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mint primer
India’s economy
needs big dose of
health spending
BY PUJA MEHRA
The Covid-19 pandemic crisis is a reminder of the importance of
investing in the healthcare sector for any country. Mint examines how
India has fared on this front and what it can do to raise its health
expenditure as a percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
Health a low priority
India’s public health expenditure was just 1.29% of GDP in 2019-20. In 2018 too,
the country lagged behind BRICs peers as well as developed nations.
India’s (centre plus states) public
expenditure on health (as % of GDP)
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4
0 That livelihoods have been
2009-10
Source: National Health Profile 2019, Government
of India; CARE Ratings’ calculations Source: OECD, Conta-Satélite de Saúde
How much does India
1 spend on healthcare?
The total per capita government
spending on healthcare has nearly
doubled from ₹1,008 per person in
FY15 to ₹1,944 in FY20, but is still
low. The total expenditure by the
Centre and states for FY20 was
₹2.6 trillion, or 1.29% of GDP,
including establishment
expenditure comprising salaries,
gross budgetary support to various
institutions and hospitals and
transfers to states under centrally
sponsored schemes such as
Ayushman Bharat. Of the total
public expenditure, the Centre’s
share is 25%. Over the last five
years, the total public expenditure
on health has risen at 15% CAGR,
much of this due to pay hikes.
4 Can investing in health
boost the economy? 5
IMF has said in its annual Article
IV reports that India can boost its
human capital’s productivity by
investing in education and
healthcare. In 2018, it identified
poor public health as the 12th most
important hurdle for ease of doing
business, ahead of crime, tax
regulations and policy instability.
Health and working conditions are
a key recommendation in its
suggestions for labour market
reforms. The health sector creates
both high- and low-skill jobs and
can be used for pump-priming the
service and manufacturing sectors.
m MINT SHORT
Italian commune says no to mixed-sex shopping
AFP
feedback@livemint.com
CANONICA D’ADDA
M
en and women have the same
rights in the small municipality
of Canonica d’Adda in Italy’s
north —except when it comes to shop-
ping for food.
To lower the number of people in
supermarkets and reduce the risk of cor-
onavirus contagion, the mayor has
decreed that men and women will not
shop together.
“Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020
LIVEMINT.COM
DOLLAR
₹76.34
₹0.71
Public expenditure on health in 2018
(as % of GDP)
Japan
Brazil* 3.9
China 2.9
US
South Korea 4.8
Italy 6.5
UK 7.5
2019-20 Germany
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
Where does India
2 figure vis-à-vis others?
India’s total healthcare spending
(out-of-pocket and public), at 3.6%
of GDP, as per OECD, is way lower
than that of other countries. The
average for OECD countries in
2018 was 8.8% of GDP. Developed
nations—the US (16.9%), Germany
(11.2%), France (11.2%) and Japan
(10.9%)—spend even more. India
spends the least among BRICS
countries: Brazil spends the most
(9.2%), followed by South Africa
(8.1%), Russia (5.3%), China (5%).
With public healthcare
infrastructure stretched, out-of-
pocket expenditure in urban
centres is high in India. The
Centre spends less as public health
and sanitation are on the State list.
3 Why is India’s healthcare
expenditure so measly?
India has traditionally spent less on health,
90% of government expenditure being on
the revenue side. In the First Five-Year
Plan, 3.4% of the total plan investment was
for health outlays. This rose to 6.5% by the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan. In FY20, the per
capita capital expenditure was less than
₹200 per person, with 12 states spending
under 1% of GSDP on healthcare.
What do we need to do
in the post-covid era?
India can raise its supply—8.5
hospital beds and 8 physicians per
10,000 people—to the standards of
Japan and South Korea: over 100
beds per 10,000 people. For this, a
specially designed fiscal stimulus
can be funnelled into public health
and policy bottlenecks removed so
that the sector becomes the engine
of GDP growth. Subsidized loans,
earmarked land, single-window
approvals, tax holidays, etc. can be
used for making medical devices
and drugs and setting up hospitals.
Puja Mehra is a Delhi-based
journalist.
Canonica d’Adda’s mayor said the
virus had killed about 20 people in the
commune of about 4,400 inhabitants
you can go to the bread store,” a police-
woman told a woman waiting in line out-
side a big supermarket on Tuesday.
VOL. 14 NO. 87
EURO GOLD OIL
₹82.84 ₹40,989 $32.09
₹0.34 $0.22
QUICK EDIT
Poverty
alert
It’s an estimate that could make
anyone gulp: 400 million. This
is the number of Indians that
the International Labour Orga-
nization (ILO) has warned are
“at risk of falling deeper into
poverty during the crisis”
caused by covid-19. The figure
is broadly consistent with
front-page reports in Mint on
Tuesday and Wednesday of
massive job losses across India.
The high count reflects the
large proportion of citizens
who earn their living in the
9.2
informal sector. With no
employment benefits, very few
savings to fall back on, and a low
14.3 ability to carry on working over
the internet, they suffered a
severe blow after India shut
down on 25 March.
9.5
*For 2017
lost on a huge scale is beyond
doubt. Mass impoverishment
need not happen, though, if
measures are taken in time to
keep people from slipping into
a situation where they are faced
with starvation. We must avert
such a tragic outcome of an eco-
nomic freeze forced upon us by
a deadly virus. Policy interven-
tions for the short-term, such as
food provisions, are underway
and need to be enlarged. The
harder part would be to provide
sustained aid over the year. But
this must also be done.
MINT METRIC
by Bibek Debroy
Is alcohol essential?
The answer is evidential.
In a few States,
No need for debates,
A drink is treated as reverential.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Why now? The needs are
increasingly urgent, and I want
to see the impact in my lifetime.
I hope this inspires others to do
something similar. Life is too
short, so let’s do everything
we can today to help
people now.
JACK DORSEY
TWITTER CEO, AFTER
MAKING A DONATION
FOR COVID-19 RELIEF
AFP
“Your husband can go on the other days,
however.” Those breaking the rule face
a fine of up to €400 .
Canonica d’Adda is not far from Ber-
gamo, considered the most affected area
in the region of Lombardy, where more
than 9,000 people have died of corona-
virus—more than half of the total deaths
in the country.
Canonica d’Adda’s mayor, Gianmaria
Ceria, said coronavirus had killed about
20 people in the commune of about
4,400 inhabitants. The separation by
sex for shopping was decided “to protect
public health”, he said.
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FLIP SIDE
L ET
VA
WS
NE
YO
U R m
Mint Lite
Mint editors curate the Top 10 news and views around the world that you can savour at the start of the day.

W
ill they? Won’t they? As the Centre and state governments contemplate whether to lift or extend the nationwide
lockdown after 14 April, our work-from-home routines continue to evolve in a world that’s restricted to a few rooms,
a morning run around the building, and trips to the grocery store. At Mint, we have adapted to a changed work cul-
ture, and part of that is Mint Lite, a curated quick read of 10 things you need to know. Most of them are here to keep you informed
about what’s happening around the world and a few of them are just fun things that might help you make small talk before the
start of a 70-person video conference call.

1 NEAR, YET SO FAR

STAFF AND residents of an elderly care facility in Budapest cheer (left) as musicians from Hungary’s MAV
Symphony Orchestra drive around in cars and blast out their past performances of famous works, including
Johann Strauss’ waltzes, over loudspeakers. At Tampa General Hospital in Florida, US, a husband and wife who
are anaesthetists on covid-19 airway teams prepare for the start of a challenging day at work (right).

2 MAKE ALL COVID-19 TESTS FREE, SUPREME COURT TELLS GOVT

THE SUPREME Court has issued interim orders directing the government to make covid-19 tests free of cost in both
government and approved private laboratories. The tests were free in government labs, but private labs could charge up
to ₹4,500, an amount the court said “may not be within means of a large part of the population”. Responding to another
petition on safety of health workers, the court observed on Wednesday that healthcare and other front-line workers
fighting the covid-19 pandemic are “warriors” who have to be protected.

3 UP GOVT SEALS HOTSPOTS IN 15 DISTRICTS

THE UTTAR Pradesh government has sealed hotspots in 15 districts including Noida and Ghaziabad which are part of
Delhi-NCR, after coronavirus cases crossed 300 in the state. Residents in these hotspots will not be allowed to leave their
houses and groceries or other vital supplies will be home delivered. The announcement set off panic buying across Noida
and Ghaziabad with long queues forming outside grocery stores. The Centre is to have a meeting with the states on 11
April to decide on whether to extend the lockdown or lift it in phases after the original 21-day period ends on 14 April.

4 ONE OF WORST-HIT STATES REPORTS BEST RECOVERY RATE

KERALA, ONE of the states first and worst affected by the covid-19 pandemic—more than 300 people have tested posi-
tive—has also reported a better recovery rate. At 71, it has the highest recovered covid-19 patients in the country, and two
have died so far. State finance minister Thomas Isaac tweeted that Kerala had moved to 8th place among states with high-
est active covid-19 cases, after being at the top spot a fortnight ago. It still has 263 active cases, and new ones are coming
up. Kerala has been testing aggressively, taking over 9,000 samples so far, which is among the highest in the country.

5 RECOVERY RATE IN KERALA DOUBLE THAT OF TELANGANA

AMONG THE eight states with the highest number of covid-19 Recovery rates Recovered patients per 100 cases
cases recorded so far, Kerala has the highest recovery rate at nearly Kerala 20.8
Telangana 9.6
21%. A total of 71 patients of its 330-plus confirmed cases have Maharashtra 7.8
recovered. Telangana’s recovery rate is 9.6% (35 of the 364 con- Rajasthan 6.4
Uttar Pradesh 6.4
firmed cases have recovered) and Maharashtra, now the worst-hit Delhi 3.6
state with over 1,000 cases, has a recovery rate of 7.8% (79 of 1,018). Tamil Nadu 2.8 Source: IndiaSpend, Ministry of
Andhra Pradesh 0.3 Health and Family Welfare

6 AIR POLLUTION LINKED TO HIGHER COVID-19 DEATH RATES: STUDY

CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS in areas with high levels of air pollution before the pandemic are more likely to die from
the infection than patients who lived with cleaner air, researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health found.
The study covered 3,080 US counties, and found that higher levels of PM2.5 were associated with higher death rates from
the disease. It also said that slightly cleaner air in Manhattan in the past could have saved hundreds of lives. The study is
part of new research on whether long-term exposure to air pollution increases vulnerability to covid-19.

7 HALF A MILLION CHINESE COMPANIES CLOSE IN FIRST QUARTER

MORE THAN 460,000 Chinese firms closed permanently in the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic battered the
world’s second largest economy, South China Morning Post reports. Over half of these operated for under three years, cor-
porate registration data shows. The closures underline the challenge China faces as it tries to revive its economy, which is
at risk of contraction for the first time since 1976. Fewer new businesses are also opening up: From January to March
2020, around 3.2 million businesses were set up, a 29% drop from the same period in the previous year.

8 UNEMPLOYMENT RISES, 400M MAY GO INTO POVERTY, SAYS ILO

COMING ON the back of the CMIE estimates that say unemployment has risen to 30.9% in April, up from 8.4% in mid-
March, the UN’s International Labour Organization has said the coronavirus crisis may push 400 million Indians in the
informal sector deeper into poverty. In two weeks of lockdown, about 50 million jobs might have been lost, based on
rough calculations from the CMIE data. ILO said the pandemic is likely to wipe out 19.5 crore full time jobs or 6.7% of
working hours globally in the second half of the year.

9 KENYANS RUN HALF MARATHONS TO COMPETE IN VIRTUAL RACE

A GROUP of 30 elite Kenyan runners spread across the country ran half marathons all by themselves in a virtual race.
The runners, 20 men and 10 women, had been training for the Wuhan Marathon that was to be held this week before it
was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. For the CoronaRun in Kenya, runners started their individual races at
8am, using their GPS watches to record their times. Edwin Kirwa won the men’s race when he finished his 21-kilometre
course with a time of one hour, one minute and 52 seconds, a personal best.

10 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING IN LOCKDOWN

OKAY, SO we may seem a bit hung up on Kerala today, but really, this video tweeted by the state’s police of people run-
ning for cover from a drone tracking those violating the lockdown is one of the funniest we’ve seen in a while. It’s set to
commentary taken from former cricketer Ravi Shastri’s “tracer bullet challenge” and features Sunil Gavaskar, Ian
Botham and others. Keep an eye out for the guy taking cover behind a coconut tree.
Curated by Shalini Umachandran. Have something to share with us?
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz

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NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 14 NO. 87 Rs 5.00 IN DELHI-NCR; Rs 6.00 OUTSIDE DELHI-NCR. PRICE WITH HINDUSTAN TIMES Rs 9.50 (FOR DELHI & NCR) 18 PAGES

INDIA’S GROWTH SET TO

PLUNGE: GOLDMAN SACHS
India’s economic growth is likely to plummet to a
multi-decade low of 1.6% in fiscal year 2020-21 due
to the covid-19 pandemic and ensuing measures
like lockdowns and social distancing, economists
at US investment bank Goldman Sachs said on
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 Wednesday.
LIVEMINT.COM

India Readies For Longer Lockdown

Decision on extending shutdown to be taken after PM holds crucial meeting with CMs on 11 April even as states begin to seal covid-19 hotspots
Gyan Varma, Anuja &
Asit Ranjan Mishra
NEW DELHI
m MINT GRAPHITI
(BJD) who represented his
party at the meeting, said. IT’S A SOCIAL EMERGENCY SC asks govt
INDIA REPORTS
648 FRESH CASES
If indeed the world’s biggest
lockdown is extended, it will
lead to further disruption to the
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi takes stock of the
INDIA to make tests

I 5,693 163 free for all

ndia may extend the ongo- livelihoods of India’s more than covid-19 situation in the
ing national lockdown by 15 400 million daily wage earners country at a meeting
days, Prime Minister Nar- who have little or no savings to with MPs. TWITTER@ANI
Total cases Deaths
endra Modi told lawmakers tap. But a chorus of influential
on Wednesday, as the gov- voices, including chief minis- 467
Recovered
5,063
Active cases
Japnam K.Bindra
ernment raced to head off the ters, has advocated lives over japnam.b@livemint.com
challenge posed by the corona- livelihoods to rein in the deadly NEW DELHI
virus pandemic. virus. Lifting the GLOBAL

T
The final deci- lockdown, they he Supreme Court on
sion on extend-
ing the 21-day
lockdown that is
VIRUS EFFECT
fear, will exacer-
bate the situation
and should be
1,450,343 Total cases
Wednesday directed the
central government to
ensure that tests to detect cov-
set to end on 14 done in phases. id-19 are provided free of
MASKS MUST
83,471
April will be According to a charge to all Indians.
taken after a Face masks have Prime Minister’s In an interim order, the
meeting with all been made Office statement court said that the Centre
compulsory in the Deaths
chief ministers on Wednesday, should immediately direct all
following states
on 11 April, lead-
ers who attended and Union
Modi told law-
makers the situa-
308,617 1,058,255 approved diagnostic laborato-
ries, including state-owned
territories: Recovered Active cases
the meeting said. tion in the coun- and private facilities, to offer
“The prime ˜ Delhi try was akin to a free testing.
minister said it ˜ Maharashtra ‘social emer- A two-judge bench, com-
may not be possi- ˜ Karnataka gency’. FULL COVERAGE INSIDE prising Justices Ashok
ble to lift the ˜ Chandigarh “Most parties ˜ Ipca and Cadila gain on Bhushan and S. Ravindra Bhat,
lockdown on 15 ˜ Ladakh gave the sense covid-19, but the window may agreed with the petitioner that
April, going by ˜ Odisha that they favour Tamil Nadu Maharashtra Delhi Uttar Pradesh Madhya Pradesh be short P4 permitting private labs to
the feedback that an extension of No. of districts charge ₹4,500 for screening
˜ Why millennials can’t stop stirring
he is getting the lockdown but
affected 32*/38 20*/36 11/11 34*/75 13*/55 coffee during the ongoing and confirmation of covid-19
from across the country. He will we left the final call with the No. of covid-19 lockdown P14 may make it unaffordable to a
discuss with the chief ministers Prime Minister. On his part, the positive cases ˜ Opinion: We simply don’t large section of India’s popula-
and thereafter may take a call as prime minister said that he has 0-9 know when this tsunami of tion, and individuals cannot be
to by how many days the lock- got similar information from 10-20 suffering will recede P12 denied their right to test them-
down can be extended,” Pinaki some states but a final call will More than 20 ˜ Opinion: Toothless trade selves for covid-19 because of
Misra, member of Parliament (As of 8.30pm, 7 April) *Likely to change Chennai Mumbai South Delhi Gautam Buddh Nagar Indore unions have meant helpless
Source: Ministry of health and family welfare 149 632 296 61 149 workers
from Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal TURN TO PAGE 15 P13 TURN TO PAGE 15

INFLATION DATA MAY BE AFFECTED
The quality of retail inflation data is likely to
be compromised as the closure of non-
essential shops is hampering pollsters’
efforts in collecting information. >P16
JACK DORSEY PLEDGES $1 BILLION
Twitter co-founder and chief executive Jack
Dorsey said he was committing $1 billion of his
personal fortune to coronavirus relief through
his philanthropic fund. >P7
TRUMP SHOWERS PRAISE ON MODI
US President Donald Trump showered praise
on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after India
formally announced that it was lifting curbs on
the export of hydroxychloroquine. >P6
INDUSTRY BODIES SEEK STIMULUS
Assocham and CII urged the Union govt to
announce a bailout package of $200-300
billion along with a host of other incentives
for small and medium enterprises. >P6
DELHI GOVT SEALS 20 CLUSTERS
The Delhi government on Wednesday said it
has sealed 20 hotspots across the national
capital and will ensure the delivery of essential
items in these areas. >P16
UP SEALS HOTSPOTS IN 15 DISTRICTS
The Uttar Pradesh govt has sealed hotspots in
15 districts in the state, including those in
Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, to curb
the spread of the coronavirus. >P16

DON’T MISS
Plain Facts: The slum hurdle in the TVS Motor in talks to acquire British Long Story: The dark side of After the Yes Bank crisis, larger peers Embassy pledges REIT stake to raise
covid-19 fight See Page 2 motorcycle brand Norton See Page 3 India’s gaming boom See Page 9 attract more deposits See Page 5 $180 million See Page 3

ICMR flags risks to ₹18,000 crore tax refunds soon 400 mn Indians at risk of falling
people’s health from into poverty during crisis: ILO
Gireesh Chandra Prasad
gireesh.p@livemint.com
issue all pending goods and
services tax (GST) and customs
NEW DELHI duty refunds, which would
nationwide lockdown benefit businesses, including Prashant K. Nanda tion of the lockdown post graded the GDP (gross

T
he finance ministry will micro, small and medium prashant.n@livemint.com April 14 looks bleak. domestic product) growth
immediately release enterprises. NEW DELHI The forecast indicates that rate. Besides, if unemploy-
₹18,000 crore in tax Easing the liquidity prob- there may be lasting eco- ment data is showing that it
Neetu Chandra Sharma

A
refunds to individuals and lem of individuals and busi- s many as 400 million nomic damage from the shock has tripled in last three weeks,
neetu.s@livemint.com businesses to provide relief nesses has been a key part of Indians, including caused by the covid-19 pan- then it is easily understanda-
NEW DELHI against the backdrop of the the government’s strategy to migrant workers and demic, including widespread ble that poverty must have
covid-19 pandemic, it said on help them tide over the crisis. daily wage earners, are at risk joblessness. Loss of wages, in gone up significantly,” said

T
he government’s apex Wednesday. The move is set to benefit This includes loan repayment of being pushed deeper into turn, is likely to trigger a Arup Mitra, a professor of
biomedical research The move will benefit around 1.4 million individual moratoriums and cash trans- poverty because of the cov- slump in demand. economics at Institute of Eco-
body has said the novel around 1.4 million individual taxpayers. PRADEEP GAUR/MINT fers to the needy, distribution id-19 pandemic, the Interna- Economists said poverty nomic Growth in New Delhi.
coronavirus-induced lock- taxpayers, as well as 100,000 of additional grain and pulses tional Labour Organization will be a bigger challenge for India, which has a relatively
down will have a longlasting businesses. The move follows the pandemic. to the poor. (ILO) said. India and may set the econ-
impact on the health of the the recent government step to “It has been decided to issue Businesses that have borne The Geneva-based body’s omy back by years. TURN TO PAGE 15
nation and that the travel bans offer relief in interest, fee and all the pending income-tax the brunt of the lockdown warning comes at a time when “Economic growth and
currently in force are unlikely penalty for late filings of vari- refunds up to ₹5 lakh immedi- would be enthused at the the coronavirus outbreak poverty are directly linked This is the worst phase of
to have any effect in the short ous statutory forms amid a ately,” the ministry said. The continues to spread across and we now know that how joblessness >P7
and medium term. The research body described nationwide lockdown to tackle ministry has also decided to TURN TO PAGE 3 India and a complete relaxa- rating agencies have down-
The observations by the lockdowns as a ‘drastic public
Indian Council for Medical health measure.’ RAJ K RAJ/HT
Research (ICMR) come at a
time when the government is Dr Pranab Chatterjee, transla-
considering extending the tional global health policy
21-day lockdown. ICMR research cell-ICMR, in the
described lockdowns as a paper, which is aimed at
“drastic public health meas- informing India’s public
ure”. health response.
Bollywood changes tack, will stream directly to your homes
In a review of the current Instead of coercive top-
evidence on covid-19, pub- down quarantine approaches, Lata Jha began, quickly found a spot on theatres shut down and it went president, films and television,
lished in the latest issue of it said community- and civil lata.j@livemint.com streaming platform Disney+ to video rental services like Saregama India, and producer
Indian Journal of Medical society-led self-quarantine NEW DELHI Hotstar. Although the film did iTunes in the US while the lat- at Yoodlee Films, which has
Research, ICMR and self-monitor- not maintain the mandatory ter, scheduled for 6 March, released movies such as Brij

W
said the experi- Wuhan’s ing could be ith theatres shut eight-week window between went to Disney+. Mohan Amar Rahe and Aschar-
ence of Wuhan, experience shows more sustainable and movie-goers theatre and digital releases, no “The good yachakit directly
the Chinese epi- that the long-term and implementa- unlikely to return in one is complaining. thing that’s hap- The film industry on Netflix.
centre of the negative impact ble strategies in a a hurry, some producers of “Not for the biggies, but a pening is that will suffer a loss American
pandemic “protracted pan- mid-sized Bollywood movies digital release seems quite OTT (over-the- of ₹550 crore till streaming plat-
showed that
of a lockdown
demic like cov- are likely to turn to streaming doable for some of the mid and top) streaming April-end as forms with deep
while the bene- should not be id-19”. platforms to recover their small-scale films,” Shariq players are wak- pockets such as
fits of a lockdown underplayed theatres remain
Reviewing the investments, instead of wait- Patel, chief executive officer at ing up to the Netflix are said to
remain to be World Health ing for movie halls to reopen. Zee Studios said. opportunity for closed, according have paid ₹20-25
seen, its long- Organization’s India’s film production and According to two trade them in these to trade experts crore in the past
lasting negative impact (WHO), International Health exhibition business has experts who spoke on condi- A still from ‘Angrezi Medium’. The film released on streaming times. We are get- to acquire direct-
should not be underplayed. Regulations (IHR) that are an ground to a complete halt fol- tion of anonymity, the indus- platform Disney+ Hotstar recently after a disappointing ting several to-digital rights
“Such drastic measures can international legal instru- lowing the covid-19 outbreak. try will suffer a loss of ₹550 theatrical show due to the nationwide lockdown. enquiries but really, the deci- of films such as Karan Johar’s
lead to social, psychological ment that is binding on 194 Comedy drama Angrezi crore till April end as theatres sion to divert from theatrical Drive, and under present cir-
and economic stressors on the countries across the globe, Medium, which had a disap- remain closed and viewers stay Never Rarely Sometimes ing instead of the planned the- release would depend on how cumstances, prices can go
whole population, leading to the ICMR paper said that in pointing theatrical show after away. Always, Disney’s animation atrical releases. The former, an desperate the OTT platform is even higher.
long-lasting adverse health releasing just a week before The US has already set the flick Onward, and a few other indie, had a limited release in to buy the film out,” said Sid-
outcomes,” said lead author TURN TO PAGE 15 the nationwide lockdown trend with abortion odyssey films opting for digital stream- the week of 13 March before dharth Anand Kumar, vice- TURN TO PAGE 15
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02 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI DEALS
PLAIN
FACTS

THE SLUM HURDLE IN COVID-19 FIGHT

High population density and shared access to basic amenities make slums such as Dharavi extremely vulnerable to the spread of the novel coronavirus
m MINT GRAPHITI Chart 3
Sneha Alexander & Chart 2
slum tenements are cramped Chart 1 60% of covid-19 cases in Mumbai are
Surbhi Bhatia within two hectares (or 0.02 Mumbai has the largest proportion of About two-thirds of slum households in Gujarat, from the most dense wards*
sq.km) on average. At a slum dwellers among metro cities Maharashtra live in a one-room facility
MUMBAI national level, census data Slum population as share of total population (in %) Proportion of slum households residing in: < 1 room 2-3 rooms > 4 rooms R/N R/C
shows 50% of slum households Mumbai Borivali

C
ovid-19 cases in India accommodate them- 60
Hyderabad
recorded in the selves within one single room. 40
Worli Koliwada The number is higher for 41.8 Kolkata
Chennai 20
slum—the first slums in the western states of 32.7 Delhi
R/S
31.4 0
slum settlement Gujarat and Maharashtra, 28.9 Bengaluru Gujarat Delhi West Bengal Andhra UP Haryana Kerala Malvani P/N
to be hit by the virus in Mum- where close to two-thirds of 14.7 Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Karnataka Rajasthan Punjab MP
bai—shot up from one to 68 in slum households are roofed 8.4 Latest available figures are as of Census 2011. Less than one room includes no exclusive rooms. Orlem T
Chart 4 Mulund
less than a week. And now, the under a one-room facility (See
novel coronavirus’ entry into chart 2). Large share of slum households do not have basic amenities within their premises
Share of slum households (in %)
the confined lanes of one of In Mumbai, slums occupy S
Asia’s largest slums, Dharavi, just 7% of the total land area, No latrine facility within premises No drinking water source within premises Jarimari Bhandup
P/S
threatens to spell doom for the but four in ten Mumbaikars Maharashtra 58.4 35.4 Goregaon
K/W
slum’s densely knit popula- live in a slum. Delhi 49.9 49.1 K/E
N
Tamil Nadu 39 60.7 L Ghatkopar
tion. Dharavi had recorded Given that the slum cen- Kurla
Karnataka 36.7 53.6 The Kurla-Ghatko-
nine covid-19 cases till 8 April, suses and NSS surveys mainly H/E
Andhra Pradesh 17.7 38.2 par belt has several
including one focus on the big- West Bengal 17.5 48.3
H/W
large slums
death. Dharavi—one of ger slums in cities, Govandi
Slum area out- Asia’s largest the actual share of Chart 5
M/W
breaks in a city as slums—had people in slums Compared to other virus-affected countries, India has a higher share of people living in slums G/N
Dadar
Dharavi Mankhurd

densely packed recorded nine could be higher. Population residing in slums, 2020 projections (in %) F/N M/E
as Mumbai pose Estimates for 0 10 20 30 40 Worli-Koliwada
covid-19 cases till Mumbai’s ward- China
nightmarish
problems for city 8 April, including level population India G/S F/S
Bangladesh Population density
authorities, who one death density confirm
Elphinstone
(in thousand people/sq km.)
Philippines Madanpura
More than 45
are struggling Worli Koliwada to Iran 35-45
with contain- be a high-risk Indonesia E
Byculla
25-35
B
ment measures in such areas. region. South Korea 15-25
D Less than 15
According to the 2011 cen- The slum falls under the G/S Vietnam Grant Road
sus, Mumbai has the biggest ward (Elphinstone), among South Africa Number of positive Big slum
Turkey As proportion of world's C covid-19 cases locations
share of slum dwellers among the more dense localities in population residing in slums Marine lines
the big metro cities, with 42% the city. The densest is Ward C Hong Kong *Wards with population density more than 40,000
Israel As proportion of country's A people/sq km. Size of red circle reflects number of positive
of its population residing in (which includes Marine Lines) total population Colaba covid-19 cases per ward. Data for positive cases is as of 7
UAE April 2020. Shaded area is ward population density.
slums (See chart 1). with a density of 91,991 people Macau
What adds to the gravity of per sq.km, followed by the G/N Thailand Source: Rajya Sabha question (2019), Census (2011), State of slums in India (2013), BMC, UN-habitat, Mint research
Mumbai’s slum challenge is ward (which includes Dharavi)
AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT
the densely packed nature of with a density of 66,190 people
almost all localities in the city, per sq. km. of Mumbai’s covid-19 cases, 60% of the slum households in a decade old but the gap in other big cities face similar than other developing econo- gion hovers over Dharavi (See
including the slums. Other hotspots in the city, and are also home to several Maharashtra did not have a access to amenities between conditions. mies. chart 5).
Mumbai’s population den- based on ward-level popula- large slums such as Madan- private toilet facility inside slum dwellers and others According to World Bank After China, India is For Mumbai, the city of
sity of 20,634 people per tion densities, are the south- pura, Malvani and Orlem (See their homes, census data remains (See chart 4). data, the slum-dwelling sec- expected to have the largest dreams where the rich and the
square kilometre (sq.km) pro- ern wards D (Grant Road) and chart 3). shows. Insanitary conditions, cou- tion of the urban population share of the world’s population poor live in close proximity,
vides a happy hunting ground E (Byculla), and suburban In such congested quarters, And 35% need to step out of pled with people crowding has been on a slow but steady living in slums. the covid-19 pandemic has put
for communicable diseases wards such as L (Kurla) and physical distancing is virtually their homes to collect drinking around public taps due to decline globally. The virus has already cre- the spotlight on the wide dis-
such as covid-19. P/N (Malad) with population impossible. water from public taps, tube hourly restrictions on water However, projections for ated havoc in the crowded ref- parities in living standards
According to a 2012 densities above 45,000 people The limited access to safe wells and wells. Things may availability, adds to the chal- slum population as a propor- ugee settlements of Bangla- within the same neighbour-
National Sample Survey (NSS) per sq.km. These wards water and private toilets adds have changed since then given lenge of washing hands to tion of total in 2020 show desh and the favelas of Brazil, hoods.
report, three-fourth of India’s account for a significant share to the public health challenge. that these statistics are nearly ward off infection. Slums in India to be more vulnerable and now the danger of conta- sneha.a@livemint.com

m BRAND DASHBOARD How access to Facebook stirs protests

The Mint-YouGov Brand Dashboard provides a glimpse into how different brands are perceived in the country Surbhi Bhatia local language and incidents of
based on a proprietary tool called BrandIndex developed by YouGov. BrandIndex continuously measures public surbhi.b@livemint.com protest in the region.
perception of brands among internet users spread across 180 cities within the country. MUMBAI The authors use the Global
The Travel sites dashboard captures the public perception of Database of Events, Language
27.3
G
leading mobile phone companies. It offers the current perception BrandIndex Score lobally, internet shut- and Tone (GDELT) for protest
% point change from a month ago downs have become a types, World Language Map-
metrics and the change in perception over the past few weeks. (▲▼) common means to ping System (WLMS) for lan-
thwart protests. The Centre guages spoken, and Facebook
also resorted to banning social user information and aggregate
Travel sites media platforms such as Face- protest dates for 240 countries
Brands Makemytrip Trivago GoIbibo Yatra Booking.com ClearTrip book and Twitter in several between January 2000 and Higher access to the regional language versions of Facebook has
locations to thwart protests December 2015. They substan- led to spikes in protests globally, finds new research. REUTERS
against the Citi- tiate their results
zenship (Amend- m SNAP FACT using individual political activities such as vot- resource conflicts as well as
OVERALL 38.9 23.1 17.2 10.7 8.9 6.8 ment) Act. level survey ing, party memberships, or those with a larger urban popu-
SCORE (▲ 1.3) (▲ 2) (▼ 2.7) (▲ 0.5) (▼ 2.8) (▲ 0.5) Availability reports on protest media consumption is found to lation. While no one form of
and use of Facebook in regional participation. be negligible. protest is preferred when citi-
languages leads to more num- At the global level, if local Countries with higher liter- zens organize via Facebook, the
BY GENDER ber of citizens’ protests at a language versions of Facebook acy and widespread access to overall effect varies with each
global level, according to a were not released between internet see a rise in Facebook- nation’s level of political
Male 35.5 (▼ 0.1) 21.6 (▲ 2.7) 18 (▼ 1.7) 9.9 (▲ 0.2) 8.8 (▲ 3.6) 5.5 (▼ 0.6) study. However, the extent of 2006-2015, the study estimates induced collective action, but accountability, the authors
this rise depends on many indi- 14-26% fewer protests to have those where dissent and oppo- conclude.
Female 42.4 (▲ 2.2) 24.6 (▲ 0.4) 16.4 (▼ 3.9) 11.5 (▲ 0.6) 8.9 (▲ 1.7) 8.1 (▲ 1.5) vidual and country level fac- happened. At the individual sition is curtailed and eco- Also read: Facebook Causes
tors. Researchers Leopoldo level, protest participation is nomic conditions are poor also Protests (bit.ly/3bWJkCM)
BY GENERATION Fergusson and Carlos Molina found to increase by 10% on see a rise. The authors also find Snap Fact features new and
study the link between the average with higher Facebook Facebook to lead to protests in interesting reads from the world
introduction of Facebook in a access. However, its impact on nations with regular natural of research.
Generation X 41.2 (▼ 4.4) 27.3 (▲ 1.1) 17.6 (▼ 4.3) 10.2 (▼ 6.8) 12 (▲ 0.1) 7.4 (▼ 2.1)
Millennials 39.7 (▼ 0.4) 19.8 (▲ 0.0) 18.2 (▼ 4.1) 13.0 (▲ 2.3) 8.3 (▲ 2.2) 7.9 (▲ 1.6)
Generation Z 32.3 (▲ 5.4) 18.6 (▼ 1.1) 13.6 (▼ 1.8) 1.4 (▼ 2.2) 2.6 (▼ 0.9) 3.4 (▲ 1.1)

BY REGION m NEWS IN NUMBERS CORRECTIONS AND

CLARIFICATIONS
North 38.5 (▲ 1.9) 26.0 (▲ 2) 16.2 (▼ 4.3) 9.8 (▼ 0.5) 7.7 (▲ 2.8) 3.7 (▲ 0.1) REUTERS

South 37.3 (▲ 1) 18.7 (▲ 0.3) 16.4 (▼ 2.5) 11.2 (▼ 0.2) 9.0 (▲ 3.9) 10.5 (▲ 3)
50 9 Mint welcomes comments,
What is it? The number of Kenyan MPs What is it? The suggestions or complaints
East 32.9 (▼ 0.5) 19.5 (▲ 1.7) 14.2 (▼ 5.5) 8.8 (▲ 3.3) 7.1 (▲ 1.6) 3.4 (▼ 1.5) and parliament staff who were asked to number of races in about errors.
test for coronavirus last week, after one of the 2020 Formula
West 46.4 (▲ 7.9) 27.6 (▲ 2.7) 21.8 (▼ 0.3) 12.6 (▲ 3.7) 11.8 (▲ 2.6) 8.6 (▲ 0.2) their colleagues tested positive. One World Readers can alert the
newsroom to any errors in the
Why is it important? The results have not Championship paper by emailing us, with your
BRANDINDEX SCORE
been announced yet, even as some media that have either full name and address to
The Index score is a composite metric derived as an average of Impression, Quality, Value, Reputation, Satisfaction and reports said a few of them have been been postponed feedback@livemint.com.
Recommendation scores for the brands mentioned above, collected from close to 2000 respondents over 4 weeks by YouGov, tested positive. In any case, Kenya has or cancelled.
as part of their syndicated brand tracking solution. Sample sizes for various sub-groups reported above range between 185 – 1150 cancelled a parliamentary session Why is it It is our policy to promptly
respond to all complaints.
respondents. scheduled for Wednesday. This closely important? The latest F1 race to be Readers dissatisfied with the
followed a ban on travel in and out of deferred is the Canadian Grand Prix, which response or concerned about
Generation X here refers to people born between 1965 and 1980. Millennials here refer to people born between 1981 and 1996 Nairobi. In March, Kenyan MPs who was due to be held on 14 June in Montreal. Mint’s journalistic integrity may
Generation Z here refers to people born after 1996. Regions are defined as follows : North: Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, returned from foreign travels were placed Tell me more: While the Australian and write directly to the editor by
Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand; South: Andaman & under mandatory quarantine. Monaco GPs have been cancelled, the sending an email to
Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana; East: Arunachal asktheeditor@livemint.com
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal; West:
Tell me more: There have been 172 virus others—Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Netherlands,
Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra. cases and six deaths in the African Vietnam, China and Spain—have been Mint’s journalistic Code of
country so far. postponed. Conduct that governs our
All data as of 2 April 2020 newsroom is available at
www.livemint.com
Data and text compiled by Howindialives howindialives.com is a search engine for public data

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NEWS THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 03

TVS in talks to buy British Govt to release

mint

SHORT TAKES ₹18,000 crore

tax refund
Embassy pledges REIT stake to
raise $180 million
Mumbai: Bengaluru-based real estate developer Embassy Prop-
erty Developments Pvt. Ltd has raised debt of $180 mllion (₹1,355
motorcycle brand Norton FROM PAGE 1

prospect of getting GST

crore) for its working capital requirements and for repaying exist- refunds enabling quicker
ing loans, with the covid-19 pandemic disrupting business opera- resumption of operations, said
tions and putting cash flows under stress, two people aware of the M.S. Mani, partner at Deloitte
development said, requesting anonymity. Embassy pledged The 122-year-old brand is in liquidation after it ran out of cash and failed to pay taxes India.
around 70% of its holding in Embassy Office Parks real estate These measures have been
investment trust (REIT) to raise the debt, these people said. taken as businesses are facing
Embassy Office Parks went public in March 2019. Embassy holds Amit Panday the challenge of paying wages
a 15% stake in the REIT, while its private equity partner Black- amit.p@livemint.com to their workers with dwin-
stone holds 55%. The rest is held by public shareholders. “The MUMBAI dling revenue streams during
loans have been raised from some family offices and lenders, the lockdown period. Last

H
including the IIFL group. Embassy aims to consolidate its debt omegrown two- and month, Prime Minister Modi
through this transaction,” said one of the persons mentioned SoftBank- three-wheeler man- had appealed to businesses to
backed
above. SWARAJ SINGH DHANJAL
startup gets
ufacturer TVS Motor adopt a humane approach and
green light Co. Ltd is in talks not enforce pay cuts.
to test with iconic British “It appears that only refunds
Oyo to furlough thousands of driverless
delivery
motorcycle maker Norton Motor- processed finally until now
cycles (UK) Ltd to own the brand, will be released. It is, however,
employees outside India cars
as well as its assets and liabilities, expected at this stage that the
BLOOMBERG bit.ly/2RjdDvS
two people aware of the develop- authorities provisionally issue
ment said on condition of ano- all refund claims filed and
nymity. technical or procedural issues
The 122-year-old Norton are taken up later on,” said
Motorcycles ran out of cash in Ritesh Kanodia, partner at
January and failed to pay taxes. Dhruva Advisors, a profes-
Norton’s last owner, Stuart Gar- sional services firm.
ner, with business interests in real The quick refunds and the
estate and hospitality, had lockdown which started at the
acquired the legacy brand in end of FY20 as well as compli-
2008. A Norton Dominator motorbike outside the company’s assembly plant in Castle Donington, UK. Norton’s last ance relief given for various
“Norton is in the liquidation owner, Stuart Garner, had acquired the legacy brand in 2008. BLOOMBERG statutory filings and the exten-
Bengaluru: Oyo Hotels & Homes, the Indian budget lodg- stage currently and the adminis- sion of due dates could have a
ings service backed by SoftBank Group Corp., is placing tration in the UK plans to sell off handling the liquidation of Nor- In response to Mint’s query, to expand its mid-capacity motor- sobering effect on tax collec-
thousands of its employees globally on indefinite furlough the brand, its assets and its prod- ton, had put out a notice on the TVS Motor said, “TVS Group does cycles portfolio in India and other tions in the just concluded
as it tries to survive through the coronavirus pandemic, uct portfolio to raise funds. The company’s Twitter handle on 30 not comment on any market developing markets, said the sec- financial year.
according to people familiar with the matter. Oyo said in a company has to pay its vendors, January. speculation.” ond person cited earlier. Industry executives wel-
statement it’s furloughing employees in countries exclud- employees and creditors The mid-capacity comed the quick release of
ing India without specifying numbers, adding that it’s not and also pay tax dues. So, SEARCH FOR A NEW OWNER motorcycles, powered by refunds.
considering job cuts at this time. The startup has over $1 bil- there are a lot of liabili- 250cc-800cc engines, “The Government of India
lion of cash in the bank and is exploring options to remain ties on Norton at the THE UK government TVS is one of several THE interest in THE midsize bike typically offer lighter has been responsive to the
viable over at least the next 36 months, one of the people moment,” said one of the plans to sell off
Norton, its assets
firms in talks to buy
the brand, said
Norton indicates that segment in India is
TVS aims to expand dominated by Royal
handling and better fuel requirements of trade and
said. It hasn’t yet determined the precise number of staff to two persons cited above. and product port- consultants handling its mid-capacity bike Enfield, with a 96% efficiency than the litre- industry since the industry,
be furloughed because it is sorting through local labour Consultants handling folio to raise funds Norton’s case. portfolio in India market share in FY19 class models. especially the micro, small and
laws in various countries, said the person, who didn’t want Norton’s case are in talks The midsize motorcy- medium enterprises, required
to be named disclosing internal discussions. BLOOMBERG with several potential cle segment in India is funds urgently and this will
buyers, including TVS Motor, he “The administrators are taking An emailed query sent to Gar- dominated by Royal Enfield, with certainly help,” said Chandra-
said. all steps to ensure that customers, ner remained unanswered till 350-650cc models on sale. Royal jit Banerjee, director general
Top JeM commander killed in “It is perhaps a good time to staff and suppliers are supported, press time. Enfield’s market share in this cat- of industry body, the Confed-
bargain hard,” said the person. and want to minimize distress for TVS Motor’s interest in Nor- egory was 96% in FY19, shows eration of Indian Industry
Kashmir encounter Advisory firm BDO Global, all involved,” BDO Global said. ton’s assets indicates that it aims industry data. (CII).
New Delhi: Top Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander Sajad
Nawab Dar was killed on Wednesday following an encounter
with security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore region in Baram-
ulla district, Jammu and Kashmir Police said. The encounter that
broke out between security forces and militants in Sopore earlier
in the day was still underway till late in the evening. A combined
force of the Indian Army, the Central Reserve Police Force, and
the Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police
Cong chief’s Markets end lower amid uncertainty over lockdown
were engaged with four militants who were holed up in the area.
“There was a tip off on the presence of militants and an encounter
proposal to Nasrin Sultana as anecdotal evidence, though
Volatile session
was launched in Sopore by security forces, late last night (Tues-
day). The terrorists opened fire and the encounter is underway,”
ban ads draws nasrin.s@livemint.com
MUMBAI
Markets are expected to remain choppy while there could
still limited, suggest a signifi-
cant contraction in economic
be intermittent relief rallies on account of any positive news
a senior security force official said. SHASWATI DAS
flak from INS regarding covid-19.
activity in India, according to

I
ndian stocks were unable to analysts. On the domestic front,
Sensex NSE VIX
hold gains on Wednesday as 31500
30,067.21 56 IIP (Index of Industrial Produc-
I-T department cautions against uncertainty prevailed about (Previous closing) 51.8
(Previous closing)
tion) data for February,
Lata Jha the government’s decision on expected to be released on
breach in e-filing accounts lata.j@livemint.com lifting the nationwide lock-
31000
54
Thursday, will provide a sense
New Delhi: The Income-Tax (I-T) department has asked taxpay- NEW DELHI down that is to end on 14 April. 52 of the impact of the virus-led
ers to guard against possible breach of their personal e-filing The uncertainty made inves- 30500 52.24 disruption on manufacturing
29,893.96 51.47

T
account and report such an instance to the police cyber security he Indian Newspaper
wing. “If you think your e-filing account many have been com- Society (INS) has criti-
promised or accessed in an unauthorised manner, then you may cized Congress party
be a victim of cybercrime,” the department said in an advisory. president Sonia Gandhi’s
“Please report the incident to the concerned police or cyber cell proposal for a ban on adver-
authorities as a first step,” it said. The advisory added that the tising by all state govern-
department, on its part, will also share information related to a ments and public sector
cyber crime instance “with relevant law enforcement authorities units for a period of two years
when summoned.” PTI as a cost-saving measure.
“Such a proposal tanta-
mounts to financial censor-
D-Mart owner Damani’s wealth ship,” a statement from the
INS said. “It is a very small
surges amid lockdown amount as far as government
spending is concerned but
it’s a huge amount for the
newspaper industry, which is
essential for any vibrant
democracy, and is struggling
to survive.”
“Print is the only industry
which has a wage board and
the government decides how
much employees should be
paid,” INS said. That apart,
the medium has been strug-
gling with the twin challen-
Mumbai: The Indian tycoon whose net worth surged the
most among peers as the deadly coronavirus roils markets
worldwide can thank nation’s hoarders with millions
ges of recession and digital
media.
The crisis has been wor-
scrambling to stock up on staples amid the world’s biggest sened by the nationwide
isolation effort. The net worth of Radhakishan Damani, lockdown to contain the cov-
who owns Avenue Supermarts’ D-Mart stores, has surged id-19 outbreak.
almost 11% this year to $10.7 billion, singling him out as the INS said newspapers also
billionaire with most gains among the 12 richest Indians serve as an effective medium
tors nervous and the steady
increase in covid-19 related
cases added to their worries.
The benchmark indices,
which rose by more than 5%
during the day, ended lower in
a volatile session.
The BSE Sensex fell 173.25
points, or 0.58%, to 29,893.96,
while the National Stock
Exchange’s Nifty shed 0.49% to
8,748.75 points.
A decline in other global
markets also dented sentiment
in India, as hopes of imminent
covid-19 recovery faded world-
wide. Markets in China, Hong
Kong, and Korea fell by as
much as 1%. European markets
also edged lower at the time of
writing.
Analysts expect the markets
Sebi tweaks rules to stem outflow of foreign funds
Jayshree P. Upadhyay
jayshree.pyasi@livemint.com
MUMBAI
30000
29,825.77
29500
29000
9.15am 3.30pm
to remain choppy while there
could be intermittent relief ral-
lies on account of any positive
news regarding covid-19.
“The Indian indices reversed
their early gains tracking the
muted global cues and ended
with marginal losses. After a
sharp run-up in the previous
session, Nifty ended the day
lower led by selling in a few IT,
banking, and metal stocks,”
an agreement or treaty with
other sovereign government”
will also be eligible for Catego-
ry-I registration.
50 activity.
“Despite the policy support
48 so far, and our expectations of
more, we believe that the
46
nationwide shutdown, and ris-
ing public anxiety about the
44
9.15am 3.30pm
virus are likely to lead to a sharp
Source: Bloomberg
deterioration in economic
activity in March and in the
GRAPHIC BY NAVEEN KUMAR SAINI/MINT
next quarter,” said Goldman
said Ajit Mishra, A decline in other The Indian vol- Sachs. It forecasts the world to
vice-president, global markets atility index or be in a recession in 2020, with
research, Religare dented sentiment VIX, which tracks risks remaining on the down-
Broking Ltd. in India as hopes investors percep- side. It has downgraded the
However, mid tion of markets for GDP forecast to -1.8% in 2020,
of an imminent
and smallcap the next one a more than 5 percentage
stocks outper- recovery faded month, increased points cut since early this year.
formed the worldwide 0.85% to end at It forecasts India’s FY21 real
benchmark indi- 52.24. This indi- GDP growth at 1.6%, versus
ces. BSE Midcap cated greater fear 3.3% previously but continues
index rose 1.90% while BSE among investors. to expect a strong sequential
Smallcap index gained 1.86%. High frequency data, as well recovery in H2 of the fiscal.
interest in a foreign entity, and
apply to funds that have
deployed more than 50% of
their portfolio investment in

whose wealth is tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires to take news to every corner
Index. Shares of Avenue Supermarts, which contribute of the country, especially at a
nearly all of the wealth to Damani’s net worth, have time like this when fake and
advanced 24% this year. “People have been buying in panic distorted news items circu-
and hoarding during the lockdown that drove the sales, late across platforms.
making the company’s share a perfect hedge amid rout,” The INS statement
Arun Kejriwal, director at Kris, an investment advisory firm pointed out that reporters
in Mumbai. BLOOMBERG and other media personnel
have been risking their lives
to bring news to their readers
Retail tech firm Perpule launches and the Congress president’s
call for a ban is “deeply dis-
grocery platform in Bengaluru turbing and demotivating for
Bengaluru: Retail-tech startup Perpule (owned by parent Delvit the entire industry”.
Solutions Pvt. Ltd) has launched a new grocery delivery platform Earlier, the Indian Broad-
StoreSe.in targeted at apartment communities in Bengaluru. The casting Foundation and the
Bengaluru-based startup has partnered with prominent offline News Broadcasters Associa-
retailers like Vishal Mega Mart, More Retail Ltd, Metro Cash and tion had spoken up against
Carry for its StoreSe platform, allowing apartment residents to Gandhi’s proposal, suggest-
order essentials and groceries. The platform claims to get essen- ing that she withdraw it, con-
tials delivered to residents within 24 hours, with an average order sidering the existing challen-
fulfilment rate of around 90%. Delivery of grocery and other ges faced by the media
essential products during the ongoing lockdown has been a focus industry, and the crucial role
of most online and offline retail firms, after various state govern- it plays, particularly in a cri-
ments allowed it under the “essential” category. TARUSH BHALLA sis.
W
ith foreign funds liq-
uidating their
investments in India
and taking flight due to the cov-
id-19-related uncertainties, the
Securities and Exchange Board
of India (Sebi) has initiated
measures to stem the outflow.
On Tuesday night, the regu-
lator allowed countries or juris-
dictions to approach it for Cate-
gory-I registrations. Lack of
this registration had saddled
many Mauritius-based funds
with higher tax liability, and
forced many managers to
restructure their funds. In
some cases, they even consid-
ered shifting of jurisdictions.
Sebi amended the foreign
portfolio investment (FPI) reg-
ulations, which said that funds
“coming from any country
specified by the central govern-
ment by an order or by way of
This means that countries
such as Mauritius and others,
which are currently not part of
the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF) jurisdiction, or
not compliant with FATF, can
still obtain Category-I FPI
licence.
The move comes as a big
boost for the ₹4.37 trillion
worth of portfolio investments
that were made by Mauritius
last year. Mauritius was the sec-
ond-largest source of foreign
portfolio investments in India
after the US in 2019.
There was a fear that the bulk
of this flow would dry up and,
under the current market con-
ditions, may even move to
more tax-neutral jurisdictions.
“In the current environ-
ment, addressing such ambigu-
ities and challenges faced by
offshore investors is a step in
Sebi amended the FPI regulations, allowing countries like
Mauritius to obtain a Category-I licence.
the right direction,” said Bha-
vin Shah, partner, PwC India.
Around $15 billion of foreign
money flowed out of Indian
equity and debt in March—the
highest ever outflow in a single
month. The outflow was prima-
rily from quant funds, hedge
funds and risk parity funds.
The problem for these funds
MINT
had started due to a budgetary
provision, which levied indi-
rect transfer provisions on Cat-
egory-II FPIs. These include
hedge funds, those routing
their investments through
Mauritius and other non-
FATF-compliant countries.
Indirect transfers are those
involving transfer of shares or
India. These can be taxed in
India as they derive substantial
value from Indian assets. Gains
from such transactions attract
capital gains tax of 10-40%
depending on whether gains
are short- or long-term.
While a majority of foreign
funds were exempted from
indirect transfer provisions in
2017, the Finance Bill of 2020
had removed exemptions for
Category-II funds.
FATF norms, which have
been set up to combat money
laundering and terror financ-
ing, had also put Mauritius in
the grey list in February.
According to Khushboo
Chopra, head, business devel-
opment, SANNE, a global pro-
vider of alternative assets, such
steps will make it easier for
funds to invest in India through
Mauritius.
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

04 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI

S&P BSE Sensex Nifty 50 Nifty 500 Nifty Next 50 Nifty 100 S&P BSE Mid-cap S&P BSE Small Cap
CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE CLOSE PERCENT CHANGE

29,893.96 -0.58 8,748.75 -0.49 7,161.45 0.17 22,139.65 2.02 8,921.30 -0.15 10,976.15 1.90 9,979.72 1.86
PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN PREVIOUS CLOSE OPEN

30,067.21 29,701.92 8,792.20 8,688.90 7,149.00 7,090.40 21,702.30 21,675.50 8,934.60 8,842.60 10,771.38 10,811.89 9,797.21 9,864.78
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

31,227.97 29,602.94 9,131.70 8,653.90 7,435.50 7,061.35 22,700.45 21,565.95 9,288.35 8,806.85 11,269.59 10,688.07 10,177.18 9,820.85

HUL, Nestlé India stocks suggest

mint

SHORT TAKES
French economy shrinks
most since World War II
The French economy shrank the most since
World War II in the first quarter, and the outlook
no covid-19 impact for some firms
for the rest of the year is souring significantly
amid the confinement to limit the spread of the Pallavi Pengonda & Mobis Philipose ing anonymity. tioned analyst.
coronavirus, according to the Bank of France. The pallavi.p@livemint.com As the chart alongside shows, HUL Analysts at Kotak Institutional Stocks on steroids
central bank’s estimate of a 6% slump is the latest shares traded at a premium of about Equities estimate revenues of top The premium of fast-moving consumer goods companies’ stocks over the

S
indicator of the severity of the shock to European hares of Hindustan Uni- 220% to the Nifty 50 index when the consumer staples firms to grow 3.5% Nifty 50 has expanded to even more absurd levels, as investors look for safety.
economies from a simultaneous collapse in lever Ltd (HUL) and Nestlé market peaked in mid-February. The year-on-year in the March quarter, 378 Price-earnings premium over Nifty 50 (in %)
demand and supply. Such a drop in gross domes- Global India Ltd hit new 52-week premium, based on one-year forward almost the same as in the December 340 12 Feb 8 Apr
recession is
tic product from one quarter to the next would be already
highs on Wednesday. With earnings estimates of Kotak Institu- quarter. A rush to stock up on essen- 291
comparable only to the 5.3% recorded around the here. Take a stocks correcting across the tional Equities, is now at 340%. In tials is likely to aid sales of some
strikes of May 1968. Like the country’s statistics look at world owing to the impact of covid-19 Nestlé India’s case, the premium is FMCG firms, although those depend- 218 200
agency Insee, the Bank of France had to change its these and related lockdowns, the perform- even more outlandish at 380%. ent on a higher proportion of discre- 170 162 177 153
evidences 143 130
way of measuring to try to get a grasp on the ance of Indian con- tionary spend are likely 108 117
88
tumult. It used high-frequency data—including bit.ly/39MtARy sumer stocks is strik- WILL THE COOKIE CRUMBLE? to be hit.
card transactions and requests for unemployment ing to say the least. Among the con-
benefits—to corroborate the results of its monthly Note that shares of FMCG firms’ stocks ANALYSTS estimate THE fact valuations sumer pack, HUL and Hindustan Nestlé Dabur Britannia Godrej Marico Colgate
survey of 8,500 businesses. BLOOMBERG Unilever Plc. and Nes- outperformance is
primarily driven by
revenues of top are rising rapidly at a
staples firms to grow time when earnings
Nestlé India are the Unilever India India Industries Consumer Palmolive
tlé SA are trading a flight to safety Products (India)
at almost same rate are being downgraded favourites for obvious P-E ratio calculated using FY21 earnings estimates
about 22% and 10% by some investors as in the Dec quarter is a sign of trouble reasons. Investors
Source: Kotak Institutional Equities, Mint research
lower compared to believe in HUL’s exe-
No vacancies their 52-week highs. cution capabilities and SANTOSH SHARMA/MINT

A plunge in job postings has underscored the In the current backdrop of uncer- A moot question is if valuations will distribution might. “Most of Nestlé rural market is expected to be hit. “Consumer demand, which was
virus's effect on the labour market. tainty, some investors see stocks of come crashing down if earnings dis- India’s portfolio consists of food Having said all this, the fact that already slowing down before this dis-
Job postings as
of 3 April vs a
Germany fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) appoint. “Investors are likely to view products and in such times, consum- valuations are rising rapidly at a time ruption, is likely to weaken further,
year ago (in %) Singapore firms as safe havens, since these busi- performance of consumer companies ers prefer a good brand,” said Nitin when earnings are getting down- thereby reducing our growth fore-
Belgium
nesses are relatively less impacted. relative to the rest of the market, Gupta, analyst at SBICAP Securities graded is a sign of trouble. While casts,” said analysts at Emkay Global
Netherlands
“The trade on stocks that will be rather than look at absolute declines Ltd. earnings estimates for HUL, Nestlé Financial Services in a note to clients,
US
Poland
least impacted by the lockdown is on in revenues or profits. As such, the Nestlé India’s higher exposure to India and other consumer companies which recommended a sell on Nestlé
Spain steroids,” said an analyst at a domestic current fancy for these stocks is likely urban markets is also seen as a posi- haven’t fallen as much as other firms, India shares. Of course, such warn-
France institutional brokerage firm, request- to continue,” said the above-men- tive, especially at a time when the they are still down. ings are falling on deaf ears.
Italy
Ireland
Canada
UK
-40 -30 -20 -10 0
Source: Indeed.com, Bloomberg

SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT Ipca, Cadila gain on pandemic Tailwinds fuel the Ashok Leyland
Job postings drop on virus
damage to labour market
The global pandemic is taking its toll on the
fears, but window may be short stock, but it’s a painful ride ahead
labour market as postings on jobs site Indeed.com
slumped compared to a year ago. Jobseekers in R. Sree Ram Vatsala Kamat buying 19% in the commercial vehi- management’s decision to hold
the UK and Canada are hardest hit so far, as sreeram@livemint.com Booster dose Hyrdoxychloroquine market
share in US (in %) vatsala.k@livemint.com cle (CV) financing firm, from exist- back the purchase of promoter
employers scale back operations amid lockdown Many drug makers ing investors (Everstone Group: 7%; stake has clearly helped.

S A
measures designed to slow the virus’s spread. Hir- hares of Ipca Laborato- have announced Cadila Healthcare 29.9 shok Leyland Ltd’s shares promoters: 12%) for ₹1,200 crore. Another reason for optimism on
ing for food preparation, service, hospitality and ries Ltd and Cadila production ramp-ups have surged 29% from the A report by Edelweiss Securities the Street is the hope for an eco-
tourism roles have been scaled back most signifi- Healthcare Ltd touched and donations, which Prasco 23 low of ₹33.70 hit on 25 Ltd stated that the timing, quantum nomic stimulus that would include
cantly, falling around 70% from the same period new 52-week highs, gaining can significantly raise March. What is driving the stock in and valuation of the deal would the auto sector. However, this argu-
the availability of Sandoz 15.2
last year. BLOOMBERG 6% and 12%, respectively, on spite of the 21-day lockdown? pressure the com- ment looks far-
hydroxychloroquine
Wednesday. The govern- in the US.
To start with, it must be noted pany’s cash flows in a Being a pure play fetched. Industry
ment’s move to lift the ban on NorthStar Rx 10.8 that the stock had reached weak demand envi- experts concur that
on commercial
A $100 bn REIT rout in Asia hydroxychloroquine exports Teva Pharmaceutical
8.5
extremely low valuations, and the ronment and also vehicles, stock CVs are the worst-hit
fuelled a rally in the stocks. recent rise may be akin to a dead cat weigh on its valua- from the covid-19
pulverizes family fortunes The Ipca and Cadila stocks
Industries
bounce. A report by Motilal Oswal tions. “We believe the
has fallen from
Sun Pharmaceutical
8 ₹160 at the peak impact and are likely to
The Tangs are a classic Singapore power couple. are now up 30% and 40%, Industries Financial Services Ltd points out Street would have pre- take the longest among
Gordon, a former professional windsurfer and respectively, from their lows that Ashok Leyland trades at a 20% ferred Ashok Leyland of CV cycle in ’18 auto segments to
Dr Reddy’s/Appco
avid sailor, and his wife Celine moved from China in end-March.
Source: IMS Health,
Pharma 3.7
discount to its decadal average buying a 7% stake from to a low of ₹44 recover.
Jefferies India
in the 1990s, founded trading firm Tang Dynasty Besides, the US Food and (price-to-earnings ratio). Everstone. This would A Society of Indian
and then established a real estate empire. Their Drug Administration with- SATISH KUMAR/MINT
But this is not the only reason. Its have been in compli- Automobile Manufac-
SingHaiyi Group Ltd invests in commercial and drew an import alert on Ipca’s been rising for both drug mak- some positive impact on the decision to reverse the proposed ance of their commitment as well as turers-PricewaterhouseCoopers
residential properties in the island state and has manufacturing units. With ers. Cadila is ramping up its companies’ near-term finan- buyout of the promoter stake in reduced the strain on cash call,” it study on Wednesday saw a 15-26%
expanded to the US and Australia. Neil Bush, this, the firm can supply active production by three-four cials.” group firm Leyland Finance Ltd added. drop in CV sales in FY21.
brother of former US President George W. Bush, pharmaceutical ingredients times, said analysts at Jefferies Some analysts are, however, helped investor sentiment. Besides, the valuation of Hinduja Some analysts are more sceptical.
is on the board. Then the coronavirus pandemic (APIs), such as hydroxychloro- India Pvt. Ltd. wondering whether the Note that in mid-March, inves- Leyland Finance was based on pre- Even assuming a sharp recovery in
hit. The value of their holdings in four real estate quine sulphate and chloro- Ipca is also set to resume demand spike will last. tors had hammered the stock when pandemic levels. CV sales in the second half of the
investment trusts (REITs) has dropped by more quine phosphate, to the US. supply of the generic chloro- Demand is primarily being Ashok Leyland said that it would be Therefore, the Ashok Leyland year, Ashok Leyland is likely to
than $300 million this year, according to Bloom- Ipca and Cad- quine drug to the driven by a need to build up burn cash, says an analyst at a
berg data. The 249 REITs trading on stock ila are large pro- Scarcity has led to US. With prices in inventory, and sales can be domestic brokerage firm, request-
exchanges across the Asia-Pacific region have ducers of production and the US signifi- high if countries tend to store Hitting a trough ing anonymity.
posted an average decline of 25% this year, wiping hydroxychloro- supply ramp-ups cantly higher, these drugs. Shares of Ashok Leyland Nifty Auto index CV sales were under pressure
110
$100 billion from their market value.BLOOMBERG quine sulphate, by others such as exports are profit- However, analysts at Nom- Ashok Leyland even before the lockdown. Unlike
demand for able. “Realisation ura and Jefferies India say the have recovered 100 passenger vehicles, which saw some
Teva, Mylan NV in the last few
which has for chloroquine scarcity has triggered produc- 90 green shoots of recovery in January
increased in and Sandoz, in API in India is tion and supply ramp-ups by trading sessions and February, CV sales continued to
Sales slump India and abroad. the US as well $45,000 per other producers, such as Teva, after plunging on 80
post double-digit decline due to
Weekly issuances of Chinese dollar bonds news of stake
The anti-malarial tonne; in the US Mylan NV and Sandoz, in the acquisition in a
70
61.15 slowing economic activity.
have tumbled to fresh lows in 2020.
drugs are seen as $10 million per US as well. Consequently, group firm and 60 Being a pure play on CVs, Ashok
8.5 China corporate dollar
a potential treatment option tonne, based on our assump- hydroxychloroquine supplies Leyland’s stock has been hit hard. It
bonds (in $ billion) dismal prospects 50
7 for covid-19. Before the pan- tions and data from AIOCD to the US can increase by one- for commercial has fallen from a high of ₹160 at the
40 53.80
5.8 demic outbreak, utilization AWACS for India and IQVIA fourth to one-third, they add. vehicles. 31 Dec 2019 8 Apr 2020
peak of the CV cycle in 2018 to a low
was significantly lower, said for the US,” said Nomura Hence, Indian drug makers Base value taken as 100 of ₹44. Indeed, valuations could be
Nomura Research. Research. “The sudden surge may not be able to sustain high Source: Capitaline, Bloomberg
attractive, but the ride ahead would
3.0 3.0 Enquiries and orders have in demand is likely to have volumes. be a long and arduous one.
SANTOSH SHARMA/MINT
0.43 0.32
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Weeks
Source: Bloomberg

China’s dollar bond pain

SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT

HCL Technologies commentary calms nerves, but some worries remain

shows limits of state role R. Sree Ram before the lockdown came into by acquisitions HCL Tech did in postponing project execution.
Beijing’s grip over capital markets is being tested sreeram@livemint.com effect. “While the impact on this Numbers game Revenue share in Q3 FY20 (in %) the past. The constant currency Delay in execution and business
by Chinese firms’ exposure to the offshore bond quarter’s (Q4 FY20) numbers is HCL Technologies Financial services 21.6 organic revenue growth is pro- slowdown can impact revenue

H
market, where $87.3 billion owed by the nation’s CL Technologies Ltd’s yet to be quantified, we don’t has a diversified jected at 5.7% from the year-ago and profit margin.
firms comes due this year. Corporate credit held end-March communica- expect it to be significant,” said revenue mix, Manufacturing 20.9 quarter, higher than TCS’s, but With much of the global econ-
limiting its
up well domestically as the coronavirus pandemic tion with investors on the HCL Tech in a statement. Technology
15.1 slower than Infosys’s projected omy in a downturn, revenue tra-
exposure to and Services
smashed global financial markets, with spreads impact of covid-19 has helped Low exposure to troubled ver- troubled business Lifesciences and
growth of 6.8%, show Kotak’s jectory of the products division
for AA-rated local bonds (the equivalent of junk) contain the fall in its share price ticals, such as oil and gas, travel healthcare 12.2 estimates. will also be tracked, especially
verticals such as
falling to a three-year low. But the opposite was to some extent. and hospitality, and high-end travel, and oil Public services* 10.9 Even so, the future remains since the company has made sig-
true for offshore debt. Yields for China junk bonds The stock lost one-third of its retail, also cushions the company and gas. uncertain. With covid-19 bring- nificant investments in this busi-
soared to 14.1% in late March, an eight-year record value from the highs in February to some extent from the current Retail and CPG 10.3 ing the global economy to a ness. “HCL’s organic engine was
*Includes oil and gas,
and highest among the world’s other big markets. by 30 March, more than the 26% disruption to global economy. energy and utilities, Telecommunications,
9 standstill, the worry is that reve- enjoying a resurrection of sorts in
and travel media and entertainment
The divergence shows the limits of the govern- drop in the Nifty IT index. After Consequently, analysts expect nues of IT firms will fall in FY21. FY20, along with handsome con-
Source: Company
ment’s influence outside of mainland China’s bor- the recovery in the past few trad- HCL Tech to report a relatively The impact will be pronounced tribution from its inorganic arse-
ders. The central bank has been able to keep fund- ing sessions, its performance is better performance in Q4. SANTOSH SHARMA/MINT
in the current quarter (Q1 FY21), nal. We believe FY21 will be
ing costs near multi-year lows within the nation, on par with the index. Analysts at Kotak Institutional of 16.5-17% implied 0.3-2% quar- lysts at Kotak in a note. Sequen- as much of the world is in lock- devoid of growth and while its
easing the debt burden on local companies. In the The company said that work- Equities expect HCL Tech to ter on quarter revenue growth tial revenue growth of larger down mode. products and platforms business
dollar market, local firms were caught up in the from-home arrangements have report relatively better (0.8%) guidance for March 2020 quar- peers Tata Consultancy Services In this backdrop, investors will should help HCL maintain mar-
panic selling as investors rushed to get hold of not disrupted its operations. sequential revenue among large ter. Our estimates stand at 0.8% Ltd (TCS) and Infosys Ltd is try to gauge the impact of busi- gins, utilisation dip will strain
greenbacks. The result has been spiking yields Besides, a large part of project IT firms for the quarter. “HCL’s revenue growth at the lower end expected to be lower. ness closures on HCL Tech’s margins,” said analysts at Edel-
and a plunge in new issuance. BLOOMBERG bookings happened in January, FY2020 annual revenue outlook of the implied band,” said ana- The performance will be aided order pipeline, if clients ask for weiss Securities Ltd in a note.

Mark to Market writers do not have positions in the companies they have discussed here
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

NEWS THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 05

Deposits at large lenders LOCKDOWN LESSONS FROM

GROCERY RETAILERS IN CHINA
soar post-Yes Bank crisis ORDINARY
public about the range of products available at
their stores and their prices.”
This was followed by attention to customer
experience and product delivery. The supermar-
POST kets looked closely at key elements—from sour-
cing, product range, pricing to safety and hygiene.
HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank saw current, savings account deposits surge up to 11% SHUCHI BANSAL For starters, the stores were reorganized to ensure
that both the employees and customers remain
Respond to this column at safe. The process entailed marking out areas for
Shayan Ghosh & shuchi.b@livemint.com customers to move and stand at least 1-1.5 metres
Gopika Gopakumar apart.

G
ejha village near Sector 93 in Noida, on the The exercise also included changing the way
MUMBAI outskirts of Delhi, houses a large-format they stacked products so that they do not display
departmental store for household goods empty shelves. They not only stored more staples,

T
he Yes Bank crisis, which WhatsApp and groceries. Called ELT, it is a boon for the many food and beverage items and dairy products, they
makes
precipitated large-scale video-
housing societies in the area as it services their laid them out so that they were more easily acces-
withdrawal of deposits calling in needs for items of daily use, especially, during the sible. Importantly, the in-store messaging about
from smaller private sec- groups ongoing countrywide lockdown to prevent the regular supplies was used to influence customers
tor banks, appears to have easier with spread of covid-19. Some other grocery stores in to avoid hoarding. “Clearly, they had a heads-up
this new
benefitted their larger peers, many update
the area have shut shop as they ran out of stocks. and so they were able to stock themselves up,” said
of which are seeing a rapid rise in ELT has been quick to adapt to the situation and Wahi. Many grocery retailers created self-check-
bit.ly/3e5Zko4
deposits. provides a safe shopping experience. Despite its out zones with minimal contact through UPI and
According to information dis- size, it allows only two customers to go in at a time. other QR-enabled payment modes. They offered
closed to stock exchanges, total Their temperatures are checked at the entrance instant downloads to customers through hoard-
deposits at HDFC Bank and Kotak and masks are mandatory to get in. The queues ings and messages of these codes. While most
Mahindra Bank grew 7.4% and 11.7% outside are long, but a distance of 1 metre is main- supermarkets worked with bare essential staff,
respectively between December tained between people. some of them tripled their salaries for the dura-
and March from the previous quar- Located in Hasanpur village near Patparganj in tion. “The Chinese retailers were proactive since
ter, while smaller banks like RBL Delhi, modern trade outlet Reliance Fresh is fol- they knew that after stocking essentials, custom-
Bank and IndusInd Bank saw lowing similar protocols. However, customers ers will look for other
declines of about 8% and 6.6% in the visiting both these places report that although Retailers set up products. They antici-
same period. essentials are available, the shelves look bare as self-checkout pated that people will
However, on the current and sav- savoury snacks and other such goodies are miss- shift to experimental
ings account (CASA) ratio front, ing. Even among essentials, the brands, variants zones with cooking at home. So,
along with HDFC Bank and Kotak RBL Bank and IndusInd Bank could not increase their deposits in the aftermath of the Yes Bank crisis. BLOOMBERG and pack sizes are limited. minimal contact they offered ingredi-
Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank also wit- Clearly, most modern trade stores and even the via QR-enabled ents for gourmet
nessed a sequential growth. they may face issues on the liabilities id-19 impact. While HDFC Bank’s deposit rate for all scheduled com- neighbouring kiranas have been keeping essential payment modes cooking,” said Wahi.
CASA ratio is a bank’s current and side; which may negatively impact outgoing managing director Aditya mercial banks stood at 6.45% as of good supplies running to meet your household Aware of the
savings account deposits as a per- their growth as well as profitability Puri spoke to the media on 23 February. needs. While they should be commended for their unique needs of the
centage of its total deposits. in this difficult time. March, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s According to a note by Kotak efforts in staying open during these difficult times, people, they stocked low-fat, low-sugar products
Since savings accounts pay sub- “On the other hand, it may give group president and group chief Institutional Equities on 6 April, the there are some interesting lessons that grocery for diabetics and senior citizens and baby food and
stantially less interest than term some comfort to large private banks financial officer Jaimin Bhatt spoke average term deposit rates are and essential commodities retailers could learn diapers for infants. Supermarkets also entertained
deposits and current accounts pay and allow them to broadly similar to from China, where the coronavirus pandemic bulk deliveries to residential areas by tying up with
no interest at all, these low-cost focus on addressing CAPITAL CONSOLIDATION term deposit rates actually started. food delivery and food-tech companies.
deposits are always lucrative for len- assets or loan side (1-2 years) offered by Rajat Wahi, partner, Deloitte India, has been in In India, too, several consumer goods firms
ders. issue arising out of CRISIS at Yes Bank TREND will help CASA deposits entail most banks today, touch with supermarket chains and retail experts have tied up with delivery companies to reach the
“Large private sector banks are covid-19 outbreak,” appears to have
benefitted their
large lenders address substantially lower
issues related to and even no interest
albeit slightly lower in China to understand how they dealt with the consumer directly. Last week, Britannia Indus-
consolidating their position on the added Mishra. larger peers, who assets and loans rates compared to than small finance crisis at the store level during the lockdown. He tries, the maker of biscuits, bread and dairy prod-
CASA deposit front post the fiasco of In releasing saw deposits swell due to covid-19 term deposits banks (SFBs). said Chinese supermarkets also witnessed panic ucts, partnered with Dunzo. Domino’s Pizza and
Yes Bank & PMC Bank. This is quite approximate num- “We have started buying at the beginning, followed by limited foot- ITC Ltd have tied up to deliver essential items
evident from the pre-quarterly bers for the March to see banks, espe- fall and change in consumption pattern, and through the pizza chain’s app.
release from many large private sec- quarter, these private sector banks to analysts on 31 March. cially private banks, cutting head- finally towards community-based group buying Even when things go back to being normal, for
tor banks,” said Ashutosh Mishra, have pre-empted their final finan- Private sector banks have been line deposit rates in recent months. with home delivery services. retailers maintaining hygiene practices and for
head of research at Ashika Stock cial numbers. Some senior bankers consistently paying a higher rate of The gap between repo and term “They had a warlike mentality to deal with the customers maintaining distance should become
Broking. even held calls with analysts and interest on term deposits than their deposit rates, which had reached situation,” he said. The first thing they did was to a force of habit.
Mishra added that this trend is with the media to dispel any con- public peers since August 2017, RBI close to peak levels, has declined advertise their store timings and other details via Shuchi Bansal is Mint’s media, marketing and
particularly bad news for the mid cerns about the lenders’ health and data showed. meaningfully,” the note added. mainstream media. “The most important step was advertising editor. Ordinary Post will look at press-
and small-sized private banks as about their assessment of the cov- The weighted average term shayan.g@livemint.com their proactive and timely communication to the ing issues related to all three. Or just fun stuff.

Wearing masks made mandatory in Mumbai

Team Mint Maharashtra is the only an accident victim, who was
feedback@livemint.com Indian state to have registered being treated at the facility,
MUMBAI more than 1,000 positive cases tested positive for covid-19. All
so far. the 92 staff members have

M
aharashtra chief min- Despite the spike in cases, since tested negative.

BUSINESS OF LIFE
ister Uddhav Thack- government officials have Maharashtra is also classify-
eray on Wednesday ruled out the possibility com- ing containment zones as sim-
called on all retired army per- munity transmission of the ple zones (one case) and clus-
sonnel with any experience of virus so far. ter containment zones (three-
healthcare to join the contain- In neighbouring Pune, no five cases) and creating a
ment efforts of the state hotspots have emerged so far, buffer zone around these con-
administration. said the Pimpri tainment zones. Daily articles on lifestyle,
“I want to appeal to all Chinchwad Maharashtra “We’re testing sports, leisure, technology,
retired army personnel, who Municipal Cor- CM Uddhav all close and high-
have experience of medical poration, even as Thackeray has risk contacts. So and health
field, nurses, ward boys and Uddhav Thackeray called on it sealed some called on retired far, we’ve been
those who have completed the retired army personnel to join areas on Tuesday testing the symp-
army personnel to tomatic people
training but didn’t work for containment efforts. HT suspecting a
some reason—you must come number of posi- join containment and doing large-
forward to join us. Maharash- The focus remains on con- tive cases. efforts of the state scale household
tra needs you,” Thackeray taining the spread from hot- Thergaon, surveys. These
said. spots in Mumbai, Pune and Kharalwadi, Digh containment
On Wednesday, authorities Nagpur, added the officials. and Chikhli sector 12 are zones are being set up wher-
made it compulsory to wear In Mumbai, Worli Koliwada among the areas that have ever there are cases,” said Dr
face masks in Mumbai when in is the only hotspot so far with a been sealed. Anup Kumar Yadav, state
public areas, making the city large number of cases. There is Around 85% of covid-19 health commissioner of Maha-
the first to implement such a no other declared hotspot yet, cases have been reported from rashtra.
rule. although Dharavi remains a the Mumbai Metropolitan On testing, Yadav said that it
On Wednesday, two new cause for worry. Region (MMR) and Pune dis- is a large-scale exercise and
coronavirus cases emerged in On Wednesday, Maharash- trict. MMR includes Mumbai, there will be some issues. “But
Mumbai’s Dharavi, taking the tra’s tally of positive cases Thane and Navi Mumbai. at the end, we will make sure
total number of cases in the jumped to 1,078 with Mumbai On Monday, 92 staff mem- that everybody is tested and
slum to nine, Maharashtra and Pune reporting the high- bers of the DY Patil Hospital in isolated for the necessary
government officials said. est number of cases. Pune were quarantined after quarantine period.”

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06 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI
SC also directed the Centre
and states to provide security
CORPORATE
VIRUS EFFECT
Govt urges people not to let Assocham, CII call for
$200-300 bn bailout
fear of virus become stigma to stimulate economy
Malyaban Ghosh
malyaban.g@livemint.com
Negative reactions will hamper battle against covid-19, says govt, as infected cases rise to 5,639 NEW DELHI

I
to doctors and medical staff n order to put the Indian
treating patients REUTERS
Neetu Chandra Sharma economy back on track in
neetu.s@livemint.com the aftermath of the cov-
Provide NEW DELHI id-19 pandemic, industry
lobby groups on Wednesday

protective
T
he government has urged urged the Union government
people not to be prejudiced to announce a bailout package
against citizens or communi- of $200-300 billion along with
gear to health ties with regard to covid-19,
which continues to wreak
a host of other incentives for
small and medium enterprises.

workers, SC havoc across the country.

Public health emergencies caused by
the outbreak of communicable dis-
India’s economy is expected The CII also wants capital
to slow significantly in the cur- infusion in state-run banks.
rent financial year due to the
tells Centre eases may cause fear and anxiety, the
government said on Wednesday. This
negative impact of the pan- authorities like the BDO or the
demic on manufacturing and tehsildars, based on the indus-
may lead to prejudicial behaviour, service industries. try requests,” the CII said.
which may culminate into increased Ratings agency Crisil, on 3 “Special transport could be
Japnam Kaur Bindra hostility, chaos, and unnecessary social April, had announced a down- arranged from clusters from
japnam.bindra@livemint.com disruptions, it said. ward revision of Indian’s gross where large numbers of
NEW DELHI “Cases have been reported of people domestic product (GDP) migrant workers come to
affected with covid-19, as well as growth to 3.5% for 2020-21. work, with all the safety proto-

T
he Supreme Court on
Wednesday passed a
slew of interim directions
for the safety of doctors and
other healthcare personnel
taking care of covid-19 patients.
The directions came on a
plea by Nagpur-based doctor
Jerryl Banait, on the availability
of headcovers, face shields,
medical masks, and shower
covers among others for doc-
tors in tier 2 and tier 3 cities,
along with the metros.
The top court directed the
ministry of health and family
welfare to ensure the availabil-
ity of personal protective
equipment (PPE), including
sterile medical gloves, starch
apparel, medical masks, gog-
gles, face shields, respirators,
shoe covers, head covers and
coveralls to all health workers,
including doctors, nurses, ward
boys, other medical and para-
medical professionals attend-
ing to patients suffering from
covid-19 in India.
The apex court also directed
the Centre and state govern-
ments to provide security to
doctors and medical staff treat-
ing patients suffering from cov-
id-19. Security should also be
provided if a doctor or nurse
visits a patient where the per-
son has been quarantined, the
top court said.
Authorities should take
action against those preventing
doctors, medical staff or gov-
ernment officials deputed to
contain covid-19 from perform-
ing their duty, the court said.
The Supreme Court also
directed the government to
explore all alternatives for aug-
healthcare workers, sanitary workers, According to recommenda- cols in place,” it added.
and police personnel, who are in the tions submitted by the Con- Assocham, on the other
frontline of the management of the federation of Indian Industry hand, recommended the gov-
outbreak, facing discrimination on (CII) to the finance ministry, to ernment to modify the FRBM
account of heightened fear and misin- stage a recovery in economic Act to consider the debt-to-
formation about infection,” the Union activity, the central govern- GDP ratio as a metric, instead
health ministry said. ment should help corporate of fiscal deficit, and reduction
“Even those who have recovered Positions are marked for maintaining physical distance at a marketplace in Mumbai. AP entities with additional work- in gross domestic product by
from covid-19 face such discrimination. ing capital loans 50% for first
Further, certain communities and ing of the covid-19 infection curve, data The central and state governments ing, ensuring quarantine facilities and from banks Assocham says quarter, and 25%
areas are being labelled purely on the from the state government indicated. have escalated responses with the providing essential and psychological backed by a sov- $50-100 bn cash for the entire fis-
basis of false reports floating in social Kerala has the highest number of increase in the number of cases. States support,” said the ministry of health ereign guarantee, has to be infused cal year.
media and elsewhere,” the government recovered covid-19 patients in the have been asked to ensure that ade- and family welfare. besides providing to arrest the loss According to
said and called for support and appreci- country at 84, according to Wednes- quate covid-19 care centres are in place. Meanwhile, the Centre has sched- additional recon- Deepak Sood,
of jobs and
ation for doctors, nurses, sanitary day’s official estimates. Many of them Several districts have taken meas- uled online training of physicians for struction term secretary general,
workers and police personnel. recovered despite being elderly and ures that have emerged as best prac- antenatal care and labour management loans to medium compensate for Assocham, to
There are 5,693 covid-19 positive vulnerable, with one being 93 years old tices. Pune district sealed the central of pregnant women with suspected or and small enter- loss of income keep up with
cases in India, with a record 648 confirmed covid-19 infection by prises, wherein it most economies
cases being reported on Wednes- PREPARING FOR THE WORST the All India Institute of Medical must offer a guar- of the world, the
day. The death toll in the country is Sciences in this week. antee of up to 20% of the Centre must institute stimulus
163, with 27 people succumbing to THE govt is focusing RESPONSES have STATES have been MAHARASHTRA Uddhav Thackeray, the chief default. measures with 10% of GDP.
the infection on Wednesday. on ensuring uniform been escalated as asked to ensure CM has urged retired minister of Maharashtra, which has The CII has also urged the The Indian economy will
implementation of per the ongoing that adequate Army personnel to
A 65-year-old man from Kalabu- effective lockdown increased cases covid-19 care join the fight as the maximum number of covid-19 government to consider a cap- need a transfusion of over
ragi district succumbed to covid-19 measures noted across India centres are in place Corona Yodhas positive cases in the country, has ital infusion of up to ₹30,000 $200 billion with an ability to
on Wednesday, taking the toll in urged retired Army personnel who crore in public sector banks to go up to $300 billion, over the
Karnataka to five. This is the sec- worked as part of the medical prevent a failure of the bank- next 12-18 months, he said.
ond death in Kalaburagi caused by cov- and another 88 years old. region of Pune and Kondhwa area corps, as well as retired nurses, to join ing system. It also advised the “Out of that corpus, $50-100
id-19, after an 11 March casualty, the However, as the number of positive effectively and carried out door-to- the fight as corona yoddhas (warriors). government to go for a phase- billion cash needs to be
first for the country. Six people also cases keep increasing in the country, door survey of homes across a 35 sq. km Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi wise revocation of the lock- infused in the system over the
tested positive for covid-19 in the state, the government is focusing on ensur- area. “The team is also checking per- Adityanath on Wednesday flagged off down. It said manufacturing next three months to arrest the
taking the total in Karnataka to 181, ing uniform implementation of lock- sons with co-morbidity such as diabe- fire tenders for 66 tehsils to be utilized and construction activities loss of jobs and compensate for
including 28 who have recovered. down measures by states and Union tes and hypertension, apart from travel for sanitization in the state. should be allowed in a limited loss of income. Such an infu-
There is, however, a silver lining of territories and encouraging people to history and contact tracing. Pathanam- Leroy Leo, Yunus Y. Lasania, Sharan scale in the first phase. sion would help businesses
hope in Kerala, where fewer new cases practice social distancing to help con- thitta district ensured surveillance, Poovanna and Nidheesh M.K. contrib- “Migrant workers could be and workers tide over the chal-
and more recoveries has led to a flatten- tain the contagion. gathering travel history, contact trac- uted to this story. issued e-passes by local lenging situation,” he said.
Trump all praise for India after deal on HCQ MCA relaxes compliance norms
Elizabeth Roche threatened India with conse- Jayshree P. Upadhyay script of the proceedings must managerial staff and auditors.
elizabeth.r@livemint.com quences if it did not lift the jayshree.pyasi@livemint.com be maintained by companies. Members can also vote for
NEW DELHI embargo. MUMBAI “Such VCs would need to the special resolution through
“I said we’d appreciate you have a capacity to allow at least a show of hands during the VC,

menting domestic production
of protective clothing and gear
for medical professionals.This
includes exploring alternative
modes of production of such
clothing and permitting move-
ment of raw materials. The gov-
ernment may also restrict
export of such materials to aug-
ment inventory and domestic
stock, said the bench compris-
ing Justices Ashok Bhushan
and S. Ravindra Bhat after
hearing in the morning
through video-conferencing.
The petitioner said it was the
government’s duty to ensure
that medical health professions
are provided graded protective
gear as they come in constant
contact with covid-19 patients
and there is no specific vaccine
available to cure the disease.
W T
ithin a day of report-
edly threatening
India with possible
retaliatory measures if it did
not release stocks of an anti-
malarial drug for possible
treatment of covid-19, US pres-
ident Donald Trump late
Tuesday did a U-turn, shower-
ing praises on India and prime
minister Narendra Modi.
“I bought millions of doses.
More than 29 million. I spoke
to Prime Minister Modi, a lot of
it comes out of India. I asked
him if he would release it. He
was great. He was really good.
You know they put a stop
because they wanted it for
India. But there is a lot of good
things coming from that,”
Trump told Fox News.
In a telephone conversation
allowing our supply to come
out. If he doesn’t allow it to
come out. That would be okay
but, of course, there may be
retaliation,” news reports
quoted Trump as saying at the
daily White House briefing on
the coronavirus outbreak on
Monday. “Why wouldn’t that
be?” he added.
The US is the worst-affected
Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that he spoke to Prime Minister country due to the covid-19
Modi and bought millions of doses of hydroxychloroquine. AP pandemic. The virus has
caused almost 400,000 infec-
over the weekend Trump grounds. tions and more than 12,000
requested Modi to lift its ban On Tuesday, India formally deaths in the US.
on exports of hydroxychloro- announced that it was lifting With New York emerging as
quine (HCQ), talked up by the curbs and would consider a major hotspot with more
Trump as a drug for covid-19. its export on a case-by-case than 3,200 deaths commenta-
India on 4 April banned basis. The exports were con- tors note that covid-19 has
exports of HCQ through a tingent on sufficient availabil- caused more deaths in the city
notification, without exemp- ity of the drug domestically. than the 9/11 terrorist attack on
tions on humanitarian or other But, Trump had reportedly the World Trade Centre.
he government on
Wednesday further
eased compliance
norms for companies consid-
ering ordinary and special res-
olutions amid the lockdown to
contain the covid-19 outbreak.
In a circular issued on
Wednesday, the ministry of
corporate affairs (MCA) said
that companies can take
urgent decisions without con-
vening a general meeting and
ratifying them through e-vot-
ing. This relaxation is not
applicable for decisions in the
ordinary course of business
and where any person has the
right to be heard.
“Unavoidable” extraordi-
nary general meetings (EGMs)
need to be held through video-
conferencing (VCs) and a tran-
1,000 members to partici- if there are less than 50 mem-
pate,” said MCA in the circular. bers participating in it.
These need to be on first- On 18 March, the MCA had
come, first-serve basis. relaxed board meeting norms,
This is applica- which required
ble for companies Companies can physical presence
which need now take urgent of directors, till
e-voting option. decisions without 30 June.
For companies convening a Now, these
not required to
general meeting meetings will be
give e-voting held through VCs
facility, the VC and ratify them or other audio-vi-
must accommo- through e-voting sual means. Firms
date 500 mem- will be able to
bers. Members hold meetings for
and participants need to be matters such as approval of
given the opportunity to ask financial statements, books of
questions, MCA said. accounts, approval of the
Important members who board’s report and approval of
can be part of an EGM even if matters related to mergers and
they are not the first to log in restructuring. Currently, for
include promoters, institu- such meetings, physical pres-
tional investors, directors, key ence is mandatory.

mint said on Wednesday. Last week, Meity is learnt to have asked Kejriwal interacts with MPs on
social media platforms to remove rogue messages spreading mis-
‘Flight restrictions will be lifted
SHORT TAKES information and weakening the government’s efforts to fight
against the coronavirus. Social media companies have also been
asked to save details of uploaders of such malicious content
once coronavirus is in control’
PRIYANKA PARASHAR/MINT
covid-19, says ‘will fight it together’
New Delhi: Delhi chief minis-
ter Arvind Kejriwal on Wednes-
HT

Focusing on supply of essentials
during lockdown: Tata Motors
BLOOMBERG Mumbai: Tata Motors on
Wednesday said it is focusing
on the supply of essentials by
facilitating production of pro-
tective gears to curb the spread
of covid-19. The firm has so far
provided over 25,000 packets
of cooked meals and over 5,000
grocery kits to migrants and
stranded communities. PTI
‘Social media firms must take more
efforts to curb virus fake news’
New Delhi: The ministry of electronics and IT (Meity) expects
social media companies to put more efforts in curbing the spread
of misleading content that has the potential to cause harm to the
society, especially in the present crisis of covid-19, a senior official
which can be shared with law enforcement agencies when
required. PTI
Bihar government transfers ₹1,000
each to its migrant workers
New Delhi: The Bihar government has transferred ₹1,000 each
into the bank accounts of 284,000 people who form a significant
part of India’s migrant population, making it the first state to
effect such transfers for migrants. The move—which plans to
cover around 500,000 people—comes against the backdrop of
India’s gig economy grinding to a halt, which left migrant work-
ers stranded across the coun-
HT
try. The initiative of the state
government led by chief min-
ister Nitish Kumar, the chief
of the Janata Dal (United),
comes in the run-up to the
assembly elections scheduled
to be held later this year.
UTPAL BHASKAR
day held a meeting with mem-
bers of parliament (MPs) from
Delhi on the virus outbreak and
said “we all will have to fight it
together”. Lok Sabha members
belonging to the Bharatiya Jan-
ata Party (BJP) and Rajya Sabha
members of the Aam Aadmi
Party interacted with the chief minister and discussed measures
to contain the covid-19 spread in the national capital. PTI
New Delhi: India will remove its suspension of domestic Reliance General Insurance
and international commercial passenger flights once it is
confident that the spread of coronavirus has come under
launches virus protection cover
control, sad civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Mumbai: Non-life insurer Reliance General Insurance on
Wednesday. “My heart goes out to people who are facing Wednesday launched a covid-19 protection insurance scheme,
problems due to restrictions put in place on domestic & which offers 100% of the sum-insured in lump sum on positive
international flights, pursuant to the situation arising out diagnosis of coronavirus. In case a person is quarantined, the plan
of the timely announcement of a nationwide lockdown,” offers 50% of the sum-insured during that period. The plan has
the minister said on Twitter. PTI a policy period of one year and the waiting period is for 15 days
before one can claim against the policy, the firm said. PTI
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

CORPORATE THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 07
VIRUS EFFECT
Jack Dorsey
pledges $1 bn ‘Cinema has sustained
for covid-19
relief effort
itself during recessions’
Shuchi Bansal
AFP shuchi.b@livemint.com
feedback@livemint.com NEW DELHI
SAN FRANCISCO

W
ith movie houses forced

T
witter co-founder and
chief executive Jack Dor-
sey said Tuesday he was
committing $1 billion of his per-
sonal fortune to coronavirus
relief through his philan-
thropic fund.
Dorsey said in a series of
tweets that he would transfer
his equity in his digital pay-
ments group Square to his lim-
ited liability corporation Start
Small, contributing around 28
percent of his overall wealth.
“Why now? The needs are
increasingly urgent, and I want
to see the impact in my life-
time,” Dorsey said.
“I hope this inspires others to
do something similar. Life is
too short, so let’s do everything
we can today to help people
to down shutters across
the country, India’s film
production and exhibi-
tion business has been
hit severely. In fact, according to the Mul-
tiplex Association of India, even before the
cinema halls were closed down, footfall
had declined by 30% between 1 February
and 24 March following the covid-19 out- G. NAVEEN | 23 | HYDERABAD | DELIVERY BOY
break. Ajay Bijli, chairman and managing
director, PVR Ltd, India’s largest cinema
exhibition chain, has urged the govern-
ment to help the industry stay afloat dur-
He ensures that groceries get
ing this unprecedented global crisis.
Edited excerpts from an interview:
How will the crisis affect your busi-
ness?
delivered even amid lockdown
Today, any entrepreneur is a human
being first. As a human being, he is not Yunus Y. Lasania daily routine has now times,” said Naveen, a resi-
taking a myopic view only of his own busi- yunus.lasania@htlive.com become far easier thanks to dent of Mallapur in Hydera-
ness. It is a huge pandemic. Our business HYDERABAD the passes issued for deliv- bad who earns around
is a small subset (in the larger context) and ery of essentials. ₹17,500 per month.

now.”
The move could be the larg-
est from a single individual for
coronavirus relief and comes
with the pandemic spanning
the globe and inflicting a heavy
toll in lives and economic dev-
astation on the United States.
Dorsey said that after the
pandemic ends, the fund would
focus on health and education
for girls and “universal basic
income” efforts.
Dorsey, who is CEO of both
Twitter and Square, has created
a foundation as well as the Start
Small Llc—a model similar to
that established by Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg in
his Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative,
to allow for flexibility in funding
startups and efforts a founda-
W
I am taking it one day at a time. There are hen G. Naveen, a What used to be a fairly While the Telangana gov-
15,000 people working for PVR. My first delivery worker simple job of just reaching a ernment has announced a
and foremost message to them is to com- for BigBasket, customer’s home and deliv- special incentive of ₹ 7,500
ply with government guidelines, to be reached his workplace in ering groceries at the door- for sanitation workers in
home and safe. Nacharam, an industrial step has now become quite Hyderabad and ₹5,000 for
Then, of course, I am running a listed area in suburban Hyder- all sanitation workers in
company. I am responsible to my people, PVR chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli says his message to his employees is to abad, on Wednesday at the state, many like
to customers and shareholders. But that is comply with the government guidelines, to be home and safe. RAMESH PATHANIA/MINT the usual time—7am—he Naveen, who have to
like anybody’s guess because you don’t faced a choice: like many IN THE CORONA work as usual, have no
know when you will be opening up. We Are you looking for a stimulus pack- lockdown is lifted and things return to other delivery boys who CROSSHAIRS such bonus.
were the first ones to be asked to shut age for the industry? normalcy, people will come back to cine- didn’t turn up fearing for Naveen has no issues
down, even before restaurants and various Yes. We have written to the prime min- mas. But it may not happen overnight. their safety, he could with that but some of his
other places. Obviously, the revenues ister and the finance minister through the How will you revive demand? have headed back home. impersonal, he said. “Ear- colleagues (who did not
were completely zero. multiplex association, cin- Look, every business has interdepend- “But I felt I should work, lier, people (customers) want to be identified) said
I have no complaint what- m CEOSPEAK ema association and the film ency. Our business is dependent on the and even though it is a risk, would talk to us, and we they decided to work given
soever, because cinemas are fraternity. We have film industry. So content has to flow. It this is a service which is would even have a conversa- that most businesses have
confined spaces. And you can’t maintain requested for a relief package. The indus- depends on real estate, that is, malls. So important. I wanted to help tion, but now we just leave taken a hit and securing a
social distancing. try has sought interest-free loans for three people have to go to malls and visit cine- out in this situation, so I the bags (groceries) outside job in the gig economy may
So how are you managing things? years with a one-year moratorium. It has mas. Third is human behaviour: Some decided to continue work- their doors, or even with the be difficult once everything
When your revenue is zero, then, rather asked for exemption on taxes and duties, people will continue to be panic stricken. ing,” said Naveen, 23. security guards at the gate. opens up.
than profitability management you have including GST (goods and Some will go out. It is difficult He has been working with Nobody wants to talk to us, With summer approach-
to do liquidity management. You have to services tax). We have also We will be taking to predict how everybody Big Basket for a year now. In because everyone is scared ing, Naveen and his col-

tion may be ineligible to fund.
Dorsey’s net worth is esti-
mated at about $3 billion
including his stake in Twitter
and Square.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
has pledged $100 million to
help food relief efforts during
the pandemic, and Zuckerberg
has offered more than $25 mil-
lion to help research through
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun-
dation.
The Gates Foundation has
pledged $125 million for
research but is said to be invest-
ing more in other projects.
‘
look at how you can reduce cost. I am very asked the government to measures like will behave. the lockdown, he has tuned of what is happening.” leagues will only have to
pleased that my top management has help in underwriting part of seat separation, But I have been thinking of himself to work in a single Given the toil harder. The
given up 50% of their remuneration, till the employee cost. caps on total re-imagining cinemas. We shift every day, from about lockdown and saving grace is
the cinemas are reopened. So that is a big Do you think people will seats allocated have to make people com- 7am to 3.30pm. the mandatory Nobody wants that there will
relief. Cinemas are shut so there is no elec- come back once the lock- while booking so fortable and safe. We will be “Before the lockdown, I physical dis- to talk to us, be less traffic.
tricity cost. Travel, advertising and mar- down is lifted, consider- that the cinema taking measures like seat used to work in two shifts. tancing norms, because Moreover,
keting, all expenses are down. ing there may both be fear is not crowded separation, caps on total seats One was from 5.30 to the risk of get- while the Cen-
The company’s balance sheet has been of the virus and an allocated while booking so 10.30am, and the other from ting infected everyone is tre had
strong. We have been very careful about impending recession? that cinema is not crowded. 4.30 to 10.30pm. There was with the virus is scared of what is imposed a lock-
our debt-equity structures. In times of recession, cinema has sus- Are you looking at job cuts? more traffic, so it used to higher when happening down from 25
We did a QIP (qualified institutional tained itself. People sacrifice spending on No. People are very important to me. take longer to deliver gro- you constantly March, Telan-
placement) in December where we raised other luxury items, such as appliances and We have 10,000 people under direct ceries then,” he said. meet people gana had been
about ₹500 crore from the market. That other goods. I feel they will still spend on employment and 5,000 indirect employ- While the situation was and so Naveen’s family too shut (except for essential
gave us good credit rating. We planned to out-of-home entertainment. The average ees. Our balance sheet can sustain busi- initially a little chaotic just advised him to not report to services) from 23 March.
pare down certain loans, but we did not film ticket price in India is less than ₹100. ness for a few more months. Also, you after the lockdown was work. “We are able to work now,
pare all of them down. We have fixed Besides, people are hardwired not to never know, a relief package may be imposed by chief minister K. “Nobody in my family is but we don’t know what the
expenditures we had to incur. stay at home, they have to go out. Once the round the corner. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), going out to work right now. situation will be like,” said
with the police stopping It is just me. But I wanted to Naveen, who makes around
delivery workers, Naveen’s do my job in these tough 30 deliveries daily.

Indian scientists monitoring virus mutation ILO sees worst joblessness since WW II
Srishti Choudhary to tracking the source of new Generating at least 400 Prashant K. Nanda ond quarter of 2020, and urban and rural India within a bally. Manufacturing, whole-
srishti.c@htlive.com positive cases. such sequences could help prashant.n@livemint.com working hours will fall by 6.7% span of three weeks. The Cen- sale and retail trade, real
NEW DELHI “It is an RNA (ribonucleic researchers extract valuable NEW DELHI in Q2, which is equivalent to tre for Monitoring of Indian estate, accommodation and
acid) virus, whose genome information on the behaviour 195 million full-time workers. Economy (CMIE) said unem- food services, which account

I T
ndian scientists have started
genome sequencing strains
of the novel coronavirus iso-
lated from patients in different
parts of the country as they
work against time to track its
spread and look for signs of
emerging mutations.
This is part of a large
sequencing project led by the
New Delhi-based National
Centre for Disease Control
with the help of scientists from
two premier research labora-
tories, the Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology, Hyder-
abad, and the Institute of
Genomics and Integrative
Scientists are tracking the
virus’ behaviour in India. MINT
Biology (IGIB), New Delhi.
The research teams will
sequence the whole genome of
the virus isolates and analyze if
there any differences in
genetic codes. This will be key
consists of 30,000 base pairs
(letters). Our focus is to iden-
tify which genetic variants in
the virus are linked to its viru-
lence and evolution. This
could help us understand if the
virus strain we have in India is
unique or is similar to other
global strains,” said Rajesh
Pandey, a member of the
research team at IGIB.
The IGIB team is also work-
ing on a sample to sequence
strategy, which could be
scaled up as another diagnos-
tic tool to test samples with the
help of next-generation
sequencing.
of the deadly coronavirus in
India, where there are more
than 5,000 positive cases, said
scientists.
This would also help guide
the strategies for designing
potential treatments for local
populations, vaccines and
drugs that might have to
undergo changes if the virus
evolves over time.
The current evidence shows
the SARS-CoV2 has not shown
any major mutation, which is a
good sign as otherwise it could
have significantly impacted
vaccine development, the sci-
entists added.
he covid-19 pandemic
has impacted 81% of the
world’s workforce,
marking the worst phase of
joblessness since World War
II, the International Labour
Organization (ILO) said in a
report on Wednesday. It said
lower- and middle-income
countries may face a bigger
challenge than developed
nations, and there was an
urgent need to protect jobs
and wages of employees.
The global workforce
watchdog indicated that the
unemployment scenario is
unlikely to improve in the sec-
ILO said India, Nigeria and ployment rate in India was for nearly 38% of the global
Brazil, with a lion’s share of 23.4% in the week ended 5 workforce, were being hit the
their workforce April. While the most. Transport and enter-
in the informal Lower and middle urban unemploy- tainment are facing medium to
sector, need to income countries ment rate was high impacts, while public
take guard to may face a bigger 30.9%, the rural health and education will be
arrest poverty challenge than rate was over least impacted.
among their the developed 20%, it said, add- Economists and workers’
working class. It world in tackling ing that certain groups have warned that
advised protec- job losses, urban pockets things may worsen in rural
tion of wages and according to ILO and rural areas India due to reverse migration,
incentives for were struggling while in urban pockets
industries to to cope with employment may not pick up
check job cuts. joblessness. due to low demand.
The ILO warning corrobo- ILO said due to the “most ILO’s recommended strat-
rates data from Indian think severe crisis since the Second egy includes a focused stimu-
tanks, which shows how World War” employment lus package, support to enter-
unemployment has tripled in losses are rising rapidly glo- prises and protection of jobs.

mint lockdown and later. The University Grants Commission (UGC)

Do not label any community Iran presses for IMF loan, some
has asked the 50,000 colleges and universities to run mental
SHORT TAKES health counselling and start individual or cluster helplines to
ease concerns related to covid-19, coursework and their future
education road map. It has asked them to improve communica-
for spread of covid-19: Govt
AP
business to stay shut
Dubai: President Hassan Rou-
hani pressed harder on
AFP

India’s coal import drops over 27%
to 16 million tonnes in March
BLOOMBERG New Delhi: India’s coal import
in March stood at 15.74 million
tonnes (MT), down 27.5% over
last year, due to restrictions
imposed at various ports in the
wake of the coronavirus out-
break. However, the country’s
coal import registered an
increase of 3.2% to 242.97 MT
in 2019-20. PTI
UGC urges institutes to set up
helplines for anxious students
New Delhi: Fearing that India’s 36 million students in colleges
and universities may face tough mental health and psychosocial
problems, the higher education regulator has asked institutions
to create facilities to deal with the situation, both during the
tion with students via phone calls, emails and appeals and mes-
sages on social media.
PRASHANT K. NANDA
American folk legend John Prine
dies from coronavirus at 73
New York: John Prine, an American folk legend widely consid-
ered one of his generation’s most influential songwriters, died
following complications of coronavirus Tuesday, his publicist
told AFP on behalf of his family. He was 73 years old. On 3 April,
Prine’s wife Fiona had posted on social media the beloved coun-
try and folk star was on his eighth day in the ICU on a ventilator,
AP and had pneumonia in both
lungs. Once dubbed the “Mark
Twain of American songwrit-
ing,” over his five decades in
the music business Prine
carved an image as an off-the-
cuff wordsmith who forged
melancholy tales with a dose of
surrealist wit. AFP
Wednesday for a $5 billion
emergency International Mon-
etary Fund (IMF) loan Iran has
sought to fight the coronavirus
outbreak, saying the Fund
would be guilty of discrimina-
tion if it withholds the money.
Rouhani also said some busi-
nesses will remain closed until further notice, after the authori-
ties announced last week that they will begin to ease a shut-
down order from 11 April. REUTERS
New Delhi: The government on Wednesday issued an
advisory to address the social stigma associated with the
covid-19 pandemic, urging people not to label any com- IndiGo suspends international
munity or area for the spread of the virus.The advisory
comes following a spurt in coronavirus cases after a
flights till 30 April
Tablighi Jamaat meet in Nizamuddin, and instances of New Delhi: Budget carrier IndiGo said on Wednesday it is sus-
people, especially on social media, blaming the Muslim pending its international flights till 30 April. Air India has
community for the spread of the disease. Such behaviour already suspended all flights till 30 April. “Our International
may culminate into increased hostility, chaos and unnec- operations are temporary suspended till April 30, 2020. Your
essary social disruptions, the advisory said. PTI money is safe in the form of a credit shell, valid for one year from
the date of the issuance,” IndiGo tweeted on Wednesday. PTI
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

08 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI POLICY
VIRUS EFFECT
m LIFE IS LIKE THAT

Social distancing is aided by

age-old rituals in Arunachal
The lockdown appears to have been better accepted in smaller towns and rural areas
Ranju Dodum
feedback@livemint.com
ITANAGAR

A
runachal Pradesh has no
reported case of covid-19
case yet, but the north-
eastern state bordering
JAYACHANDRAN/MINT
China is still following the
21-day nationwide lockdown. The chal-
lenge for the state’s administration is to
get the public to maintain social dis-
tancing. However, in smaller towns and
rural areas of the state, the lockdown
appears to have been better accepted.
All thanks to age-old social distancing
Karnataka feeds 170,000 people
rituals.
In the Adi tribal areas, for instance,
local residents began implementing
daily, with some aid from Swiggy
the traditional lockdown system called
“Pator/Motor” a day before the national Sharan Poovanna & tions, requesting anonymity. ernment to help distribute
curfew. In areas where the Galo people Tarush Bhalla Swiggy said it has partnered food, fight fake news, raise an
live, villagers implemented Ali-Ter- BENGALURU with the Karnataka govern- army of volunteers to dissemi-
nam—this prohibits the entry and exit ment, and Amazon Web Servi- nate verified information

F
of people into and from the villages two The traditional lockdowns involve barricading villages with bamboo gates and sacrificing certain animals. BOMDO KAMKI ood aggregator Swiggy ces has helped in providing about the covid-19 situation.
days after it begins. and others, through a cloud services and its platform “All one has to do is call
In both cases, the lockdown begins and the deputy commissioner had to most families grow their own grains shopping app on 10 March, nearly a crowdsourced model, for running the app. 155214 and the receiver will
with the “reading of the liver of chick- issue an official order prohibiting it. and vegetables. Many even keep fortnight before the lockdown. Since have helped the Karnataka “A small team of passionate take down the person’s name,
ens”—a ritual called “haruspicy” in That has done little to deter villagers chicken, pigs, and the bovine mithun. then, he and his team have been busy. government develop an app to engineers at Swiggy volun- phone number, address and
Latin that was also practised in ancient though. “We don’t do this for celebra- “We only need to make sure that the The overwhelming response from the deliver almost 1 million meals teered their time to automate other details, including the
Rome and Greece—by a tions. This ritual is done supply of salt does not people meant that Riba had to the needy in and around the entire supply number of family
shaman. These tradi- m INDIA in times of calamities stop,” Kamki said. MIXED to close daily orders on the Bengaluru since 1 April. chain, starting The initiative is members, to avail
tional lockdowns DISPATCHES including epidemics Meanwhile, in urban FORTUNES app by 2pm. “We were get- Dasoha 2020 has been key with dashboards part of a long list of the service,”
involve barricading vil- that inflict animals,” areas, with shop timings ting around 300 orders at to the state government’s initi- to track incoming of technological the official added.
lages with bamboo gates and sacrificing Modi explained. regulated, there is a scram- THE villages are first but had to limit the ative to feed 170,000 people requests, manag- interventions Software
certain animals. Bomdo Kamki had to cancel his ble for groceries. While the better equipped number to ensure we are twice a day. The beneficiaries ing inventory exporter Wipro
because many grow used by the state
Ayem Modi, a local youth leader in plans to visit Itanagar when the Ali- administration has been their own grains able to meet the demand,” include families of construc- projections for contributes
Lower Dibang Valley district’s Dambuk Ternam was implemented. He is with strict with the implementa- and vegetables said Riba. tion workers and labourers, food centres and government in 60,000 meals a
town, and his friends have been taking 300 of his clansmen and women cur- tion of the curfew, online Similarly, U Tell Us, an who have been forced to stay building the the virus fight day, Sri Sri Ravis-
turns at sentry duty since 23 March. rently under the lockdown. Both Modi delivery services are fulfill- IN urban areas, online utility services pro- indoors with no work or Covid Volunteers hankar-led Art of
with shop timings
“We have two teams of five people on and he said these are not new to their ing the shopping needs of being regulated, vider, has seen a surge in money since the 21-day lock- App to help with Living and SNK
roster guarding the gates,” he said. tribes and that these traditions have residents in the state capi- there is a scramble orders. “Earlier, we used to down was imposed to contain last-mile distribution of food group contribute about
The ancient “pator” ritual also been in place for generations. The tal, Itanagar, which has a for essential goods get around 50 calls a day the spread of covid-19. to the needy,” said Dale Vaz, 20,000 meals each, while the
involves animal sacrifice—in this case, belief is that the ritual keeps bad spirits population of around but now, there are around “On Tuesday, 170,000 head, engineering and data remaining is paid for by the
a dog—which is then hung at the gates. away and stops. The “bad spirit” in this 100,000. 500 calls coming in daily,” meals were delivered to science, Swiggy. government. The state has
The fact that a dead dog was left to hang case is the novel coronavirus. In the absence of big companies, CEO Dhananjay Morang said. around 85,000 people,” said a The initiative is part of a launched a similar system to
and rot in public space did not go down As for their ration needs, the villages young entrepreneurs have stepped in. Ranju Dodum is a freelance journalist state government official over- long list of technological inter- deliver dry rations as well.
well with the district administration are better equipped, considering that Doni Riba launched the Dukandada based out of Itanagar. seeing the food delivery opera- ventions used by the state gov- sharan.p@htlive.com

Panic buying before lockdown
boosts pharma sales in March
Leroy Leo
leroy.d@htlive.com
Health workers battle virus, social discrimination
Seethalakshmi S. &
Rahul Nandan
humiliating them,” he said. modation in South Bengaluru
Last month, the World at the crack of dawn and
Health Organization called on returns late night after working
betic medicine sales grew by Cipla, however, managed to BENGALURU industry and governments to at a covid-19 hospital. “My
nearly a fifth to ₹1,669 crore clock a growth rate of nearly increase manufacturing of PPE neighbours and landlord have

T
NEW DELHI and ₹1,259 crore respectively 10% on a likely boost in the housands may have by 40% to meet rising demand. said I must avoid coming home
in March, while those of respi- sales of its strong respiratory stood in their balconies Severe disruption to the global or vacate the house. I don’t

P
anic buying of medicines
for chronic diseases
before the 21-day lock-
down boosted overall pharma-
ceutical sales in March, data
from market research firm
AIOCD-AWACS showed.
Sales in the India pharma-
ceutical market (IPM) grew
8.9% year on year to ₹11,856
crore, helped by robust sales of
cardiac care, respiratory and
anti-diabetes medication, as
people rushed to stock up
before the lockdown.
The rush may be partly
explained by the fact that peo-
ple with underlying health
conditions are more vulnera-
ble to covid-19 than the rest.
“Despite the covid crisis, the
IPM registered a surprising
growth of 8.9% in March 2020
with some evidence of panic
buying in chronic medicines,”
the market research firm said.
Cardiac care and anti-dia-
ratory drugs grew by 23% to drug portfolio. to bang pots and pans supply of PPE, caused by rising know what to do,” she said.
₹1,026 crore. The growth was Sales in 2019-20 (April- and salute health workers a demand, panic buying, hoard- A demoralized medical fra-
sharply higher than the March) were ₹1.44 trillion, up couple of weeks ago, but on the ing and misuse, is leaving doc- ternity does not augur well.
around 11% growth shown by 9.8% from the previous year, ground doctors, nurses and tors, nurses and others ill- “As it is, we are short of medi-
all three segments in February. with weak sales from the medical support staff face chal- equipped to care for covid-19 cal personnel to handle corona-
On the other hand, the lock- Abbott group and Cipla offset- lenges that range from preju- patients, it said. virus. It is impor-
down to curb the ting double-digit dice from neighbours who “ E v e r y o n e Doctors who had tant that every
spread of the cor- In March, seven increase in reve- think they have been exposed It is important that every section of society supports healthcare thinks it’s our taken to social section of society
onavirus did not of the top 10 nues of Sun Phar- to the virus to harassment by professionals, whether by helping provide adequate protective duty to sacrifice. media to raise supports doctors
help sales of pharmaceutical maceutical landlords. At work, they put in gear or ensuring that they are not stigmatized, say doctors. AP The expectations concerns about and nurses,
treatments for companies Industries, Zydus longer hours despite a shortage are huge. Why are whether by help-
the shortage of
some other con- Cadila, Mankind of protective gear such as responsibility of the govern- better facilities for doctors. we asked to go to ing provide ade-
recorded safety gear have quate PPE or
ditions like gas- Pharma, Lupin, gloves, masks and coveralls, ment to ensure these ‘soldiers’ The key concern is the short- war (on coronavi-
trointestinal, double-digit Alkem, Torrent even as they grapple with the are heard, their opinion age and poor quality of per- rus) without the faced a backlash ensuring they are
pain and analge- growth of 10-19% P h a r m a c e u t i - crippling fear of carrying the respected rather than humili- sonal protective equipment necessary ammu- not stigmatized,”
sics and dermato- cals, Intas Phar- infection home to loved ones. ated,” the association wrote. (PPE), said Dr Adarsh Pratap nition? Doctors said Dr B.S. Ajai-
logical drugs, as maceuticals and Doctors and nurses who had On Wednesday, the Karna- Singh, president, AIIMS RDA. are human beings and have kumar, an oncologist and
well as vitamins. While derma- Macleods Pharma. taken to social media to raise taka high court directed the “How can healthcare work- families,” said Dr Nagendra chairman and CEO of Health-
tological drugs saw a 2% drop With covid-19 spreading concerns about the shortage of state to file its reply in a petition ers take the risk of not having or Swamy, chairman, Medisync Care Global Enterprises (HCG).
in sales, others grew in the rapidly, a lockdown was protective equipment, testing seeking protection of doctors, using poor quality PPE to tackle Health Management Services. There are also calls for hiking
range of 3.7-6.4%. widely expected, leading peo- kits and facilities have faced a nurses and accredited social such a contagious virus? We An increasing number of the workers’ salaries. “Medical
In March, seven of the top 10 ple to panic buy essential food backlash, the Resident Doctors’ health activists (ASHA) workers appreciate the government’s healthcare workers have also professionals, both govern-
pharmaceutical companies items and medicines as well as Association (RDA) of the All in the face of attacks. efforts but the concerns and been talking about the discrim- ment and private, at the front-
recorded double-digit growth hand sanitizers and masks to India Institute of Medical Sci- Kolkata’s Federation of Resi- criticisms raised by doctors ination they are facing from lines must be incentivized,”
of 10-19%, with Alkem Labora- protect themselves. However, ences (AIIMS), New Delhi, dent Doctors Association had should be taken constructively neighbours and landlords. said Delhi Medical Association
tories and Zydus Cadila being the government has allowed wrote to Prime Minister Naren- also written to the Union health to improve services and supply Bina N., a 29-year-old nurse, president Dr Girish Tyagi.
notable exceptions. chemists to remain open. dra Modi on 6 April. “It is the ministry on 24 March seeking rather than harassing and leaves her paying guest accom- feedback@livemint.com

mint home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla wrote to the chief secretaries EU nations fail to bridge bitter split
of all states “to take urgent steps to ensure availability of essential
Chaos and joy at Wuhan airport
SHORT TAKES goods, by invoking provisions of the Essential Commodities Act,
1955”, including fixing stock limits, capping prices, enhancing pro-
duction and inspecting the accounts of dealers. This comes after
as doctors take first flights out
AP
over ‘coronabonds’
Brussels: European Union (EU)
finance ministers failed on
BLOOMBERG

PM Modi urges people to download
Aarogya Setu app
PTI New Delhi: Prime Minister
(PM) Narendra Modi on
Wednesday urged people to
download the ‘Aarogya Setu’
mobile application, saying it is a
key step in the country’s fight
against covid-19. “As more and
more people use it, its effective-
ness will increase,” he wrote on
Twitter.
PTI
MHA tells states to stop hoarding,
overpricing of goods
New Delhi: The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has
stepped in to prevent hoarding with sellers of essential commodi-
ties continuing to grapple with shortages, as India enters the final
week of the 21-day nationwide lockdown. On Wednesday, Union
the ministry received complaints of hoarding and the sale of goods
at exorbitant prices. “The states have been asked to take urgent
steps to ensure availability of these commodities at fair prices for
the public,” the ministry said. SHASWATI DAS
WTO chief says virus could cause
deepest recession ‘of our lifetimes’
Geneva: The covid-19 pandemic could provoke the deepest reces-
sion in living memory, World Trade Organization (WTO) chief
Roberto Azevedo warned on Wednesday. “As we face what may
well be the deepest economic recession or downturn of our life-
REUTERS times, we should aim to make
the most of all potential drivers
of sustainable growth to reverse
this situation,” he said. Global
trade growth is expected to
plummet by up to a third in
2020, the WTO said Wednes-
day, warning that the numbers
would be “ugly”. AFP
Wednesday to agree on a bailout
plan to help member states face
the virus, after Italy refused to
abandon its plea for “corona-
bonds” to share the burden.
“After 16 hours of discussions,
we came close to a deal but we
are not there yet. We will con-
tinue Thursday,” said Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno. AFP
Wuhan: The crowd outside Wuhan’s Tianhe International Finance ministry allows states to
Airport on Wednesday morning pushed forward as anxiety
grew over catching their flights out of town—the first to
borrow ₹3.20 trillion from market
depart since 23 January. Many were people who had come New Delhi: The Finance ministry has allowed all states to borrow
to the central Chinese city for a Lunar New Year vacation in a cumulative ₹3.20 trillion from market between April-December.
January and found themselves stuck in a protracted, night- The move comes amid states’ demand for funds from the Centre
marish stay as the coronavirus outbreak spread and Hubei to meet the expenses in dealing with covid-19. In a letter to the
province was sealed off to curb it. After 11 weeks, the lock- Reserve Bank of India, the ministry said that the Centre has
down was lifted on Wednesday and people surged out of the decided to permit states to raise open market borrowing on the
city by train, car and plane. BLOOMBERG basis of 50% the Net Borrowing Ceiling fixed for the year 2020-21
for financing the states’s annual plan for the fiscal. PTI
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 09

REPORTAGE | TALKING POINTS | IDEAS | INSIGHT | THE BOTTOMLINE

THE DARK SIDE OF

INDIA’S GAMING BOOM
What happens when a virus-induced lockdown and big data targeting make online real-money gaming skyrocket?
JAYACHANDRAN/MINT

Sneha Vakharia believes that gaming will be the next big
feedback@livemint.com industry in India. “It is very hard to imag-
BENGALURU ine but gaming will be bigger than music,
movies and TV shows put together,” he
therefore, legal. A Supreme Court ruling
says that horse-racing is a skill-based game
because one needs to know a thing or two
about horses. Texas hold ’em poker is
Venkatramani, chief marketing officer at Let’s complicate this universe further.
mint
SHORT Nostragamus, another gaming platform, Imagine that the Yudhishthirs have a little
STORY agrees with Mainak on most counts. He device in their pocket through which they
talks about how data is used to incentivize can gamble whenever they want. On the

I
n the middle of 2019, a six-month-old said. found to be skill-based in most states. coming back every day. “I have found that Metro. At the dentist’s. During lunch
Indian startup hosted the largest chess Industry experts widely cite three rea- WHAT if you allow a customer to spin a wheel for break. And, with advanced tools in behav-
tournament the country had ever seen. sons for this peculiar rate of growth: THE GAME PLAYERS free, it will increase retention by 30%. ioural technology, Shakuni knows the trig-
Games such as online poker
Over 300,000 players registered, and
over 12 hours, 1.2 million chess games
were played. That’s 17,000 chess games
cheaper smartphones, better internet con-
nectivity, and most significantly, the digi-
tal wallet, which allows for immediate
S achin (name changed) is a vice-presi-
dent of marketing at a startup that is
valued at multiple billion dollars. He began
and rummy have been growing
aggressively year-on-year for the
Even if nobody wins anything out of it!” If gers that work. He knows when to deploy
the player comes back for a string of days, them for maximum impact. He can reach
he forms a habit. Yudhishthir any time he likes. Here,
concluded every minute. withdrawal of winnings and payment of playing poker 10 years ago, when he was in past four years. The lockdown Like Mainak, Venkatramani agrees that Yudhishthirs don’t stand a chance.
Mobile Premier League (MPL), the real- entry fees. his mid-20s. He had visited London and has only given a further fillip to quizzes are among the most aggressively As of now, the online gaming industry,
money gaming service that hosted the But there’s a fourth tool now available to seen people play poker seriously, that the online gaming industry growing category of games played with where the instrument of gaming is also the
tournament, spent months ensuring their the gaming industry; one they’re particu- there was reading and learning one could stakes. (Quizzes on Nostragamus, how- device that tracks your behaviour, exists in
servers could handle this volume of traffic. larly hesitant to talk about. It is your data: do, and that it was a challenging sport. He ever, aren’t like regular quizzes: depend- the regulatory wilderness. The law only
They hired Viswanathan Anand as brand when you like to play, who you lose to and began to play weekends, with friends. AND ing on the sport, you are asked to predict checks for skill and chance, but the true
ambassador to promote the tournament win against, how much money you spend, They would begin Friday nights and con- what will happen on the next ball, over and danger of addiction lies elsewhere. As data
and promised the winner a prize money of the tables at which you like to sit, and how tinue into Saturday mornings. Growth figures, in revenue and point in game, held in real-time.) science improves, gaming platforms will
₹5 lakh. Entry into the tournament would you respond to changes in gameplay. Five years later, he cut down on playing customers, range from 50-200%. Because of the data, the platforms know be able to look for patterns of play. They
be free—all you needed was a mobile Deployed effectively, this data could take with friends and began to play online. “I Revenue of card games grew who their valuable customers are. Those will design incentives, offers, discounts,
device and an internet connection—but a potentially addictive product and make found that online poker is the most effi- from ₹258 crore in 2013-14 to customers can be targeted over others. notifications, the chance to win a gold coin
30,000 winners would walk away with it impossible to resist. cient version of poker. I don’t have to get ₹3,400 crore in 2017-18. Fantasy Research has demonstrated that what or ₹20,000, and will test to see which ones
some part of the total prize pool, exceeding dressed. I don’t have to travel to the game. sports is seeing a boom too contributes to dopamine release in a game are more effective in producing the behav-
₹11 lakh. THE LEGAL VAGUENESS I don’t have to meet people. I can spend all is not just the outcome, but whether the iour they seek; which ones improve “stick-
V.S. Rathanvel, an 18-year-old amateur
chess player from Coimbatore, beat one G ambling is a state subject in India, but
the standard in most states is this: If a
grandmaster and drew against five to chance-based game is played with stakes,
that time studying and playing poker
instead. This is more poker per unit time.”
Sachin is unmarried. He plays poker
NOW
outcome is more positive than expected. iness”.
“If people lose a bunch and that lowers They will be able to measure frustration,
their expectations, that will increase how release and regret. Since most of the gam-
eventually win the tournament. Grand- it is gambling. But if a skill-based game is 10-15 hours every weekend from his home, There’s one tool that the gaming happy they are when they finally do win,” ing platforms interface with an external
master Ankit Rajpara came in second. played with stakes, it is not gambling, but on his preferred platform, PokerBaazi. industry is particularly hesitant to said Rob Rutlege, a neuroscientist at Uni- wallet, the wallet will also have data on
Both invested their winnings in chess real-money gaming (aka skill-based gam- “Sometimes luck works in your favour talk about—your data. Deployed versity College London, in an interview how much a player spends on gaming. The
training. ing). More skill, less chance is legal. Less and sometimes it does not. But if you read, effectively, it could take a with the BBC in 2016. This information wallet will see the frequency and volume of
In the months since the Chess Mahay- skill, more chance is illegal. With few watch games on YouTube, brush up skills, potentially addictive product can be used to deploy bonuses to custom- deposits and withdrawals over time. They
udh, the real-money gaming platform exceptions, including Sikkim, Goa and over time, the luck will even out. Over and make it impossible to resist ers—unexpected earnings delivered to will be able to understand the broader con-
MPL has grown an extraordinary 2,000% Nagaland, this is the norm. time, you will be making money.” He high-value customers after the game is text of the gamers’ financial habits.
in gross merchandise value. And it isn’t Over the course of many court judge- insisted he plays for entertainment, but over, or even during the gameplay. The revenue model of all real-money
just MPL; the real-money gaming industry ments, a standard has evolved industry- believes it is important to beat the odds. everyone, he said, but it is impossible to There are some old-school ways of tar- gaming platforms is that they take a cut,
—where you play games online for stakes wide. A two-step test is used to determine “Some people have football. Some people comprehensively master. MPL has hosted geting too: MPL has created Whatsapp varying from 10-25%, of the total stakes in
—is booming. whether a game is predominantly skill- or have tennis. This is my passion.” several big quizzes, including one on Kar- groups for the “most active and visible” gameplay. Which means it is in the interest
According to a Deloitte report, games chance-based. Test one: A player must be The MPL office on the outer edges of nataka on the occasion of Karnataka Rajy- women gamers. This was an effort to build of the platform to raise the stakes of play.
like online poker and rummy have been able to choose to lose. He exercises some Bellandur, Bengaluru, is strictly white wall otsava and several on Bollywood. a community of “vulnerable” players. This is also to say that in a casino, the house
growing aggressively year-on-year for the agency in winning. (Snakes and ladders and glass, sparse and clean. Inside, coders But within these games, all players are These women have since built their own may lose because of bad luck, but in real-
past four years. The would fail this test, but sit in long rows. Dibyajyoti Mainak, con- not equal. The choices a player makes are self-sustaining network money gaming, the
ongoing lockdown in Ludo would pass.) Test sultant general counsel and the man in stored. This data is used to categorize her of tournaments online. house can never lose.
response to the covid-19 Experts cite three reasons two: A player’s perform- charge of communications and legal func- first, then target her with offers, bonuses Other tricks include: Research has demonstrated There are, of course,
pandemic has only given for online gaming’s peculiar ance must improve over tion at MPL, said: “We have internal data and promotions based on those categories. sound triggers to reward that what contributes to no perfect solutions in
further fillip to the gam- time. Consistently and on randomly selected players of all our “There are players who play ₹2-games and performance. Colours sight. Under the General
ing industry. Varun Gan- rate of growth: cheaper steadily. The second is a games on our platform. We’ve graphed there are players who play ₹200-games. like red on the screen, dopamine release in a game is Data Protection Regula-
joo, marketing director smartphones, better tough test, and one that their performance over time, and we can There are players of lesser and greater believed to be more not just the outcome, but tion (GDPR), gaming
for PokerBaazi, reported troubles the gaming see that their performance always has a skill. Based on how many games a person arousing. The well- operators in Europe have
that their site’s traffic has internet connectivity industry immeasurably, positive slope”. has played, and what tier of player he is, we timed notification. Yet whether the outcome is more to explain what data they
risen 25% in recent because in the real world, Mainak pulls out a few graphs on his lap- can target the customers and give them much of how data is used collect and how they use
weeks, with transactions and the digital wallet performances often pla- top. While the performance vs time slopes free entry in relevant tournaments we’re to customize user expe- positive than expected it. Because of the eco-
also rising by 20%. teau, or rise and fall cycli- are always positive, some slopes are promoting.” rience is unknown, nomic costs of this, many
Growth figures, in revenue and custom- cally. Rarely, if ever, does a performance steeper than others. “Temple Run is a Sometimes, the platform will give dis- because nobody in the industry is willing well-loved games have had to shut down.
ers, range between 50-200%. (Revenue of have a steady, positive slope. higher skill game than most,” he demon- counts to specific players on entry fees, to talk about it. Any new regulation in India would come
online card games grew from ₹258 crores Playing a game for stakes is legal in most strated, “because it relies on muscle mem- effectively changing the odds on the game. down heavily on a fledgeling industry.
in 2013-2014 to ₹3,400 crore in 2017- parts of India only if it passes both tests. It ory, and that improves with time.” This is called a “seeded entry”. With fund- THE REGULATORY WILDERNESS But the laws must evolve, because this
2018.) Fantasy sports, on the other hand, is then real-money gaming, not gambling.
has been growing exponentially because That is why a Punjab and Haryana high
of Indian Premier League (IPL) and other court ruling has adjudged that the version
“For a really good game,” he continued,
“ease of understanding has to be low, so
that as many people can play it as possible.
ing from Times Internet, Sequoia India
and GoVentures among others, MPL can
spend on winnings and entry fees for valu-
Y udhishthir (in Mahabharat) had one old industry has been transformed by the
weakness, and it was gambling. What tools of surveillance capitalism. It’s not just
was worse: Shakuni knew this weakness. that this house always wins, it’s also that
premier league sports. Dream11 is by far of fantasy football played on Dream11 But ease of mastery has to be really high, to able customers, because it has cash to Now imagine, for a moment, that Shakuni this house knows who you are and how
the largest player in the fantasy market. In (where you choose 11 players from across a keep players playing the game.” burn. could do what he did at scale: identify all you play.
an interview with Microsoft’s Satya Nad- league to beat the odds on the market) was A quiz, played for stakes, hits the sweet And if they can target effectively, they the Yudhishthirs in the world, and egg Sneha Vakharia is an independent jour-
ella late February, Mukesh Ambani said he akin to a business, requires skill, and was, spot. The format is easy to understand by can retain customers effectively. Deepak them towards higher and higher stakes. nalist based in Bengaluru
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

10 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI PERSONAL FINANCE

Four ways to use covid-19 Compare your bank FD rates

B ank fixed deposits (FDs) continue to be popular investment products not just
among senior citizens, who are looking for guaranteed income, but also among

blow to your MFs’ benefit investors who can’t stomach risk. But overexposure to FDs is not good, and you need
to assess your asset allocation and goals to decide how much money you should
park in them. For instance, saving for your child’s
higher education that’s 15 years away through FDs
may not be effective as the post-tax interest rate
of an FD may not give you a real return (return
that’s above the rate of inflation). But if you plan to
take a holiday in two years, an FD can help. Before
It’s a good time to rebalance portfolios as switching MFs may not involve tax liability choosing an FD, you should compare the interest
rates on offer. Here is a list of banks that offer the
ISTOCK
Neil Borate highest FD rates for deposits up to ₹1 crore over
various tenures.
neil.b@livemint.com
Benchmark (State Bank of India) 6.85% for 5 years and above

I
t is an old saying that every
cloud has a silver lining. The Interest rates (%) for fixed deposits up to ₹1 crore
meltdown in India’s markets on Most
mutual 6 months 1 to < 2 2 to < 3 3 to < 5 5 years and
account of the covid-19 out- funds
break has cut into the value of underperfor to < 1 year years years years above
people’s mutual fund investments. med
However, on the positive side, this benchmarks DCB Bank 615-6.65 6.75-7.50 7.30 7.50-7.60 7.25-7.50
during 2014-
may have also lowered or even 19 period
completely wiped out any taxable IDFC First Bank 6.75-7.00 7.25-7.50 7.25 7.25 7.25
bit.ly/2VadDPP
gains, allowing investors to make
changes to their mutual fund port- RBL Bank 6.40-6.65 7.20 7.25 7.00 6.65-7.15
folios without incurring income tax
liability while doing so. Nainital bank 6.40-6.45 6.50-6.70 6.70 6.70 6.70-7.00
According to experts, there are
four such changes you can make in
IndusInd Bank 5.75-6.25 6.65-6.75 6.75 6.75 6.65-6.75
your portfolios in order to optimize
your gains from any future recov-
ery in the markets. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank 6.25-6.50 6.60-6.70 6.75 6.60 6.60

REVISIT YOUR MF ASSET Axis Bank 5.80-6.40 6.40-6.50 6.50 6.50 6.50
ALLOCATION
A sharp fall in the equity market Bandhan Bank 5.40 6.75 6.75 6.60 6.50
would have shifted your asset allo-
cation in favour of funds that invest Dhanlaxmi Bank 6.15 6.90 6.50-6.90 6.50 6.50
in other assets like debt or gold. If
you think you should carry on with Lakshmi Vilas Bank 6.25-6.50 6.75-7.25 6.75 6.50 6.50
the earlier asset allocation, you can
now move some money from debt forming fund will mean that your Since a mutual fund typically holds capital markets regulator Securities Karur Vysya Bank 5.65-5.90 6.25 6.30 6.30 6.30-6.50
and gold funds into equity funds to money is not working as hard as it 30-50 stocks, a portfolio of more and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
take advantage of more favourable could for you. The present volatility than six to eight equity funds will in 2013 and do not charge distribu- South Indian Bank 5.75-60 6.40 6.40-6.55 6.40 6.40
valuations. For instance, if a 50:50 owing to the pandemic gives you a tend to just replicate the market on tor commissions. Typically, com-
equity-debt portfolio has become great opportunity to start over with average and cancel out any outper- missions are 1% in equity funds and Federal Bank 5.75-60 6.30-6.50 6.40 6.40 6.40
40:60 in favour of debt, you can a clean slate. formance or alpha. It will give 0.5% in debt funds. Though they
move it back to 50:50 by redeem- But be careful when choosing an returns similar to an index fund appear to be minuscule, over a
Allahabad Bank 6.25-6.30 6.45 6.35 6.25 6.25
ing your debt funds and buying outperforming fund. It is not just a without the low costs of an index period of time, they can eat into
equity funds. fund that’s done well over the past fund. Since index funds mimic the your returns in a big way.
Bank of India 5.75 6.10 6.20 6.20 6.20
Investors should not worry about year but one that’s done well over index they track, there is only a If you are not a DIY investor and
missing out on gains in the process multiple market cycles. You should small fund management fee you you do need advice, you can shift Data taken from bank website as on 7 April 2020
of shifting to equities, said Amol carefully examine how it has con- have to pay. “Investors should con- from a distributor charging com- The list of 15 banks is based on highest fixed deposit rates available for 5 years and above
Joshi, founder, PlanRupee Invest- tained its downside in slowdowns solidate their portfolios. Get down missions to a Sebi-registered SANTOSH SHARMA/MINT Source: www.Bankbazaar.com
ment Services, a financial planning or recessions. Also, pay attention to to four to eight funds, ideally index investment adviser (RIA) who char-
firm. For example, if the switch the rolling returns rather than trail- funds,” said Gaurav Rastogi, CEO, ges a fee. Typically, fees tend to be
takes two to three working days and ing returns which can be biased by Kuvera, an online mutual fund negotiated at lower levels com-
the market moves up by 5-10% in a single point in time. Rolling investment platform. This will also pared to distributor commissions,
the interim, you may miss out on returns average out returns using help you track your funds better particularly for investors with large
some gains, but a staggered multiple start and end points.
approach can average it out for you Note, however, that although the
in the long term. “Nobody can catch correction may have wiped out the
and rebalance your portfolio on a portfolios.
regular basis. However, some experts have
Such an exercise can also be used noted that investors may not see
Replace funds rather than adding
the absolute bottom or the top. In tax liability which you may have to give the portfolio some intra-as- the cost saving potential of a switch.
the long term, these will get ironed incurred when switching funds,
out. To reduce risk, you can do this you may still need to pay an exit
in a staggered man- load, wherever appli-
set class diversification. For “Psychologically, I don’t think cli-
instance, if you own too many ents will shift from distributors to
large-cap funds, you RIAs. People see fees
more to an equity-heavy portfolio
ner,” he said. For If the sharp cable. can consider switch- Consolidating as more expensive ISTOCK
example, if you want Typically, exit load ing to the multi-, mid- your MF portfolio than commissions and Srikanth Meenakshi
market fall has
to shift ₹10 lakh from increased your is imposed in equity or small-cap catego- to 4-8 funds will I don’t think they’ll
debt to equity, make allocation to debt funds for up to one ries, depending on help you track want to shift at a time My wife and I invest ₹36,000
redemptions of ₹2.5 year after the pur- your risk profile. when their portfolios each month via systematic
funds, you can them better and
lakh each over four chase. You can also “Investors should ide- and, possibly, incomes investment plans (SIPs). We
weeks, accompanied shift some money use the correction to ally split their money rebalance when have been hit,” said have opted for direct plans. My
by fresh purchases to equity funds switch from dividend between market seg- required Nishith Baldevdas, a wife has SIPs of ₹3,000 in Axis
into equity as soon as to growth plans of ments as per their risk Chennai-based Sebi Blue chip Fund; ₹2,000 each in
the money hits your mutual funds. Budget appetite. Those want- RIA. Axis Tax Saver Fund, ICICI
account. 2020 abolished the dividend distri- ing index-like returns should stay Other experts have pointed out Equity & Debt Fund, Kotak Cor-
However, ensure you have ade- bution tax (DDT) on stocks and with large-cap funds while those that the covid-19 correction may in porate Bond Fund and Mirae
quate liquidity before committing mutual funds and made dividends prepared to take on more risk can fact be a good time to get some Large-cap Fund; and ₹1,000
more money to equities in these taxable at slab rate in the investors’ go into mid- and small-cap funds. A advice. “A lot of DIY investors have each in Franklin India Equity
uncertain times. Keep in mind your hands. This significantly increases multi-cap fund combines the best approached us to find out where Fund, ICICI Bluechip Fund and
risk profile and financial goals the burden for investors in the 30% of both worlds, some years, such as they went wrong and why their Tata PE fund. I have an SIP of
while switching your funds. “If you tax bracket. Earlier, dividends were 2019, favour large-caps, while oth- funds have lost money. If you are in ₹7,000 in Axis Bluechip Fund; a couple of funds that are in your
ASK MINT
are retired or face unemployment tax-free in the hands of investors ers favoured mid- and small-caps. I this situation, you can get things ₹3,000 each in Franklin India m portfolio than add to the overall set
you may need the debt portion to although DDT was imposed on would suggest roughly a 60:40 split streamlined by approaching an Bluechip Fund, Invesco Contra MUTUAL FUNDS and increase the number of funds.
survive. However, if you have equity funds at 11.65% and debt between large and mid/small, as a RIA. This will let you stay with Fund and Kotak Standard Mul- Given that you already have a
emergency funds or have a debt funds at 29.12% (including sur- rule of thumb,” said Joshi. direct plans of mutual funds and yet ti-cap Fund; and ₹2,000 each in For a 15-20-year time frame, debt fund in each portfolio, as well
corpus in excess of what you charge and cess). get financial advice in a transparent Axis Banking and PSU Fund, which is adequately long term, your as a couple of diversified funds, I do
require in the next two to three However, remember that a shift SHIFT TO DIRECT FUNDS way,” said Vinit Iyer, a Pune-based Franklin India Pension Plan portfolios are appropriately aggres- not see the need for adding hybrid
years, you can still carry out this from the dividend to growth option AND FEE-ONLY ADVICE Sebi RIA. and HDFC Hybrid Equity Fund. sive with almost all-equity alloca- funds in either of the portfolios. You
switch,” said Joshi. and vice-versa is seen as a redemp- If you are a do-it-yourself (DIY) Conducting any or all of these I am planning to invest ₹1,000 tions. However, there are a total of can replace those funds and add the
tion and is liable to capital gains tax investor and are confident of your four shifts can potentially reduce each in Axis Small Cap Fund and 16 schemes in your portfolios at ₹2,000 allocations to the small-cap
SHIFT TO FUNDS THAT ARE and exit load. ability to plan finances, you can costs and improve the returns of HDFC Small Cap Fund. We are present and you are planning to add funds you are planning to add, tak-
OUTPERFORMERS take this opportunity to shift out of your mutual funds portfolio. Pro- planning to start a family soon. two more mutual funds. The funds ing the small-cap fund allocations
Investors have a tendency to hang PARE DOWN YOUR any legacy regular plans you may ceed cautiously and only make the Our investment tenure is 15-20 that you are looking to add are good to ₹3,000 each.
on to duds. Some of this stems from PORTFOLIO have and move into direct plans. In changes that are right for you, given years. Our goals are wealth gen- and will add a small-cap allocation Srikanth Meenakshi is co-founder,
an inability to admit and accept Many investors buy mutual funds doing so, you can rebalance your your goals, risk appetite and ability eration and retirement. Are we to your portfolios, which is cur- PrimeInvestor.in. Send in your que-
mistakes in selecting funds in the as if they are stocks and end up with mutual fund portfolio, if required. to manage your own mutual fund on the right track? rently missing. ries and views at mintmoney@live-
past. Continuing with an underper- vast portfolios of 20-30 schemes. Direct plans were introduced by investments. —Rajaram R. However, I would rather replace mint.com

MARKET MELTDOWN IS FRAUGHT WITH FEAR BUT IS ALSO FILLED WITH OPPORTUNITY
ISTOCK
markets. Usually, the sharper the correction, the sharper the sick because of this virus or any other illness and you don’t have
recovery. Even in 2008, those who stuck around were the ones either corporate or private medical cover, you will be cleaning
POWER who were rewarded handsomely because the market rebounded
far more than it fell.
out your portfolio at the worst time.
Simplify your portfolio. The more complex a product is, the
POINT It is precisely in situations like these that one must ask oneself: less you would understand it. Diversified mutual funds are a good
If my average returns in equity thus far have been 8-10% and the way forward. They offer transparency, spread out your risk and
P R I YA S U N D E R market has corrected by 25-30%, do I have the opportunity to let you invest systematically. Beef up your knowledge of these
increase my average return to 12% or more? In most cases, the investments and you will be more in control of your money.
Respond to this column at answer is yes. If you have time on your side and your major goals Remember that markets have
mintmoney@livemint.com are decades away, then the best thing to do is to lower your aver- Rarely do we crashed more than 10% in a matter of
age cost by continuing your SIPs or investing a lump sum via sys- come across days about two dozen times in the last

I
n the past few weeks, we have witnessed bizarre swings in the
stock markets. Most global markets have fallen between 10%
and 30%. We can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu, because this
steep fall is reminiscent of the market crash of 2008. On 13
March, the Sensex oscillated from -10% to 10% in a matter of
hours. All this carnage is attributed to the pint-sized covid-19,
which is bringing the world’s largest economies to its knees. So,
what should investors do in situations such as these, which noted
economist Nissim Taleb famously called ”Black Swan” events?
If I had to sum up my answer, it would be, “Buy low or lie low”.
If your portfolio is underexposed to equity, buy at these attractive
valuations to lower your average cost. If your portfolio has the
required allocation to equity, then do nothing. Whatever you do,
don’t sell now. That is easy to say and hard to do when you see
your portfolio dip sharply. But bear markets are followed by bull
tematic transfer plans. What happens to the markets this week
or the next month or the next year will become irrelevant then.
You have invested in equity because of the high returns. You
are aware that high returns come with high risks, and that the risk
goes away with time. If you hold high-quality stocks or equity
funds, you must hold your faith too. If you panic and exit, you may
miss out on the rewards that await others who stuck around.
Fear and greed are the two most powerful emotions that com-
pel us to sell when the markets are low and buy when they are
high. Investors must bear in mind that having the right asset allo-
cation is key in moments such as these. Having cash reserves or
risk-free assets help you tide through market volatilities. How-
ever, if an imminent goal is approaching, and you have not moved
the assets required to secure that goal to safer assets, you may find
yourself in a bit of a spot.
decade or so. Each of those crashes was
such sharp followed by a rebound. Sometimes the
corrections in rebound occurred in months, some-
such a short times in a few years. If you wait for the
span of time rebound, you have already missed the
opportunity.
A market meltdown is fraught with
Some sectors are more affected than others. Though the econ- fear but it is also filled with opportunity. Rarely do we come across
omy will slow down and eventually recover, you may find your- such sharp corrections in such a short span of time. No one knows
self in a situation where you may be furloughed. Stow away some how long the uncertainty will continue, nor do we know when the
cash these next few months and give yourself the runway to tide market will bottom out. So, the best thing to do is to stay true to
through at least a year of expenses. If you don’t do this, you may your long-term goals. Be the master of your destiny and you will
be forced to sell part of your equity portfolio at a loss to fund be better placed to control the outcome instead of letting fear
expenses. control the outcome.
Next, ensure you have adequate life and health cover. If you fall Priya Sunder is director and co-founder, PeakAlpha Investments
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

PERSONAL FINANCE THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 11

Loans, cards may be MINT50 SCHEMES TO INVEST IN

We have hand-picked 50 mutual funds for your portfolio that have jumped through hoops of good returns, low risk,
good portfolio hygiene and our own qualitative research. We have restricted the choice universe to 16 categories out

issued online soon

of the total 32 and given you at least three options to pick from each. In equity, stay with your risk appetite. Match
your investment horizon to the debt fund category you pick. Pick eight to 10 schemes and revisit them every year

3-year return 5-year return 10-year return Corpus Expense

E Q U I T Y (%) (%) (%) (₹ cr) ratio (%)
LARGE-CAP (CORE)
HDFC Top 100 -6.79 -1.06 5.90 16,819 1.77
ICICI Prudential Bluechip -4.53 0.18 7.69 23,609 1.77
Only unsecured loans and credit cards may be sanctioned online Mirae Asset Large Cap -2.96 2.20 9.66 16,734 1.67
Nippon India Large Cap^ -6.43 -1.45 6.92 11,745 1.76
ISTOCK NIFTY 100 TRI -3.44 0.45 6.04
Tinesh Bhasin
Category average -4.18 -0.20 6.60
tinesh.b@livemint.com
LARGE-AND-MID-CAP (CORE)

J
ust like demonetization gave a Invesco India Growth Opportunities -1.16 1.38 8.34 2,498 1.98
fillip to digital payments, the
RBI Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip -2.16 6.09 NA 9,614 1.84
current lockdown may make
introduces Principal Emerging Bluechip -5.22 2.17 10.08 2,117 2.11
the lending and card issuing video-based
process totally digital. Since NIFTY LARGEMIDCAP 250 INDEX TRI -5.66 0.77 6.77
identificatio
the lockdown started, loan and n process Category average -6.25 -0.25 6.73
card issuances have come to a grind- for KYC
ing halt as both require representa- bit.ly/2JLNbGL MULTI-CAP (CORE)
tives to visit the applicant for paper- Aditya Birla Sun Life Equity -6.63 0.78 7.18 11,582 1.78
work. The drop in business is forcing Kotak Standard Multicap -4.16 2.02 8.95 29,460 1.66
lenders and card issuers to prioritize Principal Multi Cap Growth -6.08 0.84 6.95 690 2.47
digital lending. “In the normal course NIFTY 500 TRI -5.05 -0.01 5.55
of business, the process could have Category average -5.60 -0.41 7.47
taken two to three quarters, as it
requires banks to set up infrastruc- MID-CAP (CORE)
ture based on the Reserve Bank of DSP Midcap -4.92 3.11 10.64 7,458 1.74
India’s (RBI) guidelines. But lenders
Kotak Emerging Equity -7.05 1.55 9.77 6,848 1.88
and card issuers are planning to go
L&T Midcap -7.04 1.67 9.70 6,213 1.95
live with it within two weeks,” said
Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bankbazaar.com, NIFTY MIDCAP 150 INDEX TRI -8.01 0.91 7.49
an online marketplace for financial Category average -7.58 -0.10 9.15
products.
You will soon be able to get unse- SMALL-CAP (SATELLITE)
cured (like personal loans) and con- Franklin India Smaller Companies -14.40 -3.53 9.27 6,627 1.87
sumer durable loans , as well as credit Nippon India Small Cap -8.94 1.63 NA 8,567 1.81
cards while sitting at home, with zero online lending platform. ployed customers, with their con- SBI Small Cap -0.84 6.62 14.22 3,476 2.19
paperwork. If approved, the funds According to the RBI notification, sent, if needed, said Kukreja. NIFTY SMALLCAP 250 INDEX -17.03 -5.62 2.77
will be credited directly into your when lenders are doing V-CIP, an Category average -11.72 -1.31 7.87
bank account or the card will be sent official needs to be present on the PUSHING FOR MORE
to your address. This will also make other end for verification. During the Financial institutions are also talking VALUE/CONTRA (SATELLITE)
the entire process faster. process, the customer has to show to RBI and the ministry of finance for Invesco India Contra -3.18 1.84 8.63 4,668 1.93
documents to the official over the other options to make loans and card
L&T India Value -10.20 -0.45 8.47 7,041 1.88
CHANGING PROCESSES video. It’s a real-time process that issuance entirely digital. “There
Tata Equity PE -7.26 0.63 7.88 4,567 1.92
From the time you apply for a card or needs to be recorded and stored. The could be a scenario where the appli-
loan to the time you get it, there are online process eliminates the cant’s video connection is not of high NIFTY 500 TRI -5.05 -0.01 5.55
multiple processes involved. At the requirement of physical signature. enough quality for V-CIP, and it may Category average -8.30 -1.62 6.80
application stage, the lender or the The same process applies for card not work. Also, it requires a bank offi-
card issuer does a credit bureau eval- issuances. cial on the other side of the video. It FOCUSED (SATELLITE)
uation. Then, representatives collect e-Mandate: Early last year, the can, therefore, happen only during Axis Focused 25 1.16 3.85 NA 9,764 1.83
KYC (know your customer) and National Payments Corp. of India the bank’s working hours,” said Franklin India Focused Equity -6.90 -1.41 8.60 8,289 1.85
income documents and take your (NPCI) started offering electronic Shetty. Intermediaries, banks and Motilal Oswal Focused 25 -1.97 1.40 NA 1,237 2.19
signature on the contract. For loans, mandate on UPI (Unified Payments other financial institutions are NIFTY 500 TRI -5.05 -0.01 5.55
there is the additional requirement Interface). It allows a requesting the regula- Category average -4.42 0.13 6.88
of giving a post-dated cheque and lender or company to Loans such as tor and the government
allowing the lender to debit your request the bank of the that for a home to encourage banks to ELSS (CORE)
bank account every month, through customer for recurring would use the Central KYC Aditya Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96 -2.80 1.61 7.98 10,073 1.71
the NACH (National Automated payment. Some big pri- still involve (CKYC) and Aadhaar-
IDFC Tax Advantage -8.39 -2.72 6.92 2,060 2.12
Clearing House) or ECS (Electronic vate and public sector based KYC.
physical Invesco India Tax Plan -2.11 1.22 9.33 1,028 2.39
Clearing System) mandate. banks now allow their Banks can use CKYC
Among these, the credit report customers to set up processes as it for low-risk customers. Tata India Tax Savings -5.29 0.87 8.18 2,060 2.11
evaluation has been digital for some e-Mandates. Others are requires valuation But it’s up to banks to NIFTY 500 TRI -5.05 -0.01 5.55
years now. “The physical signature in the process of offer- decide whether a cus- Category average -5.72 -0.60 7.38
on the contract is not mandatory. ing it to their customers. tomer is low-risk or not,
The Information Technology Act Income documents: RBI leaves which is why CKYC has not taken off. H Y B R I D
only requires provable customer it up to the lenders and card issuers to RBI has allowed Aadhaar-based KYC AGGRESSIVE HYBRID (CORE)
consent for contracts,” said Naveen decide how to source the income for loans up to ₹60,000. Many digital Canara Robeco Equity Hybrid 1.52 3.94 9.60 3,071 2.05
Kukreja, co-founder and CEO, Paisa- documents. “The simplest way is to platforms have been using it for some ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt -3.51 2.20 9.47 20,611 1.73
bazaar, an online marketplace for ask applicants to upload income and time. Financial institutions are ask- SBI Equity Hybrid 1.39 3.51 8.92 32,470 1.62
banking products. Other processes income tax return documents. But ing RBI to increase the limit.
CRISIL HYBRID 35+65 - AGGRESSIVE INDEX 0.54 3.65 7.14
may also go online now. there are some fintechs that retrieve These measures would help len-
Video KYC: On 9 January, RBI the bank statement electronically ders offer unsecured and consumer Category average -4.07 0.82 7.42
notified detailed guidelines on video with the applicant’s consent,” said durable loans without any paper-
KYC or video-based customer identi- Kukreja. The customer logs into his work. However, mortgage loans such CONSERVATIVE HYBRID (SATELLITE)
fication process (V-CIP). “While RBI bank account using the fintech’s as home loans would still involve Canara Robeco Conservative Hybrid 4.32 5.09 7.59 231 1.96
had already allowed video KYC, len- application, which can then access physical processes, as it requires val- ICICI Prudential Regular Savings 5.52 6.99 8.92 1,746 1.98
ders had not started implementing it the bank account information. uation. With lending and card issu- IDFC Regular Savings Fund 2.48 4.81 7.50 192 2.21
as there were some doubts. Those The government has also opened ance going digital, it would reduce CRISIL HYBRID 85+15 - CONSERVATIVE INDEX 6.32 7.57 8.20
who did, had not prioritized it,” said the goods and services tax (GST) plat- the cost for lenders, which they may Category average 1.73 4.34 7.07
Kunal Varma, co-founder and chief form, which allows lenders to pass on to customers in the form of
business officer, MoneyTap, an retrieve GST returns of self-em- lower processing fees. #
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Franklin India Feeder - Franklin US Opp. 12.50 8.90 NA 1,307 1.85
ICICI Prudential Global Stable Equity 2.29 3.87 NA 89 1.36
ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity 10.60 9.63 NA 498 2.72
S&P 500 INTL. TOTAL RETURN NET INDEX na na na

You can transfer small amounts through Category average

D E B T (%)
1.73

1-year return 3-year return

(%)
1.86

5-year return
(%)
3.58

Corpus
(₹ cr)
Expense
ratio (%)

netbanking without adding a beneficiary SHORT DURATION (CORE)

IDFC Bond Fund - Short Term
L&T Short Term Bond
8.75
8.69
7.51
7.48
7.78
7.73
12,341
5,190
0.80
0.73
ISTOCK
Nilanjana Chakraborty name, transfer amount and SBI Short Term Debt 8.49 7.15 7.73 11,961 0.84
nilanjana.chakraborty@livemint.com any remarks you might want to CRISIL SHORT TERM BOND FUND INDEX 9.31 7.73 8.16
add, in order to initiate the Category average 5.03 5.93 6.91

D
igital transactions have transaction. According to a
been on the rise ever disclaimer on the bank’s net- CORPORATE BOND (CORE)
since the lockdown as banking portal, the transfer of Aditya Birla Sun Life Corporate Bond 8.82 7.83 8.34 17,606 0.45
people are avoiding touching funds through electronic ICICI Prudential Corporate Bond 8.66 7.51 8.11 13,243 0.56
certain surfaces, including mode is based on the account Kotak Corporate Bond 8.70 7.96 8.20 4,840 0.60
currency notes, for fear of number of the beneficiary, as
CRISIL CORP. BOND COMPOSITE INDEX 10.84 7.89 8.65
being infected with covid-19 or per the RBI circular dated 14
Category average 9.30 7.81 8.09
novel coronavirus. A lot of October 2010. So it’s impor-
people now prefer apps such tant to be careful when enter- 1-month 3-month 1-year return Corpus Expense
as Google Pay or Paytm for ing the account number as the LIQUID (FACILITATOR) return (%) return (%) (%) (₹ cr) ratio (%)
making quick transfers instead beneficiary’s name is not taken DSP Liquidity 0.62 1.47 6.12 12,761 0.21
of going for netbanking. But into account.
IDFC Cash 0.50 1.34 5.89 9,121 0.16
you can do small, quick money Kotak Mahindra Bank’s
transfers even through net- one-time payment facility Kotak Liquid 0.51 1.36 6.03 25,945 0.25
banking, using some banks’ All you have to do is enter the with SBI, then the amount sent comes with the added advan- CRISIL LIQUID FUND INDEX 0.48 1.40 6.36
quick transfer facility, without name and account number of will be credited to the benefi- tage of a higher transfer limit. Category average 0.56 1.41 6.15
going through the trouble of the recipient, and the bank will ciary’s account immediately. Using the bank’s “One Time
adding the details of the bene- carry out a two-step verifica- But if the beneficiary’s account Transfer” feature, you can ULTRA-SHORT (FACILITATOR)
ficiary or enduring a waiting or tion (for instance, is in a different bank, transfer a maximum of Kotak Savings 0.51 1.45 7.01 12,951 0.78
cooling off period. through an OTP the money can be ₹50,000 per transaction per L&T Ultra Short Term 0.68 1.57 7.00 2,786 0.56
In July 2018, the State Bank sent to your D id you transferred day without having to add a SBI Magnum Ultra Short Duration 0.51 1.47 7.21 14,116 0.50
of India (SBI) introduced a registered
KN O W through either beneficiary. However, the CRISIL ULTRA SHORT TERM DEBT INDEX 0.54 1.65 7.38
“Quick Transfer” service, mobile num- IMPS or bank’s website states, “If you Category average 0.46 1.05 5.65
which allows customers to ber) before NEFT, but, for activate mobile banking on a
transfer money without add- transferring you, the proc- new device, the ‘one time
LOW DURATION (FACILITATOR)
ing a beneficiary, which is the amount. ess remains transfer’ limit will be reduced
required if you are using servi- Apart from SBI, the same. to ₹10,000 per day for the first Canara Robeco Savings 0.44 1.50 7.21 1,126 0.55
ces like the National Elec- ICICI Bank and Kotak In the case of seven days on the newly regis- IDFC Low Duration 0.54 1.68 7.64 6,222 0.48
tronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) Mahindra Bank also pro- ICICI Bank, the facility tered device.” SBI Magnum Low Duration 0.49 1.53 7.47 9,832 1.05
and the Immediate Payment vide similar services. has a per transaction limit The quick transfer facility is CRISIL LOW DURATION DEBT INDEX 0.42 1.73 7.95
Service (IMPS). SBI has made the facility of ₹10,000. As with SBI, the especially useful if you’re mak- Category average -0.87 -0.02 0.14
The Quick Transfer service available only through net- facility can be accessed ing a one-time transfer and
allows you to transfer up to banking and it can be accessed through the bank’s netbank- don’t intend to transfer money Data as on 3 April 2020; liquid fund data as on 6 April 2020; #For satellite portfolio; NA: Not applicable because the fund has not completed the requisite period; na: Data was not
available; Growth option in regular plans has been used; Data up to 31 March 2019 considered for evaluation; Opp: Opportunities; INTL: International
₹25,000 per day, with a cap of on the bank’s online portal. If ing portal. The bank asks for to the person in question in the
₹10,000 on each transaction. the beneficiary has an account the payee’s account number, future. Data and analysis from Quantix by CRISIL Research Compiled by Sunita Abraham Graphic by Santosh Sharma/Mint
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

12 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI VIEWS

OUR VIEW MY VIEW | OTHER SPHERE

REUTERS

We simply don’t know when this

tsunami of suffering will recede
But we do know that all hands have to be on deck to alleviate a steadily rising tide of misery

millions of people have been disrupted,
with the earnings of daily-wage earners
and most small businesses vanishing.
The most disadvantaged are hit the
hardest and struggle to survive. Bare
necessities like food, water, soap and
sanitary napkins are not accessible. A
tragedy not seen since the days of Parti-
tion appears to be unfolding. We are
ANURAG BEHAR delivering such basic life necessities to
is CEO of Azim Premji Foundation and also over 750,000 people across 17 states.
leads sustainability initiatives for Wipro Ltd These numbers are growing by the day,
and it is not clear how long such support
will be required. And this is but a tiny
The news is not good from any front.
We are struggling. Our country, that is,
not merely us. Governments are not
solely to blame; we are all complicit. We
the people have built this state and its
public systems with the capacity they
have, and these are having to deal with
an unprecedented crisis. Even coun-
tries with the most effective systems are
besieged. A time for rumination and
reckoning will come, but that time is not
now. Today, it is all hands on deck.
We do not know when this tsunami
will recede. The debris that will be left

A worthy health plan

fraction of what the country needs. behind cannot be put back together
On healthcare, one part is medical soon, and we do not exactly know how.

O
ver 25 days, we have realigned care for the usual diseases. Clinics and Particularly for the millions in poverty,
our entire organization of 1,700 small hospitals are shut, so people with and in the informal sector. The pan-
people across 200 locations to ”normal” ailments are finding treat- demic itself will not be tamed till there is

in need of a clear voice help battle the covid-19 pandemic and

the humanitarian crisis emerging in its
wake. Many of our 300 partners across
the country, which we support with
ment elusive. Most avoid hospitals,
but when forced by the severity of
their condition, they don’t find one to
treat them.
a vaccine and treatment, and some form
of “herd immunity”. Life will be even
more uncertain for people in the
informal sector, and those on the edge
financial grants, are also going through The great urgency is for the health of poverty. We must brace ourselves for
a similar shift. They have over 30,000 system to contain the pandemic. It is a this darker new world. We need wisdom
India’s three-tier treatment plan for mild, moderate and severe covid cases could optimize team members and community work- race against the virus’s spread, and it to see us through. The wisdom of cour-
ers. We are, for the most part, an educa- takes rigorous micro-planning to create age, thoughtful judgement, and empa-
our use of healthcare resources. But the Centre must also explain the idea clearly to people tional organization built over 20 years capacity for testing, quarantines, isola- thy. Many individuals seem to have all
and this change has been massive. The tion, and intensive care in every geo- that in abundance, but collectively we
scale of this crisis demands it. Without graphical unit, like a district. The actual seem to be coming up short.
this transformation, we cannot respond capacity and protocol of each of these This morning, I saw a beautiful black

L
imited means in the face of expanding
needs require us to allot resources
in a way that achieves the best out-
comes. While market systems are said
to have aced this job, in general, the
covid crisis has served us a sharp
reminder of the vital role of central planning in
vital sectors such as healthcare. After decades
of neglect, India’s public health infrastructure
is abysmal, and the challenge ahead looks
daunting. The extent to which our 21-day lock-
down has helped slow the spread of the virus
remains unclear and it still seems that it will
sicken more Indians than we might have the
capacity to treat. It is thus reassuring that the
Union ministry of health and family welfare
has announced a plan for covid care that aims
to expand facilities and optimize the use of
what we have available. The three-tier system
to be put in place is based on what’s called “tri-
age” in medical circles. This involves the sort-
ing of patients by the degree of their need for
care. Done with due efficiency, it could mini-
mize waste, in terms of both time and equip-
mild or very mild symptoms, and they would adequately. We try hard not to lose four elements has to be based on medi- dog framed against the bright blue sky
have CCCs to attend to them. The second cate- momentum on regular work, but most cal and epidemiological modelling of looking down lovingly from atop a
of our energy is focused on responding the pandemic. Healthcare workers are building. And I remembered that
gory will be Dedicated Covid Health Centres to the havoc wreaked by the pandemic. to be trained on these protocols. Also, people have been throwing out their
(DCHCs), meant to look after cases that have This crisis must be tackled where the communities must be involved and dogs, driven by unfounded fears of dogs
been clinically marked as moderate. A DCHC people of this country are. On-the- educated. Clearly, all this is the business being carriers of the virus.
could be either a hospital or a separate block in ground presence through our field of the government. We provide a range In February this year, when I wrote
one with assured oxygen support. The third team, the teachers we are engaged with, of support to these efforts, along with about what we do with our old horses
and our partners with similarly strong our partners. We collaborate with local as a metaphor for our society, I did not
type will be Dedicated Covid Hospitals (DCHs), teams, has become key to this work. We officials and other organizations on anticipate that the evisceration of
which shall offer comprehensive care, mainly have assigned dedicated teams to tackle planning and execution, on community empathy from our core as a people
for those cases designated as severe. These will crushing supply chain constraints, such education, supplying PPE and other would be revealed so soon by a pan-
not just have beds with oxygen supply, but as on personal protective equipment critical equipment, even financially demic. We have created a society
higher-order intensive care equipment such as (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers, supporting public service oriented pri- where hundreds of millions are a hair’s
and to build delivery capability for the vate hospitals to supplement the public breadth away from oblivion, and we
ventilators. For the latter two, strict zones will last mile. We are supported by a large system, and more. seem to have let them go over the preci-
be marked out, so that those suffering from sourcing and distribution network, and All this work is at the frontlines, so pice. No amount of individual sacrifice
other ailments are not exposed to coronavirus its technology expertise. the safety of our teams is paramount. and heroism can wash away this original
infection. This would be especially crucial A systematic response is urgent on To systematize our response, along with collective sin. Redemption may lie only
once India’s lockdown is lifted. Millions of non- both the humanitarian and healthcare our partners, we have developed a in re-conceiving ourselves as a people
fronts. The livelihoods of hundreds of district response plan for civil society. with empathy as our core value.
covid patients need medical attention, too, and
they should not find themselves shut out.
Plans often look better on paper than they
work out on the ground. The success of this
one may depend on where the sorting takes
place, by whom, and with what level of clinical
confidence. The quality of covid testing opera-
It’s literally a new world now,
New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Chandigarh*, Pune* Friday, April 9, 2010 Vol.4 No.84 Rs. 3.00 24 PAGES
www.livemint.com + 4 PAGES MARKETS WATCH

ment, reduce the risk of further infections, and tions would have a key part to play here. Post- Q&A:Vodafone CEO Pieters
on growth in India >6

maximize recoveries. Task specialization and lockdown, should people start going out for EXCLUSIVE PARTNER
TECHNOLOGY: For the iPad, apps with
their own wow factor >21
WSJ: Did the ‘Great Recession’ live up
to its name? >19
so either we adapt to it
the division of labour among medical staff treatment on their own, they must not get con- SENSEX 17,714.40 æ 255.62

What’s inside
NIFTY 5,304.45 æ 70.20 DOLLAR Rs44.47 æ Re0.08

POLITICAL CONSENSUS

Hoardersmay Competition body yet

EURO Rs59.11 æ Re0.23

SLOW PROGRESS
GOLD Rs16,660 Æ Rs120 OIL $84.35 æ $1.26

collectively as one species or

could also raise overall performance levels.
fused by an alphabet soup of options. It seems
The Union cabinet has cleared a move to disinvest 10%
to rule on any case
only the privileged healthy
of the government’s equity stake in Steel Authority of
India Ltd (SAIL) to raise an estimated Rs8,000 crore.

face state
Home minister P. Chidambaram said SAIL would issue
a follow-on public offer that would help both the B Y S ANGEETA S INGH pile-up and backlog of cases.
company and the government raise capital. >P4 sangeeta.s@livemint.com There are currently 30 cases
LEADING THE NEWS CORPORATE NEWS ························· before the Competition Com-
NEW DELHI mission of India (CCI), armed
Sun Pharma has Emaar MGF Land plans to
A
Three-way separation is a protocol that emer- unlikely that every CCC will be located close to
year after it started looking with more teeth than its prede-

crackdown
shortlisted use at least half the amount
at cases related to cessor Monopolies and Re-
seven countries raised from a proposed
cartelization and abuse of strictive Trade Practices Com-
for phase I of equity sale to repay part of
market leadership, India’s mission, which had around

will be left to live. And the

its emerging its outstanding debt. >P8
competition body is yet to pass 2,000 cases pending when it
markets initia- ***
judgement on even a single was wound up last year.
tive. It has bought facilities As part of a second turn-
case, and while the general A year ago, the new compe-
around plan for Air India,
in Brazil and Mexico. >P5
*** its new board
As food inflation opinion among experts at- tition body, which has the
Greek borrowing costs has told the car- continues to accelerate, COST OF LIVING tributes this to a shortage of powers to impose fines and

gency units at hospitals follow. As an all-India a DCHC, and so mix-ups over who needs to go
rose to record levels and
the Athens stock market
declined 5% on Thursday as
investors worried about the
country’s debt crisis. >P17
staff, there is a growing feeling
rier to compile Centre and states form Rate of inflation during 17.7% that this inertia could lead to a TURN TO PAGE 2®
a list of freebies the previous month.
given to serving panel to come up with
and retired solutions in 45 days
officials. >P7
16.3% 16.22% 16.35% China may ing in Beijing said Thursday.

only way to adapt to a new

B Y S ANTOSH K . J OY, While there remains a possi-
L IZ M ATHEW &
S ANJIV S HANKARAN revise policy bility of a last-minute glitch
that could delay the announce-

exercise, though, it would have to be accompa- where are highly avoidable. To ensure that
························· ment, China’s central bank ap-
NEW DELHI
on yuan pears to have prevailed in its

I n an all-too-rare political
consensus, India’s Central
government and 10 states
on Thursday decided to take a
call in the following few weeks
6 Mar 13 Mar 20 Mar
Week ended
27 Mar
Source: Bloomberg
AHMED RAZA KHAN/MINT

tion within 45 days. One of the

on reintroducing harsh laws
sub-groups, led by Gujarat
B Y K EITH B RADSHER &
A SIT R ANJAN M ISHRA
·························
arguments for a stronger, but
more flexible currency, these
people said. They insisted on
anonymity because of the sen-
sitivity of the issue.
HONG KONG/NEW DELHI Any such move may bring re-

world is to keep working

MONEY MATTERS VIEWS that will severely punish chief minister Narendra Modi,
C hina is set to announce a lief to India’s exporters coping

nied by clear public communication. clarity prevails, we need publicity campaigns

Plan to buy a car? Here’s a
quick check on what all
you should consider before
selecting your vehicle and
taking a car loan. >P15
***
With a surge in operational
and input costs, consumer
products companies are
It is worthwhile hoarders in order to mitigate will recommend whether revision of its currency with the rupee strengthening
thinking about food inflation. harsh provisions under the policy in the coming days that against the dollar.
the concept of A core committee compris- umbrella of Essential Com- will allow greater variation in “The fear of Indian compa-
top management ing representatives of the modities Act should be re- the value of its currency, com- nies being outpaced by their
being exposed to states and the Centre, and led introduced to contain prices. bined with a small, but imme- Chinese counterparts, both in
front-line jobs in by Prime Minister Manmohan The two aspects of legisla- diate jump in its value against the domestic and the interna-
an organization, Singh, appointed three sub- the dollar, people with know-
says Sidin groups to come up with a solu- TURN TO PAGE 2® ledge of the consensus emerg- TURN TO PAGE 3®
Vadukut. >P22

According to this plan, the government will aimed at diverse audiences that spell out
under pressure and

through mistakes, failures

investors will closely watch
the management’s strategy,
says Mark to Market. >P14
Essar to raise
ECONOMY & POLITICS $2.5 bn, list
A finance ministry working
paper has recommended firm on LSE

commission three types of dedicated facilities exactly what people must do if they sense
privatizing more state-
owned firms and raising
the foreign investment limit B Y P .R . S ANJAI &

in sectors such as retail and B AIJU K ALESH

·························

and changes, driven by a

health insurance. >P4
***
Uttar Pradesh has refused
to sign a support agree-
ment proposed by the Cen-
MUMBAI
Your weekend planner
From music, movies, dance to theatre,
T he Essar Group will raise
$2.5 billion (Rs11,175
crore) by selling shares of Es-
there's plenty to experience and enjoy in
sar Energy Holdings Ltd, a

for covid cases. Covid-19 Care Centres (CCCs) they’re coming down with the disease. It
tre to reduce paperwork
for road projects. >P5
QUICK EDIT
your city in the coming week. >P12-13
holding company for the
group’s energy businesses, and
list it on the London Stock Ex-
change (LSE).
The money raised from the
offering to overseas institu-

sense of community.
tional investors will be used to

3G, at last, but 3Qs first fund power projects, explora-

tion and development of oil

will admit mild or very mild or suspected cases, would also help if relatives of patients are kept
and gas blocks, expand Essar’s

T he auction of 3G or
third-generation
spectrum, which will enable
2. The auction will likely
result in telcos overpaying for
3G spectrum. Can we
refinery, and to meet working
capital requirements,
group said on Thursday. Essar
the

telcos offer data-rich services, hope that the government Energy owns all of unlisted Es-
starts today, but even as it won’t step in a few years sar Power Ltd and 89% of listed
becomes clear that the state from now and offer a relief Essar Oil Ltd.
stands to rake in money from package to such firms, many The Ruias of the Essar

and these could be makeshift units set up in in the loop with status updates. Attention
the process, three larger
questions critical to the future
of the Indian telecom
business remain:
1. Whatever happened to
2G or second-generation
spectrum?
The policy of allocating
this to old telcos, whose
of whom will be taking on
debt to fund their bids?
After all, this is exactly what
happened when India issued
telecom licences (which were
bid for) in the 1990s.
3. Finally, who will benefit
the most from 3G? Telcos,
because it could help improve
Group began their business by
building an outer breakwater
in Chennai port in the 1970s
and rose to become a steel-to-
shipping conglomerate. The
LSE listing will follow that of
Vedanta Resources Plc, the
holding company of Anil Agar-
wal’s non-metal business,

hostels, hotels, schools, stadiums and lodges. devoted to such finer details could yet prevent
networks are overloaded, profitability? Customers? which raised nearly $1 billion

A B HI JI T N ASK A R
and newcomers remains Or the government, which in 2003.
mired in ambiguity. needs the money? “The listing offers a unique

Mint is also available for Rs5.50 with Hindustan Times under a combo offer TURN TO PAGE 3®

By central data, 70% of patients in India exhibit our health set-up from getting overwhelmed.

THEIR VIEW

Synchronize policy interventions for better outcomes

age in India is 27, so at a million cases, there
TARUN RAMADORAI will be roughly 30,000 hospitalizations.
& MARCUS RANNEY India has 800,000 hospital beds, of which
80,000 are intensive care unit beds, and
only about 40,000 of these have ventilators.
These figures assume that private sector
capacity will be commandeered—which is as
spread panic-buying and crowding (leading assess the disease, rehabilitation, and supply workers on their payrolls. India currently
to increased transmission opportunities), as of essentials. This seems swift relative to plans to spend less than 1% of gross domestic
ambiguity about the availability and access normally glacial processing times, but now, product on fiscal stimulus measures. In com-
to groceries and medicines spiked. We have every hour is vital, and the perfect synchro- parison, China is spending roughly 3%, and
since seen unprecedented flows of reverse nization of announcements is critical. It is the UK roughly 15%. India needs to spend
migration of workers back to rural areas. worth recalling from the 2017 Reserve Bank more to support the massive expenditure
This worrying trend creates multiple oppor- Of India Household Finance Committee needed on temporary hospital sites, ventila-

are, respectively, professor of
financial economics at Imperial
College Business School and
a business professional in
health and technology
W
ith over 5,100 total nationwide
reported cases of covid-19 as of 8
April 2020, India currently
appears to be at the lower end of the distri-
bution of countries affected by the novel
coronavirus pandemic. However, the epi-
demic curve has steepened over the last few
days, with the number of confirmed cases
rising rapidly—and fatalities lag cases, as we
know from international experience.
The biggest challenge is to prevent the
community spread of the disease. Recent
forecasts suggest that by the end of May,
assuming social distancing is strictly
observed, India could see between 100,000
and a million cases. At the upper end of this
range, Indian healthcare infrastructure will
be close to being overwhelmed. Hospitaliza-
tion rates, conditional on infection are
between 1% and 3% for those in their 20s and
30s, and up to 18% for those in their 80s,
according to credible peer-reviewed
research from Imperial College. The median
it should be—by the government if the situa-
tion warrants it.
Social distancing slows down the rate of
transfer of the virus between hosts, decreas-
ing the number of patients hitting the
healthcare system at any given point in time.
Without it, projections indicate that India
would face over 5 million cases by May. Grim
choices then confront the nation—an over-
whelmed healthcare system would struggle
to handle normal morbidities, and spiralling
death counts for reasons not only to do with
covid-19. In this view, there’s no clear trade-
off between public health and economic
objectives; right now, they are the same.
Faced with the current scenario, an inte-
grated strategy that deals with economic
incentives to achieve public health out-
comes is critical. Since 23 March, a lack of
synchronization of economic and public
health policy has generated challenges for
the lockdown. In the first few hours after its
announcement, the nation witnessed wide-
tunities for community Report that liquid financial tors and personal protective equipment for
transmission and spread of assets account for less than healthcare workers.
the disease, and more The Centre’s 5% on average of Indian Overall, while the government has taken
importantly, causes enor- households’ wealth, which prompt action to enforce social distancing,
mous suffering for work- healthcare is substantially lower than the concern is that the timing of interven-
ers. Those far from home, comparable countries— tions on the economic side are asynchro-
perceiving no economic
and economic meaning that a significant nous with public-health interventions. This
cushion to protect them
from the shutdown,
measures must fraction of households,
especially those at lower
will have consequences for public health and
the economy, unless there is greater syn-
decided that it would be
better to retreat to the
be in tune for us points in the wealth distri-
bution, are simply unable
chronization, complementing health direct-
ives with economic incentives to prevent
safety of their community to avert further to weather even a few days hardships arising from lockdowns.
networks. without income. Such incentives will reassure citizens,
Policy uncertainty over hardship Unless there are enor- especially those with low income, that they
economic relief packages mous transfers made to can eschew work opportunities knowing
has played an unusually big support the public health they will be provided for. Redistributive
role in these scenes. For instance, a first strategy of a lockdown, financial incentives measures that promote economic solidarity
package of measures was announced three mean that households will leave their houses at this time of crisis will result in better
days after the lockdown on 26 March. The or retreat to their communities to generate health outcomes for all. In sum, India needs
liquidity package announced on 27 March income or access networks for survival. The to spend more and focus on synchronizing
was four days post-lockdown. And a full six need of the hour is to provide income sup- this spending to achieve the best possible
days after the lockdown, on 29 March, the port for all workers to justify compliance, public health and economic outcomes. Any-
government created empowered groups to and to incentivize corporations to keep thing less could cost the country dearly.
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VIEWS THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 13

MY VIEW | BEHAVIOUR BY BRAIN M I N T C U R AT O R

When an individual habit has a

bearing on collective well-being
We should see hand-washing as a social issue just as a judgement in Kerala on smoking recognized its effects on non-smokers

ISTOCKPHOTO

The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy can still make for a good holiday GETTY IMAGES

Who needs a real-world vacation anyway?

O n March 19, Marty Pollak and Monica Palenzuela journeyed from New York
City to Patagonia, where they hiked the Perito Moreno Glacier, explored Tor-
res del Paine and hung out with a herd of guanacos. Santiago and Buenos Aires were
next. Although stay-at-home mandates, travel restrictions and social distancing
BIJU DOMINIC had become a new reality, Mr. Pollak and Ms. Palenzuela’s five-month trip was very
is the chief executive officer of Final Mile much alive—on Instagram. Guided by their canceled itinerary, the couple has been
Consulting, a behaviour architecture firm posting meticulously staged (and often Photoshopped) images and videos of them-
selves enjoying what would have been their adventure... [O]ngoing coronavirus-re-
lated efforts from travel companies and cultural institutions have made it easier
than ever to transform real trips into virtual ones.
The New York Times

T
he corona pandemic has demonstrated
that even in life-and-death situations,
humans are unwilling to adopt new
behaviours. Despite awareness being
spread, the police are being compelled
to use coercive tactics to get people to
stay at home. Many are not maintaining physical
distance in public places. Neither are they wearing
masks when they step outside their homes. Con-
flicting messages on the usefulness of masks seem
to have contributed to their low adoption in India.
Among the recommended behaviours, washing
hands is one that should be adopted in one’s per-
sonal space. There have been reports that sales of
hand sanitizers have increased manifold since the
pandemic broke out. But one is not sure how this
translated into real hand-washing behaviour. If the
adoption of other new behaviours are anything to
go by, there is not much reason for optimism.
What can be done to improve the adoption of
these life-saving behaviours?
During the quarantine period, people have no
option but to stay at home. The belief that one’s
home is a safe place and the world outside is full of
uncertainty has got reinforced in many minds. As
part of the communication strategy during the
covid-19 pandemic, the contrast between the
safety of one’s home and the dangers lurking out-
side could get further accentuated. The feeling of
vulnerability this communication strategy creates
could make people maintain physical distance or
wear masks when they are in public places. My
column last fortnight had mentioned the problems
emanating from the invisibility of the coronavirus.
When a threat is invisible, we tend not to be very
bothered by it. The focus on uncertainties of the
outside world, to some extent, could compensate
for such problems. In Indian culture, there has
always been a contrast between one’s home and
the outside world. The classic ritual of washing
one’s feet and hands on returning home was an
outcome of that perception. It is time to resurrect
this ritual.
Most communication related to the covid pan-
demic so far has been aimed at the individual.
When it comes to one’s own protection, many
behavioural biases, like overconfidence, come into
play. But these biases tend to disappear when the
focus is on the protection of one’s family members.
Emotional messages focused on protecting one’s
dear ones at home from the dangers of the outside
world would have been far more effective in
inducing appropriate behaviour.
Humans do change their behaviour patterns
during catastrophic events. It has been noticed
that immediately after a natural calamity, risk
perceptions increase and the tendency to buy
insurance goes up. But once memories of the
calamity fade, people go back to their usual forms
of behaviour. Health authorities will agree that if
there is one behaviour they would want to sustain
much after the corona pandemic is over, it is that of
washing hands. It is very likely that the adoption of
this simple habit will make the world a healthier
place. How do we ensure that hand-washing will be
sustained much after the corona pandemic?
The pandemic has taught us that even a single
person with the virus on his/her hands could undo
the good work of all other members of society. So
the biggest lesson we can take is that hygiene is too
important an issue to be left to personal choice.
Since the ramifications of reckless behaviour are
for the whole society to bear, the latter needs to
take on the responsibility of making sure that all
its members maintain hygiene, at least in public
places. The issue of hygiene, therefore, has to be
moved from the personal to the social realm.
That is exactly what happened in the case of
smoking. For a long time, it was considered an
individual habit and its consequences were seen to
be of concern only to the smoker. But a historic
judgement of the Kerala high court changed this.
The court made it clear that a smoker interferes
with a non-smoker’s right to breathe clean air.
Thus, smoking got converted from an act of indi-
vidual concern to a social problem, thereby help-
ing reduce smoking behaviour in a big way.
After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001
on New York’s World Trade Center, several coun-
I t is a sad truth that any health crisis will spawn its own pandemic of misinforma-
tries have installed specific infrastructure and
instituted procedures to be followed in public
places to ensure the safety of all. The loss of lives
and the economic impact of the current pandemic
has already been far more devastating than the acts
of the terrorists. Learning from the post-9/11
world, authorities should install appropriate
equipment to make sure that people follow certain
hygiene routines when they are in public places.
Smart gates, for example, that disinfect people as
they walk through, hand sanitizers, etc., should
become an integral part of public infrastructure.
These will help create new hygiene rituals. As
political scientist Michael Chwe mentioned in his
book, Rational Ritual: Culture, Coordination And
Common Knowledge, collective rituals can be
understood as practices that will generate com-
mon knowledge about the importance of personal
hygiene. They will also signal one’s commitment to
a more hygienic world.
Owing to the HIV epidemic, the use of condoms
increased. People started using more disposable
needles. Even barbers who charged modest service
fees started using new blades before each shave.
For decades, health authorities around the world
have been trying hard to make people wash their
hands with soap often, but could not achieve satis-
factory outcomes. The covid-19 pandemic could be
an opportunity to make the washing of hands a
new social norm of the modern world.
Why smart people fall for coronavirus myths
tion... Part of the problem arises from the nature of the messages themselves...
[P]urveyors of fake news can make their message feel “truthy” through a few simple
tricks, which discourages us from applying our critical thinking skills—such as
checking the veracity of its source... [T]he simple presence of an image alongside
a statement increases our trust in its accuracy... Even the simple repetition of a
statement—whether the same text, or over multiple messages—can increase the
“truthiness” by increasing feelings of familiarity, which we mistake for factual accu-
racy... These tricks have long been known by propagandists and peddlers of misin-
formation, but today’s social media may exaggerate our gullible tendencies.
BBC
Social distancing works... ask ants and lobsters
S ocial distancing to combat COVID-19 is profoundly impacting society, leaving
many people wondering whether it will actually work. As disease ecologists,
we know that nature has an answer. Animals as diverse as monkeys, lobsters,
insects, and birds can detect and avoid sick members of their species. Why have so
many types of animals evolved such sophisticated behaviors in response to disease?
Because social distancing helps them survive. In evolutionary terms, animals that
effectively socially distance during an outbreak improve their chances of staying
healthy and going on to produce more offspring, which also will socially distance
when confronted with disease... Social distancing can be profoundly disruptive to
our society, but it can also stop a disease outbreak in its tracks. Just ask ants.
Popular Science
When beating covid wins a round of applause
A n 84-year-old grandad has beaten Covid-19, despite doctors saying he was
“deteriorating” and was in “critical” condition. His granddaughter filmed the
heartwarming moment that her grandad prepared to leave the hospital after he had
been given the all clear, and uploaded it online. The unnamed man, who was sitting
in a wheelchair had a mask over his mouth and nose, and was seen smiling and wav-
ing at the nurses who applauded him. The video has since been viewed on Twitter
nearly two million times... A number of people commented kind words and others
shared their stories... One said: “I’m absolutely thrilled for you all. Thank you. You
have encouraged me enormously as my beautiful best friend is critically ill in inten-
sive care with this virus and this video has given me such hope”.
Daily Mirror
Laughter therapy for the elderly in isolation
A group of clowns who usually entertain retirees in their rooms at seniors homes
has taken to performing outside instead so their audience can watch from their
windows or balconies... The clowns were determined that the seniors not be
deprived of laughter , which has meant they cannot receive visitors or even go to
their communal dining rooms to eat. So the group from “Laughing Helps”, an asso-
ciation of “clinical clowns” who entertain people under medical and nursing care,
started performing in courtyards outside the seniors’ rooms—at an appropriate
distance from each other. “We don’t want to leave them alone,” said Tanja Selmer,
alias Tiffy the Clown. “We thought, ‘what could we do?’ How could we give them
a moment of joy nonetheless? Then we got the idea to just do it outdoors.”
Reuters

MY VIEW | THE CORPORATE OUTSIDER

Toothless trade unions have meant helpless workers

India’s employed population comprised
SUNDEEP KHANNA casual workers, a count that included those
on contract.
With no one around to champion their
cause and their political relevance diluted by
their ambiguous residential status, these
for worker rights but, in the process, ended
up veering too much to the side of capital.
Not that this was surprising. The excesses of
trade unions through the 1960s and 1970s
that led to the industrial emasculation of
states like West Bengal led to a serious push-
The blame for an apparent failure to pro-
tect workers’ rights must ultimately rest
with trade unions, which have failed to adapt
to the changing nature of work. They were
powerful once, but could never really wrap
their heads around changing patterns of
in the country, be it clashes between the
police and workers in Neemrana’s Japanese
zone last January or the strike by Uber and
Ola drivers in 2018.
In all of these, the unions have been found
to be toothless, unable to negotiate success-

T
he inability of India’s trade union
movement to evolve over the years is
partly responsible for the tragic
migrant crisis we saw being played out
across cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Pune
last fortnight. Left alone to fend for them-
selves with no support or guidance, these
workers were the tragic outcome of what
workers, taxi drivers, fruit and vegetable
sellers, shop assistants and casual factory
hands, have little bargaining power. No
wonder their plight became a hot potato
between the Centre and the states.
Given these troubled times, what they
needed was someone to take care of their
immediate needs of food, shelter and health-
back, with companies in newly emerging employment, catalysed especially by the rise fully on behalf of their members. This may
sectors insisting from the of the services sector, partly be because their own leaders don’t
start that their employees which accounts for almost have a comprehensive understanding of the
don’t join existing unions Unions have half of India’s economy and requirements of newer industries. Health-
or set up new ones. over 40% of its workforce care workers not being given adequate per-
The results are visible in failed to act in today. Having missed that sonal protective equipment, for example, is
the form of both falling massive upheaval brought a current worry. Expecting them to work
union numbers as well as
the interests of on by a shift from agricul- without it is like asking firemen to go into

is former executive
happens when a key peg of the business eco-
system, worker unions, goes missing. Most
editor of Mint of those who began their long and arduous
journeys home, on foot or makeshift vehi-
cles, are not even registered with the rele-
vant labour offices and thus don’t get cov-
ered by statutes related to minimum wages,
and accident and social security benefits.
In its India Wage Report released in
August 2018, the International Labour Orga-
nization (ILO) flagged unfair terms of ser-
vice, low remuneration and wage inequality
for such casual workers. Using data from the
government’s National Sample Survey
Office’s employment and unemployment
surveys, it estimated that 62% (121 million) of
care, negotiate with their employers for a
fair severance, offer them some reassurance
about their future, and provide education on
covid-19 and the coronavirus. Eventually
they would also need reskilling to get ready
for changes in their workplaces, whenever
they return. That’s the role that a union is
expected to play, except that the existing
unions don’t seem to be doing so. In any
case, most of these workers aren’t even
members of any union.
The trade union movement has been in
decline over the past three decades, ever
since liberalization modified some of the
rules of doing business in India. This, in turn,
overturned the decades-long socialist bias
their waning influence.
The ILO has calculated
workers and
that the trade union (TU)
density in India among
must wake up
wage workers, both casual and adapt to
and regular/salaried, has
fallen since 1993-94, by 3 work realities
percentage points to 13.4%.
The ILO cites instances of
victimization, even dismissal of union mem-
bers by companies in an effort to break
union unity or dissuade workers from join-
ing them. One consequence of this has been
rising inequality between the wage levels of
salaried employees and other workers,
casual or contracted.
ture to services, unions still
have nothing meaningful
by way of help to offer the
vast number of people
moving into the growing
gig economy, where the
prevailing employer-em-
ployee construct seems in
certain need of revision.
Instead of that, there is constant tension
between workers and companies, which
took its ugliest form during the bloody
clashes at Maruti’s Manesar plant in 2012,
resulting in the death of one of the com-
pany’s managers. Such face-offs have con-
tinued to plague the industrial environment
burning buildings without protective gear.
What is needed is a new institutional
structure that is modelled on the unions of
old but configured to operate in an entirely
new context. Perhaps the time has come to
replace the earlier political unionism with
one which is more relevant to the new econ-
omy, and is short on ideology but long on
real benefits for workers. The ILO report
cited earlier puts it succinctly in stressing
the need for “service-based unionism”, bet-
ter suited to “the new working environment
shaped by changing employment patterns
and industrial relations dynamics and for
meeting the interests of the workers, espe-
cially in the informal economy”.
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

INESS O
14 THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020
NEW DELHI
US

F
Life
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM ISTOCKPHOTO

How a school
Why millennials embraced e-
learning in a day
can’t stop stirring ISTOCKPHOTO

coffee
For young professionals, making Dalgona coffee as seen on
social media is a way to escape the depressing news cycle
Vivan Marwaha by furiously whisking coffee powder, sugar and hot Ranjani Ayyar
water to a creamy paste, and then by adding boiling

Dalgona Coffee
RECIPE
One glass
u 1 tablespoon instant coffee
u 1 tablespoon hot water
uSugar (to taste)
You need to maintain a 1:1:1 ratio
between the coffee, sugar and water.
I personally can’t drink sweetened
coffee, so I used two teaspoons
instead. I felt even those were a lot,
but you need some sugar to add
creaminess and body to the mixture.
u300ml milk or an alt-milk (which
can also be made overnight at home,
M W
illennials often get blamed for hot milk, phenti hui coffee is my staple when I’m hen the Tamil Nadu government said all
killing mayonnaise, and for good visiting my grandmother’s house in Bhopal. schools were to shut to contain covid-19,
reason. Growing up, I always The coronavirus lockdown has given millennial most teachers hadn’t finished final assess-
hated mayonnaise. I could never working professionals plenty of time to do things ments. We decided to drop that, but for grades 10 and
quite place its flavour on my pal- we’ve always wanted to do, but never had the time. 12, classes were in full swing; we couldn’t cancel.
ate and something about its texture unnerved Some of my friends are finally starting their read- Unlike other professions, education has taken its
me. There are plenty of other, and healthier, ing lists, most are binge-watching Netflix (includ- time to embrace technology. Videos and e-learning
condiments we can add to our sand- ing the Tiger King documentary), while others are modules are used, but virtual learning is different,
wiches, such as hummus, and the unleashing their inner chefs. particularly for those who have been teaching for
great millennial obsession, avo- The lockdown has also deprived us of our work- over two decades. Some have lost touch with latest
cado. And I know I’m not alone. I day caffeine. Whether it’s pre-made from the trends. We gathered the teachers in the computer lab
can’t think of a single friend who fridge-sized Coffee Day machine present in most to explain the basics of Zoom. But after the two-hour
enjoys the taste of mayo or chooses office spaces, or handmade by Starbucks, Café Cof- session, what we thought would be received as a
to add it to their meal. fee Day, or Blue Tokai, the sudden drop in our sup- great solution was met with complaints. Math teach-
Although we may have killed ply of cappuccinos and iced lattes is being whipped ers wanted to show derivations, physics teachers
mayonnaise for good, millennials up by the Instagram-inspired baristas among us. wanted to draw diagrams, and economics graphs.
have brought something back: This is because at a fundamental level, being in The principal, 63 in years but young at heart, did
phenti hui cof- the kitchen and trying some- not want to give up. She was enthusiastic about vir-
fee. In retaking control thing we’ve learned on social tual lessons, where students could interact with the
In the past media allows us to escape a teacher, and urged me to conduct a session.
three weeks, it of our supply depressing news cycle, which is Invites for the meeting went out, and in 10 min-
has become of fancy coffee fostering an utter sense of help- utes, I saw smiling faces pop up on my screen, calling
nearly impossi- lessness. It gives us absolute out, “Good morning, ma’am!” I’ve heard that greet-
ble to scroll an drinks, we are control over an environment ing every day, in every class for a few years, but sud-
Instagram or slowly resuming where we are singularly denly those words sounded so reassuring in the vir-
TikTok feed the agency responsible for the outcome. tual world.
without coming Having grown up in an era of It took 20 minutes to settle them in, each facing
across a friend snatched away globalization and instant grati- connectivity issues. Some were doing their hair, oth-
or influencer by coronavirus fication, the closure of what we ers were sipping juice. One
whipping up have taken for granted—our student had fallen asleep
some coffee, food supply chains, transporta- Life and forgotten to get online.
sugar and hot tion systems, and improvement After answering all their
water to make themselves a glass of services such as gyms and salons—has hit us hard. LOCKDOWN DIARY questions, I did a quick
Dalgona coffee. While Dalgona coffee might seem like the sec- recap of the previous lesson
What is this coffee and why has it ond coming of avocado toast to older generations, and recorded it. I ran down with the laptop and
suddenly become so popular? for millennials and post-millennials it is something played it for the principal. In two hours, word got
Inspired by street candy, Dalgona more important: In retaking control of our supply around and everyone wanted to view the video.
coffee became a craze when food of fancy coffee drinks, we’re slowly resuming the Four teachers wanted to take virtual lessons, then
bloggers in South Korea began their agency snatched away by coronavirus. If we can’t more. As the principal had said: “You show them,
quarantine. We don’t know its exact buy it, we will make it. they will all jump on the bandwagon.”
origin story or who transformed it This is why Dalgona (see recipe below) has taken We have completed close to two weeks of teaching
from toffee to coffee, but we do off at the right time. For most amateur cooks or our students remotely. After the initial connectivity
know it went viral quickly: the hash- those with minimally-stocked pantries, making a hiccups, students have eased into this format. They
tag “DalgonaCoffee” has racked up cup of Dalgona coffee doesn’t even require a trip to are ready five minutes before time. They have identi-
thousands of posts and millions of the grocery store. And that’s the beauty of it. fied a space where there is no disturbance. We see
views across TikTok, Instagram and their smiles five minutes into starting a meeting and
Facebook. Vivan Marwaha is a policy consultant and author of kick off our lessons. We’re doing classes with up to 40
But most older Indians are famil- What Millennials Want, a forthcoming book by Pen- students, and teachers are solving equations on the
iar with this recent fad invading our guin Random House. He tweets @VivanMarwaha. virtual board, drawing graphs, deriving formulae and
social media feeds, albeit under a dif- explaining the nuances of entrepreneurship.
ferent name: phenti hui coffee. Made Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com It’s not easy. Every teacher is not comfortable with
technology. Change is not always welcome. From a
chalkboard and students in front of her, the teacher
has to accustom herself to thumbnail images of 40
children. From walking around the class, checking
using almonds or walnuts). making it hard to mix with milk. Once
you’re done, decide how you want
notebooks and watching for distractions, she has to
sit at a screen.
METHOD your Dalgona—hot or cold. Given Sometimes, there is a younger sibling popping into
Measure your coffee, sugar and hot summer is upon us, cold coffee is the the screen to say hi, other times there is a grandpar-
water and pour the ingredients into a default drink of the season. Add ice ent on the bed in the background.
bowl (I recommend a medium to to your glass, pour cold milk over it, It certainly isn’t easy, but we did it. So here I am,
large size steel or toughened plastic and then add the Dalgona paste on connecting with my students everyday, while man-
bowl if you’ve never whipped top. If you want it hot, add your aging household chores, taking my pet for a walk,
anything before). Dalgona paste to the cup first, and and dealing with a stressed spouse. A teacher’s day
The water should be hot or boiling then pour in the boiling hot milk. never ends. Even on vacation, our minds are looking
to help the coffee and sugar dissolve. Most of the mixture will dissolve, but for what we can offer our children to broaden their
Now whisk. Most Instagram and you will be left with a cappuccino-like minds, deepen their curiosity and show them how to
TikTok recipes use an electric mixer foam on top. embrace change everyday.
(on medium setting) since those are electric mixer, it should take you Once you’re done, you are obliged
easier and faster, but you can use a around two minutes to reach a thick to take many photos of your creation The writer is a senior school teacher in Chennai.
hand whisk (great forearm workout paste. Don’t whisk for longer because and upload them on Instagram.
guaranteed as well). If you’re using an your paste could get too thick, Maybe even tag me @VivanMarwaha. Lockdown Diary documents how professionals are
working from home and adapting their routines.

Work Hack THE WAY TECH IS USED WILL DEFINE EDUCATION 2.0
Know your priorities ISTOCKPHOTO

Fortunately, we are living in a time technologies and medium, like gaming,

I
t is important you have a task list when there is a sustainable way to address emphasizing more on how to make teach-
for the day and a plan in place for OFF THE this challenge. Migrating our education ing more impactful, which will be meas-
the next day. This to-do list must infrastructure to a predominantly online ured by the outcome and how do we
be visible to all. It helps prioritize. LINEAR PATH model is the inevitable need of the hour. address the challenge of scaling, that is,
Have up a des- RONNIE Making education impervious to fre- the delivery aspect.
ignated work SCREWVALA quent external disruptions will be a wise This migration, though, now forced by
area, which investment in the future of our country a global pandemic, can also be seen as an
has comforta- Write to us at and the world. This will happen only if it is opportunity to make education much
ble seating businessoflife@livemint.com backed by political will, which, in turn, will more effective.
and sunlight. create the necessary economic and social For instance, the delivery mechanism

B
This helps a usinesses and institutions across the
lot in keeping country are shut to limit the spread
you focused. of covid-19. From the automobile
While it does industry to the aviation sector, companies
get challeng- across the world are suffering because of
ing at times to work from home, it’s the impact of the pandemic.
best to keep yourself motivated Among the worst hit is education.
through this pandemic. Schools and colleges across India and in
most parts of the world are already shut.
Balbir Singh Dhillon Disruption to education may not seem like
Head, Audi India one of our immediate big concerns like
lack of food and other essential goods and
BY SOHINI SEN services, but it is certainly something that
will soon be.
conditions to enable it at the grassroots
level.
Having said that, there is nothing to be
achieved by dissecting the past and asking
why we haven’t done this already. After all,
this is not just about the investment or
even technology for that matter, but a 180-
degree shift in mindset.
I believe the government will invest in
this shift to online education if other
stakeholders in the education ecosystem
ask for it. We are seeing the impact of dis-
ruption that covid-19 has had on educa-
tion. It is time to initiate the big migration,
which is mainstreaming online education
that will gradually replace the offline
model we have been using for the past
seven decades.
I completely understand that this is eas-
ier said than done.
Investment matters
Without any more delay we have to invest
(not just financially) in four important
aspects. They include content, pedagogy,
learning science and delivery.
In other words, the shift will be in using
of education can be customized to suit
students categorized into buckets based
on their learning capabilities.
Investments, whether public or private,
will not be a big concern when the online
migration is backed by the government. If
at all anything, this will throw open a
whole new world of opportunities that
will attract the right kind of money since
we will be investing in the future of our
country.
Ronnie Screwvala is the co-founder and
executive chairman, upGrad.
 Catch us on FB at https://fb.com/KittusWealthJourney

NEWS THURSDAY, 9 APRIL 2020

NEW DELHI 15

Lobby seeks clearance of Lockdown likely to

be extended beyond
₹20,000 crore PSU dues 14 April, hints Modi
FROM PAGE 1

Mid-sized films can recover be taken after consulting all the

costs via direct-to-digital Network equipment makers ask telecom department to pay dues from BSNL, MTNL key stakeholders, including
releases. RAMESH PATHANIA/MINT bureaucrats,” Ghulam Nabi
Azad, leader of Opposition in
Bollywood Romita Majumdar
romita.m@livemint.com
Rajya Sabha, told reporters on
Wednesday afternoon via a vir-
MUMBAI tual press conference.
moves to At the meeting, political par-

digital
releases
FROM PAGE 1
Direct-to-digital release
makes greater sense for mid-
sized films made for less than
₹30 crore. They are more
likely to recover this cost by
selling the rights to digital
platforms. If they wait for the
lockdown to get over, they
may or may not recoup their
investment for several rea-
sons: there could be a clutter in
theatres as many big-budget
films are in the queue. Or,
audiences may continue to
shun theatres due to fear of
contacting infections.
Among the big films that are
scheduled for early release are
Akshay Kumar-starrer Soory-
avanshi, sports drama ’83 star-
ring Ranveer Singh and Varun
Dhawan’s Coolie No.1. Akshay
Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb and
Salman Khan’s Radhe are
scheduled for Eid at the end of
May. These big-screen specta-
cles cannot forgo a theatrical
opportunity, firstly because
they have a reputation to
maintain and second, because
they cannot recoup their
investment from the sale of
digital rights alone, having
already spent more than ₹100
crore on production and close
to ₹20 crore on marketing and
promotions. While digital
acquisition costs for such films
can go up to ₹50 crore
(depending on box office),
they still look at theatrical rev-
enues to recover the bulk of
their investment. But even for
them, the box office future
doesn’t look rosy. Post-lock-
down too, many big films will
compete for theatrical release,
without even knowing if the
audiences will return.
“It will take people time to
let go of the fear psychosis that
has resulted in more damage
than the virus itself,” said film
distributor and exhibitor
Akshaye Rathi. “Not to men-
tion the economic impact of all
this, audiences can only come
when they have money in
hand.”
However, Zee’s Patel
expects streaming platforms to
turn this crisis into an oppor-
tunity as they are faced with a
content crunch in view of the
suspension of all production
activities for their original
shows.
Netflix did not respond to
queries on plans to deal with
the content crunch while rival
Amazon Prime Video is clear it
only picks up films that have
had a theatrical release.
T
he Cellular Operators ties including Lok Janshakti
Oil moves
Association of India
(COAI) has written to the
department of telecom-
higher with
impact of
Party, which is part of the ruling Ghulam Nabi Azad represents
National Democratic Alliance, Congress in the PM’s meeting
urged the Centre to draw a on Wednesday. TWITTER
possible
munications (DoT) to
clear ₹20,000 crore of dues from
output cuts
in focus
detailed plan to help farmers,
daily wage labourers and revive to prepare for greater number
public sector units (PSUs) such as bit.ly/34ltsap the rural economy. of hospitals,” said a senior
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Several floor leaders, includ- leader of Samajwadi Party
and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam ing Azad from the Congress, aware of developments.
Ltd (MTNL). Elamaram Kareem of the Com- Modi’s outreach to political
Member companies in the seg- munist Party of India (Marxist) leaders over the last week,
ments of telecom and network and the Dravida Munnetra Kaz- including telephonic conversa-
equipment manufacturers, and hagam’s T.R. Baalu, also raised tions with chiefs of several
infrastructure providers, have been the need for providing more political parties on Sunday,
long-term partners of various PSUs, financial help to the poor, farm- points efforts to build a political
including BSNL, MTNL, and have ers and daily wagers, releasing consensus on containing the
been providing respective material, of goods and services tax dues pandemic and lockdown
support and services to these PSUs by the Centre to states and restrictions.
for all their telecom network and focusing on providing ade- On Wednesday, Rajasthan’s
service requirements, COAI quate personal protective deputy chief minister Sachin
director general Rajan Mathews said equipment to health workers. Pilot said the Centre should
in a letter to DoT joint secretary There has been a considerable increase in network load during the lockdown phase, companies said. MINT “He did not declare clearly provide financial packages to
Anshu Prakash. what was on his states in propor-
COAI represents Nokia, Huawei, The business continuity of these employees, interest, loan repay- work from home. Last week, tele- mind but there The Union govt tion to the num-
Ericsson, ZTE, Sterlite Technolo- vendors and service providers has ments and taxes, he said. com infrastructure provider STL was enough indi- has already ber of coronavirus
gies Ltd (STL), Indus, Cisco, Juniper, been severely impacted by the There has been a considerable noted that their collections were cation that he felt informed state cases and the pro-
Qualcomm, Apple, Ciena, ECI, Face- spread of the contagion across the increase in network load from enter- delayed because of unavailability of lifting of lock- govts to make pensity for further
book, Google, Amazon and ACT, globe and the restrictions imposed prises, as well as residential connec- manpower in the offices of custom- down at this stage
preparations for spread of the
among others, who support critical by the governments to combat the tions since the lockdown was ers. “In terms of data usage, most could be difficult. infection. “For us
essential services. situation, he said. imposed. DoT officials familiar with regions in the world are seeing He, however, said essential to be able to have a
“Our members have been sup- A severe disruptive impact has the matter said there was a 10% 30-100% increase in the traffic on that the Union commodities comprehensive
porting various PSUs in the network. A significant government will victory over the
delivering uninterrupted MOUNTING TROUBLES amount of this traffic is com- take a final call coronavirus chal-
services, despite non-pay- ing from enterprise use only after the meeting with lenge, states will have to be
ment of their huge pending MEMBER firms have BUT the outstanding AND firms’ business WHILE the slump is cases such as video confer- chief ministers on Saturday,” a assisted with dedicated finan-
dues. However, the situa- been providing
material, services to
dues have been continuities are
pending for long and severely affected by
impacting payments, encing, collaboration tools
COAI says there has
senior leader and Rajya Sabha cial packages. I think what
tion has become highly crit- the PSUs for all their are adding to the contagion and been a 20% increase like slack and increase usage member who attended the should be done is that every
ical now with total outstand- telecom network financial woes government curbs in network usage of web-based applications meeting on Wednesday said on state-specific resource alloca-
ing dues from these PSUs on the cloud,” said STL. condition of anonymity. tion should be done in propor-
amounting to approxi- Last week, COAI had States such as Uttar Pradesh, tion to the spread of the infec-
mately ₹20,000 crore, which is been witnessed on the global supply increase in network usage, though reached out to finance minister Nir- Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and tion, according to the propen-
pending for long. This is adding to chain, demand and supply ele- COAI has estimated an almost 20% mala Sitharaman to address the Telangana have demanded that sity for further spread and the
the financial woes of our members ments, and most importantly on the increase. financial concerns of telecom opera- the lockdown be extended by at states present capacities to
who are facing serious constraints in cash flows of the companies because Telecom and allied services have tors. It had urged the government to least 15 days. meet the crisis. We can extra-
terms of cash flows because of the of the slowdown in economic activi- been identified as essential services refund unutilized input tax credits, “The Union government has polate the data scientifically,”
slowdown in economic activity in ties, Mathews said. to support business continuity plans provide low-cost funding, rationali- already informed state govern- Pilot told Press Trust of India in
the current situation,” said This in turn is having an impact of industries, with companies being zation of levies and reduction of ments to make preparations for an interview.
Mathews. on all payments, including for forced to move their employees to spectrum usage charges. essential commodities and also gyan.v@livemint.com
400 million Indians at the risk of falling into poverty during crisis, claims ILO
FROM PAGE 1
A job loss away from poverty because of the 21-day lock- ment to do their bit not only
down that started on 25 to protect jobs but also to pro-
The lockdown initiated since 25 March has already triggered joblessness. Now the ILO worries this will push people back into poverty
high proportion of workers March. tect wages. Unless wages are
outside the formal workforce, Workers at risk: Sectoral perspective 4-pillar solution While urban unemploy- protected, it will lead to pov-
needs to be on guard as work- Share of global employment (in %) High Low ment rate was 30.9%, the erty. The ILO report is an eye-
Stimulating Active fiscal policy
ers are facing a drastic reduc- the economy Accommodative monetary policy rural unemployment rate was opener and a warning for all
tion in working hours, wage 13.9 4.7 14.5 4.3 and Lending and finacal suppport to over 20%, the data showed. countries,” Kaur added.
cuts and layoffs, the ILO said. employment specific sectors Since there is no wage and ILO has recommended a
Real estate; business
“In India, with a share of and administrative Wholesale and Accommodation
Extend social protection for all
income for a four-pronged
almost 90% of people work- Manufacturing activities retail trade and food services Supporting large portion of Economists approach,
Implement job retention measures
ing in the informal economy, entrerpises Indian workers, it
Provide tax holiday to entreprises said poverty will i n c l u d i n g
about 400 million workers in 6.1 5.4 7.7 1.6 and jobs
is but natural that be a bigger focused stimulus
the informal economy are at Adapt new work arrangements they are pushed challenge for package, support
Transport; Arts, entertain- Financial and
risk of falling deeper into pov- into poverty, said
India and may set to enterprises
Protecting Prevent discrimination and exclusion
storage and ment, recreation, insurance workers at
erty during the crisis,” ILO communication other services Construction activities Expand acess to paid leave Amarjeet Kaur, and protection of
said. “In India, Nigeria and
workplace
general secretary the economy jobs, during the
Strenthen workers resileinece back by years
Brazil, the number of workers 0.7 26.5 9.4 4.3 Open social
Strengthen social dialogue,
of the All India current crisis.
in the informal economy Public administra- collective bargaining Trade Union “Without
dialogue
affected by the lockdown and tion, defence, Strenthen govt's capacity C o n g r e s s appropriate pol-
other containment measures Mining and Agriculture; forestry Education and compulsory social (AITUC). icy measures, workers face a
quarrying and fishing human healthcare security Source: ILO
is substantial. Current lock- “The lockdown and its high risk of falling into pov-
down measures in India, PARAS JAIN/MINT impact cannot be restricted to erty and will experience
which are at the high end of have impacted these workers The ILO warning corrobo- weeks. the unemployment rate shot just 21 days. It has a cascading greater challenges in regain-
the University of Oxford’s significantly, forcing many of rates local data, which shows The Centre for Monitoring up from 8.4% in mid-March to impact. We are requesting ing their livelihoods during
covid-19 Government them to return to rural areas,” that unemployment rate has Indian Economy’s weekly 23% in the week ended 5 companies and urging both the recovery period,” ILO
Response Stringency Index, it added. spiked in India in a span of tracker survey showed that April, reflecting job losses states and the Union govern- said.

‘Lockdown to have longlasting impact on nation’s health’ SC asks Centre to carry out free
FROM PAGE 1
keeping with these regula-
tions the health ministry had
banned all travel to and from
China. However, it cast
doubts on the medium- and
long-term impact of such
travel bans.
“Modelling studies suggest
that in the short-term, these
are unlikely to have meaning-
ful impact on global transmis-
sion of SARS-CoV-2 (cov-
id-19), unless sustained 90%
travel restrictions are imple-
mented in combination with
more than 50% reduction in
local transmission,” said the
authors.
Such bans may only pro-
vide a symbolic shield unless
the ongoing outbreak is also
staunched. It said the long-
term impact of travel restric-
tions and red-lining of
affected areas on the econ-
covid-19 tests for all Indians with the genomic sequence of
SL-CoVZC45 and bat-SL-
CoVZXC21 (both bat viruses),
there still remain doubts
regarding its direct ances-
tors,” the study said.
While bats have been
implicated as the “original
reservoirs” of the virus, given
their wide flight-range in
Asia, specific host control is
difficult and unrealistic. Also,
there may have been an
“intermediate reservoir”—a
Gaps in the current evidence literature leave the Indian healthcare live animal being sold in a
system with little choice but to prepare for combatting a potential Chinese market.
epidemic spillovers in the years ahead. AFP Extensive research on bats
carried out by the National
omy, agriculture and mental “When the first cases Institute of Virology, Pune
health is unknown. emerged in December 2019, may provide critical insights
The ICMR paper said gaps bats were likely in hiberna- for any “spillover event” of the
in the current evidence litera- tion, and if there was an inter- pandemic, the study said.
ture leave the Indian health- mediate host, it might have Going by current evidence,
care system with little choice played a role in continuing it is difficult to say whether
but to prepare for combatting local transmission of the this virus will become
a potential epidemic spill- virus. Hence, despite there entrenched, with endemic,
overs in the years ahead. being about 89% similarity seasonal or annual epidemics
(like pandemic H1N1 influ-
enza), or whether it will
“extinguish”, like SARS.
The review concluded that
there is a need to invest in
health systems and communi-
ty-led response mechanisms.
“The emergence of SARS-
CoV-2 has once again exposed
the weaknesses of global
health systems preparedness,
ability to respond to an infec-
tious threat, the rapidity of
transmission of infections
across international borders
and the ineffectiveness of
kneejerk policy responses to
emerging/re-emerging infec-
tious disease threats,” it
said.
The ICMR wrote the review
in association with the
Department of Microbiology,
Maulana Azad Medical Col-
lege, and World Health Orga-
nization, South-East Asia
Regional Office, New Delhi.
FROM PAGE 1 lenged 7 March advisory long.
issued by Indian Council of The Supreme Court
lack of money. Medical Research (ICMR) that observed in its order that “pri-
The court said covid-19 tests set a price of ₹4,500 for vate hospitals, including labo-
must be carried out only in screening and confirming cov- ratories, have an important
National Accreditation Board id-19 cases by role to play in con-
for Testing and Calibration private labs. taining the scale of
Laboratories (NABL)-accred- Solicitor gen- The court added pandemic by
ited Labs, or any agency eral Tushar that the matter of extending philan-
approved by the World Health Mehta justified whether private thropic services in
Organization (WHO) or Indian the ICMR advi- labs will be the hour of
Council of Medical Research sory, saying that reimbursed for national crisis.”
(ICMR). private labs had expenses will be The judges
The apex court, however, to be involved considered later remarked in their
said that it will consider later because the order that “in spite
whether private laboratories 15,000 tests of various meas-
are entitled to any reimburse- being done by ures being taken
ment of expenses. 118 government labs were not by the government of India
The government has two sufficient. Mehta added that and different State govern-
weeks to file a response, the the government has involved ment/Union Territory, the
court said. 47 private laboratory chains, number of patients and death
The petitioner, advocate since it is unclear how many caused by it is increasing day
Shashan Deo Sudhi, had chal- will be needed and for how by day.”
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DON’T MISS
Curbs amid lockdown may affect TWITTERVERSE

quality of retail inflation numbers

Amit Shah
@AmitShah
Sebi bends rules to India stands united in its
stem fund outflow Closure of non-essential businesses is hampering efforts of investigators who are trying to collect data fight against COVID-19
Sebi amended the FPI under the leadership of
regulations, allowing PM. In this valiant battle
countries like Mauritius Asit Ranjan Mishra shops, will be collected during for the future of human-
to obtain a Category-I ity, Corona Warriors are
asit.m@livemint.com the period.
licence. See Page 3
NEW DELHI NSO directed that no field visits at the forefront.
should take place only for data

Oyo places
workers on leave
SoftBank-backed Oyo
Hotels & Homes is
placing thousands of its
employees globally on
furlough. See Page 3
Trump praises
India for drug
Donald Trump praised PM
Modi after India lifted a
ban on anti-malaria drug
hydroxychloroquine .
See Page 6
No covid-19 scare
for FMCG firms
Shares of Hindustan
Unilever Ltd (HUL) and
Nestlé India Ltd hit new
52-week highs on
Wednesday. See Page 4
T
he quality of crucial
‘Chinese retail inflation data is
virus’ no
likely to be compro-
more: US
and China mised during the ongo-
reach truce ing lockdown imposed
amid to fight covid-19 as restrictions on
coronavirus
movement and closure of non-es-
pandemic
sential business establishments
bit.ly/34kpy1D
are hampering the efforts of
investigators who are trying to
collect information.
Field investigators are to col-
lect data of essential commodities
either over telephone or during
their visit to the nearest market
for their own personal shopping,
according to the standard operat-
ing procedure of the National Sta-
tistical Organisation (NSO)
reviewed by Mint.
“The outbreak of covid-19 in
India and subsequent measures
implemented to limit its spread,
particularly the national lock-
down and the resultant tempo-
rary closure of retail outlets, total
restriction on movement and the
suspension of field work of NSO,
have impacted routine compila-
tion and dissemination of Con-
sumer Price Index (CPI),” NSO
told field officials.
“CPI is an extremely critical
macro-economic indicator regu-
larly used by the government and
the Reserve Bank of India for pol-
collection and where possible
data should be collected over tel-
ephone from specific shops to
maintain continuity. However, if
it is not possible to collect data
from the regular shops, field offi-
cials may collect them from shops
in the vicinity when doing their
personal shopping, NSO said. P. Chidambaram
“They may telephonically ask @PChidambaram_IN
friends/relatives to report the pri- With unemployment at
ces of sampled verities when they 23% (CMIE) and a freeze
shop. No personal visit must be on daily incomes, the
encouraged for this purpose,” it govt must immediately
said. find the resources and
Getting prices from random remonetise (give cash
shops will affect the quality of to) the poor
data quite a lot, said Pronab Sen,
The outbreak of covid-19 in India and the subsequent national lockdown have impacted routine compilation former chief statistician of India.
and dissemination of the Consumer Price Index. BLOOMBERG “The reason data is collected from
specific shops is because of the
icy formulation. This calls for for consumer price index first two weeks of April at a virtual presumption that the trade mar-
devising novel methods of data requires field visits across rural meeting chaired by chief statisti- gin would remain the same and
reporting, while ensuring that and urban India every month. cian of India Pravin Srivastava on consistent over time as each shop
collection activi- 1-2 April. It was has its own supply chain and
ties do not contra- DATA TRACKING RESTRICTIONS decided that those costs remain the same. If a
vene emergency information on different shop that has a different Sitaram Yechury
rules and recom- CONSUMER Price DATA for Consumer NSO recently prices of only supply chain is used, the price @SitaramYechury
m e n d a t i o n s Index is a critical Price Index requires directed that no field essential items may vary simply because of the
macroeconomic field visits across visits should take Who is responsible for
issued by authori- indicator used by rural and urban India place only for data such as food, difference in margin and that will
ties and do not govt and RBI every month collection including that give a wrong reading,” said Sen. shortage of PPEs at
place staff at risk,” was available For non-essential items in the AIIMS? Instead of asking
it said. through the pub- retail inflation index, the sensible people to bang utensils,
Centre should have
Unlike data for factory output NSO decided to use alternative lic distribution system, fuel, and thing to do is to assume that pri-
and Wholesale Price Index, methods for collecting the data housing, as well as essential items ces have not changed from the been procuring PPEs
which are collected online, data on an experimental basis for the available at medicine and grocery previous month, Sen said.

Virus infection curve UP govt seals all covid hotspots in 15 districts Delhi seals 20 hotspots,
flattens in Kerala as makes mask mandatory
Leroy Leo spots comes as the state and
leroy.l@livemint.com the rest of the country has seen
NEW DELHI a steady rise in cases of cov-
fewer cases crop up id-19. India has reported more Pretika Khanna out of their house. Cloth mask

T
he Uttar Pradesh gov- than 5,000 covid-19 cases, pretika.k@livemint.com shall be eligible, too,” Delhi
ernment has sealed hot- with nearly 150 people dying. NEW DELHI chief minister Arvind Kejriwal
spots in 15 districts in the Three people have died In said.
Nidheesh M.K.

T
state, including those in Uttar Pradesh itself. he Delhi government on On Wednesday, various
nidheesh.m@livemint.com Gautam Buddh Nagar and There are 61 cases in Wednesday sealed 20 state governments, including
ERNAKULAM Ghaziabad, on the border of Gautam Buddh Nagar, 49 in hotspots across the Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh
Delhi, to curb the spread of Agra, 25 in Meerut, 23 in Ghaz- national capital to try and con- and Karnataka, made it com-

K
erala’s covid-19 infec- coronavirus. iabad, 21 in Lucknow, 16 in trol the spread of covid-19. The pulsory for people to wear
tion curve is slowly flat- The government on Kanpur Nagar, 14 in Shamli, 13 government also made it com- masks in public areas.
tening, with fewer fresh Wednesday decided to seal the in Saharanpur, and 6-8 in pulsory for people to wear a Delhi’s deputy chief minis-
cases and more people recov- hotspots in 15 districts includ- Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Basti, mask while out in the open. ter Manish Sisodia said that
ering in hospitals, according ing Agra, Lucknow, Ghazia- People will not be allowed to leave their houses and essential Saharanpur, Maharajganj and Delhi has seen a sharp spike the government had cordoned
to state government data. bad, Gautam Budh Nagar, supplies will be home delivered. Sitapur, according to data in infections with at least 500 off 20 hotspots, which had
The flattening of the curve Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, available on covid19india.org cases of covid-19. Of these, reported a high number of
points to the slowing of the Shamli, Meerut, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Of these, there that people in these hotspots portal. more than 330 are from cases, parts of Nizamuddin,
spread of the disease and is a Bulandshahr, Basti, Saharan- are more than six cases in will not be allowed to leave The government has not Nizamuddin. Dilshad Garden, Sadar Bazaar
result of effective public Several people of the state pur, Maharajganj, and Sita- these districts,” Awasthi their houses and groceries or decided when the sealing “Wearing of facial masks and Mayur Vihar.
intervention. Kerala has the have recovered despite being pur,” the state’s additional added. other essential supplies will be would be lifted and this would can reduce the spread of “We have decided to seal
highest number of recovered elderly and vulnerable. PTI chief secretary, Avnish Awa- The government will come home delivered, state chief all depend on when the num- corona virus substantially. these areas so nobody will be
covid-19 patients in India at sthi, told news agency ANI on out with a detailed plan by late secretary R.K. Tiwari told tele- ber of cases in the state comes Therefore, it has been decided allowed to enter or exit from
84, according to Wednes- But in these three, the data Wednesday. Wednesday, he said. vision channels. down, said an official in the that facial masks will be com- these lanes, buildings and col-
day’s official estimates. shows, fresh cases have not “There are 343 cases in The lockdown would mean The sealing of these hot- state administration. pulsory for anyone stepping onies,” Sisodia said.
Several people of the state been doubling unlike the
have recovered despite being trend in several other high-
elderly and vulnerable. One of risk hotspots across the coun-
those who recovered is 93 try.
years old, while an 88-year- The fresh cases are, in fact,
old recovered even after suf- far fewer than the surge
fering a heart attack during recorded previously, accord-
treatment. ing to district-wise data.
Bolsonaro invokes Ramayana, Christ in letter to Modi for virus drug
Only two have succumbed In Kerala’s most infected
to the disease so far in Kerala, Kasargod district, for Elizabeth Roche Rama’s brother Laksmana, and covid-19-postive cases, with herb from a peak in the Himala-
which has one of the lowest instance, the highest surge in elizabeth.r@livemint.com Jesus healed those who were 688 fatalities so far—the high- yas. However, as he could not
death rates cases was on 27 NEW DELHI sick and restored sight to Bar- est in South America. World- identify the herb, Hanuman
among infected Kerala has the March when it timeu, India and Brazil will wide covid-19 has affected 1.43 transported the entire gandha-

I
states in India. highest number recorded 34 of t is well known that Brazilian overcome this global crisis by million people, with 82,000 madan parvat to the battlefield
Among the of recovered the 39 total cases president Jair Bolsonaro had joining forces and sharing deaths since the so that Lakshman
hotspot districts, covid patients at in Kerala. sought the anti-malarial blessings for the sake of all peo- novel coronavirus Brazil has more could be saved.
no fresh cases But for the last drug, hydroxychloroquine, or ple,” said an extract from Bol- surfaced in China than 14,000 The reference
84, several have
have been seven days, fresh HCQ, during a phone call with sonaro’s letter written to Modi in December. covid-19 positive to Jesus and Bar-
reported in Thir- recovered despite cases in the dis- prime minister Narendra Modi just before he spoke to the For most in cases, with 688 timeu in Bolson-
u v a n a n t h a p u - being vulnerable trict have num- last weekend. Indian prime minister. India, the refer- aro’s missive was
ram for the last bered between 9 However, little is known The reference to the Rama- ence to the “holy
fatalities so far, to an incident
eight days and in and 13. On about the letter Bolsonaro yana by Bolsonaro may be sur- medicine” would the highest in mentioned in the
Ernakulam for the last four Wednesday, it came down to wrote to Modi urging him to prising to many in India, but Brazilian PM Jair Bolsonaro likened the supply of HCQ from India be immediately South America Bible’s new testa-
days and in Kozhikode for the only one fresh case. send a supply of HCQ, wherein according to India’s foreign to Hanuman bringing the ‘holy medicine’ in the ‘Ramayana’. HT be understood as ment.
last two days. Only one case Kerala is now the eighth- he drew references to the Hindu ministry, “there is enormous an allusion to the When Jesus was
has been reported in Thrissur most infected region, a far cry epic, Ramayana, and Jesus interest in India’s culture, reli- ministry’s website. Folkloric any exemption. The curbs were sanjeevani herb, believed to leaving Jericho with a large
for the last five days, and from the most infected state at Christ to back his request. The gion, performing arts and phi- identities and celebrations however lifted on Tuesday with have revived Lakshman, who crowd, a blind man, Bartimaeus,
Pathanamthitta for the last one point, partly because of drug is being touted as a poten- losophy” in Brazil. “The first from India mirror the colourful the government saying that sustained a fatal injury in the was sitting by the roadside beg-
two days. the government and health tial treatment for covid-19. forms of Indian Culture to festivities and parades of north exports would be considered battle against demon king ging. When he heard that Jesus
The bulk of fresh cases is workers pulling out all the “Just as Lord Hanuman reach Brazil were related to and northeast of Brazil. on a case by case basis and Ravana’s son Meghnad. was passing by, Bartimaeus
now coming mostly from stops to slow down the rate of brought the holy medicine (the spirituality, philosophy and India had in March stopped would be contingent on ample While his brother lay injured requested him to restore his
three districts, Kasargod, infection, said its finance min- sanjeevani booti) from the Him- religion,” according to a coun- exports of HCQ and on 4 April, domestic availability. in the battlefield, Rama had sight, and his prayers were
Kannur, and Malappuram. ister Thomas Isaac. alayas to save the life of Lord try specific note on the foreign its exports was banned, without Brazil has more than 14,000 asked Hanuman, to fetch this answered.