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India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pursued an assertive foreign policy in 2020 aimed at demonstrating the country's strength and its perception as a net provider of security in the strategically vital Indian Ocean Region, a top American intelligence agency has said. The Defence Intelligence Agency also told lawmakers adding that New Delhi also hardened its approach towards an aggressive China. "Throughout 2020, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi's government pursued an assertive foreign policy aimed at demonstrating India's strength and its perception as a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean Region," Scott Berrier, Gen Director of Defense Intelligence Agency told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats. In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Delhi played a leading role in delivering medical equipment to countries throughout South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, facilitatin...

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said that the state had planned a big COVID-19 vaccination event for Saturday but has only received 3 lakh doses out of which 20,000 doses have been given to Pune district, adding that the state government does not even have the stock to vaccinate people aged 45 and above. Speaking to reporters, Pawar said, "We had planned a big event for today but we received only 3 lakh doses for today. Out of that 20,000 have been given to Pune district. Today, we don't have vaccine stock to vaccinate people aged 45 and above hence vaccination centres in Pune district were closed." The third phase of the vaccination drive for those in the 18-44 age bracket started from Saturday in the country despite some of the states flagging the shortage of vaccines and expressing their inability to start vaccination of people aged above 18 years. Pawar further said, "We had taken a decision in a cabinet meeting that people aged 18 to 44 years wi...

Fresh coronavirus waves showed no sign of abating Saturday as devastating surges in India and Brazil pushed daily infections and deaths to record levels. Despite the rollout of vaccines in many countries, Covid-19 is still wreaking destruction around the world, with close to 3.2 million lives lost and known infections soaring past 150 million. Asia has recorded the bulk of new cases, driven largely by the surge in India. The crushing outbreak, which now accounts for more than 40 percent of the world's new infections, has overwhelmed the South Asian nation's healthcare system and depleted critical oxygen supplies. Authorities on Saturday opened India's massive vaccination programme to all adults, but many states do not have enough doses to meet demand despite a freeze on exports of shots produced locally. "There are so many people that are getting sick... we just wanted to be here as soon as possible," said Aadya Mehta, 25, who joined a queue of around 100 people o...

GANDHINAGAR: As the sun descends in the west, 55-year-old Gauriben Purabia wipes the sweat off her forehead. Gauriben, who is one of the many women who work in a crematorium in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, wipes the floor using water that’s mixed with sanitiser – the tiles must stay sparkling clean at all times.A few meters away, her daughter Ambika and her husband Prakash prepare a body wrapped in a plastic bag for the CNG furnace to devour – another victim of Covid-19. A little further away, her son Vikram lords over the fire to ensure nothing is left behind. Vikram’s wife Bhavna, meanwhile, cleans up another furnace.The torrent of death that the second wave of Covid-19 in India has brought with it has numbed these women.“It’s become like a stone inside,” said Bhavna Purabia, in her late 20s and a mother of three.The women in this Gandhinagar crematorium have been as busy as their male counterparts cremating the dead since the onset of this Covid-19 wave, sharing all tasks.“When we starte...

Good morning,It's Zaheer here. Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency started as a joke in 2013, is currently the world’s seventh-largest digital coin with a market value of over $42 billion.Who’s laughing now?The world’s strangest (and cutest) cryptocurrencyIn January 2014, the two-man Jamaican bobsled team announced they wouldn’t be able to make it to the Winter Olympics in Sochi as they didn’t have the $80,000 needed for travel, equipment and other expenses.They ended receiving help from an unusual source (yes, even more unusual than ice-racers from the tropics). Users of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that began as a joke, helped make Olympics history by raising more than $30,000 worth of Dogecoin to help fund the team’s trip to Russia.A Doge is born 82337825Source: Dogecoin FacebookDogecoin had been created the previous year by Jackson Palmer, a product manager for Adobe Inc in Sydney, and Billy Markus, a software developer at IBM, as a joke about the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies.With Sh...

The first instalment of the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) of Rs 8873.6 crore for the year 2021-22 has been released to all the states, said the Ministry of Finance on Saturday. The ministry said that up to 50 per cent of the amount released i.e. Rs 4436.8 crore can be used by the states for COVID-19 containment measures. It also said that an amount of Rs 8873.6 crore has been released to the states at the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Normally, the first instalment of SDRF is released in the month of June as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission. "However, in relaxation of normal procedure, not only has the release of SDRF been advanced, the amount has also been released without waiting for the utilization certificate of the amount provided to the States in the last financial year," it said. The funds from SDRF may be used by the states for various measures related to containment of COVID-19 including meeting the cost o...

MUMBAI: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) has launched two quick-delivery schemes to fund businesses in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) segment that are helping tackle the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.Under the SHWAS (Sidbi assistance to Healthcare sector in War Against the Second wave of Covid) scheme, MSMEs engaged in manufacturing of oxygen cylinders, oxy-generators, oxygen concentrators, liquid oxygen or providing services in transportation, storage, refilling or supply of these items will be eligible for low-cost credit.Under the AROG (Sidbi Assistance to MSMEs for Recovery & Organic Growth during Covid) scheme, small units engaged in manufacturing of products or providing services, which are directly related to fighting Covid, such as pulse oximeters, permitted drugs (Remdesivir, Fabiflu, Dexamethasone, Azithromycin, etc), ventilators, and PPE will get credit.“The endeavour is to provide credit facilities to deserving MSMEs that h...

Volatility is back with a vengeance in the stock market and experts say that the more than 1,000 points daily swings of the Sensex will continue till the current covid spiral abates. Panic reactions by new short-term investors are fanning the volatility. “There is too much speculation, mostly by people who entered the market in the past year. Since speculation is a zero sum game, gains of experienced big bulls and bears that constitute around 2-3% of the market participants will come at the cost of small traders. The biggest losers will be the new entrants,” says C.S. Sudheer, CEO and Founder, IndianMoney.How should retail investors manage their equity investments now? While retail traders may get burnt due to the ongoing volatility, there is no need for long-term investors to panic because this will get over in some time. The situation is similar to what happened during 2020 after the deep cuts of March- April. Make the most of itExperts say systematic investment plans (SIP), also kno...

Do you remember that Maruti ad some years ago in which a rich man who reminds one of Vijay Mallya is examining a luxury yacht he’s planning to buy? He asks the salesman, “Kitna deti hai?” Mallya’s luxury yacht days are long gone but the ad is still quite funny. It’s also quite relevant to what I want to write about today. So if you don’t remember it then go and watch it first at bit.ly/kitnadetihai and then we’ll go ahead with the rest of the story. Why do you invest in debt funds? Are you able to quickly give an exact answer to that question? Probably not, because it’s actually not a very good question. Let me try again. How are your goals for investing in debt different from investing in equity funds? That should be much easier to think about, and hopefully to answer. In fact, if you can answer that question satisfactorily then you’re going to be a successful mutual fund investor. However, there are a few more steps after the answer itself which are needed to make sure of that.The no...

With the enactment of National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBIFD)Act in the last week of March 2021 the focus now shift from the need of a development financial institution for infrastructure development to making NaBFID structurally and operationally efficient and efficacious.This is important particularly in the background of experience of the DFIs like IFCI and IIIFCL which failed to deliver as expected.Infrastructure projects continue to languish for shortage of funds - debt as well as equity. Out of 6835 projects identified in December 2019 under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), only a few ,about 225, have been completed and the remaining face, among other things, funding issues. The NaBFID has a tall order - as set by the finance minister - mobilisation of Rs 3 trillion over next 3 years and making that available while functioning professionally, to a large number of projects across the country and in different sectorsThe factor that failed most the...

One of the things we’re learning over the past year is the vulnerability of global supply chains.There’ve been supply bottlenecks in lumber, semiconductors, shipping capacity and even labor, after Covid-19 sparked a dramatic underestimate in how much of these products and services would be needed. No one thought a global pandemic would coincide with a boom in consumer goods and a quick economic recovery, and so no one prepared for that by increasing capacity. Underinvestment is now sparking higher prices for sought-after goods, with lumber being the most notable example. Joe’s described this dynamic as a short squeeze in the real economy.But what happens when short squeezes meet other short squeezes? Resolute Forest Products is one of the first sawmills to report this earnings season and it should have unveiled bumper revenue with lumber prices up 85% this year alone. Instead, the company reported earnings-per-share that came in below analyst expectations. Why?It seems the supply short...

Crematories are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. Fires burn around the clock. Many places are holding mass cremations, dozens at a time, and at night, in certain areas of New Delhi, the sky glows.Sickness and death are everywhere.Dozens of houses in my neighbourhood have sick people.One of my colleagues is sick.One of my son’s teachers is sick.The neighbour two doors down, to the right of us: sick.Two doors to the left: sick.“I have no idea how I got it,” said a good friend who is now in the hospital. “You catch just a whiff of this...” and then his voice trailed off, too sick to finish.He barely got a bed. And the medicine his doctors say he needs is nowhere to be found in India.I’m sitting in my apartment waiting to catch the disease. That’s what it feels like right now in New Delhi with the world’s worst coronavirus crisis advancing around us. It is out there, I am in here, and I feel like it’s only a matter of time before I, too, get sick.India is recording more i...

The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till May 31, aviation regulator DGCA said on Friday. "However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation added. Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral "air bubble" arrangements with selected countries since July. India has formed air bubble pacts with around 27 countries including Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories. The DGCA circular also said that the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operatio...

More than one crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories and another 20 lakh doses will reach them in the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.According to health ministry data from today at 8 am, the government of India has so far provided 16,33,85,030 vaccine doses to the states and UTs free of cost."The total consumption, including wastage, is 15,33,56,503 doses. More than 1 crore COVID Vaccine doses (1,00,28,527) are still available with the States/UTs to be administered. Near 20 lakh (19,81,110) vaccine doses will be received in addition by the States/UTs within the next 3 days," the ministry stated.Maharashtra as on April 30 (at 8 am) are 1,63,62,470. Of this, the total consumption, including wastage was 1,59,06,147.Rajasthan so far has been supplied 1,36,12,360 doses and the total administration, including wastage, has been 1,33,70,102.Uttar Pradesh has received 1,41,45,670 doses and the total consumption...

Because of sitting at home and not spending on other discretionary categories including dining out, calling people to our homes, spending on other discretionary products, some of that is coming into jewellery as it is a store of value and people feel good about bringing their money into jewellery, said CK Venkataraman, MD, Titan in an interview with ET Now. Edited excerpts:While your Q4 performance was good, discounting last year’s lockdown, how are the demand trends that you are foreseeing for the first quarter FY22 given the localised lockdowns?Not really making any assessment of that at the moment honestly, because it is way too dynamic for us to really assess and do anything about. So, we are just, in fact, putting the safety of our people before the business. We closed the Bangalore stores four-five days before the government brought in the lockdown and we have empowered our regional heads to go ahead and shut cities ahead of the curve, in a sense. So, we are at the moment not loo...

In the wake of a surge in COVID- 19 cases in Madhya Pradesh, the state government is contemplating sealing its borders with adjoining states as part of efforts to restrict the movement of people and stem the infection spread. Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Thursday night said The government is seriously thinking over sealing its inter- state borders to break the chain of the coronavirus infection. Because of inter-state movement of people, efforts undertaken to check the spread of COVID-19 are not yielding desired results, he said. The government has suspended till May 7 inter-state movement of passenger buses from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, which is also witnessing a spike in cases, he said. Madhya Pradesh shares borders with five states, including Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, which are among the 10 worst COVID-19-affected states. Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 12,762 new COVID- 19 cases, taking the infection tally to 5,50,927, while 95 fresh deaths pushed the toll to 5,519 d...

From here, we would expect 10-15% return, but investors would probably have to be patient and ride through the near term weakness and uncertainty until this new Covid wave stabilises in the next two to three months, says Probal Sen, Senior VP-Research, Centrum Broking.It seems that the chemicals business is going to drive earnings this time around. What are you pencilling in from Reliance?After a long time, that O2C (Oil to chemicals) segment is expected to deliver fairly strong numbers. If we look at QoQ trends, against $76.5 billion EBIT, we expect close to $87 billion EBIT in the O2C segment. Across the board, we have seen good price improvements in petchem across polymer and plastics and even in refining. I do not want to comment on GRMs but if you look at key product spreads, particularly gasoline and diesel, both have improved by between $1 and $2 on a QoQ basis. From that aspect, O2C and continued recovery in the retail segment should drive the numbers. As far as Jio is concerne...

In the absolute near term, although Exide is cheap at the current prices and even Apollo Tyres stocks are cheap on a pure valuation basis, the near term outlook does not seem as great, says Sandip Sabharwal, analyst, asksandipsabharwal.com. What are you pencilling in for Reliance Industries?The overall results this time should be decent given the fact that petrochemical margins should be good. But a large part of the value of the company lies in under retail business as well as the Jio platforms. Jio platforms did a huge fundraising a year back but no one really knows what is happening Jio platform etc. and Jio the telecom operations. The stock basket has not really picked up and so there is no case for any significant upside in Reliance based solely on the fact that the legacy business is cyclically doing better. Unless and until we see some clarity on what is happening on the other growth businesses which got huge inflows from investors last year, I do not think the stock has much up...

Many mutual fund investors are extremely nervous about the markets. Their major concern is about preserving the profits they have made in the recent past. “Everyone wants to book profits, but at the same time nobody wants to miss a likely rally,” says a financial planner. He says he got so many queries in the last two weeks about safeguarding the profits.According to mutual fund advisors, investors are clearly nervous about the high infections and deaths due to the second wave of Covid-19 in India. They are concerned about preserving the capital and recent profits but they are also equally worried about missing out an opportunity to make money. Hence a lot of queries and strategies doing the rounds, they say.Advisors and planners say investors should not look for miracles and make a well thought out plan. They say investors should understand that there is no way they can take money out of the market and still participate in the likely upside in the market.“You should remember that ther...

MUMBAI: An industry association and a group of businessmen have dragged the government and tax departments to court for not postponing various deadlines despite the chaos created by the severe second Covid wave.According to a writ petition filed by Association of Industries and Institutions, an apex body for small and medium companies, in Gujarat High Court, there is an “emergency like situation” in the country in the wake of “extreme spread of coronavirus.”The association has dragged the Indian government, direct tax department, indirect tax department, Employees State Insurance Corporation and Employees Provident Fund Organization to court over the extension of due dates.The association wants the government to extend the due dates for filing various tax and other filings by about three months. They argue that last year, when Covid pandemic and the cases were not as high, the government had extended various due dates, but the same isn’t done this year, despite the fast rising infectio...

NEW DELHI: As India battles, an unprecedented second wave of Covid, over 40 governments have committed to helping out India with essential medical requirements.Foreign minister S. Jaishankar held a briefing with all heads of missions across the world to brief them on the current crisis. His message was first, India is battling a Covid surge that is unprecedented in its ferocity, with a UK variant and a double mutant adding to the virus’ virulence.Envoys have been tasked with acquiring all manner of oxygen support — no tanker, concentrator or cylinder is too small at a time like this. Given India’s size, India needs everything it can lay its hands on. At this point, India’s top asks are — medical oxygen, Remdesivir and Tocilizumab to treat moderate to severe Covid. 82322189India, he told them, is reaping the benefits of both the Vaccine Maitri initiative as well as the Covid assistance proffered to many countries when they battled their own surges. That spirit of cooperation needed to b...

Over the next year, these upskilling programs for Quess’s workforce and their families will be available to the workforce as part of their employee benefits program.

Bad news, knowing no time zones, arrives in a jarring burst of messages, calls and posts informing millions of members of India's worldwide diaspora that yet another loved one has been sickened or lost to the coronavirus.Sometimes it comes in a barrage of WhatsApp messages first thing in the morning, and sometimes it lands in the middle of the night, as it did for Mohini Gadre's father. A 3 a.m. call at his San Francisco Bay Area home let him know that his octogenarian mother _ who had tested positive in Mumbai _ was too weak to say her morning prayers, setting off a mad scramble to find her the hospital bed where she remained for days.In the U.S., where half of the adult population has gotten at least one COVID-19 shot, the talk has been of reopening, moving forward and healing. But for Indian Americans, the daily crush of dark news from ``desh,'' the homeland, is a stark reminder that the pandemic is far from over.``We're seeing life slowly start to get back to no...

We are looking at an overpriced market which is struggling to find new highs but being pushed by a wall of money and that is why that is now spreading to the smaller and midcap parts of the market., says independent analyst Anand Tandon. On Bajaj Finance’s performanceIt has been a business which has performed way better than expected, given the environment it is operating in. Unsecured lending at this stage is probably the most risky business and despite that, the numbers have been kind of okay. So you have to give it to the management that they have managed to achieve whatever they have. But if one were to look at it from an investor perspective, the fact remains that it is still extremely expensive as a company and though they have justified that for a long time and the market continues to believe that it can sustain that kind of thing, you have to assume that the growth can be maintained at very high levels for you to be able to justify that number on a fundamental basis. That is a ...

A stampede broke out early Friday at a Jewish religious festival attended by tens of thousands of people in northern Israel, killing nearly 40 people and leaving some 150 hospitalized, medical officials said.The stampede, one of the deadliest civilian disasters in Israeli history, occurred during the celebrations of Lag BaOmer at Mount Meron. Tens of thousands of people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, gather each year to honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century sage and mystic who is buried there. Large crowds traditionally light bonfires, pray and dance as part of the celebrations.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a ``great tragedy,'' and said everyone was praying for the victims.Media estimated the crowd at about 100,000 people.Eli Beer, director of the Hatzalah rescue service, said he was horrified by how crowded the event was, saying the site was equipped to handle perhaps a quarter of the number who were there.``Close to 40 people died as a result of this traged...

First-generation Indian migrants are far more likely to return to India annually to visit family, friends, or relatives, attend family events, or travel across the country. During these short trips, they have been known to squeeze in their financial appointments for India-based investment decisions. This hasty process usually leads to critical investment decisions being pushed aside or delegated to relatives or friends, which ultimately leads to financial pitfalls.In our experience with NRIs, some of the usual pitfalls they are known to fall into and must consciously try to avoid are as follows:Investing as a residentOnce an individual attains the status of an NRI he must convert his existing bank accounts to an NRE, NRO, or FCNR accounts. As an NRI you can open an NRE & NRO account that are rupee designated accounts and are repatriable. Similarly, investment instruments like MFs, direct equity, bonds, and more have their restrictions. For instance, an NRIs DEMAT account will need ...