“We Can’t be Small Biz, Big Flour Power Puzzle Time p.

10
Guided Only by the Trouble p.04 p.18
Response of Other
Countries”
Nitin Gadkari,
Union Minister
for MSMEs
p.05

www.economictimes.com | New Delhi | 20 pages | `10

April 26-May 02, 2020

Fall
from
Grace
BR Shetty landed in Abu Dhabi with
$8 in 1973 and turned his sweat into
a personal fortune worth billions.
He is now mired in accusations of a
massive financial fraud
p.12-15

I L L U S T R AT I O N : S U N E E S H K
 02 what’s news
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

Freeze on DA
Hike Aimed to Retailers Seek Greater India Likely to
Fast-Track Some
Add Fiscal Space,
Says Sanyal Clarity on Reopening Stores FII Proposals
New D elhi: India plans to fast

New Delhi: The government has
said the move to freeze dearness
allowance (DA) was temporar y
and intended to increase the lim-
ited fiscal space available to sup-
port vulnerable gr oups, small
and medium enterprises and the
informal sector.
Countering
the c riticism
from former
PM Manmo-
han Singh, the
government
said t hat e x-
treme s teps
Principal Economic were not un-
Advisor Sanjeev
precedented
Sanyal
in times of cri-
sis. After the wars in 1962 and
1971, the government had passed
a scheme that mandated all tax-
payers, including g overnment
employees, to deposit up to 18%
of their salaries in a fund for 3-5
years. C onsidering those w ere
times of high inflation, Principal
Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal
said in a tweet on Saturday, the
move amounted to expropria-
W
ith the Centre allowing reopening of neigh-
bourhood and standalone shops, traders
on Saturday sought more clarity for easier
implementation of the order and urged states to issue
necessary guidelines, without which shop owners
would not be able to resume work.
The Retailers Association of India said the order by
the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to allow reopen-
ing of shops was open to interpretation as terms like
“market complexes” were not easily understood. The
industry body said keeping in mind the current envi-
ronment and lessons learnt by keeping essential retail
shops open through the lockout, “we would recom-
mend that the government open up all channels of
retail on a date that it feels safe with social distancing
norms clearly defined”.
The government on Friday allowed opening of
neighbourhood and st andalone shops, including
those located in residential complexes within munici-
pal areas, but at 50% staff strength and after taking
necessary precautions. However, theorder, signed by
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, said shops in mar-
ket places, multi-brand and single-brand malls in mu-
nicipality areas would remain closed.
On Saturday, ministry spokesperson Punya Salila
Srivastava clarified that liquor shops, hair salons, and
shops in markets/market complexes and shopping
Ecommerce Firms Can Sell Only
track the review of some invest-
ment proposals from neigbouring
countries such as China, following
concerns new sc reening rules
could hit plans of companies and
investors, three sources told Reu-
ters on Saturday. A senior govern-
ment source involved in polic y-
making said the government
would try to approve any invest-
ment proposal in a non-sensitive
sector within 1 5 days when the
People line up outside an electric shop in Delhi on Saturday stake being bought is not signifi-
cant. The official declined to elab-
malls would not be allowed to open during the lock- orate on which sectors would be
down. She said there was no order to open any kind of considered sensiti ve and w hat
restaurants or spas. Srivastava also clarified that the threshold of investment would be
state governments cannot dilute the restrictions im- deemed signific ant. Two other
posed by the central government but they can cer- sources familiar with the govern-
tainly make them stricter. ment’s thinking confirmed that a
The Confederation of All India Traders said shop- fast track mechanism was being
keepers should wait for states to issue necessary considered, with possible approv-
guidelines before reopening their businesses. “Since al timelines of seven days to four
trade and the Shops and Establishment Act is a state weeks. — Reuters
subject, only states governments are empowered to
take the decision,” he added.
—Agencies/New Delhi Sanjay Kothari
is New CVC
New Delhi: Sanjay Kothari, the

Essential Goods, Govt Clarifies

tion. In contrast, he said, the tem-
porary freezing of DA now was
merely to provide fiscal leeway to
support vulnerable sections that
urgently needed help. Earlier in
the day, Singh had opposed the
freeze on hike in DA and dearness
relief. “We should be on the side
of people whose dearness allow-
ance is being cut. I sincerely be-
lieve it is not necessary at this
stage to impose hardships on gov-
ernment servants and also on the
armed forces’ p eople,” S ingh
said. — Our Bureau
The government on Saturday said ecommerce play-
ers such as Flipkart and Amazon would be allowed to
sell only essential goods on their platforms. The Min-
istry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a clarification in
this regard just hours after issuing guidelines on Fri-
day to allow the functioning of all brick-and-mortar
stores, except in some cases. “It is clarified that sale
by ecommerce companies will continue to be per-
mitted for essential goods only,” the MHA release on
Saturday said.
Amazon said ecommerce offered the safest way to
service the needs of consumers while ensuring social
secretary t o
the president,
was on Satur -
distancing, and urged the government to allow online day appointed
firms to sell all products. Flipkart said there was a the C entral
need to meet consumer demands for items that ena- Vigilance
bled consumers to work from home, stay in touch and Commission-
also meet their requirements during summer months. Sanjay Kothari er, accor ding
Mails sent to Snapdeal, Paytm Mall and vertical ecom- to a Ras htra-
merce players such as Nykaa, Lenskart and FirstCry pati Bhavan communique. The
did not elicit any response until the time of going to post of the chief of the C entral
press. Senior e xecutives from online r etailers ET Vigilance Commission was lying
spoke to said the move would create a non-level play- vacant since June last year after KV
ing field between online and offline commerce. Chowdary completed his tenure.
—Our Bureau/Bengaluru — PTI

“There is No Community Transmission in Gujarat”

Gujarat has seen a sudden increase in Covid-19 cases because of a couple of reasons tion to workers within their units. Some 40,000 tension on their s hort-term loans and w e are
but there is no community transmission, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani tells Prerna industrial units have restarted work in the state, bearing the interest during this extended period.
Katiyar in an interview conducted over telephone and email. Edited excerpts: employing more than 5 lakh labourers. Apart Farmers have been given special permission to
from providing essential items to workers and start sowing and harvesting. We will start the pur-
Gujarat now has the second highest num- Does the sharp rise indicate community migrant labourers, I ensured that the workers chase of rabi crops at minimum support price
ber of positive cases in the country. How transmission? were not fired and that they got their wages. The from April 27. We have ensured coordination at
did this sudden increase come about? There is no community transmission in Gujarat. state government will continue to ensure the the district level so that the farmers who trans-
We started tracking possible cases from March 1 If people in Gujarat and across the country con- well-being of migrant workers till the crisis is port materials and harvest do not face ssues
i with
itself. We identified 30,000 people with interna- tinue to follow lockdown rules, we will never eliminated from Gujarat. I am confident that they the police.
tional travel history and contacted their friends reach that stage. will stay back and continue to work here, espe-
and families. By the time we traced those who cially as the cases decrease. There are reports of segregation of Hindu
had entered Gujarat after attending the Tablighi What will the government do and Muslim patients in Ahmedabad civil
Jamaat event in Delhi, they had already come in to stop migrants from return- What is the government doing for farm- hospital. Is it true?
contact with others. This led to a sudden spike in ing home? How will you win ers who are facing hardships? Gujarat government has been working tirelessly
the numbers. Most of them came to Ahmedabad. their confidence? Apart from reopening our agricultural pro- with the mantra of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas for
In fact, majority of the cases from Ahmedabad We have already resumed work at duce market committee, we provided the past decade and a half. The pandemic does
are from residential areas of the people who at- industries outside the limits of farmers an advance of `2,000 un- not discriminate based on religion or caste. The
tended that event. Our testing capacity has also municipalities and munici- der the Pradhan Mantri Kisan medical wards are specified on the basis of age,
been increased manifold. Our health workers are pal corporations. We have Samman Nidhi Yojana — total- gender, medical history and severity of Covid-19
going door-to-door to test people in the hotspots. directed factory owners ing a bout `800 c rore. We infection. Such allegations of discrimination are
This also added to the rise in numbers. to provide accommoda- have given a two-month ex- completely baseless.

Adding Fuel
to Fire
As oil-centric economies
are upended, it is an
opportunity for the
buyers, especially the
biggest player, China
:: Indrani Bagchi
F
orget the sub-zero oil price (futures)
shock that upended all our notions of
the geopolitics of oil and pr ompted
commodities exchanges to incorporate
negative pricing in their software.
Instead, follow the progress of Aw-
tad, Jana, Aslaf and Lulu as they head to
the United States. These supertankers,
carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil
each, are currently steaming their way
to the US to dump their oil. They are
among the first of a veritable armada of
supertankers, with a total of almost 40
million barrels, which are expected to
land in the US through May and June.
This is what might affect the geopolitics
of oil, and could be the logical tipping
point for the world.
The US itself is groaning under the
weight of its own oil. Shale producers,
who have, for the past five years run
rings around traditional oil producers
like Saudi Arabia, are facing unprece-
dented production cuts, storage glut
and c rashing d emand. T he C ovid-19
challenge and a global economy in tat-
ters have put the spotlight on the US’
decision: does the US want lo wer or
higher oil prices? In an election year, it’s
a tough one — the s hale industry sus-
tains jobs in many states that vote for US
President Donald Trump. Meanwhile,
lower oil prices would help in the US
economic recovery and give more jobs
to people. Will Trump heed the out-
raged people of Texas and North Dako-
ta to ban Saudi oil from landing in US
ports? Or, will he let the markets rule,
and kick his own oil industry?
Either way, the US-Saudi relation-
ship has reached an inflection point.
The US i s convinced, and it i s not
wrong, that the Saudis have deliber-
ately crashed oil prices to destroy the
American shale industry. When the US
became the world’s largest energy pro-
ducer, it spelt ruin for the leg-shackle
the kingdom had on it for decades pri-
or. There was less and less reason for
the US to remain mired in the violent
politics and terrorism of the Middle
East; instead, it could pivot its energies
to an aggressive and expansionist Chi-
na. This might be that year.
Trump likes the Saudis and went out
of his way to stitch a fragile deal be-
tween the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia
in March. If he returns in November,
the Saudis might retain their lifeline to
Washington, DC. The presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee,
Joe Biden, however, has not made any
bones about the fact that he considers
the Sa udis to be “parasites”, and
would delink the US from that region.
The “deal” to cut production by 15
million barrels a day did nothing for
world mar kets w here demand
perspective
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
dropped by 30 million barrels. But it
came after Sa udi Arabia and R ussia
played a high- stakes game thr ough
March — Saudi Arabia and Moscow de-
cided to flood the market with oil when
an OPEC-Plus deal collapsed. Riyadh
figured Russia’s d eclining economy
under sanctions and its own produc-
tion flexibility would deal a blow to
both Russia and the US. Russia lever-
aged its $600 billion for ex reserves
and a production break-even cost of
$42 (half of Saudi’s $84) to think they
could sustain the price war. In the end,
the coronavirus decided the battle.
Both Saudi Arabia and UAE are head-
The only bright
spark for India is
the falling oil
prices, which will
help with the fiscal
deficit and as the
govt pushes the
wheels of the
economy back on
the road
03
ed to wards economic pain, w hich
would have consequences for its inter-
nal stability as well as the internal GCC
battle with Qatar. It could have other
repercussions in the volatile region.
Iran is suffering, anyway, burdened
with sanctions and rock-bottom
oil prices, but its geopoliti-
cal ambitions remain —
for instance, if Iraq
goes under, with oil
prices going through
the floor and a d ys-
func tional sy stem,
Iran could tighten its
hold there, cementing its
sphere of influence in both
Syria and Iraq.
The short point is that oil-rich is
no longer a measure of prosperity or
wealth in nations, and only nations
that have a more diverse economy can
hope to sail through. Saudi Arabia’s de-
cline could impact its standing as the
standard bearer of the Muslim world.
With Covid-19 extracting a toll in terms
of recession, increased social spend-
ing, etc., oil- centric countries, be it
Venezuela or Ecuador, Angola or Nige-
ria or even Libya, will all hurt much
more.
The buyers — India, China, J apan
and Korea — see this as an opportunity.
China is the biggest player here — it is
recovering, its economy is finding its
feet. It will be the most impor tant part-
ner for all these Gulf states, with Bei-
jing fishing for their stressed assets or
even debt. China holds the bulk of V en-
ezuela and Ecuador’s external debt, as
well as Angola’s. The lockdown in Eu-
rope has been disastrous for Russian
energy exports. For the time being,
China’s recovering demand is keeping
Russia afloat. This means, if nothing
else, Russia will remain tied to China’s
apron strings, whether Moscow likes it
or not.
China sees itself in the winner’s cor-
ner of the field — its dom estic economy
may be in shock, but it retains the will
and ability to play a larger role abroad.
It will take a pushback from the rest of
the world against China’s alleged role
in the pandemic to stall this machine.
India was already battling a slowing
economy w hen the cor onavirus hit
and this year looks grim, no matter
how the numbers are sliced and diced.
The only bright spark for India is the
falling oil prices, which will help with
the fiscal deficit and as the govern-
ment pus hes the w heels of the
economy back on the road.
Geopolitical imperatives often sur-
vive the sticker shock of oil prices. This
time, however, the coronavirus pan-
demic makes it a perfect storm. Smart
economics is the key. 
indrani.bagchi@timesgroup.com
 04 special report
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

SMALL BIZ, MSME SNAPSHOT

The sector provides
employment to around

BIG TROUBLE
120 mn people

BREAK-UP

63.05 million
micro industries
0.33 million
small
5,000
medium enterprises

ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE

6.11%
of manufacturing GDP
24.63%
of services GDP
33.4%
of manufacturing
output
45%
of exports
For many of India’s small and medium business units, Manufacturing units with capital investments below
`25 lakh are called micro units, `25 lakh-5 cr are small
which number 63 million and employ 12 crore people, the units and `5-10 cr are considered medium units. For
services sector, the limits are `10 lakh, `2 cr and `5 cr,
respectively
Covid-19 disruption might prove fatal Source: India Briefing/ CII

:: Suman Layak lowed by a disrupted supply chain and labour availabili-

O
n the afternoon of April 23, Thursday, more than 100
small businessmen ar ound Mumbai and Thane met
through a conference call over the online conferencing
software Zoom, to discuss the reopening of businesses
after the lockdown. There was a quick consensus in the
meeting that went on for nearly two hours — no one is
ready to restart immediately. The supply chains for raw
material simply do not exist at this point, even though
some units have permissions to operate and others are
expecting it in early May. The meeting, organised by the
Mumbai-based IMC Chamber of Commerce and Indus-
try, had businessmen seeing May-end as a plausible date
for reopening. But there was another, more startling,
consensus emerging at the meeting organised to dis-
cuss a reopening playbook — at least 25-
30% of the businesses would not sur-
“Wages and salaries vive the crisis created by the Cov-
are the biggest issue. id-19 pandemic.
All MSMEs should be ET Ma gazine spoke t o a d ozen Kunal Giani,
eligible for bank businessmen from across India —
Sarva Foam Industries, Bhopal
loans equivalent to owners of businesses that fit into the Industry: Mattress and rebonded foam
three months’ wages category of micro, small and medi-
Annual revenue: `100-135 cr
at repo rates” um enterprises (MSME) — and found
Ashish Vaid, president, that this feeling of staring at an abyss No. of workers: 150
IMC Chamber of was pervasive. The biggest worry is, Wages and salaries per month:
Commerce and Industry of course, a liq uidity crunch, fol- `22 lakh
ty. The sector employs almost 12 crore people, making a
large number of the country’s households dependent on
the 63 million MSME units. It also accounts for a thir d of
India’s manufacturing output and 45% of exports. Many
units have paid their workers wages for March in full and
are prepared for April payments. While there are no rev-
enues now, there is a government mandate to keep pay-
ing salaries and wages. There are other bills like electric-
ity and water that also have to be paid. But without reve-
nues or substantial government support, there is no way
they can carry on in May and beyond.
“Wages and salaries are the biggest issue, and every-
one is sweeping it under the carpet,” says Ashish Vaid,
president of the IMC that si also a federation of 70
1 indus-
try associations from western India.
Labour Lost
Vaid, himself a realtor with annual sales of `200 crore,
says all MSMEs should be eligible for bank loans equiv-
Big concern:
alent to three months wages at repo rates. Multiple
Delay in launch industry associations, including the Confederation
of new product
of Indian Industry, have petitioned the government
and factory for a bailout package for the MSME sector (essen-
Top demand: tially all businesses with capital investments up to a
Easier access to maximum of `10 crore).
bank credit Apart from loans to cover wages, there are other

Raja Shanmugam,
Warsaw International, Tiruppur Big concern:
Industry: Apparel Liquidity crunch
after lockdown
Annual revenue: `80 cr
Top demand:
No. of workers: 650-600 Low-interest
Wages and salaries per month: loans and wage
`2 cr support
common requests like suspension of contribu-
tions to employee’s provident fund and Employee State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for six months. Some de-
mand that there should be a clawback of GST that has al-
ready been paid. Easier access to bank loans, especially at
low rates, with help from the state and central govern-
ments, is another common theme, as is a moratorium on
repayments for six months and a 25 % increase in working
capital loans. Seeking more loans and a simultaneous
moratorium on repayments are also a sign of underlying
desperation in the sector.
Take first-generation entrepreneur Raja Shanmugam of
Tiruppur. His 31-year-old knitted T-shirts manufacturing
unit Warsaw International employs 650-800 workers. At
least 150 workers are currently lodged in the company’s
hostels at Tiruppur. It is a labour-intensive industry and
the annual wages bill is almost 30% of sales. Pa yment from
his Indian as well as European buyers
stopped in March, and Shanmugam has Apart from cash
not been able to ship completed orders crunch and labour ceuticals industry, but his application for
either. He wants the government to use
ESIC money to take care of the workers’
dislocation, small restarting
wages from April onwards. businesses are also plants have got permission. Unwilling to
DK Aggarwal, president of PHD Cham- grappling with
ber of Commerce and Industry, an asso- serious supply
ciation of MSME organi sations ac ross
chain and
states, says restarting units won’t be easy
because of the liquidity crunch that the regulatory issues
sector is facing. “Cash flow has stopped.
After paying April salaries, all MSMEs will be hand-to -
mouth. Plus, there will be no demand, and w orkers would
have also left for their villages.”
Reopening plants in May could lead to revenue flows
restarting. But things won’t be so smooth. While there is
general consensus that businesses should pay their work-
ers through the lockdown, there are several restrictions
on the use of the same workforce once a factory reopens.
Strict rules for social distancing while reopening are not eggs per day. While costs are `3.75 per egg, I am forced to
viable for manufacturing units, especially MSME units
that have small premises. Nayan Patel, a former president
of IMC, explained that his own business, which makes mo-
tion control devices, needs a 150-member shift, with mul-
tiple processes, that cannot operate with fewer people.
The layout and configuration of machinery and worksta-
tions are such that it cannot be done. Many from across
the country echo Patel’s view. For Jaipur-based switchgear
maker Anil Saboo, the biggest worry is labour shortage, as
many employees have left for their states in eastern India.
“There are 15 men living inside my factory today, but the
moment the lockdown is lifted, they want to leave for
home,” Saboo says.
Gurgaon-based Dev Goel, who runs a package substa-
tions and switchboard plant from Manesar, sees a big
worry in maintaining social distance inside the factory
while labourers work as welders, or lift large items. There
was a fear of police ac tion and FIRs being r egistered
against factory owners if these norms were not followed
and negligence led to Covid-19 infections in workers. The
central government clarified last w eek that no busi-
nessperson will be arrested for workers getting infected
with Covid-19 after reopening. However, restrictions have
created impediments. Goel said almost 95% of the mem-
special report
bers of the Manesar Industries Welfare Association have
decided to wait and watch and not rush into reopening
their plants, in spite of having permission to restart.
Or, take the case of Chetanbhai Makwana, who runs a
medicated soap man ufacturing unit at Gheekant a,
Ahmedabad. Makwana had started his soap unit as an es-
sential service, with 20% staff, but had to shut it down on
Friday as only one worker turned up for work.
Broken Chains
Apart from cash crunches and labour dislocation,
there are serious supply chain and regulatory issues
that have affected the MSME sector.
For instance, permissions to restart operations
do not come easily, even if you are deemed as an es-
sential service. Amit Seksaria, managing direc-
tor of RRL Steels Group in Kolkata, says he
received a letter from Coal India on April 8,
asking him to restart operations. His unit
makes ground engaging tools for coal
mining and hence is deemed to be an
essential service linked to the power
sector. However, his application for
restarting, filed with the state govern-
ment, is yet to elicit a reply. While one
of his units is in a Covid-19 hotspot, the
other one is in a rural area. Seksaria also
exports to the Netherlands and Spain and
export consignments have been loaded on
containers at his factory near Kolkata for orders
from these countries. “I am receiving urgent missives
from my European buyers but I am not able to send these
containers to the Haldia port, which I am told is operat-
ing,” Seksaria says.
An injection-moulding unit owner in Daman said he is
in a similar predicament, as he manufac-
tures packaging material for the pharma-
his unit has been stuck at the
collector’s office, while some of the larger
be quoted, he says that as a buyer of poly-
propylene from very large petrochemical
companies and a supplier of bottle caps to
big pharmaceutical companies, his cash
flow is usually squeezed as he has to buy
with cash and supply on credit. The crisis
has aggravated his problem.
In large parts of Uttar Pradesh, while there is no ban, the
non-vegetarian food chain has virtually shut down. Eggs,
though, are selling. Mukul Tandon, president of the Mer-
chant’s Chamber of Uttar Pradesh, owns a poultry busi-
ness, with 75,000 eggs per day. “The retail channels have
collapsed and we do not know how to sell the eggs. The
industry as a whole in the state produces almost 6 lakh
sell them at`2-2.5,” Tandon told ET Magazine.
Amit Seksaria,
RRL Steels Group, Kolkata
Industry: Foundry
Annual revenue:
No. of workers:
Wages and salaries per month:
`40 lakh
05
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
We can’t be guided
only by the
response of other
countries
Union minister for transport and MSMEs,
Nitin Gadkari, is shaping the government’s
response to distress in the MSME sector as a
consequence of the lockdown prompted by the
Covid-19 pandemic. In a Q&A with Prerna Katiyar
over email, he responds to key concerns of the
sector. Edited excerpts:
Various MSME chambers have sought relief
measures. Is the government thinking of a
package for MSMEs?
To mitigate the impact on MSME sector, the RBI
(Reserve Bank of India) has announced a set of
relief measures on March 27. A second set of
measures was announced on April 1 7. These
measures were primarily meant to maintain ad-
equate liquidity in the system, facilitate and incen-
tivise bank credit flows, ease financial stress and
enable the normal functioning of the sector.
The road ahead is not easy. As a nation, we need to fight
this together. Industry associations have highlighted their
demands in my interactions. Some suggestions require total
government support, while others require policy changes and
facilitation. We can’t be guided only by the response of other
countries. Our economy has its own unique features and hence
its own requirements for a return to normalcy. I can assure you
that PM Modiji is fully aware of the situation and under his lead-
ership we will be able to chalk a way forward for supporting
MSMEs in the best possible way.
Is there any plan to help MSME units with wage pay-
ment if lockdown continues beyond May 3?
The government on March 26 announced a `1.7 lakh crore relief
package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMG-
KY) for the poor to help them fight the battle against the cor
ona-
virus pandemic. As part of the said package, the Centre pro-
poses to pay the EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) contribu-
tion for next three months of certain categories of employees.
Our objective is to get the best impact of government support
not only for MSMEs but also for the poor . There has to be a bal-
ance and theresult should bethe highest impact of government
support on society.
The threat of an FIR in case a new infection is detected at
a factory has scared many MSME owners. Would you
like to reassure them?
Social distancing is a reality. The Home Ministry has issued sev-
eral orders and guidelines, which provide the framework for
economic activity to resume, respecting norms of social dis-
tancing and personal hygiene. Industrial units and business
establishments need to reinvent their workspaces to comply
with the guidelines for their own safety as well as the safety of
the workers. The Home Ministry has also clarified that the lock-
down guidelines should not be misused to harass themanage-
ment of manufacturing and commercial establishments. That
should help in addressing any fears. We are proactively dealing
with such issues.
Big concern:
Inability to meet
demand from
essential industries
`40 cr
Top demand:
200 Permission to restart
operations as early
as possible
 06 special report
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
In a Fix Over
LIFELINE Accommodation
Dev Goel,
ConQuerent
FOR MSMEs Factories functional during the lockdown are struggling
to fulfil the latest rule on given lodging to employees
Control Systems Recommendations

I
Pvt Ltd, Manesar made by the t is 6 am when a bus pulls into Bhangel in
Noida. A handful of employees of Medi-
Confederation of co E lectrodes I nternational L imited
Indian Industry form a queue to board the vehicle provided
by their employer. But first, an attender
checks if they are wearing masks properly
and sprays sanitisers on their hands. The
Industry: Switchboards and bus is filled from the back — one in each
package substations seat, every other row. Except for the occa-
Annual revenue: `80 cr sional ringing of mobile phones, the ride to
office is eerily silent.
No. of workers: 300 Medico, which makes disposable ECG
Wages and salaries per month: electrodes, picks up its workers
`50 lakh (including contractor from multiple locations in a 3-4 Employees maintain social
Medico distancing on the work floor
payments)
BANKERS’ km radius around its factory in
Noida special economic zone
Electrodes
Big concern: Tough social
distancing norms after
SUPPORT (SEZ). It takes adequate precau- International insurance cover and are provid-
Increase working capital tions. “The buses are disinfect- Ltd ing transportation services,” he
reopening
limit with lower collateral ed after every trip,” says com- Location: Noida says. Regular counselling is also
Top demand: Withdraw capital provided to help workers.
pany’s CMD Amit Mehra. “So is Industry:
gains tax on selling assets for Extend loan support for the factory after ev ery shift.” But Mehra, who managed to
reinvestment in business Medical devices
April-June wages with govt Before they enter the fac tory, run his operations through the
guarantee at 4-5% interest workers also go through a ther- Annual revenue: severe lockdown, faces a seri-
mal screening and hand wash- `275 cr ous problem as the government
Once business is disrupted, it is difficult for Reconstruct term loans with ing-sanitising routine. They also partly opens economic ac tivi-
No. of workers:
smaller players to recoup and restart. Seksaria government guarantee get fresh masks are head caps. ties. An order issued on April 22
650; 300 working
says that unless there is an opportunity to start In the shop floor, they work on in three shifts now by the deputy commissioner of
production in May, businesses will start crum-
Give six-month loan alternate machines to ensur e the district industries centr e,
bling. Goel of Manesar adds, the lock down may
moratorium social distancing. Wages and salaries per Gautam Buddh Nagar, to pro-
be followed by lockouts. Medico, classified as an essen- month: vide accommodation to work-
Increase the assets of Mudra
Not every MSME business owner is pessimis- Bank and other MSME- tial service unit, has been work- `1.5 cr ers within or nearby factory has
tic. Bhopal-based entrepreneur Kunal Giani ing at 50% st aff capacity with put h im i n a b ind. “ We h ave
focused banks Biggest concern:
says his motto of constantly focusing on cash 300 workers across three shifts Constant fear of three days to comply with the
flows and staying debt free has held him in good since the lockdown. CMD Mehra new guidelines order or shut shop. How can we
stead today. Giani started his business in re- has been busier than ever, jug- make such arrangements for
bonded foam, a raw material for mattresses, in gling between video-conferenc- Top demand: 250 people so fast? Besides, will
2011, straight out of college. Giani’s father, a FUND SUPPORT ing with st aff w orking fr om Clear guidelines the families of our 60-odd wom-
banker, had t aken voluntary retirement in Get Fund of Funds for home and domestic and foreign from the en workers allow them to stay at
2006 to start the business. Bad luck struck and MSMEs to support VC/PE clients. He visits the production government for factories? We are a healthcare
he died in an accident before he could start. investment in the sector floor regularly to check social ease of doing unit. Do we shut down now?”
Young Kunal completed his engineering educa- distancing and other sanitation business says Mehra.
tion and took on the man- Extend wage support by arrangements. “We give free ra- As such, the operations at
tle. No one was ready to using various tion to all w orkers every fort- Medico had slowed due to social
lend to a young man sell- government schemes night, provided additional `3 lakh Covid-19 distancing. During lunchtime, only one
ing mattress foam on a worker is allowed to sit in a table. So it takes
bike. The compan y is a Clear all outstanding almost three hours for the entire team to
debt-free operation to - government and PSU dues finish their meals and return to work after a
day. With sales of`110-135 round of sanitisation.
crore and two plants, one The situation is almost same at the 13 es-
in Bhopal and another in sential sector units among the 250 factories
Uttar Prades h’s Secun- operational at Noida SEZ now. As the morn-
derabad, Giani says he is RELIEF MEASURES ing shift comes to an end at Medico, work-
in a good position to pay ers toss the used head caps and masks in a
salaries for April. The raw
Do away with penal action bin, wash and sanitise their hands and wear
material stock, chemicals
for 6 months on social fresh face covers. Soon they line up a metr e
imported from Southeast Asia, can also last a security liabilities apart to board the buses for a ride back
Medico employees undergo a temperature
few months. The lockdown has, of course, im- Announce moratorium on check before boarding the company buses home. All in a day’s work now.
pacted his plans to start a new factory in Co-
all PF, ESI and gratuity
lombo to supply the south Indian markets. It
payments by employer for
has also affected the launch of a new product, a
six months
mattress that comes in a box, priced at `1,000.
Giani’s firm Sarva Foam Industries is an ex- Cancel penalty on delay in is seeking easier access to c redit. However, stimulus package for small businesses. The
ception. But he, too, wants to borrow today and delivery to government most small businesses in India ar e not built like MSME entrepreneurs are hoping that Finance
departments that, points out Nayan Patel. “MSME business- Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will draw some
es are usually a month-to-month operation, inspiration from it and announce a packag e for
“Cash flow has Relax completion targets with little reserves for the future. A disruption Indian small businesses too. After all, her first
stopped for of government projects like thi s might just mean r estarting every- package of`1.7 lakh crore also drew inspiration
MSMEs. Plus, there thing,” Patel says. from US action. Others, knowing the Indian
will be no demand, Therefore, a lot of hope is now pinned on government has little leeway, have set their
and workers would moves by the government of India and state eyes on social security funds like the EPF orthe
have also left for governments. Various MSME bodies have even ESIC. For a large and critically important sector
their villages” sought income-tax sops. Many MSMEs operate that generates a large number of jobs and sup-
as sole proprietorship firms or partnerships, plies components for nearly every product that
DK Aggarwal,
and are not eligible for the lower corporate tax we use, no easy solutions are in sight. 
president,
rates, announced by the finance minister in With inputs from Prerna Katiyar
PHDCCI
mid-2019. The US has announced a $484 billion suman.layak@timesgroup.com
 in focus 07
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

Back at Work
Sections of stranded labourers have returned to work in
infrastructure projects, rekindling a part of the economy
:: Shantanu Nandan Sharma

M
achines are whirring again in a few projects In the coal-producing Korba district — coal mining was
in railways, road and steel, among others. A
few thousand workers are back at work. A Workers resume duty under strict guidelines at
NMDC’s steel plant in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh
section of labourers, who had been stranded
in states across India, w ere surveyed for
their skills and then mobilised and dispatched to project allowed from Day 1 of the lockdown — about 12,000 workers
sites within those states. The process began after the govern- have been on duty, down from the usual 18,000, mainly be-
ment gave its nod to restart core sector activities, albeit with cause of social distancing norms, he adds. Chhattisgarh has
conditions, from April 20 — four weeks after a nationwide had 36 Covid-19 cases with no death, as on Satur day morning.
lockdown was imposed to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. The restarting of work in infrastructure projects varies from
Interstate movement of c itizens has been barr ed and state to state. In Telangana, for example, there has been no
some states have enforced stringent measures even on inter- major road or railway construction, after Chief Minister K
district travel — for example, from a contaminated red zone Chandrasekhar Rao said the lockdown would be in force in the
to a virus-free green district and vice-versa. This is prompt- state till May 7 — four days after the nationwide lockdown ends
ing local administrations to either transport labourers to and that, too, with no partial relaxation from April 20.
work sites or instruct contractors to employ only those who “We are focusing on limited Meanwhile, in Assam, the government has given its nod
are stationed near the sites. work such as earthwork, to repair embankments of the Brahmaputra as the yearly
While talking to ET Magazine, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh flood is just around the corner. “We have identified flood-
Kant argues that this could well be the best time to fast-track
building of bridges and track hit districts such as Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Majuli for re-
linear projects. Linear projects are those that cover long
lining which require pair of embankments. We are emphasising on local work-
stretches such as highways, pipelines, railways. “This is the minimum movement of force to minimise the movement of labourers,” says Chief
time to speed up linear projects. State governments should labourers from one place to another” Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna. These districts fall out-
come forward and help. There’s no traffic, no hindrance. Anurag Sachan, MD, DFC Corporation of India Ltd side the Covid-19 contamination clusters in the state. As-
Migrant workers who are camping in sam has reported 36 Covid-19
states should be engaged. In some in- cases with one death.
A DFC construction site in Bharuch, Gujarat
stances, workers are residing near pro- In Jammu and Kashmir, which
ject sites,” Kant says. has seen 454 Covid-19 cases, the
By A pril 21, the most pr ominent guidelines on partial relaxation
greenfield linear railway project, the issued by the chief secretary on
Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), re- April 18 ha ve made it ampl y
sumed work at 25 sites in 19 districts, 51 clear that the government will
from Anand in Gujarat to Sasaram in not allow inter-district move-
ment with a few exceptions like
“This is the time Bihar. Anurag Sachan, MD of DF C
Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), medical emergencies. Yet, the
to speed up linear the government-run company exe- Railways’ Udhampur-Srinagar-
projects. State cuting the `81,000 c rore pr oject, Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL)
governments wrote letters to six chief secretaries to project received a conditional
should come secure permission. The project pass- go-ahead from the local admin-
forward and help. es through 62 districts, and the per- istration. Reasi district magis-
There’s no traffic, mission for w ork during the lock - trate, in a letter dated April 20,
no hindrance. down has to come from each of the permitted transportation of ma-
Migrant workers district magistrates. 35.1 terials as well as resumption of
who are camping “We are focusing on limited work work in 13 sites, including the
such as earthwork, building of bridg- construction of the Chenab
in states should es and track -lining, which require bridge which, once completed,
be engaged. In minimum movement of labourers,”
some instances, says Sachan. Railway Freight is set to be the tallest railway bridge in the world. The per-
mission categorically mentions contact details of contrac-
workers are On March 25, the day the lockdown Movement tors, and ambulance drivers in case of an emergency.
residing near began, as many as 22,289 DFC work- (in million metric tonnes) Work on highways has also started. A spokesperson of the
project sites” ers, technicians and engineers were National Highways Authority of India says his office received
stuck in 373 camps. Some of them are Cement movement during the reports of work having resumed in nine out of ten ongoing
Amitabh Kant, now resuming work i n t he p laces lockdown sees a 98% drop projects in Jharkhand, and five out of seven in Himachal
CEO, NITI Aayog where they are stationed, adds Pradesh, as on midday, April 23. In the Nagpur division in
Sachan. The Railways are also taking First 28 Days of Lockdown Maharashtra, work has resumed in 27 out of 34 high way pro-
up brownfield linear projects which in normal circumstanc- (Mar 25-Apr 21) jects, with shortage of labourers being reported in three
es would have resulted in the halting or diversion of passen- Feb 2020 places, he adds.
ger trains. Although work has resumed in select core sector projects,
In several states, districts have conducted a skill mapping 10.9 non-availability of cement and steel could pose a problem.
of labourers stranded in relief camps, identifying their ex- The data available with the Railways shows it moved only
pertise and sending them to factories or road construction 0.18 MMTs (million metric tonnes) of cement in the first 28
sites. In Chhattisgarh, 6,300 migrant workers were strand- days of the lockdown beginning March 25, mainly due to the
4.9 5.1
ed in relief camps due to the lockdown. Another 32,000 la- 4 3.5
fall in demand and problems in unloading. When compared
bourers were stuck in industrial locations such as Korba and with the Railways’ February data (for 29 days), it is a stagger-
Bhilai. “After undertaking a skill mapping, we ask the strand- 1.2 2 ing drop of 98%. Similarly, the movement of finished steel is
ed workers if they are willing to resume work. If the answer 0.2 down by two-thirds in the same period.
is positive, we do a health check-up and facilitate their jour- Resumption of infra projects could propel demand for ce-
ney to the sites. About 4, 000 workers have resumed work in Coal Steel Cement Petroleum Food ment, steel and labour, thus giving a dose of vitality, albeit
NMDC’s Nagarnar steel plant,” says state labour secretary, grains small, to the economy 
Sonmoni Borah. Source: Ministry of Railways shantanu .sharma@timesgroup.com
08 spotlight
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

TRADE’S OFF
:: G Seetharaman

While Indian government has allowed manufacturing to

resume partially, exporters will have to contend with poor
demand in a shrinking global economy
T
he largest market for Bhubaneswar-based Tara Ranjan
Patnaik’s seafood export business also happens to be
the country worst affected by Covid-19. The United
States has seen 8. 9 lakh confirmed c ases and over
51,000 deaths. That has e r sulted in large-scale closures
of restaurants, Patnaik’s biggest customers in the US.
“Demand has fallen by 50% since last month. The
restaurants there still have a lot of stock of seafood,”
says Patnaik. What’s adding to his woes are some of
his shipments of fish and shrimp lying unclaimed at
ports and his payments being delayed. “Around $15-
16 million is stuck.”
With the easing of restrictions on some commer-
cial activities from April 20, Patnaik has reopened
one of his five processing plants across Odisha and
West Bengal. He will open two
more in early May but will oper-
ate them at a q uarter of their
capacity, one k ey r eason for
which is the lack of takers for
products. “This year is ruined.
We ar e no w thinking ho w to
minimise our losses.”
Patnaik’s pr oblems r eflect
EXPORTS FROM INDIA the worries of Indian exporters
“If India’s
NOSEDIVED IN MARCH at large. While the limitations
on manufacturing are likely to
lockdown is
Change in Value of Merchandise be gradually lifted in the com- protracted, some
Exports Over Year-ago Period* (%) ing weeks, if the slowing growth MNCs may shift
FEB 2020 of infections in India holds, ex- orders for critical
porters have to brace for a steep inputs to
2.9 fall in demand as the largest of countries that
India’s trading partners face a have resumed
crippling recession. normal industrial
DEC 2019 JAN 2020 According to the International production, such
-1.8 -1.7 Monetary Fund (IMF), the global as China, South
economy could shrink by 3% in Korea and
2019-20 2020. The US, which accounted Vietnam”
-4.8 for a sixth of India’s merchandise
exports in 2018-19, could see its Rajiv Biswas,
gross domestic product falling by Asia-Pacific chief
nearly 6 %. A mong t he l arge economist,
economies, only India and China IHS Markit
are expected to grow, at 1.9% and
1.2%, respectively, though the fig-
ures are much lower than in 2019.
The outlook for trading between countries is par-
ticularly grim. Global trade by volume could decline
13-32% in 2020, under two potential scenarios, ac-
cording to projections by the World Trade Organiza-
tion (W TO). Exports from Asia ma y see an ev en
steeper fall— 14-36%.
The WTO believes a strong rebound is more likely if
the pandemic is viewed as a temporary shock. “In this
*in dollar terms | Source: Ministry of commerce
case, spending on investment goods and consumer
durables could resume at closeto previous levels once
MAR 2020 the crisis abates.” But at the same time, if the pandem-

-34.6 ic lasts longer and economic uncer tainty persists,

companies and households will be mor e circumspect.

MEAT AND DAIRY EXPORTS DECLINED BY NEARLY HALF IN MARCH 2020

Change in Value of Exports from Year-ago Period (%)

OIL MEAT & ENGINEERING GEMS & LEATHER &

MEALS* DAIRY GOODS JEWELLERY LEATHER PRODUCTS

-69.9 -45.5 -42.3 -41.1 *used as livestock feed

-36.8
| Source: Ministry of commerce

GLOBAL TRADE VOLUME COULD FALL BY A THIRD THIS YEAR
Annual Volume Growth (%)
2019 2020*
Optimistic Scenario
WORLD TRADE
IN GOODS
ASIA
-0.1 0.9
-12.9
-13.5
-31.9
-36.2
The dollar value of exports from India in
March fell by 35% to $21.4 billion (`1.6 tril-
lion) from the year-ago period, according
to provisional data from the ministry of
commerce. In 2019-20, it fell by 5% to $314
billion (`22.3 trillion).
“Growth in India’s exports will depend a
lot on how other countries ease r estric-
tions, including on entry of ships,” says
Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care
Ratings, a credit-rating agency. Given the
alarming rate at which jobs are being lost,
even after there is a semblance of normal-
cy, demand for a range of products across
the world will continue to be weak.
India is a relative minnow in inter-coun-
try trading, responsible for less than 2% of
global merchandise exports in 2019, ac-
cording to the WTO. But more than a tenth
of India’s economic output comes fr om
exports of goods (with another 7% from
services), underscoring its impor tance.
Worsening Indian exporters’ chances of
recovery is the fact that China, where Cov-
id-19 originated back in December, has al-
ready restarted its factories. China is the
world’s largest exporter, accounting for
over 16% of global merchandise exports.
Global companies have diversified sup-
ply chains for their requirements, says Ra-
jiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at
IHS Markit, a provider of business data. “If
India’s lockdown is protracted, some mul-
tinationals may shift orders for critical in-
puts to countries which have resumed nor-
mal industrial production, such as China,
US 15.9
spotlight 09
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
have a lot to lose from China’s and Bangla-
2020* desh’s decisions to help their exporters,
Pessimistic Scenario since these two countries are the world’s
top producers of garments. “We have to
EXPORTS IMPORTS send bulk samples by the end of June for
orders to be fulfilled in December. Other-
EUROPE NORTH AMERICA ASIA EUROPE NORTH AMERICA wise, our competitors will g et those or-
0.1 1 0.5 ders,” says Raja Shanmugam, president of
-0.6 -0.4
the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association.
Though manufacturing units in special
economic zones and rural areas are now
-10.3 allowed to operate, with conditions in
-12.2 -11.8
-14.5 parts of the country where Covid-19 infec-
-17.1 tions are not high, according to the Cen-
tre’s guidelines, some states like Telangana
have decided not to make any concessions.
Sharad Kumar Saraf, managing director
-28.9 of Technocraft Industries, an exporter of
-31.5 drum-lid caps, scaffolding and te xtiles,
-32.8 -33.8 says the government has to balance lives
and livelihoods. “You cannot throttle the
-40.9 Source: World Trade Organization (WTO) * Projections economy,” he says. Even after a manufac-
turing unit resumes operations, it could be
forced to shut again if new Covid-19 cases
are reported in that area. Three of Tech-
INDIA’S SHARE IN GLOBAL EXPORTS nocraft’s four plants near Mumbai are still
LESS THAN 2% shut, with the last one operating at a four
of its capacity.
th
There have been calls from the industry
Value of Merchandise Exports in 2019 ($ billion) % of
World Total to allow manufacturing plants to operate
RANK with reduced number of workers and safe-
1 CHINA 13.2 2,499 ty precautions. “If we t ake a wait-and-
2 US 8.7 1,646 watch approach to ending the lockdown,
3 GERMANY 7.9 1,489 the damage will be sev ere,” says Shan-
4 NETHERLANDS 3.8 709 mugam. The national lockdown has led to
a loss of 140 million jobs, according to the
18 INDIA 1.7 324
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
For now, countries are expected to bounce
Value of Merchandise Imports in 2019 ($ billion) back sharply in 2021. The IMF expects the
global economy to expand by 5.8% in 2021.
RANK
1 US 13.4 2,568 “If the pandemic is brought under control
and trade starts to expand again, most re-
2 CHINA 10.8 2,077
gions could record double-digit rebounds (in
3 GERMANY 6.4 1,234 trade volume) in 2021 of around 21% in the
4 JAPAN 3.7 721 optimistic scenario and 24% in the pessimis-
10 INDIA 2.5 484 Source: WTO, UNCTD tic scenario — albeit fr om a m uch lower
base,” according to the WTO.
Biswas expects the global recovery to be
staggered as different countries recover
South Korea and Vietnam,” he says. led to the US and China levyingariffs
t on im- from the pandemic at different times. “Chi-
That’s why Ravinder Verma, a yarn ex- ports from each other, benefiting other ex- na, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea
porter in Ludhiana, is apprehensive about porting countries. Orders could eventually have already managed to contain their do-
his near-term prospects. He hopes his cus- flow back to India once normal operations mestic epidemics, allowing resumption of
tomers in around 50 countries have not yet resume, hopes Biswas. domestic economic ac tivity during Q2
turned to his competitors in China to make But the big question is, how long before 2020.” He expects the US and EU econo-
up for his inability to service them. “India that happens? mies to st art showing im-
had just started taking advantage of the US- provements onl y in the
China trade war before the crisis. Now we No Relief for Exporters third quarter.
have lost it,” says Verma. The trade spat had Ajay Sahai, director general As far as exports of ser-
of the Federation of Indian vices are concerned, there
Export Organisations, be- may not be m uch to look
lieves India has also been forward to in air travel and
US ACCOUNTS FOR put at a di sadvantage b y tourism, but information
A SIXTH OF countries like China and
Bangladesh providing relief
“China and
Bangladesh have
technology and business
process outsour cing ser -
INDIA’S EXPORTS to their e xporters, some - given relief to vices could do much better.
thing India has not done so exporters. India India’s ser vices e xports
% of India’s Exports in rose 4% to $214 billion in the
far. should also provide
2018-19 (in $ terms) China has raised tax re- last financial year.
credit support”
bates on exports of nearly Riding out the next two
UAE 9.1 1,500 products and Bangla-
Ajay Sahai,
director general,
quarters could be an ardu-
desh has announced a ous task for large corpora-
Federation of Indian
CHINA $600 million stim ulus
Export Organisations
tions, lea ve alone thou-
5.1 HONG KONG package, including cheap sands of small enterprises.
3.9 loans, for export-oriented But a lot of them, including
sectors. “We also need to provide those heavily dependent on exports, will
SINGAPORE credit support to our exporters,” survive the crisis if the government throws
3.5 says Sahai. them a lifeline sooner than later. 
Apparel makers in India will g anesh.seetharaman@timesgroup.com
Source: Ministry of commerce
10 centrespread centrespread 11
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020 APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

When the World

I L L U S T R AT I O N S : A N I R BA N B O R A
Zigs, You Zag
LATERAL THINKING PUZZLES:
Many possible answers but only
one is truly satisfying. A set of
clues in the form of Q&A helps you
get closer to the answer

Is This a
Trick Question?
1. A poor woman and a
rich woman are talking
about music. The poor
woman says she has
1 studied music and can
A woman had a pet goldfish which she find a song with any
loved very dearly. One day she noticed that name in it. The rich wom-
it was swimming feebly in its bowl and it an says, "OK, if you can find
a song with my son's name in it,
looked very unwell. She rushed to the vet
with her prized pet and he told her to come
Desperate times call for desperate measures. A no-brainer, then, that puzzling times like these call for, well, puzzles! I will give you a thousand dollars. His name is
back in an hour. When she returned, she Little else explains the comeback of puzzles into our lives, via the ever beloved and never-on-mute WhatsApp Demarcus-Jabari." The poor woman gives the
found the goldfish swimming strongly and answer and is $1,000 richer instantly.
looking healthy again. How had the vet
groups. At ET Magazine, we have compiled puzzles of all kinds. If you are an enigmatologist, this is the cue to get
managed this? cracking. If not, then keep calm and pass it on to your WhatsApp groups What was her answer?

CLUES :: Shephali Bhatt

Q: Did the vet change the water?
A: No. ANSWERS
Q: Did he give the fish any medication, 3
More to It Than Meets
1) “Happy Birthday”
food, or tonic?
A: No. Trick Question:

Q: Had the woman had the goldfish the Eye, Literally 2 4

at least one matching pair.
for a long time? REBUS: A puzzle that uses pictures,
then you are guaranteed to have
A: Yes .
colours, so if you take four socks
symbols and letters to represent a drawer, there are only three
word or words there are many socks in the
1) The answer is four. Although

FIGURE IT OUT 1 Logic Puzzle:

1 doesn’t contain ‘t’ in its spelling.

3) 100. It is the next number that

of numbers, from 9 down

2) 61. Reversed digits of squares

in the question asked, in reverse.

1) M. First letter of every word

The Logic Puzzle Something's Missing:

1. You are about to leave for a Half-hearted 4)

holiday (only once the lock-
Forgotten Heroes 3)
Falling In Love, 2)
down is over, of course). But you
Something’s Missing! forgot your socks! You race back
Circle Of Friends,
Rebus:
1)

2 Which will be last number of this series? to your room, but the power is
The find-the-missing word/letter puzzles, off so you can't see their col- 1) 47days
which often appear in the nightmares of ours. Never mind, because you
18 , 46 , 94 , 63 , 52 , ?
Figure it Out
CAT aspirants remember that in your drawer
there are 10 pairs of green socks, the old one.
10 pairs of black socks and 11
but identical fish and disposed of
A patch of lily pads floats in a lake. ter in the sequence?
dashed out and bought a young
pairs of blue socks, but they are
Every day, the patch doubles in size. If 1 Can you find the missing let to spare the lady’s feelings he
3 What comes next in the sequence? all mixed up. How many of your goldfish was dying of old age so
it takes 48 days for the patch to cover
the entire lake, how long will it take for
T - I - L - ? - T - F -Y-C socks do you need to take before 1) The vet could see that the

the patch to cover half the lake? S- 1 , 4, 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , ?

you can be sure to have at least
one matching pair?
Lateral Thinking:

Source: Briddles.com, Mathsisfun.com, Puzzles9.com

10 centrespread centrespread 11
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020 APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

When the World

I L L U S T R AT I O N S : A N I R BA N B O R A
Zigs, You Zag
LATERAL THINKING PUZZLES:
Many possible answers but only
one is truly satisfying. A set of
clues in the form of Q&A helps you
get closer to the answer

Is This a
Trick Question?
1. A poor woman and a
rich woman are talking
about music. The poor
woman says she has
1 studied music and can
A woman had a pet goldfish which she find a song with any
loved very dearly. One day she noticed that name in it. The rich wom-
it was swimming feebly in its bowl and it an says, "OK, if you can find
a song with my son's name in it,
looked very unwell. She rushed to the vet
with her prized pet and he told her to come
Desperate times call for desperate measures. A no-brainer, then, that puzzling times like these call for, well, puzzles! I will give you a thousand dollars. His name is
back in an hour. When she returned, she Little else explains the comeback of puzzles into our lives, via the ever beloved and never-on-mute WhatsApp Demarcus-Jabari." The poor woman gives the
found the goldfish swimming strongly and answer and is $1,000 richer instantly.
looking healthy again. How had the vet
groups. At ET Magazine, we have compiled puzzles of all kinds. If you are an enigmatologist, this is the cue to get
managed this? cracking. If not, then keep calm and pass it on to your WhatsApp groups What was her answer?

CLUES :: Shephali Bhatt

Q: Did the vet change the water?
A: No. ANSWERS
Q: Did he give the fish any medication, 3
More to It Than Meets
1) “Happy Birthday”
food, or tonic?
A: No. Trick Question:

Q: Had the woman had the goldfish the Eye, Literally 2 4

at least one matching pair.
for a long time? REBUS: A puzzle that uses pictures,
then you are guaranteed to have
A: Yes .
colours, so if you take four socks
symbols and letters to represent a drawer, there are only three
word or words there are many socks in the
1) The answer is four. Although

FIGURE IT OUT 1 Logic Puzzle:

1 doesn’t contain ‘t’ in its spelling.

3) 100. It is the next number that

of numbers, from 9 down

2) 61. Reversed digits of squares

in the question asked, in reverse.

1) M. First letter of every word

The Logic Puzzle Something's Missing:

1. You are about to leave for a Half-hearted 4)

holiday (only once the lock-
Forgotten Heroes 3)
Falling In Love, 2)
down is over, of course). But you
Something’s Missing! forgot your socks! You race back
Circle Of Friends,
Rebus:
1)

2 Which will be last number of this series? to your room, but the power is
The find-the-missing word/letter puzzles, off so you can't see their col- 1) 47days
which often appear in the nightmares of ours. Never mind, because you
18 , 46 , 94 , 63 , 52 , ?
Figure it Out
CAT aspirants remember that in your drawer
there are 10 pairs of green socks, the old one.
10 pairs of black socks and 11
but identical fish and disposed of
A patch of lily pads floats in a lake. ter in the sequence?
dashed out and bought a young
pairs of blue socks, but they are
Every day, the patch doubles in size. If 1 Can you find the missing let to spare the lady’s feelings he
3 What comes next in the sequence? all mixed up. How many of your goldfish was dying of old age so
it takes 48 days for the patch to cover
the entire lake, how long will it take for
T - I - L - ? - T - F -Y-C socks do you need to take before 1) The vet could see that the

the patch to cover half the lake? S- 1 , 4, 5 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , ?

you can be sure to have at least
one matching pair?
Lateral Thinking:

Source: Briddles.com, Mathsisfun.com, Puzzles9.com

 12 cover story

Fall
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

from
Grace BR Shetty landed in Abu Dhabi with $8 in
1973 and turned his sweat into a
I L L U S T R AT I O N : S U N E E S H K

personal fortune worth billions. He

is now mired in accusations of
a massive financial fraud

Bavaguthu
Raghuram
Shetty, 77
NET WORTH:

$ 3 .1 5 B N*
THE HIGHS :: Indulekha Aravind “I am absolutely

I
Shetty, who landed in n mid-2018, during a media interac- determined to bring
Abu Dhabi in 1973 and tion, Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty
remarked: “If I don’t have one prob- to light the full facts,
began work as a lem a day, that’s not a good day for and the whole truth
medical representative,
has since bought:
me. I should have a problem, solve
it and then feel satisfied.”
around what has
One must, as the adage goes, be transpired as soon
careful about what one wishes for. as possible”
At the time of the interview, there
*in September 2019,
A Gulfstream was not a cloud on the horizon for according to Forbes
G450 the Abu Dhabi-based billionaire-
Properties at founder of NMC Health, then the
the Palm biggest private healthcare company
The 100th & Jumeirah and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its 2012 IPO in the London Stock Ex-
140th floors of Dubai’s World change — the first for an Abu Dhabi-based compan y — was a blockbuster,
the Burj Khalifa Trade Centre raising £117 million. In 2014, he acquired UK-based forex major Travelex,
paying £1 billion. A sprawl of smaller businesses that he owns across hos-
7 Rolls-Royces, a pitality, education and pharma were all doing well. In 2017, he said he
Maybach & a would produce the most expensive movie ever made in India — a feature
vintage Morris based on the epic Mahabharata. Budget: `1,000 crore.
Minor Shetty embodied the ultimate immigrant dream in the Persian Gulf
— a man from coastal Karnataka who arrived in the
oil-rich West Asian deserts in the early 1970s
Source: Interviews to
with $8 in his pocket and went on to cre-
media, company website
ate a personal fortune estimated by
Forbes to be $4.2 billion in 2018.
Sheikh Mansour bin Z ayed al
Nahyan, UAE deputy prime minister

2,500
and owner of the Manchester City football
club, i s the patr on of C enturion In vest-
ments, once NMC’s top shareholder. Not
only had Shetty achieved fabulous success,
he was also paying it forward. He had signed
up to be part of the Giving Pledge — a cam-
paign by Bill Gates and W arren Buffett —
committing to donate to charity at least half
2,000
of his personal fortune.
And therefore, when he gave that interview,
there was no reason for anyone to suspect that
his empire could come crashing down. Least
of all, because someone handling the Twitter
handle of a boutique research firm in Califor-
nia decided to be a tease.
Chinese Proverb
On August 6, 2019, Muddy Waters teased on
Twitter a report on a UK-based investment
firm it was going to release the following day:
“Muddy Waters is now in a blackout period
until tomorrow 8 am London time when we
will announce a new short position on an ac-
counting fiasco that’s potentially insolvent
and possibly facing a liquidity crunch. Inves-
tors are bulled up about this company, we
are not.”
Muddy Waters (named after the Chinese
proverb, “Muddy waters mak e it easy to
catch fish”, not the blues singer) is a contro-
versial research firm run by short-seller Car-
son Block, who has made a name exposing
accounting frauds in Chinese public compa-
nies. He shot to fame in 2011 w hen he issued a
report accusing Canada-listed Chinese plan-
tation operator Sino Forest of overstating its
timber holdings. The stock t anked 78% in
days, and billionaire hedge fund manager
John Paulson lost $110 million. That’s when
Wall Street first took note of the new kid on
the block. Short-sellers like him bet on the
price of a stock going down. Block typically
takes a short position on a stock before re-
leasing a report and makes money when a
stock gets hammered. The conflict of interest
is clearly declared on its website. His line of
work generates such heat that he doesn’t dis-
close his location and has spoken about re-
ceiving death threats.
But on that day in August, when Muddy Wa-
ters tweeted that it would release a report
about an accounting fiasco at a London-listed
firm, Block noticed an interesting develop-
ment: the stock of NMC Health dropped.
“We had tweeted in advance an innocuous
comment about our intention to initiate a
campaign the next day on an unnamed Lon-
don listed firm. NMC happened to drop sig-
nificantly on the tweet. That’s a pretty strong
indication that the market knows something
isn’t right at the compan y, so w e took a
look….” Block told ET Ma gazine in an
emailed response.
What they found was not pretty.
Khalifa Bin Butti,
chairman of KBBO Group,
which was one of the biggest
BR Shetty shareholders of NMC Health
NMC ON LSE cover story
Rise and fall of NMC Health stock
on London Stock Exchange (£) APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
2,585
Dec 16, 2019
A day before
Muddy Waters
2,469 published its
report on NMC
Health, flagging
serious chairman of NMC Health in February and is
irregularities now facing criminal charges in Abu Dhabi al-
legedly for fraud and forgery.
Trading in the NMC stock was suspended in
London in February. It had fallen b y more
than 60% from the levels that prevailed just
Trading in ahead of the report (November 26). The
1,500 NMC American Depositary Receipt — a stock-
Health equivalent instrument traded on Nasdaq
shares — of the stock has lost 98.99% of its value
suspended from November 26.
on LSE NMC reportedly owes money to over 80
financial institutions. On March 24, NMC
Feb 27, 2020 Health informed the LSE that the group’s
1,000
938.4
MUDDY WATERS’
REPORT
Excerpts from Muddy Waters’ report
700 on NMC Health, dated Dec 17, 2019:
500 Feb 07, 2020
“At the worst of times, the company
has invested in large assets at costs
that we find too high to be plausible –
including from parties we believe are
de facto under common control. This
behaviour gives rise to concerns
about fraudulent asset values and
theft of company assets.”
0
Oct 25, 2019 Feb 27, 2020 “NMC’s reported cash balances show
two red flags that indicate they could
be materially overstated... We
House of Cards believe... NMC materially
When Muddy Waters released a damning re- underreports its rejection rate for
port four months later, on December 17, it set reimbursement, thereby inflating its
off a chain of events that has stunned UAE. reported margin.”
NMC Health, the first company Shetty start-
ed, stands accused of falsifying accounts and “In our view, NMC also deliberately
faces charges of fraud. A private investigation understated its debt by
revealed it might have understated its debt by approximately $320 million as of FY
$4.5 billion in 2019. Shetty’s financial services 2018.”
firm Finablr, an L SE-listed enterprise that
owns the remittance firm UAE Exchange, has “Each of these problems would be
discovered that $100 million worth of cheques less likely to exist if NMC had
were issued from the company without the sufficient governance. In our view, it
board’s knowledge. Top executives at both falls well short.”
firms have either resigned or been sacked.
LSE has suspended trading in the stock of both “We are unsure how deep the rot at
the companies. NMC Health has been placed NMC goes, but we do not believe that
in administration. Shett y himself step ped its insiders or financials can be
down as dir ector and joint non- executive trusted.”
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Those who are involved in the NMC Health corporate saga
Saeed Bin Butti
Al Qubaisi,
chairman, Centurion
Prasanth Promoth Carson Block,
Investments, once the biggest Manghat, Manghat, Short-seller and founder of
shareholder in NMC Health CEO, NMC Health Group CEO, Finablr Muddy Waters Research
13
“Shetty was one of the people
Indians (in UAE) turned to for help,
and he invariably helped them”
TP Sreenivasan, former Indian ambassador to the UAE
debt was estimated to be $6.6 billion, com-
prising “over 75 debt facilities from over 80
financial institutions”. According to court
filings reported by Bloomberg in April, NMC
owes Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB)
$963 million, Dubai Islamic Bank $541 mil-
lion, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank $325 million,
Standard Chartered $250 million and Bar-
clays $146 million.
At the age of 77, Shetty finds himself grap-
pling with problems so severe they threaten to
obliterate everything he built from scratch
over four decades, and irreparably besmirch
his legacy.
Shetty flew to India in February, a journey
he says he undertook to care for his ailing el-
der brother, who has since passed away. He
told ET Magazine that he will share “very good
news” soon, though not at the moment, and
declined to comment further. (He did not re-
spond to a detailed questionnaire sent by ET
Magazine over email and WhatsApp.) Previ-
ously, he said in a st atement that he had
launched his own legal and forensic investiga-
tions and would share the results with appro-
priate authorities. “I am absolutel y deter-
mined to bring to light the full facts, and the
whole truth around what has transpired as
soon as possible,” he had said.
The developments have left many aghast.
After all, in the pantheon of Indian expatriate
gods in the Gulf region, Shetty was high up
there. Perhaps nowhere is this consternation
felt more keenly than in coastal Karnataka,
where he hails from, and for whom he had be-
come a symbol of pride and possibility.
The Boy From Kapu
“I’m very surprised and very sorry. He is a
very simple man. I’m sure he hasn’t done any
golmaal,” says M Mohan Alva, chairman of
Alva’s Educ ation Foundation in Da kshina
Kannada district, who has known Shetty since
the 1970s. Belonging to the Tulu- speaking
Bunt community of coastal Karnataka, Shetty
grew up in a modest but well-respected farm-
ing family in Kapu in Udupi district, alongside
three brothers and three sisters.
Like his father before him, Shetty, too, suc-
cessfully contested elections to the Udupi Mu-
nicipal Council in his 20s. While his father was
a Congressman and freedom fighter, Shetty
contested on a ticket from the Jan Sangh, the
predecessor of the Bharati ya Janata Party.
Among those w ho c ampaigned for the
26-year-old candidate was former prime min-
ister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while the Congress
was led by Indira Gandhi. “I was a very dy-
namic boy during those days and... Vajpayee,
who was a gifted orator, was moving through
our area and I used to drive him in my car,”
Shetty told The Organiser, the RSS mouth-
piece, in a 2018 interview. The Jan Sangh
trounced the Congress in the election of 1968,
winning 12 of 15 seats. When his term ended,
Shetty was elected a second time, and bec ame
vice-president of the council. The ties with the
Jan Sangh and then the BJP have endured —
Shetty was one of the main org anisers of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu
Dhabi and his display picture on WhatsApp is
a photo of himself with the PM.
14 cover story FROM UDUPI TO
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020 BURJ KHALIFA
How Shetty Became a Billionaire

1 9 4 2 Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty

“It’s unbelievable that such a god- is born in Kapu, Udupi
fearing, honest person should 1 9 6 8 Elected to Udupi Municipal
have met with such a fate” Council as Jan Sangh candidate
Soorya Krishnamoorthy,
founder, Soorya Stage & Film Society 1 9 7 3 Arrives in Abu Dhabi,
begins work as medical
representative

1 9 7 5 Opens New Medical Centre,

a clinic. Chandrakumari Shetty,
his wife, is its first doctor

1 9 8 0 Launches UAE
Exchange for expatriates to
remit money back home

1 9 8 1 Establishes NMC Trading, to decided to open a private clinic, though the

Back in the 1970s, Shetty, who had quali-
fied as a pharmacist, had become a distribu-
tor for a Pune-based pharmaceutical compa-
ny in Udupi. But because he spent most of his
time in politic s, his business suffer ed. So
much so that he had to take a personal loan to
fund his sister’s wedding. That loan, sanc-
tioned by Syndicate Bank’s
then managing director KK
Pai, as Shetty has mentioned WHAT NMC
many times, played a crucial
role in his fortunes. With little
OWES
money and a debt to r epay, Abu Dhabi
Shetty decided that he had no Commercial Bank
choice but to look for greener
pastures elsew here. Lik e $963 mn
many young men those days,
his various companies. An employee with
Shetty’s money r emittance firm U AE Ex-
change in Abu Dhabi, who requested not to
be named, told ET Magazine on the phone
that for anyone from Mangaluru and Udupi
who dreamt of finding a job in W est Asia,
Shetty would be the first port of call.
Opportunities of a Lifetime
While Shetty embraced the trap-
pings of wealth — he owns a fleet
of Rolls-Royces, a private jet and
two whole floors in the Burj Khal-
ifa — he never tried to hide his
humble origins. The arc of how a
struggling Shetty made it big is a
familiar one of har d work, the
market and distribute goods in
multiple sectors, across UAE
2 0 0 3 Launches
pharmaceutical manufacturer
Neopharma in Abu Dhabi
2 0 0 5 Gets the Order of Abu Dhabi,
the government’s highest civilian
honour
2 0 1 0 Takes possession of
two floors on the Burj Khalifa
in Dubai
2 0 1 2 NMC Health becomes
the first Abu Dhabi company
to list on LSE, raises
government was offering free healthcare.
But Shetty smelt an opportunity and opened
a clinic and a pharmacy in a two-room apart-
ment, calling it New Medical Centre (NMC).
The first doctor was his wife, Chandraku-
mari Shetty. Alva says Shetty never shied
away from hard work, even driving the am-
bulance on occasion. NMC
Health has gone on to become
a healthcare giant, employing
over 2,000 doctors across 45
hospitals.
His ne xt big op portunity
came five years later, inspired
by the long queues of migrant
workers lining up to send
money back home. In 1980, he
launched money remittance
firm U AE E xchange, w hich
charged less than banks at
that time and grew to become
a market leader, eventually
expanding to 8 50 dir ect

he decided to seek his fortune Dubai Islamic Bank
in the newly formed United
Arab Emirates. $541 mn
Though he left years ago,
Alva says the r egion i s still Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank India’s ambassador to the UAE
very close to hi s heart, and
Shetty and hi s family make $325 mn
multiple visits a year. “He is a
very simple man. If you call Standard Chartered
him for a famil y func tion
here, he will come,” sa ys $250 mn
Alva. Shetty, he says, contin-
ues to drop in at old haunts Barclays
like Diana H otel in U dupi,
where he likes to dig into gad-
$146 mn
Source: Court filings
bad, a man y-layered ice -
reported in the media
cream the c ity and neigh-
bouring regions are famous
for. When he was looking for a suitable alli-
ance for his son, Binay, CEO of the holding
company BRS V entures In vestment, he
turned to Alva to help find a “simple, homely
girl” from the region, says Alva. (He obliged,
and the wedding took place inMangaluru in
2017, attended by the then CM Siddaramaiah
and a galaxy of leaders.)
Shetty has earned much goodwill in the
area by recruiting many of its youngsters to
“We weren’t surprised that there
was more debt at NMC than
reported. We just didn’t know how
massive the fraud was.”
Carson Block, Chief Investment Officer, Muddy Waters
right connections and the knack
to spot an opportunity. “He
would talk freely about his hum-
ble origins,” says TP Sreenivasan,
between 2013 and 2016, who has
met him on sev eral occasions.
“He used to enjoy talking about
how he achieved his success, and
encourage others.”
In his telling, Shetty landed in
Abu Dhabi in 1973, with $8 (`56
then) and a bag, which got sto-
len. Unable to find a government
job since he did not speak Ara-
bic, he hustled his way into a job
selling medic ines, becoming
what he calls the country’s first
outdoor medical representative. Returning
from a hot, hard day’s work, Shetty would
wash the shirt he was wearing, dry it over-
night and then wear it again the ne xt day,
when he set out with a Samsonite bag full of
medicines, which he still keeps as a reminder
of difficult times. Ever the consummate sales-
man, he also began selling FMCG for a com-
mission.
His first big gamble came in 1975, when he
$187 mn
2 0 1 7 Announces he will
produce a `1,000 crore film on the
Mahabharata; project shelved later
2 0 1 8 Group sets up Finablr as
holding company for UAE Exchange
and UK-based Travelex
2 0 1 9 Finablr lists on LSE,
raises $400 mn in May IPO
2 0 1 9 Muddy Waters publishes a
report on NMC Health, raising
several red flags
2 0 2 0 Shetty resigns as
chairman of NMC Health and
from the board of Travelex;
authorities suspend trading in
NMC and Finablr, and NMC is
placed in administration
AP R IL 2 0 2 0 Shetty, currently in
India, says he came to his country
of birth for “personal reasons” and
will return to UAE after flight
restrictions are lifted
Source: Company website, media reports
branches in 31 countries. Sub-
sidiaries such as Xpress Mon-
ey ha ve larg er footprints.
Shetty has said that what set
his firm apart was personalised service. It
also kept up with technological advance-
ments, becoming one of the first to offer
SWIFT transactions, enabling the speedy
transfer of money across borders. The vari-
ous finance companies were later brought
under the umbrella of Finablr.
Then, in 2003, Shetty set up Neopharma,
a pioneering pharmaceutical manufacturing
venture with a state-of-the-art plant in Abu
Dhabi. One of the company’s first joint ven-
tures was with B engaluru-headquartered
Biocon, struck in 2007. “When we met, Shet-
ty said why don’t we set up a joint venture in
Abu Dhabi, which I thought was a very good
idea. So we formed Neobiocon, which has
done very well as a joint venture,” says Bio-
con chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. The
latest developments and the allegations of
fraud, she says, came as a shock, adding that
there was no concern about her joint ven-
ture, in which Shetty has the majority stake.
“The financial dealings of our joint venture
are very transparent.”
 SPRAWLING EMPIRE
After starting a small clinic in Abu
Dhabi in 1975, Shetty built a
business empire that spans
healthcare, finance,
pharmaceuticals, marketing
and distribution
NMC Health
UAE’s largest private
healthcare provider
Revenue:
$2.1 bn in 2018
Listed in London
in 2012
BR Shetty holds 5%,
BRS International 9.8%
As Shetty’s businesses expanded along
with the oil boom in the Gulf, his stock rose
considerably in the Indian community and
among the Emirati rulers. He was awarded
the Order of Abu Dhabi by the government
there in 2005, which he is always seen wear-
ing, pinned to his lapel. A Padma Shri in India
followed in 2009. Over the years, Shetty has
been increasing his business interests in India
— acquisitions include the 180-year-old Assam
Company, Mumbai’s Seven Hills H ospital,
which was facing insolvency proceedings,
and hospitals in Kerala and Odisha.
Former ambassador Sreenivasan says Shet-
ty was one of the people Indian expatriates
turned to for help. “And he invariably helped.
One has known him as a person generous in
supporting community causes and many or-
ganisations b enefited f rom hi s l argesse.”
Shetty, he says, did not hesitate to accept invi-
tations to events though he knew many of
these would translate into requests for help.
Soorya Krishnamoorthy, founder of the
long-running Soorya Festival of arts and cul-
ture, has similar anecdotes about Shetty’s
generosity. “He has been a patron for the
last 30 years. It was his way of supporting
the arts,” says Krishnamoorthy, based in
Thiruvananthapuram. “While I was head-
ing the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, I
had launched a `1 lakh insurance plan for
artistes in Kerala. What many do not know
is that Shetty paid the premium for all the
artistes, about 6,000 of them, for the six
years that I held the post,” says Krishna-
moorthy w ho, lik e others w ho ha ve
known Shetty well, expresses disbelief at
the recent turn of events.
While this gesture might have slipped
under the radar, other flamboyant ones
have made headlines. Lik e the time he
jumped on stage after a concert by singer KJ
Yesudas and offered him the keys to his Rolls-
Royce, because he was so moved by the per-
formance. A few other grandiose announce-
ments have come to naught, like his intent to
launch a `450 crore tourism project around
the Jog falls in his home state. The biggest of
them was perhaps his announcement that he
Finablr Neopharma
Contract manufacturer for Pfizer,
Includes brands UAE Exchange,
Xpress Money, Travelex Merck, Boots UK, etc
Revenue: Estimated revenue:
$1.5 bn in 2018 $88 mn (year NA)
Listed in London in 2018 Operates in over 50 countries
BRS Investment Holdings has 65% Privately held
NMC IN FREE FALL
Feb 10: NMC Health says Shetty will
be removed from board discussions
after it was revealed that he
misreported his stake
Feb 17: BR Shetty quits as
chairman
Feb 27: Firm fires CEO
Prasanth Manghat, trading
of shares suspended, UK’s
Financial Conduct Authority
begins probe
Mar 11: Advisors discover $2.7 bn
of debt, in addition to $2.1 bn
declared earlier
Mar 24: Company revises debt
estimate to $6.6 bn, owed to over
80 financial institutions
April 9: On a plea from creditor
ADCB, UK court places NMC Health
in administration
April 15: ADCB initiates criminal
proceedings against individuals
linked to NMC Health; Khaleej Times
reports that they include Shetty,
Manghat and the bin Buttis
When Muddy Waters
tweeted it would release a
report about an accounting
fiasco at a London-listed
firm, Block noticed a
development: the stock of
NMC Health dropped
cover story
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
NMC Trading
Marketing and
distribution company in
multiple sectors
Estimated revenue:
$545 mn in 2018
Works with brands such
as Pfizer, 3M,
Nestle, Samsung,
Siemens
Privately held
would spend `1,000 crore on a film basedon
an interpretation of the Mahabharata by writ-
er MT Vasudevan Nair. It never took off.
The Brothers from Kerala
Shetty was first noted internation-
ally with the 2012 IP O of NMC
Health. The company reported
revenues of over $2 billion in
2018. Finablr, the umbrella com-
pany for various finance compa-
nies including U AE E xchange,
also listed on the LSE in May 2019,
although its success was more muted.
Behind both the IPOs were two brothers
from Palakkad, Kerala, who had risen through
the ranks to become part of Shetty’s inner cir-
cle. At the time of the listings, Prasanth Man-
ghat was CFO of NMC Health while younger
brother Promoth Manghat was CEO of UAE
Exchange and executive director of Finablr.
The Manghats joined Shetty’s empire in 2003
and rose to be counted among Shetty’s most
trusted lieutenants. In 201 7, when Shett y
stepped down as CEO of NMC Health, Pras-
anth, then the deputy CEO, was elevated to
the role. The businessman had for long em-
ployed many people from Kerala — over 70%
of his employees, he had said, laughing, in an
interview, were Malayalis. The bond g oes
back to his early days when the community
of Malayalis had supported him, in-
cluding people lik e MK Abdullah,
uncle of LuLu Group founder MA
Yusuff Ali.
What Lies Ahead
Events have unfolded rapidly at Shet-
ty’s companies following the 2019 Mud-
dy Waters report. While its report focussed
on accounting issues at NMC without quan-
tifying them, what has subsequently been
revealed might ha ve come as a surpri se
even to Block, who is accused of suspecting
the worst about his target companies.
As the stock continued to tank in January
2020 despite vehement denials, the company
appointed Freeh Group, headed by a former
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) director,
to investigate the charges. The probe found
that unknown to the board and the stock mar-
ket, the company had entered into a $335 mil-
lion financing arrangement with entities con-
trolled by Shetty and another main s hare-
holder, Khaleefa Bin Butti. Ther e was also
confusion about how much stake each share-
holder owned, with the company revealing
that a few principal shareholders had “mis-
stated” their stake. CEO Manghat was fired
after the discovery of the sec ret loan, and
15
Royal Catering
Catering and hospitality services
Estimated revenue:
$78.5 mn in 2017
Official caterer for Abu Dhabi
Formula 1, FIFA Club
World Cup
Privately held
Source: Dun & Bradstreet, companies
“This is a world-class
fraud and the
management and board
members should be held
accountable”
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, chairman, UAE
Banks Federation, at a press conference
Shetty stepped down in February.
At the same time, Finablr, which had ini-
tially hoped it would be ring-fenced from the
goings-on at NMC, found it had troubles of its
own after di scovering that undi sclosed
cheques worth $100 million had been issued
to fund third-party borrowing. It was also re-
vealed that Shetty had pledged stake in both
NMC H ealth and Finablr as collateral for
loans. Perhaps the most damaging of all was
the revelation in March that NMC Health’s ac-
tual debt was $6.6 billion, far higher than the
$2.1 billion it had initially revealed. Creditors
have now moved against the top manag e-
ment, with ADCB filing a criminal case report-
edly against Shetty and Prasanth Manghat,
among others. “It’s not surprising that NMC is
in administration given that the real debt is ap-
proximately 3.5x the reported amount... We
hope that the admini strator c an save the
sound operational elements of the business.
It is important that those who are responsible
for this massive fraud are held to account,”
says Block.
The Manghat brothers are reportedly in In-
dia but this could not be verified. They have
not made any public statements.
Efforts are underway in the emirate to sal-
vage NMC, even as the region battles a grow-
ing coronavirus challenge. Abu Dhabi wealth
fund Mubadala Investment Company was
weighing an investment in NMC, Bloomberg
reported last month. Shetty said in a state-
ment previously that he would return to Abu
Dhabi once flight restrictions were lifted.
If he once left Kapu to repay a loan, he now
has to make that journey again, to fulfil mas-
sive obligations across the Arabian Sea.
This time, the emirate’s law enforcement
might be watching closely. 
indulekha.aravind@timesgroup.com
16 biz watch
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
SURVIVAL
GAME
As the Covid-induced lockdown tests the
business models of most startups, some are
being inventive in the face of a crisis
:: Shelley Singh
T
he ability to cope with uncertainty is coded into
the DNA of startups. Yet, even the most motivated
and hardy of the young lot would not have dreamt
of navigating a contagion-driven situation preva-
lent today. The only way they can survive these
taxing times is by finding their trait to w
t eak offer-
ings and alter paths quickly — of course, that is if
they have the money to ride out this coronavirus
pandemic.
Take Bengaluru-based Furlenco. It can’t run
operations because of the lockdown, says Ajith
Mohan Karimpana, founder and CEO of the on-
line furniture startup. Yet, the company not only
raised $10 million on April 2, but has also shown
resilience in a severely disrupted economy. Its
subscription model that covers 100,000 custom-
ers has kept the cash registers ringing, though it
has not been able to add to the user base. “One
can never plan for scenarios such as Covid-19. Be-
sides, business continuity planning was never a
term for startups,” adds Karimpana. That term is
mostly associated with established companies
than young startups, which focus more on being
adept and agile to deal with changes quickly.
In late 2019, startups were focusing on being
agile as investments were drying up after a fiasco
at WeWork: the SoftBank-funded coworking com-
pany that was touted as “the next Alibaba” lost
nearly 80% of its valuation in less than ayear and
had to shelve its IPO plans after being battered by
reports of poor governance issues. Valuable les-
sons on unit economics and profitability from this
incident would have helped startups deal with
2020 in a better wa y, if not for the nightmar e
called Covid-19.
Suddenly, startups that were looking for growth
avenues were scrambling for ways to survive. The
smart ones, however, have learnt to adapt.
Delhi-based A tom Dr ones, w hich uses its
drones to provide mapping services, has now cus-
tomised four of its dozen-odd flying machines to
fumigate streets in Covid-19 hotspots like Niza-
muddin, Delhi. The modified machines can carry
up to 10 litres of a disinfectant and spray it across
a wide area. Zomato is doing contact-less delivery
and has extended its subscription-based dining-
out membership. Portea, which usually has cli-
ents calling for physiotherapy sessions, is offering
chemotherapy at homes as people acn’t go to hos-
pitals. Revv is offering its fleet for free to health-
care workers. Dunzo is delivering essentials and
doing last-mile delivery for companies like Britan-
nia Industries.
These are just a handful of startups that have
customised their offerings to ensure they can stay
above the water while providing much-needed
services at the hour of crisis.
Online on-demand service provider Housejoy
is using its plumbers, elec tricians, carpenters,
mechanics and other personnel to deliver essen-
tials to senior c itizens. “All of them ha ve two-
wheelers and so we are helping with last-mile de-
livery for senior citizens,” says founder & CEO
Sanchit Gaurav. “We have also trained our staff to
fumigate public areas.” It has tied up with local
authorities in Bengaluru for fumigation. The start-
up has two service lines — providing at-home ser-
vices and construction. The former can’t function
now as the staff can’t move around and the latter
Investment Crash
The January-March quarter of 2020
recorded the lowest levels of private
equity investments in the last 30 months
Investment ($bn) 12.1
9.78
9.15
7.7
5.71
Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar
2019 2019 2019 2019 2020
Source: Venture Intelligence
can’t execute projects till the lockdown is lifted.
“Even after the lockdown is lifted, it might take Snake &
about four months for things to get back to nor- Ladder
mal,” says Gaurav.
Such has been the impact of the lockdown that
Q1 (January-March) of 2020 recorded the lowest
levels of private equity investments in the past 30
months. From $9.5 billion in Q4 of 2019, invest-
ments have dropped to $5.71 billion in Q1 of calen- Tough Days
dar 2020. Some startups in areas such as edutech, Ahead For
online gaming, collaboration or healthcare might  Startups in travel
be better off. But those in early stages will face dif-
ficult choices. Sanjeev Krishan, partner & leader-  Those with linkages
deals, P wC India, sa ys, “Even in the normal to US, Europe markets
course of business, startups face a high degree of
 B2B ventures,
uncertainty. That has got compounded with Cov-
as clients check
id-19. Their business models will be tested a lot
more.”
spendings
No wonder they are looking for engagement  Those selling
with customers even if they have to deviate from non-essential goods
their usual course of business. Take the case of
Bengaluru-based B2B HungerBox. The food tech  Startups with
venture caters to around 500 cafeterias or food challenging unit
courts in offices. But all of them are shut now. So economics
HungerBox has absorbed some of the st aff from its
food vendors and deployed them at offices that
the government has categorised as critical func-
tions and are not shut.
Sandipan Mitra, CEO and cofounder , says,
“When you know the business si going off the rails Opportunities
for two weeks, 20 days or two months, you can Looking Up For
plan accordingly. But with Covid-19, it is extremely
difficult to engage in business planning according  Startups in edtech,
to the usual convention.” HungerBox is also serv- healthcare, cloud, AI &
ing free meals to local communities where it oper- business applications
ates and trying to help its food partners. Mitra
 Startups catering to
adds, “If there is disruption on the consumption
side, as is the case now, it puts off the entir
e supply
essential, daily needs
chain. We are keen to support our partners, so  Last-mile delivery
they can keep the lights on.” firms
A big challenge for these ventures is to find a
way to cut costs during this uncertain phase. An-  Cloud kitchens
kur Pahwa, partner, EY, says, “Discretionary  OTT, social and
spending sectors will have to figure out a way to
gaming platforms

Sailing in
Stormy Seas
Things startups are doing
during the lockdown
Atom Drones is using its
drones to fumigate streets
Dunzo is delivering
essentials and doing last-
mile delivery
for
companies
like
Britannia
myUpchar is creating lot of
health content to keep
people aware of Covid-19
Portea is offering
chemotherapy sessions
at home
Revv is offering its fleet
free for healthcare workers
ScripBox is doingwebinars
to keep investors calm
Zomato has contact-less
delivery, and has extended
the subscription time for
Gold members
“It will be a different
new normal when
the lockdown is over.
This is a big turning
point for outside-
hospital care”
Meena Ganesh, MD & CEO,
Portea Medical
“It has been busier than ever for
us. We have been
busy assuring
customers that it is
not the time to
exit”
Atul Shinghal,
founder & CEO, Scripbox
build a revenue stream. While they may not get
new funding, it is a good time to stay in touch with
existing investors in case the companies need to
be bailed out.”
Most startups want to protect jobs and also help
their partners. But how long can they do it re-
mains to be seen. Some are walking a tightrope.
Milk Mantra, a B2C venture supplying milk and
dairy products to customers, si taking it one day at
a time. “Balancing the top line and controlling
costs are like a daily mantra for us,” says Srikumar
Misra, founder. For some ventures, reassuring cli-
ents to stay on are a bigger priority now than ever.
A lot of people who invest in mutual funds have
become jittery due to volatility in the stock mar-
kets. Atul Shinghal, founder and CEO of Scrip-
box, says, “It has been busier than ever for us.
We have been busy assuring customers that it is
not the time to exit. This also reinforces that time
in the market is more important than timing.”
Shinghal and his team at Scripbox, which focusses
on mutual funds , are conveying thi s t o their
70,000-plus users via webinars, blogging and do-
ing more scenario planning.
While startups are trying to figure out ways to
stay relevant, much will depend on the kind of
runway or cash they have
to sustain themselves. In
the absence of any sup-
port other than their own
venture investors, con-
serving cash could be the
best option. More so as
investors might be reluc-
tant to back v ery ear ly
stage companies as their
models are not tested. “In
the UK,” says PwC’s Kris- “Our
han, “the government is operations are
helping by absorbing
some o f t he e mployee
fully shut. But
costs by paying part sala- the power of
ries.” There i s no such subscription
backup here so far. has played out
Mitra of HungerBox for us”
says, “Now money will go
Ajith Mohan
into sustainable business-
Karimpana,
es rather than vanity ven-
tures. Sanity will replace
CEO, Furlenco
vanity.”
Even ventures in critical sectors such as health-
care, where the disruption is ostensibly little, have
had to rejig their offerings to stay relevant. These
companies are seeing a spurt in demand as most
hospitals have shut their outpatient departments.
Portea Medical, which primarily focussed on
physiotherapy and home care, is now catering to
demand for chemotherapy and delivering injec-
tions at home. The in-home-healthcare service
provider operates in 15 cities and has 4,000 nurs-
es and paramedics. Meena Ganesh, managing di-
rector & CEO, Portea Medical, says, “Covid-19 is a
big turning point for outside-the-hospital patient
care. There is increasing demand for oncologists,
dialysis at home and people are seeking critical
care at home.”
Another healthcare venture, myUpchar, which
claims to deliver medicines in remote areas to its
core customer base in tier-2 and -3 towns is creat-
ing health content in multiple languages in part-
biz watch 17
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
Oasis of Confidence
Some startups have managed to raise funds
even in these very challenging times
O
n April 7, online agr- ness that can show worthi-
itech startup DeHaat ness will g et funded. Our
raised $ 12 m illion. fundraising was in the
The Series A funding round works for a quarter.”
for a company that con- Food delivery apps Swig-
nects small farmers with gy and Zomato also attract-
suppliers of farm inputs and ed cheques of $5-10 million
equipment was led by ven- from a pool of investors.
ture c apital firm Seq uoia Cash is King Karimpana says Furlen-
Capital India, with co -in- Fund raised ($ mn) co’s monthly recurring rev-
vestment from Dutch devel- enue model makes it a lot
opment bank FMO. A week more resilient than others.
earlier, online furnitur e
Furlenco 10 Experts say ventures in food
subscription st artup Swiggy 43 tech will see a ri se in de -
Furlenco closed a $10 mil- mand as people in lock -
lion funding r ound. The Zomato 5 down will lead to increased
startup run by Kieraya Fur- home deli very or ders.
nishing Solutions raised this MedGenome 55 “Stickiness is high for some
capital via a mix of debt and of these v entures,” adds
equity funding. The equity DeHaat 12 Pahwa.
portion was from venture Besides, the crisis leads to
capital firm Lightbo x and Veritas Finance 46 more conscious spending
Dabur’s Sak et Burman, by st artups with a razor -
while it raised debt by issu- Vivriti Capital 50 sharp focus on unit eco -
ing non-convertible deben- Investments in last two months nomics and pr ofitable
tures to ultra-high net worth Source: Industry growth. DeHaat, for exam-
individuals. ple, plans to use its new
These two investments have come in the funds to expand reach to more than one mil-
midst of a Covid-19 lockdown, when several lion farmers by 2021 from 210,000 now.
Abhishek Mohan, VP, Sequoia Capital India,
startups are actually staring at an uncertain
future. Ankur Pahwa, partner at EY India, says, says, “Indian agriculture is on the brink of a
“The reality is that capital is going to be more massive transformation with ease of regula-
difficult to come by. Some of thesedeals would tion, famers getting organised and increased
have been in discussions about a quarter earli- smartphone penetration. DeHaatis leveraging
er and were announced now.” these trends to build the next-gen product in
Even if these talks had started a couple of agricultural supply chain.”
months ago, the fundraising speaks volumes These ventures are indeed staying positive,
about the investors’ confidence in the ventures looking ahead and clearly stand out in times
in the face of severe disruption. Ajith Mohan when many peers are starring at a bleak future.
Karimpana, CEO of Furlenco, says, “Any busi- — Shelley Singh
nership with doctors. It is also running home ter the government indicated that cross-border
sample collection facilities across 30 cities. Rajat investments would be subject to approvals. The
Garg, cofounder, myUpchar, says, “Our goal is to order came amid worries that investors from Chi-
grow 10x in the next few months.” na could lap up Indian companies cheapl y as valu-
Helping out communities is great. So is chang- ations are down due to the disruption. According
ing tracks to divert workforce — like to a recent report by Mumbai-based
engaging electricians to do last-mile foreign polic y think t ank Gateway
delivery or shifting from B2B to House, 18 of India’s 30 unicorns
B2C models — in times of need. are funded by Chinese compa-
But all these are short-term strate- nies. Overall, Chinese tech com-
gies. panies and funds led by Alibaba,
“This NGO -type focus w on’t ByteDance and T encent ha ve
help startups,” says Pahwa of EY. funded 92 Indian st artups, in-
“They will ha ve to find wa ys to cluding unicorns such as Paytm,
build r evenue str eams.” Some Byju’s Ola, Zomato and Oyo.
ventures lik e ride -sharing will “This NGO-type That apart, there are plenty of
bounce back q uickly after lock - focus of startups other challenges across the start-
down, while those dependant on won’t help. They up land scape. Mitra r eckons,
subscribers might as k for di s- “Once we emerge out of this situ-
will have to find
counts to keep using services. ation, the mantra will be breake-
Pahwa sees consolidation ahead
ways to build ven and companies that have a
and some ventures even shutting revenue streams” very definite road to profitability
down. Ankur Pahwa, partner, EY will thrive.” Startups whose path
Some like Ganesh, however, see to profitability is very long and
not well articulated will struggle.
this as an opportunity to start new lines of busi-
ness. “It will be a different new normal when the For startups, which by their very nature cope
lockdown is over,” she says. with an uncertain future, Covid-19 presents the
Apart from changing models, startups could see toughest test of their ability to survive. 
some slowdown in the flow of Chinese money, af- shelley.singh@timesgroup.com
18 food & drink
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
Flour Power
Pakoda
Why the humble besan can be the
pantry staple, the ingredient of choice
for everyone, in this lockdown
:: Anoothi Vishal
A
part from being a Sufi and a poet , Bahadur
Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, was
quite a gourmet. Despite his feeble consti-
tution and an enfeebled treasury, he ap-
parently took pride in his table and was so
fond of eating that heonce fell ill after con-
suming a dozen mangoes all at once. His
daily bread, however, as Persian scholar
Salma Husain records in her bookThe Em-
peror’s Table, was the besani — an unleav-
ened, flat roti made with besan
and milk, on a hot iron tawa.
Besan or chickpea flour
is an ingr edient whose
versatility lends itself to
hundreds of dishes for
kings and paupers alike.
During the lockdown, it
can be the pantry staple,
the ingredient of choice
for everyone — from those
Bahadur zealously trying to follow glu-
Shah Zafar ten-free diets to those merely looking
for cheaper protein; from those looking
for foods with lower glycemic index to
those craving oily pakodas or sugary des-
serts. It is astonishing that despite having
been on the emperor’s table and being so
pervasive, we talk so little about it.
The farinata is much like our own chilla, but baked.
The story goes that Roman soldiers roasted
chickpeas on their swords for the flour
Besan laddoo
Kadhi
Despite its Central Asian origins, chick-
peas have been in India for a very long
time and “chanaka” finds mention in ear-
ly Buddhist texts, of around 400 BC, ac-
cording to food historian KT Achaya. We
don’t know when exactly the flour of sun-
dried (or, later, roasted) chana gained cur-
rency. But we do know that the kadhi,
where besan is mixed with yoghurt and
tempered with asafoetida, came about in
its present form only in the late medieval
period in western India.
The kadhi today is a dish that unites the
Indian subcontinent, with almost every
region having its own version, including
not just the best-known Sindhi, Gujarati,
Punjabi or UP versions or even the mor
kuzhambu from Tamil Nadu, but also
lesser known dishes like the Hazara kadhi
cooked with chicken and kaddu, or Hary-
anvi kadhi cooked with kachri, a wild
berry, or bathua greens in winters.
The kadhi may have originated from
besan’s use as a thickener of watery gra-
vies. E arly Mughal meat gra vies were
thickened with almond paste. Chickpea
flour may have been a latter-day, cheaper
substitute, and thi s idea of thick ening
with besan may have eventually found
Farinata
Besan ke sev
connected by trade for
centuries.
If health y
snacks are not
what you seek,
the pakoda, coat-
ed in besan, i s a
quick way to satiate
your craving for some-
thing salt y and deep -
fried. In the da ys before
ecommerce and easy availa-
bility of r eady-to-eat foods on
retail shelves, besan was on many gro-
cery lists as an all-purpose flour. Should
sudden guests arrive, onion or potato pa-
kodas could always be made.
uses in dishes such as the kadhi. (The an- Home cooks also made fried namkeens
cient “kadha” dishes, as mentioned by such as besan ke sev and papdi and stor ed
Charaka, A chaya notes, w ere mer ely these for long periods of time. Similarly,
sour, soupy dishes using ingredients like besan laddoo or besan barfi were easy-to-
wood apples and sorrel leaves, mixed make, easy-to-store sweets, whose richer
with curd). version is the Mysore pak, said to have
We see the use of besan as a thick ener been invented in the 1930s in the kitchen
even in a dish like the mohinga, the Bur- of Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the maharaja of
mese rice noodle and fish sauce soup, a Mysore, by a chef who was taken by sur-
popular breakfast in Myanmar. By the prise by visitors. He quickly added the
early 19th century, the moh- readily available besan
inga became a working- to ghee and sugar,
class dish, nutritious shaped it like a fudge
and filling, available and presented it to
throughout the the guests as
day in that region “Mysore pak”, or
as str eet food. pakwan, delic acy,
When immigrants from Mysore.
from Burma mo ved Mysore pak
Despite its overwhelm-
into eastern India during ing popularity in India, besan is
World War II, they seem to ha ve brought not an ingredient confined to the sub-
with them the ideas of both besan-thick - continent. It is sporadically used in the
ened m ohinga soup an d khao suey , south of France, Italy and even in South
originally just dry coconut- and cloves- America. All these regions have a crepe-
flavoured noodles ( you still get them like b aked d ish m ade w ith c hickpea
like this in Myanmar), and combined flour, water and olive oil (in Italy). The
these to give us the besan-soup version farinata, as it is called in Liguria, is much
of the khao suey that all of us in India like our own chilla, but baked. The story
recognise. goes that Roman soldiers roasted chick-
Besan, in fact, is also the ingredient for peas on their swords for the flour! The
the shan tofu from south- farinata can be seasoned with rosemary
ern Burma, w hich i s or just sea salt , and eaten on its o wn.
made not from soybean Once in Turin, w hen I tried it , it was
at all. Instead, chickpea served with basil pesto. It brought back
flour, turmeric, stock memories of besan ka chilla served with
and water are cooked to- mint chutney on hot summer mornings
gether, thickened, set in as a filling breakfast when the household
trays and cut into cubes. had run out of sliced maida bread. It had
If this reminds you of Gu- seemed a heavier breakfast then, but it
jarati snacks lik e the was certainly healthy.
khandvi, well, the west Many types of flour are better than re-
and the east of the Indian fined wheat. Besan tops my list.
subcontinent have been The writer looks at culinary trends & traditions

112 India
ONE-CLICK HELP
The app makes it easy for a user
to get help in an emergency
:: Shaurya Shubham
O
ne-stop-shop solutions ar e often
handy, just like the government’s 112
India app. It is pitched as an all-in-one
application that can be used to raise
an SOS alert with just a single tap in any emer-
gency — medical, fire or something else.
Developed as a part of the Government of In-
dia’s Emergency Response Support System ini-
tiative, the main agenda of the app is to make
the required support readily
available to c itizens in need.
This is done with the help of the
official response team and lo-
cal volunteers. That is right, the
app allows people to register
themselves as volunteers. The GET IT FOR:
service is currently operation-
al in 23 states and Union terri- Free on
tories and is available on both iOS,
Android
Android and iOS platforms.
To use the app, users need HIGHLIGHT:
to register themselves using
their phone number and OTP.
Multiple
Also, while registering as a emergency
volunteer, the app only asks services
for necessar y information
such as name, age and loca-
tion details. It also asks users to enter an emer-
gency contact’s details.
The app’s functionality is pretty simple. If the
emergency button is activated, it automatically
sends a user’s details and location to the local
emergency service departments and to nearby
volunteers. It also generates an automated call
to 112 — the state emergency control room — and
notifies the emergency contact.
112 India features a simple-to-use interface. It
has buttons for fire, medical, police and "Other"
at the bottom of the app and a Google Map with
a pin to pinpoint the location of the user. All the
four options have a single tap command execu-
tion, which means users just need to tap on the
button and the app knows what to do.
The app is responsive. We tried every option
and received a call from the state emergency
control room within a minute. irrespective of
the time. There are options for users to track
the progress of the emergency services deliv-
ered to a reported incident.
112 India is a go-to app for certain emergen-
cies. 
The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
tech talk 19
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020
Samsung Galaxy M31
POWERED UP FOR A LONG RUN
This year's first phone in the M series is a loaded device in the budget segment
:: Heena Gupta
S
amsung’s M series of smar tphones, The smartphone is not de -
launched first in 2019, is aimed at taking on signed for hardcore gaming
the offerings from the likes of Xiaomi and but it can handle casual gam-
Realme. ing very well. Multitasking on
The price-to-specs ratio was something that it is a cakewalk and the user
Samsung w anted to ad- interface is also pretty simple
dress and its latest smar t- and clean.
GET IT FOR:
phone in the series aims to The smartphone comes in
do the same. The Samsung Starts at two storage options — 64GB
Galaxy M31 i s the first `16,999 and 128GB. Users can also in-
smartphone in the M series stall a microSD card to further
to be launched this year. It
HIGHLIGHT:
expand storage space.
boasts of an impressive de- Impressive The highlights of Samsung Gal-
sign and display and looks a
lot like its predecessor, the
battery life axy M31 include a quad-camera
setup and a massive 6,000 mAh
Galaxy M30. battery. We were quite impressed
The M31 spor ts a 6 .4-inch full HD + with the battery performance of
AMOLED display with 2340x1080 pixel the smar tphone as it took us
resolution. To protect the di splay through one and a half days on a
from scratches, the company has single charge.
added a coating of Corning Goril- The c amera also performed
la Glass 3 on the device. The dis- quite well and we were satisfied
play is bright enough and also with the output of the images.
offers good visibility under di- Our personal favourite was
rect sunlight. Along with this, the mac ro c amera. It c ap-
the large display makes watch- tured images really well and
ing movies and playing games also offered an ample amount
an enjoyable experience. of details.
The smartphone is pow- At the st arting price of
ered by Samsung’s own Ex- `16,999, the Samsung Galaxy
y no s 961 1 p r o c e sso r, M31 comes with a lot of essen-
paired with 6GB of RAM. tial features. If you are looking
This combination man- for a complete package in the
ages to offer a smooth budget segment, then this device
and lag -free perfor - won’t disappoint you. 
mance. The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
Slap Kings
SLAP IT AWAY
The game, a global favourite in March,
comes across as a juvenile pastime
:: Aabhas Sharma
B
ecome the world’s best slapper” is the tag line of
Slap Kings. Now, no one would really want to be the
best slapper in the world, right? But this is a mobile
game that was the most popular in the w orld in
March. So we thought of checking it out to see h wat the fuss was
all about.
Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. Based on a controversial
Russian sport — more show, less sport — Slap Kings is all about
slapping your opponents hard and mercilessly till you knock
them out cold.
Each player gets three shots. There is a “slap-o-meter” that ap-
pears in the middle of the screen and you have to tap on it at the
right time to deliver a tight, hard slap. There is a health bar that
shows how soon you can be knocked out by an opponent. Some
additional features like Power Boosts are available for a limited
time. Defense Helmets can cushion some of the hardest slaps.
As you move up the rungs, the opponents get tougher and you million in March — certainly indi-
have to work harder to knock them out. You have to work on your cate that.
health bar — which can be improved by earning coins and We didn’t find it that good as it seems quite amateur-
by watching certain ads. Speaking of ads, there are plen- GET IT FOR: ish. The graphics are reasonably good for a game of this
ty of themin thegame. The power bar — the force you can Free on kind. But other than that, it is a silly game with extreme-
slap your opponent with — has to be increased every now ly cartoonish and juvenile acts. But, hey, if you want to
and then to emerge victorious.
Android, iOS become the world’s “best slapper”, then go ahead and
If you are comfortable with mobile gaming, then you HIGHLIGHTS: download (102MB) it. After all, it is free and might just
can become really good at this came in a couple of at- Easy to play help you slap away some monotony. 
tempts. Is it addictive? The number of downloads — 35.6 The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
 20 feel smart
APRIL 26-MAY 02, 2020

Madeleine Albright THIS WEEK,

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS BEYOND HEADLINES
THAT YEAR
A P R I L 2 6 - M AY 2

G E T T Y I M AG E
April 26, 1986
An explosion
at Chernobyl
nuclear power
plant leads to
the deaths of
tens of
thousands of
The former US Secretary of people across
State? Europe in the ensuing years due
Yes, of course. to the contamination. It was
considered the worst nuclear
She held that position some disaster in the world till 2011.
20 years back.
Yes. She served from 1997 to April 28, 2001
2001, during Bill Clinton's
American engineer
second term as US President.
and entrepreneur
What has she been up to Dennis Tito
now? becomes the
Many things, actually. first space
Including acting on television tourist ever
and being a part-time when he
drummer. Precisely what you wanted to know, were not aware of her funny side and
what has she been up to in the last 20 were really surprised when she mixed funds his own trip to the
years. humour in one of her speeches to International Space Station.
Oh really? Some politicians do love
to play the drums. good effect.
Oh yes, they do!
So she really acts now? April 29, 1980
Well, it is more like appearing as Isn’t that extreme? Now what about Film director
herself in television series. that drumming bit?
What else? Alfred Hitchcock —
She has taken the stage twice in the
If you really want to know, you will called the “master
She was quite a formidable past as a drummer — in 2011 and
have to read a book. of suspense” —
character back then, no? 2012. It made news at that time.
Intimidating. dies at the age
Which one? of 80.
In this book, she reveals that she can Old Albright seems to be quite a
Albright has just come out with her character. How old is she now?
be funny too.
third memoir. It is called Hell and
Other Destinations.
She is 82. And guess what, if asked April 30, 1975
Madeleine Albright with a sense of how she would like to be remembered, The Vietnam War comes to an
Hmm, a catchy name. What is it all humour. That is new. she says, I do not want to be
end after South Vietnam
Apparently, even her granddaughters remembered. I am here.
about? surrenders to the Soviet Union-
Text: Suman Layak
backed North Vietnam.

May 1, 1978
Hello! No Touching Naomi Uemura
becomes of the
first person to
Social distancing in the times of coronavirus has make people do away
reach the North
with the handshake greeting. While the namaste is an option, here are Pole in a solo
three forms of contactless greetings used in various parts of the world
Source: National Geographic

expedition
across the Arctic sea-ice. The
Japanese adventurer is also
credited with the first solo
ascent of Mount McKinley and
the first solo rafting of the
Amazon river.
May 2, 2011
Personnel of the US
Zambia Navy SEALS
The Kunda and Tumbuka ethnic groups use completes Operation
a traditional greeting that involves Thailand Neptune Spear, which
cupping their hands together and clapping This form or greeting involves a involves flying into
a couple of times. They also say Namaste with a bow of the head. If Pakistan
“mulibwanji (hello)” or “mwakabwanji you want to convey more respect, undetected and
(good morning)” along with it, depending then just bow deeper and place your killing Osama Bin Laden is his
Tibet on the time of the day. To convey more hands higher. Chest level for usual Abbottabad hideout.
A traditional greeting by the residents of the respect, they just add a squat. The lower greeting; face level for an elder or a
Source: onthisday.com, timeanddate.com
Himalayan plateau region involves sticking the tongue the squat, the more the respect. superior; hairline level for a monk;
out. According to Tibetan folklore, a cruel ninth- Among some groups, people say hello and thumbs at the top of your head Write to us with feedback
century king had a black tongue, so people stick out by placing a hand on one’s chest and if ever you see the King of Thailand. etmagazine@timesgroup.com
their tongues to show guests they are not like him. stomach and bending the legs slightly. Source: National Geographic

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