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Amazon - Hopkinton, NH - Schedule: Part-Time Regular, Part-Time Seasonal Salary Earn $15.00/hr or more Amazon remains open as an essential service to serve our communities delivering critical supplies directly to the doorsteps of people who need them. Location Manchester, New Hampshire Job opportunities vary by location. We update postings daily with open positions. Start as soon as 7 days. No resume or previous work experience required. Job Description Join Amazon and become part of the dedicated team that gets customer orders ready. Amazons delivery stations are the final stop before an order heads out for delivery to the customers door. In this active job you sort packages into delivery routes. To ensure we meet customer-promised delivery times during the day, youll work overnight or sunrise shifts. As a Sortation Associate , youll stay active during your work day in this fast-paced environment. Some of your duties may include: Use smartphone, manage apps, and scan bar codes getting packages ready for their final destination building, wrapping, sorting, and transporting pallets and packages rotate tasks throughout the week Depending on your location, you will work 15-30 hours per week on shifts that range between 4 and 10 hours. Candidates must be 18 years or older with ability to read and speak English for safety. Reasons youll love working here: Earn more: You can expect a competitive wage and reliable paycheck when you work for Amazon. Career development: Many of our entry-level employees become leaders in operations, HR, and other areas. See where your Amazon journey can take you. Benefits: From a 401(k) savings plan to employee discounts, Amazon has you covered on perks. Stay active: Youll be on the move for your whole shift in our fast-paced environments. Check out what some of our employees have to say about their jobs: https://ift.tt/34NOkHB (https://ift.tt/34NOkHB) Basic qualifications: High school, GED, or equivalent diploma Apply now to view available shifts. Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://ift.tt/395YELS (https://ift.tt/395YELS)... - Temporary - Part-time

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Amazon - Salem, NJ - Seasonal Full-time Warehouse Team Member Shifts: Overnight, Early Morning, Day, Evening, Weekend Location: West Deptford , NJ 1250 Forest Parkway West Deptford, NJ 8066 Job opportunities vary by location. We update postings daily with open positions. Hourly pay rate: Enter the pay rate in one of the following formats: Earn $15/hr or more, plus benefits and a $1,000 sign-on bonus. Seasonal full-time jobs with benefits. Training is provided, no experience necessary. Join our fulfillment center team that gets orders ready for people relying on Amazon deliveries. Choose from a variety of full-time shifts and get benefits like a 401(k) savings plan, paid time off, and more. This is a seasonal job with a maximum assignment length of six months. Plus, were currently offering a $1,000 sign-on bonus. Health and safety are always a top priority for us. We continue to consult with medical and health experts, and take all recommended precautions in our buildings and stores to keep everyone healthy. Find out what Amazon is doing to provide a safe environment for employees at this time on our COVID-19 FAQ page (https://ift.tt/2xlTHla) . Reasons youll love working at Amazon: $1,000 bonus Paid time off 401(k) savings plan Holiday pay opportunities On-the-job training and skill development Employee Assistance Program Check out what some of our employees have to say about their jobs: https://ift.tt/34NOkHB (https://ift.tt/34NOkHB) Candidates must be 18 years or older with the ability to understand and adhere to all safety guidelines and regulations. Amazon is hiring for the following types of roles in your area: Delivery Stations Amazons delivery stations are the final stop before an order heads out for delivery to the customers door. In this active job you sort packages into delivery routes. To ensure we meet customer-promised delivery times, shift times will vary. Depending on your location, youll work a set schedule with hours that range between full-time and part-time. Basic qualifications: High school or equivalent diploma Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://ift.tt/395YELS (https://ift.tt/395YELS) .... - Temporary - Part-time

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Amazon - Grand Rapids, MI - Part-time Warehouse Team Member Shifts: Overnight, Early Morning, Day, Evening, Weekend Location: GRR1 Amazon in Caledonia, MI 4500 68th Street SE Caledonia, MI 49316 Hourly pay rate: Earn $15/hr or more, and a $250 sign on bonus. Bonus applicable on start dates between 09/06/2020 - 10/3/2020. Part-time jobs with benefits available now. Training is provided, no experience necessary. Join our fulfillment center team that gets orders ready for people relying on Amazon deliveries. Choose from a variety of part-time shifts and start getting health care benefits, a 401(k) savings plan, pre-paid tuition assistance, paid time off, and more. Plus, were currently offering a $250 sign-on bonus. Health and safety are always a top priority for us. We continue to consult with medical and health experts, and take all recommended precautions in our buildings and stores to keep everyone healthy. Find out what Amazon is doing to provide a safe environment for employees at this time on our COVID-19 FAQ page (https://ift.tt/2xlTHla) . Reasons youll love working at Amazon: $250 bonus: Earn more with a sign-on bonus. Competitive pay: Our pay rates are competitive and your paycheck is reliable when you work for Amazon. Compelling Benefits: Our range of benefits can include health care starting on day one, employee discounts, 401(k) savings plans, paid time off and more! Find out which benefits you''ll get after you choose your role with us. Career Growth: Many of our entry-level employees move up to become leaders within groups spanning across Amazon. The opportunities for growth are everywhere. Tuition assistance: The Amazon Career Choice program will pre-pay 95% of tuition and fees to help support your future educational goals. Through this program youll be able to earn certificates and associate degrees in high-wage, in-demand occupations such as aircraft mechanics, computer-aided design, machine tool technologies, medical lab technologies, nursing, and many other fields. For regular, part-time employees, the program will pay up to $1,500 per year in tuition, textbooks and associated fees for up to 4 years. Check out what some of our employees have to say about their jobs: https://ift.tt/34NOkHB (https://ift.tt/34NOkHB) Candidates must be 18 years or older with the ability to understand and adhere to all safety guidelines and regulations. Amazon is hiring for the following types of roles in your area: Fulfillment Centers Work inside an Amazon warehouse, selecting, packing and shipping customer orders. If you like a fast-paced, physical position that gets you up and moving, then come help bring orders to life. Work a set, full-time schedule. Shift options include overnight and days, and usually at least one weekend day. Basic qualifications: High school or equivalent diploma Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://ift.tt/395YELS (https://ift.tt/395YELS) . Basic qualifications: High school or equivalent diploma Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://ift.tt/395YELS (https://ift.tt/395YELS) .... - Permanent - Part-time

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Amazon - Lyon Station, PA - Shifts: Overnight, Early Morning, Day, Evening, WeekendLocation:Reading, PAJob opportunities vary by location. We update postings daily with open positions.Hourly pay rate:Earn $15/hr or moreImmediate openings available now. Start as soon as 7 days. No resume or previous work experience required. Become part of the dedicated team that gets orders ready for people relying on Amazons service. From flexible part-time roles to full-time set schedules with health care benefits, Amazon has a variety of jobs. Find the right Amazon opportunity for you today.Amazon remains open as an essential business to serve our communities delivering critical supplies directly to the doorsteps of people who need them. Find out what Amazon is doing to provide a safe environment for employees at this time on our COVID-19 FAQ page.Candidates must be 18 years or older with the ability to read and speak English for safety purposes.Reasons youll love working here:Health and safety are a top priority with all of our roles and sites. We continue to consult with medical and health experts, and take all recommended precautions in our buildings and stores to keep people healthy. Earn more: You can expect a competitive wage and reliable paycheck when you work for Amazon.Career development: Many of our entry-level employees become leaders in operations, HR, and other areas. See where your Amazon journey can take you.Benefits: Our range of benefits can include health care starting on day one, employee discounts, 401(k) savings plans, paid time off and more! Find out which benefits you''''ll get after you choose your role with us.Stay active: Youll be on the move for your whole shift in our fast-paced environments.Check out what some of our employees have to say about their jobs:https://ift.tt/2W8wpIw is hiring for the following types of roles in your area:Fulfillment Centers Work inside an Amazon warehouse, selecting, packing and shipping customer orders. If you like a fast-paced, physical position that gets you up and moving, then come help bring orders to life. Work a set, full-time schedule. Shift options include overnight and days, and usually at least one weekend day.Apply now.Apply now.Start as soon as 7 days. No resume or previous work experience required.Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visithttps://https://ift.tt/3flOKJR Jobble... - Temporary - Full-time

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C.R. England - Merrifield, VA - Immediate Opportunities! Refrigerated Trucking is one of the safest bets in the trucking industry as it relates to jobs. The country will always need food, medicine, and supplies. There will always be a need for truck drivers. At C.R. England, we hire new and experienced CDL-A truck drivers. C.R. England is seeking drivers with a safe and clean record that can handle 18 wheels, 40 tons, and 400 horsepower. If that sounds anything like you—Apply Now. You Get ALL the Benefits • Weekly Pay & Consistent Home Time • Health Benefits & 401k Participation • Paid Vacation & Bonus Incentives • Unlimited Cash Referral Program Better Pay, Home Time, and Miles — Apply Now.... - Permanent - Full-time

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BENGALURU: Edtech startup Eruditus has raised $113 million in funding led by Leeds Illuminate and South African internet giant Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) with participation from Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's philanthropic organisation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Existing investors Sequoia India and Ved Capital also participated in the fundraising.ET first wrote about this funding round on August 29. People familiar with the deal told ET that about $20 million of the investment is a secondary cash out, while $93 million has been infused in the company.With the latest investment, the company’s valuation has jumped to over $800 million, sources said, making the executive education firm among the most valued edtech startups in the country.Eruditus partners with top-tier universities across the US, Europe, Latin America, India and China to bring professional education to a global audience.“Covid-19 is dramatically accelerating change across higher education,” said Ashwin Damera, cofounder and chief executive at Eruditus. “We are engaging more deeply with universities worldwide to help them expand their online portfolio and global footprint.” Eruditus has partnered with more than 30 universities to date, including MIT, Columbia, Harvard, Cambridge, INSEAD, Wharton, UC Berkeley and NUS, launching more than 100 courses across multiple languages.CZI had backed Byju’s in 2016, its first investment in India and Asia. Prosus Ventures is also an investor in Byju’s.

By Keith BradsherZHONGSHAN: This was supposed to be the year that China’s export machine began to stall. President Donald Trump had imposed broad tariffs on Chinese goods. Countries like Japan and France pushed companies to shift production from China. The pandemic had crippled China’s factories by the end of January.Instead, China Inc. has come roaring back.After reopening in late February and early March, China’s factories began an export blitz that is still gaining steam. Exports soared in July to their second-highest level ever, nearly matching the record-setting Christmas rush last December. The country has grabbed a much larger share of global markets this summer from other manufacturing nations, entrenching a dominance in trade that could last long after the world begins to recover from the pandemic.China is showing its export machine cannot be stopped — not by the coronavirus and not by the Trump administration. Its resilience lies not only in the country’s low-cost, skilled labor and efficient infrastructure but also in a state-controlled banking system that has been offering small and large businesses extra loans to cope with the pandemic.The pandemic has also found China better placed than other exporting nations. It is making what the world’s hospitals and housebound families need right now: personal protection gear, home improvement products and lots of consumer electronics.At the same time, demand has withered for many big-ticket items exported by the United States and Europe, like Boeing and Airbus jets. And with most economies except China’s now mired in recessions, demand has also faltered for the commodities that most developing countries export, particularly oil.Families all over the world are sprucing up the homes they are now stuck inside. They have been buying everything from computer screens and stereo systems to power tools and home saunas — many of which are made in China.Hongyuan Furniture in the southern city of Guangzhou has hired 50 extra workers after export orders for its home saunas more than doubled this year. A short drive farther south in Zhongshan, Star Rapid has stayed profitable, making robot casings and quickly producing high-tech models — a process known as rapid prototyping. And a few miles to the west, Trueanalog has ruled out moving production of its top-end stereo speakers to the United States, its main market, or to Vietnam, where wages can be even lower.At Trueanalog, rows of workers at long, green tables under fluorescent lights meticulously assemble audio speakers for professional recording studios in the United States. China dominates the world’s production of the components that go into the speakers they are putting together — whether magnets, paper cones or rubber foam.“China has the largest supply chain of the parts you need to make a speaker, and China has the most stable, affordable labor force,” said Philip Richardson, the American owner of Trueanalog.Star Rapid, the prototype maker, has benefited from Chinese loans. Within days of the start of the pandemic, the state-controlled Bank of China called Gordon Styles, the company’s British chief executive and owner, and strongly urged him to take a $1.4 million corporate loan at low interest, which he did even though the company was still profitable. Chinese authorities also granted the company a rapid-fire series of partial rebates on taxes and government-mandated benefit costs that together exceeded 3% of the company’s sales.“They wanted to make sure the good companies, as they measure that, don’t fail for lack of a bit of cash,” he said.The strength of China’s export machine complicates the Trump administration’s push to reduce the trade deficit — the gap between what the United States exports and what it imports. Trump points to the deficit as proof that unfair practices by China have been hurting the United States, and he has campaigned on promises to get tough on China.In January, China promised big increases in its imports from the United States as part of an agreement aimed at ending a protracted and increasingly bruising economic war. But actual purchases have lagged.The agreement left in place most of Trump’s new tariffs, mainly at 25%. Yet those tariffs do not seem to deter many Americans from buying Chinese products, in part because the tariffs are only collected on the wholesale value of products when they reach America’s shores.Hongyuan says it has not yet encountered any new competition from home sauna manufacturers based elsewhere despite facing 25% American tariffs for the past two years. Hongyuan also has access to dozens of suppliers within an hour’s drive that compete vigorously to produce inexpensive glass doors and hinges at the lowest cost.So Hongyuan can afford to import lumber across the Pacific from Canada, saw the wood and polish it and assemble it into home saunas, and then ship the saunas in kits back across the Pacific all for less than it costs to make saunas in the United States. Considerable hand labor is still involved, although Chinese-made automatic saws now take the lumber in one end and put out boards of various shapes and dimensions.“Even with the 25% tariff, the manufacturers in China still have lower costs,” said Rachel Wang, the company’s export manager.Such a cost advantage has helped drive China’s share of world exports to nearly 20% in the April to June quarter this year, up from 12.8% in 2018 and 13.1% last year, said Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia economist at IHS Markit, a global data and consulting firm.Part of that increase is temporary. Some factories elsewhere closed temporarily during the spring because of coronavirus lockdowns or supply chain disruptions linked to the pandemic. China’s own share of global exports dipped somewhat in the January to March quarter, to 11%, as it was battling the virus.But China now appears strong in exports across many sectors, even as the cost of its imports is likely to stay low for months to come. China’s trade surplus — when the value of its exports exceeds that of its imports — has ballooned this summer, especially in July.China’s exports have been helped by the country’s currency, which has remained mysteriously weak even as the economy has emerged from the pandemic with growth stronger than in practically any other nation.China’s currency, the yuan, also known as the renminbi, has strengthened only slightly against the dollar in recent months. It has also weakened 6% against the euro since the start of May, even though Europe faces a severe recession.Foreign economists suspect the Chinese government has used its tight control of the country’s financial system to keep the yuan weak. Brad Setser, an economist at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said the most likely explanation for the currency’s performance this summer was that state-owned or state-controlled Chinese banks and other financial institutions were shifting some of their immense assets, selling vast sums of yuan and buying dollars or euros to prop up those currencies.The People’s Bank of China has said, including in a statement last week, that it is not manipulating the yuan but has also said it is committed to maintaining a mostly stable value for the currency.China’s advantages go beyond a weak currency, however. China has built a 700-city bullet train network in a decade. It also has an abundance of labor, a culture of long working hours and tightly restricted unions. Manufacturers are not as encumbered by environmental laws against pollution as in many other countries.Robert Gwynne, a shoe manufacturing and exports specialist in Guangdong, said reviving competitiveness in the United States and elsewhere to compete with China would not be quick or easy.“To get it back,” he said, “you’re looking at 20 to 30 years, depending on what business you’re in.”To be sure, China’s dominance of global manufacturing could be hurt by geopolitical shifts, such as if other countries demand that companies move part of their supply chains elsewhere. The United States and Japan have begun to do so. European governments like France’s have started to move in the same direction, particularly for medical supplies. Large companies with the capacity to set up entirely new supply chains elsewhere, like Foxconn of Taiwan and Apple, are exploring alternatives.But the pandemic, which has grounded many flights and slowed logistics, has shielded China at least temporarily from attempts to move factories to other countries. Many multinationals have cut back on investment as global demand has slowed and so have little money to set up new operations elsewhere.“In the middle of a global recession, companies are not going to divest unless trade barriers force them,” said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China. “Companies would rather close facilities than open up new ones.”

Kolkata: Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has decided to cash out by selling its 11.15 per cent stake in Indus Towers for roughly Rs 4,000 crore even as Bharti Infratel decided to go ahead with the closure of its mega towers merger with Indus.Bharti Infratel said the likely ownership structure of the merged towers entity is based on “cash consideration chosen by VIL for its 11.15 per cent shareholding in Indus -- based on an agreed formula – and on today’s calculation, the cash consideration comes to approximately Rs 4,000 crore”.“The board of directors in its meeting on August 31 took note of the status of scheme of arrangement between Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel and related agreements…after deliberations, the board has decided to authorise the chairman to proceed with the scheme and to comply with other procedural requirements for completion of the merger, including approaching the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to make the scheme effective subject to certain procedural condition precedents,” Bharti Infratel said in a pre-market hours exchange filing on Tuesday.Further, the tower arm of Bharti Airtel added that to secure the payment obligation of VIL under the master service agreements (MSAs), “VIL and UK’s Vodafone Group Plc have entered into certain security arrangements with the company for the benefit of the merged company”.This, it said, “includes a combination of a security deposit by VIL, security via pledge of a certain number of shares of the merged company out of those issued to Vodafone Plc (as part of the Scheme) and a corporate guarantee by Vodafone Plc, which can get triggered in certain situations and events”.These security arrangements, Bharti Infratel added, remain “subject to all applicable regulatory approvals and any approval of Vodafone Plc’s lenders”. The security arrangement will provide the merged tower company a payment cover of over one year for the operational payments due from VIL.Company officials told ET that the earlier merger ratio (1,565 shares of Bharti Infratel for every 1 Indus share) has changed to 1519 shares of Bharti Infratel for every 1 Indus share). Basis this, Vodafone Plc and Bharti Airtel will own 28.2 per cent and roughly 36.7 per cent in the merged towers entity respectively. Providence Equity Partners, which decided not to exit, will hold 3.2 per cent in the combined entity. The public holding will be 31.9 per cent.VIL’s decision to cash out of Indus came just a few hours before the Supreme Court is slated to give the final verdict in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case on Tuesday. The nation’s top court had reserved its order on the period over which such AGR payment could be made, and under what conditions, having underlined that no reassessment of the telecom department’s AGR demand would be allowed. Telcos have sought 15 years to clear their AGR dues, but the SC has said they need to make some upfront payments to avail of a deferred payment mechanism. Bharti Infratel added that the merger scheme shall become effective on the date on which certified copy of the order of NCLT is filed with the Registrar of Companies. The effective date, it added, would be communicated to the stock exchanges for further public dissemination as and when the scheme becomes effective.“While the parties have agreed to proceed to take appropriate steps to progress the approvals for the merger, the completion of the transaction shall be subject to receipt of all such approvals,” Bharti Infratel said in its exchange filing.

New Delhi/Mumbai: By proposing to acquire the retail assets of Future Group (and not Future companies), the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) has ensured that rival Amazon does not become its shareholder. Amazon is a significant shareholder (49%) in a Future Group company, which owns about 10% stake in Future Retail, the largest outfit within the group in terms of turnover and which operates more than 1,000 stores under Big Bazaar, Fbb, Foodhall and Easyday Club brands. According to the contours of the deal between Future Group and RIL, the former will merge 19 retail and its related back-end infrastructure companies, including Future Retail, into Future Enterprises. This company will then transfer the retail and supply chain businesses to two separate arms of RIL. Had the deal involved the merger of Future Enterprises (excluding non-retail assets) with the arms of RIL, then Amazon would have got a stake in the two outfits. But with the proposed deal structure where RIL acquires Future Group’s retail assets and not its companies, the former has ensured that competitor Amazon is not its shareholder, said Bank of America Securities in a research report. The Future transaction solidifies RIL’s dominance in India’s organised market, which is estimated to be worth $1.3 trillion by 2025 from $700 billion in 2019, according to a February study by Boston Consulting Group and the Retailers’ Association India. It also creates a large entry barrier by removing a sizeable player from the sector that competitors could have acquired to scale up, said a JP Morgan note. Amazon reportedly had plans to increase its stake in Future Retail to 49%, but the deal didn’t materialise. The US e-commerce giant is currently the authorised online sales partner for Future Retail, but the future of this alliance after the deal with RIL couldn’t be ascertained. Both RIL and Future Group haven’t made any comment on what would happen to Future Retail’s existing partnership with Amazon. In the new scheme of things, Amazon will have shares of Future Enterprises after the merger of Future Retail with the latter. Future Retail shareholders, according to the terms of the deal, will receive 101 shares with a face value of Rs 2 each of Future Enterprises for every 10 shares of Rs 2 each held. After the retail assets are transferred to RIL, Future Enterprises will have interests in food and fashion product manufacturing, an insurance joint venture with Generali and textile partnership with NTC Mills. In this entity, RIL will invest Rs 1,600 crore by way of preferential shares and warrants convertible into equity, to acquire a 13% interest. In a presentation released to the stock exchanges, Future Enterprises said that on the manufacturing businesses that would remain in the company there would be added volumes now from RIL’s retail stores and would also gain from JioMart’s digital platform. However, the company makes no mention of Amazon in the presentation.

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce a crucial verdict today (Tuesday) on the payment timelines of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of over Rs 1.6 lakh crore, a ruling which could decide the fate of Vodafone Idea. The government has sought a 20-year time frame for telcos to pay back their balance AGR dues, while the two most affected telcos- Vodafone Idea (over Rs 50,400 crore balance dues) and Bharti Airtel (nearly Rs 26,000 crore balance) have sought 15 years. Vodafone Idea has warned it would be forced to shut shop if made to pay its dues at one go.As per the cause list, a three-judge bench led by Justice Arun Mishra, and comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah will also take a call on two other issues - on whether spectrum – or the right to use it – can be transferred under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and whether past AGR dues of bankrupt telcos such as Reliance Communications (nearly Rs 26,000 crore), Aircel (nearly Rs 14,000 crore) and Videocon (Rs 1400 crore) should be paid by companies such as Reliance Jio and Airtel, who have been using the spectrum of the ailing telcos through either spectrum sharing or trading contracts.The main AGR verdict is expected to end a 16-year plus court battle between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and operators. The verdict comes in just before Justice Mishra demits office on September 3. In an October 2019 verdict, the same bench had backed DoT's stance, widening the definition of AGR to include non-core items. This left several telcos - many of whom had exited or merged into surviving carriers - facing AGR dues of over Rs 1.6 lakh crore, including license fees, spectrum usage charges, interest and penalties.While VIL has so far paid Rs 7854 crore, Airtel has paid over Rs 18,000 crore. Reliance Jio which started operations in 2016 has been least affected by the AGR case and has cleared its dues of Rs 195 crore. Besides the staggered payment timeline , Tuesday's order will also seal the fate of insolvencies of Reliance Communications (RCom ) and Aircel who have found buyers for their most important aspect-spectrum, but DoT has refused to give its nod unless AGR dues are cleared.

NEW DELHI: India’s immediate and extended neighbours—Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia—have decided to go slow on seeking China’s support for their ships in both civilian and defence sectors. The Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down the pace of China’s shipbuilding industry over the last few months and Beijing’s partners in South and Southeast Asia have decided to limit cooperation due to budget constraints, ET has reliably gathered.This could impact China’s long-term strategic ambitions in the Bay of Bengal where India has been the traditional net security provider. However, over the last decade, China has been making attempts to challenge India’s position through investments in ports, supply of naval vessels and shipbuilding in parts of South and SE Asia.Orders at China’s shipyards fell 5.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, according to the country’s ministry of industry and information technology.Post-Covid, many client countries where Chinese shipyards have ongoing business cancelled visits to China and banned entry of Chinese nationals to their countries, persons familiar with the sector told ET. Further, production timelines are universally lagging across China. Co-location of military design institutes with the Wuchang Shipyard at Wuhan has directly affected naval projects also. With regard to projects under implementation, estimates indicate losses roughly to the tune of 800 million yuans in export projects for Malaysia and Bangladesh navies alone, ET has learnt. Bangladesh and Malaysia are also limiting scope of cooperation due to budget constraints, sources hinted.Military budget cuts in Thailand owing to Covid have halted its plan to buy two modified export versions of the Yuan Class (Type 041) submarines, worth 22 billion bhats from China, sources informed. There are also forecasts of the probability of China losing new international shipping contracts to Japan and South Korea. China’s shipbuilding industry has, in some ways, mirrored China’s rise in the global order since the 1990s. The industry is also illustrative of the symbiotic nexus between the civilian economy and the defence industrial complex in China. However, owing to the opaque manner in which the government-military-industry complex functions in China, an accurate assessment on quality has not been possible, according to experts who follow this sector.

New Delhi: Officials have begun preliminary discussions on whether India should have its own guidelines on content moderation by internet and social media companies, top officials told ET. The deliberations, especially with regard to moderation of hate speech, have been sparked by the government’s concerns over the arbitrary methods employed by social media platforms despite them enjoying the benefit of safe harbour as intermediaries, said the officials.Currently, social media platforms — including Facebook and Twitter — employ their own guidelines to moderate content in India, and follow the global standards set out by their parent companies.“Who has given them the power to decide what is hate speech or not? This can’t be arbitrary. One the one hand, they enjoy safe harbour, and on the other hand, they censor (content),” an official told ET.‘Lack of Transparency’India provides immunity, or safe harbour, to intermediaries under Section 79(2) of the I-T Act on the condition that the platforms do not modify the content in any form.India is concerned about the lack of transparency around the moderation practices followed by social media platforms, the official said. This is stoking debate over whether internet giants such as Facebook, Google or Twitter should be allowed the power to self-censor, or moderate, user-generated content on their platforms.77862634“There is a need for standard rules for everyone,” said another official.Pointing to Facebook’s community guidelines that are global in nature, the senior official said the social media giant also has India-specific rules on what it terms “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”, or spam.Under these rules, Facebook had removed posts associated with both the BJP and Congress in April 2019. The official termed these guidelines as “vague”.“Whether something comes under hate speech has to be defined by a consistent policy and has to have neutrality of ideology,” the official said.TWITTER POSTReferring to another incident, where Twitter — in its curated news feed section — termed the proposed Ram Mandir in Ayodhya as “controversial” on the day of bhumi pujan by the Prime Minister, the official said the post was removed after the ministry of electronics & IT contacted Twitter.“Who is Twitter to add the adjective ‘controversial’ to mandir? How can they do editorial modification when they are just an intermediary? They are not supposed to have an editorial line, unlike newspapers, which are governed by laws,” the official said.Facebook and Twitter declined to comment on these developments.A recent article in the Wall Street Journal alleged that Facebook had shown favouritism to the ruling BJP by not acting on hate speech posts by its leaders. Similarly, last year, a controversy erupted when Anurag Thakur, the then chairperson of the parliamentary panel on IT, summoned Twitter and Facebook over allegations that the platforms were trying to curb free speech of individuals subscribing to non-Left ideology.As a political slugfest continues over the WSJ article, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya told ET last week that in the run-up to the 2019 general elections, Facebook had unilaterally struck off over 700 pages without assigning “any reason”.“This debate around hate speech is skewed because what constitutes hate speech or otherwise will be determined by India’s rules and regulations and constitutional frameworks, not by community standards of a particular social media platform. It also needs to apply uniformly,” Malviya had said.Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order diluting the immunity enjoyed by social media companies after Twitter started flagging his tweets with a fact check warning.However, Indian officials said they are aware that taking away content moderation powers from social media companies will not be easy as these platforms also remove content pertaining to pornography and terrorism, which can create havoc if left unattended. “The platforms will then not do their due diligence when it comes to such content and that will be a problem. Also, it will become a challenge to regulate venomous content from across the borders. So, this is a complicated issue,” an official said.

Srinagar: The Srinagar-Leh highway was closed for civilian movement on Monday following fresh tensions between India and China in eastern Ladakh. Civilian traffic resumed later in the evening to facilitate those stranded in Sonamarg, Ganderbal and Srinagar to reach their destination. Officials in Srinagar said that an Army convoy comprising around 300 vehicles were on the highway from Sonamarg, a hill station in Kashmir on the highway connecting Kashmir with Kargil. Mobile network has been suspended in the eastern Ladakh since Sunday afternoon, when heavy movement of troops was first reported from Leh towards Chushul and Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley, the major hotspots in the region. “The situation is not normal on the border. We are hearing that clashes have been going on around Black Top mountain in Gurung Hali of Chushul area for some days now. We are hearing that our troops have been injured,” said a resident of Durbuk in eastern Ladakh. The area where fresh tensions was reported was captured by the Chinese army during 1962 war.Another former legislator from Ladakh said that fresh Chinese aggression was also reported from Pangong Tso in the past week. “Locals in the villages near Pangong Tso inform that the Chinese troops have come up to Finger two area and provoked the Indian Army,” he said.In Leh city, where most local politicians are busy with the upcoming council elections, locals reported heavy movement of Army vehicles towards bases in Karu and Durbuk. “We have been told that fresh contingents of the Army are being transported towards Ladakh from Kashmir and other states as well,” said an officer in Srinagar.

NEW DELHI: Pranab Mukherjee was a custom-made multipurpose political vehicle. Most hard-boiled politicians in Congress were in awe of Mukherjee, groomed by Indira Gandhi from 1971 till her death, who became a rare strategic device of Congress in the 1990s till he became President in 2012. His skills elicited respect from leaders of the ruling BJP and parties across the political aisle but kept 10 Janpath in perpetual unease.The varied talents of Mukherjee, 84, who passed away on Monday, were well demonstrated during his career spanning over six decades. He was a cerebral politician with an astute institutional understanding and a grip on working the government, key ministries, Parliament, Constitution and the political system.His clinical grasp of the intricate functioning of Congress, active participation in its never-ending clashes of ideas and personalities and conspiracies, helped him emerge as a natural coalition manager and a flourishing survivor in the slippery inner corridors.Having thrived in the heydays of one-party rule, Mukherjee’s shift from being the chief theorist of Congress’ 1998 Panchmari Declaration — “coalition politics is a passing phase and we will come back again” — to post-2003 ‘Shimla Sankalp’ to emerge as chief coalition counsellor in UPA bore testimony to his ‘khiladi’ record. Yet, the veteran was thrilled as a teenager on his first date when he finally shed the Rajya Sabha tag and won his first Lok Sabha election in 2004 from West Bengal’s Jangipur.A short temper, a phenomenal memory and an automated ‘namaskar’ were all features of Brand Mukherjee. He had no pretensions of an angel but embraced the exhilaration and ignominy of power politics with aplomb. Mukherjee was among the pioneers who laid the road linking Political Delhi with Corporate Mumbai. Yet, the perennially demanding reforms gallery loathed Finance Minister Mukherjee’s middle path. He, in turn, delivered a parting shot in his swansong budget of 2012 with ‘retrospective tax’. Later, he rubbed it in with a query: “Despite the angst that my proposal generated, I wonder why every succeeding FM in the past five years maintained the same stance.”The dyed-in-the-wool Cong-ressman and unabashed ‘Indiraite’ remained embedded in India’s pluralist, secular and democratic moorings but abhorred politics of exclusion, secular exhibitionism and the one-way street on communal sensitivity. The saffron gallery stirred with excitement and his ex-colleagues teetered nervously when the high priest of Congress visited the RSS headquarters on its invitation after retiring from his presidency. Once he came out of the ‘Nagpur vyuh’ after delivering a speech underlining his unwavering and long-cherished ideals, a relieved AICC held a late-evening news conference to hail him “for turning the mirror on the RSS”, though some still rue his visit.Mukherjee joined Congress via Bangla Congress in 1970 and scaled heights before he was 50 when Indira Gandhi even made him her virtual No. 2 in the Union Cabinet, superseding veterans including PV Narasimha Rao and R Venkataraman, who later became PM and President, respectively. His status in the last Indira Cabinet became a burden on Mukherjee after her assassination. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi dropped him from the Cabinet, CWC, Congress Parliamentary Board and expelled him from the party after his Doon School advisors, especially Arun Nehru, injected suspicion in the politically raw PM that Mukherjee had prime ministerial ambitions and was plotting against him. 77862599As Rajiv Gandhi’s regime started sinking following the Bofors row and his favourites crossed over to the opposition, he brought back Mukherjee (and RK Dhawan) into Congress. “Many things said about them, I found, were not true,” Rajiv Gandhi said in an interview. “All I can say is that he (Gandhi) made mistakes and so did I. He let others influence him and listened to their calumnies against me. I let my frustration overtake my patience,” wrote Mukherjee in his memoirs.Perhaps due to that uneasy past, Sonia Gandhi’s leadership was never fully at ease with Mukherjee. Ironically, it was Mukherjee who helped CWC innovatively interpret aclause in the Congress constitution to sack Sitaram Kesri and make Sonia Gandhi the party president overnight.Though he was not part of her coterie, Mukherjee in no time became indispensable to the UPA regime by leveraging his multi-tasking skills.Sonia Gandhi denied Mukherjee the prime ministership twice, the second time in 2004, when as party president she nominated technocrat-turned politician Manmohan Singh as PM. Thirteen years earlier, as Rajiv Gandhi’s widow, she proposed the ‘safer’ Shankar Dayal Sharma, and when he declined, PV Narasimha Rao as PM, over Mukherjee and challenger Sharad Pawar. Mukherjee recorded his sense of denial in his memoirs.Narrating his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad, after she turned down the PM post, Mukherjee’s memoirs said: “She (Sonia) told me she did not want to be the reason for a sharp division in society because of her elevation to the post of the prime minister… Finally, it was left to her to choose the PM… Within the Congress, the consensus was that incumbent must be a political leader with experience in party affairs, administration… she (Sonia) named Dr Manmohan Singh as her choice and he accepted.The prevalent expectation was that I would be the next choice for Prime Minister after Sonia Gandhi declined. This expectation was possibly based on the fact I had extensive experience in government, while Singh’s vast experience was as a civil servant with five years as a reformist finance minister.”Five years later, when PM Singh underwent a heart surgery ahead of 2009 LS polls, the Congress leadership did not appoint an acting PM but made sure Mukherjee, though senior-most, shared Singh’s duties with colleague AK Antony. Manmohan Singh publicly said after his 10-year stint: “In 2004, Soniaji chose me to be the Prime Minister.Pranabji was the most distinguished colleague that I had. He had every reason to feel a grievance, that he was better qualified than I was to become the PM. But, he also knew I had no choice in the matter.” Mukherjee was also denied the Congress presidentship once. In his memoir, Mukherjee hinted at an undisclosed pressure on his friend Rao to not (initially) include him in the Union Cabinet in 1991 and in choosing Kesri as party chief when Rao quit in 1996. Mukherjee was also denied the post of President of India in 2007. He recorded in detail how Sonia Gandhi told him he could not be spared of his crucial role in the UPA government ahead of the 2007 and 2012 presidential polls, but his determination prevailed the second time.Mukherjee eventually levelled the scale on his terms after becoming the much-applauded sheet anchor of the UPA regimes. He deftly planned and executed his entry into Rashtrapati Bhavan by making his candidature a fait accompli for the Congress leadership. He capped his career with a Bharat Ratna, conferred by a government opposed to his ‘ism’ but felt obliged by his presidential guidance which also relished the fact the medal would bruise a certain ego.The way he made himself indispensable to Sonia Gandhi, flourished in the UPA and finally walked away with the best possible medals without her patronage makes him the ‘parallel protagonist’ of Congress. The fact Mukherjee left on his terms, while Sonia’s original loyalists ML Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Natwar Singh were humiliated and abandoned serves as a warning on perils of blind loyalty to the current crop of Congressmen. As tension grows in Congress — amid deepening unease between seniors and Team Rahul-Priyanka, unabated political and organisational drift in leadership and the Gandhi family name losing electoral sheen — the Mukherjee template may come in handy for at least some of the leaders.

NEW DELHI: Three Indian medical associations have said that creating containment zones and aggressive testing for Covid-19 offers little advantage in large cities where the infection has already spread wide. The focus should instead be on preventing deaths from Covid-19, they have suggested in a joint statement to the prime minister.“While being optimistic, the prevention and control strategy should also prepare for the worst. It must assume that an effective vaccine would not be available in the near future. We must avoid false sense of hope that this panacea is just around the corner,” said the statement issued by the Indian Public Health Association, the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and the Indian Association of Epidemiologists.ET has reviewed a copy of the statement, in which experts from these associations said the pandemic is a public health problem and should be dealt with “empathy and meaningful community engagement”. “We strongly and unequivocally advocate for a public health approach for the novel coronavirus pandemic control, with the maximum possible good being done for the largest possible numbers,” they said.The experts recommend doing away with the practice of stamping and barricading the houses of those who test positive. “It is creating fear in society. This practice should be abandoned immediately,” they said. 77862629The signatories of the statement include former advisors to the health ministry, current and former professors of All India Institute for Medical Sciences, Benaras Hindu University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, among others.The experts find no rationale for quarantining of inter-state travellers. “This should be stopped immediately. Citizen-friendly measures like following home quarantine/isolation, which has been an effective strategy in many cities/states should be followed,” they said.The committee has recommended that lockdowns as a strategy should be discontinued and only cluster restrictions of short durations should be imposed. “Cluster restrictions should be considered only in areas with no community transmission. Even cluster restrictions should be imposed after weighing the impact of the same on the livelihood of the target population,” it said.

New Delhi: Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has attributed the record daily spike in new Covid-19 cases in India to “aggressive testing” and “casual attitude” of the people.He also said that the record increase in cases in the week ended August 30 can not be linked to the unlocking process. “The main reason for increase in cases is the aggressive testing and tracing mechanism we are employing,” Harsh Vardhan told ET. “We are not worried about the increase as long as the diagnosis is done in time and our mortality rate remains low.” The health minister, however, took a grim view of what he termed as “casual attitude” of the people. “The carelessness of the people is evident right now. They are crowding market places and not taking the basic precaution of wearing a mask. This cannot be emphasised enough that even if our recoveries are rapidly increasing and mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world, people cannot have this lackadaisical attitude,” the health minister said. India reported a record 80,000 plus fresh cases on Sunday — a dubious world record for becoming the first country to cross 80,000-mark in a single day. The health minister, however, said that the government could not keep the country locked down. “Economic revival and fight against Covid need to go hand-in-hand. Just as we took a bold decision in implementing a timely lockdown, we need to show the similar boldness in opening up,” he said.As per the health minister, Covid-19 cases should plateau out in India by Diwali. “Every virus follows a pattern, a trajectory. I feel that cases would plateau out in a month or two by Diwali. Gradually, it (Covid-19) will become endemic,” Harsh Vardhan said. The ministry is seeing the festival time as a challenge in the fight against Covid-19. “It will be a challenging time as people would need to exercise restraint. We are in the process of framing standard operating procedures (SoPs) for this,” he said. India’s race for developing a Covid-19 vaccine may yield results by the end of this year, Harsh Vardhan said. “There are three vaccines, which are in different stages of clinical trial. Oxford vaccine is being produced by Serum Institute while it is being tested. We hope to have this vaccine in the market by early 2021. We will prioritise who gets the vaccine. Initially, it will be administered to healthcare workers, senior citizens, children and people with co-morbidities,” the health minister said.

NEW DELHI: Noida-based Jubilant Life Sciences plans to launch remdesivir in a tablet form. The antiviral drug, which is being used to treat Covid-19 patients, is currently administered intravenously.The pharmaceutical company has sought permission of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch remdesivir in a tablet form. In a meeting held on August 25, the company had presented its proposal to the DCGI.The company has given bioavailability protocol to the subject expert committee (SEC), which has been set up to evaluate proposals related to Covid-19, according to the minutes of the meeting, a copy of which was seen by ET.According to the proposal, the company is exploring the possibility of launching 20 mg sublingual tablets. Sublingual administration involves placing a drug under the tongue so that it gets dissolved and absorbed into the blood through the tissues.The SEC, which functions under DCGI, asked for more clarity from the company on the proposal. “The firm presented their proposal along with bioavailability protocol before the committee. After detailed deliberation, the committee recommended that the firm should submit clear justification for use of the drug through sublingual route supported by evidence/literature including animal pharmacokinetic (PK) data generated with the drug through sublingual route,” said the minutes of the meeting.“The matter will be taken up again, once the company submits its response,” said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified.The company refused to comment on the development.

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries' $3.38 billion deal to acquire Future Group's retail business pitches the conglomerate as an even more formidable force in India, making its retail arm more attractive to the potential investors it seeks to woo. The oil-to-telecoms group controlled by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, announced late on Saturday that it will acquire Future Group's retail and wholesale business as well as its logistics and warehousing operations. The acquisition of Future Group's 2,000 retail stores and Big Bazaar grocery chain will help Reliance, which sells everything from groceries to electronics through 11,000-plus stores, to broaden its extensive reach across the country. But with Ambani set to sell stakes in Reliance Retail, the Future-Reliance deal makes it an even more attractive proposition for investors in a market that Boston Consulting Group expects to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2025. "With this deal, Reliance's dominance in the Indian market increases further and the valuation that Reliance Retail will now command will be even more," said Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consultancy Technopak Advisors. Reliance, which has raised a little more than $20 billion from global investors including Facebook Inc by selling stakes in its Jio Platforms digital business, has said it aims to attract investors in Reliance Retail over the next few quarters. "We've received strong interest from strategic and financial investors in Reliance Retail," Ambani told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in July. The acquisition will also help Reliance to extend its lead over its competitors, Singhal added. FINANCIAL MUSCLEMumbai-based Reliance is well known for its ability to win over customers with financial muscle and its breadth of offerings. Shares in its rivals reflected as much on Monday. Avenue Supermarts, which runs popular grocery chain DMart, fell as much as 5.4% while Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail closed 2.6% down and V-Mart Retail lost 4.4%. Shares in Reliance rose in early trade but closed 1.7% down, in line with the broader market as a fresh border flare-up between India and China outweighed initial optimism from a further opening of the economy after coronavirus lockdowns. JioMart, the new Reliance e-commerce venture that offers free express delivery from neighbourhood stores, will also gain a leg-up from the Future Group deal thanks to a wider wholesale supplier base. JioMart delivers groceries, apparel and electronics in more than 200 cities, challenging established online retailers such as Amazon's India unit and Walmart's Flipkart. "Reliance has essentially removed one competitor from the market and added Future's loyal customer base to its own portfolio," said Harminder Sahni, founder of retail consultancy Wazir Advisors. "It's a very serious challenge not just for Flipkart or Amazon, but for the likes of DMart, too."

MUMBAI: Banks and shadow lenders may offer a six-month moratorium on principal repayments for retail and MSME borrowers as part of the one-time restructuring of loans that the central bank recently allowed, said people with knowledge of the matter. Customers seeking a debt revamp will be asked to make regular interest payments, while the principal will be restructured or the tenor extended, depending upon repayment ability. “The intention is to restructure loans for only those borrowers who really need restructuring, but in no way do we want to be in a situation that they are not paying interest,” said a senior executive at a state-run bank. “We want small-value borrowers in retail and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) segment to keep paying, so there will be a moratorium on principal payments.”The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced relief to help borrowers hit by the pandemic. A six-month moratorium on loan repayments ended August 31.The chief of a mid-sized nonbanking finance company (NBFC) said the term of the loan could be increased to offer relief.“Tenor to repay principal debt would be expanded, but since we are coming out of a six-month moratorium, we can’t have a policy that allows further leeway in interest payments,” he said. “We are also looking to club interest accumulated during the moratorium as part of principal debt.”According to a report by India Ratings, at least Rs 2.1 lakh crore (1.9% of banking credit) of retail loans that could turn into nonperforming assets may undergo restructuring. Overall, about Rs 8.4 lakh crore of total bank credit could be restructured, it said.77862709

NEW DELHI: India’s smartphone market has rebounded “very strongly” after the lockdown ended, mainly driven by pent-up demand and demand associated with online education, among others, according to Manu Jain, India managing director at market leader Xiaomi.In an interview with ET, Jain said that production though hasn’t reached its previous levels, and the company is still importing small quantities of phones from abroad.“Eventually, the aim is to again go back to the same level as earlier, maybe even to a higher level. Of course, we keep facing challenges because sometime in some factory, there will be some Covid-19 patient and then we need to shut down the line, sanitize. But despite all of those, things have scaled up significantly,” Jain said.Even as the pandemic has disrupted and delayed the handset maker’s offline plans, Jain said that the channel will contribute 50% of overall sales by the end of this year.“Because of Covid-19, a lot of clients got disrupted. And now, hopefully very soon, 50% of our business should come from offline...We are ensuring that offline business grows and are giving tools like Mi commerce to drive the growth,” Jain said, adding that conversion rate in offline retail has increased significantly for the company.

By AK AntonyThe sad demise of Pranab Mukherjee is a great loss to the nation. I had a very close personal relationship with him for 50 years. When I first met him along with Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, he spared nearly an hour for us. What struck me most was his razor-sharp memory. I told Dasmunsi after the meeting that Pranab Da was a rare genius and a big asset to the Congress.Another quality I found in him was the transparency in personal relationships and his contacts. He maintained very cordial relationships with leaders of all parties, shared transparent relations with most business leaders and had close association with many cultural and social leaders. Mukherjee was a man for all seasons and a statesman too.His ability to find solutions to crises was commendable. From Indira Gandhi to Sonia Gandhi, all Congress leaders used his services to sort out issues. He held almost all important portfolios in the Union Cabinet. He was one of the successful finance ministers. When he took over the ministry, our financial situation was precarious, but he was able to stabilise the economy. He also helped the UPA governments in implementing many welfare programmes.I succeeded Pranab Da as the defence minister. He took the initiative to improve India’s ties with the US and played an instrumental role in the Indo-US defence framework agreement. Even while improving our relations with the US, he maintained India’s cordial relations with Russia and tried to improve ties with China, while focusing on our defence infrastructure in the northeast. Mukherjee was the external affairs minister when the terror attack took place in Mumbai. The sentiment across the country was that we should take military action against Pakistan. Some people even suggested there should be a surgical strike against Pakistan. However, PM Manmohan Singh and Mukherjee gave the advice to the government that military action was not the first option. Mukherjee argued that we should isolate Pakistan in the international fora through diplomacy. As a result, Pakistan was isolated with all major countries supporting India and condemning Pakistan. Even the Organisation of Islamic Countries criticised Pakistan.Mukherjee was UPA government’s main crisis manager. He headed almost all cabinet sub committees and empowered committees. He was the main source of finding solutions to all kinds of problems. During the negotiations on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, he helped the government win over the support of many non-UPA parties.He was leader of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for many years. Whenever he got up to speak, the House listened in rapt attention. Even while he remained busy as a national leader, Mukherjee was a proud Bengali who admired Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore. He was particular about visiting his ancestral house to perform puja as head priest during Durga Puja.After he became President, Mukherjee publicly advised the government and the country, while remaining within constitutional limits, when the nation headed towards communal polarisation and chaos after incidents of lynching. He asked the government to protect constitutional values and told the government and the people that India belonged to everybody, diversity was our strength and if diversity was overlooked India would plunge into chaos. Mukherjee’s departure is a great loss, especially when the country faces threats from Pakistan and China at the border and a deep economic crisis. (The author is former defence minister and a senior Congress leader )

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Amazon - San Jose, CA - Seasonal Full-time Warehouse Team Member Shifts: Overnight, Early Morning, Day, Evening, Weekend Location: San Jose, CA Job opportunities vary by location. We update postings daily with open positions. Hourly pay rate: Earn $16.75 - $17.75 per hour or more, plus benefits and a $1,000 sign-on bonus. *Bonus applicable on start dates between 9/6-10/3 Seasonal full-time jobs with benefits. Training is provided, no experience necessary. Join our fulfillment center team that gets orders ready for people relying on Amazon deliveries. Choose from a variety of full-time shifts and get benefits like a 401(k) savings plan, paid time off, and more. This is a seasonal job with a maximum assignment length of six months. Plus, were currently offering a $1,000 sign-on bonus. Health and safety are always a top priority for us. We continue to consult with medical and health experts, and take all recommended precautions in our buildings and stores to keep everyone healthy. Find out what Amazon is doing to provide a safe environment for employees at this time on our COVID-19 FAQ page (https://ift.tt/2xlTHla) . Reasons youll love working at Amazon: $1,000 bonus Paid time off 401(k) savings plan Holiday pay opportunities On-the-job training and skill development Employee Assistance Program Check out what some of our employees have to say about their jobs: https://ift.tt/34NOkHB (https://ift.tt/34NOkHB) Candidates must be 18 years or older with the ability to understand and adhere to all safety guidelines and regulations. Amazon is hiring for the following types of roles in your area: Delivery Stations Amazons delivery stations are the final stop before an order heads out for delivery to the customers door. In this active job you sort packages into delivery routes. To ensure we meet customer-promised delivery times, shift times will vary. Depending on your location, youll work a set schedule with hours that range between full-time and part-time. Basic qualifications: High school or equivalent diploma Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://ift.tt/395YELS (https://ift.tt/395YELS) .... - Temporary - Full-time

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Shipt - Madison, WI - Shipt is a membership-based marketplace that helps people get the things they need, like fresh produce and household essentials, from stores they trust. Help people save time and have fun while you're at it - there's never been a better time to join Shipt.As a Shipt Shopper, you will:* Use the app t... - Permanent - Full-time

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Shipt - Madison, WI - Shipt is a membership-based marketplace that helps people get the things they need, like fresh produce and household essentials, from stores they trust. Help people save time and have fun while you're at it - there's never been a better time to join Shipt.As a Shipt Shopper, you will:* Use the app t... - Permanent - Full-time

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There is good reason why Indian students and their parents hanker for a higher education ‘abroad’, especially in institutions carrying the Ivy League and Oxbridge goldmark. Places such as Stanford or Harvard in the US, and Trinity or Imperial College in Britain have, for decades if not centuries, provided not just the best that quality education can provide, but especially for many Anglophonic Indians, something that is deeply aspirational, providing a ‘golden ticket’ for social mobility that goes well beyond what one’s LinkedIn profile will contain.Much of the high value is created not just by what goes on in the ‘tried and tested and branded’ academic exchanges in these Hogwarts, but also by the immersive experiences that comes with being there – from engaging ‘fireplace chats’ with tutors over sherry and string theory, and getting lost in labs and libraries, to the many rituals of campus life and arcana – that together form part of ‘top college education’ and ‘weaponise’ the Yale or LSE product in the Indian socio-economic marketplace with a ‘foreign degree’.But for the Indian parent and his or her ‘pride and joy’, a spectre is haunting campuses – the spectre of Covid-19. With US and British universities – not to mention institutions across the world that depend largely on foreign students (four of Australia’s top universities, for instance, rely on foreign students for a third of their income) – severely restricted or even shut down, with no idea of how things will shape up post-Covid, many are asking a strikingly simple question: Is studying abroad worth it?The College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College in North Carolina believes that less than a quarter of US universities are likely to teach mostly or wholly ‘face-to-face’ this fall term. Last month CNBC showed that overall enrolment in US colleges was down 15%, with international enrolment down by 25%. This has resulted in a tuition fee loss of an estimated $23 billion.While the numbers of one postgraduate in three, and one undergraduate in seven, studying fully online in the US may arise out of Covid necessity, the question is whether students will be willing to pay an estimated annual tuition fee of around $55,000 for what would largely be a top-certified online masterclass. Are you willing to pay the same monthly maintenance fee indefinitely in your building society complex minus lift, parking, security, gym and pool services?In a June 14 episode of his Patriot Act series, Hasan Minhaj asked in his ‘Seriously?!’ style: ‘No one has a clue what college will look like in a year. So, if you’re about to go to college, or are in college, or a parent, you’re probably wondering, is college still worth it? What are you really paying for?’Minhaj goes deeper into the question and finds a malaise that was incubating well before Covid. US universities, he finds, have been increasingly opting for ‘Uber education’ – replacing tenure professors having indefinite academic appointment by ‘freelance’ adjunct professors; and more and more teaching assistants (TAs), who are graduate students (in our terminology, post-graduate students), being roped in to teach courses. Purdue University, for instance, has 26% of its teaching staff drawn from TAs, and TAs from Yale, Harvard and the University of Chicago are among those across the US who have been protesting about their pay and little to no work benefits much before Covid.Add to this most universities spending only a fraction of their endowments on academic and administration costs – Harvard’s $40 billion endowment is largely parked in hedge funds, real estate etc – and a ‘priority problem’ can be detected. Minhaj even agrees with Donald Trump for once when the president says that most US colleges spend only 5% of their endowments every year on education. It certainly sits precariously with why some universities should include, say, a multi-million dollar Lazy River – a water ride found in theme parks – literally at the cost of lower tuition fees, especially in the time of a pandemic.Two University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania students have already filed class action lawsuits in South Carolina claiming that they paid for services they are no longer receiving, including face-to-face interactions with their professors. Despite the reduced ‘college services’, most US universities are holding out on reducing fees.While Minhaj finds the advice doled out by the likes of Tesla boss Elon Musk, hedge fund manager James Altucher and venture capitalist Peter Thiel to not ‘spend $2,00,000 on a college degree and waste four years of your life’ rather rich – considering that a college degree is still a ticket to, if not guarantee of, success, dropping out of which most people are surely to be ‘punished’ for having less qualification in the job market – paying the same fortune for higher education in the US while SFH (studying from home) has all the signs of a rip-off.Who knows? Someday, an online-face-to-face hybrid ‘education’ model may close the experiential gap between desi higher education and a foreign one. Something that should encourage folks closer home here right now to fumigate our institutions of political meddling, nepotism and other extra-curricular activities to get our ‘campus act’ together.

The stock market has bounced back from the March lows, thanks largely to the liquidity push of global central bankers. While this is good news for investors, it is time to be careful now. Experts believe the easy part of the rally is over and some segments of the real economy may take much longer to recover than is being perceived by stock prices right now. In other words, fundamentals will come back into play once the dust settles and investors holding fundamentally weak counters may get hurt.The entire price action in the stock market is not illogical. Only investors should understand the logic correctly. They should not restrict the analysis to the recently declared first quarter numbers or even the numbers expected for the entire 2020-21. For example, the share price of Titan has moved up even after it declared a quarterly net loss, the first time in its history. Though there will be recovery in coming quarters, Titan is also expected to report a 42% fall in its net profit during 2020-21 as per analysts’ consensus estimates. The upmove was because market participants are expecting a speedy recovery in Titan’s fundamentals in the coming years. The company’s net profit is expected to zoom by 114% in 2021-22.Titan is not an exception. Though not as bad as expected, most companies reported significant earnings fall during the first quarter of 2020-21 and many are expected to close the year with lower earnings. This is why experts want investors to disregard the entire 2020-21 as an abnormal year and concentrate on companies that are expected to report better earnings in 2021-22.Since the base of 2020-21 will be low, almost all companies will report better numbers in 2021-22. So, a comparison between the expected earnings in 2020-21 and 2021-22 will not throw up meaningful results. “Since many companies will be recouping their sharp earnings decline in 2020-21, their 2021-22 earnings may go back only to 2019-20 levels. So, it is better one compares the growth with 2019-20,” says Pankaj Pandey, Head of Research, ICICI Direct.The lopsided earnings growth is another factor investors need to be careful about now. For example, some sectors have actually benefitted from the Covid crisis. “While sectors like pharma and telecom have benefitted from the crisis, sectors like IT have shown fast adaptation to the new normal,” says Sachin Relekar, CIO – Equity, LIC Mutual Fund. Instead of going down, earnings of companies from these sectors will be up in 2020-21 and will rise further in 2021-22.However, investors need to be careful in this space too. “Several companies from ‘Covid immune sectors’ have run up very fast. Their valuations are now beyond the pre-Covid levels and, therefore, expensive,” says Gaurav Dua, Head – Capital Market Strategy, Sharekhan.The other basket of opportunity are sectors or companies affected by the present crisis, but which are likely to recover from it faster. Their earnings in 2021-22 will go beyond the 2019-20 levels. Titan is a good example. Its EPS is expected to reach Rs 21.05 in 2021-22, 24% more than its 2019-20 EPS of Rs 16.91. Though the expected earnings growth between 2019-20 and 2021-22 will be lower compared to the first basket, the investment opportunity is greater. “Due to the deep earnings cut expected in 2020-21, valuation is still reasonable for many companies in the Covid recovery play basket,” says Dua.Hopes of an early solution to the Covid crisis is also keeping the market sentiments high. However, the entire mess cannot be blamed on Covid. “The economy was growing slowly even before Covid. Once Covid comes under control with the development of a vaccine, the market’s focus will shift back to other problems,” says Relekar of LIC Mutual Fund.Worries have already started building up about what will happen after 31 August when the second moratorium ends. The market knows about this problem, which explains why some stocks from the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segments are still quoting at reasonable valuations. “BFSI could show good recovery in 2021-22, and is valued reasonably now due to moratorium uncertainties. PSU is another space that has good potential and valued reasonably due to issues peculiar to them,” says Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.While the market continues to worry about the 31 August deadline, most banks have already taken steps to allay fears. “Most banks have acted proactively and have made decent floating provision and also raised enough capital to meet any eventuality,” says Naveen Kulkarni, CIO, Axis Securities.In our cover story this week, we have looked at stocks that could bounce back with a vengeance in 2021-22. We first shortlisted companies from the BSE 200 that are expected to do better in 2021-22 compared to 2019-20. Companies from both the Covid immune and Covid recovery baskets got included in the list. The next step was to see whether this improved performance in 2021-22 was already factored in the price. We did that by reaching out to market experts. Here is the final list of companies selected by them.Alkem LabThe pharma sector has outperformed the broader market in the past one year and experts believe the rally will continue. “Despite the recent rally, the risk reward is still favourable for the pharma sector because of its huge underperformance in the past couple of years. While domestic oriented companies are doing well now, exporters will benefit in coming years because of the ‘China, Plus One’ strategy,” says Pandey of ICICI Direct. Cost savings due to Covid, jump in sales to US to prove beneficial 77820035Among mid-caps, Alkem Laboratories is a good pick due to its high exposure to domestic formulations (63% of its sales). On the export front, US generic business grew by 38% and other markets grew by 9% y-o-y during first quarter. With around 70 products being marketed and 58 ANDAs pending for approval with US FDA, its US sales trajectory is expected to improve. Cost savings due to reduced travel expenses is another reason why analysts are upgrading the earnings forecast for Alkem. “The recent increase in EPS estimates factor in the cost savings on reduced travelling expense and robust traction in US generics,” says Gautam Duggad, Head of Research, Motilal Oswal Securities.Bata IndiaBata India, the largest retailer and leading manufacturer of footwear in India with more than 1,500 retail stores, has not recovered much from its March lows due to severe contraction in its first quarter numbers. Its first quarter revenue contracted by 85% y-o-y because buyers can postpone shoe purchases. Sales hit by Covid; may bounce back after normalcy returns 77820046Bata also reported a net loss of Rs 101 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 101 crore during same period last year. Though around 80% of the stores are already operational and some sales happening, the company is expected to close 2020-21 will a significantly lower EPS of Rs 6.76 compared to the Rs 25.59 it reported for 2019-20. However, its sales and earnings are likely to pick up once normalcy returns and its EPS is expected to jump to Rs 30.51 in 2021-22. “A strong brand with strategy to consistently improve margins by favourable change in product mix makes Bata an attractive play in the consumer discretionary space. The counter is now trading 30% lower from its peak and therefore, offers an attractive entry point,” says Dua.Bharti AirtelTelecom may be the only sector in India that has benefited from the pandemic. Leading companies Bharti Airtel and Vodafone had reported big losses following the Supreme Court verdict on AGR that imposed a huge tax liability on them. The price war initiated by Reliance Jio and the resultant price cuts only added to their losses. Work-from-home has improved usage and bottom line 77820099While Vodafone is still struggling, Bharti Airtel has begun to show better numbers. Its loss per share is expected to fall to Rs 6 in 2020-21 and a turnaround is expected in 2021-22. Its average revenue per user (ARPU) is also expected to recover because of the increased data consumption due to work from home culture and reduced competition from Jio and Vodafone. Due to the financial troubles of Vodafone and BSNL, the telecom sector is becoming a virtual duopoly. Bharti Airtel has significantly outperformed the Sensex in the past one year, but experts feel all the good news is yet to be factored in the price. “ARPUs going up can result in a significant jump in its net profit in coming years and this should result in further rerating. Bharti Airtel’s market cap is also still much lower compared to their investment,” says Kulkarni of Axis Securities.SBI LifeInsurance, life as well as health, is another sector that has benefitted from the pandemic and leading players like SBI Life stand to gain. “SBI Life has a big advantage due to its bancassurance with SBI. Diversified product mix and strong distribution capabilities will pave the way for faster growth and market share gain for SBI Life,” says Kulkarni of Axis Securities.Bancassurance tie ups to drive growth in sales 77820109Though there was some pressure on new policy additions in the first quarter due to the lockdown, new business premium has started showing signs of revival. SBI Life is expected to close 2020-21 with a small earnings growth. More importantly, its distribution reach has increased further after it tied up with UCO Bank to provide insurance solutions via their 3,086 branch network in June. This should accelerate its new business premium growth.SBIThe uncertainty about NPAs after moratorium has kept the valuations of banks down. However, experts say investors should use this as an opportunity to pick banks that can withstand these shocks. “Since the expected jump in NPAs is already priced in, we are positive on large public and private sector banks,” says V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.Embedded value of subsidiaries make stock look inexpensive 77820137Analysts are bullish on SBI because of several other reasons. “SBI valuations are inexpensive. It has one of the strongest deposit franchises and also has embedded value due to its subsidiaries,” says Jasani of HDFC Securities. SBI is the holding company for several big financial services companies (like SBI Life Insurance mentioned earlier) and its valuation will look even cheaper if the embedded value of these investments are factored in.Titan IndustriesAfter a deep cut in 2020-21, Titan’s earnings are expected to bounce back smartly due to several favourable factors. First, jewellery sales have started picking up after the relaxation in lockdown. Sales could reach pre-Covid levels by the fourth quarter of 2020-21. Though high gold prices have reduced jewellery demand, investment demand is rising.Rise in demand could shore up sagging sales after Covid 77820156“Recovery in retail jewellery sales has been quite strong and could continue to surprise as seen in earlier disruptions. Covid will quicken the consolidation in jewellery industry and Titan is expected to gain market share further,” says Dua of Sharekhan. Better designs, large network and strong brand are pulling customers from local jewellery to Titan. Titan has also launched innovative tools which enable customers to do video chats with jewellery sales team and select the jewellery design before visiting the store.UPLUPL is the best example of a company that will do well in 2020-21 and do better in 2021-22 and is still valued at reasonable levels. Just like pharma companies, chemical exporters are also benefitting from the global shift happening out of China. Improving market share, global footprint will lead to re-rating 77820171The recent acquisition of Arysta, a US-based life science company, has helped UPL increase its standing in the global agrochemical industry and also to reduce cost (its fixed overheads came down by 8% in the first quarter due to merger synergies). “Despite the recent upmove, UPL is still valued reasonably and its re-rating should continue due to continued market share gains, margin improvement on the back of synergies and reduction in net debt,” says a recent Emkay report.

We might still see some kind of run-up in the banking stocks. Another 10% run-up is still warranted, says the VP-Equity Advisory, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. FIIs have been pumping in money in the market but do you think we will see signs of fatigue set in sometime soon or will the rally continue unabated?This time, instead of polarisation, we have seen a broader-based rally and what was lacking was financials. This was deeply discounted vis-à-vis the markets. The Nifty is just 5% away from its all-time high. We still see underperformance by Bank Nifty by around 25% odd levels and the valuations are quite justified. This quarter, most of the private financials as well as the PSU banks like SBI, reported decent numbers than what the Street was estimating. We might still see some kind of run-up in the banking stocks. Another 10% run-up is still warranted. The valuations are quite cheap and we have got a lot of interest from the investors as well in the financial space. The market might continue to run up but now this rally might move to the financials. Do you believe that betting on some of the marquee names within the private banking space would be a prudent strategy? Are you also expanding into names like insurance and NBFCs? What would be the ideal portfolio allocation in these spaces?Honestly, first would be the PSU banks. My biggest weight is in the State Bank of India. It has very cheap valuations and a lot of catch-up to do vis-à-vis other banks and offers deep value. Secondly, a lot of large NBFCs are still underweight. For example, LIC Housing came out with quite strong numbers and the stock is available at less than one-time look forward. I think the stock has been rerated. So LIC Housing, M&M Finance can do better from the current levels as can the smaller banks like RBL or DCB. In all the financial spaces, we can go ahead from current levels.Where are you positioned in the entire divestment theme? Any specific companies that you are looking at?From the PSU basket, there are a lot of stocks like BPCL and also IOC and HPCL. There is deep value in all the three stocks. There is value in Engineers India in the construction space. Concor also offers deep value currently. So these four or five stocks look good from the current levels. Do you believe there is merit in playing the real estate space for the long haul? Where do your preferences lie?I have been underweight on the real estate stocks for quite some time but in the recent rally, one can make a basket of three or four stocks and typically positions in a particular region because that would play off better. For example, midsize plays like Prestige Estate, Sobha Developers and Oberoi Realty offer good value proposition from the current levels. These three stocks can be looked at from an investment perspective with a little longer timeframe. A lot of real estate stocks have moved up from their lows but still look good from the current level as well in the real estate space. Where would you stand on the two-wheeler space? How much of a game changer would a GST cut in two-wheelers be?This quarter’s results and the commentaries by the management of most of the auto players make it clear that their revival is coming from the rural areas and the rural India. The demand pick-up that we have seen in most of the auto names is from the rural areas. The two- wheeler space obviously saw a spectacular run-up in most of the stocks in August. I would still bet on stock like Hero and Eicher in the two-wheeler space. In the tractor space, M&M is our pick based on the revival of the rural economy. These three offer good value propositions from current levels. Would you be betting on the hospitality sector as a long term play?I think I would avoid it at this point. In the current situation, there are a lot of other options available. What is your stance on the pharma space which has shown quite a bit of promise of late?This rally began with the pharma stocks and we had a spectacular run up in the midcap space and obviously in the large caps. This rally might continue from here onwards. The focus might shift around the large players as midcaps have done quite well in the last two, three months. A few of them have been 4x from the lower levels. One should still participate in the pharma names with a mixed bag with large caps like Lupin and Sun Pharma and midcaps like Laurus to play along from current levels. Pharma looks promising from the current levels.

The Sensex now is just 7% away from its all time high of 42,273 hit on 20 January. However, there is a clear disconnect between the market rally and the stock fundamentals.What should investors do? First, restrict your portfolio to fundamentally strong companies that are still quoting at attractive valuations. Since 2020-21 is an abnormal year, it is reasonable to ignore these results. However, investors should look at the earnings growth expected in 2021-22. Second, book partial profits and sit on the sidelines for some time. Technical patterns have also started showing weakness. “Nifty is showing a broadening pattern and we are close to the upper end of that pattern. While there may be one more move towards 11,800 levels, the correction after that may take the Nifty to around 10,700, the lower end of the pattern,” says Sacchidanand Uttekar, Deputy Vice-President, Trade Bulls Securities.Buy portfolio insuranceA third option is to remain invested and participate in the ongoing rally and at the same time protect the downside with portfolio insurance. Just like insurance against loss due to untoward events such as death, disease, accident or natural calamity, investors can buy portfolio insurance to protect their wealth from possible market crashes. Only difference is that this will not be an insurance policy but a hedging strategy using futures and options (F&O) in the derivatives segment.Investors can hedge their portfolio by buying a put option. This can be for the broader market (index put) or for particular stocks. If you buy a put of the stocks you hold, you will make money if the stock continues to move up (because you hold the stock). But if the stock falls, part of the loss from the decline will be set off by gains from the put options.How much it will cost to hedge your portfolio 77819529Let us explain this with an example. Assume that you hold HDFC shares and want to protect its downside for a month with put options. You can buy put option with 1,850 strike price by paying a premium of Rs 60. Please note, this is for a protection against volatility and therefore, you will lose this entire premium if HDFC remains at the same level on the expiry date of 24 September. Treat it like any other general insurance policy (medical, accident, fire, etc) where you keep paying the premium every year even if the untoward event never happens.What happens if there is volatility? Now assume that HDFC jumps up or down by Rs 200 in a month. In the first case, your net gain will be restricted to Rs 140 because you have already lost Rs 60 in the form of put option premium. In the second case, you have a right to sell HDFC at Rs 1,850 and the price is at Rs 1,650, you will get Rs 200 as put option gains. This is the exact amount of loss you made on the counter. However, the premium of Rs 60 is already gone and therefore, your actual loss will be Rs 60.Premium reduction strategiesIf you hold a diversified portfolio through mutual funds or your stocks are not in the F&O segment, you can use put options of benchmark indices such as Sensex or Nifty. Indices are less volatile than individual stocks so the premium is lower. Also, there is greater investor interest in index options so there is high liquidity and more efficient pricing.Another way to reduce the premium is by taking ‘out of the money’ put options. Premiums of ‘out of the money’ options tends to be far lower. For example, the premium for HDFC put option with a Rs 1,750 strike price is only Rs 25 compared to Rs 60 for Rs 1,850 strike price. However, please note that buyers of Rs 1,750 put option don’t enjoy any protection till HDFC goes below Rs 1,750 levels. Same rule apply if you are using the index options as well. How much down one should go depends on the market situation. “Considering the current market situation, the correction may not be very big. So, only buy slightly out of the money put options and not deep out of the money put options,” says Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst – Technicals & Derivatives, Angel Broking.F&O jargonPut option: It gives the buyer the right to sell a security (or an index) at a pre-determined price.Settlement date: The date on which the options will be settled.Strike price: The price at which the transaction will be executed on the settlement date.Premium: The price investors have to pay for buying the put option now.At the money put options: Puts with a strike price at the same level as the current stock price or index level. The premium depicts the real hedging cost.In the money put options: If the strike price is higher than the current market price. Here the premium will include the existing value in the put.Out of the money put options: If the strike price is below the current price. Since there is no value at this level, premium will be lower.

If investors keep their expectations from equity moderate and invest more through the bad times, they will make the most of what equity has to offer, Radhika Gupta , MD & CEO, Edelweiss AMC tells ET WealthAre you surprised by the market rebound? Are we well on the path to recovery?The fundamental thing about markets is that no one can predict them, and they always catch us by surprise. In March, markets fell despite strong domestic flows, on the back of pandemic concerns and huge FII outflows. At the same time, we saw unprecedented policy action globally including fiscal stimulus and an expansion of central bank balance sheets. This is a reminder that while there is bad economic news on one side, there also is a counter-balancing policy force on the other. The recent recovery has been aided by this, as well as a strong flush of liquidity. It is too early to pronounce an economic recovery. Markets generally price in future recovery, and that’s perhaps where we are today.How do you assess investor behaviour since the initial selloff and subsequent recovery?Investor behaviour sometimes goes through more ups and downs than market behaviour. The first cut in early March saw a wave of money coming in, but after March, investors broadly missed the opportunity to benefit from the last three months of recovery. These things are hard to time and even harder to emotionally execute. The heartening part of investor behaviour is that SIP numbers have held up well and investors will benefit from SIPs at lower levels. The disheartening part is the emergence of Robinhood investing not just in India but globally. I only hope investors remember to keep quality in mind while investing in MF or direct equities.What advice will you give investors disenchanted with equity fund returns?Equities have delivered in the long term despite wars, pandemics and stock market crashes. But these returns are never linear. Volatility is a feature, not a bug, in equity investing, and if you are an equity investor, you have to embrace it. I have three pieces of advice. One, invest knowing that there could be lulls of three years, where returns will pale in comparison to FDs. Second, keep expectations from equity moderate, and invest more in bad years. And finally, give the process time. Only those investors, who can withstand the worst side of equities, will experience it’s best side.Edelweiss Balanced Advantage is among the few funds in its category to have stood strong amid the downturn. How do you look at this category in terms of its role in the portfolio?We think BAF as a category can be the core of an investor’s portfolio. We live in times that require an investor to be dynamic and an investment strategy to be adaptable. Being in the right asset class at the right time determines 90% of an investor’s returns. While investors have the choice to do asset allocation themselves, it is hard to do emotionally because market timing is tough. BAFs do the job in an automated and efficient way. They contain losses in sharp corrections, and also make the investing experience less volatile. Over a cycle, the compounded performance of BAF tends to beat even equity funds, with lower volatility. The other thing about BAFs is they help manage investor behaviour. Investor returns on average are significantly less than market returns because of the behaviour gap, and this difference is magnified in market extremes when emotions run the highest. By handling negative extremes well, BAF protect us from ourselves.Edelweiss BAF has navigated the downturn and subsequent rally well. It is a unique BAF with a trend-based model—higher equity exposure in healthy markets, lower equity exposure in choppy waters, and the ability to be nimble and swift in equity allocations. In a year like 2020, where markets have seen sharp trends, the approach has worked beautifully. In March, we had equity levels of 30-40% through the crash, and have been at 65% recently, through the bounce back.Debt funds are tweaking processes after being caught off-guard by credit episodes. How are you negotiating this landscape?Our approach in fixed income has been to be quality focused and cautious. We have defined fund casings for all our debt and hybrid funds and tighter credit quality mandates are in place for each fund. We will remain in the high quality space across all funds in the future. MFs are not the space to play low credits. These strategies are better done in AIF structures, while MFs need simpler higher quality products. We have also increased transparency across our debt and hybrid funds. In this way, we will help our investors in taking better informed decisions and help build confidence.Do you see Bharat Bond ETFs as a safer alternative?Bharat Bond ETFs are relatively safer when it comes to credit quality. But they are also stable alternatives compared to duration funds. The target maturity/rolldown structure is very apt for fixed income investors who are used to FD kind of experience, which is why we brought it to Bharat Bond. We are seeing some traction in other funds that follow this kind of strategy too. Our own Edelweiss Banking & PSU Debt Fund runs a 10 year roll down strategy and invests in 10 year AAA rated Banking & PSU Bonds.How do you view gold and foreign equity in terms of long term investments?International diversification is a must but we ask investors to invest in these for the right reasons, and not just their recent performance. International investing provides exposure to uncorrelated assets which reduces portfolio volatility and also provides hedge against rupee depreciation. You also get to access to some of the best companies.Today we have the widest basket of international funds which covers almost 80% of the world markets through six funds. Our view on gold is similar—buy it as a diversification tool and part of the asset allocation.