Why all eyes will be on the expiry of Brent oil futures this week

Analysts and investors have been wondering if the same will happen to Europe's Brent oil futures.

The expiry of the June contract for Brent oil futures in Europe on Thursday will possibly be the most watched event in oil markets for some time after the US benchmark plummeted below zero for the first time in history last week.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed oil demand as over four billion people are in lockdown and last week, ahead of its contract expiry, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures crashed deep into negative territory making it a liability for anyone holding it.

Analysts and investors have been wondering if the same will happen to Europe's Brent oil futures, but most agree that while there are no technical obstacles for the contract going the same way, it is hard to see why it would.

ALSO READ: US oil fund had $726 million in unrealised losses before April: Report

Brent is considered to be the international marker by the oil industry as it is linked to seaborne crude so has fewer storage limitations than WTI, which is settled against a major landlocked storage site in Oklahoma.

Brent is run by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in Europe and other crudes are unofficially pegged to it, so there is more vested interest in keeping it stable.

Nevertheless, last week, ICE said it was ready to switch mathematical models, from Black-76 to Bachelier, to settle contracts at negative prices if needed.

State Bank of India completes promotion exercise, elevates 14 to Dy MD

Given the extended lockdown, the bank extensively used its digital platform, including video conferencing, to carry out the performance review and promotion exercise

State Bank of India has completed the promotion exercise at the top and senior management levels, and elevated 14 chief managers as deputy managing directors (DMDs). The lender has also elevated 30 general managers as chief general managers.

Given the extended lockdown, the bank extensively used its digital platform, including video conferencing, to carry out the performance review and promotion exercise, said senior bank executives.

New faces at the DMD level include Arun Mehta, who is heading SBI Capital Markets; Vinay Tonse, Prabodh Parikh, Natrajan Sundar, A K Tiwari, S Salee, Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh and Saloni Narayan. The process of their appointments is underway.

ALSO READ: One month of bank merger: Coronavirus lockdown proves a dampener

The number of people elevated to the DMD post was higher this year, as many bankers at this level moved to head other public sector banks. Some of them were Padmaja Chunduru, as managing director of Indian Bank, Mrutunjaya Mahapatra as head of Syndicate Bank (now merged with Canara Bank), and Pallab Mahapatra, as MD and CEO of Central Bank of India.

Prashant Kumar, chief financial officer, moved to YES Bank as MD and CEO as part of the plan to salvage the ailing private bank. Further, there are many retirements scheduled in the current financial year, bankers said.

At the level below the CGM’s post, the bank promoted over 60 to the post of general manager, and over 140 as deputy general managers

Microsoft revenue beats estimates as Covid-19 crisis boosts cloud business

Microsoft benefited from strong demand for its Teams collaboration software, which now has 75 million users.

Microsoft Corp on Wednesday beat Wall Street sales and profit expectations, powered by sharp demand for its Teams chat and online meeting app and Xbox gaming services as the world shifted to working and playing from home because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The company's shares, up over 12 per cent this year, rose about 5 per cent in extended trading.

The results reflect Chief Executive Satya Nadella's focus over his six-year tenure on cloud computing, in which companies tap Microsoft's data centres for computing power - a growing business dominated by Amazon.com Inc's Amazon Web Services.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft gave business-unit forecasts that were below analyst estimates, predicting tough times for LinkedIn and some small-business software sales.

"Ultimately, Microsoft is not immune from what is going on broadly in the world in terms of GDP growth," Nadella said on a conference call with investors.

But results benefited from sales of its Windows operating system and Surface hardware devices as people upgraded personal computers to work or study from home. Microsoft also cited all-time-high engagement on its Xbox Live gaming service, with 19 million active users.

Covid-19: Zuckerberg endorses Silicon Valley lockdown, Musk sees 'fascism'

Zuckerberg expresses concerns about easing lockdown measures. Musk calls the move 'anti-democratic'.

Silicon Valley billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg offered dueling views on lockdown measures designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus on Wednesday, with Facebook's Zuckerberg endorsing the measures while Tesla's Musk condemned them as anti-democratic.

Musk, who has often made outspoken and even inflammatory comments on conference calls and on Twitter, said in comments to analysts on Tesla Inc's earnings call that it was "fascist" to say people cannot leave their homes.

"This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom," Musk said.

Zuckerberg, on the other hand, in comments on Facebook's own earnings calls, expressed concerns about easing lockdown measures and said the economic fallout from the pandemic would last longer than people are currently anticipating.

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"I worry that reopening certain places too quickly before infection rates have been reduced to very minimal levels will almost guarantee future outbreaks and worse longer-term health and economic outcomes," he said.

Both companies are based in the San Francisco Bay area, which was out front in trying to slow the virus' spread, with the region's seven counties issuing a joint shelter-in-place order before California issued a statewide order.

Electric carmaker Tesla and social media network Facebook have had different experiences under the lockdown. Tesla had initially resisted efforts by California authorities to shut its plant in the Bay Area under the lockdown, until agreeing on March 19 to suspend production. Even so, Tesla on Wednesday reported its third profitable quarter in a row.

Apple, Google release coronavirus contact tracing APIs to select developers

The release is to encourage feedback that will help improve various features of the framework before the final rollout.

Apple and Google on Wednesday released the first version of exposure notification (earlier called contact tracing) Application Programming Interface (API) to select developers associated with public health authorities (PHAs) around the world.

This is a developer-focused release and is consistent with both the companies deliver beta copies of their software at the same time.

Aimed at helping developers begin testing in anticipation of the API's release in mid-May, another goal of the release is to encourage feedback that will help improve the various features, the tech giants said in a statement.

"Collaboration and transparency have been two key principles of the project for both companies. Additional details will be announced on Friday," they added.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told the European Union (EU) Commissioner Thierry Breton last week that the API would arrive shortly.

On April 10, Google and Apple announced a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of Covid-19 through contact tracing, with user privacy and security core to the design.

Amid the growing debate over privacy and security around contact tracing technology, the tech giant last week announced new updates to allay such fears, saying the Bluetooth-driven exposure notification system to enable iOS and Android phones trace the spread of coronavirus is completely safe.

WhatsApp now allows up to 8 people to join a group video call: Details here

WhatsApp emphasised that like written messages, all calls on its platform are protected with end-to-end encryption.

Facebook-owned instant messaging platform, WhatsApp now allows up to eight people in a group video call. The number of total participants allowed in a video call were earlier limited to four. The change has been done in view of increasing number of people turning to digital platforms to connect with friends and family amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, WhatsApp said that people on average are spending over 15 billion minutes talking each day on WhatsApp calls, well above a typical day before the pandemic.

"...we see that people all over the world are turning to voice and video calling on WhatsApp more than ever before. Group calling has been particularly useful and our users have asked to connect with more people at once," WhatsApp said in a blogpost.

Starting Tuesday, the company is doubling the number of participants one can have on a WhatsApp video or voice call from 4 to 8 people at a time, it added.

WhatsApp emphasised that like written messages, all calls on its platform are protected with end-to-end encryption.

"We have built group calling in a way that makes it available for as many users as possible, including people on lower-end devices and slow network conditions," it added.

WhatsApp said that to access the new, higher participant limit on WhatsApp calls, all participants in a call need to update to the latest version of WhatsApp available on iPhone or Android.

Video meeting app Zoom ties up with Oracle Cloud to cater to growing demand

Oracle says its cloud infrastructure will help Zoom to continue to deliver flawless service to its customer base.

Cloud major Oracle on Tuesday announced that the video meet app Zoom is turning to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to support its growth and evolving business needs.

Zoom has grown exponentially in recent times due to Covid-19 pandemic. The company said it now connects around 300 million-plus user on daily basis.

“We recently experienced the most significant growth our business has ever seen, requiring massive increases in our service capacity.

We explored multiple platforms, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure was instrumental in helping us quickly scale our capacity and meet the needs of our new users,” Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan said in a statement.

Zoom is already transferring upwards of seven petabytes data through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure servers each day, roughly equivalent to 93 years of HD video.

Within hours of deployment, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure supported hundreds of thousands of concurrent Zoom meeting participants.

After achieving full production, Zoom is now enabling millions of simultaneous meeting participants on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Oracle said that its cloud infrastructure will help Zoom to continue to deliver flawless service to its customer base, adapt to changing demands, and lead the video communications industry.

“Video communications has become an essential part of our professional and personal lives, and Zoom has led this industry's innovation,” said Oracle CEO Safra Catz.

Samsung expects profit to drop in Q2 as Covid-19 hits phone, TV sales

The South Korean conglomerate joins other tech giants in warning of uncertainty over how long the coronavirus will continue to hurt the industry.

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday said it expected its profit to decline in the current quarter due to a coronavirus-related slump in sales of smartphones and TVs, even as its chip business would remain solid.

The company said its operating profit rose 3 per cent in the January-March period, in line with an earlier estimate, as work-from-home orders boosted demand for server and computer chips.

The South Korean conglomerate joined other tech giants in warning of uncertainty over how long the coronavirus would continue to hurt the industry. "In the second half, uncertainties driven by Covid-19 will persist as the duration and impact of the pandemic remain unknown," Samsung said in a statement.

Other chipmakers SK Hynix and Intel last week posted forecast-beating first-quarter earnings, but did not provide full-year forecasts. Samsung Electronics reported an operating profit of 6.4 trillion won ($5.2 billion), compared with 6.2 trillion won a year ago. The world's top maker of memory chips and smartphones said its net profit fell 3 per cent to 4.9 trillion won, while revenue climbed 5.6 per cent to 55.3 trillion won.

Samsung's chip business is benefiting from demand for servers and computers as stay-at-home orders force millions of people around the world to convert their homes into offices.

But sales of TVs and smartphones have slowed, as recession-wary consumers postpone purchases of non-essential consumer electronics, a trend seen across the global tech industry.

"Sales and profits of set products business, including smartphones and TVs, are expected to decline significantly as Covid-19 affects demand and leads to store and plant closures globally," Samsung said in a statement. The company's shares fell 0.8 per cent in a flat wider market in morning trade on Wednesday.

Lockdown 2.0: Coronavirus-hit units get Rs 10,000 crore from banks

Banks have built internal capacities for assisting companies, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Ahead of finalising the package for industries hit by Covid-19, the Union finance ministry reviewed support extended by large public sector banks (PSBs), including via the emergency credit line, to affected firms. 

State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) have together sanctioned close to Rs 10,000 crore as immediate credit assistance to the affected units.

PSB executives said this was a regular review with top officials of large banks, including SBI. There was also discussion on working capital re-assessment.

ALSO READ: Over Rs 68,600-crore loans of wilful defaulters written off, says RBI

Banks have built internal capacities for assisting companies, including micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs). Feedback from interactions is expected to act as an input for policies that are in works.

However, it is not clear when the package would be finalised, officials said. A SBI executive said the bank is giving these emergency loans to those in need. It does not involve elaborate scrutiny. Only thing is that borrowers have to establish the Covid impact.

Indian Bank sees new opportunities with larger footprint after merger

Both the banks have come together amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown and started working as a single bank with a larger footprint.

After the merger of Allahabad Bank with it, Indian Bank sees growth in lending and deposits and new opportunities emerging despite the lockdown, according to Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director & CEO of Indian Bank. Both the banks have come together amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown and started working as a single bank with a larger footprint.

Even during the lockdown period, both lending and deposits are growing. "We must be careful in assessing and giving the loans. We have been one of the earliest banks to announce emergency loans across the table. I think this opens up new opportunities. First of all we have to assess the risks because there are so many more sectors now and the whole paradigm is shifting," Chunduru said.

The merger was a big task in front of the bank, but when confronted with the Covid-19 issue, the whole bank came together and the safety of the employees became paramount. Safety measures have been implemented across the bank. On April 24, it was Allahabad Bank's Foundation Day, but the amalgamated entity could not celebrate due to the lock-down.

ALSO READ: Axis Bank reports Rs 1,878-crore pre-tax loss in Q4 on Covid-19 provisions

The bank has also launched an online learning management solution for the staff. The best the welfare measures that were offered by the two banks have been made applicable to all the employees and all of them have been well received. In terms of alignment of products of both the banks, especially those related to housing loans, Indian Bank had certain products which were more attractive to the customers and they were launched across the country.

Will coronavirus lockdown be extended? CMs' take after meeting with PM Modi

PM Modi held a video conference to discuss the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and measures to deal with it.

Will the coronavirus lockdown be extended in the national capital? The Delhi government will follow the Centre's guidelines, officials said on Monday.

This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and measures to deal with it.

"We are preparing our submission which will be sent to the Centre soon," a senior government official said.

The official said nine chief ministers spoke during the meeting with the prime minister in which they discussed a range of issues, including the possibility of extending of the lockdown, amid the rising number of coronavirus cases.

In West Bengal, restrictions enforced to fight Covid-19 will continue till May 21 with curbs on normal life varying in intensity based on the extent of spread of the viral infection in a particular area, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

"We want the restrictions to continue till May 21. We have to be careful till that time," Banerjee told media persons at the state secretariat Nabanna.

The Chief Minister, however, clarified that she was not announcing any extension on lockdown, as that decision will be taken by the central government.

"I am talking of restrictions, which is different from the lockdown," she added.

Banerjee said while the restrictions would be strictly implemented in every red zone (areas with large number of corona positive cases), the impact will be less severe in orange zones (areas with a limited number of cases in the past and with no surge in positive cases recently, where restricted activities would be allowed).

Samsung brings Galaxy Buds+ features to Galaxy Buds through software update

The update has a size of around 1.39MB and it is available for download though Samsung Wearable app. Here are the new features that the update brings

Samsung is now seeding a software update for its first-generation Galaxy Buds true-wireless earphones that brings new connectivity features, which the company introduced in the upgraded Galaxy Buds+ earphones. The update has a size of around 1.39MB and it is available for download though Samsung Wearable app. Here are the new features that the update brings:

Adds Microsoft Swift Pair support

The Galaxy Buds now support Microsoft Swift Pair feature, which allows easy and instant pairing of Bluetooth-based earbuds with Windows 10-based computers.

Enhanced Ambient Sound

The update brings Ambient Sound automatic to Galaxy Buds. With this feature enabled, you can now hear your surroundings and remain aware of the world around you, even when you are watching movies or listening to your favourite tunes with the volume up. In addition, you can now experience Ambient Sound even with only one earbud in, giving you options for how you tune in, or tune out, of your surrounding environment.

A caveat: Ambient Sound can be pre-set and enabled through the Galaxy Wearable app, which can be downloaded via the Galaxy Store or Google Play Store.

Spotify support

The update integrates Spotify music service with Galaxy Buds. This feature allows the user to listen to personalised music on their Galaxy Buds with a simple ‘Tap & Hold’ gesture. This feature requires pre-setup. Go to settings and ‘Touch Pad’ menu to select your preference under the Galaxy Wearable app. This feature is available to users who have installed the latest version of the Spotify app on their smartphone.

RBI opens Rs 50,000-crore special liquidity window to support mutual funds

According to the available data, the credit risk fund category saw its assets under management (AUM) dip by another 12 per cent in April to Rs 48,392 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday opened a Rs 50,000-crore special liquidity window for mutual funds (MFs) to give a line of credit to the industry in the light of heightened redemption pressure after the closure of six schemes by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund.

“The stress is, however, confined to the high-risk debt MF segment and, at this stage, the larger industry remained liquid,” the RBI said on Monday.

The RBI window, which is effective from April 27, allows MFs to access liquidity through two routes. Banks can borrow funds from the statutory liquidity facility for them from the RBI and lend to MFs against their collateral debt securities, or buy commercial papers or corporate debentures from the MFs. Following Rs 1.9 trillion outflows from debt schemes in March 2020, credit-oriented categories have continued to see further exits in April.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus outbreak: India cancels Chinese rapid antibody test kit orders

According to the available data, the credit risk fund category saw its assets under management (AUM) dip by another 12 per cent in April to Rs 48,392 crore, followed by a medium duration fund, where the AUM was down by another 9 per cent to Rs 25,502 crore.

Industry executives said the RBI credit line was a much-needed support, considering that redemption pressures were expected to exacerbate after Franklin Templeton’s surprise move to wind up six of its credit-oriented schemes with combined net assets of Rs 25,000 crore.

Latest Tesla update will make cars stop automatically at traffic lights

Drivers using Autopilot had one crash for every 3.07 million miles driven, the company says.

After testing on public roads, Tesla is rolling out a new feature of its partially automated driving system designed to spot stop signs and traffic signals.

The update of the electric car company's cruise control and auto-steer systems is a step toward as CEO Elon Musk's pledged to convert cars to fully self-driving vehicles by this year. But it is against recommendations from the US National Transportation Safety Board that instructed Tesla to limit where the Autopilot driving system can operate because it has failed to spot and react to hazards in at least three fatal crashes.

In a note sent to a group of Tesla car owners who were picked to test the stoplight and sign recognition feature, the company said it can be used with the Traffic Aware Cruise Control or Autosteer systems.

The feature will slow the car whenever it detects a traffic light, including those that are green or blinking yellow. It will notify the driver of its intent to slow down and stop, and drivers must push down the gear selector and press the accelerator pedal to confirm that it's safe to proceed.

The company warns in the note obtained by The Associated Press that drivers must pay attention and be ready to take immediate action including braking because this feature may not stop for all traffic controls.

ALSO READ: Samsung brings Galaxy Buds+ features to Galaxy Buds through software update

The note also mentions that over time, as the system learns from the fleet on the roads, it will control more naturally. Tesla didn't respond to multiple requests for additional details, but the website Electrek.co reported last week that the new feature is being sent to the wider Tesla fleet as part of an over-the-internet software update for thousands of vehicles. The feature won't come until later in other parts of the world, the website said.

GST, GAAR reporting delayed till March 2021 amid coronavirus outbreak

The I-T Dept had, in 2018, changed the tax audit form 3CD, seeking details under GST as well as GAAR, which seeks to prevent firms from routing transactions through other countries to avoid taxes.

The income tax (I-T) department on Monday deferred, for the third time, the requirement for firms to include details of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and GAAR in their tax audit report, in view of the pandemic.

The reporting requirement of these details in the I-T audit form has been kept in abeyance till March 31, 2021, suggesting that audit reports need not include details on GST and General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) till then.

Business entities with turnover of over Rs 1 crore (or Rs 2 crore if they have opted for presumptive taxation), and professionals with gross receipts of more than Rs 50 lakh, have to comply with the tax audit requirements, for which the due date is September 30.

ALSO READ: Kerala has lost Rs 80,000 cr as per estimates due to Covid-19: CM Vijayan

It is November 30 in case of the taxpayer being covered by transfer pricing provisions. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in an order, said: “Several representations were received by the Board with regards to the difficulty in implementation of reporting requirements under clause 30C (pertaining to GAAR) and clause 44 (pertaining to GST compliance) of the Form No 3CD… in view of the global pandemic, and requested for deferment.”

The I-T Department had, in 2018, changed the tax audit form 3CD, seeking details under GST as well as GAAR, which seeks to prevent firms from routing transactions through other countries to avoid taxes. The changes were to come into effect from August 20, 2018.

Assessees had been complaining that the change was onerous and a burden on companies, which led to its deferment till March 2019, and then till March 2020.

Statsguru: Why crude oil went berserk last week and is it just a blip?

Oil traded at a negative price on a one-month West Texas Intermediate futures contract, but it didn't for successive months' futures contracts.

Last week, the quantity of oil in the global supply pipeline was so high that some traders were willing to pay anyone who promised on April 20 to lift oil a month later. Oil traded at a negative price on a one-month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures contract, but it didn’t for successive months’ futures contracts

But the blip nevertheless confirmed the oil shock that will play out in the near future due to lower demand post-Covid-19 menace. The world is known to oil shocks, and India bought oil at $16 on April 21, the lowest in almost five decades, due to depressed benchmark prices.

The magnitude of excess supply is visible in two key indicators. Developed countries have about 80 days of oil stocked with them, up 33 per cent from the normal of two months. Second, a whopping 100 million barrels of oil was present in the sea and ports (in-transit) at the end of March 2020, 50 per cent more than what it was six months ago, and possibly the highest ever.

shows the reason: Global body International Energy Agency has predicted that oil demand will fall by a staggering 25 per cent from 100 mb/day to 76 mb/day by April-June 2020.

The demand situation in India was visible in March data. The consumption of airline fuel, diesel, and petrol plummeted, and will be followed by a stronger plunge in April because of the lockdown. Though low oil prices generally give a revenue windfall to the Union government, the falling consumption is likely to dent fuel tax revenues for both the Centre and states

Firms that can survive with social distancing to spring back faster: Report

Sectors with complex value chains, particularly electronics & automotive products, would be most impacted.

The Covid-19 crisis will leave companies with a new normal and firms that can survive with social distancing, such as digital platforms, and online learning are likely to spring back to recovery and shall thrive soon, according to consulting firm GATS.
However, for industries which will struggle in reforming its workplace in terms of adapting to the new social distancing norms, the recovery will be harder and will take longer, according to Nalin Tayal, Managing Director, GATS.

Sectors with complex value chains, particularly electronics & automotive products, would be most impacted. Services would be most directly impacted through transport and travel restrictions. It is, however, expected that 2021 would see recovery, but it is dependent on the duration of the outbreak and effectiveness of policy responses not just in India, but across the world.

Though, manufacturing is being carried on for specific essential goods like medicines, PPEs, FMCG items like soap, sanitiser, textile like masks, heavy industries (mainly furnace based) like iron & steel but largely manufacturing seems to remain in red with automobiles, textiles & apparels & construction taking the major hit. As the manufacturing sector takes a hit, so the backward chain of mining and electricity, Tayal said.

As per the Power Ministry, electricity consumption has reduced by 20 per cent during the lockdown period mainly due to low business activity. But the comparative impact would be less as compared to the manufacturing sector.

MSMEs contribute almost 30 per cent to the GDP, so their performance is crucial for the growth of the economy. Already strained due to poor credit flow, lower demand, cash flow issues and diminished revenues due to lockdown will seriously impact the sector

Covid-19 impact: Paytm Mall plans to partner with over 10,000 small shops

Currently, Paytm Mall is working with all leading logistics players including GATI, Ecom Express, Delhivery, Bluedart, FedEx.

Paytm Mall said on Sunday that it will partner with over 10,000 kirana or local stores, small shops, and businesses for hyperlocal deliveries, joining a growing race amongst e-commerce firms to remain relevant amid the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Its larger rivals- Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart - have also announced similar plans. Reliance JioMart's partnership with WhatsApp is also a step in the same direction.

Paytm Mall has been investing in scaling its hyperlocal operations over the last few weeks and is now offering delivery of grocery essentials in more than 100 cities across the country and plans to scale it to more cities within the next few weeks.

"Paytm Mall has always advocated a 100 per cent marketplace model of operation against an inventory-led one as pursued by other major players. Our objective is to connect neighbourhood offline stores to interested customers far and wide through our e-commerce platform. We are constantly reaching out to smaller sellers to understand the challenges they are facing in stocking inventory as well as the delivery of goods," said Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President, Paytm Mall.

Currently, Paytm Mall is working with all leading logistics players including GATI, Ecom Express, Delhivery, Bluedart, FedEx.

In a statement, Paytm Mall further said that as more fulfillment and delivery executives of logistics partners resume work, more orders would be eligible for same-day delivery.

According to the company, there has been a massive uptick in the sales in grocery essentials from Tier-II and Tier-III towns as over 200 such cities are ordering the most on Paytm Mall.

Coronavirus impact: 60% firms run at less than 25% capacity, says CII

The movement of workers and raw materials remain key hurdles to resuming businesses despite the government allowing major chunks of the industry to operate.

Crippled by lack of inputs, funds and key information, 60% of firms are operating at less than a quarter of their full capacity, with just 10 per cent managing plant utilisation at over 50 per cent, a survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) shows.

The movement of workers and raw materials remain key hurdles to resuming businesses despite the government allowing major chunks of the industry to operate, the survey has pointed out.

Conducted on April 24, the survey shows that businesses consider getting permits for enterprises to restart, passes for daily travel of workers and establishing earlier supply chains, as their biggest headaches. For sectors allowed to function, 46 per cent of surveyed enterprises say permits are either not

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provided or are delayed. The CII has recommended that approvals of applications must have clear deadlines with a provision for automatic permits after the specified time.

“For facilitating restart of economic activities, the CII has suggested that in non-containment zones, businesses should be allowed to function without requirement of permits and only through intimation to local authorities. Workers can be permitted to commute on the basis of a letter issued by the employer organisation, with the facility to travel on own vehicles,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII.

Bitcoin is like a poetry, can bring a sea change in the world: Jack Dorsey

Dorsey has also hired Bitcoin developers for his payments company, Square.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has made absolutely no secret of his love for cyrptocurrency over the years, says Bitcoin for him is like poetry

Praising 'The Bitcoin' whitepaper that was published in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto (a name used by the presumed pseudonymous person or the group who developed bitcoin) that outlines what Bitcoin is and how it works, Dorsey said he sees ample opportunity for Bitcoin to bring about a sea change in the world.

The Bitcoin whitepaper is "one of the most seminal works of computer science in the last 20-30 years. Bitcoin is like poetry," he said during an Artificial Intelligence (AI) podcast with MIT research scientist Lex Fridman via The Daily Hodl.

"I think it was smart not to do it anonymous, not to do it as a real identity, but to do it as a pseudonym because I think it builds tangibility and a little bit of empathy that this was a human or a set of humans behind it. There's this natural identity that I can imagine," explained Dorsey.

Does Bitcoin has the potential to become the major currency of the world and redefine how money works?

"Definitely, but I think the bigger ramification is how it affects how society works. I think there are many positive ramifications outside of just money. Money is a foundational layer that enables so much more," Dorsey replied.

Twitter is also considering a feature that would allow users to tip one another - in Bitcoins.

The Information reported recently that the micro-blogging platform is working on implementing a new payment feature to let people send money to each other.

It is not yet clear whether the Twitter tipping feature would integrate with Dorsey's other company, Square, which is a financial services, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company based in San Francisco.

Speed up delivery of free cylinders to PMUY beneficiaries: Pradhan

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package, over 80 million PMUY beneficiaries are eligible to get three free cylinders over the next three months.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has called upon all the stakeholders in the LPG cylinder supply chain to work diligently and in a systematic manner to speedily increase the delivery of free refills to PMUY beneficiaries.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package, over 80 million PMUY beneficiaries are eligible to get three free cylinders over the next three months, read a statement.

Pradhan held a video conference with District Nodal Officers (DNOs) of Oil Marketing Companies across the country on Thursday. He said that during such an unprecedented crisis due to Covid-19 and lockdown, the government has provided a package for the poor, and free gas cylinders for them is an important component of it.

In the initial three weeks of April, the minister said, about 40 per cent beneficiaries have booked their cylinder, which shows that the speed of cylinder booking and distribution has to show massive jump, to achieve the target.

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Modi to talk to sarpanchs at 11 am; India cases at 23,502

Pradhan called upon the DNOs to adopt the best practices, work according to a targeted plan, and enhance their efforts. He said that there should not be any compromise on providing the door delivery and cautioned that there should not be any complaint of extra charges. He said that PMUY beneficiaries are the top priority, but supply to the other normal customers should not be affected either, the statement said.

The Union Minister also called upon the DNOs to take all health precautions, follow the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs for the lockdown and make people aware of the Aarogya Setu app.

Quarantine hotels: It's business unusual amid coronavirus outbreak

Leading hotels are taking all precautions but the unusual service the staff has been pressed into puts them at the forefront of Covid fight.

A bus drove through the gates of Park Inn by Radisson Amritsar with a convoy of cars. The guests stepped out of the bus and formed a single file. A strict distance between them revealed the unusual circumstances of their arrival. Not in the company of family and friends, the 29 individuals were instead led by a team of doctors and police personnel. The doorman was absent and so were the bellboys.

An unmanned elevator was reserved for the guests — a mix of Indian and international tourists who were believed to be at a medium-to-high risk of being infected. The elevator opened into a temporary quarantine facility at the top floor of the hotel where a staff member in personal protective equipment (PPE) greeted them. The guests picked up their respective keycards and went into their rooms for a 14-day period of isolation.

In the throes of a raging pandemic, distance is polite and the rules of five-star hospitality have been re-written. The new check-in routine was sans the usual markers of good hospitality: courteous smiles, welcome drinks, holding doors and elevators open, and ferrying the luggage to the rooms. The staff was not just abstaining from doing everything that hotel management courses and months of training had drilled into them, but they were also suddenly in a job that was akin to working on the frontline during a pandemic.

“We got a call from the SDM (sub-district magistrate) followed by a written notification on WhatsApp. And in the next one hour, the SDM along with a team of police medical staff were at the hotel for a recce,” said Jitender Sohal, general manager, Park Inn by Radisson Amritsar. The hotel had been training its staff according to the World Health Organization guidelines. The team briefed them further and the guest arrived the same night.