Haryana elected only 5 women MPs in 53 yrs: Will this poll be different?

Congress' Kumari Selja, a Rajya Sabha MP, is the only women to have been elected to Lok Sabha thrice, twice from Ambala and once from Sirsa.

Business Standard : A total of 11 women candidates are in the fray for the May 12 Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, which in the 53 years of its existence has elected only five women parliamentarians.

In the 2014 general elections, not even a single woman candidate could manage to win in the state known for its skewed gender ratio, while six out ten parliamentary constituencies here have never elected a woman MP.

Although, no women candidates contesting independently in the state have ever made it to the lower house of parliament, this time, seven of the 11 female candidates are independents.

Chandravati, a former Janta Party leader became the first ever woman MP from the state in 1977 when she defeated political stalwart Chaudhary Bansi Lal from Bhiwani constituency.

She later joined the Congress and also served as the Governor of Puducherry in 1990.

Of the 151 MPs elected from the state so far (including when it was a part of Punjab), women were elected only eight times.

Congress' Kumari Selja, a Rajya Sabha MP, is the only women to have been elected to Lok Sabha thrice, twice from Ambala and once from Sirsa.

Selja who is contesting the elections this time from Ambala, told PTI, "The state has progressed a lot when it comes to women but a lot needs to be done. We need more and more women leaders to address the issues."

Shruti Chaudhary, grand daughter of former Chief Minister, Chaudhary Bansi Lal, who was elected as an MP in 2009 general elections from Bhiwani-Mahendargarh constituency, is also in the fray this time.

"Women can be strong politicians. My mother (Kiran Chaudhary) has also proved herself. Its a pity that such a small number of women MPs are elected and I appeal the women in the state to rise up," Chaudhary told PTI.

In the 1999 elections, the state sent two women MPs to Lok Sabha--BJP's Sudha Yadav from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh and Kailasho Saini of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) from Kurukshetra.

Saini, who has been an MP from the state twice is now in the Congress.

Cyclone 'Fani' likely to intensify in next 12 hours, hit Odisha on Friday

Heavy rainfall is very likely over north coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday and light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places a day later.

Cyclone 'Fani' is likely to intensify into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' by late night and can hit the Odisha coast by Friday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department said Tuesday.

In its 12 pm bulletin, the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said Fani (pronounced as Foni) lays over southeast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal, about 830 km nearly south of Puri (Odisha) and 670 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and about 680 km northeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka).

"It is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards till May 1 evening and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards and reach Odisha coast by May 3 afternoon with maximum sustained wind of speed 170-180 kilometers per hour gusting to 200 kmph," the IMD said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Coast Guard were put on high alert and the fishermen were asked not to venture into the sea, the Union Home Ministry said Monday.

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The wind speed of a cyclonic storm is 80-90 kilometres per hour with wind gusting up to 100 kmph. In case of an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm', the wind speed goes up to 170-180 kmph and could gain the speed of 195-200 kmph.

ALSO READ: 'Extremely severe cyclone' Fani headed towards Odisha: All you need to know

Light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy falls at isolated places is very likely over Kerala, at a few places over north coastal Tamil Nadu and south coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 24 hours.

Heavy rainfall is very likely over north coastal Andhra Pradesh on Thursday and light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places a day later.

Odisha is expected to get light to moderate rainfall at many places from Thursday. South coastal Odisha is expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on the same day.

Rainfall is likely to increase at most places with heavy to very heavy rains at a few places with "extremely heavy falls" at isolated places over coastal Odisha and its adjoining districts of interior Odisha on Thursday.

92 trips to 57 countries since 2014: Here's what PM Narendra Modi achieved

With 92 trips to 57 countries since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has flown abroad nearly twice as much as his predecessor Manmohan Singh in five years.

Business Standard : As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi bids for reelection, his party has said his skillful diplomacy on the world stage has increased India’s global stature and brought in a flood of investment.

But what exactly have Modi’s foreign travels achieved? With 92 trips to 57 countries since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has flown abroad nearly twice as much as his predecessor Manmohan Singh in five years.

While Modi’s visits have won praise from supporters for boosting India’s global profile, the costs associated with them -- and the optics of traveling abroad so often in a country where many farmers are struggling -- have triggered some criticism. The main opposition Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Modi of ignoring problems at home.

A closer look at Modi’s trips show that while some have yielded vague agreements that may not develop into anything substantial, doubters may still be exaggerating the negatives. Summit meetings accounted for roughly a third of Modi’s visits. And his arrival in each foreign capital made a symbolic statement about New Delhi’s world outlook.

Modi also made a point of repeatedly meeting leaders such as Japan’s Shinzo Abe and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whose countries provide much-needed industrial investment and defense technology. Here’s more:

Record FDI

Foreign direct investment into India in Modi’s first term amounted to $193 billion, 50 percent more than the preceding five years.

At the same time, despite a high-profile push to generate jobs through manufacturing, much of the FDI has continued to flow into India’s services and capital-intensive industries, not labor-intensive ones.

While Modi won investment commitments from longstanding economic and strategic rival China, it largely remains a non-starter. FDI from China totaled $1.5 billion in the four years to March 2018, data from India’s central bank show, against $20 billion President Xi Jinping promised in the five years from 2014.

Spotify tops estimates with 100 million paid subscribers worldwide

Spotify Technology SA took on 4 million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3 million forecast by analysts.

Business Standard : Spotify has reached 100 million paid subscribers, a first for any online music service, adding more customers in the latest quarter than analysts expected and boosting confidence the company has lots of room to grow.

Spotify Technology SA took on 4 million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3 million forecast by analysts. But its first-quarter loss was 79 cents a share, wider than the 41-cent loss analysts expected. After a brief rise, the stock fell as much as 2 percent to $135.50 in New York trading.

Competition from Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and YouTube has done little to slow Spotify’s growth around the world, and the company has relied on its independence from some of the world’s largest companies to its advantage. It has boosted its customer base through promotional deals with Hulu, Samsung and even Alphabet Inc.’s Google (YouTube’s parent company).

“The music industry market is way bigger than most people realized,” Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said on a call with analysts.

The company forecast it would add a further 7 million to 10 million subscribers in the current quarter. While Spotify has amassed its current user base thanks to music, the company has acquired three podcasting companies in the past few months to drive subscriber growth through other mediums.

Spotify spent about $400 million to buy Gimlet Media Inc., Anchor and Parcast, hoping that podcasting will turn the company into the world’s top audio platform and reduce its reliance on music. Record labels collect the majority of its annual sales.

Label Payments

Payments to labels are a big reason the Swedish company is still losing a lot of money. Spotify attributed the first-quarter loss largely to higher costs for stock options and restricted stock units, thanks to its share-price gains. Gross margin was 24.7 percent, above the high end of the company’s guidance range.

Spotify is in the midst of negotiations with the world’s three largest music companies -- Universal, Sony and Warner. Executives have cautioned investors not to expect those deals to reduce its costs, but still sounded enthusiastic about concluding talks. “We’re feeling good about the progress we’re making,” Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said in an interview.

Though Spotify’s premium subscribers topped expectations, monthly active users fell just short at 217 million. Spotify was projected to report about 218.3 million total users and 99.3 million premium subscribers, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

CARE places PNB HFC rating on watch, flags rising share of corporate loans

The action is triggered by the increasing share of the corporate loan book in PNBHFL's total loan portfolio and the consequent vulnerability arising out of weakness in real estate sector.

CARE Ratings has placed PNB Housing Finance Ltd's ( PNBHFL) ratings on watch with developing implications due to requirement to raise money to maintain comfortable capital adequacy and gearing level.

The action is triggered by increasing share of corporate loan book in PNBHFL's total loan portfolio and the consequent vulnerability arising out of weakness in real estate sector.

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CARE in a early morning statement said the impact of the stake sale announced by Punjab National Bank (PNB; promoter of PNBHFL) in PNBHFL is also to be seen.

PNBHFL debentures and bonds carry "AAA" ratings.

CARE will continue to monitor developments with regard to the above and would take up review of rating when more clarity emerges on the above aspects, it added.

The ratings of PNBHFL continues to derive strength from its experienced management team, brand linkages with PNB, consistent growth in loan portfolio, profitability profile of the company.

The company has well diversified resource profile, comfortable asset quality numbers, maintenance of adequate capitalization levels and adequate liquidity position.

The ability of the company to maintain its asset quality, profitability, capital adequacy and liquidity position remain key rating sensitivities.

CARE said the retail housing finance segment continues to be resilient and healthy. But vulnerability of whole sale loan book of the HFCs including PNBHFL has increased given weakness in real estate sector and credit profile of real estate developers.

Although, NPA for the wholesale loan book is Nil in December 31, 2018, overall, its vulnerability is expected to remain relatively high and could impact asset quality profile to some extent over next 1-3 years. The wholesale loan book forms nearly 22% share of Assets Under Management ( AUM).

Also, vulnerability of retail loan against property (LAP and NRPL; 16% and 4% of AUM as on Dec-18) portfolio of HFCs including PNBHFL is expected to be higher than retail housing finance business.

The sustainability of the asset quality performance in these segments will be critical for the credit profile of the company going ahead.

The sustainability of the asset quality performance in these segments will be critical for the credit profile of the company going ahead.

Campus placement at IIT Madras up 15%, job offers at an all time high

The year saw leading consulting majors visit the campus for the first time.

Business Standard : Campus placements at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are up 15 per cent during the Academic Year 2018-19, with the total recruitment of 964 students as compared to 834 students last year.

The year saw leading consulting majors visit the campus for the first time. Google returned and several data science firms, as well as companies in the analytics space, visited the campus, said IIT-M officials.

IIT Madras students received a total of 1,146 offers (including 136 PPOs) from 298 companies. Of the total, 21 were international offers. The total number of offers is an all-time high for IIT-M.

IIT Madras broke new grounds during 2018-19 in the placements conducted in two phases with Phase I being held from December 1 to 8, 2018 and the second phase from the second half of January, 2019.

Manu Santhanam, advisor, Training and Placement, IIT Madras, said, “This year saw a large number of profiles from companies in the data sciences and analytics sector, which clearly depicts the current industry trends. As many as 59 offers were explicitly for data science positions. Our post-graduate placement record also continues to be excellent, with a total of 364 students getting placed (excluding MBA) as against 274 last year.”

US-based Micron and Intel India Technology Pvt Ltd recruited the highest number students with each picking up 26 candidates. Citibank issued offers to 23 students, Microsoft to 22 students and Qualcomm to 21 students. A total of 51 startups participated in the placements this year and made 121 offers, of which 97 were accepted. The leading sectors in start-up recruitment were IT with 21 per cent offers followed by Analytics with 16 per cent. Overall trends in sector-wise recruitment indicated that as in the preceding years, ‘Core’ and ‘Information Technology’ sectors still constituted the leading recruiters.

The number of pre-placement offers (PPOs) also increased this year as a total of 136 PPOs were made during 2018-19, as against 114 in the preceding year, with several offers from big firms such as Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Goldman Sachs.

One of the major contributors to IIT Madras bagging the first position in Engineering Category for the fourth consecutive time in India Rankings 2019 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework by the Ministry of Human Resources Development was the ‘Graduation Outcome Score,’ which consists of placement of graduated students among others. For the first time, IIT Madras also secured the top ranking in the ‘Overall Institutions’ category of India Rankings, said the institution.

IIT Madras, established in 1959 by the Government of India, has around 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary Research Academic Centres. The Institute offers undergraduate and post - graduate programmes leading to the B Tech, M Sc, MBA, M Tech, MS, and Ph D, degrees in a variety of specialisations.

Cyclone 'Fani' may turn into severe storm, NDRF, Coast Guard on high alert

The cyclone is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday, a home ministry statement said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and fishermen asked not to venture into the sea as cyclone 'Fani' is expected to intensify into a very severe storm by Tuesday, the Home Ministry said Monday.

The cyclonic storm 'Fani' Monday morning was located at 880 km of South-East of Chennai and it will continue to move North-West and change its path to North-East from Wednesday.

The cyclone is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday, a home ministry statement said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), its landfall over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is ruled out. However, the possibility of landfall in Odisha is under continuous watch.

The NDRF and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and placed at the disposal of the state governments concerned. Regular warnings have been issued since April 25 to fishermen not to venture into the sea and asking those at sea to return to coast, it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely monitoring the situation and has directed Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to convene a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to take stock of the situation with the state governments and the central ministries and agencies concerned to ensure necessary preparations to deal with the situation.

The IMD has been issuing three hourly bulletins with latest forecast to all the states concerned and the home ministry is also in continuous touch with the state governments and the central agencies concerned, the statement said.

Business Standard

Elections 2019: Pollution becomes an issue with promises made in manifestos

Political parties pledge to reduce pollution in manifestos.

Promises to fight the world’s most toxic air have made it to the manifestos of major political parties for the first time in Indian elections. Major political parties such as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the opposition Indian National Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have pledged to combat the crisis by taking measures ranging from setting deadlines, introducing new emission standards to promoting electric vehicles in a bid to fight toxic air.

That is a change from the 2014 elections when none of the party manifestos had any mention of clean air or pollution.

India, home to world’s top ten cities with the worst air quality, has been struggling to contain a deadly haze that killed an estimated 1.24 million citizens in 2017. In the past, governments have pledged millions of dollars and deployed extra teams to enforce existing environmental laws that include banning farmers from burning their fields. But the sheer scale of India’s toxic skies has made progress difficult.

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Air pollution on the agenda

The ruling BJP’s election manifesto promises to focus on 102 most polluted cities in the country. “We will reduce the level of pollution in each of the mission cities by at least 35 percent over the next five years,” it says, lauding itself for “effective steps” taken to reduce the level of pollution.

The Congress party manifesto calls air pollution a national public health emergency. It promises to strengthen the National Clean Air Program to tackle pollution. “All major sources of emission will be targeted, mitigated and reduced to acceptable levels,” it says.

The manifesto of the Aam Aadmi Party, which runs the government in the national capital of New Delhi, promises induction of electric buses and vacuum cleaning of roads, among other measures to address the pollution problem. In order to control smog in Delhi, the AAP implemented a program in 2015 to arrest vehicular emissions through traffic controls.

It is a ‘‘good sign’’ that political parties haven’t ignored air pollution, according to Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of research at advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment. “The intent and the purpose have to get much clearer and sharper through strong political mandate for real action afterwards,” she said in a phone interview.

A recent study by The Lancet found 77 per cent of India’s 1.4 billion people exposed to air far dirtier than recommended limits. The poor are the worst hit by pollution, according to The Lancet.

The bigger political parties’ focus on pollution should eventually trickle down to manifestos and agendas of regional parties, according to Hem Himanshu Dholakia, senior research associate at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. “Air pollution can be solved through action by both the center and states in terms of tackling local sources, for example, waste burning, which will require more action from local bodies,” Dholakia said.

The South Asian nation’s deadly air, especially in winter, is caused due to a combination of farm stubble burning, firecrackers, vehicular emissions and weather conditions.

Where politicians invest: Mutual funds, RIL, and even Kingfisher Airlines

Rahul Gandhi has disclosed equity holding in Young Indian and investments in several mutual funds.

Fixed deposits and tax-free bonds seem to be among the most favoured financial investments for the political leaders fighting the Lok Sabha polls, while mutual funds and stocks also adorn the portfolios of many and some even have got shares of long-defunct firms like Kingfisher Airlines.

Shares of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the country’s most valued company with a market capitalistion of over Rs 8.82 trillion, can be found in the portfolios of several leaders, while stocks and mutual fund units of the firms from younger brother Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group are also a common sight, as per disclosures made in election affidavits of the contestants.

However, some top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have no stock market or mutual fund exposure at all and their financial savings are limited to deposits in banks, tax-free bonds, insurance policies and instruments like National Savings Certificate.

The direct equity investments for a few are limited to unlisted companies, including those owned by their families.

BJP President Amit Shah has disclosed a long list of listed and unlisted shares in his name and in the name of his spouse. The listed shares in his name, totalling over Rs 17.5 crore, include companies from Aditya Birla Group, Bajaj, L&T, Tata and both Reliance groups, as also several PSUs.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has disclosed equity holding in Young Indian and investments in several mutual funds. The portfolio of his mother and senior party leader Sonia Gandhi includes equity shares of Young Indian and Maruti Technical Services Pvt Ltd and mutual fund units of HDFC, Kotak, Motilal Oswal and Reliance MF.

Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule, daughter of veteran leader Sharad Pawar, has got unlisted shares worth over Rs 1 crore and listed shares worth over Rs 6 crore, besides some mutual funds. The listed shares include those of Adani Group firms, the two Reliance groups, several Tata firms and even Kingfisher Airlines as also of some other companies from the erstwhile UB Group, including United Spirits which was sold by defaulter businessman Vijay Mallya to global liquor giant Diageo Plc. Kingfisher shares have long been delisted from the stock exchanges, though they quoted at above Rs 300 apiece once. The stocks eventually slipped below Rs 1 and trading was eventually suspended in 2014-end after mounting troubles for the erstwhile luxury airline had led to its closure.

Business Standard

If you are an H-1B visa holder, switching jobs in the US just got tougher

Many workers are ultimately denied an H-1B visa months after they win the lottery, typically on the grounds that their jobs aren't considered "specialty occupations."

It is getting tougher for H-1B visa holders in the US to switch jobs even if the new job is similar to the old and requires the same exact skill sets.

According to a report in Times of India, the US citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS) has denied several applications by the new employer by citing that the new position does not constitute a 'specialty occupation.' Moreover, if the H-1B holders starts working elsewhere and the transfer is denied, the person could be 'out of status' with a bar on entry into the US for three to ten years, unless the old employer is willing to take back the worker.

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“Typically, there is no grace period if the H-1B status has already expired by the time the denial intimation is received. If, however, there is time remaining on the original H-1B approval with the old employer, the beneficiary will have a 60-day grace period or the time remaining on the original approval, whichever is," Times of India quoted Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at Immigration.com, as saying.

So what exactly is a specialty occupation? H-1B visas are granted to persons trained and employed in specialty occupations. Many of the 'Requests for Evidence' received by over 25% of H-1B petitions involve the question as to whether or not the position meets the criteria of a specialty occupation.

The Code of Federal Regulation says a specialty occupation requires 'Theoretical and practical application of a highly specialized body of knowledge,and attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in a specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation'. Examples include those professions involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM.

The US tech sector predominately hires H-1B workers and a large chunk are from India.However, according to a recent analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy, the denial rate for applicants who are trying to extend their visas grew from 4 percent in 2016 to 12 percent in 2018.

Moreover, more than half of the H-1B cases nowadays are stalled by 'requests for evidence', or RFEs, a complicated request for additional documents that can take months to resolve and often end in denials.

Another study by VisaGuide.world found that the US immigration agency officials are more likely to issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) to Indian H1B visa applicants than to people from other countries, Business Standard reported on Sunday.

According to the data collected by the web portal, 72.4 per cent of Indian applicants and 61.2 per cent of applicants from the rest of the world received an RFE.

Sundaram Ravi only Indian among 22 match officials named for World Cup

Madugalle, the most experienced match referee, will be officiating in his sixth World Cup, while it will be the fourth for Broad and Crowe.

Business Standard : Three World Cup winners and one Indian umpire in Sundaram Ravi were Friday named among the 22 match officials for the league stage of the mega event beginning on May 30 in the United Kingdom.

Sixteen umpires and six match referees have been finalised for the 48-match tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced.

Sundaram Ravi once again will be the only Indian officiating in the tournament.

He had recently received a barrage of criticism, including from India captain Virat Kohli, for failing to spot a no-ball from Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga in an IPL game last month.

The opening match between hosts England and South Africa at The Oval will see three World Cup winners officiating.

David Boon will be the match referee, Kumar Dharmasena one of the two on-field umpires and Paul Reiffel the third umpire.

Bruce Oxenford will be the other on-field umpire and Joel Wilson the fourth official for the match.

Boon was a member of the Allan Border-led Australia side that won their first title in 1987, Dharmasena was part of Arjuna Ranatunga's champion team of 1996 and Reiffel was a World Cup winner for Australia under Steve Waugh in 1999.

Others officiating during the tournament will be: Chris Broad, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle, Richie Richardson (all match referees); Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Paul Wilson and Ravi (all umpires).

"It is a tough job with the eyes of the cricketing world on every decision, but this group of 22 is the very best from around the world who will rise to the occasion. I wish them all the very best," said Adrian Griffith, ICC Senior Manager umpires and referees.

Madugalle, the most experienced match referee, will be officiating in his sixth World Cup, while it will be the fourth for Broad and Crowe.

Umpire Dar will be officiating in his fifth World Cup and it will be the fourth and last for Gould, who has announced his retirement after the tournament.

Gould, 61, who was England's wicketkeeper in the 1983 World Cup, has officiated in 74 Tests, 135 ODIs and 37 T20Is.

IBC resolution plans yielded 200% liquidation value for creditors: MS Sahoo

He explained that markets regulator Sebi has exempted acquisitions under resolution plans from making public offers under the Takeover Code.

Resolution plans under IBC have yielded 200 per cent of liquidation value for creditors in addition to rescuing viable firms, IBBI Chairperson M S Sahoo has said.

"They are realising, on an average, 45 per cent of their claims through resolutions plans under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), which takes on average 300 days and entails a cost on average of 0.5 per cent.

"This is significantly better as compared to the previous regime which yielded a recovery of 25 per cent for creditors through a process which took about five years and entailed a cost of 9 per cent," Sahoo was quoted as saying in a Ficci statement.

Addressing a conference on Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) at Hong Kong on Thursday, he observed that "in addition to rescuing viable firms, which is the sole objective of IBC; resolution plans under IBC have yielded 200 per cent of liquidation value for creditors."

He noted that the repayment of debt is no longer an option, it is an obligation as tolerance for default has disappeared.

"A stakeholder may initiate CIRP of the firm when it fails to service its debt for the first time. If process is initiated, the Code shifts control from the debtor to creditors for resolution of insolvency.

"Through the process of resolution, the ownership often shifts to third parties. Thus, ownership of firm is no more a divine right and equity is no more the only route to own a company," the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) Chairperson said.

He said the creditors also need to explain to themselves and their stakeholders why they initiated an insolvency proceeding or why they did not, in case of a default.

Consequently, there would never be a high value default if this law exists in the statute book.

Sahoo acknowledged the support of the judiciary, government and the regulators in facilitating implementation of the Code, both in letter and spirit.

He explained that markets regulator Sebi has exempted acquisitions under resolution plans from making public offers under the Takeover Code.

RBI has allowed external commercial borrowing for resolution applicants to repay domestic term loans and the Competition Commission of India has devised a special route for expeditious approvals for combinations envisaged under resolution plans, said Sahoo.

Business Standard

Travelling to a malaria endemic area? Some simple steps to keep you safe

Several factors influence your chance of getting malaria in a particular area. Understanding these can help you to avoid or least minimise the risk.

Every death from malaria is a tragedy. But many infections can be prevented. This is particularly true for holidaymakers, travellers, or people visiting their families in malaria endemic areas. All they need to do is follow some very simple rules. Malaria is a complicated disease – I should know, after studying it for more than 30 years – but the solutions to avoiding and treating it can be as simple as “ABCD”. If the basics of prevention are followed, a great deal of unnecessary illness and mortality can be avoided.

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Avoidance to detection

A is for Awareness and Avoidance of malaria risk

Several factors influence your chance of getting malaria in a particular area. Understanding these can help you to avoid or least minimise the risk.

The first question to ask is: how much malaria normally occurs in the area, and when? The answer will depend on altitude and climate – generally the lower, warmer and more humid the place, the more suitable it is for malaria vectors, the Anopheles mosquitoes.

In southern Africa, most malaria is seasonal. It increases during warmer and wetter summer months (September to May in the southern hemisphere). The risk in winter is generally lower, but that doesn’t mean it’s absent.

Longer exposure, involving overnight stays, puts you at higher risk than brief visits, for example day trips to game reserves. Hiking and camping outdoors is riskier than staying in air-conditioned accommodation.

Some people are at higher risk for severe malaria and should ideally avoid malaria transmission areas altogether. These include pregnant women, babies and young children, people who’ve had their spleens removed and those with weak immune systems.

B is for mosquito bites – and avoiding them

Avoiding mosquito bites is the most important preventive measure. This is because the mosquito bite is what transmits the parasite. No bite, no transmission.

Contact between mosquitoes and people isn’t random. Mosquitoes actively seek people out. They have sensory organs that detect people’s warmth, exhaled carbon dioxide, and odours from sweat.

There are a number of ways to avoid mosquito bites. These include staying indoors between dusk and dawn and covering up bare skin when outside at night. (Mosquitoes find ankles particularly attractive.)