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MUMBAI: Personal guarantees will likely get a disproportionate share of attention as experts craft the broad role definitions for professionals handling pre-packaged debt resolutions at MSMEs.Personal guarantees seem to be a top priority in defining the role of an insolvency resolution professional (RP), said a source. The RP needs to get it confirmed with lenders as to whether the resolution plan is a composite one covering personal guarantees, said an interim report on the subject. ET has seen a copy of the report."Group Company cross guarantees / cross personal guarantees also needs to be addressed before getting into the resolution process under this scheme," said the panel of the Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI or IIIPI. "It cannot be initiated on an apprehension of insolvency," says the special panel in the report.RPs are advised to collect claims and finalise the list of creditors within 21 days.An MSME should not have gone through any insolvency resolution process three years before applying for the pre-pack scheme. The RP should invite resolution plans within 21 days from the date of commencement.“If no plan is received by the last date of submission, the RP may seek permission of the CoC to extend the timeline, provided that the total time period of 90 days to submit a plan to the Adjudicating Authority is not compromised,” said the report.However, if no plan is approved, then termination applications will be filed by the RP. Unlike general insolvency resolutions, a resolution professional is not required to make the public announcement in newspapers and neither is the public announcement required to invite claims. “The intent of the public announcement is to make creditors of CD aware of the initiation of PPIRP.”Nearly two dozen people are members of the study group, which is chaired by G. Ramaswamy, IP & past president, ICAI. It is also coming out with an FAQ on prepack for MSMEs.With the pandemic receding fast, the study group pitches for both physical and digital/electronic copies that an insolvency professional needs to keep while dealing with PPIRP.The resolution professional shall preserve a physical as well as an electronic copy of the records relating to the process of the corporate debtor as per the record retention schedule, as may be required by the Board in consultation with insolvency professional agencies.Insolvency professionals are also suggested to ensure first that a corporate debtor opting for PPIRP is a certified entity under Udyam Registration, a dedicated government platform for MSMEs.“In case of financial debt, checking that the record of default is obtained through the Information Utility to prove the existence of debt and extent of default. If there is any default in realization of payment from the Resolution Applicant, RP shall serve a notice to the RA to honour the committed payments immediately within seven days or such grace period as may be approved in the resolution plan,” the study group said.

“I believe that the market is over extended in India and I have been expecting a correction for the last few weeks. It is not happening but I think there will be a correction and that will be the opportunity for many investors,” says Sandip Sabharwal, Analyst, asksandipsabharwal.comMarkets are again and again telling us that banks are unlikely to participate in this credit cycle. Should one start thinking differently away from conventional wisdom?There are two-three things we need to consider. One, the liquidity in the system is very high and because the liquidity is very high, most of the banks are deploying their excess money in government securities and the credit growth is just not there in the system. Every fortnight, when the RBI data comes up, there is an expectation that maybe there is some uptick in credit growth. However, there is simply no uptick in credit growth. It continues to be 6-6.5%. Now all banks, NBFCs are grappling for that 6-6.5% and most banks are giving projection that we will grow our credit book by 12% to 15%. These things do not match up and this will be the biggest issue as the results start coming out going forward. We will see some squeeze in margins because of excess liquidity and lack of credit growth and secondly, the banks will not be able to grow at the rate most of the analysts are pencilling in. The initial up move in most of the banks happened simply because the Covid impact on bank balance sheets came out to be much better than expected at that point. For sectors like chemicals or especially cement, coal is an important raw material which fires their furnaces at their plants. Given how coke prices are up almost 3X this year, could they be at the receiving end?You are also following the news developments on the cement side. There are huge capacity announcements being announced across the broad, not only from established companies but from some new entrants also. On top of that, there is this extended monsoon and the input price pressure. When gas prices are moving up, the other alternative for gas because of gas shortages is fuel oil and to that extent, those prices have also shot up. On the cost side, we could see negative surprises for cement and because of the extended monsoon, the prices have been somewhat under pressure. The longer term prospects are still good in my view for cement, but there needs to be a valuation correction in many of the midcap and largecap stocks combined. If there is a market correction and because of some negative results, etc, if the UltraTech stock comes off and we can get it around Rs 6,500 odd sometime over the next few weeks, that might be a good level to bet in. What is happening with Aditya Birla Fashions? There was quite a fair bit of spurt. Is it a reopen trade or something else at play here?Reopening trade are the ones that got hit the most due to the lockdowns and as things open up, apparel demand is going to come back very sharply. It constitutes a large part of their overall demand and we actually have started accumulating this as a reopening play. My view was that we will do it slowly as the stock corrects but it shot up and so hopefully, as we get some correction going forward, that will be a good opportunity to get in. But I am positively inclined towards Aditya Birla Retail. Strategy-wise, the company is well placed and the next two-three years should be good for them once the entire economy opens up. But it is a question of at what price levels we want to get in. I saw this kind of an outperformance in 2014 but that was an event driven narrative which was more perception based. But what an outperformance by India in August and September!.In 2014, there was a paradigm change in the outlook and to that extent it was justified because we were coming out of a really bad phase and we were potentially entering into a good phase. Markets always react like this on such news. I do not think that was a wrong reaction. I have seen this kind of outperformance of Indian markets in 2007 end. Most of the global markets had peaked around August, September and they showed some slowdown trend whereas Indian markets continued to rally. In fact, the Indian market rallied 20% more even as all the other markets had peaked out and then we saw the crash in January. I hope the same thing does not repeat but you cannot have an argument that you go up because global liquidity is ample and global moves are happening and then you do not fall or do not correct when the reversal happens across the world. That makes the market risky and that is the risk I see in this market. Economy and the markets are linked to each other but not on a day-to-day basis. During the very bad times of the second wave in India, the market continued to trend up and to that extent when things are normalising, it is possible that the market gives a decent correction. People should not try to correlate things on a day-to-day basis. I believe that the market is over extended in India and I have been expecting a correction for the last few weeks. It is not happening but I think there will be a correction and that will be the opportunity for many investors.

There is a possibility that we might consolidate in a range for a while and the sector rotation keeps happening while the overall broader indices consolidate and earnings catch up, says Abhishek Basumallick, Chief Equity Advisory, Intelsense Capital. How perturbed are you because of the global risks in the horizon -- be it Evergrande and then the power shortages in China or some taper talk from US ? Not as a long-term investor but as a market participant, what did you read into it?What is happening in China is very interesting and we seem to be at the cusp of a pretty long-term change in policy. Obviously there are implications in the market and whether it is Evergrande or the power crisis, it is in some way going to get reflected in the global markets. Personally, most of the negatives that are happening in China today will in some way positively impact India because although for global investors China has always been a much bigger market, India is coming out as an alternative destination. So it could turn out to be positive for India if we are able to get our acts together. How are you expecting the earning seasons to be in general or for your own portfolio companies?Earnings have been quite good over the last few quarters despite the fact that we have had lockdowns and partial shutdowns. Earnings have been quite good except for in some of those sectors which have been very highly impacted by Covid. But other than that, across-the-board earnings have been quite positive. I do not see any reason for that to change. In fact, earnings could get better. What is the earnings expectation growth for your own portfolio which is a mix of large caps and midcaps for the next two years? Do you expect a 25% earnings CAGR or lower?I would think that 25% should be possible in a lot of these companies simply because last year was low and with the economies picking up, things are getting into place. With the government initiatives -- be it PLI scheme or investment in infrastructure -- things could get better. How the market is valued, is a completely different ball game altogether. Have you been doing a lot of research? How have you been sharpening your knife? We have the AGM season right now. So, attending the AGMs of stocks that I own personally and following what is happening is pretty much what I have been doing. I read a lot in terms of what is happening in terms of global events. So I am trying to connect the dots between what is happening in China in the US or what is likely to happen in India more from a longer term theme perspective. And overall, how the companies and different industries are shaping up. What is the quality of overall economic growth? Do you see this kind of bull run to sustain for the next three,-four years? Is the quality of earnings and the quality of economic growth matching with the asset price growth?Stock prices have gone ahead of their fundamentals right now and that has been the case for quite a while. It is probably the time to see earnings catch up over the next year, year and a half, two years. If we expect a great deal from the market in terms of market returns, we might be disappointed. The earnings growth might actually do better than what the stock prices do because there is a possibility that we might consolidate in a range for a while and the sector rotation keeps happening while the overall broader indices consolidate and earnings catch up. What is the category of stocks where you have the highest weight? What kind of earnings do they offer in the next two-three years?Personally, as well as in our advisory, we have large holdings in chemicals. We have a large holding in pharma in API space, also in agrochemicals. So that is one spot. We have been recommending a few power stocks, a few engineering-based stocks in the last few months. Overall, we are in a space where larger pockets of industry earning growth are going to come back, industries which have been beaten down. If you look at PSU banks as a basket or some of the other spaces which have not done all that well like engineering, infrastructure and real estate have picked up in recent times. These are the spaces which have not done well over some period. When earnings pick up, the possibility of getting an upside is probably more in these areas rather than some of the great quality, great compounding names that we have held for the last couple of years in our advisory portfolio. What are some of the risks you are cognisant of which could derail this wonderful bull run which is going on right now in emerging markets like India?The obvious risk would be the US starting to raise interest rates; or globally if there is a move by central banks to reduce liquidity. That could impact flows. Socio-politically, there is always going to be a challenge in terms of just the way we are positioned with respect to China and what is happening in and around the region -- how the Chinese economy shapes up and how that impacts us in terms of oil, coal and commodity prices. Any real spurt in oil prices which probably is looking to turn around and go higher could be a significant negative. For the markets to really correct and see a downside, we will need to see some event we are not thinking of right now. The points that I am talking about the market is already aware of. But for a real big fall to happen, there has to be something which is not there at the back of our minds right now.

There is merit in shifting. As far as the broader thought on the categories are concerned, it is also good to look at diversified, flexi cap type of categories where there will be a judicious mix of all the categories, says Vinit Sambre, Head Equities & Fund Manager, DSP Mutual Fund Are you going to add real estate stocks because that is a multi-year cycle when it goes up?We have thought of playing real estate through the proxies. Once the demand for real estate goes up, we will see that it is backed up by demand for various categories which are linked to the real estate sector -- be it building homes, tiles, sanitaryware or electrical cables. After seven or eight years we are seeing the real estate outlook improving and that is a good trend. We want to capture it through some of the real estate proxies and not directly by buying real estate companies. That is how we have placed our bets in our portfolio. The other two sectors that are missing in your portfolio are metals and the pharmaceuticals, barring Ipca Labs. What is the rationale behind that? Do you think that pharmaceuticals have peaked out?In pharma, generally we have a long-term positive view. It is just that at a certain point in time, where we saw valuations rise, we have trimmed the exposure but our long term view on the healthcare sector continues to remain positive. In fact, our dedicated healthcare fund is one of the funds which we are pushing at the moment because we believe that the healthcare spends globally and in India are going to increase, the penetration is going to increase. We think that just like in specialty chemicals, in pharmaceuticals too India has an edge and they will be catering to the world demand. That is something which is positive and as the economy opens up, the sector is likely to see positive growth. Due to the lockdowns, even the healthcare market was impacted to some extent. Those will come back now. So we have a positive view. Time and again, in our diversified fund, we keep looking at companies and so we do not have a negative view. As far as metals are concerned, we have been very selective. We have some exposure to metals but not a large part because we all understand it is very cyclical in nature. The variables which affect the sector are too many and difficult to predict. But at the moment, we are definitely somewhere closer to the peak considering the fact that we were talking of China slowing and China regulatory changes and these are very uncertain times. China is a big economy which impacts the commodity price point. Plus, if the US dollar continues to rise, that would be a negative for commodities. So, it is better to be measured as far as the metal sector is concerned that is showing in terms of our portfolio exposure as well. Would you recommend reallocating funds out of the small and midcap schemes and a larger allocation to large caps?I think most investors probably are grappling with this type of a query in their minds. I would say that to some extent, there is merit in reallocating some parts of your exposure from the smallcaps particularly to the midcaps and largecaps as we have seen a significant amount of rally in smallcaps. There is a bit of a speculative element also which has led to some froth getting accumulated. What we are sensing is that there is a lot of noise which is creating exuberance in that category. It makes sense to look at the midcaps, which is a good segment as such. The companies are doing well. There is a good amount of opportunity available for these companies in the next few years as the economy expands. So there is merit in shifting. As far as the broader thought on the categories are concerned, it is also good to look at diversified flexi cap type of categories where there will be a judicious mix of all the categories. That is what investors can look at. We may see volatility in the short term but as the economy is expanding, we are going to see the fruits of this growth percolating down to various segments. Over the next four, five years, it would still make sense to be a part of the broader set of the corporates, within which we have each of these plays doing well. There will be periods where smallcaps may underperform largecaps and midcaps may outperform but on the whole. over a period if one has the right balance of midcaps, small caps and a good holding period, it should be fine even if one holds some bit of small cap in the portfolio.

Every week, personal finance experts answer our readers' queries in the wealth edition. Here is a query on financial planning answered by an expert.I am 45 years old. I have been investing Rs 1,000 per month each in HDFC Hybrid Equity, Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity; Rs 1,500 each in Mirae Asset Large Cap, Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip; Rs 2,000 in SBI Bluechip; Rs 2,500 in Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100 Fund of Fund for the last three years through SIPs. A month ago, I invested Rs 47,400 in 10-year Sovereign Gold Bonds. I have also started investing Rs 500 per month in DSP World Gold Fund. I have an EPF/VPF corpus of Rs 1.25 crore. I earn Rs 1 lakh a month. My goal is to accumulate Rs 50 lakh in five years through my mutual fund investments. Are my investments on the right track?Prableen Bajpai Founder FinFix® Research & Analytics replies: Your target of Rs 50 lakh is steep. Your monthly investment of Rs 10,000 and realistic expected returns of 10% CAGR will generate a corpus of around Rs 15 lakh in the next five years. To reach the target, your monthly investments need to be increased substantially (by around Rs 40,000 per month). Based on the purpose of the goal, review if it can be pushed further to enable more time to plan better or, alternatively, look at resetting it. Your portfolio has three largecap funds, resulting in duplication instead of diversification. Continue with one of them and increase the allocation towards it. You have invested in Sovereign Gold Bonds, which are equivalent to buying physical gold in electronic form. However, note that DSP World Gold Fund does not track the price of gold. The fund invests in companies that are engaged in mining of gold, and hence its movement depends on the share price of those companies. EPF/VPF offers linear compounding and is a very good investment. However, based on the available information, your asset allocation is skewed towards fixed income. Reevaluate all your financial goals and make changes to the existing asset allocation accordingly.My 62-year-old husband will soon retire. He will not get any gratuity or PF but has invested Rs 43 lakh in PPF; about Rs 50 lakh in stocks, Rs 6 lakh in mutual funds, besides Rs 35 lakh across PMYY, SCSS, life insurance policies and bank deposits. He wants to take up another job and from the money that he will earn, he wants to invest about Rs 1 lakh per month for 1-3 years. He wants to invest in large-cap, hybrid and balanced advantage funds. We need to protect the capital. Can you please suggest some good funds?Dev Ashish, Founder, StableInvestor and Sebi-registered investment advisor replies: The key phrase in your query is capital protection. If that's the case, anything that your husband decides to pick from large-cap, hybrid and balanced advantage funds will have a large equity component and hence, will not be suitable for pure capital protection. That said, it seems there are already some solid debt products in the portfolio like PPF, PMVVY, SCSS and bank deposits. I assume that if your husband wishes to invest in mutual funds, then he is willing to remain invested for at least five years or more. Also, it is assumed that you shall not be dependent on these funds for regular monthly expenses. With these assumptions and having a broader aim of capital protection plus reasonable growth for a balanced portfolio, he can look at having 30% in large cap and flexicap funds, 40% in debt funds and 30% in aggressive hybrid and/or balanced advantage funds. Pick just one scheme from each fund category: Invest Rs 15,000 in a Nifty 50 index fund (UTI/HDFC/SBI); Rs 15,000 in a flexi-cap fund (PPFAS/Canara Robeco); Rs 10,000 in an aggressive hybrid fund (Mirae/Canara Robeco/ICICI Pru); Rs 20,000 in a dynamic asset allocation fund (HDFC/Edelweiss/ ICICI Pru); Rs 20,000 in a low duration fund (ICICI Pru/Axis) and Rs 20,000 in a short-term debt fund (HDFC/Kotak). Before picking these funds, do check for portfolio overlap with the existing mutual funds that you have. Another possible alternative can be NPS Tier 2 account that doesn't have restrictions like Tier 1 accounts.

From October 1, many government pensioners will have to start submitting their annual life certificates. Until now, these pensioners had to visit the bank or post office to submit the life certificate, i.e., the Jeevan Pramaan Patra but now they can do so from home. A pensioner can avail the doorstep services provided by several public sector banks and the country's postal service to submit their Jeevan Pramaan Patra. As per a circular issued by the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare on September 20, 2021, pensioners can submit the life certificate by using the Doorstep Banking Alliance of 12 public sector banks or the Doorstep Service of the postal department for submission of Digital Life Certificate. Here is how to submit one's life certificate via these doorstep services. Doorstep banking Alliance: This is an alliance between 12 public sector banks for providing services at the doorstep of the customer. The banks in the alliance include State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, UCO Bank and Union Bank of India. The alliance has introduced the service for collection of life certificates under the umbrella of doorstep banking services. How to avail: A pensioner will have to first book the service either via mobile app, website or by calling on toll-free number. The doorstep agent will visit the pensioner's home on the date and time as per the appointment. As per the alliance website, "In the current pandemic situation, it is difficult for customers, especially pensioners to visit branch for Submission of Life Certificate. PSB Alliance has brought the Submission of Digital Life Certificate facility through Door Step Banking, Pensioners may book the service through any of channel i.e. DSB App/Web Portal/Toll Free Numbers. DSB Agent will visit the doorstep of the customer and collect online Life Certificate using Jeevan Pramaan App."To book the service, download 'Doorstep Banking' app from Google Playstore or access the website doorstepbanks.com or https://ift.tt/2Y6HTA1 or call on toll-free number 18001213721 or 18001037188.Do keep in mind that a bank may levy a fee for availing this doorstep service. However, such charges are not mentioned on the alliance website. As per SBI's website, financial and non-financial services are charged at Rs 75 plus GST. Doorstep service for submission of Digital Life certificate through postman: In November 2020, the Department of Posts along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the Doorstep Service for submission of Digital Life Certificate through the postman. As per the pension department circular, "In order to make this facility available across the country, DoPPW roped in the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to utilize its huge network of Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks in providing doorstep facility to pensioners for submission of life certificate digitally." To avail this service, pensioner will have to download 'Postinfo' App." How to avail: As per the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) website, this service is available for IPPB and non-IPPB customers. To avail the Digital Life Certificate (DLC) service, a customer can contact the nearest post office or place a request for a doorstep visit by the postman/Grameen Dak Sevak. The Department of Posts has also enabled scheduling of doorstep requests through the Post Info app or through the website https://ift.tt/2y4Ov5n . Further, the issuance of DLC is a completely paperless, seamless and hassle-free process, and the certificate is generated instantly. On successful completion, a Pramaan ID is generated that is shared with the pensioner by National Informatics Centre (NIC) directly. Once the Pramaan ID is generated, pensioners can download the DLC through the link https://ift.tt/2QeSZdH. For every successful generation of DLC, a nominal fee of Rs 70 (inclusive of GST/ CESS) will be charged. There will be no doorstep charges levied for IPPB or non-IPPB customers for issuance of DLC. A pensioner will have to keep the following documents handy for generating digital life certificate:Aadhaar numberExisting mobile numberType of pensionSanctioning AuthorityPPO numberAccount number (Pension)Do keep in mind that the pensioner's Aadhaar number must be registered with the pension disbursing agency (bank/post office etc.).

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating corruption cases against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, has allegedly found lapses in the transfers and postings of around 50 police officers in Maharashtra.While probing the case, the CBI has have found several discrepancies in the transfers and postings of many senior police officers in Maharashtra when Deshmukh was the Home Minister, the sources said.As per sources, all transfers that were made after the Police Establishment Board (PEB) meeting which took place in September 2020, are under the lens.As per the Maharashtra Police Act and Gazette of Maharashtra 2014, the PEB must meet before such high-profile transfers.The PEB meeting is chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) while the Director-General of Police (DGP) and Inspector General of Police are vice-chairpersons. The meeting is attended by other senior police officers of Maharashtra and the final decision over transfers and postings is done.

Resolving the global shortage of auto semiconductors needs Malaysia's help, especially when it comes to packaging, a sector affected by the country's COVID-19 curbs, Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said.Taiwan, as a major chip producer, has been front and centre of efforts to resolve the shortage, which has idled auto plants around the world.Speaking in an interview late on Thursday at her ministry, Wang told Reuters that Taiwan alone could not sort out the problem because the supply chain is so complex."The bottleneck in fact is in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, because for a while the factories were all shut down," she said.The problem was especially acute with auto chip packaging, with companies in Malaysia providing services not offered by Taiwanese firms, Wang added."Now the focus is on Malaysia resuming production as soon as possible. I know that Malaysia started to restore production capacity in early September, and now the production capacity has returned to about 80%, so if their capacity can slowly come back, this problem can be slowly dealt with."Malaysia is home to suppliers and factories serving semiconductor makers such as Europe's STMicroelectronics and Infineon, as well as major carmakers including Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co.The country accounts for 13% of global chip packaging and testing, and 7% of the world's semiconductor trade passes through Malaysia, with some value added at local factories and chips getting combined with other parts before final shipment.Global demand for chips from Malaysia is still outstripping supply after a surge in COVID-19 cases disrupted production at a time when car firms and makers of phones and medical equipment are ramping up their output, an industry executive said in August.

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) is proposing to revisit compulsory statutory audit. The audit regulator has floated a paper seeking public and stakeholder comments on whether MSMCs should be out of the ambit of mandatory statutory audit currently stipulated under the company law for all companies.Major economies of the world require statutory audit for small companies only in case some minimum criteria of public interest are satisfied, it said, adding that even in India, income tax audit was now not compulsory where the turnover is ₹10 crore or less, provided not more than 5% of the transactions were in cash. Goods and services tax audit had also been completely done away with."It is, therefore, appropriate to revisit the requirement of compulsory statutory audit for all companies irrespective of their size and/or public interest," an official statement said.The NFRA has prepared a consultation paper explaining the issues involved, it added.

With Russia waiving a royalty clause in favour of technology transfer, the green signal has been given for the deal to manufacture AK 203 assault rifles at the Amethi factory. The Rs 5,124 crore contract is likely to be inked in the coming months, with production expected to commence next year.Sources said all issues related to the cost and indigenisation content that had held back the project till now have now been sorted out and a go-ahead has been given by the Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisition Council.Central to the cleared proposal will be a full technology transfer for the rifles that are to be manufactured in India. In earlier discussions, the Russian side had asked for a royalty on each rifle being produced in India. This has now been waived and India will pay for technology transfer, waiving the royalty.The move, sources said, would result in saving of at least Rs 200 crore in the coming years and would ensure that India gets the knowhow to produce modern assault rifles that can also be exported in future. As part of the contract, 70,000 rifles will be imported directly from Russia while 6,01,427 will be produced by an OFB-Kalashnikov joint venture.As reported by ET, the ongoing restructuring of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is not expected to have any impact on the joint venture for the production of AK 203 rifles and a complete transfer of technology is expected to be achieved within 32 months of the contract.The plan to manufacture has been under discussion for almost two years, with the contract stipulating 100% transfer of technology and possible exports in future from the Indian plant. The Amethi factory in Amethi was inaugurated in 2019 but production is yet to commence.As the AK 203 deal was being negotiated, the army had placed import orders for the Sig Sauer 716 assault rifles, which were priced at Rs 89,000 a piece. Emergency financial powers were used to order 1.4 lakh of the US-made rifles. In contrast, the Russian origin rifles that will eventually be fully produced in India are expected to cost a little over Rs 70,000 per piece after production starts.

The ministries of education and skill development - now under one minister - are holding talks to enable students enrolled into vocational courses to get school-level certificates and earn 'credits', scores that can help them get entry into mainstream colleges and universities and earn a degree.Alongside, efforts are on to identify new vocational courses for various classes and also get stronger recognition for students, ET has learnt.A series of steps are being initiated across school and higher education organisations to get the ball rolling.ET has learnt that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has got the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) talking to the National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) to mutually recognise vocational courses and confer certificates on students.First, a fresh memorandum of understanding will be inked between NIOS and the Directorate General of Training to facilitate equivalence for those at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).So far, a student earned three papers, credits for a two-year ITI course after class 8 or class 10 and had to appear for two online papers - in a language and an academic course each - to get a class 10 or 12 certificate of equivalence from the NIOS.ET learns that plans have now been finalised to have a two-year ITI course fetch 4 credits instead, so that such a student will have to only appear for one language course from NIOS to get a class 10 or 12 certificate.86669282The idea was to bring in more flexibility and easier mainstreaming for students opting for vocational courses at ITIs. Similarly, discussions have started between the NCVET - the vocational education regulator - and the University Grants Commission (UGC), which regulates higher education, to find ways to transfer and use school-level vocational course scores and credits to transition into the college system.The recently launched Academic Board of Credit will coordinate with NCVET for effecting the same and a meeting is lined up this week to structure the same.The other area of engagement is at school board level. The NCVET has begun engaging with CBSE for aligning vocational education in schools with the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and also to facilitate the transition of students in vocational courses to general education, as also recommended in the new National Education Policy, 2020.

Union labour and environment minister Bhupender Yadav, while referring to the turmoil in the Congress, said changes in a political party have to be brought in through consensus, not by enforcing it on the party workers, and definitely not by humiliating senior workers. He was talking in the backdrop of the crisis the Congress is facing in Punjab and the questions raised by senior Congress leaders on the induction of activist-MLA Jignesh Mevani and former student leader from JNU, Kanhaiya Kumar, into the party.Speaking to ET, Yadav, who has been handling important assignments for the BJP as its general secretary over the past 10 years, said a Punjab-like crisis was only a natural consequence as "it was evident that the Congress does not honour the sacrifices made by its long-time workers"."Core leaders of the Congress are finding it difficult to get their voices heard or even justify their existence in their party, how are newcomers going to save the party? Two (Mevani and Kumar) came in and two (Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu) came out...When the party becomes the fiefdom of one family, and the talent and work done by workers are not respected, such destruction is the only end...Most surprising is that senior leaders of the Congress say they have no idea who is taking decisions in the party...A party that cannot elect its president on time, has no president for quite some time now, and where there are limitations even on who can get nominated as president, how can it claim to represent 125 crore people of India," he asked.Internal democracy, opportunities for talented and efficient people, and respect for its long-term workers are most important for a political party to work and connect with the people, Yadav said. Asserting that the change in BJP leadership in states such as Gujarat, Karnataka or Uttarakhand was not "crisis management" but reflective of the party's belief in "capacity building" of the next generation of leaders, Yadav said the party has a tradition of building consensus before changes happen. "There is a process that is followed internally, and whatever changes happen are done after taking everyone's views into account," he said. Yadav is also in charge of Gujarat BJP. "The ones who get replaced also get other responsibilities. For the BJP, the party and the government work on the principle of taking everyone along. That is never breache," he added.

Equity mutual funds betting on information technology stocks, mid-caps and small caps have yielded the highest returns for investors who put money in these products through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) in the past decade. The average SIP returns from the universe of equity schemes are 16.09% (annualized) for a 10-year period, according to an ET study of Value Research data. SIPs in Sensex and Nifty returned 16.19% and 15.92%, respectively, during the period.Out of the total 263 equity mutual fund schemes, as many as 25 funds have generated returns above 20%, 158 have generated between 15% and 20% and 64 have generated between 10% and 15% returns. SIPs done in 16 have given returns of less than 10%, while value of three schemes have eroded. PSU banks, international, sectoral and some thematic funds are the ones that have been underperformers.Financial planners say though some themes have been outperformers, investors would be better off holding top performing diversified equity mutual funds, where returns are less volatile, as part of their core portfolio. “Investors should allocate about 50% to large-/index/flexi-cap funds, 30% to mid- /small cap funds and 20% to international/ sectoral/ thematic funds, when doing SIPs for a 10-year period,” says Harshvardhan Roongta, certified financial planner, Roongta Securities. 8666268286662693

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has restrained RHC Finance, a firm controlled by Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, from exercising its voting rights in Religare Enterprises till further orders. The Delhi-based principal bench of the tribunal on Wednesday ordered maintaining status quo on RHC Finance's voting rights and listed the matter for further consideration on October 7. "We hereby order status quo on the respondents to restrain them from exercising their voting power with the resolution, until the further orders of this bench," the two-member NCLT bench said. The NCLT order came on an urgent application moved by Religare Enterprises. Religare Enterprises, under the new management, filed a petition before the NCLT seeking cancellation of 2.5 crore Non-Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares (NCRPS) that were issued to RHC Finance, claiming them to be "void ab initio" and "unlawful". Religare listed brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh and RHC Finance as respondents in its application. It sought interim relief with respect to suspension of voting and dividend rights attached to the preference shares. During the proceedings at NCLT, the bench comprising Acting President B P Mohan and Member H K Sarangi asked whether its permission was obtained before alloting to NCRPS to RHC Finance. To which the counsel replied in the negative. "On the contrary, the counsel for the respondents argued that the only urgent petition has to be taken up for hearing and there is no need to take up the main petition at this point of time," the NCLT said in its two-page order. Religare Enterprises' counsel stated that the AGM of the company was in progress (on September 29) and sought interim relief with respect to suspension of voting rights and dividend rights attached to the said 2.5 crore preference shares Admitting it, the NCLT passed an order to maintain status quo and restrained RHC Finance from voting.

The threat of a cyclonic storm hitting Gujarat appeared to have receded by Thursday evening as remnants of cyclone Gulab which had turned into a depression moved away westwards. The depression is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm away from the Gujarat coast, as per the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) report. Moderate rains were recorded in the coastal districts of Saurashtra and Kutch during the day. "The depression over northeast Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast moved west-northwestwards with a speed of about 15 km per hour in the last six hours and lay centered at 190 km west northwest of Devbhoomi Dwarka coast of Gujarat, 200 km south southeast of Karachi of Pakistan and 730 km east southeast of Chabahar port of Iran," the latest bulletin of the IMD said. "It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression over northeast Arabian Sea off north Gujarat coast during the next 12 hours," the weather department said. It is then very likely to move further west-northwestwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm during the subsequent 12 hours, the IMD said. "Thereafter, it is likely to continue to move towards Pakistan-Makran coasts," it added. IMD had earlier warned of heavy rainfall for the next two days in the coastal districts of Jamnagar, Porbandar, Dwarka and Kutch, and asked fishermen not to venture into the sea. Districts of Dwarka and Kutch received moderate rains along with Surendranagar and Botad districts of Saurashtra between 6 am to 8 pm, the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) said. Kalyanpur taluka in Dwarka district received 113 mm of rainfall during this period while Khambhalia in the same district received 56 mm of rainfall, it said. Lakhpat and Mandvi talukas in Kutch district received 47 mm of rainfall each, while Chotila and Thangadh talukas of Surendranagar received 56 and 52 mm of rain, the SEOC said in its release. Junagadh, Amreli, Dwarka, Jamnagar and Rajkot districts received heavy rains on Wednesday due to the present weather system, the SEOC said.

India and Australia on Thursday agreed to sign a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) by the end of 2022 preceded by an interim agreement before Christmas this year.The comprehensive agreement will cover trade in goods and services, and a pact on investments as well.Both sides will exchange offers on the proposed deal by October end, the visiting Australian minister for trade, tourism and investment Dan Tehan said, addressing the media along with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal after the 17th meeting of India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission.86662131“What we agreed today is to make sure that we will conclude a Free Trade Agreement between India and Australia by the end of 2022,” Tehan said, adding that the interim agreement will be consistent with article 14 of the World Trade Organisation.“We will begin discussing govt procurement, energy and resources, logistics and transport, standards and rules of origin. We have agreed to exchange offers by the end of October,” Tehan added. A joint statement said Goyal and Tehan had formally launched the resumption of negotiations on the India-Australia CECA.Goyal said prime ministers of both the countries had met in the US and laid out a roadmap for taking the India-Australian trade and economic affairs partnership to next level and escalate it to a comprehensive economic trade partnership.“We have set out some ambitious timelines and targets to meet and we agreed that both negotiating teams will take immediate steps towards very important outcomes to expanding India-Australia trading relationship,” Goyal told reporters.Both sides will set up dedicated negotiating teams to meet the timelines, Tehan said.The statement said both ministers discussed a range of issues during the 17th India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission meeting including resolution of tax-related issues faced by Indian software firms in Australia.Both ministers also agreed to work towards an ambitious and balanced outcome at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to be held at the end of this year.India’s exports to Australia amounted to $4.04 billion while imports were $8.24 billion in FY21.Major Indian exports to Australia are petroleum products, medicines, polished diamonds, gold jewellery, apparel etc, while key Australian exports to India include coal, LNG, alumina and non-monetary gold.In services, major Indian exports include travel, telecom and computer, government and financial services, while Australian services exports were principally in education and personal travel.In 2020, India was Australia’s seventh-largest trading partner and sixth largest export destination, driven by coal and international education.

India hit out at China on Thursday for once again holding it responsible for the eastern Ladakh standoff, asserting that the "provocative" behaviour and "unilateral" attempts by the Chinese military to alter the status quo resulted in a serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity in the region. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China continues to deploy a large number of troops and armaments in the border areas and it was in response to Chinese actions that the Indian armed forces had to make appropriate counter deployments. He said it is India's expectation that the Chinese side will work towards an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols. India's reaction came in response to China's fresh allegation that the "root cause" of the tensions between the two countries was New Delhi following a "forward policy" and "illegally" encroaching Chinese territory. Bagchi said India already made its position clear a few days ago and rejected such statements that have "no basis in facts". "It was the amassing of a large number of troops by the Chinese side, their provocative behaviour and unilateral attempts to alter status quo in contravention of all our bilateral agreements that resulted in the serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity along the LAC in eastern Ladakh," he said. "China continues to deploy a large number of troops and armaments in the border areas. It was in response to Chinese actions that our armed forces had to make appropriate counter deployments in these areas to ensure that India's security interests are fully protected," Bagchi said. He also referred to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's message to his Chinese counterpart at a meeting in Dushanbe earlier this month. "As emphasised by the external affairs minister at his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister earlier this month, it is our expectation that the Chinese side will work towards an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols," Bagchi said.

India's Adani Group on Thursday sealed a deal with the state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop and run the strategic Colombo Port's Western Container Terminal. As the first-ever Indian port operator in Sri Lanka, Adani Group will have a 51 per cent stake at the port's Western Container Terminal (WCT), a statement said. Adani Group signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with its local partner John Keells Holdings and the SLPA to develop the WCT at the Colombo Port, it said. The two local entities would hold 34 and 15 per cent stakes of the new joint company titled the West Container International Terminal. The Colombo Port is one of the most preferred regional hubs for transhipment of Indian containers and mainline ship operators with 45 per cent of Colombo's transhipment volumes originating from or destined to an Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) terminal in India. APSEZ is the largest port developer and operator in India and represents 24 per cent of the country's total port capacity. The WCT proposal came after Sri Lanka decided to retract the previous memorandum of understanding signed in 2019 with India and Japan on the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT). The state-owned SLPA signed a memorandum of cooperation in May 2019 with India and Japan to develop the ECT during the previous Sirisena government. The Colombo Port trade unions opposed the proposal of investors from India and Japan buying 49 per cent stake in the ETC. They demanded the ECT to remain 100 per cent owned by the SLPA as opposed to the 51 per cent. Under pressure from trade unions, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed to scrap the deal, prompting India to demand Sri Lanka to abide by its commitment to the trilateral deal with it and Japan. Both India and Japan found fault with Sri Lanka for reneging on an international agreement unilaterally. Japan had also conveyed its unhappiness with the Sri Lankan government. India and Japan are members of "Quad" or the Quadrilateral coalition of four Indo-Pacific nations that also includes the US and Australia. The four countries had in 2017 given shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the 'Quad' to counter China's aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region. China's influence is growing in various infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka as part of its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. China has invested over USD 8 billion in infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka. Colombo handed over its Hambantota port to Beijing in 2017 as a debt swap.

The Rajasthan government on Thursday banned the sale and bursting of firecrackers in the state from October 1 contending that smoke emanating from them affects the health of the people as the threat of a possible third wave of COVID-19 looms.The Home Department has asked licensing authorities to not issue licenses for the sale of firecrackers from October 1 to January 31 in view of the possible third wave of COVID-19 and to protect the health of the people, an official statement said.The department had banned the sale and bursting of firecrackers last year as well owing to air pollution and its effects on people who had contracted coronavirus.

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday directed the board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) to consider requisition made by the company’s largest investor to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) before October 3.The bench led by Bhaskara Pantula Mohan and CB Singh in its oral order directed the board of the company to consider the requisition as per Section 100 of the Companies Act.The tribunal has posted the hearing for the case to October 4.On September 11, Invesco, which holds 17.88% stake in ZEE, had sent a notice to the ZEE board requisitioning an EGM of the company to consider removal of MD & CEO Punit Goenka and two other non-independent non-executive directors from the company’s board and induction of six new independent directors.As the ZEE board did not announce an EGM date, and the 21-day deadline was to end on October 3rd, Invesco had filed a petition in the NCLT on Wednesday.Seeking the tribunal’s intervention, Invesco’s counsels argued that this is the case of Corporate Democracy.The offshore investors of ZEE also argued that the company is not running smoothly as it should have and as shareholders are concerned and hence they want to remove respondent no 2 (Goenka) from the board of the company. “After I give notice to Respondent No 1 (ZEE), the board has to convene a meeting within 21 days which will end on October 3,” argued Mukul Rohtagi, senior advocate, appearing for Invesco. “We have invested so far over Rs 5,000 crore in the company and now that we have lost the confidence in the present management, every day is important for us to call for EGM.”Senior Counsel Janak Dwarkadas, who also appeared for the investors, argued that so far the current board has not called for EGM because they have already informed the stock exchange that they have signed a non-binding term sheet agreement with Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) for some sort of merger.“We are not against the merger but it should consider by the board that we think would be a proper board to consider this merger,” argued Dwarkadas. “We are seeking the removal of Punit Goenka, but one of the points of the said merger is that he will continue to be MD in the merged entity for five years. Also, the announcement said that his shareholding will not change, and in that case, we fear that it will impact our interest and hence we want to hold EGM for the removal of Goenka.”Countering this, Gopal Subramanium, Senior Advocate for ZEE argued that the independent directors and board will hold their meeting and will take decisions on EGM.“This is happening before the 21 deadline, which ends on October 3,” he argued.A ZEE spokesperson said that the Board of the company is scheduled to meet as per the statutory time allotted, in relation to the matter. “The Company will continue to take all the actions needed in the interest of the shareholders and as per law,” said ZEE spokesperson.

Mumbai: Ola Electric has raised more than $200 million from Falcon Edge, SoftBank Group and others at a valuation of $3 valuation, the electric vehicle (EV) arm of the ride-hailing startup said.The funding will strengthen Ola’s “Mission Electric”, which urges industry players and consumers to commit to electric so that no petrol two-wheelers are sold in India after 2025, according to a statement issued on Thursday. It will also accelerate development of other vehicle platforms, including electric motorcycles, mass-market scooters and an electric car.“I thank our existing investors and welcome new ones to Ola. Together we will bring mobility to a billion and sustainability to the future,” Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.This is Ola Electric’s fifth fundraising—excluding the $10 million it received from Bank of Baroda last year—since inception, according to Tracxn data. The company counts Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd., Tiger Global, Matrix Partners India and Ratan Tata as among its investors.Set up in 2017 to run e-taxis, Ola Electric diversified into manufacturing EVs after the Covid-19 pandemic crippled the company’s ride-hailing business. In February, the company launched the Ola Futurefactory—touted as the world's biggest electric two-wheeler plant—near Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. Ola is also getting into the used car business, even as its taxi vertical is showing signs of a revival.Scooter SalesThe announcement of the fundraising comes two weeks after Ola sold electric scooters worth Rs 1,100 crore during the two days that the purchase window was open.Ola restarted on September 15 sales and bookings of its electric scooters—S1 and S1 Pro—on the Ola app only, after the website built for purchases ran into technical difficulties in the previous week. Sales reached a peak of four units per second on Thursday, Aggarwal had tweeted then. "In total over two days, we have done over Rs 1,100 crore in sales! This is unprecedented not just in the automotive industry but it is one of the highest sales in a day (by value) for a single product in Indian e-commerce history,” he had said in a blog post. “We truly are living in a digital India.”The purchase window is now closed, but the scooters can still be reserved on Ola Electric’s website. The sale will restart on November 1.Also Read: Ola wants to be the Tesla of affordable EVsThe ScootersThe Ola electric scooter undercuts rival offerings from Ather Energy, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors on the price front but still promises greater range and higher performance.Launched at a starting price of Rs 99,999, includes FAME II subsidies but excluding state-level tax breaks, the Ola electric scooters come in two variants:The cheaper Ola S1, which gets a 2.98 kWh battery pack good enough for travelling 121 km on a single charge. The top speed is restricted at 90 kmph.The costlier Ola S1 Pro, which gets a 3.97 kWh battery pack with a range of 181 km. It has a top speed of 115 kmph.Ola will also roll out an at-home service network in every city where it sells its EVs and said that buyers can expect a 40% lower total cost of ownership for its EVs as compared to petrol-powered scooters in the market today.The scooters also include features such as keyless lock/unlock, different modes and profiles for different riders, and will even allow riders to set moods that will change the sound and display graphics. Both models will also get a reverse mode and hill-hold assist.Also Read: Ola to launch IPO in early 2022“Only around 160 million people in India today own a two-wheeler and that will increase significantly,” Aggarwal had said at the launch event on August 15. “While we need our people to own mobility solutions, we can’t let that be petrol vehicles. The only way out is to accelerate this electric journey, and that’s the vision with which we started Ola Electric.”

North Korea this week tested what state media called a hypersonic gliding missile, sophisticated weaponry that would be the nuclear-armed nation's latest technological advance and could factor into the strategic balance. Here are some questions and answers on the technology and North Korea's capabilities:What is a hypersonic missile?Hypersonics are defined as being able to travel at velocities of at least five times the speed of sound -- Mach 5, or more than 6,100 kilometres (3,800 miles) per hour. As well as their sheer speed, they can manoeuvre in mid-flight, making them much harder to track and intercept than traditional projectiles. By cutting flight times, they also reduce the opportunity to respond. Depending on the design, they can be capable of carrying nuclear warheads or conventional only, and have the potential to alter the strategic balance.Who has them?Russia is generally seen as the world leader in the technology so far, developing a range of new hypersonic weapons that President Vladimir Putin has dubbed "invincible". In July it successfully tested the Zircon, a ship-launched hypersonic missile travelling at seven times the speed of sound. It already has Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles and the air-launched Kinzhal (Dagger) missiles in its arsenal. Russian officials say the Avangard has reached a staggering 33,000 kilometres per hour during tests. Others are looking to catch up: Washington is spending billions on several research programmes and said this week it had successfully tested an air-launched hypersonic missile built by Raytheon that reached a speed "greater than Mach 5". China has also tested hypersonic glide vehicles, according to the US Congressional Research Service, which says both Russian and Chinese hypersonic systems are designed to be nuclear-armed.What exactly does North Korea have?Details on the North Korean missile -- the Hwasong-8 -- are limited. Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said the test had "confirmed the navigational control and stability of the missile", the "guiding manoeuvrability and the gliding flight characteristics of the detached hypersonic gliding warhead", and the engine. It did not say what speed it had reached, but added that it had an "ampoule" fuel system -- a propellant canister that could eliminate the need for launch-site fuelling. Ordinary liquid-fuelled missiles cannot be transported with their propellant on board as its volatility makes it too dangerous to do so. Instead, they must be fuelled immediately before launch, a time-consuming process that gives an enemy ample opportunity to locate and destroy them.Has there been independent confirmation?Seoul has not confirmed what type of missile it was. The US and South Korea are security allies and have extensive radar and surveillance technology observing the North. The South's military usually detects and announces ballistic missile launches within minutes of them happening, and did so on Tuesday. But it did not follow up with its usual practice of specifying the maximum altitude and flight distance. Media reports citing unnamed sources say it reached a height of around 60 kilometres and flew less than 200 kilometres, but did not specify its speed -- the crucial variable. In a statement, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff assessed it as being "at an initial phase of development and will take a considerable time to be deployed", adding the South Korean and US militaries were "capable of detecting and intercepting it". South Korea's Yonhap news agency suggested without citing sources that it could have reached Mach 3.What difference would it make?Some experts caution that hypersonic weapons may have only limited advantages, with a Scientific American article last month saying that "by no means do they constitute a revolution". But if Pyongyang goes on from this week's first test to fully develop hypersonic technology, "it would pose a significant military threat", said Cheong Seong-Chang, director of the Center for North Korea Studies at the Sejong Institute. "It is reasonable to assume the North is developing this missile with the US in mind," he told AFP, adding that it could be used as a bargaining chip in future talks with Washington. Tuesday's launch was short-range, but Pyongyang would look to develop mid- to long-range capabilities in the field, he added. "If developed in long-range, there is no country on earth, including the US, that can intercept such a high-speed missile."

The deadline for making demat and trading accounts know-your-customer (KYC)-compliant has been extended by another three months. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the deadline for making demat and trading accounts KYC-compliant to December 31, 2021, from September 30, 2021.As per a circular issued by the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) on September 28, 2021, "Based on the representations received from Participants and as per discussion held with other MIIs and SEBI, it is decided to extend the abovementioned timeline for existing accounts by another three months i.e. December 31, 2021."The original deadline was July 31, 2021, which was extended to September 30, 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the second time that the deadline has been extended. 86636196 86636218Updating KYC detailsAs per the circular issued by Sebi in April 2021, the depositories, i.e., NSDL and Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) are required to ensure that six important KYC attributes are updated in the existing demat, trading accounts.A demat, trading account holder is required to update the following KYC attributes:a) Nameb) Addressc) PANd) Valid mobile numbere) Valid email IDf) Income rangeFurther, the above-mentioned six KYC attributes are mandatory for new accounts opened on or after August 1, 2021. If the deadline had not been extended and the KYC attributes were not complied with, then the account would have become deactivated. Further, an individual would not be able to trade in the stock market. Even if an individual buys shares of a particular company, these shares could not have been transferred to his/her account, till the time KYC attributes were updated and verified.Many stockbrokers have been sending communications to their clients to update the required KYC attributes to avoid getting their accounts deactivated. Now with an extended timeline, account holders who have yet not updated their KYC details now have an additional three months to avoid getting their demat and trading accounts deactivated.Demat account holders should keep in mind that mobile number and email ID for KYC compliance have to be verified. Till the time mobile number and email ID are not verified, the demat account will remain under 'Pending for Activation'. Stock brokers will not activate the demat account till the time mobile number and email ID are verified. This is done so as to ensure that timely communications can be sent to the investor.

The growth in IT stocks is still intact for the long term investors. Even at current levels, in the next coming quarter, the numbers are likely to be very good and they are likely to beat expectations, says Chakri Lokapriya, CIO & MD, TCG AMC. If the world is so obsessed with ESG, how come the non-ESG dominated stocks like Coal India and NTPC are making a comeback?It is a combination of a number of factors in the case of power utility companies. Last year, because of the lockdown, there was very low demand for power -- both corporate and consumer. As the unlocking is happening, globally there are supply side issues -- not just for coal but also for natural gas and oil because these are various heating elements. There has been a huge surge in the price of national gas worldwide and therefore some of the utilities worldwide are shifting to coal. Alongside, coal prices have gone up. NTPC as a market leader is seeing demand coming back, the valuations are very attractive at about 1.1 times book value of a company of its size. Today roughly about 10% of a portfolio is moving towards renewable energy. So a lot of actions are happening and companies are becoming ESG compliant. But it is important to remember that even if we fast forward another 15-20 years, oil will continue to cater for 40 to 50% of the entire energy requirement globally. Also coal utility will continue to play a very important role now. All utility companies which have linkages to coal such as Tata Power, NTPC will get higher valuations and in any case, their valuations are very attractive. So there’s a combination of demand coming back, worldwide disruptions and alternative energy sources. There is an expectation that NTPC is moving towards smart meterings. Smart metering is to lower the ATC losses that happen because of various reasons. When smart metering happens, they can pinpoint who is using how much power. A combination of structural initiatives plus situational ones is causing this run. There is still some leg up left in the sector. So which one would you go for -- NTPC, Coal India, Power Grid?NTPC clearly because while coal is still the mainstay, solar is above 10%’ valuations are still on the upside, utilisations are still very low, in the 70s. So it has operating leverage and therefore the profit margin will be high. So, NTPC still looks attractive at current levels. What are you looking at buying on a decline from the IT space?In the IT space, all the names continue to look good. The relative valuation of Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech might be cheaper than Infosys and TCS but we like all of them. Also the second line companies like MindTree are extremely well placed. In the cloud-based world, each company needs to get itself accreditations and to qualify to participate in biddings. From that perspective, TCS has the highest number of activations, even higher than Infosys and HCL Tech. So at the end of the cycle, they will win big orders faster than the other large companies. TCS continues to look good but so do the other IT companies; HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra. The IT stock valuations have run up a lot. In the last couple of days, we have been seeing them underperform. Long term, it looks good. Is this just an aberration that we are seeing?Indeed. There is a market rotation and we need to be aware of that. The stocks have done very well and hence there has been a certain rotation away from these stocks. The growth is still intact though for the long term investors. Even at current levels, in the next coming quarter, the numbers are likely to be very good and there is a very good chance that they will beat expectations fairly strongly. Part of it is reflected in the valuations but we need to recognise that new technologies like SaaS will add much more revenues to Indian IT services companies. So there are strong legs of growth and they all look attractive.

India is likely to send a three-member team to participate in the Pabbi anti-terror exercise in Pakistan's Nowshera district from October 3 as part of the SCO RATS framework, a Times of India report said.The decision to hold the joint exercise "Pabbi-Antiterror-2021" was announced in March this year during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent.Headquartered in Tashkent, RATS is a permanent organ of the SCO with the objective to promote cooperation among member states against terrorism, separatism and extremism.The SCO is an economic and security bloc in which India and Pakistan were admitted as full members in 2017. Its founding members included China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.The government believes that India's participation is a sign of the importance that it attaches to the bloc in maintaining security in the Central Asian region and that it doesn't in anyway dilute India's stand on Pakistan as promoter of cross-border terrorism, the report added. The purpose of the exercise is to identify and suppress channels of terror financinag and doesn't involve participation of troops. The report said that India is likely to be represented by officials of the National Security Council Secretariat.

Around 7.57 per cent polling was recorded in the by-election to the Bhabanipur assembly constituency, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, till 9 am on Thursday, Election Commission sources said.During the first two hours, around 16.32 and 17.51 per cent voting was recorded in Samserganj and Jangipur seats in Murshidabad district, they said.Polling began at 7 am amid tight security.A total of 6,97,164 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the three constituencies.Votes will be counted on October 3.Banerjee, who lost from the Nandigram constituency in the assembly elections earlier this year, has to win this by-poll to retain the chief minister's post.Polls had to be countermanded in Jangipur and Samserganj in April following the death of two candidates.Long queues were seen since early morning outside several booths across the constituencies. Voting will continue till 6 pm.Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress supremo, is pitted against BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal and CPI(M)'s Srijib Biswas in Bhabanipur.

NEW DELHI: Shares of Indian Overseas Bank soared nearly 20% in early Mumbai trading on Thursday as the lender came out of the Reserve Bank of India’s prompt corrective action (PCA) framework because of an improvement in asset quality.At 09:25 (IST), shares of the state-owned bank traded at Rs 24.50 on the National Stock Exchange, registering a 19.80% jump from the previous close.On Wednesday, RBI said it has removed the state-owned lender from the PCA framework and accordingly lifted certain curbs.The decision was taken after the central bank’s board for financial supervision undertook a review of the Indian Overseas Bank’s results for the previous financial year and noted that the lender was not in breach of PCA norms.In the April-June quarter, IOB reported a standalone profit of Rs 327 crore, a 1070% year-on-year jump, as the lender was aided by an improvement in recoveries.The bank’s gross NPA ratio was at 11.48% as on June 30, an improvement from 13.90% a year ago, while the net NPA ratio declined to 3.15% from 5.10% earlier.IOB had been placed under the PCA framework in October 2015 because of weak asset quality and a deterioration in operating metrics.The PCA is a framework under which lenders with struggling financial indicators are placed under watch by RBI. The framework considers banks risky on the basis of three parameters – capital ratios, asset quality and profitability.Buoyed by hope of being similarly removed from the PCA list by RBI, shares of state-owned lender Central Bank of India, the last remaining bank under PCA, jumped 11% to Rs 23.60 on NSE on Thursday.

The pandemic-driven shopping spree is having at least one unintended consequence: emissions from shipping are on the rise again. Bored at home, consumers ordered everything from washing machines to Peloton exercise bikes, fueling a global trade in goods and boosting demand for ships to deliver them. With so many orders on the books, the container fleet is speeding up at sea, burning more fuel, according to Cargill Inc., the world’s top agriculture trader.The increase in shipping emissions comes just as the world faces a natural gas shortage that’s forcing electricity producers around the world to use more dirty coal and even fuel oil. It’s also at odds with prior forecasts, with the International Maritime Organization previously saying it expected “significantly lower” emissions from the sector last year and this.“Global trade is growing and that means emissions will come up from transport,” Jan Dieleman, head of Cargill’s ocean transportation business, said in an interview in London earlier this month. “Container fleet is speeding up, so emissions from that sector are going to be up, not down.”The boom is important in the battle against climate change because the shipping industry at large releases more carbon into the atmosphere than France and the U.K. combined. It has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050.Cargill’s views carry weight in the maritime industry because the company is a huge source of vessel demand. At any one time, the firm hires in more than 600 vessels, and, like many big rivals, it monitors emissions and fuel consumption carefully.Global trade is expanding rapidly and unevenly, causing disruptions to container freight trade. While China’s economy is fully back, several ports in the West are facing congestion due to covid-induced worker shortages. That’s delaying the loading and unloading of containers, creating a shortage and forcing some companies to resort to shipping in bulk products they would normally stuff into containers, Dieleman said.Shipping “activity is back to the heydays” and the market for carrying commodities including soybeans and coal is set to stay strong for the next three to six months, Dieleman said, adding that soaring energy prices will boost the coal trade in the coming winter months at least as China lifts imports.Still, emissions probably won’t return to the record levels seen in 2008 as the industry has invested in fuel-saving technology and supply chains have got more efficient, according to Dieleman. Another challenge is that the IMO can only rule what happens at sea, while most countries and companies are counting the whole life cycle of emissions. The IMO’s current target is to cut pollution by at least 50% by 2050, and it’s currently in discussions about how to achieve that. Proposals include a tax on CO2 and a $5 billion research and development fund. Earlier this year, the IMO essentially agreed to formally restart so-called talks on so-called market-based measures, which could be similar to a carbon market.Progress is slow partly because the IMO operates at the global level and so must balance competing interests from countries all over the world. By contrast, the EU -- a regional authority -- has recently set out plans to expand its Emissions Trading Scheme to shipping. “To some extent, it would be great if it’s all regulated globally, but I think the issue you’re going to have is that it’s not going to go fast enough,” Dieleman said. “It’s going to be probably the lowest denominator. And why would you not let certain jurisdictions go more aggressive?”The shipping industry needs to set a standard for emissions if it’s to attract new investments. While market dynamics could shift from a boost in dry freight to a recovery in tankers in the medium term as the world emerges from the pandemic, and people shift from buying things to enjoying experiences like traveling, long-term there aren’t enough ships being ordered. “If you are a ship owner and you want to add capacity, what are you going to buy? What technology are you going to buy? Who is going to finance you and under what kind of conditions? So we’ve seen very little ordering in the dry bulk,” he said. “If you take a little bit of growth in global trade going forward and the number of ships coming to the water, you have a pretty constructive picture.”

At the time of the EGM, Invesco must have sufficient support from the remaining 40% of the shareholders to ensure that the resolutions which they want to go through will actually be approved by the majority of the shareholders, says HP Ranina, Senior Advocate, SC. Invesco’s fresh salvo coming in for Zee Entertainment and the timing of this one is very interesting. Invesco’s second call for an EGM and removal of Punit Goenka is coming in just a week after Zee Entertainment signed and made an announcement on merger with Sony. What do you make of the timing?Both are separate issues. One is the merger and the other is removal of Mr Goenka and calling an extraordinary general meeting. Shareholders with more than 10% equity shareholding are entitled to call for an extraordinary general meeting and they can put such an item on the agenda that is deemed fit. It has nothing to do with the merger because the merger is still in the process of being negotiated with Sony Entertainment and one does not know whether it will go through or not. But of course, Invesco must have enough voting power so even if they can call for an EGM, at the time of the EGM, they must have sufficient support from the remaining 40% of the shareholders assuming that Invesco has at least 10%, to make sure that the resolutions which they want to go through will actually be approved by the majority of the shareholders.What could this mean for the fate of Punit Goenka? According to the contours of the merger with Sony, Punit Goenka was asked to stay for five years but Invesco and OFI Global China Fund -- who have almost 17% stake in the company -- are seeking his removal.The future will depend on the big shareholders mustering the requisite numbers -- more than 50% of the votes. Now even assuming that NCLT does not agree, even at the time of merger, an EGM will be held and at that stage, the majority of the shareholders can vote against the resolution if they have enough voting power. So everything boils down to one thing -- do they have enough voting power -- 50% or more to make sure that these merger was true. Whether Mr Goenka should continue or not is a matter of shareholder democracy. We have to see whether enough shareholders back Invesco in their attempt to dislodge Mr Goenka. That is a crucial point.

Heavy rains caused by Cyclone Gulab in Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have damaged standing crops of soyabean, cotton, onion and urad at many places, at a time when the country has been looking forward to the new crop to tame commodity inflation.Unprecedented rainfall in Marathwada has submerged the soya bean crop. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted formation of Cyclone Shaheen along the Gujarat coast in the next 48 hours, which would continue to pour water along the western coast. After a year of high commodity prices led by edible oils and pulses, the government, consumers and farmers were looking forward to a good kharif harvest. However, the delayed stay of monsoon may not only increase concerns about commodity prices, but also dampen rural spending as rain-damaged crops will reduce the earning of farmers. The water-logged fields are now waiting for the return of sunshine, but the IMD has cautioned that rainfall may continue till mid-October. Dheeraj Kumar, Maharashtra’s agriculture commissioner, said: "According to the preliminary estimate (the eye estimate), so far, crops over about 17 lakh (1.7 million) hectares have been affected due to the September rains. It includes soya bean, moong, urad and cotton, which has reported ball rotting due to excess moisture.”About 1.9 million farmers have sent intimations for insurance claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana this kharif season and the number could go up to 2.5 million due to the ongoing spell of rainfall, he said.Of the 14.5 million hectares sown under kharif crops in Maharashtra, soya bean covers 32%, or 4.6 million hectares. The price of soya beans had hit aall-time high in August. Vilas Uphade, a soya bean farmer from Latur, is staring at a big loss. Uphade is also chairman of the Vika Agro Producer Company, which has 1,500 farmer shareholders. "As of now, at least 20% of the crop will be lost,” he said. "Though the soya bean prices had crashed by 50% during the last one month, they were still ruling above the MSP (minimum support price). Farmers had high hopes of getting good returns." Soyabean Processors' Association of India president Davish Jain is, however, optimistic. "The situation does not look alarming as of now. Sunshine is needed for maturing of the crop, for the harvest operations and for sun-drying of the harvested crop," he said.Crisil Research director Hetal Gandhi said while he didn’t anticipate a significant impact on soya bean yield so far, “if the rainfall persists for another week, the yield could be negatively impacted”.More than 50% of the soya bean crop is produced in Madhya Pradesh. “Weak rainfall in the critical crop growing period of the first half of July and further excessive rainfall in September are likely to impact yield negatively, which could further have a bearing on prices which are already elevated as compared to last year,” he said. For cotton, which is in the flowering stage, excess rainfall in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Telangana could affect yield, Gandhi added.Pradip Jain, president of the Jalgaon Ginners' Association, has reported losses to the cotton balls in the northern Maharashtra region. Meanwhile, onion prices have moved up by Rs 5 a kg in the past fortnight at Lasalgaon APMC in Maharashtra, to Rs 19. "If it continues to rain for some more days, then there can be some more losses in onion crop," said Ajit Shah, president of the Onion Exporters Association.While the return of sunshine is critical to limit crop loss, the weather department is not very optimistic about it. KS Hosalikar, head of the Surface Instrument Division at the IMD, said the department was expecting heavy to extremely heavy rainfall on September 30 in parts of Gujarat including Saurashtra and Kutch and north Konkan. "Central India will continue to get rainfall till October 7. Some parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and adjoining areas may get rainfall till October 15," he said.Apart from the crop production and price concerns, industry and traders are also worried that the subdued returns for farmers may put a cap on the high hopes of festival season sales. Latur-based pulses processor Nitin Kalantry said: "Farmers were expecting good returns on crops like soya bean, cotton, etc. Now, if their realisations decline due to excess rainfall and the resulting crop damages, the rural spending can get curtailed to some extent."

There is now a very strong demand which will translate into much higher investment all over the world including India, which can be a spur for growth and trade, says Swaminathan Aiyar, Consulting Editor, ET Now. China is looking to increase power tariffs for its industries. Natural gas prices are going up; coal prices are expected to go up. Do you see inflation being transitionary in nature? Also what is the India impact of that? Inflation is going to rear its head. It has already reared its head the world over. India is more linked to the world economy on some of these parameters than people realise. So inflation is high in India. It is certainly rising in other places too. There is some volatility in India because food prices are going up and down. But I would simply say yes, inflation is a threat for every country. We have had so many years of mass printing of money without generating consumer price inflation. We are reaching the end of that and once that end is reached, we are seeing an unexpected and unanticipated spurt in prices across the board and supplies. Look at the ships piled up all over the place; look at the chip shortages which people are now saying will continue right till the end of 2022. On the supply side, there is a problem and on the demand side there is so much accumulated pent up demand! The money is out there and now with the end of fear of Covid, we are going to get additional demand in India and in the rest of the world. This is a global phenomenon and India is neither capable of going it alone or escaping it, although at the margin we can try to be a little better. Historically, this has been a high inflation, high interest rate country and we will continue to be that. The positive part of it is that there is now a very strong demand which will translate into much higher investment all over the world including India, which can be a spur for growth and trade. These are the positives, but yes inflation by itself is a dampener and we need to take care of that. But it is worth saying that there is a silver lining and that is now reflecting a strong increase in global demand and that is good for India.

New investment themes are attracting a lot of investor money and they are moving up as well. So rather than chasing momentum, if they focus on good fundamentally sound stocks, eventually those will also start doing very well, says Dipan Mehta, Director, Elixir Equities. Is it time for people to tilt towards the deep value stocks like power, PSUs, coal?We are in the middle of a classic bull market and we are seeing rotation of sectors and whatever is happening globally, I do not think will have a material impact on our earnings. Given the liquidity flows, this kind of a bull market may sustain for many years. In such a scenario, looking at how past bull markets have actually played out, if investors just wait and sit on good quality stocks and not try and chase every winning stock for that day or that month, they may be better off. From time to time, we are seeing new investment themes attracting a lot of investor money and they are moving up as well. So rather than chasing momentum, if they focus on good fundamentally sound stocks, eventually those will also start doing very well. Most importantly, they should avoid getting drawn into deteriorating the quality of their portfolio by buying bad quality stocks. That is one thing to keep track of and also not to leverage and over trade. After getting beaten down for the last two odd months, Tata Motors, M&M etc are making a comeback. Are you convinced about auto considering the semiconductor chip shortage, the EV disruption and, of course, the raw material cost pressure?We are also seeing rotation of sectors and laggard sectors are now coming into play. Investors are looking forward to good monthly figures coming from this point on considering that a lot of the lockdown issues are over and done with. We are seeing a very high degree of normalcy return into the economy and consumption spend. From that point of view, the next few months will appear to be very strong for auto sales, especially when one looks at the earlier base month. At the same time, each company is dealing with its semiconductor shortages and that has more or less been factored or priced in. But the real threat for the sector in the medium to long term has to be the disruption to be caused by electric vehicles. Competition is coming from start-ups which are well funded and prepared to take on huge losses. I will be a bit skeptical on auto sector.

Value investing lost lots of its fans in India in the last few years as value funds have severely underperformed the market. However, value investing found its mojo this year as value funds bounced back on the back of a market rally. Shivani Bazaz of ETMutualFunds.com spoke to Sorbh Gupta, Fund manager-Equity, Quantum Mutual Fund, to find out what is in store for value investors. “Before we talk about last year’s good performance, we need to understand why the value strategy underperformed from 2017- 19,” says Sorbh Gupta. Edited interview.Many investors have given up on value funds in the last few years. Suddenly these funds delivered good returns. How do you view the scenario?Before we talk about last year’s good performance, we need to understand why the value strategy underperformed from 2017- 19. As economic growth slowed down in the last few years, a handful of companies managed to gain market share and show growth in their respective sectors. The markets assigned disproportionately high valuation to such companies, making the markets highly polarized. While some of these were good companies, high valuations left little margin safety. In the post pandemic economic recovery, the growth appears more broad based and cyclical sectors are doing well. Value strategy usually does well in such a scenario . The pandemic led correction in March 2020 also allowed value funds such as ours to buy some high quality companies at good valuation. This is also aiding performance of value funds. Quantum’s loyal investors seem to have stayed on despite everyone writing off value funds in the last two years. Looking back, how do you view the period?Right from the onset, we at Quantum have focused on unambiguous communication on traits of value style and environment where value funds and QLTEVF could possibly underperform in the near term. Also, how eventually over a period the performance catches up. Further, in all investor interaction, we have highlighted the importance of having a long term approach while investing in equities. This clear communication has ensured that most of our investors have clarity about ups and downs of investing in a value strategy. This is reflected in QLTEVF’s investor vintage of 3.5 years (among the best in the industry). Internally, We have used this time to tighten our research and investment process, ensure that they remain relevant with the structural changes in the external environment. We have also spent a lot of time dissecting our performance metrics to ensure we don’t underperform for the wrong reasons. The definition of value seems to vary from scheme to scheme. What are value funds and what can investors expect from these schemes? What should they watch out for?While SEBI has carved out a value category, It has not defined what construes value style. Simply speaking, value style practitioners look out for and invest in businesses which are available at below their fair value but have a measurable and time bound catalyst. The value funds are designed to prioritize capital preservation over capital appreciation and tend to outperform when risk is adequately priced. Investors could look for the following portfolio characteristics to decipher whether the fund is true to being value or not: P/E of the fund is consistently lower than the benchmark P/BV of the fund is consistently lower than the benchmark Dividend yield of the fund is consistently higher than the benchmark. You are betting heavily on the financial sector, technology, energy and automobiles. What is the strategy?QLTEVF portfolio is built by a robust bottom-up research on over 200 companies and sectoral weights are a bi-product of our investment process. Over the last few years we have found value in cyclicals names like large banks, specialized NBFC, Automobiles, PSUs & Tech ( global cyclical) & materials. In an economic recovery, cyclicals tend to see the highest earning upgrades. Some of the portfolio stocks are well placed to see value unlocking through a time bound catalyst as the macro tailwind plays out. We have also been stress testing the portfolio companies to ensure they have the balance-sheet strength to survive a macro shock due to Covid-19 third wave or global uncertainties. Investors have finally realized that value funds can be risky. What is your view? What should investors be careful about?Equity investments can be volatile in the near term as the intrinsic value of any investment is realized over a longer period of time. In Warren Buffet’s words “ Equity Markets are voting machines in the short term but weighing machines in the long term’. The real risk for a long term investor in the equity market is permanent loss of capital. This is what the value manager’s like us try to reduce by means of effective ‘margin of safety’ and applying a strong management integrity screen. Investors should understand the manager’s style and also the environment in which different styles could outperform or understand. Further, style diversification is also something we believe investors should actively contemplate while deciding their long term equity allocation. The market is at an all time high. Do you think you will find value in such an expensive market?Markets are heterogeneous. Not everything is cheap or expensive at the same time (barring times of severe global dislocation like October 2008 or March 2020). After the recent rally, the benchmark indices appear expensive. Though stocks with valuation comfort are not as easily available as was the case in March-April 2020, there are pockets of value in the broader market. Some of the financials including NBFCs are very well capitalized and have more than enough provisions to tide over the possible NPAs accretion due to second wave. They have a history of strong underwriting abilities, have decent low cost liability franchise and are still offering decent upsides. Some of the well managed consumer discretionary names in the auto sector with strong balance sheet & attractive return ratios also are available at good valuations. Some companies in IT & Pharma are poised to benefit from improving global economic recovery. They offer ‘good business & attractive valuation’ combination What is your view on the market? Do you think the RBI will continue to keep rates low?The economic and equity market recovery from the March-20 bottom has played out exactly as a leaf out of the economic textbook. And very similar to what happened immediately after the previous two economic down -cycles 2004-05 & 2009-10. Uptick in exports and quick improvement in sectors like residential real estate (strong GDP multiplier) & IT (largest creator of white-collar jobs) indicate economic expansion should continue leading to earning the upgrade for corporates. This should keep the equity markets in good stead. Growth in private capex and pick up in credit demand from corporates for capacity expansion will be very important metrics to track to further confirm the trend. RBI has resisted, raising interest rates despite inflation moving beyond its comfort level risking inflation becoming endemic. With the U.S Fed moving towards tighter liquidity, RBI will have to follow suit sooner than later. However, if the interest rate hikes happens after economy has found its feet and is done in a calibrated fashion (it will be dependent on inflation data), it should not spook the markets beyond few days of knee jerk reaction.

Cryptocurrency, or "crypto" or "tokens", is all the rage right now. People are buying and using cryptos for varied purposes. Some mine it, that is earn cryptocurrency by solving cryptographic equations with the use of high-power computers, while some use it for buying goods and services, and some even invest in it with a view to earn profits on appreciation of these cryptos or a combination of all the options. Be that as it may, it is important to understand that there could be an "income" on such dealings, and this could be subject to tax.So, under what head would these transactions need to be reported as each head has its own computational provisions, tax rates, set-off and carry-forward of loss provisions, reporting requirements etc.? While currently, there are no specific guidance/specific tax provisions on taxation of cryptos in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act), one could draw inference from the general principles of taxation and tax the transactions based on the purpose for which they are used to report the gains and losses in the income tax return (ITR). One should keep in mind that not reporting transactions in cryptocurrencies in one's ITR can lead to penal consequences, and in some cases, there could be a risk of prosecution. Here is a look at how one can report crypto transactions in one's ITR. Reporting of cryptocurrency transactionsA taxpayer would have to report transactions related to cryptocurrency as business income if held as stock in trade, or capital gains if held as investments. If reported as business income, then ITR-3 form will be applicable to an individual in FY 2020-21, whereas if it is reported as capital gains from investment, then the individual would have to use ITR-2.Taxability under business income/capital gainsTaxability as capital gains: If cryptos are held as investments, then it could be argued that the profit/loss on such sale needs to be reported as capital gains/loss. If the cryptos are held for more than 36 months, then the gain thereon could be classified as long-term capital gains and be subject to tax at 20%, plus applicable surcharge and cess. Else, they could be classified as short-term capital gains, subject to tax at the applicable personal taxation rates. For long-term capital gains, indexation benefit could be availed to increase the cost on account of inflation.Taxability as business income: If cryptos are held as stock-in-trade, then it could be taxed under the head business income. The income (net of expenses like purchase cost for cryptos, depreciation on computers/laptops, salary, rental expense, cost for maintenance of accounts etc.) from such activity of trading could be taxed as business income. As mentioned above, for individuals having business income, the prescribed ITR Form, i.e., ITR-3 is to be used (in which case, accounts are required to be audited after specified threshold is crossed). Business income is taxed as per the prevailing slab rates (assuming non-presumptive basis of taxation), plus applicable surcharge and cess.How to report in ITR-2/ITR-3If cryptos are treated as investment, then long-term capital gains on sale of cryptos would need to be reported under CG schedule of ITR -2/ ITR-3 (if there are sources of business income), it will be reported under the head "From sale of assets where B1 to B8/B9 above are not applicable" for FY 2020-21. Short-term capital gains on sale of cryptos would need to be reported in CG schedule of ITR-2/ITR-3 for FY2020-21, under "STCG on assets other than at A1 or A2 or A3 or A4 or A5 above". Further, the return of income needs to be filed before the due date to claim carry-forward of capital losses, if any, for set-off in subsequent 8 years against earnings from capital gains.On the other hand, if treated as business income, then sale of cryptos needs to be reported in Part A -Trading account under "Sale of goods" in ITR-3. The net profit/loss from sale of cryptos after reducing the permissible expenses, needs to be reported under the head, "Net profit before taxes". For loss incurred in cryptocurrency transactions, the return of income needs to be filed within the due date (July 31 of the year following the tax year, for an individual without any audit requirement, and October 31 following the tax year, if the individual is subject to a tax audit). For FY 2020-21, the aforesaid extended due dates are December 31, 2021 and February 15, 2022, respectively. If the loss is not a speculative loss, then such loss could be carried forward for 8 Assessment Years ('AYs') and set-off against business income.Reporting of cryptocurrency holdings in ITRIf an individual qualifies as resident and ordinarily resident, there is a requirement to report foreign assets under schedule FA, "Details of Foreign Assets and Income from any source outside India" irrespective of income in the tax return. However, do keep in mind that there are no clear guidelines from the tax authorities on whether cryptos are to be considered as a foreign asset. As cryptos are digital assets, the location where the server is located and the law of the land under which protection is sought could be treated as the location where these assets are located. If it is determined that cryptos are located outside India, then they need to be reported in schedule FA of the ITR.Additional reporting requirement in ITRFurther, if the net taxable income of the individual exceeds Rs 50 lakh, Schedule AL of the ITR Form is also required to be filled. This schedule requires an individual to report his immovable assets, jewellery, bullion, etc., archaeological collections, drawings, painting, sculpture or any work of art, vehicles, yachts, boats and aircrafts, financial assets like bank balances, including deposits, shares and securities, insurance policies, loans and advances given, and cash in hand. Further, any liability in relation to such assets are also to be reported such as home loan taken for buying a house etc. Currently, there is no guidance on requirement to report cryptos in schedule AL of the currently notified ITR forms. Penal consequences for not reporting cryptocurrencies in ITRIt must be noted that non-reporting/non-disclosure of these transactions could have various penal consequences. Some of the penal consequences are:a) If foreign assets/income are not reported in the FA schedule (mandatory for every individual holding foreign assets irrespective of income), it could attract notice for assessment for up to 17 years under the Act. b) Further, it can also attract various penal consequences under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. Some of these are: i) A penalty of Rs10 lakh under the provisions of the Black Money Act. ii) Further, undisclosed foreign income or assets shall be taxed at the flat rate of 30 per cent. No exemption or deduction or set-off of any carried forward losses which may be admissible under the existing Income-tax Act, 1961, shall be allowed.iii) The penalty for non-disclosure of income or an asset located outside India will be equal to three times the amount of tax payable thereon. This is in addition to tax payable at 30%. iv) Further, there is a risk of prosecution.Hence, it is imperative that individuals make proper reporting/disclosures in the tax returns they file and pay appropriate taxes on these transactions when such income is earned. Considering the widespread use of cryptos, and in the absence of guidance on taxability of cryptos, the government should consider coming out with necessary guidelines on taxability of cryptos and the reporting requirements. (Homi Mistry is a Partner with Deloitte India. With inputs from Ajay Nahata, Senior Manager with Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP)