Harley accessories and general merchandise, riding gear, and apparel through a network of brand-exclusive Harley-Davidson dealers and its existing sales network in the country.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The partnership is expected to help both companies. While Harley-Davidson bikes will still have a presence in India, the robust and widespread sales and service network of Hero MotoCorp will now open up.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">In September, Harley had announced the closure of India operations after 11 years of poor performance, which saw the company sell only 25,000 units. Harley did not offer any clarity about the future of the Haryana factory in its statement.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 65 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'id' => (int) 6116,
'title' => 'How Covid has affected finance of state governments',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Reserve Bank of India’s study on state governments’ finances indicates that gross fiscal deficits (GFDs) of state governments are set to double in 2020-21.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In 2020-21, about half the states have budgeted the GFD-to-GSDP (gross state domestic product) ratio at or above the 3% threshold, although most of these budgets were presented prior to the onset of Covid-19. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The direction of possible revision is evident from the fact that the average for states presenting their budget before the outbreak of the pandemic is 2.4% of GSDP, while it is 4.6% for the remaining states that made their budget presentations after the outbreak. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Thus, states are grappling with the pandemic with constrained fiscal space. In terms of primary balances, most states are incurring primary deficits in 2019-20, as against primary surpluses at the onset of the global financial crisis.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The crisis literature focuses on the operation of ‘scissor effects’ — loss of revenues due to demand slowdown, coupled with higher expenditure associated with the pandemic. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The duration of stress on state finances will likely be contingent upon factors such as the lockdown tenure and the risk of new waves of infection, all of which make traditional backward-looking tax buoyancy forecasting models unreliable.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pandemic-related spending, particularly on health and other support measures, are likely to keep these expenditures high, prolonging the ‘scissor effects’.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">State governments may have to face the tough choice of putting investment projects on hold, but, given the multiplier associated with capital spending, this will inevitably entail growth losses in a vicious cycle. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The recovery pattern is similar — a sharp rebound in the immediate subsequent year because of favourable base effects, followed by contraction again, and the GDP growth rate finally returning to pre-pandemic levels in 3-4 years.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'metadescription' => 'The Reserve Bank of India’s study on state governments’ finances indicates that gross fiscal deficits (GFDs) of state governments are set to double in 2020-21.',
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6142,
'title' => 'Inventory gains helping oil companies',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil companies have reported strong financial results in the second quarter of this fiscal despite lower operating revenues. The key item driving profits for both companies in the quarter were “inventory gains”. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Inventory profit is the increase in value of an item that has been held in inventory for a period of time. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the case of oil marketing companies, inventory gains can be caused by an appreciation in the price of crude classified as refining inventory gains or an appreciation in the price of products such as petrol and diesel classified as marketing inventory gains. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Refining inventory gains are a result of an appreciation in the price of crude oil in the company’s inventory. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Companies can also get inventory gains from an upward change in the price of end products including petrol and diesel that they have in stock.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The price of petrol and diesel are calculated based on benchmark prices of petrol and diesel in the international market. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The rise in prices of brent crude allowed IOC to register a gain of Rs 5,829 crore on crude alone and a total inventory gain of Rs 7,400 crore including marketing inventory gain on end products such as petrol and diesel when net profit for the quarter was Rs 6,227 crore. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">BPCL similarly saw a refining inventory gain of Rs 1,303 crore and marketing inventory gain of Rs 1,200 crore in the quarter ending September 30.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">All three state-owned OMCs registered major inventory losses in the previous financial year due to a sharp fall in the international price of crude oil.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'id' => (int) 6144,
'title' => 'Bulk drug park',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Himachal Pradesh is one of the states vying for the allotment of a bulk drug park under a central government scheme announced earlier this year for setting up three such parks across the country. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A bulk drug, also called an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), is the key ingredient of a drug or medicine, which lends it the desired therapeutic effect or produces the intended pharmacological activity.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">APIs are prepared from multiple reactions involving chemicals and solvents. The primary chemical or the basic raw material which undergoes reactions to form an API is called the key starting material, or KSM. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Chemical compounds formed during the intermediate stages during these reactions are called drug intermediates or DIs.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has one of the largest pharmaceutical industries in the world (third largest by volume) but this industry largely depends on other countries, particularly China, for importing APIs, DIs and KSMs.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In January, factories in China shut down when the country went into a lockdown, and later, international supply chains were affected as the Covid pandemic gripped the entire world. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The border conflict between India and China exacerbated the situation. All these factors pushed the Indian government to call for greater self-reliance across all industries, and in June, the department of pharmaceuticals announced a scheme for the promotion of three bulk drug parks in the country.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A bulk drug park will have a designated contiguous area of land with common infrastructure facilities for the exclusive manufacture of APIs, DIs or KSMs, and also a common waste management system.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These parks are expected to bring down manufacturing costs of bulk drugs in the country and increase competitiveness in the domestic bulk drug industry. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Centre’s scheme will support three selected parks in the country by providing a one-time grant-in-aid for the creation of common infrastructure facilities.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The grant-in-aid will be 70 percent of the cost of the common facilities but in the case of Himachal Pradesh and other hill states, it will be 90 percent.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Himachal jumped nine places in this year’s ease-of-doing-business rankings declared by the Centre last month, securing the seventh position in the country.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Himachal already has Asia’s largest pharma manufacturing hub, that is the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt, and the state produces around half of India’s total drug formulations.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Indian sugar industry and exports',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The sugar industry has reacted adversely to Union Commerce and Industry Minister’s announcement that the central government is not considering an extension of its export subsidy for the 2020-21 sugar season.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mills are promised a transport subsidy of Rs 10.448 per kg of sugar exported. This subsidy had helped mills bridge the difference between production costs and international prices.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The record export level last season was possible only because of the subsidy programme offered by the central government.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Other than the traditional markets of Bangladesh, Malayasia, and Sri Lanka, Indian mills have also shipped their produce to newer countries like Iran, China, South Korea, and Somalia.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Delay in India’s export subsidy scheme has made sugar prices increase, and the benefit is largely being drawn by Brazil, which is the largest sugar manufacturer of the world.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Brazil, which uses 38% of its sugarcane for producing sugar has increased it to 45% due to excessive demand and low ethanol production.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The reduction in prices of crude oil has resulted in low demand for ethanol. This has forced farmers to adopt different approach to sugar production.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The central government has announced a Rs 1-3 per litre rise in the procurement price of ethanol. This is the second signal given by the government to mills to divert cane towards production of ethanol rather than sugar.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The industry has estimated that this year, nearly 20 lakh tonne of sugar will be diverted towards producing ethanol. Last year, the central government had announced an interest subvention scheme for mills to augment production of ethanol.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 69 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6244,
'title' => 'GST compensation',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rajasthan became the latest Opposition-ruled state to opt for a special borrowing window for meeting its compensation shortfall under Goods and Services Tax (GST). </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">States like Punjab, Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bengal are yet to join any of the borrowing options floated by the central government to resolve the issue of compensation deficit in the current financial year.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Ministry had said that the Centre would borrow from the market and then act as an intermediary to arrange back-to-back loans to pay the GST compensation shortfall of Rs 1.1 lakh crore to state governments. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This arrangement will not reflect in the fiscal deficit of the Centre, and will appear as capital receipts for state governments.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The total GST revenue shortfall for the current fiscal was estimated at Rs 3 lakh crore, of which compensation cess collection was estimated at Rs 65,000 crore, leaving a compensation deficit of Rs 2.35 lakh crore.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under the special window, the Centre has already borrowed Rs 12,000 crore in two equal instalments and passed it on to 21 states and three Union Territories on October 23 and November 2. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The second round of borrowing was done at an interest of 4.42%, and the first round at 5.19%, lower than the cost of borrowing for states.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It remains to be seen how this issue will be resolved for the next fiscal, given that tax revenues are expected to grow at a lower rate than the 14% growth guaranteed to states under the compensation mechanism of GST.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>GST compensation</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, was the law which created the mechanism for levying a nationwide GST.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There was also a provision to compensate the States for loss of revenue arising out of implementation of the GST. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It was agreed that revenue shortfalls arising from the transition to the new indirect taxes regime would be made good from a pooled GST Compensation Fund for a period of five years that is set to end in 2022. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This corpus in turn is funded through a compensation cess that is levied on so-called ‘demerit’ goods. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The computation of the shortfall is done annually by projecting a revenue assumption based on 14% compounded growth from the base year’s (2015-2016) revenue and calculating the difference between that figure and the actual GST collections in that year.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6267,
'title' => 'Technical recession',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">RBI predicts that India’s economy will contract by 8.6% in the second quarter (July, August, September) of the current financial year.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The contraction of Q2 is crucial because it shows India that has entered a “<strong>technical</strong> <strong>recession</strong>” in the first half of 2020-21, for the first time in its history.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When the overall output of goods and services increases from one quarter (or month) to another, the economy is said to be in an expansionary phase. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">And when the GDP contracts from one quarter to another, the economy is said to be in a recessionary phase. Together, these two phases create what is called a “business cycle” in any economy.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There is no universally accepted definition of a recession. The time period for which the economy should contract before declaring it a recession is not distinguished.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Commentators often consider a recession to be in progress when real GDP has declined for at least two consecutive quarters.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">That is how real quarterly GDP has come to be accepted as a measure of economic activity and a “benchmark” for ascertaining a “technical recession”.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Typically, recessions last for a few quarters. If they continue for years, they are referred to as “depressions”.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Slowdown</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An economic slowdown occurs when the rate of growth in the GDP of an economy slows from the previous period. An economic slowdown is a natural part of the business cycle. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Recession</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A recession is a macroeconomic term that refers to a significant decline in general economic activity in a designated region. It had been typically recognized as two consecutive quarters of economic decline.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Recessions are characterized by a rash of business failures and often bank failures, slow or negative growth in production, and elevated unemployment.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Depression</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A depression is a severe and prolonged downturn in economic activity. A depression is commonly defined as an extreme recession<strong> </strong>that lasts three or more years or which leads to a decline in real gross domestic product (GDP) of at least 10% in a given year. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Depressions are relatively less frequent than milder recessions, and tend to be accompanied by high unemployment and low inflation.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'id' => (int) 6317,
'title' => 'Bharat Petroleum divestment',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The disinvestment process of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has moved on to the second phase, with the government receiving multiple expressions of interest for its stake.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currently, only the Vedanta Group has been confirmed as an interested party. Experts noted that given the low level of participation BPCL was likely to result in a low valuation. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent crash in global crude oil prices has put a strain on the finances of most global oil majors. The price of crude oil fell sharply as a result of the fall in the demand for petroleum products.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Planned investments by Saudi ARAMCO into Reliance Industries and the Ratnagiri refinery complex have seen delays.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government may rope in other public sector undertakings like ONGC and Indian Oil to participate in another round of bidding for BPCL if it doesn’t receive a high enough valuation.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under the terms of the current bidding process, PSUs were not been permitted to participate in BPCL’s disinvestment process.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If a combination of ONGC and IOC acquire the government’s stake in BPCL at a higher premium than what is being offered by private sector players, they would likely witness a decline in their share prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is not likely that the government would put off the disinvestment process of BPCL because of a lack of interest as it needs the proceeds from the sale to shore up its fiscal deficit.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Divestment</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Divestment is the process of selling subsidiary assets, investments, or divisions of a company in order to maximize the value of the parent company. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Divestment is effectively the opposite of an investment and is usually done when that subsidiary asset or division is not performing up to expectations.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Strategic sale</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Strategic disinvestment is transferring the ownership and control of a public sector entity to some other entity (mostly to a private sector entity).</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It involves selling of 50% of stake or such higher percentage as the competent authority may determine, along with transfer of management control.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6326,
'title' => 'Liquidation regulations under IBC',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has amended the regulations for liquidation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One of the first changes to speed up the liquidation process is allowing the liquidator to assign or transfer any not readily realisable asset.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The IBBI has said that in order to ensure quick liquidation of companies which are unable to find bidders under IBC, the liquidator can “assign or transfer a not readily realisable asset” to any person. The said transfer or assignment of the asset must be done in consultation with the stakeholders committee.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The IBBI has also said that the definition of “a not readily realisable asset” would include any assets of the corporate debtor, which could not be sold through the available options. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Any or all assets of the company under liquidation, which is facing some dispute or is involved in some fraudulent transaction, can be sold by the liquidator.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The financial creditors can also attach a copy of any court or tribunal’s order which has established that the company had defaulted on debt payments.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The liquidator for a company would not have to wait for the entire assets of the company to be sold in one go under liquidation, and can be disposed of to different bidders as and when they come.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The other change, which allows creditors to assign or transfer the debt due to them to other creditors of the company, is also intended to help speed up of the liquidation process.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issues associated</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The new regulations will have to be tested in a court of law or an appropriate forum as its definition of “a not readily realisable asset” is contentious.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Another newly amended regulation that is likely to be challenged is about the IBBI allowing the liquidator to distribute the un-disposed of assets among stakeholders, with the approval of the adjudicating authority.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Liquidation</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Liquidation in finance and economics is the process of bringing a business to an end and distributing its assets to claimants.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is an event that usually occurs when a company is insolvent, meaning it cannot pay its obligations when they are due. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As company operations end, the remaining assets are used to pay creditors and shareholders, based on the priority of their claims. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The term liquidation may also be used to refer to the selling of poor-performing goods at a price lower than the cost to the business, or at a price lower than the business desires.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'id' => (int) 6375,
'title' => 'Corporates as banks',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A report by Internal Working Group of RBI has recommended large corporate houses to be promoters of banks in India.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The banking system of India was nationalised to prevent concentration of vital economic resources in hands of the few rich individuals.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After the economic liberalisation, the economy’s credit needs grew and private banks re-entered the picture.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even after rapid growth, India’s balance sheet constitutes less than 70% of the GDP, which is less than peers such as China.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Domestic bank credit to privates sector is just 50% of GDP whereas in economies such as China, Japan, and South Korea it is above 150%.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India needs to boost its banking system to register rapid growth. For that to take place, private banks have to grow.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Private banks are not only more efficient and profitable but also has more risk appetite.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for criticism</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The main concern is allowing corporate houses to open their own banks is a conflict of interest as it leads to connected lending.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unlike non-banking groups or NBFCs, a private bank accepts deposits from public. There is a possibility that they channelize public money for their own ventures.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for promoting private banking</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indian economy needs more money to grow. The government-owned banks are struggling to survive due to NPAs.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Growth is falling and revenues diminishing. The government has limited ability to push for growth through public sector banks.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Large corporate with deep pockets have the ability to fund India’s future growth as they have finances as well as technology to develop.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Connected lending</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Connected lending refers to situation where the promoter of the bank is also a borrower and it is possible that promoter can channelize depositors’ money into their own ventures.</span></span></p>
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(int) 74 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6376,
'title' => 'The Karvy suspension case',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The National Exchange has expelled Karvy Stock Broking Limited (KSBL) from membership of the exchange for non-compliance with regulatory mechanism.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The SEBI had banned KSBL from taking fresh business for allegedly misappropriating money and securities belonging to investors.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The case pertains to KSBL transferring securities of clients unauthorized into one of its Demat accounts by misusing Power of Attorney given by its clients.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI moved against Karvy for violating norms and pledging shares of its clients to raise money in the capital market to divert it to its real estate arm.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Money lying in Depository Participant account belongs to the respective clients and can be pledged to meet obligations of respective clients. KSBL did not have legal right to pledge the shares.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While customers are looking at the siphoning of their money by Karvy, SEBI has been investigating similar offences by other brokering firms.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Securities</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The term "security" refers to a fungible, negotiable financial instrument that holds some type of monetary value.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An equity security represents ownership interest held by shareholders in an entity (a company, partnership, or trust), realized in the form of shares of capital stock, which includes shares of both common and preferred stock.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A debt security represents borrowed money that must be repaid, with terms that stipulate the size of the loan, interest rate, and maturity or renewal date.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Power of attorney</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A power of attorney (POA) is a legal document giving one person (the agent) the power to act for another person (the principal). </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The agent can have broad legal authority or limited authority to make legal decisions about the principal's property, finances or medical care. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The power of attorney is frequently used in the event of a principal's illness or disability, or when the principal can't be present to sign necessary legal documents for financial transactions.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Capital market</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Capital markets are venues where savings and investments are channelled between the suppliers who have capital and those who are in need of capital. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The entities that have capital include retail and institutional investors while those who seek capital are businesses, governments, and people.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Capital markets are composed of primary and secondary markets. The most common capital markets are the stock market and the bond market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Capital markets seek to improve transactional efficiencies. These markets bring those who hold capital and those seeking capital together and provide a place where entities can exchange securities.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>SEBI</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the leading regulator securities markets in India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI has wide-ranging regulatory, investigative, and enforcement powers, including the ability to impose fines on violators.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">SEBI is run by a board of directors, including a chairman who is elected by the parliament, two officers from the Ministry of Finance, one member from the Reserve Bank of India, and five members who are also elected by the parliament.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 75 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6399,
'title' => 'Insider trading',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities and Exchange Board of India has barred NDTV promoters from the securities market for insider trading.</span></span><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sebi noted that promoters together made a gain of Rs 16.97 crore while indulging in insider trading in the shares of New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) while in possession of UPSI relating to the proposed reorganization of the company.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The directions follow a probe conducted by the markets regulator between September 2006 and June 2008 wherein various violations of insider trading regulations were found. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They have been restrained from accessing the securities market for two years and directed to disgorge illegal gains along with 6 percent interest per annum.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong> Insider trading</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Insider trading involves trading in a public company's stock by someone who has non-public, material information about that stock for any reason. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Insider trading can be either illegal or legal depending on when the insider makes the trade. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is illegal when the material information is still non-public, and this sort of insider trading comes with harsh consequences.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities and Exchange Commission has rules to protect investments from the effects of insider trading. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>UPSI</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI) means any information which relates to the internal matter of a company and is not disclosed by the company in the regular course of business. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If such information is leaked, it affects the price of securities of the company in the stock market.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>SEBI</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the prime regulator of Stocks and Securities in the Indian Financial Market. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The main functions of SEBI include:</span></span></p>
</li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Development of Market</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Protection of Investors</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Proper Regulation of Securities Markets</span></span></li>
</ul>
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(int) 76 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6370,
'title' => 'Negative yield bonds',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">China has sold negative-yield debt for the first time, and this saw a high demand from investors across Europe.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Negative yield bonds signal the slowdown in economy. Bonds offering lower than buying rate are attractive as a measure of playing safe.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These are debt instruments that offer to pay the investor a maturity amount lower than the purchase price of the bond. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These are generally issued by central banks or governments, and investors pay interest to the borrower to keep their money with them.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Negative-yield bonds attract investments during times of stress and uncertainty as investors look to protect their capital from significant erosion. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for demand</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and interest rates in developed markets across Europe are much lower, investors are looking for relatively better-yielding debt instruments to safeguard their interests.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 10 year and 15 year bonds are yielding positive return whereas in Europe, yield has been mostly in negative territory.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the majority of the large economies are facing a contraction in their GDP for 2020-21, China is one country that is set to witness positive growth in these challenging times.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">European investors are also looking to increase their exposure in China, and hence there is a huge demand for these bonds.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There is an expectation that the new US government may impose fresh lockdowns in the as Covid cases are picking up in various US states and European countries, whereas China seems relatively safe now from that perspective.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Bonds</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Bonds are units of corporate debt issued by companies and securitized as tradeable assets.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A bond is referred to as a fixed income instrument since bonds traditionally paid a fixed interest rate (coupon) to debt holders. Variable or floating interest rates are also now quite common.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Bonds have maturity dates at which point the principal amount must be paid back in full or risk default.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6462,
'title' => 'Intellectual property MoU between India and US',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India and the United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Intellectual Property (IP) cooperation between the two countries.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Minister of Commerce signed the MoU with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the agency of Department of Commerce of US.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The agreement will help in conducting in programs and events to provide details of the practices, experiences, and more such information on IP to the public as well as the industry, universities, Research and Development (R&D), and small and medium-sized enterprises.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will also help in exchanging information between the experts, development, and implementation of automation and modernization projects. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will provide best ways to approach the registration processes and examine applications for patents trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, and industrial designs, including the protection, enforcement, and use of IP rights.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The MoU will also ensure cooperation between the two countries to understand the issues in terms of traditional knowledge that include the databases and raise awareness on the usage of existing IP systems in order to protect the same traditional knowledge.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It is expected to encourage collaboration in training programs, exchange of experts, technical exchange, and outreach activities.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 78 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6585,
'title' => 'India put on currency manipulator list',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The United States has once again included India in its monitoring list of countries with “currency manipulation” policies.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This move comes a year after India was removed from the watchlist in the US Treasury Department’s semi-annual foreign-exchange report to the US Congress.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currency manipulator is a label given by the US government to countries it feels are engaging in “unfair currency practices” by deliberately devaluing their currency against the dollar. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The practice would mean that the country in question is artificially lowering the value of its currency to gain an unfair advantage over others. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is because the devaluation would reduce the cost of exports from that country and artificially show a reduction in trade deficits as a result.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Parameters to classify currency manipulators</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A significant bilateral trade surplus with the US, which is at least $20 billion over a 12-month period.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A material current account surplus equivalent to at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over a 12-month period.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When net purchases of foreign currency totalling at least 2 percent of the country’s GDP over a 12 month period are conducted repeatedly, in at least six out of 12 months.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Other countries on the list</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Other countries in the latest list comprise China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India was last included in the currency watchlist in October 2018, but removed from the list that came out in May 2019.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Why India has been included?</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s bilateral goods trade surplus with the US totalled $22 billion in the first four quarters through June 2020, which is more than the $20 billion threshold.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s net purchases of foreign exchange accelerated notably in the second half of 2019. This pushed net purchases of foreign exchange to $64 billion–or 2.4% of GDP–over the four quarters through June 2020.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Implications of the move</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The designation of a country as a currency manipulator does not immediately attract any penalties, but tends to dent the confidence about a country in the global financial markets.</span></span></p>
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(int) 79 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6699,
'title' => 'Zero coupon bonds',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has used financial innovation to recapitalise Punjab & Sind Bank by issuing the lender Rs 5,500-crore worth of non-interest bearing bonds.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The funds raised through issuance of these instruments are being deployed to capitalise the state-run bank, which are reeling under debt.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These bonds will earn no interest for the subscriber but market participants term it both a ‘financial illusion’ and ‘great innovation’ by the government where it is using Rs 100 to create an impact of Rs 200 in the economy.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since these bonds are not tradable, the lender has kept them in the HTM bucket, not requiring it to book any mark-to-market gains or losses from these bonds.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is considered an innovative way to capitalise banks, which does not affect the fiscal deficit while at the same time provides much needed equity capital to the banks. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Zero coupon bonds by private companies are normally issued at discount, but since these special bonds are not tradable these can be issued at par.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Zero coupon bonds</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A zero-coupon bond is a debt security that does not pay interest but instead trades at a deep discount, rendering a profit at maturity, when the bond is redeemed for its full face value.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Some bonds are issued as zero-coupon instruments from the start, while others bonds transform into zero-coupon instruments after a financial institution strips them of their coupons, and repackages them as zero-coupon bonds. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Held To Maturity (HTM)</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Held to Maturity securities are the debt securities acquired with the intent to keep it until maturity. This type of security is recorded as an amortized cost on the financial statements of a company and is usually recorded in the form of the debt security with a particular maturity date.</span></span></p>
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(int) 80 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6890,
'title' => 'Shadow banking',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">RBI is likely to propose tightening rules on "shadow banks" in a bid to strengthen solvency and sustainability.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India's banks must maintain at least 18% worth of deposits that they must hold in cash, gold or government securities.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI could also suggest large nonbanks be required to maintain a cash reserve ratio. For banks this ratio is 3%, reduced from 4%</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The move could be a huge cash drain for the sector which is currently free from maintaining these reserve ratios, allowing them to lend to subprime lenders as well.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The move is to avoid failures of big shadow banks that could pose systemic risks and is expected to encourage some of the larger ones to move towards becoming full-time banks.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Shadow banking</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The shadow banking system is a term for the collection of non-bank financial intermediaries that provide services similar to traditional commercial banks but outside normal banking regulations. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They rely on short-term funding provided either by asset-backed commercial paper or repo market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The shadow banking system has escaped regulation primarily because unlike traditional banks and credit unions, these institutions do not accept traditional deposits.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Examples of intermediaries not subject to regulation include hedge funds, unlisted derivatives, and other unlisted instruments.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Difference with conventional banks</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They do not have access to central bank funding</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They do not have safety nets like deposit insurance</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They do not take deposits from customers foe lending</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Concerns with Shadow banking</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They are used to launder money and bypass banking system.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stress on shadow banking will impact traditional banking system.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Excess dependency on collateral business will create NPAs.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'GAIL’s share buyback',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The board of directors of GAIL is set to consider a share buyback of shares which will distribute surplus reserves to shareholders including the Government of India.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The centre has asked a number of public sector units to issue buybacks to help shore up its finances, which have been hit by the pandemic. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Share buyback</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A share repurchase or buyback is a decision by a company to purchase its own stock from the market. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Such a move reduces the number of outstanding shares of the company and tends to push up their price and is often undertaken when management considers the company’s shares undervalued.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is also a key way to transfer surplus earnings to shareholders and tends to lead to an increase in share prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Benefits to the government</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government holds 52.1% stake in GAIL. In a recent share repurchase offer by NTPC, the government of India sold shares worth over Rs 1,066 crore back to the company accounting for around 47% of the shares.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government also received Rs 1,377 crore from a share buyback offered by NMDC taking up over 99% of the buyback offer.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>GAIL</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">GAIL is an Indian public sector natural gas processing and distribution company headquartered in New Delhi.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Its business include natural gas, liquid hydrocarbon, liquefied petroleum gas transmission, petrochemical, city gas distribution, exploration and production, and electricity generation. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">GAIL was conferred with the Maharatna status on 1 Feb 2013, by the Government of India. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6743,
'title' => 'GST collection at all-time high',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in December rose 11.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1, 15,174 crore, the highest level since its rollout in 2017.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, GST revenue collections had been posting a contraction and was at a lower level than the previous year.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST revenue collections remained in negative territory for the first five months of this financial year, with a record low collection of Rs 32,172 crore in April, following the lockdown in the country in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December marked the fourth month in which GST revenue collections have posted a year-on-year growth. The increase in percentage terms is also aided partly by a low base effect.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">GST collections in December gained support from higher festive season sales on account of Diwali in November along with the rollout of new technological systems of e-invoicing and action against tax evaders.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The proposed extension of electronic invoicing to all businesses will further prevent leakages in GST revenues.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>New measures to tackle evasion</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under GST laws, e-invoice for B2B transactions has been made mandatory for companies with turnover of over Rs 500 crore from October 1 last year. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It was notified to be extended to businesses with over Rs 100 crore turnover from January 1 this year and is likely to be extended for all businesses beginning April 1.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">E-invoicing system is connected to a central portal that receives and validates invoices in real-time and over time will eventually replace the e-way bill system. It has been seen as a major game-changer to curb tax evasion and plug leakages.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Base effect</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The base effect is the distortion in a monthly inflation figure that results from abnormally high or low levels of inflation in the year-ago month. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A base effect can make it difficult to accurately assess inflation levels over time. It diminishes over time if inflation levels are relatively constant.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The causes of base effects are varied and range from seasonal variations to changes in demand. From a technical perspective, base effect impact the overall inflation figure.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 83 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6922,
'title' => 'Sensex grows above 50,000',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The BSE Sensex has crossed the 50000 mark for the first time in its 42 year history. It has recorded a compound 15.9% growth.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Only five companies that were initially part of the index retain their place — Reliance Industries, HUL, ITC, L&T, and M&M.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Thirty-five years ago, there were no IT companies and banking stocks in the benchmark index but now it has 9 stocks from banking and finance, and 4 information technology companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since April 1, 2020, inflows have hit a record Rs 2.41 lakh crore. The system is flush with liquidity, which is one reason for the non-stop rally.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The latest spike that has pushed the Sensex past 50,000 is primarily on account of the smooth transition of power in the United States after the deadly January 6 siege of the Capitol. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for growth</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Analysts expect the combination of strong capital inflows, low interest rates, leaner corporate balance sheets, and steps taken by the government, to quicken the pace of economic recovery in India. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">GDP is expected to rise by 0.1% in the December quarter. In the first half of 2021-22, the economy will grow at 14.2%, according to a Reserve Bank of India study. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Apart from robust FPI inflows, a big reason for the rally has been the impressive corporate results in the second and third quarters.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With the uptick in demand for steel, cement, and real estate, as well as in consumption, analysts expect to see a restarting of investment by the corporate sector.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Concerns</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Analysts say that the rise in inflation, tightening of monetary policy, and increase in interest rates will also be critical for the markets. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If the US decides to increase rates, money will start flowing back from emerging market equities to US treasuries, and that may result in a correction.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Budget takeaways',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has presented the annual financial budget for 2021-2022.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Disinvestment</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Two public-sector banks and one state-owned general insurance company to be lined up for disinvestment. FDI in insurance to be hiked to 74% from 49% now.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong> No populism</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Despite being a tough year for people, the FM has avoided giving any income tax relief. No increase in standard deduction, no raise in the tax slabs.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Healthcare</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Health allocation jumped 137% to Rs 2, 23,846 crore in 2021-22 compared with Rs 94,452 crore in 2020-21. She provided Rs 35,000 crore for the Covid-19 vaccine, and promised to provide further funds, if required.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Bad banks</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has finally decided to set up an asset reconstruction company that will take over the bad loans of banks, giving them flexibility to finance the economic recovery.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Development Finance Institutions (DFI)</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To provide debt to long gestation projects, a new DFI with a capital of Rs 20,000 crore will be set up. It will have statutory backing, but will be professionally managed. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Fiscal deficit targets</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> Fiscal deficit estimated at 6.8 percent of GDP in 2021-22; it is estimated to touch 9.5% in 2020-21. It will be brought down to 4.5 percent of GDP by 2025-26.</span></span></p>
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(int) 85 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7026,
'title' => 'Ship recycling in Alang',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In her Budget speech, Union Finance Minister spoke about doubling the ship recycling capacity by 2024 and attracting more ships to India from Europe and Japan.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">World’s largest ship recycling yard in Alang is planning to add 15 new plots to its existing capacity.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Alang has 153 plots or ship-breaking yards developed on a 10-kilometer long coast in Bhavnagar district. Only 131 plots have been allotted for ship-breaking activities and just 80 plots have ships for breaking.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the year 2011-12, a record 415 ships with a total 3.85 million Light Displacement Tonnage had come to Alang. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This was the only year when the Alang ship-breaking had come close to its full capacity of 4.5 million LDT. Thereafter, there has been a steady decline in the number of ships coming for dismantling. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Most of the ships that come to Alang are registered in countries that are considered tax havens like Panama, Barbados, St Kitts & Nevis, etc.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ship owners in European Union own 35 per cent of the merchant vessels of the world. Similarly, Japanese also have a large fleet. There are ship owners from UAE and Russia too. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Both European Union and Japan adhere to strict norms related to dismantling of ageing ships. There are requirements for EU adhering yards.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">EU norms require categorisation and tracking of every pollutant from the ship, till it is safely disposed of. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Most of the ships from the EU go to Turkey where ship-breaking yards are compliant with EU norms. The EU also sends its old vessels to five such yards in Norway and two in Denmark.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Attracting EU and Japanese ships</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Shipbreakers at Alang feel that as more and more shipbreakers adhere to the centre’s guidelines and get HKC certification, more ships are expected to come to Alang.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India hopes that its recent accession to Hong Kong International Convention (HKC) for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships in 2019 will help the country attract more ageing vessels. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Japanese are now ready to send their ships to Alang because many plots are compliant with Class NK certification. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Hong Kong Convention</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The Hong Kong Convention intends to address all the issues around ship recycling, including the fact that ships sold for scrapping may contain environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone-depleting substances and others.</span></span></p>
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(int) 86 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7061,
'title' => 'Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm Ltd',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">American chipmaker Nvidia’s $40 billion acquisition of Arm Ltd from SoftBank Group has come under a cloud.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is in addition to the US Federal Trade Commission announcing last year that it will be seeking additional information about the deal to ensure it didn’t breach competition rules.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In September, Nvidia had announced that it will purchase Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion. This became the largest-ever deal in the semiconductor industry. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even though China is still looking to develop its presence in the semiconductor industry, the deal saw protests from other countries like South Korea and Taiwan.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry more than doubled last year to $144 billion, marking a consolidation drive of the sector.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Opposition to deal</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rivals of the two companies fear potential locking out of smaller players if Nvidia decides to put brakes on Arm’s open-licensing business model.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As a supplier of chip designs and intellectual property to most players in the semiconductor industry, Arm has managed an unparalleled reach with large customers like Intel, Samsung, Apple, Qualcomm, etc.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If Nvidia can merge the Arm and Nvidia designs in the same software then that locks out companies from entering the seller market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to the impact that Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm could have on its rivals, the regulators are also looking at the impact of a deal this size on the strategic interests of their respective jurisdictions.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The UK has also noted earlier that it plans to put greater scrutiny on strategic deals in the technology sector, irrespective of the size of a deal. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Global semiconductor industry</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The worldwide semiconductor revenues in 2020 stood at $449.8 billion, an increase of 7.3% from 2019. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Intel retained its position as the top global semiconductor vendor by revenue in 2020, followed by South Korean firms Samsung Electronics and SK hynix at number 2 and number 3.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 87 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 6514,
'title' => 'Burger King IPO',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The allotment status of Rs 810-crore initial public offer (IPO) of Burger King India was announced on December 9.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Background</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With an over-subscription of 157 times, the IPO became the second-most subscribed offer, after Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, in calendar year 2020.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">BKIL has reported losses in FY18, FY19, FY20, and H1FY21, the company has negative retained earnings of Rs 462 in H1FY21 which has resulted in erosion of substantial portion of its other equity. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company may incur losses in future as well. However, BKIL’s target to open 700 restaurants by Dec’2026 is the key driver to the business. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Besides, the changing lifestyle and the eating habits of the youngest millennial population of India will further drive the revenue of BKIL.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong> IPO</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance. Public share issuance allows a company to raise capital from public investors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">IPOs provide companies with an opportunity to obtain capital by offering shares through the primary market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Companies hire investment banks to market, gauge demand, set the IPO price and date, and more.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">An IPO can be seen as an exit strategy for the company’s founders and early investors, realizing the full profit from their private investment.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 88 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7084,
'title' => 'MSP for sugar mills',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution issued separate guidelines for sugar mills and cane commissioners in regards to sale of sugar below the Minimum Selling Price.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sugar mills have been threatened with action for selling sugar below the government-mandated MSP.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To control the constant slide in ex mill prices of sugar, the central government had in June 2018 specified the concept of MSP for sugar. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Along with MSP, the centre had also fixed mill wise sales quota. Mills that breached either of the conditions were liable for action under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 which would include fine as well as a jail term or both.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These out of box measures were brought in to arrest the constant slide of sugar and to keep the demand supply ratio to a safe limit.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It was reasoned that both these measures would help mills generate enough revenue to pay their farmers the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for cane purchased from farmers.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Need for new notification</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sugar demand dips in December and January as the winter season steps in and demand for aerated drinks goes low. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sugar mills in Maharashtra and Karnataka had started selling sugar below the MSP and in some cases more than their monthly quota of sale. This was to raise money to clear their FRP dues failing which they would face action from cane commissioners.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sugar mills along the Karnataka and Maharashtra border in Karnataka have also been indulging in such sales.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Concerned with constant influx of below MSP sugar in the open markets mills who have so far resisted doing so had approached the central government.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It will be difficult to track sales below MSP as such transactions do not have a paper trail. On paper the mills would show the sale at MSP but the real financial transaction might be different.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7111,
'title' => 'Increase in daily wages of Assam tea garden workers',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Assam government has increased the wages of tea garden workers from Rs 167 to Rs 217. This comes after a long standing demand.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The announcement is important because the tea tribe community which comprises 17% of the state’s population is a deciding factor in almost 40 Assam Assembly seats out of the 126.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The community is spread over in 800 tea gardens plus several unorganised small gardens of Assam. It is marked by exploitation, economic backwardness, poor health conditions, and low literacy rates. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Importance of announcement</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Increasing wages of tea garden workers has been a major demand of the community and a poll plank as well. Although the tea garden managements pay the wages, the government fixes it.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In 2017, the Assam government formed an advisory board to fix minimum wages of tea workers — the board recommended an amount of Rs 351. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The next year, as an interim measure, the Assam government hiked daily wages from Rs 137 to Rs 167.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The electorally important community has been the focus of several welfare schemes launched by the Sarbananda Sonowal government.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, Rs 1,000 crore was announced for the welfare of tea workers in Assam and West Bengal.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Tea tribe communities</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Tea-garden community are multi ethnic groups of tea garden workers and their dependents in Assam. They are officially referred as "Tea-tribes" by Government of Assam. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They are the descendants of indigenous people brought by the British colonial planters as indentured labourers from different regions.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They include Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh into colonial Assam during 1860-90s in multiple phases for the purpose of being employed in the tea gardens industry as labourers. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">They are not a single ethnic group but consist of different ethnic group speaking dozens of languages and have different set of cultures. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 90 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7141,
'title' => 'Kerala government’s deep sea fishing deal',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Kerala government is under fire for inking a deal with an American firm for deep sea fishing and allied processing.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Opposition have called it a bid to sell off the state’s marine wealth, endangering the livelihood of lakhs of fishermen in the state.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Kerala Industrial Development Corporation (KIDC) signed an MoU with EMCC International India Private Limited for Fisheries research and development for the up-gradation and promotion of deep sea fishing in Kerala.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The components of the project were building 400 deep sea fishing trawlers, five mother vessels with modern technology, upgradation of 14 fishing harbours in the state as per EU standards, 50 sea food processing plants, hospitals, and air ambulances for fishermen and aquaculture farms.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The EMCC would train and deploy fishermen in deep sea fishing. Their skills would be upgraded, and the local fishing community would benefit in terms of direct and indirect employment opportunities, apart from the supplementary economic benefits triggered by the fishing and processing activities.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government had also signed a new agreement with the same US-based firm for manufacturing 400 deep sea trawlers and related activities at a cost of Rs 2,950 crore.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It said these deep sea vessels would be given to traditional fishermen and the company would modernise fishing harbours and engage in processing industry along the state’s coast.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Deep sea fishing policy</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Union Government had in 2017 withdrawn permission given for foreign trawlers three years back for deep sea fishing in the exclusive economic zone of the country. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The EEZ of the country extends up to 370 km from the coastline. Illegal fishing by foreign vessels in Indian waters is punishable under provisions of Maritime Zone of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels Act) 1981. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In Kerala, 2018 the fisheries policy opposed allowing foreign and native corporate vessels along the state’s coast. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The professed policy of the state is to equip the traditional fishermen for deep sea fishing by making them owners of deep sea fishing vessels.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Besides, there would be restrictions on the number of vessels. Only traditional fishermen would be given permission to replace their old boats.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7160,
'title' => 'NSE crash',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has come under criticism for failing to communicate a technical glitch that led to a halting of trading.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The trading halt and subsequent opening of the market for an extended time created significant volatility as it came during the monthly expiry of derivative contracts.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The indices such as NIFTY and Bank NIFTY stopped updating from around 10:08 IST, but the exchange did not communicate anything till 11:30 IST, creating confusion and nervousness among market participants.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NSE sent a message through its National Exchange for Automated Trading (NEAT) terminals, saying trading was being halted from 11:40 IST. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Around 15:17 IST, the NSE informed all brokers that trading will open again at 15:45 IST, and continue till 17:00 IST for both cash and futures and options (F&O) segment.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact of the glitch</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The trading halt impacted day traders, brokers, and people trading on margin, as most brokers took the call of squaring off cash positions at BSE prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since NSE extended the trading hours after the technical glitch was resolved, traders whose trades were squared off at lower prices, were impacted.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Trading disruptions</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Trading disruptions are occasional occurrences, but are not unheard of. They often result from software glitches, hardware issues, and telecom/Internet connectivity failures.</span></span></p>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7218,
'title' => 'India to manufacture containers indigenously',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has started the process of manufacturing cargo containers indigenously through two state-owned heavy-engineering companies.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has presently no capability to manufacture its own cargo containers. They are all manufactured by foreign players, especially Chinese.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Braithwaite and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited have received orders from Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), the largest stake-holder in container movements market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">China is the global leader in cargo containers and regularly obtains global tenders to manufacture and supply containers across the world. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">PSUs such as Braithwaite are focusing on creating the first prototype as there is no required component manufacturing in India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Critical components such as corner casting and structural components like channels have not been manufactured before. It requires special designing.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government orders of less than Rs 200 crore cannot be given global tender. India will have to be become self-reliant sometime in future.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Each container costs around Rs 2.5 lakh. The PSUs needed a big order so that the development process is profitable across the chain.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Containers are moved on road by trucks and also on rail. Rail journey costs less, reducing the cost of logistics.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li style="margin-right: 0in;">
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The prototype has to be tested and certified by suitable agencies before they can be inducted and manufactured on large scale.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 93 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7245,
'title' => 'Brent crude oil prices rise',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Security issues in Saudi Arabia have pushed prices of Brent crude oil above $70 per barrel.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Saudi Arabia has informed that world’s largest crude exporting complex of Ras Tanura was attacked by drones from the sea. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Saudi has accused Houthi rebels of Yemen as the perpetrators of the attack. The attack did not damage the facility but has created fears among oil traders regarding oil availability.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact on India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indian consumers are expected to face another hike in prices as unstable situation is expected to inflate prices. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The fuel prices in India have already skyrocketed and the pinch has been felt by all sectors across economic spectrum.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The selling price of fuel in India is based on the international prices of the petroleum products as well as state and central taxes.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil companies in India have raised the price of fuels sharply as crude oil prices rose from $40 per barrel to $66 per barrel.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Consumers across the globe are at the receiving end of sharp prices but Indian consumers are impacted immensely due to hike in taxes on the fuel.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While some states have cut their share of taxes on fuels, the centre is yet to reduce its share of excise duty on these products.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Excise duty</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Central Excise duty is form of indirect tax on goods manufactured in India. The goods defined under Central Excise Tariff Act are liable to be taxed.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Houthi rebels</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Houthis are a Shiite rebel group operating in Yemen. They are considered an insurgent group by Saudi Arabia and its western allies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Houthis are said to be behind various attacks on western properties in the Gulf of Aden region.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 94 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7255,
'title' => 'New Umbrella Entities (NUE)',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Major Indian companies are trying to set up new umbrella entities (NUEs) for payment systems in order to boost their presence in financial service ecosystem.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NUE is an idea by the Reserve Bank of India to create a payment system similar to the existing National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NUE will be a non-profit entity that will set-up, manage and operate new payment systems in India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NUE will focus on sectors such as ATMs, white-label PoS, Aadhaar-based payments and remittance services. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They will also promote new payment methodology, standards and technologies as well as operate clearing and settlement systems.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Participants</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Entities owned and managed by Indian citizens with at least three years of experience in the payments sector can become promoters of NUEs.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Foreign players can also participate if they have tie-up with local entities. Facebook and Google have tied up with Reliance Jio to participate as a consortium.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Other companies such as Tata Group, Amazon, Bharti Airtel, PayTm, Ola and may other companies have made their respective tie ups to apply for license.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Need for NUE</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currently, NPCI handles all the settlement systems such as UPI, AEPS, RuPay, Fastag etc. There is a belief that NPCI should not become a sole entity.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">RBI’s plan to allow other entities to set up umbrella entities for payments systems aims towards expanding the competition in this area.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 95 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7292,
'title' => 'SEBI’s At 1 bond',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has put certain restrictions on mutual fund (MF) investments in additional tier-1 (AT1) bonds.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Ministry of Finance has asked SEBI to withdraw the order as it can create disruption in the investment of mutual funds.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">AT1 Bonds is short form of additional tier-1 bonds. These are unsecured bonds which have no maturity date.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These bonds have a call option that allows the banks to buy these bonds back from investors at any time.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At1 bonds are used by banks to strengthen their core or tier 1 capital. They are inferior among all other forms of debt except common equity.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Action by SEBI</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI has told mutual funds to consider AT1 bonds as 100 year bonds. This means that these bonds will be redeemed after 100 years.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI has also asked Mutual Funds to issue AT 1 bonds only at a maximum 10 percent of assets of a scheme.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI made the decision after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed a write-off of Rs 8,400 crore on AT1 bonds issued by Yes Bank Ltd.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact on Mutual Funds</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Treating AT1 bonds as 100 year bond raises the risk in these bonds as they become ultra long-term. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This can create volatility in prices of the bonds as higher risk status will cause yield of the bonds to increase.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As the prices of bonds increase, the net asset value of MF schemes holding these bonds will decrease significantly.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact on banks</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If there are restrictions on investments by mutual funds in AT1 bonds, banks will find it tough to raise capital.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Banks will suffer if they find it tough to raise capital at a time when they need new funds due to soaring bad assets</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for Finance ministry direction</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The ministry has sought withdrawal of new directions as it might lead to mutual funds making losses and exiting from these bonds.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The government is in need of new capital that has to be raised from such bonds as the process of privatising PSU banks is taking place.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7303,
'title' => 'Stripe',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stripe Inc. has become the most valuable US start-up after it was valued at $95 billion owing to latest round of funding.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stripe is an online payments processing company. The latest evaluation overtook companies such as SpaceX and Instacart Inc.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stripe was founded by Patrick Collison and his younger brother John in 2010. Their net worth jumped to $11.4 billion each after the latest valuation.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company’s software is used by e-commerce giants to accept payments. Customers of stripe include Amazon, Salesforce, and Lyft.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stripe has invested in its European operations for supporting its growing demand and expanding its global payments and treasury network. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Primary investors of Stripe include the digital investment unit of Allianz Group, Baillie Gifford, Axa SA, Fidelity Management & Research Co., Sequoia Capital and Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In April 2020, Stripe was valued at $35 billion when it raised $600 million from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Stripe has benefitted immensely from the e-commerce boom that was enhanced by the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 97 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7353,
'title' => 'Reducing oil imports from Saudi Arabia',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Public sector oil marketing companies are set to cut their crude imports from Saudi Arabia as a result of sustained production cut from OPEC+.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has been demanding OPEC+ countries to bring production back to normal but they are not inclined to accept the demand.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">OPEC+ group has decided to maintain crude oil output to pandemic levels even though the demand for the crude has grown to pre-pandemic levels.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A consistent rise in crude oil prices has resulted in fuel prices reaching record highs in India as 80 per cent of its crude oil requirements are imported.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Saudi Arabia has cut its production to 1 million barrels per day. This has severely impacted the rise in price of the oil.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indian petroleum ministry has asked for increasing the production citing high crude oil prices were slowing the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Saudi energy minister had suggested India to use crude oil stored in its Strategic oil reserve that it had filled with cheap crude.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact of crude oil prices on India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rise in crude oil prices has led to the increase in prices of petrol and diesel to high level across India with the price crossing Rs 100 per litre in some parts.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The rising prices have impacted central and state taxes, which will have to be re-assessed due to present condition. During pandemic, taxes on petrol and diesel were increased.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil companies have freezed the prices during elections but considering that they are facing negative gain due to rising prices, the cost may rise again.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Saudi Arabia has been the second largest oil supplier to India after United States. Considering the situation, India would be inclined to increase imports from other gulf countries and the United States.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">India’s move to diversify its oil source is a step to get a better discount on procurement which is difficult in a rising crude price environment.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 98 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7379,
'title' => 'SPACs',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has alerted investors regarding SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The SPACs are used by promoters and investors to take their companies and investments public. This gained momentum last year.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An SPAC, also known as blank-cheque company, is specific entity set up in order to acquire a firm in a particular sector.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SPACs are aimed at raising money from initial public offering (IPO) at a time when it does not have operations or revenues.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The raised money from the public is kept in an escrow account, which can be used while making the acquisition.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SPAC is delisted and money is returned back to investors if the acquisition is not made within two years of the IPO.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SPACs have become attractive even though they are basically shell companies because of the people sponsoring the blank-cheque company. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>SPACs in India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indian regulatory group has not taken an official stand on allowing the listing of SPACs. However, SEBI has formed an expert committee to study the feasibility of bringing SPACs under regulation.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Indian regulatory framework does not allow formation of blank cheque companies. Companies Act 2013 allows the Registrar of Companies to remove the company from the list if it does not start operations within a year.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Risks involved</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">SPACs are expected to return back the money to investors if no merger is made within two years but certain terms and conditions can prevent investors from getting their money back.</span></span></p>
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(int) 99 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7380,
'title' => 'Milk vs plant based alternative',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Milk producer Amul has tried to bust myths about the beverages that claim to be vegan alternative to milk.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company says that many products such as beverages made from soya, almonds, oats and others have claimed to be equally nutritious as milk.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Amul has criticised the use of word vanaspati as vegetable Ghee and said that ghee can only be made from milk fat and not vegetable oil.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Other dairy companies including Amul have also promoted that only “ice-cream” containing 10 per cent milk fat can be called “ice-cream”. If the vegetable oil replaces milk fat, it is called frozen dessert.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Amul has also launched a peanut spread and said that peanut butter does not exist as butter can only be made from milk, which is 99.5 % milk fat.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>FSSAI regulation</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The new rules say that, a company cannot say that a non-milk product is made out milk through packaging or advertisement.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nutrition present in milk derived from plant-based source is lower than those obtained from milch animals, but they are used for the same purpose.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Alternatives</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Almond and soy milk are some of the popular alternative choices to milk products, however their price is high.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Concerns of environment such as greenhouse gas emissions, pollution of water by improper handling of manure and other waste from dairies influence people to switch to non-dairy products.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Cruelty to cows and buffaloes at farms are cited as ethical reasons by people for choosing alternative to dairy products.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 100 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7411,
'title' => 'Archegos sell-off',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The fire sale of stocks belonging to Archegos assets has caused concerns in <span style="color:#3e3e3e">global financial markets.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The huge margin call on Archegos was the major reason for steep sell-off that hit several global bank balance sheets.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Archegos Capital Management was involved in fire sale of stocks worth $20 billion which resulted in big drops in the prices of shares of companies linked to the investment firm.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Its main creditors, Credit Suisse and Nomura have faced loss due to transactions caused as a result of fire sale.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The price of share of Archegos began to tumble lately and the decline forced the prime brokers to sell the shares at low margins.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Loss to banks</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Credit Suisse faced loss to the tune of $3bn and $4bn. Deutsche Bank also faced losses but it was comparatively lower.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Shares of Nomura were down by 16.3%. Credit Suisse shares went down by 13.4%. Shares of Deutsche Bank and UBS also fell.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Margin call</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A margin call takes place when the value of a margin account falls below the account's maintenance margin requirement.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A margin call usually indicates that the securities held in the margin account have decreased in value.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During a margin call, investor should either choose to deposit more money in the account or sell some of the assets from their account.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">If the investor is not able to pay up margin amount, the lender will sell assets lying in the investor’s account.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 101 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7396,
'title' => 'Oil companies cutting prices',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil companies have cut prices of petrol and Diesel on second consecutive day after a near six-month period.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The price of barrel of Brent crude oil fell prompting the rate cuts. The earlier demand had skyrocketed the prices across the country.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil marketing companies have started to cut prices after keeping them constant for a period of 24 days. This was because of volatility that had escalated the prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The elections for state assemblies in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry has forced oil companies to keep oil prices constant.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The central government has not reduced the hike in excise duty imposed on petrol and diesel that was done to boost revenue during pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for fall in prices</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The demand for crude oil had allowed the prices to rise post October but fears of new Covid-19 restriction in Europe have made the prices to fall.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Crude oil prices continued to grow as the OPEC+ nations decided to cut production despite crude oil prices reaching near pre-covid levels.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rising crude oil prices have increased oil output from USA, which had reduced its production after being hit by the pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The move by India to reduce its oil supplies from Saudi Arabia may increase production in US, which has recently become second largest supplier of India.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 102 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7407,
'title' => 'Rise in crude oil prices after Suez canal blockage',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As the blockage in Suez canal continues to stop the global trade, the result could have a larger effect on the trade of crude oil.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Suez Canal was blocked by a large container ship known as Ever Given. The ship was pushed off the course by strong winds.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The resultant impact of canal blockage on crude and tanker rates could effectively show up in the form of higher crude prices. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India is the largest importer of crude oil and similar products via the Suez Canal. These numbers are larger than that of China or South Korea. More than two-thirds of India’s crude oil requirements come from Gulf region.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If the blockage is not cleared by spring tide, it will have large implications on the refining operations on a broader scale.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The biggest effect on India would be on the import and export of ethane with the US. It would also impact imports of crude from Latin America.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India imports about 500,000 barrels of crude products per day via the Suez Canal, followed by China, South Korea and Singapore that import about 400,000 barrels of crude oil.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India is sixth in the list of countries that exports crude products via the Suez Canal. Countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya and Algeria are above India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The biggest effect on oil trade and crude prices will be if the freeing of the container ship ‘Ever Given’ takes weeks which is currently predicted.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Suez Canal</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Suez is an artificially made water way that connects the Red sea and Mediterranean Sea. It basically connects Europe and Asia without having to traverse the Cape of Africa.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Suez Canal is not only important for movement of goods but also they control defence and security of the region.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 103 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7442,
'title' => 'Pakistan lifts ban on Indian imports',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pakistan has decided to lift the ban on import of cotton and sugar from India after a gap of two years.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The lifting of ban is a part of effort by two countries to normalise their relations after India abrogated Article 370.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Trade relations between two countries are politically linked. The trade was about $2.17 billion in 2015-16 but fell by about 16 percent in subsequent year.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This was because of the Uri attack by Pakistani backed terrorists and subsequent surgical strikes by India on terrorist launch pads in PoK.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Trade trends</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has a trade surplus with Pakistan. It was among India’s Top 50 trade partners but fell out of favour due to growing tensions.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The trade ban between the two countries would affect Pakistan more since it relies heavily on import of Indian raw materials for its textiles and pharmaceutical industries.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Major import items of Pakistan</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Cotton and organic chemicals make up more than half of the imports. Other imports include plastics, dyeing extracts, boiler machinery etc.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The import of most of the items reduced significantly in recent years while cotton stopped completely. However, pharmaceuticals and drugs imports increased during Covid pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>India’s imports</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s imports from Pakistan includes mineral oils, fruits and nuts, stone and plastering materials, sulphur, salt, raw leather etc.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for trade ban</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pakistan cited change in status of J&K after abrogation of Article 370 as the reason for trade suspension.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the main reason was the 200 percent tariff imposed by India on imports from Pakistan when it revoked the MFN status given to it.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Change in stance by Pakistan</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The decision by Pakistan to lift the ban on cotton imports was due to shortage in raw material for Pakistan’s textile sector.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Alternative imports from Brazil and USA are costly and take more time to arrive as compared to India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The decision on sugar was taken after prices escalated in domestic market. The government decided to buy sugar from India to stabilize the prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7034,
'title' => 'Government securities',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that it will give small investors direct access to its government securities trading platform.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Retail investors can directly open their gilt accounts with RBI, and trade in government securities. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Small investors can invest indirectly in g-secs by buying mutual funds or through certain policies issued by life insurance firms.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To encourage direct investment, the government and RBI have taken several steps in recent years. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Retail investors are allowed to place non-competitive bids in auctions of government bonds through their demat accounts. Stock exchanges act as aggregators and facilitators of retail bids.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Need for change</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The g-sec market is dominated by institutional investors such as banks, mutual funds, and insurance companies. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There is no liquidity in the secondary market for small investors who would want to trade in smaller lot sizes. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI’s intention is to make the whole process of g-sec trading smoother for small investors. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">By allowing people to open accounts in RBI’s e-kuber system, it is hoping to create a market of small investors who will invest in these instruments.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>G-secs to retail investors</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI is the debt manager for the government. In the forthcoming financial year, the government plans to borrow Rs 12 lakh crore from the market. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">When the government demands so much money, the price of money (i.e, the interest rate) will move up.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is in the government’s and RBI’s interest to bring this down. That can happen by broadening the base of investors and making it easier for them to buy g-secs.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>G-secs</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">G-secs are debt instruments issued by the government to borrow money. The two key categories are treasury bills and dated securities. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Treasury bills short-term instruments which mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, and dated securities are long-term instruments and may mature anywhere between 5 years and 40 years.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They are generally considered the safest form of investment because they are backed by the government. So, the risk of default is almost nil.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">They are not completely risk free, since they are subject to fluctuations in interest rates. G-secs are not tax-free.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'metatitle' => 'Government securities | What Is Government Security',
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'metadescription' => 'Retail investors are allowed to place non-competitive bids in auctions of government bonds through their demat accounts. Stock exchanges act as aggregators and facilitators',
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(int) 105 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7446,
'title' => 'Stock options restrictions for independent directors',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India Inc has demanded removing those stock option restrictions that restricts offering stocks for independent directors as part of their compensation salary.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI had published a paper that had asked for public opinion on allowing stocks as part of compensation to independent directors.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Currently, the law allows payment of 1lakh per board meeting for independent directors and certain compensation in form of profits. It has put restrictions on giving stocks.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for restrictions</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Regulations are framed for preventing any conflict of interest to rise due to the independent directors becoming shareholders.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The idea behind introducing independent directors was to see to it that they keep a watch for the interest of the shareholder and they should not be influenced by their own interest.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If independent directors are given stake in company, they will become part of the company and their independence will be compromised.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Independent directors will become more indulged in their profits that they will not object to bad practices to improve the share price.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for new demands</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The move is expected to attract and retain best individuals as independent directors. It will provide a fitting compensation for the commitment shown by the individual.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Middle path</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If restrictions are removed then new rules have to be framed to prevent independent directors from selling their shares for a lock-in period.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">New details can be formed such as limit of number/value, valuation methodologies, lock-in periods, pre-approval by Board and shareholders.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 106 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7474,
'title' => 'Saudi Arabia raises oil shipping costs',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">National oil marketing company of Saudi Arabia has raised the cost of transporting crude oil to Asian countries by about 20-30 cents per barrel.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Transportation cost occupies an important position in oil business. The cost of transportation has also an effect on prices of petroleum.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has raised prices for only Asian shipments and shipping prices for north-western European customers has not been raised.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The decision comes after OPEC+ countries have decided to increase the crude oil output in coming days. It will offset any losses due to decrease in crude oil prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The rise in prices may be indicated towards India, which has been trying to move away from Saudi suppliers and focusing on new ones such as Guyana and USA.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is also signalling the intention of the producers to put pressure on customers who are trying to diversify their supplies.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for cutting imports from Saudi</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">OPEC+ countries had cut their crude output so that the prices may increase. This put strain on major oil importers such as India whose economic growth is suffering due to high prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India had thus decided to buy oil from new producers such as Guyana who is not part of OPEC+ and can give discount to India.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Importance of Saudi Arabia</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Saudi has been the second biggest supplier of crude oil to India. Decrease in imports from Saudi will have to be balanced by imports from other gulf countries and the United States.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">However, Saudi will still remain a major supplier of crude oil to India because of its geographical proximity and large requirements of India.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7495,
'title' => 'Monetary Policy Committee keeps rates unchanged',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided to keep repo rate unchanged at 4 percent.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The decision of the MPC is significance considering the tense situation that has grown due to increase in cases of covid-19 infections.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government also introduced series of measures to inject liquidity in the market and financial system.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The decision was taken after the Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation rate grew to a three-month high of 5.03 per cent in February.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI has maintained India’s GDP growth forecast at 10.5 per cent for 2021-22. The RBI will also conduct of government borrowing programme.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Monetary policy committee (MPC)</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The MPC of the RBI is responsible for setting up benchmark interest rate in India. The meetings of the committee are held at least 4 times a year.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The committee consists of six members out of whom three are officials of the Reserve Bank of India and rest are external members nominated by the Government of India. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI Governor is the ex-officio chairman of the committee. The decision is taken by majority and the governor has a casting vote.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Repo rate</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Repo rate is a short term lending rate at which Reserve Bank of India lends funds to commercial banks. The repo rate is fixed by the RBI and should be followed by all banks.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reverse-repo rate</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Reverse repo rate is a short term lending rate at which commercial banks lend funds to the Reserve Bank of India.</span></span></p>
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(int) 108 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7506,
'title' => 'G-SAP',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The RBI has introduced a new program called Government Securities Acquisition Programme (G-SAP) through which it will buy government securities worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the first quarter of FY22.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To bring economy back on track and remove fears regarding the rising bond yields, the RBI decided to make the move.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The G-SAP will provide better option for bond market even as borrowing by the government is expected to increase. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The move has been dubbed as similar to Operation twist where liquidity was withdrawn at the short end and injected at the long end.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Benefits of G-SAP</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The G-SAP is expected to provide certainty to the bond market participants regarding the RBI’s commitment to support the bond market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The programme will help in reducing the spread between the repo rate and the 10-year government bond yield. This will reduce cost of borrowing for centre and states.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The decline in bond yield is positive news for the equities market. It will manage liquidity and control bond price volatility.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 109 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7515,
'title' => 'Crude oil prices falling',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The price of Brent crude oil has fallen in international market owing to fear of fall in demand due to new travel restrictions.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The crude oil prices were in ascendency till recently as demand for the commodity grew as normalcy was returning.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The growth in Covid-19 cases and the decision by OPEC+ to increase their crude oil output was the main reason for fall in prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">US data had shown that the production of oil barrels were more than the demand. This is an indication of waning demand.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Countries are unable to make supply cut due to the economics involved. This has forced increased production without actual demand.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Increasing prices</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Increase in demand as a result of lower restrictions and increase in vaccine administration programs around the world had pushed crude oil prices.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Key oil-producing countries cut their production in order to keep crude oil prices higher than the current ones.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Impact on India</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The fall in international crude oil prices has reversed the trend of increase in price of petroleum products that had reached an all time high.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It is expected that India’s import burden decreases a fraction due to lowering of crude oil prices. There are also chances of decrease in inflation rates across the country.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 110 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7571,
'title' => 'WPI surge',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in the country has grown to 7.39 per cent in March on a year-on-year basis. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The WPI is an indication of inflation levels in the country at the wholesale level. This was the highest level since October 2012.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The major reason for surge in WPI levels was the higher prices of crude oil and a growth in price levels of food items like fruits and pulses.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The surge was also high due to the low base in the corresponding month in the year 2020.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The WPI tracks prices of goods at the wholesale, or factory gate/mandi levels. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks inflation levels at retail level.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The difference between CPI and WPI is that CPI tracks prices without considering transportation cost, taxes and the retail margin etc. WPI does not consider services.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The WPI basically considers the average movement of wholesale prices of goods and is a GDP deflator primarily.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Significance</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The higher inflation at the wholesale level can impact the inflation in retail level if lockdowns and restrictions will impact supply chain.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Higher WPI rates may force the Monetary Policy Committee from undertaking rate cuts in the future.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>GDP deflator</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">It is the ratio of the value of goods an economy produces in a particular year at current prices to that of prices that prevailed during the base year.</span></span></p>
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(int) 111 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7591,
'title' => 'Sensex falls sharply',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange fell by over 1000 points as a result of spike in Covid-19 infections across the country.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Covid-19 cases have been spiralling since couple of weeks. This has raised further threats of a complete lockdown of the economy.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Indian rupee fell by 47 paise against the US dollars in the early morning trade to stay at 74.82 at the end of the day.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This is not the first time that Monday has observed a fall in Sensex. This is the third Monday when Sensex has fallen by over 1000 points.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The indices have come under pressure owing to fear of a lockdown in states such as Maharashtra that is observing continuous rise.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The market is vary of the effects of lockdown on the recovery of the economy and GDP growth that had already suffered last year.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has slipped to a seven month low indicating slowdown of industrial output.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The manufacturing sector is also set to experience slowdown as a result of fresh surge in Covid-19 pandemic cases with situation becoming more challenging in future.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Government response</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To dispel fears of a nation-wide lockdown, the finance minister held a meeting with industry representatives.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Even though this measure has instilled some confidence in market, the state wise indications are not that promising.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The increasing pace of vaccination process and experience in preventive measure has created a better perspective.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 112 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7609,
'title' => 'Fall in India’s oil and gas production',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Domestic production of India’s oil fell by 5.2 per cent and natural gas by 8.1 per cent in the Financial Year 2021.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India has a small share of domestic petroleum extraction industry which is shrinking due to increasing costs of maintenance.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The major reason cited by producers behind lower production is the delays caused due to the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Most of India’s crude oil and natural gas production is extracted from wells that have become old and their outputs have been declining.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India’s oil and gas field have become more difficult for extracting and producers have to find new ones that are located in deep waters.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These fields are difficult to reach and the cost of extraction is also high. The other feasible fields are located in inaccessible areas.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Major players in oil and gas extraction are government owned ONGC and Oil India. Foreign players are not interested in bidding.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has been urging ONGC to tie up with foreign companies so that it can avail the technology to extract from difficult terrain.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for low participation</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The major reason cited by foreign companies is the delays in getting clearances for environment as well from regulator for development plans.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The cess levied on the domestically produced crude oil is high and industries have been urging to reduce it to 10 percent from existing 20 percent.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also set up internal maximum production levels for extracting oil and gas based on climate targets that has lowered interest from industry.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Significance</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Boosting domestic production of gas and oil is a major part of the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">If our production levels do not match with consumption levels, we will be over dependent on foreign imports of the commodity.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 113 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7667,
'title' => 'Zomato IPO',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Online food delivery platform Zomato has filed a draft red-herring prospectus with the SEBI for initiating Rs 8,250 crore initial public offering (IPO).</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pandemic has ravaged all sectors of economy but food delivery has increased its business. This favourable outcome has influenced decision for IPO.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Zomato’s gross order value was Rs 2981 crore during the October 2020 to December 2020 quarter, which was higher than the same quarter previous year.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Zomato’s unit economics has improved greatly with increase in commission charges and also decrease in discounts offered.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will take up to two weeks before SEBI reviews the filings and process of launch can be initiated in the market.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Previous instances of consumer companies going public</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Several Indian companies involved in consumer internet business have gone public before. These include MakeMyTrip.com, Yatra.com in the US.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Initial Public Offering</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Initial Public Offering is a process in which shares of a company will be sold to institutional investors and also retail investors through share market.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This process allows a company to raise capital from market by giving buyers stake in the company. The stake does not involve voting rights.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">This process can be termed an exit strategy for initial backers and owners of the company as they will recover back their investments. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'metatitle' => 'Zomato IPO | Zomato files IPO raise Rs 8,250 crore',
'metakeyword' => 'Zomato IPO | what it means for India’s consumer internet biz | Zomato files IPO raise Rs 8,250 crore',
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(int) 114 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7686,
'title' => 'SEBI rule for fund manager compensation',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The SEBI has made it mandatory that 20 percent of compensation of funder manager should be in units of schemes of mutual funds.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This also includes members such as chief investment officer, chief executive officer and research head.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI has also specified that the offered units in form of compensation should be locked-in for three years.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The compensation of fund managers is usually based on their performance. SEBI has gone beyond managers to include other officials also.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reasons for new rules</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEBI wants fund managers to show the customers that they have confidence in the particular scheme that they are managing.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The SEBI is said to have based its decision on the Franklin Templeton case where the company closed several debt schemes and customers suffered.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Effects on retail investors</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will help in building accountability and also increase transparency of fund manager’s compensation.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since fund manager’s compensation is based on the profits gained by the mutual fund, they will be encouraged for whistle-blowing if something wrong is going on.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will provide psychological benefits to the customers that their fund manager has skin in the game and is working towards profits.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There have been concerns that the good intention may not be easy to implement completely. Higher return to investors is also yet to be determined.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Mutual fund</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Mutual funds is a type of financial scheme in which money will be collected from different investors and pooled together to be invested in money market instrument, bonds, securities etc.</span></span></p>
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(int) 115 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7689,
'title' => 'CCI clears BigBasket-Tata digital deal',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Competition Commission of India has approved Tata Digital to acquire online grocery deliver platform BigBasket.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The value of the deal is about $1 billion. It will put to an end to the speculation running from the past six months.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Tata digital will get control over the B2B unit of BigBasket by acquiring 64.3% of Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd. The B2C unit Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt Ltd will also be completely taken over.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Tata has a large presence in various consumer goods such as electronics, fashion etc through TataCliq but is yet to enter grocery business.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will provide BigBasket the necessary power to compete with industry leaders such as Reliance Mart, Filpkart and Amazon.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>The e-grocery market</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The e-grocery segment is worth $300 billion. It received a boost during the current Covid crisis but is yet to penetrate more than 1 percent of grocery space in India.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The total e-grocery segment size has grown rapidly from $1.2 billion at the start of 2020 to about $3 billion at the end.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Other major and minor players in the e-grocery segment include Amazon, Reliance Mart, Flipkart, Grofers, Milkbasket, Nature’s basket, Easyday etc<span style="color:#3e3e3e">.</span></span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 116 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7695,
'title' => 'Measuring unpaid care work',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Manifestoes by various political parties have promised payment for the unpaid domestic work performed by Women.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Women homemakers have been performing their so called ‘duties’ without any economic rewards. There have been demands to monetise their labour.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Political parties have announced various forms of payments to unpaid labour such as Orunodoi scheme in Assam, assistance to women family heads in Tamil Nadu, housewife pension in Kerala.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unpaid work is defined by the OECD as all unpaid services provided within a household for its members such as housework, caring of sick persons and contributing to community work.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These have been classified as a work because a third person can be hired to perform these by paying salary.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Current economic models do not include these in economic activity. This has prevented household works from adding into a country’s GDP.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Various agencies have calculated that about 75 percent of such work is done by women and girls. Women invest more time in these works in comparison to men.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The current contribution of women in India’s GDP is about 17 percent. This is half of the world numbers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The reason for such low numbers is the unpaid labour performed by women without being considered as an economic activity.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This part of work is central to working of society but unaccounted, undervalued and not visible across the world.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Measuring housework</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Current models do not consider allocation of labour and time resources by households and their impact on lives.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The unpaid work value can be calculated by counting the amount of time spent on a particular and later using cost of labour to arrive at a figure.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Significance</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The unpaid work is the hidden engine behind the running of economic activity, businesses and societies. This has to be respected and rewarded.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If unpaid work is considered as an hourly economic activity than it can contribute to 9 per cent of global GDP.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Concerns</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is difficult to calculate the exact figure as multi-tasking is common in household and cost and time often overlap.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Sometimes women use the same time to perform two or more tasks simultaneously and it will be difficult to individually segregate it.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 117 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7697,
'title' => 'America’s battle to increase minimum wage for workers',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The President of United States, Joe Biden has signed an executive order that will make paying $15 per hour compulsory to all contractors by government agencies as minimum wage.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The move is part of Joe Biden’s agenda to make legislation to provide higher minimum wages across the country.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The current minimum wage for federal agencies is $7.25 per hour and has not been increased since 2009.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The efforts by Biden to include this measure under his $1.9-trillion Covid-19 relief bill was rejected by the senate citing non-qualification under special budget rules.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Many US states have already raised minimum wages but increasing it at federal level is challenging. However, about 67 percent of Americans support the move.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Political challenges</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The US policies are dependent on political support rather than economic beliefs. There was similar plan during the second term of President Obama but was not supported by Republican controlled Senate.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After Republicans gained control of the second house too, the Democratic Party announced its support for increasing the minimum wages during its National convention.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is believed that organisations such as National Federations of Independent Businesses, the National Restaurant Association and the US Chamber of Commerce are against the move as it will impact their business.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They have been lobbying hard to prevent such legislation from being implemented. Their financial support to Republicans is a measure to prevent the move.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Arguments in favour of the move</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The cost of living has gone up but the wages obtained by an individual has been stagnant. This has impacted their ability to pay rents and bills.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Increasing the minimum wages to $ 15 will increase the salary of about 32 million American citizens. It can promote higher spending and economic growth.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Possible impact</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Raising the wages is expected to result in loss of about 1.4 million jobs as companies will shift towards automation and hire more skilled workers.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is also likely to affect small businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic and will be under tremendous financial strain.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Companies will also increase cost of their product to adjust to the wage rise. This will ultimately put strain on consumers and tax payers.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7715,
'title' => 'Oil companies hike prices',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked by the Oil marketing companies in a first increase in many weeks.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Oil Marketing Companies had temporarily suspended hiking of prices owing to elections to several state assemblies.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Oil Marketing Companies had to suspend hike after it became a poll issue. They were forced to absorb negative gains during this period.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The current prices are at record high owing to a combination of price hike as well as high taxation on these commodities.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Since the beginning of this year, petrol price has been increased by Rs 6.8 per litre and diesel price by Rs 7 per litre.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reason for hike </strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The taxes on petrol and diesel have been source of revenue for the government. By raising the taxes, the government aims to bridge deficit in other sectors.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Future prices</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The crude prices have achieved stability since couple of months but oil companies are trying to make up the losses they made during price freeze.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil companies were also banking on inventory gains to increase their profits but it did not because crude oil price did not rise much.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong> Inventory gains</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The value of petroleum products as well as crude oil held by an oil company is termed as inventory gain.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Importance of oil prices</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oil plays a major role in energy security of India. Rise or decline in oil prices will detrimental to financial security.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Rise in crude oil prices can create inflation and depreciate domestic currency. It will have a deep impact on lives of common citizens.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 119 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7767,
'title' => 'GST exemptions for Covid-19 supplies',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that giving GST exemptions on essential Covid-19 items would make them costlier.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The finance minister was responding to the request made by several state governments and also courts regarding GST exemptions to essential products.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Covid vaccines from abroad as well as produced domestically attract 5 percent tax on GST. The tax rate on oxygen concentrators and drugs stand at 12 percent.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The argument is that, as GST exemptions are given on drugs and essential medical products, producers will not be able to negate the taxes paid on inputs. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">They will be forced to offset the prices by charging higher cost on customers. It is said that a nominal tax of 5 percent will benefit both producers and consumers.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Sharing of the taxes</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The IGST tax on products is shared 50-50 by centre and state. In addition, the centre pays the state a share of its collection as devolution.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The centre has exempted IGST taxes on relief material imported by relief organisations such as Red Cross.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The government has also removed customs duty and health cess on the commercial imports of important medical drugs and products.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 120 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7825,
'title' => 'SEBI to reclassify promoters',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities and Exchange Board of India is planning to scrap the ‘promoter’ and ‘promoter group’ concept and introduce ‘person in control’ system.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The SEBI has observed that the promoters were losing their relevance in India Inc and decided to over-haul the system with a new regime soon.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Promoter</strong> </span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">An individual whose name is present in offer document or in the annual return of issuer is called a promoter.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additional conditions say that promoter needs to have control over the issuer and powers to give instructions to the board of directors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The definition of promoter is very important as the term is used regularly by SEBI to define regulations and regulatory authorities.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Need for a new system</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The change was necessitated after the power is no longer concentrated in the hands of promoters of promoter group due to emergence of new shareholders and investors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The growth of Board of directors and independent directors has allowed powers to be distributed. New structure will allow transparent functioning of the listed company.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There are plans of shifting responsibility more towards board of directors and management to prevent promoters from manipulating power to increase their profits.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Promoter group concept scrapping</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The ‘promoter group’ definition specifies a group of individuals who capture holdings of a company. They use common financial investors to capture unrelated companies.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Multiple capturing by common promoter group should be disclosed to the investors in line with transparent practices. </span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 121 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 7892,
'title' => 'E-way bill integration with FASTag and RFID',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST authorities have linked e-way bill with RFID and FASTag that allows them to track real-time data of commercial vehicles.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The method has been implemented to prevent revenue leakages that take place by recycling or non-generation of e-way bills.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Officials of tax department can access details of commercial vehicles that have passed a toll without generation of e-way bill.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The identity of the vehicle carrying a specific commodity to a particular state passing a specific toll can also be found out.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Further, officials can also identify details of a suspicious vehicle and its e-way bill generated by a suspicious tax payer with GSTIN number at a particular toll booth.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These data will help officials in identifying fraudulent activities such as bill trading, bill recycling etc of e-way bills. They can also increase their vigilance.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Working</strong> </span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The transporter of goods is required to have a RFID system in his vehicle that is fed with e-way bill for the goods he is carrying in the vehicle. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The vehicle passing through toll gates will enable the information fed into the device to be uploaded on the government portal. The information will then be cross-checked.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>E-way bills</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For movement of goods from one state to another will require e-way bill if the value of the goods exceed more than Rs 50,000.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Precious items like gold do not need e-way bill. The states generating highest e-way bills are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Machinery, textiles, iron and steel, mechanical appliances, automobiles and electrical machinery are the sectors with highest e-way bills generated.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'title' => 'El Salvador decides to use Bitcoin as legal tender',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Bitcoin cryptocurrency is set to be made a legal tender in Central American country of El Salvador, the President has announced.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The President of the country believes in adopting technological alternatives to existing features. The legislation is most likely to go through without opposition.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The decision of adopting Bitcoin as legal tender will make El Salvador the first country in the world to adopt a virtual currency officially.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">El Salvador at present does not have its own monetary policy. The US dollar is its official currency and the country is highly dependent on US policy measures.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Along with Ecuador and Panama, El Salvador is one of the three countries that have an economy that is dollarized.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Implications</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The new measure will allow people outside the formal economy to become financially included. It will also generate employment in the country.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Need for adopting Bitcoin</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">El Salvador depends majorly on remittances sent by its citizens living in US and other countries. The remittances make about 20 percent of its GDP.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The issue however is that majority of the amount is lost to intermediaries as commissions or transfer charges. Bitcoin would allow hindrance-free transfer to El Salvador.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Increase in amount received would have a trickle-down effect on the informal economy as more than 70 percent of people do not have a bank account.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Reactions to the announcement</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It is expected that Bitcoin would gain back its popularity through this measure. The market for cryptocurrency would increase further.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Many countries such as Venezuela, Cuba and Mexico are contemplating at implementing token currencies to overcome US sanctions and regulations.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 123 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 8077,
'title' => 'Cloudtail service tax case',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Cloudtail India has been served a notice by DGGI for Rs 54.5 crores regarding a tax related dispute in the pre-GST era.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Cloudtail is a joint venture company between Catamaran Ventures, owned by Narayana Murthy (76 percent) and Amazon (24 percent).</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The details of the issue are not known but the DGGI had sent notice to Cloudtail demanding service taxes, including penalties and interest.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has approached the adjudicating tribunal for resolving the issue. The company claims that it has completely complied with the law of the land.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Pre-GST service tax</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST was introduced in 2017. Before its rollout, service tax was in existence. Since then, several cases have been filed regarding pre-GST service taxes.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The indirect tax authorities have sent notices to several entities to pay their dues concerning service tax charges.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Cloudtail</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Cloudtail is the largest seller on Amazon platform. It has captured more than 50 percent of all business that is generated on the e-commerce site.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Prione Business is the holding company of Cloudtail. Prione is majority owned by Catamaran ventures and minority by Amazon.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 124 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 8094,
'title' => 'Gold hall marking',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has made hallmarking gold jewellery compulsory in a phased manner from June 16.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The first phase will involve 256 districts of the country and jewellers with annual turnover above Rs 40 lakh will be under the purview.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hallmarking is a guarantee of fineness and purity of metal articles that are precious. The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) is currently responsible for hallmarking.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The hallmarking scheme is currently applicable to only two metals, gold and silver. There are also two categories defined in form of gold jewellery and gold artefacts.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">There are some exceptions that government has defined. These exceptions are for jewellery for international exhibitions as well as government approved domestic exhibitions.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Gold containing items such as fountain pens, watches and other jewellery such as Polki, Jadau and Kundan will also be exempted.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Need for hallmark</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">India is one of the largest consumers of gold but the percentage of gold circulated with hallmark is about only 30 percent.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>BIS hallmark</strong></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The hallmark is a sign of purity of precious metals such as silver and gold.</span></span></p>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
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'title' => 'Large diamond discovered in Botswana',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A large diamond has been unearthed in Botswana. The authorities have claimed that the diamond is the third largest in the world.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The discovery was made by a diamond mining company Debswana, which is a joint venture between the De Beers Group and the government.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The diamond is said to be 1,098.3-carat and has a gem cut quality. The government is planning to use the money generated by selling, for national development.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The diamond was found in the South Kimberlite pipe of the Jwaneng mine. It was the biggest diamond in the company’s history.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The price of the diamond has not yet been decided. Earlier, the second largest diamond, Lesedi La Rona, was sold for $53 million.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The record for the largest ever diamond discovered is with Cullinan diamond, which was found in South Africa in 1905.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Diamond mining first started in Botswana in 1967. Since then, it has turned out to be one of the consistent diamond producers. It is currently Africa’s largest producer.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Diamond industry</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The largest producers of diamonds are Russia, Botswana, South Africa, Canada, Angola etc.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In India, diamonds are majorly mined in the Panna mines located in the state of Madhya Pradesh.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Kimberley certification process</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Kimberley Process (KP) is a multilateral trade regime set up in 2003 that tries to prevent "conflict diamonds" from entering the mainstream.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Conflict diamonds are defined as diamonds used by rebel movements to finance military movements opposed to legitimate and formally recognized governments.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">India is one of the founding members of the grouping. It was the chairman for the year 2019.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 8462,
'title' => 'E-RUPI',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Prime Minister Modi will be launching an electronic voucher based digital payment system known as e-RUPI.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">E-RUPI will be the first step towards having a government-backed digital currency in the country.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The e-RUPI platform has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) along with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, department of financial services and the National Health Authority.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">E-RUPI will be a contactless and cashless digital payments medium which will be sent to beneficiaries’ mobile phone.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It will be in form of QR code or SMS string code that the beneficiary will have to use as a redeemable prepaid gift voucher.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The currency does not need a debit card, credit card, internet or any mobile app for redemption. It can be availed in specific centres. There will be no physical interface between beneficiaries and service providers.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issuing vouchers</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The bank will be issuing entities and the system has been developed by NPCI using its UPI platform.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The beneficiary will be identified using their mobile numbers and voucher that the bank will allocate.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">For getting the voucher, the purpose of transaction and details of beneficiaries has to be given to the partnering bank. The voucher should only be delivered to that person</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Uses for e-RUPI </strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has identified several sectors where this payment method will ensure leak-proof delivery of welfare services.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These include TB eradication programmes, nutritional support under Mother and Child welfare scheme, fertilizer subsidies, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana etc.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Significance</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This can be the first step towards developing a central bank digital currency, which can possibly reduce cash transactions in future.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The e-RUPI is not exactly virtual currency as it is backed by underlying rupee. It is nearer to a voucher-based payment system.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 8483,
'title' => 'VI promoter offers his stake to government',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Promoter of VI telecom, Kumar Mangalam Birla has offered his 27 percent stake to the government to keep the company running.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">VI telecom was founded after the merger of Vodafone India and Idea. The plan was to have a large entity to take on low tariff regime.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">VI is under debt of more Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The company owes more than Rs 60,000 crore to Department of Telecommunications as AGR.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It has an obligation of Rs 23,000 crore towards various banks. As spectrum obligations, it has to pay another 96,270 crore.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Birla had already requested help from the government after Supreme Court had upheld that AGR dues had to be paid.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Fears expressed</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Birla’s letter is seen as a last effort to save the company from shutting its business in India. It is not the first time he has requested help.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">With the company in deep debt, international players are unwilling to invest. They also desire a stable policy by the government that promotes three player telecom market.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Can the government take over VI?</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Telecommunications is a strategic sector and government can take critical policy measures for the betterment of public.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It can convert the debt obligations of the company into equity stake and merge its operations with BSNL.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Considering the fact that government is trying to get rid of its stake in public sector enterprises owing to non-profitability, investing in VI is highly unlikely.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Future of VI</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unless VI raises funds from the market, it is difficult for the company to sustain its operations. There will also be a need to raise tariffs.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The company can only survive if it brings an investor having enough wealth to sustain its operations, cover debts and also offer competitive price for expansion.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 128 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 8484,
'title' => 'Sensex crosses 54,000',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The economy is hinting at coming back on track, which has led to surge in share market. The Sensex gained as much as 513 points to achieve an historic milestone of 54,336.94.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Economic data has indicated recovery of the pandemic-ravaged domestic economy. The GST collections have also risen.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Details</strong></span></span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Nifty index of NSE has also soared 246 points to cross the 16,000 levels and reach 16,265.25 after day long trade.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index has managed to break above the 50.0 mark. It is a clear indicator of recovery on the economic front. </span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The GST revenue collection for the month of July was observed at Rs 116,393 crore, after months of slowdown due to the lockdown.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The export data also shows that India’s numbers have risen tremendously. It is also observed that corporate earnings have grown.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The fiscal policy and monetary policy have been accommodative to global challenges. This has further boosted the confidence among investors.</span></span></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The pickup of vaccination rates and lower than expected impact of the second covid wave has grown consumer demands across all sectors.</span></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
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(int) 129 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {
'tag' => 'Miscellaneous',
'keyword' => 'miscellaneous-3',
'id' => (int) 8511,
'title' => 'Supreme Court decision on Future Retail Vs Amazon',
'description' => '<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Issue</strong></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Future Group’s deal with Reliance Industries Limited has been put on hold by the Supreme Court of India by upholding decision of Singapore International Arbitration Centre.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"> </p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><strong>Background</strong></span></