Seasonal Magazine - Cover Story - JSSAHER

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Volume 19 Issue 10 OCTOBER 2021

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Managing Editor Jason D Pavorattikaran Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Associate Editor Carl Jaison Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Office Assistant Alby CG Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D Pavorattikaran

For those who are yet to see this, the video supposedly shows how an unmanned but orderly flock of ducks in UK are patiently waiting for the busy traffic to stop, and then crossing the road safely. In a similar vein, a cat supposedly in Japan, waits patiently for the cars and trucks to cease, before crossing a city road safely and casually.

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Then comes a seemingly Indian lady walking without any care whatsoever, right into a busy road, and causes screeching brakes and a mini carrier truck to topple over. The highlight of this funny video is that she doesn’t even stop to see the calamity she caused but continues her haphazard crossing of the other half of the road beyond the median.

There may be a few fake elements in this video. That is not the point at all.

The point here is that, as those who drive on Indian roads, all of us have seen such totally careless behaviour. That realization is enough. Also, ducks and cats in India too may cross roads safely. But the relevant point here is that the kind of ordered public behaviour of people and traffic in developed countries may be rubbing off a bit on the animals & birds there!

But the video is more thought provoking for an entirely different issue. This year, India is celebrating the 30th anniversary of economic liberalization.

There is not an iota of doubt that liberalization was the most pressing reform India needed. If anyone doubts that, it would be educative to read a recent interview of NR Narayan Murthy, which shows how it was like to do business in India pre liberalization and post liberalization.

Infosys was around 10 years old, when liberalization came on. Before liberalization, the tiny firm faced an unimaginable scale of problems in procuring everything from computers to foreign exchange for travel to even a basic landline telephone! But due to their perseverance, they could manage things, and some investor finally agreed to buy them out for Rs. 2 crore.

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Why India Needs To Refocus On How Different We Are A hilarious social media video comparing how ducks in Britain, a cat in Japan and a certain Indian lady, were crossing busy roads, not only gave a good laugh but also got us into thinking. Many of you might have seen this video, or various iterations of it.

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Most cofounders of Murthy wanted to cash out, but he encouraged them to hold on, and then came liberalization, which changed the whole context.

As he notes in the interview, the enlarged context changed the aspirations.

Today, that Rs. 2 crore firm holds a market capitalization of Rs. 6.5 lakh crore.

And due to their unique wealth distribution policy, Murthy and colleagues gave away stocks to thousands of employees, which is worth Rs. 1.5 lakh crore today, thereby spawning hundreds of dollar millionaires and thousands of rupee millionaires. Even those who held jobs like of drivers, peons & maids ended up as millionaires.

Hence, there are no doubts whatsoever regarding liberalization. But has liberalization succeeded in ending India’s poverty, even after 30 years and different ruling parties and leaders? Absolutely not. India continues to have the largest poor population in the world. The reason is simple enough to understand. It is that we are different. Very different in fact, from most countries, even our nearest neighbours like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh

& Sri Lanka.

Economic liberalization failed to achieve its full potential because it was a very Western idea, which India could adopt blindly for some spectacular gains, but which we could not adapt intelligently to suit our realities, which is all about how different we are. And how different are we?

To start with, India has always been an agrarian economy, with more than 50% of the population depending upon agriculture for their livelihood, for most of our history. Unfortunately, market economics that got unleashed by liberalization always runs contrary to the needs and aspirations of such populations.

Secondly, even in the rest 50% (or 60-70% as estimates vary) of the population that is employed in industrial and service sectors, over 90% are still employed with firms in the informal sector. Which means small firms that fall into the MSME sector or the even more tiny self-employed class. Barely 10% of Indians working in industry & services are in formal government jobs and established corporates with social security benefits like health insurance, pensions etc. The rest of the Indians are left to fend for themselves!

Thirdly, India is a very diverse population, unlike no other on the planet. The 28 states in India talk 28 different languages or dialects, and have their own unique culture. Still another uniqueness is that even after decades of organized efforts in delivering free primary education, around 25% of Indians are illiterate.

Since this list of differences can go on and on, it is better to cap it with our number of poverty stricken people, which continues to lead the world.

Many of these differences have fundamental reasons beyond just poor planning or administration or even a large population. Take for instance our poverty level itself. How is poverty eradicated at the family level? Only when earningage members develop more ambition to accumulate wealth for themselves. But many Indians traditionally regard such ambition as selfishness, and tend to look after the interests of a wider family, consisting of parents, grandparents etc.

This is not a bad thing either. The breakup of extended families in the developed nations, has inevitably led to the breakup of even nuclear families there in recent decades, driving up single parenting and dragging down birth rates even beyond sustainable levels. In sharp contrast stands India’s family bonding, compassion and selflessness, which is really a reflection of how we are also guided by a spiritual mind-set.

But the relevant point here is that reforms should take into consideration such unique aspects that make India quite different from most other countries. Aspects like our second-largest population, agrarian economy, informal employment, cultural & linguistic diversity, lingering illiteracy and challenging poverty levels.

That is why Gandhi always exhorted his colleagues to base decisions and reforms only on one checkpoint – how it will affect the poorest of the poor Indians? Will it help them come up in life or will it pull them further down, beyond economic redemption? Gandhi’s ideas like “the soul of India lives in her villages” gradually became unpopular, with mass migrations to cities, in search of employment.

This has resulted in not only unsustainable cities, but the creation of a new class of urban poor who is worse off than the rural poor.

Another social media video that was doing the rounds recently was that of a 10 storey building in China being completed in less than 29 hours. While the feat made us all go gaga, its flipside needs to be noted. It is driven by automation and what if such technologies are adopted massively here in India? Tens of thousands of construction workers would be pushed into poverty. Hence, we need to realize that every development or innovation anywhere in the world need not be beneficial for us.

At the time of writing this, stocks across the world are tumbling down, due to China jitters. Some of the largest stocks in China, especially of technology companies like the food delivery firms are leading the crash. Foreign Institutional Investors are dumping these stocks rapidly, and were causing even American and worldwide stocks to fall as a chain reaction. The reason? Chinese government recently started enforcing minimum wages for these millions of delivery workers!

This shows the unsuitability of blindly adopting Western style market economics, for countries like India and China, and signals that it is high time that we started refocusing on what all differences makes us unique in this world, so that we may know what reform and innovation to adopt and what to shun.

John Antony SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

How Industries Will Spearhead Tamil Nadu’s Ambition to be a Trillion Dollar Economy 2030 is the deadline the new Chief Minister MK Stalin has set for the state to be a trillion dollar economy by way of Gross State Domestic Product. It is only achievable under the leadership of the manufacturing and service sectors, as the state has rapidly reduced its reliance on the agriculture sector. To grow into a trillion dollar economy by 2030, Tamil Nadu would require private investments worth Rs. 23 lakh crore which should create jobs for 46 lakh people, within this decade. Ably assisting Chief Minister Stalin in this ambitious dream is the state’s new knowledgeable Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu.

Why the Big 4 Still Rule Auditing in India

India has more than 2,300 statutory auditors, but large firms go for network firms of Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY. Data from audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) also showed that at the same time, nearly 70% of all statutory auditors work with just one client, indicating smaller auditors find it hard to get a foothold in the upper end of the audit market.

10 Fruits Diabetics May Add to Their Diet And Why

10 fruits that are not just diabeticfriendly but are loaded with fiber and water content which can slow down the sugar spikes and sugar absorption rate.

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The Grand Rise and Demise of Evergrande As fears mount about its future, Evergrande says it is under tremendous pressure and may not be able to meet its liabilities. It warns that negative media coverage and rumours had led to waning confidence and falling property sales during a normally buoyant September selling period.

5 Reasons Why IRCTC Can be the Stock to Play the Pandemic Revival As the pandemic wanes, investing brains are screening hundreds of stocks that could benefit from the nation opening up fully, with everything from beaten down hotel stocks to buzzing pharma stocks being considered. But Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) can be the dark horse in this regard, with its high

LIC Shows Unique Capability in the Run Up to Mega IPO

It has been a few years now since Government of India made up its mind to list its crown jewel, Life Insurance Corporation of India. And it has been several quarters now since GoI and LIC actively started planning for the IPO. Due to the unique and mammoth opportunity it offers, investors too

Move Aside E-Commerce, Rapid Commerce Coming!

Grofers’ Saurabh Kumar has launched his new venture called Warpli, a full fledged online marketplace which will compete with incumbents such as Amazon and Flipkart in the hyper competitive

Now, Invest in International Real Estate, Sitting in India Mutual fund REITs can offer diversification at multiple levels. The underlying scheme invests in a bunch of real estate investment trusts.

India’s Inclusion in Global Bond Index To Benefit Bank and NBFC Stocks India’s inclusion in the global bond index is likely to have profound implications for the economy, FX, bond yields, and equity markets, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

How Sathyabama Moves Ahead, Unfazed by the Pandemic Issues

Why Petrol & Diesel are on Fire

High taxes and 16 rounds of price hikes in May after zero increases in election months of March and April have a role to play in India’s zooming fuel prices.

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CONTENTS

Inside Chipageddon, a World Starving For Silicon Chips

How JSSAHER Enriches its Students and Community

There’s a global race to manufacture semiconductor chips. Capex budgets across the world, from Taiwan to South Korea to China to the US, have increased to bolster the manufacturing and supply of

Mysuru based JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSSAHER) is forever being proactive and innovative with its initiatives, projects, industry collaborations and outreach activities, so much so that its students, research scholars, faculty and the community around it are being enriched continually, like how a true world-class university should be. No wonder then that national and international accolades are coming searching for this primarily health sciences university which has also diversified well into life sciences. JSSAHER remains at the cutting edge of delivering medical, pharma & dental

Study Says Healthy Food May Help Prevent Covid-19 Infection and Death

The Legendary Hasselblad is Back, Through Mobile Phone Cameras

OnePlus has added another dimension to phone photography by bringing the experience of using Hasselblad’s famous XPan camera to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro.

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Amazon India Signs Mega Lease Agreement with GMR Logistics Park

The demand for warehousing space has grown following the pandemic and has been led by growth in the e-commerce space as well as that of third-party logistics. E-commerce major Amazon India has entered into an agreement with GMR Logistics Park Pvt Ltd to lease a warehousing space spread across 10 lakh sq ft for a period of 20 years in Hyderabad, registration documents accessed by Propstack showed.

According to a new study, nearly one-third of covid-19 cases could be avoided if people had healthy diet that included lots of fruits and

What Makes Karunya A Top Choice This Year

Karunya Institute of Technology & Sciences, a leading deemed-to-be university based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, is one of the top choices for students & parents during this tumultuous academic year.

NEWS-IN-FOCUS INTRODUCING THE ULTIMATE WEAPON AGAINST PAYMENTS PAY 1/3RD CARD: UNI

LAMBORGHINI USED BY VIRAT KOHLI UP FOR SALE FOR RS 1.35 CRORE IN KOCHI

Fintech startup Uni Cards, which raised $18.5m in seed round, announced it launched India's first Pay 1/3rd Card, a BNPL card backed by VISA. Customers can split payments into 3 parts over 3 months for zero extra costs. Uni's new ad film showcases a Samurai who chooses this card for splitting price tags as the ultimate weapon against payments.

A Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, which was once part of India captain Virat Kohli's collection, is up for sale for Rs1.35 crore at one of Kochi's used luxury car showrooms.

The car can go from 0-100km per hour in just four seconds and can reach an electronically limited top speed of 324 km per hour. Kohli had bought it in 2015.

VACCINE IS A POLITICAL THING, ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCAMS: BIJAY J ANAND Speaking about why he isn't in favour of getting COVID-19 vaccination, actor Bijay J Anand said that he considers his body a temple, and he won't put any chemical inside it. "Even though I'm losing work, I won't get myself vaccinated," he added. "I feel vaccine is a political thing and..one of the biggest scams in..history of mankind," he said.

'SPORTS ILLUSTRATED' MODEL SUES TWITTER FOR $10 MN, ALLEGES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

HYD-BASED FIRM DEVELOPS 'COMPANION ROBOTS' FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

'Sports Illustrated' swimsuit model Genevieve Morton has sued Twitter in the US and demanded at least $10 million in damages. The South African model alleged that Twitter's algorithm contributed to copyright infringement by cropping photos of her that were posted by other users, and created unauthorised derivative works. She also said that Twitter was slow to remove her copyrighted material.

A Hyderabad-based firm, Achala IT Solutions, has come up with the concept of 'companion robots' for senior citizens that will engage them in conversation and relay information to caregivers in times of emergencies. The robots will also check health vitals like sugar, BP, body temperature and oxygen saturation levels of the elderly persons regularly.

UNESCO, UNICEF EXPRESS CONCERN OVER CLOSED AFGHAN GIRLS' SCHOOLS UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has expressed "deep concern" over closed girls' schools in Afghanistan, saying that if the girls' schools remain closed it will violate the fundamental right to education. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore has also said that the organisation was "deeply worried" that many girls may not be allowed back to schools in Afghanistan.

VOLCANO ERUPTS FOR 1ST TIME SINCE 1971 ON SPANISH CANARY ISLAND AFTER 22,000 QUAKES A volcano erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday, spewing fountains of lava and a plume of smoke and ash into the sky. The Cumbre Vieja chain of volcanoes, which last saw a major eruption in 1971, experienced more than 22,000 tremors this week. Authorities began evacuating people from nearby villages before the eruption.

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NEWS-IN-FOCUS WORLD'S 25 RICHEST FAMILIES COLLECTIVELY WORTH $1.7 TRILLION NOW: BLOOMBERG The world's 25 richest families added $312 billion to their collective wealth and are now worth $1.7 trillion, Bloomberg reported. It's a 22% gain since last August, Bloomberg added. The Waltons of Walmart emerged as the world's richest family collectively worth $238.2 billion, richer than the individual wealths of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the world's two richest people.

GLOBAL CAR PRODUCTION FORECAST FOR 2021 CUT BY 5 MN UNITS: REPORT IHS Markit has slashed its light vehicle production forecast for this year by 6.2%, or 5.02 million units, amid supply-chain issues, including the global chip shortage. It lowered its projection for 2022 by 9.3%, or 8.45 million cars and trucks. "This is the largest single adjustment to the outlook in what has been a turbulent past nine months," it said.

I GET REALLY JAZZED ABOUT AI, IT'S EVERYWHERE: APPLE CEO TIM COOK

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS HELPED CREATE MORE STARTUPS: PIYUSH GOYAL

Apple CEO Tim Cook told TIME, "I get really jazzed about [artificial intelligence]...The way that we're recognising your face, to your fingerprint. The way that we're grouping photos together, the way that Siri works." He continued, "AI is everywhere...We are at the very early stages of what it can do for people and how it can make people's lives easier."

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said that simplification, facilitation and ease of doing business have helped India create more startups. "India has been able to create the third largest startup ecosystem in the world since its launch," he added. Goyal further said that the government is creating future global leaders for promoting startups.

CRITICISM SHOULDN'T BE AT COST OF NATIONAL DIGNITY: ADANI ON INDIA'S COVID-19 HANDLING Speaking of India's COVID-19 handling, billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday said that "criticism cannot be at the cost of national dignity". "The fact that we [India] have fought back [COVID-19] should in itself be a lesson for all," he added. The Adani Group received the Priyadarshni Academy Ramkrishna Bajaj Memorial Global Award for his outstanding contribution to industry's development.

2,000 KG SEA CUCUMBERS WORTH Rs 8 CR SEIZED FROM BOAT IN TAMIL NADU; PICS RELEASED An Indian Coast Guard team seized 2,000 kg of endangered marine species sea cucumber, reported to be worth Rs 8 crore, from a boat near Tamil Nadu's Mandapam. Releasing pictures of the consignment, Coast Guard said it was meant for transhipment across International Maritime Boundary Line. "The boat [and] seized sea cucumbers were handed over to forest officials," said Coast Guard.

US CLOSES PART OF BORDER AFTER THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS ARRIVE IN TEXAS The US on Sunday blocked a part of its border with Mexico after thousands of migrants, most of them Haitians, arrived in Texas's Del Rio recently. A Mexican police officer said that migrants will not be allowed to cross anymore. Earlier in the day, three American planes flew some of the Haitian migrants back to Haiti, a US official said.

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NEWS-IN-FOCUS UK NOT RECOGNISING COVISHIELD IS DISCRIMINATORY, WE'VE RIGHT TO RECIPROCAL ACTION: INDIA The non-recognition of the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine by the UK is a "discriminatory policy", India said on Tuesday, adding that if the issue is not resolved, it is "well within our rights to take reciprocal action". "The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) has raised the issue strongly with the UK Foreign Secretary (Liz Truss)," said India's Foreign Secretary HV Shringla.

NOW ACHIEVE YOUR BIGGEST CAREER GOALS: SIMPLILEARN

A FUTURISTIC THING CAN'T BE SHUT OUT: FM SITHARAMAN ON ADOPTING CRYPTO IN INDIA When asked about whether India would adopt cryptocurrencies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "Are we...ready to go the El Salvador way? We have to be sure that a futuristic thing can't be shut out." "This isn't an era where you can say I don't care about what's happening or we don't want to do anything," she added in an interview.

Over the past 18 months, professionals worldwide achieved phenomenal salary hikes, promotions & career changes with Simplilearn, the online learning platform revealed. It offers Bootcamp programs in partnership with top universities and firms and has helped millions of learners upskill in Data & AI, Full Stack Development, Digital Marketing, MBA, other digital economy job areas, Simplilearn added.

2 MORE INDIAN BEACHES GET INTERNATIONAL BLUE FLAG CERTIFICATION, MINISTER SHARES PICS Union Minister Bhupender Yadav took to Twitter to announce that two more Indian beaches- Kovalam (Tamil Nadu) and Eden (Puducherry)- have received International Blue Flag Certification.

He shared pictures of both the beaches and said that India now has a total of 10 International Blue Flag beaches. Eight Indian beaches had received the certification last year.

GUJARAT'S STATUE OF UNITY GUIDES RETURN UP TOURIST'S PURSE CONTAINING RS 70,000 CASH Four guides working at Gujarat's Statue of Unity returned a purse containing Rs 70,000 cash to its Uttar Pradesh-based owner who forgot it at a food court during her Gujarat visit. Guides found the purse in the food court during their lunch break.

Since the woman had already left for Uttar Pradesh, officials handed over the purse to her Gujarat-based relative.

YOU ARE IN SAFE HANDS: RAHUL DRAVID INTRODUCES PRACTO CARE SURGERIES Practo signs Rahul Dravid as brand ambassador as it forays into secondary care with Practo Care Surgeries. With this, patients are promised access to expert surgeons, world-class technology, and a dedicated personal assistant to guide them through their journey.

Currently available for 50+ surgical procedures across six cities, it aims to provide high-quality secondary care services in India.

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NEWS-IN-FOCUS PM LAUNCHES AYUSHMAN BHARAT DIGITAL MISSION; EVERY CITIZEN TO GET DIGITAL HEALTH ID CARD

WOULD'VE LOST GALWAN, DOKLAM IF INDIA HADN'T INVESTED IN SECURITY: ARMY VICE CHIEF

PM Narendra Modi today launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, a scheme that will enable Indians to access digital health records. Under the mission, every Indian will get a unique 14-digit health ID card, which will contain all their health records. The nationwide rollout of the mission coincides with third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General CP Mohanty has said that if India had not invested in its armed forces, the country would have lost the wars in Kargil, Galwan and Doklam. "Even internal security in Jammu and Kashmir would have been in turmoil," he added. "It is the role of armed forces to ensure peace," General Mohanty said.

MUSLIMS ARE LIKE 'BAND BAJA PARTY', HAVE NO LEADER IN UP: OWAISI AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed on Saturday that while Uttar Pradesh's 19% population is Muslims, "there is no leader".

"The condition of Muslims has become like a 'band baja party' in a marriage procession where they're first asked to play music, but are made to stand outside...venue," he added. "Every caste" has a leader, but not Muslims, he further said.

RSS, BJP ARE FROM HITLER'S VAMSHA, BJP ARE TALIBANIS: SIDDARAMAIAH Congress leader Siddaramaiah while speaking at an event told people to "be careful" of the BJP, claiming, "RSS and BJP are from [Adolf Hitler's] 'vamsha' (genealogy). BJP are Talibanis." He alleged that BJP "has a factory of lies" and related it to Goebbels theory under Hitler's rule, wherein he had a minister called Paul Joseph Goebbels "for spreading false propaganda".

ASSURED PLACEMENTS WITH FULL STACK DIGITAL MARKETING ONLINE COURSE: NIIT NIIT's 20-week online Full Stack Digital Marketing Program covers core competencies like SEO, SEM, PPC promotions, social media, and email marketing. The interactive, mentor-led learning pedagogy from NIIT aims to enable learners to grow their businesses or start digital marketing careers. Eligible students get placement assurance* and attract relevant job offers from corporate hiring partners, NIIT said.

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PAK PM WRONGLY CLAIMS RONALD REAGAN COMPARED MUJAHIDEEN TO THE US FOUNDING FATHERS Pakistan's PM Imran Khan wrongly claimed former US President Ronald Reagan had compared Afghan mujahideen with the founding fathers of the US at the UN General Assembly. Khan said, "President Ronald Reagan invited them to the White House in 1983. And according to a news item, he compared them to the founding fathers of the United States. They were heroes."

READY TO PROTEST FOR 10 YRS, WON'T LET FARM LAWS BE IMPLEMENTED: TIKAIT Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said on Sunday that farmers have been protesting for 10 months and the government "must listen with open ears that even if we have to agitate for 10 years we are ready". He added that farmers won't let the Centre's three farm laws be implemented.

Tikait was speaking at an event in Haryana's Panipat.

NEWS-IN-FOCUS WOMAN BOOKED AS VIDEOS OF HER DANCING OUTSIDE MP TEMPLE GO VIRAL; APOLOGISES LATER Police on Sunday registered a case against a woman whose videos of dancing on Bollywood songs outside a temple in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur went viral on social media. A Bajrang Dal leader filed a complaint alleging that Aarti Sahu danced outside the Janrai Toriya Mandir, a Ram-Sita temple, in an "obscene manner".

Sahu later apologised in a video statement.

DON'T NEED TO INFORM TALIBAN ABOUT COUNTER-TERROR STRIKES IN AFGHANISTAN: US

APPLE'S 'APP TRACKING TRANSPARENCY' FEATURE IS A DUD: EX-EMPLOYEE

The US Department of Defense press secretary John Kirby has said America does not need to inform the Taliban while going in for a counter-terrorism airstrike in Afghanistan. This came a day after the Taliban reportedly demanded compensation from countries involved in fighting in Afghanistan. "We retain all necessary authorities to execute over-the-horizon counter-terrorism operations," said Kirby.

Apple's ex-engineer Johnny Lin told The Washington Post that Apple's 'App Tracking Transparency' feature is a "dud".

He explained that giving users the option to tap 'Ask App Not To Track' button gives them a "false sense of privacy". Three popular iPhone games were found sharing information with ad companies even after being asked not to track, the publication said.

HAMILTON BECOMES FIRST F1 DRIVER TO WIN 100 RACES WITH RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX VICTORY

RESUME INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS, PROBLEMS AT KABUL AIRPORT RESOLVED: TALIBAN TO AIRLINES

BITCOIN IS HOPE FOR THE PEOPLE OF EL SALVADOR: BILLIONAIRE SAYLOR

Lewis Hamilton made Formula One history on Sunday by becoming the first-ever F1 race driver to register 100 wins with his latest Russian Grand Prix victory. The seven-time world champion retook the championship lead from Max Verstappen.

"It's taken a long time to get to 100 and at times, I wasn't sure it would come," said 36-year-old Hamilton.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan appealed for international flights to be resumed, saying that problems at Kabul airport had been resolved. "The airport is now fully operational for domestic and international flights," the Taliban added. The normal commercial services at the airport were stopped since it was closed in the wake of the chaotic evacuation of foreigners and Afghans.

Michael Saylor, the billionaire CEO of American software firm MicroStrategy, on Sunday tweeted, "Bitcoin is hope for the people of El Salvador." Saylor was replying to El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele who said 2.1 million people in the country are "actively using" the government's Bitcoin digital wallet Chivo. "It has more users than any bank in El Salvador," Bukele added.

GAZA TO START REBUILDING HOMES DESTROYED IN CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL IN MAY The reconstruction of homes in the Gaza Strip that were destroyed or damaged during the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in May will begin in October, a Palestinian official said. Around 2,200 homes were destroyed and 37,000 others were damaged in the clashes, according to the local government.

The reconstruction will be carried out using financial aid from Qatar.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

here hasn’t been an academic year like 202122 in modern Indian history. A year in which, even the crucial qualifying examination of plus-two had to be scrapped due to the raging pandemic. While the Government, Courts & educationalists are trying to find the perfect formula to reach a consensus way to award plus-two marks without exams, students and parents are getting bogged down in endless confusions – where to apply for, what to apply for, when to apply for, which test to appear for, will we lose seat, will we lose money, will we lose a whole year, and what not! Seasonal Magazine, based on our decades of experience in covering the higher education sector, is strongly advocating parents & students to opt for only the best of universities in this difficult year. Universities that have survived years of dynamic changes in India’s educational and employment landscape, and have emerged stronger in their niche subjects. In this issue, we bring you a carefully chosen list of such private universities and what makes them stable choices in an unstable year.

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HIGHER EDUCATION

HOW JSSAHER ENRICHES ITS STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY

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Mysuru based JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSSAHER) is forever being proactive and innovative with its initiatives, projects, industry collaborations and outreach activities, so much so that its students, research scholars, faculty and the community around it are being enriched continually, like how a true world-class university should be. No wonder then that national and international accolades are coming searching for this primarily health sciences university which has also diversified well into life sciences.

JSSAHER remains at the cutting edge of delivering medical, pharma & dental courses, and has also introduced B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Medical Genetics and Genomics, a sunrise field now. Apart from its new mammoth campus which is under construction, JSSAHER is investing heavily into digital infrastructure for expanding its online education, where it sees exponential growth. The deemed university is ably led by JSS Mahavidyapeetha’s Executive Secretary Dr. C. G. Betsurmath and Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor of JSSAHER.

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When the Times Higher Education (THE), a Global Ranking Agency, recently released its World University Rankings 2022 which covers more than 1,600 Universities across 99 countries and territories, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research had a lot to beam about. JSSAHER became the only Indian university, apart from IISc Bengaluru and IIT Ropar, to come in the Top 500 ranks. No other government, deemed or private university from India could make into this prestigious list, which also made a mark as the largest and most diverse University rankings till date. Even from India, 72 Universities of all hues participated in this ranking.

There were more reasons for JSSAHER to smile about. While it was ranked in the 351-400 band in the THE ranking behind the two national institutes, when it came to research, the deemed university was at the very top. JSSAHER was ranked number 1 in India for the citations generated from its research publications, while in world ranking it came at the 8th position. The ranking methodology had assessed the institution’s performance across four areas - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

JSSAHER also bagged the fourth rank in India for International outlook. Speaking to Seasonal Magazine, Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor of JSSAHER said that rather than resting on these laurels, all

Primary Preventive Education Programme to mothers of children below one year of age at the ‘Baby Oral Health Promotion Clinic,’ which is a unique extension clinic of JSSDCH.

Dr. C. G. Betsurmath Executive Secretary, JSS Mahavidyapeetha efforts are now on to maintain and improve the university’s ranking in the coming years.

As a leading health sciences university in India, it is not only in academics and research, but in medical practice too that JSSAHER has been winning international accolades. Recently, Dr. Indira and Dr. B. Nandlal, Paediatric Dentists at JSS Dental College and Hospital (JSSDCH), received the prestigious 'Bright Smiles, Bright Future' Award from the International Association of Paediatric Dentist (IAPD) in the 28th IAPD Virtual Congress. This award is in recognition of an innovative Baby Oral Health

JSSAHER HAS BECOME THE ONLY INDIAN UNIVERSITY, APART FROM IISC AND ONE IIT, TO COME IN THE 'GLOBAL TOP 500 RANKS OF UNIVERSITIES' BY UK BASED TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION.

The six-year old Clinic was inaugurated

by Stefanie L. Russel from New York University, and this is not the first time that it has bagged an international recognition. Earlier, the International College of Dentist (India Section) had also recognised the Clinic as one of the best modality to promote oral health in children. This oral health delivery system is as per the recent goals of global oral health recommendations to implement such programmes at sites where the infants visit for vaccination or at a 'well baby clinic' to promote babies' visits to a dentist by one year age, to impart early oral hygiene & brushing habit and advice on teeth-friendly and safe feeding practices.

The Clinic has been instrumental in providing anticipatory guidance to mothers to prevent early childhood dental decay in children less than three years. More than 7,000 children have been benefited from this preventive JSS programme since its inception. The success and international recognitions for these efforts by JSSAHER underscores the passion and rigour with which this private sector university has been pursuing its community outreach

JSS Dental College and Hospital

handled by JSSRH is forging targeted alliances with partners for product development and commercialization.

And all through these activities, the JSSAHER Research Hub inculcates values and principles of international organizations like UN, WHO, and social organizations through various academic, outreach and research activities.

Dr. Surinder Singh Vice Chancellor programs so as to achieve meaningful and significant outcomes for the immediate community it serves.

JSSAHER could make rapid strides in research due to the establishment of JSSAHER Research Hub (JSSRH), which is the university's nodal centre for translational and transformative research for societal benefit. JSSRH achieves this by helping the individual institutions grow in research capabilities beyond their boundaries.

Towards this, JSSAHER Research Hub develops inter institutional research projects & grants, publications & patents.

It also disseminates curated courses in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Another responsibility

The functional wings of JSS Research Hub are Sparkle Cine, Entrepreneurship Cell, IPR Cell, Institution Innovation Council, Innovation Lab, Ideation Lab, 3D Printing facility, Special Interest Groups and the Centre for Advanced Drug Research & Testing (CADRAT). The various Centres of Excellence at JSSAHER in collaboration with the JSSAHER Research Hub empowers entrepreneurship development, industryinstitution partnerships and furthers the causes of environmental protection and sustainability.

The university and research hub spearhead a slew of activities throughout the academic year to achieve these objectives. These include research and academic activities focused on

TWO PAEDIATRIC DENTISTS FROM JSS DENTAL COLLEGE HAVE BAGGED THE PRESTIGIOUS 'BRIGHT SMILES, BRIGHT FUTURE' AWARD FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTS.

JSS College of Pharmacy

Dr. B. Manjunatha Registrar encouraging the spirit of innovation & entrepreneurship in both staff and students. A special focus area is the pursuit of collaborative and complementary research themes. The research hub organizes regular talks, seminars, lectures & workshops so as to germinate a conducive research atmosphere in the campus.

The outlook of JSSAHER's research initiatives are mostly all long-term.

Towards this the focus is on establishing long-term engagements and partnerships with industry partners and research institutions. Emphasis is given to developing patents and protecting

intellectual property rights of the research activities. All the existing national and international research collaborations including with government organizations are taken seriously and continually strengthened.

JSSAHER has been in the forefront of battling the Covid-19 pandemic both during its first and second waves. It also played a globally noted role as it was one of the select few clinical study centres for Oxford University's Covishield vaccine in India, based on which the vaccine was approved. Now, under the leadership of the university's JSS Hospital, it is fully geared up for extending its services to the people of Mysuru for the imminent third wave of the pandemic.

JSS Hospital which had already given 100 beds - most of them oxygenated - to the government during the earlier waves, has agreed to give 317 more beds to the

JSSAHER RESEARCH HUB (JSSRH), THE UNIVERSITY'S NODAL CENTRE FOR TRANSLATIONAL AND TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH FOR SOCIETAL BENEFIT IS SPEARHEADING THE UNIVERSITY'S RESEARCH INITIATIVES.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

School of Life Sciences district administration for battling the third wave. The Covid Care Centre of JSS Hospital has a total of 300 beds spread across six wards. As many as 200 staff including 60 doctors and 120 nurses and other medical personnel work in three shifts to take care of patients.

Based on its experience from the first two waves, the Hospital has upgraded its facilities to meet any eventuality. Since many people in and around Mysuru have been vaccinated, the hospital’s focus this time will be caring for the unvaccinated, especially children.

Towards this all paediatric ICU beds have been made oxygen ready. Dr. Suresh said that this teaching hospital of the university is now the most wellequipped in Mysuru to meet any eventuality.

The JSS Hospital is also planning to install a 5,000 Kilo Litre Liquid Oxygen Tank soon. Once it is ready, it will produce 500 litres of oxygen per minute, which is enough for supplying to additional 500 to 600 beds. Dr. Suresh informed that it has already been ordered and should be ready by about a month’s time. A new

oxygen generator will also be commissioned soon.

Karnataka Minister for Cooperation ST Somashekar, who is in charge of Mysuru has lauded the efforts and support from JSSAHER in tackling Covid-19 in the district during the first and second waves, and promised that the Government will extend all help in the setting up of Oxygen Plant at the earliest, for which Union Ministers from the state Pralhad Joshi and D. V. Sadananda Gowda will be appealed for follow up. He made these assurances while visiting the Suttur Mutt, which owns and manages JSSAHER's parent, JSS Mahavidyapeetha.

JSSAHER which has been a national level leader in hosting international

conferences, seminars and workshops, is continuing these initiatives in the online mode through high-profile webinars that are witnessing excellent participation from subject matter experts and key influencers.

JSSAHER's Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, under Faculty of Life Sciences, had organised a two-day National webinar and Infographic Competition on the theme ‘Food Safety: Everyone’s Business’ to commemorate the World Food Safety Day - 2021. The two-day virtual programme included two sessions each day addressed by internationally recognised Nutritionists, Academicians and Health professionals from reputed institutions and industries in the relevant field. The key

beneficiaries were JSSAHER's UG/PG students, research scholars and HCPs from different subject areas.

This webinar focused on the production and consumption of safe food which has immediate and longterm health benefits and synergies between the health of people, the environment and the economy. This event also helped everyone in understanding the role of safe practices in agriculture and in food industries to ensure food security as well as the quality of food products.

The webinar was inaugurated by Arun Singhal, IASCEO, FSSAI, MoH&FW. The keynote address was by Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor, JSSAHER.

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COVER STORY

100 DAYS AND BEYO HOW MK STALIN HAS UNLEA GRASSROOTS LEVEL EMPOW

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OND ASHED WERMENT

hief Minister MK Stalin has a glorious heritage to live up to. DMK Supremo and his Late Father M Karunanidhi has been one of the pivotal leaders who ushered in massive industrial development to the state, making Tamil Nadu rank at the top among all states in India when it came to industrialization.

At the same time, Karunanidhi was popular among the masses for his benevolent approach to the poor and downtrodden. These two objectives are often not easy to balance, yet Karunanidhi was a master at that. The first 100 days of Chief Minister MK Stalin now shows that there is every possibility that the young leader would easily fit into his Father’s shoes when it comes to balancing the often competing objectives of industrialization and economic support to the poor. Like all great leaders, instead of relying on his own experience and skills, CM Stalin moved quickly to set up an Economic Advisory Council of world renowned Indian economists. Despite Tamil Nadu producing many such economists, no Chief Minister before Stalin had ever thought of such a move.

The dynamic leader he is, the CM also moved quickly to attract industrial investments into the state, and within the first 100 days itself was able to attract Rs. 28.508 crore worth of new investments into the state across 49 industrial projects that will also generate 83,482 new jobs in Tamil Nadu. At the same time, being a grassroots level leader for long, MK Stalin understood the need for handholding the masses in these pandemic times, especially its poor and vulnerable like women and children. His Government has already waived Rs. 2756 crore of loans availed by Women Self Help Groups, and extended new loan assistance of Rs. 20,000 crore. He also became the first Chief Minister in India to introduce a separate budget for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. Stalin understands the burden on people due to food & fuel inflation and has also led the country in reducing the price of petrol and milk substantially in the state. The new government has also ensured that the state performed well in protecting the masses against the Covid-19 onslaught and has also deployed several welfare measures to compensate for the Covid losses. If this first-time Chief Minister can keep up this momentum for the rest of his term, Tamil Nadu is indeed in for some of its best days ever.

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100

DAYS AND BEYOND HOW MK STALIN HAS UNLEASHED GRASSROOTS LEVEL EMPOWERMENT

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HOW IND IN SPEARHEA AMBITION DOLLA

DUSTRIES WILL AD TAMIL NADU’S N TO BE A TRILLION AR ECONOMY

2030 is the deadline the new Chief Minister MK Stalin has set for the state to be a trillion dollar economy by way of Gross State Domestic Product. It is only achievable under the leadership of the manufacturing and service sectors, as the state has rapidly reduced its reliance on the agriculture sector. To grow into a trillion dollar economy by 2030, Tamil Nadu would require private investments worth Rs. 23 lakh crore which should create jobs for 46 lakh people, within this decade.

Ably assisting Chief Minister Stalin in this ambitious dream is the state’s new knowledgeable Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu.

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Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Tamil Nadu is currently at 300 billion dollars only, but having grown in the last decade (2010-20) by 3.7 times, from 82 billion to 290 billion, the deadline for a trillion dollar economy at 2030 seems quite feasible.

That is, unless, we take into account the rapidly strengthening competition from neighbours like Telengana, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh. The state has some issues indeed with its Ease of Doing Business, with it standing at only the 14th rank now in the EoDB Index among all states in India.

However, Tamil Nadu has other advantages with which it can compensate for EoDB, and the proactive leader he is, Chief Minister

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MK Stalin utilized the same to quickly attract Rs. 28.508 crore worth of new investments into the state across 49 industrial projects that will also generate 83,482 new jobs in Tamil Nadu, within his first 100 days itself.

France’s Araymond & Cryolor. The state which is known as the automobile hub of India, has also made it clear that it will pitch for Tesla as and when the electric vehicle giant decides to set shop in India.

Assisting him capably in achieving this feat was Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, under whom the Industries Department has rejuvenated itself. Over 100 new services have been launched under the single window clearance portal of the industries department.

Attracting such investments is possible for Tamil Nadu as the state ranks high in niche indices like Export Preparedness Index and the Innovation Index that these high-tech manufacturing and exporting organizations are looking for, while setting shop in a new destination.

Many of the new industries that were attracted to Tamil Nadu during these 100 days are international heavyweights like Singapore’s CapitaLand, Germany’s ZF, Koreas’s Hyoseong, USA’s AxleTech and

Another big edge that Tamil Nadu enjoys in attracting all kinds of industries is its unsurpassed pool of highly skilled, skilled and semi-skilled human resources. For example, most IT and manufacturing industries face

no issue in speedily hiring skilled employees in the state. In fact, this has given confidence to the new DMK Government to promise 75% reservation for Tamils in the private sector.

While all these goes for the large industries and service sector companies, CM Stalin is also ensuring that the smallest rung of micro businesses are being taken care of. The DMK Government has already waived Rs. 2756 crore of loans availed by Women Self Help Groups, and extended new loan assistance of Rs. 20,000 crore.

CM Stalin and Industries Minister Thennarasu have devised a three pronged strategy for the industries sector to spearhead the state’s move

to be a trillion dollar economy by 2030. These are expansion of industrial infrastructure, creation of an enabling ecosystem and highly targeted and proactive investment promotion.

Under the scheme for industrial infrastructure expansion, SIPCOT will create a land bank of 15 new industrial parks and upgrade its existing parks at an investment of Rs. 15,000 crore.

Under the creation of an enabling ecosystem, digitisation of Government-to-Business services, reduction of compliance burden,

investor-focused policies for sunrise sectors and financial assistance for large industries are being pursued.

And unlike with earlier regimes, the MK Stalin led Government will also be following highly targeted investment promotion to attract valueadded investments in the state’s focus sectors.

These three strategies would be very much needed for the state to be a trillion dollar economy by 2030, as it would require attracting investments worth Rs. 23 lakh crore which should create jobs for 46 lakh people, within this decade.

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TAMIL NADU TOURISM

INDIA’S TOURISM LEA BACK WITH MORE O Tamil Nadu has always been India's frontrunner in both domestic and inbound tourism. Then came the pandemic which inevitably took its toll on the tourism sector across India and the world, including in Tamil Nadu as its crown jewels like the hill stations in Nilgiris went in for lockdown. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu which had a landmark leadership change and is now under the very different management style of the new Chief Minister MK Stalin, is not only opening up its entire tourism infrastructure, but creating a brand new experience by using this opportunity to overhaul the entire tourism sector in the state. Assisting CM Stalin ably in this endeavour is the young Tourism Minister Dr. M. Mathiventhan, who incidentally is a postgraduate medical doctor, who made sure that 100% of people in Hill Stations were doubly vaccinated before opening

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ADER IS OFFERINGS

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At the heart of Tamil Nadu Government’s efforts to overhaul the entire tourism sector in the state is a new Tourism Policy and a Master Plan to spearhead it. The state which is noted for its numerous tourist destinations, will focus on improving the infrastructure at 300 such sites initially, as part of this Master Plan. The highlight of the new Tamil Nadu Tourism Policy will be that it will offer industry status to Tourism.

Delving into the finer details of the Master Plan it is clear that the objective is not just national leadership but for bringing up the state’s tourism infrastructure to world-class standards. Keeping in mind the increasingly younger age of domestic and international travellers, focus will be on creating attractive propositions for them like adventure tourism. Chennai’s famed Marina Beach will soon have recreational activities like wind sailing, jet boat and motorboat rides. Much focus is also being given to developing and promoting ecocamping sites that are a big draw for Rameswaram

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Marina Beach

Megamalai

youthful visitors.

At the same time, in order to protect the ecology of its prized destinations, new guidelines would be formulated to regulate caravan operators and those leading trekkers and hikers to such campsites. Since the tourism sector is eyeing exponential growth now, it will require certified professionals too. For this, the Department of Tourism is joining hands with the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation, to introduce a tourism & hospitality skill development and certification programme.

Much of the revenue and profits in the tourism sector hinge on attracting high value customers who don’t mind spending extra bucks for a superior experience. To tap such opportunities, the Master Plan has envisaged helicopter services between key tourist spots in the state like Rameswaram, Madurai and Kodaikanal. Towards this, the government will set up several helipads.

Many of the sites included in the new Master Plan are relatively lesser known destinations. The aim is to implement precisely what kind of tourism will work in each such location. For example, rural and plantation tourism would be encouraged at Megamalai and Kanniyakumari, apart from

Kodaikanal

at Udhagamandalam & Kodaikkanal., Likewise, various heritage sites at Poompuhar would be developed as per the Master Plan.

A key organization spearheading Tamil Nadu’s tourism initiatives has been the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation. The fully government owned TTDC has now completed 50 years of illustrious service to the state. And the new government and tourism minister has decided that it is time for a full revamp of TTDC. As TTDC offers many well-known and many little-known hospitality services, the effort will be to market them well. Towards this, all sitable TTDC services would be now marketed through national and international tourism aggregator portals like MakeMyTrip, Yatra and Goibibo.

TTDC is also being restructured to make it even more efficient and effective, and for this the services of private sector consultants will be taken. Cooperation with private sector will be mutually rewarding and the government will launch Tourism Awards for best-performing SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Kanniyakumari

Yercaud

Madhura Meenakshi Temple

hoteliers, tour operators, forex companies, travel agents and restaurant owners.

Once tourists from India and abroad arrive at a large destination like Tamil Nadu, one of their main lookout would be how to travel around the state to its smaller destinations.

This is not only in terms of the ease of travel but the variety of experiences. The state has awakened to this possibility and it is now mulling the feasibility of ship and boat services between tourist spots wherever feasible, considering Tamil Nadu’s long coastline and rivers. The possibility of operating cable-cars to hill stations and spiritual destinations is also being studied.

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At the ground level, tourist flow has been steadily growing ever since Tamil Nadu opened up its hill stations in Nilgiris like Ooty, Coonoor, Yercaud & Kodaikanal in late August. The several parks, gardens, boat rides and boat houses in these destinations, which were closed for between one year to four months were reopened to much cheer by the tourists and tourism industry. What began as a trickle is soon on its way to become a deluge as revenge tourism is gathering pace all across India and the world.

While other states may envy Tamil Nadu for its rapid opening up, the fact is that this has happened with much preparation. One hundred percent people in the Nilgiri Hill Stations have been given double vaccination for Covid-19 before making this move!

Botanical Gardens, Ooty

The tourism department is also cooperating closely with the forest department for the promotion of ecotourism on a large scale. The forest department has already identified five eco-tourism projects in the state, which will generate revenue for both the forest and tourism departments as the potential for trekking and ecotourism is high in the country. Though Tamil Nadu had trekking activities since the past 10 years, it was at a minimum level until now.

As part of the new eco-tourism initiative, Tamil Nadu will offer ecotourism packages which include trekking, jungle safaris, guided tours, and adventure tours with the support of the forest and tourism departments. According to industry experts, trekking and jungle tourism is not growing effectively in India as international trekkers are concerned about the safety aspect. This will change in Tamil Nadu now with the joining of forces of tourism and forest departments.

Tamil Nadu is also embarking on an ambitious plan, as announced in the budget, to get its beaches cleaned up for the international Blue Flag certification. Tamil Nadu Tourism Department has kick started this ecofriendly beach policy Mudaliyarkuppam, a popular lagoon and a weekend destination close to Chennai along the serene East Coast Road. Including Marina Beach, nine other coastal stretches in the state will vie for the coveted Blue Flag certification, for which Rs. 100 crore will be spent.

Coonoor SEASONAL MAGAZINE

FINANCE

INDIA'S INCLUSION IN GLOBAL BOND INDEX TO BENEFIT BANK AND NBFC STOCKS India’s inclusion in the global bond index is likely to have profound implications for the economy, FX, bond yields, and equity markets, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

India could be included in the global bond index in early 2022, a move that may attract $170-250 billion in bond inflows for the country in the next decade, said Morgan Stanley in a recent note. Investors have been staying away from the Indian bond market in the past few years given the widening fiscal deficit, above-target inflation and gradually weakening currency.

However, recent macroeconomic stability could change this in early 2022.

India’s inclusion in the global bond index is likely to have profound implications for the economy, FX, bond yields, and equity markets, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

India has shown a significant improvement in macro stability and the government has indicated its desire to push for capex-driven growth which is expected to result in an inclusion in the global bond index, making it the last emerging market to join the group.

Although India historically, has had a mixed response toward foreign bond inflows, the same has changed in 2020.

“The push for capex-driven growth alongside an improvement in macro SEASONAL MAGAZINE

stability has set the stage for a calibrated opening up of India’s government debt market,” Morgan Stanley analysts said.

The opening up of bond inflows, in Morgan Stanley’s view, hints at policymakers’ desire to push growth rates higher through investment. “It will push India’s balance of payments into a structural surplus zone, indirectly create an environment for a lower cost of capital and ultimately be positive for growth,” they said. The consensus expects India to join global bond indices but the timing and implementation remain uncertain. With the floodgates opening for bond inflows, equity market returns could be higher due to the positive impact on growth and interest rates, the global brokerage firm said.

“Obviously, equity performance is a function of the growth and interest rate outlook. Equity markets do well when the growth outlook is strong and the rate forecast is benign,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote. Indian banks are seen to be among the beneficiaries of the expected inflows. “We believe that the opening up of the sovereign bond

market and resultant inflows will have multiple implications for the banking sector,” they said. Morgan Stanley analysts believe that over time the inflows will add to the source of growth capital and help to manage interest rates.

Large private banks are expected to benefit the most. Meanwhile, multiples are also expected to benefit. “Lower interest rates coupled with better confidence in growth/profitability is a great outcome for stock multiples.

Overall, such a macro backdrop is good for equity prices, as it implies a lower cost of equity and stronger sustainable RoEs,” Morgan Stanley said.

Apart from banks, non-bank lenders are also seen as beneficiaries over the longer run. The opening up of the sovereign bond market and the resultant potential implications like lower longer-term GSec yields could result in favourable structural implications for NBFCs and HFCs — namely, higher foreign investor interest in corporate bonds, including NBFCs and HFCs, lower cost of borrowing and higher access to bond funding,” the report highlighted. Key frontline beneficiaries in Morgan Stanley’s view are likely to be Housing Development Finance Corporation, Bajaj Finance, SBI Cards, Mahindra Finance, and Cholamandalam Finance.

BUSINESS

INSIDE CHIPAGEDDON, A WORLD STARVING FOR SILICON CHIPS THERE’S A GLOBAL RACE TO MANUFACTURE SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS. CAPEX BUDGETS ACROSS THE WORLD, FROM TAIWAN TO SOUTH KOREA TO CHINA TO THE US, HAVE INCREASED TO BOLSTER THE MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY OF SEMICONDUCTORS.

ith most of the population locked inside their homes, the demand for consumer electronics skyrocketed while production dropped as factories were intermittently closed because of local outbreaks. Chip stockpiling in anticipation of supply difficulties by few companies made the situation worse.

The crisis even got a new name: chipageddon.

Even though the pandemic situation has eased, the chip crunch does not show any signs of abating. As per a Bank of America’s note to clients, supply constraints on semiconductor wafer and substrates would only partially ease in the second-half of 2021, while the tight supply of some leading-edge (computing, 5G) chips would extend into 2022 until the completion of inventory replenishment.

The

semiconductor

industry

is

substantially increasing its fab capacity utilisation to meet the demand springing up at a faster-than-expected pace. Yet, increased utilisation alone cannot meet the long-term demand growth for microprocessors, and chipmakers need to increase production capacity.

Chip manufacturing is a capital and R&D-intensive process. A report from Counterpoint Research shows that most tier-two foundries have been registering poor earnings, low margins, and high debt ratio during the past few years, and thus will be unable to expand production capabilities. Hence, the onus rests on the shoulders of the major players. With a record annual capex budget, the world’s leading foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), pledged to invest $100 billion over the next three years. Under its Vision 2030, the world’s top memory chipmaker — Samsung Electronics Co. — announced to invest a total of $116

billion in this decade. In its ‘Engineering the Future’ webcast, Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) Intel unveiled its plan to build two new factories worth $20 billion in Arizona by 2023.

The crisis has exposed geopolitical vulnerabilities well. Although the United States leads in developing the design of ICs, Taiwan and South Korea dominate the manufacturing. TM Lombard economist, Rory Green, estimates that Taiwan and South Korea account for 83 percent of the global production of processor chips, and 70 percent of memory chips. The US share of global chip production has declined to 12 percent from about 37 percent in 1990.

A lobby group in the US called the current crisis ‘a canary in the coal mine’ for future supply-line shortages.

As a latecomer to the semiconductor sector, the indigenous Chinese chip industry is relatively small, accounting for SEASONAL MAGAZINE

only 7.6% of total global semiconductor sales. Chinese chip firms primarily sell discrete semiconductors, lower-end logic chips, and analog chips to consumer, communications, and industrial end markets. Chinese chip firms are notably absent in the market for high-end logic, advanced analog, and leading-edge memory products. China’s indigenous semiconductor supply chain is even less developed. It lags significantly in advanced logic foundry production, EDA tools, chip design IP, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and semiconductor materials. Chinese foundries currently focus on more mature nodes, and China’s supply chain capabilities at the equipment and materials level are presently limited to older technologies.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is in vogue this year. Fair enough, but the problem is, crypto needs a lot of processing power to work. That has meant cryptocurrency miners are buying graphics cards and processors, in large numbers. So much so that Nvidia has to cut down the hash rate (mining efficiency) of the GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card in half for Ethereum miners, via a software update, to ensure there is enough supply for gamers. All this has also meant that prices of graphics cards, alongside dwindling availability, have shot up. “Added demand from cryptocurrency miners is coming when the chip industry is dealing with simultaneous crises — from supply constraints to a structural shortage of high-end chips. The squeeze should SEASONAL MAGAZINE

last through the end of the year," said CW Chung, head of research at Nomura, while soaking with The Financial Times. He goes on to explain how the Bitcoin and crypto currency rally earlier this year, led to a situation where demand from crypto miners represented a tenth of the entire sales of TSMC, the third-largest chipmaker in the world.

Pivoting on the chip-making business, the US Senate passed CHIPS for America Act under part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last year. In June, it passed the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which includes funding for Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. The Act will provide $52 billion for production and research on semiconductors, including $2 billion dedicated for auto-chips. The following week, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan Bill giving 25 percent tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and facilities investments.

Though the US administration has gone all out in reclaiming its position as the leader in semiconductors, it will take considerable time to yield up.

Meanwhile, China has also ramped up efforts to combat the dual challenge of chip shortage from the pandemic and US sanctions. Apart from pumping large amounts of money in research as well as loans, Beijing has provided tax incentives to the whole semiconductor ecosystem, including IC manufacturing,

IC design, IC equipment, IC materials, IC packaging, and IC testing enterprises.

Chinese companies have resorted to poaching engineers from top Taiwanese foundries to fill the talent void, which has compelled Taiwan to retaliate.

Reiterating that hi-tech talent is an essential issue of its national economic policy, Taipei told local staffing companies to remove all job listings in China. Moreover, it launched an investigation into recruitment firms allegedly hiring local semiconductor talent for mainland Chinese chipmakers.

The impact of the Sino-US trade war has reached Europe. The US pressurised the Dutch company ASML to block sales of extreme-ultraviolet lithography machines to China. Inundated with the demand for advanced lithography machines, ASML is facing the challenge of prioritising customers.

The European Union has also woken up to the alarming hazards of relying on Asian and US semiconductor supply chains. In her annual State of the Union speech last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed the urgency to create a “state-of-the-art European chip ecosystem,” including designing, testing, production, and insurance. She announced the plan to propose a ‘European Chips Act’ to increase the European share in the global chips market to 20 percent by 2030.

Ursula von der Leyen rightly said it is not just a matter of competitiveness but also of “tech sovereignty”. One thing is for sure, the ever-frantic technological race is not going to slow down anytime soon.

(Credit: Saranya, ORF, and Other Sources)

TREND

MOVE ASIDE E-COMMERCE, RAPID COMMERCE COMING! GROFERS' SAURABH KUMAR HAS LAUNCHED HIS NEW VENTURE CALLED WARPLI, A FULL FLEDGED ONLINE MARKETPLACE WHICH WILL COMPETE WITH INCUMBENTS SUCH AS AMAZON AND FLIPKART IN THE HYPER COMPETITIVE MARKET.

think existing e-commerce is too slow and built for an experience that is far behind what customers want, Kumar says. Three months after exiting Grofers, co-founder Saurabh Kumar has launched his new venture called Warpli, a full fledged online marketplace which will compete with incumbents such as Amazon and Flipkart in the hyper competitive market.

"I think existing e-commerce is too slow and built for an experience that is far behind what customers want. Customer expectations are evolving faster than what current e-commerce can keep pace with," Kumar told Moneycontrol in an interaction.

Kumar exited Grofers in July at a time when Zomato was planning to invest in the online grocer. The deal got signed

up in July which saw Grofers raising $100 million from Zomato and entering the much coveted unicorn club.

Interestingly, Kumar has announced his new venture ahead of the flagship festive season sale of Amazon and Flipkart which is scheduled to begin from October 3. On being asked why he was looking to venture into this over funded and saturated space, he said, "If money was the only problem then no new company will ever come."

While Amazon has invested more than $5 billion in India since 2013, Flipkart has invested over $7 billion.

Through Warpli, Kumar is trying to get the products delivered to customers in just a few hours if not minutes. "Majority of these products are in the market around you," said Kumar stressing upon the need to get the products delivered

WHILE AMAZON HAS INVESTED MORE THAN $5 BILLION IN INDIA SINCE 2013, FLIPKART HAS INVESTED OVER $7 BILLION. quickly to consumers instead of waiting for a couple of days.

Currently e-commerce companies take around 2-5 days to deliver products across the country. Warpli is hiring engineers and product managers and plans to launch the marketplace in a couple of months.

So far, Kumar has bootstrapped Warpli and will look to raise funding shortly.

Kumar who continues to remain a board members and a stakeholder at Grofers has no plans to exit as of now.

Interestingly, Grofers is also experimenting with express delivery in the grocery space and recently announced expansion of 10-minutes delivery across 10 cities in the country.

According to a recent report by consultancy firm Redseer, India's ecommerce industry is estimated to clock $55 billion in sales during 2021 with the addition of 40 million new online shoppers.

At the same time, quick commerce, which is defined as the delivery of items under 45 minutes, is expected to grow by 10-15 times in the next five years to become a $5 billion market by 2025.

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E-COMMERCE

Amazon India Signs Mega Lease Agreement with GMR Logistics Park THE DEMAND FOR WAREHOUSING SPACE HAS GROWN FOLLOWING THE PANDEMIC AND HAS BEEN LED BY GROWTH IN THE E-COMMERCE SPACE AS WELL AS THAT OF THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS. E-COMMERCE MAJOR AMAZON INDIA HAS ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH GMR LOGISTICS PARK PVT LTD TO LEASE A WAREHOUSING SPACE SPREAD ACROSS 10 LAKH SQ FT FOR A PERIOD OF 20 YEARS IN HYDERABAD, REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS ACCESSED BY PROPSTACK SHOWED. he lease agreement was executed on August 19, 2021, the documents showed. The chargeable area is 10.08 lakh sq ft and the starting rent is around Rs 2 crore per month (Rs 20.15 per sq ft). The lease starts from April 15, 2022, it showed.

The lease agreement provides for a clause for rental escalation of 15 percent every three years. As per the document, GMR Logistics Park Pvt Ltd is expected to hand over the first phase of the leaseable premises on April 15, 2022, and phase 2 of the leasable premises on September 1, 2022, the documents showed.

"It has been amply evident for the last year now that Covid-19 has provided a hockey stick growth boost to the digital economy. The new heavy dependence of the consumer on e-commerce is the new normal and Amazon continues to stamp its authority in India," said Shubhankar Dongre, co-founder, Propstack.

In January last year, GMR Hyderabad Aerotropolis Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad lnternationaI Airport Limited, formed a joint venture with global logistics real estate firm ESR to jointly develop a 66-acre logistics park in Hyderabad for Rs 550 crore.

ESR and GMR have entered into definitive agreements with an equity interest of 70 percent and 30 percent respectively in the special purpose vehicle (SPV), namely, GMR Logistics Park Pvt Ltd, the companies had then said in a statement.

Warburg Pincus-backed ESR has been on an expansion spree in India and had set up its first logistics and infrastructure park in Pune in November 2018, media reports said.

Recently, an affiliate of Amazon India SEASONAL MAGAZINE

had entered into an agreement with logistics development platform ESR to lease 606,000-square-feet warehousing space at Bhiwandi in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, news reports said.

This was for a period of 20 years. The lease was expected to start in 2022 and the rental agreement provided for a clause for rental escalation of 15 percent every three years.

Earlier, Amazon India had entered into a lease agreement of over half-a-million square feet warehousing space from the Xander Group’s industrial real estate platform for a long-term tenure.

The demand for warehousing space has grown following the pandemic and has been led by growth in the e-commerce space as well as that of third-party logistics.

According to a report by Colliers, leasing in Grade A industrial and warehousing spaces touched 10.1 mn sq ft in H12021 across the top five Indian cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Pune.

The demand was primarily driven by third-party logistics (3PL) companies, followed by e-commerce firms which

accounted for almost 31 percent and 22 percent of the total demand respectively, it said.

Delhi NCR led the leasing activity with a share of about 30.2 percent, followed

by Pune and Bengaluru with a share of 27.2 percent and 20 percent respectively. Almost 59 percent of the total leasing was in Grade A industrial and warehousing facilities indicating increased inclination for high-grade structures.

The average length of warehousing leases is also getting longer, ranging from 6-9 years and even longer in some cases, the report said.

“Demand for industrial and warehousing space will not only come from e-commerce, 3PLs, but also from medical suppliers, exporters, and cold storage operators. With same-day delivery becoming the norm, there will be significant activity in smaller facilities closer to cities, needed for last-mile delivery. The market will also see sizeable repurposing of defunct spaces into Grade A industrial spaces,” said Ramesh Nair, chief executive officer, India, and managing director, Market Development, Asia.

BUSINESS

after five years and audit firms after 10 years. These include listed companies, public companies with paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore and above, private limited firms with paid-up capital of ?20 crore and above, and all companies with ?50 crore and above borrowings from public institutions, irrespective of their paid-up capital. The cooling-off period between two assignments is five years.

Audit rotation seeks to enhance the integrity of auditing and reporting quality besides opening up opportunities.

WHY THE BIG 4 STILL RULE AUDITING IN INDIA India has more than 2,300 statutory auditors, but large firms go for network firms of Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY. Data from audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) also showed that at the same time, nearly 70% of all statutory auditors work with just one client, indicating smaller auditors find it hard to get a foothold in the upper end of the audit market.

Most of India’s biggest listed companies choose to work with network firms of the Big Four auditors, official data showed, indicating auditor concentration among premium clients and diluting the purpose of mandatory auditor rotation.

Even though India has more than 2,300 statutory auditors, most large companies go for network firms of Deloitte, KPMG, PwC and EY. Data from audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) also showed that at the same time, nearly 70% of all statutory auditors work with just one client, indicating smaller auditors find it hard to get a

foothold in the upper end of the audit market.

The absence of competition in the audit market is a big worry for regulators worldwide, but executives with large audit firms said large companies prefer them for valid reasons. “If all large businesses choose from three or four audit firms, then how can auditor rotation be meaningful? As in every industry, competition is vital in the audit world as well," said a person with knowledge of NFRA’s estimate of the audit industry.

Under the Companies Act, large companies and big borrowers have to mandatorily rotate individual auditors

The number of big auditors has come down from big eight in the 1980s to big four now due to consolidation and the failure of one firm; and any further consolidation could narrow competition which is not a good idea, the person cited above said. Emails sent to NFRA, EY, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC seeking comments remained unanswered till press time.

The network firms of the Big Four audited 522 companies in FY19, representing 75% of the market capitalization of the 5,023 listed firms for which data is readily available, NFRA data showed. This represents about 10% of the listed firms by number. On the other hand, 1,578 auditors audit only one company each, accounting for a small fraction of the listed companies.

However, the silver lining is that the level of audit concentration in India is less worrying than in some other western economies. Reuters reported in July from London, citing audit watchdog Financial Reporting Council (FRC), that the big four audited all FTSE 100 companies in a roughly even fourway split.

A senior executive at one of the big four firms said there are different segments in the market, and some large firms do not see value in assigning statutory audits to smaller audit firms for reasons that are no different from the trend seen in other markets.

(Credit: Livemint) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CRISIS

THE GRAND RISE AND DEMISE OF EVERGRANDE

As fears mount about its future, Evergrande says it is under tremendous pressure and may not be able to meet its liabilities. It warns that negative media coverage and rumours had led to waning confidence and falling property sales during a normally buoyant September selling period.

sector, regulators tighten scrutiny on the controversial practice of taking deposits from homeowners before a house is completed, a major source of funding for developers.

Under the new rules, local governments will set a maximum cap on deposits, hold deposits and release funds to developers in batches after inspecting the progress of projects.

Research firm Capital Economics estimates that Evergrande had 1.3 trillion yuan (more than $207 billion) in pre-sale liabilities at the end of June, equal to roughly 1.4 million homes it had committed to building.

AUGUST 2021: COURT BATTLES An advertiser sues the company for unpaid dues, the first in a string of cases filed by nervous subcontractors. Work at several construction sites grind to a halt.

Debt-mired developer Evergrande is struggling to appease angry homebuyers and investors knocking on its doors for cash taken as deposits for unbuilt homes and promised yields.

Here is a timeline of Evergrande's rise to one of China's biggest developers and demise into one of its worst debtors:

1996: THE DREAM BEGINS Steel-factory worker Xu Jiayin starts Evergrande, targeting millions of middleclass Chinese climbing onto the property ladder across the rapidly urbanising country.

2009/10: START OF EXPANSION After going public in 2009, Evergrande takes control of Chinese Super League club Guangzhou, renaming Guangzhou Evergrande and spends billions of dollars on foreign players, helping it to win a succession of titles. The company also moves into the dairy, grain and oil businesses and later tries to build an electric car -- kicking off a debt-fuelled spending spree.

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2017: RICHEST MAN Xu becomes the richest person in Asia with a net worth of $43 billion.

2018: CENTRAL BANK RAISES RED FLAG In November the first signs of trouble emerge when China's central bank adds Evergrande to its list of highly indebted conglomerates to watch, flagging that a potential collapse could cause systemic risks.

AUGUST 2020: 'THREE RED LINES' Regulators announce caps for three different debt ratios in a scheme dubbed "three red lines" that tightens lending to the real estate sector.

Evergrande sells 28 percent of its property management unit for $3 billion and starts offloading properties at increasingly steep discounts.

JUNE 2021: SCRUTINY ON HOME DEPOSITS As part of a crackdown on the property

Global ratings companies including Fitch, Moody's, and S&P downgrade Evergrande's outlook to negative, making it harder for the troubled firm to borrow money and raising fears of a possible bankruptcy that many fear could reverberate through the world's number-two economy.

The company says in a stock market filing that its total liabilities have swelled to 1.97 trillion yuan ($305 billion) and that it is facing the "risks of defaults on borrowings".

SEPTEMBER 2021: PUBLIC PROTESTS As fears mount about its future, Evergrande says it is under "tremendous pressure" and may not be able to meet its liabilities. It warns that negative media coverage and rumours had led to waning confidence and falling property sales during a normally buoyant September selling period.

Public protests erupt outside the company's headquarters in Shenzhen and other locations across the country, with angry investors and homebuyers demanding repayments.

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HEALTH

STUDY SAYS HEALTHY FOOD MAY HELP PREVENT COVID-19 INFECTION AND DEATH ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY, NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF COVID-19 CASES COULD BE AVOIDED IF PEOPLE HAD HEALTHY DIET THAT INCLUDED LOTS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. While getting vaccinated and wearing a mask indoors and in crowded spaces is paramount, the research, published in the journal Gut, suggests that eating properly may reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19, the Jerusalem Post reported. Also Read - Explained: Why You Might Not Need 'Boosters' After COVID-19 Vaccination

cent less likely to develop severe symptoms.

The study, led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, showed that people who had a healthier diet had a 9 per cent lower risk of contracting the virus compared to people who ate a poorer diet. Also Read - CDC Leader Adds People With Risky Jobs to COVID Booster List | Deets Here

Previous studies have suggested that poor nutrition is a widespread trait among groups disproportionately affected by the epidemic, but data on the link between diet and the risk of getting the virus and then developing severe symptoms is lacking, said study editor Jordi Marino, a doctoral student and instructor at Harvard Medical School.

Those who ate healthier were 41 per

Although doctors have stated that metabolic conditions including obesity and Type 2 diabetes can cause severe coronavirus complications, this study is among the first to add nutrition to the equation, the report said.

The study, led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, showed that people who had a healthier diet had a 9 per cent lower risk of contracting the virus compared to people who ate a poorer diet.

The team analysed data collected on 592,571 people from the US and the UK between March and December 2020. Each participant completed a survey of their dietary habits, with study authors scoring people’s “diet quality,” with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable consumption.

During the follow-up period, 31,831 participants developed Covid-19. The researchers also observed a cumulative link between poor nutrition, increased socioeconomic deprivation and Covid19 risk.

People who live in poor neighbourhoods and who rely heavily on fast food are much more susceptible to the virus. Models estimate that nearly a third of virus cases would have been avoided if one of these two conditions didn’t exist, explained Marino.

The researchers called for making healthy, plant-based foods more available and affordable to help advance the end of the epidemic. “Our findings are a call for governments and those who develop protocols to prioritize healthy eating and welfare with influential policies,” Marino said.

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INVESTING

NOW, INVEST IN INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE, SITTING IN INDIA MUTUAL FUND REITS CAN OFFER DIVERSIFICATION AT MULTIPLE LEVELS. THE UNDERLYING SCHEME INVESTS IN A BUNCH OF REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS.

underlying fund for its global REIT fund – has exposure to real estate investments in businesses such as personal storage, senior living and data centres, apart from sectors such as residential, industrial, hospitality, healthcare, retail and office spaces.

The PSREF largely invests in developed real-estate markets, apart from the Asia real-estate market. In last five years, PSREF has delivered annualised returns of around 7.4 percent in dollar terms. ahindra Manulife MF is rolling out a real estate investment trust (REIT) fund of fund (FoF).

Called the Mahindra Manulife Asia Pacific REITs FoF, the offer opens on September 28, 2021. The scheme will invest its entire corpus in Manulife Asia Pacific REIT FoF (MAPRF), which in turn invests in REITs globally.

PGIM India MF plans to launch a similar global REITs FoF in October, 2021. We already have a Kotak international REIT Fund of Fund, rolled out in December 2020.

REITs invest in income-generating realestate properties. A REIT invests funds sourced from investors and distributes dividends from the income it generates via its property investments.

Now, REITs are listed on the exchanges, so there is scope for capital appreciation as well. The value also increases due to

appreciation in the prices of real estate assets held.

Currently, there are three listed REITs on Indian stock exchanges: Embassy Office Park REIT, Mindspace Business Parks REIT and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust REIT. These REITs are Indiafocused and largely invest in office real estate for steady rental income.

Mutual fund REITs can offer diversification at multiple levels. The underlying mutual fund scheme invests in a bunch of REITs. Also, the mutual fund REITs being rolled out offer geographical diversification.

“As our underlying fund will invest in different countries, it can find opportunities across a variety of sectors,” says Ajit Menon, chief executive officer of PGIM MF. Menon points out that the PGIM Select Real Estate Fund (PSREF) – the

The NAV of the underlying fund reflects the dollar value of the investments. “The NAV of the FoF for the Indian investor will show the rupee value. So, domestic investors will also gain from the currency fluctuations as and when dollar strengthens against the rupee,” says Ashutosh Bishnoi, managing director and CEO of Mahindra Manulife MF. MAPRF also invests in specialised REITs, which have exposure to non-traditional REIT sectors, apart from retail, industrial, office and hospitality sectors. The Manulife fund is relatively new, being launched in September 2018.

Financial planners say the way mutual fund dividends get taxed is another reason that investors should look at mutual fund REITs for long-term capital gains and not as regular-income products. “In mutual fund REITs, the rental pay-out gets credited into the NAV. Under certain conditions, unitholders get tax exemption on dividends from the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

domestic-focused REITs, but it is not the case with mutual fund REITs,” says Deepak Chhabria, chief executive officer and director, Axiom Financial Services.

If the REIT has not opted for the concessional corporate tax rate, dividend income is tax-exempt in the hands of investors. As far as mutual funds are concerned, the dividends are taxed in the hands of unitholders, depending upon their income tax slabs.

For those in the highest slab, the effective tax rate can be as high as 42.7 percent.

Only if your overall income is less than Rs 5 lakh, is the dividend income exempted. On the other hand, the capital gains from an overseas FoF is treated as debt investment for taxation purpose. After three years, the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax rate will apply and investors will have to pay 20 percent on the gains with the indexation benefit.

Financial planners say investors should look at REIT FoFs as investment products that sit somewhere between equity and debt products. “Investors should have a long-term view, and also be prepared for volatility, as eventually this is a play on one investment theme, real-estate in this case,” says Kirtan Shah, co-founder and chief executive officer of SRE Wealth.

For example, the work-from-home trend following the COVID-19 outbreak has had some impact on office REITs, but sectoral diversification can somewhat soften the impact from such shocks.

Chhabbria says investors can use the REITs FoF for regular income, but not immediately. “If returns are good over time and a good corpus is built, investors can start a systematic withdrawal plan for regular income after three years, at the applicable LTCG tax rates,” he says.

Both the rental income coming from real estate holdings and any capital appreciation of the property gets added into the NAV of the scheme. Immediately opting for the dividend plan for income can even eat into your own capital investments if the fund goes through a period of low returns. Investors with a high risk-appetite and a long-term horizon can consider REIT offerings.

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KOTAK OFFERS HOME LOANS STARTING AT 6.5% P.A. Kotak Mahindra Bank announced that it's now offering home loans starting at surprisingly low rates of just 6.5% p.a.

This festive offer is available till Nov 8, 2021. Customers all over the country are expressing their surprise at the low rates and there's a surge in people applying for, or switching to Kotak Home Loans, it revealed.

DEMOLISH ONLY ONE OF TWO NOIDA TOWERS, MODIFY ORDER: SUPERTECH TO SUPREME COURT Supertech has moved the Supreme Court proposing demolition of only one of the 40storey twin towers at Emerald Court project in Noida. It stated that it's only seeking to modify the court's August 31 order, which directed demolition of the two towers, to save "crores of rupees". Supertech contended that demolishing one tower will ensure compliance with minimum distance requirements.

WORLD'S OLDEST TROPICAL RAINFOREST DAINTREE RETURNED TO TRADITIONAL OWNERS Australia's Daintree, the world's oldest tropical rainforest, has been returned to its Aboriginal custodians in a historic deal. The Eastern Kuku Yalanji people will now manage the national park with Queensland's state government. The Daintree national park is part of 160,108 hectares (395,467 acres) of land that has been handed back to the traditional owners.

AMAZON UNVEILS HOME ROBOT 'ASTRO' COSTING $1,000, TO BE SOLD ONLY IN US Amazon unveiled its first home robot 'Astro' that plays music, videos, podcasts and answers questions via Alexa while following its owner. Fitted with cameras and microphones, it can move autonomously around the home, allowing owners to keep a check on their homes even when they're away. To be available only in the US, 'Astro' will initially cost $999.99 (over ?74,000).

HEALTH

10 FRUITS DIABETICS MAY ADD TO THEIR DIET AND WHY 10 FRUITS THAT ARE NOT JUST DIABETICFRIENDLY BUT ARE LOADED WITH FIBER AND WATER CONTENT WHICH CAN SLOW DOWN THE SUGAR SPIKES AND SUGAR ABSORPTION RATE. For building the right kind of immunity, your diet and nutrition play an important role especially when you are diabetic. Eating fruits is one of the most satisfying ways to tackle sweet-tooth cravings while meeting your nutritional needs. Despite many studies and research on fruit consumption in diabetes, there are a lot of speculations on the right kind of fruit consumption and its relation to blood sugar levels.

Eating seasonal and locally available fruit has many health benefits ranging from reducing sugar and inflammation levels to fighting high blood pressure — thanks to their abundant vitamins and mineral presence! They are a powerhouse of antioxidants like vitamins A, B, C, E, and minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and fiber. Also Read - Mental And Emotional Health : How Emotions Impact Our Mental State, Watch Video Monika Manchanda, Chief Culinary Officer, and Co-Founder, LiveAltLife listed 10 fruits that are not just diabeticfriendly but are loaded with fiber and water content which can slow down the sugar spikes and sugar absorption rate. Also Read Stop Eating These 7 Foods if You Get Migraine Attacks

nutritious and filling; According to a study, they are significantly associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes if consumed in moderation. Turns out there is a truth in the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, after all!

Avocados are a great source of healthy fats and more than 20 vitamins and minerals. They are high in fibers as well and have been linked with lowering the risk of diabetes.

Berries: Adding berries is one of the best ways to add a variety to your diabetes-friendly diet. You can choose from blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries because all of them are power-packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and fibers.

Papaya is rich in natural oxidants, which makes it a perfect pick for people with diabetes. It reduces the chances of future cell damage.

Star fruit: This sweet and sour fruit is rich in dietary fiber and vitamin C. It also positively impacts anti-inflammatory processes and can help repair cell damage, and it has minimal fruit sugars as well.

Kiwi fruit is an excellent source of Vitamin E, K, and potassium, and they are low in fruit sugars as well, which makes it a perfect diabetic-friendly fruit.

Melons (Musk melon and watermelon): Powerful hydrating fruits like cantaloupe and melons are recommended for people with diabetes, and people with the risk of developing diabetes. Eat-in moderation for multiple nutritional benefits like fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B, and C. Dragon fruit is full of dietary fibers, vital vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Pears are nutrient-rich, and they are known to fight inflammation and improve digestion.? Studies also suggest that consuming pears along with a healthy diet reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Orange: This citrus fruit is full of fiber that helps slow down sugar absorption into the bloodstream, and its vitamin C component helps improve immunity levels.

Add fruit to your salads to enjoy their goodness with a sprinkle of cinnamon, it tastes better and reduces sugar spikes.

Add nuts like walnuts and almonds to complement your fruit snack. you can also add flaxseeds to balance the glycemic load in the body.

Apples: Apples are not just

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WHAT MAKES

KARUNYA A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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Karunya Institute of Technology & Sciences, a leading deemed-to-be university based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, is one of the top choices for students & parents during this tumultuous academic year. This is not only because Karunya has one of the best academic infrastructure in South India, but because this deemed university has been growing from strength to strength even during this pandemic period, under the visionary guidance of its Founder & Chancellor Dr. Paul Dhinakaran. Karunya’s School of Engineering & Technology is its flagship and largest school, which offers BTech not only in conventional branches, but in almost all sunrise domains like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, Automation, Data Analytics, Aerospace, Biomedical etc. Since the maximum quantum of jobs are projected to be in these sunrise sectors in the coming years, Karunya definitely makes it to be a top choice this year, when the pandemic has seriously affected the outlook for placements in the upcoming years. Karunya’s second largest school is the School of Science, Arts, Media & Management, which also is noted for its unique focus on next-generation joboriented courses like BSc in Forensic Science, Optometry, Information Security, Digital Forensics, Visual Communication, Criminology, Nanoscience, AI, Data Science, Design

etc and BCom with buzzing specializations like Banking, Capital Markets, Financial Technologies etc. Karunya is also home to two other departments – the School of Agriculture & Biosciences and the School of Health Sciences, which also offers the most job-oriented courses, including horticulture, biotechnology, genetics, microbiology, food processing, nutrition, physiotherapy, nursing etc. Admissions are now open for almost all these courses and Karunya is also noted for its scholarship program that grants Rs. 5 crore in student scholarships every year for meritorious students.

The university fares well in placements with over 80% students desiring placements getting placed while in the campus itself. In the current round of placements that is ongoing, already 372 companies have made 1066 offers with 304 students getting multiple offers.

Top ranking Indian and MNC corporates recruit from Karunya, with last year’s leading recruiters being Accenture and TCS. Yet another reason for choosing Karunya is its strong industry linkage. The deemed university is home to several Centres of Excellence by leading global tech majors including Siemens, Cisco, Novell, IBM, & Lancet. These tie-ups have been playing a crucial role in keeping Karunya’s focus on sunrise sectors vibrant and in sync with the emerging trends in the global tech industry.

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HOW SATHYABAMA

MOVES AHEAD,

UNFAZED BY THE

PANDEMIC ISSUES

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Chennai based Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology, a leading deemed-to-be-university in the country is surprising the higher education sector with its resilience. The credit goes to Sathyabama's three decades rich pedigree, being founded by (Late) Col. Dr. Jeppiar who was a successful politician, bureaucrat, entrepreneur, industrialist and edupreneur. This heritage is giving Chancellor Dr. Mariazeena Johnson and President Dr. Marie Johnson the power and creativity to overcome every hindrance thrown by the pandemic and still emerge stronger. Like a true university

destined for greatness, Sathyabama has strong focus on all dimensions that matter, including state-of-the-art digital deliver y of academics, premium physical infrastructure, faculty quality, updated curriculum, industry tie-ups, campus placements and applied research. Thanks to such overall performance, this private sector deemed university is today a leader in diverse courses spanning engineering, management, science, pharmacy, dental and other such professional domains.

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Admissions to various courses are now open at Sathyabama Institute of Science & Technology, a leading deemed-to-be university, based in Chennai. These include graduate, post graduate and research courses in engineering, architecture, management, arts & science, law, dental, pharmacy & nursing. To avoid further confusions in this difficult academic year, Sathyabama management led by Dr. Mariazeena Johnson has decided that there won’t be any entrance examinations for this year’s admissions. Instead, the deemed university will rely on plustwo marks, and to ensure greater fair play, transparency & meritocracy, will also give adequate weightage to JEE main scores.

Choosing a well-established university like Sathyabama is

Dr. MARIAZEENA JOHNSON Chancellor

important for students in this challenging year as too many things are remaining fluid due to the pandemic and the inevitable cancellation of the plus two exams.

Sathyabama was ranked at the 39th position among Universities in India

by NIRF, Government of India, for the year 2020. The stability of academics and operations at Sathyabama is evident from the fact that it has been ranked among the Top 50 Universities for the fifth consecutive year, now.

The university also fares well in campus placements with over 90% of students getting placed each year.

More than 350 companies recruit from Sathyabama campus now, and the latest round saw 1822 offers. The university classifies its recruiters as Dream Recruiters and Super Dream

Dr. MARIE JOHNSON President

TO AVOID FURTHER CONFUSIONS IN THIS DIFFICULT ACADEMIC YEAR, SATHYABAMA MANAGEMENT LED

BY DR. MARIAZEENA JOHNSON HAS DECIDED THAT THERE WON’T BE ANY ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS FOR THIS YEAR’S ADMISSIONS, INSTEAD BASING IT ON PLUS-TWO MARKS & JEE SCORES. Recruiters, and as of now there are 100 plus companies in the Dream category and over 25 companies in the Super Dream category. In the latest round, there were 36 Super Dream Offers, with final year student Adarsh bagging the honours of the highest offer at Rs. 41 lakhs per annum from Japanese tech major Diverta.

Impressively, apart from students in the engineering stream, placements are also bagged by students in architecture, dental, management, arts and science streams. Companies that have recruited from Sathyabama include Amazon, ADP, Oracle.

Cognizant, Wipro, Human Resocia, Capgemini, Hexaware, Verizon, Pulse Healthcare, LTI, Hitachi, Renault Nissan, DXC, Bonfigioli, Bajaj Auto, Godrej, TCS, NTT Data and many more such names.

The university’s success in placements owe a lot to its rigorous approach that includes Online Practice and Assessments, Training Modules including Quants, Verbal, Reasoning, Technical, Soft Skills, Certification Programs, Career Development Programs and Value Added Skill Developments. Training attendance should be at least 90%, and the university arranges for even off-campus interviews after the end of final semester.

In tune with the times, Sathyabama is also highly active in the startup domain. Over 18 student startups have been incubated at Sathyabama campuses so far. These startups have been partially funded by Sathyabama and spans products & solutions in

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startup world.

There was a time when higher education curriculum, even in engineering and management, was required to be updated every decade or so. But when the pace of technological developments accelerated, many engineering colleges and business schools started updating their curricula every few years. But even this has proved to be inadequate as disruptive technologies and innovations appear every quarter or so.

technology, healthcare, defence, transportation, farming, drones, waste water treatment, automotive, shielding materials, wearables for Covid patients, seaweed based cosmetics, shrimp supplements, ewaste management, air detoxifiers and more. The university is also highly active in the research field, especially in applied research, with more than 500 patents filed, over 100 patents published, over 90 patents granted and 10 patents having successfully undergone technology transfer.

Sathyabama has over 250 sponsored research projects, which are worth Rs. 100 crores. The university has more than 10000 publications indexed in Scopus with an H Index of 72 and around 5000 publications in Web of Science with an H Index of 62.

Sathyabama is home to a Technology Business Incubator (TBI), set up in assistance with National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), a nodal body coming under Government of India’s Department of

Science & Technology (DST). This TBI follows best practices by which all student proposals for a startup are scrutinized by an expert committee, followed by presentation of the shortlisted proposals.

These future entrepreneurs are also trained to share their concept in five minutes to potential investors, partners and customers. The TBI at Sathyabama provides free incubation support to potential startups and helps them to accelerate towards angel investors. There is also an active Entrepreneurship Development Club working in the campus that conducts workshops regarding various steps in starting a business.

Such workshops are led by leaders from the industry, especially from the

THE STABILITY OF ACADEMICS AND OPERATIONS AT SATHYABAMA IS EVIDENT FROM THE FACT THAT IT HAS BEEN RANKED AMONG THE TOP 50 UNIVERSITIES FOR THE FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR, NOW.

Sathyabama University has effectively tackled this challenge through various measures like industrial collaboration and certification programs. The deemed university has tied up with industry majors including Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Accenture, and more such companies to remain abreast of the latest trends in the industry and thus update their curricula whenever necessary.

Sathyabama is also a leader in delivering certification programs in emerging domains and delivers around two dozen such courses in areas like Cloud Computing, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), Data Science & Big Data, App Development, Embedded Systems & Robotics, Cyber Security & Forensics, Aircraft & Ground Maintenance etc. Sathyabama is one of the handful of deemed universities to have obtained approval for starting new vocational degrees BVoc and MVoc in domains like software development, hardware & networking, web technologies etc.

Sathyabama has emerged as a strong player in research programs, having undertaken research work for various central government organizations and has proved it mettle in entrepreneurial class projects by creating its own satellite that was launched by ISRO making it the first university to achieve that feat, a few years back.

Sathyabama has significant initiatives in both applied and basic research.

During the last five years, faculty and SEASONAL MAGAZINE

researchers at Sathyabama has been undertaking research for various government agencies with supporting grants.

These organizations include cuttingedge organizations like Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Science & Technology (DST), National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL), Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS), National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), Board Of Research In Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), among many such organizations.

Sathyabama has also launched a next generation laboratory in the campus, which will further boost research facilities in the university.

Sathyabama is structured as 10 broad schools, including 5 in engineering and one each for business, law, science/humanities, pharmacy, & dental. Sathyabama’s engineering schools are School of Computing, School of Electrical & Electronics, School of Mechanical, School of Bio & Chemical, and School of Building & Environment.

However, these five broad schools deliver 15 engineering degrees including in emerging areas like Mechatronics at the graduate level, while at the post graduate level there are 12 courses including in latest domains like Internet of Things (IoT), Medical Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence etc.

Sathyabama’s School of Science & Humanities similarly delivers 13 graduate programs including in buzzing domains like visual communication, Interior Design and 6 post graduate programs including sunrise sectors like data science, SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Robotics, Material Science. Research programs are also offered in most domains. Combining these with Sathyabama’s School of Management and School of Law, there is clearly the potential for interdisciplinary work, and students stand to distinctly benefit from this breadth of courses.

has resulted in ongoing academic delivery with not much disruption.

The university has been awarded with E Lead (E - Learning Excellence for Academic Digitization) Certification for exhibiting excellence in adopting ICT enabled Teaching and learning through online platforms, by QS.

Sathyabama had rapidly deployed an impressive digital infrastructure as soon as the first wave began and this

But as soon as the pandemic wanes, the focus will be back on Sathyabama impressive physical infrastructure. Its sprawling campus is noted not only for its impressive infrastructure but for the well-planned systems that make the whole Sathyabama team comprising of staff and students work with clockwork precision and effectiveness.

SATHYABAMA FARES WELL IN CAMPUS PLACEMENTS WITH OVER 90% OF STUDENTS GETTING PLACED EACH YEAR. MORE THAN 350 COMPANIES RECRUIT FROM SATHYABAMA CAMPUS NOW, AND THE LATEST ROUND SAW 1822 OFFERS.

It is in academic infrastructure that Sathyabama shines even more as no expense has been spared to ensure that its students get the best of classrooms, labs, libraries and auditoriums. The classrooms are spacious and modern

with excellent student seating and facilities, and are provided with LCD projectors and smart boards.

The lab facilities starting from the first year of all courses through to the final years are all modern and without cutting any corners. For instance the School of Computing’s multiple lab facilities include network programming lab, computer graphics and multimedia lab, digital signal processing lab, VLSI simulation and system design lab, linear integrated circuits lab, microprocessor and microcontroller lab, production drawing and cost estimation lab, cluster computing lab etc.

Science labs are also comprehensive, including biochemistry lab and plant cell and tissue culture lab. The internet infrastructure is also impressive with a dedicated Internet Leased line of 155 Mbps and a redundancy link

especially so during the last few years.

SATHYABAMA IS HIGHLY ACTIVE IN THE STARTUP DOMAIN. OVER 18 STUDENT STARTUPS HAVE BEEN INCUBATED AT SATHYABAMA CAMPUSES SO FAR.

of 100 Mbps, connected to all the terminals throughout the campus.

Students and faculty are free to access internet over Wi-Fi from locations like library, hostels etc.

Sathyabama is accredited by UGC’s National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) at Grade A. And unlike some of its peers, Sathyabama is also approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Sathyabama has put up a consistent performance all through its history, and

Sathyabama has been featured in the prestigious international rating by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), and has bagged an overall 4-Star QS Rating, with 5-Stars for three criteria – Teaching, Facilities & Inclusiveness – and 4-Stars for Employability and Innovation. Sathyabama has been awarded with Diamond rating by QS I-GUAGE for overall excellence, the rating for Indian universities by QS. Sathyabama is ranked among top universities in the world by Times Higher Education under the category World Ranking, Asia Ranking and Ranking by Subjects.

The university has also been ranked in a notable position among World Universities by Times Higher Education Impact Ranking for its contribution towards Sustainable Development.

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KIIT Deemed-to-be University

WHAT MAKES

KIIT A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR S

tanding tall with a total of 23 world-class constituent schools across a sprawling 25 sq km academic township, KIIT’s 30,000+ students are blessed to be a part of this highachieving varsity. It has been recognised as an “Institution of Eminence” by the Govt. of India. The cutting-edge nature of KIIT is not a recent development. Over the last two decades, the institute has set benchmarks in various capacities.

Starting with its outstanding placement record in the engineering stream, KIIT has been ensuring ‘Day Zero’ offers to its 3000+ graduates – something that even established universities find difficult to replicate. In its most recent recruitment drive, the highest salary offer of Rs. 30 lakh was rolled out on the very first day while the average package on offer was the pan-India average of Rs. 6 to 6.5 lakh. Other pay packages include Rs. 24 lakh and Rs. 19 lakh. At the business end of the placement season for 2020-21, around 140 companies took part in the virtual process offering a combined 4,000 job offers with as many as 1,600 students with multiple offers in hand.

Prof. Achyuta Samanta Founder, KIIT & KISS

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In its other departmental schools like management, law, computer application, biotechnology and rural management, the varsity also achieved 100% placements, including an average of Rs. 7.5 lakh for the MBA graduates.

Those with a flair for legal subjects will have plenty to choose from at the KIIT School of Law, which has the distinction of being among the top 10 law schools in the country. Its specializations include Business Law, Constitutional Law, Crime & Criminology Law Intellectual Property Law, Taxation Law and International Law – again, the only law school in the country to provide such a variety of options.

Earlier this year, a joint partnership between KIIT and BAR Council of India (BCI) sought to establish The Indian Institute of Law (IIL) in Bhubaneswar, with the former set to provide 2.5 lakh sq feet of land and bear 40% of the capital expenditure on infrastructure. This would be a first-of-itskind training institute for law that addresses the skill development concerns and enhance expertise on diverse legal matters.

The university’s emphasis on research and innovation cannot be under-stated. Apart from dedicated centres of learning and laboratories for each school, the varsity is only one among a handful of Indian institutions selected by Boeing India for its Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development programme (BUILD) with the mission to boost aeronautical entrepreneurship and boost aerospace development. Recently, Ishita Bhatnagar, third-year student of Aerospace Engineering at the School of Mechanical Engineering of KIIT won the ‘IT Golden Globe Awards 2020.’ The institute was also crowned the number one ranked self-financing institute in India in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020, an annual ranking by the Government of India.

KIIT Deemed-to-be university is also a 5-star rated institute according to the global higher education ranking aggregator, QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. The parameters of excellence were adjudged across eight categories including teaching, employability, internationalization, online learning, innovation etc. The varsity also fares well in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2021 within the ranking band of 201-300 in the overall category amongst global institutions of excellence and 4th in the

overall category among Indian universities. It is also the winner of the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2020 in the category “Workplace of the Year”, a testament to the institute’s highly productive environment both for faculty and non-faculty members.

Recently, KISS Deemed to be University, a sister institution, signed a MoU with the Sambalpur-based Gangadhar Meher University to collaborate on academic programs, student-faculty exchange, and internships among other initiatives. KIIT Deemed-to-be University has established academic tie-ups with 195 international universities, thereby opening up opportunities for higher education abroad. The varsity also encourages its faculty and students to publish in world-renowned journals with a total of 12,000 papers published and close to 4,500 papers with high citation index. Its international repute is furthered through its platform called the Nobel Lecture Series in which close to 22 Nobel Laureates have delivered lectures at KIIT on subjects ranging from medicine, chemistry, physics, biotechnology to economics.

KIIT Deemed-to-be University is a trendsetter in sports and global participation too. In a proud moment for KIIT & the country, three of its students - Dutee Chand, Bhavani Devi And Shivpal Singh – were selected to represent India in the Tokyo Olympics while a doctor working at the KIMS Medical, Sudip Satpathy, has been roped in as the physio for Indian men’s hockey team.

Shirisa Karami, another KIIT product, was selected to participate in the women’s volleyball team in preparation for the 31st World University Games to be held in China.

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ICFAI ONLINE MBA PROGRAM The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education has recently launched its Online MBA Program with the establishment of the Center for Distance and Online Education (CDOE). With close to two decades of experience in this space, ICFAI seeks to introduce contemporary technology tools and platforms in view of the increased demand for its courses in management. However, the twoyear fully Online MBA program is unlike any other currently available in the domain of management education. The program adopts a cafeteria approach to its electives along with an entrepreneurship practicum, which makes it possible for flexible and impactful learning.

Further, there is an emphasis on four unique learning propositions, including Micro-Learning, Gamification, Concept in Context and P2P Exercises. The weekly "Interactive Webinar Series', referred to as "WiseViews", is another unique proposition for all those interested in enrolling for the Online MBA Program that features high profile luminaries from industry and domainspecific experts who share their cutting-edge insights.

The Online MBA Program seeks to fulfill the demand for high quality management education at a time when on-campus lectures suffered a blow in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But, ICFAI Online is committed to providing a near-virtual campus experience through its Program for many aspirants who had to unfortunately miss out on the varsity’s state-of-the-art facilities housed in its 91-acre lush green campus.

Keeping in mind the needs of working executives & fresh graduates, the Program enhances the existing MBA SEASONAL MAGAZINE

curriculum to provide personalized & micro-learning options. The focus on micro and nano case studies, especially, situates the learning experience in real-life context. These cases are condensed into video format to retain the attention of the learner who is also exposed to additional learning objects and facilitated discussion. The ‘engaging exercises’ are designed through the framework of P2P (Practice to Precept to Practice).

Both of these combine to provide hands-on learning experience and transferable managerial skills.

In addition to this, the Entrepreneuship Practicum or Business Research Project is geared towards enabling learners to get practical insights on consumers, organizations and markets while developing a new product or service solution. A pitch about the product or solution is presented before an established industry player for feedback and suggestions. Finally, the institution’s Innovation Council supports the learner’s project in all stages.

The WiseViews Webinar Series, organized by ICFAI Online every Friday, has witnessed the participation of high-profile speakers from varied backgrounds. Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director-IIM, Kozhikode; Dr. V Raghunathan, Adj. Prof, Schulich School of Business; Mr. Devendra

Prof. R Prasad, Director, Academic Wing Surana, MD, Bhagyanagar India Ltd; Anu Acharya, CEO, Mapmygenome; Dr. Ambi Parameswaran, FounderBrand Building.com; Ninad Karpe, Partner at 100X.VC; Vivek Kaul, Author of The Big Bad World of Bad Money are some of the distinguished speakers to have shared their insights and thoughts among many others.

Some of the past webinars have covered topics ranging from entrepreneurship, healthcare innovation, challenges in employment, emerging business models, communication strategies for working professionals and leadership lessons among others. The webinars are especially a rich source of insights on every topic of interest to an aspiring entrepreneur to executive managers.

However, the format is both engaging and immersive, with relevant takeaways for anyone interested in understanding a broad spectrum of themes.

Along with the flexibility & authenticity of curriculum, the feedback system is streamlined as well. The learner journeys are mapped with respect to individual profiles and goals. Called the ‘Learning Assurance

System’, the Program assesses the candidates at various stages like entry stage, module wise, course wise for each semester & overall program and across two primary levels such as selfassessment level and learning outcome level. The e-learning environment is comprised of gamification elements that boosts motivation, instills a competitive spirit and enhances learner participation and engagement.

Such periodic and focused feedback for individual learners enable specified semester career mapping milestones.

Also, the Career Services support uses analytics to map the learning journey and suggest suitable career advancement options. In this way, ICFAI Online has leveraged its technology and classroom innovation to improve industry interface and placement opportunities for graduates.

The criteria to apply to the program are not onerous, which opens up possibilities for candidates from varied backgrounds.

The minimum requirement for the applicant is graduation from a recognized University in India or abroad with a minimum of 50% marks; and adequate English language skills to comprehend and engage with the Online MBA Program. Upon being shortlisted for the selection process, the candidate is invited to make a micro presentation of around 5 minutes followed by a personal interview. Applications to the Online MBA Program are open for which the details are available on online.ifheindia.org.

Interview with Prof. R Prasad, Director, Academic Wing

Seasonal Magazine spoke to Prof. R Prasad, Director, Academic Wing, ICFAI to understand the objectives of the program; the unique course offerings for working executives & fresh graduates; adoption of IBS’ famous case study research centre in the Online MBA program; the varsity’s future plans for distance learning among other matters. The full transcript of the interview: Seasonal Magazine: The launch of the Online MBA Program by the Center for Distance & Online Education (CDOE) is a welcome initiative. How is it different from the existing online management courses compared to other

institutes?

Prof. Prasad: The Online MBA program from the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education primarily caters to two segments: a) working executives with career development aspirations whose primary focus remains their job and b) fresh graduates who seek high quality education but can’t join up a campus.

The program is designed keeping their learning needs in mind.

Learning is simplified and amplified through the learning object design: The combination of the case method placed in a micro-learning setting achieves this. Thousands of such learning objects personalizes learning and seeds multiplication of learning such that 2 +2 is 22.

Learning Outcomes Architecture: Learning outcomes are achieved through learning engagement. The engaging exercises are architected to deliver a pyramid of learning outcomes from the fundamental to creation of a real life solution creation. This is done through the large database of P2P (Practice to Precept to Practice) exercises or what we call engaging exercises. The outcomes include conceptual SEASONAL MAGAZINE

frameworks in a contextualized setting thereby making learning and skills transferable to real life settings.

Case and Context Focus: From day one, concepts are brought out through thousands of micro and nano cases.

Similarly all exercises have a context focus into which the conceptual framework fits. Both these are essential to build in transferable skills in managers.

Learning Assurance Focus: The learner journey is mapped with respect to learner profile and goals and feedback given periodically on the journey viz goals and outcomes.

Career Development Journey: The journey across the program maps the learning journey with analytics and complements it with Career Services support to enable specified semester career mapping milestones.

ICFAI Business School (IBS) has been a pioneer in management education for the last several years. Given the changes brought about by the pandemic situation in higher education, are

there plans to offer more online and distance courses? Do you see this affecting your oncampus admissions significantly?

Prof. Prasad: The pandemic has indeed changed higher education in many positive ways as well. The ICFAI Business School has adapted very well. It has leveraged technology and classroom innovations for better learning for stakeholders and better industry interface resulting in very good placements. With this, we expect IBS to hold on and improve its quality of admissions.

To cater to the growing market for executive education as well as students who cant get access to quality campus programs, the institution hopes to broaden its program offerings in online and distance.

How does CDOE monitor the progress of those who are enrolled in the online program?

Prof. Prasad: Working executives are likely to be more aware of their career aspirations and themselves. Hence monitoring for working executives needs to tie together the learner expectation, the learning journey and the outcomes. We call it the learning assurance system. It leads to learner feedback and learning assurance viz expectations.

The Online MBA monitors candidates at various stages and levels. The stages include entry stage, module wise, course wise, for the semester and program.

There are two primary levelsengagement level and performance level. The performance level includes the self-assessment level and learning outcome level.

Entry Stage: The selection process results in the panel members submission of feedback based on a rubric based system which aims to aid the selection decision while also

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Could you elaborate or illustrate with an example about the Entrepreneurship Practicum or Business Research Project as part of the program?

mapping the learner profile, SWOT and expectations.

Module, course and semester stages: Each course in the program is divided into 15 modules of learning which are spread over 15 weeks. The learner’s progress in every module is captured through gamification for engagement and through engaging exercises for learning outcomes at each module. It is also monitored in the two phases of each course in each semester, each phase being 7 to 8 weeks.

Gamification: The eLearning environment has well-developed gamification elements such as scores, trackers, challenge levels, badges and grades motivate the learner to focus on self-progress in a group setting.

Assurance systems form the core of learning journey. It leads to learner motivation, instils a competitive spirit and enhances learner participation and engagement. This is done in real time at the learner engagement level.

Self-Assessment Level with automated feedback: The digitized animated storyboard videos use SCORM technology and provide immediate feedback for activity questions posed at the end of each learning object! The system provides automated feedback in multiple ways.

Learning outcomes level: Learner performance is measured at foundational, problem identification and application levels at each module, phase and semester levels.

How will IBS’ famous case study research centre be used as part of the online MBA curriculum?

Prof. Prasad: We have used the case methodology tradition powerfully by combining it with micro-learning principles and embedding it within the learning object methodology.

So we have micro and nano cases.

Such cases are used to discuss one concept or principle in a well-scoped setting. In today’s busy world, retaining attention is difficult. The first 2- 3-minutes decides whether the learner is paying attention to the video/ audio or case. These ‘case objects’ have been digitized into videos as well. The learning can be build further through additional learning objects or facilitated discussion.

This is very unique combination institutionalized by ICFAI Online as an innovation on the existing traditions.

What are the broad criteria that a prospective candidate needs to fulfill while applying to the program?

Prof. Prasad: The applicant must be a graduate from a recognized university in India or abroad with a minimum of 50% marks; and should have adequate English language skills to comprehend and engage with the Online MBA Program. The applicant needs to submit an online application form and necessary documents and thereafter apply for the Selection Process. The selection process consists of a Micro Presentation and a Personal Interview. Successful candidates are intimated and they need to complete the payment of fee and other documentation sought as per standard procedures.

Prof. Prasad: In a pandemic driven world backed by technology advancements, changes in consumer behavior have opened up new preferences and thereby possibilities for new product and service solutions. The Entrepreneurship Practicum or Business Research Project is aimed at developing capstone level innovation and entrepreneurship knowledge skills and mindsets in our learners. This benefits them in how they view consumers, organizations and markets and create valuable solutions.

For example, let us take the banking sector. Banking is a growth sector impacted by the pandemic. While consumption has reduced and digital banking has made inroads, better wealth management for customers and better margins for bankers are challenges. Meanwhile fintechs and neobanks are challenging traditional banks. What are the business ideas that can solve some of these challenges for customers and banks?

How can one make a business plan out of the idea?

The Entrepreneurship Practicum enables the student to travel the journey from spark to idea to opportunity to business plan while studying the pertinent ecosystem and market. The learners are in a position to seed the idea and sell the same at an appropriate stage. The Business Research Project checks out the spark and idea from an established industry player’s perspective and analyzes the issues and opportunities while making concrete suggestions.

The outcome serves as strategic/ tactical input to the organization.

The institution has an Innovation Council, which could support this journey in either case.

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Rabindranath Tagore University (formerly AISECT University)

WHAT MAKES RNTU A TOP CHOICE THIS YEAR

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Much before skill-based learning became commonplace in the Indian higher education space, Rabindranath Tagore University (RNTU) has been a pioneer in offering capacity building programs to graduates & other stakeholders. Approved by AICTE, NCTE & other accreditation bodies, RNTU (formerly known as AISECT University) was established in 2010 as India’s first dedicated centre of learning for skill-based education.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for urgent upskilling of the industry workforce,

RNTU’s strong fundamentals on the back of AISECT Group’s nearly fourdecade experience in this space has earned it the credential of being a ‘grassroots-led’ organization that keeps in mind the skill development needs of the most backward regions of the country. For the upcoming academic session, RNTU has announced the Shiksha Mitra Scholarship Scheme, with a corpus amounting to 50 lakhs to be disbursed as fee waivers for meritorious students.

Mr. Santosh Kumar Choubey, Chancellor, RNTU highlighted the

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objective of the scheme: “..the scheme is yet another way to provide access to skilling facilities, with the affordability quotient in mind, for those coming from backward regions.”

RNTU stands tall on its own with the veritable tag of being the number one destination in the state of Madhya Pradesh for a wide spectrum of courses including in engineering, commerce, science, computer science, IT, management, law, arts, mass communications, nursing among other disciplines. Most departments are blessed with their own dedicated Centre of Excellence such as Centre for Science & Communication, Centre for Advance Material, Centre for Innovation in IoT, Centre for Sanskrit and Oriental Languages Studies and Indigenous Knowledge Tradition to name a few. Among the emerging fields of study, nano-technology, rural development and renewable energy are among the most sought-after research-oriented courses in the varsity. In the latter field, fast gaining

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RNTU STANDS TALL ON ITS OWN WITH THE VERITABLE TAG OF BEING THE NUMBER ONE DESTINATION IN THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH FOR A WIDE SPECTRUM OF COURSES INCLUDING IN ENGINEERING, COMMERCE, SCIENCE, COMPUTER SCIENCE, IT, MANAGEMENT, LAW, ARTS, MASS COMMUNICATIONS, NURSING AMONG OTHER DISCIPLINES.

prominence due to the increased attention on climate change & reduction in fossil fuels, the varsity houses an Advanced Energy Lab and an Innovative Energy Park with stateof-the-art facilities to conduct research & experiments in solar, thermal, wind and hydel energy.

While most universities scrambled to put together online courses in light of the uptake in demand owing to the COVID-19 situation, RNTU was already well established in the distance learning & MOOC segment.

The popular AISECTMOOCS.com is the country’s largest free online open learning platform with over 2700 free certificate and diploma courses available in English and Hindi. For its regular classes, RNTU has seamlessly setup its Learning Management System that facilitates online classes and learning initiatives with the added feature of access to pre-recorded lectures. Due to the uncertainties facing the 12th standard pass-outs, all of AISECT Group universities have arranged free career counseling

sessions and free online courses on English communication, personality development & soft skills. The AISECTOnline.com portal is another unique offering with over 225 educational programs and a combined registration of close to 2 lakh students.

With a stunning total of 32 courses in skill development, a record in itself, RNTU delivers these in partnership with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Sector Skills Councils such as BFSI, ASCI, ASDC, GJSCI and RASCI. In addition to this, the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) is supporting the skills center of the university.

In the start-up & entrepreneurship space, the institute’s incubator & accelerator – AIC-RNTU – leads the way with around 45 ventures. Being the only recipient private university in MP of NITI Aayog grant to set up its own Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), RNTU is a thriving ecosystem for young entrepreneurs who seek support in terms of mentoring, industry & investor connect, workshops, office space etc. In fact, it is by far India’s only higher education group to receive the PhaseI permission for “Atal Incubation Center (AIC)” by the NITI Aayog.

Recently, as part of the Government of India’s ‘Samarth’ campaign, RNTU has set up the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Cell that would promote innovation & help incubate indigenous business ideas under the clusters of Raisen,

WITH A STUNNING TOTAL OF 32 COURSES IN SKILL DEVELOPMENT, A RECORD IN ITSELF, RNTU DELIVERS THESE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NSDC) AND SECTOR SKILLS COUNCILS SUCH AS BFSI, ASCI, ASDC, GJSCI AND RASCI. Bhopal and Sihor districts. AIC-RNTU will play a prominent role in this regard while it also seeks to offer consultancy services for the local MSMEs & cottage industries.

A further component of this campaign would be the establishment of student bodies called ‘Vikas Mitra’ under each of the AISECT Group of Universities that will conduct surveys on the ideas & policies of the sector. Based on this

data, upgradation of the varsity’s various skilling programmes will be carried out. Such a dedicated approach will encourage more startup ideas catering to the MSME sector & enable similar initiatives in the rest of the country. Relatedly, an initiative called as ‘Dream Startup Challenge’ was also launched under the aegis of the AISECT Group in three phases in which more than 100 start-ups applied. Siddharth Chaturvedi, Vice President of AISECT Group and Director of AIC RNTU, who offered his thoughts on the varsity’s unwavering support for the start-up ecosystem, graced the launch of the initiative.

For the academically inclined, RNTU has left no stone unturned in its quest to become an internationally recognized varsity for research collaborations. Tie-ups with international institutions for student exchange & research partnerships such as ICE WaRM (Australia), University of SIGEN (Germany), NCTU (Taiwan), Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA), KAIST (South Korea) among others are in the right direction.

Industry linkages, such as with the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), BSNL, Reliance Jio and TATA Group, encapsulates the prescient vision of the varsity to identify emerging job skills relevant to India Inc & beyond.

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FOR THE IMMINENT THIRD WAVE, JSS HOSPITAL IS READY WITH 417 BEDS FOR THE GOVERNMENT, AND IS ALSO PLANNING TO START A NEW LIQUID OXYGEN PLANT WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR 500 TO 600 BEDS.

There were four sessions by professional leaders in the subject including Dr. K. Madhavan Nair, Chairperson – Scientific Panel on Labelling & Claims/ Advertisements, FSSAI, MoH&FW, Govt. of India & Scientist F (Retd.), NIN, Hyderabad; Dr. K.A. Anu Appaiah, Head, Food Protection and Infestation Control & Sr. Principal Scientist (Retd.), Department Microbiology & Fermentation Technology, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru; Niraj Marathe, Co-Founder & CEO, Coolcrop Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Gujarat; and Dr. Chaitra Narayan, Founder – Codagu Agritech & Shivam Distillations, Mysuru.

The well attended event was a feather in the cap for JSSAHER's Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, which offers M.Sc in Nutrition & Dietetics, M.Sc in Sports Nutrition & Management, PGD in Nutraceutical Technology, B.Sc in Food, Nutrition & Dietetics and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) programmes.

Admissions are open now for these courses.

JSSAHER also collaborated with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry Of Home Affairs, Government Of India, to conduct a Webinar on the most relevant topic,

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Impact of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals. The keynote address was by Prof. Anil K. Gupta, Head, ECDRM, NIDM. The speakers were Dr. Sushma Guleria, Assistant Professor, NIDM and Dr. Pranab J. Patar, Chief Executive, Global Foundation for Advancement of Environment.

JSSAHER's Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS), also conducted a high-profile two-day International Webinar entitled 'The Career Catalyst: Plan, Prepare and Prosper in Life Sciences'. The virtual event was inaugurated by Dr. B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor, JSSAHER, alongside Dr. B. Manjunatha, Registrar, JSSAHER, Dr. S. Balasubramanian, Director (Research) and Dean-FLS and Dr. K.A. Raveesha, Professor & Head, FLS. The well-attended event which saw 1600 registrations, had renowned experts from

JSS HOSPITAL WAS AT THE FOREFRONT OF BATTING COVID-19 BY BEING A CLINICAL TESTING CENTER FOR OXFORD'S COVISHIELD VACCINE, AND BY STARTING A DEDICATED COVID CARE CENTRE WITH 300 BEDS, 60 DOCTORS AND 120 NURSES WORKING 24X7.

India, Australia, Austria, UK and USA, in life sciences, from the academicia, research, industries, startups, education and more. During his speech, Dr. Suresh reiterated that Life Sciences is anticipated as an important sector for next decade alongside Medical & Health Technology for its importance in wellbeing of the mankind.

Dr. Suresh also had some highly inspiring insights to share the global audience of students and research scholars. He elaborated about Dr. Krishna Ella’s illustrious career from being a graduate in Agricultural Sciences and later on heading towards excelling to enable India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN from his company Bharat Biotech. Giving excerpts of his discussions with people like Dr. Krishna Ella, Dr. Suresh mentioned that companies like Bharat Biotech has immense requirement of Life Science graduates with essential skills to cater to the needs of the emerging healthcare sector.

On the admissions front, pharmacy seats are already full this year. Dental and life sciences are also witnessing high interest, whereas for MBBS the university is awaiting further guidelines from the government to proceed.

JSSAHER is constructing a new mammoth campus, to which almost all of the academic and research wings would be eventually shifted. But for now, the university is giving more priority to investing in its digital infrastructure for online education. Speaking to Seasonal Magazine, Dr. Suresh shared that the university expects the online / offline hybrid model to continue for many more months or years, and that it also provides a way for the university to pursue exponential growth.

GADGET

THE LEGENDARY HASSELBLAD IS BACK, THROUGH MOBILE PHONE CAMERAS ONEPLUS HAS ADDED ANOTHER DIMENSION TO PHONE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRINGING THE EXPERIENCE OF USING HASSELBLAD'S FAMOUS XPAN CAMERA TO THE ONEPLUS 9 AND ONEPLUS 9 PRO. OnePlus marked a new chapter in mobile photography when it tied up with legendary camera manufacturer Hasselblad for its OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro devices earlier this year.

These were the first phones to ever come with cameras developed in collaboration with Hasselblad. The result was some of the best photography by a phone, with images rich in detail and natural colours, courtesy Hasselblad’s famous colour calibration.

And now OnePlus has added another dimension to phone photography by bringing the experience of using Hasselblad’s famous XPan camera to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. The XPan camera was released by Hasselblad in 1998 and literally changed everyone’s idea of photography. It not only lets users switch to a full panorama mode without having to change the film, but also provided them with a very different perspective of the world. That is because, in addition to the normal 24 x 36 mm format that users got on film cameras, it also added a 24 x 65 mm full panorama format, allowing people to get a unique wide-angled view of the world.

It is this unique format that is coming to the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro.The latest OTA updates to the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro bring the legendary Hasselblad XPan mode to the

phones, allowing us to see the world and photograph in that 65:24 mm view. Not just that, users of these phones will be able to take pictures using two famous lenses that were available for the XPan camera – the 30 mm and 45 mm lens.

OnePlus and Hasselblad have collaborated to recreate details from the Hasselblad XPan camera to give users a true Hasselblad XPan experience. The view on the phones is free of distortion, unlike what one gets in many panoramic shots, where the sides and corners tend to “bend” a little. In a neat touch, users will also have the option to shoot in glorious colour or go with classic black and white.

What’s more, the images shot in this mode come in glorious detail, as they are shot not in the default 12-megapixel mode for the phone, but are actually cropped from the 48-megapixel main camera and 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. The result: glorious print-quality images of more than 20 megapixels – 7552 × 2798 resolution on 30mm and 7872 × 2916 resolution on 45mm.

Users of the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro will be therefore seeing the world from a classic perspective that is found in no other phone camera. A simple regular snap can be converted into a beautiful panoramic one. And not only will landscapes get a fresh look, but even

pictures taken in portrait orientation will present a very different, “taller” perspective. And thanks to their high resolution, all the snaps taken in this mode will be so rich in detail that you will be able to edit them without compromising on quality at all.

The best part is that all this requires nothing special. All one needs to do is update one’s OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro to the latest software, and then go to the default camera app. Yes, there is no need to get a new app or anything. Just go to the camera app and from the lower portion of the app, swipe upwards. From the options that appear, just choose XPan. You will see your camera’s viewfinder transform into that of the famous Hasselblad XPan camera. You can switch between 45 mm and 30 mm lens views and also between colour and black and white, if you wish.

There is also a bit of magic in the phototaking process. When you hit the shutter (that button in Hasselblad orange) in the XPan mode, you will see the picture first appear in the form of a film negative and then slowly transform into a proper photograph. A photograph that cannot be matched by any other phone’s camera. A photograph from a classic camera that redefined photography in 1998. And whose latest avatar could well redefine phone photography as we know it today.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

FINANCE

LIC SHOWS UNIQUE CAPABILITY IN THE RUN UP TO MEGA IPO It has been a few years now since Government of India made up its mind to list its crown jewel, Life Insurance Corporation of India. And it has been several quarters now since GoI and LIC actively started planning for the IPO. Due to the unique and mammoth opportunity it offers, investors too – ranging from the world’s biggest institutional investors to the smallest retail investors – have been eagerly anticipating for this one-in-a-100years kind of IPO. But despite putting much momentum behind it, listing LIC is proving to be a tough call with numerous hurdles to be overcome.

Already the tentative schedule has slipped to the fourth quarter of FY’22. Seasonal Magazine takes a look behind the scenes and finds that it is more of a case of great things taking time.

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Life Insurance Corporation of India was not constituted as a usual public sector company in any sense. From its beginning to the several decades of its existence, it has functioned like an arm of the Government. This needs to change, and LIC is to be brought under the Companies Act first, for the listing to happen. This first step, though simple sounding, has in itself proved to be much time consuming, and is yet to be completed. And once this transition to Companies Act is completed, it would take a minimum of six months for the public issue to hit the market.

On a parallel and alternate track proceeds the mammoth task of finding the embedded value of LIC. In endDecember, the government had appointed Milliman Advisors India as the reporting actuary for determining the embedded value of LIC. Meanwhile, private valuation firm RBSA Advisors had recently estimated LIC’s worth to be between Rs 9.9-11.5 lakh crore. While embedded value is a kind of future value in the insurance sector, and is a straightforward calculation, in LIC’s case, due to the huge collection of its physical assets like real estate and offices, it is pretty complicated.

For instance, most valuations estimate LIC’s huge land banks at notional book value, as there is no other practical way to value it. But taken land parcel by land parcel, and at the current valuations at these locations, experts say the land bank valuation can be over one hundred times the notional book value!

While much of the pre-IPO work is being done at the concerned Government departments like DIPAM (Department of Investment & Public Asset Management), LIC is focusing more on bettering its fundamental performance in every possible way.

With its numbers for FY’21, it is clear SEASONAL MAGAZINE

that the life insurance behemoth has not only survived the Covid’s first phase successfully, but that it is continuing on its growth track. It collected Rs. 1.84 lakh crore in new premiums, which is its highest ever in FY21. It is a 3.5% growth over the previous fiscal, and is an impressive achievement considering its huge base and the pandemic crisis.

LIC continues to be the undisputed market leader with its market share by way of number of policies being 74.58% for the fiscal, while on the basis of new premiums, its market share is 66.18%. And it is continuing to better its performance with the monthly figures for both these metrics faring much higher.

LIC’s performance was driven by individual policies, with new premiums of Rs 56,406 crore under individual assurance business with a YoY growth of 10.1%. In tune with the buoyant stock market, LIC also started refocusing on the market based Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIP).

In the ULIP segment, LIC launched two plans SIIP and Nivesh Plus. And it sold more than 90,000 policies under this category collecting premiums of over Rs 800 crore.

Its Pension and Group Schemes vertical also created a new record by clocking its highest ever New Business Premium Income of Rs 1,27,768 crore as against Rs 1,26,749 crore in the previous year.

A pandemic of Covid-19 scale leaves no business untouched. And a ‘Second Wave’ like how it happened in India, starting from March-April rattled most sectors to their core. And life insurance companies were no exception, as new policies and recurring premium payments take a direct hit during lockdowns.

That is why the May 2021 numbers from all the life insurers were keenly

awaited by the market. Most analysts expected life insurers to take a major hit in May, as it was the month in which both Covid+ cases and deaths due to it peaked in the country beyond even the wildest projections.

The May life insurance figures, especially the sequential or month-onmonth figures over April, were expected to be poor. And the numbers were indeed poor when it was published recently. The number of policies sold by all life insurers combined, declined 13.69% in May over the previous month.

This may make anyone jump into the conclusion that the largest player – LIC of India – was the worst performer, contributing the maximum to this slide. After all, LIC accounts for more than 75% of life policies in this country.

But believe it or not, it was just the reverse that was witnessed in May! The industry slump of 13.69% in the number of new policies sold in May was despite LIC performing

spectacularly in two of its core segments – with 114% growth in Group Single Premium and 20% jump in Group Non-Single Premium policies. In other words, it was LIC’s singularly powerful performance that has limited the industry’s slide to just 13.69%.

When we move from the number of new policies to the total new business premium collected from these policies, LIC’s performance in May is even stronger. The public sector insurer’s Group Single premiums surged 158% in May, while its Group Non-Single premiums soared 445%.

In sharp contrast, private insurers saw

their premiums fall 20.19% over the previous month to Rs 4,029.34 crore in May. LIC’s new business premium jumped 106.31% to Rs 8,947.64 crore.

The key takeaway from the May numbers is not the sheer size of LIC, which is more than double of all the private life insurers combined, but the fact that LIC has the resilience and agility to perform powerfully even under extremely stressful situations like the pandemic’s second wave.

This is a strength that will keep LIC in a higher orbit, than the rest of the industry, when it goes for its IPO, which is expected to happen in the second half of this fiscal. Because, it is good to perform well when everything is going well, but it is great to perform well when nothing is going well. Markets recognize this ability and reward it too by way of superior valuations.

In another recent development, LIC Chairman M.R. Kumar’s tenure was extended by almost 9 months by the Union Government. This is widely thought to be due to the central role he has been playing in leading the country’s largest ever IPO, and to ensure continuity in this eventful period for the country’s largest life insurer.

LIC’s strongpoint continues to be its formidable agent army or sales force, which continues to grow in quantity and quality. The Corporation added 3,45,469 new agents in FY21, thus expanding its already strong sales force to 13,53,808 agents. The performance of the top rung of agents continues to witness strong growth, as seen from the number of qualifiers for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT).

Globally, MDRT membership is recognised as the standard of excellence in life insurance and

financial services business. And here, LIC has consistently topped the members' list.

This year there were 16,564 LIC agents who were MDRT qualifiers, the highest ever. Founded in 1927, the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), is a global, independent association of more than 62,000 of the world's leading life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 500 companies in 69 countries.

However, the kind of agile player it is, LIC has also moved swiftly to embrace tech-enabled sales, much in tune with how the global life insurance industry is doing. LIC had successfully introduced the ANANDA platform for digital onboarding of customers.

The only PSU life insurer also continues to be the most trusted player in the industry when it comes to claims settlement. It paid out Rs 1.34 lakh crore as claims during the year. This includes 21.9 million maturity claims, money back claims and annuities, amounting to Rs 1.16 lakh crore, and 9,59,000 death claims amounting to Rs 18,137.34 crore.

LIC has twin engines of growth – insurance and stock market investments The world over, insurance and investments are a linked opportunity as the insurance industry provides for a clear visibility of cash flow across quarters and years, which gives them great leverage to invest and trade in the stock market.

Even in the crisis year of 2020, LIC has made an unbelievable profit of Rs. 13,000 crore from short-term investments within a matter of 4-5 months, which is an all-time record for the insurer. LIC achieved this by following a contrarian investment principle, and leveraging its huge investment kitty. And LIC continues to be bullish on Indian equity and had SEASONAL MAGAZINE

earmarked an even greater pool of funds for market participation in 2021.

When listed, LIC may prove to be the perfect largecap opportunity that India has ever seen. This is because, while fortune is definitely at the bottom of the pyramid, but the companies which own this fortune are right at the topmost rung. Again and again this has been proved right, with the latest proof coming during and after the devastating pandemic and lockdown.

Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Reliance etc are the ones who created the most wealth after the pandemic hit.

There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, largest cap stocks are not just their segment leaders (which of course is a huge advantage), but they are the overall market leaders or in other words what the overall market puts the maximum value on.

Secondly, the largest investment funds in the world like mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign funds, can only invest in largecap stocks as midcaps and smallcaps can’t absorb their kind of huge funds.

Life Insurance Corporation of India, when listed is likely to have a market capitalization of Rs. 10 lakh crore, making it the second largest listed stock behind Reliance Industries. This is why the upcoming IPO of LIC is likely to be one of the most attractive stock market opportunities ever to hit the Indian bourses.

LIC can also prove to be the perfect growth opportunity. Very few companies in India have consistently grown for more than half a century like LIC of India. Starting out in 1956 with Rs. 5 crore as capital, LIC has grown to one of India’s giants with nearly Rs. 32 lakh crore in asset base.

And from just being a life insurance SEASONAL MAGAZINE

provider, LIC has become a financial services conglomerate with divisions, subsidiaries, or associate companies in banking, home finance, pension fund, mutual fund, and more.

And during these 64 years, from being a national player, LIC has ventured out into being a global player with operations in 14 countries. And the beauty is that LIC is still growing at an unbelievable pace, as seen from the recent numbers.

LIC also has one of the best de-risked growth models, unlike most large-cap firms. Companies become largecaps owing to growth over many decades, but then growth may stall too. This is because, as the networth or shareholder equity surges with consistent growth in profits over the years, it becomes increasingly difficult for largecap companies to deliver a meaningful return on equity, despite reasonable growth and profitability.

Most largecaps go through this phase and many get stalled for years there, until they figure a way out of it.

But LIC of India is likely to have no such issues even after getting listed as one of the largest cap stocks in India due to at least two reasons.

Firstly, it is still growing its core life insurance business at an admirable clip. Secondly, and this is the more important factor, it has a ready avenue to deploy surplus profits – the Indian equity market. And LIC’s rate of return from this activity is even ahead of its core insurance business and way ahead of the government bonds and bank fixed deposits where most largecap companies park their surplus cash.

However, the greatest competitive edge that LIC would have in the market, post-listing, is as mentioned earlier, its twin engines for growth – insurance and investments. This is

quite unlike most largecap companies, which do only one thing.

Like, say, banks, steel manufacturers, cement makers, auto majors or paint companies – they do only one thing, but do it well. Some of them have an additional line of business, but it tends to be minor compared with their core activity.

But LIC of India is in a different league altogether in this regard. It not only has dual lines of business – insurance and investing – but it is a market leader in both! And what is more, these are complementary activities. as mentioned earlier. But more needs to be said on these twin engines of growth at LIC. Insurance business, especially life insurance business, is a peculiar activity in that once customers are signed up each month for policies, there is a clear visibility on the kind of annual revenue from premiums that are going to flow in each year and each month. Also, there is a clear visibility on the normal payouts to customers on maturity of the policy. Even the claim settlements on death, which may seem to be a variable factor, is quite stable across years. Taken together, what these factors mean is that insurance companies, especially life firms, have a clear expectation of the cashflow which makes them capable of being large and systematic investors.

Indeed, in India and the world over, insurance companies are among the largest institutional investors – either for themselves or for their insurance customers through equity linked products like Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPS).

selloff due to the pandemic fears. LIC waited for the valuations of stocks to turn very attractive, and soon into Q1, turned a contrarian buyer.

All through Q1 – April, May & June – LIC maintained buying quality stocks across the board, when fear was its maximum as the investment world was staring at a never before situation in around 100 years. By the end of Q1, the stimulus from major economic powers as well as India had kicked in, sending huge inflows into global markets including India, and the market regained confidence and started surging. And LIC again turned contrarian!

From the beginning of Q2, that is July, they started selling stocks across the board, and by August, had raked in Rs. 13,000 crore as profits from this short-term trade that lasted barely 45 months! It more than handsomely

offset LIC’s deep fall in Q1 profits from their core insurance business.

And by the time, LIC had booked its trading profits, the insurance business had also made a sharp V shaped recovery, according to Chairman Kumar.

Not many companies in India or even in the whole world are capable of such feats, as they lack such complementary twin engines as well as such risk-taking abilities. If anyone thinks, LIC made a mistake by selling off in Q2, as market had continued to rise, wait till you hear the full story.

LIC’s core investments in stocks, especially in bluechip companies – Kumar calls them family jewels – are still intact at pre-pandemic levels!

Which means LIC is a long-term and short-term profit-maker in its equity business, which the market will find attractive when it goes for its IPO.

Last year, LIC Chairman, MR Kumar had explained the admirable nature of this business at LIC. At the end of Q4 FY’20, during the last week of March to be precise, the Indian stock market had tanked steeply along with all the worldwide markets on a global

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ECONOMY

WHY PETROL & DIESEL ARE ON FIRE HIGH TAXES AND 16 ROUNDS OF PRICE HIKES IN MAY AFTER ZERO INCREASES IN ELECTION MONTHS OF MARCH AND APRIL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN INDIA’S ZOOMING FUEL PRICES. etrol prices crossed Rs 100 per litre in several Indian cities over the past few weeks, feeding into inflation and putting pressure on household budgets.

cutting taxes on petroleum products, despite the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by the Reserve Bank of India governor, pushing the Centre and states to cut these taxes to ease inflation pressures on the economy.

While the increase in prices of petrol and diesel can be explained by rising international fuel prices to some extent, the high incidence of taxes on these products also has an important role to play. The two-month freeze in fuel price hikes in the election months of March and April is another factor.

India meets its domestic oil demand mainly through imports. While international crude prices have risen sharply in the last six months, a major reason for the high selling price of petrol is the high levy of local taxes.

The union government has so far resisted

When the international crude prices began falling beginning 201415, the Modi government started increasing excise duties beginning November 2014.

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The Union government levies excise duty and cess on fuel, and states levy a value added tax (VAT). Taxes together

constitute 58 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and around 52 per cent of the retail selling price of diesel at present. This means that if the price of petrol is Rs 100 per litre, taxes levied by the union government and state governments together account for Rs 58.

Of this, the Union government’s excise duty is around Rs 32-33 and the remaining is VAT that is levied by the states.

The last time fuel prices in India had surged was between 2010-11 and 201314, during the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

But at the time, the surge was mainly on account of a sharp rise in international crude prices that had touched all-time highs.

The average price of the Indian basket had exceeded $100 during those years.

However, even then, the retail price of petrol in Indian cities had remained under Rs 90 per litre due to the low level of prevalent taxes. Excise duty in that period was as low as Rs 10 on petrol.

When the international crude prices began falling beginning 2014-15, the Modi government started increasing excise duties beginning November 2014.

This meant that the benefits of the fall in international fuel prices were not passed on to customers.

The union government and the states have been reluctant to slash rates even amid rising international prices as these taxes are a major source of revenue.

Over the last few months, both sides have passed the buck over fuel tax reduction and resisted making the first move to cut taxes.

It’s not difficult to see why.

The union government collected Rs 3.89 lakh crore in excise duty collections in 2020-21, a 62 per cent growth from Rs 2.39 lakh crore collected in 2019-20, of which a majority is estimated to be from taxes and cess on petrol.

This increase in tax collections came despite the fact that petroleum consumption contracted 9 per cent in 2020-21 due to curbs on movement on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. It

INDIA MEETS ITS DOMESTIC OIL DEMAND MAINLY THROUGH IMPORTS. WHILE INTERNATIONAL CRUDE PRICES HAVE RISEN SHARPLY IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, A MAJOR REASON FOR THE HIGH SELLING PRICE OF PETROL IS THE HIGH LEVY OF LOCAL TAXES.

can be attributed to the sharp hike in taxes levied on petroleum products in May 2020.

At the time, the government had increased petrol prices by Rs 10 and diesel by Rs 13. This sharp increase came just two months after the government’s decision to hike excise on petrol and diesel by Rs 3.

Typically, for every Re 1 of excise hike on petrol and diesel, the gain to the exchequer is around Rs 13,000-14,000 crore. However, with the Covid-related consumption slump, the gains may be a bit lower than this.

It’s the same story for the states. Most states hiked VAT on petrol and diesel in 2020-21 to shore up revenues at a time the slump in economic activity adversely impacted other sources of revenue.

VAT levied on petroleum and alcohol account for 25-30 per cent of the states’ tax revenues, an important reason states have been opposed to inclusion of petroleum products under the goods and services tax.

According to data with the petroleum ministry, states collected more than Rs 2 lakh crore in 2019-20 and Rs 1.35 lakh

INDIA’S FUEL INFLATION WAS AT 11.6 PER CENT IN MAY, AS AGAINST 7.9 PER CENT IN APRIL AND 4.5 PER CENT IN MARCH.

crore in April-December 2020-21 from VAT on petroleum products.

Beginning June 2017, India did away with the administered pricing mechanism for petroleum and diesel.

This meant that petroleum companies were free to change fuel rates daily in line with international oil price movements. Petroleum companies can also revise these prices daily during events like elections.

Yet, fuel companies chose to not increase rates even once in the months of March and April, coinciding with assembly elections in four states and one Union territory.

The fuel companies actually cut rates thrice in March and once in April as against 16 price hikes in February, according to data collated by Care Ratings. The average price of India’s crude basket had increased by $3.5 in March from February before falling by $1.3 in April.

In May, oil companies raised prices 16 times even though crude prices went up only $3.5 compared to April, reflecting their attempt to make up for the two lost months when the domestic prices didn’t accurately reflect the international prices.

Lack of increase in fuel prices during elections is not surprising in a market like India where state owned oil marketing firms have over a 90 per cent market share.

The rise in fuel prices has added further pressure to India’s inflation, which crossed 6 per cent in May. Earlier this month, the MPC had also flagged the impact of the high fuel prices on overall input prices. It had urged the central government and the state governments to cut taxes on petrol and diesel in a coordinated manner.

India’s fuel inflation was at 11.6 per cent in May, as against 7.9 per cent in April and 4.5 per cent in March.

There are also concerns that an increase in fuel prices may have an adverse impact on discretionary expenditure as households cut the latter out to accommodate higher fuel prices.

(Remya Nair for The Print) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

5 REASONS WHY IRCTC CAN BE THE STOCK TO PLAY THE PANDEMIC REVIVAL

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As the pandemic wanes, investing brains are screening hundreds of stocks that could benefit from the nation opening up fully, with everything from beaten down hotel stocks to buzzing pharma stocks being considered. But Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) can be the dark horse in this regard, with its high growth, exceptional Return on Equity (RoE), zero debt and monopoly in online train ticketing and catering services.

IRCTC’s Chairman & Managing Director, Rajni Hasija is a highly experienced officer with Indian Railways and IRCTC, having played pivotal roles in implementing its state-of-the-art online ticketing platform as well as in introducing its world-class luxury train, Maharaja’s Express. Here are 5 reasons why IRCTC can be the perfect stock to play the pandemic revival.

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IRCTC’s Growth IRCTC has been growing its topline at a blistering pace. Before Covid hit the scene, the company had recorded a sales growth of nearly 28% in FY’19, and even in FY’20 when the last quarter was marred by the first wave, the ticketing major had a 22% rise in sales. Bottomline growth was even more momentous with FY’19 witnessing a nearly 41% spike in net profit and FY’20 recording a 71% jump. Despite the soaring profits, the market-friendly company didn’t go in for any kind of dilution, resulting in a similar spike in Earnings Per Share (EPS), which is what send the stock zooming past the roof, post its IPO and listing in FY’20. However, in FY’21, with train travel virtually coming to a stop twice, during the first and second waves, IRCTC’s topline and bottomline growth has been seriously impacted, and that is what makes it an excellent stock to play the post Covid revival theme now.

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IRCTC’s Return on Equity Return on Equity (RoE), or Return on Net Worth (RoNW) as it is sometimes referred to, is a crucial return ratio to measure the potential returns possible to its shareholders. In simple terms, it is the returns by way of net profit made by the company in a year on its base of shareholders’ equity (sometimes called Net Worth) which in turn is the original equity plus each year’s accumulated profit. Many stock market pundits look for a Return on Equity of at least 20% for a stock to be considered investment worthy, and needless to stay most companies trading in India can’t manage this feat as each year’s profit growth has to be significantly higher as the base or denominator is added with the previous year’s profit too. But IRCTC’s Return on Equity has been a handsome 29% in FY’19 and an unbelievable 40% in FY’20. Companies with rising RoE are the stock market’s darlings as these are the companies that go on to be multibaggers. IRCTC’s RoE has moderated since then in FY’21 due to the Covid impact, but the market knows it can bounce back again as train travel normalizes again.

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IRCTC’s Book Value & Debt Book Value Per Share (BVPS) is another metric where the ticketing company has been growing consistently. In FY’20, IRCTC grew its BVPS by 24% and even in a Covidmarred fiscal like FY’21, it could it grow its book value by over 10%. IRCTC now trades at around 29 times its book value (price-to-book or P/BV), which some may find expensive, but it is just a reflection of its high return ratios like RoE and another crucial factor, which is debt. Being an asset-light company that is excellently managed, financially, IRCTC has no debt on its books. Such companies enjoy a premium by way of market valuations, as its Enterprise Value (EV), is entirely made up of its Market Capitalization.

IRCTC’s market cap is now Rs. 42,713 crore, which implies a TTM price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of nearly 144 times, which can be deemed expensive, but is rational when it’s zero debt and high RoE are considered.

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IRCTC’s FCF & Dividends As of now, IRCTC’s dividend yield of 0.18% may not seem like much among country’s large dividend payers. But this can change soon due to two reasons.

One is that IRCTC is a public sector company, and profitable PSUs in India generally tend to be high dividend payers. Secondly, the company had made significant positive cash flow in FY’20 and is expected to remain a firm with growing Free Cash Flows (FCF), post the Covid crisis due to its zero debt and asset light operations. It is such companies with growing FCF that are capable of giving out good dividends especially if there is such a policy in place. A recent case in point is BPCL, which has a dividend yield of over 17%. While IRCTC may not be able to give out such dividends, even a yield that falls in low single digits (1-4%) can’t be ruled out in the future. If that happens, it will be an additional attraction for the IRCTC stock to go up.

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IRCTC’s Business & Diversifications IRCTC is the only entity authorized by its parent Indian Railways to online tickets, and is thus a virtual monopoly. It is also a fast growing monopoly as the percentage of online ticketing has been rising steadily during the past several years and has surpassed the 70% mark, and is the most profitable business for IRCTC due to its high operational leverage.

It’s conventionally largest segment by revenue has however been its catering business, where also it is a near monopoly in the most important trains like the Rajdhani & Shatabdi, and the largest player across most trains which have pantry cars or train-side vending, as well as railway stations. IRCTC’s largest base kitchens are massive operations of world-class standards that have won acclaim in international television channels, for its cleanliness, scale of operations, clockwork scheduling and Artificial Intelligence powered live monitoring.

Also a major tourism operator in the country, IRCTC runs tourist trains SEASONAL MAGAZINE

for the masses like the highly popular ‘Bharat Darshan’, the globally award-winning Maharaja’s Express, and also conducts domestic & outbound air tourism packages.

IRCTC is also a near monopoly in packaged drinking water in trains and is raking in hundreds of crores in revenues from its Rail Neer product for which it has multiple state-of-the-art plants across India.

IRCTC has in recent years made many judicious diversifications into bus booking, air ticketing, running of budget hotels, running of special trains, and an innovative e-catering service that delivers branded food from private players to the correct seat or berth, through digital booking. Needless to say, as one of India’s most visited websites and most downloaded mobile apps, IRCTC is perhaps one of the most popular consumer brands.

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LUXURY JEREMY SCOTT AND ADIDAS ORIGINALS JOIN HANDS TO PAY HOMAGE TO THEIR ROOTS WITH THIS NEW LAUNCH. The original iconic Forum Money 1.0 sneaker was launched in 2003, as a limited edition, 100-pairs collaboration between Jeremy Scott and Adidas.

With Mr. Scott’s characteristic bold unconventional take on the iconic Adidas Forum, the classic silhouette was adorned with printed 100 dollar bill graphics, paying an homage to the shoe’s original $100 price in 1984.

Did you know Amber is a primordial, organic, bio-material, fossilised resin of conifer trees, that when damaged, shed their unctuous sap from around 50 million years ago and is warm, light, tactile and highly prized?

Swiss high jewellery designer Fawaz Gruosi uses the rare gemstone to send a new message of love as he travels the amber road. Using the rarest and most sought-after, rich, honey-golden yellow-amber, this collection has used Amber skilfully carved into cabochons or curvaceous elements and more, amplifying the innate warmth and sensual tactility of Amber.

“To me, amber is incredibly beautiful

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ASTON MARTIN SPURS THE STAGE OF FUTURE CARS WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW GENERATION CONCEPT CAR- VALHALLA.

A significant step in expanding the brand portfolio, Valhalla redefines driving experience by developing a range of mid-engined hybrid supercars representing transformational moments for the ultra-luxury brand. Valhalla is designed to keep the driver in a loop to provide an immersive supercar experience with par excellence driving quality, enhanced agility and performance benchmarks.

The carbon fibre beauty employs an aerodynamic structure to generate high power at 150 mph with maximum stability and cornering ability.

This dynamic Aston Martin model also marks the brand’s return to the British Grand Prix for the first time in 60 years.

NEW CHRONOLOGISTE RANGE

BY KÉRASTASE With hair revitalization becoming as much a top priority as skincare, the new Chronologiste range by Kérastase is a much welcome product. Studying the six factors of ageing scalp and hair, each product of the collection features regenerative actives such as vitamin E, hyaluronic acid and abyssine. A plus is the enhanced floral notes of peony, tea rose, and magnolia! The Chronologiste Youth Revitalising VIP Ritual is a 90minute, ultra-luxurious ritual with the revitalising virtues of mimetic caviar and abyssine, which rejuvenate the scalp and hair. Adding to the sensory experience is the jasmine and myrrh fragrance. These mimetic caviar pearls containing abyssine have been created exclusively for the Chronologiste Rituale.

RAFFLES HOTELS & RESORTS UDAIPUR OFFERS A FRESH PERSPECTIVE WITH A 21ACRE PRIVATE ISLAND SET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UDAI SAGAR LAKE.

Set away from the hectic city of Udaipur, the new Raffles Hotels & Resorts Udaipur offers a fresh perspective with a 21-acre private island set in the middle of the Udai Sagar lake. Over 101 luxurious rooms, suites and signature suites elegantly intertwine Rajasthan’s royal heritage with western cultural references and elements of Mughal architecture. As is characteristic with every Raffles hotel around the world, Raffles Udaipur is reflective of the cultural and natural heritage of its location and offers memorable experiences such as a celestial cruise under the moon, guided farm tours, astronomy, yoga and meditation. The Writers Bar is where they can indulge in artisanal and classic cocktails, a Champagne and caviar menu over intimate conversations or an exciting book.

EXPLORE THE ARTISTRY BEHIND THE CREATION OF ONE OF THE SOFTEST FABRIC, PASHMINA THROUGH AN ALLEMBRACING JOURNEY BY THE EXTRA MILE. The meticulously curated itinerary is designed to give a glimpse into the history of the most desired luxurious fibres of Ladakh, Pashmina, adorned by wealthy and celebrated across the globe. The Pashmina trail is a 7-day customized travel plan sharing the local culture and tradition of Pashmina making via interactive local tours and insightful workshops organized in collaboration with the slow textile brand LENA. An experience offering pleasing landscape views with camping in hilly terrains, walk besides Indus River, visit to spiritual monasteries and weaving workshop centres.

It’s an opportunity to be a part of Changpa nomadic lifestyle, this bespoke trip will surely be magical affair, that can be booked through The Extra Mile website.

ARNOLD & SON’S GLOBETROTTER UNVEILED THE LIMITED EDITION GOLD WATCH Swiss luxury watch label Arnold & Son’s Globetrotter unveiled the limited edition Gold watch in honour of John Arnold’s marine chronometers, onboard the 18th century English Naval ships. The 18-carat red gold timepieces mirror the Earth in a luminous atlas with finely sculpted lands and handpainted waters on dual-time-zone display. The limited 28 watches are uniquely designed to apprehend the sophistication and exclusive anatomization of watchmaking

A UNIQUE CLUTCH WITH A STORY TO TELL, THIS MINIAUDIERE IS A RESULT OF UNPARALLELED CRAFTSMANSHIP AND AN ECOFRIENDLY SOUL.

The sustainable leather of the Devina Juneja Brick in the Wall frame clutch gives an antique metallic look through foil, lacquer, paint and heat. The leather is then cut into rectangular pieces and attached through rings. The clutch comes in a gift box and includes a dust cover. Crafting art with sustainability, we love Devina Juneja's unique interpretation and treatment of the iconic material. Worldwide shipping available.

FROM HIS SPRING/SUMMER ’21 EDIT OF MANDANA, INDIAN DESIGNER PUNIT BALANA HAS DESIGNED AN EXTENSION WITH A BRIGHT CHERRY SHADE.

Featuring young silhouettes, additional geometrical and floral prints, this collection doesn’t adhere to the conservative rules set by Mandana.

This collection is an expression of how the designer has seen Jaipur over the years, finding love in the stories that were written and those that are yet to be written.

Radisson Blu resort opens its gates for travellers that crave picturesque landscapes and unparalleled luxury.

Overlooking the spectacular view of Kangra valley in Dharamshala, the resort with 120 unique rooms is an ethereal retreat. Apart from exploring the picturesque sites in and around Dharamsala easily, it is also a perfect getaway for families and friends. Come experience delectable cuisines, exclusive wines, breathtaking outdoors, revitalising spa, and much more. A place that has a lot to offer is a must add to your vacation list. To know more, visit the link!

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THE LUMINOUS NEW LIMITED SERIES OF THE LUNA MAGNA ULTIMATE I BY ARNOLD & SON ILLUSTRATES TRULY EXCEPTIONAL LIGHT AND ASTRONOMICAL PRECISION.

LESS IS MORE.

The Circle handle Ring Satchel from Devina Juneja is a simple handbag that can give you company from work to party. This handmade handbag uses sustainable leather with ring accents. The imaginative handle in this luxury leather bag adds deliciousness to it, while the dark colour makes it as suitable for every occasion. Get your Devina Juneja Circle Handle Ring Satchel from LF Shop!

Worldwide shipping available.

LEISURE IS LUXURY! Arbor Decor's Recliner Chair is your best friend for leisure. The backrest and footrest take a reclining position smoothly, with both moving simultaneously, thus giving you the perfect comfort and cushion. The Brass shoes and powder coated mechanism with wood legs add drama - a statement piece in your space. The Recliner is not only beautiful and sleek, but when paired with a dainty table and stack of coffee table books, it can make for a stunning, relaxing nook. Arbor Decor makes furniture that is not only impeccably crafted but also flexible & multifunctional!

JUST LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR, A BRACING CHANGE, ORANGE ESCAPE IS AN OFT-AWAITED WELCOME VACATION.

This tea leads your senses to wander into deliciously warm orange orchards dappled with summer sunshine.

With ingredients like Green Tea, Orange Peels, Spearmint, Star Anise, Orange Escape lets your spirit explore the unknown with every sip. CelesTe brew pockets are hand sewn & made with 100% natural cotton - helping you stay away from any microplastics.

tiously crafted and embroidered in multicultural silhouettes, making it a key highlight of this collection.

The wide pants, tunics, blouses, breezy shirts and long flowy dresses are some of the highlight pieces of this collection; which also has on offer a first-of-its-kind collaboration saree exclusively designed for customers in India.

TITLED ‘WANDERLUST’, THE SABYASACHI X H&M COLLECTION PRESENTS RICH TEXTILES IN CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SILHOUETTES, RESONATING WITH THE MODERN GLOBAL NOMAD MINDSET. The Sabyasachi Art Foundation has brought several Indian textiles and print traditions to life, conscienSEASONAL MAGAZINE

With a watch face that features ruthenium crystals, a dial made of white opal and a bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds, it also features a three-dimensional moon paved with blue sapphires and diamonds. With a case measuring 44mm in diameter, made of white gold and set with 7.62 carats of the highest quality diamonds, these watches include 20 baguette-cut diamonds on the case’s lugs, which have been cut one by one to fit the unique shape of each mount.

TORY BURCH’S FIRST STORE OPENS IN INDIA

Announcing its partnership with Reliance Brands Limited (RBL), Tory Burch has officially opened its doors to the brand’s first location in India, featuring a wide assortment of the Tory Burch collection including shoes, bags, ready-to-wear and accessories.

Tory Burch, the brand’s Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, had hopeful words of praise, saying that India is a constant source of inspiration for him, and her many visits to the country over the years have

made her feel a deep affinity towards the Indian culture and people. Thrilled to be partnering with RBL, a leader in fashion and luxury in the region, she spoke about how having a brand presence in this extraordinary country has been a dream of hers.

This new boutique is a continuation of the brand’s global expansion in a market where it already has loyal Indian customers who have been shopping its collections while travelling across the world.

BRINGING THIS FAST-CATCHING, WORLDWIDE TREND TO INDIA, THE ORIGIN IS A NEW LABEL FOR FINE ARTISANAL FOOD PRODUCTS. With everyone getting more mindful about what they eat, what is in their fridge and how it got there, there is now a one-stop destination for thoughtfully sourced artisanal food, complete with products from across

A POP-UP STORE WILL PRESENT THE ICONIC PORCELAIN BRAND TO THE FRENCH POPULATION

One of the most exclusive locations dedicated to luxury in Paris, the Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann’s Maison space offers the Ginori 1735’s Oriente Italiano collection until October 10. Marking a further step forward in the international development strategy, the new opening within the prestigious French department stores aims at opening the physical market beyond the Alps for the brand

the globe, as well as a vegan café.

Focusing heavily on artisanal brands originating from India and abroad, these include Belberry, Al’Olivier, Croix Verte, Vegan Deli, Ben and Jerry’s, Salud, Fruit Life and Just Berries to name a few.

TITLED ‘LOVE IS’, THE NEW COLLECTION BY INTERNATIONALLY CELEBRATED DESIGNERS FALGUNI SHANE PEACOCK WAS UNVEILED AT THE INDIA COUTURE WEEK WITH A FASHION FILM SHOT AT THE TAJ MAHAL, AGRA - A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE. From the distinct handwriting and talents of a cluster of about 250 craftsmen from the FSP-adopted villages of Maligati, Islampur, Midnapore, Kharagpur and Marhtala in West Bengal, this collection has been crafted completely by hand, with the couture signatures of Falguni Shane Peacock.

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CANARA BANK IS TRANSFORMING FAST Canara Bank which successfully raised Rs. 2500 crore through a Qualified Institutional Placement from a bunch of noted domestic & foreign institutional investors as well as celebrity investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, is on a rapid transformation mode, under the leadership of its MD & CEO, LV Prabhakar, and its four Executive Directors.

Canara Bank’s Qualified Institutional Placement had ready takers even in a market that was super saturated with IPOs of both conventional as well as startup companies. Both domestic and foreign institutional investors featured in the list of investors. From the domestic side, there were LIC of India, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and Indian Bank, while international investors included Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale & Volrado Venture Partners. But the surprise investment was from India’s Big Bull and celebrity investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who now holds a 1.59% stake post the QIP. Why all these investors made a beeline for the Canara Bank stock is not evident from the graph, as the stock, much like all

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its peer PSU banks, are trading far away from their past glory, due to the headwinds of the NPA crisis that got aggravated by the pandemic. Canara Bank stock had touched Rs. 440 level in late 2017, which was its 5-year high, whereas it is now trading at around Rs. 150 level. But in a market where everything else have moved up to sky-high valuations, and looks ready for a tumbledown at the first sign of a global or Indian crisis, PSU banks like Canara comes across as very safe for value investors. For instance, Canara Bank is currently available at a Trailing Twelve Months Price/Earnings of just 7.54 times as against the Sector P/E of 17.36 times.

Price to Book Value wise also, Canara Bank comes across as very

Shri L V Prabhakar, MD&CEO, Canara Bank

inexpensive at 0.48 times, as against State Bank of India’s 1.41 times. At the same time, under the leadership of its MD & CEO, LV Prabhakar, Canara Bank has been pulling all the right plugs for total transformation and growth. The bank turned around to green in FY’21 by registering a profit of Rs. 2702 crore on consolidated basis, as against a loss of Rs. 2023 crore in FY’20. And in Q1 of this fiscal, i.e. FY’22, Canara Bank did an encore with its bottomline surging by three times, compared with the same period last year. And the successful QIP of Rs. 2500 crore that the bank concluded successfully now,

Shri. Debashish Mukherjee Executive Director

Ms. A. Manimekhalai Executive Director

is only part of the Rs. 9000 crore total capital raise the bank is getting ready for soon. While the QIP has shored up Canara’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, the additional raising of funds by a mix of debt and equity will provide the bank with the much needed growth capital as it gears up to be a ‘digital attacker bank’ as exhorted by the Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman under the EASE 4.0 (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) framework for PSU banks. Canara Bank is also yet to benefit fully from the merger of Syndicate Bank into itself, which will happen in the coming quarters and years.

Shri K Satyanarayana Raju Executive Director

Shri Brij Mohan Sharma Executive Director SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ESAF SFB IPO

IPO WILL BE A MAJOR TEST FOR ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK So far, ESAF Small Finance Bank has performed well under duress, having survived issues like the Kerala floods and demonetisation. It’s IPO which was postponed last year, is coming back now, again in the backdrop of a severe economic crisis for its mainstay of micro-financing due to the after-effects of the devastating second wave. Hence pricing of the issue and execution of the business will be key monitorables for ESAF SFB’s IPO. Whether it will price and execute well like Equitas and AU or disappoint like Suryoday and Ujjivan will be keenly watched by prospective investors.

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The plight of investors in Suryoday SFB’s IPO speaks volumes about both the promise and disappointment possible in the microfinance sector.

Promoted by well experienced professionals and backed by several noted investors, the Suryoday IPO was well marketed and well received by investors. After all, the lender was in urban microfinance, one of the most promising growth segments in lending today, with the potential for high net interest margins. But then came the second wave, and when the IPO listed, it couldn’t stop falling from 270 levels to 140 levels before finding a solid base. Half of investor wealth was wiped out. Similar was the case with Ujjivan SFB which couldn’t stop falling from Rs. 35 level to Rs. 18 before stabilizing.

At the same time, there were excellent IPOs in the microfinance driven SFB space. Equitas SFB has rallied post IPO from Rs. 32 level to over Rs. 60. A much earlier IPO in the space, of AU Small Finance Bank, had also doubled investor wealth during the four years of its listed history. Interestingly, while Equitas today enjoys a price-tobook of 2.02 and AU SFB has an industry leading P/BV of 5.60, the laggards in the sector Ujjivan and Suryoday now trades at only 1.16 and 1.23 times of their book values respectively. Clearly, it was not just

ESAF SFB’S FOUNDER, MANAGING DIRECTOR & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER IS K PAUL THOMAS, ONE OF INDIA’S MICROFINANCE PIONEERS, WHO WAS INSPIRED AND MENTORED

BY NONE OTHER THAN NOBEL LAUREATE MUHAMMAD YUNUS, WHO FOUNDED BANGLADESH’S GRAMEEN BANK, THE WORLD’S FIRST LARGE SCALE MICROLENDING BANK.

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POST IPO, THE BANK WILL CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON ITS RURAL AND SEMI-URBAN FRANCHISEES AND INCREASE DEPOSITS ACROSS NRIS AND CASA. AS ON DATE, IT STANDS TO HAVE THE HIGHEST SHARE OF RETAIL DEPOSITS AS A PERCENTAGE TO THE TOTAL DEPOSITS WHEN COMPARED TO THE OTHER SMALL FINANCE BANKS. a case of pricing the issue reasonably, but whether such demanded prices matched the lender’s execution capabilities. When ESAF SFB goes for its IPO soon, it would be this factor that would be watched the most.

Thrissur, Kerala, headquartered ESAF Small Finance Bank plans to raise around Rs. 998 crore via its IPO. ESAF's institutional investors include heavyweights like Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company, PI Ventures & PNB Metlife India Insurance Company, among several others.

Axis Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services, ICICI Securities, and IIFL Securities are the book running lead managers to the ESAF SFB IPO. It has been almost three decades since ESAF started as a grassroots level movement and microfinance institution, and four years since it started functioning as ESAF Small Finance Bank.

Led by microfinance pioneer, K Paul Thomas as its Founder, MD & CEO, ESAF SFB is growing from strength to strength by offering a full bouquet of banking services, all based on its philosophy of providing opportunities to common people to pursue their big dreams of prosperity.

ESAF SFB is one of India’s most well run small finance banks, and is likely to be a good opportunity for investors.

This is because, it leads many of its peers in terms of client base size, yield on advances, net interest margin, assets under management CAGR, total

deposit CAGR, loan portfolio concentration in rural and semi-urban areas and ratio of micro loan advances to gross advances.

Being a lending institution growing at a rapid pace, ESAF SFB’s IPO will involve predominantly fresh issue of shares, by which the bank will raise around Rs. 800 crore for itself. Apart from this, there will be an Offer for Sale (OFS) by promoters and two early institutional investors , Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company and PI Ventures. This will be for around Rs. 198 crore. Currently promoters led by founder K Paul Thomas collectively hold 69.40 percent stake in the bank.

The offer also includes a reservation of some shares for its employees.

ESAF SFB may, in consultation with the book running lead managers, consider a pre-offer placement of of

territories of India. The bank is a grassroots level organization having served over 4.68 million customers.

Post IPO, the bank will continue to focus on its rural and semi-urban franchisees and increase deposits across NRIs and CASA. As on date, it stands to have the highest share of retail deposits as a percentage to the total deposits when compared to the other small finance banks.

Around five years back, when several SFB licences were given out, ESAF SFB was quick to sprint off the block, as basically it was long prepared for the transformation from being a Non Banking Finance Company in Microfinance (NBFC-MFI) to being a regular bank. Today, it also leads its peers in terms of yield on advances, AUM growth rate, share of retail deposits, and several other such metrics.

ESAF SFB has well utilized its strengths in its home turf of Kerala. Its parent ESAF was the first microfinance institution in the state. And four years back, ESAF SFB became the first entity in Kerala since Indian Independence to bag a banking licence.

Rs 300 crore. If the pre-IPO placement is undertaken, then the said amount will be reduced from the fresh issue.

The bank has been an excellent wealth creator for its existing investors. For instance, it has doubled the investment value of PI Ventures in as little as three years.

The bank will utilize the net proceeds from the fresh issue for augmenting its Tier-I capital base to meet future capital requirements. ESAF SFB's loan products comprise micro loans, retail loans, MSME and corporate loans, and agricultural loans. As a small finance bank, it is required to have at least 75 percent of its adjusted net bank credit to the priority sectors.

As of May 31, 2021, ESAF SFB has 550 branches, 421 customer service centres, 158 banking agents and 327 ATMs across 21 states and 2 union

ESAF SFB HAD WON THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD 2020 ORGANISED BY ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT FOUNDATION. BANK FOUNDER AND CEO K PAUL THOMAS RECEIVED THE AWARD FROM UNION MINISTER GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT IN AN ONLINE SUMMIT ATTENDED

BY MARISE PAYNE, AUSTRALIA'S MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

Soon after becoming a bank, ESAF SFB made significant forays into NRI banking and overseas remittances, which is a stronghold of Kerala.

When Reserve Bank of India made it a Scheduled Bank in December 2018, ESAF SFB became the fifth scheduled bank from the state, which was traditionally a cradle of private sector banking.

At the same time, ESAF SFB leveraged its deep experience due to microlending operations in several states across India, to expand its geographic footprint across India. It’s 500th branch was opened in Ahmedabad in Gujarat late last year, and ESAF SFB is well on track to have 535 branches before the end of this year. Its core retail products include fixed and recurring deposit schemes with attractive interest rates, gold loans, and affordable loans for small and micro entrepreneurs and individuals.

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ESAF SFB’s Founder, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer is K Paul Thomas, one of India’s microfinance pioneers, who was inspired and mentored by none other than Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, who founded Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, the world’s first large scale micro-lending bank.

Paul Thomas takes most pride in the fact that ESAF’s and later ESAF SFB’s growth has always been powered by its commitment to provide its customers opportunities to prosper.

He feels that despite all the lip service, when it comes to actual delivery of such services, many financial institutions fall short.

In sharp contrast, ESAF’s and ESAF SFB’s history of nearly three decades has always been of serving the unbanked and the under-banked, with a focus on financial inclusion. The bank has more than 96% of its exposure to the micro segment, with the average ticket size of their loan portfolio being just Rs 33,000.

While this is one of the finest examples of inclusive and responsible banking, ESAF SFB’s additional edge has been providing these needy clients, customer-centric products and services through the extensive application of technology.

Based on such a visionary combination of strategies, the bank has been growing impressively. As of March 2021, gross advances were at Rs. 8,415 crore compared with Rs. 6,606.51 crore a year ago. Total deposits were at Rs. 8,999.43 crore against Rs. 7,028.38 crore.

The small finance bank reported a total income of Rs. 1,767.28 crore for FY21, up from Rs. 1,546.44 crore a year ago. Net profit for the period was at Rs. 105.40 crore, while gross non performing assets to gross advances was at 6.7%, up from 1.53% a year ago, much like many of its peers, due to the pandemic.

ESAF SFB had filed a DHRP in January last year, but the first wave of the covid pandemic and nationwide lockdown had forced it to call off the IPO. The SEASONAL MAGAZINE

lender said the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic crisis continues to affect its businesses.

Financial condition and cash flows will depend on developments that cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the pandemic, future actions taken by government authorities, central banks and other third parties in response to the pandemic, and the effects on its customers, counter parties, employees and third-party service providers.

However, having seen many storms in the microfinance sector, and having come out unscathed from it all, ESAF SFB is a very conservative player when it comes to safety and sustainability of its lending. It follows the practice of proactive provisioning, with its provision coverage ratio now standing at 93.45% as against 81.53% last year.

It has a robust infrastructure for collections, due to which collections have fared very well even during the pandemic.

The conservative and highly prudent nature of its operations is also reflected in its capital adequacy. It is

one of the most well capitalized SFBs with CRAR at 24.29% with Tier I CRAR of 21.10%, against a regulatory requirement of 15% and 7.50%, respectively.

ESAF SFB had won the Global Sustainability Award 2020 organised

by Energy and Environment Foundation. Bank founder and CEO K Paul Thomas received the award from Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in an online summit attended by Marise Payne, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The bank was selected for this year’s award in recognition of its outstanding contributions, commitment and actions that have made a positive impact on the environment. Receiving the award, Paul Thomas said: “The award is a recognition of ESAF’s unique social business strategy with a triple bottomline approach emphasising people, planet and prosperity throughout our journey of three decades impacting over 4.4 million people and their families spread across different States of India as a social bank.”

SRM OFFERS SCHOLARSHIPS TO 300 STUDENTS FOR THE THIRD YEAR SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), the leading deemed university near Chennai, is offering merit scholarships for 300 economically backward students from Perambalur constituency, for which SRMIST Founder Dr. T. R Paarivendhar is the Member of Parliament. For the last two years too, Dr. Paarivendhar had given scholarships to 300 students each for studying in his institutions, keeping up with his election promise.

SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), Kattankulathur is offering scholarships to 300 students from the Perambalur constituency.

This was announced by SRMIST’s Founder Chancellor and Perambalur Constituency Member of Parliament, Dr. T. R Paarivendhar.

Speaking at the press conference held at the Institute's premises he said,

"This is part of my promise to the people of Perambalur constituency.

For the last two years, SRMIST had given free education to 600 students.

This year too I will keep up my election promise and provide free education to 300 students from my constituency."

Students from the Perambalur Lok Sabha segment, who wish to pursue Engineering & Technology, Science & Humanities, Agricultural Sciences, Management, Health Sciences, Hotel Management, etc. can apply.

Applicants from economically weaker sections will be selected based on their performance in their respective board examinations.

These 300 students from economically weaker sections in the Perambalur constituency would be given free education at his SRM group of institutions. This scheme will only cover full tuition fees and be renewed

on basis of academic performance. In view of COVID-19 pandemic, hostel facilities will not be provided.

Dr. Paarivendhar said that the SRM group would strive to make education at private universities beneficial to those from the economically weaker sections. He said, “Students should utilize this opportunity to pursue higher studies.” He assured that deserving students would get suitable placements. “The selection process for this scholarship will be done based on merit and the student's economic background.”

Explaining why he came up with this initiative, Dr. Paarivendhar said, "My constituency consists of many people from economically weak backgrounds. Most of them are farmers and their children don't have access to good education and job opportunities."

"Apart from providing good, quality education to the people in my Constituency, I also want to provide them with better infrastructure facilities," he concluded.

Present for the press meet were SRMIST’s Vice Chancellor Dr. C. Muthamizhchelvan, Registrar Dr. S. Ponnusamy, Director (Admissions) Dr. K. S. Lakshmi, and Director (Communications) Mr. R. Nandakummar.

SRMIST’s Founder Chancellor and Perambalur Constituency Member of Parliament, Dr. T. R Paarivendhar, Vice Chancellor Dr. C. Muthamizhchelvan, Registrar Dr. S. Ponnusamy, Director (Admissions) Dr. K. S. Lakshmi, and Director (Communications) Mr. R. Nandakummar at the announcement of the Perambalur Scholarship at SRMIST premises.

Those eligible in his constituency need to submit the applications on or before 18th September 2021.

Applications for the same can be sent to Director (Admissions), SRM Nagar, Potheri, Chengalpattu District 603203. Application forms can be downloaded from https:// admissions.srmist.edu.in/ srmistonline/Perambalur SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SRM AWARDED BY AICTE FOR CAMPUS, FACULTY & INNOVATION SRM Institute of Science and Technology, the leading deemed university near Chennai has bagged three awards from All India Council for Technical Education – first prize for Clean & Smart Campus; a Best Teacher award for Dr. P. Supraja; and a second prize for SRMIST’s Team Clotech for their innovative solution for post-Covid rebuilding under Atmanirbhar Bharat.

SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), Kattankulathur has received the 'First Prize' in AICTE National Level Clean and Smart Campus Award 2020 (A Campus first step towards Sustainability) under the "University/Deemed to be University" category for their outstanding Clean & Smart Campus.

The Certificate of Excellence was presented by Union Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and was received by Vice Chancellor of SRMIST Dr. C. Muthamizhchelvan.

Dr. P. Supraja, Assistant Professor from the Department of Networking and Communications, School of Computing, SRMIST has been awarded as ‘Best Teacher’ under AICTE- Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Award 2021 in recognition of her teaching excellence in technical education.

This Certificate of Excellence is aimed to recognize the meritorious faculties on Teachers Day every year at National level and encourage them to SEASONAL MAGAZINE

update themselves to the everchanging needs of higher education at global level and thereby becoming an effective contributor towards the society.

The third award was received by team Clotech from SRMIST. They were awarded second prize in the category "Barriers in Accessing Adequate Health Care Service" for presenting a prototype/innovative solution of 'Niramay' under the theme "India's Economic Recovery Post COVID; Reverse Migration and Rehabilitation Plan to support Atmanirbhar Bharat".

Team Clotech consists of Sandeep K Lakhera, Gauri Nerpagar, Tanuj Chowdary Yalamarthy, Praveen Kumar and Dharani Vasan. The Founder Chancellor of SRMIST, Pro Chancellors and the entire management of team SRMIST congratulate the awardee and wish them all the best ahead.

ABOUT SRM SRM Institute of Science and Technology (formerly known as SRM University) is accredited with the highest grade of A++ by NAAC and graded by UGC/MHRD as Category I university with 12 B status. All Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture, and MBA programs are approved by AICTE and programs under Health Sciences are approved by various Statutory Bodies of India. SRMIST has secured the second rank in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA-2020). SRMIST is ranked globally by QS and rated

by QS with ‘4 Star’ globally and awarded India centric QS IGAUGE Diamond rating.

SRMIST carries out cutting edge research in frontier areas with more than 238 government-funded research projects at an outlay of Rs.150 Crores.

It has 23 both national and international patents also. The Sir C V Raman Research Park was built at an estimate of Rs.120 crores with state-of-the-art equipment to undertake research work. The University functions from five campuses in the country, namely, at Kattankulathur in Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu, Ramapuram and Ramapuram Part (Vadapalani) in Chennai city, Modi Nagar, in NCR New Delhi, and at Tiruichirappalli (Irungalur).

SRMIST has over 50,000 students and nearly 3,300 faculty across all the campuses offering a wide range of

undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs in Engineering, Management, Medicine and Health Sciences, Hotel Management, Science and Humanities, Agricultural Sciences and School of Law. The curriculum and syllabus are outcome based with specialized programs even at undergraduate level. The University offers 5 year M.Tech integrated programs under Engineering. At the Kattankulathur campus, Five engineering programs have been accredited by ABET, USA (www.abet.org), and another four Engineering programs by IET, UK. It has more than 1000 international students from 64 countries studying in various programs.

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