Seasonal Magazine - CSB Bank IPO - Cover Story by John Antony

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VOLUME 18 ISSUE 11 NOV 2019

MAGAZINE

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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 Editorial & Business Office Cochin: 36/1924 E, Kaloor-Kadavanthra Road, Near IGNOU, Kaloor, Cochin-17. Ph:0484- 2345876, 2534377, 2340080 Mob. 09947141362 Delhi: H.No: P-108, Uppal Southend, Sector 48, Sohna Road, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122018 Ph: 9891771857|099471 41362

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has rolled back some of the tough measures she had taken in her maiden budget, as well as provided some new stimuli to kickstart growth, in three announcements within two weeks. While the stock market responded some what to FM's easing measures, the consumer demand situation is yet to witness a significant uptick across sectors. As the whole of India searches for reasons behind the deepening gloom in the economy, the FM identified the changing tastes of millennials behind some setbacks like in the auto sector. For example, it was hypothesized that the youthful brigade is content with ride-hailing apps like Uber & Ola, rather than ownin a car of their own. But many in the industry as well as social media didn't agree to this view, including India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki's top honchos, who put the main reason as rising cost of owning even an entry level car due to higher taxes, insurance, fuel and other factors. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal tried to instill confidence in the economy by citing the fable of Newton discovering gravity by a falling apple and not maths. While media and social media were behind Minister Goyal's gaffe of mentioning Einstein instead of Newton, an even bigger issue was overlooked which is that maths was in fact central to not only Newton's discovery of gravity, but for arriving at an annual growth rate of 12% if India is aiming to be a $5 trillion economy by 2024 as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's objective. Since former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh is not really a politician but an economist, he too pitched into the wider debate, proposing five measures including growing agriculture and exports. Since India has been reeling under a spreading contagion of weak growth and rising job losses across the sectors, Seasonal Magazine too has identified seven ways to resurrect the economy immediately.

While we Indians and all our leaders have glossed over our GDP growth rate post economic liberalization, a sobering fact for all of us is that India’s GDP is still dominated by consumption. And in consumption too, private consumption has been the major component of our GDP with estimates on its contribution varying between 60% to 70%. Private consumption is the consumption of goods and services by you and me and our companies, and not the governments. India has fared well in consumption primarily because of our world-leading population, of which a rising percentage was uplifted from poverty to lower middleclass and middleclass post economic liberalization. In fact, India withstood the global economic crisis starting in 2009 and the ensuing and lingering NPA crisis solely based on the growing consumption economy.

Bring Back the Demand

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7 WAYS TO RESURRECT THE ECONOMY

Bring Back the Consumption

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EDITORIAL

To energize the economy, successive governments have been trying to push public spending in the vain hope that it will eventually spur private investments. But time and again it has been proved that this has not happened, and will not happen in the future too for some simple reasons. Capacity utilization across industries in India stands at just 70%. Why should entrepreneurs and companies invest again in capacity augmentation now? It doesn’t make sense at all. Companies will invest heavily only when they sense once again that demand is going to outpace supply. Expecting supply to lead demand is irrational. This is not a chicken-or-egg problem with any ambiguity. It is a horse-or-cart issue. Trying to promote private investment before demand kicks in is putting the cart before the horse, which has never worked. Instead the horses of demand should be unleashed by enabling consumption.

Bring Back the Corporate Credit Growth While capacity utilization is only 70%, it is important to realize that it is an average figure across industries and that there are still some pockets of growth. In addition,

there is the start-up environment where budding entrepreneurs are trying new products and services. It is imperative that these segments get adequate credit, which the banks are now unable or not willing to provide due to the never-ending NPA crisis. While different measures have been tried by successive governments and RBI governors, the crisis still looms greater than ever before. The writing on the wall should be clear to all. The NPA crisis can be solved only by both parties – defaulting companies as well as banks – taking significant haircuts. Government, as the main promoter of wholesale banks, should encourage their banks to do this, so that this crisis is solved once and for all, and banks return to a track of significant credit growth.

Bring Back the Retail & MSME Credit Growth India’s consumption story was not just driven by rising incomes in the lower-class and middleclass populations, but by the easy credit that became available to them, mainly from the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). While banks were unwilling to lend to these consumers, it was these NBFCs that extended loans to them and thus indirectly spurring on the demand for everything from smartphones to TVs to bikes to even cars and affordable homes. The same goes for the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for which these nonbanks were a major source of debt. The NBFC crisis starting from IL&FS and extending through DHFL has shattered this sector as refinancing has become a major problem for even well-run NBFCs. While banks pay lip service to growing their retail & MSME loan portfolios, except for one or two private banks, no bank is willing to lend aggressively to these sectors. That is why the NBFC sector needs to be revived urgently.

Bring Back the Jobs Growth The first hint of increasing trouble in Indian economy, post 2014, came from the jobs front. Job growth has decelerated to multi-decade lows. This was to be expected as corporate earnings growth was getting muted, with insufficient capacity utilization and lack of credit for even growing sectors. While

successive governments have done much to incentivize overseas investments, little was done to incentivize jobs growth. It was assumed that one will automatically result in the other, which has proved to be untrue. This is because the biggest overseas and Indian companies are resorting to a highlevel of automation driven by artificial intelligence, which is enabling them to make bigger profits with fewer jobs. As this trend is only likely to grow exponentially, it is imperative that highly populous countries like India stop incentivizing investments and start incentivizing jobs creation.

Bring Back Wage Growth Whenever consumption suffers in any country, the first culprit that economists look for is wage growth. This time and our country too is no different. Studies show that per capita disposable income in India fell to 9.5% between 2015 and 2018 from a high of 13.3% between 2010 and 2014. Falling disposable income is primarily why Indians, especially the poor and middle-class, have cut down on or delayed buying discretionary items and even essentials and staples. India’s economic growth has not proportionally contributed to wage growth for the masses, say successive studies from International Labour Organization (ILO). Powerful tools like MGNREGA that put significant amounts of money in the hands of masses should be revived and grown systematically so that consumption is boosted from the lowest of rungs, even when productive work of nation-building gets done. MGNREGA is credited with boosting consumption from 2007 to 2014. Government should also implement the findings of a study it commissioned in 2017, which recommended that a minimum wage of close to Rs.10,000 should be paid across all sectors.

Bring Back Rational Taxes While implementing the Goods & Service Taxes was a long pending reform, sector after sector, starting from automobiles to FMCG foods are showing tremendous stress from the rise in tax rates. Tax rates should be made much more rational in such a way that the government gets higher and higher taxes from growth of the sectors rather than higher tax rates. When rates are kept low, it will spur growth and will eventually deliver much more sustainable revenues for the government. Otherwise, it will be like killing the proverbial golden goose for short-term gains. Also, government should come to the rescue of the masses by cutting taxes on petrol and diesel when oil prices run high, as the higher prices in itself compensates the government. Otherwise, the jobs loss that started with the automotive sector with an estimated 3.5 lakh people losing jobs, and then to FMCG foods, will propagate to other sectors and become a contagion. John Antony SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CONTENTS RARE OPPORTUNITY AS CENTENARIAN BANK LAUNCHES IPO Kerala has been one of the cradles of Indian banking. And wonder of wonders, Kerala’s oldest private sector bank is yet to be publicly listed. Older than Federal Bank and South Indian Bank, and bigger than both many decades back, is CSB Bank, formerly named Catholic Syrian Bank. Next year, it completes one hundred years of existence. By September 2019 end, it has to go public to comply with RBI norms given when India born Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax took over 51% of it. Flush with funds, CSB Bank’s Rs. 400 crore IPO will be mainly an Offer for Sale (OFS). Led by former Andhra Bank CMD, CVR Rajendran, the bank is working on ambitious targets for the next 5 years.

MISSING THE BIGGER PICTURE? In every sphere of human activity, there is always a raging debate as to what constitutes a reasonable policy. From a country’s defence to social welfare; economics to religion; law to industry it is often noticeable that a ‘debate’ ensues regarding the form and substance of respective policies in almost every field. Even in sport, team selections are a highly subjective exercise, which is bound to split..

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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: OF CRICKET, CRICKETERS AND COACHES

YASHWANT SINHA: MEMOIRS OF AN ACCOMPLISHED PUBLIC FIGURE

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THE YOUTHFUL ENERGY RENEWING ANDHRA In many ways, the leadership of 46-year old Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradeshresembles how innovative start-ups are run by dynamic youngsters – taking radical approaches and never taking no for an answer.

FULFILLING AMMA’S DREAMS Jayalalithaa’s prime dream in her final years was to make Tamil Nadu a developed state with $10,000 dollars per capita income, in a still developing India. This is the legacy that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Industries Minister MC Sampath have inherited and which they are trying to fulfil.

A Forest in a Stadium

POWERFUL GROWTH ORGANICALLY AND INORGANICALLY

Swiss art curator Klaus Littmann has planted 300 trees in a football stadium in Austria as a "memorial" to the environment in the anthropocene era.

NO GAY GENE EXIXTS, SAYS LARGE GENOME STUDY FRANCE: INDIA’S NEW RUSSIA THE INDO-FRENCH BROMANCE CAN ONLY BE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL As the full picture of the IndoFrench bromance emerged after the latest visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France twice in three days, commentators have begun to say that France is now as close to India as the Soviet Union/Russia was earlier.

MUSK WANTS TO NUKE MARS, AND WHY IT IS USELESS Leading entrepreneur Elon Musk – aka Lex Luthor in spirit — is on social media yapping about nuking Mars again. He’s not trolling; he’s not acting as a provocateur; he really wants to bombard the surface of our..

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WHO ALL CAN REPLACE SAUDI OIL? The attacks cut Saudi production by 5.7 million barrels a day. Here is a list of countries that could boost crude production to offset losses from Saudi Arabia in the event that the disruption to supplies from the attacks on its Abqaiq and Khurais processing facilities lasts longer than initially expected. It's not a long list and much may not be accessible.

The merger with Gruh Finance that came to effect on October 17 has given Bandhan Bank access to a high-quality housingloan portfolio of Rs. 18,200 crore. Already Bandhan had an existing loan portfolio of Rs. 46,000 crore, which is dominated by the short-term and high-margin microfinance, whereas the home loan portfolio from Gruh gives it the much needed long-tenure loans. The merger has also added incrementally to its deposit base as Gruh was a deposit-taking NBFC with deposits of Rs. 1,600

AN INDO-RUSSIAN ORDER IN ASIA AND BEYOND? In the context of the India-Russia annual summit in Vladivostok, there were some underlying interests between the two countries that seemed conspicuous. Firstly, India and Russia find themselves with almost zero political issues between them, a rare foreign policy relationship that has stood the test of time.Recently, India’s External Affairs Minister S SEASONAL MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

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Ker Kera Ban Bank ye give of it S

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CSB BANK IPO

ARE OPPORTUNITY CENTENARIAN BANK LAUNCHES IPO

rala has been one of the cradles of Indian banking. And wonder of wonders, ala’s oldest private sector bank is yet to be publicly listed. Older than Federal nk and South Indian Bank, and bigger than both many decades back, is CSB k, formerly named Catholic Syrian Bank. Next year, it completes one hundred ears of existence. It is now going public as it has to comply with RBI norms en when India born Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax took over 51% t. Flush with funds, CSB Bank’s Rs. 410 crore IPO will be mainly an Offer for Sale (OFS). Led by former Andhra Bank CMD, CVR Rajendran, the bank is working on ambitious targets for the next 5 years.

CVR Rajendran, MD & CEO

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hrissur, Kerala, headquartered CSB Bank, formerly known as Catholic Syrian Bank, and now majority owned by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa, will launch its Rs. 410 crore Initial Public Offer on November 22, and the IPO will close on November 26th. The bank aims to raise Rs 405.72 crore at the lower end of the price band and Rs 409.68 crore at the higher band. The IPO consists of a fresh issue aggregating up to Rs 24 crore and an offer for sale of up to 1,97,78,298 equity shares by the selling shareholders. The price band is fixed at Rs 193-195 per share. Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 75 equity shares and in multiples of 75 equity shares thereafter.

As per this plan, CSB Bank will strive to achieve over the next five years, ambitious targets including, return on assets of 1.5%, return on equity of 18%, net interest margin of 3.9%, revenue per employee of Rs 4O lakh, cost to income ratio of 46% and net NPAs of 1.1%.

CSB Bank is one of the oldest private sector banks , not only in Kerala, but the whole of India, and will be one of the last such banks to be listed, which makes it a rare opportunity for investors.

The bank plans a smaller fresh issue as it is flush with funds, and a bigger Ofer for Sale (OFS) from existing investors who have been shareholders for years and did not have a chance to exit in a significant and open way with price discovery before this public offer. Last year, India born Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax India Holdings had received special approval from the Reserve Bank of India to take a majority stake in the Thrissur, Kerala-based CSB Bank, making it the first such majority takeover, which is usually not approved by RBI. As such, a public listing was one of the conditions for Fairfax to take a controlling stake. Investment banks IIFL and Axis Capital are the book running lead managers (BRLMs) for the IPO. It has one year after obtaining SEBI approval to initiate the IPO, even though it may go in for IPO in September itself, if SEBI grants it approval, in order to comply with the RBI regulation. While Fairfax holds 50.1% of the bank’s equity, three domestic insurance companies each have a 2.5% stake. The rest is mainly divided among private equity funds and wealthy individuals based in India and abroad, including Kerala based billionaire businessman in Middle East, MA Yusuf Ali. The bank is also noted for its vast number of retail shareholders, numbering 28,000 even before the IPO, due to its long history and local community roots. CSB Bank had previously filed for an IPO in 2015, much before Watsa’s takeover, but it did not happen. This issue will be a rare IPO of an oldgeneration private sector bank in India and the first such IPO since RBL Bank listed at the end of August 2016.

Madhavan Menon, Chairman SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Having its presence in most major cities of India, CSB Bank has a network of more than 412 branches and 290 ATMs across 16 states and four union territories of India. However, the bank’s significant presence in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and

Maharashtra. CSB Bank has a customer base of 1.3 million as on September 31, 2019.

Net NPA also decreased to 1.96 percent at the end of September this year, from 2.27 percent in March 2019.

second tranche of Rs. 487 crore from Fairfax India has also since come in.

CSB Bank reported a profit of Rs 44.27 crore in the six-month period ended September 2019 while it had posted a loss of Rs 65.69 crore in FY19 against loss of Rs 127.09 crore in FY18.

The provisioning coverage ratio, too, improved to 79.45 percent in September, from 78.16 percent in March 2019.

The bank is led by its MD & CEO CVR Rajendran, a veteran banker who had highly successful banking careers at Corporation Bank and later on as the Chairman & Managing Director of Andhra Bank, both public sector lenders.

Net interest income for first half of FY20 stood at Rs 279.52 crore while the same in FY19 was at Rs 439.95 crore, increased from Rs 384.81 crore in FY18.

The net interest margin stood at 3.43 percent during April-September period this year and the same was at 2.80 percent in FY19 primarily on account of reduction in the cost of funds and an increase in credit to deposit ratio.

Asset quality of the bank improved with gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances declining to 2.86 percent at the end of September 2019, from 4.87 percent in March 2019.

In FY’19, its capital adequacy ratio significantly improved from 9.9% as at end March 2018, to 16.7% as at end March 2019, following the first tranche investment of Rs. 720-crore by Fairfax. It has improved further now as the

Prem Watsa, Chairman, Faiefax

CSB Bank’s Chairman is Madhavan Menon who was the chairman and managing director of Thomas Cook India. Menon is a nominee of Fairfax, together with Sumit Maheshwari, MD & CEO of Fairbridge Capital, a unit of Fairfax. The CSB Board, barring these two members, comprises independent directors. The CSB Bank IPO is likely to be majority reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers, and then to High Networth Investors (HNIs) and only a minority portion being reserved for retail investors. QIBs are often longer-term investors who can wait out an institution’s positive turnaround to profits. Under the leadership of its MD & CEO CVR Rajendran, and with the approval of Fairfax Chairman Prem Watsa, a strategic direction to CSB Bank has been created, focusing on profitability, productivity, efficiency and asset quality. As per this plan, CSB Bank will strive to achieve over the next five years, ambitious targets including, return on assets of 1.5%, return on equity of 18%, net interest margin of 3.9%, revenue per employee of Rs 4O lakh, cost to income ratio of 46% and net NPAs of 1.1%. According to a road map submitted to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by CSB Bank, Fairfax will have to cut its stake to 40% in the next five years, to 30% in the subsequent five, and to 15% by the end of 15 years. This is because as per the current RBI norms on private sector banks, the promoters should limit stake to 15%. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

RAGHURAM RAJAN REMINDS OF HIS LONGER TENURE WITH NDA RAGHURAM RAJAN HAS HIT BACK, SAYING MOST OF HIS TIME AS RBI CHIEF WAS UNDER BJP-LED GOVERNMENT. THE FORMER RBI GOVERNOR HAD SAID IN A RECENT INTERVIEW THAT INDIA NEEDED ANOTHER GENERATION OF ECONOMIC REFORMS.

ers being written off over the last three years. “It was in Rajan’s time as governor of the Reserve Bank that loans were given just based on phone calls from crony leaders,” Sitharaman said at a lecture at Columbia University in New York City on October 16. “Public sector banks in India till today are depending on the government’s equity infusion to get out of that mire.” Sitharaman said she respected Rajan as he was a great scholar who chose to be in the central bank in India, at a time when the Indian economy was “all buoyant”. The finance minister said she was grateful that Rajan had conducted an asset quality review, but everyone should know what has caused the crisis in banks now and “where it has been inherited from”. Indian economic growth slowed down to a six-year low of 5% in the first quarter of the 2019-’20 financial year. The RBI has cut India’s growth forecast for 2019-’20 to 6.1%.

Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Thursday hit back at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for claiming that he “presided over the worst phase” of the Indian banking sector. In an interview, Rajan said he spent much more time as central bank governor under the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government than under the erstwhile Congress-led government. “I had eight months in the previous government, and 26 months under this government, so much of my term was in this government,” Rajan told. “Look, let me not get into political back and forth. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

The reality is there is a cleanup [of the banking sector] which we started, which is under way, which needs to be completed fast. The recapitalisation has to be done, but it also has to be done in the non banking financial sector, which is seizing up.” Rajan was the RBI governor from September 2013 to September 2016. The first Narendra Modi-led government came to power in May 2014. The Indian banking system has lost $24.8 billion (Rs 1.76 lakh crore) due to non-performing loans of 416 default-

Rajan further told that the 5% growth rate will not provide jobs, given that one million (10 lakh) people enter the workforce every month. “India needs far stronger growth,” Rajan said. “But it is not going to come from tinkering. It really needs another generation of reforms. Good news: the government has the political strength and power to undertake those reforms. Bad news: it hasn’t done so so far.” India’s unemployment rate touched a 45-year high of 6.1% for 2017-’18, data released by the National Sample Survey Office showed in May. The financial year of 2017-’18 was the first full year after the demonetisation of highvalue currency in November 2016.

A Forest in a Stadium

Swiss art curator Klaus Littmann has planted 300 trees in a football stadium in Austria as a "memorial" to the environment in the anthropocene era.

For Forest is replica of a European forest that has been transported to Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, where visitors can enjoy the spectacle of the leaves changing and falling during autumn. The installation is Littmann's realisation of a dystopian vision of artist Max Peintner, who imagined a world where trees would only exist like species of animals in a zoo. "For Forest is very timely as it coincides with growing global discussions and activism linked to deforestation and climate change," Littmann told Dezeen. "Peintner drew The Unending Attraction of Nature in 1971. At the time, there was only little discussion about climate change and deforestation. I discovered the drawing in the 80s at an art exhibition," said Littmann. "It took me nearly 30 years to realise this project but never has the timing of one of my projects been so spot on." Trees are one of the defining symbols of the anthropocene era – the period where human activity is the biggest impact on the environment. Deforestation – whether to clear land for agriculture or industry or as the result of out of control wildfires such as those

currently burning in the Amazon – is a key factor in the emergence of the anthropocene era. A single Sitka spruce tree on Cambell Island in the Southern Ocean is regarded by scientists as the marker of the anthropocene's start. Dubbed the world's loneliest tree, the tree's rings record the radiocarbon of above ground atomic bomb tests. The peak in 1965 is seen as the official start of the era of human impact dominating the environment. At For Forest, Littmann said he wants each visitor's experience of the stadium of trees to be personal. The trees are open to be interpreted as an artistic sculpture, or a philosophical symbol of life. "With the discussions going on now, people can also see it as a memorial meant to bring people together to think about their environment and protect it." Putting trees in an unorthodox situation is intended as a challenge viewers perception. "People will not see trees or forests in the same way again," he said. Planting 300 mature trees in a short window of time was a big undertaking.

"The most challenging part of the project was its complexity," said Littmann. "The timing for setting up the temporary art intervention was crucial. We only had three weeks to set everything up." No animals or insect life will be added to the installation, but Littman said that he hopes "animals will find their way into the forest" during the time the artwork is in place. For Forest was open for viewing till 27 October, with floodlights turned on to light the trees after dark. After the installation closes, the trees will be re-planted on a plot the same size close to the stadium, where they can develop. A wooden pavilion will be built alongside them to act as a education hub for future visitors and students. "This way, the stadium forest will remain in memory as a forest sculpture," said Littman. Several recent exhibitions and art shows are engaging with the themes of the anthropocene and climate change. British artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg's show at the Vitra Design Museum includes a new branch for the tree of life made from manmade organisms. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

COGNIZANT TO CUT 13,000 JOBS In response to this change, Facebook will increase the number of reviewers at a review site in Texas, which is operated by a different partner, Chandra added. Facebook's spokesperson said the company's current plan is to move some work to another content review site operated by Genpact Ltd in Texas.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, one of Facebook Inc's content review contractors, said recently that it would shut some content moderation business, including those focusing on identifying objectionable content, resulting in about 6,000 job cuts. The information technology services provider will also eliminate up to 7,000 jobs in its other units to invest in growth areas such as cloud and internet of things to cushion the impact from a decline in spending by its financial customers. The exit from some parts of the content moderation business will hurt financial performance in the coming year, Cognizant said. Chief Executive Officer Brian Humphries said on a call with analysts the company had decided that work focused on determining whether content violated client standards was not part of its strategic vision. The work "can involve objectionable materials," he said. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Cognizant had about 500 workers in India's southern city of Hyderabad looking for sensitive topics or profane language in Facebook videos, Reuters reported in May. The Verge also reported that some Cognizant employees scouring potentially objectionable content for Facebook faced difficult conditions. A Cognizant spokesman did not say whether the Verge story led to the decision described on Wednesday. The spokesman said the move reflected the company's new strategy and that Cognizant was not completely exiting content moderation. "We'll work with our partners during this transition to ensure there's no impact on our ability to review content and keep people safe," said Arun Chandra, vice president of scaled operations at Facebook. Facebook works with at least five outsourcing vendors in at least eight countries on content review, according to a Reuters tally.

The social network said in December it has about 15,000 people, a mix of contractors and employees, working on content review and had over 20 content review sites around the world. Cognizant had come under pressure after activist investor Elliott urged the company to boost shareholder value after disclosing a more than 4% stake in November 2016. The hedge fund exited the stake last year. The company said it expects to save between $500 million and $550 million in 2021 and record restructuring charges of between $150 million and $200 million by the end of next year. The New Jersey-based company said revenue from its financial services segment rose 1.9% to $1.49 billion while that from healthcare services dropped 1.2% to $1.18 billion. The two segments make up more than half of the company's total revenue. Cognizant has warned of lower spending by its banking sector clients in the second half of the year. The company said it now expects full-year revenue growth of between 4.6% and 4.9%, compared with its earlier guidance of a growth of between 3.9% and 4.9%.

BANDHAN BANK

POWERFUL GROWTH ORGANICALLY AND INORGANICALLY The merger with Gruh Finance that came to effect on October 17 has given Bandhan Bank access to a high-quality housing-loan portfolio of Rs. 18,200 crore. Already Bandhan had an existing loan portfolio of Rs. 46,000 crore, which is dominated by the short-term and highmargin microfinance, whereas the home loan portfolio from Gruh gives it the much needed long-tenure loans. The merger has also added incrementally to its deposit base as Gruh was a deposit-taking NBFC with deposits of Rs. 1,600 crore. Altogether the merged entity's deposits now stand at Rs. 49,200 crore, and on both the loans and deposits front, Bandhan is on a strong footing, compared with other young banks. On the profits front, Bandhan has been delivering a power-packed show, eclipsing the profits of several similar sized or even bigger sized PSU banks taken together. With such strong growth in lending and deposits and profits, Bandhan Bank is now flexing its muscles in MSME and credit cards, and planning a bigger move in affordable home finance.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

andhan continues to show immense promise, as its focus has come back to MFI loans, and it is growing impressively. Bandhanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth is secular and multidimensional, with strong growth in both lending and deposits, and with significant pricing power. The bank has refocused from corporate loans to MSME and with the Gruh merger, Bandhan is poised to address

affordable home financing effectively. It has also launched co-branded credit cards with international banking giant Standard Chartered. With the cut in corporate tax rate, Bandhan Bank stock is also making a comeback, as lenders with secular profits are its best beneficiaries. Microfinance industry is around 30 years old, pioneered by Muhammad Yunus of our neighbouring country Bangladesh who went on to found Grameen Bank and bag a Nobel Peace Prize for impacting the lives of millions of poor people through it. Due to geographical proximity as well as similar economic situation in rural areas, India too was an early adopter of this unique lending model to the poor without any collateral. Bandhan, promoted by Indian microfinance pioneer Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, was one of the first microfinance institutions to start in the country. Bandhan has since then become Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest, and the first MFI to be granted a Universal Banking Licence in 2015 by RBI when noted global economist Dr. Raghuram Rajan was its Governor. The growth of Bandhan has come to symbolize the robustness of the Indian microfinance industry itself. Muhammad Yunus recently had some surprising words to say about the Indian microfinance sector. He expects Indian microfinance to double its lending business in the next five years if the current growth momentum in the sector continues.

Bandhan, promoted by Indian microfinance pioneer Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, was one of the first microfinance institutions to start in the country. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

According to Sa-Dhan’s Bharat Microfinance Report 2019 released by Yunus recently, the Indian microfinance industry clocked a growth of over 40 per cent, with a gross loan portfolio of Rs. 178,552 crore in loan outstandings at the end of March 2019. Yunus said the trend shows that the industry would double itself as the pace of growth and base have increased. “Given this impressive record, it has now all preparation for doubling itself in the next five years. Whatever the industry has done in the last 25-30 years, you would see it double in the next five years, as it has gained tremendous speed now,” he said. But being the microfinance pioneer, he is not oblivious to the challenges facing the sector. With size, there would also be some challenges, he opined, but which the industry should be geared to handle by now. Indeed, Indian microfinance industry has been repeatedly hit by political interventions, demonetisation and

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loan waiver impacts, but has eventually come out from all those storms, even more powerfully.

decades, Bandhan can be a long term compounder that may be able deliver around 30% growth consistently.

If and when Yunus’ prediction comes true, there are no marks for guessing who would be one of the largest beneficiaries. As the largest player, Bandhan Bank would be that beneficiary. No wonder then that Bandhan Bank stock is trading at valuations that are heftier by both book value (P/BV) and earnings (P/E) than most of its comparable peers in the banking and small finance banking sector.

Bandhan Bank has been leading in loan book growth compared to all small finance banks and even comparable universal banks. At the same time, due to its lower operating expenses, Bandhan has one of the best set of return ratios in the industry. Bandhan’s projected Return on Assets (RoA), over the next two years, is likely to remain high at the current level of 3.9 times, whereas for most SFBs and comparable peer banks, it is below 2 times.

But interestingly, there are also analysts who feel that Bandhan Bank is deserving much better valuations, given its impressive growth, its sector leading return ratios and its robust capital position. Such analysts have often advised to bottom-fish the Bandhan stock. On one hand, Bandhan has a highyielding asset book, whereas on the other hand it has a robust low-cost deposit franchise. That will ensure that like HDFC Bank over the last two

Unlike most new banks, Bandhan has been excelling on the deposit side too. In June 2019 quarter, Bandhan’s deposit base grew by 42% year-onyear, compared with low double-digit growth for most comparable lenders. This is because, Bandhan has pricing power among its vast base of microfinance customers. The most attractive and low cost Current Accounts Savings Accounts

(CASA) segment accounts for about 36 per cent of Bandhan Bank’s total deposit base of Rs 43,000 crore. The 4 year old bank has also been on an asset diversification strategy that will see microfinance business being complemented by asset backed retail loans. Microfinance’s share in overall loan book is expected to decline to around 50% over the medium term from the current 86%. Since microfinance is the higher margin business, it will add to some margin pressure but Bandhan is likely to weather it due to its pricing power in the deposits side. Bandhan ‘s asset diversification strategy is sure to gather momentum as it has completed its merger with leading home loan provider from the HDFC stable, Gruh Finance. At the same time, this merger will also ensure geographical diversification of Bandhan to a good degree. Currently, East India and North East India accounts for more than half of its geographic base. Today, Bandhan has 4,014 banking outlets, including doorstep banking services encompassing microfinance customers. The total customer base of the bank is 17.4 million. The merger with Gruh Finance will bring in its 195 branches and 700 employees who are a highly experienced team, which will help Bandhan establish its presence in the affordable housing segment that will provide the bank with not only diversification to asset backed loans, but to more long tenure loans. This is why affordable housing finance has been identified as a major growth area by Bandhan Bank. It was in January this year, that the bank announced its merger with Gruh Finance, the affordable housing finance arm of HDFC ltd. The merger with Gruh has also helped the bank’s promoters reduce their

Rs 385 crore towards a corporate loan.

The merger with Gruh would also help the bank’s promoters reduce their shareholding from nearly 82% to 61%. Bandhan is required to bring it further down to 40% to meet RBI norms, which has been one of the overhangs on the stock.

shareholding from nearly 82% to 61%. Bandhan is required to bring it further down to 40% to meet RBI norms, which has been one of the overhangs on the stock. This is especially so as unlike its peer Kotak Mahindra Bank, which finds itself in a similar predicament, Bandhan has not approached courts on this issue. Apart from microfinance and affordable housing finance, Bandhan has identified Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) as a major focus area. The move appears smart as some of the best run banks like HDFC Bank has been most bullish on growing this sector as the next major growth avenue. This MSME segment, especially its Micro Enterprises sub-segment is very well suited for Bandhan as being a longstanding microfinance lender, it is now seeing many of its lenders graduating to start small businesses of their own. On the other hand, this move also speaks of immense prudence as Bandhan’s initial foray into bigger corporate lending did not go well. The bank burnt its fingers in the IL&FS crisis, and had to make provision of

Yet another business that Bandhan Bank is most bullish on is the credits card business. Here, again, it is following the cues from the largest banks like State Bank of India (SBI) which has grown its cards business so well that it is now eyeing an Initial Public Offer for SBI Cards. Bandhan is following a novel approach in starting its Credit Cards business. It is starting off with a co-branded credit card with international banking giant Standard Chartered Bank.

Under the collaboration, while Standard Chartered bank will take the credit risk for the cards, Bandhan Bank will be responsible for identifying and issuing the cards to its customers. It is a unique, complementary and win-win tie-up for both the lenders. While Stan Chart is a leader in credit cards business in India with a user base of 1.2 million and growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent a year, it has only 100 branches in India. In contrast, while Bandhan Bank is only just starting off in the credit cards business, it has an impressive current account and savings account (CASA) franchise spread across 1,000 branches and having four million branch customers, many of whom can be offered credit cards eventually. Bandhan Bank has launched three variants of co-branded credit cards called One, for the mass market, Plus, for the affluent segment, and Xclusive, for the premium. The lower and the middle level segments, One and Plus, would constitute an attractive segment for the credit cards business, because of revolving credit in these segments of Bandhan Bank. At the same time, there were no signs of stress in these credit card segments, neither in terms of growth nor in terms of delinquencies. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

FULFILLING AMMA’S DR JAYALALITHAA’S PRIME DREAM IN HER FINAL YEARS WAS TO MAKE TAMIL NADU A DEVELOPED STATE WITH $10,000 DOLLARS PER CAPITA INCOME, IN A STILL DEVELOPING INDIA. THIS IS THE LEGACY THAT CHIEF MINISTER EDAPPADI K. PALANISWAMI AND INDUSTRIES MINISTER MC SAMPATH HAVE INHERITED AND WHICH THEY ARE TRYING TO FULFIL. hen we were ushered in to Minister MC industrial growth – during calendar years 2017 & Sampath’s room in Tamil Nadu Secretariat 2018 due to former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s for this interview, we were initially unfortunate demise and subsequent political apprehensive as sharing the room with the uncertainty – to regain its rightful position as India’s Minister was around thirty visitors. second largest in GDP, next But we took confidence from the only to Maharashtra. Minister GOVERNMENT IS GIVING TRAINfact that his office had called up and Sampath is not only highly ING SUBSIDY OF RS. 4000 PER re-confirmed our interview that effective in his interactions but MONTH FOR 6000 WORKERS, morning itself, and also from the warm and open minded. FOR A CERTAIN PERIOD WHICH fact that there was absolutely no Adorning his office walls and WILL COST THE GOVERNMENT delay at the gate or the building. table are portraits of his mentors After briefly attending to one of the RS. 39 CRORE, AND AFTER THAT and former Chief Ministers MG visitors, Minister Sampath urged us Ramachandran and J THESE GIRLS FROM BPL FAMIto take our seats. Being the Minister Jayalalithaa, as well as his LIES WOULD BE PLACED BY for Industries at India’s second most leader and current Chief FOXCONN IN HIGHER SALARIES. industrialized state is not easy by Minister Edappadi K any measure. We soon learned that Palaniswami. And they are not the Minister was soon off to a meeting with top just on the walls and tables, but in his heart as well, officials of Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract as his words often reveals. It is his Amma’s – as manufacturer, who is incidentally the world’s largest Jayalalithaa is fondly called - dreams that he is and maker of Apple’s iPhones, and which has a large fulfilling. After she stormed back into power for presence in Tamil Nadu, employing thousands of the last time in 2016, and barely months before people. Soon into our initial discussion with Minister her unfortunate demise, she had formulated one Sampath, we realize one thing – how Tamil Nadu of the most ambitious visions for the development could bounce back from a nearly two-year lull in of the state. Called Vision 2023, it was a

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G REAMS

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Government is offering incentives like land at 50% of the prevailing land value, electricity subsidies, training subsidies and also special subsidies on a caseto-case basis. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

comprehensive plan not just to develop Tamil Nadu, but to make sure that Tamil Nadu is No.1 and far ahead of all other states in industrialization, innovation and welfare schemes. Coming from Jayalalithaa, even her detractors took it seriously as she had numerous firsts to her credit. In 1995, it was she who invited Ford Motor Company to set shop in Chennai. The success of the Ford factory opened the floodgates to other international auto majors, and by the next two decades, most of the prominent international auto brands including Hyundai, BMW, Daimler, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Caterpillar and Yamaha had chosen Tamil Nadu, earning Chennai the sobriquet, Detroit of India. Her other achievements include making Tamil Nadu a power surplus state from a state plagued by power cuts; the first Global Investors Meet in 2015 which saw over Rs 2.43 lakh crore worth of investments being committed to the state; big-ticket FDI investments into the state worth over $20 billion, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first 1000 MW nuclear power plant at Kudankulam and Chennai Metro lines. An exceptional performer on the social welfare front, her government within 100 days of resuming power in May 2016, wrote off the outstanding crop loans given by cooperative banks to over 16.94 lakh farmers, gave free power to households to extent of first 100 units and gave free power to handloom weavers to extent of 200 units, gave 750 units of power to power loom weavers, implemented closure of 500 liquor shops and reduced working hours of liquor outlets. Her most ambitious objective in the Vision 2023 document was to make Tamil Nadu a kind of developed state in a developing India by ensuring $10,000 per capita income and the resultant high HDI. This is the legacy that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Industries Minister MC Sampath have inherited and which they are trying to fulfil. Seasonal Magazine in conversation with MC Sampath, Minister for Industries,

Government of Tamil Nadu: Recently, Foxconn, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest electronics contract manufacturer, has announced an expansion in Tamil Nadu. Can you provide more details of it? As you are aware, Foxconn is already present in a big way in Tamil Nadu and they have employed 15,000 people, mostly girls in the age of 18 to 34. Now, in this recently announced second phase of expansion, Foxconn has plans to recruit another 20,000 girls. This expansion is known to be for manufacturing the higher end iPhones in India itself. The qualification they are looking for is only 10th, 11th, or 12th standard education. Most of the girls are coming from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Government has worked hard for winning this project and is supporting it in a major way. We are

FOR EASE-OF-DOING-BUSINESS A 30DAY EXPRESS CLEARANCE MECHANISM HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED, WHERE A HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE WITH CM AS CHAIRPERSON AND KEY MINISTERS AND OFFICIALS LIKE FROM POWER AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENTS AS MEMBERS, APPROVES THE PROJECTS.

giving training subsidy of Rs. 4000 per month for 6000 workers, for a certain period which will cost the government Rs. 39 crore, and after that these girls would be placed in higher salaries. Government is supporting this as a part of our commitment to bring in industries that can uplift the poor families in Tamil Nadu. Among the new wave of manufacturing investments coming into Tamil Nadu last year, a pioneering MoU was with the tyre manufacturer, CEAT. Has this become operational? Yes, very much operational. The first tyres from this CEAT plant near Chennai will be rolling out by 2020 itself. Already 700 people have been provided employment there with more to follow. As you know, Tamil Nadu being an automotive hub for long, the state is also a leader in tyre production. Almost all major tyre manufacturers in India including MRF, TVS, Apollo, JK, as well as Japanese giant Yokohama through their ATG division and the French giant Michelin are already here in Tamil Nadu. Now, CEAT too has come in a big way. When the plant will be fully operational over a period of 10 years, CEAT would have invested Rs. 4000 crores. The greenfield factory has come up in 163 acres at Madhuramangalam Village near Sriperumbudur, a popular manufacturing corridor. Initially, the company will be making passenger car radials, with an initial capacity of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ALMOST ALL MAJOR TYRE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA INCLUDING MRF, TVS, APOLLO, JK, AS WELL AS JAPANESE GIANT YOKOHAMA THROUGH THEIR ATG DIVISION AND THE FRENCH GIANT MICHELIN ARE ALREADY HERE IN TAMIL NADU. NOW, CEAT TOO HAS COME IN A BIG WAY. around 7 lakh tyres per month. Tyres from here will also be exported as Tamil Nadu has excellent port facilities. Which are other labour intensive projects or expansions happening in Tamil Nadu now? There are several labour intensive projects being planned by companies now and which the government is supporting, but one that readily comes to my mind is the expansion of Lotus Footwear. They have already employed 15,000 people in their unit at Bargur in Krishnagiri district. They also make for international shoe brands like Nike. The beauty is that they are employing people who have completed just 10th, 9th or 8th standard education. Their manufacturing unit is spread across 147 acres in SIPCOT industrial estate at Bargur where the company has invested Rs. 360 crores. In Cheyyar of Tiruvannamalai District, they have

another unit, in the SIPCOT estate there,which similarly employs 25,000 people. Now in Bargur, Lotus is adding another 15,000 people. Government is supporting such projects as the employment benefit goes to the poor BPL families in the state. Which are the major new IT infrastructure being planned by the government and which companies are expanding or setting shop in the software sector in Tamil Nadu? Government is constructing a new mega IT Park in Avadi, a suburb of Chennai. Being built at a cost of Rs. 300 crore, it will have nearly 54 lakh square feet of IT office space. It is a joint venture of TIDCO that runs the TIDEL Parks, and companies have already expressed good interest in setting up operations here. We expect IT companies that are not yet in Tamil Nadu to be attracted by this new

facility. Regarding expansions by existing companies, I think both Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) that employs 20,000 engineers in Tamil Nadu and Infosys that employs 16,000 engineers here, will be expanding operations in the state. Which are the new industrial infrastructures that the Government is planning and most bullish about? Again, there are several such new infrastructure projects, but one that is most promising is the Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC). It was a dream project of our former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The impact of this project will be widespread as it covers 23 districts having 64% of Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s area and 70% of our total population. The Rs. 6,448 crore CKIC project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the state government in 70:30 ratio. According to a Comprehensive Development Plan prepared by ADB, the project will generate more than 4.7 million additional jobs and an annual manufacturing output of $222 billion, when it is fully operational. CKIC will be implemented as a joint venture with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), and will have six nodes. To benefit the most backward areas of the state first, the Phase I will

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have Madurai-Virudhunagar-DindigulTheni and Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli nodes, which is estimated to attract an investment of around Rs. 91,000 crore. Also, the government has already identified hubs in backward places like Kanyakumari, Theni and Tuticorin to set up heavy industries, IT parks, small scale industries, tourist attractions and educational institutions in the industrial corridor.Feasibility study and project preparation forCKIC have already been completed, survey is going on and project work will begin shortly. What all are the main incentives the state government is offering investors to set shop in the state? In certain projects including the Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor, the Government is offering land at 50% of the prevailing land value. There will also be a significant subsidy on electricity charges. And as I said in the case of Foxconn and others, Government is willing to offer training subsidy to promote large scale training and employment. Over and above all such announced subsidies, Government is willing to consider special incentives to deserving projects on a case-to-case basis. Industries looking to set shop somewhere in India has too many

options or destinations these days. In such a competitive scenario, business friendliness or ease-ofdoing-business assumes great importance. How is Tamil Nadu pitching its case in this regard? Tamil Nadu has always had several inherent advantages like availability of ample land, social stability, affordable labour and peaceful atmosphere. Based on such strengths, Tamil Nadu has been historically itself the second most industrialized state after Maharashtra, coming second in state level GDP too. Government has been building upon these strengths by offering business friendly measures like uninterrupted

electricity and single window clearance. Recently, under the leadership of our Chief Minister, we have also implemented an Express Clearance mechanism whereby a High Level Committee with CM as Chairperson and key ministers and officials like from power and local administration departments as members, would look into deserving projects and provide all clearances within 30 days of application. This will boost the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ease of Doing Business standing in the coming months. You mentioned the Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor. How promising are the national SEASONAL MAGAZINE

LOTUS FOOTWEAR, WHICH PRODUCES FOR NIKE, ALREADY EMPLOYS 15,000 AT BARGUR AND 25,000 AT CHEYYAR AND NOW THEY ARE ADDING 15,000 PEOPLE MORE AT BARGUR. level industrial corridors of which Tamil Nadu is a part of? There are three promising industrial corridors in which Tamil Nadu plays an important part. The first of them is the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), India's first coastal corridor, which runs from Kolkata to Kanyakumari, going through four states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal. In fact, the Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor is a part of ECEC. Due to its huge size, ECEC is being implemented in a phased manner, with Visakhapatnamâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) as the first phase, and as such it will benefit Tamil Nadu from the first day onward. The focus of ECEC is improving trade with ASEAN and East Asian economies which are major global manufacturing hubs. Another promising corridor is the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) Project, which is one of the five industrial corridors coming up in India, and this project is being done with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Two major backbone

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infrastructure projects are planned for this corridor, involving upgradation of both road and rail connectivity like Bangalore - Chennai Expressway and Bangalore - Chennai Dedicated Freight Corridor. The first node of CBIC will be coming up in Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, for which a detailed Master Plan has been prepared by JICA. There is a proposal to extend CBIC to the West Coast to Mangalore. The third major national level corridor benefitting Tamil Nadu is the Defence Industrial Corridor. Can you share more details about this Defence Industrial Corridor? Central Government had proposed that two Defence Industrial Corridors be set up in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, in last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget. Tamil Nadu has progressed much in this regard and ours will be the first Defence Industrial Corridor to be operational in the country. Government has identified five nodal points in Tamil Nadu for setting up this Defence Industrial Corridor which are Salem, the first and main node, with other identified nodes being

Chennai, Coimbatore, Hosur and Tiruchirappalli. More than half a dozen consultative meetings of stakeholders were organized across these various nodes till date, and the project was also presented in Global Investment Meet early this year, and investment commitments of over Rs.3100 crore were announced by Ordnance Factories Board (OFB), Defence PSUs and private industries for this Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor. The state is already home to major private sector players like Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) that are active in the defence sector. LMW as you must be knowing is a company that has successfully diversified from textiles to high-tech composite material components for defence. As you rightly mentioned earlier, Tamil Nadu has been a leading automotive hub. What are your plans to further bolster this edge? Yes, Chennai is known as the Detroit of India, as we have the manufacturing facilities of almost all international

automotive majors like BMW, Daimler, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi, Yamaha, Caterpillar etc, as well as Indian leaders like Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Force Motors, Royal Enfield, TVS, TAFE Tractors etc. Tamil Nadu accounts for over 30% of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s automotive and ancillary production. Despite the lull in domestic automotive sales, our state continues to witness strong demand for both setting up shop as well for expansions. Hyundai which expanded last year, is yet another eyeing a Rs. 7000 crore expansion for its electric vehicles. French carmaker Peugeot, which was earlier in India is coming back in Tamil Nadu soon. The government is also

HYUNDAI WHICH EXPANDED LAST YEAR, IS YET ANOTHER EYEING A RS. 7000 CRORE EXPANSION FOR ITS ELECTRIC VEHICLES. FRENCH CARMAKER PEUGEOT, WHICH WAS EARLIER IN INDIA IS COMING BACK IN TAMIL NADU SOON. bullish on electric vehicles and is now scouting for large-scale battery manufacturers and electric vehicle manufacturers to set shop in the state. Tamil Nadu is known for its massive agricultural and farm output. Has the state been able to attract any large scale investment for value addition in this sector? Government is keen on value addition in this sector and has been welcoming food processing industries into the state. A leading French food processing company is investing Rs. 2200 crore to set up a mega food processing unit. They are currently in the process of choosing a location with help from the government. It is a comprehensive unit in that it will process all kinds of food materials including grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, milk etc to produce value added products. They are a major global supplier of such food items, and the success of this unit will kickstart this hugely promising segment for Tamil Nadu. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Which are the major new industrial segments that Tamil Nadu is keen of entering into? Most kinds of high technology industries are already in Tamil Nadu, but one new segment we would be soon entering is Aerospace MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul). This is a highly promising segment for Tamil Nadu due to factors like abundant land and affordable technical manpower. We are planning an aerospace hub itself at either Chennai or Thoothukudy. International aviation majors have evinced interest in this plan, including Dubai’s Emirates. Which is the largest industrial project that Tamil Nadu government is facilitating currently? That would be definitely the Thoothukudy PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region), which is coming up at an estimated investment of Rs. 50,000 crores. A leading Kuwait based petroleum and petrochemicals major will be setting this up. It is a long-term and challenging project but even its initial phases can change the face of

Thoothukudy and surrounding districts. ou mentioned uninterrupted power You supply to industries. While Tamil Nadu has long been a leader in conventional power and even in renewable power like wind, how has its performance been in the fast emerging solar field? In solar power too, Tamil Nadu has been an early mover and hopes to achieve a leadership position in the country through mega scale projects. One such flagship solar project in the state is the 3000 megawatt solar farm

TAMIL NADU IS PARTICIPATING IN THREE INDUSTRIAL CORRIDORS - THE EAST COAST ECONOMIC CORRIDOR (ECEC) WHICH INCLUDES THE CHENNAI KANYAKUMARI INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR AND THE VISAKHAPATNAM–CHENNAI INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR (VCIC); THE CHENNAI-BANGALORE INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR (CBIC); AND THE SALEM DEFENCE INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR.

at Kumudi Village in Ramanathapuram District. Solar leader Adani Group is building it and already 1500 megawatts have become operational. Ports have played a great role in the development of Tamil Nadu. What are the planned developments in this sector? As you know there are only nine coastal states in India, together having only 12 major ports. Of these, three major ports are in Tamil Nadu – the Chennai Port which is India’s second largest, Tuticorin Port which is the state’s second largest and Ennore Port which is the first in the country to be corporatized as a company. All existing ports have been deepened to ensure that all kinds of large vessels can berth there. Now, the Central and State Government have proposed plans to develop Colachel near Kanyakumari as a fourth major port which is also being planned as a transhipment terminal that can effectively compete against Colombo Port. What are the state’s new endeavours in the higher education sector? As you are aware, Tamil Nadu has been the leader in higher education, especially professional higher education in the country. Around 50 MoUs were signed in Global Investor Meet 2019 for setting up of new universities and colleges, both from India and abroad. Government has also applied for setting up of new deemed universities in the public sector. While Global Investor Meets show great potential, only a fraction of the projects gets implemented. How has been Tamil Nadu’s track-record in this regard? This is very true across states, as most of the GIM projects are huge and will require several months or years of deliberations and processes like land acquisition, even if all clearances are given fast. Still, Tamil Nadu has been a leader in implementation of GIM projects. Around 29% of projects in GIM 2015 has already been implemented, while from this year’s GIM, already 5-6% of projects have been implemented. This is one of the fastest implementation rates from across the country.

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TECHNOLOGY

TWITTER ADDRESSES DIRECT MESSAGE ABUSE Social media giant to test a new filter for spam and abuse in the Direct Message inbox.

witter is testing a new way to filter unwanted messages from your Direct Message inbox. Today, Twitter allows users to set their Direct Message inbox as being open to receiving messages from anyone, but this can invite a lot of unwanted messages, including abuse. While one solution is to adjust your settings so only those you follow can send you private messages, that doesn’t work for everyone. Some people like reporters, for example — want to have an open inbox in order to have private conversations and receive tips. This new experiment will test a filter that will move unwanted messages, including those with offensive content or spam, to a separate tab. Instead of lumping all your messages into a single view, the Message Requests section will include the messages from people you don’t follow, and below that, you’ll find a way to access these newly filtered messages. Users would have to click on the “Show” button to even read these, which protects them from having to face the stream of unwanted content that can pour in at times when the inbox is left open. And even upon viewing this list of filtered messages, all the content itself isn’t immediately visible. In the case that Twitter identifies content that’s potentially offensive, the message preview will say the message is hidden because it may contain offensive content. That way, users can decide if

they want to open the message itself or just click the delete button to trash it. The change could allow Direct Messages to become a more useful tool for those who prefer an open inbox, as well as an additional means of clamping down on online abuse. It’s also similar to how Facebook Messenger handles requests — those from people you aren’t friends with are relocated to a separate Message Requests area. And those that are spammy or more questionable are in a hard-to-find Filtered section below that. It’s not clear why a feature like this really requires a “test,” however — arguably, most people would want junk and abuse filtered out. And those who for some reason did not, could just toggle a setting to turn off the filter. Instead, this feels like another example of Twitter’s slow pace when it comes to making changes to clamp down on abuse. Facebook Messenger has been filtering messages in this way since late 2017. Twitter should just launch a change like this, instead of “testing” it. The idea of hiding — instead of entirely deleting — unwanted content is something Twitter has been testing in other areas, too. Last month, for example, it began piloting a new “Hide Replies” feature in Canada, which allows users to hide unwanted replies to their tweets so they’re not visible to everyone. The tweets aren’t deleted, but rather placed behind an extra click — similar to this Direct Message change. Twitter is updating is Direct Message system in other ways, too. At a press conference this week, Twitter announced several changes coming to its platform, including a way to follow topics, plus a search tool for the Direct Message inbox, as well as support for iOS Live Photos as GIFs, the ability to reorder photos and more.

BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION TO HONOUR PM FOR SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will honour PM Narendra Modi with an award for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan during his visit to the US. PM Modi launched the Swachh Bharat initiative on October 2, 2014. The campaign aims to achieve the vision of a 'Clean India' by October 2, 2019.

FACEBOOK NOT COMPLYING WITH INDIAN LAW: TN GOVT TELLS SC The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday claimed in the Supreme Court that Facebook, alongside other social media companies, isn't complying with the Indian law. It claimed that this is resulting in "increased lawlessness" and difficulties in "detecting crimes". The Madras High Court was earlier restrained by the SC from passing any effective orders over linking Aadhaar to social media accounts.

IRAN SAYS IT HAS CLOSED GAPS WITH FRANCE IN TALKS ON NUCLEAR DEAL

Iran has closed gaps with France in talks on the 2015 nuclear deal mainly after phone calls between President Hassan Rouhani and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Iran government spokesman Ali Rabiei has said. "Now technical discussions are being held on ways to carry out the European countries' commitments (in the nuclear deal)," Rabiei added.

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H B HAN

CHOSEN BY NON BY UNPAR INBOUND TOUR

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ANDPICKED BY AMMA TO NDLE TOURISM

NE OTHER THAN LATE DR. J JAYALALITHAA AS TOURISM MINISTER, AND RETAINED AND ENDORSED Y CHIEF MINISTER EDAPPADI K PALANISWAMI IN THIS ROLE, VELLAMANDI N NATARAJAN BRINGS IN RALLELED INSIGHTS INTO MANAGING TAMIL NADUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NATIONAL LEVEL TOP RANK IN DOMESTIC AND RISM, DOMINATED TRADITIONALLY BY ITS AWESOME COLLECTION OF ANCIENT TEMPLES, AND NOW TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE BY ITS BOOMING MEDICAL TOURISM SEGMENT.

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HANDPICKED BY AMMA TO HANDLE TOURISM When J Jayalalithaa upset the calculations of all political pundits to storm back into power for a second consecutive time in 2016 – the first CM to do it in Tami Nadu since MGR did it in 1984 – she was determined to give her cabinet some serious fresh energy. This was also her sixth term as Chief Minister and like the seasoned assessor of talent she was, she handpicked 13 new faces to be in the Cabinet, which was almost 50% of the 28 member ministerial team. While this ruffled a few feathers especially as the old Cabinet under her had retained power, the move spoke volumes about her political wisdom to constantly bring in new talent to key posts to get things done in new ways. Speaking about new talent, most of them were not new in the sense of their youthfulness. They weren’t young Turks, but seasoned politicians who had hitherto gone unnoticed despite their special skills. One of these prominent new faces in the 2016 Jayalalithaa Cabinet was Vellamandi N Natarajan, a veteran AIADMK leader who had won the Tiruchirappalli East constituency for the party in 2016. Right from our first phone call to his office to coordinate this interview, this wisdom of Amma in handpicking Natarajan for this post was obvious. When we were discussing the ways and means to catch up with him with his secretaries, it was Minister Natarajan himself who took over the phone from them suddenly and asked us warmly to come over to Chennai on a specified date, reassuring us that he would be honouring the appointment come what may. Now, if warmth is the essence of the tourism & hospitality industry, Tamil Nadu’s Tourism Minister has ample quantities of it. It became further clear to us that Amma would not have missed that quality in him, when we were ushered in to his room for this interview. Vellamandi N Natarajan is not only warm and forever smiling with an intense love for his land of Tamil Nadu, SEASONAL MAGAZINE

but he is well prepared with neatly written down answers in Tamil for a sampling of questions we had forwarded, so as not to waste his precious time or ours. But soon, his answers broke the barriers of the written down words, as he started explaining every nook and corner of Tamil Nadu’s tourist map that makes the state a national leader in tourism. Soon, more of Amma’s wisdom in choosing Natarajan as Tourism Minister becomes clearer. Unknown to many outside the state, what makes tourism tick big time in Tamil Nadu is not the material but the spiritual. Tamil Nadu is the Land of Temples. According to official figures, there are 38,615 temples in the state. And make no mistake, many of them are no ordinary temples, but ancient monuments dating back to anywhere from 800 to 5000 years! There are temples in Tamil Nadu for each and every Hindu God and Goddess, and that is what makes Tamil Nadu a strong attraction for pilgrims from across the country. This has been a major factor in the state’s strong showing in domestic tourism. In addition to this strong show by Hindu temples, there are also outstanding places of worship for other religions. The 500 years old Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni attracts 2 million pilgrims from India and abroad each year, while

OF THE 38,615 TEMPLES IN THE STATE, MANY ARE ANCIENT MONUMENTS DATING BACK TO ANYWHERE FROM 800 TO 5000 YEARS, WHICH ATTRACTS PILGRIMS FROM ALL OVER INDIA, AND THAT HAS BEEN A MAJOR FACTOR IN THE STATE’S TOP RANK IN DOMESTIC TOURISM.

Palaiya Jumma Palli, built in 628-630 AD, is one of the oldest mosques in the world and one of the first two in India. The state has a strong secular culture with peaceful co-existence of all major religions of India, and it has consistently rejected efforts in communalism and polarization, and this has contributed to the state’s fame as one of the safest tourist destinations in India. For the four consecutive years, between 2014 and 2017, the state had topped the country in drawing the maximum number of domestic tourists. A Tourism

MEDICAL TOURISM IS ONE OF THE LARGEST EMERGING GROWTH ENGINES FOR TAMIL NADU TOURISM AS ALREADY 20% OF THE TRAVEL TO THE STATE IS FOR MEDICAL TREATMENTS. ALSO, 40% OF MEDICAL TOURISTS TO INDIA ARE NOW VISITING TAMIL NADU FOR TREATMENT. Minister who is not the most pious and most knowledgeable in temple affairs simply can’t be the best in this role, and this is something in which Minister Natarajan has perhaps no competition. Now, there is an even more important reason why under Minister Natarajan’s leadership, tourism department can expand what is perhaps Tamil Nadu tourism’s most lucrative segment. Tamil Nadu still attracts the highest number of foreign travellers in India. The number of inbound tourists from abroad has climbed impressively from 46.85 lakh in 2015 to 60.73 lakh in 2018. And like in domestic tourism, for the same four consecutive years, between 2014 and 2017, the state had topped the country in drawing the maximum number of international tourists too! But few people outside the tourism industry knows the secret behind this spectacular performance from abroad.

Well, the secret is this – since decades if not centuries, Tamilians has been one of India’s largest diaspora abroad. Thanks to this, more than 50% of inbound tourists to Tamil Nadu are still from the Tamil diaspora in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa & Mauritius. Centuries might have passed since their forefathers migrated to these countries, and most of them today are citizens of those countries, but they are Tamilians at heart still. And here is where the temple connection comes in again. While there are temples in Tamil Nadu for all Hindu Gods and Goddesses of India, there are multi-times more ancient and magnificent temples in the state for Deities that are unique to Tamil Nadu. These are the prime attractions for the Tamil diaspora from across the globe, and it matters that someone who understands these temples in-depth is in charge of tourism. Mind you, each of these temples have their own elaborate rituals, processes, seasons and rigors to visit them, and Minister Natarajan is an expert in these affairs. The way he described the ambience of the sanctum sanctorum of some of his favourite ancient temples, during this interview, revealed the passion he has for the role he has been entrusted by Amma. No wonder then that, post Amma’s unfortunate demise soon after starting her sixth term as Chief Minister, Natarajan continues to be the Tourism Minister despite the two years of political upheavals within AIADMK. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SINCE CENTURIES NOW, TAMILIANS HAS BEEN ONE OF INDIA’S LARGEST DIASPORA ABROAD, AND DUE TO THIS MORE THAN 50% OF INBOUND TOURISTS TO TAMIL NADU ARE STILL FROM THE TAMIL DIASPORA IN COUNTRIES LIKE MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE, SRI LANKA, SOUTH AFRICA & MAURITIUS, MAKING THE STATE A LEADER IN INBOUND TOURISM TOO. During the last seven years of AIADMK rule, and especially during the last three years when Natarajan has been the Tourism Minister, Tamil Nadu tourism has seen remarkable change and significant growth. As many as 295 sites had been identified for development as tourism destinations under the Tamil Nadu Integrated Tourism Promotion Programme. The State Tourism Ministry could also get approval from Central Government for 77 projects under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme and 24 projects under the PRASAD Scheme. Under Minister Natarajan’s leadership, brochures on popular tourist spots in Tamil Nadu have been printed in six international languages, including Russian, French & Chinese. Plans are now on to make available for potential travellers, these brochures from Indian missions and consulates in different countries. He has also risen dramatically to the demands and emerging trends of this job, as his knowledge and focus on medical tourism reveals. According to figures readily available with him, today, 40% of medical tourists to India are now visiting Tamil Nadu for treatment. This has happened after better medical facilities, expertise and low-cost treatments had improved in the State. The private as well as government hospitals in all major tourism hubs like Chennai, Coimbatore, Vellore, Madurai, Trichy, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Nagarcoil are today offering better treatment at low cost to the tourists. Minister Natarajan and his Tourism Ministry are also getting excellent support to grow this segment from the whole Government especially Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. Under CM’s guidance, Government is now planning to set up an air ambulance facility to transfer patients to tertiary care hospitals, and the CM has also signed an MoU to upgrade the skills of healthcare professionals, and both these measures will further boost medical SEASONAL MAGAZINE

tourism in the state.

Mart.

The surge in momentum for medical tourism in the state was most evident in the recently concluded second edition of Tamil Nadu Travel Mart. In the wellattended three-day event, of the 82 stalls, 54 had been put up for medical tourism, so much so that it had a separate title too, Tamil Nadu Medical Value Travel

Medical Tourism is indeed one of the largest emerging growth engines for Tamil Nadu Tourism as already 20% of the travel to the State is for medical treatments. Seasonal Magazine in conversation with Vellamandi N Natarajan, Minister for Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu: Q. What were your broad takeaways from the Tamil Nadu Travel Mart and its impact on tourism in the state?

IN THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED SECOND EDITION OF TAMIL NADU TRAVEL MART, OF THE 82 STALLS, 54 HAD BEEN PUT UP FOR MEDICAL TOURISM, SO MUCH SO THAT IT HAD A SEPARATE TITLE TOO, TAMIL NADU MEDICAL VALUE TRAVEL MART.

A: It was a hugely successful endeavor. Tamil Nadu had very good arrival of tourists for five years as per data collected by the Tourism department in 2018. The tourism industry offers job opportunities to all kinds of workers. It continues to be a priority sector in India due to generation of good income. The travel mart sought to offer a platform of stakeholders in the hospitality sector to identify the opportunities and challenges in this field. Tamil Nadu has architectural splendour and the best mix of heritage, eco and wildlife tourism. It has been adjudged as the best state for heritage and spiritual tourism. The Hindu Religious and Charitable

ALL THE MAJOR ANCIENT TEMPLES IN TAMIL NADU HAVE THEIR OWN ELABORATE RITUALS, PROCESSES, SEASONS AND RIGORS TO VISIT THEM, AND MINISTER NATARAJAN IS AN EXPERT IN THESE AFFAIRS. state and take back with them lasting memories. This is the kind of tourism experience we would like to offer on a consistent basis and we believe that we are on the right course. Q: What are some of the broad initiatives in the eco-tourism field? A: The tourism and forest departments are jointly promoting such initiatives. Most of the large reserves in the interior forest areas for tourism potential belong under the Forest Department, which are coordinated at the Central Forest Department. After taking due permission from Central agencies, we undertake site visits. We identify the spots for nature trekking hotspots and other activities. Q: Sri Lanka has expressed keen interest to restart the ferry service but there has been a delay at the end of the Indian government. What would be the TN govt's stand on this issue? Will this give a boost to the 'Ram Circuit' project connecting TN with Sri Lanka?

Endowments department in Tamil Nadu manages a total of 40,000 temples. Of late, countries like Japan have direct flight connectivity with Chennai. Foreign tourists need not land in Hyderabad to visit Tamil Nadu.

A: That is not under our purview but the Central Government’s consideration. However, we are certainly kept in the loop about this initiative. Q: What were the broad takeaways from the recent National Conference of Tourism Ministers? What was your state's tourism pitch?

Q: The Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu recently stated that Tamil Nadu is the ‘medical hub of the country’. How do you propose to open up the medical value travel sector to the private sector through the Tamil Nadu Travel Mart & Medical Value keeping in mind the interests of small and medium-sized local players? A: Around 40% tourists visit our state for medical purposes. In India, we have been at the top for around 4 years now. This hasn’t changed. Religious tourism also plays a big part given we have many temple towns with rich cultural heritage. Those tourists who visit for medical reasons also find time to visit these places. The recent TN Travel Mart has been a huge success in achieving this. It is a historical event, which hasn’t taken place anywhere else in the country. Even celebrities who come from afar relish in the hospitality offered by our

THE 500 YEARS OLD MARIAN SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF VAILANKANNI ATTRACTS 2 MILLION PILGRIMS FROM INDIA AND ABROAD EACH YEAR, WHILE PALAIYA JUMMA PALLI, BUILT IN 628-630 AD, IS ONE OF THE OLDEST MOSQUES IN THE WORLD AND ONE OF THE FIRST TWO IN INDIA.

A: Around two weeks back, we had the opportunity to attend an-all Tourism Ministers meeting under the stewardship of the Union Tourism Minister. This was the National Conference of Tourism Ministers. We had various discussions relating to schemes like the Swadesh Darshan and potential opportunities in the coastal sector. These are areas we are looking to invest in. Under the Prasad scheme, two of the places selected were Vellankanni and Kanchipuram and we are looking to move forward on implementing this. We are able to seek financial aid from the Centre for these schemes. Q: Last year, the Central government signed a loan agreement for 31 million US dollars with the Asian Development SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MEDICAL TOURISM HAS BOOMED IN TAMIL NADU AFTER BETTER MEDICAL FACILITIES, EXPERTISE AND LOW-COST TREATMENTS HAD IMPROVED ACROSS THE STATE IN PRIVATE AS WELL AS GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS IN ALL MAJOR TOURISM HUBS LIKE CHENNAI, COIMBATORE, VELLORE, MADURAI, TRICHY, THANJAVUR, TIRUNELVELI AND NAGARCOIL. Bank to improve the tourism industry in Tamil Nadu. Would this initiative help to drive growth and employment? A: On the ADB loan, all the districts will get an impetus to enhance their tourism potential. This loan will also cover finances for the upkeep and maintenance of amenities in tourist places. However, we need to pay back the loan with interest, which is a nominal rate around 5%. So we are utilizing the loan for infrastructural facilities, which will help to generate revenue for the state exchequer and help in the loan repayment process. We have received around Rs. 600 crores and we have utilized around 95% of this already for various projects under the tourism ministry. So far it has been mainly utilized for floodlights, signposts and tourist resorts, hotels etc. Q: Recently, Madras High court directed against illegal construction activity and solid waste dumping in Kodaikanal. Has the lack of accountability of local officials led to this order? What are the steps TN govt will take to preserve Kodaikanal's unique natural heritage? A: The hoteliers have filed cases against SEASONAL MAGAZINE

the government for our decision to restrict the construction of buildings whose height canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go beyond a permissible limit. However the court has ruled in our favor and instructed for speedy implementation. We have also instituted a full plastic ban in Kodaikanal as part of our cleanliness drive. In fact, plastic has been discouraged statewide and we take this issue very seriously. In

eco-friendly areas like Ooty and Yercaud, plastic has been totally banned and we have instructed the authorities to strictly implement this at the ground level. Q: As many as 295 sites had been identified for development as tourism destinations under the Tamil Nadu Integrated Tourism Promotion Programme. Is there an effort by your

government to promote tourism in the tier-2 towns and cities where tourism inflow is otherwise dominated by destinations like Chennai, Madurai, Kanyakumari etc? A: We have built basic amenities near the Thiruvenkadu temple. Similar initiatives have been carried out in Sriperumbudur town. We have also build facilities near the Chidambaram temple, Thillai Nataraja Temple and in nearby Chennai. 12 ancient sites have been refurbished as well. We also have many tourist lakes for which we recently purchased boats for this purpose. Solarpowered tube-lights have been put up in these places for efficient energy use. Under the previous government, there was an issue with scarcity of electricity. So we have decided to exploit our unique position in the solar energy sector. Even the use of LEDs has been important for our power-generation purposes. Q: With medical tourism attracting 20% of the travel to Tamil Nadu, how do you propose to increase the necessary infrastructure and facilities? A: We are striving to enhance government facilities in the medical tourism sector. For example the superspecialty hospital is a step in this direction. The technologies available in the private hospitals are also being slowly integrated into government ones and we are working towards this. Needless to say, these services are

provided free-of-cost to the public beneficiary. The reason why we continue to remain No.1 in this field is because the government hospitals have been able to successfully carry out complex surgeries like the recent case where a person lost both his arms. Even services like maternity and pregnancy care is provided to expecting and new mothers with state-of-the-art facilities at all stages of pregnancy. We have monitoring system where each and every motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s medical care is accounted for and is looked after by the state. Even post-partum care is offered by these hospitals. There are also yoga centers for the overall developmental of the mind and body. We are also providing siddha and Ayurveda services as part of the medical tourism experience. Another encouraging sign is good doctors joining the government run hospitals in large numbers. Q: Why do you think Tamil Nadu has consistently performed well in this industry? Is it the requisite infrastructural support provided for tourism? A: The reason why large number of tourists visits the state is because we have four international airports that cater to the main parts of the state. The presence of two ports is also a big bonus. Even our roads have improved considerably over the last few years. Power supply is plentiful in our state and there are very rare instances of power outages. The transport facilities have

ensured that small towns are now connected with the major cities, providing relief to many making intrastate level. The law and order situation is stable. For that matter, Tamil Nadu is one of the few states with places of religious worship of all hues like churches, temples, mosques etc as is the case in Trichy and many other towns. The tourism department of the government provides vocational training for travel and tourism through its own college. This is a 30-acre campus. Q: Tamil Nadu has the maximum domestic and foreign tourist inflow over the last four years. But these have mainly been to either Chennai or Madurai. Small hoteliers in towns have expressed concern that they are not able to achieve 100% occupancy even during peak season. How do you propose to address this? A: As long as the places have some historical value and cultural heritage, people will flock to these towns regardless. However, the government will continue to support people in these towns who are dependent on their livelihood from the tourism sector. We have recently mooted the concept of a pilgrimage circuit, called as the Ram Circuit. Additionally, around 1012 lakh people go to Thiruvanmalai to ascend the mountain there for a 20day period. Tamil Naduâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s temples have a rich historical tradition and the religious experience cant be divorced from this reality. These temples have maintained their original architecture and form because that is what makes them look so attractive. White marble structures can only do so much! Even Chennai city has well known religious sites, adding to its already magnificent profile. In all these places, we have inter-communal harmony and all faiths are respected. Panchabhoota place has five temples, which is dedicated to Shiva, four in Tamil Nadu and one in Andhra Pradesh. These are major tourist attractions in the tier-2 and tier-3 towns.

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CRICKET

INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA 2019:

CAN KOHLI’S YOUNG GUNS FIGHT IT OUT AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA?

India kick-start their 2019-2020 home

season with their month-long series against South Africa, involving 3 T20s and 3 Tests. The first T20 was washed out even before the toss as Dharamshala failed to see sunlight for much of the time. As the action moves to Mohali for the second T20, both teams will have incentive to experiment with their respective squads with an eye on the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup. Most teams have packed their upcoming match itinerary with T20 matches as preparations for the cricketing extravaganza gathers pace. On a high after their dominating tour of the West Indies, India would look to carry forward their good form against the Quinton De SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Kock-led South African side. India has been bolstered by the return of Hardik Pandya, the batting all-rounder who was rested for the tour to West Indies. India are hoping that their young pace attack can deliver the goods with left-armer Khaleel Ahmed set to lead the line. The combined experience of the bowling attack is 17 international matches. However, India’s strength lies in the allrounder’ department. With the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal & Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar, India has the requisite manpower to offer stability to a batting-heavy lineup. Rishabh Pant is most likely to don the wicketkeeper’s role as K L Rahul serves as the back-up option. The batting order

begins with the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, the latter struggling to hit top gear in recent matches. However, India’s following three batsmen are coming with a rich vein of form starting with skipper Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey. Here is a look at the four factors that could play a crucial role for India in the upcoming series:

OPENING BATSMEN Rohit Sharma is the first name on India’s teamsheet in the limited overs format. Having emerged as the leading rungetter in the ICC Cricket World Cup, Rohit Sharma is operating at his most

productive level in a long time. His innings gave India the required momentum to accelerate at the end overs. In the West Indies tour, Sharma did not pose much of a threat as he got out playing rash shots. It remains the biggest concern for the team even after his consistent showing in the world cup. Sharma needs to stick at the crease for a while before going for his shots. Whenever Sharma has failed to do so, India have rarely managed to post big totals. His partner, Shikhar Dhawan, had a brief World Cup having injured himself after a blistering hundred against Australia. However, Dhawan has struggled to regain that form and has looked susceptible to the swinging deliveries during the West Indies tour. When the Sharma-Dhawan partnership thrived, it was usually on the back off Dhawan’s blistering starts at the top. While Sharma would play the anchor’s role and soak in the pressure, Dhawan would unsettle the opposition with his fluent shots through cover. However, just like Sharma, Dhawan relies on form to deliver with consistency. Players like Dhawan have struggled to excel once they are in a rut. Given the flat batting tracks in India, Dhawan and Sharma would look to capitalize on the inexperienced South African bowling attack.

KOHLI AND IYER India’s strength is in its No. 3 and No. 4 positions, led admirably by Virat Kohli and his understudy Shreyas Iyer. While Kohli needs no second invitation to exploit the conditions to his and the team’s benefit, Iyer is faced with the prospect of cementing his place as the No. 4 batsman. That dreaded batting position haunted India throughout the World Cup and Iyer will be hoping to carry forward his good form from West Indies. Both have already stitched together a useful partnership in testing conditions and taken the team to victory. Given their similarity in temperament, India is expecting that Iyer can grab the opportunity with both hands and resolve India’s No. 4 dilemma once and for all. India have often flattered to deceive when their opening batsmen have failed to click. However, Kohli is a known entity who has delivered when pushed against the wall. The test would be for young Iyer to partner his skipper in the

India’s strength is in its No. 3 and No. 4 positions, led admirably by Virat Kohli and his understudy Shreyas Iyer. While Kohli needs no second invitation to exploit the conditions to his and the team’s benefit, Iyer is faced with the prospect of cementing his place as the No. 4 batsman. event of a quick succession of wickets. Given the batting firepower that is to follow, India will bank on their two dependable batsmen to counter the tough middle overs phase and set the platform for the team’s big-hitters to finish off the innings.

MIDDLE-ORDER FIREPOWER Having the likes of Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle order is a strong statement of intent. Hardik is almost certain to bat in the No.5 or No.6 slot depending on whether Pant is sent before or after him. Hardik had a relatively good outing in the World Cup, playing those quickfire innings with the bat and picking up crucial wickets. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stand up when it mattered the most as his wicket had all but ended India’s hopes of chasing down the total against New Zealand in the semi-final. Rishabh Pant has had a mixed season. The young wicketkeeper played a useful hand during the World Cup having been selected as a late replacement for Dhawan. Despite questions about his finishing ability, the youngster has displayed the touch of class and mental strength required at the highest level. India’s coach Ravi Shastri has reminded him to put a price on his wicket and bat according to the situation. However, this is counter-productive as it would inhibit his natural batting style and induce more errors in shot selection and timing. The best bet is to ensure that Pant is given the opportunity to prove himself in different situations as he showed against West Indies when he singlehandedly won India a T20 match. India must decide whether to play Krunal Pandya

or Ravindra Jadeja or even both. India has two left-arm spinning options who can prove vital during the middle overs to stem the flow of runs. Given Jadeja’s recent exploits with the bat, he could get the nod ahead of Krunal. But India is best positioned to utilize both the allrounders as South Africa have quite a few batsmen susceptible to left-arm spin.

THE FRONTLINE BOWLING ATTACK India goes into the T20 series with one of its most inexperienced bowling attack in recent years. However, they are not short of high-stakes experience having been exposed to the competitive IPL. Khaleel Ahmed is currently India’s only left-arm pace option with an impressive performance during his stint so far at this level. Relying more on swing, Ahmed is known to struggle when the ball gets old and there is less assistance from the pitch. India’s main trump card would undoubtedly be Navdeep Saini, the raw pacer representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL. Saini impressed with his sheer pace and consistency as he shouldered the bowling responsibility for his IPL outfit in an otherwise poor season for his team. Given a big break in international cricket, Saini’s debut was memorable as he picked up three wickets to lead India to victory over the West Indies in a T20 match. Deepak Chahar is another bowler who has not been blessed with enough opportunities at the international level but comes with a lot of experience at the domestic circuit and IPL cricket. With his variations and trickery, Chahar has the uncanny ability to pick up early wickets complimented by his probing line and length. Rahul Chahar, India’s lone mainstream spinner, has had a rapid rise to the top. His simple, yet effective action has troubled the best in the business in the IPL and his mantra would be to continue his wicket-taking ways. In the absence of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, Chahar would look to impress the selectors as India’s third spinning option. Possible XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

INTERNATIONAL

AN INDO-RUSSIAN ORDER IN ASIA AND BEYOND?

In the context of the India-Russia annual summit in Vladivostok, there were some underlying interests between the two countries that seemed conspicuous. Firstly, India and Russia find themselves with almost zero political issues between them, a rare foreign policy relationship that has stood the test of time.Recently, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankarpointed to the fact that the India-Russia relationship has remained amore relatively stable factor in international relations than any other significant relationship since the heydays of the Cold War.

econdly, both countries are building on the economic dimension of their partnership, evidenced byModi’s participation as the chief guest in the Eastern Economic Forum to boost Indian investments and business in Russia’s Far East. Currently standing at close to $11 bn, India and Russia aim to increase their bilateral trade to at least $30 bn by 2025.They include plans to develop a maritime corridor from SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Vladivostok to the Indian port city of Chennai, a deal for India to manufacture spare parts for Russian military equipment, an agreement by Indian companies H-Energy and Petronet LNG to purchase Russian LNG, and a joint mining project between Indian state firm Coal India Limited and two Russian entities. There is an increasing recognition that the relationship can move beyond its current one-dimensional nature based

on New Delhi’s reliance on defence imports from Moscow. From a security perspective, almost 60 per cent of India’s military inventory is of Russian origin. India’s defence preparedness is affected by the US decision to link its sanctions on Russia and Iran with India.Incidentally, the original equipment manufacturers of the MiG and Sukhoi aircraft used extensively by Indian Air Force are in Irkutsk in the Russian Far East Region.

Further, Russia intends to send a message to China that if their investments in the country’s Far East remain limited, then India could be called upon to fill in. Although Moscow’s Asia pivot has not borne fruit yet, the burgeoning economic relations with India could offer a muchneeded fillip to investment in the neglected region. Thirdly, and most importantly, India and Russia have a common interest in reducing their influence on the U.S and China respectively in matters of regional importance. While India is being tugged by the U.S to deepen their military partnership through various initiatives like the Quad, Russia’ current strategic closeness with China is not guaranteed in the long run. Inevitably, Indo-Russian cooperation should seem like a foregone conclusion. Beyond the reasons stated above, New Delhi and Moscow could benefit from strategic alignment given that the current geopolitical rivalry unfolding in the Asian theatre has both Beijing and Washington at crossroads. While China has little reason to draw down its military presence in the IndoPacific, the U.S. attempts to bring together like-minded countries to check the former’s moves. India, being an important stakeholder in the region, has obvious interests in seeing China end up in a disadvantageous position. However, it has still not bought into the U.S. idea of containment, which retains features of the Cold War pushback against the former Soviet Union. Moreover, India has carefully broached the issue by avoiding overt anti-China posturing in the region. It has also shown no desire to toe the U.S line, which it deems as harming its ‘strategic autonomy’. Thus, for India, the Indo-Pacific strategy comprises largely of either cooperative or coercive engagement. As far as Russia is concerned, the growing need to revive its Eurasian stakes has complicated the notion of strategic convergence with China whose Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) overlaps in the former’s traditional sphere of influence. Even in the context of the Indo-Pacific, Russia is playing its

As India expresses keen interest in shoring up its energy supplies from Russia’s Far East, the broader contour of the development is the two countries’ strategic convergence on the region’s issues. cards deftly as it re-examines its ties with various actors like ASEANin the region. Given the current emphasis on building capacity in its Far East, Russia has its own vested interest in creating linkages between the Indian Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean. Moscow also does not intend to vouch for the American and Japanese construct of the IndoPacific, which is premised on the logic of countering China. Russia’s desires that the Indo-Pacific is intrinsically linked with Eurasia, which would not only aid its Asia pivot strategy but also sufficiently check China’s rise at the hands of ASEAN and other actors. As India expresses keen interest in shoring up its energy supplies from Russia’s Far East, the broader contour of the development is the two countries’ strategic convergence on the region’s issues. In the Indo-Pacific, India and Russia have carved out a unique strategy to amplify their own machinations; while New Delhi has sought to break free from the US-China geopolitical rivalry in the region, Moscow has come up with a compelling strategy of the Eastern Economic Forum to build strategic relationships with Asian countries to limit its reliance on China. In Afghanistan, India might have reservations about Taliban’s rise to prominence at the expense of the democratically elected government there. However, having Russia as a direct channel to influence the Taliban after US withdrawal could play to India’s favour. On the China front, India is seeking to diversify its options beyond the US-led initiative and encourage a multistakeholder approach. This works in

Russia’s interests, as it should know better than to put all its eggs in the Chinese basket. There is an understanding in Moscow that New Delhi is vital in balancing against Beijing. Despite their growing bonhomie, Russia is better off considering expanding its ties with other Asian countries like India, Vietnam, and Indonesia than solely piggyback on China inmatters relating to the Far East, Central Asia and Asia as a whole. Such scenarios broaden the scope for a ‘third’ order centered on Indo-Russian lines. The US-led order encapsulated in the Indo-Pacific (Quad), Afghanistan (troop withdrawal and Taliban peace deal) and China strategy (trade war) has resulted in disruptions never witnessed previously in the region. Further, the China-led order has sustained in its own disruptive ways from the Indo-Pacific (South China Sea dispute) to Afghanistan (strategic leverage over Pakistan) to its US strategy (again, through the trade war). The third order, unlike the American and Chinese versions, is neither inspired by antagonism towards any particular country nor achieved through the violation of international law or trade practices. Moreover, the third order is reflective of the geopolitical realities in the region, based on a multipolar, rules-based, mutually beneficial framework. As Bharat Karnad argues, India and Russia are in pursuit of newer geopolitical schemes to fit their changing national interests and in the currentuncertain times, neither country has thought it fit to pull away from the other because both governments appreciate the geostrategic utility of keeping close. Given the enduring shadow of the SinoUS rivalry, India and Russia have their task cut out in framing this third narrative. However, the continuing relevance of such an order would be tested against the strategic necessity of the Indo-Russian cooperation. If the strengths of the partnership are carried forward in the times to come, it would not only elevate their bilateral ties to a new level but offer a refreshingly fresh perspective on how issues in the region are addressed. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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HE YOUTHFUL ENERGY RENEWING ANDHRA IN MANY WAYS, THE LEADERSHIP OF 46-YEAR OLD CHIEF MINISTER YS JAGAN MOHAN REDDY IN ANDHRA PRADESHRESEMBLES HOW INNOVATIVE START-UPS ARE RUN BY DYNAMIC YOUNGSTERS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; TAKING RADICAL APPROACHES AND NEVER TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER.

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THE YOUTHFUL ENERGY RENEWING ANDHRA othing revealed that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is never satisfied with the status quo, the business-as-usual approach, as much as the mega recruitment drive into government jobs that he spearheaded soon after assuming office. Over 1.26 lakh employees were appointed in one go, in a first of its kind recruitment drive in the country in terms of numbers. The whole process took only just two months to complete, in a country where even two years are not sufficient to complete such recruitments.While over 21 lakh candidates applied, a total of 19.50 lakh appeared for the written examinations, 1.98 lakh candidates qualified, and 1.26 lakh were given jobs. But that is not the greatest achievement in this exercise either. If anyone is wondering how come so many vacancies were there, here is the answer. All these recruitments for a new governance initiative called Village and Ward Secretariats, that have been

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designed and set up to provide over 500 most-urgent services to the people of Andhra Pradesh. The young CM is attempting nothing less than a total transformation of Andhra Pradesh through these newly

recruited employees, who will be assisted by 2.8 lakh volunteers who also have been identified. CM Jahan Mohan Reddy is also leaving no stone unturned to get Andhra its rightful due. He recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and persuaded him for granting special category status to the state, citing that the bifurcation of the state had adversely affected industrial and service sectors in Andhra Pradesh, whereas neighbouring powerhouses likeTamil Nadu, Telengana and Karnataka were not in such crises due to their booming cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. He also put up cases before the Central Government to set up a steel plant at Kadapa district, a

seaport at Ramayapatnam in Prakasam district,for providing funds for completion of the Visakhapatnam Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and Kakinada Petro Chemical Complex projects and revised estimates of Rs. 55,000 crore for the Polavaram project. The youthful CM is not known to take no for an answer too. He has asked the state government to renegotiate all the solar and wind power PPAs signed by the previous government as he believes that they were signed at higher tariffs compared to the rest of the country.Jagan Mohan Reddy has been persistent in this regard, even after getting advice from various quarters that it is quite a difficult feat to achieve. Under his guidance the Andhra

Pradesh Government has also come to the rescue of MSMEs by launching a scheme called YSR Navodayam,that will bail out micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the State and provide them financial relief by restructuring their bank loans before March 31,2020.Under the scheme, about 80,0000 MSMEs in the State would be benefited as their bank loans, that are subject to a ceiling of Rs 25 crores, would be restructured. They would also get more financial support and more time to pay back the loan.MSMEs across the country, including in Andhra, are perpetually plagued by working capital shortage and many of them were becoming non-functional due to this issue. Decisive moves have also been taken in the agricultural sector with unprecedented market interventions by the government. Recently, providing the muchneeded relief to the farmers at Pattikonda in Kurnool district, the price of tomato has increased

to Rs. 20 a kg from a low of Rs. 4, thanks to the market intervention by the government. In a first of its kind move, purchase of the produce directly from the farmers and transporting it to the metros were done, and cases were booked against the commission agents who try to pressurize the farmers. This new market intervention strategy the government has adopted will ensure that the farmers get remunerative prices for their produce. In the plagued public transportation sector, Andhra has become the model to emulate, when Andhraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy to merge APSRTC into government got wide applause. Now, neighbouring Telengana is known to be emulate this move. Despite heightened competition to attract investments into the state, CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has also made it clear that incentives will be provided only to those projects that grow the sunrise sectors in the state and provide massive employment. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

On World Tourism Day, the 27th of September, the vibrant state of Andhra Pradesh was felicitated with the Best State award for comprehensive development & overall growth in the tourism category during the National Tourism Awards 2017-18.

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WHY GO

ANDHRA? DIFFERENT STATES IN INDIA HAVE DIFFERENT CLAIMS TO FAME, WHEN IT COMES TO TOURISM. SOME ARE RENOWNED FOR BEACHES, SOME FOR MONUMENTS, SOME FOR FORESTS, SOME FOR BACKWATERS, SOME FOR HILL STATIONS, SOME FOR WILD LIFE, SOME FOR PILGRIMAGES, SOME FOR CUISINE AND SO ON. BUT RARE IS A REGION THAT HAS ALL THESE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF ONE STATE, ONE LANGUAGE AND ONE CULTURE. THAT RARE AND FAMOUS PLACE IS THE ONE AND ONLY ANDHRA PRADESH. IT IS AN EDGE THAT EVEN THE DRAMATIC SPLIT OF TELENGANA FROM ITSELF, COULD NOT TAKE AWAY FROM ANDHRA. HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY IT IS SO.

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WHY GO ANDHRA? It has been over five years since Andhra Pradesh was split into two, by carving out a new state, Telengana, from it. Like how it was assumed to affect Andhra Pradesh in different sectors, tourism pundits also predicted doom for Andhra Pradesh. After all, the state was losing tourism hubs like Hyderabad, Secunderbad, Warangal etc with their jewels like Charminar, Salar Jung Museum, Golconda Fort, Warangal Fort etc However, five years down the lane, Andhra Pradesh has stunned all critics with a hitherto unseen resurgence in

tourism, recording excellent growth in domestic as well as inbound tourism, and winning top position in national awards. On World Tourism Day, the 27th of September, the vibrant state of Andhra Pradesh was felicitated with the Best State award for comprehensive development & overall growth in the tourism category during the National Tourism Awards 2017-18. It was fitting that the state bagged the top honour on a momentous day, which was a testimony to its staggering potential in the tourism sector. Andhra Pradesh is

Andhra Pradesh is home to not only 4000 odd temples, but many of them are ancient, and perfect examples for the diverse architectural styles of temple building in the Indian subcontinent like Chalukyan and Dravidian styles.

uniquely placed as an attractive tourist destination with a wide range of offerings from historical temples to beaches to hill stations to natural wildlife parks. In short, Andhra Pradesh has every makings of a travel junkie’s dream destination. The state’s beaches have been a major reason why losing Telengana has not affected Andhra tourism. The state retained all its beaches as Telengana region is without any oceanfront. What is more, Andhra has the longest coastline in South India, even ahead of neighbours Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and it poses national level competition in this regard as it has the second largest oceanfront in the whole of India. Andhra Pradesh is blessed with 972 kilometres of coastline, while 21 major beaches, each with its own character, adorn this long oceanfront. Andhra’s beach capital is of course its port city and economic capital Visakhapatnam or Vizag as it is popularly known. While Vizag is home to a number of beaches, the most popular among is Ramakrishna or RK Beach. Other beaches at or near Vizag include Yarada Beach, Rushikonda Beach with its adventure sports, and Bheemili Beach with its ancient monuments. Other renowned beaches in Andhra Pradesh include Perupalem Beach at

Five years down the lane after the split with Telengana, Andhra Pradesh has stunned all critics with a hitherto unseen resurgence in tourism, recording excellent growth in domestic as well as inbound tourism.

Narsapur, West Godavari District known for its nearby paddy fields, Baruva Beach with its famed temples, Uppada Beach at Kakinada with its beautiful park, Sivasagar Beach at Akkupalli with its breathtaking coconut orchards and tall six-metre waves, Dindi Beach at Narsapur with its Dutch influence, Suryalanka Beach known for its beauty and vastness and Mypadu Beach famed for its fishing community and water sports. The second most important reason why the split-up with Telngana has not affected Andhra Tourism is its renowned temples. Andhra Pradesh is home to not only 4000 odd temples, but many of them are ancient, and perfect examples for the diverse architectural styles of temple building in the Indian subcontinent. Both the Chalukyan and the Dravidian style are visible in the temples throughout the state. And among its temples, if one temple has singlehandedly ensured that Andhra tourism will thrive always, it is the famous Venkateswara Swamy Temple, assessed as the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

ANDHRA HAS THE LONGEST COASTLINE AT 972 KMS IN SOUTH INDIA, EVEN AHEAD OF NEIGHBOURS TAMIL NADU AND KARNATAKA, AND IT POSES NATIONAL LEVEL COMPETITION IN THIS REGARD AS IT HAS THE SECOND LARGEST OCEANFRONT IN THE WHOLE OF INDIA, WITH 21 MAJOR BEACHES. richest Hindu temple, and perhaps the most visited too, situated on the top of the hills at Tirumala in Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Commonly called the Tirupati Temple, it draws upwards of one million devotees every year. Other popular temples of Andhra Pradesh are Diguva Mangalagiri Temple, Bhadrachalam Temple,

Srisailam Lord Shiva temple, Kanaka Durga Temple of Vijayawada, Mahanandi Temple at Kurnool, Lepakshi Temple at Anantapur with one of the largest granite monolithic Nandi,Yaganti Uma Maheswara Swamy Temple at Kurnool, Ahobilam Narasimha Swamy Temple at Kurnool, Simhachalam Temple in Kalinga style at Visakhapatnam, and three

Narasimha Swamy temples near Mangalagiri. Even post the split with Telengana, the state of Andhra Pradesh is the seventh largest in India by area and has retained most of the best assets in forests and wildlife, with unparalleled flora, fauna and biodiversity. The Rajiv Gandhi National Park, is the largest Tiger reserve in India spreading over 5 Districts of Andhra with river Krishna flowing through the reserve presenting some breathtaking sights with hills, valleys and deep gorges. The park is home to thousands of rare trees and animals. The Papikonda Wildlife Sanctuary is another major attraction, spanning across East Godavari, West Godavari & Khammam Districts with an area of 591 Sq. Kms, and the sight of mighty Godavari meandering through densely forested hills with deep gorges & valleys provides an unforgettable experience. Similarly, Pulicate Lake & Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Nellore District covering an area of 500 Sq. Kms. It is the second largest brackish water ecosystem in the whole of India, and supporting the largest congregation of Flamingos in Andhra, making it a must see for bird watchers. Still another bird sanctuary in the state is the Kolleru Bird Sanctuary, covering

Andhra's performance in tourism is led by Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and torism minister M Srinivasa Rao. West Godavari District & Krishna District with an area of 308.55 Sq. Kms. Kolleru Lake is the largest fresh water lake in India and as such is one of the international Ramsar convention wetland sites. Other major natural attractions in Andhra Pradesh include Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, Uppalapadu Bird Sanctuary, Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary, Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, Maredumilli Forests, Araku Valley, Papikondalu Hills, and the globally

THE RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL PARK, IS THE LARGEST TIGER RESERVE IN INDIA SPREADING OVER 5 DISTRICTS OF ANDHRA WITH RIVER KRISHNA FLOWING THROUGH THE RESERVE PRESENTING SOME BREATHTAKING SIGHTS WITH HILLS, VALLEYS AND DEEP GORGES, AND HOME TO HUNDREDS OF RARE TREES AND ANIMALS.

rare natural Thoranam.

monument

Sila

Andhra Pradesh, a state whose recorded history begins in the Vedic period, is also a treasure house of heritage structures. Thanks to varying influences from rulers, religious leaders and locals over centuries, the state serves up a profusion of majestic monuments, forts, temples and other manmade structures that depict its rich heritage. Its finest monuments include the Monolithic Nandi, Vizianagaram Fort, Adoni Fort, Gandikota Fort, Kondareddy Buruju, Gooty Fort, Penukonda Fort, Chandragiri Fort, Kondapalli Fort, Udayagiri Fort, Undavalli Caves, Salihundam, Bavikonda, Thotlakonda, Simhachalam Temple, Bobbili, Nagarjunasagar, Amaravati Museum, Akkanna And Mandanna Caves and Sri Kalahasti Temple. The timeless influence of Buddhism is subtly deep-rooted in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Buddhist monuments such as Stupas, Chaityas, and Viharas are scattered throughout the state. From the remains of Buddhist Stupas in Amaravati to the Sankaram Buddhist archaeological site, the state is teeming with priceless Buddhist relics. The finest Buddhist monuments in the

WHY GO ANDHRA?

corridor connecting north-coastal Andhra Pradesh to Chattisgarh and focus on nature and temple tourism. With the immense potential of temple tourism in particular, the state government hopes to showcase its tribal heritage and culture. The towns that are set to receive a major boost include the likes of Srikakulam, Vishakapatnam, Vizianagaram.

state are at Nagarjunakonda, Chandavaram, Dhanyakataka – Amaravati, Dhyana Buddha, Amaravati, Guntupalli, Sankaram, Thotlakonda, and Salihundam. Andhra’s performance in tourism is backed by strong support from the state’s tourism minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao who recently announced plans for a series of package tours to provide a tourist

Along with this, the APTDC is introducing a Vijayawada–Srisailam– Tripuranthakam–Kotappakonda– Vijayawada one-day tour package during the weekends, costing Rs. 1990 per adult and Rs. 1590 per child. The tour cost includes transport (18-seater air-conditioned mini coach), breakfast, lunch, dinner, guide and darshan charges. The tour will cover Sri Trikoteswara Swamy temple at Kotappakonda, Sri Bhramarambika Devi temple (Shakti Peetham) in Srisailam, Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy

temple (Jyothirlingam) in Srisailam, Sri Sakshi Ganapathi temple in Srisailam, Sri Tripuranthakeswara Swamy temple at Tripuranthakam and Sri Bala Tripura Sundari Devi temple at Tripuranthakam. It is no wonder that Andhra Pradesh Tourism department was awarded ‘Best State for Pilgrimage Tourism’ for the year 2019-20. With this, AP Tourism bagged an award for the third consecutive year in the South Asia Travel Awards. While Srikakulam attracted tourist footfall of around 25 lakhs in the 2018-19 period, various development projects are being undertaken at a combined cost of Rs. 13.87 crores. Religious tourism would get further momentum in Srikakulam, where major temples such as Arasavilli, Sri Kurmam and Sri Mukha Lingam are located. There are around 10 more tourist destinations in Srikakulam, some which date back to

the third century B.C.

through tourism initiatives as well.

Vishakapatnam, on the other hand, receives a whopping 2 crore tourists annually to sites such as Lambasinghi, Kothapalli, Matsyagundam and a package tour to Tirathgarh & Chitrakoot waterfalls in Bastar district in Chattisgarh would help boost across-the-border tourism. The revival of the Visakhapatnam-Tirupati tour service would be an added bonus. The two-day tourism package will also cover Sri Kalahasti and provide arrangements to offer darshan of the deity. The government is also working on a novel scheme to offer free darshan at Tirumala Tirupati temple for international passengers flying through Visakhapatnam. Given Vizag’s IT development, the state hopes to attract greater investment

Kurnool district, referred to as the Gateway of Rayalaseema, would benefit from a Rs. 5 crore action plan to tap the historical, ecological and natural tourism sites, which will in turn bring employment generation to the local population and enhance ancillary sectors. There is an

ANDHRA'S FINEST MONUMENTS INCLUDE THE MONOLITHIC NANDI, OVER A DOZEN HISTORICAL FORTS BELONGING TO DIFFERENT AGES, UNDAVALLI CAVES, SIMHACHALAM TEMPLE, NAGARJUNASAGAR AND BUDDHIST MONUMENTS AT AMARAVATI AND ELSEWHERE IN THE STATE.

enthusiastic belief among the government officials that the ‘tourism sector would spur economic activity and provide direct and indirect employment to thousands of youngsters.’ The authorities have also recognized the importance of giving wide publicity to historical places like those in Vizianagaram, which was

WHY GO ANDHRA?

once a cultural and educational centre. In the district of Anantapur, the government is attempting to adopt an integrated approach to exploit its vast tourism potential. There are 5 ecoparks in the district, which have suffered from a lack of marketing and public messaging of its features. Similarly, the department of Archaeology has plenty of tourist destinations to showcase including places of historical and religious importance. Through the initiative, the government wants to promote the concept of agri-tourism and rural tourism in Anantapur. Under agriculture tourism, AP TDC plans to showcase lush green horticulture farms, dairy, fishing and even guest houses for tourists. This would also include farm and weekly market visits during festive periods. The state has also ensured that connectivity to its prime tourist destinations is not a hurdle. Vishakapatnam, which receives high footfalls, was recently awarded

KOLLERU LAKE IS THE LARGEST FRESH WATER LAKE IN INDIA AND AS SUCH IS ONE OF THE INTERNATIONAL RAMSAR CONVENTION WETLAND SITES. KOLLERU BIRD SANCTUARY HERE COVERS WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT & KRISHNA DISTRICT WITH AN AREA OF 308.55 SQ. KMS.

national tourism award for the best tourist-friendly railway station in the country. It was also recognized as the cleanest railway station by the Quality Council of India in 2017. In order to advocate rail tourism, the superfast double-decker train UDAY Express was launched between Vishakapatnam and Vijayawada. The

UDAY (Utkrisht Double Decker Air Conditioned Yatri) service, priced at Rs. 525, would be able to reach the destination within five hours covering a distance of 351 kilometers between the two cities. This would seek to offer a luxurious train travel experience in line with the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s push for rail tourism.

Going beyond revenue collection activities generally concerning tourist departments, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation has paid adequate attention to maintenance of tourism premises and disposal of solid waste materials. Apart from the availability of basic amenities, the tourist spots have facilitation of cashless transactions, AC and non-AC waiting halls, pharmacies, gaming zone, refreshing lounge, and executive lounge etc. The latest tax cuts has also brought in much needed relief to the tourism and hospitality sector. According to the new rules, there would be no tax if the room rent per day was below Rs.1,000. For the hotels which charge Rs.1,001 to Rs.7,500 per day, the tax has been brought down to 12% from 18%, benefiting majority of hoteliers in tier2 & tier-3 cities in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. This would ensure that the occupancy ratio is favorable to privately-run hoteliers who otherwise face stiff competition from the likes of Airbnb and OYO Rooms. With favorable regulatory conditions and immense potential of its tourist destinations, Andhra Pradesh is certain to maintain its strong position in the years to come. With a coordinated strategy and innovative schemes in the pipeline to boost tourism revenue, the state could serve as a model for the rest of the country where the landscape is usually one-dimensional. The challenge for the Andhra Pradesh government would be to sustain the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique offering of its cultural heritage and pristine natural habitats.

SAMHI HOTELS IPO

W R

WHAT VALUATION IS REASONABLE FOR A CURRENTLY LOSS MAKING VENTURE? The plight of the WeWork IPO in the US last month signals the beginning of an end – the end of demand for companies that are making losses even while demanding high valuations. This is an overhang that Samhi Hotels too will have to overcome when they go for their planned Rs. 2000 crore IPO. oss making companies going for their IPOs is nothing new. After all, who can prevent investors if what they want a piece of the loss – a negative Earnings Per Share (EPS) - at a hefty valuation? So such companies too have had successful IPOs in the past in India as well as abroad. Some of them have eventually turned profitable, while some others are yet to turn a dime in profit, while some others have disappeared forever. If start-ups with even no idea on how to turn a profit can attract investments from even Private Equity (PE) funds, nothing could possibly prevent loss making companies from attracting lesser investors like non-institutional investors and retail investors. This has been the business-as-usual in the investing world. But something changed in the world markets this past month. One of the poster boys of the start-up and investment world had a hiccup. It was a commercial real estate company founded in New York only in 2010. But by 2019, the company had not only pioneered the shared workspace model but had become this segment’s

undisputed leader, managing 46.63 million square feet, across 86 cities in 32 countries, which has been lapped up by buoyant companies in technology, financial services, health services and practically every emerging segment, and especially by start-ups. Yes, this is indeed about WeWork now rechristened The We Company. Seeing WeWork’s tremendous success there was a mad rush by the global investing majors to own a piece of WeWork, so much so that its investors read like a Who-is-who of the largest institutional investors. JP Morgan Chase, T Rowe Price, Wellington Management and Goldman Sachs were all there in WeWork within a few years. And the valuation started swelling. By January of this year, WeWork was valued at $47 billion. 0 to 47 billion in just 9 years! But just ten months down the lane, that is by September end, WeWork’s valuation has plummeted to just $10 billion, which is interestingly even less than the $12.8 billion it has raised so far by selling stakes to investors! What was the great calamity that befell WeWork within these 10 months? Absolutely nothing, as their shared workspace model con-

tinues to grow admirably. The only blunder they did was they tried to go for their IPO at these inflated valuations. It was not really a blunder, as dozens of such companies pass through their IPOs in this way. But this time, the market was not enthused at all that a company that was making losses of around $2 billion a year was going for its IPO on high valuations. And WeWork had to pull off its IPO and that is what plummeted the valuations and cost Co-founder Adam Neumann his job as CEO and his majority voting rights. In fact, most analysts think that this is not something specific to WeWork, but the beginning of an end – the end of demand for companies that are making losses even while demanding high valuations. When Samhi Hotels go for its IPO, there is likely to be an overhang of the high-profile WeWork debacle due to a few reasons. Firstly, Samhi too is currently a loss making venture. Secondly, Samhi too has been riding the valuation boom due to its high growth model which saw it zoom from 0 to over 4000 hotel rooms in just 7 years. Thirdly, Samhi too has high-profile investors like billionaire investor Sam Zell’s Equity International, Goldman Sachs and IFC. Samhi Hotels is mainly into the ownership or leasing of hotel properties, and not into the actual running of the hotels which are done by international brands like Marriott, IHG and Hyatt. This makes Samhi look more like a commercial realty company specializing in hotel properties. And this asset-heavy and debtheavy model has been a dampener in making profits. Indian investors are not over enthusiastic over hotel stocks as time and again their asset heavy and debt heavy model has not delivered on investor returns. Will Samhi Hotels' Rs.2000 crore IPO be any different because it is a market leader in the premium space with 27 operating hotels comprising 4,048 keys across 12 cities for Marriott, IHG and Hyatt brands, with No.1 position in the first two brands. Like most large hospitality companies, Samhi too is saddled with large debt and has been making losses. The silverline is the 23 year experience of Ashish Jakhanwala, the Founder, MD & CEO.

GADGET

GOOGLE ASSISTANT STILL THE SMARTEST ALL THREE OF THE LEADING SMARTPHONE-BASED DIGITAL ASSISTANTS ARE GETTING BETTER AT ACCURATELY ANSWERING QUESTIONS, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY BY LOUP VENTURES. GOOGLE’S ASSISTANT IS STILL THE SMARTEST, BUT AMAZON ALEXA IS GETTING BETTER FASTER.

oogle Assistant still takes the lead over Apple’s Siri, followed by Amazon’s Alexa, according to the study. But Siri outperformed Google Assistant in correctly responding to commands, the study’s authors say. For the second year in a row, Loup Ventures found that Google Assistant answered more questions correctly than Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa in its annual IQ test. The study tested smartphone-based digital assistants by asking each the same 800 questions about finding nearby places, ordering goods, navigating and more. The study evaluated whether the assistants correctly understood the question and the accuracy of their responses. Google Assistant correctly answered 93% of the questions and understood all 800, according to Loup Ventures. Siri came in second, answering 83% correctly and misunderstanding two questions. Alexa answered 80% correctly but only misunderstood one, according to the study. The ranking remained consistent with that of last year’s study, but all three assistants improved their scores, Loup Ventures said. In July 2018, Google Assistant answered 86% of questions correctly while Siri answered 79% correctly. Alexa made the biggest jump from year to year, improving nearly 19

percentage points from an accuracy score of just 61% in 2018.

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“Many of the same trends continue; Google outperforms in informationrelated questions, Siri handles commands best, and the ranking of utility based on the number of questions answered has remained the same (Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa),” Loup Ventures wrote in a blog post. ”[B]ut there have been dramatic improvements on each platform and in each category in the few short years that we have been tracking the progress of digital assistants.” This year, Siri outperformed Google Assistant in the command category, according to the study. Both “far outperformed” Amazon’s Alexa in this category, which the study’s authors attributed to the fact that both are baked into the phones’ operating systems, while Alexa is part of a third-party app.

Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger resigned from Apple's board of directors on September 10, regulatory filings revealed. This comes ahead of the launch of Apple's recently unveiled video streaming subscription service Apple TV+, which stands as a direct rival to the entertainment conglomerate's own service, Disney+. Iger became an Apple director shortly after Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs' death in 2011.

While one might expect Alexa to be best at questions about ordering goods, Loup Ventures said Google Assistant actually had the widest lead in the commerce category. Google Assistant correctly answered 92% of questions in the section, while Alexa answered 71% correctly and Siri 68%. Still, the researchers said they don’t think a significant number of consumers are making purchases through voice commands, based on consumer surveys and personal experience.

BREAKING BAD'S 'WALTER WHITE' LOOKALIKE WANTED IN METH POSSESSION CASE Police in US' Illinois are hunting for a man resembling Bryan Cranston's Breaking Bad character 'Walter White' in a meth possession case. A mugshot of 50-year-old Todd Barrick has gone viral after the Galesburg Police Department released the photo on Facebook. "Please check the nearest car wash or storage centre," a Breaking Bad fan commented on the picture.

RESEARCH

NO GAY GENE EXISTS, SAYS LARGE GENOME STUDY A new study seems to firmly bury the idea of a so-called “gay gene.” Scientists looked at the genes of nearly a half million people and couldn’t find any genetic variations that could reliably predict someone’s same-sex behavior. Rather, they argue, our sexual preferences are influenced by a complex mix of our environment, life experiences and some genetic markers.

institutions took great pains to make sure their study would be carried out responsibly. 23andMe, for instance, asked customers for consent to be included in this specific dataset, separate from the permission asked for general research purposes. The nature of the study, which involves deidentified data and confidential surveys, should also mean that no one can figure out the identity of a volunteer or their stated sexual orientation. Because they only relied on selfreported sexual behavior, for instance, they might be missing some people attracted to the same sex but who have never acted on it or who don’t feel comfortable disclosing that history. And while someone may have had sex with someone of the same sex, that doesn’t necessarily mean they identify as gay or lesbian, so the authors refrained from using those sorts of terms.

he international research team, which includes scientists from Sweden, Denmark, the UK, and the U.S., looked at genetic data collected from earlier studies and projects, including from the consumer DNA testing company 23andMe. In total, just over 470,000 people were included. “There is no single gay gene but rather the contribution of many small genetic effects scattered across the genome.” The researchers performed a type of analysis known as a genome-wide association study. These studies sweep through the genomes of people and look for any variations in genes also called markers that could be linked to whatever other variables they’re testing for. In this study, that variable was whether a person had reported ever having sex with someone of the same sex. “This study is the largest and most thorough investigation into the genetics of same sex sexual behavior to date,” said study author Ben Neale, director of genetics in the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, in a press conference on Tuesday. The study was published Thursday in Science. All told, there were five markers that were “significantly”

associated with same-sex behavior. That means that these genetic markers were found often enough in people with a history of same-sex behavior that they could be a relevant contributor. But if even someone had all these markers at birth, the authors estimated, they would be less than 1 percent more likely to someday report same-sex behavior than someone born without them. Neale and his team’s research doesn’t suggest that genes play no role in our sexual orientation, though. There are likely thousands of other common genetic markers that might affect sexuality, they noted. But the influence is so small on an individual level that it would take studying many more people to find them. The authors estimated that all of these markers the five found in their study and the many more still unknown could account for 8 to 25 percent of the variation found in whether someone will engage in samesex behavior. But according to Neale, the findings “also underscore an important role for the environment in shaping human sexual behavior and perhaps most importantly [that] there is no single gay gene but rather the contribution of many small genetic effects scattered across the genome.” The authors and their respective

Another limitation of the study is that it only includes people whose assignedat-birth sex and self-reported gender match, meaning there’s nothing these results can say about people who are transgender or non-binary. The data is also drawn entirely from people of European ancestry, so there’s no telling whether the same specific mix of genetics and environment would play out among other groups when it comes to sexual orientation. These qualifications aside, the study might upturn another common narrative about sexual behavior. Some of the datasets let them look at more specific behaviors, such as how many partners people had of either sex. And the authors found that there was little overlap between the genetic influences behind whether someone had ever engaged in same-sex behavior and the degree to which they had same-sex partners (i.e, having sex mostly or exclusively with the same sex). In other words, the authors said, there’s no evidence on a genetic level that “the more someone is attracted to the same sex, the less they are attracted to the opposite sex.” Common measures of sexual orientation, such as the Kinsey Scale, rely on that simple continuum, but the findings seem to show our sexual preferences are more complicated than that. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

AUTO

THERE ARE LUXURY CAR BRANDS, AND THEN THERE IS BUGATTI THE BUGATTI CENTODIECI WILL COST $9 MILLION AND ONLY 10 WILL BE MADE.

his car is an homage to the Bugatti EB110 supercar of the early 1990s. Centodieci means 110 in Italian. The EB110 was built in Northern Italy's "Motor Valley," not far from where Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maseratis are made. It was an attempt to revive the Bugatti brand, which had been dormant since the 1950s. The Centodieci's design recalls the EB110s low, aggressive appearance. That business ultimately failed, but the automobile it created is still regarded as one of the greatest supercars ever made. The prototype for the EB110 was designed by Carlo Gandini, the same man who designed the Lamborghini Countach. The final production versions of the car were designed by Giampaolo Benedini, who was also an avid racing driver. Volkswagen Group purchased the Bugatti brand name in 1998 and built its modern production facility at Bugatti's ancestral home in Molsheim, France. With the backing of one of the world's largest automakers, Bugatti now makes fast cars for the extremely wealthy, much as it did in the first decades of the 20th century. Until recently, the modern Bugatti factory produced only one car model at a time. The Veryon was offered from SEASONAL MAGAZINE

2005 to 2015, with various changes and improvements made throughout its life. Then the Chiron entered production in 2016. Both cars were designed to be astonishingly fast but comfortable and easy to drive, thanks to massive turbocharged 16-cylinder engines mounted behind the two seats. When it was first introduced, the Bugatti Veyron cost about $1.5 million. The Bugatti Chiron costs more than $3 million. The Centodieci is Bugatti's latest attempt at branching out. During last year's Monterey car week, a series of automotive events leading up to the annual Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August, Bugatti unveiled the Divo. It started at almost $6 million and, Bugatti promised, only 40 would be made. Then, at the Geneva Motor Show last March, Bugatti unveiled another special car of which only one would be made. At almost $19 million, including taxes, Bugatti claimed that La Voiture Noire was the most expensive new car ever sold. Much of that car's value stemmed from its extraordinary exclusivity being that the owner, whose name was never revealed, will have the only one. All three of these new Bugatti models are substantially similar, in terms of their underlying engineering, to the Chiron. All have Bugatti's turbocharged 16-

cylinder engine although, in the Centodieci, it's specially tuned to produce up to 1,600 horsepower, 100 more than the Chiron. This car is also slightly lighter than the Chiron. It can go from a full stop to 60 miles an hour in just 2.4 seconds. But its top speed is limited to 236 miles an hour, which is lower than the Chiron's. The body of the Centodieci is designed to be reminiscent of the low, wide stance and wedge-like shape of the EB110. "Transporting this classic look into the new millennium without copying it was technically complex, to say the least," said Bugatti designer Achim Anscheidt. The Centodieci's horizontal headlamps set into the hood mimic those of the EB110, but they're narrower and more aggressive thanks to modern LED technology. Instead of the Chiron's swooping C-shaped lines around the big side vents, the Centodieci has openings with straight edges and a cluster of round holes. The Centodieci also has a permanently raised rear wing, unlike the Chiron's wing, which can be lowered so that it lays against the car's body. Both those features - the vent holes and raised rear wing - were drawn from the Bugatti EB110 SS, a very high performance version of that car. All 10 of the supercars have already been pre-sold. Customers were able to order their Centodieci in, literally, any color they like.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

YASHWANT SINHA: MEMOIRS OF AN ACCOMPLISHED PUBLIC FIGURE From humble beginnings to the corridors of power, former Finance & External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha has had a distinguished career as a parliamentarian and public figure. He belongs to the tradition of civil servants who found a higher public calling and worked his way through the rough and grind of India’s political system. An erudite speaker with a sedate personality, Sinha was not the rank outsider in politics he was often depicted to be. Despite his frustration with the netas during his stint in the IAS, Sinha developed a political acumen, which led people to highly regard his talent. Two of his mentors – the late former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and BJP stalwart L K Advani – had the benefit of receiving his often measured and poignant opinions during the most challenging times. e began his political career under the stewardship of Chandra Shekhar, the leader of the Samajwadi Janata Party and quickly rose through the ranks. Despite his fond attachment to the party, Sinha ruefully recollects the days leading up to his eventual switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when he could not personally apprise Shekhar of his decision. In his own words, etched in his autobiographical account Relentless, Sinha reminisces that ‘leaving Chandra Shekhar and his party was one of the most gut-wrenching and painful experiences of my life.’ In a selfdeclared embarrassing manner, Sinha writes that he wrote Shekhar a letter regarding his exit and sent it via R P Singh, a Delhi-based labour leader, without being able to muster the courage to even meet him. Curiously, Advani would often quip him about what Shekhar’s reactions was to him joining the BJP. According to his book, Sinha would not meet him for months until he received news that he would attend a public function where his first political mentor was slated to take part in. In order to avoid the awkwardness, Sinha finally decided to call on Shekhar and he invited him to Bhondsi. Sinha narrates that, barring a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Shekhar initiated the conversation and eased him into the situation. In an interesting revelation about Shekhar’s assessment of his decision, Sinha points out in his book

that the former PM told him that he had ‘enjoyed a degree of credibility in politics, which had been destroyed after he joined BJP and that he would have to work very hard to regain the same.’ In addition, Shekhar warned him that the BJP does not promote those without an RSS background and that he is likely to be used and discarded. Although Sinha cites later instances when Shekhar would criticize him publically, the former restrained himself from retaliating against the latter’s jibes out of respect. As a respected politician who had the dubious record of holding the second shortest term in office as Prime Minister from November 1990 to June 1991, Shekhar soon lost political capital and resigned himself to his Lok Sabha constituency in his later years. However, this did not rupture the personal relations between the two. The book captures Sinha’s own personal and professional tribulations and the people

who shaped his career. Later himself shunned by the BJP after Modi’s rise to power, Sinha’s work further endears the reader to his memorable relationship with Chandra Shekhar. In a hearty excerpt from the book, Sinha narrates Shekhar’s common response to people who would ask him the reason behind his protégé joining the BJP: “On one such occasion, he explained it with the help of a story, saying ‘One of my friends had fallen ill. When news of the illness reached me, I decided to pay him a visit in the hospital. Upon reaching there I was told that he had been admitted in the tuberculosis (TB) ward, which made me doubly worried. When I finally met him in the TB ward and asked him what the matter was, he assured me there was no need to worry. He only had a cough, cold and fever but since no other beds were available except in the TB ward, he was being kept there. Chandra Shekhar then likened this to exactly what had happened with me. According to him, I had found a bed in a TB ward for treatment of something ordinary like a cough and cold, only because no other bed was available!” The time: June 1998. The place: A room in Parliament. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha had presented the Budget - and raised petrol and urea prices. Members of Parliament erupted in protest. Sinha stormed into his room where I had been waiting to interview him, asked his secretary to get a senior functionary on the phone and exploded into the phone as I was being shooed out. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

YASHWANT SINHA: MEMOIRS OF AN ACCOMPLISHED PUBLIC FIGURE Sinha is a courteous politician. But he does not have a thick skin. In 1967, the Bihar cadre IAS officer was the deputy commissioner of Santhal Parganas district. Irrigation minister Chandrashekhar Singh had shouted at him in public. Sinha protested. Chief minister Mahamaya Prasad Sinha shouted at him and told him to look for another job. Sinha's classic reply: "Sir, I am a gentleman and expect to be treated as one. I am not used to being shouted at. And as far as looking for another job is concerned, I can become a chief minister someday, but you can never become an IAS officer. " Bihar chief secretary B.D. Pande would later tell

widely rumoured in New Delhi when he was finance minister - he was not particularly close to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In fact, Tarun Das, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an influential business lobby organisation, advised Sinha to see Vajpayee more often. Sinha and the prime minister grew closer later after Sinha became external affairs minister. In the book, he casts light on several matters. V.P. Singh offered him the governorship of Punjab. Sinha consulted Chandra Shekhar and turned it down. The Congress party, which was

Did Manmohan Singh have a memory lapse when he appeared before the allparty joint parliamentary committee (JPC) formed after the Harshad Mehta scam broke? Sinha was a member of the JPC. He felt that Manohar J. Pherwani, who had been appointed the chairman of the Unit Trust of India (UTI) by the Rajiv Gandhi government and was sacked by the V.P. Singh government, had indulged in malpractices. The Narasimha Rao government had reappointed Pherwani to UTI. Asked about this, Manmohan Singh said he had not appointed Pherwani; his predecessor (Sinha) had. Sinha demanded that the committee should call for the file. Singh had signed it. Incidentally, Pherwani denied any wrongdoing in an interview to me days before he died. Sinha and foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal shot down a proposal to return Jinnah House in Mumbai to Dina Wadia, industrialist Nusli Wadia's mother. Vajpayee had cleared the proposal, made by Jaswant Singh, Sinha's predecessor, but Sinha persuaded the prime minister to reverse his decision. Predictably, that put paid to Sinha's friendship with Nusli Wadia.

him: "Yashwant, in the civil services, you must have the skin of a rhinoceros." Sinha writes in his autobiography, "I have never been able to develop a thick skin, much less one like a rhinoceros." Sinha, of course, is no stranger to the public. A poor boy who studied in Hindi-medium schools, he worked hard, taught political science at Patna university, got into the IAS, married an ICS officer's daughter, thus marrying into high society (as he puts it). He writes here of life in the boondocks of Bihar, in the bureaucratic worlds of Patna and New Delhi, and his switch to politics and eventual rise to power. His two political mentors were former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, in whose short-lived government he served as finance minister, and BJP doyen L.K. Advani. Sinha also confirms what had been SEASONAL MAGAZINE

supporting the Chandra Shekhar government from outside, wanted former finance secretary S. Venkitaramanan to replace R.N. Malhotra as Reserve Bank of India's governor. So, Sinha had to ask Malhotra to resign. Venkitaramanan would grapple with a foreign exchange crisis. He told me in Chennai that he had proposed handing over the Indian embassy properties in Tokyo and Beijing to real estate developers to net $1 billion. P.V. Narasimha Rao invited him to defect to the Congress party, which had 232 MPs. Sinha was then a member of Chandra Shekhar's Samajwadi Janata Party that had five MPs. Perhaps, Rao hoped that other SJP MPs would follow Sinha into the Congress. But Sinha did not bite. Instead, he joined the BJP.

Although he had swadeshi sympathies, Sinha was never a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The two were out of sync. He says in the book, "Most of these people were prisoners of an ideology that had long become irrelevant... Unfortunately, it carries great conviction with the gullible, as does the complete nonsense that is dished out by the bhakts on social media these days." Sinha rebelled and quit the BJP. Today he stands marginalised. Ministers do not reply to his letters. This is a good, interesting book, rich in detail - sometimes too much detail. Why, for instance, write about so many countries that he dealt with as foreign minister? Still, it is a well-edited book. I could spot only one major error "Nusli Wadia's sister Dina Wadia, sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah". Dina Wadia was Jinnah's daughter, not sister, and Nusli Wadia's mother.

IN-FOCUS

MAKING OYO FLY HIGHER

When Aditya Ghosh joined the team building IndiGo in 2007 in a pivotal role, his future and current employer, Ritesh Agarwal was still in high school, all of 13 years of age! Ghosh went on to make IndiGo the country's largest airline by pursuing a no-frills model, whereas Ritesh Agarwal during the last six years, went on to create Oyo Hotels & Homes, the world's third largest hospitality chain. Since December 1 2018, 43-year old Ghosh has joined ranks with 25-year old Agarwal to make Oyo not just the world's largest hospitality chain, but the first global brand made-in-India.

Ritesh Agarwal ince Aditya Ghosh's entry, Oyo has invested Rs. 1,400 crore to its India and south Asia businesses, which he heads as CEO. Its global operations too are booming. The company is now present in over 800 cities across 18 countries, backed by marquee investors like Japan’s Softbank. It has set up 100 properties across 25 cities and towns in the UK, besides planning to expand to Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. Founder Ritesh Agarwal's aim is to make the now six-year-old brand, now the world’s third-largest hotel chain, to be the world’s largest by 2023. Since Ghosh's high profile entry, Oyo has been able to attract talent from established companies in India and around the world, even at senior leadership levels, from the likes of Unilever, ITC, Bain, Uber, Amazon etc. Earlier this year, Oyo

Aditya Ghosh was placed third in LinkedIn's Top Companies 2019 List of the companies most employees preferred to work for, just after Flipkart and Amazon and beating the top banks and IT companies. Oyo currently has over 12,000 employees and has plans to add 3,000 more employees over the next 4-5 months. Additionally, the company has set up 22 OYO Skill Institutes in India for training frontline staff in every aspect of hotel management. Oyo is also spawning a huge ancilliary industry. Already one of the largest purchasers of linen, toiletries and essential hotel supplies in the country, OYO is also helping empower multiple ancillary industries in the hospitality ecosystem by leveraging scale to make bulk procurements that are supporting local businesses. Every month, OYO utilizes over 40 lakh toiletry kits across 270,000

exclusive rooms which are a part of its chain while procuring over 40,000 units of linen. The company is also moving into the premium segment. Oyo is entering the four-star hotels segment in India with the purchase of a 64-suite building in Ahmedabad for an undisclosed amount. The brand is aiming to enter the five-star and seven-star hotels categories as well. The company also nurtures dreams beyond hospitality. Last month, it acquired co-working startup Innov8. Last August, it had acquired Gurugram-based wedding marketplace Weddingz.in. OYO Hotels & Homes have expanded its presence in India to over 500 cities covering the length and breadth of the country as the company intensifies its presence and commitment to one of its key home markets. Quartz’s Ananya Bhattacharya caught up with Aditya Ghosh for an interview: SEASONAL MAGAZINE

It’s been a little over eight months since Aditya Ghosh joined OYO as its India CEO. Before this the 43-year-old had helped build India’s largest airline IndiGo from the ground up. He chose the startup gig reportedly after turning down a job at Tata Sons that involved helping plan the group’s acquisition of Jet Airways. Since Ghosh’s stint at OYO began, the unicorn has dedicated Rs1,400 crore ($197 million) to its India and south Asia businesses. During this time, it has also set up 100 properties across 25 cities and towns in the UK, besides planning to expand to Saudi Arabia and Vietnam. The company is now present in over 800 cities across 18 countries, backed by marquee investors like Japan’s Softbank. The six-year-old brand, now the world’s third-largest hotel chain, will become the world’s largest by 2023, believes its 25-year-old founder Ritesh Agarwal. “Like in any journey, as the company evolves, as you stretch into different geographies and different roles, the centre (India business) needs to become even more stable,” Ghosh said. Besides, the company nurtures dreams beyond hospitality. Last month, it acquired co-working startup Innov8. Last August, it had acquired Gurugram-based wedding marketplace Weddingz.in.

Quartz chatted with Ghosh about his time at the young, booming startup. Below are some edited excerpts from the conversation. How has your time at OYO been so far? It’s been a phenomenally exciting journey for me in several ways. One is the size of the opportunity we’re chasing. Being part of the team writing this story, there’s a fighting chance we’ll become the first truly global brand out of India. For the very first time, you see an (Indian) brand on the street corner in hundreds of cities around the world. Next is just the sheer talent of the people I get to work with. I know it sounds like a cool thing to say but I mean it in all seriousness. Every day, I’m learning something new, that I had no idea about even after working for 20 years. And I hope I’m in that fortuSEASONAL MAGAZINE

kind of hotel. If you’re going alone but on holiday, you’ll use a different hotel. So these are some of the many varying shades and complexities I’m learning all the time. Sometimes, it feels like we’re drinking out of a hosepipe but all in all, it’s very exciting.

THE SIX-YEAR-OLD BRAND, NOW THE WORLD’S THIRD-LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN, WILL BECOME THE WORLD’S LARGEST BY 2023, BELIEVES ITS 25-YEAR-OLD FOUNDER RITESH AGARWAL. nate position for many years to come. Most CEOs and business leaders, after a while, may not have that opportunity where they go back home at night and say, “Today, I learned something new.” So I’m super excited. Does that mean I’m sleeping less? Yes, I think so. But all for the right reasons. You moved from IndiGo, a big publiclylisted company, to a startup. What are the similarities and differences? Ritesh and I often talk about this. IndiGo was also (working) out of one room when I got involved. The similarity (with OYO) is that you’re addressing a market with supply constraints. We’re taking a product which is, by and large, expensive, and where customers are expecting consistent quality. By building a business differently, you’re able to provide that product at a fundamentally lower price, thereby expanding the market. What’s different is that, in the hotels business, a consumer’s consumption pattern changes, depending on the reason for his travel and the people he’s travelling with. For example, from Mumbai to Delhi, if you’re going alone on a business trip, you’ll use a certain

BY BUILDING A BUSINESS DIFFERENTLY, YOU’RE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT PRODUCT AT A FUNDAMENTALLY LOWER PRICE, THEREBY EXPANDING THE MARKET.

What is it like having a 25-year-old leader? This is a particularly interesting question for me because I was the 33-year-old at one time where I had direct reports who had been in the business longer than I was born. Now the roles have reversed. Ritesh is gifted with not just an audacity to dream but comes with great ability to chase that dream and drive people to pursue excellence. I really do enjoy working with him. Frankly, it doesn’t occur to us that he’s 25. Just as I hope he’s not constantly thinking “Aditya’s almost double my age.” With OYO expanding aggressively into different geographies and sectors, where does its India business stand? There’s this line that I often borrow from the late yoga guru BKS Iyengar who said, “Find your centre and then stretch.” I think it’s the responsibility of the India team to be that centre around which we can grow and evolve and acquire new capabilities. How does having a global leadership team and overseas investors like Softbank help? I’m acutely aware that I owe a responsibility to all the investors. I used to run a publicly-listed company where I felt I had the responsibility of thousands of investors and I don’t feel any different here. I feel that equal pressure or exhilaration—whatever you want to call it—towards not just one investor, but the whole ecosystem. Some of the many multinational colleagues we have at OYO now, you know, leadership members from China, the Netherlands, the US, the UK, Malaysia to Indonesia, give the opportunity for people like me to constantly see what are the different cultural aspects they bring, how they think of the same problem and try to solve for it differently, and so on. It’s a very rich environment both from the board and the investor world and also colleagues.

INDIAN MICROFINANCE SECTOR TO DOUBLE IN 5 YEARS, SAYS MUHAMMAD YUNUS India’s microfinance industry is expected to double its lending business to the poor in the next five years if the growth momentum continues, said Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus. With size, there would also be some challenges, which the industry should be geared to handle, he said.

lon Musk thinks bombarding Mars with nuclear weapons will kick-start the planet and make it habitable by releasing trapped carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. He has been pushing this theory since at least 2015 when he told Stephen Colbert that Mars was a “fixer-upper” and that we could fix it by nuking it. According to scientists, he’s mostly wrong. NASA research indicates that dropping nuclear weapons on Mars will release some carbon dioxide, but not enough to make it even close to Earth-like. A 2018 study indicates that there simply isn’t enough carbon dioxide on the planet to make that big a difference. Currently, Mars‘ has an atmospheric carbon dioxide content of about .6 percent of the Earth‘s. If we let Elon Musk fire off nukes at it, scientists believe that’ll raise it to a mere

NASA research indicates that dropping nuclear weapons on Mars will release some carbon dioxide, but not enough to make it even close to Earth-like.

7 percent of the Earth‘s. But that’s not stopping the controversial billionaire engineer from riling up his 28 million Twitter fans with tweets talking about nuking the red planet and selling T-shirts: It’s unclear where Musk’s getting his information from – he could be speculating or riffing off of related research – but we’ve been able to find nothing peer-reviewed to indicate that terraforming Mars is possible in any way using current technology.

According to Sa-Dhan’s Bharat Microfinance Report 2019 released by Yunus here, the Indian microfinance industry clocked a growth of over 40 per cent, with a gross loan portfolio of ?178,552 crore in loan outstandings at the end of March 2019. Yunus said the trend shows that the industry would double itself as the pace of growth and base have increased. “Given this impressive record, it has now all preparation for doubling itself in the next five years. Whatever the industry has done in the last 25-30 years, you would see it double in the next five years, as it has gained tremendous speed now,” he said.

The idea that humans will inhabit the red planet beyond outposts and expeditions anytime in the near future is laughable. But it’s possible Musk is a fan of science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson who wrote about using nukes to terraform Mars in his trilogy about the planet. Robinson no longer believes it’s possible though, so even if it’s based in fiction Musk‘s still out on a limb here. A significant number of serious scientists believe it will take hundreds or thousands of years to colonize Mars. Others believe it will never happen. But one thing’s certain: Mars‘ problems can’t be solved with nuclear weapons any more than Earth‘s. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CLIMATE CHANGE

WILL YOUR YOUR CITY CITY SINK? SINK? WILL LOOK NO NO FURTHER FURTHER THAN THAN LOOK JAKARTA JAKARTA INDONESIA'S CAPITAL JAKARTA IS A CITY THAT IS SINKING INTO THE OCEAN AND THEREFORE ON BRINK OF DISASTER.

there," he added, motioning off in the distance. "Over time the water just kept getting higher and higher." Even as Widodo presses on with the plan for a 21st century capital in Borneo island, local authorities are desperately probing solutions for Jakarta. A scheme to construct artificial islands in Jakarta's bay, which would act as a buffer against the Java Sea, as well as a vast coastal wall was approved. But there is no guarantee the estimated $40 billion project -- which has been beset by years of delays -- would solve the city's sinking woes. Building barriers has been tried before. A concrete wall was built along the shore in Rasdi's district and other high-risk neighbourhoods. But they have cracked and show signs of sinking already. Water seeps through them, soaking the maze of narrow streets and shacks in the city's poorest neighbourhoods. "Building walls is not a permanent solution," said Heri Andreas, an earth scientist at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

ne of the fastest-sinking cities on earth, environmental experts warn that one third of it could be submerged by 2050 if current rates continue. Decades of uncontrolled and excessive depletion of groundwater reserves, rising sea-levels, and increasingly volatile weather patterns mean swathes of it have already started to disappear. Existing environmental measures have had little impact, so authorities are taking drastic action: the nation will have a new capital. Its location could be announced imminently, according to local reports. "The capital of our country will move to the island of Borneo," Indonesian leader Joko Widodo said on Twitter. Relocating the country's administrative and political heart may be an act of national preservation, but it effectively sounds the death-knell for Jakarta where many of the city's 10 million residents have little means of escape. "When the floods came I used to tremble," food stall owner Rasdi told AFP.

This rampant groundwater extraction causes land subsidence, which is making Jakarta sink by as much as 25 centimetres (10 inches) a year in some areas -- double the global average for major coastal cities. Today some parts of it sit some four metres below sea level, irrevocably changing the landscape, and leaving millions vulnerable to natural disasters.

"I nearly drowned back in 2007 -- all my belongings were swept away and I had to start over again," said from his home close to Jakarta's northern port, one of the worst affected by sinking ground.

Flooding is common during the tropical nation's wet season and that is expected get worse as sea levels rise due to global warming. The partly submerged skeleton of an abandoned mosque at the waterfront underscores the severity of the problem, while vast puddles scar the roads, and for some the ground floor of their homes is no longer habitable. Murky green water flows along the floor of an abandoned building, while tiny shacks on stilts line the garbage-strewn waterfront. "You can see it with your own eyes," said Andri, a 42-year-old who liked many Indonesians goes by one name.

Built in an earthquake zone, on

"When I was a kid I used to swim over

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swamplands, near the confluence of 13 rivers, the city's foundations have been further stressed by unchecked development, heavy traffic, and poor urban planning. Jakarta doesn't have a piped water system in its northern reaches, so local industry and millions of residents tap into its aquifers.

"We need to go to the next step and fix our water management." The hub of Southeast Asia's biggest economy has seen breakneck development over the years. New buildings and skyscrapers are compressing the ground, which aggravates its sinking problem. But the biggest culprit is excessive groundwater extraction, and the city has no way to meet demand without it due to a lack of water-retention facilities or a comprehensive piping network, Andreas said. Jakarta is not the only sinking urban centre. Cities from Venice and Shanghai to New Orleans and Bangkok are also at risk, but Jakarta has done little to tackle the problem head on, according to Andreas. "They've taken steps to mitigate it," he said of other sinking cities. "It's expensive. But if we look at the future consequences, it'll be worth it. "The thing we always have problems with is where to start," he added. Many who earn their livelihood in Jakarta's most dangerous neighbourhoods don't have the luxury of time to wait for a solution - or the means to escape. "Of course I'm worried, but there's nothing I can do," said Rastini, who scrapes by de-shelling clams caught by local fishermen. The 40-year-old added: "I've been here since I was a kid and I'll stay here."

CRISIS

WHO ALL CAN REPLACE SAUDI OIL? THE ATTACKS CUT SAUDI PRODUCTION BY 5.7 MILLION BARRELS A DAY. HERE IS A LIST OF COUNTRIES THAT COULD BOOST CRUDE PRODUCTION TO OFFSET LOSSES FROM SAUDI ARABIA IN THE EVENT THAT THE DISRUPTION TO SUPPLIES FROM THE ATTACKS ON ITS ABQAIQ AND KHURAIS PROCESSING FACILITIES LASTS LONGER THAN INITIALLY EXPECTED. IT'S NOT A LONG LIST AND MUCH MAY NOT BE ACCESSIBLE. he attacks cut Saudi production by 5.7 million barrels a day and officials at state oil company Saudi Aramco have become less optimistic on the pace of output recovery. The maximum spare capacity that could be brought into production in the coming weeks is estimated at about 3.9 million barrels a day. That figure should be treated as a exercise in optimism, though. It includes restarting production from the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as tapping Saudi Arabia's own spare capacity, much of which may also have to be processed at the Abqaiq or Khurais facilities and therefore be unusable.

Saudi Arabia August production: 9.83 million barrels a day Production capacity: 11.5 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: up to 1.67 million barrels a day On paper, Saudi Arabia has about 1.7 million barrels a day of spare production capacity, but the precise location of that reserve is unclear. If it is in the giant Ghawar, Shaybah or Khurais fields, it's unlikely to be of any use, as crude from those fields is processed at Abqaiq. There is some spare capacity at offshore fields, such as Manifa and Safaniyah. Offshore crude is not processed at Abqaiq, so these fields could be pressed into service.

United Arab Emirates August production: 3.07 million barrels a day Production capacity: 3.4 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 200,000 to 330,000 barrels a day

U.A.E. output peaked at 3.27 million barrels a day in November 2018 and levels beyond that have not been tested on an on-going basis. This suggests the country could boost output by somewhere between 200,000 and 330,000 barrels a day.

Kuwait August production: 2.68 million barrels a day Production capacity: 3.15 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 470,000 barrels a day Kuwait's reported crude production capacity is 3.15 million barrels a day, excluding its share of the Neutral Zone that it shares with Saudi Arabia, but it has not produced more than 3 million since the 1970s. Current production of 2.68 million barrels a day suggests it could increase output by at most 470,000 barrels.

Neutral Zone August production: Zero Production capacity: 500,000 barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 500,000 barrels a day Shared by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the Khafji and Wafra fields in the Neutral Zone have been shut since 2015 as a result of a dispute between the two countries. They have the capacity to pump as much as 500,0000 barrels a day of heavy oil. Khafji is a northern extension of Saudi Arabia's Safaniyah field. Restarting production in the Neutral Zone cannot be done overnight, though. Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said in Dubai last week that issues on the Neutral Zone are mostly technical and that he expects to have a "clear picture" on them within the next couple of months. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Russia August production: 11.29 million barrels a day Production capacity: 11.45 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 160,000 barrels a day Russia has been cutting oil production as part of the OPEC+ deal. Output reached a peak of 11.45 million barrels a day in December, before the latest cuts came into effect in January. The country's oil companies can certainly restore output to that level and may be able to go beyond it. Winter often sees an increase in Russian oil production, as increased domestic natural gas use results in a boost to flows of condensate, a light form of crude pumped from gas fields, although this is not a good substitute for most Saudi export grades.

Kazakhstan August production: 1.85 million barrels a day Production capacity: 2 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 150,000 barrels a day Although Kazakhstan is a member of the OPEC+ group, its only supply reduction this year has been the result of planned maintenance at its largest oil fields. August oil production was restricted by maintenance at the country's largest field, Tengiz, where works were completed in early September. Planned maintenance is now underway at the Karachaganak field until mid-October, which has taken output back down to the average August level. Kazakhstan will not be able to boost crude production until that work is completed.

Angola August production: 1.4 million barrels a day Production capacity: 1.53 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 65,000 barrels a day Angola's oil production has been crimped by maintenance and by steep decline rates at its offshore fields that have not been offset by new prospects being brought into production. August output was 1.4 million barrels a day, down from 1.53 million in October, but the country would probably struggle to lift output back to that higher level and keep it there for any length of time.

Algeria August production: 1.02 million barrels a day Production capacity: 1.07 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 50,000 barrels a day Algeria has cut output as part of the OPEC+ agreement, although it remains unclear how much of the reduction of about 50,000 barrels a day since November is voluntary and how much, if any, is the result of natural decline at the country's oil fields.

Oman August production: 970,000 barrels a day SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Production capacity: 1 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 30,000 barrels a day Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas reported production at 970,000 barrels a day in August. That puts its spare capacity at just 30,000 barrels a day, a little more than the 25,000 barrels it agreed to cut under the current OPEC+ deal.

U.S. August production 12.37 million barrels a day Production capacity: 12.5 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: 130,000 barrels a day U.S. oil production has plateaued at an average level of 12.37 million barrels a day since recovering from the impact of Hurricane Barry at the end of July. A jump in weekly production numbers to 12.5 million barrels was not sustained and output slipped back to 12.4 million the following week production is now reported to the nearest 0.1 million barrels a day. U.S. crude exports have been back up above 3 million barrels a day since mid-August. More than 10 new export terminals have been proposed for U.S. crude, capable of handling about 8 million barrels a day, but the first of these is unlikely to be operational before 2022 at the earliest. Export infrastructure may be the limiting factor in any U.S. output boost in the coming weeks and that could restrict the upside to about 475,000 barrels a day.

Iran August production 2.21 million barrels a day Production capacity: 3.83 million barrels a day Usable spare capacity: Zero With exports crippled by U.S. sanctions, Iran could theoretically boost production by about 1.6 million barrels a day. But with the U.S. blaming it for the attacks curbs on the country's oil sector are likely to get tougher, rather than ease. Other OPEC+ countries None of the other OPEC countries has any significant spare production capacity. Iraq, which increased its oil production to a record 4.78 million barrels a day in August, agreed at the OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting in Abu Dhabi last week to rein in supply. Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban says he gave orders to start cutting crude exports, with a reduction of at least 125,000 barrels a day from September. Those cuts will now probably be reversed, but output is unlikely to rise much above August's level. Other OPEC countries are pumping at, or very close to capacity levels. Output from Libya remains hostage to the security situation in the country, but is close to the highest levels achieved since the toppling of Moammar Al Qaddafi in 2011. Production from Nigeria has been rising with the start-up of new fields and a reduction in the number of attacks on oil pipelines in the Niger River delta region. Production is now back close to levels last seen in 2015, with little scope for further quick increases.

DEPLOMACY

FRANCE: INDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEW RUSSIA THE INDO-FRENCH BROMANCE CAN ONLY BE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL As the full picture of the Indo-French bromance emerged after the latest visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France twice in three days, commentators have begun to say that France is now as close to India as the Soviet Union/Russia was earlier.

he depth and sweep of the relationship can be compared only with IndoSoviet relations during the Cold War. Such relationships emerge only when the international situation and the complementarities in the two countries dictate them. In the case of the Soviet Union, the relationship transcended even ideological differences. In the case of France, there was no such barrier ever and there was a steady growth of political, economic, defence and nuclear cooperation, culminating in a multifaceted relationship that was witnessed this week. At a time when the United States condemned India in the name of the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

international community in 1998 on account of the nuclear tests, the French voice stood apart from the rest of the western world on the need for nuclear power and a minimum deterrent. It was in the same year that a Strategic Partnership was established between the two countries, which has grown into a bilateral relationship with a close and growing convergence of views on a range of issues. As a new global order, characterised by the withdrawal of the US from its commitments in Europe and Asia came in view, it was only natural that France and India found each other as partners with great potential. The bilateral visit at which a whole new architecture of cooperation was built

and the opportunity provided to PM Modi to be a guest at the G-7 meeting took the relationship to a higher level. The areas of defence and security cooperation, space cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation constitute the principal pillars of the Strategic Partnership. In addition, India and France are increasingly engaged in new areas of cooperation such as in the Indian Ocean region, climate change (including the International Solar Alliance) and sustainable growth and development, among others. In the economic domain, French businesses and enterprises have forged strong linkages with the Indian economy and industry. There exist vibrant

an Industrial Way Forward Agreement.

bilateral cultural and educational linkages as also growing people-topeople contacts.

Discussions between EDF and NPCIL have been ongoing with the objective of expeditious realisation of the project, even though the nuclear market is down after the Fukushima accident and public opinion in India is against the French reactors in Jaitapur.

Indian diaspora also has a sizeable presence in metropolitan France and its overseas territories. India and France share a close degree of convergence on a range of regional and global issues. France has continued to support India’s claim for permanent membership of the Security Council and the reforms of the United Nations. France continues to support India’s bid for accession to the NSG. India and France are steadfast partners in the fight against climate change. India and France have consistently condemned terrorism and have resolved to work together for adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the UN. Following the Pulwama attacks, France steadfastly supported India and nationally listed the Pakistan-based ‘global terrorist’ Masood Azhar, which was followed up with the listing at the UN. India and France have had regular exchange of visits at the highest level. Annual bilateral visits at the highest have now become a regular feature, not to speak of numerous visits at various levels, including an annual dialogue between the two defence ministers. The crucial decision that the Government of India took to order the French Rafale fighter aircraft in 2010 was based not only on the technical capabilities of the plane, but the reliability of France as a supplier and a potential partner. The charges against the deal have died down after the elections and during the present visit, it was confirmed that delivery will begin very soon. Another fleet of 36 aircraft is under negotiations. The Indian Air Force certainly needs these as the old aircraft, dubbed as “flying coffins” are still fighting our battles. Of course, Varthaman shot down an F16 with a MIG, but that is another matter. Although the details are not known, the Rafales are equipped with super-secret weapons and this is also a friendly gesture on the part of the French. France is also supplying six

TP Srinivasan submarines over a period of time. India and France have a rich history of cooperation in the field of space for over fifty years with ISRO and the French Space Agency, CNES carrying on various joint research programmes and launch of satellites. Building on the historical linkages in the arena of civilian space, both India and France issued a “Joint Vision for Space Cooperation” during the visit of President Macron to India (March 2018). The Joint Vision spells out the concrete areas of future cooperation in this field. France continues to be a major supplier of components and equipment for the Indian space programme. It is in the area of nuclear energy that France has been supportive of India at the IAEA and elsewhere. An agreement on civil nuclear cooperation was signed between India and France on 30 September 2008 during the visit of the then Prime Minister of India to France. Under that framework, the French utility company EDF and NPCIL signed a (revised) MoU on 22 March 2016 for the construction of six EPR units at Jaitapur of 1650 MWe each. During the visit of President Macron to India in March 2018, NPCIL and EDF concluded

UNDER THAT FRAMEWORK, THE FRENCH UTILITY COMPANY EDF AND NPCIL SIGNED A (REVISED) MOU ON 22 MARCH 2016 FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF SIX EPR UNITS AT JAITAPUR OF 1650 MWE EACH.

The windows that France opened to PM Modi by inviting him as a guest for outreach with the G-7 were most valuable. The bilateral meetings he had there, particularly with President Trump, were historic. The open meeting between PM Modi and President Trump began on a tense note because of their different perspectives on Kashmir, but after the PM spelt out his position and the President conceded that the matter was bilateral between India and Pakistan, the atmosphere and the body language became cordial. Trump, who had characterised Kashmir as “explosive’, said that the situation was now under control. Later, the White House claimed that the President reduced tensions between India and Pakistan and did not mention the mediation offer. PM Modi had useful bilateral meetings, including with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The French President had also invited the Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif to be available at the meeting, obviously after consulting the Americans and President Trump acknowledged his presence. It appeared that there were some contacts with the Iranians, but no announcements were made. It was clear that President Trump was exploring a peaceful resolution of the Iran nuclear question. On hearing the comment that France was now India’s new Russia, a former Ambassador of India to France, Dr Mohan Kumar remarked that it was not a matter of France replacing Russia, but it joining Russia as a loyal strategic partner of India. In other words, we have two good friends, not just one. The more the merrier! (The writer is a former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA. He is also the Chairman, Academic Council and Director, NSS Academy of Civil Services and Director General of the Kerala International Centre) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Dr. B. R. Shetty, Founder & Chairman, BRS Ventures

NMC HEALTHCARE IS TODAY THE LARGEST PRIVATE HEALTHCARE COMPANY BASED OUT OF UAE, WITH OVER 200 HEALTHCARE FACILITIES THAT INCLUDE HOSPITALS, MEDICAL CENTRES, LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES, DAY SURGERY CENTRES, FERTILITY CLINICS AND HOME HEALTH SERVICES IN 17 COUNTRIES ACROSS THE WORLD. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

IN-FOCUS

By John Antony

BRS VENTURES

CAN BRS VENTURES REGAIN THE MOMENTUM?

While India has produced many professionals and businessmen who have been high achievers across the globe, the achievements of Dr. BR Shetty can outshine most of them. From an ordinary immigrant from Karnataka to UAE in the early 70's, Dr. BR Shetty's empire – BRS Ventures - has grown magically across sectors and geographies. His flagship chain of hospitals, NMC Healthcare is the largest private hospital chain in UAE, is listed at London, and has grown multi-times in market cap since going public in 2012. A few months back, this billionaire businessman took his second largest company, Finablr (home to Travelex & UAE Exchange), too public in London, and is now planning another UK IPO for his sprawling pharma empire, Neopharma within the next few years. However, starting late last year, the group’s largest company, NMC Health’s stock had lost wind and started sliding, with some analysts putting it on the company’s high leverage model for rapid expansion. The group’s financial services firm, Finablr too had a challenging time, with a reduced IPO price and weak debut, on concerns of reduced sheen for financial services in the face of heightened competition from social media giants in the payments space. Dr. Shetty also owns a few key hospitals in India and is eyeing more now under the BR Life brand, even though Indian hospital sector too has been facing serious headwinds. Will BRS Ventures be able to ride out these setbacks in its core markets and regain its earlier momentum, is the million dollar question now. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ince the late 60s and early 70s of the last century, millions of immigrants from India, especially South India, have thronged the shores of United Arab Emirates in search for a better living. While many succeeded in their ambitions, there are few parallels to the achievements of Dr. BR Shetty who hailed from Udupi, Karnataka. Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty landed in Abu Dhabi in 1973, not just for a job, but for a means to repay a debt his family had taken upon. All he had with him was a degree in clinical pharmacy and a few dirhams. His plan was not to stay in UAE for long, but just enough for him to repay the debt. His heart was in India, especially his land of Udupi. There was enough reasons for him to come back to India soon. Deeply interested in local politics, BR Shetty was a born leader, an activist of Jan Sangh (predecessor of today’s BJP) , who successfully contested local elections and became the Vice-Chairman of Udupi Municpal Council at a young age itself. There were also enough hardships in his work in Abu Dhabi as a medical representative, to make him think of coming back. Amidst the sweltering heat, young Shetty – who prides himself as the first medical representative in the UAE – often lived without airconditioners and had to lift heavy barrels of medicines on his back. Working hard, BR Shetty could also pay back the family debt within two years. Anyone else would have returned home. The UAE of then was a far cry

STARTING LATE LAST YEAR, THE GROUP’S LARGEST COMPANY, NMC HEALTH’S STOCK HAD LOST WIND AND STARTED SLIDING, WITH SOME ANALYSTS PUTTING IT ON THE COMPANY’S HIGH LEVERAGE MODEL FOR RAPID EXPANSION. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

from the luxurious UAE of today. But something about the Emirates made him fall in love with it, especially his turf of Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates was only starting to emerge on the Middle East and Asian stage for the first time, fuelled by the successful oil explorations in Abu Dhabi. Emergence of UAE and the emergence of Dubai based on tourism, on the world stage, still had not happened back then. But young Shetty realized that it was a golden opportunity to be a pioneering businessman there during its formative years. As a keen observer of the society around him always, BR Shetty was quick to spot a goldmine of an opportunity in Abu Dhabi and the rest of the Emirates. While there were enough government hospitals, there were practically no private hospitals or clinics. There was a reason too for this Binay Raghuram Shetty Vice Chairman and CEO, BRS Ventures

– treatment at the government hospitals was practically free. Most people would have missed this opportunity, just because competing against free government hospitals made no sense. But young Shetty foresaw that if a private hospital could offer better treatment with better ambience and facilities there would be takers, given

that a new breed of wealthy citizens were emerging rapidly in Abu Dhabi and UAE. There was also another reason for his decision. The then ruler of Abu Dhabi and founder of UAE, His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, had publicly expressed his desire for the Emirate and UAE to start having private healthcare facilities too. There were also some promising policy measures to encourage such ventures. Thus was born the New Medical Centre (NMC) in Abu Dhabi, in 1975 as a small clinic, just two years after BR Shetty had landed in Abu Dhabi, just to repay a debt and come back to India. Needless to say, there was no looking back after that. NMC’s first and only doctor during the initial phase was Dr. Chandrakumari Raghuram Shetty, his wife. Right from those first days to even now, Dr. Chandrakumari, also known as Dr. CR Shetty, has been playing a pivotal role in the amazing growth of her husband’s business empire, especially its medical wing. Dr. BR Shetty has always regarded her as the true pillar of his enterprise. The husband-wife duo worked hard to bring up their small clinic, and proved the naysayers wrong, when the small clinic was expanded to a full-fledged hospital in 1981. The same year also saw the setting up of NMC Trading, which distributed medicines to pharmacies in the UAE. This division would later expand into distribution of fast-moving consumer goods, medical equipment and supplies and educational products. Starting from 1996, Dr. BR Shetty started his geographic diversifications, which continue to this day. NMC Clinic

THE GROUP’S FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRM, FINABLR TOO HAD A CHALLENGING TIME, WITH A REDUCED IPO PRICE AND WEAK DEBUT, ON CONCERNS OF REDUCED SHEEN FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES IN THE FACE OF HEIGHTENED COMPETITION FROM SOCIAL MEDIA GIANTS IN THE PAYMENTS SPACE.

BEYOND BUSINESS eyond his business ambitions, Dr B.R Shetty is a strong proponent of contributing to social justice through philanthropic activities. As the famous educator Booker T Washington’s saying goes, “If you want to lift yourself, lift up someone else” and this undoubtedly captures the essence of Dr B.R Shetty’s life as a humanitarian worker. His altruism is not a factor of the immense wealth he has created for himself and to those he has provided a livelihood; it runs in his very veins.

Right from his early days, before he moved to the UAE with little personal savings to his credit, Dr. Shetty served as the ViceChairman of the Municipal Council in Udupi where he worked toward providing proper sanitary facilities, building concrete roads, schools, underground drainage and septic tanks. His early recognition of the need to provide basic amenities ensured that the health and living standards of the community were in place. This stint instilled a sense of community-building in the budding entrepreneur, which continues to serve as the burning philosophy in all of his business ventures. Given his early exposure to issues that affect the lives of the most underprivileged sections of society, Dr Shetty has carried out some praiseworthy social initiatives in various fields. Realizing the imminent global problem of waste management at a time when corporations often ignored its resultant hazards, his setting up of the Al Ahlia waste treatment plant was an idea well ahead of its time. The plant would collect medical and other industrial waste and incinerate it in an eco-friendly way. In the field of healthcare services, where he pioneered numerous initiatives, Dr Shetty’s BR Life took over the Karnataka government’s Mother & Child Hospital in Udupi and constructed a new hospital which is currently offering free medical care to the underprivileged people in the region. By upgrading the rudimentary facility into a world-class health care facility, the new hospital is a PPP model that is worth emulating across the country. The 200-bed hospital, with advanced diagnostic facilities, is a blessing to the state’s weakest sections that will go a long way in providing high quality healthcare services.

The philanthropic activities of Dr. Shetty and family are channelized through the Dr. BR and CR Shetty Foundation. Adopting a sustainability approach, the foundation’s work mainly focuses on the areas of education, health, poverty alleviation and community empowerment. As someone who sticks to his core principles that manifest in his businesses as well, Dr Shetty is a firm believer that humanitarianism goes beyond national boundaries. He has provided aid during natural and human calamities in countries including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Thailand. He also supports the Special Care Centre in Abu Dhabi and the Rashid Centre for the Disabled in Dubai. For his noteworthy contributions in the field of healthcare and education in the UAE, Dr Shetty is a recipient of ‘Order of Abu Dhabi’, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the Government of Abu Dhabi. Similarly he was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ award by the Government of India in 2009. For his efforts at improving the lives of the NRI Community, Dr Shetty was conferred ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award’ in 2007 by the former President of India, the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. In spite of the bulk of his engagements abroad, Dr Shetty has not forgotten his roots – a testimony to his remarkable efforts in social service in his home district of Udupi. He was duly awarded Karnataka Rajyotsaya Award by the Govt. of Karnataka in 1997. In a business and philanthropic career that has spanned over four decades, Dr Shetty does not seem unfazed by the challenges that lie ahead of him. Most importantly, he is looking for newer ways to tackle these challenges, which in a way defines his unwavering entrepreneurial streak. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

was started in Sharjah in 1996, NMC Hospital, Deira, Dubai came into being in 1999, NMC Specialty Hospital, Dubai, in 2004, and NMC Specialty Hospital in Al Ain in 2008. Right from day one, NMC had been set up to offer something superior in quality to its patients, as government run facilities in UAE were not bad. This focus on superior quality has helped NMC Hospitals and it became evident when in 2009, four of its hospitals were awarded the coveted JCI accreditation. 2012 was a strategic year for NMC Health, for multiple reasons. Firstly, it went for its Initial Public Offer at London Stock Exchange. It was the first ever IPO by an Abu Dhabi company at London, and has come to symbolize the way Dr. BR Shetty has been running his company, with transparency and high ambition. While an LSE listing assures large companies like NMC Health on liquidity, the transparency requirements are much tougher than in say India or Dubai. Secondly, 2012 saw NMC being awarded the management of the Shiekh Khalifa General Hospital in Umm Al Quwain, which is a business as well as service model that Dr. BR Shetty is most bullish on, not only in UAE, but elsewhere, including India, where he has started pursuing it. After being a listed player, NMC Health’s momentum increased dramatically. Soon it started BR Medical Suites in Dubai Healthcare City, and expanded operations in Khalifa City and in Al Ain's industrial area. In 2013, NMC added a day-surgery centre in Mohammed Bin Zayed City, Abu Dhabi. Soon it also opened the NMC Hospital

in Dubai Investments Park, NMC Brightpoint Royal Women's Hospital, and the NMC Medical Centre in Al Ain. Starting from 2015, a new phase - of inorganic growth – was undertaken. NMC Health acquired the Spain-based Clínica Eugin in 2015, which made NMC the leading integrated women's health provider from fertility through obstetrics and paediatrics in the UAE. That same year, the company also acquired four different UAE based medical groups - Dr. Sunny Healthcare Group, Provita, Americare Group, and Fakih IVF. Organic growth was also pursued aggressively and in 2016, NMC Health opened the largest private sector hospital in the UAE in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, called NMC Royal Hospital. 2016 also witnessed the company expand its operations into Saudi Arabia by acquiring a 70 percent stake in As Salama Hospital in Al Khobar. NMC Health has also invested in a project to build a 120bed care centre in Jeddah that will be managed by its subsidiary Provita. In the same year, NMC Health announced the acquisition of Al Zahra

UNDER THE BR LIFE BRAND, THE GROUP HAS BEEN EXPANDING IN INDIA RECENTLY, BUT THE INDIAN HOSPITAL SECTOR TOO HAS BEEN FACING SERIOUS HEADWINDS.

Dr. Chandrakumari Raghuram Shetty Group Medical Director

Hospital, one of the largest private hospitals in the UAE, thereby consolidating its position in the Emirates. In mid-2018, NMC took a strategic step when it bought Aspen Healthcare of United Kingdom which runs two hospitals, in Wimbledon and Sheffield. With growth being pursued this aggressively by both organic and inorganic routes, the stock of NMC Health witnessed a dramatic upsurge at London Stock Exchange, growing by ten times within the last 7 years. It is a constituent of London Stock Exchange’s prestigious FTSE 100 Index and included in Morgan Stanley’s MSCI Global Index. Dr. BR Shetty may not have returned to India in the 70’s as planned, but he started taking a keen interest in his home country, starting from the turn of the millennium. He took over the SUT Hospital of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2001, and has since then started the 400 bedded SSNMC Super Specialty Hospital in Bengaluru and Kalinga Super Specialty Hospital, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The Group has also taken over

Dr. Neema Shetty

the troubled Seven Hills Hospitals in Mumbai and Vizag. The Group’s Indian healthcare operations come under the BR Life brand, and includes a Government General Hospital in Udupi that it manages by charging patients nothing. BR Life’s current bed strength is 1500 with plans to scale up to 20,000 beds through organic and inorganic routes, for which Dr. Shetty has plans to invest as much as $5 billion. NMC Healthcare is today the largest private healthcare company based out of UAE, with over 200 healthcare facilities that include hospitals, medical centres, long term care facilities, day surgery centres, fertility clinics and home health services in 17 countries across the world. With a team of over 2,000 doctors and 20,000 paramedical and support personnel, across its network, NMC treats over 8.5 million patients every year across UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt, Kenya, Seychelles, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Latvia, Sweden, Slovakia,

Mrs. Reema Shetty Bitar

USA, Colombia and Brazil. Dr. BR Shetty is also the founder of a sprawling financial services empire, Finablr, which is home to several leading global financial service brands including UAE Exchange, a global money transfer, foreign exchange and payment solutions provider, and Travelex, the world's leading foreign exchange specialist. Following his listing of NMC in 2012, Dr. Shetty took Finablr also public, in London itself, this year. The company and its subsidiaries have been forging rapid ties to internet and social media giants to take growth in financial services to the next level. Dr. Shetty’s early interest in pharma trading and distribution activities has, in the meanwhile, grown into an empire of its own – Neopharma – with multinational drug manufacturing and distribution facilities, including an antibiotic manufacturing facility that it

Mrs. Seema Shetty

acquired in USA, last year. Following NMC Health’s and Finablr’s steps, Dr. Shetty has plans to take Neopharma too public within the next few years. A hands-on leader, Dr. BR Shetty leads his companies as the Executive Chairman, and is ably assisted by his only son, Binay Shetty as Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Binay graduated from Boston University, Massachusetts, USA, with specialization in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Apart from his wife Dr. Chandrakumari R Shetty as Group Medical Director and son Binay Shetty as CEO, this pathbreaking entrepreneur is also helped to carry on his vision by his three daughters, Dr. Neema Shetty who is a dental surgeon, Reema Shetty the entrepreneur behind Foodsters Inc of Dubai, and Seema Shetty the entrepreneur who founded Zari Zardozi, a leading Indian fine dine restaurant in Abu Dhabi.

A detailed questionnaire addressing various aspects of the group's operations remained unanswered at the time of publishing this story.

WILL BRS VENTURES BE ABLE TO RIDE OUT SETBACKS IN ITS CORE MARKETS AND REGAIN ITS EARLIER MOMENTUM, IS THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION NOW BEFORE INVESTORS.

DEFENCE

NEWS OF TIMELY DELIVERY OF RUSSIAN S-400 TRIUMF IS GOOD NEWS FOR IAF

India will receive delivery of the first batch of Russian S-400 Triumf air-defence missiles by 2023. Russia has received an advance payment for S-400 air defence missile systems from India. e will deliver the first batch (out of the five squadrons of S-400 missiles) by 2023,” said Roman Babushkin, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Russia. According to Russian Trade Commissioner Yaroslav Tarasyuk, India made 20 per cent of the payment towards the $5.2 billion missile deal under the new payment mechanism. Sberbank of Russia — that has a branch in New Delhi — will receive the amount SEASONAL MAGAZINE

in rupees and pay Moscow in ruble under the new payment mechanism. Due to difficulties from banking restrictions, the payment was done through the rupee-rouble settlement. The issue has been highlighted by Russian defence manufacturers and government officials after Indian banks stopped processing payments related to defence deals due to risks of US sanctions under the CAATSA (The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) law.

presence in India, will also be directed to get engaged in defence deals between New Delhi and Moscow.

The VTM Bank of Russia, which has

India even rejected US counter-offers of

Threat of US sanctions America has threatened to impose sanctions on India under the CAATSA legislation. India signed a $5 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) deal with Russia to buy five systems of this missile that NATO calls the SA-21 'Growler'. The deal was concluded against strong objections from the US.

the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC3) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) to stop the sale. Washington has objected to India buying the missile partly because it has applied sanctions on Russian arms firms, but it's mainly because of the formidable capabilities of the S-400 missile. The missile, the US fears, will jeopardise future arms sales of high-performance aircraft, such as the F-35, to India. Washington has already taken such an action against China. The country is also contemplating the same for Turkey, which recently purchased the missiles from Russia. The announcement of Russia’s delivery plan was made in the backdrop of Union Minister for Foreign Affairs S. Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow and his meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, where he will be the chief guest, from 4-6 September. Soon after, India will be holding the second round of “2+2” ministerial dialogue with the US in Washington. India is hoping to get a CAATSA waiver from the US on defence purchases from Russia.

Why S-400 matters to India The S-400 Triumph is a surface-to-air missile defence system that is capable of intercepting ICMBs and other midrange missiles. This is said to bolster India’s air defence capabilities during air combat and can successfully detect the path of incoming missiles. The S-400 system is highly mobile-all radars, missiles and launchers are mounted on 8x8 cross-country trucks, which makes them harder to detect and destroy. The entire system can be made ready to fire in a matter of minutes. The S-400's crown jewel is its 92N6E electronically steered phased array radar, dubbed 'Grave Stone', that can track 300 targets over 600 kilometres away and, based on the threat and range, shoot four different missile types at them. Each S-400 system has four types of missiles from the 400-km range, 200-

km range, 100-km and 40-km range, forming a nearly impenetrable interlocking grid of missiles. It can detect and destroy targets flying as low as 100 feet to as high as 40,000 feet. These missiles can address multiple aerial threats, from combat jets to cruise missiles and air-launched smart bombs, and are resistant to electronic jamming. The IAF's air defence missiles can currently only engage targets 40 kilometres away. The Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile or MRSAM to be acquired from Israel next year will increase its engagement range to nearly 80 kilometres. The S-400 on the other hand, more than quadruples the IAF's missile reach. The IAF sees in the S-400 an answer to many of its existential woes-a dwindling fighter jet fleet and the increasing sophistication of enemy fighter aircraft. As Sandeep Unnithan argues, the IAF has only 32 fighter squadrons as opposed to a sanctioned 39.5. This is seen as inadequate for its primary tasks of securing Indian airspace from intruding enemy aircraft and conducting aerial warfare by bombing enemy targets. This imbalance changes with the acquisition of the S-400. The missile system can undertake a bulk of the airspace defence role. From their locations in India, the S-400's radars can look deep inside Pakistani territory and pick up enemy aircraft almost as soon as they are airborne. Deployed along the eastern border with China, the missile system can monitor fighter jets taking off from airfields along the Tibetan plateau. However, as pointed out by Unnithan, the main reason to push through with the deal was eventually made due to the lack of bureaucratic hurdles which otherwise impinges on most defence purchase deals. The deal was directly concluded between the Indian and Russian governments in just two years, considerably shorter than the Indian defence ministry's circuitous negotiations and acquisition cycle. Interestingly, transfer of technology and defence offsets, usually insisted on by the defence ministry for large volume deals, was waived.

INDIAN HACKER FINDS UBER ACCOUNT TAKEOVER BUG, AWARDED RS 4.6 LAKH Uber has awarded Indian ethical hacker Anand Prakash with Rs 4.6 lakh for finding a bug that allowed attackers to take over any Uber user's account. Prakash requested for public disclosure in June and the bug report was then disclosed by Uber on September 9. Prakash, a Forbes' 30 under 30 honoree, is the Founder of cybersecurity company AppSecure.

LENSKART TO GET AT LEAST RS 392 CRORE FROM MUMBAI'S KEDAARA Faridabad-based eyewear startup Lenskart is raising at least Rs 392 crore in its ongoing Series F round from Mumbai-based private equity firm Kedaara Capital, Entrackr reported citing regulatory filings. Past reports claimed that Kedaara is in talks to buy Lenskart shares via a secondary deal at billiondollar valuation. Lenskart is also reportedly in talks with SoftBank for a $350-million funding.

BURJ KHALIFA-SIZED ASTEROID AMONG 2 TO PASS BY EARTH SOON: NASA Two medium-sized near-Earth objects (NEOs), including one asteroid nearly as long as Earth's tallest building Burj Khalifa, are set to safely fly by Earth, NASA said. The two bodies will pass by on September 14 and 15, as per Indian time. NASA added it's tracking the objects but orbit calculations ruled out any chance that they could pose a threat. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

GOOGLE'S AI BASED APP TO HELP STUDENTS

The web search major and Android maker revamps its Socratic app that helps students study with help of AI.

GADGET

A SMARTPHONE THAT TRANSFORMS INTO A TABLET Xiaomi has been granted patents of a foldable smartphone that suggest that the device could launch soon.

Google has revamped the Socratic app, which it acquired last year. The app is now powered by Google AI and offers students a number of new features and resources to help them with high school and university work. The revamped app is now live on Apple’s App Store and will be made available on Android this fall. The company says, with the help of the new Socratic app, students can solve math equations or physics problems with ease. It also offers students a wide variety of guides and study material. With the new Socratic by Google app, students will now be able to take a photo of a question and find answers on the web posted from credible sources. The app also allows students to use voice commands to ask problems. The app makes use of a built-in complex algorithm, which looks at a student’s question and automatically identifies the relevant underlying concepts. With it, students can find videos, concept explanations and online resources related to their studies. For students who want to go the extra mile, the app breaks down the concepts into smaller, easy-tounderstand lessons. these lessons are curated from top educational resources, YouTube and in-house user answers, which have been submitted over time. Socratic by Google has over 1,000 subject guides on higher education and high school topics. These topics include Biology, Physics, Algebra, Geometry, Fiction, NonFiction, and more.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

arlier this year, a senior Xiaomi executive showcased a foldable smartphone that could transform into a largescreen tablet. Following the event, Samsung and Huawei launched their first foldable smartphones which are dubbed the Galaxy Fold and Mate X respectively. Unfortunately, due to quality issues, the launch of both these handsets have been pushed back to September. While Xiaomi was also assumed to launch its foldable smartphone soon after the launch of Huawei and Samsung’s offering, clearly that has not happened. But the company has been granted patents of a foldable smartphone that suggest that the device could launch soon. According to the patents, the front of the Xiaomi smartphone has a flexible display that can fold from either end. Noteworthy, the bezels around the display are

While Xiaomi was also assumed to launch its foldable smartphone soon after the launch of Huawei and Samsung’s offering, clearly that has not happened.

negligible which provides the device with an overall elegant design. The rear of the Xioami smartphone seems to be made out of metal with two rubber straps that conceal the foldable hinge. The rubber-like material is similar to what is found on the previously launched Royole Flexpai. In addition, it also houses a triple camera setup. The images do not reveal any cutout or notch for the front-facing selfie camera on the Xiaomi smartphone. It is likely that the device will debut with an underdisplay selfie camera, which several companies (1,2) are working on. Also, it does not have a rear-mounted or side-mounted biometric sensor, perhaps, it will have an in-display fingerprint sensor which is slowly becoming a common sighting on premium and mid-range smartphones. In addition to functional design, the Xiaomi smartphone is expected to have high-end specifications. Therefore, it could feature the Snapdragon 855 or 855 Plus chipset. In terms of memory, it is expected to at least have 6 GB of RAM. In order to verify the claims and leaks, we will have to wait patiently until Xiaomi addresses the device publically. Besides, the foldable smartphone from Xiaomi is expected to be more affordable than Samsung and Huawei’s offering which cost about US $ 2000.

AUTO

FIRST DRIVE OF REVOLUTIONARY PORSCHE TAYCAN ELECTRIC

THE TAYCAN EV HAS TAKEN PORSCHE INTO A NEW WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY, AND THE SPORTS CAR MAKER HAS GONE TO GREAT LENGTHS TO ENSURE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S STILL A PORSCHE. e're sideways. Again. After a blistering takeoff that pushed my internal organs towards my spine, the driver behind the wheel of the pre-production Porsche Taycan (pronounced "tie khan") turns off the traction control and the vehicle does something other EVs don't. It becomes a full-fledged sports car, its tires spinning on the edge -- and spilling over -- the traction event-horizon. We're drifting and the driver -- that also happens to be one of the regenerative braking engineers -- tells me about how the Taycan recuperates energy back into the battery. Meanwhile, I'm smiling because a proper electric sports car is coming to market from a company with a history defined by fast cars. There's no lack of first drives and ride alongs of the Taycan. The automaker has been on a marketing blitz lately, making

sure nearly every publisher has access to the car in one way or another. The overall verdict is that the Taycan is the pure electrification of Porsche's DNA. The automaker has been using hybrid drives for years now in its race cars, sports cars and SUVs. Battery packs are nothing new to it. But ditching the internal combustion is something altogether different for the company, and it required a sort of rethinking of how a car is built the Porsche way. When Porsche unveiled the Mission E concept four years ago it wanted to make sure that it was doing more than just showing off a design study. It wanted to announce to the world that it had every intention of creating a Porsche EV without compromise. A single concept car is tough to build, a production vehicle that deviates from your main source of propulsion is tricky and incredibly expensive.

The automaker is spending six billion euros to develop electric vehicles. That money includes making huge adjustments to its factory in Stuttgart, Germany. That involves, among other things, a new assembly line, body and paint shop in the already crowded facility. Unfortunately, those two new areas require a conveyor belt to move the vehicles from one area to another. Porsche says that line is 911 meters long, because of course it is. "(It was) something like an open heart surgery. But as of today, we can say it was successful. We're currently ramping up the production," Porsche VP product line Taycan Stefan Weckbach said. The result is a vehicle that, even from the passenger's side of the vehicle, feels like a Porsche sports car. Meanwhile, the driver is doing a donut while simultaneously explaining that the Taycan does not have "one-pedal" SEASONAL MAGAZINE

FIRST DRIVE OF REVOLUTIONARY PORSCHE TAYCAN ELECTRIC driving. He's referring to the ability to take your foot off the accelerator and let the regenerative braking bring the car to a stop. "It's not how you want to drive a sports car. You want consistency when you take your foot off the pedal," he says. So when you stop giving it power with your foot, the car glides until you step on the brake. As you depress the brake, it initially uses the motors to slow down the vehicle then switches to the actual physical brakes if you need additional stopping power. During this spirited ride, we need extra stopping power, and I watch the charge meter in the dash fill up to indicate we're generating up to 265 kW when slowing down from the launch-control enabled burst of speed. It's an impressive number, but not something I can test in the passenger seat as we once again whip around the corner and let the backend break free. While going all out with tires smoking and skidding around corners in the Taycan is fun (even if you're not driving) Porsche's all-wheel-drive system is built to keep the car stuck to the road. Which is how these cars will be driven most of the time. Ahead of the squealing tires, the vehicle's torque vectoring did a fine job on a water-slick road, adjusting the power in-real-time to all four tires to increase traction. One of the benefits of electric vehicles is that they can adjust the energy and spin of the wheels in almost real-time far better than an internal combustion engine vehicle. But what Porsche has that others don't is a two-speed transmission connected to the rear motor. Typically, EVs have a single gear. But Porsche wanted something with a lot of torque. So it added a low gear to propel the vehicle quickly and repeatedly. The top-end Turbo S version will do zero to 60 in 2.6 seconds. The Tesla Model S P100D will do that in 2.5 seconds. But the Porsche can do it over and over again (10 times in their tests) without any significant power loss. The Model S P100D is impressive, but it's not a sports car. Porsche built its reputation on the race track, reproducing high-speed launches over SEASONAL MAGAZINE

and over again. That's something the company needed to do, even if just for the sake of its reputation. The Taycan pulls these feats off with two motors generating up to 670 horsepower and 626 pounds of torque on the Turbo model and 750 horsepower and 774 pounds of torque on the Turbo S. Those powerplants are supplied by a 93.4kWh battery pack. As with nearly EV out there, it sits under the passenger and lowers the center of

gravity. It's the lowest of any Porsche. The automaker says that it can be removed if needed. The electrical system meanwhile is 800 volts instead of the typical 400 volts. That means the vehicle can charge faster, produce more power, and use thinner wire to reduce weight. To further efficiency the Taycan uses two permanently excited synchronous motors (PSM). Instead of winding copper wire, the copper is shaped like hairpins, inserted into the motor and the ends are laser welded together. The result is a more complex motor, but one that delivers more power in the same size package. Keeping all that ready for a day at a track requires a quick charging and Porsche

While going all out with tires smoking and skidding around corners in the Taycan is fun (even if you're not driving) Porsche's all-wheeldrive system is built to keep the car stuck to the road. Which is how these cars will be driven most of the time.

gave the vehicle the capability to charge from five to 80 percent in 22.5 minutes using a high-powered charging station that goes up to 270kW. Nearly everything on this car is there to create the feeling that, even if you're driving an EV, you're really driving a machine built for speed and handling. Yet it still has some unique touches. For example, the charging port cover retracts and goes up. That's kinda neat. Impressively though, it'll do that even when it has a sheet of ice. The system will try to open the little door and if it notes resistance, it'll add some more torque to break through the frozen water. The interior has the feel of a 911 but all of the displays are digital. That includes the one for the passenger that can be used to not only control music but make changes to a route. Ferrari 812 Superfast has the same thing but the navigation controls are limited. Does the passenger need their own touchscreen? Probably not, but is it weird/cool? Yeah, yeah it is. All this tech is cool, but also expensive. The Taycan Turbo will start at $153,310 at launch and the Turbo S will set you back $187,610. They are Porsches, after all, and they're a few grand cheaper than 911 Turbo and Turbo S respectively. Vehicles should start being delivered by the end of the year with those that have put down an early deposit getting first dibs. According to Porsche, of the 20,000 people worldwide that have expressed real monetary interest in the car, 50 percent are new to the Porsche brand. That's all well and good because a lot of work has gone into the vehicle. According to Porsche North America CEO Klaus Zellmer the Taycan is "the most ambitious and technically advanced Porsche ever created." The Taycan signals a new era for Porsche. Going electric is tough and arriving at that destination with its sports car DNA intact is impressive and required a lot of tech and money. But all that means that that eventually, I can ride a battery-powered Porshe sideways around a corner it's worth it. (By Roberto Baldwin for Engadget)

GADGET

10 LARGEST SELLING SMARTPHONES OF THE WORLD THIS YEAR A new report by IHS Markit has released the list of top 10 best-selling smartphones across the world. The research firm has compiled the list based on the number of units shipped in the first half of 2019. Here are the phones that have sold the most across the world:

APPLE IPHONE XR Apple’s strategy of having an ‘affordable’ iPhone and then lowering its prices (through deals and offers) in some parts of the world seems to have paid off. As per IHS Markit, Apple sold 26.4 million units in the first half of 2019.

SAMSUNG GALAXY A10 Samsung’s entry-level smartphone, the Galaxy A10 is the second bestselling smartphone, as per IHS Market. Samsung shipped 13.4 million units of the Galaxy A10.

XIAOMI REDMI NOTE 7

The second Xiaomi phone on the list is Redmi Note 7. Xiaomi shipped 10 million units of this smartphone.

SAMSUNG GALAXY J2 CORE

Samsung’s third phone on the list is another budget device, the Galaxy J2 Core. 9.9 million units of the smartphone have been shipped.

OPPO A5 SAMSUNG GALAXY A50 On third spot is another phone from Samsung: the Galaxy A50. Samsung shipped 12 million units of the Galaxy A50 so far in 2019.

The A5 from the emerging Chinese player Oppo bagged the next spot, due to offering better features at slightly lower prices than usual by the company.

APPLE IPHONE 8 iPhone 8 was launched in 2017 and continues to be amongst the best-selling smartphones in the world. As per the report, Apple shipped 10.3 million units.

XIAOMI REDMI 6A Xiaomi’s entry-level smartphone, Redmi 6A is the fifth best-selling smartphone with 10 million units shipped in the first two quarters of 2019. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

APPLE IPHONE XS MAX

Apple shipped 9.6 million units of its most expensive iPhone in the market.

SAMSUNG GALAXY A30

The 10th best-selling smartphone in the world is Samsung Galaxy A30. The South Korean company shipped 9.2 million units of the smartphone.

SASTRA BECOMES A HUB UNDER MARGADARSHAN SCHEME THE ALL INDIA COUNCIL FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION (AICTE) HAS INCLUDED SASTRA, A DEEMED TO BE A UNIVERSITY, AS THE HUB UNDER MHRD’S MARGADARSHAN SCHEME.

PEACE IN J&K, NOT A SINGLE SHOT FIRED SINCE AUGUST 5: AMIT SHAH

Addressing an event in New Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday stated, "From August 5 till now, we did not have to fire a single shot and not even a single person has died. There is peace in Kashmir." He made the statement over a month after Article 370, which gave special status to J&K, was abrogated.

I DOUBT US WILL DO A WEALTH TAX; WOULDN'T OPPOSE IT: BILL GATES

he certificate of approval from the AICTE was handed over by its Adviser Dileep N. Malkhede to SASTRA ViceChancellor S.Vaidhyasubramaniam at a recent function. The objective of the Margadarshan Scheme, Prof. Malkhede said, was to recognise an institute of reputation as a ‘mentor’ or as a hub to guide and disperse knowledge to and between 10 technical institutions, identified as ‘spokes’, in the region so as to encourage sharing of best practices among them. Taking cognisance of the infrastructural facilities and the academic achievements of SASTRA, Prof. Malkhede said the hub and the spokes system would allow for inter-hamlet information sharing, such as technical education, research and sharing of resources to the entire system. The duration of this project was three years. The mentor institute was expected to conduct programmes for the technical uplift of the spokes institutes in terms of teaching and learning process. He also handed over the hard copies of

the memorandum of understandings signed between the hub – the SASTRA and the spokes – the technical institutions in this region, to the heads of the selected 10 institutions.

World's second-richest person, Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates in a recent interview said he doubts the US will do a wealth tax, but he wouldn't oppose it. The 63-year-old also backed higher income taxes on America's wealthiest people alongside a call for greater financial transparency. "I don't like that you can have trusts where nobody knows who owns it," he said.

The AICTE Adviser also distributed scholarships worth totalling ? 116 lakh to 848 students on the occasion. Meanwhile, the Dean of Corporate Relations at SASTRA, Dr. V. Badrinath informed that 70% of students of the 2020 batch have received offer letters for placement from leading companies. The engineering graduates have been selected for placements in Amazon, PayPal, Microsoft, Deloitte, Rockwell Collins, TIGER Analytics, IDEABOARD, ABCO, Informatica, TCS, IBM, Zoho, Freshworks, Infosys, Cognizant, WIPRO, Caterpillar, Dr.Reddy’s and other companies during the campus selection exercises conducted by these companies from July 8, 2019 onwards.

ISRAEL HEADS TO POLL FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 6 MONTHS

Israelis headed to vote in the country's general election on Tuesday for the second time in six months. The election was called after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition following an election in April. It is the first time Israel has ever had two general elections in a single year.

Over 350 students from Thanjavur and Tiruchi and over 500 students from the rest of Tamil Nadu secured placements out of the 2,450 offers made by the companies, he added. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SPORTS

By Carl J

HOW BADMINTON’S HEROES SERVE UP REALISTIC LIFE LESSONS

As far as success stories in sport go, individual achievement is the ultimate pinnacle. From atop this position, the individual seems indomitable and inspiring. The 10,000 hours of hard work, first propagated in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success as the principal marker for success, is only the bare minimum that these individual sportspersons endure. There is something that drives their very purpose in life, which reflects in their sporting glory: the hunger to improve and ‘compete’ with oneself. We are often told that competition breeds success. Well, that’s what even the free-market economists would live by. However, to attain the prime position in any sport, the most important lesson is that “you are your own competition”. It is unimaginable that anybody – let alone sportspersons - would strictly follow this in practice. But that’s where these sportspersons stand out from the rest; they push their gameplay to be better than yesterday.

inning the gold medal in the BWF World Championships is just the culmination of P V Sindhu’s sporting glory. Like most champions, the journey to everlasting success doesn’t stop at a gold medal or scoring a breathtaking century in the Ashes in an almost impossible run chase. It is the constant reminder to improve oneself with every day that these champions cherish more that anything. With most successful athletes, the real taste of victory is knowing that the right process was followed to achieve the goal than the goal itself. Not many people would have had P V Sindhu in their consciousness when the Indian cricket team was busy making their mark in the ICC World Cup. For that matter, most sports enthusiasts (myself included) would not have watched Sindhu’s travails in the badminton circuit right up to her crowning glory in the Championship. It is simply not just a question of one’s choice to follow an athlete that one adores; the painstaking hours of practice and accumulated failures along the way don’t resonate with a society hell bent on instantaneous results. The loss of patience and lack of genuine value for the ‘process’ could be attributed to the waning interest among fans to follow their favorite athlete’s say training regime or practice matches. Most team sports now upload the training sessions and gym workouts of their stars on social media; there is a readymade consumption for such content. Sindhu’s victory, more than anything, stresses that the celebration of accomplishment is actually the celebration of the means to that accomplishment. If you ask the likes of Manasi Joshi, who won the gold medal in the women’s singles in the Para Olympics, the magnitude of her achievement triumphs every other personal glory associated with it. The same is obviously the case with Sindhu too, but it needs reminding that Manasi won a day earlier and received nationwide praise only a few days after. While we are often extolled to treat athletes with disabilities in the same breath as the ones without it, the

Rajiv Ouseph real tribute to the ‘special talent’ would be to celebrate their achievement as a social triumph. In a society that relegates people with disabilities as a ‘burden’, Manasi’s achievement is a larger message to our small-minded stereotypes of who is allowed to succeed. In that light, Manasi has not only encouraged many like her who feel bogged down by the weight of societal pressure and ignominy but reminded us that there is always something more to than just winning. She, and numerous other athletes before her, has inadvertently engineered a social debate on the ‘eligibility’ of success. The ramifications of that goes beyond the personal glory of winning a coveted medal.

Most team sports now upload the training sessions and gym workouts of their stars on social media; there is a readymade consumption for such content.

Then there are those heroes that partake in an athlete’s ‘process’ selflessly and encourage her to aim for the sky. As an experienced coach, P Gopichand need not spell out motivational words to his wards; he epitomizes motivation himself. Recipient of numerous national awards and international recognition himself, he would probably feel most elated when his students learn from their mistakes rather than bask in their own glory. And that’s what defines a master coach like Gopichand. He keeps Sindhu grounded all the while as she embarks on one objective after another. He ensures that she doesn’t feel the need to look for inspiration around her and channel her energies to look for inspiration within herself. He is proud of her success but equally guards her against unwanted profligacy. While it takes one champion to know another, Gopichand’s coaching approach is actually not rocket science. He combines his calm influence with an indepth domain knowledge to craft a potion that can produce a winning formula. He’s more like a meditator than a teacher, helping to prepare them for a test rather than speculate on what are the likely questions to be asked. For him, each athlete works with a unique SEASONAL MAGAZINE

logic and his only intervention is to assure him or her that his or her logic is right. If only the bulk of India’s school teachers felt the same way! In a faraway continent, but by no means cut off from the story of India’s badminton roots, Hounslow-born Kerala-origin ace shuttler Theratil Rajiv Ouseph sought an altogether different challenge. Emigrating with his family to Middlesex from Kerala at such a young age, Ouseph rapidly made strides in the badminton circuit through his sheer perseverance. He was a dominant junior player, winning every singles title from the under-13 level to the under-19 level. The English lad is the proud holder of various titles, including his career-best Men’s European title in 2017 that made him the first Englishman in 27 years to win it. Ouseph also went on to win five Commonwealth golds and even reached the 2016 Olympics quarterfinals. From having a supportive family to the right physical attributes for the sport, Ouseph was destined for a stellar career. He was certainly luckier than most kids of his age, even among immigrant families, with a father who inspired him and his sisters to enjoy what they did. Although he ended his glittering international career with a defeat in Basel at the World Badminton Championships, Ouseph’s inspiring

Manasi Girishchandra Joshi

journey needs to be assessed beyond numbers. The legacy he leaves behind is one of consistency; staying at the top of the country’s ranking charts in a sport that requires mental toughness like no other. He has quietly gone about his passion and remains steadfastly true to his beliefs. His teammates attest to his kindness and good-natured self. For the love of British badminton, Ouseph decided to make way for the younger generation so that they are ready in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. As he retires with his head held high, the 32year old former European badminton Pullela Gopichand

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

champion wishes that more British Asians take to the sport. His ingenious idea from his own personal experience to solve this problem sounds rather radical: "Rather than just going to each other's houses to socialise, families should use sport as a get-together. We created a friendly family rivalry in the Ouseph household." However, there is a certain simplicity about the idea. Ouseph reckons that “youngsters just need to grab a group of friends and go and enjoy a game." While he agrees that “there has to be a balance between academia and playing sport, the focus on education limits the number of Asian people doing exercise.” Ouseph’s supportive upbringing and life on the badminton court is a reassurance to families with kids aiming for the sky – just letting them express themselves and a strong forehand should do the trick.

HEALTH

Why Drink Tea and Eat Fruits & Vegetables Consumption of such flavonoid-rich foods can protect people who are at high risk of chronic and often fatal diseases like cancer and heart ailments. onsuming flavonoid-rich items such as apples and tea protects against cancer and heart disease, particularly for smokers and heavy drinkers, suggests a recent research. Researchers from Edith Cowan Universit's School of Medical and Health Sciences analysed data from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort that assessed the diets of 53,048 Danes over 23 years. According to the study published in the journal - Nature Communications researchers found that people, who habitually consumed moderate to high amounts of foods rich in flavonoids, compounds found in plant-based foods and drinks, were less likely to die from cancer or heart disease. Lead researcher Dr Nicola Bondonno said while the study found a lower risk of death in those who ate flavonoidrich foods, the protective effect appeared to be strongest for those at high risk of chronic diseases due to cigarette smoking and those who drank more than two standard alcoholic drinks a day. "These findings are important as they highlight the potential to prevent cancer and heart disease by encouraging the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, particularly in people at high risk of these chronic diseases. But it's also important to note that flavonoid consumption does not counteract all of the increased risks of death caused by smoking and high alcohol consumption. By far the best thing to

"ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND SMOKING BOTH INCREASE INFLAMMATION AND DAMAGE BLOOD VESSELS, WHICH CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF A RANGE OF DISEASES.

AZHAR, SAEED, DAWOOD DECLARED INDIVIDUAL TERRORISTS UNDER NEW LAW

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim have been declared 'individual terrorists' by the government. This comes nearly a month after Parliament amended the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The newly amended act provides for putting a travel ban on individuals declared as terrorists.

do for your health is to quit smoking and cut down on alcohol," she said. "We know these kinds of lifestyle changes can be very challenging. So encouraging flavonoid consumption might be a novel way to alleviate the increased risk, while also encouraging people to quit smoking and reduce their alcohol intake," she added. It is important to consume a variety of different flavonoid compounds found in different plant-based food and drink. This is easily achievable through the diet: one cup of tea, one apple, one orange, 100g of blueberries, and 100g of broccoli would provide a wide range of flavonoid compounds and over 500mg of total flavonoids. Dr Bondonno said while the research had established an association between flavonoid consumption and lower risk of death, the exact nature of the protective effect was unclear but likely to be multifaceted. "Alcohol consumption and smoking both increase inflammation and damage blood vessels, which can increase the risk of a range of diseases. Flavonoids have been shown to be antiinflammatory and improve blood vessel function, which may explain why they are associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease and cancer," she said. Dr Bondonno said the next step for the research was to look more closely at which types of heart disease and cancers were most protected by flavonoids.

HONG KONG LEADER WITHDRAWS CHINA EXTRADITION BILL THAT SPARKED PROTESTS

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday announced the withdrawal of an extradition bill that triggered months of anti-government protests. The bill proposed to let criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. Lam had suspended the bill in June and had later said that it was "dead" but had refused to withdraw it entirely.

FACEBOOK CEO MUST FACE PRISON FOR PRIVACY ISSUES: US SENATOR US Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has said that Facebook Co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg must face prison time over various privacy issues faced by the social media giant. "Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly lied to the American people about privacy...he hurt a lot of people," Wyden said. "I think he ought to be held personally accountable," he also added. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

STARTUPS

Indian Startups and Chinese Venture Capital: The Strategic Dimension Chinese venture capitalist (VC) funds have been rapidly making their way across the Himalayas and betting on the Indian startup story.In 2018 alone, Indian startups raised around $5.6 bn from various Chinese investors, following from the $3 bn in 2017. In the previous 16 years till 2016, the combined investments from China were valued at around $1.35 bn only. Such has been the unprecedented level of investments that Chinese VC funds surpassed those coming in from both the US and Japan in 2018. From what seemed unthinkable almost a decade ago, Chinese money today has offered a fresh lease of life to the perennially cashcrunched Indian startups. It all began with Alibaba’s investments of $500 mn in Snapdeal, $700 mn in Paytm and $150 mn in Zomato in 2015 following which the likes of FosunTencent (invested $150 million in Hike; $400 million in Ola; $700 million in Flipkart) and Shunwei Capital ($2 mn in Trubil; $18.2 mn inShareChat; $13.4 mn in ZestMoney)entered the fray. owever, this trend begs the question of the strategic impact of Chinese influence in India’s startup ecosystem. How does it play out in the larger technology war involving the U.S and China? Does the regulatory environment allow for unabated financial backing from overseas investors? Can investors tide over the policy challenges and national security concerns raised by governments?

Basis of the Symbiotic Relationship The India-China startup symbiosis is based on a solid foundation: India’s future growth numbers are set to attract investments and the infusion of capital will help early-stage startups to grow faster and reduce attrition rate amongst them. India has the third highest number of startup incubators and accelerators in the world, after China and the US. Given China’s excess finance and technology expertise,India is the only country that has the market and the strength to absorb China’s excess capacity. China’s strong showing in the financial technologysector has demonstrated the massive potential in a market like India where smartphone users increased to SEASONAL MAGAZINE

481 million according to 2017 figures, which is an increase of over 11% over the previous year. Buoyed by the Walmart-Flipkart deal, Chinese VCs are excited about the prospect of the exit option as they can now look for innovative startups in India and implement the business model in China. As those who have been tracking Chinese investments in India would attest, this strategy has served Chinese VCs well: identifying startup ideas in other geographies that can be replicated in China and backing them with large capital infusion. This complements the already famous ‘China plus one’ model, which aims to shift operations outside China to benefit from cheaper labour, new markets, and less domestic vulnerability. Given that the ‘BAT trinity’ (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) currently dominates the Chinese startup space, the entry of other Chinese VC funds,

including the likes of Morningside Ventures, Fenqile, Hillhouse Capital Group, Plum Ventures etc, would gear them for the long haul as they show increasing interest in India’s digital potential and hyper-local startup ecosystem for investment opportunities. For the Indian startups, the Chinese VCs are not merely cash cows but offer crucial domain expertise. Indian startups are engaged in fields where Chinese firms boast expertise: internetbased business, artificial intelligence, big data, robotics and automation, fintech, health, environment, elearning, agricultural technology, consumer goods and entertainment, including non-addictive gaming.The Alibaba Group Fellowship Programme witnessed 4 Indian startups (Zefo, Healthy Buddha, NowFloats and Grozip) that were selected among the 38 Asian firms who are eligible for

The impact of Chinese software and hardware play on the technology front cannot be underestimated. There is likely to be an institutional relationship that would take shape with Chinese technology integrated into Indian service industries. border data transfer. Apart from data privacy issues, Chinese investors and companies face pressure from India’s startup lobby group Indiatech, which seeks to ‘protect the interests of Indian companies and investors in the Internet sector’. From a call for ‘Permanent Establishment’ for foreign firms to push for dual class voting rights structure (DVR) in order to prevent hostile takeovers, the lobby has unequivocally backed the interests of early-stage startups and enhanced promoter rights. However, the recent budget announcement, removing the angel tax provision on overseas profit, has been welcomed in both the startup and investor communities.

STRATEGIC DIMENSION OF THE RELATIONSHIP

funding and knowledge sharing.

POLICY CHALLENGES AND NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS Shashi Tharoor, an Indian parliamentarian, raised suspicions over TikTok’s illegal data transfer to China and aired his concerns on the absence of a strong data protection framework and termed it as a matter of ‘national security’. The Indian government immediately sought a detailed response from ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, about the use of its application for ‘circulation of unlawful content’. Some researchers had voiced a similar concern after Internet web browser UC Browser was suspected of leaking data to servers in China. Given these episodes, it is imperative that the Indian government devises a coherent set of regulations around data protection, localization and cross-

The impact of Chinese software and hardware play on the technology front cannot be underestimated. There is likely to be an institutional relationship that would take shape with Chinese technology integrated into Indian service industries. How will this impact the use of American software, which have over the years formed the basis of the bilateral relationship? Moreover, in the three services segments where India scores over China – telecommunications, computer and information services, other business services and financial services – its RCA dropped between 2012 and 2016, while that of China’s rose. With India’s comparative advantage taking a hit, China’s services exports totalled $209 billion in 2016, against India’s $162 billion, thanks primarily to its dominant position in segments like transportation, travel, manufacturing services (where physical inputs are supplied by others), maintenance, repair and construction services. So while India is the world’s eighth-largest services exporter, China occupies the

fifth position. Also, China will be one of the first countries to register high growth on the back of both manufacturing and services-led export growth. This presents numerous opportunities for Indian startups in the services segment to leverage the capacity of Chinese companies operating in this field. Moreover, only consulting-as-a-service has been an attractive tertiary industry offering on the part of the US, which has otherwise failed to showcase its clout in other service verticals. The positioning of China as a future hub of services export bodes well for those Indian startups with the strength of Chinese capital. Lastly, the ability of Chinese VCs to attract sustained interest among Indian startups rests on how they manage to stay within cyber law frameworks. Currently, Chinese VC investments in Africa are bogged down by lack of comprehensive cyber-security laws. Given that the BRI project has a significant digital component, it is imperative that countries that leverage Chinese capital and digital infrastructure have national-level cyber security laws. Given China’s market leadership in the fintech space, Indian startups have an opportunity to capitalize on this development. Although 5G standards are yet to be formalized, China is certainly leading the way. Despite the healthy symbiosis between Chinese capital and Indian startups, one of the complementary challenges of this relationship would be a mindset shift from the popular Silicon Valleyculture, whichunderpins the working of most Indian startups. This entails flat organizational structures, flexible and informal processes, the ethos of “act first, apologize later,” the relentless pursuit of growth, and the “work hard, play hard” climate. Besides betting on valuation and revenue, Indian startups should begin to espouse standards of work ethics and genuine collaborative efforts to drive their growth. How quickly this cultural shift is accounted for would largely impact the success of the Sino-Indian startup ecosystem. Observer Research Foundation SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HEALTH

WHY INCLUDE NUTS & SEEDS IN YOUR DIET Tiny but mighty, nuts and seeds deliver a protein, fiber, and nutrient punch with every bite. Here is how to bone up on some of the most nutritious choices, and start crunching your way to better health.

salted nuts are fine, if you eat less than an ounce," she says. "For 1 ounce of most nuts, the sodium content is less than 100 milligrams." Some of the best nuts to include in diet are Almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts.

Seed Capital for Health Unlike the seeds we call nuts, culinary seeds come from vegetables (such as pumpkins), flowers (such as sunflowers), or crops grown for a variety of uses (such as flax or hemp).

Nuts in a Nutshell Nuts are actually the seeds of plants. Most are the seeds of trees; peanuts, however, are the seeds of a legume. Many, including walnuts and cashews, grow inside leathery fruits, with the nut corresponding to the peach pit (also a seed) within a peach. Others, such as hazelnuts and chestnuts, are classified as true botanical nuts (hard, dry fruits that don't open to release a separate seed). Nuts are flavorful little packages containing healthy unsaturated fats, protein, fiber, and other nutrients. For example, peanuts and pecans contain lots of B vitamins; almonds are rich in calcium and vitamin E; walnuts have lots of folate, vitamin E, and alpha-linoleic acid (ALA, an omega-3 fatty acid). And all nuts have magnesium. "In just a handful of nuts, which is about an ounce or a quarter of a cup, you get a lot of bang for the buck. They contain anywhere from 3 to 7 grams of protein per ounce, 1 to 3 grams of fiber, and 160 to 200 calories," says registered dietitian Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvardaffiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. But there are risks too. "If you eat more than one or two handfuls of nuts per day, you're adding extra calories â&#x20AC;&#x201D; maybe too many â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that can take the place of other healthy foods and add weight," McManus warns. She also advises that you stay away from buying nuts with added sugar or chocolate. "But SEASONAL MAGAZINE

"Seeds have mostly healthy fats, some fiber, and about 150 calories per ounce. And they do have protein, about 5 to 9 grams per ounce," McManus notes. "Flaxseeds and chia seeds are also good sources of plantbased omega-3 fatty acids, with two or three times the ALA of walnuts." Just a tablespoon of seeds yields surprising nutrition. In chia seeds, for example, you'll get 2 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and 78 milligrams of calcium. A tablespoon of flaxseed has 2 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. Hemp seeds contain only 1 gram of fiber in a tablespoon, but 10 grams of protein. Doctors once believed that eating seeds could lead to diverticulitis, an infection of diverticula (pouchlike structures that sometimes form in the muscular wall of the colon and bulge outward). However, the link between diverticulitis and seed consumption is still unproven. In fact, seeds are rich in fiber, which is crucial for gut health. Some of the best nuts to include in diet are Chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds.

INDIAN VIEWERS SPEND 70 MINS A DAY ON VIDEO PLATFORMS: EROS NOW-KPMG An Eros Now-KPMG report revealed that an over-the-top (OTT) viewer in India spends approximately 70 minutes a day on video streaming platforms. The same is being done at a consumption frequency of 12.5 times a week. Viewers are accessing over 2.5 platforms at a given time, with movies as preferred choice on smart TV and larger screens, the report said.

IRAN BEGINS USING NEW ADVANCED CENTRIFUGES TO ENRICH URANIUM Iran nuclear agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi has said the country has begun using new advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium - the latest step in reducing its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Kamalvandi added that 40 such centrifuges are now operational. "All these steps are reversible if the other side fulfils its promises," Kamalvandi further said.

How to use Nuts & Seeds Adding nuts and seeds to your diet is simple: stay within the serving guidelines of an ounce or two per day, and eat the ones you like. Sprinkle a few into salads, sauces, vegetables, or whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa. "Make a cashew or pine nut pesto," suggests McManus. "Add nuts or seeds to hot cereal or yogurt. Put nuts and seeds in a stir-fry. Or include some nut flour in baking recipes." No matter how you enjoy them, you'll wind up with extra flavor and texture in meals and the added benefits of better nutrition.

(Credit: Harvard)

MAN TELLS UK PM 'PLEASE LEAVE MY TOWN'; VIDEO GOES VIRAL During a recent visit to the town of Morley in England, a man told UK PM Boris Johnson, "Please leave my town." A video of the interaction between the man and Johnson went viral on social media, wherein Johnson could be heard telling the man in response, "I will very soon." Several people confronted Johnson over his efforts on Brexit.