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SUNDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2019
12 pages in 1 section
MUMBAI (CITY)
~10.00
VOLUME XIII NUMBER 29
PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM BENGALURU, KOLKATA, MUMBAI AND NEW DELHI
WARYAM SINGH,
EX-CHAIRMAN OF
PMC BANK, HELD
S Waryam Singh, former
chairman of Punjab
and Maharashtra
Co-operative (PMC)
Bank, was arrested by
the Economic Offences
Wing (EOW) of the
Mumbai Police on
Saturday in connection with the alleged
~4,355-crore scam at the bank. This is the
fourth arrest in the case. The EOW has already
arrested former managing director of the
bank Joy Thomas, and promoters of HDIL
group Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan in the
case. Waryam Singh (68) was taken into
custody by the officials of the special
investigation team of the EOW from Mahim
Church area in Mumbai, a police official said.
The police earlier visited his house in
suburban Andheri West, but he wasn’t there.
Singh was brought to the EOW office and
questioned about the alleged scam, following
which he was arrested, the official said. PTI
ECONOMY P3
Edelweiss group raises
~3,000 crore in H1FY20
Edelweiss Financial Services has raised ~3,000
crore, excluding commercial paper, in the first
six months of the current financial year
(H1FY20), compared to about ~7,600 crore in
the same period in FY19. CRISIL also cut ratings
of its housing finance arm.
BACK PAGE P5
Metro begins to cut Aarey
trees as HC denies stay
Green activists suffered a second jolt in two
consecutive days when the Bombay High Court
on Saturday refused to stay the ongoing felling
of trees at Mumbai’s prominent green lung
Aarey Colony to make way for a proposed
metro car shed. A few green activists moved a
fresh application on Saturday.
ON
SUNDAY
SPECIAL
IN DEPTH
Mamallapuram prepares
for a date with history
How the port city is preparing for the
Indo-China summit next week, T E
NARASIMHAN and GIREESH BABU find out 7>
ECONOMY P5
Trade credit insurance
claims surge 38%
Claims in the trade credit insurance segment of
general insurers have seen a 38 per cent
year-on-year rise in FY19, while premium
growth stood at 14 per cent during the same
period last year.
World’s first space trader scopes out a $43-bn industry
Aims to become first commercial service provider for deploying small satellites
MASUMI SUGA & HIROMI HORIE
Tokyo, 5 October
The business of manufacturing and
launching small satellites is
projected to grow almost fourfold
over the coming decade to $42.8
billion, creating an opportunity for
those seeking to profit from
increased commerce between
companies in the industry.
One of them is Masatoshi
Nagasaki, the world’s first self-styled
space trader. The 39-year-old doesn’t
work in a spacecraft, jetting from
planet to planet like a character in an
Isaac Asimov novel. Instead, he
works on the seventh floor of a
building that’s become a hub for
space-related start-ups. He’s already
won contracts from Japan’s space
agency to broker satellite launches.
“Space companies will definitely
need traders,” said Nagasaki, dressed
in a navy suit with a white shirt and no
necktie. “I want to see space become
an industry unto itself.”
Nagasaki’s start-up, Space BD
BACK PAGE P12
NBA TO RAMP UP INVESTMENTS IN INDIA,
SCOUT FOR TALENT: COO MARK TATUM
Modi, Hasina sign seven
pacts to strengthen ties
Bangladesh PM raises concern over NRC roll-out in meeting with PM
ARCHIS MOHAN
New Delhi, 5 October
I
ndia and Bangladesh on Saturday
signed seven agreements and
launched three projects after
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and his Bangladeshi counterpart
Sheikh Hasina held wide-ranging talks
to further strengthen bilateral ties.
The projects included the sourcing
of bulk liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
from Bangladesh to Tripura by using
Bangladeshi trucks. Dhaka also allowed
New Delhi to withdraw 1.82 cusecs of
water from Feni River for a drinking
water supply scheme for Sabroom town
in Tripura.
During the discussions, Hasina
also raised concerns over the roll-out
of the National Register of Citizens
(NRC) in Assam, an exercise carried
out to identify genuine Indian citi-
zens living in Assam and weed out
illegal immigrants. Government
sources said the Indian side conveyed
to Hasina that the NRC publication
was a court-monitored process and
the final scenario on the issue was yet
to emerge.
The Bangladesh PM said people of
her country awaited the early signing
and implementation of the agreement
on sharing of Teesta waters, as agreed
upon by both governments in 2011.
Hasina, on a four-day official visit to
India, and Modi met in the afternoon —
their second meeting in the last 10 days.
The two leaders had met in New York
on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly last month.
In a joint statement issued later,
New Delhi welcomed Bangladesh’s
“imminent graduation out of LDC (least
HUNDREDS RETURN TO HONG KONG STREETS
wants to become a one-stop shop for
companies looking for room on
rockets, offering technical advice and
matching them to launch operators.
Middlemen are now necessary to
industrialise and develop businesses,
Nagasaki said.
Space BD has won contracts for
the deployment of at least 15 small
satellites, including its first overseas
deal with an academic research
institute in Australia. A partnership
between the University of Sydney, the
University of New South Wales and 10
other institutions is working with
Space BD to release CubeSats, the
boxy, standardised mini satellites
used to gather information in space.
Another client is Japan’s Ryman
Sat Project, a group that aims to make
space ventures more accessible. Masatoshi Nagasaki is the world’s first self-styled space trader. He won a contract
Founded by a group of salarymen — with JAXA, Japan’s space agency, a year after starting Space BD in 2017
that’s where the “ryman” comes from
— the idea is to make it easier for JAXA, Japan’s space agency, a year
regular businessmen to consider after starting Space BD in 2017. It’s the
opportunities for sales and first commercial service provider for
investment beyond the stratosphere. deploying small satellites from a
Nagasaki won his contract with Japan-built laboratory module on the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, on Saturday
TALKING TO THE NEIGHBOUR
Agreements/projects formalised between India and Bangladesh
| Sourcing of bulk LPG
from Bangladesh to | Bangladesh to open a
Tripura by using
Bangladeshi trucks
| Bangladesh to allow
India to withdraw | SOP on the use of
1.82 cusecs of water
from Feni River for
drinking water supply
scheme for Tripura's
developed country) status” and the two
sides agreed to commission a joint
study on the prospects of entering into
a bilateral Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
between India and Bangladesh.
WORLD P8
TRUMP TO BLOCK IMMIGRANTS
UNABLE TO PAY FOR HEALTHCARE
90% of promoters’
stake in Zee pledged
RAM PRASAD SAHU & SOHINI DAS
Mumbai, 5 October
A little over 90 per cent of the promoters’
PHOTO: SANJAY K SHARMA 22 per cent shareholding in Zee
Entertainment is pledged with financial
institutions. This was disclosed by Zee
Entertainment Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka in
an investor call on Saturday. Following
the agreement to sell an 11 per cent stake
to Invesco Oppenheimer in September, Punit Goenka, MD and CEO,
the promoters’ loan against shares stands Zee Entertainment Enterprises
at ~7,000 crore, as against ~13,500 crore on
January 26, 2019.
Of the 11 per cent, the promoters have
STOCK SLUMP
Zee Entertainment BSE price in ~
managed to sell 8.7 per cent and are in
talks with Invesco Oppenheimer to sell
the balance 2.3 per cent. The Zee man-
agement indicated that the delay in clos-
ing the balance sale was due to restric-
tions on insider trading window. Some
lenders have also invoked the pledge and
sold shares in the market, reducing the
promoters' stake further. At the end of the
June 2019 quarter and prior to the deal
with Invesco, the promoter holding in
the company was 35.79 per cent and about Compiled by BS Research Bureau
64 per cent of it was pledged.
The management indicated that they | Promoters are left with 22% stake,
Sabroom town | MoU on providing were committed to paying off the loan of which 90% is pledged
coastal surveillance against shares over the next three months
system both from the sale of the group’s media | VTB Capital disclosed Zee
deputy high
and non-media shares, even as no loans promoters’ share pledge on
commission in | MoU between
are due within this period. On Friday's account of new Sebi norms
Chennai Universities of Dhaka disclosure by Russia’s VTB Capital that
and Hyderabad | Loan against shares stands
the promoters have pledged 10.71 per cent
at ~7,000 crore, as against
Chattogram and | Agreement on with it, the Essel group indicated that the
company had disclosed the same as part ~13,500 crore in January
Mongla ports for
movement of goods
implementation of
Indian line of credit of the overall pledged shares. The 10.71 | Promoters are looking at paying off
per cent stake held by promoter entity the outstanding loans against
to and from India to Bangladesh Essel Media Ventures in Zee shares over the next three months
Entertainment is pledged with VTB
Bangladesh will graduate out of its Capital. The Russian lender disclosed its
LDC status in 2024, which will pose ownership as new Sebi guidelines appli- VTB Capital is the only offshore lender
challenges to its export-oriented cable from October 1 require indirect to the promoters and accounts for ~2,000
readymade garments industry that cur- pledge details to be disclosed. The matu- crore of the outstanding loan against shares
rently gets preferential market access. rity of the loan from VTB Capital is a year while the rest (~5,000 crore) is due to
Turn to Page 4 > from now, according to Goenka. domestic lenders, he added.
Masked anti-government
Green watchdog
protesters during a rally in
Hong Kong on Saturday.
The city went into near
orders closure of
shutdown as businesses
closed and rail services were
suspended for the first time
Kanpur tanneries
in more than 20 years after
overnight violence,
Industry is worth ~12,000 crore,
described by Chief Executive
Carrie Lam as a “very dark
employs a million people
day”. Friday’s protests across
the Chinese-ruled city
erupted hours after Lam
invoked colonial-era
emergency powers to ban the
face masks demonstrators
use to hide their identities.
UN human rights chief
Michelle Bachelet said she
was “troubled” by Hong
Kong’s increasingly violent
pro-democracy protests, and
stressed that any measures
to quell the unrest must be
grounded in law. PHOTO: REUTERS
VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT
Lucknow, 5 October
FULL REPORT
ON PAGE 9 After providing a breather to Kanpur leather tanneries, the
Uttar Pradesh green watchdog has ordered their closure
after their effluents were found in the river Ganga.
The UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) had, in
August this year, allowed 126 leather tanneries to reopen
and operate at 50 per cent capacity if they followed pollu-
tion norms. This was on the recommendation of the dis-
trict administration. However, the Ganga-monitoring wing
of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) submitted a report,
which said effluents were going into the river. The UPPCB
took the decision based on this report and ordered closing
proven business model: the Japanese the tanneries till October 30.
trading house. Earlier, there was a closure order for the tanneries
As a former steel trader at Mitsui & from December 15 last year to March 15 this year to
Co, one of Japan’s top five general ensure clean water for the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj
trading houses, Nagasaki tracked (Allahabad). However, tanneries continued to be shut
volumes and pricing by negotiating because the UPPCB found pollutants in the Ganga
with buyers. He also arranged beyond the permissible limits.
investments in overseas iron ore There are 267 tanneries in Jajmau. The leather indus-
projects, one of Mitsui’s most try in Kanpur, including tanneries and goods manufac-
profitable operations. Ultimately, he turers, is estimated at ~12,000 crore. It provides direct
wanted more control over how he and indirect employment to a million people in Kanpur
worked and his own business, so he and Unnao. This cluster generates exports worth ~6,000
founded the start-up. crore to West Asia, Europe, China, etc annually. The Jal
Space BD launched with Nigam had given an undertaking that effluents would be
¥100 million in financing from treated before draining them into the river, but it failed
PHOTO: TWITTER
Japanese venture capital firm to do so. “The Jal Nigam has fallen short on its commit-
Incubate Fund, which along with ment and polluted water is going into the river.
Anniversaire Holdings invested Therefore, the decision to close tanneries was taken,”
another 200 million in the business. UPPCB Regional Officer S B Franklin told Business
Nagasaki is seeking to go public in Standard on Saturday. “The Jal Nigam has sought time
five years. Although Nagasaki is the till October 30 for setting things right,” he added.
first to call himself a space trader, Nayyar Jamal, member of the Small Tanners’
others have also jumped into the Association, said tanneries were facing disruption for
International Space Station. The market for matching satellite almost a year since November last year, in the run-up to the
start-up has 16 employees, with plans operators to capacity on rockets, Kumbh Mela. “The Jal Nigam has spent millions on its
to triple that number in three years. including Seattle-based Spaceflight treatment plant, yet it is discharging untreated effluents
Nagasaki is betting that Space BD Industries and NanoRacks, based in into the Ganga. The money has gone down the drain and
will succeed because it’s based on a Webster, Texas. BLOOMBERG we are suffering because of its shortcomings,” he said.
2 COMPANIES
>
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019

IN BRIEF CORPORATION TAX CUT

USFDA issues warning letter to
Glenmark about Baddi facility
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on
ITC unlikely to hike cigarette prices costs as input cost variations are a
Saturday said it had received a
AVISHEK RAKSHIT
Kolkata, 5 October TAKING IT LIGHT minor part of the entire cost structure
warning letter from the US health of cigarettes, say analysts.
| Hike unlikely as ITC may be

regulator for its Baddi facility in
Himachal Pradesh. The United States
Food and Drug Administration
(USFDA) had inspected the facility
from April 15-20 and earlier classified
the inspection as an official action indicated, Glenmark said in a
BSE filing. The warning letter is regarding the same inspection, it
added. “The company is committed to working along with the
USFDA to implement all the necessary actions required to address
the concerns raised and is in the process of preparing a detailed
response to the USFDA within 15 days,” Glenmark said. PTI<
MRPL operations Migsun set to invest
back to normalcy, ~900 cr on housing
says official project in Ghaziabad
The problems faced by Migsun Group on Saturday said
Mangalore Refinery and it will invest around ~900 crore
Petrochemicals (MRPL) by way to develop a housing project in
of ground soil erosion following Ghaziabad. The company will
heavy rain in August have been develop 2,326 units in this
addressed, and operations are project, located at Raj Nagar
now smooth, M Venkatesh, Extension, of which 850 units
managing director of the firm will be for economically weaker
said on Saturday. Addressing sections. “We will develop
reporters, he said the MRPL
refinery complex had faced the
soil erosion after the intense
2,326 units and about 4 lakh sq
ft of commercial area in this
project," Managing Director
rainfall during the first and Yash Miglani said. The cost is
second week of August, estimated at ~900 crore, he
affecting the foundation of one added. The total built-up area
of the pipe racks in phase 3. An in this project is 3 million sq ft.
immediate shutdown of the The firm will sell apartments
entire phase 3 complex was from ~35 lakh onwards, while
done as a safety measure the EWS units will be sold at a
during of August. All emergency nominal rate, Miglani said. The
measures were taken to arrest construction of the project will
any significant damage to pipe commence shortly and will be
racks. PTI< delivered in 5 years. Migsun is
currently developing nine
Kerala tops list of projects. PTI<
start-up locations CARE downgrades
in country: Report Patanjali amid
Kerala has emerged one of top Ruchi Soya takeover
start-up destinations in the
country, according to a report CARE ratings on Saturday cut
by digital media platform Inc 42 Patanjali Ayurved by two levels,
in association with TiE Kerala. citing a likely weakening of its
The state has made an financial position as it partly
impressive compound annual funds a merger with Ruchi
growth of 17 per cent since 2012, Soya. The agency downgraded
taking the total number of Patanjali’s long-term bank
ventures based out of the state facilities to A- from A+, said a
to 2,200 and displaying high statement on Friday. CARE and
competence in netting funds, Brickwork Ratings cut the firm’s
said the report. In a single year outlook to negative from
since 2018 alone, the number of stable. Patanjali consortium
start-ups marked a steep Adhigrahan — a venture by
increase of 35 per cent, said the Patanjali and three other firms
report, unveiled at the controlled by Baba Ramdev — is
valedictory function of the taking over Ruchi Soya for ~43.5
TiECon Kerala 2019, in Kochi. billion ($614 million). CARE said
Subramanian Swamy, MP, the revision in the ratings takes
released the report in presence into account the “expected
of CEO of Kerala Startup Mission weakening of its financial risk
Saji Gopinath, the organisers of profile on account of large
TiECoN said in a press release in outflow of funds from Patanjali
Kochi, on Saturday. PTI< to Adhigrahan.” BLOOMBERG<
F
ast-moving consumer goods However, as a measure to boost
major ITC, which has reaped among biggest beneficiaries consumption, experts believe that an
benefits of a corporation tax cut of tax cut: Morgan Stanley increase in taxes, which might pull up
and the vaping ban, may not have to | Cigarette price hikes driven prices, is unlikely in the near future
increase prices of cigarettes for the rest more by tax increases rather and thus, ITC’s cigarette sales volume
of this financial year. than input costs may see an uptick.
The Centre last month announced According to Roy, in the first quar-
a reduction in corporation tax rate | Input cost variations a minor ter (Q1) of this financial year, cigarette
from 30 per cent to 22 per cent. A part of entire cost structure volume growth for ITC was only 3 per
Morgan Stanley report states that it | Given an increase in taxes is cent. However, calibrated price hike
doesn’t expect ITC to hike cigarette of 2.5 per cent in Q1, led to cigarette
prices, as the company is likely to be
unlikely any time soon, ITC’s revenue growing by 6 per cent on a
one of the biggest beneficiaries of the cigarette sales volume may year on year at ~5,433.4 crore.
tax cut. see an uptick, say experts Cigarettes account for around 80
Yet, Morgan Stanley estimates that per cent of ITC’s profits.
ITC will be able to post 19 per cent People in the know among the bro-
earnings growth during FY20. pricing strategy across operating seg- employment and set the stage to make “Even if ITC resorts to increasing kerage houses are also bullish on cig-
“The corporation tax rate cut will ments,” an ITC spokesperson said. India a vibrant, best-in-class, and glob- cigarette prices, it will be in low-single arette sales following the ban imposed
help rejuvenate the economy and trig- After Union Finance Minister ally competitive manufacturing hub digit and will be applicable on select on vaping devices.
ger a virtuous cycle of investment, Niramla Sitharaman announced sops for the world. part of the portfolio,” said Abneesh While liquid nicotine and e-ciga-
consumption, and employment. last month, ITC Chairman and Sector analysts are of the view that Roy, executive vice-president at rette importers have been hit hard,
According to our policy, we do not Managing Director Sanjiv Puri had the tax windfall can be used to spur Edelweiss Securities. ITC is expected to be a direct benefi-
comment on specific brokerage said the measures could trigger a cycle investment and can also be ploughed Cigarette price hikes are more driv- ciary as cigarettes comprise its entire
reports on ITC and the company’s of investments, consumption, and back to keep prices in check. en by tax increases rather than input tobacco portfolio.
STPI plans to boost ‘Demand for aluminium will shoot up’
exports from CoEs
While Vedanta Resources is eyeing a ramp-up of its aluminium value-added products profile, its arm Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) is
gearing up to ensure the best of the world’s products and technology are manufactured in India, using indigenous resources and skills.
ABHIJIT PATI, chief executive officer of Balco, speaks to R Krishna Das to elaborate on the plan. Edited Excerpts:
JAYAJIT DASH ers in the North-East.
Bhubaneswar, 5 October These state-of-the-art cen- As Indian firms face challenges from With the Government’s emphasis on
tres need around ~400 crore foreign exports of aluminium, how is infrastructure growth, how do you see
Software Technology Parks of and funds are being con- Balco placed in terms of competition, the growth of aluminium as a metal?
India (STPI) plans to boost tributed by the Union elec- given it is a fully integrated plant? I am happy that ‘Make in India’ is set to
exports from its 28 upcoming tronics & IT ministry, state As an integrated plant, we have reduced invest in infrastructure growth. Growth
Centres of Excellence (CoEs). governments, industry play- costs, power consumption, and water of aluminium will be influenced from
STPI plans to establish these ers and STPI’s own accruals. in our system, in the past years. Balco is this investment. At present, the auto
centres with a focus on soft- “The centres could come a benchmark company in the field of sector and real estate market may not
ware products innovation up at the STPI or academic power consumption, as compared to be doing well. However, as soon as the
and research and develop- institutions. STPI also has an other smelters and pot lines in India phase passes, demand for Aluminium
ment (R&D). Electropreneur Park, which and West Asia. The ongoing projects will only shoot up.
Products designed at these was set up in collaboration will help it to reach global standards. This will make way for more of
centres will cater to the with the Indian Electronics & Our products achieve 99.8 per cent value-added products to fulfil the
domestic market and also Semiconductor Association quality assurance and our inclination demand of the metal in making
strengthen exports. (IESA) within Delhi University towards being 100 per cent value-added vehicles and construction material.
“Over the years, the in 2016, and the second one is products company will further help us Further, the usage of aluminium in
infotech industry has moved coming up in Bhubaneswar. in strengthening our competition. power transmission cables is another
up the value chain. Our aim is Each of our CoEs will nurture Can you elaborate on innovation being area where we can see the utilisation of
to create more software prod- 20 start-ups every year. Four How do you plan to strengthen done in the range of products? the green metal for better energy
ucts and grab a bigger share of such centres have already company’s value-added products Balco made a bold move by launching transmission.
the global markets. Currently, been launched,” Rai added. (VAP) portfolio? primary foundry alloys, the most used
our software products exports The IT industry is growing In an attempt to bolster the aluminium variant, into the market to mainly cater With flat-rolled product consumption
are valued at $8 billion against 13 per cent year-on-year. industry and protect the domestic to the making of alloy wheels for seen rising, how is Balco gearing up to
the global market size of $500 However, the new CoEs will market from high imports of international and domestic meet the challenge?
billion. However, by 2025, they help accelerate this growth to aluminium, Vedanta’s Balco automotive industries, and to The company is on a major expansion
can potentially jump to $80- 20 per cent, he said. STPI has unit came up with the two most challenge all odds of an import- spree to enhance capacity. The
90 million. Software product presence in Bengaluru, successful products, to cater to dependent nation. consumption of flat-rolled products
innovations have the power of Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, India and global markets. The Geared with the best-in-class will increase over the years. The rolling
disruption and our planned Kanpur, Mumbai, Nagpur, products include primary technology of Befesa Cast Bar mills in our Balco plant are doing well.
CoEs will help boost develop- Warangal, Kakinada, foundry alloys (PFAs) and Flip coils. Technology, Balco has now created a We are planning to increase roll
ment of new products,” said Bhubaneswar, Pune, Tirupati, Over the years, Balco has emerged a niche for itself among major product capacity from 72 kg tonnes
Omkar Rai, director general at Surat, Vijayawada, Lucknow, leading aluminium producers in India, Automobile players. (KT) to 200 KT under our expansion
STPI. New CoEs are coming up and Visakhapatnam. Over 50 with its steadfast production of VAPs The next feather on cap for Balco plan. Balco is, at present, operating at
in Chennai, Bengaluru, per cent of software exports, that include wire rods, flip coils, rolled was the production of Flip coils. Used 571,000 tonnes of annual capacity.
Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, valued ~ 4.16 trillion in the last products, and PFAs. by the steel sector during preparation of In 2-3 years, we aim to take it to
Patna, Mohali, Hyderabad and fiscal, took place from STPI- We are exploring new products and the molten metal, flip coil is used of 1 million tonnes, and subsequently to
Gurugram, along with six oth- registered units. the work is in progress. de-oxidation of steel. 3 million tonnes annually.

Maersk delivers first shipment in Odisha from ICD
JAYAJIT DASH
Bhubaneswar, 5 October
Maersk, the global integrator
of container logistics, has
delivered its first import
shipment to Sambalpur from
the Inland Container Depot
(ICD) in Jharsuguda.
The shipment, carrying
80 of 20-tonne equivalent
units (TEUs), was delivered
to Shyam Metalics.
While a few of the top cus-
tomers in the region have
already moved containers on
the import side — with more
in the pipeline, this delivery
is testament to Maersk’s
efforts to unlock new trade
opportunities in Odisha.
All major metal cus-
tomers have shown interest
in the import leg as well since
there is a clear value to it.
Prompted by the need to
align container inventory in
accordance with customer
needs, the ICD aims to
reduce complexities in the
supply chain. It will enable
small and medium-sized
businesses to reap immense
benefits.
This will further encour-
age inclusive growth and
prosperity across the region.
Strategically located in
Odisha’s prime industrial
OUT OF THE BOX
| First import shipment delivered
to Sambalpur from Jharsuguda
| Shipment carrying 80 TEUs
delivered to Shyam Metalics
| Inland Container Depot seeks to
cut supply chain complexities
| Located in Odisha, ICD can help
customers reduce transportation
costs by 15-20 per cent
belt, the ICD can deliver some of the largest contrib-
empty containers to cus- utors to the country’s econo-
tomers in a matter of hours, my. While trade is a key
helping them reduce trans- enabler of growth and pros-
portation costs by almost 15- perity, as global integrator of
20 per cent. container logistics, our aim
Steve Felder, managing is to simplify it further by
director, Maersk South Asia, facilitating end-to-end logis-
said, “Small and medium tics, reducing the transit
sized businesses, being sig- time and cost to make it
nificant sources of innova- more accessible and sustain-
tion and job creation, are able for everyone. We believe
that this will empower the
local trade ecosystem to
become more inclusive,
thereby amplifying liveli-
hood across the region.”
With a plan to run a week-
ly export train to provide a
doorstep pick-up and deliv-
ery, the company has set a
target of handling over 4,000
TEUs on an annual basis.
Coupled with the availability
of the receipt for shipment
(RFS) facility, ICD
Jharsuguda will further help
slash the transit time of ship-
ments from 10 days to five
days. It will help customers
address their logistical chal-
lenges across the supply
chain.
The company is witness-
ing demand from metal cus-
tomers and plans to further
expand its services to other
verticals.
“Efficiency is the key to
Stability top target for
any business success. We are
here to reduce the complexi-
Axiscades in FY20 PHOTO: COMPANY
ties in logistics so that our
customers can focus on their
business growth by extract-
ing more value from trade,”
said Akshyat Bhatia, Head of
Intermodal, Maersk South
Asia.
Vinod Agrawal, general
manager, logistics, Vedanta
Aluminium, said, “We have
availed ‘end to end’ factory
stuffing services of Maersk
Jharsuguda ICD for a trial
period of two months and DEBASIS MOHAPATRA Singh resigned in January. In
executed 500 TEU’s so far. Bengaluru, 5 October June Vivek Mansingh
Maersk has provided seam- stepped down as chairman of
less service in this regard. Axiscades Engineering the board.
Jharsuguda ICD is strategi- Technologies, a product engi- “All ingredients of growth
cally located to provide value neering services company, is are there, we just need to cap-
addition to all customers in targeting an improvement in italise on our talent base and
this region for import and both revenue and margin per- derive synergy from the inte-
export. We look forward to a formance this financial year. gration of Mistral to comple-
higher volume and further A leadership transition and ment our growth numbers,”
collaboration with Maersk in acquisition had hit the com- Bradley said. He added that
this regard.” pany on these parameters in the company was trying to cut
the last financial year. duplication of functions
According to David across divisions, with focus on
Bradley, who took over as cross-selling of products to

Woodland carves separate identity for formal brand chairman of Axiscades in

SAMREEN AHMAD
Bengaluru, 5 October
After making a mark in its outdoor
line of shoes and accessories, Aero
Club, owners of Woodland, is now
promoting its formal lifestyle
brand Woods through standalone
stores. “The company has already
established 10 standalone Woods
stores while plans are afoot to add
another 10-15 every year, taking the
number to around 100 eventually,”
said Harkirat Singh, managing
director of Aero Club.
The company aspires to create a
separate identity for Woods and
not make it a sub-brand under
Woodland. “Today, the lifestyle
category has a lot of potential as
dressing sense has become based
on lifestyle, and is not based on
durability any more. We can
experiment a lot with colours and
shapes in this line, unlike the
outdoor category,” added Singh.
The Delhi-headquartered
company is competing with
international brands such as
Ferragamo and Aldo in the luxury
segment.
Woodland has a lot of
standalone stores in shopping
malls. Singh said the company
realised that a lot of women
coming into these malls were not
fond of the rugged look. So, the
company was losing potential
customers. Hence, Woods came
out of the stables of Woodland and
was set up as a full-fledged stores
two years ago. The brand, which
mostly comprises luxury footwear
and bags, has 60 per cent of its
offerings meant for women and the
rest for men.
Of Woodland’s 12 footwear
factories, three are dedicated to
Woods, which are already making
20 per cent of the company’s ~1,300
crore revenue.
The price point is 20 per cent
higher than Woodland’s offerings
and starts at ~3,500. The company
III cities. It will be adding around
40 stores this year to its existing
4,600 outlets. These include both
standalone and multi-brand
stores.
Woodland is also creating a
separate line of footwear and
apparel to be sold on e-commerce
websites such as Amazon and
Flipkart. Online sales contribute
around 12 per cent of its total
revenue and the company expects
to take it to around 25 per cent in
the next three years.
Lifestyle category has much potential as dressing sense is no more based At present, footwear forms 60
on durability but on lifestyle, says Aero Club MD Harkirat Singh per cent of Aero Club’s offerings
while apparel accounts for 25 per
has opened four new Woods stores presence in the West Asia, Africa, cent and accessories 15 per cent.
in the past six months in South and China which it services “We are continuously discovering
India. Looking to expand its through Hong Kong. The new products and incorporating
international footprint, Woodland international markets form 25 per them in our line for sustainable
is also in talks with distributors in cent of the company’s overall productivity,” said Singh.
Eastern Europe to launch products revenue. The company has been buying
in those markets. It will also start Registering a growth of 10-15 fabric made of yarns produced
selling in Australia by the end of per cent year-on-year, the from pet bottles in Taiwan to make
this financial year, Singh said. company is in the process of apparel for sustainable and
Woodland has international making inroads into tier-II and tier- environment-friendly production.
June, business stability and
synergy from its recent acqui-
sition of Mistral Solutions will
complement growth. The
Bengaluru-based company is
hopeful of clocking revenue
growth of 15-18 per cent.
“Last (financial) year was
a challenge for Axiscades, giv-
en it has seen quite a lot of
managerial change. So, we are
now trying to focus on stabil-
ity,” said Bradley.
“In case of Mistral, we have
completed the process of
transfer of control from its
previous shareholders and the
next step it to fully integrate
the company to get the syn-
ergy,” he added.
The firm had acquired
Mistral, a defence electronics
entity, for ~175 crore in 2017 to
boost offerings in the defence
vertical. Axiscades, which
reported revenue of ~617 crore
in March 2019, has seen some
leadership transition over the
last one year.
Former CEO Mritunjay
top clients.
Axiscades, which com-
petes with Cyient, L&T
Technology Services, QuEST
Global, and Tech Mahindra ,
has 2,300 employees globally,
including 1,400 in India and
400 in the US. The firm draws
around 31 per cent of its rev-
enues from aerospace, while
the heavy engineering vertical
accounts for more than 41 per
cent and defence 21 per cent.
“We don’t see any demand
slowdown in our key verticals.
The aerospace sector is quite
vibrant, as is defence. Even
though our exposure to auto-
motive is minimal, we see
good demand in the electric
vehicles space,” Bradley said.
Axiscades is owned major-
ly by Jupiter Capital, an
investment company run by
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and
entrepreneur and Member of
Parliament. “We have the
backing of a strong parent
entity. Capital will not be an
issue for any of our future
acquisitions,” Bradley said.
.
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS 3 <

Financial industry lags in taking Zinc sector turns to fertiliser,

solar panels for growth
climate-linked investment calls
SUBHOMOY BHATTACHARJEE
ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA
Changes from abroad
ADITI DIVEKAR & DILIP KUMAR JHA
Mumbai, 5 October

With economic slowdown hit-

2017–2018, with the average cur-
rent price of solar electricity
dropping to 18 percent below
the average price of its coal-fired
New Delhi, 5 October The first set of changes have come to ting the construction and auto counterpart.
the insurance sector instead of banks. sectors, zinc is looking for other In the fertiliser segment, zinc
Banks and insurance companies in Reinsurance costs for Indian proper- segments to sustain growth in utilisation can grow 200 per cent
India have just begun to be asked dif- ty are already high compared to oth- the domestic market. in India. “Zinc deficiency is a
ficult questions on climate finance in er geographies due to the perceived “Solar panels, power storage global issue. It improves food
the domestic market, but those are risks of floods. Rates for 2020 have batteries, and fertilisers are the and nutrition quality,” said
still intermittent and mostly by for- begun to stiffen even further. three new areas where the zinc Green. About 4,500 children
eign portfolio investors. This is, in In response, domestic insurance market has ample scope to under the age of five die every
fact, a bad fortnight to be even asking companies have also begun to recog- grow. There is more than 100 year due to zinc deficiency. “Use
for it with another bad-loan mess nise the risks, but in a roundabout per cent growth scope in fer- of micro nutrients like zinc can galvanizing the vehicle. For a
coming up from the folding-up of way. They have begun to raise the pre- tilisers,” said Andrew Green, raise agri production resulting ~10-lakh vehicle, galvanizing
Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative mium for natural calamities on most executive director of into higher realisations for farm- would cost additional ~5,000-
Bank, and the possible collateral manufacturing sector companies, International Zinc Association. ers. It is also fit and in fact 13,000 while cost for doing
impact on a scheduled bank. especially power. But Gupta says they Zinc-coated (galvanised) healthy for consumption, by under spray after car is finished
“We are still a long way off from should make the risks prohibitive steel is the most effective and both human being as well as comes to ~20,000. Moreover it is
other developed markets in asking enough to create an incentive for the inexpensive way to protect steel livestock. Since its cost is negli- an inferior material compared
for accountability on climate change- switchover to climate-positive from the corrosive effects of gible, the overall agri input cost to galvanised car. But due to
linked investment decisions,” said themes. weather, temperature, and oxy- would not go up but will cer- lack of awareness consumers
Vipul Dalal, one of India’s veteran Abroad, the Adani Group has gen. Thanks to this, the base tainly fetch better returns,” said are opting for the second
investment analysts. faced problems getting an insurance metal finds wide application in Vijay Sardana, an independent option,” said Green.
A Bloomberg New Economy Global cover for its Carmichael coal project both in auto as well as con- commodity expert. Slowdown in the automo-
Survey notes just about 20 per cent of in Australia. But that is unlikely to struction segments in India. Zinc utilisation is the auto- bile market is, however, a con-
Indian business leaders “strongly happen within India for a long time, “Solar is the fastest growing mobile sector, too, has poten- cern. Major automobile makers
agree” with the views of the majority though several reinsurers who do power production segment in tial. Of the total cars manufac- on Tuesday reported double-
of business professionals across the business with Indian companies have the world, including in India, tured in the country, galvanized digit decline in domestic pas-
world who assert that by 2035, we will decided they will not support coal- and hence the solar panel zinc is used only in about 15-17 senger vehicle sales in
be reaching the point of no-return on related ventures. These include the requirement is also strong,” said per cent of the production. September.
climate change. Less than 50 per cent big ones such as AXA, Allianz, Swiss Green.“Another area is zinc bat- “Carmakers in India cur- The decline in registered
even agree that it is the tipping point. Re, Munich Re and Generali. teries which help in storage of rently use galvanized zinc only sales was for the tenth month in
The corresponding percentages for A joint Marsh and RIMS report on power. The storage market for for vehicles that are exported a row in September.
United Kingdom, France and the State of Risk Management in electricity is expected to grow which forms 15-17 per cent of The country's largest car-
Germany are 64, 63 and 59. India puts climate risks as one of the 100 per cent in the next 8-10 the total production. maker Maruti Suzuki India saw
top two. “These are present-day risks years. So when these two areas Domestically sold vehicles do its domestic sales decline by
Slow recognition that are already of significant con- of power segments are com- not have galvanized car bodies. 26.7 per cent at 112,500 units last
The lack of enthusiasm to link cli- cern to organizations,” the report bined, there is major growth Due to this, there is big con- month as against 153,550 units
mate issues with financial support notes. It overshadows data fraud and area,” he added. India’s solar sumption growth potential for in September 2018.
could slow India’s push for renew- Financial System”. It is a G20 forum banks, alongside operational and cyber attacks as perceived risk. installed capacity reached 30.7 zinc in domestic car segment However, with the onset of
ables and supporting technologies for but from among the Brics nations, credit costs.” Some of the lessons are coming GW as of August 31. alone,” said Green. the festive season, many brands
low carbon pathways, reckoned Saon only China and South Africa In short, Indian financial institu- through and are not lost on the The cost of construction of However, the domestic car are expecting the market to
Ray, senior fellow, at Delhi based are members. tions too need to watch out for the domestic banks. solar power plant is the lowest consumer prefers non galva- improve in the coming months.
think tank, Icrier who has just Yet, for instance, of the ~8 trillion impact of climate change on State Bank of India raised $650 capital per MW. India connect- nized vehicle for cost benefit Maruti Suzuki India,
released her work on the subject “Low of non-performing assets in the their portfolio. million as a public green bond for ed 6.5 GW of new solar power purpose and instead is given an Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj
Carbon Pathways”. domestic banking sector, about An example is from the auto sector financing climate-positive invest- capacity to the grid in 2018-19. option of making this addition Auto, Hyundai Motor India,
The slow pace is matched by the ~2 trillion come from loans to power portfolio of Indian banks. Lenders ments in September 2018, and is only India had added 3 GW of solar after the car is finished. Tata Motors and Honda Cars
government’s position too. In the run sector projects, which were mostly have been hit this year from their the first bank in India to do so. capacity in 2015–2016, 5 GW in “It’s a myth in the India mar- India are among the top car pro-
up to the UN’s Climate Action coal-fired. exposure to the automobile sector. Some of the mutual funds have 2016–2017 and over 10 GW in ket that car costs will go up on ducers in the country.
Summit in New York, the Indian Similarly, as Indian insurance Just the loans to dealers are estimat- picked up the environmental foot-
finance ministry has issued a discus- companies look to reinsure overseas ed at over ~70,000 crore and a lot of print, social impact and governance
sion paper on the subject: “Climate their exposure to coal mining and these have gone sour. factors (ESG) of the companies they
Summit for Enhanced Action: A power sector plants, they are facing
Financial Perspective from India”. In tricky questions.
his foreword to the paper, Globally, the coal
One of the reasons consumers are
not buying cars is because their emis-
sion standards under BS IV will not be
invest in. These are Kotak AMC, SBI
Magnum Equity ESG Fund, Avendus
India ESG Fund and Quantum India’s
IWAI push to spur trade,
cruise opportunities
the secretary, department industry sponsors an able to match what the traffic cops ESG Fund, but their portfolios are
of economic affairs in the Of the ~8 trillion of annual insurance will insist on from April 2020 under still thin.
ministry noted, “The non-performing assets market worth about the BS VI regime. Though the gov- SBI’s limited bond action has
global action on climate in the domestic banking $6 billion. A more ernment has given a phase-out period brought it a “Green Bond Pioneer
change is subject to the sector, about enthusiastic number for the existing stockpile to be valid Award” from the Climate Bond MEGHA MANCHANDA been declared the new ports of call under the
delivery of timely and ~2 trillion come from is from Insuring Coal till 2030, the slump is not Initiative for being the largest such New Delhi, 5 October protocol. Fly ash, cement, construction materials,
adequate finance. The loans to power sector No More, the pressure getting cured. issuer in the emerging markets. and other commodities are transported from
worldwide call for step- projects, which were group that tracks “Indian banks and insurance com- However, Navneet Munot CIO of SBI The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) India to Bangladesh through inland waterways
ping up climate actions mostly coal-fired numbers for the sec- panies need to set a time frame with- Mutual Fund is hopeful: is harnessing the national waterways 1, 2 and the on the Rupnarayan.
will have to be matched tor. “Leading insur- in which they shall halt exposure to “Environmental risks are bound to Indo-Bangladesh protocol route for standalone In order to promote coastal movement and
with adequate provision ance companies have sectors with heavy carbon footprints,” gain prominence in India….rising port activities, multi-modal terminals and cruise access the cargo potential, IWAI will host work-
of climate finance to developing pulled $20 billion out of investments said Praveen Gupta, former CEO of inequality, with poor literacy and tourism. “We will change the way transporta- shops in the coming months across Kochi
countries.” in coal and a growing number are Raheja QBE General Insurance com- human development index in a tion is undertaken. We will cooperate with the (Kerala), Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh),
In a dipstick survey of this author refusing to underwrite new coal proj- pany. He says they need to start democratic society have the poten- railways and road authorities as well as state Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Kolkata (West Bengal),
with domestic mutual funds, it was ects,” its website says. unwinding the clock on these sectors tial to creates risks for businesses governments to address all the multi-stake- Dibrugarh (Assam), Surat (Gujarat) and Patna
difficult to find anyone willing to As a S&P Global Ratings report from now itself. QBE globally has as well.” holder challenges to make it a success,” Amita (Bihar). IWAI aims to increase cargo transporta-
stake out a aggressive position on cli- says, risks of lending that do not take decided to stop fresh insurance for The S&P report adds, “The need Prasad, chairman, IWAI, told Business tion to 120 million tonnes by 2023 from the cur-
mate positive funding. into account climate issues, have the sector and phase out its entire for action could also present banks Standard. The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on rent 72 million tonne. Badarpur on the river
State-run Coal India does business become costly. In a report, “Climate thermal coal business by 2030. with a business opportunity. We see Inland Water Transit & Trade exists between Barak (NW16) is the extended port of call of
with 19 banks in the country and, to a Change: Can Banks Weather The The S&P report warns that as positive regulators' initiatives to India and Bangladesh under which inland vessels Karimganjin in Assam and Ghorasal of Ashuganj
lesser extent, so do other Effects?” released this month, the rat- “Studies show that the value of glob- encourage banks to better quantify of one country can transit through the specified in Bangladesh on a reciprocal basis. Experts feel
coal companies. ing agency notes, “The global transi- al financial assets could drop and climate-related risks and embed them routes of the other. The route includes the that there is good potential to transport food-
India is not a member of the glob- tion to lower carbon emissions poses losses rise exponentially with the in strategy and risk appetite setting, Rupnarayan river (National Waterway-86) from grains also on this route.
al network of the “Central Banks and a challenge to financial stability, due average increase in temperature as well as to improve and standardize Geonkhali to Kolaghatin in West Bengal.
Supervisors Network for Greening the to physical and transition risk for between 2015 and 2100”. data transparency”. Kolaghatin and Chilmari in Bangladesh have More on business-standard.com

Edelweiss financial Mizoram against

arm raises ~3K cr in H1 Citizenship Bill: CM
ABHIJIT LELE ment. In August 2019, the PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Mumbai, 5 October Edelweiss Group announced Aizawl, 5 October
that Kora Management, a US-
Edelweiss Financial Services based investment firm, will Mizoram Chief Minister
Group has raised ~3,000 crore, invest around ~525 crore ($75 Zoramthanga on Saturday
excluding commercial paper, million) in the advisory busi- told Union Home Minister
in the first six months of the ness, Edelweiss Global Amit Shah that the people of
current fiscal (H1FY20) as com- Investment Advisors (EGIA). the state are against the pro-
pared to about ~7,600 crore in EGIA includes the busi- posed amendment to the
the same period in 2018-19. nesses of asset reconstruction, Citizenship Act, 1955, an offi-
Rating agency CRISIL said wealth and asset management cial statement said.
given the current environment, and the institutional client The Citizenship
with lenders exercising caution, group. In addition to this Amendment Bill, 2019, could
the Edelweiss Group has wit- investment, Kora also plans to open a “floodgate of illegal
nessed a reduction in incre- invest an additional ~350 crore immigrants” in Mizoram, an
mental funds raised post- ($50 million) into the group. official statement said.
September 2018. There has also The group has said it Zoramthanga met Shah,
been a rise in the borrowing cost. planned to raise additional cap- who is also the BJP president,
Going forward, incremen- ital in EGIA of up to ~525 crore at the Raj Bhavan in Aizwal, and submitted a memoran-
tal fund raising is ($75 million), where the two leaders dis- dum demanding that the
expected to improve Rating agency excluding the cussed various issues. This was Citizenship Amendment Bill,
with fresh bank sanc- CRISIL said the investment by Kora Shah’s first visit to Mizoram 2019, should not be legislat-
tions (for credit) in the Group has and is in talks with after assuming office. ed in Parliament.
pipeline. The increase witnessed a investors for the Earlier in the day, Shah If the Bill is passed in
in securitisation/ reduction in same. Reported said the BJP-led government Parliament then Mizoram
assignment volumes incremental asset quality met- at the Centre had doubled the and other northeastern states
and the group’s plan funds raised rics witnessed an allocation of funds for devel- which are opposed to the con-
to start tapping capital post-Sept 2018 uptick with overall opmental projects in Mizoram tentious bill should be
markets (including gross non-perform- than what the UPA govern- exempted from its ambit, the
retail NCDs) is expected to help ing assets (GNPA) ratio at 2.3 ment had done. memorandum by the
in raising resources. The per cent as on June 30, 2019, Shah was speaking at the Mizoram NGO Coordination
overnight on-balance sheet liq- compared to 1.9 per cent as on inauguration of the Northeast Committee said.
uidity (including cash, liquid March 31, 2019. Handloom and Handicraft The committee had earlier
investments and treasury The loan book remains Exhibition, organised by the decided to organise a protest
assets) of the group stood at chunky, with about 50 per cent Northeast Council in the rally against the proposed
around ~4,200 crore as on of the overall portfolio towards Mizoram capital. CAB but changed its decision
September 26, 2019. This wholesale lending (of which “While the UPA govern- and met Shah to discuss its
excludes other liquid assets 67 per cent is towards real ment had allocated ~19,900 demands.Shah had said on
(investments, securities-based estate). Further, a sizeable pro- crore to Mizoram through the October 1 that the Citizenship
lending book), which can be portion of the wholesale book 13th Finance Commission, Amendment Bill would be
accessed if necessary — this is under moratorium with bul- the Modi government has passed in Parliament, which
stood at around ~4,600 crore. let or staggered repayments. already allocated ~42,970 will grant citizenship to
Meanwhile, CRISIL said it While the group follows sound crore to the state through the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,
had downgraded the rating for credit appraisal and risk man- 14th Finance Commission,” Jains, Parsis and Christians
Edelweiss Housing Finance agement practices, it has ade- Shah, who is visiting the state from Afghanistan,
Ltd’s long-term debt instru- quate collateral cover for its for the first time after assum- Bangladesh and Pakistan
ments from “AA” to “AA-” rating wholesale loans. The group ing the charge of Home min- after seven years of stay in the
for commercial paper have has built strong recovery capa- ister, said. country even if they do not
been reaffirmed at “A1+”. bilities, asset quality in the An umbrella organisation possess proper documents.
CRISIL said it had factored past was also supported by an of major civil society bodies The Bill had been passed
in the group’s ability to raise active refinance market, par- and student associations of in Lok Sabha on January 8
capital as demonstrated even ticularly for the real Mizoram met Shah at the Raj but lapsed as it could not be
in the current market environ- estate loans. Bhavan in Aizwal on Saturday placed in Rajya Sabha.
4 YOUR MONEY
>
TAXING TIMES
Don't leave tax planning for fourth quarter
Spread out your financial burden by investing in tax-saving instruments throughout the year
ARCHIT GUPTA
M
ost people awaken to the
need for tax planning
only after their employ-
er has deducted a high
amount of tax at source, or towards
the fag end of the financial year. This
delay in tax planning means they
have to make a massive lump-sum
investment in tax-saving instru-
ments, resulting in a cash crunch
during the final quarter of the finan-
cial year. Ideally, a person should
start tax planning right at the begin-
ning of the financial year based on an
estimate of the income one is likely
to earn that year. Not only will this
ensure smoother cash outflows
throughout the year, the taxpayer
will also get adequate time to adjust
one’s tax planning in response to
fluctuations in income.
To begin tax planning early in the
year, you need to first identify any
changes in your personal situation
that could have an effect on your tax
outgo. A change in job, increase in
income, increase in age (say, if you
become a senior citizen), sale of
house property, or availing of a home
loan to purchase a house are some of
the developments that could affect
how much tax you will have to pay.
Changes in tax law announced by
the government could also have a
positive or negative bearing on your
tax liability. If you begin your tax
planning early, you will find it easier
to adjust to possible changes in tax
outgo. Those who leave things for
the very end fail to make all the tax-
saving investments they could pos-
sibly have. They are forced to pay
large amounts in taxes, thereby erod-
ing their after-tax income.
Calculate your tax liability: Begin
by noting down your income and
expenses for the previous year. Then
try to arrive at the best possible esti-
mate of your income and expenses
for the current year. Thereafter, you
can calculate your tax liability based
on the tax bracket you fall in.
For instance, suppose that your
taxable income was ~9.5 lakh in the
previous financial year. You expect
your income to grow by 20 per cent
during the current financial year. In
the table, we have shown your tax
liability for both the years. Once you
ECONOMY
>
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Having established itself in food delivery
business, Dara Khosrowshahi-led
ride-hailing service provider Uber has
launched another app, Uber Works, to
match blue-collar workers with their
prospective employers
James Hackett-led Ford Motor is moving
most of its India assets into a JV with Anand
Mahindra-controlled M&M, after its
two-decade toil for a sizeable market here
did not bear fruit
have calculated your tax liability, it
will be easy for you to know how ESTIMATION OF CURRENT
much you need to invest to save tax- YEAR’S TAX LIABILITY
es to the maximum possible extent. Income/ Amount
Next, let us examine the benefits of
tax liability (~lakh)
beginning your tax planning early.
Taxable income of last FY 9.5
Compound money with right tax Tax liability on
savers: The purpose of tax planning
this income 1.05
is not just to save taxes. Your tax plan-
ning must also be in sync with your Estimated taxable
investment planning. This will income for current FY
ensure that even as you save on tax- factoring in 20% growth 11.4
es, you are able to build a handsome
Tax liability on such
corpus over the long term. From the
myriad tax-saving options available, estimated income 1.59
select those that can give sound infla-
tion-adjusted returns and thereby the financial year. As we said, calcu-
ensure your financial security. If you late your tax liability for the year and
start investing in tax-saving instru- then start investing a part of your
ments early in the year, a smaller hard-earned money every month.
portion of your salary will be deduct- When you do so, the tax deducted at
ed. The higher amount that you source every month will reduce, and
receive in your hand can be invested, you will be able to take home a high-
resulting in a larger corpus, owing to er income. On the other hand, if you
the power of compounding. wait till the last minute and then
make a massive lump-sum invest-
Avoid uneven tax deduction: With ment at the end of the year, a huge
proper tax planning, you can avoid amount of tax will be deducted at
lump sum outflow of tax at the end of source, resulting in a severe cash
BINAY SINHA Commonwealth
targets climate
with new project
AFP/PTI
London, 5 October
The Commonwealth on Friday launched an ideas-
sharing network to tackle the effects of climate
change through replicable regeneration projects.
The 53-country bloc held a two-day brain-
storming of indigenous groups, environmentalists,
scientists and climate change experts at its head-
quarters in London. The Common Earth initiative
will be a network of projects that can be copied and
adapted to suit communities around the world.
While the Commonwealth contains G20 indus-
trial powers like Britain, Canada and Australia and
emerging forces like India and Nigeria, many of its
members are developing island microstates which
feel exceptionally vulnerable to climate change.
Ideas that can hold sway in the diverse
Commonwealth tend to be taken up more widely,
such as its climate change accords which were
instrumental in the Paris COP21 UN climate con-
ference deal in 2015.
“This about looking at practical, existing strate-
gies to clean streams, restore forests and damaged
ecosystems, protect marine health, educate our
populations and challenge the economic and devel-
opment approaches that led to the decline of our
planet,” said Commonwealth Secretary-General
Patricia Scotland.
Nichie Abo, a farmer from the indigenous
Kalinago territory in Dominica who grows mangos
and avocados, said 95 per cent of the homes in his
community were destroyed by Hurricane Maria in
September 2017. The electricity network — all above
ground on poles — was vulnerable to hurricanes and
the area was left without power for more than a year.
The community wants to make its electricity
network independent of the national grid, with each
home having its own power source such as solar
panels or a wind turbine.
They also want to construct a central building
that can withstand hurricanes for use during emer-
gencies and act as a community centre at other
times. “We're looking for funding,” Abo told AFP.
“It is going to happen again, so we need to be pre-
pared. “This idea could be replicated across the
Caribbean,” he added, citing the Bahamas, hit last
month by the devastating Hurricane Dorian.
The gathering also heard from contributors on
developing more sustainable economic models.
“We're in a time of crisis. Emergencies, histori-
cally, are a time of great innovation and often bring
out the best in us,” said Stuart Cowan, regenerative
development director at Capital Institute, a US-
based finance think-tank.
“We need to start from scratch. We need to
design economies that allow people to flourish with-
in the limits of a finite planet,” he told AFP.
With a eye on funding, Secretary-General
Scotland is to take forward the meeting's initiatives
to upcoming summits of Commonwealth trade and
finance ministers.
crunch for you. Thus, regular and
systematic investment can save you
from massive tax outgo in the last
quarter of the financial year.
Maximise tax saving: A large num-
ber of tax-saving avenues are avail-
able to taxpayers. Examine their pros
and cons and use the ones most suit-
ed to your investment goals and
investment horizon. First and fore-
most, there is Section 80C of Chapter
VI-A of the Income Tax Act. You can
invest in a wide array of instruments
– Public Provident Fund (PPF),
National Savings Certificate (NSC),
five-year term deposit, life insurance,
tax-saving mutual funds (also called
equity linked savings scheme or
ELSS) – which can help you avail of a
maximum deduction of up to ~1.5
lakh in a year. Besides these invest-
ment instruments, you can also avail
of deduction under Section 80C by
making claims for expenses such as
children's tuition fees and home loan
principal repaid during the year.
Next, if you have purchased
health insurance for your family, you
can claim a deduction of up to
> FROM PAGE 1
India, Bangladesh sign pacts
to strengthen ties
PM Narendra Modi meets his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday
Modi said the bulk LPG import
from Bangladesh would benefit
India economically as it would
reduce transportation distance
by 1,500 km. It would also help
increase Bangladesh's exports,
income and employment, he
added. The two leaders inaugu-
rated Vivekananda Bhaban, a
students’ hostel, at
Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka,
which will have residential facil-
ities for 100 university students
and research scholars.
The third project they inaugu-
rated was the Bangladesh-India
Professional Skill Development
Institute in Khulna, to train tech-
nicians. “The three projects inau-
gurated today are of three different
sectors –- LPG import, vocational
training and social facility. But
their objective is the same, and
that is improve the lives of our cit-
izens, which is the basic mantra
of India-Bangladesh ties,” Modi
said. Before Saturday, the two lead-
ers have inaugurated nine projects
this year, Modi said.
Hasina asked Modi “in the spir-
it of reciprocity, all restrictions be
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019
~25,000 in a financial year on the pre-
mium paid for this policy. Besides
the ~1.5 lakh deduction that you can
get under Section 80 C, you can also
avail of an additional deduction of
~50,000 under Section 80CCD by
investing in the National Pension
System (NPS). Donations to speci-
fied funds or charitable trusts also
make you eligible for full or partial
deduction under Section 80G. A few
other tax-saving avenues are also
available, such as deduction under
Section 80EE for interest rate paid
on education loan. Another deduc-
tion of ~10,000 is available under
Section 80TTA on the interest
earned from savings accounts.
Besides the above-mentioned tax
benefits available under Chapter VI-A,
you can also enjoy a maximum deduc-
tion of up to ~2 lakh in a year on the
interest repaid on a home loan taken
to purchase a self-occupied property.
If you have knowledge of all these tax-
saving instruments, and begin the
process of exhausting all of them right
from the start of the year, you can save
a massive amount in tax outgo.
Plan your taxes prudently: First,
identify and compare all the tax-sav-
ing avenues available under the var-
ious sections of the Income Tax Act,
1961. Second, align your tax-saving
goals with your long-term goals, such
as children's marriage and educa-
tion, your own retirement, and so on.
Three, choose investment avenues
based on your risk appetite and
investment horizon. For instance,
someone who is young and in the
early stages of his career, or having a
high income may be willing to take a
higher level of risk. Such a person
could make as much as 80 per cent of
his investment in market-linked
options, such as tax-saving mutual
funds, unit linked insurance plans
(Ulips), or NPS. Someone who is old-
er or more conservative could choose
to put a lesser amount in equities
and more in fixed-income instru-
ments that offer tax benefits, such
as PPF, NSC, tax-saving fixed
deposits, and so on. When selecting
these instruments, do pay heed to
your liquidity needs, as all these
instruments come with a lock-in.
Finally, avoid lump-sum invest-
ments and invest systematically for
tax planning throughout the year.
The writer is founder and CEO, ClearTax
lifted for Bangladeshi travelers
using existing land ports”. The two
sides agreed that the remaining
restrictions on entry/exit from
land ports in India for citizens of
Bangladesh travelling on valid
documents would be removed in a
phased manner, beginning with
checkpoints at Akhaura (Tripura)
and Ghojadanga (West Bengal).
In response to India’s request
to withdraw port restrictions on
products being traded through
Akhaura-Agartala port, the
Bangladesh delegation said the
restrictions would be removed
on most items of regular trade in
the near future. Bangladesh will
open a deputy high commission
in Chennai.
The Bangladesh delegation
requested Indian authorities to
consider addressing the issue of
anti-dumping/anti-circumven-
tion duties imposed on multiple
products exported from
Bangladesh to India, including
on jute products. Modi and
Hasina directed their officials to
expedite the establishment of
framework of cooperation in the
1
BS TUTORIAL
Jayant Pai
Financial literacy
1. The term Trade Adjustment Assistance is primarily
associated with ____________.
A. Industrialisation
B. Globalisation
C. Capital flows
D. Current account deficit
2. _____________ is the largest creditornation in the
world.
A. China
B. Norway
C. Japan
D. Germany
3. Which company among the following is not named
afterits founder?
A. Eli Lilly
B. Nestle
C. Westinghouse
D. Mondelez
4. Which is the youngest mutual fund in India?
A. Mahindra Mutual Fund
B. PGIM India Mutual Fund
C. Yes Mutual Fund
D. ITI Mutual Fund
5. Which US state’s gross domestic product is so large
it would be the world’s fifth-largest country ?
A. New York
B. California
C. Texas
D. Washington
of the United Kingdom, in 2018.
5. B. Its GDP measuring over $3 trillion exceeded that
over older mutual funds houses.
4. D. PGIM Mutual Fund and Yes Mutual Fund took
3. D. It was founded by Thomas H. McInnerney.
at the top for the past 28 years.
($3.10 trillion) at the end of 2018. Japan has ranked
businesses and individuals stood at 342 trillion yen
2. C. The net value of assets held by the government,
firms, farmers, and communities.
aims at benefitting four constituents - workers,
imports felt by specific sectors of the US economy. It
act as a way to reduce the damaging impact of
1. B. TAA is a federal program of the US government to
Solutions
The quiz master is head - marketing, PPFAS Mutual Fund
Send your queries and feedback at yourmoney@bsmail.in
PHOTO: PTI
area of trade remedial measures. agreement of the Feni river.
The joint statement said that They also welcomed the deci-
for the first- time, exports from sion to develop a 765kV double cir-
Bangladesh to India crossed the cuit cross-border electricity inter-
$1- billion mark in 2019, wit- connection between Katihar
nessing a year-on-year growth (India), Parbotipur (Bangladesh)
of 52 per cent in exports. The and Bornagar (India).
two PMs asked officials to work According to the joint state-
towards greater collaboration in ment, Modi “appreciated
textiles and jute sectors of both Bangladesh’s generosity in shel-
the countries. tering and providing humanitari-
The agreement on standard an assistance to forcibly displaced
operating procedures for the use of persons from the Rakhine State of
Chattogram and Mongla ports for Myanmar”.
movement of goods to and from The two leaders welcomed
India will make it easier for India increase in capacity entitlement
to transport goods to its north- in air services from existing 61
eastern states. The Dhulian- services per week to 91 from sum-
Gadagari-Rajshahi-Daulatdia- mer 2019 schedule, and further to
Aricha route is being 120 services per week from winter
operationalised, as also the 2020 schedule. The two agreed to
Daudkandi-Sonamura route, the expedite work on $500 million
joint statement said. The two lead- defence line of credit extended by
ers asked the technical level com- India to Bangladesh, cooperate to
mittee of the joint rivers commis- commemorate the birth centenary
sion to expeditiously exchange of Bangladesh founder Sheikh
updated data and information of Mujibur Rahman in 2020 and co-
six rivers –- Manu, Muhuri, produce a film on him; and 50
Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and years of Bangladesh war in 1971.
Dudhkumar and to firm up the
draft framework of interim sharing With inputs from PTI
.
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS 5 <

HC denies stay as MMRCL

SLOWDOWN WOES

Trade credit insurance claims

begins to cut Aarey trees rise 38%, premiums jump 14%
Activists move 2nd application on MMRCL’s action of chopping 2,656 trees SUBRATA PANDA
Mumbai, 5 October
have approached insurance reg-
ulator the Insurance Regulatory
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Development Authority of India
Mumbai, 5 October Slowdown in the economy has (Irdai) for widening the scope
adversely impacted the trade of the product,” said Mondal.

G
reen activists suffered a second
jolt in two consecutive days when
the Bombay High Court on
Saturday refused to stay ongoing felling of
trees at Mumbai’s prominent green lung,
Aarey Colony, to make way for a proposed
metro car shed.
A few green activists moved a fresh
application on Saturday seeking stay for a
week on the Mumbai Metro Rail
Corporation Ltd (MMRCL’s) action of chop-
ping 2,656 trees in the area, a day after the
HC dismissed four petitions filed by NGOs
and activists challenging the decision of
Tree Authority of the Mumbai civic body
allowing felling of trees.
The activists have sought the stay so that
they can approach the supreme court.
The action of MMRCL, which began cut-
ting trees late Friday night, has met up with
stiff resistance from green activists who
have been protesting at the Aarey Colony.
The activists argued that an appeal
would be filed in the apex court on Monday
but by then the MMRCL would have com-
pleted cutting all the trees in the colony.
The application was taken up for
urgent hearing by Justices S C
Dharmadhikari and A K Menon in their
chamber in the high court.
Advocate Akshay Shinde, appearing
for the MMRCL, told the judges that they
initiated action of cutting trees only after
the HC on Friday dismissed the petitions
challenging the approval granted by the
Tree Authority. The bench, after hearing
brief arguments, said it would not interfere
with the Friday’s order and refused to grant
stay on the MMRCL action.
Opposing felling of trees, activists have
been demanding that Aarey be declared as
forest. The issue has taken a political hue in
the run-up to Assembly polls, with the
Opposition parties blaming ruling BJP and
Shiv Sena for their "failure" to save trees.
The MMRCL had clarified that the felling
of trees was restricted only to a small area in
the colony, and that it was necessary to
ensure smooth transport for Mumbaikars.
After the high court dismissed the peti-
tions on Friday, several activists gathered
outside the colony in suburban Goregaon
when the MMRCL began chopping trees.
Police on Saturday arrested 29 persons
and detained several others for "obstruct-
ing" the MMRCL work.
The proposed rake depot for the metro-
3 line (Colaba- Bandra-Seepz) will occupy 33
hectares in the southern part of the colony.
The high court, while dismissing the
petitions, had noted that the tree authority’s
decision-making process was fair, trans-
parent and based on reason.
Police detain activists protesting against the tree-cutting at
Aarey colony in Mumbai on Saturday
"The high court has decided and ruled
yesterday that it is not a forest"
PRAKASH JAVADEKAR
Union Environment Minister
29 held; cops accused of
high-handedness
The drama over cutting of trees in part of
Mumbai's Aarey Colony for a proposed
metro car shed shifted from the corridors
of the Bombay High Court to the
prominent green lung over Friday night,
resulting into clashes between protesters
and police who have arrested 29 persons
on Saturday.
Some protesters have accused police
personnel of high-handed behaviour.
However, Mumbai Police have denied
these allegations.
Those arrested, including six women, are
among the 60 people who were detained
by police earlier, a police official said,
adding that some of them are students.
The entire Aarey Colony was cordoned
off by police on morning after hundreds of
green activists tried to stop felling of trees in
the area by the Mumbai Metro Rail
Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) for the Metro-3
line rake depot.
The MMRCL action began hours after the
high court dismissed four petitions filed by
NGOs and activists challenging the decision
PHOTO: PTI
of Tree Authority of the Mumbai civic body
to allow felling of trees.
Meanwhile, the police official said some
protesters had beaten up the men in
uniform on duty in Aarey Colony.
"We have arrested 29 protesters. Six of
them are women. Some of them had
manhandled and beaten the police
personnel deployed in Aarey Colony and
obstructed them from discharging their
duty," the official said.
On Friday night, around 200 people
gathered and started protesting near Picnic
Point in the colony, he said.
"While the protests were on, a group of
people roughed up two police personnel,
who sustained injuries," he said.
A case has been registered under
sections 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to
deter public servant from his duty) and353
(Assault or criminal force to deter public
servant from discharge of his duty) of the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) on complaint of a
28-year-old woman police constable who
was injured in the alleged attack.
credit insurance segment of
general insurers.
This is because claims in this
segment have seen a 38 per cent
year-on-year rise in FY19 while
the premium growth was only
14 per cent during the same
period.
Trade credit insurance cov-
ers a seller against the risk of
non-payment by its customers
arising due to wilful default or
insolvency. The repaying capa-
bility of the customer depends
on various macro and micro
economic factors.
“During the last few quar-
ters, we have witnessed a spurt
in claims, primarily due to stress
in terms of liquidity in certain
segments,” said Subrata
Mondal, Executive Vice-
President, IFFCO Tokio General
Insurance.
Subramanyam
Brahmajosyula, Head –
Underwriting and
Reinsurance, SBI General
Insurances – said, “Claims in
trade credit insurance mirror
the economy and higher
claims experience point to liq-
uidity crunch in the economy.”
“In times of economic dis-
tress, such defaults are likely to
PTI
The insurers feel that various initiatives taken by the government
such as recapitalisation of PSBs and their mergers will boost the
liquidity situation in the market
rise and hence increase loss
ratio of trade credit insurance,”
he added.
In FY19, claims in the credit
insurance segment were to the
tune of ~373 crore compared to
~269.57 crore in FY18. On the
contrary, the premiums collect-
ed saw a 14 per cent rise at ~670
crore compared to ~586.11 crore
in FY18.
“Liquidity challenges, lower
growth rate, southward trend in
top line and profitability result-
ed in increased defaults by buy-
ers to their suppliers,” said
Gautam Murkunde, Vice-
President, Global Insurance
Brokers.
While the claims have gone
up, the insurers say regulatory
hurdles have hampered growth
in this segment. Among the var-
ious hurdles that insurers face,
disallowing banks to buy a pol-
icy is a major impediment.
Moreover, disallowing to cover
bill discounting, channel
financing and factoring is also
an obstacle.
“In recent times, various
stakeholders from the industry
“The regulator has taken cog-
nizance of the same and consti-
tuted a working group to delib-
erate on a time-based manner,”
he added.
Recently, the Irdai decided
to review its three-year old
guidelines on trade credit insur-
ance in line with the changing
requirements of the market.
It has set up a nine-mem-
ber working group headed by
New India Assurance chair-
man and managing director
Atul Sahai to review the March
2016 guidelines.
According to the terms of
reference given to the panel, it
would also suggest suitable
amendments to guidelines that
add value to the policyholders
and stakeholders such as banks
and factoring companies.
The insurers feel that various
initiatives taken by the central
government like recapitalisation
of public sector banks and their
mergers will boost the liquidity
situation in the market.
“We are hopeful that the
government’s initiatives will
improve the current liquidity
crisis and eventually lead few-
er defaults in the market,”
Mondal added.

GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME Will meet Modi President Ram Nath Kovind being presented a plant by ICSI President C S Ranjeet Kumar Pandey as Minister of State for Finance
to seek more Anurag Thakur and Minister of State for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Arjun Ram Meghwal look on, during a function on

funds for flood the 51st Foundation Day of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Saturday PHOTO:PTI

in K’taka: CM
A day after the Centre sanc-
tioned ~1,200 crore as initial
relief for flood ravaged Karnat-
aka, Chief Minister B S Yediyu-
rappa on Saturday said he
would meet PM Narendra
Modi and seek more funds.
“About ~35,000 crore is our
rough (damage) estimate. We
are yet to know the actual
amount. Our state has suf-
fered more losses than any
other state due to floods this
time. I will meet the Prime
Minister and seek more funds
to be released from the centre.
As immediate measure in the
first stage ~1,200 core has been
released by the central gov-
ernment,” Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters in
Alamatti, Yediyurappa
expressed the hope that
An idol of Durga, shown with a mask on to raise awareness against environment pollution more funds would be
and plastics, at a community puja pandal in Kolkata on Saturday PHOTO: PTI released at the earliest.
President calls for responsible biz
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, 5 October
President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday
said company secretaries must ensure
that stakeholders understand the differ-
ence between profit and profiteering,
while fostering responsible business and
balance economic objectives with larger
socio-economic goals.
Addressing the 51st Foundation Day
of the Institute of Company Secretaries of
India (ICSI), he said, “we have seen how
some business enterprises have broken
the trust of the people. Companies have
either faltered or have come to a standstill.
In the process, common people have had
to suffer.” Kovind said company secre-
taries play the role of a governance pro-
fessional and an internal business partner
and they must foster “responsible busi-
ness and balance economic objectives”
with larger socio-economic goals.
“And they must deliberate on issues
where we need to improve, so that mis-
takes or limitations of the past are ade-
quately addressed,” he said.
The president further said that the
concept of corporate governance is com-
plex, but the principles on which it is
based are clear and well marked.
Transparency, accountability, integrity
and fairness are its four pillars.
He stressed that company secretaries
should responsibly determine how these
principles are put into practice.
India has drawn a blueprint to
enhance its brand value as a destination
for international business and invest-
ment, he said, and that in this effort, how
they implement company laws in a trans-
parent manner has a critical bearing.
Kovind also told the gathering that an
efficient, fair and just corporate gover-
nance system forms a key component of
our nation-building matrix, and company
secretaries have a seminal responsibility
to fulfil on this account.
Their integrity and honesty deter-
mines our commitment to a just society,
he said.
Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs and Heavy Industries and Public
Enterprises Arjun Ram Meghwal and
Minister of State for Finance Anurag
Thakur too were present at the event.
ICSI is a premier professional body set
up under an Act of Parliament for the reg-
ulation and development of the profes-
sion of company secretaries in India.
It has over 59,000 members and about
3.5 lakh students on its roll.
The institute focuses on best and top-
quality education to students of company
secretaries course and best quality set
standards for its members.

Here’s how to type faster on your phone
Get those index fingers off your screen
HEATHER MURPHY
5 October
For many of us, our approach
to typing on a smartphone is
something we stumble upon.
Unlike composing words on a
typewriter or computer key-
board, there is no widely
taught, proper way.
If speed is the goal, however,
a study of around 37,000 people
suggests that one particular
approach is better than others:
writing with two thumbs and
embracing autocorrect, but
avoiding predictive text.
“That is basically the trick
of typing quickly,” said Per Ola
Kristensson, a professor of
interactive systems engineer-
ing at the University of
Cambridge and one of the
authors of the study, which
was presented at a human-
computer interaction confer-
ence in Taipei on Wednesday.
The study focused on the
stubbornly persistent Qwerty
keyboard, which was originally
designed to minimize mechan-
ical typing jams in typewriters.
Despite questions about its util-
ity and the emergence of alter-
nate systems, much of the
world still relies on the setup.
To conduct the study,
researchers asked volunteers
from around 160 countries to
memorize a series of sentences
and write them both on desktop
keyboards and mobile phones.
There has never been
another typing study on this
scale, according to the
researchers, but they said that
when they compared their
findings with smaller studies,
the gap in speed between the
two devices appeared to be
shrinking. When smart-
phones first came out, people
typed about 20 to 25 words per
minute, said Anna Feit, a
researcher in human-com-
puter interaction at ETH
Zurich and another author of
the study. Now people aver-
age 37 to 40 words per minute,
she said.
As the authors write in their
study, the average person is
nearly 70 percent as fast on a
phone as on a laptop. One
remarkable typist hit 85 words
per minute on a mobile device.
Pedro Lopes, a professor of
human-computer interaction
at the University of Chicago,
who was not involved in the
study, said the results sig-
naled a “paradigm shift.” That
change is even more evident
among young people. On
average, subjects between the
ages of 10 and 19 were about
10 words per minute faster on
smartphones than people in
their 40s.
One unexpected finding
was that a significant number
of subjects used a two-finger
typing system on full-size com-
puter keyboards. However
they approached typing, those
who used predictive text gen-
erally wrote more slowly.
Examining word predictions
and making a choice is far
slower than using autocorrect,
Dr. Kristensson said.
Jack Dennerlein, an
ergonomics researcher at
Northeastern University’s
Bouvé College of Health
Sciences, said the study rein-
forced what other studies have
shown: Two-handed typing is
faster than one-handed typing.
But the limits on speed
involve more than the kind of
keyboard or the dexterity of the
individual. There is also the
element of imagination, said
Dr. Kristensson, who is an
inventor of gesture typing, a
swiping technique intended to
save time. No matter the sys-
tem, people cannot exceed 120
words a minute, he said,
because they cannot come up
with what to say that quickly.
“Typing rates are bounded by
our creativity,” he said.
Regardless of speed, most
of us are not that original. Half
of the words people text are the
most frequently used 200
words in English, he said.
©2019 The New York Times News Service
Maha Youth Cong promises
monthly ~5K for unemployed
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Mumbai, 5 October
Monthly allowance of ~5,000
for educated unemployed
youths and statutory 80 per
cent reservation in jobs for
local youths are some of the
prominent promises made by
Maharashtra Youth Congress
in its “first-of- its-kind” mani-
festo for the October 21 assem-
bly polls, which was released
on Saturday.
It also promises govern-
ment scholarships for merito-
rious local students pursuing
higher education in foreign
universities, waiver of educa-
tional loan and providing free
of cost higher education to dif-
ferently abled youths.
The document states that if
elected to power the Congress-
led government will stand
guarantor for loans taken by
wards of farmers for pursuing
higher education.
Maharashtra Youth Congress
President Satyajeet Tambe told
reporters that as many as 30
million youth got connected to
its platform as part of “Wake
Up Maharashtra, Act Today for
your Tomorrow” programme.
“Thousands of suggestions,
views, ideas and solutions
received so far were shortlist-
ed and consolidated to create
one-of-its kind ‘Youth
Manifesto’,” he said.
He said education loans
availed till September 30, 2019
will be waived.
Tambe promised increase
in intake in government hos-
tels for the needy youths and
free higher education for all dif-
ferently abled youths.
“Educated unemployed
youth will receive an allowance
of ~5,000 per month and statu-
tory 80 per cent reservation in
jobs for local youth,” he said.
6 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
>
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019 1

HARYANA ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS

BJP’s flying with a tailwind ‘State govt will benefit from

Centre’s schemes’
A Modi wave and a weak Opposition could help party take the gaze off its governance record
As Haryana goes to the polls on October 21, state Public Works (B&R) and
ANKUR BHARDWAJ ernment was blamed for its lack- Forests Minister RAO NABIR SINGH tells Nitin Kumar about the problems at
New Delhi, 5 October adaisical approach as it failed to hand and what the BJP government is doing to address them. Edited excerpts:
act despite being warned about the
With the Assembly polls a few Haryana Urban Development

T
he waiver of merchant dis- possibility of violence. More than
count rate (MDR), a charge 30 people are reported to have lost weeks away, what achievements Authority (HUDA) after September
borne by merchants on digital their lives. are you showcasing to the people? 17. Is the state ready to run the
payments, has left the industry Moreover, there have been no Our government has given Haryana Metro on its own?
divided. On October 21, voters in other major governance initiatives what was completely ignored by Yes, we are ready to take control of
Haryana and Maharashtra will exer- that the government pushed in previous regimes. The last five years the Rapid Metro.
cise their franchise to elect their new these five years. It made a push for has seen the construction of 27,000
governments. The counting will take improving the state's child sex ratio km of roads, which includes 19,300 Though it is an industrial hub, Gur-
place on October 24, 2019. (834 in the 2011 census). The figures km of repairing and widening, and ugram is one of the most polluted
In the General Elections held ear- improved dramatically, but were 545 km of new construction. cities in the country. Do you have an
lier in the year to elect the Union found to be discrepant in the audit. Haryana had only five national action plan to curb pollution that’s
government, both states had over- highways in 1966 and only 11 were becoming a menace?
whelmingly stood with the Bharatiya Caste added till 2014. But, we have Pollution is certainly a concern.
Janata Party (in Haryana) or with As per the 2011 census, Haryana’s constructed 17 new national Everyone is concerned about saving of Gurugram (MCG) and for
the BJP-led alliance (in population is 87.46 per cent Hindu. highways, taking the tally to 32. and preserving the climate. Our building and maintenance of civic
Maharashtra). While in Twenty-one of the 22 districts have prime minister has started a facilities has remained unresolved,
Maharashtra, the NDA (BJP+Shiv CM Manohar Lal Khattar files his nomination in Karnal on October 1 PTI a Hindu majority. Caste arithmetic The completion of the massive campaign to make despite Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Sena) won 41 seats out of 48, in plays an important role in the state’s Dwarka Expressway and the nation plastic-free. We Khattar’s assurance in 2016.
Haryana, the BJP swept all the ten the state from seven in 2014 to all 10 As the opposition remains in a politics. Jats are around 25 per cent removal of Kherki Daula are also working in the same We have achieved the target of
Lok Sabha seats. in 2019. With the Prime Minister’s bit of disarray, it has made the BJP’s of the state’s population and have toll plaza have been long- direction. I’ve visited my bringing 41 residential colonies
In both the states, the BJP had popularity intact, the Khattar gov- job in the state easier. historically played a dominant role pending demands. These constituency and have under the MCG, while only 16 are
formed governments in 2014 after ernment already has a leg-up. in the state’s politics as well. are still unmet despite the asked people to stop using plastic left. We have made a proposal to
Narendra Modi became Prime The governance question However, the state’s politics rhetor- government agreeing to it in- and avoid giving wedding cards as them and have forwarded it to the
Minister. In Haryana, first time MLA, Low index of opposition unity The Manohar Lal Khattar govern- ically revolves around ‘36 biradari’ principle. When do you think the they are one of the main causes of departments concerned.
Manohar Lal Khattar was installed as The two main political formations ment and the CM himself have or all the communities. Support issues will be resolved? pollution and thousands of trees are
Chief Minister. A former RSS in the state on the opposition side are been attacked by the Opposition in that cuts across caste groups is a Dwarka Expressway is one of our being cut to get the required paper The BJP is working hard to win
Pracharak, Khattar has weathered a the Indian National Congress and the state for lack of experience in recipe for success in the states. priorities and the work is expected for wedding cards. I have requested Mewat this time. How confident
turbulent phase as CM and now the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). governance and inability to face While the 2016 Jat agitation riots to be completed before August 2021. everyone to send me a WhatsApp are you of winning the elections,
faces a test to return to power. The party of former Haryana CMs, O administrative challenges. This crit- may have been a governance failure The toll tax issue is pending with the card and use digital mode, instead now that the Haryana government
Business Standard takes a look at P Chautala and Devi Lal, the INLD icism was justified by two incidents for the Khattar government, they high court. As soon as the court of paper. has decided to implement National
the political chessboard in Haryana suffered a setback ahead of the 2019 that happened in the last five years have been a political success for the gives a decision, we will shift it to a Apart from that, we are developing a Register of Citizens (NRC)?
and what works in favour of the gov- Lok Sabha polls when the party split in the state. The first was the Jat BJP. In the absence of any religious new location. city forest in Sector 76 spread over Yes, we will win the elections. Our
ernment and what works against it. and Dushyant Chautala formed the reservation agitation in 2016 that polarisation in the state, there have 1,000 acres, which will also have a development agenda has helped
Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). With ended in huge rioting. The state been signs of caste polarisation. Gurugram was connected to Delhi 100-acre first-of-its-kind leopard win the trust of people in Mewat.
The Modi factor the patriarch of the family, O P government failed to first assuage Political experts from the state talk through Delhi Metro Rail safari, to preserve our flora and The NRC issue will not affect
The BJP formed the government in Chautala convicted and jailed (out the agitators, and then to manage about the BJP’s ‘35 biradari’ strate- Corporation’s Yellow Line in 2010. fauna. This will also attract tourists anybody’s sentiments, it is just an
the state for the first time in 2014, on parole), the party has leadership the law and order situation as gy to help consolidate different However, since then, not a single to the state. We’ve planted about 75 exercise to prove our identity.
riding on the coat-tails of the 2014 trouble and is in a weak position to things turned violent. caste blocks. The results of the Lok Metro station has been added to it million trees in Haryana over the
Modi wave. The politics in the state take on the BJP, even in areas where Places like Rohtak and Jhajjar Sabha polls seem to indicate that beyond HUDA City Centre. past five years. The Congress is accusing the BJP of
is closely tied to the politics of the it has traditionally been strong. were cut-off from the rest of the state this strategy is paying the party rich The government has proposed fighting the state election on issues
Centre. In the past 30 years, the state The Congress party, on the other as mobs went across towns setting dividends in the state. Among the these plans and the final decision is The National Highways Authority like Jammu and Kashmir, and the
has returned to power the same par- hand, has been facing the same issue markets on fire. The government set opposition parties, the INLD and yet to come, but soon the Metro of India (NHAI) is considering NRC as the state government does-
ty or alliance that won the Lok Sabha for the last few years, that of faction- up the Prakash Singh Committee, JJP are seen to be more closely network will be spread all across scrapping projects where land n’t have any achievement, which it
polls. In 2014, incumbent Bhupinder alism. The party moved to make the first part of whose report point- aligned with Jat interests while the Haryana. We have approved a 32- acquisition is yet to be completed. can show to people and seek vote.
Singh Hooda had been in power for changes in state leadership after ed to lapses made by the govern- Congress party has historically km metro line, which will start from Is there any such project in the The party has both its national and
a decade (like UPA in Delhi) and was Sonia Gandhi took over as interim ment. An embarrassed government been the umbrella party in the state, HUDA City Centre, pass via state, which could be affected if this state achievements. For us, these
battling double anti-incumbency. As president of the party from Rahul asked the committee to not go ahead an impression that the BJP has tried Subhash Chowk, Sector 10, Sector policy takes effect? issues are a matter of pride. If the
the Narendra Modi wave spread Gandhi. The changes may have with the second part. to change post the 2016 riots. 22, and terminate at Cyber City. As of now, we don’t have any such state government has to face the
across Hindi-speaking India, it swept come too late, however, as news The same situation was repeat- While these remain the major problem in the state. People are brunt of the Centre’s failures, it has
through the fields in Haryana as well. reports indicate. There seems to be a ed in 2017 when rioting broke out factors that will play a role in the IL&FS has refused to construct and willingly giving land for the state’s every right to take credit of its
Lok Sabha elections result of 2019 lack of synergy between the outgo- in Panchkula and other parts, after upcoming assembly polls in the run the Rapid Metro. The Punjab development. achievements as well. Every son
tells us the Modi wave has only con- ing state chief and the leadership Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the state, there could be other factors and Haryana High Court ruled that takes pride in talking about his
solidated since then, instead of wan- entrusted with running the cam- head of the Dera Sacha Sauda, was that may play the role of spoilers for the operational cost of rapid metro The demand of transferring father’s achievement, I don’t think
ing. The BJP improved its tally in paign in the state now. convicted by the courts. The gov- one or the other party. will have to be borne by the colonies to Municipal Corporation it is wrong. It will benefit us.

HEALTH
>
1

FIT & PROPER

Your weekly health guide A mysterious sleep disorder that
The serious lack of
nutrition in India turns life into a waking dream
snack in the evening and most LISA SANDERS, M D her searches, trying to find the com-
of the time these snacks will 5 October bination that would turn up a similar
be high in carbohydrate. It is story: long periods of sleeping; feel-

better to replace this snack
with a protein rich snack like
cup of yogurt, protein
bar/drink or sprouts. Rich
sources of protein include
eggs, meat, fish, milk, soy-
NANDAN JOSHI bean, beans and pulses.
Head, Nutrition Science
Vitamin D deficiency is
& Medical Affairs,
also common urban Indians,
Danone India
since they spend most of their
time inside air-conditioned
I
don’t know what’s going on,” the ing unreal, anxious, suspicious. She
19-year-old exclaimed in a pan- found nothing that fit.
icked voice as his parents entered Unable to sleep one night, she
the nearly deserted emergency room picked up her laptop and tried again.
of a hospital in Eau Claire, Wis. He was She added the fact that these episodes
a freshman at the university there. A of sleep came and went for no rea-
high school friend, now at the univer- son. That combination finally led her
sity with him, had called them with a to an article published in a medical
strange story. She told them that their journal nearly a decade earlier about
son had been uncharacteristically qui- a disorder called Kleine-Levin syn-
et for a couple of days — he had a ter- drome. The very first sentence deliv-

N
utrition is becoming a
universal topic as peo-
ple today are more
aware of the problems arising
due to a lack of it. A well-bal-
anced diet is a bulwark against
several diseases and ensures
the pink of health. The health
consequences of poor diet are
far-reaching and are associat-
ed with the advent of non-
offices. There is no national
data, but many studies have
shown that prevalence of vita-
min D deficiency is anywhere
between 55 to 90 per cent.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble
Vitamin needed for the main-
tenance of normal levels of
calcium and phosphate,
which are required for forma-
tion and maintenance of
rible headache. But that morning, he ered a jolt of recognition. Kleine-
felt well enough to go with her to pick Levin was a rare sleep disorder that
apples. He had been a little out of it all primarily affected male teenagers,
morning, but suddenly he was totally causing periods of hypersomnolence
gone — just standing in the orchard that can go on for weeks.
staring into space. He wouldn’t even
respond to his name. That’s when she The pediatrician steps in
called his mother. The next morning, the mother sent a
Take him to the emergency room, copy of the article to Dufort and made
the mother instructed. She and her an appointment for her son. After
husband drove 90 minutes from their reading the article, Dufort called
ISTOCK

communicable diseases.
Every country grapples with
nutrition deficiencies, which
is defined by the food choices
and the lifestyle its average
population leads. In this arti-
cle, we have deep dived into
main nutritional deficiencies
prevailing in India.
Proteins are a key compo-
nent of our diet. They are
required for formation and
maintenance of muscle mass.
A recent survey by InBody
conducted among Indian
workforce showed that 6 out
of 10 working professionals in
India have poor muscle
health. This was attributed to
poor protein intake and phys-
ical inactivity. We start losing
muscle mass as early as in our
thirties. The loss of muscle
mass can affect productivity
to a great extent. Therefore, it
is very important to include
the right quantity and quality
of protein in one's diet. A man
needs around 60g of protein
and a woman needs about 55g
of Protein on average. Ideally,
one should have about 10-15 g
of protein in four different
meals throughout the day. But
that is not always possible. It
has been observed that the
people typically consume a
bones, muscle contraction,
nerve signalling and many
cell functions. It would be ide-
al to leave your desk for some
time every day and take a walk
in the sun. In addition, one
needs to include egg yolk and
fish in the diet. For vegetari-
ans, it is a good option to look
at Vitamin D fortified supple-
ments.
Anaemia remains a key
public health concern in India
and it is not limited to poor or
rural populations. One in two
urban women is anaemic.
Anaemia is a result of defi-
ciency of iron, folate and
Vitamin B12. Meat, fish and
poultry products are good
sources of Iron. Plant foods
like legumes, green leafy veg-
etables and dry fruits contain
iron. Foods rich in Vitamin C
help in absorption of iron.
Roughly, 17 mg/day iron is
required for men and 21
mg/day for women.
All these nutritional defi-
ciencies have major implica-
tions on our health and well-
being. There is a need for
sustained efforts that ensure
people consume a balanced
diet. Lack of nutrition is a
problem that needs to be
addressed urgently.
home near Minneapolis to meet them.
The doctors there had ordered tests
but gotten no answers. A head CT scan
was normal; so were the basic blood
tests looking for signs of an electrolyte
abnormality or infection. There was
no evidence that drugs were involved.
The young man had been there for a
couple of hours, and he seemed a lit-
tle more engaged. Though the doc-
tors weren’t sure what was going on,
they felt that he wasn’t in danger and
said he could go home.
But he is not okay, the mother
protested; he had no history of men-
tal illness or drug use. The doctors
replied that she should take him to his
primary-care doctor in the next cou-
ple of days.
Unable to explain
The young man was quiet on the drive
home. He couldn’t articulate how he
felt. At home, he continued to act
strange. He didn’t even recognise the
family dog.
The young man’s mother had
called James Dufort from the car. He
was the pediatrician who cared for her
son since the day he was born.
Hearing about this strange behaviour,
the doctor instructed the mother to
take her son to Children’s Minnesota,
the pediatric hospital in St Paul. He
ordered an electroencephalogram and
other tests, which were all normal.
When Dufort went to see him in the
hospital the next day, he knew there
was something seriously wrong. What
happened, he asked the young man. A
few days earlier, the patient reported,
he got a terrible headache. He had
migraines as a child, but this felt
worse. And he wasn’t thinking right —
yesterday seemed like a dream. He
recalled going to the orchard, but the
next thing he knew, he was in the car,
then in the hospital. He couldn’t
remember anything in between.
Tests and more tests
The young man was in the hospital
for a total of nine days and had dozens
of tests on his blood, urine and spinal
fluid. He had CT scans, ultrasounds
and M.R.I.s. He was seen by specialists
in infectious diseases, neurology, gas-
troenterology and psychiatry.
Strangely, he slept through them all —
sleeping up to 20 hours a day. And
when he was awake, his mind and
attention seemed elsewhere — though
he couldn’t say where. Was his condi-
tion infectious? Genetic?
Psychological? Nothing seemed to fit;
every time they thought of a possible
diagnosis, testing ruled it out.
Toward the end of the second week
in the hospital, the young man began
to sleep less. When he was awake,
there were glimpses of the son his par-
ents knew. No one could tell them
around looking for a colleague familiar
with this rare disease. It took a while,
what he had, but he seemed to be get- room. Finally, just before the new but he finally found one.
ting better. Perhaps he caught a virus year, he started to wake up again. Kleine-Levin is a rare and still-mys-
that they didn’t test for. Although relieved that he was final- terious disorder. Estimates are that
ly over whatever he had, the young there are one to five cases per million
Cycles of restoration and relapse man was reluctant to go back to the people. It usually starts during adoles-
He spent several weeks at home — university. He enrolled in a school half cence and boys are four times as like-
still hazy and out of it. He was anxious, an hour away from his parents’ house ly as girls to be affected. Kleine-Levin
jumpy and oddly suspicious. He and tried to pick up the life he had is thought to be a genetic, immune-
seemed to comfort himself by singing, before all this started. He did well and triggered disease, like narcolepsy. But
belting out song lyrics — sometimes finished the year with high marks. even now, after almost a century, little
for hours. And then, one Then, in June, he is known about why it starts or even-
day, the inexplicable fog Kleine-Levin is a rare had a busy weekend tually stops. In general, those with
he had been stuck in and still-mysterious with parties and friends. Kleine-Levin will have episodes of
broke. He was a little disorder. Estimates And on Sunday morn- hypersomnolence — lasting a medi-
slower, a little less outgo- are that there are ing, he felt the now- an of 10 days — as often as once a
ing, but he was back. one to five cases familiar headache and month. These episodes can come and
With no treatment and no per million people the fatigue that signaled go for years but usually stop after 15 to
explanation. the start of another bout 20 years. During an episode, waking
He returned to the university just of sleeping. If he just got a good night’s hours are characterised by a sense of
before Thanksgiving. He went to class- rest, he told himself, he would feel bet- unreality. In between, the patient feels
es, saw his friends, played volleyball. ter. But he didn’t. His body required and acts completely normal. There is
Life seemed back to normal — for a hours more sleep. For the young man still much we don’t understand about
month. In mid-December, he started and his parents, this was the most ter- this condition, but lithium has been
to feel tired again. The headache came rifying episode. He had hoped that the shown to reduce the frequency and
back. He had to sleep more — a lot first two bouts were caused by an duration of the episodes.
more. And when asleep, he had vivid, undetected infection. But these symp- The young man was started on
often terrifying dreams. Dreams that toms coming so long after he fully lithium this summer, and so far he has
seemed as real as life. It was his waking recovered suggested something worse, been fine. He is back in college, taking
life that felt unreal and dreamlike. something permanent. 16 hours of coursework. Though terri-
Before the semester ended, he had fied by the likelihood of a relapse, he is
to go home. He slept through Searching the internet for Help fascinated by the science of it. He is
Christmas. His mother quit her job His mother had been doing her own studying neuroscience now and is con-
as a preschool teacher and stayed online research. Surely, her son was sidering devoting his career to investi-
with him during the day. At night, his not the only one who had this — what- gating the brain and his disease.
father slept on a sofa outside his ever it was. She fed his symptoms into THE NEW YORK TIMES
.
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019 IN DEPTH 7 <

Mamallapuram prepares
for a date with history
How the port city is preparing for the Indo-China summit next week, T E Narasimhan and Gireesh Babu find out
PHOTOS: GIREESH BABU

T
he ancient port city of
Mamallapuram is frenetic
with activity. Municipal
authorities are busy laying
new roads, planting trees and removing
sellers of knick-knacks from the streets
near the city’s key monuments.
The only things Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Chinese President
Xi Jinping will see when they land here
on October 11 are sparkling clean roads,
freshly washed monuments and lush
greenery along the road to the venue, as
the entire city is being given a
makeover to ensure the guests go back
with a good impression.
The visitors — perhaps the most
famous since Chinese traveller Hiuen
Tsang’s visit in the seventh century
AD — will be there for a two-day infor-
mal summit from October 11 to 13,
ahead of the 70th anniversary of the
establishment of bilateral ties between
India and China.
Although the city was picked for the
summit for a very practical reason —
the lack of a larger runway for the air-
craft carrying the Chinese president to
land in the other cities under consider-
ation, including Modi’s own con-
stituency Varanasi —its symbolism for
Indo-China relations is no less.
In the seventh century AD, it was a
thriving port under the Pallava (Above) Police
dynasty with commercial links with personnel stand
China and other Southeast Asian guard at a
countries. The port also finds men- monument;
tion in Hiuen Tsang’s travel records, renovation and
who visited the country in 650 AD beautification
and stayed in Kanchi. work being
What make the city even more undertaken
attractive though are the huge mono- across the city
lith rock-cut structures that were ahead of Prime
carved out during the Pallava dynasty. Minister
There are around 32 individual monu- Narendra Modi
ments spread over around 4 square and Chinese
kms and 13 of them are situated on a President Xi
hillock. These intricate structures Jinping’s visit
carved out of a single large stone have
become a huge draw for tourists over are inspecting the venue and the route humble chaiwala. officials and hotel owners have been The small shops in the street that Mamallapuram and the fishermen’s vil-
the years. to be taken by the dignitaries. Both Officials are also cleaning up and advised to properly check the identity leads to the Shore Temple and to the lages near Taj Fisherman’s Cove. People
Since ancient times, the trade ties leaders will arrive at Chennai Airport decorating the monuments in the city. documents of their guests. beach are also unhappy. Makeshift living in the region say they are expect-
between the two nations have also and from there, they will take a helicop- The Archaeological Survey of India is The two leaders are likely to meet extensions of many shops close to the ed to receive an identity card, which
flourished. China is India’s second- ter to Thiruvandanthai, where a helipad taking up civil work to improve the fishermen living along the coast and Shore Temple have been removed and will allow them to move in and out of
largest trading partner in goods, and was built for Modi during the Defence pathway leading up to the Shore the craftsmen from the region, said an the shop owners fear that closer to the the area without hassle.
India is China’s largest trading partner Expo last year. From here, they will Temple, where the leaders may address official who is working on the prepara- event, they may be asked to either The fishermen near the hotel are
in South Asia. Currently, there are over drive for 4.3 kms to reach Hotel Taj a gathering. Repair works and beautifi- tions for the summit. The leaders will demolish their shops or vacate them. familiar with such activities and they
1,000 Chinese companies doing busi- Fisherman Cove, about 15 kms before cation of these monuments are being also visit an exhibition of handloom, Some of the shopkeepers also live next say it is important to have such meas-
ness in India, and they have together Mamallapuram, where the summit is conducted on a war-footing. khadi and handicrafts from the area. to their shop. ures to ensure the safety of the guests.
created over 200,000 local jobs. Over scheduled. A team of Chinese officials has Mamallapuram has a rich tradition “We expect almost half a month of Some of them complained that they
two-thirds of Indian companies operat- The hotel has already been taken already inspected the monuments on of craftsmanship and many here business to be affected. We may have to may lose their wages if the authorities
ing in China are making steady profits. over by government authorities and is the itinerary, including Krishna’s Butter believe they are descendants of move to some relative’s house if they put restrictions on going to the sea a
This is not the first time that the two heavily guarded by military and the Ball, Five Rathas, Shore Temple, Vishvakarman, who according to ask us to vacate the place closer to the few days before the event. There are
leaders have met at an offbeat destina- police. Barricades have been put up two Arjuna’s Penance and others. In all Hindu mythology is a divine engineer. event. We don’t have any say,” said a around 1,000 men from these villages
tion. In April last year, too, when Modi kms from the seven-star property, these places, Modi and Xi are expected Students from Kalakshetra dance shopkeeper. and they earn ~500-1,000 per day from
had visited China after the Doklam located near Kovalam beach, and no to walk up to the monument and pose school, one of the oldest cultural cen- Another shop owner, who has been fishing. Similar restrictions were
standoff, the Chinese holiday destina- one, except villagers who live near the for pictures. tres, will also put up a performance for running a shop for almost 25 years, said placed last time during the Defence
tion of Wuhan was picked as a venue property, is allowed. Three sea-facing Security has been tightened across the visiting dignitaries. that the government has asked them to Expo on the East Coast.
for a two-day informal summit. suites with about 40 square metres the East Coast. Police sources say near- While many are excited about the permanently vacate the location, and While no restrictions have been
Preparations for the forthcoming each will host the prime minister and ly 10,000 police personnel will be visit, some are not that gung-ho about they are pleading with the local author- placed on tourists, it is likely that some
summit started almost a month back, and the Chinese president. deployed during the visit, and the the restrictions placed on them. Surfing ities for some relaxation in the decision. monuments may remain closed to
and entire Mamallapuram is currently As the two leaders are expected to entire area will come under CCTV sur- schools here allege that they would be “Initially, these were thatched them for a few days during the event.
going through a sea change with new walk along the water front, special veillance. Drones are being deployed to losing around ~1 lakh a day owing to the shops, but after the tsunami, we built The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department,
roads being laid, monuments washed arrangements have been made, monitor the coastline and round-the- ban on surfing activity prior to the this on our own, spending ~4-5 lakh however, expects the summit to boost
and repaired and streets beautified by including a walkway on the lawns, clock patrolling is being carried out by event. They say that the season starts each. Where will we go if we are asked tourism to Mamallapuram, just as the
removing structures put up illegally by and a “chai” stall. During the Wuhan the police and coast guard. Hotels and from September end and the ban, which to go?” asked a 60-year-old shop owner. prime minister’s jungle adventure aired
shopkeepers. trip last year Modi had demonstrated lodges in the tourist destination are has been imposed already on surfing, The police have already collected on Discovery did to the Jim Corbett
Officials from both China and India to Xi how he used to serve tea as a being thoroughly checked by security will shorten the season. information of the residents, both at National park.

IMO
The $25,000 alternative to climbing Mount Everest
is our democracy heading if free expression is
countered by this kind of "legal" harassment? A skydiving expedition one staff member to each guest.

Shekhar Gupta@ShekharGupta culminates in two How it works

FLOODS IN BIHAR
Anshul Saxena@AskAnshul
1. More than 29 people have died so far
2. Patna continues to be among the worst affected
areas
3. 26000 people are in relief camps
4. Water logged everywhere
Gautam Gambhir@GautamGambhir
Bihar needs our aid! This beautiful state is
flooded. It's time for us to stand together and back
Bihar with any help possible. Please donate!
#IndiaWithBihar
Marya Shakil@maryashakil
State of Bihar when the Deputy CM has to be
rescued. #patnafloods
Srivatsa@srivatsayb
A man cries as he is unable to pull his rickshaw any
further in the #PatnaFloods. He doesn't want to
leave it & go as it's probably his only source of
income. Such is the poverty and helplessness ??
Yes, everything is fine in India.
SEDITION CASE AGAINST 49 PEOPLE
Sagarika Ghose@sagarikaghose
What???! Sedition Case Against Ramachandra
Guha, Aparna Sen, Mani Ratnam Over Letter To PM
Narendra Modi On Mob Violence
Shashi Tharoor@ShashiTharoor
This is a shocking & chilling development. Does
Article 19 of the Constitution have no meaning for
a police officer & a Chief Judicial Magistrate? Where
Headline-hunting Bihar lawyer behind FIR against
49 celebrities for letter to Modi is a serial-litigant
who had targeted Bachchan, Lalu
BUDGAM CRASH CAUSED BY FRIENDLY FIRE
Rajdeep Sardesai@sardesairajdeep
It’s taken seven months for IAF to officially admit
what was well known in Govt circles.We killed our
own. Tragic. Good that new Air Force chief admits
to it. Maybe one of our top netas should also say
sorry to families instead of promo videos of
Balakot?
Manu Pubby@manupubby
For the first time, IAF says on record that the
Budgam Mi 17 crash was friendly fire.
Air Chief says court of inquiry is done and
necessary steps have been taken that it wont be
repeated.
PROTESTS AT AAREY FOREST
Aaditya Thackeray@AUThackeray
The vigour with which the @MumbaiMetro3 is
slyly and swiftly cutting down an ecosystem in
Aarey is shameful and disgusting. How about
posting these officials in PoK, giving them charge
to destroy terror camps rather than trees?
Anand Ranganathan@ARanganathan72
India has INCREASED its leaf area way above the
global average. Maharashtra has PLANTED 240
million trees in the last 3 yrs. Aarey is NOT Forest
Land. Metro will DECREASE net Carbon footprint.
High Court has GIVEN the go-ahead to cut 2700
trees. ONLY the irrational object.
Rachit Seth@rachitseth
Over 300 out of the proposed 2646 trees hacked to
death in #AareyForest. In most cases
'Development' happens at the expense of
Environmental degradation.Can we afford such a
'development' We have killed the Mithi River in
Mumbai & River Yamuna is already on the
deathbed in Delhi
oxygen-supplemented
jumps from the
“Roof of the World”
PHILIP BRIAN TABUAS
Most traffic jams are just annoying,
but when they happen near the sum-
mit of Mount Everest’s 29,029-foot
peak, they can be deadly. Eleven peo-
ple died this season after a mix of errat-
ic weather, a record-breaking number
of permits and widespread inexperi-
ence caused an hours-long queue at
the “top of the world.”
But what if there were an alternative
way to experience the world’s tallest
mountain? Perhaps by hurtling your-
self down an empty route at over 130
mph, with nothing but air beneath your
feet, an oxygen mask across your face,
and the snow-capped Himalayas
around you on all sides?
Every November, the Everest
Skydive expedition offers one of the
highest commercial freefall experiences
in the world. Starting at $25,000, guests
are guided on an 11-day trek through
Nepal that wraps with two tandem sky-
dives from more than 23,000 feet above
sea level (AMSL). “The exhilaration of
jumping into the Himalayas is unri-
valed,” says Tom Noonan, executive
director of Everest Skydive. The freefall
is matched only by the parachute ride
that flies you past the natural wonder as
only bar-headed geese on a Himalayan
migration can.
A typical recreational skydive is
made from 10,000 to 14,000 feet AMSL.
Few civilian drop zones offer trips high-
er than 18,000 feet in the US, and only
one — SkyDance, in Davis, California—
Every November, the Everest Skydive expedition offers one of the highest
commercial freefall experiences in the world
is approved by the Federal Aviation
Administration to allow oxygen-sup-
plemented jumps from above 28,000
feet. (That one will run you $3,000,
although the views of California’s cen-
tral valley may not quite compare.)
The skydiving surge
Skydiving has seen a boost in popu-
larity since the days of round canopies
and combat boots. The sport reached
the masses with the advent of the tan-
dem parachute system in the early
‘80s, received a push from the 1991 film
Point Break, and then had a break-
through in the age of social media. The
United States Parachute Association
(USPA), the sport’s domestic governing
body, issued more than 4,200 new
basic skydiving licences in 2018 and
now has the highest membership lev-
els in its 72-year history.
Mountaineering experienced a
similar trajectory in growth. The allure
of conquering the least hospitable
reaches of nature led to the commer-
cialisation of Everest in the ‘90s. The
following decades brought an influx of
people making the trophy-hunting
pilgrimage. With the rise of the local
low-cost operators that set out to
undercut foreign competitors came
many unseasoned climbers.
Of the 381 permits Nepal issued in
2019, “about 50 per cent shouldn’t have
been on the mountain,” says Alan
Arnette, a mountaineer and Everest
chronicler. This year, the median price
for the two-month climb was around
$45,000, though some outfits offered
treks for as little as $28,000. In August,
as a response to the deadly bottlenecks,
Nepal proposed a plan to cut down on
permits by placing a $35,000 minimum
charge on operators. Climbers must
now also submit proof of having sum-
mited at least one 21,300-foot peak
before testing Everest.
Everest Skydive is in its 12th year of
operation and Noonan estimates that
he’s made nearly 200 jumps in Nepal.
For the former retirement planner
turned skydiving industry guru, those
are just a small fraction of his 8,000-
plus jump logbook. But he’s not the only
accomplished jumper in camp. His
team consists of several world-record-
holding skydivers and aims to allocate
Guests arrive in Kathmandu and start
their trip with sightseeing tours that
double as acclimating days. Then they
board a puddle-jumping flight to one of
the world’s most dangerous landing
strips: Lukla Airport. At over 9,300 feet
AMSL, Lukla’s 1,729-foot runway sits
between a mountain-sized rock and the
abyss. “It’s the closest thing to landing
on an aircraft carrier I can think of,” says
Noonan, a pilot himself. “These pilots
are some of the best I’ve ever met.”
The lead-up to the jumps involves
further trekking and acclimatisation as
they head to Namche Bazaar at 11,286
feet AMSL. As part of the cost, the crew
provides all the services and luxury
accommodations along the trails
through partnerships they’ve devel-
oped in the region.
The biggest expense and logistical
obstacle comes from transporting a
functional skydiving drop zone to the
Syangboche airport, a 1,200-foot dirt
airstrip at 12,340 feet AMSL, or the
even higher Ama Dablam Base Camp,
at 15,000 feet. Nearly 2,000 pounds of
equipment must be moved up the
mountain. On jump day, guests and
instructors board the AS350 B3 heli-
copter and start the 15-minute ascent
up the Himalayas. The group had pre-
viously used a Pilatus PC-6 fixed-wing
aircraft, but the B3 allows for easier
navigation in spite of a shorter service
ceiling. For guests, the rotary-wing is
better for its scenic capabilities, offer-
ing an intimate exposure to the moun-
tains. At times, rock faces are a mere
100 feet away.
Then there’s the jump. Freefall lasts
40 seconds; descent slows at approxi-
mately 19,000 feet AMSL, once the para-
chute deploys overhead.
Bloomberg
8 WORLD
>
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019 1

Democrats subpoena White Ecuador arrests 370

in 2 days of protests
House in impeachment probe against austerity
PTI/AFP
Washington, 5 October
Trump to block ALEXANDRA VALENCIA
immigrants Quito, 5 October

D
emocratic lawmakers
on Friday demanded
that the White House
turn over documents related to
allegations that President
Donald Trump pressured
Ukraine for political favours, as
the explosive impeachment
investigation against the US
leader intensified.
The congressional commit-
tees leading the probe cranked
up the heat on the White House
as evidence mounted that
Trump illicitly used his office
to enlist Ukraine President
Volodymyr Zelensky’s help to
damage 2020 Democratic rival
Joe Biden, in exchange for mil-
itary aid.
“The White House has refu-
sed to engage with — or even
respond to — multiple requests
for documents,” the Democratic
chairmen of the House over-
sight, intelligence and foreign
affairs committees said.
“After nearly a month of
stonewalling, it appears clear
that the President has chosen
the path of defiance, obstruc-
tion, and cover-up.
“His actions have left us with
no choice but to issue this sub-
poena.” In their letter to acting
White House Chief of Staff Mick
Mulvaney, the committees
demanded that he turn over the
requested files by October 18.
The subpoena followed a
demand earlier on Friday for
documents from Vice President
Mike Pence.
The investigators pointed to
Pence’s knowledge of Trump’s
calls to Zelensky and his own
meeting on September 1 with
the Ukraine leader, as well as
discussions he may have had
with Trump and US diplomats
about Ukraine and obtaining
political dirt on Biden.
A series of text messages
between US diplomats dealing
with Ukraine, made public by
The investigators pointed to the Vice President’s knowledge of Donald Trump’s (in picture) calls
to the Ukrainian president
the congressional investigators,
supported Democratic accusa-
tions that Trump had illegally
sought foreign help for his
reelection effort.
And the Wall Street Journal
reported that, in an interview,
Republican Senator Ron John-
son said he had learned that a
quid pro quo had been propo-
sed to Zelensky’s government
by Trump’s emissaries, tying
military aid to a Ukraine corrup-
tion investigation into Biden.
Trump pushed back hard,
saying there was no quid pro
quo and, in an effort to recast
the saga, insisted it was his res-
ponsibility to investigate “corru-
ption”. “I don’t care about Bid-
en’s campaign but I care about
corruption,” he told reporters.
“I don’t care about politics,”
he said. “I believe there was
tremendous corruption with
Biden.” The former US vice pres-
ident responded by calling
Trump “the most corrupt pres-
ident we’ve had in modern his-
tory”. “I am not going to stand
for it,” Biden said at a campaign
event in Los Angeles, deeming
Trump “unhinged”. “He has in-
dicted himself by his own state-
ments,” Biden added, one day
after Trump openly called for
both Beijing and Kiev to inves-
tigate him for corruption.
Trump has alleged that
Biden’s son Hunter earned “mil-
lions” from sitting on the board
of directors of a Ukraine
tycoon’s gas company.
But no evidence has sur-
faced showing wrongdoing on
the part of either Biden.
The diplomats’ text mes-
sages showed that some had
doubts about Trump’s pressure
on Zelensky, including alleged-
ly freezing a $400 million mili-
tary aid package.
Also Friday, Democrats
interviewed Michael Atkinson,
the intelligence community’s
inspector general, who handled
an anonymous whistleblower
complaint about Trump’s
Ukraine dealings that broke
open the scandal two weeks ago.
The release last week of the
complaint and a summary of
Trump’s July 25 call with Zelen-
sky, in which he asked for a “fav-
our” and referred to probing
Biden, ignited the Democrats’
impeachment inquiry.
Adam Schiff, chairman of
the House Intelligence
Committee, said Atkinson’s tes-
timony offered further justifi-
cation to his decision to label
the whistleblower’s complaint
urgent and credible.
REUTERS
The call record “shows that
Trump pressured a foreign lea-
der to interfere in the 2020 elec-
tion by investigating a political
opponent. Those facts cannot
be seriously contested”, Schiff
said. Trump, who has repeated-
ly suggested Schiff be tried for
treason, called the lawmaker “a
sick puppy” on Friday in anoth-
er furious Twitter outburst.
As Democrats raised their
attacks on Trump, many
Republicans remained muted,
supportive of the president but
keeping a distance.
Breaking with the pack, Rep-
ublican Senator Mitt Romney
blasted Trump’s comments that
Beijing and Kiev should investi-
gate Biden for corruption.
“By all appearances, the
President’s brazen and unpre-
cedented appeal to China and to
Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden
is wrong and appalling,” tweet-
ed Romney, the Republican
presidential nominee in 2012.
“When the only American
citizen President Trump sin-
gles out for China’s investiga-
tion is his political opponent
in the midst of the Democratic
nomination process, it strains
credulity to suggest that it is
anything other than politically
motivated.”
unable to pay
for healthcare
PTI/AFP
Washington, 5 October
The US will block the entry of
immigrants without health
insurance or the ability to pay
for medical bills, President
Donald Trump said on Friday.
Consular officers will only
be allowed to issue visas to
prospective immigrants who
can prove they “will not
impose a substantial burden”
on the US health care system,
according to a proclamation
authored by Trump.
“Lawful
Trump made immigrants
cracking are about
down on three times
immigration more likely
a key part than United
of his 2016 States citi-
campaign zens to lack
platform health insur-
ance,” Trump
said in the proclamation.
“Immigrants who enter
this country should not furt-
her saddle our healthcare sys-
tem, and subsequently Amer-
ican taxpayers, with higher
costs.” The measure will go
into effect on November 3.
Trump made cracking
down on immigration a key
part of his 2016 presidential
campaign platform.
He has pushed wide-rang-
ing immigration law reforms,
while tasking authorities with
carrying out mass deportat-
ions of people in the US ille-
gally. Last week, Washington
also announced plans to dra-
matically lower its ceiling on
a decades-old refugee reset-
tlement programme by 40
per cent.
Ecuadorean protesters halted
transport, barricaded streets
and clashed with police for a
second day on Friday as almost
370 people were jailed over
unrest triggered by President
Lenin Moreno’s scrapping of
fuel subsidies.
The 66-year-old president
has set oil producer Ecuador on
a centrist path after years of left-
ist rule under Rafael Correa and
is implementing a belt-tighten-
ing fiscal package to conform
with a $4.2 billion International
Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.
But his elimination of the
decades-old fuel subsidies has
incensed many Ecuadoreans
and brought violent protests
back to a nation with a history of
political volatility.
From the highland capital
Quito to the coastal city of Gua-
yaquil, many bus and taxi serv-
ices were still halted on Friday,
while demonstrators blocked
roads with tyres, stones and
branches, albeit it in lesser
numbers than the previous day.
The government said security
forces had managed to subdue
protests in some provinces and
restore “normality”. On Thurs-
day, the day fuel prices rose,
masked protesters hurled sto-
nes, set up burning blockades
and battled police who deploy-
ed armoured cars and tear gas
during the worst unrest for
years in the nation of 17 million.
Transport unions have led
the protests, joined by indigen-
ous groups, students and other
unions. Leaders at a news con-
ference in Quito on Friday said
demonstrations would contin-
ue and called for a nationwide
strike on October 19.
“Not even jail will stop the
Ecuadorean people’s struggle,”
said Nelson Erazo, head of the
Popular Front, an organisation
that groups together unions and
On Thursday, the day fuel prices rose, masked protesters hurled
stones, set up burning blockades and battled police
social movements. “These will
be days of unrest.”
Moreno’s popularity has
sunk to below 30 per cent com-
pared with above 70 per cent
after his 2017 election, but his
political position appears firm
given support from the business
elite, military loyalty, and the
lack of a strong opposition.
However, Ecuadoreans are
mindful that protests toppled
three presidents during econo-
mic turmoil in the decade be-
fore Correa took power in 2007.
Moreno, who uses a wheel-
chair after a 1998 shooting dur-
ing a robbery left him parap-
legic, has declared a 60-day
state of emergency across Ecua-
dor. Rings of soldiers and police
guarded the presidential palace
in downtown Quito on Friday.
By Friday evening, 368 peo-
ple had been arrested, mainly in
Quito and Guayaquil, the Int-
erior Ministry said. Looting was
reported in Guayaquil.
Authorities say 59 police off-
icers have been hurt, a dozen
police cars destroyed, and a
local government building
attacked. Truck drivers’ leader
Luis Vizcaino called for dia-
logue with the government. “All
Ecuador’s transport sectors are
in crisis.... We have to reach a
halfway measure,” he said. Taxi
union leader Jorge Calderon
was among those detained.
Diesel prices have risen from
REUTERS
$1.03 to $2.30 per gallon, while
gasoline went from $1.85 to
$2.39. Moreno said he was open
to talks but there was no possi-
bility of restoring fuel subsidies
that he said had damaged the
economy and cost state coffers
$60 billion over the years.
“There will be mechanisms
to ease the impact on some sec-
tors,” he said. “But listen clear-
ly: I am not going to change the
measure, the subsidy is fin-
ished, no more loafing.”
Ecuador hopes to save about
$1.5 billion a year from ending
fuel subsidies. Along with tax
reforms, the government would
benefit by about $2.27 billion.
The government has also
been laying off some state work-
ers. It wants to reduce the fiscal
deficit from an estimated $3.6
billion this year to under $1 bil-
lion in 2020.
Ecuador also plans to leave
the Organization of the Petro-
leum Exporting Countries in
2020 to pump more oil and raise
revenue. National debt grew un-
der Correa, who endorsed Mor-
eno in 2017 but now calls him a
“traitor”. Moreno’s government
has improved relations with the
West and reached its three-year,
$4.2 billion loan deal with the
IMF in February, dependent on
“structural measures” includ-
ing raising tax revenue and bol-
stering central bank independ-
ence. REUTERS

Taliban meet US peace envoy IN MEMORIAM EU rejects

for first time since ‘dead’ deal
PTI
Kabul, 5 October
The Taliban met US peace
envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the
Pakistan capital for the first
time since President Donald
Trump declared a seemingly
imminent peace deal to end
Afghanistan’s 18-year war
“dead” a month ago, a Taliban
official said early Saturday.
He offered few details of Fri-
day’s meeting between Khalil-
zad and the Taliban delegation
led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Bar-
adar, a co-founder of the move-
ment that was ousted in 2001
by the US-led coalition. The off-
icial spoke on condition of an-
onymity because he wasn’t aut-
horised to speak to the media.
US officials, however, have
been keen to say there is no
resumption of peace talks, at
least not now in Islamabad.
Still, the meeting is signifi-
cant as the US seeks an exit
from Afghanistan’s 18-year war.
Khalilzad has been in
Islamabad for much of the
week meeting with senior gov-
ernment officials in what the
US State Department described
as follow-up meetings he held
in New York during last
month’s UN General Assembly
session. At the time he met
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran
Khan, who has been calling for
a resumption of peace talks.
The Taliban delegation led
by Mullah Baradar — one of its
more powerful members —
arrived separately in the
Pakistani capital for meetings
with government officials they
said were being held to discuss
a wide range of political issues
relating to the more than 1.5
million Afghans still living as
refugees in Pakistan.
Baradar was held in Pakis-
tan in 2010 in a joint Pakistani-
CIA operation after he secretly
opened peace talks with the
then-Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, attempting to sideline
Pakistan and against the US str-
ategy at the time, which didn’t
support talks with the Taliban.
In 2018, Baradar was relea-
sed from jail to facilitate peace
talks after Khalilzad was named
as US envoy as Washington
sought a way to exit America's
longest military engagement.
More than 14,000 US troops
are still in Afghanistan and
Trump has repeatedly exp-
ressed his frustration with their
continued deployment, com-
plaining they have taken on the
duties of policing the country, a
job he said the Afghan govern-
ment needed to do.
During the past year,
Khalilzad held nine rounds of
talks with the Taliban in the
Middle eastern State of Qatar,
where the insurgents maintain
a political office.
In early September a deal
seemed imminent, but a fresh
round of violence and the
death of a US soldier caused
Trump to tweet the end to talks,
including the cancellation of
an agreement signing ceremo-
ny in Camp David, about which
few had been aware. There
were no details about the Paki-
stani meetings on Friday. Dur-
ing the Doha talks, Khalilzad
and Baradar held one-on one
meetings and in recent weeks
the Taliban had travelled to
China, Russia and Iran to drum
up support for a return to talks.
UK’s request
for weekend
talks
REUTERS
5 October
The European Union has
rejected a British request to
hold Brexit talks this week-
end, British media reported,
as Prime Minister Boris
Johnson reiterated his com-
mitment to leaving the bloc
on October 31 despite the
possibility of a not reaching
an exit deal.
The European Comm-
ission said Johnson’s new
Brexit proposals do not pro-
vide any basis for finalising a
separation agreement,
according to Sky News.
Talks on Johnson’s plan
to replace the Irish backstop
will not take place over the
weekend, EU Commission
spokeswoman Natasha
Bertaud was quoted as saying
by Sky. She added that the UK
will be given “another oppor-
tunity to present its proposals
Indonesian soldiers march during the celebrations for the 74th Indonesian National Armed Forces Day at in detail” on Monday.
Halim Perdanakusuma airbase in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday REUTERS

GM strike ripples across economy raising new recession fears

DAVID WELCH
5 October
In the heart of America’s car industry, car
parts have nowhere to go.
Eighty-five tractor trailers full of hoods,
bumpers and other assorted parts sat, unloa-
ded, in Lansing, Michigan, this week — more
evidence of the cost of the General Motors
strike that has shut down most of its North
American plants and idled 46,000 workers.
Soon to enter its fourth week, the strike is
rippling across the economy, from parts sup-
pliers in Michigan and Canada to bars, restau-
rants and other businesses that serve employ-
ees who now find themselves tight on cash.
The layoffs have added to fears that a weak-
ened manufacturing sector could tip the
economy into recession — potentially playing
a role in next year’s election especially in a
swing state like Michigan.
“It’s a necessary strike but everyone is feel-
ing the hurt,” said Mike Luna, a warehouse
worker and a chairman of United Auto Wor-
kers Local 652, made up of striking GM work-
ers and many laid off supplier employees.
Luna works at a Ryder Integrated Logistics
warehouse, where about 500 workers have
been laid off, leaving the semi-trailers in the
parking lot. They are full of auto parts des-
tined for one of two nearby GM plants: Hoods
and painted body panels for Chevrolet Cama-
ros; and hinges, hubcaps and exhaust systems
for Cadillac sedans, Buick SUVs and Chevys.
The automaker itself has already lost more
than $1 billion in earnings before interest and
taxes, according to one analyst estimate. GM’s
bigger parts suppliers are losing as much as $2
million a day by the same measurement.
Workers at smaller parts makers across the US
are sending employees home.
In Michigan, parts workers furloughed by
the walkout do not get strike pay and just this
week began receiving state unemployment
benefits that max out at $342 a week — not
enough for most of his co-workers to live on,
Luna said. Striking GM workers get even less
from a UAW rainy day fund, just $250 a week.
In a letter to members dated Friday, Terry
Dittes, the union’s vice president in charge of
talks with GM, said “good progress” has been
made negotiating issues such as healthcare
and the treatment of temporary workers, but
others like job security and wages remain
sticking points. “We will continue to work
over the weekend in an attempt to reach a ten-
tative agreement,” Dittes wrote.
The strike comes at a potential inflection
point for America’s economy. New statistics
this week showed a sharp drop in US manu-
facturing in September.
The GM strike isn’t helping. It’s chopped
$400 million in direct wages out of the US
economy, with half of that loss coming in
A ‘UAW On Strike’ sign is seen at a rally outside the shuttered General Motors Lordstown
Assembly plant during the United Auto Workers strike on September 20
Michigan, Patrick Anderson, chief executive
officer of Anderson Economic Group in
Lansing, estimated. The US Treasury has lost
$154 million just in payroll and income taxes.
In the southeast Michigan economy, a fac-
tory-heavy region, the layoffs have shaved off
1.8 per cent of earned income, he said. If that
trend lasts for a quarter, “the chances of south-
east Michigan going into a recession are pret-
ty high”, Anderson said in an interview.
REUTERS
The impact stretches beyond Michigan.
Canadian components maker Linamar,
which makes metal parts for drivetrains like
camshafts and transmission cases, said
Wednesday the sudden drop in GM orders is
costing it up to one million Canadian dollars
($750,000) a day in lost revenue. Shares of
the supplier slid as much as 13.8 per cent on
Thursday to a six-year low.
The walkout has forced American Axle &
Manufacturing Holdings to lay off workers Boris Johnson has said he
at its largest driveline plant in the US. The will not ask for a Brexit delay
company, spun off from GM in 1994, still relies
on the automaker for 39 per cent of its rev- “If we held talks at the
enue. CEO David Dauch told Bloomberg last weekend it would look like
week his company may adjust its full-year these were proper negotia-
earnings outlook if the strike continues for “an tions,” the Times newspaper
extended period of time.” Its stock has fallen had earlier cited an EU diplo-
18 per cent since the labour action began on mat as saying. “We’re still a
September 16. long way from that.”
The strike is costing Axle and Lear, anoth- Johnson has consistently
er big supplier, $2 million a day each while the said he will not ask for a Brexit
toll on parts-maker Tenneco is $1 million dai- delay, reiterating the point on
ly, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Friday. “New deal or no deal
Spak. GM and its suppliers can make up some — but no delay. #GetBrexit-
production once the strike ends, but not all of Done #LeaveOct31,” Johnson
it. So some profit will either be lost or shifted said in a tweet.
to next year. However, his government
“We are getting to the point where it will be also acknowledged for the
difficult to recover the lost production this first time on Friday that
year,” Spak wrote in a research note. “In some Johnson will send a letter to
respects, that makes the remainder of 2019 EU asking for a Brexit delay if
somewhat of a throwaway for the group and no divorce deal has been
could shift the focus to 2020.” reached by October 19.
From the union’s perspective, GM turned Johnson has not explai-
out record profits over the life of the expired ned the apparent contradic-
four-year deal and CEO Mary Barra made tion, with opponents believ-
more than $66 million. It wants a pay raise, ing he will seek some kind of
especially for newer employees who start at legal escape route to avoid
less than $20 an hour, and a clear path for asking for an extension, or try
temporary workers to become full-timers to pressure the EU into refus-
making $30 an hour. BLOOMBERG ing to agree to such a request.
.
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019 WORLD 9 <

Hundreds return to Hong Kong EU report to lay out

streets as metro, shops shut options to develop
FELIX TAM & GREG TORODE
Hong Kong, 5 October
design submitted in an online
competition that showed Hong
financing overhaul
Kong protesters clad in yellow

H
ong Kong’s metro sys-
tem stayed shut on
Saturday, paralysing
transport in the Asian financial
hub, and malls and shops closed
early after a night of chaos in
which police shot a teenage boy
and protesters torched busi-
nesses and metro stations.
Friday’s protests across the
Chinese-ruled city erupted
hours after its embattled
leader, Carrie Lam, invoked
colonial-era emergency pow-
ers for the first time in more
than 50 years to ban the face
masks demonstrators use to
hide their identities.
The night’s “extreme vio-
lence” justified the use of the
emergency law, Beijing-backed
Lam said in a television address
on Saturday.
“The radical behaviour of
rioters took Hong Kong through
a very dark night, leaving socie-
ty today half-paralysed,” she
said in pre-recorded remarks.
“The extreme violence clear-
ly illustrated that Hong Kong’s
public safety is widely endan-
gered. That’s the concrete rea-
son that we had to invoke emer-
gency law yesterday to
introduce the anti-mask law.”
But undeterred by the ban
and transport shutdown, sever-
al hundred pro-democracy pro-
testers, many wearing masks,
took to the streets on Saturday,
marching through the normally
bustling central district of
Causeway Bay.
Other groups gathered in
Sheung Shui and Tsim Sha Tsui
districts as the sun began to set.
“We’re not sure what is going
to happen later, but we felt we
had to get out and show our
basic right to wear a mask,” said
one protester, Sue, 22, who wore
a black mask and dark glasses to
the Causeway Bay march.
A worker who is boarding up a branch of the China Construction Bank takes a break as
protesters pass by in Tsim Sha Tsui district in Hong Kong on Saturday
“The government needs to
learn it can’t squeeze Hong
Kong people like this.”
The increasingly violent de-
monstrations that have roiled
the city for four months began
in opposition to a bill introduced
in April that would have allowed
extradition to mainland China,
but they have since spiralled
into a broader pro-democracy
movement.
The unrest has plunged
Hong Kong into its biggest polit-
ical crisis since its handover
from Britain to China in 1997
under a “one country, two sys-
tems” formula that granted it
autonomy and broad freedoms
not enjoyed on the mainland.
China’s Hong Kong and
Macao Affairs Office said on
Friday the protests were evolv-
ing into a revolution backed by
foreign forces and could not
continue indefinitely.
The UN human rights chief
called on Saturday for an inde-
pendent probe into the violence
during anti-government
protests in Hong Kong, saying
the injuries were alarming.
MTR Corp said its network,
which carries about five million
passengers each day, would
remain suspended, while shop-
ping malls and supermarkets
also closed, in a new blow for
retailers and restaurants in a city
on the edge of recession.
“As we are no longer in a
position to provide safe and reli-
able service to passengers in the
circumstances, the corporation
had no choice but to make the
decision to suspend the service
of its entire network,” it said in a
statement.
Protesters had set fires at sta-
tions, as well as to an empty
train, and injured two staff,
added MTR, which is known for
operating one of the world’s
most efficient rail networks.
All stations closed late on
Friday, stranding passengers
and forcing many to walk home,
a situation set to worsen during
REUTERS
a holiday weekend in the city.
The airport express, one of
the most popular routes to the
airport, re-opened with restrict-
ed service on Saturday, MTR
said. More than a dozen shop-
ping malls, supermarkets, and
branches of Bank of China
(Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia
and Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China, which have been
targeted by protesters, said they
would not open on Saturday.
The 7-Eleven chain of con-
venience stores said outlets
would close at 5 pm. Shoppers
formed long lines in supermar-
kets ahead of the expected clo-
sures. Companies across Hong
Kong, the Asian base for many
global businesses, are increas-
ingly walking a tightrope
between the protesters and
China’s Communist Party rulers
in Beijing.
On Saturday, shoe brand
Vans came under fire from
Hong Kong internet users for
removing from its website a
hard-hats.
In a statement, Vans said
designs were removed “in line
with our company’s long-held
values of respect and tolerance,
as well as our clearly communi-
cated guidelines for this com-
petition”.
The ban on face masks,
which took effect on Saturday,
was ordered under emergency
laws allowing authorities to
“make any regulations whatso-
ever” in what they deem to be
the public interest.
But the move enraged pro-
testers, who took to the streets to
vent their anger, many wearing
masks in defiance of the ban.
There were no immediate
reports of arrests over the
masks. Demonstrators set fires,
hurled petrol bombs at police
and burned the Chinese nation-
al flag, in a direct challenge to
authorities in Beijing.
Police said an officer in Yuen
Long, a district in the outlying
New Territories that saw fierce
clashes in July, had fired a shot
in self-defence after a protester
threw a petrol bomb at him, set-
ting him on fire.
Media said a 14-year-old boy
was shot and the city’s Hospital
Authority said his condition was
now stable, but gave no details.
About 100 demonstrators
besieged a branch of the Bank of
China (Hong Kong) in the high-
end shopping district of
Causeway Bay, while across the
harbour in the district of
Kowloon, protesters smashed
the glass store front of a China
Life Insurance branch.
Police fired volleys of tear gas
to disperse protesters in flash-
point districts such as Causeway
Bay, Sha Tin and Wong Tai Sin,
underscoring the challenges
they face as protests show no
sign of letting up. REUTERS
The report proposes ways to build a more effective EU development bank that also cuts the
overlap between the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg and European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development
MARC JONES & JAN STRUPCZEWSKI
London/Brussles, 5 October
A European Union review of
how to deploy the bloc’s inter-
national lending firepower will
be delivered to finance minis-
ters next week, sources have
told Reuters, with three
options for a major overhaul
of its current set-up.
The report by a “wise per-
sons” group led by former sen-
ior EU official Thomas Wieser
proposes ways to build a more
effective EU development bank
that also cuts the current over-
lap between the European
Investment Bank in Luxem-
bourg and London-based
European Bank for Recon-
struction and Development.
Options put forward include
making the EBRD the EU’s ext-
ernal development bank focu-
sed primarily on Africa, and the
EIB its internal lender, accord-
ing to three sources with knowl-
edge of the report who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
A second possibility would
be to use the EIB, or a sub-
sidiary of the EIB, while third
option is for new entity that
would be something of a joint
venture between both the
banks as well as national devel-
opment banks.
“The message in the report
is about sub-Saharan Africa
and the climate,” one of the
sources said. “It is also the
European response to what is
happening in the global devel-
opment space where countries
like China are becoming much
more aggressive.” A spokesman
for the EIB said it was “looking
forward to the final report and
discussing its implications with
European finance minister’s
next week”.
An EBRD spokesman
declined to comment. The
sources said all three options
laid out in the report had bene-
fits but also challenges.
Including Britain, the
EBRD is currently 62 per cent
owned by EU countries, but
other G7 countries have large
stakes. The US is its largest
shareholder but it would lose
that position if EU govern-
ments pump in more money
and increase their own stakes.
A US Treasury spokesper-
son did not immediately resp-
REUTERS
ond to a request for comment.
A new standalone bank
would be complex, while utilis-
ing a new EIB overshoot, as has
been floated by the bank itself
over the last couple of years,
would raise questions about the
EBRD’s future purpose espe-
cially if EU grants were funelled
away from it into the EIB.
All the options would also
require changes to the EBRD
and EIB’s current charters.
EU capitals are expected to
get the final version of the
report in the coming days and
finance ministers will be pre-
sented with it at their regular
Ecofin meeting in Luxembourg
next week.
Discussions around the opt-
ions as well as the technicalities
and legalities would then have
to be hammered out before for-
mal changes can be agreed eit-
her later this year or next year.
“From a development per-
spective, I think the first option
would be the more attractive
option. But it’s a more difficult
option politically,” one of the
sources said, referring to the
EBRD’s non-EU shareholdings.
REUTERS

Iraqi authorities lift Baghdad A British company is building a PayPal first to

curfew, death toll rises to 72
JOHN DAVISON & AREF MOHAMMED
Baghdad, 5 October
Iraqi authorities lifted a days-
long curfew in Baghdad on Sat-
urday that anti-government
protesters had defied, as the toll
from four days of violent unrest
rose to 72 killed and hundreds
injured.
Traffic ran as normal thro-
ugh the Iraqi capital and streets
and main squares were other-
wise quiet. Concrete barriers
blocked off areas where protes-
ters in their thousands clashed
with police during the week.
Officials from Prime Minis-
ter Adel Abdul Mahdi’s office
met protest leaders from Bag-
hdad and other provinces to dis-
cuss their demands, state tele-
vision reported. Abdul Mahdi
and President Barham Salih
said they would seek to meet
the demands, state television
also reported, but gave no deta-
ils how they would respond.
Authorities did not say why
the curfew was lifted.
The country’s parliament
speaker proposed on Friday
improving public housing for
the poor and job opportunities
for young people, as well as
holding those who had killed
protesters to account.
The unrest is the deadliest
that Iraq has seen since the dec-
lared defeat of Islamic State in
hub for flying taxis in Singapore
DAN MURTAUGH
5 October
A British company says it’s
building the world’s first “verti-
port” for electric aircraft in
Singapore, an early step towards
a global network for flying taxis.
Essex-based Skyports plans
to show off the vertical take-off
and landing station at Marina
Bay during the Intelligent
Transport Systems World
Congress from October 21-25.
Germany’s Volocopter GmbH
will bring along its electric air-
craft for a demonstration flight.
Urban air transport isn’t new
A view of Tahrir square after lifting of the curfew, following — helicopters have been doing
four days of nationwide anti-government protests turned it for decades. What’s changing
violent, in Baghdad on Saturday REUTERS is that better batteries and inno-
vative designs are making it
2017 and has shaken Abdul that have included live fire, tear cheaper, cleaner and quieter.
Mahdi’s year-old government. gas and water cannons. The se- Companies are just trying to
The government has responded curity forces have accused gun- demonstrate the technology’s
with vague reform promises men of hiding among demon- capabilities for now, but a report
unlikely to placate Iraqis. strators to shoot at police. from Citigroup said sales of air
The semi-official High Com- Several policeman have died. taxis could reach $5 billion by
mission for Human Rights said The protests over unfair dis- the end of the next decade.
security forces had detained tribution of jobs, lack of servic- “Helicopters have been aro-
hundreds of people for demon- es and government corruption und a long time but they’re not
strating but then let most of erupted on Tuesday in Baghdad well used, particularly in cities,
them go. It said more than and quickly spread to other because they’re noisy, danger-
3,000 people had been wound- Iraqi cities, mainly in the south. ous and polluting,” Skyports
ed in days of violence. A curfew in Dhi Qar pro- Managing Director Duncan
Police snipers shot at pro- vince, where protesters were Walker said by phone. “We’re
testers on Friday, Reuters repor- also killed this week, was ord- really trying to make it a form of
ters said, escalating violent tac- ered by local authorities starting transportation for anybody, not
tics used by the security forces from 1 pm. REUTERS just the extremely wealthy.”
A report from Citigroup said sales of air taxis could reach
$5 billion by the end of the next decade
Citi expects designers to
keep tweaking the technology
and working with regulators so
they can start to offer regular air
taxi services from 2025. It could
be even sooner, with Uber
Technologies targeting launch-
es in Los Angeles, Dallas and
Melbourne as early as 2023. As
many as 20,000 electric pas-
senger aircraft could be sold
annually by 2030, Citi said in its
report last month.
They’ll start with a range
ISTOCK
of about 50 miles for journeys
of 10-20 minutes — enough
to make it worth paying extra
to avoid road congestion,
according to the investment
bank. It puts the likely cost of
a ride at about $3.75 per mile
— cheaper than a limousine
but double the cost of ground-
based ride-hailing.
First the industry must win
over the public and air safety
regulators, and that’s what this
month’s demonstration is
about, Walker said. His compa-
ny built the Voloport in China
then took it apart to be re-
assembled in Singapore near
the iconic Marina Bay Sands
Hotel. Walker is in talks to estab-
lish permanent Voloports
around the island. One obvious
connection could be to the
resort island of Sentosa, just a
short hop across the water.
People attending the confer-
ence can tour the building and it
will open to the public on
October 25. But don’t expect a
Volocopter ride just yet.
Visitors will get to sit inside
the aircraft on the ground and a
test pilot will take it up for a solo
demo flight, said Volocopter
spokeswoman Helena Treeck:
“We want to see how the public
reacts to it, whether it’s too loud,
whether they would feel safe fly-
ing in it.”
For Citi analyst Pavan
Daswani, the demonstration is
important as it shows an infra-
structure firm, an aircraft oper-
ator and the local government
working in concert.
“It’s a Catch-22: regulators
and the public will only get
more comfortable as more are
flying, but you need the regula-
tions in place for more of them
to fly,” he said. “Working togeth-
er is the only way for it to be
adopted early.” BLOOMBERG
exit Facebook
entity Libra
Association
REUTERS
Washington, 5 October
US payments processor
PayPal Holdings said on
Friday it was leaving Libra
Association, the entity man-
aging the Facebook-led effort
to build global digital curren-
cy Libra, making it the first
member to exit the group.
PayPal said it would forgo
any further participation in
the group and would instead
focus on its own core busi-
nesses. “We remain support-
ive of Libra’s aspirations and
look forward to continued
dialogue on ways to work
together in the future,”
PayPal said in a statement.
In response, Geneva-bas-
ed Libra Association said
that it was aware of the chal-
lenges lying ahead in its
attempts to “reconfigure” the
financial system.
“The type of change that
will reconfigure the financial
system to be tilted towards
people, not the institutions
serving them, will be hard.
Commitment to that mission
is more important to us than
anything else. We’re better
off knowing about this lack
of commitment now, rather
than later,” Libra Association
said in a statement.

You will be shocked by this article

TIFFANY HSU
5 October
On many websites, readers who
scroll to the very end of an article are
likely to encounter rows of small
advertisements belonging to a weird
subgenre of digital marketing
known as chumbox ads.
Named for the angler’s practice
of using bits of dead fish to lure oth-
er fish, these ads comprise arresting
images and baffling text. They have
one goal: to make readers click.
And when they do, readers may
find themselves on an unfamiliar
website with an odd name, faced
with a photo gallery of regrettable
tattoos or a listicle on 22 celebrities
with ugly spouses.
Below a review of “Joker” on
Slate the other day, there were
dozens of chumbox ads.
“Construction Gone Very Wrong,
You Will Cry Laughing” blared one,
from a site called Travelfuntu, under
a photo of an empty swimming pool.
“Lonely Lion Would Not Stop
Crying, Until These Puppies Came
Along” said another, from a page
called Healevate. The image that
went with those words showed a pair
of dachshunds next to a big cat.
Those with high standards for
their online behaviour would never
admit clicking on this kind of thing.
But enough people are curious eno-
ugh about something like “The 50
Most Evil Looking Buildings on Ear-
th”, which was the text line for a re-
cent ad on Business Insider, that the
digital offerings that fall under “spo-
nsored content,” “suggested read-
ing” or “around the web” have tur-
ned a multibillion-dollar business.
This week, in a long-expected
coupling of clickbait giants, the two
largest chumbox providers decided
to merge. Taboola and Outbrain,
both based in New York, have agreed
to unite under the Taboola name,
with Outbrain investors receiving
shares equating to 30 per cent of the
combined company, plus $250 mil-
lion in cash. Together, the compa-
nies said they bring in more than $2
iHeartMedia. “You may laugh at
these ads, but people click on them.”
Adam Singolda, who runs
Taboola and will take charge of the
combined company, characterised
the deal in a statement as a way to
“create a more robust competitor to
Facebook and Google” while
“strengthening journalism”.
Outbrain describes itself as pro-
viding “high-quality, reliable con-
tent from premium publishers and
marketers”. Both companies have
advertising guidelines, some of
This week, in a long-expected coupling of clickbait giants, the two largest which prohibit allusions to sexual
chumbox providers decided to merge. Taboola and Outbrain, both based in activity, headlines written entirely
New York, have agreed to unite under the Taboola name in capital letters and before-and-
after photos.
billion annually in gross revenue. founded more than a decade ago, But the ads that Taboola and
Outbrain and Taboola make say their services reach more than Outbrain attach to news stories are
money on each click, paid to them 2.6 billion people a month through unlikely to win awards. In 2015, the
by the websites where readers land. publishers like CNBC, USA Today, now-defunct website The Awl
They then give a portion of that rev- Huffington Post, The Washington compiled what it called “A
enue to the publishers hosting the Post, BBC, The Guardian and others. Complete Taxonomy of Internet
ads. In addition to Slate and “This is clearly working, some- Chum”, describing the different
Business Insider, CNN uses these how,” said Eric Hadley, the former types that readers may encounter
ads. So does Fox. marketing chief at Outbrain, who is in their online travels. The cate-
Taboola and Outbrain, both now a marketing executive at gories included “Miracle Cure
Facebook Inc declined to
comment.
Facebook announced
plans to launch the digital
currency in June 2020 in
Thing”, “Celeb Thing”, “Oozing partnership with other
Food” and “Disgusting members of Libra
Invertebrates or Globular Masses Association but the project
Presented as Weird Food”. quickly ran into trouble with
Content ads have long been pop- skeptical regulators around
ular with many publishers: 82 per the world.
cent of the top 50 news sites were Reuters reported last
using them, with the vast majority week that Facebook could
of ads provided by Outbrain or push back the launch of
Taboola, according to a 2016 report Libra to tackle regulatory
from the non-profit Change concerns.
Advertising. But fewer than half of Visa and Mastercard Inc
links connect to legitimate advertis- are also reconsidering their
ers, with many routing readers involvement in Libra as they
instead to anonymously registered do not want to attract regula-
domains, data-gobbling quizzes and tory scrutiny, the Wall Street
landing pages for more ads. Journal reported earlier this
Digital news providers are fight- month. France and Germany
ing for revenue as Google and last month pledged to block
Facebook claim more than 60 per Libra from operating in
cent of online advertising revenue. Europe and backed the
By 2021, 27 per cent of internet users development of a public
are expected to use ad-blocking cryptocurrency instead.
technology, up from 24.9 per cent With the exit of PayPal,
last year, according to the research Libra Association now has 28
firm eMarketer. members, including Uber
Technologies, Lyft and
© 2019 The New York Times Spotify Technologies.
10 DEMOCRACY AT WORK
>
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

CHATTERBOX

Rule without throne CHECKLIST

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar is said to have announced his retirement
from politics — that’s what some of his colleagues say. But last month, there was an inter-
THE REBEL FACTOR IN MAHARASHTRA ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS
esting vignette on show. In Pune, to address party workers, a special throne-like chair had n
21 leaders from Congress and the Nationalist Devendra Fadnavis, has been nominated as a
been designated for him alone on the dais. However, Pawar refused and sat in one of the Congress Party (NCP) have been inducted into the BJP candidate in Latur, leading to workers taking
other steel chairs. The throne remained unoccupied for the entirety of the meeting. BJP and Shiv Sena over the last few weeks. This to the streets .
has caused serious problems for the saffron n
While the BJP Shiv Sena alliance is considered
In sync with the state party as leaders who have served the party for seamless, it is not without problems. Protests
At a recent launch of a television channel for the northeast, Minister of State for Food two decades or more feel threatened by the new have been held in Navi Mumbai by Shiv Sena
Processing Industries and MP from Dibrugarh Rameswar Teli had an interesting remark members. workers because the two Navi Mumbai assembly
about why he had named himself “Teli”. He said that since he came from a state where n
Among the Congress leaders who have joined seats have both been given to BJP. In Nashik, all
there were many oil refineries, he had named himself Teli (from tel, that is, oil). Quite the BJP is Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil. Senior NCP three seats in the city have gone to the BJP in the
like how Rajesh Pilot took the name Pilot to denote his profession. leader from Navi Mumbai, Gangesh Naik and seat sharing pact leading to protests by Sena.
NCP’s satrap from Satara Udayanraje Bhosale (a n
In Nashik, despite getting all three seats, BJP is
BJP gears up for Delhi polls descendent of Chhatrapati Shivaji), have also unhappy. Sitting MLA from Nashik West
Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, Hardeep Singh Puri and Nityanand Rai will begin joined the BJP. Sachin Ahir from NCP, who has a Balasaheb Sanap has protested publicly as new
extensive visits to all 70 constituencies in Delhi from next week. The Bharatiya Janata “The way candidates have been chosen, in major hold in the Worli area of Central Mumbai, entrant Rahul Dhikale is expected to contest
Party (BJP) has deployed senior leader Javadekar as in-charge of the Delhi BJP for Mumbai, you can leave aside three or four seats. In has quit the party to join the Shiv Sena and it is instead of him.BJP aspirant for the Nashik
Assembly polls due early next year. Puri, a local from Delhi, and Rai, a poorvanchali, all the rest, the Congress will lose its deposit (lose from Worli that Aaditya Thackeray will contest, Central seat, Vasant Gite, who had joined the
have been appointed as co-incharges to help Javadekar for strategising and running a so badly that it has to forfeit its deposit money),” relying on Ahir’s base. party quitting the Maharashtra Navnirman
smooth campaign for the polls. The BJP has high hopes from the polls but would like Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, speaking to reporters a day n
There are other reasons for BJP workers’ ire. Sena, is furious that he left his party to join the
them to be held as soon as possible. after going public against his party in tweets, October 5 Abhimanyu Pawar, PA to Chief Minister BJP for nothing.

under the Indian Prime Minister’s Office. — the latter attended by 1,500 delegates from
OPINION The differences accrue from the competi- 130 countries including heads of states and
tive party system and the role of the judiciary governments from 23 countries have clearly
S JAISHANKAR and the media. In India, different parties in stressed its significance. According to Chinese
power in the state governments can pursue sources, China’s trade volume with BRI coun-
their own policies. Citizens can approach the tries since 2013 had exceeded US$6 trillion and

The world is courts and the press. direct investment $90 billion creating over
But these differences do not remove the 200,000 jobs in the participating countries.
scope for corruption in either country. The But the Chinese government is very much

still shaped by magnitude of corruption was so high that after aware of the charges that are levelled against
coming to power, Xi Jinping made anti-cor- China on this question. That this project pushed
ruption his top agenda and achieved a degree countries to a “debt trap” and thus making them

the West of success. It was the corruption scandals that more vulnerable to Chinese hegemony are
led to the defeat of the Congress in 2014 elec- countered by China asserting that it was pur-
tions in India. The source of corruption in both suing a “win-win” principle and launching only
the countries is the same — private connection those projects that were acceptable to the local

F
rom the Indian side I think there's a clear sense that behind big financial, often global deals. The country. But as the Indian objection to the
the power of the West remains very strong. If you look neo-liberal economy that relies a great deal China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) illus-
at the world -- the institutions, the regimes, the rules, on risk-taking, discretionary trates BRI will continue to throw
the practices -- the narratives of the world are still largely decisions allows such transac- foreign policy challenges to
shaped by the West. The West underwrites international tions that violate the rules. The China and the connected coun-

ILLUSTRATION BY BINAY SINHA

systems in many ways. It governs the global Commons also anti-corruption drive in China tries where security calculus
in many ways, but having said that, what has been visible and India with new levels of will be weighed against eco-
particularly in the last years and in the case of China per- institutional vigilance in recent nomic benefits. But BRI as an
haps even before that, there is a rebalancing underway. The years have made some differ- extension of China’s global pres-
rebalancing was accelerated by the 2008 global financial ences in both the countries. But MANORANJAN ence is going to stay and grow
crisis and what was initially seen as an economic rebalanc- settling scores with political MOHANTY and the rest of the world has to
ing is actually until they became a much larger strategic, rivals and finding ways of get- Former professor, make adjustments with this
cultural rebalancing as well. And if there is a single way by ting the ruler’s choices Delhi University reality. Xi Jinping has staked his
which you could capture that the fact today, it’s that the enforced, still go on. personal prestige and China’s
G20 has replaced the G7 as the primary body for global The assumption that digital national vision with it. But
deliberations. transactions soaring high in China too has to make adjust-
Now while I say that the West still retains great domi- both the countries will eliminate corruption ments to make it a credible non-hegemonic ini-
nance over the international system, we see a much more Manoranjan Mohanty, a former Professor of Delhi University whose recent publication China’s is belied by the fact that technologies of cheat- tiative in the tradition of the reciprocal “Silk
divided West and part of the reason is - the United States is Transformation: the Success Story and the Success Trap, has been widely acclaimed, reviews 70 ing and hiding are as advanced as making the Road” spirit. Already there are signs of it. Some
the glue that holds the West together and I use West in the years of the People's Republic of China in an interview with Aditi Phadnis. Edited excerpts: process transparent, fast and easy. The age old projects like BCIM are now designated as bilat-
largest, most expansive sense of the term. I would call Japan check in the form of a vigilant public — citi- eral and multilateral initiatives for cooperation
as part of the West, or perhaps Korea also, I use not really a zens using RTI in India and social media in outside the BRI. Many initiatives under BRICS
geographical or ethnic definition but I capture the alliance China — continues to grow in both the coun- and SCO are not part of BRI. At a time of an eco-

‘China’s growth has

constructs or the OECD part of it as well. So today as the tries while the techno-managerial or silicon nomic slow down in China, a readjustment in
world is getting more multipolar, the West is also getting bureaucracy evolves its new forms of centrally the BRI strategy may indeed be in the offing.
more multipolar and that's a very interesting dynamic when monitored governance and surveillance in
you look at the West. India and China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described
Now I see two propositions, one that the West needs India’s problems with China as a

India because India is an additional engine of growth that
the market access is important, that India's human
resources will become more relevant to the world, that we
will move to a multipolar world, and therefore it's important
to manage the multipolarity by having good relations with
multiple worlds. The fact that in many areas there would
be burden sharing of some kind. For example, in
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations in
our part of the world and then on global issues, it's impor-
tant to work with a country like India and I think nothing
illustrates that more than climate change and what hap-
pened at Paris.
However, I would make the converse argument that India
needs the West for a variety of reasons but I would give you
the simplest, historical argument for it which is that every
major growth story in the last 150 years has actually, para-
doxically, happened with the support of the West. So, whether
it is the rise of Japan, whether, even the rise of the Soviet
Union, the rise of Korea, of the ASEAN, of China, all these
would not have been possible had they not been done in tan-
dem with the Western interests and thinking of that period.
The direction of the global economy would also make a
stronger argument for this body because as we move into a
more knowledge economy world, one of greater technology
interdependence, clearly an important factor would be the
flow of talent in the world and there India has a somewhat
unique position vis-à-vis with the economies of the West.
So the question is, is it likely that there is actually a new
compact between India and the West because if this rebal-
ancing has to be reflected in a different equilibrium, in dif-
ferent equations, in new methods of working with each oth-
er, is there actually a sense of how to work that out. So that
brings me then to the next question what does it take us to
get to that new compact? And obviously the first point there
is to have the realisation that there's a need for a new com-
pact. I think that realisation is today strong in the United
States. I see that, to a certain extent, in Japan. I see that,
less in Europe but moving in the right direction. So even
the awareness aspect of it clearly needs more work for this
to develop further.
Now when I say what does it take, I would say that aware-
come at a cost’
What can India learn from China, 70
years on?
Choose your own path of development. Learn
from history, but innovate a strategy of trans-
formation that suits your specific situation.
As the People’s Republic of China celebrates
its 70th anniversary, many in India think that
China’s reforms should inspire India and other
developing countries to follow that path. But
that will be a mistake. China’s seven decades
of social transformation, particularly the 40
years of reforms, pursuing the model of state-
led market reforms, no doubt achieved
tremendous economic success, especially,
alleviating mass poverty, raising people’s
livelihood standards, building world class
infrastructure and acquiring enormous indus-
trial and military strength and global influ-
ence. Every Chinese is proud of this accom-
plishment and the world must congratulate
China for this. But it has come with a cost.
Rising inequalities, environmental degrada-
tion, social alienation and absence of civil lib-
erties have accompanied this success story.
“No force can ever undermine China’s sta-
tus, or stop the Chinese people and nation
from marching forward” — this was the most
quoted line in world press as well as the
Chinese media from President Xi Jinping’s
speech on October 1. China’s top leader was
asserting China’s nationalism in strongest pos-
sible terms, throwing challenges to the world.
Should India follow this path of national
assertion? Many Indians today may opt for
that. But was that the vision of Rabindranath
Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi? They had reject-
ed the western model of nationalism and
industrialisation and hoped for a democratic,
pluralist, egalitarian, federal, a nature-friendly,
a morally inspiring India where peace, equality
and freedom for all individuals, groups and
regions would be the guiding principles. As
India observed the 150th birth anniversary of
Gandhi on October 2, this must be underlined.
Somewhat like India, China has been
held together by a vast and complex
bureaucracy but the organising
principles of this bureaucracy are very
different from India. How do you see the
bureaucracy and attendant problems —
corruption, adaptability and flexibility —
evolving in the coming years?
The political and administrative systems of
India and China have one common element,
but two major differences. Centralised control
through the civil service, a security apparatus
and financial resources are the common fac-
tors in both the systems despite India’s multi-
party democracy and China’s Communist
Party-led authoritarian polity.
The Chinese cadre system spreads over the
party and the government with personnel
often moving from one to the other. Party’s
Organisation Department at the Centre is
comparable to the Personnel Department
Will China revisit its policy of the “toothache”: He was presumably
nationalities question, given the referring to the boundary dispute. Do you
challenges it is facing? see this being resolved?
It is unlikely that the Xi Jinping leadership The Chinese press reports on foreign leaders’
will change its policies on Xinjiang and Tibet. congratulatory messages on China’s 70th
The large scale crackdown on dissidents and National Day put Prime Minister Modi’s mes-
demonstrators in Xinjiang was accompanied sage above everybody else’s, even before
by “mass education camps” on the one hand President Putin’s. The forthcoming second
and enhanced investment in development informal summit of Modi and Xi in
projects in Xinjiang on the other. These camps Mamallapuram on October 13 may indeed
were decried as “concentration camps” open new possibilities for faster develop-
abroad. But if it is true that after a period of ment of the relations between India and
“skill training,” the camps were being closed China. It should be noted that there was
down and people sent back home before they broad consensus among India’s political par-
were recruited for various jobs, then it is a new ties on improving the relations, expanding
initiative. But there was no sign of giving sub- them on all fields and even settling the
stantial political autonomy either to Xinjiang boundary question along an overall frame-
or to Tibet. That is unlikely in the wake of a work based on the existing zones of control.
new wave of “national rejuvenation” that Clarifying the lines of actual control based
would not brook any challenge to central lead- on “the political parameters and guiding
ership pursuing a global agenda of a rising principles” of 2005 or in common sense
power. But this strategy has become more and terms, realistic identification of a line on
more costly and unsustainable worldwide give and take basis from the two sides, should
wherever demand for autonomy is sup- not be an insurmountable problem.
pressed. In case of Hong Kong, the fair imple- But both sides have some pressure groups
mentation of “one country, two systems” within their governments which use the
respecting its autonomy is the key issue. boundary dispute as a bargaining chip. That
has to change. The possibilities of India-
One of the biggest challenges before China cooperation in the new era are enor-
President Xi Jinping is to see the Belt and mous. Reaching $100 billion trade volume
Road Initiative (BRI) coming to fruition. this year, five years late, was bad enough.(In
He faces financial as well as operational 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji had set this goal
challenges and hostility from many. for 2015). Actually, the “toothache” can be
What is the future of the BRI? quite disabling. Even as competing powers,
BRI is now a signature element of Xi Jinping they need to close in on some issue such as
Thought, a part of the PRC Constitution and the boundary, to compete and cooperate on
theorised by China’s intellectuals as a new economy, technology and alternative visions
framework of international relations. The two of global future, all of which are being debat-
meetings of the BRI Forum in 2017 and 2019 ed within the two countries and globally.

Every drop counts

ness first of all needs to translate itself into a recognition of
the need for a new balance, which means you really have
different kinds of collaborations, different conversations
and in all of this obviously, India would hedge enough to
make sure that it will always have a strong bargaining hand
vis-à-vis the West. For the people of Lal Bagh in Azadpur of Delhi, every facet of life is in muddy waters. But a group of
There are other aspects of what it takes and one of them
is also an understanding of a changed India. A changed students is trying to ensure access to clean drinking water , writes Swapnil Joglekar
India that democratisation over the last 70 years in India

has had its own impact, that if you look today at India the
politics of India, the social aspects of India, bluntly put, the
old elite is now out of business and really you have a new
set of people there with different thoughts, with their own
sense of roots who relate to the world obviously differently
from the people who dominated the Indian political scene
before them.
A third aspect of it, certainly from the Indian point of
view, would be, how do you build bridges and there the role
of the diaspora would be very important. But increasingly,
what we can see is that the treatment of the diaspora abroad
becomes a factor in India's responses to a particular country
or society. So, I see that really not just as a conversation
between India and its diaspora but also a factor in our rela-
tions with other countries and other partners. And in a
sense, that's a two-way factor because the diaspora also
relates much more to development in home country than
many other diasporas do.
From the Indian point of view, looking ahead, our sense
is the theories of the decline of the West are grossly over-
stated. That if you look at technology, defence budgets, the
will to exercise power, the new instruments of pressure that
have appeared on the international scene in the last 10
years, in all of this actually the West very much maintains
its leads.
Edited excerpts from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s speech
at the Atlantic Council, Washington, October 1
T
he roads of Lal Bagh in Azadpur, one of has especially impacted daily-wage earners As the unit gears up for its operations, the
Delhi’s biggest slums, are hidden under who can’t bear the steep cost of installing a team knocks on every door in the locality to
a thick layer of slime. Open urinals on domestic water filter.” As one of the co- convince the people to use the filter unit. For
the roadside let their discharge flow out on the founders explains, their original plan included the students, this means considerable effort,
pavement. The men gamble away their lives, “terafil” (terracotta filters) fitted atop specially asking people to bring about a behavioural
while children play amid the filth, rather than designed clay pots. Though they would last shift. The revenue they earn from the 550 card-
go to school. The women shuffle between sell- three years, the cost was ~500 apiece. “Then holding families is spent on getting land per-
ing bidis and pan masala and doing their we opted for sodium chloride as the cleaning mits and NOCs, monthly full-body machine
household chores. agent. It couldn’t take-off as clean-ups, annual maintenance and paying
Amid this grime, stands a bea- planned because of the smell and the monthly instalment of the filtration unit
con, a water filter for the communi- colour pre-and post-filtration,” he where a part of it was loaned-out by the man-
ty. Is it any good? “Bilkul (Definitely)! added. That changed with the ufacturer. The rest is used to pay operator
Earlier we used to get water from the RO filter. salaries and commission on the surplus. The
corporation tanker. Now we drink The process of installing a unit is team has also arranged for the unclean water
RO,” the locals defend it. They are simple. The team surveys an area to be used at the newly-constructed govern-
referring to water cleaned through with the help of a local NGO, such ment toilet nearby.
reverse osmosis, the technology put as Janhit in Lal Bagh, based on gov- Convincing people has not been easy and
to use in the water filtration unit. THE OTHER ernment reports of impure water. Project Asbaah won the Best Water Project there are families who depend on the water
This has been made possible by a
group of students of Shri Ram
INDIA The raw water is sent for testing, and
the level of impurity determines the
award in the World Water Race 2019 Impact
competition, organised by Enactus in
tanker from the local corporation. While every-
one agrees that it is impure, that it is free is a
College of Commerce (SRCC) work- filtration technique. Once the per- Silicon Valley, California, USA huge factor in a place where incomes are low
ing under the identity of Project mits are received, crowdfunding and and are cyclical in nature. Their next target —
Asbah. Asbah means pure in Arabic. corporate donors provide the capital. This is they’d handle an impatient crowd when the installing water-harvesting units and door-to-
The 1,000 litres per hour unit installed at around ~5-10 lakh. Then comes the human fac- machine breaks down. Getting the job of an door delivery of water.
Azadpur offers 20 litres of water for ~4. A sim- tor. The students interview local women, pre- operator is a matter of pride, as evidenced by On September 17, Project Asbaah won the
ilar quantity in the market would be five to viously unemployed and willing to work. They Sarita's beaming smile when Asbah team mem- Best Water Project award in the World Water
six times costlier. Sarita, one of the two oper- are then given a situation-based test, such as bers introduced her as the operator of the unit. Race 2019 Impact competition, organised by
ators managing the unit says, “This measure they would help if a scuffle broke out, or how “A stable income is a big incentive,” she said. Enactus in Silicon Valley, California, USA.
 >
OPINION 11
Volume XIII Number 29
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019

The Right to Repair

been embraced by the household appliances
segment, where many appliances are deliber-
ately designed to make repairs difficult. For
example, washing machines may have the
Implications of mandating manufacturers to provide spares drum-bearing permanently moulded into the
tub, making it prohibitively expensive to
and prevents do-it-yourself repair jobs.
The EU regulations would change this sit-
uation because they pertain to household
appliances, at least. They would force design
changes to eliminate planned obsolescence
and would mean far wider availability of spares.
The average new smartphone is glued together,
making it hard to open without causing dam-
age. It has a battery that is hard to replace. The
screen, printed circuit board, and chip cannot
be bought off the shelf and some phones have
other “wrinkles” such as non-standard screws.

T
he European Union (EU) is adopting
“Right to Repair” regulations for
household appliances, which are to
come into effect by 2021. This will
have a far-reaching impact on industrial
design and manufacturing processes. It could
also spark copycat legislation in other regions.
Many states in the US are contemplating sim-
ilar regulations and some may opt for wide-
ranging versions, bringing automobiles and
consumer electronics within the ambit of the
Right to Repair.
The new regulations would mean that
manufacturers have to provide spares for refrig-
erators, washing machines, dishwashers, and
televisions for up to 10 years and they must also
make spares available to independent repair-
ers. This implies making it easy to repair and
maintain appliances, and it may also lead to
design changes. The EU estimates that Right to
Repair regulations may help households save
^150 per year on average (equivalent to about
~11,670 at the current exchange rate) and con-
tribute to energy savings equal to the annual
energy consumption of Denmark by 2030.
This regulation would tackle two manu-
facturing trends that have become common.
One is a cavalier attitude towards planned
obsolescence. The second is a tendency on
the part of manufacturers to control the repair
and maintenance network.
Planned obsolescence started with the
automobile industry, which encourages
“upgrades” in the form of new vehicles. It has
replace that particular part, which is subject to
high wear and tear.
The consumer electronics industry takes
this concept even further. Most new smart-
phone models have sealed batteries that cannot
be replaced. Some manufacturers such as
Apple use special screws that cannot be han-
dled by commonly available tools.
In addition, manufacturers — and this
holds good across segments such as con-
sumer electronics, automobiles, and house-
hold appliances — tend to restrict the supply
of spares to authorised dealers and autho-
rised workshops. This enables them to charge
high margins on such services. It cuts the
entire informal repair sector out of the loop,
This should indeed reduce maintenance and
repair costs. Of course, manufacturers will
argue, with some justification, that 10 years
may be an excessively long period.
Ten years would unquestionably be
much too long in the consumer electronics
industry, where the turnaround time in terms
of new devices, chips, etc. is more like a year.
But it would be desirable if similar norms
were introduced to ensure that smartphones,
television sets, personal computers, and the
like were designed to facilitate easy repair. It
would also be desirable if consumer elec-
tronics manufacturers were mandated to pro-
vide spares off the shelf to all and sundry.
This might spark radical design changes.
Instead, if Right to Repair regulations become
effective, smartphones may be redesigned to be
easily assembled with modules that could be
taken apart and put back by any dexterous indi-
vidual. The automobile industry could also see
tectonic shifts if the Right to Repair became
the norm and manufacturers have to make
authentic spare parts widely available.
Such regulations could be especially valu-
able in a country like India, where service net-
works are often spotty and authorised work-
shops are few and far between in the
hinterland. India’s informal repair sector does
a good job with jugaad. But the quality of repair
and maintenance services could improve sub-
stantially if such legislation was adopted.

Lower costs, faster growth Why monetary easing

Reducing the cost of doing business gets little attention, but it’s a key structural reform that would enable alone is not enough
India to grow at 8-10 per cent a year for over a decade
PTI BORNALI BHANDARI, AJAYA K SAHU On the other, the corresponding numbers
& SAMARTH GUPTA for the West and the North were 63.8 per
cent and 69.6 per cent respectively. Broadly

AJAY SHANKAR per cent. Only alcohol and tobacco are taxed high-
er. There is no good reason why these should not be
ders. Delhi after independence is a good example.
All the refugees who came from Pakistan were
L
owering interest rates is seen a poli- speaking, a majority of firms (64.5 per cent)
cy device to nudge the economy out reported credit availability in June 2019 to
of its sluggish growth phase. be the same as in December 2018, and 50
Introductory macroeconomic theory tells per cent expected it to improve in
us that lowering interest rates will reduce December 2019, over June 2019.
the cost of funds, which in turn will induce Discussing credit availability for
firms to demand more, increasing firms’ investment purposes in June 2019 compared
investment, boosting aggregate demand to December 2018, and the expected change
and thereby encouraging economic in availability in December 2019 over June
growth. But this simplistic explanation sug- 2019, a majority (65.6 per cent) reported it to
gests that the only reason firms are not be the same as in June 2019 versus
investing is the high cost of funds. But is December 2018, and 58.4 per cent expected
that the only reason? Will reduction in it to remain unchanged in December 2019,
interest rates by itself help? over June 2019.
The NCAER Business Expectations The present credit availability situation
Survey conducted in June 2019 asked firms for specific business activities like invest-
about the credit scenario and it sheds light on ment finance, exports and imports was also
the above question. The key results were assessed. Overall, 61 per cent of respon-
as follows: dents reported that credit for investment
Overall, 49.4 per cent of respondents finance was easily available, whereas 32.6
reported that they were planning to borrow per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively, said
to meet their working capital needs in the “credit was available but at higher rates of
next six months. In the South and the North, interest”, and “it was very difficult to get”.
respectively, as many as 90.6 per cent and Overall, 50.4 per cent of respondents stat-
55.6 per cent planned to borrow. In contrast, ed that credit for export financing was eas-
in the East, only 23.2 per cent of firms were ily available, whereas 44 per cent and 5.6
planning to do so. An assessment across firm per cent, respectively, reported that “cred-

T
here is a healthy debate on whether the eco-
nomic downturn is cyclical or structural, or
both. The government has announced stim-
ulus packages and there is ongoing commentary on
their likely impact. Then, there is renewed advoca-
cy of reform measures such as disinvestment in
public sector undertakings and banks, as well as
change in labour laws.
However, one core issue does not get enough
attention. This is the cost of doing business in India.
It is much too high and adversely impacts compet-
itiveness. A holistic assessment and a sustained
effort to reduce costs for business would be a key
structural reform that would enable India to grow
at 8-10 per cent for over a decade.
High real interest rates have got sufficient atten-
tion and there is consensus that they need to come
down. The Reserve Bank of India has been moving
in the right direction. But there are other important
costs which are far too high and reduce competi-
tiveness as a result. Energy is one major element of
cost for business. In electricity, India has the high-
est tariffs for industrial and commercial establish-
ments, well above the cost of supply, so as to cross-
subsidise other categories of consumers.
The Electricity Act of 2003 has an explicit pro-
vision mandating reduction of cross-subsidies. The
tariff policy notified under the Act required tariffs
to be brought within the band of 20 per cent above
and below the cost of supply, while keeping a low
lifeline tariff for consumption of up to 100 units per
month. This provision of the law and policy has
been ignored across the country so far.
Most of the electricity in India is generated from
coal, which is carried to thermal power plants by rail.
The freight rate for transporting coal is over twice
the cost, so as to subsidise passenger traffic. The cost
of producing electricity is thus made artificially high-
er — by over 50 paise per unit in northern and west-
ern India. Clearly, lowering the cost of electricity for
business has not been a material consideration.
Transportation is a major cost, direct or indi-
rect, for all business. These costs are primarily fuel
costs (petrol and diesel). These are taxed at over 50
brought under the goods and services tax (GST)
and that too, at the median rate. But this has been
kept out of GST and does not seem likely to be
brought into its ambit in the foreseeable future. If
it were brought under GST at the highest rate of 28
per cent, the price of petrol and diesel would come
down by about 25 per cent.
This would result in a significant reduction in
costs for business. Off course, tax revenues would
decline. Some of the decline could be partially off-
set by raising the GST rates of other items. India had
lowered tax rates and import duties substantially in
the 1990s. It was able to live with the decline in
revenues that resulted, because it had gained
through higher GDP growth rates and the tax buoy-
ancy this generated.
In all cases of successful
Transportation industrialisation, national
fuels like petrol highways were built by the
and diesel are state and these were not toll
taxed at over 50 roads. It is not commonly
per cent. If they known that in the US, spo-
were brought radic efforts for over a cen-
under GST at the tury to get Congress to
highest rate of 28 approve the building of inter-
per cent, their state highways with tolls did
prices would fall not get any traction, as there
by 25 per cent was a bipartisan consensus
that this would be a cost
which should not be
imposed on business. The development of toll-
based highways by the private sector is a relatively
recent policy recommendation for developing
countries, and India’s experience with this has been
problematic.
The cost of land in India is far too high. There
has been an asset price bubble in land across the
country for quite some time. The return on capital
from rents in urban areas, or agricultural produc-
tion in rural areas, is estimated to be barely 2 per
cent, which is well below the cost of capital. The
recent land acquisition Act has pushed up the cost
of acquiring land manifold. Relatively cheap land
with decent infrastructure for business works won-
given practically free land to live and try to earn a
living. Thereafter, Delhi’s economic growth rates
matched those of the East Asian tigers for decades.
Relatively lower prices for land with reasonable
infrastructure for industrial and commercial enter-
prises will naturally increase competitiveness. How
to achieve this needs greater discussion and focus.
Regulations are necessary, but they impose costs
on business. The challenge is to try and keep the
regulatory burden and compliance costs on busi-
nesses to the minimum. The concept of regulatory
impact assessment, of weighing the costs against
benefits of any new regulation, has been gaining
currency internationally. It has yet to become a fac-
tor in decision making by the government and its
regulatory agencies in India. If it did, each time
the Securities Exchange Board of India issued a
circular creating a new compliance requirement,
there should have been an internal regulatory
impact assessment document.
Reducing the regulatory burden is a recurring
refrain of pro-business governments in the indus-
trialised economies. One leader imposed the
requirement that for one new regulation, two ear-
lier ones had to be scrapped. The principles of
increasing self-certification as well as credible third
party certification in lieu of direct inspection by
government officials need to gain momentum.
Compliance should improve as the certifier’s busi-
ness growth would depend on credibility.
Transaction costs would decline, as officials would
not have any direct dealings with individual units.
To go further, environment approval for individual
units could be dispensed with in industrial parks,
by giving environment clearance for the full pro-
duction capacity of each park.
All of this requires micro-level analysis and
incremental decisions, with the aim of reducing
the cost to business. If sustained over time, this
would improve competitiveness and create the
potential for a much higher growth rate.
The writer is distinguished fellow, Teri, and former
secretary, DIPP
size revealed no significant variations it was available but at higher rates of inter-
except for firms with annual turnover in the est” and “it was very difficult to get”.
range ~100-500 crore. In this Overall, 49.8 per cent of
category, 60.5 per cent of the respondents said that credit
firms were planning to borrow Monetary easing for import financing was easi-
in the next six months. has been ly available, whereas 37.1 per
Only 25.9 per cent of firms ineffective in cent and 13.1 per cent, respec-
planned to borrow for invest- lowering the cost tively, reported that “credit
ment purposes, with the max- of funds. The was available but at higher
imum number of such firms challenge is for the rates of interest” and that “it
being in the North, at 50.4 per central and state was very difficult to get”.
cent, and the minimum being governments to These numbers reveal that
in the East, at 6.4 per cent. The work together to monetary easing has been
corresponding numbers in the revive the animal largely ineffective in lowering
West and South were 19.7 per spirits of the cost of funds and improv-
cent and 25.2 per cent. An entrepreneurs ing the credit outlook. To quote
analysis based on firm size the Fourth Bi-monthly
reveals that among firms with Monetary Policy Statement
turnover in the range ~100-500 crore, 32.1 2019-20 of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
per cent said that they were planning to “Monetary transmission has remained stag-
borrow for investment purposes in the next gered and incomplete. As against the cumu-
six months. Only 6.9 per cent of firms with lative policy repo rate reduction of 110 bps
annual turnover of less than ~1 crore were during February-August 2019, the weighted
interested in investment finance in the next average lending rate (WALR) on fresh rupee
six months. loans of commercial banks declined by 29
In June 2019, 64.5 per cent of firms bps. However, the WALR on outstanding
reported that the availability of working rupee loans increased by 7 bps during the
capital was the same as it was six months same period.”
previously. These trends were broadly sim- Furthermore, there were regional varia-
ilar across regions and firm size. The sig- tions in firms’ interest level in borrowing for
nificant exception was the West, where 48.8 either working capital or investment pur-
per cent of firms perceived credit availabil- poses. While the RBI continues to follow an
ity to be the same in June 2019 as in accommodative stance, the challenge is for
December 2018, and 43.3 per cent respond- the central and state governments to work
ed that it was better. together to revive the animal spirits of firms,
When asked about expected working especially the smaller ones. A larger research
capital availability in December 2019 as question that remains to be answered is
compared to June 2019, 50 per cent of firms whether monetary policy is having a differ-
responded that it would be better. Here, ential regional impact.
there are significant variations. On the one
hand, only 31.7 per cent and 32.5 per cent of Bhandari is a senior fellow, Gupta is an associate
firms in the East and South, respectively, fellow and Sahu is a senior research analyst at
expected credit availability to be better in NCAER. Views are personal and do not represent
December 2019 as compared to June 2019. those of NCAER

> OTHER VIEWS

Centre’s move in Kashmir a Aimless in Haryana Stuck with plastics
critical moment for judiciary Ahead of polls, Congress in dire straits Mass movement needed to reduce use
Deferring and delaying do not match The Congress party is in dire and 2014. Even as PM Narendra Modi country. It is imperative to
straits. Steamrollered by a Mr Hooda’s triumphant is envisioning an India free of break the demand-and-sup-
apex court’s tradition of speaking up ruthless adversary, the BJP, return at the helm of single-use plastics by 2022, ply cycle. Himachal Pradesh
hollowed out ideologically, Congress affairs in the state the onus is on various stake- has taken the lead by decid-
On October 1, responding to a raft of petitions challenging the and its leaders systematical- is also indicative of a lingering holders, right from industry ing to buy-back non-recycla-
constitutional validity of the August 5 decision to abrogate ly targeted by the govern- inability of the party to free to the consumer, to decrease ble plastic waste and single-
the special status of Kashmir, a five-judge constitution bench ment apparatus, this calami- itself from the clutches of an (and eventually stop) its con- use plastics at a minimum
of the Supreme Court refused to order a stay, and adjourned the ty should have brought old guard and an old method sumption and popularise support price of ~75 per kg.
hearing to November 14 — that is, until well after the scheduled everyone in the party togeth- of doing politics. Mr Gandhi alternatives such as paper Such incentives can go a long
implementation of the Centre’s order has carved up the state er. But the opposite appears tried to shake up the party but and jute. The prevailing eco- way in curbing the availabil-
into two Union Territories on October 31. Something is seri- to be happening, as was evi- his successes were limited nomic slowdown and the ity of the eco-unfriendly
ously amiss in the response of the country’s apex court, and it dent in Wednesday’s protest partly due to his inadequa- prospect of more job losses material. Converting toxic
is this: The court, which is the centrepiece of the system of outside party president cies and largely because of have prevented the NDA gov- waste into something pro-
checks and balances that keeps the political executive honest Sonia Gandhi’s residence by the old guard's tight grip. ernment, characteristically ductive is another challenge.
and accountable, that ensures due process and is the custodi- supporters of Ashok Tanwar, Unable to tackle the task, Mr not known for restraint and Indian Oil Corporation plans
an of individual rights, is showing a striking lack of urgency. In the ousted chief of its Gandhi threw in the towel moderation, from rushing to employ its refinery opera-
fact, deferring and delaying, not asking questions that need to Haryana state unit. In the after the 2019 election, and in into a knee-jerk decision. tions to turn single-use plas-
be asked, giving the government the benefit of the doubt — five years that he was presi- disarray, the party returned The imposition of bans tic waste into specialised
serious doubt — on the drastic curbs on fundamental free- dent, there were no district to Ms Gandhi. It requires infu- and fines has often proved bitumen that can be utilised
doms, doesn’t quite match the apex court’s own stellar tradi- and block-level committees sion of fresh ideas and fresh counter-productive due to for the construction of roads
tion of speaking up for those who cannot. to it, especially those men and women — and in J&K, children, as the AICC did not allow blood at all levels and that lax enforcement and wide- and highways. More such
This is especially troubling in habeas corpus cases where too — who are denied their rights in the name of “national their formation, caving in to must be the focus of Ms spread non-cooperation. Old out-of-the-box ideas are
delay can have a costly human rights toll. On very many occa- interest”, it needs to step up to its role. pressure from Bhupinder Gandhi’s second innings. habits die hard. A behaviour- needed.
sions, the Supreme Court has protected and expanded citizens’ Hooda, a two-term chief al change can happen only if
liberties. For its own sake, and that of the people who look up The Indian Express, October 4 minister between 2004 The Hindu, October 4 a mass movement sweeps the The Tribune, October 4
12
>
Genpact hiring
top graduates for
leadership roles
AT A GLANCE
89,943 100 No. of senior
No. of Genpact level (V-P and above)
employees in the executives who may be
quarter ended hired under leadership
June 30, 2019 programme this year
65 People hired under 22Number of
the programme so far hires from India
NEHA ALAWADHI
New Delhi, 5 October
B
usiness process manage-
ment company Genpact
is taking big bets on tal-
ent by hiring graduates from
top business schools (B-schools)
off campus in key roles as part
of its leadership programme.
High performers from
within the company would
also be hired for senior posi-
tions as part of the same pro-
gramme.
The thinking for the pro-
gramme began in the fourth
quarter of last year. The firm
plans to hire 100 people in
these roles this year, said
Piyush Mehta, chief human
resource officer, Genpact.
“We made a conscious
decision that we will not get
influenced by the years of
experience. A fresh graduate
or postgraduate can apply (to
the leadership direct pro-
gramme). We will be experi-
ence agnostic... (catering to)
pre-identified high impact
roles at a certain level in the
top 1,000 roles within the
company,” said Mehta.
So far, Genpact has hired
65 of the 100 people planned
for this year. Broadly, the
company has planned to take
in 50 per cent internal candi-
dates; the other half will be
external.
For instance, Hailey
Eichner, an external candi-
date from New York, is now
vice-president and chief of
staff to the chief executive
officer of a company that
employs over 90,000 people.
Similarly, Priyanka
Priyadarshini, an internal
candidate from Hyderabad,
is going to be site leader for
an operations team of 800
employees, for one of
Genpact’s key clients.
“The exposure has been
phenomenal — from leading
conversations with senior
client stakeholders, to receiv-
ing a customised learning path
for innovation, and one-on-
one mentorship from the com-
pany’s leaders,” said
Priyadarshini.
Many of these candidates
were chosen from the top B-
schools such as Cambridge
and Oxford in the UK,
Ivy League schools in the US,
and top B-schools in Spain
and India.
About 10 senior Genpact
executives had ‘conversations’
with candidates after a rigor-
ous selection process to decide
on the new hires.
The candidates had gone
through technology-based
recruitment tests, which had
been gamified. “They played a
game on an app they had
downloaded. This gave us
some insights into the people.
And then, there was a video
interview. This gave us further
insights through an artificial
intelligence engine seated at
the back of that interview,”
said Mehta.
After a conversation with
the senior teams post this
selection process, there is a
‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision at the end
of it from the candidate and
the organisation.
Would having younger and
less experienced candidates
affect the morale of other
Genpact employees?
Mehta said “Genpact has
always worked on the princi-
ple of being a meritocracy,
and ‘that’s why it’s very
important to allow internal
candidates as well to apply.
So if you’re good, and you are
internal, you are getting the
same opportunity. Some of
the brightest and the smartest
people are from inside the
organisation. It’s about
opportunity, rather than
exclusion.”
The way these recruits will
be evaluated is also going to
be different. They will also
undergo training to tutor them
in leadership and other quali-
ties required for running big
teams.
VIZAG CENTURION
Rohit Sharma celebrates his century on the fourth day of the
first Test match against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on
Saturday. He scored 127 off 149 balls, following his 176 in the
first innings, to become the first batsman in the history of Test
cricket to score two 100s in his debut as an opener. He also
became the first Indian opener in 41 years to score tons in
both innings of a Test match
Grenade attack in
Kashmir injures 14
Terrorists carried out a
grenade attack on Saturday
outside the deputy commis-
sioner’s office in Anantnag
township of south Kashmir,
leaving at least 14 people in-
jured, as restrictions imposed
in the Valley in view of Friday
congregations were lifted.
Normal life in Kashmir
remained affected following
the Centre’s August 5 move to
abrogate Article 370, that
provided special status to
Jammu and Kashmir, as mar-
kets and business establish-
ments remained closed while
PHOTO: PTI
most of the public transport
was off the roads across the
Valley, officials said. However,
government offices were open
and attendance in most
offices was was near normal,
they said said.
Terrorists carried out a sec-
ond grenade attack in the Val-
ley since the abrogation of
Jammu and Kashmir’s special
status. They targeted a secu-
rity patrol outside the heavily
guarded DC office complex in
Anantnag town, 55 km from
here, around 11 am, an official
said. PTI
MUMBAI | 6 OCTOBER 2019
‘NBA to ramp up investments
in India, scout for talent’
One of the world’s biggest sports brands, the National Basketball Association (NBA), has brought its matches
to Mumbai, in order to showcase the brand in the country. MARK A TATUM, deputy commissioner and chief
operating officer of the NBA, in an interview with Dev Chatterjee, says as India is on the cusp of a take-off in
terms of economic growth, the NBA would be increasing its investments and engaging with all
stakeholders, including the government, the corporate sector and players. Edited excerpts:
The NBA has come to India
almost 16 years after its entry
into China. Why is it so bullish
on India now?
We opened the NBA academy
two years ago in the Delhi-
NCR region in Noida. We
already have three players on
the national team for India.
We’re developing elite players
in the country and many of
them will go on to play in the
national team and later in the
NBA league in the US. It’s just
a matter of time before that
happens.
We opened the NBA’s office
here eight years ago and now
have 20 full-time employees.
We started a junior NBA pro-
gramme with the Reliance
Foundation back in 2013. In
the last six years, we have
engaged with 10 million boys
and girls in our junior NBA
programme. We are getting
very high views on the social
media as we engage with
school students and teachers
in India. Even
though this is the
first time we’re
bringing our games
into India, we’ve
been investing in the
last eight years.
We thought the time was
right now to finally bring the
live NBA game experience
here because the interest is at
a level where the games
would be supported in India.
In China, over the last 16
years, basketball has become
the No. 1 game.
What prospects do you see for
the NBA in India, considering
that cricket dominates TV
ratings and almost all
corporate sponsorships
and television ad budgets are
allocated to just one game?
The IPL is no doubt a big suc-
cess story, but other games
are also fast catching up. For
example, the pro-Kabaddi
league is picking up pace.
And, we look at how India is
becoming more and more of a
sporting nation, and how con-
sumers are looking at sports
as a business. India will
become the most populous
country in the world in the
next eight years. It’s also one
of the fastest-growing
economies in the world, with
one of the youngest popula-
tions in the world, where half
of the population is under the
age of 25. We look at
all of those things.
And we think the
time is right for the
sport to grow. And to
me, right now is the
right time to continue the
investments here that we’ve
been making for the last eight
years.
What kind of response are you
getting from the Indian
corporate sector for the NBA?
We’ve had tremendous
response from local
partners here. We have sev-
eral partners already. Our
games would be reaching
100 million active users on
the Jio mobile platform.
Other companies like
Myntra and Flipkart have
also partnered with us. We
have tremendous interest in
addition to some of our
global partners that have
come on board as well.
1
How do you plan to take the
NBA brand to the rest of the
country, considering that a lot
of sporting talent in India is
coming from the smaller
towns?
There are a couple of ways.
One is through the distribu-
tion of our content and we
have made our games avail-
able in Hindi which has
received 15 million unique
views. So, this exposes us to a
broader array of fans here in
India, and then our pro-
grammes are not just in those
major cities. We’re also extend-
ing into different cities around
the country as well. Though
our academy programme is
based in Delhi, we do a nation-
al scouting programme. We
have scouts that go out and
look at local basketball players
in local clubs to identify talent
and pull national talent to the
academy.
It’s almost eight years of the
NBA brand in India. What kind
of challenges are you noticing
in the Indian market?
The big challenges are the
marketing of the game, sports
facilities and infrastructure.
We need more basketball
courts and more people to get
access to our games in the US.
Right now, the time of our
games in the US are generally
in the middle of the night or
early morning. So, we started
playing games now in the US
at 12.00 pm, which is 9.30 pm
or 10.30 pm here on the week-
ends. So, at least now, we have
games in the prime time slot
here where our fans can
watch it live. And, we’ve seen
tremendous growth in our
viewership and ratings
around that. But again, we
need to have more infrastruc-
ture built. India needs to have
more arenas built and more
places for kids to be able to
play in the country.