Why do credit rating agencies keep missing big Indian company defaults?

India's major rating firms include Crisil, the Indian unit of S&P Global; ICRA, the local unit of Moody's Investors Service.

Mounting debt failures in India have been catching rating companies off guard, underscoring continued challenges a year after the landmark failure of shadow bank IL&FS increased scrutiny of the industry.

Defaults at companies including Dewan Housing Finance Corp., Cox & Kings Ltd. and Altico Capital India Ltd. have occurred even as their long-term ratings indicated very low to moderate risk of non-payment.

“Raters have not been able to detect stress in time,” said Ashutosh Khajuria, chief financial officer at Federal Bank Ltd. “Cutting credit profiles after the defaults is no rocket science.”

There’s a lot at stake as India tries to navigate a shadow-banking crisis and expand its debt market. The lack of more forewarning on payment problems has fueled questions about the quality of ratings, and could keep some investors away from corporate bonds, hindering market development.

India’s major rating firms include Crisil, the Indian unit of S&P Global; ICRA, the local unit of Moody’s Investors Service; Fitch-owned India Ratings & Research; and Care Ratings.

Crisil declined to comment on industry practices, adding that it didn’t rate most of the large credits that defaulted recently. ICRA, Care and India Ratings & Research didn’t immediately comment.

The securities market regulator strengthened disclosure rules earlier this year after rating firms failed to give ample warning on IL&FS group’s defaults from 2018, which triggered a prolonged cash squeeze in the nation. They now have to reveal annual default rates among the companies they evaluate.The new rules are set to improve the quality of ratings in the industry over time, said Somasekhar Vemuri, senior director at Crisil.

Business Standard

SBI account holder? Know new ATM withdrawal, loan rules kicking in today

SBI will use repo rate as the external benchmark to price all new floating-rate loans for MSMEs, housing and retail loans and credit for medium-sized enterprises from today.

Starting today (October 1), State Bank of India has revised its service charges and also adopted the repo rate as the external benchmark for its floating-rate loans. Here are some of the most important changes that you must know about if you are an SBI customer:

New ATM withdrawal rules

According to new rules, SBI will allow 8-10 free ATM transactions in a month for its customers with average monthly balance (AMB) of up to Rs 25,000 in their savings accounts. For customers with AMB above Rs 25,000, SBI will allow unlimited transactions at its own ATMs. The free limit at other banks' ATMs would remain the same for all customers — three transactions in metro cities and 5 transactions at ATMs in other cities and towns.

Customers who exceed the number of free transactions will have to pay a fee ranging from Rs 5 plus GST to Rs 20 plus GST.

Cardless cash withdrawals at ATMs will be charged at Rs 22 plus GST.

SBI salary account holders will continue to enjoy unlimited free transations at all ATMs.

Cash withdrawal

SBI account holders with AMB of up to Rs 25,000 are allowed two free cash withdrawals at bank branches. Those with AMB between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 will get 10 free cash withdrawals.

Free cash withdrawals for customers with AMB above Rs 50,000:

Above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 1,00,000: 15 free cash withdrawals

Above Rs 1,00,000: Unlimited

Charges for transactions beyond the free limit Rs 50 plus GST (per transaction).

New loans to be linked with repo rate

SBI will use the repo rate as the external benchmark to price all its new floating-rate loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), housing and retail loans, and credit for medium-sized enterprises from today.

Business Standard

Paytm Mall vows big push this festive season for traditional retailers

During the festive season itself, the company says it is aiming at $300 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in GMV.

Business Standard : Paytm Mall said it would generate at least Rs 500 crore in actual sales for its offline brick-and-mortar retailers this festive season. It says so at a time when trader bodies are at loggerheads with Amazon India and Flipkart over the massive discounts during such sale drives.

Paytm Mall is the online shopping platform created by Paytm, the e-commerce payment system and financial technology entity. We have, says the former, been working hard on our omni-channel model. This year, the company believes, most of the ‘leads’ it generates online would convert into sales offline.

Over the past six months, it has worked out massive discount and cashback schemes, with more than 100 brands and major offline retailers. Overall, Paytm Mall says, it is targeting not less than $2.1 billion (Rs 14,900 crore) in gross merchandise value (GMV) for the entire year.

As Amazon India has been doing, Paytm Mall has been concentrating a lot on the market outside the tier-I cities. While these metropolitan areas contribute 35 per cent of its business, the rest comes from elsewhere.

During the festive season itself, the company says it is aiming at $300 million (Rs 2,100 crore) in GMV. It has got on board over 30,000 new retailers and these stores will offer their catalogues on the Paytm Mall app, in-store pick-up, local deliveries and exclusive brand vouchers. The company has dedicated a team to address the needs of offline retailers and help their transition online.

The partnership will help it get new users, strengthen its assortment and expand its reach to the neighbourhood brand outlets. The firm does not own or operate warehouses; instead, it partners with sellers and encourages them to use local courier services for delivery. The target is to, within two years, show a positive figure on operating earnings, by addressing the issue of logistics cost.

“In preparation for the coming festive season, we are aggressively on-boarding retail stores and collaborating with new brands. We have also introduced exclusive brand vouchers...(and) are confident on achieving two-fold growth in our user base during this period,” said Srinivas Mothey, senior vice-president.

Good news: Your stay at luxury hotels to be less expensive from today

Travellers staying in a hotel room costing over Rs 7,500 per night will now have to pay GST of 18 per cent, against 28 per cent earlier.

Staying at a mid or top-end hotel will be less taxing from today, as the new goods and services tax (GST) rates kick in. On September 20, the GST Council had slashed GST rates for mid- and high-segment hotels and six per centage points and 10 percentage points, respectively.

So now, travellers staying in a hotel room costing over Rs 7,500 per night will have to pay GST at the rate of 18 per cent, against 28 per cent earlier.

Similarly, for mid-segment hotels (in the price range of Rs 2,501 to Rs 7,500), the GST rates has been reduced to 12 per cent from 18 per cent.

While hotels in the price range of Rs 1,001 to Rs 2,500 will continue to attract a levy of 12 per cent, rooms that cost less than Rs 1,000 remain in the zero GST bracket.

The move, aimed at giving a boost to the hospitality sector, was welcomed by the hotel industry, which said it could provide a major fillip to the hospitality and tourism sectors.

Welcoming the move, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) Chairman and ITC ED Nakul Anand had told PTI: "The news on GST rationalisation comes as a big shot in the arm for the tourism industry."

"This will help us in offering our rooms at more competitive pricing and in turn greatly benifit our customers, moreover as festive season is approaching followed by a wedding season, we expect per room savings of 6-10 per cent for each booking for customers which will provide a boost especially to the domestic tourism across India," the news agencyhad quoted Amatra Hotels and Resorts COO Anurag Dua as saying.

Business Standard

Night shifts, changing work schedule tied to poor mental health: Study

Researchers examined data from seven previously published studies of work schedules and mental health involving a total of 28,438 participants.

People who work night shifts or varied schedules that disrupt their sleep may be more likely to develop depression than individuals with 9-to-5 jobs, a research review suggests.

Researchers examined data from seven previously published studies of work schedules and mental health involving a total of 28,438 participants. Overall, shift workers were 28 percent more likely to experience mental health problems than people with consistent weekday work schedules.

“We know that shift-work alters the circadian rhythm, that is our normal sleep-wake cycle which matches day-night cycle,” said Luciana Torquati, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Exeter in the UK.

“This disruption can make people moody and irritable, and lead to social isolation as shift-workers time-off matches family and friend’s work and life commitments,” Torquati said by email.

In particular, the study found, shift workers were 33 per cent more likely to have depression than people who didn’t work nights or irregular schedules.

Shift workers also had a higher chance of developing anxiety, but in this case the difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance.

Women appeared particularly vulnerable to the negative mental health effects of shift work, researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Compared to women who worked consistent weekday schedules, women who worked nights or split shifts were 78 per cent more likely to experience adverse mental health outcomes.

Men, however, didn’t appear to have an increased risk of mental health issues when they worked nights or irregular schedules.

Business Standard

Blood pressure and its link to menopause

Increasing age and declining metabolism mostly leads to women becoming less active. This coupled with weight gain contributes to high blood pressure leading to heart diseases.

Menopause is the biological process of the end of the menstrual cycle of a woman. It occurs due to a natural decline in reproductive hormones when a woman reaches her 40s or 50s. Menopause leads to hormonal and biological changes in the body including weight gain and hot flashes. Alongside these, it also raises the risk of heart conditions such as atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart rhythm) and high blood pressure.

Menopause, a heart disease risk

The level of estrogen, the hormone which plays a crucial role in overall health, declines following menopause. Low estrogen levels impact the flow of blood and the heart needs to pump harder to ensure proper blood circulation, leading to increased blood pressure. This in turn strains the heart.

Increasing age and declining metabolism mostly leads to women becoming less active. This coupled with weight gain contributes to high blood pressure leading to heart diseases.

Apart from this, menopausal women are sensitive to salt and excessive sodium in the body can lead to water retention, thereby creating pressure on the blood vessels.

Warning signs of high blood pressure in menopausal women

Following symptoms should not be ignored in menopausal women as they may be an indication of high blood pressure:

Palpitations in the heart

Family history of heart disease

Shortness of breath

Heaviness in the chest

Headache

Lightheadedness or dizziness

Diabetic or high cholesterol levels

Obstructive sleep apnea (sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts)

Business Standard

Why the festival season may not bring much cheer despite tax cuts by govt

Car sales in August fell the most on record and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

Poor demand from Indian consumers could dampen the mood during festivals next month, especially for automobile makers and retailers that count on the season for a sales boost, analysts predict.

Indians typically buy everything from new cars to shoes for themselves and as gifts during celebrations steeped in religion and tradition. Yet the slowest economic growth in six years, unemployment at a 45-year high and tepid private consumption may see sales fall short of recent years, even after the government’s $20 billion tax break to companies earlier this month.

“You can make the product 50% cheaper, but there has to be income to spend,” said Nitin Gupta, an analyst at SBICAP Securities Ltd. in Mumbai.

“In the short-term, I don’t see any kind of an income boost. Rather than giving cash to individuals, they have given it to companies.”

Car sales in August fell the most on record and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Friday reduced the price on its Baleno RS model by 100,000 rupees ($1,420) to pass on the benefit from the tax cut.

Market researcher Nielsen has lowered its 2019 growth estimate for fast-moving goods to 9%-10% from 11%-12%, while a stock gauge of consumer discretionary firms is set for its first annual back-to-back losses since at least 2005.

Even so, the industry’s fortunes beyond the approaching festival season are poised to improve, according to BNP Paribas SA. Plentiful rainfall seen this monsoon season and cash handouts to farmers will help lift rural incomes, helping sales of staples recover in the second half of the year that began April 1, the brokerage said in a recent report.

Business Standard

E-commerce majors Flipkart and Amazon clock bumper sale on Day One

Flipkart saw 2x more sale; for Amazon, it was the biggest-ever in a single day.

Dispelling the fear that a slowing economy may affect consumer behaviour, e-commerce majors Flipkart and Amazon India have said they witnessed record transactions on their platforms on the first day of their annual festive sale, which started early on Sunday.

While home-grown Flipkart, which is now owned by American retail major Walmart, said it registered two times more sales on Day One of its flagship sale event Big Billion Days (BBD) over last year, rival Amazon claimed it witnessed the biggest opening day sale ever with a huge surge in participation in smaller towns.

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According to Amit Agarwal, senior vice-president and country head, Amazon India, the company also saw the single-largest day of Prime sign-ups, with 66 per cent of Prime members shopping in 24 hours coming from tier II and tier III towns. The company added that 91 per cent of new customers were from smaller cities.

“Whether it is the Diwali festival season or any other shopping event, the primary objective for us is to add as many new customers as we can and convert the existing customer into Prime members. We are relevant to customers, no matter the macroeconomic conditions,” said Agarwal.

According to Flipkart, it saw huge demand in almost all major categories, including beauty, women’s ethnic wear, kidswear, sports, fast-moving consumer goods, baby care, private labels, and furniture on the first day of the sale. The company saw 3x more transactions happening on its platform during early access (from Flipkart Plus customers), compared to last year. The number of transacting customers in tier II and smaller cities doubled over the same period.

ALSO READ: Festival sale: Amazon 'War Room' buzz as it makes the first move

“We started this festive season by setting audacious targets. By all indication, this is going to be the biggest festive season that India has witnessed,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer of Flipkart. “E-commerce has not only lifted consumer sentiment but also driven the industry to set new benchmarks,” said Krishnamurthy.

Wearing a black T-shirt with the slogan Bura Na Maano BBD Hai written on it, Krishnamurthy was seen giving a pep talk during the kick-off of the BBD sale at Flipkart’s Bengaluru campus. Apart from employees, many of its sellers also attended the event. “As part of fun activities, the firm had invited a mind reader to the event.

Terror elimination precondition for cooperation in South Asia: S Jaishankar

Elimination of terrorism in all its forms is a precondition not only for fruitful cooperation, but also for the very survival of the region itself, Jaishankar said.

Elimination of terrorism in all its forms is a "precondition" for fruitful cooperation in South Asia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, in a veiled attack on Pakistan while emphasising that the relevance of the SAARC will be determined by decisive actions against the scourge.

In his statement at the informal meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers on the margins of the 74th session of the General Assembly here on Thursday, Jaishankar said, "Ours is really not just a story of missed opportunities but also of deliberate obstacles. Terrorism is one among them."

Elimination of terrorism in all its forms is a precondition not only for fruitful cooperation, but also for the very survival of the region itself, Jaishankar said at the meeting.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi boycotted Jaishankar's opening statement at the meeting to protest over Kashmir after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August. India has asserted the abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter".

Jaishankar in his statement reiterated SAARC leaders' statement in Kathmandu in 2014, where they called for "full and effective implementation of SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism, including through enacting necessary legislation at the national level to root out terrorism"

"The relevance of SAARC would be determined by these actions against terrorism and this will decide our collective journey of the future become more productive," the minister said.

Jaishankar said while regionalism has taken root in every corner of the world, if the South Asian region has lagged behind it is because the region does not have the normal trade and connectivity that other regions do.

Business Standard

Garmin launches MARQ luxury smartwatches in India: Price, specifications

The battery life of the MARQ series ranges from up to 12 days in smartwatch mode, 28 hours in GPS Mode and up to 48 hours in UltraTracTM mode.

Business Standard : US-based wearable major Garmin Thursday launched six new smartwatches under its premium luxury watch collection The MARQ, starting at Rs 141,990. The new collection features variants such as MARQ Driver, MARQ Athlete, MARQ Aviator, MARQ Captain and MARQ Expedition.

The smartwatches feature sunlight-readable display with GPS capabilities, built-in music storage, smart notifications, daily activity tracking, heart rate and Pulse Ox2 sensor.

The battery life of the MARQ series ranges from up to 12 days in smartwatch mode, 28 hours in GPS Mode and up to 48 hours in UltraTracTM mode.

Here are the features:

MARQ Driver

The watch comes with over 250 preloaded global racetracks. The MARQ Driver is built for the racing enthusiast and comes equipped with auto lap splits, live delta time and a track timer. The Track Timer lets the user time cars at the race track and calculate average speed. MARQ Driver also features a hybrid bracelet - a titanium shell on the outside with a soft inner material. Treated with a highly durable carbon gray DLC (Diamond like Carbon) coating, it makes the watch virtually resistant to scratches.

MARQ Athlete

The MARQ Athlete is an ultralight titanium watch with silicone strap, and geared towards serious athletes. The watch includes advanced running dynamics including V02 max and recovery time scale - right on the bezel. Additionally, watch tracks workout stats, measure progress and fine-tune form, and Pulse Ox for oxygen levels in the body.\

MARQ Aviator

The watch is created for aviation enthusiasts, the MARQ Aviator features a swept-wing design, and includes aviation maps and advanced safety features such as the NEXRAD Weather Radar, airport information and Garmin cockpit integration. A mirror-polished 24-hour GMT bezel give pilots quick access to two other time zones in addition to the current time, as well as the airport code on the watch face.

MARQ Captain

MARQ Captain is a regatta timer enhanced with GPS technology, advanced nautical and smart features including a regatta timer bezel, coastal charts, tack assist and a port conditions watch face to help mariners. The watch face display the current wind speed, temperature and tide information, allowing the mariner to decide if conditions are right for a day on the water.

Vikram had hard landing; NASA releases images of Chandrayaan 2 landing site

Vikram was scheduled to touch down on September. 7. This event was India's first attempt at a soft landing on the Moon.

NASA on Friday released high-resolution images captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) during its flyby of the lunar region where India's ambitious Chandrayaan 2 mission attempted a soft landing near the Moon's uncharted south pole, and found Vikram had a hard landing.

The Vikram lander module attempted a soft landing on a small patch of lunar highland smooth plains between Simpelius N and Manzinus C craters before losing communication with ISRO on September 7.

"Vikram had a hard landing and the precise location of the spacecraft in the lunar highlands has yet to be determined, NASA said.

The scene was captured from a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Quickmap fly-around of the targeted landing site image width is about 150 kilometres across the centre.

Vikram was scheduled to touch down on September. 7. This event was India's first attempt at a soft landing on the Moon. The site was located about 600 kilometres from the south pole in a relatively ancient terrain, according to the US space agency.

The LRO passed over the landing site on September 17 and acquired a set of high-resolution images of the area; so far the LROC team has not been able to locate or image the lander.

LRO will next fly over the landing site on October 14 when lighting conditions will be more favourable, John Keller, Deputy Project Scientist Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, Goddard Space Flight Centre, told PTI via email.

"It was dusk when the landing area was imaged and thus large shadows covered much of the terrain; it is possible that the Vikram lander is hiding in a shadow. The lighting will be favourable when LRO passes over the site in October and once again attempts to locate and image the lander," NASA said.

Business Standard

India should integrate AI with education to become world leader: Sikka

Last month, at the request of PM Modi, Sikka gave a presentation before the NITI Aayog how to expand the reach of AI to the Indian society in a very big way.

Business Standard : Former Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, who has announced a new AI startup with $50 million fund, believes India has the potential to become a world leader in artificial intelligence but the key to this is integrating AI into the country's education system in a massive way.

India is at "an inflection point" when it comes to AI or artificial intelligence, Sikka said.

Over the next 20-25 years, AI is going to be "a very, very big disruptor" for the Indian society because what one is seeing now in terms of automation and job losses because of automation is just the beginning, said Sikka, who announced his startup Vianai Systems last week.

"But on the other hand, if we are able to bring AI education, the ability to build AI systems to India at a very large scale, and I'm talking about like billion plus people, then India can really leap frog and become the world's leader in artificial intelligence, in AI skill and AI talent," Sikka told PTI in an exclusive interview.

Doing that requires working on multiple dimensions in parallel, he said.

Last month, at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sikka gave a presentation before the NITI Aayog how to expand the reach of AI to the Indian society in a very big way.

Representatives of some 20 Union ministries were present during his presentation on AI and India. This, he said, required creating necessary infrastructure to bring the talent through institutions, schools and educational institutions, the ability to do AI education at a large scale.

According to Sikka, the prime minister said he personally saw whenever classes worked into digital classrooms, he was joking that children would sometimes even forget to eat their lunch because they were so engrossed in learning. "It was very encouraging. But I think a lot of that has to be done," he said and suggested multi-faceted countrywide programme like digital classrooms.

If India does nothing then this great wave of AI is going to have massive disruption over the next 20 years. But on the other hand, if it puts together programmes then this can be a huge advantage for it and "we can be a leader in the world," he said.

PM Modi tells investors 'come to India' to aid $5 trillion GDP goal

"India is waiting for you," PM Modi told political and business leaders at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged global businesses to “come to India” as his government seeks to build a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

His address to chief executives at a summit in New York comes less than a week after India delivered a $20-billion tax-cut stimulus to help shore up the $2.6-trillion economy that’s growing at the slowest rate in six years amid 45-year-high unemployment.

“India is waiting for you,” Modi told political and business leaders at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. “India is the only destination for you.”

Competitive Rates

Modi, who met energy company CEOs in Houston, is meeting more than 40 major companies, including Lockheed Martin Corp., American Tower Corp., Mastercard Inc. and Walmart Inc. at the forum hosted by Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

“Just recently we have decided to considerably reduce corporate tax,” Modi said, calling the move revolutionary. “If you want to invest in a market where there’s scale, come to India.”

The cut in corporate tax rates puts India on par with some of the lowest in Asia to help the south Asian nation compete with the likes of Vietnam and Indonesia for investments in the midst of ongoing global trade tensions. Attracting investments is key to revive economic growth and put the nation on the path to becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2025.

The cropped tax rates are the latest in a series of steps announced by the government, including easier foreign investment rules for companies from Apple Inc. to Huawei Technologies Co. to BHP Group Plc, to revive economic growth from the weakest pace since 2013. With $3 billion in foreign direct investment from American companies last year, the US is the fourth largest investor in the Indian economy.

Infrastructure creation is expanding at an unprecedented pace, with highways, metros, railways, ports, airports being built, Modi said. “Each sector is seeing massive investment and tremendous potential.”

Business Standard

At 6%, UN body projects 7-year low GDP growth for India in 2019

The UN body also pointed towards challenges in meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs) at a time when private debts are rising globally.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has pegged India’s economic growth rate at a seven-year low of 6 per cent in calendar year (CY) 2019. It also highlighted the pitfalls of shadow banking in countries such as India and China, citing the example of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).

The UN body also pointed towards challenges in meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs) at a time when private debts are rising globally.

India’s economy grew 7.4 per cent in CY18. It grew below 6 per cent in 2012 — called the policy paralysis year — under the UPA 2 government.

“Growth projections for India have been marked down because of a sharp fall to 5.8 per cent in the first quarter of CY19 (relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous CY),” said UNCTAD in its trade and development report for 2019.

It should be noted that UNCTAD did not take into account an over 6-year low economic growth rate of 5 per cent that the country recorded during the second quarter of CY19.

Highlighting the risks of shadow banking, it said such institutions were fragile alternatives to public banks and development finance institutions, as the roles of the latter were reduced or done away with, as part of liberalisation.

Quoting a study, UNCTAD said an example of this development was Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), which sourced capital using short-term instruments such as commercial papers (CPs) to fund long-term investments.

This maturity mismatch did not prove to be a problem initially, because of the presumption that being a government-sponsored entity, it enjoyed sovereign guarantee.

Owned one-third by state-owned financial entities, IL&FS was one of the largest issuers of CPs and enjoyed a triple-A credit rating.

However, by August 2018, it suffered a series of bond defaults by group entities, leading to a change in management, legal proceedings, and a painful restructuring of the company that is still in progress, UNCTAD said.

The report also highlighted concerns over SDGs. It said these concerns were compounded by the dizzying rise in debt levels to a scale similar to those seen before the financial crisis.

Business Standard

Why boys and girls use tech differently? Here's the likely reason

Emerging research indicates that brain differences between males and females help account for the split.

Business Standard : Many parents of both boys and girls have witnessed striking differences in the way their kids use technology, with their sons generally gravitating to videogames and their daughters often spending more of their screen time scrolling through social media.

Emerging research indicates that brain differences between males and females help account for the split.

“It is entirely plausible from a neurological perspective that there’s an underlying biological component to this difference people are seeing,” said Larry Cahill, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine, who has spent two decades researching gender differences in the brain.

In this column I’ve chronicled the aggression some boys exhibit when they have to shut off videogames and transition to other activities, as well as the problems some young men face when they go to college and have to juggle game time and school work without mom and dad’s help.

That led some readers to question why girls don’t appear to be having these problems. Of course, girls have issues of their own, such as smuggling “burner” phones to keep up with forbidden social media accounts. It’s just that when it comes to videogames, most girls seem to have a better handle on when to stop.

According to a 2017 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 41 per cent of teenage boys said they spend too much time playing videogames while only 11 per cent of girls said they do.

Marc Potenza, a psychiatry professor at Yale University, teamed up with researchers at universities in China to find out why. Using functional MRIs, which measure brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow, the team studied neural responses in young male and female gamers, particularly in the parts of the brain associated with reward processing and craving—a motivating factor in addiction. When the men and women were shown photos of people playing videogames, those parts of the men’s brains showed higher levels of activation than those parts of the women’s brains.

Brain regions that have been implicated in drug-addiction studies also were shown to be more highly activated in the men after gaming. The researchers said the results suggest men could be more biologically prone than women to developing internet gaming disorder.

How corporation tax cut has made rupee carry trade more lucrative

Going long on the rupee with borrowed dollars offered the best returns in the past month in Asia.

The carry trade for the Indian rupee is getting boosted after a shock $20 billion tax cut by the government.

The corporate tax reduction announced on Friday has spurred $374 million of inflows into Indian stocks in three days, and supported the rupee. That’s adding to the attractiveness of the currency for carry-trade strategies, according to UBS Group AG and Kotak Securities Ltd.

With the world’s pile of negative debt almost doubling to $15 trillion this year, investors are increasingly employing currency-related strategies that allow them to squeeze more yields. Going long on the rupee with borrowed dollars offered the best returns in the past month in Asia.

“The corporate tax cuts are a response to mounting growth pessimism, and should stem Indian equity outflows,” said Rohit Arora, emerging market Asia strategist at UBS. “This, in our view, works well enough for the rupee carry trades and lower volatility in the near-term.”

Carry trades work by investors borrowing in a lower-yielding currency, such as the yen or the euro, and putting the money into one with higher rates. Indian sovereign bonds offer the second-highest yields among major bond markets in Asia.

Still, growing fears of a global recession have dented risk appetite for emerging markets, with returns from purchasing developing nation currencies with dollars easing since July, according to a Bloomberg index. India is also tussling with its slowest growth in six years.

“Domestic risks abated after multi pronged measures to boost growth made rupee a preferred carry currency,” said Anindya Banerjee, a currency analyst at Kotak Securities. Another trade in vogue is shorting the yuan and going long on the rupee to take advantage of the trade tension risks that the Chinese currency faces, he said.

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